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To Chapter [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Protoman found himself dragged to the practice hall, by X, for an afternoon workout. "It has been awhile since I practiced with Mega Man-er X." Protoman thought to himself. "Might as well take this time to catch up." "What's that you're setting up?" Protoman asked as X fixed the equipment around the room. The training hall was a long room with many traps hidden for the trainee to dodge. Protoman could see that X was checking the traps again. "Just things to make this session more interesting." X said mysteriously. "You are my brother, so you should be able to handle this stuff with no problems." X finally turned back towards Protoman and smirked. "Okay, the object of this game is to get to the other end of the room, unharmed, or in this case, unmarked by the red paint on the traps." "Sounds easy." Protoman said. "What's the catch?" "The catch is that we fight each other along the way. Only one of us can successfully make it to the end. May the best reploid win." The two brothers each took a fighting stance. "Whenever you're ready, Protoman." "Women and children first, little brother." Protoman challenged. With that, X leaped out in to the center of the room giving him space to fire a shot at Protoman. Protoman easily sidestepped the shot, and followed his brother into the center of the room. Something was triggered and a set of arrows from the wall shot towards Protoman. He turned and fired his arm cannon to stop the arrows, but X uppercuts Protoman while he is distracted. Protoman staggered back, surprised and amused by his opponent's attack. Protoman sized up the room and fired a shot past X, which sets off another booby trap. A big sack of cement falls down towards X. The Blue Hunter leaps forward to dodge the cement, only to find a swift roundhouse from Protoman connecting with this side. "Tell me, Protoman." Mega Man X said as he fired shots at his brother. "Did we ever train like this back then?" "Yep." Protoman replied as he dodged the shots. "And I always whooped you." Protoman launched his own assault of plasma. "Ha! Now I know you're lying." X ducked under Protoman's shots and tried to trip Protoman with a low kick. The scarfed reploid jumped before the kick landed and leaped to the end of the hall. "Looks like I win again, little brother." Protoman gave X a toothy grin. "Looks like." Mega Man X pointed to Protoman's leg, which was splattered with some red paint. It was then when Protoman realized the low kick was meant to be dodged, so that X could hit him with one of the arrow's paint. "Not bad, X." Protoman admitted. "Seems like you've brushed up while I was away." "Fighting Sigma four times does take considerable practice to perfect." X said. "That and lots of training with Zero." "What ever happened to Zero last night?" Protoman asked. "He left before we got to talk to him." "I don't know." X lowered his eyebrows in thought. "Zero was beyond strange. First he disappears, comes back and acts mad at the fact that I've got my family, then shows up at my door at four in the morning with the most surprised look I've ever seen." "How long has this been going on?" "Ever since he defeated Sigma on Final Weapon. Something is up, and he's not telling me. Typical Zero." Protoman was about to say something else when the red alert alarm blared. The two reploids quickly dashed to the window and saw that a big army of Mavericks was storming the HQ. Without another word, the two raced down to the battle. *********************************************************************** "Isn't this nice, Vile?" Sigma asked as he looked around. "Fresh air, comfortable surroundings, and a Maverick Hunter HQ to destroy. Can it get any better?" "Not at the moment." Vile replied as he shot another security guard with his large shoulder cannon. Sigma stood and watched his minions attack The Maverick Hunter HQ. This wasn't a serious assult. The plan was to get a certain reploid's attention. That someone, though, has yet to make his entrance. "No, no, Vile. Something is missing. Something important." Sigma said thoughtfully. "It's over, Maverick scumbags!" X declared as he and many other Maverick Hunters arrived at the foot of the HQ building. "Yes, that's it! Mega Man X. No plan of mine is complete without the intervention of the pesky X. Where is your little friend, Zero?" X recognized the voice and gasped in horror. "Vile? Sigma! You're alive!" Something lodged painfully in X's throat. Sigma had more lives than a cat. Time and again X and Zero defeated Sigma, but--like clockwork--he returns from the grave. This time, though, with Final Weapon blown into smithereens, X thought he and Zero had buried Sigma's legacy forever. X gulped down his disgust and raised his X buster towards Sigma, who ignored the weapon while he enjoyed X's reaction to Sigma's return. "Of course I am." Sigma replied smugly. "I still have things to do, people to kill, places to wreck. You understand." "I don't know how you survived Final Weapon's explosion, but it ends here." Zero joined in. "Zero, there you are!" Sigma feined joy at Zero's arrival. "Remember what we talked about on Final Weapon?" Sigma asked. "Our little chit chat about how you were once, yourself, dare I say, a Maverick?" "Zero? What's Sigma talking about?" X's confusion was evident in his tone. X turned his head slightly towards Zero, who ignored X and continued to burn his stare at the Maverick leader. "You do remember, X," Sigma said, "That I was once a Maverick Hunter. And I still recall the one Maverick who managed to wipe out Gamma's entire Hunter unit. I had to take care of him myself. That Maverick--" Sigma paused for affect, "--was Zero." "Shut up and fight." Zero gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes even more. He swiftly drew his Z-Saber and held it before him, ready to slice Sigma into shreds if he said another word. Sigma tilted his head and studied the Red Hunter. Obviously Zero still considers himself a full-fledged hunter. "It's not the right time for us to have this fight yet, Zero. But what the hey. Vile, go ahead and take out some more hunters. I'm still in a bad mood." Sigma then started to leave. Vile complied and reloaded his shoulder cannon. But before he could aim it at anything, Protoman landed a kick squarely on Vile's head, knocking the purple Maverick down. The other Hunters and Mavericks fought, cannon against cannon and punches against kicks. Zero chased after Sigma, hoping to get an answer and perhaps off him while he was at it. "Sigma!" Zero yelled as he ran after the Maverick leader. "What's wrong? Afraid I'll destroy you again?" Sigma turned around and smiled at the Red Hunter's boldness. "Zero, nice of you to join me." Sigma could feel Zero's anger rising every second as he continued to stall. "What did you mean by 'now is not the right time?'" Zero demanded. "What did you mean?" "You and I Zero, have some unfinished business to discuss. You were created by Dr. Wily to destroy that blasted X. But you haven't accepted that yet, have you?" "I'll never turn against the Hunters and join the likes of you!" "But you've shown such potential." "What?" Zero hesitated for a moment. Could Sigma really know as much as he claimed about Zero's past? "Back on Final Weapon, during our fight, you couldn't bring yourself to kill me. No, Zero, you left Final Weapon knowing full well that I was still alive. Badly damaged, but still alive. Why didn't you kill me Zero?" A self-satisfied grin appeared on Sigma's face. "Because you can't!" Back in step again, Zero did not pause before giving his reply. "I only left you to rot with the space dust. If I'd known you were still alive, I would have taken the time to make you extra crispy." "Idle threats. You can't kill me because you know we're on the same side. It was the same even when you were a Maverick. You had me defeated, but you stopped yourself before the fatal blow, because you and I are both created by Dr. Wily." "That may be true." Zero chuckled. "But I can still kill you." Zero lashed at Sigma with the Z-Saber, while Sigma just stood there, ready to take the blow. "Why is he just standing there?" Zero thought. He landed on the other side of Sigma without touching him. "Humph." Zero grumbled. "It's no fun when you don't even try." Then Zero teleported back to HQ. "See," Sigma said smugly, "I told you, you can't kill me." |
