My Hero/ROCKMAN X
Episode 2: Bon Voyage
[UPLOADED ON 12/24/21]
A/N: I finally finished chapter 2! Merry Christmas everybody!
[dummy1022: Here it is served up hot!]
[Vegeta the 3rd: Thanks! I'll do my best! I'm glad I nailed the interactions between them. I'll have to work on Axl and Zero's relationship as well when the time comes. Good to know I'm heading in the right direction.]
[Wombag1786: Thanks my friend!]
[Masterx01: I've heard of the elf wars, so yes I do need to take that into account. However int he case of the quirks and the variable weapon system I need a viable way to explain making their weapons systems able to copy quirk data because that would mean copying genetic code. How could it be feasible for the hunters to take in quirk data and translate that into weapon data? If you have any ideas please feel free to share! I need all the help I can get!]
-NEW ABEL CITY MARKET DISTRICT: SEVERAL HOURS LATER-
Golden light of the afternoon sun mingled with the grey haze from fires that had burnt in various areas across the futuristic city. Police units had secured the area around where Zero had been fighting the maverick, bomb squads were busy disarming the bomb that Brutus had planted. Civilians had gathered around the site to watch the mixed police unit of reploid and human officers investigating the crime scene.
Zero stood off to the side, overseeing the crime scene investigation as the police disabled the explosive and hauled away the dead maverick. The whole street had been cordoned off; street traffic was redirected away from the crime scene. Behind him civilians were taking pictures while a news crew recorded the whole operation, try as he might though, he could not avoid being in camera shot. He strode over to the flatbed truck that was being loaded with the deceased maverick. But before he could ponder over the dead maverick, he was alerted by the presence of two more sirens approaching from down the street. Turning his head to the newest sirens, Zero smiled slightly at the sight that greet him.
X and Axl stopped their bikes on the side of the road, Axl smiled at Zero as he dismounted.
"Hey Zero!" Axl ran over to the red maverick hunter. Taking in the sights of the crime, Axl whistled intently at Zero's handiwork. "Looks like you took care of business without us." He chuckled.
"Nothing I haven't done before." Zero shrugged.
"You got that right." Axl nodded in a relaxed manner.
"Zero, what happened?" X asked.
"I caught a maverick planting some explosives, then I took him down. Simple as that." Zero said bluntly as he pointed to the truck that was hauling away the maverick corpse. He then crossed his arms and put on a thoughtful expression. "Or it would be if it weren't for one thing."
X frowned. "And what might that be?"
Zero cocked an eye at his old friend. "It's not Sigma we're dealing this time, or at least that's what that maverick said."
X's mouth opened slightly in surprise. "…"
Zero nodded. "I had the same feeling."
Regaining his composure, X's expression hardened. "We need to report to Signas, what happened today can't be a coincidence. We've been fooled before about Sigma not being involved."
"Right." Zero and Axl nodded.
Zero waved over to a police reploid that was outfitted with command gear, the officer saluted in response before shouting orders to the other police officers. All three maverick hunters mounted their respective vehicles and zoomed off down the road back to hunter base. Putting it behind them for the next objective, the crime scene faded into their rear-view mirrors.
-HUNTER BASE: 1 HOUR LATER-
After returning from the field, the three hunters proceeded to the elevator at a brisk pace, passing by lower ranked hunters who were busy maintaining other vehicles in the garage. The elevator doors whooshed open and all three of them walked inside.
Minutes passed in silence as the elevator carried all of them up to the higher levels of the HQ building. Axl seemed a bit twitchy as he looked between both senior maverick hunters for either of them to say something. For another minute Axl waited quietly until he couldn't stand the stale air in the elevator anymore.
"So … we might as well talk about something to pass the time." Axl spoke up.
Zero, who leaned back against the elevator wall, glanced at the rookie. "Alright, what have two been up to today?" He asked, looking to the other maverick hunters for an answer.
"X and I took down a berserk mechaniloid at Olin Chemical, sorry we couldn't be there to join in the fight. I could've used the extra target practice." Axl said with a cheeky grin.
"You guys didn't miss much. Now that I think about it, there isn't exactly much to talk about besides our job." Zero replied coolly.
"What? There's plenty of things to talk about!" Axl scoffed.
Zero fully turned his attention to Axl, then a smirk crossed the red hunter's face. "Alright, name a few things that don't involve our job."
The rookie smiled. "Alright, who's the better shot, Zero?! You with your Z buster, or me with my pistols?"
Zero hummed. "If you want a sparring match later, you're on." He challenged Axl, leaning forward in acceptance of the chance to have some fun.
"Bring it on, Zero! Loser has to get the E Tanks!" Axl smiled eagerly.
"I'll hold you to that WHEN I win." Zero chuckled confidently.
Axl, feeling revved up for the sparring session, looked over to X. "You up for it, X?"
X was roused from his deep thoughts by the words of the younger maverick hunter. "Oh, sure. Some extra training never hurts. But that'll be after we see Douglas for maintenance." X nodded.
"You need to lighten up X." Axl chuckled brightly. "You're wound a little too tight."
"After what happened today, it's hard to be cheerful. You saw it too." X replied stoically, though there was a hint of sadness in his tone.
"I'll give ya that one, but that doesn't make it impossible." Axl huffed with one eye open, he glanced over at Zero as he spoke. "Know what I'm saying?"
Picking up on the rookie's lead, Zero decided to speak his mind. "Axl does have a point." He grunted coolly, covering Axl's back in the discussion. "This job only gets harder if we don't relax, we both know that X."
"I know, Zero … I know." X sighed tiredly; he slumped his shoulders ever so slightly as he looked down at the floor with his eyes shut. Clenching his fist for a moment, X stood silent as his compatriots waited for an answer. Raising his head, X took on a determined expression. "I'll join you guys for the match after we give our report to Signas. That sound fair to you?"
Axl gave a thumbs up. "Awesome."
"It's a plan then." Zero nodded.
Suddenly a quick ping from the elevator's speakers and an abrupt halt of the elevator signaled that they'd reached their stop.
When the elevator doors opened all three hunters stepped out into the corridor of central command floor, around the three veteran hunters the halls were full of hustling reploids. Each passing reploid bore the Maverick Hunter insignia on their armor in one spot or another, though most of them sported the logo on their shoulders. Whether it was avoiding bumping into one another or just staying out of each other's way, the many field agents and office workers alike flowed along in a form of controlled chaos.
At the far end of the hallway was a large steel door, the sign above it read in large black letters CENTRAL OPERATIONS. X, Axl, and Zero waited as the door slid open for them to proceed inside the command room. Standing at the far side of the room was the current commander of the maverick hunters, Signas. Having a commanding presence did wonders for the large reploid as he spoke his orders to the navigators and other personnel moving around the room in a very cool and professional manner.
Standing beside Signas was a pink reploid with blonde hair and blue eyes, she looked up from her terminal and waved to the trio of maverick hunters.
"Signas, sir." X saluted the commander as he, Zero, and Axl stood at attention.
Immediately Signas noticed the trio entering the room, focusing on them with precision. "At ease. Welcome back from the field. Alia may have sent me the data, but I need to hear some more detailed accounts of your missions today." X nodded in agreement as he lowered his arm to his side.
"Sure. What do you need to know, Signas?" Axl asked the commander. "By the way, I like to think we did good work out there today." Bragging with a slight smirk at the competence he'd shown the field during the earlier skirmishes.
Despite Axl's lack of proper behavior, Signas took the direct question in stride. "For a start, while all of you were out on patrol did you notice anything suspicious? We need leads on today's terror attacks."
"All of this was coordinated by a group, the maverick I fought mentioned something along those lines after our fight. They caused the attacks as a distraction, specifically for us." Zero explained.
"What evidence do you have to support this?" Signas was skeptical, not that he didn't trust Zero after all of his years of service but he knew there was more to hear before any decisions could be made.
"Aside from the Maverick's testimony and the fact that he was planting explosives, not much." Zero crossed his arms.
"Actually, I did notice something earlier that might have a connection." X spoke up, he put a hand to his chin as he recalled earlier events. "Before I arrived at the Chemical Plant, there was a truck breaking some traffic laws on the highway. I reported it and a police cruiser followed after the truck a few minutes later."
Signas looked over to the pink reploid at the terminal beside the main viewing screen in the room. "Alia, can you shed some light on this?"
"Affirmative, in fact I can bring up dashboard camera footage from the cruiser now." Alia typed away at her terminal and put the image on the main screen.
The large screen behind them flickered to life with the footage of the police cruiser while it was in pursuit of the vehicle. Following the truck closely, the officers in the cruiser flashed their lights at the driver of the truck.
Slowly the truck pulled to the side of the road as the police cruiser closed in it, parking once it come to a complete stop. The officers stepped out of their vehicle and approached the cab of the semi-truck to speak with the driver, preparing to write him some hefty tickets. But instead of getting to write the tickets the officers were met with energy blasts from inside the cab that punched clear though their torsos and part of the door. After both officers had been struck down, the semi-truck rolled away from the crime scene.
Zero focused on the screen, trying to pick out any useful details in the footage. "Zoom in on the door and enhance the image."
"You see something, Zero?" Axl asked his mentor.
"The rearview mirror, zoom in on it." Zero pointed at the truck's side mirror.
"Enhancing now." Alia paused the video, zooming in on the reflection in the mirror. In the reflection was a faint outline of whoever was sitting inside the passenger seat of the vehicle. From the close view a faint shade of purple could be seen in the mirror, along with the corner of what appeared to be a helmet.
"Seems whoever killed those officers is brutal if not sloppy." Signas remarked.
"Or they just didn't care about being caught. The bombing at the factory didn't happen too long after this according to X." Zero grunted.
"Still, that's not much to go on." Alia put a hand to her chin as she thought about the situation. "Aside from the false plates of the vehicle and that partial helmet shot, we're still in the dark."
"Did they find anything in the wreckage of the Ordinance Works? Survivors might have seen what happened. Maybe the wreckage of that truck if it's actually connected to the explosion." X added.
Alia nodded. "Survivors reported a truck matching that description pulling up to the facility before the explosion. It was marked as one of their normal deliveries, which is why it passed the gate and then exploded when it was in the right position. No bodies were found though at the detonation site." She explained, bringing up security images of the vehicle and photos of the wreck at the center of the initial blast.
"That means the driver escaped, and we can find them." Determination swelled within X.
"Every second we spend talking is more time the Mavericks have to prepare." Zero said coolly.
"Then what are we standing around for!" Axl grinned, shooting his fellow hunter a thumbs up.
"But we don't have any idea where to look yet." Alia told the three hunters; her face bore a look of concern.
"There has to be a connection though, something they want besides chaos. We do need a solid lead." Signas hummed as he looked over the footage of the truck for any other markings or indicators that would provide more information.
Zero looked back at the screen again in thought. "X, do you remember that shade of purple?" He pointed at the partial shot of the helmet.
"What are you getting at?" X asked, confused by his old friend's question.
"There's only one maverick that comes to mind with that shade purple to his armor. You know who I'm talking about. Think about it X; excessive force, wanton destruction, and purple armor." Zero frowned.
X went wide eyed. "No, it couldn't be."
"We've said that before about other things and we were wrong." Zero huffed in disagreement as he waved his hand at the recording on the screen. "Not to mention there have been sightings of him recently."
"Am I missing something here?" Axl raised an eyebrow.
"We'll tell you when you need to know." Zero grunted.
"Axl, what Zero means to say is that it's ancient history for the two of us. For all we know right now it's probably nothing." X replied.
"Sigma's ancient history from the stories I heard before we beat him, but he keeps coming back! That's got to count for something." Axl said indignantly.
"Do you have a lead or not?" Signas asked the three of them.
"We do." Zero nodded, the red hunter turned to Alia. "Alia, have there been any reported acts of brutal homicides with explosives or energy blasts recently before today? Do any of them match what we saw?"
"Yes, several active cases involving homicides matching this have occurred in the past 2 months."
"That confirms it." Zero smirked.
"Then why are we standing around waiting?!" Axl crossed his arms impatiently. "Let's get back out there! I'm ready to go!"
"You really want to go now? I thought you want to know who we were talking about." Zero looked Axl straight in the eye.
With a burst of confidence, Axl grinned. "Heck yeah I do!"
Zero glanced over his fellow blonde behind the navigator station. "Alia bring up case file V-4/VA." Alia nodded and typed away on terminal at Zero's request, but a transmission alert popped up just before the image came on screen.
"Hold on, Zero. We have an incoming transmission." Alia said urgently as she brought up the alert.
"Put it through." Signas ordered to the navigator.
The main screen flashed to a blurry image of a reploid concealed by shadows, two green gems were positioned over the brow of the caller. "Having a hard time today, Maverick hunters?"
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" X shouted at the figure on the screen.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Taunting the hunters with a smirk, the sly reploid could not help but enjoy toying with the hunters. "I'll tell you what, trace this transmission and you'll find out. Don't make me wait though, I'll get bored … and bad things will happen to a lot of people when I get bored."
"Just what are you planning to do?!" X growled furiously at reploid behind the screen.
Playful wags of the mysterious reploid's finger accompanied a relaxed chuckle. "Ah but that would be telling, can't spoil things now, can I? Here's a little bone though for you to chew on, the hostages we took are fair game to kill if you take your time."
"Confident, aren't you? Name the place and we'll be there." Zero growled at the mystery menace.
"Could I? Yes. Will I? No." The sly reploid smirked.
"I've traced the call! It's coming from the Aldrin Institute research center!" Alia told the rest of the personnel in the room.
A laugh came from the caller. "Bingo! See you soon, maverick hunters. The clock is ticking."
Suddenly the feed cut and the screen flashed SIGNAL LOST in large bold letters.
"It's obvious that he's daring us." Zero frowned.
"Then let's not disappoint this guy! Guess our sparring match will have to wait!" Axl grinned, summoning his pistols as he sprinted for the door.
"Axl! We could be walking into a trap!" X tried to stop the rookie, but Zero grabbed X's shoulder.
"Axl has the right idea. We don't have time to be cautious, so we'll just have to face this head on." Zero told his partner.
"Then let's go Zero, we'll stop them before anyone else gets hurt." X said with a burning determination.
Zero nodded. "Exactly, let's get moving X!"
"Be careful out there!" Alia shouted as the 3 hunters sprinted out of the room.
-CITY STREETS-
Blurs of red, black, and blue raced along the streets near the central highway. Zero was at the front of the three-man formation with X and Axl following close behind him. Off in the distance the sounds of gunfire could blended with explosions that were intermittently rocking the city as Mavericks engaged the Police in street warfare. Chaos took hold of the nearby sectors, catching innocent citizens in the crossfire with their lives upended by the what seemed to be the beginning of the latest maverick war.
"So long as the lights keep popping up green, we should get there quick." Zero said coolly.
"It won't be long before traffic splits off the highway to avoid the fighting! We'll have to jump back on soon enough!" X shouted to his partners.
Suddenly an explosion from the highway battle sent chunks of pavement falling onto the street.
"Watch out!" Axl swerved clear of the debris while Zero shot forward under the raining rocks. "X, ramp coming up on your left!"
"Here we go!" X spotted the truck with its ramp down; he revved the throttle and ascended the ramp for a quick jump over the debris. Landing on the asphalt with a loud clunk, X found himself in between Axl and Zero with the latter still in the lead.
"Phew, good thing we didn't take the freeway." Axl remarked as he pointed to the crowded highway above their heads. Bottlenecked traffic blocked the road as far as the eye could see, vehicles that were near exits were getting off to escape the clashing security forces and mavericks.
"Taking the streets is our best option for now, they must have started trouble up there to slow us down. We'll jump onto the highway further down to get around the blockade." X said as they rounded a corner into an intersection.
Shaking his head in disagreement, Zero retorted to his blue partner. "Sooner or later, we're going to get-"
BOOM
An explosion formed a huge crater in street ahead of the maverick hunters. "Caught in a shootout!" Zero said as he leapt off his ride chaser, plowing the vehicle into a group Mavericks that had begun firing at them trio of cyber warriors. X and Axl skidded their vehicles to a halt and dis mounted to support Zero in fighting off the group of rogue reploids. Zero moved to slash apart three mavericks with a quick swipe from his Z saber, cleaving the weaker machines in half. Axl jumped over Zero and swapped his pistols to full auto mode, blasting apart the rest of the mavericks in a hail of automatic gunfire. X looked above his companions and noticed an incoming barrage of missiles.
"MOVE!" X shouted in panic as he pushed both of his allies out of the blast radius. They all tumbled to the ground as their remaining vehicles were blown to steaming bits of twisted scrap.
"I guess I jinxed us, didn't I?" Axl groaned as the trio hopped to their feet. "I could use a stretch anyway." Axl remarked as he twirled one his pistols. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted and then shot a Maverick that jumped out to fire at them.
"We'll just have to go the rest of the way on foot. Let's get out of here." Zero said coolly as he dusted off his shoulder plates. He then rushed the line of enemy mavericks, weaving the rough the fields of gunfire on the street as X and Axl followed closely behind him, blasting enemy units as they cropped up.
A speeding car drove by the elite team and swerved into a concrete wall, smashing the front end of the vehicle into a heap of scrap. The driver jumped out of the car as fire from the mavericks whizzed by his head. Police reploids moved to get the civilian to safety while the trio of hunters plowed through the group of enemy troops X fired a charged shot from his buster in the side of a parked tanker truck that had been wrecked near the group of mavericks. Firing off the shot, he watched as a ball of fire erupted from the resulting explosion that decimated the opposition.
Police reploids cheered as the trio of hunters rushed by, rejoicing as their heroes passed them by. But seconds later a large thudding sound shook the street, causing the trio to turn their heads to its source. A large mechaniloid with mounted guns on its shoulders lumbered down the street, taking fire on all sides from groups of police reploids and maverick hunter teams that had been dispatched to the sector. The mechaniloid briefly turned to face a building on its left side and charged its mounted laser cannons. Whirring loudly as energy built up to be released, the cannons glowed brightly before they released a blast which carved a huge trail across the side of the building, killing several maverick hunters in the process.
Gritting his teeth in resolve, X knew he had to deal with the situation before the mechaniloid could cause more casualties.
"Axl, hit from above and distract it!" X shouted to the younger maverick hunter; he turned the zero. "Zero, you and I will hit it from the sides!" He received a nod from his teammates and the three split up to perform a three-pronged attack on the heavy metal monster.
Axl bounced between the building to gain some additional height over his target, firing energy bolts from his guns as he ascended the side of the building. The mechaniloid attempted to slam one of its arms into the black rookie hunter but it barely missed him as he dashed off the wall and fired his twin pistols at the war machine's optics. Thrusting to another wall with his boot jets, Axl kept shooting as he made contact with a wall on the opposite side of the street. Just as the enemy machine prepared to slam its fist into the wall again, Zero and X fired charged shots at it's knee joints.
Both charged strikes at once brought the machine stumbling forward for Axl to land on its hull. Before Axl could deal any serious damage, the mechaniloid shook violently to try shaking off its unwanted passenger. Holding onto the raging metal beast kept Axl from getting a clean shot even with his built-in lock on system to guide his hand. Seconds into the violent shaking, the mechaniloid started rushing forward while trying scrape off Axl by dragging its hull against the side of nearby buildings.
Given little time to get clean shots on the legs of their target, X and Zero fired their charged blasts together. Super-heated plasma bolts from their busters struck the side of the battle mechaniloid with loud bang, shaking the machine even more and causing it to stumble again but it continued to plowed back in the direction which they had come from. Axl bounced up and down on the hull during the rampage of the battle mechaniloid, barely managing to avoid getting scraped off while he clung to the behemoth. For a brief moment the mechaniloid halted with a large lurch forward that caused Axl to recoil forward, nearly breaking his foothold on the mechaniloid's hull. Suddenly the machine spun itself around and charged back towards the veteran maverick hunters, which shook up Axl even more from the rattling. Energy gathered in the barrels of the guns again, launching a massive energy blast straight at X and Zero. Both Maverick Hunters dashed to the opposite sides of the street just as the energy cannons tore gaping holes through a large building at the end of a three-way intersection.
"Axl! Keep that thing moving straight towards X!" Zero shouted to the rookie maverick hunter. "The weak spot seems to be the face!"
"RIDING THIS THING IS NOT EASY!" Axl replied frantically as he held on to the back of the raging mechaniloid.
"JUST DO IT!" Zero shouted loudly to the rookie as he ran up the side of a building straight towards Axl's position on the mechaniloid's hull. "I'll cut a hole in its back while X hits it in the face with charge shot! Grab me as I jump off!" Sprinting with a quick dash, Zero jump high enough to land on top of the mechaniloid.
"GOT IT!" Axl shouted.
Zero's boots clanked against the hull, though he wasted no time in stabbing his saber through the battered armor and running straight towards Axl. A wide sparking gash opened in the back of the mechaniloid as Zero closed in on Axl, the young reploid stretch his free hand to the veteran. A loud slapping noise echoed when the two locked hands and Axl jumped off with Zero in tow, using his thrusters to keep the two of them from falling to the ground too quickly.
"X! HIT IT NOW!" Zero shouted to his partner as the sparking mechaniloid towered over the blue reploid.
A blue glow shown from X's buster as he held the energy in just long enough for his next attack.
Carefully he aimed at the most damaged area on the battle mechaniloid's face, narrowing his eyes as the charge shot finally gathered energy to fire at full strength. X stared into the face of the giant machine during the few seconds before it would crush him. With an unflinching scowl, X fired his charged shot, letting out a powerful blast of buster energy that slammed into the face of his target.
The explosion was just enough to slow down the charging mechaniloid for a brief second, giving X just enough time to jump over the head as it tumbled to the ground. He sprinted along the same path as Zero while the battle mechaniloid exploded under his feet. He jumped at the last second, swinging his arms through the air to reach for Axl.
Axl zoomed over to him and caught X's hand just as the Mechaniloid erupted into a final blast that bathed part of the neighborhood in a ball of fire. Slowly the three maverick hunters descended to the ground in victory over their opponent. Upon reaching the ground, X and Zero turned to face the fire fiery scene they'd left in their wake. Axl also bore witness to the glowing mess of twisted steel and destruction their battle had caused.
Before the cyber heroes could gather their thoughts, a quick bang rang out behind them, all three hunters spun to face the sound. "Incoming!" Axl shouted as he and his teammates dodged the incoming mortar fire from above their heads.
"Well, it seems you haven't lost your touch after all these years." Said a gruff voice from above the trio of hunters.
"I know that voice … Vile!" X said as he pointed his buster at the source of the voice.
Resting a top build several floors above them was a figure that loomed at the edge of the shadows, just enough to catch a glimpse glance of the armor in the glow of the fires. For X and Zero there was no mistaking the single red eye glowed brightly in the darkness. Another distant explosion provided just enough light for the maverick to be seen in all his glory. His purple armor shone in the red glow of the flames, revealing the new armor and upgraded shoulder canon.
"How nice to see you again, X." Vile said smugly as he looked down on the three from his perch. "And Zero, I see you got some upgrades since last time."
"You know this guy? Cause I'm lost here." Axl asked his comrades.
"He used to be a class A Hunter, but now he's our sworn enemy." Zero said sternly as he looked straight at Vile's glowing red eye. "He's a maverick and a wanted criminal."
"So, you remember me too, eh Zero? Good, because I haven't forgotten all the times we've clashed over the years." Vile chuckled as talked with his old foes face to face. For a quick second Vile's eye settled on the view of Axl standing between the veterans. "I see you picked up a rookie along the way, where'd ya find him? On the scrap heap?"
"My name's Axl, you jerk. But why don't you come down here and say that to my face?" Axl spat at the former maverick hunter.
"Looks like the runt has a mouth on him." Vile snorted smugly as he leaned forward slightly towards the trio. "Don't talk like you've got what it takes to beat me, I'm way out of your league."
"Am I supposed to be intimidated? Because from where I'm standing you don't seem so tough." Axl scoffed.
"Pfft, hehehe. As if you're worth my time." Tilting his helmet up slightly, Vile's red eye remained trained on the rookie as his cannon angled to fire. "I could grind you to scrap right now, but that wouldn't be much fun at the moment, would it?"
"Cut the scrap Vile! What is Sigma up to this time? If you're here that can only mean Sigma is involved." Zero barked at the former maverick hunter.
"Sigma?" Vile rubbed the chin section of his helmet as his eye moved back up to the top of his visor. "I haven't heard from him in a while. I couldn't care less about whatever he's up to these days."
"Then who brought you back this time?" X glared at Vile.
"Ah so many questions, not like I care to answer them." Vile waved his left hand dismissively at the hunters. "It's entertaining to watch you try figuring it out though."
"You're a lot of things Vile, but you've never been a liar." Zero grunted as he carefully watched Vile's movements for a sign of a desire to fight. "For as long as I've known you that's been one thing that always stayed the same."
"True enough." Vile spoke as if he was smirking behind his helmet. "Why lie when I can just kill you?"
"All you've ever cared about is destruction Vile." X scowled as his frown deepened in disdain for Vile's past actions. "Working for Sigma has always gotten that rush for you ever since you turned on the hunters when Sigma betrayed us all."
The haughty criminal wagged his finger. "Not entirely true X, mayhem and destruction is just part of what makes me who I am." Vile began to cackle menacingly at his mortal enemies as they listened to his rant. "Don't tell me you forgot what I made clear a long time ago, I will haunt you until the day you die. Facts like that are something that's never going to change. My hatred for you X … that isn't going anywhere."
"So, you're the one behind all of this? Just because you hate X?" Axl raised an eyebrow.
"That takes a lot more effort than Vile cares to put in." Zero snarled, but the masked villain simply shrugged his shoulders. "You're insane Vile, but you're not Sigma. Who's really calling the shots here?"
"Sane, insane, what the hell does it matter? Sigma believed X could change the world, oh it can change although he was wrong about who's going to do it." Vile said calmly as a rock dropped from the concrete roof into a fire below his perch. "But I think that's enough talking philosophy for now."
"Are we going to fight or not? I am going to pay you back for calling me a runt." Axl said proudly as he pointed his pistols at Vile.
"I'd love to stay and play boys, but I'm afraid I have too much work to do." Vile leaned back as he began to take his leave.
"Get back here!" Axl shouted as Vile ignited the thrusters on his backpack, watching the former hunter ascend for a quick exit.
Vile hovered in the air for a moment above the trio. "I'll tell you what. You can find me at the Aldrin Institute, I'll be waiting to show you some of the new tricks I've learned. Sayonara!" A laugh echoed from Vile as he flew off into the night sky. Leaving the hunters with a foreboding feeling from his words as they watched him disappear.
"Guess we'd better follow him." Zero said as he began walking down the street. He put a hand to the side of his helmet to use his radio. "Alia, how far until we reach the Aldrin institute?"
"The most direct route is through a collapsed building not far from your position, there should be a metro station near there with a train waiting at the platform that will take you straight there." Alia said calmly.
"Over there down the street, I can see the station on the far side." Axl gestured to the train platform on the far side of a mountain of crumbled building ruins.
"Alia, what are we going to be walking into?" X asked as the three of them during their sprint through the active warzone to reach their destination.
"You should pick up the pace, other units are reporting heavy Maverick activity in that sector, expect fierce resistance." Alia told the trio as they proceeded down the street.
"Copy that." Zero said coolly. "We ran into Vile, that's probably why."
"Vile? He's back again?" Alia said in shock at the reappearance of the vicious maverick.
"Yeah, Vile's back." Zero grunted.
Ahead of them sat the ruined building from the battle with the hulking battle mechaniloid. Catastrophic structural damage had caused the building to tumble into a pile of rubble and twisted scrap. Smong the ruins were what seemed to be the remains of civilians who were unlucky enough to be inside the structure when it collapsed. There was no time to mourn those who had perished though, even as X spotted a severed arm of deceased reploid, with a decapitated corpse not far from it. Shaking his head to block out the sight from his mind he followed his companions to the train station on the other side of the debris field.
-15 MINUTES LATER-
After the Maverick Hunters had boarded the transport train they rode across the city in silence. So far, the ride seemed quiet enough, a calm before the storm really.
Time passed quickly as the Aldrin institute grew ever closer, the clacking of the train wheels on the tracks served as a clock ticking the reminder of their approach into the heart of the day's chaos. Mavericks swarmed around the building's fortified perimeter while they clashed with hunter units that could be seen battling to break through the horde that claimed control of the research building. Bright flashes and sparks of gunfire traded sides repeatedly on the battlefield between the forces of order and chaos.
X seemed lost in his thoughts as he observed the ongoing battle, the violence didn't sit well with him though he could not find the words for it. Yet he did remember that it was something he could not control, no matter how he tried. All he could was wait for the train to arrive so that the madness could end for a short time as it always did. Every second that passed as the train drew closer to the next station, he couldn't help but feel a foreboding presence though he could not place how it felt so familiar.
Zero sat in a meditative pose as he gathered his thoughts for the next battle, the wait until their arrival was something that didn't bother him much. He'd grown used to the waiting between each battle, he couldn't focus on what was beyond his control. What mattered was to have a clear mind for the trial ahead … or he would if Axl wasn't busy disturbing his Zen moment. He cracked an eye open at the young Reploid to find hi find him tapping his foot on the floor of the train impatiently.
"So, you guys want to tell me more about what happened back there?" Axl asked his teammates, both of whom were lost in their thoughts. "He used to work with you, but why does he hate X so much?"
"Vile was always jealous of X ever since the old days. But it wasn't until Sigma's initial rebellion that Vile acted on it." Zero explained.
"We've defeated Vile several times over the years, but it's never guaranteed when he'll show up." X added.
"Sound to me like he's just mad he keeps getting his butt kicked over and over." Axl remarked.
"Don't underestimate Vile, he's never easy to beat when we fight him. He was bound to show up again sooner or later, he never stays dead. Just like Sigma." Zero grunted.
"But it doesn't explain why he's alive. How can he be back if it's not Sigma who resurrected him this time?" X pondered the possibilities, only serving to agitate himself even more. "It just doesn't make sense. When Vile appears Sigma usually isn't too far behind."
"There's only one way to find out. Whatever this guy did in the past, it's got no bearing on what we're going to do now. If we can beat Sigma together then whoever Vile's working with now doesn't stand a chance." Axl said with a determined smile to his comrades.
"You've got a point there Axl, what matters is the present." Zero nodded in agreement with the rookie.
"If whoever we're going to face is strong enough to get Vile on their side, then we can't afford to make any mistakes." X said with a stern tone as he gripped one of his fore arms and balled the opposing hand into a fist.
"Expecting the unexpected, got it." Axl smirked.
After the small pep talk the train finally began to close in on the station. X snapped his head to the sight of the platform where it seemed a group of Mavericks were busy shooting at Hunters in a nearby security office. It wouldn't be long before they'd be caught up in battle once again, and there would be no further respite for quite some time. Steeling himself for the battle ahead, X blinked his eyes and stood up straight.
"Get ready. Once we hit the platform, we'll be fighting our way into the Aldrin institute." X said as he equipped his buster for battle.
Axl and Zero followed his lead, drawing their own weapons in preparation. Slowly the train began to grind to halt, the brakes squealed loudly as it pulled to a stop beside the station platform. Quick hissing followed as the doors opened for the hunters to exit, granting them access to dive straight back into action. All there hunters rushed off the train car, shooting wildly as they sprinted onto the pavement. Mavericks turned to shoot back at them, drawing some fire away from the hunters that were holed up in the station security office.
A maverick with a mace attempted to stop by swing it's ball and chain into them, but Axl was quick to react. The rookie maverick hunter fired his A-Bullets at just the right time to knock the mace of course and direct it into a wall. Zero slashed through the chain proceeded to cut the Maverick in half with a swift cut from his blade. Clearing the station platform was proving to be a quick affair for the three cyber warriors as the shot or slashed everything thing in sight. With the station area cleared, the three hunters jumped down the street level, landing on their feet in swift succession.
"Don't stop moving! We can't slow down for even a moment!" X shouted. They charged up the street to head for the research building ahead of them.
Zero jumped up and fired a charged blast at a maverick that had picked up a metal shield. Knocking away the steel plate with the blast, Zero provided Axl a clean shot to obliterate the enemy robot with his A-Bullets. X dashed to the side and wiped out two more mavericks with a charged blast of his own, reducing the rogue machines to spare parts. Zero followed that up by cutting through 3 mavericks at once with a flurry of quick Z saber slashes, each slash gracefully landed one after the other as they carved through each maverick.
Axl rolled under a missile blast, firing a burst at the maverick that fired the missile. Zero deflected the a plasma bolt with his Zero, killing the maverick by retaliating with a shot from his Z buster.
"How much further?" Axl shouted as he blasted several Mavericks in rapid succession.
"Not much! It's just up the street from here!" X pointed the front entrance of the building that laid behind a metal gate which was opened to allow more mavericks to rush through in order to slow down the maverick hunters. Plowing through the swarm of enemy troops was getting difficult as they further wore down the trio of hunters. Keeping up with flow of the battle seemed to be taking its toll on the hunters as scrapes and nicks began to coat their armor.
"X, Axl! Enemy ride armor straight ahead!" Zero alerted his teammates to the danger. Seconds later a Ride Armor mech dashed into their path, firing several bursts from its machine guns along with a barrage of missiles. The mech slammed a fist into Axl, knocking him skyward for moment until he flopped onto the ground.
"Axl!" X snapped his attention to the rookie.
Zero dashed into X, pushing him out of the way of a stream of gunfire. "We have to take this thing down!" The crimson swordsman barked as he jumped over the mech's fist, slashing at the pilot after he ran up the arm. The ride armor brought up its other arm and knocked Zero off, causing the red reploid to roll along the ground after breaking through a concrete barrier.
Axl slowly stood back up as he recovered from the hit to his torso, he wiped some dirt from his face and grabbed his pistols from the ground. "That hurt." He muttered out loud.
Axl saw his partners battling it out with the ride armor, watching them work in tandem against the enemy machine. X fired a charged blast, stumbling the ride armor for Zero to get an opening. Zero dashed forward, delivering a heavy slash through the side armor of the mech.
Testing his boosters, a small jet of flames puffed from the exhaust ports. Smirking in confidence, the rookie hunter dashed forward into the path of the ride armor. "Here I come!" Speed built up with each second he spent accelerating, he just had to land the finishing hit on the mech and they would finally be able to break through to the building interior.
Spotting the charging hunter, the ride armor pilot fired the guns at him, but Axl zoomed from side to side in a zig zag pattern while firing his pistols. He jumped into the air and fired a long burst from his guns straight at the pilot's head, killing the operator. Since the pilot was dead the ride armor could only fall to the ground as a lifeless hulk of metal, making a loud thud as it leaned back and then smashed through the door of the main entrance.
"Well that's one way to kick in the front door." Axl smiled proudly at his handywork, taking pride in the fact he'd delivered the finishing blow on the maverick ride armor and punched into the building at the same time.
"Don't get overconfident." Zero shook his head.
"Hey, who said anything about overconfident?" Axl replied with a shrug.
"Axl, Zero, let's go!" X called out to his partners as he sprinted through the front entrance. His fellow hunters trailed behind him as they stormed into the building together.
Just ahead of them was the main reception area before the entrance to the labs, the area was packed with guards that immediately opened fire on the maverick hunters.
"Power through them, we have to move!" X said with laser focus as heavier mavericks stormed in through another open door to keep the pressure on the hunters and prevent them from making more progress. But they proved no match for the cyber warriors as they cleared the room in front of them.
"We're cut off!" Zero pointed to the security door that hung over the entrance to the labs. Their path was blocked by the heavy steel door that slammed down just before they could finish all the enemy units in the room.
"We can take these guys! I'm already racking a lot of Maverick takedowns for the day!" Axl said with pride.
Slowly but surely they overwhelmed the guards and blocked the other door by shooting the wall above it with a combined attack which caused a section of the floor above to cave in, thus sealing the door behind a pile of rubble. After that it a was quick job for the trio when it came to destroying all the mavericks in the area, cutting them to pieces or blasting them into twisted scrap in only a few minutes. When the last enemy machine had been reduced to steaming scrap metal, all that was left to deal with was the door standing between them and their rush to the next area.
"That takes care of the reinforcements, now to get this door open." Zero looked to his left side to see the security room that had a maverick inside controlling access to the interior which housed the labs. "X, Axl, fire at the control room! That should get the door open!" Zero said while charging a Z buster shot to bust open and destroy the security room. X did the same as Zero and charged his buster for a large blast while Axl fired his pistols at the armored walls of the security room.
Seconds later both veteran hunters fired their charge shots together, blowing up the security room in a ball of fire. Without an signal to remain closed, the security door whooshed open for the hunters to proceed.
All three of the maverick hunters ran through the corridors, smashing apart mavericks that crossed their path. As each maverick lined up for them to destroy, two more seemed to take their place. Security only grew tighter as they passed one control station after another during their charge into the heart of the facility, completely unaware of the danger at the center of their problems. Breaking through to the inner part of the research labs took some time due to all the enemy units that had popped up to slow their pace but the hunters were not deterred in the slightest.
Eventually it seemed the Mavericks had begun to thin out as they closed in on the central chamber. Standing in front of them was a large door with a grim feeling. It was covered in warning marks, "danger" had been painted over the top of the door in large bold letters. On the wall was a sign that read "Test Chamber".
Deciding to provide a report to control, X contacted his faithful navigator. "Alia, we've reached the central area of the facility. Do you copy?"
"I read you X, just ahead of you is the test chamber for Project Atreus. Details are sparse about it other than what has been made publicly available. I'm trying to access the files but they're heavily classified aside from what was released to the public. However, scans are detecting spatial anomalies inside with high gravitational properties and huge amounts of energy being fed to a central point." Alia explained to the group of hunters.
"Understood, we'll be careful Alia. We'll see you back at base soon enough." X said in a warm tone to the loyal navigator.
"I know you will X, you always do." Alia replied softly.
X nodded calmly to his navigator. "Over and out."
"Time to take care of business, right guys?" Axl smirked to the other two maverick hunters.
"Let's just get this done." Zero grunted.
"Agreed, this has gone on long enough." X said with fierce determination as he approached the heavy door.
Slowly the steel door slid open with a loud hissing sound, cranking into slots on the wall. Bright work lights bathed the room with in a golden haze, illuminating the central area of the huge chamber. Scattered within the chamber were active computer terminals, though there seemed to be no operators for the machines. Sitting at the far end of the room was a large ring with a ramp leading straight into the center of the huge metal ring.
The trio of hunters stepped forward into the large antechamber, scanning the room with their weapons drawn. Each step they took into the chamber was taken with care to avoid any hidden traps or trip wires amongst the rows of computers terminals and crates that had been left on the floor. Debris littered the room as if each piece of material had been hastily abandoned or dropped by whoever had been in the room before the hunters had arrived. Yet at the far edge of the room a slight clank echoed above the humming of the terminals and generators powering the strange ring.
Zero immediately pointed his Z buster and fired at the sound, the plasma bolt collided with the wall, narrowly missing a figure the jumped from the shadows. With a quick burst of light the figure emerged in the center of the chamber, flaring two jets from a thruster pack. Purple armor glinted against the bright lights of the antechamber's fully activated lighting system.
"So you're finally here, gotta say … you took longer than I expected. Don't tell me you're getting slow?" Vile taunted the maverick hunter's lazily as he hovered above them.
"This coming from the Maverick that barely dodged that blast?" Zero asked. "Years of being Sigma's lap dog have made you sloppy Vile." He brandished his sabre in preparation for the inevitable fight.
"Sloppy? Don't make me laugh Zero, as if I need a lesson in moves from you. In fact I've gotten a few upgrades since the last time we fought." Vile smirked beneath his visor.
Axl held his guns in his hands as he shrugged at the Maverick. "Upgrades or not, it's all of us against one of you." stated Axl before he readied his aim. "You might wanna think about surrendering old timer."
"Oh look, the runt thinks he's got some bolts. You don't know what you're getting into, but what do I care if I have more junk to smash?" Vile spat back at the rookie.
"Don't get cocky Axl." chastised X. "Vile isn't like most Mavericks." The blue hunter frowned as he looked to the Maverick. "Why are you here Vile? What even is all of this for?"
"Well since you came here, I might as well get things started." Vile produced a small device from his wrist. "See my current boss asked me to keep you boys busy until it was time for my exit. That ring back there, well it's the only way out of here now."
Axl stumbled a bit at the new information.
"Um... Say what now?" asked the unsure rookie, a concerned look on his face.
Vile pressed the button, slamming the door shut behind them with a violent bang. "As in the way out is past me, and this building will rubble in the next few minutes." He clicked the button again, triggering a loud bang in a far section of the facility. Suddenly the portal flared to life, a bright blue surface shimmered across the center.
"And if you have any cute ideas about teleportation, the jammer should kick in right ... Now."
"So the hostages were..." Gasped X both in question and realization.
"Oh yeah them... Well I guess maybe one or two of them are still breathing!" Vile laughed savagely at the shocked look on X's face. "But they won't be for long. You could have been here sooner and most of them would be alive." The maverick added as he pointed to a li up office above the portal.
"Our reinforcements made sure all of them would live to see tomorrow." stated Zero, trying to dampen Vile's amusement and reassure his companions. "Still, that doesn't change anything here. So, are you gonna just run away with your tail between your legs to your new master like the dog you are?"
"Don't get ahead of yourselves! I'm not going anywhere without some payback for our reunion after all these years!" Vile snapped.
"Let's finish this Vile!" Roared X as he formed his X-Buster, firing a barrage of buster shots at the purple war machine.
Vile dove toward the three mavericks hunters with reckless abandon, not even caring as the plasma bolts stung his armor. X reacted just as one of his opponent's hands was about to grip his face. Though Vile missed his target he immediately flipped over, skidding along the ground. Flames burst from the back pack thrusters as Vile caught himself, sparks lit the concrete floor under his boot until he ground to a halt.
"I see you got pretty good at dodging me, X! DODGE THIS!" Vile roared as he fired an electrical blast from his shoulder cannon.
"SCATTER!" X dodged to his left, while Zero was quick to leap back behind a row of terminals for cover. Axl jumped into the air just as the blast passed beneath his boots. Behind the trio of hunters the ball of electricity crashed against a wall, exploding into a blinding flash of electric sparks.
Charging forward in a blaze of flames from his thrust pack, Vile ascended into the air once again. Placing an arm on his cannon the purple maverick sprayed rapid shots of electricity bolts a the hunter trio, he simply needed to keep them on their feet if he was going to make things interesting.
As X and Zero moved to dodge the energy shots from Vile, Axl hovered fired a spray of shots from his twin energy pistols at his opponent.
"Don't think you're the only who can fly!" The young maverick hunter said as continued to shoot off his guns while dodging Vile's own cannon fire.
Vile growled and rushed the rookie maverick hunter, stretching out his open palm to during his charge. "I've been doing it longer!" Grabbing hold of the rookie's arm, he moved to headbutt Axl, smacking him directly in the face with dome of his helmet.
Axl fought to shake off his opponent, whipping Vile's helmet with one of the energy pistols. "GET OFF ME!" The gun clanged against Vile's Helmet as the maverick hunter returned the headbutt. The rookie brought up his boots to kick Vile's torso, which broke the purple maverick's grip.
Bouncing off each other, Vile could only cackle as he opened a port in his knee. "You've got spunk for a brat, but a have blast with this!" Firing a rocket from his knee compartment at the rookie in a fit of annoyance.
Suddenly a blast struck Vile in the back, causing him to miss the shot against the rookie. "So eager to die, eh X?!" Vile whipped around to face the blue maverick hunter, only to see that X was charging another large blast.
"Yet you and Sigma never stay dead Vile." X retorted as the buster reached full charge, glowing bright blue with all the built up energy in the chamber. Plasma rushed out of the barrel in a huge ball of bright blue light, heading straight towards the purple maverick. A quick dodge to the side kept Vile from taking heavy damage, but the buster shot had nothing to stop it as it passed by the maverick Small burns were left on the purple metal that coated Vile's torso.
Snorting arrogantly, Vile began to laugh. "What the matter X?! Your targeting system getting old?!" He had no clue exactly where the shot was going.
"Who said I was aiming at you, Vile?" Narrowed green eyes stared at the maverick as the charged shot slammed into an important looking console beside the portal.
Small explosions reduced the critical device to bits of fried metal, immediately catching the attention of Vile. Turning his head in slow motion to the portal control module, surprise overtook the purple maverick. Yet that quick moment of distraction misdirected Vile's attention for just a few seconds too long. Running up from cover, Axl dashed straight at his target, throwing himself into close combat with Vile.
"You're trapped in here with us now, tin head!" Axl shouted as he fired another burst of automatic fire from the twin energy pistols. "You can't take all three of us!"
That remark seemed to enrage the violent psychopath, causing him to shake slightly as energy built up in his circuits. "Oh I CAN take you all on! I'm not trapped in here with you, YOU'RE ALL TRAPPED HERE WITH ME!" Red energy flared from the maverick as he began to speed up his attacks, countering the blasts that X and Zero fired at him. "NOW DIE!" Vile reacted quick enough to counter Axl's charge with a kick that knocked the young reploid square onto his back.
"AXL!" X gasped as he watched the young hunter drop to the floor. He moved to assist the rookie but was stopped by Zero.
"We have to focus on Vile right now!" Zero exclaimed to his partner.
"One of has to hold him off and check on Axl!" X barked his response to the crimson maverick hunter.
Zero glanced between his blue ally and the psychotic war machine, with a sigh the red warrior relented. "I'll take care of Axl and get him back in the fight."
"
Relaxing ever so slightly Vile could only laugh at the predicament of his mortal enemies. "Damn right! I'm stronger than last time, stronger than both of you!"
Before the veteran hunters could react, Vile basted over towards them at blistering speed. X barely dodged a downward kick, only to be struck with punch to his mid section. Vile refused to halt his assault, grabbing the blue hunter's face and smacking X onto the ground. X was dragged across the pavement by his enraged opponent, bursting with sparks as metal clashed with solid concrete.
"What's the matter, X?! Can't handle my new power?!" Vile laughed loudly as he pounded X's head repeatedly into the floor. "
X gritted his teeth as he found the strength to summon his X buster. "Don't… underestimate me, Vile!" A bolt from the buster struck Vile's faceplate, staggering the purple maverick.
"Gaugh!" Vile held his helmet as he recoiled in pain from the point blank buster shot. "You'll pay for that!"
"The only one paying is you!" Shouted Zero as he leapt over Vile with the Z saber raised high above his head. Immediately Vile whipped around to face the red hunter, receiving a swipe directly to his chest which cut deep into his armor. Zaps of electricity spilled from Vile's wound when he was knocked way from X.
With just enough time to stand up, X rose to his feet once more in determination as he and Zero stared down their old enemy. Both maverick hunters faced him with focused expressions while Vile's single red eye started to glow crimson with rage. Axl approached from behind them, having recovered from his previous beating. Anger filled the maverick's circuits, causing him to pound the ground repeatedly with his bare fist for several seconds.
"Calling it quits already?" Axl quipped smugly to the purple psychopath.
Vile turned his gaze back to the rookie maverick hunter, his red eye burned with fury. "I'm just getting started kid. But I think it's time to change things up." The hunter trio braced themselves as they watched Vile charge up his cannon, but instead of a heavy energy blast something else shot out of the cannon barrel. A plasma tether shot towards X, the blue hunter moved to dash out of the way but Vile swung the cable with his shoulder and instead lassoed Axl with the energy tether.
"What the?!" Axl struggled against the tensile strength of the tether. "What is this thing?!"
Vile smirked beneath his visor. "That one of my new upgrades runt, and you're the first test dummy." A powerful electric shock rippled through the cable.
"AIIIIIEEEE!" Axl shrieked in a fit of agony, fighting hard to break the cable. Zero rushed to cut the cable in order to free Axl, but he was too slow to make the cut before the cable reeled in its victim. Vile blasted into the portal, dragging Axl along with him.
"Later losers! I think I'll take this kid with me, maybe have some fun ripping him apart!" A cackling laugh came from the purple psychopath as he and the rookie disappeared into swirling vortex of terror that the portal had become.
"AXL, NO!" X shouted.
"X, We have to go after him." Zero stared at the portal, managing to stay standing while the ground rumbled beneath his boots. "Besides, the only way out is forward."
Suddenly a steel beam fell from the roof as the facility began to collapse around the maverick hunters. X and Zero looked to each other and then over to the portal as it began to implode. With a silent nod to each other, the two of sprinted to the gate as chunks of rubble slammed down from the crumbling roof. With one final leap, X and Zero jumped into the portal together, bound for a destination beyond their world.
-END CHAPTER-