#xmarty

I thought it'd be cute if X made this armor specifically just to spend more time with Marty in the ocean. (Probably called up Douglas to help him and everything)

This was also because I thought it was weird how Harpuia, Phantom, and Fefnir kinda look like X's armors but not Leviathan. Honestly, I think I'll redesign some of X's armors at some point or at least change the ones that most resemble the Guardians.

The armor actually looked pretty different before I landed on this design. I tried making the tail stick out of X's head, but that made me think of Sidon from Legend of Zelda and for as cool as that guy looks I didn't think it fit X. I thought about putting the tail where his actual tailbone would be, but that didn't look right to me. I'm happy with the final look for now, though in the future I'm probably gonna make the tail thicker and the fins more obviously shark inspired. I think I'll also call it the Hydro armor.

One final thing about this armor was me considering giving X a trident. Partly to match Marty's spear and Levi's javelin, but I mainly wanted to give X the trident as a call back to Splash Woman's Laser Trident.

X was definitely thinking about Marty when making this armor, but I wonder if some small part of him thought about Splash Woman too.

So, the Marty redesigns belong to @drawloverlala, @artbyzm, @imafraidofdogs and @sillyandquests. Everything else either comes from official game art or the manga. The big fuzzy creature is also my persona, or what I might use. I also made some new chars, the originals being Delphine Grimhollow and an unnamed mechanic I have yet to name (but they’re besties!!!).

And here’s my stuff from magma, mostly just an original concept and some OC and AU art.

They give SO much angst you guys I legit cannot.

Sooooo, I noticed Marty and Leviathan have a few similarities. Both are water women with a preference for the ocean. Marty once wore an armor that gave her fairy wings. They even have similar tastes in weaponry with Marty's spear and Levi's Javelin.

“Are you sure about this?” X asked softly. 

“X, they’re a part of our crew. And the crew is family! We can’t leave them behind-“. 

“I know! But they might be alarmed if they see us in person.” X informed her. 

“Don’t worry. Radio Mosquito gave them a heads up!” Marty assured. 

X exhaled. 

“Okay.”. 

He gave her a kiss. 

X and Marty entered the intake-release area. 

It was bigger than expected.

The room was circular, and the main palette was white, teal, gray and gray, with geometric abstract columns reaching up to the ceiling. 

The chairs had restraints on them, clearly for mavericks show eye being checked in for criminal behavior.

There was a logo on the floor: a huge T in front of an eye, the T clearly being for Thompson. 

At a front desk was a Reploid with red hair in a bun. Her armor almost resembled a secretary’s suit and was white and red, an eye symbol on her left breast pocket.

“Hello. You must be X and Marty.” She spoke softly. 

“Yes, we’re here to see Mr and Mrs. Thompson about some of our crew members here.” informed her. 

“Hold on, please.”; she pressed a button on her headset. “Mr and Mrs. Thompson, X and Marty are here and ready to see you.” She spoke into the microphone. “Now, just go into the elevator and go to the fourth floor. They’re in room 301.” She directed.

“Thanks.” Said Marty; they both went inside the elevator, which had a glass window. 

As it rose, they could see the jungle below them; it was rumored it took some deforestation to make this place possible, or at least in this specific location. 

“X, look, isn’t this pretty?” Marty inquired, pointing at the jungle below. 

“It is! Maybe we can stay here once we get them out.” X answered, though he could name something-or someone-prettier than the forest below. 

The doors slid open and they walked into the long hall. 

The palette was the same as the intake-release area. Teal, white and gray, with hints of gold. 

There were photos along the walls of the staff, including various humans and reploids. 

At the end of the hall was room 301; the frame of the doorway was gold and had two letters: M&R. 

The doors slid open. 

The office’s walls were a stark contrast: a velvety, bright red. The desk was curved and had screens on them, as well as a projected computer screen hologram. 

A woman with shiny black hair and a lab coat, as well as some light makeup and a headset, presumably Mrs. Thompson, was typing on a digital keyboard. 

On the right side of the desk was a man with curly red hair and glasses, and he too wore a lab coat. This was presumably Mr. Thompson. 

They both looked up at them, and immediately lit up and speed walked over to them.

“You must be the famous Maverick Hunter, X!” The woman beamed, hands up slightly. 

They both went to shake his hands. 

“Oh, and don’t forget my girlfriend, Marty!” X reminded them. 

“Oh, and the pirate girlboss, Marty.” The woman added, shaking her hand, but her expression was more relaxed and her voice more flat and matter of fact. 

They both stepped back. 

“As you already know, our names are Maria and Rudy Thompson, owners of Soyada Prison, pioneers in advanced technology and advocates for anti-Maverick justice!” Rudy beamed. 

“What brings you two here?” Maria inquired, folding her hands. 

“Oh, we’re simply here to take out some of our members. Their names are (insert names). We agreed to have them visit as an experiment and it’s been more than three days.” X explained. 

“Oh! Those three!” Maria quipped; the two quickly stepped back to their desk. 

Rudy playfully hummed as he did a quick search on his tablet. Maria did a quick search on her laptop. 

“Well, we’re having some problems doing that.” Maria said. 

“You see, there’s a lengthy process in releasing our incarcerated reploids.” Rudy added. 

“Well, we’re willing to wait as long as possible.” X said assuringly. 

“Exactly. They’re family. And family doesn’t take too kindly to leaving each other behind.” Marty spoke, crossing her arms. 

“We are so sorry, but our release process is private for safety purposes. We’ll let you know when we’re able to!” Maria assured, putting her hands together after walking to the couple. 

“You don’t trust us? What a shame.” Marty retorted sarcastically.

“Now, Marty, I know you and your boyfriend care very much for your…little “family”, but you’re also both known by mavericks since you are both famous vigilantes! It’s be a shame if a Maverick ransacked your boat-“. 

“Ship.” Marty interrupted her. 

“Whatever. Just tend to the rest of your crew.” Maria carelessly said, making a shooing movement with her hand as she walked back to the desk. 

“In the meantime, we’ll have some of your fellow reploids escort you!” Rudy beamed. 

Just in time, two guard reploids escorted the two back to the elevator. 

“Bummer, I think they’re hiding something. We gave proof of it just being an experiment.” Marty complained when they were leaving the facility. 

“Well, surely they must be telling the truth. The public trusts them a lot.” X responded. “Although, we could do some more research…”. 

They eventually re-entered the ship. 

“How did it go?” Harry asked. 

“They say they’re doing the process of releasing them at this moment, but we’re gonna do some more research before we figure out whether we should wait or not.” X answered. 

“I’ll get the computer set up. Meet me down there, okay?” Marty asked, before giving X a peck on the cheek and dipping. 

X and Marty, as well as Harry, Blade Axolotl, Brenda and Owen were huddled around them. 

“It says here that some of the mavericks that went here and came out returned to crime before they were retired, so so much for rehabilitation.” Marty said. 

“Ma’am, I have a bad feeling about that place.” Harry added. 

“Well, it says here that they were physically and verbally mistreated  by prison staff and were in cramped environments.” Blade Axolotl read to them. “Maybe we should check on them.”. 

“I-I don’t think it’s a good idea to just barge in and ask to see them.” X stammered. 

“I agree. It’s a top security system. And it isn’t like Mavericks, human traffickers or poachers. We might end up in hot water for breaking in.” Brenda informed him. 

“No need! I put cameras on them!” Blade Axolotl quipped. 

A moment of silence. 

“…you what?” Harry asked. 

“Blade Axolotl, that’s an invasion of privacy!” Jules yelled. 

“It’s a genius invasion of privacy! Now come to the lab.” Blade Axolotl retorted, before turning to head to the small lab. 

Blade Axolotl got on the big computer he, Antonio, Jules and Electric Monarch had been using. 

“Alright. In pieces of their body structures, I placed hidden cameras that allow us to see as they do!” Blade Axolotl explained. 

He went on the computer and tapped on a program. 

“What do you guys wanna see?” Blade Axolotl asked, leaning on the panel. 

X and Marty glanced at each other, then agreed wordlessly.

“Just…show us where they are, please.” X solemnly requested; to his surprise, he found himself with an odd feeling of dread, like they were about to find something out that would change this whole situation, and he’d have to be thrusted into another rescue mission. Not that he minded, but he let Marty take him so he could escape from the constant drama of war, where he only had to intervene if necessary. After all, and especially after the incident with Launch Octopus and having to rescue his beloved from the blades of Bubble Crab, he still wanted to protect her, even as she had gotten better at protecting herself and even him. 

The Axolotl Reploid typed ferociously on the keys, then clicked on something, before leaving it on the screen for all to gaze upon. 

The individual boxes of camera footage all showed the exact. Same. Thing. 

A cramped concrete cell, with only another concrete seat provided. 

The door was made of maxi glass, and there was metal lining at the front of the cramped cell. Hell, it could barely be called a cell. It seemed more like a charging capsule or coffin than anything else.

A small security camera was tucked away in the corner of this supposed cell. 

Looking through the cell’s door a need one could see rows and rows of prisoners in the same cells. One reploid each, and unisex as well, though there wasn’t a need is everybody was all in a cramped cell. 

Some of the prisoners looked furious, others glum, and others downright petrified. 

A female Reploid, with a purple hair structure like bubbles, holding a baton, looked to the new prisoner they were seeing the point of view from. She pressed her hand against the glass. 

“We heard your little pirate crew came to check upon on y’all, boo. Guess what, baby boy? Looks like your little friends ain’t comin’ to save y’all.”. 

X and Marty both clenched their fists, while Blade silently bit the tips of his sharpened fingers. Harry covered his mouth with his fingers. 

“Hey, hey, hey!”- the voice belonged to Dash. 

“The voice belongs to Dash!” X exclaimed. 

“Leave him alone! He didn’t do anything!” A woman yelled. 

The other woman turned around, a wicked sneer on her face. 

She strutted over, pressed the numbers on a keypad, opening the cell to a Reploid with flowing blonde hair in the same uniform as the other prisoners. 

The woman beneath her shrunk back into the corner of her cell, silently begging for mercy. 

X clenched his teeth, looking on in a sickening anxiety. 

“Well, well, well, little miss bimbo here decided to speak out.”. 

“Leave her the hell alone!” Another woman screamed; it was a cell close to her. A cow Reploid, tall and cramped within her face, and very strong and dangerous looking too. 

“Cow, don’t rock the boat!” A man exclaimed; this was a cricket Reploid, who looked very anxious as the woman turned to them both. 

“All of you, quiet!” Another male voice exclaimed; into view came a Reploid, built off an assassin bug, covered in armor and parts that…didn’t belong to him… 

He pressed a red button next to the keypad of the door; immediately, electric restraints tightened the cow Reploid. 

He entered the password, then pulled out a rod; immediately, with the press of a button, the rod sparked to life, and he poked her with it, causing her to cry out in pain as electricity was sent through her body. By the time it was finished, he turned off the restraints, and shut the door before she could fall out of her cell. 

The insectoid turned around. 

“This is what will happen to you worthless criminals!” He boomed, his accent as visible as the woman he worked with. 

“What have we done…” Marty breathed in absolute horror; they had sent their crew mates, parts of their family, to a hellhole. Where reploids were being screamed at, insulted and electrocuted. And judging from the woman’s baton, likely beaten as well. 

“We need to do more research.” Electric Monarch concluded. “I’ll try and hack into their database to see what I can find! I’ll get our navigators to work on seeking out info!”. 

“Alright.” X responded, full of determination. 

“In the meantime, we’re breaking in!” Marty stated, full of freshly born fury. 

“Wait, Marty, we can’t just barge in! This crew was already wrongly deemed Maverick once. We can’t go through that again!” X explained, shocked but, not really, deep down.  

“X, members of our crew are trapped in there! We can’t leave them behind, and they won’t let them out!”. 

“There has to be another way! These aren’t reploids this time! This isn’t like Bit and Byte or The Proud Reploids! These are humans!”. 

“I know that!…but they’re being Maverick too! And you saw what they were doing to the reploids in there!”. 

“I know! But-I-“. 

“If it helps you two, I can try hacking into their security systems while Monarch and the rest handle their database! I can see if there’s anymore reason to break in!” Blade Axolotl suggested. 

“…Alright. But we only break in if it’s severe. In the meantime, Crystal Maine and I will try and convince them. I’m sure we can reason this out peacefully.” X decided. 

“Fine then. But if I find out they hurt them-“. 

“Then we will break in. But only if this place is legitimately wrongful in its practices.” X spoke firmly. 

He sighed, as he went upstairs to get Maine. In the meantime, Blade Axolotl got to work on hacking into their security cameras. 

Zero made his way into the prisons vicinity, seeing the large gray building come into view as he sliced away the foliage. Gigantine leaves and bushes dropped to the ground as he found himself at the wide open gates.

Apparently, the guards had already been handled by X, Marty and Bomb Possum. He could tell by the black smudges where explosives had clearly been utilized, as well as dark crimson splashes, clearly displaying that once again, the former gang member had not pondered the lives of those guarding the building.

But, to be fair,

Neither would be at this point.

However, it would be daft to just go rushing in through the front-.

“Damn.” He thought.

An idea swiftly rushed into his head, and without thinking furthermore, rushed to the side of the building. From Radio Mosquito’s observation, there were five exits, two of them being emergency exits. Why only two for such an elephantine edifice? Who knew? Perhaps the wicked owners were just greedy bastards. Or maybe just uncaring for both their reploid and human employees.

Not a surprise…

“Halt!” Three guards, all reploids, boomed, pointing their weapons.

Zero found himself dodging the plasma shots, before jumping up the concrete wall, and jumping directly at one of the guards, effectively slicing him in half.

He jumped upwards to avoid the remaining guards’ rain of shots.

He remembered the ability Blade Axolotl had installed into his sword using Armored Assassin’s ability.

“Point it in front of you after killing your opponent!”.

He proceeded to do just that; to his shock, the two halves remained in front of him, allowing him to remain shielded by the remains.

“Damn, just as good as he was back in the Hunters.” Zero said under his breath. He, Kela, and the rest of the engineers had grand skills. Guess they weren’t the top ten graduates for nothing.

He swung his saber in the nick of time, and threw the halves at the two guards, knocking them down, before attempting to slash them with his saber. Much to his surprise, and chagrin, they immediately got up, so he had to flip over them and summon the halves of the corpse again. He knew this time, they’d be ready for it. So he relied on his buster and proceeded to fire back.

Electric Monarch had installed an emergency laser, but he wasn’t willing to use it right now, but damn, these guards were good. He hated to admit it, but the Thompsons had trained them well.

BLAM, BLAM, BLAM!

It was an endless tango of destruction. However, he wasn’t an SA class hunter for nothing.

Finally, he managed to shoot one guard down, knocking the gun out of his hands.

He was half expecting the guard to defend him, but he didn’t care and just ran right at him.

A strange thought, perhaps intrusive, or maybe one of pride, perhaps a legitimate question, or maybe even a trio of the three, but he wondered if they knew who he was. He was never one of those proud, haughty reploids that went “Do you know who I am?”. Come to think of it though, most wouldn’t dare try to fight him, lest they were some sort of Maverick…but if this was a prison built for Mavericks, then why didn’t they respect him here? Perhaps because he let the Rose Thorns take him in?

Unless this wasn’t about justice…?

All of a sudden, the guard threw his gun up into the air, rolled towards him, and kicked the half of the corpse away, flipping over back onto his feet and grabbing it once more.

“You’re good!” Zero complimented.

“It’s a living.” The guard nonchalantly responded, before shooting at him again as Zero dashed away.

The rain of buster and plasma shots remained relentless.

Finally, the guard managed to hit him.

His booming laugh of triumph rang out, as he walked over with his gun.

“I told a guy this one time, you know…” Zero spoke softly, a confident and smug smile forming on his lips.

“Eh?”.

He slowly stood up.

“I don’t need toys like those to fight…”.

“Ah, I see. The owners of this place know of your confidence…alright then, traitor.”.

“Traitor?” Zero inquired.

The guard threw his gun to the side.

“I will put you back in your proper place as a reploid…”.

And with that, he flew forward in front of him, his armored boot stretched before him, before Zero proceeded to grasp it, then threw the other reploid right on his skull.

The other man abstained from relenting, however, and immediately got up as soon as he was thrown down and went for a cross, before Zero, too, grabbed that, then lowered himself just enough to deliver a few blows to the stomach, before the other reploid tossed him downwards, but even then, Zero rolled away, before getting back up and attempting to grab the other reploid by the head to knee him, but he proceeded to dodge and about punched him, but Zero proceeded to pull his fists up to shield his complexion.

He responded by proceeding to kick him on the side of his body, but he remained standing, before the other proceeded to throw a few more punches, each grabbed, blocked and dodged by Zero.

It was only when a final one was grabbed, and Zero flipped the guard on his back.

The guard dug his legs up and kicked Zero in the face before springing back up as if nothing had happened, and attempting to punch him furthermore, with Zero blocking with his forearms, then slipping away and sending in a flying kick in the head, causing the guard to stumble back.

Zero pushed forward and threw in jabs and crosses left and right, the guard doing the same as he had before and grabbing and blocking, before proceeding to flip him over, but Zero merely summersaulted away, then came in with another flying kick, knocking the guard back.

The guard got back up, dodging Zero’s foot again before pulling him by the hair and proceeding to turn him on his skull, but Zero got back up and dodged a jab, before he dove under once more to punch him, but the guard put him in a hold and slammed him against the concrete wall, before Zero kicked him away and almost delivered a left hook, before his fist was grabbed and he was turned over again.

Then an idea struck him…

And with that, he placed his hand on the concrete ground and swung his body, officially kicking the guard off his feet.

He proceeded to slam his head into the concrete, pinning him down as they glared at each other, baring their teeth.

The man managed to grab Zero by the collar of his armor and pulled him downwards with where he was on top of him and began punching his face in, before Zero caught it with his hand and used all his strength to pull them both up, then uppercutted him, then punched him away.

With no time to waste, he kicked him on the side of his torso, then unfolded another leg to roundhouse kick him.

He proceeded to pin him once more, seething with rage.

The guard chuckled.

“Excellent work, Zero…you truly deserve her status as an SA class hunter.”; his voice was rough, tainted with the stains of being both impressed and resigned.

And with that, Zero went over, picked up his sword and charged inside the building.

Amethyst had X by the throat, a wicked sneer on her face.

She threw him against the concrete wall, then primed her buster, a powerful whirr emitting as she chuckled lowly.

Marty’s core skipped a beat; with that, she sped up the stairs, her spear primed and ready.

However, X came prepared.

He ducked just in time, the impact of the blast knocking him forward; Amethyst jumped away just in time.

X looked up at her, Amethyst giving a wicked grin in return.

He primed his own buster, but Amethyst jumped off the railing, falling down past the sprinting Marty and pulled something from her utility belt: her whip.

She threw it towards herself in the direction of the railing and it wrapped around it; her feet planted flat on the side of the metal stairs.

Just then, she pulled it and launched herself back up, making a perfect landing on the upper railing, her whip having unfurled and her hands planted on her hips with confidence.

“Weeellll, weeelll, weeelllll…look who it is. The knight in cobalt armor and the pirate queen wannabe.”; she chuckled a wicked chuckle. “This is gonna be fun…”.

“Why are you even defending this hellhole!? Aren’t you aware you’re a reploid too?” Marty exclaimed, donning a battle stance, her teeth clenched in anger and anxiety.

Amethyst laughed softly.

“You think I work here because I agree with their bull? Please, I ain’t a boring reploid. I like beatin’ the scrap outta reploids! This place is a goldmine. The perfect fightin’ ring. But enough talk, blondie.” Amethyst answered; with that, she jumped up railing after railing.

The two followed her…

Zero ran into the elephantine room, rows of cramped cells each with a particular reploid covering the curved walls.

His eyes fell upon the grand piece in the middle of it all: a watch tower.

And surrounding this tower were rotating walls, only connected by the lines of electricity jiggling and crackling between them as if they were a barbed fence.

“Damn, how do I get inside?” Zero inquired in his mind; just then, he remembered something Electric Monarch had informed him of.

“One way of short circuiting these safe guards is finding a resistor of sorts, to lower the voltage down to its absolute minimum. I installed a device into your buster that can shoot them into the safeguards, but you have to aim them just right…”.

Zero began to aim his buster…

Steady…

Steady…

BUHBUHBUHBUHBUHBUHBUHBUH-

Luckily, Zero had dodged the rain of bullets just in time, his core pounding within his chest.

He glanced up at the tower, and within it, the wide eyed, grinning reploid with blue-white hair and bags under his dark blue optics, his face clearly understanding a joy only known by the insane.

Zero ran around the tower, the bullets thundering right behind them.

Now was the perfect time to shoot at the side of one of the safeguards; if he could, he could crawl into the tower from the outside without becoming reploid swiss cheese, then break in through the glass and corner the crazy bastard. All in all, it seemed like a solid plan.

In a moment’s notice, he pressed a hidden button on his buster, and a small device rose up like a curious creature of the deep, and he aligned his eye with the target.

Click-blip!

To his delight, the device had been perched onto the side of the safeguard like a barnacle; a hologram screen popped up, and he placed a finger on the dial, lowering the power of the voltage until the strings of electricity vanished, and he wall jumped up one of the safeguards and then off from them, plunging his saber into the wall with a mighty yell.

He used one of the dagger sabers Blade Axolotl had gifted him and climbed up the wall, the insane reploid still attempting to shoot him, but couldn’t because the machine gun wasn’t constructed to go low enough.

X and Marty arrived at the very top of the stairs…

They opened the thick door.

And found themselves on the roof of the prison.

“Aaaaand welcome! To your doom!” Amethyst yelled in delight, her hands stretched into the air; the sun was setting, the sky an ombre of sherbert orange, peach pink and citrine yellow.

X and Marty glanced at each other and gave a prompt nod.

“Aww, look at you two lovebirds. Ain’t this precious? Aw-ha! I can not wait to turn one of y’all into a scrap heap and have the other one-cryin’ out for his or her one true love!” Amethyst mocked, before giving a hearty laugh; this earned glares of pure disgust and fury at the madwoman in front of them.

Marty was the first to make a running start towards her, her spear stretched back behind her, before she jumped up and went to plunge it into her, but to her surprise, Amethyst whipped out her baton, and the two weapons clashed, Marty’s feet hitting the concrete roof as the two struggled against each other, before Amethyst summoned just enough strength to push the spear back, then went to hit her on the side of her face with it, but Marty blocked it with her forearm; the pain from the impact was searing, but the woman wasn’t one to give up that easily.

Marty went to kick her, but Amethyst slipped, and was about to punch her before Marty back flipped away, in which X proceeded to step in and attempt to blast her with his buster, but she flipped away, then proceeded to shoot at him as well.

She pulled out her whip, and X barely managed to dodge it, where it would have surely wrapped around his waist.

He primed his metal ability and kept dodging Amethyst’s baton before utilizing the ability to hold her in place with her armor.

“You know you ain’t supposed to cheat in fights, goodie two shoes~.”.

“We’re not doing this to challenge you! This place is full of corruption! And it was all under our noses!” X exclaimed.

“Well, well, baby boy, I should’ve expected you to be the one playin’ knight in shinin’ armor, bein’ the first victor over the bald man himself.” Amethyst sneered. “But alas, I can accept this. Take me aboard the deck and make me walk the plank or some bull like that.”.

X and Marty glanced at each other, and he put her down, Marty passing him some handcuffs-.

Zero climbed all the way to the side of the window as if he was a gecko upon a brick wall, then drew his fist back.

SMASH!

Then he proceeded to kick the cracks once more.

Thump-crick, thump-crick-SMASH!

Sam immediately attempted to turn the machine gun at him, but Zero, like a wild beast, threw himself over and landed on all fours on top of it, then punching him square in his complexion, almost sending him dropping down from the watch tower.

Zero was about to jump onto him, but Sam ducked out of the way, performing a tactical roll and whipping out his buster, shooting round after round as Zero dodged the bullets.

The blond reploid eventually resorted to using a chair to shield himself, then swung it at him, albeit the other reploid shifting away quickly, before Zero shot his buster at him.

Upon doing this, more guards appeared, but Zero ducked under their plasma fire and swung his sword, effectively slicing them in half; much to his horror, that familiar spark of enjoyment, almost like an intrusive thought, flickered like a candle.

But he went right back to dodging Sam’s fire. He proceeded to use the ability he had and swung the pieces of guards at him, finally sending the other reploid down.

His body landed with a thud.

Zero proceeded to run up to the control panel and attempted to figure out how to close the door behind him, so he could set Dash and the others free.

It had happened all so fast.

X and Marty were on the ground together, recovering from the individual blows the purple haired woman had managed to deliver.

X figured he had no choice, and Marty quickly agreed without a word; X drew his buster while Marty wielded her spear.

Amethyst jumped out of the way.

Marty was tempted to draw her mace…before realizing she didn’t have it; she had dropped it as soon as she had seen X being held up by his throat.

As soon as Amethyst landed, Marty jumped the wall behind her and went for a flying kick, but just then, Amethyst had swung her whip onto her ankle and yanked her down.

As soon as that had happened, X blindly shot his buster, but Amethyst simply bent back as if it was a mere game of limbo, then lunged down to shoot her own buster.

X managed to duck just in time, but found himself almost falling down the gigantine building, his fingers grasping the edge.

“Ha! I can’t believe this! I’m about to kill the former world’s greatest hunter! I’m that good! This is why I joined this sheep farm!”; her booming voice echoed as she gave a hearty laugh.

She proceeded to step on his hand, causing him to grunt in pain…

But he felt no fear…

Because…

BAM!

Amethyst whipped around to see who had punched her, before Marty plunged her spear into her stomach.

A second after, Marty rapidly drew her oil soaked spear out and kicked her in the wound, causing her to stumble back, plunging below…

Marty took a moment to take in her victory, her blonde hair blowing in the breeze above the prison building.

She then bent down and drew her hand; X promptly grabbed it, and she hoisted him back up.

“Thank you…” X said, smiling softly.

“No problem, just returning the favor.” Marty gladly retorted, a soft yet confident smile appearing on her own face.

The two shared a brief kiss, gazing into each others eyes, before being overcome with such an awkwardness, then resumed focus.

Just in time, as if the universe had agreed with their shared idea, Zero’s voice appeared through the speaker in the blue bomber’s helmet.

“Alright! I’m secure in the watch tower! That should buy me some time to unlock our fellow crew members!” Zero confirmed.

“Alright! Thanks, Zero!” X panted, still tired from the battle that had just taken place.

The couple ran back into the dark stairway…

Sam lay there, silently groaning on the concrete floor…

Clack, clack, clack, clack.

He found himself face to face with a fair of black pumps…

He briefly looked up, hoping his employer would call for the medics…

“Some sniper you are.” She hissed, then kicked him in the side.

She contacted her husband.