Author: Hey readers. I'd like to thank those who reviewed, and it looks like I've drawn in some new people. Cool. The Red Alert thing was thrown into the story at the last minute, just to see what kind of attention it would get. I'm starting to get more ideas to add to the story, so I am switching some boss battles around to fit. Once again, best regards to Rioni, Randy, Zindakku, and others. It sucks having to do this disclaimer thing, but whatever. When you forget to post a disclaimer in a chapter, a curse is born. And no one can escape...the grudge. (Meows)
P.S: I revised this chapter by adding more to this and fixing the Harpuia spelling.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Mega Man Zero series. I also do not own any characters from the MMZ series. Those rights belong to Capcom. Any created characters are my own, and belong to me.
Headstrong: Part 2
Zero looked at the pistol oddly. "Ciel, what's Red Alert?" he asked.
Ciel looked at the pistol and read it. "Hmm...I don't exactly know. I'm going to search for it on the computer. Until then, Zero, can you give this pistol to Cerveau? He wants to examine it." Ciel said.
"Okay." Zero said and walked out of the lab and went to Cerveau's room. When he went inside, Cerveau was examining more weapons. The walls of the room were blocked by bundles of rifles, guns, and ammo. Zero had never seen so many weapons at one spot before. Cerveau finally noticed Zero and stopped to turn around.
"Zero! You're back! Do you have the pistol?" Cerveau asked.
"It's right here." Zero handed the pistol to Cerveau. Carefully, Cerveau set the pistol on his desk. He glanced at the rifles leaning on the wall and then glanced back at the pistol. "Hmmm...they seem different. Aside from size and shape, the caliber of the pistol is uneven with the rifles. Interesting..." Cerveau thought aloud. "Zero. I'm going to examine these weapons. When I am done, I'll give you back the pistol."
"Okay." Zero walked out of Cerveau's room and went to his room. He jumped onto his bed and rested his face on the pillow. He finally had time to think now. He wanted to remember more memories of his past. Deep in his thoughts, he drifted into sleep.
Change of scene
In a dark room, three silhouettes were having a quiet conversation. One was exceptionally large, while the other two were about average size. They stood on opposite sides of a table, and the only source of light was a very dim light bulb. It had been raining outside, but the window blocked out the rain. A small storm was picking up as lightning struck a bit loudly. Each time it did the room lit up for about a split-second before it was dark again. The rain poured down harder and harder. It might as well been hail from the sound it made when it hit the windows.
"Did you do it?" The large one was saying. His voice was deep.
"Yes, it has been planted. He will serve us." The second figure said, with a female voice.
The third silhouette lighted a small fire with his index finger and lit up a cigar. The flame was quick to burn out, but the cigar caught the fire and kept going. "Dun mattah to meh. Dat shrimp ain't gonna do nut'in to Zer-ruh. Y'all mean?" His voice had an odd accent, and it wasn't the cigar.
"I would not underestimate that one. He has been qualified to be Zero's opponent. Whether he will succeed is an entirely different matter." The female said.
"So? He still a fa'can shrimp!" The other one said.
"I second that." The large one said.
Change of scene
"I second that, X." Zero said.
Zero was standing next to X is a large room. It had a huge screen and was displaying a mission briefing. Of course, Zero and X never really read the briefing. They only paid attention to what the objective was.
X was still in his body. He had azure armor on and a round helmet. He didn't have hair sticking out of the helmet or a mane like Zero, and he had a buster cannon on his right arm, which he can turn on and off.
"Yeah, I'll bet you would want to run this one, too." X said.
"Heh. I always run guerilla missions. I mean, who would want to walk when there are millions of shots raining down on you?" Zero asked.
"Signas. When he's on one of his power walks." X said. They both burst into laughter and found themselves rolling on the floor. Just then, the screen switched form the briefing to a girl. She had brown hair and wore a beret. She had a look on her face that expressed concern and seriousness at the same time.
"X, Zero. Your objective is to search the underground base and find what weapons you can. We may need them for future use." The girl said.
"On it." X said. He stood upright now and saluted the girl.
"Aye aye, captain. Zero said. Saluting the girl to mock X. X noticed this of course and playfully punched Zero on his arm.
The girl giggled at Zero. "Zero, X. Just do the mission. And don't forget, Zero. You promised to show me the sky tonight." The girl said.
"Don't worry. As soon as the night sky appears, I'll show you the stars. Don't miss me too much, Iris." Zero said. He posed masculinity.
"Zero, if you didn't have such a fit body I would swear you were a girl with that hair." Iris said.
X laughed at the joke, and Zero grabbed his ponytail. He didn't want to think it made him less manly. In fact, he thought it made him look more macho.
"Low blow, Iris." Zero said, mock-sulking.
Iris rolled her eyes. "Be back soon, Zero! And good luck!"
"Okay." Zero dashed out of the room with X following close behind. Zero was leading in their little 'race', but he hit his head on a door. X stopped dashing and offered a hand to help Zero get up.
"Sheesh, Zero! You can't always be headstrong like that. You'll forget how to feel if you do." X said.
Zero grabbed X's hand and got up. "I guess you're right. I haven't exactly forgotten how to feel yet." Zero rubbed his head and winced at the pain. X laughed.
"Come on, Zero. It's go time."
Change of scene
Zero woke up from his dream. He felt all too familiar in that scene, with X and the girl. Zero whispered her name to himself.
"Iris..."
He wanted to know more about her relations with him. She seemed to be comfortable with him. Zero rubbed his head around the spot he had hit his head in his dream. He had also hit his head on the wall in the exact same spot. He got out of his bed and walked to Ciel's lab. He couldn't sleep anymore.
When he opened the door, he said, "Hi Ciel. What are you do-" He stopped, noticing Ciel was fast asleep. She was snoring peacefully on her desk. She must have fallen asleep while doing work. And she tells me to not overstrain myself. Zero found a blanket on the floor. He picked it up and put the blanket over Ciel. I wonder what time it is? Zero decided to go to Cerveau's lab. Cerveau was never one to sleep, especially when he was delivered a load of weapons to examine.
He opened Cerveau's door, came in, and said, "Hey Cerveau. What's up?" Zero noticed even Cerveau was sleeping. Unlike Ciel, he was snoring rather loudly. The gun barrel of a rifle was also pointed to his mouth while he was snoring. Alarmed, Zero set the rifle in another spot. Cerveau wouldn't want to wake up like that. He glanced at the clock in Cerveau's lab. He has a clock. With all the work he does, I wonder if he ever looked at it? It was still early morning, a little bit before dawn.
Zero walked out of the base and past by a few guards. He wanted to find this Red Alert base himself, to take a good look at things. He asked the guards if they knew where it was, and they had no clue. They weren't the ones who went to scout that base. Zero decided to just walk around outside.
Zero enjoyed the dusk sky. He knew morning was going to come, but he wanted to enjoy the darkness for a little while. He could still see a few things, but most were hidden in shadows. He looked up in the sky to find some stars. Zero thought he wouldn't see any before dawn, but he found one shining brightly. "That's one for one." Zero said. Soon the sun was going to rise.
Suddenly, a sonic boom came flying towards Zero. He leaped above the wave before it could hit him. Zero looked around to get a look of the attacker. It was still before dawn, so it was dark. Then a burst of emerald energy enveloped a figure. This reploid wore emerald armor. His helmet had 'ears' that stuck up high, and he had boosters on his back. The figure held two purple beam sabers, and his green eyes were outline with an odd red gleam.
Zero recognized the figure easily. "Harpuia, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to kill you." Harpuia said coldly. He started to laugh and then said; "I don't care about humans or Neo Arcadia or this damn war anymore! All I want now is to completely destroy you! Piece by bloody red piece!
Zero knew Harpuia better. He would not come out of the blue for a fight. Harpuia was not reckless like that.
Harpuia smiled a cold, empty smile. The fairly noticeable gleam in his eyes grew brighter. The energy disappeared, and once again it was dark. The only light Zero could see was the gleam in Harpuia's eyes. Harpuia charged at Zero with an incredible speed. Even after he made contact with Zero, he kept flying. Eventually Harpuia rammed Zero through the walls of the Resistance Base, since they weren't that far away.
They were both going too fast for the guards to take aim. Cerveau was still sleeping and snoring, until both Zero and Harpuia came out through the walls. The weapons provided a cushion of some sort, and Harpuia stopped flying. Zero kicked him off using both legs and activated his Z-saber. Harpuia smoothly somersaulted and landed feet-first on the floor. Again, he charged towards Zero, swing both of his beam sabers diagonally at him.
Zero swung his saber and they both clashed. Sparks of beam energy flew here and there, while Cerveau was startled. He tried to grab and weapon and aim for Harpuia, but his aim was ruined when Harpuia activated his boosters and forced Zero into the wall again. This time, they rammed into the Operations Room. Both operators were still awake, and were appalled that not only the wall had a large hole through it, but that Zero and Harpuia were fighting.
"Trans us now!" Zero yelled and at the same time was fending off Harpuria.
"Where?" One of the operators asked.
"Anywhere! Just not near here!" Zero yelled back.
The operators exchanged shrugs and sat themselves down to trans them both. "Transferring to the Desert area. 3...2...1..."
Zero and Harpuia both disappeared in a flash of bright light.
Change of scene
In the middle of the desert area, Zero and Harpuia were still fighting on the ground. Then both parted away and stood in defensive positions. Zero panted heavily while Harpuria was holding on to his sides. The sun rose up and there was light. Both waited until they could see each other perfectly before they attacked.
Right when the sun gave light to their bodies, Harpuia dashed into Zero with ridiculously high speed. You couldn't even see a green blur. Harpuia stood behind Zero and smirked. The attack finally sank in and Zero's armor chest plate was sliced into four peaces. Now Zero's chest was unprotected, only by the black suit he wore under his armor.
Zero couldn't believe how fast Harpuia went. He turned around, expecting another attack, and was surprised to find that Harpuia was panting. Zero took this opportunity to charge up his saber and equip the Ice chip. Then he brought down his saber on Harpuia's back and the splash of Ice energy from the saber hit Harpuia. He fell forward and landed face-first on the ground. Zero jumped in the air and thrust his saber in a downward stabbing motion in mid-air.
"Sharp Edge!" Zero cried.
Harpuia leaped out of the way before the attack had landed. He took to the air and held both of his sabers in an 'X' formation over his head. "Thunder Strike!" He yelled.
A purple bolt of lightning quickly came down from the sky and struck Zero. Well, it would have if Zero hadn't dodged it in time. Right after the lightning bolt hit the ground, it traveled into smaller sparks and shot back up. Zero didn't expect this, and was truck by the smaller bolt. Consecutively, another bolt came down and struck Zero the moment Zero had been hit by the smaller bolt. Now he felt the full strike.
"Arrgh!" Zero cried out in pain. He had been electrocuted as sparks of purple thunder traveled throughout his entire body. Then another bolt came down on Zero. And then another. And another. Harpuia didn't stop until the dirt from the ground created a smoke cloud, concealing his view of Zero. Harpuia was getting tired but was still hovering.
He grew impatient, waiting for the smoke screen to clear. He then flew towards it and landed on his feet, creating several green energy waves in the process. This drained him further, and he panted, getting tired. He didn't notice Zero wasn't in the same spot anymore.
On cue, Zero appeared in front of Harpuia and slammed the ground with it. It was fully charged, and the splash wave hit Harpuia in his critical spot below his chest. The Ice element numbed Harpuia's body and slowed down his movement a bit. Zero then swung his saber at Harpuia's stomach area, but Harpuia tripped backward, escaping the attack with a shallow cut. While he was on the ground, he shot a short Sonic Boom at Zero's chest.
His chest armor was sliced off, so Zero took the entire attack. Since it was small, it didn't cut him. It did hurt him though. Zero yelled loudly in pain and collapsed in the ground clutching his breast. (A/N Or his pec. Zero does have a muscular body.)
Harpuia took advantage of this moment of weakness and flew towards Zero with a high-speed head butt. Harpuia's head butted Zero chest, which caused him greater pain. Harpuia kept flying and rammed Zero into a small desert cliff. The sharp rock and gravel tore through Zero's black suit, and exposed his flesh. Harpuria rammed him deeper until they came out of the other side.
Then Harpuia held up Zero and threw him into a large rock. Zero hit the rock with his back, and it nearly broke it. Zero was bleeding from his mouth and his muscles, which some were torn. He struggled desperately to get up.
Harpuia wasted no time to mock Zero and charged again at Zero. Even in intense pain, Zero was prepared. He quickly slashed at Harpuia vertically. Harpuia barely made it out of harm, but his left booster and wing was cut off. Now Harpuia wouldn't be able to fly or be as fast as he was. Harpuia glanced at his missing booster, horrified. Zero then threw a strong right hook to Harpuia's face while he was in his Power form. The fist met the face and Harpuia was almost knocked out. He fell on the ground with the wind knocked out of him.
Zero then smashed the ground with his right fist. "Giga Attack!" He yelled. Then, two larges splashes of Ice elemental energy ran across the ground on both of Zero's sides. The right wave struck Harpuia and was strong enough to shatter two layers of armor, which Harpuia only had left. Harpuia rolled on the ground now in even more pain.
Harpuia opened his eyes slowly and found that Zero was pointing his Z-buster in front of Harpuia's face. Zero charged it up and said, "Harpuia. What are you doing here?"
Again, he smiled a cold, hollow smile and simply said, "I'm here to kill you!"
Zero noticed a small chip on Harpuia's neck. Zero shot the charged buster shot at Harpuia's neck, destroying the chip and injuring Harpuia greatly. Harpuia rose up slowly, and the red gleam in his eyes was gone.
"This...doesn't...change...anything...Zero..." Harpuia lost consciousness and fell forward. Zero was able to catch him before he fell. Harpuia's head rested on Zero's chest while Zero cradled him. "Idiot. If you act headstrong like that you'll never beat me." Zero picked up Harpuia and contacted the operators. "Operator. Trans me back. I'm bringing in a reploid for repairs."
Change of scene
"What! Are you crazy Zero? What if he attacks again?" Ciel asked with a worried and loud voice.
Ciel had woken up from her beauty sleep and now was questioning Zero about his choice. After the battle with Harpuia, Zero brought him back to the base for repairs. Now he was standing in front of Ciel holding Harpuia in his arms.
"Ciel, please. He wasn't himself when he fought me. I know he won't attack us like that." Zero protested.
Ciel sighed deeply. She wasn't the only one who was alarmed by this. Nearly the entire Resistance base objected this. She agreed, but with Zero's and Harpuia's current condition, she couldn't say no.
"Fine. Harpuia can stay for the repairs. But...are you okay Zero?" Ciel asked.
The mention of condition triggered something in his body. He didn't feel it before, but his body remembered that he was in pain. He collapsed on the floor with Harpuia. It took everything Zero had just to stand up.
Change of scene
Harpuia wasn't happy when he woke up. It had been several hours after the fight when he woke up. His armor was still being restored, but he was grumpy. To add on to the misery, he had to wear a Resistance uniform until he could wear his armor again. If it weren't for Zero, he would have attacked Cerveau when he woke up. Now he sat in a waiting room, waiting. He felt like a prisoner of war. Maybe he was one. He couldn't believe that Zero actually saved his life. The thought of mercy confused him, and Harpuia wondered why Zero never retired him in all the battles they had fought.
He lets me live. Why? Why does he show me mercy? Does he pity me? The thought made him angry. The animosity for Zero grew in Harpuia. He wondered why he even saved Zero when he was in the desert. As to answer his own question, he said aloud, "Because I couldn't stand the thought of Zero dieing not by my hands." A small smirk came upon his face. Now he had an even-temper. He thought of his relationship with Zero not to be filled with animosity or bitter hatred at all, but more of a rivalry. Whether it was friendly or not Harpuia had to still decide, but his thoughts were interrupted as the door opened.
Harpuia had expected Zero to come in, and he was preparing himself for that. To his surprise, a small girl with blond hair and a stuffed-animal came in. She had large eyes for her size, and she had a nice shade of vermilion on her cheeks. Her expression wasn't shocked or afraid, but it was an expression of curiosity. The little girl walked right up to Harpuia and tilted her head to the side, getting a better view of the emerald guardian.
The little girl then asked, "Are you Harpuria?"
"Harpuia." He corrected.
"Oh, okay. Zero told me about you." Then the little girl tilted her head to the other side to get another view. "You don't look like what I thought you would look like." She reached into her pocket and took out a small picture. It was supposed to be a picture of Harpuia, but it didn't look like him.
The picture had green armor like Harpuia, but the 'ears' on his helmet were horns in the picture. He had four legs, which seemed to be talons, and a long green tail. To top it off, he had a long red tongue sticking out and his eyes had an evil expression.
The picture, of course, appalled Harpuia. "What is this? This is not I! I don't know what Zero told you, but I do not look like...this!" He could hardly control the bewilderment and anger in his voice.
"Zero didn't tell me that, I just imagined you would look like that. Except you look a lot prettier than my picture." The little girl smiled warmly and held out her hand. "My name is Alouette. Do you want to play with me?"
When Alouette smiled, something in Harpuia melted. The anger and icy emotions that he had when he fought Zero disappeared. He didn't realize he was blushing and leaving Alouette waiting. "Of course. Yes, I'll play with you." He held her hand and shook it. He stood upright, about to pick Alouette up.
Alouette leaped up and down. "Yay! Let's play piggy-back!" Her voice was shrill with excitement. She jumped onto Harpuia's back and wrapped her arms around Harpuia's neck.
Harpuia's hair covered her face, but she could speak clearly. No one had ever really seen Harpuia's hair, which was green like his armor. He usually wanted to keep it covered, but at the present time, he didn't care. He chuckled lightly as he walked around the room with Alouette on his back, shouting with glee. For the first time, he had fun. Not the kind of fun he had when he fought Zero, not the adrenaline-rush, but rather the fun children would have with they are playing. For the first time in a long time, Harpuia felt happy.
"You kids having fun?" Zero was leaning on the wall watching the entire thing.
Harpuia's expression changed. Now he had a more serious face, but he kept cool and calm. Alouette slid off Harpuia and ran up to Zero.
"Hiya Zero! I was playing with Harpuria here!" She was panting a little bit from playing, probably breathing for air after yelling so much.
"Harpuia."
"Harpuia."
Zero and Harpuia both corrected her in unison. Zero chuckled a bit and Harpuia gave a small smile. Alouette poked Zero to ask him something.
"Do you want to play, too?" Alouette asked.
"Sorry, Alouette. I can't right now. Besides, Ciel wants to see you right now." Zero pats her head gently. "You had better go now."
"Okay." Alouette said. She wasn't disappointed or anything. As she skipped out of the room, she waved good-bye. "Bye Harpur...Harpuia! I want to play piggy-back again when I come back, okay?"
Harpuia waved back and said, "It's a deal."
Alouette skipped out of the room while Zero closed the door. He still leaned on the wall and kept his sight on Harpuia. Harpuia kept his eyes on Zero. Both were silent.
"Nice uniform you got there." Zero said, trying to start a conversation with a small joke.
Harpuia kept a cool exterior and said back, "Well, my uniform is nothing compared to your black leotard."
Indeed Zero was wearing his black suit that he usually wore under his armor. It was skin tight, so the majority of his muscle outlines were visible. He cursed under his breath and said, "Whatever."
Harpuia finally noticed Zero's hair. Zero he his helmet off, so now Harpuia could see that Zero had blond hair on top of his head as well. It resembled helmet hair, although one could infer that already. It was his mane that set Zero apart. His long blond ponytail was still tied up, but under the light of the room it seemed to shine. Harpuia never really had a second glance of Zero's mane, since he was more focused in trying to defeat him.
"Zero. If you weren't strong like a man, I'd say with the hair you would be more feminine." Harpuia chuckled at his little joke. "I'm a little green with envy."
I've heard that line before. Zero grabbed his ponytail. "Of course you're jealous. You can't ever have hair like this." Then Zero noticed Harpuia's green hair. "Ha, just as I expected. You got green hair!" Zero meant that in a more teasing matter.
Harpuia shot up his right hand to cover up his hair. It was like a reflex, but he realized it was pointless and he put down his hand. Now he noticed he was actually talking with Zero. This surprised him how easily they could talk after a battle. Then again, it wasn't really Harpuia fighting back there.
"You should have killed me." Harpuia said in a more serious, if not depressed tone. "You could have let me die with dignity."
Zero scoffed and said, "When you die, you don't have dignity. Besides, I have no reason to kill you."
Harpuia didn't feel a bit better. "That was weak of me. I allowed myself to be controlled so easily. I was just a puppet. A subordinate." He clenched his fist. "That was not me back there."
"Of course it wasn't. If it were you, you would have fought smarter than that."
Harpuia was surprised at what Zero said. Did he just compliment me?
" I'm not saying you would have fought harder. You were dangerous back there. But the Neo Arcadian guardian Harpuia, the Harpuia I knew would not have fought so recklessly." In an odd way, Zero was trying to make Harpuia feel a bit better. Zero turned his head away to look at a wall.
Harpuia half-smiled and said, "Thanks."
Zero shrugged and said, "No problem." He glanced at the clock in the room. "Well, our armors should be done in a few minutes or so. Probably yours first, since you cut my chest armor to pieces."
Harpuia laughed. "I suppose I did. It's more fitting that I have my armor done first, anyway."
"Whatever. Listen, I'm going to check on Ciel. You stay put in here. Alright?" Zero raised a brow.
"Yes, mother." Harpuia said in a child's voice.
Zero walked out of the room but didn't close the door. Harpuia was about to close it, but he figured he would just sit down and think. He tried to remember how he was manipulated and who exactly did this. All Harpuia could remember was exploring the Sky Lagoon and then getting knocked out. He knew that he would get revenge on whoever did this to him. He wanted to get revenge on whoever humiliated him like this, treating him as a mere lapdog. Then he wondered, Was I a lapdog for X?
His thoughts were interrupted when an old reploid walked into the room. It was Old Andrew. He fumbled his way into the room, looking for something. He didn't seem to notice Harpuia sitting down at all. Harpuia wasn't pleased with this.
"Hey. What do you think you're doing?" Harpuia said.
Old Andrew turned around; quite surprised he heard a voice. He seemed to wrinkle his face when he faced Harpuia's direction, but Harpuia couldn't tell he was wrinkling his face because there were already many wrinkles. Old Andrew coughed and said, "Respect your elders, sonny. And I thought the Neo Arcadian guardian would have manners. Guess this old man isn't good enough for that, eh?"
Harpuia was getting a little stressed right now, and then he realized that he shouldn't have talked to Old Andrew in that tone. "Sorry. I'm just not in a good mood today. Wait...how do you know who I am?"
Old Andrew smiled. "Well, this old man can't see as well as other people may think, but I can hear voices perfectly. Your authority and your strength are heard in your voice. From voices I can tell many things. I call tell when a person is in a very bad mood, or the exact opposite. I could tell when the voice I hear has manners or not." He coughed again.
Harpuia smiled. He never really met an old reploid before. He had met old humans before, but he never really talked to them at all. Interesting fellow. "I suppose you're right about the voice thing." He said, not really having much else to say.
"As I have told you, I can tell when a person is in a bad mood, or when something is wrong." Old Andrew sat down next to Harpuia. "And something is troubling you, sonny. So tell Old Andrew what's on your mind."
Harpuia said openly, "I think I'm weak. I let myself become some puppet, doing things against my own will. Worst of all is, when I was a puppet I fought harder than I had ever fought. It wasn't even me fighting. And I still lost."
Old Andrew nodded his head, taking everything in. "Have you found your soul?"
Harpuia looked puzzled. "My soul? Don't only humans have a soul?"
Old Andrew shook his head. "Sonny, everything living thing has a soul. From humans to reploids to the animals left on this planet."
Harpuia said back, "But humans created reploids. It's not like they created our souls as well."
"No, you are wrong, sonny. Humans may have created reploids, but they never created their souls. When they created the brain and the body, the soul comes in by itself. But you have to find it. You see, when you find your soul you find your purpose. That way, you become stronger and move on in life. Take Zero for example."
Harpuia rolled his eyes and listened.
"Zero has found his soul. He found it, maybe for the second time, when Ciel woke him up from stasis. His purpose was to protect the ones he cared for: the Resistance, X, reploids, humans, Ciel, and others. It is that drive, that motivation that keeps him going. It gives him hope, courage, and strength to fight for the ones you care about. You see Harpuia, when you find your soul, you will indeed become stronger."
"Find my soul..." Harpuia thought deeply about this. "I'll keep that in mind."
Old Andrew smiled again. He pat Harpuia's head and walked out of the room.
Change of scene
Harpuia set on his helmet and looked out at the setting sun. Zero, Cerveau, and Ciel were outside with Harpuia. Alouette and Old Andrew were outside, too. Harpuia turned to them all.
"Thank you for your hospitality." He turned to Zero lastly. "Zero, this doesn't change anything." The voice he had when he said this was new to Zero. If he didn't know better, he could have sworn there was compassion in Harpuia's voice. Nevertheless, Harpuia still sounded strong. Harpuia turned away and activated his boosters.
"Bye-bye, Harpuia! Come back and play with me sometime okay?" Alouette asked.
"Find it, sonny. It's waiting there for ya!" Old Andrew yelled.
Harpuia smiled warmly at both of them. He waved good-bye to them and flew back to the Neo Arcadia.
Change of scene
"Where were you?" Leviathan was nagging Harpuia for answers. "You could have told us you would have been gone that long!"
Fefnir smirked and said, "I'll bet Harpuia was doing his own thing. Anything to get away form Leviathan, huh?"
Harpuia smirked back. Leviathan, glared at Fefnir, then she turned back to Harpuia. "Well, at least you're back. We have clean-up duty." She threw Harpuia and Fefnir a trash bag.
"What! Why the hell do we have to clean up?" Fefnir demanded.
"Because, it was our fault that attack happened. And Harpuia wasn't there to help."
"Damn it Levi!" Fefnir yelled.
"By the way, Harpuia," Levi smiled. "Welcome home."
"Good to be back." Harpuia felt the same way he felt with Alouette and Old Andrew. He felt good. He was truly home. Now he could leave this all behind and move on. "Come on, we got to take out the trash." Harpuia and the other two guardians walked out of the room.
Author: Whew, what a chapter. I was thinking about adding more to this one, but I'll save it for the next chapter. I haven't forgotten about Red Alert but I was going to save that for next chapter as well. I had to switch boss battles around so it didn't always seem like the base was under constant attack. And I'm sure all of the readers were wondering about Harpuia. Please read and review (again)!