The next morning at Maverick Hunter Base, X was wandering around base when he ran into Zero and Axl.
"Hey, guys, have you seen Alia around today?" he asked.
"Nope. You mean she didn't have breakfast with you like usual?" asked Zero.
"No, I didn't see her at the mess hall and when I checked her room, she wasn't there."
"Maybe she's already at her post," suggested Axl.
"No, her shift doesn't start for another half-hour," said X. "I'm beginning to get a little nervous."
"You think something happened to her?" asked Axl.
"Could be. She has been acting odd ever since that Maverick we faced a few days back," said X. "Also, I heard that she let that same Maverick into base more than once. It can't just be a coincidence that the she disappears right when all this is happening."
"So, either that Maverick kidnapped her or she left to help that Maverick herself," said Zero. "We can't ignore the possibility that she may have been infected as a result of their frequent contact."
"Man, what is it with that Maverick?" wondered Axl. "Why's she interested in Alia?"
"Actually, Alia did tell me a little bit about her yesterday," said X. "Apparently, the two of them used to be best friends a few years back. That's why Alia didn't want me to kill her when we first met her."
"Okay, that makes sense, but I still don't get how she-…" began Axl.
"X, get down to the monitor room immediately!" ordered Signas over the communicator.
"Right away, sir!" responded X, rushing off.
X soon arrived at the monitor room.
"What is it, sir?" he asked.
"We've just received a communication from that Maverick you encounter a few days ago," replied Signas. "Open the channel."
"Yes, sir," said Pallette. "Channel open."
Jewel appeared on the main view screen.
"Oh, there he is," she said. "Hey, little boy blue. Nice seeing you again."
"Not in the mood, Maverick," replied X. "What do you want?"
"Nothing much," said Jewel. "Oh, Alia's here too. Alia, you wanna say anything to your love?"
Jewel stepped aside to reveal Alia, tied up on the couch. Alia made a few muffled screams as X clenched his fists in anger. Jewel soon stepped back into view.
"All right, buckwheat, here's the deal," said Jewel. "You want the love of your life back? Then you're going to fight me to the death. I've already sent you coordinates for us to meet at. Obviously, you're going to come alone. Oh, and don't worry, little Alia is still virus-free. See ya!"
Jewel cut the transmission.
"She's right. We received coordinates for the ruins of Gate's old laboratory," said Layer. "We can teleport you there anytime."
"I'm going," said X, turning around. "Tell Zero and Axl to be ready to come in for me in case I fall."
X found himself standing in the lab's ruins in a moment, his X-Buster already drawn. Jewel was standing about ten feet away from him. Off to the side was Alia.
"Well, you sure got here fast," commented Jewel. "I'm not surprised."
"Let her go first," commanded X.
"Are you kidding? She's our prize. Only the winner of our fight gets her," said Jewel.
Jewel drew her sabers and took a battle stance. "Now, we're going to fight here and now and I won't take no for an answer!"
"Fine by me," agreed X, taking his fighting stance.
X started things off with an X-Buster shot, which missed as Jewel leaped over it and made a diving stab right at his head. X ducked under the attack, then wheeled around and fired another shot, which caught Jewel in the leg. Jewel whipped around, slicing the air as she did to create an energy slash that whizzed towards X. X rolled out of the way and fired again. Just to be fancy, Jewel used her saber to knock it away.
X launched a volley of shots towards Jewel, who swiftly slip past most of them, getting in close enough to swipe at X, getting him in the gut. Stumbling backwards, X used her proximity to his advantage by firing another shot at point-blank range. It struck full force, causing Jewel to move back and bought X enough time to fire again. That shot also struck, creating a crack in Jewel's armor. She growled with anger and dashed forward with surprising speed, slicing as she went, knocking X down.
Jewel leaped on top of X and stabbed at his head with her saber. X leaned his head just enough to the left to avoid the attack, then kicked Jewel off of him and leaped back up. Firing a few more shots to keep her at bay, X leaped back and transformed into his X Fire armor.
Undaunted, Jewel leaped forward and sliced downward with both sabers. X rolled back from her attack and slammed his Buster into her gut as she got close enough. Instead of backing off, Jewel instead jabbed her saber into his left shoulder, causing X to recoil and pull his Buster back.
Jewel stabbed repeatedly at X, forcing him backwards, but X found an opportunity and slipped under her jabs and slammed her with an uppercut. Jewel stumbled backwards as X powered up a Charge Collider. When it hit full power, he dashed at Jewel and slammed it straight into her gut, striking the wound already created by his previous hit with his Buster. The fire attack seared Jewel's body, causing her to screech in pain and collapse.
X waited for a moment to see if she would get up again, then he went over to Alia and untied her.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Alia didn't respond.
"Oh, I almost forgot," said X, lowering his head. "I'm sorry, Alia. I had no choice."
"I don't blame you, X," she said. "She went completely Maverick. There was nothing any of us could do. I just…I just didn't want to see it end this way."
"Neither did I," said X. "Let's go home."
"No…"
Both of them turned around to see Jewel struggle to get up.
"I'm not…dead yet…"
"You can't win," said X.
"This fight is to the death…I will kill you or die trying…"
"Alia…what do you think?"
"End it, X. Spare her more pain," said Alia.
"All right," agreed X.
X returned to his regular form and charged his X-Buster, pointing right at Jewel. Jewel barely had the power to hold herself up, much less dodge, so it was a mercy kill as X fired, the shot blasting straight through Jewel's body. Jewel simply flopped on the ground.
"Let's go," said X.
"Not yet," said Alia. "There's one last thing I have to do."
Alia walked over to Jewel. Carefully, she disconnected the gem attached to Jewel's right arm and picked it up. She then walked back to X.
"Let's go," she said.