"Isn't this nice, Vile?" Sigma asked as he looked around. "Fresh air, comfortable surroundings, and a Maverick Hunter HQ to destroy. Can it get any better?"

"Not at the moment." Vile replied as he shot another security guard with his large shoulder cannon.

"No, no, Vile. Something is missing. Something important." Sigma thought.

"It's over Maverick scumbags!" X declared as he and many other Maverick Hunters arrived at the foot of the HQ building.

"Yes, that's it! Mega Man X. No plan of mine is complete without the arrival and destruction of X."

X recognized the voice and gasped in horror. "Vile? Sigma! You're alive!"

"Of course I am." Sigma replied smugly. "I still have things to do, people to kill, places to wreck. You understand."

"I don't know how you survived Final Weapon's explosion, but it ends here." Zero joined in.

"Zero, remember what we talked about on Final Weapon?" Sigma said. "Our little chit chat about how you were once, yourself, dare I say, a Maverick?"

"Zero? What's Sigma talking about?" X's confusion was evident in his tone.

"You do remember, X," Sigma said, "That I was once a Maverick Hunter. And I still recall the one Maverick who managed to wipe out Garma's entire Hunter unit. I had to take care of him myself. That Maverick was Zero."

"Shut up and fight." Zero gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. He swiftly drew his Z-Saber and held it before him, ready to slice Sigma into shreds if he said another word.

Sigma tilted his head and studied the Red Hunter. Obviously Zero still considers himself a full-fledged hunter. "It's not the right time for us to have this fight yet Zero, X. But what the hey. Vile, go ahead and take out some more hunters. I'm still in a bad mood." Sigma then started to leave.

Vile complied and reloaded his shoulder cannon. But before he could aim it at anything, Protoman landed a kick squarely on Vile's head, knocking the purple Maverick down. The other Hunters and Mavericks fought, cannon against cannon and punches against kicks.

Zero chased after Sigma, hoping to get an answer and perhaps off the son of a bitch while he was at it.

"Sigma!" Zero yelled. "What's wrong? Afraid I'll destroy you again?"

Sigma smiled at the Red Hunter's boldness.

"Zero, nice of you to join me." Sigma could feel Zero's anger rising every minute as he continued to stall.

"What did you mean by 'now is not the right time?'" Zero demanded. "What did you mean?"

"You and I Zero, have some unfinished business to discuss. You were created by Dr. Wily to destroy that blasted X. But you haven't accepted that yet, have you?"

"I'll never turn against the Hunters and join the likes of you!"

"But you've shown such potential."

"What?"

"Back on Final Weapon, during our fight, you couldn't bring yourself to kill me. No, Zero, you left Final Weapon knowing full well that I was still alive. Why didn't you kill me Zero? Because you can't!"

"I only left you to rot with the space dust. If I'd know you were still alive, I would have taken the time to make you extra crispy."

"Idle threats. You can't kill me because you know we're on the same side. It was the same even when you were a Maverick. You had me defeated, but you stopped yourself before the fatal blow, because you and I are both created by Dr. Wily."

"That may be true." Zero chuckled. "But I can still kill you." Zero lashed at Sigma with the Z-Saber, while Sigma just stood there, ready to take the blow.

"Why is he just standing there?" Zero thought. He landed on the other side of Sigma without touching him. "Humph." Zero grumbled. "It's no fun when you don't even try." Then Zero teleported back to HQ.

"See," Sigma said smugly, "I told you, you can't kill me."

Protoman had followed Zero and Sigma, thinking that Hunter might need some help finishing the Maverick Leader. To Protoman's surprise, Zero and Sigma were having a conversation. Protoman noticed that Sigma was unarmed while Zero had his Z-Saber out.

"What the hell does he think he's doing?" Protoman thought. "He has a big opening, why doesn't he doing anything?"

"Zero has been acting this way since he destroyed Sigma on Final Weapon." Protoman recalled X saying. Destroyed Sigma? Then why is it that he is still alive?

"You can't kill me." Sigma declared. "Because you know we're on the same side."

There were more words exchanged, and then Zero launched himself, Z-Saber drawn, to attack Sigma. The Maverick just stood there, grinning at Zero. Before Zero could hit Sigma, though, he moved his Z-Saber to one side, leaving Sigma unscathed. Protoman watched in horror as Zero teleported away and Sigma roared in laughter.

"...The same side?" Protoman thought. "Zero and Sigma?' Then it occurred to him. "Dr. Wily."

Back at HQ, the Maverick Hunters rounded up the Mavericks who were still here. Vile and the other more powerful Mavericks managed to get away. There was no real damage to the HQ building, as if Sigma was just taunting the Hunters. Dr. Cain, Zero, X and Protoman were in Cain's lab, trying to figure out what Sigma was planning.

"If Sigma really wanted to destroy Headquarters," Dr. Can observed, "He would have put up more of a fight."

"Maybe he was just teasing us." X suggested. "Trying to tell us that he's back."

"X," Protoman began, "I thought you said Zero destroyed Sigma."

Zero felt all eyes turning towards him. "What am I supposed to tell them?" Zero thought. "That Sigma and I are old buddies?"

"He must have had help getting off Final Weapon." Zero said. "When I left him, he was completely unoperational."

"That's not he important thing right now." Dr. Cain said. "Sigma has mysteriously returned to life, time and again. The question is what does he want this time."

"Well, we know our old buddy Vile is back." X said sarcastically. He suddenly remembered something, and turned to Zero. "Zero, what did Sigma mean when he said you were once a Maverick?"

Zero's eyes wondered to the side of the room. "I don't remember X. I only remember things starting from the time some scientists from the repair center activated me." Zero turned back to X. "It must be a lie. I could never be a Maverick."

Dr. Cain carefully studied Zero. "Zero, Sigma was once a Maverick Hunter. I do remember one strong Maverick wiping Garma's unit, and he was brought into The Phoenix Repair Center. But I can't tell you who it was until I check the files."

"Please, go ahead and check, Doctor." Zero said. "I have to go track down Sigma." Zero began to leave.

"I'm coming too." X got up to follow.

"No, X." Zero declared. "This time it's personal." Zero turned towards the door and left.

"X," Protoman said, "I saw Zero and Sigma today, during the attack. I didn't want to say anything while he was here, but Sigma told Zero that they're on the same side. And Zero had an opening to kill Sigma but he didn't take it."

X turned to face his brother. "No, Zero probably didn't see that Sigma had an opening and was waiting for me to come and help."

"X, Sigma was completely unarmed. Zero could have finished him off, and he didn't."

"It's some kind of trick." X deduced. "When it's Sigma, anything can happen. He's trying to mess with our minds again."

Protoman turned to Cain. "Dr. Cain, where did Zero come from?"

"No one knows." Dr. Cain replied. " I can check back files to find out, but this is going to take awhile."

"Meanwhile, X," Protoman warned, "Just ...keep an eye out on Zero. There's something wrong with him."

"...." X looked to where Zero was sitting.

Zero sat silently in his room. He had lied to X and the others. After Sigma reminded him, Zero did remember being a Maverick.

He recalled Garma's Unit, out to capture him, and he could see himself killing those Reploids, on by one. Sickeningly, he enjoyed crushing the skulls of those wretched Hunters, and he remembered laughing heartily when Sigma, then a Hunter himself, screamed with terror.

Yes, he could see Sigma, lying on the ground, with only one arm, and his entire shiny armor crooked and bent. Zero had raised his arm to finish him off, but something stopped him. It was like someone was tugging on his mind.

"Zero."

That was the first time he heard the voice, Dr. Wily's voice. Zero wasn't aware of the terrible nightmare that the voice will summon. The future, in which, everything would change.

Sigma took this opportunity to knock Zero out, and brought him back to the Hunter's Repair Center to be studied. After he was repaired, Zero had the urge to join the Maverick Hunters. No one questioned it, because they just assumed Zero was tying to show is gratitude by helping the Hunters.

What eluded everyone was the true, twisted reason why Zero joined the Hunters: He wanted to find Mega Man X...gain his trust... and now, as Dr. Wily tells him, destroy the Blue Hunter.

"Was everything a lie?" Zero asked himself as he clamped his hands together. "My life, my duty, my friendship. Was it all a lie?"

X, Zero, and several other Mavericks carefully entered a high rise building. Headquarters received a call earlier about several Mavericks breaking into a safe on the top floor vaults, where all the valuable computer chips were held.

Zero motioned for the others to gather around, and began to draw out a plan to enter the vault floor to surround the robbers. X had a look of concern on his face. He wasn't bothered by the software thieves they were about to encounter, but about the whole Zero/Sigma thing.

What did the two have in common? Protoman's worlds still nabbed at his mind. His first instinct was to side with Zero, who has always been an asset to the Maverick Hunters, and a good friend. But what if Protoman was right?

Then is Zero really to be trusted?

"X, you take Amp and head for the north stairway." Zero said as he pointed to the map. "Electra and I will take the south stairway and bust into the room first. You and Amp count the number of Mavericks, so we don't get surprised. Electra and I will bust into the room in exactly ten minutes. We'll take care of the Mavericks we do see, you and Amp take any others who might be hiding." The team nodded in agreement and took their positions.

X lead Amp up several flights of stairs to the north corridor of the vault floor. He stood silently and listened to make sure no one was in the hallway to greet them. When he made sure it was safe, he gave Amp more instructions. "Zero and Electra will go in from the other side. We'll take position at the doorway, and see what we can spy from there."

He motioned for Amp to follow him as he moved towards the door. X slowly turned the doorknob, and waited five more seconds before pulling it slightly to look inside. He counted the number of Mavericks and raised his hand to indicate that there were five reploids inside.

X continued to wait at the door for Zero to engage the reploids. Again, X couldn't help but wonder if it was wise to listen to his brother. "If I don't watch out and Zero does turn out to be against us, I could be putting many lives on the line. But I can't constantly watch him and do my job at the same time, that would also be dangerous."

A loud noise inside the room snapped X out of his thoughts. Zero and Electra pointed their weapons at the Mavericks. X burst in, followed by Amp, and took the Mavericks from behind. Everything seemed fine, but then a sickening feeling came over X. Something was very wrong, X only saw four Mavericks before him.

"Four?" X panicked. Before he could react, the fifth Maverick tackled him from the side. The two landed on the ground with a hard thud. X was too surprised to act, while the Maverick brought out a large stick and swiped at X's head. The blow landed, and X let out an agonized cry. Amp finally got his thoughts together and fired a shot at the Maverick, sending him flying across the room.

X tried to get up, but the blow to the head made everything around him spin. As X tried to take a step forward, he fell to the side, crashing through the large window. X blindly grabbed onto the ledge, only to find that the sharp glass edges were digging into his hands.

X tried not to think about the fifty stories of air under his dangling boots. He moved his lips to scream for help, but the panic welled inside his throat, muffling any sounds he tried to make.

Zero appeared on the ledge. X could see the fuzzy image of Zero, hair all disheveled and helmet slightly bent out of shape, probably from beating that fifth Maverick.

Zero looked down at X, and for the briefest split second, X could have sworn Zero was going to let him fall. A look of confusion took over the usually confidant Zero and he froze.

Even through his distorted vision, X saw that something was horribly wrong with Zero and tried to pull himself up, but his throbbing head and the sharp glass made it impossible to do so. Every move X made sent shocks of pain down his arms.

"Ugh." X finally managed to yell out as one of his hands slipped. X's eyes wandered down to see the fifty story fall. When he turned his head back up, he saw Zero again, this time, putting his hands around X's arms to pull him up.

After X was on secure ground again, he let out a big sigh of relief and tried to clear his head, which currently felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

"You all right?" Zero asked.

"Yeah," X said, "I can't believe I missed that fifth Maverick."

"Why? Did something distract you?'

X remembered that he was distracted, by thinking about Zero. It was his own fault that the Maverick knocked him over.

"Well," Zero said, "We nabbed those Mavericks. I especially gave the one who hit you a good pounding." Zero raised his eyebrows casually, joking to lighten up the mood.

X managed to let out a few laughs, but he still remembered that Zero hesitated before pulling X back up. "It's not like Zero to hesitate about anything." X thought. "Why did he wait?"

"Earth to X." Zero said. "Zoning out again. I swear, you do that again, and next time I'll just let you fall." Zero laughed again. X, though, did not.

"Protoman told me to keep an eye out on Zero." X thought. "Maybe he was right." Then his head throbbed again. "Of course it could've just been my head."

The first thing X did when he got back to headquarters was visit Dr. Cain's lab. X was eager to find out if the news about Zero was true. When he arrived, he saw that Protoman and Dr. Cain were hunched over the computer display, reading something intently.

"Protoman, Dr. Cain." X greeted. "Have you found the archives yet?"

"No luck X." Dr. Cain said dejectedly. "It seems that most of the data regarding that subject was destroyed by an attack on HQ several years ago."

"So now Dr. Cain is trying to call up some of the scientists who worked at the repair center some years ago to confirm if Zero was a Maverick." Protoman explained.

"But their addresses have all changed, so tracking them down is going to take even longer than expected."

"So meanwhile what do we tell Zero?" X a sked.

"Nothing." Dr. Cain answered. "We don't have anything against Ze ro at the moment. And even if he was a Maverick, it doesn't mean that he hasn't changed. There is no need for false accusations."

"But Dr. Cain!" Protoman protested. "Shouldn't we at least keep an eye out? What if he suddenly snaps?"

"Zero wouldn't." X insisted. "We just have to do things this way and wait."

"I know something is up." Protoman argued. "Zero has been acting strange lately."

"Protoman-"

"X, I'm your own brother. Don't you trust me."

"It's because you're my brother that you should listen to what I'm saying." X argued.

"There's no need to rouse up anything if nothing is wrong."

Protoman stood his ground on the argument. "Fine, but if something goes wrong and we all find ourselves shish-cabobbed by Zero's Z-Saber, just remember that I told you so." Protoman gave X a last angry look and stormed out.

Zero stared blankly at this reflection on the mirror.

"What went wrong today?" Zero kicked himself. "I was going to let X fall. I was just going to let him dangle there and lose his grip. I even thought about giving him a helping shove. How could I?!"

Zero saw X dangling there again, but this time, when Zero grabbed X's hands, he immediately released them, causing X to fall. He could see X's expression of shock, all the way down...until his body made a healthy crack against the sidewalk below. Poor little X never even saw it coming...

"What am I thinking?!" Zero shouted and punched the mirror. Spider web like cracks branched out from Zero's fist. "I can't be around X if he has to trust me with his life. I can't... because next time... I might really... let go."

X was in the equipment room, inspecting the armor one by one. There was nothing more to do, except kill time and wait for the answers from those scientists. X couldn't imagine doing anything before finding out about Zero, it bothered him too much to concentrate.

"Hi, Commander X." It was Amp. The smaller yellow reploid always seemed cheerful. To Amp, being a Maverick Hunter was the greatest honor, so there never came a day when he wasn't happy.

"So how did you like today's mission Amp?" X asked. "By the way, why did you come with us? You're not on Zero's squad, are you?'

"Oh." Amp said with a tang of embarrassment. "My commander wanted me to get more practice and since today's case wasn't all that big, he convinced Zero to let me come along."

"Zero's your idol, isn't he?" X observed.

Amp blushed brightly.

"Hard not to." X explained as he lifted another piece of equipment to inspect. "When I first joined the Maverick Hunters, I was the same. Zero seemed like the strongest and most brave Hunter in the force. And because I wasn't all that strong before, I idolized him."

"You?" Amp said in awe. "Were once weak?"

"Yep." X admitted. "Before I found Dr. Light's upgrades, I was the weakest one on Zero's squad. We were on a mission once, and I accidentally bumped into Vile. He easily pounded me. I was just no match for him. I felt humiliated and weak, but Zero would always have something reassuring to say."

"Was that the first time you went up against Vile?"

"Yeah, that was a long time ago. Vile had taken over a city, by Sigma's orders. I went inside, and there he was with an invincible ride armor. He easily defeated me, almost killed me too, until Zero stopped him. Later, though, Zero sacrificed himself to destroy Vile's ride armor, so I could have a chance to beat Vile, and eventually Sigma."

Protoman suddenly burst into the room, with a panicked look on his face.

"X! Zero is gone!"

"Gone?" X's mind whirled. "What do you mean gone?"

"We found Zero's room all rearranged, with everything fragile broken and he is nowhere to be found."

"Are you sure?" X's face cringed. "Did you check every place?"

Protoman nodded.

"The situation is more serious than that, X." Dr. Cain said as he entered the room. "I've finally managed to contact those scientists, and it appears that Zero was once a Maverick, reprogrammed to be a Hunter. So what Sigma said was probably true."

"Then it's settled." Protoman declared. "We have to destroy Zero."

"But..." X stammered.

"If it's true that Zero is on Sigma's side, then he too was probably created by Dr. Wily." Protoman turned to Dr. Cain. "And why would Wily send a robot with X to the future posed as a friend? To destroy X, of course. Even if Zero isn't a Maverick now, he will be. We can't let such a powerful time bomb run around freely."

X turned to his own thoughts, and remembered a conversation he had with Zero once. It was after a battle with Sigma, when X was haunted by questions about why reploids become Mavericks:

"This is Maverick Hunter Headquarters." Zero said on the communication device.

"Zero!" X replied.

"It's good to see you're safe, X." Zero said as he smiled. "I was really worried about you."

"Sorry about that..."

"Don't worry, it's all over. Go home and rest, you've earned it."

"But Zero, what...what if I become one of the Mavericks?"

Zero gave X a surprised look. Obviously, for him, the question came out of nowhere.

"Don't ask a silly question. I'm breaking contact now."

"Wait, Zero! I'm...I'm serious!" X looked at him with the gravest look. "Zero, if...if I ever become a Maverick, you have to take care of me..."

There was an awkward silence between the two as they thought about the enormity of the promise, of the words that just came out of X's mouth. Finally Zero looked away.

"Don't be ridiculous, X. Now hurry on back." Zero broke contact.

"Promise me, Zero."

X checked his arm cannon again. Protoman and many others were also getting ready for battle. Dr. Cain asked some of the hunters to go find Zero, who as disappeared for more than twelve hours, and Protoman insisted that they equip to kill. He and many of the others were convinced that Zero has gone Maverick.

X slowly put on the gleaming white armor.

"How ironic," X thought, "I asked Zero to destroy me if I should ever...and now we're preparing to destroy him."

"Come on, X." Protoman prompted. "Let's go."

Zero got onto a motorcycle and kept on driving. Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. Even he can't trust himself now. It seems like he has lost all control over his thoughts, but was still there to feel guilty about it.

"My conscious duty is to the Maverick Hunters." Zero said to himself. "But something inside keeps saying that it's not who I am anymore."

"Here we are Zero." Dr. Wily said.

Zero stopped the motorcycle and studied his surroundings.

"I'm..."

"Welcome to the Maverick Fortress, Zero." Zero turned around and saw Sigma, Vile, and various other Mavericks standing there with pleasant smiles. "We were expecting you."

"So this is where I belong." Zero whispered.

"You see Zero." Sigma proudly said as he led the Red Hunter into his fortress. "You and I, we're brothers, created by the same scientific genius, Dr. Wily."

"I'll give you that we were created by the same man." Zero retorted. "But please, don't call me your brother."

"Fine." Sigma said as if it didn't matter. "Now, come over here and look at these plans." Sigma pointed to several diagrams the huge monitor.

"This is the map of the Phoenix Center." Zero said. "The current location of the Maverick Hunter's repair center."

"Yes," Sigma said, "And soon it will be a big pile of rubbles."

"But, what about all the innocent humans inside? Most of the staff are just human scientists."

"Is that a pang of pity that I sense, Zero? I thought you were beyond that."

"Our target is the Maverick Hunters, not humans." Zero said.

"The Maverick Hunters and anyone else helping them, humans included." Sigma corrected. He studied the ex-hunter. "What's wrong Zero? I thought you were with us. That's why you came, right?"

Zero turned away from Sigma to look again at the map. "I drove myself here." He thought. "But do I really want to kill?"

"I knew your memory of Dr. Wily was enough to bring you here, Zero." Sigma said. "But we suspected you might change your mind."

Upon turning around, Zero saw that Cyber Peacock, Split Mushroom, and Sigma all had their weapons ready.

"Heh," Zero chuckled, "You think fowl and fungi here can take care of me? You're more stupid than I remembered, Sigma." Before anyone else could make a move, Zero drew his Z-Saber and attacked the two henchmen. Cyber Peacock and Split Mushroom were ready, but none the less, no match for the more skilled Hunter.

With Split and Cyber immobilized, Zero turned his attention to Sigma.

"Looks like it's just you and me again sweetheart." Zero challenged. "Let's dance."

"Lets." Sigma said confidently. Out of nowhere, two clamps hooked onto Zero's legs, and a burst of energy exploded from them.

Zero let out an agonized cry and fell to his knees. He tried to push himself from off of the ground, but two more clamps dug into his shoulders. The shock of being hit and the electricity pushed Zero flat on his back. As Zero struggled to get Sigma the electricity intensified, causing Zero to scream out.

"Good shot Vile." Sigma said. Vile stood on the other side of Zero, a grin on his face and a large weapon in his hand.

"Try to stay put, Zero." Vile warned. "The more you move, the more pain you're going to get."

"Sigma!" Zero growled as he turned over to his stomach. "I'll get you yet." Zero pushed himself up halfway to his knees. "Arruhhh, you .... Wretched..."

"Don't worry, Zero." Sigma chided. "Well make sure you become your old self again. That's how it was meant to be."

Zero's circuits were going haywire. The electricity was eating away at his sensors like piranhas. The harder he tried to move, the worse the pain became. Everything was beginning to get fuzzy, as his processing unit began to burn out. His arms and legs finally gave and he fell to the ground with a thud.

The features of the room started to blend with each other, until all was darkness. Zero's eyes lost he light of consciousness and turned hazy green as the last of his systems shut down.

"Take him to the lab, Vile." Sigma ordered. "And get the virus ready. He'll be one of us, the easy way, or the hard way."