-30-
He emerged from the sands with a powerful jump and landed next to a Forthold-L3 tank. He used his large pincers to crack open the tank's thick armor and then jumped back so he could aim his tail and shot a mighty fiery blast at the tank, engulfing it in all consuming flames until the vehicle was nothing but molten metal. Satisfied, the reploid arthropod extended his large pincers in celebration, confident he was the king of fire… Flame Scorpion!
=0=
Axl shot down another Spiky, jumping over it to avoid the ensuing explosion. This was the tenth of the wheel-like mechaniloids he had so far encountered and, while it was easy to get rid of them, they made going through the rock path that crossed the desert around the military base an annoying chore. Still, he remained focused on his goal, which was arresting Flame Scorpion after he had paid him back for what he did.
"Stop, Axl," Pallette said over the communicator. "I'm detecting something in front of you, let me complete the analysis before you continue."
"Is it bad?" he asked, taking this chance to reload his guns manually before starting his descent into a large depression surrounded by dunes, the fastest route to reach the abandoned base.
"Could be, I'll tell you in a second," she replied. "…Yes, it's bad. There are fire traps ahead; going by what I'm receiving here they're proximity activated."
"I'll keep it in mind when I go through this area."
"There's more, I got the trap's model from our database," the young navigator said. "They're industrial waste disposal devices, once activated they won't stop. They are programmed to unleash a burst of fire at set intervals, several thousand degrees hot, until they burn out all their fuel."
"I can't survive that… I would be destroyed in one hit," Axl lamented. "I'll be careful, thank you for telling me."
"Anytime," she said. "Axl… are you alright? You sound… more serious than usual."
"Yeah, I'm fine," he told her. "It's just… this one is important. I have to do it for me… and for you."
"…I see," Pallette audibly sighed. "Please don't act reckless in battle; I want you back here in HQ in one piece, understood?"
"Understood," Said Axl. "Don't worry, Pally. I'll be with you soon."
=0=
"Pally?" Layer said as she stared a Pallette with a smug smile. "My, my, you already have pet names for each other?"
"What? Layer… you… huh… we…." Pallette stammered and turned red. She had kept her relationship with Axl mostly a secret from her coworkers, and didn't know what to say now that she was under the spotlight.
"We all know you two are dating but haven't made it official," Alia offered, her voice acquiring a conciliatory tone as she turned to look at Layer "Just like Layer and Zero are."
It was now the time for Layer to turn red at the observation.
"Says the only one who has a rival here…" Scarlet said with a laugh, not turning to look at the other Navigators. "Girls, your problem is that you don't tell your men what you want. Have some backbone, ladies! Men are too thick-headed to understand subtlety, so just walk to them and say what you want straight to their faces!"
"I can believe such a crude approach would work on Vile," Layer said. "You two really deserve each other."
"And don't forget it," finished Scarlet with a satisfied grin.
=0=
Axl dashed left and then quickly right, dodging the killer pillars of flame which erupted on both sides. He reached the edge of a spike pit. It was very wide, so he had to perform a dash-jump to cross over most of it, and then hovered the last stretch until he finally reached the other side of the hole.
"That was risky…" the young hunter admitted to himself, as he finally was able to relax for a moment. He looked down at the scorched paint on his boots and lamented the fact the severe heat had managed to cause him harm. His core was now at 85% and while that wasn't a reason to worry, it was bad enough to keep in mind. Deciding that avoiding combat until finding Flame Scropion was the best option he had, Axl moved to the right so he could kneel behind a tall rock and from there he peeked out at the military base ahead. There were several Runnerbombers patrolling the area and further down the road he saw something big, similar to a Ride Armor in a sense, but the big machine more closely resembled a large, red Tyrannosaurus head set on two legs.
"Pallette," he called. "I need you."
"I'm here, what can I do for you?"
"There's a big thing down the road, I don't know what it is."
"Yeah, I can see it on the satellite view," she said. "Let me run it through HQ's database…"
Axl sat while he waited, his mind wondering to the recent events. He had been used by Lumine as a puppet, and the world was now in danger as a result. It made him feel deep guilt, and even if he understood there was nothing he could have done about it, he still felt responsible and was determined to do something about it. Something else haunting him was the anger he felt for what that New Generation psychopath had done to Pallette; that was the one thing he could never forgive.
"I guess that's something I have in common with my creator… we both feel responsible for the damage the New Generations have caused," Axl thought. He then remembered when he woke up after being repaired. The first thing he saw was Pallette, who he later heard insisted on being there for him and then he saw Viktor Cossack, his creator. The prototype smiled softly as he recalled that moment and the way Doctor Cossack explained what he did to fix him and how he had improved what he called the 'Weapon Copy System' to be faster. The scientist then stood there in silence for a moment until he finally revealed he was his maker, and smiled as he called him 'son'. Listening to that revelation had brought forth a damaged video file that linked back to the day he was first activated; in that video, all that could be seen was a loop of Doctor Cossack saying: 'Good morning, Axl. I am Viktor Cossack, your creator." Axl had always dismissed that file, never accessing it because it was damaged and he had even meant to delete it one day, but never got around to it. He was now glad he never did, because it confirmed he was no longer a lost child.
"That means… I am no longer like Zero and X…" he realized. "I know both who my creator is and I can see him in person every day. I… I have a father."
"It's an old REX-2000," Pallette said then, cutting Axl's meditations short. "I'm sorry, where you saying something else?"
"No, nothing really, just thinking out loud," he said, his eyes on the REX-2000, wondering how he was going to get rid of that thing. He didn't have any weapon strong enough to destroy it. He then noticed that one of the Runnerbombers approached the gates, saluted the Mad Joey piloting the REX-2000 before the gates opened, letting the first mechaniloid in.
Axl smiled, he now knew he would be able to get in the base, no problem. "It'll be a piece of cake."
"What do you mean?" Pallette asked.
"Copy Shot," he said. "I just saw a Runnerbomber get in the base, I'll use a disguise to get in."
"Yeah! That should work," Pallette said with a happy tone. "Good luck!"
After ending communication, Axl spared a few seconds to analyze the patter the Runnerbombers moved through the area they were protecting and, once he felt confident he had it, rushed to the next rock, and then the next one, until he was close enough to one of the humanoid mechaniloids.
"Ok, here we go…" he whispered and, taking aim, shot a copy bullet at the Runnerbomber, which allowed him to obtain the mechaniloid's DNA data. He then used his A-Trans skill to transform into an almost exact replica of the Runnerbomber. This done, Axl approached the base's massive gates, walking casually, avoiding any unwanted attention until he was in front of the REX-2000.
"What is it?" the Mad Joey asked. "Go back to your spot."
"Power core needs recharging," Axl said. "Self-preservation protocols in my systems dictate I ask for a refill."
The Mad Joey remained silent, processing what he head until he nodded and moved the massive vehicle to the side. The doors opened a second after.
"Very well, go get it and then return," the Joey ordered. "Scorpion said a hunter could arrive any minute, we can't be careless."
"I will."
Grinning inwardly, the prototype strolled into the base…
=0=
Axl used his rapid fire skills to get rid of a line of Metall-D2's and quickly dashed into the next corridor. He was already one room away from the rear exit of the base, and could now hear the loud noise of the Tunneler digging through the sand and rock. He'd bet the nuclear bomb was also out there.
Not wanting to waste more time, he rushed into the next room.
=0=
The young hunter was about to exit the base from the back door but he never got the chance because his nemesis fell from the roof to block the only exit, his pincers at the ready and flaming stinger aimed at him.
"Flame Scorpion!" Axl shouted, shooting a string of bullets at the maverick. "You coward, I'll make you pay for what you did!"
"Heh… Me, pay?" The Maverick chuckled, blocking Axl's bullets with his pincers. "Do you even know how powerful Lumine is this time? Only an idiot would defy him, and since your bullets can't hurt me, it seems you only one came here to die!"
Before Axl could react, Scorpion dashed in and grabbed him with his massive pincers, only to throw him hard against the wall. The prototype was able to roll to the left just as he touched ground, and just in time, for Scorpion followed his initial attack with a burst of fire that melted part of the floor.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Axl said and kicked the wall to jump straight at Scorpion twisting at the last moment to deliver a strong kick right in the Maverick's face, staggering him but not dropping him as Axl had planned.
"Good move, brat," Scorpion conceded as he steadied himself returning the favor with a quick swing of his right pincer, missing Axl by millimeters. "Nice dodge, but that won't save you!"
With that, Scorpion brought down his tail with blinding speed, sinking his stinger into Axl's back and injecting boiling oil inside him, earning the maverick a scream of pain from the young hunter, who fell on his knees and then rolled on his back, trying to do something about the painful heat torturing him in ways he had never experienced before.
"Axl, your power core is at 43% and dropping quickly!" Pallette screamed. "Teleport out of there!"
"Not… yet!" Axl growled, forcing his systems to compensate for the internal damage as he got back on his feet. As he focused on ignoring the pain, Axl decided that the only way he could win this was by taking out that stinger. "He has to be punished first, Pallette!"
"I'll keep your head as a trophy, kid!" Scorpion declared as he brought his pincers down hard, aiming for Axl's neck.
"Never!" the Prototype shouted and leapt out of the way. He used his back thrusters to hover in place and took careful aim at Scorpion's tail. Perhaps his pincers were too strong for his bullets, but the tip of that stinger…
Axl took the shot.
And hit! The Axl bullet hit its target, lodging itself in the tip of Scorpion's stinger, something that caused the maverick to swing his tail madly as he tried to get rid of the slug obstructing it.
"Try to burn me again, idiot!" the young hunter taunted. "Your tail's useless now!"
"My pincers aren't!" Scorpion retorted and took a swing at the hunter, but he missed again as Axl simply hovered back.
"Axl, good news," Pallette said then. "Captain X just uploaded the Tsunami Wave to the Weapons Database, try to use it with your weapon copy!"
"As expected from X," Axl grinned and downloaded the special weapon, which he then combined with his Weapon Copy System. Axl's Weapon Copy System differed from X's Variable Weapon System and Zero's Learning System in that he didn't duplicate the Special Weapon like X could, since he lacked a buster, and he didn't learn a new technique like Zero did. What Axl did was adapt a Special Weapon into a new gun for him to use.
And the Tsunami Wave had sure delivered.
Axl turned off his hover jets and landed, wincing a bit as touching ground sent a wave of pain all through his back. But he now held in his hands a fearsome-looking rifle, its name flashing on his mind: the Tsunami Gun.
"That won't help you, brat!" Scorpion threatened and dashed at Axl. "Your life ends here!"
"I don't think so," Axl disputed and shot Flame Scorpion with his new rifle, which unleashed a powerful stream of water that hit the fire Maverick right in the chest.
The effect was tremendously destructive, as the sudden change in temperature caused by the water caused Scorpion's super-heated armor to crack and fall apart, revealing the burning core of the fire based maverick.
"Don't think you've won!" Flame Scorpion sentenced and jumped high, planning on trampling Axl and then disemboweling him with his mighty pincers.
"I already did," the young hunter said and shot the Tsunami Gun again.
The water stream hit Scorpion in the chest again, and it forced his core to overheat to the point it exploded, destroying Flame Scorpion completely with a loud blast. All that remained of the maverick once the dust settled were a few parts scattered around the room, the most important of them being his weapon chip, which Axl picked up and analyzed, uploading the weapon information into the database once he completed the process.
"This was just what you deserved, Scorpion, and Lumine is next." Axl muttered as he finally left the room.
=0=
Outside, Axl found a control panel set on a platform that overlooked a sea of dunes and sand. Not too far away he saw the nuke, resting on a wheeled platform and further ahead, the massive Tunneler-D16, with its gigantic main drill and the five secondary ones was moving in reverse from the hole it was digging. The automatic machine opened several vents the size of Ride Chasers and expelled hot steam from them. Axl looked down at the panel and pressed series of buttons, which caused the Tunneler to change directions and surround the base, he heard a few explosions a couple of minutes later, followed by the sound of the Tunneler shutting off.
"Pallette, it's done," He called. "Send the bomb squad to the area, the coast is clear."
"The Tunneler-D16 isn't in its previous location," she observed. "But it's now deactivated, what did you do with it?"
"I sent it to crush the REX-2000 before shutting it off," Axl explained after he drank the energen fluid from his subtank to recharge his power core. "No need to let the bomb squad guys deal with it."
"I see. Will you come back to HQ?"
"Yeah, I kind of need some repairs," Axl sighed. "I hope they won't take long. See you in a second."
Notes:
Thanks to Adam for beta reading this chapter.
The REX-2000 is a sub-boss found in Dr. Doppler's lab in Mega Man X3. It normally takes a lot to defeat it, and Axl didn't have any Special Weapons here, so I think it makes sense he would want to avoid fighting it.