Hunter Navi
"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! Mavrick Detected! Mavick Detected! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!"
The alarm wailed and red lights flashed along the halls of Mavrick Hunter HQ sending its inhabitance scrambling to their stations. Three particular hunters bursted into the contol room where three Navigators could usually be found, ready to be sent out.
"What's the problem?!" barked out the blond 'Red Devil' of the Mavrick Hunters, Zero.
Not looking up, the Navigator Alia's hands flew rapidly across her keyboard. "We've picked up Mavrick activity roughly 2. 32 kilometers outside the west sector's city boundries."
"That's the forest area between the city and the mountains." X provided.
From her seat, Pallette nodded saying, "That area was once used for mining before it went dry."
"I'm getting a reading on one fairly strong Mavrick and signals from roughly several dozen mechaniloids." Layer added.
Axl then made his way over to the door and called over his shoulder, "We got the location, so lets go, slowpokes! Mavricks aren't gonna get rid of themselves you know!"
Zero frowned at the teenage reploid. "Impatient little punk." he muttered but still followed quickly after, X grinned in amusemet behind his partners as the three headed to the teleporter room.
Three bursts of light landed in a clearing in the forest a little over a hundred yards away from where the Mavricks were said to be. X did a quick scan of the surrounding area for any unseen enemies.
Searching...
Scan Complete... Resultes...
Active Mavrick Signature(s): 1
ID: 192D84E
Name: Air Striker
Status: Threat
Type: Aerial/Flight Reploid
Class: B
Other Active Threats: 37
Type: Mavrick Mechaniloid Drone(s)
Active Non-Mavrick Signaure(s): 2
Type: 1 Biological Organism/Human Found... 1 Unknown Organism Found
Location: 113.04yds 14NW
X panicked at the data his scanners detected. "We gotta move! The Mavrick is a B class and there're civilians near it!" The blue Hunter ran off in the direction his scanner pointed to. That was all that needed to be said for Zero and Axl to get going.
They were halfway there before their communicators beeped and Alia's voice echoed into their ears. "X, Zero, Axl, you copy?"
Zero touched the COM Link in his helmet. "We copy, go ahead, Alia."
"I'm picking up a strange energy reading just ahead of you where the Mavrick signal is coming from! I can't identify it. It looks like it's about to expand or something. Approach with caution..."
"Rodger!" Axl said. At the moment Axl cut his link, a huge burst of light skyrocketed up before it began to filter down in every direction, creating a giant dome roughly 100 yards all around.
The trio had been well within the area when energy sealed them in. Everything around them became a splash of everchanging color.
"Could the Mavrick have been expecting us?" Zero glanced at the hexagonal patterned wall around them. "Using civilians as bait to lure us into a trap." X opened his mouth to say something but was promptly silenced when a series of explosions erupted just beyond the trees.
"Whatever!" Axl shouted. "Hostages or no hostages, somethings going down and we're not the ones blowing things up to the high heavens! Lets go!"
The three pushed through some of the foliage to find a battle already going on.
In the air was the Mavrick called Air Striker. He was tall and was silver-grey and pale blue in color. Air Striker had half the appearence between a humanoid reploid and a bald eagle yet still retained an almost human face. He was obviously still in the process of upgrading himself into an anthropomorphic form. He wore light, flight aromr and had razor sharp, wickedly curved gold colored claws and talons. There were two rocket launchers under both of the large, ridged jet wings, duel thrusters on his back, and a pair of laser guns on both arms.
On the ground was his opponent. He was a short, odd looking reploid. He was as blue as X, had brown eyes and a tuft of spiky brown hair poking out from under his helmet, the rest of his face from the eyes down was covered by a mask with a single half stripe. He wore no armor with the exception of his helmet that held slight resemblence to Zero's, blue boots and golves with green gems, and pair of bright yellow shoulder pads. His body suit was two-toned; it was mostly a dark navy blue with light blue stripes that ran up his sides, around his shoulder pads, down his arms, two across his legs, and down diagnally to a divided red and yellow metal insignia at the center of his chest. He had the same crest for earpeices on his helmet. Finally, there was a pack of some sort on his back, it was also two toned.
Of the two fighters, X studied the small blue reploid a little more closely. There was something about him that seemed so familiar to X; it was more so the crests he sported rather than his person... of course that too sparked something at the back of his mind. X had seen that symbol from somewhere, he just couldn't figure out where or when.
"The damn fool, he's gonna get himself killed!" Zero growled in annoyance.
Axl nodded in total agreement. "What was he thinking?! Taking on a B class Mavrick without any armor?" Sure, Axl knew he could be cocky sometimes, and he was confident in his abilities, but he'd sit behind a desk doing paperwork for the rest of his life before he let himself be crazy enough to walk into any kind of fight without bodily protection.
Zero activated his Z-Saber and Axl turned off the safety to his blaster guns. Both were about to jump out of the cover the trees and bushes provided and into the fight when X's hands wrapped around their arms. "Wait!"
"What'cha stopping us for, X?" Zero ask impatiently, Axl was also giving the blue hunter a questioning look.
"Just look," X motioned to the fight. "I don't think he needs much help."
Turning, the two saw that X was right! Now that they were really watching the fight they could see the little blue reploid was actually holding his own. His right forearm had turned into a Buster Cannon, which, compaired to X's, was very simple looking and yet the rounds it shot were just as strong. He was blasting away two or three mechaniloids at a time, all the while ducking and dodging Air Striker's weapons and dives at him. When ever he attacked Striker he would jump up high into the air before letting loose a volley of blasts, and when he descended, he'd use the surrounding trees to rebound off of and opened fire again. The little reploid was always moving in an almost erratic way, he never stayed in a single spot for too long lest he get shot by lasers. His accuracy and action-reaction timing was good, if only a little sluggish. It was as if he was trying to get his body used to fast movements or something, but as the battle dragged on, it was beginning to move more properly.
Once the blue reploid had destroyed all the mechaniloids he and Striker went into a face off, his Buster Cannon trained on the Mavricks forehead. The little unknown reploid gave the rouge a frosty stare, there no doubt he was ready to destroy the Mavrick without hesitation, that much the trio knew.
Air Striker's unyeilding cruel yellow eyes stared down at his unexpected opponent in cold calculation. "... You're pretty good kid. Not many have been able to dodge and counter my attacks as well as you have." he complemented, but it was a hollow one.
"I've got a few years of experience." came the clipped reply.
A slow smirk played across the Mavrick's face at the child's spunk. "And to think, all you have is that cannon and no armor." Striker looked at the blue boy from where he hovered in the air. "Say kid, you're pretty strong, I bet you'd make a great Mavrick. It gives you a power rush and a sense of freedom like you've never felt before."
Though the hunters couldn't see his face completely, his eyes showed indignent annoyance. "Sorry pal, but I'm not into selling my soul for powers that are only skin deep." he bit out. "Besides, I got things to do, places to go, and people to see. I don't need my face plastered up on a Wanted Poster." The boy paused for a moment, then yelled, "And I'm also wondering why you three over there have just been sitting on your metal hides and not helping?!"
X's eyes widened. 'He noticed us?! When did he do that?'
Zero, however, smirked as he stepped out into the open. "You must have a pretty advanced sensory programs to have found us so easily."
Axl grinned. "Yeah dude, that's kinda impressive."
X had also stepped out. "Sorry for being rude, it looked like you didn't need our help."
The boy gave a small one shouldered shrug, never once taking his eyes off the flying rouge. "I don't really, I just don't like it when people slink around in the shadows watching me. I get paranoid and distracted."
Upon sighting the three most powerful of all the Mavrick Hunters there, Air Striker seemed to have lost a bit of his nerve. He had heard many stories about them before from other Mavricks, most didn't end well for many of his bretheren. This was no longer the best place for him to be.
"You know, even if you tried to run, you wouldn't get passed the wall." All atenttion was drawn back to the boy who's eyes alone could tell you he was smirking rather smugly. They were all curious about what he just said. As if reading their thoughts, he coninued, "Everything within a hundred yards around us has been seal in. It takes an extrem amount of energy to pierce the wall around this area, something you don't have. Of course I can always let it down, but that's not gonna happen. So that means the only way you're getting out is through a trash can."
Striker snarled angrily. "Why you- I'll KILL YOU!" he screeched and launched two rockets at the place where the boy stood. The three hunters ran to stop the Mavrick's attack, but it was too late. The projectiles hit and the resulting explosion shook the ground around them.
Anger surged through the hunters for some reason. They hadn't even known the poor guy, but somehow it almost felt like being forced to watch a human die.
Axl was the first to react as he jumped up to Striker's level and hovered there. The young hunter let loose a hail of shots at the rouge, but Striker managed to dodge most of Axl's attack because of his swift aerial maneuverability. Striker shot a wave of lasers at the next-gen reploid who couldn't move out of the way fast enough. Axl slammed on the ground heavily, but the rouge wasn't done with the red haired hunter as he launched two missiles after him. The rookie hunter's blue eyes widened when he saw the deadly incoming explosives.
A blur of red and blond darted forward and grabbed Axl seconds before rockets impacted. Axl let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks for the save, Z." He shot Zero an appreciating grin.
The blond rolled his eyes, throwing back a small frown. "Just watch yourself next time." was all he said before went to fight, Axl not far behind.
X had been letting out one shot after another in quick succession. The blue bomber growled in frustration as Air Striker moved hight into the sky and out of range once again. X found it annoying but he just had to wait now. He had long since saw a pattern in the Mavrick style. First he would fly high up out of his range, then launched a few missiles, and if he missed he would swoop in and sweep the area with laser fire, but doing this brought his closer back to X, if only a little, and then do it all over again, somethimes preforming a random diving slash using his claws. These were the only times X could get in a shot or two.
Air Striker laughed as he stared down at X. "You know, somehow I thought I'd have a harder time against you human-loving hunters." he said, launching three missiles.
X readied to dash outside of the blast radius, but when the flying bombs made it halfway between him and Striker, Zero appeared and sliced them to peices in mere seconds. While still in the air Zero preformed a double jump, getting in closer and swung his saber in a wide arch, the energy blade enlongened to twice its normal length for a moment.
Striker quickly urged himself into a backward thrust to dogde. He may have escaped death via Z-saber, but not cleanly. The Mavrick now sported a long diagnal slash across his chest. He quickly scrambled higher into the air until he was well above the tree tops, that damnable wall that little reploid he destroyed earlier was still up, preventing any hasty retreats. The grey rouge held his sparking and cracking wound. Striker swore venomously when pain shot through him.
The Mavrick was distracted he didn't notice two large boomarang-like weapons speeding towards him until he heard sharp metal slice away both of his wings. Striker let out a surprise cry when he fell through the leaves and smacked into the ground.
The hunters had seen what happened and watched the Mavrick fall wondering where the attack had come from. The answer came almost immediately as a blue body fell from the trees bewteen them and Air Striker, landing in a crouch. It was that reploid
"You're alive!" Axl grinned in surprise at the smaller reploid's back.
"How?" X qestioned.
"It takes more than a few missiles to kill me." came the vague answer.
Zero smirked. The kid really was good and he foud himself liking him. His smirk was short lived when he saw Air Striker pull himself back up to his feet.
"I... refuse to lose to the likes.. of you..." he sneered breathily to the unknown child.
"You're annoying." was his retort as he rolled his eyes.
"... I... will.. destroy you..."
"Right... Tell me something," The young fighter said to the hunters, his disapproving frown at the Mavrick was covered by his mask . "When you haul these Mavricks in, how do you take them?"
It was X who answered before the Zero or Axl could. "We prefer them live but most times they're usually too stubborn and fight us to the death."
Sighing the reploid said, "I thought that was the case. Well, I guess I'll make your job easier." He held his right arm out and yelled, "Long Sword! Download!" His forearm glowed bright blue before it broke apart, reconfigured, and then reassembled into a different shape. A long five foot energy blade suddenly materiaized at the place where his fingers would have been before the hunters' surprised eyes. The young fighter dashed forward.
Air Striker shot his lasers fiercely at the kid, but he just kept running onward, side-stepping and dodging until the boy came within melee striking range. The blue child warrior swinged his blade as he passed by, he stopped only a few feet away. Air Striker had stopped fireing and simply stood stock still. There was a tense moment of silence before the kid stood up strait, his arm morphing back to its regular unarmed state. Striker took a sharp gasp as intense pain laced through his entire being. His arms suddenly dropped off him like rocks as his body slid off his legs. Metal, wire, and everything else had been cut cleanly through.
The hunters could only watch in awe. It had happened so fast a regular person, human or reploid, wouldn't have been able to see it, but they saw it all. What looked like one swing was infact three! Two slicing off both Air Striker's arms and one taking out both legs.
The giant dome wall around them flashed before it begain to break apart and dissolve away. As if in response, the boy's body glowed his helmet, crest, gloves, boots, shoulder pads, and the pack on his back lifted off him before breaking apart. The glow also removed itself from his person and gathered in front of him, coming together and turning into a small blue and white device which fell into is awaiting gloved hand.
X, Zero, and Axl couldn't help but to stare in shock, becoming a little slack-jawed at the new revelation that stood in front of them. Who they previously believed was a young reploid, was in fact a young human! He looked thirteen or fourteen at most and wore a white and orange t-shirt, a pair of shorts, sneakers, and a light blue headband that also bore his crest around his head. He stood there silently, his eyes slightly glazed as if remembering something.
The boy turned to them then snickered at their expressions. "If your mouths were open a little wider, birds could roost in them."
Their mouths clamped shut before their COM Links beeped. "X, Zero, Axl?! Anyone?! Please respond!" Alia's panicked voice rung shrilly as she pleaded.
"Yeah, we hear you..." Zero spoke after getting over being stunned.
"Oh than God! Zero, your transmission signals went dead for a while there after that weird energy expansion, we couldn't reach you. What happened?!"
This time X answered. "We'll debreif you when we get back to HQ. For now send a transport. The Mavrick is alive but he's been..." X looked down at Air Striker, he almost felt sorry for it. "... Rendered incapacitated. His injuries may be near critical."
"Acknowledged. A Mavrick transport will arrive at your location at 0030 minutes." With that the COM Link filled with static.
X glanced back at the boy to find him giving X an unreadable look. "Is there something wrong?" he asked. The boy walked up to X, eyes scanning the reploid from head to toe, before giving the hunter a walk around. When he came back around, he crouched and tilted his head to the side, looking at X from various angles.
Zero watched all this curiously from the corner of his eye, wondering what the boy found so interesting about his long time best friend and partner. Axl too raised an eyebrow at the boy's behavoir.
"Nothings wrong, but tell me, what's your name?" he asked.
The reploid blinked before he answered, "I'm called X." The boy looked at him impatiently, as if pressing for more. "... Megaman X, but please, just 'X' will do."
"I thought it was you." The brunette smiled as he straitened up. "Well, X, this saves me a lot of time. We were just about to go looking or you, but what do you know, you came to us."
"Y-you were?"
"That's right," he said with a grin. "But I gotta ask first, the guy who created you, his name wouldn't really happen to be Thomas Hikari, would it?"
X was surprised by the boy's knowledge of his creator. He nodded. The boy gave a small cheer.
Zero frowned as he stepped closer to his friend. "Hey kid, how do you know who X's creator was?"
That kind of infomation wasn't supposed to be public knowledge. Dr. Cain, rest his soul, had been very tight lipped and strict about not telling who his and X's makers were, and for good reason too. It could easily cause far too many problems. And big ones at that. For X, the poor guy wouldn't be able to step outside HQ without getting mobbed by the media and fanatic quack scientists. For Zero, well... let's just say people would stops seeing him in the good light. That type of information was on a need-to-know basis and only X, Zero, and Commander Sigma needed to know. Period!
It made Zero wonder just how the kid knew. This boy had just proven he could be a formitable and extremly lethal opponent in a fight. If he's been after X, then there's no telling what the brat could do. If he attacked them they wouldn't be able to counter-attack, it was forbidden after all. All they would be able to do was merely dodge and defend themselves. It was times like this Zero wished he didn't have the Three Laws of Robotics in his head.
They really sucked sometimes.
"Out with it squirt."
Said boy gave Zero an annoyed look. "First off, Blondie, my name isn't 'Kid' or 'Squirt' or whatever, it's Lan, Lan Hikari." he said matter-of-factly. "And second, Thomas Hikari was my grandpa."
And so, for the third time that day the boy, Lan, surprised the trio of S-ranked hunters.
Hey everyone! It's good to see ya. Thanks for the reviews, I honestly hadn't expected that many in one chapter. Well any way, I'll update as soon as I can. Bye bye for now!