Chapter 33 - The Gathering
Anode launched himself backwards, his saber poised tightly within his right hand. He swung it forward, catching the plasma blast sent at it and the electric energy emitting from his saber deflected it, sending it rocketing back at the Joe that fired it. He dug his feet down into the asphalt, tearing through the surface, sliding backward. He came to a stop after a few feet, immediately falling into his battle stance, his buster charging.
'Amazing how many Reploids can be beat in such a short time. Maybe it hasn't been that short.. Did we just miss it until the final moment? There could be so many more out there, and we're only taking on the bear minimum.. I have to talk to 32 and Bread Man.'
AX leapt forward, his arms peaked atop his head, saber angled down behind him. He dropped like a rock, his arms swinging as one, the saber licking the edge of the Ride Armor's torso, but only for a moment. The blade tore through, ripping the body open from the neck rim to the waist. AX twisted his body slightly, ramming his shoulder straight into the damaged chest armor, his left arm morphing into a buster. He sunk it into the armor, grinning slightly as he fired, the blast ricocheting around inside the armor itself, destroying the Reploid controlling it. He threw himself backward quickly, kicking across the ground, coming to a stop beside Anode. The explosion threw dust up around the area, creating a cloud across the street.
"I think that was the last one, Anode.. Did you see any others before it exploded?" AX tried to keep his breathing slow, despite how tired he really was.
"I won't lie to you. I really have no idea."
"Wonderful."
Mr. Death breathed heavily, his left hand gripping the barrel of his buster tightly, his eyes skimming along the ground quickly, never staying on a single spot for more than few seconds. He aimed his buster, and fired, the blast splashed across the surface of something. He leapt from the building roof, charging his buster as he came down. He slammed heavily into the ground, sweeping his buster upward, taking aim, and firing. The explosion sent shrapnel flying past either side of him. He pushed himself to his feet, returning his right hand to gauntlet mode, the buster vanishing.
"That was the last one." He spoke to the other two, while using his scanners to scan through the smoke.
"Finally.." Anode spoke airily.
"Are you two hurt?" Mr. Death knew how badly someone could get hurt by taking the enemy straight on, his brother was a melee fighter.
"I'm okay." Anode turned and walked back to where the two roads met and crossed his arms, staring down the road they had come down earlier.
"Minor damage. I'm fine. How about you, Mr. Death?" AX stepped over to him, setting his hand on his shoulder.
"Nothing too bad, well.. Nothing that can't be fixed." Mr. Death smirked, laughing a little. AX grinning down at him.
"Well, alright then. We should head back now, hopefully the whole team will be there when we get back." AX turned and headed off toward Anode.
'I doubt he's forgiven me for what I did to his friend.. But he can't let his emotions effect the way he leads. He's a good leader. Once the Maverick Hunters are fully restored, I won't be surprised if X and Zero decide to put him in charge of a unit. Anode too..'
Mr. Death closed his eyes, sighing slightly. He shook his head and followed after them, having to run a little to catch up to them. They turned down the road and headed down the way they had come, all three of them silent.
Alpha whistled a playful tune, laying flat on his side. Underneath him were the Mettaurs from earlier, the group not as large as it had been before he attacked them. Their tiny little legs were all moving simultaneously, carrying Alpha atop their hats. He continued to whistle, a few of the ones not burdened with carrying Alpha's form began to pop in and out of their hats in rhythm to the playful tune.
'As uncomfortable as this is.. Mettaurs are awesome transportation. Slow, steady, and I don't have to do anything to make sure they go the right way. Ah. This is the life of the lazy, perfect for me.'
He grinned widely, reaching his right hand up and wiping coolant from his jaw. His torso was heavily damaged, the armor cracked in multiple places, the rubber suit even torn beneath it, coolant leaking through the wounds. His legs were also heavily damaged, which is why the Mettaurs were carrying him down the street. He laughed lightly.
"Who knew that Mettaurs could be tamed into harmlessness by whistling?" He asked to no one.
He relaxed again, whistling a little louder now. He cocked his head to the side, the whistle dying slightly. He heard foot steps. They were coming from down the road a ways, and off to the left. He craned his neck a little to be ready, in case they were Mavericks. His body tensing up, gripping his beam saber tightly in his right hand. He watched as three figures rounded the corner, heading straight toward him.
Alpha relaxed visibly, his entire body going slack. He placed the beam saber back into its holster on his back. AX, Mr. Death, and Anode had just rounded the corner and were now standing in front of Alpha's small horde of Mettaurs. AX tilted his head to the side, staring over at Alpha.
"And just what is going on over here?"
"Alpha made friends for once," Anode grinned slyly.
"Haha, you're just a riot, Anode. You should do stand-up at the local 'Har-Har You Suck Comedy Bar,'" Alpha retaliated, whistling a slow tune, causing the Mettaurs to all come to a stop.
Alpha slipped forward across the slick surfaces of the Mettaurs, setting his feet down and pushing himself to his feet. He winced painfully, rubbing his hands into his knees. AX stepped forward and helped Alpha right himself, who leaned into his shoulder. Mr. Death looked down the road, away from Alpha, who looked in his direction, his face expressionless.
'Still.. I can't.. Hmm.. Franco got Bread Man back to 32, I'm positive of that. 32 must have fixed him. I'll be nice about it, until I'm sure of it. Maybe 32 will tell us the good news soon..'
"How are you Mr. Death?" His question shocked the other Reploid, he could tell from the unnatural twitch.
"I'm.. Fine, Alpha. You don't seem so good yourself though, need some help?" Mr. Death waited a moment, Alpha only smiled, "You're the shortest one of the three, closer to my height. You'd be the best choice."
Mr. Death stepped over to him and Alpha lopped his left arm around his neck, limping forward sharply. Anode turned and walked ahead of the two of them, keeping his stride slow so that he never gets that far ahead of them. AX brought up the back, his arms crossed over his chest.
"What about the Mettaurs, Alpha?" AX twisted his head and looked toward the motionless bunch of yellow hats.
"Oh right.." Alpha moved his right hand to his lips and let out a shrill whistle, following it up with a quick tune behind it. The Mettaurs began to pop up and down, beeping loudly. Alpha smirked, "For the horde, eh?"
The Mettaurs all popped up and turned around, walking back the other way, AX followed their gaze, blinking for a moment, then smirked a little, glancing over at Alpha, who glanced at him.
"Sending them to Faern.. But how did you get the coordinates?" AX perked a brow at his friend, Alpha only grinned, "You seem to think that myself and Bread Man were only out here to find other Hunters. We rounded up enough information to find out about Sebastian and Faern."
"Then why didn't 32 tell the rest of us about it?" Alpha shook his head, "Because Bread Man decided not to tell him."
AX's jaw slackened and fell open slightly, but he quickly recovered his composure, running to catch back up with the other three. They turned a few corners, hearing explosions getting closer with every step. Anode morphed his right hand into a buster, holding it close to his chest.
Fidget drew his spear back, sliding down into a crouch, the spear facing away from him. He leapt upward, spinning around quickly, the spear's purple blade digging sharply into the ride armor's chest and face. He slammed his feet into the armor's chest, shooting upward. He whipped the spear around, aiming it downward. He whipped his legs around, spinning slowly, the blade drilling downward into the Reploid's head, piercing down into the armor. He leapt off the armor as Orichalcon's wrist lasers cut into the armor's chest and waist, splitting it in half, causing it to rupture and explode.
"Come on Fidget, get out of the way!" Orichalcon's voice called from behind a broken down car, Fidget only laughed.
Panic dashed past Fidget, his saber singing through the air and tearing through a Reploid's waist, tearing it apart. He threw his saber to the opposite hand, swinging it before the first saber trail even vanished from sight, taking apart another Reploid at the waist. He leapt over the twin explosions, cleaving the third Reploid vertically in half. He took a step back, watching it explode in front of him.
"We're running out of things to blow up, guys!" Panic jumped back as a ride armor swung at him, tearing a chunk from the ground, "Oh hell no!"
Panic leapt to the right, going to swing his saber, when a shot rang out, blowing through the Reploid's head, ripping it right off the armor. Panic leapt and slammed his right foot into the armor, slicing it apart in three rapid strokes. He glanced back toward where the group was, smirking as Piro grinned, aiming his sniper buster once more.
Mr. Death ran his scanners far enough ahead to catch where the explosions were coming from. He shook his head a little, adjusting his arm a little so that Alpha can be more comfortable. AX caught back up with them finally, his right arm morphing into his buster as well, keeping it at his side.
"You guys scanned ahead?" The other three stared at him like he was an idiot, "Oh.. Alright.."
Alpha laughed lightly, moving his right hand to the holster of his saber, drawing it out, without igniting it. AX and Anode ran off ahead of them, vanishing around the corner, the sounds of firing busters came to Alpha and Mr. Death's ears.
"Well, we're going to miss out on the fun, Alpha." Alpha just shrugged, as best as he could, "No big.."
"Heh.."
"They're moving forward! Push them back!" Fidget grit his teeth, crouching down, his spear angled perpendicular from his body.
"Something seems to be pushing them forward from behind!" Panic leapt back, landing beside Fidget, his saber at his side.
"Let's take them out, Panic," Fidget grinned at the golden yellow Reploid, who laughed.
The two dashed forward rapidly, the purple and azure blades criss-crossing each other, tearing through multiple Reploids at once. Orichalcon leapt over the car he was hiding behind, his arms out in front of him, the wrist lasers bursting forth quickly, multiple shots lacing into the group of Mavericks, melting their hardware with the electric jolts. Bleu and Piro came out from hiding, Piro's sniper buster changing into a normal buster, he and Bleu firing shots simultaneously on the opposite side of Fidget and Panic as Orichalcon. The Maverick force surging back and forth in confusion. The sounds of explosions coming from the other side reach the five pairs of ears.
"Someone is flanking them! Keep it up, guys!" Fidget slammed his spear into the ground, kicking himself up and leaping over the group.
Anode morphed his buster back to gauntlet mode, igniting the electric end of his saber, running it through a Joe, deactivating it as it explodes. AX leapt over Anode, his buster morphing from stun to kill, firing three shots rapidly as he landed beside Anode, drawing out his saber with his free hand.
"Yahoo!"
The two glanced up as a brown figure flew over the mass of Reploids, sliding to a stop a few feet behind them, twin pistols in his hands, aimed at them. The three all blinked in confused and silent recognition, before Anode diagonally split another Joe apart.
"Hi guys!" Fidget leapt to his feet, grinning.
"Less introduction, more blowing stuff up!" Alpha called from behind him.
Fidget laughed and aimed his pistols for the group, shells ejecting from the pistol barrels almost as quick as he can pull the trigger. Anode slammed his blade up through a Reploid's chest, hefting it up off the ground. He spun and shifted the angle of his wrist, sending the Reploid flying into the group, exploding on contact with another Reploid, taking them both out.
"We're getting closer to the other side. Stop attacking, or you might kill the rest of us Hunters."
"Alright!" AX called, his saber spinning within his left hand, slicing upward through a Reploid.
Alpha kicked upward, using Mr. Death as his balance, his kick sending the head of the Reploid within the ride armor into the air. The head exploded, the armor following seconds afterward. Anode, AX, and Panic all deactivate their sabers, putting them away. Fidget deactivates the blade of his spear, keeping it out at his side, watching Piro, Bleu, and Orichalcon morph their busters back into gauntlet mode.
"Well.. It seems that we've finally finished the attack," Piro smiled.
"Hey, Piro. Did you miss us?" Piro and Panic laughed, as did Fidget.
"Who are these two, Fidget?" Anode asked, AX answered before Fidget could, "Bleu and Orichalcon, the other half of Unit 17 under X's command."
"Ah.." Anode nodded to the two as they gave shy grins.
"We should probably head back to the base now, since we don't need to be out here anymore," Panic suggested.
"Did 32 tell you guys anything about Bread Man, did he?" Alpha asking in the following silence.
The five of them all shook their heads, looking toward the four with confusion. Fidget shook his head and spun his pole, placing it into storage after shortening it. He set his hands on his hips, staring over at Alpha and Mr. Death.
"What would 32 have to tell us about Bread?"
"You guys saw a blue Reploid run past right?" Mr. Death asked, looking toward Fidget, who nodded, "Yea, he was carrying.. A ... Body.. Oh come on! You can't be serious!"
"What?" Fidget shook his head, "Bread Man? Hurt? Pfft."
"Believe it.." Mr. Death said, and Alpha nodded, "Something went wrong after he activated me and Franco, the blue Reploid you saw earlier. I shot him straight through the chest."
The silence that followed was deafening to Mr. Death, but he endured it. Everyone but Alpha, AX, and Anode stared at him, their jaws slackened. Panic dropped his helmet to the ground. Fidget was the first to recover and coughed lightly, the rest followed suit, turning their gaze away.
"Anyways.. We need to go." Mr. Death helped Alpha turn and lead him down the road toward the base.
AX and Anode immediately followed after them, keeping up with the slow pace easily. Bleu and Orichalcon followed rather quickly, having not known Bread Man as well, they didn't feel as down as Fidget, Panic, and Piro did. After a few minutes, Fidget shook his head and began to follow after them, Panic and Piro quickly running to catch up with him. When they catch up with them, they're all standing in front of the building. Alpha smiled, laughing a little.
"I'm just glad the place is still standing, let alone in one piece."
"Welcome back, my friends.." 32 stood poised in the doorway, his hands at his sides.
Enzan stood at his side, with X a few feet behind them both, his arms crossed over his chest. Fidget and AX stand before 32, then Fidget suddenly laughed and hugged the scientist Reploid, shrieking with glee, with AX trying to contain himself.
"Glad to see you too, Fidget." Fidget dislodged himself after a few moments.
"32.." 32 turned to Alpha, who limped up close to him with Mr. Death's help still, "He's fine, Alpha. He's downstairs in his pod." Tears welled up in Alpha's eyes and he broke from Mr. Death's grasp and ran as well as he could toward the stairs, vanishing down the stairs, leaving Mr. Death standing in front of 32.
"You're the one who did it, aren't you?" Mr. Death nodded, "Don't worry. You're a Hunter, and things go wrong. Let me scan your systems later, I'll find out what went wrong. Your brother left for some reason, but he'll be back soon. You can head to the med lab for repairs."
Mr. Death nodded and walked past 32, heading down the stairs. As he was going down, he passed by a red reploid. X uncrossed his arms and set his hands on his hips, staring toward AX, who avoided his gaze.
"AX."
"... X.."
"PX is here too." The red reploid that passed Mr. Death stood beside X as he made the comment, speaking lightly, "I'm here right now."
AX and PX met gazes, staring toward each in silence. No one else seemed to want to talk, not even Fidget. AX finally turned his gaze away, and PX glanced toward X, who only moved his gaze back and forth between them.
"Let us go downstairs brothers.. We can speak to father.." AX nodded, so does PX, who agrees,"Let us."
"Oh, and 32.." X turned his gaze to 32 for a moment, "Axl.. He's downstairs in the same room that Enzan found earlier."
AX stepped around 32, who watched him pass. X set his hands on both of his brothers' shoulders and lead them over to the stairs and down the steps into the basement. 32 turned back toward the rest of the group that was gone. Enzan vanished from his side, making his way downstairs to go and get Axl.
"You all can head downstairs as wanted.. I don't require anything from you but to get recovered, recharged, and rested." 32 smiled and turned on his heel, heading downstairs after Enzan.
Fidget set his hands on Bleu's and Orichalcon's shoulders and turned them toward the stairs and nudged them forward lightly. The three of them headed toward the stairs. Fidget glanced back at the door, watching Panic and Piro lean against both side of the entrance. Anode came into the base and set his back against a shadowed part of the wall.
"You three coming down?"
"No.." Panic answered shortly and Piro picked it up, "We're going to wait for Lizzy."
"Alright.."
Franco shifted Mike Cain's body on his shoulder, lurching lopsidedly around the corner. He came to a stop, seeing two Reploids standing at the entrance to the base. They both look toward him and wave him over.
"Is that.. Hey, it's Mike."
"You know him?" Franco looked at the grey Reploid.
"Yea, it's Mike Cain. He used to work with me in Unit 6." Panic laughed aloud, "Shut up, Panic."
"Take him downstairs to 32, he's looking for you too. Your brother is down there as well."
"Thanks.."
He shifted the body once more and took off at a run, heading into the base, aiming for the stairs and heading down the staircase at multiple steps at a time.
Fidget, Bleu, and Orichalcon head into Fidget's room, where there are three pods lined up on the side wall. Bleu and Orichalcon patted the pods that they used to use when the base was still in use. Fidget stopped in the middle of the room, setting his hands on his hips.
"I'm glad I found you two, you know.. It hasn't been the same without the others of my unit."
"We're glad to be back, Fidget.." Bleu smiled, tears welling in her eyes.
"I wouldn't want you to have to rebuild us, and not it really be us.. Lacking the memories of our past missions together.." Orichalcon spread his arms in front of him.
"Glad to have friends like you two. I wouldn't have rebuilt you if I didn't find you. I would want to remember you the way you used to be. My friends and partners in Hunting.. Thank you."
Bread Man sat on top of the med bay table, Aasterinian leaning against it at his side. He swung his legs back and forth slowly, glancing toward the door occasionally. It finally slid open and Alpha charged into the room.
"Bread.. Man.." Alpha lurched forward, but his leg joints finally took him down and he fell to his knees, tears streaking down his cheeks, "Bread Man.."
He got down from the table and wrapped his arms around Alpha's small shoulders, helping him to his feet and on to one of the med bay tables. He smiled down at his friend and partner.
"I'm fine, Alpha. And soon, you'll be fine too. Then we can go back out on missions together and kick some serious ass." Alpha laughed softly, before Bread Man deactivated him.
Bread Man turned his head toward the door as 32 stepped through, followed by a black and red Reploid who Bread Man recognized easily. He nodded toward 32, who lead the Reploid toward another table, motioning for him to get on it. Mr. Death didn't look toward Bread Man as he got up on to the table.
"Can you wait to deactivate me, 32? I want to wait for my brother." 32 laughed softly, "I don't even need to deactivate you, the damage is all external."
"Oh.. Alright."
Aasterinian moved around the middle table, but stopped as the door slid open again, with Franco standing in the doorway with a green and black Reploid hanging over his shoulder. 32's lip twitched at the sight of Franco.
"Why did you leave, Franco? I told you I needed you to come back here so that I could repair you."
"Sorry, 32, I got tired of waiting, so I checked out the radar and saw a blip. So I went to check it out and found this Reploid.. Mike Cain."
"Put him on the table over there. We'll work on him in a bit, after Alpha, you, and your brother are all repaired." Franco laid Mike down on the side table, taking the middle table for himself, Aasterinian turning toward him.
"Hey Franco.." Franco turned and gazed over at his brother, their eyes locked and they both knew that something was wrong with their systems, something that would continue to reappear later, "Hey MD.."
Anode pushed away from the wall and stood in the middle of the entrance. Panic and Piro looked toward him and then stepped past the entrance and leaned against inner walls, closing their eyes. Anode crossed his arms over his chest, closing his eyes beneath his helmet, letting his scanners sweep the area. As soon as he heard the beep, he reopened his eyes, watching a Reploid come running toward the base.
"Panic. Piro. She's back."
Lizzy stopped in front of Anode, staring up at him with a dirty smirk on her lips.
"Stop staring at me, Anode. It scares the inner child." Anode shook his head and stepped to the side, letting her pass.
As she headed toward the stairs, Panic and Piro fell in step behind her, following her down the stairs into the basement level of the base, leaving Anode at the base's entrance. He crossed his arms back over his chest, letting his eyes close once more.
Dr. Light's pod came to life as the three of them all came into the room. The smile on his face was broad, and the three of them couldn't help but smile, even slightly. X leaned against the wall by the pod, PX leaned against the wall by the door, and AX took a seat in the chair for the desk.
"Three of my sons.. You've returned to your old, frail father.."
32's hands moved quickly, working the hammer rapidly against the dents on Mr. Death's armor, setting it flat. He then followed it up by drawing a mixture of components of the cracks in the armor, sanding it down without removing any paint, fixing the cracks in the armor. After a few minutes, Mr. Death sat up, his entire body repaired.
"Wow.. You're fast, 32.." Mr. Death looked across the room at Franco, who was still laying flat, the female Reploid named Aasterinian replacing the left leg armor, and then he sat up as well, "Heh. You three are quite a team."
"32 and myself were able to repair a full unit of Hunters in about twenty minutes, even when most of them were internally damaged as well. Twenty-five minutes if power core damage," Bread Man reactivated Alpha, who opened his eyes slowly, staring at the ceiling.
"I'm glad to be alive, Bread Man. And glad to see you alive, too. My friend.." Bread Man smiled softly, patting Alpha on the forehead, "Stop messing around and get up. Go recharge in your room."
Alpha nodded and leaped from the table, heading out the door and turning right toward his room. Mr. Death and Franco both got off of their tables and heading out of the med bay as well. 32 and Aasterinian joined Bread Man at the table holding Mike.
"I haven't seen him since he went Mercenary on us after that one mission.. Hmm.. I wonder where Franco found him," Bread Man inquired.
"It doesn't matter. He's back, let's repair him and see if he wants to stay, if not. We can let him go," 32 responded, crossing his arms.
"You two stop the badinage and let's please get to work," Aasterinian's soft voice barely came above a whisper, and the three began the repairs needed to bring Mike back on-line.
'How long have I been a Hunter.. Too long. My brothers are probably gone, and Desolate has long since vanished from my mind, probably vanished before Ignis and Frostbite were gone. I'm the only Wily bot left it seems.. Unless Zero is still alive out there somewhere. It just seems funny how I could have lasted so long and none of them were able to endear the wait.. I'll join you eventually my brothers.. Not too soon I hope, I'll give you a long enough time to forgive me for killing our father..' Anode lifted his chin from his chest, staring out over the road in front of him, visions of Ignis and Frostbite appearing in front of him, Ignis sneering and Frostbite hiding his emotion behind his face mask.
Enzan ran down the hallway, passing by Alpha, who ran into his own room. He took a turn down a hallway and stopped in front of silver door. He set his hand against the cold steel and shoved, the metal splitting from the attack on it from Elcazor and the door fell apart in front of him. He stepped through and gasped.
"Axl?" He ran forward and crouched beside the fallen Reploid, who was covered in the liquid from the pod, "You haven't been out for very long. Reactivate. Come on Axl.."