Flesh Into Gear

Summary: "I may be a monster, Zero, but like you filthy Reploids it was the humans who built me." Not a song fic.

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Mega Man franchise or any of its characters. I do not own the rights to the title Flesh Into Gear, it being the title of a song by the band CKY. I do recommend being at least familiar with the lyrics while reading this, though. Likewise, while I do not own the song Flesh Into Gear, some lines in this story have intentionally been built along some of its lines and thus will appear similar to the song itself.

Beta'd by SubZeroChimera, ID# 1692065!

Humans.

I realize now they were always were stupid, hedonistic little sheep.

Tell me, 'hero', did you ever once think about the history, the past of the people you protected with such passion?

While a social recluse, I was nothing short but absolute prodigy. Sickly, but brilliant- from a young age I learned to live with my illnesses, at a young age creating a special harness to help better keep my own health in check, as well as show the others my own brilliance. I learned to command attention- rising above them with a second pair of robotic arms, even my whispers carried far in measure, breaking me free from what would have been a miserable, sickly existence, my voice confined by weakness. It was a Golden Age of Mechanics that made this possible. We humans, we stood at the seat of the world! There were no Reploids at the time, just simple Mechaniloids with AI programmed for a single task or two. Why?

Because back then, I believed the public weren't yet the idiots they would become. There was already a history with robots, the battles of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily, which humanity well remembered. Even so, they were nothing! Nothing compared to what your kind would unleash upon us! At least those filthy robots knew their place in this world. To be at the feet of their human overlords.

Then, in a history I'm sure few of the hedonistic pigs populating Neo Arcadia knows, Dr. Light damned us all to living hell. He created your friend. X. Because it seems not putting us all in danger wasn't enough, I suppose. Perhaps he wanted to see just how far he could push the world?

Already a grown and old man, I still remember reading in a news program and from my peers when Dr. Cain uncovered some ancient machine, a fabled Robot Master. What he found was a hundred times worse. Not just any Robot Master, the one that would set the stage for Reploids.

A machine not bonded to pre-set programming, able to think on its own, ignore orders… what good could have come from this! Well!

Hold your breath, I don't really care. Then, Cain, the bastard, created… your kind. You filthy Reploids. I warned them, I did! I asked to my peers in the laboratories, "What if this comes back to haunt us?" and they laughed! But who's laughing now, huh! It seemed nice at first. Sure, an occasional Reploid would commit crimes and become an irregular machine, a Maverick. Before then, machines were used to improve the quality of life for a human. No self-respecting man would have demeaned himself to work in some assembly line, or work a job where he was guaranteed to be killed. So then, these new Reploids, those that weren't meant for combat, what do they do? They take those jobs, wishing for some kind of work. And humans, in extreme generosity, gave those jobs and a pay roll. And of course, Reploids, being ungrateful, wanted more, didn't they… yes, oh God, yes, you all did. You started rebelling, even before the Maverick Virus, committing crimes… rebelling against the men and women who created you to begin with! But then, even humans committed crimes…

It was, I suppose, tolerable. I still never liked it; I never saw any use for your kind that couldn't be done with Mechaniloids- all you did was make it easier to take on large Mechaniloids that had gone Maverick due to some independent virus or faulty wires.

Then, everything changed.

Then, everyone who laughed at me, called me a paranoid old man, they ate their words when they realized just how right I was. Those wars... Bwahahahaha! Tell me, Zero! Even though you come before me today, ready to fight me in the name of justice, are you even remembering anything your fellow machines committed!

Everyone was too late to properly counter the threat, they realized in absolute horror one of the single worst things ever agreed by the majority of man. One of the worst facts in recorded human history.

I was right. Do you hear me, Zero? I was right.

Those wars were nothing like the ones waged by the two doctors. These were advanced Reploids, living weapons of destruction, either corrupted by the Sigma Virus –the one evolved from your Maverick Virus, I would like to add- or even deciding to turn on their creators, ready to murder us all! We had been overrun, threatened by our own creations!

I prepared to do what was right. Originally, my technology often focused on construction work, or other machines made to make the lives of the pig-people easier. However, I also had a greater ability. I was renowned for being able to raise the dead. Indeed, there were multiple occasions where, when important Reploids to the cause were destroyed, I took a good look at their blueprints and brought their now dead –no, destroyed, death is what we humans feel, you Reploids aren't good enough for that- selves to life, memories and all. Gladly, however, this was a well-kept secret. I won't lie when I say back then; there were times non-important Reploids… perished when under the knife. Tragic, tragic accidents of course, hehehe…

But for the most part, I created weapons. Weapons to be used against these monsters, weapons to help save my fellow human race. Even as my legs were lost during the chaos of the assault on the Central Highway when all I was doing was just trying to drive home one night, I simply used my own genius to create a floating device for me, not daring to take prosthetics, robotic legs like your kind uses. To them it was horrid ugliness, myself appearing before them torn apart basking in my own scientific glory. But for me, all was fine. After all, I could now use myself as living proof that the Reploids were far too destructive to simply be left alone!

Then came the Repliforce. The fools. After everything, they proved like the rest of Reploids, your kind only cares for its own benefit and nothing more. We, who gave your kind life, were just obstacles to overcome, weren't we? I remember you and X ending that particular war.

But then, the worse had yet to come. Then came that incident, the one my dear Ragnarok could be considered the successor to.

Eurasia and the Earth Crisis.

I remember it, the damage, the death, everything. I remember all fellow humans being forced to retreat underground, the lands we called civilization too polluted and unfit to give us life. While you Reploids continued to work on the mess you created, but no! I remember the Enigma canon failing –which I'm sure your men screwed up just fine. While old, my calculations were perfect, there is no reason a fully repaired Enigma blast shouldn't have been able to destroy Eurasia completely-, and then, after everything, only three weeks later, came the Nightmare Incident…

All because of you Reploids. But then, I still had faith. That one day, we humans would prevail, and your kind would finally answer for your crimes…

… But then, not long later, I would realize I was truly one of the few sane men left on Earth. I remember the New Generation Reploids very well. By then, my hatred for your kind could not be weakened or persuaded otherwise. However, I remembered this as the end of Sigma. It was the first time since I had lost my legs I suppose I could have called myself happy, however…

… Humanity was lazy. With Eurasia still fresh in our minds, what did the government do! In just a few years later, they resumed the production of the New Generation Reploids for sheer convenience!

I realized, so few of us had a clue. That so few of us weren't hedonistic pigs, who weren't totally ignorant to what we as a species had become. We built you Reploids, yes, as you were despite everything, still useful and could do things we could not, but now, we were creating Reploids that could go Maverick at will! At will, they could swarm us and kill us all!

I refused to accept it. And when Mother Elf was at last created, my prayers were answered.

I had become well known among humans for my anti Reploid stance for years, viewing you all as a necessary evil we had to deal and work with until Sigma's threat was finally over. My thoughts were rejected by many humans, for reasons now clear to me of the fact they were lazy pigs who wished to be served hand and foot, feeling ashamed I ever helped them achieve that. However, I was considered a radical, a Maverick in my own right.

Then, once the storm finally ended, X, ironically, gave me the chance to act.

X, with the Maverick Virus now cured and Sigma gone, said we should all hold hands and co-exist peacefully.

Bwa.

Ha.

Ha.

Now that was the best joke I'd ever heard.

The second he made his offer, I remember standing –or floating, if you would prefer- out of my seat, interrupting the whole horrid affair with a single word.

"No."

And with that simple, gentle sound, a heavy applause erupted from around the room as I won the hearts of millions.

I pushed on Project Elpizo –yes, now that word rings a few bells, doesn't it?- to dominate your kind, to finally end all these wars you Reploids had caused for your desires. It's almost funny, at one point, I would have admired the red-head's Caravan, but honestly, as far as I'm concerned, I just wish I could see the looks on all their faces as they watch their precious nature die in a glorious inferno But, that's a story only I will know the end results of.

I had support, for once, many people willingly followed me. They cheered the name, 'Weil! Weil! Weil! Weil!' As they supported my cause to make you Reploids finally pay for what you've done. Remember when I told you the feeling of joy of ruling… even without being their ruler, to have those people under me… was exhilarating…

But, I didn't allow myself to drown in self-satisfaction. It was just who I was, Zero. And I accepted it. Unlike you. When you became aware of that little virus inside you, all those years ago, I remember you going into hibernation just to keep it at bay… were you afraid? Were you afraid of going completely berserk, trying to deny that wasn't what you were meant to be? Afraid your own bloodshed would finally catch up and corrupt even the best of you? That you couldn't be a magnificent hero of justice anymore! That misplaced determination will be the end of you, Zero.

But, I remember, back then, you and X, you two stopped me. And the people that supported me turned a blind eye in disgust…

… the bastards.

I did everything when nobody else would! The Elf Wars was simply a necessary step to making the world a better place for humanity- I even took special care to ensure most of the humans annihilated were the fools who dared oppose me and supported X, the men and women who fought for you foolish Reploids, that gladly supported machines, who in a misplaced sense of justice and freedom, launched wars that nearly killed us all! And then, to me, I, who did so much for them, they gave unto me a horrific punishment that even a man's most dark, depraved nightmares could never have concocted.

The body you now see before you… a body where I learned after many failed attempts I could not kill myself, a body where I had to remember every waking second in excruciating detail, so I may live out eternity in wastelands!I may be a monster, Zero, but like you filthy Reploids it was the humans who built me. From their petty greed destroying my desire to help them all live to see tomorrow, to literally building this body. From flesh into gear and blood into oil, they activated me and set me wild upon the wastes, turning X's gift of so-called 'mercy' into the ultimate punishment. And now, their decedents get to reap what they sow with lives filled with misery and darkness as I rule over them all!

I remember resurrecting Copy X, Zero. It was rather difficult; you really ought to give the young scientist some credit. Even for me with my blueprints it was… hard, to bring him back, so to say. But I did. And with a traitorous smile I could only laugh at how wrong Copy X was, believing I truly wished to revive him for his own good, oh how wrong he was. Even got him to retire the Four –oh, I'm sorry, Three- Guardians and give me total military power over Neo Arcadia. The idiot!

And now, I suppose, Mr. Hero, here we are now, witnessing the end of the world. Contained here on the next Eurasia, ready to crash to earth and once again destroy all hope this world has for a future. It's almost funny, machine. I suppose, like Sigma to X, you truly have been my nemesis, even during the Elf Wars I recall you never trusted me. You are my greatest enemy, but today it all ends. I can just feel the anxiety and suspense rolling down my neck; can you even feel such a thing, robot? This time though, unlike every time we've encountered, I'm going to finally have the satisfaction I've waited centuries for! Look at me behind this orange glass, I'm an open package, sealed away for so long, finally ready to fight! At last, I will finally murder you! I won't calm or wind down, I will kill you, and as we descend to Earth to destroy the world I will eat you, mind, body, and soul! So, what have you to say, Zero? What have you to say, hero!

"I love how you expect me to care, Weil," Zero growled, taking a step forward and unearthing the Z-Saber. "Just like I said before, you just look like another Maverick to me. Did you even listen to yourself during your little speech? You can't even pretend to make yourself look like a good and justified person, you monster. No matter what you claim happened to you, all you've done is cause everyone around you immeasurable pain and suffering."

Weil only smiled as he merged with Ragnarok's core, new armor forming around him.

Risou dato… zaregoto da!

Ideals and such… what utter nonsense!