Author: Another chapter to type, another addition to the story. Thank you readers and reviewers that make my job more enjoyable. Okay, so those silhouettes are not those guardians associated with Dr. Weil in MMZ3, but they are something else. What are they? Well, you will have to wait for that. Props to Ligar for pointing out my Matrix and DBZ allusions. Yes, I had recently watched Matrix Reloaded for the second time and I just had to quote from DBZ. The pistol Zero had was the original one Axl used, and the feature it had was the Copy Shot ability. Where does the story go from here? Read on and find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Disclaimer: I do not own MMZ or the Megaman series. Those rights belong to Capcom. Any characters that I make up are my own.

Phantom Reloaded: Part 1

"Here's the database location for Reploforce's plans." Zero tossed the disc onto Ciel's desk. The container with the weapons in them was on her desk already, but Ciel wasn't concerned with that at the moment.

Earlier before he came back to the Resistance, he had already stopped by the old Red Alert base to download the data. However, the information there was only the location of the plans. The plans could not be accessed from an outside link.

"So, then how would we access these files?" Ciel scratched her head. She had already inserted the disc and opened up the file, but a firewall blocked the plans. It could not be hacked through, and there wasn't a password system. The files were completely locked out.

Ciel clapped her hands together, suddenly remembering something. "Oh, Zero! There was a new group of reploids joining the Resistance. They just came in by truck, so can you escort them in?"

"Sure. I got it." Zero got up and opened the door.

Surely enough, a reploid was already standing in front of the door when Zero opened it. He seemed like a small boy, and had short orange hair. He wore large specs about almost the size of his entire head, and he was considerably short. Zero almost walked over him, not seeing where he was.

The boy fixed his specs and said with a glib voice, "I suppose you are looking for the new reploids. Before you ask, yes, I am one of them. The rest are in the repair rooms; they were injured on the way here. An attack of some sort, but no casualties." His specs tilted to one sides and he grunted, fixing them once more.

Zero was impressed with the ease and carelessness in his voice when he spoke of the others being attacked. He didn't know whether this boy was calm or just didn't care. Ciel walked behind Zero and bent down to level with the boy.

"Hello there! And you are?" She had a sort of cutesy voice, as if she were cooing a child.

The boy noticed this, but he acted oblivious to it and said promptly, "My name is Dex. I am a former computer and data operator for a local reploid company. Recently, I have created several programs to optimize the effectiveness of the average computer."

Dex turned to Zero and glanced up and down, examining Zero's body. "If your body structure wasn't designed in the masculine form, I would say with the hair tied in a ponytail you would resemble a female reploid."

This kid likes to talk. And why does everybody comment on my ponytail? Zero crossed his arms. "Well, if you know so much about computers, can you help us with this dilemma we have? We've been trying to access these files, but some firewall blocks us. We tried everything to penetrate it, but nothing works."

Dex immediately took a chair and sat himself in front of the computer. He didn't touch the keyboard, he just observed the monitor. He rubbed his chin and then he shot a finger up in the air. "The firewall is strong enough to make sure an outside link does not get through. In other words, there is nothing we can do here."

Zero cursed under his breath and Ciel sighed deeply. Dex grinned, however.

"There is nothing we can do here. The methods you have tried are from the outside world, trying to approach this indirectly. If we were to destroy this firewall from the source, then there wouldn't be anything blocking the data. So, we have to go into the High-speed Super Information Highway."

Zero raised a brow. Ciel, however, understood what Dex meant and agreed whole-heartedly. Still, Ciel had her 'cooing' voice.

"So, I guess we should send somebody into the Net? But how would we do such a thing?" Ciel pondered this.

"Simple. We use a conductor able to transfer data from a source in the outside world and transfer it into the Net. I have such a device. The reploids who were carrying my supplies should be here shortly. That is, if they get here fast enough."

On cue, a bundle of reploids were lugging boxes, which were apparently heavy since they were grunting and sweating. Zero chuckled and took two boxes under each arm and set it in Ciel's lab. The young scientist wanted to object and was about to, but the boxes were already set.

Zero opened up the boxes and there were several parts of a device of some kind. Dex hopped out of the seat and looked into the box. He whistled and Sam came running into the room.

"Sam, will you assemble these parts?" Dex fixed his specs.

"Sure thing kiddo." Sam cracked his fingers and started to take out parts from the box and assemble them. While he was doing so, Dex went over the process to Zero, since he would be the one to exterminate this firewall.

"This device will download your internal data into the Net. I do not know if you are familiar with this, but the Net is a place where information travels fast and abroad. Basically, we are sending you inside the computer. You won't be able to use your weapons in these, but you will be able to use my upgrades for you. I will download these in chips. If you want, I will try to download weapon data as well, just tell me what weapons."

Zero was about to tell Dex the four weapons he already had, but he thought about it again. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like he would need the Triple Rod for this situation. It was a gut feeling. "Z-saber, Z-buster, Shield Boomerang and Triple Rod."

Dex nodded and sat down again to configure the chips. Sam was still setting the parts together, and the reploids that brought in the boxes were catching their breath. Ciel took this opportunity to spend some quality time with her savior.

"Zero, do you want to walk around?"

"Consider it a date."

Zero grinned and held out his arm for Ciel to hold on to. She smiled and locked arms with him and out they walked.

Change of scene

"Hah! Rah! Sonic Boom!" Harpuia shot three Sonic Booms into the air. The emerald guardian leaped into the air and held both of his sabers together in an 'X' formation. "Thunder Strike!" A purple bolt of lightning shot out both of his sabers and hit the ground. Harpuia frowned and burst with green energy. Enveloped with it, he fell back down to the ground and stomped hard. The green energy spread along the ground in waves, picking up dust and shaking the platform.

He was in his Temple of Wind, which was unlike a regular temple. You could take the stairs and climb up to the top, but the top is only a platform suspended in the air. The area where Harpuia trains is the top, which is like an arena in the sky. The winds usually blow fiercely, but he was used to it now. Today, the winds were roaring. It was too cold to break a sweat, but Harpuia did nevertheless.

Faster...got to be faster! Harpuia activated his communicator link. "Send in the target!"

The target wasn't a target. In fact, it was a strong steel wall. It was made of a sort of steel that could not be split or destroyed by beam sabers or beam weapons of any kind. Harpuia, however, didn't think so and thought he had penetrate this obstacle that stood in his way. He was working on a new attack, but so far he didn't perfect it yet. With a slight grin on his face, he flew back up and had the steel wall in his sights. He planned to shred the wall into pieces using this new attack.

"Flying Izuna Corkscrew!"

Green energy surged throughout his entire body until it began to strain. Knowing that the time was right, he activated his beam sabers and flew top speed towards the wall. He spun around and held out his sabers. Harpuia was spinning so fast that the beams couldn't keep up and began to swirl around. It was so fast that the armor he wore was beginning to rip, but he didn't stop. He kept going until he made contact with the wall.

The attack dented the wall, but he didn't shred it or break through it. Instead, he shattered his helmet because his head made direct contact with the wall. Nearly knocked out, he deactivated his boosters and fell from above high and hit the ground face-first. He rose up, wiping the dirt off of his face and fixed his green hair. Since the helmet was broken, his hair was let loose. He spit out some blood and ignored it coming out of a wound from his head.

Must get stronger. Fight faster. Fight harder. Push myself! He wanted to fight harder than he did when he was controlled and fought Zero. So far, his body strained and started to give out. Harpuia was not used to fighting so recklessly, but now he was training himself to get used to the strain. He felt weak as of now, knowing that when he was a subordinate he fought harder than when he was free of his own will. He repeated the pattern he trained to, whether his armor broke or not.

I must perfect this attack! I must fight Zero and beat him! He felt that he didn't deserve a rematch just yet. He wanted to prove to Zero that he had improved, so he tried to perfect the Flying Izuna Corkscrew. He was bleeding all over his face and his green hair was soaked with blood, but he didn't give a damn. He flew towards the wall one more time. He spun around again like a corkscrew with more velocity. The emerald guardian thought he had it, but when he made contact with the wall all he remembered was hearing a loud crack. The sun was setting.

Change of scene

"I love sunsets!" Ciel sipped her cup of tea while watching the sunset with Zero. She sat on a hill in the desert area not far from the base. Zero stood over Ciel watching the sunset with his arms crossed. A gentle breeze made his blond ponytail flutter with the wind. He didn't want to admit it, but the sunset was beautiful. Ciel suddenly stood up and checked her watch. When she did this, Zero liked it. The way she raised her eyebrows looking at her watch made her cute in a way. Zero liked this, especially when she was late and her eyes grew wide with surprise. In this case, it happened.

"Zero! We have to head back! They should be done already!" She grabbed Zero's hand and tried to pull him back to base, but she wasn't strong enough.

"Hop onto my back." Zero pointed to his back and Ciel jumped on. Like a medic carrying a wounded soldier, he piggybacked Ciel all the way to the base. She enjoyed this, but she also enjoyed brushing her face against Zero's blond hair. Zero, however, was enjoying something else. Ciel pressed her chest against his back, and he could feel her soft...

Zero tripped on a rock. Before he could fall, he turned and held Ciel up to make sure she wouldn't hit the ground. He fell hard on his back. Ciel giggled and said, "Thank you, O Knight in Shining Armor!" Ciel was sitting on top of his chest, and he had a perfect view of Ciel under her dress. Zero blushed, and Ciel slapped Zero when she realized this. "Pervert!" She laughed and hugged Zero. Even in the cool desert evening, it felt very, very hot.

When they got back to Ciel's lab, everything was set up. There was a sort of chair set up in the corner of the room. It resembled a dentist's chair for the patients. Zero gulped, but Dex greeted them when they both walked in.

"Ah! Zero, Ciel! I have finished getting the chips ready and the device is set up." Dex pointed to the chair. "Sit yourself in that please."

As Zero did, Dex ran to the keyboard and was typing furiously, but he was only logging onto the Net. Sam was still in the room, and he wired up Zero with many different wires. Then he picked up a plug of some kind. It looked very long.

Sam lifted up Zero's hair and uncovered a small outlet under his ponytail. "This is going to feel a little weird..."

"Huh?" Zero asked.

Sam inserted the plug. For Zero, he felt a sudden shot of pain run through his entire body. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. He didn't hear anything anymore until a bright light blinded him. When Zero opened his eyes, He was in the middle of a city street bustling with people. Or, Zero thought they were people. Most of the 'people' that were in the buildings were actually advertisements. They all looked like a strange figure with a circular head and a regular body. The thing is, they had no face or anything like that. (A/N: The AOL guy) They each yelled out a different thing.

"Free smileys!"

"Win a DVD if you can guess which one is Zero!"

"Warning: You may have MaverickWare installed into your system..."

"Butch or Larry? Vote now!"

"Can't find a date? Visit the online reploid dating service!"

"Neo Arcadia's Leviathan: NUDE! $11.99 per picture!"

"Viagra for reploids: Viagroid!"

Zero reached for his communicator unit, but he didn't have it on. Instead, a small screen appeared before him, and it showed Dex and Ciel on it.

"Zero! Are you okay?" Ciel seemed a little worried.

"I'm fine, but what is this place?" Zero scratched his head.

Dex took over the screen. "Zero, welcome to the Net! Or as humans call it, the Internet!"

There were also people as well. Zero couldn't tell whether they were reploid or not, but for a moment it didn't really matter. They all had names over their heads such as "Xxblu3b0mb3rxX" or "AnitaReploid" and other names. The dumbfounded Maverick Hunter wondered what his name was, but he couldn't see. The people that went by waved and greeted Zero. Or at least, greeted his screen name. Others went by and greeted him as well.

"Hello, blondgrl693."

"Hiya, blondgrl693!"

"Sup, blondgrl693."

"Want to cyber, blondgrl693?"

It was pretty obvious that his screen name was 'blondgrl693.' He looked at his little screen and raised his voice.

"Ciel! Dex! What did you guys do?"

Ciel rubbed her chin and put her hand behind her head. "Oh, sorry Zero! That's my screen name. You must have logged in my screen name."

Zero nearly fell over. Then he sighed deeply. This helps my appearance. Thanks, Ciel. The Legendary Maverick Hunter now had an alias of 'blondgrl693.' Dex was rolling on the floor laughing. If he weren't in the outside world, Zero would get over there and beat down Dex.

"Har, har. So, where is the damn firewall?" Zero crossed his arms.

Dex wiped away his tears from laughing and fixed his specs. "You have to first meet the Engineer. He is located in a building that has a large neon sign."

Zero didn't have to look far to find it. It was the place where ads went in and out of the door. He minimized his screen and walked towards the building, bumping into other people with screen names. He noticed one that read "Zer0fangrlXOXO." He smirked enjoying the thought that he had a fan. Finally, he was at the door of the Engineer's building. He turned the knob and opened the door.

There was a man sitting on a chair, staring at several monitors. He was tapping his fingers on the armrest of his chair, and switched monitors with a button on the opposite armrest. He sighed and said without looking at Zero, "What do you need, blondgrl693?"

Zero frowned. "Call me Zero. And I need to destroy some firewall. Can you get me over there?"

"Can? Of course I can. It's whether if you are up to it or not."

He didn't have time to play games. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, just get me over there, huh?"

The Engineer sighed and pressed a few buttons. The monitors froze. Then the Engineer slowly got up. He wore a black suit, and apparently aged. He combed his gray hair over modestly trying to conceal the bald spot on his head. It didn't work. He had a short beard, white as the snow. He was chubby and plump, not a jolly old Engineer. Zero could have laughed when he saw him, in spite of himself. The Engineer spoke not a word but went straight to the door. He grabbed the knob and turned it with a jerk.

"Out this way."

"Zero followed closely behind and. When the Engineer closed the door, Zero stared at the hallway. It was seemingly endless, and awfully white. There were several doors, but there weren't any signs or numbers to indicate what room each door lead to. The Engineer didn't need any, however. He already knew which door to go to. He walked towards the right side of the hallway, and Zero followed closely behind. Blondgrl693 turned on his screen.

"Dex, what is this place?" Zero sounded less aggravated, but he didn't like his screen name. Or rather, Ciel's screen name.

"That is the Loading Hall, Zero. That's where you go went you have to load to something. Whether it would be a website or a program, or even offline files, it's in the Loading Hall. By the way, here we are."

The Engineer stopped in front of a door. Surprisingly, it looked exactly the same as the other doors. Zero looked at the Engineer and was about to say something, but the Engineer held up his hand.

"Yes, this is the correct gateway. Or rather, the correct door. Please close it after you are done."

Zero ignored the last remark and opened the door without haste and went inside. On the other side, he was in the middle of a city section. In front of him were a bench and a couple of swings to his left side. To his right, there was another building, but there wasn't anybody in it. The pigeons were eating leftover bread on the ground. The sky was an eerie green. Zero looked around for the firewall, but he didn't see anything except those pigeons. He turned back and was about to ask the Engineer if this was the right door, but the Engineer waved and closed the door.

"Son of a..." Zero ran for the door and began to furiously turn the knob, but it wouldn't turn. He sighed and turned to watch the pigeons until something happened. When he turned around, the pigeons started to fly away. As soon as they all flew away, Zero saw a figure walking towards him. It was a reploid.

The reploid had a white helmet with two small ears coming out of it, but his mouth was covered with a scarf. His white armor extended down to his hips. From there, he wore a white codpiece and white boots with knee guards. He bore a metal sword and balanced a large shuriken on his back.

Author: I had to split this chapter up. Unfortunately, from now on I have to split up my larger chapters. The next one is already posted.