Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma

Chapter 21: Precursor to the End

The part of the area we were in didn't look very familiar at all. It looked dingier, more ready to keel over. The design told me it was near where the capsule used to be. So I began running through the enemy-less illusion to that capsule's spot. I lost my sense of mind while doing so; I completely forgot about the Hunters. When I looked back to call them over, I only saw darkness. Had I lost my way somehow? No, I barely ran a few yards. "Hey!" I called. "X! Zero! Anyone hear me?" I dropped to my knees. I rubbed my head. "What's going on?" I wasn't tainted by the Mist. I felt all my strength. I just couldn't force myself to get up. I was so confused.

"Solar Comet!" Light suddenly destroyed all the darkness around me. I was able to see again. Behind me were the Hunters.

"What just happened?" I asked.

Axl shook his head. "Your guess is a good as ours. It had to be the Mist."

"Right," I said softly. My legs still wouldn't budge. "I have to try and free myself. Go look for the capsule," I told them. They nodded and ran to the wall before us. Axl fired the Terra Bomber at the wall, destroying it. They all ran into the new opening.

I channeled my energy to my legs. I still couldn't move them. I channeled energy to my arms and tried to lift myself that way. I still couldn't move. I concentrated my energy all throughout my body. I screamed at the top of my lungs, releasing an explosion of light. The ground below me was blown away into a crater. It was then that I discovered why I couldn't move. Green bubbly water stuck my legs to the ground. I fired a blast of energy to clean myself of it. It flew off me and bubbled in the air. It formed into another shape; a purple flea Reploid. "Infinity Mijinion," I scowled. From beyond his glass helmet, his eyes seemed to be laughing at me. A godlike warrior like myself caught by a little water flea. Degrading.

An explosion came from where the Hunters ran to. The four of them flew to the ground in front of me. "What the hell?" I asked.

Axl struggled, "Unicrown played a trick on us."

Again, my reaction was "Huh? What do you mean?"

X continued, "A capsule was in the same place it used to be. Dr. Light gave me the final upgrade, the Nova Strike. But afterwards, Unicrown appeared behind it and blasted us back out here."

"Damn, that's clever," I muttered.

Unicrown ran over to us and grabbed Mijinion. The flea turned back into the green water and covered Unicrown. The horse hunched over almost as if he was in pain. His back started to change shape. Two sets of arms sprouted from it, each with its own lance. I frowned in disgust. "Oh Lord."

Four more Mijinions appeared out of nowhere. All five of them hovered over us. I sighed heavily. "Oh fuck me." All five proceeded to attack me in tandem. I couldn't parry every blow. One of the lances punctured my leg deep. I shrieked in pain.

Dynamo swung a rock-covered sword at Unicrown, releasing his grip on the lance in my leg. Dynamo knelt over me. "Damn, you're pretty banged up."

I nodded. "I'll sit this one out for now." I slowly began healing myself.

Axl fired a Delta Bomber into each Mijinion, destroying them. X began charging the Twin Ivory, and Zero used the Douryuken. Unicrown was brought down to the ground. X sprouted horns on his helmet. "Rage Ivory!" He charged into Unicrown, who was just getting up. X shot the horns, dragging Unicrown into a tree. X then finished it off by charging at Unicrown enveloped in energy. "Nova Strike!"

Once again, the room began warping. Once finished, we were in Armor Armarge's mines. My leg had finally healed, so I stood up and changed to my male self. Almost immediately, the mines began crumbling. Needless to say, we began running away. We continued like that for a long time.

We eventually ran into a dead end. The path below us was filled. Luckily, the mines stopped collapsing. Zero called to the Bulbrite, "Is there any way out of here?"

There was a delay at the other end. "We can't find anything," Alia said with distress. "It looks like you're trapped." We sighed. As we did, the cave began rumbling again. This time, the ground below us sprouted up. Out of it came Crash Minotank with Ground Scaravich on his head. Scaravich then crawled onto Minotank's back. Minotank flexed his muscles. Scaravich's dung, I guess you would call it, formed over Minotank into armor.

I scowled in utter disgust. "Okay, these guys have completely lost it!" Minotank quickly rammed into me. I pushed him off me and kicked him in the face. X charged the Marsh Spear and raised his arms to Minotank. "Marsh Cage!" Two sets of green spikes appeared around Minotank. They closed together very quickly. When they opened back up, Minotank's dung armor had been destroyed. Dynamo slashed at the minotaur with a green aura slice. He was down on one knee. Axl fired lasers and a glop of goo from a camouflaged water gun type weapon. The Bog Burst. Zero used a Renyoushou at the same time. All hit at the same time. His head fell off his shoulders, and his body fell to the ground.

The walls warped again. When they stopped, they were the regular walls of Gate's Lab. The illusions ended. Axl fell to the floor. "Phew! Thank God that's over!"

Gate's laughter then echoed around the room. "Oh no, Axl. This is far from over." Gate teleported in front of us. "You have proved your worth mighty nicely. While you're used to fighting eight robots, you were able to fight and defeat sixteen instead. Bravissimo." He applauded us.

I wasn't taken. "You want an encore? Cause I'd be glad to whoop your ass right now!"

Gate snickered. Quickly his snickering turned into maniacal laughter. "So confident! Oh, you're too much, Satoryu!" He quickly sobered up and raised an arm to the sky. Mist began clinging to him in numbers we haven't even seen before. He was completely covered with it. The Mist then slowly seeped into his body. Once it had all done so, Gate's armor had turned gold. The Mist within him must've given him incredible power, because I was shaking at how much power he held. His face couldn't be more focused. "It's time. It's finally time for you to perish in Hell. The Mist shall see to that."

We quickly prepared for a big fight. Probably the biggest fight that we would ever be in. This fight may very well decide the fate of the world. Of course, this wasn't anything new for us. My face was just as stern as Gate's. "This has dragged on for far too long."

X quickly charged. "Gate or not, you will perish right here!"

Axl spread his wings and aimed both pistols at Gate. "And your boss is next!"

Zero pointed the Sigma Blade forward. "We've both died once, and one of us will die again. And it sure as hell ain't going to be me!"

Dynamo held his saber in front of him. "You may be powerful. But together, we can stop you no problem!"

Gate smirked for a split second. "The Mist is unstoppable. And I'll prove it to you."