Much to do! Let's keep right on going!
Gravenimage: Shit has hit the fan so hard it's dyed brown!
Grimlock987: Possibly. If I do disappoint, there is always a possible sequel for ideas like that!
Ultimate Kuuga: CLIFFHANGARS FOR ALL! MUAHAHAHAHA!
But I digress.
The sound of his own metallic feet clanking on the floor was the only sound that accompanied X on his trek through the dimly lit hall. He could barely see with his normal vision mode, the only light source was some dull purple circles in the centre of some eyes scattered along the walls. It made for a rather creepy scene.
Vile was always one for dramatics.
It didn't bother X much. Firstly he had his own night vision to aid along with his already perfect eyesight and secondly, he really didn't give two tosses what sort of mood the rooms had. X would not have originally been this way, a long time ago he may have been cautious, unnerved, scared even! Right now though, he was just focused on his one objective: Rescuing his friend, Blake.
He came to a large set of doors that opened up a soon as he stood in front of them. Whoever was on the other side clearly wanted X to enter. With caution, he entered the room.
It was a workshop of sorts, with large work areas littered with mechanical parts. Small pools of oil covered the floor and the walls had burn marks and bullet holes dotted all along them. Someone had been busy in here.
X's audio receptors suddenly picked up a sound, a rather odd one at that. Someone playing a piano. It was playing softly in the background which made this place seem all the more off putting. Wanting to find it's source, X leapt up onto a catwalk overlooking the workshop and dashed along it.
He arrived at the room where the musicwas coming from. Rounding the corner with buster ready, he didn't quite know what to make of the sight before him. Neo as it turned out, had a talent for music and was playing the tune beautifully. Upon seeing X, Vile sang a brief tune.
"Weeeee'll meet again! Don't know where, don't know wheeeeen! But I know we'll meet again some sunny daaaaay!"
Not the sort of sight you would expect to see from the villains who were holding someone you knew as a hostage. Then again, Vile and Neo weren't exactly normal villains. Neo stopped playing and Vile walked over to X, his arms open.
"Ah, there he is! The guest of honour! Neo, play us a little tune would you?"
Neo started to play some soft background music again, the sort heard at social do's or a garden party as Vile went over to a nearby table and began pouring drinks.
"Bourbon?" Vile offered X a glass of the beverage, X just looked at him in confusion.
"Meh, your loss." Vile then took his glass and downed it in one go. Even though he wore a helmet, he held it at just the right way that the liquid went underneath his visor. Although reploids could not drink per say, they could ingest certain liquids as fuel, alcohol being one of them.
"I guess you're just here to talk business, right?"
"You know what I'm here for Vile, where is my friend? Where is Blake?"
Although X was not in the mood for distractions such as this little meeting, Vile was a dangerous enemy and he would play along just to be safe.
"Cool your servos will ya? She's in the main room further down the hall. Adam Is guarding her as a matter of fact. Rude, right? You would think he would at least want to meet you but he is just obsessed with that cat."
"Struggling to control your followers, eh Vile?" X almost seemed to enjoy mocking Vile.
In his anger, hidden for the most part, Vile smashed the glass of bourbon he would have given to X. The contents splashed on his arm and small chinks of glass fell upon the floor.
"Oops. How did that happen?" Vile asked rhetorically. "Unfortunately, I can't hand her over any more."
"What?" X asked, angered by this news. "We had a deal!"
"I know we did! But Adam's unwillingness to co-operate has soured our deal slightly I'm afraid. Not to worry though, you can still hold up your end of the bargain."
Neo stood up from the piano just before Vile grabbed it with one arm and threw it into the air. He them kicked it straight at X who had no time to dodge. The piano and X smashed against the wall with the keys making an awful din as they shattered. X pulled himself up from the debris and aimed at the two villains.
"Neo, keep our guest entertained will you? I'm going to get our special event ready."
As Vile sprinted off to get himself ready, Neo drew her blade from her umbrella and blew a kiss at X before she got to work.
(Insert music: Kill la Kill OST - Nui Harime Theme V2)
Neo leapt forward and flipped in the air as she did so, stabbing the ground where X was as she landed. Luckily, X dodged out of the way just in time. She followed up with a slash to X's face, which the Hunter ducked just in time before she launched a kick to his chest. Strength was not Neo's strong point however and she did little to no damage with it. A sweeping kick then followed but X moved his leg forward to stop it short of her target. He then counter attacked with a kick of his own, striking Neo directly on the chin.
She leant back, stunned before X threw a punch to her gut. Before he landed the punch however, he fired a buster shot just before it made contact, effectively making his punch stronger.
Another kick to Neo's chest was blocked by her blade but X moved in a fluid motion to sweep her off her feet and then spin 360 degrees to strike her in the face with his foot again. A final round house kick sent Neo spinning in the air, seemingly out of action.
She landed expertly though and tried to do the same move to X, using a low sweeping foot to try and knock him off balance. He would not fall prey to his own moves so easily however and he leapt above her attempt as the two backed away from each other for a split second of respite.
Neo then tried to thrust at X's head but a last second tilt made the blade go past his neck. The attempt left Neo open and she was rewarded for her efforts with a punch to her chest. She then tried some overhead slashes, comboing them together into smooth and fluid movements, almost like a dancer.
X backed away and let each strike pass in front of him. He then pulled his arms back and switched both of his hands into buster cannons. He then started to pummel Neo's stomach with successive one two combos, firing a shot each time to increase their potency. He then grabbed Neo by her waist and threw the girl upwards before launching one more kick as she fell down to his level. She was flung away and smashed into the railings.
As soon as she made contact however, her body shattered like ice. Small shards of pink, brown and white glass littered the area before X heard the sound of slow clapping behind him. Turning quickly, X saw Neo was still there, sat on a weapons crate, mockingly congratulating him.
She flicked a small card out of her sleeve and threw it at X. He caught it and read the writing upon it.
Impressive, Maverick Hunter. I'm just getting warmed up though, why not show me what you can really do? Come on, we only have a little longer until the main event!
X crumpled up the card and tossed it aside as Neo got up from the crate and curtsied. X stared at her for a moment before he punched a hand into his fist, signalling he was ready for round 2.
Neo's strike was much quicker this time as X raised his arm to block a stab right to his temple before ducking an overhead kick from the mute. He landed a quick dig at her gut again before she gave him an uppercut with the sheath of her blade, followed by a jump kick with both feet that sent X skidding backwards.
She sprinted to attack X again a managed to land a small hit on X's right side that caused him to stumble. This gave her the perfect opportunity to stab down on his left shoulder. The blade did break through a little but only through X's shoulder guard, not reaching so far as his joint.
Another buster punch to Neo's chest knocked her off balance slightly but she countered with a slash at X's face. Though it missed, she found another opening and kicked him in his breastplate, making him stagger.
Neo tried to keep momentum but X had got her attack timing down to a fine art and hit her cheek with a left hook just as she reached him again. He also landed a right hook but Neo kicked him back off her. As he recovered, X managed to land two quick buster shots on Neo but their energy was absorbed by her quickly drawing her umbrella.
She retracted it just as quickly and tried to cross her blade and sheath over X's throat. He was ready though and as she moved in close, he grabbed her wrists and pushed her weapons safely away from himself. Kneeing her in the gut, he then threw Neo up again, spinning her as he did so to make her lose focus before smashing her head against his own. Neo fell in a daze on the floor as X aimed his buster to finish her off.
He fired a few rapid rounds but Neo was up almost immediately, moving like a breakdancer to dodge the fire as she got to her feet. She kicked herself up and spun on her elbow briefly, using the momentum gained to throw herself up again. She then cartwheeled past some of the buster shots, leading into a front flip and slashing at X again.
X dodge rolled out of the way and was some distance from Neo. The girl was nimble but weak. Time to end this.
As he got up from his roll, X activated his dash boosters and fired them straight in Neo's direction with his shoulder forward. He rocketed towards her, leaving the femme fatale with no chance of dodging. He charged straight into her and carried Neo off her feet before zooming towards the wall.
She was effectively like an airbag for X, taking the brunt of the impact and leaving X with little damage. The wall cracked under the force (impressive since it was military grade thickness) and Neo collapsed unconscious. Her blade clattered on the metallic floor and slid out of her grasp.
One down, two to go, and X wasn't going to hang around and wait for the next fight to be set up against him. Dashing at full speed, he set off in the direction Vile had gone.
Vile's Base – Storage Area
"What? No no no no NO!"
Vile clapsed his hands to his head as he stared in disbelief. The weapon he had been working on, his plan to defeat X, it was gone! All that remained were the dangling chains he had used to hold it in place.
But who? Who could have taken it? The base was a secret and the only ones allowed in these restricted areas were himself, Neo and...
"ADAM!" Vile realised and he shouted his name as though it were a curse upon the bull faunus himself.
"You treacherous, double crossing BASTARD!"
A table full of spare parts was flung through the air as Vile panted in rage. It was only then that the purple reploid noticed X had entered the room and was pointing his buster cannon at him without saying a word.
"It doesn't matter. I don't need the weapon! I don't need anything! I'll defeat you myself, right here, right now! You hear me X? YOU ARE DEAD!"
(Insert music: Maverick Hunter X – Sigma 1st Form)
Vile propelled himself forward with his jet boosters and swung at X once he was in close range. Vile's swings were far more powerful than Neo's, as evidenced by a steel beam being sheared in two just by the force of Vile's punch. They did however, lack Neo's accuracy.
Vile was enraged right now. He wasn't thinking about strategy or skill, he was just using his immense power to try and bring X down. He screamed and shouted with every attempt he made, only to have X dodge it with ease and back away again.
X aimed and fired a single, precise buster shot at Vile, hitting him on his shoulder joint and forcing him to one knee as he held it in pain.
"Enough, Vile! You can't beat me!" X said.
"I... DON'T... CAAAAAARE!"
Vile fired a barrage of missiles at X, letting them fly in random directions. Most of them missed and instead brought large amounts of rubble down across the room. The few that did reach X were easily avoided.
"For thousands of years, I've made it my sole mission to defeat you. You've always been known as the key to the future, the greatest reploid who ever lived. Well you're not!"
Vile now held his arm up and retracted the tops of his fingers, they then closed in and began to rotate quickly before firing a slew of machine gun bullets which pinged off X's armour and the terrain as they whizzed around the room.
"You're just an outdated, rusty, B Class Hunter! NOTHING MORE!"
Lowering his shoulder cannon, Vile charged up a rail gun shot and fired. A brilliant beam of blue energy covered the room. X ducked just in time as the shot hit the wall above his head and carried on through another four rooms at least!
X had had enough, it was time to end this!
Vile was uncoordinated and rabid, it would be much easier to get around his offensive weaponry and land a decisive strike. X pinpointed his target, Vile's visor. Thin material protection, a buster shot would pass through it and damage his main processors with ease.
With his plan in mind, X dashed forward. As anticipated, Vile retaliated with more heavy cannon fire. A shot landed near X's right side which he stepped around before sliding underneath a rail cannon blast. Vile then opened a compartment on his leg and released a small bundle of grenades across the floor in front of himself.
*KABOOM*
The smoke and dust filled the room and Vile was certain he had at least damaged X to some degree.
It was not to be however as X leapt through the smoke and pointed his buster at Vile's face. The maverick had no time to react as X fired a single yellow shot and hit his target.
Vile clasped his helmet as small arcs of electricity shot off it. He fell to his knees and punched the ground repeatedly as he tried to muscle through the agony of his circuits being fried. As the pain started to subside, Vile checked his internal systems.
Weapons systems: Compromised
Mobility: Jetpack and Transerver module impaired
Emergency power has been rerouted to basic mobility and life support systems
There was nothing he could do. Vile looked up and saw X pointing his buster straight at him like an executioner.
"Go on then." Vile said weakly. "Finish me off."
X did nothing.
"You have me on the ropes, just pull the trigger. You could kill me, end all of the suffering I would cause."
"You're right, I could."
Vile seemed surprised, tilting his head slightly as if X was insane for not taking the shot. To be honest, most people would think he was.
"When we first started fighting, all those years ago, we found there was something wrong with your personality matrix, something irreparable. I only fought and destroyed you because I knew there was no other option. This time though, there is."
X continued. "Technology has come a long way in Neo Arcadia. Half of it I invented myself. We understand so much more about ourselves that your irreparable malfunction is just a common issue now. I could fix you, bring you back to the reploid who fought alongside his friends once again."
X held out his hand to Vile.
"We don't have to kill each other. We don't have to keep on fighting. A friendly rivalry, sure but not this."
Vile just looked on in silence for a bit before he replied.
"How can you do this? I killed so many innocent people and reploids, some of which were your friends. Even after all that I've done, you want to help me? Hahaha! You're even more insane than I am!"
X chuckled a bit. "Guess Blake's ideas rubbed off on me! Maybe you're right. Maybe this whole notion is pointless. Thing is, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try to set things right between us."
Vile looked back to X's hand and slowly raised his own, opened so it looked like he may take it. Instead, he pushed X's hand down and stood up slowly.
"No... I'm sorry but... no. If I went with you, got myself fixed up, I wouldn't be me any more. The life I've led, trying to destroy you, it may not be a noble life or even a worthwhile one but it's mine. This is who I am X, no matter how much we both hate it."
Vile slowly hobbled past X who stood aside and watched him go with a forlorn look on his face. As Vile went to the door, he stopped and spoke to X once more.
"What did you do to Neo?"
"Just knocked her out. She didn't give me much choice with the fight she put up."
"Heh. Yeah, she's something else."
"Why Vile, was that the sound of you caring about someone else I heard?" X asked in a sarcastic tone. The question was genuine though.
"Hahahaha! Guess this world is changing both of us. My guess is you'll find Adam in Blake's holding area, two floors up from this one. Do me a favour and kick him in the nuts for me, would ya?"
He hobbled off again, heading for the room where Neo was to get her out of there. He still had use for her after all, yet part of him told him that he had to. It was a feeling he had not felt in a long time.
"Vile!" X called. "That offer is still open, if you do change your mind."
"Hopeful as always, eh X?"
"Someone has to be." X replied before running off to where Blake and Adam were.
Vile watched him disappear around the corner before sighing to himself and shuffling off again with a whole lot of thoughts going through his head.
Vile's Base – Control Room
X entered the pitch black room. The very same one that Vile had transmitted to the base from. He looked around frantically and, sure enough, his eyes fell upon one of the few lit areas of the room. A cage was present and within it sat Blake, lost in her own forlorn thoughts and not aware that X had entered.
He dashed up to the cage as quietly as possible, hopeful that Adam was away for a while longer.
"Psst... Blake." He whispered.
Blake's ears pricked up beneath her bow as she turned around with shock.
"X! What are you doing?"
"Getting you out of here, what does it look like?"
"It's all a set up! They wanted you to come here! Forget about me and get out while you still ca- OW!"
X had taken the moment that Blake was rambling on to inject something into her with a syringe he had stored in his armour.
"It's Sub-Tank formula, should heal you up pretty quickly." X explained as he tried to deactivate the electric barriers that held Blake prisoner.
"X, it's not worth it, just get out of here!"
"Not without you! I promised your friends I'd bring you back and that is just what I'm going to do."
A clacking of footsteps came from the darkness and made X cease his attempts to free Blake as piercing red lights shone from the inky black. Adam Taurus also stepped forth with Wilt already drawn and held by his side, scraping along the floor which resulted in sparks and a horrible screeching sound as he approached.
"Hands off my prey, Hunter."
X drew his buster and paced in front of Blake's cage protectively.
"Touching." Adam continued. "You knew this was all a trap, you knew we just wanted you to come here so we could kill you and yet you came anyway. I don't know if that's brave or just stupid."
"I came here to save my friend, not exactly sure what's so stupid about that."
"What's stupid is your naïve nature, X. Didn't you find out already? She's a traitor!"
Blake flinched at those words.
"First she betrayed her brethren in the White Fang, now she has betrayed you and your friends. She abandoned you and let her own selfish wants take precedence over the Hunter's goals."
X had heard this all before and he knew his answer.
"You think I care? You honestly think any of her friends care about that? Unlike you, Adam Taurus, Blake had good intentions at least. She betrayed the White Fang after seeing how corrupt and brutal your ways were. She left us because she thought you still had some hope of redemption!"
"Really?" Adam laughed. "Even after all this miserable creature has done to us, you're just going to risk everything to try and save her. Why?"
X held a hand over his chest. "She's my friend. She may have made mistakes, who hasn't? But she has also saved lives, brought comfort to those who had none and made the world a better place as a Huntress. I am not going to let you take her from those who care about her."
"Are you telling me your 'friend' is worth dying for?" Adam mockingly asked.
Blake looked up at X from her prison, expecting him to back down and refuse. After all, even if he could forgive her, she surely wasn't worth as much as a legendary reploid like him.
"Of course she is."
Blake gasped. She was so certain that she would be given up on, it was no less than she deserved in her mind. Yet here was X, whom she had only met recently, saying he would give up his own life for hers. That was something she had never heard from Adam, and it was how she knew X was telling the truth when he said it.
"Well, if she is worth dying for..."
Adam spun his sword and held it in both hands, ready to strike at X and gave a wicked smile..
"... then do so!"
I may get mixed opinion on how I handled Vile in this part. I do have a plan for him and this encounter is an essential part of it.
Anyway, the next part is X vs Adam. Hope you're hyped for it!
Until next time
TOODLE PIP!