//------------------------------// // 2: This One Pony Will Slay // Story: Melody of the Future // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// The next part of the Fortress X and Octavia beamed into seemed rather straightforward. The only enemies they encountered at first were shield bearing humanoids, bats, and strange jumping insectoid bots that clung to them but didn't do damage...except when Octavia tried to shoot one off X. Octavia giggled nervously as X glared at her, his head still smoking. The path was also quite narrow, shortly leading to an upward path involving riding a moving platform that changed direction each time the button on it was depressed to reach the next area. After that, were more types of mechanaloids they'd fought before. The next such passage also had spikes at the bottom, and the platform was harder to guide. Following another passage, they moved downward through a spiked passage to a horizontal path. At that point, they paused as both their sensors detected a Light Capsule directly above them. "Now...how to get up there..." X murmured. "You could just throw me again," Octavia offered. Nodding, X did as suggested, grabbing hold of her and hurling her upward. Gripping the side of the vertical passage, she climbed upward until she reached the capsule, which opened for her. "Octavia," the Light hologram began. "I have a new upgrade for both of you...but I had to customize it to each of you. It won't be able to transfer between you the way the other upgrades have." "But...but X can't get up here-" Octavia covered her ears as the sound of X's Giga Crush going off startled her. X then leapt up into the chamber. "Found another way in!" he said proudly. "I used crystal shooter to turn another enemy into a platform, then charged up my buster. When I was at the peak of my jump, I triggered my Giga Crush(1) to give myself the extra height to grab the sides of the passage!" "Most impressive, X," Light praised. "Your tactical skills continue to grow and impress." He frowned. "I'm afraid that there was an unanticipated problem regarding upgrading Rush for you." "What?" X asked in shock. Octavia also looked upset. "When I tried to reactivate Rush...his higher brain functions - those that gave him a personality and controlled his systems - refused to activate." Light sighed. "I suppose I should have anticipated such a thing, considering he took himself offline when-" He paused. "Never mind, it's not important. At any rate, I didn't want to fail in keeping my promise to you...so I used Rush's basic design and some of the newer Reploid technology and my own techniques to build you your own robot dog. Now that you've activated this capsule, he should be beaming in in three...two...one..." A red teleport beam shot down, forming into physical matter right in front of X. The beast that appeared resembled a robotic St. Bernard, colored red and white, complete with synthesized fluffy fur which Octavia promptly dove into with a happy squeal, shouting, "You're so fluffy!" As X knelt down to scratch the massive head that was turned up to smile at him and lick his face, Light chuckled. "Behold, your robo-dog and support unit...Piano." Both X and Octavia turned to look at Light funny. "...Piano?" they both asked in confusion. "All the robots I built have musical themed names," Light explained. "And despite his size, he's very quiet." While Octavia tilted her head in confusion, X chuckled. "Pianoforte, right?"(2) "But shouldn't he be Pianissimo, then?" Octavia asked. "Ruff," Piano disagreed immediately, his deep voice quietly booming. "He's not that quiet," Light explained. "Also, he's the size of one, practically." He smiled as X and Octavia laughed at that. "But for now, both of you...step into this capsule and receive a new surprise." As the hologram vanished, X and Octavia stepped into the capsule, only for Piano to try and crowd in with them, much to their laughing amusement. Eventually, they got him to sit outside the capsule while they received the upgrade. As the capsule finished the upgrade, their busters glowed. Varia beeped. "Shoryuken online." X and Octavia turned to each other with a wide grin. They realized what this was. As they dropped back downwards, Piano came with them. "So...what abilities does he currently have?" Octavia asked. X checked his status screen for what commands Piano currently knew. "Let's see...Piano Fight...Piano Tank...Piano Spike." He shrugged. "The first is pretty self explanatory...but what about the others?" Octavia turned to the large canine robot. "Piano, what's Piano Tank?" Smiling, Piano lifted his head, revealing that the keg hanging around his neck was actually a Sub Tank that held nearly 10 times what the current Sub Tanks held, and was designed to readapt to X and Octavia's armor energy over time for volume. "Nice!" X proclaimed happily. "And...Piano Spike?" "Ruff!" Walking forward to a spike pit, Piano leapt in. His thick fur slipped between the spikes, filling in the gaps and allowing him to walk across them without harm. He looked over his shoulder, gesturing to his back with his nose. "Ruff!" Nodding, X hopped onto Piano's back, riding him across as Octavia hopped onto X's shoulders. Crossing the spike pit, the trio made it to the boss chamber, where Agile was waiting for them, now inside a horizontal cylinder that obviously held some sort of weapons. "And now, you shall fall before me-OW!" he yelled as X shot at him. "Can't I at least finish my monologue?" "Shoryuken," Octavia replied easily. "Gee, thanks," Agile said happily. "You're a nice po-" Agile said no more as Octavia's Shoryuken tore him in half. X gave Octavia a 'look' as she came down. "...I thought it was funny," she pouted. "Ruff!" Piano agreed. (1) An alternative way to get to the capsule shown in the playthrough videos I'm using for writing research. Seen here. (2) The piano was originally called a pianoforte, as the first string instrument that could be played quietly (piano) or loudly (forte).