X1

X safely touched down inside the power plant and found it oddly empty.

"Hmm, I doubt this is a sign of things to come, but still while I'm here I might as well try out the new gear."

X's new data hummed through his X-Buster, sending a warm sensation throughout his neural net. In a flash his entire body changed colour, reflecting his newly accessed weapon.

"Wow! My body frame even changes! I think I'm gonna like-UNGGHH!"

X felt the sharp sting of a missile barreling into his chestplate. He somersaulted away from its trajectory and saw that his old blue and grey friend from the Central Highway was back.

"You again? Geez, how many of you guys are there?"

X felt an electric charge build underneath his feet and saw that the blue-grey Maverick was pulsating with power. Its own chestplate opened up and bore forth a sparkling wave of energy in X's direction.

"No sir, not today! How's about a taste of the new, IMPROVED 'Shotgun Ice X'!"

X leapt over the sizzling line of electricity, aimed his new Buster at the bot's direction and fired. A large chunk of ice spewed forth from the Buster and struck the Maverick...barely phasing him. Not only that, but in the impact, chunks of ice came shooting back in X's direction.

"Oh...SHIT!"

BAM! X fell to the floor in a large heap of ice. He thought to himself, "Well, I guess this means I gotta be careful with these new weapons..." After some vigorous wriggling, he broke free of the icy pillar and converted back to his X-Buster.

"Now I KNOW this is gonna make things a lot better for now."

As X charged his mega-shot, he ran towards the mechanical menace with all his might.

"Even one of you guys is too many! I can't risk you terrorizing this power plant!"

He released the blast straight into the cavity of the machine, putting it to rest in a heap of metal scrap. X looked on into the power plant and saw many more dangers ahead.

"Well, this Shotgun Ice had better come in handy, 'cause it's nothing but problems so far..."

A series of ladders scaling up and down lay before him, along with several more blue-grey Mavericks.

"*sigh* I had better make these quick, I'm afraid what Spark may be up to if I just sit here and doddle."

X quickly climbed each set of ladders, continually charging his X-Buster mega-shot to take down the next Maverick that stand between him and his target.

BAM. BAM. BAM. Each Maverick dropping faster than the one that preceded it. Before X pressed on he looked back at the mechanical corpses he left behind.

"This had all better be for a good reason."

Upon turning back he noticed very large columns and chasms, the latter surely meaning his death. But just as he was about to ascend the first column, the lights dimmed.

"Oh NOW WHAT?"

Apparently Spark Mandrill had gotten wind of X's intrusion into his abode and called for the power to be dimmed in the second region of the plant. Now X had to fly blind through at least the next area, and who knows how far beyond that.

"Hmm..."

Despite the power cut, he could still manage to see a little bit of his surroundings. Cautiously, he rose up to the top of the first column...only to be drilled by a speeding firefly-type Maverick.

"Augh! If it isn't one thing, it's another! Well at least that thing left a nice trail of light for me."

Using the firefly's tail of light, X hopped down to the next area and quickly jumped over another oncoming glowing Maverick.

"Geez these things are fast! Whoa whoa, not getting fooled by that hole there!"

X leapt over the hole and continued to climb several more columns and dodge more chasms along the way. The flying bugs were now a welcome treat to the otherwise spooky surroundings in the near-pitch black power plant.

"Ah, more ostriches. Of course. I'm being haunted by the Maverick's I'd had to retire before. I mustn't let them get me down! I have to make it!"

X charged through more ostrich-themed Mavericks, dodging their buzzsaws and maneuvering around one to avoid collision. At this stage, X couldn't afford a slip-up into one of the chasms below. Zero was counting on him to succeed. He was on his own and had no one but himself to look to for help.

Finally making it past the ostrich and firefly-infested hallway, he saw several beams of light up ahead focusing on a descending ladder. As the only way to the next area, X had to take it. He casually made his way to a large door where he stopped for a breather.

"Whew. All this running around made me almost forget I'm on my own! I...wait, what's that?"

X put the side of his head next to the door. He could hear swishing sounds and gyrating noises coming from the other side.

"Must be Mavericks. I'd better charge up just in case, but an empty room would sure be nice right about now..."

Sadly, X was very mistaken. For in the next room hovered a large, gooey water-based Maverick with tentacles over ten feet long and a face only its designer could love.

"MUST PREVENT X REPLOID FROM REACHING CRITICAL AREA."

Immediately the large protruding snout began shooting bolts of concentrated electricity beneath its large head. X saw this static position as a means of opportunity and began scaling the walls and aiming at its gooey shell. He put round after round of mega-shots and pellets into its jelly-like skin.

"MUST ACCELERATE MEANS OF DEACTIVATION. MUST DESTROY."

The Maverick started to move violently from one side of the room to the other, frothing morsals of goo onto the ground beneath it.

"Ungh, this guy gives me the creeps! I gotta finish this before something bad happens."

X let go of the wall to rest on the floor, but what he fell into was a large, sticky blue pile of whatever it was surrounding this unwelcome Maverick.

"Ack! Can't move! Not again! Zero, where are you?"

Nothing. X could only lie still as he saw the Maverick topple over him and begin charging its large electric laserbeam. X struggled and kicked his feet. Bit by bit, microsecond by microsecond he tore away from the goo like paper from an old notebook and rolled into the corner in the nick of time. ZAP! Only a fraction of a moment ago the place where he rested was a black smear on the ground.

"Okay I've had enough of your shooting, I've had enough of your gook, and I've had enough of you!"

X once again climbed the walls in a fit of frustration and pounded the Maverick mercilessly with charged shots until he saw the machine explode before him.

"FAILURE...MULTI-SYSTEMATIC...SIGMA...SIGMA...SIGMA..."

The only thing left of the bio-mechanical beast was some metallic membranes and those menacing tentacles.

"...I suppose this could do for an empty room. As good as any."

He exited the door and saw even more high-rise columns.

"Huh, not a very creative power plant, but I'll take it."

X didn't mind giving his new and more powerful legs a good workout. He felt almost as though he were a bit more free with these powers. The thought grew inside him of just how much more he could be capable. New weapons with which to take on new dangers, new body parts to enhance his systems...he just hoped he wouldn't become the one thing he couldn't stand. Power hungry.

Once again, the lights went out. This didn't stop X from thinly seeing the danger that lurked in front of him. Spiked Mavericks on wheels and deadly blasters from the ceiling and floor were all aimed at his person.

"Y'know at this point, I welcome the distraction. I don't want any of you harming anymore Reploids!"

X fired a charged shot at the wheeling enemy, but all it did was send the device into a whirling frenzy. Another blast was sent shimmering through its two spinning green eyes, putting it out of its assumed misery. X hadn't been paying attention to the threat on the ceiling and was bombarded by a pellet to the shoulder.

"Owch! Man I gotta watch myself! I don't even have time for you, I'm outta here!"

He merely ran past the cannon and fell a few steps down into the next hallway, nearly avoiding a cannon on one of the step's bases. A cavalcade of green cannons lined the hallway from ceiling to floor tile firing multiple shots up and down. In the confusion, X somehow managed to jump and dash his way amongst the little green menaces until he was struck in the face with another spiked Maverick. He tumbled backwards into the back of a green cannon, charging his Buster all the while. He rose to his feet and tore through the spiky demon with a blue flaming blast of energy, having to dash at the last second to avoid more green pellet shots. Climbing an extremely narrow set of walls with his feet, X came to another wheeling Maverick which he quickly made work of only to come upon an even bigger threat. A large domed Maverick that shot smaller Mavericks out of its back.

"Great. Two-in-one deal. Only one way to deal with you..."

X ducked down to right beside the huge being and unleashed a pre-charged shot directly into its face. As it had quite the hard outer shell, X shot rapid-fire pellets up its cranial passageway into the dome.

"Come on come on, I don't need more of you hanging around!"

It was too little, too late. As X put the last pellet into the malfunctioning minion's base, two missiles had been fired off in succession and were gently falling in X's direction. X backed up against the wall and managed to avoid one, but the other was hovering over him and wanted nothing more than to plant itself in his face. X wouldn't have it. He ran to the wall beside him and kicked off in a feat of circus-like acrobatics to successfully avoid the second missile.

"Yes! And to think, no one's around to witness that!!"

With no time to lose, X pressed on into the fray of danger. He once again had to descend further into the power plant via ladder after ladder, and Maverick after Maverick. Applying the same tactics as he did to his earlier wheeled and domed foes, he crossed another perilous hallway and ascended more ladders once again. He came to a very familiar-looking area comprised of columns and chasms. And once again, the lights came down.

"Oh this again? I had better not be going in circles. I can't afford to lose time now!"

In a wonderous feat of serendipity, X had indeed assumed he'd gone around in circles. So he knew that there would be more firefly Mavericks and ostrich-shaped Mavericks to come.

"I gotta get through this quick! Spark could be up to no good!"

With each charged shot came a small burst of light from each firefly Maverick, giving slight passge to the next area. A welcome visit from the orb-shaped walking Mavericks on the Central Highway made X almost reminisce about how much easier that mission really was. But X had more important things to think about, like the large metal door that lay in front of him. The door leading to Spark Mandrill's hideout. He'd found it.

"Finally. Guess I wasn't going in circles after all."

He stammered through one door, then halted just before the one leading directly into his lair.

"Okay, X. This is it. Just you and him. Use everything you've got."

As X entered the area, he was greeted with a healthy dose of electric blast across his thigh.

"You know you make quite a racket when you talk to yourself. I could hear you from the other end of t his room!"

Spark Mandrill stood there, laughing at his own dirty joke.

"Spark, I don't understand. Why? It doesn't make sense for you to turn Maverick! You know Reploids and humans can live peacefully, we used to have long talks about it!"

X fell to one knee, grasping his leg where the electrical burn was still sizzling.

"That was then, X. This is the future. Don't you see that Sigma is right? Humans are the way of the past! We are self-sufficient now! I mean look at this power plant! Using all this energy, we no longer need the humans for anything! A world of nothing but Reploids...you should join Sigma and his cause."

X clenched his teeth in disgust.

"I will NEVER join Sigma! His beliefs and his ways are not my own, nor are they those of this world! Who is he to tell us what is right and wrong? The humans that created us instilled free will into our mainframes and we should use them for good, not for the wicked and selfish!"

Spark Mandrill jumped to the ceiling and grasped onto the dangling electrical wires as though they were vines on a tree.

"X, there must be something wrong with your programming. I'm afraid I'll have to retire you and make way for better, smarter Reploids!"

"I don't like having to do this, but again Sigma has given me no choice! I'm afraid I have to be the one retiring you today, Spark!"

They both fired off a shot at each other simltaneously, bombarding the other in a fiery blast of light and energy. X took a heavier beating, though, and fell into the corner. High above in the electrical wires Spark swung around until he nearly crashed onto X himself.

"Enough doddling! I'm putting out of commission nice n' quick-like!"

Before X could rise from his fall, Spark Mandrill began pummeling his chest plate, almost sending X into an unconscious state. But X had one last trick up his sleeve. In a flash he changed colours and emitted a pale blue and yellow light.

"What? What the heck is this?"

In a moment of confusion, Spark Mandrill stumbled back. X found the energy to rise to his feet, nearly buckling under the sheer pain of Spark's massive punches.

"This...is all I have. This is all I can do...to stop you..."

He fired a massive chunk of ice at Spark Mandrill, without a hope in the world. But as X opened his eyes after a huge burst of sparkling light, he saw Spark Mandrill encased in a gigantic block of ice. Completely immobile. Utterly frozen.

"Wow...so it does work."

It only worked for a short while as Spark's own great strength set him free from the solid block of ice. He wasn't at one hundred percent though, as his left arm was drooping and one eye had completely short-circuited.

"You...what the hell WAS that? How dare you! You think the pummeling was bad before? Well now it-"

Frozen again. X had heard enough. And with each time Spark managed to break free, he was frozen again and again until he just couldn't move anymore. X looked on as the light from his outpouring circuits dimmed into a cold darkness of total systems failure. Spark Mandrill had been retired.

After a moment of deep thought while staring at the giant retired Maverick, X slowly made his way over to Spark Mandrill and chipped away enough ice with his Buster to get at the all-important data chip.

"I just hope this little chip won't cause me as much grief as Chill Penguin's is right now. *sigh* I pray Zero isn't getting into too much trouble..."

With a final look at the statue of death X had created, he made his way back to Dr. Cain's lab.