Author: Juggling school projects, Christmas shopping, and computers problems aren't easy. But when you have a giant robot on your side…it doesn't change anything. Anyway, I apologize if you readers were expecting another weekly update. A few problems came up and I had to delay the next update. So here it is!
Disclaimer: I do not own the MMZ series. Capcom owns that. I do own Dex, Sam, Max, the Red Revolver gang (excluding Axl), Zeus, Flair, and the last Silhouette.
Essence of Emerald
A bright light materialized into Zero in the center of the Command Room. He was still in his kneeling position, and there were still some ice shards on his body he had to shake off. He was still trying to recall what had just happened a few seconds ago. Leviathan was about to kiss him before he left. Or was she trying to kill him? Possibly both?
Ciel came running up to him right away.
"Zero! Are you all right? You look…" She stopped and examined his body. "I'll get Cerveau to repair you." Her voice was with less worry and emotion at that time.
"Ciel, what's the mat-" Zero started to say but Ciel was walking off.
Two reploid soldiers came and carried Zero to the Maintenance Room for repairs. On the way, Zero saw Harpuia waiting beside the door. They exchanged glances, and Harpuia's face seemed to say, "Boy, you're in trouble now." Zero wondered what that meant but he had already been carried to the Command Room.
A couple of hours later Zero stared at the wall, lying down in the Maintenance bed. He replayed what happened between him and Leviathan like it was a video, rewinding and rewinding. Zero, the Legendary Maverick Hunter was brilliant in battle, but he couldn't figure out what Leviathan was trying to do. To add to that, he also tried to figure out why Ciel seemed so different when he came back.
Usually, Ciel would be all over him, making sure he was okay and not hurt. She would come into the Maintenance Room with him until Cerveau and Rocinolle operated. She showed her concern for Zero greatly.
However, today was different. During the course of the repair, Ciel didn't come into the Maintenance Room. She didn't even wait outside for Zero. She was in her lab, still trying to find errors in her Ciel System to fix.
This piqued Zero's mind. Why was she acting like that? Did I say something? Did I do something wrong?
Just as he was thinking, the doors slid open. Zero bolted straight up, hoping it was Ciel who came in. Unfortunately, it was Harpuia, coming in to check on his rival. The Emerald Guardian sat himself down on a chair next to Zero and shook his head.
"You are the Heartbreak Reploid, you know that?" Harpuia smirked.
"What do you mean?" Zero crossed his arms.
"Don't tell me you don't know! You're juggling two women here! One tries to get your attention but doesn't seem to have much luck, and the other does get your attention but waits for you to make a move! The one thing that's odd is that you don't make a move yourself. I think you know who they are."
Zero thought about this. "So I suppose you're green with envy?"
Harpuia frowned.
"Just kidding." Zero did realize whose heart he was breaking, however. All at once he felt guilt and stupidity. How could I have not seen it from the beginning?
Harpuia raised a brow. "I didn't think Leviathan would plant one on you so easily, Zero."
"Huh?" Zero looked in the mirror noticed faded blue lipstick on his lips. She didn't…
"Yes, she did. Nice one, Zero." He chuckled a bit, finding Zero's slow realization to be quite amusing.
The abashed Maverick Hunter turned and walked out of the room. Just before he was out of the room, he turned to Harpuia for a quick remark.
"You're just jealous because you didn't get any." Then Zero dashed to Ciel's lab.
"Yeah, right." Harpuia crossed his arms and sat down on the chair. He couldn't admit to himself that he was indeed jealous.
Damn it! Stupid, stupid, stupid, Zero! The Heartbreak Reploid stood outside of Ciel's lab. The doors slid open.
Ciel was sitting in her chair on the computer, as usual, typing. This time however, it didn't seem she was working on the Ciel System. This time, it seemed as if she was typing some other document, like her diary or perhaps a story (A/N: One like this.) She didn't even say anything to Zero as he came in. She just kept on typing and typing and typing. The paucity of emotion showed in her face; she looked like a mindless mechanloid.
Zero tried to say something. "Hey Ciel."
Ciel grabbed her mug of coffee and sipped it. When she put it down, she tersely said, "Hello." She didn't even look at Zero!
The Blond Bomber felt a pungent stab of guilt inside him. Before he went any further, he wiped the lipstick off of his lips. Damn Leviathan. He walked over towards Ciel and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Ciel."
"For?"
"You know what for."
Ciel got up and shoved away Zero's hand. She turned to him with an angry face. Tears were forming in her eyes.
"Well then, why don't you just go with Leviathan then!"
"Wait!"
She started to run out of the room, but Zero grabbed her arm. He pulled her into himself and held her head to his chest. Ciel was about to try to break out of it, but she stopped trying. She cried on his chest, sobbing as she spoke.
"Do you dislike me, Zero?"
"Of course not, Ciel! I wouldn't be here if I didn't like you! Besides, Leviathan kissed me while I was unconscious, so it didn't count."
Ciel looked up at Zero with her watery eyes.
"Really?"
"Really."
Ciel hugged Zero. "Oh Zero, I'm so sorry. It was just that…I…"
"It's alright Ciel."
Ciel looked up at Zero again. This time, her eyes were no longer flooded with tears of any kind. In fact, she was smiling brightly. Zero found this to be quite cute, and his gut told him now was the perfect time to kiss her.
He gently touched Ciel's chin and pulled her in slowly until…
A loud thud came out of nowhere from outside.
I'm not going to get mushu from anybody today aren't I? Zero let go of Ciel and ran out to investigate. Ciel just watched as he ran out, smiling brightly, but flushed with cheeks of pink.
Surely enough, across the hall Zero saw Max against the wall, wiping off some blood from his nose. On the other side, Harpuia was cracking his knuckles. He had a hard, cold battle-face, while Max was enraged. They both noticed Zero and looked at him. Max was the first one to speak.
"Zero! Get this bastard outta here!"
Harpuia scoffed and said coolly, "He started it."
Zero rubbed his face and sighed. Out of all the times…
"Okay, I think you two need to settle this like men." The Blond Bomber crossed his arms.
"Yeah! Let's duel (d-d-d-d-d-d-duel!), Neo-Arcadian scum!" Max held up his fists.
Harpuia crossed his arms. "A duel or a fight? If you're up to a sophisticated match, then I suggest we have our little duel at an appropriate battlefield, wouldn't you agree, Zero?"
Zero knew Harpuia would enjoy fighting a lower class soldier like Max, but he also knew that he had no way of talking Max out of it, so what was the use? He sighed and led the two to the Command Room.
"Operator, teleport us to the Sand Wilderness."
The Operators put in the coordinates. "Everybody stand clear! Trans in 5...4...3...2...1..."
The three disappeared in a bright flash of light.
Change of scene
The dry desert wind blew mildly as the two combatants faced each other. Zero was in the middle of this, being the "referee."
"Bring it!" Max put up his fists and jabbed the air.
"I doubt you can hold your own against me using fists alone. Tell you what; I'll use only my fists while you can use that little toy you have. How does that sound?"
"It sounds like some bastard talk, but I'll take up that offer." Max drew his pistol and twirled it in his hand. "You'll be sorry you ever said that."
"Right." Harpuia smirked and cracked his knuckles once more.
"You can kiss my ass you stupid fu-"
Harpuia dashed into Max and punched him in the face. Max fell to the ground hard, still reeling from the surprise blow.
"Well? Get up." Harpuia kicked Max up into the air. As his body was still in the air, Harpuia grabbed it and threw him hard into a small desert hill. As the dirt was clearing, Max was trying to get up. Harpuia just took his time and walked patiently towards Max, awaiting his next move. The dirt didn't completely clear yet, so the Emerald Guardian couldn't see Max. The Rookie Soldier shot a Red Revolver Buster at Harpuia blindly. Since Max could not see Harpuia as well, the shot missed cleanly. It streaked through the air next to Harpuia's cheek, but it didn't even scratch it.
"I bet you can't even hit me once with that pistol of yours." Harpuia crossed his arms and waited.
Zero rubbed his face again. "This isn't even a fair match. No offense Max, but you can't keep up with Harpuia."
Out of the dirt cloud, Max lunged at Harpuia like a wild animal. Of course, Harpuia could hear Max a split-second earlier before he came out. For Harpuia, that was all he needed. The Guardian sidestepped out of the way. Max fell to the ground but got back up quickly. He aimed the pistol at Harpuia and fired several regular buster shots.
Keeping to his word, Harpuia dodged them all, advancing towards Max slowly while doing so. The Emerald Guardian ducked under Max and sweep-kicked him. The Rookie, however, found this as an opportunity to get a shot in. He quickly aimed at Harpuia's face and fired a shot. Perhaps the shot fired too soon, because Harpuia dashed through Max and stopped behind him. Before Max could even try to turn around, Harpuia elbowed him in the back, knocking him to the ground.
The Green Gladiator just stared as Max disapprovingly, although he wasn't expecting much anyway. He turned around, get ready to leave, but Max wouldn't let him.
"Wait…" Max struggled to get up.
Harpuia turned around, surprised for once. "You're still up? I suppose you have a spark."
"Just because you're in a higher class, or you have more skill than I do, doesn't mean I can't take you down."
"Now that is nonsense." Harpuia crossed his arms.
"The only sense I don't have is the sense of losing!" Max charged directly at Harpuia to try to punch him.
Harpuia just leaped over him and landed on the other side. As he turned around, Max fired a Laser Shot at Harpuia. Oddly enough, it missed him completely.
"That was a half-assed shot." Harpuia clenched his fists and dashed towards Max, but this time Max was the one to jump over Harpuia. The Emerald Guardian turned around, but this time a laser straight to the face met him. It blew up in his face, leaving a scorch mark on his cheek and a small cut on his lip.
Max smirked. "How'd you like my Reflect Laser?" The Rookie used his Copy Shot to copy Camo's blaster the last time they met, as well as all the other pistol-related attacks that were available from Camo's other transformations. "I told you I could take you down! So much for that challenge you made earlier! Now I'm going to take you down completely!"
Harpuia wiped off the blood on his lip. Oddly enough, he smirked. All of the sudden, he started laughing. He realized when he fought the Silhouette back at Neo Arcadia that he was in the same position as Max was. So I suppose even a chicken can get a few pecks off of a falcon.
"Humph. You've already beaten me."
Max stared incredulously. "What?"
"I said that you couldn't hit me with one shot of that pistol of yours, but you did. So I suppose you win. For now." He turned to face Zero. "We're through here. Let's head back to base. Tomorrow we'll take on the last of what Reploforce has to offer." Then he turned to Max. "Next time, the gloves are off."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Max smirked.
Zero just shook his head. "Let's just go."
Change of scene
She was the only one left. The other two were defeated and fallen in battle.
So I am all that's left. How fitting. The medium-sized figure walked around Neo Arcadia, glancing at the gates as she walked by. It would only be a matter of time before she would fight Zero and the Guardians.
She wasn't afraid. She was never afraid, but then again Zeus and Flair were never afraid either. They found fighting the Guardians and Zero to be fun, and couldn't care less if they were losing. They knew what was in stake.
So why am I not excited? She crossed her arms and wondered why. She never had "fun" fighting, mostly because she hardly ever fought anyone worth the time. Perhaps she spared with Flair or Zeus a bit, but she knew well that she was superior to them. Although she was the strongest out of the three, she never felt joy in battle. She only felt depression. Why, she did not know.
"Save the best for last, I always say." A shadowy figure appeared behind the medium-sized figure.
"Eartha, you are the most dangerous one. You will not-"
The medium-sized figure spoke, "Don't call me by that name!"
The shadowy figure chuckled. "And why not, Eartha?"
Eartha frowned under her cloak. "It was a name I abandoned." She started walking towards the Temple of Wind. Before she left the room, she turned to the shadowy figure.
"If you call me by that name again, I'll show you how dangerous I can be."
The shadowy figure disappeared and reappeared behind Eartha. He placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Come now, we need not to fight."
Eartha knew from the figure's grip just exactly how strong he was. It wasn't so firm it would crush her shoulder, but she could tell from how fast he was and how steady the grip was that she was in no position to fight the figure.
"I suppose you're right. Just don't call me 'Eartha.'"
The shadowy figure chuckled. "Very well."
She wondered why Omega wasn't here. Only this "associate" was here in place of him. She wondered for a second, and then he just walked out of the room.
The figure laughed. "The Dark Elf is close…" He looked up above his head and kept laughing.
Change of scene
For the first time in a while, Harpuia was in an environment of peace and quiet. He lies on the Waiting Room bed, staring at the ceiling. All he wanted was a time to relax and just sleep, without anything rankling his mind. No Neo Arcadia, no Leviathan nagging, no nothing. Of course, Leviathan's nagging was fairly amusing at times. It was one thing when she really meant in, but sometimes she was just playing around.
Sometimes she would do it in front of Fefnir or humans. It would usually be about something small, but she would make a big deal out of it. He would always play along with it, and it was their "game." Sometimes it was the only way to stay sane.
He wondered what Leviathan and Fefnir were doing right now. Since they had taken back the Temples of Fire and Ice, then those areas must be secure. Now all there was left to do was to take back the Temple of Wind and then Neo Arcadia will be restored and rid of Reploforce. Two Silhouettes were already defeated, so only one was left. Harpuia really didn't worry about it much.
If Leviathan and Fefnir could take them out, then so can I. There was something different about the third Silhouette, however. The ones Leviathan and Fefnir fought were eager to battle, but they were strong (or so Zero says). He remembered the last time he faced the Three Silhouettes only two fought right away. The third one did not rush to fight. He suspected she was the one he was going to fight against.
Does she not want to fight or is she too powerful to find anyone worth the time? It all seemed fitting to him, however, that the strongest Silhouette would be the one he would fight. It inflated his ego a bit. All this thinking wouldn't put him to sleep, however.
He got up from the Waiting Room bed and walked out of the room. He decided to stroll along the hall to clear his head up and hopefully fall asleep. Surprisingly, everyone was asleep already, locked up in their rooms sleeping on their beds. It was only 9:30 PM. Usually nights at Neo Arcadia were longer, and eventually they would become early mornings. Harpuia would always be working on things until early morning, and when he did finally get some sleep, it was only a couple of hour's worth.
Now when he could finally sleep for once, he couldn't! The halls were dark, and the only light came from some rooms that had light on inside. He thought no one could possibly be up by now, so he was turning to head back to the Waiting Room.
Alouette came cavorting right into him. She seemed energetic as she would in the daytime, but the only difference now was the nightgown she was wearing.
Why is she up so late? She can't sleep or too much caffeine?
"Hi Harpuia Ican'tsleeprightnowbecasueIdon'tfeellikeitIreallyexcitedIdon'tknowwhatforbutIwanttorunaroundandaroundandaroundalotCielgavemesomecoffeeitwasreallygoodshesaiddon'tdrinktoomuchbutIdidanywaysandnowshe'sasleepbutI'mnotbecaseIdon'tfeellikeitwaitdidIjustsaythatalreadyheeheeheeheeheehee!"
Both I guess. Harpuia picked her up and carried her to her room. He was going to try to get her back to sleep, but it wasn't helping that she was talking over a hundred words every five seconds. When he got into her room, he set her down on her bed. Of course, she didn't fall asleep easily.
"Harpuiacanyoureadmeastorypleasepleasepleaseplease?"
"Okay. Which one?"
Alouette jumped up and down bouncing on her bed. She was pointing at the shelf of books near her bed. "ReadmeastoryfromoverthereIlovethestoriesoverheretheyaresofuntoreadIlikereadingdoyoulikereadingHarpuiabecauseIsuredo!"
Have to refrain from making her talk. He picked up Little Red Riding Hood and started reading.
"Once upon a time…" He was bored already.
Alouette jumped out of her bed. "ImadeupadifferentversionofthisstorymyselfdoyouwanttohearokaysoLittleRedRidingHoodwalksthroughtheforestandthewolfspotshersohejumpsoutbutLittleRedRidingHoodisreadyforthewolfandstartskickinghisbuttwithkung-fu!" She punched and kicked the air and spun around. Eventually, she fell on her bottom. She burped loudly and then shook her head.
"Harpuia, can you continue reading the story? Harpuia?" She turned to Harpuia.
The Emerald Guardian was snoring, fast asleep.
Change of scene
"I didn't think you would like fluffy pink blankeys." Zero struggled to hold in his laughter.
Harpuia frowned. "It was a misunderstanding."
The night before Harpuia had fallen asleep in Alouette's room. She put her blankey over him while he was sleeping. When he woke up, he walked over to Zero's room to wake him up. He didn't notice he was still holding Alouette's blankey, so when Zero woke up and looked at Harpuia, he burst with laughter and rolled on the floor. His laugh was so loud that everyone from the nearest rooms came out to see what was going on. When they did, they too all laughed at Harpuia. That's when he noticed he was holding Alouette's blankey.
Zero would never let Harpuia live it down.
"Zero? Harpuia? Are you two ready?" Ciel stood in front of them. They were both in the Command Room, waiting to be teleported to the Temple of Wind. Zero was recovering from his laughter and Harpuia did his best to hide the blush on his cheeks. Embarrassment and anger coursed through his body. The female reploids, however, found this new predicament to increase Harpuia's "pretty-boyish looks." They cooed him as they waited to see him off. The male reploids were somewhat disappointed that Leviathan didn't make it back.
"Operators, trans them to the Temple of Wind." Ciel stepped back a few steps.
"Trans in 5...4...3...2...1..."
Zero and Harpuia both disappeared in a flash of bright light.
Change of scene
The dry wind blew some leaves across the ground. The two stood in front of the first door in the Temple of Wind.
Zero had regained his composure and stopped laughing. Now he stood upright, ready for action.
"Last time I was here, there were all these electric traps. Do you still have them?"
Harpuia scoffed. "I never renovate my temple, so why would I now?"
"Okay. So you have them activated or deactivated?"
"Once again, I don't know. For all I know Reploforce could have activated the traps right now. They maybe even placed new ones here."
"New traps? What could they possibly-"
Zero and Harpuia each rolled to one side to avoid a large rocket being launched at them. The rocket hit the ground and created a large crater. When they both looked to see who did it, they saw a large mechanloid with a rocket launcher and two subordinate mechanloid firing little bullets with puny guns.
Zero drew his Z-saber and was about to make his move, but Harpuia wasted no time and flew directly at the rocket-launching mechanloid. It fired another rocket at the Guardian, who was speeding towards the mechanloid. When the rocket came in range, Harpuia effortlessly barrel-rolled to the right and the rocket missed completely. It was heading towards Zero's area, and he had to act fast. The Legendary Maverick Hunter rolled out of the way just in time before the rocket could hit him.
"Hey! Watch it!"
Harpuia ignored the remark and sliced the rocket-launching mechanloid into four pieces using his beam sabers. The two small mechanloids were about to fire, but the Guardian smashed their heads in with the hilt of his beam sabers. He dashed back and the rocket-launching mechanloid exploded, taking out the other two mechanloids as well.
"Show off." Zero dusted off the dirt and gravel on his armor.
Harpuia and Zero both walked to the doors. They slid open. When they did, all they saw was a short hallway to the next door.
"That looks easy."
Harpuia shook his head. "Must be booby-trapped."
"Sarcasm, Harpuia."
"Stupidity, Zero."
Just as Harpuia said that, a spark of electricity hit Zero on his chin and numbed his jaw. The Legendary Maverick Hunter was taken by surprise and tried to feel his jaw. Harpuia, however, knew exactly what was going on and threw his beam saber at the corner of the room. It seemed like there was nothing there, but the saber hit a cloaked Reploforce mechanloid. The saber dug itself into his head and the mechanloid fell down to the ground, destroyed.
Harpuia smirked and Zero got up. They both walked to the next room and saw that there were two pathways. One entrance above them and one below them. They could hear the wind blow and feel it coming from the upper entrance. The bottom entrance was also filled with the sound of wind blowing. They both knew what to do.
"Guh huh uh uh huh huh, geh guh uh uh guh uh uh huh?" Zero was trying to speak but his jaw was stuck in an odd way.
"What?" Harpuia raised a brow.
Zero wrinkled up his face and nodded up and then down.
"What does that suppose to mean?" He made the same facial expressions as Zero did.
Zero cracked his jaw to the right and loosened his tongue and jaw.
"Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" Zero crossed his arms.
"Zero, you're gibbering nonsense."
"Funny, Harpuia."
"So what do you have to say?"
Zero looked at both of the pathways.
"You go this way and I go that way." Zero pointed for Harpuia to go up and for him to go down.
"We're splitting up?"
"Well, are we going to meet up somewhere?"
"Of course, Zero. It is my Temple of Wind, you know. Although these are two different ways, we'll end up meeting each other at the end. I'll meet you there first. If you don't make it, then I'll understand."
Zero scoffed. "As if I won't make it. Are you sure you won't be at a disadvantage without me?"
"Of course not." Harpuia shoved Zero down the lower pathway.
"Son of a bitch!" Zero yelled and his echo lingered as he fell all the way down.
"That was easy." Harpuia activated his boosters and flew up the other pathway.
Change of scene
"Ow." Zero rubbed his butt as he slowly stood up. When Harpuia pushed him down he had quite a long fall. Fortunately, he landed on a platform. Unfortunately, his ass broke his fall.
"Thanks a pantsful, Harpuia." Zero crossed his arms and looked and his surroundings.
Since he fell to the bottom, he was at the lowest level of the Temple of Wind. The temple was placed far above the other temples, and the Temple of Wind was the closest to the top of Neo Arcadia. The bottom was all the way below Zero, several hundreds of feet below. He looked forward and saw other platforms, suspended by electric wires. Most of the platforms were no wider than Zero, so he had to be extremely precise with his jumps. The only one with running room was the one he was on. To top it all off, the wind was roaring and several Gli-Eyes were hovering around, patrolling the platforms. The problem wasn't that Zero couldn't destroy them, it was that they could easily disrupt Zero's timing and he would fall quite a fall.
This wasn't going to stop Zero, however. Cerveau had outfitted him with new upgrades after the battle with Flair. One of his Leg Enhancements was the Light Body Chip. It changed Zero's overall weight to match a feather. With this equipped, he could use his Chain Rod and swing using the Gli-Eyes. In his normal weight, he would bring them down with him, but with the Light Body Chip, they wouldn't get pulled down. He just had to make sure he stabbed at the right spot so they wouldn't explode. Zero changed into Active Form to aid his jumping and recovery speed.
The Legendary Maverick Hunter phased on a long rod. Cerveau modified the three different Rods to form one new weapon. It was a short stick, but it could transform into any of the three Rods instantly. Two sharp heads could come out of the ends of the stick, forming a double-ended version of the Triple Rod. Those ends could also shoot out the spearhead of the Chain Rod. And to top it off, the stick could detach into the Recoil Rod. It was an all-purpose rod.
He aimed one end at the nearest Gli-Eye and shot out the spearhead. It landed on the corner of its small body, nearly hitting the eye. Zero didn't want to hit the eye, or else it would self-destruct. He took a few steps back and ran off of the platform. Despite swinging hundreds and hundreds of feet above the ground, Zero Tarzan-yelled as he swung.
Zero landed perfectly on the platform, and as small as it was, Zero was able to stand with one foot and balance himself. When he retracted the Chain Rod, he noticed the Gli-Eye was still stuck in the spearhead. He knew it would self-destruct anytime soon, so he had to think quickly. The Blond Bomber heard some other Gli-Eyes flying towards him, so he took this opportunity to get rid off the Gli-Eye near him. He swung the rod to hit the others. He smashed them all and they exploded several feet away from him. However, he noticed now he couldn't get to the other platform as easily anymore.
He destroyed the only Gli-Eyes around, so now he had to do it the old fashioned way. The problem was, the platform was so far away Zero wouldn't make it. He couldn't dash jump because the platform was big as Zero, so he had no room to back up. However, he noticed some shots coming from above. He looked up and there were some Panel Cannons firing down at him. Now he had another idea.
The Panel Cannons were not that high up, so he placed the end of the rod to the ground while aiming the sharp end at the closest Panel Cannon. The other end was charging up for a Recoil Rod attack. When it was ready, he released the attack and the force of it propelled him skyward. When he was within firing range, he launched the spearhead at the Panel Cannon. Once again, he nearly hit the mark that would make it self-destruct. He swung a round arc under the Panel Cannon. At the height of his arc, he retracted the chain and was flying towards another Panel Cannon.
Things were not looking good. The only Panel Cannon within range was under him, so he would be falling right on top of it. The others were lower, so he wouldn't be able to fire a shot at them. Having only a split-second to think, he decided it was time to skip. He hopped on the Panel Cannon under him and leaped off it and onto the next one. He went past three until he noticed there would only be two more left until he would reach the highest one, closest to the door.
He charged up the rod after he jumped off of the first one. Right before his feet even touched the second one, he shot his charged Recoil Rod attack on the Panel Cannon and he was fired up high. Zero kept flying until at the height of his flight he was right in front of the Panel Cannon. However, he didn't just charged one side; he charged both sides. He aimed the other side above the Panel Cannon and released it. It propelled him even higher and he finally was close to the last platform. However, he realized he was slowly falling back down. With a last, desperate effort, he reached out his arm and grabbed the end of the platform. His hand was slipping off. It didn't last long until it slipped off completely.
Luckily, Zero had a backup plan. When his hand slid off, he had stabbed the rod under the platform. It held him there firmly. While it was still in there, Zero slowly climbed up and finally found himself in front of the next door.
"Whew." He dusted himself off and the doors slid open. He walked into the next room.
Change of scene
Harpuia flew up the upper pathway. He knew his Temple of Wind inside and out. He knew that this was the shortcut and that he would be there first in no time at all. However, the things he knew changed.
The pathway up was actually a large air vent. It shifted direction and headed to the right. It was larger than Harpuia was used to. As he flew farther and farther forward, he noticed the air vent was gradually getting larger and larger.
What's going on? He didn't have time to think because the air picked up and he was flying faster. Now the air vent was more of a blur. Harpuia deactivated his boosters, but he was still flying. The air was carrying him at a high speed, but Harpuia didn't intend to do this.
This must be a trap! He was going so fast, he would only have a second to catch a clear glimpse of what he was passing by. For Harpuia, that slim second was all he needed. Instinctively, he turned to the right, avoiding a large spike wall on the left side. About two seconds after that, he turned left to avoid a spike trap on the right. About three seconds after that, he barrel-rolled to the center to avoid the traps on the left and right side of him, flying through the margin between the traps.
Reploforce must have rigged my shortcut with traps to catch me off-guard. They can't stop me.
Now every time a second passed after he avoided a spike trap, he would have to move once more to avoid yet another one. This continued for a full minute. Harpuia noticed there wasn't a certain pattern, but he had his quick reflexes to count on. Left, right, center, right, center, left, center, left, right. Different variations of spike traps were set, but avoided them all.
Finally, the myriad of traps ceased to appear. Now Harpuia was free flying without any obstacles. Of course, he knew there must be more. The Emerald Guardian activated his boosters and beam sabers. Beyond him was a large spike wall that completely sealed off the exit. He knew he had to cut his own way through.
"Flying Izuna Corkscrew!"
Spike traps are usually impervious to beam sabers of blasters of any kind, since they were laced with the type of metal that gave them that ability. For Harpuia's new attack, however, that meant absolutely nothing. He spun around in a dangerously sharp corkscrew and twirled his beam sabers. His attack shredded the entire wall into pieces, and the spikes were blown away into the walls of the air vent. Harpuia had practiced this attack many times on walls, so this was easy picking for him.
The path stooped back down again and Harpuia founded himself flying through the exit. It burst through the top of a room and landed on the ground feet-first. The dust settled around him and he deactivated his beam sabers. He stood upright and dusted himself off.
"What an entrance." Zero stood in front of Harpuia, his arms crossed.
"You made it here." Harpuia turned around and looked at the next door.
"Yeah, and it looks like we both made it on time."
"I have to say, I didn't think you'd make it."
" Oh yeah? Weren't you the one who said that you would make it first? Come to think of it, I came here first!"
Harpuia scoffed. "Stop acting childish." He walked over to the doors and they slid open.
Zero followed closely behind.
"By the way Zero, we all know I came first." Harpuia walked into the next room.
Zero shook his head. I give up…
When they went into the next room they surprisingly found that this was a room with another door at the end. The room itself was about s big as a small battlefield. There wasn't anything of significance here, just ground, a ceiling, and a door at the end.
"You Guardians have too many unneeded rooms."
"I didn't have this room here before." Harpuia looked around. The room's walls and ceiling were covered in darkness. The only light source they had was the light coming form the doors behind them and the light coming from the cracks of the doors in front of them.
"Then let's just head through the other door! It shouldn't be that hard, right?"
Suddenly, sparks of electricity illuminated the room. Wires covered the walls and the ends electrify the ceiling. Three holes formed in front of the door. Three bolts of lightning shot out of the holes and three figures popped out. To Harpuia's and Zero's surprise, they were three Aztec Falcons.
"Zero, every time you claim something 'isn't hard,' it indeed gets harder."
"I think I noticed that just now. But hey, we can take on the Three Amigos!"
Harpuia frowned and looked at Zero with a completely humorless stare.
"Alright fine. Let's get this over with." Zero drew his Z-saber.
The Aztec Falcon trio was different models than the original one. They had a Reploforce symbol on their chest and wings. The colors were also different than the usual yellow, green, and white. Now they had red wings, blue eyes, and black chest armor. They showed no signs of speech or verbal intelligence.
So they remodeled Aztec Falcon. Who is behind this? Harpuia drew out both beam sabers.
The Aztec Falcons wasted no time and immediately charged at Zero and Harpuia. Two went after Zero while one went after Harpuia. The Guardian and the Maverick Hunter both rolled out of the way to avoid their attack. However, the Aztec Falcons flew around in a semi-circle and continued their assault.
The two that went after Zero glided above the ground and began a mid-air assault on Zero. One used his talons to slice Zero. The other one flew over to the opposite side of the two and started to fire electric arrows. The Legendary Maverick Hunter had double duty evading the first Aztec Falcon's talon swipes while dodging the electric arrows of the other one.
Harpuia only had to deal with one, but this particular Aztec Falcon copy was a bit more advanced than the other two. It took to the air and flapped its wings. It was a gesture to lure the Guardian into an aerial battle. Harpuia, knowing all too well that fighting in the air was his specialty, activated his boosters and flew up to the third Aztec Falcon. Almost immediately after he came within range, Aztec Falcon flew directly at the Guardian and started to slash at him with his talons.
The Emerald Guardian swayed to his right side, avoiding one swipe. He tried to counter by swinging his beam saber, but Aztec Falcon blocked it with his wing, which was now reinforced with the beam saber-resistant metal. Harpuia swung with his other arm, but again Aztec blocked it with his other wing.
Aztec Falcon's eyes grew a deep cool blue as two ice beams shot out of his eyes. Harpuia bent his neck to one side and avoiding one beam, but the other beam hit him square in the chest. Even though he wore armor, he had an allergy to Ice elemental attacks. Using the moment of attack as an opportunity, Aztec Falcon slashed at Harpuia with his talons in a quick one-two combo. Both slashes made contact with Harpuia, and they were harmfully deep. They both were on his armor and penetrated through most of the layers he wore.
Harpuia had to fight back, but the talons Aztec Falcon had were also blue. They were frozen with Ice elemental energy, so the attacks hurt even more.
Aztec Falcon's eyes glinted as he grabbed both of Harpuia's shoulders with his sharp talons. The claws dug deep into Harpuia's skin, since he didn't wear shoulder pads. Aztec then pushed Harpuia down into the ground from above high and dragged his body along the crumbling cement.
The other two Aztec Falcon copies were still having their fun with Zero. Although they weren't upgraded with another elemental besides Thunder, they were still tough to take down. The Blond Bomber was still avoiding both of their attacks, but finally one electric arrow skinned his leg. He winced at the small amount of pain, but the fraction of a second Zero used up to wince was what the other Aztec Falcon copy needed. One talon swipe connected on Zero's face as the claws dug into his skin, but it wasn't deep because Zero had turned an angle when he got hit by the electric arrow lessening the damage.
The Aztec Falcon copy connected with another talon slash on the chest and then kneed Zero in the face. The blow caused him to trip and fall backward. The other Aztec Falcon came and tackled Zero with electricity crackling around his body. The Aztec Falcon in the air also charged at Zero, and they both sandwiched him.
Being sandwiched between two electric Aztec Falcons was not comfortable for Zero. Fortunately, the Aztec Falcon copies didn't know Zero had charged his Z-saber while they had attacked him. Now it was fully charged. With a ferocious attack, he used the Ice elemental chip and struck both Aztec Falcons with his charged Z-saber attack. The resulting splash wave knocked both of them back and blew off some pieces of their armor.
However, they were incredibly quick to recover. Shortly after the attack had hit them both, the one on the left teleported to the other side of Zero. Both Aztec Falcon copies opened their wings and activated the Wing Magnet they had. Since both magnets were pulling on each side, both forces of magnetism were pulling in opposite directions. Zero had nowhere to dash now, and he was already feeling himself split apart. He had to react quickly or else he would become two pieces of legendary scrap.
The Legendary Maverick Hunter drew his All-purpose Rod and aimed both ends to each Aztec Falcon copy.
"Magnetize this!"
Zero launched the Chain Rod spearheads out of each end. Since the Aztec Falcons had their magnet on, the force pulled the spearheads as well. They were flying at such a fast speed that the Aztecs had no way of stopping it. Each spearhead found its way to each one of Aztec Falcon's faces. The two Aztec Falcon copies to Zero's left and right side had been stabbed in the face by the tips of the Chain Rod. It dug itself in deep.
Zero twirled his rod around and he pulled the heads of them both right off. They went flying away. He retracted the two chains and twirled the rod over his head once more. The two Aztec Falcon copies on his sides exploded in a brilliant yellow.
The last Aztec Falcon copy kept dragging Harpuia's body along the ground. Or so he thought. When the dust cleared, he realized he was actually dragging along his talons instead of Harpuia's body. The Guardian's body wasn't there anymore.
"Super Sonic Boom!"
The Aztec Falcon copy looked up, but it was too late. Harpuia had been above Aztec Falcon the entire time from the beginning. He had escaped Aztec's grip right before he hit the ground. Now that he had the time he needed to charge his attack, Harpuia launched a large crescent wave down below at Aztec. It was moving far too quickly for Aztec to evade it.
The wings may have been protected with the beam saber-resistant metal, but Aztec's chest armor and helmet wasn't. The wave easily sliced through the armor and split the Aztec Falcon copy in two. It did not even cry out in pain as it burst into shards of blue ice. They harmlessly missed Harpuia and hit everything else.
Zero sighed and looked around the room.
"I guess that's it. Nothing else is stopping us now."
Harpuia flew down to the ground.
"Finally. Now let's move on."
Without any interruptions, they walked to the last pair of doors. The doors slid open and they walked into the room.
Heavenly. That's how the room smelled. The entire last room was decorated with myriads of flowers and plants. The floor was replaced with fresh green grass, and the breeze blew gently. Gardens and gardens of flowers were the "walls" of the room. The flowers were all sorts of different variations. There were even some flowers that couldn't be found on Earth anymore were here.
After the new age of Reploids and the Elf Wars, much wildlife ceased to exist. The vast majority of that life was plants. Many of the one grassy land around the world were either annihilated or died out. The once extinct flowers were now littered decoratively across the walls. The ornate room had beautiful flowers with the sweetest, scrumptious scent the entire earth could offer. The breezy grass on the ground felt soft and fresh. Even if you were to romp on it, it wouldn't be ruined.
The cool, calm breeze blew Zero's mane around.
"Wow."
Harpuia, however, wasn't impressed. In fact, he looked downright angry.
"Who on Earth 'redecorated' my room in my Temple of Wind?"
"Wait a second! Look over there!" Zero pointed to the right, behind one of the many gardens.
There was a young woman walked by the gardens. She wore a simple white dress, usually worn on bright sunny days. She also wore a handcrafted sunflower hat that concealed her face. Her hair was a collaboration of white and blond, resulting in a faded blond color that seemed to be alive. As the breeze blew, it fluttered gently and smoothly along the air. It seemed like it was a cloud, yet at the same time a glass of some kind, changing the shade of blond each time it was at a different angle.
She adjusted her hat and tilted it up a bit so she could see. The hair fell down to her shoulders. Her skin was heavenly white, the absolute perfect shade of white. It was as if she was an angel, and at the same time it wasn't so white that it was imperfect. The face that she had was even lovelier. It literally shone with radiance and pulchritude. Her eyes had a soft look in them. The irises were blue, but a clear sky blue. Her nose was perfectly proportionate with the rest of her face. Her lips were not with lipstick, but naturally light pink. When she moved her mouth, every muscle in her lips streamed with beauty.
Zero was completely blown away. He could already feel himself float up to the sky. Then he realized the room's ceiling was the sky!
Harpuia kept his composure. His face did not show any signs of change, emotionally or physically. He knew better.
The woman gently plucked off a flower and smelled it. When she closed her eyes, the eyelashes perfected curved and folded over each other. She took a long whiff and once again opened her eyes. Her mouth opened, as if she were to say something. However, she didn't say anything. She only blew gently at the flower. When her breath hit the flower, it seemed to have multiplied its radiance and volume, as if it were a flower from the Garden of Eden itself.
Finally she began speaking. She had noticed Harpuia and Zero from the start, but she wasn't looking at them. Now she was talking to them while caressing her flower.
"Isn't Earth beautiful? All of this was only a small taste of what once abundant life was. Where there was forest, there were flowers. The forests were more like gardens; even the trees had flowers blossoming off its branches. There were no animals to disturb the tranquility, yet the plants were able to survive. This heaven was what Earth once was."
The breeze stopped suddenly.
"Yet nothing lasts forever. With Earth and its blossoming beauties, humans and conflict came. Countless wars tore apart the haven that once was. Now in this present day it would be a rarity to find even one flower surviving. Those heartless humans not only destroyed what once was, but also created more defilers to ensure that it never came again."
The flower's petals started falling off, one by one.
"By the time the Maverick Wars were over, most of the world was a wasteland. Yet, there were still some places where there was life. Nature still existed. Even after the New Age of Reploids it still existed. But, after the Elf Wars had come and gone, there was nothing left. The humans brought it upon themselves to create weapons of mass destruction.
"I despise humans. They ruined what once was, and now they will pay for what they have done."
Zero was appalled that such a fine woman could say such a thing.
Harpuia, however, knew better than to judge a book by its cover. Beauty was only skin-deep.
He smirked. " I find it odd that a reploid like you would wear such a mask. Why don't you Reploforce scum show us your real faces?"
The woman smirked as well, but it lacked any angelic pulchritude before.
"Harpuia, the third Guardian of Neo Arcadia. I believe we have met before."
He frowned. "Why do you persist on eradicating all humans?"
"Didn't I just tell you? Humans destroyed the beauty of the Earth. After Reploforce destroys all of the humans, I can finally revive all of the nature that once was. We won't have to worry about humans wasting precious Earth resources and nature once we are through."
Harpuia drew his beam sabers. "Then throw off the mask so I can kill you already."
Zero hesitated at first, but then he drew his Z-saber as well.
The reploid woman sighed.
"If bringing back everything would mean to kill you both, then I suppose I can live with that."
She threw off hat. With her index finger, he touched the garden near her. It began to freeze, and the ice was traveling around the entire room. The cool, calm breeze suddenly turned into a cold, dry wind. The entire room was covered with flower ice sculptures and frozen gardens. The grass became an icy battlefield.
The reploid herself was changing. He ripped off her skirt to reveal her true form. She didn't wear much armor at all. The only armor she wore was the revealing top. It covered most of her upper body, but only reaching down under her breasts. They were covered, but no cleavage was spared. The other piece of armor she wore was the armored thong she wore. It was skinny for a thong, but it was strapped with blue leather laced-strings reaching down to her high-heeled boots. Her hair was no longer long and blond but now it was a short pixie-cut and the color changed to midnight blue. Her skin turned into a lightly faded blue, and the little armor she wore was a much darker shade of blue. Her stomach was exposed, but a getting in a simple slash would not be easy.
Reploforce Frosty Dominatrix Mistress
Glacia
"I am Glacia, and I will be the one to destroy you both." She smirked devilishly. "It will be quite interesting to take on two partners at once." She licked her lips seductively.
Harpuia winced and Zero hardened his look.
Out from the ground a short sword came out. The sides of the sword were fitted with pointy spikes. Glacia picked it up and pointed it at Zero and Harpuia. The short sword detached into a chained whip. With a swift motion, she lashed the whip at Zero and Harpuia. The Legendary Maverick Hunter rolled out of the way while the Green Gladiator activated his boosters and barrel-rolled away from the whip. He was flying straight for Glacia.
Glacia simply smirked as the whip came back to her at a much faster speed than Harpuia was flying. The Guardian raised both beam sabers over his head and slashed vertically with them both. Glacia grabbed the other end of the whip and stretched it out, forming a sort of net to catch Harpuia's attack. She was able to do it fast enough that it did catch Harpuia's attack. Before the Guardian could react, Glacia wrapped the whip around the sabers and Harpuia's arms.
The Icy Mistress moved over to Harpuia's backside and pulled on the whip. It pulled Harpuia's arms back over his head. Glacia then stuck her foot on Harpuia's back. The foot forced Harpuia down to the ground, and the sharp heel dug its way into Harpuia's skin. Then, Glacia unwrapped Harpuia's arms and choked him around the neck with the whip, pulled on it. Harpuia's neck and head were being pulled closer to Glacia as his back was being forced down. This was Glacia's "Feeble Position" technique.
The whip was giving off Ice elemental energy, so not only was the whip choking him, but Harpuia also felt himself getting colder and weaker by the minute. A few more seconds and his neck would might as well snap.
Thankfully, Zero shot a charged Blast Shot at Glacia. She released the whip's chokehold on Harpuia and used his body as a springboard to leap up into the air. The Blast Shot missed, flying under her. When she came back down, she landed on Harpuia's face, stepping on him with both feet in his face. Glacia now focused her attention onto Zero. She ran towards him, leaving her weapon in whip form.
Zero used this opportunity to shoot Glacia with buster shots while charging his Z-saber. The Icy Mistress anticipated a ranged attack and detached her whip into several metal shards. They circled around her as she ran. The buster shots were deflected off of her whip shield as she was getting closer and closer to Zero.
The Legendary Maverick Hunter brought his Z-saber over his head and swung down at Glacia with a charged Fire saber attack.
Before the attack could hit Glacia, the shards reattached to each other forming the whip again. It retracted back into the short sword. When the attack finally hit her, instead of her being knocked back, her body and her weapon melted into water.
Before Zero could figure out what was going on, she materialized behind him and wrapped the whip around his neck. She pulled hard and choked Zero. She dug her heel into Zero's back, using the same technique used on Harpuia. This time, however, she revised it. Glacia forced Zero onto his knees while he was getting choked. She sat on Zero's back and it was a seat, using one hand to hold the whip, using her "Feeble Position 2" technique.
Harpuia finally got back up and was flying towards Glacia. Thinking quickly, the Icy Mistress used her free hand to pull the Z-buster out of Zero's hoister and froze it. Now it was able to shoot charged Ice busters. She aimed the buster at Harpuia and shot several charged Ice busters.
The Guardian leaned over to the side and flew around Glacia. As he did, she kept shooting at Harpuia. Zero was still choking and being used as a personal chair. Knowing he couldn't simply avoid her shots forever, he switched course and headed straight for Glacia. The charged Ice busters hit Harpuia several times, and each time he felt it. However, he didn't get knocked out of flight each time they hit. He just raised both of his beam sabers over his head and slashed down vertically when he came within range.
Glacia retracted her whip into the short sword and blocked Harpuia's attack. Now that Glacia's chokehold on Zero was released, he used Flair's "Inflammatory Body" attack and ignited his body on fire. Since Glacia was sitting on him, Zero's burned him back. Harpuia used this moment to knee the Icy Mistress in the stomach using his left leg. Then he connected with a swift right roundhouse to her ribs. The force of the kick knocked her back and she dropped Zero's buster.
As Glacia tumbled along the ground, Harpuia was charging his sabers. When he was done, he slashed them both at Glacia's direction, launching a Super Sonic Boom. Zero had also picked up his Z-buster when Harpuia did this, and fired a charged Blast Shot along with the wave. The two attacks mingled into one and the resulting Flaming Sonic Boom hit Glacia into the air. Since it was a Fire attack, it hurt her especially.
The Green Gladiator kicked his boosters on and glided above the ground. He grabbed Glacia in mid-air and was flying up. He wrapped his arms around her as he flew high above. Then he switched directions and fell back down.
"Izuna Drop!"
He slammed Glacia into the ground as a large cloud of ice shards smoked out the area. Zero drew his Z-saber and went into a defensive position. As the cloud clear, Harpuia stood up. However, Glacia's body was nowhere to be found. He looked at the ground and saw nothing.
Suddenly, Glacia sprouted up from the ground behind Zero. She used her arm to choke Zero around the neck. The Icy Mistress was getting burned by Zero's Inflammatory Body, but she still held on. She detached her whip into shards once more and they flew around Zero and her. Then the shards went flying straight at Zero. The shards scratched Zero's skin and armor while some actually punctured through and severed some of his muscles. This was her Shards of Pain Symphony.
Harpuia flew towards Zero to help him. Another short sword came out of the ground and Glacia used her other hand to grab it. She detached it to form another whip and lashed it at Harpuia. It went around his leg and pulled him from under. He fell on the ground while Glacia was finishing her other attack.
She ceased the attack and reattached the shards into a whip again. Now she had two, one in each hand. With her arm, she froze Zero into an ice sculpture and went after Harpuia.
The Green Gladiator tried to get up as quickly as he could, but he wouldn't be ready for Glacia's next attack. The Icy Mistress spun both whips over her head and lashed them at the ground. The whips detached into twice as many shards and they all headed for Harpuia. The shards were traveling in a circular blizzard, and they were picking up speed. Harpuia knew he wouldn't be able to survive if he evaded them, since they covered a wide range.
He didn't have time to decide because the shards came and hit Harpuia. Many of them scratched his armor while others gave him some nasty cuts on his skin. Some pierced through his armor and did some internal damage, especially the lower ones. They were through his legs and severed many of his muscles that moved his legs. When the shards reattached back into Glacia's whips, Harpuia fell to his knees.
The Guardian couldn't even feel his legs anymore. There was no feeling, not even pain. He only watched as the open wounds on his legs bled. Most of his armor was scratched off, and even his face had several cuts. He felt pain everywhere else. It felt like millions of needles were poking him throughout his entire body, and they were digging in. As injured as he was, he couldn't cry out in pain. He couldn't even hold on to one of his sabers. All he could do was watch as Glacia walked towards him.
The Icy Mistress stood towering over the fallen Guardian triumphantly. She caressed Harpuia's cheek and then held his chin up. She stared provocatively into his eyes.
"It looks like you're all worn out. You'll never please a woman wearing yourself out that quick." Glacia smiled devilishly and held her short sword to his face.
Harpuia struggled to speak. "You…you're…you're afraid."
"What?"
"You're afraid to fight. I hear it in your voice." He coughed out some blood. "No matter what you try to do, you can't stop fighting. So you fight hoping it would finally stop, but I bet it hasn't ever stopped, now hasn't it?"
"Shut up!" Glacia backhanded Harpuia's face. It was so strong that his helmet went flying off, shattered.
The Guardian looked into Glacia's eyes.
"Why? Why are you so afraid? Would you be so afraid that you would rather kill yourself than keep on fighting? Don't channel all of your fear into another personality. I've seen worse."
Glacia covered her ears. "No! Stop it! I will kill you NOW!" She held the short swords over her head.
"Die!" She swung them down at Harpuia.
Suddenly, two fireballs hit Glacia in the back and sent her reeling into a wall.
Harpuia looked and saw Zero was standing with both of his middle fingers up. He had used Flair's " F Ball" technique.
"Are you trying to say something?" Harpuia coughed and raised a brow.
"I wasn't flipping you off." Zero had melted the ice using the Inflammatory Body. While Harpuia was talking to stall, Zero had charged up the attack. However, his body was still severely injured, but he kept fighting.
Zero walked over to Harpuia, limping along the way. Every time he moved, a bit of blood from his multiple open wounds squirted out. It pained him greatly, but he wouldn't give up.
"Don't worry Harpuia, I'll end this."
Harpuia admitted that he was amazed. Zero keeps fighting even though he is injured. How does he keep going?
Glacia appeared in front of Harpuia. She was facing Zero.
"You'll pay for that!" She slashed at Zero using both of her short swords.
The Legendary Maverick Hunter reached for his Z-saber, but he realized he had dropped it! He evaded Glacia's slashes, but he didn't have his weapon. Instead, he drew his All-Purpose Rod and fought it.
How? How does he get the strength?
Then, Harpuia remembered. Old Andrew told him to "find his soul." He said that when it is found, the inner strength would awaken.
So is Zero pouring his soul into this fight? Why can't I?
"To find your soul, you have to find your purpose." Old Andrew once said.
What is my purpose? He slowly put together the pieces. I have to protect Neo Arcadia. No, not just that. I have to also protect Leviathan and Fefnir. I have to fight for them. And yes, I even have to fight for you, Zero, knowing one day I will defeat you in battle. That is my purpose!
The Green Gladiator yelled as he burst with green energy. He flew up into the air. His muscles were bulging despite being punctured and his green hair was spiked up. The green aura around his body grew larger and larger. The "Ultimate Guardian Chip" inside him was awakening.
When the Guardians were created, they were modeled after X. Although they were not as strong overall as he was, they had a special chip inside their bodies to amplify their power to rival X's. This was the "Ultimate Guardian Chip," and it had been activated inside Harpuia's body. This state of power only lasted for a few minutes, but this power was great enough to create massive destruction in the time period.
Zero and Glacia looked up. They couldn't believe their eyes.
How did Harpuia get so strong? I never saw him like this before! Zero was impressed. Now they could beat Glacia.
What is this power? Glacia averted her attention to Harpuia, ready to fight.
The Ultimate Emerald Guardian stared at Glacia.
Glacia didn't want to wait. She detached her swords into whips and lashed them at Harpuia. They were so fast you would blink and miss the attack. However, Harpuia effortlessly caught them with his hands. He yanked them both and Glacia came flying towards him. She was caught by surprise, but she braced herself. She spun around, throwing a spin kick at Harpuia.
The Green Gladiator simply caught her ankle with his hand after letting go of the whips. Without a second to spare, he threw her down to the ground below.
She crashed with a heavy landing, but she got up nevertheless. Glacia was bleeding on her lip, and she had some scorch marks and bruises around her body.
Harpuia descended and landed in front of Glacia. He didn't bother to attack; he just stared at Glacia.
"If you want death, I'll give you death." His face pierced through Glacia's composure.
"No! Shut up!" Glacia tried to backhand Harpuia, but he grabbed her hand. He kicked her into a wall.
Now he wasn't going to hold back. He flew up high into the air and charged up energy. Sparks of purple lightning shot crackled out of his body as he activated his only beam saber. However, he wasn't only going to use one. When Zero wasn't looking, Harpuia picked up his Z-saber when he dropped it. Now he had it in his left hand. He held them both over his head in an X formation.
"Flying Izuna Corkscrew!"
He sped at Glacia at a ridiculously high speed. You couldn't even see a blur when he moved. He had twirled his saber and the Z-saber while spinning himself. The very air around him was manipulated as it spun in the same direction as he was, created a "razor wind." The ice all around the room was picked up from the wind and the shards came flying around him. Finally, the attack hit Glacia hard.
The sabers shredded any kind of protection her saber resistant skin could offer. The attack was so strong it even shredded some of Harpuia's own armor. The walls were ripped apart as metal flew like paper all over the room. Zero had to duck to make sure he didn't get hit.
When the attack was over, Glacia had been stabbed through the stomach with Harpuia's beam saber and Zero's Z-saber. She was pinned to whatever was left of the wall.
Harpuia kept the sabers in her while he talked.
"How odd. I asked you so show your true face, and you put on another mask. Show me your true face."
Glacia's midnight-blue hair changed back into the faded blond. Her skin changed into the pale white.
"How…did…you know?" She coughed out some blood.
"Your face was screaming out the desire to die. I understand where you're coming from. You didn't want to fight, but you were created for that sole purpose. All you wanted to do was to settle down in the gardens. So you drove yourself into believing that by eradicating the human race you could bring back Earth to its pristine time."
Glacia started to cry.
"But you knew it wouldn't work. You wanted to die rather than keep living a life where you know happiness will never come. Now, Glacia, are you satisfied?"
She smiled. It was the same heavenly smile she had before when she still was in the garden.
"Yes. Thank you, Harpuia." She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"By the way…my name is Eartha." She pulled herself closer near Harpuia, but at the same time the sabers went deeper into her until they stuck out of the other side. She rested her head on Harpuia's shoulder.
"Thank you…" Her eyelids glazed over. Her hands fell limp on his neck.
She died.
Zero slowly walked over to Harpuia. He stayed about a few feet away from Harpuia.
"I'm sorry…" He started to say.
Harpuia smirked. "Nothing to be sorry about, Zero."
"What do you mean?"
"What she really wanted was to get away from this world. I gave her what she wanted. If she's happy, then so am I."
The green aura around him dissipated and he fell to his knees, still cradling Eartha's body.
"Ugh…so tired…"
"Harpuia!" Zero started to run towards him.
"No!"
Zero stopped.
"Let me be Zero…just go."
Zero stood still.
"Good-bye, Harpuia."
He activated his portable trans server and disappeared in a bright flash of light.
Now Harpuia was alone.
"So I have finally found my soul…but at what cost?" Harpuia closed his eyes and fell to the ground unconscious. Eartha's body was lying on top of his. Her arms were still around Harpuia's neck.