Who IS Zero? Well, that's a dumb question! We all know Zero as one hell of a Maverick Hunter! We all know who he is- the smart-mouthed, hotshot, orange-red reploid with the really flash ponytail and an ego to match. Now then, the question, "Why the hell is X gonna have to kick Zero's butt?" has been more debated then the recent elections. This story has NOTHING to do with Zero being blasted. Instead, this story is about WHO BUILT ZERO. It is a drama, it is a special tale- I'm going to shut up before I blow it! So get comfy, and- ENJOY!

It was a great time to be a Hunter- the Mavericks weren't doing anything, so all the Hunters had to do was go look around for a little while. Other than that, all there was to do was hang out and relax. So who WOULDN'T want a paycheck for doing absolutly nothing excpet wasting electricity? Anyways, it was a typical free-day at Dr. Cain's lab- Dr. Cain was working on something, X-treme and Minus Zero, two of the four robor-dogs that lived in the lab, where dogfighting, and X and Zero had vanished. (There were dirty dishes in the sink, and whenever there's chores to do, X and Zero vanish!)

X and Zero had flown off via the other two dogs- brother and sister- named Ravage and Rampage, named so for their habits of being loud, rough, and of leaving little surprise packages around the lab. Anyways, they went to the site of the infamous Dr. Wily's Skull Castle. All that now remained of the structure was an acid lake, but I'm going to be mean and not tell you anything more other than the lake has to do with Mega Man's final battle. The two friends had chosen that site for a picnic for one main reason- it was far away from civilization.

"PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!" X shouted over the cd player that was going at full volume. Ravage and Rampage were howling in agony as they tried to escape the awful noise.

"Hey X! I don't think Ravage and Rampage are having any fun!" Zero hollared to X. By now, the dogs had started to tunnel underground.

"That's their problem! Man, this sure beats helping Cain! Zero! Think fast!" X exclaimed as he chucked a bottle of oil towards his orange-red buddy. Zero caught the bottle with ease, and quickly took a swig of it's contents. (So you know, oil works like energy pellets do, but too much oil, and well... X and Zero get pathecticly drunk!)

Several hours later, they actually turned off the cd player!! (Well, they didn't have much choice- the batteries went dead!) The two discussed the surrounding area, wondering about the lake. Ravage and Rampage had vanished into their underground tunnel, and were nowhere in sight.

"I wonder how all that acid got there. It makes the lake so clear!" Zero pondered, pointing to the lake.

"Beats me. All I know is this was once Wily's old hideout!" X said as he watched the tranquil lake glisten in the sun, hiding it's deadliness. Suddenly, Rampage's frightened howl pierced the air, and then faded as though he were falling. The lengthy echo certified a LOOOONG drop.

"What the-?" X began.

"Better check it out!" Zero exclaimed as he ducked into the dogs' tunnel. X followed suit, and the Hunters descended into the darkness. They both activated the flash-beams in their helmets, but those only lit the way dimly.

Soon, they tripped over the trembling form of Ravage. She was lying on the brink of a VERY large hole in the floor, through which Rampage must have fallen.

"Whoa! That's is one mega-sized hole!!" X exclaimed.

"X, will you cut the puns?" Zero asked irrateably. X would get drunk or on some kind of high, and he'd start using mega puns and x-puns, trying to be punny, but just flat out being irratating.

"Oh, lay off! That's the first pun I've used in ages!" X grumbled. Then, the rest of the cave floor fell out beneath them, sending them into the unknown.

"ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"ARRRRRROOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOF!!!!!!!!!!"

"INCOMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

THUNK!!! WHAM!!!! CLANK!!!!

"Owwwww......"

"arrrrr.... grrrrrr....."

"Talk about an x-treme first step!"

"X, how can you fall that far, and come up off the ground with a pun? HOW??" Zero growled.

"I'm gifted." X said plainly with a grin.

Zero ignored X's last remark. "Well, the cave's sealed up. We may as well check this on out. Better than digging up!" The dogs couldn't agree more, since if they had dug to the surface, they'd have to do all the digging.

The group traveled down the tunnel. Several hours later, soemthing reflected their lights.

"What's that?" X wondered, indictaing the glimmer in the blackness.

"I dunno. Let's find out!" Zero said as he continued down the tunnel.

"Grrrrrr.... Woof! Arf!!" Ravage growled.

"Woof! Woof! Arf! ARRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Ramapge howled.

"Ravage! Rampage! SHUT UP!!!!!! You don't want this cave to come down on us, do you?" Zero snapped. The dogs instantly shut up, since they knew (from unfortunate experiance) not to mess with Zero when he's in a bad mood. Anyways, they came to another cave-in, and found that there was an old robot partially trapped underneath the boulders.

"Who's this guy?" X pondered.

"I haven't the foggiest idea! Let's get him out and find out!" Zero said as he started moving rocks off the robot. The robot appeared to be dark red with grey, and he had a wild mess of short black hair. A helmet was lying nearby, and X picked it up to examine it. It was red, like the robot was, with white around the opening. What caught X's eye however, was the partial faceplate that covered the area where the robot's eyes would be were he wearing it. The faceplate looked almost as though it would fit nicely into Zero's helmet! X set the helmet down, and noticed something else, a tattered piece of yellow cloth that looked torn at one end.

After some effort, Ravage and Rampage were able to pull the robot out while X and Zero held the largest boulder out of the way. X scanned the robot, expecting to see a mess of damages.

"Holy cow!! His power cell is totally drained! It's a wonder that he didn't blow to shreds!!" X exclaimed. Zero knelt down and opened a panel in the robot's back.

"Not really, X. He's got a Macro-1 fusion engine, and, on top of that, he's a Reploid!" Zero pointed out.

"Seriously?" X asked.

"Yep."

"You sure it's a reploid, and not an old biomechanoid? The two are a lot alike, you know." X said.

"Hmm... wait, I think you're right, X. But hey, all we need to do is reload his power cell and he'll be close to as good as new!" Zero said. "Our oil won't work on this guy- do you think you've got enough power for an energy transfer?"

"Let me check-" X said as he glanced at his power levels. The fall had cost him nearly half of his energy, but he still had two subtanks and several bottles of oil. "Yeah. I can plug him into one of my subs."

"Alright! Ravage! Come!" Zero called. She came running, and Zero removed the jumper cables that all the dogs carried. He hooked one end into the robot's power input/output unit, while X plugged the other end into one of the subtanks. Being careful, X would have to take several minutes or risk blowing the robot to pieces. While X sat there, Zero looked around and found a strange oblong object. Picking it up, he found it to be an old welding shield. He scanned it, and was shocked to find that it could block level 15 plasma shots!

"Whoa! Level 15 is A LOT!!" Zero exclaimed. He wasn't sure, but he could almost imagine hearing the hiss of acid on metal and the crashing of boulders around him.

"Hey, Zero! You plannin' on coming back from Lala land?" X asked irratably. Zero snapped to reality, and went to help X. Then he realized that he had strapped the shield to his arm. It was exactly right to cover him completely, and the eyeglass was right at Zero's eye-level. Meanwhile, X had finished draining the subtank- and prepared to turn the robot on.

"And now- the big moment!" X said.

"Cut the friggin' dramatics, just hit the button!" Zero snapped.

"Okay, Mr. Mega-Grump!" X said. Zero just muttered something about puns, and watched as X hit the start button. The robot awoke as if from a nightmare.

'Wha-? Bro? No!!!! Where-?" he stammered as he lept to his feet. X and Zero jumped back insurprise, but quickly relaxed.

"Hey! Slow down!" X said good-naturedly. The robot seemed to notice X and Zero for the first time, and seemed to recognize them both.

"YOU!!!!!!!" He shouted, lunging at Zero. Zero easily stepped aside, but the robot began shooting. Zero swept the shield in front of himself smoothly, almost of though it were a manuver preformed several times. X tackled the robot from behind, and after a brief fight, he pinned the robot under one of his oversized feet.

"Now then, who are you?" X asked sternly, pointing his X-buster at the robot's head.

"X, you should know who I am, you blue fool!!" the robot exclaimed while trying to get out from under X's foot.

"How do you know my name?" X asked in shock as he lowered his cannon. The robot just simply glared at him.

"I should know, considering the fact that I'm your older brother!!" the robot snapped. "C'mon! Lemme up!!!"

More to Come!!!!