Megaman X: Elysium Rising
Final Mission: Delete the Maverick Virus
Chapter 31: Race to Destiny
BGM: Journey - Frontiers
By Genoscythe
Final Mission: Delete the Maverick Virus
Maverick Leader: Sigma/Tempest/Tread Havoc
Main Objective: Stop the Carbon Reinitialization Program
Secondary Objective: Eliminate all traces of the Maverick Virus.
Commence Operation
Marx never thought he would be loading boxes again after the death of Dr. Belheim, but now he found himself doing just that. Most of the others were either standing down at the nose of the airship, or inside making preparations. Marx had volunteered to load supplies into the massive cargo hold simply because he wanted something to calm his nerves, and he figured getting into an old habit would work wonders. It did.
Marx was soon interrupted by a very strange sight. A young woman in a scarlet dress was running toward him, her pinned-up blonde hair bobbing up and down rapidly. Other things were bobbing as well, but Marx couldn't look at those.
"Hey," she said as she drew closer, planting her hands on the crate he was carrying. "Mind if I sneak aboard? I'll make it worth your while..." she reached to stroke his cheek, but he pulled back.
"Sorry, lady. I'm private property," he explained with a grin. She looked taken aback.
"You're...what?"
"I've already got a girl."
"And...that matters to you?"
Now it was Marx's turn to be taken aback. "Of course." The blonde reploid blinked in surprise.
"Maybe Di's wrong..." he heard her mutter. "Well, will you let me on anyway?"
"Sure, as long as you tell me why."
"I'm...Commander X's girlfriend. I don't want him to leave without me, but he said it was too dangerous."
"I can believe that," Marx said with a chuckle. "He's right, though."
"I'm a Maverick Hunter."
"Well, I can't really tell you what to do with your life. Welcome aboard, miss...?"
"Mystic," she said, climbing into the gaping cargo hold. "Not a word to the others, mmkay?"
Marx nodded, setting down his crate for her to hide behind. She did so, and was soon completely boxed in. Minutes later, as the cargo doors began to close, a nearly invisible figure slipped through and crouched next to Mystic's hiding spot. Neither were aware of the other's existence.
The engines were already thrumming to life as Malakai made his way back from the Neo Tokyo National Airport main terminal, having fully downloaded the knowledge he needed to fly a plane. On his way to the cockpit, a human was standing in his way, writing something on a clipboard. The mere sight of him started his energy boiling.
"Out of the damn way, meatball," Malakai growled, and he moved to shove the human out of the way. However, his restraints kicked in at the last second, and his fist stopped just short of the human's face. Silently cursing Mistress Kira for tampering with his OS, Malakai simply moved around the surprised man and took a seat at the pilot's chair.
"All fleshbags, please get off the plane. We're taking off!" Malakai yelled back, and the NTNA workers all heeded his words. Alia soon entered the cockpit, taking up navigation controls. Next came X, Zero, and Axl, who stood in the center and tensed for the coming battle. Selene took hold of the co-pilot controls, and Malakai started taxiing down the runway until he was cleared by air traffic control.
The plane suddenly rocketed forward, as if thrown from a giant catapult. Both Zero and Axl almost fell over, but X had the foresight to activate the wall climbing program before takeoff.
"So...X," Zero growled, his teeth clenched. "Why didn't we teleport there?"
"Two reasons," X replied calmly. "First, we don't know exactly where it is. If we make a miscalculation, then we'll be sinking to the bottom of the ocean and we can't contact HQ to call us back. Second, we're trying to intercept Sigma before he gets there."
Zero looked about at the interior of their aircraft. "Signas said the mavs stole a gunship. Why are we in a cargo plane?"
X tapped his buster arm. "We've got guns, don't we?"
Marx found Nephtis in some kind of makeshift workshop near the back of the plane. She sat at a counter, on which were scattered various pieces of metal that included Darius.
According to Malakai, they were halfway to Elysium. He told this to Nephtis as he laid an arm around her shoulder.
"Only another hour of reality, huh?" She said softly as he massaged her shoulder.
"You know, I was just thinking...maybe we really are getting in over our heads. X said these things have been controlling history since forever. If they've got that kind of power, then what chance do we have?"
"Marx, this is a battle, not a history lesson."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah...it's just easier not to think about it."
"I can't help it now."
"Poor thing. Want me to knock you out so you won't have to worry about it?" She twirled a wrench in her fingers.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" He said playfully, his grip on her shoulder tightening.
"Maybe..." Her eyes darted about, her voice full of mock-guilt. Marx noticed what she had been working on.
"Isn't that one of Axl's guns?" He asked, pointing to the large silver cannon resting on the counter.
Nephtis nodded. "I'm trying to see if I can increase the speed of the rockets. They're homing, but they can be shot down pretty easily." Marx wasn't paying attention to the rocket launcher anymore. She turned away from the counter and fixed him with a sultry stare. "And...what exactly are you looking at?" Without a word, he took her hand and pulled her to her feet. Their lips immediately converged, and he pulled her back to the wall. However, this kiss was different than their usual ones. Mouths open, their tongues connected, and the message was clear.
Nephtis broke away, having been caught up in the moment. "Here? Now?" She whispered huskily.
"Why not?" He responded, toying with one of her tank top straps.
"The door's open. Everyone can see us, not to mention hear us."
"You think we'll get a chance at Elysium?" That was all the reasoning she needed to hear.
Several feet away, in the cockpit, Alia found something disturbing on the radar.
"X...you said we're trying to intercept the mavericks, right?" She called back.
"Yeah," X replied, walking over to her console.
"Good..." Alia murmured, pointing at the large blip in front of them. Zero nodded, turning around to find Marx. Within moments, he was ducking through a low door and finding himself in a very awkward position. This became even more awkward as a green tank top landed at his feet.
"Ahh...Marx?" Zero asked cautiously. The dusty-haired Maverick Hunter looked over Nephtis's bare shoulder.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"We've got mavs on the radar. Better get ready." Nephtis turned her head to the side, reaching up and brushing the hair away from her face. With her arm out of the way, Zero could get a clear view of...
Clean thoughts, Zero... he chanted in his mind, looking away. She's Marx's girl, Zero. Clean thoughts, Zero. Clean thoughts...
"Do you mind?" Nephtis asked harshly; Zero didn't realize that he was still standing there.
"Oh, right." Zero left the room as quickly as he could. The clean thoughts chant wasn't working very well today.
"Ten more minutes?" Nephtis pleaded, stroking his cheek. Marx was having trouble believing that the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen was pressing up against him, topless, and begging for ten more minutes together. His answer, as well as anyone else's would be, was...
"How could I say no?" He immediately returned to kissing her neck, which prompted a sensual growl from deep inside her chest. His hands, now wrapped around her arched back, moved forward with one destination in mind. However, they never got there. The cargo ship rocked violently, throwing both of them to the floor. Nephtis was on her feet first, growling now in rage instead of passion.
"Wrap it up, Marx!" Zero yelled from the cockpit. Dazed and still halfway in the land of bliss, he stumbled to his feet. Feeling like he should be the gentleman, he picked up the discarded tank top and handed it to Nephtis. She ignored it, instead grabbing a metal chest and flinging it open. Inside sat her uniform and golden armor.
Nearly tearing off her pants, she slipped into the form-fitting uniform and began attaching her armor. She glanced at Marx. "I brought yours too," she said, kicking another gray box toward him. He opened it, holding up his uniform hesitantly. "Oh, come on," Nephtis chided. "You were gonna do it anyway."
In minutes, they were armed and moving for the door. However, Marx laid a hand on her arm. "Wait here."
"Don't tell me you're buying into X's – "
"In case they break in, we don't want all our stuff defenseless," he explained with a reassuring smile. She nodded wordlessly, stepping back and letting him through the doorway. "What was that?" He asked when he was in the open cockpit.
"Long range battery," Alia said worriedly. "They can see us."
"Speed up, Malakai," X prompted.
"Aye aye, cap!" Malakai exclaimed dryly. He eased a throttle forward, and Marx felt himself sliding along the metal floor. Too soon for Marx's liking, a hulking shadow appeared out of the cloud bank ahead. It was nearly twice as big as their fat cargo plane, a long streamlined behemoth with four massive engines protected by petal-like shields. The sides of the rounded airship were bristling with small cannons, and one not-so-small cannon stuck out of the top like a shark's fin.
This cannon was the one currently lobbing ordinance at them. A streak of light flashed by, and their plane rocked to the side. However, as they drew closer, the next shot went wide. Marx breathed a sigh of relief. They were in the cannon's blind spot.
However, that simply meant they were in range of the smaller guns. Without a sound, X bolted backward and grabbed hold of a ladder. He pulled himself up and through a hole in the roof to come face to hull with the massive battleship. The two aircraft were now flying parallel to each other, in the fashion of ancient sea warfare. He raised his buster and fired a scattered burst of energy at the nearest cannon. Their fire wasn't doing much damage individually, but with at least ten cannons on the top row and ten on the bottom of the ship, their combined fire was taking its toll.
The cannon he was shooting at exploded, attracting the attention of the others. One fired, and X rolled, simultaneously thanking god for the wall climbing program. However, another caught him in the chest and he was wrenched free of the ship. He was horrifyingly airborne for a split second, then a strong hand clamped down on his wrist. Zero set him back down on the hull of the ship and brought up his buster arm. Behind them, he could hear Axl's gatling cannon whirring to life.
All opened fire, and two cannons erupted into flames. Axl's weapon swung in a wide arc, ripping fist-sized holes in most of the upper cannons. They turned their attention to the guns on the ship's underside, where their fire tore through both weapon and hull. When they were finished, smoke was rising from the side of the ship. But, then again, the same could be said for the hunters' vessel.
Two things happened that altered the playing field. First, mavericks began popping out of hatches on the upper levels of the gunship. Second, a boarding shaft extended out the side of the battleship and latched onto theirs with a crunch and grind of metal. X desperately hoped that the others could take care of it.
Tempest clacked his mandibles in anticipation. There was without a shadow of a doubt that Nephtis was in that Maverick Hunter plane. Especially after what he had told her. Of course, this is exactly what Tempest wanted. He wanted payback for the loss of both his arms.
Of course, he couldn't do it himself while he was still sans appendages.
"Isis! Get over here!" He barked, leaning against the wall. He tried not to look at the stump of his left arm; of his right arm there was nothing to look at. A drawn-out minute passed before the curvaceous maverick poked her head through the doorway.
"What?" She asked in annoyance.
Tempest cocked his head toward the battle raging outside the window. "Your little sister's in that plane. I want you to pay her back for taking away my favorite limbs."
Diamond Edge's eyes glinted. "I'll pay her back, and then some. She owes me too." With that, she disappeared again, headed for the boarding shaft.
Diamond slipped through the crowd of mavericks like water through a crack. Two Maverick Hunters stood on the other side of the cramped boarding shaft, raining bullets down on the mavericks trying to get inside. Those that got through, she soon realized, were cut down by Nephtis. Perfect. She rushed forward, pushing the maverick in front of her toward the storm of bullets like a shield.
As soon as she was able, she darted out into the Maverick Hunters' plane. Nephtis charged at her, but stopped short when she realized who it was. Diamond Edge kicked her in the side, sending her skidding through a door to the left. She jumped in after her armored sister, slamming the door shut as she did so. They were now standing in a cramped room with a countertop on one side. A large blue metool caught Diamond's eye for a split second, but she decided it was harmless.
Nephtis flipped backward onto her feet as a blade lanced downward. Diamond looked up, her expression feral. She pulled her arm out of the floor and held out the scythe-like blade on her forearm in an attack position. Nephtis held her staff across her right shoulder – an odd but effective fighting style.
Tired of waiting for the first move, Isis lashed out with her arm blade. The staff swung down and batted it out of the way, coming back up and slicing dangerously close to her neck.
"This is the thanks I get," she muttered in disgust. Truly, Nephtis should have taken Isis's actions as a gift. If not, she would have been subjugated to the kind of torture Isis endured almost every night from the international criminal. While he enjoyed having a terrifying image, he also made sure his body was 'compatible' with female reploids. Compatible my ass... she thought venomously.
The staff came down again, this time directly above her head. Isis brought up both her arms and just barely stopped the humming blade from slicing through her metal skull. She spun, bringing her arms on top of the staff and driving it into the ground. She ran at Nephtis before her sister could defend. Her right arm blade arced toward her, but before it drove into her head she knocked Isis aside with the shaft of her spear.
Isis ducked under the staff and grabbed it, pulling it and its owner toward her. Before Nephtis could respond, she reached out and grabbed her throat. The younger-looking reploid was thrust into a wall of lockers opposite the counter.
"Just tell me one thing, little one. Say 'thank you' for saving your life. Say 'thank you' for enduring torture at Tempest's hands when it could have easily been you in my place. Say 'thank you' for killing you before he could get another chance at it."
"Turkey...sandwich..." Nephtis grunted. Isis blinked in surprise.
"What did you say?" she asked, more astonished than anything.
"You heard me, bitch. T – U – R – K – E – Y sandwich."
A strange crackling sound was growing behind Isis's back, but that was the least concern of hers.
"You just wasted your last breath on utter nonsense. Maybe I should give you to – AAAAUGH!" Her screams were silenced by a wave of blue light. Nephtis ducked as the beam of energy tore through Isis's torso, incinerating all shreds of the icy woman's upper half. The blast collided with the lockers behind her, and Nephtis hastily shouted "Bean dip!"
Darius happily folded the beam cannon back into his helmet and went back into sleep mode. Nephtis, already on her knees, looked at her sister's legs with shock and horror. It wasn't until now that she had realized what Isis had sacrificed for her. Her words meant nothing to her before; she hadn't deserved Nephtis's attention.
"Kamilah..." Nephtis whispered in futility. What was left of her sister would never respond.
They were at a stalemate. The mavericks lacked firepower, and the Maverick Hunters lacked manpower. They seemed to pour endlessly from the boarding shaft, and Marx had given up waiting for the hunters on top of the ship to destroy it. They were too busy shooting at the aircraft itself.
Another empty clip, and Marx was out of bullets. He was about to switch to his shoulder cannons, but his memory sparked an idea. He took off toward Nephtis's workstation, leaving Selene to fend off the mavericks for a moment. He stopped for a split second when he found Nephtis crying on the floor next to a pair of attractive – yet severed and bloody – legs. However, time was of the essence, and he grabbed the Napalm Cannon without asking for an explanation.
He skidded back in front of the boarding shaft, sparks kicking up from his boots. With the huge silver cannon resting on his shoulder, the mavericks momentarily paused. Then, a missile was on its way and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Marx and Selene both backed up as the missile cruised over the heads of the mavericks, only to collide with the roof of the boarding shaft.
The entire top half of the shaft was blown off, but even more devastating was the rain of fire that covered the mavericks below. Within seconds, the boarding shaft snapped and burning reploids were torn away by the wind. Marx readied the Napalm Cannon again as the door to the mavericks' gunship began closing. The missiles were slow, but not too slow.
As soon as the doors closed, they bulged outward and the entire battleship swayed a bit. Selene cheered, but Marx was already running for Nephtis.
Megaman X felt the cargo ship rock again, and became worried. The mavericks' battleship was being torn apart by the combined firepower of the three most powerful reploids in the world. Huge sections of the hull were twisted and blackened, bullet holes covered the surface, and there were more than a few patches of ice. X got an idea that could end the battle.
"Malakai?" He yelled into his comm. link.
"Yeah boss?" was Malakai's response. He sounded bored.
"Slow down a bit. I want a shot at their engines."
"It won't work, but whatever." Their ship eased back, until X could see the blue fire of an ion drive. He fired a shot, but it was absorbed by the thrust. The actual engines were covered with energy-resistant shields. Fortunately for them, they had a non-energy weapon.
"Axl, take care of that shield," X said, pointing to the petal-like shield. Axl turned his gatling cannon toward it, firing up and down until a solid line was drilled along it. The shield broke off, and X could now see the black metal beneath. He waited for a charged shot, and when he was at maximum capacity, he fired. The thruster lit up for a split second, like a lightning cloud, as it absorbed the energy. Then, it blasted out a plume of blue fire like a dying beast's last breath. Chunks of metal were tossed into the wind, and another of the engines was badly shaken by the explosion.
Unfortunately, the maverick vessel suddenly veered toward them from the loss of their engine. X, Axl, and Zero jumped back through the hatch and landed in the ship as the two planes collided. The bigger ship knocked theirs to the side like an annoying fly, and continued its plummet through the sea of clouds. Malakai was wrestling with the controls, screaming obscenities as the ship nearly spun upside-down. Their right wing had been smashed to an almost unrecognizable point.
The cargo plane suddenly dove downward into the cloud bank.
---
"What was that?" X asked as the three scrambled into the cockpit.
"That was me," Malakai explained with a wry grin. All around them, clouds surged past them. It was as if their ship was flying through a giant cotton ball. Then, as suddenly as they had entered, they emerged. The clouds whipped away, and everyone's breath was taken with them.
When X saw the size of it, he couldn't believe nobody had found it before. But then again, Elysium was always able to alter the minds of those who did find it. From their vantage point, gliding uncertainly toward it, it looked like an island. Elysium was roughly thirty miles in diameter, and it appeared as though low buildings dotted a lush landscape. What caught his attention the most, however, was the tower rising up in the middle. The tower was about five miles wide, starting in the dead center of the 'island' and curving upward. It seemed impossibly tall, and the flat tip scraped at the clouds above. It was made of a dark gray metal, unlike the white buildings below it.
They rushed forward, far too fast for X's liking. Now directly over Elysium, buildings and ferns sped underneath them. Briefly, X realized that the buildings almost looked like a giant labyrinth from their altitude. As he looked back up, he found that they were hurtling straight at the tower, which seemed to be getting bigger by the second.
Now X could see etched designs and what appeared to be red eyeballs covering the tower. They weren't fairly obvious; the ship was simply close enough so that X could see them clearly. Malakai finally got the ship to bank to the right, and the belly of the plane skimmed the tower as they flew around it. X, Zero, and Axl were all thrown to the wall, while Alia and Malakai held onto their controls. Selene was already sitting on the right wall, so she didn't have very far to fall.
In moments, the tower was behind them and Malakai was struggling to straighten them out. He failed. The ship wobbled uncertainly, then the right engine abruptly cut out.
"Strap yourselves in, ladies and gent. This is gonna be a bitch!" Malakai yelled back. Only Axl understood that he and Zero were the ladies, and X was the gent. All Malakaiisms aside, they ignored his advice. He shrugged, trying to level out the plane as much as he could before they crashed.
They first hit a low building that looked as if it were made of marble, skipped across it like a rock on water, then careened off the side and into the building behind it. X lost consciousness immediately, but one thought made itself clear before everything went black: We made it.
End of Chapter 31
AN: I've been meaning to write this one for awhile, and I think it's one of my favorites so far (both writing-wise and reading-wise). Hopefully you all enjoyed it too. Note: Kamilah means perfection.