Yeah, Forte has a really tough fulfilling his goal, don't worry, he'll redeem himself soon. Anyways, a few more chapters before I start writing a sequel. Here's the next chapter:
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Resistance Trailer
"Well, I'm fully repaired. I'm going to Ragnarok." Zero gets ready to leave, but gets stopped by Ciel's hand on his shoulders. "What?"
"The humans at the Settlement said that they wanted to talk with us." Ciel stands up and heads for the door. "I think we should both go, to help create a new bound between reploids and humans."
"Alright, I guess I need a bit more time before I go on Ragnarok." The two of them head outside to Area Zero.
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Area Zero
All the humans in the Settlement are standing at the entrance waiting for them. Neige is the first to speak.
"Zero… You've finally come this far… You truly are a legend. As a journalist, or even as a human being, I have thousands of questions to ask you, but those can wait for another day. Zero… Make sure you come back in one piece."
A guard takes over after Neige finishes. "Everyone at the Settlement owes you a lot. We'll never forget what you've done for us, Zero."
"Thank you, Zero. You've helped us all realize our mistakes. Even if Neo Arcadia didn't attack us, we would have still been torn apart if it wasn't for yours and Ciel's support. We'll all join together and transform this land into a wonderful place for humans and reploids."
"Mister… When we're not at war, are you going to leave us? It's gonna be lonely without you around. I promise, the next time you see me, I'll be stronger." Typhon says his farewell before another guard steps in.
"When I first met you and the rest of the Resistance, I didn't like you. Now, I'm happy that we ran into you." The guard turns to Ciel. "Let's start a new chapter in the history of humans and reploids…"
"Area Zero… Without nature… Without hope… Everybody had given up on the world, but the world had not given up. This is the start of a new beginning, now, humans and reploids must work together to preserve this precious opportunity for future generations. When I first left Neo Arcadia, I never thought I'd trust a reploid. If there are others like you, then the world is in good hands."
"When this war is over, you're gonna leave, aren't you? Will we ever meet again? I guess it's your duty to help all Reploids and humans out there, and it'll be sad for all of us to see you go. We'll all look forward to seeing you again someday…"
"We've had our differences, but I'm glad we could be friends in the end. Thank you all for everything!" All the people in the Settlement finish talking as Ciel responds.
"I'd like to thank you all for your understanding. We'll finally be able to create a better future for both reploids and humans."
"I will stop Ragnarok, you can count on that."
"Well, I guess we shouldn't keep you from going to Ragnarok." Neige looks at Ciel and Zero. "Good luck to both of you!"
"Alright Zero, let's go back."
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Resistance Trailer
"It's finally time for Ragnarok."
"I'll transfer you inside. Try to find a way to disable Ragnarok's core without destroying it. If the core is destroyed, Ragnarok may break apart."
"With both Weil and Craft gone, who could be controlling Ragnarok?" Ciel ponders the question before facing Zero. "Zero, I have a bad feeling about this. Just be careful, okay?"
"Alright…" Zero warps out of the room, leaving Ciel and Rouge alone. Zero, please be alright. I need your support in order to create peace between humans and reploids. Zero, I want you to see the rewards of your efforts…
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Ragnarok Core
"Zero! This isn't good, Ragnarok is speeding up! If you can halt the core now, then you might still be able to stop it!"
I need to hurry! Zero rushes through a door to find eight familiar faces.
"Well, Zero, are you gonna enjoy watching the end of the world unfold with the eight of us?"
"How are the eight of you alive!? Get out of the way, I need to destroy Ragnarok!"
"It's too late now. do you honestly think you can stop all eight of us by yourself? Even if you do manage to pull that off, the earth is done." Looks like I have no other choice.
"Hurry, Zero!" The three Guardians warp into the room. "We'll hold them off." Harpuia gets out his dual blades.
"There's too many of them for the three of you!"
"Don't worry about us, Zero." Leviathan gets out her staff as well. "We were built to protect humanity, and we're going through with that."
"Hurry, Zero. I want to be the one to defeat you after you stop Ragnarok!" Fefnir gets out his twin busters.
"Alright then, good luck." Zero prepares to dash out of the room, but gets blocked by Pegasolta.
"Where do you think you're going, Zero? The fun has only just begun, stay here and enjoy the end of the world." Pegasolta gets pushed out of the way by an ice javelin. "What!? Tech Kraken, what are you doing!?"
"I won't stand by and let the world be destroyed. I will carry out the will of Phantom and protect this world. I've seen my mistakes in helping with Ragnarok, and I plan to make amends. Go, Zero, hurry!" Zero leaves the room as the four reploids cover for him.
"You may have betrayed us, Tech, but it's seven on four. You are still outnumbered no matter how you look at it!"
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Zero enters the room to see a large blade like piece of machinery in the center of the room. This must be it! Ragnarok's Core!
"Hehehe… Welcome to your front seat for the end of the world…" A familiar voice enters the room as Zero prepares to disable the core.
"That voice… Dr. Weil! How did you survive that attack from Ragnarok!" Weil warps into the room with his helmet broken. His long pale grey hair and skin makes him look like a zombie. His left eye seems to be almost popping out of his sockets while his other one is more normal.
"Survive? That's easy… Because I can't die!"
"What happened to you!?"
"Hehehe… Did my mechanical body surprise you? Did you think that I was a reploid and that you can fight me? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm pure human… Even with a body that looks like this!"
"How…"
"At the end of the Elf Wars, the humans of the time modified me. They transferred all my memories into program data and switched my body with this power to rejuvenate. I can't age and wounds heal more quickly than normal. After the war, I was cast aside for eternity to live in a world without light or nature… The humans expelled me from Neo Arcadia!"
A white light surrounds Dr. Weil as the Ragnarok Core splits apart. The pieces encase Dr. Weil, transforming his body.
"I'll teach you that there is no place for fools to hide! Fools must live under my rule and mine alone! Thanks to Ragnarok, they will!" Zero transforms his armor into a dark black color and prepares to attack. Zero dashes at Weil and attempts to cut him with his Z-Saber, but Weil fades away and avoids the attack.
"You have no hope of winning, Zero!" Weil reappears and splits into four Weils. The one to the right is real! Weil starts to solidify as Zero swings his Z-Saber, sending a charged slash at him.
Weil throws six knives onto the ground while hitting Zero. Weil summons an electric orb before fading away. The electric orb starts to shoot small energy bullets everywhere. Zero manages to dodge all of them before getting shocked in his leg. Where did that attack come from!?
Zero jumps up again and looks down, and sees that some of the electric bullets hit the six daggers, conducting electricity on the floor. So that's it, in that case I'll have to destroy the daggers!
Zero goes down with a downward stab, avoiding an electric bullet. He destroys the dagger to the far left side and launches two ice waves, destroying all six remaining daggers. Zero continues to dodge the electric bullets before the orb disappears.
Weil reappears on the other side of the room and raises his hand. Grey meteors appear, aimed in diagonally. Zero manages to avoid most of the attacks and destroy any incoming meteors.
"Hehehe, now try to dodge this!" Another wave of meteors appears, but some of them are gold instead of grey. The gold ones are directly aimed at me! Zero tries to destroy the gold meteors with his saber, but it didn't work. Zero dashes backward to avoid it, but gets hit by a grey meteor.
I need something more powerful to destroy the grey ones…. Zero clutches onto his saber and sends an upward flame saber slash, destroying the gold meteor. Zero gets hit by a meteor from behind and gets knocked down.
Zero tries to get up, but meteors crash onto him, forcing him to stay down. I need to get some more hits on Weil! Weil finishes his attack and fades away. Where's he gonna appear now?
Weil appears behind Zero as Zero dashes away. Weil summons eight blue balls in an arc shaped pattern and launches it, making it spread into the floor. Zero manages to dodge it and launch a charged Z-Buster shot at Weil.
There, I hit him. I need to focus more on attacking while I still have the chance. Weil warps away and reappears on the other side of the room. Zero quickly uses a charged Z-Saber slash before getting out of the way as Weil repeats his Arc Spray. Zero gets hit once from being so close to Weil as Weil fades away again.
"Nice try, Zero, but it's going to take a lot more than that before you can defeat me!" Weil reappears and fires four green orbs onto the ground. Those things aren't moving, what's he planning to do? Weil absorbs the orbs as his wounds start to heal. It's a healing attack! I shouldn't have given him that chance!
Weil creates a large hexagonal block of ice on the ground. It splits into three smaller moving diamonds as it goes towards Zero. Zero manages to dodge one, but charges right at the other two. He manages to get five hits in on Weil before Weil warps out.
I've taken a lot of damage in the battle. I need to think of something else, I can't keep this up forever. Weil reappears and raises his hand again, sending grey meteors at Zero. Zero charges through the meteors, spinning his Z-Saber to destroy incoming meteors before he starts slashing Weil.
Zero hits Weil five times before getting hit directly in the chest, knocking him down. Another gold meteor pierces him in the left leg, slowing down his movement. There's too many of them for me to avoid! Zero gets out his Z-Saber and slashes, getting hit by another gold meteor before Weil warps out.
"You did a lot more damage than I expected, Zero, but you're still not good enough." Four Weils appear after he finishes talking. One of them starts to solidify. There! Zero executes a flaming upward slash, damaging Weil as he throws the six daggers.
I can't dodge this, I'll need to take a risk! Zero switches to his Z-Knuckle and grabs onto the incoming dagger. He throws it at Weil, stunning him for a moment as he starts slashing with his Z-Saber. Weil summons the electric orb and fades away.
Zero manages to do a flip in the air and avoid an electric bullet. He launches an ice wave to destroy the daggers before continuing to dodge the bullets. One bullet manages to hit him in his injury. Zero screams in pain as Weil laughs.
"Hehehe, you can't go on much longer, can you? You've put up a good fight, but this next move will finish you off!" Weil summons a multicolored glowing orb before fading away.
What the!? Blazing Flizard appears in the corner and uses his flamethrower on Zero, knocking him down. Flizard disappears and Inarabbita appears, diving downwards to Zero. Zero manages to roll out of the way, but Inarabitta releases four ice shards, one of them hitting Zero.
Schilt appears in the corner and shoots three electric balls in different heights. Zero tries to jump, but lands into the highest electric ball. Is he going to call out all of his former reploids!? Mantisk appears and throws his claw at Zero. Zero manages to dash under the claw and tries to slash at Mantisk, but his saber goes straight through Mantisk.
Those are just illusions, but the attacks are real!? The claw goes back and Zero jumps out of the way. Foxtar appears in the middle of the room and raises her hand up, launching multiple purple flames. Zero manages to dodge them as Foxtar disappears. Zero takes a breather and Cactank appears above him and slams right into him, crushing Zero to the ground.
I need to get up! Volteel plugs his tail into the ground, electrocuting the whole floor and Zero for a few moments before he warps out. I can't hang on much longer… Kelverian falls down onto Zero, crushing his armor. The multicolored orb disappears as Weil reappears.
"Hehehe, so the legendary reploid hero has finally been defeated." Zero's armor reverts back to its original color as Zero looks at Weil. I can barely see him now… Zero tries to get up but Weil silences him with a knife. "Stay down and watch in despair as I destroy earth!"
My power levels are lowering… I can't hang on… Sorry, everyone… Zero closes his eyes to be surrounded by darkness.
-----Flashback-----
Zero stands in Maverick Hunter HQ, facing a brown haired female reploid. Who is she? Why does she seem so familiar?
Who are you? Is what Zero tries to say, but his mouth acts on its own accords. "Why did you come here, Iris?"
Iris? "I just wanted to congratulate you Zero." Iris pauses for a moment. "Thanks to you and X, all of us are safe. Still, even after all this, the humans distrust us. Do you think that there'll ever be peace?"
"There will be, Iris, I promise."
"You're just saying that to make me feel better. Barely any humans or reploids even tried to make a better relationship with the other. It'll be impossible at this rate."
"Believe me, Iris, there will be peace between the two sides. If no one else will try to do it, then I'll have to do it myself."
"Alright, promise me that, Zero."
"I will. I guarantee it."
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"Are you really planning to leave the Maverick Hunters, Zero?" X looks at his friend packing his things. "I know it was hard for you, having to battle Colonel and Iris, but people still need you."
"It's not just that." Zero pauses for a moment. "What Sigma said was right, I was a maverick once and that won't change. I don't want to hurt anyone else, X. I need to leave this place and be alone."
"If you give up now, Zero, you're already hurting a lot of people. People are in trouble right now, and they will continue to be in trouble without your help. Do you really think running away will solve anything?"
"What am I suppose to do then? Live in fear everyday of what happened? Wondering when I'll lose someone else close to me?"
"If you don't fight, then you've already lost everyone close to you. You had to fight Colonel and Iris to save everyone else. You didn't do anything wrong. It doesn't matter that you're a Maverick."
"Fine then, I'll stay, but you better make it worth my while."
"Alright, so… you want to go get some ice cream? It'll be my treat."
"You better be paying."
-----End Flashback------
Ciel… Zero sees Ciel with her back turned to him. She starts walking away as he desperately tries to reach for her. Wait…
Ciel keeps on walking as Zero tries to chase after her. Why isn't the distance between us closing!? Ciel turns her head. Zero sees her pale blue eyes and sees exhaustion coming from it.
"Ciel?" She seems to completely ignore him as the darkness changes. Zero sees dead humans and reploids on the ground as Ciel slowly starts to fall down. Is this the doing of Ragnarok?
"CIEL!!!" Ciel drops onto Zero's lap as he tries to shake her. "No, I won't let this happen! I won't let you or anybody else die, Ciel! WEIL!!!!!!!!!"
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"Hehehe, that was pathetic…" Zero's body starts to glow and transform. The armor starts bulging out, resembling the shape of Zero's original body. "How's this possible!? You shouldn't be alive!"
Weil raises his hand, sending meteors crashing down onto the ground. Zero gets out his Z-Saber and notices something different. It's become blue… Is it calling me to be drawn? Zero grabs onto his Z-Saber and swings it in an arc, sending a large saber wave, destroying all the meteors.
"What is this power!?" Weil tries to back away but Zero appears behind him, slashing with his Z-Saber. Electricity starts gushing out of Dr. Weil as Zero slams his fist into the ground. Large energy beams rain down from the sky, destroying the whole room.
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"There's too many of them! We can't possibly win…" Leviathan dodges an electric attack from Pegasolta only to be hit with a flaming uppercut from Heat Genblem.
The other two Guardians aren't in any better conditions as they get hit by the other reploids. "This situation is hopeless, but we have to buy time for Zero!" Harpuia stands up to battle, but Tech Kraken stops them.
"Get out of here, now!"
"What are you saying!? The seven of them will rip you apart." Tech Kraken stands in the middle of the room as the other members of the Einherjar stay still.
"Has the traitor finally decided to give up?"
"Get out of here, Guardians. I've served Lord Weil, and now I must pay the price. Phantom died with dignity, protecting his superiors, and I need to do the same. I'm coming to you, Master Phantom, forgive me that I couldn't avenge you." The three Guardians warp out of the room as Tech self destructs, taking all seven remaining reploids with him.
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Man, that's a lot of typing. A few more chapters before this story is over and before I start season two of the series. Remember to R&R ).