• Published 11th Aug 2015
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Melody of the Future - Tatsurou



Megaman X raises an infant Octavia Melody in a world of human, Reploid, and Maverick conflict.

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5: Hellfire

X beamed down to the entrance of the weapons storage facility. However, as he arrived, he immediately noticed something that he felt he had to raise. "Alia," he said into his comms, "you could have informed me ahead of time that the facility was inside the caldera of an active volcano!"

"Sorry, X," Alia replied. "It's part of the facility's geothermal station. With the Viral alterations, some of the lava has escaped its containment tubes, so be careful. Your new Falcon Armor is tough, but not tough enough to survive lava."

"Understood," X replied, glancing down at his new armor suit. It was far more streamlined than his older armors, with fewer armor plates. The pattern of white and blue was more angular, and the red and green gems acted as focal points for energy in his busters and helmet, with sharp gold filigree. The booster engines on his shoulders and boots that allowed for full free flight for a time were smaller than he'd expected, testimony to just how advanced Dr. Light's engineering skills were. "Still hard to believe Dad made this in pre-End times..."

"I'm not entirely sure he did," Alia replied.

"What do you mean?" X demanded. "He can't still be alive after all this time...can he?"

"That's not quite what I meant," Alia replied. "The armor design was provided via program data. It could be that he crafted the design that long ago, but then left it in whatever computer system is controlling the capsules, designed to provide each new armor set as the materials to make them work became available. You did say the hologram program seemed fully AI(1)."

"I...guess that makes sense," X sighed. He was silent for a time.

"...X?" Alia asked worriedly.

"I'm okay," X replied readily. "Need to stop woolgathering. We're on a timeclock."

"Good luck, X," Alia said as she turned to other matters.

X rapidly made his way down the first tube-like passage, evading the defense turrets and flame jets as he sought out the bottom. Once there, he made his way forward past more of the same obstacles until he reached a curve in the path going lower.

"Careful X!" Alia warned. "The lava flow there is very strong. You need to be careful to avoid it as you progress."

"Will do!" X replied, waiting until the lava subsided before leaping down and racing along the tube. As he raced, he heard the lava coming up behind him fast. Spotting a part of the rock behind a metal and stone protuberance with a lower ambient temperature than the rock around it, he desperately ducked into the shadowed spot. Right before his eyes, the lava shot past all around him, but not touching him.

"Good thinking, X!" Alia praised, her voice sounding relieved. "My scanners show more spots like that throughout the tube. If you race from one to the next between lava flows, you should be safe."

"That's the plan," X confirmed, waiting for the lava to subside. Once it did, he raced ahead until he came to a rock wall blocking his progress forward. Hearing the lava approaching, he ducked into another shadowed area, letting the lava clear his path for him. He repeated this a few more times, racing past the few Maverick Mechanaloids he came across, until he was able to reach a door to a new area. Blasting his way through it, he made his way out of the lava tube.

In the new area, X found his path dividing in two. The upper road took him away from the sea of lava beneath him. The lower road led straight into the lava, however. Sitting in the magma unharmed was a new model Probe Ride Armor. He paused as he stared. "Hmm...which way should I go..." Turning to his scanners, he discovered that a Light Capsule could more easily be reached by progressing through the lava. "Lower path it is," he murmured. "Here's hoping the Ride Armor holds up."

As he leapt into the Ride Armor and activated it, a transparent dome shield covered the cockpit, protecting him from the lava as he steered down into the sea. The lava made it difficult to see as he progressed, so he was forced to rely on the sonar of the Ride Armor. Maverick Ride Armors came after him in the lava, along with bat shaped Mechanaloids.

"Okay, I get how the other Ride Armors survive," X grumbled. "But how the hell do the bat mechanaloids fly in the lava without exploding?"

"Sensors are unable to give a definitive response," Alia apologized. "Though given the odd energy reaction the Virus Clouds generate, maybe it's similar to the energy shielding holding the Eurasia together despite the blast from the Enigma, but on a smaller scale?"

"...maybe," X admitted grudgingly. Before too much longer, he made it through the lava, reaching the Light capsule.

The Light hologram appeared in the capsule as he approached. "X, this capsule contains the Arm Program for the Gaea Armor," it explained. "The Gaea Armor's primary weapon is the Gaea Shot, which - while short ranged - is quite powerful, can negate enemy projectiles, and break through certain types of obstacles that cannot otherwise be penetrated."

X stared at the hologram for a time. "...I get the feeling I'm not going to get much use out of this armor," he muttered.

The hologram shrugged. "Probably not," it replied. "They can't all be amazing."

Stepping into the capsule, X downloaded the program before heading towards the end of the upper path, making his way to the actual weapons storage facility. He didn't have long to wait before Mattrex burst in.

"...X..." Mattrex growled out. "You've come..."

"Mattrex, we need the booster engine in your possession!" X called out. "If we're going to-"

"15,000 credits," Mattrex growled back.

X blinked. "...seriously?"

"Yes," Mattrex replied. "I'm an arms merchant. I sell things."

"...well, I actually have a cred stick on me," X replied, still a little stunned. "Can you do an uplink transfer?"

"...just this once, since you're saving the world," Mattrex grumbled. "But in the future, have cash on hand."

"Right," X confirmed. He quickly pulled out his cred stick, and they made the transfer. "...how'd you avoid going Maverick?"

"Sat in the lava," Mattrex answered easily. "The Viral Clouds don't go that deep. Third door down, crate 17-B-Alpha. One time warp out code is 8675309."

"...a pleasure doing business with you," X admitted, a little stunned by how easily this went.

"And take this too." Mattrex handed over a chip containing his weapon program, derived from his RDNA. "Consider this my contribution to saving the world. I expect immunity from charges."

"You drive a hard bargain," X replied, taking the chip. "I just wish all such encounters could be so easy."

"Honestly, I expected you to refuse to pay," Mattrex indicated. "Then we'd have had to fight."

"Octavia insisted I bring money, just in case you weren't Maverick," X explained.

"Smart filly."



(1) For those who claim the holograms are recorded messages, if you go to a capsule in X6 with Zero, he'll engage the hologram in a full conversation. That's my basis for making the hologram network a full AI.

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