Vile: With a little free time and this idea in my head, I decided to make my next chapter to Mega Man ZX3! With this, we are in Game Stage 6: The Volcanic Zone. And I realized that I've neglected to put any mini-bosses in this story, so I'll make sure to get those now. Enjoy!
MMZX3: Mega Man ZX Enforcers
Chapter 16: Volcanic Panic
The seven Mega Men were teleported into their next destination, but the moment they arrived, a loud "BOOM" was heard, the ground rumbling. This startled everyone, Thetis toppling over onto his rear. "Whoa!"
Miniature volcanoes were blowing up, spewing lava everywhere. Most of the area had been reduced to lava: Their very platform was a peninsula in the molten substance. "Man… I almost don't wanna meet the Pseudoroid that's doing this. This is nuts!" Ashe said.
"Since we're in a lava area, we're definitely looking at a Fire Pseudoroid. And since Bombat hit the scrap pile, Lavaperd is definitely the culprit." Siarnaq told them. "We need to hurry. That dude is unstable and has no clue of the line between 'fun' and 'danger'."
"He's even more battle-hungry than me!" Model F chirped.
"If that guy keeps up his work, the volcanic activity could spread across the world!" Atlas warned.
"Then let's get moving!" Grey said, the others agreeing before heading off.
Along the way, part of the solid rock was suddenly destroyed by a small surge of lava, turning their peninsula into an island. "YIPE!" Taylor yelped, jumping back.
"Let's move!" Aeolus said, and the gang progressed. Several of the intact rock had been surged up, making ledges that almost seemed like staircases. Thankfully, they were cool enough to climb.
Right when they finished climbing the ledge, an incoming shot nearly torched Ashe's hair. "Whoa!" They saw Model S Mega Men incoming, their armors marred with orange streaks. They began placing bombs along the rock, intent on destroying the place. Others rushed forward holding what looked like large fists in their hands. One of them slammed the ground with it, causing a trail of fire to rush toward them. The Mega Men in its path quickly dodged, the Model A duo firing off their own shots, taking out three of them. The ones that laid the bombs, however, were able to escape and detonate their bombs, taking out part of their only platform.
Their only targets gone, Grey moved to the downed enemies, de-Megamerged, and took one of their Model S copies. It was marred with orange streaks, just as he thought it would be. "Looks like Taylor was right. Those fire attacks and these orange streaks mean that this copy was made from Model F's data. Three out of four." He tossed the copy to Taylor.
"There's gotta be Model L-based S copies out there, too. But I don't think we'll find 'em here." The Model O Mega Man said. "Let's keep moving." Everyone agreed and pressed on, destroying any Model FS Mega Men and other Fire-based Mechaniloids in their path, making sure to dodge any of the mini-eruptions.
In the next area, a large volcano sat ominously near their position. Out of nowhere, the ground shook before the huge volcano blew sky-high. Various chucks of burning rock sailed into the air, about to rain down on the Mega Men. "RUN!" Grey and Ashe shouted. The Mega Men quickly got out of the way, dashing back and forth to avoid being pulverized by the volcano's blowout.
The volcano's eruption finally stopped, but things didn't get much better. After a while, the group came to an abrupt end of the platform, nothing but lava as far as they could go. "Oh, this is just GREAT!" Thetis groaned. "Now what do we do?!"
"Not even I can fly over this." Aeolus mused.
Then, the lava in front of them began to bubble violently. "What the hell?" Siarnaq gasped. The lava bulged largely before dispelling from what was actually underneath it: A huge red Mechaniloid with two horns in the front based on a Hercules beetle. It had a flat back and a few hatches on the back, and six powerful legs that the lava wasn't damaging at all. The beetle's legs slowly lowered, causing the body to lower, and the top horn slowly raised while the bottom horn unfolded, revealing a large flamethrower that charged up energy.
"Everybody move!" Grey yelled, and the Mega Men quickly dashed away before the Mechaniloid fired out a HUGE stream of fire.
"What does that thing think we are, raw beef?" Taylor griped.
Siarnaq saw odd glowing areas on the open horns and got an idea. He quickly sent out a few kunai, lodging in the glowing areas of the top horn, causing electricity to crackle. "That's it! Aim for the glowing spots on the horns!" The horns slowly closed, preventing the glowing areas from damage. A hatch in the Mechaniloid's back opened, firing out four missiles that turned to find the Mega Men.
Aeolus went at them, slashing two with his sabers, only to have them blow up in his face and send him backwards, Aeolus using his wings to stop the blowback (as he was headed towards the lava). "Ngh! I should've figured as much!" Taylor had him covered, blasting the last two with his O-Buster to prevent any other recoil damage.
The beetle's legs lowered its body before the large horn opened again, the flamethrower charging. "Let's go!" Atlas said, rushing toward the beetle. Charging his energy, she dealt two Buster Punches to the lower horn's glowing areas. Thetis helped her with halberd slashes while Grey and Ashe double-teamed the upper horn. They had to quickly get out of the way, as the flamethrower unleashed its Fire Beam. The horns then closed.
"We're getting nowhere with this!" Ashe complained. "Attacking the horns isn't slowing it down at all!"
Grey then thought of something. "The flamethrower…" The way the flamethrower was positioned seemed to lead right to the core of the machine. Grey nodded, setting his plan in stone. A second back in the beetle opened, lobbing out four bombs that exploded on the ground, catching Aeolus and Atlas in their blasts. Atlas already had Fire properties, so she was better off in the end. When the horns opened again, Grey put his plan into action. While the flamethrower charged, he whipped out his pistols and started firing into the flamethrower's core. The bullets caused small explosions in the flamethrower, slowing the charge slightly. "Everyone, aim for the flamethrower!" The Fire Beam was launched out not long after he said that, but everyone continued firing during it.
"Dragon!" Thetis unleashed his Freezing Dragon, which rushed forward and chomped down on the top horn. All of a sudden, the top horn gave a few small explosions, causing most of it to break off and explode, leaving part of the flamethrower exposed. "Take out the second horn, guys!" The beetle unleashed its missiles, easily blasted down by the projectile-wielding Mega Men. When the lower horn unfolded, everyone followed Thetis's advice. Atlas, Thetis, and Taylor all went after the lower horn, dealing enough damage to make it explode, rendering the flamethrower completely exposed. All they had to do was wait. After the Fire Beam was launched, the Mega Men went into action and began blasting and slicing. With a finishing blow from Thetis's halberd, the flamethrower crackled and exploded, and the beetle Mechaniloid's body began to slow to a stop, the legs no longer moving.
"Whew! I think that might've done it!" Taylor said, wiping off his forehead.
"But now what do we do?" Ashe wondered. Then, the beetle Mechaniloid rose up again.
"It's not dead yet?!" Aeolus gasped. Rather than try and attack them, however, the Mechaniloid slowly began to turn around until its back was facing them. It lowered again, and a part of the back opened up, moving outward until it was resting on the rock platform: A small staircase.
"…I think it's telling us to get on!" Siarnaq thought. "It can move through lava, so I think we should go for it! Lava taxi, anyone?"
Vile: With a mini-boss down, the gang now has a ferry to get across the lava to get to Lavaperd. But things may not go as smoothly as one would think. Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out what happens. If you guys liked this chapter, leave a review for me! See ya!
Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.