Disclaimer: I shouldn't have to say that I don't own anything Megaman. I doubt anyone that owns anything Megaman would be writting fanfiction. But I don't own anything and I must say so. I apologize for the delay. I forgot about the update and last night I didn't have enough time to finish it before bed. I blame Star Wars Battlefront 2. Anyway, let's get to the fic shall we?

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was no surprise that Vent was confused as all hell at Giro's words.

"Shoot you? Boss, what is wrong with you? Why would I--"

"Graaaaaah!"

Whatever control Giro had over himself had vanished. Before Vent knew what was happening, Giro was in his face hacking and slashing at him with his Z-Saber. It took everything Vent had not to get cut in two. He couldn't even get away to counterattack, and even if he could, he wasn't sure that he could.

"Boss! Cut it out!"

Unable to aim his buster long enough without losing his arm. Vent drew his fist back and punched Giro in the chest. While didn't harm him under the armor, it did force Giro back. Vent was about to try to reason with him again until he saw Giro leap into the air, Z-Saber over his head.

"Damn it!"

Vent dashed out of the way just avoiding the edge of the sword. He turned and charged his buster.

"I guess I'm just going to have to make you stop...sorry, Boss."

Vent fired and much to his surprise, he actually hit Giro. Vent began thinking over his options.

"Alright. Boss essentially has the same ablilties as me with one major difference. He has to be close to me to attack!"

And Giro seemed to have a knack for that. He had dashed at Vent with his Z-Saber's tip forward. Vent jumped it and plugged another burst of plasma into Giro. He heard him grunt in pain, showing some indication that he was doing something to him. Just about that time, Vent's radio crackled to life.

"Vent! What's going on there? Can you hear me?"

"Little busy, Prairie! Not a good time!"

"What's going on?"

Before Vent could respond, Giro's Z-Saber grazed his helmet, damaging his radio. It went unnoticed and Vent replyed.

"I'm under attack! Something's happened to Boss! He's out of control!"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Back at Guardian HQ, Vent's answer came through garbled and broken.

"...under attack! Something's hap...Boss! ...Out of conrtol!"

Static came over the radio. Prairie tried again.

"Vent? Are you okay? Come in!"

"Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss."

"Static..."

Prairie pounded he control console.

"Dammit!"

Prairie didn't notice, but Aile was behind her and had heard that whole transmission. She wordlessly exited and entered an unoccupied bedroom. A bad feeling began to form in the pit of her stomach.

"Vent...Boss...What's happening down there?"

Half-angry that she had no way of helping, and half-worried out of her mind, Aile forced herself to accept the fact that all she could do was wait and hope.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Vent and Giro were tired and hurt. Vent had several slashes in his armor and few cuts on his face. Giro's armor was scorched by the plasma Vent fired, his visor was cracked, and he was clutching his arm. He was still however, out of his mind and charged yet again. Vent cursed.

"Damn it all, if he keeps this up, I might kill him!"

He was getting tired of this. Vent charged up his buster as high as he could and punched two more plasma bursts into Giro. He recoiled and clutched his chest again.

"C'mon, Boss! Snap out of it! I don't want to hurt you anymore!"

Giro looked as though he was about to break whatever hold that man had gained over him when what appeared to be a bolt of purple lightning rained down from the sky and struck Giro. He collapsed in a heap.

"Boss!"

Vent ran over to Giro and checked him over. He wa alive. Barely, but alive. Vent looked up and saw that the purple-haired man and his friends had returned.

"Model X and Model Z...The blue and red Mega Men. Such a pitiful display. It's disappointing, really. The biometals of the Guardians are nothing more than tin cans if you think it through."

Vent stood and raised his buster. His arm shook. Half out of fear. The other half was the toll the battle had taken on him finally caught up with him. His arm felt like lead.

"Who the hell are you?"

The man laughed to himself as though he felt some sense of pride introducing himself.

"I am Serpent. I rule all that you see before you. I am the Model W Mega Man."

Vent could hardly believe what he had just heard.

"Serpent? As in the president of Slither Inc.?"

"My reputation preceeds me. It would be in your best interest to remember me, blue Mega Man. I you live long enough to do so."

The flame of scorn that Vent originally had for Slither Inc. grew into an inferno of rage.

"You...you're behind it all...the Mavericks...what happened to Boss...all of it! You son of a bitch!"

The woman reploid behind Serpent noticed his arm shaking.

"You're arm...it...shakes...Tell us...is it anger or...fear?"

The grim reaper rip-off in front of Serpent laughed. It was a sound that could make ones blood run cold.

"The red one had more balls than this kid!"

"You hurt Boss, make us fight, then you make fun of me? That's it! I've had it! "

Serpent smirked as Vent began charging his buster.

"Prometheus...take of our hot-headed little friend, will you?"

"My pleasure...ah...the blue Mega Man. His courage is nothing more than recklessness. You've bitten off more that you can chew..."

"Go to hell!"

Vent snapped, not caring how much energy he had charged he fired his charge shot at Serpent. Prometheus drew a stick that turned out to be an energy scythe and deflected the shot, and it hit Vent square in the chest. He clutched his arm, which also took a hit.

"D...Damn it..."

Serpent smiled with satisfaction.

"We that can control the M.E.G.A. system and transform...we're called Mega Men. We're the chosen few meant to guide this flock of sheep to a new world. Yet, you've proven your abilities pathetic and you are therefore, not worthy of such power. It shows that not all Mega Men are rulers."

Serpent struck Vent with another purple lightning bolt. Vent yelled in pain and collapsed to the ground, his transformation fading.

"Pull the password data..."

The woman reploid nodded.

"Understood..."

As two small modules broke off of her, Prometheus scoffed.

"Man, that sucked...that was way to easy...What do we do with them?"

Serpent smiled again.

"Let the 'Mavericks' take care of them and carry on as you were. A battle with evil Maverick menace and the heroic Slither Inc. Security force. Let the actors take their place. It willl be classic. The people will go on unsuspecting...We need to keep the act up until Project Haven is ready, where they'lll become another magnificent sacrifice to Model W."

"What!"

Vent tried to rise, but he couldn't budge. He was completely drained. The two modules hovering over he and Giro reattached to the woman.

"Passwords retrieved..."

Serpent laughed a laugh that made Prometheus' sound like a little girl.

"Hehehehahahahahaha! We have all the passwords! It's time for Project Haven to begin...this is the beginning of the end!"

Serpent and the female reploid warped away. Prometheus stayed. Vent was sure that he was going to die. Prometheus didn't budge.

"Models X and Z...heroic legends. And they turn out to be nothing more that that...Legends. Good-bye..."

He vanished and Vent tried to rise again.

"Damn...I can't move...my body...numb..."

Giro stirred.

"Don't give up...you've got...something to fight for...a person to protect...and so many others..."

"Boss!"

"Model Z...don't worry about...me...help Vent..."

Vent heard a voice he could only assume to be Model Z.

"You realize what you're asking me to do, don't you? Your body is already too injured. If we seperate...you know what will happen..."

"Just...help...Vent..."

"...I understand..."

"Boss! Don't do...you can't do this! I won't--"

"Vent...be strong...tell Aile...I'm sorry...and take care of her..."

Giro's body faded away, and Model Z hovered before Vent. A small ball of red light with a gold glow hesitated, but left.

"Boss! Damn it! I...can't believe it...first Mom...now Boss...I'm useless...can't help anyone..."

Model X's voice came from behind.

"Vent. This is your last chance...if you combine Model Z and I, you may be able to change again..."

"What?"

"I can no longer change you on my own...I'm too damaged. I don't know if you will survive the strain of us combining, but..."

Vent and the two models began to be surrounded by Galleon Hunters. Model Z's voice had a tone of urgency to it.

"Vent, it is your decision. We can't make it for you! Can you pick up where that brave man left off?"

"I...I..."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Back at Guardian HQ, a few of the Guardians, Prairie, Flevue, and Aile all waited in silence on the command deck. The suspense was killing them, but it was bugging Aile and Prairie the most. Prairie had been friends with Giro for sometime. Aile had Giro and Vent to worry about. Suddenly the radio crackled to life.

"Damn it! That's a Slither Inc. airship! He's getting away!"

Prairie and Aile shot up. Prairie dashed over to her console.

"Vent?"

One of the Guardians at one of the other computers spoke.

"Commander! Slither Inc.'s security force had engaged the Mavericks!"

Prairie frowned.

"Vent get out of there! It's too dangerous!"

"Shit...fine!"

"Are you and Giro okay!"

"I'm...I'm fine but...Boss is...I'll tell you when I get back..."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When Vent arrived, he was alone. No biometal active. Prairie, Vent, Flevue, and the Guardians were there waiting for him. Flevue nodded.

"Vent! Are you okay?"

"Y...yes..."

"Where's Giro?"

Vent saw Aile in the crowd and that didn't help to make it any easier to say what he had to. He wordlessly activated a biometal. When light faded, he stood in red armor. On his right side, a beam saber hung on his waist. On his left side, a gun was holdstered. Out of the back of his helmet, a long blonde ponytail hung down to just above Vent's knees. The group was baffled by the new transformation.

"What biometal...is that?"

"Model Zx...you get it when you combine Models Z and X..."

Prairie stepped forward.

"Wait...you have Model Z? Vent...just tell us...is Giro alright?"

Vent couldn't look anyone in the eye.

"Boss is...he's dead...he sacrificed himself to save me."

Not a word was spoken. Vent heard footsteps that sounded like running, the door opening, and closing. He looked up to see Aile was gone. Vent had expected as much. She usually put on a strong face and didn't show when something was wrong. Giro's death was something that she couldn't disguise. The Guardians and Flevue left to quitely mourn the death of Giro. Prairie and Vent were all that remained on the command deck.

"Vent..."

"I'm fine...I can't just sit here and cry while the world falls apart. I've already given my share of tears. Anyway, Serpent said he plans on using the country as a sacrifice for Model W. We have to keep fighting. Serpent must be stopped. That's what Boss would want. That's why he gave me Model Z."

"I see...well spoken. We've analyze some more data and have new intel. Model W has the power to corrupt machines and humans. Model W is behind the Maverick outbreaks. Serpent only has the fragment though."

"And yet he could control Boss and the Mavericks with the fragment alone...with just a fragment?"

"Yes. The Model W core is still dormant. It needs to be awakened. While we have no idea what this Project Haven is Serpent has cooking, I suspect its to awaken Model W as a whole and use it to take over the world."

"Like something out of a bad movie. Where's the core?"

"Not a clue. Too much corrupt data. We know that we need six passwords to get there though. We have two of them now. They're in the biometals. We need all of them to get at the core."

"Well, I've got bad news. Serpent says he has them all. We'll have to take the others by force."

"I'll narrow down the possible locations using Maverick signatures."

"Okay. Prairie, do we have a facility for weapons training on this bucket?"

"Yeah. You want to get used to your new equipment..."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

In the training room, Vent had discovered he had a thing with his new gun. It couldn't charge as much as Model X's buster, but Model Zx's plasma gun's charge shot was as effective as the second shot of Model X. Between the two weapons, Vent had found he liked his new Z-Saber. He could cut effortlessly through most things, and what he couldn't cut, he could sure as hell mess it up. He sat down for a breather when he heard the door open. He had a bad feeling who it was and he was right. Aile stood in the door way. Vent's transformation faded. He wasn't quite sure how Aile had taken Giro's death, and part of him worried that Aile might blame Vent for it. That would be something that he couldn't take.

"Vent..."

"Aile...I'm sorry...I...I couldn't do anything to save him...I was over powered and...I tried to stop him from sacrificing himself but..."

Vent trailed off.

"Boss...Giro told me to tell you...that he was sorry."

Aile sniffed.

"I wish I could tell him that I accept his apology."

Vent nodded. He stood up and walked over to his friend.

"You know Giro wouldn't want you here crying like this."

"I know...but..."

Aile threw her arms around Vent and buried her face in his shoulder. Vent nodded and finished her sentence.

"I know. But sometimes...you just can't help it..."

Vent felt that he needed to do something for Aile to help her get over what happened. Vent had his time to cry and now it was Aile's turn. If it meant helping Aile feel better, Vent was prepared to give her a shoulder to cry on. The two stood there and held each other while Vent wondered what fate had in store for him next and who else would be sacrificed to stop Serpent. He was sure about one thing though.

"I will stop him...and I intend to make him pay...for Boss...for Mom...for Prairie and Aile...anyone who's already died in his little game...everyone...and I don't care who gets in my way...I'll protect everyone...even if I have to die to do so..."

Aile's grip around him tightened slightly. The only thing Vent could think to do was to keep her close.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Okay, we have another chapter done! First of all, I'd like to say I'm sorry for cutting out Vent's transformation into Model Zx. I felt that maybe it would be a change of pace to show it from a different perspective. Other than that, I think that this chapter came out rather well. It's not the longest chapter I've ever done, but I think it's at least decent. Wish I could write better. As usual, reviews would be nice. Like I've said. My first fic, so I'd really like the feed back so I could know what I'm doing that's working.

Next I'd like to apologize yet again for my missed update. I started playing Star Wars Battlefront 2 yesterday. I played as a sniper for a change of pace, and just got so into it, that I forgot that I had an update to do. By the time I remembered, I didn't have enough time to write the chapter. Now, I'm going to shoot for Thursday for the next update. If I miss for some reason, please, no sending a lynch mob. This is Dark Assassin Omega signing off.