Chapter 8: Attack of the Psycho-Mavericks
Plumes of fire and smoke were rising from the badly damaged complexes of Maverick Hunter Headquarters as explosions continued to ravage the entire base. Everywhere, frenzied humans and Maverick Hunters scurried back and forth across the base like scared mice, firing their respective weapons everywhere across the ground and in the sky. Two Maverick Hunters, Slash and Ice Blue X, fired their weapons in the sky at an unidentified flying Maverick (UFM! *heehee*), shrouded in the shade of the sunset sky. But the blasts merely bounced off of him, and he laughed as he fired a four-pronged bomb at the two Hunters, exploding with great impact. The Maverick came into the light as he said:
"Thizzzzzz is more fun than live hyena wrezzzzzzzzztling!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!"
It was Blast Hornet. He looked different this time around. While the right side of his body was the same, the left side of his body was completely dark and covered in gridlines. His normal left eye now an evil-looking dark green eye. His once white-gloved left hand now a taloned hand. The rest of the Mavericks (Flame Mammoth, Storm Eagle, Wire Sponge, Wheel Gator, Volt Catfish, Frost Walrus, and Split Mushroom) could all be seen with the same affliction. It is obvious that Dark Phantom has transformed them into the darkest, scariest, most powerful Mavericks ever created.
As Hornet buzzed in closer to put the sting on the Hunters(OK! Bad Joke! Sorry!), Ice Blue X pointed her patented Freeze Beam at the Maverick and said to Slash, "I'll try my weapon again at its highest setting. Maybe that will stop him!"
At that moment, Wheel Gator, also a new and improved Maverick, jumped in and said, "Mind if I join the party, guys?! I'm in the mood to put the big BITE on you losers!" He then chomped his powerful jaw menacingly and charged towards our heroes.
Slash stepped forward, activated his dual-pronged, Darth Maul-style Beam Sabre, and said to Ice, "Go and keep that bee busy, Ice! I'll cover you!"
Slash uttered a battle cry and charged at Gator while Ice focused her Freeze Beam on Hornet. She fired a powerful, thick beam made out of intense cold at the buzzing Maverick, causing him to fall to the ground and incasing him in an icy shell. At the same time, Slash blocked Gator's advance and jumped over his tail as he swung it. This move gave way for Slash to perform his Quadruple-Buster maneuver with his Beam Sabre, slicing continuously at the Maverick's midsection.
Despite their valiant efforts, however, it was all in vain. Slash's Quadruple-Buster didn't even form dirt on Gator's armor, and a surprised Slash was headbutted a few feet back by the toothy Maverick. As for Blast Hornet, the icy shell that encased him was cracking, and he managed to break free. The shards from Hornet's prison had hit Ice in several places at once, and had caused her to reel back and fall down near Slash.
The two incapacitated Maverick Hunters looked up in surprise at the two seemingly-invincible Mavericks, who were left completely unharmed by the Hunters' dual attack.
Ice screamed, "Our weapons didn't have any effect!" Slash yelled back at the 'halfway-decent' Mavericks, "How did you get so dang POWERFUL!!"
Hornet sneered at the two hunters, saying "Probably becauzzzzzzze we have a new mazzzzzzzter!" Wheel Gator jumped in and said, "Yeah! And he's given us the power to finally kick your Hunter hides into the next zip code!! HA HA HA!" The two Mavericks then fired a barrage of Spin Wheels and Parasitic Bombs at Ice Blue X and Slash, sending the two Hunters running for the hills.
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As the carnage continued, Dark Phantom watched from a nearby rooftop and was obviously pleased with the progress HIS new Mavericks were making.
"Hm hm hm hm hm! Serges has done a wonderful job rebuilding them into my own private army of Mavericks!", said Dark Phantom proudly, "Not only that, but my own magical power has made them INVINCIBLE! Not one of my men has been reported destroyed!"
"Yes!", said a voice from the shadows, "The Maverick Hunters won't stand a chance against the Psycho-Mavericks! They will be extinct by the time night falls!"
"Indeed!", continued Phantom, "And once X and his friends appear soon, they will also easily fall under our massive girth! We will at last achieve what Sigma could not, and finally avenge our master!" His eyes then glowed brighter with pure evil.
"Just remember one thing, Phantom!", said the shadowed Maverick, "I've waited longer than you to get the chance to destroy X! Therefore, he should be MINE!!"
"True.", said Phantom as he dimmed his eyes, "You'll get your chance, after my Psycho-Mavericks have softened them up a bit, so have patience!"
The mysterious Maverick growled at that remark, but he had later changed his tune and laughed maniacally as Phantom proclaimed:
"Remember.........THE FUTURE IS INEVITABLE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
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After running a good two miles from the base, Ice Blue X and Slash looked back at the war-torn HQ and breathed heavily, still wondering what went wrong back there.
"I think....huff....huff.....we lost them.....huff.....Slash....huff", said Ice Blue X as she panted under her breath.
After resting for a second, Slash gained his bearings and said with an agitated look on his face, "We should've seen this coming! They just came out of nowhere and sprang a surprise attack on us! How could they have gotten past our security? HOW DID THEY GET SO MUCH POWER!!!???"
Ice tried her best to calm down a very irate Slash, "Please calm down, Slash! We can beat them! We just need a little more faith, and a little more help! Let's call X and the 17th unit to help us!"
Slash now wore a look of confusion on his face and added, "Where IS X and the others? Didn't they know about the attack?"
At that moment, an eerie wind blew and the the two Hunters turned around to see Storm Eagle and Volt Catfish, all sporting Psycho-Maverick designs, looming ominously over them. Before Ice and Slash could react, Catfish fired out a Triad Thunder at them and froze them in an electric field.
"Don't bother calling your buddy-buddy Hunter friends, losers!", said Catfish. Eagle then swooped in and finished, "Cause once they get here, they'll be joining you!" The two Mavericks then laughed maniacally as they pointed their respective weapons at the two hapless Hunters.
Suddenly, two large Level 5 plasma blasts converged on Catfish and knocked him back several feet. At the same time, a barrage of energy blades hit Eagle and had caused him to fall back in a daze. Just as Ice Blue X and Slash looked up to see who shot those Mavericks, a narrow plasma beam hit the Triad Thunder probe and stopped the energy field.
Scorch, Royaltie, Auroran Flash, and Buzzsaw jumped in and tended to their friends.
"Ice! Slash! Are you two okay?" Buzzsaw said in a concerned tone.
Dusting her blue armor off, Ice replied, "We're alright, Buzz. Thanks for coming in the nick of time!"
Scorch looked at the HQ and said, "What in the heck happened here?!!"
Slash moved to stand near Scorch and he explained, "We were ambushed in an attack by the Mavericks. They just came out of nowhere and blasted the entire HQ with power that I've never seen before!"
Auroran Flash replied, "What do you guys mean?"
Ice jumped in and said, "They look like the same Mavericks that you guys beat at Mocpac City the other night, but this time they've REALLY changed! They got new powers, and they say they have a new master now!"
"New master?", said Scorch, "Could it be......?"
Suddenly, without warning, a burst of cyclonic wind hit the six Hunters from underneath and knocked them down to the ground, leaving them motionless. When Scorch and Buzzsaw looked up to see what happened, Storm Eagle and Volt Catfish, along with Wire Sponge and Split Mushroom who recently jumped in to join them, stared down hard at the fallen Reploids and declared out loud:
"There's no point in stopping us, fools! Because....", Split Mushroom said, raising his dark, grid-lined fist.
"WE are the omnipotent!", said Storm Eagle, raising his fist.
"WE are the untouched!", said Wire Sponge, raising his fist.
"WE are the new force of darkness!", said Volt Catfish, raising his fist.
"WE ARE...............THE PSYCHO-MAVERICKS!!!", they all declared in unison. As their fists touched, a luminous flash of purple energy emanated from where they met. The Hunters looked on at the sight and one could sense the fear in their eyes.
"Let's go, boys!", said Storm Eagle, "We've got bases to destroy, Hunters to kill, and a world to conquer!" All the Psycho-Mavericks cheered at that remark and had left to destroy the rest of the HQ. Before he left, Split Mushroom turned to face the Maverick Hunters, who were just getting their bearings, and had said to them:
"We're saving the best for last, so we'll kill you ALL later! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" He then ran off to join his buddies.
Disheartened by their failure, the six Hunters looked on at the devastation Dark Phantom and his Psycho-Mavericks were causing.
Slash began to say, "It's going to take a miracle to beat the Psycho-Mavericks! We need X and Zero's help!"
Scorch walked up to Slash and said, "X will be here soon!"
Ice Blue X replied, "I don't think even X will beat these Psycho-Schmucks! I mean, our own weapons couldn't even scratch them, let alone your own! I REALLY hate to say this but, I suggest we run as fast as we can from these guys while we still have the armor on our backs!"
Royaltie immediately jumped in and said, "NO! I suggest we fight them anyway!"
Buzzsaw also jumped in and said, "Royaltie is right! We've got to keep fighting! Every Maverick has his weak point! We simply have to find it!"
Aurie (also!) jumped in and said, "Yeah! I'm sure those Psycho-Freaks have an Achilles Heel somewhere! Besides, we can NEVER give up! I mean, what will everyone think?! What will X, Zero, and all our other friends think?! What will the WORLD think??!"
All of the Hunters stood in a moment of silence to think about what Roll, Aurie, and Buzz had said. As they thought, another explosion shook everything within a mile radius, causing one of the HQ's infrastructures to fall.
Scorch stood atop the highest rock on the foothill and said, "Listen everybody! X is getting a new enhancement for his armor that will increase his power! It could be powerful enough to blast the Psycho-Mavericks AND their new master to kingdom come. The only way for US to help everybody now is to hold them off until X arrives. Our weapons may not be powerful enough, but our will to live, to fight, and to protect the innocent is even stronger! We MUST protect the humans and our friends or die trying!" He then leaped off the rock and outstrecthed his hand towards his friends, finishing:
"So whadda'ya say! Will you help me fight??!"
Royaltie reached out her hand and said, "I'll fight with you, brother!"
Buzzsaw reached out his hand and said, "I'll fight with you till the end, my friend! Till the end!"
Aurie also followed suit, saying, "They had better not have broken my CD collection, or I will REALLY get medieval on their @$$E$! Count me in!!"
Ice Blue X and Slash were the last ones yet to join in. They thought for a second longer and later said:
"You're right! I could never give up! I mean, I've been through worse battles! Let's do it!" Ice Blue X declared, holding out her hand.
"Yeah! It wouldn't hurt to try once more! Let's beat those Mavericks and set things RIGHT!!" Slash loudly declared, holding out his hand.
With all their hands together, they threw them up into the air, in true football huddle fashion, and then yelled out several battle cries as they ran toward the war-torn Maverick Hunter Headquarters. Scorch and Royaltie were talking as they trailed behind their comrades.
"I wonder where Zero is?!", Royaltie asked.
Scorch immediately stopped. Royaltie followed suit. Scorch looked at Royaltie with great concern, saying, "I'm worried about Zero, Roll."
Royaltie replied, "Do you think he will join us??"
Scorch turned to look at the fiery HQ, the bright fire gleaming off of his visor. He then answered back, with a frown on his face:
"I think...........he's already here."
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