CHAPTER 7:

RUN!

PART I: HORRIFYING REUNION

"Let's hurry, I didn't exactly bring a winter jacket on this little escapade…" Ira said, crossing her arms across her chest and shivering to prove the point.

All three girls began to walk (Or in Tron's case, stomp) around the edge of the rocket, to take a good look at the room that they found themselves in.

"This is really amazing." Roll said with an awed expression. "I guess it's really just the SIZE of this place that's amazing. It would have taken so long to build!"

Tron turned the Gustaff towards the Spotter. "We don't have time for that now. We need to find Megaman and get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps anyway. It seems so… dead. I don't like this."

Ira, seeming more inclined to move than the other two, spoke up. "Ok, Roll, you go left, and Tron, you go right. See if we can find a door or something that will take us to… Well… I don't really know where Megaman would be… Let's just find some way out of here, and start searching."

Roll nodded, and headed to the left, while Tron nodded, then remembering that no one could see her nod inside of the Gustaff, stomped off to the right, muttering "Who put HER in charge?"

Roll made her way over in the darkness, until she came across a small platform. In the middle, there appeared to be a second platform where what looked like something lowered down on top of it, like some form of advanced elevator. She looked up at the ceiling, seeing nothing but darkness above her. She looked around for some way to find out how to activate what she was standing on, and looking to her right, caught sight of a large orange box, that appeared to be slightly ajar. She walked over to it, and upon opening it, found it to be empty.

Hope kindled slightly in Roll's heart. She knew that the person who was most likely to clean out a place like this, taking out random objects and picking a place dry, would be none other than Megaman Volnutt.

So he has to have been here before, she thought.

Roll looked up, glanced around the room for some other sign of his passing, but didn't see anything peculiar or unique. She was starting to lose hope again, when Ira's voice came floating over from her right.

"Roll, come over here and take a look at this…"

Roll followed the sound of her voice, and came upon Ira looking at something against the wall.

"It looks like a… diamond or something…" Ira said, unsure.

In fact, what looked like a large purple and green diamond, floating just above the floor and revolving, came into view through the shadows in the Docking Bay. Roll had a slight twinge in her memory.

"I've seen this before…" Roll said slowly, feeling the fear in her heart. "This thing is really similar to the thing I found on Forbidden Island with Megaman. That time, it held two Ancients, one of them a young girl and an older man…"

Remembering that it was because of those two Ancients that they were even in this position in the FIRST place, Roll tightened her fists angrily.

"Let's just leave it alone, we don't want to wake up anything worse…"

Ira nodded solemnly, and Roll turned her back on the large diamond. As much as she wanted to learn more about Megaman, and what he must have been like in the past, every time she came across something that was somehow involved with the Ancients, it turned out to either want to kill everything or take over the world.

With a slight pang, she finally realized that she was actually here, on Elysium. This is where everything had happened, when Megaman wasn't…. Megaman… It was a very strange feeling.

Tron was also feeling a bit on edge from this place. While the Gustaff's on-board tracking system had determined that this place was safe, (relatively) she couldn't help but shake the feeling that things on this forgotten planet were lurking just out of sight. She shivered in the padded seat, and looked above her to 42, who was operating the new Overdrive systems on the Gustaff.

"42, make sure to keep those boosters ready. Ever since we fought Megaman in the Saul Kada ruins, I knew that we would need vertical motion to fight most effectively, and I think that we are in for a fight before the day is through…"

"Yes Miss Tron!" 42 called down to her. "Ummm… Miss Tron? Where do you suppose the blue fellow is? How can we find him?"

Tron was suddenly brought back to the present, where she remembered that given the current state of affairs up on this horrible planet, a person couldn't survive for long. It was too cold…

What if he…?

"No, he's going to be alright, he has to be!" Tron said to herself in a low voice, completely ignoring 42's query. Tron powered the Gustaff forward, and came across a platform, where there appeared to be some form of elevator.

It looks like an elevator in a ruin! Tron thought to herself excitedly.

"Ira! Roll! I've found a way out!" Tron's amplified voice boomed over at them across the shadows on the other end of the room. Ira, who was watching Roll carefully, let her question about the Ancients die on her lips. She was curious what all the fuss had been about a year ago, and whether or not Roll and Megaman had actually FOUND the Mother Lode.

Ira and Roll spared one last look at the large diamond, and then headed back towards the way they had come. They found Tron waiting for them in front of a large elevator, with Data dancing nearby.

"EE EEEE!" Data squealed, gesturing towards the elevator, and all three girls stepped onto the large platform, while Ira went to the elevator terminal to read what it said.

"I… I can't make out what this says… It's in some sort of writing, but I can't read it."

"Just push the button, you big baby. 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' Teisel always says!" Tron said, putting on a false voice full of bravado, thanking her lucky stars they couldn't see how pale she was becoming at the thought of this place swallowing them whole.

Ira pushed the button, and the elevator began to move up.

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Upon stopping, the group found themselves surrounded by an immense silence. Their feet echoed as they began to walk down the halls…

"I….I think we may be in trouble…" Ira said nervously, knowing full well what it meant when nothing came out to bite you in a ruin.

… A Death Trap….

"Actually, from the looks of things, it doesn't look like there's anything left here to attack us…" Roll said, still nervously gripping the inside of her buster gun tightly, waiting for the world to start crashing in upon them.

Tron, who was becoming more and more reassured by the minute that this place had died in some long forgotten past, rolled her eyes and spoke into the intercom. "Well, it's obvious I'm working with a bunch of rookies here. See? Look!" Tron shot of a few machine gun rounds from the Gustaff, peppering the walls and creating a cacophony of noise, which echoed down the corridors.

Ira and Roll, having crouched down and covered their ears in surprise, stood back up.

"Tron! What were you thinking!" Ira berated, losing her cool at the hubristic pirate, "We don't know what's up here, we may…"

"SYSTEM DETECTS AGGRESSIVE FORCE BEING APPLIED IN HALLWAY 1123! COMMENCE ATTACK!" A voice from nowhere boomed down at the group, causing all three girls to flinch.

"TRON!" Ira and Roll fumed, looking at Tron in the Gustaff with their fists clenched and their eyes flashing dangerously.

"I… I'm…" Tron started, but was suddenly accosted by a troop of Zakobons, which appeared to shoot out of the wall. All of the Zakobons began firing out torrents of fireballs at the group.

"Get behind me!" Tron yelled at the other two, brandishing her shield. "I was just starting to get bored anyway, I was thinking Megaman had taken them all out for us!" Tron laughed her Bonne laugh. "Let's do it!"

She charged the Gustaff into the group of Zakobons, scattering them like pins in a bowling alley.

Ira began charging behind, firing her own buster cannon at the scattered Zakobons as they tried to desperately to right themselves from off the ground. Roll, after hesitating for a split second, fired off her own buster, yelling after Ira

"We need to get out of this hallway! They are going to surround us!"

"This way!" Tron yelled at them, looking back at the two and seeing a group of Harin crawling along the ceiling, dropping bombs in torrents to keep them from escaping. Tron barreled through the remaining Zakobons, clearing a path for the two girls, who ran behind her, using the Gustaff as a battering ram. "That's what happens when you mess with Tron Bonne!" Tron yelled triumphantly, pumping her fist into the air as she let loose a torrent of flame from her arm cannon, engulfing the nearest Zakobon in flame, which then proceeded to explode, showering zenny along the hallway. "We can take these Reaverbots, no problem!" Tron called to the other two.

Ira shook her head frantically. "We aren't here to fight, Tron! We need to find Megaman and get out of here!"

Roll nodded her head and lead the charge towards the door at the end of the corridor, "She's right, Tron! We can't take the risk that one of us gets seriously hurt! We don't exactly have anything to help someone in trouble, we didn't build any sort of medical bay in the rocket! This is a rescue, not a brawl!"

Tron pouted comically in the Gustaff, floating along behind the Spotter and the Digger, "I always knew you were a chicken, Blondie!"

Roll stopped and turned on the spot, causing Tron to slam on her controls to keep her from charging right into Roll, who had a truly dangerous gleam in her eyes, that made Tron blanch a little in her seat.

"I'M SICK OF YOU TELLING ME I'M A COWARD TRON! I'M HERE TO SAVE MEGAMAN, NOT GO ON A TOTALLY POINTLESS MISSION TO PROVE HOW AMAZING MY MACHINES ARE! I'M READY TO FIGHT AND DIE FOR THIS, AND NO ONE IS GONNA STOP ME OR SAY OTHERWISE, UNDERSTAND!"

"Please! All you do is stand there and wait for other people to do your dirty work for you, you are just a no good talentless hack who relies on a powerful boy-toy to do your job for you!"

"Are you kidding me! You in your…"

Ira tuned out of the conversation, staring down the hallway at the group of Reaverbots closing in for the kill.

"Tron? Roll?"

"…second rate engine makes you something special? What do you think…"

"Girls?" Ira yelled, waving frantically.

"…and what exactly is that metal plate on your crotch, a chastity belt? What kinda weirdo…"

"CAN THIS WAIT FIVE MINUTES? RUN! NOW!" Ira screamed, jamming her hand into the door control, and shoving Roll into the next room, as Tron came to her senses and tromped in behind them, with the Reaverbots nipping at their heels. A pair of Kuruguru charged the door, seeing the girls attempting to shut it.

"Stand back!" Tron yelled, as she blasted the door with a torrent of machine gun fire, causing the door to slam shut on top of the first Kuruguru, crushing it, sending sparks and flame out from underneath the door, as Roll and Ira dived out of the way.

Roll stood back up, fuming at the hulking machine, who's back was turned to her, although she screamed at it anyway.

"SEE? This is what all your bravado does! Gets us all into trouble! We need to find Megaman and get out of here!"

A huge echoing crash on the door accompanied her words, putting emphasis on the point.

"We have more pressing issues!" Ira said, looking up above them.

They all turned and saw a squadron of Barukatche Butterflies swarming down upon them, raining fire.

"Ahhh!" Roll and Tron dived in opposite directions, as Tron shielded herself from the flame.

Ira rolled on the floor, barely missing the flaming torrents from above, as they led her onto a grid on the floor. The fire stopped as the Barukatche flapped its wings harder, gaining altitude. Ira got up, feeling that she had just gotten lucky, when the floor beneath her suddenly began to glow, and she understood; it had been leading her into a trap!

"The floors electr….AHHHHHH!" Ira screamed as the floor shot torrents of electricity into her metal boots, causing her to stand rooted to the spot, screaming in pain.

"IRA!" Roll yelled, as she shot her buster into the crowd of Butterflies, causing them to cascade into themselves like dominos, blowing up a couple in the process. She stood along the edge of the grid, grimacing in horror as Ira screamed in the trap.

"Hold on, Ira!" Roll yelled, looking at Tron, who was batting off the Barukatche like knats around a fire.

Roll took a few steps back, and then barreled towards Ira, jumping just before the electrified grid, using a flying tackle to get Ira off of the grid, breaking her electrified grip on the floor. They rolled together, getting slightly electrocuted before rolling off completely. Ira's armor smoked slightly, and her eyes were closed tightly in pain, breathing heavily. Roll got up, shaking herself slightly to free up her muscles. Tron defended the two girls, releasing a torrent of Bonne Bombs, destroying the rest of the Butterflies in midair.

Tron looked down at Roll, who was holding Ira on the ground.

"Ira! Ira! Are you ok?" Roll said worriedly.

"…Yeah… Yeah, I'm good… But that wasn't fun…" Ira said, sitting up and looking over at the power grid.

Roll let out a sigh of relief, but Tron piped up. "Listen, I've been thinking… we need to get out of here before something really bad happens…"

Ira and Roll just glared daggers back.

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"It's time to go, Megaman." Yuna said, looking at Megaman frantically, who had taken a turn for the worse. Megaman, who had become so cold, was unable to answer, just shivering slightly, which worried Yuna even more. "His body is shutting down, Sera! We need to find them now and get off of Elysium!"

"Agreed." Sera said, with a twinge of fear in her eyes. She didn't understand the feeling, but she knew that she was worried about Trigger. She didn't want anything to happen to him, although her face remained impassive. "Assuming that they follow the same path that Trigger himself had taken, their most probable route would be through the defense area, but most likely they won't be able to find their way through without some form of spotting…"

Yuna nodded, remembering Megaman's own trouble navigating the Defense Area, and knew what had to be done. "We need to find them and get them out before the Reaverbots catch up to them!"

"SYSTEM'S DETECT AGGRESSIVE FORCE BEING APPLIED IN HALLWAY 1123! COMMENCE ATTACK!"

Sera looked over at Megaman, hunched on the floor with his eyes closed. "It appears my hypothesis was correct. Trigger, we will get you out shortly."

Yuna looked forward towards the nearest door, finding the way barred by a large Gabunrii. "Sera… I can't carry him…You will have to…"

"Negative, I cannot carry Trigger and fight off the defensive system." Sera said matter-of-factly.

Yuna looked at Megaman, and approached him slowly, holding him against her and looking at him in the side hug. "Megaman… I need to take your weapons…"

Megaman slowly nodded his head, releasing the Buster Gun, which clattered on the floor, and the Shining Laser disconnected from his right arm, and Yuna caught it before it hit the floor.

"It's going to be alright, I promise…" Yuna looked at Sera, who nodded and lifted the frozen figure from the floor, and held him in her arms. Yuna, while this was happening, held the blue buster in her hand, studying its design.

"Alright then!" Yuna put the weapons on, and approached the Reaverbot with her arms raised. The Gabunrii, seeing this, began to fire off its limbs at her, attempting to stop her from proceeding. The answering laser through his torso blew him to pieces, clearing the way for the last three Ancients to proceed through the door.

"This is the quickest way to the defense area." Yuna said to Megaman, trying to keep him from going unconscious. "Try to stay awake, and keep moving." They flew down the corridors, with Yuna running in the lead, bearing down on the Reaverbots that came in their way. Even to Megaman, who was very close to freezing to death, he saw Yuna was incredibly gifted at blowing up Reaverbots. She flipped and spun around the Reaverbots like a ballerina on stage, firing off the buster and Shining Laser indiscriminately. Sera, using her left arm to hold Megaman, while her right fired out shockwaves of energy behind them, collapsing the walls in so that they could not be followed by Reaverbots attempting to flank them.

After bringing down a third doorway, Sera looked down at the figure in her arms.

"It is a strange fate how you and I, who were once so morbid of enemies, now fight the very system I was trying to protect. Fate does seem to have a way of catching up to those who least expect it. But it seems to be true, that facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored. I have you to thank for showing me a way out of this….prison…. Perhaps if I can return the favor, we will be even. But you have to maintain function until that time, agreed?"

Megaman smiled weakly.

"This way Sera! Come on!" Yuna said, unsmilingly, as she danced her dangerous ballet through a crowd of Zakobons. "They must be close…"

They blew into the next room, and finally, at long last, found what they were looking for…

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Tron turned the Gustaff sharply at the sound of explosions coming from the other side of the door on the far side of the electric trap room. Roll and Ira stood up, readying their weapons for what they assumed would be another assault of Reaverbots.

The door blasted open, flying into the platform in the center of the room, causing the electric grid to malfunction and shut down. Yuna and Sera burst into the room, with Reaverbot fireballs chasing them.

Roll and Ira trained their guns on Yuna, who pointed her guns back at the two armored girls and the Gustaff, who had begun to advance on the large Mother Unit.

The moment was tense as the smoke filled the room.

"That… That looked like the Ancients from Forbidden Island…" Roll said, charging her blaster. "They started this whole thing by making us get the Mother Lode Keys!"

"Lower your weapons immediately or face destruction!" Sera said powerfully, as Megaman's eyes widened at the sound of the voice he had just heard…

It couldn't be!

"Yeah, right. That's gonna happen!" Tron said laughingly. "You blew up the Sulphur Bottom!"

Yuna cried out. "Wait! Wait! Don't shoot, please! We are on your side!"

Ira loosened her finger on the trigger, attempting to peer through the smoke.

"Why should we believe you?"

"….rrr..rrooolll…" Megaman croaked out, barely whispering. Yet somehow, the entire room heard the voice, and there was a moment of complete and absolute stunned silence.

Roll's weapons clattered to the floor, as the dust cleared, and there, suspended in the large Ancient's arms, was a familiar blue clad figure.

Tron, without thinking, jumped out of the Gustaff so fast a witness would have sworn she was on fire, blowing through the hatch and attempting to jump off the Gustaff, while Roll, completely oblivious to the immediate danger of the two Ancients, and the pounding Reaverbots through the door, ran to the large figure with her eyes brimming with tears.

"MEGAMAN!"

"No! Roll, please, wait just a moment!" Yuna stepped in front of her, and was bowled over, but managed to stop Roll all the same.

"You… You know my name?" Roll said, stunned. Tron dashed past Yuna, towards Megaman, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"What have you done to him! What did you do! Tell me he's alright, tell me, or so help me…!" Tron left the threat hanging, as she looked at the large Ancient holding Megaman, and at Megaman himself, who appeared to be struggling weakly.

Ira stood, completely baffled by the situation, but understood that something was wrong with Megaman.

"What's happened to him?" Ira said, truly worried.

Sera had chosen to ignore Roll's almost incoherent tears and Tron's tirade, and chose to respond to Ira. "We do not have time to explain now; hurry, we must make it off of Elysium now, before we are trapped here! You have brought a vessel, is it still within the Docking Bay?"

Roll tried to keep up, "Yes… But Megaman?" Her dreams of running into Megaman's arms and his sweet little smile upon seeing her again were dying around her. Was he going to be alright?

"Megaman is in a state of hypothermia, and has been without food for almost a week…" Yuna started, clearly looking startled by the complete lack of affect towards their own situation. "We need to hurry back to your shuttle, we can explain while we run! The first line of defense may have been neutralized, but we may be in trouble here if we stand around talking!"

Tron realized that she was suddenly outside of the Gustaff, and felt the cold envelope her. "Hypothermia… He's freezing to death! We need to go, now!"

Yuna rolled her eyes, while Ira shot panicked glances at the doorframe, which had begun to buckle in on itself.

"Put Megaman in the Gustaff! It's warm in there!" Tron continued.

"EEEE EEEE!" Data screamed, as the door was crushed onto the ground, and a gigantic form appeared in the doorway.

A pack of gigantic wolves appeared in the destroyed doorway, and pawed at the ground, about to strike!

"No time! RUN!" Ira screamed, as she shot off a few rounds at the hulking wolf-like Reaverbots, who seemed to be barely affected.

"Elite Karumuna Bash!" Sera yelled, as she shot out a wall of force, attempting to hold them back while Tron got back into the Gustaff and everyone ran towards the third and final door of the room.

"We…Need…To go…Back…" Roll panted as they all ran at breakneck speed down the narrow hallway. "Our ship is that way!"

"We cannot proceed in that direction, they will have activated the defensive grid, any attempt to travel down the main paths towards the Dock will be met by a crushing gravitational force! We would all be destroyed!" Sera said, attempting to keep Roll from running the other way. However, that was not necessary, as the Karumuna Bash leapt around the corner, sending sparks flying, and the entire hallway was filled with their howls.

"Go GO GO GO!" Tron yelled, screaming as the first Karumuna Bash pounced onto her back, swiping its claws, attempting to rip the Gustaff to pieces. It was blown back by a barrage of Buster fire from Yuna and Roll, who had turned around to help, and Tron screamed up at 42, who was firing the machine turret back at the advancing Wolves.

"ACTIVATE THE OVERDRIVE SYSTEM!"

"Roger!" 42 smiled, and pressed a button. The Gustaff suddenly shifted, and on its back a large jet appeared, blasting the machine forward, and Tron grabbed both Yuna and Roll before they were completely overtaken by the ravenous hounds.

"Ughf!" Roll and Yuna were sent rocketing back, as Sera grabbed Ira and flew towards the end of the Hallway.

"Take this!" Ira called back, and threw out a Grand Grenade of her own design that she had thought of when seeing Megaman in action back on Kattlelox Island. Unfortunately, she had not designed it very well, and it ended up blowing up half the hallway, destroying the first two Karumuna Bash, but also causing a relentless torrent of fire to come bursting out behind them, and the hallway began to collapse from the shockwave…

"Oops!" Ira said, as Tron and Sera attempted to rocket forward, with Data holding on to the top of the Gustaff's head for dear life.

"Sera! The only way back to the dock from here is through the…"

"I am aware Yuna!" Sera interrupted.

"Where? Through where?" Roll yelled, trying to make sense of things through the explosions.

"We will have to pass through Alpha Reaverbot Manufacturing!" Yuna called across to Roll through the howling of the wind, as Tron flew down the corridor, flying her prized machine through a maze of destruction and explosions as Reaverbots began to pour out from everywhere.

"…Manufacturing? Where they are MADE?" Tron yelled, furious at this turn of luck. "Well that figures. OBVIOUSLY we couldn't take the nice, easy route! And I'm sure you are going to tell me that there's an army of Reaverbots waiting for us inside!"

"No." Sera said unflinchingly. "Only one. When Elysium was shut down by Trigger…"

"Who?" Ira said, clearly losing track of the conversation after having started to open fire on the advancing Reaverbots again.

"…Megaman…. When Megaman fought…. The System…. He shut this whole planet down! The Reaverbot manufacture has been suspended, but the primary unit is still functioning! If we can escape past it, maybe we can escape Elysium without being destroyed!"

Sera didn't look as optimistic as Yuna. "We may not be so lucky, its far more advanced than any previous models…"

Roll felt fear grip her heart again. She almost didn't want to ask, as they came upon a massive door in front of them, and Sera stopped to activate it.

"What… What is it?"

Sera looked back seriously at them all.

"The Omega Rocket-Train Guynie Toren."