Author's Note: I
formally apologize for not updating when I said I would, but school was a
priority, what with Finals and all, but now that I am out of school, I am free
to write. Now, I would like to thank my
readers and their encouragement of this story.
I have a reason now to write this story… To stay alive. You don't think that I'd still be alive if I
stopped right now, do you? My readers
would kill me! No, I have to keep
writing because of self-defense!!
Seriously, though. Without you,
this whole story would just be for nothing.
Once again, if you have any suggestions, comments, or concerns, don't be
afraid to put them in a review, or an email.
I accept all forms of criticism, except for flames. Rule:
Don't flame unless you can prove you're able to write this story better
than me. 'Nuff said.
Disclaimer: Once again, I will say that I do not own any of the Mega Man X characters. I do not, have not, and likely will not own any of them. One can only dream… The only character I do own is Wy. She is mine and only mine. If you want to use her, ask first. My email is in my profile, so… yeah. You know the deal.
Chapter 3: X, Wy, …
Wy stood
behind X, jaw agape. She knew that X
liked to give tough entry exams, but this was just short of murder! Going up against the legend, the hero, X… No
one does that and wins. This was either
going to be very short, or very long and drawn out, depending on how he was
going to play with her… She had this
image of X toying with her mind as she ran the maze of simulated wasteland,
defeating simulated Mavericks along the way.
She could see him playing with her like a cat plays with a mouse….
"Wy, hello? Are you alright?" Wy jerked to attention, embarrassed at having been caught
daydreaming. "Don't blow a bolt on me
right now, you'll need all the help you can get in this course. I'm choosing a factory setting. They're will be plenty of Mav's to keep both
of us busy for a bit. Once we enter
into the SDR, it's a free for all. If
you make it to the entrance before I do, then you can deactivate the Maverick
sims, but you will still need to land at least nine non-consecutive hits on
me. Think you can handle that,
rookie?" X was hoping to goad her into
competition, believing that she was similar enough to Zero that she'd fall for
it. She did.
"Bring it on!" She wasn't sure what exactly made her say
it, but she knew she meant it. She
stepped up to the door at X's side, and tried not to see X's face. She was sure that she'd see him grinning at
her, that stupid, naïve grin that he had that made him look so young. But when she looked up at him, all she saw
was a fierce look of determination… it puzzled her, but she didn't have time to
piece together this particular puzzle, as X said simply, "Go." His hand was pointed at the now open door,
and the simulated danger that lay ahead of her. She did what she was told, and dove headlong into the simulation.
X waited at the door for a
moment, before hitting the command on the door to shut and lock behind him. He walked into the SDR slowly, taking his
time while he thought out loud. "I
promise, Zero. I'll take care of her. She'll be a Hunter unparalleled amongst her
peers. I promise." And then, he dashed into the fray that was
now the entire environment, skimming along the slight path left from Wy's
passage, and making his own path…
While X worked his magic in
the SDR, Wy was left to defend herself against the likes of some of the
fiercest Mavericks that the Maverick Hunters had ever encountered. Neon Tiger was among the first that Wy had
had to battle, and she was surprised by the level at which he fought. X must have turned the Danger settings
up to just below 'Deadly Force'. This
won't be as easy as I thought it might have been.
Wy used her Buster sparingly,
not even using her 'Saber. She relied
on her hand-to-hand capabilities, which was almost unheard of for a Hunter to
do, not unless that was what they were specifically built for. She blasted at the larger mavericks, and
took out the small ones with precise, fierce attacks with both feet and
hands. She seemed able to hold her own
up until she encountered Neon Tiger.
She shot a normal shot at him,
and he blocked with his extended claws.
She took aim for a second volley, but didn't have the time as Neon
charged in towards her. She relaxed
herself and lashed out with her hands and feet in a flurry of movement… she
succeeded in merely stopping Neon's charge, but did no damage to him. He grinned evilly at her, and said, "My
turn." His voice held all of the venom
of a Maverick gone completely over to the Virus, and his next attack proved it.
Neon struck out with his claws
and became a storm of motion. His hands
never stopped moving while his tail came up behind his back and shot a cluster
of plasma charges at Wy, hoping to catch her unawares. Unfortunately, she had not been caught
unawares, not in the least. What she
was, was angry. She was angry with
herself for letting this go on this long, and she was not about to let this
continue. She had managed to dodge or
block most of Neon's slashes, but she had taken damage from him. She was not happy.
She tensed her legs and jumped
back, being assisted by a brief burst from her Dash system, which flew her back
to a distance that put her safely out of range of that last attack, and set her
up for her next strike. She ran at
Neon, full out, and just as she was about to plow into him, she reached down to
her 'Saber, and drew. It came out with
an initial upward strike, activating as she swung it, and lashed out in three
quick, precise, and powerful strikes.
The 'Saber was returned to its holding place almost as soon as it had
left. And then, only then, did Neon
Tiger drop to the ground, disabled. His
arms were severed, and a large hole was in his chest plate.
Wy looked down at her
handiwork for a moment, and then moved on, using her Dash system to give her an
extra boost to catch up for the lost time.
She moved on, completely unaware of the eyes that had been watching the
entire battle unfold. She rushed
through the maze of debris and completely missed that X had been so close to
her.
X, on the other hand, was
rethinking his strategy for dealing with her.
Just watching how she dealt with the maze up to Neon had given him ample
information to form a working plan for fighting her. She fought the small mavericks hand-to-hand, which meant that she
was conserving energy either because she didn't have much use for her Buster,
or she simply liked to dispose of smaller mavericks like that. The blast from the Buster, when she used it,
reminded him of Zero's Z-buster, but it seemed like it had more range, and like
it might have more power behind it if given the opportunity.
Her entire strategy with
defeating Neon had been startling. She
fought so much like Zero that it was frightening. She struck at all of the weak points and went straight for the
kill spot, no lingering. No
waiting. That was so much like
Zero… Her style was, however, so much
different from Zero's that he had no idea how to counter most of her attacks,
save by just not letting her attack.
She had a 'Saber, yes, and it could be blocked, yes, but she was so
quick that being able to get his own 'Saber out in time to block hers would be
nearly impossible. He wasn't sure what
would happen if she were allowed to close in on him with that thing… He didn't think about it for long,
though. He dashed off, himself, to go
find where Wy had gotten off to…
Wy, had indeed gone off
somewhere, and was now deeply regretting not having taken the upper path. This path that looked like a short cut, was
indeed anything but. She was forced to
use her Buster to clear a path, time and again. She charged up, and launched large bolts of plasma towards her
enemies. It cleared the path
successfully, and she shot past the dazed and confused leftovers, disabling
each with a quick blow to their control jewels. She moved on and came to the mid-point of the maze.
It was a large area, with a
few barriers here and there, but it was pretty much a straight shot to the
other side. This was too easy. Wy didn't like it one bit. But she didn't have a whole lot of choice in
the matter. She shot forward, but juked
to the right, just in time to miss a bolt of low-yield plasma hitting the spot
where she had just been. She looked up
to find the source of the attack, and that was her mistake. She was hit from behind with another
low-yield plasma bolt. The SDR damage
readout flashed across her vision and told her that her virtual energy reserves
were down by 2%. The shot that was
taken, low-yield as it was, registered in the SDR as a charged shot. She was slightly surprised by how little
damage she had taken from that kind of shot from X himself…
She had the inkling of a
reckless plan beginning to grow in her head.
She figured that if she was trapped in here, so was X, because he would
anticipate any escape, even his own, to be a possibility for her. He was either driving for this to be the
decisive battle, or he was just testing her.
He would soon learn not to do that again…
She finished her maneuvers,
and rolled to the side, just in time to miss another blast. She jumped up and Dashed backwards, in
effect reversing her direction, and heading straight into the charging X. It didn't catch him as off-guard as she
would have liked, but she knew that he wouldn't be prepared for the next
move. She whipped out her Z-Saber,
silently blessing her father for giving her his own, and she struck out with
it, but it was a diversion. She threw
her weight into it, and did a flying kick directly at X.
It was enough to catch him in
the shoulder. He had been trying to
block the impending 'Saber strike, and had failed to fully block her kick. He managed to slightly deflect it, but that
was it. It completely knocked him out
of his path, and he 'spun out' having to scrabble for traction on the ground
below to keep from tumbling about. Wy, on the other hand, flipped gracefully
down to the ground, and initiated her Z-Saber just in time to deflect three
consecutive shots from X.
His look was enough. He was impressed. But she was still only a rookie.
He took aim above her, and fired a 'charge shot' that hit the wall, and
caused an explosion of rock and debris to fall down on Wy. She didn't even have time to dodge. X stood by and watched as the rocks and
heaps of dirt fell on her, covering her.
He lost sight of her eventually through the clouds of dust, but he
watched the spot that he had last seen her in with the intensity of a hawk.
When the dust settled, and the
debris stopped falling, he approached the mound of rubble, Buster at the ready,
humming with a steady charge. He let
the shot go into the mound, loose, it would seem… but it had purpose. It didn't make a mark on his internal sensor
as a hit for him, so he assumed that she had gotten out of the rubble somehow…
He looked about, looking up and down, side to side, getting a bit paranoid…
when he looked up at the hole in the wall that he himself had made when he shot
it. There was, indeed, a hole. A hole more than large enough for Wy to have
gotten through… This was going to be
more difficult than he had thought. She
was resourceful.
Meanwhile, X may have been
momentarily puzzled by her disappearance, but Wy was more than peeved at her
condition. Her virtual readout said
that that rockslide had caused her more than 30% damage. That was a large chunk, gone, wasted. This scenario was designed to be a survival
course. She was now at a distinct
disadvantage. Her energy was much lower
than his, and he was still at almost peak efficiency. He would undoubtedly continue after her, likely setting up
another ambush. She was sure that that
ambush she wouldn't walk out of. It
would be all or nothing. Until then,
she had nothing else to do but run through this labyrinth and see if she could
find the end of it before X.
While she ran the maze and
dodged the enemies, she thought. What
was it that X wanted out of this? She
knew that he wanted to see how good she was, whether she could do this… but,
she got the feeling that he was searching for something, as well. It was a feeling deep down inside of her,
something that she just knew. She
couldn't help but wonder about it, but she didn't really give it any more
thought. It wasn't the mission at hand,
so it didn't truly matter. What
mattered was not getting blasted by any of these damned Mavericks, and getting
through this maze intact…
Wy ran the labyrinth with a
renewed determination. Each Maverick
she encountered she dispatched with the utmost speed and efficiency, not having
the time or energy to waste on them.
She found a sort of rhythm that she could move with, and she fell into a
sort of 'autopilot'. It was a serious
mistake.
She nearly dove into the
impending plasma wave; she was so sunken into her rhythm. She recovered in time to dive desperately to
one side, managing to barely miss being struck full on by the blast. Her sensors registered the virtual heat from
that blast, she was so close. It was
enough to rattle her and make her pay attention to the path before her.
What she saw was not
comforting. She might have preferred X
to this ruffian…. It was Dynamo. He had plagued both X and Zero for some time
now, and to her knowledge, he was still at large, causing havoc, but managing
to lie low, which was different behavior from a normal Maverick… But her problem, though, was that he was
here now, plaguing her. She knew that
on some occasions he had managed to surprise both X and Zero, and nearly
defeated them on separate occasions…
He charged at her, and threw
two plasma bolts at her from both of his hands, not appearing to have used a
Buster of any kind. She leapt high into
the air, dodging the blasts, and engaged her Dash system in mid-air, coming
down right at Dynamo. She didn't have
time for his antics, which was no doubt what he was here for. Antics.
A stalling measure, nothing more.
Her headlong charge was welcomed with a wicked smile, and then Dynamo
threw up both his hands and plasma lanced out from his hands, racing towards
the charging Wy. She unsheathed her
Z-Saber and struck out at the arcing plasma as if it were something to be
wrapped around her 'Saber…
Startlingly enough, though,
the plasma did wrap around her 'Saber and it arced madly from the
difference in frequency between it and the 'Saber. With her continuing momentum and Dynamo's total shock, Wy was
free to attack. She spun in a
somersault, slashing outwards with the 'Saber, and she struck Dynamo with the
"charged" Z-Saber.
The effect was almost
instantaneous. Dynamo was blown
backwards by both the intensity of the plasma, and the strength of the
blow. He landed most unceremoniously on
the ground about fifteen feet behind where he had been standing. His armor was marred by the blow, and his
control jewel was flashing the warning of low energy. He looked up at Wy, bewildered beyond belief. However, his eyes held fear, as well. The words he spoke, though, were not those
of a frightened man…
"Damn you, cursed spawn of
Zero! You will rue the day that you met
me! Your father was always far too
meddlesome for his own good. I will
have my revenge! If I must carve it
from your damned hide, so be it!" With that,
he spat at the ground before Wy's feet, and warped out of the SDR. It was then that Wy realized that this had
been the real thing. That had actually
been Dynamo, not just a simulation of him…
She stood there, shocked from
her encounter… but she couldn't let herself get distracted from the goal at
hand. She forced herself to move on,
despite the obvious intrusion by the Maverick… Her path ahead was somewhat less
crowded than before, either because Dynamo had had to destroy some of the
Mavericks, or because someone else had…
She approached this new
section with apprehension. She didn't
need to face X again, not this soon.
She wasn't sure if she could take another battle with him… He had
already demonstrated a willingness to use the battlefield to his
advantage. And he was more than a match
for her when it came to experience with battlefield advantages… He had seen so
many battles, so much violence… He knew more than she could possibly be
expected to know. She was, after all, a
child in comparison.
Her apprehension, it seemed,
was unfounded, for she found a new wave of Mavericks waiting for her just past
the crest of the hill that had blocked her view of his new section. They attacked with the same, nearly
predictable pattern as the rest had done, and she dispatched them with the same
ease, but she kept herself from falling into a trance, having learned her lesson
the hard way.
It seemed she might make it to
the end of this twisting maze without having to face X again, but she caught
sight of a blue blur in the distance, moving in a parallel path to hers. She paused behind a large piece of
machinery, keeping her eyes on the blur, and she activated her telescopic
lenses. She closed her sight in on him,
finding that he was unaware that she saw him, and that she was watching him
now. She smiled, a tight twitch of the
lips, really, and she started charging her Buster.
She leaned out to the side
enough so that she could take aim at the moving blue target. She sighted in on him, leading her target,
calculating for molecular drift, and she let loose the massive shot. Her virtual readout read that her energy
reserves had gone down by 5% for that shot.
But it didn't matter to her, not if her aim was true.
She kept her eyes on her
target, waiting for him to notice the bolt, waiting for him to dodge it, but he
never did. It took him completely
broadside. X never even saw it
coming. She was pleasantly surprised by
this turn of events, checking her readout for how many strikes she had on
him. Two. She had struck him twice, out of the required nine. Her spirits faded slightly, but she leapt up
from her hiding spot, checking X to see him searching for the source of his
attack, but not finding it in the immediate vicinity. Wy Dashed and kept on her path, disabling those Mavericks in her
path, but reserving energy and not bothering with the ones far enough away from
her not to matter…
X, however, had stopped his
movements, and was running over his own virtual readout again. It shouldn't be possible. She didn't have any enhancements that would
have made her capable of dishing out that kind of punishment! His readout read that that blast had taken
him down nearly 27%. Counting the minor
damages sustained from the Mavericks in the scenario, and the damage from his
earlier encounter with Wy, he was down by 34%.
Nearly even to her own levels… if she was capable of that kind of
output, then this battle might not be as clear-cut as he had thought. What did you create, Zero? What did you do? X let his thoughts wander while he attempted
to regain lost ground…
Wy, on the other hand, was
within fifty feet of the secondary objective.
The problem was that there was someone standing between it and her. She was frozen to her spot. What stopped her from charging on, though,
was not fear, or anything like that.
No, it was total and complete confusion. She was totally taken aback by the figure before her, as he
should not, could not possibly be there….
Her confusion was cut short, though, as X entered the scene and shot
three bolts at her.
She dodged with a roll and an
upward Dash, followed by a Dash that led her straight down. The shot that had been launched to hit her
in the air sailed past her, and she landed in a crouch on the ground. She had time to look back to the spot that
she had seen… Nothing. There was
nothing there. No trace. She let that problem slide to the back of
her mind, as she needed to deal with X.
He kept back from her, launching volleys of three shots at her, keeping
her in evasive maneuvers. She kept
moving, and she became aware that X was driving her away from the secondary
control panel, the one to deactivate the Maverick sims…
She drew her 'Saber and
deflected the next volley instead of dodging, and she charged, firing her own
Buster. Instead of firing charged
shots, or even normal shots, she halved the power output and the Buster shot out
like a machine gun. The change
delivered the expected result, and X was forced to dodge. He stopped firing, and concentrated on
dodging. Even moving at close to top
speed, he still got pegged by three shots, each one non-consecutive, which
raised her score from two to five.
Wy kept firing at X, keeping
him pinned down by her cover-fire, and she moved towards her objective. It was on a raised platform, which required
her to Dash jump to reach its top, but that required her to stop firing at
X… She took the chance, and Dashed up,
praying that she could reach the top before he was able to take aim…
Alas, she was still five feet
from the top of the platform when she was driven into the side of the
plateau. It was enough force that the
platform had dents… enough for her to grasp and keep from falling, but little
else. Her reserves read that she was
down to 48% vitals… She needed to find a way to win, and fast, or she was going
to lose… Even as she thought it, she felt the lancing pain as another charged
shot, this time more powerful than the last, hit her again. Her reserves now read at 21%. Her chip was beginning to flash slowly,
warning her that her reserves were low.
She became desperate
then. She let go of the fragile hold
she had, and Dash-kicked the wall at the same time, effectively launching her
upwards, and almost over. She needed
just a bit more of a boost… In a way, she got it, but at a high price. A shot from X lanced her, taking her down to
9% vital reserves, her chip flashing madly, the light flashing like a panicked
bird trying to fly free of some imprisonment.
However, the outcome of the blow was that she landed on the top of the
platform. She was mere feet from the
control panel. She slowly dragged
herself to her feet and reached forward to hit the switch when she heard a
sound behind her.
She dodged, and the blast just
barely missed her, but it totally destroyed the control panel. Sparks flew and electricity arced from it,
hitting both Wy and X. The electricity
damaged her to within 1% of her vitals, and it dealt X damage as well, but he
was still standing. She was barely able
to keep herself kneeling.
She thought to herself, It
can't end like this, I have to win. I
have to show him that I can be great…
Her words echoed in her head, and she attributed it to some trick of
energy depletion. When she heard the
voice, she was almost sure she was hallucinating. It couldn't be him… Zero?
"Wy, you have to get up. You
can defeat X. You need to believe in
yourself." But, how? I can't even stand up, I have so little
energy… "Trust in yourself. Believe you can do this, know that you
can. I believe in you…" Thank you.
X saw Wy, trembling from
exertion, and he couldn't bring himself to fire that last shot, not just yet. He saw her and he saw himself in her, in a
way. He saw his fierce determination to
get the job done. Then his external
sensors read the impossible. Her vital
reserves jumped back up to 52%. She
stopped trembling, and shot straight at him.
He wasn't prepared for the sudden recovery, and so, wasn't able to block
the 'Saber strike. She didn't stop, she
just kept moving. She Dashed straight
up, flipped and Dashed down again, this time landing behind X. She blasted him with a briefly charged shot,
and quickly Dashed to the left before he could get a bead on her and return
fire. She performed a double flip and
reversed direction, landing and sliding on the ground, firing her Buster at
half capacity once again, landing fifteen consecutive hits on X before he shot
back.
The shot pounded into
her. X had apparently been charging
since she recovered. The blast took her
back down to 29% vitals. Her momentum
had halted, and she was stunned from being pounded into the ground like
that. She recovered in time to get
struck in the left arm by X's 'Saber, damaging her again. She rolled to the left, believing that that
would be less expected. It worked,
enough for her to draw her own 'Saber and counter attack.
X fired two shots then slashed
at Wy, hoping to driver her back. It
worked, and she Dashed back from him, but she Dashed right back at him, giving
him no time to regroup. She slashed at
him, and he blocked but the second blow was coming too fast for him to
block. He didn't bother blocking,
instead he just threw himself back as hard as he could. The second slash missing him by nanometers,
and he was now lying on his back, watching yet another strike come from Wy.
He couldn't let her land
another blow on him, she had already gotten him eight times, and the scenario
was programmed to end if her vitals reached zero, or if she hit him nine times,
non-consecutively. He was almost out of
options. It was his fault, but by sheer
luck she was attributed achieving the secondary goal, as he had destroyed it trying
to hit her… And she was so close to
getting him… He was out of
options. He had to do use it.
He rolled back, and tapped a
control on his wrist-comm., deactivating his safety protocols… He braced himself, and shouted his
password/command code. "Giga
Blast!" His Buster didn't even charge,
just fed directly from his reserves.
His vitals fell to 7%, and his weapons reserves ran dry. The Buster grew hot, and then it lanced out
with its shot, just as Wy landed her last blow. Wy's body was thrown off the platform by the blast, and her
vitals reached zero.
X staggered back from a
combination of her final blow and the Giga Blast. His vitals read at 1.3%.
He was barely able to stand, let alone walk to the edge of the platform,
but he managed it. He saw her prone
form on the ground below, but it wasn't any kind of victory he felt over
her. No, it wasn't that, since he
hadn't really won. Seeing her like that
brought an empty feeling within him. He
saw her and felt empty, nothing else.
He touched a different button
on his wrist-comm. and the environment around them faded away, leaving them in
total darkness for a split second before reinstating the normal lighting. The simulated damage that the two had sustained
from the battle vanished with the simulation, and X was now at full strength,
as was Wy. She woke with a start, and
sat bolt upright. "What happened? Where did that come from?" X raised his hand, motioning her to still
her questions, and he spoke.
"Congratulations. You won the scenario. You've passed your exam, and you are, as of
this moment, assigned as First Officer to Unit #0. Zero would be proud of you, Wy.
You fight very impressively.
Report to Unit #0's Unit Leader tomorrow at 0700 hours, and don't be
late." He didn't bother waiting for Wy
to ask any other questions, he just headed for the exit, oblivious to anything
other than what was raging inside his mind.
He paused at the door and, in barely audible voice, he whispered, "I
wish you could have seen her, Zero…"
Watching X leave the room, Wy
was almost hollow from the news. She
had beaten X. She had met the
conditions given to her… She'd won. In the back of her head, she could almost
hear what sounded like a voice, but she ignored it… The not-voice said, "I was there, X. I was there."
End Notes: Once again, I am REALLY
sorry for not updating any sooner, but my life has been hell with the end of
school; Finals suck. The chapter was
originally going to be only six pages long, but I felt that I owed all of you more
than just six pages for waiting for me for so long, so you got two bonus
pages. The next chapter will entail the
results of this chapter, as well as introduce a new character… Never before seen in the Mega Man X
universe…
And now for the usual stuff… Please read and review as I thirst for approval,
or for any attention, as a matter of fact…
But that's just me… Read, review, I'll update more regularly, I
promise. 'Nuff said. Thanks for reading.
