Chapter 9: The Infernal Destroyer, Mattrex
A few minutes ago, at the Maverick Hunter HQ...
Alex was standing around in the command center with X and Alia, watching Shina's activities through the navigator's perfectly visible laptop. He didn't have anything to say on the matter the entire time she was in the planetarium, preferring instead to stay in his usual subdued posture of contemplation.
Then, Alia had the utter GALL to start asking Shina questions about what she was going to do when her journey was over. At that moment, Alex's "peace" was disturbed with what was meant to be little more than a harmless four word inquiry.
"And what about Alex?"
With that, Alia had inadvertently ensnared Shina in a trap of sorts, forcing the girl to respond in a manner that would not go down well with Alex regardless of what answer she chose. It was both sad and yet hardly surprising when Shina went down the most oblivious route possible and answered, "I don't know what he'll do when this is all said and done. He's not really the 'deep and personal' kinda guy, ya know?"
The boy parted his crossed arms and laid one hand in his pocket, letting loose an almost lion-like growl as he stared daggers into the monitor. More than likely due to Reploids' having no nerves to speak of, Alia did not sense Alex's hostility in the slightest and continued to badger Shina further about the subject. Shina could have salvaged herself from the grave she had begun to dig, it wasn't that hard of a task really...
But alas, she took it upon herself to replace the shovel in her hands with a massive drill, and continued to plow a grave deeper and darker than should really have been necessary.
"You'd be better off asking him...somehow."
Such evasive disregard for the subject, combined with a blatant lack of thought put into Alex's feelings towards it, set the boy off in a steaming huff. He rushed up beside Alia's chair and kept staring into the screen with a stronger glare than before, hoping to penetrate the distance between the two of them to no avail. He curled his lips into a scowl and declared to grab her attention, "I'm standing right here, Shina."
When the girl could be seen flinching, Alex crossed his arms and furrowed his brows downward, letting out a second-long growl before twisting his glare towards Alia for a moment. He then swung his arms out and proclaimed, "Now will you two quit bawking like hens and stay focused?!"
He slammed the door shut on any further conversation from the two and turned around, storming off with steps that sent light tremors through the command center. He only stopped once at the center of the room, crossing his arms back up and rippling his lips into scowl while grumbling.
Shina's choice of words left Alex's chest clenching up in a tight, iron vice, the pain he experienced like an inferno that raged far worse than any sun. Disappointment, rage, and sadness, those were the emotions that guided the venomous words in Alex's mind to his mouth.
"So that's how she feels huh...?" His tone was a whisper of lunacy, as he then proceeded to crack a dry smirk and go, "Hmph! To hell with what she thinks! I poured my heart out to her, and she...she...!"
"Has the nerve to throw it all back in your face without a care?" A voice similar to Alex's own echoed in his mind, carrying with it a sultry, devilish tone that was strangely full of empathy towards the boy's frustrated plight. Alex, however, did not have anything nice to say to that voice.
"Shut. UP. I don't need you!" He growled out with a tense glare upward.
"Why the constant hostility? I've always been here for you...Ever since you wished for the pain to go away all those years ago, I've been ready to relieve you of it forever."
"I wish you'd go away..." Alex said with a tired, almost defeated slump of the body.
"If that's all it took to be rid of me, then we both know I'd be gone by now...But you do need me, you DO want me. We...are one and the same."
Alex's body went cold for a moment, as though he was being embraced by a spectre, while the voice in his head continued to speak, "She may have hurt us...But I never will. So why don't you stop wasting our time, and let me get rid of those who have caused us this pain..."
"You'll NEVER lay a hand on Shina." Alex shook his shoulders to remove the sensation with gruff defiance.
"...The closer you hold someone to your heart, the easier it'll be for them to tear it out. Whenever you are done suffering this pain, remember...I'll always be here for us."
The voice subsided into silence, leaving Alex worse off than he was before. He gestured his head around a little and grumbled, his body hardly able to keep itself still as he began to tap his right toes on the ground and crossed and uncrossed his arms multiple times in a row.
"Damn it...damnitdamnitdamnit!"
Torment boiled within Alex's body like a volcano about to erupt as he began to recognize how pointless the last year or so of his life may end up being. His efforts will lead to a tyrant being overthrown, certainly, but what was left for him after that? Shina will return home to her family and live a life of peaceful bliss...While all he gets is a return to a life of cold, empty solitude.
But he didn't want that. He simply could not accept that as a 'reward' after everything he's gone through. All the mountains he periled, the chasms he crossed, and the hurtles he overcame...All for the chance to grasp the happiness that had long since eluded him. But his desires, his wants, and his needs were immaterial in the eyes of the universe, and no matter hard he wanted that to change he could not force something as immeasurible a force as the whims of fate to yield to him.
Nor, either, would he force Shina to yield. Even after she had rejected his love, he respected her too much to even consider that option. Instead, he forced himself to accept the situation for what it was, and decided there was just one option available to him now.
"...Fine, if she's in such a hurry to get home...!" He spun around and dashed right for Alia, grabbing the back of her chair and jerking it around so she'd get a good look at him. Her face contorted into surprise while grabbed onto the lip of her desk to stop moving, upon which she stared up at Alex and proclaimed, "W-What are you-?!"
"You guys want to destroy Eurasia sooner? Then input the coordinates to the shuttle part in Kenya and I'll go get it." Alex held firm onto the chair and glared into Alia's eyes to project how serious he was. X stayed cautiously aside, noticing that something was off about Alex's behavior.
Alia shook her head once then reminded the boy, "We can't send another person out until the power-"
"Don't give me that tripe! The teleporter can handle one more transport. Now, input the coordinates...!" Alex's grit his teeth together and growled the last bit of his demands through them.
"H-Hang on a second..." X approached Alex and tried to put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, but the boy brushed him off with a sharp shove back. Before the situation escalated, Alia turned herself back towards the laptop and shifted focus away from Shina's fight with Dark Dizzy to place the coordinates in.
"Fine, fine. I guess it's worth trying..." When she tapped the final number down, she twisted her head back and met Alex's glare with one that left him placated for a moment, "But if the system goes down, then you better hope we can get it back online or we're all screwed."
"Don't get your britches in a bunch, we'll be fine." Alex brushed the matter off with nonchalance as he turned around and made his way for the door. Sensing X's stare locked firmly onto his back, Alex glanced over his left shoulder for just a moment. The Hunter looked as though he wanted to say something, but just like the boy he stayed silent and allowed things to play out. Alex exited the room and went for the teleporter.
With JUST enough power left in it's systems, the teleporter sent Alex off to his destination. He landed in the center of a mechanical silo, whose circumference was defined by a mixture of volcanic rock and silver-red metal. The heat was sweltering, and Alex was surprised by how fast he had to use his powers to protect his body from the temperature.
After he had converted the scorching air around him into a mid-summer's breeze, Alex began to make his way down the ledges of the silo before Alia could even get in contact with him, "Well, turns out I was right. Thanks to this little overexertion the teleporters are down. If there's any good news, at least the whole building didn't get fried in the process."
"Great, so it'll be easy to get them back up and running." As the boy went deeper in, he drew his sword to cut down the small turret-like Reploids patrolling the area, even the ones that were not in his line of sight.
"We're LUCKY it will take only a little effort to fix it! Don't ever try that kind of stunt again." Her rage was understandable, but Alex would not pay heed to it as he reached the bottom of the silo. At the bottom, most traces of metal were buried amongst seething lava rock, and the air heated up to the point of becoming blurred.
"What's with this place? The temperature in here is ridiculous..." Alex commented to himself as he continued to adjust his body to handle the increase in heat.
"The area you are in is connected to a volcano. I've heard rumors that illegal weapons have been produced here using the energy made by magma."
"A volcano? Yeah, that'd make sense but..." Alex looked around him. The lava rocks were glowing bright-orange, and the level of heat in this area was almost blinding. With just a mere tap of the foot on the ground, the boy could tell that there were tremors in the volcano up ahead, meaning it may be on the verge of going active.
"Something's not right." He thought to himself. He had never known the 'pleasure' of entering a volcano before, but it didn't take much thinking to understand that his powers should make the smoldering temperatures of one a neglible issue. And yet, even he was having trouble keeping the endless tidal wave of heat at bay.
"I know you think you can brave the elements, but be careful-"
"Alia, I don't need you badgering me on what to do. Just shut up and wait for me to give the signal to teleport back." Alex was still taking offense to her earlier inquires, but now she herself was not in the mood to give in to his demands.
"No. It is my job as a navigator to see your mission through to the end. So you're just going to have to deal with me whether you like it or not."
"Mrghhfrrggh...Fine. Just tell me the fastest route to the shuttle part and I'll blaze a path through this stupid volcano."
"Go on ahead and you'll find a passage that'll take you further into the volcano. But be careful, I imagine the-" Alia bit her tongue partway through and then instead murmured out, "Actually, forget it. You can probably handle the dangers up ahead just fine."
"Thank you." Alex was both sincere and relieved at her sealing those chatty lips up tight and letting him be for the next stretch of the road. Running forward, he leapt down the gap in the floor and ended up deeper in the volcano. Now his feet began to sizzle until he coated the bottoms of his shoes in lava rock, and he turned his head to find a sea of lava churning down below.
The lava was tumultuous, as though swept up in the midst of a violent hurricane. Some of it splashed up dozens of feet into the air when getting in contact with the walls and craggy pillars, and Alex had to take a couple steps back to avoid being pestered by the mere molecules of lava that may dare to graze his skin. Unable to shake off the ominous feeling that plagued the volcano, Alex was caught off-guard when a raging inferno of lava gushed through the tunnel he was in and dragged him into a small metallic protrusion.
His right arm cracked as the weight of the rest of his body pressed against it, the lava bearing down on his body like it was nothing more than a can in a trash compactor. Quickly gritting his teeth and slamming his left hand against the wall, he pushed against the pressure even as fighting it strained his back. The wave of lava subsided by the time he was off, and the boy threw his body into a panting hunch forward while taking the occasional moment to gasp for air.
"What the hell is going on here...?!" Alex was having a very difficult time believing that it was an inexperience with volcanoes that was screwing him up here. Something or someone was affecting the volcano, which could only mean one thing...
"Is the artifact piece...in this volcano?" Deducing that from the evidence given seemed so right in Alex's mind that his body eased up in a matter of seconds. He clenched his hands into fists and then vaulted over the protrusion he had once been pinned to. Then, he kicked off the edge of it and flew on ahead, even as another torrent of lava pursued him from behind.
He zipped forward like a rocket, shattering through any obstacles in his path with little resistance until he broke through a golden door like it was no thicker than rice paper. Once there the lava was of no consequence, as only a fragment of it slipped through the person-sized door. Alex then landed on the ground and slid forward until he was at the edge of a path overlooking a lake of stagnant lava.
At this point the machinery seemed to have disappeared, replaced with the natural land masses that composed the volcano. Yet here the tremors were worsening, and the lava rocks were dislodging themselves from the ceiling and splashing into the sea below. Alex edged away from the lava and received a somewhat panicked warning from Alia.
"I'm sensing some heavy seismic activity in the area. Could it be that the volcano...?!"
"If it's going to erupt then I don't have much time," Alex kept his cool, for only he knew the truth of what was going on in this area, "How much further do I have to go?"
"If you think your body can handle the lava, a quick swim in that sea will get you to your destination." She suggested without a moment's wait.
"Yeah, I can do it." The boy said with a firm nod of confidence, and after coating his body in a thick bubble of air to divert the flow of lava he threw his body forward with arms extended out and dove right into the lava as though it was nothing more than a kiddie pool. He paddled his legs and feet and swung his arms around and around, breezing through the sea of lava with a speed that would make even Olympists blush.
Then, at the end of the lake he breeched through to the surface like a dolphin and performed a quick flip to land on a craggy perch next to it. He let the air loose from around his body and gave himself a quick shake just to be sure, then after readjusting his vision from exposure to the seething lava he noticed that he had ended up right in front of a Dr. Light capsule.
Considering he had no intention of sticking around in the world once the artifact piece was acquired, Alex at first hesitated to approach the capsule. He shifted his body away from it and bit his lower lip, raising a hand up as though ready to debate with himself the merits of getting the armor part for X. Leaving his pointer finger limp before his palm, he growled and then swung back around, his feet picking themselves up with the weight of solid concrete as he lugged himself over to the capsule.
The capsule opened up, and Dr. Light's hologram appeared as per usual. The boy gestured his right hand out and said, "I'm not in the mood to talk doc. Just let me get the armor part and I'll be on my way."
"A-Alright?" Dr. Light stuttered while responding with a confused but polite flutter of his eyelids. He then disappeared for a moment so Alex could step on the platform. The data flow went through without a hitch, and the boy jumped off with hands tucked in his pockets as he prepared to leave. However, Dr. Light's hologram reappeared with a stern glare towards the boy and a few crucial, parting words.
"Recklessness can lead to helplessness...Do not make any mistake you'll never have a chance to regret, Alex."
The capsule sealed itself shut a second later, with Alex standing still on the edge of the platform. After a subdued growl the boy kicked himself off the ground and performed a quick flip around and above to reach a higher ledge. The usual metallic door that'd be there had been melted down into a still liquidified puddle, with the surface of it bubbling out a lethal dose of carbon monixide. The tunnel up ahead burned hotter than a microwave chamber, and one touch of it by a regular Reploid would leave them to the same fate as the door.
The rocks hissed with steam, and the tremors in the volcano grew worse and worse. If there wasn't already a hell on Earth, this place would surely suffice. Even with this boiling cauldron staring him down, Alex tucked his fists beside his hips and treaded onward. Only halfway into the tunnel did a crackle and pop come from the boy's right ear. The communicator was fried, the last thing he heard being a broken up and muffled warning from Alia.
The second door along the path was worse off than the last, being so seething bright that it was comparable to magma. The compact room beyond was white hot, making it any wonder how the whole place hadn't collapsed into a molten heap. Alex didn't touch anything beyond the floor as he hopped off the ledge and landed on the ground. Through the humid fog that left not even a milimeter of air untouched, a deep-throated, primal growl echoed out as a titantic figure prowled into view.
Quakes rocked the foundation of the volcano with every step they took, and the slow, guttural breaths they took forced the hot air into Alex's face and made him squirm. When the monster was halfway through the room, just the mere act of leaning their head forward was enough to cross the remaining distance. The hot air cleared from the presence of a hollow black aura and raging blue flames that surrounded the being.
Then, just like that, Alex was face-to-face with a robot built to look like the mighty tyrannosaurus. His head was small in comparison to the rest of his body, and his stubby arms would never be able to reach it. His mouth was filled with enough fangs to tear a car in two with a single bite, and his hands were adorned with thick and rugged claws that through the foundations of a skyscraper. Along the length of his spine and tail were a series of towering blue flames whose tips lashed against the ceiling and turned the melting stone to blistering steam. And their body was composed of a black and blue metal, with eyes as hollow and white as pure winter snow.
Even with the Reploid hunched over, Alex knew they should not be this big. The black aura was the giveaway that this Reploid, known by the name of Mattrex, had been made the victim of the whims of the one who had long been tormenting Alex and Shina on their journey. Despite having the grandiose appearance of the king of the dinosaurs, Mattrex was once no feral beast. He was proud, perhaps a little too defiant, and yet a perfect fit as a member of Repliforce's disaster prevention team.
Despite being corrupted into this monstrous form, he wore the symbol of Repliforce upon the center of his snout. Of course, history could just as well been different for Mattrex. He may still have been rough around the edges, but had a kind heart towards those in need. Or maybe he had formed a brotherhood with his comrades, and he survived the Repliforce War to forever honor the lives that had been lost. There would be no way of knowing now, for Alex's tiresome war against that enigmatic being had now gotten another innocent being swept up in their fight...
"Mattrex's sanity is gone...He's nothing more than a feral beast. How many lives will that bastard ruin before they're satisfied?" The rage Alex had towards that being could not overcome the pity he directed towards Mattrex with his slumped gaze. Anger was a wasteful emotion now, for the being watching knew how much he had come to hate them. Now, with the being holding the final artifact piece pressing their nostrils a foot away from his face, Alex sealed his emotions tight in his heart and set the air around his body ablaze. He could not match the inferno that wreathed the dino's body, but that was never his intention.
"Mattrex, I will end your suffering." One sentence was all he needed to say to set the Reploid off, as they proceeded to rip their mouth apart to assault the boy with a loud, humid roar. Alex threw his right fist into the bottom of the dinosaur's jaw, bludgeoning it inward and causing Mattrex to retreat with a more pained roar.
The top of it's head carved through the molten rock above and caused it to come cascading down along both sides of his face. Mattrex swung his head forward like wielding a blunt club, then opened his mouth to launch a large blue fireball at the boy. Alex summoned his sword and cut it in half, then sped forward and plunged his sword into the dinosaur's chest. Mattrex reared his head down and jerked his body left to right, picking Alex off from the ground and slamming him against the molten walls.
The ceiling began to cave in, coming down in the form of a thick, white-hot glob. As it wrapped itself like a blanket around Mattrex's body, his violent shakedown managed to throw Alex away with the sword still impaled in his chest. Alex landed back first into the boiling magma and slid through it for only two feet before pushing himself upright, his body riddled with a scathing steam.
Without a second thought he clapped his hands and caused the sword to let loose a burst of electricity that tore through Mattrex's innards and forced the blade free. The boy then galloped along the surface of the fallen magma and plucked his sword from the air in an attempt to slash through the dinosaur. But even with his body riddled with holes, Mattrex swung his lower jaw down with the force of a jackhammer and pounded Alex deeper into the ground.
Then, Mattrex buried his snout into Alex's chest and hoisted him out of the ground, ramming him against what little remained of the ceiling. The magma oozed around the boy's body, and the Reploid's attack left him defenseless for a brief but painful second. He fought back with a scream and a thrust of his hands, lashing out dozens of thick streams of electricity that tore into Mattrex's mammoth-sized body.
Mattrex stumbled back, flames spurting forth from his mouth, while Alex landed on the ground and coiled his fingers into tight fists. He stampeded forward one thunderous step at a time, and the Reploid responded by swinging it's entire body around to try and swat him away with the tail. Alex threw his left fist downward without turning his body even a single degree, smashing the tip of the tail into flying scrap that bounced off the side of his body.
"Enough of these games!" He yelled out as Mattrex reared his head forward and lunged it out. The boy threw his right up in a clean hook and cracked the side of the dinosaur's jaw, but he lunged in for another attack. Alex threw another punch to the other side of the face, and the bottom of the jaw started to dislodge itself. Even still, the dinosaur was relentless, and strained it's mouth open with a tremoring roar to go in for a bite. Alex thrust both of his hands into the center of the Reploid's teeth and held him off without budging an inch.
Gritting his teeth down, Alex pushed both sides of Mattrex's jaw apart, causing his whole head to rupture in two when enough pressure was applied.
"The lives you've tormented, the suffering you've caused...THIS ENDS NOW!" Alex held nothing back as he swung his arms up and down upon rendering Mattrex's head worthless, staring deep into the rupturing throat. He leaned back as the weight of the dinosaur began to collapse upon him, then shot forward like a bullet through the Reploid's body, piercing out of the backside covered in magma.
He turned around, in his right hand a curved stone that had somehow managed to survive the ludicrous heat. Once he had ripped this stone free, the black aura vanished from Mattrex's body, but his size and colors did not return to normal. Not that it mattered, seeing how he was now deceased. The rampaging heat cooled down in an instant, and the magma hardened into a thick solid form. It was unnatural, but this whole situation had reeked of unnatural in the first place.
Now, Mattrex's body was buried under the hardened magma, no doubt unaware of his final moments. Alex looked down and pitied the Reploid for just a moment and nothing longer before turning away and landing himself on a crevice that had formed from the magma. He lifted the artifact piece before his face and yet, despite there being a sense of finality to this whole ordeal, nothing about this could bring the boy to smile. After ten seconds of silence, he began to lower his arm to put the stone in his pocket while blinking nice and slow.
As his hand neared the rim of his pocket, one blink was all it took for the environment around Alex to be washed away by a pure, ebony darkness. His eyes fluttered faster while the body stiffened up by a tense unease. He shifted his gaze left then right, finding nothing in sight besides a tiny ring resembling a spotlight at his feet. There was no sound until he took a breath, but the very moment he does another voice spoke out to him.
"Life is simply unfair, don't you think?" Their tone was deep but spoken through a grainy filter, a clear attempt to disguise what their gender was. Alex spun around without a moment's hesitation, finding himself with fifteen feet of a strangely dressed figure. They were garbed in an all-black cloak that stretched to the ground, with a top piece that has short, wide sleeves and a torn bottom. There was a distinct violet butterfly pin on their left shoulder, and a wide brimmed black hat atop their head. Covering their hands were a pair of black opera gloves rolled to the elbows, complete with claw-like fingers grasping onto a red staff. Protecting their identity even further was a traditional plague doctor mask with gold detailing.
"There are times where a single, solitary snail...can make a whole world go extinct..."
The person parted their arms with the staff in their right, greeting the boy with the utmost politeness, "How are you doing...young gastropod?"
Alex swung his right hand up and summoned his sword, pointing it with a harsh and hostile glare towards the person in front of him, "What the hell do you want now?!"
The person planted their palms on the top of the staff and tapped it onto the ground, standing the poise of a gentleman, "Is that the proper way to greet someone you haven't spoken to in many months? I see your manners have not improved since our last meeting."
The staff was lifted and then tapped down once, making a simple ripple appear on the ground as they spoke, "I am Zero II..."
"Liar!" Alex shot down their introduction on the spot, his face twisting up into a bitter, wrinkled state.
"Am I really lying, in some manner of speaking? I hardly think you are fit to deny who I am, for the knowledge of this current guise of mine has yet to penetrate the deep recesses of your mind."
Alex opened his eyes a little then tilted his head an inch to the left, twisting his blade until it was horizontal, "Don't bother with your goddamn mind games. I got the last artifact piece, it's over!"
"Over? Over, you say...How curious. You may have all the artifact pieces, but the Cosmos Drive still evades you. By what definition is this...'over'?" The person spoke without fault, as though they were long since prepared for every response that the boy would give, "This 'game' will end when I say it does. Your words shall never hold any sway over this matter, so it is futile to try."
"Then show your true face and fight me. We'll settle this here and now!"
"I have not come looking for a fight...But if you survive what's yet to come, perhaps you shall receive your wish," The person raised their staff adjacent to their hip and waved their other hand around in circles, "I merely wish to talk to you for a bit. Your own input is...optional, but I will not be rude if you choose to open your mouth."
"...Hrrr..." Alex wanted to attack, but something was preventing him from doing so. It wasn't fear, it wasn't caution, but rather that it felt as though ropes were wrapped around his entire body and leaving him paralyzed.
"I find Reploids...fascinating, don't you?" The person placed their staff back down and with a tap caused hundreds of Reploids to swarm the area, sweeping up both Alex and them within. The Reploids had a physical presence to them, but as they walked about they only passed through Alex and the enigmatic person's body.
While Alex looked around and found his body left in an abnormal state, as every Reploid that passed him by caused him to suffer a brief stint of dizziness and a churning in his stomach. The mysterious person was unaffected, and continued with his head hung over the crowd.
"Reploids were designed to be the next stage in robot evolution...Given the ability to think and feel like any other human, the Reploids could integrate themselves more easily into human society to help them with whatever they require."
"What a curious contradiction...Reploids were modeled to live amongst the humans, and yet in the end they are still perceived no better as tools than the robots of the past were. But now things are different...With the ability to think for themselves, Reploids can try and demand equality from their human peers."
"But that shall always be the flaw of the humanity...Whatever they perceive as 'different' or a 'threat' will be feared. And from fear comes anger, then hate, and finally..." The Reploids began to collapse into a heap with a sway of the person's staff, and from the sky rained down a hailstorm of bloodied human corpses that piled upon the heap and filled the void with the rotten smell of decay, "Suffering..."
The smell was far too real. It penetrated deep into Alex's nostrils and left him nauseous, forcing his body to hunch over and nearly wretch in disgust. The person lifted their legs and stood atop the corpses as though they were mere stepping stones, getting just a couple feet closer before inquiring, "Just a mere one hundred lives are enough to make your stomach curl, Phoenix of Destruction? How curious...Seeing how your actions cost the lives of six billion people."
Alex widened his eyes then flung himself up to his feet, swinging his arms out in a lanky fashion before proclaiming, "How...how do you know that?!"
"You cannot run from who you are or what you've done. I have made certain...no matter how far you run, the truth shall always...catch up with you." The staff's impact with the ground was stronger and louder, as though the person dropped a judge's gavel upon their authoritative perch, and the Reploids and humans vanished. Alex looked up, and the person disappeared as well.
"But the time for your judgment shall come later...perhaps." Alex felt a chill crawl down his spine and looked back, finding that the person was now walking clockwise around his body.
"Now, shall I continue?" It wasn't a request, but rather a pause in the conversation until they had gotten to the left of Alex's body.
"The suffering of Reploids refuses to end, as no matter how hard they struggle, their superiors will not heed their requests. No happiness, no equality...To humans, Reploids deserve nothing more than the dirt they walk on. And yet, Reploids continue to fight to try and claim what they desire most...Freedom."
"Some do so peacefully, others resort to violence. For in the end, Reploids reflect all aspects of mankind, both good and bad."
Once the person was in front of Alex, the boy got a little fed up with this tirade and exclaimed, "What's the point of any of this? If you're stalling to prevent me from getting the artifact piece to Shina-"
"Hardly my intention, I can assure you," The person propped their head up and looked towards the 'sky', "Like I said, I merely wished to talk for a bit. I am almost done, and the point of all this shall present itself soon enough..."
Alex growled internally, but didn't have a word or action to delay the speech of the enigma.
"However, there is one crucial difference between humans and Reploids...The Maverick Virus. With but one infection, even the most peaceful of Reploids go rogue, becoming monsters guided only by a desire to turn against their creators."
"You, of all people, can imagine how frightening of a thought that is. Sanity becomes fleeting, flesh and sinew that once obeyed now turned against you, and not even a shred of hope remains that you will regain your freedom...Until you are terminated."
The being tapped the ground with their staff, and the familiar whir of energy charging entered Alex's ears as he jerked his head back just in time to watch a figment of X fire a charged shot through his chest. There was no flesh missing, but Alex still dropped to the ground as though his chest had been made hollow. With hands planted on a shaky hold and mouth drenched by a fevered pant, Alex heard the tappings of footsteps as the person got within one feet of his body and then stopped.
"Yes. An eternal suffering...a yearning for freedom that will never come...and the fear of a loss of control at any given moment. This world needed no reason to gift you the flesh of a machine, for you wore their skin the moment you were born."
Alex clasped a hand to the center of his chest and rose up, scowling at the being as his body grew cold and limp from the illusionary embrace of death, "Bastard...! I'm nothing like the Reploids!"
"Because you have known what's it like to lose and to love? You simply have to look to the Zero of this world, to understand how little such an argument holds up..."
"Or perhaps it is because you believe that you serve a higher-purpose? Then perhaps Sigma is a more apt comparison, in that regard. Either way, both examples punctuate the point I am trying to make, as you are merely nothing more than a puppet to a higher power...And what you want from life, shall never reach such deafened ears..."
"To hell with your condescending...BULLSHIT!" Alex raised up and swung his right hand up, but instead of fire emerging from the palm all he got was the tip of the person's staff touching up against it.
"I see I have far since worn out my welcome. Know this, Phoenix of Destruction...If fate is truly on your side just this once, then I can promise you one thing. When next we meet, there will be no more deception. We shall both peel away our masks, and meet each other face-to-face as our true selves. Personally, I look forward to our encounter..."
The person turned away and placed their staff on the ground, appearing to walk away into the shadows of the void. But before their ebony form became one with the darkness surrounding them, they peered over their left shoulder and let out a somewhat embarrassed cough.
"Forgive me...Where are my manners? I should leave you with a parting 'gift' after you allowed me to occupy your mind for as long as you have."
"My...mind?" Alex grumbled with growing confusion.
"So for my 'gift', I shall leave you to ponder upon a question...If you are currently inside your mind...Then just who, pray tell, is guiding your body on the outside?"
"No..." Alex's body became riddled with goosebumps and his heart twisted into a strangulating knot. He spun around and began to run, picking up his feet as fast as he could and leaving the being far in his wake.
"I told you, Phoenix of Destruction. There shall be no more running..."
Alex ran and ran, panting even as his body wanted to give up and collapse. Stress clasped his head and refused to let go, and fear left him feeling as cold as the winter tundra. Yet no matter how far he ran, only the darkness of his mind greeted him as a cage, it's bars more durable than even the toughest metals known in the universe.
"No! No! No! NO!"
"No! No! No! NO!" His voiced screamed as an echo of thought within his own mind, while on the outside his body coiled both fingers around the artifact piece as a black aura formed around him. His face, having been left docile for what may as well been an eternity, began to creak like a mummy coming to life. The lips curled into a smirk, and the hand tucked the artifact piece into his pocket.
"Don't worry. Now that I'm free, we will finally be able to get what we've always wanted.." The body's head lowered, revealing that the boy's once brown irises had turned a bright and bloody red, complete with a visage of Alex pounding in futility against the pupils for a couple seconds.
"And that is a world where no one will ever, EVER be able to hurt us again! And our revenge shall begin with the one who hurt us the most...That ungrateful bitch Shina Aurora!"
For Alex, the worst thing he could have possibly imagined had now come to pass. He was left a prisonwe in his own body, while his destructive split-personality now took the reins. And worst of all, with the power of the artifact piece bound to his body, there was no telling what kind of hell he could unleash upon not just this world, but the entire universe. But in Alex's opinion, the worst thing of all was that everything he and Shina had accomplished would all be rendered pointless because of one, just one, mistake...
"Oh god...Oh god...Everyone...I-I'm...sorry..." Was all he could whimper, as he collapsed onto his knees in a pitiful, defeated slump...
Next Time: X's Struggle