One Year Later
I sat down at the usual spot at lunch and called Sachiko using my Neuro Linker. This was the usual routine ever since she graduated, to my bitter disappointment. Although she had more rigorous classes at high school, she dedicated some of her time to socialize with me and take notes during class, which was much more than I could do.
"I'm sorry Lan, I can't talk today," Sachiko said as she picked up.
"Oh, that's fine," I said, a little disappointed. "Don't worry about it."
She hung up and I ate my lunch, which was today's special: super spicy mabou tofu. I had a particular taste for spicy food, and mabou tofu was no exception. It had an extremely spicy taste, but a very good aftertaste that made me want more. The other third-years around me were astounded as to how I could handle such a spicy dish.
I met Kirigaya Sachiko, or Kuroyukihime, a little over two years ago. Back then, I was a self-conscious kid that didn't really talk to others. Kuroyukihime introduced herself to me after I had shown an amazing reaction speed in gym class. I honestly thought that she only liked me for my abilities. But as time went on, I grew to like her, and eventually, fall in love with her. Together, we faced her hardships and Dr. Weil, a person who threatened the existence of the real world and the Accelerated World. He built the massive space station of Ragnarok and was about to destroy all life on the planet but Nega Nebulous, with the help of the Four Guardians, X, and Ciel, was able to put a stop to his evil plan.
Saying it like that made it sound like an action-packed manga full of fighting and thrills. Strangely enough, that's what my life was then. After the Ragnarok incident, things returned to normal. Well, as normal as it could be for a person with Brain Burst. Even though the Accelerated World remained hectic, the real world did not. The damages that Ragnarok had caused would take some time to repair, but other than that, everything was the same as it always has been. There were no mysteries or problems to solve at all.
I finished my mabou tofu and set my platter aside. Although school was getting rigorous for those entrance exams, nothing really happened. There were no Burst Linkers that attended this school except for myself. Miyazuki, the late Olive Driver who wanted to go the school dance with Kuroyukihime last year, died during the Ragnarok incident. Blue Cloud, the supposedly 'new' Burst Linker from last year, disappeared this year. Perhaps he was a third year like Kuroyukihime. I'd never know since Kuroyukihime didn't know who he was either.
Before I could get up to go back to class, I received a call from Ciel, which happened very rarely. Something important must have happened.
"Ciel? What's up?" I answered.
"You need to listen very closely to what I have to say," she said quickly.
"Uhm, okay." I was slightly confused. What was up with her?
"You will receive a package. Do not lose it and keep it safe. I don't have time, I have to go now."
And just like that, the conversation ended just as it started. What was going on? I didn't hear any background noise coming from her end, indicating that she was safe as well. She wasn't gasping for air, so she wasn't running away from anyone. Yet, I sensed that she was in danger from something, but I had no clue what it could possibly be. It had to be something big for Ciel to call me like that.
I walked back to class, trying to clear my mind but failing terribly at it. Ciel was in danger and I needed to help her somehow. But I was powerless. I couldn't do anything but wait until I received that package.
After school, I ran home as fast as I could to avoid any contact with anyone I knew. I needed to get that package. It was on my mind for the entire school day, leaving me restless and anxious. I didn't even bother calling Kuroyukihime until after I had opened it.
I made it home in record time and found a brown box sitting in front of the doorstep. I grabbed it and rushed inside to open it with a boxcutter. I opened the small package carefully but quickly, hoping to find answers in its contents. The box was full of packing peanuts, so there was probably something fragile inside. I carefully reached in and searched for an object. I touched something hard and gripped my right hand around it. I pulled it out of the box and was surprised as to what I pulled out.
In my hand was a metallic object that resembled Zero's helmet, except that it was flat on the backside and curved outwards. The blue gem was replaced by a green piece of metal that was supposed to resemble the gem. This object also had two slits for eyes and a somewhat long white ridge running along the lower portion of the object. What this was exactly, I didn't know. If I had to guess, it had something to do with Zero.
I called Kuroyukihime immediately after examining the object, hoping she might have a clue. Then again, she might not, since Ciel rarely talked to any of us. She was busy doing things to keep the peace.
"Yes Lan? What is it?" Kuroyukihime answered.
"Something happened to Ciel. I don't know what, but she sent me something."
"This sounds interesting. Tell me what you know and come over to my place. I want to see what she gave you."
"Alright."
So I told her what Ciel told me, which wasn't much to begin with. Kuroyukihime stayed silent for a while, possibly thinking very hard on what had happened to Ciel.
"You could tell she was in a hurry, since she went straight to the point and even said herself that she didn't have much time. But I don't know what could have happened to have her panic like that," Kuroyukihime finally said.
"Maybe the object I have will have the answer to that," I replied.
"Now I'm really interested to see what she gave you."
After a few moments, I made it to where the Kirigaya's lived and entered. I found Sachiko sitting on the couch next to her sister, Yuuki, the former White King. I took that title away from her last year when she was about to finish off Sachiko after she had used the Physical Full Burst command to save me from a car. I defeated her as a level 9 Burst Linker back then, meaning that her Brain Burst uninstalled itself and she lost all of her memories that Brain Burst had a part of.
I sat down next to Sachiko and showed her the object that fit perfectly in my hand. She examined it carefully, looking at it from every angle. Like me, she didn't have any idea what this was.
"Did it come with any instructions?" she asked.
"I didn't go through the package thoroughly, but I'm sure it didn't come with anything," I replied. "I'll double-check when I get home."
She nodded and continued to examine the object in her hand. Since it resembled Zero, perhaps he was the answer to our questions? But he was asleep right now and I had no idea on how to wake him up.
Sachiko gave the object to Yuuki, who observed it as closely at her sister. Unfortunately, she didn't have a clue on what it could be either. None of us have ever seen anything like this before, especially Yuuki since she was just a normal person now.
"It doesn't look like it's switched on or anything. Maybe you have to activate it somehow?" Yuuki suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea," I commented, taking back the small object.
But how do I switch it on? I couldn't connect it with my Neuro Linker because there wasn't a place to insert a cable. It also didn't react when I spoke commands, which made this even more frustrating.
"I'm done trying to get this to work..." I said hopelessly.
"Keep trying later. Right now, we should try to find Ciel, or other people who know her," Sachiko said.
I nodded and glanced at Yuuki, wondering if it was okay for her to be so involved in this.
"I've already told her what happened to Ciel. Don't worry about it," Kuroyukihime said, answering my thoughts.
And so, the three of us split up to look for the missing Ciel. Kuroyukihime had something in mind and wanted to go check it out, Yuuki went to report a missing person to the authorities, and I went to the bookstore that Ciel and I would usually hang out. Well, we hardly saw each other but when we did, it was the bookstore that was the meeting spot.
After arriving at the bookstore, I asked the people who worked there and the regulars if they knew Ciel. After talking to several people without any luck, I was about to give up until I spotted the manager of the bookstore.
"Do you know who Ciel is?" I asked.
"Blonde hair, wears a lot of pink?" asked the manager.
"Yeah, that's her," I answered, hopeful.
"She comes around often, yeah. If my memory is correct, she was here last week."
"Really?! Tell me what she as doing!" I said, excited.
"Calm down there," the manager chuckled. "The only thing she did was talking to a friend of hers or something. That's about it.
"What did her friend look like?"
"Let's see..." the manager said, scratching his chin. "He was tall and muscular man with fair skin. He had violet eyes and hair, with a long spiked forelock. The most noticeable thing about his face was his squared chin and his cheekbones."
"Thanks. Anything else?"
"She left in a hurry and dropped this tablet."
He handed me a small tablet and I took a look at it. I scrolled through the information that was on the screen only to become more and more confused. This didn't explain where she was or where she had gone. Instead, it was information about something called a Biometal and something called Model W.
"Can I keep this?" I asked.
"As long as you return it to its rightful owner."
"Of course!"
The manager agreed and I left in a hurry back to the Kirigaya's. I wasn't gone very long, so Kuroyukihime and her sister weren't back yet. So I sat down on the couch I was previously sitting on a few moments ago and looked through the information in the tablet very carefully. Although most of it was quite confusing, I learned about what Ciel was working on for the past few months.
A Biometal is a substance that stores the data of a human or machine. The 'data' could be the person's personality or battle data. The Biometal uses the R.O.C.K. (Rebirth Of Crystallized Knowledge) System and can R.O.C.K. ON with a "Chosen One", or its Biomatch. And then it goes into detail about how the Biometal becomes the Biomatch's living armor and weaponry and such.
Although I knew all of this information was important, I didn't see how I fit into things. After all, the object I was given was probably a Biometal, but I wasn't its Biomatch since it didn't speak to me.
I scrolled through the pages some more and found information on Model W, a Biometal made from the soul of Dr. Weil, which sounded really crazy and ridiculous. Why would anyone want to preserve the soul of Dr. Weil? You'd have to be crazier than Dr. Weil to do that!
Ciel created six Biometals to combat Model W. She didn't say who she gave them all to, but she did say that they were given to the right people that had the potential of destroying Model W. The Biometals she created carried the replicated data of the Legendary Heroes, and that the people she gave them to had the original data of the Legendary Heroes.
Before I could continue reading, the front door opened and Kuroyukihime and Yuuki entered the house, glum and disappointed. It seemed like they didn't have any luck on Ciel's whereabouts.
"So? How did it go?" I asked them.
"My guess was wrong. And apparently, the authorities have never heard of a person named Ciel," Kuroyukihime answered while slumping down onto the couch.
"That's too bad. The good news is, I found something," I said, holding up the tablet.
"What's on there?"
I explained to Yuuki and Sachiko about what a Biometal was and the existence of Model W.
"Model W contains the soul of Dr. Weil? Isn't that a bit... outrageous?" Sachiko remarked.
"It does when a normal person says it. But when Ciel says it, it's completely different," I replied.
"That's true, but is that even possible?"
"If building a giant space station to destroy the world is possible, then having a human soul in an object is possible."
After saying that, the three of us examined the tablet even further. I showed them where I found the information on the Biometals and Model W. After looking through more files, we found that Ciel destroyed her lab to ensure that the blueprints of the Biometals wouldn't fall into the wrong hands.
Even though the three of us read what the tablet contained in its entirety, there were still no leads as to where Ciel could be. We only knew more about Biometals after reading all of this information, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it didn't help us in our cause.
"The manager of the bookstore said that Ciel was talking to a friend or something last week," I said, remembering the event.
"What did this friend look like?" Sachiko asked.
"Tall and muscular with fair skin, purple hair and eyes, squared chin and cheekbones."
Yuuki and Sachiko thought to themselves, wondering if they've ever seen such a figure.
"Don't know him," they both said at the same time.
I sighed. Looks like we were still stuck at square one. I decided to leave for the day and study for school. Sachiko and I hugged goodbye and I left for home with the tablet and the Biometal in my hands.
I got home before sunset and hurried into my room. Although I said I would study, I decided that I wanted to unlock this Biometal, even if I wasn't its Biomatch, although there was a chance that I was since I had the original data for Zero. I checked the package that it came in and dumped the entire thing out. I was disappointed to see nothing but packaging peanuts come out. I then focused my attention back to the Biometal and tablet.
I spent most of the evening looking for clues in the information that was given to me. I studied the Biometal intently, taking note of every little detail. Unfortunately as the night went on, I had no success in unlocking its mystery. So I gave up and worked on schoolwork. I stayed up until eleven at night working on my neglected schoolwork.
Before I fell asleep, I gripped the Biometal tightly in my right hand, making sure that it was on me the entire night. This was something I couldn't afford to lose.
I sat down behind a pillar to take a break from running from my pursuers. Although I was infused with the power of the Biometal, I still couldn't take on these two foes. They called each other Prometheus and Pandora, yet I had no idea who created them. I know for sure that they themselves were infused with a Biometal as well, but what kind? If I had to guess, it was probably Model W, but how was it that there were more than one?
The pillar behind me exploded and crumbled into dust from a fireball. I pulled out my beam saber and sent a sonicboom their way. I ran in the opposite direction as fast as I could again. No matter what, these two were going to chase me down and kill me. They didn't seem to tire at all. They were actually having fun while chasing me around. What kind of monsters were these?
"Nobody is going to come to save you, Miss Ciel. You might as well just lie down and die now," Prometheus snickered.
"Never!" I cried. Zero would have never given up in this situation!
"Your resistance is futile," Pandora said in that monotone voice of hers.
I looked behind me and saw eel-like electric shockwaves coming in my direction. I jumped to the side to avoid them, but they were too fast and stunned me for a few seconds, making me fall to the ground.
I knew the way around my destroyed lab like the back of my hand, but it seems that Prometheus and Pandora were pretty good at navigating through foreign areas. In fact, so good that someone could have sent them a map of my lab and they could have been spying on me...
"Well, well, looks like our little scientist has finally fallen," Prometheus jeered.
I tried to get back up, but his scythe flew down and struck me in the back, causing me to fall to the floor. My back felt like it was on fire!
"Our purpose is to judge who the best Mega Man is. Thanks to you, we have a nice pool of participants. It's all going according to HIS plans," Prometheus whispered into my ear.
"Their purpose isn't... to fight each other... it's to destroy... Model W," I painfully choked out.
"That's too bad because according to HIM, they're all going to fight each other."
"Who is.. this he?" I asked.
"You won't live long enough to find out!"
Am I going to die here? I wondered as Prometheus pulled his scythe out of my back.
"Burst... Link!" I gasped.
[Database]
[Ciel - A young scientist who helped Lan against Dr. Weil during the Ragnarok incident. She's striving towards making a better, peaceful world.]
[Lan - A middle school boy who had his life changed when he met Kuroyukihime. Formerly known as the Red Hero in the Accelerated World. Unknown Hero that saved the Earth.]
[Kuroyukihime - Her real name is Kirigaya Sachiko (A/N: 99% non-canon real name). Her life changed when she met Lan. She's known as the Black King in the Accelerated World. She and Lan are lovers.]
