Chapter 2: Recapture Central Tower

Ace slowly opened his eyes as he saw the other leaders come to as well.

"Ow…. okay, I admit that wasn't my best idea." Connor said.

"True but we got away." Volt said.

"Not the first time I made that kind of jump, probably won't be the last." David said.

"Well most of us are pretty sore, but you don't see Skyler with any bruises. She flies all the time." Hope said.

"True. Though it looks like only the eight of us are here. Lady Illuma is regrouping with the others. We had a contingency plan to head for the Heaven's Gate if things got dicey." Skyler said.

"And you didn't think to tell me BEFORE I jumped off a ten story tower?" Connor asked.

"By the way, where are we?" Ace asked.

"We seem to be in some sort of recovery room." Skyler said.

"We must have been brought here after we passed out." Spectra said.

"You're in Central Tower, your friends are waiting for you outside." A voice said as the leaders looked to see a reploid enter the room.

"Thanks." David said as he winced in pain. "What did I land on?"

"Hold still." Ace said as his hands glowed and he began to heal everyone.

"Phew… Thanks." David said.

"No problem, now let's regroup with the others." Ace said as they all headed outside to see their teammates waiting for them. "Glad to see you all alright, anyone injured?"

"No but Zero is still missing." Pedro said.

"They must've used some last-ditch effort to separate him from us." David said. "Geez… People like Despair make me sick."

"Definitely. Though, Hope, did you know he had a robotic arm?" Ace asked.

"Yeah. And honestly I've known him from the day we met. He may very well be my own worst enemy. Since he was made from me. You and Sectonia know what that's like, Ace. You two have your Dark Sides." Hope said.

"Yes, me, you, and Sectonia have our own demons to conquer, literally." Ace said. "But they won't stop any of us, right?"

"Despair hasn't stopped me before." Hope said. "And I don't think Devil Ace will stop you either."

"This isn't about me right now, our main concern right now is finding the Olympos XII and stopping the Titans, but first we should explore this place a bit." Ace said.

"I agree. Let's look around and see what we can dig up." David said.

"Hold on a moment." Ace said as he pulled out a communicator. "Anna, you there?"

"Don't bother, Despair might have his jammer still on. As long as we're in Giga City, he'll be cutting us off from Anna." Hope said. "He'd be like that."

"Dammit. Guess we're on our own, but we'll manage." Ace reassured.

"Yes. Until then, you can leave the support role to me." Vera said.

"We'll be counting on you Vera." Ace said before a card was thrown down in front of them. "Who?"

"Well, well, look at what the cat dragged in." A voice said as everyone looked up to see a mafia looking reploid on top of a part of the building.

"If it isn't the infamous Spider." Connor said.

"You know him?" Hope said.

"All bounty hunters know each other. I'm formerly one anyway." Connor said as the reploid named Spider leaped down. "And that guy there, that's Spider. He's a bounty hunter too."

"Connor Trav. I didn't think someone like you would associate with these oddballs." Spider said. "If I brought your head and X's to the Rebellion Army, it would fetch a pretty penny." He said as he pulled out another card.

Connor drew one of his revolvers and shot quickly into the card, putting a hole right through an Ace of Spades he was about to throw.

"Guys, I think it's best we leave this to Connor." Petra realized as everyone nodded.

"Well, well. Seems your trademark trigger-finger is still intact. Now let's rumble!" Spider said.

(MMXCM-Spider Magic)

W-A-R-N-I-N-G

Warning! Warning! Warning!

"I'm Spider, it's a pleasure." Spider said.

"Not like I know your name already." Connor said as he fired his revolvers, countering spiders card throws. "And I know your card tricks, buddy. Don't think because I'm out of the Bounty Huntin job don't mean I know you're little magic tricks."

"Do you? Then how about this?!" Spider asked as he rapidly fired beam cards from his cufflinks.

"Whoa!" Connor said ducking as he fired back. He then reloaded as he fired one shot into the air and one right at Spider's foot. The one at Spider's foot was an Ice Shot that pinned his right leg.

"You missed a shot." Spider smirked.

"I don't miss." Connor tipped his hat as the bulliet he fired first ricocheted off the wall of the tower and guided by the high winds, was jabbed into Spider's arm. Spider winced as Connor drew his double barrel and rolled in. "You know that."

He then fired the shotgun into Spider's chest, hitting directly.

"Ghaaaaa!" Spider stumbled back.

At that moment, the alarms started to sound.

"Drat! Just when things were starting to get good. We'll pick this up later! The more you run, the higher the bounty." Spider said as he fled.

(end song)

"Wait!" X said, but Spider was already gone.

"Wow… I don't think I've ever seen Connor fight like that before." Starlight said.

"Yeah, impressive marksmanship, Connor." Spade said.

"I don't pull punches. Especially if some rival bounty hunter is after the target." Connor said. "Especially if they come into your house and try to kill your brother or sister."

"What do you mean by that?" Stoj asked.

"You don't know? Morph here is actually the daughter of the two top assassins in the universes, the Lion and Lioness." Connor said.

"And if their threats are true, some of us are already on their hit list." Maki said.

"I ran into another one of Lion and Lioness' buddies on Entertainer's Dream, Armadillo. It's safe to say we've all been marked." Connor said.

"But how? Most of us haven't even encountered them." Papelne said.

"Just by interfering by one of their assassinations. Myself, Connor, Maki and Harumi are among the few that learned that the hard way." David said.

"I'm sorry if I gotta drag you back into my problem again, Jexi. But I know for a fact Despair can and will hire Lion and Lioness' goons, and they know us. And…" Hope said.

"Don't think I don't have a stake in this. He already made an enemy of me when he brainwashed you back during Buddyfight." Jexi said.

"Make sure you save some for me." David said.

"But Despair is Hope's problem, so it's only fitting for him to deliver the final blow." Vera said. "I take it he has no objections?"

"Yeah. I'm cool with it." Hope said. "Despair...to think I have to fight you again."

"We better keep moving. Staying in one place too long will draw unwanted attention to us." Connor said.

"Yeah." Ace said as they continued on before seeing a reploid in a hover wheelchair hovering over to them.

"You are the Maverick Hunter X, are you not?" The reploid asked as he looked at X. "I am Aile. I am a member of the Resistance."

"Okay, Aile. What's going on around here?" X asked.

"Well if you and your friends have made it this far, then you've probably already figured out...That the leader of our Resistance, Chief R, has been caught by the Rebellion Army." Aile said.

"So you came to rescue Chief R, correct?" Ace asked.

"Yes...That's why I came to the Governor's Precinct...But alone, I will not stand a chance…" Aile said.

"Well, I'm here on a reconnaissance mission with my friends here. Rescuing Chief R might be the best way to get the information we're after." X said as he and the leaders approached.

"Thank you, X! Well then, if you're going to help me, you'd better take this ID...With it, you will be able to enter and exit the Governor's Precinct." Aile said as he pulled off the blue core on his chest and held it out to X and the others as the door behind them, opened to reveal two security drones as Aile got in front of everyone and pushed X and the leaders through the other door as their teammates followed.

"Aile, wait!" X called out.

"There's no time! Leave them to me! Just go! Please...you have to help Chief R!" Aile said as an explosion was heard in the room he was in and it dented the door towards the groups.

"Aile…" X said.

"He gave his life for this cause. We can't let it go to waste." David said.

"One thing's for sure. The Rebellion Army will have hell to pay for the lives they took." Ace said. "Let's try and find Chief R."

The groups made their way through the tower while helping Resistance Members, as they made it to a door with a lock pad on it, a card hit it as they all turned to see Spider.

"You all really stirred things up. Which is perfect, for my line of work!" Spider said as he leaned on the wall and had a card in his hands.

"Filthy bounty hunter!" X said as he pointed his buster at him.

"The name's Spider. Now, say your prayers…" Spider said before he knocked X and the leaders into a wall. "Too bad for all of you, but I can see you like you're all in slow-motion."

"Then your reflexes are somewhat spotty." Spectra said quickly entering burst as he knocked Spider off.

Spider quickly regained his footing before he saw Aile's core on the ground and went to pick it up.

"Don't get any closer!" David said pointing a gun at Spider.

"A money-grubber like you, doesn't deserve to lay his hands on that!" X said as he pointed his buster at Spider.

"That's all that's left of a Reploid who gave his life for his beliefs." Ace said as he pointed Summoner's Oath in gun form at him.

"So he...died?" Spider asked.

"That's right. He sacrificed himself so that the Rebellion Army can finally be put to rest." David said. "Aile's soul will not fall into the hands of evil, least of all vagabonds like you!"

"So… He gave it to all of you after he died." Spider said as he picked it up. "Sorry, Jango. But I'm through with this job!" He said as he threw a card at the camera.

"We got company." Aya said as three Security drones started to approach.

"I see em." Hope said.

"I may be a dirty bounty hunter, but I won't defile a friend's soul!" Spider said handing it to the group. "I'll take care of this trash on the way home. You get going and help Chief R!"

"Thanks, Spider!" Ace called as they ran up the tower.

"I have a feeling that Wild Jango's behind all these security drones attacking us." Hawkeye chimed in.

"Definitely. And the way Spider mentioned him sounded like Jango hired Spider to attack us earlier." Sectonia said.

"Well, we just have to get to the top of the tower quick. Anyone got a bead of Jango's location?" Connor asked.

"Chief R first, Jango after." David said.

The groups continued their climb through the tower and entered a room where they saw a red security drone cornering a male Reploid.

"Lightning Devil's Rage!" Volta said destroying the drone quickly with lightning.

"You are X and the Hero alliance, are you not? I am Chief R, leader of the Resistance." Chief R said as he introduced himself.

"How did you know about us so quickly?" Hope asked.

"During the Ultron Sigma incident, news spread quickly of your heroic feats." Chief R said.

"Well...yeah. That's us." Asta said.

"Grrrr. Enough! I will bring this whole tower down along with all of you, nothing will remain after that." A voice said as a hologram of a Cheetah Reploid appeared as alarms started going off.

"He's planning to self-destruct this tower?" Chalcedony asked.

"Yes he is. The program he placed is set to blow this place up in 2 minutes!" Vera said.

"I'll guide you all to the Command Room, hurry!" Chief R said as the groups hurried up the tower and reached the Command Room as Mari and Vera started typing on the computers.

"Self-destruct sequence, deactivated." A robotic female voice said.

"Phew… We made it in time." Shuichi said.

"Got a lock on Jango. He's heading for the roof! Stop him!" Vera said.

"Let's go!" Ace said as everyone made it to the heleport and pointed their weapons at Jango.

"You cancelled the self destruct?!" Jango exclaimed in surprise.

"We have hackers, you moron." Connor said. "And not for nothin' it was a good plan."

"You meddling insects!" Jango said as he turned to them.

"You're pretty upset. I guess we can just skip to the most favorite part…. Beating the scrapmetal outta you!" Toma said.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Jango said as he swiped at them, knocking Aile's Core out of their hands before he picked it up. "So this is how you managed to enter the building." He said before he was hit by an exploding card as everyone turns to see…

"Spider?!" Hope said in shock.

"Jango...Keep your hands off that. Creeps like you have no business touching it! Back off if you know what's good for you." Spider said as he limped towards Jango a bit and looked up at him.

"You don't know when to give up, do you? Very well… I'll fry every last one of you!" Jango said as electricity surged around him.

W-A-R-N-I-N-G

Warning! Warning! Warning!

(MMXCM-Maverick Boss theme)

"You have a death wish?" Jango asked before he gathered lightning in his hand and dashed forward attacking Fefnir, damaging him more than usual.

"That was a lightning attack. Everyone, stay alert!" David said.

"Attacks in this timeline follow a triangle of fire, water and lightning." Vera said. "Jango uses lightning, so fire attacks are more effective against him."

"I see. Burn in the flames of hell...Infernal Prison!" Spade chanted as a red circle appeared underneath Jango as four pillars of fire erupted from it, damaging him.

"Hell yeah!" Natsu said igniting his fists.

"I dont think so!" Jango called, dodging the attack.

"Sorry...but that was a bad choice." Todoroki said firing his flames at Jango taking out one of his arms.

"Let's go, Shuichi!" Kurochi said.

"Right!" Shuichi said as the two of them launched their fireballs at Jango. "Himiko, you know what to do!"

"You got it! Arcfire!" Himiko said, launching a huge fireball at Jango.

"You're dead punk!" Fefnir yelled as a white silhouette appeared over him and he fired a huge fireball, destroying his other arm.

"Aw… looks like the kitty's lost his arms." Connor taunted.

"Damn you!" Jango cursed.

"Any last words?" Papelne asked, pointing her claw gauntlet at him.

"Long live the Rebellion!" Jango yelled charging himself up with electricity and trying one last ditch effort to take out the heroes, using himself as a electric bomb.

"Wrong answer." Connor said firing a fire bullet into Jango's head as Jango collapsed and exploded.

"Thanks Spider, you've really helped us out." X said as Chief R approached.

"Hey, even bounty hunters gotta have some heart." Connor said.

"You should know, you were one." Betty said.

"I'm sure even Aile would appreciate your efforts." David said.

"Aile… Aile was my partner, back when I started bounty hunting. I goofed, and he paid the price for it." Spider said.

"So this was like fate? Us coming together in this place." Jexi said.

"I'm not the type to believe in stuff like fate, but… I bet Aile was the one that brought us together." David said.

"We have a common enemy, it seems now. Join us, help us fight Epsilon." Hope said.

"How fitting." Chief R muttered as he looked at the groups, X and Spider.

End of Chapter 2