Chapter 12: "Out of Time"
The X-Hunter bunker was dimmer than when Alia had visited it. A substantial amount of the light was flickering from the dancing sources of two beam-sabers. Signas twist-flipped and slashed wide, forcing X to fold and roll away. X wielded a clean-white saber, held in an inverted grip in his left hand.
Rising with a fresh twist, X back-slashed at Signas' middle, and the officer gave a faint chuckle as he somehow halved his frame at the waist. For his relative bulk, it was an astonishingly adroit reverse hop. It let X's blade sizzle the dust in the air just near his flank.
"You learn very quickly, X. Especially with such a complicated style you've chosen for yourself."
X braced, blade-hand aimed forward. "I suspect most of Dr. Light's work went into my adaptation protocols."
"Time well spent then. What information did we get from Magna?"
The two continued to spar as they spoke, beam sabers roaring and sparking.
"He wasn't let in on a lot of the details," another strike, "but he knew the power drain and spike we saw was for something massive."
"With how closely they play their cards," Signas ducked a swipe from X, "to their chest, I'd say these," another blade collision, "X-Hunters were assuming you'd defeat their Mavericks."
X flipped back to dodge a downward swipe. "Possibly, but it's more likely they just didn't consider their enslaved servants valuable enough to include in their process."
The two swords crashed together once more, the pair locking gazes over them.
"So you're seeking deployment back to the facility?" Signas asked, his voice faintly tensed by effort.
"Exactly. I just need to check in at headquarters first," X responded.
Signas eased back, his saber extinguishing with a soft intensification of its hum. X deactivated his own, rising up with a nod of appreciation to the other Reploid.
"There's a small gap in production lines at the moment. To avoid raising suspicion, we'll have to keep Magna in stasis a little longer," Signas explained as X started to move away.
"Understood. Thanks again, Signas."
Signas watched X leave the bunker, and his optics tightened. I trust X, especially after all he's gone through, but his ability to adapt and fight is terrifying. If he ever did get infected… Signas rubbed his brow, frowning at the ground. "Let's handle that nightmare, if it happens, not before."
"Ah, X, you made it! Thanks!" Alia called over from her console.
X was just striding through the door of the lab Alia had commandeered during her recovery from losing her arm. "No problem, Alia. What's going on? You messaged me pretty much as soon as I ported in," he finished with a light laugh.
Alia gestured up at her largest screen as he came around to her side. "My emergency stasis system is already being implemented! Virtually every Reploid should have the upgrade installed within the year!"
X raised his eyebrows up at the screen, sincerely astonished. "Great work, Alia. When you get your mind set on something, I'm not sure anyone could stop you."
Alia bashfully shrugged. "Well… certain people seem to be able to stonewall me better than others."
They shared a dry side-long smile.
"I'm still concerned about the computer facility. Are you certain nothing odd has been noticed there?"
Switching mental gears, Alia brought up a few displays, clearly showing map data for the computer facility where X had fought Magna Centipede. "Truthfully, no, but we can barely analyze the facility. A lot of it was built with special metallic compounds that baffle sensor feedback. The place is quiet as a stone right now, but I can't dismiss your concern. There's just too much unknown."
X crossed his arms, nodding at the data she'd pulled up. "Thanks. I'm going to talk to Dr. Cain. I think that facility is still part of this mess."
Alia gave a playful but proper salute. "Aye, sir."
He returned it. "Carry on, lieutenant."
Alia let her smile linger as he left the room, and focused back on her work.
"I understand your concern, X, and I share it, but we still have a far more imminent threat on the table," Dr. Cain replied with gentle exasperation in his voice, both hands resting on his cane in front of his chair.
X leaned onto the human's desk. "Crystal Snail hasn't moved from that facility once in this entire Maverick outbreak. I'm not dismissing him, but that computer facility has too much going on."
Dr. Cain firmed his manner, his wrinkled face hardening. "Maverick Hunter X, I'm ordering you to deploy to the crystal mines, pending proper intelligence gathering by our operators. When Crystal Snail is detained or deactivated, I will send you to the computer facility myself."
X's brow creased, but he stood up, gave a faint nod, and then sharply turned, marching out of the room.
Dr. Cain sighed, his frame deflating once the doors sealed shut. Turning his chair, his back wall opened, revealing the recently repaired lab where Zero's all-but-complete body was resting. "Think you could wrangle him any better for me?"
Quickman opened a door in one of the lower levels of Maverick Hunter Headquarters, and blinked his optics at Dex. Neither seemed surprised to see the other, though they had no reason to expect each other in such a random location.
"Dex, something wrong?" Quickman started when the other just stared without speaking.
Dex gestured behind himself faintly. "Can we talk? Privately?"
Quickman quirked an optic ridge, but tipped his head.
A moment later, they were inside a simple meeting chamber, empty and dimly lit.
"I've been doing some personal research into a matter of concern," Dex began calmly. "For such a new recruit, your scores and record are flawless, even off the charts in certain live-field monitor recordings we've made."
Quickman's optics slowly tightened.
Dex went on, "Your talent for combat is undisputable, but I realized something the last time you were in action."
"Oh?"
"I've seen your techniques before. Once."
There was a poignant pause.
Quickman exhaled slowly, tilting his head down, and rubbed his metallic chin with soft scraping sounds. "And here I thought I was one of a kind. Where'd you see my style before, kid?"
Dex didn't hesitate this time. "Boom Kuwanger."
Their optics locked, and there was another loud silence.
Quickman's frame eased, seeming tired, and his head angled back, the optics looking down into Dex's with a mixture of resignation and exhaustion. "Do you think I'm here to harm innocents, Dex?"
Dex's optics slanted, appraising. After a moment, he shook his head. "No… I don't."
"Does anything more need to be said?"
"I suppose not. For now, at least."
Quickman tipped his head. "Permission to depart, sir?"
"Granted…" Dex managed quietly, awkward with the official ranks brought into play.
Alone in the hallway, Quickman sighed, rubbing the back of his helmet. Kid's just too damn smart…
X warped down into the starting chamber of the crystal mine once again. With his previous experience, he was able to dash into the next hall and guide his body through an almost elegant series of pirouettes, dives, lunges, and spins that carried him out of the paths of the crystal-cannons.
His optics dilated as his new sensors revved to max. His previous path through the mine became a holographic overlay, as well as his memories of the crystal emplacements and tunnels. He quickly discovered that the mine had been modified from his last infiltration, however.
A faint shout escaped his lips as he folded backward, sliding under a pearlescent bolt from one of the new crystal turrets just before the large drop into the mining facilities further down. "Crystal Snail's no slouch, I see," he muttered, sliding down and leaping from wall to wall to avoid fresh volleys of ricocheting pearl-light bolts.
Chain-claw swinging over a spike-pit, X landed in front of a mech suit. "I think I'll borrow you this time!" With a hand-flip, he was over the ridge of the control module, and in the cockpit. After he gave the spiked 'hands' a test spin, he brought the mech around, and firmed. "Let's say hello."
The mech ripped forward with its back hover-jets flaring. The left spike-ram fist pulled back, whirling into a frenzy, and he lunged into a wall of crystal blocks, shattering them to pieces. With each lunging strike, he was driving deeper into the mine, obliterating the piles of obstacles that had been added since his last visit.
"Sorry Crystal Snail, but I'm out of time."
He grimaced as he punched through a final crystal block, the shards flying around his head as he accelerated further on.
X was forced to abandon the mech once he passed the part of the mine where he'd recovered his new helmet. Leaping between a fresh set of crystal-turrets, he dropped into a larger chamber carved out of the walls, simply with doors added to the center of the two opposite sides. He was most of the way across when the doors slammed shut, and a chunk of crystal several times his own size came hurtling down from the ceiling.
With a quick shout and thruster boost, X wrenched backward, and watched the crystal slam down into the floor, settling at a faint angle.
There was a mechaniloid 'eye' in the crystal, and its red iris flashed to life as it focused on him quite specifically.
"Megaman X," Crystal Snail's voice rang out. "So good of you to come. It took you so long I assumed you were running other errands these days. Consider this a 'don't be late' castigation."
X's eyes narrowed at the iris just before it unleashed a globule of glistening plasma through its own crystal somehow. He dove aside, but watched the globule bounce off the wall and ricochet without losing any potency.
As it bounced a second time, the iris fired a fresh blob at him. X dash-swept around it, then hand-flipped and side-flipped through the two bouncing off the walls again.
With his new sensors active, he had a better idea of what was going on.
The crystal around that thing is just a modified suit of armor. It's porous. He has the plasma emitter matched to a frequency that lets the energy bleed through, then release, and that same behavior lets it bounce off the crystal in the walls. Clever. I see why Snail was in charge.
X's colors snapped to green hues, and his busters both contorted into plasma-saw emitters. With another series of hops and dives, he got to the crystal around the iris, and did a full-body leap over it, swiping down with his arms at the crest of his jump.
Four different plasma saws started to eat into the crystal, slowly grinding down in a spiral of biting persistence. At the same time, X had to immediately back-flip and twist to avoid the now five bouncing globules of plasma the iris had emitted while he danced about.
At last, the four saws hit the ground, burning themselves out, and the iris-crystal started to crash apart. The iris inside was torn to pieces by the collapse, and the plasma globules petered out as their generator faded.
X's colors flashed to red, and he focused on the opposite door.
Gouts of flame churned past the blast door, letting it crash down into the next hallway with glowing-hot edges. X came flying out over the fallen obstacle, and landed into a fresh dash as his colors reverted.
He leapt up onto a smooth crystal surface, then jerked to brace himself as it lurched beneath him. The massive chunk was sliding down a ramp all the way to a deep pit further down.
"Of course," he muttered sourly, his optics and sensors quickly taking in the rushing surroundings. His new sensors confirmed he had enough velocity from this rushing crystal to simply leap the chasm it was trying to smash him down into.
Just as the chunk he was riding slammed into the bottom of the ramp, starting to fracture and burst around him, X leapt free, and soared over the gap. He crashed into a quick roll, now in a fresh hallway with more crystal-turrets.
With a quick charge and expense of power, X was camouflaged with Sting Chameleon's old weapon, and he tore through the next few halls in a few seconds.
He was idly amused when a few bat mechaniloids swept down to chew on his armor.
"I haven't seen you guys since Armor Armadillo's mine…"
A few quick pulse-blasts left them all raining down in pieces.
With a little shake of his head, X leapt further along, and climbed the ladder waiting at the end of the current passage.
He paused at the top, seeing the sphere-lock door waiting for him. He deactivated his busters, and walked toward the door. Unsurprisingly, it opened for him. "…Time for a real introduction then."
Crystal Snail was still working at his large console as the wall behind him opened, and let Megaman X drop down to his level. The Maverick adjusted a few controls, and then spoke without turning, "Did you like the crystal turret? I was rather proud of that plasma generator."
X had to smile faintly. "It certainly was clever, Crystal Snail. I almost felt bad for tearing it apart."
"Well, it was trying to kill you. I can only be so affronted."
"I said 'almost.'"
Crystal Snail actually chuckled. Turning around, his large armored shell forcing him to step a bit away from his console, the elder-designed Reploid fixed X with a calm stare. It let X see his optics, and X's own gaze tightened. The haze of infection was there, but it was muted, subtle.
"You're fighting the infection like Overdrive did."
Crystal Snail smiled faintly, his long whiskers curling at the air on either side of him. "I bought some time for each of us once I realized the problem. Not enough, sadly. I have information for you. Once I deliver it, I will attack you."
X tensed faintly, confused for a moment.
The Maverick went on, "The real danger is in the North Pole. The 'X-Hunters' have built a massive base of operations there, using this island's resources. The geothermal plant melted a hole in the ice, the submarines delivered the materials, and the weather control facility kept the ice from melting on top of the facility while it was built. The other resources were mainly poured into distracting your forces."
Crystal Snail's head started to shiver faintly, his optics clenching.
X eased forward a step, a hand extended. "I might be able to help-!?"
"Too late, Megaman X. After you kill me… use this information… to stop them…"
Crystal Snail seemed to grow weak for a moment, sagging to one knee, his optics closed. The next breath, he was standing, his optics opened with malicious focus… and the full haze. "You'll find killing me difficult, however."
"…Please stand down," X whispered more than said, his optics wavering with emotion. The toll Crystal Snail's efforts had to have taken on him…
Crystal Snail snapped a hand back to the console behind him, and pressed a flashing control that had been waiting. The room gave a building hum around them.
Abruptly, Snail pulled into his own shell, and it rocketed straight up. X started to dash for the console, but Snail burst out of his shell, and his antennae crackled, then pulsed as the Maverick straightened his entire body with the focus of whatever he was doing.
A distortion swept through the chamber from his head, and X's optics flared as he realized his body was simply not moving fast enough anymore. His eyes turning was slowed, his sensors and reaction time. The only thing still moving at normal speed was his processor, so he realized he was a sitting duck.
Crystal Snail dropped down only slightly slower than usual, and delivered a quick one-two punch, then a rocket-powered spin-kick to X's chest.
X was flung back, his voice distorting into the air. He couldn't even fly back fast enough from raw momentum. He was watching Snail charge after him, the distorting of the room seeming to rippled and dance off the Maverick's body.
Just as Snail's next punch was about to collide, X's sensors finally gathered enough data to realize what was going on. It only made him more astonished.
A localized time-space disruption? He's literally slowing TIME down around himself?
The punch hit, and it drove X all the way back to the wall. His body still collapsing against the wall, X started to grimace, and watched Crystal Snail leap back. The distortion in the room eased, and X finished his crash, then crumpled down to his hands and knees at the base of the wall.
Crystal Snail held his hands out, globules of clear fluid flowing into existence beyond his palms. "You won't be able to run from me anymore!"
With a quick twist, he flung both blobs at X.
With most of his normal functions back, X dash-burst to his right, letting the globes hit, bounce, and burst around him. They seemed to form into crystalline structures right before completely collapsing.
Before X could close in on Snail, however, the Maverick burst into the air again, unmistakably going for another distortion pulse.
"Time to get serious!" X hissed at himself, and tried to leap up after the other Reploid.
The pulse rushed out faster, however, and Crystal Snail did a full rocket-shell ram down into X's chest.
It carried X all the way to the floor, smashed him into it, and the Maverick just somersaulted off with a faint chuckle. His voice was not as warped by the chamber.
"Time warps will really jack up a processor, won't they, my boy? Overclocking yet? Or did Dr. Light give you the wherewithal to withstand even that?"
X grimaced slowly, trying to rise up, but felt how slowly he was moving by comparison to the Maverick. I need a weapon that moves independently of me. I can't possibly keep up… wait… An idea lit his optics, though he could see Snail rushing forward for another attack, this time a globule waiting in his left hand in addition to his right fist.
X's colors started to switch to reds and purples, and he was pulling his arms in to counter Snail's attacks, but he simply couldn't keep up in the warped environment. Crystal Snail socked him in the jaw, and then slapped the crystal blog down into his feet before leaping away.
The distortion finally eased, but X's colors snapped to his desired weapon as he looked down to find his feet locked down by crystals. He couldn't move, though he did give a few test yanks. Sighing faintly, his busters activated, revealing top-open weapons with volleys of spiked discs ready to launch.
"Do you really think firing at me is going to help?" Crystal Snail taunted with a faint chuckle.
X looked up at him. "A little."
The Maverick smirked as he lunged into a fresh distortion pulse. X was already sweeping his arms from forward to back, unleashing a cloud of magnet mines in every direction. The distortion took hold, and he was left hanging there, his arms back, head bowed, looking up as Snail started to charge in with a laugh.
Snail started to simply step around the first mine, but then his optics flared as it warped toward him by proximity, and ignited.
Even in a warped time-space environment, the explosion was several fold the speed either of them could move. Crystal Snail was washed over with fire and force. He was apparently more tied to the distortion than X had thought, as the blow sent the Maverick skidding to one side, and the distortion effect ended abruptly.
As a result, the rest of the cloud of mines ripped along, and slammed into Crystal Snail like a swarm of angry hornets, blasting and ramming him back until he crashed against a wall and fell to one knee, his shell crashing down off his back.
The crystals finally degraded around X's feet enough as well, and he dashed free.
With a rush of air, X was on top of Crystal Snail, a mine aimed directly into the Maverick's face.
"Stand down."
"And you're… just B-class?" was all Snail said before trying to lunge up at him.
X fired once, grimacing, and the smoking remains of Snail's body crumpled down beside him.
Sighing, X let his colors and busters revert. "…This has to stop…" Then he crouched down beside Crystal Snail's body. "See you soon, Snail."
After the grim work of removing the buffer and processor, X hurried over to Crystal Snail's console. He was deactivating the jamming system's the mine had been using, and also confirming the data Crystal Snail had stated before attacking.
Just as a grid-point for the X-Hunter base appeared for him, his comm activated externally.
"X, do you read me?"
X touched his comm. "Alia, I copy. Crystal Snail is down, and I have immediate-action intel."
"North pole?"
He could hear the controlled urgency in her voice.
"…Yes. Their base is activating then?"
"Exactly. I'll port you back for the debrief."
"Thanks, Alia."
As the blue light washed over him, X glared at the map screen showing the base's location. You're always one step ahead…
Author's Note:
Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter. Rather like the over-long chapters, this simply didn't work as anything other than a stand-alone item. Tacking Crystal Snail onto the start of the Sigma Stage storyline would just be cheap, and moving the core-plot elements like Quickman and Dex to a later chapter would also be jarring.
That said, I was pleased with how Crystal Snail turned out here. I always found fighting him in-game to be intriguing for the concepts the game mechanics were clearly referencing, and I decided to embrace that concept, while still trying to explain how Magnet Mine was the solution weapon.
Again, thank you for all the support, comments, favs, and follows! Much appreciated, and they keep me going!