X stared to the wavy and desolate desert ground. He'd been instructed not to look to the ominous depths below him, but he couldn't help but stare - it was a pretty loooong way down, X realized, and if he made any kind of slip up or unplanned flick of the wrist, it would be a pretty long way down for him. Oh, sure, the reploid prototype could easily withstand landing safely from a high ways up; he'd done so before, one notable occurance being descending into Sigma's pit during the second Rebellion, and he didn't doubt that he'd survive it once again.
But what mattered in this situation was the general climbing in the first place - he wasn't exactly enjoying it, and for a good reason, too. The sides of Sigma's fortress were surprisingly rough and jagged, despite the looks of the building from afar, which made things all the more challenging to cling onto. Also, there was the added pressure that one of their closer comrades had plunged himself into something of a life-threatening predicament... X just wished that there could've been some simpler method of transportation.
"HEY, X!" shouted the voice of Zero from a little higher above. "Let's move it, eh? We haven't got a friggin' DECADE to get all of this business taken care of..."
"I'm AWARE of that!" X shouted to his partner. "I just can't stand these 'effin conditions anymore, y'know? There's probably an easier way up. I betcha Violen just showed us this route to throw us off while he escaped to safety!"
"Well, I don't really think the guy really had much of a CHOICE, now did he, X?!" Zero shouted back, gracefully clinging from jag-to-jag; he was enjoying himself much more than his partner was, and thus was making a bit more progress to the surprisingly high-up third floor. "We kind of THREATENED HIM, as you recall. Then we LET him get away, of course with our watchful recruits escorting him out. Also, if you're considering an attempt to climb through the elevator shafts, you can forget it - those godforsaken walls are even more dangerous than these, what with all that ashy crap lining them!" He rolled his eyes a bit at the thought of his partner clumsily trying to scale the shaft - it would have been kind of humorous, actually, had the situation not been so screwed up and serious at the time.
X glared at his friend as he made a grab for another small metal jag. "I never SAID that..." he barked in annoyance. "I'm just saying, there could've been ways of getting up there more efficiently than jumping out a window and climbing the side of the building..."
"YES, there were, X. But you see, they were kind of INCINERATED," Zero interrupted, forcing X to face the harsh truth. "And because they were INCINERATED, it causes a bit of a conflict, you see. Now, c'mon, keep on climbing. It shouldn't be that much longer now..."
X remained silent after that comment, still feeling a little sour inside. To be totally honest, the Blue Bomber really couldn't think up a better way to reach the third floor besides this one; Violen's motives seemed suspicious, but his directions were really the only ones they could get. He had a feeling that Violen knew about the jags, just so the two Hunters could be kept off course a little while and give Sigma more time to prepare and such. Also, there wasn't even a certainty that the towering wall would even lead them to the right area of the third floor - they could end up in a trap, perhaps, or walk into where the other X-Hunters, Agile and Serges, were waiting for them (considering they had been revived, of course). X could almost feel the dread of what was to come seep into his very own body, the tension trailing into his occupied fingers...
...which soon felt absolutely nothing. While in a process of deep thought, it seemed as if some invisible force had pushed X away from the spot he clang on to. It was only a minor push, bit it was enough - X's hold on the wall was somewhat light, as he had been gradually slipping downwards since his mental pondering. The force caused X to plunge from his original position, much to his surprise. He fell almost all the way back to where the window was placed before managing to reattach himself to the building with an outstretched arm. Now in a much worse predicament than before, X was merely hanging by a thread, only managing to keep three or four fingers attached to one smaller-than-usual jag; as he attempted to cling a second hand to another nearby jag, he glared painfully at the speck of red high above him that was his best friend.
"HEY! CRIMSON WOOKIE BOY!" X shouted to his friend, using one of the more peculiar nicknames used for Zero. "I SEEM TO HAVE HIT A BIT OF A SNAG DOWN HERE!!!"
Zero, apparently oblivious to X's mighty descent, adjusted his gaze downwards upon hearing his comrade's mournful plea. He was stunned to see that his friend had dropped down quite a ways, now extremely close to where the Hunter elites had just begun climbing. Surprising himself, he took a moment to find humor in the situation. Did I NOT tell him to keep his eyes open?? Jeez, after all these years, you'd think he'd have learned something since he was activated...
"Wowie-zowie, X!" Zero bellowed playfully. "Aaaaand once again, you go out of your way to deny every simple bit of advice I tell you. I mean, come ON already, X! If you think I'm going to just jump on down there and save your ass AGAIN due to your own incompetence, well, you can just forget it right now! Time for you to take things into..."
"IT'S NOT THAT, YOU IDJIT!!!" X screamed, his commonly strong composure now beginning to snap like a twig. "IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE! SOMETHING PUSHED ME DOWN HERE... LIKE A MAGNET, OR SOMETHING!!..."
"Magnet?! Oh, puh-LEEZE..." Zero interfered, chuckling a bit at X's claim. "That's ridiculous. The Mavericks ditched magnet technology during the middle of the third Rebellion, you know. Don't start making excuses for your own..."
But that was all Zero would say, as he was soon abruptly cut off by an eerie sort of downward wind pushing lightly against him. Since he had been distracted in his conversation with X, the force was enough to cause him to lose his grip as well, leading him to plummet from his previously commanding height. X nodded with reassurance as the crimson blur stopped itself from falling to the sandy depths with another lucky grab against the building, almost directly above where X had done exactly the same. As X finally managed to lift himself up back to Zero's level, he glared sadistically at his friend, who now was in a complete state of shock.
"Excuses, eh?" X mocked, chuckling to himself. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's 'careless' in this operation."
"Ehhh... shut up," Zero snapped, retreiving his grip on the jagged wall once more. "Alright, I'm guessing there's a little magnet force being used here... we'd better be cautious from now on..."
"Wow. Aren't you a fast one," X groaned, continuing his seemingly eternal climb, making sure to keep an extremely firm hold on the building this time around. It seemed completely plausible that this was just another trap that Violen had cleverly set up for emergency reasons; knowing Violen, however, it was really hard to make accurate judgements with his actions. No risks could be taken, however; this thought became startlingly apparent to X as a new idea revealed itself in his mind.
"Hey, Zero!" he called to his friend. "I gots me an idea."
The Crimson One shot another glance at X as he cautiously attached himself to another large wall jag. "I'm all ears, Wonder Boy," he replied nonchalantly, throwing in another unusal nickname.
"Good to hear, wookie," X snapped back. "Listen up. With this whole magnet thingy set up near the third story window, well... it certainly won't help us out very much in reaching Sigma and the others, correct?"
Zero promptly groaned. "Yes, X. We've ESTABLISHED that..." he grimaced.
"Okay then. Now, we don't know if that magnet force is at work around the entire building - it may be just under the windows, to prevent any easy sneak-ins. Thus, I propose we attempt to climb to the side of the window, climbing around it rather than straight towards it. We might be able to get out of the way of the magnets... I'm not exactly 100 percent on it, but it's the best idea I've got right now."
Zero frowned. "Wow. X, have you really considered the odds of that actually working? The Mavericks can be a bit incompetent at times, but they certainly aren't stupid. If they set up a magnet repellent field, don't you think they would have it cover the entire building...?"
"Well, if you've got a better method of getting up there in mind, I'd certainly like to hear it," X stated, gradually inching over to his left side.
Zero paused for a moment at that statement; he really didn't have any other ideas. "Ugh... FINE," he moaned. "Which way are we goin'?"
"Just follow me," X instructed him, close to reaching the area beyond the far window. "I can partially see the window up there... this shouldn't take too long." Soon enough, X had led Zero a small distance to their left, in an area of the wall were the jagged edges of the wall were not quite as sharp. Just as X had predicted, the restraints that they had felt previously while climbing had suddenly vanished; there was nothing limiting them now, and X displayed this by advancing gracefully from the jags. Zero, however, remained totally still - he was still shocked at the amazing accuracy of X's claim.
"I TOLDJA it would work!" X shouted down to his friend. "Doesn't matter how smart those Irregies are, my chum! The Third Rebellion wasn't too long ago... this building is relatively new. There are probably flaws in their security everywhere!"
"Yeah, I'll bet on that..." Zero muttered with a bit of irritation. "Now could we just get going, please...? All this stalling is just wasting us a lot of valuable time, you know."
"Hey hey hey, I've been waiting for you!" X announced, stopping himself from advancing. "Now would you get your arse in gear already? We can't have laziness at a time like this. Dragoon's dear life is hanging in the balance, don't you know."
Zero huffed at that one; he did indeed consider Magma a good friend of his, even during this sudden and unexpected rush of arrogance he now possessed. And he really did hate it when a good friend acted way below their basic level of intellegence and did something so pathetically stupid, they ended up getting themselves killed. And if that was the case with Magma, well... things would not turn out very kosher, he knew that for a fact.
"Dammit all, Magma," Zero grumbled under his breath, looking up at the ever-persistent X. "If you wind up getting yourself mutilated up there, well... oy, I don't wanna have to think of the consequences. Just don't make this whole mad pursuit a complete waste of our time..."
The Great Commander Sigma stood completely rigid in his stance, silent, clutching his large scythe-saber with both hands as if expecting the worst to occur. He had been waiting and wondering... wondering which of the two combatants would act first, who would strike the first blow, which would ultimately shatter the utter silence present in the room. It was almost frightening to see them staring at eachother like that... the large, red-tinted dragon reploid, with his fierce claws and rows of teeth, and standing still before him a golden-hued, helmet-headed reploid barely half of his opponent's size. Sigma did not know the name of the muscular dragon, but Hunter or not, the piercing glare that he gave both Vile and Sigma indicated that he indeed had intents of destroying him. Not that it worried the Maverick King that much, however... the newly christened OmegaVile, now with his latent power renewed, could easily make short work of a fool like him.
At least, that was what he was trying to believe. Even after a direct order from his Master, Vile wasn't doing a thing; he was just staring blankly at the intruder, as if analyzing his features, getting a feel for his enemy's appearance. It was awkward... maybe this confusion Vile seemed to be feeling was a direct result of the partial lack of work that was put in to his final reactivation. Maybe rushing him wasn't a smart idea... what if he went into some weird berserker mode and ended up killing Sigma...?
Before Sigma could continue his mental pondering, however, the silence was finally broken by the emotionless voice of Vile. "This... this Hunter," he stated. "I... I do not recognize him."
"No, bucket-head. I don't think you would," Magma snapped. "But that really doesn't matter right now, does it? All you have to know is one thing: I'm going to destroy you, and then I'm going to destroy baldy over there as well. How hard is it to process that...?"
Sigma's anger flared after that comment. "Vile! Stop stalling THIS INSTANT!" he shouted with rage, backing away from the scene a bit. "Just destroy that nuisance! NOW!!!"
"Nuisance..." Vile repeated, keeping the same monotone voice. "There are no other Mavericks here. This room is large... yes, we may battle here..." He turned his head in various directions, analyzing the room he had just warped into. It was quite a large room, maybe even the biggest one in the building. There was nothing really distinct about it, however; Maverick symbols lined each and every wall, with smooth, tiled flooring without any kind of carpet covering it. The ceiling was surprisingly hightened, though not too far up, with even more Maverick insignias covering it, and a large glass window on the back wall. The lobby's extis included the two hallways near the rear and front, with some elevators and stairways there too. It was unclear to Vile whether or not his master had intended this room to be used for combat... he was very unpredictable.
However, the helmetted machine's prolonged stalling began to get on Magma's nerves, and it showed. He narrowed his eyes at his opponent, as if intending to pull his limbs apart. "Would you stop constantly distracting yourself?!" the warrior shouted, clenching his fists in anger. "What are you, an idiot? I don't have time to play around..."
"But I don't understand," Vile stated, looking back to the reploid before him. "Why... why should I kill you? You have never met me before, and I have never harmed you, and neither have you to me. The ones I truly wish to destroy... X and Zero. They will give me a challenge... and they have harmed me in the past. I must destroy them for what they have done to me... but you, you are neither of them." He swerved his head around, his eyes now flashing in the direction of his dormant master. "Sigma... you confuse me. Why do you want me to kill a weaker warrior? It is a waste of my energy. I would like to use my full power on an enemy who poses more of a threat... it will be much more enjoyable."
"Nonsense, Vile!" Sigma barked. "Trust me on this one, Omega! This rogue is nothing, believe me. He won't be much of a hassle... if you kill him, you'll still have plenty of energy left over to destroy your more powerful adversaries. I don't understand why this simple nuisance should worry you. He should be destroyed simply because he is a fool..."
Though the two Mavericks didn't realize it at the time, those comments were the straws that broke the camel's back for Magma. "SHUT UP!!!" he screamed at them, his brow wrinkled and his eyes seething with incomprehensible rage. They were belittling him... just like that. They barely even acknowledged his existence, hardly considered him a threat... pushing him off as nothing. And now Sigma was calling him a fool, demeaning his intellegence. No, he wouldn't take kind of abuse from ANYBODY... especially not two overly determined Mavericks who should have died and remained dead a very long time ago.
"I am NOT a foolish underling of X and Zero! They will NOT be the ones to fight you two. This time... IT WILL BE ME..." And with that, the Dragoon tightened his fists with extreme fury brooding inside him. It only took a few seconds for that fury to grasp control of his entire body and practically send him into a berserker mode. Feeling the immense amount of fire within him starting to rise, he reared his head backwards for a moment, inhaling all of the power he could muster into his artificial lungs. Then, to finally complete the cycle of the attack, his head shot forward menacingly, a scream erupting from his jaws. His scream was followed by a humongous wave of fire, illuminating the entire room and and widening out to cover almost the entire back wall. Vile, oblivious to what Dragoon had been preparing to do, snapped to attention after hearing the clearly audiable yell from behind him. It was far too late, however; before he could even turn around fully, the flames fully engulfed his frame, causing him to vanish within them.
Sigma, on the other hand, was a ways back from his helmetted comrade. Unlike Vile, he managed to leap out of the path of the flames, but barely; a few flickers caught part of his lower leg, causing him to stagger a bit and ultimately fall flat on his face. Pain seared through his large frame the moment he touched the ground, part of it coming from his damaged leg... but he was still out of harm's way, and that was all that really mattered. Well, then there was Vile...
The Reploid King looked back to see the cocky intruder still shooting out the menacing flames, the same ones that had taken Vile... no, Vile had gotten out of the way, hadn't he? Though Sigma had clearly seen the powerful Maverick stare straight at the flames, without as much as flinching. They had engulfed him... but he was strong enough to take that kind of punishment, right...?
"Dammit! DAMMIT..." Sigma cursed, slowly picking himself back up and leaning limply against the wall behind him. It seemed as if the renegade Hunter was beginning to run out of steam - though the flames still seemed considerably strong, they still appeared to be somewhat weaker than before... smaller, and less threatening. How long the dragon reploid could keep it up, he really didn't know. All he could really do now was hope that his 'new creation' wasn't getting himself fried back there...
He continued to stare awestruck at the scene until the flames' sizes began to decrease by an extreme amount. Soon enough, the dragon's breath had gone beyond its set limit, and the once majestic flames were instantaneously cut off. The last few flickers continued to forcefully push against the back wall before completely fizzling out; all that could be seen now was smoke, tons upon tons of smoke, filling up almost the entire room. The fumes soon caught up with Sigma, engulfing him and blinding him for a brief while. This intruder, he realized as he attempted to bat the smoke away, was much stronger than he had anticipated; that enormous wave of fire could have very well caused him to go critical, had he not gotten out of the way in time. And, if that were the case, then would Vile be able to withstand it...?
"Vile! VILE!!" he shouted, walking away from his position and searching for a glimpse of his mechanic war machine. It was all in vain, however; due to the smoke, Sigma could barely see two inches in front of his face, let alone find his comrade. Not being able to take the conditions anymore, the Grand Commander dropped to his knees, trying to gain some fresh air; was Vile suffocating as well...? He had to know... he had to know if his ultimate "creation" had just been reduced to tiny atoms.
Out of Sigma's view stood the attacker, Magma Dragoon, who was also gasping for air himself. That burst of magma energy had taken a lot of power out of him, his body now feeling considerably weaker than before. But it was worth it, however; no matter how strong the Mavericks may have made Vile, he would have never been able to withstand a blast of that caliber, especially if he had never seen it coming. As he bent over and placed a partially clawed hand to his chest area, an evil grin formed on his face - the challenge that X, Zero and the others had feared so much wasn't much of a threat at all. The thought kept Magma content for quite a while...
That was, until all of the smoke was whisked away in mere seconds.
At first, the dragon reploid was befuddled by what had just played out before him. Barely moments before, almost all of the fumes that had erupted from the large amount of fire Magma had produced had completely dissapeared, almost like magic. As it appeared, however, the fumes had somehow been blown backwards into the hallways, leaving the entire room completely clear and visible. Both Magma and Sigma could see everything now - almost the entire back wall of the room was scorched beyond recognition, now appearing to be almost completely blackened with ash, along with some small flickers of fire still lingering. The ground itself was also extremely darkened, but not quite as badly as the wall. But besides that, the room was now completely cleared off, without one trace of smoke left. The Reploid King and the lowly Dragoon stood in confusion as to how the event had occured for a few moments - that is, until they each saw the answer standing right in front of them.
OmegaVile, in all his armored glory, stood silent and strong, staring straight at the one who had so viciously attacked him. There were some notable differences to his features; for one, his previously golden armor (including his shoulder cannon) was now something of a darker shade, undoubtedly due to Magma's fire blast. His eyes, still visible under the T-shaped incision on his helmet, both shone extremely bright, moreso than they had ever been before. Also, for some strange reason, the psychotic Maverick now had his arms fully outstretched, palms open. At first, it was unclear as to why Vile was in this position, until it became painfully obvious to the two other reploids - it was Vile's act that caused the smoke to dissapear so rapidly.
Magma Dragoon, beginning to rise up from the ground, stared straight at his opponent with a mixed look of anger and complete shock plastered on his face. After all of the energy, power and rage he had infused into that one single blast, there was Vile, still standing strong, barely effected by the flames that had caught him by surprise. Both he and Vile stared menacingly at eachother for what seemed like an eternity before the helmetted reploid finally broke the silence.
"That... that was an attack on me," Vile stated in his usual monotone voice, lowering his arms and returning to his normal position. "I do not know why you wish to harm me, but it seems as if you had every intention of doing so, despite the fact that your blast was not strong enough to destroy me. Not only are you acting like a fool, but you are delaying my battle with the two reploids I truly wish to fight... and for those reasons, I will kill you."
"YES, Vile! That's the spirit!" Sigma shouted with encouragement, slowly backing away from the scene; his scythe had been destroyed by Magma's fire blast, rendering him helpless, and thus he wanted to stay as far away from the battle as possible. "Rip him apart! Show no mercy to that nuisance..."
Magma had some trouble admitting it to himself then, but at that moment he was completely terrified as to what was about to take place. Looking into Vile's eyes, he could tell that he had awakened something of a sleeping giant - after that attack, the enraged Maverick now had every intention of ripping him to shreds. His look was extremely unnatural... an evil power beyond that of a Maverick, maybe, he couldn't really tell. But there was one thing he knew for sure - if he just stood there and gawked helplessly at his opponent any longer, then he would let him win. He had to do something, and quickly... if he would go down, then he would go down fighting.
"Alright then, Maverick..." he snarled, ignoring his exaustion and crouching a bit to form a battle-ready position. "If you want to kill me, then you're gonna have a helluva time tryin' to do it, believe you me!"
With that, the red-and-grey Hunter lunged at his opponent by propelling himself with his left leg. As he approached the golden warrior, he skidded his feet on the ground every once in a while, keeping himself elevated a few inches above the ground. When he became extremely close to his blurry target, he cupped his hands and formed a mid-sized sphere of magma energy. When it became large enough, he shot it straight forward at his enemy, shouting "HADOUKEN!" and skidding himself to a halt in the process. The shot, however, was completely in vain; when Magma's eyes adjusted, he saw his fire blast skid harmlessly against the back wall, scorching it a bit more. There had been nothing else for the blast to hit - Vile had completely vanished.
"Oh, god-DAMN..." Dragoon cursed, shifting his head in every possible direction in a frantic attempt to find out where the Maverick had sped off to. When he finally looked above him, however, it was already far too late; a swift golden blur was the only thing he say before he felt a horrible, searing pain begin to spread throughout his left side... one of the worst kinds of pain that he had ever experience. Due to the force of the attack, Magma could feel himself escaping the air he had once occupied as he was sent flying across the room, only inches above the ground. Before he could ram into the side wall, however, he managed to skid his back across the ground, using the friction to his advantage and slowing down a bit. Despite his efforts, however, he soon found himself sprawled helplessly against the floor, his head rammed into the bottom of the side wall. The pain was unbearable for him, with the force of Vile's attack mixed with the blow to his head from the wall mixed together - he could almost feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. But he was resilient, and soon managed to at least get both of his eyes partially open. He glanced shakily to his left side, down at the part of his body that Vile had attacked...
It wasn't pretty to look at, to say the least. A small stream of reploid blood had formed a trail across the floor straight to where he lay, undoubetly from the wound; and the would itself was much worse. Though his vision was still a bit on the fuzzy side, he could clearly see a dark, deep-looking opening stretching from his lower abdomen to the upper part of his left leg. Blackish reploid blood covered it almost everywhere, and was spread partially on his chest. The wound wasn't terribly big, but he knew that size didn't really matter in this situation; it was deep, VERY deep. That kind of pain didn't come from nowhere - Vile's attack had gone somewhat far into his internal workings, and only with a single kick. If he kept this up, Magma knew, then he would be royally...
"...screwed," he barely managed to finish, his vocals sounding somewhat groggy. His energy was far from depleted, however, and he knew that; the slowdown he was feeling was a direct result of both the attack and the his propelling... but he still couldn't see Vile anywhere, even after lifting his head from the wall's insides. That is, until he heard...
"See? This battle was far too rapidly finished for my tastes, Master," the monotone voice spoke, obviously addressing his apparent superior. "He is defeated already, and only after a single kick. Please... let me find X and Zero. I do not care for this opponent. My patience is wearing thin..."
"Shut... UP..." growled a still-active Magma, who was now almost completely back on his feet and leaning against the side wall for support. He clutched his wound tightly, his pain receptors in that area screaming. But to him, the pain was nothing; he pushed it aside and mentally focused on the task at hand once again.
"Vile, I don't like the idea of you taking the coward's way out!" Sigma barked at his subordinate. "Look at him. He isn't defeated yet, but that doesn't mean he won't be short work. And X and Zero... stop worrying about them. They'll arrive soon, I can guarantee you that. I don't doubt they've found out about us by now. However, I don't think a little refresher course with this soldier would be too harmful, eh? We've got some time to kill..."
The helmetted warrior didn't respond. As far as Magma could see, his enemy was standing a bit closer to him than before, keeping his stance completely rigid and grounded. His eyes were lighting up once again, and it was obvious that he was staring straight at the partially wounded Dragoon... the eyes as emotionless as they had always been. It was hard to tell at that point, but it almost seemed that Vile was waiting for Magma to attack him, rather than vice versa. The Dragoon welcomed that challenge, shooting a sly grin at his opponent.
"If you won't make a move, then I sure as hell will..." Magma whispered, not really caring if anybody heard him or not. With that, a hidden surge of adrenaline exploded within the dragon-reploid once again, energy igniting within his veins. Completely ignoring the sharp pain caused from his previous wounds, the Hunter leapt high into the air, his hands balled into fists and his legs fully outstretched. When he reached a fairly close height to Vile, he stopped for a split-second in midair, his eyes plastered on his opponent. During this brief moment, his right leg suddenly shot forth, a burst of flame now surrounding it; and with that, he came hurdling down at his target at a tremendous speed, cutting viciously through the empty oxygen and nearing closer and closer to scorching Vile's small-but-deadly frame.
Vile himself, however, seemed unphased by the attack that the intruder was attempting to use on him. The Maverick's reflexes were extremely sharp, and this seemed like more of a desperation attack than one well planned out. "Amazing. He does not think I can just move out of the way..." Vile muttered, chuckling to himself a bit at the situation. The The flames were now getting extremely close, so much so that he could feel the heat emitted from it about to engulf his helmetted cranium...
...before he took a step to the right, that is. Before Magma's massive fire-kick attack could even flicker against his durable battle armor, the nimble Maverick had taken a surprisingly small sidestep to his right, avoiding the attack narrowly but safely. This action caused the powerful flame to harmlessly drive itself into the smooth floor, snuffing itself out and leaving a large scorchmark. The attacker, Dragoon, soon came to the shocking realization that his foot was now stuck in the ground; also noticing that Vile had dissapeared once again, he struggled to force the foot out of its burial, but to no avail. Help came in its worst form for Magma, however - he soon felt another strong blow against the back of his right leg, with a similar pain searing through it as before. The sudden attack prompted Magma's leg to slip backwards out of its ditch, while at the same time causing him to fall flat on his face, his body now laying front-first on the floor.
The pain that had spread throughout his body before had now become considerably worse; not only was he wounded on his torso, but now his leg had taken a bad hit, which would cause him a great deal of trouble if he wanted to get back on his feet. Without wasting any time, Magma forcefully pressed his arms against the floor in a desperate attempt to get back on his feet. He had only gotten halfway up before his right leg's pain receptors began to scream within him, making his entire body writhe and convulse. But when he was able to open his eyes, however, the pain went into hibernation for a brief while when he found himself staring straight into the face of Vile. The Maverick's fist was clenched... he was about to attack again.
"No..." Magma muttered weakly; despite his pain, he was NOT going to let this bastard strike him again. Before Vile's golden fist could form an eternal mark on Dragoon's broad snout, the worn-in Hunter lurched his head downward just in the nick of time, letting the five-finger unification whiz harmlessly through unoccupied space. Taking absolutely no chances, the quick warrior saw his opprotunity and formed a fist of his own, putting as much energy into it as possible before shoving it into Vile's vulnerable helmet. He followed through with the blow, pushing his enemy as far away from him as possible, not letting a fraction of his attack shy away from its target.
"Yeah... hope you enjoyed that one, you freak..." the Dragoon vengefully cursed, now lowering his fist and watching his opponent with half-opened eyes. The effect the attack had on Vile wasn't quite as destructive as Dragoon would have wanted, sadly; the Maverick had only stumbled back a few inches, not even a foot, and hadn't even fallen down or anything. The only sign of pain that he showed was when he rubbed against his 'chin' a bit, nursing where the minuscule damage had been dealt. To Magma's horror, he realized that the attack hadn't even phased him, and that theory rang true when he noticed Vile approaching him once again, looking even stronger than before rather than weaker.
"This... this is becoming ridiculous, my friend..." said Vile, his voice now increasing in volume much more than before. "Why must you struggle on with this? Your foolishness upsets me... I am vastly superior in strength when compared to you. However, I still wish not to see you suffer any more than you need to. Therefore, the time has now come for me to send you to your ultimate death sentence..."
"No...!" Magma could barely mutter, still kneeling helplessly on the ground, trying desperately to think of something to save himself. Only one thought passed his mind. His adrenaline now pumping again, the reckless Dragoon shot his fist forward once again, only to miss by an extremely small margin. But he wouldn't give up; he made another punch at his opponent, only to miss again. And again. And again. And again...
Magma knew he couldn't keep this up - his energy had already been depleted to its breaking point before he began his fury of punches. Vile was just too fast... dodging and dodging and dodging, until finally he faded into a blur, and eventually nothingness. Before Magma could even ponder as to where he had gone, he reappeared again, shooting his hand forward and forming a tight grasp on the intruder's supple neck.
"Silly fool..." the psychotic Maverick whispered, his voice now losing its monotone qualities and becoming dark and raspy. He lifted his prey off of his feet, keeping him somewhat levitated off of the ground and above Vile's own head. As his frighteningly strong grip began to tighten even more on Magma's esoghagus, the helpless Hunter could be heard choking and struggling even more, his eyes now closed tightly in wretched pain. Vile loved every minute of it.
"You pathetic, foolish waste of life. Why you so willingly put yourself into this situation amazes me... your kind should have been put to their deaths years ago. Arragant scrap - that's probably how you've lived most of your life, and thus I'll make sure that you'll die the exact same way." His grip was now extremely tight, completely cutting off Magma's air supply; and it was shown both in the violent convulsions Vile's hand was making, and the horrible pain Magma appeared to be in. Deciding to make things quick, Vile could be heard charging his shoulder mounted plasma cannon, with full intentions of blowing his opponent's head off with its power.
"Goodnight, Hunter..." were the last words Magma would hear Vile say. Ever so slowly, he could feel life slipping away from him, his body's mechanical workings beginning to malfunction and shut themselves down. It was a horrible way to die... stripped of all your pride and self-confidence, forced to face the undeniable truth. He wasn't strong enough... all the training he had endured, all the power he believed to possess. Was all of it in vain...? An answer to that question would never truly come, he knew... everything was over now.
That is, until a high-pitched yelping sound exploded from the rooftops.
"HI-HOOOOOOOOO, SILVER!" the voice optimistically shouted, descending from a very high point, close to the ceiling. That voice, that savior voice, was just the thing needed to keep Magma from becoming a lifeless hunk of scrap metal; soon enough, the Dragoon could faintly feel his attempted killer's grip slacken... sweet, sweet air gradually reentered his soul, his vital fluids kicking back in gear again. Before he could see anymore, Vile had already dropped him to the floor, possibly believing him to be dead. Magma cringed a bit when the floor met his body, but that was easily forgivable; it wasn't too long before the injured Dragoon's pain began to fade away as he slipped into a peaceful stasis...
"What the...? What is that?!" exclaimed a startled Sigma, who had been busy surveying Vile and Magma's little battle before he heard the shout come from above. Anything that interrupted his enjoyment during a moment like this was never welcomed, especially due to the fact that Vile had actually let go of his prey out of shock. What was going on...?
It didn't take long for the bald tyrant to see for himself. Two figures, one blue and one crimson-red, had smashed right through the now shattered window somewhat close to the ceiling, and were now hurtling at a rapid speed towards both Vile and Sigma. The crimson reploid, unsheathing what appeared to be a beam saber, managed to stick the saber's blade into the front wall, stopping himself from crashing all the way down. The blue reploid, however, wasn't quite as lucky as his comrade; having nothing to really slow his fall, he plummeted to the ground below, screeching at the top of his lungs the whole way down. Upon landing, the entire ground shook a bit - he'd landed flat on his belly, his face embedded in the floor's once smooth appearance. Once getting a better look at them, Sigma recognized the two immediately...
"X and Zero... DAMMIT!" the Maverick King cursed loudly, clutching a fist in anger. "My operation was going perfectly, and per usual, THESE two show up! And people wonder why I'm crazy..."
"SIGMA! MAH MAIN MAN!" came another familiar shout from above; Zero, the reploid with the more distinguishable features of the two, was now skillfully sliding down the wall, a wily smirk on his face. "What a beeee-yootiful coincidence! We were just in the neighborhood when we heard about some bald-headed megalomaniac tampering with the minds of reploids, but I'd never guess - in fifty gajillion years - that it would be YOU! Nice to see ya doin' your thing again, man... oh, and sorry for the 'graceful' entrance of my friend here."
"You SHUT UP..." muttered a not-too-humbled X, who had managed to pull his head out of the hole in the ground and return to his normal stance, wiping off numerous crumbs and dust particles as he did so. "I just lost control of my balance up there, that's all. Also considering the fact that I didn't realize the window led into complete emptiness..."
"You morons! I don't have time for this meaningless squabble!" Sigma shouted, now motioning towards his new robotic slave. "OmegaVile! Change of plans... you know these two Hunters here, right? They're the formidable ones, the ones you LOATHE so much! Therefore, KILL THEM! GUT THEM! RIP OUT THEIR INNER CIRCUITRY AND PLAY DANDY LITTLE JUMP-ROPE GAMES WITH THEM! THAT'S ALL I ASK OF YOU!!!"
"Oh, don't tell me..." muttered a now-grounded Zero, who glanced across the room at the familiar figure. It was Vile, alright... but he had been modified since his short period with them as Sunshine. His arm cannon was there, his Maverick insignia... everything. And also, right upon seeing the two, his eyes had begun to glow an extremely frightening shade of red. He was off-kilter, even for someone as crazy as Vile...
"Oh JEEBUS NO...!" X exclaimed, his face distorted in shock at the sight. As many Hunters knew, X was an extremely emotionally sensitive guy, and could be traumatized pretty easily if the experience was serious enough. It was Vile's eyes that set him off; cold, dark, vengeful, and extremely similar to how they had been back in the days of the third Maverick Uprising. He hated it, and if he had the chance, he would just get the hell out of...
"X, don't you even CONSIDER it," Zero warned, perfectly aware of what his friend was thinking at the moment. He kept his gaze on the stocky Vile, now seeming a bit on the more serious side. "I know Magma Dragoon was up here... what the hell happened to him?" he asked.
"Who? That dragon fool...?" Sigma mocked, chuckling a bit to himself. "My new servant made short work of him. And believe me, it won't be much longer before you two join him..."
"So... we made it too late?" asked a still frightened X, who was now shivering a bit.
"He is not dead," stated the shrill, monotone voice of Vile; it was one both X and Zero had now begun to loathe. It was much different than the soothing, gentle tone 'Sunshine' had used... Vile had obviously changed. "I do not care for his life, so I will not waste my time destroying it. The two of you, however..." His ignited even brighter than before, a new wave of emotion erupting within Vile's systems. The two lone Maverick Hunters, though seemingly ready for anything, had no idea what they were getting into...
Glacier felt it. That horrific, extremely uneasy feeling one gets when they believe something has gone terribly wrong... that his friends or family were in some kind of grave danger. Sitting there in the hot sand, he erupted from his stasis, his eyes wide open. Something had happened... what had happened?
"Yo Glaish!" exclaimed the cheery Icarus, who was sitting beside his friend. "I thought you were asleep. Why with the sudden awakening...?"
"I've gotta get the hell out of this place..." he muttered, suddenly leaping to his feet. "Something isn't right..."
"'Something'...? Glaish, what in the name of Bhudda are you talking about...?"
"I don't really know..." Glacier muttered again. "Something in the fortress... someone's hurt, or someone else is in danger... there's too much! I've gotta get going... keep the Unit organized while I'm gone, buddy!"
"But-" his friend sputtered, but he may as well have talked to his toes. The dragon reploid went speeding down the sandy field of Hell at a tremendous speed. Despite Icarus's shock, he knew that there was nothing he could do to stop him, no matter how hard he could try.
Author's Note: Well, this chapter was an attempt at a fightin' scene, which I don't do that much of. So, it would really help me out if you could tell me what ya think of it, just so I can get better. Thanks, and get ready for the finale soon. :)
--Da Spyda