//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Hellride/Times Infinity // Story: Mega Man X: Paradise Lost // by Captain L //------------------------------// Chapter 4: Hellride/Times Infinity X trotted through the ashes of Ponyville, the black dust covering his hooves. He passed one of the most intact pieces of the town, a sign charred and half missing. Difficult to read, but printed on it were the incomplete words “Sugarc….Cor…” The Changelings destroyed all of this? An entire town, a full populace, wiped out. Why? Why did they even invade in the first place, for any reason other than power? His communicator turned on, Twilight trying to talk to him. “Captain Sparkle, can I ask a few questions?” Twilight’s voice was full of panic. “Big problem, X! Sensors are showing a whole lot of energy sources in the surrounding area! That Maverick planted bombs at the base of the mountain Canterlot’s on! If they go off, the mountain crumbles, and Canterlot goes with it! You need to destroy all the bombs before it’s too late!” “How do I destroy a bomb without setting it off?” “Just crush it with your hooves! Hurry, you don’t have forever!” X ran off into the forest at the base of the mountain before realizing that he had no idea where the bombs were located, what they looked like, how many there were, and how much time he had. Still working as fast as he could despite all the unknown variables, he saw something in one of the tree branches. He jumped up and broke the branch off, and down fell the bomb sitting in it. X reared back on his hind legs and come forward on top of it, crushing it below him. That’s one. What am I thinking, I can’t get all of these! He ran off into another direction, briefly looking back to be sure he wasn’t missing anything when he ran into a solid object and landed on the ground. Looking at what he hit, he saw a tall blue capsule, a glass door on the front. With his impact, the lights inside the capsule began to flicker on until they were fully activated, and an image also came in. It was a hologram of an old stallion with a beard, and he began to talk. “So you’ve come…if you’re seeing this, then things are just as I feared. The world needs a new champion, and you’ve been chosen to fill that role. I’m sorry that I was unable to see you into the world, but just know that I’ll still be here to help you. I’m Dr. Thomas Light, and I created you. Step into the capsule to receive an upgrade for your helmet. This upgrade will grant you radar capabilities, to show you the location of nearby objects. Good luck, my son.” The hologram faded away, and X was just left speechless in the revelations. The pony who created me is dead. I really had nopony in my life. I’ve been alone. He stepped into the capsule with his head down, the door closing behind him. The capsule lit up and began humming with power. A loud bang filled the area, and X could feel his helmet materializing new parts. A final flash, and the door opened. He stepped out, everything around him seeming clearer and more defined. Focusing energy into his helmet, he began seeing red circles, moving around and focusing on certain areas. X walked over to the closest one, and sure enough, it was the location of a bomb. He destroyed it, and set to work on getting the rest. After a trivial search for all the bombs, X destroyed the last one. He called Twilight to confirm. “Captain Sparkle, it appears I’ve destroyed all of the bombs. Further instructions?” “How are you sure that you’ve got them all?” “I found a capsule with a message from Dr. Thomas Light. He said he’s the one that created me, and gave me a helmet upgrade with radar. Do you have any sort of information on him.” “Dr. Light? He’s the one that built you? He was a scientist that specialized in robotics, and he built the original Mega Stallion. That really makes you a successor. A second coming. You’re showing tremendous promise, please make the most of it.” X was going to respond about how uncomfortable he felt about following in somepony else’s hoofsteps, but the sound of a motor running cancelled that point of conversation. The sound got louder as the flashing lights in X’s eyes warned him about a threat coming from behind. X climbed up the trunk of a tree to scout the area, and saw an orange pegasus riding a motorized scooter to his previous location. The pegasus’ face was concealed by the green blast helmet it wore, a single red light glowing from the solid black eye covering. It reached up and pulled the helmet off, revealing a purple mane and its gender, a mare. She looked around a few times, and saw nothing. “Damn! I lost his trail! He’s gotta be around here somewhere, and he’ll see what fighting a Maverick is really like. Dragoon never stood a chance.” If I can get one starting hit, I can gain a distinct advantage. But I need to stay silent and stealthy. Carefully aiming his horn at the target, he closed his eyes and fired. The mare, however, was lightning quick. In the split second it took for the plasma shot to reach her, she flipped up the bottom of her scooter and blocked the attack. Once the wheels had landed firmly back on the ground, she just stared at X. “So, you’re the Maverick Hunter that disposed of Dragoon? Maybe you’d like to face a real challenge?” X jumped down from the branch into the dirt. “I’m just here to enforce peace, not start petty fights with scooter gangs.” The mare immediately got very angry, growling and shaking her hoof. “Scooter gang? Do you have any idea who you’re making fun of? I’m Ride Boarski!” “Boarski? Are you insulting yourself, calling yourself a pig like that?” X was surprised with his newfound confidence. She leaped directly into X’s face, pressing against him. “PIG? First chicken, then dodo, now this insult? You’re going to regret that, punk! It’s time to duel!” Grabbing her scooter by the handles, she swung the body at X, making a sharp swish as it cut through the air. X fell to the ground to dodge, and sweep kicked the mare off her hooves. But she was very mobile, catching herself on her front hooves and backflipping away, still holding onto the scooter. She landed on the scooter, skidding it, kicking up clumps of dirt. She scoffed. “You might as well give up now, I’m one of the fastest and most agile Mavericks there is.” X fired another shot, which she avoided by jumping. “Can’t touch me! I’m too hot to handle!” She leaned on the back of her scooter, the front tilting upwards. X jumped up into a tree, and jumped off a branch directly onto the higher end of the scooter, creating a seesaw effect and launching the mare up high. Of course, she was a pegasus, so being suddenly sent in the air didn’t faze her, but it did separate her from her scooter. “What are you doing? If you were smart, you’d know not to separate me from my ride. SCOOTER! TO ME!” Once she had yelled, the scooter began moving upwards to her, almost as if it was being pulled by magic. Still standing on it, X was knocked off by the sudden motion, landing flat on his back. The mare grabbed the scooter and aimed the bottom at X, when the wheels spouted spikes and fired off, hitting the ground a few feet in front of him. The spiked wheels started rolling towards X, cutting a path in the dirt where they passed. He moved out of the way, and the wheels followed. Anywhere he went, they went with him. No matter how crazy he got with evading, they would always find a way to catch up. I need to lose these things somehow. And…I think I know how. After gaining some distance against the wheels of doom, X placed himself underneath the Maverick, who was sitting in a tree branch laughing at his supposed incompetence. He readied himself, and slammed the ground with full force. The impact created a small crater around him. Perfect. The shredding of the wheels got louder as they approached at full speed. They hit the upwards-curved ground in front of him, sending them high enough into the air for his plan to work. The mare was looking at the action below curiously. “What is he doing…” she whispered. She saw his coat instantly turn white and red, the wheels fly in front of him, and him performing a flaming rising uppercut on both of them. The punch was powerful enough to send both of the spinning wheels in another direction. Directly towards her. She didn’t even have time to yell before they both collided, one cutting the branch off the tree and the other colliding with her scooter, cutting it clean in half. She fell to the ground, landing with a thump and groan. She shook her head and looked up, greeted by X’s charged up horn directly in front of her face. “I’ve been ordered not to kill Mavericks, but you’re going to need to follow my orders to get that privilege.” She put her hooves up in the air as surrender, and was knocked out by X. A light fog and mist rolled through the forest, everything a gloomy dark green. The only thing standing out was the bright red Maverick Hunter. His communicator came on. “Zero, the Maverick you’re trying to find is hiding somewhere in the forest. Be careful, the Everfree Forest is well known for having dangerous creatures. Even the Changelings don’t come in here.” Zero looked at a few skeletons strewn about, not all of them complete. “I’ve noticed quite a few Changeling skeletons around. There’s something in here that’s got a taste for them. And before you say anything, Lightning Dust, yes, I’ve heard the stories about the ponies that took refuge in here and became feral. I don’t need a reminder.” Lightning Dust laughed. “Are you telling me you believe that? That’s the kind of thing fillies and colts come up with to scare their friends on Nightmare Night. No, the important thing you need to know is Twilight’s theory on the Maverick’s objective. There’s some kind of hidden pond in here with the power to clone. If the Changelings can secure that, they’ll have infinite numbers." “A cloning pond? Why haven’t we gone for that before? Wouldn’t it be nice to have numbers on our side for once?” “Twilight says the clones it produces are stupid, only a single thought on their minds at all times. They’re completely useless.” Zero smirked. “So, what’s the difference between a normal Changeling and a clone of one? Will their heads actually be hollow now?” Both Zero and Lightning Dust chuckled when Zero bumped his hoof against a rock. Looking at it, he saw more pieces, all blown apart from one single boulder. In the middle of the rock circle was a hole. “Lightning Dust, I’ve found some hole. It leads pretty deep down. Should I investigate?” “The hole was covered by a boulder, wasn’t it?” “Yes. Let me guess, the pond is down this hole. I should go down immediately. I’ll do just that, then.” Zero jumped down the hole and slid through the narrow tunnel, leading down into a large open cavern. In the middle was a pond, the minimal light shining off it in such a way that the entire room was lit. It was tranquil, calm and relaxing. Until the pond water rippled, and out walked two identical pink ponies. One of them talked to the other. “Isn’t this great? Now there can be infinite us! The joy of us will spread far and wide!” The other one hopped on her hind legs and clapped her front hooves. “Fun!” Zero yelled across the cavern. “Are you the Maverick that’s been spotted in the area?” Both pink ponies turned to face him, their sides nearly touching each other. One of them spoke. “Maverick? That’s insulting. I prefer the term ‘rebellious’. It’s nicer.” The other one also talked. “Maybe we should forgive him. Look at him, he’s a pretty well-built stallion. Maybe we could have our own fun.” The first one replied. “No, we can’t associate with Maverick Hunters like him. I’m feeling disrespected that Commander Sparkle didn’t come to reprimand me herself. Do I mean that little to her now?” “Twilight Sparkle is no longer commander of the Maverick Hunters. My name is Zero, and that’s my job now. You wanted a fight against the commander, you’ve got it!” The pink pony that was trying to be suggestive came up next to him, stroking her tail across his body. “I was looking forward to seeing an old friend again, but I think you’re better. Come on, there’s no reason to fight, not when we could be doing something else.” She winked. Zero grabbed the hilt of his saber. “Sorry, but I’ve already got a marefriend.” Making a gamble, he activated the saber and sliced her head off, flying into the air before both parts melted into a ball of goop and flew back into the pond. “So, I just need to keep killing the clones. This could get very messy, real one.” The real Maverick backed up to the edge of the pond. “You’ll regret killing me like that. Prepare to be swarmed by Infinity Mijinion!” Still facing him, she jumped into the pond, and out jumped another. Both jumped back in, and out came four. All four performed action poses, and spoke in unison again. “Now we’re angry, and that means you’re dead!” Three of them jumped at him, and Zero instantly recognized the plan. She’s not strategic. If she was smart, she’d throw herself into the mix so I wouldn’t know which one is real. As long as she hangs back like that, she’s too easy to spot. Right before the clones could pile on top of him, he spun his body with saber extended, bisecting all three. He saw the real one panic and jump back in. Two came out, and they kept repeating to overwhelm the Maverick Hunter. Gives me a good chance to stop them. Zero ran around the edge of the pond towards the pile of ponies, who all jumped him. Zero threw punches, kicks, and saber swings in every direction, each blow colliding with a different clone. But for each one he defeated, another would take its place. It would be never-ending, and he could see the real one grinning. Need to get to her. Making height, he used his new technique to strike a clone and raise them both in the air in a swing of flames. Suitably high enough, he bounced off the head of another clone and jumped forward to the real one. She jumped to the side, and shot up with her hoof in the air. “CLONES! Giga Attack!” All of the clones stopped moving and raised their hooves into the air, all calling out “IT’S RAINING LASERS!” Zero was blinded by the ceiling suddenly glowing bright, as it shot down heavy beams of energy, releasing a barrage so fierce that every clone was annihilated by it. Once the light died down, the real pony opened her eyes to see the Maverick Hunter still standing, holding his saber in the air in a block position. Before she could run, he leaped, grabbed her hard, and put his saber to her throat. “I’d suggest you cooperate, unless you want infinity divided by Zero.”