Astro's Mega Journey
Disclaimer: I don't own Astro Boy (2003) and/or Mega Man X. Only their respective companies do. What if, Astro was whisked away into the twenty-second century by a time portal and into Mega Man X's timeline? This is an alternate story of Mega Man X4 (along with X5, X6, X7 and X8) and it also takes place after the final episode of Astro Boy (2003). Read & Review and please, no flames! Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Astro Meets The Maverick Hunters
It was another beautiful day in Metro City, ever since Astro has managed to maintain peace between humans and robots.
In the years that has passed, both factions continue to flourish in pure harmony.
However, only one man is still not convinced of co-existing with robots and that person is Drake. He only considers them to be an abomination and wanted nothing more than to see them destroyed, including Astro. But despite his last attempt, he ultimately failed and was sent to prison by Detective Tawashi; regardless of his protest.
Than one day, he escaped from Metro City Jail and is once again up to his old tricks. He returns to his fabled home and created a time machine using various robot junk and other robotic materials. Therefore, he would travel into the past and ensure that Astro didn't exist at all.
By activating the control panel, a large blue hole with black swirls appears in-front of him and is looking to re-write history until Astro arrives in the nick of time and throws a wicked punch to Drake's jaw.
He was about to crawl back to the time machine and continue, but not until Astro fires a laser beam from his fingertip that causes him to lose his balance.
This causes him to slam his elbow onto the keyboard and fall flat on his back.
As a result, the time machine started to scramble rapidly and later, some small electricity was surrounding it. Before long, the on-screen image shows the destination year: 21XX. And then, it begins to absorb everything inside with its sheer velocity. Drake immediately heads for the nearest exit until he is stopped by the Metro City Police, led by Dr. O' Shay, Yuko Kisaragi and Detective Tawashi.
They right away arrest him with handcuffs and escort the ruthless man downstairs.
Once the police had taken care of Drake, Dr. O' Shay becomes very shocked to see a strange portal trying to take Astro inside. "Astro! Get away from there!"
Astro tries to escape from being transported into a different dimension, but the massive time portal continues to build up more speed and his rocket boots had overheated. He quickly grabs hold onto the antenna and struggles to hang on, just as he sees Dr. O' Shay extending his hand. out to him. "Doctor! Yuko! That hole is trying to take me in!"
"Hang on, Astro! Hurry! Take my hand!" As he clutches onto the pipeline of an electricity box, Astro tries to reach out and grab Dr. O' Shay's hand.
Unfortunately, the time portal had picked up more adrenaline and it forced Astro to lose his grip from the antenna and got sucked inside the hole.
"Astro!" called Dr. O' Shay as he and Yuko both watch helplessly in horror to see Astro disappear into the time portal.
Afterwards, the time machine had shut down due to its overuse of power.
Tears started to appear in Dr. O' Shay's eyes and sank down to his knees. "Astro...no. Where did you end up?"
Even Yuko began to shed tears for Astro's departure.
Elsewhere in the year 21XX, a large blue hole appeared from the sky and Astro had popped out from it.
As he opened his eyes, he continues to fall until he sees a mysterious building that looks to be headquarters. Just then, his rocket boots had backed up and was able to fly to safety. "Whew! That was close." This was the least of his worries as thick black clouds covered the whole sky and lightning flashed across, while the thunder roared. He then surveyed the premises and realizes that he's in a different world. "That's odd. What is this place?" Suddenly, his amplification ears had been activated to a nearby conversation coming from that very building and as the storm continues on, Astro listens carefully to a private conversation from outside, while he activates his special voice recording feature:
Unknown: "It's about the Maverick Hunters, General. They are far too eager to please the humans and continue to hunt down the Reploids. Do you believe they pose a significant threat?"
General: "Perhaps."
Unknown: "You already know the truth, General. Their sole mission has been to destroy any Reploids who fail to do as the humans order!"
General: "Hmm…"
Unknown: "It's in your best interest to stop them now, before they turn on you! You possess enough power to destroy them!"
General: "…You are dismissed."
Unknown: "What?!"
General: "I will not betray the humans. Remove yourself from my sight. My business with you has concluded…"
Unknown: "Heh, Heh, Heh…very well. But you will change your mind soon, I assure you! Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha…Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!"
After listening to the conversation, Astro shuts off his voice recording program and became very concerned regarding the mysterious figure talking to the General. "I don't know who they are, but that second person sounds very troubling. If that's not surprising, where exactly am I?"
Just as he was about to contemplate his arrival in this strange new world, a massive green winged robotic creature flew across the sky and is heading to a floating island nearby.
Believing that it might attack the floating island, Astro quickly makes haste. "Whatever that is, I can't let it go near that island! I have to stop it!" He manages to catch-up with the flying green robotic creature and had no trouble avoiding its laser orbs shooting from out of its mouth, while preventing it from reaching its destination. Finally, he grabs its tail, hoists it up in the air and throws it to the ground.
It fires more electric orbs, but Astro counter-attacks with a laser cannon from his arm and blasted the green robotic creature right through its chest, where it resulted in a huge explosion.
"That takes care of it." He then spots two mysterious figures running on the bridge. One was a blue Reploid with a red gem on its helmet and next to him was a red Maverick Hunter with a yellow ponytail. Not knowing of whom they are, he zooms over the bridge and listens to their conversation with his amplification ears.
"Hey, X. Let's hurry and head to the main reactor."
"You got it, Zero. We can't allow the Mavericks to plummet the Sky Lagoon."
After overhearing their discussion through his amplification ears, he understood the situation. "If what they say is true, then that's where I'll be going." He zips across the bridge and streets of Sky Lagoon with no trouble at all, while taking down oncoming robotic enemies along the way.
Unbeknownst to Astro, X and Zero have spotted him.
"Huh? Who is that?"
"I don't know. I've never seen him before." Zero gasped and realized of where he's heading. "Oh, no! He's making a direct course to the main reactor!"
"Then, let's go!"
While X and Zero try to catch-up, Astro has managed to locate the main reactor by punching through the wall and confront the perpetrator that is about to destroy the main power source of Sky Lagoon.
"Hold it right there!"
The dragon-like intruder narrowed his eyes at him and realized that he's not of this world. "You are not Reploid, nor are you Maverick. Just who and what are you?"
"I'm Astro and I'm a robot" he told him.
Much to the Maverick's chagrin, he laughed. "A robot? Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha! Do you really believe that you stand a chance against me? Don't be so bold! I'm going to bring the Sky Lagoon down!"
Knowing that the floating island he is on has been identified, he replied back at him. "I won't let you! There are thousands of innocent lives down here!"
"I don't care!" He fires his scorching fireball from his hand and onto the main reactor. He begins to take off, but not before introducing himself to Astro. "Try and make it out of here alive, Astro. And know this; you will know me as Magma Dragoon." He tears a hole in the ceiling and leaving Astro by himself with the entire island beginning to fall.
"Not good. I've got to stop this from falling!" Like Magma Dragoon, Astro also exits from the ceiling and hoping to prevent the entire floating island from crashing into the ground by going underneath it.
Around the same time, X and Zero have also felt the island rumbling.
"What the hell? The Sky Lagoon is about to crash! The city below will soon become a sea of flames! Many people will perish!"
"Then, we have no choice but to escape from here! Let's move!"
As X and Zero make their way out of Sky Lagoon, Astro has also exited by going underneath the floating island and utilizing all of his robotic strength to avoid certain disaster.
Regardless of his robotic strength of one million horsepower, he's having some slight difficulty of preventing Sky Lagoon from crashing. "It's too heavy. I need to think fast. Huh?" He later notices an ocean nearby and not a moment too soon, he takes his risk. "This might be my only chance. Let's rocket!" By amplifying all of his strength from inside himself, he carefully and successfully moves the Sky Lagoon to a different direction.
Magma Dragoon overhears the strange noises and turns around to see a shocking discovery: the Sky Lagoon is moving. "What?! I-Impossible! How can it still function?!" He activates his scanner in his optic sensors and witnesses another startling surprise. "It's...It's that robot! B-But, how can this be? No one has that much power to move an entire island like that! Curses! My plan is up in smoke!" As he turns to leave, he spots a lone Reploid down below. "Ah! Looks like I've caught a lucky break." As he turns to see Astro continuing to move Sky Lagoon into the ocean and successfully preventing the massacre, he goes off to his next target.
Not only was Magma Dragoon deeply shocked of witnessing Sky Lagoon being moved, so were X and Zero.
"Z-Zero! A-Are you seeing this?!"
"I see it, but I don't believe it! The Sky Lagoon has been saved! But, how?"
Before the red Maverick Hunter could come up with an answer, a loud screaming voice had interrupted his concentration.
"What was that scream?" said X.
"That was Iris! She's in trouble! C'mon!" informed Zero, as they move onward to rescue the female Reploid.
Around the same time that happened, Astro emerged from the sea and by hearing someone's call for help through his amplification ears, he also hurries to the scene.
Deep below the city, Magma Dragoon is holding Iris hostage.
"Well, now. It looks like that I have an escort."
"Let me go! You're not my type!"
A few minutes later, X and Zero have arrived and hopefully to free Iris from the clutches of Magma Dragoon. X readies his Mega Buster, while Zero grips his Z-Sword.
"Dragoon! Release her, this instant!"
"And we mean it! This has nothing to do with her!"
The fiery Maverick laughed. "Is that so? Then, how did the Sky Lagoon land safely on its own, even though I knocked out the main reactor? Or is it possible that you had an extra recruit along the way?"
Both X and Zero became utterly confused and looked at each other.
"Zero, what is he talking about?"
"I don't have a clue." Zero turns back to Dragoon. "Now, listen. We don't have any reinforcements with us. It's only me and X."
During the confrontation between the Maverick Hunters and the Maverick holding Iris as his prisoner, Astro arrives on the scene and hides behind the rubble of scrapped junk while over-viewing the scenario. By comparing the differences between the two factions including the captor, he must act fast. "I've got to help them!" He starts scanning Magma Dragoon inside his optic lenses. "If I could aim at his leg, I might be able to free her. I will need to re-charge my Digi-Beam." He re-charges his Digi-Beam on his finger and carefully aims at Magma Dragoon's lower leg before waiting for the right moment.
As for Magma Dragoon, he tightened his grip on Iris's throat. "I don't believe you. If you won't tell me where he is, then I'll have to terminate this wench!" He draws his fiery strength on his fist and aims at Iris's face as she becomes terrified.
"Don't you dare!" yelled Zero to Dragoon.
"It's too late! Die!" Just as he was about to be burn Iris into a crispy death, a new voice had interjected by firing his laser from his finger.
"Now!" He fired it at the exact time and blasted it right at his lower leg, nearly missing Iris's leg by a few inches.
Thus, Dragoon's hold on her was released. He fell on his knee and growled with anger. "Wh-Who did that?! Show yourself!"
The intruder unveiled himself into the battlefield and punched Dragoon right in the face with such force that it sent him reeling and crashed right up against the wall.
X and Zero have managed to get Iris to safety.
"Thank goodness that she's alright."
"I agree. Are you okay, Iris?"
She answered to them. "I am. But, who was that? He saved my life."
"Over there fighting Dragoon and look at him go" told X, pointing the fight between the Maverick and Astro.
Dragoon tries valiantly to get the upper hand by utilizing his fire techniques, but Astro manages to avoid his attacks. "Stand still, you little rodent!"
Astro returns the favor by firing his Digi-Beam from his finger straight at Dragoon and gets knocked down again.
Dragoon slowly rises to his feet, lets out a scream of anger and by opening his mouth; he fires a scorching beam of fire from his mouth straight at Astro. However, he counterattacks by transforming his arms into laser cannons and immediately fires them at Dragoon's fire-wave.
It became a fierce battle of tug-of-war between them until Dragoon's fire-wave fizzled out and got blasted by Astro's cannons, where it sends him crashing right into the debris of old machinery mixed with oil. Thus, it lit up a small spark and resulted in a big explosion.
Zero became utterly surprised of Astro's willpower overcoming Dragoon's fire attacks. "A-Amazing."
Astro landed safely and begins asking Dragoon about his role of knocking down the Sky Lagoon. "Talk! Why did you do it and for what purpose?"
Although damaged beyond repair by the result of Astro's laser cannons and leaving nothing left but his head and lower body, Dragoon slowly spoke. "I've...always wanted...to...fight...X and...Zero...Then...he...appeared..."
Once Zero, X and Iris joined in, Astro again questions him. "He? Who's he?"
Dragoon replied slowly. "...He...told me...he'd give me power...only if I worked...for Repliforce. In order to...goad them...into fighting."
X, Zero and Iris gasped simultaneously.
"You did all of this just so that you could fight them?! How could you do something like that?!" cried Astro.
"It...It was...worth...a duel. A duel...that I...couldn't...refuse." And with that, Dragoon exploded into nothingness.
There was nothing that Astro could do to save him. He shook his head in disbelief. "Why must we fight among ourselves? It doesn't solve anything." When he turned around, he was halted by the tip of a Z-Saber that nearly reached his neck by a few inches. It was Zero and next to him are X and Iris.
"Who are you and where did you come from? Answer me!" he yelled in a serious tone.
"Zero, take it easy" informed X to him. He approaches to Astro and asks calmly, while Zero lowers his weapon. "Forgive my partner, Zero, he's always like that. I'm X and we're Maverick Hunters. May I ask who you are?"
"Certainly. My name is Astro and I'm a robot" he said.
Both X and Zero gasped in bewilderment.
Astro blinked his eyes in confusion. "Is there something wrong?"
"We haven't had any robots in a very long time. In fact, you're not from around here, are you?" thought Zero, narrowing his eyes at him.
"No, I'm not. I was trying to prevent someone from changing history by going back in time and that's when I was transported here. Which reminds me, what year is this?" he asked them.
X answered him. "This will be a shock. You're in the twenty-second century."
"What?!" gasped Astro. "Then, how do I go back to my own world?"
Both X and Zero looked at each other for a few seconds, before turning back to Astro and answered.
"For right now, there's nothing that we can do. We're in the middle of a struggle between the Repliforce and the Mavericks."
"And from the looks of things, you've really made a name for yourself by saving Iris."
Astro's eyes were widened in awe. "Iris?"
The young female steps forward, confronts Astro with a sly smile on her cute face and clasped his hands with hers. "You're the one that saved me? Thank you."
A small hint of redness appeared on his robotic cheeks. "Y-You're welcome. Your name sounds very beautiful, along with yourself."
Not only Astro blushed, so did Iris. "Oh...Oh, my!"
Zero became infuriated of the fact that Astro is being sincere to her and was about to throw a punch at him until X intervened.
"But, X..."
"No buts."
Astro became concerned about Iris's slight embarrassment. "Are you okay? Did I..." He was going to finish his sentence until Iris turned around and threw her arms around his neck. "Was it something I said?"
Iris shook her head and replied back to him. "No. That was very nice of you to say that about me. You even manage to outmatch that Maverick you've defeated."
"Huh? You mean Magma Dragoon?" asked Astro.
She nodded with a smile and Astro smiled back at her.
Just then, a uniformed Reploid arrived on the scene.
Zero and X instantly recognized the individual.
"Colonel! What are you doing here?"
"Has the Repliforce been occupying this area?"
He replied to each of them. "First off, it's good to see again, Zero. And as for you, the Repliforce weren't involved in this region. I only came here to save my sister."
"She's fine. But I didn't rescue her. He did." He points Colonel to Astro, holding his hands with Iris.
Colonel's eyes grew very sternly. "Who the devil are you?"
Astro introduced himself to Colonel. "My name is Astro and I've been transported here by accident from a time portal. In short, I'm from the twenty-first century."
"What?!" gasped Colonel.
Not only was he deeply shocked, so were X, Zero and Iris.
At first, Colonel was about to strike his weapon at him. But by reading his expression very carefully, he sheathes weapon. "Alright, Astro. Explain yourself as to why you're here."
"I was preventing a human named Drake from altering history and that's when I ended up here. Also, I do believe as to whom the culprit is that enforced Magma Dragoon to bring the Sky Lagoon down and it's possible that your unit weren't involved at all" told Astro.
Both X and Zero were both very surprised of Astro's words.
Except for Iris. She is starting to believe Astro's side of the story regarding the Repliforce. "Astro, what is it that you're telling my brother about?"
As for the Colonel, he was still not convinced. "That's still not enough information relating to the Repliforce. They came here to help. We only drop our weapons, when we aren't able to fight any longer."
"It's the truth! You've got to believe me!" cried Astro.
The Colonel countered. "The Repliforce would rather fight and perish then to discard our place. Soldiers would never drop their weapons! I will not do it! Not even for you or them!"
Zero grunted over the Colonel's words. "Then they'll think you're a Maverick!"
Astro disagrees. "No, you're wrong! I'll prove that he isn't with my voice recording."
X gasped. "V-Voice recording? Does it contain solid evidence about the Repliforce?"
He nodded and as he opened his chest cavity, he plays the voice recorded message to them:
Unknown: "It's about the Maverick Hunters, General. They are far too eager to please the humans and continue to hunt down the Reploids. Do you believe they pose a significant threat?"
General: "Perhaps."
Unknown: "You already know the truth, General. Their sole mission has been to destroy any Reploids who fail to do as the humans order!"
General: "Hmm…"
Unknown: "It's in your best interest to stop them now, before they turn on you! You possess enough power to destroy them!"
General: "…You are dismissed."
Unknown: "What?!"
General: "I will not betray the humans. Remove yourself from my sight. My business with you has concluded…"
Unknown: "Heh, Heh, Heh…very well. But you will change your mind soon, I assure you! Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha…Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!"
Right after Astro played the voice recorded message by closing his chest cavity, everybody stood there in total shock and disbelief.
Only X and Zero were more shocked then Iris and Colonel. They instantly recognized the person's voice that was talking to the General of Repliforce.
"Z-Zero! That was..."
"Sigma!" He clenched his fist tightly. "I should've known that it was him pulling the strings behind Repliforce!"
The Colonel didn't know what to say. He stood there completely frozen after Astro had revealed the actual truth about the Repliforce and the Mavericks. "He...He was right. Has the Repliforce become...a disgrace?"
While he was left visibly shaken, Astro reasons with him. "Don't condemn yourself, Colonel. It's my belief that he blinded him with such false information that it will cause both factions to hurt one another. All of this is just a ploy in his silly game!"
Colonel gasped with his eyes widened.
"You mean to tell me that Sigma's plan is for both Reploids and Mavericks to turn against each other?!" says Zero with rage in his eyes.
"And by branding the Repliforce as Mavericks?!" added X.
Astro nods his head slightly. "That's right."
Whereas Iris, she felt very discouraged. "I-I don't know what to say." She was about to cry until Astro placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You mustn't think like that." Astro continued. "The hardships that I've encountered in my world has helped me to settle the differences between humans and robots. Basically, the humans and robots who influence me are the ones who believe in me. That's why I never give in and never give up. Fighting solves nothing. It will only create more hatred. If we work together, than we can put an end to Sigma's scheme. I fight for both the humans and robots." He concludes his sentence with a smile.
Iris became astounded of his words. "A-Astro." Her smile grew into a crescent shape moon. "That was very kind of you. Thanks."
His smile had immediately turned into sadness by turning his head away.
"What's wrong? Why the long face?" asked Iris, curiously.
"I'm not sure of what worries me the most: Helping you out with this crisis that's similar to Metro City or how to get into contact with Dr. O'Shay and the others."
By understanding the sudden grief on Astro's face and body language, Colonel placed his hand on his shoulder and replied to him. "We'll find a way. But for right now, you must come with me. Your explanation behind the Repliforce relating to the Sky Lagoon and the General's meeting has intrigued me." He later turns his attention to Zero and X. "As for your request, I might consider calling off the coup."
Both Zero and X became relieved of his decision.
"Really? You mean it?"
"That's great!"
Colonel, on the other hand, might have some doubts. "Don't be too sure of yourselves. I want to know, if Astro's belief about the Repliforce and the Mavericks are highly true. Let's go, Astro."
He nodded his head. "Yes, sir." Before he left with him, he turns back to X, Zero and Iris. "I'll see you later."
After watching Astro leave with the Colonel, X begins to ponder about Astro's presence by crossing his arms.
"What's up, X? You look troubled" says Zero to him.
"I'm getting the impression that because he came from the past and into our future, he might cause a time paradoxes."
Zero gasped in bewilderment.
Whereas Iris, she became curious. "What do you mean in particular, X?"
X continued. "Because that he's from another world, our timeline could be affected. There's a risk of altering the future by re-writing it."
"Meaning?" says an uncertain Iris.
"If he does something now in the future, history might even change...forever" told X to Iris and Zero.
Both Iris and Zero gasped in unison after X becomes suspicious of Astro getting involved, when he re-appeared from another timeline.
"I understand your concern, X. But for right now, let's head back to Maverick Hunter Headquarters" stated Zero and X.
"Understood. C'mon, Iris."
She attempts to follow the Maverick Hunters, but not until looking back at the individual that saved her life earlier. "Astro."
Meanwhile, back in the current timeline of Metro City, Detective Tawashi interrogated Drake after his arrest and explained that he wanted to change the present state of Metro City by eliminating Astro before he became a robot including his existence as Tobio.
Once Detective Tawashi informs Dr. O'Shay about Drake's foolish attempt of altering history, he slammed his fists on his desk. "The nerve of Drake trying to get rid of Astro, before he was even born by time-hopping! He'll never understand that both humans and robots are now co-existing with each other, due to the new robot law!"
"That wasn't the only thing I've found out from Drake" told Detective Tawashi to Dr. O'Shay.
"Is it about Astro?"
He nodded. "Yeah. According to the time machine that he used, Astro has been sent into another dimension."
Both Dr. O'Shay and Yuko gasped in unison.
"Wh-What did you say?"
"Oh, no!"
"It's true that Astro has been transported through a time portal, but it's not in the futuristic or past Metro City. He's been sent to another world" says Detective Tawashi.
As Dr. O'Shay gulped his throat down, he asks him very nervously. "I hate to say this but, what year is Astro in?"
Detective Tawashi took a deep breath and unveiled his answer. "Astro is in the twenty-second century. In other words, the year 21XX."
Dr. O'Shay fell back into his chair in shame. "No." He placed his hands on his head and slumped down after learning of Astro's whereabouts. "This...this is a nightmare. It's even worse than the Robotonia incident."
Yuko just stood there in silence and misery had filled up her pretty face. She was about to shed some tears until Dr. O'Shay stood up from his chair and made an odd proclamation.
"There's only one way to find Astro and I know just the man that can help us."
When Detective Tawashi realizes of whom Dr. O'Shay is referring to, his eyes were widened in shock. "You don't mean..."
He interjected. "Yes, I'm afraid so. We need Dr. Tenma."
Yuko felt very uneasy of Dr. O'Shay needing Dr. Tenma's assistance. "I...I have a bad feeling about this."
To Be Continued...
End of Episode 1