By Amarok Tristalli, wif lotsa help from Cathin Yang

Author's notes: To all you lil' X fans, sorry, but he sounds like a girl, and I dislike him so I made him seem stupid and ditzy... Like a young schoolgirl. o_O;; =) Please R/R! This is my first MM fic!!! I'll add more chapters as I go along..... Please note, Megaman, Protoman, Zero, the Mavericks n' such are copyright Capcom, NOT me. X_x Lylandria IS copyright me, however. I'd like to thank Tyrablaze for letting me use her character, Aerin, in my story. :D
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At Maverick Hunter headquarters, the former Maverick-now-hunter named Zero lay asleep on a thick cot. He had a look of serenity and peace on his face as he slept, much different than his usual expression when he was awake.. The other Hunters might've ALMOST been fooled by it. Almost. When he was awake, Zero was a fast-talking, always cool and smooth, ready-to-fight reploid with one dark past. Zero never seemed happy, and you were much more likely to find a scowl on his face than a smile.

Zero's friend and fellow hunter, 10-year-old Mega man X, slowly walked into the room and shut the door behind him. Despite the age difference (Zero was 18), the two were good friends and almost at the same skill level. X peered down at Zero's unmoving form. "Hey, Zero!!! Wake up!!" There was no response at all. "Zeeeroooo, get up!!!!!" In a flash, Zero leapt up and pressed his plasma cannon to the side of X's head. "Zero!!!! It's me, Mega man X!!! What are you doi-"

X fell to the ground, a smoking heap of metal. Zero looked down at the hole through X's head and smirked evilly. "What a fool," he mused to himself. There was no room for weaknesses here.

Zero whipped around as a tall red reploid entered the room, a bright yellow scarf tied around his neck. The robot glimpsed down at the smoldering pile of metal on the floor and was immediately in hysterics. "OmiGOD!!!! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER?!"

Zero, in record time, reached behind his back and pulled out a glowing, fiery saber. He swiped at the other robot a few times until it fell to the ground with a thud... Decapitated. Zero smirked and tossed the head out a nearby window, watching to see if it hit a passing pedestrian.

Bbrreee! Bbrrreee!

An alarm sounded down the hall, and Zero scowled, seeing his fun had been interrupted. "DAMMIT!!!" he muttered under his breath. He looked out into a nearby hall and cautiously ran into it, his long blonde hair flowing behind him.

Before he could get anywhere, he found himself surrounded by Hunters who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "The game is up, Zero," one of them stated with a blank stare.

"NO!!!!" Zero screamed out in terror, the look of a cornered animal coming into his eyes. Panicking, he just started slashing at everything in sight. Things started getting fuzzy and everything was disappearing....
Going...
Going....
Gone.
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Zero opened an eye slowly, squinting at the harsh light coming in from a window. I must've fallen asleep again... God, I hate that dream, but it just won't go away.... And it's always the same thing..... He stumbled over to a nearby sink and splashed some water on his face. Zero frowned as he reached for a towel, seeing his drawn, pale, tired face in a mirror. 'Man, I'm really a mess,' he thought to himself. He groaned as someone knocked on the door of his quarters repeatedly. "I'll be there in a minute!" he yelled out. He made a quick attempt to look as awake as possible and stumbled to the door, opening it with a sigh.

A rookie stood there and stuttered, "Zero, sir, there is a MAJOR emergency, here... Protoman, he..." The rookie gulped. "He attacked some of the other maverick hunters and just... Ran off..." The rookie babbled on.
Zero's eyes narrowed and he cut him off, tired of the nonsense. "I understand," he stated, despite the fact he really didn't. 'I can get the scoop on what REALLY happened from a medic... Or someone that actually has some SENSE in them...' Zero ran into his room and grabbed his helmet, tying his hair back as he went back out to the rookie who just stood there, staring. "Rookie, don't you have something to do?..." He trailed off and groaned as the rookie just stared at him. 'Juuusstt great.' Zero began to walk down the hall, the rookie following him like a dog.
Zero was appalled to see the number of bleeding or injured MH's along the hall as he walked along it. He eventually paused at a medic who was wrapping gauze bandages around a hunter's arm. "Excuse me, but... Can you tell me what HAPPENED here?" He gestured to the surrounding chaos.

The medic looked up at him and sighed sadly. "About half an hour ago I was passing by Protoman's quarters when I heard some strange, incoherent rambling. The next thing I know, Protoman has smashed through is own door and is running about BLASTING people and innocents. The reason so many are injured is because it just happened so quickly, we didn't really know what was going on... After a while we had gotten close to getting him subdued, but he suddenly leapt out through a WINDOW! (This is the 23rd floor, mind you)"

Zero nodded distantly to the medic and wandered to the end of the hall where bots were cleaning up a huge mess of shattered glass. He frowned and looked out of the open void where the window used to be. 'I know that Protoman is still alive, probably doing just fine, too... Even that kind of fall wouldn't hurt him... But WHY would he do this... God, I don't have the time for this mess....' "What's your name, Rookie?"

The rookie about fell over, so excited that Zero had even noticed he was still there. " G-Gisal, sir."

"Gisal.... I need you to do me a favor. Go down to the offices on the 16th floor and bring me…" He thought for a moment. "Bring me Mega man X and Aerin, yes. And if Aerin complains about me being too lazy to do something about this, tell her that that's just too bad and that I'm not the one who's off doing pointless paperwork. And even if she looks like she's about to kill you, don't run from her. She's harmless, really." With that he walked off down the hall, leaving the rookie with a look that was a mix of confusion and happiness at being given a job.
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In a swivel chair somewhere in the offices of MH headquarters, the Maverick Hunter Aerin, a Sklandor (in a human form) looking to be in her mid-twenties, sat spinning around and staring at the ceiling. Aerin was tall with an athletic build, gained from much fighting. She had a look of boredom on her face, as if she'd rather be off battling than sitting here in a cramped office. Her long brown hair fell about halfway down her back, and her thoughtful, murky gray eyes peered about the room. She wore thick leather boots (they were currently propped up on a desk), tan shorts, and a tan shirt, and wore a belt containing pouches of healing herbs and such. A long white cape covered the two swords that lay in their sheathes across her back.

'WHY did I volunteer to do this again?... Someone PLEASE remind me... I mean, I thought I could get out of training ROOKIES or something of the like by doing this, but I never realized how damn BORING it was gonna be....'

Gisal ran into the room at that time, interrupting her thoughts."Excuse me… Aerin, Ma'am, Zero needs to see you RIGHT away. He says it's urgent..."

Aerin rolled her eyes at the rookie inwardly and fought to keep her disdain unseen. "PLEASE be a bit more specific..."

Gisal took a barely-seen step backwards. "You are to get Megaman X and go to the meeting room on Floor 3, East Wing. I don't know what Zero wants you to do, Ma'am, I'm sorry."

Aerin grinned. YES, I'm so out of here... She was so glad to be out of the room that she ran out without even saying a word to the rookie.
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"I called you both here because I need your help. Protoman is out there somewhere, and I need you two to bring him back here. Please try NOT to engage in any sort of conflict with him," Zero stated, giving Aerin a look that meant Violence bad, "... and try and figure out what's wrong with him. I'll give you guys some tracking devices to aid in this, so you won't be TOTALLY clueless on what to do...."

"Can Rush come, too?!" Mega man asked with the excitement of a drunken rookie.

Zero shrugged and gave him an amused smile. "Sure, kid, if it really makes you that happy. And Aerin, you go and take Blue with you, too. You never know, they may be helpful!"

X was ecstatic and looked like he was going to explode with happiness at any second. Aerin merely nodded an acknowledgement.

"When will we be heading out?" Aerin asked, peering at Zero curiously.

Zero crossed his arms and got the serious "In control" look on his face. "You should probably be leaving tomorrow morning, or simply as soon as possible. I would advise you leave today, personally." Aerin began chuckling quietly at the expression on his face, but stopped when Zero raised an eyebrow and glared at her. "And just what are YOU laughing at?"

Aerin, obviously trying to hide her laughter, merely stated, "Oh, nothing…"

X just squealed like a schoolgirl, grabbed Aerin's arm, and dragged her off happily. "C'mon, let's go get ready!!!!!!!"

This left Zero alone to contemplate whatever it was he may have been thinking about… Zero's thoughts were mainly centered on this whole Protoman ordeal. It simply made NO sense at all! He tried to think of why Protoman could've done this, but upon reaching no conclusion, drifted off into a fitful sleep…

'I have to... There is no other choice... They must ALL die... It's the only way out, and you know it... Just let go of yourself... Let all of the years of pain out...'

"DAMMIT!" Zero woke up with a start, sitting up in the chair he had fallen asleep in. He moved the blinds on a window, frowning. 'It's night already?... I must've been more tired than I thought. But for once... I don't want to go to sleep.' Zero rubbed his eyes and prepared himself for a long night.
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Protoman rested against a tree and shook his head. 'Why am I here?... I wish I knew. Yesterday is so fuzzy, I can't even remember what I did.' Protoman only knew one thing anymore: He had to keep running. 'Come to think of it, I don't really even know WHY I'm running. But I can't stop now, now that I've already started...'
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"Hey! You! Wake up!!!!!!"

Zero opened an eye slowly. Through the morning fuzziness he could make out a figure shoving him. He scrunched up in the chair the most he could and muttered, "Leave me 'lone..."

"Come ooonn!!!" The voice would NOT shut up. "You big lump, I've been waiting for you to get up ALL DAY!!" Zero finally sat up, groaning, and brushed a strand of hair out of his face. The voice droned on in the background. "HEY!!! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?! IT IS TWO IN THE AFTERNOON!!! I have been standing here patiently for the past three hours and I am very, VERY tired of waiting."

Zero turned around. His eyes widened as he saw his who had been pestering him. The person who had been shoving him was like a female version of Magma Dragoon, except she appeared to be a totally organic creature, and besides, her armor was black and blue, not red. The girl had long, wavy brown hair that fell just past her waist. Her large brown eyes showed a look of curiosity and intelligence, and she had a small smile on her face. A katana lay in its sheathe across her back. She looked to be a formidable fighter, capable in her own right. Zero's eyes widened, a bit, well, frightened by the girl's odd appearance.

"What are you looking at?" she enquired, a bit of a smirk appearing on her face.

Zero answered with his own question."Who ARE you?"

The girl rolled her eyes and began rattling off a list of titles. "The name is Lylandria Dragoon - Daughter of the maverick Magma Dragoon, leader of sector B 27, ruler of the Volcanic area and Sky Lagoon."

Zero sighed and rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. "So where's the fire? That's rather far away, so you probably have a good reason to be here. Either that or you're just plain crazy."

Lylandria gave him a glare that simply stated, don't mess with me. "God, YOU guys are the ones that sent me over here, and you don't even know WHY?" She sighed and shook her head. " I'm supposed to teach your people the layout of the Sky Lagoon. We've suspected -and recently confirmed- the whereabouts of a Maverick base in the area. We're planning to attack there as soon as you guys are informed about it." She shrugged. "That's pretty much all there is to it. Oh, I'll also be training some of your rookies a bit in my spare time," she said with a sigh, loathing the thought of being anywhere around rookies.

Zero snorted. "YOU hardly look like you're old enough or capable enough to be training ANYBODY."

Lylandria put her hands on her hips and growled out, "I'm SIXTEEN."

Zero frowned. "Why would they send someone like you and at YOUR age on this mission?"

The girl's eyes flashed red, and suddenly she seemed a lot taller. She clenched her teeth, and in a second, Zero found himself pressed up against a wall by the girl. She put her face close to his and snarled. "BECAUSE I AM. THE BEST. AT WHAT I DO." She dropped him to the floor and stomped out of the room without saying another word.

Zero groaned and shook his head. "Great going, Zero, you've already made an enemy and you just woke up… I'd better go apologize to her, if she's gonna be around for a while..." With that thought in mind, he grabbed his helmet and rushed off to find the girl.
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"Do we know where my brother is??? Are we almost there yet??? Can we eat soon???" X never shut up.

Aerin growled. They had only been gone for half a day and X was already getting on her nerves with annoying questions. She sighed, frustrated, and said, "X, save the questions for later, PLEASE. I don't know how we're going to find Protoman, and I certainly don't know when we'll get "There". I don't care if you're hungry, I don't see a restaurant around here, do you?"

X scuffled at the ground and sighed. "No, I guess not..."

"Okay, it's settled then," she snapped impatiently, but seeing the dismal look on his face, she added afterwards, "BUT I brought some food along with me, so let's find a place to stop and eat."

"K!!!!" X scrambled ahead happily with Rush, stopping at a clearing a bit further.

Aerin signaled for Blue to follow her and ran to catch up with X, wishing she could've just gone by herself instead of dragging X along. It would've been SO much faster that way...

She sat down next to X, tossing her pack in his hands. "There's food somewhere in there," she muttered, her mind wandering to other things, namely Protoman. 'I wonder what REALLY happened… Protoman would never do that on purpose… It's really not like him at all...' She tried to think of past times, hints of something going wrong that would make him like that.. 'It's no use, Proto would never do that if he was in his right mind. The only weird thing that ever happened was the way that Protoman would act when he was asleep... Sometimes he'd say odd things...-'

"Hey! Aerin, aren't you gonna eat anything?" X stared at Aerin questioningly.
Aerin sighed and shoved some food towards Blue, who muttered a quick thanks and began eating. "I'm just not that hungry, I guess... Besides, Blue looked hungrier than me."

X stared at her for a moment, then smiled blankly and said, "Whatever you want!"

Aerin bit her lip. "You wait here a sec! I'm going to ask someone at Headquarters to do something for me, okay? I'll just be gone a moment while I use the com-link."

Aerin stood up slowly and walked out of earshot, stopping behind some bushes. She pulled out a device that looked similar to a laptop, flipping it open and placing it on her lap. Aerin flipped on the screen, drumming her fingers impatiently as she waited for Maverick Hunter HQ to be dialed.

The screen slowly flickered on, and a rather angry looking girl appeared on the screen. "Whaddaya want?" she grunted, her arms crossed.

Aerin blinked. 'Woah, that girl looks just like Magma Dragoon.... I wonder what one of THEIR kind is doing there....' "Er, I need you to go tell Doctor Cain that I NEED the records of Protoman's sleeping patterns. Tell him to transfer them over to, um.... Quadrant 5A. Now step on it!" Aerin tapped a foot on the ground.

The girl got a look of extreme annoyance on her face. "I am NOT a rookie messenger, to do whatever you bid me to!"

Aerin, tired of this girl, snapped, "Well, with that stance you certainly LOOK like a rookie, and you're damn well ACTING like one!!!"

The other girl snorted in disgust and said, "My name is Lylandria Dragoon, daughter of Magma Dragoon. I'm a Master Maverick Hunter and leader of Sector Five in the Sky Lagoon…. Who are YOU?"

Aerin blinked and said, " Aerin, master warrior and Master Maverick Hunter, inheritant of the Sklandor kingdom and Co-leader of Maverick Hunter HQ."
They both blinked, and there was a moment of awkward silence. Lylandria cleared her throat. "… I'll tell Dr. Cain for you…"

The conversation could've ended there, but Aerin blurted out, "Hey, um, have you talked to Zero yet??? That's what most newcomers do first."
Lylandria nodded. "Yes, as a matter of fact, that's the first thing I myself did. He didn't know who I was either, and he certainly doesn't win the warm welcome award… He was pretty cute, but he wasn't exactly the nicest person in the world."

Aerin smiled inwardly. She really doubted that there was any chance here of some newcomer getting Zero to fall for her. It wasn't that she herself really liked him a lot, she just wanted Zero free… You never knew what might happen. "One last question and I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing, okay??? How old are you, anyways?? Pardon my asking, I'm just curious."

Lylandria sighed. 'WHY is everyone asking me this today?' she thought to herself. "Sixteen, alright? Bye." She closed the connection.

As Lylandria turned around to exit the room, she found Zero leaning against the doorway. She blushed a crimson red. "OmiGOD, did you hear that entire conversation?" Zero shrugged and closed his eyes. "Oh, if she's your girlfriend, I'm so sorry for being mean to her, and I'm sorry for not being nice about you."

Zero opened an eye. "No, she's not my girlfriend… I haven't gone out with anyone since Iris died…" A look of pain came over his face momentarily, but he quickly covered it up. "Oh, and you were right about me… I wasn't being very nice to you…" He held out a hand. "Sorry… New start?"

She smiled and shook his hand. "Okay, new start… I'll forget about earlier. Well, you heard what Aerin said, I'd better go do what she asked me to." She ran off to Dr. Cain's lab quickly to hide the blush on her face.
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"Didja get what you wanted to get done?" X asked Aerin when she
walked back in.

Aerin glanced at him. "Sort of." 'I don't like that girl. I don't like leaving her with Zero. She's a DRAGOON.'

X raised an eyebrow. "You look kinda depressed."

"Well, er... You see, there's this girl who just arrived at Maverick HQ, and I'm afraid that Zero will like her, and I'm not sure what side she's o-"
"How come?" X asked, not understanding.

"Oh, it's nothing, X… You just forget I said anything, okay?" X got a puzzled look on his face for a moment, but soon forgot about it.

A whiles away, Protoman cackled evilly. 'They'll never catch up with me! What fools, they've probably just sent a couple ROOKIES to find me!" Protoman froze and suddenly got a look of utter confusion on his face. 'What am I thinking? Why would anyone be mad at me, going after me? What am I doing here?' A voice in Protoman's head told him, 'Run, Protoman, just run.. It's all you can do… Don't let them find you, they'll destroy you if that happens…' Protoman felt - knew - he had to do this, so he started running away once again, not even really knowing what he was running away from…
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Lylandria opened the door to Dr. Cain's lab. "Dr. Cain, I need your he-" Dr. Cain lay on the floor in front of Lylandria, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. "Oh my GOD," she breathed out and rushed into the room. She leaned down in front of Doctor Cain, looking closer at him, and saw that his throat had been slit with some type of blade. Purplish blue blood slowly bubbled out of his mouth onto the floor and all over his lab coat.

Lylandria froze as she heard the click of the door shutting. In a flash second, she grabbed her saber and swerved around. Someone HAD shut the door. "WHO'S THERE???!!!" she yelled out. She glanced about the room… Nobody was there, but… She noticed a sharp, metallic feather on the floor, covered in Dr. Cain's blood, and something was being reflected in it… Something moving… Lylandria turned around and slashed at the first thing to move… Sting Chameleon's tongue. "You'll pay, Maverick!" she hissed, grabbing the lizard-like robot.

"Not so fast, foolish Hunter…" a deep, smooth voice said from above her. Storm Eagle landed in front of her, crouching down, and, before she knew what has happening, flitted a wing into her stomach. Seeing that his wings were made of razor sharp steel, this was enough to kill anyone. Lylandria clutched her stomach (attempting to keep all of her organs in, no doubt) as thick, red blood began spurting out everywhere. The last thing she heard before slipping into darkness was, "Come, Sting Chameleon... We must leave this place, now, before any alarms are sounded...."