supercookies567: nice chapter i wonder wats gonna happen next? Nice chpter by the way. I hope u update soon! By the way how many chapters are u gonna write? Are there gonna be any zero and ciel moments later on in the story? Love your story will be w8ing for your update!

Me: Glad you liked the chapter. This story was really long when I first wrote it, and that was really poorly written anyways, so hopefully it will be shorted. This is the first LONG fic I've written.

Love my story? Well thanks, I love your reviews!

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ZEROfromtheOTHERDIMENSION: This is the LightningEdgeman, I'm just way too lazy to type in my E-mail to log in. About the chapter... Whoa 00'! X is getting married! Wow... Dude he got skills.XD Hope you get your writing shoes on and goodluck! P.S. If you noticed the shoes Don't ask...

Me: Shoes, huh? Whatever. Glad you liked it. Thanks for the good luck, I had a lot of it while I redid this chapter. I'm eager to hear your response on it. :-)

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bluewolf963: Yeah, that was kind of short, but quality is better than quantity any day. :3 Nice chapter. X getting married... didn't see that one coming, but sure, why not? He's busted himself more than once to make the world better. Revisions are okay, but don't take too long!

Me: Glad you liked it. X, married? Of course why not! Sometimes it gets annoying just to see him love some girl and never actually get to that point. All logic points to him getting married considering his character and what he does. I am of course talking about him in relation to fanfics here. Obviously he was underdeveloped in his early stages since that was the way it was back in the 1990's.

Revisions are definitely okay. Particularly when it comes to this. Believe me, the original was awful!

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I've failed yet again to keep a consistent update on my hands. I think I won't give anymore time guarantees since I don't want to keep disappointing you guys. This story needs so much more work that it turns into an unpleasant work project and I tend to avoid those. Even with awesome reviews, I'm sad to say. I hope you enjoy this chapter for what it's worth though. There is plenty of fighting and it is really long, so chew on this at your leisure. I can guarantee my frequent readers that they will like it.

"Come on Bob, let's perform a final hash check."

Bob nodded and checked the security system. Ever since he and Bob had been kicked out of TV security they were able to find work in a security system for a reploid lab. They both just did basic stuff and checked to make sure things ran correctly. Tonight they were lucky, they didn't need to do full checking and they could get out early.

"It looks like everything is clear, Bob." said Bob as he closed the console. "Let's go get some more donuts."

"Donuts…" muttered Bob dreamily. He practically counted the minutes till he could chow down on a fresh sticky ring of dough. "That sounds like a plan to me. By the way, what about checking the vicinity outside in the delivery area and trash tubes? What about those two reploids that are about to be revived in a couple of hours?"

Bob shook his head. "Naw. Besides, why would anyone want to steal trash? And who would steal reploids in hibernation anyway?"

"That's true." agreed Bob. "You know I heard new technology has sped up reviving processes, I think those two will be activated really soon. Let's go."

-------

Outside, two dark cloaked figures stepped silently out of the darkness and into the work yard of the reploid lab. They kept themselves concealed from the lights shining on them from the street lamps and moved quickly when in the shadows of the dark night.

"Keep your head down." Whispered one. "Your helmet stands out and you may be recognized."

"I know that." replied the other "You don't need to tell me thrice."

It was X and Harpuia. The city of Neo Arcadia was very quiet in this rather secluded section of the town. A good place for a reploid lab. Such a lab undoubtedly had high security on it though; particularly since two such important reploids were stored there. Megaman X and Harpuia tried to get in the sneakiest way possible. Bent low, they ducked underneath a large hovercraft and surveyed the distance that lay between them and the lab.

"Flying may help." suggested Harpuia. "I can carry you."

"No." said X. "That won't work, we'd still have to land and there's no entrances on the roof."

"How do you know that?" said Harpuia.

"Being a cyber-elf for so long has its advantages." X explained, trying to see through the dark. "I have information on just about every building in the city. I'm trying to think of a way we can get into this one."

Harpuia clapped his hands together and a little twinkle of light emerged from his palm. "We should at least know what's ahead of us."

He leaned out from underneath the craft and tossed the twinkle into the sky. Later, a bolt of lighting struck down and hit a street lamp. There was an instance of brilliant light and X and Harpuia could see what was ahead of them.

Harpuia pointed with his finger to several large pipes. "I think we can get in through those." Said Harpuia. "They're tubes that transport waste. Nobody keeps a close monitor on them. Come on, let's go."

They both started crawling on their elbows towards the large lead pipes, careful to see if anyone was watching them; though if anyone was standing in the middle of the work yard, they might have sensed their presence just for the fact that they were so silent.

Suddenly, Harpuia stopped moving and motioned for X to remain still. "We're being watched." he said. X looked up and saw that Harpuia was right. Just above them was a camera attached to a rotating work-yard light and they were caught in its vision. They waited.

And nothing happened. X looked at Harpuia in confusion and Harpuia shrugged. The camera continued to rotate and it didn't stop turning when it spotted them.

"No alarm. They probably don't know we're here." suggested X. "I think it's time to run now. I'll secure the camera so it doesn't see us."

X fired some Web Trap over the camera lens and both he and Harpuia got up and ran the rest of the way to the building. They both found a trash tube and Harpuia slashed it open with his sabers. Inside the pipe, they could see some rather unattractive build up on the sides. X set is jaw and stepped in.

"Time to get our hands dirty." he said grimacing.

----

Down inside the trash center, a small group of humans jumped at the sound of Harpuia's sabers cutting the pipe and the sound of clambering from someone coming down the tube.

"They've found us." whispered a female. "We have nowhere else to go. We'll never reach them in time even if we do escape!"

"I know." said a gruff male voice. "But we must try and hide. Quick, hide behind the machinery!"

X set his hand against the wall and slid down the wall of the pipe. Harpuia climbed in head first, using his sabers to serve as handholds in the slimy pipe. Once they reached the end, they found themselves in a large container of trash and ended up having to blast a whole through the wall to get out.

"I'm glad I'm not in there anymore." said Harpuia in relief.

"Gasp!"

Harpuia looked around. Nobody was there. "What's wrong, X?" he asked.

X clambered out of the pipe. "Is something wrong?"

Harpuia nodded and began to search the room. If X hadn't gasped, it was someone else. Someone who might know who they were. X charged his buster and peered around ready to fire. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, out from behind a control console, a large man leapt out and whipped out a firearm and fired a round of shots. X and Harpuia nearly jumped, but the shots he fired were made of metal. It was a revolver, a primitive weapon compared to the technology of the century.

Megaman stood, not flinching at the pitifully weak shots that bounced off his armor. Even in his youngest days without any improvements he wouldn't have felt these shots. "Stop it." he commanded. "Your fire power is useless."

Harpuia put his sabers back. "Don't shoot them." he said "They're humans."

The man advanced forward and waved his pistol in a defensive stance. "Stay back!" he yelled. "Don't even think of hurting us!"

X advanced forward and held up his hands. "Hurting you? You're the one throwing weapons around. By the way, what do you mean by -us-?"

At that, the whole room seemed to come alive with shouts and cries and running people. Behind machinery and doors and anyplace that could conceal a person came someone who ran for the exit door. "They've discovered us!" cried the man, raising his gun like a club. "Get away while I hold them off!"

X quickly grabbed the man and restrained him while Harpuia flew over the people's heads, blocking the exit door. The small crowd of humans shrunk away from him and huddled together in fear. The group of people didn't appear dangerous. In fact, they looked like perfectly normal people. Most of the group contained adults, and they all looked frightened, as if they were discovered in the attempt of some crime.

X released the man and crossed his arms. "What on earth is going on here?" he demanded.

The person closest to X cried "You'll never take us alive!"

Harpuia drew one of his sabers and held it aloft. "I am Sage Harpuia." he announced. "Part of the league of justice fighters. I have no intention of harming any of you. I am here on a secret mission, but what are all of you doing here?"

The man whom they had met first jumped forward and yelled "You don't have any right to interrogate us! You're just a soldier, and you don't have any warrant. We are citizens of Neo Arcadia and we have our rights!"

X grabbed the man and drew him close to his face. "Listen you. I am not a citizen of Neo Arcadia, and I'm not subject to it's laws. One word from my friend here and the only right you will have is a garbage heap. I'm going to ask you some questions, and you had better answer them. Got it, mister?"

The man seemed intimidated and he calmed down mumbling in quiet anger. X faced the group. "Alright. I came here hoping to do something to help humans in my ultimate intentions, but I never expected to find any here. Why are you all here, and why are you all so frightened of us?"

Nobody answered. X tapped his foot impatiently. "Come on now, we don't have all night. Is anyone here going to answer? I really don't mean any harm to you."

This time, a man and a woman stepped forward. "We're the ones in charge." said the woman. "We'll answer your questions. We didn't come here to steal, or anything like that. We are only hiding for a while, we'll leave right now."

"That's not our concern." said Harpuia. "Why are you hiding? Who are you hiding from?"

"We're hiding from Neo Arcadian Secret Police." answered the man. "They want to stop us from revealing the truth. They don't want us to tell people that the secret police are about to-"

"Just a minute." said X. "I think I recognize you two."

The man and the woman looked at each other in confusion. X studied them carefully. He recognized the eyes of the woman, and the facial structure of the man. "What are your names?"

"My name is Capella." answered the man. "This is my wife, Ciel."

X's eyes widened and his mouth opened in surprise. "Ciel?" he echoed. "Now I remember! You gave birth to Dr. Ciel of the Resistance force!"

A hush fell over the crowd and Ciel did not answer. Capella whispered something in his wife's ear and she shook her head. For a few minutes it looked like they were in some kind of debate and X waited patiently for them to finish. Harpuia looked at him, wondering what could be so secretive. X could detect that Ciel might not trust him, but he believe Capella thought otherwise. Finally, it looked like Capella was forcing Ciel to answer and she sighed; stepped forward and said solidly.

"Yes, I'm her mother."

X sighed in satisfaction. He smiled and replied "I thought so. Especially after you just answered me like that. You looked rather like your daughter did when she had trouble making a decision. Why are you hiding here? What is going on?"

This time Capella answered "We're trying to run from Dr. Weil's men. They're after us because we've uncovered information revealing a secret plan."

"What plan is that?" asked Harpuia.

"We don't know for sure." Capella replied. "I think it's name is some kind of German word, but I don't know the meaning. The things the police have done to keep us from spreading the word is so horrific… I'm certain their plan is dangerous."

"It's true." Ciel replied. "We know what Dr. Weil did to the three guardians and what he tried to do with the Dark Elf. Everyone did I suppose. Then, once the police began to visit every house in the city, people began to act differently. It was as if they never suspected Dr. Weil of anything, or knew his true colors."

Harpuia turned to Megaman. "They may have done the same to Leviathan and Fefnir."

"Perhaps." said Ciel. "Is that why you're here? To get the guardians back?"

X nodded. "Yes, but first, we have to decide what to do with you. Apparently, you know the meaning of the resistance force by now. Your daughter could see it coming all along, but I doubt you ever believed her. What do you hope to do now?"

The couple both felt embarrased. Ciel looked away and Capella stared at the floor. They didn't have to answer though, as the hot headed guy replied for them. "We are going to escape from here and live someplace where we won't need to run from Weil."

Harpuia glanced at him suspiciously. "That's putting it rather blunt." he remarked. "But I suppose we don't want to interfere with you. We're here to retrieve some reploids, not tamper with you. Come on X, let's go."

"Wait a minute," said X. "I think these people could use some help."

Harpuia walked over to the door and opened it. "Like I said earlier," he replied "We can't let anyone interfere with our mission. I am a guardian of Neo Arcadia, and it is my duty to protect it. Trying to help these people escape might jeopardize our goal to save millions of others. I can't take that chance. Are you coming, or what?"

Megaman did not reply. Harpuia turned around and said "Megaman?"

Megaman was standing perfectly still, apparently listening and craning his neck in different directions. "Someone's coming." he said. His stare then went to the floor, and then down to Harpuia.

"LOOK OUT!!" He shouted. Harpuia spun around in time to see the floor behind him explode and Zero fly out of it, his red eyes shining while he whirled the Triple Rod. Megaman dove forwards and knocked Harpuia out of the way of Zero's twirling attack. Zero stabbed downward and struck Harpuia's arm. Harpuia cried out and rolled out of the way in time for Megaman to lift his left buster and shoot the Triple Rod out of Zero's hands. Harpuia leapt into the air and snatched the weapon himself.

Zero snarled at him and faced X. X was charging both busters and had them both trained on Zero. The people all cowered behind the machinery again, particularly the hotheaded man who seemed more a coward than a fighter. Harpuia hovered before the people and X held Zero at bay.

"Stand away, X!" said Zero.

X shook his head and prepared to fire. "What do YOU want?" he demanded. "And why are you here?"

"Them." said Zero; answering both questions. "Particularly those two Cappela's. Lord Weil has sent to find them."

Zero advanced, but X did also, not letting him past. "I'm not moving." said X firmly. "Now why do you want them?"

"To stop them from spreading the lies of our worthy cause!" ranted Zero.

"He's in worse shape than I thought." thought Megaman.

Zero ranted on and on with nonsense about a better utopia for humans and that Ciel and Capella were trying to stop it. "I am under strict instructions to take them prisoner. I will take them and leave." finished Zero as he took out the Anomale Projector.

"Watch it X." warned Harpuia. "That's an electromagnetic net!"

Zero began to stride by X, who jumped in front of him and said "Don't come a step closer, Zero. I will shoot if you try to."

Zero calmly lifted both hands in the air, as if in surrender- then he whipped out his saber and blocked both the incoming shots from X. He then took the A.P. and captured X in its green glow.

The people began to murmur in fear. Harpuia thought fast. He leapt into the air and slashed a piece of mirror-like glass from the skylight. He glided down to Zero, hovered above the A.P. beam and lowered the glass into the ray. The mirror reflected the ray and it went past Zero to grab one of the machines lining the wall. X, freed of the net, flipped backwards and turned his weapon to Flame Ball.

"Go Harpuia!" he cried. "I'll hold him off, go get the others!"

Zero, enraged that his quarry escaped him, jerked on his A.P. and tore the machine from the wall, flinging it at Harpuia, but Harpuia merely hurled the Triple Rod through the air, cutting it in two. He then dove through the door behind Zero and raced down the passageway. X fired a charged Flame Ball at the top of the passage doorway, making the passageway collapse.

Zero- seeing his pursuit already lost, whipped out his Z-Saber and advanced angrily. "You will pay for this, X." he growled.

---

Harpuia ran down the halls with his sabers drawn. He knew he had little time before security might spot him and send guards after him. He wasn't that worried about the guards, but they might cut off access to certain rooms, possibly preventing him from reaching his friends. He followed a series of directions on the walls to the reviving room. Unfortunately, the reviving room was rather far from the garbage center due to needing the most sanitary environment in which to work.

If he ever came to a door, he would open it, or hack it open, alerting some automated security devices. They posed no real problem in eliminating. He hoped that they wouldn't find out about X and the humans.

"I hope that they don't find out about X and the humans." he thought.

Author's Note: Smirks Yeah, I know it hurts.

---

X did a double back flip as Zero charged him. He landed on the wall and propelled himself towards Zero, kicking him with both legs. Zero back flipped forwards, but was on his feet before too long. X tried to tackle him, but Zero was too fast for him and slashed X in his chest. While X stumbled about from the searing pain, Zero fired shots at the different machinery in the room. X switched to Lightning Strike and bolts of lighting hit the shots, making them dissipate before they could cause any harm to the people.

X then activated his Stun Blade and countered the ray of the A.P. which Zero had just tried to capture him with. X didn't move for fear of being caught in the ray. Zero saw this and charged his own buster. Once it was charged, he switched of his A.P. to shoot at X. Unfortunately for him, X had instantly switched to Ice Mine and fired, causing an explosion which left Zero's paint job much to be desired.

This time X was able to launch himself on Zero, pile-driving him in the face to keep from being knocked off. Then he locked arms with him and carried Zero into a roll across the floor until he slammed Zero's body into the wall. Zero's anger lent him strength and once he recovered from the body slam, engaged in hand to hand combat himself. Both reploids rolled about the room; neither gaining the advantage. Finally, Megaman found himself lying on his back and knocked Zero away using his legs. Zero was caught by surprise and when he had landed, found himself bent like a jackknife behind a machine.

X switched back to plasma and shouted to the people. "Get out of here! Go through the tube!"

The people scrambled out of their hiding places and jumped into the garbage tube. X raced over to Zero and shot Web Trap all over him, temporarily restraining him. He took the A.P., the Triple Rod, the Recoil Rod and Zero's buster. Before X could take the rest of Zero's weapons, Zero got a grip on his saber and sliced himself free from the web. Thinking quickly, X somersaulted backwards until he was blocking access to the garbage tube, firing plasma shots as he did.

- - -

Harpuia had found the reviving room. He had only needed to fight off a few teams of security to reach it. Inside, he found rows and rows of large glass walled containers with reploids in them. It looked like they were floating in the green fluid typically used in Sci-Fi TV series to display suspended animation for its inhabitant.

He found Fefnir and Leviathan in a more limited access part of the lab. He was glad to see his fiery friend in good shape. He was extremely relieved to see that his Leviathan had sustained no real disfiguration during her reviving process and he could still recognize her for who she was.

He bent down to the control panels and tried to unlock the doors to the capsules. Once he activated it, the mini console spoke. "HELLO. WELCOME TO CAPSULES Hg3 AND Hg4. TO ACCESS CAPSULE, PLEASE INPUT PROPER I.D., USER PASSWORD, AUTHORIZATION NUMBER, PROPER VOICE PATTERN, EYE SCAN, REASON FOR ACCESS, CODE NAME FOR NUMBERS 3-6-6-8-8-7, GOOD LOOKS-"

Harpuia did not have time for this. He hacked the console in two and the doors automatically opened. He took both of them and lay them on the floor with their heads leaning against their capsules. He then opened two panels on each of their arms and used the weakest lightning strike he could manage. The bolts struck the panels inside the Guardian's arms and sent electricity flowing inside.

Fefnir began to cough and stir. He opened his eyes and lurched forward, spitting out the green fluid. "Where am I?" He gasped. "And why does it feel like I've eaten ten tons of leftover lab experiments?"

Harpuia shook Leviathan until her teeth began to clack together. She finally woke up and pried herself from Harpuia's grasp. She had had her mouth shut during the process and didn't have the problems Fefnir had. She looked around and felt her arms and wrists, wondering how she could possibly be alive again. Then she noticed Harpuia. Harpuia's face, so different from his normally personality. He was smiling at her! His face displayed such joy that she thought she might have lost her mind.

"Hi Leviathan." Said Harpuia.

While it had seemed X had gained the upper hand, Zero was not without his own skills. And while X was in the defensive mode, that gave Zero the room to dodge X's shots and catch him round the ankles with the Chain Rod. Zero jerked X off his feet and dragged him away from the tube. X switched to Stun Blade and drove it into the floor and held fast to wear he was. The last of the humans finally escaped through the pipe.

"Too late, Zero." said X, driving his saber further into the floor. Zero glared at X, and then suddenly got an idea. He released X, and seemed to retreat, running as fast as he could to the other side of the room. X scrambled to his feet and began charging his busters, wondering what he was doing.

To his dismay, Zero used his momentum to carry himself up the wall and then launch himself in an arc over X's head towards the tube's entrance. X had no time to shoot and threw himself right into Zero's path. Zero smiled in satisfaction and shoved his saber straight into X's side.

"YAAAAAH!!" screamed X. The searing hot glow nearly cut right through him. He fell to the floor, unable to stand or move.

Zero landed beside X and prepared to finish him off. Harpuia entered the room along with his friends, but they stopped when they saw Zero poised over X.

For several frightening moments it looked to the others like Zero was always just about to cut X to pieces. In reality though, Zero's good side was on the attack again and was fighting desperately against this action.

"Everything Dr. Weil wishes is your purpose, Zero!"

"He's not God. I will not be controlled by a program!"

"Silence! Whatever you think you are just give up. You cannot stand against me, not a program. I have taken over your ultimate mind, what can you hope to do?"

"I'm better than a program. I'm independent, and I'm going to fight you till I find a way to work around you."

Then Zero's face would return to normal, and then twist into painful and sometimes frustrated positions. He suddenly struck, but just as quickly drew back and missed X. Harpuia shot forward and took X to a safe distance from Zero, he was now turning his saber off and on in an indeterminable pattern.

He screamed madly in desperation "DR. WEIL!". He dashed franticly for the entrance he had made in the floor, as if trying to find his maker to rescue him from his struggles. But he didn't make it and he fell to the floor, his whole body thrashing about in seizure-like convulsions as he fought between standing and lying down.

Suddenly he froze in the middle of a convulsion. His eyes had returned to normal and they rolled in Harpuia's direction. "I've… done it!" he rasped. "Use my… Saber!"

Harpuia went to Zero and took Zero's saber from it's sheath. Zero drew tighter in his convulsion, and then, to everyone's surprise, a ball of energy rose out of Zero's body and hovered a mere inch from re-entering. Harpuia activated the saber and slashed right down the center of it.

It exploded. The room was filled with a blinding blue light and everyone could see chunks of the program floating through the air. Right down to the ones and zeroes the program broke apart before them, though they could see little because of the light. They shielded their eyes until it died down.

Then Zero went limp on the floor. X crawled up to him and shook him, but nothing happened. Harpuia walked over to X and gave him as well as Zero several energy cans. "I got them off the security guards." he explained.

X felt his huge wound begin to slowly come together again. This time, however, he would need extensive repairs to fully heal this wound. He got to his feet and picked up Zero. "Let's go." he said quietly. "I don't think Zero is entirely disinfected. I want to take him back to the base. It's good to see you two by the way."