Chapter 4… Here we go!
Wow… it's been three months since the last update…
Sorry for the chapter delay; like with most things, school just gets in the way. I don't want to make any more promises about upload schedules for my fanfiction but I do want you guys to know that I'm still working on it, I plan on finishing it, and you can always be up to date on the progress of my chapter through my profile.
I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter; rest assured it won't be the last.
Chapter 4:
(New York City, Present Time)
"MegaMan? Really?"
"I'm sorry. It was the only thing I could come up with," Geo said as he covered his face in the palm of his hands, the newscast on the television screen playing before him and Mega.
After the two had defeated the Jammer and left the crime scene, dozens of police cars began to swarm the area, including several members of the Satella Police. Of course, school was canceled for the rest of the day, and it was when Geo returned home that he realized how big of a name his alter-ego had become. "MegaMan" was a talking point for the entire rest of the day heading into Saturday as well…
"So much for keeping a low profile," Mega said.
Taking his eyes off the TV, Geo began to scroll through the apps on his phone. The Jammer incident was all over the internet, and naturally, Geo's newfound persona was the center of attention.
Geo tossed his phone onto his bed and sighed in frustration. He had forgotten about the social repercussions of his deal with Mega, that the whole world would stop as they witnessed what was probably the first alien encounter in human history.
What's worse is the impact on Geo's personal life. What if people found evidence that connected him to the flying blue superhuman that stunned the world? It would change Geo's life forever, and not in a way he wanted. The teenager shuddered at that idea.
"It's not all that bad, right?" Geo responded. "Defeating that Jammer was pretty easy."
"As I said before, that Jammer was a wave-changed form of a regular FM-ian and a human. The others that are after me are a lot tougher."
"Explain how that works again," Geo said as he scratched his head.
"The majority of the FM-ian population call themselves a 'virus' in the same way people on Earth call themselves a ''human.'" Mega explained once again. "There are a select few out of millions that are genetically stronger than FM viruses, myself included."
"And how many of these guys are after you?" Geo asked.
Mega glanced out the window after a brief pause to his partner's question. Something was visibly concerning him, and Mega's unusually serious facial expression did not go unnoticed by the brown-haired teenager.
"Is everything alright?" Geo asked.
"Two," Mega simply replied. "At most, there are two of these special-grade FM-ians that we have to worry about for the foreseeable future."
"Do we know anything about them?" Geo asked.
"The strongest one is named Taurus," Mega said. "He's one of the commanders of the FM-ian army so he's no laughing matter."
"And the other one?"
"Her name is… Lyra," Mega said. "Not as strong, but certainly capable."
"And where are we on this spectrum of strength?"
"Strength is not the concern, kid. It's technique. And Taurus is far more versed in combat than you are."
Geo sighed as he collapsed onto his bed, picking up his phone to check the time, and watching the numbers past eleven-thirty, he straightened himself up from his bed and stared at the bright light shining from his bedroom window.
"Well, it's a Saturday," Geo noted. "What do you suppose we do now?"
"Please do something interesting, kid," Mega said. "I beg for it to be something that isn't like school."
Geo rolled his eyes at Mega, though his comments did get him thinking. Geo wasn't outgoing, but a place that Geo is familiar with that could get the nagging FM-ian to shut up for once… It's been a while too so it'd be nice to catch up with Mr. Boreal again.
"I have an idea."
"What is this place?" Mega asked as he stared at the enormous space-themed facility that Geo brought him to.
"AMAKEN Labs," Geo replied. He picked up his phone to get a glimpse of Mega's reaction to the laboratory. The towering satellites and model spaceships that decorated the surroundings of the area were a nice gesture to outer space that he hoped his alien counterpart appreciated.
"Looks pretty cool," Mega said.
"Why don't we head inside? There might be something you'll find interesting," Geo said as he began to walk up the steps of the laboratory. As he walked closer, Geo noticed a familiar face having a conversation outside the foyer.
"Mr. Boreal!" Geo waved. The uncle-like figure turned around when he heard Geo's voice, taking the time to stop his conversation and wave back.
"Hey, Geo! What a nice surprise!" Aaron replied. As Geo neared the entrance of the laboratory, he noticed that Aaron wasn't having a conversation is just an average person, he was talking to a Satella Police member, his right shoulder holding the same star-shaped symbol he saw the night he met Mega. WAZA was a big deal, and Geo stopped in his tracks as soon as he noticed.
"Geo! I'd like you to meet Detective Bob Copper!" Aaron said as the two began to approach Geo. "We were just discussing a project that we're working on."
"Nice to meet you."
"Hi Geo! You must be the son of Kelvin Stelar! You have my sincerest condolences regarding your father. I've had the honor of meeting Kelvin a few times at WAZA," Bob said.
"Thanks…"
"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow, Detective," Aaron said.
"Sure thing. It was nice meeting you too, Geo," Bob said as he began to walk toward the exit of the laboratory grounds.
For a brief moment, Geo held his breath as he watched the detective leave the facility and into his police car. What was a Satella Police member doing with Mr. Boreal? Sure, he was a former WAZA scientist, but that was years ago, before the Peace Space Station incident…
"Sorry, Mr. Boreal. Was I interrupting something?" Geo asked.
"Not at all! What can I do for you, Geo!" Aaron asked.
"Well, I was wanted to stop by-"
"Oh my goodness! Fancy seeing you here, Geo!" a familiar voice yelled from behind.
"Hehe, what a surprise," Mega remarked.
Geo and Aaron turned toward the direction of the voice and after Geo saw where its source came from, the teenager was less than pleased.
"You have got to be kidding me…"
Walking up the steps of AMAKEN were Luna, Bud, and Zack. The trio held a gracious smile on their faces to please the unaware Aaron, though Geo knew it was a facade.
"What do you guys want?" Geo muttered.
"We were just on our way to visit the AMAKEN museum!" Bud exclaimed.
"Yes! AMAKEN is full of space history and technology that'll inspire our upcoming science project," Zack added.
"There is no way this is a coincidence. Are you guys stalking me?" Geo asked. It was a serious consideration from the brown-haired teenager. After all, he knew that they were only here to make him join their little gang.
"Of course not!" Luna said.
"Though we almost lost you on one of the subway transfers."
"Zip it, Bud!" Luna said. "We are aspiring academics, you know?"
Luna turned toward the visibly confused Aaron and offered a handshake. "Hi! I'm Luna Platz, one of Geo's friends from school!"
Aaron wasn't entirely sure what to make of their conversation, but they were high-school kids, and Geo didn't outright reject them…
"Well, a friend of Geo is a friend of mine too!" Aaron said as he openly accepted Luna's handshake. "I'm Aaron Boreal, the Head of AMAKEN Labs!"
"Incredible… You're the owner of AMAKEN?" Zack asked.
"Sure am!" Aaron said with a warm smile.
"It's such an honor to meet you, sir!" Zack ran up to the chubby middle-aged man, with Bud alongside him.
"What in the world is happening right now?" Geo asked as he watched the Luna trio chatting and laughing with the always-friendly Aaron. If Luna and her lackeys truly befriended Aaron, this wouldn't be the last time Geo would encounter them if he visited AMAKEN. He placed his face in his hands as he sighed in frustration.
"Hehe, looks like you have competition," Mega said.
"Remember that I'm doing this for you," Geo muttered as walked up to the Luna trio and loudly cleared his throat. Luna took notice as she turned around, and in a move that shocked even Geo, she placed her arms around the surprised teenage boy, as if they were close friends.
"Thanks for bringing us along, Geo!" Luna smiled.
Geo sighed in defeat after listening to Luna's comment. He certainly didn't want to have those three tagging along with him on his visit to AMAKEN, but he also didn't want to make that big of a fuss in front of Mr. Boreal.
"Just don't get in my way," he simply said, shaking off Luna and walking toward the laboratory's foyer by himself.
Museum ticket machines to the right, science laboratories to the left, a gift shop right beside him, and a massive spaceship logo painted onto the floor of the massive room… the lobby of AMAKEN Labs looked just as clean as he remembered it.
"How does it feel to be back?" Aaron said, walking up beside Geo. Following suit, of course, was the Luna trio, and turning around to face Aaron, Geo tried his best to keep them out of sight.
"It hasn't been that long since I've visited," Geo replied.
"Well, it sure has missed you!" Aaron said, patting Geo on the back as he walked in front of him and turned around, facing the four high-schoolers as if he were a tour guide. "Follow me! I have a lot of fun stuff I would love to show you guys!"
After just a few minutes at the laboratory, it would be an understatement to say the Luna trio was surprised by the inventions they saw on the tour, they were completely shocked. Even Geo, who was familiar with a few things that Aaron had been working on, was pleasantly intrigued by some of the new projects he saw, on occasion, glancing at his phone in hopes that Mega would share the same reaction.
"So? What do you think?" Geo asked.
"So far? It's not bad."
"Oh here's a pretty cool invention that a co-worker of mine is making!" Aaron said as he stopped in front of a messy table. He pointed at a backpack in the center, which was coupled with a mechanical wing on both sides. "This is a flap-pack!"
"Wow! That's so cool!" Zack and Bud said as they raced over to look at the backpack.
"So this thing allows you to fly?" Luna asked.
"Yes, it does!" Aaron said. "My co-worker Tom has made it fully operational but it does need to have some safety requirements before it's released to the public."
"Hmm… what's this thing to your right?" Mega asked. Geo glanced to his right, and curious about the object himself, he strayed away from the group, walking up towards what seemed to be a purple-ish energy gun.
"Of course, the thing you're interested in is a gun," Geo remarked.
"No, this is different," Mega explained. "Look at how it's structured. This is capable of manipulating electromagnetic waves."
"Really?" Geo asked. He took a closer look at the electromagnetic weapon. It certainly looked stranger to him than the other inventions Aaron has worked on, especially because Aaron usually doesn't build guns…
"I think. That's incredible. I've never seen a weapon like that before, even on the other planets I've been to," Mega said.
"Yeah well, Mr. Boreal is a genius when it comes to these sort of things-"
"Is there something you're interested in, Geo?" Aaron asked, his question startling Geo in his spot. Quickly trying to avoid suspicion of talking to an alien, he placed his phone back into his pocket and pretended like he was interested in the firearm in front of him.
"Uh- what exactly is that?"
"Ah! This is a project I've been working on called the Z-Wave Neutralizer!"
"Z-Wave Neutralizer?"
"Yes! Theoretically, this weapon is supposed to separate electromagnetic matter from physical matter, like a magnet. It's still a work in progress though, I haven't finished it yet," Aaron explained.
"How'd you come up with this idea?" Geo asked.
"This was actually commissioned by WAZA yesterday. That's why a friend of mine you've met, Bob Copper, was here earlier today," Aaron explained.
Geo's eyes widened as he began to realize why Aaron was developing this weapon: to combat wave-changed people like himself and Mega. Suddenly the brown-haired teenager was interested in this EM neutralizer.
"You developed a fully-functioning gun in a day?" Geo asked.
"I've been working on a ton of projects involving electromagnetic waves, and apparently those aliens on the news are composed of them," Aaron said. "It wasn't that much of a different experience compared to what I'm already working on. Generally… I'm opposed to making weapons but I trust WAZA will keep it in the right hands."
Aaron's explanation confirmed Geo's worst fears. If this weapon was being sent to WAZA in order to combat FM-ians like Mega, it would undoubtedly be used against Geo at some point in the future.
There was a part of him that wanted to tell Aaron everything. All about his encounter at Vista Point with Mega, the whole situation regarding his father and the FM-ians coming to Earth to kill Mega, and his EM wave change that happened yesterday. He did trust Aaron to help him out, but he didn't want this whole fiasco to brand his name forever.
Geo closed his eyes before sighing deeply. If Geo could just resolve this incident and learn about his father in peace, this partnership with Mega would just be a temporary thing. There was no need to get other people involved. They would probably just be a nuisance anyways.
"Does it… kill?" Geo asked hesitantly.
"I'm surprised you're interested in this project that much, but this is a top-secret project so I can't really elaborate on that," Aaron said smiling. "To be frank, I really shouldn't have said anything so I trust you can keep it a secret, Geo."
"Of course," Geo said.
"Thanks a lot, Geo! Follow me, I have something even cooler to show you!" Aaron said.
Geo followed Aaron, where the latter led the teenager group to a different section within a laboratory. Stopping at an incredibly messy desk, Aaron held up a strange-looking device to show to his guests.
"This is what I've been working on for a while," Aaron said, handing the device off to Geo. The brown-haired teenager didn't know what to make of it, observing what seemed to be an electronic device with a metallic band attached to it. Out of curiosity, he placed his left arm inside the band as he watched the device begin to power up.
"What is this?" Geo asked.
"I call it a Transer," Aaron said. "It's a mobile device, just like your phones, but it has a few incredible features."
"Like what?" Luna asked. She watched as Aaron picked up another transer aside him and began to work his magic on the device. After a few seconds, the AMAKEN scientist looked back at Luna.
"Like this," Aaron said. He clicked a button on the transer, and slowly but surely, an object began to materialize in front of their eyes. Seemingly out of nowhere, a holographic image of a small umbrella appeared and in an instant, transformed into physical matter before falling on the floor at the center of the lab.
"Ok, that's pretty cool," Mega commented. The FM-ian wasn't the only one that shared that sentiment, as everyone else's jaw dropped in amazement. To finish it all off, Aaron picked the umbrella off the floor and opened it, showing it off to his guests.
"W-what was that?" Zack exclaimed.
"Pretty cool, right?" Aaron asked. He pressed a few buttons on the transer that ultimately made the umbrella dissipate before beginning to answer Zack's question. "What you just saw there is the materialization of an umbrella using a special type of electromagnetic waves called Matter Waves."
"Matter Waves?" Bud asked.
"Yes! They're a special kind of electromagnetic waves that we've developed at AMAKEN that can form objects like that umbrella you just saw," Aaron explained.
"That's amazing," Luna replied. "I mean, this has to be the next big thing right?"
"Hehe, I'm not entirely sure," Aaron said, trying to maintain his modesty. "There has to be a bunch of safety restrictions before this gets released to the public. I can't have people materializing weapons to use against others."
Suddenly, Zack's phone began to ring. The short member of the Luna trio rummaged through his back pocket, and upon picking up his phone, his eyes widened as he ran to Luna in a hurry.
"Prez! We have to plan and rehearse your speeches for the Student Body Debates coming up!" Zack exclaimed.
"Drats, we scheduled that for today?" Luna asked.
"Y-yes," Zack said. He glanced at Luna's stern face before following up with a more pleasing response to the young blonde's ears. "But if you want, we could just work at that another time."
"Y-yeah, Zack and I could work on that on our own tonight!" Bud added. The blonde tilted her head, seriously considering her options before sighing at her two lackeys and making her way towards the exit.
"I guess it can't be helped," Luna said, turning around at Aaron and Geo before she left. "Thank you so much for welcoming us, Mr. Boreal!"
"Haha, no problem!" Aaron said, waving at the Luna trio. "As I said before, a friend of Geo's is a friend of mine!"
"And thank you SO much Geo for bringing us along with you!" Luna said with a teasing smile.
"Ack," Geo said. "Bye."
Mildly satisfied with Geo's lackluster response, the class president left the laboratory room they were in, with Zack and Bud tagging along behind her, leaving Aaron and Geo left in the room. Once they were gone, the brown-haired teenager sat in a lab chair and sighed a breath of relief.
"Well, that was fun!" Aaron said.
"I never invited them to join," Geo explained.
"Oh I could tell," Aaron said, walking up to and then sitting beside the exhausted Geo. "But they seemed genuinely friendly, don't you think?"
"Their trio seems like an abusive relationship," Geo coldly responded.
"Maybe on the outside," Aaron said. "But I've seen enough of this world to know what respect looks like. Those three have it for each other."
Geo didn't bother responding to Aaron's comment. He knows Aaron wouldn't lie to him about such a trivial thing, but he also knew he wanted Geo to do something he wasn't to do: make friends.
Because that would mean he would move on from his father's disappearance.
"I'm not trying to rush you or anything, Geo," Aaron said as if he were reading his mind. "Take your time."
Once again, Geo wasn't sure how to respond. Slowly the teenager got up from his chair and began to head to the exit of the facility.
"Thanks for having me over, Mr. Boreal," Geo flatly said.
"Anytime, Geo!" Aaron said.
"So, lesson one on how to kill Geo's mood is to mention anything about friendship, noted," Mega remarked. Geo rolled his eyes as he glanced at the stars of the now dark-nightly sky.
"I told you this before I don't have any interest in friendships," Geo said, gritting his teeth.
"I see… I guess you don't care enough for information about your father," Mega said. Geo closed his eyes, cursing himself for forgetting about their bet. In truth, today was a good opportunity to "fake" a friendship with the Luna trio. He was just caught so off guard that he didn't have the time to put up a facade…
"Damn it, I forgot about that," Geo said. "I'll figure something out on Monday. They'll come to me anyway."
"How's it going, Geo?" a voice said from behind. The comment caught Geo completely off guard, startling the teenager as he instinctively turned behind him to find the WAZA member that was talking to Aaron earlier today: Bob Copper. He was leaning on the side of his car, his arms crossed as he stared at the night sky before turning his attention towards Geo.
"Hi Officer," Geo stated plainly.
"Isn't it crazy? In a matter of hours, our beliefs on the existence of aliens went from a mere possibility to an absolute certainty," Bob ranted. "Cable television and the internet during the past twenty-four hours have been absolutely insane. I mean there is a genuine and serious concern that the so-called 'MegaMan' and the incident yesterday was the beginning of aliens using Earth as a battleground for their wars."
"That sounds scary…" Geo said, trying to sound concerned.
"You know, come to think of it, the MegaMan incident occurred at your school didn't it, Geo?" Bob commented.
Geo instinctively began to tense up. There was a sort of eerieness that he felt when he was confronted by Bob, and now he realized why, why Bob was even waiting here in the first place…
"You know, the Satella Police detected a similar energy source the night before as well, and some cameras showed that you were around the area during that time. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Bob meticulously asked.
"I'm really sorry, officer, I don't," Geo said shaking his head. "It's just a coincidence."
Geo had hoped his responses were enough to at least redirect suspicion for now. There was a brief moment of silence that had Geo worried before Copper began to burst out in laughter.
"Haha! I'm sure it is," Bob said as he loosened up, opening his car door as he began to depart from the facility. "Have a good night and stay safe."
Geo watched as the car slowly begin to drive away, once again leaving him alone with his alien partner.
"You know he didn't believe you, right?" Mega said.
"Yeah, I know," Geo sighed in frustration. This was the last thing he wanted. If people were to connect him to the MegaMan that saved the day yesterday, his life would change forever, and the last thing organization he wanted on his back was WAZA.
"Looks like we have problems at home too."
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully, things will start to ramp up soon since by July I should be on break.
(Please Review, Follow, Fav if you enjoyed the fanfic; helps with motivation).