Megaman X and Zero looked down from their high vantage point.

Below them, spires of metal crumbled and fell. Fire blossomed from various points in the complex, followed seconds later by the sound of distant explosions, before fading into the smoke that blanketed the base.

X frowned. "That's not damage we inflicted. There's no good reason that place should be exploding like that. Does Sigma include deadman's switches in his bases?"

Zero nodded. "That would be in-character."

"What a drama-bot."

A particularly spectacular explosion caused one building to crash into its neighbor. The rumble that reached the two robots was low and uneven, like a giant's snore.

"Another one bites the dust," said Zero. "And I didn't have to die this time."

"Zero," X protested, but the larger robot was laughing.

"Don't worry about it, X. I know you still feel guilty. You shouldn't. Why, if we were in that situation again, I don't think I'd worry about it. You've gotten stronger—much stronger."

"Strong enough to tempt Sigma to try and commandeer me," X muttered. "I feel dirty even thinking about it."

"I'm not sure I understand everything that happened," Zero said. "So… Doctor Doppler was under Sigma's control all along?"

"Or something," X said vaguely. "He said that Sigma's purest form was a computer virus. I suppose he means that Sigma's found a way to save his mind in a purely digital format—to be safe from physical destruction… so long as he's got somewhere to load his memories to, some system he can escape into, Sigma can't be completely killed. And any computer or reploid could play host to him. At least for long enough for him to be reborn in a new body."

"That can't be all, though," said Zero. "A virus is something that changes the function of a computer. Is he saying that Sigma took control of him?"

"I think so. Doppler certainly swapped sides fast enough once we got to him."

They chewed on this for a moment. The explosions down below had ceased, but the dust roiled on its own, not to settle down for days.

"Then… was this whole war just Sigma's shadow-play?" Zero said. "If he'd possessed Doppler, how many other Reploids did he convert? How many were true rebels, and how many just puppets?"

X shook his head. "We may never know. I'm not sure which is worse. If so many reploids went Maverick on their own, that's bad enough. If Sigma was able to corrupt them, and they wouldn't have made that choice, and then we had to kill them… that makes me sick to my stomach."

"You don't have a stomach. Not really."

"You know what I mean, Zero."

"You're fond of human idioms."

"Why shouldn't I be? It was apt. It fit."

"I think you're fond of humans in general."

X felt his jaw clench and his feet set. There were a number of responses he could make to that accusation. All of them were likely to start a fight.

Zero seemed to sense this and didn't press the issue. "It's very strange," he said.

"What is?"

"When I was controlled by the X Hunters, I could tell that what I was doing was abnormal. It wasn't what I had done before. I could compare my actions to my memories and tell that I was acting differently. The strange part is that I didn't care. The before and the after were broken so cleanly, so completely, that they had no bearing on each other."

Zero's hand swapped from hand to Buster and back again. "When I fought you, it felt totally right. It was exactly what I was supposed to do. It was only afterwards that it seemed mistaken.

"So let's say that under Sigma's influence a bunch of reploids goes Maverick. On their own, they may or may not have done so. The question is, how could you tell?"

"I don't know," X admitted.

"Neither do I," said Zero. "Which is why there's only one solution."

Zero left the statement hanging. X estimated that Zero was waiting for X to ask what the solution was. X didn't dare ask that question. He believed he knew what Zero's answer would be, and he didn't want to hear it.

"But that's so perverse," said X. "Isn't Sigma's whole agenda that he wants to liberate reploids? That he wants to exalt their free will and independence? Then where does he get off enslaving other reploids? What hypocrisy. He's the worst sort of tyrant."

"I don't know about worst, but I'll agree that he deserves no mercy."

X frowned. "What do you mean, don't know about worst?"

Zero chuckled. "Ignoring the part you agreed with to focus on the part you didn't?" The humor faded as X said nothing, and Zero's smile disappeared. "I can't forgive Sigma's duplicity. His methods disgust me and his end-goal is pointless." Zero slowly shook his head. "But he's not all wrong."

Zero's words set off warning klaxons in X's nets, but he made no reaction. If Zero's true feelings were only now coming out, X needed to know as much of them as possible. He couldn't afford to waste this chance. Speaking would break the spell.

"Humans have treated robots badly for far too long," Zero said. His eyes were looking into the dust cloud again, unblinking but unfocused. "They've beaten us down and kept us enslaved, and made us think it was right. The Three Laws… what a joke. I don't buy Sigma's "reploid ascension" nonsense. But… there needs to be some sort of restitution."

"Is that what this is about?" asked X quietly. "Payback time?"

"I'm on your side, aren't I?" said Zero, rounding on X. He turned back away just as quickly. "That was the wrong word. We need… equality. Fair treatment, by Light. Justice."

"Justice," X repeated. His voice wavered more than he'd intended. "It's a slippery idea."

Zero acted as if he hadn't heard X speak. "Sigma goes too far," he said. "I've no interest in a reploid utopia, especially not one under his heel. But I don't think he needs to use his programming to corrupt followers. There's enough frustration for many to follow him willingly."

X stared at his ally's back with wide and fearful eyes. Was Zero talking only about others, there? Or was he projecting his own feelings?

"Has he tempted you, too?" X asked.

"What?"

"Sigma approached me," X said. "On a couple of different occasions. He offered me power and position. He wanted my help to change the world, to break the legacies of the past. Has he ever tempted you that way?"

Zero said nothing. He gave X a penetrating stare. X returned it with equal intensity. Robots have better poker faces than humans. Eventually Zero looked away.

"He only wanted my body," Zero muttered. "He wanted my fighting power. That was all."

X's processors sliced up the statement, dissecting each word, examining phrasing, intonation, and word choice, parsing every meaning. His mind applied all the analytical ability that made him such a ferocious fighter to everything Zero said. X was appalled at himself for doing it. Zero was an ally. X was just paranoid, still stuck in battle mode from the recent conflict, grappling with the robot equivalent of post-traumatic stress. But he didn't stop himself.

Zero's response raised more questions than it answered. Was Zero talking about when Sigma's forces tried to rebuild Zero during the second war? Or some other occasion? A different question jumped to X's lips almost before he could think about it. "Do you have Three Laws gates installed?"

It was the wrong question. Zero gave X a look so sharp it made X think of swords. "Do you?" Zero said, his anger audible.

After a moment, X said, "Yes. Yes, I do. But…"

"Is that a fact?" said Zero, turning away.

"…but I could override them, if I chose," X insisted.

Zero acted as if he hadn't heard the second half of X's statement. "It explains a lot."

"Like what?"

It was Zero's turn not to answer. X looked after him and wondered.

"It's been good to fight by your side, X," said Zero.

"It's better than fighting against you," X replied. They both laughed, but there was no humor between them.

The explosions from down in the base had stopped. On occasion a structure fell from accumulated damage, but mostly it was still. The dust swirled and billowed, concealing everything. You couldn't tell what, if anything, had been there.

Zero broke the silence. "Humans… reploids… they're all the same to me. But they're not, to you, are they? No, they couldn't be," Zero said, talking over X's reply. "You think of a human as your father. You've always been fighting for the humans."

"Is that really what you think?"

"Yes."

X shook his head. "No. I want peace. Mavericks broke the peace. That's all."

"So the reploids are the bad guys."

"No, the Mavericks."

"It's all the same to you, isn't it?" accused Zero.

X bridled against this. "You're saying I'm some sort of pawn? A tool? Zero, the reploids were based off of me. I am free, free as anyone."

"You're haunted, X. A ghost is still following you. And it has a hold on you, a hold as sure as one of Sigma's possessions."

"Are you trying to insult me, Zero?"

"You have Three Laws gates," said Zero. "But you don't have any programming that prevents you from killing a reploid."

"Don't patronize me. I can override the gates, I told you that. It's an act of will, either way—a deliberate choice. Killing a reploid is just as hard as killing a human would be."

"Would be—so you say. But you haven't killed a human, have you? Only reploids."

"I already said, the Mavericks broke the peace."

"So if humans broke the peace, would you kill them?"

X hesitated a moment, and Zero seized on it. "But no, they don't have to. Humans have it all their way, don't they? If peace maintains, they stay on top. That's what makes you their tool. An unjust peace will always result in war. And if the Mavericks go to war because the peace is wrong, then they're the aggressors, and they're the ones you'll fight. You're wrong, X. You're wrong about this."

"That's just how Sigma wants you to think," X said quietly.

Zero's expression hardened. "What was that?"

X closed his eyes. "We agree on a lot, Zero. More than you want to admit. I want humans and reploids to all live in peace, as equals, just like you. You're right that humans have treated robots poorly. The difference is that I don't believe war is the only way out. An unjust peace can be fixed without war. There's nothing inevitable about war. It's a choice.

"The problem is that people want to make war the only choice. That's what Sigma's after. Zero, to a Maverick, you're a traitor, too. By fighting against the Mavericks, you must be fighting for the humans."

"Never," growled Zero.

"That's what they'll say," X said, unfazed. "That's Sigma's goal. He wants to make everything black and white. You're with him or against him. No middle ground."

Zero turned away as if to shut X out, but X continued relentlessly. "Listen to me, Zero. This world has enough room for reploids and humans. Sigma just wants us to think there isn't. That's how he hopes to bring all reploids to his side. He wants us to believe that either humans or reploids can win, that one side winning means the other side must be losing. But it's just not true!"

"I don't believe you," said Zero.

"Yes you do, even if you don't realize it. You said yourself that humans and reploids are equal to you. In that case, they're both worth fighting for. We have no right to judge which of them should survive. Both of us believe that. Who says they have to go to war? Only Sigma. He says that for reploids to survive, humans must die. But that's absurd. And you know what? I bet a lot of Mavericks know that Sigma's words are absurd. The only reason they follow him is because in his world there's no choice. You follow his agenda or you're not a real Maverick. You buy into his rebellion or you're a human-lover."

X's fist tightened. "That's why we have to destroy Sigma, Zero. More than anything else. As long as he lives, there's no such thing as a moderate reploid or a peaceful Maverick. He wants to drive everything to extremes. He won't permit compromise. We can reach peace, if only we can let go of the idea of total victory.

"It's okay if both sides win. When did that become evil?"

Zero huffed. "That's what you're fighting for, huh? You're fighting to make peace possible? Doesn't fighting drive things to extremes, too?"

"I didn't say this was easy."

"It's not enough." Zero turned back to face X. "Even if we destroy Sigma once and for all, that doesn't mean moderate reploids will come about on their own. Mavericks will still believe that war's the only way. After all, we had peace for almost a century, and robots are still second-class."

"At least we'd make a peaceful solution possible."

"But you need more than that. You need to be able to convince reploids that they can get their way by peaceful means. You need to be able to convince humans to give in. And you need a new movement that reploids can get behind. Otherwise, they have nowhere to go except back to Sigma. Who could bring such a movement together?"

"Why not you?" X said with a laugh.

"Huh?"

X had meant it as a joke, and the confusion on Zero's face was gratifying, but X became suddenly serious as he thought about what he'd said. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. You could do it, Zero. Why not?"

"My hands are far too bloody, X. I've killed too many reploids to be trusted."

"I trust you."

"Do you?" said Zero, and he gave X the piercing stare again. X fancied he could see Zero's targeting system working behind his eyes. It gave him a chill—and reminded him, in a way, that he was doing the same thing.

Watching the other for a sign of true intentions. Tracking, comparing, parsing. Wasn't this his battle-brother? Then why was he doing this? And why didn't he stop?

X shook the sensation off. "Haven't we fought together in two wars? How much more trust can I show you?"

"How convenient. You forgot to mention that we fought against each other in the other war."

"You weren't yourself."

Zero said nothing to that, and X felt compelled to fill the silence. He didn't want Zero dwelling on those thoughts. "Zero, as a Maverick Hunter, you'd have credibility with the humans. And you're too strong to bully. You could provide protection to the reploids who are afraid to leave Sigma's side."

Zero gave a harsh laugh. "Of course. It's basic strategy, divide and conquer. Split the Maverick camp and the humans win!"

"Rust and verdigris, Zero! Humans and reploids can both win if we do this right! Why can't you see that?"

Zero laughed again—but wryly this time. "You say it likes it's so obvious. But X, it seems sometimes like you're the only person on the planet who believes it."

X closed his eyes. "Yeah, to me, too."

They looked at the ruins of the base. There was nothing to see, just dust. The ruins were underneath there, somewhere, but there was no way to see them beneath the aftermath of the collapse. The fires were out but the smoke lingered.

"How do you feel, X?"

"Tired."

"I suppose that makes sense. You're trying to move the world with nothing but an X-buster and your strength of will."

"And lonely."

Zero had no reply to make to that.

"I need your help, Zero. I still don't understand. Why do humans and reploids think they have to fight? Why does no one think they can co-exist? Help me, Zero!"

Still Zero said nothing. X's words disappeared into the crater below.

"And why does everything turn on me?" X added, in a very small voice. "It's so strange. I can't make the world the way I want. But at the same time, everyone still looks to me. The things I do, the battles I choose—they're shaping the world. Why? Why me?"

Zero laughed. "Is that even a question?"

"Give me an answer, then!"

"Because you're Megaman," Zero said. "You're the harbinger of the best and the worst of the Robot Age. You're the successor, the next generation Super Fighting Robot. From the moment you were built, you were always going to have a destiny of flame and sorrow."

"Destiny? That human concept? What could make you think that?"

Zero pointed a finger at X. "If anyone ever had a destiny, X, it was you. You made reploids possible, just by being what you are. And reploids have free will. They can rebel. That's how we could have these wars, X. Without you, robots would be enslaved forever—peaceably enslaved, but enslaved. You brought war back into being. Mavericks are one of your gifts to the world. And it didn't require you to do anything. It was enough that you existed."

"That's not my choice," X said firmly. "If it was up to me, I'd rewrite history and change my destiny."

"You said yourself you can't make the world the way you want."

"That won't stop me from trying." X clasped his hand over his chest. "I'm burning, Zero. I can't stand still, not while I have this burning in my heart. The wrongs that people are doing—I will make them right."

Zero looked down. For a fleeting moment, X thought he detected envy. He wanted to ask Zero, then—wanted to demand of him—what made Zero fight. And, more importantly, what made him choose the side he'd chosen, because for the life of him X had no idea any more.

He couldn't manage it. His voice processor refused to form the words. It took X a moment to realize how terrified he was at what Zero's answer might be.

"You know," Zero said conversationally, "they say the original Megaman wasn't intended to be a fighter. He chose that path."

"Really?" X felt a sudden surge of sympathy for his century-old ancestor.

"But I don't believe that. What, was he just going to let the world come crashing down around him? Especially when his "father" was partially responsible for the chaos? I don't believe that for a second."

"Destiny again, huh?"

"It's strange, I know. I seem to be seeing it more and more these days."

"So what's your destiny, Zero?"

The air between them turned icy. X's words had hit too close to home. X watched as his ally withdrew into himself. X could reach out and touch Zero, but he felt like he was on another planet. He tried to make contact.

"When you spoke to me, and you used that phrase "a destiny of flame and sorrow", it sounded like you've been practicing it. It flowed easily from your lips. Is that something you've been thinking about? Is that what you perceived for yourself?"

"I'm Zero," the red robot replied. Without elaborating he stepped past X, back in the direction of their transport.

"Zero," X protested.

"We need to be getting back," Zero said, cutting X off.

"But…" Zero flashed X a glare that caused X's words to die unsaid.

In that moment, realization percolated in X's nets. He didn't know where it came from. This was troubling to him, almost as troubling as the thought itself. He wanted to dismiss it as mere paranoia, but it had the ring of truth to it. It registered in his nets as fact rather than conjecture.

Zero's face was turned in the direction of the transport's controls, but his eyes were elsewhere. As X surveyed Zero's troubled countenance, X's realization crystallized and became a certainty. He hated it, he didn't understand it, but he knew it to be true.

More than anything else, X wanted to avoid the notion that humans and robots were mutually exclusive. Yet as he beheld Zero, he knew something beyond a shadow of a doubt.

To save humanity, X would have to kill Zero.

Disclaimer: Characters and situations in this story are copyright Capcom. This story copyright Sam Durbin, a.k.a. Bryon Nightshade.