MEGA MAN X: END OF A DREAM
By Erico
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: RETURN TO DESPAIR
X had been resting and talking with Cossack for some time. The startling revelations revealed in Light's last capsule were mind-numbing, leaving X with a hollow sensation. Everything he had thought to believe in was false, and now when he had asked for the truth, he had not fully understood the depths of the pain it would bring him.
If Zero was created by Wily, then that explained the horrifying images that had driven him into a frenzy, the images of his dark master telling Zero to destroy the only true friend he had…Mega Man X.
And from what X had picked up here and there when the maverick generals were close to death, Zero was being forced back into the shadowy depths he was born into, the dark past that Wily had forced him to be born into. X could only wonder how Bastion was doing. Even if the young lad had promise, the challenges X had left behind for him were many and daunting.
"X…X!!! Do you hear me?" X's head bounced back up from its hanging position and focused on Cossack, a look of concern on his face. "What were you doing, X? You lost all connection with us for a second there." X smiled.
"It's nothing. When I think or contemplate deeply, that is what happens." Cossack couldn't help but grin.
"That's just what Light was like. Mega just kinda blinked a lot. But you…you just go out on a blink! So, what are you going to do now?" X shrugged his shoulders and his smile faded.
"The same thing I've always done, Pinky. Try to save the world." Cossack looked at X with a confused stare, and X shrugged.
"It's from an old TV show." Cossack blinked, then smiled.
"Ah, I see. Ha! That's funny!" Just then, X's comm went haywire. X clicked the push-button on his X-Buster bracelet, and the audio transmission came on.
"ZKZ….der X, do you readZKZ…erick Hunter HeadquartersZKZ…eed assistance immediately." X sighed.
"That would by my posse. Dr. Cossack, I loved talking to you. Could I return later?" Cossack smiled.
"Any creation of Light's is always welcome. I'm always here if you want to know more. You just come back alive." X smiled, then shut his eyes as his warp signal faded him into the bright beams of blue and white light.
X warped into Maverick HHQ, and he was surrounded by the usual hustle and bustle. It was to be expected, otherwise they wouldn't have called him. He walked into Cain's office, where an assembly had taken form. Bastion, Hazil, some crazy looking green reploid, and the good doctor himself. Cain looked up.
"Well, I'm glad to see that you didn't die on your quest. Did you find your answers?" X nodded.
"Not all of them were happy ones. I found out some new info on Zero…"
"Such as he's a Maverick?" Cain's reply was succint and unfeeling, like a sledgehammer blow without warning or without reason. X's face dropped.
"How much have I missed here?" the green reploid coughed and pumped his X-Buster.
"Plenty, pal. So sit down and listen up." X frowned at the disrespective hunter, but Bastion waved his hand.
"You'll have to forgive him. He may be rude, but he's a hell of a fighter. Goes by Wycost. Wycost, you had better watch your mouth. This is Mega Man X, the greatest hunter." Wycost blinked, then sat down and didn't look up. X smirked. Newbies always were kind of cocky until they saw who was better than them.
"Now that we are all introduced, let's begin." Cain spoke sharply and fiercely. Something had set him off. And X wagered it probably had something do with Zero, from his mind-blowing announcement. Cain grumbled and picked up his stick.
"Two days ago, late that night, Zero warped back to us in the presence of Wycost here. Apparently, Wycost helped Zero escape his imprisonment. As was natural protocol, both Zero and Wycost received full medical checkups. Wycost seemed normal, just a bit aggravated. He is now a part of the 21st Maverick Hunter Unit, commanded by Bastion. But our scans showed a residual amount of maverick virogens in Zero's systems. We therefore assumed him to be a danger. He was confined to quarters until a decision could be made, but he broke out. And when he left, he took weapons, Sub-Tanks, an energy shield….and the maverick prisoner, Fluid Ferret." X's blood chilled. Not only had his close friend and partner betrayed the cause, but now he was returning to his ways, apparently brought on by his re-infection.
"Wait a minute! If Zero was infected with the virus…why should we blame him for that? That's like getting a kid addicted to stims, and then punishing him for it. Cain, what you did was WRONG." X spoke forcefully, and his voice was choked up with emotions. His trusted mentor had done something that upset him. "Zero's been with us since the beginning!" Cain stood up, his face calm.
"X, protocols are protocols. Even you are subject to them. And Zero was no different." X wouldn't let up, for something inside of him was breaking apart.
"Zero is not a threat! And for you to think he is is ludicrous!" Cain sighed.
"X, sit down. I can confine you to quarters, too." X could not believe his ears, for now even Doctor Cain was turning against him. But X needed to go save Zero before anyone else destroyed him. To any other person, he was a threat. But to X…Zero was a friend who needed to be protected. He sat down. He would let Cain win this fight, for he carried Dr. Light's anti-virus in his chest compartment.
And that was what stood between Zero and death. One friend in a sea of enemies.
Zero stomped down the dingy tunnel, drips of water and squeaking rats providing him with the perfect atmosphere.
"Hey, stop pushing so hard!" Fluid Ferret complained. His hands were bound, and he had limited use of his legs. Zero had taken him from the prison cell for one reason; to lead him back to the Maverick Base. Zero had thought it over long and hard. X was his only friend at Maverick HHQ, and he was a threat to X. He would claim revenge for what Sigma and the others had done to him, and he would do it the only way he knew how.
He would annihilate them.
"I don't give a damn about you, maverick. Just keep walking and you live. Now which way do we turn?" Fluid Ferret chattered his teeth. He would kill this hunter if he got his hands free. But he couldn't. Still…he could set a trap. There was a few coming up. Sigma had taken special care to set them in case of a surprise attack.
But Zero wasn't thinking about what Fluid Ferret might do. He was wondering what the Maverick Hunters would do to him, now that he was a threat. Would they shut him down, turn him into a statue to sit in a museum? Would they dismantle him, destroy him forever? The latter option was more likely. Now that everyone knew his secret, Zero was on the hit list. Zero smiled. Even if he was going to die…he would go down fighting. Just like he had always done, Zero would now fight. Fight as much as he could.
Fluid Ferret saw his chance as Zero's eyes glazed over. Ferret smirked. Even the greatest of the Hunters could not maintain the sharpness that the maverick forces held. He turned his head around, until he saw a brick that lay just out of alignment with the wall. Surreptitiously, he walked by it, pushing it in as if he was walking against the wall from fatigue. When that happened…
All hell broke loose.
The klaxons wailed, and suddenly every trap and defensive measure installed in the mazelike complex turned on. Zero dropped to reality, to face disaster. Turn Cannons, enshrouded by cloaking devices came online and morphed into view, firing their plasma rounds rapidly. Then a salvo of Spikys emerged from another subterranean tunnel and rolled towards Zero. Fluid Ferret jumped to the wall, dodging the onslaught. But Zero was not so lucky. He turned his beam saber on, its red glow illuminating the passageway. Zero would have preferred his Z-Saber, but that was now back in Sigma's clutches. Even with everything that was being thrown at him, Zero laughed loudly and uncontrollably.
Satan would have to wait a little longer for his next club member.
"Yeech!" X muttered as a grimy drop of polluted water dropped from the tunnel roof. Wycost and Bastion were leading the three of them into the heart of the maverick base for the one objective Cain had given them; crush all resistance. Wycost suddenly stopped and sniffed the air, and his face turned dark.
"We're not far. And worse, someone's activated the security defenses. Probably that fool Zero." X couldn't stop but wonder something sinister about Wycost. Even with his intense hatred for mavericks, why would he know so much?
"Wycost, forgive me for asking, but why is this place so familiar to you?" X queried. Wycost turned around, then shifted his gaze.
"It's best if we wait a while. The defense system needs to calm down a bit. And why do you think this is familiar, X? You escape from some place, you don't forget the route." X thought it over. The answer made sense, and so did Wycost's reccomendation. X had always said avoid injury and damage if possible. Recklessness got people…and reploids…killed off. And unnecessary risks were something X avoided.
X tried to sit down, but he slipped in the water, crashing to his knees with a very disgruntled look on his face.
"Why is it so frickin dark in here?" X whined. Wycost grunted.
"It's not something that's needed. Mavericks tend to hide themselves away anymore. I mean, you and Zero and the other hunters have dealt them blow after blow. That's why they are in hiding. And you want to know why they were torturing Zero, hoping to turn him into a maverick?" X blinked his eyes, wiping away the tears. He hated to hear the words Zero and maverick in the same sentence. It was like condemning him, and that was something X could never do. Even if Zero had destroyed his entire family in the past, it was the Maverick Virus that made him do it, and it was not the true Zero, the lovable if somewhat aggressive red hunter that put melted marshmallows in his helmet every so often.
"Why?"
Wycost lowered his voice and looked at X, dead serious. "Because Zero is the strongest ever built. With the Maverick Virus and him put together, he could be unstoppable, far better than any maverick Sigma's forces could produce." X could only reach one conclusion for why Wycost knew so much about everything.
"Were you a prisoner of the mavericks, like Zero?" Wycost coughed for a moment, then let a small sad smile cross his lips. It was ironic how X had phrased the question, for Wycost had been a prisoner…a prisoner of the Virus's hollow and inhuman actions.
"Yes, you could say that." X noted that Bastion shifted his eyes nervously, as if looking for an escape from the conversation. X frowned, and all his suspicions finally came to light in the dark tunnel.
"All right. The both of you are hiding something from me. And right now, this mission is too important to mess up. That relies on trust. And trust relies on truth. SO TELL ME THE TRUTH. What are you two hiding from me?" Bastion grunted and looked at Wycost, who lifted his hands in a sign of defeat. Bastion jerked his thumb at Wycost.
"Our buddy Buster boy here used to BE a maverick. That's why he knows so much." X was once again hit by a monster of a psycho blow. He picked himself up and shook his head.
"Excuse my reaction. I've had a LOT of these moments in a very short time. So if Wycost was a maverick, how come it didn't show up in the medical scans?" Wycost checked his X-Buster for any scouring, then grumbled a response.
"I destroyed it." X blinked.
"May I ask how?"
"Internal deletion. Not easy to do. Fought the bugger for some time."
"Scientists have said the maverick virus was too strong too overcome!"
"Well, then they were weak. And I had a job to do…to get revenge." Bastion nodded.
"The boy's got dedication and skills to boot. What he doesn't have is a check for that ego." Wycost looked at him in a half embarassed grin.
"You only THINK that. Personally, I know X here is stronger than me. Any reploid can resist the virus…they just need something to have hope for. The maverick virus exists because of one's will becoming weak. Hope gives a reploid something to go on for. I had hope…hope that I could take revenge for what the mavericks did to me and my pals. While you were off popping shots with that maverick general Narhwal, I was being turned into a maverick drone soldier. Trust me, it's not a pleasant experience." X smiled and gave Wycost a humongous bearhug.
"Err…X. Listen up pal. I respect you and all, but I'm not exactly a touchy-feely person. Let go of me." X released Wycost instantly, but his smile didn't fade.
"Wycost, you have just opened a doorway of opportunity for me. Now, Zero can stop himself from falling into oblivion. With your experience on internal virus deletion, Zero will come out of this maverick free for life. And Cain can go off and get rid of that turd riding up his pants." Bastion laughed.
"Sometimes, X. Sometimes even you can be a good reploid." Wycost looked up.
"The defenses have slowed. Let's get going. Most likely, your pal Zero has run into trouble with a capital SIGMA."
The defense had not been turned off; they had been obliterated. Zero's incredible anger had destroyed the threat, but in the heat of battle Fluid Ferret had escaped from him. Zero could only brush out the smoldering pieces of maverick robots from his synthhair, and turn off his saber.
"Now they know I'm coming." Zero looked down at his hands for a moment. Covered in grease and robotic fluids, in the dark light they looked ever so much as they were covered in blood.
Perhaps they were. If so, then Zero smiled at himself. Wily's mission for him was coming ever more and more clearer to him; his dreams and thoughts turning from fantasy to reality. Zero would destroy everything that stood against him.
Of course, if he was not following Wily's will then he was doing suicide.
"But how can that be, my friend?" Zero chuckled to himself. "You would have been shut down anyways." If Zero could have, he would have turned his saber on and jammed it through his body, letting the reploid blood spill from his wounds as he faded from the mortal plain. But suicide was not an option for him yet. Zero would have his revenge on Sigma and the mavericks this day.
And if he didn't, he would die trying.
"So what are you Zero…maverick…or Maverick Hunter?" Zero's muddled mind could not distinguish between the two anymore. If he had been in his right mind, he would have felt the maverick infection creeping from dormancy, trying to place itself. And it was doing its job quite well, as a virus does. Zero had lost all touch with himself. Now he was not a person, a figure in life. He was a weapon, a weapon that did not care if it died…a weapon that would fight to the last breath.
Even if Zero hadn't realized it, what his suicide run was doing was completing both tasks given to him. As a Hunter he would eliminate the maverick threat.
And as Wily's destructor, he would obliterate everything in his path.
"X, what were you doing all the time you were gone?" Bastion asked as they proceeded down the hall. It was barely a whisper in which he spoke, for they didn't want to trip off any alarms. But it was loud enough for X's delicate hearing to pick up.
"Looking for answers. I had to travel to Russia to do it, but I made it there and back." X smiled. Now he had a link to his past…a true home. X wasn't wearing one of his armor sets, because they were all recharging. But he had two Sub-Tanks and eight Heart Tanks, so he was set pretty well anyway. And even Bastion had left his Powerstorm Pack behind at HQ, for the cramped tunnels would only hinder him if he was wearing the suit.
"Russia? Who lives there?" X turned to face Bastion, a true hunter with an attitude that made it easy for him to make friends.
"Dr. Cossack, an old friend and compatriot of Dr. Light. You might call him my uncle." Bastion smiled. Now even X, the loneliest Hunter had a family at last.
"I'm glad to hear that, X. I myself am from the Arabian Collective." Bastion boasted, pounding his chest. "The coloring gives it away, right?" X laughed at Bastion, the incredible humorist with a Hunter's calling.
"You two speak too much." Wycost grumbled as he rounded the corner and squeezed off a shot at a remaining Spiky. Bastion coughed and turned to Wycost.
"And where would you originate from, my Buster subordinate?" Wycost turned around and activated one of his side weapons, a soft glow that emerged from his cannon, illuminating the ever darkening interior.
"This is my newest addition. Thank Strobe Stallion for this oddity. I named it the Strobe Flash." X scoffed.
"Not very poetic." Bastion flicked his saber on, and the purple blade even further lit the dank sewers.
"X, that's his choice. And Wycost, you never told us where your home is." Wycost shook his head and began to walk down the hall, taking the tiny beacon of light with him. And as he walked, X and Bastion could barely make out what he said.
"I have no home."
Sigma plodded across the floor nervously. Even if he held the strongest version of the Maverick Virus, he had long ago found a way to control it so he could think like a normal reploid. But still, its goals remained his. Nobody had reported in, and the alarms had gone off just mere minutes ago, only to be silenced not by the cease fire command, but instead a more chilling destruction of the system itself. Someone was coming….but who? Sigma could only find out one way…
"Zero…Zero, where are you?" Sigma whispered inside his head, speaking telepathically with his Hunter quarry. But the answer he received only further surprised him.
"Right here, you low-down oil suckin pompous excuse for an Irregular Hunter!" Sigma's head swung in a wild arc until it faced the uppermost point of the main chamber. There, standing in a pipe was Zero, a glowing red beam saber in his hand, and a look of cold ruthlessness in his eye. Sigma knew he was not under the Virus's influence…yet. But he was close…very close.
Everyone else in the chamber sprung to life, snarling and jumping up and down. Those who carried Busters started to fire them off in quick order, their maverick protocols taking control. But Zero swung his saber with years of experience and blocked every single one, the small bursts of superheated gas bouncing around the room, striking mavericks, consoles, viewscreens and processors. Very soon, small explosions accompanied by showers of sparks filled the room. The technological portion of the maverick threat had been eliminated. But Zero screamed with rage and jumped down from his high perch, activating his Hyouretsuzan. One unlucky maverick found himself dead within an instant as the ice crept through his systems and severed his major blood vessels. But Zero leapt off the corpse and sped towards another cluster, who kept charging him even with death's hand on their shoulder. With a mighty swipe of his Shippuga, Zero destroyed all of them without even pausing to blink. It went on this way for a very brief twenty seconds, until at last every maverick drone had been destoryed. Reploid blood, limbs and body parts filled the massive room, enshrouding it in a powerful stench of overheated Fusion Generators and malfunctioning servos. Then Zero paused and looked at his hands; just like in his dream, his visitation from Wily, their white beauty had been strewn astray by tiny rivulets of life fluid.
But Zero had one last challenge in front of him; the powerful Sigma, whose green beam saber now safely returned blistered into view. Zero lifted his red helmeted head and faced Sigma, his own saber still smoking from the burning vital fluids it had brought to the surface.
"So…you truly are a crazed one at last." Sigma mumbled, a sick grin of pleasure covering his mouth. But Zero did not even bother to respond. He couldn't. His mind was now so fuddled, speech had been overridden to maintain his sanity circuits. But Zero could speak telepathically with Sigma, and he did.
"I don't care. I've come to destroy you." Sigma laughed, for now Zero was the one who used their link.
"I see, Zero. I'm afraid you'll have a tough go of it. For you see…the only way to defeat me is to become maverick." Sigma waved his saber in a lazy arc, then flipped it in the air and caught it with the dexterity of a juggler. Zero raised his own saber and his eyes went out of focus. And Sigma knew it had begun. Slowly…piece by piece, Zero was losing himself. And the only thing he had left was his thirst for blood.
That was what drove him now. It wasn't honor or glory, or tickertape parades. It wasn't even for trying to defend his friends against a menacing threat. It wasn't even to save himself. Zero had now become one step closer to Wily's ultimate goal, for now the only reason he fought and killed was just for that. The sick pleasure and idealism of violence, uncaring uncompassionate war and hatred.
And if Sigma could push him the last step of the way…Wily could finally live his days in Purgatory with the knowledge that after everything Light and peacekeeping pacifists everywhere had fought for…everything they had designed, created and strived for in their waning years had failed. It is said that you can never totally destroy evil…you can only change its form.
And Sigma knew his form…the form of the Maverick Virus…would never stop changing.
X, Wycost and Bastion kept running down the halls…the multiple passageways continued on for what seemed like an eternity to them, but Wycost kept on giving them distance figures.
"Not far now…just one more left and we'll be in the main chamber. You'd better get your Buster charging, X." X grunted in response and let his left hand vanish, replaced by his basic blue X-Buster that he had carried with him since the day of his discovery. Although it could only reach 3 levels of power, X usually found it more than enough if he was with others. If he went alone…he brought enough weapons to decimate a country. And all Bastion had to bring was his saber. But all this thinking wore down the time, and then X and his troupe found themselves trying to focus in on the blaring lights. And Wycost could only raise his synth-eyebrows in surprise, for what he saw was a sight few people are witness to. But to X, who had seen it countless times before, his reactions was much different.
"Zero…" X mumbled. Below them stood Zero, his beam saber slammed up Sigma, the blade cutting the maverick leader's life short every moment. Sigma's mouth was open, and his eyes were out of focus.
"Congratulations, Zero…you finally have achieved your maverick self again…" Sigma slumped to his knees, and Zero retracted his saber from the powerful green monster. Sigma had been defeated, and soon he would perish, his vital fluids leaving his body and refusing his circuitry the inladen energy.
"Zero!!! You did it!!!" X laughed. Sigma had not even tried to cover any sign of control chip transfer. That meant that at long last, Sigma would die…and with his death would come the death of the Maverick Virus. But Zero did not turn and give a flashy thumbs up. He didn't even harrumph and turn his back on X.
He turned to face the Blue Bomber, and by doing so revealed himself. Zero's eyes were glazed over, and there was no flash of recognition. Zero just stared at X for a very long period of time, his twin optics whirring into focus.
"Oh my God…" X whispered as he recognized what had happened, and what Zero had become. It was obvious his systems had been declining to this point for some time, with all the torture that he had been put through. And Cain's utter condemnation of the crimson hunter had probably not helped either.
"X…whazzup? Why are you looking so scared?" Bastion asked, his face squinting in concern. X did not turn to face Bastion, he did not let his eyes wander for even a moment. Then, like a whisper in the wind Bastion and Wycost could barely make out X uttering something…his voice was soft and shaky, like a part of his nightmares had come to life and was staring at him.
"Zero…he's finally…gone maverick."
When a reploid goes maverick, there is a very simple response. It doesn't matter if it's attacked anyone. The simple fact is it poses a danger, and to prevent that danger the maverick must be destroyed. In Zero's case, Cain had opted for a vote. The vote had come through, and nobody wanted to fry him. However, Zero's actions indicated that the vote was unnecessary. The alarm had been sounded, and the best Hunters had been chosen to go after him and terminate his life. But even though it was procedure, Cain was worried.
Hazil rolled into the cooled office of Cain and waved one of his hands.
"Hey Doc, you all right?" Cain looked up from his indesk viewscreen and faced Hazil. His face was unkempt, even though it had only been a day since Zero had left. Cain's eyes were also bloodshot, and several empty containers of mocha caff were strewn about. Cain's office was a mess, and that meant only one thing; he was worried.
"Hazil, what time is it?" Hazil activated his clock and checked.
"It's 9 P.M., doc. Looks like you should be getting some rest." Cain scratched his head and nodded.
"I should, but I can't. I'm too worried. Worried about what I've sent Bastion, Wycost and X into. Worried that they…might not come back." Hazil nodded his head and then spoke again.
"It seems to me you're also worried about Zero." Cain swiveled his head at Hazil, his eyes glaring furiously as if he wanted to strike the medical reploid for even mentioning that name. But then his anger flooded away and his weary look returned.
"Perhaps. Perhaps I am. I know I did what I was supposed to…follow procedure." Hazil's arm servo whirred, keeping it limber and oiled. Cain rubbed his eyes and reached for a glass of water. "Even though…even though I knew it wasn't right. Zero spoke the truth. Time and time again he's put his life on the line to serve our cause…and thanks to me, he's gone straight back into Sigma's caves. That's why he ran away. Maybe if he thought he had friends…if he still had a home he could have resisted it." Cain sobbed quietly, and Hazil rolled over beside him.
"Take it easy, doc. You can deal with that tomorrow. Right now, you need sleep. I'm going to give you an anesthetic, all right? It'll help you calm down." Hazil reached into his lower chest compartment and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid. Testing it, he supported Cain's arm, trying to stop it from shaking like the rest of his body. Gingerly, Hazil put the head of the needle on Cain's skin and pierced it. There was only a slight shudder of shock from Cain, and then the whimpering administrator of Maverick HHQ dozed off to sleep, be it fitfully. Hazil picked up Cain and activated the roll-up bed in Cain's wall. With the tender care of a parent, Hazil placed Cain on the bed and set to work cleaning up the mess in his office. When it was all clean, Hazil turned off the lights and rolled out the door, very quietly. His face showed sadness, remorse…pity. Hazil had never had to fight, but he had seen its consequences time and time again. The guilt, the anger, the hatred…Hazil shuddered. One rarely came out of a conflict like the Maverick Uprisings without suffering trauma.
"Good night, doc." Hazil whispered. "I hope you have a good night's sleep. God knows you deserve one." Hazil could almost see what Cain was going through, and it scared him. Then he lifted his head, trying to peer through the ceiling to the skies above. If he had been able to see the stars, he would have seen a brilliant falling object burn brightly with a crimson trail. But Hazil could only do one thing in his position.
"X, come back home safely. And bring Zero with you."
But X was currently having other thoughts as a raving Zero screamed at him and climbed the wall to his position. X turned his head to Bastion and Wycost.
"You two get to safety! It's me he's after!" Bastion shook his head.
"No. We fight together, X!" X gritted his teeth and swore.
"You're a pair of damned fools, you know that?"
"Do you want us to do anything else?" Wycost yelled. X shook his head again.
"Negative! If you start shooting, you'll put all of us in danger of being attacked by him! He has the abilities here. I can only distract him." X's speech was cut short by Zero's swinging saber blade as it hacked away a chunk of metal from their tunnel entrance. X punched Zero in the face and dashed out of the tunnel, falling to the floor and charging his Buster. Zero tracked his target and did the same, using the Hyouretsuzan to try and immobilize X. Wycost and Bastion saw their chance and climbed out of the pipe and onto the walls.
"Why doesn't X shift into one of his armor sets?" Wycost asked. Bastion shook his head.
"I wish he could, but there's too much interference. The warped suit would never make it this far down. Not to mention, he needs to stand still for a moment to make it work. With Zero chasing after him, he can't!" X looked up and frowned as he saw the powerful ice spear plummeting down towards him, with the Maverick Zero holding the hilt of the blade steady. When X hit the ground, he quickly crouched down and punched his dash thrusters as fast as he could. The powerful boosters threw him out of harm's way, and using their power he turned around and fired off his shot. But when Zero's blade hit the ground, the ice particles crumpled into dust on the floor and Zero turned, swinging his saber in a wide arc. The blade turned purple and the power of the Tenkuuha deflected X's shot with ease. X cursed and dashed away from Zero as the maverick gave chase. With a mighty leap, X attached himself to the wall and began to slide down it, firing off a devastating barrage of plasma shots that he hoped would slow down Zero. But the Tenkuuha blocked them all with ease as Zero continued to charge at X.
"Man, this is not working!" X muttered. He was sorely outgunned with his plasma weapon.
"X, try a Master Weapon!" Wycost bellowed, turning his own Strobe Flash on. With a powerful blast, he focused the light until he released it in a mighty sunburst. X and Bastion covered their eyes while Wycost had his shades, but the unknowing Zero got hit with the overloading photons. The maverick screamed in pain as his photon receptors tried to compensate and rebuild themselves. X flashed a thumbs up at the two high above and then selected his weapons array.
"Plasma's no good, the Tenkuuha will block it. But perhaps…I got the Narhwal Cannon, Koala Slash, and Dante's Inferno." With a quick decision, X chose the Narwhal Cannon. Instantly, he shifted into his green coloring and a spike emerged from his cannon, prepared to fire. But X took the continued opportunity of Zero's blindness to try and supercharge the weapon.
"I don't know how long this'll hold up. My Force Helmet could have helped me here!" X muttered, sighing in relief when he was informed the Narwhal Cannon had reached maximum capability, which was further indicated when his spiny quilt covered him.
But just then Zero's optic sensors came back online and he sighted X. X grinned with a superior look as he yelled out,
"Surprise, Zero! I thought we'd start this thing with a BANG!!!" X knew Zero could not understand him, but the comment helped to reassure him. Bracing himself, he activated the weapon. His spiky shield fired off in all directions, each one carrying a powerful explosive charge. The swirling sparklers spiraled around the room until they hit something, and Bastion and Wycost often had to jump or drop to avoid a few. But much of the swarm went off in the direction of Zero.
Zero tried to dodge a few, but then one hit him. Then another...and another…and another. For every hit that Zero took, that stalled him long enough for two more to attack. Zero roared in anger, and when the attack had completed, Zero was severely damaged. But with a simple command of the virus…SURVIVE…one of Zero's Sub-Tanks was drained, and Zero was back in fighting shape. But still, a part of his armor had been blasted off and it gave X an idea.
"Bastion, you see that chink in his armor?" X yelled up. Bastion yelped in response.
"What do you want us to do?"
"Try and get a clear shot! I'll keep him busy, and when he stops for a moment to recharge, you hit him with a stunning blast!" Bastion's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and he flashed a grin. But then he reached behind him and pulled out a cylinder. With a light toss he let it fall down to X. X caught it, and realized it was Bastion's saber.
"X, use it! It may help you. And not like it does me any good up here!" X hit the button on the side of the hilt, and the blade spurted to life, like a snake awoken from hibernation. The coarsing purple blade strobed off a beat every moment, like it had a heartbeat…a life of its own. X could not have armed it any sooner, for Zero came charging at him in full fury. X raised the saber and braced it, just as Zero brought his own saber crashing down upon it. Had X not prepared himself, the blade would have been knocked out of his hand.
"Whew! Close call!" X muttered, but Zero did not wait for a response. With a vicious kick to X's ribs, he continued the fight. X coughed up some reploid blood and ducked, narrowly avoiding a decapitation.
"This guy wants to fight dirty, huh?" X grumbled. He brought up his weapons array again and selected a different attack…the Koala Slash. The green coloring faded away as it was replaced by a drab gray. The X-Buster on his left hand came to life, as it sprouted a pair of sharp claws. Now X had a saber and his Slash claws at his disposal.
And he would make Zero pay for that kick.
Zero gave a quick swipe, which X blocked with his own saber. The mighty blades of energy sizzled and crackled at each other, trying unsuccessfully to eat through their opponent. X gave a sneaky slash of his Koala Slash, but Zero backflipped out of the attack and responded with his Rakuhouha. Zero threw the energy pellet to the ground, and a blob of coarsing energy skimmed across the ground towards X. X jumped to avoid it, but Zero had dashed back underneath him and was leaping up in the air to attack him with the Ryuenjin, a blazing attack that was similar to X's Retribution Dragon Punch.
"Oh, CRAP!!!" X shouted as he felt the blistering heat began to rise up. The blade of Zero's saber turned from red to a mix of fiery colors, until flames spurted out and surrounded the blade in an inferno. "Well, may as well fight FIRE WITH FIRE!!!" X's coloring shifted again, and his claw faded back into the cannon. When X blinked, he had activated the Dante's Inferno, and he was a blistering maroon. He beaded his cannon at Zero and popped off a shot. A blast of oil spurted out, followed closely by a spark which ignited the stream. Instantly, X was firing off a continual flamethrower stream and counteracting Zero's attack. In fact, it did more than simply match furies…it overcame it.
The Dante's Inferno blast pushed past the flaming spire of Zero's saber and went down, licking at the metallic hilt of the blade. Zero drew his hand back in pain and screamed. With a blast from his boots, Zero air-dashed his way out of the Inferno's path. But his beam saber continued to be revaged, until it blew up, the power pack exploded and the plasma in the blade itself only furthering the reaction. X cut the stream from his Buster and curled up to avoid the blast. When he landed, Zero was charging at him again. X growled back and swung his fist in a vicious uppercut. It hit Zero squarely in the jaw and set him back a few paces…which gave X enough time to run around behind the maverick and lock his limbs from action. X had Zero pinned where he stood, and all Zero could do was struggle and scream.
"Bastion!" X screamed. "Fire!!!" Far above, illuminated by Wycost's Strobe Flash, Bastion leveled his aim.
"It's on its way, X!" Bastion exclaimed. "But you gotta hold him steady!" X grunted, for Zero was scrabbling about wildly and preventing an easy trip in that category.
"Just…make it quick!" Bastion squinted his eye, then with a precision hit pulled the trigger. The low powered, but scrambling plasmaburst hit Zero in his weak spot. The effect was instant, as Zero broke free of X and screamed. The two forces in his body were fighting viciously, and there was no controlling the ravaging effects on the battleground. X tried to hold Zero again, but Zero's head jerked and smashed into X's. With a crinkle and a crackle, Zero's and X's crystal coverings shattered, leaving their control chips open to the air. Instantly, like drowning rats trying to escape a ship, tiny black particles jumped out of Zero's broken helmet and into X's. Suddenly, X had a pounding headache, and everything went black….
His vision restored itself moments later, but instead of seeing the dark room he was accustomed to, X saw a more chilling vision; he was surrounded by a blood red color, and ahead of him was a floating mass of wires, coils, and switches, bristling with power and bristling with an intelligence of its own. It spoke to him…and what it said scared him.
"X…at last, we are with you." The clump of mechanicals had a dark voice…a mind that portrayed terrible images. X's mouth went dry, and he felt oppressed by its presence.
"Who…what are you?" his voice seemed so tiny compared to the voice that spoke to him, and X's meekness made him even more frightened.
"We are the Maverick Virus, created by Doctor Wily. We fulfill his vision of a world without hope, without love and without peace. You have been infected, and you too will join our cause X." X could scarcely believe his ears, for what he had fought against…what he now realized Zero had always fought against…was now fighting him.
"No…I am a Hunter…I fight you!" The Virus shuddered, and X could imagine it laughing cruelly.
"Your pitiful attempts are no match. You are now a maverick, and must follow the maverick's three rules…DESTROY…INFECT…SURVIVE…"
"No!" X cried, covering his ears. Those three words they spoke drove down deeper into him than anything else the virus had said. It was trying to infect him…and it was winning.
"DESTROY…INFECT…SURVIVE…"
"No! You can't take me!" X moaned, trying to raise his Buster. But when he saw it, it was nothing more than a hand…the hand of a maverick. Black and sinister…it writhed, trying to spread the black color to all reaches of his blue armor.
"DESTROY…INFECT…SURVIVE…" X was pushed back, and thought came painfully. The virus was winning…X tried to cry but found he could not. How did Wycost fight this thing?
"DESTROY…INFECT…SURVIVE…" X could barely count numbers, for the virus was now so loud in his head thought was almost impossible. He could feel himself dozing off…his systems yielding to the beastly power of the virus in all its fury. But then…something stopped the voice and the droning pulse ceased. The red darkness that had surrounded X vanished, and he could feel a strong hand help him up. X weakly opened his eyes to see…
"Mega Man?!?" The Blue Bomber smiled gently at his younger brother, then gave him a powerful hug. X sobbed and returned the embrace.
"What happened?" X muttered as he sniffed back a tear. Mega Man drew back and gave an answer.
"It still lives, X. I am a ghost…a ghost that gave his life trying to protect the world from its monstrosity. I am speaking to you in a brief instant of this ordeal…like pausing a movie, if you will. I have come to talk to you."
X rubbed the tear from his eye.
"About what?" Mega gestured towards the frozen mass of black cables that hovered menacingly.
"You see that? Wycost destroyed it. And you can as well. You just need to believe that you are stronger than it…and it will yield and be destroyed." X nodded. Mega Man was giving him the keys to open the chest.
"I'm glad to see you have that straight. Now, I must return." Mega's image began to fade, and X was jolted back.
"Mega Man!!! Don't leave me!!!" Mega shook his head.
"It's not that easy. I told you…I'm a ghost. I'm speaking to you from the other side and it's like calling long distance…there is a toll. I know you can do it, X. Just know…that in whatever you do, you don't face it alone. You carry the good wishes of all of us." With a final flash, Mega Man vanished and the darkness restored itself.
"DESTROY…INFECT…SURVIVE…" The voice continued, but now X simply batted it aside like a pitiful fly. A look of power was on his face, even with the tear of sorrow he held for his older brother.
"NO. RESTORE…CURE…PROSPER!!!" X raised his hand, but now it was an X-Buster, more brilliant and blazing in power than any he had ever received in a capsule. With a powerful blast of will and hope…X fought back against the virus. The shot he fired was not plasma…it was something even brighter and more powerful than any destructive force ever known…it was pure hope.
The white blast struck the virus, and began to eat at it. The virus screamed out, but X held no remorse. X had won against the Maverick Virus…and saved Zero.
"X…X…X!!!!" X groaned and shook his head, trying to make his fuzzy and dizzy optics to blink into focus. When they did, he saw Wycost and Bastion standing above him. Wycost smiled.
"By God, he did it. Internal deletion. X, you are strong...." Bastion nodded, but his face held worry.
"X , buddy! We thought you had been infected big time! You scared us."
"Ah...I'm all right. It took a little help." X muttered.
"As it did with me." A foreign voice spoke up, and X's head swiveled. There, standing with his back braced against the wall stood Zero, that cocky smile of superiority on his face…but this time it also held a tiny sliver of gratitude and admiration. X's face beamed as he yelled in happiness and charged Zero. He picked up the taller Hunter off the ground and squeezed him tightly in a bearhug. Usually, Zero would have punched him in the head until he got put down, but this time, he merely laughed.
"X, thanks for coming after me. I thought I had no friends in Maverick HHQ anymore. You devotion to me proved otherwise. You've saved me from Sigma's plans…and saved the world once again." X put Zero down and slapped him on the shoulder.
"We can do awards ceremonies later, pal. Right now…I just wanna go home." Zero nodded. As they were walking out, Zero halted and looked down at the crumpled and motionless form of Sigma. X spoke up again.
"You did that to him, you crazy Bastard! Not only that, you single-handedly destroyed all the mavericks! There is no more threat." Zero shook his head.
"Man…no more mavericks? What are going to do now? Just place an ad and ask if anybody needs hired help who's been trained to kill on sight?" X patted him on the back.
"I have a feeling that the threat's far from over, Zero. You can rest assured there is still more fighting left to be done." Zero smiled greatly, then reached down to the ground and picked up the beam saber beside Sigma. He activated it, and was comforted by the green glow.
"Fine. But I want my good Z-Saber back!" X chuckled, then the four Hunters walked out of the underground maverick base, towards the surface.
Even if they knew there was more fighting to be done, the only thought on their mind was what they were going to spend their wages on this month.