Well guys, here's the epilouge. Remember that most of these are my own ideas, and aren't official. If anything doesn't make sense, then tell me and I'll try my best to change it.
-----------------------------------------------------------
It's been years since the defeat of Dr. Weil. Ciel and the Resistance, now known as the Guardians, worked together with the Human Settlement and the survivors of Neo Arcadia to help create peace between humans and reploids.
New technological advancements were made with their joint efforts. Humans were given reploid enhancements, these humans were known as humanoids. Reploids were also given upgrades to be more humanlike.
Now, people can barely tell the difference between humans and reploids anymore. The barrier that once stood once between the humans and reploids has diminished.
However, not everything can remain perfect.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Guardian HQ
"Sis, something has gone wrong in Area Zero. Three humanoids have gone berserk and are attacking the Settlement." Alouette, now calling herself Prairie, stood up. She was the same height and age as Ciel now.
"Alright, I'll go get a squad to retrieve them." Ciel walks off into the hall. Prairie looks at Ciel going towards Zero and X's room.
This is the beginning of something big, I can feel it.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Zero and X's Room
"Wake up, you two!" Zero and X jump out of bed to see Ciel at the entrance.
"Alright, Zero, go talk to her. I'll just stay here and get some more sleep." X dozes off again as Zero pokes X from his bed.
"Ow! Alright, I'm up. What do you need, Ciel?" X throws his pillow at Zero and turns to Ciel as he rubs his eyes.
"If you're going to spend all your time sleeping, X, why did you even decide to leave Cyberspace?" Zero rips the pillow out of his face and faces his friend.
"Nothing ever happens in there. I came here to be with you. I even share a room with you, aren't you glad that I'm here?" X pretends to sniffle, but doesn't fool anyone.
"Sorry, X, but I prefer females to males." X lunges at Zero, but Ciel stops the two of them from fighting.
"Anyways, I came to you two because something's going on. I wanted you two to come with me and help investigate Area Zero."
"What's wrong over there?" Zero looks at Ciel's worried look. Nothing dangerous has happened after Weil's defeat. It has to be something important if she's asking me and X.
"Prairie told me that three humanoids have gone insane and started attacking everyone. This can be dangerous." After she finishes talking, X and Zero's door gets broken donw and there stands Fefnir.
"Alright! I haven't had some action for a long time. I'm coming with you." X and Zero look at Fefnir, then at the door, then at Fefnir again.
"You're paying for that." Fefnir shrinks at hearing the venom in X's voice that he has gotten use to hearing in the last few years.
"Yes, Master X."
"Alright, let me get prepared and then meet me in the entrance of Area Zero." Ciel leaves the room as Zero drags Fefnir out.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Harpuia's Room
"Come on, Harpy, let's go with them." Leviathan looks at the green figure on his bed reading a book as she tries to persuade him.
"I'm sure Zero, X, and Fefnir can handle it. Don't you have anything better to do than listening to other people's conversations?"
"I want to go there with them. It's been so boring the last couple of years."
"Then go by yourself."
"Alright then," Leviathan sighs. "I guess I'll just go with three other guys and watch the sky with them."
"First off, Zero's taken, so that only leaves two guys. Secondly, I doubt you'll try anything with Fefnir, and that goes for X as well." Harpuia continues to read his book as Leviathan jumps onto his bed.
"Pleeeaaasee, Harpuia?" She looks at Harpuia with her sapphire eyes. Harpuia puts the book onto the floor and sighs.
"Alright, fine."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Area Zero
"You two are here as well?" Ciel takes a look at Harpuia and Leviathan. "How did you even know about this?" Harpuia just points at Leviathan. "That explains it."
"Anyways, we better go now. Remember, don't hurt them." Ciel and the others enter Area Zero to find Neige and some guards trying to hold back three humanoids.
Harpuia raises his blade in the air and electrifies the humanoids, knocking them out. "Alright, bring them back to Guardian HQ and we'll have them examined." Fefnir, X, and Zero each grab one of them.
Ciel turns to Neige. "What exactly happened?"
"I don't know. They found a piece of Ragnarok from what happened back then and investigated. We lost contact with them, and when they came back, they were like that."
"Ragnarok…" Ciel motions the three reploids and starts to walk. "Alright, we better go and see what's wrong."
"Alright, and Ciel…" Ciel turns back to Neige. "Be careful, I don't like the looks of this one bit."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Guardian HQ
"Ughh, what happened?" The humanoid wakes up to find himself in the infirmary of the Guardian HQ. He turns as his friends wake up.
"What happened to you three?" The humanoid turns to find Ciel, Zero, X, Fefnir, Leviathan, and Harpuia in the room.
"I don't know, one moment, we were investigating a part of Ragnarok. We found this small rocklike thing, and the next thing we know, we ended up here."
"Alright, I see." Ciel thinks for a moment. "Can you take us to where you found that rocklike device? You three should be able to move now."
"Alright," The three humanoids get up, leading the five reploids and human to a piece of Ragnarok.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Well, here we are. We should better get going now." The three humanoids turn to leave the area.
"Alright, thanks for your help." The three leave as Ciel looks at the five reploids. "Help me look around for anything suspicious."
After a few minutes of searching Zero stumbles onto something. As soon as he grabs it, he feels a chill. Kill them… What was that? Zero freezes completely as eh holds onto it.
"Hey, Zero, are you okay?" X looks at his friend's eyes and sees them dull and listless. "Zero, what's wrong!?" Zero grabs onto his Z-Saber and slashes at X, hitting him in the chest.
"X!" Harpuia helps X up as Fefnir tries to stop Zero. Zero punches Fefnir and pushes him to the ground. He attempts to go in closer, but Leviathan stops his movements by freezing the ground.
Zero slams his fist onto the ground, sending energy waves at everyone. "Zero, stop!" Ciel stands in front of Zero and opens her arms.
Zero seems to pause for a moment before the colors return to his eyes. He drops the thing and hugs Ciel.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Zero shows Ciel the thing controlling him. "Maybe you better handle it, since you're a human."
Ciel nods and grabs the thing as X and the others stand back up. "Alright, let's get back to headquarters. I want to get this analyzed.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Guardian HQ
"Well, sis, how is it?" Prairie goes in the room to find Ciel analyzing the thing. "Did you find anything?"
"This piece of metal seems to be a fragment of something. I don't know how to explain it, but it seems to have a life and soul of its own." Ciel looks at Prairie.
"What are you going to do now?" Prairie looks at Ciel, knowing the thoughtful look on her face.
"I'll go get Zero and the others to investigate more. I'll keep that fragment as a sample and search for what's left of Ragnarok. Maybe we'll find something."
"What about us? We can't go on without a leader." Ciel looks at Prairie, thinking for a moment.
"You be the leader."
"Me?"
"I trust you, Prairie. This is something I have to do." Ciel smiles for a moment. "Besides, we might be able to find out what happened to Forte."
Prairie looks up hopefully. "Yeah, I guess so. Good luck, sis. Should I get some Guardians to help you pack up your things?"
"Already taking up the role of leader, aren't we?" Ciel smiles at Prairie. "Alright, I'll tell the others."
-----------------------------------------------------------
It's been a few months since the start of their search and they managed to find more fragments. Ciel analyzes them and puts them together, getting more worried with each fragment. Ciel decided to call this biometal since it is metal with a life of its own.
How am I supposed to deal with this? I have no idea about how to destroy this thing. Ciel sighs as she looks at the data she managed to collect. Harpuia runs into the room.
"Ciel! There's something wrong with… Leviathan!"
"What? Take me to her…"
-----------------------------------------------------------
Leviathan lies in her bed, breathing heavily and experiencing pain. Ciel looks at her worriedly and pulls out some of her equipment, trying to discover what's wrong with her.
After a few moments, she puts the equipment away as the other reploids enter the room. "Well, what's wrong?"
"You remember what happened to Zero a few months ago, right?" The other reploids nod. "It seems that the biometal that took over Zero planted a virus inside Leviathan and all of you. Right now, she's fighting it off and this is what's causing her stress."
The reploids look at each other. "That means…"
"This may happen to all of you as well…" The room stays silent for a moment. Zero is the first to speak up.
"Is there anything we can do?" Ciel thinks it over for a moment.
Let's see what we know. The biometal's influence is slowly spreading through everyone's body. Wait, that's it! Ciel looks at the others. "There is one thing we can do…"
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Alright, so since it only influences the body, I can turn all of you into biometals as well." Ciel shows them something. "This biometal seems to get its powers from corrupting humanoids and reploids. I can transform you all into biometals as well to resist the influence."
"Is there anything we could do as biometals?" X thinks over Ciel's plans. "Do we get its powers to take over humanoids and reploids?"
"Well, you will be able to speak. If there is a suitable host, you will be able to merge with them and go into battle and do other things." The other four reploids nods as Leviathan lies exhausted.
"How long will the process take?"
"I can get it set up in a few days…"
-----------------------------------------------------------
Harpuia looks at Ciel's monitor and notices plans for six biometals. Ciel notices the look on Harpuia's face and explains.
"I've made a Biometal P, based off of Phantom's data. X has made a trip into Cyberspace to ask for his help and he wanted to get out of Cyberspace."
"I see…" Harpuia takes a look at what seems to be a reploid. "What's that?"
"Since the Biometals needed a suitable host, I made a host for Zero." Harpuia looks at the figure for a few moments.
"Well, it certainly looks like Zero." Just then, Harpuia pauses for a moment as a thought passes through his mind. "This isn't going to be another Copy X, is it?"
Ciel clenches her fist for a moment. "He won't even know why he's made. I've realized that I gave Copy X too many unrealistic expectations. He couldn't stand the pressure."
Harpuia thinks for a moment. "What if there is no suitable host?"
"I've created a device that will slowly repair your bodies over an extended period of time. It will also help create an immunization to the effects of the original biometal." Ciel pauses before considering her next words. "I'm not even sure if it will work, the success rate is pretty low."
"Alright then, Ciel, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure everything will be fine, Prairie is resourceful." Ciel nods as she tries to contact Guardian HQ again but gets static.
I guess I'll just have to keep a log and hope they manage to track it down. Ciel looks at the sleeping figure of the reploid. "Sleep well, Girouette."
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Alright, everything is prepared for the transfer. Get in the pods and I'll activate the process." All five reploids nod as they each get in their pods. Harpuia helps Leviathan to hers as Ciel gets everything in order.
A white light enters the room as well. "Alright, Phantom, just go over there and I'll transfer you to the biometal.
"Process complete, transfer successful," Ciel presses a few buttons on the pods as it closes. "Zero, I don't want to lose you again. Please be okay…" Ciel goes in a pod herself as she presses a few buttons.
"If this works, and your bodies are repaired, I will be waiting for you, Zero." Ciel closes the door. "Good bye, Prairie." The pod closes and freezes Ciel.
The biometals start to shake violently for a moment and warp out, leaving only Biometal X and Z in the area.
-----------------------------------------------------------
And this, my friends, is my theory on why Girouette and Zero look so much alike. Let's just say that he woke up one day with no idea of what he's suppose to do and wandered around.