Searching for a Hero
A Megaman Legends Fic
It is I!! In Deeds Reflected, who wrote this fic, if anyone says otherwise, there're lying!!
It was two years after the legendary events surrounding the forbidden island incident, a lone digger had set forth against all odds, and where all others had failed, this lone digger managed to combat the intense weather and formidable defenses that the island had to offer and had won. To further add to his stature, this same digger, clad in blue armor, then braved several parlous ruins to acquire four master keys, foretold by the ancients to unlock the mythical "Mother Load". Lied to and betrayed by the ancients, once all four keys were acquired, they set into motion events that would have destroyed all mankind…But again, the digger in blue faced the challenge head-on without fear or reservation. After that no one was sure what had happened, the digger in blue was never seen again, only stories abounded as to his fate. Some said he fell in battle, others claimed that after the battle he had escaped into obscurity to live a normal life, and others still, said that after battle he was trapped, far from the home he had fought so hard to protect. No matter what was said however, the outcome was the same for each story, the digger in blue had been victorious, he had faced the most powerful threat imaginable, and had won. The evidence could be seen anywhere, for if he had lost, there would be no one left to tell his tale.
These were stories told not only by diggers, but by all who lived through the events, the stories of the legendary "digger in blue" who saved the world from utter annihilation. While these stories gave strength to those who told and heard them, for one island the rest of the world was a chapter behind. A year before the forbidden island incident, another island had been in peril, besieged by pirates and almost destroyed, Kattelox island knew full well of the digger in blue, for there to, he had staved off certain destruction in the face of overwhelming odds. Although perhaps not as monumental as saving the entire world, for the people of Kattelox, the digger in blue was just as much a hero for what he had done for their island, as for what he had done for the world. It was there, almost four years ago, that the digger in blue in his selfless nature had saved a small girl from an uncertain fate, not with his weapons, but with a donation to hospital that saved the girl's life. In his final moments on the island, the digger in blue approached the small girl to say goodbye. The girl who at the time was no older than thirteen, made the digger in blue a promise, that one day she would leave the island and become a great digger herself. Now almost seventeen she prepares to embark to fulfill her promise, and to find the legendary digger in blue, to search for a hero…
-Kattelox Island, just before dawn-
A lone girl stands in the sub-gate ruins of Cardon Forest, the light inside reflects off the walls, casting an unearthly blue glow on her. From where she stands her youth becomes obvious, she could pass for anywhere between fifteen to seventeen, and although her less then robust figure would favor the younger age, her fierce and striking green eyes would favor the older. Messy brown hair assails her shoulders in the back, while in the front bangs held in place by a lime green headband tickle her eyes. Her features are fair if not worn, with a soft face despite the soot and angered expression which both occupy it currently. Her outfit is a dull but dark blue, and favors function over fashion, heavy looking metallic boots come up to her knees shielding her lower legs. A long sleeveless coat covers her upper body and extends down past her waist, though it has obviously seen better days it still appears sturdy if only for a few tares. The coat overlaps to the right side at her chest and is held closed by four bronze buttons, the collar reaches just above her top lip, masking the lower part of her face. Despite her unusual appearance however, it is her arms more then anything else that would catch anyone's attention. On her right, dark leather bindings cross mesh their way from her shoulder to her elbow, and stop under an ornate looking metal gauntlet and glove, upon the upside of which glows a eye like red gem. The left arm is left bare from the shoulder down until reaching the elbow, just as with the right arm, from the elbow down her hand is encased in metal, but this time instead of a glove, the metal apparatus ends in the barrel of a gun…
Backed against the wall, she stands surrounded by four octagon shaped reaverbots, each fixed on her with their lifeless, robotic eyes. They stand less then a head shorter then the girl upon four awkward legs, two at the front and two at the back, and although clumsy things, their red lower bodies indicated their upgraded status from the normal types which were green. She had been through plenty of ruins before, but in her eagerness for the oncoming day she had rushed her way through and must have missed them, on her way back to the elevator they had jumped at her, and before she knew it, she was against the wall. Inwardly cursing herself for such a rookie mistake, she watched the four offish reaverbots move slowly towards her. With just a few feet between her and them, they all arched back on their hind legs revealing the circular fire cannons underneath, she could see the energy building quickly, and just before they fired she couldn't help but think…
" "He" wouldn't have made this kind of mistake…"
The four reaverbots shot at her, sending large, spinning spheres of fire at her. A quick change in her expression as she smirked slightly was the only indication of her action. In a split second leading with her right leg, she leapt up and over the four reaverbots, unleashing a hail of machine gun fire down on two of them as she flipped in mid air. The two reaverbots in the middle exploded violently, the heat from which she could feel on her face. She landed with a hard metallic "Thud" as her boots hit the metal floor, they had not only cushioned her landing perfectly, but also had been responsible for the extra spring in her jump due to some tinkering and ingenuity on her spotter's part. The remaining two reaverbots tuned to face her, but their short, stubby legs prevented them from doing so in time. The girl quickly rushed to the left side, making full use of her machine gun arm along the way and filling the reaverbot on the left full of holes. It to, like the others, exploded fantastically, but the shockwave sent through the floor offset her balance and sent her crashing to the ground. Her armor and coat had weathered most of the blow, leaving her unharmed, but as she looked up to locate the final reaverbot, she found it again charging it's weapon and firing on her. In no position to dart out of the way, the blast moved at her with an intense heat and force, and would surely not be stopped by her coat or her scarce visible armor. With the blast upon her she lifts her right arm in a desperate, final act of defense.
The brief but bright flash covers the area just in front of the girl; the flash however is not from any type of explosion. Instead the flash is the result of the blast dissipating against a small hexagon shaped energy field that is now emanating from the eye shaped gem on the girl's right hand. The energy field is charged white in the middle, but becomes yellow as it extends outward, and is just large enough to shield the girl's torso from the blast. From behind it she smiles again as she gets to her feet and mockingly exclaims…
"Is that it?" A cheerful glee can be heard in her youthful voice as she utters the taunt.
The reaverbot does not respond but instead gets ready to fire again; the red heat inside its internal cannon begins to radiate, signaling the attack. Blowing a tuft of hair out of her eyes she smirks at her would-be enemy at points her gun arm, and aims it with the right…
"All you reaverbots are the same, no fun at all." Again a hint of glee goes with the statement.
With her final words to the reaverbot, she easily sidesteps its attack and fires three shots dead center in its cannon. The reaverbot stands motionless for a second before several small explosions emanate from it internally, preceding a much larger one that completely destroys it. Small refractors of varying colors are thrown from the explosion, the girl rushes to pick them up before fade and shatter becoming useless. She silently scolds herself for missing one that had been thrown in the corner, and for not grabbing the ones that had been thrown free upon the destruction of the other reaverbots. Small refractors gained from reaverbots were used as currency but were unstable and shattered shortly after the reaverbot's destruction unless grabbed quickly. She put the refractors she gained in one her coat's inside pockets and buttoned it closed. Looking up, she stared at the places where just previously, the four reaverbots had been and sighed. Four medium explosion marks stained the ground in front of her, easily visible on the bright blue floors of the ruin. She had hoped she wouldn't have had to fight so close to the elevator, if anyone checked the ruin, her presence would be noticed.
"And I haven't received my digger's license yet, if the mayor finds out she'll kill me…" Said to no one but herself, she slouches forward in disappointment.
Only a moment later she springs back up with a renewed happiness on her face.
"But then again…maybe no one will notice?" Said halfheartedly, she smiles sarcastically as she again looks over the devastation she caused.
Suddenly she is brought back from her spiraling depression by the sound of radio static in her ear…
"C in…I ret…C in…" The sound is broken and choppy, but even still, the girl knows who it is, it could only be one person on this frequency.
Sighing again, she touches the inside of her left ear, pressing against the small transmitter inside until the sound clears up.
"Come in Ira, I repeat, come in Ira!" As always Osh's voice sounds much more frantic then it needs to be, Ira teased him about it often, but appreciated it also.
"Yes Osh it's me, calm down or you'll give yourself a heart attack." A playful tone carries over the transmitter. A second later Ira can hear a soft sigh of relief over the COM system.
"Ira, where are you! When I went to you're house this morning you weren't there, the junk shop lady said she saw you heading to Cardon Forest…Please tell me you're not where I think you are?" The sense of dread is obvious in his voice.
"Okay then, I'm not where you think I am, in fact, I'm exactly where you want me to be, safe at home. The truth is I never got up early this morning and got myself ready to go to the place where you think I am, and I certainly didn't then make my way to that place and fight a bunch of the things you think I fought." Ira's smile was a mile wide as she said this; she always loved messing with Osh.
"Why do you hate me…?" Osh's voice sounds defeated as he is outmatched by Ira's sarcasm."
"I don't hate you Osh, you're my spotter after all." Again thick with sarcasm…
"If that's true, then why didn't you tell me you were going to the sub gate today?!" Now more annoyed sounding than anything, its obvious that Osh is losing patience.
"That's easy silly, I knew you'd try and stop me if I told you." Ira now had to hold her sides to keep from laughing, it was just too much.
"Alright, listen, just get yourself out of there, hopefully no one will see you and I'll meet you in the van when I get there, can you do that for me please?" More begging then asking, Osh's words carry sincerely.
"Alright Osh, I'm near the elevator anyway, I'll be up in a minute and I'll see you up top." Ira closed the COM channel and began walking towards the elevator again.
It only takes a few moments to reach the elevator, at the council now she hits the button to ascend, a moment later the elevator slowly makes it way back up top towards civilization. After a minute or so Ira reaches the top and the automatic door opens to the bright, unforgiving light. Ira shields her eyes with her right arm, after being in the ruins for so long her eyes had adjusted to the artificial light, now again the presence of the real thing, she thought of the sun as an angry, spiteful thing. Despite her betrayal to the sun, it relinquished it's anger and allowed to her see again, and the first thing she saw was Osh staring disapprovingly at her next to the spotter van. His long red hair blows in the gentle breeze, momentarily hiding his worried expression, but when the wind lets up again and his hair falls back in place his expression brings with it a sincere reality. His brown eyes dart over her, quickly inspecting her to make sure that she's not injured, his features now contort between a mix of worry and anger. His whole body is shaking and in his right hand he grasps a med kit in case the worst had happened, the left is holding nothing, but rather clenched in strong fist. As Ira faces the severity of the situation for the first time she can't help but feel terrible for what she put Osh through.
"He was really worried about me…" These inward thoughts left a bad feeling in Ira's stomach, as though she'd eaten something rotten and was now feeling the full effects.
Ira could barely stand it, and panned her vision to the floor to avoid Osh's stare. Osh and herself had been working together for almost a year now, and in all that time she'd only seen him like this twice, once after his first mission as her spotter, and the second was…. Ira was already distress enough, and decided not to think back on that particular event at the moment, instead she was building the strength to say something to Osh to reassure him and try and make up for what she had done. When she looked up to face him though, she was relieved to see that his expression had changed, instead of the look of worry and anger that had postered it before, now a small and weakened smile replaced it.
"Osh, I…" Her words were soft and stuttered, but more than that, interrupted now by Osh.
"I don't want to hear it Ira, not this time. You went over the line; you put yourself in danger, not to mention your ambitions. Or do I need to remind you that today the mayor is awarding you with your own digger's license?" Osh's words held force behind them, his throaty voice full of intent.
Ira unbuttoned the top of her coat and opened the collar to reveal the rest of her face, soft red lips now frowned at her spotter's words. What Osh said was true, today was the day that she was to be given her digger's license, making her a full fledged digger on Kattelox, and signifying her skill. Without a license Ira had been confined to only the smallest ruins on the island. Normally the Cardon Forest sub-gate wouldn't have even opened without the proper license, but Ira had managed "borrow" a temporary pass from a construction worker who had left it on the roof of a building of all places. Thinking back on it now it really was poor judgment on her part, but she was so excited to be getting her digger's license that the thought of exploring a major ruin had overwhelmed her. The problem was that she was thinking about this in retrospect, she had let her emotions get the better of her and in the process had alienated her spotter and friend. Even more than that though, this mistake made it all the more visible to her just how far away she was from reaching "him". Ira was snapped back to reality when she felt Osh's hand on her shoulder, his strong hand brought with it a monumental comfort.
"Ira look, I know how excited you are about today, but if the mayor had found out about this instead of me…" Osh's voice trailed off.
"I know Osh, it's just that it's been such a long time coming…I've waited three years for this license, and now it's finally the day at hand. I don't know, I guess I just let it take hold of me." Ira knew what Osh trying to say and decided to respond to the words he hadn't said yet.
Ira slumped her shoulders and sighed, exhausted from both her adventure in the ruins, and now her confrontation with Osh, she was done in. She stretched her sore arms out to her sides and then up in the air, trying uselessly it seemed to ease the pain in her left shoulder from when she fell in the ruins. While stretching she noticed Osh gazing at her, she threw him a sarcastic look and he averted his eyes while blushing. Ira knew of Osh's feelings for her, but she wasn't sure how she felt about them just yet, most of the time she just played it off as a joke which seemed to have worked thus far. Ira let her arms drop back to her sides and started walking to the spotter van. The ancient vehicle had at one point belonged to the junk shop lady and her husband, but had been used after that by "him", which was the primary reason she had chosen it for her support vehicle. The yellow and red van was filled with all types of equipment necessary for Ira's exploration of the ruins, with it Osh could get readouts of the often maze like ruins and any enemies inside. It was also filled with various odds and ends, some of which actually helped Ira and Osh, others were more sentimental in nature. Now at the back door of the van she noticed Osh hadn't moved from his spot behind her, she turned to look at him but most of his face was hidden either by his angle or his hair, but it seemed like he was in deep thought.
"You coming Osh?" She called back at him.
"Um…yeah, I mean…I mean yeah I'm coming." He responded shakily.
Osh made his was back to the van, still staring somewhat blankly into the distance as he did so. He opened the driver side door and got inside without a word, started the van and waited for Ira to enter. The drive back to uptown was a silent one, several times Ira tried to jibe Osh into saying something, but she was met with minimal response each time, whatever was eating Osh must have been important. Ira stared at him from the back trying to gauge the situation, she looked into the rearview mirror to see Osh's sullen face as he focused on the drive. Ira wasn't sure what was up with him, but perhaps the events earlier had been more taxing on him then she had thought.
"Maybe I'll buy him that new video game he wanted with the zenny I made in the ruins today, that usually cheers him up." As Ira thought this, her right hand began to burn in pain.
"Ah!" Ira cried out in pain as a sharp burning sensation shot through her right arm.
The van stopped suddenly and Osh turned to face Ira, his expression again one of concern.
"What's the matter Ira?! What's wrong?" Osh's voice was stressed as he looked Ira over searching for the cause of pain.
"My arm, it's my arm…It burns." Ira had to focus away from the pain in her arm just to get the words out.
Despite the intense pain it cause, Ira managed to press the release button on her machine gun arm causing the casing locks to open and the whole thing to fall to the ground. Then she used her now free left hand to unbuckle the shoulder strap of her leather bindings on her right arm, and slowly removed the shield glove she was wearing. Underneath several distinct burn lines now tattooed her right arm, they were a perfect match for the ornate machine lines on her shield glove. Ira could barely move her right arm it hurt so much, in the front of the van Osh was frantically searching the med kit in the passenger side seat. After a moment he made his way to the back with some gauze and bottle of cooling suave liquid. He quickly dowsed the gauze with liquid and started carefully wrapping Ira's arm. Although Osh was obviously trying to be as careful as possible, Ira yelped the occasional "Ow!" or "Ah!" in response, and every time she did so Osh cringed and apologized. After a few minutes Ira's right arm was bandaged like a mummy's but the cooling suave liquid was doing it's job, the pain in Ira's arm was numbed by the liquid and allowed her to move her arm again.
"What happened?" Osh's tone was soft as he looked over Ira's arm, making sure he didn't miss any spots when he was bandaging her.
"I'm not sure exactly, but I think the shield glove overheated." Although the pain was gone, Ira had yet to regain the normally cheerful ring to her voice.
"Wait, you mean you used the shield glove when you were in the ruins?!" Sounding alarmed Osh grabbed the shield glove and began looking it over.
"Well yeah, I had to, it was either that or I was burnt to a crisp." Saying this, Ira suddenly felt a wave of irony hit her.
"Ira you know that the shield glove is still in its development stage. I had to hodgepodge the thing together from broken reaverbot parts, who knows how stable it is yet?" Osh lectured.
Still looking over the shield glove, Osh held it in his hands, turning it in various directions against the light, trying to discover the problem. Suddenly he dropped it to ground and let out a yell as he flexed his fingers in front of him.
"Damnit!!" Osh yelled.
Ira watched as Osh blew on his fingers trying to cool them down, it was almost funny, but now certainly wasn't the time for jokes.
"Are you all right?" She asked with genuine concern.
"Yeah damnit I'm fine, my fingers just hurt a bit." Still angry, Osh kicked the shied glove across the van while cursing at it.
"Are you okay to drive with you're fingers like that?" As Ira said this she looked at Osh's fingers which were read on the tips now.
"I'm fine, they'll cool down in a minute and I'll get you to the hospital to get treated." Shaking his hands side to side Osh looked over at Ira after saying this.
Ira's expression had completely changed to one of dread, her face went white and she was quiet for a moment, but then simply stated…
"No hospitals." Her words were barely audible as she slowly rubbed her arm.
"Ira I have to get you treated, I can't be sure how bad the burns are." A hint of sorrow moved though Osh's words to Ira.
"No hospitals Osh, you know I don't do hospitals, I spent most of my life in a hospital because of my leg, and I don't intend to go back!" Full of force, Ira meant what she said, and had no intention of backing down.
Osh stood silently for a moment, lost in thought, but Ira knew she had won the argument, she'd had it with Osh before on several occasions, and never let up on her stand. After another minute or so Osh started walking back to the drivers seat, he didn't say anything, he never did after their arguments about the subject at hand, he started the ignition and began driving again…
A few hours later Ira was just getting out of the shower at her home in uptown, she grabbed a towel from the rack and dried herself off. The soot on her face was now gone, and she had to remove her bandages revealing her burn scars, luckily they were thin and less defined now. Standing at the mirror she recounted the silent drive home with Osh as she brushed her hair. The whole drive Osh hadn't said anything, he just drove her home and then sped off. Ira had never seen Osh so distant from her, it left a pit in her chest just thinking about it. Ira finished brushing her hair and grabbed her toothbrush from the medicine cabinet, she spread on the minty green toothpaste and started brushing. She looked at herself in the mirror and was forced to look away, what had happened with Osh today was her fault, and a video game wouldn't cut it as an apology anymore. She wasn't even sure what to do next about Osh, he was supposed to meet her for when the mayor presented her with her diggers license, but she wasn't so sure he'd show now. The minty cleaning power of the toothpaste had run it's course, Ira spit into the sink and then gargled some mouthwash.
She put the towel back on the rack and made her way to her bedroom, she lived alone so modesty wasn't an issue as she walked to her closet undressed. Staring into her modest closet she grabbed her favorite black short sleeve shirt, the one she had gotten at a concert not long ago, on the front was the abbreviation of her favorite band, Ten Inch Screws. She slid on a pair of form fitting denim blue jeans over her unmentionables and then grabbed her heavy diggers coat to wear over her shirt. After that she sat at her bed and re-bandaged her right arm, most of the pain was gone by now, but it was still sore. Ira found a pair of socks under her bed that seemed pretty clean and put them on, then she walked over to the front door to find her spring boots. Right at the door where she had left them, Ira unclasped the boots at the sides and put them on over her jeans and socks, when they felt just right she re-clasped them and started making her way outside. She was just about to step out the door when a chill ran down her spine; she raced back inside to her room to find "it". There on her nightstand was a small wooden box, Ira opened it slowly and smiled when she looked inside. There in the box was her lucky green headband, she'd worn it everyday since "he" came to visit her in the hospital for the first time, she never left home without it. With all that had happened today she almost forgot it, but not today, if there was ever a day when she needed it, it was today. Ira adjusted the lime green headband on the top of her head and again walked out the door. Despite all that had happened thus far today, she smiled widely again for the first time since being in the ruins, she couldn't help it, because after all…
"Today I become a Digger!!"