MEGA MAN X: THE SOUND OF MAVERICKS
By Erico
CHAPTER TEN: RETURN TO INSANITY
"Wycost…" Bastion's mouth felt dry as he croaked out the name. "Wycost…what the hell are you doing here?"
Murmurs of disbelief rang through the 21st Unit. A few finally spoke up, and their voices weren't happy.
"I knew it! I KNEW he was a fraggin' maverick!" Upraised Busters began to whine up for charge shots. Bastion couldn't believe his ears.
"NO!" He screamed. The Busters faltered in their stalward aim. "For mercy's sake, DON'T SHOOT!" Bastion still held his sabers aloft. "Let me handle this…"
Bastion steadily walked towards the glazed figure, keeping his defense up.
"Wycost…Wycost, it's me…Bastion!"
Wycost was almost catatonic, even though his entire body was shaking. His mouth opened, even though his eyes were unfocused.
"Ba…stion…R…RUUUUNNN…" Wycost croaked out, the syllables coming in halting repeats of themselves. His body began to shake more violently, and slowly, his Buster began to charge up a shot of plasma.
Bastion's face held consternation as he stepped away from his friend, hurt and unsure.
"Wycost, what's going on? You don't do this kind of thing!"
Then it dawned on Bastion. His face grew pale as his vital fluids circulated faster.
The situation was now all too clear.
Wycost would never do something like this consciously. For all his bitterness and anger, he would never go maverick like this.
It was something else making him do it. Something pushing him to this extreme.
Something dark and evil…something which hadn't been seen for a year.
"It's the virus…" Bastion croaked softly. Regaining his senses, he spoke louder. "It's the Virus…THE VIRUS!"
Finally, the dark power of the Maverick Virus, now resurrected after a year of hibernation came into full bloom.
Its newest host, the powerful and embittered Wycost was a strong reploid. Bastion had never wanted to try his luck against the green Hunter before.
He certainly didn't want to do it while Wycost had the full blown fury of the Maverick Virus to back him up.
Finally, Wycost screamed, charging at his old Commander with ultimate fury.
For once, Wycost had been unable to fight it.
The virus had won out over his systems.
IT WAS STRONGER.
"Wycost, I'm sorry." Bastion uttered as he dashed away from Wycost's charge attack. Holding his sabers steady, he pushed them together and formed his beam staff.
His world was falling apart again.
For all his personal feelings, he had to push them aside. He had to be a Hunter.
He had to kill Wycost to save the world.
Or…did he? Bastion's mind raced feverishly in a pursuit for the course of action that would save his friend.
Wycost fired a barrage of plasma shot at Bastion. Bastion took to the air to avoid, then barreled down while swinging his staff in a circular shield in front of him to deflect the shots.
Wycost dashed backwards and popped off a half charged powershot. Bastion took it in the shoulder, and he grunted in pain.
Wycost chose that moment to charge at Bastion, screaming his fool head off. Bastion was weakened by the shot he had taken, and was unable to dodge the blow quickly enough.
Bastion went flying across the Indian turf, skidding along the ground, still jarred from the blow. Wycost was on him like a mad rabid dog, slamming punch after punch into Bastion's face.
Bastion kicked Wycost off of him, giving himself some breathing room to blast off into the sky to avoid more shots.
Wycost was on his feet instantly, firing another barrage of shots into the air.
This time, luck was not on Bastion's side.
Several shots connected with the thrusters of Bastion's Powerstorm Armor. Bastion didn't even notice it as the secondary thruster systems went critical…
And exploded.
Bastion fell to the ground, his back a smoking and charred mass of melted armor. As he slammed into the ground, Bastion could hear the cries from his Unit, the angry voices coming into a cacophony of noise.
His systems were sluggish and unresponsive, and every part of him screamed in pain.
But he could hear the plodding footsteps of Wycost's approach.
Those dull, plodding footsteps of a killer's sharpened insanity.
He turned himself over, his only good hand…his left…barely holding onto the beam staff.
Wycost finally stood above Wycost, his covered eyes unresponsive. His jaw was set, and there was only contempt and hatred. Wycost's Buster came down, pointing at Bastion's face.
Bastion's world turned bright white in that moment.
A flash of energy raced through his systems.
Not because the Maverick Virus had returned.
Not because he could die.
Because he had made a promise to Bristol that he would live.
Bastion's left hand deactivated the staff function of his energy blades, and taking the one saber he held in his hand, he swung it up, slicing clean through the Buster pointed at his face.
The Buster crackled for a moment, the violent energy it had been collecting now unable to escape in a controlled manner. It could only escape one way now.
A violent explosion of white hot plasma energy incinerated Wycost's right arm clean off, and blasted the Maverick ex-Hunter backwards to the ground, knocking him into shocked stasis.
Bastion, already lying flat was unable to dodge the heatblast that charged into his face and his tattered body.
Silence after the blast.
And then the voices came back to life.
"Bastion!" Bristol cried out, her voice full of anguish. She ran beside him, propping his head up. His hair was bedraggled and burned, the elegant lines now destroyed. Bastion tried to ignore the intense pain in his body, and he finally drained his Sub-Tank.
His repair systems used the energy and instantly set to work fixing his damaged and battered body.
Enough so that Bastion was able to climb to his feet. But it was still not enough.
Wycost had done him in good.
And worse, his cherished Powerstorm Armor was blown to shreds.
Even with the Sub-Tank, Bastion knew he was at critical levels of disrepair.
"I made a promise I'd live." Bastion grimaced as he leaned on Bristol for support. Bristol sniffled back her tears.
"You did." Bastion looked over to Wycost, in stasis and in as much need of medical care as himself. Some of the 21st Unit members were crowding around him, readying to end his life then and there. Bastion raised a hand and bellowed in fear.
"NO!" They stopped and turned in shock. "Don't…kill him. We have to…get him back to the HQ…Hazil needs to examine him."
"But boss!" Jad growled. "He tried to kill you! He's gone maverick! Bleeding infected maverick! We HAVE to kill him!" Bastion shook his head, coughing loudly.
"Not yet…Wycost is strong…stronger than I am. He was able to destroy the virus within once…it's stronger now." Bastion limped over to the cluster and looked down at his old friend.
His old friend. He wasn't sure what to think of Wycost now.
"If we don't know just what we're up against…we'll all be in trouble. Not just him." Bastion sighed. "Warp back to base, people. I want a full report on Cain's desk." Bastion looked about, just now remembering something he'd almost forgotten.
"Where are those two reploids that took out the hovercraft's shield systems?" Bristol shook her head.
"They warped out of here once you blew up Wycost's Buster arm." Bastion grimaced again.
"There'll be time…to ponder that later." His words came short and halting with his wounds. "I need…to get to the Medical Bay." Bristol nodded.
"I'll take you there." Bastion sighed.
"Why do I feel like everything has just taken a turn for the worse?"
"CURSE THEM!" Allegro yowled. Slamming his helmet into the wall, he swore again. "Those blasted Hunters have time and time again RUINED things for us!" Andante's reaction was a little less rash as he began to inspect his damage.
"That one maverick caught us off guard with his warcraft's explosive entrance." Allegro yowled in pain, feeling his own severe wounds building up.
"Lucky shot." Allegro finally admitted. "Lucky shot." He frowned for a moment.
"At least we're positive that that craft belonged to the snake. The head sent it there. The body took it the rest of the way for the attack."
"It seems true enough." Andante nodded. "There's a good possibility that they've all been infected by the head."
"Which we now have the ability to find." Allegro chuckled softly. Andante blinked.
"You planted the homing tracer?" Allegro nodded.
"Energy based. It won't show up on medical scans, just like you said it wouldn't. Its life is a week. If our very tattered and stupid friend goes off in an odd place, we'll follow. And there's a good chance that once they run a check on just who that craft belonged to, they'll go to the head." Andante nodded, allowing himself a small grin.
His greatest achievement, the energy homing tracer melded seamlessly with a reploid's systems floating about in its body's bloodstream. Because of this, it couldn't be removed or even found, and for ultimate security, it disintegrated in a week.
"So now we wait then." Andante said calmly. "To tell you the truth, after that sneak attack the maverick pulled on us, we could use a rest." Andante blinked. "What did the fiery haired one say his name was?"
"Wycost." Allegro spat out. Andante rolled the name over his tongue.
"Wycost is truly an odd name."
"No more quirky than our own, be they correct nonetheless."
"Names don't matter anymore for him. He went maverick. Another martyr to the snake's mission of evil."
"Yes." Andante sighed. "Even so, I feel sorry for him."
"Why?"
"We were able to escape his fate. He was not as lucky. In that respect, I feel that we owe him something."
"All right." Allegro harrumphed. "If I don't see him walking around spreading more of the infection, I'll spare his life." Andante folded his arms.
"The wild haired Hunter was barely able to stop him, and his abilities rival our own." Andante closed his eyes. "I think that if we were to meet him, it would be US that would be pleading to have their lives spared."
Allegro and Andante sat in silence on that comment.
Outside, the wind gently cascaded the sand back and forth.
Silence was the ruler of this domain.
"I never thought I'd see him again." Bastion whispered, as he lay on one of Hazil's Medical beds. Bristol was by his side, while Hazil ran a scan of his systems. Finally, Hazil walked over to him. His face was haggard as he looked at Bastion.
"So, Wycost was in that maverick mothership."
"It's gotta be the Maverick Virus…" Bastion wheezed, still weak. Hazil put a hand on his chest, shaking his head.
"Sorry, Bastion. For the time being, doctor's orders stand. Lay quiet and don't move. Not unless you want to worsen your already ragged condition." Bastion groaned, falling back to his limp posture.
"He was just unstoppable, Hazil. Unstoppable." Bastion gulped. "Dodged all my shots, and when he wasn't firing plasma shots at me, he was pounding my face into mush." Bastion's right arm twitched, still fried from the fight. "The Maverick Virus has grown stronger…if it was able to take over his will." Hazil frowned.
"We're opening up the same dark can of worms that we did before, you know. There will be more questions brought to bear. We could be put under scrutiny." Hazil shook his head. "A lie, even for the best intentions is still a lie. And we upheld one at the end of the Fifth Uprising to protect certain individuals. Namely our rediscovered friend Wycost here…and Zero."
Hazil looked over the completed scan.
"You want the bad news, or the devastating news first?" Bastion chortled a bit at Hazil's joke.
"You still find time to joke. Just lay it all out on the table." Hazil ran a hand through his hair.
"All right. One: Wycost nailed you pretty good. It'll take me a day just to get you back in fighting condition. And even then, there's one thing you won't have after this:Your Powerstorm Armor." Bastion fought back the tears on hearing that.
But his left hand still clenched up into a fist.
His beloved Powerstorm Wings…
Gone, forever. Of course, Wycost was also not in the best of shape.
"How's our semi-green friend doing?" Bastion managed to eke out in a semi-understandable voice. Hazil shook his head.
"If I didn't know Wycost as well as you did, I would say that he went maverick of his own accord. Know why?" Bastion frowned.
"Why?" Hazil shook his head.
"I can't detect the virus on any of my scanners. For all purposes, it's like it vanished…or it was never there." Bastion shook his head.
"That isn't right…I KNOW he's infected! Even his armor has turned complete black…Wycost told me before that the jagged black line down his right arm was the only momento of his infection. He deleted it once with his willpower, and later helped X to do the same. It was gone from his systems when he joined the Hunters…your scans prove that. No…this infection is something he got after leaving us."
Bastion suddenly felt his vision blur, and a sudden spell of dizziness overcome him. Hazil was at his side, scanning him.
"Bastion, I suggest you try and get some sleep now. Your body is crying for it." Bastion tried to keep his heavy lids open, and finally managed to hold up his left hand.
"Keep…Wycost safe for me." Hazil nodded.
"I'll do my best, chum."
Bastion finally slipped into unconsciousness with Hazil's reply. His hand fell back down to his side, and Hazil shook his head.
"This is not a fun time for any of us." Bristol shook her head.
"Bastion will live, right?" Her voice quivered a bit, and her concern was evident. Hazil looked at her, then shook his head.
"Relax, my British Bombshell. Your main squeeze will be just fine." Bristol frowned.
"You knew?" Hazil cackled, suddenly getting a wide grin on his face.
"I've seen many things in my long and unhappy life, Bristol. I've also seen love. Trust me, I'll keep your secret safe. I've forgotten some of the old ones I've kept." Hazil looked over, frowning again.
"I'll be spending most of my time working on Wycost there. My gut instinct is with Bastion's on this one. Wycost has to be infected." Hazil jerked his thumb at the prone armored, one armed figure. "That's why I have the shield keeping him away from the vitals of the bay, and anyone else. Until I can figure out just what form it's taken, though, I can't get to work removing it from his systems." Bristol let her eyes flicker to life.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hazil grunted.
"Not with Wycost. However, I think you can help Bastion." Bristol's eyes flared even brighter.
"How?" Hazil shrugged.
"His reaction to the news that his Powerstorm wings are no more was pretty severe. He doesn't show his sadness, but I picked it up. A part of him is now missing with the loss of those. If you want to help him out, see if you can piece together some design schematics for a new pair. I'll install them if you can make them." Bristol nodded.
"That's a goal worth shooting for." Hazil sighed.
"Any positive goal nowadays is the best we can hope for."
Doan sat in his room, quietly thinking of Wycost's return. The bulk of his armor was gone, although he wore a minimum amount.
"He came back…and infected to boot." Doan muttered quietly. Rubbing his chin, Doan wondered if there was anything to be done. Sullenly, he knew the options were few.
"I knew Wycost from a long time ago…" Doan shook his head. "A lot's changed since then."
He got up.
If there was one thing he could do, as one last momento to his friend from long ago…
"I'm coming, Wycost. We'll find out just where you got messed up."
"SCHEISSE!" Hazil grumbled, shutting off the latest scanner data on Wycost. Wiping his brow, he watched in angry disbelief.
"Knowing this guy's history, only the Virus would make him lash out like he did. But then how come I can't find it on any of my scans?" Hazil shook his head.
It didn't help that a majority of the Hunters on base would like to do nothing more than rip this one green ex-Hunter limb from limb already.
It didn't help matters that Wycost had taken down Bastion in the process.
Looking over, Hazil took a quick visual double check on his other patient, the regenerating Bastion in stasis.
He'd just managed to repair Wycost's shredded arm…minus the X-Buster, though. No sense in putting that back in until Wycost was uninfected.
"If he ever truly was…" Hazil muttered to himself. He shook off the visual image and frowned.
"I won't doubt him. Wycost is too strong a person to do that. Even though his bedside manner is worse than mine, he doesn't go maverick on his own."
The Medical Bay door chittered for a moment, acknowledging the lock that Hazil had placed on it to prevent trigger happy Hunters from exacting a punishment on Wycost. Hazil lifted his head, frowning.
His hand reached for a stunner, as effective on reploids as humans.
"Who is it?" Hazil asked tentatively. A pause, then the sullen reply.
"It's Doan." Hazil's eyes went wide for a moment as he pulled up what he knew of the Hunter.
No vendettas against the green Hunter.
"Computer, open Medical Bay door, then reseal when Hunter Doan is in the room." Another chitter for a response.
The door finally slid open, and Doan entered. His face was grim as usual, as unsmiling as Wycost usually was.
"So, how can I help you, Doan?" Hazil asked, still keeping his stunner in hand. Doan noticed the device, his shifty eyes not missing a beat.
"I'm here to help you, if you'll let me."
Doan looked over his injured friend silently. The green and black hunter's armor was still charred in some places where Hazil hadn't cleaned it off. Memories flashed though the sullen reploid's mind...
Images of Wycost grinning like an idiot, of him beating back mavericks with only uncharged buster shots, of him saving his life. And there was another image that Doan could never forget - a photo on the news he had seen during the Fifth Uprising...
Of the first attack…on New York City.
Doan took off his glove, and placed it on the unhelmeted figure of Wycost. Hazil turned to him, obviously annoyed.
"What do you think you're doing? Psychic healing? Look, buddy, just cause you say you want to help him -"
Hazil was interrupted by a sudden scream from the silent Doan. Images, thoughts, mindsets, memories... all came in an overwhelming tidal flood of mental pain...Wycost... what have you done?
"Wycost, we can't hold them back much longer!" Laz screamed. Ducking another burst of chaingun fire, Wycost raised his Buster and popped off another shot.
His bright green armor already had a few dings and slashes in it from the debris that hurled itself upon them.
But his teeth were gritted, and he wasn't giving up so easily.
"Get the human members of our crew outta here NOW!" Wycost screamed. Laz shook his head.
"You sure?" Wycost turned his head and glared. This was not a time for his second in command to argue with him.
"Listen, Laz! This ain't a backstreet scuffle! THESE ARE FULL BLOWN INFECTED MAVERICKS AND WARMECHS! No matter how good we do, we're not Maverick Hunters. We're fraggin' City Patrol, designed for minor disputes. Any time the big boys show up in town, we're roast meat!"
A dozen missiles from the towering Bee Bladers shot overhead, leaving giant jet streams of smoke exhaust. It hit another building, blowing the side out onto the street. Wycost's eyes boggled open as he saw the wall begin to fall from above, and with a quick burst of his next to useless lower level Dash Thruster systems, he jarred himself and Laz out of the way.
However, Wycost could still hear the cries as the majority of his small and close knit Patrol was crushed under the heavy weight of debris.
Humans, bones and blood crushed together in a sickening pile of dead flesh.
Reploids, sparking and forever destroyed, their control chips smashed in by the heavy impact.
Wycost angrily shook away the tears from his blurry optics, trying to maintain focus.
"Ohmigodohmigodohmigod…" Laz repeated, his breathing short. Even though a reploid, Laz became hysterical, his eyes still facing the grisly scene behind them. Wycost's mind snapped, and he slapped Laz across the face.
"Laz! Get the Hell out of here NOW! I'll give you cover fire!" Laz still was catatonic and unresponsive, and Wycost screamed at him. "GO!"
Laz finally took off, running as fast as he could away from the warzone.
A sidewards targeted Bee Blader Warmech ended his life with a large burst of chaingun fire.
Laz, another reploid victim of the mavericks, ceased to be as his body was torn limb from limb, chewed up and thrown to the ground as a steaming pile of wires, armor, coolant fluid, energy fluid, and charred synthskin.
That tore it.
Wycost finally snapped at that moment.
The mavericks had taken his entire Patrol to their deaths with a few blasts from their weapons.
And Wycost knew as well as anyone who was behind the major maverick movements…
Sigma.
"Damn you…DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!" Wycost leapt from behind the burning cover of a Police hovercar, finally charging at his foes with an intensity he'd never felt before.
He would make them pay.
A Ball De Voux got its face crushed in, and then Wycost kicked it into the fanblade of the nearest Blader.
That was two down as the Blader crashed to earth, grounded by its own unarmored rotor assembly.
Another Blader tried to nail Wycost with a burst of gunfire.
Wycost backflipped away from the blast, bouncing off a wall and into the air as he unleashed his charged X-Buster shot into the seeker unit of the craft.
That Blader exploded as it opened up its missile battery, and Wycost's shot made the explosives go up in smoke.
Wycost finally landed, his Buster prompted for another target.
He was on fire.
And he would destroy them all for what they'd done here today.
Just then, a large thunk from behind drew his attention. Wycost swiveled about, releasing the shot he'd been charging.
It flew through the air towards a large reploid that looked like a whale with a long horn on its snout.
The shot hit him in the chest…
And fizzled out of existence.
The whale maverick laughed.
"Not so easy to scratch me hull job, ye landlubbing hardy. I be Nitro Narhwal, one of Sigma's Maverick Generals. And you be messing with the power of Titanitefloalloy!" Wycost's eyes still full of fire, also became filled with despair at that moment.
"Oh, Goddamn you…" Wycost muttered.
At that moment, another Bee blader behind him managed to hit in full on in the back with a concussion missile.
Wycost fell to the ground, his armor cracked, his helmet smashed in, his control chip cover shattered.
He had lost.
He could see Nitro Narwhal's giant feet come closer to him, and then the low chuckle of the maverick general came to his ears.
"Oh, we have a fighter here, we do! Lord Sigma would certainly appreciate a new recruit now."
Wycost tried to get up, to fight.
But in the end, Nitro Narhwal kicked him onto his back, grinning evilly as he extended his hand to Wycost's head.
Removing the decimated helmet, Nitro's fingers suddenly became surrounded by a blackness.
His fingers jammed hard into Wycost's head, breaking through the synthskin and almost into the control chip.
A moment later, Wycost's entire head flared into a painful fire…
Not one with orange and red tendrils…
But black, and ominous, and menacing ones.
It pulsed with a life of its own, and the outside world faded from Wycost's view as he suddenly found himself inside his mind, facing a floating black mass of wires and moaning faces.
DESTROY. INFECT. SURVIVE. DESTROY. INFECT. SURVIVE.
Wycost's mind screamed, for the voices of the blackness turned against him. Screaming at him, they drowned out his every thought, his every memory…
Ever part of him suddenly became drowned out by it.
But one last thought raced across his mind.
The Maverick Virus…
I've been infected by the Maverick Virus…
Doan's screams echoed across the room, as his hand twitched over Wycost's head. Hazil shook his head again, charging at the howling Hunter in an attempt to stop whatever was happening.
Then a flash of recognition came into his eyes.
"Doan…Doan, you're using REVENANT…" Hazil shook his head angrily.
"Damnit, you fool! It's too dangerous to do that! Wycost might infect YOU!"
Hazil barreled at Doan, trying to jar him loose from the mindlink.
A giant shock blasted him back. Hazil shook his head.
"Good gravy…I can't pull him out of it." Hazil growled, finally slamming a comm button on the desk.
"X and Zero! REPORT TO THE MEDICAL BAY IMMEDIATELY!"
The images never stopped coming.
Wycost, tearing himself apart to destroy his infection in the underground lair of Sigma.
Strobe Stallion, his recognition of the maverick turned Hunter.
Bastion, eyes filled with astonishment, wonder, and mistrust.
The mistrust vanishing, being replaced by sympathy.
Sigma being finally defeated in the Fifth Uprising by Zero.
Zero and X facing the virus together.
The year after…
Everyone else's building mistrust of the odd Hunter who had arrived in mystery, and remained in such.
And then…flashbacks of himself, Doan.
Doan and Wycost, passing each other in the halls. Wycost's sidewards glances to the gray and disgruntled Hunter, brief flashes of recognition from a time long ago.
He remembers, Doan thought feverishly as the wave continued to strike him.
Wycost leaving the Hunters in angry disgrace.
Wycost joining…URFAWP?
Another reploid, slowly coaxing Wycost from his outer shell of gruffishness.
Isaiah…
A promise made.
A mission long trained for.
A mission of peace.
Calcutta, India…
A jarring figure.
Dark.
Evil.
HIM.
"How long now, Wycost?" Isaiah asked again. Wycost grumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"The transport still has another two hours left to go, Isaiah. We've barely cleared the Mideast." Isaiah grinned.
"Yeah, yeah. I just still can't believe we're finally on our way again." Wycost shrugged.
"Remember the promise now." Isaiah gave him a half smile.
"How could I forget?" Isaiah looked forward. "We still got a long way to go yet." Wycost nodded.
"Long roads lead to bigger places."
Just then, the entire airship jarred from side to side as if it had hit turbulence, and then straightened itself out. Wycost frowned.
"That felt odd." Something else felt odd as well to Wycost's senses.
He couldn't see it.
But there was something distinctly ominous about this quirky sixth sense that had him worried. Wycost couldn't stop his hand from clenching onto the armrest of his seat, and even Isaiah looked down in surprise.
"Woah, hold up there, Wycost. Its just turbulence!" Wycost glared, flipping up his glasses.
"No…it's something I've felt before. And the last time I did…"
Wycost's hands slammed into the armrests as the conclusion hit him full on. His eyes shot wide open, and he leapt out of his seat like it was on fire. His right hand vanished, replaced in an instant by a powerful Buster, gleaming in intensity. It began to charge up…
An action Wycost hadn't done in weeks. Isaiah's eyes boggled open as he cringed away from the weapon of war.
"Wycost, what the heck do you think you're doing?!" Isaiah stammered. Wycost glanced down to his friend and glared, baring teeth.
"Someone else is on board, Isaiah. Someone the Hunters thought had died out long ago…"
"Someone who gives you salutations."
Wycost swiveled his head, his eyes narrowed.
He knew that voice.
"YOU…" Wycost growled.
The figure finally stepped out of the shadows.
It was covered by a thick brown coat, hiding all its features.
But its eyes still glowed a bright red from the darkness of the hood.
"Hello again, Wycost." The figure cackled. "We've missed you…" a hand lifted itself up, slipping out of the coat sleeve. The hand was thin and sinewy, metallic and with razor sharp claws.
"The feeling isn't mutual." Wycost glared, his Buster whining even louder with its charge. The figure cackled.
"Oh, we knew you would say such a thing." Wycost shook his head.
"We? You speak as if…" Wycost drew in a ragged breath, as the truth suddenly dawned on him. "No…"
"Yes." The cloaked figure suddenly lunged forward at Wycost, snarling angrily.
Wycost let his blast loose.
Metallic claw met plasma superburst, and the shot fizzled out of existence. Wycost followed closely with a powerful left hook, hoping to knock the dangerous figure away.
But the figure was as crafty as he was insane, and he came underneath the blow to slash a claw across Wycost's body.
Wycost howled in pain, leaping back. Panting heavily, he suddenly knew he was outgunned in his current state. Wycost threw his arm into the air, not letting his eyes leave the nimble warrior.
"All of you! Get out of here NOW!" Wycost couldn't help but think of the irony of that statement. The last time he had said something like that, he'd been the only one to survive.
This time would be different.
But the cloaked figure cackled loudly.
"Oh, We don't think so, Wycost!" The hooded head's eyes glowed even brighter as its arms raised into the air, and energy began to surround it. Wycost clamped his teeth angrily at the new find, and he raised his Buster again.
A sudden flash enveloped the entire craft's interior…a dark flash.
Wycost suddenly found he couldn't move.
He was frozen…and worse, the ragged cackle of his foe seemed to echo even more.
"Oh my, yes. Now everyone in this hovertransport is under our control…" The clawed hand clenched into a fist. "Wycost, we think it should be a priority for you to activate your battle armor now." The red eyes flashed again, and Wycost suddenly felt a chillind dark hand reach into his mind, take control of his body.
"Damn…You…" Wycost grunted. Tears came to his eyes, as it dawned on him that once more, he had failed to stop them all.
A command he had not given echoed in his mind, and then Wycost felt the shimmering energies surround him. His internal teleportation system brought up the internally stored data for the green armor that was Wycost's.
Wycost knew that he was now in his armor. The figure looked at him again, once more flashing the bright red eyes of hatred.
"Now…we want you to prove your loyalty to us. Destroy your friend over there." Wycost suddenly found himself straining against the invisible bonds, with a force he had never used before.
"NOOO!!!" Wycost screamed, forcing himself to lower his Buster, and shift it back into a hand.
The cloaked figure's eyes flashed an even brighter red, and it stomped towards Wycost. Finally, its hot breath was on Wycost's face.
"We…Said…Kill him."
That tore it. Wycost lost all control over his functions, once more finding himself an unwilling witness to the tortures of…
Isaiah's eyes were wide, and he shook with fear, trembling in his seat.
"Wycost…who is he? What are you doing?" Wycost could only watch in utter horror, as his foe forced him to raise his Buster.
His hated Buster.
Isaiah went quickly, vanishing in a ball of white hot plasma, leaving only a charred smudge on his seat.
Wycost had killed his friend.
No matter who had forced him to do it…
Wycost had obliterated Isaiah.
The enemy's laughs were loud.
Wycost barely heard it.
His mind was filling up with his rage.
Rage against war.
Rage against the enemies who would never die.
Rage against himself.
The connection finally completed itself, and the electrical discharge field surrounding Doan and Wycost crackled out of existence. Doan's screams faded away into a low moan…
Doan collapsed on the floor as Hazil rushed to the fallen reploid. "FRACK IT!! WHAT THE HELL?!"
Doan's optics whirred back to life, blinking slowly at the grouchy figure of Hazil above him. X and Zero weren't too far behind the Medical Reploid, all of them looking on in concern. Zero finally spoke.
"You got a reason for pulling that Mind-reading trick on our Maverick friend?" Doan wheezed, still trying to get his bearings.
I am.
I am Doan…
I am a Maverick Hunter.
Doan shook his head, almost in tears.
"I knew…Wycost, from a long time ago. Before we were Hunters…we were just reploids." X grunted, his arms folded.
"So, you wanted to remember the good old days?" Doan gritted his teeth, glaring at X. His fist balled up and he pounded it on the floor.
"I know more about Wycost now than you could ever hope to, X. Just thank Light he didn't give you the ability to rip memories." Doan covered his eyes with a hand, feeling faint.
"I did…learn something, though. Wycost…is infected. An old foe has returned…and Wycost failed to stop him." Doan shook his head.
"I saw…what the Virus looks like." Doan took in a deep breath. "It is a terrible thing…and Wycost overcame it once. It is stronger now…more than ever, it is stronger." Doan looked up to Hazil.
"As long as he's in stasis, you can't treat him. He has to be awake for the Virus to surface. And I know where Wycost has been in his absence from us." Zero nodded.
"Where was that?" Doan finally got up, and put his glove back on.
He was back in control again, and as depressed as ever.
"A place known as URFAWP."
Silence hung in the room.
Finally, Zero's mouth began to emit a hissing noise like a snake, and finally ended in a curt curse.
"URFAWP…" X also was stunned.
"It seems the hope for the future has turned evil. But just how high up does the conspiracy go?"
The questions didn't have any answers.
Doan couldn't look that deep into Wycost.
But X finally spoke up.
"Gentlemen, we've taken a return to insanity." Just then, Hazil's comm chittered. Hazil slapped it.
"Speak, or forever hold your peace."
"I do." Came Cain's short reply. "I know X and Zero are with you…there's something I just found out."
More silence.
"That transport…it came from URFAWP." Zero hit his own comm to speak with him.
"Boss, it gets worse. Wycost WAS IN URFAWP when he got infected." Zero bit his tongue, for a very chilling possibility came to mind. "And he didn't get a weak version…this time, Wycost got hit with a strong mutated strain." Zero shook his head.
"I think…I think Sigma managed to survive."