8: Four-saken, part 1
With how strong the four S Rank Hunters were now, it was quickly decided that the best course of efficiency was to send each of them after one of the four remaining Mavericks. As such, X went to Troia Base, Zero to Pitch Black, Axl to Primrose, and Octavia to the Metal Valley. CiCi did her best to keep track of all four...though it still didn't take long.
As X arrived at Troia Base, he took in his surroundings. As it was originally a training base for Hunters, he was unsurprised to find clearly defined paths in inactive virtual space. He was certain he'd be dealing with more than that as he went, so he moved forward to the first area, knowing he'd have to clear each one to proceed.
Each chamber contained a VR warp that placed X in an area where he had to destroy a few drones in order to make it to the next chamber, with the path determined by how quickly he completed each trial. With the v3 Ultimate Armor, this went by quickly enough he barely had time to examine each virtual area before he was already moving forward.
At the seventh of nine virtual environments, however, X found himself confronted by Vile. Vile laughed as he warped in. "Why don't you just give it up already-"
"Vile, for killing the leader of the Maverick Hunters on top of all your other crimes, a 'Kill on Sight' order has been issued for you," X interrupted bluntly. "So I'll give you the same choice I've given everyone who has chosen of their own free will to try and destroy this world as it is. Surrender or die."
Vile stared at X for a time, then laughed. "See X? That's the same thing I've said since the beginning! We were built to destroy!"
"I never denied it," X pointed out bluntly. "But we were also built with the capability to choose what to destroy, and what not to destroy. I choose to destroy threats to my children. That's you."
"I'm looking forward to-GYAGH!" Vile's exclamation of delight was cut off as X fired a focused laser shot, severing his arm at the joint. "You shot my arm off!"
"It's only a flesh wound," X taunted.
"I don't even have flesh!" Vile snapped angrily, clutching the stump. "You're insane!"
"Little bit," X agreed with a grin. "But all the best people are."
Snarling in fury and a touch of fear, Vile warped away.
After that, it didn't take long for X to get to the center of the base. The only odd point was when the virtual space he was sent into had him facing a small red and white robot-simulant with hedge clippers on its head. However, it went down quickly as it - much like everything else he'd faced on this trip - was unable to even damage him. Between the boosted defense of the Ultimate Armor and the halved damage of the Icarus aspect, everything he'd encountered fell under the damage threshold that was negated by the Hermes aspect. As a result, that left him with a clear path to the center, where the 'Maverick' waited.
The Reploid known as Optic Sunflower was roughly humanoid with a green body and a sunflower-shaped head. He addressed X calmly, with a somewhat sing-song voice. "X, if you've come this far, you must have some inkling what's going on."
"You've chosen of your own volition to seek the destruction of the world," X deduced logically. "All of you have, and nothing I say will convince you to stop or surrender."
"Indeed," Optic Sunflower agreed. "The same is true of all of us."
"That makes you all an active threat to my children," X concluded. "Since I have the choice of kill or capture...Shinku Hadouken!"
"Shi-what?"
As far as last words went, those were somewhat disappointing. Still, the blast proved as effective as the Light hologram had promised, with Optic Sunflower being obliterated before X's eyes.
True Dark, true to its name, was swathed in darkness. Zero, in his shining white armor and bright blue hair and glowing saber, stood out like a sore thumb. However, he didn't let this slow him as he charged through, using his own light to guide his path. The enemies he encountered were shredded in single strikes, making the physical devices of the security - electric barriers and spinning fans - the most dangerous part of the journey, though more frustrating than dangerous.
Even with those obstacles, it didn't take Zero long to reach the innermost chamber of the base, where Dark Mantis waited. He was a purple and black insectoid Reploid, with large blades on both arms and bright purple wings on his back. "So this is where you tell me to surrender or die, hmm?" he asked calmly.
"That's right," Zero confirmed, charging his buster, keeping it to a low level charge rather than high level.
"My Master wanted you on his side once," Dark Mantis observed. "I find it highly ironic that parenthood has brought you closer to what he saw as your true Maverick nature than everything he ever tried to do."
"And that's what he always overlooked with me," Zero commented dryly. "Maverick behavior means going against your role and the laws of society...but my 'destined' role is to decide whether or not this world needs to be destroyed. So yes, in essence, my job is exactly what you all are doing...when it is time."
"And now is when you tell me it is not yet time, and I choose to accept and live, or reject and die," Dark Mantis concluded.
Zero nodded in confirmation, waiting for the answer.
"I choose to die," Dark Mantis stated bluntly. "If the time is not yet to destroy and rebuild this world, then there is no place for me. My purpose is destruction. Destroy me."
Zero was silent for a time.
"You hesitate, because you do not like killing in cold blood," Dark Mantis observed. "I cannot directly threaten your son, Omega, as he shows every sign of being even stronger than you, though still lacking control. So I will say this." His eyes hardened. "If I survive this day, I will not rest until I can kill Iris before Omega's eyes-"
Zero's buster snapped up. A power chord echoed as he fired.
...he stared at the hole that had been carved through the base, and the bits and pieces of Mantis' broken body that had been outside the blast radius, falling to the floor. He thought about why these Reploids were so dead set on either winning or being killed...especially once they knew that the Hunters wouldn't hesitate.
...he didn't like any of the answers.
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Right now Vile is Un-armed and mildly inconvinient.
Exactly Sunflower, that's what Shi-said.
I can't say Zero isn't exactly having a blast dealing with the Mavericks right now.
In the end all are corned by Sigma's followers and suddenly a flying castle shows up.
Prometheus: RUN!
Octavia: But Sigma and his goons..
Prometheus: There is no saving them, Vinyl is about to drop the Bass.
All I can say right now...is that this is still hilarious even though there is a good chance that shit will hit the fan...but other than that all I can say is 'Sigma's fucked, no matter how 'strong' he thinks he is'.
To quote a famous Admiral, "It's a trap!
LOL, nice reversal of the Black Knight scenario. Will the rest of the team each take off one of his remaining limbs now???
Mantis.... was pretty grimdark. He basically committed Suicide by Hunter.
That Monty Python reference
This is what happens when you mess with a vengeful family protecting their young.
7766372 If only...
No one would like the answer to that question, those that live for destruction can only find meaning through that. To be deny that they know that they can't go on and thus, in this case, destruction by Maverick Hunters.
Well, of course it's a trap, but what's the angle? What does Sigma (erhem or others) gain from nihilistically suicidal reploids?
Perhaps this is just a theory and I don't know if Tats would confirm it, but perhaps it is because there is something that will fundamentally break our heroes apart if they are pushed much further than they are currently. I mean if you think about it, they may be breaking limits and entering high OP levels, but how much more can even they take before their own power turns on them or that their morals erode away because of their current fighting reasons?
I mean these mavericks know at this point they can't match up to their power outputs an armaments, yet they are still fighting one on one fights. It has to be on purpose and if so why else?
7766805 My bet is that this is being recorded, and the ultimate goal is to either succeed and destroy the world, or, in they fail, release the recording in order to turn the world against its protectors out of fear of their nigh-unmatchable power.
7766688
Their very likely corrupted in some form weapon programs, perhaps? Vinyl's Gambit.
7766865 I think that might be the case. I mean it doesn't take much to twist the context to lower the PR of people and considering they're going gung ho on their enemies, it will make the public rather paranoid of them.
7766893 Except they not only are missing most of the programs... but don't really need them either.
*ducks as the shot flew over my head* Okay... Mega-Note To Self: Do NOT. I REPEAT. DO NOT THREATEN THE HERO'S FAMILY OR RISK TOTAL TERMINATION!!
You must be careful, He Who Fights Monsters...
Lest you become one.
It's just a flesh wound? Really? Taking a quote from the black knight again?
Sometimes I wonder if they are on the lonely road most dare not to follow.
They all shoot the fuck out of their respective Mavericks, the end.
EVERY FUCKING TIME WITH THIS SHIT. You have the opportunity to do something interesting with your characters, but you always do the same fucking thing. The hero's a deadpan snarker, the villain can't do shit to defend himself because fuck integrity; RINSE AND REPEAT.
You told me that you were going to do something with this story. That you were going to take the faults of the games and mesh them out into something meaningful. But all it is is an overpowered OC self-insert Circlejerk.
I thought the lesson we got out of the Taken series was that all intrigue died after the first movie; that a father torturing/killing people who threaten his daughter can only be so entertaining before it gets stale. Well guess what, buddy, it got stale the moment Octavia pulled the trigger on Gigabolt...
Now let's see Vile go out like the bitch you made him out to be.
Nevermind. Guess we just have to drag it out even more, huh?
Fuck off.
{Zero: In other words, FUCK DESTINY!}
9020584
I feel like you took this story way to seriously.
9339605
becasue he dos and hes take it to fucking far. hes just a fucking dumb ass
ALL the MP references.
Y'know, I just realized what you did there.
Uh, yeah. That's one easy way to get Bass Cannon'd.
behold Cut Man
this, THIS is what i'm talking about, sigma has made these mavericks so HELL BENT on destroying the world that nothing can talk them down, they are willing to threaten children and innocents just to egg the hunters on, there isn't any moral dilemma for this unless you don't have CONTEXT... which is EXACTLY WHAT SIGMA WANTS, it's BRILLIENT how he's going about this, the more the hunters realize what these reploids are ment to do, the more sigma can eventually paint them as the VILLAINS, sigma is the counterpart to the true villain of the other story but on the OTHER SIDE, the conspiracy wanted human supremacy over robots, while SIGMA wants machine supremacy over the corpses of organic life... both are willing to use these kinds of tactics to get what they want...