A/N: Hello there! I know that last chapter wasn't all that... different, from the original story, like RealFemGamer pointed out, but from now on, we're having some changes!
I also wanted to point out that from here on out and up until chapter 5 or 6, a dear friend of mine, PerfectFlyer, halped out in certain parts of the dialoge. I'm sure you can tell them apart, as they differ so much from mine! Anyway, I have nothing more ot add, so ENJOY!
A redhead girl dug through the wreckage of a Mechon. She shifted through the metal and looked up when her companion gave a triumphant cry.
"Oi! Find something, Shulk?" Honey eyes fell onto the younger blonde. The teenager sighed and tossed the scrap metal aside.
"No good, it's broken." Shulk let out a sigh and fell back onto the grass. He looked over at his companion. "What about you,Rose?"
"Nope! Everything is either broken or too corroded to use." She placed her hands on her hips and let out a low sigh. "Today is gonna to be a bust."
"Yeah…" Shulk trailed off and then his bright blue eyes alighted on a piece of the wreckage. "An M61!" He scrambled to his feet and hurried over to the machine. He tugged at the wreckage trying to get it loose. The machine moved and Shulk fell backwards in surprise. A krabble turned on Shulk, angry with the boy for trying to remove its shell. Rosa reached for her double bladed sword,ready to attack. Just before she could, a Defense Force Soldier knocked aside the krabble with his gunlance.
"Reyn!" Shulk got to his feet and drew his sword.
"You alright, Shulk?" Reyn's brown eyes looked over his best friend.
"I'm fine thanks to you."
The krabble recovered from the attack and waddled towards them. Something flew through the air, slicing its back, before returning back where it came from, like a boomerang. The monster let out a cry. Shulk turned and swung his blade, knocking the krabble off balance. Reyn thrust his gunlance forward and toppled the beast. The two hacked away at the vulnerable underbelly of the monster until it died.
"Che, what a timing, Reyn." Rosa's voice held an air of sarcasm as she walked .
"Oi, are you saying I'm late?" Reyn huffed just as sarcastically, as he returned his weapon to his back.
"It was a long way for you to come during your break, I'm sorry."Shulk apologized
"It's fine Shulk."The redhead boy reassured his best friend
"We got the krabble's shell, at least today ain't a total waste."Rosa freed the Mechon armor from the monster's corpse and tossed it to the other redhead
"I can make some weapons out of it for the soldiers." Shulk nodded. "Let's get back to the colony."
With that said,the group of three took off to Colony 9. Some enemies attacked them along the way, but it was thankfully no real trouble and soon, they had reached the entrance of the Colony.
"Here we are. I'd better stop in at the HQ," Reyn said, turning to face the other two "You off to the Weapon Development Lab?" He asked them.
"Yeah," Both said together
"But first, we are hitting the commercial district to sell the parts we can't use,"Rosa added.
"Alright," Reyn said with a nod. "See ya later." He added and took off, leaving the others alone.
"Shall we?"Shulk asked his partner
"Yes, let's go," Rosaline agreed with a nod and both headed to the shops, to sell the un-needed parts. A while later, they were thankfully done and begun heading to the Weapon Development Lab. Once through the Fortress Entrance, the two saw that Vangarre was once again yelling at his soldiers for something, but they were used to it by now.
"You idiots! What the hell are you playing at?!" The man yelled
'Uh-oh! The colonel's gonna explode.'Both Shulk and Rosa thought at the same time
"Crashing the mobile artillery into a house?! How long have you been in the force?!" Vangarre kept on yelling.
"They deserve it this time at least."Rosa commented, upon hearing these words.
"Sorry, sir. It's just that we were trying to go as fast as we could, like you ordered." One of the defence force's soldier said.
"But it's impossible to get back to the Military District in only 40 seconds"A second soldier added.
"I don't want any excuses! Champions don't whine, they win!"The colonel kept yelling.
"Yes sir…" The two soldiers said, looking down.
"You're a disgrace to the uniform! Are you forgetting the shame you brought on this force during joint manoeuvres with Colony 6?!" Vangarre asked them, "Stick your back to it, maggots! Move it!"
"Yes sir!"The soldiers said again.
"Get the artillery back to the Military District, double time!" The colonel ordered, "Then I want a million press-ups from both of you! And you better not stop until your biceps explode!"
"Colonel, we can't move the artillery…" The second soldier said.
"What? You better give a damn good reason why!" The higher ranked man said.
"Sir! The impact of the crash damaged the ether conduction cable! The ether fuel proceeded to leak out and now the cylinder is empty!" The soldier explained.
"Well, change the cylinder then! Can't you even do something as simple as that?!"Vangarre yelled.
"The auxiliary cylinders have all been used up." The other slodier explained "It'll be three days until more come in, Sir." He added.
"I told you to keep a stock of the fuel in reserve!"The colonel yelled yet again.
"Sorry, Sir..."The soldier apologized.
"You're nothing but slackers!" Vangarre told them and punched one of them in the face.
"Same old colonel. At this rate, the men will all be dead before they see any action" Shulk said.
"Do you want to go over there and tell him that?"Rosa questioned the boy, with a small smirk on her lips.
"No, thanks!" Shukl answered, shaking his head.
With these words, the pair headed to the Lab. Once inside the hall and down the stairs, they saw the Monado, resting in the middle like usual.
Shulk walked straight to it, while Rose turned to leave her stuff at the desk, getting surprised at seeing someone there.
"All right, guys. How are you?" Dickson asked, sitting on the desk, a smirk on his face.
"Dickson!" Shulk said, happily surprised to see the man there.
"You almost gave me a heart attack there, old-man…" Rosa whined, crossing her arms over her chest.
"When did you get back to Colony 9?" Shulk asked the man.
"Just now," Dickson answered, "I see you two have been busy." He added, holding some of the papers that had been left on the desk, "Looks like the Monado research has been going well. I made the right choice leaving you guys in charge." He commented as he walked up to Shulk.
"Your research notes really helped," Shulk said, rubbing the back of his head.
"And miss Novey's been a great help as well," Rosa added.
"Novey?" Dickson wondered.
"After what happened with Dunban, she's been trying to help out as much as possible, her ether powers are rather helpful," Shulk explained.
"So you can activate it now then?" Dickson asked, looking at the sword closely
"More or less." Rosa answered.
"Anyone can activate it, the problem is controlling it." Shulk explained.
"Yeah, for everyone except him." Dickson said.
"Yes, if anyone other than Dunban were to control the Monado, we could surpass any military force in the world." Shulk said, a sad look in his eyes.
"And make sure the Mechon stay the hell away from us."Rosa muttered.
"You think so?" Dickson asked them, "What are these hidden functions you mentioned?" Dickson asked, looking over the notes again.
"It's starting to look like the Monado might be something far more than just a weapon for defeading these Mechon."Shulk explained
"I see... and the evidence to support your theory?"Dickson asked, looking at the blond.
"It's the symbols that appear in the center when it's activated," Rosa answered for him.
"Wait, symbols?" Dickson asked, now looking at the girl.
"What we know is, the central piece is made of mutlilayered glass. The sumbols appear on the top layer and each layer is constructed differently," Shulk explained, then glanced over at Rosa, giving her the go to continue.
"While we were working on the Monado one day, while it was activated, miss Novey noticed the other layers, somehow, using her ether-healed eye. It seemed that she was able to see something." Rosa explained to Dickson.
"It seems that the glass has a tottal of eight layers and each has some kind of symbol on it, but we've been unable to see them, or understand what they mean." Shulk finished.
"So there are seven more symbols to the Monado?"Dickson asked.
"Yes and that means one thing..."Rosa trailed off.
"The Monado can conceal even more power," Dickson said for him "Am I right?" He asked and both nodded their heads.
"If we could just unlock the Monado's power..." Shulk trailed off, the sad look coming over his eyes again, as a mempory from last year came over to him
"Dunban! Dunban!"A blond haired girl yelled lightly, as said man was being carried on a streacher by two soldiers.
"Prioritise the most severy injured!" A powerful female voice yelled from afar.
"Dunban!"Shulk said, his voice fillied with sadness, as he too looked at the man.
"Dont look like that. I haven't gone yet,"Dunban said in a weak voice,"Shulk." He called the boy close and whispered something in his ear, making the blond boy gasp and stop his steps, before he turned back and looked at the Monado, sitting against a corner. The images slowly faded, but the words still rang in his head.
'It was the Monado. It was...controlling me...Even so... It saved us...saved our future... Next...it will be up to you...'
"Dunban..."Shulk whispered to himself, looking down.
"Well, I better get the supplies delivered to the Defence Force. I'll drop round the HQ and see how they're getting on." Dickson said, getting the attention of the two boys.
" 'Kay then."Rosa replied.
"We'll see you later," Shulk said with a nod and both got back to their notes. At that, Dickson let out a sigh and turned to the two.
"Shulk, Rosa. You're spending too much time in the lab. Either that or rummaging for junk in the scrap yard. It ain't healthy for you," He told them, "That's why you're always looking so pasty. You should get out, get some fresh air once in a while."
"You know we just got back to the lab, right? We've been out all morning"Rosa pointed out.
"You were working still, take a break and relax, it won't kill you" Dickson said to the brown eyed girl.
"Alright, I'm off" Dickson said and waved and left to lab, leaving the pair alone.
"Like I need to listen to him, having a brother is already enough"Rosa muttered and went back over to the desk. Shulk sighed and started.
"Rosa… We should probably-"
"Go ahead and go to Outlook Park blondie"Rosa waved over her shoulder. "You actually have to listen to the old man. Besides," Rosa turned to face him. "Bionis knows you need it far more than me, you have too many things in your head."
"If you say so," Shulk laughed. "Alright, I'll see you later. He said and left.
