MATHS chapter 2

By LazerTH

Author's note:

Here's the second installment of the MATHS series. This covers the game of Megaman X4 from Spaceport to finish. Who knows, perhaps the game will extend beyond even there…

888

"I am discontent. I am mightily discontent!"

Sigma was pacing. This usually meant he was anxious. City sounds drifted through the apartment window while he lamented the current situation.

"Again, those two Hunters have eradicated my Maverick commanders! Why must my life be caught in a never-ending conundrum of spiraling fate? No matter what I do, they defeat my commanders, and pursue me!"

Sigma cursed the day he began following Capcom's 'Megaman X' game structure. 8 bosses followed by lesser minion/s followed by Sigma himself. Every logic circuit in Sigma's formidable neural network indicated this structure had the highest possibility of success. Thus Sigma had tried the order again and again, hoping that probability would outweigh what now seemed to be fate. He never ultimately won; this was the story of his life.

"I must create a new Order! A new way of doing things! Too long have I allowed Capcom to make the Order for me! I must not be a follower; I must lead! I must…"

Sigma's nose interrupted the angry diatribe.

"I must find a better antihistamine!" he sniffed. The red orbs on his chest held the stuff, but they were not enough. Sigma was violently allergic to plant life. All his fortresses were bereft of it. What cruel idiom of Destiny had made him susceptible to Nature? He could be burnt by plasma, hacked to pieces, and exploded, but he was defeated by pollen. No matter what body Sigma possessed, the allergy stayed. It was as though the allergic reaction was ingrained in Sigma's very soul.

"When I conquer this miserable planet, I will scorch its surface until it is a vitrified wasteland."

He made the mental note and stored it away in memory. Sigma failed, but you could not fault his dreams. An insistent knocking on the door disrupted his brilliant plans.

"You in there! Open up!"

Sigma opened the door. The apartment's landlady, clad in pink bathrobe and curlers in her greasy black hair, glared up at him.

"You no pay rent! Pay or get out!"

Sigma blustered at her irate tone and stood towering over her small, squat frame.

"I am the most feared being on the planet! I pay no one!"

Her brown beady eyes were savage beneath the green facial cleanser upon her forehead.

"You be Emperor of Japan, I no care! You pay rent or get out! I send ChiChi after you!"

A tiny pompec ran out from under her mistress' legs and nipped Sigma in the ankle. He yelped in pain (tiny dogs tend to have tiny, sharp teeth) and flinched backward while the dog yapped and the landlady waved a curler iron in hand.

"I give you until tomorrow and then you go OUT! Oh you tee OUT!"

She retreated, undefeated, and slammed the door. Sigma assessed his dilemma and decided to take residence in Final Weapon. He had ways of moving about undetected, and he would be damned if he allowed some midget human female and her pet to boss him around. He turned away from the offending door and toward the window, looking out at the ultra modern city with its flashy lights and eternal movement. The master of Mavericks grunted. The miniscule canine had awoken memories of D-Rex, his purple attack dog. He removed a small photograph of D-Rex and he gutting several human soldiers. Oily tears welled up in Sigma's eyes and he angrily dried them.

"Damn… allergies."

888

X was lounging on a lawn chair with a pair of shades across his visual sensor units. When resting, reploids shut down all non-vital motor functions, unlike humans who have a tendency for nervous movement. He lay there, still as a rock, while a robin hopped about his helmet, prospecting its smooth azure surface for a nest.

"My liege, the rules say no idling on HQ lawn!"

X grumbled inwardly and decided, against better judgment, to activate his voice synthesizer and face.

"Rules are for fools."

The robin, alarmed its potential nesting place could speak, fluttered off in a hurry.

"Ah… you are no fool, sir, but it is wiser to obey rules."

"Double," X sighed, only moving his mouth, "I caught you buried under a pile of party favours and half empty beer bottles. Would that constitute an obedience of rules?"

Double ground his teeth together but made no display of emotion.

"You wear feline… ears… and are completely out of order for a reploid commander!"

"But I am out of order within the confines of HQ, not a restricted biological laboratory under Maverick control. You are dismissed."

"I… what?"

"Dismissed, Double. Look it up in a dictionary. Now go."

The round yellow reploid obeyed. X shut down the remainder of his motor and sensory functions, and retreated to that blissfully dark, quiet place where programming is at peace. He did not notice Double lash out at a fir tree in his way, uprooting it and causing a mess upon HQ's immaculate lawn. Nearby reploids and humans gave Double a wide berth as the less-than-happy vassal of X made his way to the docking bays.

The robin returned to X's helmet with a beak full of twigs and busily set about building her nest. Other birds had claimed all other trees except the fir, and she had run out of options after Double rudely knocked down her piece of real estate.

Zero was sitting arms folded in a corner while Alia read information from the monitor of Central Command.

"The Repliforce is heading to outer space!"

"Let them go," Zero snapped, "We don't want them on Earth, anyway."

Alia frowned and turned to the sullen Hunter.

"Iris is going with them. Did you two have a falling out?"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious, you've understated the day."

"But you must go, Zero. X seems preoccupied outside."

"Why can't he handle it? I'm personally attached to most of the Repliforce elite."

"Exactly. You, of all people, can persuade them to stop this foolishness!"

Zero crossed the room and knocked his knuckles against Alia's forehead as though on a door.

"Anyone in there? I just broke up with Iris. I am the last person she or her brother wants to see!"

Alia stepped backward and rubbed her head, scowling.

"That was intelligent. Must I go on to explain, that sentimental connection is better than professional connection? X has a neutral relationship with them. You have the touchy-feely one. You can negotiate with far better success!"

"Alia, you've been reading too many trashy romance novels."

"Why, yes, I have. It is most amusing what humans do with their urges."

"I'm not going."

"Oh, yes, you are."

Zero rounded on her, fist upheld.

"Why?" he asked between grit teeth.

Alia did not flinch from his threatening stance.

"Humans wish to be masters of all they survey. That includes outer space. If Repliforce is allowed to build their nation in space, then the humans will lose the biggest portion of their dominion. Also, from outer space, Repliforce will be a threat to Earth. Did you forget there's a gigantic satellite called the Final Weapon out there? Who do you think has first dibs, Earth or Repliforce?"

"So? Let the humans fight it out with Repliforce! It's their creation, not mine!"

With that, Zero turned his back on Alia and began to walk away.

"Why, yes, Zero. Let them fight it out. Let millions of lives be lost on either side. Let Iris be killed in battle. Let Colonel go mad with vengeance and slaughter more people."

Zero stopped walking.

"If you don't stop them now, Zero, you will need to retire them later on."

Zero's shoulders slumped and he rubbed one hand across his face.

"I hate you."

Alia smiled in victory.

"No, you don't, you're just saying that to make me feel better."

It was a nightmare of moving metal. All of Repliforce was either lifting off or preparing to. A setting sun cast the massive Spaceport in orange and yellow hues.

"Ready or not, here I come."

Zero tore his way through the pitiful defenses, climbing the control tower. Circulatory fluid was still sizzling on his blade when the purple doors parted to reveal a waiting Colonel. The latter stuck his blade into the ground, clearly denying access to the control room.

"I don't want to fight, but you know how it will end if you continue."

Colonel blinked once.

"Our nation will be born in the womb of Space, with or without me."

"Iris will be sad if she loses you…"

"Don't be so presumptuous, Zero! Save it until after you've defeated me!"

Their fight was noisy, as all fights with beam sabers are. The air crackled and sparks showered the ground, while more and more ships lifted off carrying the new nation to its new home. Their savage dispute ended with Colonel on bent knee. Circulatory fluid dribbled onto the ground and hissed upon contact with his beam saber. Zero did not gloat while he stood over his fallen comrade, who was, in spite of his wounds, smiling.

"With… or without… me, as I said, Repliforce will live… tell Iris… her brother died happily!"

His fusion core overloaded, and Colonel was no more. Zero turned away, eyes closed, and teleported out. The final ship turned skyward and blasted off. No Repliforce soldiers remained on Earth.

888

Sam, Smith and Clive were nice, ordinary workers in the HQ docking bays. They loaded and unloaded equipment from HQ's impressive array of air, land and sea transportation vehicles. Owing to the current crisis, there was a shortage of help at hand. Luckily (or unluckily) Double had nothing to do, and was aiding the three dockworkers. His rotund body was unwieldy and his arms too short, therefore much of the equipment he carried ended up on the floor.

"Hey! Watch it!"

"I'm terribly sorry."

Sam, Smith and Clive had never endured such incompetence before. They leaned against their loads and shook their heads, smirking to each other about the recruit.

"Who made this guy?" Sam murmured.

"Probably pulled himself together out of spare parts," Smith remarked. Clive rubbed the bridge of his nose and said aloud, "What a freak," fixing his eyes on Double, hoping for any reaction. But Double just smiled and turned away.

"You hurt his feelings," Sam chuckled.

"Poor baby," Smith muttered humourlessly.

"Hey Double, what's the matter?" Clive challenged.

Double stood quite still, stretching out his arms and legs, popping the air pockets from his joints. As he stretched and popped, a red aura hung about his frame, fading into the air around him.

"Never seen anyone glow like that," Sam observed. Smith snorted, "You should see the models in Clive's magazines," and earned a whack from latter, who was watching the round yellow reploid emit the curious red light. It was probably a trick of the light and shadow, but Double's arms seemed to be growing. A few seconds later, all three workers knew it was definitely not a trick of the light when Double's hands sprouted laser knives. While they watched dumbstruck, Double's whole frame extended outward into a very tall, long-limbed creature with purple goop flowing through his transparent arms.

"How'd he keep all of that under his belly?" Sam whispered.

"Must be a Transformer. I have all their comics," Smith replied.

"Uh, guys? He doesn't look too happy."

Double was sneering at them with murderous crimson eyes. Sam, Smith and Clive were not dummies, and turned to run. Unfortunately for them, Double was faster, and soon ended all three of their careers, making a nasty red mess all over the docking bay's clean floors. While pausing to gloat over the slaughter, the audio communicator on a nearby console beeped.

"This is X. What is the situation?"

Double casually strolled over, picked up the microphone, and drawled, "Nothing to report."

"Good. I'm heading for the Final Weapon. Over and out."

"Roger."

Double dropped the microphone into the pool of congealing circulatory fluid.

"And now, X will be my next target! Heh heh heh."

888

Having a CPU in one's head enables one to think of more than one thing at the same time. Zero was running on automatic. His arms moved with the Z-Saber in a dance macabre, slicing and dicing any threat. His legs chugged onward, stepping over the oily slag remnants of Irregulars. He lacked any grace of movement. All his grace, his poetry, his spirit were occupied in that corner of his mind where he thought of Iris. Why, why had she betrayed him and all humanity? Was she truly blind? Was there not some part, some tiny part of her artificial soul that screamed against her Maverick tendencies?

"She is a child…" Zero said, staring blankly forward as his arms moved to end the life of another nameless, faceless Irregular. Saying that, all of Zero's logic circuits began questioning her, and her meaning in the context of his existence. He needed to question, for his life depended on the next battle. It was necessary to question! What did she mean to him? Love only existed among humans. But he was connected to her. Isn't that was love was? Didn't it mean more than mere affection? No! It was more than emotion. More than logic, but his circuits were still screaming. Why? And then the words were there, words he had heard in human music. He thought he had erased the memory, but the music still existed, it still lived, and it came pouring out of his mouth while he killed again and again.

"Who is this child? What does she mean to me? I close my eyes… and still her face I see. She is but one! Her kind is everywhere! Can't you see there's no way I should care?"

YES, his logic circuits were telling him. She means NOTHING. Her kind is, indeed, everywhere. She is a reploid, and reploids exist in the millions.

Still, Zero thought, in that enigmatic part of his mind that resisted logic, still, she has meaning for me.

NO, his logic insisted, she does NOT!

And yet he continued to say the words.

"What is this life? There will be other lives! Soon to arrive, surely some will survive. She is but one, and there are many more. Could this one life really matter?"

"YES!" Zero shouted audibly, finally freed of logic. Though he had seen countless battles, had come to learn much of the human psyche, and was a higher being than most reploids, Zero finally realized the one thing that even a human child would understand.

Love was completely, utterly, and absolutely illogical.

He smiled. He knew, then, in that moment, he was more than just a robot. He resumed command of his motor functions, but his HUD indicated "0 TARGETS REMAINING" and the purple doors stood before him. Zero blinked, and looked behind. While thinking deep thoughts, he was blind to the slaughter left in his wake. Viewing the carnage, Zero experienced the price of being freed from logic: he felt fear. Would Iris end up, bleeding, dying on the floor, while her life dripped from his blade?

"If I am more than just a robot, I can be more than just a killer, too," he alleged, experiencing a benefit from his newfound emotions: hope. The emotions had been there before, he had been born with them, but Iris had awoken them for the first time. Zero thought, this is what love does. It gives new life. With fresh hope pulsing within him, Zero parted the doors and encountered the object of his love holding a glowing, purple sphere.

"Iris!" he called out to her, but her eyes were closed.

"Zero…"

Her voice was what his voice had been before. Cold. Dead. Logical. It chilled him to the core of his new heart.

"Iris, I can help you! I just realized what humans mean… by love!"

Her eyes, when she opened them, were even worse than her voice. They were hateful.

"Love? Does your love kill? Does your love kill my brother?"

"No, Iris, I wasn't alive then, I was dead inside, I can't explain it…"

Here was the titanic struggle of a heart just born. A heart encased within titanium alloy and oily circulatory fluid. Something divine held within something not living. Zero finally understood what heartbreak meant. He stammered, stuttered, and finally fell silent under the gaze of hatred.

"I do not want your love, Zero."

That was the final straw. All these painful revelations were not improving his mental fortitude. So, instead of thinking, instead of speaking, Zero stretched his arms out toward her, the blood of Irregulars fresh upon his hands.

"Iris, Iris! I can love!"

"You can DIE!"

She struck him with the glowing sphere, and he hit the wall on the other side of the room. His mind was battered and bruised by rejection and emotional pain (emotions! They were not meant for the living dead). He was confused. A specter loomed into his vision, a specter of purest logic that Zero had denied. This specter gestured to Iris, and then at Zero. The specter mocked him with the words from the song Zero had spoken earlier.

"TO BE INVOLVED WITH THIS WOULD SURELY NOT BE WISE. FOR IN THE FINAL WORD, SHE MEANS NOTHING TO ME."

"She may mean nothing to you, but… there are no guarantees. In life, she should be warned."

The specter laughed. Zero shook his head, got to his feet and waved the specter away. He looked with great sadness upon Iris as she lifted the sphere, and it floated above her head. Its purple aura extended to Iris, and she changed. Watching the transformation, Zero uttered the words.

"Can you see it in the night? Can you feel that it's out there? It's the arcing of a life, and it's hanging in the air."

The life of Zero and the life of Iris were now hanging in the air. Only one would remain alive when the conflict was finished. Approaching the gruesome valkyrie robotic armour, Zero drew out his fatal Z-Saber. The specter was still there. Its death-giving logic had never really left. Facing its menace, and the warped visage of Iris, Zero gave his parting words.

"Though I try to close my eyes, and pretend that I don't know, in my heart I just can't let it go!"

He would destroy this armoured shell, and make the real Iris understand. He hacked at it several times to no avail. The purple gem left the armour to float above it, firing lethal lasers at the Red Ripper. He dodged, and affirmed that whatever stood between him and Iris, he would destroy. What Zero did not know was that the gem's life was connected to the life of Iris. Fate had the final word in their battle. Every sword stroke to the purple gem was a sword stroke to Iris. In the end, when the armour and gem were gone, Iris fell to the ground, breathing her last, small gasps. Shaking his head, but never being able to deny the truth, Zero approached her, understanding why she was lying so very still. Those words, those accursed words would not leave him alone. Their grim tones reechoed in every vault of his mind.

"There is no way in life that each child can be saved. Should I be looking with regret at every grave?"

"Zero…"

"Iris. Why?"

"Please…"

He knelt, and clasped her hand in his. Something resembling sanity was shimmering in her fading eyes. She would not lie to him now.

"I wanted to live in a world, where only reploids exist."

"Iris, there's no such thing. It's only a fantasy."

"Then is love also a fantasy? A dream?" she asked, her breath soughing through her barely parted lips. Lips he had never kissed. Kissing… Zero wondered why it was so symbolic of love. He had never tried it. And now, he never would.

"I'm going to die, Zero."

"You can't, Iris."

"All things die, Zero, even those things that never truly lived."

"No, Iris, I'm serious. There isn't a wound on your entire body. How can you be dying?"

At last, she looked at him with compassion. She squeezed his hand.

"From within, Zero, from within."

"Then you know what I have to say, before this thing called death separates us."

"I know, Zero, I have always known…"

Zero doubted that, but it sounded appropriate.

"Goodbye… my love."

It really was goodbye. Zero would never love again. The specter had triumphed.

"Goodbye, Zero..."

She managed one tiny smile before her head became limp and her CPU gave up the ghost. She had died from within therefore her fusion core did not explode. It simply… ceased to be. Zero stood, cradling her in his arms. He looked upon her peaceful face, and knew she had found new life, as well, just before inevitable death claimed her. His lower lip trembled. The words came, but they were broken.

"Who is this child that I've never seen before? Who is this child that I've not seen till this day? She's gone, now, cast away."

He looked up, but the specter was there. It would always be there. Not merely logic, but death. Zero was amazed at how quickly self-loathing arrived, accompanied with hate, anger and fury unbound. He screamed, then, for he knew nothing but chaos.

"There has to be another way from me! A way that leads from this insanity. A way that leads from my destruction in this way!"

The specter shook its head. There was no other way for a Hunter.

"But why," Zero said loudly, sobbing as he did so, freed from the song of pathos, and returning to his newfound heart, "There's no reason for me to go on."

He faced the specter, and demanded, "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR?"

888

X passed by the same area after Zero left. Zero had cleaned, now X was sweeping. He walked warily past the slag heaps, one hand poised above the X-Buster. He relaxed upon arriving at the purple doors. Perhaps Zero had already defeated the Maverick boss.

Of course, that wasn't the case. The moment he entered the room, his "WARNING" sensor began blaring within his helmet. It was malfunctioning, he thought, the place only had Double's fat self in it.

"Double?"

"An appropriate name, don't you think?"

"Well, yeah, you are double the width and weight of any normal humanoid reploid."

Double glowered.

"Your penchant for wit is admirable, commander," he sneered, "Though I wonder what good wit does you on the battlefield!"

"Don't you know the first thing about battles, Double? You're supposed to banter with your enemy beforehand. It's an ego sort of thing. Whoever has the sharpest wit usually has the advantage in any engagement."

"A mere psychological advantage, at best. But do you have a sharper sword?"

Thus saying, his hands sprouted laser knives.

"A sharper mind?"

His eyes glowed red.

"A sharper physique?"

And he fully transformed, the crimson aura flaring about his body. X took a step backward. Double barked one laugh.

"It's not about your intellect, X, it's about power. Pure power!"

"You're wrong. Insanity has its limits!"

"You're so naïve, X! Insanity gives you an insane amount of power!"

Double struck his ass-kicking pose, showing off his true body.

"I'm so anxious to rip you apart!"

"And I'm so anxious to get this over with," X muttered, charging the Buster as Double took a flying leap with knives outstretched. X remembered the punned weapon name earlier, and switched to the Double Cyclone. Interestingly enough, Double flinched upon being struck by the air-based weapon, and gobs of purple goop sprayed from his joints. These gobs, however, took on a life of their own, morphing into deadly spinning blades and airborne assault drones. X sighed. The battle had just become more difficult.

"Should have just used my Buster," he thought. There were many objects on the field to deal with, now. The spinning blades and attack drones were small, but they disrupted his concentration long enough for Double to get in a few good slashes from those laser knives of his. X fell back, nursing the gashes upon his brand new armour plate. But Double, and his minions, kept on coming.

"That does it. No more cyclones. NOVASTRIKE!"

It was Double's turn to fly across the room, sustaining heavy damage while his drones exploded all around him. X landed and grinned.

"So! That cyclone weapon hurts you the most, but also frees those drones from your body. I guess it's back to plain old plasma from now on!"

Double righted himself and snarled.

"Grin all you want, X, it's not over!"

But it was over soon. With nothing but Double to focus on, the yellow Maverick went down easily. He lay bent over, his circuits overloading and spitting sparks.

"Damn! How could I have been defeated by a weakling like you?"

X blinked.

"Um, Double? How am I a weakling? I sort of fought three wars by myself and killed twenty four of the most powerful Mavericks ever created, not including Sigma thrice over."

Double grunted, coughing up some purple goop.

"Still, so naïve. Don't you know it's all been a sham? A hack? A falsehood? We reploids were not created to be equals! We were created for human profit!"

"Huh?"

"Read between the lines, oh great and powerful Maverick Hunter! Why were all wars confined to Japan, and why was Dragoon retired the moment he fought outside the borders? Hmm? You're a pawn, X, for the sake of Cap…"

Double groaned and collapsed just then, bleeding purple on the floor. His eyes closed.

"I die, but it is a better fate than yours, X… to be used… to be eventually discarded… enjoy the rest of your life. Did I say life? I meant imprisonment…"

He chose to die, and allowed his fusion reactor to go critical. When the explosion had run its course, X was left with mere cinders, and many more questions.

Zero ran, but without the desire to kill. He contemplated going on automatic again, but decided against it. Logic and cold calculating seemed so… heartless. But his heart had not died with Iris. Rather, it had grown. Now he knew reploids could love, they could be connected to all living things, although they did not understand this connection. But it was the mystery of love… the mystery of that connection… that now drove Zero to find answers. He had to know what he was fighting for. He had to know for whom he fought. He did not fight for himself. Mavericks posed no threat to Zero; he had been one of them! But now he fought against them. Why? Surely this meant he fought for someone else.

"Maybe it's for humanity? They're the only ones who seem to know what love is. To us reploids, it's more mysterious than quantum physics."

Humans. The thought had awoken contempt before, but now it evoked a curious respect. Most reploids respected humans as creators, nothing more, but Zero had a new reason. He now saw them as teachers. He had to learn. He had to know what his heart was for. Thus he fought, so that someday he could have his questions answered.

Returning to the task at hand, the General no longer respected humans or reploids. He only respected himself and members of the Repliforce.

"He can't handle the truth," Zero smirked, and was not far from the truth, either. The General was his target, now. He would answer for his crimes. He would answer for Iris, for Colonel. He must.

888

The General had problems. And they had nothing to do with the tiny, furious Red Ripper glaring at him as though he were the biggest eyesore in the galaxy.

He couldn't get up from his throne.
"So, Zero, what brings you to my house?"

Zero snorted in derision.

"You call a floating weapon of doom your house? Do you hang your Christmas stocking from the gun turrets?"

General had to keep the boy talking until he figured out a way to stand. Damn whoever made him! He was top heavy! His kilt, alone, weighed one ton!

"Is there no other viable option other than conflict?"

"You tell me. You're the one with a grudge against the Earth."

"Not true," General pushed off the armrests with his hands but fell back down with a loud clank! "Humans hate us. They fear our superiority. Surely you know this, Zero!"

"Hah! You are superior in power, yes, but inferior in heart. You have no heart!"

General glowered. What poetic nonsense was this blonde kid spewing?

"Power is the only thing humans respond to. Matters of the heart are irrelevant."

Zero shook his head vigorously, his hair tossing behind in a waterfall of gold. He had to make General understand. If only a sliver of inspiration could get through that monumentally thick skull of his…

"Think, General! What does mankind have that reploids do not? They have love. Love continues life; it creates life anew! We have no such thing. We only know how to build, and how to destroy. We reploids do not love what we do; neither do we love one another. Without this connection to our work and to each other, existence is without meaning. Love is the humans' only reason to be, therefore it is our only reason to be!"

More poetic and philosophical nonsense, the General thought.

"War isn't built on imagination and fantasy, Zero! Its foundation is the blood of soldiers and their dedication to a cause!"

"You have no idea what my cause is now," Zero said quietly.

General began to rock forward and backward from the sitting position, trying to gain momentum in order to stand up. Zero frowned and tilted his head. What was the big oaf trying to do?

"Almost got it… almost…!"

He gave one mighty rock forward, but in a desperate attempt to find his feet he only succeeded in stumbling flat onto the floor. The entire Final Weapon shook. Zero bounced four feet off the floor and landed.

"General!"

"I'm okay, really I am," General alleged, then rolled over, activated his rear thrust boosters and rocketed upward to a standing position.

"I should have thought of those earlier," he murmured in an apologetic tone. Zero rolled his eyes. Stupidity was certainly contagious this war.

"Shall we begin? You will not hear reason."

"I take only my own counsel, Zero. My fate is sealed, I have no choice."

They always believe they have no choice, Zero thought sadly as the Z-Saber flared to life. General's armour was far too thick for any energy weapon to penetrate, so Zero went for the head.

"Headshot!" he announced, kicking off the wall and delivering a sizzling slice to the crooked moustache. General reared backward, supported only by his rocket packs. It was on obvious weakness, but that did little to assuage his annoyance. His mighty arms detached from the elbows, revealing his pulse cannons. Zero jumped from one arm to the other, avoiding the slow-moving spherical energy pulses, and cleaved the titanic Repliforce headdress in two. The Final Weapon shuddered once more when the pieces banged onto the floor, along with General who was now missing most of his neural circuits.

"Jack fell down and broke his crown," Zero sang, deactivating the lethal blade. General pushed off the floor with two hands into a sitting position, swaying drunkenly.

"That was… mistake…"

"What?"

Zero's auditory sensors detected a high-pitched whine, followed by a deep, ominous rumbling from within the core of Final Weapon.

"No… control over weapon," General explained, a shower of sparks falling from his head and onto the shaking floor, "Must stop… I can no…"

"Enough said," Zero nodded, teleporting out. As though Iris' death was not enough, he now had to deal with potential planetary obliteration.

888

X, sans armour, knocked on the cherry wood door. A surprised Mr. Sears answered.

"It's too early for Halloween, son."

"I am an android, not a Halloween costume," X corrected, "Is Sarah home?"

"What business does an android have with my little girl?" he asked sharply. No one in the neighborhood took kindly to robots after Magma Dragoon incinerated Lincoln University and a high school, not to mention crash-landing through the roof of the Sears household. The Sears family still resided in their house, though half of it was in ruins. The staircase leading to the second floor, and most of the second floor itself, were undamaged, and the family could still sleep there. A tarpaulin was stretched across the sizeable hole in the roof and Mrs. Sears had recruited the three children to clean up the kitchen. Sarah and Hannah had heard X's voice and were being held back by their father, who was bodily blocking the door.

"Hey, hey, you don't know if he's safe!"

"Don't be dumb, Dad, it's X, for crying out loud, he's the guy trying to save the world," Hannah hastily explained, squeezing past her father's defenses to grab X's hands and shake them.

"Hello, X-kun! What's in the bag?"

X smiled and hefted the enormous shopping bag. It was larger than he. Sarah also squeezed past her Dad and eyed it, shoving her sibling aside.

"Get lost, Hanny, he wanted to speak to me. What's that, anyway? Candy?"

"I felt bad for you when Dragoon burned your penguin toy, so, ta-dah!"

The plastic bag fell away, revealing a positively gigantic penguin plush toy. It wore a removable tuxedo that X could have worn, complete with bow tie and cuffs. Its face was long, soft beak with glittering black eyes set close above it. Sarah squealed with delight. It's not everyday an elite Hunter brings presents that big for you.

"I love it! I love it!"

"His name's Bob."

"Bob! Bob the penguin!"

Sarah made her father carry it upstairs to her room while Hanny pouted.

"Nothing for meeee?" she whined plaintively, giving X the puppy-eyes. The azure Hunter shook his finger, and revealed a palm-sized velvet box from behind his back. Hannah gasped.

"X! You can't propose to me! Zero is my love!"

X experienced perfect confusion at that point. Confusion so pure, that his programming was at a loss for command code. It recovered eventually, falling back on sarcasm.

"That's a shame. Our kids would have been so pretty."

Hannah experienced perfect confusion at that point, too. X went on, "Open it."

She did, and held a lock of blonde hair between her fingers.

"Eh?"

"I took a pair of scissors to Zero's room one day. I think my helmet is still dented where he hit me with the bedpost."

Hannah understood, and her eyes resembled saucers. X braced himself for the screech that followed, "His HAIR!!!"

She hugged him. Hard.

"Thank you, X-kun! You are so brave!"

"Wow, you're the first one to say that. Thanks."

Hannah scampered off to place the precious few golden strands under lock and key. X grinned.

"And that's my two good deeds for the day."

His helmet beeped, and he turned on the HUD.

"Hey, Zero, how's it hanging?"

"You tell me, X. How would it hang if the world were threatened with sudden annihilation?"

X's face grew grim.
"The Final Weapon?"

"Bingo."

"I'm there."

Hannah bounded through the front door with a happy greeting, "Why don't you come inside and…"

But was greeted by a brilliant beam of blue light, shooting upward through the clouds. She groaned.

"Aw, man. And I was going to take pictures!"

888

Within Hunter HQ, X was rummaging through cartons of knick-knacks and collectibles. Alia peered over his shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be kicking butt way, way upstairs?"

"Yes, but Sigma always blocks me with eight Mavericks I fought before. It's tiring knocking all of them off and then going after the big cheese himself!"

He stood and hefted a slim metallic bat. He swished it through the air. Alia's eyebrow went up.

"Some sort of hidden weapon?"

"No, it's just a metal baseball bat. I intend to use it."

"That wouldn't dent any Maverick Sigma has!"

"You'll see," he said with a superior smile, and flashed out in a streak of blue. Alia slapped her forehead. There were so many potential variables that her CPU was beginning to fry.

"Oi vay, I need some rest today."

888

Within Final Weapon, Zero tapped his boot in boredom with the hilt of the Z-Sabre. X had asked him to wait before hacking apart the inevitable 8 Mavericks.

"What are you doing with that bat?" Zero asked when the azure Hunter appeared beside him. X said nothing and hopped down the chute leading to the teleporter room. Zero followed, and found X before a pod, readying to swing. Zero's eyebrow went up.

"You're joking. That…"

"Won't put a dent on any Maverick, yes. But, these pods are designed to resist all non-matter weapons such as our arm cannon and beam saber. It also resists all the various Maverick abilities we gathered. So, I added an unknown factor to the equation: this nifty bat."

"What do you…"

X swung fast and hard, and the top half of the pod shattered and fell broken aside. X let out a whoop of victory.

"Eureka! It worked! No more stupid unnecessary battles before Siggy!"

"Grand Theft Auto, anyone?" Zero smirked. With glee, X finished off the other pods with the baseball bat that was, at this point, more powerful than any weapon they possessed.

"Hey batter batter batter," Zero called out as X finished the eighth pod, "Look, the golden one's appeared."

"Let's go, bro!" X cried and was gone in a shimmering of light. Zero nodded and followed.

And somewhere above them, Sigma screamed with frustration.

888

"So, which one of us has the honour?"

The final purple door stood before them. But only one would go through.

"I have an idea," replied Zero, "Let's play rock, paper, scissors. You're paper, okay?"

"Uh… okay!"

They moved their hands.

"There! Scissors beats paper! I go in first!"

"Darn!"

X scuffed his boots on the floor in disappointment. His logical thought processes only struck home after Zero went in.

"HEY! THAT'S NOT FAIR!!"

He kicked and screamed, but the door would not open. Zero went on to face the ultimate (?) evil alone.

888

"Here, Siggy Siggy Siggy," Zero called out, clicking his fingers and whistling. Sigma sullenly appeared, floating, clad in midnight black cloak and beam scythe.

"There is no need to add insult to injury."

Zero feigned innocence.

"Me? Harm you? You're hurting my feelings. Bad old Siggy!"

"Speaking of old and bad, do you know your past, Zero?"

"It did cross my mind."

"Let me show you…"

The dream sequence activated, and Zero was in the abandoned hangar, bent over the body of a former Hunter. He remembered the scent of freshly spilt circulatory fluid. The dying gargle as the throat was crushed. A heavy silence accompanies retirement, a silence that is a gap in reality. Zero was the master of reality gaps. And now a gap was where his mind had been. Sigma, parting the hangar doors, would soon fill that empty space with blind rage.

Their first fight was primal and unarmed. Then a lead pipe was involved, followed by a beam saber, a misplaced arm, and a torn face. Sigma was losing, facedown on the floor, while Zero attempted to break the Elite Hunter's neck and remaining arm at the same time.

"Eh heh heh heh. AH-HAHAHAHA ugh!"

Zero remembered that. You don't forget excruciating pain anytime soon. He clutched his head in confusion and head-splitting pain that, ironically enough, is what it was. Taking advantage of Zero's incapacity, Sigma struck with one fist and smashed the shiny blue jewel on Zero's forehead. The young (?) Maverick skidded onto the floor, and was still. Sigma crouched gasping ragged breaths, half dead and half amazed he had been able to subdue the wildcard known as the Red Maverick. Reality reappeared, and Reaper Sigma's eyes were narrow.

"Memories, all alone in the moonlight," he sneered. Zero shrugged.

"You win some, you lose some. So what? It's the present that matters, not what happened decades ago."

"I disagree. Evil intents are shown young. Every reploid you've retired since then has given you pleasure… even the deaths of Colonel and Iris pleased your demonic soul!"

This shook Zero badly. Truth need not be whole for it to sting deep.

"Stop playing with my mind, Sigma. I won't be corrupted by the likes of you!"

Sigma gave very unpleasant cackle.

"The likes of me, he says! And what does that make your likes?"

"Whatever I am, it's not you, and I am forever thankful for it!"

The Z-Saber bit into the Reaper's cloak, which spat blue sparks. Sigma retaliated with a slice to the chest.

"You are the weakest link. Goodbye."

But Zero was holding onto the crossbar of the scythe, preventing the blade from piercing his heart (main circulatory engine).

"Don't count your Hunters before they die," Zero chided, and charged the Ryuenjin. He shoved the flaring saber directly into Sigma's robes, which caught ablaze in an instant. Sigma struggled to no avail, Zero's grip on the scythe was too strong. The Reaper disguise burnt beyond repair, Sigma lurched away, tearing the burning rags off to reveal his highly polished, freshly acquired battle body. He dusted ashes off the breastplate.

"Round two, Zero. Let's go!"

888

X was kicking a spare bolt around in circles. It was more entertaining than just waiting. His chronological device was counting off the seconds until Zero returned. It was so quiet in the hall, while Final Weapon spun on its massive axis.

"Closing walls and ticking clocks…" he hummed.

"Still into 21st century music, X?" said a cool, confident male voice. X whipped around, his X-Buster already charging. The voice laughed in a disarming manner.

"Relax. I am not yet your enemy."

"Who are you?"

"Why were you given such a high-pitched voice modulator, X? You sound like an eight year old boy."

"I certainly don't fight like an eight year old!" X retorted. More laughter rolled from the bodiless voice. Within the furthest shadow, X spied a figure wearing a red visor, his white hair just grazing the light as he passed by. X ran to where the person was, but found nothing.

"Save your strength, fighting isn't your style," the person advised.

"Are you a reploid or human? What is your name?" X demanded.

"Reploid, and you'll know my name in the next war."

"What! Why will there be another war?"

"Because war is the fuel of humanity, my blue friend. Without it, economies would crash, nations would fall, and mankind would be in utter anarchy."

"But that's what happens in war, anyway!"

"Yes, but men have always been more organized and in control during war than during peace. You have studied their history. You cannot deny it."

X said nothing.

"I will continue to observe you and your comrade Zero. You two have always been their heroes and, of course, their pawns."

"Huh? Who's 'they'?"

"Those who pull all the strings and shape every destiny that participates in the eternal Maverick wars."

"Eternal? They cannot be! I will stop them!"

The laughter was mocking and no longer friendly.

"They profit from the wars. Therefore the wars will never end. Neither you nor any government is able to stop them. Besides, they provide entertainment! The true art of theft involves pleasing the victim in the process. They have stolen from humans and reploids ever since the first war."

"Who are they?" X shouted in exasperation.

"I now advise you, do not take their bait. They want you to oppose them. You and Zero are the only abnormal reploids in creation. In fact, you aren't even reploids, but you belong to the reploid race. For the sake of all reploids, do not sacrifice your precious lives to them."

X continued to ask questions, but the voice and the person were gone.

888

The floor was dented and torn when the second battle was finished. Zero rubbed his fist, sore from punching the floor so many times, but repeated use of the Rakuhouha had conquered Sigma.

"It's over, Siggy."

"It will never be 'over'," Sigma said with a touch of bitterness, "Capcom will never let me rest."

"The video game company?"

"How much more are they that that!" Sigma cried, and his fusion core exploded, blowing away a section of the floor. Zero scanned the environs below, and jumped down. Upon landing, the ceiling began to collapse, and the entire Final Weapon began a steady, intense shuddering. Zero raced for the purple doors on the far right, but the materialization of Sigma's giant battle body blocked the path. His scarred face was fixed onto the head of the body, which was part of the wall and wielded an enormous laser rifle.

"This is the end, Zero! Iris is waiting for you!"

Thus commenced the final battle. Sigma's Gun form fell very quickly to the Ryuenjin and Kuuenzan. Zero simply jumped and struck Sigma's face with the flame blade, jumped again in midair, struck with the spinning attack, fell to the floor, and repeated.

"Lather, rinse, repeat. You're so predictable, Sigma! That's why you'll never defeat me!"

Upon exploding, another body appeared, this time in the form a giant Sigma Head that dominated the left corner of the room. It was grotesque with vein-like conduits running into and around the head, its mouth opening in an attempt to blow Zero onto the spikes of the far right wall. Zero dashed into the wind, using the Hurricane Fang (aptly named for this situation) to strike the mouth. This form did not fall so easily, however. It dematerialized and smaller, hovering Sigma heads coloured blue, yellow and red took turns attempting to freeze, zap or burn Zero. The Hunter dodged their attacks with impunity (predictable as they were) until the huge head appeared once more to suffer the Z-Saber. Its gaping maw sucked in this time, gathering stray asteroids from outside Final Weapon. Zero repelled the incoming rocks with the Rakuhouha Giga Attack, and slashed and slashed the Sigma head that was now spitting rocks in every conceivable direction. Zero was lashed about the body several times by the flying debris, but Sigma took considerably more damage than the Hunter.

In the end, the Gun body reappeared, and warning claxons echoed throughout the trembling Final Weapon. Sigma was laughing.

"Gone crazy, eh, Siggy?"

"No, I have not been more sane in my life. I have discovered the enemy, and am aiming this weapon at their base of operations. They will be destroyed! I will not be a puppet any longer!"

Zero paused to contemplate those words while Sigma exploded, again. Capcom? Did Sigma desire vengeance against, of all things, a video game company?

"It's just an excuse!" Zero decided, "When that weapon hits, nothing on Earth will survive!"

The purple doors parted, and who should be hovering in the engine room but General.

"What are you doing here, old man?"

"Sigma… he blinded me to the truth. Though I failed my duty to my brothers, I will not fail the human creators. My body can stop this weapon."

"General! No!"

But the wounded soldier had already descended into the supercharged depths of the main reactor. Things began exploding all over the place, so Zero decided to leave.

888

"You know, having you tag along wasn't such a good idea."

"For once, I agree."

Sharing a one-man escape module with X was cramped. Zero squirmed around.

"Get your hands off my hair."

"But they're on your boots."

"What! Don't make me push the eject button!"

"Uh, you'll be sucked out, too."

"Hell, it would be nicer than this mess."

The Earth hung before them. One could appreciate its enormity from afar.

"Why do we fight, X?"

"To promote the life and liberty of reploids and humans."

"What is freedom?"

"Doing stuff without stress. What's with the questions?"

"I was in love for a short time. Now I am confused."

"Don't speak about love when we're squashed this close together, Zero, it makes me nervous."

"Oh, fine."

Re-entry and splashdown were spent in uneasy silence.

888

Hannah yawned. It had been an exciting week. School was postponed until its rebuilding was complete. Insurance would cover the damage to her house. But she would let the adults worry about that. Right now she was a sleepy girl ready for bed. She passed by Sarah's room. The door was ajar to let the hallway light in. The younger girl was fussing over Bob's tuxedo. Smiling, Hannah proceeded to her own room. Inside was dark and dim, with moonlight outlining the silhouettes of trees outside. But there was a new shadow against the wall. Puzzled, she lifted the window to look out over the roof.

Maverick Hunter Zero was sitting on the edge of her roof, dangling his boots over the guttering. He was looking at stars. She barely repressed the scream of amazement and delight that rose to her lips. Moonlight, stars, sitting on the roof… what a perfect setting for a midnight romance! With all these mushy thoughts making her heart race, Hannah carefully climbed onto the roof and crept up behind Zero. He did not flinch as she embraced him, nuzzling his blonde hair.

"This is no time to visit," she giggled. He smelt like expensive shampoo (only the best would touch those golden strands!) He disengaged her hug, motioning for her to sit beside him. She did so, and furtively held his hand.

"Hanny, let's talk about love."

She damn near fell off the roof at that. She was sure her thudding heart would awaken the whole neighbourhood.

"L… love, Zero-kun?"

"I was in love with Iris, but she hated me, and I had to… retire her."

The word 'kill' stuck in his throat. Hannah was silent.

"But when she died, I think she loved me. I dunno. She smiled. Maybe it was just her way of forgiving me for Colonel. I couldn't tell, because I've never felt that way before. Hanny, is love supposed to exist after a loved one dies?"

"Yes. We still love our friends and family even when they leave."

"But why? You won't get any love in return."

Hannah's smile was sad. She squeezed his hand, surprised at its pulse.

"The feelings are still there. People believe that if we keep feelings alive, the people will be alive within us."

"Within?"

"Their memories. They way they used to look, or laugh or smile. The good and the bad times we had with them. Memories keep love alive."

Zero was silent. Hannah leaned against him, his hair warm against her cheek.

"We can't bring anyone back from the dead, but we can keep them in our hearts and minds. That way, nobody really dies."

"Then I shall always keep the memory of Iris. I will not delete her data from my memory banks."

Hannah laughed lightly.

"You're going technical on me, Zero-kun. Love isn't technical."

She pressed a small hand against his unyielding armour plate.

"Your heart, the emotions you have for someone, is what truly keeps them alive. Memory without feeling is not worth having."

Zero's hand covered her hand of flesh.

"I think I understand. Thank you, Hanny."

They drank in the nighttime glory of the heavens. Yawning once more, Hannah closed her eyes, happy to have helped her idol. Oh, the stories she would tell. Oh, the jealousy of her peers! She felt so very special…

When she opened her eyes, it was morning. She was warm in her bed, the window closed. She sat up and moaned.

"A dream! Oh, no, I have loved and lost…"

She stirred, swinging her feet over the bedside, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Sunlight glinted off a shiny object on the nightstand. She blinked, peering at it.

"No… way!"

888

"You gave her a beam saber? It's illegal in Pennsylvania!"

"Then she'll just have to move to New York."

X threw up his hands in utter disgust. Zero was a teenage dirtbag to the core. Allowing a youth to handle such advanced weaponry was sheer folly! And X fumed, because he knew Zero knew full well the potential consequences.

"Why her?"

"She's my counselor."

"What's wrong with me?"

"You're not human," Zero smirked, and walked away victorious. X slapped his forehead. Astonishing. Just astonishing.

"I wish I were a real boy…"

Muttering under his breath, the azure Hunter moved among the hallways of his HQ. Celebratory parties were being held here and there but he wanted no part of them. Not after what the mystery reploid had told him, and what Zero related about Sigma's last words. Capcom was behind the wars, X surmised, but it sounded like conspiratorial nonsense, right up there with Roswell and crop circles. Still, it was a logical possibility. Capcom did exist, and it did, X knew now, produce games according to the wars. One Internet website even indicated the next game to be Megaman X5. A fifth war! And both the mystery reploid and Sigma had spoken of future conflict. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. He had to investigate, despite warnings and better things to do. While X was deep in thought, Douglas ran up to him, a half-full glass in one hand.

"Quick! Alia's drunk and took the new Land Chaser for a test run!"

The reploid in question was seen spinning circles on HQ's lawn with a very expensive prototype. She was hollering, "Aww YEAH! Maximum Warp, Scotty!"

X activated his arm cannon.

"Set phasers on Stun, mister Sulu."

END

Author's comments:

Woo! Wasn't that fun! No? Oh well, review it anyway. Maybe I'll write some more some other time. Maybe.