Mega Man X: The Mist Enigma
Chapter 3: O Brother
Bright Canyon was, as it sounds, a canyon flooded with sunlight. A mighty river also flowed through it. On its bank, the Hunters appeared along with a Bulbrite with a camera on its head. That is how all of us back at HQ would keep in contact.
Layer contacted the Hunters through the headsets built into their helmets. "Ever since the death of his brother, Helios Unicrown has attempted to destroy factions of the Maverick Hunters all over the world. The camp at the base of this canyon's dam is his next target."
Alia continued, "His success rate is very low, but expect anything."
"Roger," X nodded. He pointed downstream. "The dam is quite a distance away from here. Let's get moving."
As soon as he finished his sentence, his hand was locked onto the cliff face by a metal ring with sun-flare-like blades. Everyone's eyes widened. Zero and Axl let out a "What the...?" before they, too, were cuffed to the cliff.
A silhouette appeared on top of the opposite cliff. "At last," it said in a western accent akin to John Wayne, "the Hunters show me their damned faces." The light moved to reveal the identity of the silhouette. A horse Reploid in military fashion and a cape carrying a jousting lance in his hand stared angrily down at the trapped triad. A dark aura surrounded his body. What was most noticeable about him was the horn jutting from his forehead. "Mega Man X, Zero, you two have made a giant mistake coming here."
Zero gritted his teeth. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Unicrown blew heavily from his nose. "The rage that has built up within me will finally be released. I will annihilate you two from existence. I will finally avenge my brother's death. But first, the dam must go."
"Just what do you plan to do?" Axl asked.
"Simple," Unicrown said as he looked downstream. "I'm blowing it up. So just sit tight. Once that's done, I'll come back for you." Unicrown leaped across the canyon and ran to the dam.
"What do we do now?" Zero asked X. "We can't break out with brute strength."
"I have an idea," the blue bomber answered. He spoke into his headset. "Douglas. Are you there?"
Douglas, the head mechanic, responded back, "Yes X. Whatcha need?"
"I think it's time to test the Armor Download Program."
"You got it. Which armor do you want?"
After a pause, X said, "Shadow Armor."
"It'll be there in a jiff," Douglas said as he crunched keys. X started to glow. The wire frame outline of an armor appeared around his body. It materialized into a black ninja-esque armor suit, the Shadow Armor X used in the first Nightmare outbreak. His hand made strange formations. He clenched his fist and disappeared. A second later, he reappeared in front of his comrades and pulled their restraints off.
"Cool program," Axl said.
"Yeah," Zero smiled, "thanks a bunch."
X nodded. "Let's hurry and get to the dam." He talked into his headset again. "Pallette, send us some Ride Chasers ASAP."
"You got it," Pallette replied. She pressed several buttons in front of her to send three Cheval Ride Chasers to the Hunters' coordinates. They appeared in a snap. The Hunters got on one each and sped to the dam. Enemy Mavericks on Ride Chasers chased the Hunters down. X jumped behind a group and blasted them with the Chaser's turret. Axl stood on his seat and fired both his pistols at another bunch. Zero slashed the Mavericks on his sides. They continued like this for another fifty or so meters. The dam was still not in viewing distance.
"Damn, it's still a couple dozen miles away," I grunted. "You guys gotta get there quick."
Zero responded, "Don't worry. I got an idea." Zero dashed ahead of the pack and skid to a stop far ahead. He jumped off his Chaser and put the Z-Saber away. He contacted Douglas. "Send me the T-Breaker."
"Okay," Douglas nodded as he transmitted a large hammer into Zero's hand.
Zero raised the mighty hammer over his head. "Dairettsui!" He swung the hammer down to the ground. A shockwave commenced, and the ground ahead of him lifted into a ramp form.
X and Axl were only feet away from this ramp. "Hold on tight!" X called to Axl. The two rode off the ramp at over a hundred miles an hour. Needless to say, they got some big air time.
Zero slashed the Mavericks that were following them. "Good luck guys," he thought.
When X and Axl landed, they were seconds away from the dam. They broke hard and swerved to a stop. They leaped off and ran to the middle of the dam. A large bomb sat there. Its timer was dropping below five minutes. "Crap," Axl grunted.
"Get it as far away from here as you can!" X called.
"You bet," Axl said as he lifted the bomb with both arms and ran off the dam. He didn't get too far when a lance appeared across his neck.
"Put the bomb down, Hunter," Unicrown said, "or I'll blow it up right now." Axl snarled at the unicorn Maverick.
In a blink of an eye, Shadow X jumped to Unicrown and punched him in the face. "Get the bomb out of here now!" Axl ran like hell with the bomb.
Unicrown stood up and regained his posture. "You are a fool. A monster. A murderer."
X stared him down. "No. I'm a protector of peace. I'm a Maverick Hunter."
Unicrown stomped his foot on the ground. "I am not a Maverick!"
"Yes you are! You're actions clearly show it. The same went for Pegacion."
"My brother was not a Maverick!"
"Quit fooling yourself! Pegacion was a Maverick." X's tone lowered dramatically. "Even though it wasn't by his choice, he still had to be stopped."
Unicrown screamed, "Stop talking about my brother! His death will be avenged. I shall kill you right here and now!" Unicrown dashed to X and attempted to stab him in the heart.
X easily side stepped it and pulled out his orange beam saber. "You're rage is hindering you ability. Forget your brother. He's not coming back." Unicrown yelled again and tried to stab X again.
Zero had destroyed all the Mavericks, but had lost the Ride Chaser in the process. He ran towards the dam, but stopped. He smiled and ran back to the ramp he made. He got out the T-Breaker and used the Dairettsui on the ramp. It went down, but created a new one under his feet. He was flung to the dam like from a catapult.
I shook my head and chuckled. "He's so creative, it's funny."
X's saber and Unicrown's jousting lance clashed. They both drew back. Unicrown jumped into the air and drew his lance back. Light began to collect at the tip of it. When the light formed a huge ball, Unicrown swung his lance and shot the ball to X. X slashed his sword, nullifying the blast.
"Stop trying," Unicrown called. "The bomb will go off in less than two minutes, destroying everything within a ten mile radius. Your teammate can't run far enough to get the dam out of range. The end is inevitable."
X's eye glanced to the distance where he saw a red blur coming their way. He shook his head. "For you it is." The red blur appeared behind Unicrown and took him down to the ground. Zero pointed the Z-Saber at Unicrown's neck.
The Maverick grunted, "Cheap shot. That's not fair."
"You know, I actually remember something Pegacion said to me," Zero said. "Something you might have heard him say before. 'All's fair in love and war, and there certainly isn't any love here right now.'"
Unicrown snorted. "Don't talk about my brother! You murderer!"
"If anything," X said, "you're the murderer. Planning to kill thousands of Hunters in this fashion is without a doubt attempted murder. Were you always such a whiny hypocrite, or did the Mist make you this way?"
Unicrown roared and pushed Zero off of him. Beams of light shot from his horn rapidly at the two Hunters. None of them hit. Zero and X ran to the Maverick with swords ready. They stabbed him in the chest and three seconds later sliced up and out. The trademark explosion commenced. Light from the explosion entered the Hunters. More light flew to Axl. X and Zero did the same.
The timer read ten seconds. Nine. Eight. "Shit!" Axl ran at full speed. His foot caught on the ground and he tripped. "Shit!" he screamed even louder.
X and Zero appeared in the bomb's path. It hit them as the timer read five. "Oh no," they both said.
Everyone at HQ was on their feet in fear. Especially me, and it hurt. I warped to them as quickly as I could. They were in even more shock. I picked the bomb up as it read three. I threw it with all might when it said two. I flew up at blinding speed and punched it even further at one. At zero, it exploded into a giant fireball high above the earth. The force of the explosion pushed me out of the sky. I fell as fast as I flew up. I couldn't stop myself in time. I thought I was going to hit the ground, but Zero caught me in his arms. I smiled once I realized what happened. Zero grinned back.
"You know I could've survived that fall, Zero."
"Just in case..." After letting out a big sigh of relief, we teleported back to HQ. I could sense the relief from everyone at HQ, and we weren't even there yet. If the rest of the Mavericks pulled stuff like this, I'd be scared straight, cause this was a close one. This was not going to be a regular day, I was sure of it then. This was going to be anything but regular.