Chapter 4

I woke up as I heard an alarm. At first I thought it was my clock. But when I looked at it, I realized it couldn't be. It wasn't the right time and my alarm clock would have played a music disc I had inside it with old techno music from the early 21st Century.

I quickly stood up with a start after I realized that it was the Emergency Alarm. After a quick look around, I knew that the emergency alarm meant a Maverick attack.

I quickly grabbed my Buster and the power cells I had for it and ran outside. It didn't make me feel any better leaving this Reploid alone. And even then I didn't have the time to grab the saber I placed on the table next to the Reploid. But during a Maverick attack, there was never any time to waste.

I looked around and saw where the Mavericks had begun attacking. I quickly joined the other Hunters to defend Hunter HQ.

I found Stephen behind a rock. I ran over to him and ducked down with him, cocking my Buster.

"Where the hell did they come from, Stephen?" I asked my friend as we fired at the Mavericks that were advancing on us.

"My first thought was that they just came from out of nowhere." Stephen yelled over the sound of Buster fire. "I don't have any other clue where these Mavericks came from." Stephen shot at the incoming Mavericks. I shot at them as well. I cursed at the realization that they had come at the worst time.

But then, why now, and why here, of all places on Planet Earth? Since Ouroboros had been destroyed the number of Mavericks were decreasing. Or did they just attack somewhere randomly? Looking at the numbers the second theory was the better suited one for this situation.

While we shot at the Mavericks, I noticed something in the air. I began wondering what it was. It was moments later that I blamed myself for asking that. For at that moment, a sudden strong gust of wind came from the flying creature, throwing us back. We landed hard on the ground. The Mavericks began advancing further on our defensive position.

While we retreated back to the fall back point, we continued to shoot at them "They're getting closer. There's beginning to be too many of them to fight by ourselves."

"You're definitely right about that, Daniel." Stephen said as we continued to fire on the Mavericks. "However, the big wigs of the Hunters just said that the Guardians were on their way."

My hopes were lifted at the mention of the Guardians. The Guardians were a unit formed to prevent Maverick attacks. And hopefully, if they arrived in time, there was the possibility that we would be able to hold the Mavericks back long enough to evacuate or perhaps force them to retreat altogether.

If we could defend the base enough to drive the Mavericks away, it would ease my mind to know that the Reploid body I found would be safe.

"Don't just stand there, Daniel." Stephen said as he scolded me. I shook my head free of my daydreaming and looked back at Stephen. But before I could even utter a reply, another strong gust blew over and separate us. I was slammed into a boulder behind me hard and cried in pain. When I opened my eyes again, my heart and mind filled with a terrible fear.

In front of me was a boy I had only seen in pictures, the Reploid known as Aeolus. Aeolus was also known as the Model H Megaman. He slashed two nearby Hunters down with his purple energy sabers. When he stabbed them both to make sure they wouldn't get back up, he then turned towards me.

I remained silent in a desperate hope that he would believe that I was out of commission. But as he approached me and raised one of his blades, I quickly grabbed my Buster and shot at him repeatedly. He blocked my Buster shots with ease and, while he was trying recover, I took the chance and ran away.

I thought I would be safe. But then, before I realized what had happened, I got hit by a weak shockwave, damaging my back and falling down on the ground. I was unable to move my legs. That meant that the data line in my spine was cut.

I saw my Buster get kicked away. I turned around and saw the green Megaman hold his Energy Blade at my throat and looked me over, as if searching for something.

He looked disgusted as he said, "You don't have what I want." He then began to raise his energy saber, and held it like was going to stab me in my core.

"What on earth does he want from me?" I wondered, closing my eyes in fear, preparing to be permanently shut down.

But then I heard what seemed to be a Buster shot, and the foot was lifted from my body. I opened my eyes and saw that it had hit Aeolus. It has been a strong shot, even though it wasn't Buster fire. And as I turned my head to look in the direction where the shot came from, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what had fired the energy shot.