Chapter three of Meteor Changes, or as it's now known as Altered. The name came to me when I was writing the sixth chapter of this story, in which it seemed to fit better than the last title.

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Remember the RER: Read, Enjoy, and Review. If you flame, I get roasted marshmallows. =-P

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"Who are you?!" Aleron yelled out, seeing the smoke starting to clear.

When it was clear enough, there was a person hovering in their spot, small jets of flames shooting form the mechanical boots to keep them afloat. Following further up the leg was a pair of dark forest camo pants, the left leg having what looked like an Uzi submachine gun in its holster. Around the waist was several pouches, as well as canisters and grenades, as well as several RPG rockets.

The chest was shown next, having a suit of armor almost like Aleron's, though a military gray and brown color, with a form of insignia scratched into the chest part. The arms were next to be exposed, bare except colored with various tattoos. In the grip of the hands was a missile launcher, the barrel of it slightly smoking. The face was last to be shown, the person having a harsh glare and wearing what looked like a breather over his nose and mouth. A black beret covered the top of the mans head, the edge of it a navy blue color. A closer look shown that the right eye didn't have an iris or pupil, rather a reticle for one.

Scanning… …threat level: High. Abilities currently unknown.

"My name is Commander Axton, former soldier of the US Army." the solder introduced, grabbing another rocket from the belt.

"Wait, if you used to be in the army, why did you fire on me?" Aleron questioned, on guard for another blast.

"I'm doing this because I aim to make this country safer, starting with you!" Axton yelled, having reloaded the RPG and aimed it at the mech.

The rocket primed and fired from the weapon, speeding towards Aleron who quickly jumped out of the way, the distance of such surprising him.

"Are you mad?! There are innocents here!" Aleron fired at the soldier after he regained his balance.

"So? You can't win wars without casualties!" he responded, dropping the RPG and whipping out an assault rifle, loading ammo into it and readying it to fire.

Crossing his arms defensively, Aleron blocked the hail of bullets from the rifle, most ricocheting off his armor and zipping out elsewhere. He wasn't concerned about the damage done to him rather the safety of others, more importantly his family. After a bit, the bullets stopped, only to be hit by another that made him visibly wince.

Warning, armor puncture detected.

His eyes widened at the report as he was hit by another armor piercing bullet, making him yell out as it pierced right into his arm. He wanted to fight back, but all of this was entirely new to him. Also, he didn't want to end up killing him, being a bit of a pacifist. When the fourth bullet struck him, he yelled out, deciding to throw said pacifism away. He reached down and ripped up a moderately large rock without questioning how he could lift it, lowering his guard and threw it at the airborne soldier.

Axton was surprised at the speed of such, quickly holstering the pistol he was using and reared back a fist. When it was close enough, he sent his fist flying just before the rock could hit him, connecting to it and shattering the rock on impact, a small dust cloud forming that faded shortly after. Aleron's jaw dropped when he saw what happened, not believing what he just saw.

"What in the…?! How…?!" he stuttered, trying to find the question he needed.

Pulling his slightly bloody fist back, Axton glared at Aleron.

"Like I heard those cops say; you weren't the only one who as affected…" he explained, slowly lowering to the ground.

"Wait, you were mutated as well?" Aleron asked.

"Yes. Not only were those meteors responsible for my strength… … …they allowed me to walk, to fly…" Axton said, grabbing a knife from its hold on his right arm.

"Wait, what?"

"The boots that allow me to fly? They were granted to me by those 'mutations'. I call it a blessing, no longer needing to be bound to a damn wheelchair all my life." he let out a war cry as he charged at the larger robot, who got into a defensive stance. He jumped when he was several yards away, arcing himself to ready to stab into Aleron's head. However, a clawed hand grabbed hold of him before he could get close, instead stabbing at the elbow joint. The knife was much sharper than it looked, easily piercing the skin as a scream escaped from the bot.

He then started to twist and grind the knife in its spot, trying to do as much damage as possible, earning a small spasm from the hand that held him and another agonized scream. It soon turned into a deathly growl, the arm jolting suddenly and making him lose grip of his knife.

"That's IT!" Aleron yelled out, rearing a fist back as he glared at the soldier in his grip.

He flicked his wrist, tossing the solder a bit and letting go, his fist rocketing towards him and impacting with the force of a high-speed freight train into his chest. Time slowed when the punch connected, Axton's face slowly turning into one of having all the air forced out, cracks of bones audible as well. When time resumed, he was sent screaming towards a tree, a part of him clipping the ground and making him stumble head over heels until he crashed into it, snapping the tree on impact and making it timber.

Aleron watched with his fist still outstretched, soon pulling it back and ran to the spot where the soldier crashed, seeing him among the wreckage and glared down at him. Slowly recovering, Axton was able to slowly sit up, letting out several coughs to try and regain his breath before looking up.

"Pah… … …lucky…shot… …" he said, slowly starting to stand up, only to be forced back down on his back by a metallic boot.

"Lucky? That blow would have killed a normal person!" Aleron exclaimed, keeping Axton pinned. "I as sure as hell don't know what you're problem is with someone like me, but have got to be an idiot to blindly open fire on me, even with others around."

"I figured they were mutated like you, just…waiting for the time to…" Axton explained, only to grunt as the foot pressed down on him.

"You thought they were like me?! They're as normal as a human can be!" Aleron hissed, keeping the pressure up. "And yet being around me gives you the right to possibly kill them?" he growled a bit, looking down to his mechanical legs. "How comfortable was that wheelchair?" he asked shortly after.

"Huh…? Terrible. Why do you…?"

"Just curious." Aleron replied, shifting to where his right foot was next to Axton's.

"Wait, what are you doing?!" Axton demanded, seeing the robot lift his foot.

"Making sure you never try and hurt others again." was the answer, glaring down at the feet and ignored the pleas from the soldier. He was almost ready to stomp down and cripple the veteran.

"ALERON, STOP!"

The bot did stop, jolting as his foot stopped just above the shins, looking over and saw it was his sister that stopped him, seeing her running towards him. He didn't do anything, seeing that she was crying as she hugged around his leg.

"Don't kill him! You're not like this!" she spoke, tears starting to flow from her eyes.

It took him a moment, but it was then he suddenly realized what he had almost done, slowly looking back down at Axton who had a pleading look on his face. Slowly he lifted his right foot, setting it on the ground as he removed his other from Axton's chest. The soldier got up as Aleron looked, seeing the rest of his family running towards him. If he could cry, tears would have been streaming down his face as he dropped to his knees, his sister getting out of the way as the rest approached him.

"I… …oh god… … …" he muttered, seeing his family around him, trying to comfort him.

He went to try and hug them, only to remember the knife was still embedded in his arm, something he had forgotten. He was about to grab it, but saw his brother remove it for him, throwing the knife away.

"Thanks Lucas…" he thanked, earning a nod from him in return.

He saw his mom again, no doubt the one who was most scared of him. Letting out a sigh, he reached out for her, not seeing Axton behind her. It was only when he saw a knife come around and her gasping did he notice, the soldier backing away with a harsh glare.

"Don't. Move. Or else her blood will stain this blade." he threatened, keeping the woman in his grip, whom had a terrified look on her face.

Seeing her like that made something snap in the machine, eyes shrinking in pure rage as he slowly stood up, making the soldier tense as the mother gasped.

"You…! Dare…?!" Aleron hissed, the rest of his family backing away.

His fists clenched up as he wanted to make the crazed soldier pay dearly. Something popped up on his display, but he didn't pay any attention to it, rearing a hand back as the sides of the claws faintly glowed.

"YOU DARE THREATEN MY FAMILY?!" he yelled again, though his tone was deeper and much more menacing.

Before Axton could even react, he suddenly felt a surge of pain in his right shoulder, nothing else past that as he looked, seeing Aleron but also his arm missing. Aleron's mother quickly ran, a clawed hand grabbing hold of the soldier and holding him up above the ground, a deathly glare bearing down on him.

"You'll pay for what you have done!"

Axton tried to break free, the other hand coming over and gripping him as well. The pressure on him started to increase, the machine intent on crushing the life out of him. He tried to break free, but couldn't even make the claws budge, feeling more of his bones break as he withheld yells from each. He couldn't even resist anymore as his face started to turn red from the amount of pressure on his body, feeling like he was going to burst at any moment.

Aleron could only see red in anger, wanting to crush the purely idiotic human in his grip, seeing he was close to doing so. Slowly he continued the squeeze, but jolted when he felt something smack against him, looking back with a snarl, only to stop when he seen it was his mother, a horrified look on her face.

"Aleron… …please…" she pleaded, laying a hand on his unwounded elbow. "Don't do this. Just let him go…"

"M…mom…" Aleron quietly said, slowly looking back to Axton as his grip slowly loosened, seeing that he had passed out.

His grip continued to slip, the broken soldier sliding out and slumping onto the ground, the bleeding having stopped from the spot where he severed his arm. He knew that it would have gone on longer, but figured that with the abilities granted to him also meant faster healing. It was after he looked to the claws and saw the blood on them did he realize what he almost did, his thoughts going rampant.

Warning, memory instability detected.

Those words flashed in his display, but he didn't care, the thought of him murdering someone out of anger too much, making him collapse out of shock, passing out as he landed very close to the soldier.

Unit shutting down. Running diagnostics and auto-repair sequences.

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This chapter served mainly to try and get me back into writing fight scenes. I know that it isn't as good as the previous ones that I have written, and that it's a lot shorter (to me that is), but like I have said, trying to get back into writing overall.