Disclaimer: I, Zack Rello, do not own Mega Man X in any way, shape, or form. If I did, Axl would have his own game series.

Shadows of my soul

Chapter 4: Thunder and Lightning

"This is the last thing we need." Signas thought as he stared at the data disk in his hand. It had seemed that maybe there would be peace for while now that Sigma and Lumine were defeated. This disk, however, showed that the peace the Hunters had worked so hard to obtain was about to come to crashing end. Signas put the disk in a computer and stood before the gathered Hunters, immediately getting their attention. "Hunters," he began, "Two minutes ago I was handed a data disk which has a revealed a major threat not only to the peace of this world, but also to the Maverick Hunters organization."

The main monitor behind Signas flickered to life, and Axl, X, and Zero watched as the video began play. They looked upon a large stadium, which was filled with reploids, many of whom were carrying weapons and looked ready to fight at a moments notice. In the center of the stadium was a stage and there stood a green reploid. His angular armour reflected the stadium lights, creating the illusion of a shining aura around him. He raised his hand and revealed his weapon: bright blue energy claws stood in sharp contrast with his armour and he looked as though he could cut through anything with a full powered slice. He clenched his hand into a fist and addressed the crowd:

"My fellow new generation reploids! We, the Reploid Revolution Front, have been given a great task! It has fallen upon us to avenge the death of lord Lumine!" The crowd erupted in wild cheers, but the reploid waved his hand and silenced them. After he was sure the crowd was silent, he continued "It was almost one month ago that lord Lumine began his great plan to create a utopia for those who evolution has declared the chosen: the reploids. Lord Lumine realised that the time of humans had ended, and saw that the time was right for us to seize our destiny and create our new world!" He paused and looked throughout the crowd "However, the foolish Maverick Hunters could not grasp the truth of Lumine's ideals, and they saw him as a destroyer instead of the great creator that he was. They stormed lord Lumine's palace and, though he fought valiantly and with dedication to his vision, he was slain! Now, we must avenge his death! We must destroy Zero, the ignorant fool who could not accept the birth of the new world, X, the idiot who believes that there can be peace between humans and reploids, and, the worst of them all, Axl, the treacherous dog who did betray lord Lumine, even though he is a new generation prototype!" The crowd erupted with sneers of "fool", "pacifist", and "traitor". After about a minute or so of this the crowd settled and the speaker continued "But this is not enough! For vengeance to be complete we must also destroy the Maverick Hunters, the precious organization that they work for!" The reploid raised his fist to sky and screamed "OPERATION: VENGANCE BEGINS NOW!" The crowd screamed in agreement and the screen went blank.

"So, would have guessed that Lumine had an official fan club?" Axl joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Now is not the time for jokes Axl. Be serious, we have a major situation on our hands" replied Zero, instantly setting everyone back to the problem at hand.

X spoke for the first time since the since the video had begun "O.K. we need to come up with a logical plan to…"

At this point Layer interrupted saying "Signas, I just received an emergency transmission from the 7th unit's main base. I'm patching them in."

The main screen once again came to life, showing what appeared to be a hanger. A damaged Hunter stood looking at the screen, synthetic blood trailing from his month. "Thank God, I…finally managed… contact H.Q. 7TH unit under attack… no warning… most of us… didn't make it…"

"It's all right, don't worry." said Signas. "The situation is quickly getting out of hand. The Reploid Revolution Front sent that disk to us to state its intentions. I see that their forces are behind this attack." Signas turned his attention to the Hunter on screen and said "We're sending reinforcements right now"

The Hunter slowly nodded and switched off the communicator. X, Zero, and Axl headed towards the teleported when Alia exclaimed "Signas, emergency transmission from the 6th unit! They're also under attack… by the Reploid Revolution Front's forces!"

"What's their situation at the moment?" Signas inquired. He didn't want to admit it, but this attack was obviously well prepared. A two-pronged attack on the Hunters' Air and Navel forces was an excellent move on the part their enemies; the loss of either of these specialty units could cripple the Hunters in case of aerial or navel threats.

Alia listened on her headset then replied "They say they can hold their own for now. Reinforcements would be extremely helpful, but they say to help the 7th unit first as they seem to be in a much worse situation."

"All right then, here's the plan people! X, Zero, and Axl will go to the 7th unit's base and assist them. While that operation is taking place, I want all Hunters currently on stand-by here to be transported to the 6th unit's base to provide back-up. Put all other unit bases in red alert status; other bases might come under attack later. Everyone, move out!" ordered Signas, his voice booming throughout the command center.

Instantly, Hunters H.Q. became a whirlwind of activity. Hunters' from all over the base ran as fast as they could toward the teleporters. Navigators double checked their Hunters' equipment and began analyzing maps of the base in order to provide accurate and helpful information. As for Zero, X, and Axl, they headed to the main teleporter and prepared to head to the battleground of the 7th unit's base.

As the co-ordinates were set, Axl observed something he never seen before. Tapping Zero on the shoulder and asked "Am I nuts, or did Alia just blow a kiss to X?"

Zero, who until then had thought he was going crazy, replied "She just blew a kiss to X. We can ask him about it when this is all over."

Stepping on the platform, X addressed his friends "O.K. guys, ready?" he asked encouragingly.

"To kick some Maverick ass, always." responded Zero. Axl just nodded his head, knowing he would be chastised for swearing if he did so in front of X.

"The co-ordinates are set. Beginning teleportation sequence" Alia said. Seconds later, three beams; one blue, one red and one black, shot into sky. "Please come back safely you three" she thought to herself.


Hell. That was the only word Axl could use to describe the place he and the others teleported into. The sky itself seemed to burn, painted crimson and orange by the angry flames licking up from the burning hangers. What was once a runway (Axl assumed) now looked like a rock quarry. All around the three Hunters lay the bodies of many brave comrades who had been killed. Axl noted with disgust that most of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition.

Suddenly, a sound came through the horrors the place. It was a sound that X and Zero immediately recognized; the sound of a fighter plane dive bombing. X converted his right arm into a blaster and began to charge a shot while Axl, unfamiliar with the sound, tried to determine where it was coming from. "Axl, when I give you the signal, jump back, got it?" Zero instructed. Before Axl could respond Zero yelled "Now!" and the three Hunters jump out the way, barely avoiding a missile barrage. Seconds later, two fighters swooped down and X unleashed a full powered charge shot, vaporizing the planes in an explosion of blue energy.

With this skirmish dealt with, X took command by giving out the plan of attack "All right, you two, listen. I'm going to head over to that control tower and try to snipe down the rest of the fighters." X pointed to control tower then said, "Alia, how many fighters are still active?"

The Hunters' com. links cackled with static for about 30 seconds until Alia's voice came through, "We're picking up a total of 15 fighters. There are also a fair amount of flight-type reploids."

"Leave them to me. Those flight-types will be no problem." Zero said, as drew his Z-saber.

Pallette's voice replaced Alia's over the com. link "Axl, the D.N.A data of those reploids can be copied. If use that data, you'll get flight power, plasma shots, and… ohh! Cool! Grenades! That ought to show these Mavericks not mess with the Hunters!"

"Good. In that case, I'll copy the data then go help X, while Zero takes care of the ground troops. Sound like plan?" asked Axl.

"Fine with me. Sound O.K. to you Zero?" X replied. Zero nodded and the three Hunters head off: X toward the control tower and Axl and Zero to locate the squadron of flight-type reploids.

Unfortunately, the squad located them first. A huge explosion ripped apart the hanger the two were searching, flinging them to the ground. As they hit, four Mavericks descended from the skies. "Well, well, well, what have we here? Zero, the Maverick Hunter, and his sidekick Axl." said the leader.

"Who are you calling a sidekick! I'm a Maverick Hunter, and I'm every bit as good as Zero!" Axl yelled as he and Zero got to their feet. If there was one thing he hated, it was people who under estimated him. Deciding to teach them what an error this was, Axl leaped into the air and brought out his guns. As he sailed over them, he fired a single shot which went clear thru the leaders head, sending synthetic blood everywhere and killing him instantly. Zero, meanwhile, charged forward and expertly used his saber to deflect the plasma shots sent at him. As reached his targets he made a horizontal slash and neatly cut down two other Mavericks. Axl landed behind the last Maverick and quickly fired four shots into him, making sure the last one was a copy shot. Piercing the Mavericks armour, it exploded into ball of fire. Axl smiled, he knew the data was now copied and everything was going according plan.

Zero headed over to Axl but as he did 5 more flight-type descended and opened fire on the two. Deflecting the shots he turned his head towards Axl and said "Axl, if you copied the data go and help X. I'll be fine here." He deflected another shot and ran forward, impaling one of the Mavericks on his sword.

"Zero's right. We need to be quick here. The 6th unit still needs our help." "Try not to have too much fun without me Zero." Axl joked as he activated his A-Trans. An orange sphere of light appeared around him and the metamorphosis began. His armour changed from black to a sky blue, his helmet grew over his face and where his eyes would be appeared a visor, the wings on his back transformed into a jet pack, and his hover jets were replaced with powerful boosters. His transformation complete, the sphere disappeared and there he stood a perfect duplicate of the Mavericks. He activated his jets and took of into the sky.

Axl surveyed his new surroundings. The smouldering ruins of the air base became mangled landmarks as he rose higher in to the air. He found the control tower easily. It stood like an ivory tower against the wreckage and rubble. Circling around it were four… make that three fighters as X shot one down with a charged shot. "Whoa. A half hour ago, there were 15 planes. X took care of almost all them by himself. I gotta admit he really is the greatest Maverick Hunter ever." Still, Axl could see with his new enhanced vision that all the repeated charge shots were tacking a toll on the blue reploid: X was panting hard and was holding on to a hand rail to keep himself from falling over. "Just hold on a little longer X. Help is on the way." Axl thought as he dashed toward the tower.

One of the planes broke off its attack as Axl approached and set itself on an intercept course. Axl had hoped for this and continued his path straight towards the jet. Right when it seemed that a collision was inevitable, he pulled off and fired a three shot burst into the cockpit. Bursting into flame, the plane spiralled down and smashed into the ground.

As these events unfolded, X fired another charge shot, destroying another plane. However, X's power reserves had fallen to a dangerously low level, and he fell to his hands and knees. "Should have known better than to make that last shot." he said to himself.

Axl landed behind X and said "You do know that talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity, right?" He took out an E. bottle and handed it to his friend. "I know it's not much, but it'll restore some of your power. Now stay here and I'll take care of that last guy." Making sure he still had time left in his transformation, he took of and prepared to engage the last fighter.

Unlike the other planes, this plane had a symbol for identification. On its right wing was an upside down triangle, with two R's in the top corners and an F in the bottom one. Axl and the fighter charged at each other, until Axl moved out of the way to avoid a blast of machine gun fire. The plane did a partial barrel roll and launched two missiles which Axl quickly shot down. "Damn, this guy got real skills. I need to change my strategy if I want to beat him." Acting on his own advice, Axl took a grenade out of a compartment in the armour and sped towards the jet. As soon as he was close he threw the grenade into its left engine and moved out of the way. Seconds later, the entire left wing of the plane was engulfed in orange light and vaporized.

However, the cockpit of the plane suddenly shot open, and the next thing Axl was aware of the sharp pain in his shoulders and the powerful electric current flowing through his body. He screamed in agony as he returned to his normal form and the Maverick slammed him into the ground.

Having witnessed the whole scene X and Zero (Who had already defeated all the other Mavericks) ran as fast as they could to the battle area. Arriving, they gazed upon a yellow hawk reploid, who had his talon around Axl's throat. He released his grip no Axl and took to the air. Hovering five feet above the three, the Maverick spoke for the first time "Weaklings like you don't deserve to exist. I find it hard to believe that you managed to defeat Sigma, even with the help of X and Zero."

Axl struggled to feet with Zero's assistance while X began to interrogate the new Maverick "Who are you and why did you attack the 7th unit?"

The Maverick made a mock bow and replied "My name is Thunder Hawk, though I will forgive you if you forget it. None of you will live much longer anyway." He flapped the wings on his back and shrugged his shoulders, then continued "As for why my forces attacked this base, R.R.F. pays excellent money to any who accept their jobs. Besides, me and my guys we're in the mood to raise some hell anyway."

"You wiped out an entire Maverick Hunters' unit because you and your buddies wanted to "raise some hell"!" Zero exclaimed. He moved his saber into an attack stance and said "I'll never understand the insanity of you Mavericks."

At this Thunder Hawk laughed. Not just a light laugh, he threw his head back and let out a deep long laugh. As he regained control of himself and said "I only seem insane to you because you are bound by the rules and taboos of society. Being an anarchist, I've found that, when one has power, he can use that power do whatever he chooses. With great power comes…"

"Great responsibility?" Axl asked.

Thunder Hawk crossed his arms over his chest and replied "No. With great power, comes abuse of great power!"

X knew this Maverick was probably to far gone, but his beliefs told him he still had to try to reason with him. "Thunder Hawk, power is not meant to be used selfishly. When a person has power, they should use it for a cause; a cause they truly believe in. Maybe that cause is to help their friends or maybe to protect some one they love, but people with true power use it to help others, not themselves!"

"Feh," Thunder Hawk scoffed "I expected such an answer from one as misguided as you. Power not used for yourself is wasted, and you benefit when you know this." As he said this, lightning bolts began to generate on his wings and strike out in random directions. "Well enough talk. It's time for you to taste the power of my Volt Wings!"

No sooner had that been said been said when Thunder Hawk let out a shriek and sent energy waves at the three Hunters, causing them to scatter. X and Axl sent a barrage of energy blasts at the yellow Maverick, some of which hit him dead on but most of them didn't as he used his electrified wings as a shield. Zero dashed forward and attempted to cut the hawk down, but at the last second Thunder Hawk moved up and grabbed Zero by the neck, promptly electrocuting him.

Axl jumped of a piece of rubble and then activated his hover jets. He fired repeatedly into Thunder Hawk's upper body screaming "Eat this, Maverick scum!" At first the bullets seemed to have little effect, but one of them pierced Thunder Hawk's right wing. It cackled with electricity for a moment then exploded, causing the Maverick to drop Zero as he fell to the ground.

Thunder Hawk landed hard on his side but quickly got back on his feet. "You bastard Hunter!" he yelled, glaring at Axl "You destroyed one of my wings! For that, I'm gonna blast you God damn head off!" Thunder Hawk charged up his working wing and fired a mass of electrified feathers at Axl. As they landed around him, Thunder Hawk brought his hands together and condensed his electricity into a white energy blast. "Let's see you survive this. My ultimate technique: the Tetra-Volt bomb!" Once he had fully charged the bomb, he sent it straight at Axl, sealing his doom.

Or so he thought. Axl had rolled out of the way when the feathers hit, so the Tetra-Volt bomb missed by mile. As Thunder Hawk laughed about his victory, Axl whistled and said "Hey, bird brain! What's so funny?" Thunder just stared slack beaked, so Axl continued "I was a good distraction, huh?"

"WHAT! A distraction?" Thunder Hawk exclaimed. He started to turn around, but it was too late. A full powered X buster shot exploded against his back, blowing away his armour. Zero then dashed forward and ran his Z-saber clear through the Maverick's torso. Thunder Hawk's core began to overload, and as beams of light shot out of his body, he spoke his last words, "Burn…in hell…Hunters."

Thunder Hawk exploded in flash of light, leaving no remains. As the dust cleared, X looked up from his buster sights and said "Mission accomplished."


REVIEW RESPONSES:

PRIVATE: Thanks for reviewing. It's about time X admited to Alia in the games, IMO.

Erckie: Sorry if Zero's confession was a bit hard to understand. It would probly be easier if you played X4 and Xtream 2 before reading it. I'll try and do better if I do somthing like that again. Thanks for the review.

Racegirl: Good to hear. Just so you know, X/Alia is my favourite Mega Man couple. Please review again.

Prjct. WAR: Thanks for another informative review. Sorry, but Zero and Layer will not get together in this story. Zero and Iris belong together, period. Good luck trying to find the ending on the net. You'll probably be serching for awhile.

A/N: The first action chapter in this story in this story! And my first original character! I love this story! Anyway, since all my reviewers liked my X/Alia chapter, I can promise more is on the way. Please read and review, and please give me some input on my OC so I can writemy future ones better. See ya next chapter.

Next Chapter: Blue Mist