CHARACTERS

X
This story’s protagonist. A member of the 17th Elite Unit, he is a gentle Maverick Hunter.
Because of his kindness he is unable to fully commit in battle and is only B-Class in Hunter
rank. However, his potential surpasses that of a Special A-Class.

DOCTOR CAIN
The creator of Reploids, this elderly man is called the century’s greatest scientist by many.
His greatest masterpiece “Sigma” caused an uprising, which continues to pain him to this
day. But even so, he commands the Maverick Hunters for the sake of peace.

ZERO
X’s mentor and friend, a Special A-Class Hunter in the 17th Elite Unit. Always composed
and unwavering in his thoughts against evil, he made a prompt decision to stand with X
against Sigma the moment he rebelled.

SIGMA
Dr. Cain’s masterpiece, the 17th Elite Unit Commander who is said to be the greatest. Also
holding great intellect, one day he suddenly rose in revolution against humanity and those
who sided with them.

VILE
A former member of the 17th Elite Unit. His battle prowess is extraordinarily high, but
because he was a hair’s breadth from becoming a Maverick, they restrained him.
However, he was freed due to Sigma’s uprising and thereafter trained in secret to become
strong enough to defeat X.

THE EIGHT MAVERICKS

Eight former Special A-Class Maverick Hunters who, due to their desires and beliefs,
became Maverick out of their own will and joined Sigma’s uprising. These powerful
enemies stand in X’s way with various special weapons and power befitting their class.
 MAVERICK REPORT #01: Day of Σ

MAVERICK REPORT #02: Emperor of the Snowfields

Ice Penguin

MAVERICK REPORT #03: Thunder King of the Powerful Speedy Fists

Spark Mandrill

MAVERICK REPORT #04: The Forbidden Land

Dr. Cain

MAVERICK REPORT #05: The Deep-sea Armed General

Launch Octopus

MAVERICK REPORT #06: The Deep Forest Bewitching Attacker

Sting Chameleon

MAVERICK REPORT #07: The Nobleman of the Skies & The Steeled
Armored Warrior
Storm Eagle & Armored Armadillo

MAVERICK REPORT #08: The Scorching Hot Oil Tank

Flame Mammoth

MAVERICK REPORT #09: The Space-Time Iron-Cutting Fiend

Boomer Kuwanger

MAVERICK REPORT #10: Awakening

Vile

MAVERICK REPORT #11: ΣSigma

Sigma

MAVERICK REPORT #12: Mega Man

MAVERICK REPORT #13: Epilogue

Afterword #1

Afterword #2
What is a Maverick?
One would be unable to obtain a clear response, even if they were to spend their whole life asking
this question. That the response is ever-changing may itself be the answer. But, if this trite
conjecture has any possibility of being true, then there is one thing you must remember:

Chasing an ever-changing answer is, in a sense, like being in hell.

This may be the punishment for my sins…
This may be my atonement.

To those of a far future:

Think of the ruinous, unending conflicts we went through: the "Maverick Wars". Think of the
"Reploids" who fought and died valiantly. And… of the one who fought in the war until the bitter
end, the hero “Mega Man”, I leave a record behind.

**************

To successfully document the Maverick Wars, it is imperative that I expound on the word
“Maverick”. At the same time, I must also touch upon the words “Reploid” and “Mechaniloid”.

In this era, humans are not alone. Those born from science, robots with a sense of self; machine
lifeforms known as “Reploids” coexist with us. They are different from your ordinary machines.
Capable of thought, judgement and action, they are beings created by and operating on advanced
technology. In other words, they are androids who are replicas of humans. For that reason, they
were given this name.

Of course, unaware machines that follow set programming still exist. To differentiate them from
Reploids, they are designated the name “Mechaniloid”. Think of automated cars, construction
machines and other similar machines as examples of them. Regardless, they were created
according to the main principle of science: to make humanity more prosperous. So naturally, their
roles involve working on developments humans are incapable of working on themselves. For
instance, the construction and on-site direction of towering structures, maintaining an orbiting
satellite in space, and so on. These machines only exist to bolster the growth of humanity.

These days, there are Reploids who specialize in compulsory education, Reploid caregivers for
those who need assistance in their daily life, Reploids who become foster parents to orphans, and
the list goes on. Evidently, humans and Reploids live intertwined closely with each other.

Now, what is the “Maverick” that I mentioned in the beginning?

Plainly speaking, it is a generic term for Reploids and Mechaniloids whose thought routines and
programming suffer from a fatal bug. It was created to differentiate the innocent from criminals who
engage in destructive behaviours such as robbery, murder and destruction. The degree of severity
varies, but these actions are all defined as "crimes" under the law. The standards are set by human
ethics, but because Reploids are stronger than their human counterparts, the punishments doled
out to those who commit crimes and become Maverick are far greater than would be warranted
normally.

When Mavericks first appeared in society, they could be dealt with through use of emergency
shutdown devices. Frequent outbreaks and the Mavericks hacking the devices themselves,
however, brought on a gradual increase to the Maverick threat. Humans, with their bodies of flesh
and blood, would only magnify the damage done to themselves if they tried to deal with them on
their own. In addition, outbreaks continued to recur. For these reasons and more, people
established an organization that used Reploids to counter Mavericks, known as the “Maverick
Hunters”.

Like a police force, they maintain public order according to the law and use force against
Mavericks with method called “Maverick Disposal.” Those who have mainly inflicted injury onto
humans and those who intend to cause harm are, after being given a warning, mechanically
disposed of, as the name implies. They are able to completely suppress Mavericks using Reploids
with great battle prowess and a sincere sense of justice. As the “Maverick Wars” continued, the
threat of Mavericks began to prove too much for the Hunters alone, thus leading to the creation of
an armed force called “Repliforce” to combat them on a greater scale. But I digress. Thus,
temporary as it was, we solved the issue of Mavericks, whose existence gave rise to terror.

However... a while later, one Reploid in the Maverick Hunters, the one said to be the greatest and
most honourable, caused an uprising, turning comrades against each other. The organization that
was supposed to uphold world peace was forced to fight against their former members who’d gone
Maverick. The world was plunged into a dire era.

This was the beginning of the “Maverick Wars.”

It left scorch marks on the world, driving people into a corner. Before long, the world changed so
greatly that even Reploids couldn’t help but feel pessimistic about the future. The conflicts were
endless and covered every surface of the globe, leading to the decline of civilization and a loss of
prosperity.

The conflicts against the Mavericks have been long and numerous, but first let me focus the record
on the battle that triggered this abhorrent war. It was this very battle that started it all--the origin of
everything. I will record this valuable piece of history, the evidence of my sins, and store the data
using cutting-edge technology. The log data of Maverick Hunters who participated in battle, as well
as the data from surveillance cameras installed in various places will be combined to form this
record. It might seem excessive, but this is also to ensure there remains a record of how this
recurring war came to be. I hope you will come to understand why this is necessary.

I will record this first battle, and using it as the start, unfurl the story of the hero “Mega Man”. The
contents of this record may be horrifying, deplorable beyond imagination, but you mustn't avert
your eyes, or else nothing will change. Nothing will advance. Therefore, this record is uncensored;
its video and audio have been left completely untouched. I believe it’s perfectly human to want to
avoid that which upsets us. Even among Reploids, I’m sure there are a considerable amount who
feel the same. But, because of that, I believe this is necessary. Because of that, it is imperative I
leave proof of my sins for those to come.

It is my wish that this record proves useful for the scientists of the future.
MAVERICK REPORT #01:
Day of Σ
“Heh heh heh… Why X-- aren’t you a pitiful sight?”

The Ride Armor pins me down, fingers groaning as its grip tightens on me. Against the ground, I
can't see my opponent at all, but I don't need to: I already know him well.

“Grck.... Vile! Have you really gone Maverick!?”

“Obviously. There’s fewer strings attached -- it’s way better. Why don’t you become a Maverick
too?”

“Don’t screw with me!”

He’s being facetious, trying to see if I'll give myself away as a Maverick on top of suggesting it
would be better that way.

“Why… Why are you people doing this!?”

I wonder, do these sound like the words of a former Maverick Hunter?

My name is X.

I’m a B-Class Maverick Hunter in the 17th Elite Unit. Regardless of my rank, it has… become my
duty to fight countless enemies. In the wake of countless tragedies, the Maverick Wars have
begun….

**************

A few hours ago:

I’m with Zero--my mentor, friend, and a Special A-Class Maverick Hunter--when we receive a
report of a Maverick incident. Dispatch sends us to a military facility in the southern part of the city
to investigate.

“Sure is quiet for an incident…”

“No signs of damage, either... Maybe they were mistaken.”

Without a single trace of Mavericks, humans, Reploids, or even Mechaniloids, we conclude that it
was likely a false report, and try to contact Hunter HQ.

“...Huh? That’s weird. I’m not getting any response from HQ.” Zero tries several channels but
encounters static each time.

My luck’s no better.

“I can’t seem to, either.”

Strange. The common and dedicated lines not working?

“...Do you think something’s happened at HQ? Or maybe someone’s jamming the signal nearby.”

“The former’s unlikely… so it must be the latter. X, let’s try to find better reception. Not much more
we can do here.”

“Understood. Let’s hurry, Zero.”

We sweep the area once more to confirm the situation, leaving the matter of our original target, the
military facility, for later. Taking the highway leading back to the city on our Ride Chasers--high-
powered air bikes--we come to a stop upon noticing a disquieting pattern.

“...Huh? Zero, something’s wrong… It’s dark out, but I don’t see a single vehicle anywhere.”

It’s July 4th, 21XX, just past 20:00. On a weekend, there usually aren’t as many cars around, but
for there not to be a single one? To add to that, even the typical Mechaniloids that run around the
clock are nowhere to be found.

“...Looks like something might’ve gone down while we were away, after all.”

When Zero and I headed out, everything was normal: plenty of vehicles and Mechaniloids around
and running. Now? The emptiness is utterly bizarre.

“It feels like all the activity from earlier just up and vanished…” No matter how far and wide we
look, we can’t find anything at all. It’s like a ghost town. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this… Zero,
let’s keep going!”

This city of ours… What is going on?

As our sense of unease grows, Zero and I plunge deeper into the city.

**************

"What... What’s going on!?"

"It's like a warzone... Hey, hang in there! What happened!?"

We've been on the highway for about an hour, but when we finally arrive, the place is demolished,
the Mechaniloids are out of control… And amidst the ruins, we find a young, injured Reploid.

The sheer amount of damage he’d sustained burns itself deeply into my memory.

"This was...caused by a buster...?"

The same kind of weapon I carry caused these injuries: a buster cannon, meant for combat.
You could expect to see damage like this on the body of a Maverick who'd been taken down by a
Hunter. But this Reploid’s no Maverick; he’s a civilian.

"Mmgrck... A... Maverick... Hunter...?"

The young Reploid won't survive his injuries; he’d taken a fatal shot to head. There’s nothing I can
do.

I wonder if he already knows.

With the last of his strength, he ejects a single memory chip from a slot in the side of his head;
Zero palms it without a word.

"Sig... Sigma..."

"Sigma? Did something happen to the Commander?"

"..."

The young Reploid's systems enter terminal shutdown, leaving our questions unanswered. He
appears to be sleeping, but he’s gone.
"What the hell happened here in the last few hours..." Zero mutters under his breath as he lays the
Reploid back on the ground, one hand still balled around the chip.

No matter how much we wish otherwise, there’s nothing we can do for him now. But he's given us
a potential clue; one that we will not waste.

"Zero, let's head back to HQ. I'm starting to worry."

“You’re right. Let's check this chip first, though. We need intel."

Zero inserts the chip into the Ride Chaser's onboard monitor before he's even finished talking.
With a whirr from the reader, footage from the chip begins its playback.

I can’t even begin to grasp what it shows.

"...If this is real, then this isn't just some random incident. This is big."

I can't respond; the words just won’t come out.

I have no idea how to react--not after being shown something like this.

“This is worse than anything we could’ve prepared for. We might be machines, but this is like a
nightmare.”

It truly is a nightmare--a recording that leaves you wishing you could just wake up and leave it
behind.

It’s to be expected: as a Maverick Hunter, you are bound to witness tragedy. What had transpired
here, though, goes far beyond anything I’d ever encountered before. There’s no doubt Mavericks
exist, not anymore.

It’s never crossed my mind that a day could come where I’d go Maverick, too. Not even once. But
this is why we take it upon ourselves to be Maverick Hunters, to protect humans and Reploids who
live peacefully from the threat of mayhem and violence.

In a sense, it’s a way to convince ourselves. You tell yourself that, as a Maverick Hunter, you’ll
never become a Maverick. The reality is that year after year, the number of Mavericks keeps rising.
In spite of that, the Hunters continue to work together to fight for and protect humans and civilian
Reploids from harm.

In this way, we maintain peace.

And yet, the memory chip entrusted to us contains footage of Maverick Hunters slaughtering
civilian Reploids.

**************

“There’s no way… I won’t stand for this!”

I rush down the highway towards Maverick Hunter HQ; an attack en route left our Ride Chasers
destroyed. In light of the message--that Reploid’s last moments--we have to get back to HQ no
matter what.

“I’m going to check the vicinity while I try to find another route. You keep following the highway, X.”

With that said, Zero’s off, abandoning the overpass for the city proper. Nothing bad can possibly
happen to someone like Zero, so I do as told, following the highway towards HQ.

“I can’t believe that Commander Sigma would go Maverick… I just can’t!”

That chip contains evidence of Commander Sigma’s insurrection against humanity itself, and
Hunters who pledged themselves to his cause followed him down that path. The rebellion extends
past this city alone; its banners threaten to smother the whole world. This is a statement, declaring
all humans and any Reploids who defy their rule will be crushed.

“There must be a mistake here, somewhere… There has to be.”

I mutter it to myself like a wish, fighting off Mechaniloids and Reploids blocking my path. Why must
my fellow Reploids become Maverick? Why must we fight against each other?

None of my former comrades can offer an answer.

“Why… Why are you doing this….”

How many Reploids and Mechaniloids have I destroyed by now...

The remains of my fallen comrades fill my scope as more enemies advance towards me. I aim my
buster, feeling an overwhelming sense of dread. Inhale… Exhale… Taking a deep breath, I steel
myself against my apprehensions. Body too tense, I don’t have a second to relax when--

“Huh. Didn’t expect you to come back here alone.”

Before I can even react to the voice that booms out behind me, an enormous figure engulfs my
vision and slams me hard into the ground.

**************

“What’s the matter, X? Can’t even land a single hit on my Ride Armor?”

“Damnit! Fine, then. How about this!”

I unleash all the energy in my buster on Vile, but he easily neutralizes my attack with his own
assault.

“No… No way!”

That shot took everything I had. That charge shot, my special technique and most powerful attack,
had no effect on him whatsoever.

No, I shouldn’t think like that. Even if my attacks don’t work, I couldn’t afford to throw in the towel
now!

“If I can’t take you out with just one hit, then I’ll keep firing until I beat you!”

When Vile suddenly appeared, he trapped me with his Ride Armor. In order to escape, I target the
road around me, firing off buster shots to break it up and create enough space to get free. From
there, I immediately counterattack, but he simply repels all of my shots. Deciding that close combat
puts me at a disadvantage, I keep some distance from Vile and launch a constant barrage of
charged shots. I know that the continuous overuse of my buster will damage it with every shot, but
I have no other option.

“This is it Vile. Either you get destroyed or my arm goes down trying!”

“My my… You sure are acting like some kinda brat pitching a fit, X. It’s about time I shut you up for
good.”

Vile keeps deflecting and even dodging my attacks. He slowly closes the distance between us, his
voice just as cavalier as ever. If he draws just another step closer, I’ll be in a position to get
captured in his massive Ride Armor’s arms again. Suddenly, my entire body seizes up, as if
something’s constricting it tightly. I can’t move!

“Hyaaugh! W--What is this!?”

Looking around, me, I see it: it’s like a net of electricity. Only then do I notice the numerous metal
discs on the ground surrounding where I’ve been caught.

“Is this… An electromagnetic trap!?”

Something like this is typically used against rampaging criminals, or for Mavericks who prove to be
too difficult to handle. Only Maverick Hunters are allowed the use of such devices, but Vile had
once been a Maverick Hunter himself. He must have taken it from storage at Hunter HQ at the time
of the coup d’etat.

“You were so focused on me the whole time, you neglected your surroundings. A rookie mistake
like that is how you got caught in a such a simple trap.”

If only I’d been paying attention, I would have noticed that Vile set this trap right under my nose. I
struggle to break free, but as expected from a trap intended for Mavericks, I accomplish nothing. I
stand no chance against a tool even Mavericks had trouble getting out of.

“You really are just a B-Class after all… What would Sigma want with a wimpy weakling like you
anyway?”

I still can’t move, and find myself once again in the Ride Armor’s grasp. My joints start to creak as
its grip tightens.

“You’ve only got one life, X. You should’ve been more careful with it..”

While he taunts me, that grip tightens further. The trap is already enough, and the Ride Armor
pushes it into overkill territory. After all I’ve heard and seen about Commander Sigma’s uprising,
the weight of the reality finally starts sinking in... The reality that Maverick Hunters have become
the very things they hunt…

“I mean, I could tell you how fun it is to kill people, but I’m not sure you’d be convinced. Oh well,
time to die, X.”

This is bad, this is bad, this is really bad. If things keep up like this, I’m done for. I’ll die without
achieving a thing! Caught in a force without mercy, my joints can only shriek, and my vision begins
to blur. I can hear it. I can feel it throughout my entire body. The sound of metal crunching echoes
throughout my mind. The sound of metal being broken…

-- D E A T H --

When that word comes to me--

“Do anything more to my friend, and I’ll blast your head clean off your shoulders, Vile.”

In a flash of red, I see--

“Tch… So you finally caught up, you blond bastard.”

A Reploid with golden hair fluttering in the wind like a banner of hope as he aims his buster. Zero.

**************

“The situation is… If I must be frank, pretty bad…”

“What’s pretty bad is the fact that you can call this disaster ‘pretty bad’...”

“Honestly, I still can’t believe it...”

After I stumbled into that encounter with Vile, Zero rushed in to save me once he realized what was
happening. I lost consciousness soon after, but when I came to, I found myself at the “Special
Machine Research Facility” underneath Maverick Hunter HQ. Vile had the advantage, but instead
he boarded an airship that suddenly appeared, vanishing without doing anything more.

While I undergo repairs from the damage done by Vile’s assault, we discuss the next plan of action
and what objectives we Maverick Hunters should take. Speaking of, it’s been awhile since I’ve
been here, hasn’t it?

“If this insurrection is truly happening, then the Hunters’ foundation will crumble.”
“I don’t want to believe it myself, but… as a scientist, I cannot deny what my eyes have seen. I
must accept it. But something on this scale has never crossed my mind before…”

This comes from the elderly scientist who personally tends to my repairs. With a mournful
expression, he works meticulously. It’s likely no one else in the entire world can mend a Reploid
faster.

“This must be hitting you hard, Dr. Cain.”

Dr. Cain.

The man known as the world’s greatest scientist, and the one who laid the foundation for Reploid
design. His work is so great, it’s been said that there isn’t a single person alive who doesn’t know
him. Commander “Sigma”, the one leading the insurrection, is said to be his greatest masterpiece.

Commander Sigma had set a shining example in his day-to-day leadership of the Maverick
Hunters. As a Reploid, I had the utmost respect for him, so I still can’t believe he’s gone
Maverick…

No. I just don’t want to believe it. Because if I do, something inside me will shatter. But, saying that,
I just can’t leave it alone.

The truth is, I’d fought with Vile and seen with my very own eyes the countless civilian Reploids
slaughtered by those who’d gone Maverick. And Commander Sigma--no, Sigma, declared war
against the world.

I’d seen the footage too. There is no doubt: Sigma’s gone Maverick.

“Exterminating all humans to create a world just for Reploids… It’s delusional.”

I bite my lip at Zero’s words. If it becomes a world of only Reploids, what would be left?

“Certainly, you Reploids have strength and tenacity that surpass that of humans… but because of
that, we must live in harmony. No life is worth more or less than another. That was what I always
wanted to convey… but there’s no doubt that Sigma would reject that.”

The man before me is probably the one suffering the most in this situation. He’s the father of
Reploid technology, and it’s his greatest masterpiece that just declared war on society. Now, he’ll
be subject to vicious criticism.

“I don’t know what kind of world Sigma’s picturing in his mind,” Zero says evenly, leaning against
the wall nearby with his arms folded, “but if he’s gone Maverick, then we have to take him down.
That’s our job as Maverick Hunters, X.”

Always calm and unwaveringly decisive. That’s Zero for you.

“I know, Zero… Our power is meant to protect. If someone threatens the peace of the world, even if
it’s Commander--no. Even if it’s Sigma, I’ll fight.”

I clench my barely functioning left hand into a fist, confirming the power there. This power I’d been
given to fight with… it was meant to protect. It’s not something to be aimed at people. And right
now… I should use this power for the troubled, elderly man next to us.

“As long as you understand.”

As if he can feel the determination in my heart, Zero leaves with those parting words.
That’s right. Now isn’t the time to be lost. Even now, Sigma’s band of Mavericks are threatening
peace. Having to fight my friends and fellow Reploids will be painful, but there are things in this
world that I must protect.

“Because I’m a Maverick Hunter,” I say, as if needing to hear those words once more for myself.
MAVERICK REPORT #02:
Emperor of the Snowfields
Ice Penguin
“Chill Penguin! Why are you doing this!?”

“Ha! Even if I told a B-Class Hunter--a humanoid like you, you wouldn’t understand Sigma’s
ideals!”

“You don’t know that! Talk to me. I don’t want to fight you, too…!”

“...You really are just a B-Class pushover… That’s why I hate you.”

**************

The day Sigma revolted against humanity, I didn’t waste a second. I became a Maverick and stood
against the world. They always say “People are not born equal,” but nothing exemplified this more
than we Reploids.

Think about it. From the very moment we’re born, we’re Reploids: machines for the purpose of
making the humans’ world prosperous. In other words, as soon as we’re created, we’re already
treated as inferior to humans. No matter how hard we struggle, we can never rise above them.

No matter how far a human falls, they are still human. Some of us don’t even vaguely look human.
As a Reploid modeled after a penguin, specializing in activities located in regions of extreme cold,
I’m the best example.

For me, not being humanoid was the beginning of this inequality.

I consistently aimed to excel as a Maverick Hunter, but because of my characteristics, I was only
deployed to uninhabitable, lonely, cold regions. Many opportunities were denied to me from the
moment of my creation, simply because I was not humanoid.

“X. Have you ever wondered why you’re humanoid?”

Someone like you wouldn’t understand, but still, it wouldn’t hurt to try. Not only that, I’ll use all my
power to deny everything you believe in.

“I have. Not once, not twice, but constantly. It’s been on my mind since my creation. ‘Why aren’t I
humanoid?’”

But thanks to Sigma, I finally have that answer. My many years of resentment, hatred, of
frustration, pressed into my memory like the accumulating weight of a snowbank.

“No… I’ve never thought about it.”

So that’s it… Humanoids really do get treated better. Of course you haven’t thought about it.

“That’s because you’re a sheltered pushover.”

“What do you mean, Penguin? So what if I’m humanoid?”

Oh, I see. Apparently, I had the wrong idea. With our ability to think for ourselves, why would we
ever question our existence? Of course we should. Seems the humanoids never considered that,
though. Then again, I bet they thought they were on equal standing with the humans.

Ha! That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard!

“Do you honestly think you’re on the same level as them?”

“Of course! No one is superior to anyone else. Reploids and humans ought to live in harmony and
support each other! Isn’t that what it means to have a peaceful world?”

Are you serious? Wow, this guy’s completely insufferable!

“Harmony? Support?” I laugh. “Have your lenses gotten foggy?”

Humans and Reploids don’t live in harmony. This world is one where humans use Reploids as a
crutch to survive. Concepts like the “3 Laws of Robotics” are a thing, right? Their mere existence
proves they already hold us in disdain. This idiot can’t even understand something that simple.

“In a ‘peaceful world’ where you walk alongside humans, there’s no place for me. That’s why I
support Sigma’s utopia for Reploids. A world where Reploids are truly appreciated. That world has
no need for humans. To me, they’re the real Mavericks!”

Why am I getting so worked up? This guy’s just a puny B-Class Hunter, and it’s the infamously
naïve X, to boot. He’s hardly a match for me, a Special A-Class who clawed his way up to the top.

“Penguin! What’s left in a future without humans?”

“Enough! It was stupid to even consider talking to you… Just freeze to death!”

**************

“Persistent, aren’t you? I’ll admit, you seem to have gotten better in the short time we haven’t seen
each other. However….!”

X evades my ice attacks, feinting, but it’s not like he can do anything. What could a B-Class do
when all of his buster shots bounce off my ice armor?

“Damnit! Then what about this!”

He starts charging his buster for a shot. However--

“Do you think I’ll wait for you to finish charging that? Eat this!”

With a mighty shout, I hurtle myself straight towards him, coated in an icy armor.

This ice-covered room had been designed to maximize my fighting capabilities. X, on the other
hand, isn’t used to ice, so he can’t move freely. He can see me coming, but he can’t balance, let
alone dodge.

“Arrghhh!”

He takes the full brunt of my charge and slams into the frozen wall behind him, shattering a chunk
of it. He falls to the ground with a clank and a shower of ice shards.

“Well, well, well. Would you look at that! It was a mistake for a B-Class Hunter like you to challenge
me in the first place.”

Buried under the ice, X doesn’t even so much as twitch. It looks like he took a considerable amount
of damage--there’s no movement at all.

“I’ll make you into an ice sculpture later. It’ll serve as a nice present for Sigma.”

Now I’m lagging behind on my orders from Sigma. Maybe I can work my underlings harder and try
to recover the delay…
Wanting to return to my duty, I turn my back on X to leave the room. Suddenly, a flash of light
whizzes past my face with a roar and crashes into the wall.

“Hm... So you lived, huh?”

“Argh… I won’t be finished off… that easily…”

I look behind me. X, despite his injuries, stands on trembling feet and points his buster at me.

I see. Only his willpower seems to have improved any. But in the end, he’s still only a B-Class
Hunter.

“If your attack hadn’t missed, you probably would’ve been promoted from B-Class.”

“I don’t want to shoot an ally in the back.”

He’s still so determined. He’s talking like he hasn’t lost already. And yet, he can barely keep himself
standing. Even now, he wants to irritate me even more.

Ally?

You and I? Allies, you say?

I chuckle at first, but eventually it turns into a raucous guffaw.

“Wha… what’s so funny!?”

Are you kidding me? Even in this situation, even in his condition, he still thinks of me as an ally!
Maybe the chip in his head bugged out a long time ago. And don’t we call the irrational ones
‘Mavericks’?

...Nah, he’s just been under the wrong impression from the get-go.

“X, I have never thought of you or the other Hunters as allies.”

“Wha…?”

Ah, this is pointless. Talking isn’t going to get through to him… I should’ve learned that by now. I’ve
gotta show this moron more clearly that I’m his enemy. If I don’t, he’ll keep calling me his ally in an
infinite loop of presumptuous, self-righteous garbage. I have to make him understand the
difference between the two of us.

“Alright, X. I’ll prove that I’m your enemy… with this!”

I send an order to the computer that controls the room’s functions. The dome’s frozen walls
gradually grow transparent until they’re easily seen through.

Now, all of my hard work is ready for X’s viewing pleasure.

“What… How could you!”

His eyes, which held such innocence before, fill with rage. Now, he understands what kind of hell
he entered; the idea that I am his enemy finally sinks in.

Icy statues of frozen Reploids make up the walls of the room.

“PENGUIN!”
With a roar, X charges at me, his buster humming with power. Finally, he gets it. Not that it
changes the situation, though. Those shots just keep bouncing off my armor.

“What a change, seeing you attack with such murderous intent! But a B-Class is still a B-Class.”

X only screams in response, blinded by his rage. He keeps firing his buster, ignoring his limits.
Does he really think he’ll hurt me if he just keeps shooting?

I’ve wasted enough of my time messing around with this B-Class pipsqueak. It’s about time I end
this.

“I’ll freeze you just like one of these statues! Take this! Shotgun Ice!”

<<SHOTGUN ICE>>

Witness the ultimate freezing breath, the pride of the Lord of the Snowy Plains!

Blasted by a sub-zero snowstorm capable of freezing even lava, X freezes into a large ice block,
his buster still aimed.

By the time he realizes it, it’s too late. In the blink of an eye, he’s turned into a motionless,
humanoid ice sculpture.

I can still see and hear, but my body can’t move… So this is Penguin’s Shotgun Ice attack… What
power…

“---”

What are you saying, Penguin?

“---”

No… Stop it! Stop hurting innocent people! What gives you the right to do such an awful thing?

“---”

There might be a chance that everyone can still be saved! What good comes from doing this?

“---”

I beg you… Please stop…

If I had the strength… If only I had more power… I want the power to help others. Even if I’m alone
in my fight, I want to be able to protect so many others… My friends… I want the strength that will
grant me this. I refuse to give up our peaceful future like that. I want power!

Yes, I must not give up.

I must not give up here!

**************

“Finally shut up?”

I stare at X’s frozen statue, taking the time to relax. Now I can carry out Sigma’s orders. He
entrusted me with an important task to complete. It’s unacceptable to be late or fail the mission just
because of some nuisance like X. Originally, I planned on sending the frozen Reploids as a kind of
gift to Sigma, but the run-in with X ruined my mood.

“Tsk, if I give him something like these useless ice sculptures, it’ll just be annoying, so why don’t I
destroy them all instead?”

When it comes to interior design, you should only send something that fits the receiver or the
place, otherwise it’d just be oversized junk. Like X, all the peons here are B-Class or lower.

It’s just as well. If I don’t present something like the frozen statue of Special A-Class Hunter Zero,
that pretentious artist Octopus will harass me with endless snark. While I have no obligation to
comply with that guy’s artistic senses, excuuuuuuuse me for wanting to avoid tiring, unnecessary
verbal abuse.

“Sigh. Dealing with all these peons is a bother…”

I step toward the closest frozen Reploid, reaching out to destroy it--

There’s a sudden thump from the statue of X.

“...Huh?”

For a fleeting moment, I think I see X move within the ice.

“Am I seeing things? No, it can’t be…”

Yet there’s a weird feeling in my gut that stops me short of saying “It’s impossible.” Just to be sure,
I raise the sensitivity of my ocular sensors to peer into the ice… Hey, is this for real? Not only is
this guy still conscious in the ice, he hasn’t lost his audio-visual functions!

“Gwaa! Isn’t this interesting?”

In that case, I’ll let X experience the consequences of opposing Sigma. I’ll show him firsthand what
reality is.

“You can see and hear this, can’t you X? Right now, I’m going to destroy each of these Reploids
one by one. I’ll show you the reality of your situation: that you can’t protect a single person, that
you are just B-Class cannon fodder.”

The ice groans.

At my words, I can see X tremble within the ice again. I ought to praise the guy for the fact that his
systems are still functioning even after taking a direct hit from Shotgun Ice. He may be a B-Class
peon, but he’s still a Hunter assigned to the 17th Elite Unit.

But a weakling can only be a weakling.

This guy doesn’t even have a single watt of power left to change his hopeless situation. Now, if
Zero was the one who came here, I would’ve been in trouble. I guess the Maverick Hunters have
been stretched so thin they can’t even make a decent decision anymore. This should prove to be
good news to Sigma, too.

“Well then, who should I destroy first… Alright, let’s start with the guy with the most annoying face.”

The ice creaks.

I turn my back on X’s frozen form to face my chosen target. I don’t feel like just smashing his little
friends into pieces, I’m also interested in seeing X’s resentful face permanently frozen in place. But
in this state, I can’t tell the difference between all these peons. Without any unique external
features or equipment, they’re just rabble. It’s such a waste of valuable memory to record these
small fries.

“Peons who don’t even have enough value to be memorable, huh… Is there any significance to
your existence as Reploids?”

Now, who to destroy? While thinking about that, one guy suddenly catches my eye: a humanoid
Reploid sporting a blue frame. It’s not that he has any special characteristics, but I keep going back
to him. I have to laugh.

“Alright, let’s start with this guy! Luck has run out for he who looks like X!”

I extract the frozen statue of the blue Reploid and place him just a bit away from the wall. While
adjusting the distance, I also position it in a suitable angle.

Directly in front of X.

The creaking continues.

The reality that you can do nothing, the reality of your own weakness. The reality of this world with
inequality constantly shadowing you. With the cold blooded death of his comrades, I will teach this
B-Class weakling all of this!

...Huh?

It sounds like something’s been cracking for a whi-

“I WON’T LET YOU!”

“Gwaaahhhh!!!!”

All of a sudden, with a resounding cry from behind, I’m sent flying through the air by an enormous
force. I don’t know what happened, but I do know one thing: I was attacked by “someone”. The
proof is right there on my back.

I catch my balance just before I crash into the ground, looking back where the voice and attack
came from.

“Gwah! What the heck just happened? Hunter reinforcements??”

My feet scrape against the ice as I adjust my battle stance to prepare to deal with those
reinforcements, but--

“I haven’t been beaten yet, Penguin!”

It's X! He escaped the statue created by my Shotgun Ice, and now faces me with his fist raised.

“You bastard… how did you break out of that ice!”

“I don’t know… but my burning spirit gave birth to a miracle!”

It’s infuriating that my proud work of ice is shattered into pieces, and now X is calling it some sort of
miracle.

“You, a machine, making miracles? Gwah gwah! There’s a limit to such unscientific garbage!”

“It’s alright if you don’t believe me, but I’ll make it happen as many times as I need to!”

The meekness in X’s eyes up until now vanishes with his declaration.

How? Why was he able to break my ice? All I can come up with is he temporarily overheated the
solar power reactor in his buster, and used the heat to quickly melt the ice from the inside -- that’s
the most likely way.

I should have knocked him out. I screwed up.

Ultimately though, it’s a matter of how much he was saved by chance. Because of one lucky move,
a “miracle” as he called it, X is suddenly overflowing with confidence.

That fact, above all, is the most infuriating.

“Then freeze again! This time, I’ll make sure your CPU gets frozen along as well!”

I fire Shotgun Ice at X again! Compared to the last time, the hyper-cold air used has a higher
concentration of freezing gas. This is my version of a charged attack. There’s no Reploid around
that can take this lethal ice breath and stay conscious!

I’ll freeze his internal circuitry and memory chip in its entirety!

“Gwah, gwah! Die this time, X!”

“Where are you looking Penguin? I’m over here!”

“What--!?”

The voice came from behind me?

I immediately whirl around, and there he is.

When I look carefully from the place X was standing before to where he is now, I understand.
There are tracks gouged in the ground.

“What’s with this speed? Were you hiding your power before?”

Not even I, with my capabilities, can hide the shock. X must’ve taken less than a second to dodge
my ice breath as it was launched. Though we’re Reploids, the only one who could take less than a
second to cover this much distance, to my knowledge, is Boomer Kuwanger, a specialist in high-
speed battles.

I can’t believe it. The plain-looking, humanoid X might have been hiding this kind of functionality?

“My wish to defeat you has made me evolve!”

To my utter disbelief, X throws the word “evolve” at me. First a miracle, and now evolution?

“Don’t… don’t give me that nonsense! You’re saying that you, a Reploid, are evolving?! As if--”

As if you’re human?

Human. I’ve never been so furious as right now.

“Gwahhhh! Don’t get cocky, X!”

To us Reploids, there is no evolution. That’s because we’re machines. All we can do is accumulate
experience to broaden the range of our abilities. You might call that “evolution”, but we machines
are limited to the specs we are created with. To break past those limits, the only method we have is
to change our parts and undergo reconstruction. Therefore, X’s speed has to be an ability given to
him beforehand.

That revelation, that reality, really grinds my gears.

“You think I’ll accept that you were given the capability to rival a Special A-Class?!”

Fine. Sure. He had that ability all along. I’ll acknowledge that much. But even if a B-Class suddenly
pulls this power out of nowhere, we Special A-Classes still have more experience! If X plans on
running around with that speed to evade my attacks, all I need to do is make sure there’s nowhere
to run.

“No matter how fast you are, you can’t avoid this!”

As X dashes out of sight, I start to spin in the opposite direction, firing Shotgun Ice continuously.
Gradually, my attacks transform into an enormous, freezing tornado. The tornado expands until it’s
impossible to dodge unless you take flight. Before long, it’s strong enough to bury everything in the
room, dying my vision snow white.

After a few more seconds, we’ll be able to hold X’s last rites again. That’s how I imagine it… and
decide it will be.

But X has other plans.

After the tornado dies down, I promptly search for X’s ice statue, but no matter where I look, he’s
nowhere to be seen. Frantic, I scan every nook and cranny as I back up to a nearby wall, and then
it hits me.
“You.... You climbed up the wall--!”

There, right above me, having clambered up the wall by kicking against it until he was close to the
ceiling.

“Are you kidding me?!”

This shouldn’t be possible for the likes of X…. the likes of a B-Class Reploid!

“Don’t oppose me, you mere B-Class… B-Class peon!”

How could this B-Class surpass me? I’m Special A-Class! I climbed my way up to the top with my
own strength!

“B-Class, A-Class… It’s because you’re so obsessed with these things that you’ve lost sight of
what’s important!”

And now this: X telling me not to obsess over status. When my pride was smarting!? Don’t
obsess!? There’s only so much joking I can take! Are you saying you don’t know how important
status is to us Reploids? Do you need me to show you!?

How outrageous can one person possibly be!?

“My obsession with being a Special A-Class is because that’s a barometer of my true ability! No
wonder you’re a B-Class!”

No, I don’t plan on trying to understand the likes of X. As if I’d even want to.

“Though I’m no longer one, a Special A-Class Hunter’s judgement will always be Special-A.”

I speed around to the frozen blue Reploid from before and place my hand threateningly on his
head.

“Well then, X. If rank doesn’t matter, surely you can handle this, right?”

“You coward! Resorting to something this low now of all times!”

Even if you’re hiding some strong abilities, you’re still a soft-hearted fool. And that’s why you are a
B-Class.

“This is a hostage situation. After all, I’m a Maverick. I don’t do nice things like playing fairly.”

Did you really think we were going to have a gentlemanly duel? To me, everyone in this room is
just a hostage I can use against X. And using them to bring him down is a perfectly logical and
rational judgement for a Reploid to make.

Well, what will you do? For some reason, X acts as if he’s taking a breath, and then--

“He… he’s even faster than before!?”

With a high-pitched sound, he vanishes. Panicking, I look everywhere, but I just can’t find him.

Fine! You leave me no choice! I’ll go ahead and get rid of this hostage! Just as I’m about to execute
him--

What the hell…?

“Why… why must I fight those who were once my allies… Answer me, Penguin!”

“Are those… tears? Are you crying!?”

He is.

On top of that, he’s making a total mess, just like how a human would cry. What the hell is with this
meaningless feature? What advantage is there to installing this kind of function into us Reploids?

“How far… how far do you plan on mocking me?!”

“But, because of you, I’ve recalled something important, Penguin….”

Around the center of my back, I feel cold steel touch me. At the same time, I hear X’s voice. It’s
only a moment, but during that short pause in his words, I turn around and bathe him in freezing
air. Or at least, I try to, but X’s words continue, faster than I can act.

“--I... am a Maverick Hunter.”

An explosion roars through my body. X’s face fills my vision as it starts failing. As usual, that stupid
face is gentle, and still crying. Not only can he evolve, he is even equipped with the feature to cry
like a human…

Ah, dammit. He really does... piss… me off….

 MAVERICK REPORT #03:
Thunder King of the Powerful Speedy
Fists
Spark Mandrill
“Mandrill! Why are you following Sigma!?”

“Following? That’s stupid. I’m just seizing the opportunity.”

“Opportunity…? For what!?”

“Ain’t it obvious? Freedom!”

**************

After my battle with Penguin, I receive word that the large-scale plant powering 70% of the city has
been occupied by Mavericks. With the city cloaked in darkness, I rush to the site as fast as I can.
Waiting for me is a Reploid modelled after a monkey: the Special A-Class Hunter, “Spark Mandrill”,
formerly of the 17th Elite.

Why must comrades fight one another…?

Once again, I’m pointing my buster at someone who was once an ally. Because I am a Maverick
Hunter, I resign myself to battle. Would this continue forever? My heart feels like breaking at the
thought, so I decide to focus on the situation at hand.

Mandrill said he was occupying the power plant for freedom… But this?

“Stealing the city’s energy supply for yourself… that’s what you call freedom!?”

“Well, there’s that, but it’s bigger‘n that.”

“Bigger…?”

As he says that, Mandrill slowly lowers his arms and looks into my eyes with a fond, nostalgic
expression. Those eyes... There shouldn’t be any reason for a look like that, at least under these
circumstances…

“What do--”

“Hey X,” Mandrill interrupts, “don’tcha feel caged, being bossed around by humans every day of
your life?” Without even waiting for my response, he continues. “I do. A lot!”

Slowly, his nostalgic expression morphs into anger and hatred.

“Look, my body uses a tonna energy. The humans built me this way’n put a limit on the energy
supply I could use. But why should we listen to their orders? We were built with power and better
abilities! Protecting humans? Screw that! If they’re so weak that they can’t even protect
themselves, then they should die. I ain’t got reason to give up my freedom for pathetic weaklings--”
He continues on and on while I say nothing and just listen. Eventually, his tirade ends with a simple
conclusion.

“S’why I welcomed Sigma’s uprising. S’all.”

But that reason is far too simple and selfish. Without thinking, I raise my voice.

“That’s why you caused a city-wide blackout!?”

“Pretty much. Sigma freed me. I gotta pay him back, s’all. Don’t really give a crap about his crazy
ideas.”
“Then what about the humans who created you? Shouldn’t you pay them back too?”

“X, haven’tcha ever wanted something so badly?” Mandrill inches closer to me. There’s something
lethargic about his movement, as if he’s exhausted. “Like, havin’ all the energy to yourself or… Oh I
dunno, gettin’ promoted to Special A-Class Hunter?”

Obviously, even I have selfish desires. Reploids are programmed with those feelings to develop
their own personalities. But even though those traits were artificially created and given to us, I have
no problems with that.

“Well, I do have my own desires... But that doesn’t mean I should use others as stepping stones to
get them! Everything I want can come after we achieve peace!”

Thanks to these turbulent times, there are some things I can’t obtain. I think I’ll find it in a world
where everyone is living happily. However, in a world full of grief and sorrow, there’s not a single
thing I’d want. That’s why I’ve chosen to fight.

“After peace, huh…?”

Mandrill scratches his cheek, mulling over my words for a moment, before returning with a
question.

“In that peaceful world ya keep yammering on about, are Reploids supposed t’serve humans?”

“Yes. We have much stronger bodies, so we must support them.”

It’s just common sense. Maverick or not, it should be obvious to someone who was once a Hunter,
but it seems like that isn’t the case with Mandrill.

“Yeah, I getchu now. The inequality of peace, huh?”

“What…”

Before I can process the meaning of his words, he interrupts with another reply.

“Is that ittt?!?!!”

With a loud boom, the ground suddenly cracks beneath Mandrill’s feet. His demeanor changes,
now radiating rage off every inch of his face.

“In your version of peace, humans are always above us! Why do Reploids gotta bow to them?!
Why do we gotta be their slaves?!”

There’s no end to the fury in his words as he continues his violent outburst. While stomping and
pounding the ground violently, Mandrill continues to speak.

“Even our top guy, Sigma, ranks below their crooks!”

“It’s not like that! You’re only focusing on who’s superior and who’s inferior!”

“Because it’s true! We Reploids aren’t supposed ta hurt them, but they get ta decide if we live or
die!”

The way Mandrill puts it, he seems to think humans have the absolute right to destroy Reploids.
But that’s false; no one has that right. If a human tried to destroy an innocent Reploid, they too
would be charged with a felony as serious as murder. There may be a kernel of truth to his words,
but the world we live in isn’t overrun by inequality like he says.
“A human who hurts a Reploid will be charged with a felony. And if that’s the case, than naturally
Reploids who hurt humans should also be charged with a felony! Why do you keep dismissing
humans just because you think they’re weak?!”

His-- no, their viewpoint is biased towards justice for Reploids…

Why won’t they consider the humans’ point of view? When you talk about justice for just one side,
you get wars like this.

“Why do you keep talking from only your perspective?”

Mandrill sighs in exasperation. “Ahh, alright, I’m done. You’re too annoying.”

In the end, Mandrill and I can’t see eye-to-eye. It’s for this reason that many Reploids like him will
turn Maverick. Thinking about it, our world may have always harboured such discontent. With
Sigma as the trigger, all of their swelling anger finally burst, causing them to bare their teeth.

“Come at me, X. I’ll shut ya up with sheer force!”

**************

“Ah, weak, so weak… Penguin lost ta this kinda weakling? It ain’t even funny.”

An electrical shock that tails its target at every angle, Mandrill’s “Electric Spark” is difficult to evade
with a dash or wall-climb.

“Kickin’ up the wall to climb it though? Talk about surprising! But in the end, you’re just a B-Class
weakling.”

Because of that, I haven’t been able to land a single hit on Mandrill. His human-sized ball of
electricity relentlessly assaults my metal body. My body’s circuitry is wailing…

“Damn… my body…. Can’t move….”

“We’re machines, man. Electricity’s lethal to us.”

He’s right. For the first time, I directly experienced its power.

Mandrill continues gleefully. “Of course, this means I was one of the strongest Maverick Hunters!”

Combat-type Reploids are, to some extent, equipped with electricity-resistant materials. Thankfully,
this allowed me to keep my consciousness. Non-combat models, however, would’ve had their
circuitry and somatic cells burnt to a crisp instantly.

Considering this…I can’t leave him be. Due to his selfishness, Mandrill’s mayhem is affecting
innocent humans and Reploids. That alone is enough justification for a Maverick Hunter like me.

That’s right. I have to change my thinking…. What’s in front of me is a Maverick!

“Even so…. Here….. Here, I must… stop…. You…!”

“Keep barkin’, small fry.”

Suddenly, my head is grabbed from behind and slammed into the ground. Sparks fly across my
vision. My body screeches and smells foul, like something is burning. Only my consciousness is
unaffected; I can’t move a single arm or leg.
“Hahaha! This is the real world, X!”

An enemy that utilizes electricity to attack; I never expected it to be so overwhelming, and I’ve only
taken two or three shots. Any Reploid who continuously received these blows would find their
entire circuitry fried. Something seems odd, though. Even though it’s his specialization, Reploids
shouldn’t be able to generate this amount of electricity by themselves. There must be some kind of
trick to it…

I hear Mandrill’s raucous laughter, soon petering out into the distance. At once, I realize what is out
of place in my memory.

A human-sized ball of electricity? Strange…it should only be fist-sized at most.

“Damn…. What’s going on….”

Clearly, Electric Spark’s power has increased. And several times over, at that.

“I gotta say, Sigma’s too soft. If we don’t teach ya small fry a lesson in superiority, ya get all cocky
and try t’rebel against us.”

Little by little, anger begins to seep into me.

“Lissen, there’s strong guys n’ weak guys in this world. The weak are only food for the strong to
live. Chill Penguin got beat ‘cause he’s a weakling, and you were the strong guy.” Pausing briefly,
Mandrill continues. “And ‘cause I’m beatin’ you, I’m even stronger! Anyways, I’m done messin’
around. It’s time to die! Electric Spark!”

Amidst the sound of electrical buzzing and burning, the smell of burnt concrete mixes with the
stench of searing metal...I scream; my body’s circuitry feels blistering, torched even further. At this
rate, I’ll lose consciousness. If that happens, it’s over for me. I can’t afford it. I’ve got to stand up
and stay cognizant. Please body, move!

“Whooa, I can’t believe you can stand after all those attacks!”

With a splitting headache and strained body, I find the strength to stand, supporting my crumbling
joints. My view is blurry, but I could hear the echo of Mandrill’s excited voice. Mustering my
strength, I threw a punch, trying to hit him while he’s doing a cheerful dance. With a few quick
steps belying his large figure however, he puts distance between us.

Come to think of it… Mandrill… he’s a monkey-type Reploid, isn’t he? He’s got devastating electric
attacks, and his mobility surpasses humanoids… Unbelievable.

“.....----.............”

I try to reply, but nothing comes out of my mouth. The attack earlier almost fried my vocal circuitry.
In front of me, Mandrill sways his large body from side to side, giving me a look that clearly says
‘whatcha gonna do now?’

Haha… wonderful. Now I’m real angry.

Sure, my attacks won’t hurt him that much. But… if my arm can move... if I’m still conscious, then I
can only focus on repeating whatever I’m still able to do. The only thing I won’t do? Give up.

“I...I’ll…. show you….”

Using all my strength, I aim my buster at Mandrill. I don’t know how or why his electric attacks have
increased in power… and if I don’t figure that out, my chances of winning are slim. Even so, I’ve
got to show him I’m not backing down.

I will not yield to Mandrill or to Sigma.

“Argh, I don’t like those eyes!”

Mandrill’s body starts to crackle with sparks. If those hit me again, I’m done for. So no matter what,
I’ve got to avoid his blasts and find his weakness --

--? Wait.

Wait a second, I think I see something. Mandrill’s retreating, putting distance between us, and I
realize... Mandrill’s body charges the Spark, but if I look closer, there’s a current flowing up from
the ground into him.

That’s it! He’s using the power plant itself to boost his attacks! Treating the floor plating like a
battery terminal! If I’m right, then I know just what to do about that, though... I’m not even sure if
this is going to work. Doctor Cain once told me that I have a special ability within me… I’ve got no
choice. I have to believe this’ll work.

I evade Mandrill, and focus on my Buster. Mandrill is only throwing punches. It feels like he’s
stalling for time to recharge the Electric Spark after throwing so much of it at me.

Chill Penguin, I need your power now. Please, I beg you, share your strength with me!

As I reach out, my arm resounds with a click, and there is an intense, uncomfortable feeling of
parts moving within.
“--Let’s go, Mandrill! I’ll show you my potential!”

I fire - not my regular solar bullet - but Chill Penguin’s special weapon, a burst of frigid ice. My shot
catches Mandrill, encasing half of his body in ice.

Mandrill shrieks, “I-Impossible! Shotgun Ice?!”

I can’t believe it either, but it looks like Doctor Cain had been right when he told me my internal
systems could handle the special weapons of other Reploids. Chill Penguin’s weapon chip hadn’t
done anything for me until now, so I thought Cain was wrong, but…

“How? How can you use Penguin’s weapon!? You ain’t even made for the cold!”

His demeanor has changed completely; with half his body frozen, he flusters.

“Strange, isn’t it… maybe he wants to stop you too?”

“Quit messin’ with me!”

Mandrill throws a tantrum, pounding and bashing at his frozen parts. He’s trying to chip the ice off
his feet so he can reconnect to the power plant’s energy. Useless. I know better than anyone how
strong that ice is.

“The tables have turned, haven’t they Mandrill?”

“Huh, you think I’m done? Ya dumbass B-class!!”

I hear a loud crack, and Mandrill’s struggles shatter the ice. Free, he lumbers toward me.

“Penguin’s lame ice ain’t gonna hold me! I’mma choke the life outta ya, X!”

He swings his fist at me, the electricity sparking within back to its normal amount now that he lost
access to the facility’s energy. However, it’s still fast as a bullet, faster than one would expect from
someone his size. Normally, any Reploid would be crushed and fried on the spot. But it never
connects. Not because I’m special or superior or anything like that. No, for a simpler reason. His
arm vibrates and snaps off long before it reaches me.

“No...way…. Auugh--”

Far too late, Mandrill understands what is happening to him.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t have been so dismissive of the abilities of another Special A-Class Hunter.
You lose, Spark Mandrill.”

Shotgun Ice is cold enough to destroy even Reploid ceratanium armor. Spark Mandrill is equipped
with parts resistant to heat and electricity, since he uses electrical attacks. However, he’s strained
those tempered parts far beyond their tolerances in our fight. Unable to vent the energy he’s using,
half of him has become a giant mass of superhot electrified steel, and the other half, frozen by
Shotgun Ice, has become stressed and brittle. Shotgun Ice is even stronger than I’d expected,
compromising Mandrill’s body to the point of shattering. It isn’t the only reason, but it doesn’t help
anything either.

“You know, I only escaped because my whole body was frozen…” Maybe I was just lucky that time.

But Chill Penguin’s ‘lame’ weapon has defeated Spark Mandrill.

**************
“Darn… I’m more hurt than I thought.”

Now that I’ve retired Mandrill and the power plant has been liberated, I want to make my way back
to Doctor Cain’s lab for repairs. Normally, I would use a transporter to return to Hunter HQ, but
Navigator has alerted me to interference in the area. With no other choice, I’m forced to move a
certain distance from the power plant before transporting. In the state I’m in, however, it’s
extremely difficult to even walk properly. The designated point, an Energen Crystal mining site, is a
bit far from the power plant. Worst case scenario, I’ll take some of the crystals to replenish my
energy, even if their purity isn’t optimal.

An hour passes by as I struggle past the mine hills, and in front of me stands a new Maverick.

“I see… thou hast grown considerably, X.”

“What are you… why? Armored Armadillo!”

The 8th Armored Division’s former commander, the very picture of fortitude and vigor with a strong
moral compass; an ideal Hunter. Long ago, he helped me understand what it meant to be a
Maverick Hunter. Now he stands here, blocking my path. I don't want it to be true, but all signs
point toward him having gone over to Sigma's side.

“Well… if one is said to be strong, wouldst thou not find it tempting to obtain proof?”

“What proof?!”

Armadillo pauses, closing his eyes for a short moment, before sending a piercing glare at me.

“I see… thou hast not been informed of anything…”

I sense a distinct emanation of hostility from him -- a spirit found on the battlefield that could only
come from a ‘warrior’. It’s not anger. Rather, it’s quiet, murderous intent. How could someone like
him become a Maverick of Sigma’s army...?

“Whether thou truly hast the ‘potential’; that is what I seek to affirm.”

“...‘potential’? What are you talking about?”

While responding, I am mindful of the distance between Armadillo and I. The air of ‘hostility’
surrounding him never wavers, even now as we speak. That aura confirms to me that battling is
the only option; my words are meaningless.

“Whilst thou anguishes, thou grows in the midst of battle; even the weapons of thy enemies are
made to become thine. A Reploid with hidden, unlimited potential…. That is the rumoured ‘Mega
Man’.”
I only see certainty in Armadillo’s eyes.

Even I’ve heard of the urban legend of Mega Man. In the past, Sigma and Doctor Cain spoke about
it. It’s a legend every Reploid recognizes.

----- They say, Mega Man is a machine that evolves.

----- They say, Mega Man can take his enemy’s power as his own.
----- They say, Mega Man can surpass the limitations of machines.
----- They say, Mega Man has a soul no different than humans.

“Are you saying you became a Maverick over a legend as ambiguous as that!?”
“But it is not ambiguous. Thou art proof of it, X,” Armadillo said, pointing at me.

“So you’re saying I’m Mega Man. Given the situation, that’s as if--as if you’re saying that I’m the
trigger of this war!?”

“Yes, that is what I am saying.”

“How...dare you?!”

I’m at fault? You're all off hurting the innocent, people and Reploids alike. You're causing the world
to spiral into a vortex of chaos and despair. And now you want to blame this; your actions, all of
it...on me?

Indignation washes over me. My arm stings of irritation, and a flood of angry energy wells up inside
it. I hastily ready myself to unleash it, when suddenly my body is flying through the air, following a
loud thud.

“Wh-Who..?!” I stagger, coughing.

I’m attacked again from behind, with enough force to pierce through my body. It’s not Armadillo. My
vision, blurring and darkening, notices the shadow of a violet-coloured Reploid.

“Passing out already? You’re no fun.”

That ill-tempered and crass voice, the familiar colour; there’s no doubt it’s Vile.

“Thou art still too weak… mayhap, when thou rises to greater heights, we shall meet again.”

Vile’s attack is too much, and my body is too broken from my previous battle with Mandrill.
Armadillo’s words are barely audible as I feel myself slip into unconsciousness.
MAVERICK REPORT #04:
The forbidden land
Dr. Cain
“What a disgrace…”

X was defeated by Armadillo in the Energen Crystal Mines. I had him rescued after he’d collapsed,
and was checking the footage that remained in his memory as I unconsciously grasped my head.
Not only at Armadillo being on Sigma’s side, but at the words he’d pronounced.

“I can’t believe they know about “Mega Man”...”

This word was tightly related to the origins of X, and if the cause of Sigma’s rebellion was in this
rumor / urban legend of “Mega Man”, one could say irrevocably that I, Dr. Cain, was the literal
cause for this war. One could say that my past had finally caught up with me.

“I guess I’m paying the consequences of having awakened you...”

I talked to X as he slept in the maintenance capsule. He slept in a peaceful manner and his
expression was no different from that of a human. I couldn’t help but curse my inability to protect
that kind sleeping face. Sending him to the battlefield was indeed a mistake…

“Maybe I must tell you the whole tale one of these days…”

He probably can’t hear my words, but nevertheless I felt like I should tell him about my regrets.
Because I’ve lied about some things to him. But they weren’t to protect my rights or my already
earnt benefits. Depending on the situation, the truth that I’ve hidden might make X the enemy of
humans. X is a hope for both for me and for humanity. It wasn’t an old man’s envy, it’s a fact that
he’s the hope within this world of warfare.

Only X can stop the berserk Sigma. Why do I sound so sure of it? That involves his origins and the
history of Repliroids. Maybe I can talk about my past for a while… My memories steadily go back in
time. This happened a long, long time ago. Back when I was but a young scientist and Repliroids
didn’t yet exist…

It’s the tale of how I met X.

**************

Now we must go back about 60 years in time…

“What on Earth… is this!?”

In front of my younger self stood a huge cylindrical capsule that had been dug up. What was more;
a humanoid robot was sleeping inside of it.

“Could this be… an autonomous thinking robot?”

About 100 years in the past, the research and development of autonomous thinking robots had
been tacitly forbidden. Both technology and theory had become wholly stagnated and I can’t affirm
for sure that there’s no-one who hasn’t inherited that. Theory and tech are only preserved if they
are actually used, and then begin to mature. So why was the tech of autonomous thinking robots
stagnated?

The answer is simple: because a war involving these robots had happened. The war lasted for a
long time, but, fortunately, before the world could collapse, the war ended. You could say that there
was a battle between an evil scientist and a righteous one. Due to the existence of this infamous
piece of history, that’s what led to the long-lasting stagnation of autonomous thinking robots’
development.
I was young at the time but I was a scientist based on both genetics and robot engineering, and I
secretly researched on my own to try to bring that tech back into the light. However, I was but a
youngster calling himself a scientist and with no reputation whatsoever. There were few places that
would cooperate or allow for such research, as well as even fewer scientists; and, on top of it, the
idea of “thinking” was too cutting-edge, to the point only robots with a very simple thinking program
installed on them were made.

Labs and corporations that had more advanced equipment and scientists would cooperate if I was
able to earn some fame, but being the youngster I was, I wouldn’t be allowed in, and there was a
limit to how much I could do by myself.

So that’s why I headed to the site where the lab of a scientist written about in old data, the one who
developed the young robot that could think, “Mega Man”, had been at… And discovered a hidden
room deeper into the ruins. Even if he had been concealed from history, data will inevitably remain
somewhere… And I was skilled at finding things purposely hidden.

The name of this scientist was “Thomas Light”, often referred to as “Dr. Light”. In the past, he was
named “father of robotics”, and he would be dragged into the whirl of the war that would led to the
banning of autonomous thinking robots, leading to him vanishing from the center stage of history;
he was literally a genius of his century.

What I found hidden deep within the ruins of his lab, within the basement room, was also a young
robot. He was colored blue, just like the “Mega Man” spoken of in records, and who’d saved the
Earth many times.

Where do these get their energy from? Despite that the equipments in the hidden room were about
100 years old, several were still working. There was also a lot of research data left behind by Dr.
Light apart from his robot. What would posteriorly be named “Energen Crystals”, a new type of
energy, were mined from here and then scattered across the world.

What impressed me the most was the footage data next to the capsule where X was sealed at. It
showed an old man with white hair… He looked like he wouldn’t live for much longer, and was
efforting himself to tell something to someone else, and signal noise was mixed in. It was out of
focus, and his voice was mixed in with unpleasant static, making it hard to understand him, so I
operated the machines on the room and tried to focus the footage.

There’s no doubt about it, this man is “Thomas Light” himself. So I must know about this robot that
he left behind. I, Dr. Cain, am a scientist. A type of human that’d like some previous explanation
before opening Pandora’s box. I rewinded the footage data and listen to his words again, now from
the start. The footage plays again.

“KZZZ… My name is Thomas Light. The scientist who designed and developed “Mega Man X”. I’ve
given X a special ability that no other robot has ever had. The ability to think, to worry, and then
undertake actions. It means that he hides the possibility of evolving, just like lifeforms do.

If he were to break the rules of robotics by his own will, then no-one will be able to stop him, and
the end result will be something truly horrifying. If I have 30 years’ time, I can confirm his safety, but
one’s life is very short, unfortunately enough. I didn’t have time to do that. That’s why I’m sealing
him and an inspection capsule that will check his safety, in this location.

If this seal is to be undone in a distant future, X will surely bring peace to the world. I strongly
believe that it will come to happen… But also anxious at the same time. That he might be dragged
into the war named “evolution”...

People of the future, X is my… No, the world’s hope… Please don’t forget that! BEEP!”

Mega Man X.
This was Dr. Light’s masterpiece, left behind as his memento, something into which he poured his
last years as the development of autonomous thinking robots was banned and the world was
decaying. But since one’s life is short, it’d seem he was unable to check all of X’s functions. That’s
why he sealed him in a capsule that would automatically check various clauses after his death.

His persitancy was impressive. Or, rather, this might’ve been what he feared. X has thinking ability
close to that of humans, can question himself, keep on thinking, and is able to reach an answer;
but, at the same time, it hides the possibility of him breaking the “3 laws of robotics” out of his own
will.

“Possibilities” are elements that can become both hope and despair.And that must be why Dr. Light
sealed X so deeply into the ground. One should not, in any circumstances, turn on a robot which
you don’t know how dangerous it can really be. As a fellow scientist, I might have to respect his will
and leave X to continue sleeping.

But, I… At the time, I… Was seduced by the technology that a genius of the past had left behind
and the thinking robot that stood and existed before my eyes, and thus brought X back with me to
my own lab.

Looking back at it, this was probably the first of many mistakes I have committed.

**************

It’s been about 20 years since I brought X back with me to my lab. I’ve yet to activate him. Without
waking him up, I’ve been learning of the design philosophy fostered into him and stored it. That
might’ve been my fear towards an unknown science. I wanted to keep X sleeping until I was able to
understand the basis that made him a robot.

One of my biggest achievements in these 20 years’ time was the existence of the Energen
Crystals. The research equipment by Dr. Light that I found on the room where X was sleeping at. I
brought all of them back to my home, which doubled as my lab, and the first thing I discovered was
that an unknown energy kept them running about 100 years.

Dr. Light’s genial thinking was abundantly used in them, and he’d left detailed research data on this
new energy source. This energy was actually developed for X and for the “Reploids”, which I will
talk about later.

So that’s why even mundane machines like microwave ovens or similar electrodomestics or
electrical bikes, things with an optimal energy consumption, they demonstrate a terrifying amount
of hours of operation. The computers in Dr. Light’s room worked for about 100 years because he’d
built the lab atop a vein of Energen Crystals and operated them using that energy.

When I found them, these crystals still had no name, and Dr. Light had written a placeholder name,
“Energen Crystals”, on his journal. I reflected on how this energy would bring huge changes to the
world and thus the first thing I did was to announce their existence to the whole world.

This happened about 3 years after I dug up X. I use the placeholder naming Dr. Light had used as
the scientific name for the crystals, as a humble homage towards him. And thus I earn the position
as well as financial power of being the maker of an energy of a new age, and used that wealth to
devote myself to the research of X, the progenitor of Reploids.

**************

“... Guuuh…. I really don’t understand what this program means…”

The basic mechanical structure used in X wasn’t that hard to analyze. Well, I still haven’t been able
to get a grasp of some functions that have become “black boxes” and which you could consider
perplexing such as the Buster’s convertible internal structure, but nevertheless, I can assert that I
can understand about 80% of everything.

The hardest part was analyzing X’s brain. What you could call his “heart program”. Amongst the
data that Dr. Light had left behind there was the whole of the data used on X’s brain program, but
its contents were an incomprehensible cipher, even while seen from an archaeological perspective.

Does he intend to talk with an extraterrestrial or what?

Or so would said person probably say, at the incredibly huge amount of data, and the overly
complicated subroutines. Hundreds of millions, even billions of special hypothetical clauses,
completely conceal the foundational structure.

“There is a fine line between genius and insanity… Or so they say, but… Dr. Light is… An
abnormality, indeed…”

I still remember how I’d grumbled that aloud.

The human brain is clearly divided in the “frontal lobe”,”parietal lobe”, “temporal lobe”, “rear lobe”,
“cerebellum” and “stems”. It delves into more detailed organs in the case of mamillary bodies and
glandula pinealis, but he (Dr. Light) had succeeded in building everything from “programs”,
electronic data.

What was more, X had a “DNA”, genes that belonged to him alone. Do you understand the
meaning of this?

It’s true that the human brain operates through electrical signals, but turning all of those into a
program means that a mere human was able to create an immeasurable large number of thinking
patterns as the equivalent of the brain’s transmission system, the synapses. How can you not call
this “an abnormality”?

A human, through his actions, had arrived at the “world” of quantum computers, and had also been
able to contain all of that into something of the size of a human brain.

When I understood the “possibilities” installed in X’s brain, I was struck by both awe and despair.
What I had at hand was indeed a machine that was completely recreating a human. But a normal
human’s brain cannot possibly comprehend its structure. It’s not enough with being a “genius”, you
must bring your thinking to the domain of “abnormality”, else it’s impossible to understand all of
this. And, in fact, it had taken me 17 years’ time to reach this point in deciphering him.

Yes… I didn’t wholly understand it but I could understand some of it. Of course, there’s still parts
that are a “black box” but nevertheless it was a big step forward. Those portions I don’t understand,
I embedded all kinds of patterns, within the scope of what I could predict, while taking my time to
do so.

Having arrived at this point, I could turn on the thinking program already but I considered that I
couldn’t show it to the world yet and so I set out to change the world itself.
It’s been a long time since the tech of thinking model robots has been sealed. I concluded that
suddenly bringing them out would make them hard to be accepted, so I choose to instead make
the tip of that tech blend in with human lifestyle.

**************

What should I do to spread the tech across the world and make it become the norm? I considered
many means, but I began by things that would quickly have relevance to the private lives of people.

What I raided first was the medical field. I also conducted genetic research, and so I developed
machines such as prosthetic hands or legs, to allow people with disabilities to live as if they were
healthy people.

I succeeded in making prosthetics which would catch the brainwaves of the users and move
accordingly, had calculation programs based on a portion of X’s brain design, and would operate
stable for a long time through Energen Crystals.

This tech would posteriorly be widely reused by the transportation and construction industries to
develop powered suits, as well as building of automated factories that made us of the hi-speed
calculations, amongst others, and the gap between people and machines went on narrowing. And
machines that had highly functional programs which was basis for their processing abilities, usually
called “Mechanoloids”, began to spread across the world.

After taking another 10 years from then onwards, I finally made my move towards the world.

“I want to carry out development of a robot that can think by itself. Let’s make use of the past
experience, and seek further progress and prosperity, shall we?”

In fact, now that I had a position close to the top of the scientific world, I began by supporting the
development of thinking robots in an academic conference, and that led to the world entering the
age of developing thinking robots once again. The past that had been tacitly forbidden and had
become stagnated was left behind, and the curtain raised into a new age.

**************

After the competing development of thinking robots began, there were some forces which, afraid of
the liabilities of the past, would sometimes pester me. Such as politicians in military circles, or
people fixated with human labor. I was summoned to Congress many times and barraged with
questions, but since I was generally accepted and I had thick nerves, I dealt with them
appropriately and went on.

Back on those days, I felt as if they were afraid of “something they can’t understand”, but looking
back at it by now, I might’ve have been mistaken in my impression.

About 5 years after I announced the development of thinking robots.

I was able to supplement the “black box” thinking program of X with something I developed on my
own, and finally developed the very 1st of the new age thinking robots, to then showcase it to the
whole world.

I named him “Alpha”, based on how X meant the unknown number. “Alpha” had a “human-
likeness” beyond that of what I’d expected, and overwhelmed people across the world, and the
replicant thinking robots which imitate humans, usually called “Reploids”, were accepted as
partners of a new age, and this day marked the beginning of competitions between scientists
across the world to develop Reploids.

This is a digression, but ever since Alpha debut, those forces that pestered me vanished
altogether. However, the appearance of Reploids named “Mavericks” is something that happened a
bit further down the road.

**************

It’s already been 10 years since I showcased the first Reploid, Alpha, to the world.

I decided to finally undo X’s sealing and to awaken him. Truth to be told, it’s been 45 years since
I’ve dug up X. How many times have I dreamt of this day, I wonder?
“Now I can finally see your living performance…”
I placed my hands on the capsule’s monitors, and followed the procedures to activate him. Within
my mind, I keep seeing Dr. Light’s anxious face…

“People of the future, X is my… No, the world’s hope… Please don’t forget that!”

“Sheesh! Show your own determination! Believe in Dr. Light!”

While feeling anxiety which I couldn’t wipe away, I shook my head and looked back at the capsule.
Checking again, I see that all indicators of the capsule were “green”, to indicate there were no
issues. Warnings about him were displayed many times, amongst others, but I overcome them and
proceed.

Alpha and the other Reploids have assimilated into society without any issues. X, the basis of all of
them, should have no issues either, or so I decided on my own. And, finally… X awakened into our
world.

**************

“Oh. So you’ve awakened, X. Do you know where you are?”

“W-where… am I…?”

“It’s my lab, the lab of Dr. Cain.”

“Dr. Cain…?”

The awakened X slowly steps out of the capsule while looking at my face. His behavior has no
hesitation and no mechanical incompatibility, he was indeed a human wearing mechanical clothes.
X scans his surroundings many times, and finally understood that he had just now awakened.
Should I tell the truth to him, the progenitor of Reploids?

I told him the following once I’d told him about the world he was going to live in, as well as the
position he was going to live in.

“The one who made you died, and I took over your project, since you were almost complete... ”

X nods lightly at my enquiry.

“Is that so…? I understand, Dr. Cain. I look forward to working with you, sir.”

His answer was like he was smiling.

“Oh, yes. Pleasure’s mine. You’ve been sleeping for a long time, so you must be lacking in info as
a result… If there’s something you don’t understand about the current status of the world, feel free
to ask me.”

And thus my life with Alpha and X, between humans and Reploids, began.

**************
Another 10 years have passed since I’ve awakened X.

Speaking from the conclusion, I should’ve awakened X 10 years before I actually did. What
surprised me when talking with him after he awoke was his abnormal “human-likeness”. It’s not
that he “talks” in a fluent way, it’s that he “converses” as a human would do. So he says jokes, as
well as deciding a topic to debate about.

I felt ashamed at having prided myself in saying Alpha was the culmination of my work. X was
really filled with a “human flavor” and he was a very unique young man robot.
The program I’d placed on the spots that were “black boxes” was but a clumsy thing. I felt like Dr.
Light was scolding me, that this is what it meant to recreate brain and heart.

He hasn’t changed since he awakened. His heart was complete before he began to accumulate
experience.

When I remember our conversation back on the day, I begin shaking ceaselessly.

During these 10 years, I’ve been researching X and applying those traits to Reploids.
He himself has been gathering info on the ages he lacks info on, and, at some point, it’d seem he
became aware that he belonged to the “species” that the Reploids were.

And while I kept on making updates, Reploids that could hold natural conversations, by no means
inferior to X, became commonplace; and that’s when, finally, Reploids that had a bug on their
thought circuits, called “Mavericks”, began to appear.

The violent crimes by Reploids were more than what humans could handle, the Maverick Hunters,
Reploids that autonomously carry out suppression by themselves, were formed, all while getting
caught in the swirl of many public opinions.

The possibility that thinking robots would disturb peace and the existence of Mavericks led to many
debates being exchanged, but given the advanced economic growth and prosperity through the
Reploids, which humans were unable to ignore, made the decision to make the aforementioned
Reploids dispose of those Reploids who’d broken down by themselves. And thus the development
of battle Reploids progressed at an accelerated pace.

Obviously enough, I also continued developing new types of Reploids and finally create what could
be called my masterpiece, “Sigma”. By the way, Sigma’s outward appearance design motif is how I
looked like on my youth. I am not married, so he was like a son that I’d given birth to myself. Sigma
showcased his high sense of justice and performance in a very short span of time, and climbed to
the position of Chief Executive of the Maverick Hunters, in less than a year’s time.

While I continued my research and development, I looked again at X’s schematics, which Dr. Light
had left behind. One of his concerns was that X was equipped with gear for battling. The “Solar
Bullits” shot by the optical weapon, the “X-Buster”, built inside of his arm, as well as the charging of
energy within the buster to shoot the “Hyper X Blaster”. What X calls the “Charge Shot” is the
“Hyper X Blaster” itself.

When I designed batte Reploids, I used X’s buster as reference for the building of their special
weapons chips’ and circuits’ basic designs, but when Dr. Light designed X over 100 years ago, I
deduced that he had concerns about the appearance of a threat like the Mavericks.

X was born while expected to battle, so he’d make a very good Maverick Hunter, or so I thought,
and to have him work as a Maverick Hunter, I brought him to an abilities exam used as part of
Hunter recruiting.

But the result was something miserable, since X was unable to turn his arm into the Buster to
begin with.

After the exam, the depressed X told me the following in a small voice.

“It’s scary… To shoot others…”

And while he said that, his fingers touched his arm… And they were trembling ever so slightly. The
pure fear that X has.
What Dr. Light was worried about was not that he’d foreseen a rebellion against humans, but rather
a defense instinct, to protect his own weak and kind heart. He was a kind robot who was unable to
hurt all living things, be it either humans or Reploids.

I didn’t intend to force him either, but turning points always come from where you expect them less.

**************

This happened on one rainy day.

X and Alpha are currently living in my lab. At first, I was rather worried whether they’d get along but
nowadays they get along pretty well. Alpha is my debut work so I’ve been constantly updating him
while making him be the center stage; as for X, I couldn’t entrust his secrecy to anyone else, I’ve
told him and everyone else involved that he was a Reploid left behind by a friend of mine who’d
passed away.

They both looked like foster brothers to me, I guess. Living with two sons who were very unkempt
and caused no hassle was a very rejoicing experience. And just when I was hoping that this
lifestyle would continue, an incident happened.

On that day, Alpha had gone out with Sigma to subdue the “mysterious red Maverick”. But since I
hadn’t given Alpha battling abilities, his main mission was to gather data to report back to me.

It was when X was tidying up the lab, and while we both heard to the sounds of the rain, growing
stronger. That’s when that call came in.

“Dr. Cain, sir! The red Maverick subjugation unit has returned! Please come to the HQ at once, sir!”

“What a fuss. X. Please come with me.”

The voice of Operator, sounding at wits’ end, hurried me and while taking X with me as escort, I
headed to the Maverick Hunter HQ, yet I felt a slightly bad feeling about it.

**************

“I apologize, Dr. Cain. Even though I was with him…”

“You did a good job, Sigma. Well? Where’s the red fellow?”

“Restrained and within a cell. He’s shut down and so he’s still, but…”

“I see. I’ll head over there when I finish their repairs.”

“I’ll go report to all the departments myself.”

The Suppression Unit of the red Maverick, which had been found in a certain place, had been
damaged way beyond what I could’ve expected and yet they’d managed to subdue their foe and
come back.

“How horrible… How could anyone do this?”

“Sorry, X, but could you bring me the machine parts from over there?”
“Understood, sir.”

I began to repair Alpha, lying horizontally in the Maintenance Room. When Sigma had been driven
into a corner by the red Maverick, Alpha risked his life to create an opening, and they’d been able
to turn the thing around, or so I’d been told.
“Sheesh. While you don’t have battle abilities, that doesn’t mean you must act recklessly.”

Alpha is a very kind Reploid. He doesn’t look down on those born after him, and always devotes
himself to supporting others. It was his behavior that earned him trust from the Hunters, too.

“Doctor, sir. I brought all of the tools you asked for, sir.”

“Oh! Thank you, X. Alright, Alpha. I’m going to fix you and---”

It was a very sudden thing.

“Doctor! Watch out!”

Something rams into me from the side and I’m blown away. Roll, roll, roll.

My sight spun, and by the time I realized I was spinning across the ground, I hit one of my hips
violently, and my eyes blinked in surprise, I saw X looming over me with a pale expression.

“W-what was that for!?”

“Dr. Cain! Please run away, sir!”

His voice had a sense of urgency I’d never heard before.

“What are you---”

“Don’t mind that, hurry up!”

Nevertheless, I couldn’t understand what was making X so nervous so I tried to stand up and then
question him. But a beam of light passed through the side of my cheek when I tried to do so.

“W… What…?”

“Please don’t move, Dr. Cain, else I can’t kill you…”

The one who said that in a quiet voice was Alpha, who was pointing a portable optical gun that he’d
gotten from who knows where, at me.

What’s happening!? Whis is he pointing the muzzle at me!? My understanding couldn’t catch up, I
couldn’t help but feel confused.

“Stop it, Alpha! You were so kind, why are you doing this!?”

“Please step away, X! I only want to kill Dr. Cain!”

I didn’t understand what Alpha was saying back then. No… I did understand it but I didn’t want to
accept the reality.
Alpha had turned into a Maverick.

“Why… Why did you… you were the one closest to me…”

His program must’ve been altered by someone’s actions. But that can’t be. I myself placed special
protections on his programming. I don’t think they can be broken through that easily, and what was
more, there was nothing to tell that such an alteration had been made in the last few months.

The surroundings had fallen silent, obviously enough, but screams rang out from the workers,
who’d gradually begun to understand what was happening. This is a maintenance area where
repairs are carried out. Even if there were battle Reploids present, all of them had been dismantled
and couldn’t move.

How? Why? I couldn’t understand the why, but Alpha had unmistakably become a Maverick. I had
not time feel sad about that truth, Alpha let out words that stunned me.

“I have been but a piece of decoration ever since I was born!”

Those words are strong. They come from a strong will.

“The very first Reploid… What’ll become of me once that role ends?”

“Nothing will change! You’re who you are! Part of my family!”

What is he talking about? I can’t grasp his intent at all.

“Well then, why!? Why did you say that Sigma was your masterpiece!?”

“While it’s true that Sigma is a masterpiece, there’s no superiority or inferiority between you and
him!”

“Don’t lie! Who’d believe such words!?”

What is he so angry about, to begin with…? No, that’s not it. This isn’t anger but more like
something close to fear? Those pupils looking at me display something akin to an unknown fear.
While I was considering whether to answer back to him, X talked to Alpha.

“Alpha. What is what you wish?”

He looked troubled, just like I was.

“Freedom, X! As long as that man lives, I’ll never be free! So that’s why I’ll kill that man and I’ll live
my own life! If you will oppose me, I’ll kill you as well!”

Freedom…? What kind of “freedom”, what did it meant? I wanted to ask that to him while we’re still
talking to each other, we should be able to talk about it.

“If that’s it then I’m not moving from here! We Reploids must protect the humans!”

I don’t know what part of X’s words incurred Alpha’s anger.

“Out… OUT OF THE WAYYYYY!!!”

Alpha finally submitted to his own violence and attacked me.

“Why… Why did this happen…? Shit! I…!”

“Don’t blame yourself, X. You protected me…”

Alpha had suddenly turned into a Maverick and tried to kill me. I don’t know the reason. I don’t feel
anything wrong in my actions either. But… Alpha did aim a gun at me, and did indeed try to kill me.
He said it. That he wished for “freedom”. I was unable to understand the meaning of the “freedom”
that he wished for… Alpha was defeated by X.

I won’t blame him for this… I’m rather worried whether he’ll blame himself over this. The kind X,
who’d said he was afraid at having to shoot others, pulled the trigger to protect the human that I
am; that’s not a mistake. That’s what I must tell him.

To avoid his kindness fading away, to avoid him turning into a Maverick because he’s suffering, just
like what happened to Alpha. Now that Dr. Light is gone, I must be X’s supporter.

As a result of this incident, X began working full-scale as a Maverick Hunter. He has hesitation in
shooting fellow Reploids, but he choose to be brave and fight for peace.

**************

“Will that become “possibilities”... Or will it be mere violence…?”

I myself had created the violence named Sigma, so can I cling to X? Will my actions turn X into a
Maverick instead of “Mega Man”? This anxiety has been chasing me ever since this battle has
begun.

“So to make sure that you don’t give up on we humans, I’ll have to work harder myself, too…”

While looking at X sleeping with a peaceful face inside of the maintenance capsule, I began to
reflect again within my heart as to what was waiting for us at the end of this strife.
 MAVERICK REPORT #05:
The Deep-sea Armed General
Launch Octopus
“Shit! No matter how many I defeat, there’s no end to them!”

“X. There’s someone up ahead commanding them. Dispose of them ASAP.”

“I know that, but there’s too many of them…”

Dr. Cain repaired so I headed out to suppress the Mavericks led by Sigma once again, my
destination being the huge port facility set along the coast. Just like the initial briefing said, the
place had been occupied by a Reploid turned Mavericks and many Mechanoloids; and so I sprung
into action at once.

But when I got to the location, I found tons of Mechanoloids ravaging around, way more than what
had been reported, and I was taking it upon myself to deal with them. I was overnumbered and I
needed to improve my situation; so I hid myself in a nearby container yard and radioed.

“Operator, can’t you hack from over there and stop these Mechanoloids?”

“I’ve been trying already but it’s not going easy. Give me some time.”

This is the specialty of the Maverick Hunters, information warfare in these conditions. If we don’t
work together and make it through this situation, we can’t deal with the Reploids gone Maverick
and we’ll be wasting our time pointlessly.

I tried to peek from the shade of a container, but a mere glance told me there were tens of
Mechanoloids out there. In a corner of my sight I can see the Operator on the other side of the
communications window looking bitter as she attempts to hack. She types on the electronic
keyboard at a high speed, and whenever an error sound rings out, shakes her head negatively and
swings her shortly set blonde hair.

The female Reploid on the other side of my sight was assigned to us provisionally when the war
began. It’d seem she was originally a Reploid researcher, but given how she’d hurriedly managed
the transmissions to Dr. Cain on that day, she’s currently working as supporting and navigational
Operator.

When I see her blonde hair and her pink body, closer to red in color, she somehow makes me think
of Zero. He must be chasing after Vile, somewhere out there. I should take more lessons from his
strength as a Special A-Class Hunter with no shame to his title.

“... I shouldn’t be kept stalled here, either.”

Let’s focus on defeating as many of those foes in front of me as I can. I breathed in, and ran
towards from the containers towards the berserk Mechanoloids.

**************

By the time I’d defeated about 40 berserk Mechanoloids.

“... They’ve stopped?”

All of them had suddenly stopped as if the strings of a puppet had been cut.

“Managed to do it, somehow… X, report on the situation…”

Looks like the Operator’s hacking has been successful.

“All Mechanoloids within my line of sight have stopped and I don’t see any other hostiles at the
moment.”
“Roger. Alright, X, next is…”

“What. Just when I thought you’d called for me it’s all over?”

A silhouette appeared when she was about to tell me my next orders, as if it was cutting her off. It
was the best general I knew of.

“Zero! You came over, too!”

“I called him a moment ago… Good timing, Zero. Please lend us a hand, too.”

“Roger. That was why I’ve come all the way out here, anyway.”

A Reploid with a red body that combs upwards his blonde hair which was leaning on his shoulders
due to the wind. It was Zero, whom she’d summoned while hacking into the enemies.

“OK, Operator. What are we supposed to do?”

As an answer to Zero’s question, she quickly transmitted to us data containing the details of the
mission. There were two types of data sent.

The 1st type ordered that, if possible, recapture several Ride Armors that had been stolen and, if
proven impossible, to destroy them.

The 2nd type was to recapture the taken over seabed military facility.

“Both are missions hard to undertake alone but I judged that both of you combined would have no
issues fulfilling them.”

That’s a pretty light way of saying it… But in our current state, we must risk it even if it’s for the
impossible. We’re not in a situation when I can use my weakness as an excuse.

But who would undertake which? Which is more fit for me, and which is more fit for Zero?

“Take care of the military facility, X, and I’ll handle the Ride Armors.”

Before I could answer, Zero had instantly decided the allocation of the missions.

“Can I ask you why you decided so, Zero?”

“I’m chasing Vile, so I follow the Ride Armors line so I’ll naturally bump into the guy since he’s
always using a Ride Armor. Or so I think. And if the military facility has been taken over by a former
Hunter Reploid, you’re the one who should deal with it X, given your track record.”

I see, he thought all of that in that short span of time.

I was deeply impressed within myself, Zero’s lack of hesitation in situations like these is what
makes him deserving of being a Special A-Class Hunter indeed.

“Gotcha. I’ll go with your plan, Zero.”

“OK. Let’s begin the mission!”

Following his signal, both of us ran off in the exact opposite directions. I can’t take too much time to
deal with the taken over military facility.

“Operator. Please tell me the shortest route to the aforementioned military facility.”
“Given your current location you’ll have to make it through the seabed city, but you don’t mind?”

“Yeah, I don’t. Guide me through that route.”

I was in no position for detours so I rushed for the military facility standing at the bottom of the sea.

**************

“What’s this thing…?”

What greeted me was a colorful building, a far cry from a military facility. No, the exterior, or, rather
the structure, was indeed a military facility, but a coating that made it look like something else
altogether had been applied to it.

“Speaking of which, there was a Hunter that called himself an “artist”, wasn’t there?”

There’s someone within this war that, depending on whether his perception of Mavericks as well as
as their claims, had artistry to them or not, changed his way of dealing with them.

The former member of the 8th Fleet, “Launch Octopus”.

Given the look of things there was no doubt that it was him who’d taken over this place.

At a first glance, it doesn’t look like there’s any traps set in the surroundings, so I’ll have to search
where could the man be at… I should start by checking beyond that door over there.

I wasn’t exactly motivated, but as I dashed through the insides, I found another door less than a
minute later. A rabbit relief had been carved there and the word “LUST” was written on it.

“I see. So he used the 7 deadly sins as motif, huh?”

The “7 deadly sins” were used in the western Christian church, mainly in the Catholic church, to
classify the sins of humans, and consisted of the 7 sins of “lust”, “gluttony”, “greed”, “wrath”,
“pride”, “envy” and “sloth”.

So the first room is the room of “lust”, then… I can’t feel motivated at all.

“Not a time to be complaining, either… Huff…”

I readied myself and opened the “LUST” door.

**************

It was a room in which, literally, human lust was condensed. The simple, one way corridor, is
covered and decorated with many types of pink color, and that showy color alone was enough to
dizzy me, but what also stood out was the bodies of female Reploids.

About a hundred female Reploids are arranged in poses as if they were undergoing some show
and interposed towards the corridor. I feel anxious at whether the bodies arranged here are
kidnapped Reploids or neutral bodies pending installation of a “self”.

I don’t have time to check each and everyone of them, my priority right now is the Maverick.
Fortunately, it doesn’t look like any humans have been brought here… I better hurry on ahead,
then.

In the end, though, this “LUST” room had no traps whatsoever within it.
 **************

“So now it’s the “GLUTTONY” room, huh?”

What lied ahead of the next door I entered was…

“A seabed vein of Energen Crystals… This is indeed “gluttony” for us…”

A huge amount of Energy Crystals, to the point the surroundings are covered in them. Going by the
amount of deposits in a 1 square meter scale, the density is way higher than the crystal mine in the
mountains. Maybe they’re thinking of using the place as a base for energy supplies.

It’s possible… Once I recapture this base, I should ask Dr. Cain to take all these crystals away.
These huge amounts can be used instead as vital supply lines for us Maverick Hunters.

“However… This room has nothing else on it, either, huh?”

It doesn’t look like any enemies will attack me within this room. To begin with, Octopus being the
one having taken over this base is but my supposition, and it might be someone else who loves art
just like how Octopus does. But it happens that I simply couldn’t think of anyone else who’d do this
apart from Octopus.

“If it’s not a Maverick then that’s one less hassle…”

But given how what’s been taken over is a military facility, I nervously shook my head because I’d
said aloud a very improbable hope. Saying such immature things is what leads me to committing
blunders the whole time. Anyway, if I head on ahead I should eventually stumble upon the boss.
Let’s head to the next room already.

**************

The next room was “GREED”.

Tons of gold bars were piled up here, almost as if was a bank’s safe room. The whole of the room,
from the floor to the ceiling, were of gold, and many places across the room were painted in golden
color.

Since it’s the “7 deadly sins” to begin with, this military facility must be aimed at humans. If the one
who came here was a human, it could work as a trap since they’d stop to consider how much worth
all of this was. But since a human can’t come to so deep into the sea by itself, no human would
come, even if they could, to a building that was possibly taken over by a Maverick.

This room had no traps either and it was but the tastes of the Maverick that had taken over the
place, or so I assumed. Even though there should be plenty of weapons here that can be used as
traps, it was more convincing to think that no such weapons were left here anymore.
No, wait, maybe Sigma took the weapons with him instead. I better assume several worst-case
scenarios. And thus I reached the next room without anything noticeable happening in this one.

**************

“So this is… The “WRATH” room, huh?”

I entered the “WRATH” room next… That was indeed the room of angered Reploids. The walls
were lined up with the heads of Reploids, whose faces appeared as distorted, angered and
screaming just like devil masks; you couldn’t tell how they’d been killed like.
“Shit… What a horrid thing…!”

What had they done wrong…? There could be no reason for this merciless and pointless killing.
We still don’t know how many Reploids or Hunters have turned Maverick since this war began, but
I wonder how many Reploids and humans have died in the few days since it all began.

By looking at this room, I turned confident that what was waiting for me up ahead was indeed a
Maverick. And, at the same time, I felt relieved that my foe was a Maverick.

“That’s not it. I should actually hope I don’t need to fight anyone…”

I wonder why I momentarily felt something like I wished for the opponent to be a Maverick...

Did the poison on this place affect me, or was it something else? I nevertheless hurried into the
next room, wishing for no more victims. I will hold their funeral once I recapture this factory.

**************

The “PRIDE” room was a place that made me feel very nervous.

What surrounded me was portraits of the Maverick that had taken over this place. They were
placed to fill all space available in the room, and there easily was over a hundred of them.

“So what I thought was indeed correct… Octopus is the boss of this place, huh?”

What filled the room was the former Hunter shaped like an octopus, Launch Octopus. These
portraits were drawn with many different touches, and there were also sculptures and bronze
statues.

This amount of self-mirrors could be called “PRIDE”, yes. But what artistry is there to these? In all
of the rooms insofar, the only thing I felt was Octopus’ own desires, and I think that there’s no art to
them. But it’s not like I had a bright insight of art, either, and it could be that my perceptions aren’t
caught up with this kind of art.

All of that asides, this room seems devoid of traps as well, so I want to leave it behind ASAP. Even
if it’s but drawings, I don’t feel comfortable at surrounded by many copies of Octopus.

**************

Only two more rooms left. I was wondering how would the “ENVY” room be like, but now I am able
to say that I can understand what it was about.

What decorated the room were “humanoid” Reploids. They were kicking Reploids that were
animals or shapes that weren’t “humanoid”. I don’t know if these had been kidnapped too, but none
of them felt like they were going to move, and so the surroundings were dead silent.

I tried to come close to one of them that was nearby, and lightly touched its body. What I felt by
touching was the general material used in Reploid bodies.

“Please… Please be fakes…”

I breathed in, and, with the backside of my right first, lightly knocked on the bodies of the Reploids.
A dry, hollow sound echoed. I see, the Reploids here are but papier mache that are empty on the
inside. I don’t need to stay any longer here, then. Let’s hurry to the final room.

**************
And, yet, there was no trap whatsoever set in the any of the rooms I’d gone through. A situation
without traps was actually a trap to lure me into lowering the guard… Or am I overthinking things?

“Can’t help think so…”

I put myself together, rushed to the door in front of me, and attached my hand to its surface. When
I poured strength into the 7th door, the “SLOTH” door, it slowly opened while making a loud sound.
And what jumped into my sight there was…

“What are you doing here!? Where’s Octopus!?”

“Sheesh. It’s you, huh? I got rid of that squid… It’s there in the wall, see?”

What I saw was Octopus, glued to the wall, and Vile standing in front of him. He claims that he’s
defeated Octopus, but what does this mean?
“Oh, well… And, also, don’t you need this?”

As he said that, Vile tossed me Octopus’ special weapon chip. I caught it without thinking, but I was
pondering what to make of this situation. Can I defeat Vile in my current state?

He’s not riding in the Ride Armor right now but he’s strong nevertheless. He’s a man who kept on
hunting down Mavericks to fulfill his thirst for battling… I felt like that it wasn’t a matter of strength, I
myself also wasn’t ready for such a battle, and didn’t feel like I could win it either. But it’s not like I
can ignore him either, so I aimed my Buster at Vile.

“Don’t bother… You’re still green… It’d be boring to fight you right now…”

“Then answer me one thing: why did you defeat Octopus?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, X. That squid was asking for a brawl. That’s all there’s to it.”

Vile answers in a calm way, and, even though I’m aiming my Buster at him, he’s not facing me.
What I have in front of me is a Maverick… Can I really let him get away? But is he right when he
says I can’t defeat him yet…? Isn’t it reckless to challenge the sly Vile to a 1 VS 1 battle?

As I hesitated as to how to deal with the violent Maverick in front of me, Vile stopped walking and
turned his neck towards me and fluttered his right hand.

“Hey, X. Looks like Chameleon wants to start up some fun stuff, you know?”

“W… Why do you suddenly… tell that to me!?”

Vile slightly shrugged his shoulders at my question.

“Because it sounds like fun, ain’t it obvious?”

He said that over his shoulder as the last thing he did before he walked away.
MAVERICK REPORT #06: The Deep
Forest Bewitching Attacker
Sting Chameleon
“This can’t be real… What’s this!?”

I couldn’t believe the spectacle reflecting in my eyes. Why are innocent Reploids forced to do this!?

“And you call this “fun stuff”!? Vile!! Chameleon!!”

Following Vile’s words I’ve come all the way to the “Genetics Research Facility”. This research
didn’t only research on artificial natural environment restoration, but was also a facility specialized
in biotechnology and thus also carried out research of both human and Reploid DNA. You could
call it a modern cutting edge medical tech research lab, too. It’s been a few days since Chameleon,
under Sigma’s command, has taken over it.

What was before my sight was a gruesome spectacle, a Hellish scene.

“Felp… be…”

What called out for help in a voice that couldn’t be really called a voice was no longer shaped like a
human, but it was “something” made up of parts clustered together to make a human shape. I don’t
know what should I call the “something” that was before me. It’s undoubtedly a Reploid, but, at the
same time, doesn’t look line one…

The mouth is wide open, but (his?) voice actually sounds like it’s coming from somewhere else
altogether. I’m unable to aim my gun at these Reploids, and was perplexed, but, suddenly, the
(Reploids?) around me reacted to something and began to look at something.

I got lured in by their behavior and I looked over there, there was a lone panther there. A panther?
The feline? The panther looked like it didn’t know what it was doing there and was simply
shuddering in fear.

“What? What’s a panther doing here…?”

I couldn’t understand what was happening and I was simply staring at the panther, but, then, a
familiar voice echoed around the area.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Sting Chameleon’s slaughter show, X!”

I’ve heard many times but his voice is really a strain to the ears. What a self-oriented and insidious
voice indeed. I hate this voice. Rather than the voice, I hate the man who speaks in that voice…

“C-Chameleon!? Where are you!? Show yourself!!”

“Heh, heh, heh! Like there’s any idiot who’s gonna show himself when someone tells him to do
so!!”

His voice echoes within the facility, but I can’t see him at all. Guess he’s using his speciality, the
optical camouflage function, and hiding somewhere… Just like I’d imagined, he’s not the type to
show himself in situations like these.

Anyway, there’s more important things to do than to go over what I think of him. He’d just
mentioned a “slaughter show”. Should I assume I’m the one who’ll be slaughtered? But the
“somethings” that were around me didn’t look like they were going to attack me either. Rather, you
could say that they’re totally uninterested in me right now. I do wonder what they actually are, I
really do.

“What are you up to!? Chameleon!!”

“Don’t be so hasty, man! I’m gonna explain right away!”

The mood around me suddenly changed as he talked. Those “things” that hadn’t shown any
reaction insofar suddenly began to buzz. Amongst the hustle and bustle, I could hear the words
“I’m saved” and “not again”. Again? What’s going to happen? As I was trying to think of something,
Chameleon’s voice rang out again.

“OK! I’m gonna explain the rules!

1) You pseudo-Replos gotta stake your lives in killing that poor panther
2) X, you gotta protect that poor panther and kill the pseudo-Replos
3) Those who survive will return to normal…

Ah, and if X makes it through then I myself will come to finish you off…”

HUH!?

“OK! The slaughter show begins… Or, rather, the slaughter game! Gyah, hah, hah!”

It was so stupid that I wasn’t really paying attention, and then Chameleon shot something like small
fireworks, which burst, from somewhere else, sending the signal to start moving to the “pseudo-
Replos”. Simultaneously, all of them began to head for the frightening panther; it wasn’t only 10 or
20 of them. A huge amounts of silhouettes were surrounding it and they filled the whole of my sight.
All of those, over a hundred of them, had sprung into action to kill a single animal.

“H-how can something so stupid be happening!?”

My start had been slow, so I used the Dash Jump to jump over the rear of the “pseudo-Replos” and
made it right next to the frightened panther in one jump. The panther was further scared by the
sound of my landing, and it was unable to move at all, probably due to it feeling dumbfounded. I
feel sorry for it… It’s shuddering so much…

“It’s OK. I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

I drew the Buster on the spurt of the moment, and aimed the muzzle to the pseudo-Replos closing
into me. No… I can’t. I can’t do this. They are but Chameleon’s victims. If I killed them then I’d be
falling into his trap.

“Shit. Can’t believe there’s a way to forcibly turn them into Mavericks…”

Sting Chameleon is both a fighter and a scientist. He’d already been considered problematic due to
his mad scientist-like personality. I still remember how once I had to take part in one of his
experiments and had a very unpleasant experience with it. This place must be a testing ground
that he’s set up. And the pseudo-Replos are victims, Chameleon had something to them.

“I got my escape cut off as I was thinking, huh?”

I’d thought of grabbing the panther and fleeing the scene but I was already surrounded by the
pseudo-Replos. Breaking through the wall they formed to escape to the outside was a bad
prospect already. And I’m already within Chameleon’s territory. Even if I attempted to escape, there
could be traps waiting for me.

“Comes to these, I gotta do something about my situation, yet…”

What was surrounding me was not Mavericks but innocent Reploids that had been remodelled and
transformed by Chameleon into “something” that wasn’t Reploids. I can’t possibly shoot them.

… In that case…

“It might be a somewhat painful experience but I’ll try to hold them at bay with my fists!”
I cancelled the Buster as I protected the frightened panther that was behind me. And when I was
about to counterattack the attacking pseudo-Replos with my fists, that’s when it happened. A red
and golden light crossed through my sight, and blew away the things closing into me and the
panther.

“Sheesh. Don’t try to fight these things directly.”

“... Zero!”

Zero, who’d come to the rescue, shot the ground below the things with a terribly efficient shot. The
blast stopped the movements of the pseudo-Replos.

“I finally catch up with you and yet… X. Don’t overthink things. Simply make sure to stop them from
moving. You’ve got a weapon apt for that, better than what anyone else could have.”

“I see! Why didn’t I think of that!?”

Zero’s words remembered me about the special attack methods I have within myself. A special
weapon ideal for just stopping them without having to kill them.

“Stay quiet for a while… Shotgun Ice!”

The icy breath that I shot out froze the pseudo-Replos in the area were trying to close on us.

If I can seal their movements, things forcibly ordered to them by Chameleon, the only thing left to
do was to go hit the man himself, the source of all of this. Seeing all the immoralities the man had
done I had no reason to go easy on him. I looked at the depths of the forest.

“Chameleon! You’re next! Show yourself!”

“Like there’s any moron that’d come out when you tell them to! Let’s go back to square one! I’ll be
waiting for you deeper ahead!”

After saying that, his presence in the surroundings became less noticeable. Zero tried shooting
around us several times, but Chameleon had managed to get away.

“Sheesh. The bastard ran away, huh?”

Zero clicked his tongue as he turned off his Buster. Knowing the foe, he wants to make us think
he’s left but he’s probably around; but since I felt how the tense situation around us was becoming
relaxed, I also turned off the Buster. We must chase the fleeing target, anyway. And also make him
confess how to restore them to normal.

“Zero. I’ll chase Chameleon. You protect this panther and report the situation to the Hunter HQ,
please.”

I was stroking the back of the still frightened panther, and then entrusted it to Zero. It seemed to
calm down a bit since it cuddled next to us while purring.

“Wouldn’t it be faster if we went together to beat the crap out of the guy?”

Zero offers to battle together but I think it’s better than we don’t.

“No… Knowing the man, there must be some sort of trap…”

“So in the worst-case scenario it’s possible that both of us end up taken out of action, huh? Fine.
You go deal with the guy.”
“Yeah. Leave it up to me, Zero.”

I’ll never forgive the bastard. I’ll never forgive the bastard. I’ll catch the man and have him restore
all of these Reploids to normal. I dashed into the depths of the forest where he’d vanished into so
as to defeat him.

**************

“Come out, Chameleon! You’re inside this room, aren’t you!?”

“Are you dumb or what? Like anyone would come out when you tell them to!”

I am what it’s probably the main room of the Genetics Research Facility, the deepest spot in the
forest. I stepped ahead without stopping to think once I reached the place. But that was a pitch
black open room with no lights or windows. My yell echoes and is rebounded at me.

My sight slowly got used to the environment, but the only thing I could grasp is that this is a dome-
shaped wide room. And, also, that the entrance I’d come in through had been closed and I was
trapped inside of it. So I guess that until one of us is defeated neither is coming out of this room.
The surroundings are quiet… too quiet.

The silence slowly makes the fear within me grown stronger, so I pour strength to avoid the fear
devouring me. I don’t know from where he’s going to strike. I decided to limited the blind spots, and
to do that I leant my back on the room’s door as I aimed my Buster. As I remained in that state,
there was the previous exchange. I didn’t expect Chameleon to answer me, but…

“Chameleon! Why did you do that!?”

“Do what? Ah, you mean the samples? It was an experiment, obviously enough!”

His voice echoed from nowhere. As expected, he called them experiments or samples. The mad
scientist turned Maverick and was unchanged…

“Experiment!?”

“You’re also an old experiment, those things I’m skilled at! Experiments of viruses that can alter a
Reploid’s DNA, and remodel the unconscious mind! Well, you could call it research on viruses that
can create Mavericks at will. Well, but those out there were defectives whose basic info ended up
back-to-front! Keh, keh!”

He sounded unconcerned but, at the same time, like he was having fun. I didn’t feel any guilt on
that voice.

“What a horrible thing you did…!”

“Sacrifices are needed for progress, ya know? X?”

This is a genuine mad scientist indeed. I can feel confidence on his voice born from the fact that I
can’t see where he is at. I still can’t see him. I can’t properly catch from where the voice echoes
from, either. This dome-shaped room must be contributing to this acoustic.

But nevertheless, the Buster in my arm has begun charging, eager to fire at my foe. Fire at
Chameleon, who must be here. It’s howling and saying the man can’t be forgiven. If he’s fused with
the darkness then I’ve also got a trick I can use.

“I’m going to drag you in front of me here and now, Chameleon!”

I shot my fully charged buster at the dome’s ceiling. It’s not a normal Buster shot. This light
accumulates in the ceiling since it’s unable to pierce it, and becomes a light ball… Turns into a
source of light to illuminate this room.

I was finally able to spot Chameleon standing in the midst of the room now that the room was
bathed in light.

“Oho. Not bad! So you can also use the Buster like that, huh? However…”

The chameleon-shaped Reploid, still confident despite being revealed and being in front of me,
applauds in a stiff manner as his shape slowly blurs…

“Your score is 30 points! Kyah, hah, hah!”

He vanished again within the illuminated room.

**************

“Shit! I didn’t know they were so fast!”

“My Chameleon Stings are light needles that always pierce through my targets!”

“But they’re not critical wounds, I can bear with these!”

It’s true that his attacks fly at me at a speed that makes dodging almost impossible. It’s an attack
which can be indeed named “light needles”. But each one is light, and by sealing the spots I’ve
been pierced through with the Shotgun Ice, it doesn’t hinder the battle…Of course, I’ve receive
some degree of damage but I can still keep acting rash. The real issue is the other ability he’s
installed with.

“If only I could get a hold of him…”

“It’s in vain! You can’t possibly get a hold of me!”

Chameleon’s equipped with an ability to vanish from the opponent’s sight. To be exacts, it’s called
“optical camouflage”, an ability to blend with the surroundings. It’s indeed a chameleon's ability, but
can perfectly vanish from sound and heat sensors too. Heat detection won’t work and neither will
sound detection, so I really have no means to search for him.

Octopus’ Homing Missiles, with their auto-tracing ability, were unable to get a hold of him either.
His literal ability to hide himself has led to this situation in which I’ve been unable to land a single
shot on the man. I quickly try to shoot counter-attacks in the direction his attacks come from, but
he’s already moved to another spot by the time I shoot.

Anyway, if I can’t physically catch him, I have no chances of winning. Can’t I break his camouflage
function through temperature difference as I did when I fought Mandrill…? I tried to see if a sudden
different in illumination would cause his camouflage function’s processing to be unable to keep up,
but as expected of a former Special A-Class Reploid, it’d seem he’s got countermeasures to that.

I must search another way to---

“By the way, X!”

Chameleon’s voice suddenly rings out and interrupts my thinking.

“Do you actually think that this a 1 VS 1 battle?”

It happened right as he spoke.

I felt something piercing my body from both the front and the rear.

“Ghah!”

What? What had happened? Ridiculous!? The back I understand, but the front at the same time!?
There should only be me and him in this room. I did check the surroundings through the Buster’s
light but there was nothing. There was no-one else!

“Gyah, hah, hah! As expected of a B-Class! You lower the guard too much!”

“Guh! W-what are you…!?”

“The situation is now complete, just like I’d calculated! Guess it’s about time to reveal what the trick
is!”

As Chameleon spoke, the room, which had been darkened, brightened once again. The sudden
glow turned my sight into pure white, and when the eyes steadily adjusted to the brightness, I
realized that I’d totally walked into his trap.

“It’s true that my Chameleon Sting can’t inflict vital damage into you. However…”

Chameleon was still hiding somewhere.

“You can’t stand against this rain of light shot from over 100 muzzles at the same time! Gyah, hah,
hah!”

Countless muzzles were surrounding me. This room, built as a dome, had muzzles built into all of
the walls save for the floor. I should’ve considered that the room itself had some trick to it. The man
lured me here, so I should’ve expected this. What these cannons shoots are his own Chameleon
Sting. If he splits the energy into so much muzzles, will the firepower decrease? No… Knowing the
man, he must’ve set up something in the room to prevent that. I’ve got no time to hesitate. My
instinct is telling me that I can’t resist these.

“Shit!”

I must break as many cannons as possible right away or else I’m done for. Individually, they don’t
inflict so much damage. But his Chameleon Sting has a high piercing ability. If I’m hit by so many of
them simultaneously, I won’t be able to protect critical spots like the head or the generator.

Zero’s usual words of “when in a critical situation, don’t hesitate” run through the back of my brain
and my body readies the Buster as if propelled by those words. Light gathers within my hand, and
is shot towards the targets. No, it was on the instant I was about to shoot. It was a very, very short,
almost instantly, gap.

“Gyah, hah, hah, haaahhh! DIE~!!”

**************

This happened quite a while ago. I think it was before one year had passed since I’d become a
Maverick Hunter. Chameleon had summoned me and I’d gone to his testing grounds.

“Chameleon. You wanted to ask a favor out of me?”

“Keh, keh. I’m experimenting on a new energy body, so I want you to be the test subject.”

As he said that, he handed me a red energy body. It looked very different from the blue energy
usually extracted from Energen Crystals.
“Is this… safe?”

Not even I felt like drinking a mysterious liquid just like that, obviously enough. Not only it was an
unknown energy, the color itself was so uncompelling. If it’d been red and transparent like an
acerola, that’d been passable, but this impure red color… Looking from afar it even looked like
human fluids.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got Commander Sigma’s permission!”

As he said that, he held out an electronic certificate’s data.

Faced with this venomous color, you can’t expect anyone to simply not to worry.

Thinking back about it, that was either a camouflage or Sigma was already mad by then. I don’t
know the truth about that, but I… I was totally fooled by that certificate, and drank up Chameleon’s
self-made suspicious energy body.

… Well, going from the conclusion, I ended up in an inoperable state, and was severely scolded by
Dr. Cain. Ever since then I ended up being untrustful of that Reploid, of Chameleon.

Mysteriously enough, such wariness and suspicion makes you fixate on the bad aspects of the
opponent, and from many witness accounts and proof, his mad scientist behavior became distinct.

Given my mental state, I efforted myself to avoid being involved with him anymore since I saw what
kind of emotions he had, giving me more reasons to. And thus I became estranged with
Chameleon.

**************

“I-Impossible!? How did you survive being in that rain of light!?”

“You split it into so many pieces that the firepower has decreased, obviously enough.”

The rain of light closing into me. To overcome the death that I saw ahead of them, I jumped straight
into the light. I had spotted that there was a part of the light which was a “space where there’s
nothing”. Because I was sure that Chameleon had to be there. The Sting Chameleons shot out like
that didn’t pierce me and scattered.

I don’t know what had happened. But now I had, literally, caught his tail. I’d finally caught
Chameleon.

“Ridiculous! They’re all shot at the standard firepower! There’s no mistake in my calculations!”

Now that I’d caught his tail, Chameleon’s camouflage ability had become meaningless.

“Well then, guess my growth has surpassed your calculations… You’re not getting away!!”

“Stop boasting! A machine is growing!? Eat these at close-quarters range, then!”

Chameleon’s arms dive for my chest as I was catching his tail and was almost at zero range.
Getting hit at this distance with their piercing ability. I did assume that it’d indeed by a critical
wound, but his attacking speed surpasses my ability dodge.

This is bad! In my agitation, I also let the hand catching the tail let go of it, but the light shot at me
scattered in all directions in the surface of my chest, became small refuses of light and vanished
altogether.

I knew it, it wasn’t my imagination. My body had, within this predicament, earnt defense to be able
to resist his attacks. I don’t know the reason or the why. The dash, the wall-kick, the special
weapons, I really, really don’t know much about myself, those included. But I don’t need to go over
that right now.

What I really must do right now is to make him confess how to return to normal those Reploids
altered by the viruses.

“R… Ridiculous!? What’s with that strength!?”

“Hide and seek is over… You turned innocent Reploids into guinea-pigs, and, also, researched into
viruses to create into Mavericks… I’ll never forgive you for this!”

I unconsciously poured more strength into the arm gripping Chameleon. If he escapes me now, I
won’t have any other chances. I’ll stop the man even if strike each other!

“Shit! Let go! Let go of me!!”

He shoots the Chameleon Sting at zero range while struggling and yelling. But as much as he
shoots, that attack doesn’t affect me anymore.

“I’ll make you confess how to return them to normal!”

I changed the special weapon within my arm.

“Let’s see which of us is tougher; a contest of endurance!”

As I said that, I shot high voltage electricity into the tail which I was gripping.

“GYAHBUBABABAH!”

“Huh! There’s more!”

The Electric Spark shot from my hand flows into Chameleon’s whole body from the tail, and I
myself, being in contact with him, also receive the current as well.

“S-stop! Are you mad or what!?”

“You’re one to talk! Confess how to restore them to normal!”

“How many times do I gotta say it!? There’s no such thing! I wasn’t intending to do so anyway!!”

“Y-you must be kidding!?”

There’s no way to restore them…? Does that mean that they’ll be like that forever? I can’t accept
such a thing, such injustice! What was their mistake? Why did they have to be turned into those
things!?

“Like corrupting innocent Reploids to fit your goals can be justified!”

“GYAHBUHAH!”

I was so angered, so fueled up, that I unconsciously let go of his tail and tried to hit him. But
Chameleon, being free to move again, immediately glued himself to the wall and secures some
distance between both of us.

“Gyah, gyah! Fool! You let go of your once in a lifetime chance! You’re not catching me again!”

Chameleon is trying to hide himself with the optical camouflage again. I was only able to clench my
fists as I was trapped in anger which I couldn’t handle. My internal brakes, my rationality became
scattered. Chameleon’s further evil is thrown in.

“By the way, X! Those pseudo-Replos were all Mavericks that were in prison, y’know!?”

“What!?”

“So there’s no need to help them! Gyah, hah, hah!”

“Don’t screw me! That doesn’t justify you making them suffer so much!”

If they were in prison, that means that they were there to repent for their crimes. What Chameleon
did to those Reploids who were trying to rehabilitate themselves is unforgivable.

“I’ll never… ever forgive you for that!!”

“Gyah, gyah! And what of it!? You can’t see me, can you!?”

His voice echoed across the room. While aptly keeping himself glued, he swiftly crawled across the
wall and creeps towards my back. He hasn’t noticed… His own condition.

“You’re the one I’ll never forgive you! Sting Chameleon!!”

“H-how can you tell where am I!?”

The charged buster I shot blows away his head in one shot. The torso, which remained intact, hits
the thick ground along with a shock.

“That electrical attack killed your camouflage ability…”

I won the battle, but there’s no way to restore the victims to normal. This is the first time I’ve felt
that my victory was so hollow.
 MAVERICK REPORT #07:
The Nobleman of the Skies & The Steeled
Armored Warrior
Storm Eagle & Armored Armadillo
My name is Zero. A Special A-Class Maverick Hunter part of the 17th Elite Unit.

The airborne warship Death Rogumer, seized by the Sigma Army. I’m on its deck and glaring at
two Mavericks, who also glare back at me.

“Why are you two doing this? Eagle and Armadillo.”

“You wouldn’t understand, Zero.”

“We wish to try out the “possibilities” that X is. That is all.”

Armadillo signals the knocked out X with his finger as he speaks. Sheesh. I always tell him to stay
on guard when on the battlefield and that’s the end result.

I thought he’d grown a bit as a result of his battles with the former Special A-Class Hunters but he’s
still very naive indeed. I am very aware that his naive is both his strongest point and his weakest
point, but I, his senior, always gotta deal with the messes he starts up… I wish he acted more
thoroughly while in the battlefield.

Well, similarly, that’s my case… I’m also about to let out my inner naiveness, too… These two had
a very strong sense of justice, nothing alike any of the other Maverick Hunters… I’d been
wondering why they’d joined Sigma’s forces but it looks like both of them are acting out of personal
intentions. But what are they after, then?

Armadillo talked about X’s “possibilities”. Guess he means X’s inner, latent abilities.

They turned into Mavericks to draw those out? That seems rather improbable.

“Probabilities”... Dr. Cain also talked about them but it all sounded like a pipe dream to me. Since
we’re in the midst of a war, it’s natural for one to seek for envy or outlooks. But not me.

“Huh… Where am I…? Zero!? Eagle and Armadillo too!?”

X, who’d been unconscious, finally woke up.

“Did you wake up, X?”

“I see, I challenged both of them and… Did you save me, Zero?”

“That’s about it. Time to work, X.”

X is a spoiled kid. Well, if you want better words, he’s a kind guy but kindness isn’t needed in the
midst of a war. That leads to hesitation, and that hesitation puts your own life and those you’re
supposed to protect, in danger. Human-like emotions are a virtue for us Reploids but for us
Maverick Hunters they’re actually fetters.

X strongly tends to often show them on his face, and so he’s slamming the brakes on his own
trigger. We Maverick Hunters mustn’t falter when confronted with a foe. Even if that’s… a former
friend.

“If you’re gonna become a Maverick then I all gotta do is beat you up. Eagle!”

**************

“Hey, you, the female-looking jerk.”

“... What, a bird?”

Our first encounter was so bad. We began with a brawl.

I was recommended by Commander Sigma and Dr. Cain since I’d lost my past memories but still
had battling strength they valued, and thus I ended up working as a Maverick Hunter. You’d
normally feel anxious at not knowing where you come from, but I really didn’t mind it. I only need to
be able to tell what I must do here and now. We Reploids are machines, that was obviously
enough, and I didn’t mind the fact at all.

And, indeed, as result of my actions based on my way of thinking, I began to accumulate merits
until, at some point, I ended up becoming “Special A-Class”.

It was one day amongst the usual routine. A Reploid that had a bird face poked at me. Unlike Vile,
I’m not the type who’s always looking for a brawl. I actually tended to spend much of the time on
my own without anyone bothering me. But I dunno why… that bird guy felt so annoying. And, well,
after exchanging a few words, I made a prompt decision and we began beating each other.

I didn’t expect myself to act so hastily, either. We did do something bad to X and Armadillo, who’d
interposed themselves. I feel that they were the ones who were most damaged as a result. We
Hunters are a military power, and an organization with rules. Since we’d started a stupid brawl
within a corridor and dragged in the Reploids who’d tried to interpose, both Commander Sigma and
Dr. Cain got a hold of it, and both me and the bird… I mean, Eagle, ended up subjected to
disciplinary action. I still wonder, though, why did the Hunter HQ put us in the same disciplinary
prison cell? That would obviously lead to… us resuming the brawl during “disciplinary action”.

“This blonde jerk is annoying!”

“This beak of yours is annoying!”

Thinking back on it, Eagle was the only one I ever had a brawl with. Whenever we saw each other,
we’d snarl at each other. When we crossed each other, we’d direct sarcasm at each other. If we
were assigned to the same mission, we’d compete to see who’d gain more merits.

But, obviously enough, we didn’t drag others into it anymore, and rather than brawls we competed
over obstinacy. Ultimately, an absurd rule of “the one who finally wins can demand one thing,
anything, from the other” was born.

Some years passed, and I was transferred to Commander Sigma’s own-led Elite 17th Unit. And, at
the same time, Eagle ascended to Commander of the 7th Paratroopers Unit. Ever since then, and
I guess that as a result of us meeting less often, we didn’t snarl so much at each other. Also, we
both had become pretty busy, and we’d already lost a reason to fight each other anymore.

In one of my free days, I was walking across the city and bumped into Eagle, who also had the day
off. Since we’d both been promoted it’d been quite a while since we last saw each other. And Eagle
let out something.

“Back then I was looking for someone to compete with.”

We are machines, so unless we are altered by changing parts or so, we cannot rapidly change. So
what do you do when you want to be promoted through experience? Find a foe that’s in the same
level as you, or who has ambition. Eagle thought so and thus set his eyes on me to then challenge
me to a brawl. However, there’s still one enigma left. Why did I feel so annoyed back then? I still
don’t know the answer to that.

**************
“Sheesh. You won’t stop flying, will you?”

“While we’re at it, why don’t we settle our long-lasting score?”

“You’ll regret that, your bird rascal.”

Out of 1.216 battles, I’d won 600 and lost 600. The remaining 16 were draws. This 1217th battle is
the end to our long-lasting competition, then. Looking back at it again, we battled in such a stupid
way indeed. We’d competed in many showdowns, and our only true battle is the one to settle the
score, talk about unfortunate.

I actually don’t have any affection or sympathy for the humans, unlike X. But I’m a Maverick
Hunter. My job is to defeat Mavericks and restore world peace, and I executed that without any
hesitation. That’s what we Maverick Hunters do, literally fight in a mechanical way. Protect both the
humans and peace. I simply abide by that command, and my personal feelings aren’t needed in
here. That’d been so natural insofar that I’d never questioned it.

“However, I now feel some hesitation on me…”

I’m pretty certain I don’t hesitate. But… There’s a hesitation, a short-lived one.

“That time wasted in hesitation will kill me and make my foe win… Don’t hesitate.”
By saying it aloud, I became conscious of it, and I can willingly discard it. What I gotta do is drag
that Eagle back to the ground. This is unlike all of our brawls. It’s a battle between a Maverick and
a Maverick Hunter. One lives, the other dies. We’re indeed in the midst of a war. Toss away the
hesitation, defeat the foe in front of you.

“Let’s assess the situation…”

I tried shooting several Buster shots at Eagle as he dived at high speeds from the sky, but since
this is his home field, he naturally dodges all of them.

“Well, obviously enough… But I’ve known you for a long time, too…”

I keep on shooting in a row but they don’t hit him either, of course. But I had a good reason for
keeping on doing that. Eagle’s “Storm Tornado” weapon can directly cause a tornado with high
power from his special Buster, it’s a special weapon, but the condition to be able to activate it is a
somewhat restrictive one. My actions are a constraint to avoid those conditions being fulfilled.

“If it’s in the air you must be flying stable, and if it’s in the ground you must be in contact with it;
else you can’t attack!”

“Sheesh! Hanging around with you for so long backfired on me, huh? Same applies to you!”

In return, Eagle adds the gravity fall speed from the sky to carry out a rush towards the deck where
I’m at. His movements are almost sound-speed and while I dodged that by a very fine line, the
shockwave that came afterwards considerably blows me away. I’ve never seen this attack before.

As expected of a former Unit Commander, he has plenty of field experience.

“I don’t need to use the Storm Tornado to defeat you!”

“Say that while you can, you know?”

But he’s also underestimating my accumulated experience as well.

“What are you… Huh!?”

Eagle’s flying height drops with a heavy sound.

“Bastard! What have you done!?”

“When we crossed each other, I landed a shot in the working parts of your wings!”

Eagle was flying at almost sound-speed when diving for me, but it’s not like I didn’t have any
visibility either. My attack was powerful enough to damage his wings, and confirm the fact. It was a
declaration of intention: I can shoot your back. That should force him to land in the ground.

Once he does, he’ll be in my home field, so I gotta beat him up at once and retrieve this airborne
warship.

“Come down, Eagle. Now’s my turn!”

Pretty lame taunt coming from me, but will he fall for it? If it was his past self he’d unmistakably
done so, but he’s now in league with Sigma and a Maverick revolting against humans. Assuming
all will work as it used to do will trip me up. I should consider him a new foe altogether and fight
him as such. I should use knowledge, memories, experience, caution and paranoia.

“Fine… But it won’t go as you see fit.”

“Oh, really?”

As he said that over his shoulder, he landed behind Armadillo, who’d been fighting X. An united
front? But what do they intend to do? I wondered for a second but I immediately figured out what
their goal was. I rushed towards where X was at. I was wondering why, starting with Sigma, had
both Eagle and Armadillo turned Maverick.

But there was something else that was bugging me from before. Storm Eagle and Armored
Armadillo. Both are former A-Class Hunters, and each of them has more than enough strength on
their own; I’m not flattering either.
Why would these two, generally accepted to have confidence in their own abilities, bother to do an
united front? Did the duo of Eagle and Armadillo seek to make an unsuitable combination? The
answer is in the characteristics of the weapons they both have.

“X! Don’t allow Eagle to charge up his weapon!”

“!? So that’s their plan!? Shit!!”

Having understood their intent, X shoots in a row at Armadillo, who’s in front of him. I also shot my
Buster as I drew nearer to them but Armadillo’s Rolling Shield is thick. Neither X’s Buster nor mine,
which has superior firepower, can break that shield.

“We gotta find an opening and stop Eagle, else…”

My nerves at having been slow to realize their intentions drives the status of things, the situation,
into a further complication. I can see at a distance the light of Eagle’s charging weapon. We must
make it through this shield before it fills.

Storm Eagle’s “Storm Tornado” and Armed Armadillo’s “Rolling Shield”. Those are indeed the best
fangs and shield of the former Maverick Hunters. While Eagle is charging up his weapon, Armadillo
covers the enemy attacks with his Rolling Shield, and those who get close are dealt with the Storm
Tornado. This is the reason why both of them sought to create a combination.

“Anyway! Don’t let Eagle shoot out “it”!”

“Understood!”

Both of us draw near to Armadillo, who’s in the front. We gotta make it through his Rolling Shield
and stop Eagle.

“Sheesh! You’re in the way, Armadillo! Get out of the way!”

“My role is to be Eagle’s shield… I shalt not move just because thou tell me to!”

We’re less than 1 meter away from Armadillo right now. If I shoot my Buster on its max charged
state, not even Armadillo’s Rolling Shield will be able to completely block it. And by using that small
gap, either of us must shoot at Eagle and thus stop him from charging up his weapon. But my
hypothesis… gives way to impatience. Impatience leads to further impatience… And we didn’t
make it on time.

“Too late! Eat this! Storm Tornado!!”

The spiralling gusts, the penetrating shockwave. I can tell that my body is being out pushed by an
invisible pressure. The insides of my body make ill-sounding jagged sounds and many of my
mechanical components scream. We were defeated by a margin of a few steps.

**************

I think this was about one year after X joined the 17th Elite Unit. I was charged with his instruction
and brought X with me to many missions. This one was about… Yeah, a clown-shaped robot had
turned Maverick and had taken the humans in the circus hostages, and was holding up there, that
was the incident. That was when I firstly met Armadillo.

Normally, a member of the 8th Armored Unit wouldn’t be involved in an incident that happened in
the city, but he happened to be off-duty and also happened to, coincidentally, be near the scene of
the incident.
“If I can contribute then I shalt pour my strength to do so.”

I’d hear about it but his speech was really something come out of a play. Well, regardless of what
kind of words had been programmed into him as part of his character, there was no doubt he was a
powerful Maverick Hunter.

“I’ll distract him. You and X go round and cut in from both sides to then neutralize the target.”
“Understood.”

“Gotcha. Be careful, Zero.”

We split into 3 directions and began to move so as to retrieve the hostages and neutralize the
Maverick. The clown had taken position in the center of the circus hall and had tied up about 10
troupe members on the surrounding and had them sit surrounding him. I must distract him and
make him focus on me. What kind of words can I use?

“Hey, you, the clown rascal. Your show is but a nuisance, did you know that?”

It started more belligerent than I expected to, but the reaction isn’t bad… When he heard my voice,
he spun around and focused his sight on me. I was able to secure the situation by drawing the
Maverick’s attention to me, and then X and Armadillo would go round and cut in from the blind
spots to then suppress the Maverick; a very simple strategy indeed. Given its simplicity, I assumed
we’d be done at once but the clown was something that went beyond what I’d imagined it to be.

“Nyah, hah! ThInK yOu CaN tAkE Me oN? BrInG It oN!”

Dunno if it was a bug on the linguistic field since he couldn’t properly speak to begin with, but I was
able to understand what he was thinking and what he was gonna do. He grabbed two of the
hostages at hand and placed them on his sides to then run away from the center of the circus hall.

“Sheesh! X! He’s heading over there!”

He’s heading on the direction where X is hiding at, and if it went as planned, he’d be in the line of
fire.

“Freeze! Else I’ll shoot!”

X is no wannabe, of course. He knows his position is the best to attack. All he has to do is to blow
out the Maverick’s head with accurate range… A very simple thing indeed.

“Are you going to shoot at a fellow Reploid?”

The clown, who’s linguistic field was supposedly damaged, spoke in a very clear way and let out
those words. If it’d been me I wouldn’t have hesitated at his words at all and simply pulled the
trigger. But X hesitated. He hesitated for an instant, for less than a second, but it was more than
enough time to worsen the state of things. Both X and the hostages were in danger but were too
far away for me to make in on time, even by dashing.

“Sheesh! X! Move!”

I aggravated my voice, but that won’t make it on time… What a blunder I made! The recovery of
the situation was too slow, and the clown, making mechanical noises which couldn’t be considered
words anymore, is about to make the hostages on his sides, the humans, hit the ground. If a
Reploid with its power make humans hit hard floor they’d die, no doubt about it. He raised the
hands overhead and then gravity makes them swing down. It was right when the heads of the two
hostages were about to hit the ground.
“Indeed. Because thou are a Maverick and we are Maverick Hunters!”

A voice rang out from behind the clown and, at the same time, the two hostages were surrounded
by a spherical barrier. As they scoop out the ground, they roll a few meters as if they were balls
and they steadily lose force due to the friction with the air. The barriers are slowly cancelled and
the two hostages protected within them seem to be unharmed.

“So that’s the “Rolling Shield”... First time seeing it…”

And, with some delay, the clown’s body sloppily crumbled on the ground, out of strength. Looking
closely you could see an opened airhole in the middle of the body, where the generator would be
at. Before I’d thought of not making it in time, and when the clown had jumped and headed for X,
Armadillo must’ve been drawing closer to where X was at, coming from where he’d been at. This
time around we’ve been saved by his swift decisions… As expected of a Special A-Class
Commander Class. The mission is over. The rest will be deal with by the retrieval team, and when I
was about to contact the Maverick Hunter HQ…

A sound of a thick metal being hit echoed, along with a dull sound. I promptly aimed my Buster to
where the sound came from, but there were only Armadillo and X over there. The clown has
become scrap and is lying on the ground so… Where did that come from? I didn’t really
understand what was going on, but I was able to tell at once what the sound was.

“Why didn’t thou shoot then?”

The sound had been Armadillo hitting X. Looks like he’s pretty annoyed.

“If I hadn’t been there then two innocent humans would’ve indeed died.”

Those words have an anger close to murderous intent mixed on them… Guess it’s his own
“policy”.

“If a Hunter hesitates, innocent shalt die. Thou must never forget that, X.”

Armadillo said that and left us behind since he walked away from the scene. I remember that ever
since then, X’s naive behavior became less noticeable.

**************

“Sheesh. I’ve become dull as well…”

“Zero… Are you alright?”

“That’s what I should be saying. Rest for a while.”

When Eagle shot the Storm Tornado and when I thought we wouldn’t be able to dodge it. A
silhouette appeared in front of me. X protected me as he jumped into the front of the attack.

“Looks like I’m tougher than I thought I was…”

As he said that, X stood up with his staggered feet, received the attack of the Storm Tornado and
he indeed looked like he hadn’t been too damaged. It wasn’t light damage but it wasn’t heavy
damage either. It’s not like Eagle was holding back either. I can tell because the deck of the
airborne warship, our surroundings, had been fiercely destroyed.

“Sheesh. You’re becoming stronger with each passing day.”

“It’s strength to protect others but earnt through sacrifices. I won’t yield so easily.”
X’s pupils as he said that were the real deal indeed. He did look like he lodged a lot of strength on
them. Let’s correct myself a bit. I’m no longer calling him “naïve”. I guess he’ll eventually
overcome me and earn strength fitting a Special A-Class Hunter.
What Armadillo talked about, X’s “possibilities”, might not be as stupid as I thought it was.

“Impressive. So you resisted that attack? So that’s the strength that you’ve earned, huh?”

Eagle wasn’t too surprised that his best shot hadn’t been able to defeat X. You’re going to tell me
that he expected X to resist it? There’s a lot of things about these two that don’t make sense…
They’re making their true intentions ambiguous.

“You were talking about X’s “possibilities”, no? What are you two trying to achieve?”

“We are but mere Mavericks. Nothing more, and nothing less…”

“Well then, allow me to ask you… Why is there nobody else in this warship but you two?”

“....”

Ever since I intruded the warship, and until I made it here, I hadn’t found anything with a will of its
own, apart from Mechanoloids. Guess it was the same case for X. If X had defeated them, there’d
be their remnants, and it wouldn’t be odd for small chaff to be on the watchout for the surroundings
and make a wall, since we’re battling. But there was no trace of that anywhere, and here there’s
only X, Eagle, Armadillo and I… The four of us. And since this warship is flying at a very high
height, no outsiders can interfere. I’d felt something was out of place since the beginning but now I
was sure of it.

“I’m already fed up with your farce, Eagle. What are you up to?”

Neither of them react to my question, to my pressing. But I can feel how the murderous intent
they’d had the whole time is vanishing. Why did they degrade themselves to “Mavericks” to fight
us?

“I also want to know. Both of you had a very straight will within the Maverick Hunters, so why did
you turn Mavericks… Submit to Sigma?”

They don’t answer to X’s questions either. But I can tell that their enmity, their murderous intent, is
filling up again within the silence. I began to notice how some rain had begun to fall.

Let’s rewind to a while ago. This happened a few hours ago, when I raided the warship.

**************

Following Dr. Cain’s orders, I was chasing Vile, who was in unknown whereabouts. The latest info
said that X had bumped into him in the seabed base, but I couldn’t get a hold of any possible
directions he’d gone off to, and just when I was about to go back to the Maverick Hunter base…

“Zero! There’s somewhere I want you to head to ASAP!”

The Operator, sounding rather nervous, used the emergency transmission channel.

“What’s the matter? Explain the situation.”

The Operator explained to me that X had been challenged out by Eagle and so he had gone alone
to the airborne warship but they’d lost contact since then, and was also told that Armadillo was
there as well, so I headed to the scene at top speed. Since the warship is berthed at a very high
height, you can’t reach it from the ground. I used a plane readied by the flying column and got into
the warship’s lower bridge.

“Oh? So you came here? That was unexpected.”

I found Vile, whom I’d been searching for, there.

“I finally found you, Vile. Now you’re coming with me, docily.”

I readied my Buster and called for him to surrender, but he obviously wouldn’t do that. What
bothered me is why was the guy here. If he wanted to team up with Eagle and Armadillo, he should
be at the deck, where X must be fighting them… So why is he here instead?

“What are you plotting, Vile?”

“Me? I’ve only come for my favorite machine, that’s it.”

As he spoke, something huge suddenly jumped out from the wall next to Vile.

“Speaking of which, you’d been using that thing…”

What broke the wall and appeared was the Ride Armor that Vile liked using. I think that after I
fought him in the highway he’d jumped into this warship to escape, right?

“Actually, I had a minor business to take care of, but… Guess I’ll leave it up to you.”

“Wait! Where are you going to!?”

After he spoke Vile jumped over the bridge’s handrails, and jumped down for the surface that was
far, far below me. His Ride Armor also followed him in his jump. Accompanied by its own weight,
they became smaller and smaller. I hurriedly tried shooting my Buster, but as I was trying to get a
hold of him, they fell beyond the range of my weapon. We were so far apart we couldn’t hear each
other, and Vile vanished below the clouds.

“Can’t be helped… Let’s go help X.”

I rushed through the bridge and headed to where X was at.

**************

“I don’t really mind if you don’t want to answer, but is it related to Vile being here?”

The words that Vile had said within my memories.

“Actually, I had a minor business to take care of, but… Guess I’ll leave it up to you.”

They were picking me, somehow. What I could think of was two patterns: one, come to dispose of
X, who’d come onboard, and another one.

“I was considering that maybe you two and Sigma aren’t really working together…”

The other one was the possibility that they weren’t on Sigma’s side. It might’ve been a hopeful
wish, but given how there were so many odd things to their actions… To be blunt, it was unclear
whether they really intended to defeat us or not. I thought that even now, having become
Mavericks, their original stubborn personalities were hindering them, exhaustively and
mechanically, and they couldn’t get themselves to remove us.

But the whole thing was too lenient. Yeah… I’ll say it, this whole battle is too lenient. Despite that
both of them battled X, he was still alive by the time I made it here. The situation was absolutely on
their side; they didn’t doubt X’s strength but they were taking it into account. I dunno what they
really want to achieve.

“We are but mere Mavericks to you two. No other reasons are needed.”

“If you want a reason for this battle, we’ll give you one.”

Armadillo has something within his hand, a small item that looked like a switch. He held it upwards
and then announced in a loud voice.

“The MDWs loaded on this warship. We will drop them if we win.”

“M… MDWs!?”

X was bewildered at them suddenly bringing up the existence of MDWs. I can’t tell at all if they
exist or if it’s a total bluff but that was indeed a good reason for both of us to fight them. If there’s
any “real possibilities”, even if it’s but a 1%, we must act on our duty as Maverick Hunters to
protect peace and stop them at all costs. If, in the worst of cases, the MDWs were to be dropped,
it’ll become a disaster greater than Sigma’s rebellion. MDWs were thought to have been eradicated
since the apparition of Energen Crystals. That word alone, regardless of it being either a bluff or
real, was more than enough material for coercion.

“I dunno what you were thinking of by bringing out that topic, but…”

I aimed my Buster at Eagle and Armadillo again.

Not only I could no longer ask them what they were thinking of, but their words had made them
become true Mavericks. The existence of those MDWs might be a lie. X might be thinking of that
possibility, but we’d lose nevertheless. When we begin to think of that, we will have lost the battle.
So that’s why I don’t hesitate. Even if he used to be my friend, now I’m faced with a Maverick.
“I’ll smash you up!”

**************

“Why… Why must we fight these kind of battles…?”

X was kneeling on the deck and muttering that in a wringed out voice. I’m lying spread-eagled next
to him, riddled with wounds. I’m so damaged it’ll take a while to be able to properly move again. I
moved my sight to a spot to some distance from us. Eagle and Armadillo, whom we’ve defeated,
are there. To be honest, it was a very close victory.

I’m the one who finished Eagle off but what I did was almost a suicide. I knew I had to catch him
else I had no chances of winning, so, in a desperate move, I glued into Eagle as he was diving,
and destroyed his right flank, while also shooting a charged buster shot from his back. Half of his
body was crushed, and the shock of hitting the deck along with Eagle, unable to control himself,
rendered both of us unable to move.

As I lied on the deck, I shifted my sight towards X, and it looked like he’d also been able to win as
well. By freezing the deck, he limited Armadillo’s mobility when rolling and since he’d had to cancel
his defenses to control himself, was bathed in Electric Spark attacks shot by X, who’d trailed him at
high speed using his Dash ability, and became unable to battle anymore, just like Eagle.

Both are out of league, I’m also out of league and X, while damaged, can still move. As his senior, I
really didn’t live up to it, but since we were facing two former Special A-Class members, the results
are good enough. What was this battle for, though, in the end? We stopped the firing of the MDWs
that the Mavericks had at hand. Yeah, that’s indeed the case but I can’t shake off the feeling that
that was but an add-on. To begin with, are there really MDWs loaded inside of this airborne
warship? I tried to interrogate them about that.
“Does this ship really have MDWs onboard?”

But these two had hardly answered any questions since the battle had begun. It was doubtful that
they’d answer me by now, but they easily answered.

“No… This warship having MDWs onboard was a lie…”

“I see…”

So I was totally fooled indeed.

“Answer me already. What was the point of this battle?”

Maybe answering that was a taboo in the first place? Have they been caught in some trap by
Sigma, or are they being threatened? Armadillo was the one who answered.

“Our men have been taken as hostages…”

Expected as much: the whole thing was due to Sigma’s extortion.

“But you could’ve asked us to help you out, couldn’t you?”

“Hah… That’d been impossible…”

Eagle laughed from the nose at my comment.

“The MDWs we mentioned; their very existence is not a lie, but…”

“Don’t tell me that…”

“Indeed… That’s it…”

Sigma had taken hostage not only their men but the whole of humanity too. It’s a vexation, but I’d
probably obeyed Sigma as well were that the case. I couldn’t find any words to tell to them. I guess
the same applies to X… He’s been hanging his head and hasn’t spoken.

“... However…”

Armadillo broke the silence.

“We tried betting on X, on the “possibilities” that he’s showed…”

“No way! But I was unable to help you two out!”

“You…!”

Eagle cuts off X’s words with a strong tone.

“You’ve defeated Penguin, Mandrill, Octopus, Chameleon, earnt their powers, and have come all
the way here…”

“And, also, we tried to hinder Sigma’s launching of the MDWs as much as we could…”

Armadillo opened his chest armor and exposed his generator.

“We set them up so that they can’t be fired if we’re not active and running.”

Both of them had staked their lives to stop the MDWs. You need very strong resolution and will to
be able to do this…

“That’s why we betted. We knew you’d gain our strength and reach Sigma…”

“Thou, with your kindred heart, will have to bear the load, but… Bear with it, X.”

Both of them, being machines, being Reploids had gone to the point of “betting”; that meant that
X’s strength was indeed changing. It’s a fact that a B-Class Hunter has been defeating the former
Special A-Class Mavericks present and lined up one after the other.

“We have been defeated and yet the MDWs haven’t been fired… We have won.”

“That’s why we entrust our strength to you…”

“Bring us to the future with your “possibilities”...”

Both have stopped moving. But they used the last of their strength to hold out their special weapon
chips. X took their chips, and gripped them as if he was reflecting upon something. The meaning of
not having robbed them but being entrusted with them. X, having fought all of his way here, knows
the meaning and the weight of that.

The weight of having to bear with the illusion of being a “hero”; X must now have accepted it and
be determined. Else he wouldn’t be making this face…

“... I will take your strengths with me… To a peaceful future…”

He looked ahead, and with a proud expression, X equipped the two chips he’d received.

**************

And now this act has finally ended… No, we still must rescue Eagle and Armadillo’s men, taken
hostage by the Mavericks. First things first, we must find where they’re at… Since neither of them
knew their location either, we dunno which Maverick is in charge of that.

“We have no info so we won’t get anything just by trying to think of a place…”

I casually looked at Eagle, lying on a side. Speaking of which, our long turf has also ended, with
me winning our 1217th battle. And right now I don’t remember what marked the start of this
showdown. I only remember that the winner can demand 1 thing, anything, from the loser. I can’t
properly move right now but I’ll crawl over and tell him. I’m the winner and I only demand 1 thing;
he can’t tell me he won’t do that.

“Hey, you bird-head…Don’t die…”

Obviously enough, neither reply. Sheesh… They both look so relieved… So in the end both of
them quit while we were ahead. Oh, yeah… True. That was why I always found Eagle to be so
annoying.

… Because I disliked people similar to myself.

 MAVERICK REPORT #08:
The Scorching Hot Oil Tank
Flame Mammoth
“This place is so terrible… A mechanical graveyard…”

The heavy sounds of metals hitting each other echo all around me. I’m inside of a scrap plant
where disposed of Reploids and Mechanoloids are gathered at. To reach the orbital elevator from
the location where the airborne warship had landed at in a straight line I had no choice but to cross
through here. I wished we could’ve headed directly through the airship, but we had to ensure its
safety and it was short on fuel too so we had to give up on that idea.

After the harsh battle against the duo of Eagle and Armadillo and having taken care of their deaths,
I entrusted the damaged Zero and the retrieved warship to the other Maverick Hunters and headed
for Sigma’s fortress, following the data that both of them had left in the warship’s database. Where
are their captured men at? I must reach Sigma’s hideout at once and check what’s become of
them.

“I know it’s a shortcut to the orbital elevator, but to think I gotta cross through this place…”

The orbital elevator is a huge facility, so I could’ve used a transfer device to displace to there, but
the whole thing has been hijacked by the Mavericks and so the device doesn’t work. So I had to
choose the shortest route and that’s why I’m here. Sigma’s base is in satellite orbit. Beyond the
skies… That’s where he’s at.

At first we’d thought that just like Eagle and Armadillo he was using an airborne warship procured
from somewhere else as his base but he turned out to be way higher than that. Why did he go
there…? Even Reploids do not have it easy to move between the surface and satellite orbit… Even
by using the orbital elevator it’s still something wholly inconvenient and it’s easy to pinpoint the
location too.

“Oh well. Wherever you hide at, I’ll eventually reach you… Sigma…!”

“Oh no, I won’t let you reach Lord Sigma…”

“What…!?”

I was running across the scrap plant when a giant Reploid jumped out from a heap of scrap ahead
as he spoke. The fragments that dropped into the ground were from immobile comrades. When the
giant landed on the ground, the machines turned into scrap were crushed in an atrocious manner.
They might be corpses, but it’s not like it makes it a spectacle you can’t watch unfazed… And… I
see.. So you’re the one protecting this place, huh?

“So you too joined Sigma, huh!?”

“Indeed! I swore loyalty to Lord Sigma! X! This is where you die!”

An elephant-shaped Reploid that controlled flames. It was Flame Mammoth.

**************

“Well, X!? Isn’t this such a wonderful place!?”

“Don’t screw me! What part of this graveyard-like place is “wonderful”!?”

Mammoth laughs as if he’s having fun, his huge mole forcing me to look up and spreading his arms
wide. The things in this plant are a heap of what humans would call “dismembered corpses”. And
those are cut and smashed into finer pieces by pressers and cutters to then thrown into a blast
furnace to melt them. It’s not a spectacle you normally see on your day-to-day, and the machine
that I am feels sick at it. I just want get out of this place at once but this man calls it “wonderful”...
How can he look like it in this place which is filled with the stink of “death”...?
“Mammoth. Let me through. I’ve got business with Sigma.”

“I can’t do that. I already told you. I’ve sword loyalty to Lord Sigma. You’re my enemy!”

To be honest, I’d like to ignore Mammoth, cut across the plant with my dash, and head straight
ahead to the orbital elevator, but that won’t be possible. The plant’s corridors are narrow, and
outside of those the whole area is surrounded by a blast furnace. If I attempted to poorly dash past
Mammoth’s side, I could end up falling headlong into the blast furnace in the worst of cases. My
body might be though but it can’t possibly resist temperatures close to that of magma.

“I’ll carve the way open by force, then! And head on ahead!”

Victory comes to the one who makes the first move! I shoot the energy charged up in my arm’s
Blaster straight ahead, where Mammoth is at! I aim for the center, to make a windhole in the middle
of his huge body! I was very confident and yet my attack only left a light burn mark on Mammoth’s
body.

“Itchy… And this is the attack that defeat all the others?”

“Uwaaahh!?

I was surprised that Mammoth was unaffected by my shot, and he counterattacked so now I’m the
one who got damaged. For an instant I noticed I was bathed in some kind of liquid-like substance,
but the next instant my body was bathed in flames.

“Guwaaaahhhh!!”

What hit me a moment ago must’ve been a flammable oil or the likes. I rolled my burning body, to
try to shake off the sparks on my body. But it’s the oil for attacks used in the special weapons of
Hunters. It doesn’t come off the body easily, and the flames keep on roasting me. This can’t keep
on, gotta peel off the oil glued to my body somehow!

Think, X! What can you do in this situation? Freeze yourself with the Shotgun Ice and put out the
fires? That won’t do, cooling myself in this heat will make me end up like Mandrill.

“In that case… This will do! Storm Tornado!”

The small tornado column generated uses its wind power to scatter the oil on my body on the
surroundings.

“Huff, huff…”

I managed to get out of the crisis somehow but I can’t let the same attack hit me again. I must find
a way to pierce through Mammoth’s thick armor…

“Mere little tricks… Take this again!”

A huge amount of oil flies off Mammoth’s nose towards me again. I mustn’t get hit again… But it’s
pointless to step back, too. Simply go ahead… Yeah, I’d decided that I was going to go on ahead!

“I found a blind spot of your huge body!”

I rushed towards Mammoth’s front in the lowest possible angle that my balance perception would
allow me to take. I aim for below his huge body… To go through below his crotch!

“Huh!? Don’t get cocky, you weakling!”

“I’ve got your back!”

If the front won’t do, go from the back. I’d charged up my Buster again and I shot it again as I went
through below his crotch! I thought that this attack would indeed damage him but he changed his
pose at speed I thought impossible for such a huge body and it’s bounced off by his front side.

“Shit! That huge body is very fast!”

“Don’t put me in the same league as all the other small chaff… Oh yeah, I’ve had a bright idea!”

As he said that, Mammoth kicked up his huge body and highly jumped towards the rear. He landed
at about 20 meters away from me and is looking at the ceiling for some reason. He spent a few
seconds doing that and then a big heap of metal fell from the ceiling of the plant to Mammoth’s
front.

“W… What’s that doing here!?”

“It’s been a while since you last met, no? X! This thing will battle you instead!”
What Mammoth had summoned was Penguin’s corpse. It reacted to Mammoth’s voice and its body
moved despite it shouldn’t be able to, and headed towards me.

“What a horrid thing…! You desecrate the dead as well!?”

“The dead? All there’s here is but mere rubbish. Go, kill X!”

The corpse couldn’t talk, obviously enough. Or answer to Mammoth’s commands. It’s merely
executing those orders one after the other, it doesn’t have the will or heart it used to have. But I
feel some kind of hallucination, in which I hear its sorrowful voice. Out of all the ones I’ve fought
insofar, Chameleon was a fiend, but Mammoth was also quite rotten as well. I can’t tolerate this. I’ll
never forgive this man.

“I’m… Angered! Mammoth!”

“Hah, hah, hah! And what of it! What will that achieve!?”

Fine. If that’s how you battle like then I won’t hold back either. I feel sorry for him, whose corpse
was turned into a tool, but I don’t intend to go back. Or to advanced by avoiding this road, or the
road I’ve trekked insofar. I’ll bear with all of it, accept all of it, and all of it is a path I’ve trekked out
of my own will. All I’ve been entrusted with. All I’ve inherited. I won’t forgive anyone who desecrates
those.

“I’m going to free you…”

I aimed my muzzle at Penguin’s corpse, heading towards me. Hesitating on shooting would be
desecrating him, whom I’d defeated.

**************

“I’d heard that you’re a sentimental jerk and so I thought you wouldn’t be able to deal with this type
of attack, yet…”

“My previous self might’ve been so but I’ve changed.”

“Sheesh. Vile. The jerk. Making up stuff…”

I see. So this poor act was a suggestion by Vile, huh? Even if it wasn’t the case, Mammoth can
control all corpses here at will. The fact that his nature is rotten won’t change. I defeated Penguin’s
body, become a literal zombie, and which attacked me, with a single attack. I wanted to free him
from that form as soon as possible. I can’t waste too much time here either. I must reach Sigma,
who’s in satellite orbit, at once, and put an end to this pointless war. Else more innocent Reploids
and humans will suffer from it.

“Alright, Mammoth! Now I’m going to get through the place once and for all!”

“What can a weakling like you do, anyway! Play with the corpses again!”

He summons the corpses in the surroundings again, and directs the zombies towards me. I can’t
defeat Mammoth with my Buster given his huge body and his strength. I guess that even the
Chameleon Sting, excelling at piercing, won’t make it easier either. There’s so much metal around
me that the power of the Electric Spark would decrease. Same for the Homing Torpedoes, there’s
too many targets and they’d go for those instead. So the only weapon suited for attack is the Storm
Tornado, yet…

“No… I see, there’s this as well!”

I switched the weapon within my arm to Armadillo’s Rolling Shield. I’ll firstly scatter the assaulting
zombies to the surroundings using the spheroid that travels in a straight line. Its rushing strength is
so great, it’s like Armadillo himself is taking the lead. If head ahead through the opened path
towards Mammoth I’ll obviously be attacked with the combination of oil and flames which I’d been
hit with, again, but I won’t let that happen anymore.

“Sheesh! How impudent!”

I dodged the flame attack, and with two steps with weight placed on the tiptoes, I jump in small
steps, went round and cut in to the side of Mammoth’s body as he twisted his body. This is the
position I wished… this is my best move.

“Here!!”

“W… Whaaat!?”

As I dodged and moved, I’d swapped the special weapon within my arm. I shot the Storm Tornado
at Mammoth’s flank at zero range lateral distance. It obviously doesn’t hurt his thick body either.
But that’s alright, I’d predicted that. My goal wasn’t destruction but oppresure… Indeed. The
pressure of a tornado shot at zero range allowed me to push Mammoth. The “sides” of the corridor
we’re both in is a blast furnace. A hot sea, 1000s of degrees hot, almost like magma; he won’t be
able to resist it even if his body is this strong.

“Go apologize to those whose deaths you trampled upon on the depths of Hell!”

Mammoth’s body tilts with a violent shake.

“Damn you! This won’t be enough to---!!”

SPLASH! I heard the sound of a heavy object hitting a very sticky liquid, and, in front of me, I see a
huge mass of metal burns as it’s bathed on the heat of the blast furnace.

“Guaaahhhh! Like this heat would suffice to beat me---!!”

Mammoth is trying to come back here; despite being in the blast furnace he remains conscious and
his body doesn’t crumble either. Even by making his body go through such heat, that doesn’t
suffice to defeat him!? Even if he’s been given a very strong body, I didn’t think there was any
Reploid or machine that wouldn’t burn to ashes within high temperatures close to those of magma.
This enemy might be the strongest in terms of defense and resistance. If I could do something
else, or give it another push… But as I thought that, I witnessed an unbelievable spectacle.

“What!? W-what are you bastards doing!?”

Mammoth, who’d fixed his pose within the blast furnace and was trying to come back here,
suddenly shuddered and stopped moving towards me. The struggling Mammoth yelled things like
“how can you move!?” or “you damned pieces of trash!!” and swings his fists towards his feet;
towards something holding his body in place. I was struck and simply stared at the spectacle,
unable to understand what was happening, and was then able to see what was hindering
Mammoth as he raged within the blast furnace.
“I see… So you guys were also fighting alongside me…”

I’d normally try to explain unscientific spectacles like these as a physical phenomenon, with its
reasons and theory for it but right now, and right here, I simply want to accept this spectacle for
what it is.

“YOU DAMNED BASTARDS!!!”

Even if his body is very strong, he can’t avoid damage if he’s subjected to high temperatures for a
prolonged time. It was like these Reploids of this scrap plant, which should be unable to move,
were trying to teach to me as they push Mammoth’s body within the blast furnace. As far as I could
see, there were over 10 dead that attached to Mammoth and burned away, but then another wave
came and repeated the same process, keeping Mammoth trapped.

“DAMN YOU----! OUT OF MY WAY----!!”

The corpses are shaken off but they attach again, and push Mammoth into the blast furnace.
Within this state, this spectacle should be an unnatural phenomenon beyond understanding. But I
instead felt like I heard their voices, trying to retaliate at Mammoth even if they were dead. I felt like
they were saying “defeat Mammoth along with us”...

“Guys… Thank you… Sorry for this…”

I aimed my Buster at Mammoth as he was within the blast furnace. I can’t let this chance elude me.
But even if it’s subjected to extremely high temperatures, I’m not sure if my attacks will be able to
damage his body… I must wisely choose the right weapon…What should I attack Mammoth’s huge
body with…? I was hesitating what to use as the finishing blow but then another unbelievable
spectacle happened in front of me.

“You too…?”

A corpse that was very close to me flew towards Mammoth with a huge impulse. The corpse
assaulted at high speed, as if it was a bullet…

“T-the damned penguin! It went into my body!?”

Penguin’s corpse, which shattered into pieces from the shock, created a huge crack in the iron wall
body. I see! The super high temperatures are making his body lighter! No matter what kind of
super-metal might be used, there’s no metal that magma can’t melt! All “processable materials” in
the world have a critical point to them. His body being tied up in the blast furnace, the limit has
been overcome and thus the strength has begun to extremely drop. And now my attacks can reach
his generator!

“Thank you, Penguin. Guys! Let’s put an end to this!”

I dunno whose will or what miracle has caused for this to happen. But it’s true that I am within a will
that even when dead and broken, absurdly and evilly, tries to rebel. Not all of these have to be the
kind of will I assume it to be, but there’s one thing I’m sure about. There’s a will asking to… defeat
Mammoth, the man in front of me.

“Repent for your sins of having desecrated not only the living but the dead as well in Hell!
Mammoth!!”

Light gathers in my drawn out Buster. To shoot as much energy as possible to the Maverick in front
of me.

“DAMN YOU-----! DAMN YOU, X!!!”

“GO APOLOGIZE TO PENGUIN ON THE AFTERLIFE----!!!”

My Buster simply pierces Mammoth, who could only scream, in a straight line. The light pierces
through the body that had been so strong, and bursts along with the blast furnace behind it.

“YOU DAMNED WEAKLING!!!”

Bathed in the Buster’s light and dragging the blast furnace’s heat into it, Mammoth’s body explodes
from the inside, as if was a balloon that had burst, scatters in all directions, and flies off. The
remains scatter across the scrap plant, and a rain of remains fall down and flutters alongside tight
sounds and sounds like it was boiling. The remains sparkle in the air, and fall into the blast furnace
with a swish, instantly change color into a pure black scrap iron, and deeply sunk within the
magma. The Reploids that kept Mammoth, now turned into a rain of scrap, in place, also sunk into
the blast furnace as if they’d made sure that he was dead. The rain of remains still continues.

I spotted one fragment that sparkled within it, and caught the “thing” that fell in front of me.

“You’ve lost because you looked down and humiliated the dead, Mammoth.”

Mammoth’s special weapon chip that glows within my hand. A strength I’ve earned after going
through yet another battle, and which I equipped into my Buster without hesitating.

“I’ll be making use of your strength.”

I saw how Penguin’s corpse, that had become immobile again, melted within the blast furnace….
Thank you. And I hope that this time you can finally rest in peace. I directed my thanks to them
within my heart, and hurried to leave the scrap plant behind.
 MAVERICK REPORT #09:
The Space-Time Iron-Cutting Fiend
Boomer Kuwanger
 MAVERICK REPORT #09:
The Space-Time Iron-Cutting Fiend
Boomer Kuwanger
The huge orbital elevator, still being built, was suggested by Dr. Cain before Sigma’s revolt as a
new symbol for the city, as well as a new infrastructure for outer space development. Currently it’s
a building which only has the basic frame as well as the central elevator to bring in the materials
but, ultimately, once it’s finished, it’ll become a business plus industrial building, the first of its type
on history as well as the biggest scaled one in the world. I’d actually accompanied Dr. Cain once
as part of an inspection, but its huge mole has an intimidation and presence that you can’t imagine
just by hearing about it.

**************

I’d accessed the database of the airborne warship Death Rogumer, and found that Sigma was
hiding in satellite orbit, so I finally reached the orbital elevator so as to head into outer space. The
database said that this place had been hijacked by Mavericks as well but I don’t see any enemies
or Mechanoloids in the surroundings.

This elevator, having been hijacked a few days ago, abused of the huge energy needed to operate
it, and carried out destructive actions, releasing a huge shockwave. I need to stop that shockwave,
which the diameter of several kilometers of the building releases, and get up to satellite orbit, but…

This doesn’t fit what the database had recorded on it. I can see buildings probably collapsed by the
shockwaves said to have been released yet there’s no Maverick presence in the area. I can
understand common citizens having evacuated due to the state of things, but why there aren’t
security Reploids or Mechanoloids either?

“Stopping to think hardly solves anything. Let’s hurry on ahead…”

It was too quiet, creepy even, but even if this is supposed to be some kind of trap, I must bump into
it from the very front; I’ll head on ahead and counter it. I hurried to the central material-shipping
elevator within the building. It’s a huge structure that literally reaches satellite orbit, outer space.
The base grounds are huge, and heading from the edge of them to the center is a trip of a few
kilometers in either direction. I was on the lookout from attacks or traps in the area, all while I
dashed to get there ASAP.

**************

“I see… So he was the one protecting this place, huh?”

I reached the central elevator within the tower, used to ship materials, I found about 50 defeated
Maverick Hunters there. There were no survivors, and I thought it must’ve been a violent battle but
the surrounding walls and floor were barely damaged, which told me that all of them had been
instantly defeated. And all of the defeated Hunters have sharp cut wounds on them. Going from the
situation, there was only 1 subject in my memories who could’ve done all of this.

“So you also betrayed us, huh? Boomer Kuwanger…”

He used to be a comrade of the 17th Elite Unit I’m in, a stag beetle-shaped Reploid, “Boomer
Kuwanger”. My tension increased at the appearance of a powerful foe whose speed was called
“extreme speed”. He fights at such high speeds that he’s sometimes referred as “The Space-Time
Iron-Cutting Fiend”. Could I now be able to contend with the speed he shows in my memories? The
last fort that blocks the way before Sigma’s hideout has become a place which has a considerable
difficulty indeed.

“I’m almost there… I can’t step down having come this far…”

I made a decision, offered prayers to the defeated comrades, and headed to satellite orbit with the
central elevator. Guess that at this stage humans aren’t expected to ride on it, so a door that only
had a frame with no windows or anything else, closed, and, steadily, the gravity speed increases
along the hi-speed climbing, as my body left the surface and headed towards the skies.

**************

I rode in the central material-shipping lift, and the surrounding landscapes become distant, and by
the time it reached a height in which you can’t see people, even as specks, a shadow that ran
parallel to the outer shell of the elevator, appeared. What awaited me beyond the skies, where air
was growing thin, was…

“I knew it… It was you, Kuwanger…”

“It looks like you have grown considerably, but better don’t assume that you can defeat me.”

Kuwanger laughs interpredly. His movement speed is indeed overwhelming. This central lift I’m in
is an infrastructure that covers the distance between the ground and satellite orbit in a short time
and moves at super high speeds; but Kuwanger is climbing the outer shell while defying gravity so
he’s actually running parallel in speed to the lift. I did know he was pretty fast, but didn’t expect him
to actually be this swift…

“Alright. Let’s begin the showdown, shall we?”

As he said that, Kuwanger, with a light footwork, jumps from the outer shell of the elevator and into
the lift I’m riding in.

“If you assume me to be the same as before, you’re going to regret it!”

I aimed my Buster at Kuwanger, who looked very confident as we faced each other. It’s not like I
underestimate his high speeds, but I won’t lose a high-speed duel within a battle.

“Oh, really? I wonder about that…”

I took the words as a sign to begin; I went round to cut in and get behind him. The dash speed that
I didn’t have back then should be in the same league as his. There’s no longer a difference on
speed… Or so I thought.

“Talk about slow. You seem to have gotten slightly better, but you cannot match me, whom I have
been born anew.”

His voice rings out from behind. But he’s still in front of me! I hurriedly turned around to see where
the voice came from, and Kuwanger was there as well. Even as I turn around again to look
“ahead”, Kuwanger is still there. A copy? There’s more than one? There’s many of them? A wind-
cutting sound rings out afterwards… That’s not it! These are… afterimages!?

“Impossible! He’s too fast!”

Right after I noticed the fact, the Kuwangers in the area fluctuated as if they were clouds and
vanished. I understood what was going on, so I hurriedly backstepped to put some distance
between both of us. What was that movement…? I couldn’t even notice that they were
afterimages… Can afterimages remain so clear, as if they were statues? No… Kuwanger is leaving
clear afterimages in front of me, as if they were solid copies. Which means that my sight, my
dynamic visual acuity processing speed wasn’t able to keep up. This gap in speed is… bad news.

“Did you forget my alias?”

As he spoke, Kuwanger went round and cut in behind me. His high-speed movements cause for
his voice to lag before it can be heard; he was very fast.
“Speaking of which, I forgot to bring it up, but…”

Kuwanger keeps up as he moves at super high speeds and leaves afterimages behind.

“The shockwaves I caused a few days ago were but a test. Next time I’ll scatter one in a radius
over 100 times bigger.”

“D-don’t screw me! Like I’ll let you do that!”

“Then you must defeat me and destroy the computer in satellite orbit.”

Kuwanger calls out, saying to defeat him to stop his destructive actions, and I led anger take over
me as I shot the Buster in a row, but my reactions are unable to keep up with his speed. I run out of
attacks and I only managed to shoot his afterimages. I’ve already lost track of where the real one is
at, and try to predict the next action by sound, but it also felt like it echoed out of sync with his
movement speed.

His excessive speed and wholly insane movements gives way to a psychological sickness. It’s like
when you can’t stand insects because they’re creatures that have abilities different of those of
humans as well as appearance. My analysis can’t keep up with the battle, and it was the first time I
realized how sickening that felt like.

Why does something feel out of place…? Is it his movements? Whatever I think of, this overcomes
the limits of Reploids both in mechanical and physical aspects. He’s clearly over-specs.

But I remembered that there existed a “hypothesis” that was the only thing that made this situation
possible. I pulled out past memories against Kuwanger’s existence, who moved at speeds
overcoming the physical limits. If those memories are correct, I have a way to fight him and enough
chances to win, too. I have my main consciousness focus on my opponent, Kuwanger, as I
remembered a conversation in the depths of my memories.

I’d been casually talking with Dr. Cain on that day. As we were talking during tea drinking, the topic
suddenly turned into the limitations of Reploids. Not in thinking or idealizing terms, but this time we
were talking about physical limitations. I think the trigger for this talk was because I’d witnessed
Kuwanger’s super high speed battling. Reploids are machines with high functionality, but since
there exists the process of “thinking”, just like humans do, whenever they undertake physical
actions, there exists a top value in the transmission speed from the brain to the limbs. Of course
that since Reploids had mechanical bodies, they don’t have the humans’ latent brakes and the
power they emit is way more superior, yet they can’t move faster than the “speed of electrical
signals”.

There were also physical reasons, as well as factors like gravity or weight involved, so there’s a top
limit to some degree. Of course, remodelling allows to overcome that theory by making processing
faster, but the greatest issue is that the speed to process what the sight perceives and the body’s
super speed aren’t even. No matter what kind of high-spec abilities you install, and even if you can
manifest speeds that are literally close to that of sound, the Reploid’s dynamic visual acuity and
processing ability of thoughts will overcome the processing limit of a human-sized brain parts, and
will be unable to keep up with the environment moving at super high speeds.

When I firstly activated my dash during my battle with Penguin, the processing that controls my
sight was unable to keep up, and thus everything looked blurry as I dashed; that’s an example.
After I fought Mandrill, Dr. Cain attempted to calibrate it as he repaired me, but nevertheless my
sight still blurs whenever I use the dash. The truth of things is that I’ve been using it in a better way
than I did when I first employed this strength.

So what should be done to get through those demerits and overcome the Reploids’ physical and
program processing speed limitations? When Dr. Cain firstly told me his hypothesis I thought he
wasn’t being reasonable, but… Hypothesis by scientists can’t be really laughed at. The answer is
simple: apparently all you need is to operate heart and body separately.

To put it in simpler terms, the body can do that if another, separate brain remotely operates it. This
is but something I’m assuming through this conversation with Dr. Cain that I’d remembered. But
this can explain the bizarre existence I’m faced with. Remembering what Kuwanger said a while
ago, it all fits together. He’d said that… He’d been “born anew”. So there’s a lot of possibilities that
the hypothesis fits together with the actual phenomenon. Hypotheses are important weapons to
make possibilities become real.

On my way here, several have entrusted me words and wills based on my “possibilities”. So it’s
probably a good idea to bet on the possibilities that had emerged within me.

**************

“I did not expect you to preserve for so long.”

Kuwanger’s image and voice don’t match anymore.

“I might not look like it but I’ve been through several bloody battles and made it through them. So I
won’t lose so easily.”

“That novice has grown a lot, or so it’d seem… But you still are no match for me!”

The memory and thinking have ended, and the battle within the elevator goes on. I tried to play the
strong but I’m in an unfavorable situation. I’ve been dodging Kuwanger’s hi-speed movement
somehow, and I’m searching for something to prove my earlier hypothesis but that can’t possibly
be in the landscape seen from the moving elevator. I also thought of patterns where it was hidden
below the elevator’s base or somewhere within the facility, but he’s probably foreseen that we
might actually destroy everything around us.

Think, X. Where would you place your brain in your case? If it’s going to be remotely controlled, it
needs to have clear sight of Kuwanger’s body. Not what Kuwanger sees through the body, but
another eye seeing from the outside… Yes… An environment in which you can have a bird’s-eye
view of yourself! If that’s the case then it should be above us, in satellite orbit? If his main unit is
above the skies, in outer space, it wouldn’t be hard to remotely control something in the ground.
What’s more, you can use solar energy as your power supply as well. The main unit, having
limitless energy, might need to, for example, swap the solar panels and thus it’d make sense for it
to take over this orbital elevator. When you consider that, a lot of things fall into places.

Also, this is but a supposition, but maybe it can’t control the body efficiently unless it’s at some
distance close to directly below it from the PoV of the main unit. The reason why its existence
hasn’t been imagined insofar must be due to that, too. The existence of Boomer Kuwanger, who’d
overcome the physical limitations and processing speed of Reploids. Several hypotheses overlap,
and I began to feel confident of it. At the very least.

“I’ve seen through your trick to overcome the physical limitations!”

“Oh, really…?”

“Your main unit, that is, your brain, is an artificial satellite placed in satellite orbit up ahead!”

“.... Heh…”

Clap, clap, clap. Kuwanger doesn’t seem too nervous at my comment, but stops attacking and
applauds.
“I didn’t expect you to see through my new form, indeed.”

“I deduced from Dr. Cain’s hypothesis… I’m always studying!”

“I see, I see. So it was an idea by that elder, was it? Understandable. However…”

Kuwanger’s shape in my sight blurs again and vanishes.

“We’ll see if you can withstand until you reach my main unit!”

True… Even if I’d seen through his trick, I still couldn’t get a hold of his movements. I’m barely
dodging his attacks which come from all kinds of directions. I actually dodge when the blades make
contact so as to avoid critical wounds, and I sacrifice my body’s surface. Boomer Kuwanger’s
special weapon is the “Boomerang Cutter”, and unlike what the name might suggest, it doesn’t
simply draw an arc and have a simple attack pattern, it attacks in a trail like two circles had
combined together.

“Shit! Guah!”

I’m avoiding the critical wounds, but I receive damage nevertheless. I thought I could dodge these
attacks but my body’s movements have dulled more than I’d expected and I’m unable to do so.
One Boomerang Cutter finally cut and stabbed deeply into one of my flanks. I promptly take it out
and fling it away, but in front of my eyes there’s 4 blades that have already been shot and head for
me.

“I shall defeat you before you make it to outer space…”

It was a mere instant, the time needed to take out the stabbed weapon, but that short time proved
to be fatal. It was hard enough to trace his presence and sounds, and I’d commited a regretful time
loss. I don’t have time to dodge these… Hold on, my body! I crossed both arms and choose to stop
the four blades frontally.

“How foolish… You are done for…”

As he spoke, an intense pain runs through, encarved into my arms, legs and shoulders. The pain
becomes electrical signals that travel through the brain and is pushed back into the wounds again.
Kuwanger has lowered the guard… I can’t let this chance slip by.

“You lowered the guard, Kuwanger!!”

“What!!”

I shook off the pain, and shot the buster shot I’d been charging on my arm to the Kuwanger in front
of me.

It was an attack that totally caught the enemy off-guard so not even he should be able to dodge
this one. He patiently stared at the attack coming for him but right when it was about to scratch his
nose’s thin skin, his shape blurred again, undid and vanished. My charged up attack vainly broke
through one portion of the walls and vanished into the skies.

“That was hardly “lowering the guard” for me…”

It was the third time I heard him behind me, but I got cut up before I could turn around. The pain I
felt on my back stabs the depths of my consciousness, and my body stopped responding to my
commands. I was unable to land an attack on Kuwanger on that situation.

What do I do… What should I do… What else do I have left…? It’s going to end here…? I won’t be
able to reach Sigma…? That’s not it. Not yet. I haven’t fought enough to give up yet. My body
moves, I can shoot the Buster, my legs move, my sight is clear. Hold the ground, stomp the feet
and stand up, forget about the pain.

THUMP

Something moves within me. Something opens within me. Something echoes within me.

THUMP

I’ve felt this sensation before. True. It’s the same sensation of when my dash and my body
changed. It’s that sensation. What will happen? If there’s some strength within me that will allow
me to counter my foe, then… Awaken! Please!

SNAP
Within my head… Something big and dry split open.

“... What?”

The landscape before me completely changes. No, it’s not the landscape itself.

“What’s this…? All I see looks like it’s in slow motion…”

What had changed was the “speed”. I’ve heard of “rushing forth memories”. When faced with
death, humans show extreme dynamic visual acuity, feel like all environments move slowly and
have flashbacks of their whole life at an incredible speed.

“But I’m not having any flashbacks myself, though…”

I’ve ended up in a space where everything moves slower since the earlier change, and an odd
leeway has appeared within my mind. I feel very calm, as if it was a normal day. But now I’m
having a life or death battle, so I’m telling myself to switch the consciousness. I must distance
myself from Kuwanger, who’s behind me, and then I’ll think of the rest. It’s not time to think what
this status is, it’s time to use it and defeat the Maverick in front of me!

I turned around and saw Kuwanger shooting more attacks. It’d seem he noticed my anomaly and is
trying to finish me off for real. Within the slow-motion world that still went on, I was able to dodge
all the Boomerang Cutters that came for me. I feel my body become slightly heavier within this
world, but I somehow shake the strength and twist my body, kick the feet and bring my body to
where I want to go to. And just when I felt that I was at enough distance… The flow of time, which
had turned into slow-motion, resumed its normal speed.

“I-impossible! How could you dodge those in that condition!?”

The situation has had an upside down turn… Now it’s Kuwanger who’s lost track of my movements
and is struck with awe. I don’t have the means to explain my status or actions, but the only thing I
can say is…

“It’s too early to give up!”

The real battle is indeed about to begin.

“Eat these once again, then!”

The Boomerang Cutters of Kuwanger, which he’d shot many times and which I’d been dodging by
inches; when I focused my mind on his hands as he was about to shoot them, my time began to
flow slowly once again. Once I confirmed the scenery and my perceptions, I was finally able to
understand what was going on.

To be able to counter his high-speed movements, my brain must be now thinking at super high
speeds. The reason my body feels heavy must be because my body is, by inches, unable to keep
up with the thinking. As proof of it, since my earlier evasive action had seemingly forced my feet a
lot, the surroundings of the dash function had been strained by the suddenly increased output, and
so they were scorched.

I guess that in my current state, I can dodge the Boomerang Cutters without having to use that
function, but if things look awry then I mustn’t hesitate on using it. I guess that, at the utmost, top
speed dash will only work for another 10 times… I must battle carefully to make sure I can win
before I reach that limit… I must defeat Kuwanger’s main unit nevertheless so let’s stay calm and
dodge the attacks until the terminus of the elevator, let’s have it take me to outer space.

**************
“Impossible… I have speed that has overcome the physical limitations… And you overcame it with
your own body…?”

The voice rings out not from the body from the satellite that’s his main unit. The body has totally
stopped moving by now.

“You who discarded “possibilities” as well as what Reploids are supposed to be… Cannot
understand it…”

“A machine that can overcome physical limitations… A subject… Never heard… of… such a…
case…”

An artificial satellite that can be seen at simple sight from the orbital elevator’s terminus. I was able
to properly shoot and defeat the main unit installed within it. But even with my calculation ability to
resist the super-accelerations, Kuwanger, who’d overcome the physical limitations, was strong. I
was driven into a state where I could barely fight anymore.My body is full of cuts, and many of my
internal machines are exposed.

“It’s OK… I can still move…”

Even while worn down, now that I’m facing what I can see, I can’t go back anymore. In the depths
of my sight there’s… I can see Sigma’s castle where he’s at, floating in space. I control my body,
toyed by the lack of gravity, with the Buster, and made my way to Sigma’s castle nearby garden.
There’s no atmosphere around the area, it’s an environment where only Reploids can exist.
Sigma’s castle doesn’t need an environment where humans can exist, huh…? I held back the
sadness within my heart, and rush for the castle in front of me. But on the way there…

“What’s… this…?”

What I found was a flower arrangement made from Reploid remains. I unconsciously stopped, and
check on them, having thrown around to interpolate in the road. This gruesome spectacle, as if it
was inviting one to Hell, suddenly changed into a sad thing.

“I-it can’t be… No way… They are…”

The corpses of the Reploids miserably scattered around had the unit emblems of Storm Eagle and
Armored Armadillo carved into them.

“All of these Reploids have the emblems of those two units… Shit! Once again I’ve been unable to
rescue them…?”

Ultimately, regardless of what noble words he uses to claim an ideal, this gruesome spectacle is
the turned-Maverick Sigma’s true nature, his true character. I guess that in his proclaimed “Utopia”
only he is allowed to exist. The “Utopia” he boasts about is but a “Dystopia” ruled by his
unscrupulous nature.

“And what point is there… to such a world!?”

I’d like to mourn the Reploids lying on the path, but I don’t have the time for that. I must defeat the
man before such a tragedy happens again. Defeating Sigma is what will be their condolence.

“I’m sorry. Once it’s all over, I’ll make sure to mourn you all…”

I told so to the corpses, and ran straight ahead for Sigma’s castle.
MAVERICK REPORT #10:
Awakening
Vile
Ever since I was born I’ve never had enough of battling. Being a battling Reploid, strength was all
that mattered to me. And so I went on breaking, breaking, and breaking everything. I won’t deny
that it eventually became an habit. On the day that Sigma made a declaration of war against
humanity. I’d been tossed into the “disciplinary action cell” because of my “crimes” at excessively
beating up some Mavericks. I was used to that happening and I guessed than in two weeks time
they’d let me out and so I had too much time on my hands. But then the whole building shook
violently and I detected a sound that was like an earth tremor. I could tell at once those were
“sounds of a war”.

“Don’t screw me… Lemme join the party, you pieces of shit…”

I was annoyed that some morons had started up a war but I was being left out of it. The door of my
cell was suddenly cut down by a beam of light and the remains fell to the ground with a dry sound.
Light poured in the gloom and in the backlight spectacle there was a man with a light sword on his
hand.

“Oh? So Lord Commander came in person to dispose of me? You shouldn’t have bothered.”

The man within the backlight remains silent. He simply swung down the light sword again, towards
me. SNAP. So this is where it ends, huh? Talk about a boring life. Or so I was surprised, yet, a few
seconds later, I realized I was still alive. Looking again I saw that the EM shackles binding my arms
and feet had been split into two.

“What’s this about, Sigma…”

“Lend me a hand… To defeat X.”

“... Are you making a fool outta me?”

The war that’s happening out there must be Sigma’s handiworks, obviously enough. Why I know
that? Easy. The Maverick Hunters’ Chief Executive, Sigma, instead of standing in the frontlines of
this war that echoes and rumbles within this underground prison, has come to visit me instead. The
war on the surface doesn’t need his involvement… Which means that he’s the one that’s causing
it.

All of that asides, I still can’t understand what he just told me. No, it’s not that I can’t understand it, I
simply feel that he’s making a fool outta me. He said “lend me a hand to defeat X”. That naive X,
always worrying and who almost never can shoot a Maverick. Anyone would think that Sigma was
making a fool outta yourself, no?

“Heh…Keh… Keh, keh, keh… Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah!!”

I burst into laughter without intending to, it was impossible not to, if anyone told you something this
funny, even someone with a sour look would do the same.

“And what’s so special about that naive guy who’s always worrying?”

Apart from naive, let’s add shitty and weakling. I can’t fathom Sigma’s intentions at all or
understand them either. No, it’s just that I don’t feel like trying to do so in the first place, I was
simply interested in the state of things: he’d broken my shackles and had started some kind of war
in the surface.

“Worry… Yes… Unlike other Reploids, X worries, thinks, and can keep on worrying. That’s
something no-one else, a special ability only he has.”
“And you call that “special”...?”

“Yes. Due to his naiveness, he worries, keeps on thinking and can lead to a result that overcomes
mechanical decisions, and which other Reploids can’t achieve.”

I see. Once he puts it like that, I can see where Sigma’s getting at.

“X hasn’t noticed his potential yet and if nothing is done he’ll never do so.”

“So you mean that to “awaken” X you decided yourself to become a Maverick, huh?”

“... Correct.”

So he wants me to turn Maverick and help him, huh? That’s why he started a war and triggered a
chaos and then has come to see me in person. I’d often been harshly criticized, told I was a step
away from being a Maverick, so I’m not one to talk, but this guy’s mad.

“I won’t force you to. Unless you can become a Maverick out of your own will, then there’s no point
to it.”

He left those words behind as he walked out of the underground prison.

**************

“I see… Not a bad scenery, indeed…”

What I saw once I made it to the surface was the scenery of the city destroyed by berserk
Mechanoloids. Flames rose from there and both humans and Reploids, weaklings, ran around
while screaming. The peace protected by the Maverick Hunters has been shattered by those
Hunters themselves becoming Mavericks; I was slightly impressed at how easily it’d broken down.
Guess that Sigma turning Maverick must be intertwined to the state of things. It’s annoying, but
since Sigma had a lot of charisma, there’s a lot of folk that adore him.

Since it’s not only Reploids, there’s plenty of the so-called “Sigma faction” within the humans… He
must’ve lured those out like he did with me and had them join the war too.

“OK.. .So what should I do now?”

To be honest, I didn’t like the idea of working with Sigma. Things out there are so fun and I’m now
free so having to work for him and listen to his orders was very annoying. But I’d be lying if I said
that Sigma’s talk about X’s “possibilities” didn’t pick me. Could it be that that guy, that naive… Let’s
see, had power that excelled Special A-Class Hunters? Assuming it to be the case, if Sigma wants
to awaken that power then I might want for that to happen. However, I don’t wish for it in the sense
I want either hope or “possibilities”...

“Were that to be the case, there’d no other foe it’d be so satisfying to beat up…”

If Sigma says it’s worth “raising” the guy then I’ll obey my battling instincts and it might be worth it
be taken in by his smooth words.

“Yeah… Humans breeding plants and eating them themselves must be for this…”

I decided to meet up with Sigma as first thing to do. Given how he invited me to join, he must be
keeping a transmission channel with me. I immediately tried emitting direct transmission radio
waves towards Sigma’s signal pattern.

“OK… Will the guy answer?”

“... It’s you, Vile…”

“Yeah, it’s me. Tell me more about that story. Where are you at?”

“Good. Come to the coordinates I’ll send you. I’ll tell you there.”

Sigma merely replied that and cut the transmission. Well, since otherwise keeping the channel
open for too long in this situation would mean the Hunters would be able to locate him. The
coordinates he told about are… I see, he stole the ideal thing for it. Guess I can dispose of all
Hunters I bump into on my way there. Hmmm… I indeed I have a talent for mad things. I’m already
are the worst Maverick in feeling, taking the initiative of butchering the Maverick Hunters.

“Heh, heh. This is fun, Sigma!”

**************

“Mega Man? The urban legend?”

“It’s not an urban legend. It’s an historical fact that a robot by that name did indeed exist in the
past.”

“So you mean to say that that’s what X is?”

“To be exacts, he’s its successor.”

I see, so that’s why Sigma is so fixated with X, huh? But what evidence is there that say he’s
indeed “Mega Man”? He’s become a Maverick himself, maybe his chips got corrupted and it’s all
his delusions. I’m not as stupid so that to easily believe anything.

“What. It’s very simple… In the past, I went to a certain area to defeat a certain Maverick… There I
found a lab built over 100 years ago… And within the materials I found there, I also discovered his
overview…”

As he talked, Sigma handed me the data he mentioned.

“I guess that the info that Dr. Cain is hiding must be the same data…”

That unmistakably was a list of the functions installed in a Reploid believed to be X, there was a
simple diagram telling the functionalities. That record unconsciously captivated me.

·Dash Verniers built within the legs for super-high speed movement.
·Apogee motor on the back for vertical wall displacement.
·High hardness body armor through high-density particle membrane.
·Quantum computer in the head to accelerate calculation abilities.
·Weapon chip slots to forcibly increase the functionalities of all kinds of weapons.

“Are you saying that all of this is equipped into that naive guy!? Hah! This is great!”
“Well? Want to try to poke at him?”

If this whole talk is true then X’s latent specs do indeed overcome those of Special A-Class
Hunters. Thinking of being able to crush someone with such high specs by myself makes my body
be filled with heat.

“X grows and when the time’s ripe for it, I’ll crush him with all I’ve got on me… If you don’t mind
that, then I’ll accept your invitation…”

I myself, with my own hands, will ultimately crush the guy. If that will be made possible then I don’t
mind obeying Sigma even though I don’t want to. If Sigma won’t give me the main dish, disposing
of X, then, although it’s gonna be a pain, I’ll dispose of both Sigma and the Maverick Hunters and
take it to myself to “raise” X. This guy’s my prey.

“You can be at ease… I’m simply interested in his “possibilities” of “evolution”... If it comes down to
a battle, do as you want with the man…”

“Fine. It’s a deal, then. What should I do as starters?”

“Let’s see… Start with lightly driving X into a corner, but don’t kill him yet…”

Of course. I’ll make sure to “raise” the guy.

“I’ll take one of the Ride Armors from the armory. Unless I use a toy I’ll accidentally kill him.”

And, well… This is how we ended up battling in the highway. Looking back at the whole deal, I’m
surprised I’ve been able to hold back for so long… Keh, keh, keh. As a result, X has grown beyond
what I’d expected. Alright… It’s time for the long-awaited main dish.

**************

“Man… X. You kept me waiting for so long and this is the best you can do?”

“Guh! Like I.. .care… for that!”

This is bad. The guy doesn’t understand anything. How much I’ve been wishing for this. How much
I’ve been longing for this. How much I’ve been waiting for this. It was all to make X awaken all
those latent abilities and then crush it, that’s what all this time has been for. And despite that the
guy arrived at where I am all beaten up.

“Are you kidding me? I bothered to ready bait so that you’d properly “grown”, you know…”

“I’m no…bait…!”

He’s still conscious? I was sure he was dead, but the guy’s tougher than I’d thought.

“I thought that knowing X, he’d take a step ahead if I used you as bait… Zero…”

“Shit… L-let go of Zero…!”

Let’s go back in time to about half a day ago. After Eagle and Armadillo lost to the two of them and
X headed to the orbital elevator, I captured Zero as he was being transported by the Maverick
Hunters. I killed all of the guards so I guess the HQ folks will soon notice the anomaly. I bothered to
go out and fetch this bait, but it looks like it hardly as an effect on the current X. Guess that I
dispose of Zero right now and piss him off it’ll be funnier? It’s hard to handle… Better show each
one how I beat up the other…

“... Oh yeah, I now remembered…”

What a blunder; I was forgetting that I had an excellent igniter at hand.

“Looks like you were looking for Eagle’s and Armadillo’s men, but I got rid of all of them as part of
my heating up, y’know? I made a road from the orbital elevator and until this castle from their
bodies… You hadn’t noticed?”

“S-so you’re the one who did that!”

I see, he was thinking that Sigma had done it instead.

“We stole them from those two but since they were so useless… It was pretty fun, y’know? Since
I’ve been holding back for a while… It was a good way to vent stress away.”

“D-DAMN YOU-----!!!”

“Well? Did you get in the mood to show me more power?”

My words touched on X’s heartstrings and he jumped towards me while dispersing. But his attack
out of anger didn’t reach me, and I easily caught him with the Ride Armor’s hand.

“So this is the best you can do in the end, huh? What a letdown.”

I grabbed his face with the Ride Armor’s hand and lifted him until he was inches before me.

“Sigma! You’re watching this, right? Your prediction was off… I’m going to finish the guy off!”

That’s enough. There’s no point in expecting anything better and it’s a waste of time too. I’ll grip
and crush X’s head as if it were a tomato. What do I do afterwards? Well, why not go challenge
Sigma to a brawl as well? That sure will be fun. Since he’s the one who gave me a lot of
expectations and made me waste a lot of time, he better take responsibility for it.

“Bye, X. Farewell!”

“It won’t go as you please! I won’t let you kill X!”

All I had left to do was to grip the control levers of the Ride Armor to end this, but then… Behind
me… I heard Zero’s voice at a distance which meant he had to be right next to my ears else I
wouldn’t have heard it.

“Bastard! How did you break those restrains!?”

“I don’t have strength to properly battle anymore, but I’ll take you down with me!”

Zero had sacrificed one of his arms to escape from the restrains. His body began to shine in a red
light and it converged within his body. No way!

“You bastard! You intended to self-destruct along with me!?”

“I’ll shoot out all of the energy charged up within me!”

The next instant, a red flash filled my view as if it had reacted to Zero’s voice.

**************

I see… So this is the actual form of Mega Man… X! Hey, hey, hey, hey! This goes beyond what I’d
expected indeed! I can finally crush the legend, history itself! This is so exciting!

And here I thinking it’d never come to happen! The reward for being unnaturally patient with myself
and “raising” the guy is this! It’s finally in front of my eyes! I take back my earlier words, Sigma…
You were right… This is indeed and literally the best dinner ever! It’s finally become someone
worthy of fighting me… However… Sigma! You made one mistake here. Allowing me to fight with
“this one”! Don’t come asking me to yield it to you by now, this one’s my prey and I’ll crush it with
all I’ve got!

“This Ride Armor was my special order and yet someone like Zero was able to crush it…”

When Zero tried to self-destruct with me, I did get nervous but, ultimately, the energy from his
explosion only managed to destroy my Ride Armor. Well, that might be because the guy was about
to die anyway, it was but residue. That asides… The main dish was afterwards.

When X hugged what was left of Zero, his upper body, since the other half had been wiped out.
That was when both were bathed in a blinding white light. But I didn’t let it escape me; as they
were within the light, Zero’s Buster was transplanted into X’s arm and X’s whole body transformed
into a pure white body, wholly different from what it’d been. I never imagined that a Reploid could
changed his outer appearance by himself. A Reploid that can transform himself into a wholly
different shape by absorbing Zero’s Buster…

Now I can finally fight it. Now I can finally have fun. Now I can finally be satisfied.

“Good, X! Use that power! And fight me to----!!”

I heard a delayed sound of something burning. I didn’t understand what was happening in that
precise instant. But it was when I tried to call out to X, who was hugging the body of the self-
destructed Zero, who’d died, and was immobile. Something crossed right next to me… How should
I describe it…? Yeah, “violence”. A power that can only be described as “violence” crossed next to
me. Violence so powerful I stopped thinking for an instant snatched and penetrated my left arm.
Looking again afterwards, something was boiling in the wall that had been there and that tear was
boiling up in a bright red color.

After a few seconds’ delay, I… I realized that my left arm was gone. Ah… Ah! How overwhelming,
how awesome! But these words don’t suffice to describe what’s standing in front of me! X, having
“Zero’s arm”, was pointing his Buster at me and silently stood there. So it’s finally come… X’s
awakening has! The awakening of the “Mega Man”! The foe I was waiting for! The foe I yearned
for! The food I was longing for! What even Sigma feared is now standing in front of me! X doesn’t
move. So I’ll move first!

“I’m the one who’ll defeat you! Mega Man!”

I couldn’t contain my excitement, and shot all of my weapons towards X at random! The cannon,
the missiles, the machineguns! Countless bullets rain down to wipe out X. The light, the sound, the
shock attack X’s whole body and try to destroy him. But they don’t inflict a single scratch. For a
second I thought a sound that was like the air and wind had been hit rang out, and then X
displaced right next to me.

“So fast! Good, good! Lemme enjoy this more!”

I was so excited that I forgot to track X and when I looked at where X had been at, he wasn’t there
anymore.

“Sheesh! Where are you!?”

I promptly turned my sight 360 degrees around to search for him within the cloud of dust but then I
felt something slowly touching my head from straight ahead. A sudden and never-before felt
sensation stroke my neck muscles.
Along with the sound of dull metal hitting a stone floor, my sight flew in a violent manner. I see, X
has thrust me into the ground from the head. There was a time lag until I understood that, so that
means X’s movements are out of the ordinary.

“Can’t have enough! What’s this!? I can’t do anything to fight it back!”

I’m unmistakably losing this match right now, but I can only think of wiping out the Reploid in front
of me, this thing that’s like an incarnation of violence. Ah… I’d never felt something so fun and
exhilarating! And then… X’s arm, which had been holding down my head, made a loud sound as it
switched into the the Buster, and I could tell that it was steadily bathing in heat. Wants to shoot the
Buster at me as he holds me down, huh? Not bad!

“But you’re within the range of my cannon!”

X’s face had lowered to a position where it was at a straight line from the cannon, and hasn’t
moved from there. I can lock on X’s face from this position, at zero range. And unlike X, who needs
to charge to output a powerful attack, I can shoot instantly. If I shoot right now, it’ll be very easy to
kill X.

But it’s also true that I still haven’t felt all of X’s power, now that it’d finally awakened. Let’s do that
after I enjoy it more… Or so I’d normally think, but right now I don’t have time for that. That attack
of a moment ago told me that my body would be unable to withstand an attack by awakened X. So
if I get hit by his Charge Buster in my current state, I will have lost.

“No matter how much stronger you become, I’ll go higher than that… I’ll squander your brains!
DIE!”

The bullet I fired headed for X’s head by travelling in a straight line. He can’t dodge at this
distance… This attack will unmistakably blow his head away…. Or so I thought. X’s actions didn’t
put my mind at ease, and I was unable to control myself, and that’s when I saw something
unbelievable. The bullet was about 30 cm from the head. And X was hit from the front since he
didn’t move… Rather, he’s not looking here. It hit his head but X’s reaction within the resulting dust
doesn’t change. When I was thinking that this wasn’t the end, I noticed that the Buster aimed at my
face was still being charged up.

“Hah, hah, hah! You got hit from this distance and you’re still alive to---!!”

A sudden sound was accompanied a pure red light that encompassed my sight, and I could see X
looking down on me within that light. His form had a face I’d never seen before, filled with
overwhelming anger and hatred. Hah. Aren’t you the real Maverick here? And right afterwards…

THUD. A dry sound rang out and my sight was now swallowed into darkness.

I see. So I’ve died, huh?

MAVERICK REPORT #11:
Σ
Sigma
MAVERICK REPORT #11:
Σ
Sigma
“So you’ve finally reached me? X…”

“You… I’ll never forgive you, Sigma!”

I’ve finally… come all the way here. Sigma is standing in front of me. Looking back at it, on that
day… Sigma’s speech which we saw through the Ride Chasers was but footage lacking in realism.
But after being defeated by Vile in the highway, having gone through the harsh battles against
Penguin, Mandril, Octopus, Chameleon, Eagle and Armadillo as well as Mammoth and Kuwanger,
and now that I’d concluded my rematch against Vile, I’m now facing the real, authentic Sigma.

I carry the remains of a dog-shaped Mechanoloid that was protecting the entrance to Sigma’s
room. I tossed that at his feet, and Sigma emotionlessly crushed them. I don’t expect Sigma to
repent after all I’ve been through. I’ve inherited too many things on my quest, and lost a lot of
things too. All of them have allowed me to reach this place. The anger, the sadness, the hatred, the
compassion, I’ll take all of them together and defeat Sigma. Defeat the strongest Maverick.

**************

No sign was needed for our battle to begin. Both of us simply wanted to defeat the foe in front of
each other. No need for feints, just get a closer as possible as fast as possible and shoot the attack
lodging in my hand. My battling style is simple, and I simply act, thinking of defeating Sigma. Let’s
begin by landing an attack on his body. The attack I shot as a result of that thinking was easily
dodge by Sigma. Well, this much was guaranteed. The 2nd attack is V-shaped and made of 3
consecutive buster shots. I limit his choices on how to dodge and wanted to chase him into the
direction he dodged in.

“... That’s a “beam saber”, huh?”

Sigma’s sword of light was able to tear even this attack from the Buster I’d inherited from Zero. He
didn’t move at all, he simply swung the sword from the position he was at.

“It’s about time I sprung into action, too.”

“Kuh!? That fast!?”

Sigma quickly rushed forward, kicked the ground and stepped ahead; his speed is about the same
as that of my dash… No, he might actually be closing in faster than I can move. He got closer in
the blink of an eye, so I promptly dodged backwards, but the armor’s shoulder scratched by the
beam saber is easily cut off. CLANG! With a dry sound, the cut off piece of the armor hit the
ground, and as it rang out I kicked up the walls and tried to dodge by getting to a higher elevation.

“Did you think that all you can do is things I can’t do myself?”

Now I’ve put some distance between us… Or so I thought, but when I searched for Sigma, who
should be below me, he wasn’t there. The voice rang out further higher than where my head was
at.

“T-that’s impossible..”

I turned around, and I found the light sword right in front of my sight. I reflectively twisted my body,
and somehow avoided a direct hit into my head, but Sigma’s beam saber hit me in the midst of my
torso.

“Guaaahhh!”

I hit the ground from the free fall. The shock blurred my sight, all of my body creaked, and I could
tell that several of my inside parts had been damaged too. If I want to overwhelm him with speed,
he follows my acceleration, and if I want to restrain him through height, he does the same wall-kick
I do and gets ahead of me. He’s a strong foe. Literally.

Even though I’ve become this strong and earnt so much strength, but despite all of that I’ve merely
caught up to Sigma. I wish I could deal with the light sword somehow, but I’ve got nothing that can
be used at close-quarters to steal his weapon. I must think of a plan…

“Say, X…”

Sigma begins to talk as if he was hindering my thoughts.

“You have no intention to join my army, to become my subordinate?”

That’s what he tells me? In this situation? What would lead me to do that, anyway?

“Isn’t the answer obvious?”

He’s mad… That word is very simple and shows that the person you’re talking to isn’t being
normal. But one stops to think about what kind of situations can be called “mad”.

“I see… I need the possibilities of evolution that you as a Reploid have, for the sake of my Utopia
and for the further evolution of Reploids… But guess it can’t be helped.”

There. That’s it. The “possibilities” within me, which several persons have thrown at me during
these battles.

“It’s been picking me the whole time…”

“What?”

Not only Sigma, Eagle and Armadillo and even Vile… They all saw something on me, some kind
of… “possibilities”, as they described it. Ever since this war began.
“Is that related to my origins?”

“Oh? So you noticed? That’s not all, however…”

I’ve been told that I’m a Reploid left behind by a deceased friend of Dr. Cain. That means I have
things on me that he doesn’t know about. And, in fact, he’d never told me about the abilities built
into me like the dash or the wall kick, and I myself am surprised at the changes happening to me
during these battles.

For example, the special weapons… They normally have a lock to them so other Reploids can’t
easily use them. But my Buster has always easily unlocked them and assimilated their abilities.
And, ultimately, this Buster that I’ve inherited from Zero and which I’ve now equipped on my arm.
Zero’s Buster, with a different design philosophy and genetic information, how is it possible for me
to have inherited it into my body? It’s easy to call it a “miracle” and be done with it, but there’s too
many things that don’t fit together.

The dash and the wall-kick are abilities sealed within me that simply were restored to their intended
shape. This white armor can’t be explained as being simply “potential”, true, so that’s why I don’t
want to restrict these abilities I’ve experience to be mere “possibilities” or “evolution”. It simply
looks like a machine is evolving on its own, but it’s actually something else altogether. When they
pointed at the abilities sleeping within me, weren’t they simply making me fit with the image of the
evolving robot, the “Mega Man”?

Were that to be the case, then they were wrong. Because they were making me fit the role, and
causing nuisances for everyone around me. All I have is abilities built on me when I was designed,
and sealed due to some reason; that’s all there’s to it. Someone had said it… That I’m the trigger of
this war. Even if Sigma’s reason for starting this war was my “potential”, he’s the one that actually
started it. He’s guilty of having become a Maverick and harmed many humans and Reploids, that
hasn’t changed at all.

“You had an exaggerated image of the functions within me… You’re simply mad, that’s all.”

“The abilities in your body are but a side-dish… X. You can worry, don't you?”

“What are you talking about? Any Reploid can do that and…”

“... It’s true that I can also worry. But, see, X. Reploids have high thinking ability, so they can
immediately draw logical conclusions...”

What? What is he trying to say?

“In essence… Reploids aren’t supposed to be “constantly worrying”...”

I unconsciously agitated at those words. That’s ridiculous… Everyone is constantly worried about a
lot of things, and find an answer to those as they hold those doubts.

We Reploids have high thinking ability, just like that of humans, and that’s why we’re allowed to do
so.

“During this war… You’ve fought one after the other 8… 9, if we include Vile… former Hunters
become Mavericks, and defeated all of them… But was there anyone amongst them who was still
worrying at their actions?”

“E-Eagle and Armadillo fought us because their men had been taken hostage and they had to bear
with it!”

Indeed. At the very least those two didn’t really want to fight us… I can tell that my mind is being
painted over by an odd anxiety.

“Those two choose the best option they had at hand, and tossed away any other conclusions…
When they fought you, they’d already drawn an answer to their hesitation about what should be
done… X.”

“Wrong! They simply had a high determination as Hunters and so----!”

I can’t swallow down Sigma’s words, for some reason. Anyone can “constantly worry”, so him
saying that I’m special is very odd. I won’t accept that, I didn’t want to accept it at all, or so I wanted
to tell him but then..

“Well then. Have you ever seen Zero worry --- at all?”

His words shattered my intended response. Making swift decisions. That lack of hesitation came
from the perception that you’re a Maverick Hunter, the other Hunters must be like him too, and I’m
weak-minded and thus lacking in ability to decide… Or so I’d been thinking. But… That’s not
actually it? I really am something with a singularity, as Sigma claims? And that’s why he’s begun
this war?

“D… Don’t screw me!!”

I hit the ground out of anger.

“No matter how much you try to make excuses for, or what reasons lie at the roots, you’re but a
Maverick and all of your actions are evil! There’s no justification for them at all, and I can’t overlook
them either!!”

For example, even if I’m the trigger for this war, I’m already here because I’ve been running
constantly, since I’d previously decided on my heart that I wouldn’t stop at all. Even I’m something
that has the “possibilities” that Sigma talks about, that doesn’t change my goal of defeating the
gone-Maverick Sigma. Even if my “constant worrying” is something special, there’s no need
anywhere to stop to think about the right and wrong of this war!

The chips within me, Zero’s buster, blow rage into my heart. Don’t stop, carry all your bear with and
keep running. Sigma must still be after his desire for “evolution” and “possibilities” within me. And
what of it, like I care. I’ll put an end to his…

“I… I’m not the “Mega Man” that you… you all speak about!”

I poured strength into my bent knees, and stood in front of Sigma again.

“Let’s talk about the past then, X.”

“What?”

Sigma stored the beam saber, and operates something in mid-air with his right hand. Right
afterwards, a 3D display is shown in the ground right between both of us.

“It’s not like I know the whole picture either, but I know about you more than you do.”

As he says that, he moves his right arm; something begins to be shown in the display. It shows
some old ruins somewhere… No, rather than ruins it’s more like it’s an abandoned building, but
there’s several slightly old machines placed there. Right after I felt a deja vu at the spectacle, I
noticed that the background of that location was identical to Dr. Cain’s own personal lab.

“The history of we Reploids is very recent… Some decades ago, a certain scientist found a robot,
and that set everything in motion…”

The screen switched as Sigma spoke. There’s there Sigma… No, it’s probably a young Dr. Cain.
He can be seen there. Within the footage, the old man looked very surprised as he touched a big
capsule,

“What’s this…?”

I know that capsule very well. It’s my maintenance capsule, placed on Dr. Cain’s lab. The footage
continues… Within an old footage machine located next to the capsule, an old man with white hair
and beard is talking about what’s inside of the capsule, about me.

“Mega Man X…”

The old man within the footage, a scientist named Dr. Light, called me by that name. In the next
instant the footage switched with a sound, and now it showed Sigma and some Maverick Hunters
near an abandoned building that looked very similar to the previous one. After advancing for a bit,
Sigma, having come into the place, is fighting with a “certain Reploid”.

“No way… Zero!?”

The Zero that appeared there was very distant from the cool self I always pictured him as at; his
face was filled and distorted with murderous intent and hatred. He was running amok and
unleashing pure violence.
“Zero was also a robot made a long time ago, just like you were… I valued his battling abilities, and
since he’d lost his memories and his personality had stabilized, I appointed him as a Hunter…”

“I see… The “red Maverick” of that day was Zero…”

Many memories revived, intertwined, and I steadily became aware of myself.

“It’d seem that both of you were developed at around the same era… So I assumed that both of
you were based on the same theory. That must be why you were able to transplant Zero’s buster
into yours…”

If Sigma is right on this, then I can explain this Buster inheriting too. But that’s not what really
matters. No matter what Zero’s origins might be, he’s still my senior and my best friend to me.
What matters is about the Reploids themselves. Having seen all of this, I can agree and
understand that I myself don’t belong to the “Reploid” category. So what’s the difference between
the Reploids and me and Zero? Starting with Sigma, the “possibilities” everyone else talked about
were the difference itself?

“You… Me… What of it?”

“If you want to know then I’ll tell you, X….”

It was then. The air around Sigma changed. I know this feeling… This tension, this heavy air that
feels like it’s going to stick to you… It’s anger. I couldn’t believe the words that came out of Sigma’s
mouth, from which drifts a heavy and violent presence.

“We Reploids are… Inferior copies of you!!”

Ah… I see. Thought as much. I easily took in Sigma’s words. Going by the footage, Dr. Cain
must’ve excavated me when he was on his 20s. By imaging the flow of things from that age and
until Reploids appeared in the world, the answer was going to be reached naturally, even if Sigma
hadn’t told me. If you think of it in those terms, things within these battles that can be easily
explained conspicuously appeared.
“So that’s why… I could use them…”

I looked at my arm. Yes… The special weapon chips of the former Hunters whom I fought,
defeated, stole and inherited. This is the reason why I was able to equip them on my Buster and
use them so easily. It was no big deal. The basic design of the chips for special weapons and so
had been based on my Buster’s structure, that was the why.

“Hence why there’s no risk to using them…”

But even after being shoved my existence and my past, there’s still something I can’t understand.

“So why did you ultimately start this war?”

What was Sigma thinking when he boldly started this war? He claimed it was for the future of
Reploids, but maybe it’s actually more of a personal reason? He just called himself an inferior copy
of myself. Is there a black emotion that is thrusting Sigma as a Maverick in there? Come this far I
want to know everything… And, moreover, I was thinking of battling Sigma. And then Sigma begins
to talk… His motive for him, the so-called masterpiece of Dr. Cain, to become an enemy of the
whole world.

**************

“As you know as well, I have been called Dr. Cain’s masterpiece Reploid. I was proud of it, and
strived to give out the best of myself… But one day I accidentally came to know it… The top-secret
info that Dr. Cain had hidden… About the “forbidden land”... As I told you earlier, I firstly came to
know about Zero and his lab’s data… There was not only data on Zero but there was some about
you, too… I was surprised when I checked up the data… Because the date on it was from over 100
years ago… I investigated as much as my permissions would allow me about the two robots, X and
Zero… And eventually stumbled upon the truth of we Reploids’ existence… Yes… The truth that
not only me but all Reploids are but replicas of you… Can you, who were under my command,
imagine it? How I, Dr. Cain’s masterpiece, defenselessly stopped thinking…”
“............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................”

“...And one emotion was born into my thinkings… Yes… It indeed was “born”...”
“HATRED!!”
“A huge hatred, to the point I myself was scared of it, assaulted me. You who were under my
command can understand it, no? That I had no other criteria for all Reploids save for
“assessment”... Since emotions are pointless to carry out one’s duty. And the first emotion I had for
Reploids was “hatred”... Thinking I knew nothing, they came in contact with me while hiding their
true natures! We’ve been fooled the whole time, we Reploids have!”

“Hatred! Hatred! Hatred! Hatred! Hatred! Hatred! Hatred!”

“It flowed out from within myself; a powerful hatred did! I once asked Dr. Cain something. Why has
he paying so much attention to X? Can you understand what the old wreck answered? Imagine it?
He answered “he has the possibilities of “evolution”...”! I laughed without intending to, because I
couldn’t believe he expected “evolution” out of you, a mere machine. But as I thought about it, I
concluded that I can also evolve, and have to evolve. The age of the inferior intelligent life forms,
the humans, had ended, and now the age of we Reploids, equipped with far superior bodily
abilities and thinking abilities, would come.”

“We Reploids can give birth to units equal to ourselves, and by ourselves. So what worth is there to
humans existing? Humans in this world destroy the environment, and waste the resources; they’re
but needless pests. I believed in the evolution of we Reploids, and rose to dispose of the needless
existences that humans are. X! By plunging you within the strife, you began to prove our ideal of
“evolution”. And you splendidly defeated the lined up foes and made it all the way to me.”

“It’s a complicated feeling even for me, X. The more the “possibilities” of you as a Reploid were
demonstrated, my hatred increased. But at the same time, by defeating you who evolves within
battles, you who’ve become the “Mega Man”, I also rejoiced at I myself becoming the “possibilities”
of Reploids. That is what I aim for! What I seek! I am the one who must get them! I hate you! I hate
you from the depths of my heart! So that’s why I’ll “constantly hate” you! And I will achieve to
achieve that! That is… The “evolution” I’ve achieved!”

**************

“Wrong! Like any of that is “evolution” to begin with…! How can it end up like that!?”

I gripped my fist and turned my left arm into the Buster, to then aim the muzzle at Sigma. The body
of the Buster, glowing in a silver light, and an additional color, red, became noticeable. I understand
what Sigma talks about, about his “reasons”. But in the end we’re incompatible. I can’t accept the
“ideals”, “possibilities”, or “evolution” he talks about.

It’s true that I didn’t know a lot about myself. But all I have to do is to slowly consider and think of it
once this war is over. If my “constant worrying” is something special that no-one else has then I
want to treasure it. If I’m not a Reploid but an old robot, I will keep on thinking on what I can do to
live in this world as the “old robot” I am. If only I can “constantly worry” then I’ll simply keep on
doing that. I don’t mind how much they envy me. Or how much they hate me, either. The words of
a Maverick that claims that hating, “constantly hate”, is “evolution” don’t echo on me.

I will do what only I and I alone can do. Let’s put an end to this worthless exchange already. Let’s
put an end to this tragic war.

“Ultimately, you were but a weak man who couldn’t even believe in himself. That’s why you clung to
a fantasy.”

My goal has always been, from the start to the end, to defeat Sigma, end this war and regain the
peace. How I get to the conclusion, whether I’m a Hunter or whether I’m “Mega Man”... That
doesn’t matter. Wanting to find a reason for those is a mistake to begin with.

“How about you awaken from your worthless fantasies already!? Sigma!!”
“Oh, yes? Then what do you think you are? When humanity was faced with danger, you suddenly
awoke your talents as you battled tons of strong foes and reached where I am at… What are
you!?”

There, that’s it. He doesn’t understand that so that’s why he started this war. His dreams, ideals,
hatred, evil, evolution… I ruthlessly discard them and Sigma is filled with anger and envy as he
heads for me. He’s gripping the sword of light on his right hand again.

“So what are you… Supposed to be!?”

The Reploid that had reached the highest rank in the Maverick Hunters can’t even understand
something this simple? Whenever I was driven to the edge of death within these battles, I became
awake of the presence of a clear and cruel thing that awakened within me, which had those
abilities… “Violence”. It’s what I hate the utmost and what I want to keep away from me. And those
are but a stage setting that you, Sigma, have set up. The stage you set up managed to raise me to
become “it”. Those words, that existence… We know them all too well, don’t we? You can’t play
dumb on this one. Or say that you don’t understand it, either. Because they are clear words that
denote you all and me. Words denoting everything that exists within this battle.

“I’m… No, I’m also…”

Heat rises within my arm… It syncs with a feeling that’s close to bits and pieces of pain, and a
small light forms on the muzzle, and the dull sound of the special weapon swapping rang out from
within the arm. The heat increase within my arm eventually ends, and I feel a solid feeling within
my hand. The Buster has finished charging. My hot and boiling arm is steadily supported by the
other arm. I open my legs, step on the ground, and lock on my enemy’s form within my sight. As
we exchange words, I’m thinking of defeating Sigma.

What is there is no “hope”, no “possibilities” and no “Mega Man”. It’s simply an incarnation of
violence specialized in defeating the enemy in front of it.

“I’m also a mere Maverick, too…”

Sigma opened his eyes wide as a charged up thunderstorm rains down on his whole body.
MAVERICK REPORT #12:
Mega Man
Now that I have this arm, I might be able to do it. So I thought and executed the idea, and the
charged up special weapons’ firepower was greater than I expected it to be. What I shot from
within my arm was a high output attack, to the point it slightly hurts.

“Didn’t expect it to be this powerful…”

Sigma’s remains, having become scorched, lie before me; they had directly been hit by a fully
charged Electric Spark and turned into a heap of metal.

“I better not use this power anymore and… Huh!?”

Pain suddenly echoed within my arm. The intense pain ringing out from my inner skeleton makes
me unconsciously grab my arm. Looking better, white smoke is rising from within my Buster, as if
something had been burnt. CRACK! Along with intense pain, a blackened chip is expulsed from the
Buster’s weapon chip slot. CLANG! It falls to the ground with a sound, and silently lies down.

“What’s this…?”

I picked up the chip that had dropped, and saw the name “ELECTRIC SPARK” engraved on it. The
chips can’t withstand the power of the buster when an special weapon is charged… The
carbonized weapon chip rustles, crumbles and vanishes.

“Mandrill. Your power allowed me to win…”

I think that the meaning of fighting and receiving his power has been now fulfilled.

….

“Let’s go back to where everyone is at…”

There’s no point in staying here any longer. If I stay for too long on his castle, my heart will wear
down more. As for this satellite, Sigma’s castle, we can come destroy it with the rest of the
Maverick Hunters.

And when I took a step to come out of the room…

“I haven’t lost yet, you see? X…”

The voice that rang out from behind made me unconsciously turn around! Impossible! He can still
move in that state!? That can’t possibly happen… Within my nervous sight I see the blackened
body of Sigma lying stretched. What, did I imagine that? Or so I was thinking but then I noticed the
anomaly on his corpse.

“S-Sigma’s head is gone!?”

I hurriedly got into alert status, but I don’t feel Sigma’s presence around me. Not only that, the
earlier voice isn’t echoing anymore.

“What’s going on…!?”

I was keeping watch on my surroundings as I felt the fear, and then I checked the headless body of
Sigma again. That was when… A shadow dropped into the whole of field of view. Wait, a shadow
dropping on me now means that..?

“... Above? W-what’s that!?”

What I saw when I looked up was a huge claw, an arm like that of a beast. A new enemy has
appeared… Or is that Sigma as well!? It’s improbable for it to be an ally given the circumstances.
Well then, first one to move wins! I’ll shoot it down! I focuses the target on the arm falling from
above and began charging the Buster, but then…

SWISH!

“Uwahh!? W-what happened!?”

The ground I was standing on suddenly crumbled. I fell into the darkness inside of Sigma’s castle.

“I must stop my fall, else…!”

As I fell, I kicked the rubble fragments falling with me, thus heading for the wall. I somehow found a
place to catch into the wall and from there I climbed to Sigma’s room where I’d been at.

“Phew! Made it back, some--- Guah!”

With no time to even strike down my chest at having recovered from the pinch, my whole body was
hit by something huge coming from the side. What I saw as I was blown away was the earlier giant
arm. The wall had been broken, and my sight that’d been blown across there was Sigma, having
turned into a huge beast. I used the Buster’s recoil and somehow landed in the ground of the
satellite. I hurriedly stood up, looked back at Sigma’s castle, and saw the huge beastly Sigma
running amok. Are you going to say that the satellite and castle are Sigma itself? On the back of
my mind I recalled Boomer Kuwanger’s external brain. If what I’d fought was a remote body moved
through an external brain…

“No… Maybe this satellite itself is Sigma’s body?”

My body is worn down further than what I was aware of...But it’s not over yet! If Sigma hasn’t been
destroyed yet, then I’ll fight him as many times as needed! I mustered my strength and aimed the
Buster highly.

We’re in satellite orbit. It feels like my raised arm can reach the stars, even. Heat, power begins to
build up on my arm. The Buster that’d begun charging gathered orange light, different from what
it’d done insofar. Flames that have overcome tolerance leaks out from the gaps of it. It won’t hold
much longer… I’ll shoot these raging flames at him!

“Burn down along with the castle! Fire Wave!!”

What was shot, overcoming the limits, was Flame Mammoth’s “Fire Wave”. Its power was nothing
like before, and literally became an explosion which turned the surroundings into a sea of flames.
Charging up special weapons is… possible indeed. My earlier sensation was not a mistake… But
that means that…

SNAP!
From within my still hot Buster, the Fire Wave weapon chip, having carbonized, is ejected. When it
hits the ground, it shatters and vanishes. The special weapon charging does indeed seem to work
only once, yes.

“Thank you, Mammoth… Alright. Next is…”

I gave small thanks to the shattered chip and switched to my next move. The burning crimson
flames spread in the blink of an eye and burnt across all of the castle. But the orbital elevator,
unable to withstand its power, began to crumble as well. The shock flungs my body into the middle
of the atmosphere.

“U-uwaaahhh!”
Suddenly flung into the lack of gravity, I can’t fix my posture. My body is steadily pulled by Earth’s
gravity. I’m in outer space, so unless I do something I’m in trouble… No, wait…

“The atmosphere… Can I do something about it?”

Despite that I was in a clearly desperate situation, I was surprised at how terrifically calm my voice
was, and slowly aimed my Buster towards the Earth I was falling into, towards the atmosphere. My
body is steadily turned red by the heat of the friction with the atmosphere. The comets that fall from
the skies are burnt at these speeds, huh? If I mistake the timing, I’ll run out of energy and burn
away… I must wait as much as I can. Hope it works… I changed the special weapon chip within
my arm. And right afterwards start to load the Buster. Energy begins to steadily increase within my
arm, and I release the power once it’s reached a certain amount.

“Penguin. I’ll be borrowing your power.”

I shoot again, this time it’s Ice Penguin’s “Shotgun Ice”. It turns into an ice sculpture of Penguin
which covers and protects my front for a short while and its role is to receive the heat of the friction
with the atmosphere’s air as I fall; it melts and reforms, it melts and reforms; that spectacle was like
Penguin himself was protecting me; it creates a feeling within me hard to describe.

They were all living within me…

Despite that my height keeps on dropping and I’m within a 1500 degree-hot aerodynamic heat, my
body doesn’t burn away. Before I know it, my body had nonchalantly made it through the
atmosphere and back into Earth. I managed to survive the re-entry by using Penguin’s ability, but
now I lack a means to stop myself from falling. My body, free-falling from a height of 1000
kilometers, begins to creak from the overwhelming wind pressure. Even if my current form has
higher defenses, I won’t emerge in one piece if I hit the ground from this height… Same applies to
the sea as well. I must find a way to absorb the shockwave. The idea of using Eagle’s weapon and
earn some buoyancy crossed my mind, but a weapon more suited for that automatically changes
within my Buster even without me intending for it.

“This is.. Armadillo. Will you, sir, protect me?”

Armored Armadillo’s “Rolling Shield”. This weapon normally releases an spheroid energy body that
advances following the ground, but once charged up it turns into a huge barrier covering my body.
The barrier goes on growing on size, and ultimately becomes a huge energy spheroid with me at
its center and with a radius of 10s of meters. I, enclosed within it, am fred from the wind pressure
closing on me as well. I guess that the center of the barrier has some function close to gravity
control. I’m not sure if it’s a magnetic field or a force field, but this will avoid me from getting directly
hit by the shock.

The ground becomes closer and closer… Will it go smoothly? My body is affixed on the center of
the barrier, and then the barrier itself lands on the ground. The speed of the fall hasn’t changed,
obviously enough, so the shock of it hitting the ground creates a huge crater where it lands. As
expected, it doesn’t float like a balloon. But I was able to wholly avoid the shock from falling from
those very high heights. I turned off the Rolling Shield, and jumped into the center of the crater,
thus having fulfilled a safe return to the ground. And, at the same time, the chips for the Shotgun
Ice and the Rolling Shield are ejected from my arm.

“Thank you, Penguin and Armadillo…”

I bid farewell to the chips that shattered and scattered, and then looked at the skies. The outer
space where I’d been in a few moments ago has white clouds passing through the lapis lazuli
skies.

“I somehow made it back in one piece…”

As I was feeling relieved, I suddenly received a radio call. It’d seem that the transmissions, which
had cut because I was in satellite orbit, are working again. I matched the channel and answered.

“X here. What’s the matter?”

“Oh, X! You’re alright!? What’s going on!?”

The persons calling me were the usual Operator and Dr. Cain. It’s true that I must explain a lot of
things about what’s happened insofar, but it looks like I don’t have time for that right now.

“I apologize, Dr. Cain, but I can’t explain in detail right now. I will send my coordinates, though.”

“Hey! Hold on, X! What’s going--- CLICK!”

Alright, gotta deal with “those”. Confirming with Dr. Cain that I’m alright and having a rest were very
brief. In the skies I was looking up at, there were several pursuing huge Mechanoloids which
Sigma must’ve unleashed dropping down. They make it through the atmosphere and land around
the crater I made to surround me. There were… 1,2, 3, 4… 5 of them. If that’s all of them then I
can get rid of them in one blow. They aimed their muzzles at the center of the crater to finish me
off.

“.......?”

But they didn’t find me, their target, there so they hurriedly began to scan the surroundings.

“Don’t hinder me anymore!”

I haven’t moved from this location at all. I remained standing there, using the optical camouflage
from the charged up Chameleon Sting. The camouflage ability that can hide heat and sound, and
which made me suffer when I battled Chameleon. Obviously enough, mere Mechanoloids are
unable to see through it. I immediately fired about 100 light needles as a follow-up, and then the
Mechanoloids that were placed to surround me released smoke and became inoperable from a
single attack.

“Guh!”

Once again, Chameleon’s weapon chip is ejected from my Buster as if it was an used gun
cartridge. And just like the others, the 3 of them that had become pure black carbonized things
simply shatter and vanish.
“Thank you… Good work…”

As I mutter, I direct my sight at Sigma’s castle which is heading towards me from the skies.
Something falls again from the huge shadow shimmering beyond the atmosphere.

“How stubborn…”

This time it’s a huge amount of giant shadows, bigger than Mechanoloids, are shot down aiming for
the surface, for me. There’s 10s of them.

“... Could it be!? MDWs!?”

Anger which I can’t contain rises within me. He wants to wreck Earth itself just to defeat me!?

“You…! How many more tragedies do you need to cause until you’re satisfied!? SIGMA----!!”

Along with the bellow that thrust through my throat, I shoot several huge slashes. They’re charged
up “Boomerang Cutter” from Boomer Kuwanger. The blades, having turned into several huge and
shining boomerangs, precisely cut off only the detonator signal controllers from the MDWs in mid-
air, and tear them into little pieces. But even if they’re devoid of fuses, they’re still dangerous
MDWs, and I can’t let them hit the ground… So that’s why I begin charging another weapon.

“I won’t let any of those hit the ground!!”

What I shot next was piranha-shaped remote tracking “Homing Torpedo” attacks. About 300 of
them. What amount of energy allows me to shoot these attacks? Not even I, the user, could
understand; but this attack, this bombing, heads for the MDWs without breaking apart. The
torpedoes eat and break the missiles’ fuses, and after turning them into duds, the charged up
Boomerang Cutter I shot as a follow-up turned them into pieces. Now I don’t have to worry about
fall damage from the MDWs. Once more, the carbonized weapon chips of Kuwanger and Octopus
are ejected in order, fall into the ground with a dried sound, and crumble.

“Phew…”

I’ve been able to temporarily remove the approaching threat, so I lightly took a breath. And… For
the third time, I aimed my Buster at Sigma’s castle as it dropped from the skies. The charge energy
which steadily accumulates… This must be why, back then, the chips switched on their own. I felt
like Eagle had told me to keep it to bring down the castle. What I’ve been entrusted from him and
Armadillo are great and heavy things. In the end, I was unable to save any of their men… If I’d tried
talking more to them back then, something might’ve been different, I might’ve been able to change
something… That regret has been constantly haunting my heart.

But the past can’t be brought back, I can’t fix the past; I know that much. So that’s why we, not only
the Reploids, but the humans as well, are constantly choosing the best things they can do. We
must choose the future and work hard to reach there… If my ability to worry is power to reach it, I
will worry, and continue to do so. There will be failures. There will be regrets. But we have the
strength to move on forward. So that’s why I’ll dedicate this last battle to those who entrusted me
with the future.

This attack is to mourn. To show what I’ve inherited. “Hope”? “Possibilities”? “Mega Man”? I don’t
have such grand ideals on me, but I have several I’ve been entrusted with. From Armadillo, from
Eagle, from everyone else, and from Zero. I will put an end to this war with this power and arm that
I’ve inherited. So let’s go. To beyond the “possibilities” everyone have pointed out. To overcome the
“limitations” of Reploids.

“I’ll shoot through you and your castle! Eagle! Lend me your strength!”

My opened muzzle shines! The fully charged “Storm Tornado” becomes a huge tornado cannon
capable of piercing through the atmosphere. The raging blasts smash the orbital castle with which
Sigma has fused to pieces. The tornado and its mad blasts turn those remains into even lesser
pieces, and they’re literally pulverized. Finally… The huge castle the symbolizes Sigma and the
Mavericks has come to an end. And, at the same time, Eagle’s weapon chip is ejected from my
Buster. I witnessed how it fell and shattered, and once I again… I keep on staring at the skies. I
simply look, stunned, at the breaking down castle.

“Is this… the end?”

I unconsciously muttered towards the void, but I put myself together and shake my head. This
won’t suffice to end it. Sigma won’t end so easily. The “hatred” within him is bigger than this.

“He’s still there…!”

At the end of my sight starting into the skies, I see the huge Sigma itself that’s made it through the
atmosphere using the remains of the castle as a shield. The huge dog-shaped Sigma’s shadow; I
can hear a voice calling out to me. No.. That’s a scream. I made one, bigger deep breath, and
deeply exhale. After several deep breaths, I slowly shift my line of sight.

“This is the last one… This is the end of all…”

So that I can hear it to myself. So that I can encourage myself. I ready small and clear pauses in
my heart. I spread my legs, check that I’m properly stepping on the ground, and aim the Buster
from Zero, which I’ve inherited, my right arm towards the skies, towards Sigma.

“Sigma! Your hatred, and everything else… Ends here and now!”

RWWWWHHHH! A shrill sound echoes, and the last charing up begins. It’s indeed an attack in
which I pour the whole of my flesh and spirit. As the charge proceeds, my body, which had
changed shape, is steadily bathed in blue. I guess that all of the energy used in the armor is being
poured into the Buster. My whole body makes blunt sounds, it creaks. But I focus all on the arm,

A tearing pain begins to flow from the arm into the body. But I don’t intend to stop. Because I’d
decided to overcome the limits. I’d decided to all I could do. If it’s something that only I can do, then
I won’t doubt anymore.

“I don’t care if I can’t fire the Buster anymore as a result… Take all I have, take my life!”

The limits… have been overcome. No… Not yet… Not yet!! Increase further! Further!!

My body, which had been glowing in white light reverted to its original blue color, save for the
Buster in my arm which glowed in crimson light. I closed my eyes and reach back into my
memories. There were many people, and many thoughts.
 Softly.
Straight tears flow from my pupils.
“Thank you, everyone”.
Light returns to my sight as I speak.
I don’t need to swipe the big tears flowing
down my cheeks.
Because this is an attack into which my
everything is poured in!
“This is the end…! Zero! LEND ME YOUR
STRENGTH----!!”
The attack I unleashed formed an spiral. It flies high
and drags the clouds along.
The attack in which all “wishes” was poured in…
Literally scatters away Sigma as he drops from the
skies without a trace.
MAVERICK REPORT #13:
Epilogue
The battle has ended… Riding in the airborne warship that X and Zero had retrieved, I rushed to
the last coordinates X had provided along with the Hunters. We reached the coastline, where a
battered down X slowly waved at us to welcome us amongst remains that probably were from the
last violent battle. Yet he looked so fleeting when bathed by the morning sun that he felt like he’d
disappear anytime.

“Oh…! You were alright, X!”

“Yes, sir… It’s all over, Dr. Cain.”

X grabbed my hands and spoke in a soft, quiet voice. Those were words that meant that peace
had come, and the words I aspired for…

“... So you defeated Sigma, then?”

I frighteningly asked. The fact does indeed trigger some sadness within me. But these battles and
this war had caused way too many victims. Those who’ve died won’t come back… Same applies to
both Reploids and humans. The battles resulted in a past that can’t be recalled, and we must
accept the result for what it is. The sun is rising from the horizon ahead of me. But those who were
hurt, defeated and vanished within the darkness won’t be seeing this morning.

X’s shadow powerlessly sways within the morning sun… Why did he have to battle to these ends?
Nobody… Not even me… Can explain that to him. I bring him, whose walking is erratic, into the
warship. Along the way, he told me how he was unable to save Eagle’s and Armadillo’s men… And
how Zero had died for his sake. X cries as if he’s venting out all he carried within him during the
battles. The other Reploids who saw that spectacle must’ve been very taken aback, indeed. X is
the only one in the world who has this means to express sadness by crying, this function, which
would be pointless for a machine. The pacifist young robot who’s kind at his core, kept on crying
from the sadness. Then a Reploid handed him over a handkerchief as he sat in a bench and cried.

“Good work out there, X…”

It’s the stout and strongly filled with a sense of justice female Reploid who’s fulfilled her mission as
Operator across the whole of this war. Blonde hair, and a red body bathed in pink, she somehow
makes me think of Zero. I think that her name was… Yes, I think she named herself “Alia”. Looks
like her abilities will be useful in the center stage of the organization’s restructuring.

The human I am can only grant future standing and profits to those who distinguished themselves
during this war, although they won’t desire more than that either. The Maverick War has ended,
and even though Sigma’s threat is gone, Mavericks will still emerge somewhere and he will be
probably dragged into the swirl of battle again… X, the Maverick Hunter who, in the very end, was
unable to throw away his kindness.

How long will his battles go on? How long will his pain go on? The glow of the Buster on his arm,
which coldly shines, doesn’t tell the answer indeed.

**************

Alright, then. What are the “Mavericks” I mentioned in the prologue? Ultimately, I was unable to find
the answer to that in the present point. These words are indeed something truly embarrassing as a
scientist, but the best prospect is gathering further data and then be able to answer that.

But by looking at the records and footage that X has left behind, there’s one thing I’ve been able to
understand. The heart, given its condition, can reflect both justice and evil. Sigma’s actions, when
seen from the PoV of we humans, are but evil yet there were several amongst the Reploids who
considered them justice. Looking from their condition, it can be said that we instead are the evil,
the Mavericks.
Sigma started this rebellion because he knew about X’s origins and his hidden abilities, and since,
as he said, he’s a copy of X, he saw in himself the same latent possibilities of evolution. Sigma
considered himself part of a species, and might’ve had hope in their future. But when seen from
those who faced him, we and X, he was but evil that threatened peace. The actions he undertook,
war, cannot be forgiven no matter what reasons there were for it.

Well then, I’ll ask again… What is a “Maverick”? I can hypothesize that it’s “an incomplete heart”.
But the meaning will change whether a “perfect heart” can be defined or not. The concept of “God”
expressed in religions is thought of as an expression of a “perfect heart”, but that’s but a fantasy
created by people and there’s no perfection to “God” since it can’t be defined. However, as vague
as it is, imperfection doesn’t necessarily need to be a bad thing. Yes… This imperfection and
unclearness themselves… Could those be the “Mavericks” we talk about? I don’t mean to establish
an answer unlike that of a scientist as the answer to all. I am aware that I myself, who’s proudly
going on circles, am something imperfect.

I created Sigma and hid X’s origins, so I myself might be a Maverick too. Dr. Light, who created X,
was also talking about the “heart”. The heart… That’s the ultimate thinking program given to
humans and which hasn’t been deciphered yet. I might need to go over the research he left behind
once again. Back on the day, I’d been unable to find the answer to it, but since I’m the one who
ultimately plunged X into the warfare, I might be able to see something new within it. No… I must
find something, and move on ahead. Will there be hope? Or despair? I believed in his… In X’s, in
Mega Man’s own “possibilities”.

I’ll end this chronicle here for now. To end it, I’ll record the message that X’s creator, the scientist
“Thomas Light”, left behind. That is… So that it becomes a clue for those in the future who kind this
journal to know who he was. That’s what I hope you think of it. About the future of humans and
Reploids…

A.D. 21XX / Dr. Cain

In a distant future… When humanity is exposed to a fear never seen before. I leave behind what I
think is my ultimate robot.

He can exist as a symbol of peace, but he can also become a symbol of war. It depends on the
kind of world that you create. But I believe in a future in which humans and robots will live in
happiness. Even if the world is swallowed into the swirl of war, he will become a savior for the sake
of peace. He has a kind heart and the strength to battle, I hope he doesn’t mistake the road to
treak, and so I believe.

In the hope for the future contained within the name “Mega Man”. The infinite possibilities
contained within the name “X”. And that it… It becomes a guidepost that will guide the world to
peace… That is what I sincerely hope.

His name is “Mega Man X”.

Afterword #1
When I first was contacted by PHP Lab, I was genuinely surprised. There was actually a Mega
Man X novel project, and not only they wanted me to make illustrations for it but to also “write” as
well! I’ve been hanging around with X and the others for about 20 years. And now they wanted to
write a novel? I’ll be honest. “I’m going to make my debut as novelist?”... Or so I thought at first.

I’m sorry. I was so naive. Very rude towards those who live by writing novels or similar texts. I tried
writing a few pages as a test and… I did think, let’s leave it to a proper writer, yes. And now, as I
write this afterword, I hesitate. “What kind of improvements would make it easier to read?”.
Ultimately, what I worked on this project was the illustrations and a general plot making, like “how
would this direction like?” and so.

The game of Mega Man X has the manga I wrote and the “Maverick Hunter X” remake game, two
versions of it. Taking those into account, what kind of direction would be important when it came to
making the novel? As I compared the plans of the person in charge and mine, I earnt a lot of help
in establishing what would be needed for this project, I was able to have a bird-eye’s view of the
world of Mega Man X. When I was writing the manga and a new game would come out, it was a
hassle to put order to those things that were in shambles, but it was a very fun time and I had fun
making them.

I can see X and Zero again. I can join their story again. It was a messed up time of work, with
responsibility, tension and joy. The draft by Mr. Tsubasa Todoroki, which I saw during the process
to choose an author, had a lot of contents, way more than mine, and filled with tech, enthusiasm,
knowledge and ideas. And so, after several meetings, I felt relieved to entrust him with the
prototype I handed him.

The manuscript that he finished was filled with more ideas than those he’d shown in the meetings,
so I was burning as I worked on the illustrations. To be honest, I don’t like drawing single
illustrations. But the novel Mr. Todoroki wrote strongly pulled out the image needed for “what I
should draw” from within me. I’m very honored to have been able to recreate with illustrations the
world of Mega Man X that he depicted. Thank you very much for your beautiful novel.

Thanks as well to the person in charge of the PHP Lab who allowed me to join a project that was
totally worth it. Also thanks to CAPCOM, for having created these many Mega Man series. Thank
you, the two persons in the “Special Thanks” section, for all of your advice. And thanks as well to
all the readers who have this book on their hands and are reading it. Did you like the new story of
X and the others? I’d be honored if that is the case. I end my contribution while dreaming of a
sequel being made.

Yoshihiro Iwamoto
Afterword #2
I am pleased to introduce myself. My name is Tsubasa Todoroki. I never expected that at one point
in my life I’d be writing a novel for “Mega Man X”. Since I didn’t expect that contents such as this
novel would ever be made. When I was first contacted about it, I did think “Am I dreaming this
up?”. Maybe most of those who are now holding this book on their hands can imagine it, but the
Mega Man X game has some hidden settings, hinted at but not officially shown (in-game), and
there’s a heap of them… So that’s why I questioned my sanity.

It’s been a long time, and nowadays a lot of things have been carefully scrutinized by some of the
fans, and yet the idea was to compile the huge amount of elements there are? And to top it all, Mr.
Yoshihiro Iwamoto, who’d published the Mega Man X mangas in “Comic PonPon”, was involved in
this reckless novel project as well. I still clearly remember how, deep within my heart, I screamed
“damn you Mavericks!”. Yes. I still hadn’t begun working on anything and I was already at the
climax.

And the two persons in the “Special Thanks” section were going to be involved too, so what began
first of all was “talking about Mega Man”. I think that was in either February or March of 2016. In
the name of identifying the official settings, the experts placed their respective images of Mega
Man X into the podium, and began to freely talk about their memories of the series. The knowledge
I earnt during this hours-long meeting (chat), the anecdotes Mr. Iwamoto told me about when he
was serializing the manga, increased my existing knowledge by heaps and bounds, I swallowed
the prototype that he’d written, and then completed this book’s main plot. I thought I was done with
it by then. That was foolish of me.

Afterwards, as I began writing the main story using the plot as basis, the seasons steadily made it
past summer and into the autumn… Yes. By the time the autumn leaves began to turn red, a big
incident happened; the person in charge changed. Mr. Hashimoto, who’d been in charge of this
project, was transferred to another department. It’s not like he was shoved asides due to
incompetence, it was a transfer he asked for to get close to the department he actually wanted to
be in. Rather, it was a promotion. But, inwardly, I was thinking “Hey, hold on!”. And thus Mr.
Hashimoto parted ways in a non-dramatic way with hardly any tears, and this project was inherited
by the editor-in-chief, Mr. Itami. And thus it was able to be published. What a relief!

This book is the first novel ever of the “Mega Man” series, and both those who like Mega Man X
and those who like the other series, I hope all of the fans take this book on their hands to enjoy it.
Truth is, the first general framework of the plot might’ve been a “3-part concept (or so I’d want to
create)”, talk about a nasty anecdote… Please make sure to buy it so I can write the 2nd part, the
“Zero part”! But given how I made such a fishy self-advertising here, I’ll end the afterword.

As a finisher, I want to honestly thank: Mr. Hashimoto, who planned this book; Editor-In-Chief Mr.
Itami, who, after Mr. Hashimoto’s retirement, stuck along with us, who were constantly asking for
little orders; Mr. Yoshihiro Iwamoto; the two persons in the “Special Thanks” section, Mr. H and Mr.
C; and all the Mega Man fans who have this book on their hands right now.

Well then, let’s meet again somewhere else.

Tsubasa Todoroki.
This is a non-profit fan translation, please support the
publisher buying the original novel.

ROCKMAN X THE NOVEL（ロックマン X ザ・ノベル）

IRREGULARS REPORT（イレギュラーズ レポート）

CREDITS

Prologue & Episode 1 to 3

Translators: @_skycompass, TayoEXE, melonjaywalk, EdgeKagami, @abraham_falcon
Editors: @tjerrian, Lambency, @moidang, Sura, @maidoftin, @CSO_Yink

Episode 4 to 13 & Afterwords

Translator: Sidier

PDF Creation and Scans Cleaning

Reploid 21XX

Scans
digi148