A/n: Alright, here is Chapter 7 with the cast of the anime Million Arthur joining our heroes in their first battle for the omniverse. But first, here are new terms for newcomers to the story.

Neo Emerald Spears: A mercenary group dedicated to mend the wounds done by its predecessors, the Emerald Spears.

Emerald Spears: A terrorist group of 20XX that are extremists against robots.

X Foundation: A mysterious but sinister organization lead by the mysterious founder, Mister X. They seem to be acquiring items left by the evil Dr. Albert Wily after his death.

Maverick General: A Maverick of high rank in Sigma's evil army. There are eight in total and Sigma put them in charge of areas under the control of his army.

Central Highway: A highway leading straight into Neo Tokyo.

And now, on with the story!

Chapter 7: First Battle: Enter the Arthurs! Fierce Battle in Central Highway

One month has passed since Sigma declared war on humanity and the start of the Maverick War…

B-Bladers, bee shaped robotic helicopters were firing down on the Maverick Hunters and Neo Emerald Spears mercenaries as the took cover behind some turned over vehicles. One of the NES mercenaries took off a pin from a grenade with his mouth and tosses it over the truck he's hiding behind to a B-Blader and managed to take it out of the sky, causing it to crash onto the highway and explode.

The Maverick Hunters and the NES mercenaries hold the line as more B-Bladers arrived on the scene and fired back at both groups. However, both groups started to become overwhelmed by the increasing number of B-Bladers raining down gunfire as most of the couldn't fire back and were pinned down as the enemy forces advanced even closer.

A Hunter activated his comlink and yelled out "We can't hold them off for much longer! We take down one of them and more seems to take its place! I don't know how long we have until they completely overrun us! Please, Commander Zero, sir! Send us reinforcements!"

"Stay up for a little while longer. X-Squad are on their way as we speak. As is both Jessika and Marino of the Neo Emerald Spears." Zero responded calmly. "Jerry and Sophie had tested the fully operational Teleport System and should be here right about…" As he watches the battle rages on from the Hunter HQ, eight different colored beams of light rained down from the sky and as soon as they landed on the asphalt and dissipated, they were revealed to be MegaMan X, Jessika in a camouflage RepArmor that Dr. Cain and his assistants made for her, Marino and the IS girls in their RepArmors.

(Central Highway theme from Maverick Hunter X plays)

"B-Bladers at 2:00." Houki frowned as she draws her twin katanas and activates her RepArmor's flight system as she flew towards to one B-Blader and sliced it in half with her katanas, causing it to crash to the ground and explodes.

Another B-Blader tries to come up from behind Houki, only to be sliced into tiny pieces as Marino lands beside her. "You're slipping, Houki. You really need to keep an eye on for any possible counterattack that might come when you least expect it. I know it has been a long time since you and your friends have been on the battlefield, but just be careful."

"Right, that was my fault for not paying attention. Thank you for the help, Marino-san." Houki said in gratitude and nodded.

"It's my pleasure, Houki. Now what you say that we send these Mavericks to the scrapyard?" Marino asked with a smirk.

"Count me in." Houki nodded with a smirk as well as more B-Bladers approached them.

A third B-Blader open fired on X and his squad, which everyone scattered to avoid it. X and Cecilia used their Buster and rifle to take out the third B-Blader, causing it to explode and crashed into the ground like a pile of scrapheaps. Two more B-Bladers tried to fire at them, but they were taken out by Jessika as she dual wields a pair of futuristic revolvers like the ones that Hagime wields from Airfureta.

X sighed as he and his squad walked up to the Hunters and NES mercenaries they saved. "Is everyone alright? No one is seriously injured?" X asked.

"Yes, everyone is still in one piece. Thanks, X. We definitely owe you one." A Hunter saluted before he started relaying some information to them. "The Maverick Army's warship has been seen over the deepest parts of Central Highway. We don't know what Maverick that Sigma put in charge of this operation, but whoever they are must be really powerful."

"Roger that. You guys get some rest, we'll take it from here." Ling gave a thumbs up as the Hunters and NES mercenaries warped back to their respected bases.

"So it looks like that Sigma has one of his top dogs attacking the Central Highway to have an easier way for them to take over Neo Tokyo." Jessie frowned. "And judging by the B-Bladers that's been keeping everyone back, this guy is definitely no joke. You guys think that we can handle him if he decides to join the fray?"

"I'm sure that we can handle whatever Sigma tries to throw at us." Laura answered her with confidence. "We've dealt with every obstacle that was thrown at us during our time back in the IS era and we always find a way to come out on top." Her friends all nodded in agreement as she activated her RepArmor's comlink. "Did you get everything the Hunter said, Commander Zero?"

"Already have. We're relaying the message to all Hunters and mercenaries still out on the field." Zero acknowledged as he observes the situation from the command center of Maverick Hunter HQ. Jerry and Sophie were close to him as they typed in a password on their holographic keyboards as it deployed a map of Central Highway. "Whoever this Maverick that Sigma put in charge of Central Highway is, he must be stopped before Sigma's forces can reach the sectors of Neo Tokyo. Because that Central Highway acts like an entrance to Neo Tokyo, it'll be a big loss if it falls into the hands of Sigma and his forces. So, we must do whatever it takes to take it back from Sigma's forces at all costs. Jerry, Sophie and I will be monitoring the situation from HQ. If you guys ever run into trouble, I'll be there as quickly as possible to help you out."

"Roger!" X, Jessie, Marino and other IS girls responded in unison as they began their trek through Central Highway.

On the first section of the highway, they encountered Maverick Reploid soldiers aiming their weapons at them. "Don't let them reach the heart of the highway! Lord Sigma will have our heads if they do!" A Maverick Captain growled as the Mavericks fired their guns at our heroes.

"Why do they always have to do this the hard way…?" Ling muttered as she charged in at super-fast speed as she delivered some devastating punches and kicks to the Maverick Soldiers, none of them stood a chance as they were completely destroyed. Ling cracked her knuckles as she whistles and struck a pose.

"That was just amazing, Ling!" X gasped in awe. "When did you learn some serious moves like that?"

"Oh, that? Ichika taught me back when he and I were in elementary school." Ling smirked as she walked towards their next destination. X was speechless as he made the black dotted bored look with a sweat drop.

"Wow… I wonder why Houki and her friends were all seem so fascinated by this Ichika guy when they lived in the era of the IS…" X then turned around as he was receiving glares from Houki, Cecilia, Charlotte and Laura while Jessie and Marino raised their eyebrows at the situation between them while he gulped nervously. "Uh… I mean in a good way, honest." X and the four IS girls followed Ling into the next area of the Highway while Jessie and Marino were still raising their eyebrows.

"Something tells me that there's a lot more to Houki and her friends and this Ichika guy." Jessie muttered. "My gut's saying that whenever he's around these girls, it's always a fight for his life. I'm starting to wonder how being with these girls didn't kill him, but that virus did."

"It's probably best that we keep it to ourselves for the time being." Marino suggested. "I'm sure that they don't want to talk about their relationship with this Ichika right now, so let's just focus on taking back Central Highway for now. I'm sure that they'll have plenty of time to tell us whenever they're ready." Jessie nodded in agreement as they trailed behind the rest of the squad.

As our heroes entered the next area, they were bombarded by mini copter-like robots holding spiked weights as they were dropped onto the highway and destroyed small sections of it. This causes the foundation of the highway to quake from the impacts as the sections that were hit falls apart.

"They're going to destroy the highway! If they keep dropping those weights, they're going to cause the highway to collapse under its weight!" X shouted "We've got to stop them before they'll use it for easy access to Neo Tokyo!" He issued as he fires his X-Buster at one of the spiked weighted Mavericks, destroying it in the process.

"Then allow me…" Laura materialized her massive claymore and struck a pose while exclaiming in a loud booming voice "…TO USE THE BODEWIG CLAYMORE OF SUPREME JUSTICE TO RAIN DOWN FIRERY OF JUSTICE ON THESE FOUL MAVERICKS!" Imaginary fireworks were launched in the background and fanfares was playing from out of nowhere. X, Marino, Jessie and the four IS girls all looked at her oddly, as did the mini-Mavericks.

"Well… at least she's… motivated, I guess…" Jessie raised an eyebrow at the unusual sight.

"Yes, indeed… Perhaps a little too motivated…" Marino chuckled uneasily.

"Uh…" Houki looked around. "Laura, maybe you should just use it now?" Laura nodded as she swung her claymore at the Mavericks, slicing them up in half and causing them to explode upon contact. Laura smirked at her handiwork as she swings her claymore over her shoulder and nods with a proud demeanor.

While the other IS girls already knew just how strong she is despite being petite, their leader and other two friends were just in awe at sight of seeing Laura easily destroying the Mavericks in their way with little effort. Their mouths were gaping open and their eyes became white dots.

"Holy cow…" Jessie gawked in shock and awe.

"You took the words right out of my mouth…" Marino agrees.

"She's so strong…" X murmured in disbelief while thinking to himself. 'I definitely don't want to get on her bad side if I don't want to get reduced to scrape metal… But she's also really cute when she's powerful like that… Wait, why the heck am I thinking that now?' He shakes his head to clear his thoughts before smiling at Laura. "Nice job there, Laura. You really showed those Mavericks a thing or two."

"Why, thank you, X. I'm glad that you were able to see my strength in action." Laura smiled proudly "So then, X… What do you think of me now?" She glanced at him as she walked up to him while he gets nervous.

"L-Laura?!" X recoiled a bit while still blushing.

"Uh-oh, looks like X is still getting some attention from them." Jessie muttered. "I'm wondering if this is how that Ichika guy felt whenever he's around these girls. Always having to fight for his attention as they all do seem to like him in some way." Marino nodded in agreement as Ling stepped in to take X's attention away from Laura.

"Sorry, Laura, but X really wasn't that impressed by your little performance. He was more impressed by my martial arts back at the first section of the highway, right X?" Ling winked at X who sweat dropped from both girls trying to gain his attention as he sighed.

"Girls, please, can we talk about this later until we freed Central Highway from Sigma's army first?" X begged desperately. He still wasn't sure which of the IS girls he likes the most, but he also didn't want to get on their bad side.

"I have to agree with X-kun. You two are really giving him a hard time…" Charlotte shook her head in disappointment at Ling and Laura's childish behavior. "You two can save your little competition for later until after we've freed the highway from Sigma's control."

"Okaaay, fine…" Both girls pouted, crossing their arms as X-Squad proceeds to the next area while Jessie gets closer to X

"I have to say, X, you sure are popular with those girls. In more ways than one, that's for sure." Jessie said with a smirk. "I know that you and the others were the ones that saved them from their cryogenic frozen slumber, but they all seem to like you the most. So, what sort of special charm did you used to get their attention?"

"I-I didn't really do anything to them. I was just trying to be nice and help them in any way I can to help them adapt to the future." X answered her with a stutter. "I wanted to help them overcome their grief of losing everything and everyone they knew and loved, so I became their guardian to help them feel better." He then thought to himself as he looks over to the IS girls, something that both Jessika and Marino noticed. 'And plus, I don't know why, but I feel like I'm starting to like them more than just being their guardian. But I'm not sure which of them I like best, so maybe it's best to keep it to myself for now until I feel like which of them I like the most.' Jessie placed her arm around X's shoulder and pulls him closer to her where the IS girls all saw this and felt jealous. Though this was her plan to see which of them X likes the most as they continued on towards the next area.

Upon arriving in the third section of the Central Highway, a B-Blader appeared before the X-Squad and open fired at them. This causes them to scatter to avoid being shot at until it laid several ball shaped Mavericks called Deerballs that fired lasers from their singular eyes, which forces the X-Squad into taking cover behind a destroyed flipped car.

"Just great, now we've got to deal with a bunch of roadblocks that keeping us from reaching the warship." Jessie growled. "And we were making such good progress too. So what are we going to do with that oversized bug and its lackeys?"

"We'll need to get its attention onto one of us so that the rest of us can take them down." X answered her as he formulated a plan "As much as I don't want to put any of you in danger then I already have, but we need to keep on moving forward to find whoever is leading the Mavericks. One of us is going to have to take one for the team for us to reach the Maverick warship."

"I'll handle the B-Blader and those Deerballs. I can use my stealth movements to get their attention onto me and give you the chance to strike." Marino suggested. "Once I get their attention, you have Charlotte and Cecilia take them out, X. Wait for my signal and then give it everything you've got." X, Cecilia and Charlotte all nodded as she pulls down her mask and vanishes from sight while everyone else waits to see what happens next.

As the B-Blader and the Deerballs approached the overturned car to finish off the X-Squad until there was a strange noise coming from behind them. As soon as they turned around to see where the noise was, another sound catches their attention from an overturned truck. As the Mavericks moved towards the truck, Marino deactivated her stealth mode and before thrown a kunai at the Mavericks to get their attention. Once the Mavericks had their sights onto her, Marino turned to the car where the rest of her friends are hiding.

"X, now!" Marino shouted at them.

"Right, on it!" X turned to Cecilia and Charlotte. "Cecilia, Charlotte. You two work together to take out the B-Blader and those Deerballs before they could counterattack!"

"Roger that!"

"O-Okay!" Both Cecilia and Charlotte acknowledged as the latter materializes her spear and charged at the Deerballs, impaling them with the tip of her spear and making them explode from the impact. Cecilia activated her RepArmor's flight mode and rapidly fired at the B-Blader, which gives it so much damage that it couldn't stay airborne for much longer and started to malfunction. Marino finished it by slicing off its propeller on its back and landed with Cecilia beside their team and watched the B-Blader crashed to the ground. However, the gang heard a rumbling when the B-Blader impacted the ground.

Houki noticed the sides of the highway were about to give way as the heavy impact from the B-Blader caused the structure to crumble underneath its weight. Her eyes turned white dotted as she muttered "Uh-oh…" At the moment she said that, the highway gave way from underneath their feet and causes them to fall with it to the lower level of the highway until another piece of the highway stopped their fall. As the dust clears, the gang coughed and hacked as they saw the wreckage of the B-Blader and the highway.

X turned to the girls. "Is everyone okay? No broken bones or anything like that?"

"Nope, still in one piece. Maybe just some rattled nerves, but nothing too major." Jessie answered him while waving her hand to clear the dust from her face.

"Yeah, same here. We're good too. But that was unexpected though." Ling gave him a cheesy grin as she dusted off her RepArmor, as did Jessika, Marino and the rest of the IS girls.

"I agree, I wasn't expecting the highway to just collapse right under us after we destroyed the B-Blader." Cecilia agrees as she glances over at the pile of scrap metal.

"With all the destruction that the Mavericks are doing to the highway, it was only a matter of time before it starts to collapse." Marino told her seriously. "We were just lucky that we were caught by some old structures of the highway before we fell into the water below us. It couldn't even take the weight of the B-Blader when it crashed, so there's no telling what could happened as we continue further."

"Something tells me that we'll be doing this again with the next B-Blader…" Laura muttered as the IS girls and Jessika activated their RepArmor's flight mode and reached the top while X and Marino used their wall scaling abilities to follow them.

Once they were back on the highway again, there was a loud sound coming from further down the highway as an explosion was seen near the Maverick warship. Seeing that there could be some people in trouble, the X-Squad all nodded to each other and made a mad dash to the location of all the commotion was coming from.

Just as Laura predicted, they encountered another B-Blader along the way and experienced dejavu in the same manner as before, with the same outcome. This time, they were a little more prepared for the second bout as they got out in the same fashion and continued on to the next area where all the commotion seems to be happening. It also seems to be right where the Maverick's warship is located, so it's a kill two birds with one stone situation.

""It looks like we're getting closer to where all the commotion is happening." Cecilia said with a serious frown. "It also seems to be not too far from the Mavericks' warship, so we'll be able to wrap this up in no time. I hope that no one is seriously injured or worse by the time we reach them."

"I'm more worried that whoever is leading the Mavericks could turn the tables on us while we're trying to help them." Jessie stepped in as she paused to think before adding her two cents "If this guy is really as ruthless as the other Hunters say, then he'll try to jump us with a sneak attack. There's no telling what he'll do if he tries to take potshots at us."

"We'll just have to take that risk to rescue whoever is being attacked by the Mavericks." X told her as he added. "I know that we'll be bombarded by enemy forces, but we'll have to take that chance if we're going to save any innocent lives that are caught in the crossfire. So let's do what we can to make sure that no innocent lives are caught in the middle and out of harms way." Jessie, Marino and the IS girls all nodded in agreement as they continued on, taking down any Mavericks that tries to stop them.

Upon arriving at the location where the commotion was happening, our heroes see hordes of Mavericks surrounding a group of humans that were panting heavily and had some bruises on their bodies, suggesting that they've been fighting for some time and were on their last legs as the Mavericks closed in on them. But just before the Mavericks could end the mysterious group, X used his X-Buster to blast most of them away, causing the rest to turn their attention to them. The rest of X's squad joins in as the group turned their attention to their savories.

"Hey, is everyone alright? Is no one seriously injured in some way?" X asked the group as the Mavericks surrounds them.

"Yeah, we're all still alive and kicking. No one is hurt too much other than some bruises." A young woman answered him. She had blonde hair tied in a long braid and ends with a dolphin tail, blue eyes, a golden shoulder guard on her left shoulder, a long sleeved blue uniform shirt that has gold, black and white, a white trench coat draped over her shoulders and wears it like a cape, white skirt with grayish seams, white stockings silver bracelets, black fingerless gloves and armored leggings with gold accents and heels. The rest of her group all nodded in agreement as the X-Squad readies for battle.

"Ok, then rest up to recover your strength. We'll take care of all of these walking scrap metals." Houki told them with a serious frown as she draws her twin katanas.

"But who are you guys and what's going on here? We were just relaxing at our mansion until we got caught in some bright light and got sent here. Where we were suddenly attacked by those things." The second young woman asked.

"I know that you have questions, but right now is not the time for any of them." X told her seriously "Just try to recover your strength and let us handle these Mavericks. We'll try to answer any questions you might have for us." His squad all nodded in agreement as they all charged at the Mavericks surrounding them.

Houki slashed three red Maverick Reploids with beam sabers to scrap metal. She stopped for a moment to contact Jerry and Sophie. "Jerry, Sophie. Any idea on what kind of Mavericks we're dealing with?" She asked on her comlink.

"They're called Mad Joeys. We just learned that they are Sigma's foot soldiers." Jerry reported to her. "So they should be easy to take down. Just be wary of the ones with blasters! They can really hurt!"

"Gotcha!" Laura nodded as she slashed a Mad Joey in half with her claymore, the mysterious group our heroes are rescuing are amazed to see such a young girl like Laura able to wield a claymore of that size. X used his X-Buster to charged up a shot and fired it at two more Mad Joeys, destroying them. Cecilia materialized her sniper rifle and aimed at an approaching Mad Joey, she fired it and it went through its chest, causing it to explode.

"Take this!" Ling yelled as she and Marino charged at three more Mad Joeys and punched and slashed them to pieces. Char locked spear with saber of a Mad Joey and after 32 seconds she won the struggle by impaling the Mad Joey through the chest. Jessie managed to finish off the remaining Mad Joeys with her dual revolvers.

The remaining Mad Joey sweat dropped as X-Squad aimed their weapons at it before the Mad Joey ran off.

"Ha! Wimp! He just couldn't handle it after we've scraped the rest of them." Jessie laughed "Not much of a foot solider if he just runs away with his tail between his legs. If this is the best that Sigma can come up with, then it'll be a lot easier to take down whoever is leading the attack."

"Don't get too cocky just yet, we still have to deal with the one that's attacking the highway before we can deal with Sigma himself." Marino told her with a serious frown. "We may have taken out just a small portion of their forces, but there's still the leader of the attack and who knows what else Sigma has brought to his side."

"We can worry about that when we've managed to stop their advancements towards Neo Tokyo. There's still the matter of dealing with whoever is leading the attack and putting a stop to them." X said with a frown before turning his attention to the group. "But I'm glad that we were able to make it in time and no one is seriously injured. Can you stand up?" He extends his hand out to them, only for two of them to spring up and get up closer to his face with stars in their eyes as he was taken aback by their sudden reaction.

"That was just the most amazing thing I've ever seen! You guys took out those things like they were nothing!" The blonde woman said excitedly "I thought that we were goners until you guys showed up and reduced them to scrap metal! You have no idea how lucky we were when you showed up and wiped the floor with those things!"

"Who are you? What are you? Are you another Arthur like us? If so, what kind of Excalibur you use?" The young man asked in excitement.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there, you two! Let's take this one step at a time." Houki reasoned. "Before you go and bombard us with questions, how about you tell us who you guys are first? It's the least you can do since we've saved you from the Mavericks."

"Mavericks? Is that what those things were called? I thought that they were just some kind of weird constructs by another Arthur." A tall man said in confusion "But I suppose it does make a lot more sense since we couldn't detect any other Arthurs around here. However, that still doesn't explain how we got here or what's even going on." Before anyone could explain to him, they were contacted by Jerry on their comlinks.

"Guys, I hate to break it to you, but we still have a Maverick warship on the way to the city." Jerry said seriously. "So as much as I'd love to continue this conversation, we still have a bigger problem to deal with at the moment."

"Right, sorry about that, Jerry. We got a little sidetracked for a moment but we'll get back to the task at hand." X apologized as he turned to the other group. "Sorry, but we'll have to put your questions on hold for now. We still have to deal with enemy forces and prevent them from advancing into the city. Think can you guys stand up and get to safety?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. We're going with you guys to stop whoever is that you guys are fighting." The blonde woman answered him with a smirk. "It's our way of thanking you guys for saving us from those Maverick things and find out how we got here." She moves in closer to X with a flirtatious smirk and caused him to blush. "Plus, I really want to get to know you guys more and maybe be close friends." She gives him a wink as the IS girls were all getting jealous at her gestures to X before she gets whacked in the head by another young woman with black hair tied in twintails.

"Sorry about that, just ignore her. She can be a regular pervert whenever she likes." The black-haired woman said with an agitated sigh. "But as much as I hate to agree with her, accompanying with you guys seems to be our best bet to figure out how we got here and if there's a way for us to return home. So, like it or not, we're sticking around with you guys." The rest of the group all nodded in agreement as the blonde woman jumps back up with a bump on her head and hugs the black-haired woman.

"Oh, Yama, I knew you'd be the one to agree with me! Let me give you a big hug!" The blonde woman squealed as she was about to hug the black-haired woman, only to be whacked on the head again by a little girl with a big mallet, which caught the X-Squad by surprise.

"We really don't have time for your antics right now, Dancho. It's already bad enough that you act like this all the time back home, so try to tone it down a notch, if you can." The girl sighed as the woman known as Dancho slides back into view with another bump with her first one and tear slides coming from her eyes.

"Right…" Dancho whined.

"So, your name is Dancho, right? Kind of a weird name, but it's easier to remember. And she called you Yama, right?" Jessie asked with a smile as she asked the black-haired woman that.

"It's actually Yamaneko. She just calls me that because she's just that much of an idiot." The other woman known as Yamaneko answered her with a growl. "You've already met with Dancho, our idiot and perverted leader, so I'll have to introduce you to the rest of our group." She turns to the rest of the group. "First off is Dancho's fairy name Nuckelavee. Next is the other idiot named Tekken Arthur and his fairy Titania. After them are Renkin Arthur and her fairy Bodach. Next is Kakka Arthur and his fairy Bridgitte. Rounding out our group is Runo Arthur and his fairy Bethor. And last but not least is my fairy Coupy."

"So, you're all named Arthur? Are you guys family or something?" Ling asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly, we're more like different versions of the same person. The legendary King Arthur himself." Kakka answered her as he explained. "In actuality, there's about a million Arthurs from where we came from and each of them has their own Excalibur, the same sword that made Arthur king like in the legends. Of course, that also included us in that regard." That made all of the X-Squad members just gasped in shock at the mere mention of a million different versions of the same person.

"A million Arthurs?!" The X-Squad gasped in unison.

"Hey, they said the thing. I'm surprised it took people this long to make a joke about that." Tekken laughed to himself.

"Not the time, Tekken. We really don't have any patience for your thickheadedness right now." Bridgitte sighed just as a massive shadow covered their area.

"Hey, who turned off the sun? Why did it suddenly get so dark?" Titania asked in confusion just as everyone looked up to see the Maverick warship hovering over them.

(Vile's Theme 1 from MegaMan Maverick Hunter X plays)

"That's the Maverick warship! They must've gotten tired of waiting and decided to come to us instead." Cecilia frowned seriously as she readies her assault rifle. "Which could only mean that the Maverick General is somewhere on that ship…"

"Hahaha, how right you are, my dear Cecilia! But you're going to wish that you weren't!" A familiar voice taunted as the launch pad lowered down from the bottom of the ship to reveal Vile in some sort of giant robot. He piloted the armor to land down on the highway just a few feet from X, his squad and the Arthurs. The only difference on Vile is that he has the Maverick symbol on the top of his helmet.

"Vile?!" X and the IS girls gawked in shock.

"I take it that you know this guy?" Jessie asked them with a serious frown.

"Yes, we first met him when we joined the Maverick Hunters not too long ago." Charlotte answered her, sharing Jessie's frown. "But he was also completely rude to us when we first met him and he even flirted with Sophie right in front us while also brushing off Jerry like he didn't really exist. Of course, Sophie rejected his advancements and told him that she'll never date someone like him."

"Oh, so this guy tried to flirt with Sophie and just brushed off Jerry, has he?" Jessie glared at Vile as she aimed her dual revolvers at Vile who remained unfazed by this and just tauntingly crossed his arms with one leg on the edge of the robot armor. "Well, looks like I'm going to have to teach him some manners in trying to pick up a girl like Sophie and treating Jerry like garbage!"

"So you've managed to get a couple more girlfriends with you, huh X?" Vile mocked, X remained silent as he glares at Vile. "And here I thought that you were only interested in those old relics from the IS age, but I see that you also have a taste for women of the future. I'd praised you, but I think it'll more fun to kill you." X and his squad got into battle stance as Vile noticed Marino. "Well, whaddyua know. There's another relic that we seemed to have forgotten all about. So tell me, who was your creator and how about you join us in creating Lord Sigma's new world?"

"Not on your life! I'll never join a group whose sole purpose is to eliminate all of humanity for their own reasons!" Marino answered him with a growl. "As for my creator, that's none of your concerns! My creator is someone who loves the world just as much as X's creator and I plan to keep that promise to her, even until I cease functioning!"

"So you're just another goody-goody Reploid with a sense of justice? As if X wasn't bad enough, but I suppose it doesn't really matter in the long run." Vile said with a small growl. "Lord Sigma has tasked me to eliminate any potential threats that would try to stop him, so it looks like I'll be dealing with you guys and those losers with you."

"Losers!? Who are you calling losers?!" Dancho shouted in anger as an anger vein popped on her forehead.

"Hold on, did you just say Lord Sigma? Vile… Don't tell me that you joined Sigma's army?!" Houki's eyes widen in shock at the revelation of one of their fellow Hunters had joined with Sigma.

"Ahahahaha! You got that right, samurai girl! He made me see the truth of our real potential and now I'm serving as his second in command!" Vile laughed diabolically "Lord Sigma will be the one who will make Reploids the dominant species in the entire omniverse and beyond! X, there's still time for you… Join us in our crusade, and together we will make our Reploid utopia a reality!"

"Never, Vile! I will never join Sigma after what he has done!" X growled as he aimed his X-Buster at Vile. "You and your Maverick cronies will pay for obliterating Africa, killing all of those innocent people and Reploids! You and Sigma will pay for what you've done!"

"And even if it means that we'll have to take you down to stop him, then so be it!" Laura growled as the IS girls got their weapons at the ready.

"Ahahaha! So it's all come down to this then!" Vile chortled sinisterly "It's such a shame, X… You could've been a god alongside Lord Sigma, but you're just a relic from the age of robots. The same is said for Houki and her bratty girl squad as they're nothing but living fossils without their precious ISes. But in the end, it's just a cruel fate for you. Lord Sigma has ordered me to have you six terminated and with my Ride Armor, you're all as good as dead anyway!" He pushed forward on his controls to make the Ride Armor dash forward towards the X-Squad and the Arthurs.

MegaMan X, X-Squad and the Arthurs Vs Vile: Theme: Vile's Theme 2 from MegaMan Maverick Hunter X

"Take this!" Dancho yelled as she got out a huge sword and tried to slash Vile, but he blocked it. Her eyes widen in shock. "What?!" Vile punched her in the chest with his Ride Armor, knocking her out.

"Vile, I never liked you anyway!" Ling declared as she leaped up and intended to slam her foot down onto Vile's Ride Armor, but Vile used his Ride Armor to grab Ling and flung her across the field, making her crash into some cars. She recovered, but was out for the rest of the fight.

"Ling!" Charlotte gasped as she glared at Vile with angry gritted teeth as he got out her spear out and let out an Amazon war cry as she charged straight on at Vile.

"Too slow, French girl!" Vile taunted as he side-stepped out of the way. Charlotte snarled as she jabbed her spear at Vile, but Vile's Ride Armor blocked the attacks with its hands and Vile fired a electric shot from his shoulder cannon, paralyzing her.

"Why you!" Tekken snarled as he charged towards Vile, but the Maverick pretended to yawn as he fired a electric paralyzing shot at Tekken, rendering him immobile for the rest of the fight. "W-What is this?!" Tekken gawked.

"Is that all?" Vile mocked. "Even with the same name as the legendary king of Camelot, you sure are weak!"

"H-How dare you?!" Yamaeko growled as she got out a rocket launcher of some sort and fired it at Vile who side stepped in his Ride Armor out of the way. "Ughhh! Hold still you!" She snapped as she continued firing.

"We have to come up with something to take this jerk down!" Kakka yelled as he got out his spellbook and launched ice spells at Vile who leaped out of the way and landed in front of him.

"Peekaboo!" Vile mocked as he used the Ride Armor to slap Kakka into two cars, knocking him out for the rest of the way.

"Vile!" Cecilia yelled as she fired her assault rifle at Vile, but it did little damage as Vile fired another paralyzing shot at Cecilia, rendering her immobile for the rest of the fight as well.

"Dang it!" Laura snarled as she and Runo tried to attack Vile on both sides.

"Weak and pathetic!" Vile laughed sinisterly as he did a spin attack that knocked both fighters into cars, knocking them out for the rest of the fight. X, Houki, Jessie, Renkin and Marino were left. "Well, it's just me and you 3 relics and two girls with one of them being a pipsqueak." He mocked. Renkin heard that and was deeply angered.

"Pipsqueak?!" Renkin snarled in fury as she got out her mallet and charged towards Vile. "I'll show you who's a pipsqueak!"

"Renkin! Don't!" X shouted out in worry. Vile chuckled darkly as he fired his paralyzing shot at Renkin, rendering her immobile.

"This is bad. I knew that Vile guy is strong, but not this strong with that Ride Armor he's piloting!" Jessie growled as she fired her dual revolvers at Vile who blocked them with his Ride Armor's arms. Vile piloted his Ride Armor towards our remaining heroes when they dodged it, but that was part of Vile's plan as he fired three more paralyzing shots at Houki, Marino and Jessie, rendering them immobile for the rest of the fight. X was the only one standing.

"Everyone!" X gasped in shock as he glared at Vile. The fairies of the Arthurs could only watch in horror as Vile begins to charge towards X. X fired Buster shots at Vile, but it did little to no effect as Vile pummeled X with 15 punches, making our blue hero skidded away from him. X charged up his X-Buster and with a scream, he fired it at Vile. When the dust settled, Vile was unscratched by the attack and the Maverick fired a paralyzing shot at X, rendering him immobile. X struggled to get up as Vile piloted his Ride Armor and used it to grab X.

"X!" Jessie, Marino and the IS girls all shouted in worry.

"Oh no, this is not looking good! That Vile person has just defeated everyone else and is now about to finish off that blue guy!" Nuckelavee shouted worriedly. "We have to do something to help them or they're all done for!"

"But what can we do? We're not fighters like our partners or those other guys!" Bridgitte gulped. "If we try to help them, that purple guy would just turn his robot against us and we wouldn't stand a chance! How can we help them if none of our partners couldn't stop him?" Nuckelavee couldn't get a word out as she knew that she was right as they all watched helplessly as Vile was tightening his Ride Armor's grip on X.

"Ahahahah! It's just as I told you, X! You're just an ancient pile of scrap metal that time forgotten! The same is said for Houki and her friends as they're nothing but living fossils of an era that the once glorious ISes once stood! Lord Sigma's new world and omniverse will soon become a reality! And you and your pathetic friends are powerless to stop him! POWERLESS!" As X struggles to escape from Vile's grip, a water dragon strikes the Ride Armor from behind while a charged buster shot and a purple flame claw that severed his Ride Armor's arm, freeing X who kneeled on the ground. Zero rushed in and charged his Z-Buster as he aimed in at Vile. Snarling in aggravation, Vile shouted out "Retreat for now!" As he piloted his Ride Armor onto the launch pad of the warship before taking off. Jessie Marino, the Arthurs and the IS girls recovered their strength and rushed over to X who was looking down at the asphalt.

"X!" Jessie, Marino and the IS girls all shouted as they surrounded him to see if he was okay.

"Are you alright?! You're not too damaged or anything, are you?" Cecilia asked as she checked for wounds.

"I'm not really sure… I don't know what just happened…" X answered her with uncertainty in his voice.

"I'm sure it's nothing too bad. He just got lucky and then ran off when Zero jumped in." Ling told him reassuredly.

"I guess you're right, but… …It was no use… They're just much too powerful…" X looked down despondently, feeling that the war was already lost.

"Don't say that, X! You shouldn't just give up like that! We can still get stronger to take down Sigma and his army! And I know that you can too!" Charlotte encouraged him.

"Charlotte is right, X. We can't just give up hope yet. It may be hopeless now, but I'm positive that we can turn this war around in our favor." Zero agrees with her as he places a reassuring hand on X's shoulder. I've been discussing with Dr. Cain when he first discovered you before Sigma started this war. As it turns out, you have the ability to copy your enemies' weapons and use them against them. Plus, Dr. Cain said that your creator left special capsules in case something like this were to happen. If you can defeat the 8 Maverick Generals and copy their powers and find the capsules that were left behind by Dr. Light, you might be able to stand a chance against Sigma."

"…Yeah, you're right." X looked up with determination. "I can't just give up hope yet! Not when this war has only just begun!" X turned to Jessie, Marino, the Arthurs and the IS girls with a brave smile. "X-Squad! Before we can take on Sigma, we must defeat the 8 Maverick Generals under his command and add their powers to our own! Also, we must find the capsules that were left behind by my creator, Dr. Light. This'll be a dangerous mission, but we have to do this in order to save both the world and the omniverse! And not only that, but we must also try to recruit some of the Maverick Generals to our cause."

"Yes, that we must. We can convert those Maverick Generals if we can try. They always say that words are the ultimate weapon, so we can try to recruit some of the Maverick Generals to our side if we can use logic." Cecilia nodded with a smile.

"That may work for some of them, but I doubt that it'll work for all of them." Marino said with a frown. "We might be able to convince some of them, however there's no telling that the rest would be so easily convinced. They could be just as corrupted as Sigma or they firmly believe that his vision of the future is the correct one."

"Then we'll just have to take them down if they try to stop us." Jessie said with a smirk. "I know that they were former members of the Maverick Hunters, but they've turned their backs on protecting everyone to join with Sigma's insane plans. So we're going to have to teach them what happens when you turn your back on the ones you were supposed to protect."

"And you guys can count on us to give you a helping hand." Dancho said, smiling bravely. "We don't really know how we got here or what's going on, but we want to help you guys in stopping this Sigma. It's our way of thanking you for saving us from those Maverick things, so we'll help in any way we can." The other Arthurs and their fairy partners all nodded in agreement.

"That's the spirit! Nice to see everyone is on board!" Zero grinned before adding "I'll be with Dr. Cain to locate Sigma's fortress while Jerry and Sophie would be guiding you to each of the Maverick Generals. I know that you guys can do it! Contact me if you ever need any help." Zero warped back to HQ.

"So this is it, the real fight begins now…" Houki frowned as she and the X-Squad looked towards the setting sun. 'Just you wait, Sigma… We'll defeat you and save the omniverse from your evil clutches! You can count on it!'

X looked at the setting sun with a determined frown. 'With Houki, her friends and everyone else by my side, we will bring peace back to the world! Just you wait, Vile. You may have won this round, but we'll settle this next time. And once we've dealt with you, we'll be going after your leader to end this!'

Not too far from Central Highway, two figures were standing on a building that's the closest to the highway. The first figure was a woman wearing an armored dress with the appearances of a a witch or sorceress. She also wielded a staff and a vizor ever her eyes. Beside her was a man with black and brown skintight suit with a cape that resembles wings, clawed hands and a masked helmet. The most striking detail about them is that their hairs protruding out from their crown and helmet is that they matched those on Jerry and Sophie. Could they be friends or foes? Both figures turned towards the setting sun before warping out of sight.

To be continued…

Next chapter: Chill Penguin: Discovering the Light Capsule! A Way To Get Stronger!

A/N: And thus, the battle has begun. Next time, our heroes fight Chill Penguin and gain the first part of the Light Armor from Dr. Light's Light Capsules. So see you then.