MEGA MAN X: END OF A DREAM
By Erico
CHAPTER ONE: A DAY OF RECKONING
X and Zero were the heads of the force known as Maverick Hunter Headquarters. They had attained that position after their battle skills and grace under pressure were proven in the first and second conflict with Sigma. All there respected them, but at the same time feared them.
The building filled with members during tense Maverick uprisings now stood empty. Only Dr. Cain, X and Zero remained, for they had nothing to return to. All they held dear had been lost, and now this calling was all they had left. X sat in his chair, padded with synthetic leather and rescanned himself with the diagnostic program installed in every computer at the facility. X was the first advanced robot created, by Doctor Thomas Light, the renowned genius whose creations had helped change the world forever. Just then Doctor Cain walked in, hobbling on his wooden crutch. He could have gotten a far nicer one made of durable metals, but Doctor Cain felt that his old cane which he had used to uncover the remains of Light's lab should be kept in use as long as possible.
"Evening, X." he peered over X's shoulders and shook his head. "That's the fourth one you've run today. Trust me, X. You're not infected." But even the sage words of his discoverer could not qualm the storm that rumbled within X's tormented mind.
"You keep saying that. I keep saying that, sir. But no matter how many times I hear it, I don't believe it." X quickly shut off the program and accessed his database on Mega Man. Cain realized X was feeling troubled, and so he changed the subject.
"I see you have quite a collection of data on your predecessor there. I was just a boy when Mega Man was fighting Wily's creations. My, he was short, but he was the best hope we had. Light was a genius, no doubt about it. After all, he created you, didn't he?" Cain smiled warmly and patted X on the back.
X felt better, for Dr. Cain had always been a sort of surrogate father to him. X had grown up not knowing a thing about himself, only that Dr. Light had made him and Dr. Cain found him.
"Yes. I always wondered what became of him. I would have liked to have a family…" X's voice trailed off as he became saddened at the realization he had made. Cain put his cane up and gave X his helmet back, which lay carelessly tossed on the desk.
"I know you must feel abandoned, X. But you should know by now that Zero and I are your family. Or as close as one can be." Cain chuckled, hoping to lighten X up a bit. It worked, and then X smiled. X had always had the ability to flash a smile that no other reploid could match. Probably because X was originally designed not as a war machine, but a simple robot representation of a fourteen year old boy. Carefully X reattached his helmet, covering the jet black mane that waved beneath.
"Come on, X. Zero is in the rec room, and I think he might enjoy a joint training session." And so X and Cain left the cold interior of the control room, walking towards the rec room at the other end of the building.