Author's note: I am realizing that I haven't been telling you about the special weapons. Well, that'll be fixed in this chapter or the next! Also, because I want to get to the plot I just came up with, the rest of the Mavericks will be in this one chapter.
Zero's p.o.v.
We'd entered the stage of the next Maverick, 'Forest Wolf.'
Even though I knew I was being controlled against my will, I still felt like an actual fighter while in the stage. I guess I'd grown so used to this by now, it felt like I was moving to my own beat.
Who was really worrying me that entire time was X. He seemed more stressed than usual, and even a little saddened. I could tell something was wrong, and that he was hiding something. I knew he wouldn't tell me openly what the matter was, so I remained silent for the most part. Still, I was worried about him. It wasn't until one moment when Axl was running for his life from a macanaloid that I got the chance to talk to him.
"Hey," I said. "You shouldn't keep something from your team members."
"I..." He didn't look me in the eye. "I'm not hiding anything."
"X, I know you well enough to know when you're lying. I'm not just here to be awesome, I can help you."
"I said I'm fine," he sneered.
"... When you're ready to talk, I'm here."
Mother's p.o.v.
The rest of the 'Maverick' stages were normal for the most part. I figured the story would probably play out after I'd defeated all of them, so I did.
Forest Wolf was pretty simple, he was almost identical to the wolf in X1.
The next one, Rocket Parrot, was probably the easiest of all. He just dashed into you, you jumped over head, and then shot the fucker in the back of the head until he died.
Next, Steel Rihno. Sometimes he would charge at you, and you had to jump over him. I found it easiest with Axl's hover ability, so you could dodge and shoot at him. But, if he slammed into the wall then a bolder would fall on you. So most of the time, I used X to dash-jump over him, dash away from the bolder, and shoot him with a charged shot.
Finally, Aura Dragon. His pattern was that he would shoot fireballs at you, and you had to either cut them in half with Zero's saber, or destroy it with a charged up shot from X. His other pattern was that he would sometimes unhook his wings and send them flying at you like boomerangs. You had to jump on them, so when they went back to him, you had to either shoot him or thwack him like crazy.
After I took out Aura Dragon, I was put in a little mini stage where you could only play as X.
Curious, I moved him forward. I couldn't jump, dash, or shoot. All I could do was slowly jog. Eventually, I came up to a pink Reploid with blue hair.
Her text box popped up.
"Well, have you made your decision?"
X cringed in disgust, and took a step closer to her. He closed his eyes, as if something disgusting was in front of him and, with a look of disgust and angst, he kissed her.
She lifted her leg up and kissed him back.
"I take it that's a yes?"
He forced a smile.
"Yes."
She turned around and pressed a few buttons on some type of box. X whiped his mouth in disgust. The girl turned back around and gave the small box to him.
"Are you ready?"
He hesitantly took the box.
I blinked in confusion. Was I missing something?
Axl's p.o.v.
I didn't remember much. The second we'd returned from the Maverick, my consciousness had suddenly faded. I woke up and saw Zero lying in front of me, holding his head.
"What the hell happened...?" he moaned.
"You alright?"
"I think someone hit my head. Huh?" He looked aroud. "Where's X!?" A box hit his head. "Ow!"
"What's this thing? A recorder?" I asked. I picked it up and pressed play.
"Hello, guys."
"X?"
"I've got some good news and bad news. Good news is, I've found a way to cure Mavericks and turn them back to their original state. My new... 'friend' calls it the 'Mega Project.' Bad news is... it requires me to give up my life."
"What!?"
"My friend Poline has built a type of machine that can cure whatever makes a Maverick. However, for it to work it requires the design of one of the first Reploids. You can probably see where this is going... ... I'm so happy. Finally, we can end this war without any more pointless violence. I know you two wouldn't let me go if I said this to your faces, so forgive me for leaving you with this. Goodbye. ... P.S."
Dumb founded, I looked up from the recording. Zero was literally on fire.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH HIM!?"
"EEP!"
He grabbed me by the neck and tossed me up to the entrance of the cave.
"DON'T JUST LIE THERE! LET'S START LOOKING FOR HIM!"
Classic's p.o.v.
I was struggling to get out of the giant robot's grasp, but he wouldn't let go.
"Please let me go... Please..." I sighed.
I heard footsteps and voices outside the cell.
"How soon can you get this to work?"
"It'll be ready soon. In the mean time, there's something I want to do. Step in here, please."
"... Why?"
"There's somebody I want us to speak to. Come on."
It was the girl who kidnapped me, and the taller blue robot.
"It's you...!"
"Hmm?"
We stared at each other for a few seconds, until the woman chuckled, breaking the silence.
"It's about time I told you everything, Mega Man," she said. "My name is Poline. Believe it or not, I was once a human from the year 20XX. I suppose you knew a friend of mine, Dr. Thomas Light?"
"My dad?"
"He and I were good friends when we were studying the structure of robots. One day, I dared him to make a robot exactly like Proto Man, who could think for himself, only with a conscience. Of course, he accepted the challange without anything in return." She put her hand on his shoulder. "And that's where he came from. Mega Man, meet your brother, Mega Man X."
Our eyes both widened from shock.
Brother!?
"He was meant to replace you, be your superior, so Dr. Light decided to deactivate you. Of course, I did it for him as he was busy building Mega Man X at the time. I wanted to borrow him for a bit once he was complete, but after the scaring you and what's-his-face, Dr. Wily did to the world he was worried humans would be scared of your brother. He decided to wait until the shock had worn off, but unfortunately didn't live long enough to see that day. I, however, turned myself into the type of robot Light had designed so I could live forever, and now here we are."
He and I were still staring at each other. Eventually, I looked away from him and at the ground.
"Why...?" I asked as my hands formed fists. "Why would Dr. Light replace me...? Without telling me!? Why didn't Roll say anything!?"
Poline laughed.
"Isn't it obvious? Because it didn't matter if you knew you were still alive or not. You're just an old piece of scrap metal that can rot for all we care."
We were all silent for what felt like an eternity.
"I," X stammered, "I didn't mean to-"
"Come on, Mega Man X," Poline said as she took his hand. "The machine for the Mega Project is almost ready. Don't you want to cure all Mavericks?"
He looked back at me, then back at Poline and nodded.
"Yes. Let's go."
X's p.o.v.
Through the steel walls of the cell, I could hear the small Reploid whimpering behind the door. Everything in my code was urging me to burst down that door and hug him! I felt a sob work its way up my throat, and guilt slip its way into my chest.
"Mega Man X," Poline said, "are you coming, sweetie?"
"Y-yeah," I said with a slight nod. "And, just call me X."
"Alright. The machine is this way, it should be ready in a couple of minutes."
I got in the machine. A smile creeped on my face.
This is great! I thought. I'm saving the world from Mavericks without having to destroying them, and I have a brother! This is the happiest last moment of my life. Now, I only have one regret... And that's not getting to know my brother too well. Please forgive me, Mega Man. But, the only other thing that I would regret is telling Zero that. ... But, it's in the P.S., he should know. ... It's over...