Disclaimer: This hardly needs to be said. Don't own it. Don't care. Don't sue.
Chapter 11: Weapon Evolution
Outpost Orion
Time:
-20:06-
"X! X!"
"Commander! Please respond!"
"Come on, X!"
Voices ran through his head as he lay there. Megaman X had knocked himself unconscious with that last stunt he pulled. He searched his systems for any damage. He was all green, except that his back was killing him.
X opened his eyes to see a grinning Zero, shocked Leyna, and various other expressions on the faces of the other Hunters.
"X, whatever you tried to do, you sure as hell did it!" Stryke said as the ebony clad hunter was helped to his feet.
"Um, X what exactly did you do?" Locke asked eagerly.
"I overcharged my cannon." X said nonchalantly. "To be more elaborate, I stuffed all of the spare plasma, plus my Giga Attack energy, all that amplified by the E.X."
"And you shot it all at the door!" Stryke stated rather asked. They were even more stunned when X shook his head.
"I knew that after that stunt, I wouldn't be able to use the charge on the buster anymore. So I stuffed what I could into the spare energy capsules and energy and weapon tanks I had. It'll come in handy for the cannon itself." X was rewarded with a round of applause. He couldn't help but smile.
"So, exactly how much of the blast did you let loose?" Leyna asked her friend.
"About 20 for the door, and about 30 in the capsules and tanks." X said looking at the smoke filled hallway. "The other half had to be absorbed. So I use my own life energy." X received mixed emotions. Leyna stood with a dropped jaw. Stryke looked like he was on a different planet. Zero was mentally writing a note to try something even crazier.
"All clear!" A voice rang out, letting everyone know that the way was clear. The entire group ran towards the base. Zero caught up with X.
"That was freakin' awesome X! Where'd you learn to do that?"
"By theory. Don't tell Alia if she asks."
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The hunters assumed their positions on the frontlines. Stryke and Locke volunteered to take point. Leyna and Zero were next in line, and last were X and Echo. The long hallway had many different types of plants growing along the walls. They gave the place a natural feel.
"Wow, quite the scene huh?" Leyna said to no one in particular.
"Eck. This reminds me of Split Mushroom's Base of Operations." Zero retorted. As they moved through the building, they reached the hall. It was a massive area with many consoles. A huge podium dominated the center of the room. Questions came up as the point hunters stopped suddenly. Strewn throughout the room was a mess of reploid bodies and blood stained walls. Some of the consoles were smashed, and there were numerous cracks in the surrounding walls.
"What the hell happened here?" Zero said, getting suspiciously. The rest of the crew walked into the room and were taken aback. Echo quickly ran up to one of the bodies. X walked up to her.
"Damn it! Damn it all!" Echo said, punching the ground. X noticed that the deceased body had a slight tinge of green neonic glow to it.
"Echo, what's wrong with these bodies?" X asked suspiciously.
"That bastard Orion must have released a batch of Weapon Alpha on some of the soldiers!"
"What! Then that means..." X was cut off when a rather loud scream was audible from down the corridor. Zero ran down the hall but stopped short when the body of a reploid smashed into the wall. The reploid in question proceeded to cough up a large amount of blood and drop the box he had in his hands. He ceased functioning while embedded in the wall. Zero looked down the hall at the culprit. He almost immediately retreated back as soon as he got down the hall. He was followed by a pair of reploids.
The Hunters in the room took defensive stances as the two new enemies tore into the room. The two reploids had amber shaded eyes. Both had the stench of death upon them. Locke quivered at the sight. Echo growled at the monstrosities challenging them.
"Guys. These soldiers have an evolved form of Weapon Alpha. Be extremely cautious." Echo warned. She hated this. She created a weapon that she never intended to let see the light of day. A weapon that would devastate Neo Asia. She wishes that she never based the weapon on a sample of the Zero Virus.
"Evolved..." Zero pondered. "Heh, doesn't matter." The large male reploid charged forward towards X. Still a bit shaky from the energy trick, was a bit hesitant to dodge the charge. He closed his eyes and waited to absorb the blow. It never came, because Zero had jumped in front of him, knocking the charging reploid to the side in the process.
"X, come on, we need you alive, man." Zero said as he drew his saber and dashed at the reploid he knocked down. X shook his head and looked down at his buster.
"Heh, not much I can do." X said, clenching said buster.
Leyna was thrown into the ceiling by the smaller, but quicker female reploid. Echo, Stryke and Locke were surrounding the enemy, daring her to move. Locke activated her blades and went for the amber hued reploid's throat. She went for a high horizontal swipe with her right blade. With was countered with a ducking punch into her gut. While she was doubling over, a sweeping kick took the ground from under her. Another punch sent her sliding across the floor. Stryke helped her up before pulled a handle from his back. He extended the handle into a quarterstaff. It was his turn now. He reeled back and swung the staff as he charged forward. As the staff connected, he pulled it straight back and swung the opposite end at the weaponized reploid's face. As he did so, Echo jumped onto her back and began rapidly driving her elbow into the enemy's skull. Leyna finally dislodged herself from the ceiling. She helped Locke off the ground, who promptly pulled out two short daggers and charged back at the demon.
Zero was having a bit of trouble keeping the large reploid at bay. With X immobilized, it was a quite a challenge keeping this reploid at bay. Zero gave a spin kick to the monster's face and sent it airborne. He proceeded to check on X.
"X, you ok?"
"Yeah. Zero, don't mind me. I can handle him myself."
"Sit down, X. I got him." Zero said to his friend while holstering his saber. "Damn. Plasma has no effect on him. Hand to hand is the only way to go..."
Zero rushed forward to the large foe and shoulder charged him. Big mistake. It felt like he had slammed into a double-layered digibrick wall. He heard the gears in his shoulder whir unhappily. The pain that followed was dull. He winced as he jumped back. He had done it now. There was no way for him to stop the hulking reploid from destroying him now. He closed his eyes as the giant stepped closer to him. The footsteps grew louder, but then quickly faded. Zero opened his eyes to see the giant walking right towards X. Ignoring his pained shoulder, Zero ran at the reploid with full charge. Attempting to knock him down, Zero tried a swift kick to the back of his neck. Another big mistake. The shoulder that pained him now made a series of mechanical snaps and pops. As he landed on the ground, on his shoulder, he heard one final crack and howled out in pain. The big reploid continued marching towards X, unaffected by Zero's desperation attack.
"No, it's targeting X! Dammit! Can't move...my arm...!"
Zero looked over at the other Hunters. Stryke was pummeling the possessed reploid with his quarterstaff while Echo was on her back, smashing her head in with her elbow. Locke was rushing in with digisteel daggers.
"Gah!" Zero whipped around to see X being lifted off of the ground; his neck ensnared by the larger reploid's hand. Try as he might, Zero found himself unable to help his friend.
"Dammit! Wha?" Zero almost completed, but stopped when the world around him went black. He saw a light begin to build around his bruised arm. As if he was a marionette, he was lifted off the ground. As his arm became engulfed in the chill light, he felt the pain starting to ease. The multiple hairline cracks that started to form in his armor reversed themselves into nothing. He looked around for any indication that this was a dream.
"Zero. Yourmission is not complete. You must continue to live on until you complete that mission..."
"...Who are you..." Zero asked, looking around for the source of the voice. The light around him started to fade.
"WHO ARE YOU!" Zero was seemingly dropped back into the battle. He looked around for the reploids. The smaller female had Locke under her heel, along with Stryke pinned against the wall and Echo still on her back, but just barely. The larger reploid had both X and Leyna lifted off of the ground, trying to choke the rest of the life out of them. Zero slowly walked towards the large reploid. He drew out his saber and from it ignited a cackling violet blade. His slow walk picked up in pace. His eyes now teemed with a swirl of the darkness of abyss and the brightness of salvation. He was now in a dead sprint.
X looked down at the sinister reploid using his neck as a stress reliever and struggled to hang on. Suddenly, he found himself on the ground, gasping for large amounts of air. A second later, Leyna repeated the same action. Next to each of them lie a humungous hand. The large reploid howled out horrendously as his arms became severed. He stumbled back and eyed the smaller reploid in front of him with fear. His world became red with each passing second. Looking down, he saw his bottom half falling over on the ground while shrinking. Then he began to spin, finally colliding with the wall.
Zero now turned his glance over to the remaining reploid, who had stopped her actions to watch what happened to her partner. Zero wasted no time in giving chase. Panicked, the reploid made for a hallway, throwing Echo off of her back as she did so. She was almost at the entrance when a searing hot sensation pierced through her heart. She looked down to see a bright purple plasma blade protruding from her chest. As the blade exited, she collapsed on the ground, lifeless.
Spinning the silver hilt around his fingers, he replaced the saber and closed his eyes, hoping to shake off whatever was possessing him. Turning around, he opened his eyes and gave his team a smirk.
"Are you guys alright?" Zero asked everyone, taking a step forward. He felt a presence move behind him. Whirling around, he was just in time to see the reploid swing a beam at his head. Zero instinctively ducked under the swipe, but would not be able to dodge the vertical blow, so he crossed his arms out in front of him.
The weaponized reploid dropped her weapon and slumped over after a loud explosion filled the room. Zero lowered his guard and looked down at the headless reploid before spotting Axl standing over him, pistols drawn. He picked up the box after he put his pistols away.
"Where's X?" Axl asked, stepping over Zero. Locke raised her hand as Axl made his way over to the nearly dead reploid. Zero dusted himself off as he picked himself up.
"Nevermind him, Axl. Where the hell were you?" The crimson hunter chided. Axl shot up a forefinger, telling him to wait a moment.
"Where's his energy compartment?" Axl said while scanning X's armor for an energy slot. Zero sighed and knelt down next to the unconscious reploid. He pressed a button near X's collar and the upper chest layer of the Ultimate Armor slid back.
"Give me an energy capsule." Zero said, not looking at Axl. Axl fished out the largest capsule he could find from the box and handed it over to Zero. Zero proceeded to place it into a slot in the armor.
"So Axl, where exactly were you?" Locke asked the red headed reploid. Axl grinned as he stood up.
"After X blew a hole in the wall, I simply copied the DNA of one of the soldiers we beat up. After that I ran into the medical ward, with help of some of my 'comrades' and grabbed a box of capsules. But in the ward, I ran into those two reploids." Axl said the last part while nodding over to the destroyed reploids.
"So, where were you during the attack?" Stryke asked the shorter reploid. Axl turned his grin to him.
"Almost dying in the wall over there!" He pointed at the imprint in the wall.
"So, why did you go in the first place?" Leyna asked. Still wearing his grin, Axl turned to her.
"See this unconscious heap right here?" Axl said.
"Zero?"
"Unconscious heap, not unconscious head." Zero looked up at Axl with a pulsing vein, visible through his helmet.
"Oh! X!"
"Yep! Besides, I think we could all use the energy." Axl said, tossing each of them an energy capsule. X stood up slowly but surely.
"Thanks, everyone." He said, his voice monotonic. He tapped his comm link and finally answered the wailing signal.
Beep-
"X! Respond!"
"Megaman X, reporting sir."
"Thank Light! X, I hate to pressure you, but you must find that cannon!"
"Sir, we're in the process of locating the cannon as we speak."
"Alright. Be careful, hunter."
"Will do, sir. Over and out."
Beep-
"All right guys. If we do this right, we can all sleep without fear tonight." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Echo, you can still lead us to the cannon?"
"Yeah. There's an elevator just down this hallway. It'll lead us to the armory basement."
"Ok. Let's go..."
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Another one bites the dust...Yay! Not much to say right now, but stay tuned for more chapters! The end is nigh, and quickly approaching. Till next time!