Disclaimer in profile, chill'uns.

As a note, this story is planning on destroying Mega Man canon. It starts in this chapter by bulldozing over the Mega Man Zero series. Once I feel comfortable with my MMZ rewrite, I'll post it here to clarify a few things. For now, please humor me and just run with it.

Also, this is the first time I've ever written anything, even a school essay, in this style, so my apologies if things get screwed up big time.

POWER UP!

23XX.

The nation of Neo Arcadia faced a terrible crisis. The energy source that powered Neo Arcadia reached a dangerously low level, creating a sense of fear among both the human and Reploid citizens alike. The ruling leader of Neo Arcadia, known as Copy X, began declaring innocent Reploids as Mavericks. He began to persecute the falsely accused Reploids in an effort to reduce the level of dependence on E-Crystals, the source of Neo Arcadia's power, and stretch out the already thin resource as far as possible.

Many of the citizens of Neo Arcadia lost faith in their leader and defected from the nation, creating their own force to oppose the Neo Arcadian government's cruel oppression, calling themselves the Neo Arcadian Resistance Army. Led by Dr. Ciel Kimura and Unit 0, comprised of Sage Harpuia, Fairy Leviathan, Fighting Fefnir and Hidden Phantom, the reformed Guardians of Copy X, and the legendary Maverick Hunter Zero, the Neo Arcadian Resistance Army waged a war against the nation in an effort to both overthrow Copy X and find a solution to the crisis that plagued Neo Arcadia. In the end, both goals were achieved as Copy X fell and Dr. Kimura was able to develop the stable energy source known as the 'Ciel System.'

Unfortunately, a threat still remained. Dr. Weil, a scientist that had been banished from Neo Arcadia, sought revenge against the nation and aimed to destroy it completely. Zero and the rest of Unit 0 battled Weil's forces valiantly, bringing the fates of humans and Reploids not only in Neo Arcadia, but around the world, to rest on one final battle. Zero and Dr. Weil faced off one-on-one onboard the orbital satellite Ragnarok, each determined to end the war once and for all. Zero managed to defeat Weil, but as a result of the battle-

"Iris." Oh. Hold on.

I turn from my computer screen to see my dad poking his head through my door. "Have you finished your homework?"

I roll my eyes. Ugh. I hate it when he does that. He always manages to interrupt me when I'm doing something important and he never knocks. Whatever happened to privacy in one's room, anyway?

"Yes, dad. I finished it last night." I don't exactly hide the annoyance in my voice. My dad's used to it though, because he doesn't even respond to it.

"Alright then. Better get ready for school. You don't want to be late on your first day." He says as he leaves.

I roll my eyes again. Another thing I hate: summer homework. What kind of school allows its teachers to assign homework over summer vacation? That kind of thing should be illegal. I mean, we take a vacation so we can forget all the stuff we learn at school, not so we can do some lame essay on the historical significance of toilet paper.

Anyway, where was I? Oh. Right. Computer.

As a result of Zero and Weil's battle, Ragnarok became incapable of maintaining its orbit around the Earth and fell to its destruction. Zero was unable to escape from the station before it crashed. Nobody knows what happened to him, but it's assumed that he was destroyed in the crash since all that was ever found was a badly damaged helmet that belonged to him. Despite their heroic efforts in saving not only a nation, but an entire planet, Dr. Kimura and the four Guardians disappeared from the face of the Earth as well. No traces of any of them were ever found, and no witnesses to their disappearances were present. Still, society today owes its peaceful existence to the efforts of Dr. Ciel Kimura and the Neo Arcadian Resistance Army.

I scrolled up on the web page, finding pictures taken during the War. Images of Zero and the Guardians roll onto my monitor and I can't help but look in awe. Zero. The legendary Maverick Hunter and leader of Unit 0. He looks so cool in the pictures on the page. Shots of him fighting off numerous enemies with his favorite weapon, the Z-Saber, make me feel fuzzy inside. Clicking on a few links, I found more images of Zero. One showed him standing with the Guardians on a cliff overlooking Neo Arcadia. Another showed him carrying supplies into the Resistance base and smiling at another soldier, who I guess tripped over something and fell over. Man, what I wouldn't give to meet Zero in person.

Oh, right. You're probably wondering who I am. Well, my name is Iris Sakamoto. I'm 16 years old. I stand about 5 feet 7 inches and my weight is none of your business. Jerk. Anyway, I have what people call "soft" blue eyes and brown, waist-long hair. I live with my parents. My dad, Koji, is a software engineer for a huge computer company. My mom, Yuna, is an interior designer with no real sense of color coordination. But don't tell her I said that.

People look at me, then my parents, and wonder what happened. I mean, I've got long brown hair, while my dad has blonde hair that isn't too short, but isn't too long, and my mom has blonde hair that reaches just past her shoulders when it isn't tied back. How do two blondes have a daughter that turns out to be a brunette? Some kind of glitch in nature, I guess. It doesn't bother me, though, since I'm my own person. That's right. I'm a solitary woman. A woman who doesn't need to rely on anybody to get through life. A woman who knows what she's doing. A woman who...

"Ack!"

...just saw her clock on the nightstand and realized she's gonna be late for school. Great.

I took my book bag off my bed and made a mad dash to the front door.

"ByemombyedadI'mofftoschool!" I shouted as I left. I thought I heard mom say something, but I didn't bother to go back and ask what she said. Unless I haul buns, I'm gonna be late enough as it is and I don't want to make it worse.

"Oh dear," Yuna said, bringing a hand up to her cheek. "She didn't hear me."

"Well," Koji replied as he adjusted his tie. "I did tell her not to be late for school."

"She must have gotten absorbed in her personal research again." Yuna sighed. "Oh well. I suppose she can figure it out on her own."

"She's a smart girl. Look at who her mother is."

Yuna blushed slightly. "Flattery will get you nowhere. Now, get moving before you're late for work." She shooed Koji out the door.

"I'm goin'! I'm goin'!" He laughed. "See you tonight."

Yuna waved to her husband as he entered his car and drove off to work. She then left for her own job, locking the front door behind her.

One mile, six hundred twenty-two feet. That's the distance from my house to the Neo Arcadia Higher Learning Academy. That's also the distance I just sprinted in order to get here as soon as I possibly could. I didn't even bother to slow down until the Academy's front gates were in sight. Thankfully, other students were pouring onto the property. Looks like I made it in time.

Just as I placed my hands on my knees and bend over to start puking out my lungs, my personal phone started to ring. I've got this sweet ringtone on my phone. I swear, if my life ever got to be cool enough that I could have a theme song, my ringtone would totally be it. Anyway, I looked at the ID on my phone to see who was calling.

'Her', it simply said. I smiled big time as I answered it.

"City morgue," I said.

"Oh good," the voice on the other side answered. "I was wondering if you had my best friend's social life checked in?"

"Quiet, you." I looked around. "Where are you, anyway?" I suddenly felt an arm wrap itself tightly around my neck. Not tight enough to hurt or anything, but tight enough to keep me in place.

"Right here," my friend said with a smile on her face. Can't really say that's unusual. She almost always wore a smile. It was like the thing was plastered onto her face. "So then," she said, pushing something lightly into my spine. I figured it was her phone, since nothing else made sense. "What now?"

Without much thought, I then proceeded to stomp on her foot. She yelped in pain, and the arm around my neck loosened just enough for me to get my hands securely on it. Once I had a firm grip, I executed the sweetest shoulder toss I've ever done. At least, it would've been if my best friend hadn't managed to land on her feet and spin around like it was nothing.. We stared each other down, smiles still on our faces. Neither of us really cared about the looks we were getting from other students. At least we were tame this time. These greetings usually turn into an impromptu sparring match between us.

"Morning, Ibuki." I finally said after an eternity of silence, standing up straight as I did.

"Mornin', chick." She said, doing the same.

Meet my best friend, Ibuki Yamisaki. She's about the same size as me, only about an inch or two taller. She's got insanely long, jet black hair and eyes that are piercing when you look into them, even when she's having fun. I suppose that has to do with the fact that she's, oh, I don't know, a ninja. I don't mean one of those friends that always seems to sneak up on you when you least expect them and scare you by putting their hands on your shoulders and shouting "Boo!" No, I mean the people who are trained to hide in the shadows and wait for you to drop your guard before they jump out of seemingly nowhere and kick your butt in ways so cool it's almost impossible to describe. Or see.. She's been one ever since she was born, pretty much. I even know where she trains. I'd tell you, heck, I can even show you, but that would require that you move to Neo Arcadia first. It's easy to get lost here.

Well, I've got some experience myself. You think I could take on a ninja and only walk away with some bruises without knowing how to defend myself? The answer is no. No I couldn't. I had to do some major convincing with my parents, but I got them to let me take karate classes, which I'd been doing for the past ten years. As a result, I can say proudly that I hold a brown belt. I'd be a black belt, but Ibuki kept beating me up before my belt tests, forcing me to miss them.

"So then," Ibuki said, apparently snapping me out of some sort of trance. "First day of school, huh?"

I solemnly nodded. "Yep. Not going to be fun at all."

"Did you finish your homework?" She asked, eyeing me like some sort of criminal.

"Of course I did." I scoffed. "What do you take me for, some sort of delinquent?"

"That's something we should talk about later." She joked. I curled my lip in a mocking manner.

"Quiet, you." I looked at my phone. The clock on it said 8:25. Ten minutes before classes started. "We should get going. It's not gonna look good if we're late for class on our first day."

"True."

I pulled my schedule out of my uniform pocket. Ugh, our uniforms. It's bad enough that they want everyone dressing in a similar way to mask our individuality, but they want everybody dressing the exact same way. We girls didn't even get a different outfit from the boys. We were all forced to wear red blazers with a yellow button-down and red tie. The red slacks and yellow formal shoes only make the whole outfit look even more ridiculous on us. I mean, red and yellow? Really? It didn't work for Daredevil in those classic paper texts they called "comic books," and it doesn't work for us right now.

"Well, I'm off. Later, ninja girl." I say, darting off before she has a chance to respond. She wouldn't have said anything anyway. She'd have just punched me in the arm for calling her that. Then I would've punched her for punching me. Then it would've devolved into one of our impromptu sparring matches which would usually result in her beaming over me while I nurse some new bruise on my arm or leg.

Did I mention that my best friend was a ninja? And I'm totally not? Just a brown belt in karate?

Man, I wish my something cool would happen in my life.

There's a reference to a TV show in here. See if you can spot it.

Also, there's a reference to my inspiration in here as well. If you're really good, you might be able to catch it.