Chapter Twenty: About Time.

"It's impossible," Samus walked up to Megaman and put her hand on his shoulder.

Sonic poked him in the side. "We watched you die."

Megaman smiled. "Dr. Light has copies of me at all times. When I die, those blue spheres you saw rocket back to Dr. Lights. The data in the spheres is then reconfigured into me and I get sent back to the place where I died ready to fight once more."

"That seems a little to simple." Cloud said looking over the remains of the Metal Gears.

Megaman smiled. "Here's the story."

A beam of blue light shot down from the sky near the crater in Hyrule. Megaman walked around it confused. "What happened, I was only gone for a moment?" Megaman jumped into the middle of the crater. "These footprints are like Samus's." Megaman kneeled down to the ground. "And Sonic, and the rest of the team. They were here recently. Where did they go?" Megaman walked around in a circle a couple of times.

Then, Lavos screeched again.

Megaman quickly spun around to where he thought he heard the sound. Lightning cracked from the area near him, and the gate opened sucking Megaman in.

Megaman span through the vortex and arrived in the lush valley in 22XX where the crater struck. "Where am I now?"

"How are you here?"

Megaman span around and saw the One-Winged Sephiroth standing behind him. Megaman lifted his buster up and charged a shot.

"Do you really think that will work?" Sephiroth smiled.

Megaman was silent for a moment. "Where are we?"

"I don't know." Sephiroth looked around. "What I want to know is, why aren't you dead?"

Megaman explained the energy spheres.

Sephiroth smiled. "So if I killed you right now, you would just appear again?"

Megaman nodded. "That's right."

"Is there a limit to how often I can do this?"

"Dr. Light usually has just about five copies at a time, then he has to make more."

"It will do."

Sephiroth dashed at Megaman slashing his sword. Megaman fired his charged shot that dissipated instantly after he fired it. Sephiroth slashed Megaman across various angles all across his body. Megaman shone a bright light and exploded.

Sephiroth smiled. "That was fun. I can't wait to do it again." The sound of a gate opening and closing happened a short distance away. Sephiroth walked over to investigate.

"Only thing is," Cloud said sitting down. "How do we go back?"

"I would also like to know." Sephiroth said walking toward them

Cloud jumped to his feet and grabbed the Master Sword.

"I have more entertaining things to do then fight you." Sephiroth said raising his hands.

Megaman's data went whizzing through space and arrived at Dr. Light's laboratory. A capsule opened and Megaman walked out. He found a run down, and nearly destroyed area. "What happened, where is this?"

"It is where you think it is."

Megaman looked around. "Who's there?"

A spec of light floated down to Megaman. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"What are you?" Megaman asked.

The spec shot light out in various directions. When the light faded, a holographic image of what looked like a man wearing blue robes and a blue helmet stood in the room. The helmet had a red triangle on the forehead. "You can call me, X. And you, must be Megaman."

"How do you know me?" Megaman asked.

"I have spent many years in this old laboratory reading the knowledge it has."

"Who are you, really?" Megaman asked.

X smiled. "I suppose I'll tell you the truth. I was a highly advanced robot in the year 21XX, my full name is Megaman X."

Megaman raised an eyebrow.

"I was created by Dr. Light."

"Why didn't he ever tell me anything about this?"

"Dr. Light felt that it was important to keep me a secret until the thirty year preparation period was over to make sure I would not harm humanity. If I were to fall into the wrong hands and be woken prematurely, there's no telling what could have happened."

"But you were woken at the right time?"

X was silent. "I was woken late."

Megaman was confused again.

"I was woken up some sixty years later by a scientist named Cain. The world was a wreck, overrun with mavericks."

"Mavericks? You mean like Zero?"

X raised his head. "Zero? You know Zero?"

"Yeah, he's the lunatic robot that Dr. Wily created to kill me!"

X fell silent once more. "You knew that Zero."

"That Zero?"

X walked over to a control panel. "I have to show you something." X pushed a few buttons on the panel and the screen lit up.

Dr. Cossack appeared. "This is Dr. Cossack, last report into the file of X."

Megaman looked over at X.

"I fear the worst has come," An explosion was heard in the background. "Dr. Wily has activated his robot, Zero. This robot is far to powerful, he was already destroyed both Protoman and Bass."

Megaman was shocked.

"He is making his way here to destroy Megaman, but he has gone missing. I fear what will happen when he finds Dr. Light." Another explosion and a scream were heard. Dr. Cossack clenched his eyes shut. "I have to waken X prematurely, he's the only thing that can stop Zero now."

Cossack walked over to another panel, but an explosion sent him flying.

Zero walked into the room with an evil grin. He cared nothing about Megaman X lying in the middle of the room.

"Please," Cossack muttered.

Zero fired a large blast off screen, and Cossack was heard no more. He then turned to the camera, smiled, and fired. The screen turned to fuzz.

X pushed a button that stopped the tape. "I do not know what happened next."

Megaman fell to his knees.

"What I do know is that you can stop it." X said putting his hand on his shoulder.

Megaman looked up. "How?"

"You must go back through time. Go to Hyrule and travel through the Gate there."

Megaman stood up. "Yes, I have to stop this."

"You'll meet two Zero's though."

Megaman slowly turned his head. "Two?"

"A good one and an evil one. After this, cataclysm, Zero went missing, a team of Maverick hunters in the year 21XX found him again before I was awoken. He was still uncontrollable. A powerful Maverick Hunter named Sigma was able to deliver a powerful blow to the crystal on his head, that incapacitated him. Zero was then re-awoken with no memory of Wily or his past and fought for the Maverick Hunters, I later joined him. We became best friends."

"What happened to Zero?"

"He went missing after a time, and I eliminated the rest of the Mavericks myself, despite the fact I don't like fighting. I created a human and robot utopia named Neo Arcadia, and then left my body to seal a powerful force in the core of the city."

Megaman slowly nodded his head.

"A few years later, a human scientist named Ciel created a copy of myself to fill my position as leader of Neo Arcadia. The copy took control, and then began to destroy innocent reploids calling them maverick. So, Ciel and her resistance found Zero and woke him. I've been aiding him from the shadows ever since."

"I see…" Megaman slowly said.

"This is all beside the point." X said. "You must return to your time."

Megaman held up his fist. "Alright X, I'll do my best!"

"One more thing." X walked over to a capsule. "Take this with you." X opened the capsule to reveal a red orb with a white Japanese fan shaped object in the center. "This is Dr. Lights last creation, with hope that you would return. It is called the Yashichi. It will give you more power then you ever dreamed of having, and, every ability from every robot Wily ever created."

Megaman slowly extended his arms to the sphere. He grabbed it out from X's hands. The sphere shone a bright light, shattered, and circled Megaman around a number of times until collapsing into him. Megaman's eyes were wide. "This is, more power then I've ever had."

"Take is Megaman, take it and defeat those who cause evil."

Megaman nodded and walked toward the teleporter.

X put his fist up. "Fight Megaman,"

Megaman smiled at X as he vanished.

"For everlasting peace." X lowered his arm and was silent. "I can only hope things turn out better in his time, then they did in ours."

"I'm sure they will." A holographic figure of Dr. Light walked up beside X and put his hand on his shoulder. "He's always done the right thing. He'll do so now."

"And that's what happened." Megaman looked about the area. "So, what's new with you?"

Chapter Twenty-One: Zero

Zero looked into Dr. Wily's face speechless. Zero grabbed his head, he clenched his eyes shut, he yelled in pain, and the memories came back. Zero fell to his knees he remembered everything that happened. He remembered his first awakening, fighting against the team, he remembered Freeman, and he remembered space, being brought back by Wily, being awakened again to destroy, Megaman. Megaman, the reason he was created, he finally had it.

"No, that's impossible." Zero gasped.

Wily smiled. "What is?" Wily bent down to be face to face with Zero. "Have you remembered?"

"I…" Zero clenched his head. "I killed, all those people…"

Wily smiled.

"I'm the spreader of the Maverick Virus, it's all my fault…"

"Well, not really. I'm the one to blame." Wily stood back up chuckling. "It's good to know I finally made something worth while, something that would stand the test of time."

Zero slowly stood up. "I don't believe it."

Wily turned around with a quizzical look.

"I refuse to believe you created me, I refuse to believe I was created to destroy. I'm better than that!"

"You think you're better!" Wily shouted. "You're not, you're a tool I created for destruction, a tool that will bring the world to its knees, a tool that will destroy all my enemies and take me to the seat of world domination!"

"No!" Zero ran across the room and punched Wily in the face. Wily span a few times in the air and crashed into a wall. "Oh god…" Zero ran across the room and picked up the lifeless body of Dr. Wily. "What have I done? I've killed him."

At this time, sparks flew from Wily's neck and his head detached bouncing on a large spring.

"A robot?" Zero asked throwing the machine aside.

"Good Zero," Wily said over a PA. "You're just like I'd expect you to be! Cold and ruthless."

Zero scowled into the air. "What are you?"

Wily laughed. "I'm just a man. Well no, I'm actually an evil genius who is fed up with being beaten by the same seventeen year old robot designed to look and talk like a ten year old!" The capsule-containing Zero opened. "I'm tired Zero, tired of jail, tired of having to run, tired of having to pick up the pieces of my robots to build them again just to have them be destroyed." Zero stepped out of the capsule. There was silence.

The Zero from the future looked into the air. "Did you really create me?"

Silence.

"Do you want me to fight myself?"

Silence.

Zero walked over to himself and looked at the past model. "Dr. Light I would believe but this?"