"Ohmigod! The internal systems of Captain Zero are being healed at an incredible rate!"

"The power of the virus is decreasing at 82.9 percent!"

The excited voices of the Reploid workers streamed into the ears of the young Reploid, but he kept his focus on his mission. Cool sweat dripped down his hands slowly as he continued working on the program….but there was something amazing about the way he was taking care of things. The young one's eyes were completely closed, and yet he was drumming away on the keyboard as if they were completely open. Sweat was streaming from his head in tiny beams of light, and deep breaths were coming from the young one's chest. He was perfectly calm, but at the same time, he was about to break into a fit of ecstasy because of the excitement flowing through the room. The eyes of Megaman X and the eyes of many others kept themselves glued on the young Tiger, who was creating the world's greatest miracle. Even though some hearts were rapidly pounding upon the drums of the highest happiness, many hearts were still having difficulty pounding upon anything because of the suspense flowing through the room.

X was unable to remove his eyes from Axl for even a second. The young Reploid either had eyes inside of his eyelids, or he memorized everything he needed to do. Either way, the Black Tiger was a phenomenal, miraculous living being. The Maverick Hunter had never before seen such strength, determination and confidence in any other Reploid….and that fact brought an ocean of tears to his eyes. His heart was slowly beating upon the drums of apprehension…a part of him still believed that the nightmare he had been in for so long was still going on….but the other part of his heart believed that the nightmare…..

Was getting ready to end.

And it was because of one young Reploid-

A Reploid he just met hours ago.

X's mind went back to the time of uneasy silence….the silence he threw Axl into. He thought of everything he had said to the young Reploid about how he loved to hide his feelings….his emotions…his thoughts on things. The Hunter felt immense pangs of regret when he brought up those memories, but at the same time….he still believed that everything he had told the young one was true. Axl loved hiding within himself-he wanted no one to care, no one to worry, but he wanted to clean the world's problems in one swoop. The young one was still drumming away on the keyboard, sweating with excitement….perfectly calm and confident in himself….

It just wasn't fair.

Axl wasn't being…..fair.

"Four minutes and forty-seconds!"

The suspense level shot beyond the roof and beyond the heavens.

There were over 760 Reploids inside of the base.

Not a single one of them could breathe.

"The program's waves are being installed inside of Captain Zero's systems!"

"Our system is accepting every bit of the Panacea program!"

X closed his eyes.

"It's working! The power of the virus is dropping 99.92 percent!"

"Four minutes and fifty-five seconds!"

"The virus has come to a halt. It's being unraveled by the program!"

"The virus is involved in a battle with the Panacea. It's trying to fight back, but it's losing the war!"

"It's working! It's working, I tell you! The virus is being removed from Captain Zero's entire body! It's being completely drained out of him!"

"Five minutes and fifty-nine seconds!"

Right after those words pierced the air, a brilliant flash of crystal white light broke into the air, and blinded everyone within a ten-mile radius. Sharp gasps rose from the mouths of many Reploids, and hearts jolted with an enormous amount of fear. Hearts tried to escape from the chests of their owners madly, the way a prisoner tried to escape from its jail cell….eyes widened, mouths dried up…..the suspense was maddening. A Reploid named Ty shattered the maddening silence, his normally calm and dignified voice high-pitched with excitement.

"It's Captain Zero! It's Zero-his body is glowing with a white aura! The program is healing him!"

The bright flash of light kept all of them blinded for five whole minutes….then….

The light died down…….

And…….

Every single pair of eyes went straight to Zero. The silence in the room drove everyone insane...including the normally nonchalant, playful Dr.Cain. Hearts stopped, eyes became even wider…..no one could speak. No one could even think of a word to speak.

Axl was completely frozen himself. The young one's eyes were pasted on the body of Zero, one of the greatest Maverick Hunters of all time. He wanted to blink, since his eyes were becoming drier than rocks, but blinking was not possible. His heart was acting as if it wanted to fly right out of his mouth…he wanted to walk towards the body of the Crimson Flame, but walking wasn't really possible either. Silence drove everyone out of their minds until……someone gave the results of the event. It was as if the greatest horse-race had ended, and it was time to announce the winner of the million-dollar prize.

The announcer was a male Reploid named Dionysus, and he made the perfect announcer. His eyes were glued to the data on his screen…..

"He did it. He did it. He actually did it."

A second later, he shot up from his station and practically flew into the air, screaming-

"HE DID IT! HE DID IT! CAPTAIN ZERO HAS BEEN HEALED! HEEEEEEEEE DID IT!"

No one could have described what happened next.

Every single being in the Maverick Hunter base began to cheer, and they began to cheer at the top of their lungs.

Hundreds of Reploids hugged and kissed each other madly, as if they had been released from the darkest, coldest dungeon in existence. Hundreds of Reploids wept….even male Reploids broke down on their knees and released every bit of happiness they had within their hearts.

It was as if the greatest Super Bowl between the two greatest teams of all time had ended, and the losing team had only lost by a point.

It was as if the entire planet had been released from bondage.

There wasn't a proper way to describe what was going on inside of the base.

There were over 760 individuals inside of the base.

And not a single one was silent.

Douglas covered a nearby Infirmary worker in kisses. Dr.Cain did the same to General Signas. Alia covered Axl in kisses, and there were at least two hundred other females that wanted a chance to huge and squeeze the young Reploid. There had been just fifty individuals inside of the ICU room, but now, there were waves of Reploids pouring into the room-

"I WUV YOU I WUV YOU I WUVVY YOU SO MUCH!"

"HEY! LET ME GO-I'M NOT SOME STUPID KITTY CAT! CUT IT OUT, ALIA!"

"Let me have a turn! I wanna hug the cute widdle Axl!"

"HEY! I SAID CUT IT OUT ALREADY! JEEZ!"

The beautiful celebration continued. Millions and millions of tears were shed, kisses were given to friends and family, embraces were tight and warm…..the celebration was going to go down as the greatest celebration of all time. The Black Tiger was tormented by a massive crowd of female Reploids for a few minutes-at first the non-stop hugging and kissing bothered him, since he wasn't used to such behavior, but then he accepted everything with the warmest smile. Hundreds of Reploids warmly embraced him, gave him their gratitude and congratulated him for creating such a wondrous miracle.

Hundreds and hundreds of Reploids.

The most beautiful ocean of dew filled the young one's eyes.

He felt like an emperor that had just saved his kingdom.

He wanted to break down and cry himself. Never before in his life had he received such a wild, magical celebration. Appreciation like this didn't occur everyday.

There wasn't a frown in the house. Every single individual inside of the base…

Was happy.

And it was all because of something he did.

I did this.

Everything's okay now….and it's because…of something I did.

With my own hands.

I actually saved him.

"Sheesh, I didn't know I was actually so smart…."

The cheering went on for several minutes, but then a frantic, urgent voice broke through the ICU room. It was the voice of Gate, Alia's best friend and Infirmary Chief.

"Everyone! Everyone! Quiet!"

The words of the researcher spread throughout the thick crowds like fire, and within ten minutes, silence was restored.

The horse-race had ended-but both of the top entrants had finished with a photo finish. Both of them had been neck and neck right up to the very end-what was going to happen now?

Fear instantly blossomed on the faces of many Reploids, but the deadly emotion didn't explode. It was a harmless type of fear-the type that came about because of a high level of suspense. Gate gave his report right after silence entered the base-

"Captain Zero's leaving the state of unconsciousness! He's stirring!"

"Stirring what!" A male Reploid named Nimbus cried out, obviously going insane because of the excitement in the atmosphere. "Come out with it!"

"He's waking up, you nimrod!" A beautiful Reploid named Peony slapped her clapped right in the face unintentionally, also being driven mad by the excitement in the air. "The captain's waking up!"

Indescribable oceans of crystallized dewdrops filled the eyes of Megaman X the very second Peony's words reached his ears. A gentle gasp left his mouth, and he began to tremble softly……

Is this….is this….true?

Axl clasped his hands together, once again unable to remove his eyes from the body of the Crimson Flame. His heart, which had been pounding so quickly just a few minutes ago, stopped right in its tracks. His eyes widened with excruciating tension-

The air was FILLED with thick tension. It was beyond unbearable.

"Is this….true?" X whispered, wanting to break down and cry because of the sobs wracking his body. His voice was quaky, hoarse and weak….

"Is this true? Is it really over?"

"I think so….." Axl replied, trying to ignore the possibility of dangerous side effects the program could have. "I….think….so…."

"All systems are green. Captain Zero is leaving the state of unconsciousness."

Once again, no one could have described what occurred next.

-Hello to everyone! Big hugs all around. Thanks so much for the support and enthusiasm. This story started out really small, but now it's really big, and its something I'm proud of. I'm lucky to have many wonderful fans. I'm also honored by the requests to review other stories. All of you are like my big ol'family.