THE TENTH DISK
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001

Chapter Six

X

Bass's black boots clicked as he fell from his jump. His gold-trimmed helmet gleamed from the lights the flying drones cast. His eyes gave a sparkle of evil, and his lips curved into a tight, wicked grin.
Then I let fly with a full charge of my X-Buster and blew him back to the scrap heap.
But my problems weren't all gone yet. As I glanced into the air, I spotted about fifty flying units patrolling the rooftop. My job? Get past them all, to the inner sanctum. I had studied the blueprints of the building enough to know where it was, from the roof. Each of the drones I had to get past had an impressive weapons array, including explosive warheads and me-seeking radar. This was gonna be tricky.
I dashed my way across parts of the roof at a time, always checking my back, then advancing further. I took a safe position for a moment, but couldn't appreciate the rest very long. My senses suddenly succumbed to the blackness of unconsciousness once again, as Sigma decided to have another little chat with me.

* * *

Hello again, X, his voice grated against my nerves.
"What is it this time, Sigma?" I asked, annoyed. "Why have you called me again?"
He allowed himself a hiss of a chuckle. The time has almost come for the world to fear me once again, X. Your time is soon to come, have no reservation.
"Still can't tell me what's coming, eh?"
Afraid not. However, if I were you, I'd voice any last-minute goodbyes to friends. Just a friendly reminder.
"Riiiiiiiight.... Remind me why I'm taking advice from you now?"
His voice returned to an angry growl. You'll be a problem. I'll get over it.
"Just call me the perpetual thorn in your side, Sigs. I'll always be at least an annoyance to you."
Oh, you won't be much more than that to me in a very short while. You'll see. I swear, just then, if he could have smiled with his voice, he would have. Now would you like to see what I have in store for you, X?
I narrowed my eyes. "Show me."
I spotted him moving around in the shadows, then saw him step into the light, facing me directly. My eyes inflated to three times their size. I looked him up and down. He was...ME!
"So you only wished me luck against Pi because you didn't want me hurt. You wanted a perfect host body. Am I right?"
My reflection began talking in Sigma's voice. "Correct. This is your fate, X. I will become you. My will shall overtake yours."
I was infuriated. I spat on his face. Suddenly, I felt a drop of warm moisture on my own cheek. He let out an evil cackle as I used my arm to wipe away the spit from my face. "This is exactly how it will be, X! You will feel everything I do!"
"It's not gonna happen. You're deluded."
"You're entitled to your opinion, I suppose. At least, until I take you over. Enjoy your last few hours of freedom, X..." he said as he threw a hand into the air, returning me to the real world once again.

* * *

I blinked. I was back. Aerial security was still sweeping over the roof, looking for me. Thus far, the search had been useless, but they were closing in on me. I decided to attack. Concentrating on the spark energy I had collected back at Pi's, I powered up.
Revealing myself from an overhang in the roof's structure, I pitched the enormous spark ball I had created at the oncoming drones. The electric luminescence washed over the group, and ten or twelve of them crashed to the roof. Traveling from one point to another, while dodging the drones' fire this way and that, I slipped behind them, catching them all with full charges of X-Buster shot. Eight more had bitten the dust.
After an exhausting and boring pattern of dodging and firing, all the air security had finally been nullified.
I had to find Zero and the others, now.

* * *

Zero

We cleared out the drones pretty quickly, moving onto a gigantic locked door which led to the inner sanctum. My Z-Saber couldn't scratch it. I rallied the Hunters together to stand parallel to the door, having them charge to full capacity of their blasters. Once finished, they readied themselves.
"Hold it, guys," I ordered. "Wait for my signal," I said, raising my other arm into the air. Throwing down my hand, I let fly with my shot, watching as the others followed suit. At once, the room became engrossed in a flash of blue-white light. My optical sensors were going mad! I heard a crashing noise from in front of me...
"Did we get it?" asked Shados. "I can't see to save me life!"
I stared, half-blind, at the spot where the door had once stood. It had been vaporized. "Yep," I said, snapping my fingers, "we got it!"
"Let's go, then!"
I chose four of the Hunters to accompany me inside: Shados, Wetrix (Netrix's brother), Zerrin, and Gyrus. "We're gonna murder that Maverick, boss," Zerrin said offhand.
"Against orders, Zerrin. Don't kill her unless you absolutely have to."
I nodded my head with that remark, and stepped into Delta's chambers.

* * *

The room was completely unfurnished, save for a back-lit map of the world on the wall furthest us. It lit the room with a spooky, uninviting greenish glow. After my eyes had adjusted to the lower lights, however, I noticed a computer system, set in one corner, and in the direct center of the room, there stood a shapely female silhouette.
With a wave of her hand, lights popped on all around the room, driving away the ghastly green. Now, with the room fully lit, I was able to glimpse her face. In her forehead's center hung a precious pearl-colored stone of some description, her hair platinum blonde. She was dressed in a shiny, shimmery red wrap of some kind, and held in her grasp a packet of three grey-and-white sparkling disks.
"Oh, visitors," she said, acting surprised. "Come in, won't you? I've been lonely in this fortress with no one but drones to talk to."
Stepping forward, I spoke cautiously. "Maverick Delta, my name is Zero. We are a group sent by the Maverick Hunters to remove you from this place and capture your disks. Let's cut past this small talk, however. If you come with us quietly, we assure you, harm will not come to you."
"Please, gentlemen. Spare me," she said, losing the red wrap. Underneath, I saw that she was more than prepared to defend herself. She wore an energy saber and a breastplate to match. She was Sigma's fencer this time, eh? All righty. I held a hand behind me, signaling my troops to stand by.
I flashed my own saber forward, finding her stiff guard there. Truly as reckless as the Maverick which inhabited her, she immediately rushed towards me, trying a hard thrust at my left, then my right. I dodged both times, then dropped to the floor and raised my foot sharply. It caught her in the stomach, and her own momentum swung her over my foot and tossed her into the back wall.
Hopping up, I ignited the saber and rushed for her. She sprang up as she saw my form darting ever closer and attempted to meet me half-way. We joined our swords somewhere close to the center of the room again, the plumes of light energy blazing together, shooting sparks this way and that. With every attack she threw, I countered, and she countered mine as well. No real damage was being done, and I was growing impatient.
While grating the swords together, I heard Zerrin and the others murmuring over the racket, off to the side. From what conversation I heard, I thought I had a notion of what they were planning, but there was no time to act on it. Delta's saber came crashing down in an attempt to place my head between my feet. I parried the blow, scoring a small cut on her forearm. She grinned at me sinisterly. "TouchŽ, my fencing friend," she said, "but I shall have the final point."
I doubted that. However, I remained silent. Her fate would come. I dodged another too-powerful thrust at my midsection. Twirling around, I made a horizontal slash which I was sure would remove her left hand, but no. Not even a scratch. Darn. I began concentrating on charging a shot from my cannon.
With another graceful move, she whisked over to me, using her unscathed left hand to seize my saber from my grasp. With both sabers held at my throat, she forced me down to the floor. I cursed.
"As I said, I shall have the final point. It's been fun, Zero," she said, "and I honestly didn't think it could end this quickly. Any last-minute good-byes?"
"Just one," I said. "To you, dear Delta."
Using my dash jets to roll backwards, I ended up about three yards from her, where she couldn't reach with the sabers. Holding my arm cannon steadily on her form, I said: "No one takes my saber and gets away with it, Maverick."
Releasing the charged shot I had made earlier, I paralyzed her, plucking the disks from her belt, where she had clipped them earlier. From her hands, I plucked both the energy sabers, stowing mine in my housing and tossing the other to stick into the opposite wall. I turned to greet the Hunters and to receive the praise I well deserved.
What I got was a shout of "Kill the filthy Maverick!" from Zerrin, signaling the other three Hunters to fire on Delta's helpless form.
Everything then happened in a flash. I felt myself screaming "NOOOO!!!!" and rushing to block the blast from hitting Delta. What else could I have done? They were seriously violating orders here, and I'm not sure Iris could've taken the shock of hearing that her sister had been killed. Positioning myself where I would take the full brunt of the energy, I waited for the hit to come. White light rushed towards me. I spotted X crumbling a hole in the roof, entering the chamber. He glanced around, saw me, and immediately rushed to block the blast from striking me... I felt the heat of the blast, the crackling of then energy, and begged my friend not to sacrifice himself. He stood fast, not moved by my words. He just diligently closed his eyes and waited for the hit to come.
And it did.