X came to a fuzzy form of consciousness just long enough to realize he was being carried. He blinked up at the simian face of Swing Gollit, who offered him a grim smile. He tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"When the big guy back there died, the energy barrier that had been keeping us out dropped. We managed to pick up the human survivors on the beach, though most of them are not exactly the most desirable sorts."

"He, phae, stus," X managed.

"Yeah, we're bringing him along, what's left of him. We'd have Doc Veris examine him, if that were still an option, but it ain't. Doc's a rogue element. Caught him on surveillance in your office wasting that cop friend of yours, Marlow. Veris is a cyborg, turns out. And the leader of the Cult of Wily."

X heard all of this, but nothing else as he slipped into the ether.

Waking up again, but this time X didn't feel any of the pain of his prior awakening. He'd been repaired, and the first face he now saw belonged to Zero. "Hello, brother," the crimson reploid said with a gentle smile. "Glad to see you're back."

X had been in a stand-by state for seven days, it turned out. His entire body had been repaired after thirteen hours of extensive work, including a complete overhaul of his tactile nervous wiring. His motor function boards had been almost entirely pulverized. Rotors and pistons in all of his joints had been battered and bent out of shape. His targeting system had been burnt out, and his life force energy had been reduced to eight percent. He'd only ever been closer to death once before.

Yet despite his full repairs and recovery, his spark had remained away, keeping his systems in a state of standby. X couldn't recall what had happened to him during that time spent as a wandering spirit. He suspected it had been something important, though, something he would have to call back to.

During his comatose state, several strange power signatures had been picked up on global sensor systems, but they had been brief and had disappeared entirely after only three days. X knew what that meant, but the Hunters' systems hadn't been able to pin down a source.

All of the nuclear launch sites had been abandoned after the death of Hephaestus, the warheads unaccounted for. This news put every human government on edge, but nobody did anything rash, thankfully.

X had watched security footage from his own hidden office camera after being briefed by Zero about all of this. Sure enough, there was Dr. Veris, using a cybernetic arm blaster to turn Jasper Marlow's head into so much meat paste. X had forgotten all about the little spy camera he'd installed on his desk. It was shaped like an original Megaman head, a novelty item meant to give the impression that X had a sense of humor.

There was nothing humorous here.

X held a meeting with Zero, Axl, Swing Gollit, and Triclaw the day after he was cleared to return to duty. During that meeting, he told them about Hephaestus's plans, taking special care to warn them about Paladin. When they heard he had a Buster Cannon of his own, all four reploids shook their heads.

There would be trouble ahead.

X dismissed them, though Zero stayed behind. Standing next to one another, the two reploids stared out over the city, each one wondering when the next attack would come.

Each wondered if the Hunters would be ready for all-out war.

And each knew the humans were not.

To be continued...

-Fin-