Mega Man X: The Beast Within
Summary: My very first Mega Man X fic. An ancient reploid is uncovered on a dig site. When the Maverick forces find out, chaos ensues. But who, or what, is the enigmatic warrior in black combat armor?
Disclaimer: I do not own Mega Man X. I think Capcom does. I'm just fiddling around with the setting and the characters. I, however, own Cheran, the Knights, the Brotherhoods and the Stormhammer, plus a nice amount of Storm technology.
(--¤¤--) Author's Noter/Review Responses (--¤¤--)
Chapter Four is now up. I managed to figure out why I couldn't see my stories in the categories: The classic PEBKAC error (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair)- This used to be rated R, and the category list was set on "show up to PG13". Embarrassing. I dropped the rating down to PG13, as I don't intend this to be quite that violent a fic. That way, I'll get more readers, too.. I hope.
More reviews! Whee!
Ignorantly grinning: Thanks. Here you go.
Blade Dancer: Hey, long time no see! Yes, he can take the armor off. I think..
Shrapnel380: Deal.
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Mega Man X: The Beast Within
Chapter Four
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Cheran followed Cain as the old doctor lead him through sets of brightly lit corridors. Cheran guessed he they were in some kind of a military installation, at least judging from the various signs leading towards 'Armory 1' or 'Fighter Bay 3', and from the amount of armed personnel they came across in a relatively short walk. Most people were humans, but some were human-shaped robots like X and Zero. All seemed to know Cain, as most people they passed greeted him with varying levels of respect as they passed. Then again, it could have been the influence of his suit causing that- a dark-haired, tall female robot had almost walked into an open door while staring at Cheran.
Cheran was busy scanning his surroundings- both literally and figuratively speaking- so he did not listen that carefully what Cain was saying. It had something to do with Cheran being an extremely unusual find, that his systems were advanced far beyond what Cain had ever seen and so on and so on. One particular word, however, caught Cheran's ear.
"..It's just that you are so different from any Reploid we have so far seen.." Cain was saying.
"Doctor? I have one question. What exactly is a Reploid?"
Cain practically froze in the middle of a word. "What do you mean, 'what is a Reploid?'"
"What is a Reploid? You have been speaking of 'Reploids' and 'Mavericks' like I knew what those are. My database has no entries under those names."
Cain shook his head slowly. "A Reploid is an advanced robot with the ability to think and make independent decisions. They even have emotions just like humans. They have been around for some ten years now, and you have not heard of them? Wait.. if you are not a Reploid, then what are you?"
"I am a human.. well, mostly human. How come?"
An odd expression flashed over Cain's face. "If you are a human.. then that is a suit of armor? Not your actual body?"
Cheran nodded shortly. "Standard Storm issue Gamma-class Thorn Beast heavy assault armor. Specifically designed for urban warfare. Is there a problem?"
Cain sighed. "There's so much to ask, so much to tell and so little time. Let's just say that if the information about you gets public, there's no telling how the masses will react. For now we should keep your true nature hidden."
"If we must, then so shall it be. Were you not taking me somewhere?"
"Yes, yes. This way, then. I thought we should let Lifesaver, our leading medic, have a look at you."
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Lifesaver proved to be a strict-looking Reploid with a sandy brown beard and a red gem set into his forehead. Cheran had noticed that all Reploids had some kinds of crystals attached to either their helmets or their foreheads.
"Evening, Doctor. What can I do for you?" Lifesaver had a deep, gruff voice that immediately reminded Cheran of his old trainer back on the Stormhammer.
"Good evening. Lifesaver, This is Cheran Torr. Cheran, this is Lifesaver. Cheran here needs a checkup."
Lifesaver looked Cheran up and down several times. If he was impressed, he didn't let it show. "Sit down at the table and let's have a look at you. Shouldn't you be somewhere, Doctor?"
Cain nodded and sighed.
"I'll be going, then. When you have finished, I need to talk to Cheran."
Lifesaver looked oddly at Cheran when Cain left the room. "Quite a piece of work, aren't you? What seems to be the problem?"
"Well.. I took quite a beating some time ago, and most of my systems are somewhat shaken up. My nanoprobe repair drones are working on any flaws as we speak, but I require some tools to fix any major problems."
"I have a spare toolkit in here. How extensive damage are we talking about?"
"My primary systems are mainly operational. There is some damage done to my limbic servos and actuators that require actual repairs, and some minor damage to my weapons grid, but the rest of my systems can be handled by my nanoprobes."
Lifesaver rummaged through a shelf filled with different medical devices- both human and Reploid- and pulled out a box filled with neatly arranged tools.
"Here you go. Do you need any help?"
"No, thank you. I am fully trained to do field repairs.. Hell-lo! Is that a can of wax that I see?"
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"So, X, what do you think of him?"
X glanced at Zero over his drink. They did not have anything better to do, so they took their precious time off in the Hunter mess hall. It was abnormally quiet in the hall. After the news of Vile's return had spread, most Hunters had suddenly got very interested in their training. As so, there were only about a dozen Hunters and Huntresses of various ranks spread across the room.
"About who?"
Zero rolled his eyes. "Spike, of course. Y'know- two ten tall, black, has a helmet like a Predator with spikes? The one we found in a huge crystal?"
"Oh, him. I don't know really. He seems.. I really don't know.. different. I know it sounds obvious, but there's more to him then just his armor. He behaves entirely different from any Reploid we've seen.. There's just something not quite right about him."
"I know what's right about him.. that honkin' gun of his! Imagine if we could persuade him to join the Hunters.. No Maverick would be safe.."
X got the sudden mental image of the Knight plowing through ranks of Maverick drones and troopers, the coppery thorns glittering of black Reploid blood, eyes glowing fierce red and crimson flames reflecting off the black metal shell. He shuddered slightly.
"Maybe so, but what if he went Maverick? Besides, I don't think recruiting him would be such a good idea, at least not until we know more of him. We have no idea who built him.. Heck, he could be one of the old Wilybots, sealed in a capsule to be released upon the future.."
"Or he could be one of Dr. Light's creations, maybe an early prototype of you.." Zero shot back.
"I don't think so. He doesn't look like anything that Light built. Besides, you heard how he identified himself."
X replayed an audio recording he had stored in his memory core. Cheran's voice echoed from a small microphone in X's mouth; it looked like X spoke with Cheran's voice. "I am Cheran Torr, Third Knight of the Beast from the Brotherhood of Flame, serving aboard the Allied Federation gigacruiser Stormhammer." X managed to attract several odd stares from around the hall. Zero squirmed in his chair with laughter.
"Man, X, that was the best Darth Vader imitation I've heard in a long time! OK, I got the point. So if he's not a Lightbot, or a Wilybot.. then what is he?"
That was the one million dollar question. The question neither Hunter could answer. For a long time neither of the warriors spoke. Then Zero suddenly stood up slightly straighter.
"Did you hear something?"
X blinked and fed a little more power to his audio sensors.
screet CLANK… screet CLANK…screet CLANK…
An odd sound like the whine of some kind of a motor followed be a heavy clang of metal against metal resounded from the corridor leading to the mess hall. The noise grew slowly louder until the doors to the hall opened.
"Well, speak of the devil.." Zero said, somewhat amused.
A low murmur could be heard from among the Hunters in the room as Cheran walked into the mess hall.
"What the.."
"Whoa.."
"Who's that?"
"Isn't that the guy X and Zero bought in?"
"Man, and I thought Sigma was scary.."
"You see him too? I'm not drunk?"
Just about everyone was staring at the Knight as he moved slowly towards the center of the hall.
Cheran had apparently polished himself. All the surfaces in his armor were shining jet black, except for the copper spikes and details that glittered bloody red. The fanlike array of blades on his forehead reached slightly higher than the top of his head and each of the five small blades had been honed to a lethal sharpness. Somehow, although the armor seemed extremely bulky, Cheran moved with a strangely fluid manner that suggested he was much faster than he looked. The noise X and Zero had heard were his heavy footsteps against the metal floor. X noticed that Cheran's feet were strangely different from most Reploids- they were discshaped and split so that they looked like large pincers or hooves of some kind. They came to two sharp, triangular claws that actually moved as he walked, like he had had only two large toes in each foot.
"Hey, Spike!" Zero hollered at the Knight. "Come sit here!"
Cheran looked around, spotted X and Zero and made his way towards their table. His eyes had a low, steady glow of green light emanating from the lenses.
"So.." Zero began, "What brings you here?"
Cheran sat down with an audible whine from some of his joints. Up close X could hear a steady humming sound reverberating from somewhere inside the black shell, like a generator of some sort.
"Cain took me to see Lifesaver. When I was finished with my repairs, I kind of wandered around until I ended up here."
"Hey, do you want a drink? We've still got to thank you for saving our hides."
Cheran's helmet did not show any emotion, but he sounded amused.
"Depends entirely on what you are drinking."
Zero raised his glass filled with clear liquid. "WD-40. The best we'll ever get."
"I think I'll pass. My armor will provide me with all the sustenance I will need."
"You sure, Spike?"
Cheran raised an armored hand. X saw that the metallic fingertips had been shaped so that they were almost like sharp claws. It seemed like the entire suit of armor was one large weapon.
"Positive. And call me 'Spike' and I will have to hurt you."
Zero grinned at the Knight. "Hey, no need to get violent on us. Save that for the Mavericks. Anyway," Zero glanced at Cheran's gauntlets, "you mind telling what kind of guns those are? Anything that could do Vile in like you did has to pack a punch."
Cheran clenched his right hand in a fist. The device on his gauntlet emitted a soft chirp and opened, revealing a ringshaped discharge port. "Storm issue Disruptor Blaster, Mark Three. Fires concentrated sonic waves packed into a torus-shaped container force field, creating a shockwave of pure sound on impact. The blast I got on Vile was charged at roughly 25% maximum power." Cheran clenched his left hand in a fist. A second blaster formed on his left gauntlet. "And I have two of these."
The blasters vanished and were replaced by smaller weapons at the sides of his wrists. "The weapon I used on the Maverick trooper was my Blade Burst attack. Blade Burst is a projectile weapon that uses a high-intensity magnetic field to propel an insane amount of monophilament blades into hypersonic velocities, piercing through flesh and armor alike. In effect, it's like a railgun and a shotgun in one lethal combination."
"Owch."
"'Owch' is hardly enough, Zero. I can destroy a tank with a single Burst attack. In addition to my ranged weapons, my actuators make me roughly seven times stronger than a normal human. My thorns make me lethal in close combat, and I have these."
Cheran raised his hand. It looked like some of the metal in his bracelets became liquid in form, and elongated into a tendril hanging from his wrist. The metal flowed and solidified into a black chain slightly less then a meter long, with a coppery colored, spiked metal orb sized like X's fist at the end. "Strike Chain. My training puts a heavy emphasis on this particular weapon. The tip is instantly reconfigurable-" The spiked ball turned into liquid again, and changed into a smooth, round crushing ball, then into a nasty-looking hook, then into an odd contraption like a shuriken with three curved tips- "And I am able to retract the chain in seconds if it gets stuck on something."
"Or someone" X quipped. Cheran nodded grimly and the entire chain turned back into its liquid form and was absorbed back into his wrist.
"How can it do that?" Zero asked. "I mean, it's solid metal now, the next moment it runs like water and then it's solid again. How?"
"My repair nanoprobes can reconfigure my armor as I see fit. They are unable to change my basic structure, but I can modify my thorns or chains when needed."
"Could you remove some of those thorns?" X asked. "No offence, but sooner or later someone will bump into you and you'll take his eye out."
Cheran nodded and his thorns were absorbed into his armor. He left only the spikes in his knuckles, kneepads and some longer thorns onto his shoulder pads. Some new decorations appeared- the outer sides of his gauntlets housed now both a row of three long spikes that reminded X of the dorsal fin of a bass. Fewer thorns didn't make Cheran any less intimidating, however. He looked slimmer, and, if possible, even more deadly.
X's commlink chose that particular moment to chime in his ear. "X here. What is it?"
"X, this is Cain. Is Zero there? Cheran's gone missing."
"Um, no he hasn't. He's here, drinking in the mess hall with me and Zero."
A moment of stupefied silence. "He is?"
"Yup. Zero's trying to persuade him to wrestle arms with him."
"…"
"That's what I thought. Did you want something?"
"Come to briefing room 2. Bring Zero and Cheran with you."
"And no cops. Got it." X closed the link and glanced at the two warriors. Zero was wrestling arms with Cheran. It didn't exactly look like Zero was winning. "Hey! Zero, Cheran! C'mon, Cain wants to see us!"
(--¤¤--) Author's Notes (--¤¤--)
For those, who are unfamiliar with the term: 'torus-shaped' = 'doughnut-shaped'.
Whew. That was a long chapter. I'll update soon, Chapter Five containing some information on Cheran's past. I'll shed some light onto the Stormhammer, and explain about those Brotherhoods. And, if we get lucky, we'll get to see Cheran in action!
I'd like to thank everybody for reading this fic of mine, and for reviewing. In my opinion, this fic has turned out much better then I originally thought it would. See you soon in Chapter Five of
Mega Man X: The Beast Within