Disclaimer 1: Zero, Megaman X, Alia, Signas, Vile, the term "Maverick," the term "Maverick Hunter," and anything else pertaining to those 2 terms belong to Capcom(c). I have absolutely no rights to them because they are not from my imagination.
Disclaimer 2: Any characters that you see outside of the Maverick Hunter HQ in this chapter are from MY imagination. NOT YOURS. Thank you.
Author's Note 1: I am SOOOOOOO SSSSOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRYYYY! I didn't think that I would ever get back to this story, because I hit an impossible writer's block. It took me a while to figure out why I couldn't work my way around it. Then, it hit me. I DESPISE the way I started writing this story in the first place but love the storyline in my head dearly. So, I decided to start all over and take another whack at the whole entire thing. Again: I'm Really Sorry it took so long. BOWS REPEATEDLY
Author's Note 2: Just so those of you who read my first attempt at writing this story know: that version sucked. I know I can do a hell of a lot better. So erase everything in your memory that has almost anything to do with the way I originally wrote this because here's the NEW AND IMPROVED Twisted Roots.
Author's Note 3: You guys are getting sick of these aren't you? This is the last one. I swear. Aaaaanyway, I'm gonna release this in a different style than last time. I'm gonna release this baby one chapter at a time, and the faster I get feed back, the shorter the time span will be until I release the next chapter. I dunno why I'm doing this. I'm gonna release it every time whether you guys like it or not. :P
Author's Note 4: Hee hee! Just Kiddin'.
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Twisted Roots
Chapter 1: Déjà Vu
It just stared at him without even blinking with its golden eyes, but it wasn't a blank stare. He felt an intense emotion in it, though he wasn't sure which one it was. It wasn't a cold stare, but it felt like it was picking every inch of his soul apart, but it wasn't doing it out of curiosity, because he felt that it already knew him quite well. It was almost as if it was picking him apart out of need or habit, but not quite either of them.
Aside from its eyes all he could see was a shadowy outline of the thing's body. It had smooth, round cheeks. The skin on them appeared to be thin and very delicate. It had about the average height of a human, which was about 5'7". Though the body was covered by a long, dark cloak, the draping cloth did not hide how unhealthily thin it looked.
An eternity passed as the petite figure just stared at him with its unidentifiable emotions until there was a hushed whispered that decided to settle itself in the air. ……..
"Zero." It said. That was when the little body began to fade. The voice grew louder and the figure became surrounded in a haze. "Zero!"
"Dammit Zero! Wake up! We have an emergency!"
Alia. That's who it was. X doesn't freak out when Zero doesn't answer the first call, and no one else ever comes to his door. Plus he could tell simply by the sound of her voice. Yep. It was definitely Alia.
"What is it?" Was the red reploid's reply.
"The city's southern suburb has been completely leveled, and readings show that the maverick that did it is still in the area. I'm pretty sure you know the rest."
"Yeah, I do. Thanks for keepin' it short Alia."
"No problem." With that, she left.
Alia had been a navigator for the maverick hunters for a long time now. When she had first started, she had a tendency to ramble when giving reports and informing people of immediate situations, and it took her a very long time and a tremendous amount of effort to stop that habit. But even though it had been a long time since the experienced navigator rambled on about anything, Zero still felt that he had to thank her every time she gave him a report. It was his own way of guaranteeing that she would never ramble on again.
Zero started off for the area, with no idea that he would later wish that he had been sitting and listening to Alia's often tiresome rambling instead of out working in the field.
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Wow. I don't think Alia even knows how right she was when she told me this place was leveled. Those were Zero's thoughts as he wondered through the remains of the development. Nothing stood even a foot off of the ground (except for Zero).
Was Alia sure that this was the work of a Maverick? It looked more like the aftermath of a supersonic bomb's detonation. But what if Alia was right? If so, that's one powerful maverick.
Come on Zero. Get your ass in gear, and start hunting for the maverick that did this. While the blond reploid mentally kicked himself repeatedly, he became oblivious to the fact that who he was looking for was standing right behind him.
"Aagh!" It wasn't quite a scream, but his voice rose considerably. It was Zero's reaction to a sharp pain in his right shoulder from a bone crushing (That is, if reploids had bones), downward blow. Turning a full 180 degrees, the injured hunter found himself looking up at his attacker.
It was a silver wolf reploid completely clad in armor that was darker than a moonless night. He stood over eight feet tall. His menacing yellow eyes showed no sign of a soul in them - a classic symptom of the maverick virus.
"You'll pay for that." Zero hissed between his teeth.
"Make me." Boomed the towering wolf.
The red wonder unsheathed his trusty light saber just as the silver maverick drew his titanium claws. They stared each other down trying to predict the other's first move.
Something wasn't right. The maverick wasn't moving. Why was that? Mavericks always make the first move in a one-on-one fight. Why wasn't this one? What was wrong?
KABLOOM! It came out of nowhere. The silver-maned wolf maverick just exploded for no rhyme or reason. Zero knew for a fact that he didn't kill the maverick, but since he was dead, the hunter's mission was complete. But what or possibly who killed that maverick? Was it an internal malfunction with his systems, or did someone plant a timed or remote bomb in him?
Another possibility was that before the virus had full control over him, the reploid entered a self-destruct code in him. Those take a while to activate. The first and only time Zero used his; he entered the code in as soon as Vile caught him in that electric cage. It took a good three minutes before it gave any signal that it was about to ignite, and that was considered fast. But even if the maverick's systems were the slowest ever built, the self destruct function would have gone off long before Zero could get to him. Plus, the system usually doesn't do that thorough of a job. The articles of debris were usually much bigger. No. There was no way that it could have been a self-destruct code. So what else could have caused it?
While pondering and trying to investigate the cause of the explosion, the red hunter felt a sudden and very strange sensation come over him. It felt like he was being watched. He had already checked the immediate area, and nothing looked out of the ordinary in the distance. But it was already twilight. Far away objects and/or people would be rather difficult to see at that time. This looked like a job for infrared vision. The incinerated objects were well cooled off by then, and even reploids had their own heat signatures, so finding who did it – if the maverick's death wasn't his own fault – should not have been a difficult task.
It wasn't. As soon as the infrared upgrade was installed, Zero immediately spotted something on a far off ledge that looked over the area's entire parameter. It was beyond likely that it had already spotted him. Even so, the hunter felt that he still should try to be stealthy. So he made his ascent to the top as quickly and quietly as he possibly could.
As Zero approached it from behind, he realized that whatever it was was in a crouched position. The hunter made his presence known by pulling out his light saber. The sound of millions of electrodes being activated at once is not a subtle one. When the figure heard this, it stood up in the blink of an eye.
"Freeze!" Yelled the maverick hunter. The being stopped and stood as still as a statue.
"Something's wrong. Why am I so… nervous…?" Zero thought to himself. This person was obeying his orders, but it felt like it wanted to obey him. It felt like it had the power to completely ignore his orders and get away with it. Odd. Very odd. The experienced hunter tried to tell himself that he was simply overreacting, but he still couldn't shake the little voice in his head that seemed to be screaming. It knew something wasn't right. It tried to warn the maverick hunter to be wary around this… this thing, but Zero unwisely decided to ignore it.
"Put your hands up, and turn around slowly." It did exactly as he told it, but the crimson reploid stood in disbelief. This thing was an almost exact replica of the figure from his dream, accept that now that Zero was closer, he could see more details. For instance, its eyes were very similar to a human's. The differences were that the irises were gold and illuminated and the pupils were vertical slits not unlike a cat's. The feet appeared to be a size seven at the most. The hood kept Zero from seeing this person's hair color and length let alone whether or not the figure had hair in the first place. There were water droplets on its cheeks, but it was hard to tell if they were tears or raindrops from the storm.
The look in its eyes didn't help conclude that dilemma at all. Unlike in Zero's dream, the shadowy figure's eyes had a definite emotion. They were full of sorrow, and almost seemed to cry to him for help.
"…Zer….. are...ou…..ere?" Alia. She was having a hard time getting through thanks to the storm. Looking down at his communicator, Zero flicked it with his fingers. That usually helped.
"I'm a little busy now Alia. I'll call you back." Hanging up, the maverick hunter turned his eyes back to the spot where the figure was to find that it had vanished. Strange. Zero only took his eyes off of it for a few seconds. Where could it have gone?
"Zero! Signas says to report back to Hunter Base immediately."
"Alright. I'll be there in a minute." Turning off his communicator, the baffled hunter looked back at where the shadowy figure had stood only a few moments ago. He really wanted to investigate the surrounding area again to try to find it. He had a mountain of questions for it, but Signas had given him an order. Zero had to retreat back to the base or face his commanding officer, and he knew that that wouldn't be very pleasant. So with his heart full of regret, Zero teleported back to the Maverick Hunter Headquarters.
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Well…what do you think? I know that it's not any longer than last time, but I promise to make every chapter after this as long as I can. Thanks for reading this. PLEASE leave a review. It is greatly appreciated.
Menolly
