Mega Man Cross
Chapter 22
"Facing Fate"
By MEGAMANX411
A figure descended down upon X and the rest. He had the countenance of Sigma, only it seemed impossible to see him again. Seeing his malicious face once again seemed just so unreal. His dark eyes were full of hatred and malice, and the light from the nearby machines were faintly reflected off of his bald skull. His body was covered in thick, dark, hard body armor that made him appear almost like some sort of Demi-God.
"Sigma..." X whispered, his tone traces of both awe and fear.
"X. So it's you," Sigma replied, his feet now touching the ground.
Sigma merely stood still, looking back at X, Zero, Alia, Kid, and Norris with vicious intent. His eyes resonated with that familiar evil; it was almost unbearable. A wicked grin slowly crept onto his face, and a wave of fear came over the group.
"You know X, you really make me laugh," Sigma muttered, his smile growing wider.
X clenched his fist tight. Sigma had made X leave his home with the possibility of no return, he made him fight more, he made him kill...and that's all he had to say? X began to feel sick to his stomach, and he gritted his teeth angrily.
"Sigma...I'm going to kill you!" X screamed.
"That's what I wanted to hear from you," Sigma replied bluntly.
X was immediately overcome with surprise. He lowered his buster as a wave of uneasiness came over him. Zero, Alia, Kid, and Norris didn't dare move either. They had no idea what to say or do.
"You see X...I called you here. I organized this meeting. Or did you really think that you would get the upper hand on me?" Sigma asked.
"But...what are you talking about?" X replied, his eyes widening.
"You still don't get it? When Dr. Doppler was in the service of the version of myself in the other dimension, he created a device that allowed for some contact between dimensions. I was allowed to contact the other me, so to speak. We collaborated on some projects in the event that one of us would die. Because you don't exist in my world, we concluded that the machine would be stored in this world. When the other Sigma would die, I would bring you here through subtle manipulation of a predetermined outcome, or fate. Dr. Doppler thought he was the one guiding you-"
"Wait a minute...Dr. Doppler...so he really wasn't helping us after all?" X shouted, cutting Sigma off.
"Oh no, he tried to. But the best he could do was simply get to come here and try to stop me. Which just happened to be exactly what I wanted him to do anyway. You see X, you and your friends...you came here because you wanted to destroy FATE. In doing so, you have merely been used by it. Now, there will be no chance of you ever leaving. And once I'm done with you, I'll use the FATE machine to erase your existence entirely, and I'll alter the course of everything into my favor. I was always destined to rule, X. It doesn't matter what dimension, what time, or what place...but I will win," Sigma hissed.
X felt like he was just hit in the face with perhaps the biggest revelation in his life. This whole time he was simply being used. As much as he thought he was resisting fate, he was just playing into its hands. He was its toy, its plaything. No matter what he chose to do, no matter what he thought...he was completely bound. X then felt a hand on his shoulder. He slowly turned around to see Alia.
"That's not necessarily true. Sigma, you've always been arrogant in either reality. You never expected X to beat you in the other world. What makes you think you'll win here?" Alia replied, standing beside X.
X looked to his other side to see Zero walking past him. The red hunter gave X a smirk and then gave Sigma a determined gaze.
"Sigma...you're so full of yourself. When will you learn that you've never been right? We beat you before, and we'll beat you now. It's as simple as that," Zero mocked.
Kid followed suit, and pointed her daggers at Sigma.
"Y'know, I've never met ya before. But I don't really like ya anyway. To tell the truth, you come off as a scumbag to me, and I've always hated 'em. Ya think ya can get 'way with all this? Not while I'm around," Kid shouted.
Norris walked up beside X and gripped his pistol firmly in his hands.
"Like Kid, I have never met you sir. But based on what has been said by my associates, I'm afraid that I can't let you get away with what you're planning. I'm a soldier, and as such, I'll fight you until the last breath in my body," Norris announced, full of pride.
Korcha slowly walked up to X, standing behind the group.
"I'm no fightercha like you guys...but I'll supportcha you all the way. I knowcha you can do it!" Korcha shouted.
Sigma just smirked and shook his head in response. To him, this was such a farce. The mere idea of these simpletons beating him in a fight was ludicrous.
"Then face me! Come see how you fare against fate itself, against the very fabric of time and existence. Fate will consume you, and there will be nothing left!" Sigma shouted, his maniacal laughter filling the room.
X raised his buster and fired at Sigma, but the crazed villain merely dashed out of the way. The plasma blasts slammed into the wall with little effect. Alia tried to catch Sigma as well, but he proved to be far too agile for her to catch. Norris' excellent marksmanship didn't prove useful either, because Sigma managed to dodge him masterfully.
Kid and Zero charged Sigma for a double-teamed attack. Kid lunged with her daggers while Zero thrusted with his saber. But amazingly enough, Sigma managed to gracefully dodge each blow and still avoid the blasts from X, Alia, and Norris at the same time. His movements were simply perfect, and he denied every opening to attack him.
"How the hell is he dodging everything?" Zero screamed, trying to hit his foe.
Sigma then grabbed Zero's arm and made him lunge at Kid. Zero's eyes widened as he saw that he lost control of his saber...and he was even more horrified when he saw where it was going. Kid tried to avoid the attack in time, but unfortunately, Sigma's attack was too quick. Zero's saber pierced Kid's chest, and the saber continued to go in deeper.
Zero just stood there in awe, watching Kid with terrified eyes. She looked up meekly as Zero as some blood trickled down her mouth. Alia, X, and Norris were equally shocked. They stopped shooting at Sigma, and their mouths dropped in awe.
"Oh my god...that...that couldn't have happened!" Alia shouted.
"Why did this have to happen...?" X added.
"Zero..." she whispered, falling backwards.
"Kid...! Kid, don't die!" Zero screamed, holding Kid in his arms.
The little reploid girl just smiled faintly at Zero. Some blood trickled down her mouth as she tried to speak, and her eyes were glassy.
"Zero...I don't have a family...but...you're like..." Kid whispered.
"Kid, don't talk! Korcha, help her!" Zero screamed.
Korcha instantly rushed over, and was trying to help Kid as well. He looked down at her with sad eyes, and tears began to collect and run down his cheeks.
"You're...like a dad to me..." Kid added, her eyes closed.
Zero slowly stood up, his eyes closed and his fists clenched. He shot a look at Korcha.
"Hold on to her. You hear me?" Zero asked.
Korcha nodded slowly, but didn't say anything in return. He just grabbed Kid, and ran off to the other side of the room, where at least some safety was offered.
"Sigma...you bastard! I'm going to kill you! Die you son of a bitch!" Zero screamed rushing at Sigma.
Sigma just smiked back at Zero, and was completely unfazed by his fiery rage. He still managed to dodge every attack that Zero made. Every attempt was shot down. Sigma then shook his head, wrenched the saber out of Zero's hands, and slammed his fist upside Zero's head, knocking him out cold. The red hunter hit the ground with a loud thud.
Sigma then rushed at Norris and slammed into him with a reckless dive attack, knocking him out cold. Sigma then tried to smack Alia across the face, but he was stopped by another foce. X managed to get in front of Alia in time to block the attack.
"I won't let you hurt my friends!" X shouted, trying to fend off Sigma's attack.
"You don't have a choice in the matter. Time to accept your fate!" Sigma hissed, breaking X's guard.
X stumbled back, and Sigma slammed against him, knocking him to the ground. He hit the ground with a hard smack, and he looked up lazily at Alia. Alia just stood there in fear as Sigma stared her down. X looked over at Kid, who was still bleeding profusely. Zero was out cold, Norris was down, and Korcha wasn't fit tofight. That just left Alia.
"You're time has come as well girl. Time to join X," Sigma hissed, raising his arm.
Alia just stood her ground, and raised her buster.
"I don't think so!" she shouted, firing her buster at him.
Sigma didn't expect the attack this time around...it wasn't dictated by fate. Something was not right. There was an unknown element involved here that his machine couldn't calculate. He stumbled back as he saw his chest smoking from the blast.
"What the..? You..how?" Sigma muttered.
"I won't give up! I promised to X...that I wouldn't abandon my friends. I won't let you win!" Alia shouted, keeping her buster steady.
"Impossible...the power to control fate and destiny...overcome by a promise? What the hell?" Sigma shouted.
Alia smiled as pride came over her. It looked as though victory was within her grasp. But then Sigma began to laugh. Alia slowly lowered her buster again as a wave of uneasiness came over her again.
"You think this means you have won? Look around you. You're all alone. You may have been able to hit me once...but do you honestly think that means you can beat me?" Sigma mocked.
Slowly, a blue figure rose to his feet, empowered by determination. He stood tall and proud, and his eyes burned with courage. Mega Man X was now ready to fight once more.
"Sigma...I've figured it out," X replied.
"Figured what out?" Sigma asked, sounding unamused.
"How to win," X replied, smirking.
"What?" Sigma shouted, anxiety encroaching on him.
"That promise I made to Alia...I'll do what I can to protect her and my friends. In return I'll let her help me. We help one another, and we share a bond. No matter what your machine tells us...I'll do whatever I can to return home with my friends," X shouted.
"And how do you propse on fighting me, hm? Your friends are all down," Sigma mocked.
"You didn't count on this!" X mocked, charing energy inward.
X suddenly let out a huge scream as he began to collect more and more power. His body glowed with power as he beagn to assemble his Ultimate Armor. But instead of using the energy to power himself, he simply kept charging. The glow around him grew brigther and larger, and X continued to push himself. There were no limits; the power just kept growing. X outstretched his arms and the energy began to run off of him onto his friends.
The energy clouded over them and began to absorb into them. Slowly but surely, Zero, Norris, and Kid opened their eyes. They all stood up and shook their heads, curious as to how they managed to get back up. X was heaving breaths, clearly fatigued from his massive energy transfusion.
"Heh...bet...you didn't count on that!" X mocked.
"I can just beat them again. And you're now tired. What did that accomplish?" Sigma replied.
X charged more energy again. There was no end to his power. It wouldn't deplete, it just kept growing.
"What...but how?" Sigma shouted.
"Attack!" X shouted.
X stretched out the wings of his Ultimate Armor and his body began to be covered in a faint glow. He jumped into the air, and the thrusters on his back began to light up.
"Nova Strike!"
X thrusted himself forward with immense power, and his body was coated with light as he was sent flying through the air. He ripped through Sigma's body, going straight through him to the other side of the room. Alia followed up on his attack by using a charged blast right in Sigma's face at close range. She blasted again and againt, hitting him over and over until his armor was completely charred.
Zero then followed up on that, rushing in for a massive saber combo. He thrusted, swung, and stabbed in a long series of graceful movements. Each passing saber slash was so elegant and fluid, and each slash brought about more and more pain for Sigma. He sliced again and again, and Sigma's innards began to fly everywhere.
Kid went after Zero, lunging at Sigma with her twin daggers. She jumped around with amazing agility and stabbed at Sigma at every turn. He couldn't stop her and frantically tried to catch her. At every second he was being pierced by another dagger attack. After that, Norris hit Sigma square in the forehead with a pistol shot. He then shot him in the eyes and the knees, knocking him to the ground.
Sigma was heaving breaths as he saw his time was coming to an end. Even his beloved machine told him so. It was dictated by fate now. Sigma's innards began to spill out onto the ground and his blood formed a pool around him.
"Damn! I was...going to rule...fate...why did you betray me?" Sigma screamed.
Sigma then looked up in horror as his machine was smashed to pieces. Amidst the haze that followed, Sigma saw the familiar figure of Mega Man X.
"Sigma, you're machine is no more, and you've been defeated!" X shouted.
"Heh...fool. You've messed with the fabric of existence...there will be consequences, don't you see...? You're all...doomed..." Sigma hissed, before finally fading away.
"Doomed?" Alia repeated, sounding worried.
Suddenly, everything seemed to become hazy and fade. It was all so strange. Nothing seemed to make a sound, and movement seeemd to be unrecognizable. Everything began to blend together, like the very fabric of existence was collapsing on itself. X tried to cry out and reach out his hand, but it didn't even make a bit of difference. It was like he was all alone again, trapped in a different existence. Everything began to fade into a deep blackness...
