[DEFUNCT] Rebirth of the Machine

[Andrew]

This will be the home of the defunct first draft. I'm going to be posting it slowly over time instead of everything at once.

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*The End of a Life And The Resurrection of a New*

No one has ever really known when it happened, it just.. Well.. Happened. Sigma was finally defeated, and it seemed that this time was the final time. X and Axl hurriedly exited Sigma's fortress. You may notice that I left out Zero's name there.. That's true. The self-destruct signals were ringing in their ears as they ran, or as Axl ran, and X was pulled along by his partner. Tears were running down X's cheeks.. The first time he'd ever shown true emotion for his battle comrade, the first time he'd ever shed tears over his death. Zero had done it again.. He'd sacrificed himself again.. But only this time, he wouldn't be coming back, at the time anyways.. Just to keep his friends free from harms way, no.. Not only his friends.. The whole world this time. Doubtful of his own return, Zero made this decision on his own. Both X and Axl knew of the consequences, but neither were able to change his mind.

Zero had to remove himself from the game.. He had to remove himself from the battle.. Remove himself from the war.. From their lives.. From the future.. He had to self-destruct himself to keep Sigma from returning. Zero was the original carrier of a virus, that later inhabited Sigma.. Sigma's systems then converted the virus into the Sigma Virus, a much more deadly version of the Maverick Virus. Zero's systems were the only ones able to combat the virus and neutralize it long enough to destroy it.. And Zero. He forced X and Axl from the room, Axl having to half-drag X out of Sigma's fortress. And Zero did what had to be done.. He did what he knew he would have to do from the beginning. His self-destruct systems activated.. And there was no more Zero, or Sigma, or his fortress.

With the threat of Sigma finally extinguished, the humans realized.. Hey, we don't need the Reploids anymore! .. Reploids were too dangerous, even now. The Maverick virus could still reproduce out of a dormant carrier, and begin the reign of terror again. And start the entire process over again. And there was no Zero to save them this time.. No Zero.. The thought of him gone still brings tears to X's eyes.. Anyways.. The order was shipped out. 'All Maverick Hunters were to be deactivated, immediately.' Dr. Dan Cain, the descendant of Rupert Cain, had no say in this matter, he couldn't do anything to stop them.. The creator of the entire line of Reploids could do nothing but stand by and watch as each and every one was shut down or dismantled.. Or both at times.. It's a shame.. The humans believed, that with Sigma gone, the Reploids were more of a threat than anything else, even themselves, the Reploids HAD to be shut down. And so.. They were.. X.. Axl.. And almost the entire force of the Hunters.. They gave up willingly.. They had no reason to be around since Sigma was gone. What reason was there for Maverick Hunters to exist if there were no Mavericks?

And X.. X! OF ALL PEOPLE! He let this happen.. He let them.. And Signas too.. Our calm, calibrated leaders.. They let us down. They let those humans.. Deactivate us.. Almost all of us.. But us few, us.. The last remnants of a great race.. We got away.. We went into hiding, we found a way to survive without help.. We were alone.. Ahem.. Anyways.. Back to the story..

As soon as the last Reploid was shut down.. Though I believe the very last Reploid they got a hold of, was destroyed.. Peace reigned over the world. Human utopia was a visible ending, it seemed within their grasp. But.. Utopia is never truly possible. Sure.. It can last for awhile, but it won't truly linger on forever.. It had been a long time since a robot of any kind had been seen, centuries maybe.. The passage of time didn't really matter to us.. But we all believe it was centuries.. But professors, the descendants of the professors from our age, had been at it again. The government had kept the schematics on file, many had even forgotten of their existence there.. But they were there. The schematics of X.. Axl.. Even Zero.. Were on file in the government archives.. But only one man seemed determined to work his ideas and thoughts.. Into a reality.. A reality.. Where us Reploids, could be supreme again.. You'd think from the way I was talking about him, I had him in high-esteem, but no.. Dr. Sebastian, this Roboticist.. He wanted to do the one thing that couldn't be forgiven.. He wanted to bring back Sigma..

Dr. Sebastian, a famed and accomplished man in many fields.. But mostly in his designs and thoughts on many articles within the dying field of Roboticism.. He'd come to a conclusion, and one that would never leave his head, probably not until his dying day.. This would be the one thing he ever wanted.. If people wanted the Reploids back, then Sigma would have to also come back.. And he set to it.. With the help of his assistant, Claude Tage, he set about gathering the schematics of every form of Sigma used during his War. He also collected the schematics of many of the Mavericks under Sigma's rule and control. Sebastian had plans to bring back Sigma.. But not Sigma alone, no.. Never alone.. Sigma would have the entirety of the Repliforce under his thumb.

Dr. Faern, the great-great-grand-son of the fabled Dr. Amadeus Faern, had gotten news of Sebastian’s intent through his lab assistant, Enzan Tage.. The brother to Claude. Dr. Faern had decided to be the one to put a stop to this. He gathered as much of the necessary supplies as he could get his hands on; Metool armor, buster plans, beam saber designs, even some of the schematics and basic designs for some of the Robot Masters back during Mega Man's day.. He also got a hold of the original design for Mega Man and Proto Man. If Sebastian was going to bring back the Repliforce and Sigma.. Then Faern would begin the revival of the one group of Reploids capable of being able to put a stop to them for good.. Again.. The Maverick Hunters.

Even with all the necessary supplies, Doctor Christopher Faern was more than a few steps behind Doctor Robert Sebastian.. Sebastian had enough of the simpler Mavericks rebuilt, from Mets and Grenadiers to prototype designs of a few of the Robot Masters. While Faern only had a small force of Mets, and a half-built prototype version of Mega Man. The only thing Faern had successfully built was the Buster Pistol, a plasma pistol he made for the Police Force in case of emergencies.. But for this particular era, the pistol had to be redone.. And the Faern Buster Pistol Mk. II was created.. With the ability to fire different style shots, from a simple plasma shot, to a laser, to a charged shot.

This story.. No.. Our story begins now.. With Dr. Faern sending Enzan, the young assistant, to the ruins of the Maverick Hunter HQ.. Our once magnificent base now in ruins on the outside of the city. The Government archives never stated, in any of their files, that the Hunters had been dismantled.. Only that they had been shut down. So, if Faern was correct in his theory, the Hunters were still inside the HQ. Though the place was in shambles.. Though it never really wasn't.. Not even Signas could keep this place organized, hehe.. There might be a slight chance that they, we, had survived the years. Enzan's job.. His mission.. Was to find them, or us, and bring us back to Faern's lab.. And be fixed.. What Enzan found there isn't what anyone had ever expected.. But.. This is how it starts..

[Andrew]

*Chapter 1 - Reploid Regeneration*

"It seems that the robotic age is coming around again, Dr. Faern."

"Yes, I realize this. Dr. Sebastian is making a grave mistake by rebuilding the Repliforce."

"Why is that, sir?"

"The Repliforce was a massive army, consisting of thousands upon thousands of Reploids. And Dr. Sebastian knows nothing about the usage of the Stasis Pods that Dr. Light invented for X, and the same pods that Dr. Cain forgot to use. The same situation will occur, only this time, the human race will be overwhelmed."

"Should I send messenger to Sebastian and explain the dire situation?"

"No, I have a much better idea."

"What is that, professor?"

"I want you to go to the ruin site, and retrieve all the data you can from every running computer there."

"B-but sir.. I don't like that place. Why can't you send someone more reliable, like my brother?"

"No, you have to take care of this Enzan. I can only trust you with this."

"I'll.. I'll try and do my best, sir."

"I know you will. We can waste no time talking about this, we must act before Dr. Sebastian begins the reconstruction of the Repliforce army. Let us go to the lab, while you’re out, I might as well have you try out the new pistol prototype I developed."

* * *

"Dr. Sebastian! Dr. Sebastian!"

"What is it, Claude?"

"Dr. Faern knows of what we're doing and has sent his assistant, my brother, out to retrieve the data from the ruins of the Maverick Hunter base."

"Then you know what to do, Claude."

"Yes, sir. I'll get right on that. Do you want me to take any robots with me, or should I go it alone?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"Yes, sir, of course."

"Prove to me that my decision of picking you over your brother was a good one. Let this sibling rivalry end now."

"Of course, sir."

* * *

A young man stepped softly across the metal plating of the destroyed base, his dark blue eyes taking in all the destruction. He reached his arm around behind his back to the bag looped over his shoulders, pulling out a small console, as well as a pistol of some sort. He pushed his dark brown locks from out of his eyes, jumping on to the next shattered metal surface, his footing holding on the shifting metal block.

"This place creeps me out, so much.."

"Poor kid."

"The hell!?"

The sound of feet from behind him, forced Enzan to spin around on his heel, the pistol at the ready before him. Ahead of him was Claude, his brother and fellow scientist-apprentice, as well as two robotic followers behind him. Claude was slightly taller than Enzan, always had been, and unlike Enzan, Claude had dirty blonde locks and sharp green eyes. Enzan aimed the gun carefully and let lose a single shot, the blistering heat from the laser slicing across the top of Claude's ear and implanting straight into the robot at his right's forehead, incinerating the robot's systems, the unusual pair of scissors atop this robot's head quivering slightly, before breaking free and clanging loudly against the metal plate beneath their feet. The robot then tumbled over backward, crashing into a shifted piece of earth, exploding seconds afterward.

"Dammit Enzan!"

"What do you want, Claude?"

"We're here to stop you from getting the data. And I know you won't kill me, you know that too."

"How can you be so sure? I just shot your robot and you with one beam."

"You're an idiot, Enzan. We both know that those pistols only have five shots, and you'll waste them all before you ever get another shot on me."

"Or I could just shoot you now!"

"Then, younger brother, you wouldn't have enough to take out my other robot companion. His armor can take three of those shots, before his armor becomes brittle enough to break. That’s four shots in total.. And that’s all you have."

"Dammit.."

Claude's lips curved into a small smile, those sharp green eyes gazing upon his younger brother. Claude shook his dirty blonde locks from his eyes, setting his hand lightly upon the shoulder of the robot standing next to him. He tapped the metal plating with his fingertips, smirking over at his brother. Enzan's finger slid over the trigger of the pistol, a low humming came from the inner-workings of the gun.

"Go ahead and try it, brother. See how long you last against this monster."

"Was that long enough?"

Enzan's pistol erupted with a massive energy stream, the built up energy colliding with the robot's chest plate, ripping the metallic surface apart, crumpling the entire robot with one shot. Smoke coiled up away from the broken robot's entire form, Claude staring silently at the second robot's destruction, though it was still standing, more than we can say for the other one.

"Dr. Faern isn't as stupid as you think he is, Claude."

"Damn you, Enzan! I'll be back, and when I do, you won't win!"

"Bring as many robots as you want, this baby has enough power to take them all!"

Claude jumped from plate to plate as fast as he could, growling angrily at his failure. Enzan smiled lightly at his brother's retreating form. He spun the pistol about on his finger and placed it back into its holster, strapping it to his side. He turned back to what he was doing before the interruption. He curled the back off of his left shoulder, swinging it around in front of him with his shoulder. He set it down in front of him, unzipping the dark yellow bag. He pulled forth a laptop and flicked it open, watching it start up almost immediately. He tapped lightly on the keyboard and began to type quickly with one hand, activating all the coding needed for data transfer.

"I hope this works.."

He pulled a cord from the back of the laptop, and stepped forward a few steps. He set his hand against the cold steel wall and searched for a few seconds. He found the outcrop and pushed the panel inward, a small slot opening up on the wall a feet inches down. He plugged his laptop into it, connecting their systems. He dropped down on to the ground, his back against the wall. His fingers became a blur as they tapped quickly along the keyboard, each stroke calling upon another code, another hack, another deletion of the security system around the ruins. He wiped his forehead with the back of his forearm, after destroying the third firewall.

'People need to stop putting up so much security!’

He sighed, breathing for a moment. He looked down at the screen and went back to the destruction of the security system. He stopped typing after deleting the fifth firewall, staring at what looked like an open cyberspace on his laptop. He perked a brow and lightly tapped the screen, calling up an anti-virus system. He began scanning the cyberspace, locating multiple viruses in a matter of seconds.

"Maybe I should save this for Dr. Faern.. But if I do that, my entire laptop could go haywire. Err.. I’ll just call him.. Hope he’s not working on something important.."

He reached with his legs, curling his feet about the base of his bag, pulling it close enough for him to grab a hold of it. He set the light grey laptop down into his lap, pulling the bag to his side. He reached in and grabbed his cell phone, flipping open the top. He brought the piece to his ear and spoke, "Faern", straight into the mouthpiece, the phone auto-dialing the number desired.

"This is Dr. Faern."

"Sir. I've discovered something while trying to get to the data you wanted. It's a tiny cyberspace inside the security system of the base. The only thing is, it's entirely over-run with viruses. And powerful ones at that. I don't know if you want me to cleanse it, or delete it completely from the system and my laptop."

"Save the c-space to a disk, I'll scan it when you get back. We need your laptop for the data."

"I understand, sir."

He flipped closed his cell phone and dropped it back into his bag. He sighed a little and pulled out a mini-disk from his pocket, inserting it into the drive. He began transferring the c-space to the drive as quickly as possible. His fingers began to hurt after awhile, so he set the computer to auto-transfer, watching as the computer did the same scans and runs that he manually did, only a little slower. After it was completely transferred on to the disk, he popped it out and tossed it into a case, dropping it into his bag. He cracked the security code in a matter of seconds, the fifth wall and ‘virus c-space’ being the last line of defense. He tilted his head back, watching the massive steel doors slowly slide open.

"Wow.."

* * *

"Dr. Sebastian!"

"What is it, Claude? Why are you back already?"

"Enzan destroyed both robots, each with a single shot from a Buster Pistol."

"Dr. Faern's own design, is my guess. Charge shot on Prototype Guts?"

"I believe so sir, it completely melted through his armor. Prototype Cut was taken with a shot to the forehead, completely fried all of his programming."

"I see. Your brother is quite a nuisance at times, Claude. Eliminate him."

"What.. ?"

"Eliminate your brother. The quicker he is out of the way, the quicker the Repliforce will be rebuilt."

"But, he's my own brother. I can't just, KILL him."

"No? No.. Ah, but you will. His death will be by your hands, none of my robots will do that for you. Now go back to the ruins, and take Prototype Quick and Burn with you."

"Y-yes, sir."

* * *

“Wow..”

Enzan stepped past the massive doorway of the ruined Maverick Hunter base, his eyes adjusting slowly to the dim light as he activated his flashlight. He pushed his hair from his face and glanced around silently, his jaw slightly dropped from actually being inside the Mav-Hunter HQ. Everything he knew about this place, he learned from Dr. Faern and from the history books at school. He drew the beam of light from the small cylinder over the ceiling, letting it slowly slide down the spherical walls and on to the floor. He gasped lightly as he lit up multiple crumpled forms upon the floor, all covered in dust. He set his foot against a nearby body and pushed softly, the body creaking as it fell on to its back, erupting a fume of dust upward, forcing Enzan to cover his mouth as he coughed.

“So it was true.. The Hunters let themselves be deactivated,” he glanced at each form in turn, looking for a few specific ones.

“But why would they give up so easily? Not even Faern would answer me that,” he said with a sigh, pushing another reploid on to its back.

“It’s because.. We had no reason to fight anymore.”

“Wha-“

Enzan’s flashlight flickered out, leaving him in the darkness, alone with the voice that lingered throughout the room. Enzan spun around quickly, looking for the source of the voice. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw where the voice was coming from, a pair of disembodied blue eyes were hovering off to his left.

[Andrew]

*Chapter 2 - Enter, Renegades*

"Who.. Who are you?" Enzan asked softly, backing away from the azure orbs.

"Fidget, hit the lights," the voice said, talking to someone named 'Fidget' in the room behind him.

"You got it, AX," came the voice of this so-called 'Fidget.'

Enzan dropped the flashlight and covered his eyes as the lights split through the darkness, revealing the entire infrastructure. Enzan slowly lifted his hands away from his eyes, staring around the room, his jaw dropping slightly as he spun around slowly, staring at everything in the room.

"Oh my.."

"What are you doing here, kid?"

Enzan spun around to where the blue eyes were earlier, but in their place was a fully functional robot, which stopped Enzan dead in his tracks. He just stared at the tall robot, whose silver metallic shine glinted within the bright fluorescent lights. A trio of silver spikes lined his helmet, which was dark blue wherever there wasn't a spike. Enzan noted that the body structure was similar to Zero, the legendary Red Maverick Hunter. This reploid also had a gleaming soft blue chest gem, the same color as his knee guards and boot gems. The under-body suit was pure black, accentuating the lighter colors of his armor.

"Who are you?" Enzan suddenly asked, his voice finally working, the reploid sighed lightly.

"I asked you first, but my name is Alpha-X, but you can have the rare privilege of calling me AX," AX introduced himself in a patient voice, "Now, who are you?"

"Oh, heh.. My name is Enzan Tage," he lifted the corners of his lips into a smile for a moment, before continuing, "Who was this.. 'Fidget' person you were talking to?"

"Fidg-" AX began.

"I'm Fidget," came a soft voice from behind AX.

From behind Alpha-X stepped a slightly smaller reploid. This one was brown in color, with an elongated helmet. His body suit was lighter than AX's, only a dark gray. His chest had three lighter tan panels jutting outward in a slight 'V' shape in the center. His boot gems were a shimmering green color, the same colored gems accentuating the sensory-units over his ears.

"Are you two.. Um.. Are you Reploids?" Enzan asked, crouching down to pick up his dropped flashlight.

"We're Maverick Hunters, so yes. We're Reploids. Based off the design of X and built to be a free wi-" Fidget's voice was racing as he spoke, AX's hand clamping down over his mouth.

"Yes, we're Reploids. What are you doing here?" Alpha-X asked, his hand clamping tighter over Fidget's still moving lips.

"I came here looking for Reploid schematics. A scientist is rebuilding Mavericks of the past, as well as Sig-" Enzan began, before AX cut him off, "The Mavericks are coming back?!"

"Um.. Yes," Enzan said lightly, slightly taken aback by the Hunter's tone.

"Dammit. Fidget, go tell 32 that we've got to get assembled. And tell that lazy bastard to get X and Axl online. If this scientist is bringing back ALL the Mavericks that have been destroyed, we're going to need the one who has been here from the beginning, my brother."

"Got it."

Fidget turned tail and ran into the room that they were standing in the doorway to. Enzan took a step forward and tried to get a glimpse into the room, but AX positioned himself more in front of the door. He crossed his arms, his blue eyes slitting slightly.

"Go back and tell whoever sent you, that this is being taken care of. We don't need any help from you humans," AX's voice lowered into a menacing tone.

"But!"

"Get out, human! You're the reason we're like this in the first place!" AX turned and walked into the room, his hand slamming into the wall, a door sliding closed where he was standing.

"AX! Dammit. I didn't have anything to do with that," Enzan sighed, failing the mission he was sent to do. He dropped down on to the ground and pulled his bag from his shoulder, digging for his cell phone, flicking it open.

"Faern."

"This is Dr. Faern."

"Doctor, the remaining hunters here-"

"What remaining hunters, Enzan?"

"They said their names were.. Alpha-X, Fidget, and another named 32."

"The Renegades! Those are Mavericks! Get out of there now, Enzan. They are potentially dangerous," Dr. Faern's voice was strewn with worry and concern.

"No, sir, they were very nice. And they said they were reviving X and Axl. They said it was all taken care of, so we didn't have to hel-AHH!!" Enzan’s phone clicked off as he let rip a scream into the mouthpiece

* * *

"Enzan? Enzan!? ENZAN!?"

Dr. Faern set the cell phone down and glanced around the lab, thinking quickly about what he could possibly do. He sighed lightly and fell into his cushioned lab chair, setting his palms to his temples. His soft brown eyes blood shot from the lack of sleep for the past few days, the constant reading and re-reading of old robot schematics taking their toll on him.

"Please be safe, Enzan.. I don't have anything I can get to you in time to help you. The only thing I have are Mets, and they walk too slow. They wouldn't get there fast enough. He was right.. Sending him was a bad idea."

[Andrew]

*Chapter 3 - Maverick Pushovers*

Alpha-X stopped dead in his tracks, the silence being shattered by a muffled scream from the opposite side of the door. He called out after Fidget's form, "Fidget, get back here, forget 32 for now!" He heard the stuttering clanking of slowing feet. Fidget came running back, staring up at AX.

"What's wrong?"

AX pushed the button to open the door, sighing a little, "The kid's in trouble. I just heard him scream."

* * *

Enzan struggled against the robotic arms gripping his shoulders, his screams for help falling on deaf ears. He struggled a little harder, only causing the gray robot attached to his shoulders to grip tighter, almost piercing through the flesh.

"ARGH!!! LET GO OF ME!!"

Tears began welling up in Enzan's eyes as he grit his teeth in pain. He tried to go somewhere else, where this wasn't happening. That he was free from the grip of robotic arms. And then suddenly he was, he felt the pain from his shoulders dissipate, and he opened his eyes, watching sparks shower from the robot's neck, where the head used to be. He glanced toward the door, Fidget standing there, both pistols aimed.

"Get up, kid!" AX yelled, dashing forward, boosters shooting from the bottom of his boots, a massive light blue saber ignited in his right hand.

Enzan twisted quickly, jerking his right leg free from the second robot. He sent his shoe straight into the robot's face, denting it and shattering the sensors. He pulled away and crawled toward Fidget, AX's saber slicing downward through the robot, both exploding simultaneously on either side of him.

"AX, more are coming!" Fidget shouted, pointing toward the door.

"I see them! Get the kid out of here, I'll hold them off here!" AX yelled back, before activating his thrusters and sliding toward the massive archway of the entrance.

"Come'ere human!" Fidget's hands dropped on to Enzan's shoulders, pulling him through the door, and partially throwing him across the room, "Get down those stairs, ask for someone named 32. When you find him, tell him we've got trouble. Got it?!"

"Yes, Fidget, I got it," came Enzan's stuttering reply as he climbed to his feet.

"Now go!" Fidget ran back out through the door, activating the doorway as he passed the control panel, forcing it to slide closed, locking both him and AX in with the invaders.

Enzan stared after the brown reploid, turning and running down the stairs, the lights flickering slightly from the explosions from above. He came to a stop in front of a hallway full of doors, "Gah.. Which one!?"

* * *

Fidget leaped over a charging robot, igniting his spear and slamming it downward into the robot's spine, splintering it into the floor. He wrenched the blade free and spun it above his head, smirking a little as it exploded.

"The kid's getting help, AX!"

"Good, good! Get your ass over here and help! NOW!"

AX wove through two beam stave, igniting the back end of his glittering light azure saber, swinging the blade quickly through the two robots, cleaving them in half, their explosions sending smoke across AX's vision. Fidget slammed his spear down into the floorboards, drawing forth his pistols, letting fly volleys of blasts, the robots within the smoke being littered with blast holes, explosions rocketing AX's stance slightly.

"Dammit, Fidget. Watch where you're shooting, you're going to scratch my paint!"

"Don't be so vain, AX. You know I'm a better shot than that."

Fidget lifted his left hand to side of his helmet, tapping the green gem there. A small mask slid down over his visage, a green visor activating, his vision clearing immediately, letting him see through the smoke.

"Niner!"

Alpha-X spun to his left, his beam saber slicing clear through a massive robot, the explosion sending him flying through the smoke and into one of the walls. The wall began crumbling in upon him as he pulled himself free from the debris. A beam of energy came down through the ceiling, ripping apart the bots standing in that particular area.

"Need some help?"

"Anode!"

A silver and black Reploid shot down through the ceiling, landing on the outer edge of the crater in the floor. He lifted his left arm straight out away from his body, aimed at the entrance to the base, his right arm set at his side, his fist tight. AX leaped from the hole in the wall and landed beside Fidget, both of them watching Anode's actions. A light gleam focused at the end of his buster, before activating, a light sweeping forward from the tip of it, a massive blast ripping through the base front, eradicating the last remnant of the attacking robots.

* * *

Enzan stared silently at the screen, watching this new Hunter; Anode, wipe out the entire attacking force with a single shot from his buster. He stepped away from the console, falling into a chair set directly behind him.

"That's amazing.."

"As it should be. Anode is one of the best we have."