1Chapter Eleven: Surface Tension
Her eyes opened slowly, the light stung.
"How do your tests read?" She heard a voice say.
Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light, she could see two scientists standing over her in a large white room.
"Her life signs appear normal." The other scientist said.
She was lying on a stretcher, she was hooked up to a machine of some kind. Electrodes were placed on her head and arms. She slowly rolled off the table and onto the floor when the scientists weren't looking. She pulled the electrodes off and remained crouching behind the stretcher.
"They're waiting for you Walter," Said one of the scientists to another behind him. "In the test chamber."
The other scientist made some notes and looked back down at the stretcher. "Where'd she go?"
At that moment the woman stood up punched one of the scientists in the face, he fell like a sack of bricks. The woman looked at the other scientist who threw his hands into the air and ran, after a few steps he stopped and cowered with his hands covering his head.
A door opened and another man walked into the room. He looked like a scientist, had a white coat, and glasses. He instantly noticed the scientist lying on the floor and the other cowering. He then noticed the woman standing staring right at him.
He held his hands out. "Ok, wait a second."
"Where am I?" The woman asked.
"You're safe, you were held captive by the enemy. We saved you."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Hal Emmerich, we mean you no harm."
The woman walked over to Otacon, she looked him up and down. "How did I get here?"
"Our team of fighters went in and got you, we just want to ask you a few questions."
The door opened and Sonic came dashing in. "Otacon what's going on? Hey, you're awake."
The woman was shocked at the talking blue hedgehog. Snake came running in next followed by Samus and Megaman.
Otacon smiled. "Looks like we're all here, might as well get to know each other. But first, let's do something for that scientist over there." Otacon pointed down at the scientist lying on the ground.
After the scientist was taken care of they all gathered in the waiting room area.
"So," Otacon began. "Tell us your name."
The woman looked around at the people around her, a hedgehog, a boy in a blue suit and helmet, and a tall orange robot thing. She took comfort in looking at Snake, the most normal looking one there.
"My name is Aya Brea." The woman said.
"Do you know why they had you there?" Megaman asked.
Aya was silent for a moment. "For my mitochondria."
"Mitochondria?" Sonic asked.
"Mitochondria is a part of your cells that creates energy." Samus explained.
"It's also it's own life form." Aya said.
Megaman raised his head with a confused look. "What?"
"Mitochondria lives within us in a symbiotic relationship." Aya continued. "If it were able to act by its self it could destroy the body with the energy it creates."
"But how would that happen?" Otacon asked.
Aya sighed. "It's what Eve did."
"You fought against Eve?" Snake asked.
"Yes, fought and defeated her."
Sonic scratched his head. "When did you defeat her?"
Aya sighed. "Seven years ago."
The team stood in shock.
"But," Sonic started not sure of the right words. "We've seen her, just recently, how could you have defeated her?"
"I don't know." Aya said.
A beeping sound rang in the room, Otacon reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a pager like device. "That's strange," Otacon began. "It says we're getting a message in the transport room." Otacon stood up and left.
"We should follow him." Samus suggested.
The now five arrived in the transport room to see Otacon working at a terminal in front of a large screen. "The signal is really weak." Otacon said pushing a small lever.
An image slowly began to form on the screen in the form of Dr. Wily.
"Wily!" Megaman shouted.
The message broke with static every now and again. "How are you gentlemen?"
"What do you want Wily?" Megaman asked the image.
Dr. Wily smiled. "I just wanted you to know that you fell into our trap."
"What are you talking about Wily?"
"The base you were at was a decoy, to let you come to us so we could track your teleports to find you."
An alarm sounded.
"What's that alarm mean?" Samus asked Otacon.
Otacon pushed his glasses up. "An unauthorized person is teleporting in."
Wily chuckled and the screen was broken by more static. "You have no chance to survive...make your…time."
Energy began to form in the teleport as a person began to come in.
"…All…your base…are...belong to…us." The image then snapped out as the teleport finished.
The league looked in disbelief, as Zero stood among them again.
Zero looked around the room, a look of joy was on his face.
"Otacon," Megaman asked slowly. "Is there a way out of here?"
Otacon thought for a moment. "Either the teleport or going completely out of the complex to the surface."
"Looks like teleport is out of the question."
Zero shifted his arm to his buster and aimed at the team.
Aya looked at the red robot confused. "What is that?"
Samus fired a super missile at Zero, grabbed Aya and began to take for the door.
Zero dodged the missile and fired above the door causing it to collapse. The team was trapped inside.
The team knew they were no match for Zero, having faced him before.
"We need to find a way out of here." Samus said looking about the room.
"I'll use Gutsman power to dig through the rocks." Megaman suggested. "Though, you'll have to distract him for me."
Just then a large explosion blew out the rocks blocking the entrance, sending the debris flying at Zero. Zero managed to destroy most of the rocks, but a few did hit him. The smoke cleared and revealed a man wearing a black full body suit showing only his head, the suit orange on it's legs, arms, and chest. On his chest was the Greek letter Lambda, he also wore a pair of glasses, had a goatee, and carried a crowbar.
"Who are you?" Snake asked.
"Barney told me about you." Otacon said walking over the man. "You're Gordon Freeman.
The man looked over at Snake, then back at Zero.
Megaman looked at the crowbar in his hand. "Did he cause that explosion with just that crowbar?"
Gordon Freeman reached behind him with his crowbar wielding hand, and pulled out instead a long gun with a rounded end, several wires reaching to the back of it, and it was somewhat blue in the middle. Freeman aimed the gun at Zero and held down the trigger, a small turbine in the gun began to spin making a loud whirr sound. Freeman fired a long orange blast of energy that sent Zero flying back. He then waved his hand for the others to follow him.
The team looked at the hole in the wall that Zero lay smoldering in. They quickly followed Gordon.
"So, we finally meet the great Gordon Freeman." Samus said from behind him. Gordon said nothing. "Where are you taking us?" Samus asked him. Gordon said nothing but looked up while still walking. "The surface?" Samus asked. Gordon nodded his head. Samus looked down at him for a moment. "This guy talks less than Link."
Gordon took them to a large elevator and pushed the button for it. The sound of things being toppled over came from the room next to them.
Megaman sighed. "Seems Zero is on our trail."
Gordon walked up the wall between them and their hunter, he listened for a short moment and then charged his gun again. He then fired the charged shot at the wall, the sound of it hitting a large metallic object and sound of a shout came from the next room. The elevator then arrived.
Snake took the opportunity to slide his buster onto his arm. A loud banging came from the bottom of the elevator.
"Is Zero below us?" Sonic asked.
A large white fist came up from the bottom of the elevator.
"Yes Sonic," Otacon said. "Yes he is."
Freeman kneeled down and pulled out his crowbar. He then began to repeatedly strike Zero's hand with it.
"That guy uses that crowbar really well. Look how fast he's swinging that thing!" Sonic said in awe.
Snake aimed his buster down at Zero's hand and began to fire Samus then joined him.
Zero reached his other hand up through the hole he created and began to tear open the bottom of the elevator. Samus fired a super-missile as Zero pulled the metal back revealing his face, sending Zero flying down the shaft.
Gordon knelt down at the hole and began to throw small bags down the shaft.
"What are those things?" Megaman asked.
Snake looked closer at them. "He's throwing satchel charges."
The elevator then arrived at its destination. When the team was out, Gordon pushed a button on a remote exploding all of the explosives he threw down the shaft.
Otacon pointed forward. "There's a ladder that leads to the surface just ahead."
As the team ran, the left wall in the hallway exploded.
"What was that?" Sonic shouted.
Zero slowly walked through the hole in the wall. He looked ahead of at the team, he looked as though he was worn out. He began to run at the team.
Gordon charged and fired his gun at Zero. Zero managed to dodge the blast, fired a blast of energy from his feet sending him flying forward, grabbed Gordon's gun, and crushed it. Gordon looked over at his crushed gun, then back at Zero who was smiling wide. Zero punched Gordon in the chest sending him flying backward. Gordon managed to amazingly land on his feet. He motioned for everyone to climb up the ladder.
"What about you?" Snake asked turning the hatch on the top of the ladder.
Gordon turned his head at Zero, who was shaping the remains of Gordon's gun into a ball.
Gordon reached behind him again and pulled out a long gun that resembled a fireman's hose that connected to a large pack on his back. Gordon fired a double helix shaped beam from the gun that sent Zero flying back. Gordon motioned his head at the ladder.
Snake opened the hatch and crawled out onto a helipad that appeared to be in the middle of a rocky dessert.
Zero picked himself up and grinned at Gordon Freeman. Gordon backed up to the ladder and climbed out as Zero came rushing at him.
"What do we do now?" Megaman asked.
Zero blew the hatch of the ladder off and climbed up to the surface. He made a dash for Gordon.
"Freeman!" Snake shouted. "Behind you!"
Gordon quickly turned around holding a gun with three claws on the front of it that opened releasing an orange light. Zero stopped dead in his tracks.
"What did you do?" Samus asked.
Zero was actually off of the ground still in a charging position, his feet were off of the ground. Gordon lifted the gun up thus lifting Zero farther off of the ground.
"I see," Samus said looking over the situation. "It's a gun that manipulates gravity."
Gordon nodded.
"So," Otacon said pushing up his glasses. "What do we do with him?"
"What is it?" Aya asked.
The team looked over at her.
"Huh," Sonic said scratching his head. "I kinda forgot you were here."
"Zero is a highly advanced robot." Megaman explained. "He was created to destroy me."
"Let's go over the explanations later. What do we do with it?" Snake said.
Samus pointed his gun at the robot. "For now, let's just send it away." He fired a teleport at Zero that vaporized him to another location.
"Where'd you send him?" Sonic asked.
"Somewhere safe." Samus said looking up.
A teleport flashed in deep space sending Zero floating in darkness. Zero looked around him, a hard object struck his back. He turned to see a head of a statue in the shape of a bird's head. Zero looked up and shouted into the empty space, where Zebes once lay.
"The enemy has probably seen that teleport you know." Megaman said to Samus.
Samus looked through a menu on his helmet. "It will lead them off course for a while. As for us," A loud crash ran through the sky as Samus's ship flew onto the helipad. "We go the long way." Samus jumped up to the top of his ship and released the ladder. Sonic, Snake, Megaman, Aya, and Otacon climbed up.
"Aren't you coming Gordon?" Otacon asked before closing the hatch.
Gordon looked up at him and shook his head. A teleport appeared behind him. Another man walked out wearing black body armor and carrying an automatic rifle. "Hey Otacon, been a while."
Otacon smiled. "Barney, what's going on?"
"One of the scientists here sent a distress call." Barney pointed at the teleport. "He created the teleport and Gordon here came in after you."
"Thanks Gordon." Gordon nodded his head.
"Anyhow." Barney walked back to the teleport. "We need to be getting back, catch me later though I'll buy you a beer." Barney walked into the teleport, Gordon looked up at Otacon for a moment and walked into the teleport after Barney.
Otacon closed the hatch, and the spaceship flew off.
"So where are we going?" Megaman asked after they were a far distance from the planet.
Aya looked out of the front window. "We're in space?"
Otacon joined behind her. "It just like what I thought it would be." Otacon pointed out. "Look, a shooting star." He said as a streak of light flew across the sky.
"Great," Samus said looking over at the two briefly. "I'm going to the headquarters of the Galactic Federation, they will shelter us, and I will bring to their attention the crisis of the enemy powers."
"Until then, why don't we all introduce ourselves to Aya. And maybe get to know Eve a little better." Megaman suggested. Aya turned around and looked at Megaman. "My names Megaman."
Sonic raised his hand. "Sonic the Hedgehog."
Snake sat in a corner. "Solid Snake."
Samus looked over at Aya. "Samus Aran."
Aya looked at the team in wonder. "And this is all of you?"
"Well, we have another member by the name of Cloud Strife." Megaman said. "And we had another member named Link, who has fallen."
"I see." Aya lowered her head.
"What can you tell us about Eve?" Snake said breaking the momentary silence.
Aya raised her head and thought for a moment. "Eve is, a human with perfect mitochondria."
"Perfect mitochondria?" Sonic asked cocking his head to the side.
"In Japan there was an incident, a scientist tried to recreate his dead wife from her cells. Though, those cells contained powerful mitochondria. The cells took the form of his wife, but when anyone got close to her their mitochondria reacted and they started on fire."
"That probably explains the heat we felt whenever we got close to Eve!" Megaman realized.
"What did the woman do?" Samus asked.
"The woman was no longer the scientists wife, she was Eve." Aya continued. "She set out to 'free' the mitochondria from its human shells, and to give birth to the Ultimate Being."
"What happened?" Sonic asked.
"They managed to defeat Eve, but her cells remained. An American scientist by the name of Dr. Klamp discovered these cells, learned about Eve, and set out to recreate her. He put the cells of Eve into a woman named Melissa Pierce, she is the Eve you have seen."
"And this Eve is trying to do the same thing?" Megaman asked trying to piece it all together.
"This is the same Eve, only in a different shell." Aya explained.
"And you say you've already beaten her?" Snake asked.
"Yes, seven years ago. But, I've seen Eve now, when I was captured." Aya held her head in her hands.
Otacon rubbed his chin. "You said they wanted you for your mitochondria, why is that?"
"My mitochondria are the same as Eve's." Aya sat back in her chair. "Mine don't react to when Eve is present, so they took samples of my mitochondria and are probably using it so they can be near Eve."
Megaman shrugged. "Makes sense."
"Yes, but what about," Snake stopped in his question and put his hand up to his ear. He then looked up a look of worry on his face.
"What is it Snake?" Sonic asked leaning in.
Snake brought his hand down from his ear. "We have to go to Hyrule, now."