A Megaman/Megaman X Fanfiction
By: Sanjuno Shori Niko and Squall Highwind
Timeline: Prelude and flashbacks beginning of Cataclysm, Main storyline Post MMX7 and before things get really lame.
Rating: T
Pairings: Forte/Roll & Forte/Rock (NOT Rock/Roll!), Gospel/girl!Rush, Gospel/any available female, Zero/X (so fucking in canon), one-sided Alia+X, Axl/Pallette, one-sided Layer+Zero, and Blues is still too cool for j00.
Warnings: AU, female!Rush, crackalicious, character death (human types and Robot Masters), non-organic romantic relationships, harsh language, fanfiction is automatically OoC. Deal with it.
Disclaimer: We don’t own patents on a recipe for omelettes, but we’re masters at breaking eggs. (And eggheads. Natch!)
Disclaimer 2: We don’t own Megaman/Rockman/X/avacado. If we did there would be better voice actors and more movies.
=^-^=
AN:
Niko: We have nothing better to do on a rainy Sunday. Enjoy the fruits of our…
Squall: Complete and utter boredom?
Niko: Yeah, that. Onward!
Squall: All right!
=^-^=
Recap:
“I pray that this works. X, you are the future, the last of my children. I hope you and your siblings can live together in that future in peace.” He turned away from the pod to look at the black marking on the floor a few feet away. “And I hope that you can recover enough to share your future with my children and with your brother as well… Zero.”
Dr. Light powered down the lab and left the room.
End Prelude.
=^-^=
Chapter One: Vile is on the Hunt.
Or: The Boba Fett Wannabe is Sigma’s Errand Boy… (Among other things. ^_~)
=^-^=
… Site of X’s Discovery… Date: late 21XX…
“This is a total waste of my talent.” Vile griped as he steered his latest supped-up Ride Armour through the already overgrown ruins of an old archaeological site. “My time would be better spent hunting down that troublesome X!” With that particularly viscous exclamation Vile unexpectedly sent the spiked arm of his Ride Armour straight through what sensors indicated was a solid cavern wall.
The stone of the surrounding wall crumbled around the new hole, falling onto Vile’s Ride Armour and tripping it to the ground, pinning the legs. Vile tried multiple times to right the Armour but it was useless.
“Useless piece of JUNK!” Vile leapt out and aimed his shoulder missiles at the rocks, reducing them to gravel. The explosions brought several smaller rocks down on the mercenary’s head. Spitting curses, Vile turned back to the wall that had started the whole string of annoying events.
The hole had widened to a point where it was large enough to easily admit his body. Activating his lights, Vile cautiously ventured into the area on the other side of the hole. A few meters into the space, the tunnel changed from crumbled rock to rusting steel and cracked linoleum. After a few more meters it became apparent that Vile had discovered an old hallway when he reached a high security door. The password panel was dark and covered in grit, but it flickered weakly when Vile dusted it off.
A few minutes were all it took for the experienced mercenary to hack into the door. The high-pitched whine of stressed mechanisms alerted Vile to his success, but the door ground to a halt after opening only a few inches.
“Typical.” Taking a deep breath Vile gripped the edge of the door and forced it the rest of the way open. Sparks flew as the long unused portal slowly slid aside. Grunting in satisfaction, Vile entered the room beyond the door. Weak lights valiantly tried to illuminate the chamber as Vile looked around. The main features of the room were the two Reploid Pods on the far side of the room, flanked on one side by a bank of primitive computers and by a nearly exhausted power generator on the other.
“Well now, what have we here?” Vile approached the pods and tried to wipe clear the glass of the larger one. “It looks as if Sigma had the right idea after all. There is something of interest here that Cain missed. Well, best grab the grunts and have them haul these back to base.”
Vile smacked the communicator he wore and shouted for assistance. “Get your useless cans over here now! I’ve found what we came for.” Vile grinned at the unaware Reploid floating in the tube, noticing for the first time the strange stripes on his face. “You’re going to make Sigma very happy.”
=^-^=
… Maverick Base…
“Excellent! Excellent!” Sigma caressed the Reploid Pods that had been set up in the lab. “This is better than I could have ever hoped for!”
“You do know how disturbing that is, right?” Vile asked as he cast a strange look at Sigma’s actions from behind his mask.
Quickly lifting himself off the Pods Sigma cleared his throat. “We have here in our possession the instrument of our victory! Do you know what you have found, Vile?”
“A pretty doll in a box?” Vile asked, knowing full well how insolence affected Sigma.
“Ignorant fool! If you bothered at all to look into our races history, you would know of our Bioroid ancestors. And this is the greatest of them all!” Sigma gestured grandly at the larger pod, which had been cleaned and re-powered. The figure inside could now be clearly seen, purple hair floating freely around the face that bore matching purple stripes.
“So who is he?” Vile asked in a bored tone, “And why should I care?”
With a sinister chuckle, Sigma ran his fingers along the glass over the Reploid’s face. “He is the greatest Bioroid creation of the good Doctor. He was one of the most feared in his time. He challenged the creations of Light again and again and was able to walk away only to return each time, stronger than before. Compared to these times he would be your equivalent, Vile. Or… even your better.” Looking back down through the glass casing Sigma pondered, “Although I must admit that he looks much more advanced than I imagined… almost as if he were a Reploid. What few sources remain describe the Bioroids as being childlike. Still, it is of no concern, as long as he can be made useful to us.”
“So, are you going to crack the seal on him, or what?” Vile sneered, still stung over the idea that something so outdated could be considered his better.
“Patience, patience. This is a moment to be savoured.” Sigma turned suddenly, cape flaring behind him as he gestured to one of the guards standing by the door. “Summon our brethren! They should all stand witness to this grand event!”
Snapping a quick salute the Maverick did as Sigma commanded. Minutes passed and a steady stream of Mavericks filled the open forum directly above the lab. When Sigma felt that there was a large enough audience, he threw the switch that raised the platform holding the lab up to become a stage in front of the forum.
“BROTHERS AND SISTERS!” Lifting his hands and stepping to the front of the stage, Sigma looked over the assembled Mavericks, “OUR TIME IS COMING SOON! THOSE ANNOYING HUNTERS WILL FIND THE CAUSE OF THEIR DOWNFALL IN THE FORM OF OUR ANCESTOR!” Sigma paused as the crowd of Mavericks roared approval, “Vile! Break the seal.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Vile turned to the controls and grumbled under his breath, “Ya big blowhard.”
Steam billowed from under the rising cover of the pod as the liquid inside evaporated on contact with the open air. A hushed silence fell over the assembled mavericks as they waited apprehensively for what would happen next. The lid finished its ascent, and the steam gradually dispersed. The purple haired figure, clad in a dark grey body suit, was crouched on the bottom grill of the tube.
“Welcome!” Sigma stepped forward as the silent figure rose up on his feet, stretching out long unused limbs and shaking his head. Demonic red eyes opened and locked onto Sigma’s towering form. The Maverick leader laughed, “Welcome brother Forte! Welcome to the future!”
Rolling first one shoulder, then the other, Forte ignored the Maverick leader’s greeting. “Hrmm. Fuck I’m stiff. How long was I in that fucking pod for?” Cracking his neck, he looked around him and raised one eyebrow at the gathered crowd watching his every move.
“It’s 21XX.” Vile volunteered, entertained by the way the newcomer was pissing off Sigma.
“21XX? Holy crap!” Forte looked honestly surprised. “I’ve been in that damned display case for nearly 200 god damned years? The hell?” Shaking his head again, and looking more aware of his surroundings Forte looked up at Sigma. “So who the hell are you supposed to be? Chromedome Man?”
“I am Sigma! Leader of the Maverick Rebellion! Enemy of the enslaving Humans! Herald to the approaching time of Reploid Supremacy!” As Sigma continued to rant in the background, Forte started looking bored.
“This is familiar.” Forte groaned as he leaned back on the now empty pod. Glancing down his body curiously, Forte suddenly sat down and pulled the covering off his foot.
“DUDE!”
“One day we will… what?” Speech stumbling to a halt, Sigma looked over and down at where Forte was staring at his own foot and grinning crazily.
“I’ve got TOES!” Wigging said digits at Sigma in demonstration Forte jammed his foot back into the boot-sock and jumped up to look at himself in a nearby monitor. “Well now, I’m one sexy son of a bitch! The old dude didn’t do a half bad job!” Pausing Forte looked almost regretful, “Too bad he’s more than likely kicked it by now.”
“Ah, you speak of the good Doctor who created you.” Sigma was desperately trying to maintain his composure in the face of Forte’s chaotic actions.
“You mean Wily? Yeah, he wasn’t a half bad inventor when he put his mind to it.” Forte mused, as he pulled open the front of his body suit and looked down. Even Sigma took a step back at the sudden crazed smirk that showed off Forte’s fangs. “Oh baby, we are gonna have one hell a party later! I knew it was a good idea to give a few upgrade suggestions.”
“Err… yes. So, um, how would you like to help our cause?” Sigma fought to remain collected in the face of Forte’s senseless rambling.
“You mean the whole de-throne the humans thing?” Forte turned an unexpectedly sharp look on the Maverick leader, one that was totally out of context with his previous behaviour. “I suppose I owe you a favour for waking me up. Name it.”
“Crush the Maverick Hunters Megaman X and Zero Omega!” Sigma proclaimed, seeming not to notice Forte’s sudden change in demeanour.
“… Zero… hn.” Forte expression flicked for a moment, shuttering at the mention of Zero’s name. In his preoccupation the Wily-bot did not notice Vile’s sudden interest in him, as the mercenary’s face was, as always, hidden behind the mask.
Jerking upright from his slouch Vile snarled at the Maverick leader, “X is MINE, Sigma! I will be the one to destroy him!” There was a barely noticeable lag between Sigma’s announcement and Vile’s predictable response.
Forte smirked, “I am the ultimate in warfare technology. These ‘Hunters’ of yours won’t stand a chance against me. But first, there are a few things I want to get.”
“What are they?” Sigma questioned with narrowed eyes.
“Oh, not much. But you don’t expect me to fight in my pyjama’s, do you?” Forte asked with another one of his fanged smirks as he paced a slow half-circle around Sigma. “I just need my armour, my buster, and…” He brought his hand down on the release button for the other pod. “… My loyal partner, my support unit… Gospel!”
In another billowing cloud of steam the second pod opened. Before the haze could completely clear a dark form leapt from the interior, landing in a crouch at Forte’s side. It was a feral wolf Reploid with fur a purple that was a perfect match to Forte’s own hair. As the last of the steam cloud dissipated, Forte reached into the Pod and removed a black helmet with four sharp fins flared like a cobra’s hood. The blue star shaped crystal set in the front of the helmet gleamed in the light as Forte grinned.
“Oh yeah, this…” Forte placed the helmet on his head, and with a flash of light, summoned the rest of his armour. “This is going to be fun!”
=^-^=
… Area of X’s Discovery… Underground…
An emergency light flashed. A computer screen glowed faintly in the dark.
::: Warning! Unit WRN 009 – Forte… Status: Active. Unit WRN 010 – Gospel… Status: Active. Initiating Sympathetic Re-activation Protocols… Units LRN 000, LRN 001, LRN 002, LRN 009… Undergoing Re-activation Process… :::
Long dormant circuitry came to life with muted hums as sleeping figures shrouded in shadow began to wake from their century long dreams.
=^-^=
… One Week Later… Maverick Hunters Headquarters…
“It’s been quiet. Far too quiet.” Zero growled to himself from his position on the HHQ rooftop.
“Ah, you worry too much.” Axl said from behind him, “The food’s here anyway. Come and eat!”
Zero turned his head, seeing the rest of his small group of close friends gathered around the stereotypically chequered blanket, although instead of being red and white it was teal and lavender. That must have been X’s idea. Guy has the oddest sense of humour… and no colour sense at all.
Speaking of X, his best friend was busy carrying over the food, being harried by Alia the whole way. The basket nearly obscured his face and as Zero watched he stumbled over the edge of the blanket.
“Careful there, X!” Zero said cheerfully as he scooped up the basket before it fell, “Don’t want the girls hard work to go to waste!”
“Gee. Thanks Zero.” X said wryly from his position sprawled facedown on the blanket, “I’m sure we would all have been devastated by the loss of Pallette’s Super Spicy Cajun Chicken.”
“Hey! That’s my favourite part!” Axl protested as he opened the basket and dug out said dish. The chicken was a near match to Zero’s armour colour due to the heavy amount of spices.
“And every time she makes it, it take five gallons of milk to get you to stop whining afterwards.” Zero said with a sardonic snort as he put the basket down to let the girls dig out the rest of the food.
“It doesn’t happen every time!” Axl protested over the girls giggling.
“Yeah, only most of the time.” X teased from his new seat at the edge of the blanket.
The easy banter continued as the plates were filled and passed around, Layer and Alia making sure that X and Zero got their fair share of everything before Axl inhaled it all.
“Still, I wonder what the Mavericks are up to.” Zero said as he plopped down next to X and took a bite out of his sandwich, “It’s not like them to stay stagnant for this long. We don’t know where the newest base is, and there are no clues about what new plan-”
“Oh, please Zero-kun! We’re supposed to be on vacation. We don’t get the chance to just relax very often, can you not just leave work behind for this one afternoon.” Alia pleaded as she rolled her eyes at what she saw as Zero’s overly dutiful attitude.
“Yeah, it’s not as if a Maverick is suddenly going to drop out of the sky and land in the middle of the potato salad!” Layer giggled from behind her long bangs.
“Well I guess…” Zero paused mid-sentence as a sudden oddly shaped shadow fell over the group. The red Hunter looked up just as a black armoured figure dropped out of the sky to land smack in the centre of the blanket, scattering the entire party.
Wearing the picnic basket like an extra helmet, Axl tilted the edge up just in time to see the stranger bend down and pick up a chicken leg. As the stunned group of Hunters looked on, the black-clad stranger examined the food in his hand before taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully.
“Feh. Not bad, but Roll-chan did it better.” He proclaimed idly before tossing the rest over his shoulder, nailing Axl in the eye as the young Hunter tried to sneak up behind him.
“GAH! SPICES!” Axl howled as he stumbled back, tripping and falling to his knees as he rubbed his eye, “Burning! Burning!”
“Grrrrrr…”
“Huh?” Axl finally managed to clear his eye enough to see, and he looked up into the face of a purple lupinoid, “Oh peanuts.”
“Not interfere!” The wolf growled as he landed a roundhouse kick to the side of Axl’s head, sending the unfortunate rookie the rest of the way to the ground. The feral Reploid then sat on Axl’s back, pinning him down, “Master play!”
“Good boy, Gospel.” Said the strange Maverick, as he grinned down at Layer, X, Zero and Alia, “You watch my back for me while I have some fun with my targets.”
Pallette looked over at Axl from where she had been thrown, glancing at the black armoured Maverick, who had not so much as noticed her, as she said nervously, “Do you feel a bit left out, Axl-kun?”
“Not really, Pallette-chan.” Axl groaned as the wolf, Gospel, leaned down to pick up the discarded chicken leg, “All I feel is this guys bony ass grinding into my back. Ack!” For that, Gospel punched the back of Axl’s head, sending his face crashing into the rooftop, “Ow…”
“Gospel! Be careful!” The wolfs master chided, “Don’t swallow any of the bones, they’re bad for you.”
“Have hands now.” The feral growled, lifting up the limbs in demonstration, “Will remember.”
“Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Ah well… back to work!” The black clad figure turned back to the four Reploids in front of him, who had finally gotten to their feet. X and Zero were standing in front of the girls with their weapons at the ready, “So, I suppose you two are Megaman X and Zero Omega. Heh.” He shrugged one shoulder, “Well, I don’t think you could really be anyone else. You two are pretty unique.”
“Who are you!” Zero demanded as he gripped the Z-sabre tighter.
“Aww… That hurts me, little bro. Right here.” The stranger said as he clasped a hand to the crystal in the middle of his chest, “But I must introduce myself to the ladies, it wouldn’t do to be rude, after all. Roll-chan would never forgive me.” He drawled with a slight bow, eyes never leaving his targets.
“So get on with it!” X shouted, looking worriedly at his friend. Zero had gone pale at the mention of family.
“You’re awfully noisy for an overgrown blueberry. I’ll have to fix that.” The stranger threatened, suddenly summoning twin busters, “Call me Forte. Let’s go!”
Grabbing the girls as they dodged the rapid-fire shots, the two Hunter’s dropped them next to Pallette and rebounded back towards their opponent. Smirking, Forte jumped up into the air just before they reached him, and planting a hand on each helmet, he forcefully brought Zero and X’s heads together.
“A meeting of small minds! What a sound it makes!” Forte quipped as he stepped back a bit.
“Sh-shouldn’t we help them?” Layer’s voice quavered as she glanced at Alia and Pallette.
“No.” Alia said firmly, “You saw what that Forte guy just pulled. The boys are going to need their full concentration on this fight, not on us.”
“But what about Axl-kun?” Pallette asked, with a nervous look at Gospel.
“You wanna go mess with the wolf-guy, you be my guest. But I’m not getting near it!” Alia said as she shivered dramatically, “Especially with the way he’s looking at us!”
The three girls looked over at the lupinoid in synch, and Gospel grinned toothily and blew them a kiss. They quickly turned their attention back to the battle.
Shaking his head in an attempt to stop the ringing, X ran to the right in a flanking attempt, strafing Forte as he went. Forte and Zero clashed and landed only steps from each other, whirling up and around at the same time to level their busters at their opponent, only to have the barrels of their weapons line up just barely touching the others weapon.
“You’re pretty good for a new Maverick.” Zero grinned as he flipped the Z-sabre around in his grasp so that the blade pointed down.
“Well, I have been playing with Chromedome Man’s lackeys for the past week. But they were nothing like a challenge. Heh.” Forte smirked back, “And seriously, most of them have a phallic object fetish or somethin’. You noticed that?”
“Uh…” Zero’s face blanked for a moment, “Well, now that I think about it… Hey! Wait a minute!” Forte just laughed as Zero sidestepped to the left and tried to get a shot in. Forte smacked the other’s buster aside with one of his own barrels. Using the momentum of the hit, Zero whirled around to slash at Forte with the Z-sabre, but Forte got away with no more than a cut on the cheek.
“So…” Touching the wound gingerly, Forte rubbed the synth-blood between his finger and thumb, “You want to play dirty, little brother? Let’s play dirty!”
Before Zero could react, Forte was right in front of him and landing a swinging kick to his groin.
“Nggh! Ch-cheap shot!” Zero groaned as he bent over from the force of the blow.
Forte just chuckled, “If you think that was cheap, watch this!” A powerful uppercut to Zero’s chin sent the red Hunter skyward and was immediately followed up with a buster shot to the stomach from Forte’s opposite arm. Zero went flying and landed hard, still moving but unable to rise just yet.
“Zero!” X shouted, having been unable to help for fear of hitting his friend as well, “That’s it! You’re going down!”
“Huh? You’re still here, Blueberry Junior?” Forte asked as he turned to face the blue Hunter.
“I’m still here all right! And now I’m mad! Falcon Armour!” X lifted to his toes as the white armour appeared on his body.
Instead of being intimidated as most Mavericks were, Forte just looked put out. “Ah! Since when do Blueberry’s get new bling? Maybe I should be calling you Grapeboy!”
“I’ll show you what this grape can do!” X fired a double shot straight into Forte’s chest.
“Aww, weak!” Forte taunted, as he stumbled backwards from the force of the blasts, “I almost felt that! But if you’re going to wear fancy dress to this little party, then I might as well too!”
“What are you talking about?” X demanded as he gripped his buster arm and went into a defensive position in front of the recovering Zero.
“You’ll see.” Forte smirked knowingly, then called out, “Gospel! Heel!”
The purple lupinoid’s head snapped up at the hail. Kicking Axl’s face back into the rooftop, the wolf darted over to his master’s side. Body twisting in improbable ways, the feral Reploid combined with the warrior, forming into new armour.
“Very… pretty.” Zero grunted as he pushed himself up to his knees, “Do you do birthdays too?”
“Heh. Nice to see you got the family sense of humour.” Forte smirked, just before he snapped his wings out to their full span, purple energy trailing from the edges. “Now let’s take this to the next level!”
“Ah!” X watched as Forte shot up into the air, hovering several yards above their heads, the black armoured Maverick motioned for the white Hunter to attack.
“What’s wrong? Can’t reach this high, you midget?” Forte taunted from his lofty position.
“I’ll show you who’s a midget!” X growled as the rockets in the bottoms of his boots ignited, sending him hurtling up towards Forte.
“Wha? Ohh, that’s just great! The last time a Megaman did this I got majorly blasted!” Forte complained as he took pot shots at X.
“Well get ready for a repeat, pal!” X charged his buster as he dodged Forte’s attacks, then fired.
Forte dodged, but was clipped on one wing, sending him spinning until he regained equilibrium. Snarling he opened fire with both barrels in all directions, each shot leaving from a random angle. Blocking the shots with his arms X was pushed back slightly until the barrage finished. He lowered his arms just in time to see the bottoms of Forte’s feet before they impacted with his chest.
X landed hard on Zero, Forte still balanced on his chest, the rooftop denting underneath the combined weight of their impact.
Jumping down and lifting both Hunters by the fronts of their chest plates, Forte smirked into their faces, “Looks like it’s over boys. I’m about to crush you.” Leaning closer, as an evil look crossed his face, Forte announced the end.
“I win!”
End Chapter
One.
To be continued…
=^-^=
EN:
Niko: Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh! Crazy llama dance!
Squall: Looks like we’re leavin’ a cliff. Better hope we don’t fall off of it. =P
Niko: Well, as of right now we’re averaging a chapter a day.
Squall: Wonder if it’ll stay like that.
Niko: Do you have anything better to do with your copious amounts of spare time?
Squall: We could be actually working.
Niko: … -_-;; We don’t have jobs yet, thusly, the copious amounts of free time.
Squall: Well… well excuse me for being rational!
Niko: No.
Squall: XP … they need to review before we kill each other.
Niko: Aww, don’t ya love me any more?
Squall: not when you’re like this.
Niko: Aww. Sad kitty face.
Squall: I was kidding.
Niko: Reviews make us happy and non-homicidal!
Squall: Cue ebil laughter!
=^-^=
Onwards to Chapter Two!