Disclaimer: I don't own Mega Man Zero, or any of its characters. They are the legal property of Capcom. I do, however, own any other characters you may see in this story. Now that this formality is over and done with...
Author: Hey there. This is my first Mega Man fic. In this story, Zero searches for the Dark Elf after her escape from Neo Arcadia. He begins to realize (again) just how lonely the life of the warrior can be in his search. Ciel meanwhile, is fighting to control her unnatural feelings about the crimson hunter as she grows up, unable to believe what she is dreaming, yet yearning to surrender to it...and at the same time, Fairy Leviathan, reaping a kind of twisted, savage pleasure in her battles with Zero, and the mercy he shows her, begins to wonder which kind of longing falls on her when she sees him. Results: Trembling hearts and jealous battle, questioned loyalties, and one troubled red reploid on the road to the Dark Elf.
Zero: Heart of a Hunter
Prologue: The Story So Far...
This document concerning the recent turmoil was compiled from the entries of the computer journal of General Sage Harpuia, formerly First Guardian of Master X of Neo Arcadia.
In the less recent years, during a long era of peace following the destruction of the viral entity known as 'Sigma', the legendary blue reploid warrior known as Mega Man X worked tirelessly to build the new nation of Neo Arcadia to serve as the sanctuary of humans and reploids forever. With the destruction of most of the other human and reploid authorities during the last of the Maverick Wars, most welcomed the idealistic leadership of the great legend himself, and Neo Arcadia became a thriving nation with hundreds of thousands of peace-seeking humans and reploids putting aside their differences and living together.
Unfortunately, such peace does not often last sadly enough.
At one point, after working in the field of the recent Cyber-Elf research with his assistant, a human scientist named Ciel, X seemed to suffer from terrible mental trauma and, it was believed at that time, fled Neo Arcadia, weeping and inconsolable. It was not revealed until recent years that the 'souls' of the thousands of reploids Master X had retired were finally calling out to him, and X could only hold his grief for so long. Ciel, his assistant, did her best to attempt to maintain order in Neo Arcadia during his absence, but being a mere young human girl, she lacked the necessary respect and toughness to control some of the more belligerent citizens of Neo Arcadia...particularly in the case of the First and Second Guardians of X, Sage Harpuia and Fighting Fefnir, who rather unwisely brushed off the advice of the young scientist and began enforcing harsh new military control policy in the absence of their master to maintain order.
With this bad turn of events, some, though only a fraction, of the population of reploids began to treat humans as second class citizens and new reploid-only organizations and societies were founded by them, particularly in control of some of the major industries and research. Angry at the treatment that these reploids gave them, humans began to riot throughout the nation, demanding a return of equal rights in Neo Arcadia. Eventually, the situation started to become violent despite the best efforts of the remaining Neo Arcadian government. Cursing themselves for fueling the ambition of the 'trouble-making reploids', Harpuia and Fefnir worked night and day to subdue the uprisings and restore order, promising the humans a return to Master X's 'equality' policy. This, in turn, made the 'trouble-making reploids', who were then ever more frequently being referred to by the old word 'mavericks', angry also, as they were becoming very comfortable with their new power.
With the threat of a new civil war drawing ever closer, Master X's assistant, Ciel, became desperate to halt the uprisings of humans and reploids in Neo Arcadia. She realized that the nation once again needed a strong and heroic leader to stop them...
It was by then widely believed that Master X had gone mad and was not returning to Neo Arcadia. Yet the day when the very same legendary hero, or so it was thought, marched back through the gates of his temple fully restored and strong as ever to resume his place as leader, was the day that sent ripples through the nation. Immediately, when beholding X's stern face over every holo-screen in Neo Arcadia, the reploid population fell silent and listened to their master's booming words. For a short while in Neo Arcadia, order was restored without bloodshed by the hand of X.
Again, it was not discovered until very recently that this 'Master X' was in fact not the real X at all, but rather a copy of him built by Ciel to maintain peace in the absence of the real Master X, who had never actually fled Neo Arcadia and rather barricaded himself under heavy guard within the High Temple in net stasis to wrestle with his memories once and for all, as well as maintain the power of Neo Arcadia from his own body.
It is now also known that X did this not only for selfish reasons. He had another purpose in doing so. One of his last discoveries before the end of the Maverick Wars was the support program known as the cyber-elf, which was believed to be created from the DNA 'soul' of the reploid, the same way that the 'angel' is formed from a human soul.
One particular cyber-elf that X discovered was, for reasons known only to him, especially important, and quite powerful. This elf was 'cursed' to have no knowledge of right or wrong and acted as a complete innocent, healing or destroying at a whim. With such power under her command and no particular guidelines for its use, this elf could only be described as dangerous.
X at first tried to teach this elf, but when she began exhibiting hidden programming which made her violent and uncontrollably manic, X was forced to seal her away inside the very same temple where he came to rest later. It was discovered later that X was concerned about the elf, as well as the fact that the master computer she was trapped within was starting to fail under her power, and X himself went into stasis with that computer to contain and converse with the elf, who was later, because of her chaotic reputation, referred to as the Dark Elf by those who knew of her existence.
But in the real Master X's confinement, the 'Copy' X with whom Ciel had replaced him seemed to become a greater threat to peace than any other in Neo Arcadia, perhaps even the Dark Elf. Though Ciel was not aware of it at that time, she had mistakenly used a piece of Sigma virus-infected DNA found at the one of the Eurasia Craters to power Copy X's body when she went looking for archaic parts similar to the ones used to build the original X.
Unlike all other previously documented cases of Sigma infection, the virus' effect upon Copy X seemed, for reasons still unknown, to push his anger towards the reploid population of Neo Arcadia rather than the humans. His infection was not known of until recently with his destruction, which released an identifiable, if archaic, negative energy signature which was recognized by the scientists as that of the ancient mavericks. This information was, for obvious reasons, not disclosed to the general population.
But in the days prior to his destruction, Copy X terrorized the Neo Arcadian reploid population, accusing the vast majority of them of attacking the humans in his 'absence'. He called them 'mavericks', using the same term that the humans had come to use for the ambitious reploids when the Guardians enforced martial law. Though some reploids had committed criminal acts during that period, most of the reploids that Copy X accused were actually innocent. Copy X faced many doubts and questions from his own high command in his decision to capture and retire these 'mavericks', but X overruled those who would listen and terminated the rest as a warning to the others.
Generals Harpuia and Fefnir, who knew of Copy X's true identity, were not the last in objecting to his plan, but they had no choice but to obey him. It was believed in later years that Copy X had ordered the creation of his Third Guardian, Phantom, in order to keep an eye on Harpuia and Fefnir, and to terminate them quickly at any sign of rebellion against his will. The newly created Phantom was fanatically loyal to Copy X and would never budge in his blind obedience to his orders.
Harpuia and Fefnir were wary of the new Third Guardian for a long while before they accepted his company. More pleasing to them was the following addition of the powerful reploid female, Fairy Leviathan, as the Fourth Guardian. Leviathan was a reploid who was created shortly after the end of the Maverick Wars and the founding of Neo Arcadia. She served loyally as a reploid battalion commander until coming to Copy X, openly questioning him about his actions in a blatant example of the boldness of her nature. It is not known exactly how or why, but Leviathan was convinced by Copy X to join the Guardians and assist them in purging Neo Arcadia.
When, for an unknown reason, energy shortages appeared in Neo Arcadia, Copy X accused the reploid population of draining energy for themselves and ordered the purge to begin. It is now suspected that Copy X himself was responsible for the energy drain, as the reploids could not have been in any way responsible without detection.
Ciel, panicked and ridden with guilt at the massive wave of bloodshed at the hands of her creation, began to take another course of action. She planned at first to awaken the original X from his slumber to set aside his copy, but Copy X was a step ahead of her. He had placed a powerful garrison within and around the High Temple with the command to fire on all unauthorized entry and changed the access codes to the Temple Network, thus making it impossible for Ciel to contact X either physically or electronically.
Sensing that Ciel was a threat to his rule as she disappeared from her residence, Copy X issued orders for Ciel's arrest along with that of the 'mavericks' and sent his Guardians to collect her. The Guardians found no trace of Ciel for several days however, and returned to the citadel and Copy X's anger empty-handed. It was reported the day following that, in a bold stroke for the scientist, she had gathered a large force of reploids and forced her way out of the Neo Arcadian capital via the gates.
Ciel and her reploid refugees joined up with many 'wild' factions of repoids as well as the refugees that followed from the Neo Arcadian capital when Copy X's purge continued, and they formed a semi-militant organization with became known as the 'Reploid Resistance Forces', or simply the 'Resistance'.
The Resistance originally placed Ciel as their leader and gathered in a small, abandoned subterranean power plant beneath the deserts close to the Neo Arcadian capital to begin a guerilla campaign against the military rule in Neo Arcadia.
Ciel doubted, however, that this course of action would ever bring peace and it would merely lead to more violence and hatred between human and reploid. She did not doubt she was on the right 'side', but rather than acting by force, Ciel sought to restore peace by developing an alternate energy source that would allow the Resistance to seek a nation of their own away from Neo Arcadia.
But the Resistance, in spite of large numbers in armed forces, were badly equipped and had little military experience of any kind. They long fought a losing battle against the Neo Arcadian forces who swept the desert looking for them until Ciel received an anonymous report from an unknown source giving her the coordinates of a 'super soldier', as it appeared on the report. The coordinates indicated an ancient energy mine in the jungles near Neo Arcadia that had long been abandoned and cleared of any useful equipment and resources.
Nevertheless, Ciel trusted the report, and, in a controversial move questioned by her Resistance Command, traveled in person with a small escort to the mine to seek out the subject of the anonymous message. Unfortunately for her, her force was detected by a Neo Arcadian probe that relayed their location to a nearby garrison. Ciel's escort fell under attack before the entrance to the abandoned mine, with her and her remaining soldiers forced to barricade themselves within the mine to find a way to escape.
It was deep within the recesses of that mine that Ciel discovered a shattered stasis capsule, and the subject still resting within perfect net stasis, though his body was damaged beyond repair.
Ciel had found Zero. The legendary Maverick Hunter and partner to Master X in the years of the Maverick Wars. Zero had been lost since the end of the Maverick Wars, and his location had been unknown to all except Master X. Even X's copy did not know his location.
Subduing her amazement when the Neo Arcadian forces broke into the mine, Ciel was somehow able to resurrect Zero and rebuild his body. It is believed that she did this by the use of her cyber-elf companion; there is no other explanation judging from the state of Zero's resting place as later documented.
The newly-revived Zero single-handedly destroyed all of the attacking garrison and escaped with Ciel following his awakening. Having lost his memory during his period of stasis, Zero was disoriented and confused at first, but he gradually recalled some of his memories and began working for the Resistance.
This was the turning point in the war. Zero was, and is, perhaps the most powerful reploid warrior in the world next to Master X. Though his actual origins are shrouded in mystery, enough is known about Zero's history in the Maverick Wars to know that he was going to be no small inconvenience to the Neo Arcadian forces. At first, Copy X planned to merely stampede Zero with the bulk of his forces, but to no avail. When that failed, Copy X then sent his Guardians to battle Zero. Fefnir and Phantom, of course, only too eagerly engaged Zero in battle, getting their egos being badly bruised in the crushing defeat they received from him. Harpuia, on the other hand, at first tried to convince Zero to join Neo Arcadia, but Zero, knowing of Copy X's true identity and Neo Arcadia's anti-reploid policy thanks to Ciel, refused Harpuia flatly and defeated him when he attacked.
Leviathan, typical for her, first tried to beguile Zero into joining Neo Arcadia by pretending 'interest' in him. Zero did not attack Leviathan at first and rather pointedly asked her to leave him. It was only when Leviathan attacked that Zero fought and defeated her.
Still, despite her crude methods, she probably came closer to her goal than the other Guardians did.
Eventually, Zero penetrated alone into the heart of Neo Arcadia, seeking Copy X, and answers. Copy X at first tried to convince Zero to join him, but when Zero made it clear that Copy X's misuse of his former partner's name angered him, the two battled beneath Neo Arcadia for hours.
The explosion that night that shook the very ground of the Neo Arcadian capital followed by the failure of most vital computer systems and AI complexes in Neo Arcadia showed that Zero's defeat of Copy X was more than just an illusion.
Zero disappeared after that, and Neo Arcadia was in turmoil. With Copy X gone, the remaining Guardians were forced to declare martial law again and maintain Copy X's brutal policy to prevent Neo Arcadia from falling apart while they attempted to resurrect him. They were tempted to awaken the real Master X, but they still could not, as Copy X's encryption of the access codes and channels to Master X's resting place in the High Temple still prevented it even with the copy gone. Phantom had destroyed himself in his last battle with Zero in the desperate attempt to keep Zero from his master, but to no avail. His passing had greatly weakened the Guardians' authority, but they still somehow managed to keep Neo Arcadia together with the minimum of panic. The Guardians ordered the war to continue against the Resistance to forestall public suspicion. Besides, Harpuia, Fefnir, and Leviathan, for reasons understood only by warriors, had developed their own rivalries with Zero, and fighting him slowly became an obsession for each of them.
Zero, however, was no longer with the Resistance. After his defeat of Copy X, he had gone underground for a year and fought valiantly against any enemy he could see, partly in grief at missing the real X, partly because he yearned for his true purpose, and partly because he could not face Ciel. In spite of all the hope he had given the Resistance, Zero was consumed with disgust for himself, much the same way as X had once been. Fighting and killing had been Zero's whole life, and he was weary of needless bloodshed.
Zero eventually became worn down and weakened by his constant exposure and battle wounds. While he was seeking the Resistance to rejoin them when his grief abated, Zero collapsed. It was Harpuia who found him then in the desert near the recently abandoned Resistance base. Harpuia was tempted to kill him while he was unable to resist, but the strength of his desire to fight Zero again was too great for him to bear.
Harpuia dumped Zero outside the new Resistance base in the Outlands, knowing only too well where it was, but yet not daring to directly attack the then-strong Resistance. Harpuia's move was bold, but his rivalry with Zero overruled his reason on that occasion.
Zero was soon discovered and healed by the Resistance forces and he rejoined their ranks under their new leader, Elpizo, a somewhat eccentric young reploid whom Ciel had named as the military leader of the Resistance so she could focus on her research. Ciel had revised her plans for a new energy source and now planned to present it as a gift to Neo Arcadia to negotiate peace and allow the reploids back into Neo Arcadia.
Overjoyed to see Zero again, Ciel asked Zero for his support in her plan, and Zero, feeling Ciel was his only 'friend', agreed. Elpizo, however, did not share Ciel's vision of peace or Zero's respect for her wishes. Elpizo thought, perhaps rightly, that Ciel's plan was naïve, over-trusting, and quite unrealistic in its goals. Despite Zero's and Ciel's pleading, Elpizo launched a full scale assault against the Neo Arcadian capital shortly after Zero rejoined the Resistance, intending to smash the government and win back the reploids' sanctuary by force.
Had it not been for the Guardians, he might have succeeded. Elpizo's forces were decimated and Elpizo himself was badly wounded. Zero arrived in time, confronting the Guardians, much to their delight, to rescue Elpizo. It was then that Zero realized just how strongly the Guardians wanted to face him.
Shortly after Elpizo was rescued however, he disappeared, leaving behind a message that he had a new plan to destroy Neo Arcadia. For both the Resistance and Neo Arcadia mild surprise became strong alarm when it became apparent that Elpizo was planning to free the Dark Elf that X guarded and use her power to destroy Neo Arcadia and build a new reploid-only utopia. Elpizo fought his way through Neo Arcadia, pursued by Zero who frantically tried to reason with him, defeating the Guardians and eventually somehow cracking the protection that led to X's stasis chamber and the computer mainframe that housed the Dark Elf. Zero pursued Elpizo, following the Guardians' plea as they were unable to stop him themselves, and entered X's resting place, where Elpizo was waiting for him.
Frozen by Elpizo's power, Zero could do nothing but watch in rage as Elpizo pierced X's chest with his beam rapier and released the Dark Elf when both X and the computer exploded.
Having freed the Dark Elf, Elpizo was transformed by her power into some kind of super-reploid. He released Zero and attacked him mercilessly with all of the Dark Elf's energy. Zero, once again displaying amazing power and combat skill, narrowly overcame Elpizo and was forced to kill him. What other events occurred in the chamber afterwards are known only to Zero, but the Dark Elf was seen by both the Resistance and Neo Arcadia to escape from the Temple.
At this turn of events, Neo Arcadia once again erupted into turmoil as the news spread of the Dark Elf's existence and the real X's demise. The Guardians tried hard to maintain order, but powerful enemies emerged from the populace and began challenging the Guardians for rule of the nation. Harpuia, Fefnir, and Leviathan knew that Zero had failed to stop Elpizo from destroying X and releasing the Dark Elf, and as such were unwilling to make peace with the Resistance in spite of the fact that Zero had saved Neo Arcadia from Elpizo.
They were, however, forced to halt their offensive against the Resistance and recall their forces to restore order in Neo Arcadia while they attempted to continue resurrecting Copy X, leaving the Resistance temporarily unconfronted. Their hold over the Outlands was then unchallenged, and it seemed the Resistance might have had the chance to rest, had it not been for Zero's disturbing news that the Dark Elf had escaped.
Ciel, remembering the dangerous entity's innocence and sudden violent actions, ordered the Resistance into action again to find the Dark Elf and attempt to seal it. Zero, on the other hand, was intrigued by the Dark Elf for some reason and wished to seek her out. In spite of the fact that Ciel named him the new Resistance leader, Zero took to the field more often than ever, seeking the Dark Elf, for reasons known only to him.
Neo Arcadia too, sought the Dark Elf to recapture her and halt her potential threat. Within the Neo Arcadian capital, Copy X was also being slowly rebuilt. It was a dark and dangerous time for both Neo Arcadia and the Resistance. New enemies were appearing all over the world, threatening to take power. Peace, it seemed, was not going to be an easy thing to achieve.
Yes, yes, I know it doesn't sound like a romance fic. But don't worry, it'll lighten up a bit with the next chapter. Until then, please R&R.
Jim'Van