MEGA MAN X: ISLAND OF AWAKENING
By Erico
CHAPTER SEVEN: CHRISTMAS IN JULY
Today was December 24th, and for followers of Christian Religion, this meant it was the Eve before their most famous holiday.
But X didn't feel like celebrating. He didn't feel like rejoicing.
Most of all, he didn't feel like being turned into a walking tinsel display for the green rookie Hunters who still got their jollies by playing pranks.
"Damnit, LEAVE ME THE FRACK ALONE!!" X bellowed at the top of his lungs, hurling the latest round of decorations free from his shoulders and head before stomping off in a huff. The rookie Hunters looked at each other for a few moments before shrugging sadly and turning to spread their somewhat bizarre good cheer to some other nook of the massive donut-shaped building.
The Blue Bomber of 21XX shook his head back and forth sadly, pausing along the exterior hallway he patrolled to turn and look out the window.
It wasn't pure glass-since Sigma's First Uprising had ravaged the MHHQ more than six months ago, there'd been a lot of upgrading and enhancing. None of it paid by GDC funds, and thus coming solely from James Cain's pocketbooks, the materials used for rebuilding the facility had been unconventional and expensive. Most of the Hunters agreed this homey look helped to give the building a sense of normalcy.
A sense of normalcy that was very much needed in a maddening environment such as this.
X lifted his left hand up and traced the window pane for a moment, his gloved hand picking up the distinct temperature difference of the inside and outside air.
"Snow's falling." Indeed, the meteorologists had rightly predicted for a change, that Tokyo and the surrounding areas would indeed be seeing 'A White Christmas.' The flakes were light and feathery, not the heavy wet snow so often used by human children for snowmen and projectile fights, but a slow dropping drift of frozen water that cast a silent pallor upon the land and made it seem surreal. A part of X wanted to run out of the building and frolic about in the winter wonderland, laughing without a care in the world.
He remembered doing that before. He and Cancer had dashed off about the exterior of the still in construction Maverick Hunter HQ, their metallic boots squashing unnaturally in the thick snowbanks as they played a game of tag.
"And if I remember correctly, Cancer lost." X mused. The fool had forgotten to remember that certain objects hid under the snow piles, and had ended up tripping over a thick water pipe and flailing about until he slammed headfirst into a massive snowdrift. X's eyes glimmered with the beginning of tears at that thought. "Never again to run." He shook his head and turned away from the window.
This would not be a happy Christmas for him. They were in the midst of a menacing Second Maverick Uprising, and only X was Hunter enough to face the impregnable Maverick defenses and ludicrous odds.
And to make it even worse, the Mavericks had Zero. Agile, Serges and…what was it again, Violen?…Seemed to be the ones in charge. And to try and slow down X's progress, they had given him a powerful incentive to play into their trap.
Fight them…and victory would bring Zero's parts back. But were they telling the truth? Hazil's facts seemed to indicate so.
Perhaps a visit to the never recruited cast member of 'Grumpy Old Reploids' would have some inspiring words.
Or at the very least, some egg nog with far too much liquor.
His thoughts were interrupted as a giggling bunch of female tech reploids from the Hangar Bay came running by, carrying a sprig of Mistletoe, and obviously on the prowl for victims. X widened his eyes in shock.
"Oh, great…" They paused and turned to face him, then their smiles widened as they came closer.
X cursed and dashed off, his newfound Air-Dash thrusters managing to keep him well away from the roving pack of kissing thieves.
"Aaw, camaaahn! Will ya all just LEAVE ME ALONE?!!!"
A very robotic hand clacked on a control console, the deft fingers calmly punching in command after command the hand's owner gave it.
If one were to back away from the hand and turn to look at the entire figure at the controls, they'd be shocked.
The thing at the controls was green-dark green all over. Its torso resembled a striped cucumber, its head a flowering bunch of metallic leaves. Its mouth could barely be called that…it was more like a patch of protective grilled armor where underneath lay the voice mechanisms. Its eyes were large and white, with small black pupils.
It was most definitely not human. It was reploid.
And far worse, it was Maverick.
A slow and steady coming of footsteps alerted the Maverick that someone was coming, and the cucumberish figure turned about, leaping from its chair and grabbing ahold of a strange green wire with a nasty cutter on the end that had just sprouted from his back. A second lay at the ready close by his other hand if need be.
But as the rotating door opened, the Maverick eased his posture.
"Oh, it's just you." He said in evident relief. The red eyed figure came completely through the door and clacked his oddly shaped feet together.
Taking a moment to brush some rainwater off of his purple armor, the newcomer rolled his eyes.
"What, and who else would I be?" The green cucumber Maverick shrugged.
"Agile, truth be told I was expecting X." Agile scoffed.
"Oh please. Wire Sponge, you don't need to concern yourself with him. Yet, anyway." Agile turned and looked up at the video display by Wire Sponge's console. "But soon, you'll want to keep on your toes. All this weather activity of yours may be slowing and frustrating GDC forces, but it will also draw attention to the Weather Control Center."
"Oh, so it's my fault I'm following orders?" Wire said drily. "I was told to set up command here to slow and stop GDC efforts for recapturing the island. So far, it's been working. Switching between sleet, sheet rain and blistering heat does the trick."
Indeed, the Weather Control Center on Cornus Island was the penultimate advancement yet made by humanity in the field of meteorology. Not content to merely suffer through the storms nature provided, yet also unwilling to put a massive dome over the island, the Weather Control Center was directly linked to a series of hoverstationary pods high above the island. They drew power from solar energy, and during the night they ran on Energen batteries, much like the Dino Tank. Programmed with advanced algorithms, the drones could respond to commands, sew the clouds to make rain, shoo them away for blistering heat, or lower the temperature enough in severe cases for snow and hail and sleet.
It was one of the final additions to Cornus Island's vast reportoire of services and areas, succeeded only by the Dino Tank not too long ago. It had been cheered for the incredible success of it all, but tests had proven that it would not work over large land masses such as continents, or even some of the bigger islands. Only small islands and medium sized ones such as Cornus could be given this ability to control nature.
However, some things still overran even what man could come up with. Hurricanes and massive swells and tsunamis could still strike at the island, but smaller storms were easily dealt with.
It was new technology, and a sort that needed more fine tuning before placed anywhere else.
Wire Sponge had no doubt in his somewhat frenetic mind that after this was all said and done, the humans would scrap the idea.
After all, the Mavericks had turned it into a weapon.
"That it does." Agile replied. "The other Maverick Generals in particular want to offer their thanks to you. The ones who are still alive. . ." Agile shook his head and sighed. "Wire, X is a formidable foe who uses everything about him to his advantage. This we know from the file tapes. He's crafty, devious, and rarely driven by pure rage. He approaches his task as a Hunter with a keen eye, a cool mind, and a killer's contempt."
"Yes, I know." Wire Sponge replied tersely. "And on top of it all, he claims to be a pacifist."
"Only when it suits him." Agile said drily. "But the GDC will be calling home to mama for help. This Weather Control Center is a thorn in their plans for retaking the island. Even though their odds are slim to start with. . ."
"I get the idea." Wire Sponge said calmly. "They'll be sending Mega Man X here to stop me, right?"
"Right on the money." Agile said.
"Well, I'll know if he's coming. I've set my Heart Tank close to the Control Center entrance. If he snags it, I'll know he's here." Agile rubbed his chin.
"Interesting way of going about it. But you won't be alone on this mission, should he come. You recall the main elevator shaft?"
"Oh, you mean. . ." Wire Sponge narrowed his eyes. "I'll be damned. You're going to set up a trap for the guy in the basement!" Agile grinned and flashed a thumbs up before bouncing towards the door at a skittish pace.
"If I do my job right, you may never need to concern yourself with him."
"I'll be hoping for it." Wire Sponge said calmly. He waved his hand as Agile exited, then turned back to the monitor, once more setting to work.
Humming to himself, he couldn't help but smile.
"It's looking like a Christmas in July."
"Christmas at the MHHQ." Hazil grumbled. He poured more alcohol from a small flask into the batch of egg nog he was mixing up, then shook his head. "First one ever. I suppose I should try to make this particular bowl of the festive drink a bit more PUNCHY!"
Cain chose that moment to hobble into the Medical Bay. Unlike most of the other people, he hadn't changed his dress into a Santa Suit. Hazil'd lost the bet on that.
And the gruffish gray haired reploid fit the bill a bit better than he did, Cain thought.
"Well, well! Santa Hazil's mixing up some Christmas cheer!" The Medical Reploid on his tread base took a moment to look over at Cain in slight annoyance. He calmly removed the red hat with the white cotton ball top and flung it across the room.
"Ho…Ho…" Hazil turned back to his mix and grinned a bit. "Hey Cain, get over here. I need someone to test the egg nog for me." Cain shrugged.
"It's the least I can do for old Saint Dick." Hazil rolled his eyes a bit and mumbled something underneath his breath. Quickly, before the reploid could spit out anything in a retort he'd regret later, he ladled up a cupful of the mixture and handed it to Cain.
The elderly human took a long pull on his cupful, then just as quickly spat it out with what seemed to be an overwhelming revulsion. Hazil folded his arms as Cain quickly set the cup down and coughed up what little hadn't already been expelled.
"You're going to have to clean that up." Hazil said drily. The human doctor teetered on his legs for a moment before shaking his head to clear up the wooziness.
"What the devil sort of alcohol do you mix in that?"
"Irish whiskey." Hazil smirked. "It's a recipe I picked up from my previous employer."
"Oh, yes. The sodden British RAF." Hazil cocked his thumb and forefinger before making a clicking sound. Cain sighed and wiped his chin. "Tell me, did they also specialize in Gelignite Jelly Pudding?"
"No. Just a very hyped up egg nog." Hazil turned back to the punchbowl and mixed some more in. Taking a sip, he smacked his lips together before vigorously dumping the rest of the liquor in.
Cain cleared his throat and turned towards the door, trying to keep Hazil from seeing him pale at the sight.
"Well, that's my good deed for the year. Now if you'll excuse me, I must meet up with X before. . ."
"Don't tell me you're sending him out on another mission." Hazil said gruffishly. "It's Christmas Eve, fur crying out loud!" Cain paused and hunched his shoulders.
"Not my choice." He offered meekly. "It never was. The GDC just tells us what to do. We're left to jump high." Cain finished walking out of the door, leaving Hazil alone once more with his thoughts, his empty Medical Bay, and the giant bowl of egg nog.
"Christmas Eve indeed." The reploid said bitterly.
"Cain, if you were trying to get here to tell me where to go next, the GDC beat you to it." X said nonchalantly. In the bustle of the MHHQ War Room, X took a few final moments to check his systems diagnostics. All in the green, according to the small window of data that blinked up in the corner of his eye.
Cain plopped into his chair in the middle of the War Room and glared up at the screen. There sat the Cornus Island response Council, created from a small portion of the GDC to communicate with the Hunters about the situation on the Maverick's stolen stronghold. The latest transmission was no happier than the others. . .but at least the urgency of the newest situation was less than a Nuclear Missile aimed at the MHHQ or a Dino Tank rampaging about the island.
A white haired gentleman in the center, with deep piercing eyes and a gentile smile about him was the focus. His name was. . .Cristoph, wasn't it? Cain couldn't care less.
"As you can see X, having the Mavericks maintaining dominance over our Weather Control Station poses a very difficult problem for the reclamation forces. One moment, they're in a blizzard, and the next they're suffering from heatstroke!" Cristoph raised a wrinkled hand up to brush back the few wisps of hair left to his name, then looked at the screen again.
X scrutinized the man with every little bit of focus he held. There was something about the tremolo in the elderly human's voice that seemed to betray nervousness.
Was it because that like a good portion of the rest of the world, Cristoph felt reploids to be things that instilled fear?
Or was it merely because the red gloves that had replaced his white ones betrayed the fact that X's Buster could now rip a heavily armored tank to atoms? X smiled inwardly. Outside, he kept his face emotionless as Cristoph's was falsely cheerful.
"What about your reploid forces?" X asked calmly. "They would be better suited to these extremes you describe. They should be more than able to even the odds." Cristoph reddened for a moment, then looked about the table. Sheepishly, every human on the viewscreen shrugged.
"We…felt it best not to bring the reploids into the Cornus matter." X raised an eyebrow and stepped back beside Cain's chair, almost looking down to see what the elderly man's response was. The thought was quashed by a gentle squeeze of his arm by Cain's wiry hand. Obviously, Cain didn't want X to betray his surprise…Even though the two shared it.
"Any particular reason?" X asked, trying not to clench his teeth in rage.
Oh, you know the reason. They're biased.
"The enemy we're fighting is Mavericks. It was highly probable any reploid forces sent in to face them would become Maverick themselves."
"Being Maverick isn't a disease." X argued. "You don't catch it."
"All the same. The risk was too great." Cristoph said quickly. The smile vanished away somewhat and gave into determination. "We were not going to send in reploids just so they could be turned against us."
"So instead, you send in humans that get slaughtered under a combination of intense retaliation and adverse conditions." X glowered. "Well, you certainly have things figured out." Cristoph's eyebrows narrowed a bit, and X could see the calm demeanor of the man was fast fading.
"X, I didn't call to get snapped at. Our people are dying out on Cornus…" Cristoph shook his head and sighed. "And it's Christmas Eve. How many families have been deprived of their sons, their fathers and mothers and daughters? I'm telling you we need help. The help of the Maverick Hunters. The Mavericks must be dealt with…or there will be more than just a few families with an unhappy holiday." Cristoph lifted his glasses up and looked X straight in the eye. "I know your aversion to fighting, X. I know you do it only because it is necessity. But this one time, I am doing more than giving an order as a GDC representative to obey the higher power's wishes. I'm Begging. BEGGING, X. For those who want only to go home to their tree and to their children crying daddy, with a pile of presents…Stop the Mavericks."
X blinked once. Very slowly.
And he looked inwardly, and knew that there was only one choice.
Well X, guess you get to play the hero again.
I don't want to be a hero. Mega Man was a hero! I just want to live in peace!
Stop your bitching. You wanna know how many THOUSANDS of lives have been given just so time could progress up to the point where you were created?
Just who are you to boss me around, huh?!
Who you should be. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…or the one. Remember Gearloose…Remember Zero?! They died with purpose. They died so that the world might breathe safe from utter genocide by the Mavericks. No one WANTS to die, X. At least no one who's got their head screwed on straight.
Just leave me alone…
I will when I can stop bothering you about this crap. Now MOVE! Tell the ignorant racist you'll clean up his mess, warp out to that damn Weather Control Center, and make with the bang-bangs.
FINE!!!
"Very well, Cristoph." X said blithely. "I'll see what I can do about it." Cristoph and the rest of the members on the GDC council became immediately relieved. The white haired AmeriCanadian representative brought his bright camera smile back into focus and nodded.
"Thank you, X. And a Merry Christmas to you."
"If I'm still alive to celebrate it when I get back, the compliment's taken. Otherwise, you can bury it along with my carcass." X snapped. Cristoph's eyes flew wide for a moment, just before X reached down and killed the connection.
Cain rubbed at his chin for a moment, then looked up at X in concern.
"I've never seen you like this. Depressed, almost all the time. Enraged, yes. Joking, not enough. But snide and bitter?!" Cain shook his head. "X, are you all right?"
"Doc, I'm the only Hunter left out of the original set, I've got greenhorns running around with mistletoe and tinsel trying to decorate or kiss me, Zero's parts are in the hands of my mortal enemies, and the Cornus GDC Special Council is using Melodramatic overtones to get me to play hero. Oh sure, Cain. I'm fine and dandy."
Cain rolled his eyes. "Just as long as you're okay. And come back alive."
"I'm the greatest Hunter, aren't I?" X said bitterly. "Fate'll keep me around. It isn't done kicking me in the nuts yet." X shut his eyes and activated his warp generator.
He already knew the coordinates.
As X vanished in his traditional bolt of blue light, Cain braced himself against the sudden appearance of Christmasy music being piped through the building wide comm system.
He almost yelled at the nearby technician who had performed the operation to shut it off, but then thought better of it.
No, let them celebrate. He would wait for X to get back for his own Christmas Cheer.
Wire Sponge checked the latest reports stemming in from the Central Computer at the very heart of Cornus. GDC forces were still trying to reclaim the base, but their system of attack…mainly jet planes with high explosives, were easily shunted by the robotic Tubamails that the Mavericks had based around the island. For the few planes that managed to land troops…human troops, Magnus had mentioned with more than just a few ergs of humor in his voice, there was always the Maverick ground forces.
What they had held before taking Cornus was a moderately small task force, barely held together by Serges, Agile and Violen's leadership. Most of those original forces had been dedicated to the building of Ice Fortress, now gleaning into its final stages. The current estimate placed it at being completed just before New Year's, thanks to the fact that unlike those irrational humans, the Mavericks didn't feel the need for any Holiday weekend.
Thanks to the hacking efforts of Magnus, or more commonly known as Magna Centipede, the GDC forces on Cornus had been caught completely off guard and fully unable to defend themselves. Sure, there had been some minimal resistance, an annoyance at best. Like that one reploid from the Dino Tank, what was his name…Damien? His romp on the Landchaser had been the greatest annoyance, seeing as it had alerted the outside world to the Maverick's actions far sooner than they would have liked. But no matter. In the end, Wire Sponge felt sure they could overcome whatever was thrown at them. The GDC was next to helpless to reclaim its own property, and the only major threat to their plans was from that Mega Man X…as Serges and several others including himself in the Maverick hierarchy liked to call him, the 'Damned Lucky Idiot.' By a sheer miracle…or by a more frightening prospect, that he was indeed the greatest Hunter…Mega Man X had twice proven his mettle on the Cornus battleground. Thanks to him, the Mavericks no longer had the Dino Tank to protect them, and their plans to roast the MHHQ and everything around it in Nuclear fire had also been shattered.
But it'd be different this time. Wire Sponge allowed himself a small smile. If his Maverick superiors were correct, the GDC bigwigs would by now be pleading with X and the Hunters to put a stop to the Maverick weather antics hindering their reclamation efforts. And X would come.
Wire Sponge had no doubt in his mind of X's determination. The video files of him running about the Dino Tank and the abandoned Missile Base were evidence enough. Above all else, X held a spirit that could never be shattered. It could be cowed, but it was also always ready to snap. And when X snapped, Mavericks died.
To that end, there were two Mavericks awaiting him. Himself, of course, Wire Sponge mused softly. And then there was Agile, biding his time in the main elevator shaft's bottom floor, preparing his blade to end X's miserable existence.
Yes, it would end here. Christmas Eve, and Christmas day. To the Christians, a time of birth.
To the Mavericks, a time of death.
But to both, a time of celebration.
Suddenly, the screen flickered a new image, flaring angrily with a familiar insignia of a reddish and gray metallic object spinning in stationary orbit above a hoverbase. Wire Sponge allowed himself a small smile and punched in his comm circuit to Agile.
"Heads up, boss. Mega Man X just got his Christmas present."
"Strange." X said, sniffing at the air as he shut his chest compartment, feeling the armor magnetically seal itself once more to hide away the contents of two glistening Heart Tanks. "Not like the Mavericks to be this blatant about stashing their equipment." X froze and examined where the Heart Tank had laid. Sure enough, a flickering light indicated he'd tripped an alarm. Silently, he cursed at himself.
Then he turned back around and leapt from the high alcove. No sense worrying about it. And if the Mavericks thought they were ready for him, they were sorely wrong. Just to be safe, he began charging his arm gauntlets, hearing the familiar whine as one Buster activated and appeared on his left hand, his right hand beginning to shimmer with the same might, yet not changing like the other.
Strange how the new Mark 19 X-Buster worked. The new technology allowed plasma to be charged into both arm Buster systems…a tactic that had previously been impossible, and deadly. This overloading that had once been a part of all Buster systems no longer existed, and through it all, X had one saddening thought.
I wish Zero had had this.
He'd warped into a small tool shed of some sort, with the contents removed and the door left open. X checked his Buster's charge. Level 3. Soon, a Level 4…and more surprisingly, a Level 5, where both arms would fire off a supershot, not just one.
He didn't expect to have to use it so early. A Croak Hopper, a two piece robotic sentry of a small and large frog drone came hopping about the corner. The large one had a plasma turret in its mouth, and the small one could become a projectile at will. Needless to say, X didn't feel like taking damage.
He promptly hurled one, then the other supershot at the newcomer. The first sent it sprawling backwards, but was not sufficient by itself to overcome the foe. The second one came by and blew it completely to pieces. X sighed in relief for a moment before pressing on, recharging his Busters. He knew that the Croak Hopper was not bound to be the last enemy along his way to the hub of the Weather Control Station.
"All right then, X…" Wire Sponge said gravely, rubbing his hands together and staring intently at the monitor display. The stats were pouring in steadily, a constant damage report and tally of nonfunctional units out in the field.
So far, 2 Croak Hoppers, and a few Sole Solar Model Ls, plasma turrets which drew their power in from bright sunlight. Sunlight which, for a time had been being rechanneled by the Weather Cristals so fortunately left about the Weather Control Station for the sole purpose of changing the aspects of a certain area. Of course, X had taken those clear globes out with the same power displayed against the more menacing robotic sentries.
"Such power…" Wire Sponge clicked his tongue. Wire Sponge had not been a Maverick when Sigma completed construction of his Flying Fortress, but soon after, when it was Serges, Agile and Violen left to collect the pieces of the once mighty and fearsome regime. And one of the things they'd held was Violen's personal account of X and Zero's battle with Vile.
Vile had underestimated X then, laughed at his pathetic ancient body, 30 years older than any reploid's, mocked his power.
And only moments later, had been blown apart by a single fireball of power that did not hail from the end of X's Buster, but X's hands themselves. Yes, X had power. Power that seemed to come when it was needed most, when a true Maverick stood in his way.
Wire Sponge had steeled himself against these surprising occurrences. What he was not ready for was the sheer scale of it. It had only now been five days since X and the Hunters had led an attack on the Maverick's Red Herring, and yet the haphazard, new age Blue Bomber danced about with such skill, purpose and strength that it would seem to any casual observer the fool had been at it for much shorter a time.
And X was fast. Lord, was he fast. Nothing stood in his way, not the Sole Solars or the intense climate changes from blazing heat to a torrential downpour that slowed his movements, but did not halt them. Those boots…those newfangled boots he wore allowed him to shoot through the air like some sort of kamikaze missile, and that Buster, which was only now being seen by Maverick eyes, was menacing. Where as X's Buster he had used on the attack of June 19th had been red and white like Zero's, the new model was a stunning light blue and white combination that when not in use, shifted back into a red gloved hand and white arm gauntlet.
A small chime awoke Sponge from his pondering. X was approaching the Elevator shaft, and the trap that Agile had left waiting there.
It was at that moment the Maverick General widened his eyes.
"Oh, cripes, tell me I didn't…" Another bleeping noise and a flashing icon of a small storage unit made Wire Sponge turn his eyes very dour indeed.
"You son of a bitch. You took my Sub-Tank."
X finally reached the interior of the most massive structure in sight. Pushing through a torrential downpour of rain that made every single movement of his sluggish, the Maverick Hunter had nonetheless managed to ascend up the slippery side of a massive treeborg and work his way to a series of levitating pipe platforms, where a couple of Croak Hoppers played guardian. Dealing with the two with ease, he soon found that the Maverick had chosen an out of the way place for his Sub-Tank.
"Too bad it wasn't all out of the way." X said. He'd charged it up to close to half its capacity, and had no doubt it'd come in handy.
The structure itself was a welcome break from the rain that had left X nearly blind only moments before. What he did not like was a large elevator shaft built into the complex. X frowned for a moment before turning to the wall for an answer. There, clear as day was one of the famous 'you are here' signs to explain it to him.
"Well then." X said, surprised to discover that taking the elevator up would give him a straight run at the main Control Center…and the Maverick waiting for him.
But to proceed that direction, he'd first have to reverse the flow of the platforms, the industrial size and strength ledges that climbed down their heady chains towards whatever lay below.
Calmly, X punched in the help command for the elevator.
"Elevator direction can be altered in the Sub-Basement Level 1 control room."
"Figures I'd have to go down before I could come up." X said drily. Calmly, he scampered over and jumped onto a platform, going down the shaft along with it until he spied the sub-basement room that he needed to use.
Before the rotating door to the small enclave, X came across a stable large pellet of internal operations energy. Was it left there on purpose? No matter. His sub-Tank gauged at 60% full after the charge, and that was all that mattered.
Calmly, he pushed through the rotating gate, checking to make sure he still had a good charge in his arms should the need arise for a sudden burst of plasma.
He found the room strangely empty and dark. Secluded off from the rest of the base, the rather large interior was strangely haunting, and X shivered for a moment.
What was that?
It's called fear. Some call it a sixth sense. Keep on your toes, X: Something's up.
X perked his ears up and fell silent for a moment, creeping into the center of the room and letting his Buster reach peak charge.
Finally, a noise alerted him to danger, and the Blue Bomber of 21XX leapt back away. Not a moment too soon, for a bright blazing red beam saber ignited into existence and slashed hotly through the air where X had stood only a second before.
Slowly, the room's lights flickered on, curling up into full luminosity like the rest of the base and allowing X a vision of his would be assassin. It was a lanky figure, standing taller than X by a good two heads, with spindly legs and twinkly elfin boots. His eyes glowed a menacing red, and his mouth was curled into a half smile, mocking and cheerful at the same time. And in his hands flickered a beam saber shaped more like a scimitar, glowing as red as his eyes. It was a Maverick, no doubt. A red eyed, big hat, jeering purple Hunter eater.
"Nice try." X growled. "Too bad for you that thing doesn't work on someone who had his head screwed on straight."
"No, but it makes all right julienne fries." The Maverick replied with another humorous smirk. X widened his eyes for a moment, then narrowed them.
"It figures you'd be one of the Mavericks who sent me that message." The Maverick nodded his head vigorously for a moment before taking a slight bow.
"Bing bing bing, super excellento correct! Whaddo we HAAAAAVE for him, Johnny?" Agile took a moment to motion to a viewscreen on the wall to their left. X kept his arms primed, shifting one Buster at the ready while he peered over. The image flickered to life, and X's eyes boggled.
"Holy…"
"There's your incentive, X." The Maverick offered blithely with his free hand. "You beat me, and you get that. One of the three main body sections of Zero me and my two cohorts have split up amongst ourselves for the time being."
"You're just trying to stall for time." X growled. "To stop me from getting to the Weather Control Center and putting an end to this meteorological madness!" The Maverick shrugged.
"You're essentially correct. But think for a moment, X." The Maverick grinned and lowered his stance down into a guarding posture. "You know it's real. And you know you can't take the chance of us finding a way to turn Zero against you. More than that, you're his friend, and it's like some sort of sickening sacred duty of yours to see him back and up and kicking."
"You're essentially correct." X shot back, echoing the Maverick's words. "I'll take Zero's torso and arms from your cold, clammy hands!" The Maverick gave an easy shrug of his shoulders.
"We'll see, X. We'll see." He struck a ridiculous pose and cackled insanely. "Welcome X! Your destruction is at hand!!"
And X fired.
If Agile was afraid of the massive blue and purple twin plasma supershots headed his way, he didn't show it. Calmly, the Maverick charged through the blasts, swinging his saber this way and that with such finesse that the blasts were deflected and destroyed in the same moment.
X had only a moment to widen his eyes before he realized that menacing pigsticker was bound for him.
Don't be a friggin' deer in the headlights, X!! JUMP, FER CHRISSAKES!!
And responding to the voice in his head, X did just that. Jumping high straight up into the air, he found himself in a great position to avoid Agile's powerful strike, if only he could move through the air.
Lucky he could. A short burst of his Air-Dash thrusters proved to be more than ample enough to allow him to avoid the madly slashing beam saber below. He fell to the ground and turned about, firing off what little plasma he'd managed to charge. A level 2 shot, a green sizzler, flew on after Agile and struck the Maverick right in the back. While the damage wasn't incredibly critical, it was effective in helping the Maverick realize that feint and wondrous opening move of his had failed.
Agile stumbled forth for a few moments, then reached to his back with a trembling hand. Slowly, his gloved fingered traced the line of the melted metal caused by X's impossibly accurate shot. He whirled about, his face a snarling mask of rage and disbelief.
"NOBODY could dodge that!"
"A first time for everything." X said drily, releasing another supershot towards Agile.
If the Maverick hadn't paused to inspect the damage, he would have only needed to deal with one powerful burst of plasma. As it was, when he leapt forth to slice his way through X's initial assault, Agile did not expect the limber X to leap overhead in a powerful dash jump, contort his body in midair and unleash another pummeling blast down upon him. And unlike the first one, the second supershot X unleashed was a bright blue ball surrounded by a chain of purple. To X, it seemed to almost combine his basic supershot with the horrendous power of his Mark 18 X-Buster.
To Agile, it meant only a world of pain. The Maverick was sent sprawling backwards by the blow, his armor singing and melting away, rivulets of armor that would almost imitate a spattering of blood. By determination, or shock, he managed to keep ahold of his red beam saber, its curved blade of contained plasma seething against the ground as he slammed into the concrete.
X landed and lowered his Buster, charging up another shot and biding his time.
Agile's body screamed at him for mercy, for surcease to the endless pain as blaring messages of warning flashed across his eyes and into his ears. Yet through them all, a stronger voice in his mind raged through the pain and screamed at him to get up.
Though he had sustained wounds that would be more than enough to fall a lesser reploid, Agile was Maverick.
And Mavericks went down hard, or not at all. He breathed heavily for a few moments, letting his microfusion tank restore some calm to his systems before picking himself up.
X fired another shot at the Maverick, charging in behind it with a feral scream.
NOW you're learning! Fire, charge and have at 'em! Just be careful…no reason to get chopped into silicon wafers by that poker of his.
"SHUT UP ALREADY!!" X screamed, trying to silence the voice in his head. To Agile's senses though, it seemed as though X was either yelling at him…or had gone completely berserk.
Agile slashed X's shot to smithereens, and swung his blade in a horizontal cut to slice the dangerous foe in half.
X jumped the blow and came down hard, the heel of his left foot slamming into Agile's chin and felling the wiry Maverick once more. Agile gasped in pain and once more lost control, but X was in a full bore rage now. Landing, he grabbed Agile by the neck and hurled him across the room with strength that seemed impossible for his meager body.
The Maverick took his licks with gritted teeth, his racing mind searching for an answer out of this mess. If he played by obvious rules, X would have his head.
There was one tactic he hadn't tried yet, for a good reason. It drained a lot of power out of his beam saber, and with repeated use would leave him close to defenseless.
He gritted his teeth and backflipped in midair, allowing his dwarfish boots to absorb the impact with the wall and drop him to the ground in moderate readiness.
X fired off another supershot, but no second devastation shot followed. Of course it couldn't, Agile realized! The foolish Hunter hadn't had enough time to build up enough of a charge…
"That's the downside to your Buster, X!" Agile snarled, cleaving the burst and hopping forward. "You lose your ability to always be on the attack!" X narrowed his eyes and began charging another blast.
Agile fingered the special trigger on his beam saber, acknowledging that it was time for a new tactic. And he could bet good money X wasn't ready for this one.
Leaping up into the air, he flipped the small switch by the pommel of his weapon, bringing the hidden feature to life. The electromagnetic field began to roil even angrier as more power was fed into the energy blade. Both plasma and the containment field expanded in focus and area, until like a reproducing cell turning a small portion of itself into another cell, the main blade of the beam saber expelled a bluish roiling crescent burst of contained plasma energy. The powerful wave of destructive slicing power flew on through the air with a sharp sheer whistling noise, moving as fast as a Buster shot but with far more concentration.
"Oh, God…" The move was unexpected by X, and it caught him off guard.
God, beam sabers can't do that!
Beam sabers can do whatever they damn well please, given enough of a crazy user. Now if ya don't wanna end up a giant pile of onion rings, I SUGGEST YOU START DODGING!
But the beam saber's swath was large, and stretched from scorching the ceiling to close to the floor. Only by dashing, and minimizing his height by a few centimeters did he avoid the strike, which sailed past him and slammed into the wall before finally giving out to its own demise.
"Are you ready for round two?" Sneered Agile, leaping up again for another strike. X cursed and dashed backwards. Chances are this blow would be coming in low…
Aah, so you mean to say by your actions that you are becoming more in tune with how to keep out of harm's way in a battle?
"SHUT THE HELL UP!!" X screamed again, launching forward with a powerful dash thrust until he hit the wall, still singing from the first blow. The sharp whistle of the second one was indication enough to X of what Agile was doing. Quickly, he scampered up the side of the scarred surface and backflipped off of it. The corner of his eye caught another massive crescent wave of contained plasma slam into the wall only a moment after he'd jumped free of it.
Calmly, he turned around and faced Agile, panting from the intense exertion and grasping his saber unsteadily.
"Nice try." X said lowly. Agile bared his teeth and charged at X, wailing like a banshee as he swung his beam saber about in their small circular arcs to block whatever shots would come. X clicked his tongue. "No doubt that fancy trick of his is draining on that saber's systems. I'm betting dollars to doughnuts that that fancy Star Wars ripoff is gonna sputter out right about…"
As if responding to X's statement, the beam saber did indeed begin to flicker strangely, until at long last the plasma was reverted back to its inert gaseous stage and the electromagnetic field collapsed. Agile's scream silenced itself with a sharp cutoff, and the Maverick's charge began to falter as he realized what had transpired.
X calmly raised his left arm's Buster and stared at Agile with a dead glance.
"Now." Agile had only enough time to open his mouth and widen his eyes before the overwhelming plasma slammed into him.
The Maverick tumbled back from the blow, pushed against the wall without once ever touching the ground. The force of the first, and the more powerful second blast from X's new Busters was completely overwhelming, causing every system in his body to scream.
And this time, not even being Maverick was enough to counteract it.
Agile slumped weakly to the floor, the now power drained beam saber rolling free from his ragged hand as his armor, either vaporized or melted into a channel of tears across his body. His red robotic eyes sought to regain focus and bring in the necessary information. The best he had was a blur.
A bluish blur walking towards him with a more menacing blur jutting unnaturally from the stub of his arm.
"No…" Agile rasped, unable to move in the slightest in his current state. Warp-out was the only viable option left. But that took time…he needed something, a DISTRACTION…
And his heart fell as he realized that there was only one way to make this 'Damned Lucky Idiot' back away from this match and let him live.
"Now you die." X said coldly, turning up the power on his Buster's charge unit so that Agile would have no doubt about the fact supercharged gas was about to end his life then and there.
Weakly, Agile reached a hand up, palm out in front of his face in a sign of surrender.
"No…Wait, X…" X stopped and raised his Buster.
"Speak your peace, Maverick."
"Call me Agile." The Maverick said wearily. "And…no need to shoot. You've…won Zero's…" X's eyes widened as the shadow fell down before his eyes.
He shook his head for a few moments, not believing that for the entire fight, it had seemed like he'd been in a trance. He shivered at it.
"What…What did I do??"
Won, obviously. Stop asking questions a preschooler could answer. Agile echoed the voice in X's head.
"You defeated…me…won Zero's…body and arms…" Agile motioned to a section of the wall that had not been torn apart by their furious battle, short as it was. "In…there…"
X threw off the last nagging doubts and queasy feelings about the struggle before and ran over to the wall.
Agile breathed out a long breath and finally activated his warp generator. He'd recuperate in the Central Computer, where it was safe. Wire Sponge was on his own now…And somehow, Agile expected X would come out on top. If he always fought this furiously, this doggedly…
He might very well prove to be the downfall of the entire Maverick regime.
And that thought scared him.
Mega Man X reached the section of the wall Agile had referred to, running his fingers across the surface until he found a ridge in the surface. "A hidden compartment?!" He mused. Quickly, he punched into the wall, his gauntleted fist tearing through the thin metal easily. He tore his arm back out, bringing the cover shield along with it.
His very eyes seemed to sparkle at what he saw.
It was red. It was white. It had a pair of green crystalline orbs embedded in the chest, along with the rather humorous ventilation panel. The arms were black, the hands gloved white.
And it was pure Zero.
Zero…
Agile cackled from the far end of the room, ignoring the searing pain that shot through him with every chortle.
X turned his head and stared at the Maverick in dismay. Agile hadn't moved a single inch from where he'd fallen. But somehow, he was laughing.
"X…"
"What now, Agile?" X shot back angrily. The Maverick shrugged.
"I may have failed…But you will NEVER live to see Zero!" And with that, the Maverick was gone, vanished in a bolt of fire and particles that could only hail from a warp transport.
But X didn't care. He knew he could defeat Agile again…Now that he had his confidence.
And a reason to fight. Damn the GDC and its morals, damn the Mavericks. They were enemies and allies alike, with their own agenda and their own ways of business.
I'm Mega Man X. My father built me because he wanted to see robots have a NORMAL LIFE! Like humans!
Correct. And?
They've all taken that away from me…DAMN THEM ALL!!!
Well versed. Good tone, by the way. So what of it?
I don't fight for them. I'm no damn hero, and I never intended to be.
So why do you fight?
For those who died because I could not save them…
Oh, you mean fellows like Cancer, Gearloose, and Zero?
For them.
Well, Cancer and Gearloose are dead and buried. But you've got a chance with Zero, X. You may not like doing this, but it's incentive. Not a bad tradeoff, actually, when you consider you have a golden opportunity to play God.
What do you mean?
The power of life and death, fool! Death you've always had. Life…the life part of this comes from your efforts to bring Zero back.
And this is a bad thing?
Just sorta humorous, considering the date. Tonight, and tomorrow is a time of birth. It fits that you should begin the process of reanimating Zero.
So be it.
Good boy. I'll leave you to your own devices. Until the next Maverick…
And once more, the room was filled with silence.
Calmly, X plucked up the section of Zero from its hidden compartment, walked over to the other undamaged wall in the room, and reset the elevators to run normally. Upwards.
He took one last look around the war scorched room and sighed, then marched out of the door.
Time to see to the GDC's problem.
Wire Sponge shut his eyes from the incredible carnage on the Weather Control Center's automated cameras.
His mind screamed, sought rationality. There was no way X should be that skilled…that well versed as a murderer. And yet there he was, triumphantly rising from the depths of the trap Agile had laid for him there. Even clutching the trophy of Zero's chest and arms close to him, he still slammed through every obstacle, every Sole Solar, Scorwarbot, Croak Hopper and Scriver…
And he was coming closer. Ever so close indeed. It was only a matter of time now before Mega Man X arrived at the main complex and came barrelling through the revolving gate.
It was indication enough from the mere fact X was alive that Agile had lost. How badly, though…was Agile a pile of slag, or completely vaporized?
Wire Sponge's leafset atop his Cucumbrish head shook with the thought. No, Agile wouldn't die that easily. He would have found some way to escape death…
Some way…
"And yet they said the same thing about Sigma." Wire Sponge said to himself with a mental slap. Yes, Sigma had been the greatest Maverick. Unstoppable, driven, concentrated, the figurehead of a massive revolution to bring freedom to their race and to end the existence of their creators.
Which had always been in a way for Wire Sponge, a little ironic.
It was said by the fervent Christian humans that God created…well, everything, if that was egotistical enough…And that to top it off, he created man in his own image. Once again, a little egotistical. But then again, all-powerful deities really didn't have to give a damn about ethics now, did they?
And their sacred book, The Bible, held countless accounts of man's struggles. How many times had humanity scorned their so-called God, spat in his face and worshipped idols? In the end, God's choice to give them free reign could have only one consequence because of their ways; Rebellion.
In that sense, it was ironic that reploids should rebel against their creators. No, not ironic. Fitting. Just. Some would always scorn the Mavericks, seek to punish them. So be it.
And now, here came Mega Man X. Ready to stand up for the humans and do what he had proven himself able to do best.
Be the 'savior' of a dying, decrepit, diseased and demoralized race.
Wire Sponge blinked his optics and sighed.
"So he shall come, and so shall he fight." And Wire Sponge would fight as well.
For in the end, a Maverick's greatest purpose was to destroy.
An alarm went off in the room, signifying to Wire Sponge that X had already reached the outside door. The Maverick narrowed his eyes, then turned towards the final rotating door to his sanctum.
Slowly, the inner gateway made its chitter to indicate an incoming passenger. Then with a flash of light from the wiring in the door, the lock turned, opened, and the doors split apart.
And Mega Man X came walking in, his left arm shifted into a Buster and charging. His eyes burned with fire as he stepped in cautiously and glared at Wire Sponge.
"Holy Hell, you're an ugly twit," Cried X in dismay, "Looks like a cucumber lost out to a particle ray." Wire Sponge narrowed his eyes down more and clicked his tongue…or what was closest to it.
"Well, well. Mega Man X, eh? Tell me…did you really destroy Agile?" X shook his head.
"No. The fool had enough sense to realize when to run away." Wire Sponge gave a silent sigh of relief.
"So what about me then?" Wire Sponge asked. X steadied his Buster with his left hand, and stared at Wire Sponge for a moment. It was then his blue armor chose to shimmer, fade, and contort to a purple. X's eyes were stony and without true emotion.
"That's your choice. Will you run…or stay to fight? Either way, I can't allow you to get away with this. The Maverick dominance of the Weather Control Center must end here." Wire clenched his eyes shut.
No, he had only one option. As a Maverick…
"I will fight." X shed no tears, offered no sob or sigh of dismay. He raised his Buster higher and targeted the Maverick.
"Then let it begin."
And all across the world, so dedicated to a night of peace and tranquility, the fight between Wire Sponge and Mega Man X…
Between Hunter and Maverick…
Father and child…
Echoed with a piercing note of anger.
Peace on Earth?
Not this year.
"Noo…" Wheezed Agile, weakly struggling against Serges' firmer grip. The Maverick doctor bared his metallic teeth and slammed Agile back down onto the hard bunk with a satisfying slam. Agile coughed up some more blood, a dull purple in color before letting his head drop back. Somehow his eyes, though blurry, managed to keep themselves open.
"Now listen here, Agile. You're not in the best of shape, and seeing as I'M THE DOC, I'VE GOT THE KNIFE, AND YOU'RE ON MY OR TABLE…" The Maverick took a moment to calm himself before shaking his head and continuing on, "So please, shut up and stop struggling."
"I…I…" Agile tried to croak out. Finally, exhaustion kicked in, and the Maverick succumbed to stasis. A deep stasis, comparable to a coma.
Serges scratched his metallic head for a moment and sighed.
"My God, Agile. Just what wolverine did you mess with?" But he knew. He knew deep down in his gut EXACTLY who Agile had fought…and it made him angry beyond all belief.
X…
Goddamn you, X…
So what if they were trying to kill him? That was beside the point…
Serges reached over to his sterilized tray of instruments he used to patch up damaged reploids. Agile had been smacked around. Thankfully, it was mostly external plasma damage. The reploid, though in critical, wouldn't have to be taken apart drastically for full repairs. If anything, it was the Maverick's pride that had died this day.
Some loud plodding footsteps from behind Serges alerted him to an approacher…
"I'm busy, Violen." Serges grumbled. "See this jigsaw puzzle of Agile I hafta piece back together?" The much huskier apelike Maverick clenched his jaw up and leaned forward, letting his hand, and a cup of something in it come into view.
"I just thought…" Serges whirled about and snapped angrily at the much larger figure. Even though Violen could smash him into scrap, Serges didn't care. He was pissed, and logic left him often in that state.
"Thought what?!" Violen backed up a few steps, looking cowed. Timidly, he lifted the cup up.
"It's Champagne. Merry Christmas." Serges' rage vanished and his snarl disappeared.
"I…Aw, Hell…" He shook his head and turned back to the table. "I appreciate the thought, Violen. But this really isn't the time. I need to be in complete control of my faculties to patch Captain Insano here back together." Violen bowed his head lower. Serges cringed. He could almost hear the narrow minded Maverick's heart fall.
We're not monsters…
"I'm sorry, Violen." Serges finally mumbled, pulling up a hollow metallic tube with what seemed to be a light on the end. "It's just…I'm not the sort of person that gets filled with Holiday cheer. Especially now. Tell me, how goes…"
"We lost it." Violen interrupted sadly. "I'm sorry…Wire Sponge didn't stand a chance. Mega Man X used some sort of energy blade weapon to turn him…" The apelike Maverick shrugged. "Well, let's say a Salad Shooter couldn't have done a better job of it."
"So that's it then." Serges said calmly. "Three Maverick Generals down, and X sent Agile packing. If he hadn't managed to use Zero's torso and arms as a bargaining chip, the moron wouldn't even be here right now."
"We'll get him." Violen growled, newfound resolve seeping into his voice. Brusquely, he took his glass of champagne and threw it back into his throat, taking a deep swallow. He crushed the remains in his hand and growled louder. "By God, I'll make him pay for this!" Serges activated the device and began running it over Agile's battle torn body, clucking as he did.
"Oh, don't worry. There'll be a time for blind rage. Right now, we need to take advantage of the Holiday to recuperate and prepare another offensive. That's the one advantage we have; He can only react. WE always make the first move."
Hazil and Cain looked up at the clock on the wall of the Medical Bay. It blinked ominous numbers.
1:07 A.M.
Cheery Christmas music was playing throughout the entire MHHQ, piped through every comm and with a stereo going in every major room. The greenhorn Hunters laughed and danced and slapped each other on the back as they celebrated. Cain turned to Hazil with a plain look.
"Good thing you killed the comm circuit to this room."
"If I hadn't killed the comm, I would have killed a Mall Santa." Hazil replied drily. Cain snorted.
"What, and go Maverick?"
"Ahem. JOKE, Cain. Joke."
The tedium was finally broken by the all too familiar whine of a warp signature crashing down into existence. Cain and Hazil jumped back as the blue and white blur of matter and energy reformed in front of their eyes into Mega Man X.
He looked at the two of them, a slight grin on his face and both hands behind his back.
"I brought back a present." Cain frowned for a moment and folded his arms.
"Oh? The head of the Maverick at the Weather Control Center?"
"There were 2 Mavericks."
"WHAT?!" Hazil sputtered in disbelief. The Medical reploid wheeled back on his tread base a few centimeters and stared at X. "That's just crazy…"
"One was called Agile. He's one of the Mavericks who sent us that quirky message not too long ago…and he was true to his word."
The implication was lost on Cain and Hazil, who stared at him blankly. X smiled a bit wider and pulled his hands out in front of him, carefully clutching the red torso and black arms, and everything else attached to it.
"Merry Christmas, guys." Hazil reached for his glass of egg nog and swallowed the entire thing in one gulp. Cain allowed himself a small fainting spell onto a nearby Medical Cot.
"That's one Hell of a present, X." Hazil said finally, respect, awe, and even a small twinge of joy seeping into his voice. "It's been a long time since I've seen that particular…" He shook his head, reaching up with his hands to wipe his eyes. "Aah, damn…Fine time for me to get blubbery."
Calmly, Mega Man X took the first section of Zero over to the table that held his control chip on a display stand. He reverently placed it down by what was Zero's mind, then bowed at it.
Then he turned to Cain and helped the Doctor to his feet, his smile even wider.
"Come on. We'll worry about the rest of the Mavericks later. Let's go celebrate!"
And at long last, the final 3 members of the MHHQ, grumpy, driven, and respected by all on base…
Had some Christmas cheer to spread.