I was falling. But… not just falling. There was someone else beside me.
Ah, yes. Zanza. Zanza was here. He… was an odd fellow, but an interesting one.
But I sense something within him. He is also dangerous. He holds such power, but could use it in the wrong way. He has a Monado. Meyneth's is still safe, but… still, I can't trust Zanza.
But I digress. We were falling to the world Zanza and Meyneth had created for us. A brave new land filled with wonder and… well, water. There was probably some kind of land past the Bionis and Mechonis, but for now we had to expand upon what we have.
And what's this power? It comes from… somewhere else. It shouldn't be here.
Zanza! Meyneth! I beseech you; there is a strange force that we must-
They've already turned on each other… I should have known. There is still Monado, but until then, that's all we have. His days as a machine impair his duty today.
Will I have to deal with this myself?
"Eyy, Shulk!" Innes called, smirking as said blonde jogged past the entrance to the colony, undoubtedly to look for scrap to build a new weapon or something or other. "Going to look for scrap, I presume?" he said, jogging to keep up with Shulk.
"Yeah," Shulk replied with obvious strain, for he was not particularly athletic, and gradually slowed down to a walk, which Innes followed.
"You know, you're gonna have to teach me how you can just see these chunks of scrap and know EXACTLY what to do with them," Innes said as they arrived to the junkyard.
"Guess so," The young blonde replied. "And I guess that would involve the- whoa, is that an M69+?!"
"Gahh, I hate those. Dunban was telling me some experiences he had with them, as well. Savages."
"And gahh, you're so loud! Anyway… it's armour would be perfect for making a shield. If I can just…" Suddenly, Shulk stumbled backwards as the M69 began to move. "Don't worry, it's… what? It's not a krabble!" The Mechon sprang to life, and the blades spun around. "It's weakened… but still a Mechon. Get back!"
"Should be as strong as a normal M69," Innes guessed from its weakened state.
"Right!" Shulk drew the Junk Sword from his back and held it in a defensive stance, while Innes did the opposite, holding his Salvage Sabre in an offensive position, tip of the blade directly pointing at the Mechon.
"Bionic slash!" Innes said, slashing at the Mechon to poison it. Shulk followed up with Turn Strike.
"Stance… break!" Innes readied a powerful stab at the enemy, toppling the Mechon with ease. "Shulk, time to smash."
Shulk gave a huff of approval, jogged to the back of the Mechon and Back Slashed.
"Trouble?!" Came Reyn's exceptionally loud voice. "YEAH! Now it's Reyn Time! Wild down!" Reyn came rushing in and toppled the enemy yet again, followed up by a hammer beat from his scrap driver.
"Nice going, Reyn!" Shulk slashed at the enemy a few times, followed by a Bionic Slash from Innes. After the slash, the M69 rose to its feet (claws?) and was ready to bash some heads. It used a cut attack to wound Reyn, followed by a small slash. "Light heal!" Reyn was good as new.
"This ain't good," Reyn said, using his Talent Art Mad Taunt to draw the Mechon's aggro from Shulk.
"I've got one more trick up my sleeve," Innes smirked. "Force Smash!" He harnessed the power of the surrounding ether to form a brown mass of ether above the enemy. He brought his hand down, and the ether smashed in to the Mechon at full force, completely dismantling it.
"Whoa, man!" Reyn exclaimed. "Thought your talent art was Stab Rush or something."
"I haven't really decided," Innes digressed. "I mean, Force Smash kind of takes a ton of energy, but Stab Flurry- not Stab Rush, Reyn- is also pretty powerful."
"Why not use both? The more the merrier!" Reyn suggested, rolling his arm back, casting a glance at Shulk, who was breaking the Mechon apart for scrap- but this caused the blonde to stand.
"Reyn, really? You of all people should know how hard it is to have two takent arts!" Shulk said, and went back to rummaging through Mechon scrap.
"Well… I could try to combine them- ooh, or I could try to buff up my strength with the ether mass, then use Stab Flurry… but whatever. You done, Shulk?"
"Yeah, just about," Shulk replied. He picked up a metal pincer, stuffed it in his bag, threw a few sheets of pure Mechon armor at Reyn to carry, and a few joint sections and rods at Innes. They continued along their way back to Colony 9.
"So, Reyn, what made you come bail us out back there? And minute late, I might add," Innes asked after dropping off the parts at the lab.
"Just a hunch. Bet I'll get a whack from old square-tache for missing training though." Upon a confused glance from his companion, Reyn continued. "Had to skip it to help you guys."
"Ah. Well, I promised Shulk earlier I'd help him make up a weapon, so bye for now." Reyn gave a grunt of agreement and walked away from the laboratory corridor.
"So, watcha making today, Shulk?" Innes grunted and stretched on his way in. Shulk was already hard at work, trying to attach pieces of the M69+'s pincer to a scrap driver.
"I have some free time, so I'm trying to develop some anti-Mechon weapons for us three. It's proving to be quite hard, though…"
"Try using a leg as a splint?" Innes suggested.
"Been there, done that. No dice," Shulk responded quickly. "Well, I could maybe try to get this attached here, which would allow…"
A few hours later, it was pitch-black, and Shulk and Innes were still working on weapons in the lab. They had successfully produced a driver with low attack, but the ability to damage Mechon, and a sabre that was ideal for Arts damage rather than normal attacks. Shulk stuck to using his Junk Sword. Upon exiting the lab, the two realized it was past midnight.
"Thanks," Shulk said. "You were a big help!"
"No problem, Shulk," Innes smiled, and ran to Outlook Park to sleep.