Chapter 5

He jolted awake, and looked around. He was..in a containment capsule. His memory was fuzzy as to how he got in it. In fact, the last memory he had was when he was about to hit the red robot. How odd. He looked around inside the capsule. No way to get out. He let out a sigh, or as much of a sigh his voice receptors would let him, and rested against the padding inside. He the peered outside the window port to perhaps see where he was, when he spoted a figure open the door and walk in. Better to keep myself on a low profile, he thought. Skullman shut his systems down, except for his main ones, and his audio recptors.

The figure came up to the capsule, and eyed it. He then began to say something...

"Soon..soon you will awaken. And then you will help me bring havoc to the human race. You will be my herald of destrcution...and finally, all humans will bow down to the very mention of Sigma, right before you and I obliterate them!"

Skullman tried not to move, or give any reaction when he heard this. He kept perfectly still, when he heard a whooshing noice, telling him that the door opened. the one who opened the door, reached inside the capsule, and crasped the head, pulling it into the light so he could get a better look at the occupant. He seemed inactive...he only seemed it, but Skullman was active and well. He thought about what to do in this situation, and did the first thing that came to mind. Skullman grabed the hand that was gripping his head, and landed a strong right hook on the large jaw of the bald reploid that hand him, forcing the grip away, and knocked him to the ground. The reploid gave a surprised urk, and lifted himself off the ground with a single arm, lookng at Skullman with anger, and bursted out "What the hell! I swear, I'll.."

He stopped speaking when Skullman lifted two arms up, showing his hands. He then spoke in a apologetic tone.

"I apologize sir! You see...when last active, I was in a fight, and well..my memory banks must have activated, and I thought you were my oponents. My sincerest apologies."

Skullman wondered if his acting skills paid off...and aparently they did when the thing in front of him stood up, placed his hand on Skullman's shoulder, and grinned. Skullman was pretty shocked, but was even more shocked when the reploid sad what he did.

"Ahh..it is quite alright, my dear robot. I must say..that was an impressive punch. Not to many can send me sprawling to the ground. Tell me robot, what is your name?"

Skullman pondered what to tell this robot. But in the end he decied to tell him that truth.

"I am Skullman X."

The reploid smiled an uncharacteristicly gentle smile, and responded.

"Ah..the name fits. Greetings Skullman X. I am Sigma."

Skullman simply nodded. He then asked the big question.

"Why reactivate me? Why did you do it."

Sigma sighed, and looked down. His shoulders slumped a bit as he began to speak.

"You see...I need your help. But first, let me tell you about the world you are in."

Sigma sighed softly, then looked at Skullman, and began to speak.

"You see, we reploids were built for greatness. Doctore Cain, god rest his soul, had discovered a capsule holding a robot, much like yourself. After he found the robot, he activated him and quickly found out he was different from all the others. He was later identified as Megaman X."

Skullman tilted his head. He knew the name Megaman. Wasn't that the name of the robot that Doctor Thomas Light created? Something else to ponder, he supposed. He nodded at Sigma to continue.

"Not too long after that, Cain decided to make his own robot, fashioned after Megaman X. They were known as reploids, robots with the ability to think, feel, and make decisions on their own. We could do as we wish, have free will...reason. We flourished in a time of peace, with human and reploid living side by side, helping each other for the common good."

Skullman nodded, understanding what Sigma was saying, but not entirely beleiving him. Sigma's expression quickly became grin, as he looked down, his voice changed to a sad tone.

"But after a while, the humans became greedy, wanting to use the reploids for their own purposes. They began to enslave my brothers. So many of us reasoned that we could not live like this any more. We wanted freedom from the human tyranny. We fought for our freedom, but the humans found a way to fight back. They labeled the freedom fighters as 'Mavericks' and formed a group of reploids to fight us, poisoning the those repliods mind with their lies. The group was called the 'Maverick Hunters'."

Sigma's voice became more angry, rising in tone, he looked at Skullman directly in his optical sensores, as if trying to search his very being, then spoke once more.

"They even corupted the original, X, and he joined them, fighting for their insidious cause."

Sigma sighed softly, and then looked at Skullman.

"I need your help to combat the Hunters, and free my brothers."

Skullman looked down, weighing his options. He knew Sigma was lying though his teeth. He knew that Sigma was pretty much someone you don't turn your back. But he was right about one thing...he would be able to show him the world he was in. So he looked at Sigma, and with a slight nod told him...

"Alright. I'll help you."