Megaman X2: Eternal War

Chapter 9: The Proposition

By Genoscythe

Disc: I'm having trouble thinking of more bitter and offensive ways to tell you that I DON"T OWN MEGAMAN X!

A.N: Thank god, my will to write has returned! It's a bloody miracle. Now, with a whole new slew of music downloaded from Kazaa, so I'll have enough to entertain me while I continue with this. You can expect a new chapter about every 1-2 weeks now (or at least that's my goal). I don't need to tie things up with pointless blather, so enjoy!

X slammed against a wall, and Calliope fell to the ground about a meter away from him. She got up and backed up towards him. They were completely surrounded by a swarm of large mavericks, which attacked them and separated them from Drake and Genoscythe. They must have sensed what a danger the group had become and decided to finish them off two at a time. He could only hope that the other two were safe. Calliope's hand grabbed his, and squeezed it tightly. " I think we're done for," X murmured.

" You think?" She replied incredulously. He grimaced and held up his free left hand. It retracted into his buster arm and the tip of the X-buster replaced it. The mavericks had stopped, and now waited patiently for the hunters to try and attack. They knew that there was no way for them to get through, so they decided to bide their time as a sort of mockery of their predicament.

" I'm going to start blasting through the center of the group." He whispered to her. " When I've cleared a path, I want you to get out of here as fast as you can," She placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her.

" That's it, then? What about you? I'm not going to leave you here, y'know." He put his hands on her shoulders.

" They've cornered us; they know that we can't both escape. My life isn't as important as-" She kicked him in the shin.

" Stop it, X." She hissed. " Stop acting like you're inferior to everyone and just try to save yourself for once! Did you ever think that I need you? I won't leave you no matter what. There are still so many obstacles left in my life, and I don't intend to get past them alone." His face brightened a bit and he took a long moment to consider her words. Tired of waiting, the mavericks began stirring and growling.

" Okay, you win," He grinned broadly at her. She took out her twin beam sabers, Aegis and Minos. " We won't be beaten by such an enemy, not now. Only until my life force is totally extinguished will I give up!" At the sound of his war cry, Calliope dashed forward and made a low swing at a gorilla type maverick's leg. It connected with the knee joint and the ape howled as it tumbled over, then she spun her saber gently as it took off its head. X fired off three rapid bursts of energy that quickly decimated a line of mantis drones. Two small spider mechs burst from the dead mantises and shot out a blast of sticky web that encased X's right arm. He shot it in the back, and it screeched as it collapsed. He swung the dead spider, still attached to his arm, at the other spider mech. He fired and swung the spider like a makeshift mace. Taking down another mantis and wounding a gorilla in the face, he turned to see how Calliope was doing. She was trying desperately to defend herself from three gorillas, but they overwhelmed her and she went flying backwards into X. He caught her, but their momentum carried them to the ground. As they struggled to get up, the mavericks crowded around them, ready for the killing blow. Suddenly, a dull rumble caught his ears. The mavericks apparently heard it, too because their heads turned and stared with fear. The smaller mavericks got out of the way, but the bigger, bulkier ones weren't so lucky.

A HT-4 hover truck flew by the two hunters, smashing hard into the mavericks and literally blowing them to pieces. X could barely see a head and arms poking out of the top hatch. " Get in you two!" VR yelled at the top of his lungs. X and Calliope wasted no time in dashing after the hover truck. He reached the door first, and was barely able to pull himself up. He clambered up into the small passenger compartment and turned back to see if Calliope had made it. She had almost caught up with the speeding hover truck, but she was exhausted from earlier battles and began lagging behind. He ran to the edge and held out a hand, which she grabbed. With all of his strength, he pulled her up onto the vehicle and held her close so she wouldn't fall. She began blushing from embarrassment, and from the fact that he was holding her so close to him. He looked down at her, barely able to conceal a blush on his own face.

" See? I told you we would make it out." She said indignantly.

" I don't recall this being a competition,"

" You should know; everything's a competition with me!"

" That explains a lot," They both began laughing at his remark, when VR spoke up on the intercom.

" I see them!" He said. Calliope was about to ask who, but then the hover truck jerked to the left violently, and X had to grab her again to keep her from flying out of the door.

" Maybe it would be a good idea to get inside the hover truck, hm?" X jokingly said to his female companion. Grumbling, she came inside with him and leaned against the wall. X poked his head outside for a second and saw Drake and Genoscythe fighting for their lives among a group of mavericks. VR turned around in his seat and looked through a small viewing slit into the passenger compartment.

" I need someone to operate the gun. Calliope, can you do it?" She shook her head.

" I can't aim," she explained. Without a word, X grabbed onto a ladder on the side of the vehicle. It was all he could do to fight against the g's while he climbed to the top. He opened the hatch to the cockpit and slid into the gunner's seat. He took hold of the controls, not bothering with the synapse tracer, and a small holographic viewscreen appeared in front of him. He pulled on the trigger and didn't let go. His eyes were fully trained on the enemies circling his friends. Bullets began to fly from the gattling gun on top, and the mavericks howled and screeched as they were torn apart by the hail of lead. Both of the hunters looked up in surprise at the hover truck that had just saved their lives. Suddenly, the hatch on top opened up and X came out and waved to them. They both made a dash for the moving truck. Calliope held out her hand to pull Genoscythe up, but he was somehow able to jump the full twenty-odd meters to the door and land gracefully next to his baffled companion.

Drake was having slightly less luck, though, and he began to fall behind of the large hovering vehicle. " Slow down, damn you!" He cursed loudly as he tried to latch onto the side ladder. He was just barely able to grab onto one rung with two fingers, and was able to pull the rest of himself up onto the ladder and eventually, into the hover truck. He looked at Calliope and Genoscythe with a look of utmost anger on his face. " For christ's sake, don't lend me a frickin' hand or anything!" He growled.

" Oh, you seemed to be doing quite well on your own," the tall commander said, barely able to stifle a laugh. Calliope couldn't contain herself though, and burst out into a fit of hysteria.

" Come on Cal, my life was at stake! This is nothing to laugh about." He pouted. Genoscythe was trying hard not to fall victim to the hysteria that claimed the female. Drake sighed. " Why am I always the butt of jokes around here anyway?" he asked no one in particular. His musings were interrupted by the shrill call of X from the front compartment.

" Everyone hold onto something!" He yelled. Suddenly, the hover truck stopped at an impossibly abrupt halt. The three hunters in the back flew against the front wall from the sudden change in momentum. X opened the hatch on top of the vehicle to get a better look. There stood a maverick, dressed completely in purple, with a wicked grin on his face. The other hunters got out of the hover truck to see what X gladly would not have wanted to see. He pulled himself all of the way out of the hover vehicle and jumped to the ground next to Calliope and the others, with VR close behind. The maverick kept on grinning its Cheshire-like grin, then finally spoke.

" Ah, I assume you are Megaman X and company?" He said the words so fast that X had trouble understanding what he was saying. " I think that I may have an interesting proposition for you." He continued. " My name is Agile, and these are my companions Serges and Violen." He swept his hand outward, and suddenly the hunters felt the presence of two other life forms nearby. They were behind the hunters, one was large and yellow, with a huge wrecking ball on its back and very tiny feet, and the other was a short old man wearing a cape.

" Impossible! How could they sneak up on us like that!?" Genoscythe gasped.

" We are, as you may call us, X Hunters." Serges spoke up. " And we have a deal that we would like to make with you, Megaman X."

" You can shove your offer." X retorted. " I don't make deals with fanatics. They tend to break their word all too often,"

" Oh, but I think you will like this proposition, my dear azure hunter. We have all of Zero's main components, and if you want them, then you must fight each of us to win back his parts. If you lose to any of us, then we get Zero's control chip. If you attempt to go back on the deal, we will crush his parts and you will never see the likes of your friend again." It was too hard to digest at once. X's stomach churned at the thought of bringing back his old best friend. Zero had been like a father to him, and more importantly, a companion. He would give anything to get Zero back.

" As an added bonus," Agile continued. " If you agree to our terms, then I will call off all of our troops and we shall leave you alone for the moment." Genoscythe considered his words for a moment, then responded.

" X agrees,"

" Wait a minute, doesn't X get any say in this?" Calliope asked angrily. " It's his decision, whether you're our commander or-" X turned around and put a hand on her shoulder.

" It's okay, Cal. I agree to their terms." She looked pleadingly into his eyes, begging him to reconsider. " It's the only way to bring back Zero," Tears were starting to form in her comrade's eyes. He gave her a look that told her that they would discuss things later. He turned back to the X hunter.

" Hey, we agreed to your goddamn terms, so call off that damned army!" Drake sputtered furiously. Suddenly, Agile snapped his fingers and all of the mavericks went silent. Within moments, the vile creatures were almost fully loaded into their ships, artillery and all. The hunters were far too battered to keep attacking, so they resignedly let the hordes escape. As Agile boarded the last plane, he turned back to X with his ever-present grin.

" Don't forget our deal," Those were the last words he spoke as the last giant transport lifted off and flew away into the setting sun.

End

AN: Wow, romance, drama, action, profanity and suspense all rolled into one package! I think I'm finally getting the hang of this fanfiction thingy. Big big thanks to Annihilation Strife for giving me such great reviews and restoring my will to write. For the rest of you who didn't like my story and/or didn't even bother to read it, you don't know what you're missing. I'd better pack it up and be off to bed, so I'll see everyone later!