MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman) Fan Fiction ❯ Past, Present and Future ❯ Dreams and Nightmares ( Chapter 18 )

Author's Notes: This chapter is my attempt to novelize the events of MMX4, while filling some of the plot holes and tie things together.

Chapter 18: Dreams and Nightmares

~ Suddenly the room became bright from an unknown light, waking Zero from his 'sleep' in the recharge bay. He sat up to see a form in the center of the light.

"Zero..." The form said softly.

"Who are you?" Zero asked.

"..my masterpiece..." The form said, ignoring Zero's question. Zero narrowed his eyes.

"Wha...who are you?" Zero asked again.

"After him! He is our nemesis! Our rivalry, is what gives me motivation in life." The form explained. Zero got up from the recharge bay, watching the form. "Now go! Destroy him! That's an order!" Then, the form disappeared.

"Wha?? Wait!" Zero called and started to follow the form, but suddenly, his head started to pound and he felt dizzy. He immediately clutched his head and collapsed onto his knees. Then he shrieked, but he didn't hear his own voice. Instead he saw images. He saw...Sigma(?) screaming. He saw mass destruction...he saw blood on his own hands...then the images started to spin. The pounding became more and more painful...then...~

The alarms blared, waking up Zero. Suddenly, Dr. Cain's voice filled the air.

"Emergency! Emergency! All Maverick hunters to the assembly immediately!" Dr. Cain yelled through the intercom. Zero sat up from the recharge bay.

"The same dream...again..." Zero said as he got up and ran out of the room to assembly with the other hunters.

"Mavericks emerged at point 5567!" Dr. Cain explained through the intercom in the main room. "It looks like the Repliforce's doing!"

"Repliforce..?" Zero said softly, confused.

"Zero!" X yelled, running over to him.

"Hey X.." Zero mumbled.

"Zero...I heard yelling last night. Do you know what it could have been?" X asked. He knew it was Zero, but was hoping that he could explain what's going on. Zero's still been distant ever since that air bike accident..

"I don't know. I must have slept through it." Zero mumbled.

"I see...have you seen Iris?" X asked.

"Iris? No. I haven't. Why? Is she ok?" Zero asked.

"I don't know...lets go. 5567 <AKA Sky Lagoon> is split off into 2 sections. I'll go through the left, and you go through the right." X explained. Zero nodded. Then they both dashed out...

Zero dashed through sector 5567, destroying mavericks left and right. Suddenly he found a large flying maverick, which gave him some trouble. The maverick gave a roar and swung his fist at Zero. Zero quickly jumped over it and swung his sword downwards, slicing the hand off. The maverick shrieked. Zero grinned menacingly and swung the sword upwards in an arc, slicing the head right off his shoulders. The crimson plated robot broke down a door and ran into a room, there he saw that the power was out and that Sky Lagoon was going to crash down onto the city! So he immediately teleported to the other section of Sky Lagoon, which was in ruins.

"The carnage...it's horrible.." He breathed. "Those mavericks will pay for this!"

Enraged, he tore up mavericks at even a greater pace. He charged through Sky Lagoon, knocking out mavericks everywhere. After dodging another maverick and slicing it in half, he leapt over a hole in the ground and climbing up a small cliff. He found Iris. She was lying on the ground, semi-beat up.

"Iris, what are you doing here, are you OK?" Zero asked.

"Zero..did you come to save me?" Iris asked.

"Yes. Hang on." Zero said.

"A huge maverick appeared and..." Iris said.

"Stay here, I'll handle it." Zero said. "Is this really one of Repliforce's?" he asked himself. "I don't have a moment to spare. I have to defeat him or else.." Zero sped past Iris and didn't walk more then 10ft when suddenly a huge dragon robot came down from above. Despite it's huge size, the dragon was relatively easy. After a quick, simple battle, the robot exploded. Right after it blew up, Colonel ran over.

"Zero! Long time no see!" Colonel said.

"Colonel....what are you doing here?" Zero asked.

"I've come to save my sister, Iris. I only hope she's ok..." Colonel said.

"She's fine! I just rescued her!" Zero said.

"Oh? Thanks Zero! I owe you one.." Colonel said.

"Colonel...I have a question for you...did your unit attack this place?" Zero asked.

"What are you talking about? Repliforce came here for help. We weren't involved in the attack." Colonel explained.

"They suspect you've become a maverick" Zero explained.

"What?!" Colonel exclaimed.

"Disarm and come with me to the HQ." Zero ordered.

"I'm afraid I can't. Soldiers never drop their weapons. I won't do it, not even for you, Zero." Colonel said softly.

"Then they'll think you're a maverick!" Zero said.

"So be it! Repliforce prefers war over dishonor and shame! Goodbye, Zero." Colonel said.

"Wait! Colonel! Listen to me!" Zero exclaimed.

But Colonel was gone...

"The humans suspect we have gone maverick! This is an unfair and untrue statement! Therefore I believe that we, the Repliforce, gain our independence from the humans! But remember, the humans are not our enemies. Do not fight them. Now, are you all with me?" General announced. The army cheered.

A form watched from an abandoned warehouse. A mischievous grin on his ugly face.

"Yes...everything is working out perfectly. Go and stop them, Zero..." The form said, then giving a loud, evil sounding laugh that rang out through the warehouse....

Zero appeared in the base to find, to his surprise, Iris standing there.

"What're you doing here, Iris?" Zero asked.

"This must be a mistake!" Iris pleaded. "I don't understand why the Repliforce would do this! Zero, please don't fight Colonel!"

"I don't want to. But as a hunter, I must." Zero explained calmly. "Where's X?"

"He never came back.." Iris whimpered.

"What?! Then we must--" Zero was cut off by the alarm

"Zero, 2 mavericks are attacking the city!" Dr. Cain shrieked through the intercom. "Don't they have better things to do then attack our city over and over again?! Well, anyway, Zero, you must go there and stop them!"

"I'm...on my way.." Zero said. I hope X is ok...

"Good luck, Zero..." Iris said softly, walking into her room.

"Good, no one's around. Go get em' now Double." Sigma said..

X appeared 5 minutes after Iris left..

"I can't believe those mavericks! The carnage they did..." X murmured. "It was awful! Where's Zero??"

X looked around to find a fat jolly little reploid.

"Who're you?" X asked.

"I'm Double!" He answered cheerfully. "I'm a rookie. I am here to inform you that 2 mavericks from Repliforce are attacking the city!"

"What?!" X said, stunned. "But, hold on a second! Can't we make some kind of compromise with them?"

"No. You got to go now, X! The city is in grave danger!" Double exclaimed.

"...I'm on my way..." X said, then teleported out...

It was Magma Dragoon and Web Spider. Zero's eyes narrowed. Web Spider didn't look very difficult, but Magma Dragoon did.

"Welcome to our humble domain!" Web Spider hissed. "Say hello to my spinneret's!" Web Spider threw an electric web thing at Zero. Zero jumped out of the way, but it caught his foot, causing him to stumble. He cut the web off with his sword, but had it caught him, lets say, in the chest or back, he would not have been able to move for a while.

Magma Dragoon charged at Zero, then skidded to a stop. He blasted fire from his hands, then he kneeled and shot out a large spiraling lines of flame. Zero ducked the one Magma Dragoon shot towards his face, but could not avoid getting hit by the second fiery assault. Covering his head with his arms, the fire melted his armor, leaving him undamaged, but now his armor will be as easy to cut through as a hot knife on butter.

Zero got up and charged at Web Spider, getting an idea. Web Spider fired another electric web at Zero, who dodged it. Magma Dragoon charged after Zero.

Zero jumped in front of Magma Dragoon, and waved at Web Spider. The angry spiderbot fired another electric web at him. Right at the last second, Zero rolled out of the way, and the web caught Magma Dragoon, who was charging his fiery breath attack. Stunned, Magma fought, growled, roared, spit, shrieked, slashed, kicked, etc. but could not get out.

Zero walked over to Magma Dragoon and smiled.

"X is not the only one who can copy, my friend.. While X copies abilities, I copy tactics," Zero said softly. Then he placed one hand on his arm, copying his fire abilities. His sword became a sword of flame. He turned and charged at Web Spider. Frightened from the flames, Web shot out a bunch of baby robot spiders. Zero placed his fire sword on one and it engulfed in flames. The rest of the babies scattered. Web Spider started climbing up his web when Zero ran under him. He gave Web an uppercut, using his sword instead of his fist. Web Spider immediately engulfed in flames and dropped from his web. Then, with that done, the sword became normal again. Zero teleported back..

It was Split Mushroom and Cyber Peacock. X climbed up one of the buildings and stood on its roof. Cyber Peacock immediately pursued. X charged his cannon and fired into Cyber's chest the minute he landed on the roof, knocking him off. Split Mushroom...no...5 of them, hopped onto the roof and flipped at X. The blue and white plated maverick hunter ducked, jumped and rolled, barely dodging them. Suddenly the real one came up.

"Super Nova!" X yelled and his body became engulfed in a strange reddish/purple aura. He rammed Split Mushroom, engulfing him. Split Mushroom shrieked as he fell off the roof and pummeled down the side of the building. Cyber jumped back onto the roof again, only to find X gone. He was sliding down the building, one hand and both feet on the wall. He let go of the wall about halfway down and fell the rest of the way, landing on his over sized feet. X ran to Split Mushroom and grabbed his leg, which was one of the only parts of his body that was not below the earth. After copying his ability, he immediately charged it and fired..

Cyber Peacock landed by...2 X's? Cyber stared at them both. Which one was the real one?

Both of the X's circled Cyber, blasting him. Confused, he fired everywhere, but not with success. Then both of the X's charged and fired at him. One X was behind him, the other was in front of him. The two combined attacks caused Peacock to explode. The fake X immediately disappeared and the real one stopped to catch his breath before teleporting back to base...

"Zero!" Dr. Cain said through the intercom right as Zero came in.

Iris turned to look at Zero. Zero glanced at the intercom.

"Don't tell me, more mavericks?" Zero said, changing his armor.

"Nope. Colonel called, saying he wants to speak with you." Dr. Cain said.

"Don't fight Colonel! Zero!" Iris pleaded, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"I have to Iris, it's a matter of personal pride now." Zero explained. Then he searched for Colonel's teleport code, and finding it, he teleported away...

"Zero..." Iris murmured, then she quickly ran out the door. "I can't let them kill each other!"

...Double watched her leave from under a table.

"Now it's my turn..." Double said with a grin. He quickly climbed out from under the table and waited for X.

Colonel walked to and fro, waiting.

"Colonel!" A voice called to his attention, he glanced up over his shoulder to see Zero standing on a ledge.

"I'm disappointed in you Colonel!" Zero yelled, then leapt at him, sword in hand. Colonel whipped out his sword and blocked Zero's assault, then jumped back.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Colonel yelled. Zero lowered his sword.

"It's not too late. Stop the coup now.." Zero warned.

"..never..." Colonel said, closing his eyes.

"If that's your decision..." Zero said very softly. "Then prepare yourself!" Zero suddenly yelled and attacked Colonel. A large sword fight broke out. Both of them were very good. Each time one swung his sword, the other would block with his own and counter. Then they both swung their swords at the same time and they locked. Both Zero and Colonel gritted their teeth. Suddenly, the beam sabers became too hot from being locked with the other beam saber and they made a tiny explosion, just strong enough to force Zero and Colonel to jump back. Both of them gave a yell. Then suddenly Colonel raised his sword and began charging at Zero when a voice cut through the air like a knife through butter.

"Colonel! Stop please!" Iris cried, running over. Colonel stopped his assault and the two angry titans glowered at Iris. "Brother, please! Don't you remember? Zero saved my life.." Colonel glared at Zero again, then slowly lowered his sword.

"Very well then..." Colonel said, then looked at Zero. "I'll spare your life for now, but next time there will be no mercy.." Colonel turned and walked away.

"Zero please! Stay away from my brother! If you attack again there's no telling what he will do.." Iris pleaded. Zero, annoyed, jumped over to Iris, but landed with his back to her. He clenched one of his large fists.

"Someone..must stop Repliforce!" Zero growled, then walked away..

"Zero!" Iris yelled, but her yells again fell on deaf ears. Zero just walked away.

"X!" Double cried as Mega Man X teleported inside.

"Huh?" X said.

"There's another attack! 2 more mavericks at the East side of the city!" Double informed him. X sighed. All this fighting was really wearing him down. Why so many attacks? And why are they all in pairs?

"Alright...I'm on my way...this time I'll use an air bike." X said as he ran out, hopped onto one of the air bikes and sped away. Double grinned mischievously, then, hearing Zero approaching the base, quickly hid under the table. It would not be a good idea for him to see me.

The minute Zero teleported inside, Dr. Cain's intercom rang through the air.

"2 more mavericks are attacking at the West Side of the city! And we think we found the new Repliforce base! When you come back, I'll tell you if it is indeed the Repliforce base. If it is, you'll have to go inside and destroy it!" Dr. Cain said through the intercom. Iris has just walked through the door, and sat down on a chair as Dr. Cain finished.

"Another attack?!! What is this? Gang Bang Zero day?" He said, then sighed. "Alright doc, I'm on my way..." Zero said, teleporting..

X sped through the streets. He was really getting sick of all this fighting. He hated to fight in the first place. And all of the destruction that these mavericks were causing, the Sky Lagoon, and somewhat in the city, tore him up inside. He finally found the two mavericks, Jet Stingray and Frost Walrus. He quickly stopped the bike before getting within their range of vision. If he could surprise them, he could end this battle quickly. But how... X glanced up. The mavericks were standing by a tall building, harassing a little kid.

Getting an idea, X slammed on the accelerator and the bike climbed up the side of the building with only little difficulty. At the top, he glanced off the roof at the two. Frost Walrus appeared to be larger and more dangerous. He slammed the accelerator again and the bike went sailing off the roof. After directing the bike so it would slam into Frost Walrus, he jumped off and fired a charged shot at Jet Stingray.

Frost Walrus exploded when the bike hit him. He didn't even see it coming.

But Jet Stingray dodged the plasma shots and fired small stingrays....but X could tell Jet wasn't giving it all he had. As a matter of fact, Jet seemed more intent on dodging X's attacks then destroying X himself. But why...?

Zero teleported onto a roof. He saw Storm Owl and Slash Beast. He wanted this fight to end as quickly as possible. Storm Owl was flying in the air, screeching orders at Slash beast, who shrieked right back. Zero watched Storm Owl, then he got down on one knee, grinning.

"Get ready!" He yelled, slamming his fist into the roof, causing beams to fly everywhere. Two of them hit Storm Owl, and, stunned, he spiraled down. He so conveniently landed on Slash Beast.

"Ye-ow!! Get offa-me!!" Slash Beast shrieked. "You could use some Weight Watchers!"

"You need a breath mint! But you don't see me complaining!" Owl screeched. Zero leapt off the roof and landed by the two. Then, turning his sword upside down, he hopped on top of Storm Owl and stabbed his sword through his back, through Owl completely, and into Slash Beast. Then, quickly pulling his sword out, he leapt away as the two exploded.

Strange... Zero thought. Unless I am mistaken, those two didn't give it all they had. It's as if they were trying to lose, without even putting up a fight...I don't get it.

Then, shrugging, he teleported back to base, not noticing a figure watching him. After Zero teleported, the figure gave a deep, evil laugh...

As Zero teleported inside, Dr. Cain's voice once again boomed over the intercom.

Can't Dr. Cain just see me in person instead of shorting out my ear circuits with that intercom?! Zero thought angrily. The blonde haired reploid was really starting to lose his patience. Iris was still sitting in the same chair she was in when Zero left. And, to neither of their knowledge, Double was still hiding under the table...

"Zero. It is indeed the Repliforce Base! You must go there and take it out!" Dr. Cain yelled through the intercom.

"Please don't go! Zero!!!!!" Iris cried, but Zero only muttered, "I'm on my way" and teleported out.

Inside of the base, it was heavily guarded with mavericks from the Repliforce. Zero easy took them out. They were not half as skilled as Zero was.

This is going to be easy... Zero thought to himself. After taking out just about every Maverick, he ran through a door to final Colonel himself.

"Step aside Colonel! I don't want to fight with you." Zero said.

"I'm afraid I can't.." Colonel replied.

"Iris will be sad if she loses you...." Zero said softly.

"Bah, save it until after you defeat me!" Colonel growled. "I've been waiting to fight with you."

Zero sighed, then leapt at Colonel. Colonel rose his sword and blocked Zero's attack. Zero then leapt over Colonel and clung to the wall over Colonel's head. The British accented robot shot out three beams from his sword, missing Zero. Zero then leapt off the wall, turned his sword upside-down and stabbed it into Colonel's shoulder. Colonel growled, grasped Zero's ankle and threw him off. Zero hit the floor on his back, about 6ft away from Colonel. He rolled onto his feet then smashed one fist into the floor.

"Get ready!" Zero yelled as beams flew everywhere. Colonel growled and staggered back. Then he leapt into the air.

"Ground Crush!" Colonel yelled as he smashed his sword into the ground and a wave of energy came at Zero. Zero leapt into the air, barely dodging it. Then Zero charged at Colonel and shoved his sword through Colonel's waist. After pulling it out, Colonel collapsed. Immediately stopping the attack, Zero put away his sword.

"It...was a good fight...but it's too late..." Colonel wheezed.

"What do you mean?" Zero asked.

"Repliforce already built a new...base...in outer....space..." Colonel coughed. "Even...if I perish...Repliforce lives.."

"Colonel..." Zero said softly.

"Zero...tell...Iris....that...her brother died...happily...goodbye...Zero.." Colonel said as he started to blow up.

"Colonel!" Zero yelled. Right as Colonel blew up, the rest of the base started to blow up as well. Zero immediately teleported out..

X fired another well-placed charged beam at Jet. But Jet only dodged it and fired some more little stingrays.

Is this fight ever going to end...? Finally, he had an idea. X ran over to Frost Walrus and copied his power. Maybe he's allergic to ice... Jet charged X, but right as he crashed into him, X turned his body into ice, which also froze Jet. As Jet tried to break out, X switched back to his regular arm cannon and fired a charged shot of plasma, causing Jet to explode.

X stood still for a minute to catch his breath, then teleported out

Zero appeared to find Iris gone.

"She must have went with them when they finished the space base...NO!"

"All hunters go to the new Repliforce Base now!" Dr. Cain shrieked.

"Don't do this to me Iris..." Zero murmured, then teleported.

Double scrambled out from his hiding place in time to meet X.

"X! We found the Repliforce's base!! It's in outer space! You got to destroy it!" Double whimpered.

"Alright...maybe after the base is destroyed all this fighting will end." X said softly, then teleported.

When Zero teleported into the base, he saw two pathways...he ran through the right one...

When X teleported into the base, he saw two pathways...he ran through the left one...

After X teleported away, Double gave an evil grin. Then he walked out and into the main room, which was occupied with many Hunters.

"Hey! Who are you?!" One of the hunters ordered, glaring at Double. "I've never seen you around here before!"

"You're right...I guess I should leave...but I won't until I give you guys a little somethin'..." Double said, then he transformed into a vicious, un-cute little maverick. Then, with a wicked grin, he viciously attacked the weaker hunters without mercy before they could defend themselves, and slaughtered them all in cold blood. After that was over, he laughed maniacally, then teleported.

"Iris.." Zero said, after finding her. She was standing about 10ft away from him, holding an odd disc-like thing.

"So you fought with my brother.." Iris said softly.

"I'm sorry..." Zero apologized, sincere.

"Then it's over...everything..." Iris said, not listening to Zero's heart-felt apology.

"Wait! Iris! Listen to me!" Zero pleaded, but now his pleas were the ones that fell on deaf ears. Iris threw the disc into the air, it floated above her and suddenly she transformed into a vicious looking gargoyle.

"Forgive me Zero.." The gargoyle murmured, then attacked Zero. As much as Zero slashed, scratched and attacked her, it made no dent. Then, by accident, his sword struck the glowing disc that was above her and she growled in pain. Seeing that it was her weakness, Zero attacked it. Iris send out little floating things at Zero, and Zero was barely able to keep them at bay and attack the disc at the same time. Suddenly, the disc exploded, as did the gargoyle, then the whole room was filled with explosions. When the bright lights finally dimmed down, he found iris's limp body on the opposite side of the room. She was lying on her back, eyes closed...she looked dead.

"Iris!" Zero cried, running over to her, as he got closer he slowed down. "..Iris.."

"...Zero..." Iris said hoarsely, her eyes opening slightly.

"Hang in there, Iris.." Zero said, kneeling by her side.

"Please....stay away from repliforce...lets live together...in a place where only reploids exist..." Iris pleaded.

"Iris..." Zero said gently. "There's no world just for reploids...it's only a fantasy..."

"Yes...I know...but I wanted to believe it...I wanted to live in a world..." Iris whispered, reaching one hand weakly over to Zero. "where only reploids exist..." Zero grabbed her hand in both of his. "...with you..."

"Iris..." Zero said, not knowing what else to say. Iris looked up at him, gave him a weak smile, then her eyes closed and her head fell to the side.

"Iris!!!" Zero yelled, gently grabbing both of her shoulders and shaking her. "Iris!!!" He shook her a little harder. "Iris!!!!" There was no response. "...Iris...." He put his forehead up to her's. "Iris!!!!! NOOOOOO!!" He picked up iris's dead body and stood up, screaming. "NO this can't be happening!!! There's no reason for me to go on!! What...what am I fighting for!!" Zero's screams echoed throughout the castle.

X could have sworn that he heard screaming, but it was faint, and he couldn't make out the words. After running through a door he found...Double?

"Double! What are you doing here?!!" X asked.

"I've been waiting for you, X." Double said in a demonic voice. "You're so naive!"

"What are you talking about?!" X demanded.

"We've been distracting you all along!" Double laughed.

"Distracting me? Why?" X asked.

"That's something you'll have to find out yourself. That's if you live, of course!" Double said, transforming.

"Traitor!" X yelled. He was beyond enraged. First with all this fighting...so many innocent lives were probably destroyed..all the lives he had to take...all the fighting he was forced to do. Where was Zero? Maybe Zero was doing a similar mission? But Zero could be dead right now and X wouldn't know. And now this... He attacked with all of his power, which surprised Double. Double lunged at X and sent punches and kicks to him, but none connected, and he soon fell under X's rage-driven attacks. Double collapsed.

"I just need to know.." X growled. "Why?! Why Double!!?"

"Because..." Double wheezed. "I always wanted a chance to see how I would fair against the Legendary Mega Man X...and like I said earlier...I was ordered to keep you occupied.."

"Ordered by who? Why were you ordered to keep my occupied?! Double?? Double!!!" X yelled. But Double was dead. X ran past his body and raced down a large corridor that never seemed to end...

"General!!" Zero shrieked. He too, was enraged. He sped into a large room, to find General sitting on a throne-like chair. General stood, and the chair shattered.

"Many people died because of you!" Zero yelled. "Those lives are on your conscience!"

"Independence always comes with a price..." General said calmly.

"What about Iris?!" Zero cried. "Did you forget about her?!"

"..I have no regrets. Our fate is sealed, I have no choice.." General floated upwards and fired both of his fists at Zero, smashing him into the wall. Zero was injured now, but not severely. Zero got out from his imprint in the wall, his rage fueling him. He did a double jump using his boots and started slashing wildly at General's face with his beam saber. After a good few hits, General punched Zero in the stomach, sending Zero flying back into the wall, making another imprint. Spitting up some fluids, Zero pulled himself out of the 2nd imprint and staggered over to General.

"It's not over yet..." Zero growled, then put on one of his 2 E-Jackets. After the E-Jacket restored some of his strength, General fired both of his fists out at Zero again. Zero leapt onto one of the fists and sent a combo sword attack into general's face. His body started to explode. Zero leapt off. When the smoke cleared, one of General's arms and legs were gone, and he was in poor shape, but he was alive. Zero's rage died down. Suddenly they both heard the sound of an engine turning on.

"Oh no.." General said.

"What's wrong?" Zero asked.

"Someone's activating the main gun! It's very strong! It could even destroy earth!" General exclaimed.

"I'll handle it!" Zero said, teleporting, following the code of the main gun.

X continued to run down the huge corridor, there was no end in sight. Also there were hordes of mavericks everywhere he turned....

Zero appeared in front of a large door, as he started to run to it, a cloaked form appeared before him.

"You're....Sigma..." Zero said, he could tell by those scars on his eyes..

"You're right. My plan worked much better then I had hoped! You even defeated Colonel and Iris!" Sigma said with glee.

"You made me do it.." Zero said, looking down at the floor. The deaths of Colonel and especially Iris tore him up inside.

"No, you wanted to do it. Allow me to remind you that you were once a maverick..." Sigma said. Suddenly more memories washed into Zero's mind. Now he clearly remembered the fight between he and Sigma. He remembered the rage he felt when he saw Sigma. He remembered the insane joy he felt when he tortured Sigma, and that awful pain he felt before he had a chance to finish the job. But he could remember nothing after the pain...

"You...you were a maverick!" Sigma said. It frightened Zero a lot. Now he knew that those dreams he saw must have been true. He was once a maverick. But he immediately hid the fear.

"So what? Are you that surprised?" Zero said calmly.

"You impress me, Zero." Sigma said, grinning, then he disappeared. Zero ran through the door to find Sigma there, floating.

"Are you ready for your final duel?" Sigma laughed, then attacked Zero. But Zero had an idea. Sigma's dressed as a Grim Reaper. If there was a real Grim Reaper, it would be most likely undead. What are undead weak against? Zero's sword changed to fire and he did an uppercut, putting Sigma on fire. Sigma shrieked in pain and slowly landed on the ground. He grinned.

"You cannot escape your destiny, Zero. Once a maverick, always a maverick. You can't fight it. So why try? Oh, and by the way, the main weapon has been activated, no one can stop it! We'll meet again.." Sigma said, disappearing.

"No!!" Zero yelled, then he started to run to the weapon but was stopped by General, who flew in front of him.

"General!" Zero said.

"Zero...please forgive our foolishness...Sigma...he blinded me to the truth.." General said softly.

"It's ok, rest.." Zero said.

"I can stop the main gun with my body.." General explained.

"But then you'll..." Zero said, a feeling of dread washing over him.

"Many of my men have died..as their leader I must go with them..good bye, Zero.." General started flying away.

"General!" Zero called. But now the whole place started to explode. He quickly ran back inside, 'borrowed' one of their small planes and flew out. After a few minutes of flying, he looked down at his hands.

"So...this is what happened to me..." He said softly, "This is my fate! I couldn't have anyone after all!" He cried, clutching his head.

"Iriiiiisss!!" He yelled. Then he saw flashbacks of he and Iris together...when he first met her....when he gave her that flower...when she died...he slowly moved his hands off of his helmet and stared down at them. "Iris...it looks like...all reploids turn out to be...mavericks after all...." he said numbly, before flying back to base.

"What do you mean X is in the Repliforce Base?!!" Zero yelled. This time Dr. Cain was standing in front of him.

"We sent X into Space as well as you. But you made it there first. He still hasn't come out yet..." Dr. Cain explained. Zero ran over to the transmission computer. Through it, he can communicate with anyone in any vehicle that had the same transmission device <and just about everyone's vehicle did>.

"This is Maverick Hunter Headquarters," Zero said to the transmission to any and all jets at the Repliforce's outer space base. "Can you read me. This is Maverick Hunter Headquarters." There was no response...

'Please make it out....' Zero thought. 'I just lost Iris, Colonel, and General...I can't lose you too…'

"Oh no! This whole place is starting to explode! What's going on here?!" X yelled, the maverick assault finally ceased. The corridor finally ended. There was a door, but before X was near it, a form appeared before it.

"Sigma!" X yelled. Sigma was in full armor, carrying his spear. <2nd form in MMX4>.

"Everything is going exactly how I wanted it! My plan worked out perfectly!" Sigma said with an evil grin. "Double was an excellent spy..."

"Why you....!!" X growled, still hurt by Double's betrayal.

"And now I'll destroy the world using the same reploid that was used to save it so many times!" Sigma threatened.

What does he mean by that...

"No. I'll never let you do that!" X yelled.

"Try hard, X. Your life depends on it! Prepare to become space dust!" Sigma yelled. Then he leapt into the air and somehow floated. X immediately fired 2 charged blasts. Before getting knocked out of the air, Sigma threw his spear. It started spinning and flew around the room. X was barely able to dodge it. Sigma landed on his feet. Then he threw the spear at X. The blue hunter was standing by the wall, so he dove out of the way as the spear lodged itself into the wall where X's head just was. Electric poured from the spear and made the entire wall electric. X fired another charged shot at Sigma, who staggered back. Then Sigma fired his eye lasers at X, burning him. But X ignored the searing pain and turned both of his arms into canons and fired two charged beams at him. The two hyper-charged plasma shots overlapped each other and combined to make a very strong beam of plasma. When it hit Sigma, he staggered back then collapsed onto one knee.

"You may have won this time, but now nothing can stop my plans!" Sigma laughed before teleporting away.

The whole place was very close to collapsing. Pieces of the roof came crashing to the ground. X quickly ran into the room with the small planes, mumbled an apology, then 'borrowed' one of them and flew out...

Zero was standing by the transmissions computer. He had now tried 8 times with no response. Both of his hands were fists. He heard a 'boom' and looked to the sky. The base was most definitely gone.

"X!!" Zero yelled. "NO!!"

"I'm sorry, Zero.." Dr. Cain said softly.

"Wait...Doc...I'm going to try the transmission...just one more time.." Zero said softly. There was still a slight chance X had gotten out...

C'mon X, we've been in worse situations then this...you can't be dead!

Zero crossed his fingers and hit the transmission button...

X slowly directed the plane home. Then he closed his eyes, remembering the horrible events that have happened in the past few days...Sigma returning, Double's betrayal...and most likely all of the Repliforce died in the explosion. There was only one plane missing...

"This is Maverick Hunter Headquarters.." X turned to see Zero's face on the transmission's screen.

"Zero.." X said. He could have sworn he saw Zero almost sigh with relief.

"It's good to see you're safe, X...I was really worried about you.." Zero admitted.

"Sorry about that..." X said softly, closing his eyes.

"Don't worry, it's all over now. Go home and rest, you've earned it," Zero said.

"But Zero..." X opened his eyes and looked at his friend in the face, "what....what if I become one of the mavericks?"

"Don't ask such silly questions," Zero answered quickly, "I'm breaking contact now."

"Wait! Zero! I'm....I'm serious!" X yelled. Zero didn't break contact. X looked into his friend's aquamarine eyes. "Zero, if....if I become a maverick...you have to take care of me." Zero paused for what felt like hours, but were actually only a few seconds. Then he lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous! Now hurry on back!" Zero then broke off contact. X stared into the blank screen.

"Promise me, Zero...." X finally said.

End of Chapter 18.