X1

X and Zero teleported to the specified coordinates, both slamming into a giant snowpile.

"Aww dammit! This is NOT how I picture hunting Mavericks! X...X? X where are you?"

Zero felt a tickle under his metallic feet and could sense slight movement.

"Oh crap, sorry man! Didn't realize I tagged along THAT close to you in transport!"

Zero pulled X from the white nothingness with one arm out into an arctic paradise.

"Hmm, not quite what I was expecting, but it'll do."

Zero shrugged like a child.

"'It'll do?' What did you want, Club Met?"

"No, but at least I'd have the courtesy to-"

As X began to rant about nonsensical issues, Zero could see out of the corner of his eye a lone Reploid.

"X watch out! it's a Maverick!"

From over a small lump of snow hopped a small rabbit-shaped Reploid. The two looked on in relief.

"Well at least it's only a small one."

Zero, without even looking at the poor defenseless thing, raised his arm cannon and fired a half-charged blast, sending mechanical parts and debris everywhere.

"Zero! How could you!"

"Just wait, X. Things get a lot worse. I can feel it. Now I'll check around this cavernous base. You head inside and I'll meet up with some recon info. This is how I do things."

X gave Zero a half-hearted nod of acceptance as Zero turned to the top of the cavern and leapt out of sight.

"All right. No more screw-ups. From here on out it's X's time!"

X began his march to the base. Another Maverick was spotted up ahead cutting continually reappearing blocks from a robot tree and launching them at X's direction.

"Man, I guess the weirder Reploids come up to the North to hang out! Here we go!"

X shot a flurry of pellets and destroyed the stumps of tree as he grew closer and closer to the Maverick. It could not move as it had been firmly planted into the ground. X leapt over the bot thanks to the help of the tree blocks, turned around and shot round after round of juicy pellet into the forehead of the hapless Maverick.

"There's just no way to stop you guys except to put you out of your misery!!"

X could finally see the mouth of the base ahead. He plugged on as he came across more rabbit-like Mavericks and even some bee-shaped hovering Mavericks. He ignored those with a smile and thought not to waste too much energy. Again he saw another 'lumberjack' Maverick and fired some powered-up shots right through the replicating tree and onto the body frame. In a tiny explosion, it was no more.

"Ah here it is. Now let's see what Chill Penguin's been up to all this time..."

As he entered the base, he felt the crackling of ice underneath his feet. He heard even more crackling, but he wasn't moving his feet and the ice remained whole. He took one look upward and saw a fleet of Maverick bats waiting for the perfect victim. As X seemed like a good target, they began making their way to his position. But X wouldn't have it.

"Oh like Hell I'm getting vaporized by some measly vermin!"

X paced backward as he charged a huge amount of energy, so much that the light from his X-Buster began to hurt his eyes. He jumped in the air, setting up a perfectly-aimed shot at the small army of bats and unleashed a hellish fury of energy, destroying them all within less than a second. As his feet once again touched the icy ground, he once again started trudging forward further into the cave.

"Oh more wheelie guys. You were nuttin' on the Highway, and you're STILL nuttin' now!"

X easily took out the oncoming spiny wheels of destruction as they came bearing down the gullet of the dank and cold cave. X climbed a rather unneccessary passageway, using his special boots to grasp the wall and ascend level after level of wheeling Mavericks and sub-zero temperatures. As he reached a tiny column leading up to the next area of Chill Penguin's base, he could see something emanating a fantastic glow at the top. Once he made it up to the top area, he could see a lone capsule bearing striking resemblance to the ones his old creator Dr. Light had made for him so many years ago.

"Could this really be one of the capsules? Here? How did Chill Penguin get ahold of it? Well no time to think about that now. Let's see what it holds..."

As X approached the technological tower, its middle area opened up and a crude hologram of his creator stood before him.

"So you've come...X, I gave you the ability to choose your own path in life. And I hoped the world would allow you to choose a peaceful one."

X began to clench his hands and think someday he would be able to.

"But now it seems that you are destined to fight. Because I thought the world might need a new champion, I have hidden capsules like this one. If you find and use them you will be able to increase your powers beyond anything the world has ever known."

'Beyond anything the world has ever known?' X thought to himself. He wondered if acquiring these new "powers" would do more harm than good. But one look at Dr. Light's blue-green holo image reassured him that this must all be part of something designed for good intentions.

"Step into this capsule and receive and acceleration system to boost your speed. Good luck, X!"

The hologram faded into the cold, moist air. X began slowly making his way to the platform when suddenly...

"X! Stop where you are! It could be a trap!"

A flash of red teemed across X's eyes as Zero tackled him to the ground.

"Zero! What the Hell! This capsule was specially designed by Dr. Light and could benefit us in ways we can't even imagine!"

Zero's eyes thinned into piercing blades of doubt.

"No, X. As the leader of this mission it's my duty to search out and scout every peculiar sighting we come across. This capsule fits the bill perfectly. Now just stay there."

X rose to his feet and pushed Zero's metal chestplate in a feat of anger.

"Don't even think of stepping onto the platform! It was specially designed for me! Who knows what it would do to you!"

"Oh please. I've faced greater dangers than some 'mysterious' capsule."

X clenched his teeth in frustration.

"Rrrgh you just want the new technology for yourself, you greedy bastard!"

"X, we don't have time to argue! Now just shut the hell up! I'm not going to steal your precious new gadget. I'm simply documenting this new find for Dr. Cain."

X shrunk five sizes smaller and turned slightly in shame.

"Sorry, Zero. It's just been a very long time since I've seen my creator. It just fills me with emotion to know even after his death he's still looking out for me."

Zero rose from his one knee he'd been perching on during X's self-realization speech.

"Okay, X. It seems like familiar technology specially appointed to Reploids. Kind of old, though. You could be very right. But just be careful."

X shot Zero a look of assurance as he put one foot on the glowing platform. He turned and looked at Zero.

"And if I manage to find all of these upgrades, who knows? Maybe I'll even outrank YOU someday."

Zero gave X a miniscule smirk as X's other foot fell to the platform surface. Suddenly a massive amount of energy began flowing from the platform to the top of the structure, then back down again. A cascading loop of lights and flickers were pulsating throughout the entire machine. The giant red light on top was emitting sonic waves of sound. The lip of the platform was charging X's feet with a white-hot energy, literally changing the mechanical makeup of his blue boots. When the electrical show had finally died down, X's new kicks were writhing with a newfound energy and newfound look! White boots with a yellow trim and blue brim.

"Oh wow! I feel like I could break the sound barrier, Zero! ...Zero?"

X looked around from atop the capsule and saw that Zero had once again left him. He hoped that his cohort was alright seeing as how he'd generated enough energy to light up a nuclear power plant.

"Ah, he'll be fine. Let's try these new things out!"

X took a mad dash from the platform as he raced through the cavernous region. With each dash, he could feel a wave of energy flow through his feet and up his spine.

"Yes..."

While dashing through Chill Penguin's hideout without a care in the world, he ran into some old Highway friends with propellers. A few half-charged blasts later and he suddenly found himself in front of what looked like...an ostrich with a mohawk.

"I tell ya, only in the North..."

As he began charging his trusty X-Buster, the bird Maverick's mohawk was quickly buzzing its buzzsaw-like way into X's armor.

"Agh! Damn, I didn't see that coming! Well fine, Mr. Bird! Take this!"

A fully-charged shot of X-Busting energy melted the beak from the cocky bird's face along with the rest of the head quickly following suit...or so X thought until he opened his own two cocky eyes. There stood the bird, charging his own buzzing weapon aimed once again at X's chest.

"Ugh, why won't you die? Will this be enough?"

Another half-charged blast and a few immediate pellets up the bird's own chest later and it puffed into a small pile of ash. As X was removing the buzzsaw from his chest he could see several more ostrich-shaped Mavericks staring at his wound. Once again X made a screeching dash toward the next ostrich in line.

"X! I'm back! I'll give you a hand!"

Zero came from the other side of the cave, shooting up Mavericks like nobody's business until he reached X.

"Zero, I didn't need your help...but thank you."

"I was wondering what happened after that crazy bright light. I quickly dashed out of there 'cause I thought it was a damned nuclear explosion."

X showed his teeth as he raised his eyebrows.

"No, sorry not this time. The capsule contained data for my boots. Now I can dash like you, Zero!"

"Yeah well...welcome to the club. Maybe those capsules are helpful, after all. Anyway come with me. We gotta find Chill Penguin and take him out before he starts making a move for Cain's lab."

X and Zero both exited the other side of the cave and came to a pillar with a suspicious-looking device on the other side.

"Is that a...Ride Armor? Unmanned?"

As Zero was saying this he took a step closer and motioned to X to get in.

"Me? What about you, Zero?"

"What, me? I don't like the things. Too bulky. But I scouted up ahead earlier and there's more Mavericks using these machines. You might want to test this baby out on their much weaker models. Beats me why this one was left here."

With much pleasure, X hopped in and put his HQ training to the test. With his fierce, new powerful arms he busted down a small dome. Dashing across several pitfalls, he made short work of small bug-like reconnaissance Mavericks. Finally, he saw another just like him.

"Oh you are NOT destroying this precious piece of Reploid!"

With one single move, he slammed his gigantic fist into the Maverick's much lesser bodyframe, tearing the Armor apart like a wet newspaper. The Maverick soon followed as it self-destructed under the weight of the collapsing rubble.

"This is the greatest invention I have ever been inside."

X made his way up to another pillar that unfortunately made the Ride Armor impossible to bring with him. Zero laughed behind him.

"Haha, well it was fun while it lasted, X! Come on out, we'll get there on foot."

The two Maverick Hunters scaled higher and higher until they reached the precifice of the base. Far far ahead they saw a glimmer of light reflecting off of Chill Penguin's main hideout doorway.

"Not much further now. Over a few pillars and a few unimportant Mavericks and we got 'im!"

X's own excitement caused him to say all this as he was being pelted with electrified snowballs. At this point he didn't even notice anymore. Zero hung back as X jumped over chasms and charged massive shots of blue energy across small snowball-throwing Mavericks.

"Hey X, don't get TOO comfortable. Things won't be so easy once we enter those doors. Remember, Chill Penguin's a master of his art. He knows ice and snow."

X looked back at his teammate.

"Yeah? Hopefully he'll soon know how ruthless I can be!"

Zero smiled as they both climbed up to the final area, stopping just outside Chill Penguin's door.

"Alright, X. This is where we part ways. You say you want to prove yourself and become a real Hunter? Then this is it. There's nothing left for us here other than Chill Penguin himself. I'll return back to Dr. Cain's lab and give my report on the situation. I'll be waiting for you there. Good luck, X."

Zero teleported out of sight with a small twinkle up in the sky. X turned to the door and made his way in. The long hallway to Chill Penguin's room made X feel nervous. But he clenched his X-Buster and drove in, fully charged and ready for battle.

"Chill Penguin! By order of the Maverick Hunters, I am placing you under arrest for conspiracy of Maverick propaganda! You will come with me peacefully to Hunter Headquarters immediately! Do you comply?"

Out from the icy walls came Chill Penguin, looking very menacing and unfeeling.

"X, nice to see you again. It's too bad we had to cut our last game of canasta due to Maverick activity."

"Now you're the Maverick, Chill! Just come with me and we don't have to take this any further!"

Chill smiled.

"Oh...but we do."

Chill flew up into the air and hung onto a small lever, causing a flurry of snow to blind X.

"Agh! Chill, just listen to reason!"

"I can't! I live only to serve Sigmaaaa!"

"Then I have no choice..."

X charged his X-Buster and began firing smoldering rounds into Chill Penguin, sending him back into the wall. Chill spouted large chunks of ice repeatedly at X, smacking him in the face with every round. X suddenly felt a cold chill as he looked up into Chill Penguin's two beady eyes. His sub-zero breath created an icy tomb surrounding X, while at the same time emanating two pillars of spiked ice with a one-way trip into X's body.

"Must...get...warm...Must...move..."

X shimmied and shook around until he broke free of his encapsulation, jumping up just in time to avoid the two spiked ice pillars. X shot a few pellets up Chill's way as he saw him once again cause a hailstorm of Hell to discombobulate X and his whereabouts. He began charging his Buster once again and found a small part in his visual cortex where he was unaffected, using it to blast Chill Penguin straight in the face.

"Auuuugh! How dare you! Take this!"

More icy pellets were thrust towards X, but he began climbing the walls and dashing from them to leap over his enemy.

"I won't have any more of this, Chill! I have to put you down NOW!"

With one final charge, X looked deep into Chill Penguin's eyes as time slowed down to a crawl. He unleashed the ball of energy and watched as it pierced through Chill Penguin, leaving a giant smoldering hole where he once stood.

"Ah....it's...it's over. Wait, what's this? A data chip? Amazed it survived the explosion. Whew. Thank goodness that's over. Dr. Cain will be pleased I found this! And those boots! Alright, back to Hunter HQ!"

X took one last look around where his 'friendly' acquaintance once housed his evil schemes. In a quick frame of blue light, X was on his way back to Headquarters.