Megaman X2: Eternal War

Chapter 15: Agile

By Genoscythe

Disc: Zeeky Boogy Doog

The Maverick Hunter HQ lobby was a complete mess. The reception desk was smashed to rubble, and a decapitated hunter lay sprawled on the bloody debris. The coffee machine had been tipped over, and the bodies of dead Maverick Hunters littered the floor. On a couch next to the wall, Agile the X Hunter sat with his arms folded across his chest. The omnipresent grin on his face never faltered when he saw Megaman X break open the reinforced door.

" Agile! What the hell are you doing here!?" X yelled. " What have you done to these hunters?"

" I killed them. I admit, it was very fun," Agile said quickly.

" Damn you," X hissed. " Your fight's with me, maverick! Leave the others out of this,"

" That was never part of the deal," Agile replied.

" It is now,"

" Excuse me? I believe the ball is in our court. You are in no position to make deals with us, lest you lose your friend for good. In any case, I did not attack them, I just defended myself,"

" If you want to fight me, then you must promise not to harm any more hunters," X said.

" I really hate to repeat myself." Agile growled.

" Fine then. I won't fight you," X said. " Besides, this isn't the best time for this. I just got back from a mission, and I need to recharge. I can't fight you in this condition,"

" A WARRIOR IS ALWAYS PREPARED FOR A FIGHT!" Agile barked. " Don't give me any excuses," He stood up. " Fight me now, coward,"

" Show me Zero's part,"

" I am a reploid of my word, Megaman X. Do not think of me otherwise," Agile reached for a brown satchel on the couch. He opened it and pulled out Zero's head. It pained X to see his friend's corpse, but he held it in.

" Fine, then. Shall we?" X asked.

" Finally. This is the best part," Agile spoke in a purring voice. Suddenly, he disappeared. X drew his X buster and looked around for a sign of him. Then, there was a flash from above and he jumped to the side. Agile crashed into the floor seconds after he jumped. Holding a beam saber in his hand, Agile jumped to the wall and pushed off toward X. He didn't move a muscle, not until Agile was almost upon him. The purple X Hunter raised his sword and X fired his dash boosters. He boosted under Agile and grabbed onto his leg, using the momentum of his dash to hurl him into the rubble that used to be the reception desk. A dull metal clang resounded from Agile's head as he collided with a large piece of debris. He got up slowly, wiping blood from his mouth.

" Now I see why those who came before you are now just piles of scrap. This should be interesting…"

" Out of my way!" Calliope yelled as she pushed several hunters aside. " I said move it!" She barked at a lollygaging little hunter. She soon reached the door, but before she could open it, someone called out to her to stop. It was Dr. Cain, who was limping his way through the crowd with his gnarled wooden cane. He reached the confused reploid girl and patted her on the back.

" Please don't be upset, my dear," he said in an old, weathered voice. "This is something he must do alone,"

" Why?" Calliope yelled. " You want him to live, don't you?" Dr. Cain just chuckled and shook his head.

" My girl, if you really knew what X is capable of, then you would never have to fear for his life again,"

"What's that supposed to…" Suddenly, there was a blinding blue light radiating through the glass doors. Then, a sound like thunder echoed through the air, shaking the entire base. Soon, an explosion followed, blasting the front doors off their hinges. Once the smoke and dust cleared, they could see the lobby.

One minute prior…

Agile's repeated sword slashes had backed X into a corner. Using his buster as a shield, he knew that it would not survive several more blows. They stood still for several moments, just staring daggers at each other and trying to regain their breath. X leaned against the wall for a moment with his buster still pointed at Agile. Suddenly, the purple maverick burst forward. X didn't have time to think, he just needed to live…

X dashed, just barely avoiding Agile's sword. However, Agile anticipated this, and he jumped off the wall at a perfect trajectory to hit X in the back of the head. X spun around and saw the monster plummeting a second too late. Agile's sword plunged through X's side, and as he fell, Agile drove it into the ground. X cried out in pain as he tried to pull the sword from his side. Blood was leaking slowly from the wound, but he feared pulling it out would be worse. Suddenly, Agile's foot came out of nowhere and smashed him in the ribs. He yelped and choked on some blood. Then, he could see Agile walking over to the sword in his side.

X could tell that Agile was talking to him, but he could not hear. All he heard was a buzzing sound. The sound of his brain telling him his end is near? His vision blurred, but he could still see Agile grab the sword handle. He twisted the blade, tearing the synthetic muscle and Endo-steel skeleton. Overwhelming pain coursed in his body, and suddenly a blue light obscured his vision. In the center of the light, he saw an old, content looking man he recognized as Dr. Light.

" X… do you remember the armor program I downloaded into your body? Do you remember how it was destroyed in your battle with Sigma? The data is still in your head, X… I have improved the data, and it is ready for you to use… your body should remember how…" the hologram said.

" My…body…" X spoke softly. " How did you… how can my armor…"

" X, though you did not realize it, what I gave you in the blue capsules was not the armor itself, but the data you needed to unlock the armor… Your normal armor can morph into whatever the data tells it to… Now, go forth and destroy that maverick!" The light faded, and somehow X's vision cleared. Agile was staring at him in horror. When he looked down at himself, he could see his armor glowing. Suddenly, the light erupted and filled the lobby with energy. Through the intense light and heat, X grabbed the sword and gave it a hard pull. The blade came free easily. He stood up, and realized that his armor had changed.

Instead of azure blue it was now pure white. His gloves were a deep crimson, and his boots were decorated with red stripes. His chestplate was trimmed with blue, and he had two yellow streaks on the sides. The hole in his side was still there, but the blood flow had lessened.

Agile backed up, seeing that X's power had more than doubled. A split-second later, X dashed forward. He thrust the sword into Agile's arm, and with his buster arm, he pressed it against Agile's chest. X fired his buster, but something unexpected happened. Instead of a normal shot, there was a huge burst of energy and the sound of thunder echoed through the base. Agile screamed, and soon he was engulfed in the ball of energy.

Seconds later the energy exploded, blasting the doors off the entrance and knocking X back a few steps. When the smoke cleared and the light faded, he saw Agile lying on the ground. His armor was in shreds and the wound from his sword was gushing blood. To his surprise, he managed to move.

" Megaman X… I'll be back…" Then, Agile vanished in a burst of light. X just stood in the charred, smoking remains of the lobby, breathing hard and clutching his chest. He heard footsteps behind him and voices calling. He felt a warm, slender pair of arms grab him by the neck and someone was hugging him tightly.

" X, I can't believe you toasted that guy!" A young hunter called out. He could tell that the person hugging him was Calliope because he could feel the shape of her body, but his vision began to blur again. He could feel pins and needles all over his body and he began to go limp.

" X… thank god you're still alive…" Calliope whispered into his ear. Wait… who was Calliope again? He couldn't remember… slowly his thoughts drifted into unconsciousness.

" Hey… Hey, he's bleeding!"

" X?"

" He won't respond!"

" Oh god…"

" Somebody get a freakin' medic! He's-

X awoke to find himself in the medlab of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, which was still being repaired after the last maverick attack. He tried to lift one of his arms, but he must have been dosed with strong painkillers because he couldn't feel anything from the neck down.

" Commander X? Is your condition improving?" X moved his head a bit and saw a Lifesaver unit standing by his bed. He was a standard model, tall and stocky, decked out in white armor. He had a Replitech symbol stamped on his right shoulder joint. Made in red ink, the Replitech insignia was a circle with the letters RT connected with a little swirl at the bottom. Ever since Mobius went berserk on the entire medlab, the Hunters had been forced to loan Lifesaver units from Replitech until they could get permanent replacements.

" Commander?" X suddenly realized that he had let his mind wander. Then, something came to him.

" Did you just call me 'commander'?" he asked the Lifesaver.

" Yes. I am updated with the current Maverick Hunter roster. My systems detect that you were a captain at the time of Genoscythe's death, thus making you the commander by default,"

" What?" X could hardly believe what it was saying. Me, a commander? He thought. Drake will never let me hear the end of this. The thought of his friend brought a question to his mind. " How is Drake's condition? And for that matter, where is Calliope?"

" I can only accept one request at a time," It said in its monotonous voice. Damn, it's like talking to a computer.

" Fine. Where is the Maverick Hunter named Calliope?"

" She is here," The Lifesaver said. He moved aside so that X could see the bed next to his. Calliope was sleeping on it, still wearing her battle armor, her chocolate hair spilling down the side of the bed. " She has stayed here beside you ever since you became unconscious. I asked her to leave when visiting hours were over, but she refused. She even drew her sword on me when I insisted!" The Lifesaver gave an uncharacteristic laugh. " I had to give her a place to sleep, so I let her use one of the spare beds,"

X smiled. This was something he loved about Calliope. She never gave up on what she believed in, and she was capable of so much passion that she forced the Lifesavers to let her stay with him.

" Excuse me, Commander X, but may I finish repairing your injury now before the anesthetics wear off?" Lifesaver asked.

" Go ahead," X replied. Lifesaver took a cutting tool from a tray nearby and grabbed a reploid part from a table. Pulling the sheet back from X's bed; he began to cut through the outer layer of skin covering X's left abdomen. Peeling back the skin layer, his Endo-steel chassis was exposed. Lifesaver pressed a button on X's chest, and the left side of his skeleton detached. Lifesaver put the ruined part with the sword gash into the trash bin next to the bed. Now, he replaced the destroyed part with the brand new one he had gotten off of the table. After it clicked into place, he sealed the locks and made sure energy fluid was circulating through the new part.

Lifesaver got a small paintbrush off of the tray he had used earlier. He spread the substance on the brush onto X's skin where it had been cut, so that it would heal quickly. " Perfect. You just need to relax for awhile while the skin and muscle heals," The Lifesaver said. X could already feel the anesthetic begin to wear off.

" Thanks doctor," he replied. As he looked at his beloved, exhaustion crept through him. Soon, sleep took him completely.

END