Before I start this chapter I would like to thank my first reviewer, cricketchick1990, for boosting my confidence in my writing skills and ideas.
Any comments, praise, criticism or otherwise will be viewed and taken into account as this story proceeds.
Now on with the fic.
As soon as the figures fell Megaman laid them out next to Lan and waited for someone to stir. He would have made contact with the guard HQ but unfortunately Lan's PET had been damaged in the fight. This left Megaman guarding his fallen brother and the two strangers. This also allowed Megaman time to digest the appearance of one of the strangers, the one that was carried to the area. He had never expected to see that navi again, especially seeing as he was deleted years ago.
After about an hour Megaman heard one of the figures behind him stirring, he had been keeping lookout to see if anyone came looking for him, as Lan should have reported in about half an hour back. Looking round he saw that it was the man in the blue jeans. He looked to be older than Lan by a few years but he couldn't be sure. He was about 6 foot 5, well built and looked like he had been in many fights. Not from any scars but from way his clothes were worn, charred and cut in places. As he started to wake Megaman walked over to greet him.
"Good afternoon, its good to see you have finally awoken." teased Megaman.
"Huh, what, oh." Stuttered the man. "Where are we and who are you." The man sat up slowly and looked over the scene before him. He was sitting between another human and his navi companion with his weapon by his side. They were in a small clearing in the trees that was big enough to set up a campsite for the four of them. In front of him was a strange navi in blue armor (Megaman) that was offering him help.
"The name's Megaman and you are about two miles from the town of ACDC" replied Megaman. "Now before we continue, who are you and your friend and why did you collapse when you found me?"
"My name is Steve and my unfortunate friend here is my NetNavi and good friend, Zero." He paused when hearing Megaman's gasp but carried on regardless. "We have been battling the forces of the Alliance since they took over. Earlier we were attacked by about a hundred of the Alliance soldiers but at the end of the battle Zero was caught off guard and injured. Once I had finished off the last of the soldiers I tried to get him to the nearest town."
"Are you sure it is the Alliance? I was sure that I had seen the last of them seven years ago." Questioned Megaman in an angered tone.
"Zero is sure of it. When we found the alliance commander in Ameroupe some of his memories returned, including the name of the navi and the criminal organisation that he worked for."
"And what was this navis name then?" snapped Megaman. He was on the verge of jumping for joy, this last detail would prove his suspicions right.
"Commandoman, he was a humanoid navi dressed in camouflage and specialised in both close range fighting and medium range shots." Droned Steve, hiding the emotion he wanted to put into the description.
Upon hearing this Megaman smiled with tears starting to fall from his eyes. "Zero." He whispered. Wiping his eyes he stood up, offered a hand to Steve and said, "Come on, let's get these two to ACDC where we will be safe."
Getting up Steve shouldered his War Hammer, picked zero up and slung him over his shoulder. Turning he saw Megaman had also picked up Lan in a similar was and they began the walk to ACDC.
Mean while in ACDC, Roll and Maylu were getting worried. Having checked in with guard HQ to see if Lan and Megaman had checked in, they found out that that they hadn't been in contact. Having waited twenty minutes to see if there was any news they asked HQ to call if anything is found out and went to the wall on the west side of town to wait. After another 25 minutes they were beginning to get really worried, Maylu especially.
The worry and emotion got too much for Maylu and she burst out crying in worry for her husband. Roll came over to comfort her saying "Its alright, they will be back soon. There's no need to get upset."
"I know." Sobbed Maylu. "But I can't help worrying about him, and its worse than ever now we are married."
"Don't worry. Mega will protect him and I'm sure there is a good reason why they haven't made contact yet." reasoned Roll. "So come on, cheer up. The guards are staring." Hearing this Maylu calmed down a bit and wiped away the tears, stood up and looked to the horizon to check if Lan was in sight. To her surprise there were two figures in the distance walking towards the town.
"Look Roll, there they are." Maylu shouted, pointing in the direction of the figures.
"Oh yea, but I wonder who they are with?" replied Roll.
"What do you mean?"
"Well I can make Mega out and the person next to him, but they seem to be carrying people on their shoulders." At this Maylu took off towards the western gate to meet Megaman and find out what happened.
Outside the Walls of ACDC Megaman and Steve were glad to see the walls that surrounded the town. Megaman had been in a thoughtful mood so talking during the walk had been kept short and sweet. The only information Steve got out of him was what kind of area ACDC was and what kind of reception he was going to receive. Both answers were as he expected, it is a nice area and that both the town guard and Megaman's friends will probably interrogate him.
"Here we are." Megaman broke the silence. "Now I wonder how long it will be until they greet us?"
"You really think they will come out to greet us. I usually have to bang on the gates to even be noticed by most of the towns that I have visited." Questioned Steve.
"That's because you didn't know anyone there. My brother's wife and her navi are going to run out and grill me about why we didn't report in 45 minutes ago. They get a little worried when we are on missions." sighed Megaman dreading the oncoming interrogation.
"It must be nice to have people to care for you. Its been years since I have had someone who truly cares for me, other than Zero that is." said Steve, pausing as something finally sunk in. "How can he be your brother? You're a navi and he's human."
"That's a long story that only a few know. I'll have to tell you another time because the welcome party had arrived."
Looking up Steve saw two people running in their direction. One had long blonde hair and wore lots of pink. The other had long red hair, a light green shirt and a pink skirt. Both ran up to Megaman and started asking questions at an incredible rate. Moving away to avoid getting a headache from the chatter he heard two distinct questions, 'What happened to Lan?' and 'Why didn't you report in?' As this onslaught of questions continued, Steve made his way over to the Gate of the town to talk to the guard.
"Hey, can I have a little help here. My friend needs repairs and I have no idea where to take him." shouted Steve.
"Wait a sec and someone will be with you." came the reply. In about a minute a female navi with medium length blonde hair, wearing a light purple sleeveless shirt and a light purple skirt that finished above her knees walked out of the gate. As she caught sight of the navi in Steve's arms she staggered and collapsed onto the ground shaking like she had seen a ghost. After getting over the shock of the navis reaction he looked up to see that someone else had exited the gate. She wore a deep purple short sleeve shirt with a black pair of jeans. Her hair was the same length as her navis but she was a brunet. Worry for her navi showing on her face she looked Steve over and when she saw the body in his hands she covered her mouth with her hands saying "Oh MY! Quickly follow me, we have to get him to the hospital quick." She darted through the gates shouting, "Follow me."
After the Q and A session with Roll and Maylu, Megaman looked to try and find his travelling companion. Not seeing the young man he started walking to the gate with Roll and Maylu on either side of him. When they got to the gate they noticed Ciel sitting against the wall with a spaced out expression on her face. Moving over to her they could hear what she was saying.
"He's Back, I can't believe it. He's really BACK" she droned.
"Mega, do you have any idea what she is talking about?" inquired Roll.
"That's something that you will have to find out on your own cos I'm not saying." Said Megaman slyly.
"That's not fair Mega, you can tell us." Whined Roll attempting to worm the information from Megaman.
"Nope, I want to see the look on your faces when you see and there is nothing you can say to get me to talk." Chuckled Megaman. "So you two pick her up and we need to go and see Sam."
Picking up Ciel, Maylu and Roll followed Megaman through the gates and towards the town hospital.
At the hospital Steve was waiting outside the navi recovery room waiting for news on Zero's condition. He wasn't too concerned because he knew that Zero had survived worse, but he wanted to be there so his friend wasn't alone in this strange place. Looking over to the door to the room where Zero was being repaired he was surprised when the door opened revealing the young lady who he met at the gates. She walked over to him with a relived look on her face.
"Zero will be fine, the repair program is functioning properly and he should be fully recovered in a few hours." She said in a cheerful manner.
"That's good" replied Steve. "Now I have a question for you. How did you know he was called Zero?"
"I looked at the navi registration file inside his programming. All of the information about him is stored there." She inwardly smiled at her quick thinking.
"Really, then you should know what my name is then." Countered Steve.
"Oh… umm… James?" she stuttered.
"Thought so." Steve said then nodded. "So why did the navi at the gates seem to loose it when she saw Zero then?"
"That's a long story that I'm not sure I should tell alone. We should meet up with my friends, they can tell you."
"Fine I can wait. At least I am being welcomed here, unlike most places in the past few years." Sighed Steve.
"Really, where have you bee…" She started but was interrupted.
"Sam, Steve. I thought I would find you two together." echoed Megaman's voice down the corridor.
Another chapter down. I hope you enjoyed it and I will start on the next chapter when i get the chance.