After a brief detour on the way back to HQ to collect the Heart Tank in the arctic area - the Ride Armor proved most effective in smashing the ice blocks that blocked the path - X and Octavia were immediately dispatched to the airfield, which was under the supervision of Crush Crawfish.
"We've received reports that he may be attempting an aerial assault against the Repliforce blockade," Alia explained as they were sent out. "Since there's no way to tell ahead of time where he's going to strike, we can't order a build up of forces to counteract it...but the amount of forces being built up there is enough to break through on a concentrated assault."
"Then we'll just have to take out the assault before it launches," X had agreed before he and Octavia had warped to the airfield.
As they arrived atop the uppermost scaffolding of the airfield, X observed the radar scans that showed the full map, as well as the location of a Heart Tank, the Hawk modifier for the Ride Armor, and what he was able to determine was one of the four power up chips Light had told him about. As he turned to lead the way in, however, he noticed Octavia hesitating. "What's wrong, Octavia?" he asked cautiously.
"There's...something not right about the shape of the map..." she murmured. "...Varia? Can you boost the radar function to scan further?"
"Attempting..." Varia was silent for a time. "Scans complete. Error. Unable to scan to ground level. Area does not extend to ground level."
"Dad! This isn't an airfield!" Octavia shouted out. "This is an airship! It's only resting in the water! The entire place is a mobile assault platform!"
X's eyes widened in shock. "Damn...we need to hurry then!"
Putting action to words, X immediately leapt down from the scaffolding, Octavia following along behind. As they came down, X felt the platform he was standing on buckle slightly. Checking the map, he realized it was directly above where he detected the Hawk modification for the Ride Armor. "We need to break this somehow," he muttered.
"...scans show that the platform is magnetized," Octavia pointed out. "If we delivered an intense electrical charge into the metal along with a great deal of physical force, we might be able to break through."
Nodding, X switched to the Triad T. weapon they'd gotten from Volt Catfish. Charging it up to pink, he brought his clenched fist down on the platform, releasing the charge as his fist made contact. The charged energy scattered around as the platform crumbled.
Once they'd collected the Hawk modification, they decided to make use of it at a nearby Armor warp platform. The Hawk modification turned the Ride Armor blue and grey, turned the arms into missile launchers, and gave it a jetpack. It was overall very effective in the area.
Moving forward, a dropping mechanaloid broke several scaffold floors as it dropped in and then out of sight. Hovering down slowly, the pair found a cracked wall which shattered under the missile onslaught from the Ride Armor, allowing them to collect the Heart Tank.
Further on, they were forced to abandon the Ride Armor to continue, moving into the belly of the aircraft. They found other smaller aircraft docked within, ready to deploy and guarded by mechanaloid enemies. Moving deep inside past a room full of conveyor belts, they found the main generator for the ship.
"Let's shut this place down," Octavia growled out, opening fire. X followed suit.
It didn't take much to destroy the generator, causing the airship to crash on its side. Climbing up what was once the floor, the pair made their way to the bridge, where Crush Crawfish was waiting for them.
"You!" he snarled at them. "Crash my ship! Crush my troops! I crush you!" He lunged forward, his metal scissor claws spread wide to crush them.
X and Octavia both immediately dashed to either side of him to evade the charge. Getting an idea from the metal of the claws, Octavia tried hitting him with her Triad T. weapon.
"Gyah!" he shouted out, flinching back as the electricity coursed through him. "You'll pay for thaAAAAAGGGGH!"
The reason for the scream was that X had followed Octavia's lead. Coming up behind Crush Crawfish, he'd released a pink charge Triad T., releasing the full force of the electricity straight into his back. As he staggered forward, Octavia managed to get a Neutralizer affixed to his torso.
X and Octavia both leapt back, expecting him to calm down. They didn't expect him to suddenly start screaming in horror.
"NO!" Crush Crawfish wailed. "No! Not all of them! It can't have been all of them! I knew it would be some, but...all? NO!" Reaching up, he snapped his claws towards his own head, but they wouldn't reach. Screaming in horror, he began slamming himself bodily against the walls and the control circuitry of the ship.
"What's going on?" Octavia demanded, shocked. "What's happening to him?"
X stared at Crush Crawfish for a time, then sighed sadly. "Octavia...return to base."
"But Dad-"
"Now!" X snapped out. "That's an order from your Commander!"
Octavia staggered back several steps, caught off guard by the sudden shift in tone. "...yes, sir," she said finally, beaming out.
X slowly approached Crush Crawfish. He knew exactly what was going on. Crush Crawfish's AI was reported to have a fatal error in the friend/foe recognition systems. He'd gone to Doppler to have it fixed. Obviously, Doppler succeeded...but without the Neural Computer's signal, he was now forced to face his memories without that error.
"Not red..." Crush Crawfish whimpered as he stared at his claws. "Green, not red...all were green...and now all is red...make it stop!" Wailing, he lunged forward, trying to smash his head against the wall again.
X caught him on the arm. "...I'll make it quick and painless," he offered.
Turning to him, Crush Crawfish nodded silently.
Charging up his Triad T., X braced himself on the poor Maverick's body. Drawing his fist back, compassion and sympathy in his heart and tears in his eyes, he released the charge straight into his face.
Crush Crawfish flatlined instantly, his torment over.
X returned to HQ, somber and quiet. He gave no explanation as he downloaded the Spinning Blade weapon into Varia. "What's the report regarding Gravity Beetle?" he asked Alia.
"Boomer Kuwanger just returned," Alia explained. "After getting confirmation from CiCi that installing a Neutralizer in himself would render him immune to the Neural Computer, he went in. Being stealth trained, he was able to make his way through to Gravity Beetle undetected."
"It was logical," Kuwanger explained as he leaned against the wall. "Beetle is my brother. If he was being controlled, he probably was made to believe I was dead, much as Flame Stag did. Thus, being confronted by me would snap him out of it, allowing me to connect the Neutralizer."
"So all that's left is finding Doppler's base," CiCi added. "It's no longer where it was."
"Actually, it is," Kuwanger explained. "Beetle was able to tell me. He explained that the main base has been moved to underground, which is why its location could not be accurately triangulated by the shape of the Neural Computer's signal field. He gave me the exact teleport coordinates, along with his weapon program." Walking up to X, he handed over that program, a Heart Tank, and a Frog modification unit for the Ride Armor. "I also found these in the supply depot he was in charge of."
"Then let's go smash that computer," Zero snapped out, walking up to join X and Octavia.
...Damn...Well, at least it was quick...
so in the past he had a friendly fire accident? OUCH.
6736020
I'm guessing more than one…
Real One: Well, besides the Reploidfore error, it was another great chapter, but X, you won't be able to protect you daughter forever, you need to show that she won't be able to safe all the Mavericks Bosses, she needs to know that.
Another enjoyable chapter. Well done.
Poor Crush Crawfish.
So an odd thought came to mind just the other day: What would it be like if Tatsurou made a Mario crossover where Bowser adopts Scootaloo as the next of his Koopalings?... Yeah, I thought it was weird, too.
So anyways, back to the chapter. It was kind of neat, with how Crush Crawfish was defeated. Before, Octavia was shielded from death because "D'aww, wook at da widdle filly! She might be an adult, but she still deserves a childhood!", but here, it's more for a mercy killing more than anything else. It was something that she literally didn't have to see, not just for reasons of the squeamish variety, but also because someone was going through an unfixable breakdown (At this point, who would trust a scientist of all people to fix a reploid's mental welfare; we've got enough of those people trying to help the world by helping themselves as it is).
Although, OI admit that I'm pretty curious. How is Doppel going to be like? Will he be yet another avatar of Wily, or will he be his own reploid? Will he be as nutty as described, or will he just as much a one-off character as he was initially?... We already know how the Sigma battle's going to turn out.
{Sigma: Mwahaha, you may have defeated my main body, but how would you compare to my new Battle Armor!?
Octavia: Assuming that Doppler made it, I'm guessing fairly easily.
Kaiser Sigma: What do you mean, this armor is completely impenetrable; nothing could possibly blast through it, meaning you'll have to resort to blasting me with everything you have while I slowly circle around the room, using a semi-predictable pattern of attacks against you. Like. NORMAL.
X: Then what's that big, shiny button behind your back that says "Press me"?
KS: Wait, there i-
*Click!*
KS:... Of course this would happen. *Falls apart* But don't think you've beaten me yet! *Turns into "Sigma Virus"* I still have control of this base, meaning I can activate the lava at any time! And the best part? There aren't any consoles for you destroy, meaning you'll have to scale the wall with no shortcuts at all! That's right, I've finally wo-
*Slash!*
Zero:... You talk too much.
Octavia: You got that from some anime, didn't you?
Zero: Come on, it was too good of a reference not to make!}
Or something like that, I'd imagine.
6736775
...
While not for the PWNY-verse, I am now giving serious consideration to writing a story involving the CMC working for Bowser in an attempt to earn their Cutie Marks.
6736840 Cutie Mark Crusader Princess Kidnappers, yay!
6736850
Sc: "Mr. Bowser, sir, we kidnapped Peach again."
A: "Ya said we would get 'Princess stealing' cutiemarks from kidnapping her twenty times!"
B: "Shut up! You will get them in time. You two don't want to be like the unicorn, right?"
*shows Sweetie with no tail and a burnt flank*
B: "She got her mark early."
Sw: "It's not that bad once the burning stops."
6736255 There were a few that she couldn't, but the extreme guilt Crush Crawfish went through was enough to send him into suicidal insanity.
That is NOT something you would want your offspring to see, adult or not.
Poor Crush Crayfish. And I would have liked to see the reunion between Boomer Kuwanger and Gravity Beetle.
6736775 Doppler already tried to fondle Cici and got beat down for it. So I'm putting him as a dirty old man who Octavia should not be near at all just because that is way to distrubing.
6736840 Could said Cutie Marks be power ups from the games??? Like P wing for Scootaloo, Hammer Bros suit for Apple Bloom, and maybe the Super Bell for Sweetie Belle???
6737304 Not just any kind of dirty old man, though, but a DIRTY old man. I'm saying that if you were to take the perverseness of Master Roshi, Master Happosai, and Ataru Moroboshi, it wouldn't even come CLOSE to the kind of skeletons Doppler must be hiding in his closet.
Oh, and if Diamond Tiara ever made an appearance, her power up would be the Carrot. Why?
mariowiki.com/images/thumb/8/87/SML2RabbitMario.png/200px-SML2RabbitMario.png
pre02.deviantart.net/447a/th/pre/i/2012/020/8/c/diamond_tiara___rabbit_ears_by_liggliluff-d4n1kuv.png
We must never forget Season 2.
6737440 You forgot Jiraiya from Naruto, Miroku from Inuyasha, and Ma Kensei from Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple. All badass perverts.
6737495 Heh, it's funny because I recognize who all of those people are, not to mention I forgot they existed.
The curse of an electronic brain with an error, while Vinyl dealt with the curse of one working perfectly, despite the will of the person using it. Tis a double edged sword.
6737042
Real One: But what if she finds a maverick like that and X isn't with her? Like in X7, if that shit happens here.
Crush Crawfish, your suffering has ended.
6737991 I am aware of that, but if there is the option to prevent it, then the parent is going to, PERIOD.
6742135
Real One: Great, period on that, but, will the piece of shit that is X7 even happen here?
6742609 TAKE IT AWAY PINKIE!
Pinkie: Sure thing Senou! I have no idea!
6743810
Real One: Take it away? Pinkie get the rope! I will get the Solar Probe! -run away and get back carrying a huge ass 1 kilometer rocket on his back-
6744258 I was actually referencing one of pinkie's lines.
Twilight asked her if she had re-calibrated the apertures on the 3 & 3/4ths inch cadiaoptic telescope.
Pinkie's response? I have NO idea!
6744834
Real One: Whatever! We need to shoot that into the sun!
No beetle bots get together? But I was looking forward to seeing Gravity Beetle get together with the other beetle bosses! I even had this theme set to bring up the mood and everything!
6746229
http://youtu.be/6rTVam7o72A
6736840 Hmmm... how bout Crusaders across the Multiverse, getting smooth-talked into trying to help villains from various games' evil schemes?
This seems familiar.
8895771
What story was the second qoute from?
10373762
A Sparkle in his eyes
... man.. crush crawfish had it really rough, hopefully he can be at peace now...