Chapter 5: Spark Mandrill
Storm Eagle knew the locations of the remaining Mavericks, so this made finding them a lot easier. The one that they were planning to go after next was Spark Mandrill, who was located at the power plant.
"Will you be coming with us, Storm Eagle?" Zoey asked Storm Eagle.
"Yes." Storm Eagle replied, "I know Spark Mandrill well. I know both his strengths and his weaknesses. Not only that, but I know way around that power plant distinctly, as I have gone there many times. Sigma sent Spark Mandrill there to cut off the city's power, which would not only disable the city's communications, but also stop you from being able to use your computers to help you stop us."
"Interesting plan." X stated, "Let's make sure it doesn't work."
"Hey," Zero said to Storm Eagle, "You wouldn't happen to know where Sigma's fortress is, by any chance, would you?"
"Unfortunately, no…" Storm Eagle said, "None of us have ever been allowed there. The only one besides Sigma who has been to his fortress is Vile. Vile is second in command next to Sigma. None of us other Mavericks have seen Sigma's fortress, nor do we know of its location."
Zero sighed. "All right then... I'll keep searching..."
"And we'll take care of Spark Mandrill." X said.
"Good luck, Zero." Zoey said.
"Same to you." Zero said with a smile.
A purple Reploid entered Sigma's chamber. Atop his right shoulder was a gun of some kind. Nothing could be seen of his face-but for a moment, a blood-red light shone from beneath his helmet from where his left eye would be.
"Lord Sigma..." He said. "I'm afraid that I have some bad news, Sir."
"What is it now, Vile?" Sigma asked, turning to face him, a glare fixed upon his face.
"Lord Sigma, Flame Mammoth has been destroyed."
"What?" Sigma shouted furiously.
"It's true, Sir. But I think that you may want to take a look at what the security cameras caught... there appears to be a new Hunter in their ranks."
"Flame Mammoth already told me that. I've seen the weak little girl already, and I'm sure she isn't anything to worry about."
"You may wish to rethink that, Lord Sigma."
Vile showed the security tape to Sigma. Sigma watched the fight with interest, and his interest grew when he saw the girl use an incredible blast of energy that annihilated Flame Mammoth with ease. After the battle, he saw the girl and X discussing something, but unfortunately, there was no sound to the video, so neither Vile nor Sigma could hear what they were talking about. Neither of them, however, really cared what they were saying anyway.
"It seems that the Maverick Hunters didn't make a bad choice when they brought her into their ranks." Sigma muttered, "On any normal occasion, I would want a powerful Maverick Hunter like her disposed of... however, why put such power to waste?" A malicious smile spread across Sigma's face. "She would make for a wonderful addition to our team, don't you think, Vile? All that it will take is some minor reprogramming... I want her brought to me as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir." Vile answered, "I'll spread the word."
"By the way, how's our little project coming along?" Sigma asked.
"It is ready. Just give me the word and I can activate it anytime." Vile answered.
"Good, you may activate it and show me the results later." Sigma smiled evilly.
"Thank you sir." With that, he left the room to activate the mysterious machine that Sigma built.
Vile was in front of a machine that looks like a generator, on top of it is a rod that can make something even without being connected to a machine and on the rod was the letters, Project UNI.
Vile presses some buttons and the machine glowed a bright light, after a few seconds, the light died down and Vile has a evil grin on his face even though we don't see it.
"There, now all we have to do is wait for someone from those dimensions to come out." Vile said evilly.
And he left to contact the remaining Mavericks.
Vile contacted all of the remaining Mavericks to tell them Sigma's orders. He told them that if they see her, they are to capture her, not to destroy her. Vile contacted them through screens like the one that Flame Mammoth had used to speak with Sigma before he was destroyed. Spark Mandrill was the last Maverick that Vile contacted.
"What about the others?" Spark Mandrill asked.
"Do what you want with X and Zero." Vile replied, "The only one that Sigma wants is the girl. Try not to damage her too much if she shows up."
"Yes, Vile."
The screen then shut off.
By now, X, Storm Eagle, and Zoey (who had already transformed into Mew Zoey) had all arrived at the power plant.
"So, Storm Eagle..." Zoey said as the trio walked through the power plant, "You said that you know this 'Spark Mandrill's' weakness, didn't you?"
"Yes." Storm Eagle answered, "Ice."
"That won't be a problem." X said confidently, "Thanks to Chill Penguin I can change my buster gun into an ice blaster."
"Yes, but in order to fight him, you must reach him first." Storm Eagle said, "And if I know Spark Mandrill as well as I think I do, he will try to stop you before you get anywhere near him." Before Storm Eagle could continue, the lights went out, leaving the group in complete darkness. "And I have no doubt that he has prepared for our arrival." Storm Eagle finished.
"Well if he thinks that a little darkness is going to stop us, he'd better think again." X stated, "I was built to be able to see in the dark, so getting through here won't be difficult for me."
"The same goes for me." Storm Eagle declared.
"Then I'll have to follow your lead." Zoey said.
"Take my hand." X said to Zoey. It took her a moment to find his hand, but she did. "There. Now let's keep going."
So the three of them continued through the power plant, Mew Zoey never letting go of X's hand.
"Why did the lights go out? Do you think he knows we're here?" Zoey asked.
"No." Storm Eagle answered, "I doubt it. There are motion detectors around the power plant that will shut off the lights if they detect something. We set them off, but only the ones in this part of the building. I had forgotten about them until now. I don't think Spark Mandrill knows that we're here yet."
"It probably won't take him long to find out, though." X said as he guided Mew Zoey around a corner.
"Wonderful." Zoey said sarcastically.
Suddenly, the lights flickered back on.
"We've gotten out of the range of the motion detectors." Storm Eagle informed. "But I'm sure there will be more."
A small alarm went off in Spark Mandrill's chamber. He grinned slightly.
"My, my..." He said, "It seems I have company..."
As Storm Eagle had said, there were many other areas with motion sensors that would shut out the lights. Even so, their venture through the power plant seemed far too easy. Soon, they made it to the great steel doors that they all knew Spark Mandrill must be behind.
"You ready?" X asked.
"Yes." Storm Eagle said confidently.
Mew Zoey nodded.
"Then let's go."
They marched through the doors without any further hesitation, and after passing through the hallway they entered a pitch-black room.
"Welcome." Laughed a voice that came from the opposite side of the chamber. The lights flickered on to reveal Spark Mandrill, who was watching Mew Zoey with interest. "So, you are the one Sigma wants..." Then his eyes fell upon Storm Eagle.
"Storm Eagle?" He exclaimed, "What are you doing with them?"
"I am a Maverick Hunter now, Spark Mandrill." Storm Eagle replied, "And if you're smart you'll join them as well."
"No." Spark Mandrill said flatly, "I will not turn on Lord Sigma, you bird-brained traitor!" Spark Mandrill hit the ground with his fist, and orbs of electrical energy formed and headed straight for the trio of hunters. Storm Eagle flew into the air to dodge while X kick-jumped the wall and Zoey leapt to the side. The only one that got hit was X, for the electricity had gone up the wall right after him.
"AAAAAAH!" He cried before falling to the ground unconscious.
"X!" Mew Zoey cried, "No!"
"Zoey, don't drop your guard, look out!" Storm Eagle shouted from above. Another two orbs of electricity were heading for her, and again she dodged, but this time not by much. She hurried over to X's side.
"X, wake up!" She shouted, "You have to wake up, we need you!"
While Mew Zoey was distracted, Spark Mandrill prepared for an attack, but Storm Eagle fired a blast of wind at him, sending him crashing into the wall.
"Nice shot." Zoey commented as she made her Rose Bell appear. "My turn." Zoey rushed at Spark Mandrill and rapidly attacked him by kicking him so hard; she succeeded in giving him quite a bit of damage before he knocked her away with a swift blow to her side.
"Are you alright?" Storm Eagle questioned with concern.
"I'm fine." Mew Zoey assured him as she stood back up. It was then she realized that she had dropped her Rose Bell when she was hit, and now Spark Mandrill was standing between her and the weapon.
'Uh-oh.' She thought, backing away a little. 'What now…?'
"Listen, girl," Spark Mandrill said, "Lord Sigma ordered your capture, and I must obey his command. Why don't you surrender and make this easier for the both of us?"
"No!"
Storm Eagle fired a blast of wind again, blowing Spark Mandrill away from the Rose Bell, giving Zoey a chance to get it. But Spark Mandrill got up right away, and also made a dash for it. Unfortunately, he got to it first. Zoey looked over to X, who still hadn't gotten up.
"X!" She shouted. "Get up!"
Storm Eagle swooped down from the air and struck Spark Mandrill hard in the back, making him drop the Rose Bell. Zoey grabbed it and began to attack again. She and Storm Eagle worked together, but weren't doing well. She didn't want to use her Rose Bell's powers because the room was too small and she was afraid something would go wrong.
A blast from X's X Buster struck Spark Mandrill on the shoulder, making everyone look in X's direction.
"You got up!" Zoey and Storm Eagle exclaimed gladly.
"Yeah, and it looks like you two could use some help." X answered, changing his X Buster into an ice blaster. He fired at Spark Mandrill, turning him into a statue of glittering ice.
However, just when they all thought he had been defeated, he broke out of the ice.
"How dare you!" He shouted angrily, sending more orbs of electricity flying throughout the room.
But X fired his ice blaster at him again, and he froze once more. Again, he broke out, but this time he was too weak to attack. Obviously the ice had taken its toll. X turned his weapon back into his X Buster, and he charged it for one last blow. Spark Mandrill tried to get out of the way, but to no avail. The blast hit him, and hard, successfully destroying him.
Storm Eagle landed and stared at his former teammate solemnly. "It's a shame he didn't join us." He said, "But we shouldn't let his power go to waste. X?"
X nodded and walked over to Spark Mandrill. As he had with all the other Mavericks, he touched Spark Mandrill and gained his power. After testing it, he found that it was the same attack that he had used on them, the electrical orbs.
"I have a question…" Mew Zoey said, "Why did Spark Mandrill say that Sigma has ordered my capture? What would Sigma want with me? I'm human; I thought he wants nothing to do with humans."
"You're human?" Storm Eagle exclaimed with surprise.
"Yes." Zoey answered.
"Well then Sigma probably thinks you're a Reploid; I certainly did…"
"But why does he want to capture me?"
"After what you did to Chill Penguin and Flame Mammoth, why wouldn't he want to get his hands on you?" X said, "Either he wants to destroy you, or make you work for him. So we'll have to be a little more careful from now on."
To Be Continued…
Next Time:
X: We have to find Sting Chameleon.
Zoey: Hey, I know you.
Rika: You know us?
Henry: This is starting to get weird, and where are we?
Takato: And what's a Reploid?
Storm Eagle: I believe Sigma is behind why you're here in our dimension.
Sting Chameleon: Nyah ha ha ha! X! Bring the girl to me if you want to save this creature!
Terriermon: Henry!
Henry: Terriermon!
Zoey: X, you won't let him take me and let him bring me to Sigma, won't you?
X: I will protect you from Sigma and his Mavericks no matter the cost.
Zoey: X…
Renamon: We got to find Terriermon.
Dr. Light: Use the new armor I designed for you X.
X: I will.
Zoey: Next time on Maverick Hunter Zoey; Sting Chameleon, part 1: Meet the Digimon Tamers. See you next mission Maverick Hunter.