Megaman ZX – The Novelization

Chapter 10 – Amusement Park of Memories

Vent and Aile silently entered the rundown amusement park, which still had a few attractions operative. Aile was looking up at the Ferris wheel behind a broken roller coaster, while Vent was looking at a destroyed ice cream stand. Remains of Mechaniloids and Mavericks were all over the place on their feet as not many people had been around the park for years.

"Vent! Aile! Mavericks are concentrating in that area! It looks like they're after the Biometal too, so be careful!" Prairie warned from the communicators, but the Guardians kept silent, making the commander worry, "Vent? Aile? Did you two hear me? What's wrong?"

There was another long pause before Aile decided to speak up, "Oh! Sorry… We're going to proceed with the mission now…" Aile cut off the connection before looking at the Ferris wheel once more, 'I can't believe we're going to fight here…' Aile turned to Vent, who was lowering his head, "Let's go, Vent. We have to continue with the mission…"

Vent only gave her a silent nod before looking up and saw that a few Galleon Hunters were heading his way. Vent pulled out his saber and charged at them, slicing them in half. Aile saw Vent dashing ahead while cutting through the Mavericks on his way before following him. Aile came into a stop when small Mechaniloids with yellow helmets blocked her way. Aile pulled out her ZX buster and shot them at a close range, breaking them into their smaller version. Out of irritation, Aile stepped on them to dispose of them quickly and followed Vent deeper into the park.

Vent was dashing ahead, never having his saber away from his hands. He cut through all kinds Mechaniloids coming to his way, although they weren't purposely going to attack him and proceed through the park without looking back. A giant Mechaniloid with a giant yellow helmet came jumping down in front of Vent, who jumped back to avoid it.

Aile saw the Mechaniloid from her place and made a mad dash towards the area, where Vent was slashing the Mechaniloid like mad. Aile charged her buster and shot the helmet, but the shot was rebounded by the helmet. The Mechaniloid came out from its helmet and was about to attack by sending out colorful balloons filled with smaller Mechaniloids, but Aile had let out another charged shot which went through its body and Vent and finished it off by cutting the remains of its body in half.

The Mechaniloid exploded, but nothing was left of it which made Vent slam his saber angrily on a nearby steel pillar and knocked it down, "Argh! That wasn't the one with the Biometal either!" As Vent reached out for his communicator, Aile looked at the place where the Mechaniloid was and tighten her grip on her buster, "Prairie! Where's that Biometal signature!?"

"Prairie, just hurry up and tell us already!" Aile added angrily.

"What's wrong with you two? You've been acting strange ever since this mission started," Prairie told the two as she tried calming the angered Guardians.

Vent stayed silent, leaving Aile to speak up, "Ten years ago we were attacked by Mavericks… Vent once told me that he saw his mom killed right in front of him, while I was trapped with my mom along with a couple of Mavericks in the Ferris wheel and I heard her being shot as I fell from the Ferris wheel…" Aile let a single tear drop to the ground, "And Giro… he was the one who rescued us from the attack…"

"You were there ten years ago during the Maverick raid…" Prairie gasped in surprise.

"This place has a lot of memories for us, both good and bad… We just don't want anything to happen to those memories… We want them to stay the way they are…" Aile continued as she wiped more tears away.

"Now I understand. I'm sorry, I…" Prairie spoke up, but was cut off by Aile.

"No, we're sorry. We were getting all worked up with the memories of our moms and Giro flooding back," Aile turned to Vent, who had calmed down.

"Vent, Aile, please remember that you two are never alone. You've got me and the other Guardians… And you've got Giro watching over you too. We'll all save this country," Prairie finished as Aile's lips curved into a smile.

"Thank you Prairie," Aile turned to Vent, who turned to her and gave her a nod, "Recommencing mission!"

Vent and Aile went into a recently-made tower-like building made of cushion and proceed by going up through a gigantic crane game machine and floating balloons. Once they reached the top, they came across a room filled with stuffed animals and toys. A purple ape-like Pseudoroid was hanging on a rope going across the ceiling and dropped down when he saw the two came into the room.

Vent's eyes grew wide when he saw the Pseudoroid, 'No… it can't be…'

-Flashback-

A five years old boy with short brown hair and green eyes were running while holding a woman's hand, whose hair and eye had the same color as him, except that her hair was longer. They came into a stop when they saw a group of Mavericks in front of them, pointing their guns at them. The woman knelt down to the boy, who was shaking in fear as he looked up at her.

"M-Mommy… I-I'm scared…" The boy whispered shakily as he held on to the woman tightly.

The woman hugged him and put a hand on his head, "It's okay, Vent… Everything is going to be okay… Don't worry, Mommy's here…"

The Mavericks began shooting at them, but the woman had pulled the boy, Vent, into her arms and blocked the shots with her body. Vent shut his eyes until he noticed some liquid dripping to his hands. He opened his eyes to see the woman, his own mother, with her eyes completely lifeless before she collapsed on top of him.

"M-Mom…? Mommy! No, Mommy! Please! Don't leave me!" Vent cried as he saw his mother die in front of his eyes before peeking from under his mother's body and saw a shadowy figure in the shape of an ape, "Y-You! You killed my mom!"

-End of Flashback-

'He's the one… he's the one who killed my mom!' Vent though angrily, pulling out his saber.

"Ook! Ook! So a Maverick has come to take me back eh? Lord Serpent just doesn't understand how to treat his employees!" The Pseudoroid said, feeling irritated.

"So you're the one with the Biometal! I'm sorry but we'll be taking it now," Aile declared, pointing her buster at him.

"Oh, so you're not one of the Mavericks? Then get out of my park!" The Pseudoroid stepped closer.

Vent took a step forward, pointing his saber right under the Pseudoroid's chin, "Why don't you get out of my park!?"

"Ook? You aren't actually going to challenge an officer of Slither Inc. are you?" The Pseudoroid let out a laugh, with greatly irritated Vent, "This should be interesting. I'll show you just how powerful the Pseudoroid Purprill really is!"

Aile was about to aim her buster, but stopped when she saw Vent blindly charged at Purprill. Purprill threw some sand on him before he climbed back to his rope and threw an iron ball at them. Vent quickly recovered and moved back to dodge the ball, not noticing that the ball bounced and headed towards Aile, who were taken by surprise.

Vent continued with a spinning slash as Purprill was still hanging on his rope and landed a few hits on his legs. Purprill let go of the rope and fell, purposely trying to step on Vent, but was knocked back as Aile had shot a charged shot at him. Irritated, Purprill charged at her only to be stopped by Vent in the middle of the way before he swung his saber and left a small cut across Purprill's chest.

Vent was about to continue with another slash, but Purprill had jumped up to his rope again and threw two purple bombs at them. Vent knocked one of them away with his saber, only to have it land next to Aile. Vent jumped to slash Purprill, but Purprill jumped down and turned itself into a Frisbee.

Purprill bounced off the walls, knocking both Vent and Aile before stopping at one side of the wall while spinning, showering the two with rocks. Purprill turned back to his ape form and fell right on Vent, missing his head by an inch. Vent rose slowly as he felt pain all over his body and looked at Purprill, who was standing tall in front of him. From under Purprill's legs, Vent suddenly noticed Aile on the opposite side of the room, badly beaten up and had already transformed back into her human form.

"Aile!" Vent quickly sidestepped Purprill before running to Aile's side and picked her up in his arms, "Aile! Are you okay!? Hang in there!"

"I'm… okay…" Aile replied weakly before she and Vent noticed Purprill's shadow covering them.

"Ook! Ook! What's this? One down already?" Purprill laughed, but then noticed something, "Oh wait, that's not my handiwork!" Purprill turned to Vent, "But whatever! Thanks to you, my work is now much easier!"

Vent looked over to Aile in panic, 'Oh no… What have I done!? I was so focused on killing him, but I let Aile get hurt…' Vent lowered his head, 'And after I promised her that I would always protect her…'

"Vent…" Vent felt a hand on his cheek and looked up to see Aile smiling weakly at him, "I know what you're thinking… and it's not your fault… I only let my guard down, that's all…"

"Aile…" Vent looked at Aile before he let out a smile, "No, it's my fault and I'll make it up to it! I'll make it up for breaking that promise!" Vent turned to Purprill, "Purprill! You may have killed my mom, and I won't forgive you for it," Vent turned to Aile for a moment before turning back to Purprill, "But that's the past. I won't forget my mom as a part of my past, but Aile… she's a part of the present and that's what matters more! The present matters more than my past!"

"Ook! I don't care what matters the most! You two are going to die here!" Purprill raised his arms.

"I'm not going to let you do that!" Vent swung his saber, cutting Purprill in half.

"N-nooo! I'm to powerful to be beaten! I'm an… officer… I should be… unstoppable… Ooook!" Purprill's body glowed for a moment before he exploded, leaving a purple Biometal floating in his place while Vent helped Aile back to her feet.

"Thanks Vent… I'll be okay now…" Aile told her friend before he let her go.

"Drowning in his own power… What an appropriate end for a low-life that wanted it so badly," The Biometal started, "I am the Biometal of the Shadows, Model P. You fought bravely. Model X, since you are lending your power to these two, am I to assume the time has come?"

"It has. Someone is trying to revive Model W. Will you help us stop him?" Model X's voice echoed in the room.

"It is our destiny across the ages to protect the world of Man. Let us once again become humanity's blade for striking down evil," Model P replied, "I apologize that I cannot hand over the password. Serpent split my data up into two parts. The other part is contained in a different Pseudoroid. As long as that Pseudoroid is operational, you will never reach Model W."

"Then we better stay alert if there's another enemy out there with the power of Model P," Aile said before she took Model P with her and turned to Vent, who had transformed back to his human form, "Let's report and head back to the HQ."

Vent and Aile went into the transerver room and reported in, getting an emergency connection from Prairie, "Vent! Aile! Can you hear me!? Come in!" Prairie's voice was heard, but not too clearly, "HQ radar has spotted multiple Slither Inc. airships! Their fleet is flying full speed straight at us! Please get back here! We need your help!"

"Slither Inc. airships!? What are they going to do with the Guardian HQ!? Prairie, come in!" Vent reached for his communicator, but got no reply as the connection was cut off by force, "This is bad! We have to find another transerver to get us back to the base!"

"There's one in the forest and it's the closest one around," Aile suggested, "Let's go!"