-38-

She rushed through the halls, hoping to see X before he teleported to that Laguz Island where he would meet the one behind this crisis. She didn't know where the storage room was, but she could easily fix that problem using her new ability to interface with current technology. Slowing down, Splash Woman sent a query for directions to a small flying mechaniloid that was doing maintenance duty on the lamps above her. The little machine identified the petitioner as a high hierarchy reploid and complied instantly, sending her a full map of HQ. The mermaid, pleased with the results, nodded at the robot as she passed it and mentally thanked Doctor Light for her upgrades.

Knowing now where she had to go, Splash Woman turned right on the next hallway.

She saw him just as he was walking out of the storage room, tinkering with a subtank he was installing in his right arm's compartment. Zero and those other two hunters were already waiting on the corridor, but she paid no attention to them; she only cared about Mega Man X.

"Wait, X!" she called. "I need to tell you something before you go!"

X stopped and looked at Splash Woman with a doubtful expression, he then signaled Zero, Vile and Axl to wait for a moment and then walked up to her so they could keep the exchange as private as possible.

"What do you need, Splash Woman?" He asked. "We're kind of in a hurry."

"Please copy my Special Weapon," she said, extending her hands to him. "You don't have anything in your arsenal with the properties of my Laser Trident, I'm sure it will help you. Take it."

X hesitated for an instant, but seeing the worry in her eyes erased his doubts.

"If you want to…" He reached for her warm, slender hands and held them gently in his; activating his Weapon Copy System so he could obtain the weapon she was offering him. The process ended in a second and X slowly let go, finding that he wouldn't mind holding her hands for a little longer and feeling slightly troubled by that emotion.

"Thank you," he said. "I truly appreciate this."

"I'll appreciate it more if you return in one piece," she answered. "Please don't act foolishly out there, alright?"

"I won't, I promise you…"

"Can you hurry up?" Vile interrupted then. "In case you forgot we only have two and a half hours left to stop Lumine!"

"Shut up Vile," X warned him and then turned to face Splash Woman again. "As rude as Vile is, he is actually right, I do have to go."

"I know," she offered him a smile. "Go, but be careful."

X smiled back and nodded.

=0=

The four hunters had found no opposition as they crossed the jungle. There were no attacking mechaniloids, no spike traps or pits… even the mechplants were peaceful! The only real problem was the interference; it was so strong around the island, none of them could communicate with their respective navigators.

The silence and relative tranquility of their surroundings was affecting the hunters in different ways, however:

Axl was starting to feel bored. He just wanted to reach the Research Laboratory so he could punish Lumine for hurting Pallette, but it was taking too long.

X was as thoughtful as usual. He was suspecting, and not for the first time, that Sigma was behind everything, waiting for them inside the Nightmare Soul Factory.

Zero was calm and calculating as he led the group through the jungle, and he also wondered, just like X, if Sigma was the real enemy here.

There was one thing X, Zero and Axl had all silently agreed on: the importance of keeping an eye on Vile in case he decided to betray them.

And Vile, who wasn't stupid, understood he was being watched closely, but he didn't care if the other three trusted him or not. All he wanted was to complete this mission so he could get his money, the pardon Signas promised and, perhaps, a chance to fight Sigma in this island. Vile had always wondered how well he would do against that bald creep in a fight, and was hoping this mission granted him the opportunity to meet his former commander in battle.

"How long before we get to the factory?" he asked. "I'm getting bored."

"We're still a bit far," Zero answered with a cold voice. "We have to go beyond this hill, but maybe you already know that, no?"

"Still afraid I'm one of the bad guys?" Vile mocked.

"You mean you aren't?" Zero shot back.

Vile just laughed and shook his head. "You three are annoying me so much I kind of wish I was."

"We won't win anything arguing," X interrupted. "Fine, we still don't trust you, Vile. But we may change our minds about that if you help us complete this mission."

The purple armored hunter didn't reply and simply groaned his displeasure, moving past X with quick steps. The Blue hunter paused for an instant and shrugged at Zero, who was looking at him questioningly. Axl simply sighed and patted both his teammates on the shoulder, indicating they should keep moving or they would lose sight of Vile.

=0=

"So, who was that pretty reploid who talked to you before we came here, X?" Axl inquired taking advantage of a quick stop they made to check if they could communicate with HQ, something that proved unsuccessful, the interference was still too strong.

"Axl, don't ask stupid questions," Zero chided.

"Hey, it's a valid one!" Axl complained, though the only reason he had asked was how bored he felt since all his earlier anticipation had died during the long hike through the hills.

"She's…" X made a pause to really consider his answer. He evaluated all his options and analyzed his emotions, suddenly coming to an understanding that surprised even him. Yes, he cared for Splash Woman and she was very important to him, he enjoyed her company and friendship, and he worried for her and wanted to protect her… but she was also a Lightbot; the only other Lightbot active, in fact. The answer to how he felt for her and why he was so concerned for her safety was so obvious he should have seen it days before.

"Well?" Axl insisted then, much to Zero's chagrin and Vile's amusement.

"She's my sister," X said with a bright smile, feeling happy just by saying it, as if the action finally solidified the fact a member of his family was alive. "Splash Woman is my older sister."

Zero, who was leaning on a tree, simply nodded and said: "Tsunami Mako found her a while ago deep in the ocean. Turns out she was active even after a hundred years inside a Light capsule."

Axl's jaw dropped and it took him a second to process the information. In the end, he decided it was awesome a Robot Master from so long ago was still functional, because that meant some of the first eight Cossackbots could still be as well. He may have older brothers, too!

Vile found the information and the way he thought X was trying to have his way with two women so hilarious he had to focus on not laughing. The Blue Stain had a sister? That gave him so many options to get on X's nerves it was practically overloading his circuits to the point he couldn't hold back a chuckle.

"Yes, she is my sister. Do you have a problem with that?" X said, coldly staring at the former maverick. "And she's off limits, Vile. Insult me all you want but leave Splash Woman alone."

"You have a deal, X. I'll leave her alone," the purple armored hunter swore, "…and also follow your wishes by doing my best to insult you instead."

X was about to reply, but he simply just shook his head in defeat; trying to argue with Vile was just a monumental waste of time.

"Well, I think that's cool," Axl offered.

"What's not cool is wasting time," Zero cut in. "Now that we all know who Splash Woman is and that we can't contact HQ, I suggest we start moving again."

=0=

Lumine's Nightmare Soul Factory, built on top of the remains of the Laguz Reploid Research Laboratory, was an imposing construction of black stone and steel, columns of sickly green smoke rose to the sky from several tall smokestacks on the left side of the building, and the humming noise coming from the factory told the hunters it was indeed operational. The tall iron gates were open and unguarded, yawning into a poorly lit hallway decorated with metal statues of Sigma's previous battle bodies.

"Sigma. Just what I didn't need to see," Axl said as he and the other hunters entered the factory.

"A tad melodramatic if you ask me," Vile offered while knocking on some of the tall statues as he walked by. "These things are hollow, in case you were wondering."

"Mind games," X said, frowning as he looked around while trying to find the door to the next room. "Lumine's trying to make us nervous."

"Well, he's wasting his time if this is all he can do," Zero said, his attention set on the ornamental metal disk on the wall right in front of them. "That huge multicolored thing over there, on the other hand… that does look out of place."

"That is because it isn't there for decoration," a melodic, almost feminine voice stated.

The hunter quartet spun on their heels to see the factory gates closing with a loud clank and there, standing with his hands behind his back, was Lumine, glaring at them with fire in his eyes.

"Lumine!" Axl shouted, his anger boiling at the sight of the deranged criminal. "You'll pay for using me and for hurting Pallette!"

"Oh, the Prototype, I'm not going to…"

*BLAM!*

Lumine fell on his back with a nasty hole between his eyes. Axl had shot him before he could finish his response.

"Now that's what I call melodramatic," Vile said as he pointed at Axl.

"That actually hurt," Lumine admitted as he got up. The wound on his face was already healing and he smirked as he started levitating, rising high above the four hunters. "But you won't get a chance to do it again… Mandala Q-5, destroy them!"

"Come down here, you worthless coward!" Axl shouted, shooting at Lumine and hitting nothing but air, as Lumine simply teleported away.

"Calm down, you'll have another chance to get him," Zero told him.

A loud crash was heard then, and a laser beam crossed through the room, forcing the hunter team to scatter in order to dodge it. Vile and Zero dashed to the left side of the hall, hiding behind Sigma's statues, while X and Axl went to the right, also using the rest of the sculptures for cover.

"That must be Mandala Q-5," X said glancing at the multicolored disk of death that had detached from the wall and now floated above them. The colorful mechaniloid was armed with eight laser cannons, and all of them were busy trying to get a lock on them.

"Whatever, let's just destroy it!" Vile shouted as he prepared his shoulder cannon.

But he didn't need to shoot, because X fired a charged shot straight at the Mandala, hitting it dead center, which forced it to retract its cannons and spin, releasing a series of land mines that exploded in the walls, missing the hunters completely. The Mandala was clearly heavily armored, but a powerful enough plasma shot had interfered with its aiming systems, at least momentarily.

"There's a path going further into the factory where that thing used to be!" Zero shouted as he pointed at the wall. "Let's take it, there's no time to fight this thing!"

"Zero's right, we only have little more than an hour to stop the Great Winter!" X agreed. "Shoot at it to keep it distracted while we go for that exit!"

The crimson hunter didn't have to be told twice, as he shot a blast from his buster at the Mandala, forcing it to use its spin attack again. Zero and X, who were closer to the exit, had no trouble dodging the falling bombs and dashing into the next corridor, where they waited for their two companions. Vile attacked the mechaniloid next, shooting a Stinkboy Capsule at it, an attack that proved to be very effective as it melted one of the eight cannons. While the purple armored hunter would have normally taken advantage of this to finish off the enemy robot, he was not willing to let X or Zero defeat Lumine on their own so he rushed to the exit and joined them. That only left Axl, who was the one further away from their only escape route.

And the Mandala noticed this. Understanding its master's enemies were about to escape, the guardian mechaniloid released a barrage of bombs to where X, Zero and Vile stood. The resulting explosion forced the three hunters to retreat further into the corridor, which collapsed behind them with a loud crash.

"No!" X shouted, shooting a charged shot at the debris, hoping to clear a path so they could go back for Axl. "We have to help him!"

"There's no time for that!" Zero disputed, standing in front of X. "Axl can destroy that robot on his own, he's not weak, X! Don't you trust him?"

"I do trust him, but…" The blue hunter sighed and nodded, his friend was right. They had no time to waste. "I understand, Zero. Let's go, it's what Axl would want us to do."

=0=

"Well, now you've done it!" Axl muttered when he saw the Mandala had separated him from his friends. "Alright, you ugly thing, I'll destroy you and then find another exit!"

The Mandala Q-5 responded to the hunter's threat by going higher and pointing its seven functioning laser cannons at him. Axl tried to do the same thing X and Zero had done, but he soon discovered his Axl bullets were too weak to even scratch the Guardian bot's scandalous paintjob.

"Great, now what?" Axl groaned as he listened to a soft hum, which was followed by the Mandala shooting its lasers at random intervals, forcing him to dash, jump, cling to walls and to hover as he did his best to dodge the barrage of death the mechaniloid was attacking him with.

"This is not good!" the young hunter thought, rolling behind one of the Sigma statues, trying to buy some time to think of a strategy. The Mandala was too high for him to jump over, and he couldn't approach it from the sides since it dropped bombs whenever he tried. A frontal attack was not a good idea either, he tried it and those stupid laser blasts had almost sliced him to ribbons.

A red laser shined above him then, and a heavy Sigma head fell with a clunk between his legs. The Mandala had found him!

"Damn it!" Axl cursed as he dashed behind the next statue, barely avoiding three laser blasts. A quick look back allowed him to notice one of the cannons was destroyed, which reminded him Vile had melted it with an acid attack.

Acid. Yeah, that should work. What did he have? Axl quickly went through the Special Weapons he owned, selecting the Acid Bubble so he could obtain a new weapon from it. He ducked and dashed further away from the Mandala and then the name of his new gun flashed in his mind: The Acid Harpoon Gun.

He materialized the new weapon immediately, earning a long pistol and a set of five small harpoons, all of them with an acid capsule attached behind the tip. Axl didn't have the time to admire his new gun, for the Mandala blasted the statue he was using for cover. Now in the open, Axl had no other choice but to quickly aim his harpoon gun at the mechaniloid and shoot at it hoping he would hit where he wanted…

And doing it! The Acid Harpoon hit one of the laser cannons, penetrating the armor and releasing its acid charge inside it, melting it away in less than a second! The only problem Axl could see was that the Mandala still had six cannons, and he only had four more harpoons.

=0=

"The hunters are already here," Isoc stated, entering the room where Lumine was. "It is time for me to leave this place."

"I said you couldn't leave, go back to work," Lumine declared without even looking at the reploid scientist.

"I'm afraid that is unacceptable," Isoc refused. "You are insane, and I don't want to be here when you are destroyed."

"Insane?" Lumine hissed, turning to meet the older reploid. "Destroyed? Hah! You old fool, the only one who will be destroyed here is you!"

And saying this, Lumine used the Fire Stinger on Isoc, engulfing him in flames that melted most of his body in a matter of seconds.

"Your destructive capabilities are impressive," Isoc's voice appraised. "Perhaps you may be able to destroy X, but Zero surely has the power to eliminate you!"

"Where… where are you?" Lumine asked, looking around desperately trying to find the traitorous scientist. "My inhibitors should not allow you to switch bodies!"

"Your inhibitors are a joke! I turned them off hours ago," Isoc laughed as he reactivated an old reploid body that had been resting in a corner since the Erasure incident. "Good bye, fool! I certainly hope your death is a painful one!"

And before Lumine could attack him, Isoc teleported away.

"…Fine, leave," the mad reploid whispered. "It doesn't matter, I'll find you later and punish you for this insult… you can count on it, Isoc."

A loud beep from his control panel alerted Lumine of something, and his attention returned to the main monitor. The three remaining hunters were about to enter the second station of his factory. Lumine grinned and decided it was time to see the hunters again. It would be impolite not to meet them face to face when he showed them the next surprise he had prepared for them, wouldn't it?

=0=

Axl grunted in pain as he crashed hard into the last Sigma statue. He had miscalculated his jump and landed right on top of one of the many bombs the Mandala Q-5 had dropped around the room. He rolled to the side and back to his feet, clutching his Harpoon Gun as he looked at his energy readings. His Power Core was at 43%. That was bad, as he had already used his Subtank to recharge after being hit by a laser that lowered his energy by more than half. He had to destroy the Mandala soon, otherwise…

The young hunter looked up and confirmed the Mandala was not doing better than him. The Mechaniloid still had three operation laser cannons and could still throw bombs, but black smoke was coming out of its seams and electricity sparked occasionally around it. The Mandala was severely damaged, and if Axl had to judge, its energy should be at about 30%.

How to bring it down to zero was the problem, as he only had one Acid Harpoon left.

"There has to be a way!" he thought as he dashed under the guardian bot to avoid its lasers. "And if I attack it from above? It has less lasers now, it may be worth a try…"

Moving quickly, Axl climbed over the remains of one of Sigma's sculptures and used it to jump to the nearest wall and from there towards the Mandala, hovering so he could land on top of it, reaching for and using a crack in the mechaniloid's armor as a handle to avoid falling.

"Alright!" Axl exclaimed, glad that his idea had worked.

But the Mandala, sensing its target was on top of it, started spinning in an effort to get rid of him, but it didn't work, Axl was simply not falling! The mechaniloid's programming, detecting a high possibility that this could mean its destruction, switched trajectories and went up!

"What are you dooooing?" the young Hunter screamed, noticing almost too late the Mandala was planning to crush him against the ceiling. Desperate, Axl jammed the Harpoon Gun into the crack and shot it, hoping this would finally destroy the stubborn guard bot.

The result was just what Axl expected; the internal damage caused by the Acid Harpoon triggered a series of internal explosions that finally destroyed the Mandala's central computer. Unfortunately, that didn't change the guard bot's trajectory and…

It smashed into the ceiling at full speed!

The Mandala Q-5 went through the roof of the factory, exploding in a massive ball of fire, splitting into burning pieces that rained all around the building with a deafening boom.

And then silence.

=0=

A large piece of twisted and scorched metal that was still red hot tilted slowly to the right, returned to its original position, and then moved again, this time collapsing on its side, lifting a cloud of dust and ashes. Coughing was heard and then, a shaking form managed to walk out of the wreckage, only to collapse after a few steps.

Axl had survived the battle with the Mandala Q-5, but he paid a great price for his victory. The young hunter was now blind as his optics had burned during the explosion. His servomotors suffered severe damage on impact, his legs were barely functional, his left arm was missing and his Power Core was at 7% and dropping slowly but steadily.

He understood he was going to die.

"I'm sorry… Pally…." He muttered. "I could… not… punish Lumine…"

"I don't care about that, you… you big idiot!" Pallette screamed into his receptor. "The interference outside Lumine's factory is gone and we saw what happened to you… Axl, you're on critical!"

"I… know… I…"

"My readings say your teleporter still works," the navigator interrupted. "Come back to HQ right now, you hear? Do it!"

"I'll… try…"

Axl ended the transmission and tried to activate his teleporter. A flash of pain that ran all over his body told him his self-repair systems were using all the energy he had left to keep him awake. If he teleported he would arrive unconscious to his destination.

He decided that didn't matter.

Groaning in pain, Axl forced his self-repair systems to obey him and diverted the necessary power to his teleporter, the pain coursing through him increased considerably, but this time teleportation was successful.

The young hunter beamed out of Laguz Island in a flash of white light…

=0=

Notes:

And here we have the first of what would be the final stages in a game.

What comes next? Well, that's a surprise for the next chapter, when the remaining hunters enter the second ring of Lumine's Factory, but feel free to guess if you want to.