Agile didn't believe that he could run any further - three entire stories were indeed taxing, as there was usually an extensive (and seemingly unnessecary) amount of stairs separating all of them. But at this point, the violet X-Hunter could care less. There were too many joyous things on his mind.
Must get Sigma... were the words that ran through his brain as he rushed up the stairs. Must get Sigma... and get him downstairs... see Vile, yes yes... no way he can resist that, no no no... ahhh, my legs, MY LEGS...
What a quick and harmless victory it had been, indeed! After Dynamo had been sent out to Maverick Hunter Headquarters to locate and capture Vile, he had managed to complete the seemingly impossible job in a mere matter of hours, and managing to bring him back safely to Sigma's fortress without as much as a scratch on himself or Vile. And, it seemed as if the Hunters would never really be able to point a finger at the Mavericks - they had no solid evidence of their existence, after all, and Dynamo wasn't one to leave clues lying around (it wasn't like reploids had fingerprints). Now that Vile was in their captivity, his mind could be molded to their liking, and could be reborn to wreak havoc all over the world. A monster, really, with no emotion besides pure hatred for all things anti-Maverick... it would be just as Sigma had dreamed, maybe even moreso. If all went according to plan, the world would generally be in full Maverick command, without the plague of the human race would be gone forever... all due to the enormous latent power of "Omega" Vile.
The trouble now, however, was getting Sigma back in the "mood" for the whole diabolical plan deal. And, though the story would sound promising, it may be harder for Agile than he would suspect.
After a running session that lasted for what seemed like an eternity, the Maverick finally came across the place that he had been searching for - the long, familiar hallway which led directly to a disgruntled Sigma. Though Agile personally refused to believe the ridiculous rumors that flew about the fortress - ones that involved Sigma taking part in reploid sacrifices, knawing on goat flesh in a "desperate" search for food, and creating a miniature shrine to Axl Rose in the top drawer of his desk - he still was a wee bit nervous about how his disturbed superior would react to his presence there. After all, he had been cooped up for many a day, and he obviously wouldn't be in tip-top shape, speaking both physically and mentally. Though he was Sigma, however, and wasn't exactly known to be prone to stupid ailments like that. He was about to find out, though, has he was getting very close to where his Master rested.
Ah, the door. Finally, Agile was face to face with each of them, both of which barred his Master from the outside world almost completely, had it not been for the little crack in the middle of each of them that had mysteriously expanded in width since Vile's revival. But it wasn't like an imperfection like that really mattered all that much; Agile was here for one purpose only, and that was to get Sigma to break out of his shell.
"Master Sigma?" called the X-Hunter from the outside. No answer... well, that wasn't much of a surprise. "Sigma? Sir...? Are you in there, sir?" he called again; no response.
Giving up on this approach, Agile attempted to take things to the next level and try opening the large doors himself. Taking a deep breath, he reached over to the doors with both hands and gave a mighty push. And, to his immediate surprise, the doors swung open very easily, almost hitting the inner walls. He glanced into the room, a look of confusion pressed on his face.
Well... that's odd... he thought. Last time I was here, these things were impenetrable. Did Sigma get rid of it for some reason...?
With caution, the lone Maverick entered the room in puzzlement. The room itself was surprisingly clean, despite the rumors that had been flying around throughout the fortress - files were placed where they were supposed to be, the floors were completely cleaned up, and the outside windows were sparkling clean. The room looked as if it were completely brand new. There was only one problem, though - laying spawled on the carpeted floor was none other than the Maverick tyrant, Sigma himself, in some kind of daze. He wasn't unconscious, or dead - just asleep, which could be determined by his loud, annoying snores.
"Erm... sir?" Agile chimed silently to his fallen Master. "Sir? Wake up, Master Sigma..." he repeated. Both times, no response.
Now it was time for physical action. Bending down to his commander's body, he reached a shaking hand towards his face. Before it could get too far, however, Agile noticed that the bald-headed Maverick's eyes were slowly coming open. Suddenly, his leader leapt up to his feet, yelling loudly and nonsensically, and scaring the hell out of the X-Hunter.
"GHAAAAAA! Whuzaaa whuzaaa whuzaaaaaaa... JEEEEBUZ, whaaa? Who... what... when... where... why... how... what flavor of cheese... aghhh..." he muttered to himself as he caught his breath. He was now standing up fully, slouching his shoulders over, and giving the frightened Agile a suspicious glance.
"Sir!" Agile shouted in dismay. "It's just me, sir! I'm sorry if I disturbed you sleep, Master, but I have something important to tell you..."
Slowly, the calmness and coolness seeped back into Sigma's face, and he once again resembled the leader that Agile and the others had always known him to be. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he brushed himself off a little and looked back at his second-in-command with a grin. "Ahh, Agile... it's very nice to see you again," he said in a normal fashion. "I apologize dearly for the state of things in here... rather messy, I know."
Agile looked puzzled. "Messy, sir?" he questioned. "It seems perfectly clean to me, sir. Did you tidy this place up during the past few days...?"
Sigma, his brow furrowed a bit, surveyed the room himself. "Hmm... why, indeed, this room is pretty nice looking, isn't it?" he stated with interest. "Must've done some cleaning lately... ugh, it's hard for me to tell anymore. I just haven't been myself lately..."
"...sir?" Agile chimed in again. "What's been causing you trouble? Is it still the entire Vile incident...?"
Sigma looked back with widened eyes. "The Vile incident...? Oh, no... not that," he replied casually. "No, it's been these pounding headaches I've been constantly getting while I've been locked away. Because of their persistence, I've been taking some pills to keep them at bay. So far, they've been working wonders, and would be a lot more useful if they hadn't had such annoying side effects... drowziness, and a minor loss of short-term memory. That's probably the reason why you saw me taking a nap just a second ago. Gotta hate those side effects... they've made me feel somewhat miserable lately."
Agile nodded in remorse. "I'm very sorry to hear about that, sir. But I do have some information that'll lift your..."
"You know, Agile," he interrupted suddenly. "During my time in here, I've had plenty of time to think about the entire situation involving Vile. I admit, when that pesky Maverick ran away in the state he was, I was terrified... so terrified, even, that I locked myself away from the rest of my loyal soldiers, forcing them to fend on their own without the guidance of their leader. You were one of those Mavericks, Agile... and I apologize for that. I see the error of my ways now..."
"...erm, yes, thank you sir," Agile said again. "However, time is short, and I really need to tell you..."
"I've been reborn, my friend," Sigma butted in again. "My insanity in a state of extreme pressure was wrong, completely wrong. I mean, we've been faced with incidents far worse than this in the past, but all Mavericks have remained loyal and strong, including me. My lack of determination and leadership casts a black cloud over me, and makes me feel horrible..."
"...yes, I understand Master, but if you please..."
"But I know what I need to do now, Agile!" he began once again. "Forget about getting Vile back... at this time, it would be too costly to search for him. No, what we must do is focus on making our own army stronger! Yes! If we have a strong force, it can easily overcome Vile, or any Hunter group for that matter. And with that power, we can recieve vengeance on both the humans and the Hunters! We can be come glorified and undefeatable! Just imagine it, Agile..."
"But sir..."
"This is like a blessing in disguise, Agile! We can rise to the top easily now! Terror shall reign throughout Terencse and the rest of the world, indeed. If we're able to strike quickly, we can attain a firm grasp on the free world, and mold it to our desires. We can do it, Agile!..."
"SIR!" The X-Hunter exclaimed in frustration.
Sigma glared at his subordinate with a bit of shock. "Err... yes, Agile?" he asked.
"We don't need to go through an army fortification, sir," Agile told him. "We were just lucky enough to get Vile back."
The Grand Maverick Commander stared at his comrade with sudden disbelief. His eyes were wide with shock. "Y... you were?" he muttered, bewildered.
"Yes, we were... just last night," Agile stated. "It was done by one of the rookies... the rebellious one with the funny visor. We located Vile at the Hunter base, and that rookie was skilled enough to bust him out of there. We're very pleased with it, sir... and that's why I came up here to talk with you."
Sigma, still in sudden shock from this turn of events, scratched his head and looked back at Agile. "You really did...? Oh, well... that's nice, I guess..."
Agile looked at his leader with confusion. "Err... well, aren't you happy about this, sir? I mean, we have an edge over the Hunters now, and we can finally recieve vengeance on them using Vile's latent power. We can create OmegaVile, the invincible destroyer of the human race, just as you had always dreamed about. You should be ecstatic..."
"Oh, I'm happy, Agile... very much so," Sigma replied with a bit of saddness. "I guess it's just that, well... I kinda liked the idea of creating an invincible army, and triumphing over adversity... y'know, proving myself as a strong leader, and redeeming myself... it was all really exciting, y'know, filled me up with a sense of determination. But now, with Vile 'n all..."
The X-Hunter nodded in partial agreement. "Well, sir, nobody said that you couldn't fortify the army..."
"Oh, there's no time for that NOW!" Sigma almost shouted. "Forget all of that fortification bullplop... urgh, I guess I'll never experience that great leadership feeling. Oh well... c'mon, Agile, let's go take care of Vile..." With that, the Maverick leader finally stepped out of his abode, slowly ambling down the red carpeted hallway looking completely crestfalled. It was a bit of an awkward sight.
Agile sighed silently. Sigma had returned to power... that was a good thing, right...?
M-24 surveyed the masterful sight before him - he had been recovered... at last, he had returned.
"Betcha Sigma is gonna be happy when he sees this beauty," a tan-colored technician called to him from across the room. "Guess that Dynamo guy really knew what he was doin', eh?"
"Guess so," the chief Maverick mechanic responded. After what seemed like an eternity of worry and uneasiness that had spread throughout the halls of the Maverick Fortress, finally, the dream that Sigma and the rest of the Mavericks (well, sort of) had invisioned could be brought to the realms of the real world. Laying dormant as he had before was Vile (or Sunshine, or OmegaVile, or... whatever), on top of a large laboratory table. Dynamo, the rookie that had previously been totally uninterested in almost all Maverick ctivities, had somehow managed to break out the villan-gone-astray without recieving as much as a scratch. The technicians had just started working on things that morning, and Agile and the others wanted to keep things somewhat isolated until later. So, obviously, they figured the story would be all over the building by at least noon.
The other technicians hovered over Vile's body, which had been stripped of it's Maverick insignia and it's trademark shoulder cannon. Agile and the others were pretty positive that this had been the result of Vile's rebellious nature, and the technicians didn't doubt that for a second.
M-24 then decided that it was time to finally get things going. "Alright, then," he began. "I'm going to start this reprogramming with a full body examination, to make sure that his systems are still stable and functioning properly. Then, we can continue on with an examination of the cranial area, where we can finally start with the reprogramming process. We might need to wait for Agile or (if we're lucky) Master Sigma to come down here and give us some guidance, but for the mean time, let's just continue on with what we do routinely. Let's see... I think we should start with the torso, and then..."
"Er... sir?" a voice interrupted from the other side of the room. It came from a younger blue-colored reploid who had been standing in front of Vile's skull and had been observing it awkwardly.
M-24 looked up. "Uhh... yes, is there a problem?" he responded.
The technician kept his gaze directed to the inner part of Vile's helmet. "Ohh... nothing important, I think. I just see an awkward object in this helmet thingy..."
"...awkward object?" M-24 questioned with concern. "Well... what does it look like...?"
The reploid observed the inside even moreso. "Uhh... kinda like a jewel."
"Hold on... let me take a look at it," M-24 responded hurridley, walking over to the upper area of Vile's structure and glancing in on his helmet. "Where is it again?"
The young technician extended a finger. "Right here," he directed, pointing at the area near Vile's left eye. Looking underneath, M-24 could clearly see what he was talking about. It was a tiny, silverish object that resembled something of a gem. Though on normal circumstances, and object such as this could easily be considered just some kind of screw or bolt, but being in the position it was in, it didn't seem to be very logical. Being as cautious as possible, the lead technician reached his hand in and pulled out the tiny object, observing it in his hand.
"Oh, jeez... don't tell me..." he muttered to himself silently, a look of despair on his face. It all seemed to add up... numbers encrypted on the backside of it, with a set of very small attatchment hooks on the back and a brutally familiar insignia printed on the front. It had to be a...
Without any hesitation, the normally calm Maverick clasped his hand around the tiny jewel of defeat and promptly crushed it beneath his fingers, ultimately destroying the thing and preventing it from causing any more harm. But what more harm could it cause now...?
"Err... 24?" asked the other technician, who had obviously been a bit surprised by their boss's brutishness along with all of the others. "Why were you so quick to destroy that little thing? What was it?"
Before responding, the Maverick opened his hand and let the little computer chips wall lifelessly to the ground, now bent and broken. He glanced back up at the others with a look of distinct fear on his face.
"I've... seen things like those before," he replied shakily. "That... that thing wasn't part of Vile's structure, no no. It... it was a tracking device."
Damn, damn, DAMN. I knew it. I knew this would happen, I knew this would happen, I KNEW this was gunna happen...
X's mind was repeating the same haunting message over and over again, which had been lasting since the previous evening. It was noon now, and he had not gotten any kind of sleep since 2 A.M. - how could he? Vile had been captured out of the blue that night, causing ruckus and panic to spread throughout the entire building, with normally collected Hunters praying for their lives and writing thier wills early on. This was somewhat justified, however - people already knew damn well about the amount of power Vile had previously possessed, as some of the older Hunters had remembered clearly how the disturbed Maverick had offed many, many of their own kind, a glaring mistake that still confused them. But they certainly did know that they didn't want another one terrorizing them once again.
There were three seats to X's left, with three other people sitting in them; Zero, who had been somewhat silent since the incident but much more talkative and calm than X; Dr. Cain, who sat furthest from X, and had been surveying the large group of people before him; and, to X and Zero's disgust, the bothersome Wiedl, who sat rather uncomforatbly on the chair between Zero and Cain. Why he had been called into that particular position, X didn't quite know; however, he knew that if Wiedl actually earned Dr. Cain's full trust, all hell would break loose. There was also a grouping of chairs to X's right, which consisted of all of the other Unit commanders, from the 1st to the 16th, along with some medical and technical staff. X, Zero, and all of the others were seated in the building's auditorium, where most public announcements and meetings were usually held. They sat on a large stage that overlooked the immense amount of seats before it. Cain had called in the entire building to attend this announcement - it may have been the most important one he would give.
X could hear Zero talking with Cain, as he waited for everyone to file in. "You positive you wanna go through with this, doc?" he asked with concern. "I mean, you sure you're not rushing this thing to much...?"
Cain rubbed his chin. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I can't really think of much else to do," he replied. "Vile's been captured by people we know practically nothing about, and according to the emergency tracking device we'd planted on him, he's been taken to that exact same location that we had suspiciously discovered not too long ago. It was that structure in the middle of the desert outside of Terencse... I believe that's the one that Wiedl told you about not to long ago, correct?"
Glancing at Wiedl, who at the time seemed to be falling asleep once again, Zero remembered fully about what he had told him about the fortress. "Yeah, I remember," he said remorsefully. "So generally, when we make this thing a-go, we'll have no concrete idea what we're rushing into?"
Cain nodded with a bit of self pity. "Unfortunately, yes."
"Well, la-de-frickin'-da," Zero muttered, as he turned to his azure partner. "Whadda 'bout you, X? You think this whole invasion thing is a good idea? You haven't seemed to utter a peep since the whole thing happened."
X shrugged, looking downwards. "Dunno... I'm still kinda unclear of what's going on," he replied. It wasn't a total lie; it wasn't easy to listen to exactly what Cain was going to be doing now, as the Hunter had been frought with sudden worry ever since the kidnap. He knew perfectly well what had happened, though, and had no doubt in his mind who had done the deed - Mavericks. Screw it being done by anybody else; it could only be done by Mavericks, maybe even including Sigma, who tried to revive Vile but failed miserably at doing so. The kidnapping could've easily been their doing, what with the 'spy' he caught sight of. The thief was probably sent to make up for their past mistakes... it all added up. And it wasn't just the evidence that sealed his theory - it was something that he couldn't really put his finger on, something he felt inside... intuition, perhaps, he couldn't tell. He also knew that, though he couldn't read his mind, Zero felt the same way he did.
The Crimson Hunter in question tapped his foot a few times, signifying a nerved lack of patience. "Hey, doc. We startin' this thing already?" he asked. "Seems like pretty much every seat is filled up." He sounded as if he wanted to get things over with as quickly as possible.
Cain looked over the many seats before them, and then looked back at his watch. "Hmm... yes, I figure that there are more than enough people here already. We should get things started then..."
Pulling out a pile of neatly-stacked papers, the elderly doctor lifted himself up from his seat and took a firm stance behind the podium beside him. Shuffling and organizing his papers a bit, he began to speak to his audience, causing them all to fall silent almost at once.
"Good afternoon, esteemed Maverick Hunters and Huntresses. There have been quite a bit of unexpected and shocking events that have unfortunately occured here in this building. At this time, I'd like to clear up all of the rumors that have been needlessly spread around by lord knows who, and therefore clear the air. I know that there are some of you with a rather short attention span, so I'll try to sum things up as briefly as possible.
"As all of you probably know by now (and have known for quite a while), we've had some very... erm, 'interesting' occurances which have involed a former Hunter and Maverick, Vile. He was revived by an unknown force and somehow managed to find his way back into the city, and eventually to our front door. However, Vile had undergone some serious changes, the most noticable being his pacifistic nature and his constant chivalry and kindness towards others, human or machine. When found like this, the others and myself were partially convinced that his embodiment of purity was nothing more than a clever scheme to catch us off guard and then attack, most likely devised by Mavericks. However, we could clearly see that Vile's change was not a decision that he made consciously - mental problems occured almost routinely with him, and therefore warranted him an examination. After the testing was done, it was then clear what was wrong with Vile, which involved an advanced program I planted in him after his first rampage way back when. The Maverick had now been infected with the program in his brain only, not in his power capabilites. So, in short, Vile certainly had the capabilities of destroying all of us easily, but did not possess the will to do so... quite the contrary, actually.
"But this is, apparently, what warranted his kidnapping. Last night, he was placed in an isolated capsule and hidden in an area we thought would be safe for him. However, due to unexpected circumstances, our assigned guards were put temporarily out of commision, and somebody managed to sneak in through a window near the room. These people obviously want to bring Vile back to his old self - though details are fuzzy, that's the best theory we can devise. After his kidnapping, with the help of a bug we planted on him, Vile was tracked to a barren location in the middle of a desert outside of Terencse. We had located this fortress not to long ago, but had not believed that it posed a significant threat. We know that Vile was also reactivated at this place as well, however, as before Vile's appearance there had been a strong energy reading there.
"Now, I know what most of you are probably thinking - that this was the work of Mavericks. While this is indeed a plausible belief, we cannot jump to conclusions at this time. What we're forced to do, however, is take action - something must be done to protect not only our own safety, but that of the entire world. Therefore, an invasion of the fort will begin tomorrow afternoon, at 1500 hours (uhh... 3:00, for those confused) sharp. The main invasion force will consist of three units: the 17th Elite Unit, the 0th Special Unit, and the 14th Grapple Combat Unit. Because of the shortage of Hunters as a result of the Doppler incident, these three Units will be combined, with all three commanders at the helm of the attack. The other Units assisting will be the 8th Armored Division, the 4th Overland Unit, the 12th Combat Assistance Unit, and parts of the 7th Air Cavalry. The other Units not involved with this invasion will stay here and provide technical assistance with me and the rest of the staff. We must keep the building safe as well, and we will be enforcing a stronger defense force.
"I'm sorry if this course of action seems a little hasty, but we can't just sit around and do nothing - these people mean business, and need to be stopped as soon as possible. So, for the rest of the day, I encourage all active Unit commanders to train your recruits as much as possible for the following attack - I have a feeling this won't be a walk in the park.
"In closing, I'd just like to say that these past days have certainly taxed us physically and emotionally, and I have a feeling that the next few days won't be any different. However, I have full confidence in the effort and determination of this organization, and I know that this problem can - and will - be neutralized and ultimately stopped before it can cause any real harm. We've been under rough times such as these in the past, and have managed to overcome our adversaries. I have no doubt that we can do the same now. I appreciate all of you for meeting here with me today. Thank you."
Taking a breath, the doctor picked up his papers and stuffed them back into his coat pocket. Stepping down from the podium, he could hear all of the audience simultaneously clapping and cheering, though they were still probably in a state of shock from what had been said. Cain signalled to the others, which was their cue to leave the stage.
As they filed out in silence, Cain came up to where X and Zero were walking. "You two," he stated calmly. "I'd like you to meet with Magma Dragoon and I tonight to discuss battle strategy for tomorrow. Let's say around... eight. Are you alright with that?"
Zero nodded. "Yeah... we're good. See you then."
"Indeed," was all Cain said before walking back to the hallways. Zero turned to his friend with something of a smirk on his face.
"We're working with Magma. That should be interesting," he remarked.
"Heh... I guess so," X replied listlessly. Tomorrow would indeed be a rough day...