The Shinigami's Angel
Chapter Ten
Aile leaned back against the side of the train, lost in thought. What she had found out about Shinigami… it was mind-boggling.
His past was so much like hers. They had both lost those closest to them due to the Mavericks… and then gained the Biometal. It was somewhat ironic, to finally gain their means of protection after their loved ones had perished.
Aile frowned. No, that wasn't exactly true… she had Model X, and Giro had still died…
The girl shook her head. She had to keep reminding herself not to dwell on that…
Back to Shinigami, his record in Legion ended in the massacre of Colony A4. He was thought dead then, along with the rest of the citizens… but he had obviously survived, and gained the Biometal some time after that.
The girl's eyes saddened as she remembered the massacre. The base had been leagues away when it happened, and there had been no TransServers close enough. They had all done the best they could, but by the time they got there, nothing was left but the remains.
Even though the record answered most of her questions, it still left her lacking. There were so many things it couldn't answer, like how he found the Biometal, and what had happened during the years between the massacre and when the two met. Those sorts of questions could only be answered by one person…
Aile sighed. She had obviously misjudged him on their first meeting. True, things had changed between them somewhat, but she had never formally reconciled with him. Now, she really wanted to start things over between them. She had to find Shinigami. Not only to ask his forgiveness, but she was also filled with curiosity about this boy who was so like and unlike herself.
It was settled. Before she went back to Guardians… she would pay Shinigami a visit.
"So, which direction should we go today, Forte?" Shin asked cheerfully, stretching his arms in a playful manner. "Maybe I'll just spin around and walk in whatever direction I end up pointing…"
'Actually,' Forte piped up. 'I have an idea of what you can do next.'
"Huh? Really? What is it?"
'I… when we were out yesterday, I sensed something.'
"Gee, that's so interesting, Forte." Shinigami commented sarcastically. "And what does that have to do with the Mavericks?"
'I wasn't finished! I have a theory.'
"Go on."
Well, the boy's interest seemed slightly piqued, that was a good sign. 'I felt drawn to it… not exactly physically, but like… like a person's eyes being drawn to a certain spot, I suppose.'
Shinigami raised an eyebrow, but made no interruption, so the former robot continued.
'I think there might be other Biometals.'
"I know tha—"
'No, other ones like me.'
Shinigami frowned. "What do you mean."
'This feeling, it gave of a sense of… of kinship. Like it was the same as me. I don't know what else it could be… of course, I don't know much more about myself now than you do, but it's the only thing that makes logical sense to me. And no, I didn't have any sense like this around the W-roid or that girl.'
Shinigami was silent for almost a minute. Then…
"Funny, I didn't think you were the type of robot to think things through logically."
A vein pulsed on what would have been Forte's forehead. 'What, did it take you that long to come up with a retort? Be serious, Shinigami. If I'm right, this could help you significantly. As much as I like working with you alone, more Biometal would probably help significantly.'
"And if you're wrong?"
'Then, you've wasted maybe three hours of today. Plenty of time left to pulverize some Mavericks.'
"Hmm." Shinigami picked at some grass while thinking.
"…You're sure you remember where you felt this… 'feeling'?"
Forte gave an inaudible sigh of relief. 'Yes, I'm sure I could find it easily.'
"Well… worth a try, I suppose."
Forte grinned. Of course he was doing this to help his partner, but part of him was simply curious. If he was right… then maybe he'd find someone he knew. Maybe he wouldn't be so alone. Not that he exactly wanted to be around a bunch of the Robot Masters… but it would be nice to know that he wasn't the only robotic Biometal.
"I thought you said you could find it easily."
'I can! You'll just have to help me!'
Shinigami huffed. They had been searching around the area they had fought the previous day for twenty minutes, and he was getting impatient.
'You have such a short attention span…'
"Like yours is much longer?" Shinigami snapped back.
Forte growled softly. 'Look, just head forwards and left a little. I think it's around there…'
Shinigami pouted for a second, but complied. He glanced, slightly uneasy, at the few remains of Mavericks littered around. Just because they all exploded once they had taken too much damage didn't mean they always did it nice and clean…
'Ah!'
"What! What is it?" the boy asked frantically, slightly startled by the Biometal's outburst.
'It's back! Quick— give me control!'
"I don't know how!"
'Argh! Just go where I tell you, okay?' Forte exclaimed, then muttered, 'Why is it things never work when you want them to…?'
Shinigami rolled his eyes at the comment, but did as the Biometal told him. Slowly they made their way forward, although it was tough going. The 'signal' would sometimes weaken, in which case Forte snapped at Shinigami to go a different way. Shinigami secretly wondered if they were just wandering around aimlessly, and there wasn't really anything— or worse, that it was mobile and someone was doing this to annoy him. Either way, he got more and more irked as time went on.
However, fifteen minutes later, all malice faded as they stumbled into a small clearing.
"Is… that…?"
'Sure looks like it.' Forte agreed, in an equally awed voice.
There was a small, moss-covered rocky building that gave all appearances of being nothing more that some ancient abandoned hovel. However, the door had fallen off (or been taken away), and both Forte and Shinigami could clearly see the inside of the shack.
Inside were clean, shiny metal walls encasing stairs leading down into the earth.
After several moments of staring at the entrance, Shinigami swallowed.
"I… guess we should go in."
'Careful, Shinigami. It could be a trap.'
Shinigami rolled his eyes. "Please, Forte. Do you really think any trap could hold the two of us? Besides, I think the benefits outweigh the risks in this case."
'If you're sure…'
"I am." Shinigami said firmly, slightly confused by Forte's sudden hesitation but not really wanting to press the issue. He was interested here, and was eager to solve this mystery, however small.
'Then… let's go!'
The boy padded softly down the metal steps. Despite his efforts, every step he took made a sharp clinking noise.
Oh well… If anyone else is here, they know we're here now anyway…
They continued their descent, still cautious. Something about this place set Shin on edge slightly… he wasn't exactly sure why, it just seemed a little unsettling.
A short while later, the flawless metal began to break in places, leaving gaps where one could see the myriad of wires running through the walls. Shinigami leaned forwards, and with the dim light he could clearly see the sparks. He quickly drew back and continued downwards, glancing occasionally at the walls.
Eventually, they reached the bottom. Shin glanced around at what was apparently a laboratory. It was obviously abandoned; there were piles of boxes everywhere, and the only source of light came from a solitary bulb on the ceiling that cast most of the room into shadows. However, there was also a lot of equipment everywhere, and underneath the light…
Underneath the light were three glimmering, colorful objects.
Shin's face lit up as he dashed forwards towards the pedestals the objects rested on.
"Looks like you were right, Forte." The boy whispered, as he picked up the closest object.
Biometal. They were all Biometal, and they were apparently his for the taking.
However, Forte was slightly suspicious of the light blue Biometal in Shin's hand. Something about it made his metaphorical blood boil, although he didn't quite know why. He had a feeling, though…
'F…Forte?' A quiet voice came from the blue stone.
The dark Mega Man snarled and threw the Biometal away from him. 'No, not you!'
"Forte, what's wrong?" Shin asked, alarmed, as he dashed forwards and scooped up the other Biometal.
'That,' Forte spat venomously, 'is my rival, Megaman.'
"Huh?" Shin glanced at the object in his hands. "I thought I was Mega Man…"
'You're a Mega Man. That's the Megaman.' Forte growled.
'Forte? What's wrong? And why am I…?' the blue Biometal asked, slightly shaken.
'You've been turned into a magical piece of scrap metal, that's what, just like I have.' Forte hissed. Shinigami was slightly confused. Why was Forte acting so… brusque?
"What's with you, Forte?"
'I told you, that's my rival. He's the guy who's beaten me every time we've fought.'
'I'm sorry Forte, but I had to! You were—'
'I don't care.' The dark Biometal snarled. 'Let's leave without him, Shin.'
"Come on! We can't just leave him here!" Shinigami protested.
'Yes, we can. Let's go.'
'Wait, what about the others?'
Forte seemed startled by that. 'What others?'
'Blues and Roll, of course.'
Forte snorted. 'Do you seriously think they'd be here too?'
'Well, we were all together when I was turned offline.' Megaman snipped.
"Forte, there are two other Biometal. They're probably those other two robots you told me about.' Shinigami spoke up, feeling distinctly left out… not that he really wanted to get involved with their argument.
'Fine. Then we leave, right?'
"Yes." Shin agreed, deciding not to inform Forte that he planned to take these Biometal with him. No sense upsetting the Biometal before he had to, or when it would be easier to stop Shin from doing so.
The boy set Megaman back on the pedestal, then picked up the red and pink Biometal.
"Hey, you guys awake?" He queried.
'Nggh…' a male voice responded.
'Ah! Is that you, Forte?' a girl's voice exclaimed.
Megaman gasped. 'What happened to Blues and Roll?'
'The same thing that happened to you. We were turned into these things, and the only way we can do anything is by merging with a human. It's really quite annoying.'
Shin raised an eyebrow. "I thought you liked working with me."
'I do, but it's nothing compared to having your own body. For one thing, if that were still the case, I would have walked out of here as soon as we ran into pacifist-man.'
"What's gotten into you, Forte?" Shin frowned.
'I just don't get why we're still here.' Forte grumbled.
"You were the one who suggested this in the first place!" Shinigami cried exasperated.
'Well, I didn't think we'd be finding them.' He snapped.
"I'm not going to leave them here, Forte. We can discuss it later, but I personally would be fine with their help. We could always give them to that girl if you guys can't get along."
'Fine.' Forte sighed. 'I only really have a problem with Megaman anyway.'
'Um, what's going on?' the girl asked hesitantly.
"Hi, sorry. My name's Shinigami. And you are?"
'I'm Roll, and these are my brothers Rock and Blues. What's going on? There was this attack and we were put in stasis and—'
'And the next thing you know you woke up with me and Shinigami here and missing a body.' Forte interrupted. 'The same thing happened to me, except I've been awake longer than you have. I've been partnered with Shinigami for about two weeks.'
"You guys are now Biometal, which means, as Forte said, that you can't do anything unless you're merged with a human. If you're willing you help me, you guys can stick with me. Or I could leave you here, but…" Shinigami trailed off, unsure of what would happen to the three if they were left here.
'Well, I'm not too thrilled about having to work with Forte, but I'm willing.' Blues commented. The other two chorused their agreement.
"Great!" Shinigami cheered. "But, um, would you mind if we checked to see if we can merge first? I mean, I can take you out of here anyway, I'd just like to know."
'Sure thing. We can try merging first.' Rock agreed.
Shin set the other two down and picked up Megaman again— and suddenly found himself human.
"Huh? Forte?"
'I'm not staying merged with you while he is. I'm fine if you take them, but that's going too far.'
"Fine." Shin sighed. "Rock On, Megaman!" Forte yelled, raising his hard clutching the Biometal in the air.
Nothing happened.
'Well, he's useless, let's leave him here.' Forte suggested.
"Forte! Wait, remember what that girl called us? Biomatches, or something?"
'Yeah, so what?'
"What if we're only able to merge with each other?"
'But she had all those different transformations.' the Biometal pointed out.
"What if she merged with them through her Biomatch? That means I can transform with Rock and the rest, but only if I'm merged with you as well."
'…you're joking.'
"Please, Forte. Can't we at least try?"
There was long pause.
'…fine. But I'm not happy with this at all.'
Rock sighed. 'Why can't we all get along with each other?'
'Quiet, you.'
"Forte, we're going to we working together for a while. Could you try not to stir up trouble?"
'Fine.' Forte grumbled.
Shin sighed in releif. He just hoped Forte would stick to it…
"All right. Forte, Megaman, double Rock On!" He yelled. A bright light flashed momentarily, and Shin was left standing in armor of light blue on his legs, chest and arms and a lighter blue bodysuit. His braid fell out of his round helmet in a thick rope.
'Yay! I can move again!' Rock cheered inside Shin's head.
"So… how did you used to fight?"
'Well, I usually just used my Rock Buster… but I can also copy the powers of enemies I have defeated.'
"Cool," Shin stated as he fired at an empty box in the corner. "Hey, this is slower than normal."
'Forte had a rapid fire system, but I'm able to charge up. Well, Forte is able to as well, but my buster charges quicker and it's more powerful.'
"Great!" Shin grinned. This looked like it'd be fun.
'Look, I suppose you want to see what all of us do, so why don't you hurry up a little?' Blues queried stiffly.
'Er, never mind Blues. He's just grumpy 'cause he doesn't like people,' Rock apologized.
'I don't "not like people", I just prefer to work alone. Although that seems it will be impossible now.'
"To tell the truth, I don't like working with people either… actually, I try to avoid it as much as I can," Shin admitted. "But I'm okay with you guys since you aren't, well… alive."
'Shinigami?' Roll queried, concerned.
"It's nothing. Forget it. Let's go Blues." Shin hastily un-merged with Rock and snatched up the red Biometal.
A second later, Shin was wearing red gauntlets and feet armor with a gray bodysuit, along with a visored helmet and his hair in a long gold-tinted ponytail. In a sheath at his side was a metal sword.
Shin pulled it out and examined it in wonder. Real swords were so rare only a few people have seen them, much less owned one!
'Hey, I never had a sword…' Blues frowned.
"It's awesome," Shin stared mesmerized at the slightly glowing blade.
'So, I guess that's my main weapon now. I used to have a buster like Rock and Forte.'
"I bet all three of you have more powers now that you used to. We'll have to experiment a little, but first I'd like to see what things are like with Roll."
'Very well, but I was never a fighting robot, unlike the other two.' Roll cautioned.
"Double Rock On, ForteRoll!" Shin yelled, raising the pink Biometal above his head. There was a flash of pink light, then…
"Um… forgive me if I don't use you often, Roll." Shinigami commented, sweatdropping.
It was pink. A pink dress… No thank you.
"Hey, you think that's bad? I have to look like a boy eighty percent of the time."
The boy's head shot up at the oddly familiar voice.
"Who's there?" He demanded, turning towards the voice and whipping out his weapon.
"You really think that's going to hurt me?" the voice laughed. Shin glanced down at his new weapon and sweatdropped.
"It's a broom? That's your weapon?!"
'I-I'm not a fighting robot!' Roll protested, flustered.
"Relax. I'm not here to hurt you." A girl with dark hair slowly walked out of the shadows she was hiding in. Shinigami's brow furrowed in concentration.
"Weren't you… at the town that one time?"
"We've met each other more than just then, Death God. Although, I must say… you looked different." Her eyes swept over his outfit and giggled. Shin blushed furiously and un-merged with the female Biometal, leaving his usual black armor on.
"So, who are you and how do you know me?" the boy demanded gruffly, regaining his dignity.
"You don't remember, Shinigami? It's me, Aile." When he continued to look confused, she sighed softly. "I'm the girl who helped you against the W-roid."
"Oh, her. What are you doing here?"
Aile sighed, looking slightly miffed. "I… wanted to apologize."
Shin blinked. "Apologize for what?"
The girl shifted uneasily. "For thinking the worst of you… for misjudging you. I realize now that I was in error. So I came to ask your forgiveness, and…" here she brightened up slightly and look Shin straight in the eyes. "To make you a proposition."
"Proposition." Shinigami mimicked, keeping his tone and face from betraying any emotion.
"Yes. You are one of the few… surviving… Mega Men I know of, and we share a common goal; the destruction of the Mavericks."
"What's your point?" Shin asked impatiently.
"I… want to ask if you would like to join the Guardians." Taking his widened eyes as a positive sign, Aile continued. "You're one of the most powerful people on the planet, and if you could help us you would be able to accomplish your goal quicker and more efficiently, as our radars can locate Maverick activity easily, and there's safety in numbers, so we can watch each others back and—"
"No thanks."
"…Huh?" Shinigami was glaring at her coldly; Aile couldn't believe a human being could communicate that much rancor with simply his eyes, but he did so. Aile didn't move, unable to tear her gaze from his burning red eyes…
"I don't want to join with your Guardians, or anyone else. I only work by myself."
Aile mentally shook herself. "But, Shinigami, why— hey, wait!" She cried out as the boy swiftly turned and leapt off, leaving Aile staring in bewilderment at an empty room.
Why on earth did he react like that?
Author's notes: So, I will try to update once a month, and I WILL stick to it! …yeah, we'll see how long that lasts. Anyway, while I will hopefully write more than one chapter a month, I won't post a second one in one month unless I'm sure I'll have one for the next month, to allow for inspiration slumps. (IE, let's say I write another one this month. I won't post it until I write a third chapter.) Oh, in case anyone's wondering, that mysterious attack in 20XX was not Zero. I know the cataclysm theory is incorrect. However… hmm, actually, I just got an idea for something later in the story, so we'll leave it at that for now. If I choose to go with my idea, then there might be a few hints at what the attack was. Otherwise, it'll be a mystery, as it really isn't important to the story.
And, to tell the truth, the discovery of the Biometal is different from how I had originally planned, but I realized that wouldn't really have made much sense, so I wrote this. Hope it's okay. ^^" (It's mostly the same, but Blues had woken up earlier and… yeah. It wouldn't really work. ^^")
Oh yes, for the armor, I tried to describe it best I could without making outside references. With Rock it's mostly his original outfit, except with a bit more armor. Blues looks a lot like his navi form, except no helmet spike, his hair is golden-brown, and his bodysuit is gray. Roll's is in her dress, only it's pink and her hair is styled like it is in Battle Network (only more natural and brown).
Comment responses!
Kestre Wynde: Glad you like it! Oooh, that would have been interesting. ^^ Yeah, Vent's pretty cool, I just like Aile better. ^^ Okay, thank you very much. I tried to do a better job of that this chapter… probably missed a few times though. ^^"
Niilan: Yay! Glad you do! ^^ Thank you~
Forcemaster24: …this is the problem with talking to you already… Although, I guess this makes it my— I mean, Prometheus'— fault you haven't updated yet… I'm— he's— so sorry! (I hope you do update soon, I really really really want to read more. ^^")
ZX-Kid: S'okay, I understand. Thanks for reviewing at all! Glad you did, and I hope you enjoyed this one as well~ (And yes, I did. ^^)
