Return of Metal
Chapter 2
"Darkness And Light"
By MEGAMANX411

As X walked around Maverick Hunter HQ, he could feel the presence of a heavy shadow over his heart. It was almost too much to bear. It was as if he had the weight of guilt on his conscience, but there was no way to remedy it. His chest resonated with a deep, almost poisonous pain. It was like he was feeling the effects of some evil, dark magic. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, but the pain was evident in his face. He huffed and puffed a little more as he went through even the most basic of training regiments. Blasting targets while scaling walls was nevera challenge for him before. Now he had to really try.

That was when he saw a sudden flash of light. It wasn't like he saw it before him at all, it was more like it came from the inside. Like it was something from inside his head. X clenched his eyes tight after the burst of light came forth, and because of the surprise, he accidentally let go of the wall and fell to the ground. He smacked the floor with a loud thud, and painfully rolled over. He didn't know what was going on, but the pain was most certainly obvious to him. That was when it happened again. Like a flash of insight. This time, however, he saw an image.

There was a black cloud. He saw the dark haze flow around him, like an evil entity that threatened to swallow him hole. There was nothing else. It was a very familiar evil, something that X had felt in the past. That's when he saw Metal. Well "saw" was kind of a loose word. It wasn't exactly like he saw him with his eyes or anything. It was more like he simply knew he was there. He could kind of sense. He saw the former villain become entangled in the black mist, and just has he did, X saw the faint outline of some legendary wings sprouting out of Metal's armor. Before X was thrust back into his own world, he could clearly see that Metal had gained something that was intended for X to have. X quickly came back to life, and as he did so, Alia stood over him with a worried expression.

"X, what happened? You've been out for awhile, I was getting really worried. Do you need a diagnostics check?" Alia asked.

"No, I don't think so anyway..." X replied, rubbing his eyes.

"Do you feel fatigued at all? Is there something wrong?" Alia continued, still a bit worried.

"I feel a little drowsy, but really, I'm fine. I just saw something," X answered, trying to sort out his thougts.

"What was that X?" Alia asked, not quite catching the last thing X said.

"Hey Alia? Can I ask you something?" X answered.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Well, my personal battle equipment is secure in Maverick Hunter HQ, correct?" X asked.

"X, the only one who can synchronize with that equipment is you. You can call upon your armors at any time simply if you want them to, because you were designed with them. I don't think you need to be worried about your gear," Alia answered, obviously guessing that X was worried about his armor horde.

"Yeah, you're right, nevermind," X replied, trying to end the conversation. "Thank you for your help Alia, but I'm fine now. I think I'll just go for a walk. I'll be back in a few."

"Ok, take care X," Alia answered.

X slowly walked past the blonde-haired navigator, and just took a stroll around HQ. He took a quick stop at the vending machine to get a drink, but he was so steeped in thought that he really didn't even get much out of the beverage. He just thought about what that clue could possibly mean. That flash of light, that dark mist, Metal, and that armor. What does it all mean? X was just worried that something was coming. He didn't want to believe that Metal went back on his word, after all, they did come to reach an agreement. If X didn't trust him, then there was no foundation to base an agreement. But still, X did theorize that Metal shared what seemed to be an almost identical design. Or at least, similar design principles. In that case, would it be possible for him to synochronize with equipment intended for X to use?

That's ludicrous, X thought. Dr. Wily made him, and Dr. Light made me. There's no way he could do that. We can't be that much the same, we're like darkness and light.

Darkness and light. Is that the same as good and evil? X admitted that his comment was a bit too cut and dry. Things usually weren't that simple. He had certain pains in his own heart that he would much rather be rid of, and he didn't consider himself to be fully good. He had good intentions, but was he thoroughly good down to his core? Then there was Metal, the darkness. Was he fully evil down to the core? It doesn't seem that simple in the end. X's head started to throb due to all his thinking. He worried about whether or not Metal still held up his agreement, he worried about his friends, he worried about what might happen, he worried about his dreams, and for some odd reason, he could feel as though something was going to happen.

What troubled X the most was that how horrifying his dreams were. If Metal was truly the darkness, and X was the light, X could only wonder what would happen if Metal was the one who got all of Dr. Light's modifications. He would've been far more powerful. But to what end would Metal use that power? X, on one hand, hated violence and only fought when he really needed to. He understood that he had to fight at times, but it wasn't like he would ever go out just to fight on a whim. Metal, on the other hand, was a far darker individual. Although he wasn't necessarily fundamentally evil, he still would submit to his own desires far easier than X would. Metal was impulsive, rash, and violent, while X was thoughtful, kind, and reasonable. The two of them were so different...yet they stemmed from the same designs. Did that make them somewhat the same at their core?

"No...we can't be the same, can we?" X muttered, looking out anearby window. "Oh...it's getting dark..."

X then narrowed his eyes out the window. In the distance, he thought he saw the faint outline of a person. It could have been either a reploid or a human, he wasn't sure. He couldn't make any features out using just his plain eyesight. He could get a better picture if he were to use his optic sensors to a more efficient capacity, however. He focused in on the individual. Something was odd about this though. Normally, X would've been able to make out this person. But the darkness around him wasn't normal. It seemed to eclipse everything. The figure became shrouded in darkness, completely invisible to X's vision. That's when X was struck with true terror. He got an odd feeling from this person. He realized who it was, but it didn't feel the same.

"He's back! But...I wonder. Is his purpose evil, or does he still remember our agreement? It feels odd though...I can almost feel his thirst for power. I have to take care of this before it gets out of hand!" X shouted, running for the door.