Chapter 1
In the year 21XX, the skeletal remains of a once-thriving city lay sprawled under a sky choked with clouds. Here, amidst the rubble, X awoke to a world he did not recognize. His head rested against a slab of concrete, twisted rebar jutting out like the bones of the earth itself. Above him stood a little girl with fiery red hair and a sprinkle of freckles across her nose, clutching a teddy bear that had seen better days. Her smile was a beacon in the desolation, but it was fleeting as she stumbled over the debris, her teddy bear swinging in her grasp.
A shadow fell over them, heralding the arrival of a Maverick—a mechanized behemoth with the sleek, aggressive lines of a combat ride armor, its design reminiscent of a greyhound, painted in hues of purple with black stripes that traced its contours like the veins of a leaf. The girl's scream pierced the air as X, now fully alert, transformed into Rockman and sprang into action.
With agility that belied his size, Rockman swept the girl away from the Maverick's thunderous punch, which instead met the ground, birthing a crater where she had stood moments before. He placed her safely down, his eyes not leaving the enemy. It was then, in the periphery of battle, a rogue piece of concrete, swift and silent, found its unintended mark, ending the young life Rockman sought to protect.
Unaware of the tragedy, Rockman engaged in combat. His blaster fired a shot that barely nudged his stance, yet the Maverick dispersed it with a casual counter, plasma scattering like water droplets, sizzling upon contact with the ground. Switching tactics, Rockman met the Maverick hand-to-hand, their clash echoing like thunder without rain, the shockwave disturbing the dust of ages and crumbling more of the decrepit structures around.
The Maverick, surprised by this smaller adversary's strength, faltered, its arm compromised. It retreated into a diagnostic trance, sparks flying from its damaged joint, while Rockman, with no intent to pursue, left room for retreat, for understanding. But when he turned back, what awaited him was not the girl, but a slab of highway, an unintended tombstone.
Memory rushed back with cruel clarity. The girl had not fainted; she had been taken from this world. In a moment of raw, unprocessed grief, X obliterated the site with all the power his damaged blaster could muster, reducing everything to embers, including his own peace of mind.
Self-loathing consumed him as he aimed at his own head, his blaster pathetically humming with insufficient charge. The shot was not lethal but enough to render him unconscious, sparing him from his own hand.
The man that had witnessed it all undetected , emerges from his hiding place and walks up to X. Wily feels an old flame of an old argument rise up uncontrollably at the broken body on the ground ..." Light...you are a fool! How could you do this to him? If you were alive you could see I was right once again! Dying like a common mortal when you could have extended your life as I have. Look at your masterpiece! He doesn't even want to live in this hell you left for him! My masterpiece doesn't suffer like yours. He will never kill himself. He will be the one to lead the way. Still...what a waste. You pathetic old fool...
Wily's face contorts and a tear rolls down his right cheek.
Dr. Wily picks up X. He scans X with a pen device to find no catastrophic systems failures . His blaster though is finished. And what about his memory?
He talks to himself. " If I do repair Lights creation does that mean ill help this creature suffer more? Light and I dreamed of a robot like you X. But now I wonder if what we were doing was right. Should we ever have even created robots in the first place? No one ever questioned you like they did me. Just because a mans personality is sugar coated like his doesnt mean every thing he touches turns to gold! To me Light, right now you seem like the biggest fool of all history! Look at our world. I could have stopped it after I gave up world domination and turned to robot philanthropy. But I thought the humans , if they did wipe themselves out like they almost have today, that robots would be better off. I was wrong about that though Light. You were right. We should have worked together...for all our sakes...
The ship ascended, carrying them towards an horizon unknown, leaving behind a city of ghosts, where the dreams of men like Light and Wily had birthed heroes and horrors alike, in a cycle that perhaps, should never have begun.