Mega Man Zero: Reversal of Fortune
A novelization by
Alex
Chapter 1: Genesis
Compared to its 20th century appearance, the island-nation of Japan in the year 22XX was but a ghost of its former self. With most of the population having died after nearly a century of all-out war, the fortress-city of Neo-Arcadia on the former site of Tokyo was the only sign that human life still existed. To the north, a vast desert was formed by terrain too blasted for even the weeds to grow. To the south, however, trees and shrubbery had overrun much of the rubble, forming a sort of giant forest of crumbling buildings and gigantic elms. To the casual observer, it might have seemed pretty.
To Ciel, however, it seemed more like a deathtrap.
"Why did they have to choose today of all days to step up their patrols?" she shouted to the wind, hurling herself behind a crumbling wall shortly before a hail of plasma bursts shredded the ground where she stood moments previously.
It had seemed like such a simple plan at first. After much research, Ciel had finally discovered the weapon she believed that the Resistance needed to fend off the forces of Neo-Arcadia. All they needed to do was retrieve it. The forests south of the city had long helped to shelter Resistance movements from surveillance, so it had seemed like a rather straightforward job.
That was before the monsters had appeared. The Pantheons, humanoid robots with a single cyclopean eye and an arm-mounted plasma gun, were something they had all gotten used to; if that were all, Ciel was confident they would have made it. The monsters were different, though. Huge slabs of armor plating, hovering silently a foot off the ground...they had tried to run away, but for all their size, the machines easily caught up to them and began to attack with some sort of chest-mounted laser. Ciel was afraid that the image of her fellow Resistance members being diced into bloody pieces by the high-powered beam would haunt her forever.
They had set out with twelve people, twelve nervous recruits who hadn't so much as handled a gun before. Now they were all dead. It almost made Ciel want to cry, but she resisted; her first priority was survival. There was a brief lull in the shooting, and then a young man in Resistance fatigues leapt over to her side of the wall, firing as he went. Then, another, wearing a full helmet and goggles instead of the first's rather simple beret. She couldn't resist a smile. "You made it, Milan," she said with a strained bit of laughter. Milan returned it. "We can't stay here, Ms. Ciel," he said, gesturing to the tunnel into the earth that lay a few dozen feet behind them. "If the target's down there, I say we make a break for it...if we go back, they'll just cut us down." Ciel nodded; she could already hear the sound of mechanical footsteps growing near. Evidently, the Pantheons had moved in for the kill after their support had done it's job. Milan was up in a flash, tossing a grenade over the wall before sprinting over towards the tunnel. Ciel paused only long enough to watch; the metal canister came to a clattering halt at the foot of a Pantheon, which looked down to investigate the noise...it never even had a chance to leap for cover, as the grenade tore it and it's nearest companions into shreds. The other Resistance member fired a few quick bursts to keep the remainder at bay as they dashed into the tunnels.
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Milan grunted with exertion, servos whining as he muscled the heavy door shut behind them. They had fled deep into the tunnels, which thankfully branched off in countless different directions. While Ciel was confident that the many different paths would confuse their pursuers, Milan insisted on sealing the heavy emergency bulkheads to keep them at bay. Ciel wasn't even sure where they were anymore, either. She was just about to sit down and try and check her map when a tiny voice and a brief stirring came from her pocket.
"Ciel, are we there yet?"
Ciel just shook her head, while Milan and the soldier tried their best to ignore the voice. A tiny figure appeared from within Ciel's pocket, floating up on gossamer wings until it was about level with Ciel's face. Though only an inch high, Ciel could clearly see the consternation on the Cyber Elf's face. It almost would have seemed cute, if the situation weren't so dire. "Passy, we don't have any time to waste," Ciel scolded, "Can you feel what we came here for?" The Cyber Elf almost seemed hurt for a moment, then furrowed her tiny eyebrows in concentration. "...this way!" she shouted, turning and darting off into the tunnels. Ciel and the others quickly followed, trying to ignore the deep, rythmic pounding off in the distance. Apparently the Pantheons were closer than they thought, and Ciel was silently thankful for Milan's diligence.
After what seemed like hours of wandering, they finally found something. Or at least, that's what Passy seemed to indicate, as they came to a dead end. She turned around, folding her arms over her chest as she hovered up in front of the strange crystalline wall before them. "Well?" Ciel shook her head, pausing for a moment to catch her breath. They had been running for quite a while, after all. "Is....this a...dead end?" she managed to gasp out; being Reploids, of course, Milan and the soldier were perfectly fine. Passy shook her head. "No, there's definitely something on the other side of this wall. This is it." While Ciel was skeptical, and walked over to the wall to tap at it, the soldier apparently accepted this. He reached into his satchel and retrieved a hand grenade. "Stay back, Ms. Ciel." he warned, the girl darting behind a large chunk of fallen ceiling for cover as he tossed the grenade. The strange crystalline wall shattered from the force of the explosion, raining shards of glass and chunks of circuitry on the gathered explorers.
The room beyond was massive, easily the size of a football field, and totally covered in brackish water and chunks of debris. The only light came from a hole in the roof, nearly a hundred feet in the air, shining down upon a pillar in the center of the area. For a moment, all four could do nothing but gasp; but they were broken from their reverie by the sound of an explosion behind them. "They're here!" the soldier shouted, drawing his gun and glancing over his shoulder. "You three go on ahead, I'll take care of them." Ciel was almost going to object, before Milan put a hand on her shoulder and began to gently steer her away. She relented, and they stepped down into the room with a loud splash. The water was at least a foot deep, and an ugly greenish-brown in color; probably contaminated with all sorts of nasty chemicals, Ciel reflected idly. Then, as they approached the pillar in the center of the room, she gasped.
"Th...is that....?" Milan began, finding his tongue before she could. Inside the pillar, which was apparently an ancient stasis tube, kneeling as if praying, was the body of a red Reploid with long blonde hair. Ciel and Milan had both heard the legend of Zero, of the legendary crimson Reploid who once fought alongside X. This /had/ to be him. "Is...that has to be him. It's Zero!" Ciel shouted, clasping her hands in front of her. A brief hint of joy crept into her tone, as the possibility of the nightmare ending finally seemed to be at hand. Milan, similarly excited, walked forward to try and enter the shattered tube; he yelped in surprise as he was repulsed, a glittering forcefield becoming visible as he touched it. "That was a dumb thing to do," Passy scolded, sticking her tongue out at Milan. He did his best to try and ignore her, though, as he began to search for a control panel of some kind. "There has to be some way to get in there...."
Everyone froze at the sound of gunfire. Ciel whipped around, just in time to see the young soldier guarding the door scream and fall down with multiple holes blown through his body. He was dead before he even hit the ground. "Dead end! We have to get out of here Ciel!" Milan shouted, grabbing Ciel by the shoulder and roughly dragging her towards cover. Her eyes lingered on the steaming corpse of the young reploid whose name she hadn't even learned. "But..." Milan growled, bodily tossing her behind the shattered remains of a table. "No buts!" He was just about to follow, when shots rang out. For a moment, Ciel imagined that time seemed to stand still; she could see Milan's eyes widen, and with a scientist's eye for detail, she could see the conductive fluid that so resembled blood leaking from a gaping wound in his chest...a brief part of her wondered why reploids were designed so. Was it some sort of macabre joke? Then she snapped back to reality, as Milan's body fell into the water next to her with a loud 'splash'. Ciel screamed. The sound of boots on metal, and then on water, rang out through the room; the Pantheons were coming. Ciel curled into a ball; it was all over now. They'd kill her here, and then...and then....
"Ciel." Passy said, sternly, trying to rouse Ciel from her daze. While the Cyber Elf was programmed to act in a childish fashion, she was observant enough to notice the signs of shock setting in. If Ciel lost her head now, then everything was lost. The woman said nothing. "CIEL!!!" Passy shouted, at the top of her miniature lungs. That got her attention. Ciel's eyes lost the glazed, distant look of the previous moment, as she snapped back to reality. "...Passy?" she asked, voice meek....Passy shook her head in irritation. "Use my power! It's your only chance!" Ciel seemed to deflate a little, hanging her head as the sound of the Pantheons edged closer and closer. "But...Passy....if I do that...." "Forget about me!" the Cyber-Elf began, "Everyone's waiting for you, Ciel. If you die, what will happen to all of them?" Ciel seemed to consider this. "....okay, Passy. Thank you." Passy smiled. It was a thin, forced smile, but a smile nonetheless. "No, thank you, Ciel. I would have never had this life, were it not for you. Good....good-bye..." And with that, she turned and flew off towards the stasis tube at maximum speed. Ciel's cry of grief and anguish was lost on Passy's ears, her body already dissolving into it's constituent elements and racing towards the occupant of the tube.