Chapter 21: Investigate the Maverick Base! Enter the X-Hunters!

X and the IS girls watch with amazement as Eris ate her plate so fast when the red cat robot offered her dinner. Eris rubbed her stomach with a happy smile. "Ah, that felt good!"

"How… on Earth were you able to finish your food so quickly?" Cecilia rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

"Oh, Eris has a thing for food and she never gets fat when she eats." Chaika closed her eyes and smiled.

"I can see that…" Ling muttered with a sweat drop.

X decided to change the subject. "So all of you are from another universe with an alternate Earth and you came to our dimension through the Catian Dimension Warper? And these four cat girls who are liked Eris are from the same planet as her?"

"Indeed." Qoone nodded with a kind smile. "We Catians are friendly to other races and would even travel to different universe to share our knowledge with other races of other universe, including alternate versions of Earth."

"X, right?" Durel asked with a smile.

"Yes?" X responded, feeling nervous about this.

"You said you're a Reploid, an advanced robot with human emotions. Who made you and how was it replicated to make more of your Reploid brothers and sisters?" Durel got out a mini computer and began to take notes.

"Well, I was made by my deceased creator, Dr. Thomas Light back in 20XX. I am his final creation based on my old self, MegaMan. He sealed me away since he feels his timeline is not ready for me. So in 21XX, a scientist who is a fan of my creator's work, Dr. Archimedes R. Cain found Dr. Light's lab and released me. Dr. Cain decided to replicate my design and functions to make Reploids. So that would make me the father of Reploids, I guess…" X smiled meekly as he rubbed the back of his head anxiously.

"Wow…" Eris's eyes sparkle with delight. "So you're the Reploids' daddy?! That's so cool!"

"Eris…" Mamani face palmed and moaned.

"It's kinda cool to believe, isn't it?" Kio chuckled nervously with a sweat drop.

"So, how did you, Eris, Mamani and Aoi meet, Kio-kun?" Charlotte asked, wanting to know how such a human from an alternate Earth met such strange and wonderful people from both his world and another world all together.

"Well, it started out when I was attending a memorial service for one of my ancestors. After the service was over, I met Eris at a buffet table and I quickly realized that Eris is an alien from the planet Catia." Kio started explaining the history of how he met his friends and Eris. "I accidently drank some beer and had a hangover."

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking alcohol?" Laura glared suspiciously at him.

"It was an accident!" Kio cried frantically. "The next day, I awoke to find Eris half-naked and sleeping in my bed. It was then Mamani and someone I know came into my and misinterpret on what I was doing." Kio sighed in embarrassment.

"I said I was sorry, Kio!" Mamani blushed nervously and in embarrassment for making a mistake in the past when she met Eris.

"Anyway, I walked out to gather my thoughts and met Aoi whom I didn't know was a part of the Immigration Bureau of Japan who was ordered to eliminate Eris. Mamani whom I didn't know was a recruit in the CIA was also ordered to eliminate Ers and the person I know was part of an alien cult who refused to believe Eris is an alien. The CIA managed to capture Eris, but me, Mamani, Aoi and the alien cult leader work together to save her when we didn't realized that Eris managed to break out on her own." Kio smiled softly.

"Wow that must have been intense…" Ling whistled in amazement. She turned to the four Catian aliens. "So that's where you four came in?"

"Mmhm." Chaika nodded in agreement as she continued for Kio. "After Kio, Mamani and Aoi managed to save Eris, Captain Qoone and the Catian fleet arrived to Earth to make friends with Kio's race. Since then, we have used Kio's house as an envoy. We will discuss the rest of their adventures later. Since we arrived in this dimension using our Catian Dimension Warper, do you mind if we use your penthouse as an envoy as well?"

"Huh?!" X and the IS girls gawked when she said that.

"A-Are you sure about this?" Cecilia muttered, wondering how this will turn out.

"O-Of course. We don't mind being your roommates for a while." Melwin smiled nervously.

"I see… Plus, it would be cool to have these alien robots helping out with the house every now and then." Ling picked up one of the cat robots and snuggled it, the cat robot liked that and snuggled Ling back. "What are they called again?"

"T-They're called Assist-Roids." Aoi looked away, bashfully.

"So in any case, what makes this world of Reploids so interesting?" Durel asked, taking in some notes.

"Well… Reploids get along with humans and help each other out with nearly everything. However…" Houki started to say.

"However…?" Durel stared at her with a curious nature.

"There are times where Reploids rebelled against humans, be it their own will or by a virus. We got a nasty war that started six months ago where the leader of the Mavericks, Sigma started this war to make a utopia for Reploids and all humans in the omniverse were wiped out from existence."

"Oh my lord… This Sigma person must be really bad!" Eris covered her mouth in shock.

"He was…" X nodded with a frown. "He launched missiles at Africa, killing some humans and Reploids just to make his insane goal a reality. But in the end, we managed to put an end to his evil schemes."

"Well, I hope Sigma doesn't come back. He is a monster for trying to make a omniverse for Reploids." Manami frowned as she crossed her arms.

"Oh yeah, we forgot one important thing. Maverick Hunters, humans and Reploids trained to hunt down Mavericks were established to help protect the humans and Reploids." Houki added.

"So they're like the sheriffs of your time." Qoone smiled as she clapped her hands in appreciation.

"That's about it." Laura nodded as she drank her tea.

"So how did you five girls and X meet?" Kio asked out of curiosity.

"Well, Houki and her friends are from the year 2035. They were cyrogentically frozen because of an incident in the era of ISes. IS stands for Infinite Stratos and only girls can pilot them. After the incident, ISes were banned from the face of the Earth. After Dr. Cain found me and Reploids were mass produced, I found Houki and her friends in suspended animation at the IS Academy ruins. At first, they were scared and confused about the era they were in. But after they calmed down, I became their guardian and squad leader of X-Squad." X explained. The IS girls blushed slightly.

"I see…" Mamani nodded, she rubbed her chin in thought. "You must be a really good guardian taking care of five girls like that, X."

"Stop, you're embarrassing me." X chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Anyway, it's getting late. Perhaps we should discuss this more tomorrow."

"Okay." Everyone nodded in agreement and after deciding who should sleep with who, everyone rested for the night.

(The next day…)

"Dr. Cain said he wanted to speak to us about something, right?" Houki asked. X, the IS girls and Kio's group were in the large van, discussing what Dr. Cain wanted to talk to them about.

"Yes. Dr. Cain said it is urgent." X nodded in agreement.

"Um… Who is Dr. Cain?" Eris asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"He's the creator of Reploids, that would make him the grandfather of Reploids since he based them on X's designs." Cecilia told her.

"I see. So it would be wise to see what this Dr. Cain has to say then." Mamani nodded in understanding.

"Yeah." Ling nodded as the van approached Cain Laboratories.

After introducing Kio's group to Dr. Cain, they listen to what he has to say.

"X… It's been six months since you and Houki's group managed to destroy Sigma, but Mavericks are still causing trouble." Dr. Cain told them as he showed them a holographic map of some kind.

"We know. We managed to convert some Mavericks back to Reploids using reasoning. So you want us to do something, right?" Charlotte asked seriously with a serious frown.

"Yes. We have discovered a base with remnants of Sigma's forces in the Sahara Desert. X, I want your squad to add Striker Squad in destroying it. From what our Intel has gathered, the Mavericks are building giant Mavericks to recuperate their loss of the first Maverick War. I have sent Storm Eagle, Armored Armadillio and Boomer Kuwager to deal with other Maverick bases around the world. Right now, the Sahara Base is our top priority. Can I count on you to help out?" Dr. Cain asked.

"Of course. I want to protect this world and make it a place where everyone is happy, including Houki and her friends. I'll do it to ensure the peace." X agreed.

"We'll help X as well. We want to help make a world where there is no war and Mavericks. And Reploids and humans live together in harmony." Houki agreed as well.

"Um…" Aoi looked around. "Is it alright if we join your unit after you complete your mission in Sahara? It's been awhile since we have any experiences in battle."

"I don't see why not. Okay, after X and his squad finish their mission in Sahara, you can join their squad." Dr. Cain smiled. "Also, I want to learn more about the Catians."

"Yipee!" Eris leaped up for joy. "We get to be Maverick Hunters soon!"

"Alright, we're leaving right away, Dr. Cain." Cecilia told him.

(Sahara Desert, 4:30 PM)

X-Squad were on Ride Chasers and were helping Striker Squad make an assault on the Maverick Base. One of the Maverick robots fired cannon shots at the team, one of them hit and destroyed a Striker Reploid. But X and the IS girls charged their Ride Chasers into the robot and bailed out before they exploded with the robot. X and the IS girls glared at the base as X activated his comlink.

"This is X-Squad. We're proceeding to enter the base."

"Roger that, X-Squad. Maintain radio silence." A Reploid said in the comlink.

"Alright, X-Squad, move out!" Ling cheered as they charged into the base.

As X-Squad entered the base, they encounter Maverick Soldiers firing at them.

"Destroy the ones who destroyed Lord Sigma!" A Maverick Sargent snarled as he and his fellow Mavericks fired at our heroes, but they managed to destroy the Maverick soldiers. Our heroes pressed forward and discovered an assembly line making giant Maverick robots.

"Shoot, they're making these things!" Laura growled as she slashed a Maverick soldier in half.

"We got to shut it down before they released these things onto the world!" X issued as our heroes pressed forward and smash more Mavericks that got in their way.

They had to dodge some traps and destroy more Mavericks that tried to stop them. Eventually, they reached a hole that leads to the main control room.

"So we can shut down the assembly line if we go down here?" Charlotte murmured as she looked at the hole.

"That's a lucky guess, but it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?" Ling figured.

"Alright, let's jump down and shut it down!" X ordered, the IS girls nodded in agreement as they jumped down the hole and landed on a platform. The huge Maverick robot sprung to life and has begun attacking!

"That must be the control unit." Houki frowned as she readied her katanas.

"I have a hunch if we destroy it, the whole assembly line will shut down! So slice it to pieces!" Laura yelled sharply as she flew up to the head and slashed it five times with her claymore. The Maverick Robot swung its arms at the gang, but they dodged it.

"Switching to Light Armor!" X declared as he switch to his Light Armor. Charging up his X-Buster, he aimed his X-Buster and fired the level 3 charged shot at the Maverick Robot's head, damaging it some more.

"Here I go!" Charlotte shouted as she jabbed her spear at the head five times, damaging it in the medium range.

"I'll add in the damage!" Cecilia shouted as she fired Buster Shots at the head five times, damaging it a little. She flew around it and fired more Buster shots, damaging it even more. The Maverick Robot fired lasers from its eyes, X was hit by it, but recovered and retaliated by firing Buster Shots at the head, giving it some decent damage.

"Nice one, Cecilia!" Ling grinned as she activated her RepArmor's flight mode and gave the Maverick Robot's head a powerful two kick attack damaging it greatly. The Maverick Robot tried to grab her with its arms, but she manvuely dodged the attempt grabs and punched the head five times with her brass knuckles.

"Now it's my turn!" Houki declared as she flew in and slashed the head seven times with her katanas and did a x slash attack. The robot tried to fire lasers at her with its eyes, but X dispelled the attacked by firing a Charged Shot.

The Maverick Robot leaped up and tried to squash our heroes, but they dodged it. The Maverick Robot tried to punch our heroes, but they dodged the punches like always.

X figured it is a good time to finish this. "Now! Time to end this!" With a heroic scream, he charged up his X-Buster to level 3 and fired the powerful charged shot at the head, leaving a big hole in it. The Maverick Robot then exploded into pieces.

"Whew! Talk about a close one…" Cecilia panted as she fell on her butt and let out a sigh cloud.

"Yeah, but we stopped the assembly line, right?" Ling smiled with confidence. X however, was serious for a moment.

"Something up, X-kun?" Charlotte asked him with concern as she and the other IS girls looked at him with worry.

"I don't know… Call it a hunch, but this may be the tip of the iceberg. Whoever was commanding these Mavericks must be plotting something big…" X muttered. The IS girls pondered about this.

(Meanwhile… in a unknown location at an unknown time…)

Three black sihiloutes were watching X and the IS girls defeating the Maverick Robot. An elderly voice sinisterly stated "Their names are MegaMan X, Houki Shinonono, Cecilia Alcott, Huang-Lingyin, Charlotte Dunois and Laura Bodewig. MegaMan X is a Reploid with limitless power while those five human girls are able to convert Mavericks back to Reploids and are relics of the once glorious IS era…"

"Indeed…" A male voice added. "To think they were able to defeat our master and saved the omniverse."

"Bah!" A rough voice growled. "These six wimps are the heroes of the first Maverick War?! Don't make me laugh!"

"Cool yourself, Violen. Remember our plan." The elderly voice scolded the one called Violen.

"Yeah, Yeah, I know, Serges. How's it coming along anyway?" Violen asked.

"It's coming along smoothly. But let's observe X and those IS pilots a bit more, shall we?" Serges chuckled darkly.

"Indeed. And we have stolen Project Uni without Dr. Cain knowing for now. The unification will soon be a success and He will fight alongside our master."

"Indeed, Agile." Serges nodded in the shadows. "Let's send out our new 8 Maverick Generals tomorrow to deal with these nuisances and bring in some inhabitants of another dimension to our dimension."

To be continued…

Next chapter: Wired Sponge: The Peace Warrior, Celestial Maidens and Maverick Hunters

A/N: Another chapter by yours truly! Anyway, I'm taking a break to celebrate my grandma's birthday this weekend, so I will update this fanfic next week. Until then, see you soon!