Megaman X: Final Prologue

By: SylentStryke
Rated: M

Disclaimer: AHH! I forgot a disclaimer on the prologue! I don't own Megaman X or any other Capcom affiliated characters! I own my original characters, though!

A.N. I would like to thank Rouge Hunter for contributing some info on the Elf Wars. Big help, man. Also, add me to your Author Alert/ Favorites. (This applies to everyone.) That's enough of that. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Report pt.1

MHHQ
Time: 3:20 PM
Date: 6-11-21XX

The metallic doors to Signas' personal office slid open quietly. X and Alia both walked into the comfortable looking area; a complete contrast to the disaster outside. The two reploids stood at the edge of the desk opposite Signas. He stood up out his chair to acknowledge them. "Sir." X and Alia both said in unison as they rendered a salute. He was quick to return their salute with one of his own.

"At ease, Hunters." He looked over at X, who looked like he was about to shut down at any given moment. Signas quickly made his way over to his hidden cooler and pulled out an orange, red and silver can. He gave it to Alia while looking at X. "Alia, make sure he drinks this. Can't have him too worn out." Alia nodded, then proceeded to seat X down and give him the energy drink.

>>>

Protests and moments later, X felt more alert as the citrus flavored energy revived his core systems. "Feeling better, Colonel?"

"Sir," X said with affirmation. "Okay, let's start with the trip to Arcadia." X nodded as he cleared his throat and stood up.

"Sigh..."

Route to Arcadia
Time: 1:40 PM
Date: 6-11-22XX

Megaman X looked out of the rear of the transport truck. He never knew why so much dry land that was deprived of any vegetation dominated the area between Arcadia and the MHHQ. His train of thought was broken by a loud holler. "WOO! There's a drop off! Hold on if ya don't wanna fall out!" X heeded this warning not a moment too soon, as the truck suddenly revved up and tilted backwards gradually, followed by the truck quaking violently. This left X on his back, feet hanging out of the doorway.

"ZERO-" was all X could get out before said crimson hunter appeared in the doorway. "S'not me this time!" The goofy blonde chortled as he pulled back the section of the wall that was hiding the culprit. Leyna flashed X a grin from over her shoulder. X just shook his head. "You've been hanging around him too long, Leyna."

"Hey X! What's our objective in Arcadia?" The red-haired, ebony clad hunter known as Axl asked out loud. "I mean, there isn't any sort of Maverick activity, right? Is there another syndicate? You know, like Silph?"

"Nope. None of that kind of stuff. In fact, we're heading back to Giga City." X informed anyone who might have been sleeping during the brief. "Oh? What for?" Locke perked up, obviously just waking up. "We're going there to check up on the energen crystal mines and the teleportation satellites. That's why we're driving there."

"Energen? That's the new energy source that was discovered not too long ago, right?" Echo stated more than questioned. X nodded. "Once we get to Arcadia, we'll take an air bus to Giga City."

"Giga City...lots of...fond memories." Axl said in an almost trance like state. Echo was quick to elbow him in the side. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You know why I did that! 'Marino, Marino!' does that ring a bell?" The black haired hunter with silver tips scolded her boyfriend. "I, uh...well I didn't...um...who's Marino?" Echo proceeded to yell at Axl some more, while Stryke laughed himself into a fit. X sat back and looked out of the back of the truck as they hit a bump in the road. He recognized the area they were in.

A few years ago, a catastrophic nightmare was barely adverted. Paradise Eden. A 'Utopia' that would cleanse the Earth and create a sanctuary for reploids. Cleansing the Earth meant killing off all of the humans, and spreading the Maverick Virus worldwide in an attempt to infect every reploid. X had defeated Epsilon, the messenger, and destroyed the Gates of Paradise with the help of Raydia Deltion. In the end, her external body died, but her soul lived on. Shortly after the incident, she disappeared without a trace, leaving X a mysterious message:

"'We will meet again, X. Take care until then.'"

"Hmm? You say something, X?" Alia's voice filled X's ear.

"Oh! Yeah, I was thinking about that message she left me..."

"'She?' Raydia?"

"Yeah."

"...you miss her?"

"Can't say that I don't. I mean, she helped us out a lot."

"Yeah...You don't know where she could have gone?"

"Not exactly; she was just an essence."

"Hey everyone! We're here!" Leyna informed the crew as the truck slowed to a stop.

"You're right. Well, good luck with the mission. Alia out."

"Thanks." X turned off his comm link and hopped out the back.

>>>

Arcadia seemed like it should be scarce, with the Orbital Elevators and all, but humans and reploids had populated the city just as they had before the elevators were built. The Orbital Elevators were built sometime after the Red Alert incident as a means for humans who deemed the Earth unsafe to migrate to the moon. But many were brought back down to Earth after the Lumine incident.

"Wow. It seems like this place gets bigger and bigger each time I see it!" Locke exclaimed with wide eyes. "Yea it does!" The hunters began chit chatting while waiting for the air bus. None of them were in their combat armor, seeing as how this mission didn't involve blowing shit up. When a certain Hunter heard this, he almost didn't tag along. But nonetheless, they brought their armor transits just in case. The bus arrived and the seven Maverick Hunters hopped on.

>>>

They arrived in Giga City about fifteen minutes later. The Hunters tromped off the automated bus at the docking bay. Stryke and Locke looked over the edge of the docking station in awe. "Wow...so this is Giga City..." While those two were caught up with the sight the city below was giving them, X walked forward into the actual station. That's when he sensed that something was off. Becoming suspicious, he switched his vision to pick up any kind of heat signatures. He checked out the area where the desk clerk usually stands for signs of heat on the floor. He gasped.

There was heat on the floor where she stood, but leading to the door was a trail of heat, which collaborated into a large mass near the door. Whoever was here didn't leave too long ago. Then a loud roar escaped the sky abruptly, causing the area to shake. The sky grew dark rather quickly. "Hmm? A rainstorm?" Leyna asked no one in particular.

"No way. The sky got dark all too quickly." Zero answered. X had an idea and ran outside. He looked up and let out a muffled cry. Everyone followed him and looked at the sky.

A large castle shaped structure eclipsing the sun was flying overhead. A low roar gave an odious ambience to the area. "What the hell is that?" Echo asked out loud. "Looks like...some kind of fortress? Space ship?" A bright blue flash illuminated the area, grabbing everyone's attention. X plopped his helmet down on his head. "Something's amiss here. Suit up, I'll contact HQ." The rest of the Hunters agreed and activated their armor transits while X fruitlessly tried to contact Alia.

"Hello? Alia, come in. Anyone there? Come in, HQ. Damn..."

"What's wrong, X?" Axl inquired. "I think that thing up there is blocking our comm link waves, so I can't contact the base." Zero walked over. "Well, shall we have a look around?"

"Let's check the Central Tower." And with that, the seven Hunters dashed off toward their destination.

Giga City: Central Tower
Time: 2:16 PM

The door to Central Tower slid open slowly, stopping halfway from being damaged. Axl and Stryke forced the doors all the way open so everyone could get in. The lights in the hallway flickered ominously. The group proceeded cautiously up the winding hallways, with Axl as the point man.

"...What the hell happened here?" Zero asked while keeping his saber at the ready. "X...you don't think it could be Epsilon again?" X shook his head in dissent. "I don't think he'll be back. I mean, the guy died twice! He's dead for good."

"X. I died twice. That didn't stop me from comin' back..." Zero reminded him. X was about to argue, but didn't have anything to counter that statement.

"What the...oh, shit! X! Get up here!" Axl called out from above. Without a second thought, X rushed to the top of the hall. As he went he thought he smelled something...rancid. "(I hope it's not what I think it is...)"

"...no..." Was all X managed to choke out as he and the squad of Hunters stared horrified into the room. Blood was strewn all over the walls. Chunks of various reploid parts were scattered aimlessly around the room. Dozens of reploid corpses slumped along the walls and were balled up on the floor. X fell to his knees.

"Dammit...the Maverick Virus? No, the Mother Elf got rid of it. But..." X thought out loud. Zero looked around, shocked beyond belief. Then something hit him.

"Hey! If the virus is here, then what about the others!" Everyone looked at him with realization. X was the first to dash through the doors. He was breathing hard. He wasn't sure why, but something filled him with dread, and it wasn't Sigma this time. Someone behind him screamed, causing him to stop abruptly. Looking back, he saw Axl and Echo wrestling with a reploid. Flashes filled the room, signaling that Axl opened fire.

"X! Go check on Nana and the others! We can handle this!" Echo shouted up the hall. X stood there, confused on what he should do. Axl and Echo were up against what looked like at least fifteen enemies. "X, there's no time! Let's go!" Zero grabbed the cerulean clad hunter by the arm and dashed upstairs behind the others.

>>>

When they got to the top, Locke activated her RSBs (Rotating Saw Blades) on her wrists and locked them in place. She jumped up and stabbed them in the door, tearing apart the digisteel door as she descended. When she reached the bottom, she withdrew her weapons and gave the doors a thrust kick, knocking them down. The five Hunters rushed into the room and gasped.

The command center was dim. The sound of circuits shorting out filled the room. Muffled cries of pain and fear filled their ears. There, a large figure was on the ground, being impaled repeatedly with a beam knife by another figure. Blood flew into the air, staining the ground around them. Then it looked up at the Hunters in the doorway and spoke.

"Ugh...X...Zero? No! ...get out of here! You can't...kill...AAHHGUGHghgg..." Massimo started but was cut off by a beam knife ripping into his throat, cauterizing his flesh and sending a spray of blood all over the reploid that killed him.

"MASSIMO!" X screamed out, catching the attention of the reploid standing over Massimo's corpse. Zero was enraged. "Can't kill, huh? The hell I can!" Zero dashed forward and tackled the reploid to the ground.

"Stryke and Locke, you two guard the doorway. Leyna, you come with me." X issued out, his voice tinged with emotion. They nodded and assumed their positions. X and Leyna ran into the room were Zero was struggling with the reploid. Leyna ran down the stairs to next to the giant wall monitor. X checked on Massimo. "...dead..." He then headed downstairs with Leyna. "...Nana!"

Nana was sitting on the floor, pressed up against the wall, terrified beyond words. He noticed a pool of blood under her left...wait. She was missing an arm! X walked briskly over to her. "X, she won't speak. I think she's in shock. Looks like her arm was severed by a beam weapon."

"Nana...can you hear me? It's X." X spoke softly, trying to reach the pink haired navigator. Her eyes showed a bit of life as she slowly looked over at the man that was speaking to her. She opened her mouth, trying to speak.

"...X? It's...you. Please...help...us." She spoke before she started gasping for air rapidly. "Nana? What happened? Who did this?" X said, catching the girl as she slumped forward. Leyna was listening intently with her hands over her mouth. Battle cries could be heard from above. Nana started shaking, sobbing while she did so. X held her by the shoulders, trying to be careful not to jar her arm. "...it's not her fault...it's not...she's under mind control...it's not...her fault..." Nana repeated, her voice quivering. X had a pit in his stomach. "Mind control? Who's under mind control?" He tried asking her.

A loud sound erupted from above, followed by a scream of pain. A figure slammed into the screen, shattering it and sending down shards of digiglass. X shielded Nana from the rain of glass. A large thud hit the ground, followed by a low growl. Leyna nearly screamed.

"Damn it! Ahh!" Zero expressed as he pulled out a beam knife from his chest. He coughed up a large amount of blood as he stood up. His armor had hairline cracks all over. "X...I'll handle this." Zero spoke while carefully scanning the area he was thrown from. X and Leyna looked at him mysteriously. Footsteps grew louder as the enemy above them approached the ledge. The figure leaped down toward Zero and let out cry. X widened his eyes at recognition of the voice. Zero pulled out his saber and threw it at his assailant. The battle cry from the reploid turned into a cry of pain as the saber pierced through its chest. Zero carefully caught the reploid in his arms, avoiding the beam jutting out from its back. He pulled the saber out and deactivated the blade. Letting it drop to the floor, he pulled the corpse of his attacker to his body. Leyna gasped as she finally figured out who it was. The corpse started to speak.

"...I'm...s-sorry...Nana...Zero...-cough-...everyone..." Cinnamon's breathing slowed down dramatically, then stopped all together. Zero set the young reploid's body down on the floor gently. Leyna was speechless. X was holding back tears as Nana let hers flow freely. Zero stood up slowly.He looked down at the lifeless body of Cinnamon and felt a wave of anger rush over his body. He swore under his breath as he slammed his fist into the wall.

"... ... ... ... ...we have to get out of here." Zero said with a disturbed tone. X, Leyna and Nana slowly agreed. They made their way to the stairs when they heard a pair of screams. Then, a maniacal laugh was heard.

To be continued...

Whew! What a chapter! It's supposed to be longer, but I don't think you guys need to wait for too long. The second part of this chapter will be coming up soon. So, stay tuned and, as always...

Till Next Time!