Author's note: Well, after a few solid months, I've finally remembered that I had a fanfiction. Ah well, it's summer, so I can continue it. Sorry for the lack of updates.

Disclaimer: Long story short: Capcom owns Megaman X.

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Chapter 2: Realization.

As the sun beamed onto the waking moments of Able City, many people felt a strange calm wash over them. Stressed workers, rival students, and even rogue mavericks, were at ease. Many people stopped what they were doing just to savour the morning, as the fearful events of yesterday were forgotten. Even those who had lost loved ones in the Awakening Road Incident found peace in the soothing gleam of the morning sun. If only a peace such as this could last...

'Damn it! I can't believe I really decided to bust a hole into my wall.' Vile silently cursed to himself as he recalled the events of last night. 'I probably already jeopardized my location. I mean, I don't care how heavy a sleeper you are; that girl was loud.' Looking over at the hole again, Vile realized the fatality of his mistake. Not only was the hole a glaring eyesore, it was also facing a busy street. 'In a few short minutes, people will pour out into the streets and see the remains of the wall. They'll then call Hunter HQ, and I'll be locked up. That's just brilliant. I can't leave yet, however.' Having already decided his next location, Vile was on the verge of leaving. All he needed was to receive a message from Sigma.

'Not like I really need to talk to ugly, but he did say he had information regarding his Maverick Generals. All I need to do is go to their locations and wait for X.' Vile took the helmet he discarded last night and, after fastening it, grinned evilly. Not only would he be able to get X, he could also have fun scrapping some of Sigma's devout followers while he waited. Today was a good day...Or it would be if Sigma would hurry up. 'Now if only he would freaking call! The morning rush should be starting in a few minutes.'

His mobile communicator system suddenly began to beep, and he breathed a sigh of relief. 'Finally!' Vile's impatience was very obvious, as he 'greeted' Sigma. "Just what the hell took so long? Weren't you supposed to contact me yesterday, damn it? I'm in a hurry, so just send me the damned locations."

"Vile...my supporters have been revolting across the land. What is your plan?" Sigma's complete disregard for Vile's previous statement confirmed what Vile was thinking. 'Heh... it looks like Sigma doesn't even have time to bother with me. Useless automatic messages. Well, might as well give him something.' Vile realized that Sigma didn't really give a second thought as to what would happen him, so he decided to just take the information and go.

"Sigma! I have my own way of dealing with things." Vile grinned, since he knew this would anger Sigma. "You just sit back and enjoy the show." After giving the message, Vile turned off the communication, since there was no point in hearing an automated reply. Instead, he finished packing what little items he had left and prepared to burn the warehouse to the ground. He wouldn't let the worthless hunters track him, after all. Within seconds, the preparations were finished, and Vile was set to leave. Vile knelt onto the ground, opening his kneecap to reveal a grenade launcher. A single bomblet of napalm was discharged, and Vile left. Looking back at the obsolete communicator he had left in the burning flame, Vile defiantly declared a message to Sigma.

"You'll find out who has the potential you talk about. I'll show you who really has the power." Without a second glance, Vile turned his attention northwards, towards the direction of Maverick Hunter HQ. "Sorry X, but I'll be the one to change the world."

---

It was after the morning rush when she finally awoke. She had planned to go over to that building where the man from last night was, just to thank him for saving her last night. If anything at all, she could at least get her name. Since she worked for Maverick Hunter HQ, she should be able to put in a good word for that man.

After consuming a small capsule of azure energy crystals, the female reploid was almost prepared to leave her house. Garbed in standard-issue uniformed personal body armour that bore the symbol of Maverick Hunter HQ, as well as decorative energy pistol, the girl couldn't help but admire herself in the mirror. Even though she admired the red, pink, and white uniforms that females wore, she detested her insignia; she really did envy the higher-ranked hunters and navigators who received customized emblems. There'd be more time to worry about that later, though, since she was running late.

Her bright morning was shattered the moment she left the front door of her house. On her way to Maverick Hunter HQ, she noticed an extensive police line, as well as a small troop of Maverick Hunters. She could also see reporters from various news programs crowding around the area, as well as many civilians. As she further examined the contained area, she realized that the Hunters' area of interest was concentrated on a razed plot of ashen ruins. Her day was pretty much ruined when she recognized the wreckage as the warehouse where the mysterious reploid from last night entered. Thoughts of worry and sorrow immediately entered her mind, as her imagination began to draw up many conclusions.

"Ma'am, unit F-050 reporting in." The voice of one of the hunters brought the woman back into her senses, as she remembered her rank, status, and duties of her job. While she did only join Maverick Hunter HQ yesterday, she was a well known tactician who had made herself well known during a previous crisis. Thus, the majority of hunters knew of her.

"What happened, and what's the situation now?" Her formal tone completely masked her emotions, as she knew she had to maintain the monotone voice of a navigator.

"From what we could tell, there was an encounter in this area last night. As it turns out, the recent maverick unit T108, or Hell Python, was found eliminated. We've asked civilians around the area, and all of them confirmed they heard a woman's scream. Of those who heard the noise, 60 of them investigated to find either the aftermath of, or a time frame close, to the end of a struggle. Of those witnesses, 20 say they saw a reploid that seemed to be endowed in purple armor. Finally, out of those few people, one man claimed to have seen the person's face. He simply said the man had two eye colours, a red eye and a blue eye.

"That's all the real concrete information we have, and that's being optimistic. Anything else can be considered speculation from our standpoint." The Hunter seemed a bit unnerved by the amount of scrap that was left behind from the incident of yesterday. Not only were the majority of the disabled mavericks beheaded, most of those heads were shattered completely. The scrapped parts all seemed to resemble a nondescript pile of metallic junk. "What's really interesting is that none of the witnesses said they heard any sounds of gunfire, save a single shot. This means that whoever that man was either killed off Hell Python and his goons in one shot, or destroyed these reploids with his own hands."

'Or his own feet' The female navigator thought to herself. She decided to keep the events of last night secret, and report directly to HQ instead of explaining what happened to these hunters. "Acknowledged, F-050. Continue to search for information regarding this event. I'll report what we know to HQ." With that one statement, the Navigator left the hectic scene, making her way to the subway.

As it turns out, Hunter HQ was even crazier than the ruins of the warehouse. She saw that many Hunters were scrambling into formations, as squad leaders and lieutenants began listing objectives. She also saw that many of her fellow navigators were rushing to various computer terminals to aid deployed hunters. Quite frankly, the woman had absolutely no idea what was going on. After arriving at her terminal, she frantically searched for a memo or something to explain what the hell was going on. She found none.

The navigator was so occupied, she hadn't even noticed when S-Class Hunter Zero stepped up behind her. She knew something was amiss when the ambient noise suddenly died down, and she knew she did accidentally did something wrong, because she could feel all the eyes in the room staring at her. This sense of being watched, coupled with the mixed emotions she had earlier today, cause her to abruptly turn around and demand what the hell was going on.

"What the hell is it!" With her eyes clenched in fury, the navigator seemed almost comical as she stood in front of Zero. It was not until a full minute later, when she cautiously opened her eyes, that she realized her grave mistake.

"...Do you need a break?" That was all Zero really needed to say. With a single glance, Zero could tell the navigator wasn't operating at minimum standard requirements. Since he didn't see any glaring injuries or abnormal movements, he surmised that there were no physical disorders. Instead, he believed that something was on the navigator's mind.

"Uh...oh. Sorry about that Zero, sir. No, I do not need a break." The navigator was quite embarrassed by her outburst, but was glad that Zero hadn't snapped back at her. "It's just some personal matters. I won't let it get in the way of work, sir." Just like everyone else in Hunter HQ, she respected Zero, and was quite ashamed of herself for spontaneously bursting out at him.

"Look, if something bothering you, just tell someone, alright? We can't have you losing yourself in the middle of a situation." Zero discarded his formal tone, and began to sound like a concerned friend, rather than a demanding officer.

Comforted by Zero's softer tone, the navigator decided to inform him of exactly what had happened.

---

The Arctic Missile Base, once filled with catastrophic ballistic missiles, had been all but forgotten. Three months ago, after the crisis of Abel City, the surviving Maverick Hunters had made a quick sweep of the missile base for maverick activity. Finding nothing, they foolishly abandoned it entirely, leaving the base's machinery intact. Now, the cold structure was a command post for Sigma's growing Maverick army. Each room contained extensive security measures, from armoured gun cameras, to security mechaniloids. As another defensive measure, the base had wired an anti-teleportation grid around the complex, and all transportation of supplies and reinforcements take place in the designated "docking room".

A bright flash of violet light alerted the entire compound of Vile's entrance, and a group of mavericks approached the teleportation pad to greet him.

"Commander Vile, we've been expecting you." The soldiers were reluctant in their greeting, but this did not affect Vile. Apparently, Sigma had given him a rank equal to the Maverick Generals who had joined Sigma's rebellion. 'He really thinks those clowns are my equal?' Vile's anger rose as soon as he had heard the word "Commander Vile". Not only had Sigma assumed that he had joined the rebellion, Sigma honestly believed that he was weak enough to be considered the same as the defected ex-hunters. 'You've underestimated me for the last time, Sigma.'

Sensing that their commander was occupied with something, the Maverick battalion broke rank and scattered. This snapped Vile out of his thoughts, and he assessed the situation. They were preparing for battle. Vile could see a full thirteen modified Chimera Ride Armours were functioning, as their customized high-intensity laser cannons began to charge. The rest of the mavericks armed themselves with plasma rifles or rocket launchers, and retreated to. It was no secret that he was despised, when Vile saw that "his" battalion had entrenched themselves and were preparing to destroy him. However, the voice of a maverick had confirmed that he was blacklisted by this particular group.

"You were never fit to even look at the glory of Sigma, much less rule by his side." The Maverick grinned, as he continued to coat his words in venom. "Prepare to die, Commander Vile. Chimeras, fire!"

At that moment, all thirteen Chimera Ride Armours released a massive burst of superheated plasma. While it did set the air ablaze, the fire was short-lived. Cinder and ash trailed the ballistic plasma, as it streaked through the air. The Maverick could only smile, then laugh triumphantly as the deadly orbs converged on Vile's position and detonated in a cloud of fire. The shockwave from the blast destroyed most of the equipment in the room, though the mavericks believed this was a small price to pay in exchange for Vile's life. "He won't survive something like that."

Even before the dust settled, though, the Maverick lost his smirk. It seemed as if he was the only one who saw Vile leaping from the cloud of debris, for the rest of the Mavericks seemed to relax. He tried to warn everyone, but as he turned his head towards the group, it became dismantled from the torso. Gripping the head in his metal palm, Vile gave the Maverick a moment to realize its situation, before crushing it a moment later. It was only after Vile discarded the scrap metal when the other Mavericks noticed his continued existence.

The battle that ensued was hardly worth mentioning. What had once been an important root for supply and reinforcements was now nothing more than a graveyard of worthless slag. The compound would be crippled for the next season or so, and that was worth the enmity of the mavericks. Vile contemplated this thought for a moment. There was no point in allying with them. They were weak, and they tried to kill him, so he had no intention of helping them. Instead, he would show Sigma the meaning of power.

Vile began to salvage what he could from the wreckage, and immediately found a very rewarding trophy. Besides the numerous small arms that the mavericks dropped, there was also a working Chimera Ride Armour. All he needed to do was to bring it back to his new safe-house, tweak it up a bit, and it'll be as good as new. Today was a good day indeed.

Of course, the day has only begun.