"An Endless Dream."

Disclaimer : Cyborg 009 is rightfully owned by the one and only Shotaro Ishinomori. The only thing I own in this story, are my fan made characters, which will be introduced as the story progresses.

Key Terms

"Speech."

"Thoughts."

"Telepathy."

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Chapter Three

Heroes Emerge

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"Hey... You okay there?"

Kayla quickly reopened her eyes when she had heard the sudden voice, as she eyed her surroundings, realizing that she was still in the rocky like plains, and seemed to be unharmed from that rocket from earlier that nearly finished her off.

"How... How did I..."

The Irish girl looked more closer around her, noticing that she was slightly laying on the ground and appeared to be wrapped in a pair of arms, as she looked up towards the source of them, her eyes slightly widen from the sight.

From what she could tell, she was being protectively held in the arms of a man with short silver hair, a pair of icy blue eyes, and was wearing the same outfit as her. But what caught her attention the most, was that his one hand seemed to be completely made of metal.

"Who... Who is this guy? And where did he come from?"

"Looks like I reached you just in time." the mysterious man replied while getting up on his feet, as he looked back down at Kayla and extended his metallic hand out towards her. "Your not hurt are you?"

"No, I'm fine." Kayla answered as she took the man's hand, surprised to feel that it was actually warm even though it appeared metallic, and was gently lifted up on her feet with his aid. "But... Who are you?"

"Let's just say, that I'm a friend. Now come on, we need to get moving, before those jets come back."

"... You mean... Those things are still after..."

The Irish girl's question was cut short when she heard the engines of the jets from before once again, as her eyes widen in fear, and looked up towards the sky, noticing that they were heading right towards her and the unknown man, ready to attack once more.

"Guess I spoke to soon." The silver haired man muttered under his breath as he stood himself in front of Kayla and looked over his shoulder towards her. "Stay behind me and cover your ears, all right?"

Kayla simply nodded at the man and did as he asked her too, as she awaited for whatever the man seemed to have been planning.

She watched as he placed himself down on one knee, hearing a click as he did so, as she looked more closely and gasped, noticing what seemed to be the tip of a small rocket right inside of his leg.

"This man... Could he possibly be..."

The Irish girl slightly winced when she heard the rocket take off out of the man's leg, as she covered her ears from the noise, and eyes widen in shock when she noticed that it had hit one of jets right in it's center, causing it to crash into the other jet while flying out of control, as she was then grabbed by the metallic hand of the man once more, and lead a few feet away from the area the two have been standing at, as she could hear a sudden explosion behind her, and looked back over her shoulder and gasped, for the two jets have landed right on the spot she had been standing, and were now engulfed in flames.

"What did you..." Kayla began to ask the man, unsure of what to say or think after seeing such a scene.

"I'll explain later." the silver haired man replied. "But right now, we need to distant ourselves from that lab, before more of those jets or anything else shows up around here."

"Right, but... Just where are we going to hide? There's nothing around us but plains and mountains."

The blue eyed man lightly smirked at the Irish girl as he gently took her hand once again with his metal one and began to lead her along. "Don't worry, I got that covered."

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"Watch your step, the ground's a bit unsteady down here."

Kayla nodded while following behind the strange man, but then felt herself trip over a rock, as she began to fall forward, but was quickly caught in the arms of the silver haired man, as she slightly blushed in embarrassment while being helped back up on her feet by him.

"Sorry. I hope I'm not being too much of a burden to you."

"Not at all." he replied with a light smile as he helped lead the Irish girl along the rest of the way. "Just be lucky no one else has found us, or we would be in a whole mess of trouble right now."

Kayla couldn't help but lightly smile back at the man, but suddenly felt her fox ears begin to act up a bit, feeling the tip of them pointing straight up towards the sky, as the fur around them stood up as well.

"What is it?" asked the silver haired man. "Are you sensing something nearby?"

"Sensing? What does that have to do with any..."

The Irish girl suddenly let out a small cry of surprise and covered her ears while closing her eyes, as she could feel the end of the fur of her fox tail had begun to stand up too.

"Your definetly picking up something." the blue eyed man said as he carefully began to eye his surroundings, but then heard a strange sound approaching, as he looked up above him, eyes slightly widening, and picked up Kayla in his arms, holding her bridal style, as he jumped up towards a nearby ridge, landing swiftly on his feet, and looked back over his shoulder, noticing a large crater below.

"That was way too close." he thought to himself as he looked back down at the Irish girl, who seemed a bit overwhelmed by what had occured a few seconds ago, since was holding onto his shirt a bit tightly, and still had her eyes closed. "It's all right, your safe now."

"That's the second time that this man has saved me." Kayla thought to herself while reopening her eyes and looking up towards the strange man. "But why is he even protecting me in the first place?"

"Hey! 004!"

Looking over her shoulder towards the source of the newer voice she had just heard, the Irish girl's eyes widen when she noticed a young man with light orange, yet slightly messy hair that was slicked back, light brown eyes, and was wearing the same outfit as her and the silver haired man, appeared to be flying towards the two, and landed in front of them, as he looked over at the blue eyed man.

"I get stuck having to find you, and your out here playing the knight in shining armor with some girl?"

"This girl just so happens to be the one we been looking for 002." remarked the man, who seemed to be known as 004, as he gently placed Kayla back on her feet.

The man known as 002 slightly picked his head up after hearing that comment and looked over at the Irish girl. "So... This is 0016?"

"Yeah." 004 replied. "I don't know much about her abilities yet, but she seems to have the characteristics of a fox with those ears and tail of hers, since she was able to sense an attack a while ago."

"So that's what that crater was I saw from above. Heh, looks like you got pretty lucky there 004. Well then... We better get moving. The others are waiting for us back at the D..."

"... Hold... Hold on one second!" spoke up Kayla, as she stared at the two. "I'm not going anywhere until I know just what exactly is going on around here. Who are you two? What do you want from me? And why is that I'm named by a number and being hunted down?"

002 sighed under his breath, knowing where this scene was possibly going, and looked over at 004. "We really don't have the time for this, so can you just get her to come along with us already?"

"It's not going to be that easy." 004 stated as he looked back over at the Irish girl. "I know that this is all so sudden, but you have to trust us. We're here to help you, and are the only ones that can keep you safe from harm. So please, you have to come with us."

Kayla wasn't sure what to do at the moment. Sure, this man she found to be now be known as 004 had rescued her from whoever or whatever was after her, but she wasn't quite sure if he and his friend, 002, were actually who they said they were.

She began to open her mouth to respond to their words, but felt her fox ears pick up once again, as she looked over her shoulder and her eyes slightly widen, for she noticed a small squad of metal tanks heading towards her and the two number named men.

"Oh great. Just what we needed." muttered 002 as he looked towards 004. "Any ideas, smart guy?"

"Just one." 004 answered while looking back over at him. "We fight our way through."

Nodding, 002 jumped up in the air, as a set of rocket jets appeared out of the bottom of his feet, allowing him to fly off into the sky.

004 looked back over his shoulder towards the Irish girl, noticing her eyes still locked on the tanks around them, as he placed his right hand on her shoulder and gave her a light smile of reassurance. "Don't worry. 002 and I will take care of them, so you stay here."

Nodding, Kayla watched 004 jumped off of the ridge, landing swiftly on his feet, and headed towards the tanks while pulling out the gun from the holster of his belt, as 002 was flying above him, with his gun in hand as well, as she watched the two from the top of the ridge, begin to battle against the tanks.

"Amazing. Their actually putting up a fair fight against those tanks. But how is that possible?"

The Irish girl's thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly heard an explosion nearby, and looked down below her, noticing that the base of the ridge she had been standing on had begun to lose it's structure, causing her eyes to widen, for the cracks of the rock formation began to make it's up way up towards her, as the ridge began to break into smaller rocks.

"Someone! Anyone! Help!"

004 quickly looked up towards Kayla when he heard her scream of help, eyes widening as he noticed her struggling to stay on the nearly destroyed ridge, as he quickly placed his gun back in the holster of his belt and began to head towards her.

"0016! Hang on!"

The Irish girl nodded, but suddenly felt the rest of the ridge's base begin to crumble underneath her feet, as she let out a scream of fear when she felt herself beginning to fall towards the rocky ground below her, as she closed her eyes, preparing for the outcome.

However, she never felt herself hit the hard ground, but instead, felt herself being held in a set of arms.

Opening her eyes, Kayla noticed that she was safely on the ground below, and looked up towards her savior, as she gasped, for she was in the arms of another strange man wearing the same attire as 002 and 004, but he had short, yet slightly messy brown hair that covered one of his light red eyes, as he looked down at her and lightly smiled.

"Are you all right?"

The Irish girl simply nodded at the man as she was then placed back on her feet with his aid.

"009!" called 004 as he ran over towards him and Kayla. "When did you..."

"The others and I were getting worried about you and 002, so I volunteered to go and find you two, and it's a good thing I did." explained the third man known as 009 and looked back over at the Irish girl. "You must be 0016. The one that we been sent to find."

"That's her all right." 002 replied while landing next to 004 and 009 and placing his gun back in the holster of his belt. "Now can we please get out of here, before anymore trouble shows up?"

"Don't worry 002, I got it covered."

Looking over his shoulder, 009 lightly smiled as he 002, and 004 watched a large jet like plane painted red and white appeared over their heads, landing a few feet away from them, as it's door began to open.

002 smirked as he slightly patted 009 on the back. "Way to go 009. Now let's blow this joint."

004 shook his head while watching the two begin to head towards the plane and was about to do the same, but looked over his shoulder towards Kayla, who seemed unsure of what to do at the moment, as she was looking around at the events that had happened to her.

"0016... As I said before, we're here to help you, so would you please come with us."

The Irish girl noticed him extend his metal hand out to her once again.

"Should... Should I go with them? So much has happened here, I don't know what to do."

Kayla looked up at 004, and noticed that he had the same smile he had given her before, and could tell in his eyes that he meant the truth.

"But this man... He and his friends risked their lives just to save mine."

"Hey, what's the hold up?" 002 shouted towards the two as he and 009 were already inside the plane, awaiting for them to enter inside as well. "Let's go already."

004 sighed as he rolled his eyes and looked back over at the Irish girl. "Come on 0016. Let's go."

"... Right."

Taking 004's hand, Kayla followed his lead towards the plane, and looked back over her shoulder one last time towards the scenery of destruction around her, and sighed in exhaustion as she soon felt herself becoming tired, allowing her eyes to slowly close.

"All... All I can do now... Is trust these men, and hope for the best."

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