Mega Man Cross
Chapter 11
"Dreams Realized"
By MEGAMANX411

The group walked into Fort Dragonia, and were utterly amazed at how elaborate it appeared. G old plating appeared on many things, and there were many intricate designs on the walls. The metals used were not only very tough, but attractive. The building itself was enormous and incredible.

"Oh ho ho...it vould zeem you are 'ere," a voice anounced.

X instinctively raised his buster in retaliation. He aimed his arm at the direction of the sound...to find Harle standing there.

"Harle..what are you doing here?" X asked.

"My, my, mon X. You are a handsome one," Harle muttered.

Alia was fuming a bit at that remark, but she didn't say much back. She didn't want to make things any more troublesome than they were now.

"What is it you want with me Harle? X asked bluntly.

"Mon X...I will not stop you..but please..don't die," Harle whispered.

"What..?" X muttered, lowering his buster.

Did this mean Harle wasn't necessarily evil after all? Was she an unwilling servant to Lynx? Or was she really that devoted to X? X didn't really know at this point..there were many things he had occupying his mind, so sorting them out was a bit troublesome.

"You may proceed, mon X..." Harle added, bowing.

"Um..thank you, Harle," X replied.

X motioned for the rest to follow him, and they reluctantly did so. Many didn't really trust Harle quite yet..after all, she attacked them the last time they met. Just trusting her may have come easy to X, but not to everyone else. As she walked by, Kid gave Harle a harsh glare.

"If you try anythin' funny, I'm gonna gut ya," Kid muttered.

"Oh la la, such a temper," Harle mocked.

Kid merely snorted defiantly, and turned away. She ran to catch up to X and the others, while Harle went off somewhere on her own. They left that room and came to a rather elaborte maze. The walls were incredibly high, but that wasn't the problem. The metal was incredibly strong, reflective, and slick. It would be difficult to wall jump on them, and shooting them may not be a good idea. The blasts might reflect back at them.

"Hm..I don't think shooting these walls down might be a good idea. Let's just try going through the maze," X offered.

Zero shrugged his shoulders.

"Meh, works for me. Which way?" he asked.

"Um..I..don't know," X muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"I think I have an idea," Alia answered.

"Let's hear it!" X shouted, obviously enthused.

"Well..how about we split up, and have someone stay back at the entrance. If someone gets lost, they can communicate back with the person at the entrance. Then, when one person reaches the end, he or she can communicate with the others to give them directions on how to get there. Does that sound good to you?" Alia asked.

"Yeah, but who's gonna stay at the back?" Zero replied.

Korcha quickly raised his hand, obviously wanting the easier job.

"Me!" he shouted.

"OK, Korcha will stay at the startcha...ack! Now he's got me doing it.." Zero muttered, shaking his head.

X was inwardly laughing at that last statement Zero made, but he decided to hold it in for the general seriousness of matters here. X, Zero, Kid, and Alia all split up, going their own way in the maze. There were many, many twists and turns in the maze, and it made things all the more frustrating.

"Damn! Dead end!" Kid shouted, kicking her feet.

Kid was the first out, her way was a dead end. That just left X, Zero, and Alia. They kept going. Eventually, Alia and Zero ran into each other at the same spot. Another dead end, unfortunately.

"Well, looks like we've headed the wrong way...X, this is Alia and Zero. We're stuck at a dead end," Zero announced.

"Ok guys, just head back to the entrance. Where's Kid?" X asked.

"I'm stuck too..." Kid muttered.

"Head back to the entrance, I'll keep going," X replied.

X then came to wall. He was completely shocked. If everyone else came to a dead end, then how could his way be a dead end too? There had to be at least one right way in a maze, that's the way mazes work..or at least most conventional and effective mazes did.

"Hm..something's not right here.." X whispered.

X decided to think on the matter, so he leaned up against the wall to take a breather and think on matters. As he did so, he felt the wall go inward, like a button.

"Aha! There must have been a switch on this wall!" X shouted.

As the switch was activated, all of the walls lowered, and the maze was no more. Alia, Zero, Kid, and Korcha walked over to X.

"Alright everyone..that's one thing down. Let's keep going, but stay close. Things might get dangerous," X announced.

Zero smirked and tightened his grip on his saber. If things got dangerous, that would make things all the more fun for him. Zero was always one for a challenge. The next room they got to was a somewhat small room, with several colored panels on the floor and a panel on the door with some message inscribed on it. The door was sealed shut at the moment.

"Let's see...'Dragoons are comprised of Head, Body, and Tail'...wonder what that is supposed to mean?" Zero asked.

"Maybe it has something to do with these panels?" Alia asked, pointing to the tiles underneath the group.

X looked down at the panels and shrugged his shoulders. It was the most obvious thingin the room, so it couldn't hurt to try it out.

"It couldn't hurt to try," X replied.

Kid scratched her head. She understood that the tiles stuck out like a sore thumb, but what exactly where they supposed to do with them?

"OK...so what do we do with them?" Kid asked.

"Hm..maybe we need to stand in order?" X offered.

"But what's the order?" Zero asked.

Meanwhile, Alia was busy trying to think of the proper order to tackle this puzzle. She thought for a moment, and repeated the clues to herself.

"Head, body, and tail..." Alia whispered.

X placed a hand on her shoulder to see if Alia was alright. He just wanted to make sure that nothing was troubling her.

"What was that Alia?" X asked.

"I think we need to stand in the order revelant to each body part. The head, the body, and the tail. I'm not sure if it matters what person stands in that space, but I think we just need to have three people stand there. If the titles have any relevance, then the head should be the smallest, the body should be the heaviest, and the tail should be the longest," Alia muttered.

"Then I guess that means you should be the body," Kid teased.

"What was that?!" Alia shouted.

X immediately got inbetween Alia and Kid to try and prevent any inevitable fight from going on.

"Whew..this is certainly not the time for this kind of on, we need to work together," X announced.

"Alright, alright..sorry Alia," Kid muttered.

Kid was always one used to teasing, so doing so was not a very big deal to her. She pretty much always did it, even to people she liked. And Alia was gaining respect in her eyes, largely because of what she did when they fought against those Dragoons. Alia, however, didn't appreciate such a comment..but she just let it go, she wasn't one to hold grudges.

"Alright, I guess that means Kid should go first, then X, then Zero..." Alia muttered.

They tried doing so. It didn't work, and the door ahead of them refused to open.

"Hmm..maybe there's something we're missing.." Zero muttered.

"I got it! The tail! It should be longer, not taller. That means me and Korcha should stand behind Zero," Alia added.

The group stood on their respective panels in that order...and the door then thrust itself open!

"Great work Alia!" X shouted.

Alia blushed at the comment, but tried to not let it get to her head. She merely thanked X promptly and then followed after him. The group then came to an elevator-like device..and that's when it hit X.

"This is..like my dream..." X muttered.

Alia's eyes widened at what X said. Something about it was very cryptic and mysterious. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you ok X?" she asked.

X immediately shook his head to try and free himself from his thoughts and returned his attention to Alia.

"Oh, I'm fine..it's nothing," X replied, obviously blatantly lying.

X then thought about his dream. This was going the same way..in a sense. But the group of people was different. In his dream, he had Niki, Kid, Korcha, and Zero with him. This time around, X did have Kid, Korcha, and Zero around, but not Niki. Alia was here this time. Also, Kid didn't say her line that she did in X's dream...was something different?

Were X's dreams not inevitable? If so..did that mean he had a chance to alter what he saw? Was his supposed fate not predestined? Was it merely a warning? Whatever the case, X was now more determined than ever to test out his theory. As they reached the door to the next room, X then saw another vision.

He saw himself, coated in blood. He saw his friends laying on the floor. And he saw that he was smiling...a vicious, malevolent smile that brought terror. X shook his head.

"You feelin' ok man?" Kid asked.

"Yeah..let's go," X replied.

X then opened the door to the next room. And in the center rested the legendary treasure. The Frozen Flame...but it actually was a force metal. Not anything that seemed somewhat magical, but a piece of force metal..that no doubt held immense power.

"That's..it..the Frozen Flame.." Kid muttered.

"What are you doing here?" Viper asked.

The group then turned their attention to General Viper, who was in the room.

"Oh, General Viper. We came to speak to you about Lynx," X announced.

"About Lynx? What the devil are you talking about?" Viper asked.

"He's trying to backstab you. We talked to one of your Dragoons, Radius..he told us about Lynx," Zero replied.

"Is that so..?" Viper asked. "Well, I have the Frozen Flame, so he won't try anything.

All of the sudden, a blade poke through Viper's chest. His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw his reploid blood coated on the cold blade in front of him. The weapon wasn't just barely through him, it was practically all the way through his chest...and it tore his upper half to shreds. Viper went into a state of shock. He couldn't even scream in pain.

"Lynx!" X shouted, raising his buster.

"The Frozen Flame..and you..are mine," Lynx hissed.

X was in a state of pure terror as he saw Lynx remove his scythe from Viper's chest. Viper fell to the floor, and his reploid blood oozed outwards. Lynx just stood there, proud of his handiwork. He was undeniably evil, and that made X cringe.

"Lynx..you...vile...evil.." X muttered, clearly too stunned to formulate a full sentence.

"X, have you ever wondered what you truly are? Deep down, what is it that makes you..you?" Lynx hissed.

X couldn't take this anymore. He had to put a stop to Lynx right here and now. His body coursed with feelings of determination, courage, fear, anger...a veritable rush of emotion that threw him into a frenzy.

"Stop Lynx! I have nothing to say to you!" X shouted.

Lynx merely put his scythe over his shoulder and gave X a cold stare. He slowly walked up to them, the scythe nimbly bouncing on his shoulders as he moved. X cringed with disgust, but kept his buster aimed steadily. Zero was getting rather ticked himself, and held his saber firmly. He was ready to start slicing and dicing.

Kid, on the other hand, was getting excited. This was her chance to exact her revenge on Lynx, and she wasn't about to waste it. Alia and Korcha were both a bit scared at this sight, and didn't exactly know what to do.

"Lynx! Time to meet yer maker!" Kid shouted.

"What an annoying child. You weaklings are no match for evena shadow of mine," Lynx replied.

"That's it! I've had enough of your boasting you litter-box freak!" Zero shouted.

Zero rushed at Lynx with his saber going into a powerful thrust attack. Lynx nimbly dodged by sidestepping gracefully, making Zero stumble forward a bit. Kid tried to follow up on his attack by stabbing Lynx in the face with an energy dagger, but he proved too quick. He grabbed Kid's hands, made her drop her daggers, and threw her to the ground afterward.

X then blasted Lynx, hitting him in the chest. He clearly wasn't ready for that one. He gritted his teeth, and then disappeared into the shadows once again. X kept his buster arm steady as he tried to see where he would resurface.

"Where'd he go this time..?" X muttered.

"Watch out X!" Alia shouted, pointing just above X.

Lynx tried to come down on top of X with his scythe, but thanks to Alia's warning, he managed to escape just in time. Zero tried to slice Lynx where he landed, but he quickly vanished again. Zero and Kid stood back to back while X was aiming. Alia, in the mean time, was a bit frightened. She didn't fight often, and this fight seemed to be particularly threatening...she wasn't too sure what to do.

"There!" Alia shouted.

Zero then wheeled himself around and thrust his saber at where Alia pointed to, and he almost hit Lynx. He just barely missed because the cat-like human was far too nimble. Kid tried her hand at defeating Lynx, but every attack was blocked. X tried to fire again, but his shots proved to be ineffective.

"Don't you see? X, what is your fate? Do you even know? That ominous fate...you should have died years ago when you faced Sigma. Why is it you live?" Lynx asked.

"Shut up! Get out of my head!" X shouted.

X then blasted at Lynx, knocking him over. Before he got back up to his feet, Zero and Kid stood over him with their weapons pointed downward. Lynx was dumbfounded...he was defeated? But how? He was so superior in technique.

"Argh...how? You bested me? Enough," Lynx hissed.

Just then, a ringing noise went into X's head. It grew louder and louder by the moment, and the intense pain it induced kept growing and growing. It felt like there was a whistle blowing loudly in his head..and it kept getting louder. X clutched his head and fell to his knees.

"Lynx, what are you doing to X?!" Alia screamed.

Lynx didn't say anything. He merely kept completely still. Suddenly, an orb of light came out of his body and slammed into X. X's shadow..then changed. It looked like Lynx's. X slowly stood back up, not saying a word.

"X..are you ok..?" Zero asked.

"Yes, I am fine. Let's finish Lynx," X, or who they assumed was X, answered.

Lynx then stood back up. But his shadow didn't look the same..it looked like..X's. That's when it hit X. He was in Lynx's body! He had somehow switched places with Lynx! He tried to call out, but all this body limited him to were feral roars and yelps. Apparently manipulating speech in this body was different than X's old body. Not to mention how weak it felt..apparently Lynx purposely let X hit him so that when they switched, his body would be too hard to move.

"Come on Kid, let's get him. For Lucca.." Lynx, in X's body, hissed.

Kid suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, and dropped her weapons. She looked back at X, both horrified and curious.

"X..not once..did I tell you about Lucca," Kid whispered.

"What do you mean Kid?" Lynx replied.

"You..you're...!" Kid stammered.

Inwardly, the real X was screaming. He couldn't tell his friends that this was all a lie!

"I'm X! Kid, don't get near him! Get away from him, that's not really me! He'll kill you, get away!" X screamed.

Lynx, in X's body, quickly snatched up Kid's dagger and stabbed her with it. As he reploid blood began to spill out, a sadistic smirk appeared on Lynx's face. The smile made so much sense to X now. It wasn't really him doing it..it was Lynx. That's why it seemed so evil.

"X, what the hell are you doing?!" Zero shouted.

Lynx then looked back at Zero, Korcha, and Alia. That malicious smile remained on his face. X still kept trying to call out to his friends, but nothing worked. When he shouted, his voice only remained in his head.

"No! Alia, Zero, ! Get away while you can!" X cried.

Zero stood still, completely dumbfounded as to what was wrong with his friend. Alia and Korcha were both horrified and could barely move.

"That's...that's..not X..." Alia whispered.

"What?" Zero asked.

Before Zero could inquire on the matter further, he felt a dagger thrust into his stomach. Lynx smiled viciously as he looked into Zero's face. Lynx removed the dagger and then pushed Zero over, clearly in delight of the pain he had caused. That just left Alia and Korcha.

"Stop it! Stop, leave them alone damn it! Leave them alone!!" X screamed.

Alia stood in front of Korcha to try and protect him from harm, but Lynx proved to be rather powerful while in X's body. He tossed Alia aside like nothing and took care of Korcha. Lynx then turned back to X, and smirked.

"Well, well, look at you X...or should Isay Lynx? Ha ha ha! Excellent! The enmity is growing! The only thing pure in this world is enmity! Well then, the time has come for the curtain to fall. Your services are no longer needed. Even your very existence is worthless. Farewell, X," Lynx hissed.

X inwardly screamed and raged. But there was little he could do. Lynx then walked up and took the Frozen Flame.

"Ah..now I have the key. This is the key to fate. This is what controls everything, and now I have it! X, come to the Sea of Eden if you wish to discover fate...I will be waiting for you," Lynx replied.

The words Lynx spoke rang through X's mind, but he started to become groggy. Everything was turning hazy...and X then passed out.