World Reset

Chapter 19 – The Pain of the Past

Vent let out a sigh once he looked around the area and saw that he was on his own, "No use, Omega's out of here," Vent walked over to the hole on the ceiling, "But I get the feeling that wasn't the last time I'm going to see him…" Vent let out another sigh before he transformed back to his ZX form and climbed through the hole.

Vent pulled out his saber and buster once more as more Mechaniloids, which were actually an army of Galleons with their armors golden instead of the normal purple. Vent shot a single buster shot at a nearby golden Galleon Hunter, which took the attack head on but managed to survive. The golden Galleons closed in on Vent, but he released a charged shot from his buster to clear the path.

Vent dashed through a little into the army of golden Galleons before using his Rising Fang attack to clear the way out from more of the Galleons, only to have more of them around him. Vent slashed them away quickly before taking a broken Galleon head and kicked it at the other Galleons, knocking them out like dominoes.

"Wow, that was easy enough…" Vent commented as he looked at the pile of knocked down Galleons before putting away his buster and proceeded with his saber ready.

The brown-haired Guardian went through the door behind the Galleons into a room made of red gel and bits of golden wall. He walked through the red gel on his feet, only to have himself stuck before he pulled out his buster to blast away the sticky gel and moved on deeper into the room. Red spiked balls suddenly fell on him from the hole on the ceiling, but Vent quickly swung his saber around to destroy most of them while a few of them got stuck on his armor.

Vent stepped on a pool of red gel, which sucked him in to the ground quickly and he ended up getting to the lower floor. The Chosen One landed hard on the ground, which was made with pure gold and the red gel wasn't found in the golden room. Vent looked around in awe, but the room reminded him of the past battle with Omega.

'This area… It's just like Area N where I fought and defeated Omega for the first time…' Vent thought as he looked around and walked around in the area.

"Impressive, isn't it?" A familiar voice was heard and Vent turned to the direction where the voice came from to see the red Mega Man, "Vent, I just wish that I don't have to see you again like this… as enemies…"

"Then why are you working for Thomas, Boss?" Vent asked, hoping for a good answer, only to have Giro send out a sonic boom at him. The brown-haired Chosen One quickly dodged out of the way, letting the attack to hit the golden wall behind him before he turned back to his former boss, "Why are you trying to kill us now, Boss? Why don't you come back to us once you come back to life?"

"The answer is very simple, Vent, and I was hoping that you would know the answer now that you're much older," Giro swung his saber to his side, "Lord Thomas gave me life, and I'm returning the favor to him. He saved my life, and I'm going to save his life along with his dreams of creating a new world, just like how I saved you and Aile."

"It's not the same!" Vent rejected angrily, "Why can't you see the evil ways Thomas did in order to create a new world?! He sent Mavericks to attack people, and he used me and the other Chosen Ones to go against my friends… and Aile…"

Giro let out a chuckle, "That's just what he needs. The distraction. A sacrifice is needed to create a new world. Those who became the sacrifice should be proud because without them, a new world is impossible to make," Giro turned to Vent as his eyes beneath his visor turned into glowing red, "Maybe Aile will feel proud if she becomes the sacrifice for the new world."

The brown-haired Chosen One let out an angry growl before he angrily charged at Giro with his saber, clashing it against the blond Reploid's. Giro sent out a Z-shaped slash at Vent, who took the attack head on as he didn't have the time to dodge and got knocked away to the golden wall behind him.

Vent got back to his feet and pulled out his buster before charging it, allowing Giro to unleash a big slash attack at Vent. Using his saber, Vent blocked the slash but the impact had made him crash into the wall before he could even release his charged shot. Giro jumped back, distancing himself from his former friend before stabbing his saber hard on the ground and small pillars of energy started coming out from the ground.

Vent dodged the pillars by moving in a zigzag pattern before releasing his charged shot and knocked Giro along with his saber back. The Guardian sent out his Rising Fang attack, catching the former boss off guard, and knocked him to the other side of the room. Giro hit the wall hard before sliding down the wall slowly and landed on the ground.

The glowing red eyes had slowly died down a bit, but suddenly went back to the glowing red eyes before Giro picked up his dropped saber and charged at Vent. The two sabers clash, and neither side were weaker as the sabers were in place with both Chosen Ones pushing each other's saber away. Giro purposely closed in on Vent before landing a hard kick on his stomach, knocking him away.

With Vent down, Giro took Vent's dropped saber with his free hand and walked over to the fallen Guardian, only to fall victim to the released charged shot from Vent's buster. Giro was thrown back to the ground before Vent got up and took his saber back as Giro had dropped the two sabers before landing on the golden ground.

Vent looked down at Giro, whose glowing red eyes were no longer visible through the purple visor, and pointed his saber down, "You're not really Boss, are you? I remember him training me with wooden swords and he never fought dirty before."

Giro coughed a little before letting out a smile, "You've grown strong… Vent…" The Guardian pulled his saber back in surprise, "I know… training you and Aile… isn't a wasted effort…"

"Boss…" Vent knelt down next to his old boss and friend.

The smile on the blond Chosen One's face turned into a frown, "That Thomas… he's looking for you… That's why… he brought me back… and put some kind of mind controller… to fight against you…" The smile returned to the blond Reploid's face, "Don't give up, Vent… He's… close by…"

Giro's body glowed brightly before it turned into a small sphere of light and flew away. Vent saw as the light flew away and disappeared before slamming his fists angrily on the ground, "You'll pay for this, Thomas!"

"Vent!" The brown-haired Guardian turned around as he heard the voice of the silver-haired Hunters coming from behind him.

Vent got up to his feet and turned to the Hunters with the feeling of anger still on his face, "We've got to find Thomas and fast! I can't forgive him for what he did to Boss!"

"Calm down, Vent!" Grey spoke up, "We can't do much if we don't know where we should go!"

"Plus…" Ashe added, "Aile wanted you to come back safely. If we rush in without knowing where we're going, it's going to cost us our lives!" Ashe let out a sigh before she recalled the event when Aile called her before she was about to leave.

-Flashback-

"Ashe!" Ashe turned to the female brown-haired Guardian, who had a worried look on her face, "I want you to tell Vent something…"

"Sure," Ashe nodded and walked over to Aile, "What is the message?"

"I just want to say… that I love him too much to lose him…" Aile lowered her head and put a hand over her stomach, "And I don't want for this child to live without having a father…"

"Okay… I'll pass it to him," Ashe nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, I'll even drag him back here by force if he decides to do something suicidal!"

Aile let out a laugh, "Thanks Ashe…"

-End of Flashback-

"… and that's what she wanted me to tell you," Ashe ended her story and Vent nodded in understanding.

"Okay, I understand," Vent nodded and smiled, "We'll beat Thomas, and return safely!"

"That's not going to happen," A familiar voice echoed in the room as it started shaking, "Not while I still have something in my sleeves!"