CHAPTER 9

AWAKENING

Science Museum curator Frances G. Peabody sat at his desk with an angry, irritated look plastered across his middle-aged face. He was angry for a pretty good reason: Professor Smith's experiments had brought on two Maverick attacks that had decimated his museum. In addition to that, Smith hadn't even had the gall to answer his angry summons in person; he had sent his lousy janitor robot.

"What has happened since Smith came has been nothing short of a disaster," Peabody growled as he jammed his cigar into an ashtray and glared at Snake Man. "The foundation has been smashed, exhibits have been shattered and things are in disarray everywhere! What have you to say for yourselves?!"

"I take full responsibility for the most recent attack, sir," Snake Man said with a polite bow. "I wasn't able to get Sting Chameleon out of the building fast enough... I'll personally clean and rebuild everything that was destroyed."

"You bet you will!" Peabody snarled as he banged on his desk. "Every one of you Reploids will be repairing this entire museum, without any extra pay!!!"

"I understand, sir," Snake Man replied. "If that is all..."

"I'm not finished!" Peabody snapped. "I refuse to have Smith make a mockery of me by turning this establishment into a haven for his hooligan friends. As soon as the repairs are done, you're all fired! You'll never work in this town again!"

"W-what?!" Snake Man gasped. "No, please, sir, you can't do that! We never intended for these attacks to happen!"

"What's done is done!" Peabody replied. "And you've been terrible for this museum, anyway!"

"Come on," Snake Man argued. "Because Smith has 'ancient robots' working here in the museum, visitor turnout is at a record high. Plus, since the museum's non-profit, lots of those visitors donate money. Smith's 'experiments' are giving this museum a boost, both financially and popularly!"

Peabody bit his lip and growled. He hated it when someone had a good argument against him; having such ancient robots as Iris and Snake Man around was a profit-booster.

"Sir, just give us one more chance," Snake Man said. "We'll make sure this never happens again."

Peabody frowned and sighed. "Oh, all right," he growled. "One more chance, and only one more. Got it?"

"Thank you, sir," Snake Man said with another bow. "I'll tell the others."

"Good," Peabody replied. "...Where are they, anyway?"

"They, um, had some business at the cemetery," Snake Man replied as he scratched his head awkwardly.

Gray clouds swept through the sky on chilly winds as Sharon and Darren finished filling a hole in the St. Paul graveyard. "Well, that's that..." Darren said. "Sorry we couldn't do anything, Professor."

"It couldn't be helped," Smith said with a shake of his head. "Chameleon's tongue punctured his main control chip, so he was pretty much doomed anyway..."

"It's a real shame, though," Sharon muttered. "He coulda been a big help if that damn lizard hadn't gutted 'im. We're lucky the groundskeeper let us bury him on such short notice, though."

There was a long pause as everyone stared at the fresh grave. Another chilly gust blew, and Iris shivered and hiked up her jacket.

"Maybe we should be getting back," Darren said. "I'm sure Snake Man's meeting with the curator is over now..."

"I suppose so..." Smith said.

As everyone started out of the cemetery, Smith and Iris lingered behind. Smith took one last look at the gravesite. "Until we meet again, Armored Armadillo..." he said quietly.

"Armadillo died trying to protect us," Iris said as she looked up at Smith. "He tried to stop Sting Chameleon, who was after me... So..."

"Don't blame yourself for this, Iris," Smith said. "He knew the risks. He'd always tell me that he was prepared..."

"I can't help but feel like I contributed..." Iris said. "I'd already weakened him during our own fight... Maybe if I had backed him up, he would've..."

"Stay cool, Iris," Smith said. "You're just going through the grieving process. It'll pass in time..."

"I know..." Iris sighed sadly. "What's bothering me... is that I've been involved in this before..."

"Pardon?" Smith asked.

"I forced Zero to kill me..." Iris said. "After I was... gone, I can't help but wonder if he said the very same things I'm saying now... 'If only I had tried to reason with Colonel instead of fighting... Why couldn't I see things Iris's way?...'"

"Perhaps he did," Smith replied. "You can ask him when we find him."

"Yes, I suppose..." Iris said quietly.

Smith ran ahead to catch up with Sharon and Darren. Iris looked back at the grave and sadly shook her head. "What a waste..." she sighed. "I'm sorry..."

The rest of the day passed slowly as everyone cleaned up and rebuilt all the ruined parts of the science museum. When it was done, everyone collapsed in Smith's lab. "Oh... I've wiped so many windows, I think my fingerprints came off..." Darren groaned.

"At least it's all fixed now..." Snake Man said. "Now we can focus on finding the cave where X and Zero are sealed..."

"That'll be easy!" Professor Krein said as he turned to the computer. "I'll just run a search for any and all ruins with volcanic activity inside of them. That should narrow us down a bit..."

"Yes, good thinking," Smith said. "Once we do that, we can go and search each of them until we find something!"

"All of them? Now?..." Sharon groaned. "Urghh... No offense, prof, but I don't think I'm up to it right now... I'm worn out from all the cleaning, and I smell like chlorine, too..."

"So THAT's what it was!" Snake Man exclaimed. "I could've sworn we had a swimming pool around here and no one had told me!"

"Uh, Wallace, I think you should know something..." Olson started as Krein typed at the computer.

"What is it, Olson?" Krein asked. "I'm trying to set up a search of... WHAAAAAT?!"

"What?! What is it?!" Smith asked as everyone gathered around Krein.

Krein's hands shook, sweat poured down his face and his fog coated his glasses. "The... the entire archaeology database..." he stammered. "It's... It's gone!..."

"GONE?!" Sharon asked. "Whaddya mean, GONE?!"

"Gone! Eliminated! Deleted!" Krein wailed. "It's all gone! All the research, all the maps, all the data... It's totally empty! Why?!"

"Ermm, I think I can explain that..." Olson said nervously.

"What's wrong, professor?" Iris asked.

"Remember when Sting Chameleon took me hostage?" Olson asked. "Well, he crawled all the way down here to get me, since I was working on assembling the syrum... After he grabbed me and took the chips, I saw him jam his tail into the computer. I thought it was just an accident, but..."

"That slimy little!..." Sharon snarled. "If Snake Man hadn't totaled Chameleon, I'd wring his neck!!!"

"The good news is that I can salvage most of the data from the rest of the museum computers," Krein said as he typed. "The bad news is that it'll take about a day to do so..."

"Just a day?" Iris asked. "That doesn't seem so bad..."

"Iris, think," Smith said. "I bet Chameleon didn't just delete our database; he probably uploaded its data and transmitted it to his boss! That means that we're racing against time to find X and Zero now!"

"Oh, no!!!" Iris cried. "This is awful! What's going to happen to them?!"

"Professor, quit upsetting Iris!" Darren snapped. "She's having a rough enough time as it is."

"Sorry..." Professor Smith apologized.

"Say..." Sharon said as she scratched her chin and eyed Smith suspiciously. "How come you think that?... You mentioned that someone you knew was behind this earlier..."

"Yes, that's true..." Smith answered. "This whole scheme was certainly the work of Ivan Ribosome."

"Ribosome?" Darren asked. "The president of CONSTRICT Incorporated?"

"Yeah! You told me about him on the way to Detroit," Iris remembered. "Why do you think it's him?"

"Ribosome developed an almost sickening fascination with ancient robots a while ago..." Smith recalled. "He thought that by resurrecting them and harvesting their powers, he could make new products for his company. More products mean more buyers, and more buyers mean more profit... No doubt, all the Mavericks we've run into were working for him..."

"But why is he after Iris specifically?" Sharon asked as she glanced over at her friend. "I mean, she is pretty good-looking, and she cooks well, but she's not a super-extraordinary Reploid, is she?..."

"Who knows?" Smith asked with a shrug. "Whatever the case, Ribosome thinks that acquiring Iris will make him a lot of money... So much money, that he's willing to invest in all those Mavericks."

"Ugh," Darren grunted. "The love of money is the root of all evil..."

"And if Ribosome finds the legendary Mega Man X and Zero, who knows what he'll cook up for them!..." Smith sighed crossly. "We have to find them before he does!"

"But our database has been wiped clean..." Krein growled. "That Ribosome's a slippery one..."

"Regrettably, we don't have many choices right now..." Snake Man sighed. "I know this sounds cold compared to what Professor Smith just said, but why don't we get some rest?"

"Snake Man?..." Iris asked.

"The database won't be restored for a whole day," Snake Man elaborated. "We can use this time to rest up for the search. I mean, you can't expect to go up against Ribosome or his goons when you've just been repairing walls for six hours?..."

"Hmm..." Darren said. "You have a point... Until Professor Krein gets the database going, all we can really do is wait."

Iris looked at Darren and Snake Man and thought for a moment. "...I guess you guys are right..." she said. "We can't just go charging off somewhere; there's no way we'd get anything done..."

"All right, then," Smith said. "The museum has a resting area for scientists who need to stay overnight. Why don't we camp out there?"

"Sounds good to me," Sharon said. "It'll be fun, like a sleep-over! We can order a pizza and watch some movies or something!"

"Yeah, we could use a break," Iris agreed. "All right; let's spend the night here while we wait."

"Cool!" Darren laughed as he left the room. "I'll go get the beds ready."

"I'll find some good films," Snake Man added. "I bet the Omnitheater has plenty of them."

"And I'll do THESE honors," Sharon chuckled as she grabbed the phone. "I'm callin' Carbones! Who wants Canadian Bacon?!"

Later that night, Iris, Snake Man, Darren, Sharon and Professor Smith sat around the flat-screen plasma TV in the resting area, clad only in pajamas and cheerfully munching pizza.

"So, what kind of movies have we?" Darren asked.

"Well, these are what I found in the Omnitheater," Snake Man said as he pulled out a few dusty-looking DVD cases. "We've got 'The Heart Of Africa,' 'Forever Everest' and 'Secrets Of Egypt.'"

"Is that the one about that kid who finds the cursed thing and gets possessed by some Pharaoh and has to save the world by playing with jacks?" Iris asked.

"I'm afraid not," Snake Man said.

"Pass," Iris replied.

"Aww, geez, Snake Man, these are all documentaries," Professor Smith grumbled. "Haven't we got anything else?"

"Well..." Snake Man said as his eyes wandered. "I suppose we could watch my bootleg version of 'Vampire Stalker C; Spudlust...'"

"Hey, I'm all for that!" Sharon voted.

"Sharon, come on, this is a sleep-over," Darren said. "Don't you feel like changing?"

Unlike the rest of the group, Sharon was still in her body armor. "Nope, not at all," Sharon said. "C'mon, let's watch the movie!"

"Sharon, I know disrobing makes you uncomfortable..." Iris said. "...But it might help you relax right now."

"Is that so?" Sharon asked. "Well... I guess I feel a little antsy..."

"It's just fine, Sharon," Smith said. "Go at your own pace."

"All right..." Sharon said. She clutched at her helmet and slowly pulled it off.

"Huh?" Darren asked.

"Wow," Smith exclaimed.

"What?" Sharon asked. "What is it?"

"Your hair..." Snake Man said. "You never told us that you had blue hair, Sharon."

Sharon had fairly long, luscious, sapphire-colored hair, most of which was tied into a short ponytail. "Well, it never came up," she replied curtly. "What, are you gonna laugh now?"

"Of course not," Smith said. "It's very nice."

"Come on, Sharon, do you really think we're like that?" Darren asked. "I think you have great hair!"

"It's so shiny and radiant..." Iris said. "I wish I could get my hair to sparkle like yours."

"Oh, get out!" Sharon snorted with a cross wave. "...You really think so?"

"Sure," Snake Man replied. "I don't quite understand how you keep it like that and not get helmet-head, but I like it."

Sharon thought for a moment, then smiled quietly and set her helmet behind her. "Let's watch that movie now, OK?" she asked.

"OK," Snake Man said as he produced another DVD.

"Oh, wait a minute!" Darren said suddenly. "We need some popcorn! I saw some down in the kitchen; I'll go get it!" He dashed out of the room.

"Uh, Darren, be careful around the-" Smith started.

The air was split by the sound of Darren tumbling down three flights of stairs.

"...I'm okay!" Darren's voice wafted up from below.

"Why couldn't he just take the elevator?" Sharon asked.

Iris couldn't help but giggle.

After the movie was over, Smith sat back and stretched. "(YAWN) Oh, I'm beat," he said. "I think I'm gonna call it a night."

"Sounds like a plan," Snake Man answered. "It's been a busy day..."

"I guess 40 winks wouldn't be bad about now..." Sharon added. "G'night, guys."

"Are you coming too, Iris?" Darren asked.

"No..." Iris said as she glanced at a computer terminal in the corner. "I think I'm going to do a little searching of my own while the main computer gets fixed."

"Well, OK..." Darren said with a yawn. "But make sure you get some rest, or you'll be really cranky..."

"Of course," Iris said. "Good night, Darren."

Darren hopped onto one of the beds and pulled up the covers, and Iris sat down at the computer terminal to work.

The midnight hours passed slowly as Iris scanned the internet, searching for possible locations of volcanic ruins. However, every time she found what could have been a lead, her hopes were dashed by a bad server or advertisements. "Nothing anywhere?..." she sighed crossly. "What kind of internet is this?"

As Iris typed, she found her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. "I've gotta... find something... anything... Zero..." she murmured as she slowly tilted forward. Finally, though, her fatigue won and left her snoring in the chair, her face resting on the keyboard.

The inky darkness melted into a fiery, red light. Iris opened her eyes and saw that she was in the same earthen tunnel as she had been before. Once again, she stood at the start of a long bridge over a lava pool. "Here again?..." she asked as she glanced around. "What could this mean?..."

Suddenly, the atmosphere started shimmering on the far side of the pool. A white, glowing rift opened in the air and Mega Man X emerged. He looked around, then noticed Iris and smiled. "Hello, Iris," he said.

"X!" Iris exclaimed.

X started across the rope bridge towards Iris again. "You've assembled the syrum," he said. "Well done! I knew you could do it. Now, I'll tell you where to find Zero and my capsules..."

Iris was overjoyed for a moment, but then frowned angrily. "You mean you knew where you were this entire time I've been out assembling the syrum?" she huffed.

"Yes," X replied.

"You... You stupid jerk!!!" Iris snarled.

Now it was X's turn to be surprised. "Huh?" he asked, recoiling a bit.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Iris yelled. "We could've revived you, and you could have helped us! Plus, we could have secured Zero's body instead of looking all over the world for it! Do you have any idea how much grief you caused me?!"

"But, Iris-" X started.

"Don't you 'but Iris' me!!!" Iris huffed. "You were just snoozing away in your capsule while we were globetrotting and risking our lives, not even considering getting out and helping us! You're way stronger than me!!! If you had come, we could've found those syrum chips way faster! We could've gotten Zero revived sooner!... We could've... we could've..."

"...Iris..." X said.

Tears were freely running down Iris's cheeks now. "We could've saved lives..." she said. "I had to kill so many Mavericks... Armored Armadillo was murdered, and Darren almost died fighting Fefnir... If you and Zero had been there, we could have stopped the killing..."

"Oh, Iris..." X sighed. "I'm sorry. This has really been hard for you, hasn't it..."

"I hate fighting and killing..." Iris cried. "I've never liked them... This has been almost too much..."

"Iris, whoever's after you will stop at nothing to capture you," X said. "You have to be strong. Times of war call for extreme measures; even if you hate violence above all else, you're left with little choice... Believe me... I know how you feel."

"You... You do?..." Iris asked.

"Not once in the war against Sigma did I enjoy what I was doing," X said. "Sure, it seemed fun to go off and fight Mavericks at first... But the first time I had to kill... I'll never forget how awful it felt..." He paused and looked away. There was an awkward silence.

"X..." Iris said.

"Iris, be strong," X said as he turned back to her. "You're almost there. Zero's waiting for you. So... Be brave, and never give up."

Iris looked at X quietly, then nodded with a determined look. "All right," she said. "I'll do it. I'll be there soon, X."

"I know you will," X said with a smile. "Now, go, Iris... Iris..."

"Iris... Iris!..." a familiar voice echoed from elsewhere. "...Wake up, Iris!..."

"Huh-huhhhh?..." Iris groaned as her eyelids fluttered open and she sat up. She was still at the chair in front of the computer, and the rest of the room was still coated in darkness. Darren stood worriedly by her side. "...Darren?..." she muttered as she rubbed her eyes. "What... what time is it?..."

"Almost 2 AM," Darren said. "I'm sorry, Iris, but, ermm, I was kinda bein' kept awake by your, umm, snoring."

"Snoring?..." Iris asked as she blushed deeply. "Oh... Sorry, Darren. I just fell asleep, just like that. Can you believe it?"

Darren smiled and pointed. "Yeah, I can."

Iris glanced down and was embarrassed to see a thin string of drool connecting her lower lip to the keyboard. "Oooh..." she mumbled. "I must've been really tired..."

"Maybe you should go to bed," Darren said. "Sleeping like that can't be good for your back."

"Yes, you're right..." Iris said. "I just had the weirdest dream... I dreamt that X came to me and told me where Zero was..." She paused and shook her head. "But there's no way it could be that easy. It was just a dream, right?"

Darren opened his mouth to say something, but then glanced at the computer screen. "...Maybe not..." he whispered.

Iris turned and looked at the screen. The monitor showed a detailed map of Japan, wiith a red dot flashing at a point on the western coast and a set of coordinates blinking beneath it. She gasped and put her hands to her mouth.

Darren smiled again. "I guess dreams really can come true, huh?" he mused.

"X..." Iris said. "...Thank you..."

In the morning, everyone awoke to Iris's great news. "So, X sent you his coordinates..." Smith said as everyone gathered around the teleporter. "Now getting to him will be a piece of cake!"

"The coordinates point to a small cave beneath the ruins of Inami Temple," Olson said as he entered the coordinates into the machine. "Volcanic activity is mildly strong there, so be careful."

"I'm glad your friend contacted you, Iris," Krein said. "I wasn't looking forward to searching through what's left of the database."

"Just keep Peabody off our backs," Smith said. "We'll be back soon, with a few new friends."

Snake Man, then Sharon, then Professor Smith, then Darren stepped into the teleporter and vanished. "Your turn, Iris," Olson said as he motioned to the machine.

Iris swallowed hard. "Zero... I'm coming..." she whispered as she stepped onto the machine's podium.

Once again Iris felt as light as a feather, and then she was standing amongst her friends at the mouth of a cave. Its pitch-black mouth radiated a strange aura, almost beckoning for her to enter.

"...Is... Is this it?..." Snake Man asked.

"This is it," Smith answered. "Ready to go in?"

"There're bound to be plenty of dangers," Darren warned. "We'd better stay on our toes..."

"Bring it on," Sharon said as she cracked her knuckles.

The party looked at Iris, who was looking into the cave with an expression of fear and grim determination. After a pause, she swallowed. "...Let's go," she said quietly.

Everyone nodded solemnly, then slowly set foot into the cavern's gaping maw.

The party walked a few yards into the cave. The morning light from the outside slowly faded away to complete darkness.

"Whew... Sure is dark..." Iris said.

"Heh. Hard to believe that the end of our adventure's deep inside the earth," Darren chuckled.

"To reach Heaven, one must sometimes travel through Hell," Snake Man replied mysteriously.

"Knock it off," Sharon grumbled. "You're creepin' me out."

The group walked on for another ten minutes. "Does anyone else realize that Zero and X are in a volcanic cave..." Darren spoke up. "...And this really doesn't look like one?"

"Yeah, I was about to say something..." Sharon said.

"Hmmm..." Professor Smith said as he suddenly leaned over and put his hand on the wall.

"What're you doing, Professor?" Iris asked.

"I'm feeling the wall's temperature," Smith said as he moved along the wall. "If it gets hotter, we're sure to be going the right-WAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"Professor?!" Snake Man exclaimed.

The next few moments were filled with the sound of a rolling body, with a lot of bumps and thuds mixed in. After a good ten seconds, it stopped. Professor Smith's faraway voice gave a low groan.

"Prof!!!" Sharon called. "Are you OK?!"

"Urrrgghh..." Smith groaned. "There's a really steep incline right in front of you... Ow..."

"Steep..." Iris said. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Of course! Why didn't I think of this sooner?!" She pulled out her Z-Saber and a bright, green glow lit the cave up. A long, steep hill wound down into the darkness before them.

"Woah," Darren gulped. "Good thing the professor was watching out for us..."

"Yeah," Snake Man said halfheartedly. "But who's watching out for him?..."

"Let's go down it really slowly," Sharon said. "Don't wanna risk taking a tumble..."

The group began picking their way down the rigid slope, grabbing onto whatever holds they could find. Sharon was the fastest, so she reached the bottom first. "Whew..." she panted. "It's OK once you get down here! But man, it's really warm now..."

"You're telling me," Professor Smith grunted as he stood up and rubbed at his arm. "It's starting to feel volcanic now..."

Iris and Darren brought up the rear of the descenders. "Darren, how are you back there?" Iris asked as she grabbed another stalagmite.

"Yeah! I'm fine," Darren said as he reached out to grab another hold. Suddenly, his feet caught each other and he lost his balance. He crashed into Iris and they hit the ground and barrelled downhill.

"What the-" Snake Man asked as he turned around to look and got dragged into the rolling body mass.

"I'm sure there's molten rock somewhere near," Smith said as he looked around. "I can feel the heat... I can even smell sulfur."

"Hey, guys!" Sharon yelled up the hill. "What's taking you so long?! Hurry-"

The barrelling ball of friends caught Sharon and Professor Smith and raced down the tunnel at murderous speed.

"AAAAAHHH!!!" Iris cried as she held onto anything she could grab at.

"Dammit, Darren!!!" Sharon yelled. "Can't you control your own feet?!"

"If I could, we wouldn't be having this conversation, now, would we?!" Darren retorted.

"Urgh... I think I'm getting ill..." Snake Man groaned.

"Don't worry," Smith said. "We're bound to stop sooner or later!"

The sickening, jolting ride went on as the ball plummeted into a larger room. Suddenly, it hit a divot in the ground, veered off to the right and smacked into the wall, separating its five components.

"Guoooo..." Snake Man groaned as his eyes whirled in his head.

"I kinda woulda preferred 'later...'" Sharon groaned.

Darren slowly got up and dusted himself off. "Where... Where are we?" he asked.

Iris looked around. The party was in a chamber as tall as a basketball court. Below them bubbled a lake of magma, and a rope bridge connected their land mass to a small island in the center, which was connected to the other side of the room by another bridge.

"Amazing..." Iris said as she looked around. "This... This is it..."

"What's it, Iris?" Smith asked.

"Professor!" Iris exclaimed. "This is the place I saw in my dream!"

"The dreams where you talked to X?" Sharon said. "Wow."

"So, logically..." Snake Man said as he looked around. "Maybe this is where X is sealed. But this is just a lava lake... Where could he possibly be?..."

Everyone looked around the room for clues, but no such luck came. Finally, Darren looked up. "Woah!" he exclaimed as he pointed. "Check THAT out!!!"

Attached to the ceiling directly above the island was a large, spider-like machine. It hummed quietly as it its many spindly, pulsing metal veins thrust into the rocks around it. In its center was a large, green capsule, and inside the capsule a familiar figure could be seen.

"My word..." Smith gasped as everyone ran to look up at it.

"Wow..." Sharon said.

"That's him?..." Snake Man asked.

"It's him..." Iris said. "Mega Man X... Zero's best friend, and one of the world's greatest saviours."

"I remember reading about him..." Darren said. "He fought countless battles against the Mavericks until he mysteriously disappeared. Of course, since the Mavericks disappeared at the same time, nobody really complained..." He glanced up at the device again. "Why's that machine rigged up to the rock? It's like it's connecting into the cave somehow..."

"It kind of looks like the machine is directly wired into the earth," Smith remarked. "Maybe it's manipulating the subterranean activity to ensure that the cave stays intact?"

Suddenly, the entire room shook violently. The magma pool below writhed and sloshed. "Aaaagh!" Snake Man cried. "What's going on?!"

"An earthquake?!" Darren guessed. "If that machine controls the cave, it's doing a lousy job!"

"No, wait..." Iris said as she listened hard. "I don't think this is an earthquake... Do you hear that?..."

Everyone strained their ears and listened. A faint whine was coming from a nearby wall. "What d'you suppose that is?" Sharon asked.

"If I didn't know better," Smith said. "I'd say that's the sound of a really big-"

Suddenly, the entire wall crumbled into dust and a stream of bubbling lava oozed out onto the ground. A large rhinoceros Reploid emerged from the hole, brandishing a huge drill arm.

"...I hate it when I'm right," Smith groaned.

"Ha! I found it!" the Reploid laughed as he glanced up at the machine. "Mega Man X is mine!!!"

"Hey!" Iris shouted as she confronted the humongous Maverick and readied her I-Buster. "Who're you?!"

"The name's Tunnel Rhino!" Rhino snarled. "So, you must be the babe the boss is after! Great! I'll nab X AND you!!!"

"I don't think so," Darren growled as everyone surrounded Iris and brandished whatever weapons they had. "If you want Iris, you've gotta go through all of us."

"Hmm..." Rhino smirked as he looked over the menagerie. "Two humans, a scrawny girl and a freak in a snake helmet? This should be easy enough!!! HA!!!"

Rhino stomped his foot, and more lava gushed out of the tunnel. "Agh! Get back!!!" Darren yelled as everyone leaped backwards. "If that stuff touches us, we're goners!"

"No human can withstand that stuff..." Sharon said. "Looks like it's up to me!!!"

"I'll help, Sharon!" Iris said as she leaped beside Sharon. "Let's show 'im!"

"Same here," Snake Man added as he took a place next to Iris.

"No, guys," Sharon said. "Your body armor wasn't built to withstand heat like this."

"But-" Iris objected.

"Hey, you've got a more important job," Sharon said as she nodded towards X's capsule.

Iris's eyes lit up. "Got it!" she said with a nod. "Good luck, Sharon!" Snake Man and she turned and ran across the rope bridge.

"Heh!" Tunnel Rhino laughed. "Telling your friends to beat it?! Not very good strategy!!!"

"I don't need help beating you, buddy," Sharon smirked.

"Ha!" Rhino laughed. "What can you do against the power of fire?! HAAA!!!"

Tunnel Rhino stomped again, and another wave of lava roared out of his tunnel. Sharon stood her ground and the molten rock splattered all over her. Rhino laughed in triumph, but was silenced when Sharon emerged without injury. "Wh-what?!" he gasped.

Sharon smiled sarcastically. "Moron," she said. "I'm a fire-type Reploid! Didn't you notice my armor color?! That's usually a pretty good sign!"

"Oh, balls!" Rhino snarled. "Well, I can still take you down! HAAAAHHH!!!" He charged forward, his giant drill whirring murderously.

Sharon gave Rhino a smarmy look. "Bring it on," she whispered.

Iris and Snake Man crossed the second rope bridge and came to the room's exit. "Why are we leaving?" Snake Man asked.

"We're not," Iris replied. "We just needed to reach a safe wall."

"Huh?" Snake Man asked, scratching his head.

"We're going to climb up to the capsule and release X," Iris said as she pointed up at the machine on the ceiling. "Come on!"

"Uh..." Snake Man gulped. "Iris, err... I wasn't built with that wall-climbing skill that you Reploids were..."

Iris looked at Snake Man thoughtfully for a moment, then frowned. "Well, crap," she grumbled. "Well, then... I've got another idea."

A moment later, Iris scaled the rock wall. "Hey, watch where you're grabbing!" she panted.

"Sorry," Snake Man apologized as he clung to Iris. "I just can't get a good grip."

"Well, try," Iris replied as she continued to climb. "AGH! Not there!!!"

"GRAAAHHH!!!" Tunnel Rhino roared as he thrust his giant drill at Sharon. Sharon leaped away and riddled him with bullets, but he wasn't fazed. Neither Reploid had an advantage in the faceoff.

"C'mon, ya big lug!" Sharon sneered as she bounced around. "Or am I too much for ya?!"

Rhino grinned cruelly and pointed his drill arm at Sharon; it fired out and split into three smaller drills.

"...That's new," Sharon gulped. She dodged two of them, but the third one caught her in the knee. "...AGH!" she yelled as she sank to the ground.

"Heh! So much for this duel," Rhino chuckled as he glanced back towards X's capsule and spied Iris and Snake Man slowly climbing towards it. "Time to go to work!" he said as he headed for the bridge.

Suddenly, Rhino's feet stopped moving and he fell flat on his face. He angrily looked around to see Sharon grinning at him, her Sonic Tentacle weapon wrapped around his legs. "Hey, it's rude to just leave in the middle of something!" she scolded.

"OK! (WHEEZE)" Iris panted as she stopped climbing. "We're at the top of the wall!..."

"Great," Snake Man said as he glanced over at the machine. "But, err, how do we get all the way over there?..."

"Sharon told me about how you can grapple across ceilings," Iris said as she looked back at Snake Man. "Think you can get us over there?"

"Err..." Snake Man gulped. "Well, I'd need some good places to latch onto, but doing from hold to hold with both hands grappling, plus your added weight..."

"Come on, Snake Man!" Iris gasped. "You were complaining about not going on the adventure... Well, you're on it, now! We've gotta work together to finish the job!"

Snake Man looked at Iris for a moment, then set his jaw in determination. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "I'll give it a shot!"

Snake Man looked over at the machine's limbs and spied several bar-like structures jutting out. He fired a grappler and hooked onto one of them. "OK!" he said. "Now, YOU hold onto ME!"

Iris pushed off of the wall and sent Snake Man shimmying across the ceiling. "Keep going, Snake Man! You're doing great!" she encouraged.

"Yeah, just don't look down!" Snake Man replied. "Hang on! We're almost there."

Snake Man came to a halt right in front of X's capsule, where the legendary blue Maverick Hunter stood at attention, his eyes closed and expression relaxed. "OK, so, now what?" he asked as he reeled in his grappler and put both hands on the last bar.

"We need to release it somehow," Iris replied as she climbed up Snake Man and looked over the capsule. "There's gotta be a latch release or something..." She felt around on the machine for a lever or a button, but there were none to be found. "...Drat!"

"I suppose that if we can't find a release switch, we could make our own..." Snake Man suggested. "Urf... And get your thumb out of my eye!!!"

"Make a release switch?... Yeah!" Iris nodded in agreement. She pulled out her Z-Saber and jammed its blade just above the capsule.

"Wait a minute!!" Snake Man started. "If you cut it loose, it could smash to bits on the ground!!!"

"Don't worry!" Iris replied. "We'll hold onto it and go down gently, thanks to your grappler!"

"Oh, boy..." Snake Man panted.

"You're still here?!" Tunnel Rhino growled as he writhed free of Sharon's rope. "I'll crush you like an ant!!!"

"I don't think so!" Sharon said as she charged up to the Maverick and pummeled him with punches and kicks. "You can absorb plasma bullets pretty well, but let's see how you do in melee!"

"Agh!" Rhino growled as Sharon drove him back. "Stop it, you rotten!..."

"Whoop! Left yourself open!" Sharon laughed as she hammered Rhino in the stomach with rapid punches, and he staggered to the cliff's edge and grabbed his middle in pain. Sharon grinned again. "OK, then, big guy! If that's the way you wanna go..."

"Wha-what?!" Rhino snarled.

"Sayonara, beef butt!!!" Sharon yelled as she flew in and kicked Tunnel Rhino in the jaw. He grunted in pain, then screamed as he fell into the lava lake below. Sharon pumped her fist. "Oh, yeah! Who's the bomb?!" she laughed.

"Well, she's in a good mood today..." Darren gulped.

"She's been practicing her fighting a lot," Smith replied. "I guess her training paid off."

Sharon turned and looked down into the magma. "Well, he's toast," she said. "Let's go help Iris!"

"You really got him?" Darren asked as Smith and he ran over and looked. "...I guess... but..."

Suddenly, the lava began to bubble and stir violently. With a mighty roar, Tunnel Rhino emerged from the magma, looking very angry.

"Oh, boy," Smith gulped. "I shoulda known..."

"HA! You thought this would kill me?!" Rhino laughed as he pointed his drill at Sharon. "I was BUILT for this kind of thing!!! I've wasted enough time with you guys! On to the REAL prize!" He turn and rolled through the magma towards the rock island.

"Oh, crap!!!" Darren said as he looked upwards; Iris and Snake Man were lowering X's capsule down from the ceiling. "They're in trouble!!!"

"Come on!!!" Sharon yelled as she charged towards the rope bridge, Darren and Professor Smith running after her.

"Just a little more, Snake Man," Iris said as the capsule, Snake Man and she slowly moved towards the ground. "We're almost there!"

"Um, Iris..." Snake man gulped. "Maybe I should tell you now that my grappler only extends 40 meters..."

"What?" Iris asked. "And how high was the machine?"

Snake Man sighed. "I'd say 50 meters," he answered quickly.

"...Oops," Iris replied.

The grapple snapped, and everyone fell the remaining distance onto the ground.

"Owwww..." Iris groaned as she rubbed her sore bottom. "Snake Man, are you OK?..."

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Snake Man grunted as he sat up. "How's the capsule?"

Iris glanced over at X's capsule. The gently-glowing green pod showed no signs of damage. "Phew..." she sighed. "It looks OK."

"Well, that's good," Snake Man said. "Why don't we open it up and get X back in business?"

Iris looked the capsule over; it seemed to be totally solid. "Uh-oh... I don't think this capsule has a lock for us to undo!" she said. "How are we gonna-"

Suddenly, the whole island shook. "Whaaaagh!" Iris cried as she fell on her back.

"Now what?!" Snake Man asked.

Over the island's edge came Tunnel Rhino, coated in magma and snarling menacingly. "I'll take that!" he huffed as he punched Snake Man out and snatched the capsule.

"Hey, you!" Iris yelled as she pointed her I-Buster at Rhino. "That isn't yours!!!"

"Shut up!" Rhino growled as he reached for Iris. "You're comin' too!!!"

"Hey, fleabag!" Sharon yelled as she leaped in and stood by Iris. "Are you askin' for a second round?!"

Tunnel Rhino growled angrily and retracted his hand. "Hmmm..." he grunted. "You are pretty powerful... Perhaps I should quit while I'm ahead. Yeah!" Suddenly, the wheels on his feet whirred in reverse and he flew down the exit tunnel.

"No! He's getting away with X!!!" Iris cried as she ran after the roving rhino.

"Hold on, Iris! I'm comin' too!" Sharon yelled. "Prof, Darren and you stay here. We'll be back with X's capsule before you know it!"

"You don't have to tell us twice," Smith said as he sat down on the ground. Sharon grinned and charged off after Iris.

Iris ran down the tunnel, trying her hardest not to lose sight of Tunnel Rhino. "Come back here!!!" Iris yelled. "Leave my friends alone!!!"

"I'm not bein' employed to leave people alone!!!" Rhino snarled as he launched more of his drills. Iris leaped over them, charged her I-Buster and fired. The blast destroyed the wheel on Rhino's right foot, and he peeled out and hit the ground, dropping the capsule in the process. "Gr-graaagghhh!!!" he roared with frustration.

"Now it's a fair fight!" Iris said as she targeted Tunnel Rhino again.

"Oh, is it, now?!" Rhino chuckled. "Well, then you won't mind if I do THIS!!!" He slammed his drill into the tunnel wall, and a geyser of lava spilled out into the tunnel. A stream of molten rock ran over Iris's feet, and she cried out in pain and hopped onto the wall. "Ha!" Rhino smirked. "I know where all the lava pockets are in this cave! You'll never beat me!!!"

"Oh, yeah?!" Sharon yelled as she flew out of the darkness and stomped through the lava to her friend's aid. "Iris, hop on!"

"Sharon!" Iris cried. "What're you going to do?!"

"It's not what I'm gonna do," Sharon chuckled. "It's what WE'RE gonna do!"

Iris hopped on Sharon's back, and they ran at Tunnel Rhino. "Great! I'm fighting a totem pole now!!!" Rhino laughed. "Let's see how you fare against a WALL of magma!!!"

Rhino stomped his foot in the lava, and a huge wave picked up and surged right towards the girls. "Ahh! That's gonna hurt!" Iris yelled.

"I'll just blast through it!" Sharon shouted as she raised her arm cannon.

"What happens when you shoot lava, anyway?" Iris asked.

"...You know, I have no idea," Sharon replied. With that, she fired a powerful shot.

As soon as the blast touched the lava wave, something very strange happened; the magma wrapped around the shot and merged with it, creating a gigantic fireball that went ripping back towards Tunnel Rhino . "Ahhh ha ha ha haaa!!!" Rhino laughed as the flames engulfed him. "You idiot! I'm built to withstand this kind of heat! You won't be burning me any time soon!!!"

Suddenly, Rhino's drill arm melted. "...Wh-what?!" Rhino yelled as he looked at his molten stump of a limb. "What's this?!"

"Everything melts if it's hot enough," Sharon chuckled. "Looks like we just passed your limit!"

"N-NO!!!" Rhino yelled as his other arm melted, and then the horn on his nose. After the fireball had subsided, all that was left of the Maverick was a melting, sputtering metal skeleton. "Y-y-y-y-you..." he gurgled. "A-a-agh..."

"Take it, Iris!" Sharon said.

"Right!" Iris said as she charged her I-Buster and fired. The blast blew throughTunnel Rhino like a marble going through a wet tissue. What was left of him clattered to the ground, emitting thin whisps of smoke.

"Yeah! We did it!" Sharon cheered.

"Sharon, you and I make a pretty good team," Iris said as she looked down at her ride. "What the heck was that stunt you pulled?!"

"Hey, I didn't know the lava would react to my S-Buster shots like that," Sharon said. "But I'm sure glad!" She looked around and the foot-deep puddle of magma they were standing in. "So, uh, how're we going to clean this up so the others can get through?"

"I have an idea," Iris answered as her armor color changed from blue and red to green and yellow. "If we cool this magma down, we'll turn it back into rock, right?"

"...But we don't have any ice weapons," Sharon pointed out.

"Wind works, too!" Iris said as she aimed her I-Buster at the lava. "Double Cyclone!" Iris shot a barrage of wind into the pool, and it slowly turned back into solid rock. Sharon pulled herself out and set Iris down so she could cool off any other lava that was still simmering.

"I've gotta hand it to you, Iris," Sharon said. "You're a quick thinker."

"I kind of had the idea from what you did," Iris said. "There are other ways to use weapons than just firing them at the enemies..."

"Well, thanks," Sharon chuckled as she scratched her head. "I'm kinda embarrassed now..."

"By the way," Iris said. "How come you've got fireproof armor? You said you were built to be..."

"I know," Sharon answered. "After Smith hired me at the museum, I found some old armor in the basement. Smith said that it was an armor that he'd made, but it didn't do much, so I could have it. Heh. I didn't know it was fireproof until some chemicals blew up in my face and I didn't get burned."

"Well, thank goodness," Iris said. "You sure are lucky."

"Yeah," Sharon said. "What's weird, though, is how much it looks like the legendary Zero's armor..."

"I guess Professor Smith based it off of Zero," Iris replied. "At least, that's what it looks like..."

"Iris! Sharon!" Darren called as Snake Man, Professor Smith and he came running down the tunnel. "Is everything all right?!"

"Yeah," Sharon answered. "We totally fried that Rhino!"

"More importantly, we still have X," Iris said as she rolled the capsule over to the group. "We can't get it open, though..."

"Hmm..." Smith said as he looked over the capsule. "Let me take a crack at this. Iris, don't forget to take Tunnel Rhino's weapon drive."

As Smith fiddled with the capsule, Iris walked over to the smoldering pile of scrap that had been Tunnel Rhino. She dug around inside and found a small cube, like the ones that Storm Owl and Armored Armadillo had given her. "This must be it," she said as she inserted the cube into her I-Buster's compartments. Instantly her armor changed to light blue and yellow. "Huh?" she asked.

"I think you just got Rhino's Tornado Fang attack," Sharon remarked. "That's the three-drill shooting, remember? You can probably put that to use outside of battle, too."

"What's the verdict, Professor?" Darren asked as Smith fumbled with the capsule.

"This was pretty well-built," Smith concluded. "It's rigged so it looks like there's no latch. I've seen capsules like this before, though... There's always a secret opening place..."

Smith felt around on the capsule for a moment, then jammed his thumb into the space just above X's left arm. A door appeared on the capsule and it slid open with a hiss, venting steam every which way.

"Wow... Amazing..." Darren said. "So, this is how a Reploid emerges from a capsule..."

The steam cleared, and everyone looked at X anxiously. Ever so slowly, he began to stir. He groaned quietly, then sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "Where... Where am I?..." he asked in a familiar voice.

"X!" Iris said happily. "It's me, X! You're free!"

X turned and looked at Iris for a moment. "...Iris?" he asked. "Yeah..."

"...What's up, X?" Iris asked. "You seem kinda groggy..."

"Hibernation sickness, I think," Smith said. "He'll get over it pretty quickly, though."

"C'mon, pal, let's get you out of there," Sharon said as Darren and she took X by the arms and lifted him out of the capsule.

X took a few steps, rubbed his eyes, blinked a few times and looked back at Iris. "Iris!" he exclaimed as he gave her a big hug. "It's so good to see you!!!"

"It's good to see you too, X," Iris replied as she returned the hug. "It's been too long..."

"But... I don't understand," X said as he stepped back. "You're alive? How?"

"What?!" Iris asked. "What do you mean? You've been sending me transmissions! You asked me to come and find you!"

"I... I did?..." X asked. "...Sorry, I don't remember..."

"That's all right," Smith said. "You'll recall everything in time."

"Who are you?" X asked. "Are you all friends of Iris?"

Iris quickly introduced each person to X before focusing on the task at hand. "OK, X, we're here to find Zero, too," Iris said. "You remember Zero, right?"

"Heh heh heh," X chuckled wryly. "Come on, I haven't lost my long-term memory. Yes, Zero is here."

"Great!" Darren said. "Lead us to him, man!"

"All right, I will," X replied. "But I'm a little worried..."

"What's wrong?" Snake Man asked.

"I was part of a machine that was generating a force field around the area where Zero is sealed," X said. "Now that I've been removed, the force field's gone as well. We have to hurry, before anything unpleasant gets there."

"Unpleasant?" Darren asked. "You know about Ribosome, X? He's the one who's after Iris!"

"I don't know any Ribosome," X replied with a shake of his head. "But I can feel something evil in this cave..."

"That's probably Ribosome anyway," Sharon answered. "I don't know him either, but the prof says he's a bad guy. That's all I need to know!"

"We can't let anything disturb Zero's capsule," X said. "If Zero is released, the Maverick Virus will run rampant again!"

"No worries," Darren said as he pulled out the syrum cube. "We built the syrum for that, just like you asked."

"...I did?" X asked.

"...Never mind," Darren chuckled halfheartedly.

"So, let's get goin'!" Sharon snapped. "The longer we stand around yakkin', the more time Ribosome has to snatch Zero! And when he's got him, he'll come after us!"

"Sharon's right," Iris said. "Come on, X! Take us to Zero!"

"Yes," X answered as he broke into a sprint. "This way, everyone! Follow me!"

Everyone raced after X down the long, dark tunnel.