Epilogue: Accomplice

In the ruins of Doppler Town, not a single creature has stirred since it's destruction. Every Reploid, every Maverick, every building…There was not a single trace of anything to be found here. Just the smoldering craters and burning refuges caused by the explosions set off by Doppler and the Maverick Hunters. The smoke that rose up from the wasteland made the lands inhospitable for humans for the time being, however, and as such the Maverick Hunters plan to work on clearing the smoke out as quickly as they can.

…They will have wished they had dealt with this matter just a bit sooner, especially in months to come, as by some insane miracle of the devil itself, impossible as it may sound given the facts presented, there was something crawling slowly across the wastelands, trying it's hardest to escape the fate it had been handed. It was a barely put together metallic hand, one made out of the very, very scarce remnants of Doppler Town. It dug at the dirt in the ground and pulled itself forward inch by inch, but it seemed as though it would never escape this area.

That is to say, until a figure began to approach the hand from within the smoke filled wasteland. The person in question was clearly robotic, as it could survive within the poisonous smoke clouds with ease. It stopped next to the crawling hand, which paused upon sensing the vibration of the being's footsteps. "Hehehe…So that's where you ended up. You continue to impress me with your persistence, Sigma…" The being said in an elderly but rather knowledgeable sounding voice.

The hand then froze in place, allowing the being a chance to lean down and pick the hand up off the ground and lift it up. Within the smoke, the being's face and body could not be seen, but their quiet laughter could clearly be heard. "So long as a part of you survived…I suppose you and I can still continue our partnership in full, can't we?" After the being said that, the hand waved itself up and down slightly to act as a head nod.

"Excellent…I promised you something truly spectacular out of all of this Sigma, and you agreed to go through with it to the very end. I cannot show myself yet…At least not in front of him, so you still have to perform the finishing touches. They suspect that you are dead, that the virus will not spread again…This is perfect. In their moments of utter foolery, we will tear them all apart, destroying whatever teamwork they have proposed and leave nothing in their wake but more chaos."

The being chuckled rather noticeably after that, and as he turned around he said "And once all is said and done…Zero will be ready once more, and at that time he will finally be ready to destroy X…And bring about an end to Thomas Light's legacy once and for all! Hehehehehe….HEHEHEHEHE!" The being then vanished through the smoke, leaving only the foreboding echoes of his laughter behind as he took the tiny bits of Sigma's remains with him…

To be continued…

Author's Note:

Well, another Maverick Hunter X story has come and gone. Personally, between the two I've done I think this one came out better than X2. Probably because switching between X and Zero's perspectives meant I had different personalities to work with, so I didn't get tired too easily. Plus there was a bunch of other stuff I liked doing, like this being the only time I'll get to write Vile, or Doppler's sacrifice, or Cain's death.

Buuuuut...Now that this is over with, I'm saddened to say you won't be seeing Maverick Hunter X4 for a while, perhaps not even until sometime next year. I got two other major stories that need to be written, and then I'll be free to move back to this stuff. Plus I know X4 is pretty big, and I want to do my very best on that one. So until the next time gents, thanks for reading, and have a good day.