"Large energy signature detected. Warning. Warning."
The waves of enemies were finished, and Fefnir and Leviathan's containment units were just in the room ahead. Harpuia felt the need to conserve some energy, especially since this part of cyberspace granted him no chance of reforming lost data. In a way this relieved him since his enemies would actually stay down. Blades deactivated and stored, the guardian of wind noticed a blue figure sitting impatiently on a wide white throne.
"Y-you dare to defy my orders, orders?"
Recognizing the overly self-assured voice of a familiar ruler Harpuia felt the need to hesitate. The judgmental red eyes of the figure sitting at his throne looked at him in a condescending manner, eyebrows furrowed in disappointment. He now very well knew he was a fake and that he was being used. The kingdom that he had ruled in his state before being dispatched by the crimson hero was now in the good hands of Dr. Weil however; he trusted that the "good" doctor would eliminate the Resistance with swift prejudice. Humanity would once again be protected and all those threatening it duly punished and retired.
"I don't have any more time for this, please move out of the way so I can get Fefnir and Leviathan."
The guardian clenched his fist, now knowing that the very face of the master he had been serving for all these decades had been but a fake's. After meeting with the original legendary reploid, the fake seemed like nothing more than a cheap replica—exactly as Zero saw him. Ironic that I'm starting to think alike with the very scum I used to hate.
"H-how bold you've grown, Harpuia. First defying my orders, next breaking your exile and slaying countless numbers of your very own comrades, and now you DARE to speak with me in such a manner? Have you turned into one of those Resistance extremists?"
The blue reploid rose up from his throne as he said so, anger building in his eyes.
"I'm afraid I c-can't let you pass out of this world and th-threaten any more humans you, you maverick!"
Harpuia felt laughing upon hearing these words. During the few days or hours he has spent inside the world of cyberspace the only certain truths that he has found have only been from his real master—the original Mega Man X. Mavericks? Reploids? Humans? There hardly seemed to be a difference with how each term was treated in his time. Fearsome and threatening the "mavericks" of the current era were to the humans and his very own cause, none of them could cause Harpuia to shiver in fright like the actual Mavericks that the real X had shown him. The insane shrieks of the reforming masses that his master had now been facing still rung in his ear, showing him the true insanity, sheer capability and power of the mavericks X had fought so valiantly centuries ago.
"Maverick? Funny for you to say that 'master'", Harpuia mockingly remarked.
"You d-dare mock me again you scum? You won't get away now. I should have the pleasure of terminating such a traitorous maverick as yourself." The fake reploid prepared to do battle.
"Like I said, I have no time to deal with you. Let me pass so I can free my brother and sister."
In anger the copy reploid screamed, changing forms to that of his familiar white seraph-like armor.
"So this is how it's going to be?"
"Listen, the only maverick I'm seeing here is you. So deluded by your false sense of righteousness you've failed to see the point in saving all the humans we've sworn to protect. Maverick 'master'? I don't believe you've even seen or fought with any of them."
Harpuia sighed, still having a shade of loyalty which prevented him from outright engaging his previous master.
"Zero was right, this whole time we've been slaying thousands of innocent reploids haven't we? And for what? To protect the very same humans from those who simply wish to end the conflict? Dr. Ciel has only been trying to find an effective way to end the energy crisis and we've done nothing but greedily try to take that away from them. Is this truly your idea for peace? Is this what we reploids have to do just to protect those who have nothing to do with the conflict?"
Harpuia felt the blood of all the Resistance soldiers he slew without even batting an eye, the countless times he's fought against those whose motives did not so much differ from his own.
"They've brainwashed you, and now you're part of that futile Resistance."
"No, you're the one who's been brainwashed by that treacherous fiend Weil."
"You, once a proud warrior of Neo Arcadia, falling down in ranks to that of filthy extremists who merely want to cause h-harm to the humans you've sworn to protect? How pitiful the world has become."
"As long as I fight for the sake and safety of humans, I consider myself a true warrior of Neo Arcadia, and I will continue to eliminate those like you who dare interrupt the peace between humans and reploids."
"What b-blasphemy are you spewing out of that filthy mouth of y-yours traitor? You seem to have forgotten your own cause and yet you still consider yourself a Neo Arcadian? Have you gone mad?"
"No, I've simply seen what X and Zero had been fighting for centuries ago and I see no more reason to believe why their wishes should not be granted."
"Hah! The wishes of that extremist and that weakling who never in their dreams achieved the peace that was Neo Arcadia? You must be joking."
Angered by the belittling description that the fake had given of his master, Harpuia loudly stated,
"Don't you dare mock the real Master X! What kind of peace can possibly exist when we're slaying countless of our own kind in order to achieve it? Why can't humans and reploids simply exist together just like the original wishes of Master X and Zero?"
"Such a peace can never exist as long as both races exist. Either one goes or true safety can never result from any amount of fighting. I've simply taken the sacrifice of eliminating those of our kind that threaten the very security of the humans. It's rather simple Harpuia, you're either on the side of Neo Arcadia, or the side of the Resistance scum. I thought you knew better than to question such a simple conclusion."
"It's not as simple as it seems when the cost is destroying just about anyone against your own way of thinking, even if the only 'threat' they're posing is defying your will. We've been fooling the humans into viewing what we're doing as right. Do they even know the peaceful steps the Resistance has attempted just so all the senseless fighting can stop?"
The copy of the legendary hero furiously replied,
"Peaceful? What do you mean? The times they've shut down our defenses, broke into our sacred sanctuaries and threatened to harm the very establishment of Neo Arcadia?"
"No, I meant the Ciel system which would have ended the energy crisis and ended this senseless war."
Harpuia paused, remembering the scene days ago,
"Answer me 'master', who authorized a missile to eliminate an entire district of innocent humans? Surely in all my battles against Zero and the Resistance I've never seen them slay any more than our own Pantheons, Golems, and other tools of destruction. Never have any of them slain any humans and yet you, who say that you fight for the sake of humanity sacrificed so much just to prove yourself a hero! To think I once attempted to sacrifice myself to save you from Zero's blade!"
Trying to compose himself, the fake X paused, caught in an incoherent babble but ultimately failing to find a proper way to justify his own mistake. Harpuia raised an eyebrow, the rest of his expression still filled with disdain for his former master. The fake X then tried to appeal to the green figure standing before him in an attempt to dissuade any more accusations.
"You were t-too late, for the s-sake of Neo Arcadia you would have been better off d-dead in trying to save me. You would have received an honor beyond all compare just like your brother Phantom."
Harpuia proudly remarked,
"Funny you mentioned him, he thinks in exactly the same way as I do."
"Ungrateful curs!"
Anything could happen at this point, but wind guardian felt the need not to waste any more time talking. His master could either move out of the way or he would be forced to commit the biggest act of treason any Neo Arcadian ever imagined—the assassination of Copy X.
Sonic blades unsheathed, the emerald-armored warrior stepped forward, using his speed as an advantage. By the time his former master unleashed the devastating ferocity of the Nova Strike on him, Harpuia had already dealt a few heavy blows on the fake's chest. Blurs of white and green covered the scenery pausing within intervals of seconds only to clash back once more unleashing greater amounts of sparks in the same way that fireworks unleash its own beautiful set of colors among those privileged in watching the spectacle. Each caught between his own set of beliefs, the exhilarating display of combat capability showed itself as a blitz between the two former rulers of Neo Arcadia. One fought merely for the sake of humanity, sacrificing all without a second thought to achieve that goal, the other was willing to sacrifice a perfect utopia for the sake of coexistence between humans and reploids. Harpuia failed to grasp the concept of him actually dealing more damage to his fallen master; all he cared about was that a tyrant was in his way and that he needed to deal with him fast.
Copy X could hardly keep up with the capability of his former apprentice as blow after blow sent a weakening crack to his beloved seraph armor. With each shot he fired at the guardian a bullet would be deflected and another set of sonic waves would chase upon him like hordes of locusts. Lightning surrounded him all over and before he knew it, he was trapped—caged in a prison of lightning, wind, and missiles the guardian would fire back at him. Each giving the other his all they both charged into one another at top speed, though the other very well knew that speed was not his forte. Harpuia managed to land more decent swipes in the shoulder regions of his former master, debilitating the latter's aim to a more pitifully slow level. His armor almost completely shattered, the fallen ruler in the white seraph armor attempted to transform to his larger second form, only to be kicked unconscious by a resolute Harpuia charging at him at top speed. The shattering blow of the kick destroyed half the upper portion of the tyrant's helmet, revealing a single red glowing eye among the fragments of ceratanium that made up the rest of his body. Crashing down past the very throne he was once sitting in, the copy could only mutter a few swears under his breath as his body started to fail in obeying what his mind had been telling it. The tyrant reached out with one arm grabbing a pile of debris from the ground they fought in before collapsing completely into the ground, the one unscathed eye closed, the other's red glow faded away.
Harpuia coughed out some blood at the culmination of his duel. He felt that he perhaps let himself get carried away, so that each powerful set of swipes actually paid a toll for his body as well. His body ready to collapse and his helmet-mounted wing extensions shattered, the guardian landed on one knee, trying to regain some composure. His arms lay bleeding with internal oil while his green vambraces were cracked to the point of nearly falling off. His back-mounted thrusters had burned themselves out, being discolored by a shade of black smoke and few burn marks on several parts of his body. A thick blue and orange gate stood in front of him. Fefnir, Leviathan, just hold on a little while longer. I just really, really need to rest.
The guardian succumbed to all the direct hits from the copy's Nova Strike and fell to the ground unconscious in front of the wide door.
"Phantom, he should be around here. Transport him to the nearest portal at point AC-20 and don't forget to retrieve your siblings. I assume the area is now secure?"
"Yes Master, Harpuia has dealt with everything with swift efficiency. There's not a single functioning unit left in sight."
"Excellent. Make sure to congratulate him for me later when he wakes up, I might take a little bit longer here so I might not get to tell him in person."
"Understood."
"As for the fake?"
"Nowhere in sight, Master although there are a few loose fragments of his armor lying about."
"Keep your vigilance and tell me at once if he comes back. I'll have to deal with him personally."
"Yes master."
The shadow lord followed his orders and placed Harpuia on his back whilst opening the wide gate. Noticing that the doorway failed to comply with his request, Phantom unsheathed one of his blades and prodded around the control panel that lay within. Once the protective grating was knocked off, Phantom merely extended an arm at the direction of the control panel and the gate locks began to shift. The few tricks I've learned on my stay here have really proved useful especially at times like this.
A wide blank room with floating symbols of data drifted off into a spiraling abyss where the trails of data eventually connected to two separate cages glowing red and blue respectively. He spotted two floating essences that almost resembled cyber elves caged in encrypted shells. Quick and careful dexterity would be needed in order to unlock the codes without damaging his siblings' data. Phantom immediately outreached both arms and blended his arms to where the strips of data would meet the shells. A control panel of sorts was created and Phantom's quick fingers found way to tamper with the defense code so that the two shells would unlock. The task would have been much easier if his brother had been awake but in a way it was his own fault since he could not make it for taking too long in his duel with Zero. Harpuia's weight was starting to be a bother so Phantom abruptly transported him back to X's usual abode using a simple portal trick his master had taught him in the case of him getting lost in the vast world of data. As Harpuia drifted into the land of memories and dreams Phantom was busy strenuously trying to unlock both their siblings' cages—a task he was not so thrilled in fulfilling compared to his other more challenging missions.
