Disclaimer: I don't own anything Megaman, it all belongs to Capcom. I do this for fun, not profit, and any original characters belong to me and my friends.

Chapter 2

A short time after the events in the 8th Maverick Uprising:

Commander Megaman X leaned on a balcony railing at Maverick Hunter Head quarters, looking out on the city below. He was off duty at the moment, and X was taking the chance to relax before someone else found him and he had to go take care of whatever they wanted. Besides, between battles with Sigma's mavericks, routine patrols with the 17th unit, and the evil commonly known as paperwork, moments were virtually nonexistent.

A soft summer evening breeze blew across the balcony, rustling his dark blue t-shirt and blue jeans. He leaned farther over the railing. X wasn't worried about falling off; the railing was strong enough to support his weight, and he had a good grip with his white and silver sneakers to stay where he was.

Closing his eyes, he thought back to his life as Lan Hikari. 'Was it really that long ago?' he wondered. He had been X for over a century, at least-he couldn't help but wonder how his family and friends were. He didn't even know how much time had passed there; if it was the same here, then they would have all passed on by now…

X shook his head and sighed. He started to think about how he had ended up here in the first place.

"PROGRAM ADVANCE!" the crossfused form of Megaman and Lan yelled out as the massive wave of energy sped toward Shademan. Shademan simply snickered as the attack came near, and activated his special Dark Chip, Dark Aura. He held his arms forward as the Program Advance came closer, thinking that he was going to simply catch the thing. Yea right.

The attack stopped for a bit as it hit the Dark Aura, then plowed right through it, striking Shademan full force. Shademan's eyes widened as he flew back a good 20 feet and skidded to a stop. "Yow haven't beaten me yet!" The Darklord snarled as he struggled to his feet. He suddenly smirked. "If that's ass you got, then you're going to have to try harder!" he taunted the Net Savior. Shademan was certain that after that attack, the crossfusion would end, and he would have the Net Savior right where he wanted him.

Panting, CF Megaman glared across the gap at Shademan. "You're going down, Shademan! Spreader! Area Steal! Battlechip in!" CF Megaman disappeared and then reappeared right in front of Shademan. The Darklord's eyes noticeably widened. "Oh…" was all he said. CF Megaman grinned under his facemask.

"Spreader!" he yelled. The resulting explosion threw Shademan back several yards. This time, the evil Navi didn't get up. Around them, the Dimensional Area started to collapse.

"All right! We did it, Megaman!" Lan said as they defused. Megaman smiled from his PET. "You got that right, Lan!" he said happily. "We finally stopped him!" "I refuse to be beaten by a human!" a voice behind Lan growled as a rough hand grabbed him by the throat and pulled him around to face the owner. Megaman's PET clattered on the ground as Lan gagged and tried to break the vice-like grip on his neck. The nearby Dimensional Area generator hummed raggedly as it received a new burst of energy and rebuilt the falling Dimensional Area.

"LAN!" Megaman yelled. "Shademan, let him go!" Shademan smirked. "Why should I?" he mocked as his grip tightened. The evil Navi lifted Lan so they could see eye to eye." I've got this new attack I've been dying to try out. The problem is that the target has to be holding still for it to work. WHITE OBLIVILON!"

Shademan held his free arm out to his side as a white hole appeared in the ground directly under it. Smirking, the Darklord moved his captive directly over the newly created hole. "You have no idea how long I've waited to do this, human." he gloated. "SHADEMAN! If you hurt him, I'll delete you myself!" Megaman raged. "Leave him alone!" Shademan snickered. "Too late. Good bye, human." He opened his hand, dropping Lan into the White Oblivion attack. As he watched it close above his head, he felt his body burn with pain. His last thoughts were of his friends, family and his reborn brother, Megaman. 'Saito!' he thought as he felt himself black out.

"Hey, Commander!" X was jerked from his thoughts as one of his unit members walked out onto the balcony. He turned to find one of his friends smiling at him.

The Maverick Hunter reploid wore dark purple armor with silver highlights that was extremely well made. The two orange crystals set in her armor, one at the chest and one embedded in her helmet, glinted in the moonlight. Phoenix, as she was called, had no idea who her creator was, or where she came from. One thing was for certain, however: She held no love for the mavericks and was well known as one of the best fighters in the 17th unit. Her blue-green eyes seemed to glow with an inner fire as her light brown hair, pulled back into a ponytail, swayed in the slight breeze.

"What is it, Phoenix?" X asked. "Today's the day when you were first activated, right?" she asked. Surprised that someone knew, he simply said "Yes, why?" Phoenix grew a little nervous and blushed a bit. "Well, I was in the city earlier and I was looking through an old store. I found this in the back, buried under all sorts of junk and they said I could have it."

She pulled out a small belt and pack. "I don't know what it is, but I figured you might like it." she said. X took the bundle from her outstretched hands. "Happy Birthday, Commander X." Phoenix said, and with that, she disappeared into the shadows without a trace. X blinked and wondered for the hundredth time how she did that and shrugged. He looked for the clasp for the belt pack and opened it.

X reached inside and felt his hand gripping a familiar device, and pulled it out. Once he could look at it, he gasped and nearly dropped it. It was something he thought he would never see again. And the symbol on it was familiar, too. X was holding a PET; more importantly, it was Chaud Blaze's PET.

Yay! I got reviews! Thundebird, Rose Kitsune.EXE, Acrid Fop and Firehedgehog, thank you all so much for your reviews—I feel so loved! So how did you like this chapter? Please click on the review button at the bottom of the screen and take a few seconds out of your busy day to let me know! Constructive criticism welcomed. Thanks!

Later—

Maverick Hunter Phoenix