"The hardest part was when I realized I no longer cared about fighting enemies." X

Even though Tohdoh knew his death was slowly and surely approaching, he chose to do nothing. What could he do anyway? He was trapped in a containment cell with no way in or out of it. The dim blue lights of the jail added to the despair of the situation.

And he took it with his head held high.

Footsteps. Someone was coming closer. Since he was the only one in this cell block, he knew that the individual was probably going to address him. A mere guard walked over to him and looked at him.

"I just heard that they changed your executioner." He said smugly. "It's going to be Warrant Officer Kururugi. You ought to be glad it's someone you know."

Tohdoh didn't even react. He simply loomed his eyes closer to the man who glared at him.

Today was the first time Alia could even say she decided to have a night on the town. Tonight was the night she and X were going to…well…go out. At least that's how humans dubbed the term for what she knew as a social convention to attract members of the opposite sex. She knew X would be happy. Suzaku was going to be in an execution to his knowledge; and X knew the boy would be distressed as a result. He didn't want to be there to see it either in all honesty. With him not being assigned to guard the area, there was no reason not to have a little fun.

She waited on the corner of a street, with the dress she had loaned from Cecile. It took X several minutes to arrive on the scene…with ironically a suit that he had purchased with his own money. It was the first and only purchase X had ever made in his life for a human commodity; and not something to help him fight as it was when he fought in Giga City. He met Alia on the street.

"X!" She said. "You arrived. I didn't think you were going to come for a little bit."

"Why wouldn't I?" X said. "You asked me out…and I am under the impression that rejecting a request like that would be…rude."

Even though X was more in control of himself than most people, the human brain that was being simulated with the Simulation program forced to adjust his eyes to Alia's chest. The red dress that Alia was given was very revealing in the chest area, and X began to blush. As he turned a way, grabbing his head to regain himself, he managed to mutter, "You…you look great."

"So do you." She said. "Either this simulation program has changed my outlook on things, or I have never seen you ever look as dashing as you do now."

"Thanks." X said. "Umm…so…shall we?"

She nodded, and took his hand under her own. X had already taken the reservation on a restaurant. All he could hope for now is for the evening to proceed well.

"How can we be sure we know what we're doing?" Signas asked some of the Reploids as they worked in the transport truck. Douglas and Marino almost immediately stopped their work on the computers and looked at him. Douglas had seen his commander serious before, but now he was never sure if he had ever seen him as serious as he was now.

"Why are we doing this?" He asked. "Why are openly betraying an oath we took when we first built on the assembly line…it doesn't make sense."

Douglas put his hand to his chin, and began to ponder.

"That's a good point." He said. "Even if we are not the ones fighting Britannia, and killing the people…we are inadvertently aiding the enemy of humanity. We were government models, built for to defend and fight for the government."

"Oh please." Marino said. "Speak for yourselves; don't include me in this."

"But according to the data on the Giga City incident, R had listed you as one of the Hunters who were giving aid to the government forces." Douglas said. "I think that this conversation applies to you about as much as it does us."

Marino tried to say something, but Douglas had indeed beaten her to the punch.

"Well…" She said…trying to rationalize her way out of the situation. She soon realized that she was already too deep in. "Well…I don't know…"

"Well…we should." Signas said. "And quite honestly…I'm not too fond of our leader. Using our abilities to kill the very people we were built to protect."

"Yeah that makes perfect sense." Douglas said. "It's a clear violation of the law for us to be doing this…"

Signas nodded his head. But before he could continue, Douglas interjected.

"However…I will say this…and whether or not it makes sense to any of you…well…it's the conviction that I'm holding to justify my assistance in this operation. I certainly don't like Zero; our leader mind you…not the one we know. He is essentially doing to us what Britannia is doing the few Reploids they have. Exploiting their functions and power to clamp its hold on the world. Normally, I would do my work without questioning. But even back in our world, we didn't have humans outright killing each other, simply because of matter of race. These Japanese that were fighting for have no means to protect themselves…it's like the Britannian guards can shoot whoever they please. It's not the best excuse for me fighting them…but it's the best I got. I just can't approve of a country killing its own, and not letting them fight back. At least that's what I think."

All was silent in the room. Never had Signas once ever hear Douglas say something so…compelling. Everything Douglas muttered made sense, and was true to every word.

"I suppose your right." Signas said. "Maybe that capsule did something to us…widen our ability to think…think just like a human perhaps. But still...that doesn't mean are any better than they. There may be more reasons that Britannia is leading on…no, that's stupid. Listen to me trying to justify murder."

"I know what you're trying to say Signas." Douglas said. "And it's not like I don't agree with ya. I'm sure Zero feels the same way about this…fighting humanity."

"Exactly." Zero said as he opened the door leading into the computer room. With him on his side were Leviathan, Phantom, Craft, Axl, and Ciel. "I'll be honest with all of you; I have been questioning my loyalty in this war since the very beginning when I met…well Zero. It took me awhile to deduce why I was fighting too…and even then I still have moments of clarity where I wonder what my status is as a Reploid. I don't expect you guys to have it all figured out in a day either."

"What about you three?" Marino said. "What's your reasoning for fighting?"

"When I saw those power hungry men literally send waves of their own men to die to get something that would inherently kill both human and Reploid, I knew that this government should not stand." Phantom said. "By simply existing, they have people put to death. I will protect those people…even if I must take a human life to do so."

Then all then focused their attention on Leviathan.

"Doctor Weil's Neo Arcadia was similar to Britannia." She said. "I just don't want to serve on that side again."

"I was indebted to the Japanese Liberation Front." Axl said. "I didn't want to…but I couldn't watch their non-combat personal get eaten by Knightmare lead. I just had to fight."

"And I just want to stop the bloodshed." Craft said. "Nothing more."

"We all have our reasons for being here." Zero said. "And whether they are irrational by the Laws of Robotics, our convictions are still here. But if you're that confused, you're welcome to walk to Britannia and go the position of where you used to be. I'm not going to stop you…that call will be up to Zero. You're my brothers and sisters…and I'm not a tyrant."

Zero turned around and began to walk away from them. Signas got up and looked at Zero.

"Zero!" He said. "Tell me this then soldier! Can we even trust this Zero? How can we be sure that he is not like the government we oppose!"

Zero stopped moving and didn't move for a few seconds. Ciel had to walk over to him, forcing him to turn around. He then looked at Signas in the eye.

"We can only find out when the dust settles." Zero said. "Prepare for combat!"

Suzaku had been brought up to the base's tower to go through the hassaling procedure of paper work. The base's tower was actually well furnished, with accommodations only found in a ravishing house. He had never been more scared in his entire life. Tohdoh was his teacher…his mentor. As Lloyd signed paper after paper, he continued to reminisce on the times Tohdoh taught. How to fight, his convictions…everything. He wondered if he could even go through it…would he be able to pull the trigger? He would have to. If he didn't…he would never advance in Britannia.

"What?" Lloyd said as another sheet of paper was handed to him. "You need my signature again?"

"Even though the Viceroy ordered this, there are certain formalities that must be followed." A captain said. "A change in executioner is a most delicate procedure, you must understand."

As Lloyd continued to sign paper after paper, a large explosion was heard from the base. All of the men looked around in fear as they constantly tried to discern what it was.

"What was that!" A captain in a blue suit shouted. He turned to his side to see a large fire coming from the edge of the base's wall.

"Good; now were free of this hellish paperwork." Lloyd muttered.

It turned out that under the cover of an unknown source, several highly advanced Knightmares were able to sneak by the Britannian defensive lines, and initiated an attack outside of the wall. A high grade explosive charge had completely incinerated the outer wall. Several Knightmares went to investigate what was going on. Those units never returned, as a ray of gunfire obliterated them before they could even make into the thick cloud of smoke that perpetuated over the fire.

The Britannian Knightmares held their position outside of the smoke, inside the enclosed fortress wall. Waiting for something. They didn't wait long. Four Knightmares of unknown design and origin rode out of the smoke and towards them. On top of them were Phantom, Zero, Leviathan, and Craft.

The Britannian Knightmares wasted no time, and opened fire into their attackers. However these new Knightmares were far more maneuverable, able to dodge the steel based rounds before they came into contact with their craft. They ran straight through their lines, causing many of them to fall and explode into the ground.

The Reploids took this as their opportunity to bail. The four units leapt into the air as high as they could, while a new wave reconnoitered with the fallen units. The Four unknown models swung around and fired their machine guns into the oncoming wave, slaughtering most of them.

Other units tried to move against the new Knightmares, but they're defensive formation and lines had been all but cut down from the incoming onslaught. They're fire was now disorganized, and dis-uniformed.

"Tohdoh!" Chiba shouted. "We're coming to save you."

And then Reploids descended upon them. Zero's saber cut straight through the first unit, causing it to explode. Zero then fired his Buster into the next incoming unit, creating a gaping hole in the unit, before it detonated like the rest.

"I see they're still using outdated metals and materials in their units." Zero said.

"They can't possibly hope to defeat Reploids of our caliber with such inferior technologies." Craft barked in the air. Craft then armed his laser cannon, and aimed the pointer right at an approaching Knightmare shooting at him. Craft unleashed a blast of blue energy into the unit, causing it to explode almost instantly.

Leviathan and Phantom landed on the ground, only to be chased by three approaching Knightmares. A surprised Leviathan had no plan of action to deal with an early assault such as this; but Phantom did. He grabbed his friend and teleported over the top of one of the units with her. She landed on the top, while Phantom leapt onto the unit more in the back.

"Thanks." She shouted.

Then she swung her lance and prodded it straight into the cockpit of the unit. The unit slowly came to a halt and remained still.

Phantom did the same thing by teleporting inside of the unit, and then dispatching the pilot on the inside. He kicked the bloody corpse out of the unit.

And then he himself began to pilot the Knightmare. Unlike the other Reploids, Phantom didn't have sufficient firepower to take on Knightmares. But he certainly had the espionage talents to board them. With the unit under his control, Phantom turned the machine gun against the last unit, destroying it.

Meanwhile, Shogo charged his Knightmare into two units that had been separated from the main group of defenders. Using agile maneuvers, he was able to launch his attack against them, slicing them at the sakuradite tank.

"These GEKKA's are awesome." He shouted. "Way superior to Buaris!"

"Yeah; you got that right!" Urabe shouted back.

The rest of the Black Knights (or at least their non-combat) personal remained back at the mobile command, watching the fight from their laptops.

"Hmmm…" Rakshata muttered. "Ciel…do you think sub-weapon gauges are tight enough?"

Ciel made not have made the unit, but she learned how it functioned extremely fast. Even Rakshata was impressed with her ability to learn and process information at the rate she learned at.

"No." She said. "However…I suspect it might be the line."

"I'm reading a point 07 variant to specs." A scientist said.

"Obviously those old coots in Kyoto need to supply us with better parts." Rakshata muttered.

A few minutes before the explosion, X and Alia were currently dining at a small restaurant. X was still adjusting to this…human thing so he didn't want to do something rash yet. Besides, he had no idea if he even liked her. As of now…it was simple conversation, and enjoying the night. The restaurant's wall paper was red and pink, with white stripes going through it. Simple designs were etched into it, such as flowers. Alia was still just as excited about the dinner as she was when she had first asked X to it. Even as they got to their table, she still kept talking

"I can't believe we are doing this still." She said.

"I know." X said. "It's like something that we wanted to do; but never was brave enough to ask…right?"

"I know!" She exclaimed. "It's like you and I are thinking exactly the same!"

X smiled as she said that. The waiter then came by, and the two ordered their food. They didn't have to wait long…as this restaurant was famous for delivering its food on time. When their food arrived, they began to eat. In the middle of the dinner, Alia looked up at X. She knew he had lived longer than she did…and she was curious to know what had happened.

"Tell me…X…" She said. "When's the last time we seen each other? I know that I, Layer, and Palette were destroyed in the Elf wars. Did you survive?"

X was about to try a bit of his steak when she brought that up. Truth be told, he didn't necessarily want to remember that. It was the saddest day for him when he found his friends retired by Omega. He put down his fork.

"That was a long time ago." X said. "I feel really ashamed that I forgot how long it was when I saw you again. Even worse that we've been working this whole time, and we never inquired about it."

"Well…you were busy." She said. "Busier than I ever saw you before."

"It's alright." He said. "We're talking now…the last time I saw you Alia…was over two hundred years ago."

"Two hundred years!" She exclaimed. X shushed her, as she saw people looking at them. She blushed and then waved her hand at them.

"Sorry; we're talking about work!" She said. Although it was too late; she had already drawn a lot of awkward stares. All she could do was recede in the chair, trying to avoid blushing as bad as she was now.

"Two hundred years?" She asked, softer.

"Yeah." He said. "…you…you don't know how bad it was. The Elf wars kept getting worse and worse…and even after we defeated Omega…it didn't matter. I still had to fight. And fight. Mavericks still appeared every once in a while, forcing me to keep peace…the hardest part was when I realized I no longer cared about fighting enemies. I left the world in Zero's hands...sometime after that…I don't remember what happened."

"It sounds like you went through a lot." Alia said. "X…what did you do when you found me…well…retired? How did you react…I want to know."

X stood there…trying to repress the painful memories. He didn't want to try and remember what had happened that fateful day. But before he could say anything, the explosion from the base occurred. X and Alia (along with all the startled patrons) looked towards the explosion from the nearby fortress.

"What the hell was that!" She shouted.

"It's coming from the base!" X shouted.

Without thinking, X put down his silver ware and dashed out of the restaurant. Alia watched as the blue blur disappeared in the restaurant. She however, was just about upset with this as X.

"No…" She muttered as she herself ran out. "Not now. Not after I worked up that much courage!"

X himself continued to move at a much faster pace, activating his armor form and leaping off building after building to reach the fortress.

"My superiors have just informed me that you are to be unofficially executed before your busted outta here." The same soldier who talked to Tohdoh said as he pulled out his gun. "Any last words?"

"It's a life I gave up once before." Tohdoh said. "It's worth nothing."

"In that case, I'll claim your life for myself!" Lelouch shouted as loud as he could.

A burst of red energy from the Guren appeared. The guard turned around to watch the rubble fall from the wall and smash him into the ground. The Guren, Axl, Marino, and Lelouch stood on top of the Knightmare units, looking down at him.

"Tohdoh!" Axl shouted.

"Axl?" He asked, curiously.

"Guess we can't stop running into each other after all." Axl said, dashing towards him. Axl then drew a knife and began to cut loose his bonds.

"You're the last person I expected to come here." He said. "I'm indebted to your service again…pity that it's not after I was already dead."

"Wrong." Lelouch said. "Your service now belongs to me…Tohdoh. The only Japanese who seven years ago brought the mighty Britannian forces to their knees in defeat."

"You want me to perform a miracle for you as well?" He asked

"That was no miracle!" Lelouch barked. "That victory succeeded because it was based on excellent intelligence work! That's why I want you!"

"I pledged my loyalty to General Katase!" Tohdoh shouted. "Now that he's dead, I wish to die too."

Lelouch's anger burned at him.

"Don't be a coward!" Lelouch shouted.

"What!" Tohdoh shouted.

Even Axl was confused at what Lelouch had stated.

"What are you talking about?" Axl shouted. "Tohdoh's one of the bravest guys I know. What is he a coward for!"

"He must take responsibility!" Lelouch shouted. "Responsibility for the miracle that he made!"

One of the few remaining Knightmares exploded after Zero cut in half with his large green beam saber. The other units backed away from the GEKKA's and the Reploids as they stood there waiting. Zero spat on the ground and looked at them.

"Ugh…there's no way that this is all of them." He said.

"Indeed." Phantom barked, through the communicator from his Knightmare that he stole. "I don't see any of the Reploids that they own here."

"Where could they all be anyway?" Leviathan said.

"Well…I'm not giving them a chance." Zero shouted.

Zero lifted his beam saber into the air. The emerald green blade extended high into the air, until it was nearly over a hundred feet long. And then Zero focused his energy into the blade. With one fell swing, Zero cut all the enemy Knightmares in two, causing them all to explode.

"Nice one." Shogo shouted. "I can see why your friends call you the Legendary Reploid."

"Yeah." Urabe said. "Who would have thought that such a small machine carries such hefty firepower, huh…argh…"

They looked to see a green Reploid leap from the wall and sweep onto Urabe's unit. Two large slashes were on his unit…causing a small bit of electricity to come from it.

"Urabe!" Chiba shouted. "Are you alright!"

"I'm fine!" He shouted. "Bloody bastard got a cheap shot on me…who the hell…"

It didn't take him long to discern where the attack came from. He looked up to see Harpuia floating in the air. He then rose a bit for Urabe to see a large orange shot come directly at him. This time though, he was able to deflect it using his sword. He looked then to see Fefnir teleport closer by them.

"Why I outta!" He began, charging right at him.

"I'll take h..." Phantom began. Soon however, shots fired onto his unit. Before he could react, a Sutherland used it's blade and slashed the legs off of Phantom's unit. Phantom had no choice but to eject before his unit exploded. As the pod flew, he sliced his way out and leaped back onto the ground. The single Sutherland charged right at Urabe, blocking his attack with his sword. The Sutherland looked at him as it held its blade at bay.

"Ughh…" Vile muttered from his communicator to his allies. "This unit packs a punch…too bad I'm a better pilot than this Eleven trash!"

"Better pilot huh!" Shogo shouted as he pushed his GEKKA forward. "Why don't you come and prove it!

Vile saw the maneuver, and pushed Urabe's hand so that the sword would fall onto Shogo's unit than his. Shogo got slashed on his side, but his unit was still fine. He released the grip on his throttle and then began to drive backward away. Urabe tried to fire at Vile, but Vile used his Slash Harken to knock his gun off course, firing into the air. He then

"Black Knights." Vile shouted. "Rabble rousing miscreants from the Ghettos. Still can't believe trash like you actually get to see the light of day…leave here at once or die at my hands."

"Rabble rousing miscreants are we!" Chiba screamed. "I'll show y…"

"Chiba!" Zero shouted. "Back off!"

"Huh?" She muttered, seeing Zero draw his saber.

"You can't beat these guys." Zero shouted. "Even if your unit is a superior model, they speed and height ratio will make you an easy target. Those Reploids are meant to take sitting targets like you!...the Sutherland maybe…but that pilot doesn't seem like someone out of boot camp." After analyzing the voice sample that he got from Shogo's unit, he felt that the voice was familiar. "Besides…I think I recognize that voice anyway. Zero's orders were to rendezvous with him to recover General Tohdoh…stick to those orders. We'll handle this part."

"But Zero…" Chiba said.

"Go!" He shouted.

With that, the Four Holy Blades went away and moved off to the side. At first Vile wanted to go, but then he stopped moving. He couldn't help but look at Zero. He didn't remember him…as Charles had wiped out his memories and made him like a regular Britannian…but he knew him from X. Lloyd had said before that he felt only X could eliminate Zero.

This is the unit that can only X can defeat…what a joke! …Fine then…I'll show that crackpot scientist what real power is…the power of my Sutherland!

"Remember…" Harpuia shouted. "Stick to your targets carefully…these units are not to be…"

"Screw you!" Vile shouted as he pushed his Sutherland forward. "I don't follow anyone but myself!"

"Hey; you get back here!" Fefnir shouted.

He didn't. He charged right at Zero. Zero…seeing an open in his attack, leapt over his punch and pointed his Z-Buster right at him.

"What!" Vile barked

"So much for this unit." Zero shouted.

Zero fired the Buster, and it punched straight through his attacker. Vile…realizing he could die if he stayed, unbuckled his seat belt, and leapt out of the unit, punching a hole through the cockpit with his head. His Sutherland exploded under him, and then he dashed his way towards Zero. He tried to give Zero a nice right hook when he landed, but Zero blocked it.

As soon as Vile threw his punch, the others began to fight. Phantom activated his beam saber and charged right at Harpuia, who deflected the strike and flew higher. Phantom threw a Shuriken, and began to ride on top of it towards him.

"You traitorous maverick!" Harpuia shouted. "How dare you call yourself a guardian! Killing humans! What a disgrace!"

"And you're still the government dog like before!" Phantom barked as the shuriken he threw gained air. "Why don't you go to cyber space and learn something when you do! You might be surprised what you can learn!"

Fefnir fought Craft and Leviathan. He shot his burning plasma bolts at Craft, but Craft's ability to dash in short bursts allowed him to maneuver around each one of the attacks. As Fefnir concentrated on Craft, Leviathan moved in and froze Fefnir's legs where he stood.

"Ahh man!" He shouted. "I should have remembered about her."

Fefnir tried pulling his legs out, only to see a red dot on his chest. Craft had pulled out his laser cannon and aimed it right at him. Fefnir gulped as the blue energy blasted him out of the ice, and into the air. His armor and circuitry was severely damaged. Craft then charged at him.

"You're finished Fefnir!" He shouted.

Fefnir looked up, and managed to pull enough energy to left himself off the ground. He then was able to grab Craft and threw him into the air. He formed another laser cannon and shot Craft several times while he was in the air.

"Don't think you have the edge against me!" Fefnir shouted. "I can still beat you!"

"So…" Vile shouted as he and Zero fought. "You're the Reploid that only X can defeat."

"I should have known that only a Reploid like you could out maneuver those GEKKA's in a Sutherland…Vile!" he shouted.

Vile then became confused. He didn't remember Zero…but Zero still knew him.

"You…" He shouted. "How do you know my name! Who are you!"

Even Zero then became confused, but enough to make him release his grip on Vile's fist.

Vile too! How many Mavericks lost their memories anyway! First Sigma…now Vile!

Zero leapt away from Vile and then activated his beam saber. Vile…seeing the blade come at him, used his thrusters and dashed away from Zero. He then activated the laser cannon on his side and began to fire at Zero. Zero leapt into the air, dodging most of the shots, but Vile kept shooting anyway. He leapt over him, and then charged at the other side…too close for even Vile to defend himself with his gun.

But Vile in this newly repaired body had more fire power than before. Vile pressed a button on his arm, forming an arm blade on the top of it. Vile blocked the attack in the nick of time.

"Eeehhhh…" He muttered. "Not bad…you're pretty fast for someone of your body type and mass!"

"Nice arm blade." Zero said. "Show me if you can even use it properly!"

Zero released his grip on the arm blade, and then swung upwards, causing Vile to lose his defensive stance…however…he was able to get his cannon pointed again at Zero. Vile shot a burst of yellow energy into the red Reploid. Zero got hit, but simply back-flipped away to safety. He had taken damage, with a small hole on his side, but he wasn't finished. Rather he wiped his face and smirked.

"Well now…" He said. "I like this body Vile got better than the others. He can actually hold up a fight now!"

Zero ran at him, using Soul Body to create several solid images of himself to charge at Vile. Vile…seeing the attack, activated a gatling gun on his shoulder and set it to bullet mode. Vile then began to unleash hundreds of steel based rounds at Zero. The images jumped and maneuvered away from them, some getting hit and then disappearing. But soon Zero got too close to Vile. Vile blocked the first two attacks from the illusions, but then the real Zero slashed at his gun, causing him to fire it into the air. Zero then slashed at Vile's stomach, and kicked him away.

"But in the end…I'm still better." He said.

"The area 11 resistance movement is more intense than any other resistance group because Japan surrendered before exhausting all of its military strength." Lelouch continued. "You failed to continue the miracle that was known as Iskumia."

"Are you saying it's my fault?" He asked.

"Yes." Lelouch stated.

"People grasp at illusions because they're desperate for miracles." Marino said.

"Why else has there been such rampant use of refrain!" Lelouch shouting, ever getting louder. "You must endure…beyond all that is decent; and then you can die! Till the name Tohdoh the miracle has grown ragged and tattered!"

"Are you saying that the Japanese people can't accept their fate until then?" Tohdoh asked.

"They had to accept it." Lelouch said. "However now that I'm here…there's hope because I can likely turn their dreams into reality."

Tohdoh smirked at the response.

"C'mon Tohdoh!" Axl said. "If anything…for old time's sake. It'll be like a couple months back when I was fighting for you."

"No need to badger." He said. "I've made my decision."

Harpuia flew into the air, until he had enough air to put enough distance between him and Phantom. He then turned around and threw his slashes at Phantom. Phantom used his shuriken to dodge the slashes. Then Harpuia raised his swords into the air, causing a lightning bolt to come down on him. Phantom leapt off the Shuriken, allowing it to be destroyed in the air.

And then he disappeared in smoke. He looked up to see Phantom above him. Before Harpuia could defend himself, Phantom struck him in the back with his saber. Harpuia lost his mobility, and descended into the ground. Phantom landed gracefully nearby him.

"Now you see the strength of our convictions." He said.

Nearby Harpuia, Fefnir was having just about as much luck. Though he had did significant damage to Craft, Leviathan never took one hit. She used her lance and continued to strike at Fefnir, hitting him each time. She moved in so close, that his laser cannon was not liable for use. Any shots fired whizzed straight pass her hair. After being struck so many times, she used a blast of ice, knocking him right next to Fefnir. The large Reploid landed right on top of Harpuia, giving him no chance to fly up.

Vile himself was then knocked into the pile, as Zero used the hadouken on him, blasting him right next to them.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Vile barked. "How can scum like you beat me!"

"Shut up!" Zero shouted, kicking Vile into the ground. After that, he walked away and pulled his beam saber at the three.

"I suggest you three surrender or leave." Zero said. "You guys have about a minute to decide; after which I'm retiring all of you."

The three glared at Zero angrily, but Zero did what he could to maintain his composure. He did not want to come off as a Maverick, but he knew constantly dealing with enemy Reploids of high skill would be inadvisable.

But as he stood there…a blast of blue energy came right at him. Zero looked up, and quickly leapt away as a large X-Buster landed nearby him. The explosion that was generated was able to knock the others away from the pile of defeated Reploids. After which, X landed on the ground with his Fourth Armor activated.

"I was wondering where you were X!" Zero shouted. "Didn't seem like you to leave your comrades to do your fighting for you."

"I was preoccupied; but I'm here now Zero." He shouted.

"X…" Vile barked. "Where the hell were you anyway!"

"Don't worry about it Vile." X said. "I wasn't assigned to be here; so you can't berate me on my tardiness."

"So you're working with Vile too." Zero said. "How ironic for things to turn that I have to be the Maverick…and you end up working alongside him."

"Vile's doing his job to keep peace and order." X said. "If he is doing that, then I have no choice but to work alongside him!"

Zero spun his saber in his hand and activated.

"Alright then X!" He shouted. "Enough talk; time to resume our fight from Narita!"

"I agree!" He shouted, leaping into the air with his X-Buster pointed at Zero. Using a Quick Charge part he had Lloyd make for the fight, X was able to quick build up energy and fired a large Buster at Zero.

Zero leapt at him himself, his Z-Buster charged and ready to fire.

A large blue explosion lit the area of the fortress.

The Black Knights attack had done more damage to the Britannian forces than they thought. Hundreds of sections of the fortress was damaged or destroyed by the attack. Knightmares lay in pieces, without even a single causality to the Black Knights. As soon as the second area to the fortress was destroyed, the GEKKA's signaled Lelouch to move in, along with Rakshata's truck, carrying a GEKKA for Tohdoh. The truck moved towards the center, as Lelouch and his Knightmare pulled up to truck. Axl and Marino rode on the Guren as this happened. Tohdoh got out of the Sutherland, and stood proudly as his followers exited their units to greet him.

"Colonel!" Chiba shouted.

"Welcome back Colonel!" Shogo said.

"Thank you." He said. "You all worked so hard for this."

"No effort at all sir." Senba shouted.

Tohdoh then leapt off of the Sutherland, and made his way to his GEKKA in the truck. The unit opened up, allowing him to enter it.

"Cooperate with Zero!" he shouted. "Eliminate all the remaining forces!"

"Right!" The Four Holy swords shouted.

Now all the remaining tasks have been chosen. And Nunally's Knight has already been chosen. All that remains are but two tasks…

Before Lelouch could finish, he saw a Slash harken come right at him. Before it got close to him, Kallen leapt off the ground and deflected it away. It hit the building nearby. In front of them was the White Knightmare coming right at them.

"Damn; what's he doing here?" Kallen asked.

"Well how convenient." Lelouch said. "The first problem left to contend with has come here on his own."

"This is Phantom." He called out on his radio. "X has arrived right on schedule."

"Scratch that; make it all the problems." Lelouch said. "Axl…Marino…you know what to do!"

"Roger!" They both shouted teleporting away.

On the top of a building, Proto Man stood…watching the conflict exploding right in front of him. All he stared at was Zero as he clashed both Buster and Saber against each other. He looked at him with worry and fear.

"His virus readings are growing ever stronger." He said. "And yet…there's not an ounce of Maverick virus in the air…what's going on?"

A communicator opened to reveal a hologram of Doctor Light.

"I'm still analyzing from the program you installed to repress the virus." He said. "I don't know how Wily has done it, but he's managed to somehow rebuild Zero with his original body instead of the reproduction; and reinstalling the virus by doing so. It's obvious that he wants to re-use Zero for his plans for global domination."

"But how could Wily have done it?" Proto man shouted. "For that to have worked, he would have had to been physically there."

"I suspect that he may have been part of Ciel's team when they were rebuilding him…though how he managed to keep his presence hidden is a mystery." Light said. "Perhaps in the guise of another scientist or such. It's the only plausible explanation. But there's no way to ever confirm that theory…seeing as the dimensional rift is closed forever."

"So you did confirm that whatever took us here was a one way trip?" Proto man asked.

"We are indeed trapped in this world forever." Light answered. "But that is not the point. Zero's body is only going to be able to take so much of the virus before he resumes being as Wily intended him. I suspect that there is someone close to Zero keeping his sanity in tact. We must ensure that she is not harmed in anyway; or the consequences could be dire…Proto Man…I need you to return to base for re-modification."

"What!" He barked.

"Wily is modifying his robots as we speak to Reploid status." He said. "If you were to run into them; you won't be able to win. Bass's new body allows him to compete with his brother Zero; how do you plan to contend with him should you run into him a second time? If you want a chance at fighting, and ensuring Wily's plan does not succeed, you need to trust me."

Proto Man stood on top of the building…pondering what to do.

Hello people.

Do you all who looked at the previous chapter remember that editing I promised?

Well I did it. I completely reedited the first 15 chapters of the story; and highly recommend you re read these now; as there is alot of things that have been changed. Most of the these changes encompass:

1. Spelling, grammar, punctuation errors have been fixed...this was a big issue.

2. Continuity errors in characters personalities have been resolved.

3. Zero's somewhat eccentric personality has been fixed to a more stoic like personality, which he possesses in MMZ. Seeing as this story takes place after MMZ4, this is how he should be. Reploid personalities are fixed.

4. Errors concerning the "Human Simulation Program" that was made to say how Reploids are human like are now fixed.

5. The explanation to why Ciel tried to rebuild Zero was changed from a Geass infused comet (because it was stupid), to a global virus that was destroying everything on the outside; computer or living.

6. Changed the story in terms of Zero's lodging. It makes more sense for Zero to be in the Ashford manor...not in a dorm. Zero doesn't pay for his bills...Lelouch does with his gambling money.

7. Removed all my greetings at the bottom of each chapter.

8. Additional scenes have been added to make it worth your time...the most prominent additions are:

A. A scene where Zero watches a Britnanian soldier gun down a whole family; and then kills him.

B. A scene where Zero is shown suffering trauma from violating the first law of robotics... reminisces on where the hell he is at...and then finishes Ciel's Human simulation program.

C. Zero does not shoot the guard in the Supply depot; rather he knocks him out and drags him out of the base before it is destroyed.

D. Extended the scene between Zero and C.C.

E. A sex scene between Zero and Leviathan (because you perverts need more lemon in this).

Changes will be continuing for the fanfic...as I stated before...this story needs it. So if you have time...feel free to re-read and see the changes unfold..and expect more as new chapters are posted.