Megaman Axl.

"Quick author's note"

Okay, here we are… the final chapter of Megaman Axl… from the looks of things, I think you already got your prediction for this ending, but I assure you, the real ending will change your minds and have expectations for it. Here we go, Final chapter.

Final chapter. – For the best…

Harpuia kicked the mutilated Axl into a garbage disposal shaft where he landed with the other trash… only matter of minutes before the compactor was activated and finish Axl's life…

Trying to stay alive, the weak Axl muttered his final words…

Axl: Ciel… I'm… sorry…

As minutes passed, faint machinery echoed through the garbage pool. The passive walls begun to move slowly… garbage piling up as the walls drew close…

Axl: I guess… this is it…

Axl closed his eyes ready to die… but when the walls were about three inches away from him, they stopped with an echo of powering down. And with a blink, the whole room became frozen in a black and white aura… Axl opened his eyes trying to understand what was going on… then, he felt a warm presence… familiar… as an energy manifestation descended towards Axl…

Axl: Huh?… this presence… I felt if before…

With a bright light, the manifestation took the form of a Reploid… he was shinning with a bright blue light, but part of his face was visible… he was definitively a spirit…

Axl: You…

Axl knew who he was…

Axl: … X?

Indeed, it was the spirit of X. Eve though X's body was shut down, his spirit lived on as long as people like Axl believed in him. With a faint echo, X spoke to the weak Axl.

X: Axl… you cannot die yet… Only you can bring a difference…

Axl: But… I am the one… who is to blame…

X: No… Even though, the Mother Elf was saved, the lustful humans would have used the Mother Elf to bring power to them. Then, the nations would have fought for that power… and then, Neo Arcadia would have been born to settle it down. No matter what would have happened, Neo Arcadia would have existed… or worse, the power humans would have been fighting over would have been used for the ultimate weapon that would have ended destroying them. Your decision didn't made things worse, but unleashed a future where a light of hope would shine.

Axl: What… hope?

X: Zero is sleeping…

Axl: You mean… he's not dead?

X: He locked himself to remove the Maverick virus within him… I still remember the day when he asked me to make him that favor.

X remember his last moments with Zero… when Zero told X to kill him, and when they said their good byes.

X: Zero is waiting… to be awakened… at coordinates Z2957 X1012 Y1536, is the lab where Zero sleeps. Now, survive and tell them. Once he awakes, hope will return. Go Axl.

As X disappeared, the shutters opened taking Axl alongside the garbage to the waste area where he soaked into the river. As time passed, the stream took him from the outskirts of the metropolis to the waters of an abandoned city… then, his journey was interrupted by a rock formation… just when a resistance fighter was doing his patrol in the area.

: Huh? Hey! Call a rescue team!

The world blackened out around Axl as he heard faint voices.

Cerveau: I don't think he's gonna make it…

Ciel: Axl? AXL!

Fighter: I found him outside in the river. But he looks pretty bad…

Aulette: Ha! Axl!

……………

Next morning, Ciel wasn't able to sleep… she went to the maintenance lab to check on Axl. She hoped he was allright… but the maintenance bed was empty.

Ciel: Cerveau? Axl?

Cerveau: Axl… he didn't made it… he died at 2:35 am. We already buried him… I'm sorry…

Ciel: ………

Cerveau: … But he told me to tell you something before he died…

Ciel: Axl… wanted to tell me something?

Cerveau: He said… that you must go to coordinates Z2957 X1012 Y1536. That's where… Zero is sleeping…

Ciel: Zero? You mean the Maverick hunter Zero? Isn't he dead?

Cerveau: Axl sacrificed himself for getting info on Zero. He found out that he locked himself to remove every bit of the Maverick virus within him, and he's sleeping waiting for the one to awake him.

Ciel: I get it… I will assemble a team to investigate… I will not let Axl down. After rhe sacrifice he made for us…

Ciel grasped her pendant as he bowed to never give up. She turned heading to the command room as Cerveau suddenly spoke with guilt.

Cerveau: Ciel… I wish I could tell you the truth… but I made a promise…

Cerveau's mind projected a flashback… Cerveau entered the maintenance room. He saw that Axl was fine, and he was standing up.

Cerveau: Oh Axl! I see you're better now.

Axl: Cerveau…

Cerveau: Whatever you did over there, you surely took some damage. It was hard to fix you, but we managed as I see. I wasn't able to repair your camouflage system. But everything else seems to be fine. I better tell Ciel, she has been worried sick.

Axl: No… don't tell Ciel…

Cerveau: What? Why not?

Axl: It will just worry her more… and I don't want that…

Cerveau: Then what will you do?

Axl: I decided… I will leave her life… I will go away… for her best…

Cerveau: What? But everyone has many hopes on your recovery!

Axl: Cerveau, I'm not making this choice for me… I'm doing it for Ciel… If I really love her, then I must let her go…

Axl stood up heading out of the room… it was night, so there wasn't anyone on the halls… Axl turned to Cerveau.

Axl: Do me a favor… tell Ciel that I died… and give her these coordinates. Z2957 X1012 Y1536, it's where Zero's sleeping. The same Maverick Hunter I teamed up with a long time ago. It's time for him to awake.

Cerveau: Axl…

Axl: Please…

Cerveau: … Okay…

Axl: Good… then, good bye Cerveau… and… I'm sorry…

Axl walked away heading out of the base.

Then, next morning, Ciel was heading out with a small group of resistance fighters and her Cyber Elf, Passy to analyze those coordinates. Ciel felt something, like someone watching her… She grasped her pendant as she looked around…

Milan: Let's go miss! Before Neo Arcadia forces notice us!

Ciel: Okay…

From far away, to the desert, Axl looked at the abandoned city.

Axl: Good bye… Ciel… and… I'm sorry…

Axl enveloped himself in a cloak as he walked to the rising sun at the horizon. The soft song of Ciel's pendant (Megaman Zero 2 introduction(With Zero walking alone in the sandstorm)) resonated.

As he waked, the incoming sandstorm erased his silhouette at the distance.

Megaman Axl

The end

There, we reached the end… for now…