Book 5: The Blaster Master
Chapter 2: The Abandoned City
Link Tunnel
As Rairyu and SOPHIA III drove through the tunnel, Gunvolt and Copen shared stories of their world to Jason to pass the time, which included the battle against Sumeragi and Gunvolt's former mentor turned traitor, Azimov; and the battle against Eden where they first met Zeo, Gaius, Kanade and Serena, the latter of which being Shirabe's childhood friend. They even got to know about Gunvolt's past where he was born in a Sumeragi lab as scientists conducted experiments on his Azure Striker Septima, until he was rescued by Azimov and took him under his wing, working with the organization known as QUILL which enabled him to learn combat skills along with controlling his powers.
"Damn... you guys had it rough, especially the war between humans and adepts." Jason remarked with his helmet off from inside SOPHIA III, chatting with the others via comms link.
"Yeah, it's that bad." Gunvolt nodded. "But now that Eden are gone, the world is on the road to recovery. That, and Copen and I became friends without the need for fighting each other thanks to our new friends. Joule even got along with Lola quite well, too."
"However, Sumeragi is still out there even though GV defeated their leader, Nova." Copen stated.
"So basically, as long as Sumeragi is still alive and kicking, the road to humans and adepts co-existing peacefully with each other will take a long while to happen." Lola surmised.
"But as long as GV, Copen, Lola and I work together, that dream of peace will one day become a reality." Joule added. "And if Sumeragi begins to cause trouble to our world once more, we'll be there to stop them."
"I see..." Jason noted before smiling. "Well, I wish you guys all the best on reaching that dream of yours. And if you ever need my help, let me know. I'll gladly give you guys a hand."
"Don't forget about me and our friends at Team XDR. We'll also provide assistance." Shirabe added with a smile.
"Thanks, you two." Gunvolt replied as he and Copen smiled.
"Still, I never expected GV to be born in a Sumeragi lab of all places. I'm surprised that Ix and I didn't know about that yet." Lola remarked.
"Like I said, my life is complicated." Gunvolt replied. "Although, if it weren't for Azimov saving me from that lab, I wouldn't have become the man I am right now."
"So true." Joule agreed.
"Anyway, what about you, Jason?" Copen asked. "Why did you choose to become a robotics engineer? Is it because of your parents?"
"Well... about that..." Jason scratched his cheek with his finger. "I never had any parents, because I was born in a lab as an infant."
"What?!" The group exclaimed in shock.
"Yeah." Jason confirmed with a nod. "I was born in a test tube with a high intellect, and when I got older, I was drafted to the Earth Defence Force, or EDF for short, where I was assigned as a scientist for robotics engineering. Later on, I was given my own laboratory stationed at a large grassy area next to a cave to perform research on the area for any rare metals or creatures that can be used to help revive the ecosystem. That is, until I found Fred, and the rest is history."
"Whoa..." The group responded with awe at Jason's backstory.
"The EDF, huh?" Gunvolt mused. "At least those guys treated you well compared to me and Joule with Sumeragi."
"Can you still keep in touch with the EDF?" Copen asked.
"Only when I'm back in my lab." Jason replied. "I'd try to contact them, but I'm a little worried that the mutants could trace the signal, causing them to find their base and begin their invasion."
"Okay, so much for asking for reinforcements." Lola remarked. "Guess we're on our own."
"That also means contacting the Guardians with the Zikan Phones might risk being exposed by the mutants, so if we want to report to Prairie, we'll have to be there in person." Joule stated.
"Damn it, I hate it when you're right."
"It can't be helped. We'll have to work with what we've got for the time being until that meteor is destroyed, not to mention searching for Fred and the Gjallarhorn fragment." Gunvolt stated.
"True." Shirabe agreed as she and Jason nodded.
"Hm?" Jason then noticed something on his MA's main monitor. "I see a light up ahead. We should be arriving on the next sector soon."
"Then let's move out!" Gunvolt declared before ending the call as the vehicles drove towards the end of the tunnel.
Sector 2: Industrial Area
(Play BGM: Search the Ruined City (Area 2) from Blaster Master Zero OST)
Once the vehicles got out of the tunnel, the group inside the vehicles saw what looked liked a large residential city, but it's in ruins with several collapsed and exposed buildings. "So Sector 2 is a residential area, huh? Man, this place is a mess." Gunvolt remarked.
"I agree." Jason replied. "This place sure has seen better days."
"Yeah." Shirabe agreed. "Humans used to live in this city. Now look at it. It's starting to look like a ghost city, now that I think about it."
"Those mutants must've done some messed up decorating while the humans are gone." Lola commented.
"Either way, we have to liberate this city by defeating the mutant guardians, just like what we did in Sector 1." Joule stated.
"First things first, we need to locate the map data of this sector to get a better understanding of the layout." Copen said. "Which reminds me; how were you able to find the map data for Sector 1, Jason?"
"The Receiver System on my suit and SOPHIA." Jason answered. "At first, I thought the signal would lead me to Fred, but I found the map data instead."
"Receiver System, huh?" Copen repeated. "Hold on one second." He began to push a few buttons on the controls to activate the Receiver System, which caused the signal to ring on the navigation monitor. "There we go. Didn't realize Rairyu had that feature installed already. According to the Receiver, the signal is leading deep into the city. If it begins to ring faster, that means we're close to what we're looking for."
"Then let's follow that signal while clearing out the mutants along the way." Shirabe declared before the vehicles began moving towards the abandoned city, while also eliminating mutant caterpillars and bees along the way
Once inside the city, they traversed through several mine traps while jumping on stable platforms until they reached an area where the signal began ringing rapidly, which led them to a small domain entrance. "The signal's coming from that domain. Hopefully the map data is inside." Jason said.
"Let me be the one to explore it this time." Shirabe volunteered. "Don't worry though, I can handle it myself."
"If you say so." Jason replied before opening the cockpit, allowing Shirabe to disembark from SOPHIA. "Oh yeah, almost forgot." Jason took out Shirabe's Zikan Phone that he borrowed earlier and tossed it back to the owner. "Here's your phone back."
"Thanks, Jason-san." Shirabe bowed after catching the phone and placed it into her pocket. "Wish me luck." Afterwards, she went inside the domain to look for the map data.
Inside the domain, Shirabe saw a lot of breakable blocks along with several stationary cross turrets with four barrels. However, Shirabe easily dealt with those obstacles and turrets with the saw-blades on her skirt and metallic twintails, slicing through them in her path until she found a green data chip at the end after destroying more blocks. Once she retrieved the chip, she used her Zikan Phone Blaster Mode and fired a wormhole before walking inside it, which led her back to the domain entrance.
The group noticed the wormhole appearing in front of the domain entrance as Shirabe walked out of it before it vanished behind her. "I've got the map data, everyone." Shirabe informed, taking out the chip and showing it to the group.
"Good work." Jason praised. "Now head back inside SOPHIA so we can download the map data to our MAs."
"Hai." Shirabe complied, boarding the red MA and closed the cockpit.
Jason took the data chip from Shirabe, slot it into the navigation system and transferred the copy of the map data to Rairyu via comms link. Soon after, the layout of Sector 2 is shown on the navigation monitor of SOPHIA and Rairyu, along with three monster faces in different domains; one at the top, and two on the right. "Okay, looks like there's three mutant guardians hiding in this sector, just like Sector 1." Jason informed Gunvolt and Copen via the comms link.
"Geiz and his Time Mazine are not with us this time, but we can still split up and deal with the guardians." Copen stated.
"Only difference is that there's no blue blinking dot overlapping a monster icon." Jason said, before looking at a domain icon with the blinking dot overlapping it. "However, the blue dot is overlapping a domain instead, so it might be worth checking out.
"So which one do you want to deal with first, Jason?" Shirabe asked.
"I'll take the one at the top." Jason decided.
"In that case, we'll take the one on the right." Gunvolt responded. "After that, we'll regroup before we deal with the last guardian on the far right."
"Okay, sounds like a plan." Jason nodded. "See you guys later." After ending the call, the vehicles proceeded to head for their respective objectives.
Jason drove SOPHIA as it destroyed more mutants, avoiding ponds of purple acid and landmines, and jumping to the higher areas using the fallen debris as footholds, they arrived at the domain entrance where one of the mutant guardians lurking inside. "Okay, this is the place." Jason said, glancing at the entrance on the main monitor. "So, which one of us will deal with the guardian."
"You already had your chance against one of them back in the forest area, so allow me to handle this one." Shirabe replied.
"Alright then." Jason nodded. "But remember to contact me if you need help, I'll be right over. At least the MA will be safe since we've already cleared out the mutants before reaching here."
"Understood." Shirabe nodded before opening the cockpit. "Ah, one more thing I need to do first." She took out her Zikan Phone and pushed a few buttons on it. "Okay, I've established a comms link from my phone to your MA so we can stay in contact."
"Good to know. Be careful in there, Shirabe." Jason replied.
"I will." Shirabe replied back before disembarking the MA and ran inside the domain while putting away her phone.
Once inside, Shirabe quickly rushed ahead, clearing out more breakable blocks and flying bugs with her saw-blades and razor yo-yos until she reached a room with a recharge platform along with another room behind it. "The mutant guardian... it's right beyond this room." Shirabe spoke as she stepped onto the platform to revitalize herself and went inside the next room which is surrounded by acid with the only safe area being the center and the entrance where she first came in. The doors began to close behind her, prompting her to ready her razor yo-yos once more. "Here they come!"
=WARNING=
THE LAIR OF
BIBY LEGION
Groups of flying mutants approached Shirabe from the north, only for them to get sliced by her razor yo-yos. Two more groups of flying mutants then arrived from the west, prompting her to reveal her saw-blades on her metal twintails and launched them towards the mutants, slicing them in their path. Two more groups of flying mutants approached her from the east, prompting Shirabe to launched another pair of saw-blades at them. Eventually, large groups of flying mutants began arriving on the north, east and west. In response, she launched hundreds of smaller saw-blades from her Armed Gear compartments, shredding them all into a million pieces until she became the last girl standing.
Alpha Style: 100 Saṃsāra
With the last of the flying mutants exterminated, a blue data chip appeared in front of Shirabe, prompting her to grab it. "Now then, let's see what this chip contains." She spoke while taking out her Zikan Phone to examine the chip.
HOMING MISSILE:
A sub-weapon that fires a missile that pursues its target.
"Ooh! Homing missiles! This will definitely help out a lot!" Shirabe beamed with sparkling eyes. "Jason-san is going to love this." She placed the chip into a pocket and summoned a wormhole with her Zikan Phone Blaster Mode before walking inside the wormhole.
Meanwhile with the Rairyu, it drove towards its destination while destroying more flying and ground mutants, including the ones that hid inside the acid pits, and avoided the mines until it reached a ladder leading upwards towards the next domain where another mutant guardian is hiding. "Man, when this is all over, we need to find a way to clear those damn acid pits. Those things are not safe to stand on." Lola commented.
"I agree. The same goes for the city repairs in case people wanted to live here again." Joule added. "So, who's going to the domain this time?"
"Lola and I will handle this one. You and GV had your chance, so now it's our turn to do some exterminating." Copen replied.
"Alright, then Joule and I will stay here to wait for your return." Gunvolt replied back.
"Just remember to contact us if you need any help." Joule said.
"Joule, did you forget who you're talking to?" Lola replied in a confident tone. "This won't take long."
"Lola's got a point there." Gunvolt smirked. "Godspeed, Luminous Avenger."
Copen nodded before leaving the vehicle and climbed up the ladder. And when he reached the top where he saw the domain entrance, he immediately went inside with his Divider and support bits ready.
(Play BGM: Fire the Blaster Rifle (Underworld 1) from Blaster Master Zero OST)
Once Copen entered the domain, he saw a row of breakable blocks blocking the straight path forward, which he destroyed with his Twintail Bunker Ex-Weapon. While walking one the path, he saw the acid rising up around him for a few seconds before it evaporated into the ground, making the path safe to walk on. "Ah, the old rising and shrinking water gimmick. Only this time, it's acid." Lola commented.
"In that case, we have to wait for the acid to evaporate before walking across the path safely." Copen noted before moving on.
As he trek through the domain, he eliminated more flying mutants and stationary turrets while carefully navigating pass the rising and shrinking acid and destroyed more breakable blocks.
Eventually, he reached a room with a recharge platform along with a path to the next room. "Ix, I'm detect large energy readings coming from the next room right behind the recharge platform. Looks like our mutant guardian is waiting right there." Lola informed.
"Then let's go and give it a proper welcome." Copen replied as he stepped on the recharge platform to refill his Ex-Weapon energy and revitalize his body before heading into the next room.
And what he saw inside are five large acid puddles, two on each side, and one on the center. "No doubt our mutant guardian is hiding in one of those acid puddles." Lola said.
And just when Lola said that, the door behind Copen closed and a large green mutant appeared from the right acid puddle, lunging its pincer mandibles towards him. Copen quickly noticed it before jumping to the side to evade it. He saw that the green worm mutant has three horns on its head, pincer mandibles, and four black eyes. "There you are, you abomination." He frowned with his Divider ready. "Prepare yourself!"
=WARNING=
THE LAIR OF
=CRABULARVA=
(BGM Change: Encounter (Boss 1) from Blaster Master Zero OST)
Copen immediately fired lasers with his Divider pistol onto the mutant as it slowly submerged back into the puddle, prompting him to cease fire. "Looks like you're gonna have to wait for that mutant to appear from one of the acid puddles." Lola advised. "Word of advice, if you see bubbles on one of the puddles, that's when it'll strike."
"Noted." Copen replied. "I'll also have to use my ears to hear the sound of the bubbles."
Copen looked around the area, searching for any bubbles to appear from one of the five puddles, until he heard one coming from the puddle on the far left corner of the room. But then he heard bubbles coming from the puddle on the near right corner, prompting him to look back and forth at the two puddles. "Something tells me that it's not just one mutant guardian I'm dealing with." Copen muttered as he used his Zikan Phone to materialize an X-Baton in Blaster Mode that he made a few days ago. He put away his phone and grabbed the X-Baton Blaster with his free hand while still using his Divider on his other hand.
"Wait, you mean there's another one?!" Lola exclaimed.
"I'm gonna have to watch their attack patterns before I make my move." Copen said, waiting for any movement from the mutants that are about to pop out of the bubbly puddles. The worm mutant from the puddle on the near right corner appeared and lunged towards Copen, prompting him to evade by jumping to the side. But then the other worm mutant appeared from the puddle on the far left corner and lunged towards Copen, only for him to evade it by flying upwards with his jet boosters. He quickly countered by firing his Divider on one worm mutant and his X-Baton Blaster on the other mutant. The mutants then retaliated by launching acid from their mouths towards Copen, prompting him to dodge left and right with his jet boosters as the mutants quickly submerged back into the acid puddles once more.
"That was close. I never expected them to shoot acid from their mouths." Lola remarked. "They must be really hungry right now."
"However, now I know their attack patterns, meaning it's time to fight back." Copen replied, slowly landing on the ground. "Although... since you mentioned those mutants being hungry, I think I have an idea."
"Really? What do you have in mind?"
"Something to give them indigestion." Copen smirked. "Time to use two of my old Ex-Weapons; Arrogant Fang and Blazing Ballista."
"Oh! Those two weapons from the defeated Sumeragi adepts!" Lola remembered. "It's been a while since you've used those. You're gonna shove them into those mutants' mouths aren't you?"
"Exactly. Lola, prepare Arrogant Fang on my X-Baton Blaster and Blazing Ballista on my Divider."
"Roger that, Ix!" Lola replied as three bits circled around the front of the X-Baton Blaster with a green glow while the other three bits circled around the Divider with a red glow.
"And now, we wait." Copen said, closing his eyes and used his ears to detect any movements on any of the acid puddles. Soon after, the worm mutants appeared from the center and near right puddles lunging towards Copen, prompting him to open his eyes and retaliated by summoning a lance in front of his X-Baton Blaster as the lance began to spin rapidly into a green energy drill and shoved it right into the center mutant's mouth before launching the drill, piercing through and firing lasers on the mutant's insides, while he also fired a flaming arrow with his Divider into the other mutant's mouth as the arrow left trails of explosions occurring on its body. Soon after, both worm mutants exploded at the same time, leaving Copen to twirl his guns as the bits moved away before slamming the guns back onto the holsters on his hips.
(BGM End)
"Something tells me they're not a fan of drills and explosive arrows." Lola remarked.
"As it should be. And I'm glad I was able to make another X-Baton for situations such as this." Copen replied before noticing a blue data chip appearing at the center of the room right in front of the acid puddle. He picked up the chip and used his Zikan Phone to examine the data. "Now let's see what we have here."
LASER SHOT:
After charging the main weapon of the MA, it will fire a powerful laser shot that pierces through enemies, armor and terrain.
"Oooh! A charged laser shot! Now that will come in handy when it comes to piercing through armored foes!" Lola remarked.
"Agreed. Though I never expected Metal Attackers to fire charge shots." Copen replied. "Still, it's useful regardless. Now let's head back to the others." He changed his phone to Blaster Mode and fired a wormhole in front of him before walking inside it, leading straight back to Rairyu.
A few moments later, Copen arrived back at the MA, prompting Gunvolt to open the cockpit, allowing Copen to jump inside before closing it. "So, what did you get this time?" Gunvolt asked.
"A charged laser shot for the MA, which is perfect for piercing through enemy armor and terrain." Copen replied.
"That sounds useful." Joule remarked. "So what does the mutant guardian looked like in there?"
"Mutant worms that spat out acid, two of them in fact." Lola answered. "Oh, one side note when we're going to another domain in this sector, watch out for rising and evaporating acid."
"Got it." Gunvolt noted. "I'll be sure to notify Jason about this info once we regroup. That being said, let's head for the next domain with the mutant guardian on it." He then drove the MA out of the area which he came from before heading for the location of the next domain.
Eventually on the way to the next domain, SOPHIA caught up with Rairyu. "Hey, guys! We've just finished with our domain. Shirabe volunteered to handle it." Jason spoke.
"Same for our domain too. Copen was the one who went there this time." Gunvolt replied. "So, what do you guys get?"
"A data chip for homing missiles after defeating a horde of flying bug mutants." Shirabe answered. "And you?"
"A data chip for a charged laser shot after defeating a pair of mutant worms." Copen replied. "Anyway, let's do the usual so we can unlock those new functions for the MAs."
"You got it." Jason replied back.
A few moments of data copying, tinkering and installing, the two MAs now have the Homing Missiles and Laser Shot functions unlocked. "By the way, no sign of Fred from the domain we've visited." Jason informed with SOPHIA's comms link with the Rairyu.
"Same goes for our domain too." Gunvolt replied. "Guess we'll have to try the next one. If not, we'll go to the next sector and look for him there."
"Gotcha." Jason nodded, until his comms started ringing which earned his and Shirabe's attention. "Hold on, I'm getting an incoming transmission. It's coming from Geiz from inside his Time Mazine."
"Looks like he's finished escorting Samus back to the Guardian Base." Copen noted. "Patch him through with us."
"Right." Jason complied, pressing a button to reveal Geiz and Bronya on screen. "Hey, you two. I take it that you've finished escorting Samus back to the airship?"
"Yup." Geiz nodded. "She's getting help from Grey and Aile to bring her spaceship over to the airship so the Guardians can begin repairs."
"It will take a long while though, which is why she will remain at the Guardian Base to oversee the repairs." Bronya added.
"I understand." Jason nodded.
"Are you two in Sector 1 now?" Shirabe asked.
"We're now traveling through a link tunnel leading towards Sector 2." Geiz replied. "What was it like in there?"
"It was a large abandoned residential area." Copen answered. "The mutants did a huge number on the city, and there's also acid pits to watch out for."
"We've managed to clear three domains and defeated two more mutant guardians. We're on our way to the next domain that has the last mutant guardian hiding in this sector." Gunvolt reported.
"Any sign of Fred the frog?" Bronya asked.
"No sign of him yet, unfortunately." Joule replied. "But we did find the map data for Sector 2 and two more data chips for the MAs; the Homing Missile and the Laser Shot."
"Now those new additions sounds useful, especially the homing missiles." Geiz remarked.
"The Laser Shot is no slouch either since it can pierce through enemy armor and terrain." Lola said.
"You know, there's one other thing that peaked my interest." Jason said.
"What's up?" Geiz responded.
"Hold on. Let me use my Zikan Phone to transfer a copy of Sector 2's map data to Geiz." Shirabe said, pulling out her phone, downloaded a copy of the Sector 2 map, and transferred it to Geiz's phone, prompting him to look at it after hearing it ring. "On Sector 2's map layout, there's a green dot that has the same shape as the LIFE-UP, along with a blue dot overlapping another domain. I'm not sure if the blue dot will have another data chip or Fred, so we were hoping if you and Bronya-chan could go there and investigate while the rest of us will deal with the last mutant guardian of this sector."
"I think we can do that." Geiz replied. "Any objections, Bronya?"
"No objections needed." Bronya shook her head. "We will also retrieve the LIFE-UP for Jason to install it onto his suit and the two MAs."
"Thanks, you two." Jason smiled.
"Okay, we'll meet up with you guys near the last domain entrance when we're done. See you guys later." Geiz replied before cutting off his comms line.
"Right then, let's head for the domain with the last mutant guardian inside." Jason declared.
"Roger!" The group replied, ending the comms line before the vehicles moved towards the location of the next domain.
After a few minutes of traversing through the residential area, avoiding the landmines and acid pits while eliminating more mutants by using the MAs homing missiles, they arrived at the domain entrance after dropping down a platform. "Phew..." Jason sighed with relief. "It took a while, but we're finally here. Not only that, my MA's Receiver signal is reacting different from the previous ones. Something must be inside that domain besides the mutant guardian."
"Could Fred be hiding in that domain?" Gunvolt asked.
"I'm gonna go in and have a look-see to find out. GV, you coming?"
"You got it. Copen, Shirabe, stay here and look after the MAs while we're gone."
"No problem./Leave it to us." Copen and Shirabe replied before Jason (with his helmet on) and Gunvolt disembarked from their vehicles.
"Kick some mutant butt in there, and remember to watch out for the rising and evaporating acid!" Lola cautioned.
"Thanks for the warning, Lola!" Jason replied before he and Gunvolt entered the domain with their weapons ready.
Inside the domain, Jason and Gunvolt traversed through the many obstacles consisting of more mutants, stationary turrets, breakable blocks and acid ponds. One room even had a large acid wave that were chasing the two, but they managed to escape to the next room before the wave could reach them. Along the way, Jason found more Gun Capsules after defeating some mutants and immediately installed the capsules onto his Blaster Rifle, unlocking three new functions. A reflector shield which summons a green energy shield to block attacks and reflect projectiles; a flame shot which is basically a flamethrower; and a Striker shot that fires a lightning sphere that discharges chain lightning onto multiple enemies upon contact with an enemy. Gunvolt really liked the Striker shot and hope that his Dart Leader will have that feature soon. Maybe asking Copen will help.
Eventually though, they reached the recharge platform and the entrance to the other room. Without saying a word, they used the recharge platform to recharge and restock their weapons and energies before heading inside the next room.
And what they saw inside was a large green mutant crab with four red eyes and two yellow pincers on its head, an orange shell with a mouth on top that has sixteen teeth, twelve short legs, and a pair of green claws attached to green arms, each composed of six spiky segments. "So, a giant enemy crab this time." Gunvolt remarked, looking at the crab mutant stationed on the acid pond.
"Something tells me that its weak point is not the belly this time since it's on an acid pond." Joule said.
"Then we'll just have to aim for the head while avoiding those claws." Jason replied, until his Receiver started ringing again. "Hold on, my Receiver is picking up another signal. There's another room besides this one."
"In that case, let's take care of this mutant crab before we go inside the next room." Gunvolt declared with his Dart Leader ready.
"Agreed." Jason nodded with his Blaster Rifle armed as the mutant crab began to roar. "Now let's fry this crab!"
=WARNING=
THE LAIR OF
"THE TOXIC VERMIN"
=CRABULLUS=
(Play BGM: The Mutant's Lair (Boss 2) from Blaster Master Zero OST)
Jason and Gunvolt immediately fired their weapons at the crab mutant's head, only for it to block the shots with its claws. It retaliated by lunging its claws towards them, prompting them to dodge roll on opposite sides to avoid being caught.
"Tch... should've expected that thing to block its only weak spot!" Jason muttered.
"I'll cut off its arms for you! In the meantime, keep firing at it as a distraction while I go and get rid of those claws from another angle!"
"Got it, GV!" Jason nodded as he continued to fire at the crab, forcing it to block its head with its claws, while Gunvolt ran to another direction, avoiding detection from the crab.
Once in position on the right side of the crab, Gunvolt summoned his Luxcalibur and set his sights on the one of its claws. And with one quick lightning dash, he sliced off its arm before dashing back to solid ground as the claw exploded, making the crab roar in pain. "Alright, one more to go." Gunvolt whispered.
"GV, the crab mutant is about to do something!" Joule cautioned.
"Hm?" Gunvolt looked at the crab as the mouth on its back began to spit out several acid blobs, prompting him to evade the acid.
"What the?!" Jason also noticed the acid blobs and jumped out of its landing spots before continuing to fire at the crab who's blocking its head with only one claw.
"I'd better keep going the other way to avoid being seen!" Gunvolt thought before running around the back and reaching the other side of the crab while dodging to raining acid blobs. Once he sets his sights on the crab claw, he did a quick lightning dash towards it and sliced it off with his Luxcalibur before dashing back to solid ground as he watched the claw exploded.
"Alright, he did it!" Jason thought, noticing that the mutant crab no longer has its claws to protect his only weak spot; the head. "Now's my chance!" He switched his rifle to the Auto shot and rapidly fired energy shots onto its head as it took continuous damage and roared in pain. But then he noticed the crab spitting out green spike balls towards him, prompting him to dodge roll to the left. The the crab spat out energy projectiles, prompting him to dodge roll to the right. "Looks like its head can shoot projectiles and spike balls even without its claws. That's gonna be a nuisance while I keep shooting its head. Wait..." Jason paused his thoughts when he mentioned projectiles. "Since it can also shoot energy projectiles, I wonder if..." He noticed the spike balls being launched by the crab, prompting him to jump to the side. Then the crab launched energy projectiles at him, but instead of dodging, he switched his rifle to reflector shield and fired said shield in front of him in time for it to reflect the projectiles back at the crab's face, making it roar in pain once more. "Gotta love how versatile this Blaster Rifle is." He thought while glancing at his rifle before looking at the crab.
"Jason!" Gunvolt quickly approached him from the side with his Dart Leader holstered. "Did you get it?"
"Almost done. One more powerful hit should do the trick." Jason replied.
"Then allow me to finish it!" Gunvolt complied, charging his Luxcalibur before lunging straight at the crab mutant. But out of nowhere, the crab suddenly grew its claws back and gripped Gunvolt's body and legs before he could reach the head, forcing him to drop the Luxcalibur.
"GV!" Jason exclaimed in shock at the sudden turn of events. "Since when can that mutant grow new claws?!"
"I don't know, but you gotta get GV out of there!" Joule replied with worry.
"Okay!" Jason nodded, aiming his rifle at one of its arm segments.
However, Gunvolt had a counter in case something like that happens. "Oversurge... Azure Striker...!" Gunvolt thought while energizing his hands. "Astrasphere!" He unleashed a large electro sphere around himself with three smaller spheres circling around the larger sphere, electrocuting the crab starting from the claws to its body and head, forcing it to release Gunvolt as he landed right next to his Luxcalibur, retrieved it and immediately launched it right onto the crab's head while it's being electrocuted and paralyzed. He also summoned electro chains that appeared below the crab, latching onto its claws and pulling them downwards to prevent them from protecting the head. "Take the shot, Jason!" Gunvolt shouted.
"Right!" Jason complied, setting his rifle to Penetrator and fired the shot right onto the planted Luxcalibur, causing it to detonate into a large electrical explosion that incinerated the crab mutant to oblivion. He holstered his rifle to his back once he and Gunvolt saw that the mutant is no more and sighed with relief.
(BGM End)
"That, was way too close." Jason commented. "You okay there, GV?"
"I'm fine." Gunvolt replied while rubbing the pinched marks on his legs and body. "Though I still felt the pinching from those damn claws."
"You know, I was about to free you earlier, but I never expected you to have a counter like that."
"Hey, I'm electricity, remember?" Gunvolt smirked, briefly showing his energized hand. "Grabbing hold of me is a big mistake on the mutant's part."
"You could've told me that you're going to do that, GV. I was really worried, you know." Joule said.
"Sorry, Joule. I had to focus on my counter to work."
"Well, at least you're okay. Also, after what happened today, I think I'm going to skip any crab related foods for a week."
"Same here./Me too." Gunvolt and Jason agreed with a nod. But then they noticed the door to the other room being opened, along with a blue data chip in front of it.
"Looks like defeating that mutant caused the door to open." Gunvolt said.
"Let's see what kind of chip we got before we go in." Jason declared as the two approached the chip. Jason picked it up as the visor began to examine it. "Let me read this chip's info out loud."
CRUSHER SHOT:
Upgrades SOPHIA's main cannon even further to deal with tougher mutants. It can also destroy certain types of walls.
"Crusher Shot, huh? Nice." Gunvolt smiled.
"Certain types of walls?" Joule repeated. "Didn't we saw a bunch of those earlier while we're traversing through the city?"
"Yeah." Jason remembered while placing the chip into his pocket. "Apparently the Hyper Shot is not enough to break through those walls. But now that we have the Crusher Shot, that problem is no longer an issue."
"That's good. We're going to be needing it as we continue to search the other sectors." Gunvolt said before they turned to the open door. "Now then, let's see what's in that room."
Jason nodded before the two entered the room. And what they saw inside, made their eyes widen in shock. Instead of finding Fred the frog, they found an unconscious girl with long blonde hair that has a pair of white headsets with a white ribbon tied on her back with its ends looking like folded back rabbit ears, a dark blue bodysuit, white long sleeved clothes with red boarders along with some red on the fingerless areas and arms on her cloth, a pair of white armlets, black goggles with white rims hanging around her neck, a long white plug on her back that looked like a cat's tail with a red knot and a yellow piece at its end, and a pair of long white knee socks and boots with red highlights on the edges of the boots. Also, the thigh area of the socks have a pair of white cats with light green glowing eyes along with red ribbons on their necks.
"Is that... a person...?" Gunvolt asked.
"What's a person doing here in a place like this?" Jason questioned before the two approached the girl and leaned close.
"Hey! We're here to help! Are you alright?!" Gunvolt spoke to the girl, but with no response.
"Damn it...!" Jason muttered with his hands on the girl's back and slightly lifting her body upwards. "Come on, please open your eyes!"
And the moment Jason held the girl's body with his hands, his holstered Blaster Rifle on his back suddenly began to emit a brilliant light that caught Gunvolt's attention.
"Uhh... Jason? Something happening to your rifle!" Gunvolt shouted.
"Huh?" Jason responded before looking at his glowing rifle as light became bigger and bigger, until it enveloped the entire room, causing Gunvolt to cover his eyes while Jason closed his. Once the light vanished, the two uncovered their eyes and went silent for a moment.
"Guys...? What just happened?" Joule asked.
"I have no idea." Jason answered.
"Hmm..." Gunvolt pondered with his hand on his chin. "If I recall, the moment you held that girl in your arms, your Blaster Rifle started glowing. Why did it react like that?"
"I'm not sure... but maybe..." Jason began to answer, untill...
"Hmm... Ugh..." The girl suddenly groaned slightly, earning the guys' attention.
"Hey, she's awake!" Jason exclaimed. "Thank goodness... are you feeling alright?"
"Ugh..." The girl groaned.
"I think we'd better take her outside and give her proper treatment." Joule advised.
"Good idea." Jason agreed, picking up the girl in a bridal carry. "GV, wormhole please?"
"On it." Gunvolt complied, pulling out his Zikan Phone Blaster and fired a wormhole behind him. Jason quickly rushed inside with the girl in tow before Gunvolt ran after him.
Moments later, Jason carrying the girl, and Gunvolt rushed out of the wormhole appearing at the domain entrance where they saw Copen and Shirabe waiting outside Rairyu and SOPHIA III, along with Geiz and Bronya waiting outside the Time Mazine.
"Hey, guys! Welcome ba- what the heck?!" Geiz's greeting turned into a state of utter shock with the others having the same expression when they saw who Jason was carrying.
"Jason-san, who is that girl on your arms?!" Shirabe asked, point at said girl.
"No time to explain! I need to get her to SOPHIA for proper treatment!" Jason answered.
"Understood." Shirabe nodded. "I noticed earlier that your MA has some medical supplies that will help treat her wounds."
"Better let me and Lola help with the treatment." Copen said. "GV, Joule, I'll need your help, too."
"Got it." Gunvolt and Joule replied.
"Thanks, guys. Now let's hurry!" Jason replied back before he and the others went inside SOPHIA to treat the girl's wounds while Geiz, Bronya and Shirabe stayed outside to guard the vehicles. "Man, who is this girl? I never thought the signal would come from her. But why did my Blaster Rifle reacted to her? I wonder... is that girl connected to SOPHIA and this rifle?"
"The Bronya never expected Gunvolt and Jason to find a girl hidden inside that domain." Bronya commented.
"Neither do I." Shirabe replied. "Let's wait for that girl to wake up for now before we move onwards."
"Agreed." Geiz nodded. "At least GV and Jason were able to defeat the mutant guardian while Bronya and I searched the other domain and picked up those LIFE UP power ups."
"Ah, right." Shirabe replied. "The one you found at the domain was a data chip for the Energy Shield for the MAs and Jason-san's suit, correct?"
"Bingo. This should increase the defences of the MAs and Jason's suit. Not only that, it recharges overtime. Though word of caution, try not to get hit during the recharge time.
"Noted. By the way, Bronya-chan, does your energy shields that Bunny creates also recharge?"
"Unfortunately, no." Bronya shook her head. "Bunny needs to create another shield instead, but creating one will take time."
"I see." Shirabe noted.
"Anyway, let's wait here until that girl wakes up." Geiz stated. "Though I wonder what data chip Jason and GV obtained after defeating that mutant guardian."
"If the Bronya were to guess, it must be another blue data chip for the MAs." Bronya guessed.
"I think so too, Bronya-chan." Shirabe nodded. "Some of those blue chips are essential for traversing through the other sectors."
"True." Geiz agreed.
Several minutes later...
"Geiz, Shirabe, Bronya, the girl is finally awake." Jason informed as he approached them. "Come with me."
"Mm." The three nodded before being escorted by Jason to SOPHIA where they saw the girl finally awake, revealing her light blue eyes. The others are also with her to watch over her condition.
"Good morning, miss." Geiz greeted the girl. "How are you feeling?"
"Uuh... Hmm...?" The girl blinked a few times before looking at the group. "W-Who... are you people? How... did I?"
"Easy there, you just woke up." Copen said to the girl. "We recently treated your wounds. Luckily it's nothing serious."
"He's right. Don't worry, everything's going to be okay. You're with friends now." Jason assured. "When you're feeling up for it, you can tell us your story."
"I see..." The girl noted before nodding with gratitude. "Still, thank you very much for helping me."
"No problem." Gunvolt replied as he and the others smiled. "So, do you have a name?"
The girl took a moment to think, until she remembered. "...Eve. My name is Eve."
"Nice to meet you, Eve. I'm Jason Frudnick, and this is Shirabe Tsukuyomi, Bronya Zaychik, Gunvolt, Copen Kamizono and Gaius Cornell."
"Call me Geiz when I'm wearing this suit, by the way." Geiz insisted.
"You can also call me GV if you want." Gunvolt added.
"Don't forget about me! I'm Joule, nice to meet you."
"And I'm Lola! Good to meet ya!"
"Nice to meet you all." Eve greeted back with a bow.
"Now with the introductions out of the way, there's a lot of questions we wanted to ask you." Jason asked Eve. "No need to rush though, just take it one at a time."
"Okay."
As time passed by, the group listened to Eve's story, finding out the reason why she's here in the underground areas. Not only that, they also learned that Eve seems to have lost a lot of memories. It seems something must've caused her amnesia during her exploration. Also, when it comes to tuning up and doing maintenance on SOPHIA, her skills are second to none which impressed the group, especially Copen. At least she still has that part of her trait not forgotten. The group pondered that they need to learn more about Eve, but they decided to save that for another time, because they still have a mission to complete. With Eve's help, they managed to install the Crusher Shot, the LIFE UP, and the Energy Shield onto SOPHIA and Rairyu. In the process, the LIFE UP and Energy Shield are also installed on Jason's suit. With those new additions, they are more than ready to fight the mutants lurking in the other sectors.
"It's so strange, though. I feel like I remember this sensation..." Eve thought while she was doing maintenance on SOPHIA.
As time passes, the group told her about themselves being part of Team XDR and how they're formed, Gjallarhorn, the existence of the multiverse, the Neo Time Jackers, and their reason for arriving in Jason's universe to look for one of the Gjallarhorn fragments, a frog named Fred, and to destroy the mutant guardians hiding in the other sectors of the underground areas along with the meteor that spawned the mutants and its cells in the first place. Eve's response was a mixture of shock and awe, but felt at ease considering how strong and capable Team XDR is when it comes to dealing with disasters, even in the other worlds. A few more minutes later, maintenance work on the vehicles have been completed.
"Okay, that should do it." Eve informed the group. "SOPHIA's tuned up and ready to go."
"Same for the Rairyu and the Time Mazine." Copen added.
"Thanks, you two." Gunvolt replied as he, Jason and Geiz nodded.
"So Eve, now that you're back on your feet, what are you going to do now?" Jason asked.
"Well..." Eve poked her index fingers together. "I was hoping if I could join you guys on your mission. You helped me so much back there, and I want to return the favor. If you're using SOPHIA to find Fred, the mutant guardians, and the Gjallarhorn fragment, I think I could really help you out."
"Considering how skilled you are doing tune ups on the MAs, how could we say no to that." Geiz smiled, offering a hand. "Welcome to the Rebellion, Eve."
"Thank you." Eve smiled back and shook his hand. "I won't let you guys down. So, where to next?"
"We're heading for the next sector now that the residential area has liberated from the mutants." Shirabe replied as Eve released the handshake.
"Let's go check the map to see which route we should take." Copen said.
"Jason, is it alright if I can be SOPHIA's co-pilot?" Eve requested. "I'm more familiar with it compared to the Rairyu and the Time Mazine.
"Very well." Jason approved with a nod. "Though you're gonna have to share a seat with Shirabe since she can fight on foot and you can't."
"That's fine with me."
"I'm sure we'll get along just fine, Eve-san." Shirabe smiled.
"Same to you too, Shirabe." Eve smiled back.
"Before we get going though..." Geiz spoke up, pulling out a red and black Zikan Phone and gave it to Jason. "This one's for you, Jason. Dr. Fleuve had plenty of spare Zikan Phones already made. When I told him about you, he gave me two of those phones. I also asked him to make one of the phones to have a red and black color scheme, which are the same colors as your suit."
"I see." Jason replied, looking at his Zikan Phone before putting it away. "Thanks, Geiz. Now I won't have to keep asking Shirabe to borrow the phone and use them to summon wormholes."
"As for the other phone..." Geiz pulled out another Zikan Phone in a white color scheme and gave it to Eve. "This one's for you."
"M-Me?" Eve blinked in surprise. "Are you sure about this?"
"Of course. I only give Zikan Phones to people who I can trust." Geiz stated. "And I think it's safe for me to trust you. If you're ever in trouble, just let us know, okay?"
"I see." Eve replied before smiling. "Thank you, I'll take good care of it." She then placed it into her pocket.
"Alright then, let's go see the navigation map on our vehicles to see where the link tunnel leading to the next sector is located." Jason declared.
"Right!" The group responded as they head back into their respective vehicles.
Inside the SOPHIA, Jason, Eve and Shirabe, along with Geiz, Bronya, Gunvolt and Copen on the comms screens, looked at the navigation screen of Sector 2 until they saw a blinking dot overlapping a tunnel icon on the bottom right of the map. "There it is. The way to the next sector." Jason observed, pointing at said dot.
"It's a few floors below our current location so it won't take long for us to reach there." Shirabe stated. "Though I wonder what the next sector is like."
"Hmm..." Eve pondered for a moment. "Let me try something." She pushed a few buttons on the console to reveal the info of the tunnel with the blinking dot. "Sector 3: The Industrial Area. That's what it says."
"Industrial Area?" Geiz repeated. "So we're going inside some kind of factory next?"
"That seems to be the case which is why the area is called that." Bronya pointed out.
"Well then, let's head for the tunnel now." Copen declared, before the group glanced at the route being blocked by yellow walls. "After we blow those walls to kingdom come first."
"Looks like a perfect time to test out the MAs' Crusher Shot." Lola said. "GV, Jason, if you two would be so kind?"
"Gladly." Jason and Gunvolt complied, aiming their MAs cannons right at the wall and fired energy blasts with a green, blue and orange glow with orange trail rings, blasting away the walls and revealing the path forward.
"Whoa. Now that's some power right there." Jason commented with awe, with the others sharing the same expression. "Alright, let's move."
A few minutes of traversing through the obstacles, destroying the mutants, and blasting away the walls, the vehicles finally reached the link tunnel leading towards Sector 3.
"Since the trip towards the next sector will take a while, time to have another long conversation." Geiz said as the vehicles drove inside the tunnel.
"What should we talk about though?" Eve pondered.
"Well I did get to know about Gunvolt and Copen's version of Earth, so now I want to listen to Shirabe's version of Earth, the Symphogear world." Jason said.
"I wasn't there to hear about GV and Copen's world yet."
"That's okay, Eve. We'll tell you some other time." Joule assured.
"Okay, Joule, I trust you." Eve replied. "Right then, Shirabe. You may begin your story."
"Very well." Shirabe replied back. "Remember, my version of Earth is a lot different compared to the others."
"Don't worry, we're aware of it." Jason assured.
"That's good to know. Now then, where to start...?"
Chapter 2: The Abandoned City
END
(Eve has joined Xross Drive Rebellion)
Author's Note: Another chapter completed with Eve joining the team. Side note, in Blaster Master Zero, the Energy Guard is obtained in Area 2 which can prevent losing the gun level of the Blaster Rifle by one hit and can recharge overtime. In this fic however, there's no gun level decreasing, so I changed the power-up to the Energy Shield which works like the ones from the Halo series. This will give the Metal Attackers and Jason an increase in defence.
Also, the reason why I'm not putting Samus to explore the other sectors is because of how OP she is at the moment considering she's wearing a fully upgraded Fusion Suit after the events of Metroid Fusion. Don't worry though, I plan to give her a role during the last few chapters of this Book.
One other thing to note, I only got to know a bit of Jason's backstory thanks to that one conversation in Blaster Master Zero 3, but no info as to how he got his own lab. So I decided to add the EDF into the Blaster Master universe, to give a reason why he became a scientist for robotics engineering and eventually having a lab of his own.
Okay, that's all for now. Until then, stay safe and see you next chapter!