Mission 3: Escape

"Hey wake up." someone said.

Eyes slowly opening, the darkness vanished as he saw Unit A over him.

"Where am I?" Unit X asked in wonder. He slammed his fist on the wall next to him. "Ow." he muttered. Looking around he was on an old bed and there were metallic walls around him. The room was bare save for the two inside.

"My room.. huh…." Unit X mumbled.

Unit A handed him a glass of water. "Here, drink up."

Unit X backed off almost afraid, "Hey! If Leader catches you with that."

"Leader was the one who told me to give this to you so drink up." Unit A forcefully placed the glass in Unit X's hands.

"But why?" Unit X seemed confused.

"Because no one else wants to see a comrade die." Unit A said sternly. Unit X took a sip savoring every drop. The water was refreshing. Unable to stop, he quickly gulped down everything.

Unit A led him outside, "Let's get some air." Walking through the hallways, the building seemed to be an abandoned military base of some sort. Some of the doors won't open and a few passageways have collapsed. They both took an elevator to the roof. The dark elevator ride ended with bright light flooding through the doors.

"This is…"

"Yeah, we don't see much but that's how it is here." said Unit A.

All around the base there's only barren wasteland. The earth was a depressing gray as the chilling winds blew over it. This was the scenery they've always seen. The life of those who live on the Fringe is compared to a living hell.

The Fringe is an unforgiving wasteland far from civilization. The area ravaged by countless wars proved uninhabitable by even the most advanced societies. There are still those who survive in such hostile environments hunting the large mavericks that roam the wastelands. Resources are scarce to the point where water is considered a luxury.

Unit X asked, "What's the next mission?"

"Just search for supplies." Unit A answered. Unit X began walking away until Unit A stopped him. "I'll go with you."

The two of them got in the jeep and started driving off into the wasteland. The engine rumbled noisily. The vehicle continued to move straight until it found something.

"Look over there!" Unit X pointed. Unit A drove towards the direction until they saw a caravan. The trucks were loaded with supplies, some were destroyed but most were left intact. The two of them got out of the jeep and searched the caravan. There was blood and oil all around the caravan.

"Looks like there's been a battle here." Unit A searched a corpse for anything of value.

Unit X cringed as he saw the bodies of reploids and humans scattered around. However he continued searching the caravan for any goods.

"We've hit the jackpot." said Unit A. "Load everything on one truck and drive it back."

Unit X opened the door to the only truck that wasn't toppled over. When he looked inside he was startled by what he saw.

"S-save…..me.." said a voice weakly. Someone sat in the truck severely injured.

"Hey what's the hold up?" Unit A asked. Unit X showed the person inside the truck.

Unit A gave a solemn look, "His injuries are too severe. We can't save him even if we could. Let's put him out of his misery."

"Don't take it personally." Unit X threw him out of the truck.

"You…scum." the person said weakly, he was on his last breaths.

Unit A retorted, "You were just foolish to think that passing through the Fringe was a good shortcut."

Despite the Fringe being a barren wasteland teeming with mavericks, it also serves as a shortcut between nations. Merchants or anyone else pass through at their own peril.

Unit X returned to the jeep while Unit A drove the truck. They headed back quickly in great haste. Unit X activated the radar on the jeep. The device beeped furiously at the enemy signatures.

"Mavericks on out tail!" Unit X shouted. He set the jeep to autopilot and fired a grappling hook at the truck. He pulled himself up to the top and readied his buster.

"I hope we can make it back." thought Unit X.

In absolute darkness Raito could only feel the cold rocks around him. He had just woken from an unconscious state. The wound on his left shoulder continued to hurt as he felt the stinging pain with every movement.

He adjusted his pistol into low power mode and squeezed the trigger lightly without pulling it all the way. The light from the weapon gave a faint glow enough for Raito to see his surroundings. He was surrounded on all sides by massive stone walls with dubious inscriptions along them. Raito looked up but could only see darkness above him.

"Looks like I'm stuck here." Raito mumbled. He sat down on the floor waiting for help to arrive. He continued to wait for hours but not a sound was heard. The ringing in his ears got worse from the silence. Raito wasn't even sure if his ears worked anymore. Most of all he was hungry.

Despair found its way into Raito's heart. "Looks like I'll really die here. At least I wanted to go out with a bang." and he soon fell asleep.

"Report." Prairie commanded.

The Guardian seemed shaky, "We were forced to evacuate due to overwhelming maverick numbers. Unfortunately Mr. Raito was not able to escape."

"What about Aile?" Prairie asked with a hint of anger in her tone.

"She hasn't returned yet?" the Guardian seemed confused.

Prairie dismissed them and returned to her seat. She had a worried expression. "Aile should be fine since she's a Mega Man, but…. I'm sorry Raito. Still it's worrying how she hasn't come back yet. I hope she can rescue Raito along the way."

"Hiiiiiii." said a shrill voice.

Raito weakly opened his eyes noticing a ball of light floating in front of him. "What's this?" he reached out his right arm trying to grab the light only to have it fly off around him.

"Who are you?" The shrill voice asked. The ball of light returned in front of Raito.

"I could ask the same to you." Raito replied softly.

"Wah!" The ball of light flew around surprised, "You can hear me? See me? I thought humans couldn't see cyber elves."

"Cyber elves eh? I thought they were all gone." said Raito.

The cyber elf flew around energetically, "Well I'll be! Let's play! Let's play!"

Raito clutched his left shoulder tightly, "I would if I could." he mumbled weakly. The cyber elf noticed the wound and hovered over it.

"No problem! If you promise to play with me I'll help you." said the cyber elf. Raito nodded and the elf circled him rapidly until all he could see was a white ring of light around him.

His body disappeared.

Raito transported to another area of the ruins except everything was tinted green. "This is weird, I'm not hungry anymore and my wound stopped hurting." said Raito.

"Welcome to cyberspace!" said the elf cheerfully.

Raito was incredulous, "That's….impossible."

"I don't know the border between this world and cyberspace is really thin here." said the elf. "But first let me heal you." the elf sprinkled some particles on Raito's shoulder. The hole closed up instantly and the wound was gone.

"Alright, I'll play with you, but first I've got to get out of here." Raito ran along the corridors followed by the cyber elf. He felt almost weightless as he could scale walls that were normally too high for him and jump over large pits.

The cyber elf asked, "Are we playing follow the leader? I love that game!"

"Sure why not?" Raito responded as he continued through the ruins. He approached a blue door floating in mid air.

"That's the exit!" said the cyber elf. Raito jumped through the door without hesitation. He felt his body warping somewhere. When he came to he was in a tunnel connecting the ruins to the outside. He could see light coming from the other direction. As Raito continued forward, he was stopped by another cyber elf.

"You are…" the cyber elf following Raito said timidly.

This cyber elf was different; instead of a ball of light it had rainbow bands of light orbiting itself.

"Who are you!" Raito questioned.

"Who am I? I don't know." said the weird elf. "Yet I have a feeling you don't know who you are yourself."

"What are you talking about?" Raito said impatiently. "I'm Raito, the Hunter."

"You may have forgotten, but your eyes don't lie. Whether it's by luck or fate I entrust you with this…. no this may be even destiny." the weird cyber elf spoke vaguely.

A white beam of light pierced through Raito's chest. "Urgh!" he screamed in pain. His eyes unblinking, his pupils shaking wildly as he tries to focus on the elf. Soon a stream of data was injected into him. Several smaller beams of light carved along his body as if etching something inside him. Raito screamed but no one could hear him.

After everything was over, Raito lay face down on the floor unconscious. The weird elf disappeared and the other elf hovered over him.

5 Hours Later

"Ugh….." Raito slowly regained consciousness. His body aches and he struggles to get up.

He feels a burning sensation stinging his chest. "Ugh!" Raito held on to his heart tightly. "I must get out of here."

Raito drudged on slowly each step taken with heavier breath. He tripped over a wayward rock and fell painfully to the ground with a thump. Raito laid there for a bit and then continued onwards towards the light. He was only a few more steps away until he was outside. "I… made it."

Outside there was an open excavated area. The researchers that were once here were long gone and now the area was left open with rusty machines lying around. Once Raito was outside the pain on his chest lightened up a bit, his hand loosened up and he regained his normal posture. He heard footsteps approaching.

"Who would be wandering around here?" Raito cautiously scanned his surroundings. Straight ahead, walking towards him was a woman with dual toned spiky hair with orange on the front and the rest being brown. "I remember her face from somewhere." Raito thought.

Orange vest, white pants, gauntlets, and a large orange stone in her hand, Raito couldn't see the whole thing but he had a hunch about what it was. "This is bad" Raito thought. "I'd have to run into one of them here of all places and it's not a friendly one."

Atlas, the chosen one of Model F is marked as a bounty in Legion due to her actions involving the Model Ws. Generally all Hunters are aware of the existence of Mega Men and the Biometals after the fall of Master Albert.

She stopped in front of Raito, giving him a fierce glare. "Who are you." she spoke menacingly. Raito remained silent yet cautious as he continued to scan around Atlas for a way out while avoiding eye contact.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Atlas interrogated even more aggressively.

This time Raito responded, "I'm just a wandering hunter exploring ruins for treasure. Please leave me be."

"Humph." Atlas folded her arms and closed her eyes. Raito took this as a chance to leave and walked past her. As soon and he walked a certain distance past her Atlas stopped him.

"You'd really think I'd let you leave?" Atlas slammed her fist into the ground, "Megamerge!" a pillar of fire erupted from the ground where she struck and emblazed her body. Now she was covered with orange plated armor. The helmet had a white forehead section adorned with two horns pointing upwards. Most outstanding of all were the two large knuckle busters that were larger than her arms.

"This is the worst." Raito drew his gun. His heart rate increased and he focused all his attention towards the greatest threat. Out of the frying pan and into the fire or so they say.

Mission 3: Complete

AN: Thank you for reading. This chapter is a little short but that's because I am busy with the last weeks of school. Summer is coming soon so I should be updating faster. I just hope the fandom doesn't die out.