Book 5: The Blaster Master
Chapter 3: The Industrial Factory
Link Tunnel
As the Rairyu, SOPHIA III and the Time Mazine drove through the tunnel leading towards Sector 3, Shirabe told to Jason and Eve about the Symphogear world. They got to know about the F.I.S. where she, alongside Kirika, Maria and Serena, were originally from; the existence of the Noise and Alca-Noise and how dangerous they are; the power of the relics which gave the Attuned the ability to use Symphogears; the Frontier incident where she and her friends met Hibiki, Tsubasa and Chris as enemies before becoming allies; the loss of her mother due to the actions of Dr. Ver; and lastly, becoming members of S.O.N.G. after the Frontier incident was resolved with the help of their new friends. Jason and Eve were stunned at what Shirabe and her friends have been though, but we're glad that she's able to make new friends and continued to protect their world from disasters. Maybe someday, Jason and Eve will meet Shirabe's friends in the Symphogear world. Eventually though, the vehicles reached the light at the end of the tunnel and drove inside.
Sector 3: Industrial Area
(Play BGM: Mobius Engine (Area 3) from Blaster Master Zero OST)
Once the vehicles got out of the tunnel, they saw that they're inside a factory with moving conveyor belts, floor spikes, ceiling turrets, and roaming attack drones that launches bombs. Also, there's a recharge terminal right next to the tunnel they came in.
"Huh, never thought we'd actually go inside the factory from that tunnel." Geiz commented.
"So this must be the Industrial Area..." Jason mused. "Looks like the mutants already took over most of this factory considering the moving conveyor belts."
"Not to mention the hostile ceiling turrets and drones." Copen observed. "Anyway, first things first, we'll need to search for the map data for this sector before everything else."
"According to the Receiver signal readings, it should be deeper inside the area." Eve informed. "Guess we'll have to go in blind until we find a domain."
"Stay alert, everyone." Bronya cautioned. "You'll never know what will happen in this sector, especially the conveyor belts for the MAs since the Time Mazine can just hover over them."
"We'll be careful." Gunvolt noted. "Right then, let's move."
After the three vehicles used the nearby recharge terminal to restock on energy and ammo, they drove deeper into the sector as they cleared out the turrets, drones and breakable blocks while also taking caution with the conveyor belts that led them to floor spikes.
Moments later, they arrived at an area where there's a tunnel leading to the next area and an entrance to a domain. "Okay, we've reached the domain." Geiz informed the group. "So who's going inside this time?"
"Hold that thought, Geiz." Eve interrupted. "There's no signal readings coming from that domain. The tunnel leading to the next area however, does."
"I see." Shirabe noted. "If that's the case, then maybe we should skip this domain and follow where the signal leads to instead."
"Sounds like a plan." Gunvolt agreed. "Let's keep following the signal then." Afterwards, the vehicles drove towards the tunnel, leading to the next area.
Inside the next area, they saw a green shutter and a green treadmill in front of them with green signal lights above them. "A closed shutter and a treadmill..." Bronya observed. "If the Bronya remembered something about game puzzles, the door will open when someone runs on the treadmill."
"Since the Time Mazine can't do it due to the lack of wheels, either the Rairyu or SOPHIA III will drive onto it instead." Geiz stated.
"I'll handle it." Jason volunteered, driving SOPHIA onto the treadmill and kept moving forward onto it as the shutters opened up until a lock was heard, locking the shutters in place. "Okay, that should do it. Now let's keep moving." Afterwards, the vehicles move onwards to the next area.
Inside that area, they saw the same shutter doors, treadmill and lights, but in a yellow color. "Well, this is different." Gunvolt commented. "I wonder why these have a yellow color scheme instead of green?"
"I think we'll find our answer soon." Copen replied. "For now, drive the Rairyu onto the treadmill."
"Got it." Gunvolt complied as the blue MA leaped onto the higher platform and drove onto the treadmill, causing the shutters to open, only this time, there was no locking sound.
"Wait. Where's the locking sound? Shouldn't hearing that sound meant that the shutters are locked in place?" Joule questioned.
"Huh, you're right. Kind of odd, don't you think?" Eve pondered.
"Ah... I get it now." Lola realized. "The green shutters can lock in place, while the yellow ones does not. In other words, we'll have to rush past the yellow shutters before it closes while also trying not to get crushed."
"If that's the case, then the Time Mazine and the MA will have to go through first, while the one that drove onto the treadmill will have to quickly drive past that shutter." Copen stated.
"Well then, Geiz and I will drive through first. We'll wait for you on the other side." Jason replied.
"Once we're through, get your butt in here." Geiz added before the MA and Time Mazine drove through the open shutter. Once the two vehicles were through, Rairyu jumped off the treadmill and the platform, and quickly drove past the open shutter before it closed.
"Phew... made it." Gunvolt sighed with relief as the Rairyu regrouped with the other vehicles. "I'm starting to think the ones who made those yellow shutters are used to keep intruders out."
"I think so too." Shirabe agreed. "Anyway, let's keep following the signal."
As time passes, the vehicles traversed through the obstacles consisting of conveyor belts with spike floors, and more shutter doors and treadmill puzzles, along with dealing with more drones. One room had mutants that latched onto the floor and ceiling, launching pink saw-blades at them. Considering how damaging the saw-blades can be after hearing Shirabe's explanation of Shul Shagana's relic, the vehicles quickly destroyed them and the mutants before moving on.
Once the vehicles entered the next area, the MAs Receivers began ringing loudly, and it came from behind the green shutter doors. Once SOPHIA opened the shutters by driving onto the treadmill below the platform after destroying more drones, they leaped over the open shutters, leading towards a domain entrance as the Receiver signals became stronger.
"This must be it. And this time, the signal is coming from inside that domain." Eve informed the group.
"If that's the case, then let me handle this one personally." Geiz volunteered. "I didn't encounter a single mutant guardian yet, including the one domain that has the Energy Shield chip."
"Alright then, it's all yours." Gunvolt approved, prompting Geiz to disembark from the Time Mazine.
"We'll wait out here until you return." Jason said to the Rider, who nodded in response. "Hope it contains this sector's map data inside that domain."
"Hope so too, Jason. Hope so too." Geiz replied as he entered the domain.
(BGM End)
When Geiz entered the domain however, he was surprised that there was nothing here. Not even an entryway to the next room. "...Something's not right here." Geiz muttered as he looked around his surroundings, until he found a cracked wall on the north side of the room. "Ah, there it is. Cracked wall, huh? I know just the Legion for the job." He activated the Legatus on his wrist, summoned the Arms Legion in front of him, and commanded it to punch through the cracked wall. And in doing so, it revealed another room. "Good to see you back, my friend." He smiled at his Legion. "Sorry I didn't use you much in Teyvat due to those fricking Fatui lurking around. No way I'm gonna hand you and the Legions over to them." The Legion replied with an understanding nod. "Good." Geiz nodded back. "Now then, shall we continue?"
When they arrived at the next area, they noticed more mutants and turret drones along with conveyor belts leading towards tesla walls. "Oh no, I'm not dealing with that crap." Geiz shook his head after noticing the obstacles. "Legion, time to armor me up." The Legion nodded as he grabbed the Rider and placed him inside, causing him to float and control the Legion's body movements. "Gotta love how floating pretty much negates any floor traps and pitfalls whatsoever." He smirked before floating ahead as he avoided touching the conveyor belts and tesla spikes along with punching and shooting lasers through the mutants and turret drones.
In the next room, he saw more conveyor belts which led them towards spike rollers this time. But thanks to being inside the Arms Legion, he was able to float past the spike rollers without touching the conveyor belts until he reached a entrance to the next area with a recharge platform in front of it. "Looks like we're here." Geiz observed before he was purged out of his Legion. "If I remember about the domains the others visited, seeing a recharge platform pretty much means that the mutant guardian is right next door. In that case..." He cracked his knuckles with a smirk while his Legion did the same gesture. "It's clobbering time." After Geiz stepped onto the platform to recharge his Legatus and to refresh his stamina, he and his Legion went inside the next room.
Once inside, they saw conveyor belts in a clockwise formation, tesla walls on the center, and four holes on the corners of the room. The doors closed behind Geiz and the Arms Legion, prompting them to prepare their combat stances while Geiz summoned his Zikan Zax Yumi Mode to his hand. "Here we go, Legion. Get ready!" Geiz declared.
=WARNING=
THE LAIR OF
OBLITERATION LASERS
More drone turrets came moving out of the holes, a few on their left and the other on the right on the other side of the room. "Ah, I see. So it's an enemy horde rush like what Shirabe and Bronya did on the other two sectors." Geiz recalled before turning to his Legion. "In that case, you go and deal with the enemies on the other side, while I stay on this side and deal with other ones." The Legion replied with a nod. "Good." Geiz nodded back before breaking the astral chain with one swipe of his arm, releasing his grip. "Have fun."
The Legion roared as it quickly float towards the other side of the room while dodging the turrets' projectiles. And when he got close, he proceeded to smash the turrets to pieces. As for Geiz, he took aim at the turrets coming out of the hole near him and launched charged energy arrows, piercing them through as they exploded.
The turrets eventually came out of all four holes at once, but they didn't stand a change with Geiz and his Arms Legion's power. Several minutes later, the room went silent as not a single turret came out of the holes while the conveyor belts stopped moving. All are left are massive piles of scrap metal caused by the Rider and the Legion. "Any more left?" Geiz asked the Legion, who shook his head in response. "Thanks for the help as always. Now get some rest, you've earned it." The Legion disappeared back into the Legatus as it powered down while Geiz dispersed his Legatus. But then he noticed a yellow data chip laying on the center of the room. "Wait a sec. That's not a green data chip for the map, that's a yellow one for Jason's suit." He realized before sighing and approached the chip. "Well, at least the guardian, or guardians in this domain's case, are taken care of." He picked up the chip while taking out his Zikan Phone and used it to scan its info. "Now let's see what we have here."
FLASH BOMB:
A sub-weapon that emits a bright light that stops enemies in their tracks. It's also used to light up dark areas.
"Hm, this could be useful in case we run into a really dark domain." Geiz commented before putting the chip into his pocket, set his phone to Blaster Mode, aimed forward and fired a wormhole in front of him before walking inside.
A wormhole appeared from the entrance of the domain and out came Geiz as he regrouped with the Jason and Gunvolt waiting outside of their MAs before the wormhole closed behind Geiz. "Welcome back." Gunvolt greeted. "You sure took a while to get that map data. What happened in there?"
"Well... I got something else instead, after dealing with the mutant guardians that consists of a horde of turret drones." Geiz answered.
"Mutant guardians?!" Jason exclaimed.
"Yep." Geiz confirmed as he approached Jason, took out the yellow chip and placed it on his hand. "And this yellow chip happens to be for your suit. It contains the Flash Bomb sub-weapon, perfect for stunning foes in a room while also lighting up dark areas."
"A chip for my suit, huh?" Jason repeated as he looked at the chip for a moment before inserting it into his suit.
=FLASH BOMB UNLOCKED=
"At least it's better than nothing. One less mutant guardian to worry about and a new chip function unlocked." Gunvolt remarked. "Guess we'll have to search another domain for the map."
Jason turned to his red MA. "Eve! Did you pick up any new signals? The domain Geiz entered has a mutant guardian that has a yellow data chip after its defeated."
"Oh, so it's not the map data? Hold on a moment." Eve replied as she checked the MA's Receiver. "Okay, I've detected another signal close by. We're going to have to go up."
"Got it!" Jason replied before turning to Geiz and Gunvolt. "Time to get moving again. Eve found another signal from the Receiver."
"Okay, let's go!" Geiz declared as they went back inside their respective vehicles before heading for the next area by moving upwards and jumping from platform to platform.
When they reached the top, there was a tunnel on the left side and another tunnel on the right. "Okay Eve, which way?" Copen asked.
"Let's see... the closest signal is coming from the left tunnel." Eve informed after checking the Receiver again.
"Then let's go left." Bronya declared as the vehicles went to the left tunnel, leading to another area with a domain on the other side along with another shutter and treadmill puzzle.
"I can see the domain entrance on the other side!" Shirabe observed on SOPHIA's monitor. "So who's going inside this time?"
"I think I'm gonna let Jason search that domain." Geiz answered. "Something tells me that he's going to be needing that Flash Bomb. Just having a hunch here."
"Okay then, wait here till Eve, Shirabe and I return." Jason declared, driving the MA as it leaped on top of the shutter before jumping onto the platform with the domain entrance. "Eve, Shirabe, I'll be back in a minute."
"Be careful./Stay safe." Eve and Shirabe replied as Jason disembarked from SOPHIA with his Blaster Rifle and helmet ready before entering the domain.
When Jason entered the domain however, the area was completely dark. "Okay, Geiz was spot on about his hunch. This place is dark in here..." Jason remarked, looking around the pitch black area. "Now then, time to try out the Flash Bomb." He took out said bomb from his suit. "I'd better close my eyes after throwing it or I'll get blind too." He threw the bomb and closed his eyes before the bomb touched the floor, causing a bright flash around the area. And when he opened his eyes, the area was no longer dark as he was able to see... numerous amounts of tesla walls ahead which made him gulp. "That's... a lot of electricity... Now that I think about it, maybe GV should explore this domain instead of me." He shrugged before moving on without touching the tesla walls. "Oh well, time to do some searching."
He continued to traverse through the domain, avoiding more tesla walls and clearing out more mutants, until he reached a dead end. "Huh, that's odd. I could've sworn there was a signal around here." Jason remarked while looking around the area, until he noticed a cracked wall nearby. "Ah, so that's it. I think a grenade will fix that problem." He pulled out a grenade from his suit, armed it and threw at the cracked wall, causing them to explode upon contact and revealed another area inside.
After clearing the next area with more mutants, turret drones and breakable blocks, he found the green data chip lying at the end of the area. "There's the map data we've been looking for." Jason said as he approached the chip, retrieved it and placed it in his pocket. "Now to get out of here." He holstered his Blaster Rifle, pulled out his Zikan Phone Blaster Mode and fired a wormhole in front of him before walking inside.
The wormhole appeared at the entrance of the domain and out came Jason as he approached SOPHIA before the wormhole vanished behind him. "I got the map data, girls!" Jason informed.
"Great work, Jason!" Eve smiled. "Now let's meet up with the others."
"Right!" Jason nodded before boarding SOPHIA and took the same route back and regrouped with the other vehicles.
"Got what we're looking for?" Gunvolt asked.
"Yup, it had the map data this time." Jason confirmed while Eve installed the map data onto the navigation system. "Also Geiz, you were right. That place is really dark inside. Thank goodness for that Flash Bomb to light things up."
"Huh, guess my hunches were spot on." Geiz commented. "Eve, is the map data installed yet?"
"Just about... done. Transferring the copied map data over to the other vehicles now." Eve informed as the copied map data was transferred onto the Rairyu and Time Mazine's navigation systems.
"Now let's see what we have here." Copen said as he and Gunvolt looked at Rairyu's navigation screen that showed the map layout of Sector 3, revealing to have two monster icons on the far right of the map, with one of them overlapping a domain icon. In addition, there's a LIFE-UP icon above their current location with a recharge terminal icon beside it.
"So there's two mutant guardians this time, which makes sense since Geiz already took out one of them earlier." Lola surmised.
"There's also another LIFE-UP for our MAs and Jason's suit a few floors above us." Joule added.
"Well, this is odd." Gunvolt said, looking at the monster icon that's below the top one. "One of the mutant guardians is hiding in that location instead of a domain."
"I guess this means we'll have to fight it in our vehicles." Geiz deduced, talking on the comms screen with Jason, Eve and Shirabe on the other screen.
"Considering the upgrades that were installed to our MAs, I think we can handle it." Jason said.
"Still though, we need to be careful. We're not sure what kind of mutant guardian we're dealing with." Eve cautioned with Shirabe nodding.
"Let's keep moving, everyone." Bronya declared before the comms screens vanished. The vehicles revved up their engines once more and continued onwards.
As the vehicles continued to traverse towards their next location while dealing with more drones and ceiling turrets along with solving more shutters and treadmill puzzles, Eve began to ask about something. "Jason, there's something I wanted to talk about."
"Sure thing, Eve. What is it?"
"Why are you searching for Fred anyway?"
"Oh, whoops. Guess I never really explained why, huh? It's just my theory, but I think that Fred is a type of creature that was supposed to have gone extinct a long time ago."
"Jason told us the description of Fred, and we figured out that he's actually an amphibian creature called a frog." Shirabe mentioned.
"An... amphibian?" Eve repeated.
"Amphibian is a creature that lives in both land and sea. And a frog is one of those creatures." Bronya explained.
"I see."
"I'm no biologist, but I think Fred could be a clue in regards to the restoration of a lost ecosystem." Jason theorized. "That's why I need to find him and bring him home safely."
"Oh yeah, I remembered you telling us about searching for any living creatures in other to restore the ecosystem." Geiz recalled.
"Correct. And Fred might be the key in doing so."
"Who would've thought a small amphibian would be the key to this planet's restoration." Gunvolt commented.
"Well considering this planet's wildlife becoming nearly extinct, I guess it makes sense in a way." Copen replied.
"I see... So that's why you need to find Fred sooner rather than later." Eve noted.
"Yup." Jason replied. "By the way, can I ask you guys about something?
"Sure thing. What's up?" Geiz responded.
"Why are those mutants infecting this planet?"
"Probably to gather more resources in order to survive, which is probably why they are continuously infecting the planet. Also, word of warning, be careful when facing those mutants, because you'll never know if those things are that intelligent, just like how they took over this sector and used those machines against us."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for answering." Jason noted.
After several minutes of traversing through the sector while picking up a LIFE-UP power ups and installed them onto the MAs and Jason's suit, they arrived at a large empty room with a recharge terminal at the center and another tunnel up ahead. Once the vehicles finished using the terminal to recharge their energies, they moved onto the next area where there's a hole on the other side of the large gap which is fortunately not a bottomless pit.
"Looks like we're here." Jason informed the group. "According to the map, one mutant guardian is on the other side of this large gap while the other one is right below us. Good thing there's no bottomless pit so it's safe for us to jump down."
"Are you sure it's safe for the MAs to jump down here?" Joule questioned. "That hole looks really deep."
"Don't worry, it's completely safe." Eve assured. "I've checked the specs of the MA and its hydraulics can survive really long drops."
"Ah, right. I remember hearing about that when I first found Rairyu back in my world." Gunvolt recalled, which surprised Jason and Eve.
"Your MA came from your world?!" Jason exclaimed.
"Well, kind of. Though if I were to guess, I think it must've been warped by the Dimensional Quakes. There's no way this blue MA would exist in my world."
"I see... Those Dimensional Quakes really are that unpredictable."
"So true, Jason. So true." Eve agreed.
"Anyway..." Bronya spoke. "We'll have to split up and deal with our targets separately. Since the Time Mazine can fly, we'll take the mutant guardian beyond that gap."
"While the rest of us will handle the one below this gap. Got it." Jason noted.
"Would be nice if the MAs can hover too." Shirabe commented.
"Hope we're lucky enough to get that blue data chip from one of the mutant guardians." Lola said.
"Alright, time to get moving." Geiz declared as the Time Mazine began to fly across the gap. "We'll join you when we're done!"
"See ya in a bit!" Gunvolt replied before the two MAs leaped down into the gap and landed safely on the group with a large thud before moving ahead.
Once the Time Mazine landed on the other side of the gap, Geiz and Bronya disembarked from the vehicle to take a closer look at the small tunnel. "Hey Bronya, can you and Bunny fit through this small hole over here?" Geiz asked.
"The Bronya can fit through, but Bunny however cannot due to its size." Bronya answered. "You'll have to go instead. The Bronya will stay here and wait."
"Very well then." Geiz nodded before approaching the small hole. "I'll be back soon." He began to crawl deeper into the hole until he reached the domain entrance on the other side of the hole.
Once he went inside the domain, he encountered more mutants, turret drone, tesla walls, breakable blocks, and conveyor belts leading towards spike rollers. "I'm really getting sick of those conveyor belt and tesla wall traps." Geiz sighed, summoning his Arms Legion beside him with his Legatus. "Okay Legion, let me go inside you as usual." The Legion nodded before grabbing the Rider and placing him inside of its body as Geiz took control before moving ahead.
A few minutes later after dealing with the mutants, drones, traps and hazards, he finally reached the room with the recharge platform, prompting him to purge out of his Legion. "Arms Legion, you've done enough for today, so maybe let someone else handle the next guardian, okay?" Geiz asked his Legion, who nodded in response before vanishing back into the Legatus. He then summoned the Axe Legion in front of him. "Good to see you again, Axe Legion. Ready to do some damage?" He asked the Axe Legion who nodded in response with his large axe ready.
After using the recharge platform to revitalize and recharge his energy, they entered the next room where they saw numerous large junk blocks around the room. "So we're about to fight a junk mutant guardian this time." Geiz commented as the doors closed behind him while he summoned his Zikan Zax Ono Mode to his hand while preparing his X-Baton on his other hand. "Let's wait for it to make its move before we retaliate." The Legion nodded in response as they prepared for battle.
=WARNING=
THE LAIR OF
=PHOTOPHAGE=
Without warning, a mutant junk block with multiple colored wires and a glowing red eye with a white center appeared in front of them and moved to the side while firing lasers at them. The Axe Legion moved in front of Geiz and quickly used its shield to block the oncoming lasers. Geiz then rushed past the Legion and landed a triple slash strike with his weapons onto the block which is enough to destroy it.
Another living mutant junk block appeared beside Geiz and fired a steam of lasers at him. The Legion quickly rushed towards it while blocking the lasers with its shield to protect the Rider. Once it got close, it unleashed a triple axe strike, finishing it off with an overhead strike that destroyed the block.
As time passes, more and more mutant junk blocks started appearing and attacked the two, but they were able to defeat them without taking too much damage. Geiz and the Legion even finished off one of them with a combined charged melee attack that shattered it to pieces. Eventually though, the room finally went silent as they looked around the area in case more mutant blocks showed up. Soon after, a blue data chip appeared on the center of the room that gained their attention and approached it while the Rider dispersed his Zikan Zax and holstered his X-Baton. Geiz retrieved the chip and pulled out his Zikan Phone to scan its info.
JUMP BOOSTER:
Allows the MA to perform additional jumps.
"An ability to jump more than once, huh? This could definitely work." Geiz grinned at his discovery before putting the chip into his pocket. "Thanks for the help, Legion. We're done here." The Axe Legion nodded in response before vanishing back to the Legatus. Afterwards, he changed his phone to Blaster Mode and fired a wormhole in front of him before walking inside it.
Meanwhile with the MAs, they kept moving ahead until they saw a very large room ahead. But then they gasped in surprised when they saw another person inside, looking around for something. "Is that, another person over there?" Jason asked with wide eyes upon looking at what's on SOPHIA's main screen.
"I think so. Thankfully the person is awake." Eve replied.
"Hmm..." Shirabe hummed, narrowing her eyes at the person on the screen. It was a young man with short brown spiky hair and wearing some kind of battlesuit with a blue and light blue color scheme. "That battlesuit... it looks familiar..."
"You know something about it, Shirabe?" Gunvolt asked from the comms screen.
"Wait here, everyone. I'll go and talk to him." Shirabe said.
"Hold on. Do you mind if I come along too just in case?" Copen suggested.
"Hai. I could use some company." Shirabe approved with a nod before disembarking from SOPHIA while Copen disembarked from Rairyu. The two then approached the young man while the two vehicles stayed behind and observed from a distance. "Umm... hello?" Shirabe called out to the young man.
"Hm?" The man turned around upon hearing a girl's voice. "Who are you two?"
"Relax. We're not here to fight, we're only here to talk." Copen replied. "I'm Copen Kamizono, and this is Shirabe Tsukuyomi."
"Let's just say, we're passing though adventurers." Shirabe added. "And who are you?"
"...MegaMan. MegaMan Volnutt."
"MegaMan... Volnutt...?" Copen repeated silently.
"?!" Shirabe's eyes widen in shock upon hearing a familiar name. "Of course! No wonder that battlesuit looked familiar! That's the one Vent-san and Aile-san became MegaMen when using Model X!" She thought in realization.
"(Wait, MegaMan?! That's the same name when Vent, Aile, Grey and Ashe transformed! There's another one right in front of us?!)" Lola mentally exclaimed.
"So... Volnutt. Could you tell us why you're in a factory?" Copen asked after hiding his state of shock upon hearing a familiar name.
"Factory?" Volnutt blinked. "Isn't this place called Elysium?"
"Elysium?" Copen and Shirabe raised their eyebrow.
"A large abandoned synthetic planet. I, along with Yuna and Sera, are stuck on the planet until someone comes to take us home in a space shuttle. Hopefully it's Roll since Data is with her to hopefully give instructions on how to build a shuttle. Ah, right. Roll Casket is my best friend and a genius mechanic; while Data is a small robotic pet monkey."
"A synthetic... planet...?" Copen and Shirabe blinked.
"Mhm." Volnutt nodded, until he blinked in realization. "Wait a minute. How did you two get here? Did you use a rocket ship to reach Elysium?"
"Uhh... about that..." Shirabe responded as she poked her index fingers together while Copen rubbed the back of his head. "You're actually on Earth."
"...I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"You're on planet Earth, and this is not Elysium." Copen clarified. "Speaking of which, were you asleep earlier?"
"Asleep?" Volnutt repeated before pondering with his hand on his chin. "Well, Yuna, Sera and I were sleeping in cryo capsules to pass the time until the day Roll reached the planet to bring us home. I did feel a small tremor during my slumber though, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here and not inside a cryo capsule."
Copen and Shirabe shared serious looks with each other before nodding and turned to Volnutt. "Looks like you're another person who's caught up by the Dimensional Quakes." Copen deduced.
"Yuna and Sera might also be affected by that quake." Shirabe added.
"Dimensional Quakes?" Volnutt repeated.
"Take a seat, MegaMan. We have a lot to explain." Copen said.
A few minutes later...
"Whoa..." Volnutt responded with wide eyes and in shock after hearing Copen and Shirabe's explanation consisting of the Dimensional Quakes caused by Gjallarhorn being shattered and scattered across the multiverse, the formation of Team XDR, the Neo Time Jackers, and the events that followed including the universe they are currently in. Copen even introduced Lola who greeted Volnutt from the crimson relic pendant. "That's... a lot of info to take in."
"I know it's a lot, but it's the truth." Copen confirmed.
"Seeing is believing, after all." Shirabe added. "The quake warped you to this version of Earth. It's not the Earth you remember."
"I... see..." Volnutt noted before sighing. "Well, on the bright side, at least I'm no longer on Elysium. I've lost count on how many days or weeks Yuna, Sera and I were on that planet. I just hope those two are okay, and I also do miss Roll, Data and the others back on my world."
"We'll find a way back to your world, Volnutt. That's why we need to look for those Gjallarhorn fragments before the Time Jackers do." Copen stated.
"So will you help us and join the Rebellion?" Shirabe asked the MegaMan.
"Well, it's better than standing around and doing nothing. I'm in." Volnutt accepted with a nod. "I can still fight with my Mega Buster, not to mention having Jet Skates along with my armor that's fully upgraded with Kevlar Armor Ω, though I lost my helmet and my special weapons for some odd reason. Is it because of that quake?"
"That's probably because of that." Copen replied. "But at least you've got speed and defence, and can actually defend yourself."
"Maybe the Guardians will provide you with a new helmet to protect your head." Shirabe said to Volnutt.
"Thanks." Volnutt smiled. "Oh yeah, I found something after I woke up." He pulled out a blue data chip from his pocket. "Do you two know what this chip is?"
Copen and Shirabe gasped with wide eyes when they saw it. "Volnutt, that's a data chip to upgrade the MAs!" Copen exclaimed.
"MAs?" Volnutt repeated.
"MA is short for Metal Attacker, a special battletank." Shirabe described, pulling out her Zikan Phone used it to scan the chip's info. "Hold the chip still for a moment while I read its info."
"O-Okay."
HOVER PACK:
Allows the MA to hover upwards to reach higher areas.
"The Hover Pack?! Finally the MAs can fly!" Lola cheered. "Ix! Call in GV and Jason over here! They're gonna love the good news!"
"Already planning to the moment Shirabe read out all of the info." Copen smiled before turning around. "Jason! GV! We've found the data chip for the Hover Pack, so get over here!"
"On our way!" Gunvolt replied as Rairyu and SOPHIA III quickly arrived and stopped in front of the group as Volnutt was surprised at their appearance.
"Whoa. Those are the MAs?" Volnutt responded.
"Mhm." Shirabe nodded. "The blue one is called Rairyu, owned by Gunvolt and his partner Joule who's inside his azure relic necklace. You can call him GV if you want. The red one is called SOPHIA III, owned by Jason Frudnick and his co-pilot Eve."
"Oh, I see." Volnutt noted as he saw Gunvolt and Jason disembarked their MAs. "Gunvolt and Jason, right? Shirabe told me about you two a moment ago. I'm MegaMan Volnutt, nice to meet you. But you guys can call me Volnutt or Mega if you want."
"MegaMan?!" Gunvolt and Joule exclaimed in shock upon hearing a familiar name.
"Something wrong?" Volnutt asked with his head tilting sideways.
"Well, you see, there's four friends of ours that has the title of MegaMan called Chosen MegaMan." Gunvolt explained while glancing at Volnutt's suit. "Now that I think about it, your battlesuit is the same as Vent and Aile's."
"Chosen MegaMan? Vent and Aile?"
"It's... a long story. We'll explain later."
"Anyway, where's the data chip for the Hover Pack?" Jason asked.
"Volnutt, could you give that chip to Jason?" Copen requested. "He'll know what to do with it."
"Oh, okay." Volnutt replied before giving the chip to Jason. "Here you go."
"Thank you." Jason smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go install this chip onto SOPHIA before transferring the copy to the Rairyu. Let's go, GV."
"Right behind you." Gunvolt replied as Jason returned to SOPHIA. "Oh, and nice to meet you by the way, Volnutt." He smiled at Volnutt before heading back to Rairyu.
"Hmm..." Lola hummed, earning the group's attention.
"Something the matter, Lola?" Shirabe asked.
"Well we've gotten the data chip, but I feel like we're forgetting something..."
And just when Lola said that, the doors closed shut, trapping the group inside.
"Oh yeah... the mutant guardian."
"Crap, I forgot about that!" Copen muttered.
"Mutant guardian?" Volnutt repeated.
"Let's just say a strong mutant creature is about to arrive and kill us." Shirabe answered. "And now that I think about it, the mutant was using the blue data chip as bait to trap us inside, and we can't leave until we exterminate it."
"Oh. In that case..." Volnutt transformed his left hand into his arm cannon called the Mega Buster. "Where is it?"
"Guys! Something big is coming from above!" Eve shouted, prompting the group to look upwards and saw something descending in a counterclockwise movement before stopping. It was a large blue-gray, eight-cogged gear, with a missing cog having a mouth with sharp orange teeth. It also has a large red eye with a black vertical slit pupil, along with the cogs having purple veins.
"The mutant guardian... is a living gear?!" Shirabe exclaimed.
"That... looks really disgusting..." Volnutt remarked.
"Either way, we'll have to take it down." Copen stated as he and Shirabe prepared their weapons.
"Judging from the mutant's armor, none of our weapons can make a dent on it." Lola observed. "However, there's an opening we can exploit to hit the eye, and that would be its mouth. Just be careful if it tries to fire something from its mouth."
"Got it!" The three noted.
"Oh, and by the way GV, Jason? You're gonna need to use the MAs' Laser Shot to pierce through the mutant's armor."
"Roger!" Jason and Gunvolt noted.
"Guys, I think you should head back inside our MAs." Jason advised the group.
"No need. We'll fight on foot if we have to." Copen replied.
"And besides, we've fought larger foes before." Shirabe added.
"Same for me too." Volnutt also added.
"...Okay. But remember to watch yourselves!" Eve replied back.
"Get ready, everyone!" Gunvolt cautioned the group.
=WARNING=
THE LAIR OF
"THE UNCONTROLLABLE ENGINE"
=CENTRAL GEAR=
(Play BGM: The Mutant's Lair (Boss 2) from Blaster Master Zero OST)
The mutant gear rotated upwards and launched numerous yellow razor gears that began spinning towards the group. "Jason, GV, focus on the mutant gear! We'll keep the razor gears off your backs!" Copen said as the group began firing at the yellow gears with Shirabe launching air slashes with her razor yo-yos.
"Roger!" Jason and Gunvolt complied, charging up their MA's main cannon and fired laser shots at the mutant gear, piercing through its armor and landing directly at its eye.
As the gear roared in pain, it retaliated by launching purple energy orbs at the group, prompting them to dodge while also shooting down the yellow gears. The gear began to launch more yellow gears at the group before rapidly turning clockwise as electricity began surging on its mouth.
"I don't like the looks of that! Keep moving, guys!" Eve cautioned the group.
With the mutant gear's energy charged, it aimed at the group and fired a lightning bolt not once, but twice. Luckily the group managed to evade the bolts in time before the MAs returned fire with charged laser shots to its mouth while the others kept shooting down the yellow gears. The mutant gear roared once more as it begun to aim downwards and charged up its mouth with electricity.
"What's it doing?" Volnutt asked as the group observed the gear's movement.
Copen narrowed his eyes at the gear's mouth before they widen in realization. "It's going to go for a laser sweep! Everyone, take to the skies!" He yelled before flying upwards with his jet boosters.
"Uh, guys? One problem, I can't fly!" Volnutt pointed out.
"Let me help you with that!" Shirabe responded by transforming her buzz-saws from her metallic twintails into a pair of helicopter rotors and moved them above her.
Emergency Phi Style: Twin Moon Karma
"What the...?!" Volnutt's eyes widened upon seeing what Shirabe did.
"Stare later! Grab onto my leg and don't let go!"
"R-Right!" Volnutt complied after shaking off his state of shock as Shirabe began to ascend with her rotors, prompting him to grab hold of her leg with his free hand as they quickly flew upwards.
"Jason!/GV!" Eve and Joule shouted.
"On it!" Jason and Gunvolt complied as the MAs tires turned sideways and ignited green flames, causing the MAs to fly upwards.
And just in time too as the mutant gear unleashed a powerful purple laser onto the ground before performing a sweep 90 degrees upwards which also destroyed the remaining yellow gears it created. Luckily the group managed to evade the laser as it began to power down and stopped moving for a moment to recharge.
"Now's our chance to strike back before it finished recharging!" Lola shouted.
"In that case...!" Copen prepared his Divider and X-Baton Blaster, setting his sights at the mutant gear. "Lola, Arrogant Fang and Twintail Bunker combination!"
"You got it, Ix!" Lola complied as Copen dashed towards the mutant's mouth while three bits each circled around his firearms in a green glow, materializing a lance each as they began to spin rapidly like drills. "Arrogant Fang!" When he got close, he plunged the drill lances into the mutant's mouth, drilling the insides as he backdashed away as his bits began glowing yellow, materializing a pair of yellow drills in front of him.
"Twintail Bunker!" Lola yelled as the drills launched right onto the mutant's mouth on top of the drilling lances. "Okay guys, let 'em have it!"
MegaMan and the MAs began charging up their main weapons and fired a combined blast onto the drills, causing a massive explosion that obliterated the mutant gear as the group slowly descended back to solid ground and watched the mutant guardian's demise, causing the door that they first came in to open.
(BGM End)
"Good work, everyone. Mutant guardian exterminated." Copen concluded as he holstered his handguns while Volnutt reverted his Mega Buster back to a normal hand while Shirabe dispersed her rotors.
"Phew... thank goodness we made it out alive." Jason sighed with relief. "I still can't believe that gear was a mutant."
"Yeah, I was surprised about that too." Eve agreed.
"It just shows how dangerous mutants can be considering its ability to infect anything it desires, living or non-living." Gunvolt commented.
"I shudder to think if the mutants can infect Reaverbots... that's something I don't wanna see or fight." Volnutt shuddered.
"Reaverbots?" Shirabe repeated.
"Ancient mysterious robots hidden within the ruins from my world, usually to guard sacred treasures."
"Ah, I see." Shirabe noted before shuddering as well. "You're right. A mutant Reaverbot sounds terrifying..."
"Yeah." Volnutt nodded. "And don't get me started on the larger ones."
"In any case, all of the mutant guardians of this sector has been eliminated, so we're pretty much done here." Joule stated. "Though I wonder what's taking Geiz and Bronya so long to arrive here?"
"Sorry we're late, you guys!"
"Ah, never mind. Spoke too soon." Joule corrected after hearing Geiz's voice as the Time Mazine arrived.
"We've just heard the explosion right after Geiz returned from the domain with another blue data chip in hand." Bronya said. "Looks like you've defeated a mutant guardian."
"Yup, a large mutant gear." Copen nodded. "So, what data chip did you get?"
"The Jump Boosters. Allows the MAs to perform multiple mid-air jumps. This will be useful to reach higher areas."
"Well we found an even better data chip instead; the Hover Pack. Now the MAs can actually fly, but only for a short time." Lola informed.
"Say what?!" Geiz exclaimed. "Then what's the point with obtaining the Jump Boosters anyway?!"
"Maybe to preserve energy?" Eve answered. "Hovering is good and all, but it uses energy a lot faster, so maybe use the Jump Boosters for exploration purposes while using the Hover for flying over large gaps."
"Hmm... fair enough. Anyway, any sign of Fred?"
"Unfortunately no, his signal vanished. Looks like we'll have to try Sector 4, which is located right next to Sector 1."
"So it's back to the Forest Area, huh?" Jason mused. "I feel like there's something we can find here, but I guess we'll have to come back later."
"That's right." Eve replied.
"Wait, Sector 1 is also connected to Sector 4?" Gunvolt asked.
"Mhm. I recently checked the map of Sector 1 and found a tunnel icon on the left side of the map. After reading it's info, that link tunnel will lead us to the Waterworks Area."
"Ugh... why did it have to be water?" Gunvolt groaned.
"What's wrong with water?" Volnutt questioned.
"It's my Septima's weakness since I'm electricity. And I can't use it when I'm underwater or I'll short myself out and must reach dry land to recover. I can still swim though, but using my powers underwater is a no go."
"Ah, I see. Well that stinks. I'm still pretty capable underwater."
"Wait a sec..." Geiz paused before he disembarked from his Time Mazine to have a closer look at Volnutt, before gasping in complete shock upon realization. "MegaMan Volnutt?! First Samus and now him?!"
"Is there something wrong?" Volnutt asked, making Geiz snap out of his state of shock.
"O-Oh... sorry. It's just that your armor reminded me of someone." Geiz apologized while rubbing the back of his helmet. "What's your name, by the way?"
"MegaMan Volnutt. And you are?"
"Gaius Cornell. But call me Geiz when I'm wearing this suit." Geiz then gestured his thumb at his Time Mazine. "My co-pilot, Bronya Zaychik, is inside the large hover vehicle called the Time Mazine."
"I see."
"By the way Geiz, Volnutt's one of the people that got hit by the Dimensional Quakes during his cryo stasis slumber." Copen mentioned.
"Also, we told him about Team XDR's motives along with our current mission." Shirabe added.
"I'm willing to help out however I can since going back to my world will take some time." Volnutt said.
"I see." Geiz noted. "If that's the case, then welcome to the team, MegaMan."
"Looking forward to working with you guys." Volnutt smiled. "So, I guess it's time to head for Sector 1 so we can go to Sector 4?"
"Actually, we're going to return to the Guardian Base to give our current mission report to Commander Prairie. That, and we could use a little bit of rest after exploring the sectors. After our rest period, then we can continue our mission."
"Fair enough./Got it." Gunvolt and Joule agreed.
"Understood." Bronya noted.
"No complaints there./Yep, a break sounds nice at the moment./Sounds good./Okay then." Copen, Lola, Shirabe and Volnutt also agreed.
"So we finally get to see what the Guardian Base looks like, huh?" Jason mused. "Count me in."
"Me too." Eve added. "That, and I could really use a break."
"Then it's decided." Geiz declared. "Oh, and MegaMan, board the Time Mazine with me. I am not letting you walk all the way back."
"No problem." Volnutt replied.
"Okay." Geiz clasped his hands. "Back to Sector 1, everybody!"
"Roger!" The group complied as they board their respective vehicles with Volnutt boarding the Time Mazine while Geiz gave the Jump Booster data chip to Shirabe before she boarded SOPHIA III. Afterwards, the vehicles left the room and en route back to Sector 1 while Eve began installing the Jump Boosters to the MAs.
Chapter 3: The Industrial Factory
END
(MegaMan Volnutt has joined Xross Drive Rebellion)
Author's Note: And now MegaMan Volnutt from MegaMan Legends joins the team while the team obtained the Flash Bomb, Jump Boosters and Hover Pack data chips along with more LIFE UPs. I'm still a bit salty that MegaMan Legends 3 was cancelled, which meant that MegaMan will be stuck on that synthetic planet for god knows how long. Oh well... what can you do.
Anyway, next chapter will be a break for the team as they head back to the Guardian Base to report and take a nice break before resuming their mission. Boy are the MegaMan ZX cast gonna be shocked when they see Volnutt for the first time. As for Samus' reaction to him, well I'll reveal it in the next chapter.
Well, that's all for now. Stay safe and see you next chapter!