THE TENTH DISK
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001
Chapter Eight
Zero
Hi, it's me again. X had been healing well over the week; however, there was still some peculiar aspect of his demeanor that I just couldn't put my finger on. During his healing, he'd been training more extensively in the simulation rooms with his X-Buster--making sure he could still be in top-notch condition for the raid on Epsilon's, I guess.
Speaking of that, we had used this week to plan our attack on Epsilon's fortress. We knew most of his army because of their past history as Mavericks. Among the more famous were Serges, Agile, Violen, Vile, and Magma Dragoon. We used every chance we were offered to spy on what we could to see what kind of drone security they'd built.
We had discovered something interesting about their Maverick armies, however. Sigma must not have had any time to spare in coming up with his hordes of minions; we found out that these Mavericks were actually only cheap Reploid imitations built onto the old Mavericks' outer housings. They were false clones of the originals, which is why the ones we'd fought before were so easy to destroy.
Back at base, Cain and I'd just sorted out the problem of Zerrin and company's actions at Delta's fortress. They were court-martialed and sentenced to a few months of unpaid service around HQ. And speaking of Delta, she'd been drained of sigmae mavericus particles hanging out in her neural systems. She'd been renamed by Cain, not me. I wasn't able to come up with anything at the time, but he suggested "Roll", in the memory of the original Mega Man's sister unit. She and Iris had a teary reunion, and Iris once again threw her arms around me, thanking me for all I'd done. I again redirected her to Cain, and she gave him that same smile. I rolled my eyes at her, then doubled over laughing. That enthusiastic beam of hers cracked me up, for some odd reason. She put her hands on her hips, donning a playfully stern look, trying to pick me up from where I'd bent over in hilarity.
Sliding her arm under my chest, she pulled me to my stand again. The playful expressions we had had on our faces before suddenly melted away. It was a tense moment. Our faces drew nearer, we both prepared ourselves, began to close our eyes, and...
"Uh, I'll just leave now, kids," Cain broke in quietly. Even with his small voice, it was enough to douse the moment for now.
"Yeah," I said as I felt myself blushing. "Uh...Just, uh....wanna get some dinner...uh...with....with me, I...Iris?" I managed to stutter.
She chuckled. I guess it was obvious I wasn't too good at this. "Sure, loverboy," she said, hugging me. She whispered in my ear: "And for a guy who doesn't like to be touched, I'd say you honestly wouldn't have minded the kiss."
I managed a nervous smile down at her. She stood a head shorter than I did, even with her boots. She was so beautiful, and I knew she loved me. Somehow, though, this was all going a little too fast for me. When I'd met the other Iris, I'd taken it quickly with her, too. Why I felt insecure and nervous this time around, I didn't know. All I knew was that this Iris and I both had only one thing in common: Sigma. Kinda spooky. With that, however, we had more in common than anyone could know. I rested my head on hers, kissing her forehead sweetly. "Will that do for now?" I asked.
She smiled. "I'll take it."
"What kind of food do you want? I can find almost anything in town."
X came over to me, slapped me on the shoulder. "Just call him Zero, the only Reploid with a preferred diner's card."
"Thanks, bud," I said, rolling my eyes at him.
Iris broke in with a small laugh. "I think I have an appetite for Italian," she said. "I need something hearty to celebrate all this stuff you two've done for us."
"Mama Pepelli's it is," I said, taking her hand. "X, Roll, care to join us?"
Roll nodded. "Sure, why not? Been awhile since I could enjoy a meal."
X nodded. "I'm going if she is, I guess," he said, jerking a finger at Roll.
Stealing out of the medbay, we made our way to the hangar and then flew one of the smaller, noncommissioned ships out to the quaint Italian restaurant, just on the outskirts of Jolozt City.
It had been awhile for me since I'd been among humans, other than the good doctor Cain, of course, and at first when our group entered the restaurant, it felt to me as if every eye stared at us. There wasn't really discrimination between humans and Reploids, but we intimidated them, I knew. I gave some a smile and a small greeting with my hand, then turned to the seating droid positioned next to the door.
Following the droid where asked, we found our way to a clean booth, where silverware and a computerized touch-menu greeted us. Opening the "Pasta" window of the menu, I found a plate of fettucini that looked appetizing and selected it. X and Roll chose to split a pizza, and Iris found some veal parmesan for herself. The joint order was sent to the kitchen, from whence a robot would deliver us our food later.
"The stuff here's great," I remarked. "The atmosphere is almost as important as the food in a restaurant like this, I think. I feel like I'm in Venice."
Iris nodded. "Everything looks very quaint and antiquated here. You'd never think it was almost totally automated. The wallpaper, the plant life, the stone look of the place as a whole--looks old-fashioned, charming."
"I think we need something to celebrate this..." I said, beckoning a service droid. "Yeah, could you send us a bottle of wine or something?" I asked.
"Certainly, sir. What kind of wine would you like?"
At this I was stumped, but Iris was glad to answer for me: "Just a mild sherry, please."
The robot looked back at me after hearing her answer. "Your identification, sir?"
"Please, I'm a Reploid. Intoxication doesn't affect us. I just wanted it for the taste."
"Of course, sir," the robot said, floating off.
"Thanks for helping me out with that," I said, squeezing her hand. "I'm a wine drinker, not a wine connoisseur."
"Understandable," she nodded.
"You are picking up the tab for this, aren't you, X?" I asked jokingly.
"As long as you're buying me lunch for the next three weeks," he said back. "And you know how I eat."
"That I do," I said with a smile. "Forget it, I'll pick up the check on this one. Just be ready to do me a favor sometime soon."
"And what, getting your body parts back from the X-Hunters wasn't a favor?"
"Okay, okay," I admitted, beaten. "You don't owe me a thing."
"Darn right I don't," he said, reaching across the table to smack me on the head playfully.
He sat back down and looked over at Roll, smiling. "How did I get stuck with you, anyways?"
She smiled and took the joke, then gave X a light slap on the head. "You'd get more than that if we weren't in public," she chuckled.
A droid appeared from the kitchen and ferried us our dishes. I noticed Iris glancing over at X, then, as I began to spear some of my pasta with a fork, her mouth dropped open, her eyes wide with...fear?
Thankfully, my friend was chatting with Roll for a moment, so he didn't notice. I took Iris's hand from under the table, explained to Roll and X that she looked a bit pale, and pulled her outside for a moment to talk.
"What's the matter? The veal cost too much?" I asked when we stepped into the night air.
She shook her head, covered her face with her hands. "No, Zero. When I looked at X a moment ago, I could've sworn I saw Sigma's eyes in his."
"What are you saying, Iris?" I asked. "X has been acting exactly as himself lately. How could Sigma have gone this long without goofing if X had been infested somehow?"
"You told me how Sigma had taken X into periods of unconsciousness, didn't you? What if when he got blasted by Zerrin and the others, Sigma knew that X's mind was dormant? He had a good four hours' worth of opportunities to go for it. What if, Zero? What if?"
I nodded. "I think I know what this is," I said, touching a finger to my chin. "I think you're feeling after-effects of the infection by the virus. It makes you go weird like this sometimes, believe me."
She lowered her head, nodded. She spoke in a quiet, doubting voice: "Maybe you're right. Maybe it is just me."
I nodded, lifting her chin with a finger to look into my eyes. "Now let's go back in, before X tries to get at your veal, okay?"
She managed a half-smile now. "Okay."
Walking back in, we sat down with the others. I ate the bite of fettucini I had forked earlier, and took a glance up at my friend, laughing with Roll about some joke he had read. No way could this guy be Sigma, I thought. He's been acting completely normal. Well, normal for X, anyways. I took a look at Iris. She had cut a chunk of veal and now put it in her mouth. She gave an affirmative nod as she tasted the meat. I smiled. Good, she likes my choice of restaurants too. She and I will get along well, I thought.
I took another glance back at X. Still chatting it up with Roll on his side of table. Now that I thought about it, there was some small part of me that said he had been acting strange lately. How, I didn't know. My Hunter instincts definitely felt something about him, though, something dark...
Even if Iris was right, I didn't want to bring it to X's attention here. If he was Sigma, I didn't want to start a battle in the middle of the restaurant. I didn't want anyone hurt here, especially Iris or Roll. I'd talk with my friend when we returned home.
* * *
We finished the meal rather uneventfully and flew back to HQ. Once there, I asked to speak with X privately. The girls ran to find a holo-game or something, and I walked with X into one of the smaller, empty rooms.
Shutting the door, I asked outright: "Listen, you said there'd been no trouble with Sigs lately, right? Could he have ruptured a memory bank or something while he was screwing around inside your head?"
"Why d'ya, ask, Zero?" he said with an innocent look. "Have I been acting like anything other than myself lately?"
I shook my head faintly, with a soft, exasperated sigh. "You've just had this strange air about you ever since you got back from Delta's, that's all."
"Is that it?" he said with a smile. "Plasma does weird things to your memory in high concentration, bud. If I've been trippy, that's why."
I believed him, but I still sensed very strong, gloomy vibes coming from him. "S'what I thought too. It's just that Iris saw something about you at dinner tonight..." then my voice seemed to take on a mind of its own as it trailed off. I stared coldly into X's eyes. I saw the same strange reflection of the Maverick that Iris had described earlier. "Sigma, if you've infested X, so help me..." I growled.
He closed his eyes, chuckling. Reopening them, a pair of cold, dark blue eyes had replaced X's own soft, friendly brown ones. Sigma had been unmasked yet again. X's voice sunk to a deep bass: "So help you, what? What can you do to me? I've infested the most powerful Reploid body ever created! Even your power is shabby next to X's, Zero, and you know it."
"But you can't control a borrowed body as well as your own, Sigma. My coordination will beat out your power."
"Well, in any event, you are the only one who knows anything about me, and must therefore be terminated."
"Don't count on it," I said, taking my saber from its holding place. I narrowed my eyes at him and shifted my weight. "Prepare yourself, Sigs."
"I've been training with the Buster, don't forget, Zero," he chided. "You may be getting yourself into more than you bargained for."
"So what's your plan after you get rid of me, Sigs? Or should I ask?"
"Mainly to destroy Maverick Hunter HQ from the inside out. As X, that should be simple enough to accomplish."
Not if you're not inside HQ, I thought, leaping toward him. Tackling him by the shoulders, I slammed his head backwards and started a teleport, keeping focused on him as well as myself. He had no choice but to come with me. As he swore, flying through the roof in the great orange ball of light that we were, it echoed out from the room, filling the halls for one brief moment.
Then, in the blink of an eye, we were in my meadow. I dashed backward a few times to keep a safe distance between us both. Whether or not he wanted to fight, it didn't matter now. He had to destroy the only flaw in his plans: me. He called for his cannon through the neural network of Reploid minds, watching it appear in wireframe on his arm, then drawing itself into reality. His helmet appeared with a flash atop his head, and he donned a battle face. Concentrating as I flipped my Z-Saber from its scabbard on my back to my hand, my helmet appeared on my head as well. Small green and blue balls began flowing toward his body, telling me he was charging a shot of plasma. I sized up my opponent here. I knew X's moves, and I knew Sigma would tap them, but I also knew that he'd blend in his own bit of recklessness. If anything was going to win the battle for me, it'd be his carelessness. Igniting the saber, I circled him tightly, giving him a fierce stare. He, likewise, offered only a cold gaze to me, silently cursing me, no doubt.
"You can't win," I called. "I know both of your forms' attacks all too well. Your patterns are predictable. I'll spare you for now if you leave X."
He laughed out loud. "I think you should be the one asking for the chance to be spared, Zero. I wouldn't be so cocky. Just because I'm in X`s body doesn't mean I've lost my own strength. His and mine have combined themselves. We are a true hybrid. Expect the worst from this battle, Zero." He changed his voice for a moment, allowing X's higher voice to speak two words in disgust: "Zero, buddy."
I growled and slammed my weight forward with my saber. He expected it and stepped to one side quickly. My weight carried me to the ground, where I lay for a second, hearing his dark chuckling behind me. I picked myself up and readied myself again, this time calming my nerves. I couldn't screw this thing up. I needed to get rid of Sigma without destroying X.
He hasn't used that charged shot yet, Zero, I reminded myself. Expect that coming your way soon. Getting my footing again, I waved the saber around slowly, remembering the heft of the pommel. I twirled it around once or twice to prove my dexterity again. He stood a ways from me, seeming unimpressed by the show of skill. Raising the X-Buster to my eye level, he let go with the shot he had charged earlier.
Out of reflex, I swung the saber up to meet the blast, bouncing it away harmlessly. I was deadly with this saber, and he knew it.
"Very good, Zero," he said quietly. "But can you repel fifteen smaller blasts at once?" he finished, rapid-firing about that many at me. I dug my feet into the earth, clutching the saber tightly. Swiping at the bolts of plasma fifteen times in rapid succession, I bounced them all back towards him, where he, with an astonished look, leapt to avoid being hit by them.
"I feel as if I'm being toyed with here, Sigma," I said. "So why don't you just destroy me here and now, if you're as powerful as you say?"
He grinned. "You have been a true pain to me, Zero. No, your death will be much more slow and painful than that. I've waited so long for that moment, and when I win it, I want it to be pleasurable for me. To know that I will have no other competition for the conquest of the Reploid race, then the Earth... Such a wonderful feeling."
"One you'll never feel," I said, smiling in the irony of the moment. "Why don't you give me your last words now, Sigs? I'll read `em at your eulogy."
"Your wit was always your best quality, I suppose, Zero. We could have ruled the world together. Didn't you know that?"
"I wouldn't want to rule a world controlled by Sigma," I snapped. "Nothing good could come of it."
"My world could be flawless! Run by computers, there would be no opposition, no war! The world could be perfect!"
"Computers are only as flawless as their programmer," I said. "And as long as a virus ruled the world, it would be chaotic. Can't you see the world would be doomed if a constructed flaw like you in the computers themselves took over?"
He frowned. Maybe after all this time, I'd finally gotten through to him. Maybe I'd hit just the right nerve to make him see things sensibly.
His sudden dash towards me was unexpected. His skin flashed orange and gold momentarily, a few shots of electric energy escaping his arm cannon's barrel, punching me in the gut.
Maybe not, I thought.
"It's not within my programming to find error in it," he said. "It's the fault of my programmer, not me."
"I understand that, Sigma," I said through gnashed teeth, "but as long as you continue this ruthless fight, you have to be blamed. As long as we know no way to change your programming, you are the one who takes the fall. You have a conscience, Sigma," I said. "Use it."
"I take the blame for what I am about to do."
He charged another spark ball, tossing it at me. I had no chance this time. I came crashing down onto the ground, my entire body in agony from the electric energy. My saber flew from my hands, landing in the bushes somewhere behind me.
He now stood over me, concentrating. I heard the high-pitched whine of his Buster charging. I closed my eyes. I was done for. I lay my head back onto the thick grass and waited for the plasma bolt to come. This was the second time I would face death since the beginning of this mission, and I would face it with honor.
His cannon beeped, signaling full capacity. That was the death bells ringing for me. It was hard to believe my death was to come from the same friend who had saved my life some years ago.
I opened my eyes briefly, seeing him level the cannon at my chest. My arms and legs were nothing more than dead weight, paralyzed for the moment by the electricity. "The time has come for your destruction, Zero. Prepare yourself for the afterlife."
I again closed my eyes, surrendering. I heard the cannon go off with a whoosh, then all was suddenly silent.
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001
Chapter Eight
Zero
Hi, it's me again. X had been healing well over the week; however, there was still some peculiar aspect of his demeanor that I just couldn't put my finger on. During his healing, he'd been training more extensively in the simulation rooms with his X-Buster--making sure he could still be in top-notch condition for the raid on Epsilon's, I guess.
Speaking of that, we had used this week to plan our attack on Epsilon's fortress. We knew most of his army because of their past history as Mavericks. Among the more famous were Serges, Agile, Violen, Vile, and Magma Dragoon. We used every chance we were offered to spy on what we could to see what kind of drone security they'd built.
We had discovered something interesting about their Maverick armies, however. Sigma must not have had any time to spare in coming up with his hordes of minions; we found out that these Mavericks were actually only cheap Reploid imitations built onto the old Mavericks' outer housings. They were false clones of the originals, which is why the ones we'd fought before were so easy to destroy.
Back at base, Cain and I'd just sorted out the problem of Zerrin and company's actions at Delta's fortress. They were court-martialed and sentenced to a few months of unpaid service around HQ. And speaking of Delta, she'd been drained of sigmae mavericus particles hanging out in her neural systems. She'd been renamed by Cain, not me. I wasn't able to come up with anything at the time, but he suggested "Roll", in the memory of the original Mega Man's sister unit. She and Iris had a teary reunion, and Iris once again threw her arms around me, thanking me for all I'd done. I again redirected her to Cain, and she gave him that same smile. I rolled my eyes at her, then doubled over laughing. That enthusiastic beam of hers cracked me up, for some odd reason. She put her hands on her hips, donning a playfully stern look, trying to pick me up from where I'd bent over in hilarity.
Sliding her arm under my chest, she pulled me to my stand again. The playful expressions we had had on our faces before suddenly melted away. It was a tense moment. Our faces drew nearer, we both prepared ourselves, began to close our eyes, and...
"Uh, I'll just leave now, kids," Cain broke in quietly. Even with his small voice, it was enough to douse the moment for now.
"Yeah," I said as I felt myself blushing. "Uh...Just, uh....wanna get some dinner...uh...with....with me, I...Iris?" I managed to stutter.
She chuckled. I guess it was obvious I wasn't too good at this. "Sure, loverboy," she said, hugging me. She whispered in my ear: "And for a guy who doesn't like to be touched, I'd say you honestly wouldn't have minded the kiss."
I managed a nervous smile down at her. She stood a head shorter than I did, even with her boots. She was so beautiful, and I knew she loved me. Somehow, though, this was all going a little too fast for me. When I'd met the other Iris, I'd taken it quickly with her, too. Why I felt insecure and nervous this time around, I didn't know. All I knew was that this Iris and I both had only one thing in common: Sigma. Kinda spooky. With that, however, we had more in common than anyone could know. I rested my head on hers, kissing her forehead sweetly. "Will that do for now?" I asked.
She smiled. "I'll take it."
"What kind of food do you want? I can find almost anything in town."
X came over to me, slapped me on the shoulder. "Just call him Zero, the only Reploid with a preferred diner's card."
"Thanks, bud," I said, rolling my eyes at him.
Iris broke in with a small laugh. "I think I have an appetite for Italian," she said. "I need something hearty to celebrate all this stuff you two've done for us."
"Mama Pepelli's it is," I said, taking her hand. "X, Roll, care to join us?"
Roll nodded. "Sure, why not? Been awhile since I could enjoy a meal."
X nodded. "I'm going if she is, I guess," he said, jerking a finger at Roll.
Stealing out of the medbay, we made our way to the hangar and then flew one of the smaller, noncommissioned ships out to the quaint Italian restaurant, just on the outskirts of Jolozt City.
It had been awhile for me since I'd been among humans, other than the good doctor Cain, of course, and at first when our group entered the restaurant, it felt to me as if every eye stared at us. There wasn't really discrimination between humans and Reploids, but we intimidated them, I knew. I gave some a smile and a small greeting with my hand, then turned to the seating droid positioned next to the door.
Following the droid where asked, we found our way to a clean booth, where silverware and a computerized touch-menu greeted us. Opening the "Pasta" window of the menu, I found a plate of fettucini that looked appetizing and selected it. X and Roll chose to split a pizza, and Iris found some veal parmesan for herself. The joint order was sent to the kitchen, from whence a robot would deliver us our food later.
"The stuff here's great," I remarked. "The atmosphere is almost as important as the food in a restaurant like this, I think. I feel like I'm in Venice."
Iris nodded. "Everything looks very quaint and antiquated here. You'd never think it was almost totally automated. The wallpaper, the plant life, the stone look of the place as a whole--looks old-fashioned, charming."
"I think we need something to celebrate this..." I said, beckoning a service droid. "Yeah, could you send us a bottle of wine or something?" I asked.
"Certainly, sir. What kind of wine would you like?"
At this I was stumped, but Iris was glad to answer for me: "Just a mild sherry, please."
The robot looked back at me after hearing her answer. "Your identification, sir?"
"Please, I'm a Reploid. Intoxication doesn't affect us. I just wanted it for the taste."
"Of course, sir," the robot said, floating off.
"Thanks for helping me out with that," I said, squeezing her hand. "I'm a wine drinker, not a wine connoisseur."
"Understandable," she nodded.
"You are picking up the tab for this, aren't you, X?" I asked jokingly.
"As long as you're buying me lunch for the next three weeks," he said back. "And you know how I eat."
"That I do," I said with a smile. "Forget it, I'll pick up the check on this one. Just be ready to do me a favor sometime soon."
"And what, getting your body parts back from the X-Hunters wasn't a favor?"
"Okay, okay," I admitted, beaten. "You don't owe me a thing."
"Darn right I don't," he said, reaching across the table to smack me on the head playfully.
He sat back down and looked over at Roll, smiling. "How did I get stuck with you, anyways?"
She smiled and took the joke, then gave X a light slap on the head. "You'd get more than that if we weren't in public," she chuckled.
A droid appeared from the kitchen and ferried us our dishes. I noticed Iris glancing over at X, then, as I began to spear some of my pasta with a fork, her mouth dropped open, her eyes wide with...fear?
Thankfully, my friend was chatting with Roll for a moment, so he didn't notice. I took Iris's hand from under the table, explained to Roll and X that she looked a bit pale, and pulled her outside for a moment to talk.
"What's the matter? The veal cost too much?" I asked when we stepped into the night air.
She shook her head, covered her face with her hands. "No, Zero. When I looked at X a moment ago, I could've sworn I saw Sigma's eyes in his."
"What are you saying, Iris?" I asked. "X has been acting exactly as himself lately. How could Sigma have gone this long without goofing if X had been infested somehow?"
"You told me how Sigma had taken X into periods of unconsciousness, didn't you? What if when he got blasted by Zerrin and the others, Sigma knew that X's mind was dormant? He had a good four hours' worth of opportunities to go for it. What if, Zero? What if?"
I nodded. "I think I know what this is," I said, touching a finger to my chin. "I think you're feeling after-effects of the infection by the virus. It makes you go weird like this sometimes, believe me."
She lowered her head, nodded. She spoke in a quiet, doubting voice: "Maybe you're right. Maybe it is just me."
I nodded, lifting her chin with a finger to look into my eyes. "Now let's go back in, before X tries to get at your veal, okay?"
She managed a half-smile now. "Okay."
Walking back in, we sat down with the others. I ate the bite of fettucini I had forked earlier, and took a glance up at my friend, laughing with Roll about some joke he had read. No way could this guy be Sigma, I thought. He's been acting completely normal. Well, normal for X, anyways. I took a look at Iris. She had cut a chunk of veal and now put it in her mouth. She gave an affirmative nod as she tasted the meat. I smiled. Good, she likes my choice of restaurants too. She and I will get along well, I thought.
I took another glance back at X. Still chatting it up with Roll on his side of table. Now that I thought about it, there was some small part of me that said he had been acting strange lately. How, I didn't know. My Hunter instincts definitely felt something about him, though, something dark...
Even if Iris was right, I didn't want to bring it to X's attention here. If he was Sigma, I didn't want to start a battle in the middle of the restaurant. I didn't want anyone hurt here, especially Iris or Roll. I'd talk with my friend when we returned home.
* * *
We finished the meal rather uneventfully and flew back to HQ. Once there, I asked to speak with X privately. The girls ran to find a holo-game or something, and I walked with X into one of the smaller, empty rooms.
Shutting the door, I asked outright: "Listen, you said there'd been no trouble with Sigs lately, right? Could he have ruptured a memory bank or something while he was screwing around inside your head?"
"Why d'ya, ask, Zero?" he said with an innocent look. "Have I been acting like anything other than myself lately?"
I shook my head faintly, with a soft, exasperated sigh. "You've just had this strange air about you ever since you got back from Delta's, that's all."
"Is that it?" he said with a smile. "Plasma does weird things to your memory in high concentration, bud. If I've been trippy, that's why."
I believed him, but I still sensed very strong, gloomy vibes coming from him. "S'what I thought too. It's just that Iris saw something about you at dinner tonight..." then my voice seemed to take on a mind of its own as it trailed off. I stared coldly into X's eyes. I saw the same strange reflection of the Maverick that Iris had described earlier. "Sigma, if you've infested X, so help me..." I growled.
He closed his eyes, chuckling. Reopening them, a pair of cold, dark blue eyes had replaced X's own soft, friendly brown ones. Sigma had been unmasked yet again. X's voice sunk to a deep bass: "So help you, what? What can you do to me? I've infested the most powerful Reploid body ever created! Even your power is shabby next to X's, Zero, and you know it."
"But you can't control a borrowed body as well as your own, Sigma. My coordination will beat out your power."
"Well, in any event, you are the only one who knows anything about me, and must therefore be terminated."
"Don't count on it," I said, taking my saber from its holding place. I narrowed my eyes at him and shifted my weight. "Prepare yourself, Sigs."
"I've been training with the Buster, don't forget, Zero," he chided. "You may be getting yourself into more than you bargained for."
"So what's your plan after you get rid of me, Sigs? Or should I ask?"
"Mainly to destroy Maverick Hunter HQ from the inside out. As X, that should be simple enough to accomplish."
Not if you're not inside HQ, I thought, leaping toward him. Tackling him by the shoulders, I slammed his head backwards and started a teleport, keeping focused on him as well as myself. He had no choice but to come with me. As he swore, flying through the roof in the great orange ball of light that we were, it echoed out from the room, filling the halls for one brief moment.
Then, in the blink of an eye, we were in my meadow. I dashed backward a few times to keep a safe distance between us both. Whether or not he wanted to fight, it didn't matter now. He had to destroy the only flaw in his plans: me. He called for his cannon through the neural network of Reploid minds, watching it appear in wireframe on his arm, then drawing itself into reality. His helmet appeared with a flash atop his head, and he donned a battle face. Concentrating as I flipped my Z-Saber from its scabbard on my back to my hand, my helmet appeared on my head as well. Small green and blue balls began flowing toward his body, telling me he was charging a shot of plasma. I sized up my opponent here. I knew X's moves, and I knew Sigma would tap them, but I also knew that he'd blend in his own bit of recklessness. If anything was going to win the battle for me, it'd be his carelessness. Igniting the saber, I circled him tightly, giving him a fierce stare. He, likewise, offered only a cold gaze to me, silently cursing me, no doubt.
"You can't win," I called. "I know both of your forms' attacks all too well. Your patterns are predictable. I'll spare you for now if you leave X."
He laughed out loud. "I think you should be the one asking for the chance to be spared, Zero. I wouldn't be so cocky. Just because I'm in X`s body doesn't mean I've lost my own strength. His and mine have combined themselves. We are a true hybrid. Expect the worst from this battle, Zero." He changed his voice for a moment, allowing X's higher voice to speak two words in disgust: "Zero, buddy."
I growled and slammed my weight forward with my saber. He expected it and stepped to one side quickly. My weight carried me to the ground, where I lay for a second, hearing his dark chuckling behind me. I picked myself up and readied myself again, this time calming my nerves. I couldn't screw this thing up. I needed to get rid of Sigma without destroying X.
He hasn't used that charged shot yet, Zero, I reminded myself. Expect that coming your way soon. Getting my footing again, I waved the saber around slowly, remembering the heft of the pommel. I twirled it around once or twice to prove my dexterity again. He stood a ways from me, seeming unimpressed by the show of skill. Raising the X-Buster to my eye level, he let go with the shot he had charged earlier.
Out of reflex, I swung the saber up to meet the blast, bouncing it away harmlessly. I was deadly with this saber, and he knew it.
"Very good, Zero," he said quietly. "But can you repel fifteen smaller blasts at once?" he finished, rapid-firing about that many at me. I dug my feet into the earth, clutching the saber tightly. Swiping at the bolts of plasma fifteen times in rapid succession, I bounced them all back towards him, where he, with an astonished look, leapt to avoid being hit by them.
"I feel as if I'm being toyed with here, Sigma," I said. "So why don't you just destroy me here and now, if you're as powerful as you say?"
He grinned. "You have been a true pain to me, Zero. No, your death will be much more slow and painful than that. I've waited so long for that moment, and when I win it, I want it to be pleasurable for me. To know that I will have no other competition for the conquest of the Reploid race, then the Earth... Such a wonderful feeling."
"One you'll never feel," I said, smiling in the irony of the moment. "Why don't you give me your last words now, Sigs? I'll read `em at your eulogy."
"Your wit was always your best quality, I suppose, Zero. We could have ruled the world together. Didn't you know that?"
"I wouldn't want to rule a world controlled by Sigma," I snapped. "Nothing good could come of it."
"My world could be flawless! Run by computers, there would be no opposition, no war! The world could be perfect!"
"Computers are only as flawless as their programmer," I said. "And as long as a virus ruled the world, it would be chaotic. Can't you see the world would be doomed if a constructed flaw like you in the computers themselves took over?"
He frowned. Maybe after all this time, I'd finally gotten through to him. Maybe I'd hit just the right nerve to make him see things sensibly.
His sudden dash towards me was unexpected. His skin flashed orange and gold momentarily, a few shots of electric energy escaping his arm cannon's barrel, punching me in the gut.
Maybe not, I thought.
"It's not within my programming to find error in it," he said. "It's the fault of my programmer, not me."
"I understand that, Sigma," I said through gnashed teeth, "but as long as you continue this ruthless fight, you have to be blamed. As long as we know no way to change your programming, you are the one who takes the fall. You have a conscience, Sigma," I said. "Use it."
"I take the blame for what I am about to do."
He charged another spark ball, tossing it at me. I had no chance this time. I came crashing down onto the ground, my entire body in agony from the electric energy. My saber flew from my hands, landing in the bushes somewhere behind me.
He now stood over me, concentrating. I heard the high-pitched whine of his Buster charging. I closed my eyes. I was done for. I lay my head back onto the thick grass and waited for the plasma bolt to come. This was the second time I would face death since the beginning of this mission, and I would face it with honor.
His cannon beeped, signaling full capacity. That was the death bells ringing for me. It was hard to believe my death was to come from the same friend who had saved my life some years ago.
I opened my eyes briefly, seeing him level the cannon at my chest. My arms and legs were nothing more than dead weight, paralyzed for the moment by the electricity. "The time has come for your destruction, Zero. Prepare yourself for the afterlife."
I again closed my eyes, surrendering. I heard the cannon go off with a whoosh, then all was suddenly silent.
