(AN: Mega Man X and Co. are owned by Capcom. 'Sides, if I owned 'em, they'd
have an RPG by now...and they'd translate a heck of a lot better.)
Chapter 6:
As Alia drug herself down the hall, she felt the dire need for someone else to handle this. "I've got enough work to do..." she muttered. Lifesavor had filed his report, with no surprises in the repairs: those non- surprises being an almost totaled armor suit, burns over almost all exposed synthskin, an partial core shutdown, every non-essential fried circuit possible, a blown dash system, 47% synth-blood loss, and what seemed like a very big chip on his shoulder. "Lifesavor could fix anything except the kid's head. For that, they send in the blonde."
Everyone in the halls avoided her gaze. They were used to the muttering, the yelling, the occasions of stereotypically blonde behavior, and the off times when I'm in a BAD mood, so they knew when to back off. And if anyone doubted it, she'd admit that she was pissed. "Goddamned heroes with their goddamned weapons and their goddamned attitudes. At least Zero just killed things, smiled, and went to bed. But NOOOO..." Before she knew it, she had mumbled herself all the way to Night's quarters.
She walked into a pitch dark, but very loud room. The walls had been painted black. The floors had been painted black. The sheets had been dyed black. The ceiling was a black backdrop to a star projector in the middle of the room. "I'm really going to have to redecorate for him...," she thought, as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. When they focused, she saw him. Lying there on the bed with headphones turned to the max and shades planted firmly on his face was the hero of the day. "Go away," he said, staring up at the ceiling.
"That's go away, SIR. Doc told me what you did when you woke up. Care to explain?" Alia crossed her arms and gave her best disapproving glare as she stared down at Night, whose headphones were still booming.
"Explain, boss? Whatever is there to explain? Is something amiss?"
"Cut the crap, kid. You insulted your superior officer, disobeyed his repeated orders to remain in Medical, have ignored several calls from R&D, and you take those goddamned headphones off when you're addressing your commanding officer."
Night slowly turned down the sound, tossing away the headphones. He sat up and turned to Alia, his shades obscuring his expression. "Let's cover the bases. I called some emotionless prick the low-tech robot that he is, I went to my freakin' room to recuperate, and R&D right now is composed of Douglas, who's too busy fixing this relic of a base to actually research or develop a goddamned thing. Oh, and I'M NOT A GODDAMNED HUNTER!!!" He fell back to the bed and threw a pillow over his head, waving away the twitching reploid before him.
"You listen, you godawful brat! You'd be on the streets if it weren't for the Hunters! Everyone is out there busting their ass for PEOPLE LIKE YOU and you have the nerve to talk down to me?! I come down here to congratulate your ungrateful ass, and this is what I get?!!! Sol would-"
Night flinched at the sound of his brother's name. He threw the pillow to the side and jumped to his feet, pulling down his shades and staring right into Alia's eyes. "Sol would what? WHAT?! Oh, I forget. He's a REAL Hunter. Off to fight the enemy, without a word of thanks, with taunts and jeers from those he protects! The big hero, X two, X squared! Everything THEY want him to be! The new, improved, state of the art MURDERER for the humans!!!"
Alia struck him before she could even think. In her mind, he had gone too far. "He...did...his...DUTY! He protected ungrateful little children like you, saved human lives hundred of times. He had the courage to do what had to be done, what we HAVE TO DO to ensure our survival! You have no idea- "
"No, Alia! YOU don't have a clue. I KILLED SOMEONE today! Am I in jail? No. Am I going to punished for it? No. Will I be looked down upon? No! I ended the life of someone today! Not some poor bastard controlled by a virus, a fully aware person!!! Ignis is dead, because of me! And the fucking humans want to give me a medal, I bet! I can still see it, plays over and over and over...I can still feel the pain I felt. I can still see his face when he hit that cord! But, why am I telling you? You wouldn't understand. You're just a glorified spotter; you don't know what a battle is like! You're just the head fucking slave!" That said, Night warped out of his room, his shades and coat going after him as he went.
Alia wiped the tears from her face as she sat down. "Damn it..." She had never argued with Night before, and it shook her badly. "...He's right, you know. I don't think anymore. I just send my men to kill the Mavericks, not caring what anyone but the damned Council thinks."
ALIA...
YOU'RE THE MOST CARING WOMAN I KNOW, BUT HE'S HURT HE'LL BE BACK. I KNOW HOW HE FEELS. HE JUST NEEDS TO COME TO TERMS WITH IT ALL.
Alia nodded as the letters ran across the ceiling. "You may not be here when I want, but when I need you..."
I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE. I JUST WISH I WAS THERE FOR HIM. SIGMA IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS. FOR EVERYTHING...
Alia wanted to say something, but just sighed and nodded. She took a second to compose herself and walked out, skulking down the halls like the Alia they'd all come to know and love.
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The Father sat upon his throne, shrouded in darkness. His servants knelt before him. There were once nine...only eight bowed before him now. As he extended his consciousness, he felt connected to the Truth within them all. His eyes were closed, yet he could see the tears in his youngest's eyes. His felt every hint of anger, fear, and sadness in his children, but two minds disturbed him. One was expected. He'd saved him out of mild gratitude, and was slowly growing to regret his choice. The other unstable mind worried him far more.
She was the closest to Ignis, which came as a surprise at first to Father. She was always the calmest, the most focused on the task at hand, but now...now her mind was in constant motion. He sensed her emotions swirling about in her head, and it startled him. I'll have to talk to her later, he thought. Now he wanted answers. "Master...Explain yourself!!!"
His head lieutenant stood quickly and crossed his arms. "The mission was a success, minus that...minor setback. There's nothing to explain!" He felt nothing coming from the dark mind that spoke to him, but Nadia's mind immediately settled into a cold rage.
"Don't raise your voice to me. Your existence relies on the fact that I think you're worth keeping alive. Losing one of my most trusted men is NOT a minor setback. Your mission, I'll remind you, was to recover robots for our future plans, not to go after some USELESS TOY!!!"
"But with that tank, hundreds of-"
"SILENCE!!!" As his anger rose, Master began to scream. Father began to tear at his mind with a focused fury, sending painful sensations coursing through his circuits. Sigma's scream grew louder, then sharply fell to a pained gasp for air as he fell to his knees.. As he felt Master's consciousness fading, he slowly released his grip on his servant's mind. "Do you know that is? That's what a severe electrical overload feels like. THAT is what your tank cost young Jaran. Remember it, and the pain that I will bring you every time you fail. This goes for all of you, my Angels. WE ARE NOT MAVERICKS! We will value the lives of all reploids, especially our own. Now, you're all dismissed." Several reploids warped out of the chamber, leaving only two in the room.
The master slowly stood, holding his head, a violent scowl quickly spreading across his face. "How dare he! If not for me...Heh. No matter. He's just another piece in our game, X. He's the queen, but even a queen is under the player's control...hehehe..."
"You wished to speak with me." The words were not a question, merely a coldly stated fact. Nadia stood behind the Master, her hard stare focused beyond him. "What do you want?"
"Nadia...what's the matter? You're even colder than usual, no pun intended." His scowl warped into a deep grin, a grin which brought fond memories to his attention.
"Cut the pleasantries. What do you want?" Nadia's blank expression grew a hint darker as her superior's smile grew wider.
"Your poker face doesn't fool me, child. I can see the pain and anger hidden there as clear as those pretty blue eyes of yours...You're not used to that kind of rage, that fear you're denying even now. But I can restore you, Nadia."
She looked up at the Master, a surprised look on her face. She thought that only the Master could sense their feelings. She was off guard and vulnerable, and it scared her more than she'd like to admit. "You...stay out of my head! You don't-"
"I'll give you a chance at Night." This silenced any protest that she might have made. The mention of that name sent her mind reeling with a dark thoughts, as the scene crept once again into her mind. She saw that familiar cocky grin turn into a grimace of concentration as the battle raged. She remembered the final moment, when her thrill of victory was turned into despair as that...that HUNTER...she couldn't bring herself to think of what happened next. She was shaken from her trance by the Master's grip on her shoulder.
"I can take away the fear, the confusion. I can remove all of the sadness in your heart, and turn it into something useful to the cause! All you have to do is ask..." He grinned as he felt her mind calculate the gains and losses. He felt the gears turning, and the growing frustration as she felt her logic failing her. Then her mind was made up.
"Master...give me the power to make him pay..." Her voice trembled as her mind centered on her enemy. Her hands turned to fists as tears streamed down her face. "Take it!"
"Of course. I warn you, this might hurt a little..." His hand slowly slip across her shoulder until he held her forehead in a firm grasp. Both their eyes began to glow with a purple light, and a wave of darkness crept from his hand into her head. Her calm face soon contorted into a mask of pain, and a strangled scream escaped her lips. "Yes, let me cut out these useless emotions! Ha ha...MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!"
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Elysium wasn't his favorite town, but Night couldn't go any farther without Alia tracking him, and he needed to be alone for a while. If he'd stayed in Neo Tokyo, he would have been found, anyway. The temporary location north of Hokkaido was the perfect hideout. As he walked the streets, headphones blaring, his mind reeled with different thoughts. Part of him was consumed in guilt. He was officially a killer now, and it troubled him deeply. But another side of him felt justified, even eager to continue. They had his brother, and that side of him wouldn't stop until they were all dead or Sol was back. The divergent forces in his mind constantly battled for supremacy, sending gruesome images of Ignis and his brother, using whatever means necessary to convince him of their utter correctness. He felt the growing need to scream, and his constant muttering kept people at a distance as he marched in circles in the Central Square.
'This is giving me a freakin' headache," he said, and plopped down on a bench, fighting to banish all thoughts of the Hunters from his mind. Unfortunately, this gave his recent memory the room it needed to bring up the subject of his 'chat' with Alia. The things they'd both said soon led to another mental deadlock on whether he should've killed the bitch or should beg to be forgiven. With a groan of frustration, he cut off his music and tried to just turn off every thought he had as he stared up at a shade tree.
"Aren't you a cutie..." Night lifted his head, about to tell someone something very inappropriate, but came short as his eyes targeted the speaker.
Her brown hair fell down to her waist, straight and flowing from the passing traffic. She stood there in a green t-shirt, a matching jacket, and a long black skirt slit to her mid thigh, with a smirk on her face. Her eyes were a lighter green, and seemed to be smiling themselves. "Aside from the minor staring problem."
After a struggle to form a witty reply, he found the words he was looking for. "Wha?"
She laughed softly and took a step closer. "I said...you're cute, in a barely legal sort of way." Night wasn't expecting that last part, and he wasn't in the mood for even light jabs.
"Speak for yourself, jail bait. You don't look more than 20!...Go 'way." He leaned back in the bench, staring behind him. He almost jumped out of his seat when her face appeared inches from his, her smile now ear to ear as he stumbled to the ground.
"Boy...without that armor, you're a scrawny little bugger," Night looked up from dusting himself off, a confused look on his face. Something had been bothering him about this strange woman, and something was screaming in the background of his mind. Something was familiar about this one.
"How, how'd you know I was a reploid?!" Night stammered, feeling a little vulnerable.
"You're cute, but your memory's worse than your technique, Night. I mean, that dash jump of yours was the silliest thing I'd ever seen. I'm amazed Gabe didn't see it coming..." Suddenly, it all clicked in his mind.
"You're that Angel girl!!! Where's Sol?!" he yelled, raising his arms into a fighting stance. The small crowd they were attracting chose that moment to continue their business and disappeared.
"Yep, that's me! That Angel girl, but my mates call me Serrael. Are we mates, Nighty-night?" She giggled softly, looking at the sight in front of her. What looked like an 18 year old boy in a crouching pose was glaring holes into her face.
"Hardly! Bring back my brother, and I won't cut your lying ass into pieces!!!" In his head, he thought, "My day is just going ALL to crap, isn't it?"
"My...you're not the sharpest tool in the shed, are you, Nighty?"
"What're you talking about?! And stop calling me Nighty, Maverick!!!"
"First of all, you'll have a hard time dissecting me without your weapons, and my NAME is Serrael. Miss Ashton, to you. I swear, I come all the way out here to APOLOGIZE for THEM taking YOUR git of a brother 'cause of orders OVER MY HEAD and this is what I get?!"
With a grunt and an embarrassed blush, Night sat down again, a frown on his face. "Well, I don't accept, 'Ms. Ashton', so get out of here before I call the Hunters on your ass." He looked up at the tree again, muttering under his breath. He found himself once again jumping and falling on his rear as she appeared in nearby tree branch, hanging on by her knees, her dress, strangely. not falling an inch.
"You're so mean, Mr....Er, what IS your last name, anyway?"
He pulled himself back into the chair, trying to relax and failing horribly. "I don't have one. Go 'way."
She seemed to ignore that last part, and stroked her chin in a thoughtful manner. "Well...let's see. According to your file, Mega Man X made you, and since Dr. Light built him, that makes you..." Her reply was cut off by a fit of laughter strong enough to make her slowly rock back and forth on the branch. "NIGHT LIGHT!!!"
Night's left eye slowly began to twitch from annoyance. It wasn't the first time that joke had been made, and he figued it wasn't the last. "Ha....ha." he said, the sarcasm obvious to a child. This only caused her to burst into greater convulsions of laughter, shaking her head.
"Oh, your face is SO FUNNY! It's like anime, sweatdrops and all! Hell, if you weren't a bloody Hunter, you'd be PERFECT! You're so Kawaii! "
"The hell does that mean?" he said, staring up at the girl above him. It was hard to believe the upside-down teenager he was looking at was a dangerous Maverick, and Night couldn't help but grin as her laughter softened into a musical giggle.
"And you've lived next door to Japan how long? Never mind. Consider the subject..." After a private laugh at his expect, her expression settled. "As much as just love I hanging around, cutie, I have to ask you something serious before I go."
"Ask away, Ms. Ashton," he muttered, blowing some her hair out of his face.
"Why are you fighting us?"
The question was one that had been in Night's mind since he'd woken up from the battle. After a few moments, he found an answer. "Because while I can't stand them, humans don't deserve to wiped off the face of the planet."
She nodded grimly as she heard his words. To him, it seemed as if he'd said exactly what she thought he would. "You know...I'd have to agree with you. Unfortunately, Master's influencing Brother...abusing the Truth... Maybe I could....No, Brother's worse than..." Her words trailed off into muted stray thoughts as she audibly cast aside solutions in her head.
Night tried to hear what she was saying, but his apparent strain didn't escape her notice. Performing a bit of acrobatics, she swung herself to a standing position on the branch, looking down at him. "Hey! Eavesdropping isn't polite, Mr. Night Light! Now, I have to run, but remember this. Not all of us Angels are as violent as Brother or the Master. Defeat the Master, and maybe this will end before it starts, and we'll get both our brothers back!"
Night jumped to his feet, questions forming in his mouth, but a green beam flashed off into the distance, and she was gone.
"Damn...that wasn't TOO confusing. And did she say I was cute?!" Night decided to cut his walk short and warped back to Neo Tokyo.
_____________________________________________________________
Night returned to Hunter base to find himself more confused and in the middle of a frenzy. Before he could so much as ask what was happening, he was drug off to the War Room, where Alia and her techs were rapidly typing away at their terminals. When he saw Alia, he wanted to apologize for before, but she was cut him off before he could speak.
"Bring up the recording. Night needs to see this," she said, more than a hint of concern in her voice. Something was up, and Night knew it. The expressions on the Hunters' faces were not the calm looks that the silence would have suggested. There was something dark in the air.
"Hey, what the hell's going on here? And what do you need me for?" Night asked. Though he felt bad for yelling at Alia, he wasn't about to be sent on another mission. His mind was made up on that issue, as far as he was concerned.
"Shut up and look." The main screen quickly came to life, and Night watched silently, with growing apprehension.
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The camera focused on the back of a girl's head. Her silver hair fell wildly down to her knees, falling over her dark blue armor. A pair of boosters were planted on her shoulders, revealing her true nature as not only a reploid, but as a member of the Angel Corps. Without turning around, she began to speak in a hushed, emotionless tone.
"I am...Aqueous. I am here at the NTN studio, which has been occupied and fully sealed. Any attempt by anyone other than the Hunter, Night, to come here will result in the death of everyone left inside, over 400 men and women. Night, if you're watching, I want you to see something."
The camera panned out, showing a gruesome scene. Bodies were on the ground, their lifeblood already gone from their slit throats. Others had been fully decapitated. The Maverick turned around, to reveal the front of her bloodstained armor. She was holding a dripping sword in her hand, the metal shining in the light from the office. Her eyes stared directly into the camera, blood spattered on her face.
"Twenty of them are already dead, Night. That...was for Jaran. You killed them, not me. If you do not face me, the rest of these humans will face similar fates. It's your death for theirs. And you WILL die. I'm waiting." She pointed a Buster at the camera, and blasted it into fragments, killing the image.
Okay, that took longer than I thought, but it's a longer chapter!!! Wheee!! I'm making TWO dedications-
Random fool: Can he make a dedication for a CHAPTER? Especially once the thing's already started?
*After lots of screams and pitiful begging are heard nearby, the author returns to his keyboard*
-Before I was so rudely interrupted, I said I'm making a couple of dedications. First, I'd like to dedicate the story as a whole to the Super Bard, Erico. He's a genius, and one of the better writers out there, too! Proof that there's more to the quality work on FFNet than yaoi fanfics(No offense, yaoi fans...but all the Japanese language is hard on us white devils in the US, ladies and gents.) Next, I'd like to dedicate the first half of this story, which extends from the Prologue, till a couple chapters past this, to Imp-chan! Now, leave Zero alone before he shoots us both with his 'amazingly powerful' Z-Buster.
Chapter 6:
As Alia drug herself down the hall, she felt the dire need for someone else to handle this. "I've got enough work to do..." she muttered. Lifesavor had filed his report, with no surprises in the repairs: those non- surprises being an almost totaled armor suit, burns over almost all exposed synthskin, an partial core shutdown, every non-essential fried circuit possible, a blown dash system, 47% synth-blood loss, and what seemed like a very big chip on his shoulder. "Lifesavor could fix anything except the kid's head. For that, they send in the blonde."
Everyone in the halls avoided her gaze. They were used to the muttering, the yelling, the occasions of stereotypically blonde behavior, and the off times when I'm in a BAD mood, so they knew when to back off. And if anyone doubted it, she'd admit that she was pissed. "Goddamned heroes with their goddamned weapons and their goddamned attitudes. At least Zero just killed things, smiled, and went to bed. But NOOOO..." Before she knew it, she had mumbled herself all the way to Night's quarters.
She walked into a pitch dark, but very loud room. The walls had been painted black. The floors had been painted black. The sheets had been dyed black. The ceiling was a black backdrop to a star projector in the middle of the room. "I'm really going to have to redecorate for him...," she thought, as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. When they focused, she saw him. Lying there on the bed with headphones turned to the max and shades planted firmly on his face was the hero of the day. "Go away," he said, staring up at the ceiling.
"That's go away, SIR. Doc told me what you did when you woke up. Care to explain?" Alia crossed her arms and gave her best disapproving glare as she stared down at Night, whose headphones were still booming.
"Explain, boss? Whatever is there to explain? Is something amiss?"
"Cut the crap, kid. You insulted your superior officer, disobeyed his repeated orders to remain in Medical, have ignored several calls from R&D, and you take those goddamned headphones off when you're addressing your commanding officer."
Night slowly turned down the sound, tossing away the headphones. He sat up and turned to Alia, his shades obscuring his expression. "Let's cover the bases. I called some emotionless prick the low-tech robot that he is, I went to my freakin' room to recuperate, and R&D right now is composed of Douglas, who's too busy fixing this relic of a base to actually research or develop a goddamned thing. Oh, and I'M NOT A GODDAMNED HUNTER!!!" He fell back to the bed and threw a pillow over his head, waving away the twitching reploid before him.
"You listen, you godawful brat! You'd be on the streets if it weren't for the Hunters! Everyone is out there busting their ass for PEOPLE LIKE YOU and you have the nerve to talk down to me?! I come down here to congratulate your ungrateful ass, and this is what I get?!!! Sol would-"
Night flinched at the sound of his brother's name. He threw the pillow to the side and jumped to his feet, pulling down his shades and staring right into Alia's eyes. "Sol would what? WHAT?! Oh, I forget. He's a REAL Hunter. Off to fight the enemy, without a word of thanks, with taunts and jeers from those he protects! The big hero, X two, X squared! Everything THEY want him to be! The new, improved, state of the art MURDERER for the humans!!!"
Alia struck him before she could even think. In her mind, he had gone too far. "He...did...his...DUTY! He protected ungrateful little children like you, saved human lives hundred of times. He had the courage to do what had to be done, what we HAVE TO DO to ensure our survival! You have no idea- "
"No, Alia! YOU don't have a clue. I KILLED SOMEONE today! Am I in jail? No. Am I going to punished for it? No. Will I be looked down upon? No! I ended the life of someone today! Not some poor bastard controlled by a virus, a fully aware person!!! Ignis is dead, because of me! And the fucking humans want to give me a medal, I bet! I can still see it, plays over and over and over...I can still feel the pain I felt. I can still see his face when he hit that cord! But, why am I telling you? You wouldn't understand. You're just a glorified spotter; you don't know what a battle is like! You're just the head fucking slave!" That said, Night warped out of his room, his shades and coat going after him as he went.
Alia wiped the tears from her face as she sat down. "Damn it..." She had never argued with Night before, and it shook her badly. "...He's right, you know. I don't think anymore. I just send my men to kill the Mavericks, not caring what anyone but the damned Council thinks."
ALIA...
YOU'RE THE MOST CARING WOMAN I KNOW, BUT HE'S HURT HE'LL BE BACK. I KNOW HOW HE FEELS. HE JUST NEEDS TO COME TO TERMS WITH IT ALL.
Alia nodded as the letters ran across the ceiling. "You may not be here when I want, but when I need you..."
I'LL ALWAYS BE THERE. I JUST WISH I WAS THERE FOR HIM. SIGMA IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS. FOR EVERYTHING...
Alia wanted to say something, but just sighed and nodded. She took a second to compose herself and walked out, skulking down the halls like the Alia they'd all come to know and love.
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The Father sat upon his throne, shrouded in darkness. His servants knelt before him. There were once nine...only eight bowed before him now. As he extended his consciousness, he felt connected to the Truth within them all. His eyes were closed, yet he could see the tears in his youngest's eyes. His felt every hint of anger, fear, and sadness in his children, but two minds disturbed him. One was expected. He'd saved him out of mild gratitude, and was slowly growing to regret his choice. The other unstable mind worried him far more.
She was the closest to Ignis, which came as a surprise at first to Father. She was always the calmest, the most focused on the task at hand, but now...now her mind was in constant motion. He sensed her emotions swirling about in her head, and it startled him. I'll have to talk to her later, he thought. Now he wanted answers. "Master...Explain yourself!!!"
His head lieutenant stood quickly and crossed his arms. "The mission was a success, minus that...minor setback. There's nothing to explain!" He felt nothing coming from the dark mind that spoke to him, but Nadia's mind immediately settled into a cold rage.
"Don't raise your voice to me. Your existence relies on the fact that I think you're worth keeping alive. Losing one of my most trusted men is NOT a minor setback. Your mission, I'll remind you, was to recover robots for our future plans, not to go after some USELESS TOY!!!"
"But with that tank, hundreds of-"
"SILENCE!!!" As his anger rose, Master began to scream. Father began to tear at his mind with a focused fury, sending painful sensations coursing through his circuits. Sigma's scream grew louder, then sharply fell to a pained gasp for air as he fell to his knees.. As he felt Master's consciousness fading, he slowly released his grip on his servant's mind. "Do you know that is? That's what a severe electrical overload feels like. THAT is what your tank cost young Jaran. Remember it, and the pain that I will bring you every time you fail. This goes for all of you, my Angels. WE ARE NOT MAVERICKS! We will value the lives of all reploids, especially our own. Now, you're all dismissed." Several reploids warped out of the chamber, leaving only two in the room.
The master slowly stood, holding his head, a violent scowl quickly spreading across his face. "How dare he! If not for me...Heh. No matter. He's just another piece in our game, X. He's the queen, but even a queen is under the player's control...hehehe..."
"You wished to speak with me." The words were not a question, merely a coldly stated fact. Nadia stood behind the Master, her hard stare focused beyond him. "What do you want?"
"Nadia...what's the matter? You're even colder than usual, no pun intended." His scowl warped into a deep grin, a grin which brought fond memories to his attention.
"Cut the pleasantries. What do you want?" Nadia's blank expression grew a hint darker as her superior's smile grew wider.
"Your poker face doesn't fool me, child. I can see the pain and anger hidden there as clear as those pretty blue eyes of yours...You're not used to that kind of rage, that fear you're denying even now. But I can restore you, Nadia."
She looked up at the Master, a surprised look on her face. She thought that only the Master could sense their feelings. She was off guard and vulnerable, and it scared her more than she'd like to admit. "You...stay out of my head! You don't-"
"I'll give you a chance at Night." This silenced any protest that she might have made. The mention of that name sent her mind reeling with a dark thoughts, as the scene crept once again into her mind. She saw that familiar cocky grin turn into a grimace of concentration as the battle raged. She remembered the final moment, when her thrill of victory was turned into despair as that...that HUNTER...she couldn't bring herself to think of what happened next. She was shaken from her trance by the Master's grip on her shoulder.
"I can take away the fear, the confusion. I can remove all of the sadness in your heart, and turn it into something useful to the cause! All you have to do is ask..." He grinned as he felt her mind calculate the gains and losses. He felt the gears turning, and the growing frustration as she felt her logic failing her. Then her mind was made up.
"Master...give me the power to make him pay..." Her voice trembled as her mind centered on her enemy. Her hands turned to fists as tears streamed down her face. "Take it!"
"Of course. I warn you, this might hurt a little..." His hand slowly slip across her shoulder until he held her forehead in a firm grasp. Both their eyes began to glow with a purple light, and a wave of darkness crept from his hand into her head. Her calm face soon contorted into a mask of pain, and a strangled scream escaped her lips. "Yes, let me cut out these useless emotions! Ha ha...MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!"
_____________________________________________________________
Elysium wasn't his favorite town, but Night couldn't go any farther without Alia tracking him, and he needed to be alone for a while. If he'd stayed in Neo Tokyo, he would have been found, anyway. The temporary location north of Hokkaido was the perfect hideout. As he walked the streets, headphones blaring, his mind reeled with different thoughts. Part of him was consumed in guilt. He was officially a killer now, and it troubled him deeply. But another side of him felt justified, even eager to continue. They had his brother, and that side of him wouldn't stop until they were all dead or Sol was back. The divergent forces in his mind constantly battled for supremacy, sending gruesome images of Ignis and his brother, using whatever means necessary to convince him of their utter correctness. He felt the growing need to scream, and his constant muttering kept people at a distance as he marched in circles in the Central Square.
'This is giving me a freakin' headache," he said, and plopped down on a bench, fighting to banish all thoughts of the Hunters from his mind. Unfortunately, this gave his recent memory the room it needed to bring up the subject of his 'chat' with Alia. The things they'd both said soon led to another mental deadlock on whether he should've killed the bitch or should beg to be forgiven. With a groan of frustration, he cut off his music and tried to just turn off every thought he had as he stared up at a shade tree.
"Aren't you a cutie..." Night lifted his head, about to tell someone something very inappropriate, but came short as his eyes targeted the speaker.
Her brown hair fell down to her waist, straight and flowing from the passing traffic. She stood there in a green t-shirt, a matching jacket, and a long black skirt slit to her mid thigh, with a smirk on her face. Her eyes were a lighter green, and seemed to be smiling themselves. "Aside from the minor staring problem."
After a struggle to form a witty reply, he found the words he was looking for. "Wha?"
She laughed softly and took a step closer. "I said...you're cute, in a barely legal sort of way." Night wasn't expecting that last part, and he wasn't in the mood for even light jabs.
"Speak for yourself, jail bait. You don't look more than 20!...Go 'way." He leaned back in the bench, staring behind him. He almost jumped out of his seat when her face appeared inches from his, her smile now ear to ear as he stumbled to the ground.
"Boy...without that armor, you're a scrawny little bugger," Night looked up from dusting himself off, a confused look on his face. Something had been bothering him about this strange woman, and something was screaming in the background of his mind. Something was familiar about this one.
"How, how'd you know I was a reploid?!" Night stammered, feeling a little vulnerable.
"You're cute, but your memory's worse than your technique, Night. I mean, that dash jump of yours was the silliest thing I'd ever seen. I'm amazed Gabe didn't see it coming..." Suddenly, it all clicked in his mind.
"You're that Angel girl!!! Where's Sol?!" he yelled, raising his arms into a fighting stance. The small crowd they were attracting chose that moment to continue their business and disappeared.
"Yep, that's me! That Angel girl, but my mates call me Serrael. Are we mates, Nighty-night?" She giggled softly, looking at the sight in front of her. What looked like an 18 year old boy in a crouching pose was glaring holes into her face.
"Hardly! Bring back my brother, and I won't cut your lying ass into pieces!!!" In his head, he thought, "My day is just going ALL to crap, isn't it?"
"My...you're not the sharpest tool in the shed, are you, Nighty?"
"What're you talking about?! And stop calling me Nighty, Maverick!!!"
"First of all, you'll have a hard time dissecting me without your weapons, and my NAME is Serrael. Miss Ashton, to you. I swear, I come all the way out here to APOLOGIZE for THEM taking YOUR git of a brother 'cause of orders OVER MY HEAD and this is what I get?!"
With a grunt and an embarrassed blush, Night sat down again, a frown on his face. "Well, I don't accept, 'Ms. Ashton', so get out of here before I call the Hunters on your ass." He looked up at the tree again, muttering under his breath. He found himself once again jumping and falling on his rear as she appeared in nearby tree branch, hanging on by her knees, her dress, strangely. not falling an inch.
"You're so mean, Mr....Er, what IS your last name, anyway?"
He pulled himself back into the chair, trying to relax and failing horribly. "I don't have one. Go 'way."
She seemed to ignore that last part, and stroked her chin in a thoughtful manner. "Well...let's see. According to your file, Mega Man X made you, and since Dr. Light built him, that makes you..." Her reply was cut off by a fit of laughter strong enough to make her slowly rock back and forth on the branch. "NIGHT LIGHT!!!"
Night's left eye slowly began to twitch from annoyance. It wasn't the first time that joke had been made, and he figued it wasn't the last. "Ha....ha." he said, the sarcasm obvious to a child. This only caused her to burst into greater convulsions of laughter, shaking her head.
"Oh, your face is SO FUNNY! It's like anime, sweatdrops and all! Hell, if you weren't a bloody Hunter, you'd be PERFECT! You're so Kawaii! "
"The hell does that mean?" he said, staring up at the girl above him. It was hard to believe the upside-down teenager he was looking at was a dangerous Maverick, and Night couldn't help but grin as her laughter softened into a musical giggle.
"And you've lived next door to Japan how long? Never mind. Consider the subject..." After a private laugh at his expect, her expression settled. "As much as just love I hanging around, cutie, I have to ask you something serious before I go."
"Ask away, Ms. Ashton," he muttered, blowing some her hair out of his face.
"Why are you fighting us?"
The question was one that had been in Night's mind since he'd woken up from the battle. After a few moments, he found an answer. "Because while I can't stand them, humans don't deserve to wiped off the face of the planet."
She nodded grimly as she heard his words. To him, it seemed as if he'd said exactly what she thought he would. "You know...I'd have to agree with you. Unfortunately, Master's influencing Brother...abusing the Truth... Maybe I could....No, Brother's worse than..." Her words trailed off into muted stray thoughts as she audibly cast aside solutions in her head.
Night tried to hear what she was saying, but his apparent strain didn't escape her notice. Performing a bit of acrobatics, she swung herself to a standing position on the branch, looking down at him. "Hey! Eavesdropping isn't polite, Mr. Night Light! Now, I have to run, but remember this. Not all of us Angels are as violent as Brother or the Master. Defeat the Master, and maybe this will end before it starts, and we'll get both our brothers back!"
Night jumped to his feet, questions forming in his mouth, but a green beam flashed off into the distance, and she was gone.
"Damn...that wasn't TOO confusing. And did she say I was cute?!" Night decided to cut his walk short and warped back to Neo Tokyo.
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Night returned to Hunter base to find himself more confused and in the middle of a frenzy. Before he could so much as ask what was happening, he was drug off to the War Room, where Alia and her techs were rapidly typing away at their terminals. When he saw Alia, he wanted to apologize for before, but she was cut him off before he could speak.
"Bring up the recording. Night needs to see this," she said, more than a hint of concern in her voice. Something was up, and Night knew it. The expressions on the Hunters' faces were not the calm looks that the silence would have suggested. There was something dark in the air.
"Hey, what the hell's going on here? And what do you need me for?" Night asked. Though he felt bad for yelling at Alia, he wasn't about to be sent on another mission. His mind was made up on that issue, as far as he was concerned.
"Shut up and look." The main screen quickly came to life, and Night watched silently, with growing apprehension.
_____________________________________________________________
The camera focused on the back of a girl's head. Her silver hair fell wildly down to her knees, falling over her dark blue armor. A pair of boosters were planted on her shoulders, revealing her true nature as not only a reploid, but as a member of the Angel Corps. Without turning around, she began to speak in a hushed, emotionless tone.
"I am...Aqueous. I am here at the NTN studio, which has been occupied and fully sealed. Any attempt by anyone other than the Hunter, Night, to come here will result in the death of everyone left inside, over 400 men and women. Night, if you're watching, I want you to see something."
The camera panned out, showing a gruesome scene. Bodies were on the ground, their lifeblood already gone from their slit throats. Others had been fully decapitated. The Maverick turned around, to reveal the front of her bloodstained armor. She was holding a dripping sword in her hand, the metal shining in the light from the office. Her eyes stared directly into the camera, blood spattered on her face.
"Twenty of them are already dead, Night. That...was for Jaran. You killed them, not me. If you do not face me, the rest of these humans will face similar fates. It's your death for theirs. And you WILL die. I'm waiting." She pointed a Buster at the camera, and blasted it into fragments, killing the image.
Okay, that took longer than I thought, but it's a longer chapter!!! Wheee!! I'm making TWO dedications-
Random fool: Can he make a dedication for a CHAPTER? Especially once the thing's already started?
*After lots of screams and pitiful begging are heard nearby, the author returns to his keyboard*
-Before I was so rudely interrupted, I said I'm making a couple of dedications. First, I'd like to dedicate the story as a whole to the Super Bard, Erico. He's a genius, and one of the better writers out there, too! Proof that there's more to the quality work on FFNet than yaoi fanfics(No offense, yaoi fans...but all the Japanese language is hard on us white devils in the US, ladies and gents.) Next, I'd like to dedicate the first half of this story, which extends from the Prologue, till a couple chapters past this, to Imp-chan! Now, leave Zero alone before he shoots us both with his 'amazingly powerful' Z-Buster.