"It's the virus! The virus is fighting against the program!"

"Kitty's right-the virus is pushing back the program's functions-the virus inside of Captain Zero's body is no different from a huge tidal wave! We've got to do something!"

"But we can't-there isn't much time!"

"The power of the virus is increasing by 2.56 percent! It isn't stopping!"

Chaos exploded inside of the room that had been completely silent just a few seconds ago. The hearts of every Reploid in the room began to beat at an unbelievably painful rate…..suspense grabbed at every one of their souls and tormented them in the fashion of a sadistic, relentless clown. Eyes became wide with great fear, palms became sweaty…..the hearts of many Reploids began to beat incredibly fast…..too fast….

What seemed like a million sentences went off at once. The silence that had been upon them just a few seconds ago was now gone. Every single Reploid was restless, uneasy….none of them could stay silent…..none of them could stay the way they had been for such an excruciatingly long amount of time. Suspense had every single of them by the throats-

The horse race was coming to an end, but the horses were still neck and neck.

Every Reploid in the base was tuned into the events going on inside of the ICU room. Not a single one of them could breathe, or even speak. The ability to think was no longer in existence. All of them were frozen by fear….it was as if they were all stuck in a time warp…..swirling around in a whirlpool of immense emotions…..

"The power of the virus is increasing by 5.81 percent!"

"The program is being completely consumed by the virus! There isn't a thing we can do to stop them from uniting with each other!"

Axl looked over at the male Reploid that had just spoken. Once again, his eyes were shimmering with awe-inspiring determination and strength…..the Reploid was brought to tears the very second the Black Tiger looked at him. The young Reploid's voice was firm, yet still gentle and calm, like the voice of a true leader….

"The program is being consumed by the virus! Don't tell me that the virus is increasing its power because of the program!"

"You're right! The virus is attacking the program by using its functions to increase its power! And the power of the virus is increasing at an unbelievable rate! We've never seen anything like this before!"

Chaos was at an extreme, intolerable level. None of the Reploids, with the exception of Megaman X, Alia and General Signas were silent. The ICU team members were frantically trying to slow down the virus, but their efforts meant nothing….orders were shouted out from left to right, the keyboards were drummed on, eyes darted back and forth, hearts stopped…..Alia held onto X's hand, X held onto hers….Signas closed his eyes…..

"The virus is still increasing its power!"

The young Black Tiger, a former member of the Red Alert Syndicate, closed his eyes.

Great. Can things get any better than this?

Axl took a very deep breath….and slowly began to close out every noise, every sound around him. The beating of his heart became slower……and the frantic voices that surrounded him slowly drifted away from him. He could feel the heartbeats of his friends……and the song of their souls slowly melted away into his….as distant memories rose to the surface of the present. Serenity made its way into his body…his mind…..he thought of everything he could…..thought of the smiles he had received….the promises he had made……

The promises that had been broken…..

"Axl! Come, dear child!"

"What is it, Red?"

"My young friend, Snipe and I need your assistance. We're trying to upload this program into our databanks, but I'm afraid there's something preventing us from doing so. You seem to know so much about technology-I was you…?"

"Sure, no problem. I'll try my best."

I'll try my best.

I said those words to you…every day. I promised you….that…

We would fly together….someday.

I wanted to protect you….the way you protected me. I wanted the two of us to live life to the fullest.

But my dreams…..can't come true.

You're gone.

I didn't leave you-you left me. And that's all there is to it.

I am about to become someone stronger.

I'm no longer the one you knew….long ago.

From this day forth, I will be my own individual…..I'll be strong…..

I'll go on without you.

The eyes of the young Reploid flew open, and his fingers shot right to the keyboard of the main center. Millions of voices continue to stream into his ears, like waterfalls of ice…millions of eyes fell on him, filled with the highest amount of tension possible….and millions of hearts went out to him, filled with…..

Hope.

Silence entered the ICU room a few minutes later. The eyes of every Reploid in the room were glued to Axl, who was helping the program fight against the huge tidal wave that wanted to eliminate his friend's soul. None of them could breathe-the suspense was beyond control. Hundreds of messages appeared and vanished as quickly as they came….data jumped all over the screen from every direction…..

The young runaway from the Red Alert Syndicate felt like a college student that only had five minutes to take an entrance exam.

Five minutes elapsed. Axl slammed a fist down onto the keyboard in frustration as the latest message burned right into his eyes-

"What! System failure!"

The young one pounded his fist on the table several times, unable to shake off the fiery poison of misery…

"Dammit-no no no no no no no no no NO! This can't be!"

Crap! I'm going to have to reboot the entire system-but that'll take too long! I've got the WORST luck!

"This just isn't my day!"

X's heart came to a complete stop. The Maverick Hunter closed his eyes, took a deep breath….and held it, unable to complete the exhaling process. The nightmare was still going on…..everything was happening so fast…..and he was dangerously close to losing the friend he cared for so much….

"We've got about five minutes left. All of Captain Zero's systems have shut down. None of them are operational."

Axl pounded and pounded on the control panel…trying to think of something….trying….trying……trying…..

"Crap…….what now?"

Rivers of hot sweat poured down his face and drenched his body. His heart was beating at a slow rate, but it was a painful, irritating rate. The young Reploid took deep, heavy breaths, wanting to calm himself down…….but nothing was working. His mouth was as dry as a rock, his head was spinning…..

Wait a minute. I can't do this. Everything's in my hands. I can't panic. The leader of a team can't panic in a crisis. I can't panic because everyone's depending on me. Zero's depending on me. But what should I-

"Hold on a sec."

One minute passed. The young one raised his head and continued to work on the keyboard, but this time, his typing speed had increased. His eyes were still filled with a heart-rending amount of valiance….but this time, the mist of starlight was in his eyes. His heart was pounding as if it had all of the time in the universe to function…..and because of its laziness, his whole chest was burning. Megaman X looked into his new friend's eyes, his own eyes filled with fear…..

What's he doing?

A moment later, the face of the beautiful Alia lit up just like a Christmas tree. "Ah ha! He found it! He found a way PAST the rebooting process! He did it!" she cried, soaring through the skies of pure, unrestrained ecstasy. General Signas looked at the face of the Navigator in shock, feeling like someone watching the greatest soap opera climax.

"How! How is that possible! How was he able to pass the rebooting process!"

"It's simple, really." Dr.Cain stepped up, speaking and looking like a professor at a lecture. "All y'have to do is locate the backup program and activate it. A backup program supports the system, if the system decides t' go out to lunch."

(A/N: I'm completely aware of the fact that my knowledge of technology stinks. I'm awfully sorry if I frustrate anyone because of all this! Once again, none of this is true-I'm just making it to suit my story.)

"Are you serious!"

"Of course I am. It's an extremely difficult process, but if you know your stuff, it doesn't take much time."

X put both of his hands together……..beads of hot sweat soared down his body, feeling like enormous raindrops….his heart began to pound faster and faster….and his mouth became painfully dry…..

"Oh God…..Axl……..please…….don't let him go….."

To X's surprise, the young one turned right around and smiled at him.

"Hey. I made you a promise, didn't I?"

The eyes of the Maverick Hunter widened in great surprise as the young one went back to work. His head had been down, and he had whispered those words to himself….how did Axl pick up what he had said?

"Axl….."

Three minutes passed.

"Two minutes remaining!"

"The Panacea program is up and running! Axl made it through the wave!"

"The power of the virus is decreasing by 75.02 percent! It's working! Our new friend did it!"

Sunlight was finally breaking into the entire base. Hearts soared into the heavens. Smiles blossomed on every face…..oceans of dew rushed into every pair of eyes…..and hearts became light with the pristine purity of happiness. Axl continued to work on the mission he had taken on, his eyes still shining with determination…….many pairs of eyes were on him, and hearts were filled with immeasurable shock….

Axl, the young Reploid that had left the Red Alert Syndicate to become a Maverick Hunter-

Was creating the greatest miracle of all.

One young Reploid was restoring the light of hope….a light that had been lost just a few hours ago. None of them thought it could be restored…..but there was one Reploid that refused to give up. He refused to stop believing in the very thing that had saved his life a few months ago-

Hope.

Four minutes.