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<i><b>Disclaimer-</b> Capcom owns Mega Man X, I don’t. Rats. This
short is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for language and implied
violence. The piece is set after Mega Man X4, in case you’re wondering.
Of course, I’ve only beaten X1, so there may be some slight story anomalies.
Shouldn’t be anything major, though.</i>
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<p align="center"><b>Promises To Keep<br>
by: Ellen Brand</b></p>
<p>Does every reploid end up a Maverick in the end? I have to know.
It’s been a question burning in the back of my brain since the last defeat
of Sigma, with the destruction of his Final Weapon. Is it our fate, our
destiny?
<p>I’m not concerned so much for me. Maverick? Been there, done that,
and I never repeat myself. That’s for guys like Sigma. If it were just
a question of my own fate, I could ignore it. I’m the type that lives for
the present. I always have been. No, it’s not me I’m worried about. It’s
X.
<p>Ever since the fiasco with the Repliforce, I’ve been unable to
shake the worry. I had to kill two people I cared about... one was a woman
I might have had forever with. Why? Because if I hadn’t, Sigma would have
destroyed everything. I had to do it, I know that... but I still have to
live with it. Too much of the blood on my hands belongs to friends already.
I don’t want to add X’s to the stain.
<p>He made me promise, after one of the many times we took Sigma
down, that I’d destroy him if he ever went Maverick. At the time, he was
borderline hysterical, considering he’d had a very near brush with becoming
the host for the virus that caused this whole mess. I would have said anything
to calm him down, and it was an easy thing to promise. I mean, X, go Maverick?
I’d have an easier time accepting Chill Penguin as a ballet dancer.
<p>I promised him without really thinking about it, and now it’s
come back to haunt me. How can I kill my best friend, the person who taught
me what friendship is really about? But if he goes Maverick... how can
I not?
<p>Nobody at Maverick Hunter HQ really understands the threat posed
by X going Maverick. Oh, sure, they know that Hunters aren’t immune, and
that when one goes, he’s ten times the threat of a normal Maverick. Nobody
here’s likely to forget Sigma any time soon. But they don’t understand
that with X, the danger goes up even higher than that.
<p>You wouldn’t think that was the case. After all, if you look at
his stats, X isn’t very impressive, as Hunters go. There are stronger Hunters,
and faster ones. A full fifty percent of the Hunter population outclasses
him in terms of weaponry. His X-Buster is a thirty-year-old design, based
on an even more archaic model which had its roots in a WELDING cannon!
And God knows that there are tons of reploids who outrank him here in the
organization. But despite all of that, there’s a reason that his name is
known all over the world, to humans and reploids alike.
<p>Quite simply, he’s the best. Oh, not if you look at his statistics,
I know. He’s average on paper, doesn’t stand out in any one category. He
doesn’t win in spite of that, though... he wins because of it. Ask any
biologist, and they’ll tell you that when it comes to evolution, it’s not
the specialist organism that survives. X is a generalist, able to adapt
to any situation, and that’s rare among the Hunters. But it’s without a
doubt the best strategy. For any special ability, there’s always a trade-off.
Sure, hyper-speed will help you go toe to toe with Overdrive Ostrich, but
for that speed, you lose strength. And without strength, how are you going
to stand up to Flame Mammoth? That’s why Hunters work in squads, but it’s
a fact that one reploid can often get places a squad can’t.
<p>As for rank... well, if MHHQ were run solely on merit, X would
be running the place inside of a week. It’s not that simple, though. He
has no ambition; as far as he’s concerned, life is for living and power
is for the suits. Besides, he hates being responsible for anybody but himself.
Cain had to fight tooth and nail to get him to take command of a unit,
and if it hadn’t been the unit I left behind, he probably wouldn’t have
done that. He had this silly idea that he owed it to me, somehow.
<p>So when the best of the Maverick Hunters goes rogue, who do you
send after him? X is more than a match for any Hunter we’ve got; he’s proven
that a hundred times, in every training bout he’s fought. Do you send a
squad? A whole damn army? Still no good. Wading through armies is X’s trademark.
Just ask Sigma.
<p>If anyone’s going to take X down, it has to be me. I know how
he thinks, I know how he fights. I’m practically the only other generalist
that Maverick Hunter HQ has to offer. Besides, X is my friend. I owe it
to him to try, and I know he wouldn’t want to live that way. And then there’s
that damn promise.
<p>Maybe I’m worried about nothing. X isn’t like other reploids,
a fact that we all tend to forget most of the time. He was created by Dr.
Light, the genius roboticist. The rest of us are all just pale copies of
his design. Even me, although the identity of my creator is still a bit
in doubt at this point.
<p>X was created by the only person on this planet who knew what
he was doing, in terms of reploids. Maybe that will keep him from going
Maverick. Maybe it will make him immune to the virus.
<p>X can’t go Maverick. That’s what I keep telling myself, over and
over, until I almost believe it. I HAVE to believe it. He’s my best friend.
<p>I made a promise.
<p>And God help me, I don’t think I can keep it.
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Promises To Keep By Ellen Brand