Part XVI: Zero Recall
"What do you want, Bit?" X snapped, raising his cannon at the Maverick commander.
Bit laughed, narrowing his eyes. "That's easy, X. I want the Ioton."
"The what?"
He doesn't know what it is, Bit thought, when an idea flashed through his brain.
Leaning over to Thermal, Bit whispered a series of instructions, followed by Thermal's nodding. Flood Mouse and Poison Porcupine soon began to agitate, awaiting orders from their vulpine sergeant.
"See, X, you don't understand," Bit said, arms crossed over his chest. "There is no such thing as a Maverick."
"What?"
"Yes. There are only reploids. There are some reploids, like myself, that choose to use our power for personal gain, and the rest of you ostracize us and call us Mavericks. You know, we have feelings too. But we'd much rather be getting rid of the obstacles that hold us back than defend the flesh and blood creatures that pull us down."
"You really do have a screw loose, don't you?" Zero said, eyebrows raised.
Bit walked up to the normally-red Hunter. The two were almost the same size, but Zero's helmet made him a little taller.
"You should remember, Zero," the lieutenant seethed. "You were once one of us. No control, no remorse for those you killed...totally under your own power. But instead of helping us, you joined them. They corrupted you, and now you can't even see straight. Our behavior is entirely normal, even inevitable. There will always be those who will see society for what it is, and not conform. And the remainder will look upon them as outcasts and rebels, for not doing what is acceptable to those bullheaded, conservative, oppressive dictators that want nothing but to make everyone else believe they are doing the right thing. They're all hypocrites, I tell you. They are dogmatic, self-centered hypocrites. They say one thing and do another. They tell their followers to be peaceful, but they hunt down those that don't match up with their ideas and squash them like bugs for the sake of society."
"You've gone off the deep end, Bit. You're killing humans, and you say that you shouldn't be punished for that?"
"Humans are the downfall of the reploid race. They are what slow us down, make us conform. And they are the ones that tell you to destroy us for the reason of saving them. They can't live forever. We can."
"Bit, I see what you're trying to do. You're trying to make us sympathize with you so we can betray our morals and turn on our friends. But that's not gonna happen, is it guys?"
A collective 'no-way!' emanated from the group behind Zero. Even Bass, who had been known to be quite ruthless and cruel, went along with them. Unfortunately, what Zero didn't see was Thermal Fox, Flood Mouse, and Poison Porcupine sneak behind them and over to the munitions depot five hundred yards away. By the time Bit and Zero were finished with their verbal spat, they had returned, handing a small device to Bit.
"You idiots," Bit directed to Zero and the others. "Now you're gonna die."
Echo's eyes went wide. "He's got the Ioton!"
"See you, suckers," Bit snickered, disappearing in a transport beam. His three troops, however, were not so lucky.
"Get them!" Thermal yelled, flinging herself forward, right at Bass.
Tackling the black robot, the two began wrestling for control, Thermal using her sharp claws to tear into Bass' helmet, ripping a large gash into the metal.
Flood Mouse stood alone, eyes glowing bright yellow, and against the storm that Blitz had brewed by charging his cannon, made the rodent reploid appear all the more possessed. Shooting his hands out to either side, the little robot fired a high-pressure water blast into the group, knocking Rock, X, and Zero to the ground and plowing Roll into the side of the cave's exterior face.
Meanwhile, Porcupine squared off with Proto, Blitz, and Signas. The giant robot didn't go anywhere, but rolled into a ball and began firing his quills off like a machine gun, striking his opponents over and over again, explosive charges detonating against their armor. Two of the misguided quills struck Iris and Alia, flinging them to the ground.
"Get off of me!" Bass yelled, using his legs to push Thermal of him. She recoiled, fur-esque armor changing into pure fire.
"Alright, hot shot," she breathed. "Take this!"
A maelstrom of fire erupted from her, showering Bass and the others.
X and Rock, still being pounded by Mouse's cannon of water, were able to use their arms to shield their faces while they glanced to each other.
"I think it's time to use this armor for what it was meant for," Rock yelled, gurgling water out of his mouth.
"So do I," X replied, and drew his hand away at the same time Rock did, and activated their Power Dash functions, plowing against the water stream and into Flood Mouse, energy sparking with the reploid rat's armor. The force blew him backward, landing on the ground, dazed and confused.
Porcupine was now having a tough time beating back Zero and Proto, who were using their arm cannons to shatter the quills before they left his body. The force of the detonations rent his arms and legs from his torso, followed by ripping his chest apart before finally exploding in a ball of fire.
Thermal, aware of what had happened to her comrade, was drawn from her concentration when Echo blasted her with a light bomb, throwing the fox back into a nearby set of dumpsters. Using the same sort of function Bit had, she teleported herself out and back to the Maverick base.
Blitz's storm was growing in intensity now, and Flood Mouse, now out of his stupor, thought he could use the water element of the upheaval to his advantage. What he didn't expect was the lightning, which struck him over and over again, blowing his parts everywhere.
"I guess that's that, then," Blitz said, dusting off his hands.
"I don't think it is," X replied. "Bit still got away with that device."
Thermal rematerialized at the Maverick base, Bit standing nearby.
"And just what are you doing here? The Hunters haven't been destroyed."
"Well, excuse me, Mr. High and Mighty, for not wanting to be turned to scrap."
"You had your orders."
"I did what I needed to."
By this time, they had been getting closer and closer to each other, raising the levels of their voices until finally they were just inches from the other's face and screaming at the top of their lungs.
"I'm in my right mind to..." Thermal began, trailing.
"What?!" Bit yelled back.
Without warning, Thermal leapt on Bit, opening his face armor and bringing her mouth to his. Bit's eyes went wide with shock, but soon decided he liked it and indulged himself. However, it was not the right time or place to be doing that.
"What in the name of all that is good and right in this world are you two doing?" Sigma exclaimed, opening the door to find his lieutenant and one of his troops all over each other.
"Uh, uh, I. Eeeee..." Bit stammered, not knowing what to say.
Thermal pulled away from Bit, disconnecting herself from the exchange circuit. The energy swap had left both of them with some of the other's powers, like a psychotic Vulcan mind-meld.
"Well, we were just going over the routine for the next mission and one thing led to another and..."
Sigma held up his hands, face turned to the ground.
"No, no. I don't wanna know. Just don't do it here. And lock the door next time. Ahh!" he managed, walking out of the room, thoroughly disturbed.
X and Blitz were reclining at Maverick Hunter HQ a couple days later when Alia and Zero walked in the door. After all the fighting, X, Zero, Rock, Proto, and Bass deactivated the armor they'd been given, returning to normal. Noticing that Zero looked a little irked again, X asked what was wrong.
"Gate's trying to find parts to use on a radar. However, he's trying to chase down Fliptop to get parts, and Rock's not letting him anywhere near that creepy little head/canister thing."
"Figures," X replied. "He tried taking your parts before you first became the leader of the Hunters, but I stopped him."
Alia had a surprised expression on her face. "X, I thought you didn't know who Gate was until the Nightmare appeared."
Zero answered her. "He did know him before the first mission, but only through the fact Gate kept trying to do things that X vehemently disapproved of. During that first fight he had with Vile, the weird electric field that he got trapped in somehow only deleted the memories of Gate. By that time, though, Gate had been reassigned to a different research facility and the two didn't come into contact with each other until the Nightmare Incident."
"Ok, that explains it. So how'd you get the memories back?"
X replied this time. "I don't really know. When I reactivated the Gold Armor that Dr. Light gave me during the Doppler crisis, they just flooded back. Of course, that was after Gate had been repaired and sealed in containment below Headquarters."
Porter rushed in, exhausted.
"Guys, I dunno what's wrong, but the radar is going haywire. Could someone help me?"
"I will," Alia said, following Porter to the research station. The board seemed fine.
"What's wrong with it?"
Porter scratched her head. "I don't get this. It was going off the scale a minute ago. And now it's clear."
"Maybe it was set wrong. It can do that sometimes."
"Yeah, maybe that's it."
Just then, the screen exploded with red dots, indicating massive Maverick activity. All of it was centered in one locale-the industrial district. And there was one bright blue speck in the middle of it.
"What's that?" Porter asked, pointing to the blue dot.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like that before. X, come in here a sec and take a look at the radar."
Joining Alia and Porter at the screen, X noticed the blue dot.
"Any idea what that is, X?"
"If I'm not mistaken, that would be the strongest Maverick in the area. It's blue because of the outrageously larger power supply it has. And taking note of our current battle, I would assume that it's Bit."
"What does he want?"
"I'm at a loss for that one, Alia. But we should dispatch just in case."
Walking into the other room, X motioned to Zero and Blitz. "Bit's back, and he's got help. Follow me to the industrial section."
Trailing X to the Speed Chasers, Zero and Blitz activated the armor Dr. Light had given them. X, on the other hand, left his decision to take on any armor until he saw what he was up against.
Flying through the city streets, X and Zero competed for the front position. If X got there first, he could see what was going on. If Zero arrived first, he'd start blasting and leave no time for observation. In any case, both of them were anxious to get there. Unfortunately, just as they were rounding a corner, something struck the cycle and flung Zero into the air, striking the ground below.
"Zero," X yelled, "are you okay?"
Standing slowly, Zero realized his weapons generator had been damaged. There was no way he could fight.
"I have to go back to base! My munitions generator isn't in good shape!"
"Ok, go on. Blitz, let's get going!"
Speeding off even faster, X and Blitz arrived at the main industrial building when shots began flying all around them.
"Good to see you again, X. I was wondering when you'd get around to coming."
X directed his stare to the Maverick on the rooftop above them.
"Shut up, Bit."
Four Mavericks walked up beside him. One was Thermal Fox, but the other three were new.
"Allow me to introduce you to your destruction. These are my soldiers. Spin Scorpion, Blade Gazelle, and Eclipse Falcon. They are specially designed to exterminate Hunters like yourself."
X sighed. "Bit, it's useless. Give up. We'll always defeat your lackeys."
"Get them, now!" Bit shouted to his cohorts.
"What do you want, Bit?" X snapped, raising his cannon at the Maverick commander.
Bit laughed, narrowing his eyes. "That's easy, X. I want the Ioton."
"The what?"
He doesn't know what it is, Bit thought, when an idea flashed through his brain.
Leaning over to Thermal, Bit whispered a series of instructions, followed by Thermal's nodding. Flood Mouse and Poison Porcupine soon began to agitate, awaiting orders from their vulpine sergeant.
"See, X, you don't understand," Bit said, arms crossed over his chest. "There is no such thing as a Maverick."
"What?"
"Yes. There are only reploids. There are some reploids, like myself, that choose to use our power for personal gain, and the rest of you ostracize us and call us Mavericks. You know, we have feelings too. But we'd much rather be getting rid of the obstacles that hold us back than defend the flesh and blood creatures that pull us down."
"You really do have a screw loose, don't you?" Zero said, eyebrows raised.
Bit walked up to the normally-red Hunter. The two were almost the same size, but Zero's helmet made him a little taller.
"You should remember, Zero," the lieutenant seethed. "You were once one of us. No control, no remorse for those you killed...totally under your own power. But instead of helping us, you joined them. They corrupted you, and now you can't even see straight. Our behavior is entirely normal, even inevitable. There will always be those who will see society for what it is, and not conform. And the remainder will look upon them as outcasts and rebels, for not doing what is acceptable to those bullheaded, conservative, oppressive dictators that want nothing but to make everyone else believe they are doing the right thing. They're all hypocrites, I tell you. They are dogmatic, self-centered hypocrites. They say one thing and do another. They tell their followers to be peaceful, but they hunt down those that don't match up with their ideas and squash them like bugs for the sake of society."
"You've gone off the deep end, Bit. You're killing humans, and you say that you shouldn't be punished for that?"
"Humans are the downfall of the reploid race. They are what slow us down, make us conform. And they are the ones that tell you to destroy us for the reason of saving them. They can't live forever. We can."
"Bit, I see what you're trying to do. You're trying to make us sympathize with you so we can betray our morals and turn on our friends. But that's not gonna happen, is it guys?"
A collective 'no-way!' emanated from the group behind Zero. Even Bass, who had been known to be quite ruthless and cruel, went along with them. Unfortunately, what Zero didn't see was Thermal Fox, Flood Mouse, and Poison Porcupine sneak behind them and over to the munitions depot five hundred yards away. By the time Bit and Zero were finished with their verbal spat, they had returned, handing a small device to Bit.
"You idiots," Bit directed to Zero and the others. "Now you're gonna die."
Echo's eyes went wide. "He's got the Ioton!"
"See you, suckers," Bit snickered, disappearing in a transport beam. His three troops, however, were not so lucky.
"Get them!" Thermal yelled, flinging herself forward, right at Bass.
Tackling the black robot, the two began wrestling for control, Thermal using her sharp claws to tear into Bass' helmet, ripping a large gash into the metal.
Flood Mouse stood alone, eyes glowing bright yellow, and against the storm that Blitz had brewed by charging his cannon, made the rodent reploid appear all the more possessed. Shooting his hands out to either side, the little robot fired a high-pressure water blast into the group, knocking Rock, X, and Zero to the ground and plowing Roll into the side of the cave's exterior face.
Meanwhile, Porcupine squared off with Proto, Blitz, and Signas. The giant robot didn't go anywhere, but rolled into a ball and began firing his quills off like a machine gun, striking his opponents over and over again, explosive charges detonating against their armor. Two of the misguided quills struck Iris and Alia, flinging them to the ground.
"Get off of me!" Bass yelled, using his legs to push Thermal of him. She recoiled, fur-esque armor changing into pure fire.
"Alright, hot shot," she breathed. "Take this!"
A maelstrom of fire erupted from her, showering Bass and the others.
X and Rock, still being pounded by Mouse's cannon of water, were able to use their arms to shield their faces while they glanced to each other.
"I think it's time to use this armor for what it was meant for," Rock yelled, gurgling water out of his mouth.
"So do I," X replied, and drew his hand away at the same time Rock did, and activated their Power Dash functions, plowing against the water stream and into Flood Mouse, energy sparking with the reploid rat's armor. The force blew him backward, landing on the ground, dazed and confused.
Porcupine was now having a tough time beating back Zero and Proto, who were using their arm cannons to shatter the quills before they left his body. The force of the detonations rent his arms and legs from his torso, followed by ripping his chest apart before finally exploding in a ball of fire.
Thermal, aware of what had happened to her comrade, was drawn from her concentration when Echo blasted her with a light bomb, throwing the fox back into a nearby set of dumpsters. Using the same sort of function Bit had, she teleported herself out and back to the Maverick base.
Blitz's storm was growing in intensity now, and Flood Mouse, now out of his stupor, thought he could use the water element of the upheaval to his advantage. What he didn't expect was the lightning, which struck him over and over again, blowing his parts everywhere.
"I guess that's that, then," Blitz said, dusting off his hands.
"I don't think it is," X replied. "Bit still got away with that device."
Thermal rematerialized at the Maverick base, Bit standing nearby.
"And just what are you doing here? The Hunters haven't been destroyed."
"Well, excuse me, Mr. High and Mighty, for not wanting to be turned to scrap."
"You had your orders."
"I did what I needed to."
By this time, they had been getting closer and closer to each other, raising the levels of their voices until finally they were just inches from the other's face and screaming at the top of their lungs.
"I'm in my right mind to..." Thermal began, trailing.
"What?!" Bit yelled back.
Without warning, Thermal leapt on Bit, opening his face armor and bringing her mouth to his. Bit's eyes went wide with shock, but soon decided he liked it and indulged himself. However, it was not the right time or place to be doing that.
"What in the name of all that is good and right in this world are you two doing?" Sigma exclaimed, opening the door to find his lieutenant and one of his troops all over each other.
"Uh, uh, I. Eeeee..." Bit stammered, not knowing what to say.
Thermal pulled away from Bit, disconnecting herself from the exchange circuit. The energy swap had left both of them with some of the other's powers, like a psychotic Vulcan mind-meld.
"Well, we were just going over the routine for the next mission and one thing led to another and..."
Sigma held up his hands, face turned to the ground.
"No, no. I don't wanna know. Just don't do it here. And lock the door next time. Ahh!" he managed, walking out of the room, thoroughly disturbed.
X and Blitz were reclining at Maverick Hunter HQ a couple days later when Alia and Zero walked in the door. After all the fighting, X, Zero, Rock, Proto, and Bass deactivated the armor they'd been given, returning to normal. Noticing that Zero looked a little irked again, X asked what was wrong.
"Gate's trying to find parts to use on a radar. However, he's trying to chase down Fliptop to get parts, and Rock's not letting him anywhere near that creepy little head/canister thing."
"Figures," X replied. "He tried taking your parts before you first became the leader of the Hunters, but I stopped him."
Alia had a surprised expression on her face. "X, I thought you didn't know who Gate was until the Nightmare appeared."
Zero answered her. "He did know him before the first mission, but only through the fact Gate kept trying to do things that X vehemently disapproved of. During that first fight he had with Vile, the weird electric field that he got trapped in somehow only deleted the memories of Gate. By that time, though, Gate had been reassigned to a different research facility and the two didn't come into contact with each other until the Nightmare Incident."
"Ok, that explains it. So how'd you get the memories back?"
X replied this time. "I don't really know. When I reactivated the Gold Armor that Dr. Light gave me during the Doppler crisis, they just flooded back. Of course, that was after Gate had been repaired and sealed in containment below Headquarters."
Porter rushed in, exhausted.
"Guys, I dunno what's wrong, but the radar is going haywire. Could someone help me?"
"I will," Alia said, following Porter to the research station. The board seemed fine.
"What's wrong with it?"
Porter scratched her head. "I don't get this. It was going off the scale a minute ago. And now it's clear."
"Maybe it was set wrong. It can do that sometimes."
"Yeah, maybe that's it."
Just then, the screen exploded with red dots, indicating massive Maverick activity. All of it was centered in one locale-the industrial district. And there was one bright blue speck in the middle of it.
"What's that?" Porter asked, pointing to the blue dot.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like that before. X, come in here a sec and take a look at the radar."
Joining Alia and Porter at the screen, X noticed the blue dot.
"Any idea what that is, X?"
"If I'm not mistaken, that would be the strongest Maverick in the area. It's blue because of the outrageously larger power supply it has. And taking note of our current battle, I would assume that it's Bit."
"What does he want?"
"I'm at a loss for that one, Alia. But we should dispatch just in case."
Walking into the other room, X motioned to Zero and Blitz. "Bit's back, and he's got help. Follow me to the industrial section."
Trailing X to the Speed Chasers, Zero and Blitz activated the armor Dr. Light had given them. X, on the other hand, left his decision to take on any armor until he saw what he was up against.
Flying through the city streets, X and Zero competed for the front position. If X got there first, he could see what was going on. If Zero arrived first, he'd start blasting and leave no time for observation. In any case, both of them were anxious to get there. Unfortunately, just as they were rounding a corner, something struck the cycle and flung Zero into the air, striking the ground below.
"Zero," X yelled, "are you okay?"
Standing slowly, Zero realized his weapons generator had been damaged. There was no way he could fight.
"I have to go back to base! My munitions generator isn't in good shape!"
"Ok, go on. Blitz, let's get going!"
Speeding off even faster, X and Blitz arrived at the main industrial building when shots began flying all around them.
"Good to see you again, X. I was wondering when you'd get around to coming."
X directed his stare to the Maverick on the rooftop above them.
"Shut up, Bit."
Four Mavericks walked up beside him. One was Thermal Fox, but the other three were new.
"Allow me to introduce you to your destruction. These are my soldiers. Spin Scorpion, Blade Gazelle, and Eclipse Falcon. They are specially designed to exterminate Hunters like yourself."
X sighed. "Bit, it's useless. Give up. We'll always defeat your lackeys."
"Get them, now!" Bit shouted to his cohorts.