(A/N: Hello everyone! I know it's been a long-ass time since this story was updated, but I am back and ready to finish this baby! I thank all of you for your patience and continued support, and I hope you are as excited about the concluding chapters as I am! Enjoy!)

Maverick Hunter X: Next-Level Insurrection

Chapter 14: Siege Against Sigma

DISCLAIMER: It is heavily advised that this story be read with awesome Mega Man music playing in the background. I do not own any Mega Man X related characters or themes. All characters from Mega Man, Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, and Mega Man Legends are all owned by Capcom. Please support the official release!

MAY 7, 2053

08:45 – MAVERICK HUNTER HQ

"We got him, X! We're all well-rested and ready to take the fight to Sigma!" said Zero.

The Maverick Hunters had gathered in the control room to access the new information Zero was able to obtain in his meeting with Layer. Thanks to the intel, they had found Sigma's base of operations. A floating mass of land near Hawaii that was not showing up on their maps. The Hunters were happy to hear this news, but most of them were tired from being spent by Sigma's forces the past week. It was agreed that getting a good night's rest would be beneficial to them going into the battle that was to come. Now that they were all recharged, it was time to meet and plan their attack.

Iris had cued up a call with the Repliforce as well. General Churchill and Elpizo stood on screen, stoic and ready to proceed with the operation. Alongside them was someone a few feet taller than Elpizo but still shorter than the General. He had a black and yellow armor in the form of a soldier's uniform and coat, with red wrists and anklets, a black officer cap with a gold Repliforce emblem on it, as well as black spikes coming from his shoulders. He was Colonel Patton, second-in-command of Repliforce, their chief on the battlefield, and Iris's older brother. Nana punched in a map of where Sigma's fortress was located. Normally, it would have shown as empty space, but Layer's intel was able to debunk that there was something. In truth, Sigma was just cloaking its position to keep it secret from the Hunters and Repliforce long enough for his plans to go in effect.

"Sigma was very adept at hiding his location from us for as long as he did. He was also intelligent enough to spread his forces out across URO occupied areas to give us the wrong inkling of where he could be." Said Churchill, "Playing us for fools was no doubt his agenda, but not his endgame…"

"I thought his endgame was to make X a Maverick?" said Zero.

"I do not doubt that was his intent, but I don't think that was his only goal. Lieutenant Elpizo informs me he and his scouts have discovered what Sigma's intent is…" responded the General, motioning for Elpizo to speak up. The secret traitor nodded and moved a bit closer to the screen, not removing his stoic demeanor.

"Thanks to intel from my new recruits, we have discovered what Sigma intends to do." Elpizo began, bringing up a projection of Sigma's base of operations. The image zoomed in on the interiors of the rock keeping the fortress afloat, which showed what appeared to be a giant mega cannon. "At precisely 6:20 AM local time tomorrow morning, Sigma shall activate this laser cannon and fire it directly into the Pacific Ocean. The blast will be so powerful that it will create a mega tsunami that will flood and destroy the west coast of North America, as well as the coast of Japan, China, and Australia. The beginning of the end of the human race…"

Everyone in the meeting looked in shock. X could catch mumbles of fear and paranoia. Sigma was already off the deep end long before today, but this had to be the breaking point. X gritted his metal teeth and clenched his fists. For Sigma to sink so low to flood the world and kill millions was unforgivable to him. Nana turned to X in concern. She was afraid of him snapping again like he did before. Sigma nearly succeeded at that once and she was not letting it happen again. Nana stood up and put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. X looked at her and frowned seeing her sad. He quickly calmed down, not letting the rage get to him in front of the others like last time.

"This doesn't make sense, though. Why wait until tomorrow? Why not just fire that thing now while he still has plenty of time before anyone can snuff him out?" asked Nellia. Another Hunter agreed with her assessment. It seemed illogical for their former commander to prolong an attack like this. That was when Colonel Patton spoke up.

"Because tomorrow is May 8th." He said. That's when it hit them.

May 8 was a special holiday for the URO, particularly for those in Europe: VE Day. On that day in 1945, victory was declared by the Allied Powers over Germany and their Axis allies, a momentous day where the world celebrated the end of a dictatorship and a day that would eventually lead to the end of World War 2. Though it was not considered an American holiday until the URO was formed, it was still considered a major day of reflection. The Reploids agreed that Sigma's attack on such an important day was bold and damning. He wanted to turn the world into a dystopia built on fear and death.

"That bastard is insane if he thinks we're gonna let that happen!" said Zero.

"Indeed. However, we must plan our attack accordingly. Since X has defeated all eight of Sigma's generals, he will inevitably await our attack and plan around ours. So we must plan around their counterattack…" said Churchill.

Iris nodded and punched up holographic projections of a Repliforce fleet surrounding Sigma's floating island fortress.

"Sigma's base is heavily fortified with full-proof weapon defenses meant to snuff out any incoming intruders. Teleporting the Hunters right up to the base with it at max capacity would be suicide. We would need something to draw out a majority of Sigma's Maverick army and leave it relatively defenseless for us to deal with Sigma and his weapon. This may be where you come in, brother." She said, looking up. Colonel Patton looked stoically at his sister, retaining his posture. Though he was unsure of where she was getting at.

"You plan to sacrifice my troops for your Hunters to sneak aboard, Iris?" said Patton, matter of factly. He was hoping she was playing a sick prank here.

"That's… a morbid way of describing it…" she said in a shy manner, "My strategy would be for the Air Fleet to approach from the north and east sides of the base. It's where most of the defensive perimeters are set up. However, another wave of ships would approach from the west and south sides to chip at the defenses on those sides. It would reduce casualties and force Sigma's forces to micromanage and alternate focus. This would leave the base with just the ground units to guard it, enough for X, Zero, and the others to sneak onto the fortress while the Mavericks are distracted."

Elpizo put his hand to his chin in intrigue. He never thought the Colonel's sister so tactically brilliant and potentially callous. Zero smiled at Iris. He felt more in love with this girl hearing her more. Even Nana was impressed. Iris had come quite a way for an intern in such a short period of time. Of course being the younger sister of Colonel Patton probably had something to do with it. Patton looked in small pride. He seemed very happy at Iris being able to conceive a brilliant diversionary tactic like that, even at the possible expense of his own soldiers. The only one that was openly opposed to this strategy was, 'shockingly', X.

"No way, Iris! This whole skirmish has taken enough lives already, I'm not losing anyone else!" said the Blue Bomber.

"X, dude, relax! It's just a little distraction. It's not like anyone important's gonna die…" said Dynamo. Zero facepalmed, trying to make sense of this new stranger. He had only just realized this guy was here, someone he had never seen before.

"I'm sorry, but I been out for a few days dealing with a lot of bullshit, and all of a sudden I realize… who the hell is this guy and why is he here?" asked Zero, pointing to Dynamo incredulously.

"Oh right. Zero, this is Dynamo. He saved me back in the Netherlands Sea, and Mac's cleared him. He's with us for now." Explained X.

"What up?" Dynamo waved casually.

Zero had no idea how to retort to all of this. The mere fact that this new guy was just hanging around the hunter base nearly unsupervised, everyone seemed okay with all of it, and how laidback and casual this new guy was being was a lot to take in. In fact, it made him trust the guy even less.

Nana cleared her throat to get everyone back on topic. "Anyways… I would normally concur X. This conflict has gone on for a considerable time and the casualties have been heavy." She said, "But the amount of lives will increase en masse if we don't do this. We either act and lose thousands now, or do nothing and lose millions more by tomorrow…"

"There must be some other way…" X mused. He couldn't accept that death and sacrifice was the only way to Sigma.

"X, your concern is appreciated. But we are soldiers. Death does not intimidate us, it would not deter us. We know what must be done to ensure safety for the entire Earth, and will gladly lay down our lives for her people…" said Patton, "If it will satisfy you, I will ask all of our troops that do not wish to partake to remain. But I assure you that not one single soldier will refuse. Their bravery is unlike any you would find."

"I must be honest with you, X. I don't believe any of us here can stop Sigma. None of us… except you." Elpizo interjected, "You are the world's best hope of destroying Sigma. The potential and power you have demonstrated this past week has further vindicated that. Sigma will not hold anything back and as formidable as the Colonel is, with all due respect, I do not believe he will able to match him. X, we will do what we can to buy you enough time to reach Sigma. You may be the only one that can end this crisis. For this to succeed…." Elpizo dared not speak another word. He believed X was able to connect the dots on everything he took in.

X hated to admit it, but Elpizo was right on this. The Maverick Hunters were the best ones to stop Sigma, but he himself was the only one that could finish this. This was their skirmish to finish, and X had to be the one to end all this. He hated the fact of having to sacrifice those that he felt don't deserve to die. He hated the fact that they were fighting in the first place. The Blue Bomber hoped for a peaceful world, but he knew that as long as Sigma was still out there, that goal was unattainable. It pained him, but X realized that it had to happen. He clenched his fists and looked at the screen in determination.

"Okay… you do what you have to. Zero and I will lead the operation to find this super weapon and destroy it before Sigma powers it up!" X declared. Zero nodded approvingly.

"Once that is done, X and I will face off with Sigma and end this for good!" said Zero, "We'll be going in almost completely blind, so we'll need Nana and Iris to help lead us in the right direction."

"Sigma might try to jam our radars, but we'll do all we can." Said Nana.

General Churchill nodded in approval, then turned to his fellow chiefs. They needed to make the necessary preparations for the battle that was to come.

"I shall send units immediately. We will give you the signal when we have rallied Sigma's army far enough from his fortress." He said and ended the call shortly after.

X stood in the middle of the control room and turned to his fellow Hunters. They all stood at attention, ready for action. Dynamo, who was standing against the wall, came forward and joined up the group in the most relaxed way possible. Zero looked at the Reploid and glared. He only knew this Reploid for only a few minutes but he already hated his attitude. This guy was too relaxed, too carefree. A potential war scenario was about to unfold and yet this guy acted like nothing was wrong and seemed to think he was one of the Hunters. Not if Zero could help it that is. He stood in front of Dynamo and crossed his arms in disapproval. "Where the hell do you think you're going buddy?" he asked.

"Joining you guys in raiding that place, dude. What else?" answered Dynamo.

"Under who's orders exactly? Last I checked, you're not a Maverick Hunter!" argued Zero.

"Who says I gotta be?"

"I do! As interim Maverick Hunter Commander, I do not and will not authorize you for this mission! We don't need Maverick renegades causing trouble or screwing this up for us!"

"Dude, relax. We all got this. Sigma's not gonna launch that laser until the morning, alright? What's the worst that could happen?"

"You do realize the minute Repliforce begins their attack, Sigma could try to pull the trigger on his super-weapon early right?! Plenty can go wrong if we don't take this seriously!"

"Hey, we got X on our side. This'll be a piece of cake!"

"No, we got X! You aren't welcome here pal!"

Nana had finally heard enough. "BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" she screamed. Everyone jumped at the chief navigator raising her voice. Nana was very rarely seen getting mad, but it was scary whenever she did. Nana didn't want to hear any of this childish arguing, especially not before an important mission that would decide the fate of human and Reploidkind. She shot angry glares at both Reploids, disapproving their fight. Dynamo merely coolly back off and shrugged, while Zero took a step back and stood straight next to X. Finally, Nana sighed after reaching some level of decorum.

"This arguing isn't going to get us anywhere! Dynamo, you aren't officially a member of the Maverick Hunters, nor are you a definitive ally quite yet. That said, I can see you mean us no harm. As such, if the majority come to an agreement, we will let you join us on this mission as an outside reinforcement. Without pay, of course." She said.

Dynamo shrugged smiling. He hoped to help in some capacity, even if he wasn't completely wanted. Zero didn't seem to care about him, however, but Dynamo acted like the blonde Hunter's opinion of him didn't get to him. As sounds of mumbling was starting to flood the room, the cavalier Reploid caught a glimpse of the pink scientist, Alia he believed her name was, looking him over. The second he saw her though, Alia blushed and turned away, acting coy. Dynamo had to admit, this researcher girl was pretty hot.

After a minute of silence, X became the first to speak up.

"Dynamo, I don't think I was able to thank you for saving me before. I know you probably didn't expect or want to be put into this position. But I don't think I would have made it this far or gotten a hold of myself if it weren't for you… or anyone here really." He said, "I want you to know that I'm grateful for what you did and that I trust you. If you really want to help us with this mission, I won't stop you, but I will say that this is a very dangerous operation. Everything is at stake here if we fail… we may never see the light ever again. Are you certain you want to carry that burden with us? Are you prepared for that?"

"Little overdramatic, dude. But yeah. I been stuck in the ocean a little too long, so I need to unwind somewhere. Would really suck if these bozos got their way. Besides, it's not like I got much else to do." Dynamo responded, matter-of-factly.

X smiled. He admitted he wasn't too keen on how Dynamo phrased it, but he knew that Dynamo was aware of what could happen, and X knew he could trust him, strange as it sounded. He looked around the room at the other Hunters, who had mixed reactions. Some looked approvingly at the newcomer, some were still not sure, and others were neutral on Dynamo being with them. Zero grimaced, still not completely trusting the outsider. But he thought on it. The Red Swordsman realized that X was putting a lot of his trust in Dynamo, and that seemed fine to him.

"Alright X, you win this round. But don't think that means I'm gonna be buddy-buddy with this Maverick wannabe!" said Zero.

"Hey, you need to take a chill pill bruh. I got this…." Dynamo shrugged. His nonchalant attitude only further vindicated Zero's doubts. X sighed, but was happy they were at least on the same page.

"Colonel Patton to Hunter HQ! We have commenced the operation and are engaging Sigma's fighters. You're good to go whenever you're ready!" said Patton through a communication line.

"Copy that, Colonel! We're on our way!" said X.

He looked at several of the Hunters and Dynamo. X knew that they were ready, but he also knew he had to pick a small lineup. He and Zero nodded to each other and prepared to deploy immediately.

"We have only one shot at this… let's make it count."

10:00 – SIGMA PALACE

The final battle had begun. X, Zero, Dynamo, and their fellow Maverick Hunters had landed flawlessly on a granite path which led to a giant palace fortress in the sky. Sigma's fortress was massive in scale and industrial in exterior design. A large tower-like structure composed the majority of the base, with several smaller towers and exterior buildings connected to it in a strange, futuristic kitbash of architecture. The entrance was a massive metal door, made of solid rotanium and near impenetrable, with the symbol of Sigma's rebellion covering the door and entranceway. Zero was almost expecting a large skull and crossbones to be part of the exterior in a way.

Dynamo got a good look at their surroundings. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much to look at. The island was suspended about 70 feet above the sea, an unfun look downwards. Looking around, what he saw were the sights and sounds of war. A swarm of Maverick airships and fighters engaged Repliforce's air fleet with peak intensity. Gunfire and explosions spread across the dark morning skies, Jets and soldiers dropping left and right on both sides. It seemed like a hellish sight to behold. However, this was an unimportant diversion. Repliforce succeeded in baiting the majority of Sigma's forces into attack so the Hunters could sneak onto his fortress unnoticed. But they knew it wouldn't last. They had to move.

"X to Hunter Base! We've arrived at Sigma's fortress." X reported, "Do you guys copy?"

"We hear you, X! There's a bit of interference on our end, but we're getting you guys!" said Nana, "We just finished scanning the interior as well. Looks like there's several pathways that would lead to the mega cannon, but only one leads up to the main control tower. That's where Sigma is!"

"Then it sounds like we'll need to split up. X and I will take out Sigma, the rest of you split into small groups and destroy that weapon!" ordered Zero.

"And what happens if we get lost or trapped? Remember we only got two navigators on us!" said Nellia.

"We need to have a little faith, Nellia. We may not be as numerous as we were before Sigma's rebellion, but we're still a single unit." X said, "And I still have my faith in my friends, and both the human and Reploid race. That's something no one can take from us, not even Sigma. It's an honor to know such great Hunters like you guys. Even you, Dynamo."

"Ehh, stop bruh!" said Dynamo, smiling a bit modestly.

With that note, X changed to Fire Form and put his hands together. His Hadouken attack began to form in his hands, but he started to hold the charge. The flame grew a bit bigger and the aura grew more strong. The Hunters looked in awe, they didn't think X capable of such power. Even Zero seemed surprised. Finally, X fired it off right at the gate. The impact caused a big explosion and left the gate completely busted open. Their way in was made.

"We're in! Now let's go!" said X. Zero nodded and motioned for the others to move in. The Hunters ran right in and found a small cadre of Mechaniloids and soldiers hanging around, shocked at the sudden surprise attack. X and Zero charged forward on the attack, hacking and smashing the Mavericks into bits. Several turrets began their attack, firing at the Hunter squadrons. Zero and Dynamo used their sabers to deflect the gunfire while Mac laid down cover fire. X jumped up and landed a Blaze Kick on a large turret, as Zero jumped up and hit several rotating slashes onto the defenses. They came to several alternate paths. Now came the time for everyone to split. X and Zero jumped to the path leading upwards. Several Hoganmers and Sniper Joe's attempted to attack them from above, however X was able to sense and blast them before they could fire. Any that tried to attack from secret, Zero blasted with his buster. The two hunters were watching each other's backs the whole climb.

"Heads up, you two! I'm getting quite a big Maverick reading. And you are not gonna like who it is…" Nana reported.

"Why's that, Nana?" asked X, reaching a hallway at top.

His question was answered with a loud explosion from the side walls. X and Zero covered themselves from the smoke and saw a familiar figure emerge from the debris. Carrying a dead Repliforce soldier with one arm of his newly-rebuilt dark purple Ride Armor was Vile, looking just as deadly as ever. Ripping the dead soldier's body apart, the sadistic Maverick turned to see the Hunters and laughed at them. He was waiting for them to drop by for another round of pain.

"Well well, long time no see, X! I was waiting for you to finally show up! And you too, Zero!" Vile laughed.

"Move aside, Vile! We don't have time to deal with you!" said X.

"Then you better make the time, X! Because as of right now, you're going back to the junkyard where you belong! Right along with the rest of your hunter and Repliforce friends!"

"We can't waste time with him, not with Sigma pointing that tsunami-crusher at about eight million people!" said Zero, "X, you go on ahead! I'll handle Vile!"

"But Zero, Vile's been bot-handling us since the missile attacks! You won't last against him!" X argued.

"Don't need to. Just need to make sure you get to Sigma and that mega cannon before tomorrow!"

"I will, but I am not leaving you behind to get killed like this!"

"Aww, isn't that sweet? You two wanna get slagged side by side!" mocked Vile, "Here, how about I help make that a reality?!"

Without much warning, Vile flung a grenade at the duo and fired a shot from his shoulder cannon at it. X and Zero jumped out as he did, but a large chunk of the ground was blown up from the collision. Before X could land on the solid ground, though, he was hit by an unknown force from above and sent careening downwards several stories from the debris, barely making out the sight of Zero and Vile engaged in combat. As he fell, he could feel a similar force smashing him from wall to wall until he hit ground zero in a spacious but familiar room. That's when he could make out a blur around him, eventually stopping to reveal his attacker.

"Boomer Kuwanger! Shoulda figured you would pop up again!" said X.

"After sparing me in your hate-induced tirade, I am quite surprised you were able to find our base of operations." Kuwanger said, "But I must applaud you for making it here, X. You stopped in to see the beginning of humanity's demise."

"Not if I have something to say about it! You, Sigma, and anyone that sympathizes with you guys won't get away with killing all those people!"

"We are doing this planet a favor!" Kuwanger began speeding up to prepare for battle. X quickly changed up to Jungle Form and spinkicked Kuwanger right as it looked like the Maverick would catch him by surprise. He then used his Tele-Dash technique to speed to the other side and shoot him point blank. The speedy Maverick was blown to the other side, but recovered to his feet and sped up at an incredible speed. X sped up with another Tele-Dash and the two Reploids collided at high speed several times for a couple of minutes. After this, X hit a Prickle Sting attack on Kuwanger from behind, sending the Maverick to one knee across from him.

"Not bad, X. I can see you've grown far stronger." said Kuwanger, "Perhaps Lord Sigma was right about you…"

"I'm not going to be Sigma's puppet, Kuwanger! I've grown out of that, and I won't let people like Sigma do as they please or cause pain and suffering to the people of this planet!" said X.

"The ones that have done the suffering is the humans. They are the reasons for everything wrong with this planet; the greed, pride, ego, death, chaos! I know what they are capable of doing to one another, and what they could do to us would be far worse! And you still wish to save these monsters? I had thought you better than this, X!"

"The real monster is Sigma! He's going to level an entire coastline and kill thousands of innocent lives! Not just humans, but Reploids as well! You think that's just?!"

"They're needed sacrifices for our better world."

"Needed?! Listen to yourself, Kuwanger! You're sounding just like a Maverick!"

"Think of me what you like, we will save this world!" Kuwanger threw his Boomerang Cutter to X, but the azure hunter caught it with his bare hands and crushed it. The Maverick's eyes widened and rushed at hi, so X changed it up to Water Form and unleashed a Marine Cyclone attack, wiping Kuwanger out into the wall, badly damaged. X was beginning to lose it again and was ready to finish him off.

"X, forget about Kuwanger! You have to get back up there and help Zero!" said Nana through the comms.

"Zero can handle himself! I let Kuwanger escape before, I won't let him get away again!" said X.

"Kuwanger isn't going anywhere in that state. But the people on the surface might not make it if you don't hurry, X! Don't let him get to you and make you lose sight of what's important!"

Nana's words very quickly reached him. X knew he couldn't waste time on this Maverick when there were billions of lives at stake. He had to hurry and destroy that weapon, as well as help out Zero. The azure hunter reverted back to normal form and turned away from the battered Kuwanger. "Thanks Nana. I'm glad to have you on my side…" he said, "Now how the hell do I get out of here?"

"There's a shutter on your three. Try blasting that!" said Nana.

"Copy that!" X charged up his buster and unleashed a charged shot at the door, blasting it apart. He then charged right out and through to a hallway full of Met's and Mega Tortoises. The mechaniloid enemies fired off projectiles at X who ran across the wall to dodge them. He very quickly changed up to Steel Form and unleashed several Magna Shurikens to the Maverick foes, blasting them apart. He eventually jumpdashed to the other side, finding a shutter door to run through. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Be advised, X: I'm picking up a large Mechaniloid reading just ahead." said Nana.

"I'll be ready, Nana. Thanks!" replied X and ran through.

X looked around the room as the door locked behind him. He saw several large towers on each end of the floor, which seemed like they would emit certain laser traps. The décor was less inviting, with the atmosphere seeming more like a spider's nest. X maintained his guard against whatever would pop down. Perhaps that was putting it too kindly. Nana's computers started blaring when the Maverick signal started looming closer downwards. "X, watch out! It's right on top of you!"

The Blue Bomber looked up as he heard a whirling noise above him. Appearing from one tower was a light blue spider-like mechaniloid with a red core crawling downwards to face him. It was a Bospider, a very powerful and dangerous Mechaniloid boss. As soon as it came into view, several laser webs randomly activated. He knew that the Maverick was going to come down and strike very soon. The Bospider began sliding down, moving along the lasers, closer and closer to X. In less than a minute, it reached the bottom, ready to strike the Maverick Hunter. X moved aside as it went down, shooting at the core. The Bospider was struck but shrugged most of the damage off and climbed back up to the ceiling.

"X, that Bospider is susceptible to sub-zero temperatures! Give it a frosty time!" said Nana.

"Good thinking!" said X, and changed into the appropriate form.

'ICE FORM.'

More lasers appeared right as X switched to Ice Form. The Bospider crawled down the electronic web, nearly scraping X who barely managed to roll out of the way. He quickly hit a Shotgun Ice attack right at the core doing considerable damage before it very quickly crawled back up. Nana quickly hacked into the systems and began analyzing the patterns. Once she did, the pink-haired navigator relayed it to X so he could anticipate it's movements. Every moment she gave her hunter the coordinates of where Bospider would land, X would instantly hit a Shotgun Ice right at the Mechaniloid. This would go on for several minutes, the Bospider growing more and more damaged. However, it was growing on X's patience. Time was a little short and he had to end this fast.

"There any way to speed this up?" asked X.

"Afraid not, X. But it looks like that Maverick is sending backup!" advised Nana.

X looked up to see the Bospider deploying smaller Mechaniloid minions, Petitiders, to further deter him. The little bugs launched themselves at X, who unleashed a BlizzStorm attack to blow them away. However, these were but a diversion. With X occupied, the Bospider was able to drop down and pin the hunter down to the ground. The Mechaniloid struck him with it's teeth, intending to further damage the azure hunter. X endured the pain as much as he could, aiming his X-Buster at the core and taking aim. The Shotgun Ice did great damage, scaring it off again. X returned his feet, clenching his side. The damage may have been done though.

"Well… no one said this… would be easy…" X mused.

"Hang in there, X! Looks like just one more shot will do it, here they come!" Nana cheered him on.

More Petitiders reigned down at X, but the azure hunter jumped around them. They weren't his priority. Nana guided him to where the Bospider was and prepared to strike. But the small ones latched on to him, messing up his aim. In short moments, the Maverick and its minions crawled all the way back up. Now X was in a jam. The spider was adapting to the fight as he would. The Blue Bomber needed to find a way to micromanage or he was done. That's when he got an idea. Perhaps he could bait it. Nana called out the pattern as the Petitiders jumped down to attack. But X did nothing. He stood ready with a confident grin, knowing what he needed to do.

"Umm, X? It's coming right at you!" warned Nana. X ignored her and changed to Jungle Form. Nana was puzzled as to what X was trying to do. He was going to be in the line of both the Maverick and its babies in mere moments. Just as they were about to hit, X used Camo-flague to turn invisible, sneaking away before he could be hit by either force. The Bospider landed but found no X. Instead, its pets jumped onto it and were quickly latched on. X reappeared shortly after back in Ice Form and fired off one last Shotgun Ice at all the Mavericks. They were finally finished.

"That does it… about time…" X sighed.

"You baited that thing really well, X! I didn't think you could pull that off!" said Nana, "N-not that I doubted you at all! Hell, you looked hot! I mean, you were hot! Uhh, cold! You know what I mean, right?"

X was a bit puzzled at Nana's sudden mood swing, but he couldn't worry about that right now. There was still plenty of surprises waiting for him in Sigma's floating fortress. He had to persevere and move on. Or be flown upwards, as he was now. Within a minute, he felt the platform beginning to move up as the ceiling opened up to reveal an elevator. X had to be on guard. Whatever he would face next, though, he would not face it alone…

TO BE CONTINUED…

(A/N: Well that's 13 months of work in that chapter. I considered an end part with Sigma and Elpizo, but I didn't want to keep you all in suspense much longer. So I ended it here. I am really excited to get this baby over and done with, and these final chapters will be quite the epic ones. Please R&R and stay tuned for next time! See ya!)