MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman) Fan Fiction ❯ Past, Present and Future ❯ Chaos Erupts ( Chapter 20 )

Chapter 20: Chaos Erupts

X examined the helmet, using the light that shined down through the window. The light came from a beautiful full moon that shined brightly in the sky. There were no clouds to block the moon. It was amazing that the screams only awoke X. The rest of the hunters must have been either too drunk to hear it, or were very heavy sleepers. X took a deep breath, turning his gaze to a mirror. His own helmet was off, lying on a table nearby. This probably wasn't a very smart idea, but if the helmet caused the pain, and he started to get those migraines Zero had, then at least X knew to pull off the helmet immediately. Holding his breath, X placed the helmet on his head, expecting a huge migraine attack or at least something, but nothing happened.

'Guess that means it's not the helmet..' X thought wearily, placing Zero's helmet back on the head of its owner, and putting his own helmet on. Then, getting another idea, X gently picked up Zero and carried him into the lab. He gingerly placed him into a recharge bay. Afterwards X stepped over to the computer that connected to all of the recharge capsules in the room and turned it on. He then commanded the computer to scan Zero for viruses or malfunctions. There were none.

'Odd...I'm going to ask Dr. Cain about this in the morning...' X said to himself with a yawn. He shut down the computer, then tip-toed into his room where he fell asleep...

The next morning, Zero woke up quickly. Zero was the type who was rarely drowsy. He was either asleep, or awake. Zero narrowed his aqua eyes and tried to recall yesterday's events. Suddenly, seeing the inside of the capsule and realizing that he's in the lab, the memory slapped him in the face.

'Oh no! X! Dr. Cain! What if what Dr. Wily said is true?!' Zero jumped out of the recharge capsule and snuck out of the lab.

"Dr. Cain!" X called. Dr. Cain was in his room, reading 'Bloody Bikini Beach Massacre'. Upon X entering, the red faced doctor quickly lowered the book.

"Oh, hullo X. How was yesterday's party?" Dr. Cain asked while he cleared his throat.

"It was good...but I need to talk to you about something very important, Dr. Cain..." X said seriously.

"I'm listening..." The old man said with worry.

X explained the events of last night.. A dark line appeared over Dr. Cain's brow.

"Doc..." X finished. "You know something. I can tell!! I need to know!! What is it you haven't been telling me?"

"Alright, X..." Dr. Cain said miserably. "I didn't want to tell you this...I had hoped that the amnesia would have made him change for the better...but...you deserve to know.."

"Know what?!" X asked breathlessly. "What is it?!"

"Zero's a Maverick, created by Dr. Wily." Dr. Cain said softly...

Zero heard voices, coming from Dr. Cain's room, he slowed his pace and firmly pressed his back against the wall and slowly crept close enough to make out the words.

"What do you mean, Zero's a Maverick?" Zero heard X yell.

'Oh no...I'm too late!!!', Zero thought miserably.

"Zero was built by Dr. Wily." The old human explained. X shuddered, he had no recollection of Dr. Wily, but he had heard horror stories about him.

"He was around long before you woke up. His roots are very blood-soaked, X. He was responsible for the deaths of many. But one fateful day, one of our best hunters challenged him, and won! Both of them were wounded pretty bad. Zero had severe head injuries. When we went to check into his memory to look for any info on the Maverick Base or any secret information that could have been useful, we found it empty, totally empty. Besides his basic functions and fighting abilities, he was amnesiac. So we allowed him to stay with us as a hunter, hoping that he would change. I guess Wily's sick of us having his best Maverick and he's come back to claim him. I don't think you should trust him, X.... the migraines, you said he had a migraine attack, right? Migraines are one of the final signs of the maverick virus." Dr. Cain said softly. Suddenly, he heard footsteps. By the way they clanged against the hard floor, whoever was eavesdropping on them was running towards the air bike parking lot!

"What the!?" X got up and ran to the door, and immediately recognized the figure, even though it was almost at the end of the corridor. "It's Zero! He heard us!"

"Don't go after him! You'll only endanger yourself! He's a maverick now! X!" But Dr. Cain's cries fell on deaf ears. X immediately dash out of the bedroom, called his armor, and ran down the corridor, leaving Dr. Cain in the dust.

"Be careful, X..." Dr. Cain said softly, with a sigh.

Zero leapt onto one of the air bikes and zoomed out of the hunter base. He raced down the streets at top speed, but everything, the streets, the walkways, the people he almost ran down, and the grass; it was all just a blur. He had no idea where he was supposed to go. His mind was blank. He could barely think of anything, except for Dr. Wily's taunting words...

~I told you....~

~Now that X knows, he will destroy you...~

~If he ever wants to have everlasting peace...he must destroy all mavericks...and that includes you...~

~Do you think he will hesitate? Obviously not...~

~Traitor....~

~Traitor......~

~Traitor........~

Zero felt himself lose control. He felt Dr. Wily's evil influence tainting his mind. But this time he welcomed it...

X sped after his friend.

'This chase feels all too familiar..' X thought with a sigh. 'Why didn't I think of that before?! Why didn't I notice?!!'

Zero was just a small figure in X's sight, as there was a great span between them. After what seemed like hours of riding, he saw the distanced figure stop and dismount the bike. On full speed, it only took X a few moments to catch up. He quickly slammed the brakes and dismounted the air bike. Then he noticed that he was in a large meadow. They were obviously out of the city; most likely in the 'Wild Lands' between Capcom and a neighboring city. The weather was nice, the sun was out, but hidden behind the clouds. But no birds sang, there were no sounds of butterflies gently beating their soft wings. There was no breeze, the grass did not move. It was as if everything was holding its breath. Zero stood in the center of the meadow, his back to X. He was looking up towards the cloudy sky.

"Zero.." X said softly.

"So now you know.." Zero said, but his voice wasn't the carefree, sarcastic, fun loving voice that X knew. This voice made X shudder. It was so… cold, detached.

"Yes...but...it doesn't have to end like this! Come back to Base..." X's words died on his lips when Zero turned to face him. His once emerald eyes were now a bright ruby. It almost looks as if his eyes were on fire! It made X shudder. Those weren't Zero's eyes...they were the crimson orbs of his creator!

"I was created by Dr. Wily." Zero said softly. "The only way you could ever stop the wars entirely was to rid the world of all tainted reploids. All who have gone maverick, or who were built by evil must be destroyed. A reploid is only as good as their creators. You should know that better then I do, X." Zero gave a demonic grin before unsheathing his beam saber.

"Zero..!! Don't do this! We don't have to fight! Dr. Cain can.." X was silenced by a cold gleam in Zero's blood colored eyes.

"Dr. Cain can do nothing! It is now time I finished this.. Good bye, Mega Man X!" Zero yelled before lunging at X. The hunter quickly dodged it, then countered by ramming his shoulder into Zero's chest. Zero stumbled back, but recovered quickly. The crimson maverick leapt at X. Right as X dodged to the side, Zero used his 'double jump' boots to jump while still in the air. His sword became an ice lance. Zero turned it upside down and stabbed it down at X. X quickly jumped out of the way, and barely managed to dodge it. As a matter of fact, the ice covered lance was so close to striking X's booted foot that his heel could feel the chill of the ice. X quickly turned around and fired a charged blast of plasma into Zero's chest. The ex-Hunter reeled back a few feet and crashed heavily onto the grassy floor. The grass didn't tear up at all. The dirt wasn't thrown everywhere. However neither fighter seemed to notice. Zero rolled onto his feet and used his boots to dash at X. Then he rammed his shoulder into X's stomach, and grabbed him by the neck as he doubled over in pain. With one hand he hoisted X into the air, his fingers closed tightly around the blue bomber's throat.

X coughed, barely able to breath. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the pressure on his neck to increase until he no longer felt anything. But the pressure didn't come. The hand that held his neck trembled slightly. X risked opening his eyes. Zero's eyes were switching from green to red, back to green again. Slowly he dropped X and staggered back.

"X..." He breathed. "X...destroy me..."

"What?!" X, finally catching his breath, slowly stood.

"Wily...has...control... if...if...you want everlasting...peace...you must...des.... Destroy me.... Do it X! I can't.... fight him...anymore..." Zero said.

X charged his cannon and rose it, pointing it at Zero's chest. But...then he lowered it, and gave Zero an ashamed smile.

"I have a confession to make..." X said softly. "I am a hypocrite."

"What do you mean..?!" Zero asked irritably.

"I tried to make you promise me that you would destroy me if I became a maverick.... But I failed to mention that I could never bring myself to harm you... I'm selfish, I want everlasting peace, *and* my best friend, preferably *alive*" X said. "Now...disarm...and lets go back to base. Surely Dr. Cain will find some way to destroy that virus.."

Zero hesitantly unsheathed his saber again, and then right as his finger loosened around the hilt so it would drop to the floor..

"What are you doing?!" A voice cut in through the air, Zero quickly tightened his grip on the saber. The voice belonged to Vile; X would recognize it anywhere...

"No!" X yelled, Zero's eyes glowed red again.

"You're letting that stupid reploid put ridiculous ideas into your head! Get rid of him now!" Vile ordered.

"Yes..master." Zero said softly. Suddenly, he lunged at X again. X was most definitely *not* prepared for the assault. X barely dodged the sword, but Zero swung his other fist into X's stomach. X gasped in pain and keeled over. Zero smashed his fist into X's back, knocking him onto the floor. X rolled onto his back, wheezing.

"No matter...what...you do...you'll always be...a...hunter..." X gasped. "Nothing...Wily will ever do...can change that...."

"You're a fool." Zero said coldly. "You should have destroyed me when you had the chance!" Zero twisted the handle so the blade was pointed down at X. Grasping the handle with both hands he raised it over his head. One quick stab and it'll be over. X closed his eyes tightly as tears formed in the corner of his eyes. As he gritted his teeth, and waited for the end, something stilled Zero's hand..

'Where...have I seen that expression before...? When I first rescued him when he was still a rookie? ..no....that wasn't the expression he had...no...I saw that expression much...much longer ago...'

Suddenly, all of his memory hit him like a wave. He staggered back, his eyes wide...

'That's right....I was looking down at him from the rafters. He had that same expression he has now...but he wasn't looking at me...he was looking at who he thought was me. But this imposter was missing his scarf...I still had mine. I remember..I was angry that this imposter could injure...my brother so. X...Mega Man...was lying back on his elbows, gasping for breath. He was injured, but nothing that an 'S' canister could not fix. The imposter was readying his cannon to fire, and I remember playing my flute...I can still remember the shocked expression on my brother's face...especially when I leapt off the rafters and landed before him. I have never seen a happier expression on anyone's face then his that day....'

X slowly opened his eyes, daring to see what was going on. Zero's sword was down, the tip of the blade touching the grassy floor. Zero looked like he was in a trance. The red armored reploid blinked as tears formed in the corners of his aqua eyes, and suddenly he gave X a weak smile.

"No! Looks like I'll need plan B after all.." Vile said softly. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but by looking at the facial expressions, he had a pretty good guess. He carefully aimed his cannon and fired the missile Sigma had given him, the one that would kill in a single hit.

X turned his head and stared at the missile coming at him. It was coming so fast...there was no possible way X could dodge it.

"NO!" Zero leapt in front of X, and then he threw his beam saber and fired his cannon into the sword, changing it into a massive beam. The beam missed the missile that was heading towards them, but that wasn't what he was aiming for. The missile struck Zero right in the chest plate, sending him sailing backwards onto X. Vile was also struck in the chest by Zero's beam and fell flat on his back, not getting back up.

"Zero!!" X shrieked, catching him. Zero's chest was blown open; there was no way X could save him.

"I'm.... sorry...." Zero whispered.

"Shh.." X said softly. "Save your strength. You're going to be fine.."

"heh..X...you've always been a terrible liar..." Zero said with a weak smile. "For…forgive me ...I failed you.."

"That's not true.." X said, shaking his head.

"What do..you mean?"

"Well, look." X said, pointing at Vile. "He would have killed me if it wasn't for you...you saved my life, again...no. You didn't fail me at all. As a matter of fact, I'm proud to have a best friend like you. And Iris would be proud of you, too.."

"..thanks X.." Zero coughed. "Ah, Iris...I'll be joining her shortly..."

"Wait! Zero! You..can't go yet! Not again!!" X's eyes started to burn and Zero became a red blur. "Lets...at-at least go back to base...maybe...Dr. Cain can repair the damage…" X teleported with Zero....and they appeared right in the center of the meadow, right where they were! "What the..?!!"

"You....fool..." Vile wheezed. He, with trouble, rolled onto his stomach, then aimed his cannon at what seemed like nowhere and fired. The plasma blast flew through the air and suddenly made a tiny explosion, as if it hit something. Suddenly, they were all in a fortress. "This...was...a trap....incase...Zero failed...to kill you...Sigma...knows what...happened....you cannot escape...he is waiting for you...X..." The whole meadow was really the fortress, camouflaged! The way they came in was a humongous door, so big that missing it and bumping into the wall would have been very unlikely. But now the door was shut, sealing them inside. X, enraged, started charging his cannon, ready to blow Vile into nonexistence, but felt Zero grab his arm.

"Don't do it X, he's....already too badly damaged....he won't be alive.. much longer anyway....and...besides...you need all the strength you can...get to....battle....Sig...ma..." Zero said softly. X lowered his cannon and ceased charging, then looked back at Zero. "I....know....you....can....do....it, X. I believe...in you......good... bye....brother...."

"B-brother?" X asked. Zero smiled, then weakly lifted his hand. X grabbed his hand, and saw a flash as a rush of memories ran through his head... memories of times long ago. He saw a pretty blonde haired girl, a little red robotic dog, a gentle old man....and a crimson robot with impenetrable shades, a golden scarf and a sly smile. He saw a world he never knew, yet a world that he has always known. He could hear the insane laughter of a man who's evil was so great that it affected the world even long after his death. He saw flashbacks of himself as a bright-eyed, innocent young boyish robot playing fetch with the little robot dog. He saw Vile as a sleek black bot with golden crests....in a matter of seconds, years of memories came to the blue warrior. The flashbacks faded and his regular sight returned.

"Now you understand...." Zero whispered hoarsely. His eyes closed, and his head rolled to the side. A single tear fell from his eyes and hit the ground, which immediately absorbed it. X slowly let go of the crimson robot's hand and stood.

Years of memories wiped away for so long. Brothers torn apart. Countless lives taken, many families affected. Turning friends against each other. What Sigma and Wily did was inexcusable. What they did could never be un-done...

Well, it didn't matter now, his best friend was dead. X bit his bottom lip. He then glanced around the room. There was a hall, it almost seemed to be beckoning to him... X took a deep breath.

"I'll get you for this Sigma...you will not escape this time. I will destroy you, even if I must die with you...!!" X vowed, then marched down the hall...

End of Chapter 20