Signas entered the office like usual. The day was beginning to look like a quiet one, or so his stopover at the navigation center told him. That meant he could deal with his own various worries and job-related legalities. There was no end to the paperwork he had to fill out, emails he had to respond to, and orders from the government he would have to put into practice. Signas made a point of hiding his legal obligations from everyone at the organization, and only X had ever crossed into that side of the Maverick Hunters' policies.

The commander paused in the midst of the doorway. This really was his office?

Signas finished his entrance, shutting the door behind him. While his office was usually very clean, this was not clean. This was beyond anyone's wildest notion of what "clean" could possibly describe. It was impeccable. Even without a sense of smell Signas was able to guess that the room must have the odor of something pleasant and yet perfectly masculine. The floor had always been kept reasonably tidy by the mechaniloid cleaners, but now Signas could see himself in the now fresh and bright taupe tiles. Of course, only in the parts of the floor that weren't covered by a brand new carpet. It was woven cloth of many darker, richer colors woven into a Roman pattern, very dignified and presentable. Signas' bookcases to the left were stacked perfectly, and a quick glance through several titles revealed that the books were in alphabetical title by author.

Being not so artistic, Signas had never bothered to put up any pictures. But someone had bothered, and now there were pictures on the wall: a cityscape of Arcadia, a couple of aircraft shots, and above the window to the right was a wooden plaque that read "Consilio et Animis" - "by wisdom and courage". The walls themselves had been repainted with a fresh, alert white, and after noticing these it was easier to see that the bookcases too had been refinished with a dark stain. Signas couldn't spot a speck of dust anywhere in the room. He even ran a finger under his desk lamp (hey wait, when did he get a desk lamp?) and his finger was no dirtier than before.

And that of course led him to investigate the desk. It was stained the exact color of the bookcases, and everything on it was organized. His pens were gathered into a glossy black desk organizer that held also a notepad and his hand held electric data organizer. Every nook and cranny of the device was also dust-free. The computer screen built into the desk was lovingly shiny, and Signas didn't think it had been so clean when he bought it.

A bit peturbed, Signas sat down in his chair. It did not squeak. And that annoying unevenness in his desk that he had told himself he was going to get to eventually was gone. Suspicious of futher interference, Signas opened the large drawer, sorting through several files and folders. They too had been organized, and Signas automatically winced. He had just gotten them the way he liked them, and - oh wait, what was this? They were all somehow better than before. He found important documents and discs even faster than when he had arranged the files his own way.

Signas closed the draw, sitting back more comfortably in his chair, which still didn't squeak. He chuckled.

I really need to talk to X about keeping Roll out of my office.

-t-

It had been a tough transition for Roll, even tougher for her than becoming Proto Bot. As Proto Bot, she had been more or less emotionless, free from all the worries and cares of having friends and family as she defended the remaining humans during the bleak years post-robot-apocalypse. But now she remembered all that she had lost - her creator, her brothers, her friends, her home...everything. As much as she tried to be cheerful, the fear didn't leave her alone. She felt an inward shakiness all the time. Signas had been nothing but kind to her, and the girl-bots of the navigation department were all wonderful. Still, Roll never felt safe unless she was somewhere near either X or Bass, the last remnants of her former life. Thinking back of the days when she had been the last sentient robot alive stunned her. She could have gone anywhere without fear. Not so anymore.

Zero. Now he was a different story entirely. Everything in her head told her that he was safe and that there was no reason to worry, but she was still frightened of him. That was not unique; she felt pretty scared of a lot of things these days. His quiet soul was at the same time saddening, and many times Roll wondered if she would rather get away from him or try to comfort him. Fortunately the winner of those debates was her sense of reason, and while she chose cheer over gloom, she did what she could to not embarrass Zero. She liked listening to him, and as he and Bass talked about fighting Mavericks, she found the talk of distant war strangely comforting. Mostly in the fact that it was distant. What fighting she had done as Proto Bot wasn't enough to bring any sense of getting used to it.

Bass was her hero these days. To anyone else, he was his same, abrupt self. Not to her. The times when X was on duty, Roll found herself in his company a lot. Bass had taken up the duty of trying to figure out a cure to the virus very seriously, so most of the time he was hanging about the computer labs. Roll worried that he would get annoyed with her staying near him all the time, but if it bothered him, he said nothing about it. Bass worked intensely on the data he had, but Roll would still catch him glancing in her direction every so often, as if to make sure that she was still there.

Roll did remember the promise Bass had made to Mega Man to always take care of her. He hadn't seemed to take it very seriously at the time, but Bass kept his word. If there was anything she wanted - usually cleaning supplies - Bass made sure she had it. That horrid day when she had gone to the robot museum the dark robot had been nothing short of a saint. Roll knew that sooner or later she was going to have to go, and Forte had warned her of what she would find. When they did go, it was during closing time so that she could be alone when she saw her brother's helmet, still bearing the deep gash that had been the end of his life. She wept at the sight of it, and Bass just let her cry on his shoulder for the next five minutes. The next time they went it was easier, though Bass never let go of her hand whenever they entered the first generation robot display. After a while, Roll began to enjoy telling stories of the past to Aengus R. He was a nice reploid, and Roll felt like she could talk to him for hours - as long as Bass or X was somewhere nearby. Roll knew she could never go there alone.

X himself should have felt like a stranger, but he didn't. Younger as he was, he felt so much older. Nothing to her meant as much as his happy face smiling down at her, and everyone kept saying how much happier he had become with Roll around. He spent almost all his free time with his sister, and the two of them found endless things to do. Zero joined them at times, and Roll liked that too.

Being with the two made Roll forget for a while. No, she never completely forgot. It was always there, just as it had been a century ago. It was that sense of numbness, a sense of something lost. And that something was purpose. If she was with Bass or X should could put it aside, and that was why she was so afraid of being away from them. She didn't want to start thinking about what she would do with herself. What job would she have? What purpose could she possible serve? She didn't want to become a Hunter. It wasn't something she could do. But the feelings of uselessness were beginning to come back to her, sinking down into the depths of her mind and waiting for a few moments of lonliness to strike again.

All that could wait. Today the merry girl-bot was with her youngest brother in downtown Arcadia. It was a rare day off for X, and he wanted to spend the day with her. Roll had mentioned that she wanted to get some supplies for soccer for the Hunters, and X agreed to go with her. Now the two were going through the busy streets looking for the appropriate store. It was wonderful to be there with X, who happily pointed out the best stores as they passed and the reploids that he knew worked there. The chore was taking far longer than it should have, mostly because there was a seemingly endless number of people who wanted to say hello to X and meet his sister.

"Sorry about that." X apologized for what must have been the fiftieth time. "Sultana Aubade can be talkative at times. I should have known she would want to meet you."

"It's perfectly alright." Roll assured him. "Don't worry about it at all. I love meeting new people - it's fun! Besides, I get to find all sorts of things out about you this way. I didn't know you sang karaoke."

"I don't often get the chance." X was warmed by Roll's smile. "Why don't we do that tonight? The karaoke rooms are top notch in Arcadia. Axl and Pallette have tonight off, and I think I can even get Zero to come. Does Bass sing?"

"He does." Roll laughed. "He thinks that I don't know. He's actually really good but you could never get him to come to a karaoke room."

"I should ask if you sing." X said. "I've never heard you."

"Oh!" Roll blushed. "I'm an okay singer, I think. I'm really better playing keyboard when it comes to music, though."

"Come on, I bet you have a wonderful singing voice."

"Maybe. I guess we'll see tonight then." Roll spied out a sporting store ahead. "Oh, is that the right shop there?"

X looked ahead. "It sure is. Do you know exactly what you want?"

"Yep!" Roll pulled a list out of her pocket. "It sure is nice not to have to bother about protective gear. I'll just need some goalposts, soccer balls and a rack, I think. Unless you can think of something else we'll need."

X shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm not sure though. I've never played soccer before."

"Really? It's fun. Rock used to play it all the time."

X wasn't sure he wanted Roll to talk about the past, and at the mention of her second brother Roll seemed to darken slightly, and she stared at the street before her rather than continue the conversation with X. But things weren't like before. Roll took a deep breath, then let the warmth return to her face. This memory was not a bitter one, and thinking of Rock seemed to do her good rather than harm. X smiled. He had always had a deep affection for those he protected, but now that he had a sister he learned how deep his love really could go.

X opened the door for her, and they entered the crowded shop, which was larger than Roll expected for a sporting goods store. The aisles were wide and stacked with every piece of equipment from every sport known to man. People, reploid and human alike, greeted X and his sister as they passed. One baby, probably only a year old, waved at Roll with a big toothy, drool-covered grin. The little boy instantly brought to mind images of young Mikhail Polovstiansky, Kalinka's son. Now that thought was depressing. Roll realized that even though Mikhail had been a nine year old boy the last time she had seen him, so many years had gone by that he was certainly dead of old age. Roll glanced at X. Maybe he knew of some records where they could look up his family. Surely he had descendants.

Fortunately, before too long, Roll saw something on a nearby shelf that brought her back to present day. "Hey X, do you think we might need some of that grass chalk to mark out lines for soccer?"

"Sounds good," X said. "But that stuff might be expensive for being something temporary."

"I'll look at the prices then."

"Okay, I'll be over where the goals are." X pointed to the left of the store. "I'll meet you over there."

"I won't be long!" Roll answered cheerfully. "Just give me a minute."

X went off, letting his watchful gaze linger on his sister as much as he could before he left. Roll just blithely went down the aisle, looking at the chalk-spraying guns and their corresponding price labels. Shopping was one of her prime joys in life, and Roll found herself lost in the midst of the sporting stuff, happily going from item to item in the search of the perfect one. And it was from this happy hypnotic daze that the blast snapped her out of.

Screams filled the store as the dust cleared, and despite her fear Roll did not run with the humans. A surprising curiousity drew her ever so slightly, enough to make her turn around and peek outside of the display shelves to see the gaping hole that now existed in the storefront. There was the very reploid Roll had met only ten minutes ago, Sultana Aubade. Only now did Roll see that Sultana's desert orange dress was less clothing and more armor, though she did have a cloth shawl wrapped around her dark hair and face to protect them from the plaster dust her explosion had caused. But as she lifted her head to focus her poison green eyes, Roll realized that she had made a mistake leaving X's side. Sultana was coming after her.

"Get that blonde!" Even while ordering about three large spider mechaniloids, Sultana's voice was a song. "Quickly now!"

Roll wanted desperately to run, but she forced herself to remember what little battle AI she had to spare. She got out in the open, stepping over wreckage of kneepads and helmets as the three spiders neared her. A red glow shot out of Roll's buster as she converted to her energy sword, and the spiders hesistated. But that alone would not stop them, and Roll had to swing fiercely to avoid the webs they spat.

"This is taking far too long!" Sultana hissed, looking fearfully in the direction X had gone. "Dreadboys, distract the Hunter!"

The spiders obeyed, and Roll found herself face to face with the both the most beautiful and most dangerous enemy she had ever had to fight. If Roll had been vain, she would have been jealous of the well crafted features of Aubade. Roll had little time to look before Sultana pulled out a large metal hand-fan, and with one swipe a rush of wind blew Roll back into a rack of baseball bats. Only by luck did she have her energy sword up in time to block the same fan, which flew at her like a boomerang and bounced off of the energy beam with a horrid keeengg!

"What do you want with me?" Roll cried out as she struggled into a defensive stance. "What have I done to you?"

"You are the sister of X." Sultana replied steadily as she caught her fan and neared Roll. The solemn and brilliant dignity of her face did not change in the slightest as she continued. "If I can dissect and understand your mind, then perhaps reploids will gain a greater understanding of our greatness. The secrets of X are a valued commodity, of more worth than gold or diamonds. I don't expect an oldstyle thing like you to understand. Just come quickly. If X gives himself to us for your sake, then perhaps you will be free before too much damage is done to your mind."

"No! I won't let you!"

Roll held up her sword defiantly, not realizing that the effort was pointless. She was nothing more than an adorable robot, and seeing Roll swing a sword about was rather like watching a kitten unsheath its little claws. Sultana allowed herself a haughtly laugh as she charged. Roll wanted to scream, and only the massive blows of the fan against her sword kept her focused enough to abandon this desire. Roll never had to fight anyone of this caliber as Proto Bot, and the impatient Sultana swatted at Roll ferociously. The metal thing caught Roll off guard, smacking into her buster and cutting off her beam. Sultana promptly snatched up her wrist, flinging Roll over her shoulder.

"X!" Roll screamed, kicking at Sultana with all her strength. Thinking quickly, she grabbed at Sultana's hair and gave it a sharp tug, struggling to get down.

"Argh! Little fool!"

Sultana refused to release her grip, and though Roll managed to fall from her shoulder, she could feel her arm's innards twist and snap. Only then did the noises behind the two robots become apparent; X had finished off the last of the dreadboys. With a fury that frightened even Roll, an angry X let off a half-charged shot at Sultana's head. Only then did she finally let go of Roll. X dashed past his sister, finishing the fleeing girl reploid before she could escape.

A black and gold teleporter beam landed, and Bass was by dizzy Roll's side before she realized it.

"What the hell happened here?" he snapped as he glared at the twisted mess that Roll's buster arm had become.

"A Maverick." X answered, still seething. "Where is Zero?"

"Close." Bass gave a curt answer, too busy trying to figure out what had been done to Roll. "There's more of those spider-bots running around and him and Axl are taking care of them."

X knelt down to get a better look at Roll's injuries. He hissed, "The coward. She went after Roll rather than fight me herself."

Her brother's anger was beginning to frighten Roll. "I'm alright X, really. It's not so bad."

"Not so bad?" Bass muttered. "Crap, look at this. X, I'll get her back to HQ."

"Right." X stood up. "Take good care of her."

It was a redundant order. Bass firmly nodded, teleporting both himself and Roll out. X tried to let out a breath, and his anger along with. It didn't work very well, and he turned to leave. There were Mavericks out there, putting people in danger. He had to do something about it. Any victim of their violence was important, and the fewer casualities the better.

Every victim was as important to someone as Roll was to him.

-t-

It was a much more calm X that made his way to the repair lab of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, though more calm doesn't necessarily mean calm. He stepped up his pace without realizing it, though upon entrance to the room he was immediately relieved. Roll's arm was completely repaired, and X entered just in time to see her wriggle and wave her new fingers to test them. She smiled when X entered, waving. Alia put away some of the tools, optimistically talking with Bass - who in turn was somewhat less than. He approached X with the obvious intent of asking him what had happened, but X had his own question first.

"Is she alright?" X asked.

"Roll's fine." Bass answered, not that upset at being interrupted. "Took a while to fix that arm but it's not bad. Now tell me about those Mavericks."

X didn't like him dismissing his sister's trouble, but he let it pass. "They were after Roll to get to me. I didn't think that they would come into Arcadia with our presense so heavy. If Mavericks are willing to come this far..."

"Then they're getting desperate." Zero said, approaching the other two. "Think about it. With Sigma dead and copy chip production being put to a stop, then remaining Mavericks are going to have to go to desperate measures to get what they want."

"And what do they want?" Bass asked grumpily. "Don't they know when to quit?"

"No." X said. "At this point we can't assume that they won't attack HQ itself."

"They haven't attacked it so far, and if they're wasting time on other schemes they obviously don't think they can beat us on our own ground." Bass said. "All the same, I guess we can't put it past them."

Zero nodded. "It's actually pretty likely that they'll want us to stay close to Arcadia if they're using this tactic. Perhaps as a diversionary measure."

"That's a possibility, but we shouldn't act too hastily." X said, more or less referring to Bass.

Bass didn't seem to notice that this was targeted at him, but it was obvious to X that he wanted very much to be a part of this fight. Staying behind was not much fun, but he had imposed it on himself; Signas never ordered him to stay behind and work on curing the virus, though the commander wasn't exactly ungrateful that their wild cannon stayed behind. After all, the work on the virus had consumed Bass to the point where he had all but forgotten about upgrading his busters. The research he did do for them was going very slowly.

"How is the research coming?" X asked, trying to at least let Bass feel involved.

"I'm not built for this kind of crap," Forte answered, gesturing flatly at the computers behind him. "But I...think I might be making progress. Maybe. I need more time. I wasn't built for this..." Bass cut off his mutterings and flinched, rubbing his forehead with irritation as he went through his research in his mind. "Ugh, I'll let you know if I get somewhere."

"X!" Roll called out, running towards the fighters. "Are you alright?"

X shook his head, incredulous at the girl-bot that approached him. "You're worried about me? I should be worried about you."

"No, I'm alright." Roll grinned. "You're the one with the dangerous job."

X winced. "That dangerous job got you in trouble today. Roll, I don't want you leaving this building alone, not even to go into Arcadia. It's not safe for you out there, not with these new Mavericks coming after me like this. They're getting far too bold."

Roll wanted desperately to object, but all she could do was hang her head. Here she was, a robot well over a century old, being told what to do by her little brother. But it couldn't be helped. X was right.

"I understand. Well, I don't exactly go out often by myself anyway."

"Hey wait, weren't you like the defender of the earth or some crap like that?" Bass asked. "Axl said you were."

Roll blushed. "Not really. I never had to fight anything worse than mechaniloids, and I did more carpentry than fighting anyway. There were never any intelligent robots that needed defeating. I might have been able to defeat a couple of those dreadboy spiders, but Sultana was scary. And I thought she was so nice!"

"That's the worst part of all this." X said. "We're going to have to run inspections. Sultana had been working in Arcadia at that department store for at least two months."

"Someone definitely wants us to overreact to this." Zero said. "That much can be certain. It's a good thing that we set up the containment wall so quickly."

"Now we have to go through all those reploids and determine which do and do not have the virus." X winced at the thought. "That means more can get infected in the meantime."

Bass ignored their commentary. He was still looking at Roll, staring at her with concern. After a moment of deep thought, he made his decision.

"Roll, you're going to need some training."

"Training in what exactly?" X narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not talking to you." Bass snarled at the bomber before turning back to Roll. "You're going to have to learn to defend yourself, just in case something like this happens again but the Mavericks are better prepared."

"What?" X started. "You can't train her to fight!"

X did know better than to order Bass about, and the dark robot's growing malevolent aura reminded him that such hasty statements only produced the worst sort of reactions in Bass. His red eyes were terrifying, though this only brought up the same rage in X that existed only when he had to face a Maverick.

"I don't care what you think." Bass hissed. "I'm not leaving Roll practically defenseless."

"She's not a fighter, Bass." X insisted. "She doesn't belong on missions."

"Who said anything about missions? I just want her to not suck."

"Still, that doesn't mean she has to fight! That's what we're for, to fight so that she doesn't have to!"

"Look," Bass shoved a finger directly in X's face. "Rock told me to take care of Roll, so that means she's my responsibility, not yours, and I've got the data to prove it! And if I want her to learn about fighting, then what I say goes and you can shut up!"

X was starting to get stubborn himself, and he almost revealed his own nasty snarl. But he pulled back, containing himself. With pain he turned to his sister.

"Roll, you don't really want to do this, do you?"

She was having trouble maintaining eye contact. Roll didn't give up, but her eyes were wavering as she whisperingly said, "Why does it matter what I want? I know how you have to feel about this, but...it's really for the best."

Bass' assertive nod was far too determined for X's liking. "Good. Let's go."

"What, now?"

"Yep. I need a break from this stupid lab anyway."

Roll let herself look back uncertainly at her brother, her apology in her eyes. Only a second later she followed Bass out, who was obviously more eager to get away from X than any lab. X angrily watched them go. If robots weren't made of metal then the daggers shooting out of X's eyes would have killed Bass in five seconds.

"He is right." Zero said. "Roll isn't safe as long as people know who she is, besides looking vulnerable. It's not surprising that a Maverick would go after her."

"I know!" From his dejected position, a scowling X had a perfect view of his feet. "But this is Roll...she shouldn't have to be fighting at all."

Violence. It had troubled X all his life, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to give up on it and create a peaceful world. Today he seemed a lot farther away from that goal than ever before. Roll was so innocent; he couldn't help but think that way despite everything Roll had gone through. All of those troubles were harder for X to bear. His only knowledge of his sister before he met her was just her happy times with Mega Man and Dr. Light. Now she was learning violence herself, and becoming something different, something she never should have to become. More and more circumstances were pulling everything he held dear out of his control.

"A lot of things are that shouldn't be." was all that Zero could say. He knew it wasn't comforting.

\\\\\

Author's notes:

-Gah. Okay, so I just wanted to put up something quick so that it's not forever until my next update.. Thanks to all my supporters out there. Y'all really keep me motivated to go on, and it's been harder lately. Well, I've got a bit to go, and you'll be able to see my evil plans soon enough. I think this story is going to end on an interesting note, if I can pull it off right. You just gotta trust me, y'all.

- I didn't want to have to do it again, but poor planning on my part makes me need to use reviewer Mavericks. I used up my eight original Mavericks perhaps too soon...maybe. The scheme they were pulling failed, so maybe it's better I got rid of them. I dunno. I just don't feel like making up new ones if I've got good ones already. Again, it's just a matter of inspiration which reviewer Maverick I use.

So here's more of 'em! From the favorites section, actually.

HiddenPersonality2

=====Cryptic Spook

"You haven't seen lasers like this before."

Cryptic is a lion. He has excellent vision, and is very quiet and subtle. That is, until he sneaks up behind you and goes in for the kill. His pads make no noise as he walks. Cryptic was made into a Maverick before his construction was finished, so he has never known life as a normal reploid. Cryptic can fade out and reappear, and will reappear behind the player when he shows up. He shoots lasers and a laser spread out of his mouth, but other than that fights with his teeth. The player that beats him gets Spook Shot, which fires a pulse that goes through all the enemies in front of you no matter how many it hits.

This one was kinda hard, but looking up the word hidden really brought out some good synonyms.

Garuru

======Polliwog Croaker

"Hey you, get out of the way!"

Polliwog's major advantage is that he is a very small Maverick, and very difficult to hit. His electric tongue does ridiculous damage, and he can steal your shots with his tongue and fire them back at you stronger than they were before. He also has a wide-arcing cannon that can spread into three shots and rain down on you. The player that beats Polliwog gets the Croaker Cannon, which fires his arcing shot and splits into three.

This one was easy. Garuru is a frog, so the synonyms were easy. Sometimes I try too hard to come up with good names, but really this one didn't need to be overcomplex.

FicReader101

======Savant Octavo

"Brr...it's too cold in here."

Savant is a huge squid that is capable of controlling the tempurature of water. He can freeze the player inside it or cause it to boil and ruin a computer's circuitry. The entirety of his level is a wrecked shipyard where he is constantly freezing or boiling the water. Savant can't do this to the water around him (it would kill him) but if you are near he can grab you and freeze you, or he can shoot out heat currents that can rip you apart. The player that beats him gets the Octavo Heatshield, which enables the player's armor to temporarily heat up and damage the enemies you touch rather than the opposite. You are able to do this as long as you have energy for it, and this energy is used up when you actually hit an enemy: it doesn't go away if you're just standing still.

This one I got from reader synonyms, and I really like the power you get from him.