I'm glad people like this. As a fair warning, this fic will get a bit dark.
X and Zero finished walking down to Cain's lab. He aged man looked up from the readouts as they walked through the door.
"So you decided to join us Zero?"
"Yeah, I definitely want to see this new reploid you found."
Cain nodded and began going through the final systems check.
"So X, what do you know about this guy?" Zero asked, gesturing towards the capsule.
"He was made by Dr. Light. Beyond that, nothing."
"You mean he didn't have any markings or whatever?"
"No and neither did me when my capsule was found." Zero turned his head to Cain.
"Hey Doc, how long until we can wake him up?"
"Actually I was just about to start the activation sequence now."
Cain typed a few commands into his computer and the activation program started running. The three of them turned to the capsule and eagerly waited. Power flowed into the reploid's internal fusion reactor, bringing it online. His deathly pale face turned a healthy looking color. Blood flowed through his artificial veins. With a hiss, the capsule's hydraulic systems opened the plasteel door. They drew closer, waiting for the final moment. The reploid's eyes opened.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" X, Zero, and Cain jumped back as they heard the reploid scream out. X instantly had his buster pointed at him and Zero had his saber ready. They watched as the reploid's hands shot up to its chest and he curled up the best it could into a fetal position. "What's happening!?" X yelled out to Cain. The doctor had his hands covering his ears and barely managed to hear X. "I don't know!" They watched nervously as the reploid continued to scream. After a minute, he slowly stopped and was breathing heavily.
"Wha… what happened?" The reploid managed to ask between breaths, obviously not aware of his surroundings yet.
"My bullet wounds… I don't feel any pain." He sat up and put a hand to his head. Letting his breathing return to normal, he looked around the room. The first thing he saw was Cain.
"Are you the doctor who saved my life," he asked. Cain stared at him.
"What do you mean saved your life?"
"I was walking along the road on the outskirts of town and I was attacked by a gang. They shot me five times. I think the last one hit me in my heart."
It was then that he noticed X and Zero.
"Neat costumes. Isn't it a little early for Halloween though?"
X and Zero just stared at the reploid. X morphed his buster back into his hand and Zero put his saber away.
"What the hell was that?!" He asked after seeing X's hand reappear.
"Can I ask you a question," Cain said, stepping a little bit closer.
"Sure."
"What's your name?"
"Dan. Dan Parker. Who are you guys?"
"This is Megaman X and Zero." X and Zero each nodded at their name. "And I'm Dr. James T. Cain. I'm the one who found your capsule."
"Capsule? What are you talking about?"
"Can you get up?"
"You're the doctor. You tell me."
"Well, I don't know. You're a special case. Just see if you can." Dan shrugged and easily hopped out of his capsule and onto his feet.
"That felt weird. Are my legs in a cast or something? They feel heavier than normal." He looked down at his legs and let out a gasp of horror.
"What the hell happened to my legs?!?" Dan's breathing rapidly increased as he looked over the rest of his body. His eye went wide with fear as he looked up at Dr. Cain.
"What did you do to me!?!?"
"Now just calm down-"
"I will NOT calm down until you tell me what you did and then change me back!"
"I found you like this in the capsule behind you." Dan
whirled around and saw it. "Where am I?"
"You're in Maverick Hunter Headquarters." X answered.
"Maverick Hunter? What's that?"
"In a nutshell, we find and destroy and a reploid that has gone maverick. I'm the leader of Hunter Unit 17."
"And I'm the leader of Special Hunter Unit 0," added Zero. Dan said something very quietly. "What did you say," asked Cain.
"I asked what year is this!?"
"2129."
"No… it can't be." Dan bolted and headed right through the door. Cain, X, and Zero followed as quickly as they could. Dan ran down the hallways of MHHQ, knocking down anyone who stood in his way. At last he reached the lounge and looked for a window. Seeing one, he walked up and glanced out upon the outside world. "No…" Dan weakly pounded the window. Soon he was beating it with all his strength and saying the same thing over and over.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!" The glass shattered and he turned around. X, Zero and Cain ran in just as he slid to the ground. Tears were streaming down his face as he put his hand to his head.
"This can't be happening. God, this can't be happening." Unknown to Dan, he was now the center of attention, but at that point he wouldn't have cared.
"This is just a dream. This is all just a horrible dream." He picked up a piece of glass from beside him and slashed his arm once.
Dan gasped in pain and dropped the now bloody glass. Seeing the blood ooze from his veins put the look of despair into his eyes.
"No…" He broke down and cried.
The next day headlines all over the globe read the same thing. "DR. CAIN'S LATEST DISCOVERY" The accompanying articles read the same as well.
"In a conference today Dr. Cain, famed archeologist and reploid researcher, announced that he had discovered another reploid within the remains of Dr. Thomas Xavier Light's lab remains. Dr. Cain issued the following statement concerning the newly discovered reploid, 'All I can say at this time is that this reploid is yet another tribute to the genius of Dr. Light.'"
Dan kept himself locked up in the room he had been given. The look of despair still hung heavily over his features. He almost never left his room, not even to eat. Genuinely concerned about his welfare, X brought him food every morning, noon, and evening. Dan ate the food without even realizing it. With the condition his mind was in, he didn't taste the food he was eating. It was two weeks after he was found when Cain knocked on his door. Even though Dan didn't reply, Cain knew he was there and walked in.
"I don't if it still is in this time, but that's considered rude," Dan absently said.
"It still is but I have to talk to you."
"There's nothing I want to talk about."
"Well there're some things I have to talk you about." When Dan didn't reply, Cain shook his head and proceeded to talk anyways.
"We need to run some tests on you."
"Tests? For what?"
"We need to see how well you can function, to find out what your limits and capabilities are."
"Why is that important?"
"You're a very unique individual; you were built by Dr. Light."
"He didn't build me. I was born."
"You know what I mean." Dan stayed silent.
"For your information, all the reploids in the world were based off of X. He was the first reploid ever and he was built by Dr. Light."
"So you want to see if I'm more advanced than him?"
"Not really-"
"Just answer the damn question." Cain sighed.
"Yes." Dan thought it over for a minute.
"Fine. This better not take too long though."