Just the Beginning, Part 4

 Pisces dashed through the halls and around corners, using his scanning abilities to see where exactly the mavericks were. It was made much harder by the fact that he didn't have an idea as to what the layout was, and he didn't download the map of this place when he had a chance. So all he could do was trust his mechanical gut instinct and listen to the sounds of battle. Gunshots, roars, blasts... He heard them, and he followed.

As he got more and more lost in the labyrinth, his systems pointed him in the right direction, towards the energy spikes. It was a constant beeping noise as he got closer and closer. Beep. Beep. Beep beep. Beep beep. Bebebebebebebebebebe-

Okay, I get it now, I'm close.

WARNING: LARGE FIRE ELEMENTAL ENERGY SPIKE DETECTED. BOSS-LEVEL MAVERICK DETECTED.

One more turn around the corner and the fish reploid was greeted with thirty or so Preons. They didn't pose a threat, at least not to him. He could safely ignore them for now. No, the real problem was behind them, standing tall, mane of fire surrounding his neck, with eyes that seemed to pierce through one's DNA soul. 

It may have been a hundred or so years since he had seen one, but Pisces made no mistake: that was a classic Maverick, the ones the Maverick Hunters were used to fighting.

The preons lifted their stun guns and screeched before their leader said, "Halt." That word alone was enough to make them drop their arms, staring intently at the unexpected arrival. Their leader leapt over them and landed in front of the fishy reploid, sniffing at him, looking down on him.

"Another reploid?" he asked. "Have the humans held you against your will?"

Oh, good, he wasn't attacking immediately. That was a good sign.

"Nooooope, came here on my own!" came the cheery reply. "Did you come here on your own, too? And why'd you bring all these guys?"

The wolf snorted, a plume of flame shooting out of his nostrils. "I came here of my own volition to rid ourselves of the eyesore and plague against the mighty race of Reploids, as have they."

"That's a pretty weird goal. They haven't done anything, have they?"

The glare that followed was enough to make Pisces gulp.

"You say they haven't done anything," the maverick growled, "but the truth remains: they only wish to use us as tools for their own benefit! They disregard our feelings! Their sins, their envy, their folly, have resulted in world ruination! The world may be recovering from the devastation of the Space Colony disaster and the Moon Base disaster, but the world shall never forget the irreversible changes the humans brought unto us!

And you dare to say they haven't done anything?!? You insult me and your own kind!"

Not good, Pisces thought, ignoring the blaring warning in his head. I made him mad. And what I might say next might be a dealbreaker.

Well... time to take my chances.

 

"They're just trying to survive now, like us! We should be working together instead of fighting against each other, you know? Then it'll be a win-win situation!" He said this with a smile, hoping all would turn well.

The warning in his head only blared louder as the flames intensified around the wolf.

"Ha! You're so naive, traitor, thinking we would ever cooperate with those who destroyed our home and oppress us, even now!" With a snap of his fingers, the Preons  took a battle stance. The wolf snarled, "We don't need you or any of your kind in our future. Preons, attack!"

Yeah, figured that wouldn't work. I need to work on my communication skills.

The preons charged at the fish reploid, holding up their stun gun arms and trying to prod him with them when he dash jumped over them, landing on the other side and pulling out his trident. He pointed it at the enemies, watching as they hesitated to attack. They knew the humans were tough, but this was a reploid. They might not even stand a chance.

"Don't come any closer!" he yelled, glaring right back at the fiery wolf. "Or else I'll be forced to fight back!"

"You were first insulting me with your treacherous words, and now you dare to threaten me?" The wolf chuckled before he bared his claws and fangs. "Clearly, you don't know how dangerous I am, traitor."

"I don't like fighting when I don't have to. Just leave, and I won't hurt you."

In a flash, the fiery wolf was in front of him, breathing down the fish reploid's neck, whispering in his ear.

"What now, little traitor? Will you try to strike me down? Me, the mighty Firemane?"

 Pisces didn't even flinch. He only glared at him and said in a calm voice, "Last warning."

When those claws tried to rake through his torso, he reflexively  boosted backwards, skidding towards a wall. They grazed him, but no major damage. And that Firemane was laughing at him.

Well. It's your funeral.

Activate Combat Mode.

Firemane may have been laughing, but he wasn't laughing for long when the fish reploid boosted towards him and jammed his trident into the wolf reploid's chassis, piercing through it and damaging him. He howled in pain before Pisces jumped above him and stabbed him from above. He was forced to dodge the third blow before it pierced through more of him.

"H-how?!" Firemane sputtered. "You can't POSSIBLY be-"

Another jab to the arm. That did it. The fires surrounding Firemane intensified as he was stirred into a fiery frenzy, lunging towards his prey as he tried to rend him to pieces.


-----------------------------

Death was breathing down her neck. But she didn't care. Death was about to devour her, but she didn't care. Death lusted for her blood. She didn't care.

She didn't care because she shot Death right under the chin without even turning back to look at him.

Frostmane yelped, hydraulic fluid leaking onto Sasha's battle suit. She did not turn to face him as Stan leaped over her with a battle cry, electric knuckles connecting with Frostmane's chest. The wolf kicked the blonde man off of him before howling and breathing out an icy wind. Stan cursed as his arm was frozen over, trying to break the ice by smashing it with his other fist, but Frostmane took advantage of him and bit him right on the shoulder.

 Stan's cry was enough to make Tina scream, "YOU BAD DOGGY! LEAVE STAN ALONE!" She hurled her chakrams as hard as she could, as far as she could, but it could only graze the frost wolf reploid as he turned his attention to her.

"Oh, what's this? A tiny little human thinks she can kill me? HAHAHA! I'LL DEVOUR HER, BONES AND ALL!"

Frostmane leaped towards Tina, jaws wide as he tried to bite down on her head, but she produced a giant wrench and jammed it down his throat. He gagged and sputtered as the tiny little mechanic took out her wrench and bashed his chest, leaving dents and making him stagger back, right into Sasha's bullet storm. As he tried to determine which girl he hated most, Stan up above him, smashing his iced up arm onto Frostmane's skull and shattering the ice that trapped it.

 The wolf reploid stood up, glaring at his attackers. "You think that's enough to stop ME, FROSTMANE THE GREAT?!" he boomed. "HA! I THINK WILL ENJOY MOUNTING YOUR HEADS ONTO OUR WALLS!"

Holes appeared in his palms as they fired off a salvo of icy missiles, exploding into a cold cloud that froze over anything it touches. Tina and Stan were fast enough to dodge, but Sasha had her foot caught in the radius. She watched as it froze over, but she did not struggle to get out as Frostmane lunged at her, ready to rend her with icy claws. She merely took aim and fired four powerful shots, pushing him and herself away from the enemy from the force involved. Tina rushed to her side as Stan kept Frostmane distracted, trading punch after punch.

"Are you alright, Sasha?" Tina asked as she tried breaking through the ice with her wrench.

"I'm fine," Sasha replied, taking the time to reload her rifles. "You shouldn't have wasted your time on me; Stan needs more help than I do."

Tina puffed her cheeks up and glared. "But you're my friend, and friends help friends out of trouble! I don't want you to get hurt!"

The woman thought for a moment before the girl managed to break through the ice. She stood up, her leg still a little wobbly after being frozen over. And then, with a smile, she said, "Thank you, Tina. I appreciate your concern. But for now..."

"Gotta beat up the baddies!" Tina said cheerfully, readying her chakrams as Sasha took careful aim, making sure that her bullets wouldn't hit Stan.

No more holding back.

-----------------------------------

Firemane found his claws parried by Pisces trident before the fish reploid jabbed him again, forcing him away. The wolf then used his speed to get behind the reploid and  rend him from behind, fiery claws tearing at pieces of his armor. Pisces boosted backwards and slammed the wolf into the wall before dashing towards the Preons. The Preons panicked as the reploid approached and swept through them with his trident, knocking them over in a flurry of strikes.

The maverick howled and charged through his own minions as well, using their bodies as stepping stones towards destroying the traitor. The traitor only had to boost himself up into the air for the wolf to crash into another wall, his fiery mane melting some of the steel. Pisces could hardly surpress a giggle as  the wolf struggled to pull himself out and the Preons struggled to get back on their feet. A perfect chance to think.

Right, he's a fire element reploid. What do they hate most? Water. Time to use that weakness to my advantage.

Pisces pressed a button on his trident and watched as  water began to surround the three prongs. He lifted it up high, aiming right for the mane-

Claws met his hands,  leaving gashes and causing  his trident to fly out and skid on the ground away from him. Another claw met his face, before Firemane backed up and headbutted him hard enough to send him flying back to the other side. The wall dented from the sheer force of the blow, Pisces wincing at the pain and the inevitible alarms blaring in his head. His H.U.D. was flashing red, pointing out areas of damage and just how much damage was taken.

Firemane was slowly approaching him, a demon surrounded by hell's flames. "You underestimate me, traitor," he growled. "And you will pay the price."

I'm sure I will, Pisces thought bitterly to himself. That was a bust. I have time to think of something else, but not much of it. Trident's out of my hands- sorry, Aquarius - I need to use a different weapon. System, diagnose Aqua Buster.

BUSTER: DISABLED DUE TO ERRORS. USE MAY DAMAGE IT FURTHER. 

Do I have any choice if I want to survive? There are other lives on the line, and if there's another maverick like this one... If they team up, they don't have a chance. Enable Buster. Setting: Aqua Buster.

WARNING: USE OF AQUA BUSTER MAY DAMAGE IT FURTHER. CONTINUE? Y/N

No other choice. I'll take my chances. Y.

BUSTER ACTIVATED. SETTING TYPE TO WATER. 30 SECONDS TO CHARGE TO FULL.

Thirty seconds... Thirty seconds are all I need.

Pisces kept his left arm hidden as the wolf approached, channeling solar energy into it, counting down the seconds as his would-be murderer walked even closer.

25...24... 23...22...21... 20...

"You thought you could win against me," the wolf sneered. "However, you were weaker than you thought."

"Sucks to be me, then," Pisces replied, trying hard not to roll his eyes.

"Oh, yes, it really is unfortunate to be you. You won't even see the new world we'll bring. Imagine, a utopia... where no humans exist to use us, manipulate us into doing what they desire!"

15. 14. 13. 12. 11. 

"It is the end of their era, and the end of yours, dear traitor. Soon, we will rule, and we will make things right!"

"I'm sure you will," the fish reploid replied sarcastically.

10. 9. 8. 7. 6.

Firemane stood over the slumping reploid, like death ready to strip the soul from the dying body. His claws extended and lit on fire, bringing them to the reploid's neck, watching him wince.

"Hmpf. You wouldn't understand our great vision. Any last words... traitor?"

I'm really getting sick of that tone.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

A smirk formed on his lips as Pisces looked Firemane dead in the eyes.

"Gotcha."

CHARGE COMPLETE.

He channeled energy first through the gem in the middle of his helmet, forcing it to shine brightly like a flashlight and blind the wolf. Firemane yelped, covering his eyes as Pisces quickly used his right hand to hold his left arm steady and watched as it shifted into a buster and blasted him with a mix of aquatic and plasma energy. The force knocked Firemane  down onto his back, the mighty predator screaming in pain as the water doused his fiery fur.  The fish reploid quickly boosted to his trident and picked it up, pressing a button and replacing the water streams with bolts of electricity dancing around the prongs. When the maverick inevitably charged him, he jumped up and stabbed him in the back, the drenched wolf reploid conducting the bolts and receiving a nasty shock.

Firemane struggled to get back up and breathe fire as his brother breathed ice, but he found himself swallowing another Aqua Buster shot, dousing what little flames he had left. He was barraged by them, unable to do anything but claw at the reploid frantically. Pisces didn't let up his assault, even if his armor was chipped off by the slashes. Soon, it was the predator that was the prey, backed up in a corner, unable to do anything.

"M-mercy!" the wolf reploid pleaded. "Mercy! I-I'll do anything you want! Anything!"

 Pisces looked down at him, charging yet another Aqua Buster shot.

And then, the pleading stopped as that shot ripped right through his torso,  leaving naught but a broken maverick. The preons were finally able to get up, only to see their leader die. Pisces turned his head towards them, one glare enough to send them running back towards where they came from.

Pisces sighed and put away his trident, changing his buster back to a hand. The joints were beginning to smoke, most likely damaged from the use, but he didn't mind. He just bent over and dug through all the fur on Firemane's head before finding a little slit on his head. He pried it open and looked, seeing two chips sitting inside. And soon enough, they were out of Firemane's head and in the fish reploid's palm as he opened up a part of his right arm, revealing slots that fit the chips just right. He just had to insert them as so, close that part... And let his processor do the rest.

BEGINNING DATA DOWNLOAD.

FIREMANE DNA CHIP AND MEMORY CHIP DOWNLOADED INTO SYSTEM. 

First time I did that in a long time. 

Pisces stretched his arms a bit before dragging Firemane's body, now following his radar to that spike of icy energy.

-------------------

Frostmane wasn't faring much better against the humans. The blonde moved out of the way for his companions to unleash bullets and chakrams on him, sawing into his armor and opening up new wounds. The frost missiles didn't even slow them down as much as he wanted to. No, they were working together as a team, backing each other up. Stan distracted him up close with furious punches, while Sasha used grappling beams from her guns to drag him towards her and blast him with powerful plasma shots, and Tina used her chakrams to weaken his armor and break it with her wrench.

Even when he made the Preons charge towards them, Sasha tore through them with a storm of bullets right in the eyes, leaving broken bodies to crowd the hallway. Stan used some of these bodies as bludgeons to Frostmane's face as the wolf tried to breathe ice onto him again, distacting him long enough for Tina to leap onto him and use her wrench to loosen up a few bolts keeping one of his arms attached. He grabbed her with that arm and hurled her away, his arm flying off with her. She blew raspberries as the wolf reploid growled, irritated that these humans were more competent than he thought.

"Feh! You think you've won?!" he yelled. "You haven't seen the full power of the Wolf Brothers!" He then held up his other arm and screamed, "COME TO ME, FIREMANE, MY BROTHER!"

Stan stared behind the wolf and pointed behind him. "You mean... that Firemane?"

Confused, Frostmane turned around to see a fish reploid, holding up the broken remains of his companion. His jaw dropped as far as it could go, too shocked to do anything about Stan laughing behind him.

The fish reploid said, "And now you can be reunited and have your honest bro to bro pep talk before you kick ass! So sorry, I was just talking to him a minute ago and it was such a riveting conversation!" He then tossed the remains at Frostmane, catching the wolf reploid off guard.

"Brother!" Frostmane cried. "Wh-what happened to you?! Are you okay?" He saw the big, gaping hole in his brother's chest. Then, he glared at the fish reploid and screamed, "YOU DID THIS TO HIM, DIDN'T YOU? I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!"

Frostmane lunged at Pisces, only for him to dash jump over him and over to Tina, watching as he, like his brother before him, crashed into a wall. In the moments Pisces had given them, the Lightbringers gathered around him, with looks varying from a smirk, a worried look, and a cold stare.

"You did that, huh?" Stan said with a grin. "I underestimated you! Sorry about calling you a Maverick earlier. For now, how about we kick some more maverick ass, huh?"

Tina added, in a more worried voice, "I know what you did was cool and all but now you're all hurt again and your arm is smoking! Did you use the buster? I didn't fix it all the way I'm sorry! Sorry for waking you up from sleepy times!"

"You can fight?" asked the battle-ready woman.

"Yes, yes, it's okay, yes," Pisces answered hastily. "Can't help it; helping's programmed into me! But if this guy is anything like his brother, we should get ready!"

Frostmane pulled himself out from the wall and launched another salvo of icy missiles. The team moved quickly to avoid them. At least, everybody but Pisces did. He was frozen comically for a moment before the ice around him shattered on its own.

"Whew! If someone told me he had that, I would have put on a jacket!"

"YOU'LL NEED MORE THAN A JACKET TO SURVIVE THIS!" Frostmane howled as he dashed towards his brother's murderer and breathed ice upon him. He didn't freeze like before, though, and he was glaring right at him.

"Pisces," he said calmly. "Type: Water Elemental. Resistant to all forms of water-based attacks.  Ice is included in that mix. And I know what your weakness is."

"YOU DON'T KNOW SHI-"

BOOM. Stan's electric knuckles connected with Frostmane's back, the mighty wolf crying out in pain. Sasha's bullets and Tina's chakrams came next, widening the wounds he had sustained before and allowing the electric attacks to damage him further. The frost wolf reploid howled, icicles forming on his mane before launching them at his attackers, driving them further back as he turned his attention to Stan and bit his side. Pisces charged his trident with electrical energy again and thrust it into the maverick's side, stunning him long enough for Tina to come in and wrench off the wolf's other arm. With no claws to attack, he tried to bite anyone who came too close, only for Stan's knuckles to connect with his teeth and knock them right out.

More icicles were shot, only for Tina and Sasha to shoot them out of the air. They were closing in on him, and he was running out of energy. Soon, he was surrounded, Stan and Sasha glaring, while Tina was smirking a tiny bit.

Pisces didn't need to do anything more.  The humans had it covered.

"EVEN IF YOU DEFEAT ME," Frostmane bellowed between shallow breaths, "MY... MY BRETHREN WILL COME! AND THEY WILL SLIT YOUR THROAT AND WATCH YOU BLEED! AND YOU WILL BE NOTHING! YOU ARE NOTHING! NOTHIIIII-"

Bang. One good shot between the eyes shut him up, the wolf slumping over with his eyes deactivated.

Tina turned towards Pisces and asked, "What were you gonna say about his weakness, Mr. Fishy?"

The fish reploid shrugged.

"I was gonna say a Thunderstorm... but that was more of a blitzkrieg."