Chapter 53: The Final Battle: Arc 3: Part 2 of 2: Onward to the Future
The gang arrived once again at the heart of the Mother Computer where they saw the same control pane; and metal orb the last time they were here.
"So here we are again…" Klein frowned as he readies his katana. "And Sigma will appear any minute now…"
"Bwahahaha! You guessed right, Klein!" Our heroes heard Sigma's evil laugh as he warped in, showing his first form from the first Maverick War.
"Sigma!" X snarled as he readies his X-Buster, his friends readied their weapons. "You're going to pay for what you have done!"
"I knew you'll defeat my minions, but Strea betraying me was unexpected…" Sigma frowned as he crossed his arms. "After I showed her who her real enemies are, she still calls you pathetic humans her friends…"
"Sigma…" Yui glared at the evil leader of the Mavericks. "You tricked Strea by using her fears and doubts and exploited to your own sinister gain. You're even worse than Heathcliff…"
"You're just an AI, Yui. Why do you cared about these humans? Have you forgotten about the negative feelings of the players back in your dimension before I merged SAO and the Mother Computer's cyberworld?" Sigma retorted.
"I haven't forgotten… But deep down, there are kindness in people's hearts and they have the will to redeem themselves and make a better future for themselves. Mama, Papa, X-kun, and Houki's friends… They are proof of the love and caring people of the omniverse." Yui reasoned.
"Sigma, you lacked those things because of your faulty programming!" Asuna pointed her rapier at Sigma.
"You're only making things worse if you continue to make your insane Reploid utopia!" Phillia added as she pointed her dagger at the deranged leader of the Mavericks.
"Peh!" Sigma snorted as he took off his cape and got out his lightsaber. "It doesn't matter what you said, you humans and unworthy Reploids are all the same! I will make my Reploid utopia and I'll do it by destroying you all!"
"Guess reasoning with you is out of the question, Sigma!" Kanzashi growled as she readies her sword.
"Prepare for a third defeat, Sgima!" Houki screamed out in fury as she readies her katanas.
"Middy and Techno will be avenged once we defeat you!" Cecilia yelled as she readies her Buster.
"Time to pay for your crimes, Sigma!" Ling pounded her fists together and took a fighter's stance similar to Ryu of Street Fighter.
"We will stop you again, Sigma!" Charlotte yelled as she readies her spear.
"We'll never forgive you for what you have done, Sigma!" Laura snarled in anger as she pointed her sword at Sigma.
"We'll make you think twice about brainwashing me and my little sister into working for you!" Tatenashi frowned angrily as she spins her drill spear.
"Sigma…" Kirito unsheathed his duel swords and got ready. "We will never forgive you for the death of Strea!"
"We will put an end to your schemes, Sigma!" Yukinari yelled in fury.
"This is it, Sigma! Time for a third defeat! And don't you dare hold back like last time!" X yelled as he charged up his X-Buster.
"Don't worry, I won't hold back!" Sigma laughed insanely as he slashed upwards, making an energy slash, forcing the gang to scatter to avoid it.
"Shoot, he wasn't kidding about holding back!" Liz grimaced as she charged at Sigma and bashed him five times before backstepping out of the way from his slashes.
"Can you handle this?!" Sigma taunted as he dashed forwards towards Silica and Pina. Silica ordered Pina to fire a electric breath at him and she acknowledged by doing said attack, Sigma was hit for small damage, but he was still going after Silica and Pina, but Kirito got in the way and locked blades with Sigma.
"Sigma, we will defeat you for real this time!" Kirito gritted his teeth in anger as he and Sigma clashed in a dance of blades for about 50 seconds until Kirito got the upper hand and slashed Sigma 10 times with his swords. Sigma retaliated by slashing Kirito three times.
"Valkyrie Knights!" Asuna yelled as she slashed Sigma many times with her rapier.
"Not bad, but not good enough!" Sigma laughed darkly as he fired the beams from his head gem, forcing the gang to dodge them.
"Take this, Sigma!" Kirie growled as she charged forward and punched and kicked Sigma five times, knocking him into a wall.
"Not bad for a human girl with strength almost the same as a Reploid, but can you handle this?!" Sigma lashed slash after slash, making energy slashes, forcing the gang to duck and cover. Cecilia and Sinon fired projectiles at Sigma, giving him some small damage. X fired two charged shots at Sigma, giving him larger damage than before.
"Die, humans!" Sigma charged at Houki and they clashed blades for about 40 seconds until Leafa helped Houki by slashing Sigma from behind, giving Houki a chance to slash Sigma five times with her katanas.
"Take this, Sigma!" Kanzashi yelled in fury as she let out a battle cry as she charged at Sigma and slashed him five times with her greatsword.
"Take this, miserable humans!" Sigma yelled as he fired the beam attack from his head again, the gang have to dodge it again. X fired a single charged shot at Sigma, giving him even more damage.
"Hyaaahhhhhh!" Ling and Phillia yelled in unison as they dashed in and combine their attacks to give Sigma even the largest of damage ever considered. Laura swoop in afterwards and slashed Sigma five times with her claymore.
"Take this, Siggy!" Tomoka yelled as she and Lisa combined their attacks to give Sigma even more damage than the last one.
"Worthless humans!" Sigma snarled as he did the energy slashes again, but the gang dodged them like before. Tatenashi spins her drill spear again and thrusts it at Sigma 10 times, giving him even more damage.
X charged up his X-Buster to level 3. "Die, Sigma! Charged shot!" With a scream of righteous fury, X fired the charged shot and it drilled through Sigma like last time.
"Ugh!" Sigma clutched his wound as the gang aimed their weapons at him. "Not bad, but's not over yet! X, IS Pilots… Meet me in my hideout in the real world so we can truly settle this!" With a scream of agony, Sigma exploded.
"Cecilia!" X turned to Cecilia.
"Got it." Cecilia nodded as she rushed over to the control panel and began fixing the Mother Computer, after a few seconds, she fixed the Mother Computer and she received a notification that SAO has been set to clear. "Before we go after Sigma, we like to say some good byes to our friends." Cecilia told her friends as X-Squad looked at the SAO players and Girls Bravo gang.
"I guess, this is good bye then." Klein smiled softly as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Yes. We will never forget the experiences we had with you, X and Houki's friends." Agil smiled as he crossed his arms.
"I hope we get to see each other again one day, this time in the real world." Asuna closed her eyes and smiled softly, a tear fell out of her eye.
"X-kun… Please don't forget me and Pina." Silica looked at the ground despondently, but before smiling softly at her new friends.
"Don't worry, I won't forget you, Silica and Pina." X reassured them with a smile.
"Thank you for looking after us, X." Leafa smiled softly as she walked up to X and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I hope you find out which of the IS pilots you liked the most soon."
"We been through a lot throughout this adventure. I'm confident we'll meet again!" Liz showed her business smile.
"Thank you for everything, X." Sinon gave a small smile as she turned away, slightly blushing.
"I will never forget our adventures, X." Phillia smiled as she closed her eyes and shed a tear.
"Thank you for helping us out when we first arrived in this merger world." Yukinari smiled softly.
"Take care, everyone!" Miharu waved.
"T-Thank you for showing me how to conquer my fears, X-kun." Koyomi smiled softly.
"Tomoka will find a way back to your world and we'll have fun again!" Tomoka grinned.
"Take care, X and Houki." Kirie smiled sadly.
"Eh, you were alright, X…" Fukuyama grumbled as he crossed his arms and looked away.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble I gave you and your friends and Yukinari-san. I'll be sure to make up for it." Lisa smiled brightly, her bodyguards nodded in agreement.
"X…" Kirito smiled as he extended his hand for a handshake which X gave him one. "Always keep fighting for those you believe in and never give up, no matter the outcome."
"Thanks, I will." X nodded.
"Even though I will disappear, but I will be preserved in some other MMORPG, I won't forget our adventures here, X-kun." Yui smiled brightly as the white light occurred.
Back in the real world, X opened his eyes and stepped out of the capsule. He sees Zero and Dr. Cain waiting for him. He sees behind them the IS girls also removing their VR helmets. "Glad to have you back, X-Squad." Zero gave his friend a thumbs up.
"Zero, Dr. Cain. Have you found Sigma's new hideout?" X asked them.
"Yes. We can warp you there to put an end to Sigma's evil schemes again." Dr. Cain nodded.
"Then let's give Sigma a taste of his own medicine then!" Tatenashi grinned heroically as she pounded her fists. X-Squad nodded in agreement as Dr. Cain and Zero warped them to Sigma's new hideout.
The new hideout appears to be like the old one. X-Squad looked at the door. "Inside…" Kanzashi frowned.
"Is Sigma… We come a long way, now let's do it, for Strea, Middy and Techno!" X proclaimed.
"Roger!" The IS girls nodded in agreement as they entered through the door.
X-Squad found themselves in a familiar room. "So you finally made it, X-Squad…" The heroes heard Sigma's sinister voice as the lights turned on, revealing Wolf Sigma! "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long! Now I will destroy you all!" Wolf Sigma declared as the wolf battle body roared.
"We will defeat you again, Sigma!" Houki declared in fury as she readies her katanas.
"We won't rest until your evil presence is wiped clean from the world!" Cecilia yelled as she aims her Buster at Sigma.
"Even if it'll take our descendants to finish you off!" Ling added as she got into a battle stance.
"You must be stopped at once, Sigma!" Charlotte added as she readies her spear.
"All or nothing!" Laura growled as she readies her claymore.
"We will defeat you, Sigma!" Kanzashi yelled in fury as she readies her greatsword.
"You got that right, little sis!" Tatenashi nodded as she activates her drill spear.
"Sigma! We will end this, right here, right now! We will defeat you again Sigma!" X screamed out in fury as his limitless potential activates.
"Tremble with fear! You are finished!" Sigma roared as he used his claws to fire electric beams at the team, but they dodged it.
"Take this, Sigma!" Cecilia yelled as she fired her charged shot at Sigma, giving him medium damage.
"Mortals!" Sigma growled as he fired the breath attack at the team, they dashed out of the way.
"Taste blade, Sigma!" Houki yelled as she flew up to Sigma, dodging his slashes and slashed his head five times. X wall kicked up and fired two charged shots at Wolf Sigma's head, damaging him greatly.
"Eat electricity!" Wolf Sigma yelled as he fired electric orbs from his head at the team, they dodged it like always. Ling flew up and bashed Wolf Sigma in the head five times with her fists and kicks. Sigma lashed his claws at her, but she dodged every swipe.
"Rolling Shield!" X yelled as he fired Armored Armadillo's attack at the head, giving Sigma large doses of damage.
"Take this blade of justice, Sigma!" Laura yelled as she flew in and slashed Sigma five times with her claymore.
"Fools!" Sigma snarled as he fired the breath attack at the team, but they dodged it like before. Tatenashi flew up and thrusts her drill spear at him five times. X fired two more charged shots at Sigma, giving him even more damage.
"Feel the hurt, Sigma!" Kanzashi yelled as she flew up and slashed Sigma 9 times with her greatsword. Sigma fired electric orbs from his claws, but the team dodged them like always.
"Feel my spear, Sigma!" Charlotte yelled as she flew up and thrusts her spear at Sigma five times, giving him even more damage.
"That's it!" Sigma yelled in fury. "Now you have forced my hand!" Wolf Sigma opened his mouth and began charging up his final attack. X, however was charging up to level 5.
"Time for a third defeat, Sigma! Charged shot!" X screamed out in fury as he fired the charged shot at Sigma's mouth. Like at the end of the first Maverick War, Wolf Sigma's body began to erupt explosions.
"N-No! How did I… lose to you… again?! It doesn't… matter… As long… as there is… evil… in the hearts of… men… and Reploids… and as long… as Mavericks exist… I will… never… truly… DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Wolf Sigma screamed in agony as he exploded, X-Squad warped out of there in time before the explosion took them with it.
(One hour later…)
X-Squad was watching the sunset on a hill in Neo Tokyo. They are celebrating their victory by watching the sunset. "We did it again… We saved the omniverse from Sigma's evil grasp." Houki smiled slightly.
"Plus, I bet everyone has returned back to their dimensions. I bet even Kirito and the SAO players have woke up in their dimension's real world." Laura smiled slightly.
X closed his eyes in introspection. Ling took notice.
"X… You're not thinking about what Sigma said after he was defeated, right?" Ling smiled softly at him. "Don't worry. As long as there is light and kindness in the hearts of men and Reploids, we will defeat Sigma for good this time, this time, together!"
"Yeah… You're right." X opened his eyes with a soft smile. "Sorry for worrying you girls. But we will find a way to end Sigma permanently. Even if he keeps coming back, we will continue to fight for both humans and Reploids." X turned to the Sarashiki sisters with a grin. "Can I count on you two to help us fight the good fight?"
"You bet! Right, little sis?" Tatenashi winked at her little sister.
"Okay! We owe you our lives for saving us from Sigma's control, X. And we will help you stop Sigma for good!" Kanzashi nodded with a cheery smile.
"Then let's go! Onward to a positive future!" Charlotte pumped her fist in the air with a smile.
(Thread of Fate by TM Revolution plays)
We see the same ending for Arc 1, but this time with the Sarashiki sisters joining our heroes as they run down Central Highway and pictures of X-Squad's otherworldly friends of Arc 3 and the battles of Arc 3. And X-Squad's running poses and the screen freezes like in certain anime after 1 minute and 30 seconds have passed.
The end… for now…
Arc 3 completed! Number of chapters in Arc 3: 21
Thank you for reading! See you next time in Arc 4!
A/N: And Arc 3 has come to a close. Next arc will follow MegaMan X3's plot with Inuyasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, the Melchonay of Haruhi Suzumiya and Blazeblue's Carl and Makato which will start next week. See you there!
