Zero Alpha

Mission Nine: Strength

Loki stood on the edge of Alpha's compound as he watched the dust blow across the lands. The dust that came from the explosion he had known Zero to be in the center of. He knew that only one of them would defeat Alpha, but he had thought Zero would at least make it to the X copy. Loki knew the job that fell onto his shoulders now. He was the only one left to kill Alpha, the reploid who is too powerful to be left alive.

Loki came to the enterance to the base and discaded the poncho he had worn for travel; it would only hinder him in battle. His armour a dark black with blotches of dirt left on it. His only other colour was orange that appeared on his lower torso and other random parts. He was quite similar to Zero in design. The same man made him after all.

"It's you?"

Loki turned to Alpha. Alpha remained calm even in the prescence of his foe. "You will have to die. You must know that."

"I will die, but not today, and most assuredly not by your hands." Alpha spat back. "I suppose I will have to fight you."

"Of course."

"I know you. I woke you from your capsule." Alpha commented. "I know your past."

"My past?" Loki asked with intrigue. He knew nothing of that. He knows not what he was once. Would he really want to know though? What had he been? If he let Alpha let the truth be known would he be any better off? No, his past was his past now. He can't waver. "You face me now. That information is useless."

"That is why i let you shadow me for the time."

"You knew?" Loki gasped. "You knew I had spied on you and saw every move you made?"

"You cannot trick these superior sensors of mine."

Loki prepared his buster by withdrawing his hand inward. "We'll see who is the superior model."

"I will meet with you when you are ready." Alpha entered his base.

Loki needed no time. He rushed after the copy and the two were soon within a large underground arena. A huge warehouse of sorts that stored nothing. Plenty of room for a fight between two high class reploids.

Wasting no time Loki fired off consecutive rounds of his buster missing Alpha who effortlessly dodged every attack. Loki moved from Alpha's own attacks, but he had put his all into dodging. Alpha's speed was far above Lokis' own. Alpha had all the best of traits in reploids with combat capabilities. He had strength, endurance, speed, and mind. Loki could rely only on hsi endurance and strength. It was what kept him alive this long. His will to survive and become the best has never left him.

Loki had felt that his eternal enemy was Alpha. Not just Alpha though. Every time he saw any X he only wanted to destroy them. Loki wanted every X dead. If he could he knew he could rest in peace. That he could finally say he was strongest.

"You have no motivation!" Alpha shouted as he was able to blow apart the top of the helmet Loki wore.

Loki fell to the ground sprawling out on the cold floor. He spit blood to the ground and stood slowly. "I will become the strongest reploid ever! I will be the strongest! Only you stand in my way! You always have, Mega Man!"

"Heh, so you remember now." Alpha chortled. "You remember who you are?"

"I can remember it." Loki concentrated on that thought. On who he was. "My name, My name is Bass. I will destroy Mega Man, and in turn Alpha, I will also kill you."

"Such a stupid reason behind your actions." Alpha ventured with a scoff. "How pathetic."

"Die!" Before he could fire a round a hole was blasted through his chest by Alpha's buster.

"Fool." A speck of rock fell on the copy's shoulder. He looked up in wonder as the ceiling caved in.

The rubble of the roof dispersed across the ground and the dust settled. "Alpha!" Zero stood with no noticeable injuries inbetween the two combatants.

"So you still live Zero?" Alpha questioned. "Geiger was a waste. All four were. They were worthless to me and our cause."

"How can you say that about them?" Zero shouted. "They all were loyal to you! Sylph, he was devoted to you like a son. He died for you."

"That boy was annoying. His speed was the only thing that kept me from killing him." Alpha mentioned. "You were faster, so he is worthless."

Zero clenched a fist in fury. "Undine felt she owed you. She never did. She only wanted to not be killed."

"She was right to think such. I always knew she would fail. I sent her to die because I felt no need to dirty my hands." Alpha returned. "She could have at least slowed you down, but she failed that too. She was nothing worth keeping."

"You sent her to fight so she would die?" Zero fumed. "And Phoenix too, he was loyal."

"His cackle annoyed me. I'm glad he's no longer here."

"Geiger. He was your devoted henchman. He gave his life just to kill me. I'm guessing he held nothing in regards to your guilt."

"I have no guilt." Alpha stepped back. "How did you get out from Geiger? His final exploding bear hug should have killed you."

"The tunnel. There was a tunnel he came up from earlier. It connects to one just above us now." Zero explained. "At the last second I was able to break free with a headbutt and that is where I knew to go."

"You realize that even though you have fought hard battles. That you have made it this many miles." Alpha paused with a smrik. "You will die here. Even Bass has fallen. He was your equal and it was an easy kill."

"I have not died." Bass stood slowly gripping at his side that no longer was there. "Zero, it looks like I was right."

"Loki?"

"Only one of us will make it to Alpha."

"Shut up. Hang in there and I'll get us both out of here." Zero commented.

"I told you that we were not equal."

Zero nodded. "You said, I was the stronger of us."

"And you are. You were made to be stronger than me. To be better than me." Loki looked to the floor with blurring vision. "I was a failure. I was. You were the one who was to be my better."

"Loki, you know your past now?" Zero ventured.

"Yeah, I do." Loki fell to his knees. "It doesn't matter who I am or was now. I'm nothing now."

"You said I was created to be your better. What do you mean by that?" Zero felt that maybe his true memory could return to him. He was with X 102 years ago, but he knows there must have been something before that. What was he before a hunter?

"Zero, you-" Before the words finished the head of Bass was blown into threes.

Alpha rested his smoking buster as Bass collapsed to the floor in a puddle. "Shut up you relic."

Bass looked to Zero with all his leftover power. "You are not strong, yet."

"What?"

"You…you need to…to…to…becom…become stronger." Bass sputerred and fell into death. His body no longer functioned.

Zero stared at him as if his glare would make the reploid stand and say, 'just kidding'. That would not happen though. He had only one path now. One choice. One enemy. One future. "Alpha, no more of X shall come to this time that is not X himself! You're evil desires must be stopped. You can never be half the X the real X was. You can never be as strong as the one you're modelled for!"

"If that were only true."

"What?"

"I'm the prototype copy if you remember. There was not enough data to successfully create another X at my time." Alpha displayed himself. "Look familiar Zero?"

"You don't mean,"

"The parts of X I have not are replaced by the data that Ciel had on you. You are like my father in a way Zero. You helped make me."

No anger could match the red hero's now. he had seen all of his henchmen give their lives freely for Alpha. They were dead and he cared not. He saw Loki die, and he knew of the people he had hurt in the past. He was not just X now. He was a part of him. His life led to Alpha's creation. His only choice now was to kill Alpha. He had no other alternative this time. He had nothing left to hold onto. All he had was the stretch of desert to return to. That was all. He would put his all into one punch as he would every one after until Alpha fell. Every buster shot, and sword swing all went to Alpha. That was the only option left for the legendary red hero of lore.