Birth of the Demon
By: SylentStryke
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Capcom owns. It sucks. But that's life. Bob Dole.
A.N.: Sorry for the wait! I got a new HP PSC 1610 AIO. In short, it's a printer, scanner and copier! I can finally upload my artwork! Maybe I'll post a few... So that's where all of my time went not too long ago. Anyway, here's the fourth rewritten chapter.
Chapter Four: The Plan
Rebellion Secret Base
Time:
-20:04-
"Help me! Help me, please! I don't wanna die! Someone, anyone, help me!"
Raydia's eyes snapped open as she nearly let out a scream. She sat up and panted, sweat beading on her forehead. She looked around at her surroundings, a room with plain white walls, and matching floor tiles. She checked her systems and found that her voice unit was functioning now. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the dream she just had.
"Nothing," She muttered. This was actually the first time she has heard her own voice. Who was she? System checks told her she was Raydia Deltion, a standard reploid model. She gave up on trying to remember any more, and hopped off of the bed.
She looked around the room a bit more and found a digital clock. It read '20:07'. After blinking a few times, she stretched out her arms. She was startled when a knock was heard at her door. "Come in." Raydia called out. A woman about the same height as her walked in. She had lightly tanned skin and jet black hair with green eyes. She wore a dark blue t-shirt and khaki capri's. She held a panel with a thick book on top in one of her arms.
"Hi! How are you feeling?" The woman asked the rescued reploid. She stared at the dark haired woman for a few seconds before answering her question. "I guess I'm...okay," Raydia said, removing her hand from her head.
"Oh, I almost forgot! I'm Rayne Zelinger: lead dispatcher for the Rebellion." The woman said while extending her hand. Raydia looked down at this strange gesture and remembered what to do. She mimicked the gesture and introduced herself. "Raydia Deltion."
Rayne gave her a smirk. "Alright then, Raydia. Feel like meetin' the team?" She asked, but reconsidered after glancing over the blue haired girl. "On second thought, I think we need to get you some clothes. Follow me, I'll grab you something to wear." Raydia smiled weakly and nodded.
>>>
Rayne gestured for Raydia to enter her room, which was quite spacious for a small rebellious cause. Rayne immediately rushed to a door across the room and slid it back, revealing layers upon layers of clothing. She muttered to herself as she rummaged through the rows of garments, occasionally glancing over at Raydia's figure.
Raydia on the other hand had found a full-sized mirror. She gazed at the form that gazed back. The woman she saw was approximately 5'7". She had piercing dark blue eyes, which contrasted against her creamy white skin. Her radiant hair was a gentle sky blue. The woman was slender, but not bony; tone, but not muscular. She was garbed in a gray jumpsuit that was normally found under the armor of most combat reploids. By this time, Rayne had picked out something and trotted over to her guest.
"Here ya go, try these!" She said as she handed her the clothing and a pair of shoes. She stepped out of the room and left Raydia some privacy.
She laid the clothes out on the bed, taking into account the softness of the sheets. She then reached around on her back, searching for the zipper. She unzipped it once she found it, and slipped out of the form-fitting jumpsuit, leaving only her underwear. She grabbed the jeans by the waist and flipped them out, then stepped into them and buttoned them up. Next, she pulled on the jet black shirt, which fit her loosely but not to the point where she was falling out of it. Now she stepped into the tennis shoes and clipped the straps together. She stood up and patted herself down, then grabbed the jumpsuit and headed for the door. She stole another glance at herself in the mirror before smiling and walking out.
This place didn't seem to be too bad. Maybe she could get a few answers to her many questions. She had to learn more about herself. Like why she was able to navigate that Silph building so well and how she knew how to utilize the morph cube. But more importantly: Where was she now? She had been saved by someone, so now she had to decide if she would return the favor. It didn't really matter, because in the back of her mind, she was going help these guys no matter what.
Silph HQ
Time:
-19:01-
Shin had a blank face as he received a harsh reprimand by the syndicate leader. He constantly nodded his head in a sloppy manner, agreeing to everything his boss was screaming at him about. Mira had found a chair to sit in and was observing the situation.
"Shin, give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't have you put in front of the firing squad!"
"Yep."
"'Yep'? God, you're an idiot. You should be thankful that I need a commander to lead the melee squad. STOP NODDING YOUR HEAD!"
"Okay." He smiled as he stopped nodding involuntarily. Gin Barox developed a twitching eye as he turned toward Mira who was currently dozing off. He stood up and put on his jacket and motioned for Shin to follow him. Mira had recovered from her daze as soon as the loud yelling stopped, and got up and followed them.
"You two are my best commanders and need to know the dire situation we're in." Gin said as he rounded a corner of the busy hallway.
"Which 'dire situation' would that be, sir?" Mira asked respectfully. The man took something out of his pocket and slid it into the slot on the door. It opened and they walked in.
"That female reploid that 'assaulted' us earlier is no ordinary reploid. In fact, she wasn't the one who started this whole mess." He said while stuffing the card back into his pocket. This caught Mira attention. "Then, just who is she?" They walked into the last door and were greeted by a completely different environment. Mira and Shin never knew about the Secret Development Lab, so it's needless to say that they were shocked.
"'She' is the answer to our greatest problems. I welcome you to the Secret Development Lab."
MHHQ
Time:
-18:45-
X and Zero were sitting in chairs across from a large office desk in a large office. They were waiting. And bored. Nothing but the ticking of the old styled analog clock hanging on the wall and the spaced out tapping of X's foot on the ground filled the room. Signas had called them to his office fifteen minutes ago, only to have them wait. Zero was the first to snap from boredom.
"Damn that Signas! First he takes away my living space, now he confines me in his office? That does it! It's good-bye for his desk!" Zero shouted as he kicked Signas' oversized cushioned chair to the side. He placed a foot on the table and drew his saber out from nowhere. He twisted it downwards and hoisted it above his head, a wicked grin over his face.
"Calm down, Zero. I'm sure he has a reason for making us wait. It must be really important," X said, trying to douse his hot-headed friend. Zero replaced the saber and removed his foot from the table.
"Yeah, well, it'd better be a damn good reason..." He sulked. Just as he finished having a fit, the door slid open.
A blonde walked into the room and sat down in the chair Zero abandoned, then turned to X.
"X, whatever Signas asks you to do, don't do it." She pleaded. X was still trying to grasp the situation.
"Um, what?" He asked her. She drew in a long breath. "Signas asked you both to come here right? He mentioned something about Silph, right?" She asked, her voice becoming more worried. X nodded, knowing where she was going with this.
"Alia, I'll be fine. As far as I'm concerned, it's just probably another mission." She sat back in her chair.
"Close, X." X, Zero and Alia turned around to see Signas standing in the doorway. They all promptly stood up and rendered a salute, except for Zero who instead stared daggers at him. "No need for that, you're off duty." X and Alia promptly sat down while Zero treaded over to lean on the wall, having lost his seat to Alia. Signas took his own seat and began explaining why he called the three of them in.
>>>
"Absolutely not, Signas! This is crazy! Absurd!" Alia shouted as she jumped out of her seat. The high commander maintained his pose: elbows on the desk, chin resting on interlocked fingers.
"Alia, try to understand. I don't want to do this anymore than you do, but it must be done." He replied coolly. She got ready to protest some more, but X had already started speaking.
"So, Signas. What is the purpose of dragging Alia into this mess?" As he said the last part, Alia gave him a surprised glance. "X, any successful recon mission depends on two parts: The people doing the spying and sending information back home, and the people on the receiving end of that information. You and Zero will be the former, while Alia and myself will be the latter. I knew that she would have a cow if you suddenly came up missing."
"So why not send just Zero? No one would really miss him!" Alia blurted out. Zero promptly formed a cloud over his head. "That really hurt..."
"Besides that, we all know what Zero's like when he gets desperate. He doesn't think clearly. Besides, I know the issue in Arcadia is troubling you as well," Signas said. Alia sat back in her chair, not able to argue against what was said.
"So Sig, what exactly do you want me and X to uncover?" Zero sighed out. Signas stood up, ignoring Zero's nickname for him.
"While you two were out earlier today cleaning up the remaining Mavericks, I got an 'anonymous heads-up'." Signas now held everyone's attention. "Here, I'll play it for you." He pulled out a small console from a drawer in his desk. As he set it on top, he noticed a slightly charred section of the cherry wooden edging.
Zztttzzt. Maverick Hunters. This is an important message from an anonymous source. A heads-up, if you will. Please help us. Our government will not do anything. They seem to not even notice our suffering. We have reason to believe that the organization known as Silph, the syndicate that has taken hold of our city, is in liege with the Mavericks. Numerous amounts of Maverick activity have blossomed in the heart of the city, killing off more of our already dwindled population. We do not know of any reason why Mavericks would suddenly appear other than because of Silph. Please, Hunters. Our government has abandoned us. We do not know who else to turn to. Please save Arcadia! Zttzzztz-zttttzzzzzzt.
Signas looked up at the three Reploids. Alia was covering her mouth with her hand, X would probably warp his metallic bones if he tightened his fist anymore, and Zero had a vigilant expression.
"So, this is the dire situation. Signas, how sure can you be of this info? I mean, for all we know, it could be Silph, the Mavericks, even the government, leading us into a trap!" Alia mused out loud. Signas leaned back in his chair. "I understand that. But if we sit back and do nothing, who knows what will happen to the city, no, Neo Tokyo. I would rather take a chance on following a fake plea than not responding at all and end up regretting it later." Alia pondered over the situation.
"...I'll do it." X stated. "If it has something to do with Mavericks, it involves Maverick Hunters."
"Me too. I'll set up a covert satellite to track his movements throughout the compound," Alia said, giving X a glance that did not go unnoticed. Signas stood up and nodded at the two of them. Now all eyes were on Zero.
"Well?" Signas said, waiting for Zero to give his verdict. Zero uncrossed his arms and propped himself off of the wall.
"I'll do it, but under one condition." Signas raised and eyebrow, beckoning for the catch.
"You tell those renovation guys that my room better be done by the time I get back, or there's gonna be hell to pay, and you promise not to lose your cool later on," He said with a smirk. Signas hummed in agreement, although confused with the last part.
"Ok, then that settles it. Now, meet up in the east side parking lot in two hours. Act like you're going on vacation." All three stood up and agreed before heading for the door.
"Also, remember: We never had this meeting. We can't afford to let this chance slip through our fingers."
"Right!" All three said before heading out the door. Signas was putting the console back into the drawer when he noticed something odd on the edging. Zero's face, showing a toothy grin, was etched into the priceless wood, with the words 'Don't lose it!' etched in next to it. Sighing, Signas gently pushed the drawer in and turned to watch the ending of Iron Chef.
To be continued...
Okay! This is where things start to change from last time. Anybody else waiting for Advance Wars DS? 10 more days! Anyway, stay tuned for more!