ROLL UP ROLL UP! THE FIGHT YOU'VE BEEN AWAITING HAS ARRIVED! X VS. ADAM TAURUS!
But first, reviews!
Locke Lynx: Never thought a Michael Bay film would have such a profound line in it. It's usually just BOOM! BOOM! KAPOW!
Pea Brain Writer: I seriously love your reviews mate, they give me a good basis to make improvements on in future! There is an explanation planned for later on, this isn't the last time the plot point will be brought up and it may linger for a little bit.
MrtheratedG: I kinda felt like I had to put it in. If you think about, even the games give us no explanation for it. He is bad in Megaman X because of the irreparable logic circuit but then he gets killed. Surely if he is brought back, he would have a new chip but the same personality core. Or maybe I'm just overthinking it!
Yaboioverthar: Not sure what you mean by Blake route TBH.
MetalSonic 30: I did take inspiration from that scene, yes. X is the kind of guy who sticks up for his friends and I always picture Mark Gatha's voice when I go through X's lines in my head.
On we go!
(Insert music: Devil May Cry 3 – Show No Tears)
Adam held Wilt and Blush across his chest and slashed them into the ready position. Despite being enemies, Adam was honourable in combat and awaited X to get ready. In response, X activated his sabre and buster cannon, readying both for battle.
The two rushed at each other, Adam using his natural speed and X activating his dash boots. They both leapt into the air and dashed across each other with a slash of their blades. They both made contact and a clash of metal was heard before the two landed on opposing sides from where they had started, their backs to each other.
Adam was the speedier of the two and quickly turned and sprinted again. By the time X had done the same, Adam was upon him with another powerful strike. X managed to block the attack just in time, the force of it making him skid back a few feet. He dashed back in and the two traded a series of sword clashes. They were fast and simple, neither wishing to expend their energy so early into the fight.
X made a powerful thrust with his sabre but Adam ducked and crossed Wilt over it, locking the sabre in place above his head. With no defence, a shot with Blush was an easy opportunity. The rifle blast knocked X backwards and Adam followed up by front flipping through the air repeatedly with his blade geld above him (Think of it like Sonic curling into a ball as he jumps but with a huge blade sticking out of it!)
X mirrored the action to protect himself and the two landed with neither one gaining an advantage from the impressive moves.
Seeing how well it worked against Neo, X tried a powerful kick to Adam's face but it was slow and blocked by Adam with no trouble. Forcing X off balance, Adam tried to tear into him with Wilt being swung wildly, yet not without method.
It was fruitless however as X saw a small opening in Adam's guard as they fought. An elbow to the stomach elected a grunt from Adam and gave X some space and a brief moments respite before they locked blades again.
"I see you've been improving your combat techniques, X. You move a lot faster and still hit just as hard." Adam congratulated.
"A compliment from you, Adam Taurus? Never thought I'd hear the like! No that it means much from a bloodthirsty slime like you!" X replied.
Adam simply smirked before whipping Blush out of nowhere and firing a shot right at X's face. The Hunter blocked the bulk of the shot but it practically sent him to the other side of the room in the process! Not to mention an unwelcome warning appearing.
ALERT! Visual damage detected, beginning repair sequence. Estimated time to completion: 30 seconds.
X cursed his luck. Thirty seconds may not be a long time to you or I but with Adam's relentless assault, it felt like an eternity. X needed cover, but where?
He snapped his fingers as he got an idea. Flicking through his weapon selection, he found the name he was looking for.
JAUNE ARC
His palette changed to a pristine white with golden highlights. Placing his arms across his chest, X activated a glowing white barrier around himself and began the repair sequence.
Adam dived towards X and landed a solid hit, the crunch of the impact sound making him grin with delight. He soon lost that look though when it became apparent that his strike had done nothing. The shield was still up and he could see X's eye being repaired before his own eyes!
Desperate to try and stop him, Adam ran up to X until he was right beside him. He held Wilt above his head and focused.
"1000 Bandit Slash!" He called out.
His sword and hand became a blur, the red and black colour scheme jumping all over the place as lightning fast slashes hit X's shield in rapid succession. A few white scratch marks were left on the spherical protection but the attack did not break it. Frustrated, Adam pulled his blade back for one last powerful thrust.
Repairs: Completed.
With his newly fixed eye sparkling for a split second, X deactivated the barrier and switched back to his buster cannon. Just before Wilt hit him, X leapt over the top of Adam and slammed him into the dirt with a stomp of his robotic feet on Adam's back. He then drew his sabre and began slashing at Adam while he had the chance.
Normally a single Z-Sabre hit would cleave an opponent clean in two but the Aura levels of the Faunus were ridiculously high, enabling him to endure the pummelling. X kicked Adam skyward before leaping up after him and slashing down with the sabre, sending Adam impacting into the ground below.
He landed some distance away and recovered before placing Wilt in front of himself and focusing once again. Adam's body began to glow red and X knew this could only be a bad thing. He dashed towards Adam as quickly as he could to try and prevent this action.
As X got in range however, Adam slashed his blade outwards and a great wall of wind flung him away. The storm had such a force that it tore up the tiles on the floor beneath him, leaving a trail of destruction in the path where X had flown along.
X flicked through his weapons system again and found Lie Ren among them. He activated it and switched to the green and pule colouration that was characteristic of his friend. X's buster changed into a small machine pistol and his other arm mimicked the action. Without hesitation, he opened fire at Adam.
The speed of the Bull faunus was impressive as he danced his way around the bullets, several impact holes along the ground and walls indicating just how much ammo X had unloaded into him.
Charging up one of the pistols, X fired a three way spread shot of larger projectiles. Each had a glowing green trail of energy and the flew in formation towards Adam. The faunus dashed forward and disappeared from X's view briefly before reappearing beyond the projectiles. Straight after, the three shots were split cleanly down the middle and all fell to the ground uselessly.
Adam tried an aerial strike once he was within touching distance of X. He was swiftly denied this however as X switched back to his buster cannon and fired a shot the knocked Adam out of his aerial poise. Flailing around as he lost control, X jumped up to meet him and readied charge shot.
"Eat this!" X cried as he fired the energy projectile at Adam and sent him flying across the room.
Blake gasped and shielded herself as Adam smashed into her energy cage, destroying it in the process. She was flung to the floor but other than that she was unharmed, the Sub Tank formula had worked wonders on her and she was practically up to full strength again.
Opening her eyes as she lay on the floor, she found herself looking up at the welcoming sight of X, extending his hand out to her. Taking it, she let herself be pulled to her feet as X gave her that genuine smile that he often wore.
"You alright?" He asked.
"Thanks to you." Blake answered. "I... I didn't mean for all of this to happen. I was just trying to-"
X placed a finger over her lips to silence her.
"We can talk about this later. Now on the other hand seems like a good time to leave."
X and Blake made a break for the exit, until a bullet whizzed between their heads and hot the main door controls. A heavy duty steel door dropped down and locked them in. Looking back, the saw the pile of debris where Adam had crashed into, the bull faunus himself crawling out of it, his gun smoking.
"No... this isn't over yet!"
X pinched his brow in frustration. "For God's sake Adam! It's over, can't you see? You've got nothing left!"
"You're right, I don't... but Vile did leave something."
Leaping back into the darkness, Adam disappeared from view for a few moments. X and Blake took aim at where Adam last was, looking slightly worriedly at each other.
Then, from in the pitch black, shone two bright blue eyes. A rumble followed and a gigantic metallic suit stepped forward.
It looked like a wolf type mechanaloid and stood on it's hind legs making it about three times the size of our heroes. It's front paws contained razor sharp claws and it's elbows and knees had a large protruding spike on each of them. It's head bore a striking resemblance to the White Fang emblem. The wolf head with sharp teeth and three claw marks down the front of the face. On it's back were a set of boosters and it's tail was covered in razor sharp edges, almost like a sword.
"Behold! Kiba HA Model V! The most advanced armour suit ever made!" Adam proclaimed, his voice echoing from inside the suit.
"Guessing you were responsible for the paint job, huh?" X joked, though deep down he was a bit nervous about this thing, it looked pretty tough.
"Far more than that. Vile designed it specifically to counter your moves, X. I put my input in to make it strong against the likes of Blake and her friends. It is practically invincible!"
"ENOUGH!" Blake yelled. "I'm sick of your nonsense! I gave you a second chance, Adam. Now I see that you are no better than those in Neo Arcadia. I have no problem binging them to justice, so I will do the same to you!"
Blake aimed her guns at the giant mech suit as X did the same with his buster.
"You will never harm anyone ever again, Adam Taurus!" Blake promised.
"Hmm hmm hmm. We'll just see about that."
(Insert music: Metal Slug 5 – Fierce Battle)
Adam activated the suits rocket boosters instantly and in a split second, zoomed up to X. He gave him an almighty punch to the face that launched him far away from Blake. Keeping in mind that X was a reploid, it was quite a surprise to see him forced away so easily.
Carrying on with the momentum for a bit, the left arm of the suit flipped around to reveal a minigun. Winding it up, Adam took aim at Blake, who promptly began sprinting across the room in a serpentine manner to avoid the incoming fire.
Adam aimed at her feet, prompting Blake to jump against the wall and start running along it, the bullet impacts not far off her heels. Running up as she moved along, she soon reached the ceiling before propelling herself straight down. Landing on her feet she began sprinting again.
The shots came ever closer to her. Desperate to avoid the fire, Blake summoned a copy of herself just ahead of her. As she approached it, the clone gave her a boost into the air with a quick throw before the clone itself was obliterated with a hail of gunfire. Blake summoned another one ahead of her and this time, allowed the clone to spin on the spot. Using it's momentum, the clone grabbed Blake and spun her briefly with it before releasing the faunus and throwing her away at great speed.
Adam was getting annoyed now. The minigun split down the middle and the two sections pulled apart and back, revealing a pair of small missiles. Adam took aim.
"DIE!"
He fired them and the payload zoomed off after Blake. Whistling through the air as they did so.
Reaching a wall, she leapt onto it and pushed herself back off just as the missiles approached her. Her jump let her just pass over the top of them, her feet grazing one of the missiles. The explosion however, still caught her and launched her back towards Adam.
Flipping through the air as she regained composure, Blake angled herself to swing her leg down just as she reached Adam. Her foot impacted on the armour with considerable power behind it but did no damage.
Adam threw Blake of him but she ran straight back in with successive sword slashes, each being blocked by Adam before he dodged backwards. Blake leapt up and down kicked into the armour again, following up with a sword stab.
She winced in pain however as Adam grabbed her wrist and twisted it around until she dropped her blade. He then pulled his other arm back and used the elbow to hit her in the gut. Blake gasped as the wind was knocked out of her before she was thrown away and skidded across the ground on her back.
Adam readied the machine gun again. He was about to execute Blake when he heard the sound of an energy weapon behind him and dashed to the side.
"Dammit!" X cursed as his sabre swing was evaded.
He jumped forward and tried another strike, then another and yet more. Each one was danced around with ease by the superior mobility of Adam's armour despite it's size. Regardless, X kept up his assault.
Blake managed to get back up and saw the situation X was in. The good news is that Adam was distracted from what she was doing, this was her chance!
Blake entered a zen like pose, her two fingers on her right hand held in front of her face and her eyes closed. She began to glow with a slightly greyish aura that pulsated around her, slowly at first but ever quickening.
X meanwhile did manage to land a hit on Adam's armour. The clang of the metal being the indicator of his success. The lack of damage though, was not part of the plan. Adam grabbed X by the neck before punching the hunter away and then dashing after him to finish the job.
It was at that precise moment, as X was flung past her and Adam drew near, that Blake opened her eyes. Looking straight at Adam, she pointed a finger at him and gave the simple command.
"Go."
As soon as her will was made known, an army greyed out clones of shot forward from Blake and slammed into Adam repeatedly, each one frozen in a pose of one of Blake's attacks.
Adam raised the arms of his robotic suit as the clones pummelled against it's frame. Each dissipated as soon as it made contact though not before leaving some serious dents in it. Soon however, the force of the endless assault was too much for the armour to bear and the wave of clones carried Adam back and smashed him into a wall, the rubble falling around him.
Blake panted for breath and wiped the sweat from her brow as she entered the pose again to strike once more. Leaping out of the crater he had left, Adam charged at Blake, determined not to let her do the same attack again.
He was too late as Blake fired the clones off once more. Adam readied the armours claws and began to slash away at every clone that came at him, making it evaporate away before it could land a hit. As he did so, he also continued to advance on Blake, slowly but surely.
As before, Blake ran out of energy to keep up the attack, falling to one knee, out of breath again. Powering through the pain, she drew her swords and began to dart around Adam's armour. Her speed was impressive, almost making her a blur as she landed strike after strike.
Adam stood perfectly still, waiting for his moment. Blake just moved a little too close as she ran and Adam seized his chance, grabbing her by the back of her collar and throwing her into the ceiling. Small cracks formed as she impacted upon it before dropping down towards Adam again.
He changed the minigun to a shotgun and, cocking a shell out of it, he fired at Blake when she was directly in front of his reticule. Luckily, her aura was still high enough that the shot was not fatal.
She yelped slightly as her body bounced off the floor and landed beside X, who was just starting to get back up.
"I can't get through that armour." X admitted.
"I found one way through." Blake said. "Trouble is, it's still not enough."
X suddenly had a flicker of an idea. He took Blake by the hand and pulled her up before she realised he had copied her power, adopting a black and white colour scheme.
"Alone, it's not enough, but together..."
Blake still hadn't really gotten over the idea that X had actually risked it to try and save her. She remained unsure until X turned her head towards his and looked into her eyes with honesty.
"It doesn't matter what you've done, or what happens from here. We're your friends Blake and we'll never abandon you."
With a smile, nod and tiny tears escaping her eyes, Blake began to charge up her attack again, letting the aura flow over her. X did the same pose and began to glow with the same effect. Opening one eye, he peeked at Blake.
"Am I doing it right?" He laughed.
"Focus." Blake replied.
X shut his eyes again and focused on the new power he had been given.
Adam saw what was happening and he knew it would not end well for him.
"No, no, NO!" He shouted as he rocketed towards the duo, who still did not budge. He drew ever closer as their aura pulsated faster and faster. He finally reached them and drew his arm back to strike. He was so close!
Then Blake and X opened their eyes.
Adam was left wide open as copies of X and Blake dashed outwards and struck at Adam without mercy. His armour began to buckle and bend, sparks and flashes of electricity were beginning to occur all over it.
With their clones still attacking, X and Blake switched to their normal weapons and took aim at the head of Adam's armour.
*BANG*
*PEW*
The shots hit the centre of the armours forehead and the head part flew off, revealing Adam's face again before the clones disappeared and let Adam's now useless suit fall to the ground like a pile of scrap metal. It was no longer a help but a prison as the release mechanism had been destroyed, trapping the bull faunus inside it.
Both X and Blake collapsed in relief as they realised their opponent was beaten. Falling to their knees, they landed against each other, prompting a small laugh from each of them.
"Where did you learn how to pull that off?" X asked.
"It's just a little trick I was saving for emergencies. Kinda thought this was a good time to use it." Blake smiled. "Takes a lot out of me though... no pun intended."
"Ha ha, you're getting just as bad as Yang!"
"Oh please, if you're going to do that then just shoot me now." Adam called over, prompting X and Blake to run to his location.
The armour was completely wrecked, all the joints were immobilised and vital mechanical fluids leaked out from the rubble they were crushed under. That fluid was also mixed with the unmistakable crimson of blood. The armour had landed on some steelwork that had gone right through the armour at the chest, hitting Adam as it went through.
"You've lost, Adam. The Atlesian army is on their way to pick you up. I imagine they will have plenty of unpleasant questions to ask you."
"Heh heh... you think I'm gonna let it end this way?" He said weakly.
"What choice do you have?" Blake asked.
As if on cue, the base sounded out an alarm and the whole building began to crumble around them.
SELF DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. 60 SECONDS TO DETINATION!
"Goodbye, my love... I'll be waiting for you on the other side..."
Before Blake could say anything in reply, the ceiling around Adam collapsed and buried the former White Fang leader in a tomb of concrete and steel. Blake cringed a little as the metal crunched beneath the weight of the debris but felt none of the sorrow she would have felt before today. Adam had brought this upon himself.
"We gotta go, now!" X said as the two made their way towards the exit.
(Insert music – Megaman X3 – Vile (Breis remix 2014)
The base was in complete turmoil. Small explosions occurring everywhere they went as the White Fang Mavericks fled as well, some even jumping straight over the edge into the sea below.
"Jumping out there won't do any good, we'll be caught in the blast before we can swim clear of the base!" X explained.
"What's the plan then?" Blake panted as she ran alongside him.
"We go to the top of the base and jump from there. If we get enough height, we should be able to make it to the cliff edge and we can get to a safe distance quickly that way!"
"Well there's the lift! Let's get going!"
Blake leapt inside and pressed the button for the top floor. Nothing happened. Frustrated, she pressed it again and again before slamming her fist against it.
"Shit! It's got no power! What do we do now?"
X looked up and saw the cable still attached to the roof. "We climb."
Blake sighed. "How did I know you were going to say that?"
Regardless, as X began scaling the wall with his wall jump, Blake leapt onto the roof of the lift and began climbing up the strong cables. She could wall run but with her lack of energy from the fight before, she didn't want to risk it.
A small crumble of concrete landed on her shoulder, attracting her attention for some reason. Looking up to where it cam from, she saw a large chunk of the base falling towards them.
"X! Heads up!"
X leapt off the wall he was on and air dashed across, activating his sabre as he did so. Passing by the hazard, he slashed across the centre of it and the piece broke into two small halves that fell either side of the lift.
Another piece fell towards X's position. Blake forced out one more clone that appeared above X. The debris smashed off the clone into hundreds of small fragments as the false Blake fell off the wall before disappearing.
"That one hurt, not gonna lie." Blake groaned, rubbing her head.
"Well we better keep moving while we've got the chance then, come on!"
BASE WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN 10 SECONDS!
Reaching the top floor of the observation tower, X and Blake sprinted to the edge before skidding to a halt. It looked a lot further away than they had anticipated. X bit his lip in slight worry, this wasn't going to be easy.
He was surprised when he felt Blake take his hand. Looking over, the cat girl gave him a small nod.
"We can make it."
Giving a thumbs up, the two stepped back and took a running start just as the explosions started to reach them.
3...
They began to sprint with all they could, X pulling Blake along by the hand with his boosters.
2...
The edge drew ever closer and they both held their breath as they prepared to leap forward.
1...
"JUMP!" X cried.
*KABOOM!*
Their vision was filled with a blinding light as they left the platform. The heat from the explosion making their backs feel like they were on fire. Their eyes had to stay closed lest they go blind from the power of the blast.
The two didn't know where they were, they had jumped, now they just waited. It felt like an eternity was passing. Then, Blake's hands and legs felt something rough beneath them. Dry and dusty. As the light faded, Blake slowly opened her eyes to see the sight of the rocky ground of the cliff beneath them.
"We did it..." Blake said softly as X bashed the side of his helmet to fix his visual cameras.
"WE DID IT!" Blake squealed, fist pumping with one arm.
"Uh... Blake."
Looking at X, she saw the hunter looking up at her with a slightly sheepish look. She followed his arm and found they were still holding hands from when they left the platform. She quickly let go, making X fall face first to the ground.
"Ow..."
"Sorry!" Blake apologised as she tried to flush the redness out of her cheeks.
Looking back, the two saw what was left of Vile's base falling apart, the remains tumbling into the sea below to be swallowed up by the water.
"What happened to Vile and Neo in the end?" Blake asked.
X watched the base fall, thinking about his answer and remembering the strange encounter he had with the two of them.
"I don't know. What I do know, is that they have a choice. What choice they make now is up to them. Come on, let's head back."
Blake was unsure what he meant but decided not to question it. She an to catch up with him as Blake left the base and her past behind her.
Finally done! So this chapter ends Adam's part in the story. He is dead and gone, Blake has been rescued and all is well...
Except it's not!
What about Ruby and her fight with Sigma? Will Double silence Weiss forever? And will we see Vile and Neo again?
Until next time
TOODLE PIP!