-=CHAPTER ONE – MEGA MAN ZERO=-

"DIE YOU IMPUDENT LITTLE WHELP!" With a howling snarl, the gargantuan reploid raked his mighty clawed hand across the ground. The battle had gone on long enough in his mind; in the past ten minutes since he had entered his fortress, this blond haired pest had done nothing short of undermine and destroy all of his precious work that had taken weeks to arrange and bring together. It was time for the small to one pay for his insolence with blood!

Unfortunately that just wasn't gonna happen.

Nimbly back flipping over the mammoth sized wolf's attack with ease and grace, the crimson helmeted hero let out a backward spinning slash, deflecting away the sparked debris careening towards him from the wolf's anger driven rage educed attack. This isn't even a fair fight... Just an ego driven, overgrown reploid who thinks because he's bigger then most can do whatever he wants...

It had been only under a half hour ago that the mission had been presented to him. A rogue Neo Arcadian general under the name of Snapgraw Wolf had seized control of one of the OmniCity's weapon depots and was making the usual foolhardy and arrogant demands: turn over the city to him or else destruction and calamity would befall all who defied him. It was a speech the sapphire eyed battler had heard all too many times in his life. Agreeing to accept the mission, he had set off to the floating fortress of the Arcadian depot. Utilizing the upgraded Zet-Sabers given to him by the resistance's head scientist Ceraveau, the determined protector of peace waged a one man war against hundreds of lethal attack drones. Leaving nothing but a carved path of destruction and smoldering debris in his wake, he pushed further and closer to the center of the depot to where his true goal lay in wait.

Landing with the grace of a tiger, the warrior rocketed forward on the speed of his one-of-a-kind DASH Boots; when the second mighty mitt of the tall wolf had crashed into the floor, all that remained was the cloud of dust and spinning flame from his speedy wake. "ARGH!!!! STAND STILL!!!" Leaping over the oncoming follow up whiplash of the wolf's mighty tail, another series of spinning cyan hued saber slashes graced the backside of the slow and stupid "General."

"That's for calling me a whelp..." This battle had angered him from the moment he'd been briefed. It wasn't so much this overgrown oaf had taken it upon himself to endanger the lives of everyone who lived in Neo Arcadia, the Resistance Plateau, and all the neighboring satellite cities; but that he had viciously slaughtered everyone who had been unfortunate enough to be on duty inside the depot when it was attacked.

With this fighter, killing the innocent was a line you just did not cross.

Reaching onto his magnetic belt holster, the blond warrior snapped together his twin Zet-Sabers Heaven and Hell. With a connective "click", the two weapons seamlessly merged into a silvery meter long hilt. Bringing the joined weapon down to his side, he twisted his palms over the gripped sections. I really don't like people who think they're better then others! With a sparkling crackle and his, two shimmering elongated swords of pure clear blue energen sprang forth from the opposite tips of the gripped weapon.

All connections confirmed and go! Double Side Blade Retribution activated.

A new burning drive within his soul, the red warrior leaped high into the air with the blade poised above his head. Gritting his teeth as he spun the three meter long weapon above his frame, he fell back to the ground with the precision tuned focusers of the new weapon repeatedly cutting and slashing through Snapgraw's thick hide. As he landed poised once more on the hard and unforgiving ground of the smashed war room, he could feel the streams of Recirculator fluid spewing forth from the opened wounds and cascading over his shoulders and back. Kicking off of the ground, the hero preformed another nimble back flip and deftly dodged a twin would-be crushing blow from the wolf's mammoth hands.

Landing on the far side of the battle wrecked room, the warrior spun the shimmering blade and then lowered himself into a crouching stance with the blade rested behind his back. "Next move... you die...."

Snapgraw coughed up a thick pool of recirculator fluid and struggled to control the pitch of his voice box within his throat. "i... will... kill... YOU!!!"

Howling in rage and anger, the giant alaskian reploid slammed his fists into the floor, digging his claws into the ground and straighting out his back. With a feral growl and a flaming red glare in his eyes, Snapgraw's chest began to shake and glow as he changed up his final all or nothing attack. Letting out a deep sigh to calm his body and closing his eyes, the hero brought the Retribution out in front of him and prepared himself to end this pointless fight.

"No one has succeeded yet... I doubt you will be the first!" With a quick flash of ionized air from his boots, the warrior rocketed forward once more, his eyes open and glowing with the flame of justice for all those who had died at the hands of this fiend.

Danger! Danger! Detection of highly compressed hydrogen atoms forming inside of target. Suggest immediate evasive maneuvers!

Sorry Navi, the time of safety and subtlety is over. I'm going to end this fight here and now! Bringing the double sided sword out in front of him, the warrior bent down lower and put even more energy into the force of his DASH greaves.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!" Opening his gaping maw of teeth and fangs, a clear blue and volatile ball of energy quickly formed, growing larger and larger as each second passed. With a hiss and snarl, the wounded sky blue and white wolf snapped his jaw shut, forcing the ball of energy into a mammoth stream of raw destructive power focused right at his would be slayer. Crossing his legs over each other, the fighter's body whipped into a tight spiral spin as he flew toward the energized ball of hydrogen and free floating ions. With a stern look and eyes roaring with fire and justice, he stared straight into the eyes of Snapgraw and saw staring back at him not the menacing face of a tyrant, but that of a scared little weakling who realized the time of his death was at hand.

"Give my regards to Lucifer!" Activating the Fire Chip within his gauntlets, the twin blades erupted in a blaze of flame and heat, transforming him into a whirling drill of destruction. As the two forces met, the so called LUNAR BEAM was easily deflected away, cutting a clear path into the crest of Snapgraw's chest where his hydrogen compressor lay. With nothing more then a garbled curse to his soul escaping from the wolf's "blood" soaked lips, the twin twirling fiery blades of the Retribution tore into the core of his hydrogen compressor and main fusion reactor. As the two volatile forces met, time seemed to slow for the brave hero. Within that slowed moment of existence, a voice from the recesses of his mind broke through to the chaos of the world and made itself known:

"... if... if I become a Maverick, you have to take care of me... Promise me... "

The warrior's hardened eyes widened in shock, but then softened in somber acknowledgment as he remembered where he had heard that phrase so long ago.

X...

Concussion waves from the torrent blast of spinning fire and plasma tore through the building. Streaming outward through every open vent and port, the floating fortress seemed to shake from the cataclysmic end of the fight. A spinning typhoon of flame and heat reached up into the upper levels of the battle room; shattering and melting away the fragile skylight above, releasing the last remnants of the battle to the skies above. As the room lay engulfed in flames and charred beyond all recognition, one lone figure remained standing in the middle of it all. Deactivating the cyan blades of the Retribution, the warrior unclipped the Heaven and Hell and tucked them back into their holsters at his side.

Some would say a hundred years ago that he died bringing about the end to some great war... even in the recesses of his mind he couldn't remember, it was a part of his past that had still yet to return to him... As his hands hung loosely at his side, he scanned over the remains of the scorched battlefield; his opponent's carcase no where to be seen, engulfed and atomized in the containment failure of his own energy core. A stupid fool.... a stupid Maverick... Will it never be over...? Emerging from the shadows of the fight, a small glowing energy pixie floated near to the warrior and sat on his shoulder.

Mission Complete. All threats Neutralized. Analyzing available data from Snapgraw Wolf..... New Technique synthesized: Defense Shield EX Beam Reflection. With this you should be able to push back highly compressed energy attacks with ease using the Defense Shield modification of your plasma discs....? The small Cyber ELF on his shoulder stood up and looked at her "legendary" partner. The crimson vested champion reached behind his head and unclipped the fastener of his notorious "devil horned" helmet as Ciel would call it; slowly taking it off of his head and letting his matted down long blond hair bask in the warm rays of sunlight cascading down from the shattered skylight above. Are you ok Zero...?

Letting his head drop back down, he looked to his personal assistant and spotter who stood there on his shoulder looking back at him. Ciel had given "her" to him as a good luck charm on his last mission to find new a new energen vein located in the deepest layers of New Africa a couple months ago. Since then, the two had always looked out for each other: Navi would stay back and give him tips on his foe and he would use that to help win the fight.

"Yeah, I'm fine... I was just wondering how many more chances I'll get to look at those azure skies..." Shaking his head of the random thoughts plaguing him, Zero tapped the crystal on his helmet and teleported it into his virtual storage space. "Let's go home."