Rockman Zero: Final Strike

Zero cringed as Ragnarok began to fall from the sky, and he clutched the floor so that he would not be blown off from the sudden force. A small force on his shoulder indicated that Croire, too, was holding onto him.

"Agh! I can't stop the descent!" he shouted, frustrated. At this rate, Ragnarok would crash into the Area Zero, wiping out the humans that had settled there as well as the Resistance...

"Zero!" Ciel's tiny voice came over the radio. "Reaching critical speed! If it goes any faster, I won't be able to get you back! Hurry!"

The red Reploid opened his mouth to reply to her, but it was then that he heard it.

"No... This isn't over yet!" Vile's voice echoed from a massive hole in the floor.

Zero leapt to his feet as an extremely battered Vile rose from the hold in Ragnarok.

"Vile!"

"Hehehe... Bwahahaha!" the former human cackled insanely, a mad look in his red eyes. "I told you... I can't die! Nobody can stop Ragnarok now!"

Ciel's voice came on the radio again. "Z-Zero!" she screamed, sounding quite panicked. "There's no time! Get back here!"

But in his heart, or what would pass as his heart, Zero knew that there was no way he could do that. If he did, Ragnarok would crash, and all the previous efforts to stop Dr. Vile, from all the way back in the 23rd century, would be in vain. There was only one thing he could do now.

"No. There is a way," Zero said, sounding eerily calm. "If I destroy Weil's core, the explosion will take Ragnarok out with it... If Ragnarok is blown apart, it no longer poses a threat!" He didn't bother to mention that the resulting explosion would most likely kill him as well.

Evidently, though, Ciel was more perceptive than he had given her credit for. "But what about you?" she asked hesitantly.

Vile laughed, as if Zero had told the greatest joke in the world. "Bwahahaha! Are you even capable of it!?" He chuckled. "The Repliroid hero... Protecting justice and humanity! I am one of those humans you were sworn to protect! Do you have it in you to defeat me!?"

With those words, Dr. Vile connected himself to several wires on Ragnarok, and Zero had to cover his eyes as the mad scientist fused with Ragnarok wholly and completely, not just with the core.

Zero stood there, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at Vile. "I never cared about justice, and I don't recall ever calling mself a hero..." he declared. "I have always only fought for the people I believe in. I won't I won't hesitate... If an enemy appears in front of me, I will destroy it!

"Zero! Zero!" Ciel screamed.

"Ciel..." he said, knowing this would probably be the very last time he heard her voice. "Believe in me!"

"Zerooooooo-!!!"

Vile was on him before he could even react. Throughout Zero's speech, it appeared that he had been silently charging a laser attack, and the laser smashed into him, nearly flinging him off of Ragnarok. Zero groaned as he collided with the ground, Ciel's voice silenced from the sudden impact.

As if seeing a dream, numerous faces flashed before his eyes. Colonel, Massimo, Marino, Cinnamon, Iris, Axl hovered in his vision, as well as Alouette, Cerveau, Phantom, Harpuia, Fafnir, Leviathan...

Ciel, her relieved face to see him safe... which he knew she would never see again...

And finally, X... tears in his eyes and a sad smile when he told Zero he finally had to leave this world...

"X..." he whispered. "I failed you..."

"Zero..."

"Huh...? That voice..."

"Zero... open your eyes..."

How could he be hearing his voice? The only way that could happen was if... No.

Zero's eyes shot open. Ragnarok was still there, but something seemed... wrong. For one, the world had a strange, greenish tint to it, and it appeared to be frozen. In fact, Ragnarok's descent seemed to have stopped completely...

"Cyberspace?! Did I die?!"

"Not yet, Zero..."

There was no mistaking that voice. "X!" he gasped, staring at the familiar blue glowing figure of his best friend. "But... weren't you..."

"Dead?" X smiled, seeming to not care about that small detail. "Not really. I just ran out of power, so I stayed in Cyberspace and fed off E-Crystals until I regained my power. That is why it took me so long to appear in front of you again."

"X... I'm sorry. If I'm in Cyberspace, when there are no portals around, then... I failed," Zero looked down at his boots in shame, before noticing something. "Is that... my body?! Why... why am I floating?!"

"A part of my power," X explained. "You notice how it seems that time has been frozen?"

The red-armored Reploid stared at him. "...Was that your doing?"

X just smiled. "We are just in another part of Cyberspace. I pulled your soul from your body and brought you here just after Vile knocked you away. Time has not stopped; we are simply in a section of Cyberspace that where time has no meaning."

"Right." Zero was confused. X was talking cryptic nonsense as usual. "Why can't I just destroy Ragnarok and Vile from here?"

"It's impossible," X said, shaking his head. "The only thing you are allowed to interact with aside from anything that exists in this place is yourself. You will be unable to harm Vile."

"So why'd you bring me here if I can't even hurt him here?!"

X chuckled. "You haven't changed, have you? Be patient and let me explain." His expression turned serious. "You have grown powerful, Zero, but Vile, fused with Ragnarok, is too much for you to destroy. He is extremely powerful in his current state, and too heavily shielded. If my estimations are correct, you have less than two minutes before Ragnarock reaches the Earth's atmosphere. There is no way you would have been able to defeat him within two minutes."

Staring at him incredulously, Zero shouted, "Are you saying that its hopeless and that I should just let Ragnarok crash into the Earth?! X!"

"Just listen!" X said, sounding impatient. "I would not have intervened if there was no way!"

"So... what can I do?" Zero asked.

X smiled as he walked over and placed his hand on Zero's shoulder. "As a Cyber-Elf, I possess many powers. You have already seen some of them."

Recalling the time X had used his powers to set up a barrier around the Resistance Base against Dark Elf and what he had done now, Zero had to agree that X had many powers as a Cyber-Elf. "Yes, I do... why are you saying that?"

X looked down at his feet. "Those were my powers as a Satellite Elf. As a Fusion Elf... my powers are different."

Zero suddenly went rigid. X couldn't be implying... "X... what are you saying?"

"If I used my powers as a Fusion Elf to combine with you, you will gain nearly all my power and possibly have the strength to defeat Vile."

"X...! You can't...!"

"It is the only way, Zero," X whispered. "After all, what are we, but mere pieces of data? Combining two pieces of data to form a more versatile data has often been done. It will be no different."

"X... But... if you use your power... You'll no longer..."

"I am already dead. And besides, when a Fusion Elf is used, their data is sent to the soul of the Repliroid that used them. Their soul, on the other hand, is placed alongside the Repliroid's soul, and will pass onto the Afterlife once that Repliroid does."

At those words, Zero's eyes widened, and he clutched at his chest. "Does that mean... Passy...?" he said, referring to the Cyber-Elf Ciel had used to resurrect him.

"Passy..." X smiled fondly. "I remember her. She was a special gift to Ciel. I knew that she would not abuse Passy's power, so I gave Passy to her for safe-keeping. You are right in thinking that Passy's soul is still inside you."

Zero swallowed. "I suppose I cannot stop you, can I?"

"No."

"You were always stubborn."

"As were you. Oh, and you two may stop hiding."

Zero started as the familiar form of his newest Cyber-Elf darted out from a section of Cyberspace and stopped in front of them. "Croire!"

She smiled. "I am here, Zero."

Trailing behind Croire was a smaller Cyber-Elf that resembled Nurse Elves he had rescued from Neo Arcadia, but he had never seen her before. The Nurse Elf smiled brightly at him. "I knew that you would help Ciel!"

Zero's eyes widened. "You... must be Passy..." The Nurse Elf nodded. Zero turned to X. "Did you pull them into Cyberspace as well?"

X nodded. "Croire knew her way to Cyberspace, I just guided her to the part we were at. Passy, I had to pull from your body after I pulled you. I could not get her before I got you."

"Why are they here?" asked the red Repliroid.

"We want to help you, Zero!" Passy said.

Zero started. "What? But... Passy, didn't you use your power already to resurrect me?"

Passy shrugged. "Yes, but I didn't need all my energy to resurrect you, so I still have some energy left. Master X doesn't have all his energy, so every little bit that we can give will help."

"And Croire!" Zero turned to his faithful Elf. "You should leave and return to Earth. Ciel and Alouette will look after you. I don't want you to die for my sake!"

"And that exactly is why I want to stay," Croire replied to him. The Elf walked closer to him and looked down, her arms crossed. "I've known you since I was a baby, Zero. You were always gentle, always kind, always good to me. You indulged me with E-Crystals whenever I had a craving. You never made me access powers before I was ready to use them without them draining me, no matter how much you needed them. Even before Satellite Elves were common, I learned that you never once sacrificed a Fusion Elf to save your own life or enhance your abilities."

"I can't..." Zero said. "It's wrong for me to sacrifice another life to save my own..."

"And that is why we want to help you," Croire said, indicating Passy and X. "Please, Zero, let us help you."

Zero stared at the three Cyber-Elves. "Cyber-Elves. Stubborn little creatures." While the words may not seem kind, there was a fond tone in his voice. "I know that I can't stop you, so I guess I'll just have to accept what you guys want to do."

X, Croire, and Passy smiled widely. "Then let us begin," said X.

"What do I have to do?" Zero asked him.

X held Passy's hand, who, in turn, held Croire's. X and Croire held out their hands to Zero. "Just take our hands, and we'll do the rest."

Zero gingerly took Croire and X's hands, before tightening his grip. All four began to glow, and Zero felt something warm moving inside of his core as he closed his eyes.

"Good luck, Zero!" X's voice came faintly from somewhere inside him.

Zero felt himself moving downwards, until he finally felt Ragnarok shake. Immediately, he leapt to his feet, knowing that he was back in the real world. "Vile! I'm not finished yet! I promise you, I WILL destroy you!"

Zero's pistol had been thrown off of Ragnarok, but his Saber was still precariously on it. He grabbed the Z-Saber with his left hand and concentrated on his right arm, causing a Buster to form for the first time in over one hundred years.

Vile simply laughed. "You were barely able to stand one hit from a weak version of my weapon! Do you really think you can destroy me?!" He launched the spike that both served as a defense and an offense, and Zero saw his chance.

Dodging the spike, he charged his Buster and sent a fully-charged shot straight at Vile's core. Vile jerked, the shot causing multiple cracks to appear on the core. "Impossible! Where did you get so much power?! You should be nearly dead"

Zero felt the warm light of three different souls pulsing inside him, encouraging him. "I told you. I will always fight for the people that I believe in, and for the people that believe in me," he replied, slashing at the core with the Z-Saber. "The people that believe in me will always help me, regardless of circumstances."

"Even so, just because you got a few lucky hits in, Repliroid, does not mean you will defeat me!" The spike launched at Zero came back, and the laser began to charge again. This time, though, a nudge from inside of him made him leap up and hover in the air as the laser fired. "Since when could you hover!"

"Hmm, it seems you can access my Ultimate Armor's protocols."

Zero nearly fell out of the air when he heard X's voice inside his head.

"I have a plan, Zero." X said again. As Zero fired another shot into Vile's core, X quickly said his plan to the red Repliroid. "Do you understand?"

"Of course," Zero said out loud.

"What are you babbling about, Repliroid?" Vile sneered.

"The best way to finish you off," replied Zero as he dropped to the ground.

Vile laughed. "You still think you have a chance!"

"One minute, Zero."

"Alright, time to finish this, then," Zero said grimly.

"We're ready!" Croire's voice came.

"You can count on us!" Passy chimed in.

</i>"Be ready, Zero..."</i> said X.

The warm feeling in his chest intensified, and he began to glow.

"What is going on?!" Vile shouted, watching Zero glow. "And... what are those?!"

The three figures solidified, and for the first time, Vile looked afraid. While he may not have completely recognized all three of the figures surrounding Zero, he did recognize that two of them were Cyber-Elves, one being the one that had been following Zero around recently, and that the third was X. "No... it can't be... X! You're supposed to be dead!"

X either did not hear Vile or ignored him completely. Zero raised his Buster and Saber into the air while the three Cyber-Elves surrounded him.

"Do it NOW."

In unison, four voices screamed:

"FINAL STRIKE!"

Moving too fast for human, Repliroid, or Cyber-Elf eyes to see, Zero, supported by three beings that believed in him, launched himself at Vile's core and simultaneously fired his Z-Buster's maximum charge shot and drove his Z-Saber deep inside the broken core. Dr. Vile screamed as the attack completely shattered the core of Ragnarok.

"For someone... like me... to die?!" the insane scientist shouted in disbelief. He glared in turn at the the foursome. "Perish! Perish and BEGONE!" As Vile exploded with a terrible scream, the rest of Ragnarok began to rupture and fragment just before it hit the atmosphere, shattering into thousands of pieces that would show no threat to Area Zero.

Zero had the strangest sensation that he stopped moving, and when he looked down, he noticed that he was now floating in the atmosphere, while Ragnarok's pieces fell down. A tiny flash of red and blond amongst the wreckage confirmed that he had left his body. "This is strange..."

"Time to go, Zero," X said, standing next to Zero.

"Everyone... Ciel..."

"They will be fine, Zero," X said gently. "You did it. The threat of Dr. Vile is no more. Trust Ciel and the others to rebuild the Earth." The blue Cyber-Elf held out his hand as Croire and Passy hovered behind him. "Our time here is done, Zero. We must go."

Zero smiled faintly as he took X's hand holding firmly as if afraid he would lose X again.

"Let us go, then."