22XX:
One hundred more years have passed since X and Zero first fought. After Zero was brought into the Maverick Hunters, X was finally convinced to fight when he witnessed a Maverick attacking defenseless humans. To save X from Vile, a former Hunter and subordinate of Sigma's rebellion, Zero sacrificed himself. His parts were later collected by the X-Hunters by Sigma's command, but X foiled their efforts to reassemble the crimson Hunter, allowing Dr. Cain to restore him and place him back at the head of the Maverick Hunters. The saber had been found, near Gamma's uninterred remains, and was given back to Zero. After the Repliforce incident, the Zero Virus invaded the ravaged Earth following the collision of the Eurasia space colony with the planet. Gate, finally infected by the Sigma Virus, the true cause for the Maverick uprisings, creates the Zero Nightmare and unleashes it on the Hunters. The scientist was cured of the virus and brought back to Maverick Hunter HQ, supposedly the last time the Sigma Virus ever appeared. Zero, concerned that his systems were unstable, opted to be sealed inside a capsule like X had, to be tested for internal malfunctions. When he emerged from containment, Zero noticed that his armor had been adapted by an unknown force, and that a government agency called Neo-Arcadia was trying to eradicate all reploids. He fought valiantly until he finally found X, infected by the long-dormant Sigma Virus during his battle with Gate, and then challenged his old friend to a duel. The two once again were locked in a state of mortal combat, good vs. evil, although the roles had been reversed...
Part VIII: All's Well That Ends...Oh, Never Mind
"Give up, X!" Zero yelled, Z-Saber straining under the pressure X was exerting. The virus had mutated X's external armor, and he had more covered patches than before.
"Never! The reploids deserve to be destroyed! I won't compromise my beliefs!"
"You've become just like Sigma, X! Don't you realize that!"
Something seemed to snap in X's head, because a light began shining from his eyes as his body became limp. In the light, Zero could make out a silhouette of a robot, large and powerful, but not X. He realized that it was Sigma, inhabiting the body of his friend.
"You'll never free X from my grasp, Zero. He's mine, now. And there's nothing you can do about it."
"We'll see about that, Sigma!" Zero yelled, charging his saber with the anti-virus Dr. Doppler had installed all those years ago.
"I'm sorry, X, but I have to do this," Zero said, before he pushed the saber into X's abdomen, spreading the anti-virus throughout his systems.
Sigma laughed. "It's not that easy to get rid of me, Zero!"
Exiting through X's eyes, Sigma took on a cloud-like form as he drifted away. Zero thought fast and threw a containment cylinder out below him, using the vacuum to trap the virus inside. It tried escaping, but the hatch was air-proof.
Zero pulled the saber from X. The blue robot's armor degenerated back to the way it was in 21XX, long before Sigma had gotten a hold of him.
"What happened to me?" he asked, holding the hole in his stomach as he sat up. He immediately noticed how different Zero looked. "Zero? What happened to you?"
"It's a long story, X. But it's over now."
Looking behind him, X saw Sigma's viral cloud, trapped in a vacuum case. "Is that Sigma? Did he infect me?"
"Yeah, X, he did. You were acting crazy there for a second. I was the only one that could stop you."
"Well," he said, observing the damage to his abdomen, "I'd better have a diagnostic check. Where's the nearest reploid repair center?"
"X, you destroyed them all. But there is a repair chamber beneath the ruins of Maverick Hunter HQ. We can both go there and get what we need."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."
Zero helped X stand up, supporting his friend as they made their way back to the buried suspended animation room at MHHQ. The diagnostics would take fifty years to complete, because the systems Dr. Cain had designed inspected each circuit of machinery. It wasn't something either of them feared. After all, it would give them both some well-needed rest time...
One hundred more years have passed since X and Zero first fought. After Zero was brought into the Maverick Hunters, X was finally convinced to fight when he witnessed a Maverick attacking defenseless humans. To save X from Vile, a former Hunter and subordinate of Sigma's rebellion, Zero sacrificed himself. His parts were later collected by the X-Hunters by Sigma's command, but X foiled their efforts to reassemble the crimson Hunter, allowing Dr. Cain to restore him and place him back at the head of the Maverick Hunters. The saber had been found, near Gamma's uninterred remains, and was given back to Zero. After the Repliforce incident, the Zero Virus invaded the ravaged Earth following the collision of the Eurasia space colony with the planet. Gate, finally infected by the Sigma Virus, the true cause for the Maverick uprisings, creates the Zero Nightmare and unleashes it on the Hunters. The scientist was cured of the virus and brought back to Maverick Hunter HQ, supposedly the last time the Sigma Virus ever appeared. Zero, concerned that his systems were unstable, opted to be sealed inside a capsule like X had, to be tested for internal malfunctions. When he emerged from containment, Zero noticed that his armor had been adapted by an unknown force, and that a government agency called Neo-Arcadia was trying to eradicate all reploids. He fought valiantly until he finally found X, infected by the long-dormant Sigma Virus during his battle with Gate, and then challenged his old friend to a duel. The two once again were locked in a state of mortal combat, good vs. evil, although the roles had been reversed...
Part VIII: All's Well That Ends...Oh, Never Mind
"Give up, X!" Zero yelled, Z-Saber straining under the pressure X was exerting. The virus had mutated X's external armor, and he had more covered patches than before.
"Never! The reploids deserve to be destroyed! I won't compromise my beliefs!"
"You've become just like Sigma, X! Don't you realize that!"
Something seemed to snap in X's head, because a light began shining from his eyes as his body became limp. In the light, Zero could make out a silhouette of a robot, large and powerful, but not X. He realized that it was Sigma, inhabiting the body of his friend.
"You'll never free X from my grasp, Zero. He's mine, now. And there's nothing you can do about it."
"We'll see about that, Sigma!" Zero yelled, charging his saber with the anti-virus Dr. Doppler had installed all those years ago.
"I'm sorry, X, but I have to do this," Zero said, before he pushed the saber into X's abdomen, spreading the anti-virus throughout his systems.
Sigma laughed. "It's not that easy to get rid of me, Zero!"
Exiting through X's eyes, Sigma took on a cloud-like form as he drifted away. Zero thought fast and threw a containment cylinder out below him, using the vacuum to trap the virus inside. It tried escaping, but the hatch was air-proof.
Zero pulled the saber from X. The blue robot's armor degenerated back to the way it was in 21XX, long before Sigma had gotten a hold of him.
"What happened to me?" he asked, holding the hole in his stomach as he sat up. He immediately noticed how different Zero looked. "Zero? What happened to you?"
"It's a long story, X. But it's over now."
Looking behind him, X saw Sigma's viral cloud, trapped in a vacuum case. "Is that Sigma? Did he infect me?"
"Yeah, X, he did. You were acting crazy there for a second. I was the only one that could stop you."
"Well," he said, observing the damage to his abdomen, "I'd better have a diagnostic check. Where's the nearest reploid repair center?"
"X, you destroyed them all. But there is a repair chamber beneath the ruins of Maverick Hunter HQ. We can both go there and get what we need."
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."
Zero helped X stand up, supporting his friend as they made their way back to the buried suspended animation room at MHHQ. The diagnostics would take fifty years to complete, because the systems Dr. Cain had designed inspected each circuit of machinery. It wasn't something either of them feared. After all, it would give them both some well-needed rest time...