Chapter 15: Apocalypse....ALREADY???
Mega Man X, Zero, Scorch, Buzzsaw, Auroran Flash, Royaltie, and Duo all continued to look at the gigantic robot in awe as they all stood a few miles away from it. The robot itself had stepped out of the remains of Skull Castle and it begins to survey the landscape. Fortunately, it never sees the Maverick Hunters standing on the small plateau nearby. After a moment of surveying, the robot's eyes light up and it yells, "This is the beginning of OUR new era! Our time has finally come!". It then turns to its left and proceeds to walk off towards the horizon.
"Dude, that sure is one weird robot!", said Buzzsaw.
"It sounded a lot like Sigma!", said Scorch.
"That's because it IS Sigma!", said Duo, "It is Sigma's new Battle Body! Powered by the Crystal's energy and created by Dr. Wily's insane mind! They unified their own powers with the Crystal to create the ultimate doomsday weapon! Indeed, the Crystal's full extent of its dark power is what I fear the most, as it could destroy EVERYTHING!"
"This is horrible!", lamented Aurie, "Now everything's going to end up in the crapper!"
"Don't give up hope yet, Aurie!", interrupted X, "Duo! Is there anything, ANYTHING we could do to stop them!"
Duo looked down on X and after hesitating for a moment, he replied, "There is one way, but it is extremely risky. Sigma and Wily had established a connection with the Orion Crystal when they made their wishes. If I had enough time, I could use my powers to break the link between them and their powers will become useless. However, I could only do it from the inside of that robot, and who knows WHAT kind of weaponry that Wily and the Crystal had given it. Again, we are taking a serious risk."
Royaltie had stepped forward and said, "It's a risk that we HAVE to take!"
X also stepped forward and said, "Roll is right! We have a chance to make everything right! This could be the greatest final battle of all time, and if we stop now, no one will be safe from these lunatics! We have to stop them now, or die trying!"
X smiled as there were a couple of "YEAHs" and "ALLRIGHTs" and even one "AW WHAT THE HEY!" in the crowd. X then motioned for everybody to gather around and said, "Great! Now here's what we'll do! First, we have to figure out....."
As X continued outlaying his plans, Zero had wandered a short distance away from the group, lost in his thoughts. He thought to himself:
It was all my fault! MINE! If I had only learned when I came out of that capsule, there never would have been a confrontation and Sigma would have never gotten ahold of the..........wait a minute!
Suddenly, at that moment, a number of flashbacks had appeared in Zero's head. He heard the voices of Sigma, Dr. Wily, and Dark Phantom, all in order:
"Yes! The secret weapon! The computer virus that Wily created to bring the Reploid race under Zero's command! The very same virus that manifested itself into my program and transformed ME into a living computer virus, no! A TRUE GOD OF MACHINES!!"
"This virus was unlike any other, since no anti-virus program would destroy it except for the one that I created!"
"My master......Dr.Wily.....created the computer virus that made Sigma.....into what he is now. It cannot be destroyed.........by any other.......anti-virus. Zero..........you are....the key to stopping that......madman. You can.......defeat Sigma......Zero. Your success.....is......your future, and.....the.....future.....is........inevitable....................."
Snapping back into reality, Zero had yelled out, "Of course! THAT'S IT!!"
Responding to Zero's outburst, the Hunters all turned to face him and had wore questioning looks on their faces. X said to Zero, "Zero! What is it?"
Looking square into X's eyes, Zero answered back, "I know how I can defeat Sigma!"
Everyone surprisingly replied, "HOW??!!"
Zero turned his back and said, "I wish I could tell you now, but there's no time! Go and keep them busy while I warn Dr. Cain!" He then proceeded to run off towards Enlitia.
X yelled out, "Zero, WAIT!"
Zero answered back while he still kept running, "Go ahead without me! I'll catch up!" X tried to call again, but it was too late. Zero was already out of earshot.
"What's gotten into Zero?", said Aurie.
"I don't know, Aurie.", replied X. "I'm no longer sure how he thinks. Maybe he does have an answer to destroying Sigma...or maybe he doesn't. After all, he DID carry the virus that made Sigma into......"
"Hey guys!", interrupted Buzzsaw, "Could we PLEASE get this battle started while we still have a world to battle for!"
"Buzz is right, bro!", added Scorch. "We need to find out where Sigma and Wily went before innocent lives can be taken!"
Nodding his head in agreement, X said, "Okay, Scorch. However, leave the finding out part to me. Everyone stand back!"
Everyone had moved an inch away from X as he faced the direction that the Sigma robot was last sighted. He pushed a button on the side of his helmet, and green, shade-style glasses appeared like magic over X's eyes. This is his Tracer Scanner, a part of Dr. Light's Ultimate Armor that he gave for X. Using the Scanner's night vision and magnifying capabilities, X had magnified the spot to where Sigma was last seen, and after increasing the distance of the sight from 200x to 3500x to 10,000x, he finally sighted the giant robot moving towards a very familiar place.
After turning off the Tracer Scanner and as he turned toward his comrades, X had yelled out:
"They're heading towards Mocpac City! We have to go NOW!!"
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As the giant robot made its way towards Mocpac City, diverse crowds of humans and Reploids had crammed the streets, screaming and hollering in extreme terror, running away in different directions as the impending threat of a "monster" loomed the airwaves. As the people of the great city continued to run in fear, Sigma had entered the most populated part and had began to stomp small buildings and punch down taller buildings within its path. He yelled out to the evacuating townspeople, "YES! RUN! RUN YOU PITIFUL WEAKLINGS! RUN FROM UNI-SIGMA!!" He then looked towards a nearby set of mountains overlooking the city, and his eyes had glowed a brighter shade of red, followed by the sound of a charging blaster. After a couple of minutes, it had suddenly let loose a large blast of red energy right at the mountain range, and upon impact, had caused a powerful explosion and had disintegrated the range as well as a fair chunk of the horizon. Some of the denziens of the city that had evacuated early had watched the blast from afar, and could not believe that this giant robot had such unlimited power.
One person in the crowd had yelled, "It's the end! The world is finally coming to an end!"
As Uni-Sigma stood proud and still in the middle of the city, Dr. Wily himself had laughed maniacally as he stood within the specially made cockpit within Uni-Sigma's skull. He ranted to himself, "MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHA! It feels so good to be back in the saddle! There's nothing like the sight of people screaming and total destruction to make me feel so young again! Well, Sigma, now that we have gotten the feel of our new powers, what shall we do next?!"
Blaring through loudspeakers within the skull, Sigma had replied, "Let us go to 2215 Cossack Drive! I have something personal there that I want to finish!"
Smiling wickedly at Sigma's request, Wily answered back, "Hmhmhmhm! Very well! It is best to get personal matters out of the way first before we can achieve our destiny! Our destiny......TO RULE! MWAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" He continued to laugh maniacally as he pushed a button on the nearby console.
In a split second, Uni-Sigma had sprung to life once again, its red eyes glaring, and turned around. He knocked down another tall building to the ground as he moved towards another part of Mocpac City.
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Mega Man X and all of his friends (minus Zero) had finally managed to make it to the city after a long run. As they arrived, Scorch had said, "Looks like we're too late! Parts of the city are already destroyed!"
Buzzsaw wore a look of disbelief as he said, "I can't believe they did this!"
Auroran Flash had jumped in and said, "Looks like we're going to have a hard time trying to defeat this robot!"
Suddenly, a screaming townsperson came from around the corner and towards the group, shouting, "HELP! HELP! OUR CITY IS DOOMED!! THE GIANT WILL DESTROY US ALL!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"
X grabbed the hysterical human male and said to him, "SIR! Please calm down! Which way did the robot go??!!"
Having calmed down a "teensy" bit, the man replied loudly, "The Global Convention Center now LET ME GO!!!" He then broke free of X's grip and had continued to run and scream in a frenzy, shouting, "THE END IS HERE!!! THEY'LL KILL US ALL!!!"
After that rushed scene, Buzz had jokingly said, "What got into him?? It's just Sigma."
X turned to his comrades and commanded, "We must get to the Convention Center if we are to ever stop Sigma and Wily! Let's go, NOW!" The group then proceeded to run towards the direction of the Convention Center, all the while as X thought to himself, Zero! I need you by my side! I sure would like to know what the heck you are doing!
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"ALL MAVERICK HUNTERS MOBILIZE AND REPORT TO YOUR AVAILABLE TRANSPORTS IMMEDIATELY!! CODE RED!!! CODE RED!!!"
As Zero ran towards the Command Center in Maverick Hunter Headquarters, thousands of Maverick Hunters scurried all over the base like frenized mice, suiting up and charging weapons for battle. It is obvious that the Maverick Hunters are answering the call to Mocpac City, and are preparing for the war to end all wars.
Upon entering the main computer room of the Command Center, Zero had found Dr. Cain standing in front of the vidscreen, watching the news report of Uni-Sigma destroying Mocpac City in despair.
Zero yelled, "Dr. Cain!"
Dr. Cain turned to face the crimson Reploid and said, "Zero! I'm so happy to see you're alive! Are you alright?"
Zero replied, "Yea, I'm fine. Did you see....."
"Yes, Zero. I saw the news report.", interrupted Dr. Cain. "I've already mobilized all remaining units of the Maverick Hunters to Mocpac City. But I'm afraid with our forces depleted due to the Psycho-Mavericks, we don't stand a chance."
Zero wore a look of determination on his face as he said, "Dr. Cain! I need to know! Do you still have the Doppler Anti-Virus stored here?"
Dr. Cain replied, "Yes? But why do you need it?"
Zero took Dr. Cain's hand in a father/son type way and replied, "I need you to do me a favor. Please." At first looking uncertain, Dr. Cain had closed his eyes and nodded in agreement.
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Stomping on the very street where X, Zero, Aurie, and Buzz had fought Vile and the Mavericks a day ago, Uni-Sigma had walked towards the Global Convention Center. Inside the cockpit, Dr. Wily laughed as he said, "Let us show everybody how futile peace really is, and that FEAR is the dominant power!"
Raising his fist in the air, Uni-Sigma had yelled out, "HERE'S TO THE HUMANS' ACCURSED WORLD PEACE!!" With that, he slammed it into the top dome of the Convention Center, breaking it apart and caving in the large arena inside. Uni-Sigma had continued to smash the once majestic building until it was nothing more than a pile of rubble.
Having arrived to the scene too late, X and his friends all looked in horror as to what Uni-Sigma had done. Royaltie yelled out in despair, "NOOOOOOOOO! Not the Convention Center!"
X screamed, "SIGMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! WILYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!"
Reacting to X's yell, Uni-Sigma had turned away from the rubble and had looked down to the Maverick Hunters. Dr. Wily also looked down and had sarcastically said, "Oh look! Action figures! Now this IS a party!"
X immediately yelled out, "EVERYONE OPEN FIRE!!!" With that, X, Scorch, Royaltie, and Aurie fired charged plasma blasts, Buzzsaw fired Enchanted Blades, and Duo fired blue fireballs of energy, all at Uni-Sigma's chest. However, none of the blasts, no matter how strong they were, had made a dent in the giant Reploid, and Sigma merely laughed at the Hunters' futile chance as he raised his hand and fired a barrage of narrow plasma beams from his fingertips at the group.
"SCATTER!!", yelled X. Everyone stopped firing and had separated in several directions before the beams could hit them. Now taking cover, the Hunters continued to fire at Uni-Sigma, but no one was prepared for what would happen next:
Uni-Sigma had fired a large fireball from his other hand at Scorch and Royaltie. The ensuing blast had sent the two siblings flying and landing in the middle of the road. Next, Sigma had released a barrage of missiles from his shoulders and had sent them after Buzzsaw and Aurie. They ran to avoid the spread of missiles and was successful, but they were unsuccessful in avoiding the explosions and it left them incapacitated and slightly singed, but alive. Uni-Sigma then turned to see Duo charging towards him with blinding speed. Just as fast as Duo charged, Sigma had swung his fist, which hit Duo with preciseness and timing, and had sent him crashing into a nearby building.
After seeing his friends fall, Mega Man X had charged his X-Buster to Level 6, outspread his Nova Strike wings, and flew right in front of the skeletal, mean-grinning face of Uni-Sigma. Dr. Wily looked right at X and said to him, "X is not as smart as I once thought! Hmhmhmhmhm! Let's bugzap this metallic mosquito!" He then pressed a button and two antennae had extracted from both sides of Sigma's head. X yelled, "Have a taste of THIS, Wily!" as he fired a Level 6 Plasma Blast at Sigma's face, but as before, it did nothing. Then suddenly, bolts of electricity had fired from the antennae and had hit X, shocking him greatly. He screamed in pain as he fell from the sky.
As Aurie had come to and looked in the sky, she screamed "MEGGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!" as X fell and hit the ground. Everyone also saw what happened and had ran to tend to their leader as Uni-Sigma bellowed, "DEATH TO ALL TRAITORS!!!"
"Mega Man! Are you alright?", said Royaltie. X had managed to regain the feeling in his systems and had gotten up as he said, "Unnnnnngh......I'm alright. The Ultimate Armor absorbed most of the shock. However, none of our weapons aren't doing SQUAT!" X had little time to lament some more as Uni-Sigma raised his giant foot and prepared to squash our heroes. Buzzsaw yelled, "LOOK OUT!" and everyone managed to get out of the way of Sigma's earthquake-causing stomp.
As they all regained their composure from this latest attack, Scorch yelled out, "What are we going to do!"
Duo wore a blank expression on his face and said, "All we could do now is pray for a miracle." When it seemed like all was lost to our heroes and they were ready to give up, the miracle that they prayed for had come. Thousands of jet noises were heard coming from the outside of the town, and had gotten louder as they came towards Uni-Sigma's position.
"GUYS!! LOOK!!!", yelled Aurie as she pointed towards the sky.
X and his friends knew what they were. It was the Maverick Hunters, all in their respective transports heading towards the giant robot like a fleet of ships with guns drawn. Calling out from a loudspeaker on one of the largest ships, Dr. Cain said, "FIRE ALL WEAPONS!!" With that, an incredible barrage of diverse weaponfire, whether it be missiles, plasma shots, mortar shells, or fireballs, was fired from the MH Fleet at Uni-Sigma's body. The monster bellowed in anger as it felt the shots pierce its metal skin and it fired its own weapons at the fleet, causing a few ships to crash. One of the ships had swooped down right in front of Sigma's face and a voice called out from it:
"Okay, Ice! Now's your chance! Give him the cold stare!" It was Slash.
A door opened from the transport and Ice Blue X stepped right into the entryway, and had immediately fired a fully-charged Freeze Beam right into Sigma's eyes, forming a really thick wall of ice over his eyes.
"Nothing burns hotter than ICE!", yelled Icey in a sexy way, "Alright, Slash! Get us outta here!" With that, she closed the transport door and the jet flew away from Uni-Sigma.
Uni-Sigma had roared in sheer madness as the ice was blinding him. He fired all of his weapons in all directions in the sky in order to hit the fleet of ships. Fortunately, several of the ships flew from the area before he fired, and only a few casualties were reported. Finally, after a few minutes of fuming, Sigma had shined his eyes, melting and breaking the ice wall that Icey had left, and as Dr. Wily said from inside the cockpit, "Blast those Maverick Hunters! It is time to kill them all in one swift stroke!", they both had began to charge Uni-Sigma's Death Star-style Eye Beam.
X and his friends watched Sigma charge his weapon and Buzz said, "What is he doing up there?" X suddenly sensed that this could be trouble. Big trouble. X had yelled out, "EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!". Just as they were about to run, Scorch had suddenly pointed towards the sky and yelled, "Hey, wait a minute! What's that?!" Scorch was pointing at a lone jet heading towards Uni-Sigma with blinding speed. It suddenly sped past the giant robot, and a small figure lept out of the jet towards Sigma's eyes. Just as Uni-Sigma was about to fire his doomsday weapon, the small figure flashed something in front of Sigma's eyes, causing Sigma to cease the firing sequence and clutch his eyes in pain. The figure fell gracefully to the ground and our heroes went to see who saved them:
It was Zero, who landed with Beam Sabre drawn. It is apparent that Zero fell in front of Sigma and had slashed his eye weapon with his Beam Sabre, destroying it and blinding him.
Everyone yelled in surprise, "ZERO!!!" Buzz even yelled after that, "Man! You came just in the nick of time!" Everyone looked up to see Sigma yelling in pain and anger while clutching his eyes. Both he and Wily yelled, "CURSE YOU ZERO!!!", and then they both disappeared in a flash of light.
Everyone in the town, both humans and Reploids, cheered the Maverick Hunters as Mocpac City was saved, and soon X, Zero, Scorch, Aurie, Royaltie, Buzzsaw, Duo, Ice Blue X, and Slash all joined each other and celebrated this jovial, yet temporary, victory. All the other Maverick Hunters landed their transports and ran to join their comrades in celebration and triumph.
"Great job, Zero!", yelled X, "Man, talk about cutting it close!"
"Yeah, Zero!", said Buzzsaw, "I guess this means we've settled our bet! Taking down a giant doomsday weapon sure was enough for YOU to break my old record!"
"Thanks, Buzz!", said Zero as he shook Buzz's hand, "But I think now is not the time for you to give me a free Meredith Brooks CD!"
The entire crowd was soon quieted by the commanding, yet frail, presence of Dr. Cain. He said to everyone, "Listen to me, everyone! Even though we stopped them for now, this battle with Sigma and Wily is not over yet!"
"Dr. Cain is right!", added Duo, "They still have the Orion Crystal! As long as they have it, no one will ever be safe! The power within will eventually......huh?"
Suddenly Duo was interrupted and everyone else looked up to see two flashes of light appearing before them. The flashes soon took shape and the images of Sigma and Wily appeared before the group. They spoke mainly to X and Zero as Wily spoke:
"Mega Man and Zero! It is obvious that nothing will ever get accomplished until our rivalries are finished! That is why Sigma and I challenge the both of you to a final duel within the Uni-Sigma robot back at the desert!"
Sigma jumped in and continued, "Our final battle will determine the fate of both the human and Reploid race! It will also determine who will have the Orion Crystal for themselves! We will teleport you to the robot in a couple of minutes, so you better say your last goodbyes to your weak friends, as this is a battle you will NEVER win! HE HE HE HE HE HE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" With that, the images both disappeared, leaving everybody, including X and Zero, to realize that the climax was finally near.
"I can't believe this is finally it! We're finally going to fight our enemies one last time!', said X.
"We'll fight them together, X! And when we do, we WILL succeed!", declared Zero as he raised his fist in the air. They then looked towards all of their friends, wondering if it should be for the last time:
"Be swift, and be safe, bro!", said Scorch.
"Please come back alive, X! I don't want to lose you again!", said Royaltie as she began to cry.
"Good luck, compadres! Whatever happens, remember it has always been a pleasure fighting by your side!", said Buzzsaw as he saluted.
"The feeling's mutual, Buzz! Good luck, X and Zero!", said Slash as he also saluted.
"I know you guys will kick some major butt! Go for it, dudes!", said Ice Blue X.
Duo stepped forward and said to them, "I will try to come and help you as best as I can! Remember it will take all of us to break the Crystal's link!"
Dr. Cain lowered his eyes and bowed as he said, "Be strong, both of you, and Godspeed to you all!"
All that remained was Aurie, who's eyes began to well up with tears and she ran to hug X as she said, "Ohhhhhh! I don't want you to go, X! There's still something I need to tell you! *sniff*!"
X looked down at Aurie with comforting eyes and said to her, "It's okay, Aurie. This is something I have to do, since it determines all of our fates. I will come back to be with you. I promise!" They both embraced for a second and then let go. Finally, swirls of light had surrounded X and Zero and they soon began to disappear. All of the Maverick Hunters saluted them as they vanished, except for Aurie, who held her hands and whispered towards the area where X left:
"With all my heart, I love you, Mega Man X." A tear ran down her cheek and the wind blew through her hair as she closed her eyes.
The future has come. It is time for the final battle.
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