//------------------------------//
// 8: We Are The Gods 
// Story: Melody of the Future 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	The path through the inside of the palace proved to be a bit of a maze, looping around numerous hazards and filled with New-Gen Reploids mimicking Sigma.  It was quickly discovered that these copies weren't anywhere near as strong as any of Sigma's true incarnations, and soon became little more than annoyances and signs they were on the right path.  As such, it was only a matter of time before the group reached the final chamber, which was an obvious throne room.  Sigma sat upon the throne at the opposite end, but his shape was like none they'd ever seen.

His armor was black with the consistency of rock, as though it had slowly encrusted itself onto his body.  His eyes glowed red, and large horns came out from either side of his black helmet.  Green light shone from between the sections of his armor, as though his entire body were nothing but energy.  Spikes lined the armor plates, giving him a very devilish appearance enhanced by the glowing red crystal in the center of his torso that his entire body seemed to emanate from.  "Well, well, well..." Sigma murmured softly as he lay back carelessly on the throne, as if he couldn't care less they were there.  "So the self-appointed protectors of the world have come."  He looked at Zero.  "Judge."  He turned to Axl.  "Jury."  He turned to X.  "Executioner."  He turned to Octavia.  "And of course, the one who pulls the wool over the eyes of the ignorant, turning the bloodthirsty destruction into some sort of holy crusade, as though that made it all better."  He sneered disdainfully.  "How low the world has fallen."

"I was going to say the same of you, Sigma," X spoke up.  "I thought you claimed to be the god of Reploids.  You look more like a demon from where I'm standing."

Sigma grinned widely.  "As Lucifer said, better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.  And I shall rain hell down upon your Eden until Heaven is no more, and then reign over the desolation that is left.  Those strong enough to survive the apocalypse and wise enough to embrace it shall be saved in my rapture, and be reborn with the world as we take the very stars themselves."

"And just who qualifies?" Zero asked carefully.

"Who else but my children?" Sigma asked softly, his voice raspy.

"Your...children?" Axl asked, stunned.

"That's right," Sigma growled, getting to his feet.  "My children, the New-Gen Reploids, born of and for the Jakob Project.  Their copy chips contain a complete copy of my personal data.  It's what gives them their strength, their purity, their bond to me.  My children..."  He clenched his fists and brought them down upon the throne.  "And you have slaughtered them mercilessly because they follow their father, and you call us the monsters!"  As the Hunters staggered back from the intensity of the emotions, Sigma faded into shadows, warping to the same level as them as he drew a glowing green energy sword longer than his entire body.  "But their deaths will not be in vain!  You will all die here!"

"That's what you think," Octavia growled, though her voice showed her unease.  She started to race forward, only for Axl to grab her and pull her back.

"Mom, don't!" he barked out, staring at his scythe.  "It's...it's not working!"

Sigma chuckled darkly.  "Indeed," he confirmed.  "All your 'insta-kill' moves - the Hadouken, the Shoryuken, the Bass Cannon, the Death Slash, and the Tatsumaki Senpukyaku...they all use a common energy wavelength that allows them to completely eradicate a Reploid or Mechanaloid on contact...and I've built this, my final body, specifically to counteract that energy wavelength.  You can't use those techniques on me!"

Sigma immediately began to warp around the chamber, unleashing waves of various forms of energy at the group, who did their best to evade and fire back.  Unfortunately, Sigma proved to be far more competent as a combatant than before, warping out of range of the group's shots as they tried to focus fire on him, deflecting the lesser shots with his blade as he continued his barrage.

As they fought, Sigma warped again...only to appear in the midst of the group, clutching Axl's head in one hand as though about to crush it.  Axl screamed in pain from the force being inflicted.  "What now, X?" Sigma roared out, warping them both back so he held Axl between himself and the group.  "Shoot through Axl, and you can kill me...and your daughter will hate you forever for killing her son!  But do nothing, he dies anyway!  Isn't this familiar?"

To Sigma's surprise, X...smirked.  "Yes," he murmured softly as his armor turned orange and gold.  "Very familiar.  But unlike that day all those years ago, I'm no newbie hunter just trying to live up to everyone's expectations, struggling between realization and lost idol worship.  Now, Axl's not the only one who found new ways to use old tricks."

Sigma frowned.  "And what's that supposed to-EEYAUUGH!"  Sigma dropped Axl as X struck him from behind with a beam saber, cutting through his back armor plate.

X grinned as his Soul Body dashed over, pulling Axl to safety.  "We overlook the old tricks...but they can be surprisingly useful.  And one thing I nearly overlooked before we came here...the modifications Maka made to the Ultimate Armor V3 drastically increased the number of subweapon programs it can hold.  Care to guess how many old tricks I've brought back?"

"You think you can fell me so easily?" Sigma roared out angrily.  "I will destroy-"

"Link systems available," Varia suddenly spoke up.

"Wait, what?" Sigma demanded in confusion.

Grinning, Octavia leapt between X, Zero, and Axl.  A magical aura surrounded her, linking to the three of them as it combined their energies in Varia's horn before unleashing a devastating blast of four colored energy that ripped through Sigma's body, driving him back against the opposite wall as said wall crumbled from the blast.

As Sigma crumpled, his body falling to pieces as the energy faded, Lumine stepped out.

"Are you alright, Lumine?" X asked curiously.

"I suppose you could say that-"

"Wait!" Octavia interrupted quickly.  "Sigma said that all New-Gen Reploids had his data, and were the ones who were meant to be part of his plan!"

A brief derisive expression crossed Lumine's face.  "Father always did talk too much," he grumbled.  He chuckled softly when he saw all weapons trained on him.  "You realize the Jakob Project can't be completed without me, don't you?" he asked softly.  "You've already devastated the infrastructure that supported it hunting my Maverick brethren."

"Then you're just going to keep going with Sigma's plan?" Zero snarled angrily.

"His plan?"  Lumine 'tsk'ed derisively as his body glowed blue as he floated into the air.  "I was just using him.  After all, he's already inside all of us.  His actual existence had become superfluous."  Spheres of energy surrounded him.  "All other existence becomes superfluous.  The new world that comes...is me.  All my brethren are a part of me, and will destroy you."

He began to float around, every so often absorbing one of the spheres of light and unleashing supercharged variants of the special weapons the eight Mavericks had used, devastating the landscape as the group of hunters evaded the attacks, focusing their attacks on Lumine in an attempt to damage him enough to force him down.  Thankfully, he wasn't as sturdy as he seemed to think, and once they were able to figure out the pattern of his energy shields he fell to the ground quickly.  Much to everyone's surprise, however, he quickly returned to the air.

"Divergent evolution," he murmured softly.  "There have always been cases where life evolves along multiple paths, and those paths then battle to determine which inherits the world.  I represent the Pure Reploid life, the dreams of so many.  But you?  You're just tools of the so-called Terrans, the Reploid/Human hybrids.  They can't even fight their own battles...though they have armored you for this battle, made you their champions.

"Let's see how well you do."

Lumine's body changed.  A halo-like helmet graced his head, and six wing-like projections spread from his back, each a combination of flight manipulator and weapon platform.  Where Sigma had been a devil, Lumine now gave the impression of a golden angel.

"So after battling Satan, we now face Lucifer Morningstar?" Octavia asked calmly.  "This should be...interesting."

Lumine attacked with diving charges and an array of laser attacks, but the sheer amount of firepower the group was able to put out - along with the Giga Crash and Nova Strike from X and Octavia - rapidly tore through his shields and energy reserves.  As his energy started to get low, he triggered a shift in the very shape of space around them with the cry, "Paradise Lost!"

"Alert!" Varia called out as the world went dark.  "Energy reactions are syncing towards Lumine's signature.  If this continues, his energy reserves and shields will be completely replenished."  As she spoke, Lumine shifted his wings to shield his body from harm as he began to warp around the area.

"Then we'll just have to prevent that from happening!" Axl cried out.  Frowning, he drew his scythe, focusing his energy into it.  "Here goes nothing..."  Dashing forward, he swung the scythe through the air, gathering energy into it before leaping into the air.  Just as Lumine appeared from a warp, Axl spun and struck, the blade tearing through the base of Lumine's six wings, causing him to scream in pain.  "Now!" Axl roared as he air dashed to the side.

X, Zero, and Octavia immediately unleashed their full barrage, tearing Lumine's body apart.  The world shifted back to normal as the energy reactions stopped.

"So...every New-Gen Reploid is one of Sigma's..." X whispered worriedly.  "That's...going to be a headache and a half..."