Note: This story takes place in an AU where Japan is totally isolated from other countries a century after the era of original Mega Man, thus not knowing the existence of Reploids throughout the world and vice versa. Also, this is my first AU story, so please bear with it if there's any inconsistency and help me to correct it. I'm just your average guy and sometimes I make mistake, okay? Peace out and enjoy reading ;)
Since I'm not good at all with Japanese, the italicized lines like "This"means the character is speaking in another language.
In the year of 21XX, humans are living together with machines known as Reploids and Mechaniloids. Reploids, as their names suggest, are the androids with complete free will and thought processes which are almost or maybe on par with humans. Introduced as the next step in advanced robotics, Reploids, unlike normal robots, have the same mental level as humans; they can think, feel, make their own decisions in life and even develop unique personalities.
Created in the form of humanoids, Reploids may be male or female in appearance although technically they are genderless due to their nature as robots. They have human faces, sometimes hair, and possess bulging armor around their forelimbs, upper body, and legs which distinguish them from real humans. However, some of these Reploids are also built to resemble animals with human-like traits for specialized tasks or purposes.
When they were first introduced to the public, people had their doubts about the concept of living with robots possessing free will. However, as time passed, they slowly began to open their hearts and accept them as a part of normal society, in fact some of them even found it convenient and treated Reploids just like other human beings.
Mechaniloids on the other hand are robots which possess an AI with intelligence below that of an average human. They only function as they are programmed or commanded to. They usually come in a gigantic mechanical vehicle or walker form, although some of them may also take a humanoid appearance. Overall, Mechaniloids function more like industrial worker robots used by the humans back in 20XX.
Thanks to these advanced robots, humanity has achieved a new era of better services, safer work environments, new luxuries, and even a new bond between mankind and robot-kind.
However, such great inventions didn't come without the risk of danger…
Sometime later, some Reploids and Mechaniloids suddenly turned against the humans or other Reploids. They chose the criminal way of life and thus they were dubbed Mavericks. Their reasons for acting like this were many: Faulty wiring, unstable AI, some even had specific reasons to go rogue. But perhaps the most dangerous cause of this was one…
The Maverick virus…
Unlike the other causes stated before, the Maverick virus acted by taking over the Reploid's programming and rewriting their code, similar to how a computer virus infects computer hardware. The most notable sign of this virus was how said Reploid victim would suddenly become aggressive, go berserk, or worse having a new mindset of robot-kind superiority over humans which could spiral into a massive robot rebellion.
It is unknown as to what caused the appearance of this malware in the first place and so far an antivirus has still yet to be found, but many deem this virus to be the most dangerous threat as it affected both Reploids and Mechaniloids, which due to their massive size made them even more dangerous. When the first Maverick incident occurred, one human died and there were many other injured victims, both humans and Reploids…
To counteract this kind of criminal behavior, an organization called the Maverick Hunters was formed to protect the innocent citizenry. Thanks to the efforts of these Hunters, the number of Maverick cases was reduced and citizens could breathe in relief again.
This is the story of a Maverick Hunter as well as the predecessor of the entire Reploid race whose name is…
Mega Man X.
...
-Chapter 1: The Deep Discovery-
Somewhere in the midst of the ocean
Deep within the sea's coral reef area, a marine ecosystem which consisted of algae, and coral, fish and many other sea creatures could be seen swimming around. With the addition of the sunlight coming through the water's surface, illuminating the seabed, this place without a doubt was a very popular tourist site.
*BWOO-WIP!*
A single beam of light then suddenly pierced the water, scattering a group of fish. When the light slowly faded, a humanoid figure was revealed standing on the seabed in a classic 'Iron Man' landing pose before said figure stood up and opened his eyes, revealing a pair of green irises.
The figure was a male Reploid, a Maverick Hunter whose appearance resembled a young man in his late teens. He was clad in blue armor and a blue helmet with white and yellow details under his dark grey body. However, the most prominent feature was the red upside-down triangle crystal on the helmet's forehead and the protrusions under his elbows and knee guards that glowed like neon lights.
This Maverick Hunter was X; an S-rank Maverick Hunter and the commander of the 17th Elite Unit which had been fighting to protect the innocent from the threat of the Mavericks and other rogue robots.
"This is X, I have landed at the destination. Do you read me, Alia?" The Blue Hunter spoke through his comm unit, placing his hand on the black circular part on his helmet.
"Affirmative X. From what I've gathered, there's a nearby subterranean base which used to be the operating base for the 6th Marine Unit." came the reply of a female navigator Reploid named Alia,"It has been long decommissioned by HQ since the first Maverick war. However, we've received reports from our Intel regarding strange readings that occasionally come from there."
"Alright, I'll try to investigate and see if there's anything suspicious." X replied with a nod.
"Be careful though. The signal is quite unstable past here, thus it's not safe to teleport unless you surface or find higher ground where the signal is better." warned Alia, "Good luck on your mission, X."
"Roger that. Beginning the mission." with that, the blue hunter ended the transmission and looked at the area surrounding him. A feeling of nostalgia suddenly came to him as he took a deep breath and sighed, blowing out some bubbles from his mouth.
"I can't believe that I came back here again…" X muttered with a grim expression.
The truth was this area was the territory of the past leader of the 6th Marine Unit, Launch Octopus, who back then was a Special A-class Hunter before a Maverick Hunter Reploid turned Maverick Sigma recruited him as one of his Maverick generals, ultimately leading to his downfall at the hands of X. X never liked him too much even when the octopus-like Maverick was still a Hunter of higher seniority than him as he viewed his killing method as a form of art, even claimed that it made him an artist of assassination.
X shook off that unpleasant memory. There was no need to think about it anymore as it was all in the past now. He then focused back on his mission and looked at the marked destination point in his HUD before setting off.
As X kept running, kicking up sand with each step, the blue hunter noticed that he wasn't alone, now being accompanied by tropical fish in various shapes and colors. There were even sea turtles, manta rays, tuna, and many other sea creatures swimming nearby. He couldn't resist the urge to smile at this. Advancing technologies and buildings in big cities might be fascinating and provide convenient way of life but nothing could beat the beauty of a natural ecosystem like what he was seeing now. It was a shame that nowadays it was very rare to find 100% natural vegetation on surfaces as most of it had either been replaced with artificial materials or cybernetically enhanced.
'At least it won't be so quiet here.'thought X.
But such a peaceful moment didn't last long when a tremor suddenly shook the ground, catching him off guard as he tried to keep his balance. The fish around him also swam away in fear, leaving the Maverick Hunter alone.
When the tremor had finally subsided, X transformed his right arm into its signature X-Buster form, changing his stance into a standby position. His expression shifted into one of a sharp and cautious soldier as he scanned his surroundings. There was nothing in sight, indicating that the enemy could be hiding underground, thus it was possible to be attacked from different angles beneath him.
"Alright you Maverick scum… Where are yo-WHOAH!?" X didn't get a chance to finish his sentence when something suddenly emerged from the ground and almost hit him directly, causing him to lose his footing. Thankfully the water environment kept X floating which prevented him from hitting the ground hard.
X then raised his feet and activated the dash function to propel himself backwards, hoping to get a better look at his assailant. The view was clouded from the dust, however, the Maverick Hunter could at least identify that his opponent was a large robot which had a serpent-like shape with a round, segmented body and several blue glowing spots on it.
Seemingly noticing its prey, the Maverick then turned around and dived towards the hunter at high speed. This move gave X enough time to take aim and charge up his buster before…
"EEEEYYYAAAH!" a huge energy blast was fired from the arm cannon following X's battle cry. The charged shot hit the Maverick just as it opened its mouth, thus receiving a fully charged shot as its meal with hot plasma flavor…
"Did I get it?" X wondered, but the answer he soon received was in the form of metal jaws that lunged towards him and caught his buster arm. It was then when X finally got a better look of his opponent which was none other than Utuboros, a sea serpent combat-oriented Mechaniloid.
"Hnnggggrrrgghh!" gritting his teeth as the robotic equivalent of pain hit him; the blue hunter was forced to revert back his seized buster into his arm and transform the other one. As the Utuboros swung its prey in an attempt to rip X's arm off, the latter charged another shot and then fired at his enemy's neck.
*BLAM!*
With another full charged shot, the Mechaniloid's neck was destroyed, cutting off the head from its body. This caused the jaw to drop open and free X's right arm albeit with minor damage as seen from the bite marks with small bits of electricity flashing. Even though it wasn't that severe, that attack had disabled that arm's Buster function.
"Crud…" X was upset at his own recklessness as he looked at his damaged right arm, but he immediately brushed it off and continued sprinting. He still had a mission to accomplish and besides, he still had his left buster.
Later then, the blue hunter finally reached his destination in the deeper zone where everything was darker thanks to less sunlight, save for one structure with several security lights stationed around. X immediately crouched down behind a large rock and peeked out a bit to analyze the situation. Right before him was a fortified building guarded by several Maverick Reploids armed with guns and launchers adapted for underwater combat. Said building had a dome-like structure with eight towers surrounding it, channeling some kind of energy to it which X could deduce as some kind of power plant.
"Weird… last time I came here, this base didn't look like this…" wondered X. 'But it's been almost a century since then… no wonder that things have changed a lot…'
But the question he had on his mind now was… how could he infiltrate the facility with all those guards around?
Placing his hand on his helmet's earpiece, X spoke, "Alia, come in. I have found- huh?"
There was no response from the other side as all he could hear was static.
"Hello? Alia, come in. Do you read me?"
Again there was no response and only static…
"Well great… there's no signal here just as she said." X said in a defeated tone before he looked back at the building, "Looks like I'm on my own again."
He activated the scan function on his helmet to observe and find another entrance to the dome, but the only one he found was the main gate guarded by the Mavericks and he couldn't find any alternative routes to sneak in. The building wall was also made from very dense material which was even denser than steel, enough to shrug off a fully charged X-Buster, thus it was impossible to just break in from the rear. It seemed this place was constructed with the word 'impenetrable' in mind.
But they forgot one thing…
X then transformed his left arm and fired his buster at one of the towers. With a loud *BLAM!* the power plant's tower exploded. The guards' attention was immediately seized and they scrambled to check it, which gave the Maverick Hunter enough time to emerge from cover and sprint towards the main gate.
...
Moments later…
After passing through the airlock, X found himself inside the dome, hiding behind a stack of crates. The surrounding area turned out to be a smuggling facility for weapons and battle gear. Numerous metallic crates with the warning sign 'DANGER!' were organized like they were ready to be shipped somewhere, nearby were two lines of Cannon Driver and Gun Volt Combat Mechaniloids.
"Figured as much that this place is just one of 'those'…" muttered X. It was then that he heard the sound of another metal gate open, revealing a Maverick who strangely had a hammerhead shark look similar to Metal Shark Prayer; a Maverick X had defeated a long time ago, except he didn't have a shark-like anthropomorphic body. Behind him were two Maverick guards carrying bayonet rifles.
"Hmmm… looks like everything is in order." The shark head said and then turned to the guard on the left, "You! Tell those guys in Ride Armors to move these crates!"
"Sir!" The first guard replied with a salute before he walked back to where they came from.
"And you!" He motioned to the other one, "Bring that human girl from the brig as well."
"Sir!"
'HUMAN GIRL?! They even kidnapped a human!?' X's face turned angry and disgusted by this revelation. To kidnap humans, knowing that they wouldn't stand a chance against Mavericks physically was a most despicable thing, one that he would never forgive!
The hunter shook his head to calm himself before his anger could get the better of him. Right now rescuing the prisoner was his main priority. If he was lucky, he might get more information about what the Mavericks were planning.
X peered around the crates to see that the other guard had walked away into a nearby. After the hammerhead shark Maverick went to where he ordered the first guard earlier, the area now was finally empty.
'Now!' X then closed his eyes and in a flash of light, he switched his armor. The new armor he wore now was black with gold and white highlights and had a ninja theme. His face was also covered by a faceplate that only showed his eyes.
[ARMOR SET: SHADOW ARMOR]
With the Shadow Armor equipped, X followed the guard, unnoticed by the latter. When the guard opened the gate which turned out to be an elevator and walked in, X immediately used his shadow jump ability to hang on to the ceiling, waiting as the elevator descended.
'This thing sure is handy when the time comes…' X thought, looking at the floor number display which showed 'B3' before the elevator stopped moving.
As the guard walked out, he glimpsed a shadowy figure jump down from behind out of the corner of his eye.
"Huh? What the-!?"
But he never got a chance to process what happened as a yellow energy blade suddenly came down and cut his body in half. As the two halves of the guard dropped down on the floor between the elevator doors, X stowed away his Zetsabre* in his back rack.
X walked out into the corridor where he found many cell doors on both sides. Based from the result of his scan, there were 30 prison cells, 15 on each side but there was only one occupied; the 5th cell on his left.
"That must be it!" he exclaimed. In another flash, the Hunter had reverted back into his default form.
But when he opened the cell, he found something that made his pupils shrink and his mouth open wide in shock.
"My god…"
Inside the cell, right before his eyes was a young girl who appeared to be in her mid-teens. She had long silver hair and wore what X recognized from his databanks to be some kind of priestess uniform from the far east, albeit with shortened sleeves and a skirt. She also wore a pair of arm bracers, thigh high boots, and a black chest guard.
However, what made the blue bomber gasp was the condition she currently was in…
The girl was lying in the corner of the cell and looked like she had been beaten up pretty bad. Her clothes were torn all over from top to bottom and her chest guard was also broken, exposing many indecent parts of her white skinned body. Her long hair was messed up and her body was also full of bruises, wounds, and burns. It was almost like the girl had been put through very painful torture.
If X had blood flowing within his body like humans, it would have been boiling hot from the rage he felt. Whichever Maverick did this, he would make sure to turn it into a pile of scrap.
"Those Mavericks… they will pay for this!" He growled, clenching his fists together. The Maverick Hunter approached the girl and crouched down.
"Hey… are you okay?"
Much to his relief, the girl responded to his question by slowly opening her eyes, revealing a pair of yellow irises. However, she was still too exhausted as she could only look at her rescuer with her eyes half open.
"…W-who's… there…?" She asked in Japanese but her voice was very tired and raspy.
X blinked, slightly surprised. Even though he understood the language thanks to his universal translator, it was rather rare to see someone speak Japanese after so many years.
He then placed a finger on her mouth to keep her from saying anymore.
"Shhh… save your energy for later okay? I'll get you out of here."
Before she knew it, the girl suddenly found herself being picked up and carried bridal style by X, causing her to yelp a bit. The blue bomber carefully walked out from the cell back to the elevator, gently kicking the two halves of the Maverick guard's body out of there.
As the elevator closed, X was about to choose a floor but stopped and looked down at the girl. She seemed both confused and scared of him because X could feel her body trembling in fear. He couldn't blame her reaction though, after what those Mavericks had done to her, she might have developed a traumatic fear towards Reploids in general.
Trying to calm her down, X gave her a warm reassuring smile and then spoke in Japanese.
"Don't worry, you will be fine. I promise."
The silver haired girl was momentarily surprised that her rescuer could also speak Japanese as well but then nodded wordlessly as the blue hunter pressed a button and the elevator began ascending to the ground floor. When it stopped, X crouched down and placed the girl on the floor, resting her shoulders against the wall in the corner. However when he was moved to straighten her left knee…
"Aahh..!"the girl winced in pain, surprising X who then immediately removed his hand and looked at her in concern.
"Ah, I'm sorry. Is your left knee hurt?"
"Yes…" she answered. X slowly nodded in return.
"Okay… take it slow and stay here until I return, okay?" X stood up,"I'll be back soon."
The mysterious girl could only watch as the elevator door opened. The last thing she saw was the left hand of the blue bomber transform into the X-Buster before he pressed the emergency stop button on the control panel to keep the elevator from moving and then walked out, leaving her alone. Cold, confused, and scared with her current situation, the girl pulled back her feet, ignoring the pain in her knee before she curled herself into a ball and muttered a name...
"Zuikaku…"She trailed off and then looked up at the metal ceiling of the elevator.
"It's… cold…"
...
Hunter Base – Command Center
Inside the command area of Hunter HQ, a lot of navigator Reploids were busy communicating with their respective Hunters in the field while typing quickly on their terminals. Among these navigators was a female Reploid. She had shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes, and a slim black feminine body frame. The armor she had was pink and white in color and on her head was a transceiver headset. Unlike the rest of them though, she wasn't communicating with her Hunter and instead she was analyzing something on her terminal.
It was then that the communication node on her transceiver flashed.
"Huh? An incoming transmission?" The navigator blinked and then placed her hand on her earpiece.
"X to Hunter Base. Alia, do you hear me?" spoke a familiar voice, "I repeat-"
"X?!" Alia exclaimed and then spoke in her usual professional tone, "This is Alia. I read you, X. What's going on and where are you?"
"I'm in the communications center of the enemy base, but more importantly can you do an emergency teleport here? I found a human prisoner here and she needs medical treatment immediately."
"Alright! Retracing the origin of your signal, and…" She trailed off while typing on her keyboard, "Bingo! I've got your position now, X. I can teleport you back here as soon as you're ready!"
"Thanks! Just wait for a moment, Alia. I'll contact you again when I'm ready. X out."
With that said, X cut off the transmission, leaving the blond haired navigator alone. Her eyes never left the holo-screen and her fingers were ready to confirm the teleportation command.
...
Back with X
"I'll contact you again when I'm ready. X out." X said before he turned off the communication line and turned around, leaving behind the scattered bodies of Maverick Reploids and Mehaniloids that had been previously manning the comm center in his wake. Each of the victims had a gaping hole in their bodies after getting shot by his X-Buster.
When X had returned to where he had left the girl earlier, she only looked at him until X picked her in a bridal carry again.
The Hunter activated his comm unit again as he carried the girl out to the base's command center.
"This is X. Send in the Hunters from the 13th Ranger Unit to secure this area and tell Lifesaver to prepare a medical bed for one human. I'm returning to the base now."
Blue light began enveloping X's body and the girl in his arms before it slowly turned into a column of light, shadowing their forms into silhouettes. As the silhouettes disappeared in the column, the blue light then disappeared at lightning speed, leaving no traces of the Maverick Hunter and the girl.
Little did the Maverick Hunter know that his fateful meeting with this mysterious girl was just the beginning of a bigger adventure. One that might put his belief and morale to the test…
* This is the Z-Saber X used in X6.