Mega Man X: Demons Of The Past

by Erico

The fight never ends, and two weeks past the end of TSOM, a new Chronicle is begun...

16. Cracks In The Wall

MEGA MAN X: DEMONS OF THE PAST

By Erico

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: CRACKS IN THE WALL

X walked into the Medical Bay of the MHHQ, already in dour spirits. It was 11 A.M. on the 22nd, which meant that there was only two more hours until Signas could celebrate his first full day on the job. Of course, from what he and the rest of the Hunters had seen of Signas so far, he wasn't the type to celebrate. That would contradict the burr in his butt.

"Yo, Hazil!" X called out. He got no response. Calmly, he stared around the interior. Every last bed was empty…which would be expected. Grimly, X reminded himself that there'd been no survivors from yesterday's mission. There was no need for repair beds. Only body bags. Zero was off somewhere with Bastion or some other slope, getting sloshed, no doubt.

"Hazil?" X called out again. This time, he got an angered grunt which degraded into cursed mumblings. The Blue Bomber blinked a few times, then snapped his fingers and rounded the corner into the tiny hidden office of Hazil. The medical reploid was hunched over his computer, angrily typing out letter after letter of meaningless bureauspeak dribble.

"Answering fanmail?" X asked.

"Writing death certificates." Hazil snapped back tersely. His fingers rattled over the keyboard time and time again. "God, this part of the job pisses me off."

X looked over Hazil's shoulder. In the part of the electronic form marked 'Cause of death', Hazil had put in every one Extermination by superior Maverick forces as per the new leadership at MHHQ.

"Signas probably won't like that particular batch of files." X noted drily.

"Signas can blow it out his o-ring." Hazil growled. "He doesn't have to spend hours piecing Hunters back together after the battles. And besides, he's got me in a ROYALLY good mood today. If I wasn't so damned busy, I'd be stoned off my ass too." Hazil stopped typing for a moment, as if muddling over something in his mind. "Come to think of it…" His hand snaked down to a drawer in his desk and pulled it open, then whipped out a half full bottle of scotch. "Drank half of this last night in memory of Cain." Hazil lifted the bottle and stared at the ceiling. "Here's to you, Doc!"

X said nothing at Hazil's display of public attempted drunkenness, even when Hazil plopped the now empty bottle back in his desk and slammed it shut. But his wandering eyes finally did catch an unusual sight over on Hazil's windowsill.

"What the…What's Sigma II doing here?!" Hazil blinked sourly a few times, then looked over his shoulder at the aforementioned goldfish and his cumbersome goldfish bowl, carved from Armored Armadillo's shell.

"That's why Signas has me so pissed. He cracked into Cain's office last night…through all the security clearances…and started to make it his own." Hazil's eyes betrayed the rage boiling within. "I got up this morning, was walking to the War Room, and walked by Cain's office before I did a double take and realized that poor Sigma II and a good shitload of Cain's stuff was lying in the hallway unloved and unnoticed. Only thing Signas kept was the desk, the computer, and the blue lights. Prick." Hazil sighed and got up from his desk, walking into the main section of his workspace. "Just another reason for me to hate working for him. I tell you, the only reason I've stuck around so long was to keep tabs on Cain. You and Zero I don't worry about now, especially seeing as…" Hazil paused for a moment, then sure that no one was listening, continued. "…Seeing as Zero's been cured of that damned Virus."

"What about all the other Hunters?" X asked, stunned at Hazil's announcement. "Don't you worry about them?"

"The rookies will either get better or die. The veterans can handle themselves, they know the risks. I've been with the Maverick Hunters even longer than YOU, X." Hazil said pointedly. He walked for the nearby supply cabinet, his hands slipping behind the bandages and cotton balls and snaking about yet another hidden bottle of liquor. "I'm old, I'm tired, and I'm Goddamn SICK of watching everyone I give a damn about die on me."

"So what then?" X queried icily. "Are you gonna leave the Hunters? The place you've called home for the last 13 years?"

Hazil took a deep swig of the brown liquid before speaking, his eyes becoming somewhat blurred, but still acute enough to whack a fly at 50 yards. "And just where would I go? No, X. For the time being, I'm stuck here. I've got nowhere else to crash." Hazil walked over to the swiveling desk chair he'd left between two medical beds and plopped down, leaning the bottle of alcohol on his leg and looking up to X. "But I doubt you came in here to shoot the breeze with an old coot like me. What's on your mind, sureshot?"

"My armors." X said firmly. "The condition of my armors." Hazil shut his eyes.

"Yeah…those things." He put the bottle down and rubbed at his temples, pushing back the grayed hair covering it. "I've already told you that one through three are so far gone, it's no use trying to save 'em. So if you want, you can use 'em. They just might die on you during a crucial moment when you'd NEED 'EM. As for four, it's a little better off. I've stuffed its component codes into computer stasis. You can't access it, but it's saved for posterity. Or until someone else can do a better job of reconstructing it than I can."

"So Paladin, Retribution, and Golden Hyper are all usable…but not for long. And Force is off limits." X mumbled. "Just friggin' great." He didn't need to mention Paladin 2 and Hyper Retribution. Those had vanished as soon as their respective crises, the Shadow Hunters and the Erasure Incident on Laguz Island in 2128, were done with.

"So, would that be it then?" Hazil asked, setting the now partially emptied liquor bottle into his chest compartment.

"Pretty much." X answered glumly. "I just hope that my armors'll stand up to the test when I need it most."

"We expect the worst and hope for the best, X." Hazil said. "But in the end, wear steel underwear, because lady luck loves to screw us where it hurts."

"Hazil, we don't have anal cavities." X reminded him. Hazil threw his arms up in the air.

"Good thing too! The thought of spending about thirty minutes every day hunched over a pot and grunting doesn't exactly catch my fancy!!"

X shook his head and walked out, his part of the discussion completed. Hazil's jokes were becoming more desperate in nature.

Signas's presence was weighing heavily on them all.

The dark armored 'Commander' of the Maverick Hunters sat in his office, quietly chewing on his thoughts as well as a stick of rock candy. Finally, he set the hardened sugar down on a sterile tissue and turned to his keyboard and monitor.

To: Global Defense Council, Liason HQ

From: Commander Signas, MHHQ

Topic: The Maverick Hunters

My arrival at the MHHQ didn't go unnoticed. Indeed, it seemed that the entire population within had been watching me yesterday. They are suspicious and mistrusting of me, and seem only to humor my authority.

Perhaps it is because I am filling the role once occupied by Doctor Cain, whom they trusted beyond a doubt. I cannot explain their affinity for the late archaeologist and creator of the reploid race. It defies explanation. It is both irrational and illogical. In fact, for lack of a better term, their attitudes are…human…

As you probably know, the 7th Unit went off yesterday to do battle with the most recent batch of Mavericks. We now are aware of their names. Kazok Gravor, Dash Blade, Cumulus Bull, Dolph Reach, Burst Scarab and Shell Butane. Only six this time. I can state that this particular strategy of Sigma's making is far different than any before. It isn't a strategy. It seems as though the great Sigma has simply brought forth six new blights and instructed them to make merry mayhem wherever the wind blows them.

Also, I was reviewing some of Cain's old E-Mails, and have uncovered an unsettling truth. The recent six Mavericks being used by Sigma were at one time before, loyal members of the peace movement URFAWP. While not unusual, considering his previous borrowings from Doppler's stock, Repliforce's troops, and in the very first, Maverick Hunters themselves, it is nonetheless saddening. J.K. Horn had to be unnerved when he wrote that particular informative E-Mail.

"Devastated" was probably more accurate, Signas thought. But he merely sat there with that familiar blank stare, looking at the screen for a few seconds before continuing his tiny tirade.

As a result of the actions of the six new Mavericks, the Hunters have lost every last member of the 7th Unit. They've lost entire Units before, but in the face of far greater forces. To have an entire team taken down by six…

I am making changes as I see fit here at the MHHQ. However, my primary focus and concern is the recent wave of attacks. I only hope that the famous X and Zero can manage to pull this group together enough to stop the Mavericks. Because the Hunters aren't listening to me.

-Signas

He stared at the screen a few more seconds, then hit SEND. In a blink, the message was gone.

Signas leaned back in the easy chair and stared up at the ceiling, glowing in blue lights.

"If I were human, I'd say that this is far from over." He finally commented in monotone to nobody but the walls.

If I were human.

"Well, I'd say yesterday's jaunt went off well. Today's should be just as good, although I'm not quite sure what attacking Karashita Tower is going to do." Dash Blade purred, leaning back and sipping on a canister of soda. Kazok nodded, his dark eyes staring out into nothingness as he hovered in the air, suspended by his gravicrystals. Dash Blade took notice of his aloofness and frowned.

"Something wrong, Kaze?" The black haired humanoid shrugged, turning to look at Dash with an odd frown on his face.

"I'm…I'm not sure, Dash."

"You got a wound you didn't tell us about?" Dash asked worriedly. Kazok shook his head.

"Nope, nothing physical. Just something nagging at the back of my mind."

"And what would that be?" The Feraloid queried, setting her soda down and looking to Kazok more thoughtfully.

"An unanswered question…Who were we before we were Mavericks?" Kazok whispered. Dash frowned.

"I don't get it." Kazok looked at her.

"I think you do, partner." The gaze unsettled Dash, who couldn't help but pull back and shiver.

She DID know what he was talking about…she was just afraid to address it. Afraid or unable to…

"I know that somewhere in my mind, there's gotta be memories of who I was and what I did before I woke up with Sigma staring at me. But every time I try to consciously recall anything, it turns up blank…and something tries to force me away from it. I've even done scans on my files. The program finder found a chunk of my memory, but it's been altered…unreadable." Kazok shook his head again, brushing back his hair. "I know we're not the first Mavericks to fight with Sigma. But more and more I wonder…did we become Maverick by choice…or by…"

"Don't say it." Dash chirped bitterly, stopping Kazok's train of thought. "Don't even think that. It's too painful to think about."

"Even if it's the truth?" Kazok replied quietly. Dash drew her arms around herself.

"I don't know…I don't WANT to know. It hurts to think about it, Kazok. Can't we just be satisfied with who we are?" She moved over to Kazok and unconsciously wrapped her arms around him, burying her head into his shoulder. "Please Kazok, just let it be. Just be happy being alive. Please."

Kazok held her close, a tinge of an awkward and unfamiliar emotion driving through his mind. But it still wasn't strong enough to shatter his thoughts.

Did we become Maverick by choice…

Or by…Enslavement…

Willow had purposefully chosen to stay somewhat close to Wycost. Either through some sort of his own precognition that came during the time when he slept, or those mysterious phone calls to some feminine voice…

The tricky part was trying to avoid being sensed. Wycost knew exactly where Bristol was headed somehow…because, like a detective, she and he both were following a trail of clues. And Willow, with every last one of her memories restored, knew the eventual goal, but not the path.

Wycost might have suspected Willow of having a dark role…But she couldn't tell him the truth. No, that'd just get too messy.

So alone she was when she walked away from the old headquarters of the Second Rainbow, the group that MI9 had splintered from. Wycost was most likely some distance ahead, and Bristol far more distant.

And then she felt it. It rattled through every portion of her body, racing through her mind, causing everything in her perception to go fuzzy and aloof, as if seeing the world through the bottom of a soda bottle.

"The Trembling." Willow whispered quietly, already feeling her body begin to build up terror throughout her circuits. But no, she needed to be clear-headed for this…

With a grunt, she pulled back a sliding section of her wrist gauntlet and pounded in a large green button. Immediately, the fear that gripped her like a vise lessened, sloughing off and disintegrating. She sighed and snapped the wrist gauntlet back into place, then looked all around.

The source of The Trembling could only come from one thing in the entire world. Something that Willow knew all too well…a berserker beacon.

"I know you're out there." She barked shrilly. "COME OUT!"

The Alaskan wilderness offered only silence for the longest time, but finally a pair of figures warped in out of nowhere. The strangest part about them that would have frightened any normal reploid or person was that they were HUMAN. And humans couldn't warp.

Unless of course…

"Well, well, I see that MI9's bloodhound forces are still on the loose." Willow said darkly, throwing off her heavy blue overcoat and shimmering for a moment as battle armor melded to her body. Her blue boots now shone with golden trim and an inlaid tristar pattern, and her chest armor dazzled a brilliant seagreen in the sunlight.

"We've been lookin' for you for sometime, runaway." One growled. Willow stared at the two figures, scrunching one eyebrow before her eyes flashed in recognition.

"Aah, Geoffrey and Tim. I should have known." Willow drew back a step, but made no obvious move to draw a weapon. "Are you the best they could send to get rid of me? The Irish Banshee?"

"You reploids don't deserve names." Geoffrey spat, pulling out a familiar metallic cylinder with openings at both ends. Tim did the same, but said nothing. "We've come to wipe out you and that other one. Bristol."

"You won't get near her." Willow growled back. "You'll have to go through me."

"That's the idea." Tim finally chuckled. "The two of you have caused us nothing but grief. And now the world will finally have nothing to fear from you."

"Oh, so WE'RE the enemy?" Willow chortled, her green eyes sparkling with murderous intent.

The only response she received was Geoffrey and Tim igniting their black tinted beam staffs…the same ones that Allegro and Andante had found a shipment of…same make, model, and color.

And the same purpose.

"Well then…" Willow mused, reaching behind her back and pulling out another cylinder, "I guess the time for talking's ended." It was shaped like a traditional beam saber, although the pommel and hilt were a little larger.

Quickly, Willow tapped the power switch on the cylinder's side. Geoffrey and Tim froze for a moment, expecting to hear the familiar hiss of a beam saber soaring to life. But nothing came.

She pulled the saber casing back, then snapped her arm forward. In a blur of metal, a long chain of TitaniTefloAlloy links flung themselves free from the weapon, twisting outwards like a writhing snake of vengeance.

Only when the chain was fully extended did plasma fire ignite around them, each link surrounded by a spherical field of green light. It began at the tip of the weapon, then slowly burned its way back down the chain and stopped only inches from the hilt of the weapon.

Willow snapped the now identified beam whip against the ground for a moment, examining its ten foot length with burning eyes, before turning up to face her two human opponents.

"All right then, laddies. Let's see if they've been feeding ye enough dougnuts."

Silently, Geoffrey and Tim charged at Bristol, the air about their beam staffs singing with the battle yet to come…

Iris was the one who called in the Six Mavericks, not Sigma. Sigma was off somewhere in stasis, a mode he'd been depriving himself of for days. Thusly, she'd been assigned to hand them their next mission.

"I'm about as clueless as what Sigma's trying to do as you are." Iris said admittedly when Burst Scarab looked up with a raised eyebrow. "But he has a plan with this…couldn't stop himself from grinning about it before he shut off."

"I'm not usually prone to following Sigma's plans." Kazok grumbled, putting down the datapadd with the mission dossier. "Sure, he made a wise choice deciding to keep us all together this go-around, but…"

"But what?" Iris asked, lifting her deep eyes to gaze at the Second in Command. Kazok looked back at her with his black eyes for a long moment, then shook his head.

"Nothing."

Do you think I'm going to say to your face that I didn't approve of Sigma bringing you into this mess?? I'd be as stupid as you if I did that, you bitch.

"Anyhow, Sigma wants you six to head for Karashita Tower in New Tokyo."

"Straight into the backyard of The Maverick Hunters?" Shell Butane murmured. "What the hell is Sigma thinking?!"

"A final test, perhaps." Dash Blade spoke up finally. She looked from one to the next. "Up to this point, everything we've done has been minimal. We did a surprise attack and raid on a GDC facility. We've trained our bodies and weapons to act as one. We've become a cohesive team, and destroyed an entire Maverick Hunter Unit. A weak one, but a Unit nonetheless." She blinked, her eyes narrowing down. "I see only one threat that Sigma would send us there to face."

"Care to elaborate on that for those of us with slow processors?" Cumulus Bull joked, stomping his foot to the ground. Dash's face was solid ice as she continued.

"As much as I dread having to say this, being that close to the Maverick Hunter Headquarters DOES serve a purpose. The superior Hunters will be wanting to take revenge on us for wiping their own into oblivion. More specifically, the same pair that's been in Sigma's affairs since 2118."

"Christ, NOT THEM!!" Dolph Reach chittered alarmingly. Kazok shut his eyes.

"So that's it. A final test of our abilities with the great Prime Hunters…Mega Man X and Zero." Kazok stood up and nodded his head. "If we're going to do it, let's do it." Kazok turned to Iris. "Karashita Tower, right?" He asked, double checking what he'd heard.

The brown haired siren nodded, and that was all Kazok needed.

"Grab Sub-Tanks, team. This is gonna be a big one."

Iris watched them warp out with weapons and supplies in tow, silently clucking her tongue.

"Someday…I'll be fighting with all of you." She put a hand to her hips and lifted her beam saber with the other, watching it ignite to its usual length with her pooled eyes.

"Someday."

"Hmm, so you've come across someone else, eh?" Isaiah mused, looking at the ground. Or as close as ground got inside of Wycost's dream.

"Her name's Willow, and I don't like her being around one bit." Wycost continued. He lifted his glasses. "Any advice from the beyond you can give me?"

Isaiah muddled over the question for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Just a little bit. Wycost, I'll be honest with you. Where Willow walks, danger follows. It's just how it is."

"That's advice??" Wycost murmured in annoyance. "I hope that the Great Beyond knows more than that."

"Oh, it does." Isaiah quipped, staring at his friend with a grin. "But my job isn't to spill the beans on every facet of everything. I'm a guide, the signpost along the way. I can't do more. They won't let me."

"They?" Wycost replied. Isaiah gave Wycost a blank stare, causing the once MSWAT member to nod his head. "Right, right…stupid question, why'd I ask it…"

"I'm afraid that you're on your own for the next few days, Wycost. Then again, the next few days is all you're going to need to discover everything out for yourself." Isaiah quipped. Wycost lifted his glasses back into place.

"Is this revenge for me killing you by no fault of my own?" Wycost grumbled. "The lame half assed answers?"

Isaiah tilted his head back and laughed long and hard. Wycost sighed.

"It wasn't that funny."

"I know it wasn't." Isaiah said quickly, snapping back into serious mode. "I'm just humoring you. No Wycost, it isn't revenge. The powers that be have spoken, and I'm just following orders. Right now, the only thing you need to concern yourself with is WAKING UP!!!"

And then in a flash of light…

Wycost did just that.

He snapped awake, eyes blinking furiously behind his lowered sunglare goggles. For a moment, he almost forgot where he was…until the unusual silence caught his ears.

It was summer in Southern Alaska. Birds were usually chirping…but not now. He brought himself to his feet, accessing the long range scanners he'd equipped to his goggles recently.

Oh, there was most definitely a familiar sort of energy signal nearby…the kind associated with plasma weaponry.

"Shit." He grumbled, morphing his right arm into a Buster and running off in the direction of the signals. Wycost had no doubt that whatever had been going on, it had been for a long time.

A nagging hint left behind by the once more forgotten Isaiah? Perhaps.

Karashita Tower had been converted to a tourist attraction after the First Maverick Uprising in 2118. Standing at an unparalleled spiraling height, the spire hunched over the lower twin section and cast a long shadow over the swath of New Tokyo unfortunate enough to be blocked from the sun's rays. But it was a slow day, and aside from the core staff, nobody was marveling at the sight from within.

Perhaps that was incredibly lucky for most, because at 11:45 A.M, the Six Mavericks under Sigma arrived in glittering beams of warp energy that reformed into distinct forms. The Maverick logo was one that still managed to strike fear into all that saw it, with the ancient Greek letter for Sigma enmeshed with the head of a wolf.

Although nobody had asked Sigma where the idea for the logo came from, it came from the simplest union of friendship the now tyrannical Maverick leader had known at the birth of the First Maverick Uprising…the emblem identified to his name, and a figurehead that represented his faithful pet Velguarder. A faithful pet who had died at X's hands on June 19th, 2118, and had never been re-resurrected. Copied to an extent, yes…but the original Velguarder was irreplacable.

So now with the sunlight streaking down upon them, the six Mavericks stood indifferent to all around them, armor shining in the rays of light from above, every facet of their outlines lit for all to see. And then someone walking past the new arrivals bothered to look down at the buckle at the front of Kazok's waist…And immediately recognized the logo.

"MAVERICKS!!" Came the fearful cry. Kazok looked at the frightened man as he ran off, his disinterested gaze far different from what the man expected from a raving, bloodthirsty representative of the genocidal corps. Others had heard the cry as well, and now took off running in all directions, screaming.

Kazok sighed and rubbed at his forehead, feigning pain from the shouts of terror.

"Why do they always do that?" He mumbled to his team.

"I think they were expecting us to go and lop their heads off, boss." Dolph chittered with a grin. He held one of his hands in the air and clenched it tightly, an aura of energy beginning to form around it. "Want me to live up to their expectations?"

"Save your energy for something more useful." Kazok said blithely. Dolph shrugged and powered down. The gravity controlling Maverick turned to his associates. "Well, from looking at this place, any observations you care to make?"

"It's big." Shell Butane said simply. Kazok rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, we all know it's big. Thank you, Shell. Anyone ELSE care to make an observation?"

"If we blew it up, it'd make a mess." Burst Scarab added with a smug grin.

"No, I think we'll try for something a little less catastrophic right now." Kazok groaned. He turned to Dash. "Please tell me you can make an intelligent comment."

Dash Blade rubbed at her whiskers, then turned her head up and arched her gaze to the spire.

"There's an entrance down here. Odds are there's one up there as well. If we're going to take this place, you'll want somebody up top to guard the roofline. And probably Shell Butane down guarding the front door."

Kazok clapped his hands together and smiled.

"Well, we finally have a winner! Yes Dash, that's right on the money. Burst, you and Dolph Reach head up top and guard the roof entrance, or entrances…Shell, Cumulus, I want you to guard the front door. Dash, you'll come with me for the remainder of this little exercise."

The security guard within the front doors didn't know what else to do. He'd already triggered the alarm system with the specialized code for 'Mavericks involved', and aside from that, he was utterly useless. Even being a reploid, he was far outclassed. A magpistol probably wouldn't even wound these guys.

And so when the four remaining Mavericks(Two had gone up, one had flown and one had to have been climbing the side of the building) walked in the door, the guard merely kept a hand by his sidearm and looked at them with all the courage he could muster.

The leader…It had to be the leader, everyone else was following him…Brushed back his short black hair and nodded, his dark eyes boring holes into the guard.

"Good morning…Fargo." The Maverick leader said, scrutinizing the nametag on the security guard's chest.

"M…mm…morning…" Fargo finally managed to stutter back, slapping himself mentally for even speaking back to these menaces. The Maverick smiled a bit, then looked beyond the security guard to the desk he'd been occupying…and the flashing light on the phone.

"So…I take it you've already sent out the distress signal then?" The Maverick quipped easily. Fargo froze. The Maverick frowned. "Oh, come now…You think I'm gonna blow your head off if you say yes?" Fargo nodded vigorously.

"Take my advice, kid. Answer him straight, and he won't. Keep up the tight lipped act, he will." A female feraloid beside the leader chirped.

"Yes, I sent out the emergency call." Fargo managed to stammer then. The leader relaxed a bit then.

"Good. Oh, just to put you at ease, my name's Kazok Gravor. Use it if you want. Now getting back to the issue at hand…" Kazok took a step forward. "I assume there was…something special about the emergency signal? Something to let whoever received it know that Mavericks were the cause of your problem?"

"Are you going to blow up Karashita Tower?" Fargo asked quickly. Kazok frowned.

"And what would that prove? Now answer my question. Was there a specialized…"

"YES!" Fargo barked in fear. Kazok smiled again. "Good…but I think a little added incentive would help." Kazok's arm came up, and in a flash morphed into a menacing Buster. "Now then. I'm going to walk you over to the telephone, and we're going to make a little phone call…"

A terrified Fargo watched as the other Mavericks looked at him in obvious humor, then the Tarusoid and Turtloid class reploids set up station at the front door. The giant Turtle Maverick melted the front doors shut with a mighty blast of flames from his mouth, causing the Tarusoid to snort in what might be laughter.

Fargo walked over to the nearby telephone, Kazok's Buster still lightly pressed against the side of his face.

"Now pick it up, and dial straight to the MHHQ." Kazok instructed. Fargo looked at him.

"Are you crazy?!" He asked incredulously. Kazok chuckled in the depths of his throat, then looked at Fargo with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, let's just find out."

The phone operator in the War Room was shuffling through calls, making a habit of just hanging up. There'd been plenty of prank phone calls from people yukking about Cain's death. Another call came in, and the reploid sighed.

"Give up the ghost, you Crank Yankers." He pushed in the connect switch. "Hello, this is the MHHQ switchboard. How may I disconnect you?"

"Uhhh….Uhhh…"

"I hope you know how to say more than that." The operator grumbled. Just then, X came walking into the War Room, taking a sharp look at Signas before leaning up against a wall and spacing off.

"We've…got a bit of a problem here." The voice stammered. "I'm at Karashita Tower…"

"Oh?" The operator was interested now. Only scant seconds before, an alarm had gone up nearby, emanating from Karashita. He just hadn't had the time to see what kind of distress they were in. Quckly, he reached over and flipped the receive switch.

Then every klaxon in the War Room began to go haywire.

Karashita Tower Distress Signal: Maverick Attack

"Oh, sweet buttered biscuits…" The operator said with a wheeze.

"There's…s…some Mavericks here…And…" The operator froze only a moment before switching the incoming com signal to go to the room's speakers. Everyone else was looking at him anxiously, and he merely pointed to the ceiling and to his ear.

The phone seemed to get jerked out of the original speaker's hand…and then another voice came on.

"Hello…Maverick Hunters?" The voice came, pleasant and cheerful. "The person just speaking was your friendly security guard Fargo. So far, he's had the good sense not to shoot at us."

X was on his feet now, glaring as the voice seeped in.

"KAZOK." He barked angrily. The other voice paused for a moment.

"X? Is that you, X?? Oh, good! I was hoping to avoid all the faldoral so commonplace in GDC controlled bureaucracies. Yes, I'm Kazok. And obviously then, the Mavericks at Karashita Tower are the six of us. We've mentioned our names before, so I won't waste your time."

"What are you up to?!" X shouted angrily, his voice overpowering in the stunned silence of the War Room. Signas merely listened, one eyebrow raised with interested curiosity.

"I do things a little differently than most, X. Right now, I'm placing a call with you so you know who you're dealing with. We're at Karashita, and despite hitting this place at the non-busiest time of the week, we still have a few good hostages. But I'll tell you what, X. We're looking for a duel with the best of the Hunters. You, for instance. If you or Zero bother to show up here, we'll let them go, and then we'll have our fun."

"Christ…" X grumbled, rubbing at the part of his forehead that showed underneath his helmet. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly serious, X. We're a different breed of Maverick, we've learned from the mistakes of our predecessors. So to recap, if you show up, we'll let the hostages go and you can take a crack at us. Fail to show up, and we just might bring the house down in protest. And I'm not referring to wisecracks."

"I knew that." X shot back tersely.

"Well then, I think we're done here. We'll be expecting you, X! See you soon!"

The phone clicked off.

Signas turned to X, a frown on his face.

"Why would they only call for you and Zero?"

"We're the best. If they take us down, it proves how good they are." X said quietly.

"They've taken down an entire Unit, X. To send only two of you would be suicide, no matter how good you are." Signas stated flatly. X looked at him with a half smile.

"Don't tell me that's concern in your voice…there might be hope for you yet." X shook his head. "No, Zero's off getting sloshed somewhere, and I learned long ago you don't interrupt his drinking." X neglected to mention how it had gotten worse after The Repliforce Incident…Losing Iris and Colonel had been hard for the Crimson Hunter. Even now, had he truly gotten over it? X wasn't ready to place a bet that big.

"I'm going to have to face them alone." X finished. Stunned 'WHAT??'s and other cries of surprise filled the room, and Signas's frown grew deeper.

"That would not be wise."

"If I don't go, they'll kill innocents." X finished. "I've had blood on my hands before, I'm not innocent. The Kobayashi Maru, Signas. Needs of the many and that crap."

X shut his eyes for a moment and accessed one of his armor sets. In a glittering flash of warp light, he was clothed from head to toe in golden glory…The Golden Hyper armor.

"I'm going to need some luck for this one." X murmured. He looked around the War Room one last time and shrugged. "I've made it through worse odds, you guys. Wipe those precognitive tears away, please."

As X warped out of the building for nearby Karashita…

He wondered just how long his armor would hold out before they faded into nothingness.

Willow's beam whip had never seen as much use as it had for the last hour. Both sides had been fighting nonstop for that length of time, and the wear was beginning to show. Beam weaponry wasn't meant to be kept active for much longer than it took to watch an old Disney movie. Eventually, you had to shut it down and recharge the batteries.

The two goons Geoffrey and Tim charged at her again, and once more Willow did a Vertical air-dash to slam out of reach of their weapons. She swung her whip down in a wild arc, scorching the earth again as they both hurled themselves out of harm's way.

Upon landing, Willow turned her left arm gauntlet towards them and fired, the plasmic explosive going forth a good distance before exploding in a shower of blinding, destructive madness.

It was her third shot…she only had one more before she'd need to reload. A thing that took time she didn't have. But it worked its desired effect. While the humans were able to dodge the part of the blast that would have burned them, the shining lights succeeded in blinding them temporarily.

"DAMNIT!" Tim cursed, dropping himself to the ground and perking his ears up for the sound of a whining plasma field. It came, whistling furiously towards him. With an easy roll, he shifted himself away from the deadly weapon again.

Willow cursed inwardly, her eyes burning with concentration. Damn these MI9 agents and their engineered superhuman abilities…Even when unable to see, they could still counter her attacks!

But Geoffrey was already charging towards her, blinded and screaming out for vengeance, his feet slamming into the ground far faster than they should have been able to. There was no time to think anymore…only act.

Her beam whip snapped back for a moment, and then lunged forth at the charging Geoffrey. Defensively, he raised his beam staff, causing her own plasma weapon to curl about a blurred blade of black and crackle angrily as the fields clashed.

Willow took the opportunity, jerking back on the handle of her weapon and snapping Geoffrey straight towards her, his weapon bent out of harm's way.

"Now to make this shot count…" Willow growled, lifting up her other arm and firing her very last plasma explosive.

This time, Geoffrey was unable to avoid the blow. And despite the flash of electromagnetic shielding that flickered about his body, the attack proved too furious to handle, overloading the shield into uselessness and then incinerating Geoffrey to ashes.

His beam staff shut off after his vaporized hand released the power trigger and it snapped back into the off position, clattering to the grass with a dull thud.

Tim's sight had finally returned…far too late to do his now dead partner any good. Stunned, he watched Geoffrey shimmer in the fire of Willow's plasma explosive and then vanish.

"NO!!" Tim screamed in grief. Willow finally opened her eyes from the blinding flash of the explosion, satisfied to note that one of her pursuers was no more. Then she turned to look at the other one, struggling to get to his feet and keep a hold on his beam staff at the same time.

"To get to her, you'll need to get through ME." Willow growled again, pulling up her blazing chain and gripping onto it midlength with her other hand. As if responding to its master, the section of chain where her hand approached shut off the spherical plasma fields, allowing her to grip onto her weapon without the threat of losing a hand.

That was the first sight Wycost saw of the fight when he crested the top of the hill…Willow blowing one of her opponents into atoms with a well placed explosive. She'd used one on him before…only to blind. Now at last he realized the full devastating potential behind that launcher embedded in her arm gauntlet.

"God…" He murmured, pulling up his Buster and having to spend a painstaking second deciding which weapon to use.

Tim's stare burned right through Willow.

"Goddamn you…you MONSTER!!!" Willow said nothing, only readied her beam whip for the next strike. Tim lifted his beam staff into the high ready position and charged, screaming his fool head off.

"FREEZE, YOU TWO!!" Wycost bellowed, at last firing. His Buster unleashed a single explosive missile…the Narwhal Striker. Tim paid no attention to his cry, but it caught Willow so off guard she turned her head a brief click to look at him in surprise.

The Narwhal Striker round moved fast, crossing the distance between Wycost and the battlefield in less than a second. It exploded partway between the two combatants, jarring Tim up into the air and off balance. Willow was blown backwards, but she brought her beam whip about in one final swing…

It arced up and curled about Tim's waist, crackling furiously as it connected with the electromagnetic shield. Using the last ergs of its power, the beam whip cut through…

Severing Tim in half. The warrior gasped out in pain as his halves fell to the ground, already bleeding profusely. His beam staff however, had been locked into the dead man's switch position…and when it flew out of his hand with all his momentum, the blades stayed active. Thus, even Willow too suffered her wound, being stabbed straight through the stomach as she lay on the ground, the blade running completely through her and into the soil below. The hilt of the weapon came to an uneasy rest upon her injury, and had it not remained solidly embedded where it landed, the entire assembly could have fallen over, dragging the blade through her entire body and piercing the microfusion tank that powered her, causing a massive explosion.

But it didn't happen like that. Willow was spared a death, unlike Tim who gasped for only a few more moments and then died with his eyes open wide, his mouth coughing blood.

A stunned Wycost made his way to the battlefield, looking first to the cleaved warrior. It was then that his eyes went wide behind his protective visor.

"My God…" He whispered in incredulous disbelief. "This guy's HUMAN!" The blood was bright red, not purple…and his bone structure showed clearly, as did the visible layers of muscle, fat, and bleeding, bubbling flesh.

Wycost was used to the sight of death and destruction in reploids, but not so much so with humans. He managed to push aside his nausea, as real an emotional response to reploids as it was with humans, and shifted his Buster to normal mode.

He incinerated the human with an easy blast of plasma, sparing him further misery.

And then it was Willow's turn.

Where Willow walks, danger follows. Yes, that was right…

Willow's vision was glassy and blurred, and her body was fast shutting down into stasis. The wound was serious…it could have killed her instantly, for the stab was only inches from her microfusion tank, but she still couldn't get up.

Thus, when a brightly armored figure in green stood above her, Willow was almost beyond words.

"Wycost…you've…got to…keep out of this…" She wheezed, feeling her legs go numb as they went to stasis mode. Wycost lifted his Buster and pointed it at her head.

"You just killed humans, Willow. HUMANS. Do you know what that makes you?!"

"By your definition…A Maverick." Willow replied. Now her left arm, and the beam whip it held went dead. At long last, the charge had died. Her finger released the trigger, and the connected TitaniTefloAlloy links snaked back into their cylindrical prison.

"I was a Maverick Hunter, Willow. I killed Mavericks. And you're a Maverick." Wycost said angrily. "Damnit, you're a menace beyond words!"

"Wycost, you're so naïve…" Willow whispered, as her other arm gave out. "You think you have a true bead on who the enemy is?"

"Shut up!" Wycost barked, charging up his Buster. Willow could hear the whine, then shut her eyes. But she still could talk.

"If you're going to kill me, do so. At least…Then this nightmare…end for me…But…Bristol…be…her own…" Parts of her last sentence faltered as at last, her voice gave out. Her head lilted to the side, and then all of her succumbed to the state known as stasis.

Wycost bit his trembling lip as he looked at her, his entire arm shaking.

She'd killed humans, that made her Maverick…Mavericks needed to be destroyed before they could destroy again…

Yet at the same time, she seemed to know so much about Bristol…

"So what's it going to be, then…" He asked himself quietly. "Are you the protector…or the villain?"

The sound of an X-Buster supershot rang over the hills.

Pharaoh Man had had enough of this, and the others knew it.

"I'm going up there right now." He mumbled bitterly. "Kalinka's been hiding up there for days now, and it's about time she stopped."

Ring Man seemed to think over it for a while, then nodded.

"If you must." Bright Man said nothing, and Toad Man merely rolled his eyes.

Five minutes later, he reached the spire that contained Kalinka's room and knocked on the door.

"Kalinka!" Pharaoh Man said. "I need to speak with you."

"Go away." Kalinka said, her voice muffled through the doorway. Pharaoh Man lowered his face mask, exposing the frown underneath.

"No, I'm not leaving Kalinka. You have to get out of that room. It isn't healthy!" He persisted.

Silence followed for a moment, and then the sound of footsteps came. The door opened suddenly, and a bedraggled, emotionally drained Kalinka stood in the doorway.

"You dare give me orders…" Kalinka spat out angrily. "Don't even try, Pharaoh Man."

"Hey, I didn't come here to get yelled at." The goldenrod and silver armored robot said defensively, lifting his hands palms out. "I can't help the fact I get worried about you."

Kalinka seemed to smile with a sickening grin at that.

"Yes…so high and mighty and yet so restrained by your accursed Rules of Robotics."

"Laws, you mean." Pharaoh Man corrected, casting his eyes down. "And yes, I am limited by them. I can't let you wither away…not while there's something I can do about it!"

"Just what do you expect to do about it, Pharaoh Man?" Kalinka spat back, fresh tears springing to her eyes. "Would you cause harm to me to move me out of this room, to keep me alive?" Pharaoh Man said nothing, didn't even move as the question coarsed its way through his mental pathways. "Can you even do that?"

"I'm more than an average robot, Kalinka." Pharaoh Man finally said, looking at her without anger. "Doctor Cossack gave me abilities beyond that of normal robots. He gave us all life. And he gave us the chance to be something more than what we were at birth."

"Yes, he gave you all the opportunities in the world, didn't he?" Kalinka sneered. "You were always his favorites. He even gave you the ability to CRY. Not even Mega Man could cry, but somehow my father decided you deserved that next level of being human. He gave you everything in the WORLD, Pharaoh Man."

"And you hate me for that??" Pharaoh Man asked, his voice growing tenser. "You'd hate me that much for something I didn't influence, something I can't change, something I can't feel sorry for?! What am I supposed to do, Kalinka?? Keel over and DIE?!"

"You were ALWAYS his favorite!!" Kalinka screamed, her eyes blurred far worse now. "You and the rest of the stupid robots in this stupid castle!"

"He loved you, Kalinka!" Pharaoh Man shouted. "He couldn't come close to that emotion with me. He created you with his own flesh and blood. All I'm made of is metal that his hands touched! What makes you think that I was his favorite?"

"When he died, the last thing he said was to YOU!! The last person he worried about was YOU!! It was YOU, Pharaoh Man! You were his son, his perfect damned bastard creation son! He could do no wrong with you, he could see no flaws! Where I was organic and weak and imperfect, you were synthesized, artificial, pure, WHOLE!! Do you want to know why I've kept myself cooped up in here for days, Phare?! It's because I knew that if I went anywhere else, I'd have to face YOU!! And seeing your face HURTS ME!! I hate you, Pharaoh Man! I hate it that he loved you more than he loved me, I hate it that my heart's been broken, and I hate YOU, because you are the source of my every pain, my every nightmare, my every shattered dream and spiraling HELL!!"

No matter how advanced Pharaoh Man was, he was still nothing more than a robot in the end. A robot kept restrained by the Laws of Robotics, his every action confined to the commandments that controlled his very life.

His mind had grown leaps and bounds, yet the Laws reigned supreme. And Kalinka's words ringed in his ears, searing through his pathways, resisting, burning, overheating his mind as the processor of his mind came to a startling conclusion…He had broken one of the Laws of Robotics.

"You are the source of my every pain, my every nightmare, my every shattered dream and spiraling HELL!!"

A robot must never harm, or through inaction, allow harm to come to a human being.

"Firss….t.t….L…l…laaaa…ww…" Pharaoh Man gurgled painfully, his body collapsing from underneath him as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he gave out.

He lay there for a few moments before Kalinka realized what had happened…

"Oh God…" Kalinka finally said. "Oh God no…"

Ring Man and Bright Man had been listening to it all from outside the door to her room. At long last, they trudged in, their large cartoonish optics wide in horror and disbelief.

Pharaoh Man lay there, catatonic, eyes wide, his body beyond control and a finger twitching on automatic impulse.

"What did you do to him??" Ring Man whispered hollowly, looking first from his friend and then to the woman that was his master's biological child. "Why, Kalinka??"

"It's bad…" Bright Man muttered, picking up Pharaoh Man in his arms and staring into the unfocused eyes. "Kalinka triggered mind freeze…"

Mind Freeze…A condition that a robot entered when they broke one of the Laws of Robotics…and subsequently, for all purposes…Died.

"Why, Kalinka?!" Ring Man asked again, looking at her now with anger on his face. "What did he do to harm you, huh?! LIVE?!"

Kalinka said nothing, only fell to her knees with her head bowed, her face a mask of beaten disbelief.

"We have to help Pharaoh Man." Bright Man said quickly. "If we don't help him soon…we'll lose him forever. It may already…be too late…" Ring Man gave Kalinka a final stare of bitter rage, then turned and left with Bright Man and the collapsed Pharaoh Man in tow.

Nobody was there to see the teadrop streak down from Kalinka's nose and fall to the floor.

"Phare…what have I done…"

"God help me, what have I done…"

"You let X do WHAAAT?!" Zero screamed at the top of his lungs. Signas looked blankly at the Crimson Hunter for half a second before repeating himself.

"I allowed X to go attempt the mission on Karashita Tower by himself. I could not convince him otherwise."

"Bullshit." Zero growled, lifting a finger and poking it in Signas's chest. "You don't know a damned THING about what's happening in our world right now, do you?"

The War Room was dead silent, all eyes turned on the two. Even Bastion, who had been with Zero when they arrived looked on with interested and somewhat concerned eyes.

"I've only been here…"

"A DAY. A GODDAMN STUPID PIDDLY DAY!!!" Zero screamed. Signas remained unfazed. "What kind of authority do you think you command over any of us here, huh?! And why is it that that authority's only used when it suits you?"

"Zero, getting angry at me won't help matters…"

"You know, you're right on that point, but I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!" Zero howled again. "You've just sent X off to DIE, you stupid bastard!"

"My command authority is supreme." Signas said firmly, offering the first hint of annoyance. "I have the fastest processing CPU of any reploid ever made…"

"Which means less than donkey piss to any warrior who's ever been on the battlefield." Zero spat out angrily. "Tell me something, COMMANDER. What sort of a weapon did they give you? Or was the GDC stupid enough to deny you any combat training at all?"

"They did not deem it worthy of my time." Signas interrupted more forcefully. "Challenging my authority in this manner could be construed as mutiny, Zero. Not even you, for all your prestige, can escape that fact."

"I don't consider it mutiny when the command's a joke." Zero said. Signas stood up and held a fist to his side.

"Commander Zero, you are out of line. I'm relieving you of your command as of…"

Zero flattened Signas back into his seat with a single punch upside of his chin.

"You aren't telling me to do shit. But I'm going to tell you to shut that damn void you call a mouth for thirty seconds while I give you the lowdown." Zero growled.

Nobody spoke, not even Signas, too busy rubbing at his jaw and looking at Zero in disbelief.

"You're filling very big shoes. The shoes of James Cain, the founder of the entire reploid race. Any one of us would die for that man, but he died because of an aneurysm. Cain realized that the best sort of leadership was one where he let his men BREATHE. You come in and you're trying to keep us confined to a leash."

"Now see here…"

"I ain't done here, you hoser, so SHUT IT!" Zero commanded. Signas promptly shut up again. "You were sent here supposedly because you have the highest processing CPU of any reploid created. That fact doesn't mean two pennies to me or any veteran here! The GDC's never trusted us completely, we were the black sheep that they sent out to deal with Cain's rebellious children. With him out of the picture, they figured they could send somebody to control the Maverick Hunters completely, dig their Goddamned hooks in real deep and at last rope in the last law enforcement group that gets anything useful DONE. That's YOU, Signas. You're nothing more than a GDC lapdog, programmed to bark at their command and issue orders based on their whims. For all purposes Signas, I see no difference between you and an emotionless, soulless ROBOT."

Zero's face glared with a sheen it hadn't held in months, a furious rage that surpassed all normal bounds. Of course, Zero operated far better when he was pissed.

"And now you've made the biggest damn blunder of them all. This new group of Mavericks is completely different than anything we've faced before. They managed to wipe out an entire UNIT of Hunters, and you let X walk in there alone?!"

"Mega Man X is…"

"I'm well aware of X's reputation!" Zero screamed back. "God's sakes, the guy's saved me from destruction a time or two! But he isn't invincible, he isn't supreme! And the simple fact is that the only reason he made it through all those radical battles in the past, through Maverick Fortress after Fortress and Sigma after Sigma, is because of his damned ARMOR SETS!! But let me fill you in on a little detail that probably didn't cross that super advanced mind of yours in the planning stages, Signas. X's armor sets are DEGRADING. At the end of Sigma's Sixth, they were weeks away from falling into uselessness. It's just one of him and six of them!! Terrible odds even WITH every armor set under the sun, but with all of them degrading into uselessness, SUICIDE!!!"

"Oh, dear…" Signas mumbled, paling a little bit as the true focus of Zero's rage began to sink in. This was the core…everything else he had screamed about was merely periphery.

"Yeah, NO SHIT SIGNAS. I don't know what made you let him go off by himself. Maybe you trusted in his abilities way too much. Maybe you wanted to let him try his best…maybe even DIE. Hell, that'd eliminate one of the strongest elements in opposition to your command here in a hurry, wouldn't it?!"

Zero finally stopped ranting, reaching a hand up to his head and pushing against his forehead. It was throbbing…something it hadn't done in a long time.

"Goddamn you, Signas…" He finished. Quickly, Zero double checked his supplies. He still had a Sub-Tank active and fully charged, and he had four shots of Rakuhouha ready to fly. Not to mention his ever trusty beam saber.

"I'm gone." Zero growled. "Somebody has to save X's ass." Bastion stepped up, his eyes burning.

"You need an extra set of hands?" Zero looked at Bastion with an icy gaze and shook his head.

"No, I need you here. If I end up dying trying to save X…you're going to be one of the only ones left here who'll remember how the Maverick Hunters operate." Bastion bowed his head, but said nothing in reply.

Signas sat back in his chair as Zero warped out of the MHHQ, thrumming his fingers against the armrest with his head lowered.

He was supreme, he was without flaw…

But…

Now, he wasn't so sure of that, wasn't so sure of all the statements his GDC programmers had told him. Was he little more than a puppet here?? More importantly…

Had he just sent the best of the Maverick Hunters to die?

Lately, it seemed that fate liked to have the worst sort of incidents happen on sunny, peaceful days. X made a mental note of that as he coalesced back into reality.

Karashita was still the same spiraling peak it had been back in 2118. Of course, then the threat came from Boomer Kuwanger and friends sitting atop the tower and taking potshots at the world with a high powered cannon that destroyed every Maverick Hunter at the MHHQ, save X and Zero. Who, luckily enough, then proceeded to assault the tower, defeat the Mavericks, and go on to end the First Maverick Uprising. X purposefully tried to forget the fact that Zero had DIED in that conflict.

Now a new group of Mavericks threatened the peace, although their true objectives were yet to be seen.

X checked his weapons gauges. Narwhal Cannon, Koala Slash, and his beloved Hyper Cannon. Yup, everything that the Golden Hyper offered.

He stared up at the top and accessed his schematics scanner. With a single sweep of his helmet, he was able to see the entire layout of Karashita…as well as the people inside.

"Two Mavericks up top…two on the ground floor…and two smack in the middle of the building with all the hostages." So, X mused, it was all a question of which route to take.

The idea of being thrown off the side and plummeting to his death didn't exactly catch his interest, so X chose the ground assault.

He'd reached twenty feet in front of the door when he spotted them with his normal optics. A gigantic Turtloid class and a Tarusoid. Perfect. Some of the most durable, physically aggressive reploids ever put into production was staring right at him.

They blew the front door out with a blast of flames from the Turtloid class's flamethrower, embedded in his throat.

"Well, well…looks like we got ourselves a contender!" The Tarusoid chuckled. X still remembered the names of the six, and identified them easily.

"Lemme guess." He said simply, lifting up his Buster and charging up a normal X-Buster shot. "Shell Butane and Cumulus Bull?"

"He ain't as dumb as he looks, Shell." The Tarusoid snorted, pointing a finger. "Suppose he fights good?"

"He's X, Cume." Shell Butane replied. "Of course he's gonna fight good!"

"X??" The Bull queried in surprise. He stared at the blue figure harder. "THIS is Mega Man X? The fierce blue guy that's given Sigma grief for years?" X gave him a nod, still charging up more of his shot. "Sheeze, he looks weak…"

"Try me." X quipped. He fired off his two blasts in tandem, watching in satisfaction as the shots merged and formed a massive superwave that flew on and bowled the two Mavericks over.

They struggled to get to their feet, cursing at the deep plasma burns that they had.

"Damn you!" Cumulus Bull snapped, twitching to a standstill as a crackling field began to dance around his head.

X didn't have the time to deal with Cumulus, for Shell Butane drew into his shell and rolled straight towards him.

"Bowling for blue boys!" Shell Butane barked, whirling by as X dashed out of the way. What surprised him was a wayward blast of flames from the shell's openings that reached out and slammed against him. The energy field erupted into life to lessen the blow, glowing a deep red as the flames died out. Still, the wound was felt.

"Oh, that's just not fair…" X growled, switching over to Hyper Cannon. Shell Butane rolled on, making a sharp angled turn and spinning frantically towards X again. Flames shot out of every hole in the shell as he tottered on, creating a pinwheel of deadly flames. X air-dashed twice to get out of reach of the blistering flames, then aimed his Buster downwards and fired off shot after shot.

X's aim had improved dramatically over the years. As a result, few were deflected off the spinning surface. Most managed to slip into the shell's holes when they appeared in his gunsights.

Shell Butane's painful cries echoed off of the wall of glass and metal nearby before he came to a crashing halt and extended himself into his normal posture, only keeled over and whimpering at his blows.

X cursed at the Hyper Cannon charge he had left. 10%?! A barrage like that back in 2127 wouldn't have taken off more than 30% of the total charge.

"Then again, this isn't 2127…" X grumbled.

"DAMN YOU!!" Came the angered cry. X turned about just in time to see an angered Cumulus Bull level his hand outwards towards X. Then everything went kaleidoscope as a blistering storm of thunderbolts rained down on the Prime Maverick Hunter. X's body collapsed and he screamed, writhing in agony as burst after burst of pure electricity seared through his body. Cumulus Bull laughed maniacally.

"Oh, go figure!! Mr. Big bad Mega Man X can't handle a shock to the system!"

"You run enough electricity through someone, they'll light up like a Christmas Tree no matter what…" X gasped, struggling to overpower his short circuiting body.

"Oh, who told you that?" Cumulus snorted. "Your beloved Doctor Cain?"

X's eyes flashed with the power of something more as he managed to lift his shaky Buster arm up and switch his armor's coloring to green.

"No…A Maverick back in the Third Uprising known as Volt Catfish."

"And why should this matter to me?" The Tarusoid chuffed.

"It matters because he was right…but I still beat him." X finished weakly. He fired, and a surprised Cumulus Bull was unable to dodge the powerful needlenosed projectile that came hurtling towards him.

The Narwhal Cannon shell exploded upon impact, jarring Cumulus Bull backwards and off of the attack. Freed of the paralyzing rays, but still weakened beyond a point he'd like to be, X got to one knee and fired again, knocking the Maverick into mild stasis with the powerful concussion.

X breathed in as deeply as he could, trying to let his overtaxed health system catch up to itself. Kneeling stark still, he saw the familiar message flash in the corner of his eye.

Auto-recharge system on standby. Commence auto-recharge?

X sent the silent yes command and waited…letting his suit slowly replenish his internal operations energy to the ailing nanobots in his purple bloodstream.

It only recharged for twenty seconds before an unfamiliar message flashed up.

Auto-recharge disengaged. Golden Hyper Armor at critical fai…fai…

In a flash of light, the Golden Hyper Armor disappeared…its time at last run out, made only worse by the use of the auto-recharge systems. X shut his eyes in frustration, then finally got up and examined his stats.

87% health. He'd been better, but then again he could recall times he'd been worse. He thanked Hazil for making him keep a Sub-Tank on full charge, then morphed into his Retribution Armor in a similar flash of light and took off running.

This was only the gates of this Hell…X hoped dearly he'd survive what awaited within.

Twenty seconds after X finished his business, Kazok sent a message to the two Mavericks atop Karashita.

"Dolph, Burst! X is in the building, and probably heading my way. Keep everyone else out!"

A blistering beam of red energy slammed down in front of them, then formed into Zero. The two Mavericks blinked in stunned surprise, then spoke up for Kazok to hear.

"Easier said than done…Zero just came knocking on the upper doorstep." Dolph clicked the comm off just as Zero pulled out his beam saber and ignited it.

"Well, well. Looks like you two got stuck with guard duty." The Crimson Hunter growled. "Now, would you care to move before I have to get rough?"

"Oh, you're probably real anxious to get inside and meet up with Kazok and X, aren't ya?" Burst chuckled, lifting up into the air with an easy sweep of his buglike wings. "But X is a big boy, he can take care of himself for the time being. Right now, you gotta worry about us."

Zero looked at the two. Neither one was physically impressive…but that usually meant they were packing bunches of tricks.

"Burst Scarab and…Dolph Reach." Zero muttered, identifying them with an easy sweep of his saber. "God, does Sigma give you those names or did you pick them yourselves?"

"He gave them to us."

"Figures." Zero retorted with a snarl. "That baldheaded bastard always was terrible with nomenclature."

"If you're done talking Zero, I'd like to kick your ass now." Dolph chittered, slapping his hands together. A locus of energy surrounded them, and much to Zero's surprise, a pair of hands appeared in the air, writhing with deadly contained plasma.

"Oh, that's a real cute trick…" Zero groaned, backflipping to avoid the menacing punch that scarred the rooftop where he'd stood. Burst Scarab was at the ready, and hurled an explosive to where Zero landed. In an easy double jump, Zero arced over the shot and kicked the flying Maverick in the face…HARD.

"Stay outta this, bug boy!" Zero chartered, snapping his saber about deftly to dissuade the interfering enemy from trying a retaliatory charge.

It was two against one, Zero recognized. More frightening than that was that they were completely at ease with their abilities. Neither one was terrified of Zero, neither one flinched when he put on his war face and screamed.

These guys have been trained…trained by some of the best, Zero realized in the first note of worry to pass across his thoughts. There was no chance that Zero could cause one of the Mavericks to accidentally strike the other with their attacks, a tactic he loved to use in situations where it was more than one against him.

In fact, they had put Zero on the defensive…something that the Crimson Hunter rarely had to face. It was all that he could do to deflect Dolph's plasmaform hands and jump away from the powerful rattling explosions of Burst Scarab at the same time.

"What's the matter?" Burst laughed, firing off another impact round. Zero dashed out of the way, but the explosion jarred him off balance. "Is the great Zero starting to get worried?"

Zero merely screamed at them both, then charged straight for Burst Scarab and leapt up into the air, saber raised high for a deadly cutting strike.

The beetle Maverick was completely unfazed as Zero charged at him, even smiling a small smile. The Crimson Hunter realized why he wasn't worried as a powerful hand clamped around him, squeezing him tightly and preventing him from escape.

"GYYAAAH!!" Zero yowled, writhing about. The plasma was more contained than usual, Zero noticed. No burns, no damage registered…it was simply keeping him aloft…one hand clamped tightly against his waist and his other arm raised high with a saber that was now unable to strike.

"Nice catch, Dolph." Burst grinned. The blue plasma hand that wasn't gripping Zero tightly shifted into a thumbs-up sign, a gesture that Zero might have found funny…if he wasn't at their mercy.

"Well, the question is now, do we squeeze him to death or let the plasma burn him to cinders?" Dolph chittered excitedly, a definite tone of malice in his high, warbly voice. "I'm open to both." As if favoring the second option, Dolph loosened the electromagnetic field's restraint on the hands, letting the plasma flow freer and begin to ooze across Zero's armor.

The Maverick Hunter grunted in pain, gritting his teeth.

"Oh, come on…" Dolph chuffed, squeezing tighter still. "Go ahead and scream…scream for me!" The pain grew worse, and Zero felt his systems begin to receive damage as his armor gave way. Yet he only gritted his teeth tighter, refusing that gesture of frailty.

"I don't think he's going to scream, Dolph." Burst laughed darkly. Dolph's eyes burned with anger now.

"I've squeezed others to death. In the end…they all scream." He tightened his grip. "In the end Zero, you WILL scream…just before you DIE!!"

The grip grew worse, and Zero spasmed. His mouth fell open in an obvious grimace of unbearable pain…yet the scream stayed silent.

"I don't scream in pain…" Zero rasped, staring down into Dolph's eyes as the Maverick turned the hand around to look at Zero's face.

Below at his waist, his hand reached for a Rakuhouha capsule…It managed to grab ahold of it, and Zero held it tightly, drawing in strength for his only shot at escape.

"I only scream…WHEN I DRAW BLOOD!!" He thundered. Dolph's eyes flashed in confusion for a moment…long enough for Zero to flick the lone super-explosive capsule of plasmic energy at his foe.

The shot made a direct hit at Dolph's feet, exploding outwards in all directions. Almost all the shots struck Dolph, though…knocking him backwards, riddled with pockmarks from the powerful attack. Without Dolph consciously controlling the hands, they disappeared from existence, dropping a wearied Zero to the rooftop of Karashita once again.

"And now for the other…" Zero mumbled, pulling up another Rakuhouha capsule and loosing it with a fast ball throw at Burst Scarab. Despite his best efforts to fly out of harm's way in time, the explosion radius caught up with the Maverick, forcing him to crash onto the rooftop as his riddled wings shut down for repairs.

"Damn you!" Burst spat, bringing himself to his feet and groggily trying to ready an explosive shot.

Zero's saber sliced across his chest and forged a deep gash before he could fire…insult to injury came when Burst was kicked backwards.

But as Burst Scarab pulled himself back up to a standing position in front of the felled Dolph, the beetle Maverick was grinning, despite the pain that forced him to clutch at his wound with one hand.

"You think you're the only one who comes with toys?" Zero blinked a few times and looked down…finally noticing a flashing explosive charge, only perhaps a second away from detonation lying at his feet.

"Sheeii…" Zero whistled, backpedaling with a jump flip.

The blast knocked him clean off the side of the building, and a screaming Burst Scarab charged to the side, firing mortar after mortar over the side at the plummeting Zero.

He reached the building's edge, watching Zero continue to fall to his doom below, the explosions chasing him downwards. Sighing in relief, he stopped firing and shook his head.

"Too close…way too damn close…" Burst muttered. They'd done it…they'd stopped the invincible Zero from making his entrance up top.

He walked over to Dolph and propped his ally up.

"Hey, you gonna be all right??" The dolphin Maverick smiled weakly and looked down at his wounds.

"I'll live…" He wheezed. "But next time, I'm gonna get that sonofabitch…" Burst grinned, baring his teeth.

"We both will…now that we know what he can do."

Zero was still braced for more explosions from above when they stopped coming. He waited a few seconds, and then confident the barrage was done with, he air dashed himself to the side of Karashita and dragged himself to a slower pace by jamming his beam saber into the building and letting the resistance of the structure lessen his speed.

That little skirmish had done a number on him…

"Well, 2 Rakuhouhas left, 78% energy reserves, and my armor looks like I was grilled sideways." The Crimson Hunter grumbled. "Damn, these guys are good…"

A pang ran through him as his boiling blood turned away from thoughts of battle and to the reason he was here.

"And X is somewhere inside…with the leader." He shut off his beam saber and fell the last two hundred feet, letting his boots absorb the impact. His knees bent a little bit, but for the most part it was a drop he could handle.

He looked at the two groaning Mavericks at Karashita's front door. Neither looked in any shape to be a threat…Neither one even noticed Zero's arrival. And from the looks of them…

"Hey, did a guy by the name of X pass through here? About as tall as my shoulder, real determined attitude, uses a Buster?" He only got fevered groans. Zero narrowed his eyes and walked in, ignoring his own wounds.

"Well, thanks for the help." He didn't have time to deal with these two. Besides, they were already incapacitated.

It was the ones X had to face that Zero was concerned with.

Wycost lowered his trembling arm and let his Buster fade away as his hand reappeared.

The supershot he'd fired continued to soar up skyward, a massive firework for all nearby to see. But there was nobody around to see. Not out here in the middle of nowhere.

Willow lay there, still in stasis, but unharmed from the blast that Wycost had meant for her. A part of him screamed in rage, wanting to know just why the red haired female reploid lying defenseless had escaped death.

She killed humans…

I don't want to kill…Can't…I must, but I can't…

Maverick Hunter…

He clenched his eyes shut, feeling the battle rage inside of his head.

When he had been forced into Maverick servitude, the one thing that he had used in both instances to survive…was his hatred for the Mavericks. Two internal deletions, the same cause. That the Mavericks had torn his life away from him, and that they would do the same to more if he could not break free and stop them.

And now lying before him with bedraggled red hair was an alluring, but potent example of the very menace he had once pledged his life to destroying.

"God damn it…" He finally muttered, letting his arm drop beside him.

Willow would live. He could not bring himself to atomize her. Weakness, perhaps? Isaiah's words still rang in his ear.

What's worse than a Maverick??

And though Wycost still had no definite answer…he could believe that somewhere in this world walked a greater threat. If he could snap out of Sigma's grasp, endure for more than 13 years of tortured life, and have a psychic and a ghost as helpers…Hell, anything was possible.

His head glimmered in a bright light as he brought his helmet out of its warp stasis and wore it once again. The reason…the powerful communications system package kept on the right side. The Interdictor system.

Even though Willow was alive now, if she didn't receive help, stasis would do her no good. Taking her back to the MHHQ was out of the question. So was MSWAT HQ back in New York. No, for this one, Wycost would have to look up some old associates…And that meant making a phone call to a person who actually knew where they were.

His comm went active and he keyed in the exact number. First, the MHHQ…and then a more personal, direct access number to the person he was trying to reach.

It rang a few times, then finally picked up.

"Bastion, 21st Unit." Came the wearied voice.

"Boss, it's Wycost." The Bronx Bomber said simply. The other end of the line paused before Bastion spoke up again.

"It's been a while, Wycost. The last message I received from you I got through Doan."

"I'm still searching for her." Wycost said quietly.

"I know you are. And I can tell you she's alive. I got an E-Mail from her back on the 18th…one day after Cain died."

Wycost absorbed the information coolly, without any terrific sign of distress.

"Gonna miss him." He finally said.

"A lot of us are. Just how up to date are you on the situation back at the MHHQ, mean green?"

"I'm clueless, Bastion. Been stuck in the boondocks for forever now. What's up?"

"Cain's death triggered an action from the GDC. They've sent in one of their flunkies to take Cain's old job." Now Wycost grew angry.

"That's bullshit."

"Total bullshit, but it can't be stopped. His name's Signas. Heard of him?"

"Nope, but lemme guess. Paper pusher, never lifted a weapon in his life."

"Emotionless as a roploid." Bastion said back tersely. "And there's a new bunch of Mavericks on the prowl. Six Generals, only this time they stick together as a team. They already destroyed Sirius's Unit completely. Him included."

"Great." Wycost muttered. "Anything else I should know?"

"They're ex-URFAWP, Wyc. All of 'em." That was another punch to Wycost's psyche. "Which means you might have known a few."

"The only one I knew well in URFAWP was Isaiah." Wycost cut in. "And he's dead. But it sounds like the Maverick Hunters are up shit creek."

"Just be glad you left when you did." Bastion added sorrowfully. "Right now, X is off to face them alone at Karashita Tower. And Zero's hot on his tail. It doesn't look good."

"I thought nothing could stop those two."

"X's armor sets are failing." Bastion replied simply.

"Oh." Wycost muttered, his heart falling further.

"But that isn't why you called. You need something?"

"Where's J.K. Horn's island? I've got somebody here who needs some emergency medical treatment, and I'm not comfortable bringing her to the MHHQ. Especially not now with Cain dead and new management in."

"Whyzat?"

"This gal killed humans." Wycost choked out.

"God…a Maverick?!" Bastion rasped.

"A Maverick who seems to know something about Bristol. Until I know what all this is about…she's better to me, and to Bristol alive."

"Well…all right." Bastion sighed. "I'll send the coordinates to you direct." The comm cut off for a few moments as Wycost received a set of warp coordinates, which he fed to his warp generator. "Horn took Allegro with 'em back to the island. He said he was working on some projects for the Hunters…ask him about that while you're at it." Bastion finished.

"I will."

"And be careful." Bastion finished. Wycost chuckled a bit.

"Some day when we're done with this latest crisis, the two of us need to sit down and compare our life stories."

"I don't think they'd be happy ones."

"That doesn't stop us from living." Wycost replied wearily, shutting the comm circuit down.

And then he was alone with his thoughts, a set of warp coordinates, and one very sick reploid.

Carefully, he picked Willow up and held her close as a locus of light surrounded him. In a blink, he was gone…

And for the time being, Bristol was on her own.

Kazok Gravor and Dash Blade were waiting in the heart of Karashita, albeit impatiently. Sitting at their feet was the few people in the building unlucky enough to have been on duty when they arrived.

"You think X would have gotten here by now." Dash growled. Kazok nodded a few times, then turned to the tiny viewscreen he'd adapted to the security cameras in the building.

His eyes lit up as the surveillance optics shifted from one to the next.

"Well, he's not that far away, my dear. I knew dear old X wouldn't disappoint us."

The cameras were still flipping when a surprised Kazok saw another image.

"Oh, that isn't good." He spoke up bitterly. Dash looked over from the pile of hostages.

"What isn't good?" Kazok turned the viewscreen so she could see a familiar red figure with a long trail of yellow hair flying behind him. "Oh, great…he came too?" Kazok turned on his comm.

"Hey guys…did any of you deal with Zero lately?!" He asked tersely. The comm fritzed to life in response.

"Burst Scarab here…Yes, Zero came and tried to get in through the top. He hit Dolph pretty good, but we stopped him from entering. We ended up kicking him off the roof." Kazok turned his security camera focus to the front entrance. Cumulus Bull and Shell Butane were still trying to get up from the wounds they'd gotten from X.

"Well, congratulations, you two. You let the Crimson Hunter get to the entrance that was guarded by our KO'd heavy hitters. X already took care of them, apparently…because that isn't saber wounds they've been hit with."

"Shoot…should we get down to you and…" Burst began. Kazok grunted a no.

"Get down to Cume and Shell, help them get back to base. Dash and I will deal with these two."

"Are you sure you can…" Kazok looked to Dash Blade, who popped her TitaniTefloAlloy claws with a wiry grin.

"I think we can finish off matters here. Just get back to base."

"Ok then. See you when you get back." Burst finished. The comm went dead again, and Kazok turned to Dash.

"Work your way down…intercept Zero before he reaches up here. I'll deal with X, you worry about Zero."

"Hmm…Buster to Buster and plasma saber to plasma claw." Dash said, wrinkling her nose. "Think those are good odds?"

"I'd say so. You're a lot prettier than Zero is." Kazok replied easily. Dash blinked a few times before Kazok grinned and gently nudged her in the shoulder. "Oh, get going, will you? Time isn't something we seem to have a lot of."

Dash shut her eyes for a moment and nodded, then tore off down the hallway.

About thirty five seconds later, Mega Man X finally showed up. Kazok turned about and smiled at him.

"Aah, the guest has finally arrived!" X lifted his Buster.

"I know there was two of you in here. Where's the other one?"

"Dash has gone off to keep Zero…occupied while you and I have our little fun." Kazok replied cryptically. X narrowed his eyes and began to charge up his Buster, snapping his other arm up and morphing that into a Buster as well.

"With you Mavericks, fun usually involves blowing stuff up. You're not going to win this fight, Kazok."

"Oh, and why is that?" Kazok shot back easily, brushing back his short black hair and readying his own Buster.

"For one, you've chosen an old stomping ground of mine as the meeting place." Kazok lifted an eyebrow. "That's right, pal. Back in the First Uprising, I had the chance to visit this place when Boomer Kuwanger had this as his base of operations. You ever hear about a Boomer Kuwanger?"

"Can't say I have." The Maverick replied easily. "Old farts don't interest me."

The first blast was fired by Kazok. X dashed to the side and easily dodged it, then ripped off two of his own. The searing blasts were ordered, and Kazok barely avoided them. He could feel his armor recover from its singing and smell the strong scent of burned ozone. It was already rank in the extra large room they had chosen to battle in…but Kazok knew it would only get worse.

"Not bad, not bad." Kazok shouted out. "I'm beginning to see why so many people fear you!" X looked at him with burning eyes.

"All those who thought I was weak have died." Kazok harrumphed for a moment, then grinned and snapped his fingers.

"Well then, I'd say it's time to change tradition." X merely fired off another supershot in Kazok's direction as reply.

Kazok and X continued to fire, neither one gaining any ground against the other. Both were adept in Buster fighting…and both spent more time dodging than aiming, relying on their instincts to rally the shots of plasma towards one another. The hostages had long since fled, but Kazok no longer concerned himself with them. They were merely the bait he'd used to land the lunker. And now that Blue Bass Bomber X was in his net, the worms could run all they liked.

"You're better than most!" X gasped, crouching to duck a shot that came way too close for comfort. "I haven't seen somebody this skilled with a Buster in a long time!"

"Why, did you kill him?" Kazok laughed darkly. X snorted and dashed towards Kazok, switching his armor over to green and firing off a shot of Narwhal Cannon.

"No, he retired." Kazok blinked in surprise at the new attack, then flung himself free of the shot. The explosion caught him off balance, and should have thrown him into a heap against the wall…

Should have, did he not activate his gravicrystals and freeze himself in midair. A huge blast of plasma raked the section of the wall and ground where he would have landed only milliseconds later, kicking up shards of debris that Kazok pushed himself away from.

Glaring angrily, Kazok turned to look at X. Only now was the Hunter beginning to realize that Kazok was not where he should have been…and that was the only thought he could make before a searing blast of greenish blue plasma slammed into his chest and drove him backwards.

"Oh, sure. Use explosives on me, you cheater…" Kazok growled. X groggily got back up to his feet, blinking before the realization of it all hit him.

"Sheeze…GRAVICRYSTALS?!"

"My best damn friends." Kazok replied. "If you want to use your secondaries, so will I." His dark gray eyes burned into X, and he leaned his Buster across his free arm. "But now, where were we? Oh yeah. I was kicking your ass."

Kazok fired again, and X air-dashed out of the way. But the stunned Blue Bomber of 21XX found himself staring straight into the Maverick's face as in a blur of free kinetic motion, Kazok reappeared in front of him.

"Surprise." The Maverick breathed, before landing a solid uppercut on X's chin that sent him reeling backwards from the blow. To add insult to injury, he then shot X with another bolt of plasma.

Internal operations energy at 22% seek immediate treatment.

"I don't have time for this…" X groaned, draining his one and only Sub-Tank. Feeling rejuvenating energy flow through him once more as he reached maximum health, he turned and glared at the grinning and hovering Kazok.

"With that little system of yours, you could bounce around all day like a superball. But I have one attack that you can't avoid, no matter how hard you try." Kazok grinned and folded his arms.

"Well then, by all means…TRY." X drew his arms in tight, accessing his Second Armor's…the Retribution's…ultimate attack. The G-Crush.

Already, he could feel a locus of brimming plasmalight and energy begin to pulsate about his body, protecting him as it charged up to maximum, ready to unleash the most devastating wave of roiling matter ever forged by man or machinery.

Retribution Armor G-Crush disengaged. Armor at critical fa…

And just as his Golden Hyper had vanished forever, so did his Retribution…its time finally expired from use.

A weakened X dropped back down to the floor from where he had been hovering in the air, once more clad only in his main blue armor. And then Kazok laughed.

"Oh, that's your big attack?! You float up in the air and glitter for a bit and then WHAM, your armor disappears?!" He reared his head back and laughed harder still.

X weakly pulled himself up to his feet, selecting his last measure of protection against this Maverick madman. The Paladin Armor. In a flash of light, X was covered from head to toe in dazzling white armor with gold trimming. Only this one offered no air-dash, and with his energy loss, no Hadouken.

"You have GOT to be running low on options by now." Kazok rumbled deeply. X stared at the Maverick with the most powerful glare he could muster…even though he knew the fiend was dead right.

Zero was not in a mood where he wanted to be bothered. His dash boots trailed yards of fire behind him as he hurtled along the stairways of Karashita, making a desperate climb to reach X before the Mavericks made him a living example of destruction in the name of their cause.

Yet when he reached the seventeenth floor, a distraction is exactly what came his way in the form of a well placed swipe. Had Zero not swiveled one dash boot ahead of him and shot himself backwards, he would have found himself with a serious wound. As it was, he survived the attack on his life and pulled out his own beam saber, snapping it to life.

A female feraloid was grinning at him, tail waving in the air furiously as she clung to the side of the set of stairs feet above Zero's head.

"You missed." Zero said flatly.

"I don't miss often." Dash growled at him, pulling back her TitaniTefloAlloy claws and igniting her plasma ones. "Let's try for two!"

She leapt down, hoping to pin him against the wall with a well placed kick so he would be at her mercy. Zero merely ducked the flying kick, then turned about and sliced into the air where she had landed.

The Feraloid air-dashed out of harm's way, flipping in midair with her graceful reflexes and pushing her feet against the wall of the stairway. A stunned Zero had to jump up and somersault with his saber to counterattack her lunge attack, and even then she had enough force to jar him loose from the move and spiral on to the top of the stairs above him.

"Cripes, a stairway isn't the place to be trapped with a Maverick Feraloid…" Zero grunted, leaping up into the air with his saber in front of him. Dash Blade merely bared her teeth in anticipation and leapt at him with another snarl.

Despite all he had faced over the years, all the threats to his safety he'd endured, the one thing Zero had tried to make clear was that you didn't mess with Feraloids unless you had a damned reason to. A pseudo-mix of the all too traditional catperson with reploid technology, Feraloids were known for their speed, their reflexes, and their intuitive, close range combat capabilities. Sticking one in an enclosed space was a very bad move…Zero had learned that lesson from dealing with Slash Beast back in the Fourth Uprising, or as he preferred to call it, the Repliforce Incident.

Only this one was female, and more streamlined. Raw power had been traded off for speed, which in Zero's mind made her all the more dangerous. For every block he could muster, she could bring out two attacks.

But enclosed spaces could also work in his favor, if he could only…

"Oh, just COOL IT!!" Zero finally screamed, plunging his saber in a downthrust towards the charging Dash Blade. A spike of pure ice formed about the tip, and when it struck Dash Blade's arm gauntlet, it exploded outwards. The Feraloid yelped in surprise and pulled back, keeping the freeze damage from Zero's Hyouretsuzan strike limited to the one lower arm. However, it took her off the attack, which was Zero's purpose all along. Now freed from her maddening strikes, he was able to reach down to his waist with his free hand and pull out his last two Rakuhouha pellets.

Dash Blade pulled up her good arm and glowered at Zero, preparing to charge at him. Zero merely held the pellets tightly inside his clenched fist and motioned with his beam saber.

"Here, kitty kitty kitty…" Dash growled low in her throat and then exploded outwards, screaming in all her rage.

Zero flung his Rakuhouha pellets out, striking Dash in midair and midstrike. He protected his face from the resulting explosion with both arms, but the concussion wave and errant plasma still found its way to him, broasting his already weakened armor. Despite all his best intentions, Zero suffered serious damage from the blast, and was flung headfirst into the wall behind him.

He lay there for a few moments, trying to clear the stars from his eyes by blinking. At last when he only saw two flights of stairs, he plodded over to the collapsed Dash Blade.

Rolling her over, the Crimson Hunter was satisfied with the results. He might have been at 38% power, but she was most definitely out for the count, and it was taking everything in her power just to keep from slipping into stasis.

"A word for the wise, kitty." Zero mumbled, shutting off his saber and slipping it back into its recharge sheathe. "Don't mess with the Crimson Hunter by yourself." He grunted from the strain as he lifted her charred, pockmarked and utterly exhausted frame onto his shoulder, then began to walk his way up the stairs.

He blinked a few times, then realized in horror that his attack had opened up her chest armor over in front of his face, revealing the compartment within. His hand shot up and yanked the Sub-Tank out. He sighed in relief, just as she groaned in defeat. It still had its full charge.

"Sorry, lovely, but you don't get nine lives this time."

"I think I'm beginning to understand why all the Mavericks, Sigma included, had so much trouble with you, X!" Kazok laughed as he fired off another searing bolt of plasma. "It's because you always had your ARMOR!!" X threw out his own blast, canceling Kazok's shot. But Kazok's was far smaller…it had taken X his full Level 4 Purple Helix to kill Kazok's shot. "And lemme see…you were wearing a different set when you took on Shell Butane and Cumulus, a golden thingy, and you were wearing a more angled sharp armor when you met me…Seeing as you lost red angles, I think you lost your golden thing too! Which leaves you with what you're wearing right now…the most pathetic set of armor I've ever SEEN!"

Kazok gusted towards X, laughing all the while. No matter how fast X could shoot, no matter how accurate he placed them, Kazok's Gravicrystals allowed him to simply weave out of the way with a mere thought. X received another punch in his suffering jaw and another blast of plasma in his gut…

Internal operations energy at 17%. Seek immediate repair.

X collapsed onto the floor, groaning from his wounds. Kazok shut off his Gravicrystals and let them reset onto his waist, then stood above X and primed his Buster with a loud whining charge.

Paladin Armor disengaged. Paladin Armor at critical f…

"No…" X wheezed, feeling his eyes begin to shut as the energy loss began to force him into stasis. As insult to injury, the Paladin Armor flashed a brilliant white…and then vanished, just as all the others had, revealing the true, battered and bleeding Mega Man X to Kazok's full fury.

Kazok laughed louder still.

"Oh, this is rich…so very damned rich…Sigma's been trying to kill you for more than thirteen years now, and in the end, who ends up blowing your head off and ending the great wars between the Mavericks and the Maverick Hunters?! ME!!! KAZOK GRAVOR!!!"

"You aren't killing X." A new voice spoke up. Kazok stopped laughing and looked over in surprise, greeted by the familiar hiss of a beam saber growing to life.

What he saw made his throat go dry…Dash Blade lying dangerously wounded and helpless, the great Crimson Hunter Zero standing by her side, and his green beam saber pressed to her throat.

"If you wanna see her die, then go on right ahead and blow his head off." Zero spat out, ignoring his own wounds as he stared down the Maverick. "But I have a feeling you want to hold onto this one, so I'll tell you what. We'll trade victims."

Kazok glowered at Zero, then harrumphed and picked up X by his neck.

"Fine. You throw Dash towards me and I'll throw X at you."

"On the count of three, you Maverick scum.

"Three, you bastard reploid…"

"Two, you sneering greasehead…"

"One, you Demon…"

Zero threw Dash Blade at Kazok, and Kazok made a motion to throw X…But never did.

"HA!" Kazok laughed triumphantly.

He promptly received a blast of plasma in the face, and another in his arm that jarred X loose. Wounded and disoriented, he dropped X and was thrown backwards by the impact of a wounded Dash Blade crashing into him.

Zero lowered his left arm and dashed over to X, snatching him and dragging him back to his side of the makeshift arena.

Kazok stumbled to his feet, half of his face in dire need of reconstruction from the plasma bolt. He hissed at Zero.

"Bastard…I thought you used a beam saber."

"Lying sonofabitch." Zero shot back. "I do…but that doesn't mean I just lost my Buster permanently."

Kazok picked up the wounded Dash Blade and warped out…

Leaving Zero to tend to a very battered X.

He lay the wounded soldier down flat and shook his shoulder.

"X…Come on, X…" Zero whispered, his face showing concern since the first moment he arrived at Karashita.

The Blue Bomber of 21XX weakly opened his eyes, the lids fluttering a few times as he tried to stay awake.

"Zero…The Armors…" His eyes slipped shut, and he whispered his last word, "Gone…"

X slipped into stasis, leaving an embittered and wounded Zero to pick up his friend and dial in his comm to the MHHQ.

"Commander Zero here. Tell the local authorities they can start cleaning up in Karashita. The Mavericks are gone."

"I take it the mission was a success then?" Came the reply. Zero glared at the voice…Signas.

Instead of replying, he simply charged up his warp generator and shot out, Mega Man X in tow.

Signas had only finished his question three seconds ago…And then a beam of red and blue light shot down from above.

All in the War Room jumped out of their seats to see a bedraggled and scarred Zero holding a far worse Mega Man X on his shoulder.

"Oh, please no…" Bastion whispered in shock. Zero shut his eyes for a moment, unable to look at a single pained and stunned face in the room. But the rage and desperation inside him boiled up…

X…You Goddamned idiot, what the Hell were you thinking, going off alone…

He opened his murderous eyes and turned to the stunned Signas, pointing a bloodied gloved finger at the GDC representative.

"His blood is on your hands, you monster…"

"Is he dead?" Signas asked, slightly fazed by Zero's comment. The Crimson Hunter shut his eyes and breathed deep for a long moment, then looked at him with every inch of anger he could muster…which wasn't hard.

"Signas, if X had died out there today…you would be nothing but atoms. Because I WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU."

Zero left it at that and trudged out of the room, one leg limping behind the other as he pushed out of the sliding hydraulic doors and into the hallways that inevitably led to Hazil and the Medical Bay…the place that both he and X needed to be now.

Signas quietly sat back in the command chair and put his chin on his folded hands, thinking.

A part of him wanted to issue an order for them all to get back to work and stop looking at him in anger and disgust…

But he knew all too damn well it was an order they'd blatantly refuse. The cracks in the Maverick Hunter HQ were showing…and they all came from the spike that marked his arrival.