Disclaimer: Everything here belongs to Capcom.

Chapter 8: A Dark Future

Future time, Hunter Base…

After the carnage at Neo Metro City where X and Zero managed to repel the strange blob creatures, they recognized Captain Commando and his team once meeting who they had helped saved. After brief introductions were made, they took in the future fighters into their aircraft to regroup at Hunter Base in order to compare notes.

Currently, everyone was at X and Zero's base of operations. Captain Commando stood with Sho, Jennety, and Hoover. At a table sat Cyber Blue and Yellow Iris with Fynn on her shoulder. Sitting across from them were Hayato, June, and Spencer. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed was Strider Hiryu. Standing nearby were Jin Saotome and Arieta still in her mech suit.

Two new faces were also in the room, who are well acquainted with X and Zero. They're Reploids like them, except they are female and both were wearing a communications headset. The first was a fair-skinned blonde woman with mid-back length hair and wearing mostly red and white armor over a black bodysuit. The second was a curvaceous tanned-skinned woman with purple and white armor over a skin-toned body suit, giving the image that she was wearing a bikini. She also had waist-length purple hair with the front bangs covering her eyes. Both serve as Hunter Base's tactical navigators.

"So what do we have right now, Alia?" asked X.

The blonde Reploid answered, "As far as we know, we're all still in the dark about all this. What we do know is that it's not a local phenomena."

The other Reploid woman, known as Layer, activates a holo-projector in the middle of the table, displaying the planet. "From what we've been able to analyze from the energy readings, we've located other similar incidents around the world." The holo-projector followed up by displaying camera feeds of different areas where more of the strange monsters were running loose. Not just them, but some even took the form of other beings like the robot guards of Bilstein's Empire, Bioreign soldiers, clones of Delete Gang members, and others. "Just like here, millions of people just vanished off the face of the Earth… including Commander Signas and Pallette…"

X and Zero had been initially shocked when told of their comrades' fates after arriving to base. They could only silently curse when being reminded of it.

"But how is it we're still here?" asked X.

"Perhaps it is fate…" said Hiryu.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Spencer.

"Who knows? We might not like the answer."

"Great. Ninja boy's getting cryptic…"

"Now I'm worried about Harry and our allies…" said Yellow Iris.

Cyber Blue stayed silent, sharing the same concerns as her. He couldn't help but fear for their employer, Harry, as well as their friends Captain Silver, Pink Ostrich, and Alien Green.

"Is there a way to trace the source?" asked Arieta.

"We've been trying." Replied Alia. "The energies don't correlate to anything related to science. At least not completely."

"Huh? What're you getting at?" asked X.

"Well… if I'm not mistaken… they seem to contain traces of mysticism…"

"Wait, you mean like magic?" asked Jin. He recalled one of his old enemies, Devilotte, had two manservants she always had around, one was a purple-skinned wizard.

"It seems a likely explanation for the crisis going on as this is no way natural." Said Layer. She then had a thought. "Wait, maybe if I cross-reference the source with mysticism…" She began typing in commands on the table's console. A larger screen pops up displaying a warning sign. "My goodness! Energies strong enough to create a space/time tear!?"

"Wait, what?" asked Zero.

"According to this, the energy readings' source is coming from… the past…"

"Hold on, you trying to say that what's going on now is due to something that's happened in the past?" asked Hayato incredulously.

"That would be the case…" said Layer. Alia then took that moment to leave the room.

"But that's insane!" sand June. "If that were true, shouldn't it have happened a long time ago and not this minute?"

"Theoretically, yes. However, it could be a breach in the space-time continuum."

"This is really starting to get heavy…" said Cyber Blue.

"More importantly, is there anything we can do about it? Reverse the damage?" asked Captain Commando.

"That, I'm not sure about…" replied Layer.

Alia then came back holding four packs. She walks over and hands two of them to X and Zero.

"Alia?" asked X.

"I have a bad feeling. You guys might need these." Said Alia.

X and Zero look in the packs and widened their eyes. Insider were weapon chips of the Mavericks they've destroyed in the past. X looked up to see Alia handed another pack to Layer as well while keeping the last for herself. The two female Reploids usually serve at the base as navigators, but when it comes down to it, even they are capable of doing field work like X and Zero.

Suddenly, Hiryu's eyes snap open and looked off to the side. He immediately took out his Cypher Blade.

"Hiryu? What is it?" asked Captain Commando.

Sho also took out his ninjato. "Something is coming…"

Jennety also stood at the ready as he held his knives.

"What's coming?" asked Hayato.

The table's holoprojector started beeping dangerously as if warning something. Layer becomes alarmed after reading the displays. "Everyone! That phenomena is approaching here!"

All of a sudden, before everyone present, a crackling of power sounded off, getting louder and louder, sparks of electricity flashing in. Just as suddenly, a huge sphere of swirling purple energies appeared before them, completely taking everyone off-guard.

"What is that!?" said Zero as he took out his Z-Saber. Everyone else took battle stances before the giant energy sphere.

"Wait! The energy readings on that thing are wrong! This isn't correlating to the incidents happening around the world!" said Alia as she took a scan.

"Then what the hell is it!?" asked Jin.

"It's… a tear in space…"

"Whatever it is, it's getting bigger!" said Spencer.

Before anyone could act, the energy sphere sucked them all into itself. Just as suddenly, the sphere vanished, leaving an empty base.

Present day, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean…

The blue seas were calm, and up above flying at a fast speed was a large passenger harrier jet customized by the Kanzaki Zaibatsu. The interior of the jet was quite lavish like a first class suite. There were plush passenger seats on either side as well as a minibar near the front and a large conference table in the middle. Sitting in the cabins were the Street Fighter participants as well as their latest passengers, two school teachers, four high school students, and the Powerstone bearers. Guile and Cammy were currently in the cockpit flying the jet.

During the trip, brief introductions were made and they discussed the events of what happened before they eventually met up. Sakura was glad to see her old friend Hinata alive and well. As for the Powerstone bearers, they couldn't help but be fascinated by what the future holds. Falcon, being a pilot himself, could never imagine being in a plane like what he was on now. His own biplane couldn't even compare. The Street Fighters were initially shocked the five Powerstone bearers were from the past, but passed it off as a side-effect of what's been happening.

"Even though I'm riding in it, I still can't believe a plane like this exists!" said Falcon.

"I suppose it would be a shock for you, but it's almost common here." Said Ken.

"I have to say, the future looks cool!"

"But we may not have a future if things go on as they are, Falcon." Said Rouge. She had already informed their benefactors of the fortune telling she had seen in her Powerstone. Since the sultry belly dancer is also a fortune teller, they began to wonder if perhaps she's an ancestor to Rose.

"And that's why we're trying to do something about it!" said Blanka.

"Is that why we're going to that old island base of Shadaloo?" asked Batsu.

"That place is the source of the anomalies, so it's only natural we check it out." Said Chun Li. Being an Interpol agent, she was reluctant to involve civilians. Tournament colleagues aside, she was uneasy to bring along teachers and students especially. However, they had no choice since as far as they could tell, no place was safe right now with those monsters on the loose. Still, they've proven their skill since they did fight off those creatures before their arrival.

"So what exactly is the plan?" asked Roy.

"I say we touch down and smash whatever is spilling out those things." Said Alex.

"Assuming we can land." Said Elena.

"Yeah. We saw what the island looked like on that video, remember?" added Laura.

Everyone fell silent at that. The latest video recording of the island showed it was engulfed in some sort of miasma. If anything, they could try to shoot it down since the harrier jet was armed.

"Everyone! We have a visual!" said Guile on the intercom.

The passenger immediately sat fastened in their seats. Ibuki and Ayame then looked out the window and saw a bizarre sight.

"W-what is that!?" asked Ayame.

Everyone else looked out the windows to see the island of Shadaloo, or at least what's supposed to be it. Now it looked like some huge pulsating formless creature with ethereal strands coming out of it like tentacles.

"How are we supposed to fight against that!?" asked Tiffany. To her and everyone else's horror, what looks like a huge ball of ki was coming right at them.

"Hold on! We're taking evasive action!" said Cammy over the intercom.

The passengers braced themselves as they felt the jet swerve to avoid getting shot at by the ki bolt.

"Return fire!" said Guile. He activated the jet's miniguns and fired at the island, while Cammy activated the missiles. The shots shredded through the creature's tendrils and outer hide. However, no matter what they shoot down, more of those tendrils would take their place and the main body would just regenerate its missing parts.

"No good! It's healing faster than we can damage it!" said Cammy. "I advise a tactical retreat!"

Guile couldn't argue with that and directed the craft to fly to the nearest landmass to recuperate. However, the living island had other ideas. It suddenly fired off more shots at the craft that followed it, but they weren't projectiles. Turned out the shots were large living drones that took the form of winged humanoid creatures.

"Everyone, we're surrounded!" said Kyoko.

Falcon took out the Powerstone from his pocket and looked out the window. "I'll take care of it! How do I get outside?"

"What!? What are you planning to do!? We're in mid-flight!" asked Rainbow Mika.

"Just hurry and tell me or we're dead!"

"The elevator in the back can get you to the roof!" said Sakura.

"Thanks!" Falcon ran to the elevator in the back and activated it to get him topside.

"He's nuts!" said Blanka.

"No, he's got a plan…" said Ryoma.

Once Falcon got on the top of the jet, he had to hold on as he saw five of those winged creatures surrounding the jet. Before they could attack, Falcon held up the Powerstone.

"POWER CHANGE!"

Falcon was surrounded in a red light, blowing back the winged creatures. When the light died down, Falcon was now transformed into what looked like a red knight-like robot with a jetpack. His transformation complete, the Red Whirlwind jetted off into battle.

One of the winged creatures too a swipe at him, but Falcon dodged and rammed a metallic fist into its gut then fired a Power Missile at point blank, sending it flying and dissipating. Falcon started zipping around tagging the remaining winged creatures with punches on each pass. This was witness by everyone else on board the jet.

"He transformed!?" said Hideo in shock. "And into a robot!? But I thought he was from the 19th Century!"

"Those who possess a Powerstone are blessed with special powers." Said Wang Tang.

Back at the fight, Falcon continues his version of an aerial dogfight. He hammers another winged creature with several fast punches before kicking it hard downward, causing it to dissipate. He quickly turns to block a strike from behind with a cross-armed guard, then kicks his assailant back before plowing into it with a charging drill punch. With only two of the winged creatures left, Falcon blocks a strike on either side of him by the remaining monsters. Flying off to get more breathing room, Falcon charged his energies, surrounding himself in an aura of power.

'I got to finish this fast! This form won't hold much longer!'

"POWER HURRICANE!"

Falcon spins like a drill and charged at the two winged monsters. He charged at them repeatedly at any angle, raining multiple charging attacks until they finally dissipated. Once they were gone, Falcon quickly made his way to the jet's deck and activated the elevator to let him back inside.

The elevator opened to show Falcon in his transformed state looking a little winded.

"Falcon!" said Rouge as she, Ayame, Ryoma, and Wang Tag rushed to him. Everyone else w looked in awe at the robotic knight. In a flash, Falcon was reverted to human form.

"Did you just turn into a robot?" asked Hinata.

"That was so awesome!" added Batsu.

"Thanks. I can't hold that form for too long, though." Said Falcon.

"In any case, we're in the clear now." Said Guile as he and Cammy came into the cabin.

Falcon's eyes widened when he saw them. "Wait! Who's flying the plane!?"

"Relax, it's on auto-pilot right now." Said Cammy.

"Huh? Auto-pilot?"

"It means it's flying itself right now." Said Hideo.

The five Powerstone bearers were naturally confused by that.

"So what do we do now?" asked Sagat. "It's clear a frontal assault won't work."

"We're still working on that." Said Chun Li.

It was at that moment, Ryu's danger sense went off. His eyes snapped open and quickly looked out the window.

"Master Ryu? What is it?" asked Sakura.

"There's a huge wave of power coming our way!" said Ryu.

Hearing that, everyone looked to see a huge bolt of purple ki the size of a truck about to impact against the jet. Apparently, the island sensed that its servants were destroyed and decided to finish them of itself.

"Oh man! It's gonna hit us!" said Ken.

Guile gritted his teeth. Even if he were to run to the cockpit, it would be too late to steer out of the way. It looked like the end, however…

Before the energy blast could hit the jet, it was suddenly knocked down by a huge globe of yellow ki energy, saving the jet from destruction. Everyone was shocked at what had happened.

"Huh? What was that?" asked Ibuki.

'Weird… that looked like one of my moves when I'm transformed…' thought Wang Tang.

'Wait… I know that move…!' thought Ryu before looking at the elevator that lead to the roof. "It couldn't be!" He immediately ran towards the elevator.

"Master Ryu! Where're you going!?" asked Sakura.

Ryu paid her no mind as he used the elevator to get onto the jet's roof. Once he arrived, he saw a man standing ahead in a sort of contemplating pose with his back turned. He looked old with yellowing skin, wearing nothing but a reddish brown one-sleeved monk robe with a thick rope for a belt. He was bald save for a few strands of black hair. There was no mistaking who this man was.

"It's you…" said Ryu. "Oro!"

The man turned around, showing unnatural glowing red eyes and flashing a smile. In his left hand he held a turtle.

"Well it's been a while, hasn't it, Ryu?" said Oro.

"Wait, how did you even get here?"

"Ah, don't sweat the minor details. I sensed something was going on and decided to check it out. Seems like this is bigger than I thought."

"You don't know the half of it… but in any case, it would be best to take this inside."

"I suppose you're right. Lead the way."

Oro headed to the elevator with Ryu and took it down into the cabin.

Somewhere in Makai…

The vast wastelands were empty save for a few stray demons lumbering about. One demon was knocked to the side by a speeding RV driving down the wasteland.

"There seem to be a lot of bumps in the road." Said Nico as she drove. Sitting in the back were Vergil, Nero, and their latest passenger, Arthur. For the old knight, this was a new experience. Horse-drawn chariots and coaches couldn't compare to this device.

"Yeah, but you can handle it just fine, Nico." Said Nero.

"I have to say, this horseless chariot is quite fast!" said Arthur.

"Well it's just one of the products of modern engineering." Said Nero. "Pretty handy when you need to get around to places."

"How is such a thing possible?"

"Uh… a lot of knowledge." Nero wasn't sure how to explain the concept of cars to Arthur since he was a knight straight out of the middle ages. Automobiles wouldn't come around until centuries later.

"I'll admit it's useful for stamping out insects." Said Vergil. Just as he said that, Nico had run over another ant demon.

Arthur continued to be fascinated by these newcomers. Earlier during the impromptu road trip, They had talked about what had happened. Just like himself, Nero, Vergil, and Nico had found themselves in the Makai after getting engulfed in some strange energy sphere and started wandering about trying to find a way back. It was just a lucky thing for Nico that her RV had been transported, too. After all, it wasn't just her transportation, it was also her livelihood. It's where she builds and upgrades devil hunting weapons like Nero's Devil Breaker. Even though Nero had gotten his right arm back, he'd still make use of Nico's weapons. What was more surprising for Arthur was finding out that Vergil was a half demon and his son Nero was a quarter demon. Still, they didn't seem to be bad people, and Nico trusts them enough. Well, Vergil was going a bit far… Still, at least Arthur found some companions.

Arthur felt saddened again as he thought of the subjects he lost and Prin Prin. No matter what, he will find a way to restore them back to normal.

'I don't care how long it will take, I swear on my honor that I will bring you back, Prin Prin!'

Suddenly, Arthur's eyes widened when he turned to look out the windshield and saw…

"Nico! That's a cliff up ahead!" shouted Arthur.

"Yeah, I know! We're gonna jump it!" said Nico.

"Wait, WHAT!?"

"Oh don't sweat it. This isn't the first time she's done this." Said Nero.

"Hmph… crazy driver…" said Vergil.

"WHAT!?" said Arthur.

The RV soon went into a sudden burst of speed and shot right over the cliff.

"YEEEEEEEHAAAAWWW!" shouted Nico.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" screamed Arthur.

The RV was in freefall with the ground several tens of meters below. It fell in an arcing path for a few seconds before roughly landing on the ground with a crash, but still driving. Luckily the van was built with special hydraulics to withstand high impact shocks. Honestly, it's a wonder how the van never seems damaged considering the abuse Nico puts it through.

"Wooo! What a rush! Wasn't that fun, Arthur?" asked Nico as she continued to drive.

The knight didn't answer as he felt his heart beating insanely fast while breathing rapidly.

"What's wrong? I thought you fought monsters on a daily basis. Something like this shouldn't be that scary." Said Vergil.

Nero could only chuckle. First timers riding with Nico would be a harrowing experience. A roller coaster felt tame compared to her driving.

Suddenly, the RV braked to a halt. Arthur didn't know why they stopped, but was happy for it. He immediately jumped out the door and fell to his hands and knees.

"LAND! SWEET LAND!" said Arthur.

Nero, Vergil, and Nico then exited the vehicle and noticed something in front of them. Arthur also looked up to see what was ahead.

Before the group was a large army of demons numbering about seventy ambling towards them.

"That's a lot of speed bumps there." Said Nico.

"Well then we'll just clear the road for you!" said Nero as he got out his Red Queen Sword and revved it up.

Vergil huffs as he gets his Yamato ready.

Arthur stands back up and prepares himself. Perhaps killing some demons may calm him down after that hellish ride seconds ago.

Before they could engage the demons, the demon army was suddenly bombarded by several weapons not unlike how Arthur does it. A good majority of the demons were taken out from the assault.

"Huh? Who did that?" asked Nero.

Suddenly, a fast spinning shape flew through more of the demons, cutting them all in two.

'That move… it couldn't possibly be him, could it?' Thought Vergil. The move looked much like the Round Trip he and Dante uses.

Once all the demons were killed, the spinning object stopped and levitates above the ground.

'Wait… that's not Dante's sword…'

The sword was a lot bigger, with a width of at least two feet and a length of a bit over five feet. However, instead of a normal sword point, the end of the sword was curved with a circular opening lined with spikes giving the look of a demon head's side profile with an open mouth. The strange sword then flew over to a shadowed man, adjusting itself to his back. Coming out of the shadows was a tall muscular man with long brown hair tied in a thick braid and an expressionless look on his face. He was dressed in what looks like a one-sleeved red and yellow monk's robe with blue trim and a blue sash. On his feet were dark brown leather foot protectors and around his wrists white double bangles while a few gold rings adorned his neck. Lastly, he wore what look like a huge set of brown beads across his chest.

"Huh? Who's that?" asked Nico.

The man wasn't alone. At his side was a little girl who looked no older than eight wearing a simple blue and white dress with blue shoes. She had long brown hair done up in two braids and in her hands was a doll missing its head.

Coming up next to them was a woman wearing a Chinese outfit consisting of a magenta top with a cleavage window held up with a yellow sash tied in a bow in the back, purple loose pants, and magenta slip-on shoes. The top also had oversized purple sleeves with what appears to be metal claws coming out. She had short purple hair that tapered off to the sides and a magenta hat on her head with a paper talisman on the front. The striking thing is that she had pale blue skin.

"Well that was a mess." Said the woman. "But that's the Makai for you."

"This was nothing more than a skirmish." Said the man.

"Whoa! You did all that?" Nero called out.

The three newcomers finally noticed the small group ahead of them.

"Huh? Humans? At least I believe they are…" said the blue-skinned woman.

The man narrowed his eyes. They seemed human, but the two with the white hair seems different.

"Hmph… your assistance wasn't needed. I could've easily handled them." Said Vergil.

"Geez, Vergil. It wouldn't kill you to be polite, you know!" chided Nico.

The little girl tugged on the man's robes. "Donovan, they don't seem to be enemies."

Donovan looked down at the girl. "Anita?"

"They just seem to be lost."

The blue-skinned woman widened her eyes when she caught sight of Arthur. "No way!"

Without warning, she dashed forward, flashing in and out as she went, catching the four off guard. She finally came to a stop in front of Arthur, who took a defensive stance.

"It can't be! You're Arthur the Silver Knight, aren't you? I've only seen you in history books!"

Arthur was a bit surprised. Sure his name was known through Makai by demons who all hate him since he fought against them. To have a creature of the dark looking at him with admiration was a first.

"Uh… yes I am… and who might you be, young lady?" asked Arthur.

The woman chuckled at being addressed as "young lady" considering she was over two centuries old. "Oh, sorry. My name is Hsien-Ko, and it is an honor to meet the famed Silver Knight!" She looked over to her two comrades. "Donovan! Anita! They're all right! Arthur is here, so they must be good!"

Donovan and Anita were a bit perplexed, but came over anyway.

"So you know this guy?" asked Nero.

"Any demon hunter would!" replied Hsien-Ko. "He's perhaps the very first one, going through an army of demons all by his lonesome, and just a human, too! That's is an incredible feat! But that was centuries ago. How is it you are here?"

"Well… that's a long story…" said Arthur.

To be continued…

Since the MvC Collection was announced, I've picked up this fic once again.

The packs Alia handed out to X, Zero, Layer, and herself, they're weapon chips of all the Mavericks the duo had destroyed up to this point, which is after Megaman X8. What would be a good weapon set for each of them?

Just like in the games and anime, the Powerstone transformations are temporary, so they need to finish a fight as soon as they can.

As for Oro appearing on the harrier jet, remember in his ending Oro was seen standing on top of an airline plane, no explanation given on how he got up there with no one noticing.

When one thinks about it, Arthur is technically the first demon fighter created by Capcom.