C. Cowboy: Hey, thanks everyone for reading this; I really appreciate any and all reviews that I get. I'd like to say first off, as you read this, remember not everything is as it appears. And it's always darkest before the dawn, and sorry Tfrid Queen, I'm afraid Signas is gone, sorry. Not many Reploids can survive a nuclear explosion. Anyway, on with the story, read and review!

Chapter 6: Aftermath

Arizona Beach Military Base, Arizona Beach

Two hours later …

"There," Douglas said as he pried the last piece of the Archangel Armor off the grateful Blue Bomber. "I'm really sorry that happened, X." Douglas apologized.

"Wasn't your fault, Douglas," X said, placing on his basic X-Armor. X then scowled at the Archangel set, "I … never want to wear that again."

"How is she?" Douglas asked, changing the subject.

X went deathly quiet before finally speaking up. "The Techs are checking to see what it was in that dart. They should have finished by now."

"Well then," Douglas said, nodding, "what are you standing around here with me for?"


X made his way to the med lab of the base and slowly walked toward Alia's room. He stopped for a moment to and peeked through the window of Zero's room. He was still unconscious, and Iris had yet to leave his side. 'I'll give them some time alone,' X thought, moving on toward Alia's room.

X sat down in a chair outside of the room and patiently awaited the Tech's report. He didn't have to wait long.

"Commander X?" the human Tech said, walking out of the room with an unreadable expression.

"Yes," X said, standing up, "is she ok?"

"Lt. Alia has received … a strange virus," the Tech informed, making the color leave X's face.

"T-The virus?" X asked, a knot forming in his throat.

"No, this is nothing like the Maverick Virus," the Tech sighed. "This one is different from anything I've ever seen; it's slowly shutting down all her systems one by one, but locking her artificial nervous system on."

"Can … can you do anything for her?" X asked hopefully.

"With further study, we might be able to do something, but …" the tech sighed, looking away from the Hunter, "It'll be well too late before we can formulate a proper anti-virus."

X sat back down roughly, feeling suddenly sick. "Can … can I see her?" X finally asked, shaking off the shock.

"Go on in," the Tech said sadly, "I'm terribly sorry, Commander."

The Second Blue Bomber simply nodded and headed into the room.

X slowly walked in and across the room. Alia looked up slowly and gave him a weak smile, "Hey."

"Hey," X replied unsurely, "How are you feeling?"

"I little sore," Alia sighed, slowly sitting up. "Are you ok?"

"Great," X said flatly, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"So …" Alia started, "the Tech didn't tell me much. What's the verdict?"

X looked taken aback before obviously forcing a smile, "You… you're going to be fine, not a thing wrong with you. It was just a tranquilizer dart, that's all."

"Liar," Alia smiled sadly.

X couldn't even look at her, but couldn't help turning back when he heard sniffling.

"How long have I got?" Alia asked, obviously fighting back tears.

"We … we don't know …" X got out, watching her struggle with her emotions. He couldn't help but feel his heart break apart as the strongest person he ever met sat slowly breaking apart emotionally.

"Oh …" was all she said as she stared at her lap and the two fell into silence. "X?"

"Yeah?" X replied, looking up into her sad eyes.

"I … I'm scared …" she whispered, looking back down.

X leaned over and pulled her into an embrace. "Don't give up, Ally," X whispered as he held her tight, "We'll figure a way to stop this, I promise."

X held her for several hours before he finally laid her now sleeping form back down in her bed and snuck out of the room. If he could have his way, he wouldn't leave her side, but with Signas gone, X was Grand Commander of the Maverick Hunters, and he had a lot of planning to do. And as brave as X was, he didn't have the courage to sit idly by and watch Alia die.

X then decided to check in on Zero. He slowly walked into this best friend's room and placed a hand on Iris' shoulder, who was sitting at his bedside. "How is he?"

"Don't know … they don't even know why he isn't awake …" Iris said weakly.

"Are you ok?" X asked, concern on his face.

"X … Alia said … she said that Zero … he … how did he take it when me and my brother … died?" Iris asked, looking up at X with sad eyes.

X blinked with confusion, not sure what to say to that. "He … he was really upset, in fact I don't think he ever got over how much it hurt him to lose you and your brother," X said softly, hoping not to upset her.

"How could I have been so stupid?" Iris asked, taking Zero's hand in her own. "Alia tried to tell me … I didn't believe her …" Iris whimpered, "I saw the way he was acting, like he didn't care when he killed my brother and me … I didn't believe he really cared; I didn't believe in him …"

"Iris, listen to me," X ordered, "Zero's crazy about you, always has been. When you came back, I don't think I'd seen him happier."

"I guess …"

"If you people are going to talk so loud, go outside and yak. Some people are trying to sleep in here." Zero mumbled, barely opening one eye to glare at the two dumbstruck Reploids.

"ZERO!" the two cried happily. Iris stood up, and X shot around to the other side of his bed.

"Good God," Zero sighed, "what the heck are your problems?"

"You had us scared to death, Bro!" X sighed, "I don't want to lose anyone else, so don't do anything stupid like this again!"

Zero narrowed his eyes, "Anyone else? THE FIGHT!" Zero then shot up to a sitting position, "What happened? Where are we; this isn't HQ."

"The base was … destroyed Zero," X sighed, looking down. "One hundred fifty six hunters were killed and or injured, haven't split the list yet … and we lost Signas and … Alia is … dying …"

"What?" Zero and Iris gawked.

"I … I knew about Signas but … Alia …" Iris whispered in disbelief. "Oh, X, I'm so sorry."

"She's not out of the ballgame yet," X said, forcing a smile, "She's a fighter."

X then turned toward the door, "I'll leave you two alone; if anyone asks for me I'm taking a walk and I have my com on."

Zero and Iris nodded and X exited the room.

'Don't you dare give up on me now, Alia …' X thought, bringing the ring he bought for her out of its compartment. "What the …" he gawked, looking up and seeing someone down the hall staring at him, "it's him. DOC!" the old man merely gazed at him with a disappointed look on his face before turning and going down a hall as X shot after him.

"I know it's him," X whispered to himself, "that's the guywho fixed me in the mines!" X looked and saw him cut down another hallway, but kept on his tail. 'Man, how can a old man move that fast?'

He followed him down several hallways 'til he finallyheard a large metal door slam. X, not paying attentionto where he was,was shot in after him. "Doc, you in here?" he asked, looking around, butseeing only his stored armor sets.

"Hey, Blue Boy, over here!" X heard a voice call, sounding a lot like his own. X followed it around the aisles of pods 'til he pinpointed the source of the sound: the Archangel's pod.

"What? I must be losing it …" X sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "If Zero saw me now …"

"If you only knew, X,"came a voice frominside the pod,causing X to look and see his reflection glaring back with evil, yellow eyes. "Glad to finally meet you face to face, roomy!"

"What the …" X gasped as his reflection start to laugh.

"Why are you still fighting?" his reflection asked, "We both enjoyed turning the Blackguard into sushi, so why are you still supressing me?"

"What?" X asked, narrowing his eyes while mentally questioning his sanity.

"After I fought off all those bad guys, then made Siggy pay for hurting your little bed bunny," the reflection chuckled, "I thought you'd be more open to me."

"W-What are you?" X asked, confusion running through his mind.

"I'm you," the reflection said as if it was the simplest thing in the world, "More or less, I'mwhat you're supposed to be. All that about you being built to be peaceful and to think and feel and become the best thing since humans made fire is bullshit. Why are you peaceful if you were built with a arm cannon and the ability to take the power of those you kill?"

"Tha-that's not true!" X exclaimed, not able to look at the reflection.

"Isn't it?" the reflection mused, "How was it that we were able to kill several thousands of Mavericks with one attack, plus those so-called hunters who didn't get out of the way? Face it, X, you are a perfectly constructed killing machine, nothing more, nothing less. Mercy and love are nothing but viruses, which I can remedy if you let me out."

"No!" X cried, hammering his fist into the solid glass.

"X, admit it," the reflection smirked, "You're a monster, a killer, and a murderer. You don't just kill Mavericks, you know; if you had only let me do what you were built to do … your girlfriend wouldn't be dying now."

X clenched his teeth as the words echoed in his mind before he placed both hands firmly to the side of the capsule. Then with a cry of rage, he lifted the Archangel capsule and hurled it into the Aqua-Paladin, Force, and Icarus armor capsules. He then fired his dash jets and shot into the Paladin armor, punching through the glass and the armor's chest plate, and then throwing it out onto the floor. X quickly turned around and shot charged blasts into Blade and Shadow armors' capsules before dropping to his knees, fighting back his sobs of sadness and anger.

"X, are you alright?" a voice came from the entrance.

"No … No, I'm not, Douglas …" X sighed, not looking up.

"What's wrong?" Douglas said walking in, carefully stepping over the wreckage of the Shadow armor's capsule.

"X is the first of a new generation of robots, which contain an innovative new feature - the ability to think, feel and make their own decisions. However, this ability could be very dangerous. If X were to break the first rule of robotics, "A robot must never harm a human being", the results would be disastrous, and I fear that no force on Earth could stop him. Approximatelythirty years will be required before we can safely confirm his reliability. Unfortunately, I will not live to see that day, nor do I have anyone to carry on my work. Therefore, I have decided to seal him in this capsule, which will test his internal systems until his reliability has been confirmed. Please do not disturb the capsule until that time. X possesses great risks as well as great possibilities. I can only hope for the best. - T. Light, September 18, 20XX" X quoted emotionlessly.

"What?" Douglas asked confusedly.

"I never understood what he meant by great risks," X sighed sadly. "I do now … I lost it. And when I did, it cost both Signas and … Alia theirlife."

"X … that wasn't your fault …" Douglas sighed.

"Wasn't it?" X whispered, looking up at his friend.

"X, why don't you just go take a walk," Douglas advised, looking over the wreckage of armor capsules, "I'll start repairing the armors."

"Ok," X sighed after a moment of thought, "Sorry." He said, walking out of the room andkicking the helmet of the Blade Armor out of his path.

X walked outside the base and into the town surrounding the outpost.It was the same town he and Alia spent a few days inearlier, and he almost expected her to be walking at his side. As if his mood needed lightening up, he spotted the newspapers' headlines, most saying 'MEGAMAN X DEFEATED' or 'BLUE BOMBER BUMBLES'.

"Hey, look!" X heard voices behind him, "There's the loser!" X looked and spotted a small mob making its way toward him.

"You hunk of junk! You weren't built to run from Sigma; you were built to destroy him! What's your problem?" A woman cried, throwing a tomato at him. X simply stood there and let the people bombard him with rotten vegetables and eggs and their various curses, which, at this time, X agreed with. In his mind, hehad failed these people; he had failed Songbird and the 17th; hehad failed Signas, and hehad failed Alia.

After a few minutes of the constant attack, a loud horn sounded and the crowd scattered as a 2159 model Corvette pulled up right next to the depressed Hunter. Quickly Jean, the mother of the child X rescued from the fire days before, jumped out and ran to the filthy Cerulean Hunter. "Oh, sweetie, come on and get in. I'll take you home and get you cleaned up," She ordered as she pulled X toward the passenger side of the car.

X nodded a thank you to the middle-aged woman and then looked at the baby cooing at him from the child seat in the back. "Are you alright, Megaman?" she asked, looked him over for any bodily damage.

"I … I've been better," X confessed, looking down at his lap.

"We have atwenty minute drive to our other beach house, so start talking," Jean ordered.

"OTHER beach house?" X asked confusedly.

"Explain later," Jean cut himoff, "you talk now."

X told her everything that hadhappened the last few days. He looked up as he finished and saw that they were pulling up to a fairly large, beachfront home. "Alia, that was the girl Reploid with you that day you saved my little Andy?" Jean asked as X stared in awe at the beautiful homewhen her question sunk in.

"Yeah, that's her," X sighed sadly, looking down at his feet sadly as they got out.

"And there isn't anything they can do for her?" Jean asked.

X just shook his head sadly.

"At least you told each other how you feel," Jean said sympathetically, "Don't blame yourself for what happened. I know she doesn't. Just be there for her when she needs you and stay by her side as long as you can."

"I guess you're right," X sighed, "I just really don't want to lose her."

"Don't lose hope yet," She said, leading him into the house, "Something might come up. Now I don't think you want to go back to her smelling like bad V8 juice."

A few moments later, X had changed out of his armor and was inthe pair of pants and a T-shirt thathe wore under it. He sat there on the couch when Jean came in with an unhappy Andrea crying loudly andtrying every way she could to get away from the bottle in her mother's hand.

"Megaman, dear, would you care to try your luck with her while I clean your armor?" Jean asked, handing the infant to the Cerulean Crusader. And as soon as she got into X's arms, Andrea calmed down and took the bottle. "Wow … you're good …" Jean gawked.

"It's a shame you Reploids can't have children," Jean sighed, watching X so delicately handle the precious little one in his arms."I get the feeling you'd be an excellent father."

"About her father …" X started, not taking his eyes off the beautiful, little baby with shimmering, red fuzz on the top of her head, "Wouldn't he be upset if he knew I was here?"

"That old blowhard can kiss my butt," Jean humphed.

X blinked, confused, "Oooook …"

"The only reason I'm still with the bastard is the little angel in your arms," She explained, "Besides, he's at work right now. He's a General, but the only reason for that is because he brown-nosed with my father."

"Your father?" X asked as Andrea drifted off to sleep and Jean when back to shining the armor, "Yeah, my father is General Albert Light."

X almost choked, "THE General Light, Chairman of the Anti-Maverick Council? You're his daughter?" he asked in near shock.

"Yup, that's me," Jean said, rolling her eyes slightly, "Though I don't really care much for the racist prick. He's my father and that's it."

"Yeah, I noticed he doesn't seem too friendly," X mused while gently rocking Andrea.

"Yeah, dead-beat dads are usually like that," Jean said, finishing up polishing his armor, "There you go! I don't mean to seem like I'm rushing you off, but you really should go and check on your girlfriend."

"Thanks, Jean," X said, kissing the baby's forehead before handing her to her mother, "I don't think it ever shined like this before," X noted as he placed on his combat armor. Once he was completely suited up, he started toward the door, "Thanks for everything, Jean. If you need anything, anything at all, give me a call."

"Don't mention it, X," Jean said, taking her baby toward the nursery, "If you want to thank me, come back sometime and baby-sit, you're great with Andy, you know?"

"I'll think about it," X said, setting his teleporter to outside the hospital, "Bye, Jean, Andy." And with that X disappeared in a blue pillar of light.

Jean sighed and took a cell phone from her purse and dialed a number. After a moment, she began to whisper sadly, "Yes … I placed the extra transponders and Anti-O.X. dampeners like you told me to … I don't like this; why can't we just tell him … yes, yes I know … yes, I understand … keep me informed … bye."


X arrived at the hospital, walked inside, and made his way toward Alia's room. A hysterical Iris met him halfway.

"X, come quick!" Iris cried, grabbing his arm and pulling him faster down the hall.

"What's wrong?" X asked, trying to keep from falling over from her pulling.

"Alia!" she yelped, "Something's wrong with Alia!"

That was all it took. X fired his dash boots and shot toward Alia's room at top speed; he ran in and saw Zero, who appeared to have made a full recovery, helping the doctors attempt to restrain Alia. She was jerking about wildly and yelling fearfully. It took a moment for X to realize she was calling his name.

X gently pushed the two doctors and Zero away and brought Alia into his arms, softly shushing her. "I'm here, Ally, see? I'm right here," he cooed, rocking her gently.

"No … no I don't," Alia sobbed, "X, I can't see … I can't see …"

X gasped and looked down and finally noticing her blue eyes, which were once bright and full of life, were now dull and gray. "Oh, Ally …"

X continued to hold, rock, and whisper calming phrases to her 'til she finally drifted back to sleep. X gently lowered her back to her bed. "Commander X?" a doctor said, walking in.

"She won't make it through the night, will she?" X asked darkly.

"I'm sorry," the doctor sighed, "it's extremely doubtful."

"Thank you," X whispered, "keep her comfortable."

"Where are you going?" the doctor asked, surprised he wasn't going to stay with her.

"I'm going to make sure she doesn't go alone." X answered emotionlessly before walking out of the room.

To Be Continued...

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