MEGA MAN X: ISLAND OF AWAKENING
By Erico
CHAPTER TEN: CRYSTAL HUNTER IN A HOUSE OF GLASS
"I don't suppose you're aware of a doctor's personal records, X?" Hazil muttered. X picked himself up from the Medical Cot and walked over to stand beside the medical reploid, typing nonchalantly into his database.
"No, tell me what they are." X said calmly. Somehow, he had a feeling it involved the little discussion they'd had yesterday about the voice in his head…and the fact Hazil had to make a note of it in his records. His pulse quickened, despite his best efforts to remain calm.
Hazil stopped typing, then reached down into his desk drawer and pulled out a manilla hanging folder. From it, he pulled a few sheets of paper, staring at them poignantly before turning to X.
"This is something called paper, X. It's what mankind used a long time before they had the glories of electronic filing, and still use, to a small extent, to this day."
"Yeah, and the fact that natural paper runs up in the hundreds for a ream."
"The glories of Treeborgs…" Hazil muttered. He shook his head. "Anyhow, when I do my medical checks for higher level reploids like you and Zero, I use PAPER. Not the electronic database everyone else is stored in. The real juicy stuff is kept away from hackers." He put the paper back in the manilla folder and dropped it in his desk drawer again.
"So what are you getting at?" X asked uneasily. Hazil chirped his tongue.
"Simple, my boy. The note I HAVE to make about you, as dictated by the GDC's rather imperialist policies has been noted…in a place they can't easily find it. My personal filing system."
"So in other words…"
"As far as the world's concerned, you're 100% a-OK, hunky dorey, all of the above, fit as a fiddle." Hazil shook his head. "I do this out of respect, X. You're the best Maverick Hunter we've ever had."
"No." X said firmly. "Zero was the best. And speaking of him…"
"I'm bringing him online slowly, X. To try and minimize a RAM cache dump." Hazil explained. "I could do it fast, but…"
"Don't bother repeating it. I've read the experimental results." X said calmly. "It's not a pretty sight to find a reploid with a psychotic episode going on 24 hours a day."
"So for the time being, Zero's not going to be able to help you." Hazil said calmly. X shrugged.
"I've gone it alone before under worse circumstances." Hazil's mouth quirked up in a small smile, and he nodded his head sagely.
"So you have…" He mused. "So you have." He turned back to his computer screen. "In any case, that's how it'll be. No one's gonna know about this, as long as doctor's personal files remain confidential."
"Will they?" Hazil gave X a look that suggested anyone that tried to mess with his stuff would be VERY…sorry indeed.
X smiled. "Hazil…thanks."
"If you wanna repay the favor, I drink most anything except that wussy Budweiser piss. If not, forget about it."
"I'll see what they carry at the local pub." X replied drily. Hazil rolled his eyes.
"Well, I don't think you'll have any time for that today. Cain's…"
"Right here." Came the gruff reply as the hydraulic doors to the rest of the MHHQ slid open. X swiveled about to see Cain hobbling in the door, carrying a datapadd in his free hand. X's eyes grew dull.
"Lemme guess. Another mission?"
Oh boy! Another mission! Time for more Mavericks to die! X rolled his eyes, and silently spoke back.
Back again?
As chipper as ever, bub. But I'll just shut up and listen for now.
Thanks.
Anytime, friend.
Screwy voice, X thought without transmitting it to the presence in his mind. Not long ago, it seemed to be just egging him on, trying to get a rise out of him and question his sanity. Now, it was merely content to sit back and offer pointers.
"Yes, another mission X." Cain sighed wearily. "I don't particularly like sending ANYONE out to do these, but the GDC…"
"Save it, Cain." X muttered. Cain's jaw snapped shut, stunned in surprise at the gruffness of X's response. X waved his hand. "No, no, it's okay. I'll do it. Someone has to, otherwise the Mavericks will just keep coming back again and again."
"My God…" Cain gaped. His trembling hand reached down and touched X's altered wrist. X frowned.
"What's wrong, Doc?" Cain looked at X warily.
"For a moment there…you sounded just like Zero." X blinked in shock. Cain shook his head, clearing his mind.
"Anyhow, X. Yes, your next mission will take you to the Energen Mining Facility on Cornus. The GDC Cornus Task Force Council believes that some of the Mavericks on Cornus are holed up at the island's gem…pardon the pun…and are mining Energen crystals for use in everything from energy storage batteries to focusing gems." X looked down at his Buster.
"You mean like the ones used in Busters?"
"And much larger assemblies." Cain grumbled. "Larger Energen crystals are perfect for large scale plasma cannons and lasers. If the Mavericks get a substantial pile of those gems, it's not gonna be pretty." X hopped to his feet.
"Well, not for long. Mayhaps I'll find something else useful there…I've already got two Sub-Tanks and some of Light's next-gen armor, minus the helmet." Cain clicked his tongue.
"Light's capsules…they seem to show up whenever you need them the most."
"You mean, when I need to become a killer." Hazil coughed loudly.
"Pardon me for saying this, but no matter what you think you are, you're humanity's best shot at NOT getting wiped off the face of this planet by the rebellious elements of our race."
"Well, there's incentive." X muttered.
Well, I suppose we'd best get going. Who knows? Maybe I'll find that diamond ring I've always wanted.
Say WHAT?! What would you need a diamond ring for?!
Just in case.
In case what??
Are you purposefully this dense, or do you merely wish not to accept that there are more emotions out there than destructive ones?
Don't make me puke, X. I'm dead. You wanna see a dead guy vomit!?
X chortled. Cain blinked.
"Something funny about this?"
"No, no." X replied. "I just thought about something rather silly." Cain turned to Hazil.
"Did he make his physical in the green?" Hazil put on an innocent stare and flung his hands in the air.
"Don't look at me for a reason to keep him restricted to base. The guy's our best Hunter, and he checked out fine." Cain rolled his eyes.
"If you say so, Hazil." Cain handed X the datapadd. "Warp coordinates for just inside the entrance to the facility are clearly marked. Do us all a favor and come back alive."
"That shouldn't be a problem." X said, examining the data. "From the looks of things, this place won't exactly be bristling with top of the line defense. Last place I visited had JUNK to fight me with."
He stared up at the ceiling, then warped out.
Cain didn't say anything for a moment, then turned to Hazil.
"Do you suppose the Mavericks are worse off than we thought?" Hazil shrugged nonchalantly.
"Maybe." He turned and looked at Cain with his calm rational eyes. "Or maybe they're hiding their true power from us."
That thought sent a chill down the human's all too vulnerable spine.
"Using the fourth ring as a dead-end, filled with warp capsules to various rooms with Maverick blanks?!" Serges half shouted. Agile winced. "Just WHO THE FRACK TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO THAT?!" The Maverick running Ice Fortress scratched his chin for a moment.
"You know Serges, you're not the only one who gets brilliant ideas every now and then." Agile finally replied. "You should give me more credit." Serges sighed in exasperation, then shook his head.
"Well, whatever then. Something needed to be built there. And I suppose that fits the bill. Did you change anything else?"
"All previous plans for Ice Fortress remain intact." Agile said calmly. "But I'd like to know when we'll get that data from Magna Centipede about emulating X's warp signature."
"Violen is with him right now, taking the data manually. Once he has it, he'll make a warp-in to Ice Fortress."
"With the scrambler intact, yes?" Agile noted dolefully. "The last thing we need is the GDC or the Maverick Hunters getting ahold of this place's location."
"Oh, please." Serges scoffed. "He may be dumber than the two of us, but he's not an IDIOT. He'll make it as scheduled with the data. Your people at Ice Fortress should be able to construct the warp emulation generator without a problem."
"Why not just build it there?"
"It's complicated, Agile." Serges explained slowly. "Listen, building this unit is going to take more than a day as is. At the rate X is going, he'll eventually attack the Central Computer complex, and ruin our final stronghold on Cornus. Trust me, we don't have the time here. There, you do."
"Understood." Agile clicked his tongue. "Well, I'll see Violen when he gets here. Be sure to evacuate if X gets too close for comfort…we'll need your talents here."
"There's a laugh." Serges muttered. "Little boy blue is blowing up Mavericks left and right, and my dear comrade in arms tells me I need to stay alive to help save them." Serges cut off the comm signal and Agile was left in the darkness of the Ice Fortress's main control room…No other Maverick present.
The viewscreen flickered to life, and a familiar green text type rolled across the screen.
Depression must be common among Mavericks these days…just shows how pitiful you all are.
"Quiet." Agile muttered under his breath. "Serges, Violen and I are under a lot of stress. You think it's easy leading a group of dangerous reploids about when everyone in the world wants you dead?"
No, it isn't. Still, you should be doing something about it instead of just moping. Right now, you and your cronies look pathetic.
"I never ASKED for this job." Agile hissed at the screen. "I never wanted to be a leader. I was content to watch out for myself and keep it at that, and then…"
We all must make sacrifices. Sorry if you had to lose your badass loner mask in the process, but you have bigger problems.
"Yeah, yeah." Agile muttered, rubbing his eyes. "X."
That Hunter is just puzzling…He claims to be pacifist, yet managed to be the only original Hunter left to put a stop to me.
"I'll bet that had to hurt, eh Sigma?" Agile said jokingly. The text blinked out, leaving the screen blank for a moment.
It was replaced a second later by a wire frame head, baldness and all of the destroyed Maverick. The room's speakers responded and amplified the artificial voice, down to an exact duplicate of the prime Maverick's original throaty warble.
"Yes, it did. Not nearly as much though, as having my body completely destroyed and becoming little more than a free floating program."
"Survive, Sigma." Agile pointed out. "You had to survive."
"Indeed…Almost as if it were a sort of directive as to how I should act. I could thank Vile for that final act that saved my life…were he not dead like all my other allies."
"You miss them, don't you?" Agile said softly. Sigma's wire frame head blinked.
"I am Maverick. I regret the loss of troops. I do not mourn death." Agile clicked his tongue.
"So just what do you live for then?" Agile asked.
"Zero and X."
"Huh?"
"X, I will destroy…I will kill him for all the torment he has caused me."
"And Zero?"
"Him…Him I have something else in mind for." Sigma blinked out.
Agile swiveled about in his chair and approached the automatic door, ready to leave the darkness and get back to work.
"Just what exactly? Turn him Maverick? We have that plan going already."
He left. But the viewscreen flickered back on, Sigma's green lettering sliding across for a brief moment before vanishing back into the darkness.
You don't know how truly Maverick Zero is…But I do.
And I will live to bring him to that realization…even if I am killed time and time again.
"Well, let's see here…" X said nonchalantly as he re-coalesced back into a sentient being from his warped state and got his bearings.
"The Energen Crystal mining facility on Cornus Island is the gem of its financial existence." He scoffed. Yes, the GDC did include that pun in its information packets. "It produces well over five tons of high quality Energen crystals every year, which are used in projects as wide ranging as the newly developed Energen Crystal batteries to focusing gems for medical lasers, to the high speed computers of the day."
Too bad they forgot to mention those same Energen Crystals are used to help build military weaponry.
Hey, their choice to advertise what exactly they do. It's called marketing X, and it's been this crooked ever since the Chia Pet.
Simply wonderful. Well, you seeing how lame the security is around here?
Loud and clear. What are those, Batton Bones? Aah, screw the series number. Lazy ass planning on the part of the Maverick in charge. There should be more here for you to go up against, but there ain't!
Which means that I should keep my eyes peeled for suspicious stuff.
X raised his Buster and fired off a salvo of small shots, blowing away the tiny pack of robotic bat drones that were fluttering his way.
Still on the uptick, this place is well lighted.
X ran on, noticing that the walkway had a sudden dropoff nearby. And apparently, it was more than a waste shaft.
Dropping down, he saw a newer class Kangaroo Mech with hovering thrusters sitting idly in front of a very large pit. The bottom meant certain death, X realized. But at the other side was a prize just too tempting…
Treasure hunting has to be my favorite part of these missions. Heart Tanks in particular.
Yep. Usually because you don't have to destroy anything even remotely sentient.
It's a long jump…'Mech won't be able to make it all the way.
You've got your own thrusters, X. And if that's not enough, just use the Strike Chain like Wire Sponge did. To grab onto walls and drag himself in.
Now that's good advice.
That's the only kind I give.
In that case, sit back. I'm taking us for a ride.
The Mech was soon soaring across the wide chasm, its thrusters screaming and straining as inch by painstaking dash jumped inch, the metallic monstrosity cleared the abyss towards the opposite end of the field. Finally, its engines began to whine and overheat, screaming at X for a shutdown.
We'll give it one more second, then we're jumping out.
I'm with ya all the way, Hell be damned and come what may!!
HERE GOES!!!
X leapt forth from the cockpit, straining his dash thrusters as far as they could go and finally slamming abruptly onto the craggy surface just by the ledge's edge. His gauntlet claws sprouted out, digging into the rocky surface and giving him enough footing to clamber his way up to safety. In awe of his accomplishment, X turned about and watched the Kangroo Mech plummet to the very bottom of the chasm, impacting upon the deadly shards of Energen Crystals that had not been used.
X whistled.
This must be their garbage pile. Falling down there would not have been good.
Especially since after the first five feet of that surface you jumped from, the abyss's sides are as smooth as glass and offer no possible way to wall jump.
WHAT?!
I tell the truth. Had you not pulled that off, you would have fallen to your death. But seeing as you AIN'T dead, don't worry about it. And you didn't even have to use the Strike Chain to get to safety. Teerific job, treasure Hunter X!
Oh, stop buttering me up. X replied back with a note of good humor in his voice.
Calmly placing the Heart Tank beside his others, X felt the familiar tingle and sudden boost in power as his health systems brought themselves up to a new level.
Clenching his fist, he looked up above. He had to smile.
"Leave it to the Maverick to provide a way back across."
Well, he's generous at least. Hoverplatforms are indeed a necessity in this environment, I'd think.
Still, not exactly helpful for him in this case.
Yeah. Leave it to my good friend X to spoil the entire barrel of apples for the Macintosh bunch!!
X let the voice chuckle for a moment as the hoverplatform took him safely across the chasm.
I just have one question…
Go for it.
Who are you?
For now, a friend. It said drily. But I will tell you soon enough. When the time's right…and when you don't need me here.
"I'll be waiting for that day." X said softly, as the final distance closed itself. Hopping down, he made his way back up to the main passageway.
There was still Hunting to be done.
"Well, well. The almighty Mega Man X has arrived." Crystal Snail muttered, plodding over to the monitor and activating the comm function of his temporary base's computer. The insignia of Cornus Island flashed on screen for a brief moment, then flickered out and was replaced by the powerful Maverick Symbol.
It had remained unchanged since Sigma had designed it during the First Uprising. It had the Sigma symbol, a mathematical function long before the title had ever been given to the founder of the Maverick Rebellion. However, the ancient Greek letter had been altered, given coloration and extended outwards so that the symbol meshed with the pseudo-appearance of a wolf. Tribute to his dog, Velguarder no doubt.
Even though both Sigma and his prized pet, and everyone else aside from Serges, Agile and Violen had been destroyed, the Maverick insignia lived on, standing proudly as a symbol of whatever men made of it. Mavericks felt proud of it. Hunters hated it. Humans feared it. Where the symbol went, so did chaos.
"And chaos, my dear Mega Man X, is exactly what you will be facing, should you be stupid enough to challenge me." Crystal Snail said nonchalantly.
The Maverick insignia blinked out, clear evidence that the scrambled frequency had been set up.
The familiar face of a fellow Maverick General, Magna Centipede flashed on screen, grimly staring back at the snail.
The blue-metal reploid felt a familiar pang of anger and betrayal run through him. The Maverick Generals, under the X-Hunter's leadership, had been a little…rough, to say the least when it first started out. Serge's quote still stung the most.
"Let me get this straight. For whatever comes next, you've decided that of all the creatures in the animal kingdom that humanity's been stupid enough to give reploid form to, you chose…A MOTH, A CENTIPEDE, A WARPED ASS CUCUMBER, AND A FRIGGIN' SNAIL?!!"
None of the Mavericks who suffered from that outburst had forgotten the disappointment in Serges' tone. It pushed them onwards, made them angry, increased their strength and gave their abilities new levels.
But it still hurt like Hell.
"Magnus."
"Crys."
"X is here." The snail-like reploid said calmly. Magna Centipede blinked his optics.
"Think you're going to die, eh?"
"No, I don't. Up until this point, X has faced opponents whose strategies have been pretty straight forward versions of shooting or charging. He's never run into a guy who could mess with his perception."
"You know, technically, that isn't messing with his perception. That temporal field you create serves only to increase your own speed, so everything else seems to slow down, but in fact, it's you who alters phases." Magna chuckled a bit. "Sorry, I still can't get over how when everyone expects a snail to be slow, it is in fact the snail that can become the fastest."
Crystal Snail harrumphed.
"Yeah, not my fault I was…" He blinked. "What was I before I was a Maverick?"
"You were a worker at a very high tech research laboratory, assigned to a team running temporal experiments."
"Oh, right right…" Crystal Snail muttered. He shook his head and looked back in the viewscreen. "Magnus, how come it is you can remember that, but I can't?" The four armed Maverick raised a pair of right arms to rub at his chin for a moment.
"I suppose it's because I'm not nearly as Maverick as you are." Crystal Snail blinked. Magnus harrumphed.
"Yeah, you're having a hard time processing that even, huh? Just remember this. In order for my infiltration of the Central Computer base here to work, we had to lessen the more destructive natural impulses in me that are a basic part of being Maverick. The unforseen side effect is that despite my still adherent loyalty to the cause, more of my original mindset remains intact. So does my memories and focus, something that most Mavericks seem to lack."
"I'll take your word for it." Crystal muttered, his antennae drooping. "Is that the price we pay for being Maverick? Losing our minds?"
"It's for a just cause, Crys." Magnus said firmly. "If you ever start to doubt yourself, just remember that." He coughed. "Anyhow, when's that next shipment of Energen rolling in for transit to Ice Fortress?"
"The last load left two minutes ago. It's substantial enough…a truckload's worth. And I'm warning you, it may be the last one for a while."
"Think X will be able to stop your operation?" Crystal Snail shrugged.
"I'm not giving up hope yet. As a matter of fact, I'm confident I will win in a match. The trick will be cleaning up the damage he causes." Magnus smiled a bit.
"Positive thinking, yes. And Crys?"
"Yeah, Magnus?"
"There's no need to feel ashamed about what Serges said three months ago. The times have changed…and no matter what he thinks, I'M proud of you." Crystal Snail stood at rigid attention and saluted his comrade.
"I will not fail." He said stoically. Magnus waved.
"Just live." The connection blinked out.
Crystal turned and accessed the cameras lining the interior passageways of the Energen mine. Soon enough, he found X, leaping free from a wide pit.
There was a slight change in how X looked, however. Frowning, Crystal shook his head.
"Pity. The fool has a helmet to complete his collection now."
Well, that finishes my Second Set. How does the entire ensemble look?
You look like a warrior who long since gave up on being a holy Paladin and dropped back to resorting on sheer power. Personally, I like the new look.
Is that what the set I got during the First Uprising is? The Paladin set?
It's as good a name as any.
So what shall we call this one?
Retribution.
X air-dashed across the massive crystal waste pit and clung to the other side, unleashing a charged up Spin Wheel that blew razor sharp needles in every direction. The squabble of Batton Bones charging down en masse were quickly sliced to ribbons by the attack, and X continued his climb.
On the flipside of things, I had no idea that a charged up Silk Shot could draw in power capsules.
Too bad it doesn't work on Sub-Tanks, eh X?
I manage.
All in all, the Energen Crystal mine hadn't been too difficult. Aside from the guardian robot, nothing more than a controller pod safely protected by a huge Energen shard surrounding it, which had controlled a pair of plasma gun hoverturrets, and the usual mess of Energen blocks sliding every which way along the slippery slopes in vain attempts to crush him…
Well, X had seen worse. This was far from Sigma's Flying Fortress, and he hadn't had the Air-Dash then.
The rest of the distance to the lair of the Maverick closed shortly, and aside from another gauntlet of Batton Bones, and one VERY well placed Energen block setup, X found little difficulty. Then again, this wasn't a Military base, so he felt no surge in his ego.
And finally, he came knocking at the door. First one rotating lock, and then the next.
The room beyond was simple in appearance. Large, square, climbable walls and a flat ceiling. In other words, a room made for, or altered for fighting.
The computer monitor and its controls on the other side of the room went dark, then exploded into shards a moment later. Covering his face from the debris, X grunted in surprise.
A rotating orange colored shell slowly dropped from above, finally catching X's eye. Testing his luck, he threw a Level 3 Buster charge at it.
No effect whatsoever…it had been tempered to reflect plasma, X noted.
This is going to be a fun one. What's your status?
Full health and two fully loaded Sub-Tanks.
Good, you're going to need them…
Finally, the shell came down to the ground, and its inhabitant popped out from the protective barrier.
It was a Maverick with gloved human-type hands, dash thrusters in its boots, blue in color, with a pair of antennae and large, bug like optics that no doubt gave it an incredible sight advantage.
In every sense of the word, a snail.
"So what do they call you then?" X asked dourly. The Maverick's antennae twitched in response to his question.
"I'm known as Crystal Snail." X blinked a few times, then made it a point to stare about the room and then turn back to the Maverick with a disapproving gaze.
"A little unoriginal considering the circumstances, don't you think?" Crystal shrugged.
"A name is just that…a friggin' name. All that matters is what one's capable of in the long run. The name comes in after that."
"So tell me," X queried firmly. "Just how many tons of raw Energen did you manage to process for the Mavericks?" Crystal Snail pointed to the charred mess of the monitor and its controls in the corner that had self-destructed.
"Everything you would have liked to know was on that." The Maverick winked at X. "Sorry, but I don't believe in letting my mortal enemies snag critical information that's privy to the Rebellion." X folded his arms, slowly charging the Buster circuits in his arm with power.
"Well, that's awfully un-neighborly of you now, isn't it?" Crystal snorted with distaste.
"Hey, I don't wanna hear no lousy two cent jokes about Mister McFeely and the little Red Trolley, especially from you. You came here to stop the Maverick operations, correct?"
"Yup."
"And seeing as you've decimated the entire supply of Batton Bones at my disposal, AND used your Kangaroo 'Mech to swipe my Heart Tank, AND completely destroyed my beautiful Magna Quartz guardian..."
"Oh, is that what it's called?" X muttered, stopping the ignoble Maverick's tirade halfway. "I just thought it was an enemy."
"Yeah, yeah." Crystal muttered. "You see an enemy, you shoot. FINE. Listen up, X. You've done as much as you can. But it ends here."
"Oh, you're going to stop me?" The Hunter joked, a small smile curling about his face. "That's just hilarious."
Crystal Snail clasped his hands together and bowed to his opponent.
"Well, let's just see. I'm itching for a chance to see how I match up with 'The Greatest Hunter.'"
"And I'm wanting to see if plasma does more damage than salt on a slowpoke snail." X retorted.
Hey, good comeback!!
It's quiet time…I need to focus.
"Well, here goes then." Crystal said finally, rubbing his antennae together.
X finally uncrossed his arms, morphing both into their Buster modifications.
And the fight began with two very loud bangs.
Crystal Snail was far from an immobile type, more fluid in his motions than the animalian brethren his form came from. X looked on in awe as he jumped an impossibly high distance, almost slamming headfirst into the ceiling before he began to arc back down. Both shot flew on harmlessly underneath him, slamming out into the opposing wall of Energen crystal and dissipating into nothingness. The crystals however, seemed to suffer from an adverse effect of the shot…X's new helmet diagnostic equipment indicated in the timespan of an eyeblink that the crystalline section of the wall he'd hit was storing up power.
But he didn't have time to contemplate that, as Crystal Snail came dropping down and landing solidly where X had stood. The new Blue Bomber's dash thrusters shut themselves off as he skidded to a halt fifteen feet distant from his foe.
Turning about, the Maverick allowed himself a small smile.
"I'm not nearly as slow as you make me out to be." X unleashed a third Buster charge, Level 3 intensity that he'd been holding since he unleashed his first two shots. Crystal Snail deftly tucked underneath the protective barrier of his shell and waited as the blast ricocheted off harmlessly towards another corner of the room. Once more, the crystalline walls absorbed the plasma and began to glow with the stored luminescent charge. X shook his head, not knowing exactly how this could help him, but also acknowledging that Crystal Snail was unlike any other Maverick he'd gone up against yet in this Uprising. In the First Uprising, it had been Armored Armadillo who had reflected shot after plasma shot. And there was usually a trick to getting rid of a Maverick's protective shell…like shocking it or frying its circuitry.
"I'd sure like to know where you Mavericks get all this plasma deflective armor." X growled. Crystal jerked his thumb Westward.
"They're having a bargain sale down at Crazy Hino's in New Tokyo." The Maverick shrugged. "But I digress…Playtime's over, X." X waited not knowing what was coming his way.
The Maverick took another firm leap upwards in an attempt to crush X. The Hunter dashed out of the way and turned, keeping another Buster charge active.
But Crystal Snail's next tactic was one that the Hunter wasn't familiar with. He dropped back down, turned about…and after wiggling his antennae, SPAT something at X.
Disgusted and surprised, X lifted his Buster skyward and tried to backpedal away from the…well, WHATEVER it was. It sort of looked like a glob of snot.
But reploids didn't have snot.
And it struck…
Only a mere second later, that tiny glob of clear liquid had expanded in every direction, covering his entire body, save for a part of his arm and all of his Buster, which extended out from the mess uselessly. And then X felt an incredible pain run through his body…
The substance hardened…X was trapped in a mess of artificial crystal.
Crystal Snail shook his head and yawned, approaching X.
"That's why you didn't stand a chance, bubsy. I'm called Crystal Snail for a reason, THAT'S the reason. That mess I threw at you was a fast acting combination of quick drying synth-crystal and fluid operating nanobots that expand the stuff outward and produce more of it." Crystal tapped on the section of the crystal that had frozen X's surprised scream forever in its transparent depths. He grinned devilishly.
"Well, another statue for my collection then." He shrugged and turned about, walking towards the charred remains of his monitor.
He didn't notice that while the stunned poise and expression of X remained the same, frozen in that damnable crystalline cage, his armor nonetheless shifted colors until he was a mix of white and green.
He did however, hear the whine of X's Buster as it unleashed something…
Swiveling about in surprise, Crystal Snail looked on as a sharp edges buzzsaw, similar to the ones Wheel Gator had often used, formed out of the mere air by X's Buster port and dropped, spinning madly and grinding away at the crystal cage.
"NO!!" The Maverick screamed, dashing towards X as fast as he could. To no avail…
The Spin Wheel sliced cleanly through the outer perimeter of X's prison. It took little more than a mere burst of dash thrusters from within to snap X free from his trap and slam the Maverick with the sliced half of his own weapon.
Crystal grunted as the wall of glassine crystal slammed him backwards…He screamed a moment later when the Spin Wheel came tearing by and took off one of his arms, dropping it limply to the ground and opening up a gaping wound from which his purple blood began to spill. His body's natural restorative functions sealed off the wound immediately, but the damage was done.
Crystal clambered back up to his feet, breathing heavily as he stared bloody murder at X. The Hunter, who was also gasping for air, stared right back at him.
The two foes knew it then. All premise of courtesy and fair play had been thrown out the window.
"Fight me." Crystal said hollowly.
"Until you're dead." X replied with a deadpan tone.
X didn't know what possessed him to give up on charging his Buster and simply drop into blitzkrieg mode. But something snapped inside of him, and as the Maverick began to spin about the room, homing in on the ever limber and fast dashing X in every direction, the Hunter fired a flurry of plasma bullets that all deflected harmlessly away from their intended target and struck at the walls and the ceiling with ease.
Their very battleground began to shimmer, and the dimly lit interior lit up far beyond daylight. A battle of glimmering crystal, the lightshow that X's charged plasma produced put even the craziest disco balls to shame.
But the Maverick still had one more trick up his sleeve, one he hadn't used yet…
X waited below, finally holding in a Buster charge as the Maverick bounced about. He knew that Crystal Snail had always dropped from his protective rotation in midair since the last time they'd exchanged words. He was counting on it now.
The Maverick did indeed stop spinning about and emerge from his shell…
But unlike the last few times, he wiggled his antennae, a flurry of electrical sparks dancing between them. And then everything about the Maverick, his form, the air and his shell, seemed to take on a new hue…distorted and quivering slightly from the norm.
But X found it was the Maverick's SPEED that the new power had increased. In awe and in pain, X found himself being slammed about the room like a pathetic rag doll under the Maverick's power.
"Isn't possible…"
This is a trick I haven't seen before either…
"FOOL!!" Crystal Snail hissed, finally dropping out of his pseudo-existence and turning back to normal under X's pained optics. The Hunter drained a Sub-Tank and waited as the Maverick continued his tirade. "The Crystal Snail is no easy target!!"
"And you're always bouncing around, damnit." X spat back wearily. Crystal grinned, a devilish smile that made X grow even weaker.
This is not a good fight…
Because you're losing?
BECAUSE I MIGHT DIE, YOU BASTARD!!
Look, I died. I'm still here. It's not as bad as it see…
SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET ME FIGHT!!!
"GO TO HELL!!" X screamed, firing off another flurry of plasma shots. Crystal Snail calmly ducked into his shell and let it bounce off. He pulled himself free and stared at X in disgust.
"You're weak."
But the shots sailed on…
They struck a section of the ceiling just above Crystal Snail that had already been hit several times. The Energen absorbed the plasma's charge…And then began to destabilize.
Unable to keep the dangerous power locked in any longer, it exploded, unleashing the fury of al the stored plasma outwards…or downwards, in this case.
Crystal Snail became engulfed in the downblasting maelstrom of plasma energy, screaming in pain as the force knocked him to his feet. But the shot dissipated, and he climbed back up to his feet. He looked at X incredulously, who in turn looked to the charred remains of the section of ceiling that had exploded.
Then the Hunter turned and stared around at the rest of the room, each crystal glowing with equal intensity.
"A room full of high explosives…" X mused in awe. He looked at Crystal Snail, newfound confidence restored in his firm gaze.
The Maverick hissed in rage, then screamed.
"YOU WON'T KILL ME, X!!" He ducked into his shell, once more spinning off into the air. X's eyes narrowed, and he clenched his fist up.
"Just watch me."
Ooh, I like the sound of that…
You'll like this better: G-Crush.
HOT DAMN!!! WHIPPEEEEE!!!!
And sure enough, the Maverick known as Crystal Snail halted his rolling about in the air and emerged, his antennae beginning to wiggle.
X took his chance. Curling his body inward, he activated the crucial pathway and accessed his most dangerous melee weapon ever.
A bright locus of energy surrounded his body for a moment, before he flung his limbs out and hurled plasma death in every direction.
The blast carried on with tremendous power, striking first at Crystal Snail and stopping his time shifting…
And then, by the cold calculations X had made, it hit all the crystals remaining that composed the ceiling and walls.
The retribution was quick and fierce…and unstoppable.
While X remained protected, unscathed because of the energy locus about him…
The entire room became a gigantic plasma explosion.
In effect, X was baking the Maverick alive, turning his own environment against him.
A few seconds later, the deafening roars ceased and the final vestiges of the horrendous storm vanished.
X landed lightly on his feet, then stared about the room.
It had grown quiet and dark again, every Energen Crystal destroyed by the power X had forced them to store and return.
And Crystal Snail lay motionless on the ground, defeated and dead, except for the shallow breathing his battered body tried to accomplish. His shell, or what was left of it, lay cracked and destroyed five feet away from its owner.
God, I love that attack…and look! I guess that shell of his couldn't deflect that one, huh?
Suppose not.
Feel guilty?
It was him or me. Survival doesn't bring guilt when innocents don't suffer.
X approached Crystal Snail, then stared down at him.
The Maverick looked back up, his optics glassy from the pain.
"It looks like you won…" Crystal wheezed. X nodded.
"You fought well…you just didn't expect that strategy." Crystal's face contorted into what was either a chagrined grimace of pain or an attempt at a smile.
"No…And you live on. I've failed…"
"Every other before you has as well."
"Then I will die." Crystal Snail exhaled breathlessly. His eyes rolled up into his head…
The shallow breathing ceased.
X bit his tongue for a moment, then reached down and touched the Maverick's cheek, letting his Weapons Copy absorb that damnable crystal goo gun Snail had used on him.
It appeared in his weapons menu under the heading 'Crystal Hunter.'
That's funny…
What is?
Crystal Hunter…Crystal Hunter in a House of Glass.
So tell me…am I ready to know who you are now?
No…but I'm proud of you. You've grown so much, X.
I had to.
Come on. You need some sleep after this…
No, I'm going to take this somewhere else first.
Huh?
The Junkyard. I think that Morph Moth might have left a little present on top of the first building I went into. Hell, he could fly up there, and I can't air-dash.
So?
With this Crystal Hunter, I can freeze up the Disk Boy guarding the building and use him as a stepping stone.
X, I'll never stop being surprised by you. The voice chuckled.
"It isn't over yet." X said quietly. He calmly activated his warp generator and left for the familiar ground of the MHHQ.
Back on Ice Fortress, the computer monitor blinked back to life in the control center, and Sigma's wire frame head appeared.
"No, X, it isn't." He said darkly.
"It most certainly isn't."