Search for a Soul
Chapter 12
"That black heart"
By MEGAMANX411
Mega Man X was overcome with pure fear as he saw who stood behind Dynamo. The one figure who had been the root of his suffering, the one person who had caused him such pain--Sigma. The vile, accursed being who manipulated, schemed, killed, murdered, backstabbed, and betrayed anyone that he wanted. The one who had killed X's friends, the one who had made X fight...the one horrible person who was pure evil. X was speechless. His mouth hung open, but no words would come. He had faced Sigma many times, but every time he saw him, it was like reliving a nightmare he couldn't escape from. He could defeat Sigma, but he could never stop him for good. He kept coming back, and kept haunting X. It was so impossible, yet X could never escape the cycle.
"S-Sigma..." X whispered, his eyes becoming wide.
X's voice quivered from fear, and he began to slowly back away. Sigma! Here! How did he keep on coming back? Why wouldn't he stop? However, X realized that he needed to save Alia. If he wanted her to live, he had to remain strong. He then remembered what he came for, and stood his ground firmly. A surge of unexpected confidenced flooded into him. Perhaps it was because of Alia's advice. But for whatever reason, determination sparked to life in X. His eyes shone brightly.
"Sigma, let Alia go," X commanded. "I'm here now, she's of no further use to you," he added.
Sigma smiled viciously, and began to rub his chin. He slowly walked closer to X, and gave him an evil smirk that sent shivers running up X's spine. X hated that look. He had seen it so many times. Although Sigma had technically been in different vessels during their various encounters, he still had that similar aura about him. Just the way he smiled gave X this horrible feeling. He could almost feel Sigma's evil emanating, pulsating...like some sort of vicious plague.
"You're right. S he is of no further use to me,"Sigma replied.
X wasn't exactly liking the tone of Sigma's voice. He grew more nervous by the minute. The determination that was within him was still there, but it was being strangled by an intense fear. X wasn't one to really bargain or make threats. He wasn't able to hold his own in this exhange of words, anyway. He felt like he was at a serious loss. Still, he thought being firm would be better than giving up or showing weakness. He tried once more.
"Exactly. Let her go," X commanded.
X was trying to be firm, but his fear was evident. He was shaking. S igma kept on smiling at X, making him feel even more uneasy. That evil smile...how could anyone consider such a thing a smile in the first place? Either way, Sigma continued to pace around the room. Fear was one of his greatest weapons.
"Since she's of no use anymore...I think it'd be easier to dispose of her. You know X, I've been watching you for quite some time. I've been trying to think of a way to destroy you in the most painful manner imaginable. Now I think I've found it. As I've fought against you all these times...I've grown to hate you so immensely. I despite you with such an intensity that I want to destroy everything that you hold dear. I don't just want to crush you physically. I want to bury your very "soul" itself. I want to hear you beg. I want to hear you scream. I want to be able to taste your misery, see your depression, hear your sadness...I want you to be plunged into darkness eternal. Prepare yourself for an eternity in the Hell that I've prepared for you, " Sigma replied.
X wasn't able to respond to such a declaration. How could one devote his entire life to your undoing? X was left speechless. Sigma snapped his fingers, and a monitor was displayed behind him. Depicted on the screen was Alia, with several Mavericks around her. All of them threatened to kill her at any moment. All of the Mavericks looked rather the same. They were about a medium build, with black armor, and their faces were covered with bandages. Their faces lacked the synthetic skin that some reploids had, so they chose to cover their faces with those bandages. Dynamo was present as well. Alia was beaten and worn out. She had bruises, cuts, and marks all over her. Tears flowed down her cheeks. She was in visible pain. As she cried, another Maverick took the opportunity to give her an extra slap. The anger inside of X began to wrestle against his fear. X knew what Sigma was going to do.
"You...you can't," X whispered, his eyes becoming wide.
That familiar smile emerged on Sigma's face once again. He had waited all this time for this. He had waited in the shadows, crept around, waited for this opportunity...just to get to X's heart. He knew that using his dear friends would be one of the most effective ways to hurt him. And boy was he right. To make things all the sweeter, Sigma figured he could get a little more enjoyment by engaging his foe in a little combat.
"Then fight me!" Sigma shouted.
X did the only thing he could think of doing--fighting back. He knew he couldn't talk to this guy. Still, because of his feelings, X wasn't quite able to give it his all. He wanted to, because he wanted to rescue Alia...but it was strange. It was like he was almost unable to use his latent power because of his deep feelings of sadness that he held within him. Still, X knew that had to at least try.
"Very well...I will defeat you again, Sigma," X whispered, clenching his fist.
Without another word, the battle had begun. Sigma reached at his side for an energy saber, activated it, and rushed at X with reckless abandon. The former Maverick Hunter, in this form, looked almost like a decrepit old version of himself. A tattered robe covered his body and obscured most of his body. What did poke out was one arm, and it looked hideous--a concoction of various metals and parts. Sigma's face looked like some sort of demonic showcase as well. Those glowing red eyes, combined with his rigid facial features, made him look even more harsh. His face lacked synthetic skin, so it looked like some sort of twisted metal skeleton. He truly looked like a monster. X took a step backwards to avoid the strike, but he just barely avoided injury. X raised his buster, and shot back at Sigma. However, with the help of his saber, he easily deflected the blasts. S igma charged back at X, but this time, he vanished.
"Where'd he go?"X muttered, looking around the room.
X placed his hand on his buster-arm, and was looking around the room for any sign of Sigma. He couldn't find him anywhere. He tried using basic optics at first, but then opted to give a scan.
"Looking for me?" a voice asked.
"Sigma!" X shouted, turning around.
Before X had the chance to defend himself, Sigma ran his saber through X's torso, and then dealt a swift kick to his chest, sending him flying across the room. X was smashed against the wall, and groaned his he hit the ground. He slowly picked himself up, and was breathing heavily. The wall that X smacked against was nearly shattered, and his body wasn't faring much better. He seemed to be holding so much back that attacks were hurting him even more. But despite his pain, X wanted to continue.
"It...isn't over,"X heaved.
X gritted his teeth in an attempt to fight back the immense physical pain he was feeling, and was trying to keep his robotic innards from spilling out. X placed on hand on the spot where Sigma stabbed him, and then used the other hand to help pick himself up. X looked at Sigma with one eye half-closed. He was becoming tired. Sigma smiled his typical evil smile, and headed straight for X again. X tried to raise his buster in time to counter, but Sigma batted away X's arm, and then grabbed his head. X could feel Sigma's crushing grip tighten.
"You truly are a weakling X. You are a bothersome insect, and I will crush you beneath my heel," Sigma hissed.
Sigma threw X to the ground, and stabbed him again with his saber. X could feel the seething hot blade slice through his armor, and burn deep into his body. Some of his innards were scorched by the sword, and X could feel every bit of it. Each second of the attack felt like an eternity. Afterwards,Sigma kicked X while he was trying to stand, preventing him from getting back up. And to top it off, Sigma placed his boot on X's face, and began applying more and more pressure. The pain was so intense and unberable that X felt like screaming at the top of his lungs. Sigma bent over and got a little closer to X's face.
"Before you die, I want you to see Alia die first," Sigma mocked.
Sigma snapped his fingers again, and this time, opened a transmission between the room he was in and the next. Alia had been hurt physically, but she then saw X being beaten from the other room. Her spirit took quite a blow from seeing that. She saw how much X had been hurt for her sake. She began to cry once again. The teras streaming down her face became a painful image that burned itself into X's mind.
"X! Run away! Please! Don't die!" Alia screamed.
A nearby Maverick slapped Alia once more, gesturing for her to be quiet. That move made X even angrier, but there was nothing he could do about it. He just felt so helpess. There was nothing he could do. He was beaten. He had lost. It was all over now. And that was precisely the reason why Sigma appeared so full of joy. He enjoyed every second of this.
"Dynamo, it's time to execute the girl. Make sure it's done beautifully,"Sigma hissed.
"Roger that," Dynamo replied, smirking.
X's eyes grew wide. Execute her? Execute Alia? How could anyone do that? He couldn't allow it! It couldn't happen, it just couldn't!
"A-Alia..!" X shouted.
X's voice was extremely hoarse from all the pain he had endured, but he persevered nonetheless. He had to do something.
"No! Alia!" he screamed.
X tried to resist Sigma's crushing force, but he couldn't get back up. Sigma proved to be too strong. X reached out in an attempt to save Alia, despite it being entirely futile. He had to try, but he was simply too far away. All of the sudden, the screenwent black, and a scream was heard. Alia's scream. X went into a state of pure shock. He was completely speechless, and seemed to have lost all contact with the outside world. Alia's scream ran through his mind over and over.
"Now you see X. It is the Mavericks that you hunt down who will rule. We will lead the reploids to a golden era,"Sigma announced. "Humans are like cattle to us, this is surely the rule of nature."
X slowly picked himself off the ground, causing Sigma to back up a bit from sheer surprise. He stood back up, and his eyes were bright red, full of rage and hatred. He was consumed by one emotion, and one emotion alone. Hate. He hated Sigma, he hated the Mavericks, and he would do everything in his power to avenge Alia. The pain he felt before was virtually gone now, he only had one goal. To destroy the Mavericks. His body surged with power and anger. He had never felt so full of rage, so full of pure hatred. But this feeling gave him power, and he intended to use it. They killed a close friend of his. They beat her, they bruised her, they cut her...they made her cry and broke her spirit. And then they killed her. X could not forgive that. He had to kill them. He had to kill every one of them.
"Mavericks...your kind must face extinction..."X whispered.
Sigma apparently didn't hear X, and still thought he was the one in control. He thought he could still joke around with him. Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize how intense his emotions were.
"What was that?" Sigma mocked.
X rasised his eyes to meet Sigma's. Sigma's fierce eyes were frightening, yes, but they didn't begin to compare to X's visage. X's normally innocent face was now replaced with some sort of demonic guise. Those blood-red eyes screamed pain, they emanated hate. Sigma could feel it. For one of the few times in his own existence, he felt fear himself. This entity before him...it didn't feel like X anymore. It was a creature born form hate. X's facial features were twisted by rage. He was covered by a dark aura. And he intended to use that power against Sigma.
"Your time is coming to an end!You cannot survive, you must die, that is the rule of nature!"X screamed.
X slowly walked forward. Sigma, now becoming a bit worried, gestured for two Mavericks who stood nearby to detain X. After all, he was badly injured, it shouldn't be that hard to subdue him. But he was quite wrong. As the first Maverick came close, X first tore a hole through the first Maverick with his fist. The Maverick watched in horror as X decapitated him. He felt X's hands wrench out hisinnards. He was literally being pulled apart TheMaverick's insides were being ripped out,while X held him inplace with his other hand. While he was doing it, hesmiled. A familar smile. One that Sigma used to be wearing. He wasn't done after that, however, because he changed his hand to a buster while it was still within the body of the Maverick, and he began to fire. The Maverick's body was ripped to pieces, and his body parts were flung across the room.
The other Maverick froze in terror at the sight. Before he could go anywhere though, X turned to face him. The Maverick was paralyzed with fear. X's eyes locked with his. The Maverick tasted X's suppressed rage. It was more intense than anything he had ever felt. The Maverick turned around and tried to run. However, before he could get anywhere, X ran over and ripped off one of the Maverick's legs. His reploid blood began to spill out everywhere. X then pushed the Maverick to the ground, beat him with his own leg a couple times, then proceeded to rip off his other limbs. The Maverick was simply a bloody mess on the ground. He was missing both arms and both legs, and only had his end. X stared down at the Maverick's remaining face, and smiled once more. Then he raised his boot high, and stomped down as hard as he could. Meanwhile, Sigma was becoming more and more frightened. He backed away.
"You can't be doing this! You aren't supposed to act this way!" Sigma screamed.
X turned to face Sigma once more. Perhaps he wasn't really X anymore. Maybe it was just a demon in X's form? Whatever it was, it was powerful and angry.
"Oh, but I can. Because now I have that black heart. The heart you've always wanted me to have," X hissed.
Sigma tried to escape, but X shot at his legs, crippling Sigma before he could leave. Sigma hit the ground face first because of the lack of support, and looked back at the face of X. Now it was Sigma's turn to be frightened. How could X be so frightening? This was not the same X that he had fought before! Sigma could feel his legs write in pain, or to be more accurate, the stubs that used to be his legs.
"Now...it is about time...that I crush you beneath my heel," X added.
X slowly put his boot on Sigma's face, and began pressing down hard. Sigma's head began to feel the effects of the pressure. One side of his skull began to depress, and one eye was starting to pop out. Soon, his entire head would cave in. However, someone was not going to let this continue.
"STOP!"