Mega Man Neo
Chapter 10 - Megalomania
After "defeating" Mega Man Neo 4 hours ago, Bass Kai departed from the Forest of Voreius. In a beam of light, the black armored warrior teleported inside a dark and eerie laboratory. All the black armored enigma could hear was the humming of the computer monitor before him as well as other machinery surrounding him. He took a couple of steps towards the 30 inch computer monitor hanging above him and gazed at it. He soon began to start typing in a...passcode of some sort.
Once the passcode was entered, the screen turned on. On the screen showed a mysterious figure sitting on a big chair and completely shadowed.
Bass Kai's blank expression remained on his face.
"Hello doctor. I see you're still placing a silhouette around yourself..." Bass Kai said non-enthusiastically.
"And I see you're still sounding moody as ever." The figure replied happily. The voice sounded young... Very young... like, teenage young. "Anyhow, did you finally meet him; Mega Man and his host?"
Bass Kai nodded without saying a word.
"Haha, good! You have the host's DNA and Battle Data from the Gli-Eye, no?"
"Yes." Kai simply responded.
With that, he placed the immobilized Gli-Eye mechaniloid on the panel that seemed to have a hole specifically for it. Once it was inserted, the Gli-Eye's mechanical optics beamed to life. Tons of bits and bites started raining down in the optics, transferring data through the panel.
The shadowed figure chuckled to himself. He turned his chair a bit and suddenly, there was multiple footage of Mega Man Neo fighting in the Forest of Voreius; From fighting the Deluxe Galleon Hunter to the Hittite Hottide DX and eventually his battle with Bass Kai himself. The figure grinned and gazed upon the footage.
"Hehehe, isn't this neat~." The figure commented. "This guy has adapted to Mega Man much faster than I thought! Very impressive for someone who just recently bonded with him...!"
The enigma turned to face Kai again. "But even so, he lost to you, didn't he?"
Before Kai could speak, Bass took his place. "He did lose, but to me, that wasn't a true victory! He wasn't at full power!"
The figure yawned mockingly at Bass. "Good grief, even after all these years, you still hate Mega Man."
"...Even after I upgraded you into a Reploid. You have a one track mind, Bass."
Bass growled. "Shut up! Yeah, so what, you revived me and Mega Man! What, you want a gold medal?!"
Just as the figure was going to give Bass a snarky remark, something on his computer screen caught his attention.
"Hm? What's this?"
The figure began pressing keys on the keyboard and entering within the folder that was just sent to him. Slowly, he was reading the contents of it.
"Huh... Interesting."
"What is it that you've found, doctor?" Kai asked.
The figure did not keep his eyes of what he was examining, but he responded to Kai nonetheless. "Lots of things. Lots and lots of things. Hehehe, I can tell, she is responsible for this contraption."
"Who?" Bass questioned.
"Doctor Ciel, the woman from 23XX. She's supposed to be dead, but I can see she's prolonging her life...just like I am..." The figure replied, continuing to examine the contents of the data being received.
"Ciel..." Kai whispered, unfamiliar with the name but sensing it's importance.
"Well, well, she's responsible for giving that host a device... Ah, I see! She perfected the Megamerge that Mega Man was originally undergoing...! In fact, the device surpasses even your capabilities, you two!"
"The device?" Bass Kai repeated. Then it came to him. Mega Man Neo was wearing a device on his right wrist...!
"My, oh my. This woman is smarter than I thought... Then again, this is the one who created the six Biometals." The figure said, still looking at the data's contents. "The Combination-Carrier...Hmhmhm, interesting."
"Doctor, do you think you can construct a device similar to what they were wearing?" Bass Kai asked.
The enigma grinned, though it was impossible to tell when you can't even see his face. "Oh, yes. I'm sure I can create one in no time... Especially with this large amount of data, it'll be over soon enough...!"
He stopped looking at the contents and returned his glance at Bass Kai. "You must contact me in 8 hours, understood Nero?"
Bass Kai nodded. "Understood, doctor."
With that, the transmission was cut off and the screen went blank. Bass Kai, the fusion between a 14 year-old human boy named Nero and a robot upgraded to a Reploid Bass, began to walk away from the large monitor.
Kai put thought into the host that Mega Man megamerged with. He sensed something was... Familiar when he was close to him. He would have to figure this out much later; But for now, he and Bass had other things to attend to...
Once the connection was dropped, the figure turned his swivel chair around. He was no younger than Nero himself... He wore a opened, long, black tailcoat with long sleeves, a upwards collar and shoulder pads. The interior of the coat was red. He had the usual fingerless gloves with white fingertips. He wore a short, black "Mega Man" vest, and seemed to wear a dark brown bodysuit compared to the usual black or navy colored bodysuits. He did not seem to be wearing pants or briefs for that matter; Just a simple white belt around his waist. He wore big black boots with metallic silver trimming, spikes at the talus area of the boots, and red glowing highlights at the soles of his boots.
On his arms were large silver and black gauntlets. On his backhands, there was a large plate on each of them and they had three large barrels on top...As if something sharp is suppose to come out of those holes...
His sharp youthful red eyes seemed to spell out bad news.
Suddenly, a door slid open and in came a girl with long heather blue hair and some weird robotic pieces on her head, kinda resembling "rabbit" ears. She wore a light blue dress with yellow trimmings, white shoulder straps with a purple circular glowing gem embedded within the straps. She had a purple little cloth hanging between her legs, wore white thigh armor and long light blue and white heels. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail via a yellow holding piece. She looked like a 13 year old.
She walked in and yawned cutely as if she just woke up from a nap. After wiping her eyes with her fist, she gasped and her eyes gleamed at the footage of Mega Man Neo.
"Kyaaaaah~! Is that him!? The Blue Bomber?!" The girl squealed. Her voice was slightly high pitched, but it wasn't too high-pitched or in the middle. It was just slightly.
The mysterious male grinned a toothy one and nodded at her question. "That's right, Neiva. That is the Blue Bomber... Also known as Mega Man Neo."
"Aaaaaaaah~!" The girl known as Neiva gawked. Since the day she heard about the Blue Bomber fighting in Tera City, she got excited to one day see him. Now she did. Next on her list was to finally one day meet him too.
"Gah! Who cares about that Blue Bomber!?"
Right behind Neiva came a seemingly 15 year old boy wearing armor unlike the girl. His eyes were crimson and seem to have black eyeliner underneath his eyes. He wore a red and black helmet that did not complete all the way. It had yellow-orangish horns sticking out the sides. Due to the intentional half-helmet, his big spiky orange hair stuck out, looking like fire. The helmet had gray earplates with a large spike on the backside and blue, glowing interior. He wore a gray neckguard, a black bodysuit with red lines on the sides of him. He wore a red "Mega Man" vest with a black upside down triangle in the center and two black sharp lines close to that triangle and connecting from the back of the vest. He also had red shoulder pads with yellow-orangish trimmings.
He did not wear briefs or pants, just like the enigma in the chair. He wore a white belt with a blue crystal. He too wore thigh armor, like the girl but unlike the enigma. He wore simple red gauntlets with a gray ends. He wore the same fingerless gloves as the girl and the enigma. He wore large red boots with yellow-orangish trimmings, a large white spike poking out the knee cap area, a yellow plate in front of his boots and the same black spike design as his vest. His foot area was black and had yellow-orangish soles.
The teenager folded his arms and looked at the girl with a irritated expression. "You've been talking about that cruddy Blue Bomber for DAYS Neiva! Put a sock in it already!"
Neiva frowned and looked at the boy. "Ignitus! I know you want to meet him just as badly as I do!"
Ignitus rolled his eyes and looked at the girl. "I did. But after hearing from Taranis that he lost to Nero and Bass, I don't feel like taking him on. He'll be too easy to beat."
Neiva stomped her foot on the metallic floor. "Neo wouldn't lose a fight so easily! H-He just was a little less experienced than Nero and Bass! I-It wasn't a fair fight!"
Ignitus squinted at Neiva, arms still folded across his chest. "Why do you care so much about our ENEMY?"
When she was asked that question, Neiva shrieked and began blushing cutely. "I-I-I care b-because h-h-h-h-he's-"
"Good grief..."
Ignitus and Neiva turned to the enigma. He smiled as he placed a palm over his face with his eyes closed. "As siblings you argue... Heh, I can't deny how fun it is to see you two bicker..."
The enigma removed his hand from his face and looked at the two siblings. "But there are more matters to attend to. Mega Man and his host have been thrown into the ocean; Courtesy of Nero and Bass."
He then grinned, his red eyes glowing in excitement. "Lucky for us, the current he's taking should take him nearby that cavern. I want you both to go and...Meet him personally."
Ignitus frowned while Neiva squealed with glee. "I get to meet Mega Man Neo!? YES! Finally! I get to learn his favorite color, his favorite food and what type of girls he likes~!"
Neiva went on and on as she ran out of the room. Her big brother frowned in irritation. "Neiva actually does have a crush on that loser... But hey, which one does she actually like!? The host or Mega Man himself!?"
The enigma shrugged happily. "Who knows... Maybe not even Neiva herself, hmhmhm..." The enigma chuckled. "Now go and follow your sister! I must attend to this recent data from the Blue Bomber himself...!"
Ignitus clenched his fists and walked out the door. "Grr, why doesn't Taranis do anything around here?! And what about-"
The door closed shut, blocking out Ignitus' rant. The enigma turned to face his computer, continuing to read the data. He found some very interesting data, mostly regarding Ciel's recent creation, the Combi-Carrier, but upon looking at the DNA portion of the data, he found something special about the host...
"My, my... Nero is in for a surprise, hehehe..."
After finished began typing in passwords into his personal computer, a username was revealed: Wraith.
Mega Man Neo slowly opened his eyes upon finally awakening from his slumber. Almost immediately, he noticed that he was in a location not familiar to him. It was a rather dark and small room with a- Wait, hang on! We've already been through this similar scenario! This is some crazy deja vu!
Nonetheless, the hero awoken on a surprisingly cozy bed. Though, he felt like he was... moving. For Neo it was hard to describe since he hasn't been in this type of scenario... Well, aside from awakening up in a small and dark room.
"If we were sitting on a chair, I'd say this is really similar to yesterday's event." Mega Man chuckled. Neo looked at his friend through the Combi-Carrier and raised a brow.
"Ummm, where are we this time?" Neo asked, sounding like he has a feeling what's about to come up next.
True to what he had thought, the door before him turned on and slid open. However, it wasn't a man who walked in. No, it was a teenage girl looking like she was about 16. She had long black hair, nearly-emotionless yet calculating crimson eyes, and light skin. She had black circular ear-plates with an sharp black and white "antenna" attached. She wore a long midnight blue scarf around her neck and the tails dangled behind her. She also wore a short Japanese kimono shirt. It's design was rather simple, being black with white trims. Around her waist was a long purple waist girdle belt. Underneath that kimono was a light black-purplish bodysuit, the same as everyone else. However, her bodysuit had short sleeves and short legs, revealing her light skin. She also wore long socks of the same color as her bodysuit. She wore big black "Mega Man" boots with white trimmings. However, she appeared to have a leg guard in front of her boots...
The girl looked at the boy, examining him. His eyes... Were so pure and innocent, but deep inside lied a strong fighter determined to protect the world...
"You are finally awake, Blue Bomber." The girl said. Her voice was soft and mature. It seemed to tell Rokku that she was the type of person who takes things quite seriously and knows responsibility and all that.
"Y-Yeah..." Neo said, scratching the top of his helmet. "Excuse me if I'm sounding rude, but... Who are you?"
The girl held a hand out to her chest. She had yet to smile... She just had this serious frown...
"My name... Is Shade," She greeted. "I am the one responsible for saving you..."
"Saved me...?" Neo muttered.
"After our battle, "Bass Kai" tossed us into the ocean instead of finishing us off." Mega Man explained. "I feel like those two want a rematch some time in the future...!"
Shade took a couple steps closer to the hero(es). She looked and examined the boy further.
"I've been searching for you... For a long time..." Shade said.
"Y-Y-You have...?" Neo quivered nervously.
Shade nodded. "Yes. Ever since the news regarding you have spread... You were the one who stopped the leader of Unity, the nation that leads Europe as a whole, from going insane with a Model W..."
"Yeah, we've been getting pretty famous lately..." Neo chuckled nervously. He wasn't too sure he was liking where this was going. So far, he's met people who adore him and then he's met people trying to beat him to a pulp; People like Bass Kai. Who's next? A clown with electric stretchy arms?! A guy with a magnet attached to his forehead?! A guy using boomerangs?! Or-Or better yet! A guy talking about "making a popsicle of you"?!
Yeah, that'd be the day!
"May I ask for your identity, Blue Bomber?" Shade asked.
Neo whimpered and looked at Mega Man. The both of them knew it wasn't the brightest idea to give away their "secret identities" to someone they just met.
"I understand that you wish not to tell me your identities. It is rather... Unwise." Shade admitted, folding her arms across her chest. She then gave a tiny smile to the boy and reploid inside the device. "But you can trust me. Like you, I utilize Biometal data."
Neo looked at her in surprise. "Huuuh? Yo-You do?!"
"Of course. As of right now, I am wearing armor pieces." Shade said, demonstrating her gauntlets on her wrists and leg armor on her boots. "I am a... Chosen One..."
Neo gasped. "You're a Chosen One...?!"
"Just like Ciel told us about..." Mega Man thought. "Meeting others with Biometal data..."
Neo and Mega looked at each other once more. They were still unsure if they wanted to share their names… Even if this Shade was a... "Mega Man" or "Chosen One"...
Shade decided to break the silence with a serious situation. She understood why they were reluctant in sharing. It only made sense after all. "Blue Bomber, I think you and I should work together..."
"Say what?" Neo quickly asked.
Shade looked at him sternly. "There is an incoming threat, Blue Bomber... Or should I say... Mega Man Neo..."
Mega frowned. "Wait, how do you know that name?"
Shade looked away as she recalled the scenario. "I had a few encounters with Bass Kai... I learned your name from him... Though, he knows a bit more about you than I..."
"What else do you know about us?" Mega Man asked, sounding like he was suspicious.
"I know that you are Mega Man, the ancient robot from the 21st Century and that you are megamerged with a human..." Shade explained. "I got all of this information from Bass Kai and others who I have encountered."
Neo suddenly got a little... pouty. Hearing that name, Bass Kai, so much made his blood boil and.. childishly jealous. "Hgnnnn... That guy was so strong... But I know we could've beaten him...!
He then shook his fist in a antagonizing manner, gritting his teeth. "Next time we meet, we'll be ready for him!"
"Yeah!" Mega cheered.
Shade turned to look back at the hero before her. "I understand that you want to have a rematch with Bass Kai, but right now, he's of little concern."
Neo raised a brow. "Huh?"
"As we speak, there's an evil warrior who intends on causing havoc on the Earth; The "Knight of Despair"..."
Neo and Mega Man perked up immediately. "The Knight of Despair!?" They cried in unison.
Shade nodded. "Yes."
The kunoichi walked closer to Mega Man Neo and sat down beside him. From up close, the human boy could see that she was pretty strong... yet a little soft. Perhaps that was her appearance that gave him these thoughts. Still, he felt comfortable near her, which was a good feeling.
"She is responsible for the recent attacks, Neo. The attack on Tera City, Magne being a subject to Model W's corruption, all of it was planned." Shade then looked at Neo. "What wasn't planned, was your appearance..."
Neo smiled sheepishly and twiddled his thumbs. "Hehe, yeah, well... Mega and I couldn't just stand by like nothing was happening...!"
"Neo, Mega Man, there's more attacks coming... And they will hit major cities..." Shade began. "...However, if you and I work together, we can defeat her, the Knight of Despair..."
Neo and Mega perked once again.
"Whoawhoawhoa! You want us...To work together with you...!? Th-This is awfully sudden, don't you think?!" Mega asked, nervous about the idea. He could've swore he heard her ask this a few moments ago, but he had finally caught on to what she was proposing.
Shade nodded. "That's right. Since we are the same, "Chosen Ones", I thought it'd be appropriate for us to work together. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I...Guess so..." Mega said.
"You are a strong hero, Neo. I understand if you do not trust me right away, but I think we can truly defeat her and save this world from another horrible war..." Shade said.
"So, you know about the past war... The Neo Arcadian War...?" Neo asked sadly.
Shade nodded once more. "Unfortunately... Yes, I do. I don't want history to repeat itself... So, will you work with me...?"
Neo looked at Mega worriedly before looking at Shade. "Ummm... Can you give us a second?"
Shade nodded again and got up from the bed. "Of course. I'll be in the Command Center if you need to talk to me..."
The kunoichi went to the door. Before she left the room, she used her peripheral vision to glance back at the young hero.
Once Shade had officially left, Neo started talking with Mega.
"I think we should work with her." Neo said to Mega.
"She does sound honest... But I can't help but feel suspicious." Mega admitted. "This is very sudden, though she's got a point. Don't you think it's strange that after we met, all this crazy Maverick stuff has been happening? First Tera City and then the Forest of Voreius. These aren't random attacks; They are orchestrated!"
"Then there's that girl we saw after Uncle and his army showed up..." Neo recalled. "She was standing on top of that radio tower thingy... And then she teleported outta there..."
"She... Might be the Knight of Despair that Bass Kai and Shade mentioned. We both felt Model W energy from her..." Mega said, recalling her appearance.
...
"Rokku," Mega spoke. Neo looked at the Combi-Carrier screen with a battle worn face. "She has a similar aura as Magne when he had the Model W... I think she's related to everything that's happened in the past hour or so."
...
"If what Shade is saying is true, then we might finally meet this antagonist face to face very soon... That, and a major city in the Enstratos Region may be hit with another Maverick incursion...!" Mega cried with worry.
"Then... We should maybe work together with Shade!" Neo cried. "She seems to know a lot about this stuff! We can stop this Knight of Disrepair or whoever!"
"It's Despair, Rokku..." Mega corrected with a smile and a sweatdrop on his cheek. "But maybe you're right. She does seem to know a bit about what's going on. She can help us and we can help her."
"We can help each other out!" Neo beamed happily. "Double Win!"
"Alright, then it's settled. We'll work with Shade!" Mega announced.
Shade walked over to the control panel of the ship and started checking it's configurations, making sure they were in their proper places. One would think that piloting a Raider airship alone would be difficult, but fortunately for her, she picked an airship that did not require multiple pilots to control. In fact, this thing could be on auto pilot, like the majority of the airships could.
The kunoichi wanted to get back into flight soon so she could continue her mission: Stopping the Knight of Despair. However, she needed Mega Man Neo's cooperation to do so.
Soon, Mega Man Neo climbed into the Command Center, opening the hatch and letting himself in. Shade immediately turned around to find the young boy coming up to her.
"H-Hey, Shade?" Neo stammered.
"Oh, Neo. I'm glad you found the Command Center. My apologies for not giving you any directions..." Shade apologized. "I hope it didn't take you too long to find me..."
"Nah, we found you pretty fast honestly." Neo admitted.
"But, about your proposal Shade..." Mega started.
"Yes?" Shade raised a brow, curious to their answer.
Neo grinned. "We'll work with you~! We want to take this Knight of Despair down!"
Shade smiled a little upon hearing their acceptance. "I'm... Glad you accepted my proposal. Now with you both by my side, we can truly stop her and the Maverick incursions..."
Shade then turned around and walked back to her control panel. "We must get going right away...!"
Neo then walked closer to Shade as the airship began to lift off the ground. "Oh, and Shade?"
Shade took a small glance at Neo. "Yes?"
Neo then reached for his helmet and took it off, revealing his black, spiky/messy, hair. He grinned happily at his new companion. "Rokku! My name's Rokku! I'm glad to meet you Shade!"
"Me too!" Mega Man added.
Shade smiled and ruffled Neo/Rokku's hair, causing the young boy to blush. "I'm glad to have met you too... Rokku...Mega Man..."
My apologizes for the long wait! ;_; I meant to finish this awhile ago. Now, this was going to be a much bigger Chapter, but then I remembered, "Hey! I said I wasn't going to make these Chapters so freaking long unless ABSOLUTELY necessary!", so I decided to split it up to two to possibly three parts.
However, unlike previously, I didn't write these parts in one single Chapter like I did for Chapter 5-6. Nope, now I gotta actually write Chapters 11 and 12 that continue from Chapter 10.
Let's talk about the Raider Airship for a sec. I looked at images on the Mega Man Knowledge Base to get a visual idea of how a Raider Airship should look. Interior wise... I had to do that on my own. I assume that area where there's blue windows is the Command Center. Unlike the Guardian Base which had three operators piloting the ship, I decided that this airship could be piloted by a single person or on auto-pilot... Ya know, like a regular ol' airplane. XD
Hope you enjoy Ignitus, Neiva, and Shade's appearances! If you haven't seen their visual designs yet, you can check them out on my deviantART!
Though, there's a lot of questions... Who's this... Wraith? Who is the Knight of Despair and what does she truly intend on doing to the world? Will Mega Man Neo and Shade be able to stop her and save the world? Stay tuned for future installments and find out~! (^_^)
