Sorry for the really long delay! I'll be very busy starting next year but I'll try to have the final chapter up before the year changes! Just... try, but I can't make any promises...

End of Era

Chapter 19 – The Answer

The narrow pathway Estelle was walking through had led her deeper underground. The air was humid with water leaking out of the rocky walls on her left and right sides. The humidity wasn't as bad as the previous room when she and the others met Phantom for some reason, but she didn't have time to think about it. She had to press on to get the answers she needed, but the tension in the air was slowing her down.

She felt like it was best that she and others never knew about what was hidden. She was satisfied with the way things were, with her and the rest of the younger Mega Men trusted enough to join in the fight. Yet, it was for this fight that they were able to join. She wanted to just go back and considered everything never happened, but it was also her mission to see everything to the end.

She was feeling conflicted and she couldn't shake away the bad feeling she had in her mind. Even with the conflicts in her mind, the brunette stood firmly in front of the door at the end of the long hallways. She took a deep breath before she stepped closer to the door, opening it. With the blue armor covering her body, Estelle stepped into the room and was met with a change in the temperature.

"W-What is this place?!"

The walls of the huge room Estelle got herself into were covered by screens, with each of them having a bunch of text scrolling down. At the other side of the room, a gigantic mechaniloid stood with many wires connected to it. There were cracks all over the mechaniloid's armor, with each of the cracks slowly blinking in red color. At the feet of the mechaniloid, a U-shaped table was placed with familiar silver hair sticking out from the popup screens.

"It seems like the commander of the Guardians prefers having her daughter taken rather than the Ciel System," the silver-haired figure stood from the other side of the table, looking at the cautious brunette in amusement, "I'm guessing the life of someone who had caused another to lose her life-"

"Shut up!" Estelle sternly yelled, aiming her buster arm at the former Hunter, "What about you? You abandoned Ashe and my parents!"

"So?" Grey casually shrugged as he walked around the table, revealing the four cables on his back which looked like they had aged more than they would already have, "I have my own purpose to fulfill and being with them won't do me any good."

The brunette lowered her buster arm slightly, though still looking at the reploid cautiously, "What do you want then? Why do you want me and the Ciel System?"

The reploid turned around, looking up at the golden mechaniloid standing in front of them, "Power. It's my creator's wish for me to take over all of the Chosen Ones and the mechaniloids should the Game of Destiny he planned failed," Grey turned back to Estelle with an evil smile, "That Biometal Model O is the key to access the power I need, being the first virus prototype ever being developed by Master Albert himself. Your life is just a small thing to bring the Ciel System to my hands!"

"Well, you're not getting either of them!" Estelle's buster arm was back into position, "Virus or not, finders keepers!"

Estelle fired the first shot, which Grey could easily dodge by stepping to the side. The reploid transformed into his Model A form, returning the shot with his own buster followed by a homing shot. The brunette managed to counter the shot with her own half-charged one, but the homing shot was unexpected that she took the hit. The shot wasn't powerful enough that she could safely land on the floor after being hit, only to have a green blur tackle her to the ground.

She rolled on the ground from the impact and she froze in surprise once she saw the familiar green Mega Man standing in Grey's place. She had seen Ashe transform into her father and the other Mega Men in the past, but the likeliness of the copy to the real one had always surprised her. Grey's pink sabers were charged with electricity as she watched him while she was trying to get back to her feet.

"Stop this foolish fight," Grey's voice was almost identical to Aeolus' as he spoke, looking at her coldly with his glowing red eyes, "Lord Weil's virus is the only thing I need from you in order to fulfill the purpose of my creation. With the main force being deployed here, taking the Ciel System will be as easy as taking candy from a child."

"I'm not here to fight either! I just want to get some answers on why you're turning your backs on others and that dumb creation purpose you've been saying all this time!" Estelle kept her buster arm aimed at Grey, "And… I'll decide if it's actually the right thing to take you down in the end…"

"My purpose…" Grey swiftly swung his sabers, hitting the young brunette with electric shockwaves, before transforming into Thetis, "… is to be the cleansing virus… I will clean the filth of the world by wiping off the unnecessary trash in this world! This is what I've been programmed to do!"

Grey had sent out icicles with a single swing of his staff, to which Estelle couldn't react quickly enough to dodge. The cold pieces had partially pierced her armor and sent the cold into her body protected under the blue armor. She winced in pain and in the sudden change of temperature, unaware that Grey had sent out an ice dragon at her as well.

The strong impact had knocked her back to the floor, with the ice forming the dragon breaking apart and raining down on her. The small pieces hit the floor with small clanging sounds as she was bathed in ice particles. The particles' shape didn't last long as their form melted into puddles of water as the temperature rose up quickly.

Estelle quickly rolled out of the way as Grey, already transformed into Atlas, had sent out waves of fire towards her. When she was out of harm's way, she aimed her buster arm once more and started shooting at the reploid with her own buster shots. The shots were easily blocked with Grey's knuckle busters before sending his own burning shots at her.

"Not bad, for a weak beginner," Grey commented as he saw the brunette dodging the burning shots, "How's this?!"

The reploid thrusted one of his knuckle busters forward, sending out a burning fireball at great speed at the brunette. Estelle could barely dodge it, only to be greeted by another one landing on her shoulder and knocked her backwards. The heat being generated by the screens in the room and Grey's fire attacks was making her head dizzy as she saw the reploid standing in front of her with what seemed to be a copy of him.

Stinging pain came after on her sides as she could feel something stabbing her sides, but Grey was still standing in front of her in Siarnaq's form. The damage she suffered was too much that her transformation might undo itself, but she couldn't give up fighting as she felt that it was her only choice. It was her choice to keep on fighting, even if she had heard the answers she had wanted to hear when the mission was decided.

If everything was resolved, then why was she still fighting? She had always disliked physical training and would always make up excuses to skip, but she had always dreamed of being a Mega Man like her parents. She wasn't too fond of fighting herself, but she had always wanted to have her own power to fend for herself and to help others. She felt that it was her duty as a member of the Guardians, yet fighting her parents' former ally had made her hesitate, even if she knew that he was obviously making others' lives miserable.

There was something inside her that kept her from trying to purposely harm him and wanting herself to just stop and listen to what he had said. On the other side, she couldn't forgive him for the pain he had caused to the others and especially what he had done caused Prairie to lose her life. She wanted to destroy him for what he did, but she was still being held back by an unknown force she couldn't truly recognize.

The whirring sound of shuriken heading for Estelle's direction had snapped her back to reality as she knocked the ninja star with her buster arm. The contact left a scar on her armor, but not deep enough to actually wound her. She aimed her buster arm at Grey once more, but the hesitation came back to haunt her as she stood still instead of countering with her own shots.

The hesitation within her became stronger as Grey transformed into the familiar figure of her mother in her ZX form. Grey aimed his buster at the brunette's shocked figure with a sly grin on his face, "Is this all the daughter I've given life to can do? Maybe it's best that you're never born to the world, after all…"

"N-No…" Estelle shook her head nervously as she lowered her buster arm, "Y-You're not Mom…"

Estelle knew that her mother wasn't the one standing in front of her. She was supposed to be fighting in front of the lab for their sake, along with her father and the other Mega Men. She was convincing herself of that fact, but the movement and the familiar voice of the person in front of her belonged to her mother. She hadn't completely forgiven her mother for what she had done for her for most of her life, but she couldn't bring herself to fight her either.

The very presence in front of her felt like she was facing her mother. She couldn't fight her even if it meant-

A powerful laser shot had gone through from her side, knocking Grey to the floor. Estelle was too shocked to react as the laser shot was only a few millimeters away from her arm, until she was greeted by a familiar voice coming from behind her.

"Nice try pretending to be Aile, old partner!" the silver-haired Hunter yelled from the entrance with her buster guns ready in both hands, "And I'm also here to collect my booty!"

"A-Ashe…?" Estelle turned to the Hunter shakily as Ashe walked over to her side, "W-What are you…?"

"Let's just say… I have a score to settle first with that guy," Ashe casually pointed at Grey, who had transformed back to his Model A form with one of her buster guns, "Your mom and the others should be here soon. Siarnaq told me from a transmission minutes ago that he's got everyone into the building already."

"And your booty… wait, don't tell me that you're still treasure hunting!" Estelle was looking around the room, but failed to see anything which would caught the Hunter's attention enough to be referred as treasure.

Ashe didn't respond as watched as Grey slowly got back to his feet while clutching his head in pain, "Y-You…"

"Estelle," the Hunter called the brunette with an unusually stern tone as she noticed the younger Mega Man's fading armor, "Just destroy that giant mechaniloid and leave Grey to me. You can't fight in that condition anyway and I can't think of anything to say to your mom if anything happens to you on my watch."

"Huh?" the brunette looked at the Hunter in confusion as Ashe walked over to Grey with her buster guns hanging on her sides, "O-Okay…"

Estelle aimed her buster arm at the mechaniloid, but Grey's voice had stopped her from charging her shot, "W-Wait! Don't you know what you're doing?! You don't want to lose your powers, do you?!"

"What?" the brunette was looking even confused as she turned to the reploid, "What… do you mean by that?"

"This is for the best, Estelle!" Ashe raised her buster guns, preventing Grey from moving from his position, "Do it now!"

Hesitation filled her head once more as her arms were shaking as she aimed at the giant mechaniloid. Ashe was obviously hiding something and that Grey wasn't completely aware of what the Hunter was planning. If she stopped, would she finally find the answer she was trying to find all this time? She couldn't really tell and she couldn't bring herself to just do something without knowing exactly what would happen.

"I… can't…!" the brunette lowered her buster arm before her blue armor completely disappeared, "I… I don't know why… but I feel like there's something else that I'm supposed to know behind all this…"

"Estelle…" Ashe spoke up softly as she saw the brunette going down to her knees with confusion clearly written all over her face. Unknown to the Hunter, however, Grey had taken the chance to shove her out of the way and ran towards the table once more, "H-Hey!"

The reploid had begun typing on the computer hidden on the other side of the table, but stopped to clutch his head in pain once more when he turned his gaze at the Hunter, "I… This is… what I was made for…!"

"Snap out of it already, you idiot!" Ashe shouted out in despair, "You're no virus! You're just letting in some dumb virus to brainwash and control you! You're just being planted with false memories!"

Grey shook his head violently, "N-No… Ashe…! I… I must… destroy…!"

The reploid aimed his buster gun at his former comrade without himself looking at her. Ashe stood still, believing that he wouldn't release a shot at her, while Estelle watched helplessly as she couldn't transform for a while to help. Both the brunette and the Hunter closed their eyes as Grey let out a pained yell before the sound of a charged shot echoed in the room.

The shot didn't hit Ashe, but instead it hit the ceiling above her. The impact of the shot had caused some rocks to fall on top of her, with the Hunter staying still as the ceiling collapsed on her. Grey let out another pained yell before some of his silver hair turned black and the rubber skin of the cables on his back started falling off. Black scars started forming on his face and body as his green eyes turned red, but the transformation was put on hold as the reploid went down on his knees.

Estelle saw a mix of pain and hatred in Grey's eyes and the voice from before was echoing in her head once more, telling her to use it. The brunette was trying to resist as she was being transformed without her commands and her vision was getting blurry, just like how she had felt before in the city. The other Biometal in her possession was slowly taking control of her once more and with that fact in mind, she finally understood what Grey and Ashe had mentioned earlier.

That Model O was a virus to eat one's mind, just like how Grey was being taken over by the virus. Yet, she had survived and managed to break free of the virus' grasp. If she had a chance back then to break free, would Grey had the chance for that too? Was that… what Ashe was trying to find all these years…? But still, she couldn't understand why everything started flooding into her head when she wasn't a thinker or a genius like Storm or Aeolus.

She began to question if she was truly herself all this time, or if she had been living as someone else all this time. She couldn't find the answer no matter how hard she thought to herself as her mind was clouded with the mindset of a fight. Her body was fighting against Grey, who had been taken over by the virus within his own body. The Omega Virus was the name echoing in her head for some time, as if someone in her head was telling her.

Buster guns and sabers clashed in a brutal manner, with neither Estelle nor Grey giving up on the endless fight. None of them were completely aware of what they were doing as their bodies moved on their own to try and take down the enemy in front of them. Cracks had formed on both sides of the fighters' armor, with Estelle suffering more injury as blood started leaking out of the cracks in her armor.

The older Mega Men had run into the room, seeing the two of them fighting and destroying the lab at the same time. The destruction caused by the powerful strikes had rendered them unable to move freely, until Siarnaq noticed something sticking out of the rubble at the side of the battlefield. Strands of silver hair was visible through the gaps of the rocks, which made the ninja Mega Man able to identify the one hidden under the pile of rocks.

"Ashe!" the ninja had already run ahead of the group, followed by Atlas, Aeolus, and Thetis as they tried removing the rocks from the Hunter.

"Ugh…" Ashe stirred as the weight on her body was slowly removed and let out a weak smile, "Looks like… I can't get… my booty back… on my own…"

"Well, you have us now!" Thetis cheerfully responded, "Just take it easy and let us handle the rest!"

"Estelle!" Aile called out to her fighting daughter in worry, "Stop this! You're not being yourself!"

The voice fell deaf on their ears as the two continued in their clash, proceeding to destroy more of their surroundings and themselves. The young brunette, however, was slowly losing the fight as the damage she suffered was worse than Grey's. Vent went to interfere the fight, but was quickly knocked back and away from the fight.

Estelle was starting to feel the pain of the attacks she had taken, even if she wasn't fully in control of her body. She had assumed that by beating Grey, she would finally be able to bring him back to his senses and out of the virus' control. She had more power than him, but she felt that she was holding herself back that the reploid could easily overpower her.

She needed more power to beat him and to be able to bring Grey back to normal, but the unknown force from before was holding her back. She wanted to force herself to fight harder, but the unknown force was slowly making its identity known to her. The warmth from before had engulfed her once more and the presence of another in her mind was becoming clearer to her.

"Prairie…" the brunette whispered the presence's name, "It was you all along, right?"

There was no response in her head, but the pain all over her body started to feel even more unbearable as her consciousness started returning to her. The clanging sound of her saber meeting with Grey's buster guns was getting clearer and clearer as her body regained control. She could still feel that she was in her Model O form, but she couldn't feel the other presence whispering her to hurt and kill anymore.

Instead, a different but softer voice had whispered in her head the words she had heard before.

"If you can't find your true strength, you won't be any different from the enemy mavericks."

"My true strength…" Estelle knocked away the buster shots Grey fired at her in ease with a single swing of her saber before closing her eyes as she finally understood the reason she was fighting and the meaning behind the words she left behind, "… is my strong will… to save everyone!"

The brunette held her saber firmly as she let out a spirited yell, charging at Grey with her saber ready on her side. A single swing was released and the shockwave from the attack went through Grey and towards the giant mechaniloid behind him. The reploid fell and the mechaniloid exploded on impact, destroying the lab as the ceilings collapsed on the Mega Men.

"Everyone!" Aile called out loudly, trying to have her voice not drowned by the loud grumbling of the collapsing lab, "Take all the datadisks you can find here and get out!"

"Aile!" the commander could feel her husband's grip on her, "You go on with the others. I'll get Estelle and Grey-"

"No," Aile sternly responded, "You get Grey out and I'll take Estelle with me. I have to do it because… I…"

The vice commander looked at her for a moment, noticing the guilt written on her face, and gave her a nod and a smile, "Got it. I know that the two of you will need to have some time to talk, so I'll let the two of you spend time together as long as possible."

A smile formed on her face, "Thanks, Vent…" more grumbling sound was heard, giving them the sign that the ceilings wouldn't hold much longer, until their transformations undid themselves, "W-What…? What did just…?"

"No time to explain," Siarnaq's voice was heard as he and the other Mega Men ran over to them with datadisks in hand, with Atlas carrying an unconscious Ashe on her back, all in their humanoid and reploid forms, "Your escape is our first priority."

"You mean 'our escape', right?" Vent corrected, only to be surprised when the ninja shook his head, "W-What do you mean?! You're not just going to throw your life away, are you?"

The ninja disappeared for a moment before reappearing with the two unconscious figures previously engaged in a fight, "Grey and Ashe will speak. This is my responsibility for my sin."

"No, you're not!" Atlas spoke up sternly, "If you're thinking of running away because you think you've failed in many things, you're weak! You've basically saved Storm's life-"

"That's enough, Atlas," Aeolus had slightly pushed her out of the way and towards the door before he looked back at Siarnaq, "You're a fool, Siarnaq, and will always be. You would forever be a fool if your life is your only way for redemption."

"I know," the ninja responded with a nod, "My final mission is to try and keep the lab from collapsing before you all made it out to safety," Siarnaq turned around from his former comrades, "Now go!"

Thetis took another look at Siarnaq before running out with Atlas and Aeolus, wiping away the damp eyes as he did. Vent looked back at the ninja heavy-heartedly as he carried Grey on his back before forcing himself out of the lab. Aile was left alone with the ninja in the room with Estelle on her back, still unconscious.

"I'm sorry, Siarnaq… Had I done something sooner…"

"Not your fault, Commander," the ninja sternly responded, "Please leave quickly."

The commander gave him another look before nodding and soon joined with the others as they all headed out from the collapsing lab.

Next and final chapter hopefully up either tomorrow or Tuesday, so stay tuned for the conclusion chapter!