Mega Man 1. Chapter 1

Mega Man X Novelization

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mega Man X or anything having to do with it. All rights are reserved by Capcom and I declare that this is not a story being written for profit, but merely for entertainment. Treat is as such.**

Chapter One: Attack on the city!

X sighed as he sat at a chair before a PC, looking up data on the mavericks again. He was wearing his suit of armor, minus his helmet, letting his spiky black hair show. His current assignment? Find a cause behind Sigma's recent change to Maverick. Nothing had come up, except for one...an encounter with an ultra powerful maverick. The identity of it was never disclosed for various reasons.

"Hey, X. What's up?" he heard a familiar voice call. Zero was standing in the doorway, fully suited. Most of the hunters always wore their armor, even to sleep. There was never any telling when Mavericks would appear and try to mess things up. They were always prepared for the worst. Zero himself, in his armor, was quite tall. His armor was red, green orbs on the the square shoulders. He had the golden hilt of a beam saber attached to a pack on his back. His helmet had a blue crystal in front, the front of it curving to the left and right in spikes. It also had a bright, blond bunch of hair attached in back that fell down to his knees. Not that such a thing ever restrained him.

X, on the other hand, was rather a stark contrast. He was a little shorter and wore dark blue armor. Primary pieces were dark blue, where other pieces such as the abdomen or joint area were light blue. His helmet was also dark blue and went all around his head minus his face. It also had a bright red crystal on the front which hid a scanner of sorts. This would allow him to assimilate the prime moves of powerful mavericks and use them to his advantage.

The B-ranking hunter smiled at his friend, who was an S-rank hunter in contrast. "Boring stuff. I'm looking for a probable cause as to why Sigma went maverick. Going to have to write a research report on it," he explained before turning back to the computer.

Zero scoffed at that, shaking his head and walking in. "They have you doing that again? Why don't they let you out and do real battling at this point? You've been a B-rank for three months right now and you have had little combat experience, if any at all, minus the time that Sigma nearly killed us."

The black haired reploid shook his head. "Don't remind me of that, Zero," he told his friend, finally finding something in the data base about details of the battle with the reploid. They were scarce but this was the one source that he could use. Nowhere else had this kind of information and in the maverick hunter databases, information was rarely wrong. "Here we go, finally," X muttered, Zero looking over his shoulder now with keen interest as to what his friend had found.

Zero commented, "I never knew that there was such a battle. Something about the Maverick having the virus in them?" However, before much more research could be done, the alarms sounded. "Main city is under attack!" a computerized woman's voice announced over the PA system. Zero and X stood up immediately. X quickly bookmarked the page and then he turned the computer off. He followed Zero out, grabbing his helmet along the way and quickly placing it on as they went to the war room.

Once there, the advisers for both X and Zero sent them off to different quadrants of the city. The one who had been assigned to X seemed rather nervous and new as well as she found a place to set X down and sent him there. Both used their portable beam transporters and beamed to their designated locations. X found himself in the head of evacuating traffic, most of which avoided him and several people gave him strange looks because they didn't recognize him and found him odd. X charged forward, finding the first of the maverick robots to be standing missile launchers that were firing missiles at the highway he was standing on, creating large holes in the road.

X raised his buster and said nothing as he opened fire. Two rays hit one of them and blasted two holes clean through it. The one exploded, but its partner was turning around. X was prepping another shot when two blasts of electricity, condensed into the shape of orbs, surged across the ground towards him. Fortunately, they were easy to leap over and another clean blast put the second launcher out of commission. Now it was time to get down to the next main force of soldiers who were destroying the roads and wreaking havoc.

They had yet to notice the blue reploid approaching them while they destroyed cars and guided remote controlled missiles into buildings. Already, X saw one of the taller building collapse into a pile of rubble and dust. He wasted no time lining up his shots and opening fire. By the time the enemy reploids noticed that they were under attack, over half of them had fallen to precise shots from X's buster.

Now it turned into a firefight. They were armed with energy pistols and rifles and opened fire at X as they dove for cover. X found some cover behind an upraised pieces of the highway and took some deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. The adrenaline pumping through his "blood" was a real kick, something that he found somewhat enjoyable. The rush and thrill of entering battle and coming out alive. X popped up out of cover and fired, clipping one of the reploids along the shoulder with a shot of his own. He then ducked back as a rain of energy pellets hit his cover point, melting chunks of it off. The unpleasant smell of molten metal entered his nostrils and pervaded the air around him.

He pulled the trigger on his buster and held it, charging up a powerful blast from his buster. He watched the energy gauge hit a red marker and as it did, he popped out and fired a huge, blue energy ball at one of the cover points, completely obliterating it and the mavericks behind it. This made the final two come out and start running in fear, leaping off of the bridge in a ditch attempt to get away from the surprisingly powerful hunter. X watched with a sigh as they got away.

"X, there are more of them where those came from. Stay moving and head to the end of that highway. Their main deployment ship is over there. Just watch out for their beechoppers!" his advisor told him through the comms. One thing X had already noted, she had a lovely voice.

He put his finger to his ear to activate the response channel and said, "I'm on it." He then started forward, charging another shot in case he would find one of those beechoppers that was mentioned. He found himself in a rather large clearing in the building, an intersection of the highway. Above him and somewhat off to the right, he could hear the familiar buzz of a chopper. He turned to see just what his advisor had warned him about. It was a giant bee chopper, with green "eyes", a dark yellow head, and a dark green abdomen. Instead of wings, it had helicopter blades on the top of its torso, a missile launcher in place of a stinger, and a machine gun on the mouth. It wasted no time in deploying several missiles, all of which armed and homed directly on X.

X dove behind a chunk of rock that was in the middle of the road from the destruction being caused, but was blown back by the cover exploding into rubble. He quickly regained his footing and fired his charged shot at the bee's head. He was surprised to see the charge shot completely annihilate the head. The chopper crashed and brought the whole intersection crashing down with X on top of it as well!

After about fifteen seconds, X began to slowly recover from the fall down into the bottom of the city, the walkways and alleys, the areas that were sometimes considered the most dangerous. His communicator picked up a whole bunch of white noise before coming into focus. "X...re? ….are you there, X? X, come in!" he heard his adviser's voice chime in.

The blue reploid stood up and shook his head a bit to clear it. "Whew...yeah, I'm fine. Only minimal damage sustained. I'm making my way back up onto the highway to continue to my objective," he responded, looking up. How was he going to go about getting up there again? He looked to one of the buildings that was still intact and got an idea. He could jump between the wall and the support pillar for the highway and make his way up.

"If you can get back up, X. If not, just let me know and I can set another course for a different objective and add your current one to Zero's list," she said. An explosion occurred in the building he was heading for, meaning he now had to double time it or lose his way up. X sprinted to the wall and leaped to it before leaping back and forth between the wall and the support pillar, doing it as fast as he possibly could. He barely grabbed onto the edge of the highway and hauled himself up. He stood on the edge and was knocked onto the highway by a piece of falling rubble, much to his surprise and discomfort. He rolled out from under the piece of steel and stood, sprinting down the highway. For some reason, the sounds of battle were dying out. Were the mavericks retreating already? Or did they have something else in mind?

He arrived at the end of the elevated part of the highway, the next area leading him down a long path into the open on the outskirts of the city. "Alright, here I am. Where's my objective?" X asked.

"Should be above you...oh my, X! Watch out! It's above you and behind you!" she said. X spun around, looking up at a huge airship that was passing overhead. He aimed his buster gun at it and opened fire, finding that he could do nothing to the alloy that the ship was made out of. Then, a lift lowered and revealed X's new foe. A shiver ran down his spine. "V-V-Vile," he muttered, staring at the purple armored robot sitting in a powerful V-36, one of the newest models of single passenger battle armors.

The maverick second-in-command looked over at X and started chuckling. "Of all of the worthless vermin, the hunters have the audacity to send a B-rank hunter after me? I was expecting someone better, maybe even Zero himself!" Vile declared. "But all I get is a blue, B-rank hunter. What happened to your suit, anyways? Spill paint all over it?"

X growled in frustration. "I give you a choice now! Surrender yourself and I will spare you! Don't and I will be forced to destroy you!"

Vile just ended up roaring in laughter. X shook his head and decided it was time to see just how much his buster could pack in firepower. He opened fire, rapidly pulling the trigger and firing lethal rays of energy at the powered armor. Even Vile was surprised by the amount of knockback and damage that his armor was receiving just from the buster itself. But he got it out of the line of fire and had it leap into the air, straight at X.

If the blue reploid hunter had just stood there, he would have been crushed. So he dove to the side, and right into a blast that Vile had shot from his shoulder cannon while his armor was leaping through the air. His systems overloaded with electricity, causing him to fall down, limp. "Oh...crap..." he said, struggling to move but being unable to. Then, Vile had the armor scoop him up with one hand and bring them face to face.

"I am honestly surprised! Your arm cannon packs far more punch than most other B-rank hunter weaponry. Are you sure that you're in the right ranking? Honestly, you carry enough to at least be an A-rank. It's too bad that you won't live to be that, hm?" Vile asked, crossing his arms.

X just sneered at Vile. "You won't get away with this!" he shouted, struggling against the hand that held him. However, its grip just tightened, starting to crush him.

Vile laughed as X struggled. "What, did you really think that you, an archaic piece of scrap, can defeat me?" he asked, starting to roar out in his own maniacal laughter again. But it was just then that a white blast of energy came and hit the joint of the arm that was holding X. The arm blew off and the armor was sent skidding backwards. Zero himself landed in front of X, beam saber out, ready to cut Vile and his armor in half.

But Vile wasn't without a plan. He had anticipated that Zero would arrive and had his ship come back around. Just as Zero swung his Z-saber at the armor, Vile leaped out and caught onto the bottom of the ship. "We'll meet again, Zero! Just you wait!" he called as the ship went into full throttle and started flying away at high speeds, zooming off into the distance.

X watched as it flew away before looking down. "I failed. I couldn't stop him," he muttered, looking at himself. He had taken some internal damage from the crushing that the hand had started, but it wasn't anything that couldn't easily be repaired.

Zero turned around, hearing X's lamenting. He knelt down beside X and placed a hand on his shoulder. "X, you shouldn't have expected to defeat him. He's a maverick leader, and used to be one of our best hunters. Hell, before Sigma went maverick, he was practically the leader of a large force of the mavericks. I appreciate your effort and you excelled for what all you managed, but you need to be stronger and more experienced if you hope to face Vile."

Zero then helped X to his feet. "Come on, let's get you back and get you repaired," he told his friend before saying, "Alright, we're heading back. Be prepared to receive us." X gave a sigh as he looked down, wondering what they were going to do now as they beamed back to base.

**Is it a grand first chapter? Prolly not...I could have done better. But this is what I get for just coming off of my writer's block so cut me at least a little bit of slack. Please review! Tell me whatcha think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: X is chosen/The abandoned missile base

**I'm surprised that people are really finding this to be something worth watching! Well, I'll certainly be updating this a lot more than I had intended! Be prepared for a lot more chapters!**

X's eyes fluttered open and at first, all he could see was a bright white blur. There were some darker shapes, but his vision was so badly blurred that he couldn't make any of them out. "Sir, he's awake," he heard someone say, the voice echoing. Had the repairs really taken long enough to the point that his recovering from it was this hard. Or had they done it too fast again? If they had, there must have been a reason for it. X's vision cleared just in time for him to see the old Dr. Cain standing above him, wearing his blue military coat.

"Rise and shine, X. You're wanted in the war room," the doctor said. X groaned as he tried to sit up, shaking himself. He was out of his armor, which was newly repaired and currently in the "equip" pod. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and black shorts. He stood and shook his head before stepping out of his recovery pod.

He looked at himself and then turned to the medical reploid, whose armor was just his normal suit. A metallic lab coat...for some reason, that was just the way they were designed at this point. Or was he an older model? X had never bothered to ask. "My vision was blurry again...and I feel kind of out of it right now. What happened? Were repairs serious? Did you rush it?"

"Both," Dr. Cain ended up explaining, leaning on his oak cane. He adjusted his glasses briefly before saying, "The mavericks have really started a full scale assault. Already they've taken several areas of the city. Zero had to lead the main force of our hunters to stall several attacks, leaving you to be the sole one to try and infiltrate where the maverick leaders are and stop their forces..."

X had just been heading to his armor to get it on when Cain told him what he was going to be doing. He stopped right in place. The fact that they would actually be depending on him for dangerous missions was a kind of pressure that he had not felt in a long while. It felt...strange. He turned to face Dr. Cain and he asked, "Why would they be depending on me for those sorts of missions? I'm a B-rank hunter!"

Cain shrugged his shoulders a little and looked up at X as he donned his blue armor. "I don't know what they're thinking X. But something about the battling that you did back in the main city caught their attention."

The blue reploid's eyes went left and right as he tried to take all of this in. He was excited and nervous at the same time. "Wow..." he said, chuckling a bit. He then stood up straight and took several deep breaths to calm himself down. He couldn't let himself become over the top excited and totally loose his cool in this situation. "I'm on my way to the war room now, sir." Wasting no time, X dashed through the silver halls of the hunter base. Cain shook his head and then he said, "He's got a lot going for him, that one. I sincerely hope that he is able to handle the challenges ahead. He was never supposed to fight, I had thought. But it turns out that he can certainly be a very fierce fighter when it comes down to it."

X arrived at the war room to find everyone was busy, save for his adviser. She had been waiting for him to arrive, hoping that it would be soon. Her face lit up nice and bright when she saw him. "Hi, X! I'm glad you could join us so soon!" she called. X just now got a good look at her. Dark locks fell around to her shoulders on the front, with the rest of her hair dropping down to the middle of her back. She was wearing green armor that, like his, just molded to her shape, meaning that it wasn't blocky like some of the other armor types. Her green eyes seemed to twinkle in the light from her computer screen and her rosy lips showed signs of some light lipstick applied to them, just enough to give them a fresh color.

"Hey there,' he said, walking forward. "So, you know my name, but I don't know yours which, to me, is rather embarrassing." He was honest with that. After having to not call her any name on the last mission, since he didn't know it, he felt bad for not being able to.

She giggled a little, her face turning slightly pink that he cared about wanting to actually call her by name. "it's Sarah. It's a pleasure to meet you, X." She held out her hand, which X gladly took and gave a firm shake. He had learned before not to give too rough of one, but to make sure that it was still firm, not too limp.

"A pleasure to meet you too. Alright, so...who am I going after first?" X asked, grinning eagerly. Little did he know who he was up against. The people who were projected up on the screen before him, one of the big screens for people to look at, were people he immediately recognized, as almost all of them were former hunters. "What? H-how? There's Chill Penguin! Launch Octopus! Drill Armadillo! A-A-All of these are...why? Why did they turn?"

Sarah sighed softly, feeling bad for X. She knew that this was going to be a hard mission for him to undertake. "I am sorry, X, I really am. But your duty now as a Maverick Hunter is to terminate them before they can cause more damage. You might want to start with one of the weaker ones just to get a power you can use against the others. I would suggest Chill Penguin, actually."

The blue reploid lowered his head, staring at the ground. He was going to face against former friends, allies. This wasn't something he wanted to be doing. "If anything, I should learn why they joined before I destroy them...maybe that'll help me figure out a way to save them, if that's even a possibility anymore..."

He felt Sarah place her hand on his shoulder. "X, are you alright?" she asked softly, hoping that he was fine with what was going on. The blue reploid turned his head to her and nodded before stepping back and then focusing on Chill Penguins's coordinates. Then he transferred there. Sarah watched him leave as a beam of blue energy and whispered, "Good luck, X..."

X appeared in the air just above the ground and landed, sinking knee deep into fresh snow. No wonder Chill Penguin had taken this place. Everything about it was ice and snow. Trudging through the snow would mean limited mobility, perhaps giving Chill Penguin the advantage here if he were there. However, it wasn't just Chill Penguin that X had to worry about, as he soon came to find out.

There was an ice cave a little ways ahead of him. That was where X figured he should go first. He started running through the snow, taking leaps through it rather than sprinting steps, so that way he didn't kick the snow all around, instead leaving single prints on his way over to the ice cave. He was halfway there when two reploids came up from the snow, totally covered in white, and opened fire. X was so caught off guard that he hadn't time to react in any other way but to fall back into the snow, which covered him from sight mostly. His eyes were still left uncovered, so he could see the reploids rushing over to his position.

"Great, first I arrive in knee deep snow, and then I'm fighting enemies that are far more mobile in the snow than I am!" he thought to himself, thinking fast. They were quick, but they wouldn't be expecting him to be as powerful as he was, nor as well armored. He suddenly came out of the snow right in their faces, which startled them. He opened fire on the one to his right, blowing open his chest. Reddish liquid sprayed out, the "blood" for reploids, though it was darker than normal blood, appearing more like oil sometimes. X leaped into the air as the other one opened fire at where he had been sitting in the snow. X took a shot at the reploid's face, blowing half of it off. That reploid fell into the snow and was lost from sight.

Now all he had to do was make his way the rest of the distance to the ice cave. Once there, he found that it dropped down into the main base itself. The walls were old, archaic seeming. There was also a missile through one of the iced over viewports, though it was so covered in ice, not to mention rusted, that it probably wouldn't be able to fire again.

The old, scratchy sounding PA activated suddenly, with the distinct voice of Chill Penguing coming across. "Bwahahaha! You're a fool, X! Do you really think that you can stop me and my minions that are crawling all over that ice covered missile base? You really are a fool!"

The blue reploid was unfazed by Chill Penguin's threat. So there were more of them lurking about? That was fine. Now was his time to find a way to go upwards to the top exit to this abandoned base. The ways up were demolished, collapsed staircases and inactive elevators meant that getting up was going to be interesting. Nevertheless, X started towards the first set of stair cases, planning a wall jump to get up to the next level, which wasn't much higher up.

He had only just started heading there when four reploids burst out of the ice around him, all armed with deadly energy rifles. X had to act fast. The first thing he did in reaction was grab the one closest to him, disarmed him swiftly, and used him as a shield. He managed that only just in time as energy rays were fired at him, hitting the reploid in the chest and severely damaging him. This was a dirty trick on X's part. He knew that, but his mission was to survive and destroy the maverick leader, so he had to act on terms that weren't normally his own from time to time.

The other reploids, distressed from having committed friendly fire, didn't know how to react to what X had managed. This gave the blue hunter his chance, one he took immediately. He opened fire on the three, taking them out in rapid succession with several shots each. By then, the one who had been shot in the chest had already turned off, having lost too much energy. X just dropped him and moved on.

On the second floor, there was more cover. Steel tables as well as frozen filing cabinets and other office assortments littered the place, though most were trashed. A lot of stuff that should have been here was removed, though some was still there, encased in ice and frozen to the floor, pieces of cover. And he would need it, he realized, for now six reploids dropped down from the next level and turned to face him. "You will go no further, hunter X! Here is where you die!" one shouted before opening fire, forcing X to dive behind one of the nearest points of cover, which was a downed desk.

Water splashed him from the melting ice, and soon he could smell molten metal again. He popped up for only a brief moment and opened fire, hoping that he might actually hit one of them or a couple even. He was surprised to see all four of the shots that he fired actually make lethal contact with the troopers that he was facing off against. Now only two were left and both were wondering what the hell they were to do now that their friends were gone thanks to X's lucky shots. X charged a shot from behind the same piece of cover while waiting for their next move.

He was surprised when he saw a grenade plopped down right on top of the piece of cover that he was hiding behind. "Crap!" he exclaimed before diving to a table nearby. He felt one of the energy bullets graze his left leg, leaving a black scorch mark across the armor but not penetrating the armor much at all. He got behind the table and got back into position, his arm glowing brightly with the charged energy. Water splashed onto him again as well as molten metal as they opened relentless fire on the table.

X was worried now. Certainly they would be able to breach the cover that he was hiding behind if they kept this up. Already, he had huddled himself into a corner where, once that was gone, he would be very vulnerable. That was when they had to reload. "Note to self," he stated quietly before popping up and aiming his charged shot at where they had been. Unfortunately, they had moved, though this gave X ample time. He slid behind another piece of cover near where he had been and waited. The enemy reploids, not knowing that he had moved, opened fire and destroyed the rest of the table.

"Where did he go?" one called as he ran over to the molten mess. He forgot to check behind the pieces of cover, unfortunately for him. X stood and tripped him before holding him down. His partner quickly revealed himself, wondering what was going on, but was met with his demise as X fired the large ball of blue energy outwards. Where the man had been standing, there was a long black scar along the wall.

The other reploid saw the destruction and then turned to glare at X. "You..bastard!" he grunted, struggling against the hold that X had on him.

The blue armored reploid turned and put the red hot barrel of his gun next to the reploid's head. "Who is the bastard here? You or me? You are the one trying to kill me, I was fighting back in self defense. One man against six and I'm a B-ranking hunter."

He got no response from the maverick. Figuring that he was done talking, X hit the robot's head hard enough to knock him out and then proceeded onwards. The way up now was a busted elevator shaft which X took to right away, leaping up the walls to get up to the very top. His landing was quite a bit more slippery and he fell down, sliding down an iced over staircase and down underneath a busted doorway.

He hit the wall rather hard and fell back, trying his best to stand up and not slip again. He was heavily dazed by the contact that he had made with the wall and ended up falling back against a tall cylinder. He was surprised when he heard the voice of an old man ask, "X, is that you?" The voice, despite sounding old, also sounded rather healthy and deep still.

X turned around and found himself face to face with an AI of an old doctor with snow white hair and a snow white beard. The entire image was blue, no color to it other than implied colors such as the lab coat and the like. Simple shades, he could have said. "W-Who are you?" X asked, looking into the eyes of the AI.

"X, you need not know my name for the time being. What is more important is what lies inside this capsule. I have placed capsules like these all around the known world in case that you would fight a terrible war and need them, like your predecessor. I was hoping that it would not come down to this either, X. You were never supposed to fight," the AI said, shaking his head. "I had wished for a world of peace for you."

The blue reploid was stunned. He talked like he was his...his creator or something of the sort. X opened his mouth but shut it again when the AI started talking again, saying, "X, step into this capsule. In it are the foot parts of your first edition battle armor. These will give you the ability to dash with small propulsion bursts. You can use these to quickly get across hard to traverse areas, or even fuel your jump to make them longer and higher. And with the propulsion, a shot fired with you moving at your fast speeds will make it impact harder and thus be stronger. Remember that in tight situations, X."

"Wait, who are you?" X asked, stepping forward and reaching out to try and grab the AI's arm. His hand touched the glass and the AI vanished. The glass slid open before X, showing a place where he should stand. "Huh...if what the AI said was true and it hasn't gone rogue or something, this could be quite useful!" he stepped into the capsule and then watched as the glass slid shut around him. He gasped when the process started, a peculiar feeling shooting through his body while he stood there. He felt the armor on his legs change and become lighter than ever before, much to his surprise. If it was added armor, shouldn't it be heavier?

He stepped out once it was done and looked down at his boots. The new leggings were a shiny silver with gold linings. The knowledge of how to activate his dashing was processed by now, so he was set to go. Now it was time to find Chill Penguin and end his corruption before he could do something drastic to any of the cities nearby. He just had to get out of this room and head onwards to find him, most likely. He never had been the brightest among the hunters, why he had chosen to join Sigma was beyond X's logical thought processes. It made no sense to him.

But now that Chill Penguin was an enemy, it was X's duty to destroy him and prevent him from doing something drastically bad with how...stupid he could be. X looked at a weak section of the ice and grinned before dashing towards it and bursting through out onto the ice. He found himself sliding again, but this time his balance was far better than ever before, something else that the boots gave to him. He slid down the icy slide rather easily, keeping an eye out for any Mavericks.

Sure enough, there were some watching from holes in the ice, waiting for him to come this way. What they were not expecting was that he would be holding his balance quite easily. They had been thinking that he would be sliding down with no control over what he was doing. They took aim, but X was quicker on the draw by far. Two shots, the first set was annihilated. X grimaced as some of the red hit him and he shook his head, trying hard not to think of the things he was having to do to these Mavericks.

Another one had heard the explosions up prior and had counted two, so it stayed behind, expecting X at any moment. It opened fire the moment it saw X, which forced the hunter to leap into the air to avoid it. What happened next shocked even X himself beyond all belief. He managed to pull off a midair shot, one that went with his current acceleration down the ice and slammed into the chest of the reploid, blowing a hole through him. As the reploid fell backwards, X landed on the ice as if what he had just done was a natural thing for him. A jump like that would have cost him his balance once before.

"This is hell-a-awesome!" X exclaimed, excited over his new abilities as he continued his slide down. He arrived in open air overlooking a large drop down into an icy chasm. Long falls like this normally didn't bother him and this time was no exception, especially considering his new boots. He dropped down and landed, the landing feeling so much easier on him now that his boots were there. X was unusually ecstatic as he walked into the obvious opening before him, no doubt where Chill Penguin lay in wait, anxious to see X's scorched corpse come sliding down before him.

Indeed, there the leader was, scanning some data on a computer. He had always been interested in them, but only for the flashy stuff such as games and the like. This time, however, he was actually studying charts and word documents instead of playing video games on it. He heard footsteps and his high pitched voice started, "Well, so have you killed him?" he turned around and let out a shriek of disbelief. "YOU! How did you make it through my guards?"

X sighed and he said, "Chill Penguin, why did you turn to Sigma's side? You were a stellar hunter before! Why join him now?"

Chill Penguin's beak twisted into something of a smirk. He chuckled a bit and replied, "Why, all for the money! The power! The fame, glory and women! Who wouldn't want all of that? Oh, yes, Lord Sigma is offering this quite generously to me. In repayment, I was told to annihilate you and Zero at all costs!"

X growled in frustration. The penguin had always been known to pay more attention to such things as that, instead of actually wanting to do justice in the world. "Why you ignorant, mislead little..."

At being called "little", something went off inside Chill Penguin. He didn't like being called stupid, or a moron, or anything like that. But most of all, he hated being called "little". He let out a highly agitated shriek. "Why you...! You think that you can just waltz in here and insult me, call me little, all of those things? While you've got another thing coming, X! Prepare to die!"

Before X was ready, Chill Penguin shot himself across the ice on his belly, razor sharp beak out, not to mention that he was going at insane speeds. X only just had time to leap up to avoid him and then turned around as soon as he touched down on the ground again. Chill Penguin was up and hurtling ice chunks at X, all sharpened to fine points that would even penetrate his armor.

The blue reploid dove aside, firing his own shots in response. Chill Penguin wasn't aware of just how strong X's buster shots were and made only a partial effort at dodging. He let out a shriek of mixed pain and surprise when a chunk was torn off his cheek by one of the energy pellets. "How in the- why is your buster so strong?" the penguin asked, standing up and holding his scarred cheek.

X stood up with relative ease, even on the ice. Chill was starting to get worried that this battle was hardly going to go in his favor, for he hadn't heard that X could actually have the upper hand. After all, what was a B-rank hunter going to do to him? "Why do they call you a B-ranking hunter if you are performing this well?"

X shook his head and said, "They measure it by experience and battle strength. Why Zero is an S-rank and I'm a B-rank. Honestly, I don't get it myself." He then wondered, would Chill Penguin return to normal?

The penguin shook his head and said, "They're still on the system? That's another reason why I dropped the Maverick Hunters, besides the money and glory promised to me. The fact was that I had been sitting at an A-rank, and nothing I ever did would put me up at an S-rank. I had even done some more dangerous missions than most any other A-rank!"

The blue reploid shook his head and said, "They were going to fix that but right now, we're in the middle of battle. With you and the others that Sigma has under his control. And if it means that you are not going to come back, then so be it but I can't show you mercy, since you are Maverick!"

The penguin burst out laughing and asked, "X, is that really you trying to tell me to come back to your side? Well you'll have to try harder than that!" He let out a maniacal laughter, a slight purple glint coming from him. The virus was growing stronger in him, and that worried X a good deal. What worried him even more was what came up next, as Chill Penguin pulled a switch on the ceiling. Snow began blowing in from the outside and creating a blizzard inside of the room and blurrig X's vision.

However, Chill Penguin was unaffected. Even as X squinted, trying to keep a focus on the silhouette, Chill could see him as if there were nothing obscuring his view. He summoned up ice shards and let out a battle cry as he threw a series of them at X in a star pattern. He was surprised when X managed to roll aside, even though he should not have been able to see the ice shards, for among the snow, they were invisible to the naked eye. He was really getting worried now, figuring that X was actually far stronger than him and capable of much more than he seemed.

On X's part, he had managed quite the lucky dodge. "Fine, this is how it's going to be, Chill Penguin? I'm sorry that it had to be this way," X said before dashing forward and leaping into the air, quickly rushing the position where Chill Penguin was. He quickly saw the silhouette again, which further solidified into the surprised form of the penguin enemy that he was facing. He fired a single shot and was surprised, even somewhat taken aback, by the effect.

Because of him charging through the air, the normal shot itself had the momentum and speed to act like one of his charged shots in a small, compressed form. Chill Penguin flew back with a screech of pain, landing on his back with a gaping, sparking hole in his chest. "You...are no normal...reploid..." Chill Penguin muttered as his last words before exploding in a brilliant explosion, forcing X to shield his eyes.

Once the dust was settled, X looked at where Chill Penguin had been. Something of an empty place filled in his heart and guilt flooded in. "I'm so sorry," he said, squeezing his eyes shut, a tear rolling down his face. Never before had he been forced to kill an ally, and it hurt. Oh it hurt deep, it almost felt like betrayal on his part. He sighed and shook his head before he said, "Advisor, transfer me." He then wiped his tear away and recomposed himself before being transferred back to base.

**I am SO sorry for not updating this sooner. I promise, more chapters and more awesome fun to come.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Storming the airport

X watched the scientists as they studied the data on his new boot armor. Watching their faces told him a lot. They were simply astounded by what it was, for it was beyond even some of the current technology that they had. "How is this even possible?" Cain asked, looking at the data himself before turning to X. "Where did you find this, X?"

X stood at attention when addressed, wondering what his response would garner him. "Sir, I found it in the abandoned missile base in the ice, in a cave, to be precise. They were in a capsule. An AI that seemed to know me gave them to me."

The scientists looked over at him in surprise at the mention of an AI. Never before had they heard of something capable of simply being an AI system, yet giving someone aid like this one had given X. Cain especially was surprised, though he knew something that the others did not. "What did this AI look like, X?"

"Uh..." X said, trying to think of a way to describe it. "Somewhat tubby, snow white hair and a large beard along with quite an aged face...I can't describe it completely because it was all blue and had no other real color other than that." He shrugged, but then saw a grin cross the older man's face.

Cain took a deep breath and said, "Then I think you have met the AI of your creator. Doctor Thomas Light. The reason that I know who he is, is because I found a recorded message left by him. It was on a computer near your pod, where I found you in an abandoned laboratory."

X knew the name somehow. It felt so eerily familiar to him that it sent a chill running down his spine. "I know that name. It brings back a good feeling, a feeling of a place long gone. Perhaps my old home."

Cain nodded slowly and he said, "Such is the feeling that all reploids are designed with when their creator is mentioned. Some ignore it, others don't. I'm surprised that we found your creator in any form at all past his death. It seems that the late Dr. Light planned far ahead for a time like this."

X was still trying to piece these things together in his head. There were too many things for him to think about, most of which made little to no sense. How could Dr. Light have foreseen a war or a time like this? How could he have been able to design an AI that lived after his death? X looked at himself for a moment, looking at the boots as well, the brand new boots that gave him his ability to use a dash similar to what Zero had. But still...how could an AI know to build these things? Unless it was somehow developing with age, linking into systems and updating itself on the latest technologies by the day, hour, or even minute.

Then, a female voice called over the PA. It was X's adviser. "All Maverick hunters, there is an imminent threat coming from the airport and from the power plant! All hunters are to scramble immediately!"

X knew where both of those areas were and began heading to the war room. He was going to talk to his adviser on where she thought he should head next. He wondered if he was going to be fast enough to help take out both, or maybe Zero was going to help in this case? His suspicions were confirmed when he found Zero already in the war room, discussing plans with his own adviser. "X!" Sarah called, getting his attention. She was rapidly typing information onto her computer and was not looking up to see if he had looked over or not. "We need you at the airport ASAP! Zero has come back to help with this imminent threat, he's taking out the forces over by the power plant, but will keep in touch and be ready to aid you if necessary!"

X nodded and then he asked, "And the other hunters? Am I going to have backup while on my mission or is it just me again?"

Sarah shook her head and said, "It's never just you, X. The other hunters are helping you out in more ways than you could probably imagine, making it possible for the mission to be completed. You're to head across the top of the airport to gain direct access to Storm Eagle's ship!"

Storm Eagle? X knew that name. He had been great partners with Storm Eagle before, for mysterious reasons, the bird shaped reploid had gone missing. Now he was back as a Maverick, one that X had been assigned to destroy. The blue armored reploid let out a heavy sigh as he thought about the task at hand. "Storm Eagle...why you of all people?" he muttered quietly. Sarah gave no reply, though in her heart she knew how hard this was for X. She wondered if X had ever really been built to be a warrior.

She typed in the necessary transfer coordinates and she said, "We're all set to transfer you to the airport, X. Just let me know when."

X rolled the scenario through his mind. He was going to have to get to Storm Eagle's ship and take him out. To do so, he would cross the top of the airport buildings, leaping between them, to get to where the ship was probably still docked in the air hangar. If he could do it quick enough, he could stop the ship before it ever took off. But too many delays and he would never catch the ship and his mission would fail. This wasn't his first "hit or miss" mission, as he called them. However, this was going to be one of his most tense ones. "Transfer me," he finally told Sarah, stepping into his transfer pad. It only took maybe a few seconds for the transfer to finish.

He found himself directly outside of one of the main hangars in the airport, with smoke and destruction all around him. The hunters were making quite a mess of the fields and the planes while dealing with the Mavericks that had infested the area. "Alright, X, get on top of the buildings and get going! You'll need all of your parkour skills for this one. I hope those boots you got are really worth the boasting I've heard!"

X chuckled a bit. Boasting? The others were making such a big deal out of them that X was surprised they hadn't already been taken apart and examined for data. But X didn't have time to dwell on that now. It was time to get a move on. He started towards the building and made a dash jump to get about a quarter of the way up. Then it was just a matter of leaping off and boosting back up onto the wall in a sort of "single wall-kick" jump. X was amazed he could even do it without losing his timing and balance.

He got to the top with relative ease and started across. The air was clear at first, signaling to him that this was going to be rather easy. But that didn't last long, as several bird mavericks flew down from the air and swooped towards him. They were carring mini-machine guns on their wings, which they wasted no time in aiming towards X and firing!

X's first thought was to dive to the ground but he stopped himself. They would easily be able to strafe fire on him if he did that and would most likely kill him in seconds. No, he had to try the air if he wanted to live. But a simple jump simply was not going to cut it. So...could he manage a double jump using his new boost shoes? He had only one way to find out. He leaped up and just as he was about to fall back into their line of fire, he kicked the dash shoes on again. He flung himself into the air with a spectacular double jump and ended up flipping through the air. He landed on his feet at the edge of this first building and then leaped towards the next one with a well timed dash leap.

The birds were circling around for another run, not aware that X was priming his brand new assimilated weapon, the ice shotgun. He turned around when he was halfway across this hangar building and fired the weapon. It shot a solid block of ice that hit the bird he was aiming at, along the side. Ice shards then flung off of it, striking the other birds. Whether it was luck or purely skill on X's part, X could not even tell himself. However, he also was not about to question it. "First major delay..." he muttered, shaking himself out of his moment of being awestruck and continuing his run.

He had just made it across to the main control building, right next to the air hangar, when his comms activated again. It was Zero's voice. "X, I'm about halfway done with this place. Where are with yours?" he asked.

X figured he had to be close to the ship. He wasn't counting on how long of a run the air hangar could be, nor how big the ship that Storm Eagle now piloted was. "I'm almost done! I'll see you in a bit, Zero!" X called back.

"Roger that, X. See you soon," Zero replied before ending the communications. X did not bother to question the rationale behind Zero's call. His friend did that sometimes, for reasons that he never did state. It could be out of concern for X, out of simple boredom with his mission, or several other things. It was just X's guess at what Zero would be thinking when he made these calls.

X now had to make the final leap, this time from the top of the control tower, to get to the top of the hangar where Storm Eagle's ship was docked. He did the same trick he had used before to get up the tower, dashing in the air to get back to the wall. When he finally arrived at the top of the tower, he looked down and gasped. The hangar itself was enormous, stretching out to about two miles in length. And it was big enough to house two of Storm Eagle's ship, as was apparent by the ship taking up half of the space available to it. "That...that's just..insane..." he muttered, briefly forgetting about his objective.

It was then that he noticed the boosters on the end of the ship turn on. "Oh no! I've wasted too much time! I've got to get my rear in gear now!" X said to himself while leaping down to the hangar. He rolled several times to break his descent into the momentum that he had gained on his way down and then immediately got up and began sprinting. Even as he went, X was unaware of just how fast he had become. Sarah could only watch him in simple amazement, for X had never run so fast before. Perhaps it was the boots? Or perhaps the AI had turned something on inside of X, something that had laid dormant, waiting to be awakened by its creator? Or perhaps it was something else? It was simply too soon to tell.

For now, X had no concern with this. His goal was the ship before it took off and he was going to make it, no matter what. It just began to lift up off the ground when X made a leap for the wing and landed rather easily on the large surface. Getting up would have been another matter but he found that he was hardly swayed by the motion of the ship. He shattered a window along the side and climbed into the vessel. It was empty. All of the resistance was on top, waiting for X to climb up. They had foolishly thought that he wouldn't think of going in the windows, seeing as he would be blown off if he tried.

X was quick in making his way to the lightly defended reactor, the only resistance being a couple of unsuspecting mavericks. They turned around and the last thing that they had both seen were bright balls of energy in their faces from X's buster. Both exploded, sounding an alarm within the room. Too late, Storm Eagle must have realized his folly in underestimating this "B-rank hunter" known as X.

X turned the core onto overload and then ran for it. However, the end result was actually very surprising to X. The ship had gained a huge amount of altitude while X was exploring it, looking for the reactor, so that was going to be one difficulty that X was thinking about. Then the core exploded, prematurely, but the explosion wasn't with fire. Instead, a shockwave swept across the ship, tearing the outsides off and leaving nothing but a metallic skeleton intact. Everything was gone, which meant that the ship was gradually losing power. Soon, it was going to start falling back to the ground.

"Well done, X! I had never suspected that you would have gained enough power to destroy my ship and perhaps even best me!" X heard his once friend's voice call. The eagle was circling above him, drifting lower and lower to the ground before landing about thirty feet away from X. Storm Eagle himself now stood before X, who knew that he had to destroy Storm but...he did not want to.

The blue reploid instead asked, "Storm Eagle, what are you doing? Why have you devoted yourself to Sigma? Don't you know that what you are doing is wrong?"

Storm Eagle chose not respond. X's words had something of an effect him. So indeed, X still cared about someone who was now an enemy. "So naïve...and yet, this is what makes you who you are, X," the eagle thought, watching X in silence.

X was a tad bit frustrated that Storm would not respond. "Answer me!" X shouted, worried that he might not get an answer at all.

Storm Eagle finally responded, "I am sorry, X. I have to do this now. Prepare yourself for a fight to the death."

X had known that he wasn't going to turn Storm Eagle back. Still, he couldn't help shake the feeling that he could have if he had just said the right things, made the right actions. "Storm...f-fine! I'll free you from your confines! I'll let you free from the virus' grip!"

He began to charge his next shot but Storm Eagle could act faster. The first thing he attempted was something that no normal reploid could ever withstand, particularly not on such a limited space as they were now fighting. The one mile long stretch was now reduced to what had been the reactor core and backup engines, the full length being about one hundred yards. Storm Eagle began to flap his powerful, metal wings at a furious rate, generating extremely powerful gusts of wind. It was all X could do to hold his ground, but he found himself sliding back to the edge. IT was only when he was at the edge that it stopped and Storm Eagle pulled off what could easily have been his finisher. His famed Storm Tornado, fired from a gun that he always kept on his side.

X reacted the moment he saw the giant funnel of wind hurtling towards him. He dash jumped, leaping gracefully over the funnel and landing before Storm Eagle. He fired his fully charged shot and missed, for his enemy had taken to the skies. Now, the ship was momentarily at a stand still, giving Storm the advantage that he needed to possibly terminate X.

He swooped down towards the blue reploid, his powerful beak aimed straight for the head. He wasn't expecting X to be as quick on his feet as he was. As X leaped aside, Storm caught a glimpse of the new armor on his legs, the boots. Were they what was allowing him to perform better than ever before? X had grown so quick and so agile, he might be able to pass as an A-rank hunter by this point!

Storm's beak slammed into the skeletal hull of the ship but he did not damage himself. The beak itself was strong enough to pierce titanium and have minimal damage done to it, the type that would only amass over extended use. Storm eagle flew up to avoid another one of X's energy pellets and dove back down towards the blue reploid, this time almost hitting him. He was beginning to learn how to predict X and now went for what he thought would be the finishing move.

However, he had failed to see the ice shards hurtling towards him. His wing span suddenly felt extremely heavy and dragged him down onto his now plummeting carrier. He landed on the metal hull and skidded along the ground, sparks flying as he slid across it towards the edge. He gasped and clung onto the edge.

It was over in a most ironic way. He had thought that X only possessed his energy shots. No, X somehow gained an ice ability which he had used to conquer the eagle's flight. Storm looked at his doomed ship, plummeting at an alarming rate back down towards Earth. He sighed before looking up at the blue reploid above him, the buster aimed at his face. He chuckled a bit and said, "Well, it's finally come down to this. No longer am I looking down on you...you are looking down at me, A-rank. Well then, I am a maverick now...and there is no going back. Shoot me, end this conflict."

X felt an urge to do as he was told but...no, he couldn't. His arm trembled...his face looking down with indecision. "N...No," he finally said, pulling back. He was trembling now, visibly, as he looked down at Storm Eagle. "We...I can still help you, Storm. We can go back to the way it was! This doesn't have to end here!"

Storm chuckled again, shaking his head. "X...you are so naïve. You don't realize that when a person has been labeled as a maverick, that does not change. They have to be destroyed and the label of maverick is never removed," Storm explained before tightening the grip on his weapon. "No, X. You have defeated me. Now...it is time for us to go our separate ways. It is time for me to die, as the maverick that I am."

X looked up again and saw Storm Eagle pointing his own weapon, at himself. "Wait, no! STORM EAGLE!" X shouted, diving for old friend. But it was too late. Storm Eagle had fired the funnel and it shot him away from the ship. His ice wings weighing him down and at the current altitude, the fall would kill him. X could only watch in agonizing internal pain as he watched his friend fall away. Tears began to roll down his face. "W...WHY? Why must we kill those that we care about, simply because they are labeled Maverick! Why must this go on!" X screamed out in frustration. He didn't even realize how close the ship was to the ground. "X! JUMP!" he heard but it was seemingly too late.

The skeletal hull crashed into the ground, flinging X from it before an explosion ensued from the crash. X was flung through a glass window, through the control center and into a storage room that caved in shortly after he blasted through the wall. The final thing he remembered before blacking out was seeing a bright green light turn on, illuminating the darkness, and a blue hologram looking on in surprise...

**I'm sorry that I took so long in getting this in. I hope that this is a satisfactory chapter to add to the pallet. ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Zero vs. Flame Mammoth

**Change all of the "power plant" stuff to "prototype weapons plant". I would, but I'm lazy right now. XD**

Zero's raid was far more difficult than X's. Zero must have caught the attention of a huge host of them, being that he was one of the only S-rank hunters remaining and he was the most deadly one of all. Zero was glad he had taken some extra forces in with him to counter these odds, for they far outnumbered even his adviser's estimates. "Rand, any ideas on who's leading this assault?" Zero asked into his intercom, firing on the reploid's with his buster. His buster rivaled X's in normal shot power but did not have the capability to charge. Then again, it was not his most dangerous weapon either.

His adviser, a young male reploid much like X in some regards, replied, "Yeah, it's Flame Mammoth, the original head honcho here in this power plant. He reportedly went maverick shortly after Sigma did, perhaps there's some connection in that. Be careful, Zero. He's not one to be trifled with."

"None of these guys are," Zero responded before ducking behind a piece of rubble closer to the entrance. The forces guarding the entrance to the power plant were beginning to diminish in number, allowing the hunters to start moving closer. He had to wonder how Sigma, in such a short time, had amassed such a powerful army.

There was not time to be thinking about that right now. He had to get a move on and take out Flame Mammoth before any more damage could be caused to the power plant. If this place were destroyed, then the entire area surrounding the Maverick Hunter base would be without any sort of power. They would be vulnerable, something that none of them could afford. Zero found a breach in the enemy forces at the gate and immediately took his open opportunity, charging through the line of fire.

He was in close, his most deadly position in terms of an enemy facing off with him. All that the mavericks saw was a green flash before they were annihilated. The hunter forces watched Zero take out one enemy after another, the green blade of his energy saber giving off loud hums of energy as it cut its swath through the mavericks. It was no wonder that Zero was an S-ranking hunter, for he was not even touched by any retaliating attacks. No, he had them in the position he wanted, and once that happened, they were done for.

He had the entrance clear in no time at all and now stood before the entrance, gazing in. "The hell?" Zero muttered, feeling something of an arctic wind blowing in. Had defeating Chill Penguin done something here? That was perhaps one of the few explanations, but he wanted to know. "Rand, what's going on? I'm feeling a chill wind blowing out of the entrance here. That's not normal, is it?"

There was a brief moment of silence, during which Zero presumed that Rand was looking into the cause of the cold in the power plant. Then, he heard, "I don't believe it! The power plant is still operational, but...all of the free flowing magma and plasma that powered this place, that had been let out during the attack, has all been frozen solid! It's covered in a thick sheet of ice that isn't melting at all!"

The other hunters were now standing right behind Zero, waiting for his orders. They could faintly hear the communications and most were quite surprised. There were a few, however, that knew the explanation. "This power plant uses the ice from where Chill Penguin had been in order to cool down any magma leaks so that they do not become dangerous. If anything is exposed, it is supposed to go out and cover it with enough ice to cool the top layer into rock, and keep it that way with a constant supply of ice."

Zero shook his head and said, "I don't know what mechanical engineer came up with this...well, zany idea, but they certainly were brilliant. Heh, this is going to make things too easy!" He laughed for a bit before he turned his head and said, "Let's go! We're wasting valuable time!"

They all moved into the power plant to be greeted with more mavericks. One of the hunters said, "Zero, you should go through the power plant section! You have enough mobility to easily make your way through there without taking any damage or being hindered. Quickly now, it's the only way!"

The red reploid turned to the main power plant segment, which was a giant mess of conveyor belts. He would have to be careful, for some of these conveyors would take him through to the incineration room and once he was there, there was no going out unless he cut open the wall. "Rand, which exits am I watching out for on this mess of conveyor belts?" Zero asked his adviser, having learned to rely on his adviser for the most assistance. He had been surprised to learn that X hadn't used his adviser all that much. Then again, it could simply be inexperience. That, or Sarah simply was not taking the initiative that she needed to.

Rand responded, "The ones with red lights around the exits are ones that will lead to the incinerator! Be careful if you're going across that way,the turrets in that area have been reprogrammed to terminate hunters and they are powerful. One shot could deal major damage to you, especially seeing as your armor isn't fantastic."

"I don't need armor, Rand. You know that," he responded. Some might have called him cocky for saying that, Zero just called it his self confidence. He leaped out onto the conveyors and immediately started dashing and leaping between them, staying well away from the exits. He had to get to the other end where the parts and pieces were coming through in order to proceed. He couldn't believe, though, what he was seeing. Half destroyed Mavericks were being put through on the conveyors to be pooled into the magma which was being used for energy, as well as the large scraps of junk that were supposed to be going in. Was this Flame Mammoth's doing?

He had not gone that far across the conveyors, maybe about thirty yards, when turrets activated all around him and opened fire. Now this was what Zero had been waiting for. He stopped attempting to merely proceed and focused on dodging the laser bolts that were being fired at him. He used his energy buster to fire on the turrets at first, easily dodging their powerful bolts.

There was a problem, however. Since they were aiming at Zero, a ground based target, their lasers were tearing the conveyor belts to shreds. Smoke began filling the room and the smoke alarm went off. By the time that Zero had noticed this, half the turrets were gone but most of the conveyors that he would need to use were also crumbling and falling away. Thinking on his feet, he turned and starting booking it towards the other end where the scraps were coming through to be melted.

He finally got through the door just as another piece of scrap metal came through. He made his way across these conveyors before reaching a door up at the upper level. He stepped through into a bunch of balconies and bridges overlooking lava, with maverick miner bots breaking segments of it t make it otherwise impassable. "I'm going to have to teach these guys a lesson...more importantly, though, I'll have to be quick if I don't want to end up being molten scrap!" he muttered, reigniting his beam saber and leaping out onto one of the bridges.

He landed near a miner, who turned and swung his giant pickax at him. The point was strong enough to pierce even the armor that X had at this point, and Zero didn't have that much armor. But he didn't need it. The pickax never reached him, for Zero swung his beam saber upwards and sliced the arm off of the bot before bringing his blade back around and slicing the bot into twin halves, with the center being the waist. He wasted no time in dashing across the bridge, using his jet boosters and leaping forward to cover a great distance as he moved towards the other end of the enormous room.

The other miner bots had caught wind that he was coming and he found that they were hurling their pickaxes in his direction. He was quick to react, knocking them aside with his arm before they reached him. But it was difficult, sometimes even forcing him to leap for a different location. He noticed that they were grouping together in a far more organized manner than Zero remembered they were able to.

That did not stop him, however. He reached the other end safely and darted through the door, readying his saber just in case there were enemies on the other side. The room he arrived in was yet another conveyor room, though this time there were mashers above the lava pits. "What kind of...those mashers weren't here before. Come to think about...is this even much of a power plant? This seems to be more of an incinerator to me."

The response he got from his adviser was, "It used to be, Zero. But we hadn't kept tabs on it, since it wasn't really being used for anything. Then Flame Mammoth came in recently and has added stuff onto it and turned it into a "waste disposal" for both humans, and reploids. It's horrible."

Zero continued through, the mashers not proving to be much of an issue. "So where's the current power plant?" he asked, going through to the other end relatively quickly.

"The actual power plant that we use now? It's an electrical power plant, sending billions of watts per second to the entire city to power it. However, it's been having some issues lately...we're trying to isolate the source," Zero heard in response. He got to a door at the other end and sliced it off its hinges, kicking it inwards. "But never mind all that. In the very next room just past this series of doors, at the very far end of this hall, is Flame Mammoth. You need to take him out at all costs."

Zero grinned and asked, "Really? I wasn't expecting him this early on." Zero pressed onwards, slicing the doors apart until he finally dropped down onto a giant conveyor belt for spare parts. And at the far end stood his target, on a raised platform. Flame Mammoth was a huge, mammoth-like robot who was fearsome in combat. He had a flamethrower that was in his trunk, as well as oil that he could grab from a compartment on his body and fling it out. The flame and oil combined was extremely deadly to reploids, as the flames themselves could melt almost anything. The final thing that Flame Mammoth had, besides his sheer size and strength, was a fair amount of wrestling tactics built into him.

Flame looked down at Zero, a grin crossing his face. "Well, this is quite a high honor! I never could have thought that I could raise enough hell for them to send an S-ranking hunter after me!" the mammoth bellowed, leaning on the railing and staring down at Zero.

Zero brushed his hair aside and turned on his beam saber. "What you have been doing is unforgivable, Flame Mammoth! You've been labeled a Maverick and as such, I am going to terminate you."

"Why Zero, surely you would still view me as an old friend?" Flame asked, leaping down onto the conveyor belt. An indentation occurred where the mammoth had landed, seeing as Flame himself weighed about one whole ton. Zero very nearly tripped from how much the belt was rocked from his enemy landing on it, though he retained his balance.

Zero glared at Flame now, saying nothing more and instead getting ready to fight. Flame shook his head and said, "Fine, then. I see how it is. You would rather kill than give me a chance to explain myself. Very well, then. Let us make this a battle worth remembering!" Flame whipped his trunk upwards and pointed it at Zero, sending forth a blue flame that would have damaged Zero greatly had it touched. Zero leaped aside and dashed towards Flame Mammoth, ready to tear him apart with his saber.

Before Flame could react, Zero was upon him. He swung, Zero ducked and made a deep cut in the leg of the mammoth. He was about to make another cut upwards when the trunk slammed him on the side of the head, sending him skidding across the conveyor. That was when Zero noticed that it had started moving shortly after Flame Mammoth had landed and they were both being brought closer to an incinerator. Flame grinned and bellowed, "This is a timed match, Zero! I am capable of witstanding the incenrator's heat where you are not! Can you possibly destroy me before we reach there?"

Zero looked over at the incinerator, knowing that it would only be about two minutes. "Two minutes until I get fried and he lives, two minutes to try and defeat this stupid Maverick. Bring it on!" he shouted the last phrase, dashing across the way towards Flame Mammoth in a surprise attack that even caught the maverick commander off guard.

His saber lashed out again and connected with the flame spewing trunk. It was so powerful and concentrated that it simply took that one swing and the trunk was sliced from the main segment. Zero came around for another fast swing when Flame Mammoth's heavy fist connected with his face. Zero gave a scream of pain and flew back, almost off of the conveyor belt and into the molten metal below. He caught onto the ledge with his saber arm, his other arm currently hanging away from the edge. That was when Flame Mammoth approached him, groaning in pain. "That was a low blow, Zero! But then I shouldn't have expected less from the S-ranking hunter that would have done anything to win! It's too bad that you've lost!" the mammoth bellowed down at Zero, obviously both enraged and in agonizing pain.

A smirk crossed the S-rank hunter's face as he looked up towards Flame. "You honestly think that you're going to win this, don't you?" he asked before the mammoth stepped up just a bit closer.

"I will win this, Zero," Flame Mammoth proclaimed. He faintly heard a hum of energy but passed it off as nothing. He looked down at Zero again and said, "You've lost. Good bye, hunter." He lifted his foot and then heard a blast of powered energy. He looked down again to see that Zero had been charging his buster in the other hand. Realizing the situation, Flame also now felt a deadened pain all the way through his body before he fell back and exploded into fire on the conveyor.

Zero had brought his buster up and had opened fire, the blast piercing a gaping hole within the fat mammoth's innards and leaving him destroyed. He watched with grim satisfaction as the hulking behemoth of a maverick collapsed backwards and exploded into flames all across the conveyor belt. Zero now had to act fast or else he would get trapped in the incinerator. Without further ado, he climbed back onto the top of the belt and then leaped off to the nearest safe platform and dashed through the door.

What he found there was beyond what he could have expected. The first thing that was before him was a simple group of crates in a dark room. But the only light in the room was coming from a glowing capsule with a large "X" marked on it. "X?" he asked himself, walking forward and standing before the capsule. He very nearly slashed at the blue, holographic figure that appeared before him.

"You...I think I remember you..., yes, you are Zero, correct?" the figure said in a calm tone, making Zero relax some.

The red reploid straightened up from battle stance and asked, "Who are you and how do you know who I am?"

"I am Doctor Thomas Light, the creator of X. Please keep this a secret between you and I, Zero," Light professed. He watched as the hunter's eyes immediately opened wide, his jaw dropping.

Zero couldn't believe his ears! This was Doctor Thomas Light, the creator of perhaps one of the most advanced Reploids that Zero had ever known, even if he was only classified as a B-class hunter! Zero stepped forward and said, "So you're him? You're the creator of the most awesome reploid out there? I..." he chuckled now and then he resumed his cool look, but with a grin spread across his face. "I almost found that hard to believe but no, I believe you. So then, what's your purpose here as an AI?"

Light smiled and said, "I am glad that you have taken this news in stride. Please, keep this a secret and deliver the arm parts within this capsule, to X. They will allow him to charge his buster to a third and most powerful level, and will also allow him to charge the weapons that he assimilates from mavericks that you or he defeats. I trust that he will use these parts to bring peace to this war that has undoubtedly been started again by my nemesis, albeit indirect."

Zero's grin faded. "Nemesis?" he asked.

The hologram shook its head and responded, "More like a rival. Never mind my sentiments. Deliver these parts with all due speed."

Before Zero could ask another question, the hologram vanished and the capsule opened for him. Zero, curious as to what would happen, stepped inside to receive the arm parts. They were of a thick blue where the gloves were as well as bright silver to complete the armor's eventual look. Then, his communicator rang again, and upon tapping it, his adviser frantically said, "Zero! Zero! Are you there! Please respond!"

Zero sighed softly and responded, "I'm here. Did I lose contact with you momentarily?"

"The fire from Flame Mammoth's explosion must have briefly interfered with the air waves...that or it was the explosion or the room that you were in. We only just now reestablished contact. Anyhow, I have news. X defeated Storm Eagle on his own for the most part, but he was found unconscious in the airport. There was also another one of the capsules that he reported earlier and we retrieved a part from it, a helmet for him."

Zero nodded a bit before saying, "I found a similar one, this one has gauntlets for him. This is turning out to be interesting. Anyhow, I'm going to leave these with him. When he comes around, let him know that I'm just out continuing my investigations." With that, he beamed back to the base...

_**So sorry for the long delay in updating this story. But now that I am past this point, I should be able to continue with Spark Mandrill and overpowered firepower X. XD Let's get this going!**_


End file.
