This is chapter four of this awkward Fanfic. I had been trying to make my chapters more graphic and detailed, so you can also expect longer update timeframes.

I want to thank specially to DrkVrtx and ShadowFox 777 for their help and support on this story. I owe too much to them already.

Disclaimer: I don't own X, Zero, Axl, Alia, Layer, Palette, Signas, Lifesaver, Douglas, Nana, Elec man nor Fire man. They are property of Capcom and all the bla bla bla yara yara. I just own the plot and the Ocs Takuma Ryusaki (Ryuta), Chuck, Sora Shirogane, Yuuske Azamiya, Roh Mina (Romi), Gamma Tron, Searing Kitsune (Kitse), Lightning Wolfang, Crush Kumaroid, Corrosive Recluse, Gale Crow, Snow Gigabat, Blazing Aspid and Tidal Makoshark.

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Year 21XX

Maverick Hunter assault at Touran City, September 29th, 16:05

X

We were teleported almost 2 miles from the Wild Life Research Center. The city was deserted and heavy damaged as we arrived. The path of this attack left behind thousands of destroyed mechanilods. Both reploid and human parts were spread all over the streets. I'm not sure if anyone made it out of the city before the attack. I could only hope for some sort of miracle and find any survivors.

I could hear the sounds of the battlefront several miles away from us. The RSF provided some covering fire for our units to attack the north and east highways. They are the only entrances to the city from the ground, so a heavy guard was expected

We started moving towards the Research Center. It was strange not to find any resistance along the way. Maybe all Mavericks were at the battlefront.

X: - "Ok, they are winning some time for us, so let's not disappoint"

Zero: - "Layer, are there any Maverick readings in our sector"

Layer (Comlink): - "That's a negative. This whole sector should be cleared from any Maverick activity. It's the last safe spot before going into the… Wait a minute… There must be something wrong with my scanners"

Alia (Comlink): - "Guys, I'm picking up one, maybe two, Maverick torpedo bombers coming fast. They are heading your way"

As fast as Alia finished her sentence, two torpedo bombers flew right above us at full speed. I could see that there was someone over one of the bombers, but could not recognize him. The mark of the Reploid Air Force was visible on the wings of the bombers. This was strange, as I knew there were none RAF units within three sectors of here. Where these part of Gale Crow's squadron?

Before we could even react, several torpedoes were fired at the Research Center.

X: - "Oh no! We have to intercept those torpedoes. Axl, come with me!"

Axl: - "What about Zero?"

Zero: - "I will handle the torpedo bombers. Now go!"

We rushed as fast as we could, shooting along the way most of the torpedoes that were fired. With some charged shots and some good aiming, I destroyed two or three at the same time, while Axl spread a major rain of buster gun shots. However, the first payload was already out of our range. We could only witness how the missiles were going to impact the Research Center.

Seconds before the impact, several masses of fire attacked the remaining torpedoes, causing them to explode before reaching their target. Axl and I came closer to the explosion site. Not far away from there, a strange reploid was walking his way towards the east highway. His design was nothing that I have ever seen before, but still looked a little familiar. A strange feeling of homesick came to me as I saw him.

He had a main gray body with a red armor and two buster arms. His strange helmet seemed to be a large flaming torch. His blue eyes seemed quite simple in design, for a reploid. We both came closer to this reploid as I called for a virus scan.

X: - "Alia, there is a strange reploid on the field. Can you tell me if he is a Maverick?"

Alia (Comlink): - "I'm picking up real strange readings about it, X. First of all, it is not a reploid. It is mechanic, but I can't figure out what is it… I don't pick up any maverick readings on him. I will try to research some more, but proceed with care"

X: - "Don't worry. If he wanted to attack us, he would have done it already"

We approached to this stranger, as we call him out. He turned around and sighted. I lifted my hand to wave at him. The stranger smiled, amusingly, and also came closer to us. He didn't seem to be a Maverick at all

X: - "Thank you for your help. We couldn't have saved the center if you hadn't stopped those torpedoes"

???? (Smile): - "Truly amazing… You look almost like him. A little different, but you have that expression of innocence and righteousness that he had"

X: - "Him? What are you talking about? Who are you?"

Fire Man: - "My name is Fire Man. And the only thing you need to know from me, is that I am not your ally…"

Axl: - "X, look out!"

A major fireball came right across my face as Axl took me out its way. We felled back and searched for refuge as a large inferno was being unleashed by this strange robot.

Axl: - "X, we have no time for this. Go and find Corrosive Recluse pronto. I'll handle the fire dude"

X: - "Try not to destroy him… We need to capture him"

Axl: - "Did your common sense chips got burnt or something? This guy wants to have a BBQ with both of us as main course!!!"

X: - "He is something never seen before, so try not to blast it away. Besides, we need some answers form him"

Axl: - "By we, you mean I have to catch him, right?"

X: - "Do whatever you can. I'm going into the research center"

Zero

I managed to climb up the buildings to reach out one of the bombers. One thing about these bomber models is that they can not maneuver easily and their speed is quite reduced by the torpedo magazines they carry. From the top of a sky scrapper, I sliced down one of the bombers engine when it was flying close enough for a dash jump attack. It quickly came crashing down to the ground, as I also shot a few buster shoots at the support engines.

However, when I started to look for the second bomber, it was right in front of me, hovering. A reploid was standing on the top of the ship's hull. It was clearly not Corrosive Recluse, but it definitely seemed to be a Maverick.

He had a strange red and black armor with a yellow lightning insignia in his chest. He had some sort of yellow mask with a lightning termination on it. Something was quite strange on this reploid, as his entire design did not match anything that I remembered.

I jumped up the bomber and faced this Maverick.

Zero: - "Who are you and why are you attacking the research center? Are you another Maverick under the command of Corrosive Recluse?"

????: - "You ask too many questions"

Zero: - "Answer me!"

Elec Man: - "You may refer to me as Elec Man. I am not a Maverick, whatever that is. Now, let's see if you can fight better than you talk"

Suddenly, he threw a quick and large lightning discharge that came right at me. I managed to pull out my saber, by reflex, and absorbed the current with the saber's blade. As I could fix my view again, he was nowhere to be found. I realized that I was loosing altitude too. It seems the shock affected the bomber's driving system. I jumped away to a building roof before the bomber crashed itself into a small building.

Zero: - "Layer, I need some guidance here"

Layer (Comlink): - "I'm on it, baby… That thing you were fighting is not around. But, I can already tell you that it was not a reploid at all"

Zero: - "What do you mean by that? I saw it; it could make conversation and managed to attack me. What else could it be?"

Layer (Comlink): - "It was some kind of robot, but I could not recognize any reploid function systems. I also didn't find any traces of the virus on him. I'm working on his ID, but so far nothing matches with this Elec Man"

Zero: - "Alright… Keep looking. I need to catch up with X and Axl. What is their status?"

Layer (Comlink): - "Axl seems that had found some resistance. X has managed to get inside the research center, but I can't get in contact with him. Alia and Palette can't reach him either. Nana can still see his status and vital, but she can't pick up any audio or video from inside the research center"

Zero: - "The anti-spy system… That is why they have chosen the research centers. No communications or broadcast can be done inside the facility, for security reasons. I'm going to back him up, he might be in trouble"

X

I got into the research center. The front door looked like it was melted completely. The defensive turrets of the front and inside suffered the same fate. Most of it seemed to be calm and quiet. I checked the security systems at the entrance. It seems that everything was shut down, except for the holographic habitat. The rain forest simulation was still on and most of the systems of the center seemed to be working fine. No virus signs anywhere… Is this place really occupied by a Maverick?

I went to the holographic deck. At the very first moment, the view was incredible. The simulation of the rain forest was quite beautiful. Different kinds of butterflies flew right above my head. Their colors were something I never thought I would see. Different animals and insects were shown, as part of the wild life simulation. I knew that this place was the last chance to restore the natural green of the planet, as the Eurasia colony disaster affected all life on the planet…

Warning alarm!

A large spider-like reploid comes down from the trees and faces me. There is no doubt; this is the Maverick Corrosive Recluse.

Corrosive Recluse: - "Well, you did got sooner than I expected. It was kind of tricky to use torpedo bombers against me, but there is no need for this place now. I will sink this city into the sea after I deal with you!"

X: - "I'm not going to fall for that, Recluse. I know those bombers were controlled by mavericks. I will not let you sink this city. You are coming with me, in pieces if necessary"

Corrosive Recluse: - "You are hard talking kid, but I will melt you down like junk metal. Bring it on!"

I started shooting at him, but it was incredibly fast for his massive size. The rain forest offered him the chance to hide and climb trees. He kept moving from tree to tree in some kind of thin thread. It took me a while to realize that those threads were dripping an acid substance that seemed to corrode anything that came in contact with it. It was hard to keep up with him, as those threads seemed to fall after some time and my buster shoots didn't seem to destroy them.

I kept running after him, but I lost him when the hologram of the rain forest changed into in a dark swamp. It was hard for me to move in this marsh terrain, but I kept myself hovering to search for Recluse. It took me just a few seconds to realize that he was above me. I made a fast maneuver, but it was too late. I received a spray of acid that slowly burnt my body. I shut down my hover boots and sunk myself in the swampy waters. That seemed to halt the corrosion effects. I made a few charged shoots to the surface, hoping to fend him off. To my surprise, I did hit something and I heard it fall into the waters as well. However, everything was so dark that I could not even see my own hands in front of me.

The holograms changed once again. I was now in a desert area. There were several dunes that made the terrain uneasy to go on foot, but I could handle myself with my hover boots. A few steps away from me, I could see Recluse. It seems my charged shot broke two of the extra legs that kept him stable to climb. Lucky shot, indeed.

Recluse: - "Now you can't halt the effects of my corrosion"

X: - "Now you can't hide from me"

Recluse: - "Same as you, kid. My armor is quite strong to take a few shoots, but can you resist the corrosive power of my acid spray?"

He was right. However, I had to try. We both stared at each other. This was now a first striking duel. It was strange for a command unit to act like this… Now that I remember, he was a working unit. That is why he fights by instinct, he is not designed to!

I charge my buster cannon and made a quick shot. He started to spread his acid spray, but it was not fast enough. The plasma shot broke the armor with ease and penetrated into the maverick's body. In a matter of seconds, Corrosive Recluse blasted apart in a mayor explosion of metal and acid.

Once I reacted after the explosion, I realized that I was covered by the acid. I tried to get it off me, but it was impossible. I rolled over on the sand, but that didn't seem to work. I started to remove the armor by hand before the acid got into my main body systems, but to my dismay, the right shoulder pad got stuck and couldn't remove it to take out the body armor. I started to feel the acid going into my main body plates as a foreign hand removed the shoulder pad and the rest of my armor.

Zero: - "What the hell was that? You could have ended up melted like an ice cream on this place. Are you alright?"

X: - "Yes. He was not designed for battle, so I guessed his armor was not strong enough to endure a direct hit. I guess I was right"

Zero: - "You know that recycler units do have a thick armor to resist the corrosion of the acid they use? And that you hit the only section where the armor is thin enough to hit the generator and cybernetic core sections?"

Silence was awkward, but he was right. I can't keep being so reckless on this kind of situations. I'm not a rookie anymore. I looked down at my Force armor, now just a pile of half-melted metal and I can't stop thinking that I might have ended like that if it wasn't for Zero.

X: - "Douglas is going to be mad"

Zero: - "Indeed… But at least, you can get back home in one piece. Now let's pick up the kid and move out. There is nothing more to do here"

Axl

Damn… That thing has stopped firing. Should I go out and see? He must be waiting for me… Screw this. I come out with a blind rapid fire. I shot everything in front of me. Walls, glass, streets, windows, doors… But no fire dude. I think I scared him away.

Zero: - "What the hell you think you are doing?"

Axl: - "Whaaaaa!!! Don't scare me like that. There's a fire dude that-"

Now that I took the time to notice, not even the fires he started are burning anymore. There was no sign of him at all. It might have been long gone

Zero: - "Stop talking nonsense and help me out here. X was playing lone gunman again with an acid sprinkler"

And he was right. X's armor was just a mess of melted metal. X's body seemed to have taken some acid too. Several melting marks were visible on his shoulders, left arm and lower torso. They were all superficial, but it might need some attention.

Axl: - "Mission accomplished?"

X: - "You bet"

Axl (Grin): - "Then, what are we waiting for? I want to get to the base quick, my telenovela is about to start!"

X: - "Why do you watch that? Is that why you missed the training session last week?"

Axl: - "Eh… Yeah. That week Maria Ester Guadalupe Vaca Moreno was fighting for the love of Nicolas Alberto Martinez Velazquez Agüello, because her sister told his father that her mother heard their cousin-"

Zero: - "AHH! Quit it already! Why you actually watch that crap anyway? That's for girls"

Axl: - "Alright, alright… Let's just move out"

Zero: - "Layer, we are done here. Call all units for full retreat; the RSF can handle the remaining mavericks. Teleport to us to sick bay 3, X needs some attention"

Layer (Comlink): - "Roger that. All maverick units are attempting to escape. All Maverick Hunter forces stop pursue and fall back. Hang in there; I'm getting you to sick bay"

That was a quick answer… I guess he wouldn't like to know why I was skipping training… It doesn't matter now, anyways. It's better to forget that, it was just a mistake anyway. If I knew that she didn't ended things with X, I wouldn't have made my move.

Morien City, Steiner Hotel, room 205. November 30th, 8:04

Takuma

I woke up like I used to do many years ago; hugged to the woman I love. We spend a wonderful night together. I don't want to move at all, but I need to get up. It's been years since I don't see her sleeping like this; her head over my chest, her arms around my torso and that smile of pure peace and happiness.

I try to be as careful and silent as I could to slip away without waking her up. I head to the bathroom quickly to check my left arm and my legs. They seem to be fine, so far. I just hope not to run out of power on the middle of the day. I check my gear and possible locations that might be important to remember on the map. There was no exact location of the digging site, but the only place 30 miles away from here that is not a mayor pile of rocks and rubble, is the Mori Planes. That should be a good place to start. I'll better get everything ready before waking Sora up.

Sora

I woke up. I wanted to hug his body tightly once again. It was just like I remember… Except that I didn't seem to find his body anywhere. Before I started scanning the room with my eyes, I feel his loving lips kissing my cheek. I couldn't help but smile as I searched for his lips with my own. I sense the smell of coffee in the air.

Takuma: - "Good morning, officer"

Sora: - "Good morning… What time is it?"

Takuma: - "8:30… I had enough time to make breakfast"

Sora: - "I should go back and inform about this to the commissioner. You need all the help I can get you"

Takuma: - "I appreciate that, but I need to make sure what's going on. Then, you can claim your catch. I'll call you once I have a positive ID on Kumaroid and will let you know what to expect"

Sora: - "Ok… Now, can we have breakfast in peace before I have to go back? It's been such a long time…"

We kissed and finished our breakfast. We caught up on the last four years. He told me how he survived to the Sky Lagoon incident. He also explained the issue with his legs and left arm. They have been replaced for mechanical parts as he lost them in the incident. Thanks to the synthetic skin, they look just like the old parts. We have all been hurt badly by the Mavericks, in different ways.

I told him how I got into the Auriga City police a year ago. Just a few weeks later, the police department became a cell of the Reploid Special Forces. Mavericks are not the only problem in our society. Human crimes are almost unstoppable, as reploids can't harm a human being. That's why the human crimes section was created.

After our little conversation, we prepared each other for our day. He went down town, to poke a few holes around. There should be some reliable info out on the streets. The place where the Tower-Clark was taken down should be a good place to start before going out of the city's limits.

Morien City is quite strange in different ways. It was build right over the Vega River, an underground river that goes all the way to the south, down to the sea. That always brought problems with floods and the sewers. There is not much to do in this backwater city. A few bars, a small theatre, the Rescue Dance club and that's about it.

Most housing is small buildings and little houses. It's a quiet place, outside the commercial areas. This town, as far as I know, is under control of Masta Bang and his cutthroats. They are just a bunch of punks, but they have a lot of power on the streets. Hopefully, Takuma won't find them unless he asks too many questions.

Maverick Hunters Head Quarters, Crisis Cell Unit, 9:21

Alia

I've been waiting all night for any news on X's condition. When he got in here yesterday, no one would tell me a thing about how he was. I'm so scared…

I can't take out my mind the sight of the remains of the Force Armor. The holes made by the acid, acid burns all over the defensive plate… I'm almost in tears just to think of that again.

A couple of small hands and very feminine arms wrap around me in a tender hug. She holds me close to herself as I lay my hands on hers. Coming from the hall, there was also Layer and Zero. I have never seen those two walking hand by hand, but I guess this will be the first of many times.

Alia: - "Thanks, kiddo. I needed one of those"

Palette: - "I'm sorry, Alia. He is going to be ok, I know that. He is a fighter, a strong one. He will be alright"

Alia (Sobbing): - "I hope so. I'm trying to be strong, but I keep thinking that-"

Layer: - "Then, don't think about that anymore… Come on, Alia, I can barely recognize you like this"

Alia: - "How would you feel if Zero was the one inside?"

Layer: - "We both know how that is, because it is our duty. You should know better, as you are the most experienced of us here. Look, I know you are worried about him, but you have to be his support on this side. That is what a hunter's navigator does, remember?"

She was right. I can't help him by crying. Actually, that would make him a little sad. I got myself together and clean up my tears. The only thing that I can do now is to wait and to keep my hopes high.

Palette stood right beside me. We have become very fond to each other. She says often that she feels like my daughter. It's very sweet of her sometimes, as we reploids can't conceive our children. They must be constructed with authorization of the government. And, to be honest, Palette looks a lot to the perspective that I would want for a daughter. She is caring, innocent, and most important, happy.

A few minutes later, the intensive care light was turned off. Lifesaver came out of the room and came straight to us, with a blank expression.

Lifesaver: - "Diagnosis is good. It seems that the acid just scorched the main body armor plates, but no integrity damage was done on his systems. Fortunately, Zero quickly removed X's armor before any more acid could reach the rest of his body. There was a lot of sand inside X's body, so we took some time to remove that very carefully. You can see him now, if you want"

All looks suddenly came down to me. I nodded and went inside the sick bay room. I could see him lying in the restoration capsule, with his eyes closed. I opened the capsule and laid my head down into his chest. I find it funny, but sometimes when I'm this close to him, I could swear that I can hear… a heart beat. Sometimes I ask myself how much of a reploid is X and how much of a human he has… That is why I love him. Because of that big heart of his that makes him so tender, innocent and brave.

Alia: - "Hi… I'm glad you're ok. Happy anniversary, my love… I though I lost you, for a second-"

As quiet as it was, the high pitched sound of the Crisis Alarm went off again. Once again, Nana was speaking on the loud speakers. I kissed X's lips and went directly to the briefing room. The news that there were waiting for all of us were not encouraging.

Takuma

I went down to the Tower-Clark incident site to look up for some evidence. Ramos's street was completely closed to traffic and there were a lot of construction mechaniloids repairing the road. At first sight, I noticed that the Clark's foot steps were imprinted all over the street's asphalt, not in the sidewalk… Not even close to it. Why a 30' tall Tower-Clark would walk only by the street, when it can easily step on these small buildings? Could it be the deed of a thoughtful Maverick? That is very mysterious.

Another thing that caught my attention was the construction mechaniloids that went Maverick on X's companion, Axl. The models that were fixing the road were quite old (and cheap, as almost everything else in this place). The models that lead the attack were quite modern, according to the report X gave me at the Lunar Cube.

I got closer to the repair workers. There must be a reploid in charge of this mechaniloids. I walked down to a small cabinet placed in the middle of the street. It seemed like a small operation outpost for the mechaniloids. It was no different than any other short wave net emitter station.

????: - "Hey, you! What are you doing here? Who are you?"

I turned back to see a humanoid reploid. He was a basic model, with a light ceramic armor in brown and yellow details. I could see the distinctive badge of the Morien City district. This was the reploid in charge of the repairs. Lucky me that I took Sora's badge for a case like this.

Takuma: - "Who is in charge here?"

Denk: - "That is me. I'm Denk, now who are you?

Takuma: - "Inspector Shirogane, Reploid Special Forces Human Crimes Division. I would need to ask you a few questions. We have reasons to believe that some equipment used by Maverick reploids has been stolen and used in the recent attack to the city"

Denk: - "Ok… And why a human would have anything to do with a Maverick attack?"

Takuma: - "We believe that this attack was provoked and the target was a local… citizen, known as Masta Bang. I'm willing to find the attackers, if I can take a look at the ´garbage´ of that day"

The reploid, without any further explanation, lead me to the disposal units. 'You got 10 minutes' he said before he left. I started to look into a storage truck. It seems that all gangsters read the same book. I found a mayor amount of reploid parts from the attacking Mavericks. They will surely end up in some sale or as new equipment for the Masta Bang's gang. It seems that they cleaned up a lot sooner than the Hunters did and I can see why. This parts and equipment is quite new and expensive… All models were, at least, brand new or a few months of use. Definitely, these were not local mechanilods. Now, some pieces of this puzzle started to fit in.

I left as soon and discrete as possible, avoiding any mechaniloid or the foreman Denk to see me. I took some memory chips from those mechaniloids, for further examination. I think there must be something interesting there, if they are not too damaged. Now is time for me to find the digging site and check their gear…

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Sigmaverick's Guide for Unanswered Questions: File 1.0.2 – The Reploid 'Race'

Reploids consider themselves as a race, as they are rational beings that share the planet with humans. However, there are no human laws that may see them as 'people', in a manner of speaking. Only in some cities and special cases, reploids can have things such as money, properties, belongings and a chance to acquire a Scion.

Now, you may wander "WTF is a Scion?"… It has become something quite popular among some very advanced reploids. Some reploid couples had reached a point where their love has lead them to a very natural, but very difficult decision.

The wish of having a child.

As reploids are unable to conceive, this must be done by a special reploid designer. This designer takes part of the programming of both reploids and generates a new reploid program, if they are compatible with each other. No need to state that the programs must be from a male and a female reploid in order to work.

The result is a Scion. A customized reploid with some specs form the mother unit, the father unit and some personal that are developed by the reploid itself. These, as most of the regular reploids, can 'age' only by experience.

Of course, the body design of the Scion is self-schemed by the Scion's program itself. It is known that a Scion changes his body aspects at the 'ages' of childhood, teenage and adult. And, as you must realize already, a Scion is the most expensive reploid design ever made, so far.

Once again, I hope you like the story so far, as we are starting with the real action now (So much drama must be annoying, I know)