This is the prequel story of The Power of LOVE, which is also my original idea about what happened between Zero and ZX. My internet acted up so I couldn't upload it before my absence. This story also leads to the sequel of The Power of LOVE.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Megaman Zero, ZX, and ZXA characters!

The Beginning of a New Era

A month had passed since Zero sacrificed himself in order to prevent Ragnarok from crashing into Area Zero. The formerly Neo Arcadian humans and Reploids were living together in peace in Area Zero. Natural forests had grown back in Area Zero with the help of humans and Reploids.

Meanwhile, the blonde haired young scientist was sitting on her bed in the Resistance Base. She hadn't got much sleep ever since the incident with Ragnarok, although there hadn't been that much work for her now. She was still thinking about Zero, who had gone missing since he went on a mission to Ragnarok Core.

Ciel stood up from her bed with her head lowered and walked towards the door. Before she could open it, the emergency alarm rang.

"Miss Ciel, please come to the Command Center immediately!" It was the voice of Rouge, the brown haired operator.

Ciel quickly ran to the Command Center and saw that most of the Resistance soldiers had gathered in the room. She turned to the big screen and saw a lot of Mechaloids and Reploids charging forward.

"Operator! What's the situation?" Ciel asked worriedly.

"Those Mechaloids and Reploids are launching an attack towards the base. The energy signature they're giving out isn't like any other Mechaloids or Reploids. It is predicted that they will arrive at the base only in a few minutes!" Rouge answered while typing furiously on the computer.

"This is not good… Everyone, I want you to protect the base!" Ciel ordered. The soldiers saluted at her before they all left outside.

"Miss Ciel! Their energy signature is very similar to the Mavericks from centuries ago! There are too many of them!" Rouge reported.

"Ciel, you have to get out of here! You're our only chance of finding a way to fight of those Mavericks!" Cerveau said as he ran into the room along with a Resistance soldier behind him.

"But…" Ciel was cut off by a soldier who was behind Cerveau.

"Don't worry, Miss Ciel! We will protect the base at all cost! You have to go along with Cerveau and the whole research team and find a way to fight off those Mavericks!"

Ciel looked at the soldier for a moment before she slowly nodded. "Okay, be careful…"

The soldier saluted before he left along with the other soldiers. Cerveau called the whole research team and they along with Ciel escaped from the base with the Resistance trailer to the Settlement in Area Zero before the Mavericks arrived at the Resistance Base.

Ciel and Cerveau got off from the trailer first and were greeted by Neige and the others. The Settlement had grown a little bit, although they still used tents and trailers to live in. The Settlement was now surrounded with trees and covered with green grass.

"Ciel! What brings you here?" the red haired journalist asked, but suddenly noticed their terrified looks. "Did something bad happen?"

"The Mavericks… they're back… They attacked the base but we managed to escape before they arrived…" Cerveau replied anxiously.

"I see… this is really bad… For the time being, you can stay here and we will help you if you need anything." Neige replied.

"Thank you, Neige… We only need a place to stay for now." Ciel said with a small smile.

Ciel, Cerveau, and the research team members stayed in the Resistance trailer for the night as they didn't have any tents. The next day, Ciel woke up and got dressed before she went outside. When she looked at the entrance to the Settlement, she saw a wounded soldier carrying something on his back. Ciel ran over to him and saw that he was carrying Alouette, who was badly injured too.

"Oh no! Alouette!" Ciel took Alouette and bent down to help the soldier up, but he refused.

"Miss Ciel… I'm sorry… the base… had been… destroyed… There aren't… anymore… survivors…" the soldier fell on the ground hard as Ciel gasped.

'The base… No, this can't be happening!' Ciel thought as her tears started to fall. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Cerveau and Neige there.

"Ciel… I understand… I'll try and fix Alouette for you. But seeing her in a very bad state, I'm not sure if she would still be the same." Cerveau picked up Alouette from Ciel's arms as she stood up.

"Thanks Cerveau… but I'm responsible for all of this… for what happened to Alouette…" Ciel lowered her head. "If only Zero were still here… he could have helped us…"

"Ciel… I understand what you're feeling right now…" Ciel looked up at Neige. "But both Craft and Zero had died in honor, especially Zero. He knew that you were right and put his faith in you, so you have to show him that he had made the right decision."

"Yes… I mustn't let Zero down!" Ciel wiped her tears and smiled. "I'll find a way to fight off the Mavericks, for Craft and Zero!"

Neige smiled back and nodded before the three of them went inside the trailer to do some repairs for Alouette. She was still holding the stuffed animal that Ciel had given her before although it had already had a lot of stitches.

It was already late night, but the repairs were only halfway done. Cerveau continued working on the repairs while Ciel kept on watching him. Neige had already gone to her tent and was asleep, but Ciel was still watching the repairs although she was tired herself. Ciel eventually fell asleep a few hours later, leaving Cerveau to work on Alouette's repairs alone.

The next day, Ciel woke up and saw a figure with long blonde hair and a red triangle on the forehead.

"Sis, Cerveau told me that you stayed up late to watch me being repaired. Is that true?" the blonde asked. Ciel looked at the blonde haired figure for a moment with amusement.

"Are you… Alouette?" Ciel asked as the blonde haired Reploid nodded. "You look different… Did Cerveau modify your appearance?" The blonde haired Reploid nodded again.

Suddenly, Cerveau came into the room. "I see that you're awake now. Like I told you yesterday, her damage was really bad so I had to modify her appearance. Now that she looks different, should we give her a new name?"

"How about Prairie?" Ciel asked as the blonde smiled.

"I like it! Thanks Sis…" Prairie replied with a smile and hugged Ciel. Cerveau watched as the human scientist and the blonde haired Reploid hugged each other while smiling, until he remembered something.

"The Maverick attack is spreading overnight. I heard it from Neige this morning and the number of those Mavericks has increased three times than yesterday!" Cerveau explained as Ciel and Prairie broke the hug and stood up.

"Then we will create another protection force with our remaining members. But I don't know what we should call it…" Ciel replied as Cerveau put his hand under his chin and began thinking.

"How about the Guardians? I think it could be a good name." Cerveau suggested as Ciel nodded.

"Okay, we'll be the Guardians from now on. But where should we build the base?" Ciel asked.

"I have an idea about the Guardian's base," Prairie started as Cerveau and Ciel turned to her, "An airship should be an efficient base to watch over the Maverick attacks from the air."

"I agree, but it might take a lot of time to build it." Cerveau added as Neige came into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I heard about your problem with the base. Do you need any help with the airship building? We will be glad to help you out because you're one of us now!" Neige said with a smile.

"Neige… thank you…" Ciel replied and nodded, "Let's all do it!"

The four of them went outside the trailer and headed towards the settlement. They told them what they needed to build the airship as the settlers provided the items needed. Some of the settlers even lent them a hand to build the new Guardian Base.

A year had passed and the Guardian Base was finished. Ciel used the Ciel System as the energy source for the airship. Cerveau decided to stay in the Settlement and a few Reploids in the Settlement joined the Guardians in return. Ciel was voted to be the first commander and made Prairie her assistant.

A few days after the airship's take off, a Maverick attack was detected on the west of Area Zero. Ciel sent some soldiers to fight off the Mavericks and they returned with a wounded big Reploid.

"Get him to the medic wing! His injuries are quite bad, so he needs some treatment fast or he won't survive!" Ciel said as the soldiers who had just been transferred to the base carried the big Reploid to the medic wing.

After a while, Ciel left the Control Room to Prairie and went to the medic wing. She entered the room and saw that the big Reploid had already had most of his injuries bandaged as he had already awake.

"Are you alright?" Ciel asked.

"I'm okay, thank you for saving me… My name is Serpent…" the Reploid replied.

"My name is Ciel, and I am the commander of Guardians." Ciel replied with a smile.

"The Guardians… so you were the ones who saved me…" Serpent turned his head to Ciel. "Commander Ciel, let me join the Guardians! It's the least I can do for saving me!"

Ciel paused for a moment and saw that Serpent was determined although he was still injured. "Okay… but don't push yourself too hard in this condition… For the time being, I'll put you in our research team so you don't need to risk your life."

Serpent suddenly got up from his bed with his body still bandaged. "I'll be fine, I can work a little now…"

"Sis, we have detected a piece of Ragnarok deep in the forest on the northern side of Area Zero." Prairie said from the intercom.

"Serpent, can you walk?" Ciel asked as Serpent nodded.

"It's okay, my legs aren't injured. Shouldn't you be going to the Control Room?" Serpent asked as Ciel nodded and left the room.

Ciel went into the Control Room and saw Prairie along with the new operators there. Prairie noticed her as she came in and turned around.

"I have a bad feeling about this… I'll go there along with the rest of the research team to investigate." Ciel said.

"But Sis… that's too dangerous!" Prairie protested as Ciel shook her head.

"It's okay, Prairie. If anything happens to me, I want you to step out as the commander." Ciel paused for a moment. "I also want you to protect the survivors from the Maverick attacks. I've done some research before and they had a special gene that could help to fight off the Mavericks."

"I don't understand, Sis… why don't we just recruit more members from the areas that aren't under attack?" Prairie asked as Ciel smiled.

"I'm sure you'll understand someday. I have to get going now…" Ciel turned to the door and left. She gathered the research team members before they headed towards the forest area with the transerver.

The team built a huge tent for to the research about the Ragnarok piece they had found. It was shaped like a triangle with a mixture of orange and purple color. The other members were busy analyzing it while Serpent stared at it silently.

"If you want power, I'll give you the power you need!"

Serpent stopped staring at the Ragnarok piece and looked around to find the source of the voice, but he saw that the others were busy. He continued staring at it and suddenly felt that he wanted to know more about that voice in his head and the Ragnarok piece.

"This piece is giving out a reading similar to living things. What is this anyway?" one of the members asked.

"I'm not sure… but this thing is also made from materials like steel and iron…" another one added.

"I think we should call it the Biometal, Biometal Model W." Ciel suggested as the other members including Serpent turned to her.

"A Biometal…" Serpent turned back to the piece. "I can't imagine what power could be inside this Biometal…"

As soon as Serpent said that, they heard a beep sound. One of the members spoke up suddenly.

"Miss Ciel, it's nighttime already."

"Okay, we will continue this research tomorrow. Let's take a rest for now." Ciel said before they all left and built smaller tents around the big tent.

The rest of the research team didn't notice that Serpent stayed behind. He typed something on the computer and saw the research data. He typed something more and the shield protecting the Biometal disappeared.

Serpent took the Biometal, but didn't notice that one of the research team members had came back in. He saw the Model W in Serpent's hand and tried warning the others, but he had already punched him and knocked him out.

Serpent quickly erased all of the data in the computer before he left the tent. As soon as he got out, he saw that the other members had already had guns in their hands. Serpent growled angrily and punched the guns from their hands before he hit them with his bare fists.

"Miss Ciel, run! You have to find a way to fight off those Mavericks and stop Serpent!" one of the members said before she was hit and thrown against a nearby tree.

Ciel quickly ran away as fast as her legs could handle deep into the forest. After running for a while Ciel stopped and sat on the ground while gasping for breath. She felt that she sat on a rock and quickly stood up. She looked beside her and saw a set of stairs there.

Ciel heard some rustling and she hurriedly went down the stairs to find herself in a secret lab. She saw that there were some machines similar to the ones she had in the Resistance Base. She was tired from all that running and collapsed on the ground.

Ciel's dream

"Ciel… can you hear me…?"

"That voice… Zero… is that you?"

"Ciel… you have to fight Model W with our powers… That's our only way…"

"But how? Your body was destroyed when Ragnarok exploded!"

"Remember your research on Model W… It had Weil's soul, so you should be able to make some others similar like it that contain our powers…" The four Guardians along with X appeared behind Zero.

"Everyone… I'll try… to save our world…!"

The six Reploids disappeared from Ciel's sight.

Ciel reopened her eyes and saw that she was still in the lab. Six small lights flew in front of her and materialized into Zero, X, and the four Guardians.

"Ciel, you can use our Cyber Elf data to form six more Biometals to fight off Serpent!" X said as Ciel nodded.

"Okay, I understand…"

Three years had passed since Ciel started the Biometal project. The Biometals were kept inside a medium sized container. Ciel had created a capsule for her to hibernate for 100 years, waiting for the Biometals to be fully recharged.

Ciel checked the Biometals once more before she entered her capsule. She closed the capsule and white colored gas came out as she closed her eyes. Moments later, Serpent blasted the lab's ceiling and came down.

He looked around and saw the Biometals inside the container. He opened it and took all six of them with him. He noticed a capsule beside the container and smiled evilly.

'I found you, Dr. Ciel!' Serpent held the Biometals with his left arm and smashed the capsule with his right hand.

He left the lab with the Biometals, but he dropped two of them as he made his way out through the ceiling. Ciel's capsule beeped repeatedly, but nothing happened.

Two hundred years had passed and Ciel's capsule was still beeping repeatedly. Suddenly two Reploids dressed in brown came into the lab. They looked around, but suddenly one of them tripped over something.

"Hey, are you okay?" one of the asked.

"I'm fine, but I tripped over something!" the other one replied and noticed something beside him. "Is this it? The one that they call a Biometal?"

"I think… Hey, there's another one behind you too!" he pointed at the red Biometal.

"Let's take it to the Guardians for some analysis. We'll ask the Giro Express transporters to take these to them!" the other one nodded and two of them left the lab, not noticing the capsule beside them.

Three years later, a blue haired figure entered the lab and noticed that the lab was messy. He saw a capsule beside him as it beeped.

"It looks like some bugs had entered my lab…" the figure approached the capsule. "A young woman? Hmph… this is perfect… she could be a perfect sacrifice for my plan… I, Master Albert, will let you live for now. You'll be the sacrifice to seal Model W once everything is off the plan, until my best descendants broke that seal… That Serpent… he is such a useless descendant… an unworthy Chosen One… a thrash Mega Man!"

Albert typed something on Ciel's capsule and it stopped beeping.

"Let's just see who is worthy to be crowned as the Mega Man King!"

EDIT: This is the second version, which had been fixed a little.

Please review and don't flame!