Changing History- Giro's story
Chapter Two
"Aile! Aile, are you there?" Giro called into the communicator, praying for a response.
"Aile! Are you okay!?" He cried out to the girl.
All was quiet for a while. Then, a shaky response came over the unit.
"…Giro? Is that you?"
Giro sighed in relief. She's safe…
"The package! Do you see the package? It should have fallen near you." Giro demanded quickly, partially to hide his concern, but he also knew how important the Biometal was.
There was a pause on Aile's end.
"…Is that it?"
"Listen! Grab the package. Then take it to the rendezvous point and give it to the Guardians!"
"What about you, Giro?"
The boy opened his mouth, but was cut off by the sound of weapon fire. He spun around, letting out a quiet curse as he found a few more Mavericks. Reinforcements…
"I'll join you later once I take care of business up here! Protect that package at all costs!" Giro cut off the audio link and whipped around, drawing out his saber once more. He dashed forwards with the blade ahead of him, easily taking out two of them. After that, all was a flurry of laser bolts and a deadly sword stabbing one second and defending the next. A minute later and the Mavericks were gone.
Giro leaned over the side of the cliff and gazed the long way down to the ground.
"Well… Aile might have taken the quickest route, but we might want to try a safer one, eh, Z?"
The Biometal chuckled slightly. 'We just might.'
"Let's see… Going through Area B would be the quickest way down there." Giro decided, before dashing off towards the mountains.
"What are all these Mavericks doing here! Sure, this isn't Innerpeace, but they usually aren't as active as this…" Giro sighed, wiping his forehead after defeating a slightly stronger than normal Maverick.
'Maybe there's some truth to that theory that someone's behind the Maverick's attacks, and they heard of the fact there were two Biometal in the area…' Z suggested.
"But who would do something like this?" Giro growled. If it was true, and someone really was behind the Maverick attacks… they would pay for what they did. Especially to Aile.
Giro continued on, making his way towards the forest below… when he caught sighed of something that made him pause.
"…Well," he smirked, "looks like we don't have to go that far after all."
A level below them, a blue Mega Man, which Giro was almost positive was Aile, was battling with a large Maverick ship. To Giro's surprise, she wasn't doing too badly… although she'd almost definitely need bailing out in a short while.
"It looks like she merged with your friend, Z."
'Indeed. Well, would you like to save her now or wait to jump heroically to her rescue at the last moment?'
Giro grinned. "I never could resist a flashy entrance."
The Biometal inwardly grinned back. 'Neither could I.'
The two watched carefully, and about ten seconds later they jumped down, dealing a critical blow to the shield-damaged ship. Giro watched in satisfaction as he faced away from Aile, seeing the ship go down and explode.
'So this is the chosen one for Model X?'
"Yes, she's very special to me." Giro admitted truthfully. Aile meant more to him than anyone else…
However, Aile seemed not to recognize him. Giro sweatdropped inwardly as he realized this might not be the best way to reveal to Aile who and what he really was. He quickly un-transformed and turned around to face the girl.
"Aile, it looks like you've been chosen by the Biometal too." He smiled at the girl.
"Giro!" She cried in relief and a bit of happiness… but mostly confusion. "Just what is Biometal? I don't understand what's going on!"
"This is my partner, Biometal Model Z. I'm sorry I kept this a secret from you, Aile, but I'm a member of the Guardians." Giro wasn't sure if this was the best move; he had no idea how Aile would react after finding out he had kept this a secret from her for so long. But she did deserve to know…
"You and me are both chosen ones. We can transform with the power of the Biometal. I was given an order to protect you from the people who are after the power inside you."
"I'm… a chosen one?" Aile questioned hesitantly.
"I didn't want to hide it from you. I was planning on telling you everything once we safely delivered the Biometal." Never mind the years before that he should have told her…
"Aile. Will you join me and the other Guardians? The Biometal is the key to understanding why the Mavericks outbreaks are occurring."
"This is all so much for me to take in. I just don't know Giro…"
The girl looked at him with such sad eyes he could help but smile sadly in response.
"I don't want to force you to do anything against your will. It's your decision. I'm going to use the transerver to go back to Guardian HQ. I'll be waiting for you there… I mean, waiting for your decision there." He amended.
"Please don't take too long." Giro retreated quickly. However, while he walked off, he could barely hear Aile ask herself brokenly, "Was Giro with me all those years just because he was ordered to protect the chosen one? I feel so confused…"
Oh Aile… please believe me… I was with you because I wanted to protect you, not the chosen one…
Giro walked casually down the hall from the transerver room, giving Anguille a quick greeting before poking his head into the control room.
"Hello, Paririe!" He greeted cheerfully.
"Ah! Giro!" The blonde girl spun around in her chair, startled. "You're back! It's been a while."
"Well, you know, I have Aile to look after."
Prairie smiled slightly. "You really care for her, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." Giro smiled. "She's a really close friend."
Prairie grinned slyly. "Oh, just a friend, huh?"
"P-Prairie! Come on!" Giro protested, coloring slightly. He cared for Aile deeply, and… yes, he considered it love, and more than love between friends or siblings. But he wasn't really sure of Aile's feelings, especially since she started acting so closed up.
The girl laughed, a contagious, child-like giggle. "Of course I'm just teasing, Giro. It seems she's doing a pretty handy job of finding the Guardians," she commented off-handedly, as Carrelet walked into the control room.
"Hello, commander. Hey, why did you have Congre go on this mission? It appears he holed himself up and was too scared to go back out because of the security forces.
Prairie sighed. "He just almost never gets a chance to have an off-base mission, I had hoped this would be one he could handle…"
Giro snickered slightly. It was well known around the Guardian base that Congre was a scaredy-cat.
"Ah! It looks like she found them all." Prairie exclaimed as the last Guardian signed it. She quickly opened a link to Aile.
"It looks like you found them all." Prairie commented to the girl. "Head to Area C-2 and get the certification for passing the test. That will conclude your trial."
"Well, what do you think?" Giro asked as soon as Prairie was done.
"Honestly? I think she'd make an excellent Guardian. She's pretty much an ideal Guardian, and the fact that she can transform with the Biometal doesn't hurt things." Prairie admitted. "I just hope she'll accept…"
"I'm sure she will." Giro stated confidently. "It might take her a while to get over the shock" of the fact I hid this from her "but once she has, I'm sure she'll leap at the chance. She always did like adventure, and couldn't stand to see people get hurt."
Prairie smiled back. "I hope you're right… for her sake as much as ours."
"Hey," Morue called, poking his head into the room, "it looks like Aile just got permission to enter HQ."
"Well then," Prairie smiled, "let's be there to greet her!"
Giro watched as Aile warped into the control room. She blinked and glanced around, relaxing slightly when she caught sight of the familiar faces of Giro and Prairie (one slightly more familiar than the other).
"This is the Guardian HQ? I certainly wasn't expecting an airship." Aile commented, stepping off the transerver to stand next to Giro.
"The Guardians have to explore the world, so we need a convenient method of staying mobile." Prairie explained. She then walked towards the Transporters.
"I'm glad you both are okay."
"Hey Prairie, I found a computer chip while I was out there. Here, you should have it." Aile handed over said chip to the Guardian commander. "And I brought back the certification that I passed the trial… I think. Is this it?" Aile pulled out a pink stuffed animal. Giro smiled softly. Prairie must trust Aile a lot to be willing to let her borrow her most precious possession.
Prairie grinned as well as she pulled the rabbit to her chest. "Yes, that was a gift from Sis. It holds a lot of memories for me. Thank you for bringing it back."
"Aile!" Giro called, realizing something. "You can't just call her by her first name! Got it? Hmph, kids…"
"Don't worry about it Giro. I want to apologize for the grave danger I put you both in. Let's meet at the command center and I will explain everything there." Prairie then proceeded to give Aile directions to the command center.
Giro sighed, then began to leave for the command center. He stopped at the door to glance back at Aile, then continued on.
In a few minutes, Aile was in the command center as well. Giro managed to restrain himself from demanding what took her so long. Instead, he let Prairie talk.
"Let me take this opportunity to welcome you to Guardian Headquarters. And…" Here Prairie stood up and smiled. "I am Prairie, the commander of the Guardians."
At Aile's exclamation of surprise, Giro chuckled.
"She's a very important client."
Aile gave him a look that showed she clearly considered this to be an understatement.
"Which is exactly why I want you to call her by her proper title." Giro continued. Really, Aile should have more manners than that…
"But Prairie's my age, right? How could a girl my age be commanding the Guardians?"
Giro only half-listened as Prairie explained the situation to Aile. It wasn't like he didn't know this stuff already.
"…She was my Sis."
Giro blinked as he snapped back into reality. He hadn't expected Prairie to tell Aile so much…
"Oh… I see." Aile said sadly.
"And we were hauling the Biometal you found at the research lab." Giro commented, drawing the conversation back.
"A long time ago, the world of humans and machines was saved by a group of legends. Biometal are fragments containing the consciousness of those legendary heroes. There might be some hint regarding the Maverick outbreaks in the data stored at the lab. Fleuve's personal laboratory is right next to the transerver room. Take the Biometal data there for analysis. Yes, you too, Giro. I'll be here analyzing the computer chip that you brought back."
Giro walked out of the room, followed a few seconds later by Aile. Giro calmly strode into Flueve's laboratory.
"Hey, Flueve," Giro greeted as he walked up to the older Reploid, "Prairie wants you to analyze the Biometal."
"Yes, yes, I know— Oh, good, good. I have been waiting for you!" He called over Giro's shoulder. The blonde man glanced back to see Aile, and he stepped back to her side.
"Now, where is this fragment of Biometal?" Flueve asked, getting down to business.
Aile quickly stepped forwards and handed her Model X to the Reploid. He quickly started typing on the keyboard, and an image of Model X appeared on the screen.
"Ah, excellent…" the man murmured to himself. After a few more seconds, he stepped away from the computer and announced his success.
"Data transfer complete. Much appreciated! You can take the Biometal back now," he added, holding the stone towards the girl, who took it back with little hesitation.
Heh… seems she and her Biometal are starting to form something of a bond already.
Giro stepped forwards to let Flueve scan the Model Z. However, before he got the chance, a siren started sounding, and new lights flashed, giving the world a red tint.
"What…?" Aile asked, slightly scared. A voice came over the intercom a second later, clearing up the confusion.
"Mavericks detected in Area D! Mission objectives will be relayed on arrival. Move out and await further orders."
Giro's face grew grim. Area D… that's pretty close to the Innerpeace…
"I repeat! Mavericks in Area D! Mission objectives will be relayed on arrival. Move out and await further orders." The comm system repeated before cutting out.
"Area D… that's right next to the Slither Inc. head office!" Giro exclaimed.
"It's too dangerous for you to go back to town now. We must hurry to the command center."
"It looks like our enemy is on the move." Prairie started grimly once all four were in the command center.
" 'Enemy?' So they're not just random Maverick outbreaks?" Giro queried. He had feared this was the case…
"After I did a little snooping on the chip you brought back, I found that there is a program controlling the Mavericks. There is someone behind the Maverick attacks, but they're just making them seem like random raids. They must be trying to steal the Biometal you were carrying."
Giro and Aile quickly shared distressed looks.
"Serpent's security force… where are they?" Aile demanded angrily. "Why haven't they arrived yet!?"
"It takes time for them to be recalled to the head office from their patrol routes in the city." Prairie explained.
Slither just started the patrols, and now we have this attack… it can't be a coincidence… Giro grit his teeth, but did his best to swallow his worries. Freaking out could only make a situation like this worse.
"Guardian ground forces are moving to intercept the Mavericks in Area D." the Guardian commander continued.
"Ground forces reporting!" The staticy voice of one of the Guardians came in at that moment. "The Mavericks are heading for the residential district."
Aile gasped. Giro spared her a glance before turning back to Prairie.
"Troops are exchanging fire on the highway in Area D."
"What about the people in town?" Aile asked, a tint of fear and rage in her tone. She quickly turned around and raced towards the door.
"Aile!? Where are you going!?" Flueve questioned. The girl paused and spun around.
"With the Biometal, I can put up a fight!" The girl declared, placing a hand on her chest.
Giro approached her quickly, a concerned look on his face. "Think Aile! If you go out there with the Biometal, you'll fall right into their hands!" Giro wanted to stop them from hurting the people almost as much as Aile did, but he wasn't willing to risk Aile's life to do so. His own, maybe, but never Aile's.
"You don't know how to fight!" Giro reiterated. "It's far too dangerous for you to go out there alone!"
Aile looked sad for a while, but then she snapped her head up, glaring at Giro.
"So you're just going to sit back and watch while the Mavericks do this!? The people are going to get hurt when the Mavericks reach them!" Aile's face softened with grief. "People just like my mom… you would let that happen again!? Unlike you, I can't just sit here and watch! I'll take every last one of them down!" Aile yelled passionately before she ran out towards the transerver room.
"Aile!" Prairie called, but the girl was gone. Giro put a hand on his hip and shook his head.
"Why won't she ever listen?" He asked in slight amusement. Giro then glanced over his shoulder at Prairie.
"I'm going after her, Prairie."
"All right… be careful, Giro." The boy smiled back, then dashed off.
Stay safe until I get there, Aile!
Author's notes: Don't worry, there will be more detailed Model Z action in the next chapter. Oh, and if you're wondering, this is GiroXAile, not GiroXPrairie. However… well, I won't say much more, since it'd be a pretty big spoiler. I'll tell you at the end of the fourth chapter. (And it's pretty well-known that Prairie has a crush on Giro.) Oh yes, now it's four chapters instead of three to the point I might end at, so… yes.
Anyway, very sorry it took so long to update. Expect another chapter in February, and (hopefully) the last one in March or February.
