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The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Omake: The Rebirth of the Maverick Hunters
by Dr. Tempo
Station Robert, in geosynchronous orbit over southern Columbia, the fourth Thursday in November of 2012, two hours after midnight (Tōkyō time: Two hours before supper)...
"What the...?"
A pair of huntsman's like blue eyes fluttered open.
"This isn't Cyberspace..."
Grunting as he sensed his housekeeping computer report on the status of his internal systems, the famed Maverick Hunter known simply as Zero turned his head to gaze around his current location. Only a few moments ago — if he guessed it right given his internal chronometer was just now rebooting — he defeated the crazed Charles Weil. As the image of the cyborg native of Neo Arcadia flashed through Zero's central processors while his housekeeping wetware reported all was well, the "dead" Reploid warrior scowled. The master of Ragnarok Station who had caused so much sorrow for the world, the instigator of the Elf Wars all because he believed that maverick Reploids weren't punished enough for the Maverick Wars that had cost so many lives...
All that followed...
From the rise of Copy X due to Zero's old friend X having to seal the dark elf away...
Weil's eventual return...
All of it...
ALL OF IT!
...all on the head of the master of Ragnarok!
Shaking his head slightly to return to the here and now — wherever "here" actually was — the maverick hunter glanced once more around his surroundings. By all rights, he should be dead; the destruction of Ragnarok — an event Weil triggered to unleash fear on the world — had totally destroyed him...
So where was he?
And how had he acquired a new physical body so fast?
"I should be in Cyberspace right now..." Zero mused as he shifted to a sitting position. Quickly noting a mirror nearby, he got up to approach it and give himself a thorough inspection.
It was...shocking.
"Why do I look like THIS?!"
A hand absently reached up to scratch the hip-length loose reddish-blond hair he had. Now totally out of his armour and nude save for a pair of boxer shorts, he appeared like he did in the wake of the X-Hunter Incident many years ago. "I was rebuilt..." he quietly noted as he turned himself to examine his new form, his chin twitching in approval. "But why? And who in the name of the Maker did this?"
Again shaking his head to focus himself — sentient Reploids always had issues with their minds wandering from time to time unless they were caught in battle — he took the chance to gaze upon the chamber he had found himself in. Nearby windows indicated he was on a space station, with Earth itself in the near distance; no doubt, he was on a platform that held geosynchronous orbit over the planet. Walking over to peer at the beautiful blue-green jewel that was the hearth world of humanity, Zero nodded. "Just over southern Colombia," he noted...
...before a surprised squawk escaped him as a dark gunmetal grey-over-red hull with the white number 189 at the bows and the hiragana characters ゆうだち at the stern slid slowly past from right to left. His jaw dropped in disbelief on noting said spaceship was clearly a replica of what had to be a Japanese warship from the times long BEFORE the appearance of artificial intelligences like himself...which to Zero, was CENTURIES ago!
Even stranger — if his tactical programming was anywhere close to being on par, especially with the details of the vessel's superstructure factored in — said starship was over A THOUSAND METRES LONG!
"What IS that...?!" the maverick hunter exclaimed...
Aboard Tennō Heika Uchūkan Yūdachi, now passing Station Robert, that moment...
"AH-CHOO!"
Heads turned over to gaze upon the reborn now-human template of the four Shiratsuyu-class star destroyers. "Bless you, Kodachi-chan!" Hamamoto Shōko called out as one of the Avalonian engineers who helped build Yūdachi came over to offer some tissue to the adopted native of Sasebo known now on the World of the Forge as the Wolf Storm of the Night, Latosyo'o ("Yūdachi"). "Is someone talking about you?"
"Not sure, poi!" Hamamoto Kodachi moaned as she nodded thanks to the pretty bioroid before blowing her nose...then a goofy smile crossed her face. "I hope it was Teitoku-san at least, poi!"
Knowing laughter escaped the others of her class as well as their sempai who came with them on THU Yūdachi's maiden voyage. "Well, I don't know about you, Kodachi-chan, but I just saw a real hunk of a fellow in one of the guest rooms on Station Robert looking at the ship right now," Kisaragi Nanako mused.
"Stop all engines!" the eldest of the Hamamoto sisters — known on Earth now as Hamamoto Miroko and on Yiziba as the Autumn Storm, Hyatoso ("Shiratsuyu") — barked out to the bioroid at the helm controls.
"Assuming station-keeping, Thoughtmistress-prime," the helmsman called back, tapping controls.
As Yūdachi stopped with the primary base of the Wise Lone Sage himself off the port quarter at about a kilometre's range off the stern, the ten recently-reborn shipgirls came over to stand close to the reborn eighth of the Mutsuki-class destroyers, known on Yiziba as the Cosmic Light, Kuodake ("Nagatsuki"). Seeing where the adopted native of Kōtō Ward in Tōkyō was indicating, the others looked, grateful their new "hulls" gave them vision powers that beat their optical range-finding systems to a degree that seemed simply magical!
Soon enough, most of the teenage-form shipgirls were blushing. "He's so CUTE!" Hamamoto Hideko — now known as the Noodle Storm, R'bomani ("Harusame") — crooked, clapping her cheeks in embarrassment.
"Weird..."
Eyes locked on Nanako. "What do you mean, Sempai?" Hamamoto Yaeko — now known on the World of the Forge as the Tornado of the Mountains, Rimbu'o ("Yamakaze") — wondered.
"He looks like Zero from Rockman X2, Yaeko-san!"
The younger destroyers — who got a full and unbelievably detailed update on current cultural knowledge by their fleet mates after they joined them all on Promised Island the Sunday just past — blinked in confusion. "Doesn't Thomas-sensei always make replicas of video game and other fictional characters, Sempai?" Shōko — who herself was known on Yiziba as the Ice Storm of Winter, Liani ("Shigure") — quietly asked.
The others hummed. Looking herself, Kodachi blinked before turning to head back to the captain's chair. "He's cute, poi..." the meteorkinetic quietly muttered. "But he's no Teitoku-san...!"
"Zero!"
Jolting on hearing a voice he last heard during the Elf Wars, Zero spun left...
"Axl?!"
Laughter escaped the eager-looking fellow his age who just walked in, the familiar cross-shaped scar at the bridge of the nose between the newcomer's green eyes making the maverick hunter gape in disbelief. Before he could blurt out a question, the other man grasped his hand, that contact instantly telling Zero that the newcomer was a Reploid like himself; also like him, the newcomer was in a designer pair of slacks with a button shirt...
"WHOA! CUTE BUTT OR WHAT!" Hamamoto Suzuko — known also as the Frozen Hurricane, Su'obo'o ("Suzukaze") — squealed, her cheeks now red-lining as she tried desperately not to drool.
"Axl, too?!"
Heads turned again to gaze upon Kisaragi Nanako...
"Damn! It's been too long! Far too long!" Axl said as he firmly shook Zero's hand before a wary look crossed the former's face. "It IS you, right?!" he then asked. "You're not Omega, aren't you?!"
"Axl..." the maverick hunter began.
"I wasn't happy when I realized Doctor Weil stole your original body to create his ultimate Reploid..."
That made Zero gape, staring at the other man as he then realized this WAS Axl, alive and clearly well; there was no way in heaven the latter would forget THAT! After all...
"Omega killed you!" he declared, pointing at Axl. "That was over a CENTURY ago! How are you here?!"
"I'm wondering the same, Zero. Still, it's good to see you."
Both men turned to see...
"And X too?!" the Cosmic Light moaned. "Isaac-kun, we've GOT to have a talk!"
Save for Hamamoto Kodachi, all the shipgirls on the bridge of the Yūdachi were blushing at the sight of the three VERY cute teenage boys now within one room of Station Roberts over a kilometre away...
Zero looked.
The newcomer seemed like his closest friend, appearing like he did before the Elf Wars.
A chuckle then escaped the famous maverick hunter. "You're alive again, huh?" he wondered. "Whoever revived Axl and built this new body for me must have done the same for you."
Hearing that, the brown-haired, green-eyed revived Reploid nodded. "We're not the only ones revived, Zero. The Four Guardians are back as well, not to mention a lot of allies who died during the Elf Wars." As Zero gaped in disbelief at that revelation, X added, "Alia, Layer and Palette. Signas, Douglas and the allies we met during the Force Metal incident..." He shrugged before waving somewhere behind him. "They're all back."
The other Reploids in the room slowly nodded. "That's incredible," Zero commented with an amused smirk. "Whoever did this must be a real genius." He then perked. "Where are they, anyway?"
"The Guardians, Marino and Massimo are searching through this satellite," X explained, waving the others to accompany him. "The others are looking for a place to communicate with us. C'mon."
"Like old times, huh?" Axl noted with a grin.
"Let's move," Zero bade...
"Yeoman!"
"Yes, Thoughtmistress-prime?"
"Contact the station's control staff," Kisaragi Nanako ordered. "I want to see what's going on here."
"Right away, Thoughtmistress-prime."
As the Hamamoto sisters — even a disinterested Kodachi — nodded in understanding, the bioroid at the helm began tapping controls while the acting yeoman of signals made a call to the Wise Lone Sage's base...
Fifteen minutes later...
As the sound of a very large star destroyer attaching herself to one of the extendable gangways of Station Robert echoed in the background, three reborn maverick hunters opened an airtight door to find themselves on a clearly artificially-extended cliff over an endless chasm, that in a cloud-filled atmosphere with almost nothing else in sign. Buried in the rock in the circular platform at the end of the cliff were dozens of sword-shaped keys buried blade-first into the rock, the helms all with circular frame-like hand guards. Floating in the sky around them were small cliff-shaped rocks, their also bearing dozens of similar-looking blades.
Noting the scene, X hummed, clearly impressed. "If I had to guess, this is a holodeck of some sorts."
"Like from the second Star Trek series centuries ago?" Axl asked.
"Same. And these keys look like they're from the Kingdom Hearts series of video games that came out around the same time," X noted as he indicated the keys. "So why is this being displayed...?"
His voice trailed off as footfalls echoed from the corridor beyond the entrance to this curious place, making all three head back to look outside to see who was approaching them...
...just as three more people turned a corner towards them from fifty metres away. Once their features became more apparent, Zero's jaw hit the deck in total disbelief. "Megaman...?"
"Protoman...?" Axl eeped.
"Bass, too...?" X demanded. "There's no way they could've been revived as well!"
"Yeah!" Zero hissed. "They died decades before people found you, X!"
"Look at them," Axl noted, indicating the quite bulky armour the newcomers were wearing. "They're armoured up...and look like they were in an anime series from the Twentieth Century to boot..."
Laughter escaped the newcomers as they got into talking range. "Rock! You owe me five bucks!" Protoman said, holding out an armoured hand to his companion as he gave him a knowing look.
A five dollar American bill was passed over. "I know, Blues!" Megaman declared with a chuckle. "When Commander Kisaragi told me what was going on, I'd thought they'd have no idea who we were."
Axl blinked as he felt his combat programming click in...
...before a transporter-like effect allowed a pair of combat pistols — the very SAME model he often used while serving with the Maverick Hunters — to fall into his hands. As both X and Zero nodded in understanding while their own combat programming activated, the newcomers seemed unbothered. "Well, how on Earth could we NOT know of three of the most famous robots of their time period?" Axl then noted.
"It's a long story, Axl," Bass then assured him with a lanky grin, waving them down. "Yes, we KNOW of you. As much as I'd definitely love to fight you right now, we've actually got a lot to talk about."
X found himself slipping into a fighting stance. "Can we trust you, Bass?" he then challenged. "You were created by the same lunatic that ultimately saw the Maverick Virus created." On hearing Zero grumble, the blue-eyed blond blushed. "Sorry, man!" he said as he patted the other hunter's shoulder.
All three of the newcomers raised their hands in peaceful gestures. "Like Bass said, Axl, we're not here to fight," Megaman declared before indicating the chamber the others stepped out of. "Though if you ARE intent on fighting, that holodeck you just walked out from can be quite accommodating."
A daring smirk crossed Zero's face. "Not to mention how dramatic this place seems to be," he noted. "Now, to make damn sure this doesn't end with you getting turned into scrap metal, prove you aren't our enemies."
"Don't, Zero!"
He gasped before spinning around.
"Iris...?"
"This sort of thing is what caused my brother and I to fight you," the beautiful teenage girl with the long brown hair tied by the knees and the pretty turquoise eyes declared as she came out of the shadows, she accompanied by a woman appearing her age in a dark grey martial arts gi-like uniform with black belt and boots, a gold bursting full moon over her heart, that topped with the kanji 長月 in white-trimmed black.
Zero looked ready to drop to his knees. "Iris...?" he eeped as his mind central processors nearly froze on seeing a sister Reploid he had personally held dying in his arms. "Is that you...?"
The answer came as Iris lunged over to drive the maverick hunter down to the deck with a weeping glomp. "I'm sorry!" she cried out. "I'm so sorry! I was so angry back then...then, then you had to...!"
Zero blinked as his own internal sensors and quite complex behavioural recognition programming quickly analyzed all the data pouring into his central processors from that contact before his own eyes misted over, then he warmly returned the other Reploid's embrace. "Jeez! Don't EVER make me do that again, Iris!" he softly scolded the weeping woman. "After you died, I just didn't know what I was fighting for anymore!" Shaking his head, he allowed Iris to hold him close to bring him some comfort. "Took me so long to find that..."
As the reborn eighth of the Mutsuki-class destroyers felt her own emerald eyes tearing in sympathy, Iris sniffed before she pulled back to gaze into her friend's face. "The Elf Wars, right?"
A surprised look answered her, making Iris giggle. "Follow me," she said as she rose to her feet, helping Zero stand as well before she indicated where the reborn THG Nagatsuki was standing. "I'll explain."
He numbly nodded as Axl breathed out, "Now THIS takes the cake!"
"You haven't seen the bare TIP of it, Axl-san."
That was an eerily smiling Kisaragi Nanako...
The wardroom of THU Yūdachi, an hour later...
"I was so worried, X! When Iris found us, I thought we might die AGAIN...!"
Alia's voice faded before she collapsed into X's arms. While the maverick hunter comforted his weeping friend, Iris took a breath before she sensed a chorus of curious stares fall on her from the reborn eighth of the Mutsuki-class destroyers and all ten reborn Shiratsuyu-class ships now human. "I went crazy over the loss of my brother," the brown-haired gynoid explained. "I attacked Zero out of grief, but I didn't go totally nuts...!"
A jealous glare landed on her from an azure-haired, blue-eyed woman who had been one of the Four Guardians of Neo Arcadia. "If you THINK you're going to get Zero back now that you're operational again..."
"HEY!"
Yōshō Leviathan winced as she sensed a burning glare fall on her from the Wolf Storm of the Night. "Not in my wardroom, poi!" Hamamoto Kodachi quietly declared with a hissed voice. "Isaac-san's got loads of places on the station where you can go pound each other into drydock for major repairs, poi!"
As her sisters and their sempai giggled at the warning statement from the reborn "Nightmare of the Solomons", some of the assembled AIs in the room chuckled. "It seems my sister can't hide the crush she had on you anymore, Zero," Tōshō Fefnir wryly stated. Like his fellow Guardians, he was not in full combat armour but in rather loose-fitting clothes, revealing his heavily tanned skin, crop of red hair and chestnut eyes that matched Kodachi's. Sipping the tea one of the bioroid stewards had made for them, he then gazed intently at Zero. "Before you ask, in case you forgot, we Guardians were created the same moment X used his original body to seal away the Dark Elf. As far as I'm concerned, that makes us siblings and X our father."
"Really, Fefnir?!" Leviathan breathed out, the groan in her voice obvious. "That sort of explanation isn't like you; you prefer to fight! Besides, Zero likely barely remembers Iris or Layer here!" Here, the azure-haired gynoid indicated a shapely woman with long purple hair in a hime cut with bangs falling over her deep green eyes.
Layer blushed madly, making the shipgirls in the room giggle. "Yep! She's got it BAD for the guy!" Hamamoto Miroko stated as she hoisted her tea cup before she gazed on the Cosmic Light. "Sempai! Are we permitted to do marriages on these ships?! Ship captains traditionally have that right, you know!"
As Layer awked while her cheeks went nuclear at that suggestion from the Autumn Storm, Kisaragi Nanako hummed, that making the navigator gynoid duck away. Noting that, Zero shook his head. "By the time I faced Weil, I'd regained all my memories, including everything about Iris." Seeing the gynoid in question blush, the maverick hunter gazed on Layer. "That's why I never said anything about your crush, Layer. I really wasn't ready to move on then." Shaking his head, he sipped his tea before perking as Axl squeezed his shoulder in support. "Too scared to fall in love again. Too afraid that tragedy would repeat itself. When the Elf Wars began..."
"You were proven right," Hamamoto Hideko stated; the reborn fifth of her class who had a mixed batch of hydrokinetic, meteorkinetic and trofikinetic abilities was using her powers to to create some choice udon noodles for snacks while her younger sister Sanako made some broth in the microwave behind the bar.
Axl's navigator companion Palette cleared her throat. "We do have a lot to ask here, Commander Kisaragi," the cute turquoise-eyed blonde gynoid then stated as she gazed on Nanako; the Reploids had all quickly recognized that the green-haired woman in the flowing martial arts gi-like robes was the senior of their current hosts. "We've all been revived in a space station whose design we don't recognize and now we're standing on a ten-to-one spaceship replica of an ancient — to us, that is — seaborne warship from old Imperial Japan. The last thing we all remember before waking up on the station is the moment of our deaths."
"Rock-kun?" the reborn eighth of the Mutsuki-class destroyers probed.
Megaman blushed. "As Commander Kisaragi just did right now, Miss Palette, please call me Rock. As for who revived you all, that was Doctor Rie Ciel."
Jaws hit the deck. "Ciel?! She's HERE?!" Zero exclaimed.
"Yes and no, Zero."
Nanako moaned. "Why the hell am I not surprised at this?!"
People turned to the entrance...
...before the revived Reploids all gaped in disbelief on seeing an amused-looking woman appearing to be the same age as the destroyer shipgirls standing there, her arms clasped behind her back. Despite the face, cobalt blue eyes and long flowing blonde hair matching that of one of the most famous scientists of Neo Arcadia, she was not in her typical pink-and-dark purple uniform but a button blouse, form-fitting slacks and a scientist's smock straight from the Twenty-first Century. As one of the stewards came over with some tea, Rie Ciel nodded her thanks, then stepped closer to those she just helped revive, allowing them to scan her with their eyes.
"You're a Reploid?!" X exclaimed, surprised that this being so closely resembled the teen genius who had re-awakened Zero to help stop Copy X. "How did that happen?! I know Ciel was human!"
"I'm a Replicant, X," Rie explained. "An AI based on what is seen HERE as a fictional character." Noting the eyes of those she saved widen in surprise, she nodded. "Yes, you're all seen in this dimension as characters from a very successful video game series called Rockman in Japanese or Megaman in English."
"Are we Replicants, Doctor?" Axl wondered.
"No, Axl. I was created from a body-less AI that was based on my creator's very detailed observations of versions of myself in parallel dimensions. All of you, however, had your very souls — or kami as our hosts would say — shifted to this dimension from the Cyber Elf versions of yourselves when you all died. Or in Iris' and Colonel's cases, when I managed to acquire their 'DNA Souls'."
"Thus you created new bodies for us!" Douglas West breathed out, clearly overwhelmed by what was just dropped on everyone's heads even if he himself now had a housekeeping computer in his mind to help him stay calm. "Damn, Doc! You're as much a genius here as you are back home!"
All three Maverick Hunters whooped as they applauded their chief mechanic's compliment, that making Rie madly blush at that compliment. "Thank you, Mister West! Thank you all!" she said, waving the others down. "But before we get the chance to try the special udon that the Commanders Hamamoto are now preparing for us in the kitchenette, you all need to understand what's happening in THIS dimension."
"I can conclude one thing," Iris spoke up before she indicated each of the shipgirls in the room. "They're all characters from the Kantai Collection multiple-player video game series that came out after the turn of the Third Millennium. The kanji on their uniform tunics tells us who they are..."
"They're all human, though," Zero observed, his eyes narrow.
"Then again, games like KanColle, Azur Lane and the like never really went into explaining what shipgirls actually are," Axl commented. "And their uniforms aren't the ones they wear in the games."
"We're technically bioroids, as are the others on this ship, Axl-san," Nanako stated, she waving to the Avalonians now in the room. As the pretty bioroids all waved politely to their fellow AIs, the adopted native of Tōkyō added, "Yes, we're the living kami of various warships who appear in those games...and yes, I'm aware through Rie-san's creator that I resemble the version of me in Kantai Collection, as are my kōhai here." She indicated the Hamamoto sisters, all of whom waved. "However, I have no need of 'rigging', my metahuman powers are MUCH greater than my other-self's and I have a human name as you'll remember when introductions were made."
"Who gave you those names, Commander?" Douglas asked.
"Moroboshi Ataru did," the Cosmic Light answered. "The anime series you'd be familiar with..."
"Urusei Yatsura by Takahashi Rumiko," Zero answered. "Damn! Is Lum here, too?!"
"Yes, she is...but she won't be living on Earth for much longer," Nanako warned. "Let's explain..."
Said explanation took nearly an hour, interrupted by many questions from the people who had been revived by Rie. Along the way, both Hideko and Sanako served the udon they created; even if the newcomers were all AIs in android/gynoid bodies, they had to eat to ingest body mass for internal repairs and extra power.
"...thus, we're not preparing to expel the Urusians and all their allies from Earth within forty-eight hours," Rie finally finished. "Given the current plan Admiral Fujita, General Raeburn and all the others involved in Operation: Liberation Shield have come up with, I doubt Station Robert will be directly attacked by General Yethis or his subordinates. We do have the necessary defences to stay intact, of course."
"Not to mention that our opponents are some of the most arrogant beings in the galaxy," Nanako added as she rolled her eyes in amusement. "And yes, that's counting the Goa'uld as well!"
"Lar'beke...!" Kodachi trilled as all her sisters shuddered. "I want some lar'beke, poi...!"
"So metahuman powers are real here," Axl then recapped. "Not only do the characters of Urusei Yatsura live here, but also Ranma 1/2 — damn, I definitely want to meet Ranma...!"
"Kanami," Zero reminded his brother Maverick Hunter.
That caused the strawberry blond android to blush. "Ah, right, right!" he affirmed, waving the pure blond warrior down. "And the guy who built this station and yourself, Doctor, created replicas — hence, 'Replicant' — of fictional characters from across the known spectrum to help him better develop his own skills because he's a metahuman genius like Brainiac 5 from the Legion of Superheroes, right?"
"Exactly," Rie affirmed with a nod.
A hum then escaped Axl. "Damn! If THIS isn't the weirdest thing we've ever seen!" he said, shaking his head before perking as one of the stewards came over with more tea.
"And we've seen a damn lot!" X added.
Nanako then gazed on the gynoid scientist. "Why did you do this, Rie-san?"
"The Bullet Deniers," Rie answered.
"Who are they?!" Douglas wondered.
"Does Danganronpa exist in your universe, Sensei?" the Cosmic Light asked.
"Yeah, Commander! That's a classic game!"
"Well, you're gonna be able to meet the REAL people in those games very soon."
"Like what happened to us?!" Iris demanded.
"Very much so, Miss Iris," Rie cut in. "My colleagues and I were stumped as to how we could create Replicant versions of Megaman characters like X and Zero. We were able to scan into your universe, but given that X is the way he is thanks to the three decades he spent in the capsule he was found in, I didn't want to do what my template did and make something like Copy X. As for Zero, I can say it in just two words: Maverick Virus."
People winced even if X, Zero and Axl all grimly nodded. "So you decided to go with the real deal instead," X declared. "How did the Danganronpa characters get brought here anyway?"
"A few days ago, a powerful artifact created by the Avalonians' ancestral race on Sagussa called the Staff of Gihan was employed by a group of Danganronpa fans from another planet — Yes! Believe it or not, they DO exist here! — to bring the souls of all those involved in Hope's Peak Academy and the Ultimate Academy to this dimension," Rie explained. "Once I heard about it, I knew I had the answer. I already created your bodies, so all I had to do was bring your living souls here. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to ask my creator about this; Isaac is currently busy trying to solve a major crisis on the planet Uru, Lum's homeworld, as we speak.
"Fortunately, Hal Emmerich, a brother Replicant who is one of my coworkers — he's currently in charge in Isaac's absence — contacted the woman keeping watch over the Staff, Shigaten Kamen. She sent us the information to replicate the Staff's abilities in that regard, then it was effective child's play to bring all your kami here."
"It's a good thing that Hal knew of this," Megaman then added. "As soon as you all woke up in your guest rooms, then started roaming around, he warned my friends and I to go fetch you."
"We spotted you when we were taking the Yūdachi out on her maiden voyage," Nanako added.
As the three Maverick Hunters all blushed on seeing nine pairs of very interested eyes focus directly on them, Kodachi shook her head. "Not as cute as Teitoku-san, poi...!" she whispered.
Eyes locked on the Wolf Storm. "You want Mister Moroboshi as your admiral, Commander?" Douglas asked.
"Poi! He's got a battleship, four battlecruisers, three heavy cruisers, two torpedo cruisers, two aircraft carriers and only FOUR destroyers for his personal fleet! He needs more destroyers!"
People staggered at that passionate declaration. "By the way, Rie-san, does Isaac-kun know about this?" Nanako then wondered as she crossed her arms, giving Rie a knowing look.
"It's alright, Nanako. He knows now."
Heads turned over as a rugged man with brown hair and blue eyes under reading spectacles came in, he dressed as Rie herself. "Holy damn! Metal Gear, too?!" Douglas exclaimed.
Hal Emmerich chuckled. "Indeed so, Mister West," he answered before giving Rie a knowing look. "And relax, Rie! Isaac understands what made you do what you did! One message, though."
She winced. "Being?"
"ASK first!"
She winced again before she helplessly shrugged. "Well, I didn't want to bug the man now that he's going to be busy helping the Urusians clean up that 'dowry' First Patriarch Upa sent them. Given the threat the Imperials on that planet can present, I had no choice but to conclude that time was of the essence."
"Yeah, yeah, we all know, Rie! So all of you, why don't you deactivate your armour."
People blinked. "Uh, what armour, Doctor Emmerich?" X asked.
Hal looked nonplussed before he chuckled, slapping his face with his hand. "Forgot! You people ALWAYS wore your armour," the replica of the chief engineer of the Metal Gear REX bipedal tank muttered.
"I designed your new bodies to activate and deactivate your armour to give you all chances to appear fully human," Rie explained as she patted her brother scientist's shoulder. "Show them, Rock."
Megaman chuckled as his armour vanished, revealing a track suit with a school insignia on it showing two bucking broncos facing each other, the words CAMELOT HIGH underneath. Seeing what the Replicant version of the most famous AI from their dimension just did, the newcomers' eyes turned inward as they stood...
...and within the blink of an eye, they were all in their armoured forms!
"Interesting," Kenshō Harpuia mused with a very approving tone as he mentally dismissed his green and white Guardians armour before taking his seat, now dressed in a green button shirt and white slacks. "Doctor Thomas must be quite the genius to come up with a system quite like THIS! If I didn't know better through my visual systems, Doctor Emmerich, you and Doctor Ciel both appear totally human."
"Thank you for giving us our lives back, Doctors," Iris then stated.
"So what do we do now?" Douglas asked.
"Join the Earth Defence Force," X stated. "We existed in our own ways to protect others. I still feel that's our mission. If anyone wants to do something else, I won't stop you."
Screams of denials escaped the other Reploids in the wardroom. "Looks like we're back in business again, X!" Zero stated as he patted his brother Maverick Hunter on the shoulder.
Hearing that, X smiled. It was good to be alive again...
The End...For Now!
WRITER'S NOTES
This omake occurs around the time of Parts 32-33 in Book One of the main story.
Since the version of Roll created by Isaac Thomas (Doctor Renaissance) — known in this universe as Robyn Ross; the name was chosen by Fred in honour of her English voice actress — resembles the version of her as she appeared in the 1990s Megaman cartoon, the versions of Megaman and Protoman would be styled the same way. Bass did not appear in that cartoon series, but would possess the same sort of character design. As an aside, given or family names that did not appear in the Megaman series (i.e. Rie Ciel) are Fred's creation.
While such was not seen as canon, it was heavily implied that Yōshō Leviathan did possess quite the crush on Zero. The origins of the Four Guardians of Neo Arcadia — atop Yōshō, the group includes Kenshō Harpuia, Tōshō Fefnir and Inshō Phantom — are the same as was revealed in Megaman Zero.
DNA souls act as a type of blueprint for Reploids and as an artificial intelligence. Since Iris and Colonel perished long before the first Cyber Elves were created, it is through their DNA souls that they were revived.
As always, notes about various shipgirls can be found in the main story. All those who appear here are based on their Kantai Collection interpretations as noted above.
