X-Buster

"That's right...it's begun again. How long must this war go on?" An independent RP and Ask blog for Mega Man X, the hero of 21XX. Multifandom welcome/encouraged! =Selective=

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Y’all couldn’t stop me.

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marino-goes-west‌:

“It’s alright, X.  Redips used your inexperience with NGRs against you, and he slipped through the net because you didn’t even know what you were looking for,” she says, reaching up to put a hand on his shoulder.  “It was messy, but we did what we had to do…and everything turned out alright in the end.  That’s all we can hope to do.”

In the brief time that she’d known X during the war, she’d never really seen this side of him.  It’s like the weight of the entire Hunter organization is weighing on his shoulders.  “Massimo’s heading up the militia there now, and Nana’s keeping the city’s new administration running smoothly.  Gaudile and Cinnamon have been working to try and reverse the damage done by the Force Metals.  It’ll take time, but Giga City will be okay.”

“I helped you then, and I’m serious about helping you now.  Even if some part of me blamed you guys for what happened, you’re still the best hope we have of holding the line until somebody finds a cure.”

“Well... I’m glad you feel that way. And thank you, really.” X put on a small smile. “But I can’t let myself off the hook that easily. Things getting better now doesn’t change that it occurred in the first place. I can’t let myself pretend it didn’t happen.”

X switches on the engine again, and continues down the way towards the next exit-- turning off towards the center of downtown, in the middle of which was Maverick Hunter HQ. The sights and sounds of a busied evening city came into view, the two soon surrounded on both sides by crowds of humans and reploids roaming the sidewalks, ducking in and out of various shops and restaurants.

The Ride Chaser came to a sealed gate on the eastern side of the headquarters, X raising his face to a nearby camera. A green scanline flickered several times over his face, before an affirmative beep sounded, and the gate to the Hunters’ garage opened, X taking them slowly in towards the main building.

“We can talk about the rest later. For the time being, let’s make sure you’re not spending one night without a roof over your head in our town.” X’s tone takes a slight teasing lilt. “It’s not exactly five star, but it works for us. Unless, of course, you’d rather to take your chances with a hotel’s background check...?”

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You cannot escape skydiving future police.

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marino-goes-west‌:

Now that’s an interesting arrangement.  “Solar, huh?  That’s pretty old-school, which is a little surprising,” she says, chuckling as she hangs a lighthearted lampshade on how X is sometimes treated by certain groups.  “That said, old means rugged.  Reliable.  Probably never needed any major repairs to it, or somebody would’ve replaced it.”

“Me, I went with a high-spec body because, well…because I was angry.  Things were bad in Giga City; hard-working reploids were suffering while a bunch of lazy bureaucrats enjoyed all the fruits of that labor,” she says, explaining the entire rationale behind her hardware.  “So I decided to do something about it.  I threw a comfortable life away to pay for a new body, and you know the rest.”

“I know how it seems, but in my case, it’s a bit...different.” 

X raises his right arm from the handles, changing it over into the X-Buster in a blue sheen. A few moments later, particles of light appeared around X and Marino both, the glowing bits being drawn into his body. 

A few moments later, he dropped the charge, putting his arm back down.

“My core is outfitted with something-- unique. A form of accumulative energy device.” He shakes his head. “Somehow, an amount of solar energy that from a panel would fuel a house for a day can last me for a week.”

Hearing her embittered words, X’s head drooped a little more by the moment. Between the Rebellion, the corruption within Giga City HQ, and the black market atmosphere encouraged by the production and harvesting of Force Metals... Marino may have had a criminal record, but she was no Maverick. There was clear impetus for what she’d ended up resorting to.

“...Given how things actually were in Giga City for a while, I can’t blame you.” 

X begins pulling over to the side of the highway, hovercars blazing past them as the Ride Chaser hums to a stopped position. After some silence, he sighs, and uneasily, begins to speak. 

“Marino, listen, I-- I’m sorry. We founded another Maverick Hunter HQ in the east, in your homeland to help protect people, to keep you all safe, and right under our noses...”

X falls quiet, hands tightly gripping the handles.

“We even somehow let a rogue Next Gen rise to the top, despite Axl’s ongoing investigation. We were careless; I- I was careless. And...I understand if part of you can’t forgive me for what we enabled to happen.”

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@berkanaslair​ from HERE

“I said, don’t move!” X snaps in command, keeping his buster trained on the amused reploid witch, eyes narrowing in promise of retribution at any sudden moves. “I won’t say it again.”

“...I can’t believe this... It actually is you, isn’t it...?” X murmurs in disbelief, giving an incredulous shake of the head. “Not just a bodily reconstruction, even the DNA Soul is intact...?”

That shouldn’t have been a possibility. It was an aspect of reploid development that had plagued their kind of the entire century since they came to be; the problem with a naturally-developing mind and self was that, much the same as humans, that process couldn’t be duplicated. 

A reploid could be rebuilt physically any number of times, but their encoding of self, the “DNA Soul”, could not; not even once.  ...But he was also facing perhaps the number-one researcher of DNA Souls in history...

He leans forward some, muzzle of his cannon glinting in the light.

“Tell me how you’ve done this, now.”

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marino-goes-west‌:

Some might not understand the significance of all those repairs, but Marino knows a rebuilt war zone when she sees it.  There are parts of Giga City that look damn similar.  Abel City must be a frequent breakout point for Mavericks – which probably explains why the Hunters built their base here.

“It’s been a while, but you don’t have to worry about it,” she replies.  “When I got this body, I sprang for a fusion core.  I have enough deuterium/tritium fuel on me to keep going for years.  And before you ask, that was all bought with legitimately-earned money.”

Of course, his question raises another question.  “What about you?  You never mentioned what you run on during the war, so I can’t even begin to guess about your energy level.”

“Ahh, so that would explain it, then.” X mused aloud, giving a few approving nods. “I might’ve figured you’d specced on the higher end of fuel efficiency, considering...”

X, Zero and Axl were obvious cases, being private masterworks beyond their time. Spider had secretly been Redips, a Next-Gen Reploid, Massimo had been trained and modded by an A-Class combat model, Cinnamon was a living reactor of otherworldly metals; Marino had to have had something on her side to keep pace with all that well as she had.

“M- My core, huh...?”

Oof. This wasn’t a question people normally asked him, namely in that people tended to draw their own conclusions. The exacts of X’s internal mechanisms were a veritable black box within Fort Knox, the greatest and final work of Dr. Light that only Alia had ever managed to accurately analyze and reproduce, beyond even the schematic substitutions of Dr. Cain that led to the Reploid race.

...Still, Marino was safe to be a little more open with...right?

“You’re not going to believe me.” He hesitantly began, glancing aside a bit sheepishly, “A micro fusion pile reactor. In other words,”

He looks back to her over his shoulder, 

“I’m solar-based. Top to bottom.”

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marino-goes-west‌:

Once the coast is clear, she wanders out and joins her old comrade-in-arms.  “Eh, I could think of worse people to try and hang on to.  Like Massimo.  I’m not sure I could even get my arms around him,” she says, remembering her hulking admirer rather fondly.  She takes a seat on the back of the ride chaser and hangs onto X, using the situation to further obscure just how she actually looks.  “I know having me hang onto you instead of the bike might be a little uncomfy, but trust me – this is helping the disguise.  Nobody’ll see my face like this.”

“And hey, sorry about bringing you out to the bad end of town.  But I figured one of the high-society types would rat me out, so I decided to hide out in the one place they’d never go,” she offers, by way of apology.

“Don’t worry about it.” X coolly retorts, hitting the ignition. Since he’d just run it, there was no need to let it warm up, so a bit of revving later, the Ride Chaser was hovering a foot off the ground, and beginning to cruise back onto the street. “Let’s go.”

Within minutes, the two were well on their way down Central Highway, the main thoroughfare through the median of Abel City. In the distance, illuminated by the lights of the budding night life in the streets below, the hugely-towering skyscraper that was Maverick Hunter HQ.

As they made their way, something Marino would probably notice was that this highway was showing...many signs of repairs, and from different points in time. Some of which were even on top of each other. This place had seen some serious chaos in the past, that much was easy to discern.

“Marino-- when’s the last time you replenished your energy?” X asked over his shoulder, glancing towards a quickly-passing exit sign. “We can pull off and stop somewhere downtown, if you’d like; I’ve got time.”

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marino-goes-west‌:

“Hey, remember who you’re talking to,” she says, taking the blanket from X.  She wraps the blanket around herself, and makes a few changes in posture that significantly change how she appears to fill the blanket out.  As one last touch she removes her helmet and stows it under the blanket, allowing her hair to fall free from its usual “squirrel-tail” style.  Smear a little grime here and there, and she suddenly looks like a civilian who just survived something awful.

“Pretty slick, huh?  I’ve used similar tricks to evade capture a few times,” she admits, the pride draining from her voice as she progresses.

X noticed how her expression faltered some in recounting her means of escaping past close calls... No, she’d definitely been in a bad way for some time before now. He puts on his best friendly smile in response; it wasn’t hard-- he was genuinely impressed by her simple ingenuity, after all. A few practical effects, and she seamlessly blended into the role. Axl needed a chip to do that.

“Still a real kunoichi. Can always count on you to be inconspicuous.” Raising an arm, he sets a warm hand on her shoulder. “But, you picked a bad part of town to meet me in. They know me around here.”

He claps her twice on the shoulder in a reassuring way.

“We got to make sure they don’t know you.” He juts his thumb over his shoulder. “My bike’s just around the corner. Can’t just teleport and leave it out here unattended; c’mon.”

X leads her out of the shadows, into the fading sunset over the slums. Ducking at the alley’s entrance, he sets one arm on the other, prepping to engage his buster as he peeks around the corner-- good, coast clear. Glancing back to Marino, he waved her along behind him, to where his Ride Chaser had been waiting just beyond.

“I’m sure you probably don’t like the idea of hanging on in the back,” X began, swinging a leg over as he settled onto his bike, “and I know you could probably stand all the way, but just keep up the act until we’re in the clear. Okay?”

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marino-goes-west‌:

“It’s a long story,” she says, putting her hands back down.  Still, she keeps them well away from easy reach of her blades, so as not to give X the wrong idea.  “Things changed after you and the other Hunters left Giga City – changes for the better, mind you.  Thing is, being famous made it kind of impossible for me to keep up the whole petty crime thing.  I had a lot of time to think about things you said, things Axl said.”

“I decided to go legit, but nobody in Giga City was willing to work with me.  Reputation aside, the only things I’m good at are stealing and fighting,” she explains.  “So here I am in Abel City, hoping that I could join you.  Be a Maverick Hunter and put my skills to a good purpose for a change.  I couldn’t just waltz into Maverick Hunter HQ to find you, though, not with my history.”

Now standing within a few feet of her, X was able to get a better look at her in the alley shadows. Specifically, her condition. She-- wasn’t in any danger or real dilapidation as far as he could tell, but the signs of wear made clear there was a significant time lapse she wasn’t mentioning.

“...How long have...?” He then thought better of the question, cutting himself off with a shake of the head. “No, that’s not important. I... Come with me.”

X began to walk back down the alley, before abruptly stopping, smacking a hand to his forehead and quickly whirling back towards her. Damnit, X, don’t just act, think first!

“No, nono--” He put up his hands in a staying motion, “--actually, stay right here. Keep concealed. I’ll be right back.”

Taking a few steps back to make sure she would heed his word, X broke into a brisk jog back to his Ride Chaser. Tapping a pressure trigger on the dash, a hissing sound emitted from the back, before the top panel of the trunk slid away. X reached inside, grabbing something out of it before securely closing it again.

X hurried back to where Marino was, showing her what he had in his arm: a large blanket, the kind that was used to wrap rescuees from some mortal emergency to give them a sense of warmth and security.

“Here, bundle yourself with this.” He passes her the blanket, before quickly adding, “No, I’m not saying you need it, but I need you to keep your identity undisclosed from the public eye, alright?”

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marino-goes-west‌:

This is one of the very rare moments when, finding herself staring down the barrel of the X-Buster, Marino legitimately begins to regret most of her life choices.  Chief among them is her decision to skimp on the self-maintenance to save cash, as apparently her servomotors are now audible even while sneaking.

“Asimov’s teeth, X, don’t shoot!   It’s Marino!  I’m friendly, I swear!” she blurts, her arms immediately shooting up into a position of surrender.  In her state, one shot from that cannon would probably remove an entire section of her body.

The harsh, gleaming emeralds of a battle-hardened military commander nigh-immediately melted away into an expression so soft it was almost impossible to tell they had belonged to the same person. X’s buster was muzzled away from her direction right away, but it took him an additional few moments to find the words.

“...Marino? I can’t believe...”

If it had been Zero or Axl, the first reaction would’ve certainly been a chummy greeting after such a long time. This being X, however, his first instinct was, predictably enough, overabundant concern for her well-being.

“What are you doing in Abel City? ...No, more than that, what are you doing on the other side of the Pacific at all?” He approached hesitantly, hands raised with open palms, as though it were necessary to convince her he wasn’t a threat, so cautious was his handling. “Is everything okay? D- Do you need help?”

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@marino-goes-west​ liked for a starter!

Stepping off of his Ride Chaser, X glanced around himself, cast in the fading twilight of the approaching evening over Abel City. He put two fingers to the ear of his helmet, checking once more to be sure, and...sure enough, the coordinates he’d been sent had indeed led him here, to a dead-end alley in the outer-downtown slums.

Ordinarily, this wasn’t the kind of thing he’d pursue. At the least, he’d have sent a squad from his Unit to investigate first. This time, however, was different... 

...because the call for him to come here had been sent directly to his personal comm.

To say that X was concerned would be the understatement of the day. After all, the only people on Earth who should have the ability to get ahold of his personal comm frequency were themselves all veterans of the Maverick Hunters... And the frequency that’d called him out here was decidedly none of them.

...No. Actually, there were two others he could think of who might have it.  Vile, and...him.

The footfalls of someone descending behind him were all but perfect in stealth, virtually-inaudible by all typical accounts, but X was no typical man, nor machine for that matter.

Eyes intensifying in mental preparation for a possible altercation, X immediately swiveled one-eighty on his heels, buster already raised.

“--Who’s there?”

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Obligatory Self Promotion

“That’s the way suits operate. Once you’re no longer useful, they toss you out like so much garbage.”

Introducing a new independent RP blog for Marino, from the commercial flop cult classic Mega Man X: Command Mission! Original characters, alternate universes, doubles, and crossover specials welcome*!

Rules | Character Info | Starter Prompts | My Mega Man Classic Blog

* Offer void where prohibited, some restrictions apply

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A smile that does not need protecting

it does the protecting

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musexcarnival replied to your post: Not gonna lie MediEvil’s remake coming out almost...

…which Arthur :o

You know the one

Jumps around in his strawberry-print boxers throwing every weapon ever at everything in his general vicinity

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Not gonna lie MediEvil’s remake coming out almost makes me wanna pick up Arthur

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Starter Call!

Like this post for a dedicated thread starter! Non-mutuals need not apply. Use the reply box to specify any sideblogs and/or specific muse!

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What ridiculous, base superstition.

All that exists has a scientific basis.  Even if you must dissect it to attain its secrets.