Megaman X2: Eternal War
Chapter 3: Maverick Malice
By Genoscythe
Disc: Why do I write this anymore? Capcom's got it all!!!
A.N. Yay, the story continues as usual. If anyone is still reading this, congratulations, you get a bag of bent nickels (Just kidding!). Anyway, now is pretty much where the actual game comes in. I won't be covering all of the levels, only ones I think are important or fun (and easy) to do. I don't want to make this too long, since this is my first fic'.
Rain was coming down hard on the pavement, making the dirt and trash from the previous day wash out the gutters to kill millions of innocent sea life. Calliope enjoyed the rain, but since she was only wearing a tank top, a denim jacket, and shorts, it wasn't the best idea to take a stroll in the rain. Especially since it was nearing below fifty degrees. She shivered and rubbed her hands together to make some warmth. Megaman X, who was walking beside her, saw how cold she was and put his arm around her. Surprisingly, she did not resist. In fact, she moved closer to him. He smiled, despite the downpour around them. She herself was not sure why she did it, but she felt unusually comfortable next to him. He seemed to radiate with an aura of calmness that quelled her normally radical behavior. He pushed a tendril of his soaking, light brown hair out of his eyes so he could see well.
The silence felt awkward, so he decided to start a conversation. " I've never seen you at the bar before. I didn't know you drank." It was a feeble attempt, but it seemed to work for her.
" I don't. Usually, I go there to dance or talk with some of the contacts we have there. I never really liked alcohol much." She replied.
" Oh. Me neither, but Drake insisted that I get some. You'd be surprised at the things you would do when you have a gun pointing at your head." They both had a good laugh from his joke. Calliope still shivered from time to time, so X took off his jacket and put it on her. She was about to protest, but he shushed her, saying that she needed it more.
" That's one thing I like about you, X. You're always so kind and gentle. Unlike all of the other male hunters at the H.Q."
" Uh, really? You mean it?" X sputtered, not finding the right words.
" Of course. I've never had any male or female hunter offer me their jacket. You never see your sort of kindheartedness in the hunters these days. Especially in the newer reploids. While they're supposed to be superior, they seem to lack the human qualities that we take for granted. They sacrifice their free will just for flashier equipment and bigger guns."
" Wow, that was incredible. You would make Shakespeare proud!" He said, still in wonderment about her compliment. Say something, you nimrod! Compliment her or something! His subconscious rang out. Before he could think of something to say, she changed the subject.
" I wonder what Commander Briggs meant when he said that we had work to do tomorrow?" Calliope asked.
" I dunno. I don't like the sound of it, though." They made small talk the rest of the way as they walked back to Maverick Hunter H.Q. Once there, X was about to go inside, but Calliope stopped him.
" Wait. I wanted to sit out here and watch the rain. Would you like to sit down with me?" She asked. X was quite surprised. Now she was the one asking for his company. He couldn't possibly turn her down, of course, so he knelt down next to her. She shivered again, and X pulled her closer to him. She laid her head on his shoulder and squirmed a bit before she was totally relaxed. Lightning soon started, making the whole show more spectacular. He sighed. He had never felt so content and at peace before. They stayed like that for several more moments, each cherishing every second.
However, it was getting late, and fatigue was showing in their minds. Finally they decided to go inside. " That was wonderful X. I'd like to do that again sometime."
" Sure. I think we should talk more often… uh, I mean, if that's okay with you, of course." He smiled at her sheepishly, damning his clumsiness.
" Yeah, I would like that." She gave him a smile. " Thanks for walking me back!" She called out as she ran off to her quarters. X whistled and leaned back against the wall. He would not soon forget this night; he knew that for sure. Moments later, he headed off towards his quarters.
Morning came all too quickly for X (but technically it was already morning). He quickly got dressed in his hunter uniform and headed for the 17th's briefing room. There, several members of the seventeenth had already arrived, filling the seats in front of the technical readout board. Commander Genoscythe stood at the front, looking menacingly tall compared to the other reploids in the room. His shifting red eyes reminded X of crimson flames, forever trapped within crystal retinas. He was in his dark blue and gray battle suit as usual. It had a full dark blue faceplate that covered his entire face, save his eyes and helmet. It's shoulder plates jutted out from his shoulders, mainly dark gray with blue lining. His chest and leg armor was designed after Zero's, minus the weird green breastplates. On his arms there were gold rings that encircled his wrists, and a large gold blade protruded from his right elbow. The most menacing part of the enigmatic leader of the 17th division was the giant beam scythe on his back. It towered over his horned helmet and most of the hunters in the entire base. Not one hunter in the building doubted his power and authority. Well, mostly everyone. " Listen up! Before we begin with the briefing, I'd like to introduce you to a new member of the Maverick Hunters. He just arrived this morning, so don't give him any grief until he's settled in." His crystal red eyes swept the room to emphasize his point. Suddenly, a reploid stepped forth from behind Genoscythe. He wore navy blue armor, which was so thick; it seemed hard to walk with it on. His helmet was like a solid block of hardware; two antennae on each side of his head, a green night vision lens above his face, several fins on the back of his head, and all sorts of wires and gizmos were visible through his helmet.
He wore a blue tinted visor over his eyes and a yellow scarf around his neck. He also carried an enormous shield on his back, which seemed unnecessary due to his thick armor. " Hello. My name is V.R." He said. Jett, a young maverick hunter sitting in the front row sneered and began booing the new hunter. In less than a second, Genoscythe had him dangling in the air, his left hand around poor Jett's neck.
" I made it very clear that you were not to harass our new comrade. You have disobeyed a direct order, and that is unacceptable. If you so much as flinch for the remainder of this briefing, I will reassign you to the Medical Division. I sincerely doubt you want Mobius shoving half-dead hunters up your ass for you to fix." Mobius was the head doctor in the M.D., and he was known for his short temper and lack of general sanity. Jett made a faint nod of his head to show that he understood, and Genoscythe roughly dropped him on the floor. " Well, let's continue, shall we? Tell us something about yourself, V.R."
" I have nothing to say."
" Ah, a reploid of many words. You'll fit in well here." Genoscythe gestured to an empty seat, and V.R. sat in it. " Back to the main point of this briefing, we have discovered several maverick hideouts that were recently inactive. Intelligence still hasn't found out why they have been dormant until now, but we know that this is a threat. You are going to assemble several teams and investigate these locations." The tech readout board lit up with a small graphic of the H.Q. and the surrounding city. It zoomed out and soon showed the entire island of New Tokyo. Four dots appeared on the graphic, one on the volcanic energy plant, one on the energen crystal mine near the sea, one in the manmade desert used as an animal preserve for ostriches and a non profit ride chaser park, and the last on the huge tower that housed the master computer; one enormous supercomputer that ran every auto-electrical device in Neo Tokyo city. A hunter in the second row whistled.
" Why would they do this? This isn't some coordinated attack. They're too far spread to be an effective fighting force." The hunter said.
" True, but they haven't attacked anything yet. I simply said that there was unusual activity there. They could simply be luring us to them, so that they could break through our weaker defenses around the H.Q. That is why we and the 15th will be the only ones going to investigate. The rest of the hunters will be ready to deflect any attack on us. Your teams will be chosen after break. Report back here in four hours (sorry, I don't know military time). Several hunters cheered, punching their fists into the air and hollering. They weren't often given a break during the day.
X got up and stretched his sore synthetic muscles. Then, he pushed through the crowd; he spotted Calliope by the door. He immediately rushed over to her, and she gave him her usual small smile. He returned it and they walked out of the room together.
V.R. rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the overjoyed hunters prance about the hallway, laughing and yelling. " Are you people always this jovial?" He asked the purple suited hunter leaning on the wall next to him. He shook his head, jet-black hair swinging around his face.
" Nope, it's just that we haven't had a break in a million frickin' years. It's constantly 'monitor this,' or 'go investigate that,' or ' go train your ass off at the gym.' Genoscythe is a slave driver, not a freaking commander." He said. V.R. gave him a curious look.
" You don't seem too happy about this."
" You got it, spunky. I've got nothing to do but get drunk off my rear at the local bar."
" Uh… a bar?" V.R. asked inquisitively.
" Jesus Christ, you don't know what a bar is? Were you activated yesterday or something? Eh, whatever. I might as well show you around. C'mon kid." He beckoned for him to follow down the corridor. " Oh, by the way, my name's Drake."
" Umm… nice to meet you, Drake." V.R. smiled weakly. This new life wasn't turning out to be so bad after all.
End
IMPORTANT A.N: Just so there won't be any confusion, I envision reploids as something like a bio android; if any of you have seen Outlaw Star (One of the best anime EVER) then you know what I'm talking about. They're basically like artificial humans with robotic parts instead of organs. Just so no one gets confused between Capcom's robotish reploids and my version of reploids. Until next time!