-35-

He flew high, going up and up until he was above the clouds, once there, he extended his sharp wings and hovered in place as he used his sharp vision to look down at the Aeronautics Research Center located deep in the mountains. He frowned as he saw a helicopter leaving the research center. A quick scan revealed it was piloted by the team of reploid scientists he had been looking for. It surprised him they had managed to hide from him and even more that they were trying to escape him. For a moment, the maverick considered letting them go as a fitting prize for their bravery, but he soon changed his mind and reached for the halberd strapped to his back. His weapon in hand, he swooped towards the helicopter with the speed of lightning stretching his wings wide once he was in front of it to stop his descent and, before the pilot could react, he spun his spear unleashing from it a powerful electric current that obliterated the vehicle, sending it crashing down the precipice below where it finally exploded in a ball of fire. The winged reploid then gracefully landed on the highest platform in the Aeronautic Research Center, where he spun his halberd once before strapping it again on his back, feeling confident he would never be defeated, for he was the Lord of thunder and lightning… Thunderbolt Falcon!

=0=

Axl sighed in relief once Doctor Cossack finished installing the new plating on his back that replaced the one Flame Scorpion had pierced during their battle. He had previously made sure to wash away all the burnt oil that Scorpion had injected into him, as it was interfering with his servomotors. But now that repairs were done, the young hunter was itching to continue with his mission.

"I have to admit I didn't think you'd need repairs so quickly," Viktor Cossack said. "I'm glad I was here, the work on your servomotors is something I rather do myself."

"Thanks… dad," Axl said with a hesitant smile, still feeling a little reluctant about calling Doctor Cossack that, but happy he had the chance to do it at the same time. "Scorpion got me by surprise, that's all. The next one won't be that lucky."

"I'm counting on that," Viktor told him his voice expressing some concern. "And I'm counting on you all stopping Lumine as well."

"He will be stopped," the prototype promised his maker. "We'll put an end to his madness."

"Good, because I really want to find the old Cossack Citadel," Viktor explained with a glint in his eyes. "I always thought it was destroyed more than a century ago, but I just got confirmation it still exists, and I'm sure it holds many secrets I would love to see."

"That sounds interesting, may I go with you?" Axl asked. "This kind of involves me as well, since I'm a Cossackbot and part of the family now, right?"

Viktor smiled. "Yes, Axl, you're family and it will be great to have you with us when we go there, who knows… we may even find some of your antecessors there."

Axl grinned, feeling pleased that he finally had a connection with a family other than the Maverick Hunters. He hadn't really known how much he needed that until now that he had it.

"That'd be cool! I checked the old databases about the Robot Masters while you were repairing me and some of the first Cossackbots were really cool, like Ring Man, he looked badass!"

"…Excuse me, can I come in?" Pallette said from the door, not daring to enter without permission.

"Sure, please do," Viktor invited as he stood up. The scientist gave Axl a soft pat on the back and winked at him. "Well, it seems you and the lady need some alone time, so I'll go to the Control Room and see if I can help Signas before I have to go back to Russia. Be nice with the lady, Axl."

"F-father!" Axl stammered, but all the answer he got was a wave as his creator exited the medibay room he had been assigned to.

"I'm glad Doctor Cossack was still here to fix you again," Pallette said as she approached. "I was really worried about you."

"I'm glad, too," Said Axl, staring at Pallette with great interest. He had seen her before he got his two missions, of course, but it was only now that he could really pay attention to her new appearance. Pallette looked a few years older, almost his age. Her body was a little more adult, streamlined and with more noticeable hips and breasts and while she still couldn't compete with Alia or Layer in those departments, he really didn't mind, for him Pallette was perfect as she was.

"You're staring, do I look weird like this?" She asked, feeling shy under his admiring gaze. "I'm… it's… it's just that this was the only compatible body the factory could beam in when Lifesaver called them. It's not my fault!"

"I think you look great, Pally," Axl confessed. "And I like that your armor still has the same colors as usual, green suits you well."

"You… you think so?"

"Yeah… a shame you didn't change your hairstyle," he teased with a playful grin.

"Idiot," Pallette chuckled and sat next to him. "Axl… would you…"

"Go on, Pally," he said, reaching for her hands. "I'm listening."

"Let's go somewhere once this is over," she invited. "Someplace calm. We can spend a few days together, just the two of us. Wouldn't it be nice?"

"Yes… I'd like that," Axl told her, giving her hands a soft squeeze. "I'd really like that."

=0=

Strong winds welcomed him to the barren mountains as soon as he materialized on a ledge on the side of a cliff. The air around him was cold and the howling of the wind made the place far more threatening than it should be. Not that this scared Axl, he had survived navigating trickier areas than this before and was certain that climbing to the top in order to reach the Research Center would be easy, if only very time consuming. The prototype frowned and hoped he would find a vehicle or a Ride Armor along the way.

"I'm really sorry we couldn't give you better coordinates so you could teleport closer to the Aeronautics Research Center," Pallette apologized. "The interference is particularly strong there."

"It's alright, this is close enough," Axl answered while loading his guns. "No problem, Pally."

"If you say so," the navigator said. "Call me if you need help."

"I will," he replied and cut communication. Axl then studied his surroundings and found a hidden stairway that went up all the way to the top of the mountain. The stair was narrow and appeared to be unstable, but it should be more than enough. Feeling lucky, he started his ascent.

=0=

Splash Woman entered the medibay and rushed to where she had heard X had been repaired and was still currently resting while his energy recharged. It didn't take her long to find his room, and she used her enhanced RMC field before knocking on the door to confirm X was there. As she expected, she found X was not alone. The mermaid could identify both him and Alia, something that didn't surprise her since she knew how much the blonde navigator cared for X's well-being. She hesitated for an instant, wondering if interrupting was a good idea.

"Should I?" Splash Woman thought. She could admit she didn't particularly like the way Alia favored X (though she still wasn't sure why), but she preferred to avoid being impolite. In the end, she decided the new information she had obtained was too important not to share immediately.

And so she knocked on the door and entered as soon as she was invited. The mermaid found X sitting in an open recovery capsule, wires attached to his back and front, recharging his core back to a hundred percent. Alia was on a chair in front of him, and she held a data pad in her left hand, as she had apparently been showing X something important. Splash Woman smiled and offered them a nod, feeling pleased they weren't as close as they had been in Gate's lab.

"The Light capsules worked for me," she announced with a triumphant smile as she discreetly sat next to X. "I talked to Doctor Light, and he gave me important information."

"They… they did?" asked X, mouth agape as he listened to the Robot Master's revelation. "And you talked to father?"

"Yes, he told me that…" Splash Woman made a pause as an image of Blues, followed by memories of them together entered her mind without her doing a search for them. That was new, and it threw her off balance for an instant.

"Are you alright?" Alia asked, honestly concerned.

"I… I think so," the mermaid said after taking a moment to recover with a deep breath. "Several memory files opened at once without a prior request and… no, my apologies. Please don't worry about it; they were nice memories of long ago… good ones, really."

"I see…" X nodded, uncertain on what to say next. He really didn't know how to comfort her when she remembered her past and that saddened him a little, he was supposed to be the one helping her, wasn't he?

"I'm fine, X," the mermaid assured with a smile. "Doctor Light's hologram told me there is a memory transfer of him who is not bound to a Light Capsule and who can tell me what happened to Blues and the rest of my friends."

"Wait… a memory transfer?" Alia asked, already wondering what that meant. "I thought the holograms were just recordings or in the case of one, a very advanced AI."

"Is that what the holograms are, then?" X asked. "Memory transfers of father?"

"Only two of them, but yes, that is what the more advanced ones are," Splash Woman said. "The last one is in Russia, in the old Cossack Citadel, but we don't know where the citadel is, and I don't have that information either."

"There aren't any records of its location." Alia provided, looking at her data pad with a thoughtful frown, "at least none that I can find."

"After Doctor Wily kidnapped his daughter Kalinka, Doctor Mikhail Cossack made sure the location of his citadel was erased from all databases, not even I have it in my files, and I was active back then," Splash Woman lamented. "Very few people and Robot Masters knew the location."

"A pity… and I would like to find the Cossack Citadel as much as you, Splash Woman, particularly if I can find more information about my past there, but Lumine has to be stopped first," X said, always mindful of his duties. "But once that is done, we can ask Viktor Cossack's help finding it."

"True," nodded Alia. "Saving everyone is more important right now."

Splash Woman stared at X and Alia and felt glad to see they were as responsible in times of crisis as Rock and Roll had been. It made her feel safe and confident Lumine would be stopped. Offering them a soft smile, she stood and walked to the door.

"I agree. I'll let you rest, X," she told him. "I'll be waiting for the two of you in the control room."

=0=

Axl pressed himself against the wall to dodge the incoming energy bullets from a group of Guardroids armed with plasma guns. This situation was not ideal, as he had no cover and not a lot of room to maneuver. He could try to climb the walls, but that would leave him open to enemy fire. Having no other options, he downloaded all the Special Weapon data and went through it quickly, deciding on the Ice Slither as the other weapons could possibly cause damage to the surrounding area, something he wanted to avoid at all costs as it would make climbing the mountain even more difficult. His Weapon Copy System immediately adapted the Special Weapon, and rewarded him with the Frost Machine Gun.

"Neat, let's try this baby!" Axl exclaimed as he rushed towards the guardroids, shooting a barrage of ice bullets at them. While it was true the individual bullets were too small to properly freeze the target, the Frost Machine Gun shot so many of them in quick succession that detail hardly mattered. It took only seconds before Axl was surrounded by seven frozen guardroids.

"Better than expected," he grinned, looking appreciatively at his new gun.

"Axl, something big is coming your way, better be careful!" Pallette warned, bringing Axl back to attention. "It's an insect mechaniloid, it seems to be well armored."

Before Axl could reply a large, blue mechanical beetle rose up to his level, its long snout cutter spinning with a menacing buzz. The young hunter frowned as he searched his memory files for anything similar, but found nothing.

"Pallette, what is this thing?" he asked as he jumped to the side, barely dodging the beetle smashing where he had just been standing. "And how do I stop it?"

"It's an old Beetron," she answered. "Don't waste your ammo on it, try to ride it instead."

"Ride it? I don't think that's a good idea," Axl complained, jumping and hovering in place to again dodge the insistent mechaniloid.

"On the contrary, Beetrons are very simple," Pallette said. "Their main function is transporting cargo; if they detect something on the platform on their backs, they'll take it and unload it on the highest platform in the area by default. If this Beetron's core programming wasn't deleted, you could save a lot of time by riding it!"

"For real?" Axl smiled at this convenient information. "Thanks Pally, that was very useful!"

Waiting for a chance, Axl dropped back and stood still until the Beetron dived towards him. At the last possible moment, the prototype jumped high and managed to land on top of the mechanical beetle, if only barely; he even had to quickly kneel and hold on to the insect robot to avoid falling. Then, just as Pallette had told him, the Beetron's eyes glowed green and it started going up, and up, and up at ever increasing speed until it reached the Aeronautics Research Center, its large landing platform to be precise.

"Heh, thanks for the ride, pal!" Axl said as he jumped off the mechanical insect. He was preparing to rush into the structure to avoid any further trouble with the Beetron, but before he could, a blast of electricity hit the robot, destroying it in one hit.

=0=

"So, you are Axl," a tall avian reploid stated as he descended on the landing platform. "My name is Thunderbolt Falcon, and I have always wanted to meet you… the last time I saw my mentor he told me you possessed incredible potential."

"…Your mentor?" Axl asked feeling confused at this revelation. "Who are you talking about?"

"Oh, you knew him well," Falcon said while distractedly examining the tip of his halberd. "Or have you already forgotten Wind Crowrang?"

Axl lowered his guns and shook his head. He still remembered Crowrang, how could he not? The Crow had been Red Alert's combat instructor and one of Red's closest friends. The prototype had even taken several combat lessons from him and had fond memories of his strenuous training.

"I haven't forgotten Wind Crowrang," Axl declared. "He even taught me a thing or two!"

"Yes, I know," Thunderbolt Falcon grinned and pointed his halberd at the young hunter. "So what do you say we see who his best student was, Axl?"

"Hey, if that's how you want to do this, I'm all for it!" the black armored hunter said with a grin that mirrored that of the winged maverick. "Let's have a fight for the title!"

"Hah hah, hah… you're fun!" Falcon laughed as he took to the air. "Get ready, I won't hold back!"

=0=

Axl jumped left and then right to dodge the falling electricity. After going up, Falcon had spent most of the time shooting lightning at him, dodging swiftly the few bullets the young hunter had managed to shoot his way. This process repeated four more times before both rivals stopped, having realized they had entered a stalemate of sorts.

"Well, what now?" Axl called, "You can't hit me, I can't hit you…"

Falcon grinned and dived at the young hunter with such speed even Storm Eagle would have been impressed. This move took Axl by surprise and he only managed to dash out of the way by pure luck; he had expected Falcon would immediately go back up, but the severe electric shock that struck him in the back proved he was mistaken. Thunderbolt Falcon had stayed on the ground to shoot a mighty electric blast at him, taking advantage of the moment he dropped his guard to dash away from him.

"You are wrong, kid; I can hit you," Falcon sneered in triumph, preparing his spear to shoot a second bolt of electricity at his prey.

"Must admit that was clever of you…" Axl grunted as he got back to his feet, scanning his systems to discover he had received considerable damage; his power core was now at 76%.

"Axl, can you hear me?" Pallette called then. "We completed our analysis on Thunderbolt Falcon, his servomotors are specialized for speed, anything that jams them or forces them to reset should cause him massive damage!"

The young hunter, busy dodging a second blast of lightning, could not reply and nodded instead, knowing Pallette could see him on the satellite view. Axl quickly went through the Special Weapons he had, finding nothing that could have the effect his navigator had suggested.

And then he got an update alert: Vile had just uploaded the Flash Claw.

Thinking trying that one couldn't hurt, Axl quickly downloaded it while jumping out of the way of another blast. He shot three times at Falcon, forcing him to use his Halberd to block the bullets while his Weapons Copy System adapted the new Special Weapon into something he could use.

And finally, this new weapon took form and its name flashed in his mind. The Claw Gun, which Axl quickly materialized, finding it was a revolver with a long barrel, a wide muzzle and thick grip; all of this necessary to support the long blade extending up from the barrel. Axl had little time to marvel at this sort of sword-pistol hybrid, because Thunderbolt Falcon attacked him again.

The attack came too fast for Axl to move out of the way, and in his desperation the only thing he could do was rise the Claw Gun, and much to his surprise its blade acted like a lightning rod, drawing in and absorbing the electric charge.

[Claw Gun energy at 200%-Flash Claw can be used five times now.]

Axl grinned after reading the message his new gun relied to him. Looking at Falcon, who appeared to be quite surprised by what he had just seen, the young hunter pulled the trigger, unleashing a blast of light from the blade of the Claw Gun.

The wapon's effect proved to be effective, as Falcon was immediately paralyzed. Axl took advantage of this to shoot at the avian Maverick with his regular pistol, causing additional damage to the incapacitated maverick.

"You cheater, where is your honor?" Falcon suddenly shouted after forcing his power core to increase his energy output to restart his servomotors. He cursed inwardly as he realized his energy had dropped to 40%. If Axl attacked him again with that cursed weapon it would all be over!

"Look who's talking, you're willing to help Lumine destroy the planet!" Axl challenged. "If there is someone here with no honor, then that's you… Crowrang would be ashamed!"

"How dare you say that after you and the hunters killed him?" Flacon growled, finally losing his temper and running at Axl and bringing his weapon forth, trying to impale him.

Axl parried the attack and countered with a swing of his Claw Gun, which was blocked easily by his rival. Their weapons clashed again and again, neither of them willing to give any ground as they tried to outmaneuver the other until the tip of the halberd and the blade of the Claw Gun crashed and locked, both fighters pushing hard against the other, knowing that the one who won this contest would get the upper hand and a chance to deliver one final, fatal blow.

"I'll defeat you, Axl," Falcon swore. "I'll avenge my master!"

"You want revenge?" Axl hissed as he kept pushing against Falcon's halberd. "Is that why you're doing this? You fool! At least Crow was manipulated by Sigma… you have no excuse to go Maverick!"

"It matters little at this point," Thunderbolt Falcon said, pushing harder than before. "I don't care about Lumine or his stupid plan! I don't care about the stupid bomb or the Tunneler behind this Research Center… right now, victory is all I need!"

"I can't let you have it," Axl told him, standing firm as he closed his eyes. "Goodbye, Falcon."

And then he pulled the trigger, activating the Flash Claw at point blank.

The powerful blinding light enveloped Thunderbolt Falcon, paralyzing his servomotors and causing an energy imbalance that cracked his power core, creating a leak that started a chain reaction all over his systems, destroying him from the inside out.

"The master… would have been… proud," Thunderbolt Falcon managed to get out. His systems were in code red, telling him he had less than a second left before permanent failure. Admitting defeat against a superior adversary, he offered Axl this: "You truly are… his best student… it was an honor… to fight you."

"Falcon?" Axl tried, looking at the other reploid, who now stood motionless, black smoke rising from every joint in his body. The maverick's eyes had burned out and Axl could not detect any trace of energy inside him. Thunderbolt Falcon was dead.

The young hunter sighed and placed his hand over the shoulder of his defeated rival, feeling strangely saddened by this hunt, something he hadn't experienced since Sigma forced him fight his friends from Red Alert.

"Thank you for those words, Falcon…" Axl said with a hint of regret in his voice. "I'm not sure if I'm Crowrang's best student, but I'll try to live up to your expectations."

The young hunter stood there in respectful silence for a minute, then reached behind Falcon's helmet and pulled out his Weapon Chip so he could copy it. After a moment of hesitation, Axl also decided to take his rival's halberd, thinking it would be a shame to leave it behind and that perhaps Zero could do some good with it.

=0=

"Pallette, do you copy?" Axl called once he entered the Research Center's control room. In the main monitor he could see the Tunneler and the bomb, both located on the other side of the mountain.

"Yes, Axl, what can I do for you?" She said, answering right away.

"I'm deactivating the Tunneler right now," he said as he pressed a series of buttons on the main control panel. "You can send the bomb squad, this mission's complete."

"I will," after a pause, the navigator said: "Are you ok, Axl? You sound… sad."

"I… I'm fine," he answered, "just dealing with some ghosts from the past, that's all."

"I see… well, if you need to talk, I'm here for you."

"I know, thank you."

=0=

Notes:

Here we are again after a short hiatus, and we return with an Axl chapter, I hope you enjoyed reading it.

With this seven mavericks are down and there's only one left; I'm sure you guys already know which hunter gets the mission.

And you all made very solid guesses about the identity of the mysterious "doctor" from the previous chapters, and we'll see more about him real soon.