Chapter 8 - Inner Struggle…Finding Purpose

"X, you've always had it harder then the other hunters. You struggle to create peace, yet you have to kill to preserve it. You seem to be the only one that recognizes the inherit contradiction of that. However, the fact that you are able to do it time and time again make it clear to me that you have found your purpose. You just need to find a way to make yourself okay with that. Someday, your life will depend on it. - Dr. James Cain

'K!…damn it…' I found myself inside the underground maverick base, and Sigma was standing before me.

"Here, he's yours. I have to go maintain my cover." With that, I felt Axl's hand leave my shoulder and heard the distinctive sound of a warp beam taking off. I looked back towards Sigma. He looked half amused at the situation.

"I have to admit, Vile, you never cease finding ways to surprise me. That's what I've always admired about you, your unpredictability. It made you an asset to me when you were obsessed with destroying X. Now, however, it looks like it has become a liability."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Now there's a quality that I don't approve of. Just because I'm a maverick, doesn't mean I'm stupid. Axl recorded your little conversation with X and transmitted it here before he warped you to me. I must say, I'm surprised at your lack of conviction. Wasn't it just the other day when you stated that your goal was to destroy X? Now you're calling him friend. What happened to you?"

'This is it. There's no way I can try to pull the wool over his eyes. May as well tell him everything.' "I realized that I misjudged him. I remembered what had caused our rift in the first place, and I know that I am just as responsible for it as he was. I've changed Sigma. I now see in X what you yourself told me he had all those years ago. I know he has the potential to change the world; he's done that over the years, but I blinded myself to it. He's matured and so have I. My pointless vendetta against him is over, I will not fight him, nor will I help his enemies. I've decided to side with who I always should have; I am, and always will be a hunter Sigma. You shouldn't have brought me back to life, you shouldn't have given me the opportunity to get close to him, and you certainly shouldn't have challenged the hunters to a duel. What the hell are you thinking Sigma? You don't have any cards left to play, this is it for you, isn't it?"

Sigma's smile was long gone, and as he frowned at me he said, "you are correct. This is it for me. However, the deck is still stacked in my favor. I have Zero."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, by now he's well on his way to discovering his origins. I'll expose him to the virus and break his will. Then he shall conclude one man's century old vision and destroy the world."

"No. X will stop him. He…"

"Wouldn't lay a hand on Zero. It's like you told me just the other day. X and Zero are inseparable, nothing could cause them to fight against one another. However, if Zero goes through with what I have planned, he won't be able to help himself, and X won't be able to bring himself to destroy his best friend, especially when he's all he'll have left."

"You mean…"

"Yes Vile, an organized group of hunters led by X, who is doing what he believes is the right thing to do, would be the only thing capable of stopping Zero. However, even as we speak, Axl is preparing the double cross that will crush the hunters once and for all. With the hunters gone, X will have no one left for him but Zero, and he won't be able to fight him."

"Not if I stop Axl." I tried to activate my warp systems, but my signal was being blocked. Sigma must have set up an EM shield to keep me from leaving. However, my weapons were still in this base, and I was able to warp them to me using my recall system. Sigma may have had me cornered, but if I went down, I would be fighting.

"It really is a shame, you had such a talented mind Vile. What a waste it is to lose that." With that, Sigma lunged towards me, hands pulsating with a dark aura. I was unprepared for the speed at which he forced himself at me. Before I was able to dodge, he had my throat in a vice grip. I felt a strange energy begin to seep into my systems. "You see, I'm not going to destroy you, like I'm sure you expected me to. I've got something much worse planned."

'The virus!' "No! Stop it!" I screamed as I felt it enter my body. My brain felt like it was on fire.

Sigma laughed as he watched me writhe in his grasp. "Don't fight it Vile it only makes it worse. Let it in, become one with it. It's so easy to just go with it."

Suddenly I snapped. I guess you one could say I went into a berserk rage, because when I opened my eyes, all I could see was red. Screaming in a mixture of anger and pain, I yelled out, "NECRO BURST!!!" Instantly, destructive energy cascaded from my body into the closest object it could find, namely Sigma.

Sigma yelled in shock and pain as my attack impacted with him, causing him to release his grasp on me. I immediately took off towards the elevator. I needed to get as far away as quickly as possible. As I ran I looked back to see Sigma rising up, obviously in some pain. "Run as far as you like Vile! It's too late, you're one of us now! Ha ha ha!"

I quickly got to the elevator and rode it to the surface. Stepping out into the tundra I knew I had to try to get to Cossack's citadel. I didn't know how long it would take for the virus to totally effect me, but I needed to let Pharaoh Man and the others know what happened.

Somehow, I managed to get through the cloak and to the door. I hit the intercom and said, "let me in! Hurry!"

The door opened and I stumbled in. Once I was clear of the doorway my systems began to go haywire and I fell to the floor. I heard someone approaching at a run. They called out to me. "Vile! What's happening? What's wrong?"

I tried to talk, but the words would not come. Angry at myself, I slammed my fist into my stomach. The pain gave me something to focus on and I was able to talk again. "Sigma…infected me. I don't have…much time before virus…takes over."

Pharaoh Man's eyes widened as he backed up from me. "Wh…what can we do then? If you become a maverick, you might destroy us and this place."

"Chain me up, lock me in a room, I don't know…just do something. Quickly…I still need to talk."

Pharaoh Man made a hand gesture that signaled Ring Man and Skull Man forward. Together they dragged me to what appeared to be an operating table and locked my limbs in place with the heaviest restraints they could find. I managed to continue speaking. "Good, now…listen carefully. I won't be able…to repeat myself. Zero's left the hunters…and I think he's…in Sigma's trap now. The hunters…will be fighting Sigma soon…probably within the next few days. Axl…has a plan to destroy…MHHQ and…decimate hunters. X…might need…help. He won't want…to fight…Zero. Got to…make him believe…truth about…Zero's creator." I yelled in pain as my vision began to get blurry, then faded away entirely. I was beginning to go into stasis. I had to finish my instructions. "Virus…stronger now. Losing…consciousness. If I…wake up a maverick…kill me. Destroy…my control chip. Don't…let me infect you."

Having said that, I violently convulsed one last time, then promptly fell into stasis.

--

"What? What's going on here?" I found myself in total darkness. Though I could see no visible source of light anywhere, when I looked down at myself, I had no difficulty seeing my body. "Where am I?"

"You're right here, Vile."

I spun around to see who was talking to me, and was greeted by the sight of myself. "What the? Are you…"

"A copy reploid like Axl? No, not at all. You see Vile, we're inside your head, and me? Well, I'm the maverick virus, and I'm here to run this show now. So, just stay out of my way and we might be able to make this relatively painless."

"No. I won't let you use me. I will fight you."

The virus' representation of me chuckled a little. "Heh, I should have known that you wouldn't just lie back and take this. Let's go then."

I got into a fighting posture, but the virus just stood there, waiting for me to do anything. I aimed my shoulder cannon at it and fired off a shot. It didn't even try to dodge as my attack hit it dead center, but as the smoke cleared I could see why. My attack hadn't even scratched the paint of this nightmare. It put it's hand to it's mouth and yawned, then it spoke again. "Is that all? Let me show you what I can do."

All of a sudden, the virus leapt towards me with lightning quick speed. "Won't be needing this anymore!" With one swift action, the virus ripped my cannon from my shoulder mount. The pain this caused was excruciating, but I managed to keep my senses and prepare another attack. As the virus turned and began to advance towards me again, I knelt down and activated my Sea Dragon's Rage. Instantly, a stream of blue flames shot out of my knee mounted cannon and engulfed the virus.

Once again, however, the virus was unaffected by my attacks and this time it grabbed me and slammed me to the ground, breaking a few things in the process. It had broken my hands and destroyed my cannon, so I was limited to a third of my usual arsenal, but it seemed that it wouldn't be enough. It was just too strong. "You're starting to give in already? Well that's no fun, but it's probably the smart thing to do. Unfortunately, I can't just let you hang out here or you might try something like this again. Rest assured, this will probably be relatively painless." As the virus stopped talking, it aimed it's weapons towards me, readying the attack that would overwrite my personality, turning me into little more then a maverick drone. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Suddenly, another voice called out, "Vile."

I instantly opened my eyes, recognizing the voice that had called my name. Not the voice of the virus, which had somehow disappeared. No, this was a voice from another lifetime. This was a woman's voice. "It…it can't be. You're…"

"Yes, I am."

"But…how is this happening? How am I talking to you? You've been gone for such a long time."

"I can't truly say how, but I think it may be similar to a near death experience that humans sometimes have. Time seems to slow, and anything can take place. It has been a long time, hasn't it?"

"I've missed you…you don't know how hard it's been."

"I've missed you too. But you've been strong. You need to be strong."

"Why? What good is staying strong if it's hopeless anyway? Being strong won't bring you back, nor will it change what I did after I lost you."

"You're right, and you don't owe it to me to be strong. You don't owe anybody anything. You were just a little confused for a while, but you have been doing what you believe is right. But in doing so, you've sacrificed your right to happiness, and that's not what I wanted for you. You've been suffering for so long you've forgotten what it means to be happy. I can't bear to see you so."

"It shouldn't have happened. I should have been there when the mechaniloid attacked. I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

"You have nothing to apologize for. It was beyond your control. You can't do everything Vile. But there is one thing I know you are capable of. You can beat this virus."

"How, everything I've tried doesn't even scratch it. It's too powerful."

"But you have something that it can never defeat. You have a purpose, to change the world."

"I'm one reploid, how can I matter to the world?"

"You are an individual, and that is one of the most powerful things that exists on this planet. One individual has defied the odds and defeated a tyrant several times over, another has come back from the dead and helped save the world almost a dozen times. Still another was able to learn his mistakes and end a vendetta that has lasted for decades. You do have the power to change the world Vile. You know you can, don't let this abomination try to deny you that right; your right to exist!"

I looked into her eyes as her words sank in. She was speaking the truth, and I knew then and there that I could defeat this plague. I needed to believe in my purpose. "You're right. I…I can do it. I will defeat this madness. I will change the world!"

She reached for me and brought me closer to her. Then she placed her lips on mine and we shared an embrace. I returned the gesture, and after a minute, we both pulled away. She looked me dead in the eyes and said, "go now."

At these words, I got incredibly worried. "But, will we see each other again?"

She smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, but not now, it's not your time. Don't worry, I'll be waiting for you. Always."

She faded away and I could see the virus again. Apparently, it had remained in the same position it had been in for this whole experience, as if no time had passed for it at all. It suddenly began to move again; this time, there was evident surprise on it's face. "How did you do that? Bah! It doesn't matter. I'll still get rid of you."

"No, you won't. I know how to defeat you now."

The virus laughed. "As if. You can't hope to defeat me." It charged towards me, aiming a strike directly at my head. But just as it was about to connect, I raised my arm up and blocked it's attack. Faster then I could even see, I ripped it's arm out of it's socket. The virus staggered away, the pain and shock were obvious. "What the…how are you doing this?"

"I have a purpose and you can not take that away from me. I have the power to change the world." I brought my hand up to my face; it glowed with a bright white light as I began to charge up my buster. "Do you know who I am? I am a maverick hunter, a force for justice! I am an individual, whose destiny no one but I control. My name is Vile! I am I!"

I unleashed the energy that was being stored up in my buster and a spear of pure white energy hit, and went through the virus. Instantly, the virus screamed out in agony as it began to writhe in pain. Inky black tentacles erupted from it as the white light incinerated the nearest portions of it and spread outwards. The rest of the virus burned away, and I felt clean.

--

I opened my eyes, my chest heaving out of physical exhaustion. My legs and arms felt stiff, then I realized it was because they were held tightly to the corners of the table I was laying on. I tried to relax and slow my breathing down, when I heard something on the other side of the room. I looked towards the door, and saw Ring Man, holding two of his ring-boomerangs in his hands. He tentatively drew closer to me and asked, "are you…still yourself?"

I let his question sink in, then smiled and nodded. "Yeah, you can loosen the chains; I'm still me."

"How do I know you are not lying to me?"

I let out a small laugh at this, I was feeling too relieved to even try to be offended. "I guess, you really don't, do you? You're just going to have to trust me."

"Let him loose Ring. Something tells me he's still on our side."

Ring Man slowly nodded and began to un-fasten the chains that held me. After he had finished he backed up and kept his rings at the ready.

I sat up and flexed my hands feeling the stiffness begin to leave them. I looked down towards my body and checked to make sure everything seemed in working order. As the two robots looked on, I reached up towards my face and began to pull at the synthetic flesh that covered it. They both seemed confused by my actions, and Pharaoh Man asked, "what are you doing?"

"Pinching myself," I replied. "Because I want to make sure this isn't some twisted fantasy I'm going through." Pleased that pinching myself led to nothing, I went so far as to slap myself as hard as I could. The other two just looked at each other and shrugged as I looked at the hand I had used to hit myself. Then I began to laugh, not a crazy or a maniacal laugh like something Sigma would do. This was joyous laughter. There were a few tears that went down my face as I kept laughing. I noticed that Pharaoh Man and Ring Man looked worried and were slowly backing away and I tried to hold onto my emotions for a minute. "No, it…it's okay. I'm me. I did it."

"You did it?" Pharaoh Man asked.

"Yeah, I beat it. I beat the maverick virus. God help me, I can't believe it. Thank God for her, I couldn't have done it alone; it's all because of her. I'll do it, I'll keep fighting to change the world. I'll never forget you." Suddenly, I remembered what was happening elsewhere in the world. I quickly looked over to the two robots. "How long have I been out?"

Ring Man, relieved that I was apparently finished talking to myself, was the first to reply. "It's been about twenty or so hours. We were monitoring you with the cameras the whole time. You laid perfectly still for most of the time you were out but then, just a few minutes ago, you started convulsing again and we decided to come checkup on you."

I thought quickly to myself, coming up with a plan for my next move. "Twenty hours. Okay, well that gives us the element of surprise. Sigma probably thinks that I am a maverick, and he won't be expecting my involvement in whatever happens next. Okay, here's the plan; Sigma and the hunters will be fighting soon. With any luck, I can sneak back into the maverick's base and figure out exactly when and where the battle will take place. There's just one problem left to figure out."

Pharaoh Man asked, "what's that?"

"We still need to find a way to convince X that Zero was created by Dr. Wily. I'm sure he won't believe me, and, though he'll probably listen to what you guys say, I doubt you guys could convince him of that either."

Pharaoh Man nodded and said, "don't worry about that, there is one person he will undoubtedly listen to."

"Who is that?"

Pharaoh Man and Ring Man looked at each other for a second. Then Pharaoh Man replied, "he will believe his creator."

A perplexed look crossed my face. "His creator? You mean Doctor Thomas Light? That's crazy, Light's got to be dead. It's been nearly a full century since the time of Mega Man and the robot rebellions, and Light was no spring chicken back then."

Pharaoh Man continued to speak. "While the man is dead, his legacy lives on. The doctor was not without foresight. He knew that one day, his last son would require answers, answers only a father could give. You are familiar with the upgrade capsules that grant X special armor and abilities? Well, after Dr. Light sealed Mega Man X for the proscribed 30 years it would take to develop his ethical systems, he created an information capsule. It had a rudimentary A.I. that would act as him in his place and it would be able to answer any questions X had about himself or his origins."

I nodded as I took all this in. I could see where Pharaoh Man was going with this. "So we have to get X to this capsule and the A.I. will tell him that Zero was created by Dr. Wily? Sounds good, where is the capsule?"

"Dr. Light knew he couldn't risk someone else finding the capsule and possibly destroying it, so he left it in a place he knew would be safe. The capsule is in this citadel." I smiled. 'Finally a bit of good luck.'

"Unfortunately, the doctor was very concerned about security. We have never been able to activate it no matter what we tried. I am unsure how it even works, but I think X needs to be present to open it."

"Makes sense to lock it like that. Well, hopefully that little snag won't hinder our plans too much. It's like you said, the capsule probably has some security measure that will only open it for X. Light probably did that on all the capsules he made. Can you imagine if mavericks had gotten their hands on some of X's upgrades? Anyways. We need to get started on that immediately. I'll sneak into the maverick base and figure out when and where the battle is going to take place. I'll need some way of communicating with you guys."

Pharaoh Man nodded and said, "I will program our frequency into your comm system. What will you do after you have successfully finished your espionage?"

"Well, there's no way I can get into MHHQ now; Axl will definitely be on the look out and if he sees me, I doubt he'll be nice and hand me over to Sigma again. I'll have to find some way of getting X alone so that I can talk to him without every hunter gunning me down. Maybe sometime during the fight I can lure him away from the others or something like that."

Pharaoh Man looked like he was thinking this over, then he said, "it's as sound a plan as we can form right now. When do we get started?"

I grinned. "Very soon, but first…I need a paint job!"

Pharaoh Man and Ring Man, both confused, just looked at each other and shrugged.

End Chapter 8

Author's Note: Wow, this chapter got wrote quick! The whole thing just seemed to flow out of my head and onto the computer. Man, I love when that happens, it makes writing totally worth all the long stretches of writers block. Well, this story is rapidly coming to a close. I think I've only got just one more chapter left, and maybe an epilogue if I can think up one. Well, like always; read, enjoy, and leave some feedback.