L. Wulf, We don't know. Its been implied that Dr. Light's been designing X for quite some time, but we don't actually knowwhen he built X. Its been implied in Power Battle that Wily was building Zero, which naturally makes X a couple of years older than that since Zero wasbuilt from X's designs, but its not until Power Fighters that we actually see Wily building Zero. To date, there's not been any actual mention or visual of X. The problem is that PB and PF are arcade games and don't really fit anywhere in the MM timeline.

I've checked with Capcom and and MMZO, both places list Ciel's name as 'Ciel'. So we'll just go with that one.


Zero pushed his thoughts aside as he entered the base. This wasn't the time to get distracted; he needed to be in complete focus right now.

The swordsman turned and headed downstairs, trying to decide what to do next. He knew it would be a waste of time going back to the site of his last battle, Neo Arcadia would have removed all traces of the 'war machine' long ago…

"Mr. Zero?"

The Hunter turned to see Dande a few feet away from him.

"Dr. Ciel's been looking all over for you." The Reploid announced.

"Thank you," The Hunter resumed his course. Quickly he worked his way through the corridors, and down to the level where Ciel's lab was located, a room that he promptly entered.

"Zero?" The human turned to find the Reploid standing in the doorway.

"Zero, I'm afraid that I need to ask for your help again." Ciel's voice was low, probably because she hated sending the swordsman out to risk life and limb for them.

"That's why I'm here." The Reploid folded his arms across his chest, "Now, what's the problem?"

"As you know," Ciel turned and pulled up a screen of data, which displayed a map of the surrounding area. "We have recently begun excavating this mine about twenty miles away for Force Metals. The problem is that we have lost contact with the mining team, either their equipment has malfunctioned, or they are in trouble of some kind, will you go check on them?"

"I will," Zero turned and started to walk away, "Send the coordinates to the Trans Server, I'll be there in two minutes."

"Zero, be careful, don't do anything too reckless."

"I'll remember," The swordsman rushed away, he had a job to do. "And I'll be back."

A few moments later he had arrived at the Trans Server, and had been given the go ahead by the operator.

"Hurry back." The Operator hit the switch to activate the transporter.

Zero didn't respond, but just vanished in a blast of intense light.


A split second later, Zero touched down in a sandy desert, and took a quick look around to gather his bearings.

"Zero!"

The swordsman spun around to see several Resistance Members frantically waving to him from the top of a nearby sand dune. Instantly the Hunter was in motion as he scaled the dune and approached the two Reploids.

"Zero, you're here!" One of the three rejoiced at his presence.

"We thought that the others were done for!" A second replied.

"Hurry, there's not much time!" The third shouted.

"Slow down." Zero commanded the others with his no-nonsense voice. "Tell me what happened, one at a time."

"Right, my name's Nal," The first Reploid introduced herself, before indicating the other two Reploids. "I'm one of the six Reploids that work this mine. He's Arrow, and that's Thrush."

"Noted."

"We were working sub-level nine, the deepest level of the mine," Nal continued to explain, "When-"

"When we were attacked by a swarm of animaloid robots!" Thrush interjected, "Phoenix, our leader, told everyone to get out of there, so we ran."

"We three made it out." Arrow shook his head, "But before the others could reach the elevator, this other robot attacked, he's short, ugly, and not in a good mood. He decimated all of us with this spiked ball-like thing, so we beat it out of there to call for help. Only-"

"Only they had already destroyed the radio." Nal finished, "So there's still three others in there."

"We tried to go back in, but there's this swarm of bee-like creatures that keep swarming around the entrance." Arrow paused to rub his left arm, which Zero realized had been hanging limply the entire time. "And their stingers back a wallop, I still can't feel my arm."

"Alright, I'll go get the others." Zero activated his com-link. "Operator, I've got three Reploids for transport, lock onto my position and bring them home."

"Roger that."

"Now, its party time." The swordsman unsheathed his saber, held it at the ready, and dashed forward towards the mine entrance.

"Watch out for those bees!" Nal called after the Hunter, as she was warped out of the area.

Zero remained mute, and floored it, leaving sandy footprints behind as he dashed across the ground. Looking up, he estimated the distance to the opening, and pushed himself harder, he needed more momentum if this was going to work…

The Hunter reached maximum speed, and then raised his saber for the strike.

"HIA!"

As if on cue, a swarm of angry bee-like creatures appeared around the opening, determined to keep anyone from getting through.

Zero took a running leap, and sailed through the air, his saber cutting through space in front of him.

The swordsman landed on the floor inside of the mine, and deactivated his saber, just as the swarm of robots fell lifelessly to the ground.

"That wasn't too bad." The swordsman charged forward through the dim interior, scanning the area in an attempt to find the lost Reploids.

Slowly but surely he worked his way across the first sub-level, at first there was nothing to worry about, just an occasional bat that would swoop down out of the Cieling, but it was nothing that his Buster couldn't handle.

After a short period of time, he reached a pair of double doors set in the rock's face.

"Probably the elevator," Zero muttered to himself as he glanced over it, "And probably booby trapped."

Deciding not to take any chances, he activated his Shield Boomerang and charged it up to the max. Then, keeping the barrier in front of him, he reached out and hit the button to activate the elevator.

Slowly the doors creaked open...

Hisforesight was rewarded, when a deafening explosion erupted from the open elevator. The force of the blast threw Zero backward like he was nothing more than a rag doll,while the conveyor incinerated itself before the flames died down.

The swordsman picked himself up, and deactivated the shield; the device had probably saved his life.

Zero walked over to the elevator, and took a damage report, the car was much too damaged to use, and if he activated it, the elevator would probably plunge to the bottom of the shaft. Undaunted, however, he pulled out his Buster, aimed it at the elevator's floor and fired.

His shot ripped through the floor, and exploded, creating a nice sized hole in the elevator. His exit created, the Hunter dropped through the floor and latched onto the wall, sliding downward toward sub-level nine.

The swordsman kept an accurate record of each floor that he bypassed, and continued to ride the wall down toward the bottom.

That's when he heard an ominous creaking sound.

Zero's head snapped up, and through the murky gloom and it took him seconds to diagnose the new danger.

The elevator was now plunging downward…

Straight towards him…

"The cable must have snapped…" Zero muttered as he released his hold on the wall and plunged downward, he had to reach the bottom of the shaft before the elevator did, or no one would be seeing him for a long time.

The Hunter kicked off of the opposite wall to increase his speed, but for some inexplicable reason, the elevator was picking up speed faster than he was, it was almost directly behind him!

Zero shot a look downward, and to his relief he saw the bottom of the shaft rushing up to meet him. As he dropped, he took careful notice of where the elevator doors were located; he'd only have one shot at this…

When he was within inches of the doorframe, the swordsman threw his hands out, and grabbed onto the top of the doorframe, using the doorframe as a fulcrum, he turned his downward plunge into a controlled swing. The Hunter vaulted around the doorway and blew out of the shaft, just as the elevator slammed into the ground behind him.

The red Reploid gathered himself, and then stood up, glancing around as he surveyed the area.

"My, you are hard to retire."

Zero's hand flashed downward, snatching and activating his saber.

"I still can't believe that we've been trying to destroy you for over 100 years, with no success."

"Show yourself." The Hunter called out, "And where are the other mining Reploids?"

"The Reploids?" The voice continued, "You mean, those?"

As the voice spoke, a light clicked on in the distance, revealing three trussed up robots, and not one of them was moving.

"Don't worry," A squat robot dropped into view, and placed himself between Zero and the Resistance Reploids, "They're quite all right, although you won't be before long."

"And just who are you?" Zero kept his saber raised as he tried to get a better look at his opponent in the dim light.

"My name is unimportant, but for now, just call me Lion VI." The robot stepped forward, allowing himself to be seen. He was a short robot, about three inches shorter than Zero was, however, he was heavily armored, his feet and forearms had been colored a dark green, and his body was painted gray, and on each arm a large heavy blade had been set. A large spiked ball had been built into his back, and the Hunter suspected that it was detachable, probably so that it could become a weapon.

"Now, let me explain the rules of this game." Lion VI raised his arms so that the blades pointed at his opponent. "One of us must be destroyed, and the victor gets to decide the fate of those three Reploids. If I win, they will be destroyed, if you win, they shall be freed."


'Nal' was such a softball that I'm not even going to make it a trivia question. (It's 'Lan' spelled backward.) But on the other hand,a cookie goes to whoever can figure out 'Lion VI'.

Next: (ain't it obvious?) Battle!