#Repliforce Press Statement

[megamanxfanfics]

S.IV - Ep. 2: A Feud Amongst Friends

Written by Metal Man X

————————————————————————

INT. DR. LAYE’S LABORATORY – NIGHT

————————————————————————

Caption: June 1, 21XX.  – The night of the Erasure Incident.  5 months ago.

Rainy Turtloid stands in quarantine behind a glass chamber.  His armor is in the process of being decontaminated from dangerously high levels of toxins as Gate and his new colleague, DR. LAYE study him.

DR. LAYE: Well.  Your reploid looks much better than he did when he first got here.  What was his name again?

GATE: (Proud) This is Rainy Turtloid.  He is a member of our Water Quality Research Team.

She studies him and takes note of his ominous presence.

DR. LAYE: I see… He’s huge!! Why is he.. armed with all of those weapons?

GATE: (excited) He was designed to explore areas with high levels of pollution too great for humans and other reploids to investigate. As such, his defense systems were greatly heightened!

DR. LAYE: Hmm… Perhaps they’ve been heightened a little too much.  I’m a little concerned about his defense systems.  …Just look at all this.

She points to Rainy Turtloid’s huge frame.

DR. LAYE: …It’s unnecessary.

GATE: (offended) Well in my opinion, I think he’s perfect.

DR. LAYE: Listen to me, Gate.  I’ve done you a huge favor, granting your branch a fresh start here.  With Berkana and Isoc both out of the picture, you are the new Department Head, which means that we need to work together.

Gate politely nods, but his guard is up.

GATE: Right…

DR. LAYE: I am your new supervisor now. And as such, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to limit this reploid’s abilities. 

GATE: …and what if I don’t?

-Flash-

DR. LAYE: …I know about your track record, Gate. I’ve read your file. …you’re a very liberal scientist with a keen interest in illegal DNA experiments… If you cross me, you will be out of here so fast.. that no other Research Branch would even bother to look at your file.   …I demand that he be weakened, as soon as possible.

-Flash-

Gate looks down at the ground in silence.

She walks away as the heels of her reploid boots seem to echo throughout the chamber. ‘clack’ ‘clack’ ‘clack’ ‘clack’.  When the heavy door closes behind her, Gate stares at the floor with a lowered head.

GATE: (muttering, sad) …I can’t…  I won’t!

He turns to a table and pounds his fist on it as hard as he can.

GATE: I WON’T DO IT!!!

He throws equipment and beakers on the ground in a fit of rage.

From his Quarantine Chamber, Rainy Turtloid makes a miserable frown as he watches his creator thrash about the room.

-Flash-

RAINY TURTLOID: Master…  Please forgive me… for bearing this burden…

As Gate carries on in a worried fit of despondency, Rainy Turtloid can only grimace and feel a deeper sense of guilt.  His Master is upset because of him.  Gate's career was on the line, simply because of his existence. Feeling no other sense of recourse, Rainy Turtloid knows what he must do.

-Flash-

Slowly he activates sharp blades from his shell.  They break off the latches from a cleansing device, which held him in place.  As sparks fly, Gate looks at him from the other side of the glass.

GATE: Huh??  TURTLOID!!  WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!???

He runs over to the Decontamination Chamber and presses his hands against the glass.

RAINY TURTLOID: I will not allow you to ruin your livelihood on my account. Sometimes, sacrifices need to be made, in order to achieve our goals.  Goodbye, my Master…

Without hesitation, Rainy Turtloid aims his heavy missiles directly at the ground and explodes within the Quarantined Room.

GATE: NNNOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Alarms blare as Gate stares at the contained explosion.  For the third time, another of his prized creations have died, before him.  

-       Fade to white –

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

INT. LAYE LABS – Main Work Area – NIGHT

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

-       Fade in to Dr. Laye's Small Practice-

 Gate's scream transitions into a cry from their new supervisor.

DR. LAYE: NOOOO!!!!!

ALIA: Oh my God!

GATE: Oh man…

His creations and supportive staff all cover their mouths distraught at the sight on TV.

 Caption: November 15, 21XX – The night of the Sky Lagoon Incident.  Now.

ANCHOR: (filtered) The Sky Lagoon has fallen and completely levelled the lower half of Virginia, below.  There are no known survivors at this time.  Immediate responders to this tragic incident were various members of the Maverick Hunters and Repliforce, but they were too late.  It is currently unknown as to why the Sky Lagoon has crashed, but some sources say that it may have been due to a malfunction from the City's Power Reactor.

GATE: (annoyed) A Malfunction??

DR. LAYE: Are you kidding me!?

ALIA: (sad, upset) All that work..! Just like that.  Its gone.  All of our dreams are gone!!

Gate holds Alia by the shoulder and consoles her.

GATE: (determined) Not all of them.

He glares defiantly at the TV as we zoom into the screen, which displays the burning, fallen city.

[Insert Title Card – A Feud Amongst Friends]

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

INT. MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – R & D Lab – NIGHT

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

 X teleports in to Dr. Cain's old lab to find a frustrated Zero throwing his helmet at the Mother Computer console.

 ZERO: God /DAMN it!!!!

X: (reacting) Zero!

His red helmet /knocks against the console and falls to the ground.

ZERO: Colonel is gonna start a War with us over NOTHING!!!

X: Nooo. We've got to stop him.  We'll talk some sense into him.

ZERO: We can't!

X: We have to…

Zero looks away, annoyed as he pulls out the tight band holding his pony tail up and lets his long hair drop to his shoulders.

He looks back at X with a serious face.

ZERO: What happened up there man??

X: I don’t know. It all happened so fast..  I… investigated the distress signal and saw a bunch of new mechaniloids damaging the Sky Lagoon along with that huge Dragon.  A small group of Repliforce soldiers were also occupying the area, but when they saw me, they just started firing at me!!

ZERO: What? For no reason!?

X: Yeah!!  Intel said that Repliforce were responsible for the attack.  At first I didn’t want to believe it, but… they attacked me!  Unprovoked.

Zero looks at X with wider eyes.

ZERO: I can’t believe it.

X: Dragoon was there too.

ZERO: That makes sense.  It figures that he’d be the first to show up after all of his digging.

X: Yeah, but it was all too late.  That Giant Dragon took out the Power Generator by the time he got there.

Zero's eyes twitch for a moment.

ZERO: Huh..  And that was when the rest of the base was alerted.

X frowns.

X: Yeah…

ZERO: But why, Colonel.. I don’t get it!  Why couldn’t he just come back and debrief with us? Just like we're doing.

X: He seemed to be under the impression that it would've been more of an interrogation.

ZERO: He's an idiot. And we're all going to pay the price for it…

X: Well…  That doesn’t have to be…  We can still turn this around.

ZERO: Hmph…

Zero pulls up Dr. Cain's last report. Now 5 months outdated at this point.

ZERO: Doctor Cain saw something coming all the way back in June.

He points at his directive on the screen to remind X.

DR. CAIN: (written) REPLIFORCE v3 proven ineffective and potentially dangerous.  Devise alternative to REPLIFORCE program. Establish MAVERICK HUNTER v4 with combo v3 units #0 and #17.  Respond to Maverick riot without delay.

X frowns. 

X: I… still don’t understand why he wrote that.

ZERO: Regardless, it is painfully clear now that he was right.  The Repliforce attacked you and Colonel has been nothing but defensive about it when we tried to question him.  That tells me that he's guilty!

X: Noo! We can’t be so quick to judge!!

ZERO: Hah!

He redoes his hair in a pony tail and grabs his helmet.

ZERO: You can think what you want, bud.  But like it or not, we're already at War…   You said it yourself. They struck first…

X sighs at the truth.

He puts his helmet back on and looks down at his friend.

ZERO: It's been a strange night. I'm going back to bed.  Lets sleep on it and figure this out tomorrow.

He pats X on the shoulder.

X returns the gesture with a pat on Zero's arm and a quiet nod.  Then he turns back to the monitor with a frown as Zero leaves.

-       Cut to –

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

INT. BIO LABORATORY – NIGHT

----------------------------------------------------------------- 

SIGMA & ISOC: Muahahahah!!!!

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Baaahahahah!!

CYBER PEACOCK: Hehehehehh.

A screech from the newly designed DARK NECROBAT is heard.

Sigma, Isoc, Split Mushroom,  Cyber Peacock and Dark Necrobat all share a good gloat as they celebrate their first major victory in Sigma's Grand Plan.

SIGMA: Yeees, this is excellent. I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.

ISOC: Hahaha. The Colonel is so incensed from the Hunters' accusations that he is willing to go to War over it.

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Ohhh, this is too Good!

CYBER PEACOCK: (filtered) Master, what shall I do next?  Once I am in their framework, I can bring their Headquarters down at any time.

SIGMA: Heeheehee.  Lets wait a little longer. I want to enjoy this and see how everything unfolds.

Dark Necrobat looks at his new master curiously as he learns of their grand plans.

ISOC: How about we create plans for our next design?

SIGMA: Actually.. I think this is the perfect time to take my leave. 

ISOC: Hmmm?

SIGMA: I'm back and my feet and it’s time to move on.

ISOC: But.. There’s so much more to be done.

SIGMA: Now that the Repliforce and Maverick Hunters are going to War, I have an opportunity to plan on a much grander scale while they tear each other apart.  I have… bigger plans!

ISOC: I see.. But, why leave?

SIGMA: I grow tired of this dank and damaged Lab…  It rightfully belongs to Split Mushroom and therefore, we should leave it to him. 

Split Mushroom grins through his mask.

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Hehehehe. Thank you!!

SIGMA: …I have far greater plans that need to be developed in comfort.  And with our enemies after each other, time is no longer an issue.

ISOC: And what are these plans, if I may…?

SIGMA: (mysterious) The Earth, my friend.  It is filled with Mavericks.  They just don’t know it yet.

Dark Necrobat looks at his creator blankly.

SIGMA: I am a Virus.  And yet, I haven’t even begun to infect this planet after all these years. …What I need to do, is devise a way to unleash my fullest potential upon all of the people..  In order to truly create a World of Mavericks.

They all Look at their master with wide eyes.

SIGMA: But in the meantime, I want to enjoy this War, while I figure that out.

ISOC: Hm.. That’s understandable…  I suppose.  Perhaps I am due for a relocation as well.

CYBER PEACOCK: (filtered) Well I'm stuck in here. So it doesn’t matter where you guys end up.  So long as there’s a computer, I'm there…

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Hmph.  Well, if you're all planning on leaving, then I wish you would do it soon, so I can get back to my work!!

Sigma grins impishly.

SIGMA: Hahahahaha!!  Very well!  Do what you will, my Mavericks. The World is ours now!!!

He flies out of a nearby crack through the broken down Lab. 

Dark Necrobat looks up at Sigma, then he looks at Split Mushroom and Isoc.  He abruptly screeches at the patchy ceiling and blasts a heavy wave of sonar at the holes in the roof.  The sonar wave breaks the ceiling open as he flies out into the night sky.

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Heeey! Watch it!!

ISOC: Auugh what’s with this one?

The ceiling rubble caves in around them. The tops of the supporting walls crumple and reveal a large view of the moon, which shines down on them from the pitch black sky. 

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Gaaaahd Damn!!

From above, Dark Necrobat turns around and flies away in the opposite direction of Sigma.

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Now what!?

ISOC: (muttering) …Sigma..  I hope you know what you’re doing.  I think it is a mistake to put all of your faith in this Repliforce War…

-       Fade out -

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXT. MEMORIAL HALL – Repliforce Press Statement – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

-       Fade in -

Caption: November 16

 On a grand, golden stage, General stands by a large podium and addresses a mass of troops from his Repliforce.  His Press Statement is being broadcast around the World.

 GENERAL:  Brave soldiers of Repliforce, we have all been wrongfully judged as Mavericks by the humans. We cannot suffer this indignity and live in disgrace. We will build our own nation of Reploids. But remember, this is neither about insurrection, or rebellion against our human creators. This is about our liberty and security. We must battle for our own individual rights, and our own survival. Together we will build our own nation, a sanctuary for all Reploids, our own Utopia. Let us forge onward towards a new golden era for the Repliforce.

 CROWD: YYYEEEEAAAAA

 The crowd cheers at the General's enlightened viewpoint as Colonel steps forward.

 COLONEL:  I, too, share the General's sentiment. Take heed, we have no other choice. Let us fight valiantly, with courage and pride, without fear—for we are the Repliforce. The most powerful army in history!

 CROWD: YEEEAAAAAAA

 The whole crowd cheers again as we zoom out from the audience.

 -        Cut to –

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

INT. ABANDONED APARTMENT – Dark Room – DAY

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 Watching from a dark room in a nearby abandoned apartment building, Sigma watches the Press Statement from a Halogen Device.

 SIGMA:  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! The General has finally taken action! And now, my Maverick Hunters, what will you do? I'll be watching closely from here on out. Ha ha ha ha!

 -       Fade to -

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

INT. REPLIFORCE HQ – Recruitment Office - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

From his desk, Red looks at the TV monitor suspended from the wall at the corner of the room completely awestruck.

RED: What the-?

His eyes blink as he processes this new information.

RED: We’ve been labeled as.. Mavericks…?

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXT.  Jungle - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web Spider walks with his Guerilla Unit in a Jungle towards a large cannon.  They all nod their head in approval at the weapon they’ve been tasked to guard.

RED: (v.o, narrating) But… if the humans think we’re the Mavericks… 

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

INT. CYBER SPACE – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

RED: (v.o, narrating) What are the actual Mavericks up to?

Cyber Peacock stands before a protected firewall with the Maverick Hunter logo on it with his fists clenched.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXT. Repliforce Air Base - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Storm Owl runs with Spiral Pegasus and his Air Force Unit.

STORM OWL: Okay men!  Man your stations.  This is not a drill.

Spiral Pegasus follows his Commander onboard their heavily fortified Space Fortress.

SPIRAL PEGASUS: Where to, sir?

STORM OWL: We shall conquer the air, Skiver.  In this time of War, we must be prepared for anything, anywhere.

Spiral Pegasus gulps.

SPIRAL PEGASUS: Right.

RED: (v.o, narrating) …and if we begin to retaliate…

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXT. Repliforce Supply Train - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Slash Beast swiftly runs and hops onto a long train stocked with crates of ammunition.

SLASH BEAST: Hmph!

He looks at the sky behind him as he stands by his Unit and growls, while the train takes off.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

INT. REPLIFORCE POLAR BASE – Command Center - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frost Walrus stands in his Command Center as he analyzes a monitor displaying the World Map.  Before him is a set of cables and series of mechanical parts, in which he will use to change the world over once he creates his machine.

FROST WALRUS: (grinning) Heh heh…  Just you wait. Pesky Humans.  Once I build the World Freezer and get the General’s okay…  None of you will know what hit ya.   Hehehe.  It’ll be a new Ice Age!!!

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXT. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Coast – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

RED: (v.o, narrating) …How will the Hunters know the difference?

 An irritated Jet Stingray flies above the coast of Sydney, Australia.  What once was a routine scan for Mavericks had now become an oppressive insult to his every being.

Unable to contain his rage any more, he acts out as he creates a barrier of wind energy all around his body.

JET STINGRAY: LABEL US AS MAVERICKS, WILL YOU!!!!????

He flies straight into the heart of the city and unleashes his powerful Ground Hunter missiles as he completely crashes through the iconic Syndey Opera House, unfazed.

JET STINGRAY: COME AFTER ME, HUNTERS.  I DARE YOU!!!!

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

INT. REPLIFORCE HQ – Recruitment Office – DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Red stares at the latest news report from his TV in fear.  Footage of Jet Stingray attacking Sydney chills him right to the core.

With wide eyes, Red shakes his head.

RED: Oh no..  I didn’t sign up for this…  This is all wrong.

He promptly gets up from his desk.

RED: (v.o, thinking) I can’t stand idly by and represent this “R” when I know we’re in the wrong.  …But, the Hunters were also wrong to label us as Mavericks in the first place…

He begins to walk towards the door.

RED: (aloud) So I’m just going to leave this all behind me.  From here on out, I stand for no one.  But myself.

With that, he closes the door behind him, never to set foot in a Repliforce Office again.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

INT. MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – Control Room - DAY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door to the Control Room opens as X and Zero run towards Captain at his central console.  The sight of Iris and a strange, portly, yellow Reploid standing by his side throws them both off, however. 

 ZERO:  (surprised, reacting) Iris! ... What are you doing here?

X tilts his head as he studies the unknown, pudgy reploid.

X:  ... Who are you? 

DOUBLE:  Call me Double, the Rookie Hunter. My liege, the Repliforce has begun its coup! 

IRIS:  My brother Colonel started the coup!

ZERO:  I know...

X:  ...Wait! ...Colonel, you're jumping to conclusions here!

DOUBLE:  Sir, you've been given the order to scramble!

X:  Right!

IRIS:  Please don't fight against him! This must be some kind of mistake!

ZERO:  They've occupied several cities already. As a Hunter, I must stop them.

IRIS:  Zero...

ZERO:  We must go now!

He clenches a fist that scares Iris.

CAPTAIN: I’m afraid he’s right.

Captain sits back with a frown as he displays their latest mission prompts one by one:

The first is a mugshot of Web Spider.

 -JUNGLE-

COMPUTER: Infiltrate enemy-occupied jungle and destroy the weapon under construction.

 X narrows his eyes at the familiar reploid on the screen.

X: Web Spider…

 Then, a mugshot of an unfamiliar Peacock reploid is displayed.

 -CYBER SPACE-

COMPUTER: A bug has corrupted the network. Dive into cyberspace and exterminate it.

ZERO: The Network is down again??

CAPTAIN: Strangely enough, our firewalls have not been tampered with as of yet, but they could be easily!  And we all remember how horribly that went last time…

X: (frustrated) Ahhh, I don’t have time for this!  Double!  Do you think you can handle it?

DOUBLE: (surprised, but diligent) Uh.. Huh?  err.. -Roger!  You can count on me.

ZERO: Uhhh. Do you think that’s such a good idea to send in a Rookie?  …No offense.

Double closes his eyes and nervously laughs.

DOUBLE: A-ha ha..  None taken.

He blushes, which makes X sigh and shake his head.

X: (annoyed, dismissive) Ahhh..  Just monitor the situation and keep us informed. Alright?

DOUBLE: (sighing, relieved) /Yes sir!!!

At the dash he sighs and makes a /grand salute at his potential Commander.

ZERO: Hmph.  (v.o, thinking) This kid picked a Hell of a time to join us.  Poor guy..

 Captain clicks on the next mission prompt.

A mugshot of Storm Owl is displayed.

 -AIR FORCE-

COMPUTER: The Repliforce ship has taken off. Pursue and blast it out of the air.

IRIS: (horrified) NO!!!

X: (scared) That can wait.  We don’t want to start an all out war with them yet.

Zero gives X the side eye, completely in disagreement.

ZERO: Still think this is all gonna smooth over, huh?

X is taken aback and twitches at the retort.

IRIS: I hope so!!

Zero’s entire demeanor softens at the sound of her voice and he lets out a sigh.

ZERO: (muttering) Damn it…

 Without warning, Captain displays the next prompt which blows everyone in the room away.

 -VOLCANO-

COMPUTER: Dragoon of the 14th Unit is a traitor.  Locate and bring him back to Hunter H.Q.

X makes wide eyes as he stares at the mugshot of Magma Dragoon on the screen.

X: (whispering, disbelief) No…

ZERO: Shit.

He quickly looks away and closes his eyes.

CAPTAIN: I’m afraid it’s so…  The 14th Unit is currently investigating the situation as we speak.

Having already received the memo, the dispatchers in the room do not react as deeply, however they still frown and shake their heads with dejection.

X: Oh man!

CAPTAIN: …There’s more…

He displays the next prompt.

An image of Jet Stingray is pulled up.

 -MARINE BASE-

COMPUTER: Repliforce decimated the city and left. Pursue them aboard a Land Chaser.

IRIS: (shocked) Oh my God!

ZERO: They’ll PAY for this!!!

X: (worried, pressured) ..Let’s leave that.. to the Maritime Unit.  (v.o, thinking)  This has to be some sort of mistake… …r-right?

 The next prompt is displayed.  This time, featuring an unknown Mushroom-based Reploid, which X or Zero have never seen before.

 -BIO LAB-

COMPUTER: An abandoned lab is now operational.  An influx of Mechaniloids have been produced there.  Investigate and destroy the lab.

X’s heart skips a beat and he adjusts his posture upright, feeling somewhat relieved by the familiarity of the threat.

X: (curious) Hm…

 Captain clicks on the next mission prompt.  A mug shot of Slash Beast is displayed.

 -MILITARY TRAIN-

COMPUTER: A military train is moving supplies.  Cut off Repliforce’s supply route.

ZERO: Gladly.

He clenches his fist with a determined grin.

Iris grows worried at the sight of Zero’s eagerness.

 CAPTAIN: And last but not least…

 He displays the final prompt.  It is a mug shot of Frost Walrus.

 -SNOW BASE-

 COMPUTER: We’ve discovered a hidden snow base.  Halt production of their new weapon.

 X: Wow.

 The new recruit stares at all of their mission prompts with wide eyes, completely overwhelmed.

DOUBLE: This is... too much!

X shares his new recruits disposition, but must set the example.  He immediately shakes off his own fears and looks down at the young aspiring Hunter.

X: Double…  You don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.  You’re just a recruit.

He puts a comforting hand on his shoulder, but Double only frowns at the gesture.

Meanwhile, Zero grows anxious with anticipation.

ZERO: Ah man.  Decisions, decisions!  Where should we go first?

X looks over to his partner without as much enthusiasm, and looks up at their mission directives.

X: We’ve got a lot on our plate.

CAPTAIN: Yes.  You do…

ZERO: I say we cut off their supply route first.  Weaken their defenses.  Then we check out the action in Sydney.

X frowns.

CAPTAIN: What about the weapons currently in production?  Or this bird in Cyberspace…?  They could prove to be even worse threats.

ZERO: No way.  We’ll take out the brunt of their forces with all that we’ve got while we’re fresh.  Then we can handle the potential threats.

X: No.  He’s right.  We need to take this slowly.

ZERO: Are you kidding me-?

Iris looks at the two iconic Maverick Hunters disagreeing through their proposed strategies and begins to panic.

IRIS: PLEASE don’t fight the Repliforce!!!

ZERO: They’re giving us no choice!!  Just /Look at all of that out there!!!

He vehemently /points to the screen.

X frowns and looks at Iris.

X: Believe me.  I’m going to do everything that I can to stop this before it can get any worse.

She nods and wipes away a tear from her eyes.  Outside of X, she is the only reploid who seems to be capable of emoting to such a degree.

IRIS: O-okay…

She calms down as Captain addresses both of them.

CAPTAIN: Iris is standing with the Maverick Hunters as a sign of Unity.  She hopes that her presence among us will serve as a reminder to them that we are both on the same side.

X and Double share an impressed look, while Zero shakes his head only further annoyed at the idea.

ZERO: Only.. we’re absolutely Not on the same side.   Her stupid, brother had to be stubborn and draw a line in the sand when he refused to answer a few questions about the Sky Lagoon.

IRIS: (defensive, offended) He shouldn’t have to!  He was responding to the incident just like you two.

ZERO: All the more reason for him to cooperate!!!

X: Guys.

IRIS: (bickering) Oh yeah.  And you’re SO easy to talk to!

ZERO: Excuse me?

DOUBLE: Um..

X: Enough!  …This kind of thinking is exactly what got us in this mess in the first place.

They both look at X and take a moment to cool off.

Zero slowly walks up to her and gives her a close hug. 

ZERO: I’m sorry…

He lightly presses his forehead against hers as they embrace.

IRIS: Me too…

She wraps her arms around him and buries her head into his chest, worried.

 X takes a deep breath as he focuses his attention on the Mission Screen.

 X: I think.. Captain is right.  We should take preventative measures and focus on the minor activity first before they can become a major problem later.

ZERO: And what about the city that Jet Stingray just demolished?

X: Did you not hear me suggest that the Maritime Unit should handle it?

ZERO: Hmph.  And what about Storm Owl taking to the sky enforce?

X: (firm, strong) That doesn’t concern us, yet.  If it becomes a problem, we can have the 7th & 8th Armored Air Cavalry investigate.

ZERO: Hmph.  You have an answer for everything, don’t you?

X: Look…  Web Spider is stationed in a jungle guarding a weapon of mass destruction.  The least we could do is question him.  He’s an Ex-Maverick Hunter.  Maybe he’ll cooperate…

ZERO: Hah.  Fat chance.  He’ll want to fight us the moment he sees us and you know it.

X frowns, knowing that Zero is right. 

X: Hmm…

Captain pulls up more information on Web Spider’s Repliforce Unit.

CAPTAIN: There are actually a lot of Ex-Maverick Hunters in his new Guerilla Unit.

ZERO: Oh?

CAPTAIN: Yes.  You should have the 9th Unit accompany you.  A lot of these guys are formerly Special Ops and Armored Hunters.

He pulls up smaller mugshots of POISON TOAD, VENOM VARANUS, CARAPACE TURTLE and PLATED PLATYPUS.

ZERO: Heh.  Wow.  How about that?  It’s all the Hunters that left the second I came back.

X frowns.

X: They thought that you were a Maverick…  Even though you explained yourself to them.

ZERO: Shya. ..fools.  Serves them right!

X’s eyes glint in fear and pain as he stares at his one-track minded comrade.

X: (v.o, thinking) And now you’re doing the same thing to them. How do you not see that??  …We have to give them a chance to explain themselves.  It is the only way out of this foolish War.

-       Freeze Frame. Grainy Effect -

NARRATOR: (v.o) The Maverick Hunters and The Repliforce have made up their minds. The time to determine the Future of Reploid Independence has arrived.  Falsely accused, the Repliforce Navy has begun to strike. Now, the Maverick Hunters must act as a sign of retaliation.  As both sides make their initial preparations for War, X wonders if there could possibly be something more to all of this.  At present, the only definitive answer is the fact that this Repliforce War will prove the test of time and be talked about for years to come.

-       Fade to black -

[megamanxfanfics]

Smoother Start Than Expected!

SURPRISE!  Another exciting Episode of Season IV just dropped.  And to be honest, I have no idea how I’m cranking them out so fast!!

This one was more of a transitional aftermath Episode, which ultimately lead us to the Stage Select, but I’m really happy with all of the character set up and world building that went on in this chapter.

More detailed thoughts below.

One thing that’s funny about the writing process for this one.

I basically wrote the whole thing backwards!

Of course the first thing I did was a copy/paste of Rainy Turtloid’s recent death from Xtreme 2.  The original scene dragged on so much between the dialogue and directions that I had to do a lot of flashes and ellipses within the scene.

...but anyway, we get to be reminded about Turtloid’s death, and the mood of that whole thing gets to somewhat tie in to the present, as we parallel Gate’s grief with Dr. Laye’s grief that the Sky Lagoon has fallen.

Writing Process wise, this is where it gets fun.

In order to keep the momentum going and get more excited about filling in the gaps between canon material and transitional fanon, I wrote the Stage Select scene out, practically in full.

There was a bit of Pre-planned writing done already for this scene, only for the Cyber Peacock mission.  

But now, I was able to have fun blending the dialogue between X, Double, Zero and Iris together, as if they were all in the same room, exchanging those words at the same time.  It was a lot of fun, and was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Then I figured, it’d be best to keep Captain quiet and have his Computer take care of the directives.

The Stage Select scene mostly plays out like the game, except for the fact that X and Zero react accordingly to each mission directive.  Zero, perking up at the Repliforce missions and X being intrigued by the mysterious threats.

There was an opportunity to have Iris get worried and panic about their impending war upon the Repliforce and I was happy to explore it.

Then I reached a point where I couldn’t really continue.  X had the perfect epiphany to himself, and I started to think, “Whoa..  Did I just end the episode?”  I thought it best not to continue until I wrote everything else first.

I literally took it a step back and handled the aftermath of General’s press statement.  Originally I thought the episode would open with this, but I realized that other things had to be in place before I could show this scene.

In the aftermath of the press statement, Red looks at his TV worried.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to show Repliforce Incidents happening or not, but it was the best choice to make.  I was able to go into Red’s head and have him quit, while we saw most of the Repliforce members prepare for war amongst their crew [quite quickly, I might add.]  And then Jet Stingray’s attack on Sydney had to be a big deal.

This was becoming epic man.  I was very proud of myself, and that was only maybe my 2nd session really putting this together.

I chose Sydney simply because it’s different.  In Season I & II, everything’s been based in California.  Season III, I based Doppler in Florida for that reason, just to have more of the U.S. get affected.

There isn’t much room for it, but I wanted to attempt at getting more global here, as much as I could.  This Great Repliforce War is supposed to have big consequences!!

So yeah.  That instance with Jet Stingray propelled the following scene further and definitely changed the dialogue between X and Zero in certain spots.

For my 3rd/4th session, I took a look at what I had and the only thing that I had left to tackle was the immediate aftermath of coming home the fallen Sky Lagoon.

The pattern here was, show Hunters upset - show Mavericks celebrate.

Showing the Hunters coming home right after their failed mission was necessary to me, because I felt that the Opening Stage needed a bit more explaining.  Especially to Zero who was only there for half of it.

I will completely admit, I was afflicted with Writer’s Diarrhea in this scene.  I couldn’t shut the two of them up or get to a point quick enough.  I went back a bunch of times and tweaked what I could, but eventually I dealt with the fact that after Gate and the science community quickly lament, our heroes take a moment to really delve into what the Hell happened back there.

And for a 2nd episode that builds things up, I didn’t have a problem with it.  [This is probably due to the fact that Season III’s episode 2 was nightmare long for seemingly no reason.]  What makes this one different was that, actual things were happening.  It wasn’t all fanon garbage that would be dismissed halfway into the season.

Anyway.  The Hero lament was lengthy, and then the Villain celebration was almost just as long.  I needed to tone this down and get to a point, quickly.

Unfortunately, this was another instance where Canon got in the way.  During General’s press statement, we get to see Sigma chilling by himself in a random apartment or whatever-the-fuck.  [I can’t say it’s a base, because in the game, we see him fight at the Final Weapon.  And he certainly ain’t there in this scene.]  So I had to make something up, and my best guess has always been that he found a nice little pad to stay in during the Repliforce War.  This has been my theory for years.

So...  During the Villain Celebration, I had the unique challenge of Sigma decided he was content with his plan to manipulate the Repliforce into fighting the Maverick Hunters.  And now he wanted to uncharacteristically kick back and enjoy the fireworks.  [Perhaps it is debatable that that is characteristic of him.]  But either way, I basically had to give Split Mushroom his stage back.  Without Isoc or Dark Necrobat there.

Basically I had to split up the team, lol.  But make it look like they were all going on their own respective missions.

Cyber Peacock was easy.  He’s in Cyber Space.  He can be anywhere at any time.

Dark Necrobat was actually easy too.  I thought it would be harder, but due to the nature of his Canon back-story.  He was built by Sigma and never really... used.  So he went off and did his own thing, ignoring the Maverick Agenda, not exactly seeing a purpose for it.

I knew way back in the day during my initial Grand Planning, that the best place for Dark Necrobat to be created and feel indifferent towards the whole Maverick thing would be during the Great Repliforce War when the Mavericks are scarce and not doing much.

It was tough to convince Isoc that this is what needed to be done.  But I had him give in to Sigma’s idea, and suppose that he could probably find a better lab to work in.  This initially pissed off Split Mushroom, who was happy to have the company.

I took this route at first, but after the scene became SO long and had gotten nowhere, I decided to take a more evil, selfish route, and basically have him kick them out.  I enjoy this a little more, because it shows that the little guy doesn’t give a fuck.

I looked at that Villain scene so many times this past week, (and the Hero scene too, to check for transitional flow) that I had enough.  I definitely tweaked a lot, and I feel, I got the Villain’s to talk about leaving way quicker in the end.

There was still good stuff on Sigma’s end, foreshadowing a far more wicked plan in X5, and I was glad to be able to hint at that.

A lot of things definitely went on in that scene.

One of the primary X6 Villains was basically kicked out of X4, an X5 Maverick flew away, Sigma went to look for a place of his own to relax and “enjoy this”.  Timing wise, I suppose it’s believable that he found an apartment to inhabit in one night.

The very next day is General’s Press Statement to the public.

I didn’t feel a need to show stage directions in here, because we all know what that scene looks like.  (If that’s lazy, maybe I’ll go back and change that, but the directions only break up the flow of dialogue.)

And then the rest of the episode was basically done!!

I gave it a couple of reads in full, and definitely changed a sentence here and there.

But then, I realized it really was done.

X has an incredible parallel thought between Zero and Web Spider’s Guerrilla Unit.  They all dismissed him as a Maverick and left the Hunters at the very end of X2.  But now all Zero is doing is dismissing the entire Repliforce as Mavericks without giving them a chance to explain themselves.

When I realized this amazing parallel, I thought it was gold.  I’m still really impressed how that all came about, because I did NOT plan that, back in X2.

All that was left to do was create a final Narration from our Mystery Man.

Even back when it was Dr. Cain, the final narration was always the hardest part. Not every episode calls for one, but sometimes that final thought really clinches the whole thing and ties it all together.

I’m happy with what I came up with though.  And if you read Ep. 0, it was described that this guy is kind of analyzing both the Hunters and the Repliforce.  So I like having this Narrator come off as unbiased, and laying out the facts of what both groups are doing.

So yeah!  This was good and fun.

I loved having X & Zero argue about where they should go first.  But the decision has been made.

They’re going to Web Spider first!

I’m looking forward to figuring that out.  See you guys in May.