Mega Man ZX: OX Trials
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon characters or the Mega Man series. Just some OCs and some new Biometals here and there.
Summary: Model O. The False Mega Man, the spirit of the Devil Reploid. When a hero is corrupted against her will, for well over a hundred years the world will feel its consequences, and after a century of despotic 'peace' enforced by a fallen hero, the past's greatest nightmares shall resurface as one of the greatest conflicts in history will rage on. The Mega Man Wars has begun.
Though, I think I really need to apologize. It's been another long gap, holy shit. I was until recently, a high school senior- and when it came to finals and stuff, to be blunt, the last two months have kind of been kicking my ass, I'm sorry. Hopefully now that that's out of the way, I want to at least knock out a good few chapters during this, here's to the end of high school- the fourth chapter! Just to try to make up for this, put a lot of work to making sure this chapter was really long. I didn't want to roll out another five page chapter and be done with it, hell no.
6/13/12- Minor editing, as well as a small section that for some reason was omitted when the transfer to happened.
Chapter 4: Megamerge
Well, this is it, Casser thought to himself as he pulled himself up. In all, it was a pretty rough landing- fell on his shoulder, rolled a bit, tried grabbing the surface of the train to slow himself down. It was rough but at least he wasn't dead. "T-this is really it, oh God, this is… this is the real deal," he muttered to himself, tilting his head up and looking ahead. Ok, good, it was a straight path for the most part. Three-car train, unusually wide (made him wonder just what the hell the cargo was- the cars were so wide, was it really that huge or was it just filled with soldiers? No, it seemed too large…) but with a rather small front engine, and hopefully the Mechaniloids would just have thought what hit them was just a small part of the now destroyed airship and could more just slip on by, not have to get in until around the end. "Can anybody hear me, hello?" He talked into his communicator, tapping it a few times. "Anybody, hello? Hel- aw, crap," he cursed, taking off the hands-free device and throwing it off the train, breathing heavily.
He took a few, slow steps forward, adjust to the speed of the train, then picking up his pace. He couldn't afford to just screw around and waste time- if he had absolutely any hope of pulling this off, he had to act fast.
Hope... that was a pretty good way to describe the situation, he figured. Just hope and act. Lots of hope, to add on to that. As much as he wanted to get this mission done and score one for the Resistance, it didn't change the fact that the odds were completely stacked against him. One Resistance soldier against a group of Crimson Guards, other Mechaniloids and… something big apparently. Just… he didn't even know. Maybe some kind of-
Without any warning and knocking him out of that train of thought, a tile of the train flipped over, a Tile Cannon taking aim, fumbling for his buster and then dropping down to his knees (falling back a few feet as he almost lost his balance) and taking a few shots at the simple weapon, destroying it. Dammit… Casser thought to himself, gripping the gun and running forward. Two more Tile Cannons followed suit, both meeting the same fate.
Run, Casser thought, the adrenaline starting to really kick in. Run!
The Tile Cannons, thankfully, weren't much of a match, even if they were annoying beyond words, coming in small groups of two or even just one at a time. Shoot a few shots here, avoid a few shots there, advance just a little more, and repeat. So far, so good, he thought, amazed at just how clear everything seemed. All his previous panic and nervousness just seemed to melt away…
Then the Tile Cannon had popped out of the train right in front of him, tripping the poor boy. Unable to get up and retaliate in time, he took a good energy bullet to the back from the Mechaniloid. Cursing as the beyond red-hot energy bullet slammed into his back, he rolled over, trying to shoot directly into the Mechaniloid's cannon before it could fire again, successfully destroying it- albeit giving him a slight recoil from a following explosion. Dammit though, that hurt. However, as fate would have it, having the enemies stop there would have been far too much.
A Crimson Guard appeared.
Being the famously polite mass produced Mechaniloids ("Or were they Reploids?" Casser had once asked himself. They appeared to have some decent AI, but weren't anything on the level of a normal Reploid.) they were known for being, it popped up not far in front of him of a small 'elevator', what he thought a Tile Cannon would pop up from. It was a red and black figure, painted red around it's chest, feet, arms, and helmet. Before Casser could react, it stomped on his face. "B-bastard-" he swore, rolling out of the way of another stomp and over his now broken wanting the target to escape, the robot opted to try to blow Casser's head off, raising it's buster arm and firing three shots in a row, all but the first missing as it hit and burned his left hand. Casser shot at the Crimson Guard Soldier's right kneecap, hoping it would fall. After a few blows it began to kneel down, raising it's buster and ready to fire again, only for Casser to grab it's eye-visor and glare at the robot, taking a good look at it. The enemy yanked his arm out of the way, only for it to realize it had a buster right in it's single eye, and only another to realize it was going to die in another second.
Casser stared down at the now inactive robot, almost everything in tact accept for the hole in it's head, almost directly below it's forehead jewel. If it wasn't for the situation, he might have stared for another minute or two- although he'd (unfortunately) seen and destroyed them, he'd never had a chance to see one so close no longer trying to kill him. But every single nerve in his body told him just screamed either fight or run, not even noticing a faint light in the jewel as he started sprinting.
-COMMUNICATION WITH CRIMSON GUARD SOLDIER ID #5798234 HAS BEEN SEVERED
-SCANNING BODY FOR ASSESSMENT
-…
-CRIMSON GUARD SOLDIER DESTRUCTION CONFIRMEDUNIDENTIFIED THREAT CONFIRMEDDEPLOYING UNITES TO ELIMINATE TARGET
-INCEASING DEFENSE MEASURES AROUND BIOMETAL SERIAL MODEL "Z"
Casser fell on his left hand, only to push himself off his knees to keep running. The only thing that mattered was getting to the end, and killing anything that could have stopped the mission. Clovis didn't matter. The Resistance didn't matter. She didn't matter, just the end result. The gold at the end of the rainbow. When two more Crimson Guards raised appeared, he wasted no time lunging at one of them before it could properly move, unable to properly think, trying to wrestle it off the train- a rather bad idea as it ended up throwing him down to the floor. The robot's AI did a quick scan of Casser with it's eye, quickly determining what the train needed to know just from sight and being able to scan some of his blood.
-RESISTENCE HUMANOID CONFIRMED
-BLOOD TYPE: O-
-…
-BLOOD CODE: ACCENSION- CONFIRMED
-MEGA MAN STATUS CONFIRMED
-DESTRUCTION OF TARGET PLACED ABOVE ALL OTHER PRIORITIES
Casser screamed as he leg swept the Crimson Guard, intending on using it as a shield against any buster shots the other Crimson Guard would fire against him. However, all it did was piss of the Guard as it collapsed, who unlike his predecessor managed to grab his head and slammed it on the train. Casser narrowed his eye as he prepared to fire, only to scream as he felt not one, not two, but all three of the other Crimson Guard's bullets slam into his chest. "F-fucker," he whispered, gasping for breath as he forced himself to raise his buster and take a few rounds at the Crimson Guard, the mass produced machine was unable to take much punishment before being reduced to scraps. Focus, focus, focus, focus, "Focus, focus, focus, focusfocusfocusfocusfocus!" For all it was worth, the beat down seemed to help knocked him back to earth- the realization what he was doing was going to kill him seemed to beak through. He forced himself off his back and fired at the other Guard right after it fired, barely avoiding three new bullets.
Agonizingly, he forced himself back onto his feet and broke back into a sprint, clutching his chest tall the way. As much as it hurt, simply lying down and taking a good moment or two to recollect himself would have been suicide, especially as about five more of the bastards rose, ready to give Casser a piece of his mind. "Don't got the friggin time…" he mumbled to himself, eyes widening as a few more came in the little elevators. He broke out into a full sprint, ready to at least try to get through- he knew he didn't have what it took to take them all on his own in the open with no place to take cover. Then, of course, fate decided to take on a different direction.
-CONVERGENT IGNITION BY ENERGON LINKAGE CANNON CHARGED
Casser's eyes could only widen as he saw the cannon responsible for destroying his airship. Granted, it wasn't the single largest gun ever built, but it did take up a lot of the second car. "… Holy God…" the blond muttered to himself refusing to slow down as the gun charged.
Ten.
He destroyed one Crimson Guard that had spawned in front of him.
Nine.
He took a bullet to the shoulder, cursing as he realized he couldn't afford to take many more of those before his body, mechanical and organic couldn't save him.
Eight.
Casser really didn't know if he was gonna die or not.
Seven.
In all fairness, it seemed very likely.
Six.
Clovis, Baguette, the Boss, soldiers he never knew by name, his father, her, and even that Crimson Bitch all started flashing in his head, like a slideshow in fractions of a second.
Five.
The Crimson Guards were taking aim.
Four.
Taking advantage they could fire nearly as well as he could, he hit the deck once he heard the sounds of their busters firing- enough to kill ten of him, and re-attached his buster to it's holder.
Three.
Crawling. "Not,
Two.
Praying. "gonna,
One.
Getting up. "-die,
Not before that bitch is knocked off her throne!
Zero.
"HERE!"
Casser's entire world literally shook about three seconds after that once the cannon fired.
Casser jumped forward and rolled as the cannon fired, barely getting out of it's way. The train blew up a large portion of the third car, along with most of the Crimson Guard and Mechaniloids in there. In the AI's haste to destroy Casser, it failed to take into consideration of it's own defenses.
Casser lied flat on his stomach taking a moment to look back as he saw the train's ruins, noticing about half the train appeared to just be… gone. Ok Casser, pull yourself together. You're still alive. By God, you're still alive. W-what to do, what to do… If I keep going forward, yeah, that thing is probably gonna kill me, but… he crawled a bit backwards, taking a look down. There was enough room to land…If he ran inside the train, whatever Mechaniloids were left would have been waiting. On the surface though, a big cannon. Neither path seemed he'd be better off, but…
Well, that cannon was pretty terrifying, in all honesty. Not much of a chance of avoiding that several times. Even at his maximum speed. Taking a look down behind him, he went to the ledge and lowered himself to the first floor of the train, taking care not to fall off onto the rail tracks.
Opening the door at the end of the car to try to advance to the next section of the train, he noticed a Crimson Guard coming from the next car. Crap… he thought, wondering what to do for a second, before just more or less holding the door open for the robot, then slamming it on it once it came closer. "Dummy," he chuckled, taking out his buster and shooting the down robot in the chest, this time causing the downed robot to explode and forcing Casser to step back a bit, before running into the next train. The Train Core was now forced into a very awkward position. In it's haste to follow out it's priority program to destroy any hostile Mega Man with extreme prejudice, it had sacrificed the train that had primarily carried most of the Crimson Guard, always intended on being the emergency resort if a breach had invaded the train. Nonetheless, however, priorities were priorities. The Mega Man did not appear to have a Biometal, and thus had limited potential…The Train Core had an idea of just what to do, now, quickly ordering it's Crimson Guards into position.
Clovis slowly walked into the next car of the train, keeping an eye open for surrounding enemies, cursing when the lights were off, barely able to see anything. Clutching his buster he advanced onward, a quietly as he could, just waiting for something to attack. Was that… maybe that was really it? Figuring the cannon must have used the train's own power to fuel it's attack, there was still no reason for any remaining Crimson Guards not to attack. Were they all really left behind in the last cart? Was… other than whatever was in charge of the train, was that really the end of it?
"Careful, kid. Don't let your guard down,"
"Who's there!" Casser yelled, raising his gun and pointing around, unsure just where to aim. It was faded, in the distance, but not so far he couldn't make it out clearly.
"Keep quiet- what's important is you really can hear me."
"What-"
"I'll have your back."
Then the light flickered on. Casser's eyes widened at the number of Crimson Guards lined up against the cargo, ready to fire. Casser's eyes widened as he dropped back do his stomach, wincing as he felt the pain again in his chest as the bullets flew overhead before scurrying over to take refuge behind some cargo. Looking around, he saw some of the Guards unable to move out of the way of their comrades' attacks and were destroyed in the crossfire. Casser smirked- this time, he wasn't in the wide open. He had all kinds of cargo to duck and hide behind-
The cargo!… Oh God, there was a lot of cargo. Casser cursed as he looked around. It all looked the same- no box really stood out above all the others. They came in all sorts of sizes, from beginning to small… "Crimson Bitch must have really thought this one through," Casser thought out loud, getting up to take a few shots at some Crimson Guards before taking refuge back behind his cargo barrier.
"Can you hear me?"
"Dammit, who is that?" Casser whispered around him, leaning over and firing four quick shots and destroying a Guard before taking cover, giving the gun time to cool down.
"What you're looking for, probably."
Casser growled at the mysterious voice, dashing over to hide between one other rather large box while opening fire on the enemies. There was a large gap in the room, right under where the cannon was kept. There were about… twelve more Guards left, he figured. It seemed simple enough, just run around and fire some more…
The Train Core started recognizing the severity of the situation. The initial ambush had failed. It was the same amount of force it would have applied to any normal Resistance… could it have been the fact he was a Mega Man? No, nothing in it's programming told it that Mega Men were any different than any normal Human, Reploid, or Humanoid without the ability to call force a Biometal's power. They were mostly equal in power. Perhaps this Humanoid had experimental or greater robotic implants than the average Humanoid?Anyways though, the Humanoid couldn't just run around in the cargo train. Even though there many, many decoys in boxes around the train, the possibility of an enemy obtaining a Biometal was a guaranteed disaster. Any scout unit could have surveyed the area to look for it… The Train Core was convinced there was only one source of action left to take in order to achieve the greater priority programmed.
-CONVERGENT IGNITION BY ENERGON LINKAGE CANNON CHARGING
Casser blinked as the power started flickering, eyes widening as he had a good idea of just what it was. "… Cr… Cra…"
"Kid!" Casser's eyes widened as far as they could as he felt an entirely different kind of adrenaline rush just wash over him. Fear. Run. Don't fight, just run.
"If you want any chance of getting out of this, come get me," Casser looked around, breaking out into a sprint, all pain becoming insignificant as he rushed toward the sound of the voice. He fired rapidly at enemy Crimson Guards, most of his shots missing. When two came to block his path, he responded by sprinting around and trying to climb over cargo, only to fall off and land on his legs, ignoring the feeling to keep running toward the mysterious voice. He would probably have been killed if he hadn't, anyways, even if he had made it to the next car. Why not at least try to finish the mission first?Successfully destroying a Crimson Guard around the corner (with a little less than half his shots missing), he sprinted over to a few boxes and a few backpacks, frantically trying to search for the origin of the voice with the few seconds he had left before the Crimson Guard closed in on him. "W-where are you! Where are you!"
"Red backpack," the voice grumbled, Casser immediately grabbing it and slinging it on, a relieved smile etching on his face, only to stop when several energy bullets whizzed past his head. Yelling as he scrambled to make a few good shots, only one of his four bullets managed to hit the Crimson Guard, thankfully right in it's eye, stunning it. "Kid, if you don't try to collect yourself, we're both going to die. And I don't want to meet my maker just yet."
The blond however didn't listen to the odd voice, opting to just sprint while dashing between cargo, going out of his way to fight the soldiers. This is why you shouldn't go on this mission, Casser. These… extreme adrenaline rushes, those extreme reactions. You're going to get yourself killed if real fighting actually breaks out! It's not even 'you' anymore! Y- where do I even begin with you! You think being a soldier is going to make you tough on the inside when you're not fighting for the right reasons, that it's going to completely re-invent you that you'll be able to fight without adrenaline or pretending, but it won't when, in emergencies, it's not even you in control anymore, you… you… you coward! He remembered Baguette, a close friend telling him right before volunteering for all this. He wished it was enough to break him out of this panic, but all he cared about right now was just getting out.
-CONVERGENT IGNITION BY ENERGON LINKAGE CANNON CHARGING COMPLETE
-PREPARING TO DISCONNECT TRAIN CAR #2
Casser sprinted and dashed in and out of old cargos, occasionally knocking something over some cargo on purpose in a vain hope of slowing any enemies down that chased after, eventually passing the stunned Crimson Guard and throwing it to the ground. Don't be scared, Casser, he thought to himself. Don't be scared, don't be scared, don't be scared, "Don't be scared," Don't be scared, "Don't be scared," Don't be scared, "…" The lights turned off with still a good thirty feet left to the door. At that moment, everything seemed to go into black and white, rushing toward the door to the next train and not caring about the Crimson Guard using the last of their ability to fire on him, totally ignoring the two bullets that hit his lower back and his right shoulder.
Don't be scared don't be scared don't be scared don't be scared you're gonna be fine don't be scared don't be scared DON'T BE SCARED CASSER YOU'RE GONNA MAKE IT OUT ALIVE DON'T BE SCARED DON'T BE SCARED DON'T BE SCARED-
"Oh God I'm gonna die."
Casser barely made it in time, slamming the door shut and gasping for breath as he heard the other train disconnect, a loud explosion coming across not too long afterwards, he was so caught up in the moment he never even noticed the fact he dropped his gun.
He gasped as he took around the room. The end of the train, but still the most horrifying came to last.
He saw what appeared to be a normal Crimson Guard, locked in some kind of… orange harness. With a flamethrower.
The Train Core was, to be blunt, completely and absolutely done with this annoying little boy. It had the Biometal, and it had to act immediately. While built on the blueprints of an old Mechaniloid, in the haste to change trains, this train hadn't had all the features of the older model, but it was still more than enough. It slowly approached, it's flamethrower activated, ready to incinerate the boy alive.
"Kid, you with me?"
"…"
"I need you to listen to me…"
"You were so brave today!" Casser remembered a young woman once telling him. "Risky though, you know that was a venomous snake, right Casser? You could have been really hurt easily, Casser…"
"I think you might be the one. If you do what I say, I can lend you my strength. You can make it out of this."
Casser just nodded as the Train Core slowly came closer, ready to roast him.
"Y-yeah…"
"Is something wrong?"
"I-I know it was brave but… if I tell you a secret, will you promise you won't tell anyone?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die, Casser."
"Yell, 'MEGAMERGE!' as loud as you can."
"… What are you, anyway?"
"… It was really, really scary. I know I called it dumb and everything, and made faces at the snake and even threw that rock -and I'm sorry and I promise I never will again- but… I really wanted to run away. Not gonna tell anyone, 'specially Clovis and Baguette, right? I… I know it's fun, but I don't like that name."
"The brave little scaredy-pants."
"Hmm? It's Biometal Model Z. I can explain more later," Casser could really feel the heat intensify.
"I promise you," the woman had said, ruffling Casser's head and going in for a surprise tickle. "Scared or not scared, brave or not brave, you are and always will be my little baby boy, Casser!"
"Meg…"
I don't wanna die.
"Mega…" I really don't.
"Mega…!" I really really don't!
"MEGAMERGE!" Casser screamed at the top of his lungs, a bright flash surrounding him. And the Train Core backed for a second, unable to see. What was happening? Was this had not been recorded in his programming…
Casser closed his eyes as an odd warmth surrounded him. For a second, everything seemed to be at peace. No fear, no enemy, no… nothing. His body glowed as an armor appeared, a new black skin suit, red vest, red gauntlets, red boots, a visor and a handle in his right Man Model Z.
"Well… that isn't good…" Cormac muttered to himself, checking his computer and getting reports back of an unusual energy reading at the train. "… Could make things… a lot more fun though…"
Oh, Aile was going to ring his neck for this one. But dammit, he couldn't wait to see how this would all play out.
Casser stared at the Train Guardian, activating the Model Z-Saber, looking down at the curved blade, then looking back up at the Train Guardian, trying to process the situation.
-MEGAMERGE CONFIRMED
-PREPARING FOR IMMEDIATE DESTRUCTION OF TAR-
If the Crimson Guardian could have felt any kind of emotion, for a split second, it would have been afraid as the boy dashed, not just ran, dashed to it as it's saber began to charge.
Just as it tried to turn on it's flamethrower, Casser sliced it's head open, dashing back and bracing for impact as he felt the explosion, one that would have surely have killed him before, sending the train to a screeching halt and sending him flying back to the wall. "… 'M alive…" he muttered, using the Model Z-Saber to force open the now jammed entrance and once he had the chance, dash off into nearby woods.
Once he felt safe, he allowed himself to just collapse and rest up against a tree, brining his left hand up to his visor. He felt safe. He never could have done this, even as a Humanoid who just took a lot of punishment during his ordeal, but still, he felt so safe. So much more than he had in… in years. Since she died.
"You did… good."
Casser just nodded, refusing to let himself fall asleep but still closing his eyes to rest for a little bit. This power… he couldn't see a lot of things really threatening him anymore… he could really contribute a lot to the Resistance Army, fight in the front lines, do missions for everyone, earn his own self respect.
"Y… yeah…" he said quietly, a smile and tears starting to form. "M... Mission... complete...
... Oh God, what's going to happen next...
Chapter End.
Well, damn, that felt good to write~ Hope that was worth it, folks! I really, really thought I had to make up for this, you know? And damn, it felt good to write! I really hope this wasn't a let down or anything- I really do feel bad since it's not like I was devoting everything these last two months to school, senior year or not, but… yeah, think this is a good start to getting back to writing, imo anyways.
As always, any kind of reviews are highly appreciated- I'll even take flames if they're constructed. This is kind of my first time attempting a real actiony chapter though, so if you have any criticisms or see any ways I can improve on my fighting scenes, that'd be great! Aware the last fight with Pantheon Core #2 wasn't really a fight at all- promise Casser's next mission really will have a true fight at the end. This is how I always imagined this last battle being, anyways, hope you enjoyed, hope you all have a good day :)
