Megaman Xtinction: Future's End- Chapter 3
by Mirai X
X sped down the highways of Tokyo on his speeder bike, leaning intently on the front chasis. He hadn't spared a moment leaving Maverick Hunter HQ, not even to gather reinforcements or to learn what devious threats Sigma was invoking, should the hunters choose to take longer than he pleased in plotting and planning against him.
As he weaved through both lanes of traffic, flying from the roofs of cars and past red lights, X listened to that which he had missed when he had been starting his journey to confront Sigma. X had seen Sigma's location during his broadcast: the Cyberplex Mall's technology section.
'Figures....' X thought to himself.
Sigma was going to take out as many humans during the battle as he could, and was probably doing just that as he raced to the Mall. The very thought of it angered him. He knew Sigma wouldn't just stand and make idle challenges on a TV. He would be taking out his impatientence, or shall we say madness, on any nearby humans which he had undoubtedly locked in the Mall. That made X fume. In his mind's eye, he could see the death and destruction. Innocent lives lost at the whim of an evil psychopath. He could hear their screams of terror and agony. Their feeble attempts at escaping from Cyberplex. X scowled.
Just then, the ground beneath his bike shook violently, throwing the cars into a frenzy. X swerved his bike, avoiding any autos flung into his pathway. He then lifted his eyes to the sky, a white-hot flash fading, and a black mushroom cloud arising.
X's eyes widened in horror. "Damnit, Sigma! No!!"
He sped up to the scene of the destruction, leaping from his cycle and landing on his feet, surveying the scene around him. X couldn't believe his eyes. The Mall was gone completely, save a huge pile of twisted metal, burnt wood, and the concealed, charred remains of possibly a thousand humans. X clenched his fists in anger. He could feel the anger rising in him. Those lives would be avenged.
"H..... Help...... please...... s.... sir....."
X whirled around toward an overturned car, seeing an injured man inside. He had several cuts and bruises all over him, and his right eye was swollen shut. He bled freely from several deep gashes.
"Hang on!" X called frantically, running over to the automobile. He jerked the door clean off, despite it's warped shape.
He began to ease the man from his seat. "It's OK, sir.... Everything'll be-"
Just then, a peircing thin laser blast shot through the man's neck. Blood squirted on X's sapphire armor, as he watch the old man take his last breath, a ragged choke, and fall lifelessly to the ground. X stared in shock at the elderly man's prone body, lying in a pool of his own blood.
A cruel laughter then filled the air, it's dark echo filling what had been the parking lot of Cyberplex Mall. X looked sharply to his left, the look of shock replaced by the earlier look of hate. Sigma Omega stood a distance away, arms crossed and smirking evilly.
"You monster...." X hissed.
Sigma only seemed more pleased by this comment. He casually turned his gaze to X and chuckled.
"Pathetic creatures," He mused. "Not even able to save themselves from a simple attack on a shopping center. They disgust me. And my forces will purge them from this planet!" Sigma boasted, gripping the handle of his beam scythe and issuing a silent challenge to X.
X responded by by silently retracting his hand into his forearm. He then glared coldly at Sigma, raising it to eye level. In a flash, Sigma had launched himself at X, not allowing the small Hunter time to steady a decent shot.
Sigma sliced and swung through the air, shouted and cursing his arch enemy. X dodged the attacks with great skill and agility, taking a few shots of his own at the large Maverick. A few of them connected, but did barely more than leave slight scratches and dents. Finally, a swipe of the scythe connected with X's chestplate, leaving a small gash. After a few more unsuccessful attacks, Sigma stood his ground, as did X.
Each glared at the other coldly, taking that moment to assess internal injuries and power reserves. X knew his power was beginning to lower, but that didn't bother him. He had a final trick up his sleeve in his effort to destroy his enemy. Unfortunately for him, though, the same could be said for his foe.
"So, where are you taking me, exactly?" Zero inquired of his bother, as they made their way through the forest, along with Bass' violet attack dog. The black-armored robot turned back to Zero as he finished chopping down a patch of foliage in their way.
"Home." He answered cryptically. Treble barked and quickened it's bounds in response. It seemed as if the cybernetic canine were longing for a familar setting. Yet from it's master's careful, hesitant steps, the feeling wasn't mutual between the duo. Bass had most likely left a past demon at "home" and wasn't willing to face it again.
Not that Zero could blame him. If home was what he thought it to be, he'd rather keep his distance, too. Home was where a madman had wasted his lifetime unsuccessfully attempting to take over the world, only to have a simple virus--not a super robot--cause all the pain and destruction he had ever dreamed to desire.
And Zero was the primary carrier for that virus. Though he was in control of himself for now, Zero wasn't too sure about the future. The nightmares he had suffered since a few months after the Doppler crisis had only grown worse after Iris' death. It seemed that without her, his will to live had weakened. And if Zero wasn't going to control his life, the darkness in his heart implemented by Albert Wily would gladly do it for him.
All the more reason Zero had not to exist. If suicide had continued among humans into the 22nd century or if Zero had bothered to educate himself in that area of history, he would have gladly taken that option. But the only things he knew that were close to that were kamikaze striking and letting himself die a slow death of self-neglect and despair. And since he had no desire to repeat an unneccessary reinaction of his assault on Vile, Zero had begun to resort to the latter fate.
Whatever Bass planned to do to "save Zero from himself" had better be damn well worth it.
Suddenly, the back and gold reploid ahead of him stopped in the middle of a clearing in the forest. Treble and Zero halted as well, the robotic canine barking in anticipation. Bass then tapped his head gem twice with his forefinger.
Under the gaze of 3 sets of artifical eyes, a huge skull tube, bearing a familar "W" logo on it's forehead rose from the ground, gears shifting and the earth trembling. Treble barked again and lept into the evelator and beckoned to it's master.
Bass sighed heavily, then joined his companion in the transport, scratching him between the ears and a slight smile hovering on his lips. Bass then looked at Zero, whose head was turned away, most likely lost in thought once more. The dark reploid grunted in expectance, and gained Zero's attention. The crimson hunter joined them reluctantly, and the skull tube lowered into the ground once more, leaving hardly a trace of itself.
Once underground, Treble lept about happily, sniffing at every nook and cranny in the room, knocking over a few mechanical indoskelatons.
Bass quietly walked over to a cracked and dented capsule, stroking his hand over it slowly, as if reliving the moments that thing was broken open. He scowled slightly after a moment's reflection, and turned to Zero.
"Cozy, isn't it?" Bass inquired of Zero, making a futile attempt at a joke.
Zero ran a hand through his still damp golden mane, and nodded absently. To him, the lab was wonderful and horrible both at the same time. To think that a human mind could manipulate metals and other elements into such fantastic designs awed Zero, yet at the same time disgusted him when the weapons mounted on the machines reminded him of their purpose. All around the dull grey frame of Albert Wily's last hideout, unfinished robots, almost ridiculously-designed weapons, and advanced tools laying on top of unused blueprints, their designer having never found the time or effort to get to them.
All in all, it seemed a haunted dungeon to Zero, himself being the prisoner. Being here brought him an uneasy feeling of unwelcome nostalgia. And then, his gaze finally settled on a capsule similiar to the one Bass stood at, save for the fact that, instead of all the dents and such, there was no door. Just singed and melted hinges where one was once attached.
Cautiously, Zero approached the capsule, like a moth toward a flame. As he neared it, he reached his hand up to the cushioned resting and pressed, as if trying to convince himself it was real. He then stroked his hand over the singed frameway, the feeling growing stronger and his hand beginning to tremble. Suddenly, Zero jerked his hand away, thrusting it up to his head.
Several flashes of confusing and terrible images ran through his proccessing core.
*Flash*
Lightening flashes and maniacal laughter fills the air, as Zero opens his eyes and gazes through a glassy surface to the evil face of Albert Wily.
*Flash*
Zero looks over his own body, as if for the first time, then catches a glimpse of his reflection in the chestplate of a nearby deactivated robot. The image of his reflection morphs to Megaman's, and Zero raises his buster, firing at and destroying the armor.
*Flash*
Zero gazes silently from a skylight into the lab below him, seeing an old bearded man, a young girl, a red-armored robot with a yellow scarf, a robotic red dog, and Megaman.
*Flash*
Zero's hand tightens around the old human's neck, snaps it, tosses it aside, and blasts a hole through him.
*Flash*
"Monster!!" the scarfed robot screams, lunging at Zero, and getting run through with a laser shot.
*Flash*
Zero aims his buster at Megaman's limp form lying against the wall, and and blasts the robot out of existance.
*Flash*
Wily screams angrily at Zero and grabs a remote. Zero falls to the ground, clutching his head.
*Flash*
And then, the images stopped. Zero was in too much pain. Although he himself couldn't hear it, Zero was screaming. A scream filled with more torture and agony than any human could ever imagine.
"What the?" Bass exclaimed in surprise, his head looking sharply in Zero's direction. "K'so! Again!" he added, running to Zero's side.
Cautiously waiting for the right moment, Bass eased his hand over his screaming sibling's damp skull and closed his eyes, the blue gem on his helmet glowing again. Zero's screams gradually softened to heavy panting, as the red reploid sank to his knees, still clutching his head.
Zero growled to himself, his face still slightly contorted in pain. "Worse.... everytime......" He panted. "Why.....?"
Bass gently drew his hand back to his side, gazing silently at the large, huddled form of the commander of the 0th unit. He could almost feel Wily's spirit pointing and laughing at Zero, relishing in the irony that sooner or later, Zero will fall prey to the destiny Dr. Kain tried so hard to save him from, as well as fulfilling the dark destiny given to him by the evil doctor.
Unless Bass could stop it.
"I don't know...." He finally answered his brother. "But if action isn't taken, those who are close to you may end up as Megaman and Protoman did all those years ago...." Bass then grew quiet and solemn, removing his hand from Zero's psuedo hair and dropping it limply by his side.
Zero rose steadily to his feet, concentrating his vision on Bass's troubled features. He wore the same dark, mournful expression X did after being forced to terminate a friend gone Maverick. He doubted, though, that Bass would ever do anything like fall flat on his face getting out of the recharging chamber or run from Lifesavor when asked to come in for a maintainence job. Bass had seen too much and, being one of Wily's creations, probably never had the grace of innocence to begin with. Even the orange-gold trim highlighting his black armor seemed grim and melancholy. Zero knew deep down that the gold-orange had once shown brightly, with an untamed rage and hatred unmatched by any artificial being ever made. He really didn't know how to explain it. It could only be explained as a psychic link between siblings.
"One thing still bothers me..." Zero spoke softly. "If I completed my purpose for being, why was I locked away instead of dismantled? Or at least used in that maniac's plans to take over the world? It doesn't make any sense...."
"I know." Bass replied. "I wish I had been active to see why."
Zero gave Bass a confused look. "You weren't online? But I thought..."
"You have yourself to thank for that. I tried to attack you after you destroyed Megaman and Protoman. You knocked me offline. Next thing I knew, I awoke in a capsule, only to find the lab in ruins. I checked my internal time keeper, and discovered it had been 35 years since the massacre at Light's lab. I've missed out on more than you yourself have."
Zero lowered his head and closed his eyes in frustration. Everything was just out of his reach. Only new questions were being added, with little sign of being answered. He looked up toward Bass. "You said earlier that you could help me. So far, this homecoming has proved worthless. I want a straight answer. What did you plan on doing?"
Bass frowned. He didn't like being rushed, and he had alot on his mind. An impatient Maverick Hunter was the last thing he needed. He still hadn't found what he needed, either. With a sigh, Bass crossed his arms and turned away.
"Answer me!!" Zero yelled angrily, swinging his fist into a nearby wall. Suddenly, the room's main monitor flickered to life.
Treble, who had been sniffing and chewing at old robots, dropped a robo-rabbit from his jaws and began to bark. A low growl escaped the wolf's throat as none other than Albert Wily himself appeared on the screen, looking unusually somber.
"Wily!" Bass exclaimed, retracting his hand into his forearm. Zero put a hand to his shoulder.
"It's just a recording." He stated. "Let's see what we can learn from it." And three sets of artificial eyes turned to the image of the old doctor.
**
"It seems some brave fool finally stumbled into my lab, after all this time. My name is Dr. Albert Wily, reknowned genius of the 21st Century. If you are hearing this message, I fear the worst-- I am dead, and my virus was a failure. For so long, I dreamed of world domination. But alas, it was a fool's quest. I have gotten too far on in years and humanity is no longer worth being subjugated by myself. That is why the virus I mentioned earlier, codenamed MAVERICK, was created. In the wake of a new era of artificial intelligence, I realize that no robot ever created by Light or his successors will ever willingly harm a human being. Light may be naive, but not blind. Fortunately, neither am I. This computer virus attacks a robot's CPU, bombarding it with human-hating data. In addition, it also magnifies the infectee's strength 5 fold. The only way for these affects to subside is for the subject to remain away from humans for the rest of it's existance."
Wily smirked evilly. "The decendants of those who rejected my leadership will pay dearly. I've already initiated phase one. My prototype maverick, Zero, is currently laying waste to--what the Hell was that?!"
A giant explosion is seen in the background, and Zero is seen standing over a broken down door, buster raised and scowling coldly.
"What are you doing back so early?" Wily demands.
"Your targets have been dealt with..... human." Zero replies. "And what are you doing? A last will and testament? I hope like Hell that's what it is." Zero begins charging his buster once more.
Wily smiled bitterly. "Do it. I no longer care. I can die happily having finally rid myself of Light and his associates, and setting my revenge in motion."
Zero paused. "What are you babbling about, fool?"
"I see the virus is already affecting your circuits. You no longer show the respect for your creator you had when you left. It is now time for me to leave this world. I wish you well, my creation. Do your worst to this world." Wily lowers his hands to his sides and closed his eyes, the same warped smile on his face.
"So be it." And with that, Zero fires his shot, illuminating the laboratory in a brilliant flash. As the light fades, Zero smiles in malicious satisfactory.
"Stupid old human. If all these bastards are as mentally deficient as this one, they deserve this fate as--ARGH!!!"
Suddenly, Zero is surrounded by blue electricity and screaming. A young man in his 30's walks into view, an angry and shaken look on his face. He is wearing a white lab coat and has unruly black hair. He holds a remote of some sort in his hand.
"I... I was too late...." The man says. "You fucking bastard.... you killed my father!!"
Zero growls menacingly in return, but does nothing.
"Father was wrong to build you.... I..... told him his inventions would turn on him on day..... Damnit.... Why didn't he listen....?" The alleged son of Dr. Wily walks over to Zero. He turns a crank on the remote and the voltage grows more powerful, leaving Zero unconcious.
"Is it....? A voice is heard from off-screen.
"Over? Yes. I shorted him out." Wily finishes. "Bring them in."
A couple of teenagers in lab coats, obviously assistants, grunt and strain, using every bit of strength to drag in Bass's limp, damaged form. A whimpering Treble follows, keeping near his master's body.
"What will you do with them?" One of the teens asks.
Young Wily gazes down at Zero and Bass, then at the smoking, singed spot where Wily breathed his last.
"Father wouldn't want them wasted or scrapped. I guess we fix them and lock them away. Dallas, help me raise Bass onto the maintainence table. Vincent, go turn off Father's computer. It won't be activated again."
As Wily and Dallas begin raising Bass to a nearby table, Vincent walks over to the computer across the debris-littered floor, hits a few keys, and the screen flashes to a bright blue.
**
"What in God's name...?" Zero said, staring in a mix of awe and horror at the blank monitor.
"Dr. Wily had a son." Bass half-whispered. "I don't believe it. He never mentioned a family....." Bass turned his gaze to a scorch mark next to the computer, the steel floor an ashen black and distorted from the heat of Zero's Coup de Grace.
"Should we...?" Zero began, his attention still fixed on the computer.
"No... He's probably had his fill of warrior robots in his lifetime. If he's found peace, let's let him keep it."
To be Continued.........
What now for Bass and Zero? Will the virus be removed from the Hunter's system effectively? And what do X and Sigma have in store for one another? Next chapter focuses more on the X/Sigma fight. Please review, and constructive critism welcome. BTW, the reason I took so long to get this part out was to gather information accurately. Looking up stuff on X4 and defeating X5 helped alot. Also, I need to know whether I should finish this fic or if I should just jump to an X5 fic. Also, keep in mind that no comment goes unpondered or ignored. Your reviews could affect this story's progress. A few already have. =)