MEGA MAN X: AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
By Erico
CHAPTER FOUR: MAVERICKS AT BASE
Something was making a constant, pounding noise in Sigma's head as he walked down the corridor to his quarters. Like a headache, he thought. But reploids…reploids didn't get headaches…right?
"Ah!" Sigma yelped as it pounded even heavier into his mind. Then , the heavy pulsing began to make more sense. The pounding, the pounding wasn't just that. It was words, subliminal messages.
"Destroy, Infect, Survive…Destroy, Infect, Survive…" the message continued on, no stopping. Just a constant message. Sigma doubled over, for the force of the satanic message was becoming even more insistent. He barely managed to push his hand against the door button and slump into the doorway of his room. With all the strength he could muster, Sigma then shut the door.
"Who are you?" Sigma grunted, as his face doubled up in pain. But the voice did not answer, it just continued to haunt him, scarring its message into every one of Sigma's systems. Sigma began to moan, a moan that soon grew into a scream.
Outside his room, Cancer stopped and listened in consternation. Finally, he walked over and knocked on the door.
"Sigma?" Cancer started, then he spoke louder. "SIGMA?!" The screaming stopped, and then quiet footsteps walked towards the other side of the door. It opened with a hiss, and then Sigma looked at Cancer with a plain look on his face. But to Cancer…it seemed hollow. Like the glint of Sigma's happy personality had faded.
"Yes, Cancer?" Sigma said. Even his voice was a bit shallower. "What can I do for you?" Cancer coughed, then scratched the back of his neck.
"Well, er..uh..Sigma, I heard some screaming in your room. Everything okay?" Sigma nodded.
"Yes, Cancer. I was merely watching a thriller movie." Cancer nodded.
"I see…"
"Will that be all? I must return to my duties." Sigma cut Cancer off with a frown. Cancer halted, then nodded. Sigma tromped off to the War Room, leaving a befuddled Cancer behind.
"I don't like this…something's up with Sigma." Cancer grumbled. But then he shook his head and walked off. Maybe he was just being paranoid.
But what if he wasn't?
Zero set his sights on the target; a holographic Chimera Riding Tank. With his red and white modified X-Buster(he had built it himself), he released the supershot he had been charging. It scorched from the cannon and sizzled through the air, a thick stream of bluish plasma. With incredible force, it struck the Chimera dead in the center of the arm joint, breaking the monstrous piece of machinery loose from the chassis.
A whistle sounded, and then everything blinked out, revealing Zero in an empty white room. A door on the side of the room opened, and then Boomer walked in.
"Hey, Zero! Good job on the shot. But how'd you…" Zero nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, sure Boomer. The Chimera is a pretty powerful Tank, I'll admit it. But the design flaws are pretty easy to find. One is the arm joint. A direct shot with an X-Buster will literally slice the craft limb from limb." Boomer laughed.
"Zero, you are a great Hunter. Now I know why Sigma put you in charge of the 17th Unit." Zero nodded.
"A grimy job, but someone has to do it, right?" Boomer's smile faded and he nodded his head slowly. Just then, Zero's comm went off.
"Zero, come in. This is Cain." Zero sighed.
"Yeah, doc? What is it now?" Cain chuckled.
"I have a job for you…"
"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?!" Zero screamed. Cain smiled.
"I want you to run into New Tokyo with X and get a restock on our metalloy. The reconstructer devices need that metalloy to build everything from Busters to Heart Tanks. Besides, I think you and X need to get better acquainted." Just then, a knock at the door interrupted Cain, and a sheepish X walked in.
"Hey, Doc. Zero, you ready to go?" Zero grumbled, mixing in a few curse words from different languages for good measure, but he knew how to take orders.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's just get this over with." Zero could hardly believe his fortune. A great warrior, being given the task of a messenger. X wasn't too thrilled about it either, for he despised what Hunters did. Cain slapped them both on the back and laughed.
"You boys have a fun time now!" X and Zero took off, neither saying a word to each other, but each brimming with disgust for the other. Cain chuckled, looking at them. Perhaps if these two, a pacifist and a warrior, could become friends…then there might be hope for the world yet.
"Any idea why he's called us here?" Launch asked, scratching his bulbous head with a mighty tentacle. The nearby Boomer shrugged, and Armadillo popped his head out his shell.
"Maybe there's a new riot somewhere, and this time it requires a complete briefing." Storm guffawed and walked in.
"Nonsense, old boy! If there had been a bloomin' threat that needed a bloody briefin' it wouldn't be our mission." Spark jumped up and down noisily, squealing in delight.
"Ooh, ooh! I know! He's going to promote us!" Sting shook his reptilian head.
"Highly unlikely, my simian brother. We are already the elite of this place." Armadillo grumbled angrily.
"Then why am I still stuck in the same cramped quarters?" Armadillo felt unrest, and he made it public. The mighty mole was not one to keep quiet. Just then, the door opened and a new figure emerged.
"Oh, hey guys." The purple Hunter nodded, but the tiny slits in his helmet did not betray his true emotions. It was Vile, a Hunter created by Sigma himself who loved to use the Chimera Tank. And even though he'd never fought with the 1st Unit, Sigma's Unit, Vile was still a strong and well-balanced warrior. Of course, compared to the rest of the 8, Vile was still second best. But his shoulder mounted stun cannon was no force to scoff at.
"What do you think Sigma wants?" Vile asked. Chill squawked and shrugged, which was a pretty pathetic one, for Chill didn't have much shoulders to shrug. But then the door opened again and a large figure plodded in.
"The question is not what I want…it is what we ALL want." Sigma stared at them, with eyes that could have been sadness or emptiness. Sigma's entourage stared at him in befuddlement, then looked at each other. Finally, a brave if not indifferent Flame Mammoth spoke up.
"Pardon me, boss. But if you don't elaborate…we think you might be nuts." Sigma chuckled softly, but then it sounded like a growl.
"You don't understand, do you? Foolish slave. Don't you realize…humans have been using you?!" Flame chuckled.
"Er…Sigma, I know I'm not a slave here. But ever since you came back from that one mission in the US…you've been weird. Tell me it's just a minor glitch." The others also stared at Sigma oddly, slightly raising their weapons. Not enough to be a blatant threat, but enough to make the point clear the trust for their leader had vanished. Sigma frowned.
"Oh, come-come now. Do you think my doctrines are that odd?" Chill nodded.
"What scares us is the fact you're acting…maverick, Sigma. Rebelling against the humans!"
"REBELLING?! More like breaking free from our bonds, Chill. Bonds that were forged when humanity blindly thought reploids were nothing more than advanced robots, and refused to grant us the respect and freedom that they claim all men deserve." Sigma's speech was elaborate, soothingly said…and total bull. His forces stared at him, but a little less harshly. Part of it had sunk in, but the thought of rebellion was not there…yet. Sigma sighed.
"I see we're going to have to do this the hard way. Velguarder…SIC, BOY!!!"
While all this had been going on, Zero and X were returning from the local metallics plant with their load. The beginning part of the ride had been silent, for X thought to himself quietly, and Zero grumbled and plotted about what he'd do to Cain when he got back.
"So, X." Zero finally broke the ice. "Tell me, what sounds sweeter…sticking Cain in a vat of marshmallow goop…or putting super glue on that blasted stick of his?" X thought for a moment, his face curling into a smile.
"Hmm…well, the marshmallow stuff is too messy, and he might decide to track it all over our rooms." Zero nodded. "And on the other hand, if we stick his hand to that cane, he might take that as a cue to smack us with it a bit more often." Zero smiled at that one, wincing slightly at the mental image.
"So, what would you suggest then?" X let his imagination go wild, then he smiled.
"He's an archaeologist. Tell him that CNN reported dinosaur bones underneath the Maverick HHQ." Zero shook his head.
"Nah. Dinosaur EGGS…that's better." The two of them laughed, and some of the tension betwixt them melted away. Like a load of sandbags that had created a dam for their disgust suddenly soaked up the water, and became unnecessary. X paused for a moment.
"Zero, what do you think of me?" Zero lifted his left hand from the wheel of the hovertruck and scratched the points of his helmet.
"Well, X, what can I say? First time I saw you, I knew that you weren't a fighter. And that gets on my nerves." Zero's smile faded. "You aren't my friend…but you are someone I know." X nodded sadly.
"Well, I guess I couldn't expect much from you. But you…Zero, you're the oddity. You don't know your past, you don't know your creator…but yet, you were activated before Sigma rescued you, because you didn't need the DataComputer sessions all other reploids do." Zero chuckled.
"I guess that makes me special, huh?" X sighed.
"That makes you something, Zero." Zero turned to look at X, and X looked at Zero. The two beings…two different views on life, two different paths merged for a brief moment in thought, but then their minds trailed off and they lost their connection.
They finished the ride in silence. Zero with his utter disappointment and dislike of the pacifism in X, and X with his apallment at the brutality in which Zero worked.
"Hey, DOC!!!" A foreign but familiar voice filled the war room, and the nimble frame of Cain swiveled quickly, his face lighting up in recognition at the young man who walked in the door with a huge smile and an incredible wave.
"JIM!!" Cain laughed raucously and leapt from his seat. "How the devil are you, boy?!" Jim chuckled.
"I'm fine, doc. The team's pretty sad without you, though. Nobody knew archaeology like you. They did ask me to bring you this…" Jim reached into his brown field satchel and pulled out a plastic container. Cain took it and opened the lid, and a lovely aroma filled the air. Cain took a deep sniff, and a new smile of dreaminess came to his face.
"Spinach artichoke dip…my favorite!" Cain shut it, then swiveled his eyes around. Everyone looked at the container hungrily, even the reploids who didn't need food to function.
"Jim, we'd better hide this. The main 'fridge isn't safe territory for this. Come on." Jim followed his former mentor and lifelong friend down one of the hallways to the medical bay. Cain pushed the button, and the door slid open smoothly. Cain walked in, followed by a grinning Jim. An odd frame came to life and rolled over. Jim was startled, but Cain nodded in reassurance.
"It's okay, he won't bite. This here is Hazil, our new chief medical officer. He excels in both reploid and human medicine and surgery." The figure smiled, and waved a hand. Jim squinted in disbelief.
"He looks more like 'Mack' from The Jetsons than a medical officer." Hazil frowned.
"Hey, I may not be the prettiest hunk of reploid available, sonny, but I got it where it counts. Various storage units in my chest compartments, and enough arms to handle even the toughest thoracic job. And your name would be…" Jim smiled, putting his hand out.
"My name's Jim Dacker. And, I'm sorry about the Mack thing…" Hazil chuckled.
"Not a problem, Jim. I get that all the time. So, Doc. What do I owe this visit to?" Cain smiled secretively.
"Well, you see Hazil, Jim brought me this nifty food which happens to be my favorite appetizer. And I'd like to stash it in your medical cooler…" Hazil frowned and crossed his arms.
"Oh, no you don't. Last time you did this, it got moldy and I had to throw away four pints of reploid blood which had also gone bad!" Cain put on his puppy face.
"Please, Hazil? I'll get you anything you want." Hazil sighed, then smiled. Cain dreaded this part of it. Hazil, although an excellent surgeon with supreme bedside manner, also held an Arab's knack for bartering and blackmail.
"Well, I've been looking at a new systems diagnostic runner for a while-it'll cost you about $200 bucks." Cain's eyes boggled at the sum.
"200 Frackin' BUCKS?! GO TO HELL! I'll give you 150!"
"175."
"160!!!"
"170"
"165!!!!"
"169.50. Take it or take your goop elsewhere, Doc."
"May your reploid gonads shrivel into a thousand tiny raisins and be eaten by maggots…FINE!!" Cain finally gave in, and Hazil took the dip.
"All right, doc. This thing'll be waiting for you when I get those dollah bills." Hazil chucked the container into his medical cooler next to the icepacks and then shut it with a definitive clack. Cain sighed in defeat. Jim slapped Cain on the back.
"I see it's just like old times. This guy could pass for Harold!" Cain nodded.
"Yeah…THAT JERK STILL OWES ME 20 BUCKS FROM A POKER GAME!!!"
Meanwhile, the restless Cancer was walking about Maverick HHQ, looking for something to do. Past the medical bay, past the war room, past the docking bays for the Hunter vehicles(Including a very large berth for the docile but deadly Death Rogumer), and past the training gym. When he walked out of the quarters corridor, he found himself in the hallway on the east side of the building that held the many numerous briefing rooms. Just then, Cancer heard a clatter, and then simultaneous roars of anger(and rage?!) Cancer stopped and turned his yellow frame towards the noise, behind a thick wooden door. But when it burst out, Cancer suddenly found himself staring into death's jaws.
The 1st Unit in all its fighting glory was snarling and growling, and making basic not so friendly noises. All had bloody murder in their eyes…but now parts of their armor and reploid frame held an unmistakable insignia; a slanted S in a Trapezoid.
"What the hell…" Cancer began, but he never finished his thought. A yowling Sigma leapt forth and took a mighty swing with his saber. The green plasma encased in the electromagnetic field of the blade bit into his side, severing blood vessels, servomoters and framework. Cancer screamed in agony as his frame was split into two useless halves, which clattered to the ground with a thud. The group tromped off in a dash down the hall. Cancer moaned and fluttered his eyes weakly; he had to warn everyone Sigma's gang had gone bonkers, but he couldn't even reach for his comm. Cancer was dying.
And soon enough, many more would as well.
"What was that?!" Cain bellowed as he heard Cancer's cry of despair. But it was soon padded over by a series of explosions and other noises. Jim got up, with a look of worry on his face, but one of the reploid techs in the war room chuckled.
"Looks like Cancer turned up the difficulty setting on the simulator again. Poor bastard." Cain sighed in relief and waved his hand.
"Right. Could you go take care of him?" the tech sighed, then got up and started to trot down the hallway to the training gym.
He never made it ten feet. A sudden blast of flame, ice and electricity threw the tech backwards. Or rather, his charred, burning frame backwards. Everyone suddenly degenerated into panic and confusion, some trying to reach for their weapons, and other trying to get their phones working. Then, several familiar figures, the figures of Sigma's elite 1st unit emerged from the hallway, shooting round after round of their weapons, bouncing off the walls and destroying everything in their path. Sting himself lashed out with his Irontongue, and pulled down a supercomputer, which fell right towards Cain, who looked at it in fear.
"DOC!!!" Jim reacted quickly, grabbing the doctor and shoving him out of the way. But even with all of Jim's supreme effort, he could not prevent all of the doctor from becoming a pancake. Cain yelled in pain as the massive weight pushed against his right leg, breaking the bones inside of it with massive force.
"Jim, you tried pal." Cain paused, waiting for an answer. "Jim? JIM?" Cain turned his agonized head, then stopped it and let it drop. Jim was dead, his neck broken by the same computer bay that had crushed Cain's leg. Cain tried to cry, but he found that he could not. While he was mourning Jim's death, many more were dying at Sigma's hands. They ignored Cain, leaving him for dead, and then when Sigma and his forces thought the destruction complete, they took off to destroy another area. Cain felt bleeding, struggling hands lift the computer bay from his leg and help him up. Haggard, shocked faces looked at Cain with pleading eyes, asking him to stop the pain and suffering. Cain shook his head, for he knew he could not.
"My God…" Cain whispered. "It finally happened. Sigma went maverick."
"What the devil in all that's holy and sacred…" X uttered in disbelief. Zero's response was a bit shorter.
"Holy Shit…" The both of them were stunned out of their wits by what stood before them. Maverick Hunter Headquarters…their home was utterly destroyed, pillars of flame erupting everywhere, walls caved in, smoke billowing from every broken window. And the mighty Death Rogumer, based in the HHQ Hangar pulled out, not a ding on it, still firing at the base. Then with great speed, it flew off down the highway not far from where X and Zero were returning.
X and Zero parked their craft, or rather turned it off by the curb. Zero went in first, his boot thrusters speeding him up, while X came running behind. Zero stopped in the doorway, and X crashed into him. When a disgruntled X got up, he too stopped in horror of the scene before him. Zero finally awoke from the stupor and ran over to Cain, who was being led down one of the hallways to the medical bay.
"Doc! What the frack happened here?!" Zero asked. Cain turned around.
"Sigma and his 1st Unit went maverick. They've destroyed everything…EVERYTHING…in this place. Many are dead, a few more are wounded, and worse yet…Jim Dacker died." Cain paused and dropped his head. When he lifted it, a tiny tear was in the corner of his eye.
"And tell X to go look for Cancer. I'm afraid he got attacked first." Zero nodded somberly, then whistled to X. The plodding blue behemoth walked over, and then Zero whispered something in his ear. X's eyes flared to life in shock.
"Cancer…CANCER!!!" X tore down the hallways to the briefing rooms, where among all the destruction he found what he was looking for. The bisected frame of Cancer, a pool of reploid blood in between the sections of his body.
"Cancer…what the hell happened to you?" X choked out, his emotions getting the better of him. X lifted Cancer's head, and Cancer gave a weak grin.
"Sorry, X…Sigma and his meanies got the better of me. I'm dying, X…"
"No, you can't!" X sobbed, pressing his forehead into Cancer's chest. Cancer raised his left hand and pushed X away.
"Listen to me, X!" Cancer coughed loudly for a few moments, choking out more reploid blood. X stopped and cleared his eyes of the fluid.
"X, you remember how I once said that Hunters fought to keep the peace?" X nodded. "Well, now there aren't that many Hunters left. You and Zero were gone when the attack happened…it's up to you to bring him to justice, X."
"But I don't fight, Cancer!"
"Listen to me, you sad excuse of a wasted activation!" Cancer bellowed, nearly collapsing from the lack of energy. X supported him back up. "X, you have to get over that. The time for visionaries is gone, X. This is the time for people to stop talking and just to do it. And I don't think even Zero can handle this alone…" X nodded. Cancer took a deep breath.
"X, you were always a little uneasy about what life held for you. It seems to me you just found out what that mission for you is. Like your ancestor, Mega Man…you have to go save the world."
"But can I do it?" X whispered softly. Cancer smiled.
"X, I've known you all my life, for even as short as it's been. And if there's one thing I know about you, it's that you're a survivor. X, you'll do fine…you have to win, X. You have to stop the mavericks. Do it for me…and for every person and reploid who has given their life in vain." Cancer smiled one last grin, and then his eyes fluttered shut, his limbs falling limply to the ground. X shut his eyes, sobbed out one last cry of anguish, and then picked up Cancer's upper body. With a roar of a wounded animal, X yelled bloody murder, then he stopped.
He turned about, and instead of the gentle placidness that his blue eyes usually held, X's now held fire, positively nuclear.
Cancer was dead. Other people were dead. Many more would die…
Sigma would pay.
"Well, it seems you'll be using that walking stick for something useful now, Doc." Hazil grumbled as he wrapped up Cain's leg in a cast. All around Cain, the medical bay was chock full of people and reploids, all wounded. The dead had been put into the briefing rooms until they could be buried and disposed of. But the starkest reminder of how much they had suffered, in Cain's view at least, was the broken container of Spinach Artichoke Dip that lay on the floor like a useless lump. It had been removed to store extra healing materials, for the medical bay was the only room untouched by Sigma's rampage. Cain shook his head and pulled out his audiodiary again.
"June 4th. My worst nightmare has come true. Sigma went maverick today and took most of the other Hunters with him. His motives are unclear, but it seems that he 'decided' that humans are limiting the growth of the reploids. For that reason, he decided that all humans should be eradicated." Cain paused for a moment to clear his head and focus on the next thought. But Zero, the newly appointed master Commander paced the floor furiously, cursing Sigma.
"Blast Sigma! It makes sense he'd take us out. That'll give him a better shot at this." Cain nodded, then turned back to his recorder.
"Most of the population is in hiding or trying to flee the city. I'm not sure how long we can hold out against Sigma's forces. I fear I've built the reploids too well. X is taking the news of the war very personally. He wants to join Zero, the new leader of the Maverick Hunters when they go after Sigma. I'm doubtful of their chances, but I won't stop him. Something has to be done…" Cain clicked off the mike. He had neglected to mention the deaths of Cancer and Jim, but that was because so many others had died as well.
Zero turned to Cain.
"Where are the men?" Cain pointed to the reploids and humans who groaned and lay scattered around the room. Zero cursed.
"Great. Where's X, then?" Cain blinked, for he didn't know. Zero scanned the room wildly, but then Hazil spoke up.
"If I may be so helpful…X left a while ago. I think he's going to try and stop the rampage himself." Zero's eyes boggled.
"He's gonna try WHAT?!" Cain grabbed Zero by the shoulder, his eyes wild with fear.
"Zero, X won't stand a chance out there!" Zero nodded.
"I know, I know!" Hazil coughed again with a frown.
"If you don't mind, Zero…Get your Stinking carcass out the door and rescue the lad. Otherwise…we may all suffer." Zero groaned, smacking himself in the forehead. He ran out the door muttering something about 'Where I'm gonna stuff that blasted blue boy's head when I rip it off..'
Cain turned to Hazil, the only unaffected reploid in the room. Needless to say, Hazil was less than pleased at everything.
"What do you think, Hazil? Should we call this the Maverick Uprising?" Hazil turned around with a frown.
"Doc, I'm busy trying to save lives here. But if you want my opinion, I don't think this'll be the last confrontation. You'd better call this one The First." Cain nodded.
"The First Maverick Uprising…"