Oh man. I had serious writer's block typing this chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I still own nothing. How many times do I have to say it?

Chapter 7

Maria pushed her way through the debris. "Why is it that every bad guy likes to hang out in dark, desolate, dusty places?" She complained. Her companion, Aeolus, shrugged.

"Not sure. My guess is it provides good cover. Either that or they just hate sunlight."

"That would explain a lot of things." Maria checked the signals again. It hadn't changed. One reploid and several human captives. Good. He hasn't been moved. Glancing at Aeolus, she asked "how'd you know where they were?"

"There was a string of kidnappings in the city, and they sent me to find out what was happening. It was about then I saw him add your brother to the crowd."

"Wait. You know that guy?"

"His name is Prometheus. I admit, I've had a few unpleasant encounters with him before. He's an agent of Model W."

"Okay, what's model W?"

"Put simply, it's a biometal that eats human spirits. There's a whole bunch of them, and together they formed the Oroboris." Maria's eyes narrowed at the name.

"I see. So that's where that thing came from. But wasn't the Ouroboros destroyed a year ago? It was in the news."

"It was, but only to a point." Aeolus replied grimly. "Its unity is broken and it's badly damaged, but it still exists as separate model Ws. I believe that your brother and the rest of the people they've kidnapped are going to become that thing's lunch if we can't intercept Prometheus before he brings them to the Biometal."

Maria picked up the pace a bit. "Is Albert still alive?"

Aeolus shook his head. "No. They found his dead body underwater a few weeks ago. My guess is Model W possessed someone else, and filled their head with Albert's desires."

"To destroy the world, I presume?"

"Yup. Pretty much."

"This is getting pretty ugly, isn't it?" Maria said. "Now I understand why he wants my biometal. Makes sense, after I've experienced what it can do."

"In the wrong hands, that thing is a killing machine." Aeolus agreed quietly. "And the more people who die, the more cyber elves Model W can eat."

"I don't know if you can get much lower than that." Maria commented icily. "Eating people's spirits." Aeolus didn't reply, but he nodded darkly.

"We're here."

Maria skidded to a stop. The factory was broken down…mostly. The building's ceiling was long since gone, and the walls were crumbling. Inside, there was a holding cage. Inside that, Jonathan and several other children were leaning against the walls, their eyes wide with fear.

"Sis? Help. I'm scared!"

"Don't be!" Aeolus ordered. "Model W can only eat the souls of people who give in to fear. Stay calm! We'll get you out!"

"Don't be scared. Right. Yeah, we'll just do that…" Jonathan took several deep breathes and swallowed hard. Some of the other kids looked a bit fried, but had no wish to lose their souls, so they clustered together and began to take deep breaths, as if they were trying to gather courage from each other.

"Humph! I was wondering when you'd show up." There was a burst of fire, and then a boy with the getup of a grim reaper landed in front of the cage. Straightening up, he whipped out his beam scythe. "I was beginning to think you had missed the SOS."

"Let them go." Maria growled.

"Or what?" Prometheus replied evenly. "You have power, yes, but can you control it? I know perfectly well what happened the last time you used the Omega Spirit. You couldn't even control your own body."

"I suppose you think I can't do anything without the spirit active." Maria challenged. "If you're going to fight me, you better just get started."

Prometheus let out a bored sigh. "Yes yes. To be honest with you, I'd love no more than to take you down right here and now. Luckily for you, I have more important things to attend to." With that, he warped out.

"Is he some kind of chicken or what?" Model O demanded. Aeolus shook his head.

"He's was probably just trying to provoke you. And when that didn't work out, he decided to find something better to do. But I'd say he sent someone else to fight us." There was an earsplitting crack, and suddenly a humanoid lizard burst out of the earth and faced them. "Yup, that's what I thought."

The lizard frowned and looked to the right and to the left. "My my, has Prometheus left already? He's so impatient. Master Cyrus said he'd resurrect Pandora AFTER we destoryed the world, and he's still trying to get her back ahead of schedule." He gave Maria and Aeolus an aloof look. "And I get stuck dealing with a pair of kids. Why me?"

"You're pretty whiny for a Suluriod." Aeolus remarked. "I suppose you're the decoy that's used whenever one of the more important fighters needs a quick getaway."

"What are you doing?" Maria asked, staring at him.

"Just watch." The wind megaman replied without looking over his shoulder.

"Hey! Wise guy! Are you trying to make me mad?"

Aeolus chuckled a bit. "That's what I thought. You're a Suluriod, but you've got to be a pretty low-ranking one. You're weaker than Hedgeshock!"

"You-! I show you power!" The lizard picked up a boulder and threw it at him. Aeolus just ducked, and the rock smashed the computer terminal instead. The shield around Jonathan and the other children vanished. "Wha-"

Suddenly, Aeolus was standing behind him. "I just needed you to open the elemental gate. So now, there is no further use of your existence." With that, he cut the lizard in half.

"Wow. Cool!" Maria was impressed.

"Show off." Model O muttered.

"Th-thanks sis…" Jonathan panicked suddenly. "Look out, someone's coming!" Maria whirled around and ducked-just in time to avoid a blast of fire aimed straight at her. Out of the smoke stepped another girl. Her armour was white and orange, and she was holding two huge guns. Something told Maria she wasn't the welcome wagon.

"Hump! I see I missed. Too bad. I'll just aim more carefully this time."

Aeolus stood up at looked at her. "Atlas. Why are you here?"

"Why?" Atlas repeated, her voice suddenly getting low and dangerous. "What do you mean why, traitor?"

"Traitor?" Maria echoed, looking back and forth between them, mystified.

"Hey! H! What's this crazy girl talking about? Please enlighten me!" Model O shouted. "Fefner! Perhaps you should explain instead!"

"Don't try to talk to him. Right now, Fefner cannot speak." The green biometal said softly.

"Huh? Why not?"

"Model F and the girl in front of you are under a kind of curse. I myself was once under it as well. You could say we broke out of that group once Aeolus regained his will." Model H replied mildly.

"You mean…she's under some kind of influence?" One of the kids piped up.

"Shut up!" Atlas barked, and the kid ducked in time to avoid the fire.

"Leave them alone, Atlas. If you've come to fight me, so be it. But leave them alone."

Atlas just walked over to the building's last support. "Spare the chivalry. You're all going to die here." She looked over at her victims. "What I want to know is why. Why did you do it? Why did you betray me?"

"Atlas, I haven't! If anything, I'm trying to help you!"

For just a moment, Maria could have sworn she saw tears in Atlas's eyes. But she spun around before she could be sure. Atlas punched the pillar, hard. As the ground shook violently, she warped out.

Aeolus looked away. "I understand. My voice isn't reaching her."

"Hey! Aeolus!" Maria yelled for his attention. "We need to stay out of that abbys!"

"Any ideas?" Aeolus's voice was flat. Maria was certain it wasn't about the current situation, but his confrontation with Atlas.

Maria took a deep breath. "We need to get induce the Omega Spirit!"

Aeolus's expression was blank. "And that is…what exactly?"

"Never mind! I'll explain later! Just call on Harpuia! With that, we can get out of here before it falls in on itself!"

"I don't know how!"

"You can do it! You did transform, right?" Maria closed her eyes before Aeolus could say anything else. Omega…Omega…Omega…OMEGA! There was a eruption of strength surging through her, and then she could feel Omega within her, ready to use his power to help her.

"Call Harpuia…?" It didn't make a lot of sense, but he couldn't think of anything better to do. Aeolus reached out in his mind, and suddenly everything went dark. In front of him stood a reploid clad in green armour almost identical to that of his own when he was fused with Model H.

"Take my hand." Maria grinned when she saw the flash of energy that signaled the Omega Spirit was active.

"See? What'd I tell you?"

"This is amazing. I've never…" Aeolus looked thrilled. "I didn't think it was possible."

/

Maria grabbed Jonathan. "Hold on tight." A brilliant flash of energy surrounded them, and suddenly they were on the ridge a ways away from hunter's camp. Slowly, they both returned to normal.

"How did that happen?" Aeolus sounded dazed. "There was so much energy…"

Maria smiled, feeling a sudden burst of warmth towards her new friend. "Thanks for helping me find Jonathan. Whenever you need help, let me know! Especially if it involves a certain brain-controlled megaman we both know well."

Aeolus smiled ever so slightly. "Thank you."