"I'm walkin' on sunshine...."
It was quite a beautiful springtime afternoon in the bustling city of Terencse. Previously known as Doppler Town, the city's name was changed after the turmoil of the third Maverick war and the death of Doppler himself. Since then, the town had been named after the famous English pioneer, Johnathan Terencse, whom had settled upon the land many centuries ago. Bringing up the name 'Doppler' in the city would only re-open old wounds of the townspeople; it seemed like only yesterday that Dr. Doppler was idolized by the entire town, viewed as the one who would bring the ultimate end to Maverick outbreaks and lead the world into a new golden age. After the brilliant scientist had succumbed to the affects of the Maverick Virus, however, the world was plunged into conflict, and the aftermath of the war was not a pretty one for Terencse City, both emotionally and physically.
But things had been looking up for the large urban city. For the past several months, the town had not a single Maverick attack, riot, brutalizing, bloodening, bombing, pogrom, beer blast... et cetera et cetera. And furthermore, there had been no trace of any human-related criminal acts (though when compared to a Maverick attack, robberies were a laughing joke). And the battered ruins of former skyscrapers, apartments, and stores had been rebuilt in all their glory.
Taking full advantage of the beautiful scenery was a jubilant Mega Man X, cheerily striding down the busy sidewalks of the city. Like the condition of the city, things had been improving greatly for him as well; the extreme lack of Maverick-related trouble had given him a good amount of time to relax, especially after he was exodused from the horrible servitude Dr. Cain had forced him into back at Hunter HQ. Also, the paranoia and psychotic behavior that had resulted from that labor had begun to wear off, and he could finally engage in casual conversation with others besides his antique Peewee Herman doll that he loved oh so much.
Taking a walk across town was normally something X did to get away from the pressures and responsibilities of the MHHQ and have some quiet time to himself. But this time was different - rather, X took this walk so that he could fully embrace the tranquility and elegance of the world around him. And while doing this, he enjoyed doing something else: singing random songs off the top of his head.
"I'm walkin' on sunshine....whaa-ohhhh.... and dunnit feel GOOD!" he merrily sang as some onlookers shot him confused and irritated glances. X wasn't quite a good singer, as many of his friends and battle comrades knew all too well - they had been forced into listening to his off-key screeches countless times on both the battlefield and at the HQ. In X's mind, however, he had a beautiful opera voice that could've easily shamed Andrea Bocelli in an instant, and it needed to be heard across the world.
Passing along the crosswalk through the traffic-lined streets at the corner of 5th and Main, X smiled to himself upon seeing the way the town had recovered in the past months. It was a great time to be alive and well, in his mind, putting aside some of the personal problems he had back home. Seeing the town in such wonderous splendor was refreshing, and he really felt that life was something worth living if you look at it more optimistically. X rarely did so, but at a time like this, he needed to.
The azure Hunter should not have kept his hopes up, however; a loud, hoarse shouting sound approached X's ears from his left, cluttering his thoughts instantly.
"Your kind ain't welcome here, Maverick! Now get the hell outta my store!"
A softer, calmer voice followed. "Sir, if you'd please let me explain..."
Glancing to his left, X saw the large neon sign of Big Harry's Discount Hardware, a semi-popular shop around town. Looking inside the musty storeroom through the dirty front window, X was able to make out Big Harry himself, a slightly overweight man in his mid 40s wearing a greasy off-white wifebeater shirt and a crooked baseball cap over his scruffy jet black hair. His face red-hot with fury, he leveled a twin-barrel shotgun in his burly arms, directly aiming it across the counter at a mysterious figure on the opposite side of the room. X also recognized Harry's wife, a thin-boned brunette woman in her late 30s, huddled in a frightened heap behind her husband. The only individual that X didn't recognize was the strange figure who was apparantly causing the distress inside the store; all X could see of him was a luminously brilliant mixed shade of orange and gold, with most of his figure being covered by the widened body of Big Harry.
"I don't need no explanation, ya electronic waste of tin!" the burly man shouted, projecting his voice even louder than before. "I don't want you causin' anymore of yer hijinks in my damn workplace! Now OUT, you Maverick scumbag, or I'll put a couple dozen holes in ya!"
This began to catch X's attention - Harry had mentioned the term "Maverick" twice, and X knew that the word wasn't exactly tossed around jokingly these days. Something serious was going on in there, and he needed to find out what. Pressing his helmet against the stained window, he continued to listen in on the scene.
"Please, sir," the mysterious figure requested, sounding desperate not to cause a scene. "I understand what you're thinking right now, and that is that I'm going to do exactly what I did on my first couple visits here. I know I've been known to cause havoc... I've stolen your hard-earned money, I've destroyed all of your goods, I've ripped apart your well-furnished walls, and worst of all, I've uttered some rather... unnecessary... phrases to both of you. I'm especially worried about your wife, who seems to have suffered some extreme emotional damage from what I've said about her."
"Yer damn right!" Harry's wife yelled from behind her husband. "You done labeled me a two-cent rodeo whorebag, then told my husband to done drop me off in an old NYC alleyway! Then ya done mouthed off about my momma!" A few tears escaped her eyes. "Yer a piece of pondscum, you are!" she shouted, pointing a damning finger at the stranger.
"Yes, ma'am," the stranger began again, "I realize what I've done. I can assure you, my dear lady, that my ways have changed for the better. I understand the debt I owe to you and your husband, and I'd be happy to compensate entirely for that..."
"There ain't no way yer compensatin' nuthin!" Harry shouted once again. "All yer gonna do is march your sorry ass outside that door and thank yer twisted God of Death and Evil that you came out in one piece!" His arms began to twitch nervously, though the shotgun remained surprisingly steady. "Now I ain't gonna say it again, yeh filthy bastard! GET THE HELL OUT!"
X, immersed in the conversation, leaned forward even further to get a better view and placed his free elbow on the wall. Unfortunately, X wasn't really paying attention to the exact placement of his elbow, and with a clumsy slip of the arm, he landed face-first into the window in front of him, causing a loud clanging sound against his helmet. He fell to the ground, nursing the poor boo-boo planted on his cranium with an open palm. It was then that he actually began to question the kind of "protection" his helmet was meant to serve him.
Returning to his feet, X glanced back to the store to see everyone in the room with their eyes fastened on him. Harry's wife stared at X suspiciously with narrowed, flustery eyes, while Harry himself put on a face mixed with confusion and anger. X also noticed that, during all the hubbub, Harry had shifted his body sideways towards the window, so that the true identity of the mysterious stranger on the opposite side of the counter was revealed. This came as a real shock to X, who at first woundn't believe what he was seeing; sure, the armor was a totally different color than usual, but everything else about him was rock-solid. The short, slender body, the largely oversized boots, the Boba Fett-style face mask... it all brought back the most haunting memories back to X, and a sinister voice entered his head.
"Don't think this is the end, X!... I will haunt you... until the day you die..."
At first, all X really could do was stand there in fear like a helpless little puppy dog. After what seemed like eternity, he managed to channel all of his emotions into one, concentrated vocal action.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHYYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Screaming off the top of his lungs like a crazed banshee, X sprinted away from the hardware store window as fast as his legs could handle in the direction of Hunter HQ, leaving nothing but a blueish blur behind him.
Shutting the gym door firmly behind him, Zero trudged wearily into the barren front lobby of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, his saber safely inserted into its sheath. On normal days, the room would have been filled to the brim with new applicants, socializing Hunters, doctors, technicians, mechanics, et cetera. But after the Third War, the steep drop of Maverick outbreaks had caused reploids and humans alike to lose enthusiasm about becoming a Hunter, believing that there would be nothing left to fight for a good long while. And, for the time being, they were right.
But Zero, who was always eager to engage in battle, didn't show a lax attitude towards his training, unlike many of the other Hunters. Though he had previously expressed doubt that Sigma and his Maverick posse of death would be returning anytime soon, he also knew very well that Sigma was probably the most persistant bastard of a reploid that ever existed, and his recovery was still quite possible. And, even if he didn't return to the Maverick throne, one of his high-ranking cohorts would surely take his place, and if that happened, Zero would be damned if he was going to march into battle unprepared. He didn't quite understand why some of his comrades didn't believe likewise.
Glancing across the room, Zero could see two solitary figures sitting quietly on a large couch. As he advanced towards them, he recognized them almost instantly - the one seated on the left was an azure-plated dragon reploid with a string of red beads down his wide neck, claws on his hands and feet, and a row of menacing teeth covering the inside of his long mouth. He had a small amount of bandages covering his chest and shoulders, which were beginning to peel of partially. Seated next to him was a humanoid reploid with dullish grey armor, thin arms and feet, and a roundish face with narrowed blue eyes and gold jewel piece plated on his forehead. His face was buried in his left hand, and it seemed that he was asleep. Zero wouldn't mistake them for anybody else.
"Glacier. Icarus. Nice to see ya."
The azure Dragoon smiled. "Hey, Zero! Looks like you've been training, eh?"
Zero smiled. "Yesiree. You guys been doing the same?"
Glacier shrugged. "Somewhat. Icarus and I were training a little while ago, and we spotted my brother in there." He shook his head with pity. "He's been in there for weeks, and he hasn't paid attention to anybody or anything but himself. He hasn't even done as much as glance at his colleagues in the 14th Unit. I dunno what's wrong with him."
Zero glanced back at the gym. "You think he's still p-o'd about the talkin' I gave him?"
Glacier scratched his head. "Naw. Probably some personal tiff. Best not bother him, I guess."
Deciding to sit down and relax, Zero took a seat on the couch next to both Glacier and Icarus. "So," he began, pointing a finger at the dormant Icarus, "he sleeping?"
The Dragoon nodded. "Yep, he was pretty beat after our little training session. Now that you mention it, it's probably best that I wake him up now. He's been napping for over an hour."
Balling his hand into a fist, Glacier gave the sleeping Icarus a good whacking upside the head. "WAKE UP, you lazy idjit!" he shouted.
Icarus instantly sprung up from the couch and onto his feet, nursing the bruise on his head with both hands. He then made a 180 degree spin to meet Glacier and Zero, saluting both of them. "Commander Zero... Commander Dragoon..." he mumbled in a monotone military-esque voice.
Glacier raised a hand. "Please, Icarus, spare us of the boot-camp phrases. Just sit yo ass down, boy."
The dull-grey armored Hunter took Glacier's adivce and took a seat next to him, with a big smirk on his face. While Icarus wasn't the greatest fighter, he was one of the better-skilled soldiers in the 12th Unit due to his extreme amount of speed. He was known to be one of the big jokesters of the squad, and had trouble of taking things seriously at times.
"Sorry, Glaish," he apologized, putting his arms behind his head. "I was having a nasty dream in which I entered the body of a human baby and was force-fed large heapings of chicken wings."
Glacier nodded. "Wow. You must be pretty mentally disturbed."
"I am."
Zero, getting comfortable on his little couch, pulled his saber out from its sheath and began to toss the handle up and down, catching it with one hand. Glacier and Icarus both gave looks of worry.
"Hey, Zero..." Glacier began. "You sure it's safe to be throwing that thing around? What if it activates somehow?"
Zero chuckled, as if Glacier had asked the most unintelligent question that ever existed. "Don't be a douche, Glaish. This baby isn't gonna activate anytime soon. I put the safety on."
Throwing the silver handle into the air once again, Zero was caught by surprise when he saw lime-hued ray of light shoot out of the airborne object. With a sudden dodge by the Crimson Hunter, the saber barely missed his right hand and went directly into the arm of the couch, slicing it clear of its base. All three of the Hunters shared surprised glances as they stared in awe at the destruction, with the saber still glowing next to it.
Icarus, who seemed to get a kick about the fact that Zero's arm was almost sliced off, gave a hearty chuckle. "Some safety, Zero."
"Eh... shut up," the crimson 'ploid muttered as he reached for his malfunctional saber. He deactivated it immediately, causing the beam of green light to completely vanish. "Sorry, fellahs. Must be something wrong with the damn thing. Just goes to show you the wonders of MHHQ's funding, eh?"
Glacier glanced worryingly at the remains of the couch's arm. "You know, Zero, you're gonna be in deep shiet if Cain gets a good look at this."
"Meh," Zero stated casually, re-inserting his saber into its sheath. "How's he gonna know that I'm the culprit? I ain't coming forward." He stretched his arms out and rested his back against the soft couch coushin. "I hope to God that there weren't any other witnesses, though. I don't wanna turn out like X."
A loud clanging of metallic feet prompted Glacier to turn around. "Speak of the devil."
Running in their direction was indeed MegaMan X, pumping his feet as hard as he could. He barely managed to stop himself before he could plunge into the couch that Zero was resting in, and he was breathing a lot harder than normal. He seemed extremely stressed about something.
Zero lifted himself up with one arm to measure up to X slightly. "X, my boy! Nice to see ya back from your walk. What seems to be the problem, my dear compadre?"
"GABBA THWABBA GIDDAYA SIIBA JEEZIZ WABBA LIGGUN GHA!" he shouted nervously, flailing his arms in every which way.
Quite surprised by X's sudden outburst, Zero, Icarus, and Glacier all exchanged confused glances. Zero picked himself upwards from his couch and stood on his legs to meet X face to face.
"You feelin' alright there, buddy?" Zero queried. "You haven't been puffing the magic dragon lately, have ya?"
X responded with another string of nonsensical jabbering. "NO PUFF PUFF!" he shouted. "VAVA VOYVAR KIGGA JIGGA FLIEFLO GLICKINABARA ABRAKADABRAALAKAZAM!"
Zero scratched his head. "I'm not following ya."
"ICAW!" he began again. "ICAW ZE VIGGA JIGGA WAH WAH!!!""
"C'mon, X. Sound it out. Think before you say each word."
"ICAW!"
"...ice saw?"
"ICAW! ICAW!!!"
"...you mean, for sawing ice? You need an ice saw?"
"I SAW HIM!" X finally conveyed. "I SAW HIM IN HARRY'S HARDWARE! HE WAS DOIN' BUSINESS IN HARRY'S! I'M SERIOUS!"
"Alright now, X!" Zero shouted, placing his hands on X's shoulders. "Get a hold of yourself! Now, tell me as calmly as possible who you saw in Harry's store."
X pulled away from Zero's grasp and began to catch his breath. He knelt down on the floor and coughed a few times before responding to Zero. "I saw... Vile... in Harry's..." he huffed out. "He was... looking at me... he's haunting me... he's after me... right now..."
Zero rubbed his chin and nodded. "Well, X... that's sounds like quite a nasty situation we have here." He offered a hand to X. "Now c'mon, get up. There's only one way to solve this little problem with Vile, and that's for you to march your behind over to Harry's and deliver the little bugger of a Maverick back here yourself."
X was shocked. "Are you nuts? That bastard is thirsty for fresh blood! MY blood! You expect me to go back and get him here by myself?"
Zero chuckled. "Now X, we all know that your blood is as disgusting and polluted as hell, and nowhere near being fresh. Trust me, you'll be fine and dandy like sour candy. Now let's get goin, X!"
With that, Zero began pushing X towards the HQ exit, with the Neo Blue Bomber struggling and protesting all the way. Finally, Zero gave him one final shove out the door, and locked the entrance tightly. He paraded back to his two comrades with a big smirk on his face.
"Well, that's that," he finalized smugly, wiping his hands together.
"I dunno, Zero," Glacier chimed in. "X seemed pretty stressed out there. You sure that it's safe to send him off on the streets alone, looking for a potentially dangerous Maverick?"
Zero gave another sadistic chuckle. "Oh, puh-leeze. Dr. Cain told me that X is still a little delusional from his working binge. As his best friend, it is my sworn duty to make sure that he learns his lesson and realizes that he's just seeing very kooky things. It's the best way for him to recover."
Icarus nodded. "Wow, Zero. You must be one hell of a friend to have."
Zero smirked. "Aren't I?"
"I swear to m'lord, I'm gunna pull this trigger!" Harry yelled for the billionth time. He kept the shotgun leveled directly at Vile's helmeted face.
"Please, sir. Let's not resort to violence so hastily," Vile calmly stated. "Like I've said, my visit here is not intended to cause any harm, but rather to partially compensate for the damage I've caused you in my past. Tell me, what was the total sum of money you were forced to pay for the damages?"
Harry, still keeping the gun level, mumbled a response. "Err... 10,300 credits."
Vile pulled out a wad of money and began flipping through the bills. "I apologize, sir, but I only have 8,000 credits at the moment. However, I'd be happy to pay you the other 2,300 when I'm able to get the money. Here..." He handed the money to Harry, but was slapped away.
"I don't want yer filthy currency!" he shouted. "You probably laced the stuff with highly deadly poison!"
"No, sir, I'm serious about this... please, take the money."
"NO! Now get the hell outta my store, Maverick, or yer gonna be swiss cheese!"
"Fine... as you wish, sir." Vile stated. He placed the money on the counter and casually walked out the store as if everything was A-OK.
Walking down the street, Vile could hear Harry yelling from inside the shop. "You damn Maverick! Don't you be comin' back here no more, or I swear to my pappy you won't get out alive!"
Vile turned his head around and waved cheerily back. "And a nice day to you too, sir!"
Glancing in the store window of Harry's Hardware, X failed to see any trace of Vile. Was he delusional? Was he seeing illusions caused by the stress of work? Maybe he shouldn't have been so hasty and jump to conclusions like this...
And then, he saw it again. It was Vile, no doubt, with that same damn golden-orange armor. He was approaching the next street corner on the opposite end of the sidewalk, walking in a casual manner.
That little sunnuva biatch, X thought. Strutting around like the little prick he is... thinks he's so big... I'll show him... with an ambush!
Summoning all of the strength and courage he had, X made a mad dash towards Vile's sleek form, flailing his arms in complete madness and shouting a vulgar battle cry as loudly as possible.
A piercing yell greeted Vile's ears from the other end of the sidewalk, prompting him to turn around. Strangely enough, a seemingly distressed individual clad in blue armor was headed straight for him, flailing his arms in complete madness and shouting a vulgar battle cry as loudly as possible. "CHEEEESEEEE MONKEEEEEYYYYYY!!!!" he yelled.
"Well... now here's something you don't see on a daily basis," he muttered to himself. Soon enough, the crazed figure was dangerously close to Vile. In an attempt to ambush the golden-clad reploid, the figure had leapt up from the ground and was now about to mow Vile down. What was he to do...?
Thinking extremely fast, Vile made a quick ducking dodge, causing the azure-clad figure to go sailing above him and come crashing to the ground below with a deafening CLANG!
Spinning around quickly, Vile got a good look of his attacker, who was sprawled helplessly on the rock-solid sidewalk, cowering and wincing like a little baby. Though the sight was quite disturbing for Vile to watch, he began to recognize the figure as one he had known in a previous life - one who he had formerly loathed with an extreme passion. But now was not the time to ponder such things - this individual was in pain, and needed assistance.
Vile cleared his throat. "Excuse me? Sir? Do you need any help getting back to your feet?"
In an instant, the blue figure brandished his arm, which was now converted into a large plasma cannon. He pointed it shakingly at Vile's head, much like Harry had done previously.
"Don't you touch me, you bastard!" he shouted. "You as much as scrape my armor, and I swear to Papa Smurf, a nice big ball of plasma will find its way into your sorry ass!"
Vile shook his head. "Now now, my friend. There's no need for profanities. There could be small children wandering these streets." He extended a helping hand to his attacker. "Now grab my hand, sir, and be on your way. There are things I must attend to. I have a rather busy schedule. I need to find Maverick Hunter Headquarters..."
"SHUT IT! Stop playing 'Mr. Nice Guy with me! I don't buy it!" the figure shouted, batting away Vile's hand. "I can get myself up... don't you go anywhere or try anything..." He managed to push himself off the ground and rise to his feet, towering over a confused Vile. His arm cannon was still leveled at his helmeted mug.
"Sir... I believe I do remember you..." Vile began. "You're MegaMan X, the famous Maverick Hunter who rightfully defeated me twice with the help of your comrade, Zero. It's actually very nice to see you."
X barred his teeth in anger. "Oh, so now we're playing the Mr. Dumbass game now, aren't we?" He spat at the sidewalk. "Pathetic little trick you're trying to play on me, Vile. C'mon, I'm taking you back to the Hunter HQ. I'll let Dr. Cain deal with you. I've had a rather rough day..."
Vile nodded. "As you wish, sir. Please escort me to the HQ. I believe I caused the highest amount of damage there, and I've been waiting to compensate for that damage, both physically and emotionally..."
"Blah blah blah. Whatever, you goddamn psycho..." X interrupted, nudging Vile along with his plasma cannon. "Let's give the Mr. Happy comments a small nap until we get back to the HQ. I think I need to take my pills..."
"Well slap my ass and call me Suzanna..." Zero stated with distinct awe.
"I TOLDJA. Toldja toldja toldja," X repeated childishly. Standing before him was the evil, psychotic Maverick known infamously as Vile. He was clad in brilliantly luminous gold, with orange-and-blackish trimmings covering the rest of his body. His figure, however, remained totally the same, with his helmet and slender, short body remaining intact. It was certainly an awkward sight.
Zero was startled to see that Vile had already approached him and had extended an arm of greeting. "Hello, sir. You must be Zero," he said in the most polite voice possible. "It's a pleasure to see you again, and I find this to be the perfect opprotunity to extend my deepest apologizes to you. Some of the distress I've caused you in the past have been rather harsh - so harsh, in fact, that I've actually forced you to sacrifice your life to save your friend. I'm extremely sorry, and I promise you that I'll try my hardest to make things up to you. It's my sworn duty, sir."
The Crimson Hunter didn't speak, or shake the Maverick's hand; he was completely dumbfounded from the words that were just spoken.
"Hey, X..." he began warily, "what exactly happened to this fellah?"
X shrugged his shoulders. "No friggin' idea. At first I thought he was just acting this way to sneak into the HQ and play spy games with us, but it just doesn't seem like it. He had a perfect opprotunity to skin me alive back on the streets, and he didn't take it. It's really not like him at all."
Zero examined Vile and shook his head. "No, no, no... this is all out of place. How could someone revive him like this? Were they crazy, or what?"
"I really don't know," X chimed in again. "I would usually be quick to tack the whole thing on Sigma, but it just doesn't seem feasible..."
Zero shrugged. "Well... I guess the best thing to do right now is to have Dr. Cain get a good look at him first. Let's head down to his office. And Vile-" he began, turning towards the gold-clad reploid, "don't you dare..."
"...go anywhere or try anything," Vile finished for him. "I know the procedure, sir. And by the way, I'd prefer it if you didn't refer to me as 'Vile'. That's my former name, and will never be used again. I have already chosen a new name for myself."
X nodded. "N'kay. And what would that be?"
Vile smiled. "Sunshine."