//------------------------------//
// 3: Taking Down the Tyrant...Again 
// Story: Melody of the Future 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

As the trio arrived in the final area of the Fortress, they took in their surroundings.  The chamber was wide open with pale blue floors and ceilings, the distant walls shrouded in shadows.  A large capsule was visible in the distance, containing a massive combat reploid body.

"Think that's Sigma's Battle Body?" Zero asked, flexing his hand around his beam saber.

"No," Octavia countered as she scanned it with her visor.  "It's missing some critical components.  It's just...yet another source of materials.  It's probably being kept in the capsule as a source of spare parts, in case we do more damage to Sigma than he expects."

"He expects to win," X commented dryly.  "He overestimates himself."

Only the most basic of defensive mechanaloids guarded the path inward, eventually leading to a narrower area with ladders leading upward...and a somewhat damaged wall.

"I need to go through here," Octavia stated bluntly, gesturing to the wall.  "I managed to download the map while we were in Doppler's chambers, and there's a power generator in there feeding power directly into Sigma's battle body.  If I don't take it out, his battle body will have a limitless supply of energy to draw from."

"Then I should take it out," Zero countered.  "I can go alone, and-"

"If Sigma's any kind of tactician, he'll have designed his Battle Body to fight everything he's seen us use so far," Octavia interrupted.  "That would be each of our standard abilities, the sub weapons we've brought with us, the Hadouken, the Shoryuken, and my Classic Adapter.  Which means if we want to beat him without risking excessive damage or possible death, we need to hit him with things he hasn't seen in full action."  She gestured to X.  "While he's seen the Golden Armor, he's only likely to have formulated a battle plan around it, rather than designing his body to counter it."

X nodded worriedly.  "But he hasn't seen the Piano or Timbre Adapters in effect, because we haven't used them.  Still...are you sure you can handle whatever you face back there alone?"

Octavia smirked as Classic beamed in.  "Who said I'm going to be alone?"  Grinning, she blasted the wall open and dashed in, Classic hot on her hooves.

Knowing that standing around would only draw attention to her, X and Zero clambered upwards towards where they knew Sigma was waiting for them.





As Octavia dashed towards the power generator, she glanced about at the narrow, machine lined corridor.  "...where are the defenders?" she asked, confused.

"Doppler is sending them a false signal indicating that you are attacking from the other direction," Varia explained.  "He also informs me that he has completed the anti-viral program, and sent it to one who is already in motion to assist.  The Neural Computer's been disabled so it can't alter anyone new, and destroying the power generator will shut it down completely."

"Huh," Octavia muttered.  "Good to know."





As X and Zero made their way through the final door, they entered a tall, box-like chamber that severely limited movement.  It wasn't long before they came face to face with Sigma's new body...a humanoid reploid body in a riot of purple, yellow, blue, and green.  The purpose of the dreadlock-like spikes coming off his back wasn't readily apparent, nor that of the horns rising from his shoulders.  The glowing shield in his hand, however, was obviously for defense.

"We meet again X, Zero..." he growled out.  "I had no idea it would be so easy to amass such power from a viral form.  So many months of careful planning, wasted..."  He chuckled a bit.  "And if the Hunters hadn't sent you in so soon, X, I would have gotten away with it...and figured out how to corrupt and control even you.  But it seems the three of us are destined to battle each other over and over..."

"You talk too much," Zero barked out.  "Timbre!  Merge!"  He lifted his hand into the air as Timbre beamed down onto him, surrounding him in an aura of black energy.  When the energy faded, Zero unfolded his wings to reveal his new form.

Hovering in the air, he flapped the massive wings sprouting from his back, the black membrane feathered in a pattern of orange circuitry.  His armor was a mix of dark blues, deep purple, and pitch black, with a solid red crystal pulsing in the center of his chest.  Smaller blue wings fanned out to each side of his head.  His hands had turned into crimson claws, and tooth-like protrusions marked his feet.(1)

"Impressive," Sigma admitted.  "It seems I'm not the only one with new tricks-"

"Piano!  Merge!" X shouted out.  Piano warped in above him and dropped onto him, converting partially into energy as the adapter kicked in.

When the light faded, X's golden armor had changed to crimson and white.  His busters were nearly double the size, and massive thrusters glowed on his back and on his feet.  His new form radiated indomitable speed and raw, unchained power.

Unfortunately for X's pride, it was also covered head to toe in thick, fluffy fur.(2)

Zero attempted to stifle his laughter, especially at X's chagrined expression.  Sigma made no such attempt.

Falling onto his back, Sigma let out peal after peal of uncontrollable laughter.  "It's...you're...he's so fluffy!" he finally managed to gasp out, rolling over to pound his fists and feet against the floor, his entire body shaking with his laughs.

X stared at him with a miserable frown until the laughter started to subside.  "...are you done?" he asked in resignation.

Sigma started to stand up...but then he caught sight of X's face and burst into laughter again.  "Like a pouty lion!" he gasped out as his whole body shook, rolling back and forth on the floor in laughter.  All at once, the laughter and movement stopped.

"...huh?" X began, confused.

Zero hovered over to examine the body...and began to snicker.  "X...I hate to tell you this...but he died laughing."

X could only groan and facepaw...only to groan even louder as he realized that yes, when not a buster his arms in this form ended in massive paws.

The lights went out as the power generator was destroyed, and Zero returned to X's side as he felt something shift.  "Well," Sigma's voice began softly.  "That was certainly my most embarrassing defeat yet, though I'm not sure if for me or you, X."  Two glowing eyes appeared in the darkness.  "However, that will not suffice to destroy my new and improved battle body!"

As the light returned, the massive shape was revealed.  The legs were each thick and tall enough to completely contain X or Zero, even in their new forms, and colored a dark blue with yellow and red markings.  The upper body had a face on the chest that was somewhere between a gorilla's and a lizard's in configuration, and marked the divide between the blue lower body and the pink upper body.  Massive laser cannons and missile launchers were mounted on each flaring shoulder, and Sigma's tiny head could just be made out at the peak.

"Behold the might of my new invincible form!" Sigma declared loudly.  He then blinked.  "Wait...where's Zero-"

Appearing behind him, Zero performed a spinning kick that tore Sigma's head from its position on the new body, sending it flying towards X.  X leveled both busters at the flying head and released a fully charged shot from both.  The immense wave of firepower blasted straight through Sigma's head to take a chunk out of the battle body and the wall behind it.

"Watch where you're shooting, X!" Zero snapped as he blurred back into place beside X as the massive battle body exploded.  "You nearly hit me there!"

"Sorry!" X responded, chagrined.  "Didn't realize how much power these babies had."  He stared at his new busters in amazement.  "Think Light went a bit overboard here..."

"Amazing..." Sigma's voice murmured.  "What power from such ancient machines.  Only one option for it...I shall possess you both to rule this world!"

The new sensors that allowed X and Zero to see when a Reploid was under the Neural Computer's control picked up something new appearing in the air above them.  It looked like the wire frame projection they'd faced after beating Sigma the last time...but they could tell that was only how their minds were interpreting the visual data.  It was actually a viral concentration...Sigma's attempt to possess them.

The fortress beneath them began to fill with lava, flowing up towards them as Sigma sought to trap them.  The room above narrowed as it ascended.  "There is no escape-"

Sigma's rant was cut off as X and Zero both shot upwards with the air boosters their new forms had equipped, rapidly outstripping him, leaving him to spout curses.

Eventually, however, the pair reached a dead end, and Sigma appeared behind them.  "Give up!  There is no escape!  When I possess your bodies, I shall become truly invincible!"

"GROUND CRUSH!"

"What-"

Before Sigma could react, the ceiling behind him broke, and a figure came down like an avenging angel.  The humanoid reploid was built on a massive scale, nearly twice as tall as X or Zero normally were.  His armor was a mix of white, black, yellow, blue and red.  His face, while normally open and honest, was twisted into an expression of fierce determination and fury.  The only real clue to his identity was the hat with the Repliforce insignia emblazoned in bronze above his brow.  His beam sword was built to his scale, and the pink blade slashed easily through the entire cloud of the Sigma Virus, disrupting it as a new signal was left in its wake.

"What...how...?" Sigma demanded.  "Who are...?"

"Colonel of Repliforce, reporting for duty!" the Reploid barked out, his voice firm and strong with a slight British accent.  "Dr. Doppler was able to create an anti-virus program based on what he'd found of Dr. Light's research into corruptive programs and X and Zero's brain wave scans.  The Hikari Antibody has been uploaded into both my systems and my beam saber as an attack program."

"This...isn't...possible!" Sigma screamed out.  "You...all...will...pay!!!"

The virus cloud began to erupt with explosions, as did the Fortress.  X, Zero, and Colonel immediately beamed out to the nearest safe coordinates.





When the trio landed on a plateau overlooking the Fortress, they found Octavia waiting for them alongside Classic.  Zero disengaged from Timbre so he could stand on solid ground again, to reassure himself that the mission was actually over.  X plopped down beside Octavia, not bothering to defuse from Piano just yet...though he groaned a bit when Octavia chose to bury herself in his new fluffy coat.

"Not gonna disengage the Adapter yet?" Zero asked.

"Light implied that the process might not be entirely stable when he installed the chip and Adapter," X explained.  "I want to wait until we're back at the base so I can be under proper observation when I disengage it...just in case."

"And you want to know how Alia will react to you being so fluffing adorable," Zero teased.  X was glad his crimson fur concealed his blush.

"Speaking of, Zero, I need to discuss something with you," Colonel pointed out.

"Oh?" Zero asked, turning to face him.  "What's that?"

"Regarding my sister..."  Colonel suddenly drew his saber.  "Defend yourself!" he shouted as he charged in with an overhead swing.  Zero's saber leapt to his hand to block.

X debated whether or not to step in and interfere.  The debate lasted until Timbre returned with a bucket of popcorn, which settled the debate.








(1)For those who don't recognize the inspiration for the design...
(2) Any artists out there, I'd love a picture of Fluffy X.