Chapter 3: Harmony of the Deep Seas, Duff McWhalean
Returning triumphant to the Maverick Hunter HQ with a crystal ball and Grizzly Slash's arm occupying his grasp, Alex strolled into the command center and gave Alia the ball with an underhanded lob. It was a good thing his entrance alerted her to turn around, otherwise all his efforts would've amounted to is delivering a pile of shards to her feet.
X and Zero were close by, awaiting the boy's return so they could head out themselves. First though, X was focusing on the limb that Alex had hung over his shoulder as he walked with the posture of a hunter having returned home with his prey.
"Thanks for bringing that back. You did well out there." X's didn't overdo it when it came to handing out praise. His tone was humble, and full of relief just to have an ally return back safely. Alex didn't think too much of it, however, and just flung the limb at the ground while having a cocky attitude to him.
"It's a good thing I didn't blow him up. You'd be out a power then." Alex looked up and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, flicking a couple of his fingers up like a gun. His humored remark and casual attitude baffled both Hunters, who exchanged a glance at each other before X bent down to touch Grizzly Slash's limb. His body released a splendid aquamarine glow for just a moment, but it seems his copying power was a success as he stood up without pause after.
Alex crossed his arms and tilted his head aside, finding X's powers fascinating enough to distract his attention for at least a couple seconds. But after that, he noticed a glaring lack of Shina in the vicinity. Dropping his arms, he inquired to the others, "Where'd Shina go?"
"I didn't see her leaving," Zero responded dully before gesturing a hand up from his crossed arms, "But find her later. Right now we've got a couple more questions to ask you."
At that cue, Alia stood up from her chair while Alex slanted his brows and looked dismayed. She approached him with a scientist's observant glare scanning his body from head to toe, then stopped within arms' reach of his body. She raised his right hand up and pushed apart his eyelids until the eye itself was twitching with a watery glaze.
"...What are you doing?" Alex grunted in a haste.
"Does anything feel...off?" Alia tilted her head left and right as she slowly leaned it in closer, peering so deep into Alex's eyes she could see the receptors past the lens.
"...Like, mentally? Physically?"
"She's wondering if you've contacted the Sigma Virus." X interjected, allowing Alia the ability to remain focused on her search. But as she pulled back, it turned out she had already finished.
"Oh yeah, that." The nonchalant obliviousness from Alex baffled the Hunters even more than before, with Zero losing a bit of his patience and telling the boy off without relenting, "Don't be stupid! The moment you get infected, it's over! Sigma will be in control of your every action!"
Alex crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the ground, having only one rebuttal to draw on, "If Sigma controls me, you'd know."
Zero slanted his brows into a firm and piercing glare as he once again reprimanded him, "That's no excuse to fool around. If we fail, the whole planet'll pay for it."
"..." Alex closed his eyes and went quiet, hiding the bit of guilt he began to experience before he responded with the utmost honesty, "Sorry, I'll try and be more careful."
Zero kept his gaze fixated on the boy for a few seconds more until Shina's voice called out to him, "Alex! You made it back!"
Zero closed his eyes, hung his head a little, then turned away to return to Alia's computer alongside her. Shina ran up to the boy and leaned forward with her arms crossed back, "Any luck with the artifact piece?"
"No dice," Alex shook his head and looked away, continuing to be rational regarding that matter, "You weren't honestly expecting the first Reploid we met to have it, did you?"
"...I was kinda hoping," Shina wiggled a finger against her left cheek and blushed, but then gave her head a quick nod and mentioned, "But it's fine. We'll just have to double - NO - triple our efforts!"
"Heh," X found a reason to chuckle even as their darkest hour grew ever closer, "At least you're enthusiastic."
Then his expression returned to a sullen state as he remarked, "Sorry we can't help more."
"Aw schucks, don't worry about it X! Ya know what they say...Oil my back and I'll oil yours!" Shina said with an earnest smile, while Alex slapped his face beside her and let out an inaudible groan. X, on the other hand, blinked a couple times before what she said registered in his mind.
"And we appreciate the help. At times like this it's good to know who to trust." When X was done, Zero started to walk past him and head for the door.
"Huh? Where are you going Zero?" X inquired with a worried disposition. Zero paused and turned his head to glance over the shoulder, keeping a distant demeanor to him as he responded.
"Alia's sending me off to an underwater base in the North Atlantic. Seems there's a good supply of Hydrogen there that we can use to fuel the Enigma." His response had no casual undertone to it. It was straightforward, almost too much so, as when he finished he looked forward and continued to walk.
"Zero!" Only X's concerned outcry could freeze the Hunter in his tracks, wavering his dedication to duty for just a few seconds as X laid a hand against his chest and told him, "Be careful out there."
That sentence was so elementary that it could have been discarded without a second thought. Yet, Zero acknowledged it with a terse nod and a brush of the left hand up beside his face before heading out the door. When the metallic frames sealed tight behind him, Zero closed his eyes and let out a sigh, then dashed for the teleporter room. As Alia had already inputted the coordinates, all he had to do was hop in to be sent on his way.
Via this swift and sudden warp, Zero swapped one cold environment for another, as he landed underwater in the midst of an antarctic region of the world. It was so cold that his visibility was affected, meaning he could only see what was directly in front of him. The ground was rocky but thankfully not slippery, though that impediment to his movement would be the least of Zero's concerns.
"Ze...Zero! Ze...Zero! Zero! Can you hear me?" There was some static, but the signal got cleared up in a couple of seconds. Zero laid a hand on the side of his head and responded calmly, "Loud and clear Alia. What's the status on this region?"
"I'm not sure if the virus has penetrated the underwater facilities yet. But I do know that the region you're at is under the protection of a former captain of the maritime security force."
"I might've seen that Reploid in the reports before...Duff McWhalean, right?"
"Correct. He's an old but powerful Reploid. A bit reckless, but I doubt that'll get in the way."
"Assuming he hasn't already been infected by the virus." Zero leaned on the side of realism in his statement, earning a deep but hesitant sigh from Alia.
"I can only ho-...Wait, hold on a second Zero. I'm detecting a large naval vessel approaching your location."
Zero glided his hand to the handle attached to his back and began to draw the blade to the front of his body, gazing around as far as he could see. This deep in the icy depths, any sounds were as a muffled as a foghorn coming from a ship drifting far over the horizon, even with Zero's highly advanced hearing.
"No signs of activity in the immediate vicinity. Maybe it's not an enemy?" Even with his input, Zero carried a tone of cautious suspicion in his voice.
"Could be...? I'm not certain."
Then, a shadow thick and wide penetrated the ocean depths and bathed itself over Zero's body. Turning around, he narrowed his glare to better perceive the descending metallic mass coming his way.
"Well, looks like we'll find out soon enough." Zero remarked as the vessel became clear as crystal. It was a green submarine with a thick, whale-like build and face, armed to the teeth with turrets and a laser cannon in the mouth.
The barrel of the cannon charged up while pointed at Zero, causing his eyes to pop open for a moment before he sluggishly leapt back in the water to evade the coming laser. The submarine evened up with the stone floor and began to pursue Zero, who landed on the ground and swung his sword near the hip.
"The U-555? I thought that was locked up in a museum." As Alia spoke to him, Zero stepped back as fast as the water would allow him, swinging his blade out to cut down any missile that the submarine launched his way.
"How should I engage?" He inquired, his body struck with a slight jolt as his back hit a stony protrustion. He then made a sharp turn and vaulted onto the rock, finding himself in a tunnel that seemed narrow enough for the submarine to be unable to pursue him.
Stubborn to a fault, however, the submarine kept pressing onward, ramming it's girthy frame into the mouth of the tunnel and breaking apart the rocks above and below it. It's attempt to keep up with Zero spread cracks throughout the roof of the tunnel, breaking it apart and threatening to cave Zero in, should the weapons themselves not prove to be his demise.
"From that angle? There's nothing you can do. If you can hold out, there's a drop-off point you can use to evade the subarmine." Alia stopped talking at that point to allow Zero a chance to concentrate, for he had to push every fiber of his mainframe to the limit to fend off the pressure of the depths and the onslaught of the advancing vessel.
Not being able to attack the ship directly grinded at his patience just a bit, as his instincts demanded of him to deal with any obstacle in his path. It took a lot of focus to ignore those instincts and focus on survival, especially as the submarine had already pushed halfway through the tunnel and began to cause large chunks of stone to drop upon him.
Zero interlaced upward slashes with swift, forward cuts to deal with the obstacles coming at him. However, every time he did so his ability to perceive these attacks grew worse, as his vision became cluttered with steel shrapnel and cumbersome crag.
When the submarine's cannon began to whir to life once more, Zero peered back over his shoulder and saw that the chasm Alia had brought to his attention was soon approaching. With mere seconds to respond to the coming laser, Zero buckled down on his concentration and spun around, forcing himself to trudge ahead with as much speed as the water would allow.
The submarine forgoes all other weaponry to focus on pure, singular annihilation. With little room for Zero to evade and enough power to fuel an entire city, the submarine did not hesitate and fired a laser as wide as its body, piercing through the confines of the tunnel. Zero threw his body forward and dove at the mouth of the chasm, caring not for what lied below. His hair was grazed by the bottom of the laser, while his whole body was rocked by the shockwave it unleashed.
He was thrown down upon a ledge overlooking a bed of spikes, landing flat on his stomach while his body was pecked at by a few falling pebbles. He pulled himself up in a matter of seconds and looked up, noticing that the laser had extended the length of the tunnel by an unimaginable degree. The submarine pushed on towards it, too long to be able to follow Zero into the chasm.
Zero kept a firm grasp on his sword and turned around, ready to continue on unimpeded. But, before he put even one foot forward his body was disrupted by a surreal tremor, and more rocks dislodged themselves from the lip of the newly formed tunnel above. Zero turned and cut them in twine with a single slash, widening his eyes into an exasperated glare as the submarine broke apart the rocks below itself with explosives.
Even though the blasts damaged itself, the sub didn't care. It had one purpose, one objective, and that was to see to it that Zero died. Not even the possibility of it's own demise was enough to override it's current programming.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Zero grumbled out in frustration before turning around and leaping his way across the bed of spikes, attaching to the wall beyond in order to slide further down the chasm. The submarine kept tearing through layers of rock as though they were as brittle as crackers, it's tail armed with their own turrets that perplexed Zero's descent with it's own barrage of missiles.
Zero leaned forward and dashed under the missiles, not wanting to destroy what little ground he knew he had. Without the laser to get in his way, he launched a counterattack, lunging straight off the ground and swinging his blade at the tail a few times before gravity took hold. He managed to cut down a couple of the turrets, but the remaining two succeeded in connecting with their missiles.
The Hunter was blown back into a wall above another bed of spikes, but he kicked his feet off the wall before making contacting with even a single spiky tip. He placed his sword on the back and decided to pull off a risky maneuver, intercepting one of the missiles flung his way and wrenching it around both his arms. Gripping it just tight enough to not set it off, Zero spun around and threw the missile straight back at the rocket at the center of the tail.
An explosion rocked the sub and halted it's descent, it's engines now engulfed in flames that emerged too fast for the water to put out. By the time Zero landed on the ground the vessel flew off, puncturing through an old submerged wooden ship and disappearing into the frosted fog that lied beyond.
Zero then caught his breath for a moment, believing that he got lucky with that countermeasure. Whether it was luck or not, he would no longer have to deal with the submarine and could continue on his way. Entering the remains of a ship, Zero's vision was cleared up momentarily, so he decided to take this opportunity to survey the area.
If there were any treasures in this ship, they had long since been plundered clean from the remains, with the ones responsible not even having the courtesy to leave behind a dubloon. Born into a world that ran primarily on technology, the sight of something this archaic came of as a bit surprising to the lone Hunter, and the ship ended up leaving more of an impression than he had initially expected.
But ultimately there was nothing noteworthy in regards to his mission in this area, not even an enemy Maverick that he could tail, so he decided to move on. Along the way, he laid a hand on the side of his head and stated, 鄭lia, I've found no signs of the target. Think you can run a scan of the area?
I'll see what I can do... When he got a response, Zero paused for a moment and let her sort things out, as he was in no immediate danger. It only took thirty seconds for her to reply, but not in the way he expected.
Nothing yet, but there's something I want you to investigate. I'm getting a familiar energy reading right below you. Since Alia said it was worth investigating, Zero saw no reason to object. Taking a couple steps back, he bent down and examined the ground. There was enough of the floorboards chipped away that Zero noticed something blue and white underneath.
Someone must've missed this... Prying off the boards was a simple task for Zero, and he had them off in five seconds flat. Then he dropped down into the hole and landed beside the object hidden below, another Dr. Light capsule.
Zero stood still for a moment, the capsule striking a familiar cord in his mind for a reason he could not explain. When the initial wave of familiarity passed with a shake of the head, Zero took one step forward and leaned an arm down at the capsule. His touch was unnecessary, as the capsule cracked open and raised itself without warning.
He jumped back and hit the wall behind him, his body tensing up and legs left shaking at the kneecaps. With a glance down he steadied his body and took a breath, believing that only the cold was responsible for this reaction. But then his gaze lifted, fixating itself on the hologram that was now present within the capsule. A tired old man, wise even beyond the years his withered stature displayed, stood before him with a docile stare meeting Zero's perplexed face.
Time passed for Zero for an indeterminate length before he began to register the person's appearance in his mind. Something began to claw out from deep within, a sensation that he could not explain. It left his body numb and unable to move, not even to speak, and his vision grew shaky. The man wasn't responding, or perhaps he was and Zero's confusion wrought state left him unable to reply. Either way, there was but one thing Zero could make clear from all this...
Do I...know you?
Ah, you must Zero, Dr. Light responded in a welcoming tone, as though a tender man inviting a weary traveled into his warm abode, 添es, X has told me a lot about you.
X...? Hearing that snapped Zero back into some semblance of reality, and with a shake of the head he regained his poise and laid a hand against the side of his face, 典hat's right...you're the one providing X with those armors.
Yes. And I have another one ready for him to use. But first all the data must be assembled in one location. You are connected with the Maverick Hunters, correct?
Yeah, I am. Zero stated with confidence.
Then all you have to do is step on this capsule, and the data will be transferred to Alia. Dr. Light disappeared the moment he finished speaking, and Zero found himself drawn to stand on the platform. Data overflowed him, a river created amidst a boundless sea, but the sensation vanished within a moment.
When he was done, Zero got off and turned around, where the hologram reappeared and looked upon Zero. Dr. Light's brows furrowed a little, but perked up when he noticed Zero gazing at him. With a smile on his face, the doctor offered his sincerest gratitude, 典hank you, Zero. May you continue to guide and protect X through this tiresome war...
...I will. And thank you for being at his side all this time. Zero matched his sincerity and then turned around, leaping out of the chamber with a single bound. Dr. Light's hologram stayed active, his head hanging close to his chest before he closed his eyes and let out a troubled sigh.
Once he was back in the innards of the ship, Zero laid a hand on his helmet and inquired, 滴ey Alia...You've been working with X for a while. Did he ever mention your name to that person in the hologram before?
A-Actually, no, he didn't. Dr. Light just...knows who I am somehow. Alia was a little perturbed when recalling that memory, but that tone didn't register with Zero so much as the name she mentioned.
Dr...Light? Zero's head throbbed for a moment, his fingers spreading out to tighten around it.
Something the matter, Zero?
Zero's gaze froze in place for a moment before he lifted his head and crossed his arms, assuring Alia quietly, 哲o, I'm fine.
Well, lets not worry about the doctor for now. I've finally got a lock on our target. Turn around and ascend the shaft at the end of the ship, and you'll reach where he's holed up.
Zero turned around and found that the end of the ship was a short walk away, even with the water resistance. But as his feet touched the edge of the ship, the ground began to shake and break apart. Zero looked down, gritting his teeth as the submarine from before rose up for another assault. Now it opened the cannons on it's roof, launching bombs high up to then be rained down on Zero.
The submarine trapped Zero on it's roof, and he dashed around to avoid the bombs as they were fired. The submarine moved left and right to avoid hitting it's own bombs, but the desperate evasiveness it took gave Zero an idea to finally deal with this vessel for good. He kneeled down between a couple of cannons and drew his sword, looking up towards the ceiling to find there were a series of gigantic icicles sticking out.
The bombs' were launched lower as they got closer to the top, and it was clear that it had planned to impale Zero through the icicles if the bombs failed to do their job. However, no rampaging machine could ever hope to match the processing power of Zero's mind, which quickly concocted a means to turn the submarine's plan around on it.
When a bomb fell towards the side of the vessel, Zero acted swiftly on his instincts and leapt out, batting the bomb with the back of his elbow to launched it higher into the center of the ceiling. He then positioned himself back upright and landed on the closest wall, watching as an explosion went off above. The ceiling broke apart into many icy chunks, but more importantly the icicles were dislodged and sent plummeting into the submarine. They couldn't fully penetrate the machine's defenses, but their combined weight dragged it down into murky depths, where the cold most certainly would finish it off.
Zero then made haste to the top, leaping off the chunks of ice and stone that were cascading down into the chasm until he landed safely on a ledge. The chasm rumbled, the submarine buried underneath an insurmountable heap, while Zero could finally continue on triumphant. His climb had placed him in front of a steel door he had and would continue to see many times in his life, and with a relaxed demeanor he made his way inside.
The room he ended up in was secluded from everything else, rich with clean and smooth stone all around. Standing in the back end of the room was a big and gruff Reploid with an upper body shaped like a small whale, with four green lights in the front and beefy arms and legs he likely used to swim with. As Zero floated to the ground the Reploid turned around with a couple steps, staring at him with the stern and unmoving pair of eyes on the sides of his face.
"Ah, I recognize you. You're Zero of the Maverick Hunters. What's brought you adrift in my waters?" The Reploid held a decent degree of respect towards his company, and gestured their right hand out as his welcoming act.
"Duff McWhalean, the Maverick Hunters need permission to use this part of the ocean to produce Hydrogen for the Enigma laser. Are you willing to help us out?" Zero got straight to the point but kept his cool, not wanting to incite any possible rage the Reploid might've had.
"A laser, eh? Ah yes, to deal with that pesky falling hunk of metal..." Duff McWhalean waved a hand beside his head and grinned as best he could with his squared teeth and boxed, chiseled jaw, "Well who am I to stop ya? Take as much hydrogen as you require. I may be a sea lubber, but it'd be a harpoon to my heart to see the land be made barren."
"...Thank you for your cooperation." Zero was a bit surprised but at the same time relieved.
"However, since I've granted your request, would you be so kind as to listen to the ramblings of an old cetacea for a moment?"
"I should be getting back to base." Zero tried to respond without coming across as rude.
"I promise not to waste your time," Duff McWhalean's tone grew somber, and with a closing of his eyes he let out a sigh and crossed his arms as best he could, "My time grows short, Captain Zero. You can feel it too, can't ya? The Sigma Virus pollutes my waters like a swarm of pesky krill. I may already be infected and not even know it."
"...I've traversed many a sea, sunk into the deepest abyss, and yet it is the thought of losing myself to madness that scares me the most." Duff McWhalean lifted his head and stared at Zero with a sullen weight to his eyes.
"I know you're capable. You managed to kill Colonel during the Repliforce war, after all..." His remark caused a cross expression to form on Zero's face, but before he overextended his opinion on the subject the Reploid bit his tongue and said what was necessary, "Please. Heed this weary Reploid's request, and give me a proper burial at sea through battle...Captain Zero."
Zero didn't hesitate to draw his blade from the back and activate it with a click of the button. He brandished it at his foe and stated with a clear intent to fight, "Then don't hold anything back!"
"Ha! These joints may be rusting, but they can still keep up with the likes of you laddie!" Duff McWhalean then pounded the ground with his bare fist hard enough to quake the room. Parts of the wall behind him pushed forth in the form of icy cubes, forming an advancing wall towards Zero.
The Hunter ran at it, using his jet boots to propel himself through the pressurized water. One sword swipe was enough to cleave through the ice in his path, but in turn said swing left him vulnerable to the Reploid's agile charge. The full force of Duff McWhalean's head rammed into Zero's entire body, hammering him back into the wall.
Zero rebounded off it and the Reploid swam up, grabbing an ice cube that floated in place and throwing it into the Hunter's body. Zero recovered in the nick of time to slice the ice in twine, floating to the ground as the mammoth machine dove head-first towards his opponent. Zero turned around and swung his sword over the back, transforming raw energy into a spike of thick, hardened ice to protect himself. Even the girth of Duff McWhalean's head couldn't penetrate Zero's defenses, succeeding only in chip a bit of it off.
"You're not the only one who can use ice." Zero stated with firm confidence in himself as he kept his guard up. The Reploid smirked and pulled back with a swish of the tail, dragging his right fist back and clenching it into a fist.
"Not bad, but I break floes like that for breakfast!" He smashed his fist into the ice with a single, valiant lunge, cracking it across the middle. Then, only one more punch was necessary to shatter it whole, leaving Zero with only the tangible blade for protection.
The Hunter spun around and sliced his sword out, etching a scar down the center of the Reploids' face. Duff McWhalean swam back and landed on the ground, grabbing at the water with his fingertips and pulling them close to his body. The force of his tug dredged the underwater currents towards Zero, threatening to bury him under the many cubes of ice that still remained.
Zero placed the sword on his back and punched the ground, a flurry of light spraying forth from his knuckles as the room was bathed in a brief pearl flash. A rain of beams came down from the ceiling and pierced through the ice, disintegrating them down to a fine mist and keeping Duff McWhalean at bay.
Zero then reached right for his sword and swung it out out, firing off a wave of green energy towards his opponent. Duff McWhalean clapped his hands together to shatter the energy, but Zero then leapt over his hands and began to spin like a pinwheel towards his head with his saber acting as the blade.
Grinding along the top of the whale's body, Zero carved a fissure halfway into him before the Reploid blew him away with a blast of air from his tiny spout. Zero spun around with a firm swing of his sword, throwing his free hand up to push himself away from the ceiling and plummet to the ground. Immediately upon landing he leaned forward and charged at his opponent with sword bound near the hip.
As he swung the blade up in a hefty arc, Duff McWhalean lashed his tail at him as hard as he could. Zero tilted his blade a bit to the right and intercepted the tail with a decisive cut, cleaving it clean off from the rest of the body. The Reploid paused, eyes wide with shock, but kept fighting all the same just a second later. He turned around and dragged the very waters around his body, whisking up a current that forced Zero to plant his sword before he was carried away.
When the current seemed to start dying down, Zero leapt up without keep a grasp on his sword, floating above the scar he had created earlier with a buster at the ready. The Reploid's eyes focused upward, and an ease washed over his body like the settling tide. Closing his eyes, he waited as Zero fired a single piercing shot from his buster, puncturing the wound and penetrating Duff McWhalean's core.
The moment the core was destroyed, the Reploid's legs gave in to his incredible weight and his whole body fell to the ground in a ruined heap. Zero landed on the ground behind him and glanced back, and Duff McWhalean's body creaked as he made one final effort to speak.
"...It was a lovely...voooooyaaaaaageeee..." His voice broke down until it was completely silent. Zero was then left alone, with only the bubbles rising from the Reploid's corpse offering any noise. He walked past the Reploid and looked at his body. Until the very end, he lived with pride in his heart and a love for the sea. For a brief second before picking up his sword, Zero gave Duff McWhalean a solemn salute.
Once the sword was on his back and his opponent's tail had been picked up, Zero began to raise a hand to the side of his head to communicate with Alia. Before he said anything, however, what his opponent had said before bothered him.
"I may already be infected and not even know it..."
Zero glanced down at his body and looked it over in extensive detail. His arms and legs obeyed his every thought, his strength was still his own, and yet for some reason he couldn't shake off the sensation that something was wrong.
"Zero? Zero, are you there?"
Alia's interruption delayed his train of thought, but this time instead of denying her pressing inquiry he said, "Alia, contact the science division. When I get back, I want them to run a quick diagnosis on me."
"...Alright. Better safe than sorry, right?"
"Right..." Zero wasn't certain in his response, but would only be able to linger on his doubts for a second more before he was warped away from the cold, lonesome arctic depths...
Next Time: My Comrade
