Road of the Warrior, Part Ten
Part Ten-The Gordian Knot

"Give it up, Break Man." Sigma said. "This body is mine."
"Oh yeah?" Break Man said, then pointed his blaster and fired. Sigma forced the body downward, but the blast hit and damaged his shoulder. Sigma forced him back to his feet, trying to assert his control. Minor damage, all of which could easily be repaired. But Break Man's struggle was admirable. But he had to realize that his body now belonged to Sigma.
"Are you okay Sigma?" Vile asked.
"Of course I am. Just a little..." he began, then was cut off yet again. Break Man fell to his knees, and his cannon transformed into a normal hand again. The two were obviously involved in a struggle for control. Break Man fought against Sigma to force his arms upward, and they slowly inched up. Finally, he gained control and forced his arms upward, to the top of his chest.
"What the..." Vile said.
"Get...out...of...me!" Break Man cried, then shoved his fingers into his chest. To Vile's horror, the robot then began to rip it off. He was intent to rid himself of the CIGMA virus, one way or another. Break Man screamed again, then fell to the ground, exhausted. The plates that had once covered his chest hung off of him. It was obvious Sigma had lost control of the robot. Which meant he now had a job to do. He pointed his cannon down at the robot and smiled.
"No one's ever been able to break Sigma's control." Vile said. "That should comfort you on your way to your final reward."
"You first." Break Man said, then lifted his arm cannon and fired. Vile flew to the ground, damaged but still very much aware of his escaping enemy. He fired several shots, and a few seemed to hit their mark. But Break Man was running for his life. Wily wouldn't be happy if he let him escape.
"X-Hunters," he said over his comm link, "We have an escapee that needs to be taken care of."
Ahead of him, Break Man continued to run. The other robots were no where near as fast as he was. Though he was damaged, he had to keep running. Suddenly, he fell forward as his ankle joint snapped out of place.
"I may not have control," he heard Sigma say, "But I can still destroy you from the inside."
Sigma was slowly but surely ripping him apart. He limped forward on the one leg, but he felt all the servos in that leg being stripped. He fell forward, but continued to crawl forward, trying desperately to escape the Mavericks he could now hear only yards away. Sigma, however, had other intentions. He continued his work, tearing Break Man apart.
"There he is!"
Break Man recognized Vile's voice. He turned to see the robot fire at him. The blast didn't do any damage compared to what Sigma was doing, but it sent him careening over the face of a nearby cliff. He fell down, and could see Vile and the others looking down at him, and he could hear their laughter. Sigma was still terrorizing him, and he knew in a matter of minutes it would all be over. He hit the ground, and his optical circuits began to short out. Then he saw a woman above him, dressed in white. It had to be an angel.
"Don't worry Break Man," she said, "You're going to be with your brother now."
Break Man smiled. "I know."

"You've got to be kidding me." Binary said, and looked again at the four newest Maverick Hunter applicants.
"This is no joke." Kor replied. "There is a great threat from a man known as Doctor Wily. He is teaming up with Sigma, and his powers make anything you have pale in comparison. We wish to help you battle him."
"And what proof do you have of this Doctor Wily being alive?"
"Enough. Mega Man X has been destroyed. The new, more powerful Reploids that are still emerging. Doesn't it seem strange that the evil you have been able to fight off for so long is suddenly becoming more powerful?"
Binary paused. "We just received word one of those advanced robots killed Doctor Cain. You're telling the truth-or at least part of it. I'll accept your offer. I've sent Zero out after them, but if he gets in trouble."
"With Zero," Kor said with a grin, "the danger isn't being destroyed."

Wily. After a five hundred year absense, he was back with a vengence. He was going to try and make one quick strike to gain control of the world. And once again, Mega Man stood in his way. The blue robot knew that was as it should have been. It seemed now, more than ever, that it would never end.
He looked over the memory banks of the robot known as X. His release from the capsule by Doctor Cain, his befriending of the hunter Zero, the betrayal of the other Mavericks, and his struggles against Sigma. It seemed all too familiar. He knew that X had really been him, but Mega Man couldn't get over the feeling that his own life had come at the cost of another.
There were also familiar faces in those memories as well. The holographic Doctor Light, guiding him on his journey, afraid to tell him the truth. And then there was the devastated visage of Kor, his clone from the previous battle, who had survived to cause X more trouble. And then at the end, something even eerier. A sound he knew all too well. A sound only Light and Wily's original creations could hear. A Whistle, one that signified the arrival of someone close to him.
"Mega Man."
The voice was a welcome one, though a shock. He recognized it instantly, and began to turn around to greet him.
"Don't turn around." Break Man said. "I want you to be prepared for what you will see."
The first thought to run through Mega Man's mind was that it was all a trick, that Bass had mimicked his brother. He had also learned that Kor had rebuilt Dark Man, the robot who originally destroyed his brother's reputation, and that too was possible. But then again, no one, not Vector or Phaelin or even Light knew he was here. And the remains of Doctor Light's lab were a natural place for him to come as well.
"I heard about your resurrection, and knew you would be here." Break Man said. "Rock, I've done some terrible things. The worst part is I don't know what they are. A monster from this time...Sigma...took over my body. I regained control, and tried to go back to my allies. But I was attacked."
"The CIGMA virus possessed you?" Mega asked, still turned away.
"Yes. And that explains this." Break Man said. "You can turn around now.
Mega Man turned around to look at his brother. And what he saw terrified him.
Break Man's shoulders had been mangled beyond belief, one obviously the victim of a direct blast from a plasma cannon. His arms hung limply at his side, and one hand was missing several fingers. His right leg had a long scar running down it, apparently the result of an internal explosion. The other leg, which Break Man was barely balanced on, had a badly misshapen ankle joint. Then there was the most terrible of all-The armor that had once covered his chest place was gone, revealing all of the circuits underneath. The top edge was jagged, but the rest of the wound was smooth, as if it had been done intentionally. In fact, it seemed as if little of the damage was actually done in battle. It seemed as it most of it had been made through internal modification.
"How did this happen?"
"Sigma. He possessed me. I was able to fight it off, but he was still inside." Break Man explained. "He was able to possess me for a short time, and he made some modifications. He apparently tried to turn one of my hands into a sword."
"You must be in tremendous pain." Mega Man said. He hoped that Break Man wasn't noticing how badly he was shaking. The two had been almost identical twins, but now Break Man was a monstrocity, a mockery of his former self.
"No, I can't feel a thing. Sigma apparently doesn't like pain too much."
Mega Man walked over to his brother and put his hand on his shoulder. It was then he could feel how badly he was shaking as well. He was terrified, and perhaps even humiliated by the weakness he had shown. Just then, his ankle gave way, and he fell to the ground. Mega Man caught him, and fell to his knees as well.
"Don't worry, bro." Mega Man said, "Despite everything that's happened, we're together again. And that's all that matters."