"Who is this Dr. Crendor? What are you talking about?!" X demanded as he held his sabre steady...looking the monster in the eye.
Mithrandiel snarled.
"Your precious Dr. Light...and Zero's filthy Dr. Wily...nobody remembers the greatest of the three scientists...nobody ever does..."
X shook his head in confusion.
"What the hell are you talking about?! Who the hell is this Dr. Crendor?"
Mithrandiel then turned away for a moment before moving his eyes back to X, slowly.
In a slow, trance like manner, he began to speak.
"Let darkness come and bring the night, for I will not give up my fight...I will remain and bring my blight..."
X suddenly blinked and spoke simultaneously with Mithrandiel.
"And all will fall beneath my might..."
Mithrandiel smirked.
X blinked again and shook his head.
"What...what's going on?"
"It's the code of the Hendothrin...it was placed inside of your information system...you know much less about yourself than I had imagined. I'm surprised you know who constructed you..."
X's hold on his sabre loosened, his hand shaking visibly.
"Whatever you are...whatever you think you know...it's all lies...I don't even know what a hendothrin is..."
Mithrandiel's voice boomed with anger once more.
"FOOL! Why do you deny your fate? You know exactly what a hendothrin is! That is the reason you have such instincts to destroy life...only that your instincts were tainted...configured in the likeness of Thomas Light...as Zero's were in Albert Wily's plans. Mine however, remained pure...and untarnished. I am a destroyer of life, plain and simple. I do not lean towards good or evil, I see all as targets, and you will all be crushed beneath my power."
20XX:
Wily and Light sat at the table of the Deboun'eir (Deh-bone-air) restaurant looking around for Crendor.
"Do you think that it's a good idea we meet in a place like this?" Thomas asked with a touch of concern, looking around carefully.
Albert chuckled.
"Of course, that way if he decides to kill us we'll have plenty of witnesses..."
Thomas looked to him with a sigh.
"That's not funny Albert...I'm sure he just wants to share some of his ideas..."
Wily chuckled and shook his head.
"Right...just share some ideas on a top secret military project...sure."
Suddenly they both noticed Michael walk in and they waved for him to come over.
"Over here Michael..." Thomas said warmly as Crendor began walking towards them.
He had with him a black attache' case...with some loose files and papers hanging from it.
"Hello gentlemen..." Michael said as he sat down.
His eyes were sunk in...it seemed as though he hadn't slept at all within the last 72 hours.
"Michael, you look like crap." Albert said candidly as Thomas scolded him with his eyes.
Crendor simply laughed.
"Yes, I know...all my time has gone into this project, which is why I'm rather excited to present you with this new chip I've developed..."
Michael reached into his case and pulled out a small chip...a single green beacon in the center of it.
"This is my newest discovery...this chip enhances the robot's speed, strength and stamina over 400%."
Thomas and Albert looked to each other, then slowly looked back to Crendor.
"You're kidding right? 400%? Where the hell did you get these numbers?" Albert asked with great doubt as he looked over the chip.
"All of the data is right here..." Crendor said as he took out the sheets of data he had brought with him.
"I just thought that you could use this in your robots...that way, all of them would be right on par with each other by the time they're ready for mass-production."
Thomas nodded, but his soul was troubled.
Albert continued looking over the data, his visage growing more and more distressed as he discovered that the chip would indeed do as Crendor said.
"This is...unbelievable..." Albert said softly as he put down the data.
Crendor smiled.
"That means a lot Dr. Wily...I hope you'll use the chip in your new robots..."
Crendor left another chip beside the first one he put down and stood.
"That's all I had to say for this meeting, we can reconvene on another date. Until then gentlemen..." Crendor bowed out and walked out the door.
Thomas and Albert stared at the chips for a long while and thought.
~What is this...? Some kind of sick joke? What is Michael hiding?~ Albert thought, not sure what to make of the green horn's most recent and amazing invention.
~This new chip...this new power...it far surpasses anything I could ever dream...I fear for all of us now, and the uncertain future of these monsters that may be spawned from our pursuits...I fear that Shiva shall come from all of this...the destroyer of worlds...~
The men took the chips reluctantly, and went back to their labs.
*
Michael walked into his lab and began laughing hysterically.
"This is it...they took it...and now with their help, I will create the most powerful robot in the world!"
Michael turned on the sensor device as it picked up the green beacon from both of the chips as it sat in the doctors' labs'.
"Now, as soon as they install it into their robots, the information will flood my computer, and all of their specifications and weaknesses will be mine to exploit..every trait and detail down to the last wire will be mine for the taking!"
Michael continued to laugh as he flipped a final switch and the machine began extracting information.
*
24XX:
X snarled as he continued to stare down Mithrandiel.
"I won't let you destroy the world I've fought so hard to protect! Never!"
X leapt at Mithrandiel again and spun, trying to slash at his neck, only to have him step back and then lunge forward with his blade, attempting to impale X.
X spun out of the way as the blade went by him harmlessly, but then Mithrandiel brought his elbow into X's face, hard...and sent him flying back into a nearby tree as he turned to face him.
"All of this excitement for a pathetic little worm like you...I was looking forward to more of a challenge...then again...you are a flawed creation..."
Mithrandiel's laughter picked up as he held his sabre tightly, and tore into X, slashing him over and over, beating in his face and landing heavy punches all over X's body that not only damaged his body, but with each blow he lost his pride...and his ability to protect others.
Mithrandiel stood back as he looked down at the broken, battered soul...and spit on him.
"Filthy insect...I've had harder times with little girls..."
Mithrandiel walked away, disgusted, leaving X on the brink of death as Zero suddenly appeared and ran him back to the hospital.
Mithrandiel stood outside of the boundaries of the forest...his eyes closed as he was lost in deep thoughts...his very being seeming to have recessed back into the shadows of reality.
Why...why is it that the Hendothrin has disappointed me so? Surely that isn't the mightiest that the world has to offer...
Mithrandiel opened his eyes suddenly in realization.
"He wasn't even fighting..." he whispered to himself...before snarling and shouting it out again with utter rage.
"HE WASN'T EVEN FIGHTING!"
Mithrandiel unsheathed his sabre and thrusted it into the ground as hard as he could as cracks suddenly shot forward from where the blade had entered, the ground becoming unstable under his feet as he grimaced and leapt into the air, landing on a high branch in a nearby tree...looking down to the small canyon he had created.
"And now..." Mithrandiel began to realize in his livid state
"...the little insect is resting in some hospital, if not dead...and I've lost the chance to prove my power for good...once and for all as the leader of the hendothrin!"
Suddenly the radar on Mithrandiel's right arm alarmed.
Mithrandiel looked to it quickly.
"What's that? The Z prototype Hendothrin is on its way..."
Mithrandiel's visage suddenly took on a haunting smile as his eyes gleamed red.
"Perfect..."
*
Alia had washed her face and calmed herself before returning to her post, her voice still cracking with emotion as she began to bark out orders.
"Nathan! Get the Epsilon sector ready for Mithrandiel's next attack! Alexander! Send out the remaining hunter forces that we have to surround Epsilon's borders...they will be led by..."
Suddenly a deep voice filled the room.
"...me." Signas said softly.
Alia whirled around to see Signas and sighed softly.
Why is it that all the men that I have ever cared for are suddenly looking to end their lives needlessly? Alia thought with a moan of sorrow.
Signas looked to Alia.
"You heard me, have the remaining hunter forces join me at Epsilon Sector's borders...I assume that Zero is already on his way to meet Mithrandiel?"
Alia winced, remembering their farewell but only about half an hour earlier.
After the emotional blow Alia nodded solemnly.
"Yes...he has gone out to neutralize the situation."
Signas nodded.
"Very well, we shall serve as Plan B...have the men ready and waiting for me out front in five minutes..."
Signas turned and walked back to his office, getting ready for battle as Alia leapt to her task, arranging the commanders and remaining hunters to the front of the building.
They all stood proudly outside of the HQ, Signas walking out slowly with the dignity of a lord. The reploids bowed their heads in respect as Signas passed them by, and finally as he took to the head of the group, signaled for them to begin marching. Marching towards Epsilon.
As Alia watched them leave, only left with a dozen workers after the hunters had gone, she began to weep again...this time from the very depths of her anguished soul...
while Zero came face to face with the very evil that so many were falling to that very day.Mithrandiel made his way across the forest at incredible speeds, barreling through trees and sending them crashing to the ground as he tore through the landscape like a rampaging behemoth.
Very soon now...I shall encounter the hendothrin that will offer me a true challenge. I will meet the true fighting hendothrin, the bloodthirsty, chaotic hendothrin. The hendothrin destined to die, by my hand.
Mithrandiel chuckled as he picked up speed even more and made his way out of the other side of the forest...bringing himself to a dead stop as he looked out over the plains, awaiting his challenger.
Come now my hendothrin...come now and face your fate!
Mithrandiel chuckled to himself as the birds and animals behind him in the forest began stampeding in the opposite direction.
Evil was present.
*
Zero stopped as he looked towards the forest, and there...far in the distance, he saw his enemy, standing proudly, with his sabre in hand as he shouted across the vast distance with enough power to cause the mightiest of warriors to cower in fear.
"Come forward Hendothrin of the blade! We have a score to settle, do we not? Come forward...bring what you can and show me what a hendothrin can really do!"
Zero was heaving in anger...breaking into a sudden sprint he appeared a few feet in front of mithrandiel within a few seconds.
"I see...you must be pretty upset, what with me bashing your friend like a rag doll. Perhaps you can have your vengeance?"
Mithrandiel chuckled as Zero began to shudder with fury.
"Or perhaps not...perhaps you will meet your end here...like X has...at the end of my sabre. Though...I doubt you will plead for mercy like X did before I punched his face in...the sorry little worm..."
Zero suddenly felt something snap deep within his systems...something come alive that hadn't awoken in over 400 years.
He was free.
*
20XX:
Wily stood over the basic skeletal outline of the Z prototype and sighed.
It had been over eight months since Crendor had given Wily and Light their chips for the prototypes. And things had begun to deteriorate between the two former best friends, Thomas Light and Albert Wily. Wily continued to grow more and more contempt for Thomas day after day, and had taken a side-project to developing another robot, not nearly as sophisticated as the Z prototype...but enough to fit his...purposes for the time being.
*
Thomas Light stood in front of his completed creation...Rockman. Looking down on the body he smiled as he activated the final switch, and a hero was born. Light knew that troubled times were ahead...and what the future had in store he did not know. For although he was a brilliant scientist, he could not predict the future.
Rockman grew used to his home quickly as Thomas kept going back to his X prototype...working a little slower than Wily, but for good reason. This was no robot any more...with Thomas Light's ability to integrate more humanlike emotions, this was far more.
This being... Light thought to himself, walking around the table with the basic skeleton of his most daring project.
This being will become a great champion...the greatest the world has ever known. The question is...what will he fight for? What will guide him?
I just pray that he is not lead down the road of evil, for if he is...god have mercy on the generations that must experience his horrors.
Light sighed and made up his mind at that moment to seal away his creation after he was completed, until the Prototype X could decide its own path...and pick its own future.
*
Crendor sat in his lab, reviewing the final drawn properties of his beauty...the Y prototype hendothrin.
They haven't gotten to the armor and weapons yet, those other two...but as soon as they do all of the information on their works will be flowing to me..and they'll be too busy fighting amongst each other to notice it! Of course...I will have my creation come some time later...it will take about 40 years...yes...40 years sounds right...
Crendor chuckled to himself as he looked over the sketches and data.
It will be incredible...a feat of mankind, for eternity!
24XX:
Zero stood across from Mithrandiel as suddenly something snapped within him.
Zero suddenly shut his eyes and fell to his knees...the power rushing back. The power of his former self coming back in a wave of tremendous energy as the sabre he held went to a sky blue, then grew darker and darker to a naby blue, and then back to sky blue as he stood slowly.
The hendothrin had awoken. The Z prototype had finally attained what it was created for.
Zero suddenly began to speak.
"Let darkness come and bring the night..." he spoke as he held out his sabre and began to walk towards Mithrandiel.
"...for I will not give up my fight."
Mithrandiel stood ready...his sabre humming softly.
"I will remain and bring my blight..."
Zero stopped about three feet from Mithrandiel as he stared him down.
"For I will not...give up...my fight!" Zero shouted as he leapt towards Mithrandiel, spinning as he sent a tremendous wave of energy towards Mithrandiel.
Mithrandiel held up his blade as the energy reflected off of his blade, but he was sent rolling backwards with a grunt.
Zero began running, pursuing Mithrandiel as he made his way back onto his feet and charged...bringing his sabre down to meet Zero's as they looked over their sabres at one another.
"So...you think by simply realizing what you were created for after all of these years will help you fight me? You are a fool...I will destroy you still...and your friend still would have died in vain."
Zero snarled.
"Wrong...before this day is done my Sabre will have seen the insides of your system...you will not win this one Mithrandiel. I won't let you..."
Mithrandiel scoffed.
"You don't have much choice in the matter! Pathetic worm!"
Mithrandiel growled and held out his cannon, firing a large blast of energy at Zero as he rolled to the left and pushed off of his back foot into a front-flip, extending his foot to connect with Mithrandiel's head, and so it did as he went flying backwards.
Mithrandiel put his sabre into the ground and pushed off of it into a backflip as he landed on one knee.
"Damn persistant prototype...I'll show you why I was destined to be the greatest of the three!"
Mithrandiel input a command on his buster cannon arm as he closed it and smiled. Suddenly his cannon formed into a blade, glowing with a light blue aura. He held it out and fired a blast of energy at Zero before rushing, slashing at him with his sabre, spinning to attempt to slash him again with his newly formed Sabre arm.
Zero held out his own cannon, firing a blast of energy to null the blast fired at him from Mithrandiel. Bringing up his sabre to take the slash from Mithrandiel as he leapt back, the sabre arm humming through the air as Zero moved in and brought his knee into Mithrandiel's midsection, hard...Mithrandiel doubling over slightly, but not long enough before throwing out his left hand and sending Zero flying backwards before he had a chance to finish him off
Zero backflipped from the force of Mithrandiel's hand, landing on one knee and then falling over into a roll as he stood and held out his sabre.
"I will not leave this place until you are strewn across this battlefield Mithrandiel..."
Zero said with a snarl.
Mithrandiel chuckled as he pulled back his sabre and held his sabre-arm in front of him, striking a unique fighting position.
"Then you will never leave this place..."
Mithrandiel pushed off of his front foot this time into a tremendous leap at Zero, spinning wildly as he slashed at him four times, first coming around with his sabre, slashing at Zero's chest, his sabre-arm then slashing at his midsection, spinning around as he brought the sabre back around to slash at Zero's head followed by his sabre-arm to attempt to decapitate Zero.
Zero moved quickly and accurately, bringing up his sabre he blocked the slash to his chest and went into a backroll as the second slash went by harmlessly, Mithrandiel moved in closer though as his sabre came towards his head he ducked, with the sabre arm just barely missing the top of his head as he thrusted viciously outward, hoping to impale Mithrandiel.
The sabre struck true as it tore through Mithrandiel's middle.
"Game over..." Zero said with a smirk as he pushed the sabre out sideways, tearing open a massive hole in Mithrandiel's middle.
Mithrandiel howled with great pain as he clutched the now empty spot on his left side...falling over with a gasp.
*
In the meantime, back on the hospital bed...X drifted off into that realm of oblivion. The shadows grew larger as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and the alarms on his vital systems began to ring with the screech of a siren.
*
Zero stood over Mithrandiel...still shuddering with rage as he lifted the sabre to finish him off.
Mithrandiel began to chuckle.
Zero scowled.
"What's so funny? You want to die with a smile on your face?"
Mithrandiel shook his head as he lifted his hand and pointed behind Zero.
Zero turned slowly...and was horrified at what he saw.
Zero stared at the figure for quite some time, what seemed to be years as his gaze pierced the other figure's eyes.
He couldn't believe it...he just couldn't.
Mithrandiel snarled.
"Your precious Dr. Light...and Zero's filthy Dr. Wily...nobody remembers the greatest of the three scientists...nobody ever does..."
X shook his head in confusion.
"What the hell are you talking about?! Who the hell is this Dr. Crendor?"
Mithrandiel then turned away for a moment before moving his eyes back to X, slowly.
In a slow, trance like manner, he began to speak.
"Let darkness come and bring the night, for I will not give up my fight...I will remain and bring my blight..."
X suddenly blinked and spoke simultaneously with Mithrandiel.
"And all will fall beneath my might..."
Mithrandiel smirked.
X blinked again and shook his head.
"What...what's going on?"
"It's the code of the Hendothrin...it was placed inside of your information system...you know much less about yourself than I had imagined. I'm surprised you know who constructed you..."
X's hold on his sabre loosened, his hand shaking visibly.
"Whatever you are...whatever you think you know...it's all lies...I don't even know what a hendothrin is..."
Mithrandiel's voice boomed with anger once more.
"FOOL! Why do you deny your fate? You know exactly what a hendothrin is! That is the reason you have such instincts to destroy life...only that your instincts were tainted...configured in the likeness of Thomas Light...as Zero's were in Albert Wily's plans. Mine however, remained pure...and untarnished. I am a destroyer of life, plain and simple. I do not lean towards good or evil, I see all as targets, and you will all be crushed beneath my power."
20XX:
Wily and Light sat at the table of the Deboun'eir (Deh-bone-air) restaurant looking around for Crendor.
"Do you think that it's a good idea we meet in a place like this?" Thomas asked with a touch of concern, looking around carefully.
Albert chuckled.
"Of course, that way if he decides to kill us we'll have plenty of witnesses..."
Thomas looked to him with a sigh.
"That's not funny Albert...I'm sure he just wants to share some of his ideas..."
Wily chuckled and shook his head.
"Right...just share some ideas on a top secret military project...sure."
Suddenly they both noticed Michael walk in and they waved for him to come over.
"Over here Michael..." Thomas said warmly as Crendor began walking towards them.
He had with him a black attache' case...with some loose files and papers hanging from it.
"Hello gentlemen..." Michael said as he sat down.
His eyes were sunk in...it seemed as though he hadn't slept at all within the last 72 hours.
"Michael, you look like crap." Albert said candidly as Thomas scolded him with his eyes.
Crendor simply laughed.
"Yes, I know...all my time has gone into this project, which is why I'm rather excited to present you with this new chip I've developed..."
Michael reached into his case and pulled out a small chip...a single green beacon in the center of it.
"This is my newest discovery...this chip enhances the robot's speed, strength and stamina over 400%."
Thomas and Albert looked to each other, then slowly looked back to Crendor.
"You're kidding right? 400%? Where the hell did you get these numbers?" Albert asked with great doubt as he looked over the chip.
"All of the data is right here..." Crendor said as he took out the sheets of data he had brought with him.
"I just thought that you could use this in your robots...that way, all of them would be right on par with each other by the time they're ready for mass-production."
Thomas nodded, but his soul was troubled.
Albert continued looking over the data, his visage growing more and more distressed as he discovered that the chip would indeed do as Crendor said.
"This is...unbelievable..." Albert said softly as he put down the data.
Crendor smiled.
"That means a lot Dr. Wily...I hope you'll use the chip in your new robots..."
Crendor left another chip beside the first one he put down and stood.
"That's all I had to say for this meeting, we can reconvene on another date. Until then gentlemen..." Crendor bowed out and walked out the door.
Thomas and Albert stared at the chips for a long while and thought.
~What is this...? Some kind of sick joke? What is Michael hiding?~ Albert thought, not sure what to make of the green horn's most recent and amazing invention.
~This new chip...this new power...it far surpasses anything I could ever dream...I fear for all of us now, and the uncertain future of these monsters that may be spawned from our pursuits...I fear that Shiva shall come from all of this...the destroyer of worlds...~
The men took the chips reluctantly, and went back to their labs.
*
Michael walked into his lab and began laughing hysterically.
"This is it...they took it...and now with their help, I will create the most powerful robot in the world!"
Michael turned on the sensor device as it picked up the green beacon from both of the chips as it sat in the doctors' labs'.
"Now, as soon as they install it into their robots, the information will flood my computer, and all of their specifications and weaknesses will be mine to exploit..every trait and detail down to the last wire will be mine for the taking!"
Michael continued to laugh as he flipped a final switch and the machine began extracting information.
*
24XX:
X snarled as he continued to stare down Mithrandiel.
"I won't let you destroy the world I've fought so hard to protect! Never!"
X leapt at Mithrandiel again and spun, trying to slash at his neck, only to have him step back and then lunge forward with his blade, attempting to impale X.
X spun out of the way as the blade went by him harmlessly, but then Mithrandiel brought his elbow into X's face, hard...and sent him flying back into a nearby tree as he turned to face him.
"All of this excitement for a pathetic little worm like you...I was looking forward to more of a challenge...then again...you are a flawed creation..."
Mithrandiel's laughter picked up as he held his sabre tightly, and tore into X, slashing him over and over, beating in his face and landing heavy punches all over X's body that not only damaged his body, but with each blow he lost his pride...and his ability to protect others.
Mithrandiel stood back as he looked down at the broken, battered soul...and spit on him.
"Filthy insect...I've had harder times with little girls..."
Mithrandiel walked away, disgusted, leaving X on the brink of death as Zero suddenly appeared and ran him back to the hospital.
Mithrandiel stood outside of the boundaries of the forest...his eyes closed as he was lost in deep thoughts...his very being seeming to have recessed back into the shadows of reality.
Why...why is it that the Hendothrin has disappointed me so? Surely that isn't the mightiest that the world has to offer...
Mithrandiel opened his eyes suddenly in realization.
"He wasn't even fighting..." he whispered to himself...before snarling and shouting it out again with utter rage.
"HE WASN'T EVEN FIGHTING!"
Mithrandiel unsheathed his sabre and thrusted it into the ground as hard as he could as cracks suddenly shot forward from where the blade had entered, the ground becoming unstable under his feet as he grimaced and leapt into the air, landing on a high branch in a nearby tree...looking down to the small canyon he had created.
"And now..." Mithrandiel began to realize in his livid state
"...the little insect is resting in some hospital, if not dead...and I've lost the chance to prove my power for good...once and for all as the leader of the hendothrin!"
Suddenly the radar on Mithrandiel's right arm alarmed.
Mithrandiel looked to it quickly.
"What's that? The Z prototype Hendothrin is on its way..."
Mithrandiel's visage suddenly took on a haunting smile as his eyes gleamed red.
"Perfect..."
*
Alia had washed her face and calmed herself before returning to her post, her voice still cracking with emotion as she began to bark out orders.
"Nathan! Get the Epsilon sector ready for Mithrandiel's next attack! Alexander! Send out the remaining hunter forces that we have to surround Epsilon's borders...they will be led by..."
Suddenly a deep voice filled the room.
"...me." Signas said softly.
Alia whirled around to see Signas and sighed softly.
Why is it that all the men that I have ever cared for are suddenly looking to end their lives needlessly? Alia thought with a moan of sorrow.
Signas looked to Alia.
"You heard me, have the remaining hunter forces join me at Epsilon Sector's borders...I assume that Zero is already on his way to meet Mithrandiel?"
Alia winced, remembering their farewell but only about half an hour earlier.
After the emotional blow Alia nodded solemnly.
"Yes...he has gone out to neutralize the situation."
Signas nodded.
"Very well, we shall serve as Plan B...have the men ready and waiting for me out front in five minutes..."
Signas turned and walked back to his office, getting ready for battle as Alia leapt to her task, arranging the commanders and remaining hunters to the front of the building.
They all stood proudly outside of the HQ, Signas walking out slowly with the dignity of a lord. The reploids bowed their heads in respect as Signas passed them by, and finally as he took to the head of the group, signaled for them to begin marching. Marching towards Epsilon.
As Alia watched them leave, only left with a dozen workers after the hunters had gone, she began to weep again...this time from the very depths of her anguished soul...
while Zero came face to face with the very evil that so many were falling to that very day.Mithrandiel made his way across the forest at incredible speeds, barreling through trees and sending them crashing to the ground as he tore through the landscape like a rampaging behemoth.
Very soon now...I shall encounter the hendothrin that will offer me a true challenge. I will meet the true fighting hendothrin, the bloodthirsty, chaotic hendothrin. The hendothrin destined to die, by my hand.
Mithrandiel chuckled as he picked up speed even more and made his way out of the other side of the forest...bringing himself to a dead stop as he looked out over the plains, awaiting his challenger.
Come now my hendothrin...come now and face your fate!
Mithrandiel chuckled to himself as the birds and animals behind him in the forest began stampeding in the opposite direction.
Evil was present.
*
Zero stopped as he looked towards the forest, and there...far in the distance, he saw his enemy, standing proudly, with his sabre in hand as he shouted across the vast distance with enough power to cause the mightiest of warriors to cower in fear.
"Come forward Hendothrin of the blade! We have a score to settle, do we not? Come forward...bring what you can and show me what a hendothrin can really do!"
Zero was heaving in anger...breaking into a sudden sprint he appeared a few feet in front of mithrandiel within a few seconds.
"I see...you must be pretty upset, what with me bashing your friend like a rag doll. Perhaps you can have your vengeance?"
Mithrandiel chuckled as Zero began to shudder with fury.
"Or perhaps not...perhaps you will meet your end here...like X has...at the end of my sabre. Though...I doubt you will plead for mercy like X did before I punched his face in...the sorry little worm..."
Zero suddenly felt something snap deep within his systems...something come alive that hadn't awoken in over 400 years.
He was free.
*
20XX:
Wily stood over the basic skeletal outline of the Z prototype and sighed.
It had been over eight months since Crendor had given Wily and Light their chips for the prototypes. And things had begun to deteriorate between the two former best friends, Thomas Light and Albert Wily. Wily continued to grow more and more contempt for Thomas day after day, and had taken a side-project to developing another robot, not nearly as sophisticated as the Z prototype...but enough to fit his...purposes for the time being.
*
Thomas Light stood in front of his completed creation...Rockman. Looking down on the body he smiled as he activated the final switch, and a hero was born. Light knew that troubled times were ahead...and what the future had in store he did not know. For although he was a brilliant scientist, he could not predict the future.
Rockman grew used to his home quickly as Thomas kept going back to his X prototype...working a little slower than Wily, but for good reason. This was no robot any more...with Thomas Light's ability to integrate more humanlike emotions, this was far more.
This being... Light thought to himself, walking around the table with the basic skeleton of his most daring project.
This being will become a great champion...the greatest the world has ever known. The question is...what will he fight for? What will guide him?
I just pray that he is not lead down the road of evil, for if he is...god have mercy on the generations that must experience his horrors.
Light sighed and made up his mind at that moment to seal away his creation after he was completed, until the Prototype X could decide its own path...and pick its own future.
*
Crendor sat in his lab, reviewing the final drawn properties of his beauty...the Y prototype hendothrin.
They haven't gotten to the armor and weapons yet, those other two...but as soon as they do all of the information on their works will be flowing to me..and they'll be too busy fighting amongst each other to notice it! Of course...I will have my creation come some time later...it will take about 40 years...yes...40 years sounds right...
Crendor chuckled to himself as he looked over the sketches and data.
It will be incredible...a feat of mankind, for eternity!
24XX:
Zero stood across from Mithrandiel as suddenly something snapped within him.
Zero suddenly shut his eyes and fell to his knees...the power rushing back. The power of his former self coming back in a wave of tremendous energy as the sabre he held went to a sky blue, then grew darker and darker to a naby blue, and then back to sky blue as he stood slowly.
The hendothrin had awoken. The Z prototype had finally attained what it was created for.
Zero suddenly began to speak.
"Let darkness come and bring the night..." he spoke as he held out his sabre and began to walk towards Mithrandiel.
"...for I will not give up my fight."
Mithrandiel stood ready...his sabre humming softly.
"I will remain and bring my blight..."
Zero stopped about three feet from Mithrandiel as he stared him down.
"For I will not...give up...my fight!" Zero shouted as he leapt towards Mithrandiel, spinning as he sent a tremendous wave of energy towards Mithrandiel.
Mithrandiel held up his blade as the energy reflected off of his blade, but he was sent rolling backwards with a grunt.
Zero began running, pursuing Mithrandiel as he made his way back onto his feet and charged...bringing his sabre down to meet Zero's as they looked over their sabres at one another.
"So...you think by simply realizing what you were created for after all of these years will help you fight me? You are a fool...I will destroy you still...and your friend still would have died in vain."
Zero snarled.
"Wrong...before this day is done my Sabre will have seen the insides of your system...you will not win this one Mithrandiel. I won't let you..."
Mithrandiel scoffed.
"You don't have much choice in the matter! Pathetic worm!"
Mithrandiel growled and held out his cannon, firing a large blast of energy at Zero as he rolled to the left and pushed off of his back foot into a front-flip, extending his foot to connect with Mithrandiel's head, and so it did as he went flying backwards.
Mithrandiel put his sabre into the ground and pushed off of it into a backflip as he landed on one knee.
"Damn persistant prototype...I'll show you why I was destined to be the greatest of the three!"
Mithrandiel input a command on his buster cannon arm as he closed it and smiled. Suddenly his cannon formed into a blade, glowing with a light blue aura. He held it out and fired a blast of energy at Zero before rushing, slashing at him with his sabre, spinning to attempt to slash him again with his newly formed Sabre arm.
Zero held out his own cannon, firing a blast of energy to null the blast fired at him from Mithrandiel. Bringing up his sabre to take the slash from Mithrandiel as he leapt back, the sabre arm humming through the air as Zero moved in and brought his knee into Mithrandiel's midsection, hard...Mithrandiel doubling over slightly, but not long enough before throwing out his left hand and sending Zero flying backwards before he had a chance to finish him off
Zero backflipped from the force of Mithrandiel's hand, landing on one knee and then falling over into a roll as he stood and held out his sabre.
"I will not leave this place until you are strewn across this battlefield Mithrandiel..."
Zero said with a snarl.
Mithrandiel chuckled as he pulled back his sabre and held his sabre-arm in front of him, striking a unique fighting position.
"Then you will never leave this place..."
Mithrandiel pushed off of his front foot this time into a tremendous leap at Zero, spinning wildly as he slashed at him four times, first coming around with his sabre, slashing at Zero's chest, his sabre-arm then slashing at his midsection, spinning around as he brought the sabre back around to slash at Zero's head followed by his sabre-arm to attempt to decapitate Zero.
Zero moved quickly and accurately, bringing up his sabre he blocked the slash to his chest and went into a backroll as the second slash went by harmlessly, Mithrandiel moved in closer though as his sabre came towards his head he ducked, with the sabre arm just barely missing the top of his head as he thrusted viciously outward, hoping to impale Mithrandiel.
The sabre struck true as it tore through Mithrandiel's middle.
"Game over..." Zero said with a smirk as he pushed the sabre out sideways, tearing open a massive hole in Mithrandiel's middle.
Mithrandiel howled with great pain as he clutched the now empty spot on his left side...falling over with a gasp.
*
In the meantime, back on the hospital bed...X drifted off into that realm of oblivion. The shadows grew larger as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and the alarms on his vital systems began to ring with the screech of a siren.
*
Zero stood over Mithrandiel...still shuddering with rage as he lifted the sabre to finish him off.
Mithrandiel began to chuckle.
Zero scowled.
"What's so funny? You want to die with a smile on your face?"
Mithrandiel shook his head as he lifted his hand and pointed behind Zero.
Zero turned slowly...and was horrified at what he saw.
Zero stared at the figure for quite some time, what seemed to be years as his gaze pierced the other figure's eyes.
He couldn't believe it...he just couldn't.