CHAPTER 20
-"THE PRESENT DANGER AND THE FUTURE HORROR… ENTER MEGAMAN X AND ZERO!"-
At the RED CAT GANG's new hideout …
Now that Dr. Wily's finished analyzing the three Phoenix treasures and extracting the jewels from them for Erick, he went back to work on his latest creation. He was about to break out in his usual evil laughter when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in!"
Bass entered the lab, Treble with him. "OK, Doc, what is it now?"
Dr. Wily laughs his evil laugh. "Hee hee hee! You're just in time, Bass! At last, after months of work, it's finished!" He goes over to a raised platform, where there's a large object covered by a sheet. "BEHOLD!" He grabs the sheet and pulls it off, revealing…
"DOC! What the heck is that!"
Lying on the platform was a large, bulky suit of gray armor with blue gloves, blue boots, and blue shoulder pads. Dr. Wily's trademark "Dr. W" insignia could be clearly seen on the belt buckle.
"My latest creation, FIGHTMAN! HA HA HA!"
"Ah geez, not another lame-o robot, Doc! And you call it finished? That thing's got no head on its shoulders! What's up with that?"
"That's because it's not a robot, you idiot! It's a suit of powered armor. I've been working on it during the 2000 Anything-Goes Martial Arts Tournament. Wearing this suit puts the powers of the world's greatest martial artists in the hands (and feet!) of one man! Anybody who wears it will be the strongest warrior in the world, possessing superhuman strength, enhanced intelligence, heightened reflexes, and coordination! But there is one small problem…"
"Oh? And what's that?"
Dr. Wily explains. "Initially, I wanted to use the martial artists the RED CATS had kidnapped in order to provide combat data for Fightman's programming. But after Ranma Saotome's fight with that girl Rouge in the final match of AGMA 2000, the military showed up, freed the prisoners, and destroyed the installation where all of the accumulated combat data was stored! Grrr… it's that blasted Ranma's entire fault, I tell you!"
Bass sweatdrops. "Uhh, Doc? Just how exactly is THAT Ranma's fault?"
Dr. Wily sighs, "Never mind that. It doesn't matter now anyway." Then he laughs, "Hee hee hee… But it wasn't a total loss… A few days later, I came back to the ruined arena where Rouge and Ranma fought, and I found something amazing. You see, Bass, the RED CATS had brainwashed Rouge for me and, and while she was under our control, her strength was greatly increased, especially in her cursed form as that six-armed, three-faced goddess Ashura. She was so strong, that she was able to hurt Ranma pretty good, enough to make him bleed! I found traces of his blood, collected them, and took them back to the RED CATS' fortress. From Ranma's blood, I extracted a perfect sample of his DNA. Using the sample, I conducted a series of experiments in order to unlock Ranma's secret, and from those, I created…."
"Dog-Boy" and Lady Ran!" Bass finishes Dr. Wily statement.
Dr. Wily frowns at Bass' rude nickname for R., but he continues talking with Bass. "Precisely. Two perfect assassins, created from Saotome's own DNA, their sole purpose to hunt down and kill Ranma, thus ridding me of him for good! But of course, you know what happened after that…"
Bass nods in agreement with Dr. Wily on the events that happened after R and Ran's "birth". Wily's trying to drill it into their heads (by brainwashing them, of course!) that Ranma was their enemy and they had to kill him. Wily's sending R on a pre-arranged training journey to hone the boy's fighting skills. Ran's constant refusal to give in to the intense brainwashing Wily was putting her through; for some strange reason, she seemed to have a problem with killing Ranma. Ran's stealing of the Phoenix Stone. How R was sent to kill her and get it back, which led to Ran taking a near-fatal plunge into the ocean and R grieving over her apparent "death". And what really bothered Bass was R's return to active duty, as if nothing happened, forgetting that Ran was his… oops! Almost gave it away, didn't I?
Dr. Wily continues, "Sigh… I should have foreseen that…. With his exceptional fighting skill R can easily kill Ranma with no problems, but he couldn't kill Ran… I suppose the old saying is true: blood DOES run thicker than water. D'OH!"
"So "Dog-Boy" and Ran really ARE brother and sister!"
"Yes, Bass, they are. Because they share more than five tenths of Saotome's DNA, R and Ran Hayami have a unique spiritual and emotional bond and feel protective towards one another. That's why after Ran's betrayal, I had to brainwash R and block out his memories of her, so that he would remain loyal to us.
"Wait a minute! If YOU created them, then that means their parents…
"They don't exist. They never did. In the cemetery where R's "parents" were supposedly laid to rest, there's just a tombstone and two empty graves. No casket, no corpses, nothing. Posing as a friend of his late "father", I just told R his parents were dead as further motivation for him to kill Ranma. Like adding fuel to a fire, heh heh heh!"
"Does Ran know about this?"
"No, and I intend to keep it that way! The truth would devastate her. So don't YOU breathe a word to R about this! Besides, if he were to learn the truth, he would never forgive me." Dr. Wily gets teary-eyed. "After all, R is the only thing closest to a son that I ever had…"
Bass facefaults. "ARRGH! There you go again defending him! Stop calling him your son! It's like a bad soap opera!"
Then Onekomaru enters the lab. "Excuse me, Dr. Wily, but Lord Erick wants to see Lord Bass right now.
"What does that crazy High Priest want now? Oh, fine, tell him I'm on my way. See you later, Doc." Bass then leaves the lab, with Onekomaru following behind him.
Dr. Wily thinks, wondering: What are Erick and Bass up to now?
We see the RED CAT GANG's High Priest Erick Genryusai in his secret lair. Instead of his usual Black Armor Clothes, he's wearing blue jeans, a black shirt, black shoes, and a lab coat. He actually looks rather, well… like a normal scientist. You usually don't hear Erick and the word "normal" in the same sentence; it's very rare. I mean, this is ERICK we're talking about here, folks. Nothing he does is normal.
Anyway…Erick's in his lair working on something. He goes over to a table where an elaborate chemistry set with a variety of chemicals, electronic devices, and lab samples can be seen. Erick looks in a microscope; he seems pleased with whatever he's looking at. Then he taps in some information into a nearby laptop computer. After checking the results on the screen, Erick picks up a test tube filled with a dark substance. He then takes an eyedropper, dips it into a small bowl filled with a red blood-like liquid, and uses it, squeezing six drops of the red stuff into the test tube…
On his way to see Erick, Bass runs into Delia, who tells him why he wants to see him. It seems Erick has something he wants to show Bass…
"Look, Delia, this is no time for "show-and-tell"! What's your boyfriend want to show me?"
"All will be revealed when we meet Erick, Bass. Besides, he says it's a surprise," Delia says.
Bass replies sarcastically, "Really? Ah geez, I HATE surprises!"
Suddenly…
KA-BOOM!!
"What was THAT? It sounded like it came from Erick's lair!"
Delia panics, actually worried for her beloved's safety. "OH NO! ERICK DARLING!
"Lord Erick!" Onekomaru cries.
Bass tells them, "C'mon you two! Let's go check and see if Erick's okay!" You'd better not be dead, Erick! You promised you'd help me get my kingdom, and I can't get it if you're in little itty-bitty pieces!
And so, Bass, Treble, Delia, and Onekomaru rush to Erick's lair. When they enter, they see Erick, looking like he'd been roasted alive and yet with a triumphant look on his face. His lab coat and the clothes he was wearing were burnt and smoke was coming from them.
Delia cries, relieved, "Oh, Erick, thank god you're alive!"
Bass mock-frowns. "So, he's not dead after all." Secretly relieved, he thinks: I'm glad! Without Erick, I won't get my kingdom!
"Cough,cough….Ah, you're all here! And just in time, too. Give me a moment to change into some fresh clothes." Erick steps into the darkness of his lair to change clothes. Minutes later, he returns dressed in his usual Black Armor Clothes and skull necklace and his burns are healed. Now refreshed, he sighs, "Ahh… that's much better."
Bass is impatient. "OK, Erick, what did you want to see me for?"
"Well, Bass, as your "royal advisor", I just wanted to show the future king of the world my latest invention. BEHOLD!" Erick then pulls out a large test tube filled with a cloudy red substance swirling around inside.
Delia, Bass, Treble, and Onekomaru all sweatdrop.
"A test tube, Lord Erick?" Onekomaru risks asking.
Erick sharply tells him, "NO, stupid! It's not the test tube! It's what's IN it!"
Bass: Yeah, well, what IS that stuff in the test tube?
"I'm glad you asked, Bass! Take a closer look, everyone." Erick puts the test tube in a holder and positions a large magnifying lens over it so they can see what's inside.
Delia, Bass, and Onekomaru go over to the lens, and are surprised by what they see…
Delia's the first to comment on the contents of the test tube. "Erick! It…it's…they're…
Onekomaru gulps, scared, "Alive?"
Unimpressed by the stuff inside, Bass asks, "Just what ARE these things, Erick?"
Inside that test tube, tiny starfish-shaped creatures are swirling around. They are red in color, but their bodies are transparent. Bass can see that the creatures have organs and what looks like electronic circuitry inside them.
Erick explains, "These, Bass, are the result of centuries of research! I've combined ancient magic and modern technology in order to create them. They're nano-machines, microscopic mechanical organisms. But soon, they will be the ultimate weapons! I call them "Diabolic Variable Life Forms", or "DVL Cells", for short."
Delia catches on. "DVL", as in "Devil", right?
Erick laughs, "Right, Delia!"
"So, what do these "Devil Cells" do, Erick?" Bass asks.
"That's what I'm going to show you all. Everyone, follow me.
They all follow Erick into the darkness, and appear in another room. We can see a large control panel, and a large panoramic window. It's one-sided; you can see what is going on outside, but the person on the outside can't see in. On the other side of that window, is a room that looks like some kind of prison cell. Erick goes over to the panel and pushes a button for the intercom. He speaks into a microphone, "I'm ready now. Bring him in, would you?"
Looking through the window, Bass, Delia, and Onekomaru see two RED CAT Soldiers enter the cell with a third soldier in handcuffs.
"Strip him of that disguise," Erick commands.
The soldiers take off their "comrade's" cap and then pull off a pair of cat ears! Surprise, surprise!
The sound of disgust in Bass' voice is obvious. "HEY! He's a human!"
"Worse, Bass, he's a spy. We caught him during our trip to Gokuentou. The Cat Ghost King warned me that spies might try to infiltrate our organization. Up until now, we've been fortunate; the RED CATS have gotten pretty good at covering their tracks ever since Ranma beat them. We can't have anyone interfering with our master plan, especially not now." Erick speaks into the microphone again to the soldiers. "Release him, and then leave. I'll take it from here."
"Yes, Lord Erick!" the RED CAT Soldiers obediently reply. They release the spy, and then they leave the cell. The spy's alone now; it's just him and whoever he heard speaking to the soldiers. And since the wall he's facing is really a one-sided window, he can't see who's talking to him, but Erick, Delia, Onekomaru, and Bass can see him. The spy doesn't say a word.
Erick speaks into the microphone to the spy. "All right, Mr. Spy, you might as well give up the silent treatment, because your cover's already blown. We know who you work for, anyway. Our men deciphered your secret message. You were trying to contact Interpol, weren't you? You're one of their agents. Admit it!"
The spy still doesn't say anything. He stands defiantly against his unseen interrogator. He would never reveal his mission or betray his fellow agents. They'd have to kill him first!
Erick's rather impressed by the man's bravado, despite the fact it's pathetically futile. "Not afraid to die, are you? Look, if I wanted to kill you. I'd have done it already. Now, then... What shall I do with you?"
The spy finally speaks, "Uhh…. Let me go?"
Erick laughs, "Amusing, but…. no. I can't do that. You know too much, so I will simply have to make an example of you!"
"Interpol will know that I'm missing, and they'll come for me. You won't get away with this!"
Erick, now serious, says, "I very much doubt that. But your time is up, so I bid you farewell. You do know what comes next, don't you?"
"NO! Please... Not that! Anything but that! I beg you!"
Erick coldly says, "Beg away... I don't care..."
Erick then presses a glowing red button on the panel. In the cell, vents on the walls open up. A thick red mist pours out of the vents. The whole room is being flooded with DVL Cells!
The spy gasps, "OH NO! GAS!"
"No, my friend, it's something much worse. Ha ha ha ha ha!
As the Cells fill up the room, the spy tries to escape, but the only door is locked! He's doomed, and Erick knows it. He laughs at the spy's futile efforts. "MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"
"No…NO!…AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
A bloodcurdling scream can be heard as the Cells devour the spy, then the screaming stops. Erick then pressed the red button again, closing off the vents. After that he flips a switch, turning on a fan to blow away any leftover vapors. After the smoke clears, we see the spy, who appears to be unharmed. But he's just standing there with a blank, distant look on his face.
Onekomaru notices, "Hey! He's still alive!"
Delia remarks, "Just look at him. He looks so, so…"
Bass finishes for Delia, "Stupid looking, maybe?"
Erick smiles. "You haven't seen the best part yet. Just watch." He gets on the intercom again and calls out. "OK, you can bring it in now."
A RED CAT Soldier enters the cell carrying a large heavy mallet (like the kind Akane uses to hit Ranma with when she's really angry!) The soldier puts the mallet on the floor and leaves.
Erick commands the spy, "Now…take the mallet and hit yourself in the head with it."
Bass stupefied by this. "HUH? Erick, have you gone nuts? Why would he want to do that?"
Obeying Erick's command, the doomed spy picks up the mallet and…
BONK!!
The next thing we see is the poor spy out on the floor.
Erick asks matter-of-factly, "You were saying, Bass?"
All Bass can say is, "Uhh…. oh, never mind."
"If you need more proof of what my Cells can do, Bass, I'll be happy to demonstrate it for you again." Once more, Erick orders the spy, "Get up, and do it again, only this time hit harder."
Delia, Onekomaru, and Bass can only watch as the spy gets up (although he stumbles groggily from the first blow), picks up the mallet again, and with one good swing…
WHAM!!
The reactions to the scene vary. Bass and Onekomaru are shocked, Delia just stands there like nothing happened, and Erick has a satisfied grin on his face. Nobody says a word for a brief moment. Then Onekomaru breaks the silence. "That guy's gonna have one MAJOR headache when he wakes up."
"You mean, "if" he wakes up?" Delia corrects.
Bass speaks up, "So these Cells…"
Erick finishes, "Yes. By exposing him to my DVL Cells, he was under my complete control. This man is, or should I say WAS, my puppet and as you all witnessed, did ONLY what I told him to." He gets back on the intercom again and calls out, "Take him away, treat his wounds, and put him back in his cell. And bring in the next test subject while you're at it, will you?"
The two RED CAT Soldiers from earlier pick up the unconscious spy and drag him out of the room. Then another soldier enters bringing in an old, beat-up, rusty motorcycle and leaves.
"You've just seen what my Cells can do to humans. Now, watch what they can do to machines!" Erick repeats the procedure from before, pressing the red button and flooding the room with DVL Cells! After a minute or two, he closes off the vents and turns on the fan again. When the smoke clears, in the place of that old, beat-up bike is the same bike, cleaned up and fixed just like new.
Bass isn't impressed. "So you gave that old piece of junk a new paint job. So what?"
"My Cells did more than that. Look at this." Erick pulls a lever on the console; a concealed panel in the ceiling slides open, and a 16-ton weight falls and crushes the bike flat!
Onekomaru's shocked by what his master's done. "Lord Erick! You…you destroyed it?
"Nope. Keep watching."
And before their eyes, the crushed bike reassembles itself piece by piece until it looks like it did before it got flattened!
Bass, wide-eyed, is in awe. "WHOA! It repaired itself!" Hmm… the Doc might want to know about this!
Delia's gushing with praise. "Erick, that's amazing!"
Erick aw'shucks, feigning embarrassment. "Heh. Why thank you, Delia. But this is only a sample of the powers of my DVL Cells. I should warn you all, though; "Actual results may vary!" I'll still need to do some more tests before can I mass-produce them. When the time is right, I'll present my creation to the Cat Ghost King, Dr. Wily, and M. Bison. But in the meantime, our goal is to obtain the Phoenix Stone. Okay, guys, let's take a little break for now. I'll call you again for the next phase of the plans… Soon, the world will be in my power."
Onekomaru humbly interrupts, "Don't you mean the Cat Ghost King's power, Lord Erick?"
Erick catches himself. "Err…right! Of course! Yes, that's exactly what I meant. After all, the Cat Ghost King is all-powerful." He thinks: Fools! They don't know that they're just pieces in my game! The Cat Ghost King's resurrection is only a piece of a much larger scheme orchestrated by ME!
Meanwhile, back in the lab, Dr. Wily is working on one of his other projects now that Fightman's construction is complete.
"Hee hee, I've learned from my past failures...Thanks to my experiments with Saotome's DNA and with the completion of my Fightman Armor, I'll have everything I need to finish my long-term project - a new type of robot which is much more powerful than Bass or Megaman! Its power level is far superior to any of my creations, and second only to Fightman's. And this is more than just a simple robot, oh yes! With this and my other project complete, the world will be mine!"
Wily goes over to another raised platform, where there's something (or someone!) covered by a sheet. He grabs the sheet and pulls it off, revealing a robot with a long, blond ponytail wearing red armor.
Dr. Wily smiles. "Soon, you'll be awake and ready to do my bidding! You will destroy all of our enemies. You will be the greatest of all my works. Now, all I need is a name for you…. Ah! I have it! Your name shall be…
IN THE YEAR OF 21XX…
"Zero! Zero! Over here!"
"On my way!"
Zero, ace Maverick Hunter and commander of Special Unit 0, was at the scene of a huge disaster. Entire city blocks were set ablaze, and he and his unit were sent to help put out the flames and find the individual responsible.
Soon, Zero finds two Hunters, injured. "There you are! Are you all right?"
The Hunters tell him, "Beyond here is a giant Reploid... It's the one responsible for these attacks! We are afraid and we got hurt...
"I'll take care of this. Return to the Hunter Base now."
"All right. It acts like it's possessed. Be careful..."
Zero goes over to the location where the giant Reploid was sighted. The police and the military have the area surrounded. He gets on a loudspeaker and addresses the Reploid. "Attention! This is Special Unit 0, Maverick Hunters! You're surrounded! Disarm and give yourself up!"
Through the flames, we can see a large elephant-shaped form. It turns around and slowly comes toward the group. It's Flame Mammoth! Or rather, what's left of him. His body is damaged, with spots of rust, exposed circuitry, and a red, blood-like fluid pouring out of the cracks in his armor. He's missing one of his tusks, and his ears are decaying. This Reploid, who was one of Sigma's Maverick warriors, now looks like a reanimated corpse, a zombie!
Hunter 1 panics, "F-Flame Mammoth! Isn't he supposed to be destroyed?"
"Yeah, but look at him!" Hunter 2 says. "He looks he's never been repaired."
"This is something we've never encountered before!" Hunter 3 says, stating the obvious. He turns to Zero. "What should we do, sir?"
Zero does not panic, does not lose control. Instead, he simply stands his ground and confronts Flame Mammoth. "Mammoth! You don't look too good these days."
Flame Mammoth speaks angrily, but with some difficulty at first. "That…voice! You're Zero!….Where's…your pal X? I…got a bone…to pick with him!"
"Never mind X. Who reactivated you, Mammoth? Sigma?"
"Heh…You wish!… As for how I reactivated…Don't know, don't care!…. Excuse me…while I roast this city to ash! Burn…BURN!….BURN!! HA HA HA! BUUUUUUURN!!
Zero thinks: Hmm…the lights are on, but nobody's home … His body's here, but his mind's gone. Looks like I'll just have to destroy him again! Out loud, Zero rallies the other Hunters to battle. "All right then! Charge!"
Zero and the Hunters that are with him proceed to attack Flame Mammoth!
"Stupid Hunters!….I'll show you….FIRE WAVE!" Flame Mammoth shoots a huge burst of flame, taking out several Hunters!
The Hunters, burned alive, scream in agony, "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!"
They are burned to ashes! The others draw back in fear.
Flame Mammoth (being an elephant-type Reploid) trumpets, laughing, "HA HA HA! Anyone else…want to be cremated?"
Angered by the Maverick's senseless violence, Zero tells him off. "Mammoth! You always liked picking on those smaller than you! Well, I'm small! Why don't you try pushing ME! HYAH!"
Flame Mammoth shoots another blast at Zero. Zero jumps out of the way, leaping into the air, draws his Z-Saber, and with one quick slash chops off Mammoth's flamethrower cannon arm! It lands on the ground with a heavy thud. He lands and steps back triumphantly. "HA! Give up, Mammoth! You can't beat me!"
Flame Mammoth snorts, "Feh! That's nothing!"
"Nothing? Your weapon arm's off!"
Flame Mammoth evasively says, "No, it isn't."
Zero points to the severed arm on ground. "Yeah? Well then, what's that?"
A pause.
"I've had worse."
"You liar!"
"Come on, Zero!"
They battle again until Zero chops Flame Mammoth's other arm off. The arm lies on the ground. "Victory is mine! That should take care of him!"
"HEY! I'm still here! Come on then. FIGHT ME!" Jumping with his gigantic heavy figure, Flame Mammoth tries to land on Zero and crush him flat! Zero gets out of the way still holding his Saber. Flame Mammoth stomps after him.
Zero's like, "What?"
Flame Mammoth threatens, "I'll squash you like a bug!"
"OK, Mammoth, give up already! I've already won."
"Oh, had enough, eh?"
Zero can't believe this idiotic Maverick. "Look, you stupid bastard! You've got no arms left!"
"Yes I have."
"Look!"
"Just a flesh wound."
He tries to stomp on Zero.
"Look, stop that!"
"Chicken! Chicken!" Flame Mammoth taunts.
"Look, I'll have your leg."
Jumping with his gigantic heavy figure once more, Flame Mammoth lands on the ground, causing an earthquake!
"Right!"
Flame Mammoth stomps again and Zero chops one of Mammoth's legs off. Yet, Flame Mammoth keeps his balance with difficulty. "Oh yeah! I'll get you for that."
"You'll what?"
"Come here!"
"What are you going to do, bleed on me?"
Zero then notices a red mist coming from where he sliced off Flame Mammoth's limbs. He gets a strange sensation from the mist. It feels familiar, and evil… A new version of the Sigma Virus? He thinks: No, it couldn't be that. Sigma's gone, and the Virus too. But whatever this stuff is, it's the reason Mammoth's still functioning! This could be a problem…
Flame Mammoth boasts, "I'm invincible! HA HA HA!"
Zero flatly tells him, "You're a loony!" X, where are you?
In another part of the city, Megaman X of the Maverick Hunters' 17th Elite Unit was having problems of his own. The 17th was called in to put down a riot caused by several Reploids who'd been turned Maverick after being exposed to a strange red mist. Then they had to fight with Boomer Kuwanger and Gravity Beetle, who like Flame Mammoth, were reactivated, but showed obvious signs of damage and decay. Then X and the 17th teamed up with the 7th Air Calvary to destroy the newly rebuilt aerial battleship Death Rogumer, commandeered by a zombie Storm Eagle! After a spectacular air battle, they destroyed the ship, taking Storm Eagle down with it. Then X gets a call from the Maverick Hunters' Headquarters (HQ).
This is Hunter Base. X, are you there?
X responds, "X here, go ahead HQ."
A giant Maverick has set most of the city in flames. Zero and the Special Unit 0 are already there battling it, but they're being overpowered. Hurry and regroup with him as soon as possible! Stay alert; more reactivated Mavericks have been spotted in the area, especially where the mist is the strongest.
"What about that strange mist?"
Alia and the Reploid Research teams are currently conducting an investigation. They think it's some kind of new virus. Proceed with extreme caution!
"Roger, HQ, I'm on my way." To the rest of the 17th, X says, "Okay, 17th, let's roll out!"
X proceeds to join up with Zero, fighting off various Mavericks along the way. During the battles, X feels something very evil about that thick cloud of red mist over the city… He thinks: What a terrible sight... The city's been badly damaged... What could this mist possibly be? Could Sigma be behind this?
Meanwhile….
Zero and Special Unit 0 are having a hard time battling Flame Mammoth. As if that wasn't bad enough, more reactivated Mavericks appeared, and things went from bad to worse. Special Unit 0 is taking heavy losses.
We see Zero and some of his men continuing to fight against impossible odds. The Mavericks have them cornered in an abandoned building.
A fearful Hunter reports, "We're taking a beating out here, Zero! There's too many of them! What do we do now?"
Zero tells him, "Don't give up now! The only time these Mavericks will beat us is when we aren't able to fight any longer! We'll have to stand our ground until reinforcements come." C'mon, X, hurry up!
As the hunter and Zero talk, we hear the angry trumpet of an elephant's roar. Then an explosion!
BOOM!!
One of the building's walls crumbles, with rocks and debris flying everywhere. Through the large hole in the wall comes Flame Mammoth! "HA HA! Now I got ya! There's no escape! Now, I'll burn you all up! HA HA HA….. AAAUGH!!"
A large energy blast hits Flame Mammoth, blowing a huge hole right through him. He falls to the ground with a heavy thud.
THUD!!
Zero's troops look up to see who fired the shot that finally took Mammoth down. It's Megaman X!
The Hunters are cheering, "Look! It's X! We're saved! YAY!! Go, X! You da man!"
X calls to his friend. "Zero!"
Zero hmph's. "X! It's about time you showed up. I was really worried about you."
"Sorry about that..."
Zero grins. "Don't worry about it. Now let's go to work!"
X nods. "Right!"
With the arrival of X and the 17th Unit, the tide began to turn in the Hunters favor. They defeated all of the Mavericks; unfortunately, with every one they defeated, more kept popping up! And once again, the combined forces of the 17th and Special Unit 0 were outnumbered by the growing legions of undead Mavericks. Suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew through the abandoned building, blowing away everyone in its path!
When the winds died down, X, Zero, and a handful of their fellow Hunters were the only ones left standing. The rest of their comrades were injured, or worse, destroyed. Even worse, the hordes of zombie Mavericks were still standing, advancing toward our heroes. Only now, another one showed up – Storm Eagle! Most of his feathers were gone, and his armor was rusting and burnt from the explosion caused by the 17th's destruction of his ship, the Death Rogumer.
X yells, "Eagle! You're still alive!"
Storm Eagle laughs, "Heh heh heh! You thought you'd beaten me that easily? HA! So how'd you like my winds X? Did they blow you away? HA HA HA!"
"Those were our comrades you just killed! To avenge them… we'll stop you, Eagle!"
"I doubt that X! Take a look!"
And to X's horror, the red mist surrounded the remains of those slain Hunters and brought them back, only as zombie Mavericks! They had their weapons pointed at X and Zero! "Oh no! This can't be!"
Zero curses, "Damn! This isn't good. I never thought we'd end up fighting our own forces!"
With his enemies right where he wants them, Storm Eagle decides to savor the moment before finishing them off and starts monologue-ing. "HA HA HA! Give up, you two! Don't you see how futile it is? Thanks to "the mist", we have been reborn! We will infect the world with devastation, divide humans and Reploids across the nation, crush the evils of truth and love, and spread our wrath to the stars above!
Zero sweatdrops. "Now where have I heard THAT before?"
Storm Eagle's just about finished with his speech. "So surrender NOW, foolish Hunters, or you will surely lose this fight! HA HA HA!
TO BE CONTINUED…