X1

It had been several hours since X had penetrated the first defensive line in Sigma's Fortress. It had also been several hours since he'd lost a good leader and even better friend. He sat in the chair by the main computer console where Dr. Cain was analyzing the outlay of Sigma's Fortress.

"Doctor...I could've saved him."

"X, don't be so hard on yourself. You both did everything in your power to stop that foul Reploid Vile. I think you did all you could for Zero."

X shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah but, I mean, I still feel so-UGH! Why does this war bring so much pain?"

Dr. Cain shook his head too, but in a friendly gesture.

"Oh X, now is not the time for self-pity and sorrow. Do you think if Zero were the one sitting here he'd be mourning?"

X thought about it for what seemed like forever. Then he rose to his feet.

"*sigh* You're right, as usual. If Zero were here instead of me, he'd get back on his feet and take down the one Maverick responsible for all this pain and suffering! SIGMA!"

Dr. Cain smirked and patted X on the back.

"There we are! There will be a time and place for deep thoughts of our lost comrades, but now is the time of action I'm afraid. I've analyzed where Sigma's second line of defense rests inside his Fortress. I've given you the coordinates. Best of luck, X! And with your upgraded arm cannon, surely you can put an end to this war!"

X nodded and teleported to the designated area.

. . .

X touched down deep inside Sigma's base in a darkened area. Ahead of him was a long hallway littered with trouble. The first sign of trouble upon him was an ostrich Maverick, complete with buzzsaw mohawk.

"Alright, as Zero would put it, 'this is a time for action!'"

X charged up his Z-Buster and fired a scalding blue ring through the Maverick's torso, vaporizing it instantly. X took no time to look back as he dashed and jumped his way down the hall furiously, adrenaline pumping all the way. He jumped onto several sets of moving platforms. His only threat were the bat Mavericks lining the ceiling above.

"Hmm, wait I got it!"

He switched his Buster over to the Homing Missiles and began unleashing a wave of explosions bursting along the ceiling with every jump to every new platform he took. One final kick off the last moving platform sent him back onto solid ground and facing several more bats and ostriches. Fully prepared, X had already been charging up his X-Buster, but he felt that tingling feeling again. He powered up his Z-Buster to the highest setting and unfurled a cascade of power in front of him, obliterating the entire hallway of any Maverick activity.

"...Whoa. I'd better be careful how I use this new power. It's very...inviting."

X scaled a wall in front of him and took out more bats and ostriches waiting for him at the top of the long wall.

"Hmm, Sigma's baddies appear to be repeating themselves again! Either this is good or bad news for me. If only I knew why he is going through all this trouble..."

X looked up from where he stood and saw a new security door.

"Hmm, I assume another reprogrammed Maverick. Okay you Mavericks, do your worst!"

X flew through the security door and rest inside, waiting for his enemy to attack. From the other side of the room waddled a dark figure. It stayed in the shadows and spoke.

"I am programmed to destroy you. Destroy X. Destroy Maverick Hunters."

X fell into a defensive position.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was Chill Penguin. Or at least what's left of his CPU."

"CPU...Chill Penguin...programs do not comply. You will be destroyed."

X gritted his teeth and charged his Z-Buster. Just then Chill Penguin leaped up and grabbed ahold of the weather modifier on the ceiling, forcing hail, wind and snow to throw X off-balance.

"What the Hell?!? Chill, stop this before you kill us both!"

X powered down his Z-Buster and switched over to the Fire Wave he acquired from Flame Mammoth.

"I know I'm usually not one for puns, but I think it's about time you CHILLED OUT!"

X kicked off the wall and slammed into Chill Penguin, sending him crashing to the floor. X started up the Fire Wave and lit Chill Penguin up like a large marshmallow.

"DOES NOT COMPLY! DOES NOT COMPLY! DOES-*bzzzt*"

X had once again put an end to Chill Penguin. He stood there and watched Chill Penguin's body disintegrate into smoke and particles. The security door in front of him latched open, leading the way into even more trouble for X.

"I guess I need to press on. As Dr. Cain said, there's a time for mourning, and this isn't it. Not yet."

X dashed ahead and saw another Maverick climbing his way into a Ride Armor. Behind him was a miner Maverick and several more Ride Armors.

"Heh. Not today, friends. I have more important things to deal with than to mess around with you."

X switched over to the Chameleon Sting weapon and charged his Z-Buster to full capacity.

"This had better work again..."

X unleashed a load of power that surged through his body, rendering him translucent and invisible. He made quick work of the hallway as he dashed straight through several Ride Armors, miners and Mavericks.

"Man, if only my armor could take this kind of stress all the time I wouldn't need to worry about power consumption so much!"

With this thought in X's mind, he saved the rest of his energy for more pressing matters. Arriving at the end of the hallway, he saw a ladder going up.

"All this running around. If only Sigma would face me directly instead of sending me on these foolhardy search missions!"

X climbed up the ladder and could see the next area involved a lot of wall-kicking and dodging.

"Perfect. My legs need a good workout anyway..."

X charged his Z-Buster just in case he'd run into more Maverick trouble lining the walls. Several wall-mounted gun turrets slowly slid down the walls firing small shots to throw off X's balance.

"Geez! Could things get any worse?"

X climbed up several ladders, timing his jumps so to avoid any contact by the gun turrets. He was avoiding as much gunfire as he could, seeing as how he was in a very narrow space. Finally at the top, X dashed out of the tall tower and to the right where the skies opened up and a cool air fell upon him.

"No one around. This is awfully suspicious..."

X took three steps forward and began to hear a strong flapping noise coming from above. It was Storm Eagle.

"Intruder in restricted area. Obliterate threat at all costs."

"Storm! Is there anything left of you in there? It's me, X!"

Storm Eagle's lit up a bright flashing red.

"X identified. Number one threat. Use all means to terminate quickly."

X knew he couldn't reason with Storm Eagle. He switched to the Chameleon Sting, Storm Eagle's weakness, and began firing.

"I'm sorry, old friend, but I have to do this!"

Before the reprogrammed Storm Eagle could even flap his wings once against X, they were shredded like newspaper after two shots from the Chameleon Sting.

"I'm doing this for all of us! I'm sorry, Storm!"

With one final shot, X sent three green beams through the head of his old teammate. The carcass fell to the floor and laid motionless.

"Dammit, Sigma! Stop doing this to me! It's bad enough you forced this upon me once, but twice? Auugh!"

X could almost hear Sigma's maniacal laughter off in the distance. He knew Sigma was laughing at him, taunting him, making him dance for Sigma's own amusement. He wanted to see what X's true power could be, and unfortunately X was giving him exactly the kind of show he wanted to see.

"Enough of this!"

X dashed away from the unholy site he'd created and climbed a ladder, scaling another long section of Sigma's Fortress.

"Geez, more spiked wheeling Maverick, mace Mavericks, bat Mavericks, when will it stop?"

X fired multiple pellets into every Maverick he came across and downed each one within seconds of recognizing the blue armor X was famous for wearing. Every climb of a ladder brought the same round of baddies. Bats, maces, spiked wheels. X knew that a pattern meant something big was coming. But what? Lucky for X he knew of the security systems Sigma had worked on back in his Maverick Hunting days. First he took down Bospider. Which one could be next?

"Here's hoping I won't be disappointed by all of Sigma's 'hard work' he put into these machines..."

X saw the next security door leading into the next line of defense. He crossed it, then walked past the next security door into a large room with mechanics lining the walls.

"Damn...Rangda Bangda. I should've guessed."

The large creation was essentially a booby-trapped room. Spikes lining the middle of the floor, two "eyeball" units that could fire lasers and move freely about the room, and a "nose" shuttle that fired its rocket engines in all directions. Combined with walls that moved in on the spikes, X knew the room itself could be the death of him.

"Thank God I saved some Chameleon Sting from Storm Eagle's fight. Just the thing I need to redecorate this room!"

X waited patiently for either eye unit to open. The left one did, burning an intense bright red and firing red balls of energy towards X. He jumped over the spikes and slammed against the wall, kicking upwards violently so he could get a clear enough shot.

"Yes! Take this!"

He managed to score a direct hit on the left eye unit, sending it back into its socket and closing. Just as the unit closed, the walls themselves began closing too. X continually kicked alongside the wall so he wouldn't drop into the spikes for an instant kill.

"Like Hell I'm letting a few paper cuts stop me from putting Sigma out of his misery!"

The nose unit began moving all around the very thin and narrow area, nearly colliding with X. He took up arms and fired a few Chameleon Sting shots into the nose before it placed itself back in the hold and the walls moved out again. X had no time to act as the right eye opened up and emanated a blue hue all over the room.

"Hmm, blue. What's that do again?"

The blue orb hurled itself at X, punching him right into the wall behind him.

"Arrgh! Oh yeah...that's what blue does."

He took his Z-Buster and placed it right on the surface of the eye unit and fired until the unit exploded like a falling chandelier.

"Yes! One down, *urk* two to go."

X's injury was minimal, but definitely not out of his mind. The other eye unit slid open and fired green lasers to match its green aura. X took this opportunity to rise up and fire off a few more shots of Sting Chameleon's weapon at the eye.

"There! That should do it!"

The eye shorted out and fell to the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces. The moment the eye fizzled out, the walls quickly shoved inward. X had barely enough time to hug the wall before he almost slipped into the spikes.

"Damn! What the Hell!"

The nose unit was spiraling out of control and had no real direction anymore. X's Chameleon Sting was completely tapped out so all he had was his trusty Z-Buster.

"Zero...this is when I need you!"

X kicked from one wall to another, avoiding the nose unit but only barely. He had no shots available to him as he was too busy avoiding a direct hit with the unit.

"Zero! Why aren't you here? Ack!"

X knew yelling Zero's name to the moon and back wouldn't bring him into the room, so he did the only thing he could. He began charging his Z-Buster.

"Okay, Rangda Bangda, I'm sick of your ugly eyes, ugly teeth, and ugly nose! Yaaah!"

X unleashed the bright pink fury of Zero's weapon onto the nose unit, burning it to a crisp and sending the walls back out. The spikes disappeared and the room's walls shorted out in a beautiful array of lights and flashes. X had finally taken out the second line of defense in Sigma's Fortress.

"For you...Zero..."

X closed his eyes and clutched his Z-Buster tightly as he teleported back to Dr. Cain's lab.