After returning to base to collect another Neutralizer, X and Octavia were ready to head straight out to the Power Plant to go after Volt Catfish. Before they could, however, Alia and CiCi both stopped them.
"Neon Tiger sent us some information to help us out," Alia spoke up.
"The first bit is the design for his tail blaster," CiCi explained. "I've already figured out a way to adapt it to Classic, since his tail's the same shape."
Growling happily, Classic headed off after CiCi for his upgrade. Octavia followed along behind, both out of curiosity and to make sure the upgrade wouldn't interfere with the Classic Adapter. Alia smiled at X. "He also sent us some information about Volt Catfish. Apparently, in addition to his electrical flow being disrupted by a spinning attack like a drill...he's a real Otaku."
"So...how does that help us?" X asked. "We make obscure anime references while fighting him in the hopes it snaps him out of it so we can give him the Neutralizer?"
"I suppose," Alia admitted. Turning away, she bit her lip before turning back to face him. "Be careful X, okay? You and Tavi need to come back in one piece."
X smiled softly back at her. "Don't worry," he promised. "We will."
"Less flirting more hunting!" Octavia spoke up as she walked under both of their legs, Classic behind her with a new blast emitter on his tail.
X rolled his eyes as Alia giggled. Turning, he joined his equine daughter on the teleporter to begin their mission.
Entering the Power Plant, Octavia glanced around. "While I understand the canisters of electricity against the walls," she admitted, "I do not understand why said walls are pink. An odd style choice."
"We aren't here to critique their interior decorating," X pointed out. "We're here to stop Volt Catfish."
"Alright...but salmon pink is-" Octavia froze, then brought her hoof to her face. "Oh..."
"What?" X asked in confusion.
"Volt Catfish. Salmon pink."
Chuckling, X led the way in. There was a new security system they hadn't faced before, a laser light that fired blasts of plasma as they passed through it. It was easily evaded by dashing through. A new wall crawling mechanaloid shot at them, and generated an electric shield around itself when damaged. Soon, they encountered a platform that descended down a tube lined with spikes.
X scratched his chin as he stared down. "I'm not sure I should go down..."
"Then I will," Octavia offered. "Spikes don't hurt me, and I can always merge with Classic to come back up." Seeing her father's frown, she raised her hoof. "If there's any danger I can't easily handle, I'll come right back, I promise." Without waiting for a response, Octavia hopped onto the platform with Classic, riding it as it descended.
"Be careful!" X called out worriedly.
"Don't worry," Octavia called through the communicator. "I'll keep in constant contact."
"Alright," X replied. "What do you see?"
"Hmm...it looks like a capsule of some sort down here," Octavia commented. "No enemies or security systems. Maybe it's a tele-" Octavia's signal cut out, and her beacon signal vanished.
"Octavia!" X called out desperately. "Octavia, can you hear me? OCTAVIA!"
As the teleport ended, Octavia glanced around. "Looks like it was a teleporter," she commented into the comms. "I'm in some sort of ruined factory. Any idea where I might be?" There was no response. "Father? Do you read? Dad? ...Daddy?" She tapped the communicator a few times, hoping to get it restarted. Realizing she couldn't contact anyone - and there was no teleporter back - she swallowed. "Great..." she murmured worriedly. "It was a trap and I walked right into it..."
Classic nuzzled her from the side, relaxing her somewhat. Deciding there wasn't anything else for it, she charged onward. There were quite a few Mechanaloids blocking the winding path, but between her overlapping charged shots and Classic's new blaster, they fell readily. Not long after, she had to climb up a long passageway above a broken elevator. Chunks of rock and other debris fell towards her from above, but she was able to blast them to bits shooting upward.
Not long after, she entered what she'd come to think of as a 'boss chamber'. To her surprise, Vile - now blue - dropped down in a grey Ride Armor she recognized as a Kangaroo unit, but recolored.
"He he-wait a minute, you're not X!" Vile snapped angrily.
"If you were specifically wanting to trap Father, you should have keyed the trap to only teleport him," she pointed out reasonably.
"It doesn't matter," Vile replied. "Your destruction will destroy X just as thoroughly, and much more satisfyingly. And I don't even have to finish you off. I just have to keep you busy for the few minutes until this factory explodes!"
"So there's a way out then?" she asked, merging with Classic. "Thanks for telling me. The Kangaroo doesn't jump too well, so I'll just fly over you and head for the exit. Ta-ta."
As she passed over Vile's head, he screamed in rage. "You won't escape me that easily!" he roared, leaping out of the Ride Armor to attack her. However, his leaping charge passed harmlessly between Octavia and Classic as they separated...and Octavia landed in the cockpit of the Ride Armor.
"That was easier than I thought it would be," she commented dryly as she slammed Vile into the wall with the spiked fists of the Ride Armor. As she punched him several times, not giving him a chance to recover, Classic blasted him with the Ray Splasher his tail gun was equipped with.
As Vile fell, he growled deep in his throat, his voice box erroring. "Don't think this is the end! I will haunt you all till the day...you...die..." On the last word, his voice trailed off as he exploded.
Abandoning the bulky Ride Armor, Octavia fused again with Classic to make her way out quickly. "Remind me to ask CiCi to make some Proton Packs," she told Classic, who growled in agreement.
Eventually, they reached another teleporter capsule, and dove in just as the factory was about to explode.
Octavia and Classic found themselves back in the Power Plant...only much of it was wrecked. Sighing, she activated her communicator. "Father..."
"Octavia!" X gasped out in relief, the sound of something rather large being dropped through a floor echoing in the background. "You're alright! Where have you been? What happened?"
"It was a one-way teleporter to an abandoned factory," Octavia explained as she started forward. "Vile set it up to trap you. Don't worry, he's dead, but CiCi needs to get started on some Ghostbusting equipment, since he claimed he was going to haunt us."
X laughed from the other side of the comms. "You don't really believe in ghosts, do you?" X asked.
"Asked the artificial man of the magical talking pony with the living space rock armor," Octavia replied in a droll tone.
"...touche. CiCi, get to work on those Proton Packs."
Laughter from the whole HQ greeted that exchange, though it did have a bit of a hysterical tinge to it. As Octavia continued, she whistled. "You really did a number on this place, didn't you?" she marveled.
"...I thought I'd lost you, Octavia," X whispered back. "I...went a little crazy..."
Octavia smiled softly. "I'm harder to lose than that, Dad," she reassured him. "So...find any upgrades while rampaging I need to download when I catch up?"
"Well, I found a Heart Tank," X replied. "Also, one of Light's capsules containing an armor upgrade. He didn't say anything, though. He took one look at the state I was in and just gave me the armor. In addition to reducing damage, it also generates an anti-damage field briefly after I take a hit. And I just found a Sub Tank."
"Wait up for me, then!" Octavia called out as she flew through the wrecked plant. Eventually, she caught up to X just in front of another 'boss door'. "You really wrecked the place, didn't you? You didn't leave anything for me to fight."
X chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head.
"I call fighting Volt Catfish!" she shouted as she dashed through the door.
"Hang on!" X called out, dashing after her.
As Volt Catfish descended from the ceiling, Octavia shot up with a fully charged Tornado Drill, the drill whirling on her hoof as she uppercut the fish shaped Reploid into the ceiling. "Mine is the drill that will pierce the heavens!" she shouted as she impacted.
"Just who do you think you are!" Volt Catfish suddenly shouted back.
Octavia blinked. "Umm..."
"What?" Volt Catfish demanded. "You reference without knowing what you reference? Unacceptable!"
Grabbing hold of Octavia and X, he sat them both down and forced them to watch the entirety of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Octavia didn't really get it, and used the time to attach a Neutralizer to Volt Catfish. X, however, appeared to be fully engaged. Rolling her eyes, Octavia curled up for a nap.
Ah crap, if this is anything like what is/was happening to Mega Man...
Perfect.
Yeah, that sounds like me. I find myself saying "NOT THE BEES!" while on camping trips with my family, but I never learned the title of the movie.
How dare Octavia nap during the most epic anime ever!, but I'm glad X has some respect for it.
Never make a reference you can't complete. CiCi should totally at one point say: "If I couldn't create your proton packs while holding off an invading army, what kind of analyst would I be?" For she is one hell of an analyst
6712652 Now that I think about it...WWW does have Megaman acting like an early version of Sigma before he went rouge.
6712665 the wicker man?
Meh, I didn't think much of Vile anyway (Guess that's what I get for not playing the remakes).
... Wow, that is SUCH an otaku move.
The last part was hilarious Of course Octavia wouldn't appreciate good anime
OCTAVIA! DON'T BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! BELIEVE IN THE ME THAT BELIEVES IN YOU!
Obligatory musical references GO!
THAT SHOULD BE ANOTHER FANFICTION!
PLEASE DO IT! TENGEN TOPPA GURREN LAGANN PWNY STORY!
6712743 The question is...
ILL WE APPRECIATE A PWNY CROSSOVER WITH THAT!?
Meh, Vile was never very threatening in this game to me. Then again, he wasn't in X8 either. I did like his new design in that one though.
6712767 Goddamned please Tatsurou!!! SOMEPONY, ANYPONY WITH SIMON OR KAMINA!!!
6712731 Oh, so that's the title. Thanks.
6712789
Yeah, Bass was more threatening than Vile.
Obscure? TTGL is one of the most referenced anime ever...
6712809 YES! THAT'S WHAT WE WANT!
I would have gone with Blue Exorcist.
Volt Catfish is a true hero.
I'd kinda expected Octy to shout "Giga Drill Breaker!", but that line worked too.
pfft tavi is best at come backs
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6712892 Private Message has been sent to Tatsurou.
While not fitting the reference, I'm halfway surprised Tats didn't reference this:
Wow. Octavia didn't see the counter reference coming, did she? Also, X gets bro points. Any one, real or otherwise who enjoys TTGL is a bro to me, gender be damned.
I wonder when someone will set X down to watch Mobile Fighter G Gundam... after all, X did the MC's technique on Sigma, and it fits stupidly well.
6712892 6713133
Not to trounce the dreams of my fellow Spiral Knights... but considering what happens... would that be wise having a talking pony on the side against Beastmen, who could identify better with the pony? And Anti-beastmen factors...
6713244 Unfortunetly, Tatsurou hasn't watched TTGL, so as for right now it's not coming. It's in his to-watch list for Anime though.
We might be getting another one soon. I will not be saying what it is though, mostly cause I'm not sure if it was meant to be a secret or not.
6713253
It's been announced...not that anyone's noticed or remembers the announcements...
6713263 That might've been before I really began reading your works.
6713275
I'm more referring to everyone else in general. It's in my blog posts.
Sheesh, I was hoping for something more dramatic with Vile, the X3 game was his most infamous hour. Not to mention we won't get to get to see the ultimate ride armor in action now. Well, at least you managed to fit his best quote in, though it probably would have been better if he was knelt down in defeat and smoking for it.
6713278
It could help if you did another blog post about it. It is several pages back and some people may not want to dig to find the answers. From what I recall they are:
Cheerilee in Sly Cooper
The CMC in Jackie Chan Adventures
Sunset Shimmer in Star Fox
Big Mac in Dragonball Z Adbridged
Derpy in Dirty Pair
Dinky in Dr. Who
Celestia in Star Trek the Next Generation
Correct me if any of these are wrong or I am missing any.
6713564
All those, and Gilda in Portal 2.
6713564 I've been keeping track on a notepad as well. My list says:
Derpy Pair Flash (aka The Little Angel) (Derpy/Ditzy/Muffins and Dirty Pair Flash)
Starship Celestia (Celestia and Jean Luc Picard)
Yes, My Lady (Scootaloo and Black Butler) (Possibly benched)
AppleJack's School Days (the time skips from Applejack's story)
My Little Killing Machine (Gilda and Glados)
Shadows and Light (Sombra and Final Fantasy 4)
DragonBallZ: Appled (Big Mac and DragonBallZ Abridged)
Three more things! (Cutie Mark Crusaders and Uncle Chan)
Discord raised by Sheeogorath
Sunset Shimmer raised by Fox McCloud
Though I think he may have been joking about a few. It can be hard to tell.
6713599
Not benched, but not part of the PWNY-verse.
6713583
6713599
Thank you! Going to copy and put some where safe!
6713244 Although, having a beast-like character allied with Team Dai-Gurren would help post-timeskip; Viral would perhaps be less of a douche. Besides, the Beastmen are clearly in the wrong; they either feel apathy or happiness when subjugating and killing humans, and a pony would instantly dislike that.
Yes X, let the Gurren flow into you like a double helix...Can't wait for the X8 chapters, so hype!
6713699 I blame LordGenome... and the Anti-Spirals.
wait a tick.. why are we limiting it to just ponies when we have EQG? or are we forgetting this glorious image:
derpicdn.net/img/2014/12/8/780588/large.jpg
6713790
That would be a magic infused final form. We could of course use a non pony. In fact, that would work fairly well for this.
6713244 WHO NEEDS LOGIC!?
6713133 Sire. Good job. Break out the piglet tails for feasting!
We need a Moondancer fic made.
since when is gurenn lagan torture?
read that line using lemon drops voice from adventure time made it a thousand times more funny
Aw! I was hoping Octy would have gone all "Giga Drill Break!" on him! *Pouts childishly*. Though my faith is restored when you turned X into a Gurren Lagann fan.
6713599
I would read the living crap out of it.
6713599
*sigh*
pity that one won't include Flash Sentry raised by Lupin the 3rd
6714035
just think of STTGL riding on top of the Cosmic Alicorn of Orchestral Glory...
6714189
I do. it helps me keep some semblance of sanity
6714485
It is to those who do not understand it's Glory, to those to keep their feet planted to the ground without looking to the stars in wonder