Mega Man ZXA: Rebirth Redux

by NeoNazo356

A month has passed since the fall of the Ouroborous at the hands of the Hunter, Ashe. When it finally looks like peace has been achieved, a new evil stands to fill the void that Albert left behind from the shadows, and the past begins to collide with the present, and the Game of Destiny if nearing its final conclusion. Full summary inside.

6. Introductions Redux

Well, like the Redux in the chapter name says, it's been completely re-written from its predecessor. Also, the little girl's name has been settled upon ahead of schedule, since this story may not have enough exposure to get a decent poll on it.

On a separate note, jeez is this chapter long! Enjoy for those of you who enjoy a long read.

---

Mega Man Zero 4 Soundtrack - Holy Land

Eyes opening slowly, twin pools of cerulean looked up, then to the right, and finally to the left. Looking up once again, he saw a white ceiling, with two long flourescent bulbs shining their eye-squinting light down at him. Making him do just that, Neal turned to his right again and saw a horizontally-elongated hexagonal window, the world outside colored a perfect sky blue. Puffy white clouds fringed the bottom of what he was able to see and far off into the distance. Looking to his left, he saw the little girl from before, her head resting on her arms as she slept at his side. Snoring softly, her face was held in an adorable expression - something he found preferable to the terrified expression and puffy red eyes of before. In addition to that, he saw that there was a catheter in his right arm, an IV filled with clear liquid connected to the exposed vein within the elbow.

I still haven't learned her name, but she's growing on me, Neal thought to himself, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he was able to confirm that he'd in fact saved her. Twitching his fingers and flexing his arm a bit, while it stung, he could still move it. Curling and uncurling his toes, he was pleased to find that somehow, he wasn't paralyzed after the beating -or tenderizing- he received the previous day.

The next moment came the sound of a door whooshing open, catching his attention as a pudgy woman with curly brown hair and a cream-colored nurse's uniform came inside. Closing the door behind her, a smile came to her face upon seeing that Neal was conscious.

"Oh, you're awake," the woman said as she came over to him. "Thank goodness. This little sweetheart hasn't left your side for three days, bless her soul," she said coming over to her before tapping her shoulder lightly. "Lily. Neal's awake," she said softly.

Ah, so that's her name, Neal thought. I think it's the Latin word for flower, and if I remember correctly, said flower represents innocence, purity, and beauty. Well... I may not have been able to protect the first, but two out of three isn't so bad, he thought to himself, thinking what kind of emotional damage being in a Maverick Raid could cause to a little girl at her age.

"Mnnn..." was her response as her eyes opened slowly, which Neal noticed were a light forest green. "Neal! You're awake!" she cheered as she jumped onto his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck, a small 'oof' escaping his lips as her weight settled on his chest. "I'm glad you're okay. When you didn't wake up, I got real worried, but Muguet told me you'd be just fine."

"Muguet... where am I?" he asked as he sat up and pushed his back to the headrest, placing Lily on the side of the bed next to him so that she wouldn't make his legs fall asleep.

"You're on the Grand Nuage, the mobile base for the Guardians," a purple-haired woman with her hair covering her eyes said as she came in with a tray of medical supplies. She was soft spoken and wore the same attire as Muguet. Though, admittedly, in a smaller size. "Now, I need you to relax your arm while I administer a shot of morphine. Helps to take the edge off," she said taking a syringe from her tray after setting it down, pressing the piston a little bit and flicking the needle to remove any air bubbles.

"Yeah. *twitch* Guess after the tenderizing I got yesterday, I need it," he said while relaxing his arm, the woman gently removing the IV before placing the needle of the syringe in his catheter. The clear-colored liquid being dispensed into his arm, and after a few seconds, he slowly felt the pain in his arms go away, which at the moment were wrapped in bandages. Tugging at the collar of the pale green medical gown he found himself in, he saw that he had bandages wrapped around his chest and abdomen as well. "Just what happened to me? The last thing I remember before blacking out is decking Atlas in the face."

"Yes, I'd heard about that," Muguet chuckled. "Gave her what she had coming to her, did you?"

"More than you could ever know," Neal said looking to the side, Altas' uncaring visage as she gazed upon the carnage flashing into his mind before he shook it off. "How are my injuries? I'm a bit sore, but in all honesty, I was expecting to wake up in a full body cast, or, you know, not at all."

"Well..." Rose said as she pulled the clipboard from the foot of his bed. "The carpals in your right wrist were jarred, you had temporary neurological damage, the tendons in both ankles and calcaneus were put under alot of stress as well as your knees. You had some bruising around your shoulder blades and down your back, as well as a a pair of fractures across your sternum and one across your jaw. One loosened molar. You also had four broken ribs, five fractures and to top it all off, you had some internal hemorrhaging as well as a slight concussion."

"I think you forgot to mention the ass beating I got," he chuckled sarcastically, his eye twitching when a jolt of pain shot up the pit of his stomach. "How long have you been here?" he asked Lily.

"The little darlin' hasn't left your side since you were admitted. Quite sweet if you ask me," Muguet answered. "Are you her brother by any chance?"

"No... Her mother asked me to take care of her before..." he answered as the woman's pleading eyes flashed in front of him. Clear as the day it happened. "How long have I been out for anyway?" he asked, hoping to steer away from the awkward question.

"This would be your third day," Rose replied. "Things were touch and go for a while, but we were eventually able to keep your condition stabilized after half an hour. How are you feeling?"

"Well..." he trailed off as he twitched, throwing his legs around the side of the bad before setting one foot down, then putting his weight on the other, noticing he was in his boxers. "I feel like I got kicked by a mule running on enough steroids to kill the damn thing. But aside from that, I'm alive... somehow," he said as he looked himself over, honestly expecting himself to be in a full body cast. "How come with all those injuries I'm still able to move?"

"Well, while it hasn't been fully explained, Mega Men are capable of withstanding things that would put others down for weeks," Rose explained. "However, not only does Biometal offer you protection that not even the best armor can in relative to its relatively light weight, but hypothetically, after you've Megamerged, the transformation into a Mega Man awakens the body's latent ability to repair and rejuvenate itself, though only if your body has enough nutrients to repair itself with. Hence the nutrient mixture we had pumping into your systems before. Of course that means you went through double what most people would need."

"So what? Are all those fractures taken care of?" he asked patting his chest, only feeling a slight twinge of pain once in a while.

"For the most part, yes. The injuries listed were when you were diagnosed upon reaching the medical ward. Within the first day, the minor injuries had already been healed. By the second, the fractures had mended themselves enough for you to be up and about. As for your broken ribs, we had to reset them manually with a touch of surgery," Muguet explained. "The material we used will be incorporated into your own body as you heal, and your molar has been reset," she added as Neal rubbed his sore jaw.

"Hm. Figured I'd be chewing on my own teeth or eating through a straw," he said, seeing that he was apparently okay to be moving around since no one had tried to force him back into bed. "What of Vent and Aile? What have they been doing?"

"Waiting for you to wake up," the latter said coming into the room, accompanied by her brother. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got kicked by a mule-"

"Yes, yes, we know. Running on enough steroids to kill the damn thing. We heard you through the door," Vent sighed, Aile jabbing him in the ribs for being so tactless.

"Please forgive my older brother. He can be a bit blunt at times," she apologized.

"It's no trouble," Neal said before realizing he was only in his briefs and a medical gown, taking the blanket and covering himself. "Where are my clothes? And my stuff too?"

"Your personal effects remained unmoved apart from the initial search," Aile started-

"You went through my stuff?" he asked incredulously.

"Only as a security precaution," she countered. "Besides, you had a grenade in your bag."

"Not anymore. And it was a Reverse-Polarity Pulse Grenade," Neal argued, crossing his arms indignantly. "Regular grenades are so unelegant," he huffed. Little guy probably fell off the highway and got smashed into parts. Oh well. No body, no crime.

"Yes, well, when you're able, we'd like you to come to the bridge. Our commanding officer would like to speak to you," Vent said, jabbing a thumb at the open doorway.

"Sure, sure. Just let me get dressed," Neal said as he looked to a tray on the far side of the room, finding his clothes neatly folded alongside his bag, which was zipped shut. "Um, miss..."

"Rose," the nurse returned.

"Right. Rose, would you watch over Lily for me while I visit the captain?" he asked.

"But I wanna stay with you," the girl pouted.

"Now now Lily, I'm sure that Vent and Aile's commanding officer has to say is important, and I don't think it's something you need to worry about," Neal assured. "But how about this, after I'm done, we'll go grab some breakfast-"

"It's lunchtime," Vent said, only to get elbowed by his sister.

"Lunch. We'll get some lunch," Neal corrected. "Now would you all leave please? I'm hardly decent."

Nodding, Vent, Aile, and Muguet left the room as Rose showed Lily out, Neal setting his feet back on the ground as he looked down at them, wondering why it was that shoes were so universally shaped now, or why they looked like everyone had blocks of wood for feet. Casting that thought out of his mind, the first thing he did was put his earpieces back on his head, which while for reploids served as their actual ears and listening devices, for humans they were mostly decorative, but also served as listening devices when synched to one's cellular phone. After shedding his robe and dropping his trousers, he changed into a fresh pair before taking out a pair of jeans from his bag. As he slid a blue T-shirt with a white spiral on the front, he noticed he was a bit sore, but not so much he needed help getting dressed. Lastly, after slipping some socks, shoes, and his watch on, he unfolded his trench coat and noticed that the inside pocket was empty of what he was looking for.

"Where's Model E?" he asked looking around, digging through his stuff hoping it wasn't taken.

"Be at ease. I'm right here," Elpizo's voice came before he flew out of Neal's chest in a flash of light, causing him to yelp and fall on his ass.

"Is everything okay in there?" Muguet asked from the other side of the door.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Don't come in. I'm not decent."

"Honey, your's isn't the first body I've seen, and it won't be my last," she chuckled.

"Just stay where you are. I only tripped," he said as he got back to his feet, straightening the lapels of his coat. "Elpizo, were you inside me just now?"

"Somewhat. From what I can tell, Biometal, or at least conscious ones, are able to partially fuse to their Chosen One's body, circulating within their bodies as a form of energy. Kind of like interdimensional storage. However, I believe some Mega Men may carry theirs around simply for the feel of it in their hands," he explained.

"Speaking of which, how do I summon Kyudoka, or those Cyber Elf Eggs?" Neal asked thinking about it, the Hacker-Type appearing before him in a flash of light while the other two eggs floated in front of him.

"Yaaaawn," the chibi-archer yawned as she stretched her arm. "Ah, Neal-dono. Ohayougozaimasu."

"Morning to you too," Neal returned. "Where were you just then?" he said looking himself over, wondering if his new quests had built a trap door or something while he wasn't looking.

"The same place Model E-san was," she answered. "Circulating through your cybernetic implants."

"You see Neal, before the advent of Machine Bodies, humans were incapable of transporting Cyber Elves with them unless they had a special disk, or container," Model E explained. "Reploids on the other hand had no problem storing them in their bodies as energy or data. Now thought, with your cybernetic implants, you're able to summon and withold Cyber Elves at will. However, I more or less manage your cyber elves. Their pictures will appear in your visor the next time you megamerge, so all you need do is think which one you need to summon."

"How do I... nurture, the other Cyber Elf Eggs?" he asked looking at the pink and green-colored eggs in his hands. While they were only made of data, he could feel a certain warmth from them, and also... what felt like a tiny heartbeat.

"At first, Cyber Elves needed Energy Crystals to develop," Elpizo stated. "Now however, they're able to develop on their own. However, "feeding" them Energy Crystals will speed up the process. As for the Eggs hatching... maybe they hatch after a set amount of time, or perhaps after a certain number of steps. I'm not certain of how it'll work here, since back in Cyberspace concepts like time have no tangible meaning."

"So that's how it is..." Neal said as a thought crossed his mind, the two Cyber Elf Eggs transforming into balls of light before flying back into his chest. Kyudoka giving a curt bow before disappearing in a white flash as well, plucking Model E out of the air before placing him in the breast pocket of his coat. Neal left the medical room, content to leave his stuff where they lay.

---

"So. Pretty crazy day back there huh?" Vent asked as Neal came out.

"Yeah. Honestly didn't know whether I'd make it or not," he admitted as he was led down the hall to what was presumably the front of the ship.

"Excuse me, Neal wasn't it?" a short man with a thin moustache and beard wearing white red-lensed goggles, a blue hat with a yellow Guardian's visor, and blue and yellow-trimmed clothing over a black skintight bodysuit said stepping out one of the doors. "I was wondering if you'd allow me to examine your Biometal for a minute."

"You mean Model E?" Neal asked taking out his Biometal and presenting it to the short man, who eyed it critically with a magnifying glass along the seams.

"Go ahead without me," Model E said on his own floating out of Neal's hand. "I'll follow Fleuve here to his lab. I have something to talk to him about anyway."

"Oh, okay then. See you later," Neal said as Model E followed Fleuve to his lab, who was wondering just how the Biometal knew him by name, feeling as though he'd seen Model E somewhere before.

"Alright Neal, Commander Prairie is right through this door. Show the utmost respect when you go in there," Vent stated just before the door at the end of the hall.

"He seems like a well-mannered enough kid. I doubt he'll forget his manners," Aile said waving him off as they entered, the group coming to a ship's bridge, three women at the front edge on a lower platform manning sets of controls, while across from them was someone at the helm. "Commander Prairie, we've brought Neal as requested," she said as both she and Vent gave a salute. Neal raised his hand to do so as well, the seat turning around a moment later to reveal Commander Prairie.

Commander Prairie was a petite girl with fair skin and cobalt blue eyes. Her golden blond hair styled with two locks framing her face, while the rest flowed down her back and were tied at the bottom with a pink ring. She wore a black bodysuit, a light pink bodysuit above that which stopped below her chest and at her thighs with white bands on the ends over it, two golden broach-like ornaments at her stomach, and a pink segmented coat with white trim on the edges, her sleeves rolled up. She wore white gloves with matching wristbands, pink shoes with white bands around her ankles and matching plates on her toes and heels. Overall she looked around thirteen to fourteen years old.

What he also noticed was she had what looked like a white cat-like doll hanging off her right arm. Adorning its back were similar "wings" to Kyudoka's, though while the pipes on hers were purple and shaped like diamonds, the cat's were light blue and curved at the ends with green jems imbedded in the base.

"Hello, you must be Neal," she said pleasantly while walking to him and extending her hand, which he shook slowly. "I heard you fought Atlas practically on your own. No small feat for a 'fledgling Mega Man'," she chuckled.

"Um... thanks..." the teen said nervously as he let go of her hand, hoping he didn't look as stupefied as he felt. In all honesty, while petite, Prairie must've been one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen. Then again, he didn't know that many girls personally either, though while Aile had that mature air about her and was beautiful in her own right, Prairie held a certain air about her, and the cat toy clinging to her arm -which he swore he saw blinking-, only accentuated her cuteness.

Wait, where'd that come from? Neal asked himself. Oh right. Sex Ed class. Hormones. Hope I don't do something stupid, he thought to himself.

"Anyway, I suppose you're wondering why you're here," she asked as she sat back into her seat.

"Well... I'm wondering just where I and Lily are right now," Neal admitted while scratching the back of his head.

"Well then, why don't you look out the window and see for yourself," she suggested, the dark-haired teen walking to the left until he came to the window, bracing himself with one hand before looking down. Way way down, the shock evident on his face as he stepped back.

Mega Man ZX Soudtrack - Sky High- Grand Nuage

"We-we're flying!" he said in shock pointing out the window. "This whole thing is flying!" he said in shock and awe, as after looking down both ends of the hallways, had a rough estimate forming in his mind as to just how big the Grand Nuage actually was, and with the elevator he'd seen, it must've been big enough to warrant the instalation of an elevator.

"Yes, that we are," Prairie returned. "This is the Grand Nuage, the base of the Guardians. Since we deal with Irregulars all over, it's only fitting that we have a base that's able to move with us. Inside are all the comodities you'll ever need. Medical ward, sleeping quarters, garage, lounge, cafeteria, shooting range, science lab, and whatever else a pseudo-relief pseudo-military force like ours needs," she explained, since in the past five years, the Grand Nuage had been able to fill some of the once-undedicated rooms with better accomodations to better balance out the use of their given space. "As for why you're here, when Atlas came after you, we needed to secure your safety before anything could happen to either of you."

"And I'm very thankful for... that..." Neal said as he swayed a bit before falling to one knee. "I apologize. I seem to be a bit tired from yesterday," he said looking up at her, which, considering his name, would make for a funny, if not tasteless, joke.

"It's alright. I'll get you a seat," Prairie said tapping a few keys on her chair's armrest. "Besides, for what I'm about to tell you, you may want to sit down for," she stated as she punched in the last key, a few of the floor panels shifting as a bench folded out of a compartment below. Prairie's seat moved to the side as the lights in the room dimmed, a holographic screen coming up to show the Biometal that Vent and Aile had used before as they helped him onto the bench before taking seats beside him. "Now, I suppose the best place to start would be to ask you this. Do you know what Irregulars are?"

Mega Man ZXA Soudtrack - Dive into Depth

In that he nodded. "Yes, Maverick, or, Irregular, is the term given to reploids and mechaniloids that are a threat to humans and even others of their kind. The cause of reploids and mechaniloids turning maverick is mostly unknown, but has historically been believed to be due to errors, viruses, reprogramming, or even turning maverick of their own free will. With the advent of Machine Bodies however, humans can be just as easily slated as maverick as any reploid. However, in those cases it's marked more as a mental deficit, biological, or emotional imbalance reacting to negative stress violently, since humans had been turning 'maverick' for centuries long before the first reploid was created."

"That's good. You know your facts," Prairie stated. "However, in the past, it wasn't always inbalanced reploids that were slated as Maverick or Irregular by the ruling government, but sometimes for political reasons as well. However, that practice hasn't occured in a long, long time, so I don't think we'll need to worry about that."

"But what about at the plaza when that Atlas chick came after me? She had an entire platoon of customized galleons around her, and they were all treating me like I had gone maverick. Like I was to be taken in for study and for Lily to be put down," he said back. "What's worse... the Maverick raid that day, she hinted that it may've been intentional. Like they were running a test run for those giant mechaniloids and that they'd even run damage projections*," he said, causing Vent and Aile's eyes to widen, while Prairie could only slump back in her seat slightly.

"I see..." she trailed off. "You must have seen some horrible things."

"More than you could ever know..." Neal muttered sadly. "Biometal. Just what is that stuff? I'm to assume I'm not the only one since in a flash of light, Vent and Aile went full-on superhero around me, and Atlas was decked out in flaming armor as well."

"Well, while that's what it looks like at a first glance. There's more to it than that," Prairie said while stifling a giggle. "Biometal is a special substance that stores the data, personality, and/or battle data of either humans or reploids, and can be created by more than one process. In most cases, artificial," she explained as the blue Biometal on the screen became highlighted, an image of both Ashe and Grey in their megamerged forms showing to its right, while the screen expanded on the left side, showing what looked like an old vid-campaign for the Maverick Hunters, showing a reploid in blue armor bearing eerily similar features to both Vent and Aile in their megamerged state. "Biometal uses the M.E.G.A. System, meaning Mete-Encapsulated Granuel Awareness, to 'Megamerge' with a Chosen One, who can also be referred to as a 'Biomatch'. When this phenomena occurs, the Biometal becomes the user's living armor, giving them the abilities of whom it's based upon. For the most part, each Biometal requires a certain level of compatability with their Chosen One, as well as bearing similarities to those the Biometal was originally based upon."

"M.E.G.A.? When I megamerged with my Biometal, I used the R.O.C.K. System, meaning Rebirth Of Crystalized Knowledge," Neal explained, causing Prairie to raise a brow.

"Hmmm... It may be possible that your Biometal wasn't created through completely artificial means, if it uses a different system for transformation," she mused. "Could you tell me how it was exactly that you came into contact with your Biometal?" she asked, feeling said Biometal's identity on the end of her tongue, but was unable to put her finger on it.

"Well... Back in the plaza, I saw a little girl and her mother about to be killed by mavericks. I couldn't just stand there and let them be gunned down like animals, so I grabbed a collapsable baton off a... deceased officer, and rushed at them from behind," he said in all honesty. "I don't really know what I was thinking at the time, but with that being the second maverick raid I had the displeasure of being a part of, my body just acted on its own. When the thing broke, I was ready to accept the consequences of my actions and in all honesty, expecting to die within the next ten seconds," he said, the same emotion when the weapon broke uselessly in his hand flashing before his eyes. "Before the galleons shot me, I was enveloped in a bright flash of light, and the guy inside my Biometal came before me, saying that the world needed my help, or at least something to that effect. When I snapped out of it, he told me to shout Megamerge as loud as I could. Next moment, I'm wearing black, white and magenta armor, with a mask over my face, a beret on my head and a beam rapier in my hand."

"I see..." Prairie thought, finding it similar to how Vent and Aile were able to megamerge with Model X, though they never said anything about meeting the program that resided within Model X.

X himself had disappeared long ago during the time of Neo Arcadia, so instead of using X's actual programming for Biometal Model X, her sister had used the memories of what other people remembered of the real X, and constructed a personality based off of that. For Model Z, it was the same thing, since apart from his helmet, there wasn't any part of Zero that they could use for the process. Admittedly though, Model Z's artificial personality was a bit more thorough than X's, since so many more people had met Zero, while all anyone really remembered of Copy-X was that he was a tyrant and outright evil. Some would go as far to say he was a "tool", nothing more than a figurehead or a marionette on strings being controlled by a madman, so all Prairie's sister had to go on wasn't as much testimony from people who'd met him. Still, there were enough historical accounts, mission reports and what little data she managed to get her hands on about Cyber Elf X himself before he disappeared.

Had Model Z had the real Zero in it, then maybe Giro... Prairie thought to herself before shaking her head. No. It doesn't matter. Zero died fighting for what he believed in, who he believed, and he did so without any regrets. Its our turn to fight now, she thought before coming back to the present. "Alright, now that you know about Biometal, it's now time to tell you about Mega Men, which you have now become one of," she went on to explain. "Mega Men are those who are able to Mega Merge with Biometal, and though the condition for becoming a Biomatch preceding becoming a Mega Man is mostly unknown, we may think that being a survivor of a Maverick Raid, or even some sort of traumatizing event, may trigger the brain's latent ability to take the Biometal into their bodies and become Mega Men, since all Mega Men up to date fell into one of the two listed categories," she explained as the images on the screens faded.
"However, in the past, Mega Men had been driven to fight against one another, competing in the Game of Destiny. The Game of Destiny was a contest created to determine the strongest Mega Man, who would then be able to become the Ultimate Mega Man, and would be given the power to change the world as they saw fit," she said, though left out the part about how the winner would receive Model W as the prize to rule the world with. Theoretically... the Game of Destiny should be at an end since Model W, the game's prize and the intended world-conquering tool, and Albert, its referee, had both been destroyed, leaving no prize to remain. Atlas' presence however... there must be something else driving her actions, and if I know the other three, then they're most likely alive out there somewhere as well.

After the explanation, the lights in the room returned to normal, Neal leaning forward and interlacing his fingers as he thought about all that had been told. Elpizo, now Model E, had told him that the world would soon face ruin, and that he would need to step forward and change that. Prairie's words made sense, since he most certainly fit into the "requirements" of becoming a Mega Man, but there was something else tugging on his mind. Something he thought he'd left behind long ago.

"If what you're saying is true..." he said pushing himself to his feet. "Then where did the Model W come from?" he asked, Vent and Aile's eyes widening slightly before Prairie got up from her seat.

"Gardenia, Tulip, Marguerite, stay the course," she said immediately adopting a serious expression. "Vent, Aile, I need you both to step outside. I need to speak with Neal in private," she said walking to the back right corner of the bridge, standing by a door and opening it, motioning for the dark-haired teen to enter. Seeing no room for argument, Vent and Aile left the bridge, while Neal simply walked to Prairie's side, following her into the office a moment later as the door closed.

---

At the same time in Fleuve's lab, Model E was laid atop a cylindricaly-shaped scanner in the center of the room, a hook-shaped rail circling around him and scanning him from all sides, copying everything it could about him down to the composition of his Biometal. Fleuve for the most part kept with his work, while Model E just sat there, pretty much making him nothing more than a talking paperweight at the moment.

"So doc, when's this scanner thing going to be done?" Model E asked as the scanner circled around him for what was probably the hundredth time.

"In a minute," he said as Model E's likeness appeared on the screen, bits of notable data forming on the file taking note of his programming.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Model E asked as he sat on the scanner.

"Sure. What is it?" Fleuve asked.

"How are things going... Perroquiet?" he asked, causing the old man's breath to hitch, the words Scan Complete now on the monitor.

---

Meanwhile, Neal had been escorted into Prairie's office, and was now sitting across from her. The room was plain with a white carpet, the walls were colored a slightly darker shade of pink than what he was able to see on the side of the Grand Nuage, inlaid circuitry coming from the other room and probably the rest of the ship into a terminal on her desk. The only source of light in the room was a desk lamp and the open window behind her, which was similar in shape to the one in the infirmary. To his right there was a large screen highlighting the Grand Nuage and acted as a model, bringing into perspective just how big it was. To his left was a black bookshelf that took up the entire wall, everything from books, disks, and any other odd assortment of trinkets present on its shelves. Among them was a picture, though from where he was he couldn't see it.

"Neal... How did you know about the Model W?" Prairie asked, resting her chin on her hands as her elbows rested on the table as she brougth Neal's attention back to herself.

"Well, let's just say close to five years ago I was really interested in... urban exloration**," Neal chuckled with a fond smile, looking out the window as though he were reminiscing.

"Urban exploration...? Care to elaborate on the subject?" Prairie asked, while Neal looked around the room in response. "Don't worry. What happens in this room, stays in this room," she said in a relaxed tone. A second later however when she saw the tinge of pink on the teen's cheeks, her own face heating up when she realized how that came out. "Ah! No! I didn't mean it like that! I just mean, your secret's safe with me," she said waving her hands in front of herself.

"O...okay..." Neal trailed off, hoping his cheeks weren't heating up, or, you know, his entire face. "For a second back there I kinda thought you were coming onto me," he trailed off, the two looking in opposite directions as their faces heated up. "Wouldn't be too bad though... she's kinda cute..." he sighed to himself, or would've had Prairie's tuned hearing not caught that, the blush on both their faces intensifying before they shook their heads and turned back to one another, unaware of the embarassment the other felt. "Ahem, anyway, um... When I was a kid, I pretty much combed every secret passage and back road in and around Inner Peace. Abandonments, active buildings, sewer and storm drains, transit and utility tunnels..." he listed off before trailing off slightly. "Deep... into mechaniloid territory..." he trailed off towards the end in a whisper.

"Neal... is it okay if I ask you a another question?" Prarie asked, getting a 'sure' from the dark-haired teen. "Just why were you digging around so much?"

Mega Man Zero Soundtrack - For Endless Fight {Remastered Soundtrack Version}

"... It was around five years ago, during the previous string of Maverick Raids that had been ongoing since before I was born, however before I can get to that, I'll have to start at the beginning," Neal sighed as he rested back in his seat, deciding that after keeping it bottled up for so long, that at least he'd be able to tell the cute blonde in front of him. "This may take a while. Do you have anything you need to do within the next few minutes?"

"Not at the moment. I usually keep my schedule clear for orientation," Prairie returned. "If you have to tell me the story from the beginning, feel free to do so. It usually helps to start from there, rather than the middle, should an important detail be over looked."

"Very well then," Neal returned, taking a breath as he collected his thoughts for a moment before he started. "My origins lie in Cinq Ville. I was born one or two years, give or take a few months, into the Maverick Raids preceding Slither Inc. being founded. I don't know all the details, since I don't remember that much and only have stories to go on, but when I was an infant, my parents went to a Met-themed amusement park..." he trailed off, Prairie's eyes widening slightly at the familiarity of Neal's tale to both Vent and Aile's. "I'm not even sure how I remember what happened, but I guess getting caught up in a maverick raid will do that to you. My mother told me we were some of the lucky ones. As for the others, well... not so much," he sighed dejectedly with slumped shoulders. "But, the three of us were able to make it out of there, if not barely, though we didn't leave the house for a week afterwards. Then again, what was left of our neighborhood held the same sentiments."

"So you're saying you remember something that happened to you when you were an infant?" Prairie asked in shock, since most infants didn't develop self-awareness after their third year, second if they were lucky.

"Yeah, I know this will be hard to believe, but while I don't remember anything about the park itself, I was somehow able to remember the maverick raid, clear as day," he said, sounding awed at himself for being able to rember that far. "Things were quiet at first, but then there was a scream. Soon it began to spread until entire throngs of people were panicking. Then the explosions and fires stared, and things really heated up. But it's weird..." he trailed off. "When I think back to that day, it's almost... like I'm looking at it from a third-person perspective."

"Third-person?"

With that Neal shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe it's just because of the stories my parents told me. I was told that maybe my mind just formed images to go with the memories as a way of coping. Heh, my dad even told me that at one point that a giant Met had jumped at them and was about to crush them, but he said that he caught the damn thing before throwing it over his shoulder. I'm not sure if he was just exaggerating or not, but people can do some pretty amazing things on adrenaline. I mean, if a woman can bench a truck if her baby's under it or something, then while it's a stretch, a full-grown man could lift and throw a giant mecaniloid if it was trying to squash him. Of course... I'll never know for certain."

"Why...? What happened?" Prairie asked slowly. Noticing that Neal seemed a little dry-mouthed, she reached into the mini-fridge by her desk before pulling out a bottle of water, handing one of them to him while she too one for herself, half of his vanished as he quickly gulped down.

"It was five years ago. My parents had been working at Slither Inc. as engineers for maybe as long as Slither Inc. was active. They didn't deal with the mechaniloid patrols, but they started out small before eventually finding themselves in Slither Inc.'s main building right in the middle of Inner Peace. I used to think that Slither Inc. was just the coolest thing in the world, and the thought of working there someday with their parents brought an ear to ear smile to my face," he chuckled mirthfully. "But... something happened... and I knew that... I'd never be able to get that wish."

Oh no... Prairie thought saddly, seeing where this was going.

"You know..." he said looking down to his watch. "In around three months, it'll be the five-year anniversary since my parents died... Since my childhood ended so abruptly. If I wrote a book, it'd probably be called Childhood Ends***. Could actually make some money off the story if it were believable enough."

"..." was Prairie's response as she fiddled with her water bottle, taking a sip before speaking up. "Neal... I asked how you knew about Model W, but if it's painful to remember, then-"

"Please," he said holding her hands, causing her to look up at him, saddened blue eyes staring into her own. "I've kept all of this bottled up for so long. I don't think I can keep it to myself anymore..." he pleaded as he hung his head, his bangs overshadowing his eyes. "Please... just listen..." he said as his eyes stung, fighting the urge to cry. I've done more so since I got to Legion than in all the years after Inner Peace, he thought to himself.

"Take your time," Prairie said putting her hands atop his own. "I'm not going anywhere."

"... Thank you," Neal said with a smile as he blinked away the tears, taking a deep breath before adopting a small grin after taking a deep breath in through his nose. "At the age of five, I was labeled as a prodigy. The doctors said mine was the kind of mind that appeared only once in a generation - like Leonardo da Vincci, Thomas Ediston, or Albert Einstein. Heck, one of them said I could be the next Stephen Hawking, but, you know, without the wheelchair, God rest his soul," he said pausing for a minute and drawing a cross on his chest before continuing. "I'm not sure if it was the shock of the Maverick Raid that did it, if it by the DNA, or even just happenstance that I was marked as a prodigy, but for as long as I can remember, I seemed to be a step ahead of the kids in my age groups. By the time others were speaking their first words, I was already taking my first steps. By the time they were able to do that, I was learning and retaining words. By the time they were able to do that I was reading at a fifth grade level. Heh, you probably don't know this, and it's unlikely that anyone outside Inner Peace actually does, but when I was six, I'd built and even improved upon my first Sci-sensor**** assembly kit. Kept the little guy going for two weeks before it crapped out, while the standard ones gave out withint two to one. Heck, to top it all off I got photographic memory, so anything I see I'm able to commit to memory," he chuckled a bit, though the smile on his face quickly dissolved.
"However, that did not come without consequence. In exchange for intelligence, I had unknowingly forfeited the companionship of those my age. Kids made fun of me because I was so smart, and the older kids wanted nothing to do with a "twerp" like me," he sighed turning his chair to the side and resting his hand on his elbow on the desk, his fist resting against his cheek as he skimmed the titles of the books on Prairie's bookshelf. "Loneliness. That's the emotion that I felt for what felt like so long. I used to watch the other children play, while I sat to the side for so many days at a time, that most of them started to blend together. It's an existance I wouldn't wish on anyone," he said woefully. "But," he said adopting a smile. "My parents were always there for me. They loved me infinitely and unconditionally. If I needed love, then my parents would give it to me. If I needed more still, they did so readily. In fact, if it weren't for all the love and attention they gave, then I'd probably be a recluse right now and as blind and naive as everyone else out there. Only caring for what I could see, and believing everything I was told," he said looking out the window.

"You know, that sounds exactly like my sister. More or less," Prairie replied, thinking back to when she hardly passed her sister's knee.***

"Yeah. I guess every generation has a lonely genius," he sighed. "Ah, no offense I mean. I'm sure your sister was a very outgoing person."

'Heheh. You have no idea', she thought to herself with a smile. "No, it's fine. You have nothing to apologize for," she returned.

"Yes. Now, where was I...?" he trailed off, since the blond was willing to listen. Or at least hadn't asked him to stop. "It was shortly after my tenth birthday. My dad bought me what I thought, and still thought, to be the coolest thing ever," he said reaching into his pocket, pulling out a thin, collapsable silver camera, the corners slightly worn with age, and the safety strap on the end white at the base but grey at the rest. However, it was obvious that it was lovingly cared for, giving the look on his face as he carefully brushed and blew off a bit of dirt that had gotten on it. "Gave me my own little spy camera. Said that the best way to learn things in this world was to see them yourself, and that pictures were worth a thousand words when you wanted to tell people what you've seen," he said with a smile on his face as he pocketed the camera. "My mother, she got me a world atlas. Being just a kid, I was utterly amazed at how big the world around me truly was. Up until I read that book, I thought that Inner Peace and everything down to the horizon was all there was to the world. Boy was I wrong," he chuckled, Prairie accompanying him in a hearty laugh, his expression saddening a minute later and stopped her from enjoying the smile-bringing story.

Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Fragments

"It was the best day of my life, but... it wasn't meant to last. The next day, my parents didn't come home from work. I waited on the front steps, like I always did after I finished my homework, and eventually I fell asleep. A while later however, who had to be the biggest man I'd ever seen in my life stepped out of a black car. It only took me a second, after rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, to see that it was Serpent, my parent's boss over at Slither Inc.," he narrated, though didn't notice Prairie shift in her seat uncomfortably. "What he told me next... would change my life forever."

Flashback (Being Narrated)

"Mr. Serpent?" a younger Neal (10-11 years old) asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "What're you doing here, sir?"

"Neal..." Serpent said placing his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but your mother and father died an hour ago in a reactor incident," he said, causing the boy's eyes to widen, backing up until his back hit the front door, his eyes widening.

"Wh-What...?" he gasped, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "Th... This is a joke right? Mommy didn't like me rigging that kid's stuffed tiger with a stink bomb so now she's trying to scare me... right...?" he pleaded in denial, hoping that his mom would step out from behind the bushes any second.

"I'm sorry, but both your mother and father are truly gone," Serpent said getting down on one knee. "If it grants you any solace...," he said sadly as he shook his head. "The blast from the reactor core killed them instantly. They didn't have to suffer."

"M-Mom... D-Dad...? They... They..." Neal cried as tears stared flowing from his eyes and staining his shirt.

"Don't worry Neal. It'll be okay," Serpent said reassuringly as the boy looked up into his eyes. "I like to think of everyone at Slither Inc. as my family, so in a way, that makes you my son too," he said, ruffling the youth's hair good-naturedly. "And like a good father should, I'll pay for the roof over your head, the food you eat, and the completion of your education. I believe your mom said you were taking AP Classes?" he asked, earning a nod in return. "That's good. Employers are always looking for go-getters like you. And hey, when you get old enough, I can get you a job in my head office if you haven't found anyone else. Is that okay with you?" he asked, earning a slow nod in return. "Good. I'll have my secretary set up an account for you with your family's combined holdings. Until we meet again, I wish you the best of luck," he said handing Neal a pair of duplicate keys. "Oh, and I'll send someone by later to keep an eye on you. I'll email you a schedule when I get back to my office."

Flashback End

'Serpent... leading him on like that... Prairie thought in disgust as her hands tightened around the ends of her armrests. Bet Neal's parents were among your sacrifices for the Model W Core.'

"However... I knew he was lying," he trailed off, causing Prairie to look up at him in surprise. "My parents weren't idiots. They ran diagnostics on the equipment and their gear every, single, day, before and after work. Not only that, by my parents had a strict policy where both of them didn't work the reactors at the same time. Just in case something like that happened," he said as he hung his head, his bangs shadowing his eyes as he visibly shook with anger. "And not only that... but it was the way he looked at me. It was as though I were nothing more than a suckling pig, waiting to be fattened up before the slaughter," he growled as he clutched the armrests

"What... did you do afterwards?" Prairie asked.

Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Green Grass Gradation

"The only thing I could do," Neal answered as he leaned his head back, his eyes closed as he took a deep breath. "After the funds went through, I began looking for evidence. Forming a network. Gathering intel. More than that, anything that would prove that the 'hero' Serpent was crooked, and with the way people idolized him, I needed something completely unrefutable. However, before I could do anything like that, I needed a clutch move. An ace in the hole if you will in case I got caught by any mechaniloid patrols," he said drinking some water. "The first thing I had to do was get help from off the grid, since it was likely Serpent had those evil fingers of his in just about every business in Inner Peace, in addition to controlling the mechaniloid patrols. If he found out what I was doing, I don't doubt he could've had me 'erased', and no one would be the wiser. In order to do that, I had to go to The Underground."

"The Underground?" Prairie asked cautiously.

"The first rule of The Underground: Don't talk about The Underground. In fact, if anyone finds out that I told you about it, I could get in big trouble," Neal stated. "While I can't tell you everything, I'll tell you what I can," he assured. "First, I had to adopt a persona, so I took to wearing a fedora hat, dark sunglasses, put a triangle mark on my forehead to hide my status as a human, lifts, and oddly enough a trench coat, which, I eventually came to wearing regularly afterwards. Had to hang around a lot of dark alleys to get someone from The Underground to act as my mediator. Eventually came across a guy by the name of... I guess I can call him Slim Cognito** during storytime. The guy acted as my mediator - I didn't ask any questions and he didn't ask any either. Second, I needed to get some gear, so I contacted Slim and told him that I needed to sneak around and collect 'evidence'. Asked for something that would knock out the mechaniloid patrols like a light while remaining conspicuous enough for me to make a getaway. It took some doing, but I was eventually able to get an order in on an RPPG. After getting the order in, all that was left was to get it delivered, and who else to do the job better than Giro Express. Lucky I ordered when I did, because the next day after I received my package and got rid of the evidence, Slim told me that Giro of Giro Express had fallen right off the map," he said, Prairie's eyes widening at the news. "Anyway, I now had my RPPG in case I got caught by any mechaniloid patrols that may not want me... perusing, any of Inner Peace's lesser-traversed locations, and I had my mission; Find something big enough to incriminate a 'hero' like Serpent and take, him, down," he said with determined eyes.

'Wow. So young, and yet he wasn't afraid to die,' Prairie thought, thinking back to how her sister first started the Resistance. Sure, he was a year older than Ciel when she did so, but there was a difference between finding evidence against a celebrated 'hero' and leading a resistance force against an entire government.

"Soon after I scheduled when I'd be able to disappear for a few days without Serpent or his hired caretakers noticing, that's when I got to work," he said as he put his hand to his chin. "The first was the ruined highway just outside the city in Area D. There were pieces of concrete abound, but what really caught my eye were the pieces of dead mechaniloids strewn about, looking like they'd been sliced clean through like a hot knife through butter. But what really caught my eye was the remains of a downed Rayfly," he said, Prairie barely stifling a gasp. "When I found it, no offense, but that thing was fucked up! I've run damage projections based on the wreckage I saw, and there are only so many things that could take down a mechaniloid of that size. None of which normal law enforcement should have access to. Anyway, I took pictures of the wreckage, but there was nothing on it that would point towards Slither Inc., so I moved on," he said as he paused to collect his thoughts.

Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Power Plant

"Next was the Power Plant just within the city. I'd gotten... special AP classes courtesy of Slim, and after... perusing through Inner Peace's energy system's mainframe... I was able to find out that while it had been offline ever since a Maverick Raid, that it was still producing energy. At that point I thought to myself, 'Why is a supposedly offline powerplant still producing power?' Figuring that the only reason something like that was still going was because the energy was being directed to something besides the public, I grabbed some rubber gloves and disguising myself. I made my way into town past the large fountain and headed towards Area E, only to find out that I needed a special card key to get in," he told, Prairie relaxing in her seat, as the thought of a ten year-old going into Hivolt the Raptoroid's territory so soon after all that started put her on the edge of her seat. "So... I scouted around 'til I found an old drainage pipe that led directly into it. Took a little work, but I was able to break the bottom of the rusted bars and make my way in," he continued, causing Prairie to go to the edge of her seat once more.
"Raising a manhole cover from below, I looked around and saw that the place was practically crawling with electrically-themed mechaniloids. Like the extra juice caused them all to evolve or something. Still, from the energy readings I got, the energy was being generated further in, so I primed the RPPG to go off in five seconds, rolling it out and closing the manhole cover over my head. When the plast went off, and thankful for the rubber gloves, I poked my head out and found that every mechaniloid within a hundred feet was on its back. Not wanting to wait for them to get up, I picked up the RPPG and made my way into the plant. After making my way through the building and after sneaking past a few mechaniloids, I came to the first real test of my physical ability, and the start of my urban exploration skills; A myraid of gears coming out of the wall, acting like platforms between me and a passage on the other side of the room. Steeling my nerve, I ran as fast as I could, leaping off the teeth onto the next gear before I came to the other side. I almost had a heart attack, but I made my way down, finding a ladder at the end of the passageway. Dropping down, I found out that if I had gone down and taken the lower route, I would've ended up at the same place," he said smacking his forehead. "But, I pressed on, eventually making my way past a wrecked Crushpactor, which had no place in a power plant's interior, finding a hallway lined with clear pipes, balls of light being pumped up and into other parts of the plant."

Those must've been the Cyber Elves that Vent and Aile came across. And right after beating the Crushpactor too, Prairie thought to herself. She didn't want to believe it, but nothing in Neal's actions indicated she was lying, and she was very good at telling when someone was lying.

"After taking a few pictures, I figured that the power plant must've been using those balls of light to generate power," Neal explained. "Eventually I would find out that they were Cyber Elves, sentient programs created with pure energy and made in the image of elves. Of course, if they were being used to generate the power, then they must've been coming from somewhere, so I continued further in," he continued. "After making my way through, and I tell you, tha last stretch was a doozie, I finally reached the far end of the power plant, and the sun had already begun to set. Looking around, I saw what looked like the remains of an eagle-like mechaniloid, its left eye slashed out, and a gash torn across its chest," he said, making Prairie realize that he'd actually found the remains of Hivolt.*

"However, seeing as it was getting dark, I made my way to the end and was able to find a Transerver in the back. Putting in a set of coordinates I'd been given, I found myself back in a special bunker that Slim had set up in case I needed some place to lay low for a while," Neal continued. "Overall, I'd been able to get some pictures of the Cyber Elves being pumped through the glass tubes in that one hallway, and the remains of the green hawk-like mechaniloid. However, the prior set if pictures would just be labeled as some kind of hoax, and the second couldn't really act as evidence unless I found something to connect Serpent to it, though I kept the pictures all the same."

Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Misty Rain

"A few days later, word got around that a group of people were being captured and being held hostage in Area I, right past Area E where I'd been the day before," he continued.

"Don't tell me you went there too," Prairie stated.

"No. There wasn't any point," Neal answered. "All the hostages had escaped, but the testimony they had from their experience may have proved useful in bringing Serpent down. After doing a bit of digging, I was able to track down a few witnesses through a third party. Disguising myself as a courier, which, ironically, I'd soon become, I approached the first witness, it was an old man and his son. When I asked them what happened, half-lying by saying I was working on a project, they told me that the people, not really people, who were holding them captive were turning them into Cyber Elves," he said, Prairie's eyes widening that he knew this too. "When I said 'Turned into?', they told me that they were stealing people's memories, and trying to scare them before they turned them to Cyber Elves. Taking out a picture from Area H's hallway, they were able to identify that the ones I found were the same kind that people were being turned into. After skirting around how I had a picture of the Cyber Elves in the hallway, I visited a few of the other witnesses, who for the mostpart said the same thing," he continued. "However, a particular piece of testimony from two kids who were held with their mother really drew my attention. They said that right before they were freed, that the sound of a 'really big fight' echoed from the other side of the door to the right of their cell, saying that a minute later, two red-armored super heroes with long golden hair and beam swords came in and freed them by blowing the lock off with their guns. And it was strange, because after looking at the Rayfly's pictures, it did look like something cut into it before making it crash," he said placing a hand on his chin.

'Now that I think about it, that disk left behind by the recon team in Area F and Area J would've been able to discredit Serpent enough to do just what Neal had in mind back then, Prairie thought. Did I really do the right thing by keeping it hidden? Hiding the truth from the public so they wouldn't know that everything was being caused by him?' "What did you do after that?" she asked.

Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - High-press Energy

"Well, it was a couple days later. I had a dream, and in it my parents were talking about how ever since 'two individuals' started conversing with Serpent, that he'd been excavating in the Outlands like a man possessed. Now, most would think that he was looking for more ancient technology to make lives better, but since I was one of the people that he screwed over, I decided to investigate an excavation operation in Area K," he said, Prairie's eyes widening when she realized he was talking about the Lava Zone.

"You went down into an active volcano?" Prairie cried.

"Hey, even after going into off-limits areas, I had still heard the stories. That going down there was a suicide run. Unless I was very sure I'd find something to incriminate Serpent, there was no way in hell I was going down there," he said crossing his arms, Prairie sighing, thankful she wouldn't have to talk about him risking his life in an active volcano. "However..."

Oh boy, Prairie paled, just knowing what was coming.

"After getting the testimony from the people that were freed from Area I, I put out some feelers for people with long golden hair and red armor, and wouldn't you know it, two people matching the description from those kids exactly were spotted going through there," he said, the blond almost urged to chew her nails. "The only way into Area K was through a heavily-fortified red door leading to the area, so, I called up my buddy Slim. Cost me a bit, but I was able to get jury-rigged hacking device that would get me through the door, as well as some heat-resistant gear. It wasn't enough to help me if I fell through the lava, but I had to move fast if I wanted to have any hope of catching up to the two who freed those hostages."

'Vent! Aile! I told you not to run around town in your Megamerged forms!' Prairie thought angrily to herself.

"I won't lie to you. I was scared out of my young mind. Boiling geysers. Crazed Sci-Sensors flying around. Pools of bubbling water. Between that and the heat I was sweating so much, I'm pretty sure I'd sweat out a grape soda I had with Serpent when he came by one time. I only let him in the house to keep up appearances," he narrated. "At the end of the first area, I came to the mouth of one of the active volcanoes, and found footprints leading to the edge," he said, Prairie finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to chew her nails. "Of course, after kicking a rock down and not hearing anything, ever, I knew there was no way in hell that I was going down there."

"So you went home?" Prairie asked hopefully.

"No. I saw a cable overhead, probably connected to a gondola lift, overhead. Looking over to the end, I found that on the other side was what looked like an alternate exit from the excavation site. So, mustering my courage, I climbed up the railing and started shimmying to the other side. I almost fell off a few times, and I'm pretty sure my short life flashed before my eyes a few times, but I was able to make it to the other side," he narrated, Prairie's heart beginning to slow down. "After dropping down, plaform by platform, down a deep utility tunnel, I found myelf in the middle of a transit tunnel going straight through the exploration site. I was covered in sweat, but I pressed on, eventually coming to a room at the heart of the excavation site," he said, looking like he was really caught up in telling his story. "Getting there, I found a myraid of excavation equipment going straight down, and among it, the remains of another mechaniloid, this time mole-shaped. However, that wasn't what really caught my eye. It was that there was evidence that Serpent intended to dig further. I thought the guy was nuts before, but digging down through an active volcano? That's so close to insane, I'm surprised no one saw sooner," he said, finishing his water.

Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Black Burn

"By that point, all I'd had was that people were being turned into Cyber Elves, then being pumped directly into Slither Inc, which, checking background radiation reports that I... procured from one of Slither Inc.'s sub-companies, found out that for years since the maverick raids started has been stockpiling into the top floor. However, there was more to it than that. Remember those feelers I mentioned?" he asked, earning a nod. "Well apparently, the two red-armored golden-haired people had been running all over Cinq-Ville, and with the rumors flying around that Serpent was hiding something, my suspicions were only confirmed when it appeared that Serpent was nearing the ends of his plans," he said as he interlaced his hands, a dark expression on his face that, quite frankly, reminded her of the time that one of the Resistance members tried to make Zero crack up by dying his hair red, only for it to turn pink.

It went without saying, that not only did that Resistance membr get the stuffing kicked out of them, and punched, and alot of other methods of beating the stuffing out of someone, but he wore a dark look similar to the one Neal was wearing right now.

"Right before the end of my investigation, a giant maverick raid took place in Area O, airships bombing that place like there was no tomorrow," he stated. "What more, Serpent's security force was otherwise occupied, and at that time something came to mind. Natural disasters. Mass murderers. The boogeyman. People aren't scared of those things in this day and age. It's maverick raids, and after hearing how those people were being scared before being turned into Cyber Elves, their bodies being used to generate energy which in turn had been stockpiling in Slither. Inc HQ since the place was founded, I realized then and there that whatever was going on, Serpent was definitely involved, considering that no attempts were being made to stop," he explained. "So, cutting through the residential district to Area O, I found that the place was practically crawling, so I suppose counting the ones from when I was an infant and today, I've actually been involved in three maverick raids. Anyway, I made my way through, sometimes setting off my RPPG, having brought energy cells to recharge it with, I eventually heard the sounds of conflict reach my ears," he continued.

'If he tells me that he saw Vent and Aile fight Prometheus and Pandora, I'm stopping the story right here and hit him over the head for being so reckless,' Prairie thought to herself, trying to remain calm.

"I tried to get up there, but a building to my side was suddenly hit by a bomb. Ducking to the side, I was suddenly trapped in the remains of a building, debris blocking my way out. Working quickly, I dug my way out through another opening, right around the time that the sound of the fighting ended, while I wasn't able to collect any evidence, my ears caught something on the wind..." he trailed off nervously. "Model W. At the very mentioning of it I realized that there was only one option left available to me... Go directly to the snake's den, and get a confession out of him. There wasn't any use pussyfooting around. The direct approach was the only one left."

"What were you planning to do after you got the confession? Did you even think he'd talk about it?"

"If he truly was behind everything going on, then it's most likely he wouldn't care whether I'd found out or not," Neal answered. "However, there was one thing I knew for a fact. Serpent was a reploid, and I was a human. I had a grenade that could stop machinery, so all I had to do was tune it just so, and I'd be able to keep him down long enough to escape, run to the authorities and get the word out," he answered. "Thinking back on it, it was a gamble. I was lucky to make it out alive," he said with a heavy sigh. "That night I slept, but the next day, I knew it was do or die time. I almost fell into the latter."

"... What happened?" Prairie asked.

Neal's response was to take a deep breath in, then let it out through his nose. After repeating that motion a few times, he looked her in the eye. "Prairie... The entire time I've been here in your office, talking to you about my past, I've told you things I haven't told anyone else. Ever. I've told you this much, I'll speak all the way to the end. I just... need some time to collect my thoughts," he paused as he rubbed his temples.

"Take all the time you need," Prairie responded as she interlaced her fingers, an old quote coming to her mind as she thought, 'Maybe... Just maybe... I can finally tell someone my story too.'

"Secrets are made to be found out in time." Charles Sanford

---

Mega Man Zero 2 Soundtrack - Labo

Meanwhile back in Fleuve's lab, the silence that had reigned after Model E's question continued to permeate the somewhate steile lab air. Only the gentle hum of machinery, the clicking of the computer, and the slight whoosing of the air conditioning in the background could be heard. Fleuve remained silent, while Model E continued to wait for his suspicions to be confirmed, having nothing but time on his metaphorical hands. Finally after what felt for like forever on the latter's part, the prior turned away from the computer screen and spoke up.

"How do you know that name? Who are you?" Fleuve asked, keeping on guard in the midst of his longest-kept secret being exposed.

"You might look old. Heck, you are old, but your mind is still as sharp as the day I met you," Model E spoke as he floated off the table and face the short scientist. "Still, how could you not remember me? I seem to remember you looked up to me while I led the Resistance. For what short time I did."

" . . . Elpizo? Is that really you?" he said getting a closer look at the disymetrical biometal. "Holy... it is you. I'd recognize that mask anywhere. Well, not when I first saw you because it's been a while, but, well, it's certainly been a long time. Where have you been all this time?"

"Where I've been for the past three centuries isn't important," Model E spoke. "More importantly, and old friend asked me to pass something along to you. Said this would be right up your alley?"

"Old friend... What do you mean?" Fleuve, formally known as Perroquiet, Ciel's former assistant, asked, since there were quite a few people who would fit into the category of old friend.

"Rather than tell you, I think it'd be more prudent to show you," Model E said floating over to the computer. "If you're willing to allow me the use of this terminal and help set up a folder which can only be accessed by you, I'd be willing to do so," he stated, earning a flat look from the scientist. "Yes, I'm aware of what I did back then, and I truly am sorry for betraying Ciel's trust. I should have never commenced Operation Righteous Strike, and I've regretted the losses of those who participated ever since then, but I'm asking you to trust me. If I could get down on my knees, I would, but all I'm able to do in this form is ask for you to trust me."

"... Very well. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," Fleuve said as he began setting up an isolated folder and setting up a few firewalls around an open folder reserved for R&D. "However, if you betray the trust of the Guardians as well, I happen to know of a very good trash compactor that'll put you in your place."

"You have my word that I won't betray that trust," Model E said as he faced the computer, 1s and 0s flying across his optics so fast that they shone white. Within seconds, pages of data began to appear across the screen. Some were research notes, others were blueprints, and some of them contained improvements upon today's technology. However, the way it was illustrated pointed out to only one man, who in his own right was a genius among geniuses, able to work with what little he could and bring it up to par with even the highest-grade technology.

"Cerveau? He asked you to deliver this to me?" Fleuve asked in shock, some of the stuff here years ahead of anything out there today. With half of the stuff, mostly only present in lost technology found scattered across the Outlands, he could increase the Grand Nuage's paramaters in a few months in only what would most likely take years otherwise.

"Yep. Told me to tell you to get off your ass and get to work," he chuckled, earning a flat look from the moustached scientist. "What? Those were his exact words." More or less, he thought to himself.

After a few seconds, he cast off the slightly insulted look before leafing through the plethora of files, organizing them between weapons, research, and potential upgrades for the Grand Nuage. As he was going through them, one of the files he came across seemed to have a stylized E mark on the upper right corner, colored magenta with gold trim. "Hey Elpizo. Why is this file marked with an E?"

"That one was reserved for me to use, so that way when I became a Biometal and found a Chosen One, he wouldn't be fighting with is bare hands," he said motioning to the rapier blueprints. "On another note," he said bringing up the pile for a weapon labened Pile Bunker. "Think you could get this one constructed by the end of the week? I'd like for Neal to have a secondary weapon. A beam rapier doesn't get you as far as it used to."

"Hmmm..." he said looking through the Pile Bunker's files. "It seems to be similar in principal to the energy distribution of both Zero's Recoil Rods and Biometal Model F's Knuckle Busters... though between the two in terms of overall power. Still, if these notes are anything to go by, the Pile Bunker is somewhat more powerful in a way than the both weapons, in that the concussive force is being driven into what it's targeting, rather than being dedicated to creating forward linear momentum, or backwards depending on your perspective," he said after analyzing the notes and diagrams. "Tell you what. After I finish running through all these files and filing them properly, I'll get to work on this after drawing up the re-design for the Pile Bunker. Don't get me wrong, Cerveau's design is as effective and sound as anything out there, but there can still be some improvements made upon it," he said turning to the Biometal.

"Take your time," Model E spoke offhandedly. "I'm more interested in the Pile Bunker being effective, rather than it coming out of production quickly. Especially since someone saw fit to resurrect the Golem mechaniloids and let them loose upon humanity once more."

"You always did have it in you to be dramatic," Fleuve chuckled.

"Hey, going mad with power will do that to a guy," Model E said as he turned the other away, his words conveyed in a tone that would've implied he were crossing his arms if he had any.

---

Mega Man ZX Soundtrack - Snake Eyes

"Figuring that I needed at least some backup, I decided to call up Slim for one last favor before I potentially died," Neal began narrating after collecting his thoughts, ready to lay out the last of his secrets before her. "I had him contact the Hunters Guild for me and was able to get an ASAP job notice out. The person I got was a kid no older than me, but was part of a squad that specialized in espionage and assassination**. Apparently his squad was about to do a big mission, but he needed something to limber up before then. When I got the confirmation, I got into contact with him and told him what I intended to do. He asked how I'd pay him, told him half when we met up, half after. Five minutes later we meet at the Transerver station, then dropped into Slither Inc. through the Transerver usually reserved for employees, using a code my dad had left behind in case of emergencies," he began, Prairie finding it surprising that she hadn't thought of contracting the Hunters to supplement her forces during the maverick raids.

"When we got there however, the place was quiet as a grave," he continued. "I expected some security or something, but there was no one there. A total dead zone. The cubicles around us were vacated too, computers left on signifying the workers were rushed out in a hurry. Making our way through the main hallway, we came across downed Galleons, some of them were sliced in half, while others were missing big pieces of them. But what really caught my eye, was the fact that they were still warm. It meant that we were right behind the people who were cutting through Serpent's security forces," he explained, Prairie's eyes widening in surprise. "We eventually made our way to the freight elevator that led all the way to the top floor of Slither Inc. However, it had already left, but I wasn't willing to give up. The person I hired-"

"You didn't know his name?"

"I didn't ask questions, he didn't ask any," Neal replied. "Anyway, my partner found an air duct off to the side, and was able to determine that it lead to the top. Setting up a harness, he passed me a set of magnetic boots while he took the gloves. While it sounds stupid, it was actually a good idea. While I pushed us up from the bottom, he pulled us upwards, and when we made it to the halfway mark, we found a branching vent where we were able to change gear, and we were able to get through the last stretch all the way to the top."

Flashback

"Rgh! Rgh! Argh!" Neal cursed as he kicked the grate to the air vent off, letting it fall to the floor before he stuck his legs out before letting himself fall, crouching to distribute his weight before looking around. "It's all clear," he said up into the vent, moving to the side as his "partner in crime" dropped down. He didn't know much about the guy aside from his appearance, and in all likelihood, he'd rather keep it that way.

The kid was thin, a bit taller than him, red angled eyes, spiky purple hair, and a triangle on his forehead signalling that he was a reploid. He wore a purple sleeveless jacket with yellow trim, purple pants that stopped just below his knees with yellow rings around tem, and yellow rings with purple shoes with dark purple soles. He wore a black skintight suit, underneath, had white-fingered black gloves, but most notably a red scarf that covered the lower part of his face.

"It's like the rest. A total dead zone," he returned as he looked around. "Just what are you looking into?"

"Taking down a celebrated hero," Neal spat in disgust at the last word.

"... My older brother would like you. Maybe even if you weren't paying," he returned.

"Thanks. I guess," Neal said priming his grenade, set to go off two seconds after deployment. "The next time I bring this thing out, you run. This thing will fry your circuits just as easily as they will Serpent. After that we'll have five minutes before we've got mechaniloid patrols on our asses."

Flashback End

"When I got there, just like at Area E, there were Cyber Elves all over the place. These ones weren't as fresh, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that all of them were being pumped into the next room at the end of the hall," he continued after thinking back on it. "As I neared the door, the sound of conflict came from the other side. At the time I wasn't in the clearest state of mind. As I made my way up the air vent throught he Slither Inc. head office building, what guiding me wasn't bravery a sense of justice or anything like that. At that time... it was hate. Hate for him and everything he's taken from me," he said clenching his fist in the memory. "Little did I know that was what he wanted all along. In fact, he may've known about my efforts all that time and only let me persist because of my hate."

Flashback (Being Narrated)

Neal and his accomplice found that the door refused to open. As though whomever was on the other side intended for it to host a private audience. Reaching into his pouch, his partner took out some blasting gel and set it to the center of the chitinous door where all eight plates came together. Stepping behind one of the cylinders, he set them off, the explosion only taking out the plates on the outside.

"There's no way around it. Looks like I'll have to use more blasting gel," he said as he set some more onto the inside of the door, then ducked down before setting it off. "It's the best I can do. Don't have enough blasting gel to take this thing out."

"Figured that was the case," Neal sighed. "However, it sounded like Serpent was getting the shit kicked out of him in there. I may as well watch," he said stepping up to the door. "You wanna watch too?"

"If I wanted to watch a guy get his ass kicked, I'd do it myself," he huffed, stepping aside so Neal could get on his tiptoes and peer into the door. Inside were the two gold-haired figures from the stories, the descriptions doing them no justice. However, what really caught his eye was that Serpent, now wearing some kind of black, white, and yellow-trimmed jumpsuit with orange cones and jewels in it was now on his knees, apparently having had the shit kicked out of him.

"Gyahahaha!" Serpent then cackled.

"What's so funny, Serpent?" the figure on the right, probably male, spat.

"It's just as Prometheus and Pandora said. You are the final key. Right now... you are being driven by a powerful emotion..." he said as he raised his arms above his head. "Emotion so powerful it exceeds even mine!" he cackled, and at that moment, Neal saw it. What he would years later know as the Model W Core.

In the back was an irregularly-shaped gold-colored plate. On the upper left was a round red jewel with a white plate shaped like a bird's head, a pair of black lines inlaid into it. Behind it were three matching plates, one pointing upwards and to the side like a wing, while the other two were below it, pointing downward. Behind it were numerous glowing pipes, connected to-

Flashback End

"What happened next?" Prairie suddenly demanded, Neal taken aback by her anxiousness at his story.

"The next moment I found myself on the ground, like a piece of my heart had been ripped out," Neal said clutching his heart. "A few seconds later my partner helped me off the ground, and it was then that I found out what had been taken from me."

Flashback (Being Narrated)

"My transformation was canceled! What's... going on?" a feminine voice cried from the other room.

"The emotion driving you right now... That emotion is not bravery... It's not born out of some sense of righteousness... It's hate. Your hate for me and everything I've taken from you," Serpent's voice cackled madly.

"What?" the male voice demanded.

"Hahaha... Gyahahahahaha! The new age is beginning right now before your very eyes. The age of the Mega Man... The destined ruler!" Serpent's voice cackled.

"That means... I was the key for awakening Model W? All of the pain... All of the fighting... Was a mistake?" a feminine voice asked weakly.

Flashback End

"For the next minute or so, it sounded like the two were talking to someone, but I in all honesty have no idea," Neal said rubbing his head. "All I was really able to catch from inside was something about ruling the world, and for the next few minutes, it sounded like there was a large-scale struggle taking place. However... Serpent's final words... they burned themselves into my head forever," he said cupping his hands around his mouth and lowering his voice. "The destiny of destruction... still awaits... So long as you have hearts, hate will lurk in the shadows... You who possess the wellspring of emotion known as the heart... You are the true Mavericks!" he said mimicking a dark, twisted voice. "The guy may've been a nutjob, but... I can't help but think what he said was true," he said resting his arm on his elbow. "The hatred I felt towards him. I know that it only made that Model W thing stronger. That it made those two's battle all the much harder. Even if it's just the hate of one person, I let it drive me, and that one ball of hate could've very well made things turn out differently."

"And what happened at the end?" Prairie asked, feeling for this boy as he continued to beat himself up over something that happened years ago. For feeling emotions that were perfectly normal for someone of his straits.

Flashback (Being Narrated)

After Serpent's final words, Neal was still leaned up against the wall, and the building began to collapse.

"Left... breast pocket..." Neal sighed, causing his partner to look down at him. "Left breast pocket... That's where the money is..." he said as ceiling panels began to give out. "This place is coming down... Even if I asked you... to drag me back to the bottom... you might not make it," he said as the shaking continued to worsen. "You don't deserve to die like this... you can continue living... Me... I've got nothing left," he sighed, his eyes drooping shut as he felt the Hunter lift his jacket and pull something from his pocket. A second later he heard footsteps moving away from him.

Mom... Dad... Looks like I'll be seeing you sooner rather than later, he thought to himself, resigning himself to his fate.

---

Back at the lab, Fleuve and Model E were staring one another down. Fleuve's hands were on the table, his eyes narrowed as Model E floated lazily in front of his face.

"Blink."

"How'd you even convince me to a staring contest?" Fleuve cried, as it wasn't Model E who had blinked, but simply him saying blink and making Fleuve blink as a result.

"I was bored, and you're as naive as you were back then," Model E chuckled heartily, honestly not remembering when he had so much fun. "Though I have to ask, Prairie looks around fourteen now, as opposed to her being a child back then, while on the other hand, you pass yourself off as an elderly man with a beard and moustache. I have to ask. Why?"

"Well, Prairie needed charisma to lead the Guardians after Ciel disappeared," Fleuve stated. "As for me, I wanted people to take me seriously. Doesn't really help if you look like a lab assistant now does it?"

"You got that shape from a kung fu movie didn't you?" Model E asked.

"Don'chu mock the moustache!" the scientist said with narrowed eyes.

---

"When I came too, I found myself in a back alley somewhere," Neal said finishing that part of his tale. Prairie had gotten nervous when he told her he'd been left behind, but figured he must've gotten out of there somehow. Otherwise, he wouldn't be sitting in front of her right now. "To tell the truth, I don't really know if that kid got me out of there, or if it was some sort of miracle. However, since I didn't even know the guy's name, I couldn't ask him myself, so I just decided to let sleeping dogs lie," he continued. "After I oriented myself, I was able to make my way home. Felt like I slept for a week."

"What happened after that?" Prairie asked.

"When I got back up, only two days later, it was all over the news channels. An energy fluctuation at Slither Inc. had caused one of the energy conductors to break off, destroying an eighth of Inner Peace. The death count was unknown, but it had to have been alot," he said. "So, somehow I was still alive, and I had the rest of my life ahead of me. Serpent was gone, as were the secrets he carried, but that wasn't important anymore. What happened up there, it really made me think," he said looking out the window. "In my anger, I indirectly helped Serpent. I don't really know everything that went on up in that tower, and I don't know if those gold-haired guys made it out of there or not, but what I learned..." he said turning back to her. "I couldn't let hate be the force that drives me. Power fueled by hate isn't power at all. Only wrath, which can become blinded by anger. That's why I swore from then on, that I would go the straight and narrow. With the collapse of Slither Inc. and the disappearance of his holdings, I decided to become a courier and deliver letters, packages, and messages, using the shortcuts I mapped out and made a decent living, supplementing how much I spent of the money my parents left after they died, or... were offered as sacrifices to Model W," he said sadly before shaking his head.

"After that, I spent the next few years living in my parent's house, breezing through online AP classes, taking aptitude tests when they came up, did my work as a courier, and even made a little money off the stock markets. Figured after everything I did in trying to bring down Serpent, that juggling all that around the rest of my life would be a cinch," he said with a smile on his face, which in turn, caused Prairie to smile too. "Anyway, four years and nine months after my parents died, I get off the train to Legion looking for a tech job, find a magical talking paperweight and become some kind of superhero, adopt a girl who lost her mother to a maverick raid, nearly get myself killed by a crazy chick who I suspect is really a guy named Chuck, and then after getting rescued, I tell a pretty girl my life's story. All in all, I think I've led a good life," he said leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes, only for them to suddenly widen when he realized what he let slip out. "Ah! Wait! I didn't mean that! I mean, I did mean it. I think you are cute. But I didn't mean to say it out loud," he suddenly shot off. "Oogh. I must sound like a total spaz right now."

"N-No. I don't think so," Prairie returned, thankful that the lights had been slightly dimmed from the beginning. "So... do you have any regrets? About your actions I mean?"

"Well... I suppose it's the fact that while Serpent got what he had coming to him, I never truly found out what was really going on," he answered. "For the ten years onward before I was born, the maverick raids were all a part of Serpent's plot. A plot that would give him the power to rule the world, built on the sacrifices of those who thought he was a hero. I tried to cast it aside, but a part of me always wanted to know just where Model W came from. Serpent had been digging in the Outlands for years, and knowing that made me wonder... What kind of world was it back then? What kind of monster could create something like Model W, then leave it behind for some other nutjob to find in the distant future? The world I knew growing up before my parents died was a lie, constructed by Serpent to further his plan towards an end. While my parent's love was real, and they were real, even the loneliness I felt was real, the world around me was fake... and it terrifies me because now, there are even more questions I don't have answers for," he said hanging his head. "I'm afraid the entire world may be a lie, and that frightens me..." he trailed off, sounding more like a scared child than ever before.

"...What if I could give you those answers?" Prairie asked, causing his eyes to shoot open. "What if I could tell you about those times? When the ancient technology of today was created back then? What if... I could tell you where Model W really came from?" she asked, feeling after everything he'd been through, everything he'd seen, he deserved to know the truth.

"Then I'd listen," Neal answered. "But first I nead a drink. All this talking has left my throat dry," he sighed.

"Here. You've said alot," she said passing him another bottle, this one being his third. "Don't you... you know, need the bathroom or something?"

"N-No. I'm fine," he said scratching the back of his head and took a sip. "Oh, and Prairie... Thanks for listening."

"And thank you for telling me," Prairie said. "But... was it hard to lay your life's story out in front of me like you did?"

"Well... At first it was. I mean, I was telling something I hadn't told anyone, not even my closest friends that I actually made after Slither Inc. fell, to a complete and total stranger," he admitted, Prairie feeling a bit crestfallen at being considered 'a complete and total stranger'. "But, the moment I looked into your eyes, I saw something just, and righteous, and pure. At that moment I knew after so long, I could finally tell my life's story," he said with a smile. "I'm really glad I met you, Commander Prairie."

"Please, just call me Prairie," she returned fondly, not knowing how long it had been since she'd sat back and just talked to someone.

---

At the same time right outside the bridge, Vent and Aile had remained right outside the door in case Prairie called for them, but so far they'd been standing out there for what felt like an hour. What could one guy have to say that would take up so much time?

"What could one guy have to say that would take so much time?" Vent poignantly asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he's just a complicated individual with alot to say," Aile said while stretching her arms above her head.

"Hmmm... What could the two of them be doing in there?" the man wondered aloud as he leaned against the wall, adopting a thinking pose. A minute later his sister noticed the red tinge on her brother's cheeks and slapped him across the face.

"Vent! How could you think something like that?" she screeched.

"You don't even know what I was thinking!" Vent shouted back.

"It was written all over your face!" Aile yelled in reply, the Guardians on that floor steering clear of that area lest they incur the brown-haired Guardian's wrath.

---

"Neal, like yours, to really tell you where Model W really came from, I have to start my tale at the beginning," Prairie said, having turned up the lights and walked over to the shelf, taking one of the picture frames before setting it in front of here. On it was a picture taken from a time from when she went by a different name, and standing beside her was a woman who, like Neal's parents, was no longer of that world and quite possibly by the same hands. Neal had trusted her with his secrets, and she figured it was time to trust hers to someone else.

"21XX: The Maverick Wars were ongoing. An undefined amount of time later, a maverick by the name of Sigma was destroyed by a Maverick Hunter by the name of X, otherwise known as Mega Man X," Prairie began, Neal's eyes widening as he caught the word 'Mega Man'. "Shortly after, a Maverick Hunter by the name of Zero is sealed away, his body studied by scientists, slated to be awakened in 102 years, after being marked as the supposed source of the Maverick Virus, the driving force of the Maverick Wars. By analyzing him, scientists were able to create Cyber Elves, constructs of pure energy with artificial intelligence, intenved for the sole purpose of ending the Maverick Wars, a sentient program by the name of Mother Elf being created, in order to return Maverick reploids to a normal state."

"22XX: The Maverick Wars have ended, and Neo Arcadia, a major city-state where humans and reploids can live in peace, is created. Shortly after, Mother Elf is stolen by a man named Dr. Weil who turns her into the Dark Elf, instigating the Elf Wars with her power. This four-year period was so violent that it left much of the world barren, destroyed 90% of the planet's mechaniloids and killed 60% of the planet's humans. During this time, Zero's body is stolen and used to construck Omega, a reploid constructed for the purpose of ending the Elf Wars by combining with the Dark Elf and controlling all reploids. However, the Maverick Hunter known as Zero is given a new body to fight with containing his original body and soul, and eventually, they are able to defeat him. Dr. Weil was banished from Neo Arcadia, punished by being encased in a Regenerative Armor, which will force his body to survive and "suffer" forever, as he is forced into the wastes that his own war had created. Likewise, Omega's body is sealed and banished to space. Afterwards, Zero, in his new body, is sealed up once again."

"23XX: Neo Arcadia has prospered for a hundred years, but the ongoing energy crisis causes reploids to be unjustly slated as Mavericks, and "retired" in various fashions. At the age of 9, a human girl by the name of Ciel migrates with Reploid refugees to a ruined city outside of Neo Arcadia, knowing they were falsly accused, and that the one behind it all was of her own creation, which she had created three years prior. At the age of fourteen, she follows rumors of a forgotten laboratory, searching for the legendary Maverick Hunter Zero, who has remained in stasis since the end of the Elf Wars, and may be able to help them protect reploids from an unjust fate. After being is awakened, he joins the Resistance, and acts as a type of guardian for them, performing the mission no one else could. After fighting Neo Arcadia's forces, including the Four Guardians of Neo Arcadia, Harpuia, Fefnir, Leviathan, and Phantom, Zero confronts the ruler of Neo Arcadia, who is only but a copy of the original X, whose location at that time is unknown. Afterwards, Zero disappears into the outlands. During this time, a reploid by the name of Elpizo, formally Serial Number TK-421, helps the Resistance move to a new, more high-tech base."

That's Elpizo! He's from as far back as 2300? Neal thought to himself in shock, but kept his face neutral, lest Prairie stop telling the world's true history.

"After the defeat of Copy X, Zero had been wandering around the Outlands in a state disrepair, fighting off wave after wave of Pantheons since then. Meanwhile, the remaining three Guardians, Phantom having sacrificed himself trying to hinder Zero's assault on Area X, have assumed control of Neo Acradia in place of Copy X, whom the people thought to be the original X. One year later, Zero collapses in the outlands, only to be delivered to the new Resistance Base by who we now know was Harpuia of Neo Arcadia's remaining Four Guardians. At that time, my sister is in the process of trying to solve the Energy Crisis in an attempt to save reploids from the persecution of humans and unfair "retirement". It is during this time however, that Elpizo, who at the time is commanding the Resistance forces, initiates Operation Righteous Strike, which he believed could successfully overthrow Neo Arcadia with the loss of both Copy X, and the Guardian Phantom. However, the campaign ends in failure, from which he was the only survivor. Being driven mad by his failure, Elpizo attempts to gain congrol the Dark Elf, the instigator of the Elf Wars, in an attempt to destroy all humans. Using the Dark Elf's power, Elpizo breaks into the temple at Yggdrasil, destroying the body of the original X, which at the founding of Neo Arcadia, had been fused to once deceased tree, Giganto Bole, and acted as a seal for the Dark Elf since then. Fortunately, Zero was able to prevent Elpizo from releasing the Dark Elf's power against the world, and after he repents, Cyber Elf X, the disconnected soul of the original X, tells Zero of the Dark Elf's true nature."

So that's why Elpizo seemed saddened... It was about what happened back then. Being remembered for his failues, and then for becoming a villain, Neal thought to himself. The pain he must've felt must've been incredible. I should probably apologize for that villain comment, even if I didn't say it myself.

"Two months later, April: During this time, an unofficial truce is made between the Resistance and Neo Arcadia, as Ciel had been able to solve the energy crisis by developing the Ciel System, an alternate energy souce that could generate near-infinite amounts of energy. Meanwhile, the spaceship containing the body of Omega crashes to Earth, and Zero as well as the remaining Guardians step forward to face the 'sleeping giant'. Shortly after their first encounter, a recreation of Copy X appears, and admits the scientist Dr. Weil, as his advisor, whom we would later find out created the copy of Copy X for his own ends. After challenging the Resistance to who shall obtain the Dark Elf first, the truce between the two factions ends. Later, Weil and Copy X launch a missile at a densely-populated area that humans live in, carrying Omega once they locate the Drk Elf. Zero then acts as the counter offensive against Neo Arcadia, when Ciel refused to give the Ciel System to a government that would willingly kill thousands of people to attain their own goals. Shortly later, Zero defeats the copy made of Copy X, Weil assuming control of Neo Arcadia, and then labels the Resistance as terrorist. After having manipulated the grieving humans of Neo Arcadia, Weil then used Omega in combination with the Dark Elf to seize control of all reploids. It is at that time that forcing his way into Neo Arcadia, Zero comes into conflict with Omega, who as you may know, is Zero's original body. Upon the brink of death, it is revealed that Omega is Zero's original body, and Dr. Weil tells Zero that if he destroys Omega, he will forever be trapped in a false body. Cyber Elf X however, tells Zero that while the body of Omega is the original, the heart and mind he contains is the original, and with that prompting, Zero destroys hiss body, accepting his face in a false body. In the resulting explosion, Cyber Elf X tells Zero that he is no longer able to remain in the human world, 'passing the torch' to his old partner. At this time, the Guardians die in the explosion, shielding Zero from the blast. However, the Dark Elf, once contained within the body of Omega, returns to her true form as Mother Elf, and returns Zero to the Resistance base shortly after Harpuia, Fefnir, and Levaithan's sacrifice."

Woah... All that happened, and yet none of it is taught anymore. I certainly wouldn't sleep through history class if it were this exciting, Neal thought to himself practically on the edge of his seat, imagining what it must've been like back then.

"Five months later, December: After the destruction of both the replication Copy X, and the remaining Guardians, Weil usurps absolute control of Neo Arcadia, using the people's ignorance to do so without any form of opposition. Those who do oppose his rule are labeled as Mavericks, just as easily as the reploids were before. Hence, under his dictatorship, humans begin leaving Neo Arcadia for the Outlands in the form of caravans, one such band being led by a woman named Neige, a journalist who spoke out against Weil's tyranny before leaving upon being slated as Maverick. The Resistance, who had since split up into a mobile and stationary unit, assisted the convoy to Area Zero, the last known inhabitable area outsideof Neo Arcadia, where the remains of the Eurasia space colonly fell to Earth before the Maverick Wars. Soon afterward, Zero learns of a plot to destroy Area Zero, led by Craft, who was Weil's second-in-command, leading eight Mutos Reploids under the banner of the Einherjar Eight Warriors. Throught the course of Operation Ragnarok, Weil would destroy any and all habitable areas outside of Neo Arcadia, thereby forcing all humans to return to him and remain under his rule and heel. In response, Zero set out to destroy the Einherjar Eight who threatened Area Zero. However, it was only a distraction, as Weil has obtained enough time to complete the destruction of the space station Ragnarok, which, when in position, would easily be able to destroy Area Zero with a previously unknown weapon, now believe to be an Energen Plasma Beam***. On December 16th however, Commander Craft rebels against Weil, and instead of targeting Area Zero, fires upon Neo Arcadia instead in an attempt to destroy Weil's tyrany, the casualties estimated to be over 20,000,000. While Zero put an end to Craft's control of the Ragnarok and permanently disabled the controls for the main weapon, and the Resistance forces rescued as many survivors of the blast as they could from the crater that was once Neo Arcadia, Weil is able to teleport directly intot he Ragnarok afterwards, having only survived because of the regeneration armor that had been grafted to him centuries before. When Weil attempts to manually crash the Ragnarok into Area Zero, which contained the last living example of active photosynthesis Zero teleported himself up to Weil to put an end to his plot. Weil however, reveals to Zero that he is indeed human, and not a Maverick like he once suspected, then going as far as to say that Zero will be incapable of killing him, lest he be labeled a Maverick. However, Zero then says that he does not care about justice or being called a Maverick, but that he only cares about protecting the ones he cares for. Weil, fusing to the Ragnarok core, and then with the entire Ragnarok itself, maintained the crash course with Area Zero. As the station's speed increased, nearing the point that he will be unable to return to Earth via Transerver, Zero destroys Weil as well as the Ragnarok core before it can reach the atmosphere," she told, taking a drink of water herself as her expression saddened. "On Earth, the Resistance, the survivors, Ciel, and myself, saw the explosion above, and realized... that Zero did not escape. On that day, Ciel promised to make a peaceful place for humans and reploids. In the end, all we were able to find in the crater where the Ragnarok's fragments landed were a few of the charred remains of the Ragnarok, and Zero's broken helmet."

"Weil... Model W... are you telling me..." Neal said as his eyes widened in realization.

"You realize correctly," Prairie said, seeing the look of recognition in Neal's eyes. "The Model W Core, the part of Model W you saw that day five years ago, was the piece of the Ragnarok from the center of the crash site that contained the soul of that man from long ago. After finding it, my sister eventually created the Biometal Model X, Z, H, F, L, and P, with the power of X, Zero, Harpuia, Fefnir, Levaithan, and Phantom, in order to counteract it."

"But if what you're saying is true... then that would also mean you're a reploid from over two hundred years ago," Neal said as the pieces came together.

"That's right," Prairie nodded. "While reploids began getting installed with lifespans, shortly around the time that the Sage Trinity formed to replace Neo Arcadia as the world government, no artificial lifespan was ever placed upon me, so theoretically, I could continue living for another hundred years."

"Well in all honesty you don't look that old. In fact you look young enough to be fourteen. Fifteen at the most," Neal complimented.

"Thank you Neal," Prairie returned at the compliment. "Like how I'm the first person you've told your life's story to, you yourself are the first person I have ever told my life's story too."

"Well then, Prairie, I'm glad we could be each other's firsts," Neal said with a fond smile.

"Yeah, I am too," Prairie returned fondly as well. However, the two of them then looked away from eachother when they heard a sharp intake of air, their gazes turning to the doorway to see that Vent, Aile, Gardenia, Tulip, and Marguerite had been standing by the open office door, all of their jaws dropped to the point where if they weren't attached they'd be on the floor. At that moment, the two blushed as red as the legendary Maverick Hunter Zero's armor, and long silence permeating the air.

Thankfully someone had placed the ship on autopilot, otherwise things would've been worse then they actually had been.

---

To put it simply, all hell broke loose moments later.

The moment their statements were misheard, both Prairie and Neal began sputtering out wildly about how what the five had heard was a misunderstanding, and that they didn't mean it in the sexual context. Vent however clapped a hand on Neal's shoulder and congratulated him on "bagging a real catch" causing Prairie to blush even moreso, while Aile on the other hand blushed in anger when he went as far as to say "And to your Commanding Officer no less? That's bold." Her take on the situation was to punch Vent over the head and made him eat carpet. On the third -or third through fifth- hand(s), Gardenia, Tulip, and Marguerite all blushed wildly, but then began asking both Prairie and Neal how the other was, Tulip commenting on how they'd been in there for more then an hour, and Marguerite commening "so that's why your office is soundproofed". Gardenia on the other hand tried to keep a level head through the whole thing, though it didn't help that she was blushing all the way up into her visor

Eventually, both Prairie and Neal were able to get the five back under control, unintentionally working together to get the point across that nothing of that nature had happened, and showing that thet wo had some level of synergy between them. Though they were eventually able to convince Gardenia and Aile that nothing had happened, Vent, Tulip, and Marguerite somehow held firm to the belief that the two had done something sexual with the way they were looking at one another. Prairie however put her foot down, in that case accidentally onto Vent's face, and made them swear to absolute secrecy that they would tell no one about what they heard, and that they would take what they heard to their graves if they had to.

Getting nods from the five, Prairie apologized to Neal about what had happened, who in return said he should've worded his thoughts a bit more carefully. When Aile and Gardenia asked what they really meant, they only said it was something they'd tell the others when they were ready, Neal moreso than Prairie though.

---

"Fleuve should be done examining your Biometal right now," Prairie said as she, Neal, Vent and Aile left the bridge towards Fleuve's lab, while the three Operators returned to their posts. "I have an idea of who your Biometal may be, but I want to confirm it with my own eyes."

"That's understandable," Neal replied. "If anything, I'll want to get to know the guy better. Ladies first," he said motioning to the door.

"Why thank you Neal. I know someone who could learn a thing or two from you," Aile said, patting the dark-haired teen on the shoulder as she and the blond passed. Vent grumbled to himself as Neal entered the lab behind him. "Fleuve, you finished examining Model E?"

"That I am," he said as a list printed out. "By the way, Vent, Aile, when you can, I need for the two of you to go on a part run. Each of you take half the list and bring the requested items to me when you're able to," he said passing the list to Vent and Aile, who looked it over before Vent spoke up.

"Most of these are Transerver parts," Vent said recognizing a few of the parts on the list. "Don't we already have one?"

"Let's just say I'm working on a special project, and leave it at that," Fleuve said with a knowing smile. "Anyway Neal, here's your Biometal. Chatty little guy isn't he?"

"Like as much as a magical paperweight can be," Neal said taking the Biometal in hand before holding it out to Prairie. For a minute she didn't say anything, simply staring at the Biometal, a sense of tension rising in the lab. A moment later she said something Vent and Aile thought they'd never hear the soft-spoken commander say.

"If you betray the Guardian's trust, I happen to know a very good trash compactor that'll put you in your place," she said darkly.

"You know, Fleuve here said the exact same thing," Model E said, a sweatdrop somehow forming on the back of his... everything.

"Hey Elpizo, there's something that's been bugging me for a while since the plaza," Neal said looking down at his biometal suspiciously. "When that WARNING WARNING banner appeared in my visor right as I was about to face that giant mechaniloid, were you the one who put that on there? Because I doubt I was hallucinating."

"I thought it should serve as an early-warning system for potential Boss and Sub-Boss fights," Model E explained, emphasizing those words.

"I'm pretty sure I'd recognize a Boss Fight when I see one!" Neal said while his eyebrows twitched.

"Were we ever this... vocal to our Biometal?" Aile asked.

"In all honesty, I still have no idea who are in Model X and Z," Vent said with crossed arms as he watched Neal and Prairie poke and prod the Biometal with questions. "It's like they're disciplining their child," he chuckled.

"STAY OUT OF THIS VENT/YOU HIPPIE!" Prairie and Neal shouted respectively.

---

After leaving Fleuve's lab and meeting back up with Rose, Lily and Neal were escorted around the Grand Nuage as part of their orientation, though Vent and Aile did that since Prairie had spent enough time away from the helm, and didn't want any rumors spreading. Especially afte the first misunderstanding in their office. During the tour as Lily watched some TV in the lounge with a couple of female Guardians, Neal pulled Vent and Aile aside and told them about how Lily's mother had died, and how she'd come to be under his care. When asking how he was going to break it to her that her mother was gone, for good, Aile was the one to impart some wisdom to the dark-haired teen, who reminded them of Giro, if only in that he adopted a child surviving a maverick raid as well.

Aile noted that Lily appeared to be somewhere between five and six, and that while she was old enough have an actual idea of what death was, the concept itself would be difficult for her to grasp because she was just so used to her mother being around her all the time. While Lily had actually seen her mother die, she may now have known for a fact that that had happened or that she was simply putting on a brave face. Much like Vent and Aile did when they lost their mom, but left out the part about Giro since it was a touchy subject for the both of them. Aile mentioned though that children were adaptable, the subject had to be delivered carefully, otherwise they may cause some psychological damage at an impressionable age. In response, Neal told them that he'd tell her the next day, rather then wait it out, and that when he did so, he'd ease her into it slowly, then give her all the love he could, like his parents before him when he was lonely. Of course, he left out all the details about his past as well because, while he'd told Prairie his life's story, he wasn't ready to spread it around, and his past may be the kind of thing that he shared only with Prairie.

Nodding in response, Vent and Aile wished him the best of luck, the prior seeing a bit of Giro in him at the prospect of caring for a child. Sure, the Guardians would do some of the work too, but Neal had just been dragged into something much bigger than himself, so that was understandable. Even then though, the Grand Nuage was a great place to bring a person up, among people who were kind and righteous, since while everyone in the Guardians had their quirks, they were all good people, and the two brown-haired Mega Men knew that they were the kind of people Lily needed around her growing up.

Later after the rest of orientation, Neal and Lily were shown to a room on the top floor of the Grand Nuage where they'd be staying from then on. It was a plain room, similar in layout to the other rooms that the Guardians lived in. Theirs was on the right side of the ship down the hall and around the corner from the elevator, giving them a small window on the side giving them a view of the world outside their new home, since they had nowhere to go back to as long as there were Mega Men out there. There were a pair of metal bureaus where they'd put their stuff, a fold-out table and benches on the wall, a desk with a lamp, and a bunk bed, the window right beneath the top bunk.

At the moment the sun had begun to set, and the two had been urged to get a good night's sleep. Lily had been sleeping by Neal's side in the infirmary up 'til now and hadn't left since he was admitted, opting to remain on a stool and rest her head at his side. She was so adamant about staying by his side, that Rose had to bring her meals to her. In fact the only time she did leave his side was to go to the bathroom, but even then it was usually a five minute trip before she was back at his side, and since she hadn't bathed since they came to the Grand Nuage, she was a tad ripe, even though the blood and grime had been cleaned off her skin and out of her clothes, which consisted of donations given by some of the smaller Guardians. There was a co-ed bathroom next door, so Lily was able to get that taken care of before going to bed.

Lily, being the child she was, enthusiastically rushed to and claimed the top bunk. Neal on the other hand sedatedly chose to sleep in the bottom bunk where he could see the skyline when he woke up. While Neal wore a plain white T and his boxers, Lily slept in an oversized T-shirt donated by one of the older Guardians, and the underwear she had with her. They'd have to get some child-sized clothes for her later since, the last person who was remotely close to her size was a boy named Sardine, and that was five years ago.

It was now night time, and as the Grand Nuage sailed through the skies, Neal himself surprised that something that large could move through the sky so silently, movement on the bedsprings above him roused him from his slumber, Lily's head hanging over the edge of her bunk a moment later.

"Neal...? Are you awake?"

"I am now," he yawned as he sat up. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, um, I didn't mean to wake you, but..." she trailed off as her eyes drifted to the side.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm not mad," Neal asked trying to reassure her that it was alright.

"...Can I sleep with you tonight?" she asked nervously. "I'm... lonely..." she trailed off, still getting over what happened the other day.

"...Sure. Go ahead," he said lifting up the covers. "Bring your pillow if you want."

"Thank you," Lily said with a smile as she disappeared over the edge of the bed, her little feet padding down the ladder a moment later with her pillow in hand as Neal moved over to the wall, Lily laying her pillow next to his and hopping onto the bed, pulling the covers up to her neck. "Good night *yawn* Neal..." she trailed off, her eyelids closing as she leaned into him, using his chest as a pillow, her tiny hand fisting his shirt after a few minutes.

"...Good night *yawn* Lily," Neal returned with a yawn, slightly taken aback by the closeness, but put an arm over her protectively as the blonde curled up to his chest a moment later. I'll keep your little girl safe. I promise, he thought to Lily's mom as he finally let sleep claim him, not noticing the faint silhouette hanging outside the window before disappearing into the cloudline, a smile on its lips as it evaporated into the ether.

---

Meanwhile in the "throne room" of Legion HQ, Master Thomas, remaining member of the Sage Trinity, sat top his throne, a disappointed look on his face. It had taken three days to do "damage control" from that transmission that went over the high band during Atlas' highway pursuit of the newest Mega Man as he escaped from Plaza 7, the two Model X Mega Men escorting. Not only that, but Plaza 7 had to be sealed off, the carnage and destruction cleaned, and he had to make it look like the new Golem Mechaniloids, which would've been stationed at high-security points through Legion, became Irregulars on their own.

To exempt some form of control over those competing in the Game of Destiny, yet giving them enough freedoms so they wouldn't consider that they were being manipulated, he had given Aeolus, Atlas, Thetis, and Siarnaq control of a special branch of Legion's militia each. The Jin'en Gundan, placed under Atlas' command due to both her previous experience in military affairs, as well as the fact that her own Biometal was focused on the capabilities of ground combat, had been leased the blueprints for the ancient giant mechaniloids, the Golems, and had recently been rebuilt with more recent technology, these ones given legs to supplement the high energy cost of the floater units they were previously driven by.

However, this wasn't on his mind right now, as even after causing untold damages during the Golem's "field test", something he wasn't completely opposed to, but neither was completely supportive of either, he was still furious because he had to make it look like that the Jin'en Gundan were not mavericks, and that it was only a misunderstanding on Donna Reeves part. After the mostly successful field test, the Guardians acting as he'd predicted they would, Thomas had witnessed the advent of a new player in the Game of Destiny, and wanted to... persuade him to admit his way of thinking. However, instead she stomped around like a drunkard, letting her anger get the better of her.

The injuries she experienced were for the most part superficial; a fractured jaw and a broken nose. Her armor had protected her from the rest, though it didn't change that she had lost consciousness from the concussive force of the event. After her defeat however, she had become harder to keep in line, lashing out at anyone who passed her, making it difficult for people to not question why she was there. She'd already thrown one person out a window, and it took a deal of time and money to convince the only witnesses that they weren't looking at the whole picture, but as she was, her usefulness to him would come to an end.

'Sometimes I wonder if this is how X felt when he was keeping those inbred clones of his in line,' he thought, thinking back to the Four Guardians of Neo Arcadia, Harpuia, Fefnir, Levaithan, and Phantom. Aeolus was at the least tactful enough to keep his cool and run the tests on his mechaniloids in secret, and while Thetis' overt obsession to the environment made him a bit too childish from his own good, his dedication made him easy to guide and manipulate. If it was any consolation, Siarnaq seemed to be using his given forces as well, if not better, than Phantom himself had originally.

It was at this very moment that Atlas, the Field Commander of the Jin'en Gundan, and Iapetus, Sub-Commander of the Jin'en Gundan, were kneeled before him. Atlas at the moment had a cast over her nose from when it had to be reset, and the look on her face told her she was furious at having to even wear the damn thing. Iapetus on the other hand had a look on his face that showed he was conflicted about something. Something he'd have to deal with soon, or simply find a replacement.

"Atlas..." Thomas spoke in a deep voice as his eyes slowly opened, his cold, calculating gaze landing upon the Model F Mega Man. "I am severely disappointed in your performance three days ago. Not only did you lose, but you lost to a human without his Biometal no less," he said, his tone leaving no room for argument, and the dual-toned woman scowling under the verbal thrashing. "In addition, those armored vehicles and Galleon Fafnir do not come cheap, and yet you allow not one, or two, but four squadrons to be destroyed. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I was not made aware that he had a secret weapon of that kind of power on him," Atlas argued.

"And I was not made aware, that there was an eighth Mega Man competing in the Game of Destiny," Thomas returned, then turned his gaze to the man kneeling beside Atlas. "As for you, it would have been a simple task to deploy the surviving galleons in your unit and apprehend the four that had escaped, and yet you allowed them to escape anyway. How do you explain yourself?"

"Master Thomas, Commander Atlas was hurt, so I just figured that I-"

"Would coddle her when you should have been doing your job?" Thomas interrupted. "Atlas' injuries were not life threatening, and yet you made no attempt to even hinder the supposed rescue attempt of the additional player on the board."

"Master Thomas, while your logic is sound, I do believe that your criticisms of Sub-Commander Iapetus are unfounded," Atlas said raising her head for the first time since the meeting started. "He has been a loyal commanding officer to Legion's security forces and mechaniloid patrols for years without doubt. In a way he was only doing his duty to assist his commanding officer while they were unable to assist himself. While at the least he could have deployed the remaining guardians, I believe he was only doing his job to the utmost of his abilities, given the circumstances," she stated, Thomas stroking his beard for a moment before waving his hand.

"Hmm... Your assessment of Iapetus' dedications is not without merit," he finally said. "You are both dismissed. I shall require time to determine how to proceed from here," he said as the two left. When the doors had closed behind them, they then made their way to the left hall.

"Commander Atlas, thanks for standing up for me back-" was all Iapetus was able to say before the dual-toned woman turned on him and grabbed the front of his shirt, throwing him against the wall the moment they had left the Sage Trinity's chambers.

"My second in command was being made to look bad. That in turn makes me look bad," Atlas spat, the man's feet dangling above the ground in the face of the Flame Mega Man's strength. "Don't you ever make me defend your failures ever again. Is that clear?" she demanded slamming him against the wall for emphasis.

"Yes sir!" he quickly answered with a salute, the woman dropping him to his feet before storming down the hall.

"Return to your quarters and wait for your next orders. I don't want to see you again otherwise, got it?" she demanded. After she disappeared around the corner, Iapetus allowed himself to slump against the wall, releasing a breath he didn't even know he was holding in. It was at that moment, that the dark-haired teen's words flashed in front of him, as well as the venomous words lacing the his breath and pointed tongue.

"Really? And what about her?" he asked motioning to the little girl hiding fearfully behind him. "You heard the lady. After I'm gone, they're just going to kill her and dump her body with the others as part of the damn cover-up!" he growled, Iapetus visibly flinching while Atlas didn't seem to care in the least. "You really thing I'm just going to stand by and let that happen?"

What's going on? Those mechaniloids just malfunctioned on their own didn't they? That kind of thing happens all the time during R&D, right? They couldn't have been set loose on purpose, could they? he thought to himself as he got to his feet and took the long way back to his quarters, not wanting to run into Atlast again. Sure, Commander Atlas' orders might be seen as cold, but there's some logical reason for her ordering that, isn't there? I mean, first Master Albert goes mad, and now Mikhail settles into retirement right when we need him here the most. What's happening to Legion? he asked himself as he got in the elevator and rested his back against the far wall. Could I... Could I be on the wrong side? he wondered as the image of the blue and white-armored woman's eyes flashed in front of him once more, the look in her eyes like a mother defiantly protecting their child from a Maverick.

Protecting their child from him.

It was at that moment that the doors closed around him, leaving him to descend to the ground level before getting back to his quarters, his mind conflicted at what he was really doing.

---

Good gravy! Over 24,000 words? That must be a new all-time high for me or something.

Anyway, sorry if this chapter was a tad too long, and I use the word tad loosely, but this is just how the chapter turned out being written, and it definitely earned its Redux title this time around. Must be twice as long as its predecessor.

All timeline-related information was researched "extensively", and dates are for the most part,accurate. Far moreso than I had when I covered the history of the pre-Zero, Zero, and pre-ZX eras in Mega Man ZXA: Recurrence.

---

Author's Notes:
*Damage Projections is a term I heard used when predicting the ammount of damages that a disaster would cause. Like gauging how much five pounds of C4 would do to a convenience store if it went off in the center, taking into account potential injuries, collateral damage, etc.

**Reference made to the movie Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-Hen also titled Childhood's End.

***I borrowed this term from inFAMOUS. Think it sums up Neal's actions back then pretty well. Or at least as well as a 10-11 year old can be.

****These assembly kit Mechaniloids were donated to schools all over by Slither Inc. They don't require glue or tools to put together and are quick to be thrown away when something else catches the child's fancy.

***Read Ciel's MMKB page or the "Mega Man Zero Official Complete Works Guide".

**Try and guess why I used that name.

*In my story world, the Pseudoroids (artificial Mega Men created to draw out the power of Biometal) didn't just blow up into metal shaving, but actually left remains behind, of which the Biometal within came out of. Also, back then Neal didn't know about Pseudoroids, so he assumed it was a mechaniloid.

**If you can guess who, mind you, that I heard of him being in the Hunters Guild once before he was betrayed and became, well, a robot.

***It has never been confirmed as to what kind of Weapon the Ragnarok used to destroy Neo Arcadia (destroying a city that housed 20,000,000 humans/reploids), and the only data that exists in that regard is a result of mistranslation. In terms of size, range, and output: 72.4 m (237.533 feet) high, 231 m (757.874 feet) wide, 900-1800 km (2,952,755.91 - 5,905,511.81 feet = 559.234 - 1118.468 miles) maximum range, and 30 Mw maximum output (power 30,000 homes for one instant).