#repliforce flashbacks

-cut to-

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INT. NEW MHHQ – R & D Lab – DAY

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ALIA, a reploid in pink and black armor with short blonde hair and a headset built into her headband, is seen at her computer desk.  She takes a deep breath and watches X enter their new training room. After shaking the nerves of her first day, she com-links to him from her switchboard.

ALIA: Hello, my name is Alia, your new Navigator! Let’s begin your training. Are you ready, X?

- pan to-

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. NEW MHHQ – Training Room – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

X nods with a smile as he admires their new training course.

X: It’s been years since I’ve been in a training simulator. It’s time to get back on track.  I’m looking forward to this.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Me too. I’ll navigate you as you are a novice Maverick Hunter.

The smile on his face quickly wears off.

X: Excuse me??

SIGNAS: (o.s, filtered) Er-  Not quite, Alia.  

-pan to-

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. NEW MHHQ – R & D Lab – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just then, Alia’s heart skips a beat. She lets out a short gasp.

SIGNAS: (o.s, filtered) X is a Legendary Maverick Hunter, who has saved our planet, many times.

ALIA: Oh my God! Wait…!  You’re.. the one who saved us on Laguz Island! And.. stopped Doppler!!! Ohh, my goodness, how could I botch that up? We’ve met before!!!

X: (filtered, staggered) Uhh, yeah..!

On the screen, he slumps his shoulders and raises his hands, looking confused and slightly annoyed.

ALIA: I’m so sorry. I was reading from a script..

She shuffles her prompt papers and lets out a nervous sigh.

X: (filtered, confused) Huh?

- pan to -

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Signas smirks at the screen as he chimes in to his somewhat flustered comrade.

SIGNAS: Just go with it, X. Remember, this Training Simulation is more for her as a Navigator, than you as a Hunter.  

X: (filtered) Uh huh…

On screen, he folds his arms and straightens his posture again.

SIGNAS: Just pretend that you’ve never been in the field before, and take her advice accordingly.

X: (filtered) ..Alriight. Shall we??

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Yes.

X shakes the miffed look off of his face and puts his hands at his side. He clenches his fists, ready to begin their session.

Signas looks at the other screens from his console displaying Hunter activity and focuses his attention elsewhere.

SIGNAS: (v.o, narrating) While X begins his training, the rest of our units pursue their struggle to win back the public’s trust.

-cut to –

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EXT. NEWPORT – Suburbs - DAY

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Caption: 1:15 PM

Along the streets of a neighboring town, a young girl cries about her kitty who is stuck in a high tree.

Green Noir and Sierra from the Recovery Unit appear with friendly faces and open arms. The girl gasps in fear at the sight of them.

GREEN NOIR: Don’t worry. We’re here to help.

SIERRA: We got this, honey.

GIRL: (scared) /Oh!

Sierra /high-jumps and climbs the tree swiftly.  The kitten arches it’s back and hisses at Sierra, but she is able to snatch it before it can jump away.

GIRL: Oh my Gahaaaaad…

Sierra lands and hands the kitten over to the girl, who desperately holds her cat and tries to calm down.

Suddenly sirens blare and two cop cars arrive.

GREEN NOIR: Oh man…

SIERRA: Here we go…

SQUAD CAR: (filtered) Stop right where you are!  You are under arrest.  This is the Newport Police Department, and you are not welcome here.

A heavily armored officer exits his vehicle and calls out.

OFFICER 1: GET THOSE REPLOIDS OUTTA HERE!!!!!

The two of them sigh and teleport away.

-cut to-

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INT. NEW MHHQ – R & D Lab – DAY

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Alia buries her face in her hands, embarrassed at her first day flop.

ALIA: (v.o, thinking) Jeez, Alia. That was stupid-stupid-stupid!!! What were you thinking!?

She lets out a short sigh and shakes her head.

ALIA: (v.o, thinking) What a way to break the ice…

She regains her composure as she watches X maneuver through their obstacle course, until reaching his first enemy mechaniloid – a spike marl.

The spike marl rolls after him, and opens up it’s little sphere-shell to reveal it’s tiny legs and eye-cannon.  She decides to chime in.

ALIA: Enemy ahead of you! Use your X-Buster. Then, you can attack it from a distance.

X: (filtered) Uhhh, I know…

He raises his buster on screen.

ALIA: (put off) Hm..

-cut to-

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. NEW MHHQ – Training Room –DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Also, keep holding on to your trigger, then/-

He /blasts it down easily with a Charge Shot.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Oh..

X: (smirking) Heh.

He jumps over to see a few holes in the terrain of the obstacle course ahead of him.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Enemy in the hole, underground. Remember: Your shots don’t penetrate through the land. So, if you want to attack enemies, take advantage of the lay of the land.

X: (smiling) That is actually great advice!

X concentrates his aim on the small spike marl.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) In this situation, take advantage of the terrain, ignore the enemy and jump over it. You can adjust how far you jump by how long you pressurize your gauges.

X: That part, not so much.  

He ignores her and destroys the enemy with a couple of level 1 shots.

X: Always destroy the enemy if you can help it.

He far jumps over to the next ramp ahead on the obstacle course. This time, a pink walk shooter is waiting for him, just slightly out of his normal reach.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Hm.. Your enemy is in a difficult place to attack, but that is common in real life situations. Consider how to attack where you cannot attack by normal methods…  

X: (nodding, patiently) Mmhhmmm.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Your charge shot has a wide attacking range, and if you shoot while crouching…/-

He /blasts it down with another charge shot before Alia can finish her sentence.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Right..  Sorry.

X: (smiling) It’s okay. I could’ve used advice like that when I first started.

-pan to-

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. NEW MHHQ – R & D Lab – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alia watches her screen with a slightly glum look on her face.

ALIA: (v.o, thinking) Hmm…  I can’t tell if this is going well or not…

SIGNAS: (v.o, narrating) While our new Navigator seems to be having a rough start, our Special Forces Unit have arrived in Salem just in time to investigate a larger threat.  This could be good exposure for us.

-cut to-

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EXT. SALEM – Pioneer Bank – DAY

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Caption: 1:30 PM

SIGNAS: (v.o, narrating) The local authorities have not been making it easy…

On a hot Sunday afternoon in the middle of a somewhat busy town, everything seems to be just fine outside of the Pioneer Bank when out of nowhere, it explodes from the inside!

*BWWWOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHH*

The flames and ashes scare the surrounding civilians into a panic.  Cars drive away as fast as possible, while others run for their lives.  

On the other side of the street, Turian, Tethlon, Blizzard and Blaze make their appearance, ready to save the day.

TURIAN: Looks like we got here just in time, gang.

BLAZE: (annoyed) I’d say it was too late, if you ask me!

The Maverick responsible for the attack makes his escape through a side of the building out of what remains of the surrounding walls.  He is large and top heavy, with overly sized muscles from the torso up.  This allows him to carry a huge vault of cash over his shoulder.

MAVERICK: Huhuhuh. HAHAHAHA!  This is too easy.

BLIZZARD: That, bastard!!

TETHLON: Let’s go.

The gang swiftly walks over to the gloating Maverick who is cackling with glee.

MAVERICK: Eeehehehehehee!!!!!

TURIAN: Put that down, big guy.

TETHLON: We don’t wanna hurt ya.

MAVERICK: HAH!  What are you wimps gonna do?

Blaze ignites her fists, annoyed.

BLAZE: We’re gonna take care of you!!  Come on Sis!!

BLIZZARD: (nodding) Right.

BLIZZ & BLAZE: TWIN FISTS!! /YAH!!

The two of them /shoot powerful fire and ice from their respective hands, which spiral around each other into a large combined Charge Shot.

MAVERICK: Huaah??

He tries to guard his face from the oncoming blast, but it is too powerful.  The Twin Fists knock him down, causing an explosion from his chest.  This forces the vault onto the ground, which puts a huge dent on its side.  Large quantities of money seep out into the street while Turian sets his ice cannon.

TURIAN: We gotta finish this quick, before the cops come.

TETHLON: Yep.

SIGNAS: (v.o, narrating) Despite our best efforts, the police have declared all Reploids an enemy of the state. Ever since the fallout of the Great Repliforce War, Mavericks and Hunters have been treated alike by the human race.  We are not welcome here… but we still fight the good fight.

Turian blasts the Maverick down with a powerful wave that freezes him while Tethlon creates a large boulder from his buster.  When Tethlon releases the boulder, it crushes the foul reploid.

TURIAN: (smiling) That’s it.

The sirens blare.

BLAZE: Shit! It’s the cops.

TETHLON: Oh, great…!

SQUAD CAR: (filtered) FREEZE, Reploids.  This is the Salem City Police!

TURIAN: Come on guys, this is enough.

TETHLON: You sure about this?

TURIAN: (nodding) Yeah.  Let’s go.  Just as we rehearsed…

TETHLON: (worried) Alriiight.

The gang hops on their nearby Ridechasers and quickly leave the scene as the cops chase them down in their squad cars.  Turian leads the group as they weave in and out through the city streets.

SIGNAS: (v.o, narrating) Wait, what’s this??

-cut to-

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hector and Kirk look horrified at their monitors as they attempt communication with the team on their boards.

HECTOR: Turian, what are you doing!?  

KIRK: Get out of there!! Do you read???

Only static can be heard from the other end.

KIRK: Shoot!  His com-link is off.  

HECTOR: Commander, should I force teleport?

SIGNAS: (curious, slightly amused) No…  Lets see where this goes first.

They look at him surprised, but follow through with his orders.  David and Lucas smile at each other.  David points at Signas with his thumb while looking at his buddy, Lucas.

DAVID: I love this guy.

LUCAS: (smiling) Yeah, man.

He focuses back on his monitor.

-cut to-

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. NEW MHHQ – Training Course – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Along his obstacle course, X dashes further ahead until he bumps into a familiar mechaniloid with two arm cannons and a fearsome, beastly nose cannon.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Giant enemy ahead of you.

X: Yep, the Dejira… I remember those.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) This type of enemy doesn’t move, but specializes in durability. Pay attention to their attack pattern and attack them with your charge shot or a special weapon that works on them.

X: Well, since I don’t have any special weapons, my Charge Shot is gonna have to do.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Actually, you’d be surprised about that.

X: Hm?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Try calling upon your Force Armor. I took the liberty of downloading it into the simulator, so you can practice your better moves.

X: Really!??  My Force Armor??  But, I haven’t used that in years!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, encouraging) Go for it.

X: Uh, okay... Here goes nothing.  ..Hrrrrrrr/AH!

He focuses his energy, and almost effortlessly transforms with a white flash of light.  Suddenly, an enhanced version of his armor emits from his body and shines. Donning a pristine, white and blue armor, accented in gold with touches of red, this version of his Fourth Armor looks like it has never seen a day in combat.

X: Wow!! Alia, how did you do this!?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) I reconstructed your armor using the Archive Data we have of the Great Repliforce War. Consider it an apology for calling you a novice, before.  

X looks at his white and blue gauntlets, amazed. Then, he charges up and points his buster at the idle Dejira.

X: /Wow!

He/shoots a brilliant large plasma shot, which puts a big smile on X’s face.  The huge blast leaves a residual ball of plasma energy, which erodes it’s armor and fleetingly destroys the enemy.

X: (shocked, amazed) Apology accepted!!  So this armor is a… Replication?

He studies his gauntlets once again before he proceeds with the rest of the obstacle course.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Yes, but it only works in the Training Room. For field use, I can download it into your mainframe if you want.  

X: Oh, really?

He destroys a wall trap blast and nears a ladder where he climbs down and carefully avoids getting shot from two walk shooters.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Sure! After a quick glance at your file, I noticed that your armor fades after periods of non-use. So, I figured it couldn’t hurt to have it, just in case.

X’s eyes widen.  After taking care of the walk shooters, he drops down and looks ahead with a smile.

X: Whoa… Well, thanks a lot!  This is great!!

-cut to-

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EXT. SALEM – Streets – DAY

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TURIAN: (v.o, thinking) Hehehe, this is gonna be great.

Turian’s gang pushes forward through the frantic traffic. He cannot contain the grin on his face as he com-links to the extension of his team.

TURIAN: Alright, Recon. It’s on.

RECON RACCOON: (o.s, filtered) It’s on??  Alriiiight!!!

TURIAN: Come on, gang!  We’re outta here; Full Throttle!!

Turian leads the way as the group takes off at full speed.

Caption: 1:45 PM

The cops cannot keep up, but they do not quit either.

-pan to their side of the chase-

The cops completely lose sight of the reploids when suddenly, a new group of reploids appear before them.

Recon Raccoon, Scorche, Baryon and Frenzy Fox all stand before the 4 squad cars, fearlessly.

-pan inside the first squad car-

OFFICER 1: Uh, sir??  What do we do?

OFFICER 2: They’re testing us. Go ahead.  Run them over.

-pan over to Recon Raccoon-

RECON RACCOON: Baryon? Would you like to do the honors?

BARYON: Hmph. With pleasure.

Baryon makes static electricity from his hands, clenches his fists and pounds the concrete heavily.  With his fists in the pavement, he moves his electrical pulses through the ground as they reach the squad cars and shock the cars from their undercarriages, effectively shutting them down and stalling them out in the middle of the road.

OFFICER 1: HUH??

OFFICER 2: What the Hell is that???

Recon Raccoon smirks as their cars slow down before them and almost come to a full stop.

He kicks out his foot, which dents the hood of the first car and stops it. Then he holds out his gun with a wink.

OFFICER 1: Armed Reploid!  Get out and engage!!!

The armored officer gets out of his car, as the rest follow suit.

RECON RACCOON: Sorry… But we’re savin’ the day, this time.

-cut to-

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INT. NEW MHHQ – Training Course - DAY

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X dashes over to a wall.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) High wall without any ladder. Jump to the wall, and if you touch-

X: (smiling) I know.

X proceeds to do the triangular kick-jump off the walls that he learned years ago.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Oh! Uh..Sorry.

X: Don’t be so nervous. You’re a great Navigator!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Hehe, aw thanks.

After kick-jumping up the wall, he spots something new.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Can you see the yellow rope in front of you?  Jump to it and use your wire hook! Then you can grab the rope.

X: (smiling) Now, that’s new!

-cut to-

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EXT. SALEM – Streets - DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recon Raccoon shoots an officer with a containment blast from his heavy gun.  The electric band wraps around the officer’s chest plate and stuns him down to the ground.  With his armor affected, he cannot move.

His partner angrily pulls out his gun and takes charge.

OFFICER 2: You call this saving the day!!? /You’re under arrest!!

The rest of the officers /pull up their guns.

FRENZY FOX: All weapons on stun, boys.  You know the deal.

SCORCHE: Yeah, yeah…

Frenzy takes out his electric whip and lets out a containment band, similar to Raccoon’s blast. Scorche pulls out a pistol rather than his flame whip and fires a containment shot as well.

OFFICER 2: Evasive Maneuvers!!

The armored officers quickly scatter with their dash boots and high jump away with the aid of thrusters from the back of their armor.

BARYON: Nope.  Not today.

He holds out his hands and carefully emits three electrical pulses; two from his hands and one from his visor.  The pulses effectively stun and contain the remaining officers.

They all fall to the ground and struggle.

OFFICER 1: (struggling) Gah!! You’ll never get away with this. What is the meaning of this???

-cut to-

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INT. NEW MHHQ – Training Course - DAY

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X takes out his new wire hook, and uses it on a short yellow wire for the first time.  The wire hook effortlessly clasps on to the wire without any trouble and allows X to freely hang on the rope, while moving over to the next platform.  Multiple spike marls are underneath him, which he is freely able to shoot down with his other X-buster.

He jumps from rope to rope, encountering a hover gunner in the process.  With an instinctive level 1 pellet, he destroys it and moves on to a vertical rope that leads down into the next section of his Training Course.  As he descends down the hallway, he shoots a spike marl below him and lands.

He looks ahead and destroys a hover gunner instantly.  Then, he dash-jumps over to another rope and descends further towards the floor below

X dashes with a smile as he spots some more walk shooters and hover gunners ahead.

X: Let’s go!

As he takes them out, Alia breaks her silence.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Watch the floor in front of you…  Can you see the-

X: Deadly spike trap ahead. Yeah, yeah I know…

ALIA: Uh..In cases like this, do a dash-jump..

X: I know, Alia!  You don’t have to tell me everything..

He impressively destroys the mechaniloids in the room with swift shots from his X-Buster. Then, with a hurdle over a medium sized wall, he spots a gate in front if him.

-cut to –

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EXT. SALEM – Streets – DAY

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Momentarily triumphant, Recon Raccoon walks over to the disgruntled police officers.

RECON RACCOON: You may not remember us, but we’re the Maverick Hunters.  And /THAT… over there… was a Maverick!  

At the dash, he points to the scene of the crime, where Turian’s gang had quelled the threat.

RECON RACCOON: We eliminated the threat for you, and yet somehow we’re the ones that are apprehended.  Now tell me, why is that?

OFFICER 1: All Reploids… are scum.. and need to be eradicated.

RECON RACCOON: (unfazed) Uh huh…  I’ve heard that before, pal.

OFFICER 1: We will eliminate you all one day. Only then, will we be free.

RECON RACCOON: Oh, really??  Well don’t forget that your real enemy is sitting right there, fried in the middle of the street.  

FRENZY FOX: You’re welcome by the way!

OFFICER 1: For what?  City Clean up??  Do you have any idea how long it is going to take to fix that bank and repair any of the surrounding damage?

SCORCHE: Not our problem…

OFFICER 1: Yes it is.  This is why we don’t trust any of you. No concern for our Environment!  

BARYON: Well, to be fair, we did lose the Environmental Recovery Unit in the budget cuts.

OFFICER 1: AGH!  That’s not the point!!  Your whole Operation was blown.  You’re all acting as Vigilantes and it isn’t your place!!!

OFFICER 2: We could’ve handled this on our own.  We don’t Need you any more!!! Now you just made more trouble for all of us…

OFFICER 1: When we get out of this, you are all under arrest.

FRENZY FOX: We’re only here to help!!

OFFICER 1: We don’t want your help!

FRENZY FOX: Why you!!!?

He raises a whip to the officer, but Recon Raccoon grabs him by the arm.

RECON RACCON: Frenzy!  That’s enough.  Come on guys, this is a lost cause.

FRENZY FOX: Hmph…

They all walk away. Without looking Recon Raccoon waves a hand at to them.

RECON RACCOON: (calm, controlled) The bands will only last for another 2 minutes.  We’ll be long gone by then…

The police officers continue to struggle.

RECON RACCOON: You should consider yourselves lucky. After all the times Sigma tried to take over the World, you’d think the locals would appreciate all the Peacetime.

OFFICER 1: Who!!?

RECON RACCOON: OH GOD! This guy’s an idiot.  Lucas, take us outta here.  

LUCAS: (o.s, filtered) On it.

BARYON: I guess, we’ve simply been doing our job too well…

SCORCHE: Hmph!

All of the reploids teleport away, leaving the cops upset and dumbfounded.

-cut to-

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INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room – DAY

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Caption: 2:00 PM

Signas studies his monitor carefully, taking in what just happened.

SIGNAS: Hmmm, that could’ve gone better…

The Special Ops Unit teleport into the room with a mixture of smug and glum faces.

Lucas turns to his Commander with a guilty look on his face.

LUCAS: I’m sorry, Commander. I should have run their idea by you.

SIGNAS: (calm, poised) Yes, you should have. But, don’t be sorry… It’s important to raise awareness. I’m just glad that no one got hurt.

Everyone in the room is relieved and surprised at their commander’s reaction.

Signas gets up from his control chair and walks away.

SIGNAS: Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a break.  I’d like to see how our new Navigator is doing, in person.

-cut to-

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INT. NEW MHHQ – R & D Lab - DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alia watches X near the gateway on her computer.

ALIA: Go through the shutter. There you will encounter the boss of our Training Area.

X: (filtered) Ooh…

Signas walks in to the room, which surprises Alia.

SIGNAS: (smiling) Hey, Alia. How are you holding up?

ALIA: Okay! X is about to face the Training Boss.

SIGNAS: Nice. I could use something uplifting to watch.

ALIA: (nervous) Heh.

She nervously smiles at her boss then turns to the monitor to prepare X for what lies ahead.

ALIA: I have emulated the Dragoon for your training.

X: (gasping, filtered) Magmard…  If it wasn’t for him…

-A still,grainy image of Magma Dragoon suspiciously standing next to the Sky Lagoon’s broken Power Generator appears.-

-Followed by an image of the destroyed city below in Virginia.-

X: (v.o, narrating) The Repliforce War never would have happened.

-A grainy still of Repliforce’s Colonel declaring war on X and Zero appears-

-Followed by a mission prompt at the Old Maverick Hunter Base Control Room-

It reads:

-VOLCANO-

Dragoon of the 14th Unit is a traitor. Locate and bring him back to Hunter H.Q.

X: (v.o, narrating) He betrayed us!  But I didn’t want to believe it.  So, instead, I chased other leads…

At once, X becomes lost in thought.

-FLASH-

——————————————————————————— INT. MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – Med Bay – DAY ———————————————————————————

An unconscious Blaze teleports in with pieces of Blizzard, Tethlon and Turian, as they all fall to the ground an ashen and bloodied mess.

PSI: Whooa!

X: What the…-

X stares at the fallen 14th Unit in shock with PSI, the head medic and CASSANDRA, the main nurse.

CASSANDRA: Oh my God.

Cassandra leaves the portly rookie, DOUBLE and immediately checks on the incoming Hunters with Psi.

Double stares at them, awestruck.

DOUBLE: Wh-what happened??

X grits his teeth.

X: Dragoon did this… That BASTARD!

Double grins.

DOUBLE: Are you gonna go after him, sire?

X gives him a strange look and shakes his head.

X: He’ll get what’s coming to him…  Right now I have to keep my head in the game and go after this lead.

DOUBLE: (surprised) Really?

X: If I can prove to the Repliforce that Split Mushroom was responsible for the Sky Lagoon attack, then I can end this War!

X: (v.o, narrating) But Split Mushroom wasn’t a help at all...

-FLASH-

—————————————————————————--------- INT. BIO LABORATORY – Wrecked Computer Room - NIGHT —————————————————————————---------

X stands over a defeated Split Mushroom.

X: You’re done Mushroom.  Now talk…

SPLIT MUSHROOM: N-never…

X: Why did you build those Mechaniloids? Why go after the Repliforce? What’s your game??

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Hahahahahahaha..

X: What’s so funny!?

X holds out his buster.

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Its not about the Repliforce, you fool……  I’m just here to test your limits…  And by now… the damage has probably already been done…

X: Huh?

SPLIT MUSHROOM: Oh, nothing.  Good luck getting home…

-Flash-

X: (irate) WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!?

SPLIT MUSHROOM: GAAAHhahahahaha!!!  

X: (v.o, narrating) He set me back a lot. With our coms down, I had to contact our allies from his computer in order to get a ride home with The Legion.  

-FLASH-

—————————————————————————------------------- EXT. MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – Heliport Rooftop Landing – DAY —————————————————————————-------------------

X: (v.o, narrating) He betrayed us!  But I didn’t want to believe it.  So, instead, I chased other leads…

The Legion Jet gently lands on the rooftop Helipad.  The cockpit opens up as a ladder rail juts out from the side, by the wing.

X: (v.o, narrating) Then, I had to solve our new issue. We had been hacked, and the only way to resolve it was to enter Cyber Space!

-FLASH-

———————————————————————————– INT. MAVERICK HUNTER BASE – R & D Lab - DAY ———————————————————————————–

The moment X enters the room with Team Legion, Lucas and David stir at the sight of him.

-Flash-

Double and the rest of the Elite Hunters run over to him. He grovels on his knees.

DOUBLE: I’m so sorry, sir.  - I don’t know what happened!!

X: (annoyed, ready) Cyber Peacock happened. And now I’ve gotta get rid of him.

Double gasps.

From further towards the Mother Computer, Lucas /claps his hands once.

LUCAS: /Okay!  That, I know how to do.  David, help me set up X’s Pod.

DAVID: Oh wow.  This is just like Anomaly Day.

LUCAS: Exactly like Anomaly Day.

X: (v.o, narrating) The only good thing about this was the possibility of getting more information from this Maverick.  Instead, I was only left with more questions.

-FLASH-

—————————————————————— INT. CYBER SPACE – Core Lair – DAY ——————————————————————

In the midst of a vicious battle, X finds out pertinent information from Cyber Peacock.

X: Tell me Peacock!!  Did you tamper with our system just to distract me!?? While Countless Innocents in the Repliforce die by our hand???

CYBER PEACOCK: Hahahah…  You think you have it all figured out, but that isn’t even half of it.

He teleports away and reappears behind X, giving him a hard punch in the back of the neck.

X: Agh!!

CYBER PEACOCK: Get it through your head. The Maverick Hunters and the Repliforce will all be Dead soon.  No matter what happens with your Precious Repliforce War…

X: What!?

CYBER PEACOCK: Muahahahahahhh!!!!!  /GAH!!

X narrows his eyes and /fires another Soul Body at him.

X: Something bigger is going on. And I’m gonna find out what!! YOU HEAR ME!!!?

When Cyber Peacock reappears, X grabs him by the neck and punches him in the face.

CYBER PEACOCK: Kaughh..

X: Where did you come from!!?  WHO BUILT YOU!?

CYBER PEACOCK: ughh…  The Doctor…  

X: Hm?

CYBER PEACOCK: D-Doppler.

X’s eyes widen.

X: (thinking outloud) Doppler!  No way…  Is it possible..?  No!  I saw him die!

CYBER PEACOCK: The Doctor is dead, but his last act lives on.  Just in case he failed, he created me to attack your base from the inside.

X’s eyes widen in anger.

X: Then… you have nothing to do with the Mechaniloid attack at Sky Lagoon??

Cyber Peacock smiles, mischievously.

CYBER PEACOCK: ..n-Nope.

X grimaces and shoves him to the ground, hard.

X: (v.o, narrating) This was it. Magma Dragoon was responsible for everything after all.  And there was only one thing left to do.

-FLASH-

——————————————————————

INT. NEW MHHQ – Gateway – DAY

——————————————————————

X stands there in a daze as he receives a com-link from Alia.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Um, X? Is everything alright??  You’ve been standing there for 5 minutes…

X snaps out of it with an angry face.

X: DAMN him!!!

He rushes over to the gate, in a furious rage.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, surprised) Oh! Make good use of your crouching and Charge Shot!

X: Yeah… You bet.

He narrows his eyes with a clenched fist.

X: ..I still need to work out this aggression.

He runs through the gate and drops to a lower ground floor as the gate closes behind him.

The simulation of Magma Dragoon appears with the same wicked grin on his face from before.  X narrows his eyes with hatred.

-FLASH-

—————————————————————— INT. VOLCANO – Magma River - DAY ——————————————————————

X and Zero brace themselves for battle on a small landmass, over a smooth river of magma.  Zero is protected by a Ride Armor while X bears most of his Force Armor, save for the gauntlets.  On the other side of the landmass, Magma Dragoon rises out from the magma, which startles them both.

MAGMA DRAGOON: X and Zero… You’ve arrived.  I can’t believe It’s really you!

They both narrow their eyes.

X: Dragoon! Why did you betray the H.Q.!?

He hesitates to answer.  He can only offer them a wicked smile.

MAGMA DRAGOON: ………

ZERO: (annoyed, firm) Why did you betray us?!  …Answer me, Dragoon!

-Flash-

MAGMA DRAGOON: …You’re so naive. …Listen closely. I let the Sky Lagoon fall! And I’d do it again! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

ZERO: (shocked) Dragoon!

X: But… Why!? We’re allies!  How could you DO THIS TO US!!!???

MAGMA DRAGOON: (impish, baiting) Heh… You’ll have to defeat me first.

- FLASH –

—————————————————————— INT. NEW MHHQ – Training Lair – DAY ——————————————————————

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Wait…

X snaps out of it again to realize that Magma Dragoon is right here, in the training room. And this is not real.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) If you set your X-Buster to Auto Charge, you can shoot your Charge Shot easily.

X: (smirking) Auto Charge is for wimps…

ALIA: Oh..  Good luck, X!

X: DRAGOOOON!!!!

He angrily charges after the artificial program, which hops and does a narrow flame kick, right before him.

X back-dashes and blasts him with a fully charged plasma shot.

Taking the hit, the A.I fires a Hadouken at him.

X easily crouches and blasts him from below.

Taking the hit, the A.I fires a crouching Hadouken at him.

X simply jumps and hovers with his thrusters above the hadouken, while charging another shot.

He blasts him, which affects him deeply.  Then, he lands.

X: (disappointed) Hm… This A.I isn’t as strong as the original.

X dashes after him and throws some swift punches at his open points. Magma Dragoon just misses catching his punches each time, until he throws a Dragon Punch in retaliation, which X easily reads. He dodges the uppercut at close range and hard kicks Magma Dragoon down to the ground.  Then, he charges up once again, unleashing another heavy Charge Shot upon him, which completely leaves him open.  

X: Take this, Dragoon…

He powers up as his entire body ignites with bright energy.  In one fell swoop, he thrusts his entire body into an air-dash toward the A.I of Magma Dragoon. He destroys the A.I in record time with a Nova Strike.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Whoa!

SIGNAS: (o.s, filtered) Nice one, X.

X: (disappointed) Hmph… This one was significantly powered down, from the original. I can tell…

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) …Believe it or not…  He had the same specs. You just got that much better.

X’s eyes widen.

X: (surprised) Really?? ..but…  I haven’t been training.

SIGNAS: (o.s, filtered) Imagine, if you had!

X thinks back to the first time he destroyed him.

-FLASH-

—————————————————————— INT. VOLCANO – Magma River – DAY ——————————————————————

MAGMA DRAGOON: …This is about the Pride and Self Worth of every Maverick Hunter you’ve ignored. Every Reploid whose been thrown to the wayside, because they could never get a word in edge wise with you two.

He slowly rises from the ground.

ZERO: What are you talking about!?

-Flash-

MAGMA DRAGOON: Most of us never had the great privilege of working with you.

ZERO: (coughing, hurt) You did…

MAGMA DRAGOON: A rare Honor, indeed!  But secretly, with every triumph and every new power up you two received…  I was never happy for you.  No. Instead, I grew resentful of you both. Most of us are…

-Flash-

ZERO: Oh BOOHOO!  Poor Magmard!  You weren’t getting enough attention, so you flew the coup and caused a World Tragedy on our account. Are you kidding me with that, right now?

X: (hurt) Zero!!  Don’t.. rile him up any more…

ZERO: NO!  We took this guy to Laguz Island. We trusted you!! Almost every co-op mission we’ve done was with the 14th Unit. Then you betrayed us. For no reason!

MAGMA DRAGOON: …It all comes down to one simple thing in the end.  Power…  And sometimes, in order to achieve what you truly want, you have to make sacrifices.

X gasps and sharpens his brow in anger as he gets up.

X: You sacrificed an entire civilization… and joined Repliforce, just so we’d fight you…

ZERO: So that was your big plan!?  Take out the Sky Lagoon and make it look like Repliforce did it!!!?

MAGMA DRAGOON: It was so brilliant. The look on your bewildered faces when Colonel declared War on you.

Tears well up on X’s face as he clenches a fist.

X: (whispering, shaking) So many lives.. Lost for nothing…!

-Flash-

X: We had Peace!  We worked so hard to re-attain the state of the World after Doppler’s reign, Sigma’s return and Berkana’s erasures.  Then /YOU ruined it.  Over the most.. Infantile reason!  …I’ll Never forgive you for this!!!

His fist glows blue and then flames up into a fiery, red state.  The flames grow across his arm and cover his body as a glowing aura of gold surrounds him.  Then, the aura covers his body with pure power.

X: NOVA STRIIIIKE!!!!!!

MAGMA DRAGOON: What!?

He stares in awe of X’s new attack, as X launches himself with a swift air-dash, directly into him.

MAGMA DRAGOON: GYYAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

X rams into his chest as his Nova aura breaks off his torso and completely disintegrates his legs.

The broken, defeated Maverick looks up at X with tired, hurt eyes.

MAGMA DRAGOON: gg.. Uuurgh. You… are… strong… X…

Zero slowly gets up with wide eyes as he looks at the damage, X has done.  He walks over and stands by his exhausted partner as they look down at their former friend.

X pants as he sweats through his helmet. X: Such a waste… Why Dragoon?

MAGMA DRAGOON: … Always… wanted… to fight… you. …Then …he … appeared … and

X: He appeared? Who?!

MAGMA DRAGOON: …told me to work for Repliforce. To goad you into fighting…  …He …told me… he’d give me power.. only if I worked… for Repliforce…

ZERO: …What!? He? Who!? MAGMA DRAGOON: I couldn’t… refuse the offer… Sorry Zero… ZERO: …Dragoon!!! MAGMA DRAGOON: … was worth it… for a final duel…

He turns his head as the rest of his body explodes.

X: (v.o, narrating) Sigma…  He was really the one behind the Repliforce War.  Not, Dragoon…  But even now, we’re still getting traces of him again!  I have to be ready, for anything!!

-FLASH-

——————————————————————

INT. NEW MHHQ – R & D Lab - DAY

——————————————————————

Caption: 2:20 PM

In the R & D Lab, DOUGLAS, the engineer is hanging out with Alia and Signas as X walks in. X looks at his Commander surprised, and salutes him. Signas offers a salute in return.

DOUGLAS: Wow, X! That was awesome.

ALIA: You handled that way better than I could’ve imagined.

X: (smirking) Clearly… For a novice.

ALIA: Ugh, God. I’m never going to live that down, am I?

X: (smiling) Well, you did make up for it with the Armor. Thank you again for that.

ALIA: My pleasure!  Like I said, if you want to use it in the field, Douglas and I can install the program into your mainframe.

Douglas smiles at X and gives him a thumbs up.

X: Sounds good.

SIGNAS: Go ahead and debrief him, Alia.

ALIA: Oh! Right. Well, tactically your field experience is spot on, and you far surpassed anything I could expect.  Your emotional responses to field combat however, I feel are a bit…

She hesitates to say the words. X looks at her, concerned.

X: It’s okay, you can say it.

ALIAS: …Post-Traumatic.

X: (admitting) I’ve been through a lot.

ALIA: (smiling) I can tell… You’re holding together though.

Signas smiles and looks at X.

SIGNAS: And how’d she do, X?

ALIA: Hm?

X: Well, with all due respect, although she is really nice, she kind of talks too much and has a tendency to point out the obvious.

ALIA: (defensive) Hmph! Well she is standing, right in front of you! The least you could do is address me while I’m in the room.

X: Sorry to offend you.. I think with some more experience, you’ll become great at this.

ALIA: (put off) Right! Well, we’d better download that program if you want to use the Force Armor in the field.

X: Let’s do it. With Maverick Activity on the rise again, I think it’s only a matter of time before Sigma pops up again…

They both share a concerned nod.

-pan out-

SIGNAS: (v.o, narrating) Yes, things certainly have been interesting for us, as we’ve re-established ourselves in Hexagon. However, we fear that this minor time of peace may be coming to an end. Maverick Activity has been picking up lately and the Local Authorities are not having us. The Repliforce has been silent as well, which is a slight concern. Their Colony still orbits directly above our planet, although it is not currently considered a threat.  I just hope that Eurasia truly is a new breeding ground for Reploids to thrive off planet, and not just a place for them to reload their weapons.

-cut to-

—————————————————————— EXT. HEXAGON BAY – New MHHQ - DAY ——————————————————————

We zoom out from the new Maverick Hunter Headquarters to see their boastful beam cannon and the large Space Shuttle resting at the sides of their base.

SIGNAS: (v.o, narrating) For this reason, we have taken their unfinished Enigma cannon and acquired an old Space Shuttle from NASA. It seems that we’ll finally be able to adhere to Dr. Cain’s last wishes after all. He had always hoped we would create a Space Unit one day to explore the unknown…  Once its ready, we plan to visit Eurasia to see what is really going on up there.

-pan to-

——————————————————————

EXT. OUTER SPACE – Eurasia - DAY

——————————————————————

We zoom out from Earth and closer into the brilliant Eurasia Space Colony.

- pan to –

——————————————————————

INT. EURASIA – Fallen Commune – NIGHT

——————————————————————

We zoom in to the Space Colony Eurasia.  What was once a thriving Reploid Community has now been mysteriously destroyed by a tall assassin. His long white hair wafts in the artificial wind of the Colony as his crimson visor partially glimmers from the artificial sunset behind him. The shady figure stands amidst the desolation, tall and proud as he reports to his latest contractor.

Caption: 4:25 PM – Eurasia Time

DYNAMO: Yes, it’s ready… Piece of cake. The Colony is still alive.. I can let it fall at any time… Please let me do it now. I’m getting bored.  All I have to do is… go back to the Earth and scatter the Virus.

Over coms, the mysterious voice of his contractor speaks.

SIGMA: (o.s, filtered) You’re exactly what I expected…  You’re doing a good job… hee hee hee.

DYNAMO: Nobody dares to fight against you, except those stupid Maverick Hunters.  I’ll do anything for you, anything…

SIGMA: (o.s, filtered) Good… I’m going to Earth to execute our plan.  Stay where you are and await further instruction.

DYNAMO: But I don’t think you need to do it personally.  Are they really a threat?  Are X and Zero really so strong that you can’t let someone else do it?

SIGMA: Hee hee hee. Yes, in a manner of speaking.. Zero…  I’ll show you what you really are and who your true enemy is…  Hee hee hee hee. Bwah ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

- Freeze Frame. Grainy Effect-