Mega Man GT
Chapter II: Troubles With Bubbles
Seemingly from the sky itself, a blue beam of energy descended towards the ground. Of course, it was the transportation system being utilized by the champion of man and machine alike.
X looked around at his surroundings as he opened his eyes post-teleportation. He found himself on a beach, at the entrance of the large cove that led to Bubble Crab's underwater base. Wasting no time, he sped into the rocky formation and descended into the waters of the ocean. Relying on his natural speed and power, he moved through the water itself quickly, albeit slower than he could normally move.
It didn't take him long to find his opponent. There, standing on one of the underwater "towers" of the undersea base, in fabulous shades of yellow and pink, was Bubble Splash Mega Man X. The original X made his way over at high speeds, eventually standing upon a slightly lower structure, looking up at his enemy.
After a moment of silence, punctuated by the natural ambience of the deep sea, the clone spoke, his voice being transferred through the water to X's auditory systems.
"I'm honored. You followed my signal first… at last we meet, my inferior counterpart." Bubble Splash X grinned arrogantly, but then raised an eyebrow when X did not reply, instead staring at him in disbelief. The clone ignored the look, taking it as a sign of fear, and continued speaking.
"Yes, I have retained memory data of this area, and as you've no doubt guessed, I have decided to utilize what's left of Bubble Crab's army to attack the coastal cities. And you will not stop me, try as you might… alright, what is it?! Why are you looking at me like that?!"
"Is…is that really what I look like when I use that ability?" X slowly began to smirk.
"W-what do you mean?"
"What do you mean what do I mean? Look at you! You're… you're pink! And yellow!" X doubled over, multiple bubbles issuing forth from his mouth as he laughed.
"H-hey! This is your ability! You looked like this before, you know!" Bubble Splash X glared at the original X, his hands on his hips disapprovingly.
"Really?" X looked down at his body and looked back with a grin. "I appear to be blue, wouldn't you say?"
"But… you…"
"Well, okay, along with some silver, red, and yellow, but I think we can both agree that I look much better than you do."
"Okay, that's enough. Seriously."
"Man, no wonder everyone was giggling at the base when I used this in training!" X slapped his head in disbelief. "Unbelievable!"
"Okay. Enough. I'm warning you…"
X, however, was too busy thinking back towards all the signs of his ridiculous appearance with the Bubble Splash. "One second, princess, I'm flashbacking at the moment."
"P-P-Princess?!"
"I mean, sure, they hurt Violen pretty bad, but that really just says more about him than it does the weapon!"
"Are you even paying attention to me anymore?!"
"Why didn't Zero say anything? I'm so kicking his red ass when I get back to the base."
Bubble Splash X clenched his fists and let out an angry roar which finally got X's attention.
"That is it! I'm going to teach you to mock me, you arrogant fool!" He raised his arm and morphed his left hand into an X-Buster cannon. He took careful aim at X and grinned. "Time to die!"
X assumed a preparatory battle stance and waited for the attack to come. When it did, an awkward silence followed as a string of colorful bubbles issued forth from the cannon and floated upwards to the surface harmlessly.
"Um…" Bubble Splash X sheepishly lowered his weapon.
"Yeah…" X said, another smirk slowly beginning to make itself apparent.
Bubble Splash X stamped his foot into the structure he stood upon indignantly. "Hey, don't get comfortable! I just have to get closer is all! Then I'll show you the true power of the Bubble Splash!"
"Okay, seriously, are you even hearing yourself speak? You're attacking me with bubbles. Bubbles! Weird energy bubbles, maybe, but bubbles nonetheless. You don't actually think you're going to come out on top here, do you?"
Seething, the pink-and-yellow warrior began to glow as he charged up his weapon. "You'll soon be asking yourself that question, you inferior piece of scrap!" With a roar, he unleashed the power of the Bubble Splash, which consisted of the brightly colored bubbles floating around his body in ring formations.
X formed his own X-Buster cannon and took aim, firing a green, partially charged blast of energy at his enemy. But the clone leapt from the tower at an astonishingly high height, nearly at the surface of the water before activating his dash ability and rocketing toward X. The blue warrior activated the jets in his legs and dashed upward, the water allowing him to jump higher than he could normally on land, but his clone dashed off the structure as well, flying even higher than X and giving him the chance to attack from above.
That's right… X though to himself, instantly analytical of his enemy's strategy. The Bubble Splash let me jump higher in water…
Bubble Splash X began to descend towards him again at surprising speed, this time with X slowly descending in the water, with nothing to dash off of this time. X raised his X-Buster and began firing several consecutive blasts at the clone, but to his shock, the bubbles acted as a sort of shield and were absorbing the smaller shots, and Bubble Splash X was moving too fast for him to counter with a fully charged blast.
X tried to reposition himself to dash sideways through the water with his air dash ability, but it was too late. Bubble Splash X smashed into him, and began landing blows with his fists, the damage of which was intensified by the energy bubbles also periodically striking X. Through the damage, X realized that the blows did not feel like a machine hitting him, but like blasts from an energy buster.
He's pure energy… he's not a machine like me…
X angrily struck with his right fist, punching his clone in the face and then kicking him with both feet in the stomach, sending him flying higher in the water. He activated his air dash to send him higher as well to quickly counterattack, but the bubbly shield served its purpose well, and X let out a gasp of pain as one struck his outstretched fist and knocked him off-balance, just long enough for Bubble Splash X to grin and aim his buster at him, sending multiple bursts of bubbles directly into X's torso. X's yell of pain was interrupted by a mighty dashing tackle by his clone.
"TAKE… THIS!" X braced himself as he was crushed into the ocean floor by Bubble Splash X. The evil X jumped a few yards away to admire his handiwork as X pushed himself up and stood up, shaking off the lingering damage that his systems were warning him about. He wasn't badly injured, but it was enough to worry him and completely piss him off.
Okay… new tactic. Don't laugh at the other X's next time. If he could damage me even this much, I don't want to know what the others are capable of. But I'll deal with that later. Time to put this pink jerk in his place.
X searched his memory data to find a weapon suitable for dealing with this clone's ability, but he was shocked to discover that he couldn't locate any of it. All of the weapons he had gained from his battles with eight Mavericks were now gone.
"Just discovered that, have you?" Bubble Splash X asked with a smile. "Indeed, your powers rest solely with us now, fool. If you want them back, you'll have to get the programs back from us."
"Fine, then," X responded, forming his X-Buster once more. "If that's what it takes, then so be it. I beat these powers once, I'll beat them again."
"You're welcome to try!" Bubble Splash X dashed forward along the seafloor towards X, looking like a bright and colorful torpedo of destruction. X blasted off from the ground and gained height, powering up his X-Buster to its fullest capacity before aiming downwards. An energy blast of pink and blue hues issued forth from the arm cannon and flew downwards towards the clone.
Bubble Splash X dashed off the ground and elevated himself, once again passing X in distance and preparing for another attack from above. This time, X used the concentrated scopes in his optics to analyze the pattern of the energy bubbles, searching for an opening.
He's just a copy… X thought determinedly, remembering the feeling of being struck by the clone. Born out of pure energy and image data… he looks like me, can use my attack, and can imitate how I'd hypothetically fight… but he's not built like me. He can't do what I can do… I'll prove this hypothesis wrong!
Within seconds of his badass (and incredibly nerdy) inner dialogue, he had analyzed an opening in the bubble shield. He once again fired a continuous stream of plasma shots from his left arm, allowing them to strike the small shields.
Bubble Splash X laughed uproariously as he descended, completely unscathed by the blasts. "Trying what you know has failed before? That last hit must have knocked one too many circuits loose!"
X prepared himself, his scopes zooming in to make sure his attack would be precise, plotting every angle possible.
"I WARNED YOU!" Bubble Splash X dashed downwards smash into X once more. But then his eyes widened in surprise as he saw X's right hand morph into his second X-Buster, courtesy of Dr. Light's Buster upgrades. He tried to reorient himself to dash out of the way, but X had already taken aim and fired.
"My bubbles with protect me! It's useless!" Bubble Splash X prepared himself for the shock that would follow the striking of the two forms of energy, but it was not to be. Through the briefest of openings in his shield, where no bubbles existed to block the shot, the plasma blast passed and struck him dead-on in the torso. An explosion, and Bubble Splash X began descending towards the seafloor, damaged and weakened, though his body showed no signs of it.
X saw his chance and took aim with both his cannons, firing blast upon blast into the clone, until his sensors told him that Bubble Splash X's energy levels were critical.
He dashed his way towards the spot where his clone's body would land, and slowly but surely, it did. Bubble Splash X's form seemed to be flickering, much like the Sigma Virus when X had defeated it. Soon, his power would be gone.
"Not a bad fight, I admit. But it's over now. Mark my words, I will destroy every one of you clones and take back my powers."
"Try as you might, you'll never win," Bubble Splash X declared, smiling wickedly. "I was only a mere introduction to the horrors to come."
"Yeah, I kinda guessed that, pinky. And while I'm sure the others will put up a better fight, don't worry. I'll still win."
The clone frowned at the insult, and then grinned. "Mega Man X… are you aware that in the distant past of the human race, the color blue was considered a feminine color, and the color pink was considered that of masculinity?"
X raised an eyebrow, and Bubble Splash X burst out laughing as his body began to fade away.
"Good luck with your conquests… bluey!"
The spherical energy of the Bubble Splash program then floated towards X and re-entered his body, and X felt the program rewrite his data to once again include the ability to use the Bubble Splash.
But that was barely noticed as X was still thinking about the final words of his bubbly clone, his eyes downcast. "Well, that was just uncalled for…"
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Disclaimer: I'm still some Texan loser with a passion for writing, not a Japanese dude who is Japanese and created this series in Japan. So yeah.
This was rather fun to write. Given that I'm not really trying for serious work, it gives me lots of free reign to just go with the flow. My logic going into this is basically that plenty of concepts in the series itself (sentient viruses, Reploid souls, Reploid abilities in general) never made any sense anyway, so I'm perfectly fine tossing logic out the window throughout all of this as it concerns X's inner workings and how his abilities work.
Oh, and I know the blue/pink thing isn't exactly true, as it's more the fact that there just didn't exist a particular preference for boys in blue and girls in pink for a while in the past. But I couldn't resist the punchline, and it's easily explained as Bubble Splash X just being a troll, so I left it in.
Anyway, I'm off. Be seeing you all. *strikes X victory pose and teleports away*