"That guy [Vile] used to be a Hunter? And you gave me a hard time when I wanted to join?"
"Not now!"
The two Maverick Hunters, Axl and Zero, were in the middle of a battle with the Maverick reploid, Vile. They had been chasing down Sigma, and now that they found him, his first lieutenant was keeping them busy.
Axl stuck out his bottom lip a little. "But why?"
"Look, I don't know. He was a Hunter before I even joined, ok?"
"Is that official though?"
Suddenly, everything stopped. Time seemed as if it was frozen.
"What do you mean, 'is that official'?"
"Is it official? Y'know, like, is it canon?"
"What are you even talking about?"
Axl gasped in surprise. "Wait, do you seriously not know?"
"Know what?"
"Our lives, our battles, everything...it's not real. I mean, it is to us, of course, but it's all just entertainment."
"You're making stuff up."
"I'm not. Seriously! We're just something for 'them' to watch when they are bored or whatever."
"'Them?' Axl, you need help."
Just then, X walked up, and Zero called out to him.
"X, talk some sense into him."
"What's he doing?"
Axl's face was dead serious. "Please tell me you've heard of the fourth wall?"
"I've heard of the concept, yes. The theory that there is an outside audience that we cannot see who watches our actions. What about it?"
"It's not just theory, it's real."
"Why do you say that?"
"When you're someone with my ability, you see and hear things. And sometimes those things seen and heard point to something much larger that we would have never expected. Mysterious laughter after you've done something and you know no one's around, fleeting visions of people sitting on couches or laying in beds staring at you, the room suddenly changes to the texture of paper for a moment; all kinds of things. It's how the real world interacts with this fake one."
Thoroughly confused by now, Zero turned to directly face Axl. "So, wait. There are people who we can't see watching our every move and viewing it as entertainment?"
"Yup."
"And we are just...pawns, in a huge game of some sort?"
"Yup."
"That don't even really exist, but somehow we do?"
"Exactly."
And with that, Axl smirked and left, leaving Zero to question his existence yet again.
"WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR?!?!"