-- Chapter 4: Zero --

- CRIMSON PALACE, 0800 HRS -

Deep in the bowels of the Crimson Palace, a bright flash of light then cut itself off. Out of the light stepped yet another set of Reploids, and the Reploid-making system was already working on more forces for Diablos' army.

Within Diablos' inner sanctum, Kardina prostrated himself in front of Diablos and said, "Master, another set of the soldiers has been successfully completed. Within 3 days, we shall have enough forces to take over the nearest city."

"This bodes well, Kardina. Indeed, choosing you was not a wrong decision. I-"

Before Diablos could finish his sentence, a klaxon was set off. A screen turned on and revealed the form of Zero. "Zero Wily, former Maverick turned Maverick Hunter, carrier of the Wily Virus, self-proclaimed master in sword-fighting," the massive Reploid rattled off.

"Master, I request your permission to take on this former Wilybot and teach him that he should never have defected," Kardina asked.

"Bold words, but still, you may go," Diablos said.

"Thank you, master," Kardina said as he got up and left the room.

-0802 hours, CRIMSON PALACE-

Zero walked through the courtyard of the Crimson Palace, having noticed the dead bodies of the GA-ranked Hunters as well. "Rank GA... And they still got killed... Accelerando, who was a fellow UH, also went missing here... I suppose Signas was right in sending me here..." As he pondered, he noticed a black flash out of the corner of his eye. Changing his focus from the dead bodies, he drew and ignited the Z-Sabre, which came to life with its customary hum as the green energy blade rose from the hilt. "Who's there?" he shouted.

Kardina strode towards him from his six. "Zero Wily. We have been... expecting you."

Zero whirled around. "You, then, are the one who killed these Hunters and captured Accelerando?" Zero spat.

"Oh, the capture of Accelerando, your dear little younger brother, oh, that would be too great a honour to claim as my own. However, I have bodies of some of your Hunters. Want them? All GA-ranks."

At this, Zero seethed with anger. "How could such a pathetic Reploid like you even beat them? You must be lying! And what is this about Accelerando being my brother?!"

"You never knew, then? You never knew that Accelerando was originally named Shadowsong Wily, built by a great-great-grandson of the doctor, based off Elec Man, Quick Man, and partially off Proto Man? He never did tell you, did he? And you, are denying your heritage! Leaving the Maverick ranks... Joining the Hunters... All against your past!"

"So? Why would you want to resist the Hunters? What do you have against them?"

"Hmph! As if you want to know..."

"This would go against my character, but since X decides to be a pansy, I might as well ask you why you want to fight against us! Speak, or..."

"Or you'll what?" Kardina chuckled at the thought. "Well. The name is Kardina Zendarquor, follower of the late Lord Sigma. I was originally a bodyguard Reploid, serving a family that lived in the city under Sky Lagoon. The day the Lagoon fell, I was out running an errand, and returned to find the house crushed by the Lagoon. Looking around, I noticed that dear leader of the 17th Unit, Mega Man X, warping off, as well as various Repliforce troops running around. It was then that I decided that the Hunters were my enemy."

"Wait, you don't understand! Repliforce was not responsible, it was-"

"Enough talk already! Shall we battle?"

Kardina drew his pistols and, as usual, began firing at Zero. The Hunter grinned and flicked a hidden switch on his saber, activating the Tenkuuha he'd acquired from the Repliforce Incident, and cleaved all the plasma bullets in two. Kardina decided to change strategies and drew his twin daggers, activating the sword blades. He then rushed at the crimson devil with a cry. Zero flicked the switch and deactivated the Tenkuuha, then brought his sword to his side. It began to blow orange.

"Shoenzan!" Zero shouted as he brought his blade up in a deadly uppercut. The flames carried Kardina into the air. Zero then brought his blade to his side again, and it glowed even brighter. Zero bent his legs and then powerfully sprung into the air, his blade engulfed in fire, executing the Ryuenjin, another technique he had learnt during the Repliforce Incident.

As he shot upwards towards Kardina, Kardina quickly flipped in mid-air, recovering, and blocked the blade with his daggers, though he was still singed from the heat. He used the momentum from Zero's upward thrust to flip away and dash under Zero, as he ceased the assault and landed. Kardina drew a KZ-Buster again and fired at the Hunter, thinking he wouldn't be able to guard against it, but suddenly Zero shouted, "Guard Shell!" A sphere of energy encircled him as the plasma shots made contact with it and dissipated.

Kardina returned to using both daggers and adopted a defensive stance. Zero turned around to fact Kardina and grinned - then he sheathed the Z-Sabre. He then stretched his arms out and two daggers warped into his hands- the V-Hangar, acquired recently from the Red Alert War. Zero, too, adopted a defensive stance and grinned. "So, you ready to dance with the devil himself?"

For a couple seconds, neither combatants moved. Then, suddenly, both rushed forward at the exact same time. Their blades clashed again and again; but while Zero had only recently acquired the V-Hangar, Kardina had been using his beloved daggers all his life. The more experienced Kardina eventually gained the upper hand and dealt Zero a gash across the chest. Zero stepped back and blinked, then put his daggers together; with a bright flash of light, they formed into a boomerang. Zero drew it back, and with a great cry of "Souenbu!" hurled the boomerang forward. Kardina cartwheeled to the side at the last moment and the boomerang missed... but it never returned to Zero, for it had warped out and Zero was holding yet another weapon in his hand. "Ready to taste D-Glaive? Suiretusen!" Zero stabbed forward with the weapon, which generated an energy burst. Kardina, however, avoided the attack easily by jumping. He landed on the glaive, jumped, twirled in mid air, and dealt Zero another slash across the back.

"Grrr...! Okay, that's it. No more games!" The D-Glaive warped out as Zero drew his trademark Z-Sabre and the green blade hummed to life. "Time for you to face the full fury of hell!" With a great battle cry, the crimson Hunter rushed at Kardina, as Kardina chanted something. Kardina was about to retort, but he couldn't- he was too busy collecting flames in his mouth. He then shot out a flaming projectile at Zero, who did a little hop and activated the F-Splasher. He did not realise that the flaming projectile would pass through his ice shield however, and only found this out when the searing pain coursed through his body. This did not deter him, however, and instead it spurred him on.

"I knew Magma Dragoon, kid, and you're certainly no Dragoon!" yelled Zero as his Z-Sabre clashed with Kardina's daggers. The Hunter's single sabre was surprisingly faster than Kardina's two daggers- it darted around, searching for an opening, and it scraped his armour more than once or twice. Suddenly, Kardina sheathed a dagger, and darting to the side to avoid Zero's stab, placed his hand on Zero's armour.

"In Corp! HARM!" Kardina yelled as potent energy flowed through his body into Zero's. Zero let out a cry of pain, dropping his saber and dropping to his knees. As Kardina removed his hand, he drew back his dagger to deliver a fatal stab to Zero's back. "You're finished, Hunter scum!"

"Not quite..." came Zero's dangerously quiet voice as Kardina realised, a little too late, that his fist was shining with energy. Even as Kardina plunged his dagger forward, he knew that he wasn't going to make it...

"RAKUHOUHA!!!" Zero yelled out and plunged his energy-charged fist into the ground. A blue aura appeared around him, deflecting Kardina's blade, before an energy ball slammed into his feet, knocking him off balance, and another one slammed into his abdomen, carrying him upwards. Eventually it dissipated, and Kardina fell heavily to the ground. Zero stumbled to his feet when he suddenly felt a searing pain in his right shoulder. He found a dagger embedded in it- Kardina had thrown the dagger at him, and was still on his feet.

"Hahahaha... HAHAHAHA!!!" Zero broke out into laughter. Kardina looked on in

amazement. Had the Hunter finally lost it?

"What's so funny, you filthy Hunter?"

"So, you still in fighting condition?" Zero's voice was strangely venomous.

He pulled the dagger out and threw it back at Kardina, who managed to catch it. Zero cracked his knuckles, then picked up the Z-Sabre. He then charged at Kardina again. Kardina narrowed his blood-red eyes, then chanted something and yelled, "Ascalon!" A large black blade with blood-red runes on it appeared and rushed at Zero. Zero leaped into the air and screamed, "Rakukojin!", causing his Z-Sabre to morph into a large grey blade with a green crystal and grey runes on it. The two huge blades clashed and ultimately cancelled each other out with a flash of bright light. When it cleared, Zero was standing there with his normal Z-Sabre in hand. The black blade was nowhere to be seen.

"Time to play cheap." Zero grinned as a black flame formed around his hand.

"What do you-"

"DARK HOLD!"

Everything froze. Except Zero, of course. He walked over to Kardina.

"Well now, I could probably just stab you through the heart, but where's the fun in that? Instead..." Zero used his blade to carve a "Zero was here" on Kardina's armour before backing quite a distance away and deactivating Dark Hold. The black flame around his hand disappeared.

"I didn't know Hunters played dirty," Kardina spat. Kardina drew his KZ-Busters and started firing again, hoping to hit Zero once or twice.

"Well, NOW you do..." Zero grinned. "Yammar Option!" Three dragonflies appeared around Zero and shielded him from the shots. Zero then warped in his long-unused Z-Buster and aimed it at Kardina as the dragonflies followed. "My turn." He started firing shot after shot at Kardina, and the dragonflies followed his lead by firing at Kardina too, who cursed and hid behind a pile of rubble, preventing him from getting hit. However, Zero gave a mighty leap and soared over his head, turned around in mid-air, and yelled, "Quake Blazer!" as he stabbed downwards. Kardina cursed again and rolled to the side just in time, then nailed Zero with a few plasma shots.

"Ow... that hurts, you little...! That's it! Twin Dream!" Zero appeared to split into two. Both forms advanced towards Kardina, who frantically shot at both with his KZ-Buster, but to no avail as they activated Tenkuuha and blocked his shots easily.

Suddenly, without warning, both dashed forward. Their sabres glowed red as they yelled, "Shippuuga!" They performed a rising crescent slash at Kardina, who again dodged just in time by jumping. With a flash of light, one of the two Zeros disappeared.

"Not bad, you actually dodged it... now, dodge this!" Zero dashed again, but this time his blade glowed blue and crackled with electricity. "Raijinshou!" yelled Zero as he leaped, creating a massive cyclone of electric energy, but Kardina quickly chanted "Flam Hur", forming an aura around him that protected him. Small meteors than fell from the heavens, but most were destroyed by the thunder cyclone, and one that almost did hit Zero was destroyed by a F-Splasher air dash. As Kardina's aura dissipated, Zero turned and yelled "Hieijin!", hurling a small homing missile at Kardina. Of course, it was easily blocked, but damaging was not Zero's intention anyway. Kardina soon found that Zero had used the missile as a distraction to land a slight distance away and begin another attack, his sabre now devoid of the purple Tenkuuha blade and the hilt crackling with electricity.

"Raijingeki!" Just as Zero thrusted his weapon forward, Kardina yelled "Flam Ort Grav!" and a shield of fire formed around Kardina. As the blade of thunder erupted from his sabre hilt, piercing through Kardina and ravaging him with the electricity, Zero felt himself being damaged by... something. It was then he realised some of the damage he was inflicting with Raijingeki was similarly being inflicted back to himself.

The blade of electricity dissipated just as Kardina's flame barrier did. Both fell to their knees, utterly exhausted.

"Impressive, impressive, for a commonly-built Reploid to be able to match me, probably the most powerful mechanical being of my time, you must have some skill, Zendarquor," Zero commented.

"Same here, I have been unopposed until I met you," Kardina said. "It's not over yet, however." Struggling to his right foot, he drew a dagger and raised it threateningly over Zero, relishing in the shocked expression on the crimson devil's face as he realised that his factory-made opponent had the upper hand. "Every generation has its own legend. However, a lost legend like you should have remained lost and dedicated to the Maverick cause, instead of joining those who would oppose it... Allow me to show you wh-"

"Kardina! Allow me, your master, the honour of destroying this Hunter!"

Diablos' voice rang clear, and Kardina moved to the side. Unknownst to him or Kardina, the time Zero got from the distraction enabled him to ready his teleportation apparatus. As Diablos readied his Yin energy blast, he said, "Any last words, Hunter?"

The teleportation apparatus finished its charging up, and Zero mentally grinned as he heard the revving sound. "Yeah, just one."

"And what would that be?"

"Bye." Zero dematerialised into a red warp laser, which shot off.

"No!!" Diablos shouted, launching the Yin energy blast into thin air.

"Master, take consolation in the fact that we were able to hurt him so," Kardina urged.

"Very well..." Diablos said as he floated back to his room.

Okay, please review! Many thanks!