Megaman X4: Shadows of the Past
By: StrykeEmUp
Rated T
Chapter 2: The Cost of Freedom
Iris looked frantically about. Humans and reploids alike were running around aimlessly, tripping over each other while trying to find a way off the Sky Lagoon. It was utter chaos. She ran over toward the shifting tide of panicked people, desperately searching for Sparke. She called her name, but her voice was drowned out by the constant cries of fear.
The crowd suddenly reversed direction, revealing a stout brown mechanoid with an energy pistol. He picked random targets and shot at them. Iris stood frozen with fear as it locked its beady yellow eyes on her. It wasn't the droid that shocked her, but rather the insignia painted on its shoulder plate.
"Repliforce," Iris stated before the crazed mechanoid pointed its weapon at her and pulled the trigger. What happened next happened within the blink of an eye: Iris closed her eyes, expecting to feel intense pain as the bolt struck her. This wasn't the case, however, as she felt someone jerk her out of the way before a muffle grunt of pain could be heard. Iris opened her eyes and saw Sparke holding a hot barreled rifle. The Maverick was on the ground, a large hole in its chest. Iris clambered to her feet, surprised at what happened.
"Are you okay, Iris?" The black haired, now cream color armored, girl asked her friend while eyeing her for injuries. Iris nodded her head, puzzled as to how Sparke got her armor so quickly.
"I think so. How did you?"
"One thing I've learned from the Colonel is you never go anywhere unarmed," Sparke smirked at the younger looking reploid. "Come on, girl. Let's get the hell outta here!"
A few yards away from the two girls, X and Zero both arrived in the center of the chaos. No sooner than they had landed, a group of flying mechanoids assaulted them. Zero brandished his saber and skillfully cut down one half of them while X took out the other half with pinpoint accuracy.
"Alright, X. Let's split up and search for that Maverick!" Zero exclaimed before he dashed off, not bothering to give X a choice in direction.
Zero jumped and sliced through a group of flying droids, sending metal debris all over the ground. He spied a group of people huddled up in a corner, eyeing him with admiration. He smirked before ducking under a bolt of energy. The mechanoid that took the shot soon found a well-armored boot across the side of its head. Zero eyed the rest of the area before dashing off to the next. As he did so, he thought he saw a familiar face. He threw his saber at a droid, piercing its power cell. He then grabbed the limp robot, while withdrawing the saber, and hurled the droid into a group of mixed mechanoids closing in on his position. The timing was perfect as the damaged bot exploded, causing a chain reaction of equal sized explosions. He looked off in the distance for the familiar face but found a monstrous mechanoid claw in her place. Then he saw a blue blur that appeared to be holding on to the mechanoid's back.
"X! What the hell is that?!" Zero hollered into his headset. He saw the giant swipe for its back, just barely missing the blue Hunter. X dismounted from the large droid and fired a volley of plasma bolts into its chest plate. Zero hurdled forward as fast as his legs would allow but could only watch as X was caught off guard by a tail swipe. He flew through a pane of glass and grunted as he struggled to stand up. A clawed hand was about to claim his life, but a cream armored reploid pulled him up and out of the way. She took a few shots at the mechanoid and rolled to avoid another blow. Her name finally came to mind as Zero reached the area they were in.
"Sparke!" Zero called out, shoving his way through a crowd of people. He brought his arms up to catch her as she caught the business end of a tail-swat. As the two reploids tumbled backward, X rolled free from a vertical claw swipe. He fired a volley of charged plasma into the monster's hand, causing it to howl out in pain. It disappeared from sight as it sunk beneath the Sky Lagoon. X ran over to the two downed reploids.
"I don't know where that thing came from, but we have to stop it!" Sparke spat as she stood up slowly, clenching her side. Zero eyed her suspiciously for the briefest of moments before responding calmly.
"That makes three of us. Come on, X, let's," Zero started, but was interrupted when the Sky Lagoon shook violently before dead silence ensued. The three Hunters looked at each other, uncertain of what to think. Zero had a gut feeling as the trio ran down the nearly empty hall. As they reached the final door, the city in the sky shook violently once more. Muffled noises could be heard on the other side. Zero struck the unpowered door with his saber before wedging his hands into the crack, attempting to pry it open. X shifted uneasily as the ground beneath them kept quaking.
"Almost got it," Zero said through labored breathing, pushing to doors open with a roar. He winced as the faint noises grew into large explosions. Then he thought about something. "Wait…if I had to pry the doors open…"
"Zero! The Sky Lagoon is falling!" X shouted out. Zero looked back at his friend, his eyes wide. "Come on, we gotta…" X grunted before he was thrown back. A clawed hand erupted from the floor beneath him, grabbing Sparke in the process. It dragged her through the floor, only to chuck her through a separate part of the floor seconds later. X fired at the Maverick's claws as they crashed through the floor. Sparke looked over towards the life pods as she sorely stood up. Then she turned her attention to Zero.
"Go check the power reactor!" She shouted to Zero, who was already heading down the hall. She stood up and noticed how quickly the surrounding cityscape was growing. The giant Maverick had flown away, once Zero made it through the doorway, disappearing from sight.
"Sparke, get to the escape pods!" X shouted, looking around the sky walk for civilians that were straggling behind. He heard Zero's voice shout something in his ear before an explosion rocked him out of the nearby window.
Zero ran past a few crazed mechanoids before bursting into the power reactor room. What he saw shocked him. First, the entire room was decorated with flames and exploding equipment. Second, he wasn't the only one in the room.
"Zero?!"
"Dragoon! What are you doing here?!"
"Never mind that! That Maverick took out the power! The Sky Lagoon will come crashing to the ground!" Dragoon hollered out over the explosions.
"That means Arcadia…no!"
"It's time I made my escape. I suggest you do the same, Zero!" Dragoon shouted one last time before pulling himself through a hole in the wall. Zero swore out loud.
"Damn! The city below will be destroyed…I have no choice!" He contacted X and shouted a barely audible message before performing a short IT hop.
"(If there's anything I learned today, Repliforce is up to something...)" He thought before the Sky Lagoon hit Arcadia with full force.
Dragoon watched the scene before him with marvel. The massive and mighty Sky Lagoon was utterly destroyed, as was the ground city beneath it. He let his mind wander as the view before him unfolded. The entire metropolis seemed to scream as the sky fell, dozens of life pods and vehicles scattering about. Then, BOOM. Nothing but fire and chaos. He clenched a fist and thought about the deal he had made.
"Time to receive payment."
To be continued…