Chapter Two: Maverick or not?

Zero was stressed. His friend, X, had just been called a Maverick by just about everyone in the base, and it was all that he could do to convince them to hold off on those beliefs until they had full proof of this. However, most of the other hunters, especially the trigger happy ones, wanted to tell him otherwise. He could see that look in their eyes that said that they did. He didn't want X being killed, though. He didn't want to believe that X had really gone Maverick.

He walked down to the bay where he was now holding X in a pod, and wondered if he was awake. He walked up to the pod to see X staring at him. Zero gripped his beam saber hilt and pressed a button on the left side of the pod before stepping back. The glass lifted upward and X began to climb out, but Zero said, "X, stay where you are."

Much to his relief, X listened. He asked, "What's going on, Zero? Why am I in the holding pod?"

Zero said, "Well, X, people are beginning to think you're going Maverick. I had to put you down here so that way no one would find you."

X stared at him in disbelief. "Why would they be calling you a Maverick?" he asked dubiously.

Zero said, "X, look at yourself and you'll know why." he had a worried look on his face, knowing that X had a chance to overreact to certain things, including seeing one of his friends go Maverick.

X looked at himself and stared at himself, a horrified expression on his face. "Oh no...wh...what?! What is this?!" he said, his voice becoming higher pitched from fear. His entire body had undergone a drastic transformation. His armor had glowing purple veins going all throughout it. His whole armor had gone darker, and a strange purple aura was around him. Zero could see also that his eyes had gone red.

Zero said, "You've been corrupted by the Maverick virus, X."

X looked up at him, his face still wearing an expression of horror. "No!" he shouted, "I can't be corrupt! I'm still me!"

Zero took a step back from this overreaction. This wasn't anger or sadness that he saw. He was seeing his old friend, the one that he always thought fearless, beginning to panic before him. "X, calm down, you may not be fully corrupted," he calmly said, hoping to calm his friend down.

X, realizing this fact, began to calm himself down. He began to take deep breaths to try to calm himself down. He said, "Zero...what happened? Everyone's trying to attack me now, you're saying?"

"Yes. There are a bunch of them who think that you are Maverick, and have been badgering me about where I put you. One even threatened to kill me if I didn't tell him," he explained, and he saw X's face pale.

"When did this start happening?" he asked before remembering everything that had happened with Sigma. The purple veins going up his arm. He began chewing on his lower lip as he tried to sort all this out in his head.

"I'm sorry that this has to be happening, X," Zero explained.

"No...don't you be sorry. Actually, I think that there might be a few ways that I could make use of this," X said, looking at himself.

Zero looked up and asked, "What do you mean?"

"If I'm Maverick, supposedly, then I could know who was Maverick and who wasn't. This could allow me to find the new Maverick leaders, wouldn't it?" he said, explaining his theory.

Zero looked at him dubiously. "X? Are you sure that would be a good idea?" he asked.

X nodded and said, "Just get me out of this base and I'll help you out in whatever ways that I can."

Zero thought about this, and said, "So you're basically saying that you would know which Reploids are Maverick now because you are partially corrupted by the Maverick virus?"

X nodded, hoping that his friend would believe him at this point. Both stared hard at each other for a moment, and then Zero replied, "Alright, then. We'll also be on the hunt for the Maverick leaders, so keep that in mind. Try and stay away from areas that I designate. Everyone else will attack you on sight, and I can't stop that."

X looked around and asked, "Alright, so how do I get out of here?"

Zero pointed towards a vent and said, "That vent leads right outside. Once you're outside, beam away to any location. From what we've been told, all of the Maverick leaders are here in this city."

X nodded and said, "I'll keep that in mind." He dashed over to the vent and tore the grate off before turning to him and saying, "Thank you, Zero." he crawled into the vent and disappeared. Zero walked out and back up the stairs to find the one hunter that had threatened him earlier standing there.

"Where's that Maverick?!" he asked, aiming a gun at him now.

Zero's eyes narrowed as he glared at him and he angrily said, "Put that gun down or else..."

The hunter simply turned the safety off on the gun and demanded, "Show me to the Maverick! Now!"

Before anyone could blink, Zero's arm had flashed over to the left, and that hunter's gun fell in half. The one began to back, suddenly afraid of Zero, but then he was kicked down the hallway and sent skidding. Zero called down, "Don't you ever threaten me again!" he walked towards the main control room and walked in. Alia (or whatever her name was) looked over and asked, "Zero? What happened?"

Zero walked in and asked, "What happened where? Down the hall? Someone threatened me."

Alia stood up and said, "Down in the basement, the one that you shut off the camera to."

Zero walked in and said, "I found out that X...is partially corrupted. However, his personality and mind remains the same."

Alia looked towards him and asked, "How is that possible? And...are you sure that he's the same as before?"

"Yes. He was horrified to find that he was part Maverick, something that no Maverick that I know does," he replied, sitting down in a chair in front of one of the super computers.

The eyes of everyone there turned towards him in surprise. X being horrified was something that they couldn't possibly imagine. X had always been the fearless leader alongside Zero. Alia was completely shocked. "So...he is okay..." she muttered. She had a secret love towards X that had developed over a long period of time, and she was sure that X had a similar love for her.

Zero sighed and said, "I'm not entirely sure if he is. He seems okay at the moment."

The mention of that "at the moment" put a nameless fear in Alia's heart, though she didn't show that she was afraid. She just nodded and said, "Alright."

Zero said, "Alright, X and I have agreed to work together to take out the Maverick leaders one by one until we find Sigma again. We need to find Sigma and then find a way to ultimately defeat him."

Alia said, "Sir, we've found ingredients to make a perfect anti-virus. We can have our scientists create it while our soldiers take out the Maverick leaders."

Zero looked at her in surprised and asked, "When did this happen?"

"Just a few hours ago," she replied. She was surprised when Zero looked suddenly dubious.

Something's not right...he thought to himself, If we just go them...why did we not get any other warning that we would be receiving it beforehand? Well...I suppose that it won't be anything bad...

He said, "Alright then. Let's have them start..." he said rather slowly, not sure if this was even a good idea. Or if it was a trap. He had to take a chance.

Alia nodded and replied, "Yes, sir. I'll send them the order right away." she turned and began typing a message on her computer. Zero leaned back in his chair and sighed. This was it. X was partially corrupted and he knew that he probably had a chance of going completely Maverick. They had a chance to end the war, either for the mavericks or for them. The next set of battles was going to be to determine the ultimate victor in the war that had lasted for nearly two centuries by now. But something was still on Zero's mind. Was X truly not Maverick? Or...was he really a Maverick and had tricked them?