Chapter 8: Ambush!
Star was walking along Noah's Park, when she heard a familiar voice.
"Is something wrong, Star?" Zero asked approaching her.
"No, nothing. I'm just wondering..." She replied with a sigh. "When can all of this madness end? Now DMZ feels like he might become a Maverick again."
"And X talked to him about that." Zero said.
"Zero..." Star said with a slight sob. "Please, don't ever give in to evil. Please?"
Zero smiled softly and hugged Star. "Don't worry, Star... Don't worry..." He said.
Star hugged him back. "Thank you, Zero." She whispered.
Their hug lasted for a few minutes. "So...should we get back to Hunter Base?" Zero finally asked.
"Yeah. Let's go." Star replied. They both started walking away.
"How romantic..." A voice coming from the trees suddenly said. "But, as the saying goes, 'All's fair in love and war'."
"Show yourself!" Zero demanded.
A figure dropped from a nearby tree: Vile!
"Zero, how nice to see you again." Vile said with a mocking tone. "It's too bad you won't leave this place alive."
"Wanna bet?" Zero asked drawing his Z-Sabre.
"Back off, you creep!" Star added lashing out her whip.
"Let's begin!" Vile yelled as he went crazy with the shoulder cannon.
"How do you expect to destroy us with such lousy aim?" Zero sarcastically asked as he and Star easily dodged the shots.
"Darn it! YYAAHHH!" Vile yelled, firing huge energy orbs at Zero.
"AAGGHHH!" Zero yelled as an orb hit him.
Vile kept firing, only to be attacked by Star. Her whip sent him agaisnt a tree.
"How do you like that?" Star asked.
Veldogger and the Wolf brothers watched from afar as Vile did battle with Zero and Star.
"Now's our chance!" Veldogger told the Wolf brothers. "I knew my plan to distract the two of them would work! My old pal Vile is making sure of that."
"You know what that means..." Fire told his brother with a smile.
"Time to attack the hunter base directly!" Ice answered excitedly.
Since the site of the battle taking place was very near to the hunter base, Veldogger and the Wolf brothers were there in no time. A large explosion was heard from inside the base.
"What was that?" shouted Alia.
The hunter base was caught completely off guard. X was in a room with Axl, with the rest of the hunters in other rooms throughout the facility. As luck would have it, the explosion made by Veldogger and the Wolf brothers led them directly into X and Axl's room.
"Now! Ice, seal off the door!" Fire told his brother.
"With pleasure," said Ice as he frStarZe a sheet of thick ice to prevent the door from being opened, thus preventing other hunters from getting inside.
"What the hell is going on?" screamed DMZ. "X, are you ok?" he shouted through the door.
But X couldn't hear him. He was being stared down by a bloodthirsty Veldogger.
"At last, X", Veldogger said with anger. "At last I've found you. And now I will have my revenge."
"What? I don't even know you!" X told him.
"Remember Velgauder? He was Sigma's pet a long, long time ago," Veldogger answered. "And you murdered him in cold blood. He was my brother! And now you'll be the one murdered in cold blood!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Axl yelled. He then shot a barrage of shots at Veldogger, but those were dodged.
"You stay out of this!" Ice said as he shot a beam of ice at Axl, freezing him to the wall. Axl couldn't move.
"Now it's time for you to feel the pain!" Fire told Axl, as he set his head ablaze. Axl's screams could be heard throughout the hunter base.
"We've got to get in there!" DMZ yelled. He and Alpheon started ramming the door, trying to break the ice barrier down.
"Listen," X told Veldogger, "I don't know you, but your brother was an evil maverick and he needed to be taken down. And it seems to me like you do too!"
With that he shot a buster shot at Veldogger.
"Not so fast!" Fire said as he shot a fire blast which deflected X's shot off the mark. Veldogger advanced on X.
X prepared another shot, but his arm was grabbed by Ice. Then his other arm was grabbed by Fire. X struggled but he couldn't get loose.
"NOW, X! TIME TO DIE!" shouted Veldogger as he shot his canine electrical beam cannon at X.
"NO!" screamed Axl, but he was powerless to move. The beam ripped through X's lower body, completely destroying his legs. The Wolf brothers dropped X's motionless torso to the ground.
A large crack developed in the door, as DMZ and Alpheon were almost through.
"I think it's time to go, now," said Veldogger with a smile on his face. "We did what we came to do." He turned to Axl. "We'll finish you off next time."
With that, the three mavericks escaped out of the hole they had made. Just when they had gone, DMZ succeeded in busting through the door.
"X! What happened?" he yelled as he went to help the motionless X on the ground. "X! Speak to me! X! X!"
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Falcon marched past the warriors.
Lockdown. Staring sternly ahead.
Lock. Staring as well, but he could see deep thought behind his eyes.
Saber Rien. Grinning maliciously, anxious for action.
And Master R, fidgeting with boredom.
All awaiting orders.
"Alright." Falcon began. "This has been going for a long time. And it's far past time I seized my rightful control of this world." Lockdown nodded, and Saber's grin grew slightly wider.
"And all of you will help me. My warriors, you will pave the way for a new future. The future... of reploids!"
They all cheered.
But Lock stopped abruptly and stared at Falcon. "So what's the plan?"
"Glad you asked, Lock. Goes like this..."
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Alpheon entered the room. Quickly, he used his sword to release Axl who rushed over where X and DMZ were.
"X! NO! This can't be happening!" Axl yelled, falling on his knees. Alpheon placed a hand on his shoulder. "Take him to the medical lab now! He can still be saved!" He told him .
He didn't have to say it twice. Axl and DMZ quickly took X to the medical lab. Alpheon followed them.
A few minutes later, the three hunters were in front of the surgery room door, hoping X would be okay. Axl's injures weren't serious so he was allowed to wait for news.
Suddenly, Alpheon started heading out of the room.
"Alpheon? Where are you going?" DMZ asked. "Zero and Star have been gone for a while. Their absence and those Mavericks' attack are not coincidence. Something must have hapened. I'll go look for them." Alpheon answered.
Axl got up. "Wait! I'm going with you!" He said. "No. You were also injured in the attack." Alpheon said.
"You can't go by yourself." DMZ said. "I must. DMZ, please stay here and take care of X and Axl." Alpheon said.
"Okay. If anything happens, call me." DMZ said. Alpheon nodded and left.
Two hours passed. Alpheon hadn't returned and there were still no news about X.
DMZ got up. "I'll go check with Alia if more hunters were injured on the attack. You'll be okay by yourself, Axl?" He asked, worried. Axl hadn't spoken a word since Alpheon left.
"Yeah... I'll be fine..." Axl said, his gaze never left the door. "He's strong, Axl. He'll pull through this." DMZ assured him and left.
Axl sighed. He was worried not only about X, but with Zero and Star too. Sure, Zero could take of himself pretty well, still it wasn't like him to be way for a long time. As for Star... Even though she proved over and over again that she could take care of herself, Axl and the others usually felt responsible for her.
Another hour passed. Just when he was about to break down, the doors opened and Lifesaver walked into the wating room. Axl jumped up. "Well!" He asked.
Lifesaver took a deep breath. "X will survive." He finally said. Axl let out a relieved breath before smiling. "Can I go see him?" He asked.
"That won't be necessary, Axl." A voice said. X calmly walked towards his young friend. His whole body looked as good as new!
"X!" Axl said, jaw dropped. "You... You look great! But how... I mean, I thought..."
X chuckled "It's okay Axl. I'm surprised myself. Lifesaver? Would mind explain?"
"Okay. As you remember, X's legs were completely destroyed. The damege was so much that common methods wouldn't help. So, in order to save him, we use experimental nanobots to repair his body."
"Nanobots?" Axl asked a bit confused. "Nanobots are microscopic robots, Axl. Their ability to act as an unity is their greatest feature." X explained. "Oh... I get it. Acting as one they repaired you, right?" Axl said.
"Exactly." Lifesaver answered. "However, since they're still being tested, this operation took longer than we expected. In the future, this kind of operation can save countless lifes."
"Well, it saved X so I guess I can't complain." Axl said grining. "You're right, Axl." DMZ said as he walked towards them. "Glad to see you okay, X."
The blue bomber smiled, but he realised there was something worrying his friend. "Something wrong. DMZ?" He asked.
He sighed. "Zero and Star have been reported missing for five hours now... Alpheon left to find them, but we just got a message from him saying that he couldn't find them." DMZ explained.
X frowned. "First, those Mavericks attack and now Zero and Star go missing... I've got a bad feeling about this..." He said.