Never before in his moderately short life had Jet Stingray been put into such an awkward - and embarrassing, for that matter - situation.
Things had occured way too fast. At first, he was just peering through his dormitory window, intently watching the many activities occuring outside - for one, the Hunters' invasion of their base, and soon afterwards a view of some Hunter airplanes that had were gracefully keeping watch of the fortress from above. Then came the ominous warning from Sigma himself over the loudspeakers, which sent pretty much every Maverick besides he, Spike, and Necrobat in a frenzy. And finally, out of the blue, an alarm sounds and the window is completely sealed off... well, at least it would have been, had the metal seal not clamped down right on Jet's fragile hands.
"Grrrr... gaaahhhh!!!" the entrapped reploid yelled, trying with all of his might to free his hands of the unyielding metallic barrier. It was all in vain, however - no matter how hard Jet could pull and struggle, the barrier would not give way, leaving the Maverick in a state of complete helplessness. The pain was steadily increasing, and soon enough, it began to form something of a hellish nightmare for Stringray.
"GAHHHH..." he continued, pulling even harder this time. "Urghhhh... SPIKE! NECRO! I'm gonna need some serious help in here..."
"WHAAAT, Jet?!" boomed an irrate Spike Rosered, who had just ambled into the room after hearing Jet's horrid screaming. "That must have been the loudest scream I've ever heard you utter."
"You got THAT right," agreed Dark Necrobat, who followed right behing Rosered. "I was all the way at the other end of the hallway, and I could hear you loud and clear. Just what the frick is goin' on...?"
"My HANDS!!!" the deranged Maverick exclaimed, still struggling with all the strength he could muster; the pain was slowly spreading throughout his entire body now. "Just LOOK AT THEM! I'm just staring out the window, minding my own business, and then... CRASH! Metal barrier, my HANDS IN THE WAY. And NOW LOOK AT ME...!"
"Alright, alright!" Spike shouted, attempting to calm down his pestersome friend. "Just caaaalm yo own-self down, boy. Lemme have a look at it first... it can't be THAT bad."
"Easy for YOU to say!..." Jet angrily replied. He watched as Rosered ambled over, taking his sweet time, until he finally came face-to-face with the pained reploid. Lowering his bulbous head a bit, he observed his comrade's currently incarcarated hands with seemingly little concern, much to Jet's apparent dismay. After only about a few seconds, he realized that the pressure being applied to Jet's hands was surprisingly high; why were these security measures being taken, anyway...?
"Oy... seems you've gotten yourself into a dilly of a pickle," Spike stated, shaking his head as if informing some kind of feigned pity. Jet was not amused, not in the slightest.
"Well, thank you, Captain Freakin' Obvious!" the stingray exclaimed, his eyes burning with rage. "I didn't realize I was in such a HORRID situation. Now, could you please do something that would give me some real help?!"
"Oh, you want reeeeeal help. I see now," Spike commented smugly, chuckling a bit to himself. Wordlessly, he extended a mutated arm, directing it straight at the bottom of the metal barrier that just so happened to be where Jet's hands were being smashed. The arm soon shot out another one of Spike's trademark vines, which barely managed to slip under the metallic sheet and partially lift it up. "There. That enough, whine-boy?" he asked his partner jokingly. "You can pull your hands out now."
"GAAAhhhh... alright..." Jet muttered in a state of frustration, attempting to free his hands once again. No avail. "A little more, Sting! They aren't slackening..."
"Guhh, fine," Spike grumbled. He shot forth a second spiked vine, which slipped directly under the left side of the metal barrier. Summoning up a bit more energy than before, he used the second vine to once again lift the infernal separator towards the ceiling, retracting it higher than it had ever been before. Jet, taking absolutely no chances, thrusted his relieved hands away, almost falling back-first into a surprised Dark Necrobat.
"Whew! THAT was a biatch," Jet commented casually, lifting his hands where his eyes could see and observing the nasty-looking black crease marks that had spread throughout the Maverick's poor hands. Though the pain was now beginning to subside, he knew it would be quite a while before those damned marks went away. "Thanks for the help, Rosered. Now that THAT ordeal is over with, I think maybe we should head out to the lobby and find out exactly what's going... uhh, Sting? You okay, buddy?"
Both Jet and Necrobat stared at their self-proclaimed 'leader' in confusion; rather than retracting his vines and continuing on with his merry little life, he stood completely rigid, staring out the now unbarricaded window, the vines now keeping the barrier all the way up. He seemed to be pondering something.
"The two of you..." he muttered, his voice gaining an awkward, raspy tone. "You two... it's probably best if you escaped through this window. Now. I'll follow..."
"Wh-what?" Necrobat questioned in complete shock. "Spike, what're you talking about?! We're not escaping..."
"Well, then maybe we should be!" the rose-topped mutant almost shouted, his face now shooting (symbolic) daggers at the two of them. "Listen... I just thought of something. There's about a 95% chance that this building could be incinerated at any minute now. Vile is fighting the Hunters. Everyone's evacuating. And believe me, these alarms sure as hell ain't for nuthin'." He turned his head back to the hot desert area before him, the sky an eerie shade of orange. "Last I heard, the Maverick forces were escaping through some giant capsule thing. Well, guess what? We've found an easier way! You can thank Chaddy for that one."
Jet scratched his head a bit. "Well, urr... I'm not sure if that's exactly the smartest way of thinking, Spike. Won't Sigma and everybody have our hides when they find out that we escaped without paying attention to their preplanned escape routes? We would be disobeying orders, suh."
"Well, yeah. That's a bit inevitable," Spike admitted. "But hey, we can always meet back with them in the long run. If we tell them that it was solely to ensure our own safety, then maybe they'll go easy on us."
"I doubt that," Necrobat commented.
"Eh, screw my theories. How about THIS," Spike began again. "You jump outta here, there's a 99% chance of survival. You follow the 'designated' path, I'd say there's a 50% chance, and it would be pretty stuffy in that capsule, I reckon. Well. Somebody gunna jump?"
For a brief while, Jet and Necro stood completely rigid, their minds battling with themselves. They each exchanged nervous glances before Jet, mustering up all of the courage he possessed, took a step towards the Window of Freedom. Necrobat followed right behind. As the two carefully stepped through the airy opening and breathed in the fresh air of the outside, they knew that their decision would certainly make their lives a LOT more interesting.
"Hey, 17..." T-18 called to his slender partner. "I think sumthin' fishy is goin' here."
T-17, who was leaning against the back wall of their escape capsule, looked to his friend seated at the other side of the room. "'Fishy', 18?" he asked. "What's bothering you?"
"Well, it's the capsule that seems fishy, mi amigo," 18 replied, lifting his stocky bluish body up from the ground. "I mean, just LOOK at this thing. It's big - very, VERY big. Huge. Mammoth. Gargantuan. Muy grande... well, I think you get my point."
17 shrugged, almost as if he didn't care less. He could certainly sympathize with his comrade's observation, however - since he had walked into the thing, 17 had certainly noticed the amazingly large size of the capsule, but really hadn't paid a great deal of attention to it. "Yeah, so the place is big, 18. Who cares? It is an escape pod, and at this time, it is what blasted us out of that hellish nightmare of a fortress. I figure we must be pretty far away from that place by now."
18 was inclined to agree with that logic. Though it was painfully oversized, the capsule was their only hope in escaping the fortress. Though 18 was still kind of wondering what exactly they were running from, he knew better than to ask, because he figured that he would probably just make a total ass of himself. 17 was smarter than him. A lot smarter.
"Let's just relax for now," 17 commented, "and let this capsule thing's navigator lead the way. Though to be honest, I really have no idea where the hell-diddly-el this thing is taking the two of us. I mean you'd think that there would be some kind of indication, like a note or something, you know? But instead, nothing. Oy gevault... but then again, why am I complaining! We're free! We're safe! We're starting a new life, filled with boundless opportunities and benefits... hey, 18, are you even listening to me?"
Nope. T-18, standing completely rigid on the far side of the room, was currently staring at a small piece of faded yellow paper that he had just happened to find lieing on the smooth floor amongst some dust. What he had seen printed on it, however, had apparently stunned him to no end; his face was plastered with a look of explicit horror. He met his partner at eye-level again after a few moments.
"Guh... 17..." he muttered nervously, his hands now shaking a bit. "Oh... my... you might wanna take a look... at this... HO-boy..."
"What the...? What's your problem, 18?" the surly technician queried, marching over to his friend. "Gimmie that," he snapped, snatching the small bit of parchment from 18's throbbing fingers. After eyeing it over for only a few seconds, his veins gradually began to pump nothing but ice, seemingly; his nerves were shot. Still trying to justify exactly what he was reading, he decided to read the thing out loud to confirm it's reality:
"'M... Maverick escape pod'..." he read faintly, the panic slowly rising in his voice. "'In case of emergency, ALL MAVERICK FORTRESS INHABITANTS ARE TO BOARD THE POD... if any Maverick or group of Mavericks is to not follow this procedure, they will be located ASAP and subjected to... immediate and harsh punishment..." He lowered the paper from his eye level, revealing his wide and frightened eyes.
There was a pause. A long, vexing pause, in which all that could really be heard was the soft whirring of the capsule's engine below. Slowly, the two looked into eachother's faces, exchanging looks of unfeigned horror and disbelief.
"All... Mavericks?" 18 muttered. "That means... that means that..."
"They're stranded..." 17 finished for him. "All of the Mavericks... they're left in the building to die... and it's all our fault..."
Another pause. It was taking an amazingly long amount of time for the reality and danger of the situation to truly sink in, but from the looks on their faces, they were definitely shocked by the revelation.
"Well... things can't be that bad, right...?" T-17 stuttered, trying to withold any shred of optimism he could find. "I mean, they don't KNOW that we took the capsule... I don't they'll be able to track us down very easily..."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right..." T-18 hastily agreed, nodding and smiling a bit; he was obviously attempting to latch on to any kind of positive thought possible. "They can't track us just like that, right? We'll be perfectly fine... we just should let this capsule lead us to safety, and not mention another word about this little... err, incident..."
But things were never to end up in 18's favor. Almost immediately after 18's attempt at consolation, an amazingly powerful CHASH! sound could be heard from below, soon causing the entire capsule to shake and vibrate violently; the two technicians began to find it a challenge to keep their balance. Following the sound, however, was something that 17 and 18 certianly did not want to hear - complete, unbroken silence. It seemed as if the engine had suddenly stopped running.
A third pause; the most gut-wrenching of them all. 17 could've squealed in fright. "What the... what just... happened?" he barely managed to spew out of his bone-dry mouth, his nerves now almost completely shot.
"I... I think..." 18 sputtered, breaking the silence once again. "We must've... hit something. I think it... damaged... the engine..."
There were no more plausible words to be exchanged in that giant capsule. Before one could say 'screwed', the air pressure from far beneath the capsule began to rush upwards like a mighty gail, hitting the faulty transportation mechanism as strongly as possible as it began to plunge to the desert ground. All that could be heard now were the sounds of two helpless beings' screams of agony and fright as they forcefully descended to the murky desert depths below, only to be met with darkness.
One last thrust into the unknown - that was all that was left. And the lone Hunter, though tired, breathless and thoroughly unnerved, managed to harness the power of that thrust.
Though it certainly was a struggle for Glacier Dragoon, he had finally reached the end of the trail; the elevator shaft had formed a large opening on its right side, which Dragoon had managed to latch onto only minutes before. His body was screaming signals at him, ones that he tried to ignore with every shred of willpower he possessed, and he knew that when he reached the surface of the building's third floor, there would be a good chance that things would take a turn for the worst. But at this point, he couldn't care less; he had made it, and now he could finally come to the aid of this comrades and hopefully give them a better chance at victory.
"Urgh... c'mon... damned arms..." he complained between breaths as he gradually lifted himself into the red-tinted hallway, pushing his open palms against the edge of the floor with as much strength as he could muster. Soon enough, his feet finally implanted themselves on the smooth tiled floor, and Glacier was able to get up from his crouching position and take a good look around him; as far as he could now see, the hallway he was in wasn't terribly long. The sounds of the battle had become much clearer now - nothing could really be seen from the narrow view of the hallway, but hell, he knew exactly what was going on in there.
His mind was jarbled up at the moment - and again, as he stood motionless at the end of that forgotten hallway trying to catch his breath, his common sense started to challenge him with a tyrade of questions. Just what the hell do you think you're doing?! he heard it angrily scold. Do you realize that you could get yourself KILLED if you keep on going? Why can't you just let the more experienced and talented fighters take care of the situation...?
"Shut up..." he whispered to himself, feeling almost as if there was a totally seperate being resident in his body at the time. Taking one final, large gulp of air, he closed his eyes and lectured himself in the silence. "C'mon, Glaicer... focus, focus. Gotta keep going, gotta keep going..."
It was only moments later before he opened his eyes and took one step forward, one step closer to the apparent battlefield. Soon enough, he found himself in a full walking stride, slowly but surely advancing, the gap at the end of the hall becoming bigger and bigger. His face was hardened and serious, his fists were clenched tightly, and his legs were moving without him - now, at this moment, he knew that turning back was completely impossible. However, it was only a matter of seconds before his common sense kicked back into full gear, this time barraging the poor Dragoon with double the strength it had possessed before.
Why?! it continued to screech. Glacier, why are you still walking? Why won't you just stop, turn around, and let THEM handle it?! Finally, there came the question that had become the most prominent in his cluttered mind: Why, for the sake of all things good in this world, are you thoughtlessly putting your own life on the line...?
He couldn't ignore it any longer. As he began to approach that fateful wall opening, he searched his mind for some kind of answer, something sensible that would ward off the overly powerful screeches of his common sense. Soon enough, one phrase became amazingly clear in his head, and while he knew it sounded completely trite and corny, he also knew that it was the only phrase that he could really make any sense out of. He answered himself: 'Cause I gotta.
Red light came pouring over his entire body, shifting the Dragoon's hue from its usual light blue into a darkish, somewhat eeire shade of purple. The red light had become much powerful than before; the entire room he was in was that color. Subconsciously, that once powerful voice in his head began to slowly fade away, its questions now becoming completely irrelevant and useless. Because there were no other options now. He had entered the room.
And furthermore, he was completely shocked with what he was immediately presented with.
Four combatants were engaged in battle on the far side of the room, close to two other branching hallways that formed gaps in the corners. Immediately he noticed that the lobby itself seemed to have almost the exact same structure plan as the previous ones - that is, if you ruled out the fact that it was about triple their size. IT seemed as if the room had been ravaged completely from the consistent battling of the four - scorch marks, electrical sparks, and crevices in the walls were everywhere, obviusly symbolizing that the current battle was an extremely violent and destructive one.
He was able distinguish who was fighting without too much trouble. X and Zero were clearly visible, both brawling against two individual opponents that Glacier had difficulty identifying at first. The one Zero was fighting was a muscular one, with whitish-greenish armor, a completely bald head, and a severed right arm. Not only that, but it seemed as if the reploid was dodging Zero's saber attacks with surprising agility. It could only be Sigma... so, he had come back?
"Jesus, that is definitely Sigma," Glacier whispered to himself. The four were so amazingly attentive to their own battles that they never managed to notice the concerned Dragoon. He knew he was safe from the battlefield for a time, however, due to the fact that the room itself was quite large and they fought on the complete opposite side to where he stood. From his view, he began to make other observations. "Sigma and Zero... they seem like they're even, almost. But then there's X, and it doesn't look like he's having a fun time. Who's THAT guy he's fighting...?"
X was struggling with his fight, it seemed. The short, golden-armored figure he was tumbling with appeared to be gaining the upper hand, and was countering each and every blow the Blue Bomber dished out with an even more powerful one of his own. It was certainly a rare sight, X losing like this; then again, Glacier had never really witnessed many of X's numerous victories. Though both resembled nothing but clashing blurs to him at the time, it wasn't hard to tell who that other reploid was, and why X was losing so unexpectedly... it had to be...
"Glai...cer..."
A raspy, weak voice destroyed his thought processes. At first it just seemed awkward, frightening, foreign... but for some strange reason, it seemed all too familiar. He looked to the ground, almost right at his feet, and saw...
"Magma...?" He couldn't believe what he was seeing. A reploid, a dragon reploid, red armored and badly damaged, as it would appear... he looked completely helpless, cowering on the ground, weak, struggling to keep his eyes opened and maintain consciousness. He had several noticable wounds, the most prominent ones being a large gash to his side and a nasty injury in one of his legs. Yes, this was indeed his brother... but he looked nothing like the brother he had seen before this whole ordeal began.
"Christ, Magma!" Glacier almost heard himself shout, kneeling down to almost meet his defeated sibling at eye level. "What the... what the hell happened to you? Who the hell DID this to you?!" The sight of Magma's mangled body was now starting to take its toll on the horrified Glacier.
The injured crimson Dragoon gasped helplessly for breath, his own body failing on him. He was convulsing now, shaking violently, his eyes shut tightly and his teeth painfully bared. He was struggling now, trying desperately to hold on for a few more moments, to tell his brother exactly what he needed to hear before his body gave out. Finally, after a major struggle, he stared directly into his brother's eyes and his vocal cords returned to life as he muttered the syllables: "Vi... vi... VI... le..."
And that was it. The wretched convulsing stopped, his eyes slowly closed up, his arms and legs fell limply to the floor. Desperate and worried, Glacier checked hs brother's systems quickly to see his condition... he was alive, thank heavens. He was in a deep state of stasis, however; his auto-repair systems were keeping his bodily functions in order, and he was still gradually breathing, though not very rapidly. Also, his wounds would definitely cause him a lot of unneeded trouble, as they were large and deep. At this point, Glacier knew immediately that Magma needed to be taken away from the battlefield to a temporary safe-haven, until some actual medical help could be sought out; he wished he could do more for his fallen brother, but he also knew damn well that there wasn't much else he could do to help.
"Oy... this is REALLY not good..." Glacier painfully observed as he lifted his sibling's comatose body up from the ground, slinging him over his right shoulder. Making sure not to cause any more damage to his body than was needed, he slowly carried him over to the same hallway he had entered through, laying him down against the right wall. He was safe for now, away from the battlefield, from any further harm... but Glacier knew that he and the other Hunters would have to finish the battle as quickly as possible. Otherwise...
"Just hang tight, Magma," he told his sleeping comrade, ignoring the fact that he couldn't be heard. "I'll take care of things from here."
At that moment, a new rage began to brew within Glacier, one that had already been building deep inside of him ever since he had sensed the enormous danger that his friends were in, while with Icarus. The reality of the situation suddenly rushed through his mind, like a dam unexpectedly giving way; X, Zero, and Magma had all been fighting in a Maverick fortress. All three of them were placed into a complete state of danger - X was desperately trying to keep himself defended, while Zero was sacrificing almost too much of his own energy in trying to inflict damage upon his nimble opponent. And Magma... Magma had been beaten ruthlessly, mercilessly, by his opponent, and had apparently come too close to death for comfort. That meant that... if X were to be finished, and the last two were to team up on Zero, then... oh no...
He found himself in the room again; he'd gotten so caught up in thought that he hadn't been able to keep track of where he was going. When he got another glimpse of the battle, however, he was even more horrified; that monster... that's what he was, the monster that was fighting X, was standing completely still, his mounted shoulder cannon aiming directly at his opponent. X himself was down; apparently, he'd just been knocked to his feet by his opponent, and was struggling to get himself back up. But Vile's cannon... right at him. If he got a good shot at him... oh jeez, and Zero can't help him, he's...
Vile... was the only word running through Glacier's fettered mind, his rage going beyond its breaking point. Vile... DAMN HIM.
He charged. He didn't even bother trying to keep control of his body anymore... what use would control do for him now? All that Glacier knew now was that Vile needed to be stopped... he didn't care how good he was in the past, what kind of redemption he was trying to accomplish, or how much he and the others had formerly trusted him... he had changed for the worse, and that was all that mattered. As he ruthlessly charged at his opponent, with his teeth bared, fists tightened, and eyes open with rage, everybody else in the room disappeared for a moment as the enraged Dragoon centered in on his target...
The great and powerful OmegaVile couldn't have been enjoying this moment more.
"You know that you can't escape me," the bloodthirsty Maverick rasped at his current plaything. "It doesn't matter how much you try, my Hunter friend. The field isn't just going to break apart, like magic, like some kind of random miracle... not like our pitiful first encounter."
He loved watching it. His arch-nemesis, the very bane of his existence, the one who had single-handedly ruined his reputation and destroyed every fiber of dignity left within him... now HE was being tortured, HE was struggling to stay alive, and now HE would be the one to die at HIS HANDS.
X's body writhed with consistent pain as he constantly tried to free himself of the electrical confinement that had encased his entire frame. During their skirmish, Omega had succeeded in forcing X to waste away a great deal of his energy level before getting a few well-timed hits on him, and then, finally, trapping him in the barrier that would forever seal his fate. It came so fast, so unexpectedly... and X, feeling almost the exact same way that he had felt back during the first uprising, was totally unprepared and unequipped to fend against it. And now, he was stuck on the ground, easier to kill than shooting fish in a barrel.
"It's enjoyable to watch you struggle, Hunter..." Vile continued, donning his monotone, now commonplace voice, one that sent chills down X's synthetic spine. "It's enjoyable, I personally believe, because it's justified. Maybe you don't realize it, my friend, but I have been waiting a VERY long time for this to happen. What you have reduced me to since our first battle has been... unforgivable." His eyes flickered with hellish light as he approached his helpless nemesis, the shoulder cannon on his back aimed directly at him; currently, it was the force that was holding X strongly in place. "What I have been through during our years apart has been some kind of horrid nightmare... and during all of that time I have been brewing in my own juices, hating you more every day, wanting to forever halt your existence, but lacking the ability to do so... do you know what that FEELS LIKE?!" The anger in his voice was rising, forming an unbalanced mix with his monotone voice. "But now, things will change, Hunter. Once I have ended your pathetic life, I guarantee that you will experience the EXACT SAME HELL that I was forced to experience for all these years. Only difference is, though, that unlike my torture, yours will be infinite. I will send you to an eternity of Hell, of anguish, of fear, of emotional torture... and I will remain here, in the physical world, laughing and celebrating in the glory of my victory."
"B...b... bastard..." was all the incarcarated X could utter. Not only was he being confined by the strength of Vile's electrical barrier, but by fear and anger as well; Vile's words had just continued to enrage him, prompting him to struggle against the eletricity once again and only to be met with the same excrutiating, unbearable pain. Soon enough, that pain became so unbearable that the Hunter was forced to give up with his feeble attempts, his energy now practically sapped. Vile's eyes glowed with extreme malice as his shoulder cannon began to emit a soft, greenish glow, still aiming directly at X. The charge had reached midway when Vile was about to fire the shot, the shot that would finish X off for good...
...but something stopped him. He was milliseconds away from firing that fatal shot when he felt something strange, something unnatural, coming at him directly from his left. What was that... an inbalance in the air, or something? The enraged Maverick turned his head for a split-second, to inspect exactly what the problem was before enacting out his revenge. And all he was met with was the inevitable fact that it was far too late.
Something - something surprisingly strong - had struck him head-on, right in the face. He tried to get a good look at how he had gotten attacked, but it was impossible. The blow, while not knocking him off of his feet, caught him by total surprise and jarred his mental abilities quite a bit. His senses started going out of control; his eyes completely blurred, his entire cranium became completely numb, his memory even started to bug out on him a bit. He was totally confused, totally dumbed down with shock, and was constantly asking himself - what the hell had just happened?!
But things would soon become worse for the disgruntled Maverick. It had been barely seconds after the first blow had been dealt that a second attack was brought forth - this one, however, seemed to contain even more malice, surprise, and sheer power than the last. It felt like a fist, a fist being jammed right into the side of the head, one that seemed to have come from right below him... no, it couldn't have been...
But for Vile it was too late to ponder who had attacked who. The last blow to the head had, unlike the first, propelled him off of his feet and sent him crashing to the ground, skidding against the floor and eventually ramming him head-first into the front wall. Both blows had caused severe damage to his mind... his thoughts were swarming, his mind was fighting an inner battle with itself... something had been set loose within his mind, some obscure thought or idea, that had come from somewhat distant and somewhat recent memories. His mind continued to argue with itself over this obscure idea as his vision faded to black...
Glacier kneeled down; he needed to regain some energy. Surprising himself beyond all means, he had just hurled himself against the tyrannous OmegaVile, driving his large clawed foot right into his face. And then, before he could even recover from dealing out his own attack, another came out of seemingly nowhere - X, who had somehow managed to find the strength to break free of his confinement, had risen to his feet long enough to deal a firm, off-the-fly punch directly in Vile's left "cheek", so to speak. Now both of them were breathing heavily, standing somewhat slouched over, and for a few seconds completely unable to speak to eachother.
"Glacier..." X managed to say between breaths, breaking their brief silence and nursing his reddened left hand; other than that minor injury, he seemed to be in decent condition. "You... you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine..." Dragoon muttered in response with his hands on his knees, looking up at his fellow Commander with a mixed expression of shock and pure admiration. What X had just done was certainly beyond the abilities of any ordinary Hunter; to think, after all of that torture brought upon by Vile, he was still able to regain his composure and deal an extremely effective attack, all in a very short amount of time. Something then became very clear to Glacier... so, this was the reason why he was called a legend.
"Nice... to see ya again," X said with assurance, flashing his comrade a somewhat weak smile. "Your timing was perfect there... hit him just in time. How'd you find us up here...?"
"Ugh, long story," the physically taxed dragon replied in a huff of frustrated breath. "What I want to know right now is... just what the hell has been going on up here? I saw Magma on the other side of the room, and he was mangled up pretty badly... got him to a safe area for now, figured the culprit was Vile, then attacked..."
"Well, luckily, you figured right," X stated, glancing back at Vile's body, which seemed to be in something of a comatose state. "Seems that Sigma's altered Vile for the worst, since he was captured... all the workings of Mavericks... this whole fortress, this whole plan." He switched his glance to the far right side of the room, where Zero was still tirelessly battling with Sigma. "As for your brother, he went off without us... wanted to fight Vile by himself, and reduced every possible passageway up here to ashes so we wouldn't get involed... would've gotten himself killed if we hadn't arrived in time." He turned back to Glacier. "That's why I'm a bit surprised... that you made it up here so fast. All of the elevators and stairways were destroyed... how...?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, X... I'm not sure how I did it, myself," Glacier responded, his voice cracking a bit upon realizing that Magma had been partially responsible for this whole mess. He'd always known his brother had become something of an arrogant idjit since the brink of the third Maverick uprising, but this act went far beyond the Magma he knew back when they were just ambitious rookies together at the Hunter HQ. He winced a bit when he remembered that training session they had held together weeks before... seemed like decades. He recalled the malice in his brother's eyes, the expression on his face... almost as if he had the intent of killing his closest comrade and friend. Could that malice have finally grasped control of his mind...?
"Glacier...!" X suddenly yelped, interrupting Glacier's thoughts. After directing his glance back to his fellow Commander, the Dragoon could clearly see that his previously relieved face had instantaneously converted into a hardenend, stone serious look of concern. "It's Vile..." he continued, his eyes narrowed on his target. "I... I think he's getting back up."
And it was so. Heeding the Blue Bomber's words, he immediately swung his head in the direction X happened to be staring; sure enough, the short helmetted Maverick was attempting to get on his feet, his entire body shaking in an extremely unnatural manner. After only a few more seconds, the injured Maverick managed to return to a stance position, his body looking a bit dirtied from the fall he was just forced to endure. Both Hunters noted that he was still shaking constantly, his eyes flared and his fists clenched at his sides. It seemed as if he were staring at the ground instead of straight at them, like something was bothering him...
"Damn, even after an attack like that, he's..." Glacier stated with implied malice as he began to outstretch his right arm directly towards the Maverick offender. Smiling, he watched as his arm began to cover itself with some kind of bluish aura, as if he were charging an attack. "X, don't worry about this guy..." Dragoon mentioned snidely as he prepared to fire the shot. "I'll take care of him!"
"NO, GLACIER, WAIT!!" X suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, swifty thrusting a protective arm in front of his eager. Glacier, completely taken by surprised, slowly began to lower his arm as he constantly glanced back-and-forth between X and Vile. X's face had now gone beyond serious; his mouth was agape, his eyes were wide open, his body was rigid and straightened up. From the looks of it, his previous fears of Vile had vanished in the blink of an eye; now, all that he was feeling was concern, the concern that there was something seriously wrong with Vile.
"Listen, Glaicer," X instructed his friend, breathing heavily. "Hear me out for a second. I know this may sound crazy, but... please, just STAY AWAY FROM VILE. I can sense something about him that's wildly different than before... something triggered when we attacked him a moment ago. I don't know WHAT the hell it was, but it was something, and it seems to be effecting him for the worse right now..." He shook his head in apparent pity. "Both of us... need to stay away from him. He could be less of a danger than before, but then again, he could be even WORSE. And honestly, I don't want either of us taking that risk... so please, just stay back..."
Glacier fell silent. X looked disturbed, very disturbed, at what he was watching... was his premonition right? He turned back to glance at Vile, still confused about the entire situation; Vile was shaking, for sure, but just what the hell did that mean? Hasn't he shaken like that before, or was the Dragoon just completely mistaken? It seemed that his confusion and distress would never end...
...that is, until he heard Vile's disturbed voice crying out in anguish and despair.
No... NO, DAMMIT!!... Vile screamed mentally as he clutched his helmetted cranium, trying to stop his mind from transforming itself. It was hellish, tortourous... he was being driven mad, insane, completely out of his mind by this one solitary, stupid idea that had somehow formulated in his brain. It was one of the most horrible feelings he had ever felt in his life, like something ripping away at his soul, his heart, his sanity... worse than anything he had ever experienced, ever. What had happened to him?!
"NO!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, thrusting his hands away from his head as he began to feel overly-powerful electrical energy surging through it. "No... GOD DAMN YOU... STOOOOOP!!"
But there was nothing he could do; the damage was done, long done. That idea, that one solitary, stupid, and utterly ridiculous idea... was destroying his self-being, turning his entire body against him, forming himself into something that he had always strived desperately never to be, under any possible circumstances. No, he would NOT let it destroy him, he would fight this, he would KEEP his hate, he would KILL those who had harmed him in the past, JUSTICE would be served...
No... NO WAY... he battled mentally once again, the electricity around his body now becoming considerably more powerful, more heated, and so horribly intense that it felt as if he would fall dead right then and there. No... this is NOT GOING TO DEFEAT ME!! I want MY VENGEANCE... HUNTERS... NEED TO DIE!! NO... I don't care if this thing takes me over... my hate... will never die... YOU HEAR ME?! MY HATE WILL NEVER DIE...
And then, that form of him was forever silenced. The idea, the one that he had been keeping buried within him for days, weeks, months, years... it had rebirthed itself, finally, like a pheonix rising from the ashes. Finally, Vile's body began to crackle with a brilliant orange hue, the pain within him rising beyond the breaking point as the transformation reached its ultimate climax. His body convulsed violently, his entire body seemed to betray him, his senses began to shut down, and his mind almost exploded as he shouted one final scream of horrific agony...
...and then, peace.
It all began to end like one giant falling motion. His body stopped convulsing. The electrical sparks that had previously consumed him fizzled out. His artificial muscles, which had been completely tensed up only moments before, were now able to relax. And, most importantly, his mind had healed, as it seemed... it felt pure, tranquil, though at the same time he could sense a darker feeling that had been suppressed. Would it belong before this dark feeling became more and more powerful...?
His vision had returned to him; all of his senses were finally back to life, as if he were being born anew. He opened his darkened eyes to find himself standing in front of a group of... people, people he recognized from some time past. He remembered loathing them, wanting to annihilate all of them with his power... but, for some reason, he could not conjure up the will to do so. He then remembered something he'd promised to do before, something about a redemption... and soon enough, it all became perfectly clear.
"X... Glacier... Zero..." a kind, familiar voice called. "It's... nice to see all of you again."
Everybody and everything in the room had suddenly stopped, as if time itself was being suspended. The commotion with Vile had quickly prompted Zero and Sigma to halt their fighting; now, they just stared at the foreign orange figure, mouth agape in shock. X and Glacier were even more shocked, as the horrific event had occured right in front of them, practically; they'd almost been knocked off of their feet from the kind of power Vile had been releasing just then. So now... what had happened to him?
"It seems like ages since I've seen all you," the orange being continued, examining everything around him like a blind man who had just gotten his vision back. "Ages... since the day I returned to the world. The past days have been very hectic... it seems that I've caused a great deal of damage since then. And for that, I apologize..."
"Sunshine?!" X almost shouted, the hurt and fright in his voice distinctly present. "What... you've gone and 'reformed' again?" He gave his former enemy a look of complete distrust.
The orange figure chuckled to himself - not in a mocking way, but out of mild amusement in X's words. "X... I'm sorry... that I've forced you to act this way," he said with implied sentiment. "You dislike me, and that's obvious. I should have never tried to change that in the past." His eyes brightened a bit, but without malice this time around. "And to answer your question... well, yes and no. I'm no longer Vile, but I'm also not the other extreme, 'Sunshine'. I've become the medium between the two, my real form, the one my creator had always wanted me to be. Dr. Cain called me 'Vava'... and this is who I really am."
Glacier Dragoon's teeth were fully bared; he wasn't believing a word of what Vile was saying. Pure form? Pshaw, hadn't he endured stronger attacks than a punch like that? It seemed like he was pulling something, trying to feed off of all their emotions and then strike them when their backs were turned...
"I don't know how I returned to this form..." 'Vava' continued. "Something was jarred from my memory when I was attacked, I believe. Maybe it was some kind of bizarre act of fate, maybe it was a miracle... I don't really know."
"OMEGA!" shouted Sigma's angry voice from the other side of the room. "WHAT IN MY GRANDMOTHER'S NAME DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! HAVE YOU GONE COMPLETELY INSANE?!"
"Glacier Dragoon," Vava continued as he turned to face the Dragoon, ignoring Sigma's screams. "Yes... that's your name. I believe that your brother and I engaged in battle before, and I caused him some extremely severe injuries. It upsets me greatly that this kind of fate has befallen him, because I believe that he is an honorable fighter. Please, take care of him, and make sure that his wounds are treated as soon as possible. With the proper aid, he will be fine in a short amount of time."
"Yeah..." the confused and distrusting Dragoon muttered under his breath. "I'll, uhh... do that."
"Good, good," he replied softly. "It seems... like I've caused far too much trouble because of my past decisions. Even as 'Sunshine', I've been at fault, with me just ambling out into the world and expecting everybody to just start trusting me after all of the mistrust I've displayed to them in the past. And now... I've put everybody in this world into grave danger..."
"VILE! YOU WILL STOP THIS NONSENSE RIGHT NOW!!" shouted Sigma once again, who had managed to stand himself up. "Omega, this will not continue. You are STILL UNDER MY CONTROL, do you hear me??" He began to stomp angrily towards Vava, his teeth clenched in anger. "I don't even care anymore if this is a trick! You will NOT sympathize with the enemies, and if you continue to act this way, then I will PERSONALLY PUNISH YOU! I GUARANTEE THAT-"
But he would never finish his sentence. Out of seemingly nowhere, he found himself face-to-face with a giant surge of electrical energy so powerful that it knocked him right off of his feet, landing him on his back. The Reploid King screamed in pain as he vainly attempted to regain his composure, only to be met with unyielding electric shocks. His energy giving way, he sprawled out straight on his back, barely unable to even lift up his head.
"SIGMA..." Vava said with loathing, a tone that the Hunters knew 'Sunshine' would never normally use. "No... this ordeal has not been entirely my fault. I remember, it was you... you convinced me to let my violent side control me, you encouraged me to murder humans and Hunters, you refused to let me sleep as a failed project. You convinced Doppler to revive me, as well... and now, you've released ALL of the evil in me and forced me to almost kill these Hunters. You infected me with that damned Maverick Virus, all those years ago... and for that, Sigma, I may never forgive you for what you've done. Not in this lifetime."
"Stupid... FOOL!..." Sigma managed to blurt out. "Never... should have... wasted... my time... with you..."
"Maybe so," Vava admitted, "but at this point, I don't care. All that matters now is, I'm going to eradicate everything of yours. This building, your Mavericks, and YOU. I dislike using violence to solve problems in most situations, but right now, this is all that I can do for the sake of the Earth and mankind. I am going to finally redeem myself... and to do so, I'm going to destroy this building, as well as myself. And there's nothing you can do to prevent that."
"Vile - what?!" a shocked Zero exclaimed, who had been slowly following behind Sigma and was now right next to him. "Hold the phone, Mayble. Did I hear you say that you were going to destroy the building, as well as..."
"...myself. Yes," Vava finished for him, his voice becoming a little somber. "I know it may sound a bit unorthodox, but there is a perfectly plausible reason as to why it must be done. You see, even in the pure, normal form that I'm in now, in far from remaining stable. I know that, if I were to try and live in the real world as I am now, I would never be able to remain this way without turning into the violent monster that I was in my past. I can feel it... it's begging to take control of my mind once more. That monster, OmegaVile, needs to be destroyed as soon as possible... otherwise, the fate of mankind will be in jeopardy."
"But..." X began, shaking a bit. "Don't you think... someone like Dr. Cain could take care of that for you? He's a smart guy, he could..."
"It's wishful thinking, X, but believe me now when I say that it will be a futile effort," Vava calmly replied, lowering his head solemnly as if implying that he was a lost cause. "There is no doctor, living or dead, who could save me from this curse. There is only one way out, and that way if my destruction. And, once that is done, my redemption will hopefully be completed at last. But first..." He turned towards Zero, who stood with his mouth still agape and a confused expression displayed on his face. "I need to make a final peace with you."
"Final... peace?" Zero mumbled in utter bewilderment. "Vile, are you sure you haven't turned mentally ill...?"
"Please, Zero, hear me out for a second," Vava began, approaching the Crimson Slayer. "I know that it won't be easy for any of you to truly forgive me for what I have done, since I have affected all of your lives very negatively in some way. You, Zero... not only did I encase you in a Maverick cage all those years ago, but I prompted you to willingly pay the ultimate price in order to save the life of your closest comrade. I have put you and a great deal of others through a great deal of anguish, and though I know it is far too late now for you to forgive me, I offer you now my formal apology." With that, he extended a hand to the former rival. "I'd like to leave you in peace."
"Peace...?" Zero repeated, staring at the extended hand in utter confusion. What was he supposed to do now? How was he supposed to believe that this was a real apology, that this monster was really reformed for the better, that he was actually going to destroy himself for their sake? Could he really take that risk...?
He could, and he did. His hand met Vava's, and they shook hands for only a second; there were no tricks, no flicks of the wrists, no violent hand crushings, no unexpected attacks... just a brief, gentle handshake, one that seemed to have ended before it had begun. Vava seemed relieved, partially.
"Thank you, Zero," Vava said with a bit of relief. "Now... there is one more thing that I must do before I leave you. X..."
X froze in his boots as he heard his name being called out. Vile... no, Vava, or whatever he was calling himself now, was slowly approaching him, the clanking of his boots sounding against the smooth flooring. X wanted to back away, to even run away from him... he couldn't trust him, he could never really trust him. But something was preventing him from leaving, some unknown force kept him planted in his spot... was it fear, or something else?
"X..." Vava began, the sympathy rising in his voice. "You will... never forgive me, not for what I have done. As the Maverick you have known me to be in the past, I have caused you the most anguish out of anybody else in this world. During the first war, I treated you like complete garbage, even comparing you to scrap metal. And, even worse, I not only forced your best friend to kill himself on your behalf, but I almost ended up killing you as well. And then, after I was revived by Doppler, I did something that has caused you severe mental anguish since the end of that war; during my death, I promised to haunt you until the day of your death. And now... I've come close to killing you once again, increasing your torture tenfold. What I have put you through... can never be cured."
"Yeah, you got that right!" X exclaimed, glaring at the Maverick menacingly. He felt himself trembling a bit, still reserving some fear for the golden being.
"I wish that I could erase the past..." Vava continued, staring longingly to the ground. "I wish I could restart my life for the better... but I know that that is impossible. But maybe there is something I can do, something to partially ease the pain..." He extended another hand to the Blue Bomber, looking straight into his former rival's eyes. "Maybe we can leave in peace, as well."
"Guh, are you nuts?!" X suddenly blurted out, taking a few steps back. "You think... I'm just going to shake your hand, just like that, and everything's just going to be okey-dokey again? Well, then you can just FORGET about..."
"Please, X," Vava interrupted, seemingly unfazed by his reluctance. "Believe me, I never contemplated things ever becoming alright between us. But X, I believe that the best we can do is leave as comrades, not enemies. I want you to disregard that threat of haunting you until the day you die... I want to try and ease your mental anguish at least a little. I would die happy knowing that I had at least shaken your hand, friend."
"Might as well do it, X," Zero chimed in, still listening in on the scene with awe. "I mean, I did it, and... well, I'm starting to believe that he's pretty serious about this whole thing."
X paused to think for a moment. This was, without a doubt, one of the most awkward situations he had ever found himself in. It all seemed to have happened way too fast for him; this monster of an enemy, who he had been wary of for years and served as his rival at times, had suddenly converted and wanted to make peace with him? To shake his hand, to leave him as an ally? It just seemed too out of whack. Could he just submit to this former madman so easily? Would it accomplish anything...?
"Al... all right..." he muttered a bit, finally extending his own hand to grasp Vava's. It was a very short, somewhat firm handshake, but it spoke volumes. After it was over, an awkward feeling traveled through X's armored body... what was that? Relief? Maybe - it was like the feeling one gets when they finally get the opportunity to take a heavy object off of their shoulders. He ended up feeling a lot better after the handshake was over, like a part of him had been healed... something that he had never expected to happen.
"Yes... thank you, X," Vava finished. "And please, if you will, give Dr. Cain my regards. I'm sure he would be happy to see me as he had always envisioned... but now, I think it's time we end the formal goodbyes and get down to business. What I'm going to do is teleport myself to the second floor security deck, where most of the building's internal operations are kept in check... and I will self-destruct from there, creating a blast powerful enough to bring this entire building crashing to the ground. The three of you... need to get out of here as soon as possible."
"And... how exactly are we supposed to do that?" Glacier butted it with concern. "I mean, all of the exits are sealed off aren't they?"
"Oh, it may appear that way, Glacier," Vava continued, "but there is an overlooked passageway in this building that the Mavericks forgot to seal up with the rest of the building. It's an underground river... the only major source of water the Mavericks have had in this barren desert. There are two ways that it can be reached, both from the first floor - there's the 'official' route, which takes far too long to go through... and then, there's the quick way of escape. And that's jumping."
"Whoa whoa whoa..." X said with disbelief, holding his hand out. "Slow down a bit. You're telling me that we're gunna have to JUMP into a giant, murky river of water...?"
"If you want to leave here alive, I'm afraid it's the only option. From there, you can travel through the desert underground and reach safety. Follow that path, and I promise you that you will escape here safe and sound." Vava continued sentimentally. He then released something similar to a sigh, sounding even a bit remorseful. "So now... I guess it's time for me to leave all of you. I wish... I wish that none of this had happened, that I could spend some more time with you, get to know you more. But that will never happen... I know that will never happen." He turned his back to the trio of Hunters, looking up to the ceiling. "But I just need to give you a warning, for the future. I know that soon, more conflicts will arise, and you will probably be called to action at some other points in your lives. So I give you some final advice - try to use violence only when it is totally necessary, and never, under ANY circumstances, transform into the monster that I formerly was." He lowered his head. "Well... thank you, all of you. Continue your battle, and I hope that someday, your dream of human and reploid coexistence and really come to be. Remeber the route of escape I told you of... it's the only hope you have now. Thank you... and godspeed."
Those would be the final words they would ever hear the peaceful Vava say. In a brilliant flash of light, the reformed reploid's body was encased in a beautiful golden aura, illuminating the entire room. Then, a quickly as it had begun, the light faded and eventually vanished; he was gone. Suddenly, the room delved into a deep, solemn silence; all three seemed to be in an awkward state of meditation, asif they were contemplating exactly what had just taken place right before their very eyes.
"V... Vile... Vava..." X unconsciously found himself repeating, a look of loss on his face. For some reason, a feeling of guilt was spreading inside of him, a guilt that had become all too familiar in the passing years...
"Ugh... alright, guys," Zero began snapping everybody back to attention. "You guys... remember what he said, right? There's an underground river here... it's the only chance we have to escape. I say that we get our asses downstairs before Vava destroys us with this godforsaken building..."
"Yeah, I gotcha," Glacier agreed, even he sounding a bit on the shocked and depressed side. "I'll... go get Magma, and then we'll leave."
"That's probably best..." X chimed in, who was still completely shocked by what Vile had done. "Let's... get going. I'm starting to feel less and less comfortable in here by the second."
Dynamo stood still, completely stunned by what he had just witnessed. He'd seen everything... OmegaVile's pinning of X, Glacier's intervention, the reincarnation of 'Vava', the attack on Sigma, and Vava's parting words... it was creepy as hell, all of it. Creepy as hell.
So... the plastic soldier boy is going to destroy himself now, for the sake of the world? he thought with a mental chuckle. Jesus, will the wonders EVER cease in this wretch of a building?
But there was no more time for mental pondering... he needed to get the hell out of that building, and fast. And he knew exactly how to do it, too, without using the cheap and inconvenient method that Vava had so ungratefully bequeathed to his new best friends. There was a different method of teleportation - one that only few reploids could use, and that was completely undetectable by the building's security - that was taught to him by the not-so-useless Mercutio way back when. He'd enjoy leaving the Maverick forces, finally... man, how he'd enjoy it. Everything was laid out in stone for him... he'd escape the fortress, travel through the desert, yadda yadda yadda, he'd become the world's most powerful warrior. Or something along those lines.
Moving as stealthily as possible, the renegade mercenary entered the abandoned third floor lobby, scarred and scorched from the battle that had taken place seemingly moments before. X, Zero, and Glacier had already escaped through the elevator shaft by now, and were definitely well on their way towards freedom. Well, whoop-de-frickin'-do, good for them. As he approached the middle of the room, he stopped himself, relaxing his muscles and letting his mind escape him... ahh, just like good 'ol Mercush taught him to. He was just about to fade away in a cloud of white aura, to leave that hellhole of a building behind, when he felt something forcefully tugging at his leg.
"Please... PLEASE..." a voice called from below, one that sounded vaguely familiar. "You, whoever you are... get me... out of here!..."
"...well well, herring on a stick, it's YOU," Dynamo said with smug disbelief, staring down at the owner of the voice. Clinging onto his left leg was none other than Grand Commander Sigma himself, battered and beaten. His body was fully encased in some kind of electrical barrier, and his right arm seemed to have been cut clean off - his left arm, which was clinging onto him at that very moment, was the only arm he had left. He looked horribly distressed and injured, like he had just taken a three-week vacation to Hell and had somehow lived to tell the tale.
"Please, PLEASE! You have to help me, somehow..." the pitiful Maverick groveled, clasping onto Dynamo's leg with all of his might. "Please, if I stay here... I'll be obliterated!"
"Oh, and why do you expect me to care?!" Dynamo almost shouted, sounding completely irritated by this display. "If you were obliterated in this place, it would definitely be a weight off of my shoulders, believe you me. I'm getting the hell out of here, and if you end up dying in here, well... tough titty, said the kitty."
"NO! PLEASE!!" Sigma screamed, looking as if he were about to break out into tears. "Please! You don't understand... I don't deserve to die like this, I don't! NOBODY deserves something like this, ESPECIALLY NOT ME!!!" He moaned, grunted, feigning a bit of his pain. "Please, PLEASE... just let me live... this one time..."
Damnit... why won't he just stay here, die, and leave me alone?! Dynamo mentally cursed, his sense of pride fighting with a new, awkward feeling that he never enjoyed - pity. Sure, he hated Sigma's pathetic guts, but just watching him like this... it was so utterly saddening to watch, even if it was one of the people he disliked the most in this world. His mind began to form a compromise... damnit, why am I ALWAYS put into situations like this?!
"Alright, FINE!" Dynamo exclaimed angrily, feeling deep down inside that he would live to regret this action. "But you're gonna OWE ME for this."
"Yes... YES!" Sigma responded, bowing in mercy to his new reploid savior. "Thank you... THANK YOU... I will never forget you for this, believe me!..."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Dynamo muttered in annoyance. "Just shut up and sit tight for a second, will ya? This'll only take a second."
And Sigma did just that. With a quick flick of the wrist, Dynamo destroyed the electrical barrier surrounding the Maverick Master, just so that he wouldn't have to deal with any unneeded electrocution. Then, placing a hand on the fallen Sigma's shoulder, he summoned that same wave of white aura. Soon enough, the two were engulfed with the foreign white mist, leaving the decaying edifice forever.
This... is it. This is everything that I've wanted to do... this is the end.
Vava stared at the panel of controls. The monitors were fully functional, but the room was completely barren, devoid of life; it seemed as if some of the more prominent Mavericks had escaped. He watched the monitors intently... most of the rooms left in the fortress were totally emptied, with a great deal of Mavericks bunched up and trapped in the other side of the second floor.
I can tell... there are some of them who don't deserve death. But... this must be done. For the sake of the world...
He could still feel it; the monster inside of him, still struggling incessantly to break free of its suppression. OmegaVile was still alive... and it wouldn't take much for him to break free once again.
No... I'm NOT going to allow that. I'll destroy him. I don't care if I die as well... as long as the world remains safe. X, Zero, Glaicer... I think they're nearing the exit...
Yes... they'd make it out alive. Finally ready to pay the ultimate price, he placed an open palm on the controls, felt the heat rising within his entire body. Though it wasn't completely apparent from the outside, he was activating a self-destruction sequence internally, allowing his entire body transform itself into one reploid-sized bomb, ready to ignite into one colossal explosion. As the heat began to engulf him, and he could feel his body begin to be taken to the great beyond, he caught one last glimpse of the three living Hunters in the building. And he had his final thoughts.
X... Zero... Glaicer...
Don't worry about me anymore. I know what I'm doing... my redemption... will save and benefit everyone, even if they don't realize it...
The monster inside of me is dead, forevermore... I accomplished everything that I've needed to in life...
So... I extend my greatest thanks to you... for your help in showing me the way. I know that the years to follow may not be easy... but somehow, I know that you'll perservere.
Again... thank you, all of you. I wish you... the best.
X stared readily down into the rushing waters, the blackness of the poisonous pool of filth. So, this was it... this was the only way to get out of this place. How lover-ly.
"Alright, guys," Zero called to Glacier and X, both of which who stood with him on the edge of a first floor cliff-like structure. Below it was the 'fabled' underground river, extending long and stretching out wide. "All of you ready for the jump? Glacier, you got Magma strapped to ya tight?"
"Yeah, he ain't goin' nowhere," Glacier hastily replied, with his comatose brother kept in a firm grasp over his shoulder.
"Alright then, let's do this thang," Zero finalized, staring back down to the water. "Okay, on the count of three! One... two... THREE...!"
And just like that, all three Hunters jumped off in unison, the wind rushing through them like a turbulent tornado. They held their breath and shut their eyes tight as they plunged into the murky depths, the cold, polluted liquid rushing through their veins, and their world became darkness...