I finished it! There's still a few hours left before the year changes but I finally finished it! Enjoy the final and closing chapter of the story!

End of Era

Chapter 20 – The End and Start to an Era

The air felt heavier than before as Estelle felt it on her skin, blowing the excess bandages wrapped around her body. Her latest fight had resulted in the injuries around her body along with a few broken bones, but it still felt nothing compared to the harsh truth to shatter her dreams. Still, that same truth was the explanation for the unknown lightweight feels in her head the moment she woke up.

As she was sitting on the deck, the brunette lifted her bandaged hand and looked at it with an emotionless face. Vaguely, she could recall holding the powerful saber in that hand and pointed it at the reploid who had been a friend and comrade to her parents. Her head was still pounding every time she recalled those events as the unknown presence's grasp on her mind was still strong enough despite her resistance and the help from Prairie's cyber-elf.

"That was the end… huh…?" Estelle whispered quietly as she lifted her hand higher, "Is this… what you meant about what you said before, Prairie…?"

The sound of blowing wind was her only answer, blowing her bandages and hair back and forth as she recalled the truth hidden all those years. One which would've changed the world and the fate of the surviving Mega Men for as long as they could live.

Estelle had to take a seat in her mother's seat in the room as her pounding head was making her unable to stand properly. Her mother, the commander, was looking through the datadisks brought back from the laboratory as Grey, who had mysteriously returned to his old self, helped her browse through the data. Aeolus, Atlas, and Thetis had grim looks on their faces from the loss of their comrade as Storm started out the explanation Siarnaq had given him previously. Iris was holding on to her father as the truth was brought to light.

"… And that mechaniloid in the data before was actually the real body of a maverick called Omega, rebuilt by Weil in order to cover a transmitter which connects to a single component shared between all reploids of all models," the green-haired teen stopped to turn to the silver-haired reploid, "You, Grey, are supposed to be built originally to act as the activation button for the spread of a virus to turn all reploids into rogue ones."

Grey took a quick glance around to the stares given to him before he nodded guiltily, "Yeah… Master Albert had planted the virus within me which will spread the moment I'm connected to that 'transmitter'…" the reploid looked back to the screen as Aile moved to the side, showing the image of the giant mechaniloid from before, "Siarnaq realized that by connecting my cables to it would put the entire plan in motion, but I was only thinking of trying to destroy the virus on my own. Had I listened to him then…"

"That creepy silent guy is in it too, huh…" Atlas commented with a hurtful look, "I know that guy can be weird and everything, but he is a loyal friend who… is very willing to take his own life should he be unable to do something to help…"

"But didn't we stop it already?!" Thetis stepped forward suddenly, leaving his clutching daughter almost falling from the lack of someone to lean on, "I mean, shouldn't the destruction of that transmitter thing be the end of all this madness?! So why-"

"It's the opposite, actually," the former Hunter responded, getting others' attention, "Some of my virus should've been there, ready for transmission, and the design of the transmission would enable any virus within to be transmitted in a certain range should it be destroyed."

Silence fell into the room, understanding where the facts were leading to, with Aeolus nodding as he confirmed it, "In other words, that foolish friend of ours decided to take in the transmitted virus into his own body before destroying himself while he was still himself."

Grey gave him a slow nod, "Yes… without either Omega's soul or the Ciel System to power it up, the virus would only end up in Siarnaq's range."

The choking silence returned to the room before the door behind them slid open, letting the other two Mega Men into the room, "Sorry to barge into this room of gloominess with another bad news, but we have a possible good news to share with you guys!"

"Vent! Ashe!" Aile turned to greet the two new people into the room, "What did Fleuve say about our Biometals?"

"Well, that's-"

"Let's recover this situation with good news first!" the Hunter responded quickly with a little too much excitement in her voice, "Thanks to what happened with that giant mechaniloid thing, we won't have any problems with those for a long while!"

"That's… a good thing to hear…" Aile had doubtful look as she said it before she and the rest of the people in the room turned to Vent, expecting the bad news to come anytime soon, "And the bad news is…?"

The vice commander could feel the air around him getting heavier as all eyes in the room fell on him. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before he broke the news to them, "The Biometals… aren't responding anymore… Or to be exact, we can't Rock-On anymore…"

Estelle looked at her father in surprise. She couldn't transform anymore when she only had her own Biometal for only a few days! She had dreamed of going down to the battle alongside her friends and parents to fight off the mavericks to protect the innocent. She had to go against her mother's will in order to fulfill her dreams of becoming a hero to everyone and to prevent the loss of lives like Prairie, but she couldn't anymore. Her dreams were shattered by her own hands.

"So it is…" the young brunette could hear the disappointment in her mother's voice as she spoke up, "Even if that's the case, I don't see a reason to disband the Guardians anytime soon."

"I agree," her father had joined her mother's side as well with a nod, "While we won't be fighting mavericks anymore, there's still more to a Guardian's duty than just fighting in the battlefield."

"One question if I may, Vice Commander," Storm looked at the older brunette with a serious look on his face, "Did Fleuve say anything about the relation between the Biometals' unresponsiveness and the network in the chart data I gave him? Would this bad news have anything to do with the meaning of that chart?"

When all eyes went back to him, Estelle could see the nervousness in her father's eyes. While she wouldn't be too different if she was in his position, she chuckled as she knew that her father wasn't too bright to sit through Fleuve's lectures. The annoyed look on her mother's face told her enough that she had seen it coming as well that she had asked Ashe to accompany him as she had to do some data deciphering with Grey and the others.

"H-Hey," Vent turned to Ashe with a pleading, "Help me out here, will you? I couldn't really catch much of what Fleuve told us before…"

The Hunter simply shrugged in response, "Oh well, I'll tell you guys more or less of it since Vent slept through pretty much everything," Ashe took out a datadisk from her pocket and pointed it at Storm, "The data Storm took explains everything. Our Biometals, including the cloned ones, also have a component which is connected through the network thing. When that transmitter blows, the virus got sucked up into Siarnaq while a deactivation signal, courtesy of our dear Master Thomas. He just happened to have Albert's old data of trying to implant the same component to the newer reploid models behind the policies he made."

"Thomas wasn't aware of Model O's dual capabilities as a backup energy for the virus spread," Aeolus added in calmly, "Though I can assume that someone already knew about it before Thomas could get his hands on the Biometal…"

"She knew," Grey spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "Prairie knew and she probably knew about my supposed role in this that she tried to prevent me from going. I convinced her that I could handle everything before it got out of hand that she eventually allowed me to cooperate, but she sent me off with Siarnaq just in case."

Silence fell in the room once more, in the memory of a dear friend. Prairie had known everything all along, but she refused to say anything when everyone was enjoying their daily lives as Mega Men. She didn't want to crush their only hope of survival when they had to fight off the mavericks, especially when anyone could revive the old legacy just anytime. She had feared that they would stop fighting when they knew that stopping the plan would mean losing their only source of power.

But she wasn't aware that the friends she had left behind were stronger in heart than she realized. While they might've looked disappointed, they didn't lose hope for the future. The data she left behind had prevented them from being controlled by the legacy virus made by Weil, even if their Mega Men forms were the price they had to pay. As long as they were alive and themselves, that would be enough.

Yet, Estelle could feel emptiness within her heart the moment she got the news. She would have to move on with her life soon, but she would have to have time for herself to sort everything out.

"I…!" Estelle's sudden movement as she stood up from the commander's chair had gained everyone's attention, "I… I want to get some fresh air at the deck…"

Her parents didn't say a word, but didn't give her any disapproving look as she left.

"There you are!"

Estelle's eyes fluttered open, almost jumping in surprise when she saw the younger brunette standing above her, "O-Oriel! What are you doing here?" the older brunette sat up, looking around to see that she had fallen asleep for a while on the deck. The sun was setting and her worried little brother was there to check up on her.

"Mom is looking for you, you know!"

"Mom is…?" Estelle's eyes were still heavy from tiredness, but she could feel the presence of her parent behind Oriel, "Oh…"

"You'll catch a cold if you fall asleep here," her words were stern, but wasn't void of emotions like the way she remembered, before the weight of an extra layer of clothing snapped her out of drowsiness, "Here, use this blanket to keep yourself warm."

"T-Thanks…" she wasn't used to the warm gesture her mother was giving her, but she felt comfortable anyway. She tried avoiding her mother's gaze and looked up to her brother, patting the empty space next to her, "Sit down, Oriel. I'll share my blanket with you if you're cold."

The younger brunette shook his head, "I can't. I have to get Dad ready quickly!"

"Huh?" Estelle looked at Oriel in confusion before he ran off into the base, "Get Dad ready for what?"

A familiar chuckle came from beside her as she saw her mother sitting down next to her, "It's been years since we all did it, but maybe another family dinner in the city won't be so bad after a long and hard battle."

Estelle wasn't sure what to feel, especially when she still had mixed feelings towards her mother. She couldn't say that she hated her for all she did as it was for her own sake. If her mother hadn't prevented her from going to the battlefield then she could've had more experience in fights, but it could mean that she would've worried her parents longer. If only-

Clanging sounds came from the other side of the deck where two silver heads popped up. The female Hunter's satisfied laugh echoed on the deck, making the two brunettes laugh as well.

"They're back at it again, as usual," Aile commented with a chuckle, "It was a good thing that the destruction of the transmitter brought Grey back to his old self… only to have his crystals taken away from losing bets against Ashe…"

"Uh… Mom?" Estelle nervously asked, getting her mother's attention, "Now that we don't have maverick issues to worry about or the ability to transform, what do you think will happen to the Guardians?"

"It will always be there for people who need help," Estelle looked at her mother in confusion, "Why do you look so confused? The Guardians aren't formed only for fighting mavericks, you know."

The younger brunette shook her head, "No, it's just… with the training everyone has to go through, it feels almost like the Guardians have to be always ready for battles every time and everywhere. I just feel like it's the only thing we're meant for…"

Aile didn't respond and instead put an arm around her daughter, bringing her closer, "When there's a start in something, there's an end in that something too. If you only focus on one thing, you'll lose everything when that one thing ends. The same goes for the Guardians too and the inability to fight won't make it cease to exist if our purpose isn't merely just to fight."

"That's…" Estelle looked at her mother with an uninterested look, "… a very long explanation…"

The older brunette sighed in pity, "I can see that you're your dad's daughter just fine…" she let out a chuckle before getting up from her spot, "Well, at least I can tell that you'll be able to make good judgment in the end. I know that you'll most likely get that from him."

"I guess…", a smile formed on Estelle's lips as she joined her mother, "So, which restaurant should we go to?"

"Your dad should-"

"There's a small mission that we need to finish before that, though," Vent popped up from inside the base, but hesitated when he saw that Estelle was present with Aile, "O-Oh, well, I don't think it's… that important…"

The two female brunettes exchanged looks for a moment before nodding, "What's it about, Dad? A mission is a mission for a Guardian member, right?"

"A pickpocket!" Oriel had popped out behind Vent, "An old lady in the city reported that a pickpocket stole her wallet!"

Estelle gave her family a confident smile, "I think I can handle it. I can figure out where pickpockets are going after smuggling myself into the city many times…"

"Okay, but you have to be responsible for your previous naughtiness, young lady," Vent warned sternly, but soon his stern expression turned into a smile, "We'll be behind you if you need some help, so shall we get going?"

"YES!"

Final chapter is finally up on the last day of 2019! Also, big thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this story to their alerts and favorites list! There were a bit ups and downs while working on this story, but all the support here and AO3 managed to get me through up to this point. I have no more planned sequels for this story, so this will be the last of the long-running Megaman series that I've been working ever since I was still a freshman in high school. Thanks again and I'll see you guys in... perhaps another fandom? Or would it be another story? Only time will tell!