X's eyes jerked open. He knew he had heard something. He hadn't been sleeping, only thinking. But, his thinking had stopped the moment he had heard the sound. The sound of foot steps. X forced himself to his feet, ignoring the gnawing pain in his stomach. He gazed about the small room he was in. It had a bed, dresser with a mirror, and a few other luxuries. X slowly walked to the door to his room. Outside, he found nothing. He heard the sound of the underground river as it made it's way to the outside world. The sound was rather soothing to X. X looked about him, still a bit unnerved. His small room was quite a ways from the base, in a far corner of the cavern, so it was very quiet.

" Perhaps that is what is bothering me," X thought. " I am not used to so much quiet," X looked at his stomach. He saw the bit of cloth wrapped around it. The cloth was stained with oil and X felt queasy when he looked at it. " I wonder where Bo is..," X mumbled. Then it hit him like a brick. Where WAS Bo? He had been standing outside the door only a few minutes ago. X felt his uneasiness turn to panic. " Something's wrong! I know it is!" he thought. He glanced around and began to look for Bo. His stomach was forgotten. As he walked, he felt himself shiver. Something was watching. X began to walk quickly down to the river. Whatever it was, it couldn't be friendly. If it was, it wouldn't be hiding. X grew surprised when he made it to the river without incident. X silently scolded himself for panicking. He walked to the river bank and peered in. Something looked back up at him. X practically jumped backwards, giving a startled cry. He fell backwards and gasped in pain as his stomach was jolted. He slowly peered back in to the water. Whatever was there before was gone now. X crawled away from the water. X glanced at his wound, making sure the fall didn't do any serious damage.

" What are you doing out here?" someone asked. X jumped up. He whirled around, expecting the worse. Instead of the worst, he found Bo. X sighed in relief.

" Where did you go? I was sure I heard something! I saw something looking at me from in the water!" X said as he pointed at the river. Bo looked at the water, then at him.

" Are you sure you weren't delirious?" Bo asked.

" No, I'm not sure," X admitted.

" It might be something, it might not," Bo said.

" Don't patronize me!" X snapped. Bo smiled. But the smile quickly turned to a frown. He seemed to be staring hard at something. X followed his gaze. X gave a startled cry. A few feet off was none other than Agile, smiling widely. Behind him was Serges and Violen. Both looked very smug. " Agile! Serges! Violen!" X gasped. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach. The pain was returning. Bo peered at him.

" Friends of yours?" Bo hissed. X couldn't answer because the pain was beginning to become unbearable. He gritted his teeth and backed away. " Greetings! Am I right to assume you are friends of Mega Man X?" Bo asked, calmly. The X-Hunters smiled at eachother.

" You could say that. Do you mind if we chat with our 'friend' for a minute?" Agile said. X cringed. Bo began to walk up to the X-Hunters. X tried to yell out a warning but the pain prevented it. He stared at the X-Hunters, horrified. Bo wasn't very far from them now.

" X doesn't seem very happy to see you!" Bo pointed out.

" I can't imagine why!" Violen giggled. X tried to walk over to Bo, to get him away from the X-Hunters, but stopped when the pain shot through him.

" I can," Bo said. He looked at X. " You aren't his friends!" Bo snarled. Agile frowned. " You're here to kill him!" Bo snapped. " Why else would you bring MAVERICKS?" Bo transformed his arm into a cannon and shot across the cavern. From behind a rock, a huge lion Maverick with a mane of flame leaped out of the way of the blast. Bo then whirled around and knocked Agile over with his staff. He held it, threateningly.

" Fool! You should have stayed out of this! Now you'll have to die!" Serges hissed. Bo laughed.

" Easier said than done!" he mocked. Agile, who was still on the ground, smiled up at Bo.

" I think we will find it very easy to do!" he laughed. Quickly, he tripped Bo and leaped to his feet. Agile grabbed his saber and tried to bring it down on Bo. Bo's staff met Agile's sword. Bo got to his feet, his staff still locked with Agile's sword. X crouched as Serges and Violen approached him. The lion Maverick slowly approached as well. Behind a rock, to X's surprise, Bit and Byte leaped forward. To X's even greater surprise, five other Mavericks appeared. There was a cheetah wearing neon green and black armor, twin Siamese cats wearing blue and red armor, a cobra wearing gray and black, and a weird flying unicorn wearing blue, silver, and white. X couldn't help but notice that the cheetah had a walkman and headphones and was wearing rollerblades. Another Maverick, a blue water dragon wearing light blue and gray armor, leaped out of the river.

" All this for little old me? I'm touched!" X laughed.

" Our boss wasn't sure if you were really as bad off as Vile claimed. Vile was correct! You're weak as a kitten!" the flying unicornlaughed.

" I can still blast your heads off!" X screamed.

" Ahh, X! Brave to the very end," Bit taunted.

" The very end!" Byte echoed.

" The end hasn't come yet!" X snapped.

" Yes, it has!" Serges growled as he leaped at X. Even though X was wounded, he easily evaded Serges. A fact the other Mavericks couldn't help but rub in.

" What's the matter, dude? Can't the big bad X-Hunter catch a wounded X?" the cheetah called.

" Aaaw, don't be mean! X is very tough! Even if he IS missing his stomach!" Bit laughed. Serges huffed and puffed. X quietly stood where he was, completely surrounded. There was nowhere he could go, he noted grimly. The Mavericks continued to mock Serges. Suddenly, Agile leaped in to the circle and made a grab for X. X fell backwards as he tried to evadeAgile.

" IDIOTS! Let's get out of here!" Agile yelled at the Mavericks around him as he grabbed X's arm. Bo leaped up and slammed Agile in the face with his staff.

" Can't escape me THAT easily!" Bo growled. Before X could gather his thoughts, a pair of strong arms wrapped around him. One around the chest, the other his stomach. X screamed in pain as the arms squeezed. Thankfully, the arm around his stomach loosened instantly. He felt himself lift high in the air. He gazed up to see who had him. It was the flying unicorn. X wanted to struggle but when the unicorn had squeezed, it had caused X's pain to multiply. It wasn't as bad as it was earlier but it was still bad. X felt very dizzy. Suddenly, everything went black.

Zero, who had been blasting Mavericks on the roof tops, jumped down to check on Dr. Cain. He found Met, in wolf form, chewing on FlameMammoth.

" Tastes just like chicken!" Met assured Zero. Zero gagged. Met leaped away from the body and transformed back to his reploid form. They then both ran to check on Dr. Cain. When they got to him, they found Proto Man battling Vile. Met, out of the corner of his eye, saw Spark Mandrill sneaking up on them. Met whirled around and sunk his fangs into Spark Mandrill's hand. Spark Mandrill screamed. It was a weird sight. Met, in reploid form, with his teeth sunk in Spark Mandrill's hand. Then, Met turned into a wolf and leaped at Spark Mandrill's face. His teeth sunk deep into Spark Mandrill's neck. Met's claws racked Spark Mandrill's armor as he slashed at him. Zero was too stunned at Met's brutality to do anything. He just stood there, staring. Suddenly, one of Spark Mandrill's legs flew at him. Zero leaped out of the way to avoid being hit. Met leaped away from the body and bared his teeth. In his mouth was Spark Mandrill's arm. Spark Mandrill was in pieces, scattered all over the street. Vile and Proto Man had stopped fighting and had seen Met rip up the Maverick. Proto Man shook his head grimly. He knew Met. Had known him before he had been destroyed. Vile, on the other had, stood absolutely still. He was frightened out of his wits. Met had destroyed Spark Mandrill's armor as if it was nothing more than paper. Met turned and stared at Vile. His eyes narrowed dangerously. All the Mavericks stood still, not making a sound. All of them had seen Spark Mandrill's slaughter. Met spit out Spark Mandrill's arm and slowly began to walk towards Vile. Vile was glued to his place, frozen in fear. Just when Met was close enough to leap, Storm Eagle flew down and grabbed Vile, pulling him to safety. Met hissed and snapped at Storm Eagle's feet. The Mavericks stared at Met, who growled viciously at them.

" You had a close shave, Vile! Seems you failed!" Zero laughed.

" Shows how much YOU know! This is exactly what we planned!" Vile laughed.

" I always thought when someone fought, they planned on winning. But, hey, if you WANT to lose then who am I to disagree?" Met laughed. All the Hunters giggled. Vile stared, angry.

" This was a DIVERSION!!" Vile yelled.

" Of course! I understand! You were bored and absolutely had to get out of the house! Losing and making yourself look stupid is much more fun than playing Monopoly! Great way to pass the time!" Met said. The Hunters laughed loudly.

" We were sent to delay you! At this moment, X is probably in our fortress! We found a way to track him! We sent our new Mavericks out to retrieve him while we stalled you! What do you have to say to that?" Vile yelled. The Mavericks laughed. The Hunters stared at each other. How could Met make a come-back to that?

" I'd say you are a stupid donkey to brag about it! Because, I now know of it! If X is in your fortress, then I'll just get him out!" Met said, smugly. " I'll just sneak in at night and rip your throat out! Think I can't? Take a look at your pal!" Met said as he pointed at Spark Mandrill. Or at least what was left of him. " And furthermore, I think you all are....," curse words poured out of Met's mouth. Every Maverick reared backwards as they heard him. Vile must have turned bright red under his helmet. The Hunters didn't know whether to cheer Met on or scold him for his terrible language. When Met was done, he smiled viciously and winked. " Have I made myself clear?" he asked, sweetly.

" Yes. Perfectly," Vile managed to say. " But you should know that, next time we meet, I will destroy you!" he added. Then, he and the Mavericks quickly teleported away. Met snorted.

" Talk about cheezy lines!" he said, not in the least bit upset. The Hunters gazed at him, expectantly. He turned to them. " I'm going to find their fortress," Met said. Zero and Proto Man stared at eachother. Met turned to walk off. Proto Man tried to follow. Met whirled around. " Wrong! You are needed at the Maverick Hunter's Headquarters!" Met growled.

" If X is in trouble, I want to help!" Proto Man protested.Zero walked up to him.

" I want to go too! X is a good friend of mine!" Zero said. Met stared at them.

" Fine," Met sighed. Chip, who was among the Hunters in the squad, approached.

" May I go too, sir?" he asked. Zero peered at Met and Proto Man.

" I guess he can come, IF he can take care of himself!" Met said.

" Yes sir! I can!" Chip said. Met snorted. Gig, who was also among the group, frowned and growled to himself.

" Hunters, back to base!" Zero commanded. The squad of Hunters lead Dr. Cain and Roll on their way to the Headquarters construction site. Met watched them go.

" How do you plan on finding them?" Proto Man asked.

" I have a great sense of smell. I know X's scent by heart! I'll just follow him!" Met said. " He's too wounded to teleport so they'd have to travel by foot, water, or air to get to the fortress! I can track them down easily!" Met added with a laugh.

" Man are those Mavericks dumb!" Proto Man giggled. " It's so obvious!" Zero smiled.

" Let's go!" he said, smiling viciously. The group disappeared