Author's Note: At first, I didn't want to think of the Maverick Hunters as reploids who only went after highly dangerous mavericks, but I also didn't want to come up with the excuse that there weren't enough Hunters around to protect the city from minor maverick threats. I guess I'm just using lousy excuses for one of my next characters to get involved in this chapter.
4 - The Ronin Hunter
A month had gone by since the start of the Maverick Wars. With Sigma continuing his roll as head of the Maverick Hunters, all opposing reploids were kept at bay, but Dr. Cain continued to worry about him.
Ever since his battle with the once out of control maverick, Zero, Sigma's behavior slowly began to worsen. He got irritated every time civilians, mostly human, avoided him because of his size and looks, and he spent most of his time locked in his quarters, only coming out every once in a while to respond to mavericks too strong for lower ranked Hunters to handle. No one knew why he never came out of his quarters for more than three or more days a week. Some have (or tried to) believe that Sigma's been planning his strategy to the upcoming wars in the future.
Dr. Can had been asking Sigma repeatedly to get a physical exam to pinpoint his strange behavior and destroy it. But Sigma refused, thinking it was just an evolution in his behavior, his voice getting harsher and harsher with each response. Dr. Cain feared that if Sigma doesn't get examined soon, he may turn into something that could put the world in an even bigger risk that no one could stop.
The situation out in the city also became worse. Mavericks, who didn't have the knowledge of the guts to physically harm a human, took advantage of their fears by harassing them with death threats. This kind of irritation was reported to Hunter Base, but when no one responded to the civilians' demands to take care of the verbal abusing mavericks, most were pissed off at the fact that the Hunters were too overzealous too deal with such a "minor" threat while others feared that if they don't do something, sooner or later, one of the mavericks would eventually do what they have threatened to do to those they tried to scare.
Responding to this outcry, one mysterious reploid took it upon himself to deal with the mavericks that were irritating or frightening the civilians with death threats. In less than one day, up to five or more gangs of non-violent mavericks fell at the hands of the mysterious reploids' unbelievable skills. The civilians, while grateful that someone actually did something in their favor, didn't really trust the sudden appearance of their new hero and reported his actions to Hunter Base. This reaction shocked even Sigma who refused to let the Hunters respond to the civilians' outcry to deal with the verbal abusive mavericks in the first place.
"What was that!?" Sigma blurted out in front of a Hunter who had recently returned from his break. Hanging on his index fingers by old- fashion string was a stack of photos representing the scenes where previous, unidentified attacks had been reported.
"I don't know what happened, sir," the Hunter said, "but I got reports from five humans who were being threatened by a hoard of mavericks that a mysterious reploid in armor suddenly showed up and beat them to a pulp, then left them piled onto each other. They couldn't identify who did this, but the evidence in these photos may give us a clue."
Sigma snatched the photos from the hunter and yanked the string off, flipping through each take, seeing a pile of out cold mavericks ranging from 5 to more than 50 gangs. Each of the photos had a symbol either spray painted in the walls behind them or drawn on a piece of paper of a graffiti- like lion with the heads of a dragon and a goat on either side of its head. He narrowed his eyes and set the stacks down.
"It seems we have a renegade maverick on our hands," Sigma said, scratching his chin. The Hunter saluted.
"Sir, just give the word and I'll have our troops track that maverick down and taken care of."
"Don't bother," Sigma said, waving his hand, "the rule of a Maverick Hunter is that we do not attack unless mavericks have attacked the humans. This renegade seems to be of no harm to anyone but the mavericks who do nothing more but throw death threats at innocent civilians, both human and reploid. However...." he adds by staring at the photos again, "...the way this mysterious reploid has cleaned up such a mere threat and disappears leaving nothing but graffiti-art as evidence of his appearance has me wondering what his capabilities are. I want to meet this...'Chimera'."
"Chimera?"
"Yes," Sigma points to the graffiti in one of the photos, "Take a good look at that photo. See this symbol. I've read a myth on such a creature matching the graffiti in these photos and I figured, until we get some more information on our renegade maverick, to refer to him by that creature."
He grins again, looking at the photo.
In an abandoned, two story building in New Tokyo, Sigma and his 17th Unit stayed hidden in a dark corner of the wall behind a stack of tin, rusty barrels of the second story. Zero crouched right next to Sigma who stares at him in a mixture of dis-trust and concern.
After hearing that Zero wanted to become a Hunter to make up for all the bad rumors against him, Sigma took it upon himself to train him to be just as swift as he is. The training destroyed most of Zero's innocent personalities, making him less friendly looking than what he was when he first woke up from his ordeal. This would be Zero's first mission since the training.
"Did you send a distress call to the ID signal we matched earlier?" Sigma asked.
A hunter stood in front of a miniature radar machine, holding a headphone near his ear, "It's been sent, Commander. Now all we have to do is hope that he takes the bait."
"Good," Sigma said with a grin, then returns to staring at the empty building.
"Are you sure this'll work?" Zero asked.
"The Chimera will fall for anything," Sigma said, "When he hears a report about an abandoned building full of homeless people being harassed by a gang of mavericks, he'll fall for the fake distress signal like a fly to a light bulb. Once he arrives, we'll put his capabilities to the test. If he truly is what we have imagined, he will make a great hunter next to you."
"Commander!" the hunter next to the radar console cried out, "he' coming!"
Sigma snickered, "Well then, Chimera. Let's see if you really are what the reports say...."
A few minutes later, a figure appeared near the window of the second story, floating into the large, abandoned building and looking around. When he came into the light, Sigma frowned slightly. The appearance of the Chimera was not what he had imagined from the report.
The Chimera was no higher than X wearing a lab coat under armor that looked like it was designed by Picasso, except for the helmet, which almost looked like X's with yellow blades sticking out of the red gem and arrowheads on the sky blue protrusions of the helmet and a mask with visors that only presented his indigo pupils hiding his face from public as well as a white rod sticking out his black and brown ponytail with a yellow arrowhead tied to the rod by a red, thin cloth.
His armor vest stood a couple of inches from his chest with a yellow ring wrapped around near the neck area with a spiked pattern overlapping the red, half-circular design on the front of the vest and egg-shaped shoulder-pads with sky-blue and yellow triangles on top of the pads and a red circle on the bottom of the pads with a sky-blue curve next to the circle as well as a black curve surrounding both designs with a dark blue, triangular armor piece sticking out the bottom of the shoulder pads with red trimmings. A giant boomerang hovered close to the back of the armor vest with a white triangle between the red wing parts with a three inch, black border along the blade areas.
His arm parts were mostly blue with a rectangle on the top part of his arms with yellow and white trapezoids (yellow on the bottom, white on top) splitting it in half, black hands and a wing-shaped blade sticking out the backsides of his arms, also having a trapezoid design, only the bottom trapezoid was red instead of yellow and a two inch, black border near the outer wing blade area.
His leg parts had red and white curves along the front and back legs with blue near the front and a red circle near the ankles. The feet were blue along the back legs that narrowed down to the front of the feet with rectangles, the left was sky-blue while the right was black, along the top feet and a yellow triangle near the front of the feet.
While shocked by this sudden appearance, Sigma wasn't the least quick to judge. He continued to watch the Chimera constantly look around for the homeless people and the mavericks claimed to be harassing them. After a while, Sigma finally sprang up and pointed at him.
"GET HIM!" he yelled. The Chimera whipped around to see most of the Hunters jump out from behind the barrels and come at him. Zero attempted to follow only to be held back by Sigma who seemed shock when he saw what looked like a grin coming out of the faceless expression of the Chimera.
The Hunters surrounded the renegade maverick. The first one to come at him were the Hunters with beam sabers. Unfortunately, they didn't get far when the Chimera jumped straight into the air, causing them to run into each other and fall to the floor in various, unconscious positions.
The long-range hunters aimed their busters and rifles at the air- borne maverick and opened fire, seeing him dodge each blast without even getting the tip of his hair or his coattail singed by the burning plasma. Zero watched Sigma's grin continue to grow wider, then the Chimera landing on the floor the minute the long-range hunters ran out of ammo.
Raged, the hunters dropped their weapons and came at him only to meet the same result as the sword wielders who came at the Chimera when he jumped straight into the air again. Zero eyed Sigma again who did the same giving him permission to attack.
The Chimera landed to see the longhaired, crimson reploid come at him at the same speed as Sigma. But even that didn't match his target who merely ducked a punch to the face. Sigma continued to watch as Zero hot- headedly came at the Chimera with melee moves that seemed to get closer to him with each throw, his faceless expression turn from plain to slightly paranoid.
"Why aren't you fighting back!?" Zero shouted as he continued his melee onslaught, seeing the Chimera barely avoiding his attacks without once retaliating. He began to get frustrated, "Come on, dammit! Fight!" he swung his leg, which, to Sigma's surprise, finally connected with the Chimera as he brought his arm up for defense. The impact threw him onto his back as Zero slammed his foot on his mid-section and pointed his Z- Buster towards his face in rage and frustration.
"That's enough!" Sigma ordered, stepping out from behind the barrels and walking up to the two fallen fighters, eyeing Zero, "I suggest that you refrain from blasting him, unless you want to carry your head back to Hunter Base."
Zero turned his head towards Sigma, feeling a sharp object nip the side of his neck. He eyes where the slight pain came from, noticing the arm blade hanging dangerously close to his throat. Sigma could only grin as he gently pushed Zero off the Chimera, allowing him to get up.
"You have great potential," Sigma said, "but have you ever thought about how wasted those potentials are?" he waited for a response, but the Chimera barely said a word. Sigma crossed his arms, "The strong silent type, I see. Well, either way, with your help, we can put an end to this war for good."
The Chimera narrowed his eyes a minute before he reaches behind him and pulls out a can of red spray paint. Before Sigma or Zero could figure out what it's for, he presses the head nozzle, spraying red paint in Sigma's face, forcing him to stumble back and grab his eyes, yelping, more in shock than in pain. After regaining his balance, Sigma stared at the Hunters who had regained their senses, got up and throws his finger towards the Chimera, "Capture him and bring him back to Hunter Base for analysis!"
The Hunters spread out and surrounded the Chimera in all directions, busters, rifles and sabers armed and aimed at him. He eyes every last hunter surrounding him before taking his spray paint and smashing it to the ground, causing it to explode and surround the building with a cloud of red paint, forcing everyone to cover their faces.
"Dammit! He must've mixed some chemicals into the spray paint to create a smoke screen!" one of them shouted. Sigma gritted his teeth, which turned to shock when the red cloud sank to the ground to reveal the Chimera's sudden disappearance.
"Search the building!" another hunter shouted as everyone but Zero dispersed and ran into separate rooms surrounding the main building.
"The Chimera...." Zero muttered, "Something about him looks...familiar."
Sigma looked at Zero before looking at one of the glassless windows surrounding the building, "Yes...he does. But who?"
Unfortunately, the Chimera's refusal to join the Maverick Hunters was just the beginning of the real terror that would forever endanger the Hunters' reputation. Just a month after the Hunter's vow to keep the world safe from danger, half of Hunter Base exploded, killing and damaging any reploids or humans that were still inside.
X, who was going to meet Fig, Gato, Skie and Dr. Cain at Hunter Base for a maintenance check, had arrived in time to see the smoke coming out of the back of the base.
"What the...!? What happened!?" he yelped as he ran towards the door of Hunter Base, seeing a gang of shadows cautiously walk out as if nothing had happened. The first to come out was Sigma who stopped in front of X and looks down at him.
"X, what a surprise," Sigma said with a cocky grin, "What brings an innocent reploid like you to a place like this?"
"Sigma, do you know what happened to the people at Hunter Base?" X asked. Sigma's grin widened.
"I have finally seen the truth, X," Sigma said, "This world is being wasted by the humans. It is time to end their suffering once and for all."
"What're you talking about?"
"The humans are limiting the production of our brothers. It took me a while to think about it and after reading some reports I found in an old lab I was at recently, I realized that what we are doing is wrong." X's mouth hung open in shock as Sigma continued his speech, "In order to correct this error, we must join forces and eliminate the humans before they figure out a way to take away our freedom for good."
"What happened to you!? You, of all reploids, know that we want to live among the humans like civilized creatures. Even if what you say is true, that doesn't mean all humans act like they don't care if we are more human than we look."
Sigma just snickered at X's response, "When will you wake up, X? Even with those who treat us like normal, those humans, alone, aren't enough to convince us that we are one with the world. Come with me, X. And I will show you what it's like to show these cold-hearted creatures the true meaning of what it's like to be limited and controlled."
"Forget it, Sigma! I will not turn my back on those who care about me! If I wanted to find out the truth about humans, I'll do it on my own terms, not yours!"
Sigma's snicker turned into a laugh. X snarled and ran past him to try and get inside only to be knocked back by a spark ball that covered him in spark the minute he hit the ground. X barely lifted his head to see a purple, Boba Fett-like reploid standing behind Sigma with a shoulder cannon aimed at him.
"I'm sorry, X," Sigma said walking up to him, "But I'm afraid those who side with the humans are our enemy. However...." he adds as he stoops over X, "You can be spared, if you agree to join my army. You would make a great right hand man."
"N-Never!" X groaned, trying to get up. Sigma slammed his foot against his paralyzed chest.
"That's too bad. I tried to persuade Zero the same way I persuaded you since he is meant to follow me from the beginning. But his new life has taught him that not all humans treat us like everyday tools with feelings. It's a shame I had to take care of him like I did your pathetic friends from Robot Rescue."
"W-What!?" X gasped, then snarled, "You didn't!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Sigma said mockingly, "I did call them over here to check for a malfunction in one of our surveillance equipment. But it turns out I didn't need them after all since I found the faulty connection myself. Too bad your friends met their end when I made the malfunction worse."
"You monster! Everyone had their trust on you and you turned it against them!" X felt the increasing pressure of Sigma's foot upon his chest.
"Don't feel too bad, X. I know how much you care about them. That's why I've arranged a reunion for you. There, you will all live happily ever after in the fiery pits of hell." Sigma raises his foot towards X's head to strike when a giant boomerang slammed into him, knocking him off X. Sigma stumbled back a few feet, regaining his balance and looked in the direction the boomerang came from as it was flying back, "Who's there!?"
X lifted his head to see the Chimera land in front of him with his back turned. The boomerang flew past him a second before it came back and hovered near the magnetic needle of his armor vest.
"Who...who are you?" X grunted.
"Well, well. If it isn't the Chimera," Sigma said with a grin, "I never thought a renegade like you would ever show up in a place that could simply put you behind bars if they so chose." The Chimera looks at him with stern eyes, "I guess I know why you're here." His grin widened as he points at the Chimera, "DESTROY HIM!"
The Hunters came at the Chimera with their weapons drawn an their voice boxes straining from their battle cries. The Chimera shifted his eyes between the coming mavericks and X before flying into the mass, limbs and body parts flying everywhere as battle cries slowly turned into screams. By the time most of the screaming had died, only eight mavericks, Sigma and Vile were left standing. He looked at Sigma as if expecting him to look terrified, but saw a sinister grin instead.
"Last time we met, you have overpowered us. But this time, you won't be so lucky," Sigma said pulling his beam saber out, "After your little brawl with Zero, I have managed to upgrade my mobility to match your speed. What do you say? Shall we go somewhere a little less crowded to finish what we should have started a month ago?"
The Chimera only stared at him, uninterested and turns to X, bending down to him and sticking his hands over his chest, seeming to absorb the sparks surrounding his body. Once the sparks were gone, X slowly sat up, flexing his arms. Sigma wasn't too pleased.
"Ignore me will you?" Sigma snarled, then grinned, "Very well. You may have succeeded in saving a life, but that success will not last long." He finished by snapping his fingers.
A spark ball slammed into X's back, causing him to cry out in pain and fall towards the Chimera, who's pupils shrank to the size of rice grains the second X landed on his left shoulder. He looks behind X's fallen body to see a violet dog with pointy shoulders stand a foot from them, hunched over and snarling.
"Do you like him?" Sigma said with an evil grin, "Dr. Cain created him a week ago to follow my every command. I just thought I'd let him finish the job you interrupted me from completing."
The Chimera raised his clenched fists as they shook before springing to his feet, knocking the unconscious X from his shoulders, screaming in rage and lunging towards Sigma at a speed that exceeded his own limitations.
"What the...!? How did you pick up such speed!?" Sigma cried out in shock. Before he could move, the Chimera rammed into him, throwing his arms around him, hauled him off the ground, and into the sky. Vile watched them disappear before looking past X at the city ahead before making his way into it. Velguarder looked in the direction Sigma was hauled off into and teleports after him.
In the nearly destroyed portion of Hunter Base, a pile of rubble fell over. Zero emerged from the pile, coughing up concrete and dust.
"Damn him!" Zero said between coughs, "He'll pay for this!"
"Oh my god! Grandpa!" came a voice.
"Skie! Wake up!" came another voice.
Zero ran towards the source and gasped in shock at what he saw. Fire- Star and Gato, covered in scratches and their own blood, were shaking Skie and Dr. Cain who were in worst shape than they were.
"What happened!?" Zero called out as he ran to the two.
"It's...it's terrible, Zero!" Gato said, her face drenched in tears, "Sigma brought us to the surveillance room to fix a malfunction in one of their machines and the next thing we knew, we were engulfed in this giant explosion!"
"Dr. Cain and Skie stood too close to the explosion, so they're in worse shape than we are!" Fig said, his face also covered in tears, although he wasn't crying as hard as Gato was. Zero gritted his teeth before helping the two to their feet.
"Find a communicator that hasn't been destroyed in the explosion and call an ambulance down here to take care of you and anyone else caught in the explosion," he said, getting up, "I've got a score to settle with that bald, betraying bastard!" Zero stormed out of the Hunter Base only to come to a screeching halt when he saw X laying on his back, unconscious, "Oh my god! X!" He ran up to X and shook him, getting no response, "He's not responding! Something must've drained his energy!"
Zero looked around frantically for something to recharge him, spotting an old-fashion E-Can laying right next to X's leg. Not taking any chances, he grabbed the can and pulled the tab off, tilting X's head back and pouring the contents into his mouth, which responded in a mechanical whirring sound as X slowly opened his eyes.
"Zero!" X snapped the second his five senses were back online as he immediately sat up, rubbing his head, "What...What happened!? Where's Sigma?"
"He disappeared," Zero said, "I don't remember what happened. One minute I was heading the holo-simulator to train myself. Next thing I knew I was buried under a pile of concrete and poles. Sigma was nowhere to be found."
X snarled and clenched his fist, "Damn him! I can't believe Sigma, the worlds most trusted hero, has decided to do this to us!" His snarl grew louder as he sprang to his feet, enraged, "He'll pay for this!" He was about to run off when Zero grabbed him by the arm.
"Are you crazy!?" Zero snapped, "You won't stand a chance against Sigma!"
"Let go of me!" X yelled, yanking his arm from Zero's grip, "I have to stop Sigma! Otherwise he will continue hurting more innocent creatures!"
"But X...!" before Zero could stop him again, X teleported out. Zero just stood there snarling, "That idiot! Unless he's some kind of superhero, he'll never stand up to Sigma with his fists alone!" With that said, he teleports out as well.
X landed in the middle of a busy highway, seeing a bunch of nearly damaged cars zoom past him as he ran along the road to where Sigma was said to have attacked. A lot of mavericks blocked his way towards the location, but he only cared about dealing with Sigma and plows straight through them, using his X-Buster to blast the mavericks that tried to attack him.
The further he went along the highway, the damaged it became as more mavericks showed up to try and stop him. Suffering only minor damage from the recent onslaught of the other mavericks, X continued onward, blasting those that tried to ram him to the ground until he had reached the end of the highway. He didn't get too far into the streets when a giant ship appeared overhead and sent a lift down towards him as blaster cars dropped from the lift and came at him only to get blown by his X-Buster.
Once three of the cars had been destroyed a different vehicle dropped from the lift. An armor carrier that was far different from the ones that most of the Hunters had used on missions involving this kind of armored machine. Inside the machine was Vile who looked at X as if he was grinning with excitement.
X tried to get past Vile, but his armored carrier was too high for him to jump over, and his legs weren't programmed with the same boosters Zero had on his feet, making it difficult for him to try and get around as Vile continued to ram him with his fists and armored plating. Finally fed up, X started hitting him with blasts, but even when they were charged, the carrier still kept coming at him.
After a while, X stumbled back, trying to stay standing as Vile looked at him, the expression in his eyes growing darker than before. Before X could get out of the way, Vile fired the same spark ball that paralyzed him earlier, knocking him to his knees, surrounded by an electrical barrier. Snickering, the armored carrier-controlling maverick walked up to him and grabbed him within the grips of its giant fist.
"You worthless piece of scrap metal," Vile said, "Did you honestly think you could destroy me?" His snicker turned into a chuckle as the fist of the armored carrier continued to increase its grip on X, hearing him groaning in pain before a charged blast slammed into its arm, blowing it straight out of its socket and dropping X to the ground.
Zero zoomed in front of X, glaring at Vile a moment before aiming his Z-Buster at him, charging up again as the mother ship appeared over them, lowering the lift just as the buster reached its maximum power. He released a charged blast, barely missing the armored carrier as Vile jumped onto the lift. Zero watched the lift rise into the ship as it flew away and turned his attention to X who stared back at him a minute before he lowed his head.
"I guess I'm not powerful enough to stop him," he said with a bit of frustration in his voice, feeling his hopes of taking care of Sigma slowly start to slip away. Zero narrowed his eyes.
"X, you shouldn't hope to defeat him. He is designed to be a war machine," Zero said, "Remember, you are not at full power yet. If you continue to use the skills you were designed with, you may be able to become more powerful." He pauses for a moment before continuing, "You may even become as powerful as I am." He then looks up, "I'll get as much information on Sigma's whereabouts as I can." He looks at X, "I'll meet up with you when you get there." X didn't lift his head to look at him. Zero sighed, "X, I know you can do it."
X looked at Zero in time to see him teleport out. Gaining some confidence back, he gets up and teleports out a well.
In a forest somewhere far from the city, two streaks hit the ground. The Chimera was the first to emerge from the dust he created, Sigma following after.
"So, you've finally touched down," Sigma said, then looks around, "Such a quaint place for someone willing to die at the hands of someone who could've made him the next head of the Maverick Hunters." The Chimera narrowed his eyes as Sigma gripped his beam saber, "Let's finish this once and for all!"
The two came at each other, their battle cries echoing throughout the entire forest followed by the sounds of blades clashing that lasted for over an hour before the two stopped, Sigma's blade an inch from the Chimera's head who kept the beam blade away from his face with his arm blade.
"Such skills!" Sigma said with a grin, "What say you and I stop this infernal fight and join forces? Together we can overthrow the humans and create a world in which only reploids can live. What do you say?" The Chimera narrowed his eyes and brought his foot towards Sigma's chest, kicking him into a nearby tree, the impact ripping it from its roots as he fell on his back. Snarling, Sigma got up, holding his beam saber in front of him, "You are a fool! Why do you insist on defending those who treat you like a common criminal!?"
"Why do YOU insist on hurting the ones you try to protect?" the Chimera finally spoke for the first time since his appearance. Sigma's mouth hung open as his eyes widened.
"Of course! How could I have been so stupid!?" Sigma blurt out, "Now I know exactly who you are!"
"If you know who I am, then you know exactly what I'm about to do to you!" the Chimera said. He reached towards Sigma's head only to yank it back as a wave of fire curved between the two. He eyed Velguarder standing a foot from them, hunched over and snarling. Sigma's shock turned into an evil grin as he backed away.
"My pet doesn't like what you're trying to do," Sigma said, "And neither do I. I kinda like being who I am now." The Chimera eyed him, "Besides, if you try anything on me, I will reveal your identity to everyone. You would be lucky if the Hunters decide to keep you behind bars instead of turning you into another victim of the junkyard." He heard the Chimera muffle a growl, "So which will it be? Change me and not even the ocean will keep you safe from the Hunters as they come tracking you down."
The Chimera continued to snarl before turning around, "This isn't over. I will find a way to free you. Deep inside, there's a part of you that's screaming for help. And I'm going to find it." Sigma watched as he turned his back on him and flew off, the grin never leaving his face.
"Search all you want," Sigma snickered, "The innocence that was once inside me is now gone. And the new me is about to raise terror so bad, you'd wish you thought twice about your decision to save the world sooner." He then turns and walks off.
OOC: Yes, I know Zero's lines were different from the lines in the first MMX game, but it was a little less confusing than when I had to describe the Chimera's armor without making it look like one hanging long paragraph.
Next Chapter: Sigma has fought and lost to Mega Man X. But evil of a different kind starts brewing and the only Hunter strong enough to handle it is off on a mission to finish off Sigma's remaining force and retrieve his companion's separated parts. However, help is on the way as ProtoX, who senses some familiarity in the reports of the new evil, took it upon himself to seek that evil out, hoping to get some answers to the memories he still believes don't belong to him along the way.
But it seems he is not alone. The Chimera, who disappeared prior to X's first journey into maverick territory also shows up to deal with the evil himself. Will the two be able to team up and put an end to this new threat, or will they slay each other before either of them have a chance to stop the threat once and for all?
4 - The Ronin Hunter
A month had gone by since the start of the Maverick Wars. With Sigma continuing his roll as head of the Maverick Hunters, all opposing reploids were kept at bay, but Dr. Cain continued to worry about him.
Ever since his battle with the once out of control maverick, Zero, Sigma's behavior slowly began to worsen. He got irritated every time civilians, mostly human, avoided him because of his size and looks, and he spent most of his time locked in his quarters, only coming out every once in a while to respond to mavericks too strong for lower ranked Hunters to handle. No one knew why he never came out of his quarters for more than three or more days a week. Some have (or tried to) believe that Sigma's been planning his strategy to the upcoming wars in the future.
Dr. Can had been asking Sigma repeatedly to get a physical exam to pinpoint his strange behavior and destroy it. But Sigma refused, thinking it was just an evolution in his behavior, his voice getting harsher and harsher with each response. Dr. Cain feared that if Sigma doesn't get examined soon, he may turn into something that could put the world in an even bigger risk that no one could stop.
The situation out in the city also became worse. Mavericks, who didn't have the knowledge of the guts to physically harm a human, took advantage of their fears by harassing them with death threats. This kind of irritation was reported to Hunter Base, but when no one responded to the civilians' demands to take care of the verbal abusing mavericks, most were pissed off at the fact that the Hunters were too overzealous too deal with such a "minor" threat while others feared that if they don't do something, sooner or later, one of the mavericks would eventually do what they have threatened to do to those they tried to scare.
Responding to this outcry, one mysterious reploid took it upon himself to deal with the mavericks that were irritating or frightening the civilians with death threats. In less than one day, up to five or more gangs of non-violent mavericks fell at the hands of the mysterious reploids' unbelievable skills. The civilians, while grateful that someone actually did something in their favor, didn't really trust the sudden appearance of their new hero and reported his actions to Hunter Base. This reaction shocked even Sigma who refused to let the Hunters respond to the civilians' outcry to deal with the verbal abusive mavericks in the first place.
"What was that!?" Sigma blurted out in front of a Hunter who had recently returned from his break. Hanging on his index fingers by old- fashion string was a stack of photos representing the scenes where previous, unidentified attacks had been reported.
"I don't know what happened, sir," the Hunter said, "but I got reports from five humans who were being threatened by a hoard of mavericks that a mysterious reploid in armor suddenly showed up and beat them to a pulp, then left them piled onto each other. They couldn't identify who did this, but the evidence in these photos may give us a clue."
Sigma snatched the photos from the hunter and yanked the string off, flipping through each take, seeing a pile of out cold mavericks ranging from 5 to more than 50 gangs. Each of the photos had a symbol either spray painted in the walls behind them or drawn on a piece of paper of a graffiti- like lion with the heads of a dragon and a goat on either side of its head. He narrowed his eyes and set the stacks down.
"It seems we have a renegade maverick on our hands," Sigma said, scratching his chin. The Hunter saluted.
"Sir, just give the word and I'll have our troops track that maverick down and taken care of."
"Don't bother," Sigma said, waving his hand, "the rule of a Maverick Hunter is that we do not attack unless mavericks have attacked the humans. This renegade seems to be of no harm to anyone but the mavericks who do nothing more but throw death threats at innocent civilians, both human and reploid. However...." he adds by staring at the photos again, "...the way this mysterious reploid has cleaned up such a mere threat and disappears leaving nothing but graffiti-art as evidence of his appearance has me wondering what his capabilities are. I want to meet this...'Chimera'."
"Chimera?"
"Yes," Sigma points to the graffiti in one of the photos, "Take a good look at that photo. See this symbol. I've read a myth on such a creature matching the graffiti in these photos and I figured, until we get some more information on our renegade maverick, to refer to him by that creature."
He grins again, looking at the photo.
In an abandoned, two story building in New Tokyo, Sigma and his 17th Unit stayed hidden in a dark corner of the wall behind a stack of tin, rusty barrels of the second story. Zero crouched right next to Sigma who stares at him in a mixture of dis-trust and concern.
After hearing that Zero wanted to become a Hunter to make up for all the bad rumors against him, Sigma took it upon himself to train him to be just as swift as he is. The training destroyed most of Zero's innocent personalities, making him less friendly looking than what he was when he first woke up from his ordeal. This would be Zero's first mission since the training.
"Did you send a distress call to the ID signal we matched earlier?" Sigma asked.
A hunter stood in front of a miniature radar machine, holding a headphone near his ear, "It's been sent, Commander. Now all we have to do is hope that he takes the bait."
"Good," Sigma said with a grin, then returns to staring at the empty building.
"Are you sure this'll work?" Zero asked.
"The Chimera will fall for anything," Sigma said, "When he hears a report about an abandoned building full of homeless people being harassed by a gang of mavericks, he'll fall for the fake distress signal like a fly to a light bulb. Once he arrives, we'll put his capabilities to the test. If he truly is what we have imagined, he will make a great hunter next to you."
"Commander!" the hunter next to the radar console cried out, "he' coming!"
Sigma snickered, "Well then, Chimera. Let's see if you really are what the reports say...."
A few minutes later, a figure appeared near the window of the second story, floating into the large, abandoned building and looking around. When he came into the light, Sigma frowned slightly. The appearance of the Chimera was not what he had imagined from the report.
The Chimera was no higher than X wearing a lab coat under armor that looked like it was designed by Picasso, except for the helmet, which almost looked like X's with yellow blades sticking out of the red gem and arrowheads on the sky blue protrusions of the helmet and a mask with visors that only presented his indigo pupils hiding his face from public as well as a white rod sticking out his black and brown ponytail with a yellow arrowhead tied to the rod by a red, thin cloth.
His armor vest stood a couple of inches from his chest with a yellow ring wrapped around near the neck area with a spiked pattern overlapping the red, half-circular design on the front of the vest and egg-shaped shoulder-pads with sky-blue and yellow triangles on top of the pads and a red circle on the bottom of the pads with a sky-blue curve next to the circle as well as a black curve surrounding both designs with a dark blue, triangular armor piece sticking out the bottom of the shoulder pads with red trimmings. A giant boomerang hovered close to the back of the armor vest with a white triangle between the red wing parts with a three inch, black border along the blade areas.
His arm parts were mostly blue with a rectangle on the top part of his arms with yellow and white trapezoids (yellow on the bottom, white on top) splitting it in half, black hands and a wing-shaped blade sticking out the backsides of his arms, also having a trapezoid design, only the bottom trapezoid was red instead of yellow and a two inch, black border near the outer wing blade area.
His leg parts had red and white curves along the front and back legs with blue near the front and a red circle near the ankles. The feet were blue along the back legs that narrowed down to the front of the feet with rectangles, the left was sky-blue while the right was black, along the top feet and a yellow triangle near the front of the feet.
While shocked by this sudden appearance, Sigma wasn't the least quick to judge. He continued to watch the Chimera constantly look around for the homeless people and the mavericks claimed to be harassing them. After a while, Sigma finally sprang up and pointed at him.
"GET HIM!" he yelled. The Chimera whipped around to see most of the Hunters jump out from behind the barrels and come at him. Zero attempted to follow only to be held back by Sigma who seemed shock when he saw what looked like a grin coming out of the faceless expression of the Chimera.
The Hunters surrounded the renegade maverick. The first one to come at him were the Hunters with beam sabers. Unfortunately, they didn't get far when the Chimera jumped straight into the air, causing them to run into each other and fall to the floor in various, unconscious positions.
The long-range hunters aimed their busters and rifles at the air- borne maverick and opened fire, seeing him dodge each blast without even getting the tip of his hair or his coattail singed by the burning plasma. Zero watched Sigma's grin continue to grow wider, then the Chimera landing on the floor the minute the long-range hunters ran out of ammo.
Raged, the hunters dropped their weapons and came at him only to meet the same result as the sword wielders who came at the Chimera when he jumped straight into the air again. Zero eyed Sigma again who did the same giving him permission to attack.
The Chimera landed to see the longhaired, crimson reploid come at him at the same speed as Sigma. But even that didn't match his target who merely ducked a punch to the face. Sigma continued to watch as Zero hot- headedly came at the Chimera with melee moves that seemed to get closer to him with each throw, his faceless expression turn from plain to slightly paranoid.
"Why aren't you fighting back!?" Zero shouted as he continued his melee onslaught, seeing the Chimera barely avoiding his attacks without once retaliating. He began to get frustrated, "Come on, dammit! Fight!" he swung his leg, which, to Sigma's surprise, finally connected with the Chimera as he brought his arm up for defense. The impact threw him onto his back as Zero slammed his foot on his mid-section and pointed his Z- Buster towards his face in rage and frustration.
"That's enough!" Sigma ordered, stepping out from behind the barrels and walking up to the two fallen fighters, eyeing Zero, "I suggest that you refrain from blasting him, unless you want to carry your head back to Hunter Base."
Zero turned his head towards Sigma, feeling a sharp object nip the side of his neck. He eyes where the slight pain came from, noticing the arm blade hanging dangerously close to his throat. Sigma could only grin as he gently pushed Zero off the Chimera, allowing him to get up.
"You have great potential," Sigma said, "but have you ever thought about how wasted those potentials are?" he waited for a response, but the Chimera barely said a word. Sigma crossed his arms, "The strong silent type, I see. Well, either way, with your help, we can put an end to this war for good."
The Chimera narrowed his eyes a minute before he reaches behind him and pulls out a can of red spray paint. Before Sigma or Zero could figure out what it's for, he presses the head nozzle, spraying red paint in Sigma's face, forcing him to stumble back and grab his eyes, yelping, more in shock than in pain. After regaining his balance, Sigma stared at the Hunters who had regained their senses, got up and throws his finger towards the Chimera, "Capture him and bring him back to Hunter Base for analysis!"
The Hunters spread out and surrounded the Chimera in all directions, busters, rifles and sabers armed and aimed at him. He eyes every last hunter surrounding him before taking his spray paint and smashing it to the ground, causing it to explode and surround the building with a cloud of red paint, forcing everyone to cover their faces.
"Dammit! He must've mixed some chemicals into the spray paint to create a smoke screen!" one of them shouted. Sigma gritted his teeth, which turned to shock when the red cloud sank to the ground to reveal the Chimera's sudden disappearance.
"Search the building!" another hunter shouted as everyone but Zero dispersed and ran into separate rooms surrounding the main building.
"The Chimera...." Zero muttered, "Something about him looks...familiar."
Sigma looked at Zero before looking at one of the glassless windows surrounding the building, "Yes...he does. But who?"
Unfortunately, the Chimera's refusal to join the Maverick Hunters was just the beginning of the real terror that would forever endanger the Hunters' reputation. Just a month after the Hunter's vow to keep the world safe from danger, half of Hunter Base exploded, killing and damaging any reploids or humans that were still inside.
X, who was going to meet Fig, Gato, Skie and Dr. Cain at Hunter Base for a maintenance check, had arrived in time to see the smoke coming out of the back of the base.
"What the...!? What happened!?" he yelped as he ran towards the door of Hunter Base, seeing a gang of shadows cautiously walk out as if nothing had happened. The first to come out was Sigma who stopped in front of X and looks down at him.
"X, what a surprise," Sigma said with a cocky grin, "What brings an innocent reploid like you to a place like this?"
"Sigma, do you know what happened to the people at Hunter Base?" X asked. Sigma's grin widened.
"I have finally seen the truth, X," Sigma said, "This world is being wasted by the humans. It is time to end their suffering once and for all."
"What're you talking about?"
"The humans are limiting the production of our brothers. It took me a while to think about it and after reading some reports I found in an old lab I was at recently, I realized that what we are doing is wrong." X's mouth hung open in shock as Sigma continued his speech, "In order to correct this error, we must join forces and eliminate the humans before they figure out a way to take away our freedom for good."
"What happened to you!? You, of all reploids, know that we want to live among the humans like civilized creatures. Even if what you say is true, that doesn't mean all humans act like they don't care if we are more human than we look."
Sigma just snickered at X's response, "When will you wake up, X? Even with those who treat us like normal, those humans, alone, aren't enough to convince us that we are one with the world. Come with me, X. And I will show you what it's like to show these cold-hearted creatures the true meaning of what it's like to be limited and controlled."
"Forget it, Sigma! I will not turn my back on those who care about me! If I wanted to find out the truth about humans, I'll do it on my own terms, not yours!"
Sigma's snicker turned into a laugh. X snarled and ran past him to try and get inside only to be knocked back by a spark ball that covered him in spark the minute he hit the ground. X barely lifted his head to see a purple, Boba Fett-like reploid standing behind Sigma with a shoulder cannon aimed at him.
"I'm sorry, X," Sigma said walking up to him, "But I'm afraid those who side with the humans are our enemy. However...." he adds as he stoops over X, "You can be spared, if you agree to join my army. You would make a great right hand man."
"N-Never!" X groaned, trying to get up. Sigma slammed his foot against his paralyzed chest.
"That's too bad. I tried to persuade Zero the same way I persuaded you since he is meant to follow me from the beginning. But his new life has taught him that not all humans treat us like everyday tools with feelings. It's a shame I had to take care of him like I did your pathetic friends from Robot Rescue."
"W-What!?" X gasped, then snarled, "You didn't!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Sigma said mockingly, "I did call them over here to check for a malfunction in one of our surveillance equipment. But it turns out I didn't need them after all since I found the faulty connection myself. Too bad your friends met their end when I made the malfunction worse."
"You monster! Everyone had their trust on you and you turned it against them!" X felt the increasing pressure of Sigma's foot upon his chest.
"Don't feel too bad, X. I know how much you care about them. That's why I've arranged a reunion for you. There, you will all live happily ever after in the fiery pits of hell." Sigma raises his foot towards X's head to strike when a giant boomerang slammed into him, knocking him off X. Sigma stumbled back a few feet, regaining his balance and looked in the direction the boomerang came from as it was flying back, "Who's there!?"
X lifted his head to see the Chimera land in front of him with his back turned. The boomerang flew past him a second before it came back and hovered near the magnetic needle of his armor vest.
"Who...who are you?" X grunted.
"Well, well. If it isn't the Chimera," Sigma said with a grin, "I never thought a renegade like you would ever show up in a place that could simply put you behind bars if they so chose." The Chimera looks at him with stern eyes, "I guess I know why you're here." His grin widened as he points at the Chimera, "DESTROY HIM!"
The Hunters came at the Chimera with their weapons drawn an their voice boxes straining from their battle cries. The Chimera shifted his eyes between the coming mavericks and X before flying into the mass, limbs and body parts flying everywhere as battle cries slowly turned into screams. By the time most of the screaming had died, only eight mavericks, Sigma and Vile were left standing. He looked at Sigma as if expecting him to look terrified, but saw a sinister grin instead.
"Last time we met, you have overpowered us. But this time, you won't be so lucky," Sigma said pulling his beam saber out, "After your little brawl with Zero, I have managed to upgrade my mobility to match your speed. What do you say? Shall we go somewhere a little less crowded to finish what we should have started a month ago?"
The Chimera only stared at him, uninterested and turns to X, bending down to him and sticking his hands over his chest, seeming to absorb the sparks surrounding his body. Once the sparks were gone, X slowly sat up, flexing his arms. Sigma wasn't too pleased.
"Ignore me will you?" Sigma snarled, then grinned, "Very well. You may have succeeded in saving a life, but that success will not last long." He finished by snapping his fingers.
A spark ball slammed into X's back, causing him to cry out in pain and fall towards the Chimera, who's pupils shrank to the size of rice grains the second X landed on his left shoulder. He looks behind X's fallen body to see a violet dog with pointy shoulders stand a foot from them, hunched over and snarling.
"Do you like him?" Sigma said with an evil grin, "Dr. Cain created him a week ago to follow my every command. I just thought I'd let him finish the job you interrupted me from completing."
The Chimera raised his clenched fists as they shook before springing to his feet, knocking the unconscious X from his shoulders, screaming in rage and lunging towards Sigma at a speed that exceeded his own limitations.
"What the...!? How did you pick up such speed!?" Sigma cried out in shock. Before he could move, the Chimera rammed into him, throwing his arms around him, hauled him off the ground, and into the sky. Vile watched them disappear before looking past X at the city ahead before making his way into it. Velguarder looked in the direction Sigma was hauled off into and teleports after him.
In the nearly destroyed portion of Hunter Base, a pile of rubble fell over. Zero emerged from the pile, coughing up concrete and dust.
"Damn him!" Zero said between coughs, "He'll pay for this!"
"Oh my god! Grandpa!" came a voice.
"Skie! Wake up!" came another voice.
Zero ran towards the source and gasped in shock at what he saw. Fire- Star and Gato, covered in scratches and their own blood, were shaking Skie and Dr. Cain who were in worst shape than they were.
"What happened!?" Zero called out as he ran to the two.
"It's...it's terrible, Zero!" Gato said, her face drenched in tears, "Sigma brought us to the surveillance room to fix a malfunction in one of their machines and the next thing we knew, we were engulfed in this giant explosion!"
"Dr. Cain and Skie stood too close to the explosion, so they're in worse shape than we are!" Fig said, his face also covered in tears, although he wasn't crying as hard as Gato was. Zero gritted his teeth before helping the two to their feet.
"Find a communicator that hasn't been destroyed in the explosion and call an ambulance down here to take care of you and anyone else caught in the explosion," he said, getting up, "I've got a score to settle with that bald, betraying bastard!" Zero stormed out of the Hunter Base only to come to a screeching halt when he saw X laying on his back, unconscious, "Oh my god! X!" He ran up to X and shook him, getting no response, "He's not responding! Something must've drained his energy!"
Zero looked around frantically for something to recharge him, spotting an old-fashion E-Can laying right next to X's leg. Not taking any chances, he grabbed the can and pulled the tab off, tilting X's head back and pouring the contents into his mouth, which responded in a mechanical whirring sound as X slowly opened his eyes.
"Zero!" X snapped the second his five senses were back online as he immediately sat up, rubbing his head, "What...What happened!? Where's Sigma?"
"He disappeared," Zero said, "I don't remember what happened. One minute I was heading the holo-simulator to train myself. Next thing I knew I was buried under a pile of concrete and poles. Sigma was nowhere to be found."
X snarled and clenched his fist, "Damn him! I can't believe Sigma, the worlds most trusted hero, has decided to do this to us!" His snarl grew louder as he sprang to his feet, enraged, "He'll pay for this!" He was about to run off when Zero grabbed him by the arm.
"Are you crazy!?" Zero snapped, "You won't stand a chance against Sigma!"
"Let go of me!" X yelled, yanking his arm from Zero's grip, "I have to stop Sigma! Otherwise he will continue hurting more innocent creatures!"
"But X...!" before Zero could stop him again, X teleported out. Zero just stood there snarling, "That idiot! Unless he's some kind of superhero, he'll never stand up to Sigma with his fists alone!" With that said, he teleports out as well.
X landed in the middle of a busy highway, seeing a bunch of nearly damaged cars zoom past him as he ran along the road to where Sigma was said to have attacked. A lot of mavericks blocked his way towards the location, but he only cared about dealing with Sigma and plows straight through them, using his X-Buster to blast the mavericks that tried to attack him.
The further he went along the highway, the damaged it became as more mavericks showed up to try and stop him. Suffering only minor damage from the recent onslaught of the other mavericks, X continued onward, blasting those that tried to ram him to the ground until he had reached the end of the highway. He didn't get too far into the streets when a giant ship appeared overhead and sent a lift down towards him as blaster cars dropped from the lift and came at him only to get blown by his X-Buster.
Once three of the cars had been destroyed a different vehicle dropped from the lift. An armor carrier that was far different from the ones that most of the Hunters had used on missions involving this kind of armored machine. Inside the machine was Vile who looked at X as if he was grinning with excitement.
X tried to get past Vile, but his armored carrier was too high for him to jump over, and his legs weren't programmed with the same boosters Zero had on his feet, making it difficult for him to try and get around as Vile continued to ram him with his fists and armored plating. Finally fed up, X started hitting him with blasts, but even when they were charged, the carrier still kept coming at him.
After a while, X stumbled back, trying to stay standing as Vile looked at him, the expression in his eyes growing darker than before. Before X could get out of the way, Vile fired the same spark ball that paralyzed him earlier, knocking him to his knees, surrounded by an electrical barrier. Snickering, the armored carrier-controlling maverick walked up to him and grabbed him within the grips of its giant fist.
"You worthless piece of scrap metal," Vile said, "Did you honestly think you could destroy me?" His snicker turned into a chuckle as the fist of the armored carrier continued to increase its grip on X, hearing him groaning in pain before a charged blast slammed into its arm, blowing it straight out of its socket and dropping X to the ground.
Zero zoomed in front of X, glaring at Vile a moment before aiming his Z-Buster at him, charging up again as the mother ship appeared over them, lowering the lift just as the buster reached its maximum power. He released a charged blast, barely missing the armored carrier as Vile jumped onto the lift. Zero watched the lift rise into the ship as it flew away and turned his attention to X who stared back at him a minute before he lowed his head.
"I guess I'm not powerful enough to stop him," he said with a bit of frustration in his voice, feeling his hopes of taking care of Sigma slowly start to slip away. Zero narrowed his eyes.
"X, you shouldn't hope to defeat him. He is designed to be a war machine," Zero said, "Remember, you are not at full power yet. If you continue to use the skills you were designed with, you may be able to become more powerful." He pauses for a moment before continuing, "You may even become as powerful as I am." He then looks up, "I'll get as much information on Sigma's whereabouts as I can." He looks at X, "I'll meet up with you when you get there." X didn't lift his head to look at him. Zero sighed, "X, I know you can do it."
X looked at Zero in time to see him teleport out. Gaining some confidence back, he gets up and teleports out a well.
In a forest somewhere far from the city, two streaks hit the ground. The Chimera was the first to emerge from the dust he created, Sigma following after.
"So, you've finally touched down," Sigma said, then looks around, "Such a quaint place for someone willing to die at the hands of someone who could've made him the next head of the Maverick Hunters." The Chimera narrowed his eyes as Sigma gripped his beam saber, "Let's finish this once and for all!"
The two came at each other, their battle cries echoing throughout the entire forest followed by the sounds of blades clashing that lasted for over an hour before the two stopped, Sigma's blade an inch from the Chimera's head who kept the beam blade away from his face with his arm blade.
"Such skills!" Sigma said with a grin, "What say you and I stop this infernal fight and join forces? Together we can overthrow the humans and create a world in which only reploids can live. What do you say?" The Chimera narrowed his eyes and brought his foot towards Sigma's chest, kicking him into a nearby tree, the impact ripping it from its roots as he fell on his back. Snarling, Sigma got up, holding his beam saber in front of him, "You are a fool! Why do you insist on defending those who treat you like a common criminal!?"
"Why do YOU insist on hurting the ones you try to protect?" the Chimera finally spoke for the first time since his appearance. Sigma's mouth hung open as his eyes widened.
"Of course! How could I have been so stupid!?" Sigma blurt out, "Now I know exactly who you are!"
"If you know who I am, then you know exactly what I'm about to do to you!" the Chimera said. He reached towards Sigma's head only to yank it back as a wave of fire curved between the two. He eyed Velguarder standing a foot from them, hunched over and snarling. Sigma's shock turned into an evil grin as he backed away.
"My pet doesn't like what you're trying to do," Sigma said, "And neither do I. I kinda like being who I am now." The Chimera eyed him, "Besides, if you try anything on me, I will reveal your identity to everyone. You would be lucky if the Hunters decide to keep you behind bars instead of turning you into another victim of the junkyard." He heard the Chimera muffle a growl, "So which will it be? Change me and not even the ocean will keep you safe from the Hunters as they come tracking you down."
The Chimera continued to snarl before turning around, "This isn't over. I will find a way to free you. Deep inside, there's a part of you that's screaming for help. And I'm going to find it." Sigma watched as he turned his back on him and flew off, the grin never leaving his face.
"Search all you want," Sigma snickered, "The innocence that was once inside me is now gone. And the new me is about to raise terror so bad, you'd wish you thought twice about your decision to save the world sooner." He then turns and walks off.
OOC: Yes, I know Zero's lines were different from the lines in the first MMX game, but it was a little less confusing than when I had to describe the Chimera's armor without making it look like one hanging long paragraph.
Next Chapter: Sigma has fought and lost to Mega Man X. But evil of a different kind starts brewing and the only Hunter strong enough to handle it is off on a mission to finish off Sigma's remaining force and retrieve his companion's separated parts. However, help is on the way as ProtoX, who senses some familiarity in the reports of the new evil, took it upon himself to seek that evil out, hoping to get some answers to the memories he still believes don't belong to him along the way.
But it seems he is not alone. The Chimera, who disappeared prior to X's first journey into maverick territory also shows up to deal with the evil himself. Will the two be able to team up and put an end to this new threat, or will they slay each other before either of them have a chance to stop the threat once and for all?