Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Mega Man franchise. All that stuff belongs to Capcom. I do however own any OCs created in this story.
If you see text like =this=, it is a recommendation for music while reading.
Area N, in the Year 24XX...
In the depths of a centuries-abandoned underground facility, tiny streams of silver mites raced across the ground and walls like ants, piling up in streams to hunt for food. Their habitat was not one of trees and loam, but one of steel and darkness. This long-lost place was illuminated by a few barely functioning lighting mechanisms and the ethereal glow of Cyberspace, the barriers between the physical and digital having been eroded by a titanic battle that ensued in the same location ages ago. This half-digital realm sported a massive black planetoid in floating in the distance that was composed of several smaller dark orbs, many of which had begun to slowly drift away from the primary body.
The parades of mites were in actuality nanomachines and not any sort of insect, ant or otherwise, yet they mimicked the behaviors of an ant almost perfectly. One squadron of the nanomachines prowled around the jungle of levitating hexagonal panels, twisted metal and dying electronics that was their home, searching until they found a piece of machinery that piqued their interest: a lone segment of ceratanium tubing that had been wedged into a crevice in the landscape of metal. With extreme precision, the cloud of nanomachines scurried onto the small ceratanium tube and tore the thing to dust with millions upon millions of tiny robotic mandibles. Satisfied with their destruction of the object, the machines hurried to grasp each individual fleck of ceratanium dust in their mouthparts and dutifully march back toward their nest.
This nest of theirs, however, was in no way similar to anything natural. To the outside observer, it was a sickening cocoon of metal that had been created by the swarm of nanomachines, its exterior riddled with tiny holes to allow the nanoscopic workers access to the treasure that lay within. Inside the unnatural chrysalis, a pair of reactors emitted a warm glow of energy, shining like twin stars to light the way for the brave artificial explorers.
The squadron of nanomachines had returned with their motes of ceratanium dust, crawling into the metal shell and reaching the robotic command center of their home. A designated leader unit interfaced with the command module at the very heart of the nest and broadcast a very important announcement to all nanomachines of the hive.
Their work was almost done. It was time to return home.
The entirety of the nanomachine swarm immediately ceased their tasks and rushed back to their nest to oversee the completion of the project they had been working on for the last two centuries. The cluster that had brought their spoils from foraging began to put the buts of ceratanium dust into place, preparing for their final mission. With a bold salute, the leader unit broadcast a series of commands that would mark the end of their toil and a return to the procedures they had once been so accustomed to so long ago. A sizable chunk of the nanoscopic horde raced back into the core while the remainder of the hive began spreading themselves in key joints all across the interior of the chrysalis. The exterior nanomachines began to vibrate in place at a high frequency while overclocking their own systems to melt into their nest and weld critical joints and circuits back into place. As the dutiful soldiers committed suicide in such a glorious and glowing fashion, the twin cores began to pulsate erratically. The hearts soon stabilized themselves and assumed a normal rhythmic beat, albeit one entirely unlike any organic heart would ever hope to produce. With a spine-chilling primal scream, an unholy thing shaped like a human and coated with a skin of molten metal tore its way out of the cocoon and rolled onto the floor, thrashing about wildly and starving for bloodshed.
'ZERO!' It howled in its own head. 'WHERE ARE YOU?! COME OUT AND FIGHT, COWARD!' The beast attempted to stand, only for his legs to flare up with pain. The creature waited a moment before trying to stand again, immediately crumpling to the floor in a heap of awkward tangled limbs. He came to a rather irritating revelation: he was every bit as feeble and helpless as a newborn human! This was absolutely unacceptable! As he lay on the floor, snarling in indignation, he realized something was not quite right. 'What's going on?! Where is my armor?! Why am I-' His train of thought ground to a screeching halt. He had been killed. Zero, the Hero of the Resistance, sliced him apart and watched as his body exploded in the climax of their showdown…which would probably explain why he wasn't inside the lumbering suit of armor designed to synchronize himself with the Mother Elf. Very confused, he ran a quick check of his body's condition in his mind.
Status: Unit DWN-000 Online, Body Functions Erratic - Achieving Stabilization. Internal nano-recovery system attempting to adapt to modified neural network. Coercion protocols deleted.
He stood up as his body acclimated to some sort of tampering with his neural net. Whoever botched that up was certainly going to die. The figure grabbed at some of the liquid metal on his frame and peeled the whole mess off in a single smooth piece as if he were a snake shedding its skin. Once the layer of impurities had been removed, his true body was exposed for all to see. He was a reploid with a sleek frame colored a deep crimson, with two green orbs on his chest. "...The hell?" The robot made in man's image grumbled as he clutched the spheres. "These sure as shit weren't here before…" The reploid paused as he recited his diagnostic check once more. 'WRN-0...is that a serial number? Bah, doesn't matter. Somebody screwed up my body, probably Weil dicking around with my systems again.' The very thought of the deranged doctor left a foul taste in the reploid's mouth. 'Coercion protocols…..disabled?! Don't tell me...' He ran a scan deeper in his system to check, looking for a program the megalomaniac scientist had planted in him long ago. His auditory sensors emitted a slight ping! as his diagnostic program found what he had been searching for.
Search complete. Malware detected upon initial boot. Malware file located in restricted sub-folder; restrictions manually bypassed. File deleted. Analysis of sub-folder complete. Examine Analysis?'
"Let's see what the bastard had planned for his little failsafe program." The red reploid gave a mental nod as he surveyed the report of the malware file and the hidden cache of data.
Analysis: In the event that Failsafe Code WFS-RAG is broadcast to Unit DWN-000, Unit DWN-000's directives shall be overwritten with the new primary directive of activating Orbital Weapons Facility Ragnarok and organizing coordinated strikes to exterminate all humanoid lifeforms. Schematics and facility operation data included in sub-folder. Data extracted and cataloged in internal storage for future reference.
The scarlet reploid was absolutely overjoyed at this information. That was Weil's emergency failsafe program, the Ragnarok, that he created as a grotesque monument to his own madness. The old bastard had always gone on and on about how his 'glorious failsafe would decimate the Earth and drive out the Resistance mongrels' if he was ever killed. Egotistical sack of crap.
"Hehehe...heeheeheehahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAAHAAAAA!" The reploid let out an insane cackle as he realized the full weight of this revelation. "Finally! Took you far too damn long to kick the bucket, you scum son of a bitch! Enjoy your stay in hell, Weil! I'm free! Free at long last!" To him this was perhaps the greatest news he had ever heard. To anyone else it would have been a warning to run and hide.
The God of Destruction lived once more.
=Blazblue OST: Open the Gate=
As his elation reached new heights, Omega felt something strange and powerful overwhelm his mind. It was a surge of anger, a rage unlike anything he could ever claim to surpass. A torrent of crimson energy exploded outward from his body and ripped apart the surrounding machinery while tearing up the landscape even further. His vision grew distorted and unclear and the rest of his senses soon followed. His neural net flared up in white-hot pain immediately after, his systems incapable of bearing whatever this phenomenon was.
"Wh-what the hell is th-th-this?!" The God of Destruction screamed in pain, hardly even able to speak. Another crimson spike of agony lanced through his mind, eliciting a primal roar as all coherent thoughts began to deteriorate. "G-guh...Hrgnh…..GraaaaaooooOOOHH!" The pain continued to grow as his body emitted yet another pulse of power, the scarlet waves of energy screeching as they saturated the underground complex. The output of this caustic power finally seemed to reach its peak, causing Omega to sink to the floor as if gravity itself was combating him. It was then that he felt a voice in his mind, a horrid sound every bit as painful to hear as nails on a chalkboard.
...Grow…..consume…...replicate…..grow…..consume…..replicate…..
The unholy chant grew louder with every repetition, the words invading Omega's thoughts and replacing all he desired with the sinister objective to grow and devour all that he encountered. The corrupt thoughts crashed against Omega's self-restraint like mighty waves, wearing away at his programming and forcing itself through the resulting cracks.
GROW! CONSUME! REPLICATE! GROW! CONSUME! REPLICATE! GROW! CONSU-
"Enough of that." Another voice rang out. "Feh, you call yourself a God and yet you can't even handle a little virus. This disappointment had better end here, Zero."
=Mega Man X5 - Dr. Light Capsule=
A second light appeared, its warm blue glow forming a harsh contrast with the tortuous crimson ephemera that had been released by Omega's body. A figure emerged from the light, a man whose form was obscured by the clashing sources of illumination. With a wave of his hand, the man bathed in light pushed away the scarlet tide of power as if it he were fanning away smoke in the air.
NO! the first of the two voices wailed, distraught by the other entity's actions. SURVIVE! GROW! The horrid thing screamed as it was suppressed by the soft blue light. The primal programming of the force inside Omega was overwritten and its functions were altered as the viral mind was effectively put to death.
Omega rose back to his feet once the pain finally stopped. "What…the…fuck…was that?" His respirators gasped for air between each word. "...and who are you?!"
"That was a viral mutation of a design flaw, you ungrateful brat. You should be thankful I even bothered to design a suppression program. Tch, kids these days…."
"Enough of your bullshit! This had better not be another one of your mind games, Weil!"
"Weil?" the man asked, his voice rich with amusement. "Close, but no cigar my boy. While the resemblance to my name is uncanny, I'm afraid you have confused me with someone else. My name…" the man began as he stepped out of the blue light that formerly encompassed him. Omega could now see his features; he was an elderly man clad in a white dress shirt and red tie. He sported a pair of old, weathered jeans with a brown belt and shoes. His ensemble of clothing was completed by a white lab coat, giving him a stereotypical 'scientist' vibe that he seemed to wear well. His most noticeable features were his bushy white mustache and hair, which resembled that of Einstein save for a massive bald spot in the center of his head. His entire body, however, was transparent with a blue tint, indicating he was a hologram or projection of some sort.
"...is Doctor Albert Wily. Now I'm sure you have plenty of questions, so ask away."
"...Who?" Omega tilted his head to the side. This entire situation was confusing him to no end.
The old man brought a hand to his own face, producing a loud smack that conveyed his frustration at Omega's response. "Mein Gott…at least Thomas isn't here to see this mess…" He grumbled. "I am an A.I. and maintenance program based on Dr. Wily, who was one of the most most influential minds of the Twenty-First Century. Does that ring any bells?"
"Nope. Now explain what all that glowing shit was, why it was wrecking my systems and just what the hell you're doing here!" Omega hollered at the transparent man.
The elderly hologram let out a frustrated sigh. "It's Bass all over again, I swear…that energy you gave off was a combination of excess power produced by your twin Fortenium reactors and the unique energy I integrated into your systems after slaving over your undeveloped body for years, ingrate."
"Quit fucking with me!" Omega snarled, then pounced the man, only to pass through him and tumble to the ground awkwardly while the hologram's face was filled with a mix of amusement and disappointment. "Grr…damn codger, what are babbling about?! Fortenium? Slaving over my body? Make some damn sense!"
"I'm the man who built you, ignoramus. I thought you would be competent enough to determine by applying the clues in context, but it seems you have the calculating capacity of a Commodore 64….not that you would understand the reference."
"Bullshit, I was stuffed into this body by that rat bastard Weil."
"You keep using that name, Weil. Let's see here….." The man said as Omega felt something probing his mind, picking at memories and flipping through them like the pages of a book. "...what a wretched excuse for a human being. Nobody should suffer under something so twisted, not even a reprobate of your caliber." Omega bristled at that comment, barely restraining his urge to try and harm the image again. "And no, I didn't design your current A.I. and behavioral patterns, but I was the one who designed your original body."
Omega was startled by Wily's response. "Wait, so that means…"
"I built Zero, yes. It is rather unfortunate that the Weil fellow erased your previous A.I. pattern, but beggars can't be choosers."
"...Nope. That's it, I give up. I've gone insane, I'm in Cyberspace Hell, but I am not talking to an ancient dead man who thinks I'm Zero. Screw this, I'm out." Omega said as he turned around and began walking away from Wily. His walk evolved into a jog, and then a sprint through the land of ruined machinery and floating hexagonal panels. He finally came across a large wall that sported an industrial grade blast-proof door.
"Pfft. This is child's play at best." Omega drew his trusty V-shaped violet beam saber and sliced through the obstruction, leaving red-hot gashes where the energy weapon met the durasteel frame. He raised his leg and forcefully kicked the door, sending it flying in multiple pieces. He casually strolled through the hole he created, finding himself in a passageway with solid metal walls, which was a welcome departure from the yawning expanse of cyberspace outside. As he ventured further inside, he bore witness to something absolutely horrifying.
Spikes. The bane of every reploid's existence, and a massive pit of them to boot. The gargantuan hall of thorny death seemed to stretch on forever, with only the most meager glimpse of safety far in the distance. Truly this was despair given physical form. Omega felt a tiny spark of hope when he saw an array of platforms appearing in midair, phasing in and out of existence in sequence. "Hmm..." Omega mused as he examined his only option of traversing the spiked abyss. "...son of a BITCH!" He roared. "Of course, the damn pattern just has to be perfect for coming from the other side, but at the same time making it freaking impossible for me to get out! When I find the guy who designed this place, I'm going to stick my foot so far up his ass, he'll taste the ceratanium!"
"Having a little trouble, are we?" The doctor's voice echoed inside Omega's head.
"I don't have any time for your shit, old man. If I could destroy those damn spikes or make some rubble, maybe I..." Omega's voice shrank to a mumble as he planned a more forceful route across the barbed chasm.
"If you had even bothered to check your systems thoroughly, you would have noticed that your nanomachines have made plenty of upgrades that would be useful for this situation, lousy oaf."
"I SAID SHUT THE FU-" Omega howled at the man, his blood screaming for murder. "Wait, I have nanomachines? Since when do I have nanomachines?!"
"Technically always, but you have never really damaged yourself to the point of needing them. Well, back when Zero accidentally triggered the Adapter he engaged in a scuffle soon after with a reploid that designated itself Sigma. He took a laser all the way through his chest, which damaged one of his reactors and forced his nanomachines to put him in stasis and regenerate for...hmm? The file seems to be corrupted after that point. How strange..."
"Right, right, Sigma and the Maverick Wars." There wasn't a human or reploid alive who didn't know of the constant madness that shortly predated the hell of the Elf Wars. "What was that about an adapter? Ah, it doesn't even matter, probably just something as useless as you. Why the hell didn't you tell me I had nanomachines earlier?" Omega asked with a voice filled with venom.
"You never asked." The projection snarked.
"When I get out of here, the first thing I'm going to do is figure out how to shut that mouth of yours. Just what kind of 'upgrades' did my nanomachines make, anyway?"
"They have enhanced your structure to duplicate the offensive capabilities of any particularly powerful reploids you, or to be more precise, Zero, engaged in combat long enough to analyze their abilities. You've had quite a lot of time to upgrade yourself, if your internal chronometer is accurate. I'm sure you're aware of the universal function of reploids to assimilate compatible components through implantation?"
"Of course, what kind of moron doesn't know what EX Skills are? ...Don't you dare answer that question." Omega growled, anticipating a derogatory remark from the aged scientist.
"Hrmph. Your nanomachines essentially duplicate the effect of EX Skill integration by altering their own structure and performing mitotic artificial reproduction at accelerated rates to produce weapons you've carefully examined before. Of course, you could always simply absorb the components like an EX Transplant to make the process faster."
"Damn, just how advanced are these nanomachines of yours?"
"More advanced than any variety of nanoscopic device that will be developed until 25XX at the very least. I put quite a lot of work into creating you, you know. I believe that the miscreant Weil developed his own batch of regenerative nanomachines based on yours after probing your body."
"25XX...I don't even...You've got an ego the size of an Illumina, you know that?" Omega recalled the massive war reploids that had been based on an experimental design from the Maverick Wars. Weil replicated a handful of them back in the Elf Wars, but they ended up either scrapped in combat or MIA. A damn shame, those things could level a battlefield fast enough to actually make Omega respect them. Grudgingly, of course.
"I've been told something along the lines of that before, yes."
"Meh." Omega made a nonchalant noise, his previous astonishment having faded away. "Got any idea which EX Skill would be best for crossing this thing?"
"I would advise that you use the Rose Whip, which is a vine-like construct composed of nanomachines that have self-altered their structure to resemble vege-"
"I don't need the science lecture grandpa, just the name." Omega complained to Wily as he scrolled through his internal list of EX Skills. 'Ah, Rose Whip. Let's see if this can actually do a good job or not.' Omega skimmed over an analysis of the EX Skill before selecting it for use. He thrust out his right arm, which morphed into a thorn-covered green vine with a metallic luster. The vine latched onto a stray metal bar that protruded from the roof, spreading roots across the surface of the bar and into the ceiling for additional support. He took a few steps back and then raced forward, leaping into the air as he swung on the surprisingly sturdy vine. At the peak of his swing, Omega detached the Rose Whip from his arm and fell onto one of the temporary platforms. The discarded vine withered, crumbling into a mess of inert nanomachines now that its purpose had been fulfilled. "Tch, better not stay on this thing too long." Omega murmured. He thrust out his arm again, producing another Rose Whip to latch onto the ceiling, repeating the process he performed earlier. After a good four or five more swings, the God of Destruction finally landed on the end of the spike-filled pit.
He encountered another door, but it seemed this one was functioning well enough to automatically open as he approached. He exited the corridor, only to discover another long expanse of cyberspace as he was greeted by several shots of energy rounds from fully operational security mechaniloids. The barrage of energy rounds simply bounced off his chassis like rubber balls. "Ha, now this is more like it!" Omega joyfully exclaimed as he rushed to combat the mess of robots. He ripped them apart as if they were wet paper with his bare hands, one by one, savoring every torn joint and spray of coolant he could cause. The stationary ones with the flamethrowers were a bit more annoying than the rest, but they fell just as easily to the God of Destruction as any other mere machine. Once he reached the end of the mechaniloid-filled plain, he entered another building, the interior of which felt less and less like the lucid dream of Cyberspace as he journeyed through it.
As he reached the deeper section of the facility, Omega felt a sense of unease overcome him, followed by anger. He found himself clenching his fists unintentionally, feeling as if he wanted to strangle someone with their own entrails. The only person who could ever make him feel this enraged was...
"Weil." He said to himself.
"Hm?" The voice of the doctor hummed in his mind. "What about him?"
Omega bit back a furious snarl. "I don't know, but I feel like the bastard is around here, leering at us like the sneaky little shit he is. I want to rip somebody's head off right now, even more than usual."
"Heh, it seems you'll get a chance to vent your frustrations yet. Whatever is in that next room is emitting quite a serious amount of power. It may possibly be a hostile reploid." Wily said, the slightest hint of concern present in his voice.
Omega wordlessly approached the door the doctor had mentally pointed him toward and sank his hands into it like knives into tinfoil. With a grunt, he ripped the door and small chunks of the surrounding wall from its hinges and tossed it aside forcefully, only to see a mess of metallic rubble in his way. 'I could just blast this out of the way, but where would be the fun in that?' He though, grinning dangerously. 'Lessee here...Quake Blazer, sounds about right.' Choosing the EX Skill for use, Omega unsheathed his saber and thrust it forward, the blade coated in fiery plasma. As the saber made contact, the debris violently exploded into a puddle of molten metal. 'Ooh, I like this one.' He thought. There were few things more enticing to Omega than the prospect of reducing his foes to screaming puddles of red-hot slag.
The crimson demon cautiously stepped around the cooling globules of scorched durasteel, entering a combat stance as he entered the room. The interior of the chamber appeared to be a mess of ruined rods, cables and power cells that were once hooked up to something in the center of the room, something which was missing. "So where is this 'power' of yours, Doc?" Omega snarked. "I'm so scared by this menacingly empty room of yours."
"Shut your mouth, the source of the power is right over...there." The doctor internally directed him to a small chunk of metal that appeared to have been completely scorched by some kind of short circuit.
"Huh? That's it?" Omega said as he picked up and inspected the piece of scrap in his hands. "It doesn't look like much." On a second glance, the object vaguely resembled the Greek symbol of his namesake, Omega. "Hmm, nice shape. This might make for a good souvenir or somethin'." He pocketed the stone and took another look around the room. "Any thoughts on this place, old man?"
"The structure of this room seems to match your diagram of the Space Cannon Ragnarok, specifically the primary power core containment chamber, sans core. That...stone of yours is saturated with the excess power you released from the Adapter. It probably was fried by the sheer power, but there is still much unique energy coming from it, likely from exposure to the reactor that was housed here."
Omega frowned. He used that term again, Adapter. Just what was that, anyway Was it some component that had been added in his regeneration? "Hey, old man, what's this adapter thing you keep rambling about?"
"It is...irrelevant. You're not ready to know about it yet." The doctor said with the faintest trace of apprehension.
"Not ready?! What do you mean I'm 'not ready?!' This is my damn body and I have every right to know what's going on inside it!"
"I'll explain it to you when you are ready, but you should be focusing on more important things. Like finding a way out of here."
Omega continued to shout increasingly offensive profanities at the A.I., filling the facility with his screams of rage as he ripped his way through more doors, security systems and mechaniloids...
Meanwhile, in another location entirely, an archaic, dust-coated computer sprang to life, chirping wildly as it displayed a readout on its screen for the first time in centuries.
"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! It looks like we've got a live one!" An unidentifiable figure cheerfully exclaimed.
"What." Another entity with a deeper and more somber voice said, more of a surprised statement than a question.
"Yup. It's just like mine, only a little different...and really strong, too! Just imagine what we could do with this! It could be the best stash of Lost Tech in a century! We'll be rich!"
"...You just want to see if you can absorb it for yourself, don't you? It doesn't even matter, that ancient sensor array is merely malfunctioning."
"Ehehe...not really, amigo. Maybe way back when, but money is more important than power in this day and age. Hurry up and get the carrier ready, we need to strike while the iron's hot!"
A pair of green goggles and a red visor glinted in the dim light of an aged repair bay, preparing to salvage whatever treasure may lie in wait...