Disclaimer: Nothing of Capcom's is mine. Nothing of mine is Capcom's.

Thanks to all those who reviewed. It is much appreciated, and it gives me the inspiration that I need to write, knowing that someone is actually reading all of my hard work.

Chapter 2

Predictably, I had to abide Leviathan's slew of questions- more of an interrogation, really- when I returned. It had been four days since the attack in Neo-Arcadia, and the persistent female was not letting me out of her sight. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown because of her continuous drilling me for information. I had decided to return to the base and find out what I could about the mechanical demon I had witnessed. My personal questions would have to wait if there was a forthcoming danger to deal with. I had been spending most of my time locked in my room, partially to analyze the creature's disembodied head, which I had lifted from the scene, and partially- mostly- to seek solitude from my water-loving companion.

Leviathan was now who-knew-where, and I decided to join Fefnir in some combat training- more of a warm up, really. The red reploid was presently using his arm-mounted fire buster- a novelty which seemed less useful and more ornamental- to idly torch the targets and training drones that floated lazily in the shooting gallery.

"You're pretty hard on the equipment, Fefnir. Maybe you should take it easy."

He glanced up at me, his slight quirk of a sadistic smile tugging his dark features into a less-than-charming expression.

"Don't reprimand me, Harpuia. I've seen you when you get going in here."

I frowned. "That's a bit different. You're pretty much shooting fish in a barrel.

Fefnir snorted. "That's pretty much all there is to do. It doesn't matter what setting you use." A wicked grin spread across his features, distorting the slash-like tattoos on his face. "Of course, there are other ways to train..."

I crossed my arms. "After the beating I gave you the last time, I would've thought you'd give up."

"You got lucky. Now c'mon, one on one. No weapons."

I sighed. "Fine. And that includes your fire buster."

"You're no fun."

"I never claimed to be." I moved to the partially-padded center of the room, and Fefnir followed. We turned to face each other.

Oh, and Harpuia?"

"Yeah?"

"No flying." Fefnir moved into a fighting stance, placing the bulk of his weight in a central balance.

I stayed light on my feet, wanting the extra agility. I knew that Fefnir would normally take the offensive, forcing me to defend until he worked me back into a corner. I did not intend to let him have that edge.

I feinted a right hook, broadcasting my direction, and then switched to a snap kick which I landed square into Fefnir's stomach. The blow would have easily knocked the wind out of a breathing individual, but he and I could take a lot of punishment. He went down hard and yanked my right leg out from under me as he fell. I landed on my back and attempted to spring up onto my feet, but he held tightly onto my ankle, and all I managed to do was kick his hand away and roll over onto my side. We both jumped up and faced each other again.

"Gettin' rusty, Harpuia," Fefnir laughed.

"What about you?" I shot back. "You fell for the right hook feint again." I laughed.

Fefnir threw a couple of right and left jabs at me and feinted a kick. I dodged and attempted to counter with a back fist, but he caught me across the side of the face with a glancing blow. I reeled back and used the momentum for a sweeping kick that took his legs out from under him. I raised my fist for a controlled punch that would name me the winner of the match.

"Harpuia!" I looked up to see Leviathan stride into the room. Fefnir unceremoniously dumped me to the ground and threw a punch which stopped a few centimeters from my nose.

"Match!" Fefnir cried gleefully.

"Opportunist," I muttered. I knew that it was my own fault for being distracted, but it was still cheap on Fefnir's account. I glared at the cause of my loss. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, you can," She answered, apparently missing the sarcastictone of my voice. "You can start by telling me where you found that thing."

"Thing?" I blinked. "What 'thing?'"

"You know, the whatchacallit." She rolled her eyes. "You know what I'm talking about."

I thought for a moment. "Are we on the same page here?"

"I don't think you're even reading the same book," Fefnir commented dryly.

"Shut up Fefnir, nobody asked you." She crossed her arms. "That chip you had me analyze. I give up. Where's it from? Or what's it from, more specifically."

I sighed inwardly. I had given the chip to her to keep her out of my hair for awhile. I never expected her to actually comply with my request. I opted to ignore her questions and ask one of my own instead. "What did you find out?"

She made a face that appeared a bit too close to a pout for my tolerance. "Well, it's not any make that I've ever seen."

I bit my lower lip and fought back a sarcastic reply. "That, I already knew. That's not what I asked you to find out."

"Well, if it's from a reploid, the energy readings are normal. Nothing very powerful, I'd assume. It also appears to be mass-produced, but it runs from a completely different operating system than anything else I've run into." She uncrossed her arms and crossed them the other way. "That's all I could get out of it since it's not very compatible with our systems."

Mass-produced? I thought. Great. Just the face I want to run into again. "Well, thanks for what info you did get out of it," I said aloud, though not really meaning it. I turned to go.

"Wait!" Leviathan deliberately blocked my path. "You didn't answer me. What is it from?" She enunciated each word strongly in her last sentence.

I knew I was caught this time. I would have to show her the demon's head- what remained of it after my tampering, anyway- and quickly come up with some sort of alibi so I would not have to reveal my recent activities. "It came from a reploid- or perhaps just a robot, from what you told me, that I encountered while I was gone." I mentally braced myself. Here it comes...

"Yeah, about that," Leviathan complained, proving my fears correct. I winced "Where did you go?"

I physically bit my tongue. I was not letting her drag it out of me.

"For once, I'm with Leviathan," Fefnir grumbled. "C'mon, you owe us an explanation."

"Aw, not you too, Fefnir. Leviathan's harping is enough." I regretted the outburst even before it was completely out of my mouth. Now they would really be on my case, if only because I had gotten so defensive about it.

"Whoa, chill out, Harp. It's not like we're accusing you of anything." He looked at me suspiciously. "That's assuming you didn't do something we don't know about..."

I closed my eyes and bit my lower lip, which I realized had developed into a habit that I did whenever I was frustrated. "First, I ame your superior and owe you no explanation of any of my actions. Second, don't ever call me 'Harp' again, and third, no, I didn't do anything. At least not of the type you seem to be suggesting." The doubled force of their accusatory glares was unrelenting. I threw up my hands in exasperation. "Fine. I was in Neo-Arcadia."

"We are in Neo-Arcadia." That was Fefnir.

"No, I mean the human city."

"What were you doing there," Leviathan quarried incredulously.

"Just call it a premonition," I lied. "I felt like something was going to happen." I decided that I was at least telling a half-truth, and therefore could be as misleading as I wanted. "A demon-like reploid attacked in the central area of the city. I'm not sure what his purpose was other than destruction. I brought his head back with me to analyze what I could. That's were the chip came from." I prayed that they did not ask me how I got that far into the city without being noticed.

"So, you played hero and destroyed it, then," Leviathan concluded.

For some odd reason, I felt embarrassed. "Uh... no, actually. Another reploid in orange armor decapitated it before I had a chance to react."

"Ha!" Fefnir crowed. "I get it. You're so uptight because someone beat you to the scene. You really are gettin' rusty." I chose to ignore him. "Well, I get you now. There's no action since Zero left the resistance."

Leviathan pouted. "I wanted to retire him myself."

"Sure you did," Fefnir said casually. "Fat chance you could, anyway. That's my job."

Leviathan hrmphed and turned her back on him. "So, who was this other reploid, anyway?"

I shook my head. "Don't know. I tried to catch up to her, but she'd disappeared. I couldn't find any sign of her after that."

Leviathan placed her hands on her hips. "So that's it. You've been chasing some girl around all this time."

"You haven't heard a word I've been saying, have you?" I sighed. "And what's this 'all this time?' I was only gone for one day!"

Eventually, I made my way to my quarters, but my comrades were not about to give me the peace I desired. For the most part, I tuned out a good share of what was said, absorbed in my own thoughts at present So, the demon wasn't a reploid after all. If they're being mass-produced, than they're really nothing but weaponry. But if that's the case, who's producing it? we're not, and I'd bet half my sanity that it's not the Resistance, either. That leaves the Neo-Arcadian government, but if that's so, than they've acquired new designs and technology of a quality I've never seen from them. And all that aside, if it were theirs, why would they have it attack they're own city? Or is there something I'm not seeing here?

My mind flew back to the present, and I realized that Leviathan was talking. Fortunately, she was speaking at me rather than to me, therefore my lack of response went unnoticed. We were in my room by now, and the two were examining the mutilated mechanical head with great interest.

"...Pick apart the brain and see if I can't download part of the operating system. And these ocular sensors are unique to anything else I've..." Leviathan was prattling on like a rookie with his first assignment. I decided then and there that I would let her take the whole thing to work on, thus leaving me be for at least a couple of days.

"Are there any more like this one?" Fefnir inquired, not as easily appeased as Leviathan. "I'd like to see how they are in combat."

My mouth twitched into a wry, fleeting smile. "Well, if I find anymore I'll be sure to let you know." I managed to dismiss them out the door, adding, "As soon as I have an idea of where to start, I'll be hunting them."

"You mean you're gonna disappear on us again," Leviathan accused.

"Pretty much." I reached for the button to close the door.

"Warn us first this time," Fefnir chided.

"Let me think... uh, probably not." I closed the door before either one could begin another argument. At least under the pretext of demon-hunting, I may be able to get away with being gone without quite the amount of controversy over it as last time. Honestly, I did not believe that I would find a direct enough clue to the origin of the demons to begin a search, nor did I think it relevant. I did, however, still intend to continue my search for answers.

Late that night, I again donned my human guise and hoped that perhaps my colleagues were resting and I could sneak out unnoticed. The last time, I had not counted on the fact that they would be about so early, but this time I was satisfied that I knew their routines and could slip out without a commotion. Fortunately, my assumptions were correct, and by dawn I was again in the human city.

I found myself presently in the factory district, which was not entirely unintentional. Since I could think of no other source that the mechanical monstrosity fro the other day could have come from, I decided to see if I could find any sign of production within the city limits. I had my doubts, but it was something to go on, and at this point I was ready to accept nearly anything. To my knowledge, most of the factories had ceased production of goods and shut down. If nothing else, I at least intended to find out why.

I headed toward one of the narrow alleys between buildings, rather intent on finding a window or door that I could get into without too much trouble. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw another figure dart out of sight and apparently into a factory. I was quite sure that that particular one was beyond use, and so my curiosity, as much as I could be said to have, was aroused.

I followed cautiously, looking over my shoulder and minding my peripheral vision, not sure what sort of trouble I would face if I were caught. The side door into the unused factory was unlocked, possibly broken, and swung inward by the rather old-fashion means of hinges. Although it was quite dark inside, I had little trouble seeing, my eyes being able to fully use the small amount of light available better than a human's. The large room was relatively empty, save for a few forgotten, broken down machines. From what was there, it appeared to have once been used for the creation of robots or reploids. I assumed the former, since New-Arcadian hierarchy looked rather unkindly upon the later.

A small object on the floor caught my attention, and I knelt to pick it up. It was a scrap of metal, unremarkable at a glance, but on it was part of a dull blue tattoo. An image flashed in my mind of the demon's tattoos flaring a bright turquoise as it charged its energy shot. Is there a connection between them and this place? Were they being created here...? I froze when I heard a minuscule noise and felt a presence behind me. I turned around slowly, and was met by a blade of blue energy pointed at my throat. I stared into the face of the fiery armored reploid who had incapacitated the demon the last time that I was in Neo-Arcadia.

"I'm not your enemy," I stated reasonably.

She smiled coolly. "You don't really know that, do you?"

I met her cold, brown-eyed stare and tried not to think of what happened to the last one who she had pointed those blades at. I imagined that she could decapitate me just as easily without a second thought. Could, and would as well. "Why don't you tell me who you are, and then I'll know if you're my enemy or not." I knew that she was not about to back down, but neither was I. Why do I feel that this could end in tragedy...

"I'll make it easy for you." She grinned. I supposed that is was supposed to be cold, but there was something rather innocent about it. It was a bit disconcerting. "I am your enemy."

It was all the prompting I needed. With reflex honed by time and practice, I whipped my sabers into my hands and activated them, catching her single blade with my two. She activated her other blade and disentangled the first weapon from mine. I pushed back against the force of the clash and flipped backwards, using the momentary distance to activate my armor. All that I really had to do was want it to be there, and it would be, and extension of myself. My vision turned white and hazy for a split second, and I knew that my opponent was also briefly blinded by the light I was emitting.

"As I thought," she said coldly. "You are the guardian Harpuia, are you not?"

"I am."

I shrugged out of the remains of my tattered shirt and kicked off the rest of my clothing. In this case, it was worth the sacrifice.

My attacker rushed at me with her blades held down and pointed back, intent on slashing at the last moment. I brought mine up in a defensive maneuver and sidestepped to my right. She veered to her right, half turning to circle part-way around me and bring a sword across my neck. I anticipated the blow and blocked it over my shoulder without looking. So, you always go for the neck, huh? I used the force of the saber-lock for momentum in a spin that ended with me facing my attacker. She parried my clumsy swing and struck at me with her left-hand weapon.

"So, you're with the Resistance, then," I growled, pushing back forcibly against her parry. The power of my thrust shoved her back, and she stumbled.

To my surprise, she laughed. "You think I'm with those idiots? All they want is the destruction of Neo-Arcadia." She slashed at me with both blades, one of which I blocked, and the other I avoided. "The morons actually believe that that will bring 'peace,' whatever that means."

I took the offensive, locking both of my blades hard against hers. Red clashed against blue, and angry sparks flew from the disturbance. "Then why fight me? I'm a defender of Neo-Arcadia," I said over the minuscule fireworks display. "What have I done to earn your enmity?"

"You," she ground out through gritted teeth, "are responsible for the deaths of thousands of reploids." With a sudden burst of strength, she pushed my blades back and threw a flurry of attacks. "Do you really think that you have the right to play god and decide who lives and who dies?"

I parried her blows and blocked the last one so that we both lost one of our swords. "Then you're in it for yourself."

She punched me across the face with her free hand. "You could look at it that way, or you could say I'm in it for everybody."

"If you're in it for everybody, than who are you to make judgment calls against me?" I was more than a little angered by now. I had been intrigued by the stranger at first, but now she had proven herself nothing but a selfish mercenary. "You think it fair to kill me. I thought it right to retire the maverick reploids. Maybe someone will decide that you need to die as well. Who are you to decide whether or not my sins are too great?" I crushed her free fist in mine and her face contorted in pain. I pushed against her remaining saber. "Who's playing god now?" She was losing ground.

"Those reploids weren't maverick and you know it." Even though my strength was far superior to hers, she continued to fight.

"Sacrifices must be made in the name of peace." I forced her to drop her blade.

"That's not a peace I want!" She attempted to wrench her fist away from my grip, but I held on tightly.

I held my sword at her throat. "The only question now is whether I retire you right here or throw you in a cell on the base." She may still have some answers yet... Perhaps I should keep her alive, I decided.

"Go on, kill me," She said darkly. "Isn't that your whole philosophy? Destroy all who get in your way?"

"You would have done the same to me..." I froze, knowing that I had heard a faint noise, but not sure where it had come from. I glanced around the room quickly, but saw nothing. The girl pulled her hand away from my half-hearted grasp and backed away from the glowing beam at her throat.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a flare of blue energy, and then we were both engulfed in an incandescent plasma ball. I put my arms up in a cross-block to shield myself from the worst of the blast, but the roiling energy threw my opponent across the floor where she lay stunned. I turned to face this new threat, but he had disappeared again. Regardless, there was no doubt in my mind as to the nature of the attacker. I scanned the room and thought I caught a flicker of blue in a shadowed area littered with derelict machinery. I grabbed another blade from the floor, although it was not my own, and charged after the demon. It raised its skeletal wings and with a crackle of power, they formed a blue web of energy between the empty spokes, giving them a draconian appearance.

It took to the air, and I followed, the boosters on my back propelling me up and over the black robot. I somersaulted in the air and charged in behind it, making it all as smooth as one graceful leap. I had the advantage of speed in this battle, since I did not have cumbersome wings to flap. The creature roared, a sound like grating metal, and slashed at me with first its right arm, then its left. I dodged the strikes and thrust downward across his chest, leaving a smoking gash. He roared again, showing knife-like teeth.

I had to admit, he was intimidating. I knew that I was around six foot-two, and he towered over me by at least three or four feet. By sheer mass, he looked as though he could crush granite. He lunged at me, snapping powerful jaws that could have easily taken my arm off, had I not moved. I struck at his face and left another dark gash over the snarling muzzle. He whirled away from me, as though to flee. A realization struck me- just before his tail did. I forgot about the tail- The jagged, spine-like armor punctured the armor of my lower torso, and pain shot through my body. I hit the wall hard and fell to the floor. Pain ripped at my stomach, and I wondered how deeply the spikes had penetrated. The wound would have been mortal for a human.

I rose to my knees in time to see the beast headed for the unconscious reploid on the floor. My system's self-repair function was already kicking in and I could feel the incisions in my abdomen closing. I wiped "blood," for lack of a better word, from the white armor on my mid-section before rising and charging after the dark mechanical monster.

It seemed intent on destroying the girl, as though I was only an afterthought. I stabbed the two blades into its back and pulled in opposite directions, slicing it vertically. It fell away from the woman's still form and spread a large, black pool over the floor. I leaned over the reploid, and she stirred.

"Why did you save me? I'm your opponent." She seemed angry, yet puzzled.

"Exactly," I answered. "You're my opponent. Therefore I'd rather finish you myself, in a fair match."

"What a comfort," she responded dryly. "I feel so much better." And with that, she lapsed into unconsciousness.