Chapter 2: Unusual Encounters

"We do not wish to hurt you," said X, "especially since you aren't a robot! Arma, let us through, we are..."

"I THINK NOT!" yelled Arma. He laughed, before spreading his wings, and diving straight for X, knocking him to the ground. Zero drew his sabre, and charged. Arma extended his right hand and casually launched strange glowing bulby projectiles, that knocked Zero backwards.

In a fit of rage, X aimed at Arma, and ignoring what he was taught, let loose some plasma bullets. He stared in disbelief as Arma was knocked backwards, bleeding. "Oh no, I k, k, k, injured someone organic...."

"Sentimental, are we?" laughed Arma, as he fully recovered. "I may not be a Reploid, but I can be just as powerful!" He held out his hands. "Tornado Banish!" X and Zero were picked up and tossed to the sides. "Go away, you cannot compare to our powers!" He flew away.

The two were suddenly surrounded by a large crowd. Some of them were Mechaniloids and Reploids they recognized, including a couple of flyers with shields in front of them. There were also strangers who were not metallic. They seemed alive, yet strangely...unworldly.

"Let's Air Dash, Straffe and Slash1" suggested X. They headed to where they thought the enemies were the least problem, jumped up, and air dashed, while a mixture of X-buster and Z-sabre slashes a-plenty confused the hastily assembled army. The two made their way forward, dodging a Spiked Wheel at the same time. A heavy skull crashed into the ground in front of them.

"Is this a joke?" asked Zero. The skull levitated, and then a humanoid skeleton appeared, with the skull being its head. It carried an enormous scimitar. Zero ran with his own weapon, but the slash was blocked by its sword. X fired a few shots at the skull, but it only resulted in a few bone chips. A strange red glow appeared in its eye sockets.

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Firebrand was enjoying the combat. He came close to the Portal. With a loud BANG, a large crab landed in front of him. It was red and yellow, and was another one of those strange...machines. The ones that don't breathe. The ones who do not need armor, for they ARE armor. It opened a claw, and rather than reaching for him like he'd expect any crab-like monster to do, it launched the claw, and pinned him to the ground. Sections opened up in the crab, and fired missiles, that exploded. The claw let go. Firebrand was injured and bloody. But also feeling a rush of adrenaline. He breathed fire where the missiles came out. The Crab caught on fire in those regions, and wobbled. This artificial monster, thought Firebrand, was badly made.

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The strange skeleton was finally destroyed, so X and Zero rushed closer to the Rift. Then they saw it. Another monster. Red, and bleeding, and full of rage. Buster and Sabre were prepared.

"Are you Arma's brother?" joked X. "Now I'll stop you!" He began charging.

"You are not welcome in the Demon Realm" replied the demon. "You will..."

X fired a fully charged blast, that was dodged. The demon was hovering. "You're toast!"

"You aren't half as good as your general High Max!"

"Well you're not as tough as Arma, no wonder he's the general!"

"I AM FIREBRAND, I AM THE RED BLAZE!" retorted firebrand.

"You're also loony," quipped Zero. "High Max? He was destroyed in the Gate Nightmare incident!"

"He blasted a Death Ball at me," yelled Firebrand. "And Arma is my enemy!" He turned towards them. "And so are you1" He launched fireballs at them. Some of them hit.

"Ouch," said X. "Hey, he hurt us too you know!"

"How do I...what?"

"Yes," added Zero. "He said this is a top secret area. We came to investigate the Rift!"

"Oh, you mean the portal. It goes to the Demon Realm," explained Firebrand, matter-of-factly.

X and Zero were bewildered. Demons were just characters in stories told by humans. They couldn't be real. Neither could their magic. But here was one.

"We're on the same side," said X. "Against Arma. And High Max. I can't believe he's back!"

"What does he want?" asked Zero.

"He wouldn't tell me anything," replied Firebrand.

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Little did the three realize, that a nearby tree had an attached camera.

In a dark room, illuminated only by rows of monitors, consoles, and LEDs, a figure was sitting. One of the monitors showed the three. "X and Zero," he said to himself. "My old friends. My friends, before I found CLARITY! Before I knew the path of PURITY!" He reached for a pair of buttons and pressed them.

"Trillium of Darkness, This is from the Top. X, Zero, and type Red Demon of name Firebrand all considered threats, escalate to level 2, be alert! Repeat, X, Zero and Red Demon od name Firebrand are threats, escalate to level 2." Yellow revolving lights activated, their glow bathing the room in a surreal light. He smiled as he knew everything about X and Zero. HE frowned, because he didn't know about Firebrand at all. "But someone in the Trillium does, and they answer to me!" They were not a threat, he predicted. Only a nuissance. Like the "flies at a picnick" that humans spoke of. He had an entire set of swatters, metaphorically speaking, that he was ready to put to work.

¡¡¡So, what do you think?

Chapter 4 - An old F(r)iend Returns

"We have to start somewhere," noted Zero. "We'll chose...here!" "Here" on the map related to part of central Canada and the US. The Great Lakes Wood and Water Facility.

"The goal of this facility was to repair damaged waterways, lakes and wetlands, and salvage wood in flooded areas. The latest battles with Mavericks resulted in huge environmental devastation," told Pallette.

"The leader of the Facility, Massacre Beaver, has been acting slightly...odd...lately," added Layer. "Capable of operating on land and underwater at depths of thousands of feet, as well as a skilled carpenter and lumberjack, Massacre Beaver is equipped with powerful saws!" A picture showed a beaver-shaped reploid with a chainsaw-shaped tail and buzz-saws mounted on its shoulders and arms. "Like Wheel Gator, Massacre Beaver is an expert with saws, but unlike that Maverick, the Beaver has many more capabilities. Its front teeth are made of teh hardest crystaline substance known so far. And he's believed to have done some redecorating at his facility in order to keep us out!"

"Water?" asked Firebrand. "Right now, I don't have the right powers. We Gargoyles are naturally not water breathers."

"I doubt the whole facility could be flooded," suggested X.

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The trio beamed down onto a boardwalk through a forest. A few signs had information about local flora and fauna. Others had warnings about restricted areas. They came to a gate across the boardwalk, designed to stop humans who had no business in a restricted area, but irrelevant to X, Zero and Firebrand. A pair of orange flying-squirrel shaped robots dived from nowhere, and dropped metal spheres.

"GET DOWN!" yelled Zero, and the three did, as those spheres exploded. Zero leapt up and sliced through one of them. The other came down to their level, and X and Firebrand used a combination of buster shots and fireballs to render it non-operative.

"Once you get attacked like this, the mavericks won't stop. Those who are like us, who can think and feel, are called Reploids. Robots with more limited intelligence are called Mechaniloids," explained X. "Those were how original robots were, to serve the humans. We, are like humans, can think, feel, we can chose our path, we have emotions, we think, feel, love, just like humans."

"And you actually get satisfaction from a good fight, like I do, right?" asked Firebrand.

"Enough talk," said Zero, "WATCH OUT!" A large buzz-saw rolled towards them. In the middle, instead of a plain disc, there was a puck-shaped section with a pair of eyes on it. The three jumped to avoid it, and Firebrand flapped his wings to stay up. Predictably, the buzzsaw turned around, and made another pass at them.

"WATCH OUT!" warned firebrand, as the Hunters jumped, and he stopped flying, and let loose some fireballs at it. It came back again. This time, it made a small cut in Firebrand's right foot as he dodged it. Zero finished it off with a falling slash. It exploded, releasing two pieces of metal, and a small glowing ball.

"Are you hurt?" asked X, seeing slight blood from Firebrand.

"Hurt? That's not painful at all. But still, I could use some of that!" He pointed to the ball. "Essence!"

"Wait!" said X, "we have to contact base, find out what it is. X's communicator beeped. "X here!"

"That ball of energy," said Alia, "contains a new type of composite energy. I think it would recharge either one of you!"

"That is Essence!" said Firebrand, as he took it, and it healed him.

"Fascinating. Universal energy? Keep a look out for more of these energy balls. Alia out!"

Little did they realize, that a surveillance camera attached to a tree was trained on them.

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"As usual, the Maverick Hunters chose to Intervene," came the voice from the dark, console-filled room. "This is not unexpected, and therefore, not un-controllable. Chupacabrolo, FRONT AND CENTER!" A strange humanoid demon covered in a mixture of spikes and spots came forward.

"Yes, Top?"

"You will watch the monitors, inform me if anything unusual happens. I have some personal business with an old friend!"

"My pleasure, top!" It laughed. The "Top", meanwhile, teleported out.

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The trio came to a section where the boardwalk branched out. There were bushes in the middle. "Be careful, there could be a trap!"

"I'll just burn all the bushes..." started Firebrand.

"No, we don't do that," said Zero. "We just watch...for THAT!" One of the "bushes" sprung up, revealing a small robot attached to it. "A bush-hat, WATCH OUT!"

The bush-hat robot fired plasma at them, before releasing a small metallic worm Mechaniloid. Zero used a triple combination as the Bush-hat ducked, knocking the robot upside-down. Firebrand torched the robot with his breath. Several axes landed near them. There was a strange humanoid demon dancing around and throwing them. X blasted him with his Buster. The demon burnt up. The three looked at the paths. One of them ramped into a swamp. "Underwater area, diving suits and robots ONLY!" said a sign on one. The other led to a collection of vine-covered buildings.

"We have to split up," said X. "Firebrand, go to the left, above the buildings. We'll head into the water. The map we saw shows that we should be meeting up at the other side.

"I'll see you there," said Firebrand.

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X and Zero had to navigate past mazes of spiked walls as they plunged into the depths. They were attacked from all directions by both demonic fish, and by robots with squid-shaped front sections and screw-propellers to move them. "Bubble Crab's henchmen are back?" remarked X.

They came to a flooded underground passage. Ahead of them was a strange amenome like creature, that shot sharp projectiles at them, hitting them.

"Don't give up," reminded Zero, as he dashed at it while it stopepd, and sliced it apart. They saw a pit of spikes, that they avoided, followed by another of those creatures.

Laughing came from above them. There was a strange being, resembling either an 8 or an infinity symbol, that was glowing between yellow and red. It had a wolf-like head, as well as clwas placed around it. It fired a glowing ball at the Hunters that they barely missed. Then it flew down at the creature. It attached itself, and then seemed to enter the creature entirely. The creature glowed, and grew, and a turtle-like head appeared. From the anemone, throngs of small fish-like things emerged. The two Hunters had to fight to keep from being overwhelmed. Soon, the creature was subdued.

They got a message. "It appears," said Layer, "that something similar to the Bulbright exists, but made up of unusual energy."

"Just what we needed," said Zero, sarcastically.

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Firebrand was on top of one of the buildings, and looked around. So peaceful, so serene, so...he was thinking about what someone he knew long ago. No, do not think about her. That was long ago, that was...if the Reploids were anything like humans, it would be many generations ago, if Reploids had generations as humans did. Gargoyles were a much longer lived race. DO NOT THINK ABOUT HER, he told himself. He needed a distraction, he needed....a small squadron of bird-shaped robots bee-lined towards him, firing at him. He shot them down with his breath. He spread his wings and flew forward, looking down at all that was below. the building was a high enough launching-point.

He got a message on his communicator. It was from Pallete. "There may be some things in the buildings, especially the Substation building, you can't miss it, it has several small turrets, and a giant lightning-botls symbol on its doors. There may be something of interest."

Ooh, thought Firebrand, treasure? He was not a treasure hunter per-se, but artifacts, that had ancient powers, he found very useful. He didn't know if Earth had talismans like the Demon Realm did, but that was of little consequence. As he neared the building, he he was shot down by a few bullets. He plumetted to the ground, but stopped his fall just before impact.

Before him, he saw a Reploid. It had a grey "skin", but also pieces of dark purple armor with a red line on the legs and the forearms. A light pink crown-like decoration was on the back of its helmet. It had a purple gem on its helmet above its eyes, and a similar one on its chest. Its face had human-like skin, and looked human. A strange pink aura surrounded him, and he carried a gun of some sort.

"You should have stayed in the Demon Realm, fool!" His gun changed appearence, slightly, and he fired a glowing ball at Firebrand. It surrounded him in green light, and he felt total agony as it pulsated. "This weapon has all kinds of abilities. Right now, I am extracting DNA from you, and reading your mind. You may be different, but we will figure out all that we need to know soon enough." The glow faded, and Firebrand dropped to his knees. Several glowing balls appeared, and they flew towards the Reploid, and fused with his aura. He flashed red several times.  "Very interesting, Firebrand. You may be the Red Blaze, but to me, you are nobody!"

Firebrand went to his feet. "And you are a Maverick?"

"MAVERICK? Don't make me laugh. I never was a Maverick. I was once a Maverick Hunter. But now, I am Pure. Now, I have clarity undreamed of!" Firebrand breathed a fireball at the Reploid. It struck him. "Is that it?"

"Yes, I am a Gargoyle, I can have amazing firepower!"

"NOTHING is as amazing as THIS!" The gun seemed to change form again, and fired a concentrated thing stream of laser energy. Firebrand was bleeding and panting, back on his knees again. "I could destroy you, and keep your head as a trophy. But no, we have bigger fish to fry. The Dark Trillium's forces will dispose of you soon enough, not a question of if, but when. But you will deliever a message to X and Zero. Tell them that Axl is alright. In fact, he's better than alright."

"Axl?" asked Firebrand. "I heard someone at the headquarters..."

"That is ME, you idiot. Sorry, forgot you're not from here. I'm waiting to meet X and Zero. And tell them that the Nightmare is alive and well. And another thing, wing-boy. Phalanx is back, so is Arma. But odn't worry about them too much. Worry about ME!" He teleported out.

Firebrand came to a ledge, and then another wide open area. A sign pointed to the exit being down, but he saw something across. He came to a ledge that had something large and disc-shaped on it. Atop it were a few lights. He tried picking it up, but it was stuck in place. His communicator beeped.

"Firebrand," said Pallette. "This is one of Dr. Light's Upgrade Capsules."

"Who was..."

"He was a human who created X over a hundred years ago."

"Then that means he is..."

"Yes, but he somehow has an artificial intelligence that's attached to a hologram generator. It's so cool. And this...whatever it is...keeps building new Capsules in Maverick infested areas. But most of the time only X can use them. I don't think it will even open for somebody who's not a Reploid."

"Upgrade?"

"Makes his armor better!"

"Thank you."

"No problem. Listen, the xit is below where you are. And X and Zero seem to be going there too, you'll meet up at the end of Bridge Nine."

"I don't know the names of any of the..."

"Don't worry, you can't miss it." There was another beep. "Oh, Layer wants to talk to you."

Layer took over. "There's a GrizzlyTank hidden somewhere here. It was an exploration, rescue and reforestation vehicle, but it was automatic. Now it may have been converted into a weapon. Stay on your toes, Firebrand."

"I will," he replied, sarcastically. A Grizzly Tank. What a name. Back in his home world, there were once vehicles called skull tanks driven by ghouls, but they fell apart easily under his firey breath. How different could a Grizzly be? He jumped down a shaft, while avoiding spikes, and landed in a room with two heavy doors, one behind him, one in front. The one in front was open and led to a bridge. The bridge Pallete told me about, he guessed. Behind him was a heavy corrugated fluted steel door that was closed. Small yellow lights were placed at regular intervals. He looked at it, and tried lifting it. It wouldn't budge. He tried breathing fire, but nothing happened. So he walked out, and onto the bridge. Just then, he heard a rumbling noise. He turned around, and the lights on the closed door he tried to open turned bright red. Previously unseen spinning lights flashed red, and an alarm buzzed. The door started lifting up. He decided to turn around, and run away as quickly as he could. As much as he loved battle, he had a strange feeling.

"YOU WILL HALT!" yelled a strange modulated voice from behind him. He turned around and could still see far enough into the building to see what the door had behind it. A large vehicle with several rows of treads, and a large bear-like head on the front. The Grizzly Tank. "YOU ARE UNAUTHORIZED GARGOYLE THAT DARK TRILLIUM WANTS EXTERMINATED. YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!" Where he was, on the bridge, he saw that lots of the building near the outer door had spikes. And below it, was water. He was stuck on the bridge. A loud motor crescendoed, and the tank rushed towards him before slowing down. "YOU WILL SURRENDER AND ACCEPT YOUR DESTRUCTION WITH GRACE!"

Firebrand leapt up, and breathed a fireball at the head. Its eyes flashed. He hovered at the height, and breathed a few more fireballs.

"SUBJECT IS RESISTING, SUBJECT CAN COMMIT MINOR BUT NOTICEABLE DAMAGE. ESCALATE! ESCALATE!" A hatch opened above the head, and a Minigun appeared. A pair of claws appeared on the sides of the tank, and extended towards Firebrand.

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X and Zero finished passing through another water-filled tunnel, as well as a short dry one fillde with burrowing Mechaniloids and more Cutting Wheel enemies. They came to a large platform that was surrounded by a net-like structure. A door closed behind the.m They were on an elevator. It went up, and at an angle. They saw it was actually a funicular, and while it went up, a multitude of enemies came aboard, all to be fed a mixture of plasma fire of X's weapon and the beam-blade of Zero's weapon. Up above they saw that the funicular would take them to an outdoor location. It suddenly stopped, and the door opened, with a platform extending to it. As soon as they noticed it, though, someone rushed along it and onto their platform, and the boarding platform retracted, and the door closed.

"Have you come here to die?" asked the figure. X and Zero looked at it. It was weaing blood-red armor that seemed inspired by medieval knights, and had a y-shaped slit for eyes in the helmet. But there was a shoulder-mounted launcher. And on its chest, was a light red three-petalled flower.

"VILE!" gasped X and Zero. "But how do you, I mean, we destroyed you..." began X.

"I am too important to remain in the scrap heap forever. Don't forget that. But you won't have that long to forget. When I joined Triliumn, I was promised better weapons." Strange flashes of bright red appeared in the eye slit. "I have even been infused with some power. Power that can only be understood in one way!" He aimed his launcher. "By being thoroughly DESTROYED by it. Do not worry about the Rift. All that matters is that you shall finally die!"

"Every other time we met you, you died," informed Zero. "Even if you did destroy me once."

"I shall destroy you again, and X as well, and then the Earth will never be the same. Enough talking, prepare to DIE!" An eerie glow surrounded him.