Mega Man ZX Chronicles
Disclaimer: I do not own Capcom's Mega Man ZX series or its characters. Only the elements and characters I create in this story are mine.
Chapter 4: Day at the Park
Rokku and Aile had successfully returned to the Guardian Base. Vent started to slowly move while he was being held by Rokku. He wasn't fully awake however.
"Aile, tell Prairie what happened. She needs to know this right away!", Rokku instructed.
Aile nodded and ran off. Rokku turned his direction to what he had to do with Vent.
"Okay, so where was the Medic Wing?", Rokku thought. He had easily forgotten where it was located at.
He started to walk off, trying to get a good memory of where the Medic Wing was. Suddenly, Rokku heard a gasp behind him. He quickly spun around to find a female Guardian. She had a red triangle on her forehead, which indicated that she was a reploid, like most of the crew.
"W-what happened to Vent!?", she asked.
Rokku stared at her and looked back at Vent. He quickly jolted after realizing that the girl believes that Rokku did this to Vent.
"N-n-no! It's not what it looks like! Vent just got hurt during the Mission, that's all!", Rokku explained.
The girl sighed in relief.
"O-oh... That's a relief."
Rokku instantly realized that this girl was a Guardian herself. Which meant that she must know where the Medic Wing was located. That's what he was thinking in his mind.
"Um, excuse me... Miss..."
The girl perked up and chuckled.
"Oh! My name is Platnae! Nice to meet you!"
"A pleasure!", Rokku said saluting to the member of the Guardians with respect. "Um, you wouldn't happen to know where the... Medic Wing's located at would you?"
Platnae smiled, liking how Rokku saluted her.
"Of course I do! Please, follow..."
"WHAT HAPPENED TO VENT!?", someone yelled, interrupting Platnae.
Rokku looked behind Platnae and she turned around seeing a big man, a tall man, and a short boy running towards the two, or three including Vent.
"What happened to him, Platnae?!", the tall one asked.
"Scombrésoce, it's okay. It's just...", Platnae explained before easily getting interrupted by the big man.
The boy grabbed Vent from Rokku and sat him against the wall while the big man grabbed Rokku by his hoodie, holding him above ground.
"Was it THIS guy who did this to our bud Platnae?", the big guy asked, cracking his knuckles with his left hand, intimidating the boy he held in his right.
Rokku would have probably wet himself, but he could not endure the embarrassment. Platnae wailed her arms around like in the anime and manga, trying to get the boys attention.
"Thon! Stop! It wasn't him!"
Thon dropped Rokku and glared at him. He looked back at Platnae, asking:
"If he didn't do this, then what the heck happened to Vent?", the big dude, called Thon, asked.
"He just got hurt during the mission, that's all.", Platnae explained.
The boy walked over to Rokku and squinted his eyes to him, making Rokku feel crazy uncomfortable.
"Platnae, who's he?", the boy asked.
Platnae sighed and said:
"Carrelet, he's... oh, wait, I never actually got your name, Mister.", she said, realizing that she never got Rokku's name.
"My name is Rokku!", Rokku said, winking at the group.
The boy named Carrelet, turned away from Rokku and looked at Platnae.
"Never heard of you. How did he get in our Head Quarters, Platnae?", Carrelet asked, finding suspicion upon Rokku.
"I honestly have no idea.", she replied shrugging.
"So he's an intruder, huh?", Thon said cracking his knuckles again, glaring at Rokku.
Finally, Rokku spoke up, hoping he wouldn't getting punched.
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!", Rokku said incredibly fast, waving his hands in front of Thon. "I'm here because Commander Prairie asked me to be here! I'm friends with Aile and Vent, you see!"
"Is that so? Come to think of it, I have heard your name around here thanks to Cédre." Scombrésoce said. "You must be the one who saved our friends out at Slither Inc., right?"
Rokku nodded his head with a smile, happy to know that he wouldn't get slugged, now that Thon had refrained from doing so.
Platnae turned around, not facing Thon, crossing her arms with an annoyed look on her face as her eyes were closed.
"Jeez, Thon. Do you have to pick a fight with everyone you find a threat?", she said.
"T-that's not true! It was just a total misunderstanding! That's all!", Thon said.
Rokku picked up Vent and turned to the other Guardians.
"Listen, I need one of you guys' assistance. Vent needs help here, and I totally forgot where the Medic Wing is at.", Rokku asked.
"I told you, I'd help!", Platnae said with a smile. "Just follow me!"
She started to walk off and Rokku followed her. As he was walking, Rokku heard multiple footsteps behind him. He turned around to find the other three Guardians following him.
"Wha?", Rokku said in surprise.
"We're comin' with ya, bud! If you are a friend of Vent's or Aile's, then you are a friend of mine!", Thon said.
Rokku smiled and nodded his head. The five... Six including knocked-out Vent... went off into the Medic Wing.
"Aile, tell Prairie what happened. She needs to know this right away!"
Aile had approached the door leading to the Command Center. Prairie was waiting for her when the door swung open. Aile had explained most of what happened during the Mission to Prairie.
"...And as we approached the drill, we found a pseudoroid named... ugh... what was it...?! Oh yeah, Kokutori! He attacked both me and Vent... but mostly me. Rokku finished him off before he tried to finish me off.", Aile finished.
Prairie listened to the story, nodding her head in the process. In times like this, it would seem like she wasn't paying any attention, but that wasn't true, because she had to listen, in case a situation similar to this happens. She turned her attention at Aile's arm. Her eyes widened as she found Aile's hand was cut and that blood was still inside trying to get out.
"Aile! Your hand!", Prairie exclaimed, quickly grabbed Aile's hand, not even thinking about the pain Aile might be suffering at the moment.
Aile screamed in pain as it it stung her nerves. Prairie quickly released Aile's hand and apologized.
"Sorry... Please head to the Medic Wing to get your hand bandaged immediately."
"Okay.", Aile said, still rubbing her hand.
Aile immediately left the room and straight towards the Medic Wing. Prairie sat down in her chair sighing, covering her forehead in slight annoyance. She was definitely tired of the Maverick attacks and those she cared about getting hurt...
Rokku and the others walked into the Medic Wing. When the entered the room, Muguet and Rose walked towards them, but their expressions changed from normal to surprised and angered looks... At least, Muguet had the angry look, while Rose had the shocked expression.
"What did you do to Vent!?", Muguet cried, demanding an answer.
A sweatdrop went down Rokku's cheek, his mouth looking like a scribbly wave and his face looking quite annoyed. He was sick of hearing this gag go on. He sat Vent down on the bed and was about to explain, until...
"This guy didn't do it. We are his witnesses.", Platnae said.
"And Aile too!", Rokku added, annoyance added to his tone.
Muguet and Rose immediately hooked Vent up onto the machine he was previously hooked onto. Muguet looked at Rokku with a serious look on her face.
"What happened?", Muguet asked.
"Vent said he was alright and tagged along with me and Aile to do a mission.", Rokku explained. "We fought against a Pseudoroid and it caused Vent alot of pain. His wounds from the previous mission must have reopened while he was fighting. I totally forgotten about them at the time, miss."
Rokku didn't even mention that he made Vent cut the wires while he was in that condition. But he didn't know about the reopened wounds at the time like he said.
The two finished hooking Vent up. Muguet gave Rokku a serious look again.
"Alright, I believe you. Now you leave please.", Muguet said to Rokku. "You four, on the other hand, can help me and Rose out. If you have any objections, forget them." Muguet said to the other Guardians.
Rokku nodded to Muguet and made his way to the door. But he stopped and turned to the Guardians that helped him.
"Thanks you guys. I would've found the Medic Wing a little too late!", Rokku said as he left the room.
The others just waved to him, except for Thon, who saluted to the guy. Rokku assumed it was for helping Vent out.
In the Command Center, the door suddenly swung open and Rokku appeared before Prairie.
"Oh, greetings.", Prairie said with a smile.
"Hi Prairie.", Rokku replied. He looked around to find out that Aile's not around. "Where's Aile?", he asked.
"Aile left not too long ago to the Medic Wing. Did you not see her on your way back here?"
"I didn't, but oh man! I just came out of the Medic Wing! She must have taken a different path than I did.", Rokku said. "Okay Commander, I'm off!"
Prairie waved to Rokku with a smile as he left off. The operators started to talk as Prairie leaned in her swivel-chair.
"Rokku sure is friendly.", Gardénia said.
"I wonder why he wouldn't want to be a part of the Guardians?", Tulip said, remembering what Rokku had said to Prairie yesterday.
"Didn't you hear him? He said that he feel like he didn't deserve it.", Marguerite said.
Prairie smiled, listening to the whole conversation. She got up from her chair and turned her attention to the Operators.
"Okay, you girls stop. It's his choice to join our team or not.", Prairie said.
The Operators did as they were told, smiling to themselves. Prairie smiled looking at the ceiling, thinking about a certain man again.
"~Giro... Rokku might need your help still... Guide him..."
Rokku went to the Medic Wing and just as he entered it, he heard Muguet lecturing Aile. He saw Platnae, Carrelet, Thon and Scombrésoce around helping other patients. Last time he checked, they were helping Vent. Aile looked annoyed hearing Muguet's constant lectures, but she had to be nice to her.
"You should be more careful Aile! You could have been more hurt than you are now! Remember that!", Muguet said.
Muguet just finished putting white bandages on Aile's hand. Aile felt her hand again and she didn't feel the pain anymore. She tossed on her glove again to hide the bandages on her hand.
"Thank you Muguet.", Aile said, her tone sounding annoyed. Muguet didn't notice her tone fortunately.
Aile looked at Rokku who had just appeared. She didn't even hear or see Rokku come in because of Muguet's constant lectures.
"Oh hey Rokku!", Aile said with a cheerful smile.
"Hi Aile!", Rokku said, waving his hand to her. "Are you feeling okay?"
Aile walked up to Rokku, holding out her hand with a smirk on her face.
"Yep, I don't feel the pain on my hand anymore."
"Just remember not to take the bandages off until we say so.", Muguet said.
"Okay Muguet.", Aile replied, still sounding annoyed. "Alright Rokku, let's head to Fleuve's room. I never got to get Models X and Z there yet."
Rokku nodded and the two headed to Fleuve's room.
In his room, Fleuve was working on an invention requested by Prairie. What is was a secret, but it would all be revealed in due time. Fleuve got a little startled when he heard his door open. He pressed a secret button on his wall, opening a secret area and hid his invention in there. He turned around to see Aile and Rokku, walking towards him.
"Oh, greetings Miss Aile! Greetings Mister Rokku!"
"Hi Fleuve! Um, I need your help.", Aile said, sounding a little nervous.
"Anything, Miss Aile!", Fleuve said.
Aile brought out her Biometals Model X and Model Z.
"Model Z and Model X got damaged in the fight. Could you...", she explained, getting interrupted before she could finish.
Fleuve took Aile's Biometals and got them inside a small tube tank.
"Say no more Aile. Your Biometals will be working as fast as the human eye!"
Of course, what Fleuve said wasn't true, as it would take a bit longer for the Biometals to heal. Fleuve grabbed something off his working desk.
"Aile, Rokku, could you guys watch the place for a little while? I need to deliever something important."
"Sure thing Fleuve!", Aile said.
"You can count on us!", Rokku said with a thumbs up.
Fleuve immediately walked out the room leaving Aile and Rokku alone. The two sat on two chairs that were next to each other. The chairs were swivel chairs. Rokku childishly swung around on the swivel chair and Aile giggled.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who is childish."
Rokku stopped circling and looked at Aile with a annoyed look.
"What's wrong with being childish?", Rokku asked.
Aile leaned over to Rokku and gave him a smirk.
"Oh, nothing. I just said I'm not the only one. Plus, you did make fun of Prairie and her maturity."
"I did not...!", Rokku said to himself, not daring to say it out loud.
The two sat there saying nothing afterwards. Rokku actually twiddled with his thumbs out of boredom and Aile messed around with her hair, fixing up her bangs as they looked a little messy after the mission. Aile eventually had something to ask Rokku.
"Hey Rokku! Do you think I could see your Biometal?", Aile asked excitedly.
Rokku stopped twiddling his thumbs and looked at Aile.
"Wha?", he asked.
"Could I see Model M? I never actually got to see him up close."
"Oh, sure."
Rokku reached into his pocket and brought out Model M. He handed Model M over to Aile who got her hands on it. Both of their hands were on Model M at this point. Rokku released his hand and allowed Aile to observe it.
"Wow. It does look different...", Aile said.
Rokku was a little angry and asked:
"What's wrong with that!?"
"Whoa, calm down!", she said chuckling. "I just meant he looked different than our Biometals. Mainly, his eyes."
Aile pointed at Model M's eyes. They weren't like the other Biometals' eyes. They looked like some robot child's eyes on a computer. After a bit, Aile returned Model M back to Rokku.
"You know...", Aile started. Rokku looked at her, giving her his full attention. "...When we first met, Model M mentioned that he was the real, original one. What's that suppose to mean?"
"Uh...", Rokku said, trying his best to avoid the question.
"And another thing:", Aile continued, "I can hear Model M's voice outside my mind. What's that all about?"
Rokku looked at Model M which nervousness all over his face. The boy didn't know what to do.
"Come on, Rokku. Tell me.", Aile said, sounding impatient.
Rokku sat there for 10 seconds, hearing Aile tap her foot on the ground, waiting for his answer.
"Okay...", Rokku said, "Mega Man, show yourself."
Rokku released Model M and he floated in the air. The Biometal started to shine, making Aile cover her eyes as this unexpected event suddenly occurred. The light soon vanished, and Aile opened her eyes. She saw that the Biometal was no longer there and a boy was in its place. Aile got off her chair and slowly walked over to the boy. He was a little smaller than Aile was. In fact, he looked like he was 7-10 years old.
"R-Rokku...?" Aile asked, sounding a little afraid.
"Yeah?", Rokku replied, knowing that this would happen.
"W-Who's this?" Aile asked.
The boy looked up to her, looking a little cute to Aile.
"It's like I said before Miss, I'm Mega Man, the real, original one."
Aile jolted as she saw the boy speak. She took a step back, surprised to see this happen.
"Aile, don't tell me you are afraid?", Rokku asked with a smile.
Aile didn't respond. She just stood there, not saying a single word. She probably wasn't even breathing.
"Listen, this is Model M's true form. He can transform into a Biometal so me and he can fuse and fight as a team. He can transform back into his true form he did just now. And his real name is Mega Man. He's not a Mega Man, he's the Mega Man. Do you understand?", Rokku explained.
Aile still didn't say anything. Absolutely nothing. Mega Man looked back at Rokku, worried that she might find him creepy because of what he did, transforming like that. Rokku just smiled at Mega Man, assuring him that it was fine. Finally, Aile spoke up.
"Oh... My..."
Suddenly, Aile ran to Mega Man, picked him up, and swung him around like he was a baby.
"GOSH!"
Rokku jaw opened at what he saw. He certainly didn't expect THIS. Mega Man blushed a little, seeing Aile pick him up like that.
"He looks so CUTE!" Aile cried. "Who knew that Model M had this form? His true form at that? He's so cute I can die!"
"Please do.", Rokku jokingly said. Aile glared at Rokku, and he quickly turned his head around, not daring to see her death glare.
Aile sat Mega Man down and took off his helmet, seeing his brown hair.
"This comes off!?", Aile exclaimed. She squealed like a fan girl and put the helmet on her head. "Perfect fit!"
Aile returned the helmet back to Mega Man and gasped, catching her breath.
"Rokku? Why didn't you tell me about Model M, er, Mega Man?", Aile asked.
"Well, I'll be honest, I was intending on doing so, but I just got lazy, haha.", Rokku explained, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I doubt Model X or Model Z or any other of the Biometals I had have this ability.", Aile said.
"I believe it's because Mega Man isn't made by the woman who built those Biometals.", Rokku said.
"Huh?", Aile said, turning to Rokku.
"Don't you remember Aile?", Rokku asked, "In my story I told earlier, I said that I saw a shooting star that landed in that mysterious cave. The lady said she found him and fixed him up. Although I don't remember if I told this part, all the woman did was fix Mega Man so he didn't look so beat up."
"Wow... Bizarre.", Aile said.
"So... You aren't creeped out Miss Aile?", Mega Man asked.
"Please, just call me Aile, and of course I'm not freaked out silly! I'm overjoyed!", Aile said, kneeling down and giving Mega Man a hug. Mega Man blushed again, feeling Aile hug him like that. Aile got up and slugged Rokku's arm. He rubbed his arm, as it actually hurt.
"Ow...", Rokku said, still rubbing his arm.
"That's for not telling me this.", Aile said smirking at him.
Suddenly, Fleuve and Prairie came in.
"Aile! Rokku! I'm back-", Fleuve said but stopped when he saw the boy between Aile and Rokku.
Prairie had a confused look on her face, looking down at Mega Man who see never saw before.
"Rokku? Aile? Who's that?", Prairie asked.
"Sorry Commander, this is Model M, you know, my friendly companion? The one who I said are like brothers?", Rokku said.
"Uhhh...", Prairie and Fleuve said. It was confusing indeed.
"I'll explain later...", Rokku said as sweat dropped down.
Aile suddenly had an idea, looking at Prairie & Fleuve and Rokku & Mega Man. She grabbed Rokku's, Prairie's, Fleuve's and Mega Man's hand. Everyone wondered why though.
"Let's go outside a play for awhile!", she said.
Prairie sighed, but not in a bad way. She smiled, asking:
"Aile, didn't we do this already? I mean, it was after the reconstruction of Cinq Ville was finished. We went shopping, you got me clothes, you got cut and had to take off your gloves to..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know! But come on, it'll be fun! Plus we have Rokku here! And Mega... er, Model M too!"
Rokku slowly released his hand from Aile, finding it a little uncomfortable having his hand squeezed like that. Aile thought Rokku was going to decline her offer.
"Yeah, it does sound fun. We won't have to fight for a long time so this is the perfect opportunity to go out for a while.", Rokku said.
Prairie and Fleuve smiled and told the two in unison:
"Okay!"
Everyone exited the room and headed straight for the Transerver. Where they were going was unknown... unknown to everyone except for Aile that is.
"Hey Mega Man, do you have some type of civilian form?", Aile asked.
"Of course.", Mega Man said.
"Mega Man?", Prairie asked, sounding confused since she believed Aile was Mega Man.
"Long story, Prairie!", Aile said.
"And by the way, this is the Mega Man, Prairie, so try not to get confused with Vent and Aile, 'kay?", Rokku said, not truly believing that Prairie would understand.
In seconds, Mega Man changed. His helmet was gone, showing his brown hair, and he had clothing on: A blue and white T-Shirt, black shorts, and big blue boots.
"See?", Mega Man said.
"Cool! Now people won't think your a maverick!", Aile said.
Mega Man whispered in Rokku's ear:
"The term Maverick refers to the enemy, right?", Mega Man asked.
"Yeah, but now a days, it means much more. In your case, yeah, the enemy.", Rokku explained.
Aile punched in the coordinates and the five left the Transerver Room, out of the Guardian Base.
"Aile, where did you send us?", Prairie asked, seconds after they ended up in another Transerver Room.
Aile chuckled and replied:
"To the Park!"
The Transerver door swung open and revealed a beautiful park. There, they found children reploids and humans playing together at the playground, friends, family and couples walking on the sidewalk, and the elderly sitting on the bench watching the little children play. The grass had a nice color of green signifying that the grass was perfectly clean. They group was in Area C, in a newly rebuilt park, pretty much in the center of the city. Not much has changed, as the only things broken were the children objects like the swing-sets and slides and all of that.
Rokku smelled the air at the park, it was amazing to him. He never smelt anything like this in a long time. The last time he smelt something as beautiful as this was when he was five-years old. Sure, he's been traveling and he smelled lots of the outdoors, but those were nothing compared to this smell. This new, beautiful smell...
"So, what are we suppose to do?", Rokku asked.
Aile took his hand and gave him a huge, cute smile.
"Enjoy ourselves!", Aile replied as she started to run off.
"Whoa!", Rokku yelped as he was dragged out of the room.
Aile and Rokku left the rest in the room alone. They watched how Aile was literally dragging Rokku, who was on the ground.
"Aile is friendly to everyone isn't she?", Fleuve asked.
"Aile told me that she was Rokku's first human friend. She wants to do everything she can to keep him happy. Apparently she must have really taken a liking to him.", Prairie explained.
"Shall we enjoy ourselves Prairie?", Fleuve asked.
Prairie nodded and looked down at Mega Man.
"Come with us... Um... Mega Man.", Prairie said.
"What are we going to do, Commander?", Mega Man asked.
"Well, I want you to get social here. So we are going to a lot of places as long as we are out.", Prairie explained.
"Ah, okay!", Mega Man said excitedly. "It's a good thing too... It's been more than 500 years now...", Mega Man said in his mind.
The three started to walk off in a different direction than where Aile had taken Rokku.
Aile continued to drag Rokku, to the point that Rokku was on the ground on his bottom. He was dumbfounded as he realized that Aile was literally dragging him. She eventually stopped and released his hand. They ended up at the swings-set, showing only four available swings, one being fitted only for an infant.
"We should play here first! Okay Rokku?", she asked excitedly.
Aile turned around and found that Rokku wasn't there. She looked around and looked down and saw Rokku on the ground in a daze. An imaginary question mark appeared above Aile's head as she was totally confused about Rokku being on the ground. "How did he get on the ground?", she asked herself.
Aile offered her hand to help Rokku up off the ground. He held onto Aile's hand and was brought up. He dusted himself off, looking at Aile with an angry smile.
"You literally dragged me.", he said with an unidentifiable tone.
Aile sweatdropped, rubbing the back of her head.
"S-sorry. I was excited to be here.", she said, holding her hands behind her back, twisting the tip of her foot around (not all the way of course).
"Why are you this excited?", Rokku asked, throwing his hand into his pocket. He apparently was holding onto his star-shaped emblem chain, gripping it a little tighter.
"Well that's because last time I was here was a year ago. I came here with Vent and..."
Aile looked down remembering her father-figure, Giro. Aile didn't even bother finishing that sentence. The last time she was here was with Vent and Giro who decided to take a day off at the Giro Express. Aile remembered the good times she had with her brother and her father-figure. She closed her eyes to continue remembering until Rokku tapped her.
"Aile?", Rokku said, confused.
Aile looked up smiling saying,"I'm okay. Let's go on the swings!"
Aile quickly ran to her favorite swing. Rokku to the swing next to her, but... he didn't get on the swing like Aile had. "... ... ..." Rokku said nothing. Instead, the boy went behind Aile, confusing her as she slowly started to gain speed. He pressed his hands on her back. She was surprised as she didn't expect this to happen.
Rokku started to push Aile and she started to gain both height and speed. She opened her mouth wide as she saw how high she was going.
"Weeeeeee!", Aile childishly yelled out.
Rokku just smiled at her and jumped on his swing to gain height and speed. The two swung together on the swings yelling in a childish manner. Eventually, the two were swing at the exact same time. Aile blushed at the situation but Rokku wasn't aware of what was happening (or let alone, knew what this meant). Rokku eventually jumped off the swing at the highest point and landed perfectly. Aile didn't jump but instead slowed down to get off. When she slowed down to the point that she was where she started, Rokku grabbed the chains of the swings and twisted it with Aile on it.
She screamed in shock as she didn't expect this. Eventually Rokku stopped twisting and released the chains of the swing. Aile started spinning around in a circle screaming. Eventually she stopped and glared at Rokku... or more likely, four or five Rokkus. She got up angrily and chased (the) Rokku(s), but was too dizzy when chasing him because of Rokku's prank. Chasing Rokku, she smacked her forehead against a huge light pole. Rokku heard her run into the light pole and ran to her, hoping she was okay. She was rubbing her forehead trying to wipe away the pain.
"You okay?", Rokku asked in concern.
Aile just glared at Rokku, now seeing only one, and punched his arm, causing him to rub his arm. She chuckled at what she did but Rokku didn't do nothing about it, knowing that he deserved it for what he had done. Rokku helped her off the ground and she wiped her shorts to get the dust off of her.
"So, what's next?", Rokku said, throwing his hands back into his pockets. He gripped onto his emblem, tighter than last time.
"Hmm..."
Aile tried to think of something. She looked around, noticing a human boy and girl at the ages of 9 playing with toy cars. They pushed the toy cars and were racing. The boy won the race though. This gave Aile an idea.
"Come on!", Aile said grabbing Rokku's hand.
Aile directed Rokku to the little children. Aile knelt down to their height so they would see her face.
"Excuse me. Do you mind if me and my friend borrow your toy cars?", Aile asked politely.
Aile gave out a cute smile to the children and the kids smiled back at her.
"Sure!", the girl replied.
"But promise you'll bring them back!", the boy said.
Aile gave a small giggle and took the toy cars.
"Thanks! I promise, we'll give them right back."
Aile lied on the sidewalk on her knees and got Rokku to lie next to her.
"So... What are we doing?", Rokku asked in curiosity.
"Me and you are going to race!", Aile said with a determined smirk.
Aile gave Rokku a pink toy car. Aile giggled at what she done, knowing that he would not like that and noticed that Rokku gave her a glare.
"Gee, thanks. I really love pink!", Rokku sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes around.
"Cool! You can be pink!", Aile replied with a big grin. She knew Rokku was being sarcastic, as she expected that to be his response. So, she pretended that she didn't know he was being sarcastic.
Rokku was in shock hearing that but he went with it anyway, deciding not to argue with Aile in front of children. Aile's car was blue and it matched her usual vest. Rokku lined up his car with Aile's. Aile turned to the children who were watching. She once again gave them her cute smile.
"Who do you want to root for?", Aile asked.
"I'll root for the guy!", the boy said.
"I'll root for you!", the girl said.
Aile looked at Rokku with determination.
"Ready?"
"I was born ready!"
Rokku and Aile pushed their cars towards the big bonsai tree. Rokku and Aile's car was neck and neck. The boy and girl children cheered for their team. Rokku and Aile stared at the cars with determination. Both Rokku and Aile grinned looking at the toy cars go at it. However, the car that remained victorious was the blue car. Aile fist-pumped into the air yelling 'YES!'. The girl ran up to Aile and high-fived her. The boy looked a little sad that Rokku lost though. Rokku walked towards him and shook his hair around.
"Win or lose, at least we all had fun!", Rokku said, continuing to shake the boy's hair around.
Rokku walked to Aile and offered his hand. The two shook hands.
"An excellent game Aile.", Rokku said with a "gentleman's accent".
Aile giggled at Rokku's little accent.
"Yes, indeed.", Aile said with a "lady's accent", mimicking what Rokku was doing.
The two had serious faces when replying to each other. Eventually the two couldn't hold it and bursted out laughing. The two grabbed the toy cars and returned them to the little kids.
"Thanks for letting us borrow them!", Aile said, connecting her hands with the girl.
"No problem! Oh, and girls rule!", the girl said, connecting back with Aile.
The boy looked at Rokku. He smirked and fist-pumped him.
"Nah, boys rule!", Rokku and the boy said.
Aile then grabbed Rokku's hand to bring him to at least one more stop. But that was not before leaving by their good-byes to the children.
"Good-Bye!", Aile and Rokku yelled in unison.
"Good-Bye!", the boy and girl cried in unison.
"I wanted to show you this while we are here."
Aile had taken Rokku to the largest tree in the park. The large leaves in the tree had a large shade beneath it. It was so cool down there that somebody might live there.
Aile moved the bushes to reveal something to Rokku. It was both Aile and Vent's name on it. It read "Vent & Aile: Best Brother & Sister Evah!", purposely saying "Evah" rather than "Ever".
"Writing your names on a tree? How original...", Rokku said sighing.
Aile gave him a stare and he took it back swinging his hands around so Aile wouldn't slug him again.
"I'm just kidding around! Anyway, why did you want to show me this?"
Aile looked around through the bushes to reveal a long pointy stick. She pointed it at Rokku at the sharp part, much to his dismay. "It's still here, huh?", Aile thought as she quickly observed the stick.
"I want you to write your name too!"
Rokku was hesitant doing so.
"Uh... But I'm not your brother... And I'm definitely not your sister."
"Of course not, but you are my best friend."
Rokku had an awkward look on his face remembering what Aile said to him last night.
"Well, I'll be your friend... No, I'll be your best friend!"
"Still can't believe you said that. I mean we only met a day ago.", Rokku said shrugging.
Aile winked at her friend and said, "Maybe friendships form faster than you think." Aile had pointed the stick at Rokku, growing impatient. "Now, are you going to sign your name or not?"
Rokku took the stick from Aile, showing no hesitation and signed his name on the bottom of "Best Brother & Sister Evah". It wasn't his best handwriting since he was used to writing on paper not on trees. It was kinda funny to Rokku, since paper came from trees.
Aile took the stick back from Rokku and wrote something on the bottom of his name. Rokku looked closely and it read "BF" with arrows pointing at Aile and Vent's name.
"BF?", Rokku said in confusion.
Aile sighed with a smiling, truly thinking Rokku had no idea what it meant.
"It stands for...", Aile said before being interrupted.
"Wait! Wait! It stands for 'Best Friends' right?"
Aile patted his shoulder and teased him, complimenting him as if he was her student or something.
"Good job!"
Aile then hid the stick and the writing in the bushes again. Rokku had a slightly sad look on his face.
"I'm not best friends with Vent. I don't even think Vent likes me."
"Oh, come on. I'm pretty sure Vent enjoys you as much as I do. I mean he complimented you twice at the drill mission, and he wanted you to come back to us when we left you at the bridge. If those don't tell you "I care" then I don't know what does."
Rokku smiled and hugged her.
"Thanks Aile."
Aile returned the hug, smiling back at him. She didn't really expect a hug from Rokku. She doesn't really get much hugs.
"Not a problem..."
After releasing each other, Aile playfully pushed Rokku on the ground and started running off. Rokku chased her down and the two started playing various games and activities. Childish, yes, but the two enjoyed it and that was what mattered.
It was sunset and the two panted hard at the bench. Most of the children and elderly left home while some still stayed at the park, walking around still or playing at the park.
"We played too hard... didn't we...?", Rokku said, panting and silently wheezing. He had a smile on his face knowing how much fun he had.
Aile didn't reply. She was too busy staring at the Ice Cream truck that was about to leave in one-minute exact. She remembered how that Ice Cream trunk gone. At sunset, people who wanted an Ice Cream would have a 25-minute warning. The two have been out there for 24-minutes exact. Aile's eyes widened and grabbed Rokku's hand. She started to run and Rokku tried to run with her, trying his best to avoid being dragged again.
"W-where are we going?!", Rokku asked, hoping she would stop running so he wouldn't fall.
"The Ice Cream truck! We gotta head there!", Aile said with determined eyes.
Aile continued to hold onto Rokku's hand until they reached the Ice Cream truck. Aile released his hand and Rokku rubbed it, as Aile has been dragging his hand a lot of times today and days before. The Ice Cream Man was revealed to be a reploid, that peculiar red triangle being on his forehead. He looked at the two with a smile, just as he was about to close up shop. He didn't seem to be upset over the fact that the two were there over the time-span.
"How could I help you two?", the Ice Cream man asked with a smile.
Aile looked at the selection on the side of the truck. She found something she thought she would enjoy.
"I would like a banana split ice cream bowl with strawberries and chocolate sauce on it please."
Aile looked at Rokku and asked him:
"What do you want Rokku?"
Rokku looked at the selection and found something he thought he would enjoy.
"I'll take cookies 'n' cream ice cream on a bowl."
Aile whispered in his ear plate, the one all humans had to have.
"~You have to say please. It's polite that way.~"
"Oh, excuse me, please.", Rokku said, taking Aile's advice. It was odd, considering that he is polite. Perhaps he just forgot since that does happen sometimes... unless one is supposedly perfect, and that was not Rokku... Probably Aile, haha.
The Ice Cream Man smiled and went to the back to make their order. He returned 2 minutes later, even though he was supposed to have left earlier, with Aile and Rokku's Ice Cream order.
"Here you go. That will be 5 E-Crystals.", the Ice Cream Man said.
Aile reached into her back pocket and brought out 5 E-Crystals and gave to the Ice Cream Man. They were in a small container. The E-Crystals were what she had received after sending in her Mission Report from the previous mission.
"Have a good evening!", the Ice Cream Man said.
"You too!", Aile said giggling.
Aile was about to leave but she looked at Rokku who didn't budge. He reached into his pocket and brought out 25 E-Crystals in one medium-sized container. Just before the Ice Cream Man closed the window, Rokku tapped it getting his attention.
"Here's 25 E-Crystals for taking the extra time to finish our order!", Rokku said, being generous.
The Ice Cream Man smiled widely. Aile also smiled, noticing how nice it was of Rokku to do such a thing. She did wonder where he got that much E-Crystals. Rokku, although he didn't tell, had some spare E-Crystals while traveling.
"How nice of you! Thank you very much! Have a good evening!", the Ice Cream Man exclaimed.
The Ice Cream Man finally closed the window and drove off playing a happy tune that always got children's attention. Aile and Rokku walked back to the bench they were originally sitting on eating their Ice Cream.
"Mmmmm... Delicious... How's yours Rokku?"
Aile looked at Rokku who was quickly eating his Ice Cream. Aile's eyes widened as she saw what Rokku was doing.
"Uh, I don't think that's a good..."
It was too late, Rokku had already threw the rest of the Ice Cream in his mouth. He felt a sudden pain from his forehead. He rubbed his forehead and it was incredibly cold.
"Instantly regret doing that...", Rokku said as his forehead cooled down a little.
"I tried to warn you.", Aile said as she giggled.
"Well, lesson learned I suppose.", said Rokku, learning his lesson.
Aile continued to eat her Ice Cream, savoring every bite as it tasted so good to her. Rokku sat there regretting that he ate his ice cream too fast. Rokku eventually started to twiddle his thumbs again waiting on Aile.
"You know you don't have to wait on me.", Aile said after finishing eating a spoon of her Ice Cream.
"But I want to. I don't want to leave you here alone."
Aile looked at him with a confused, yet, happy look on her face.
"Plus... I don't know where I'm going...", he admitted.
Aile chuckled at him. Aile finally finished her Ice Cream and threw the bowl into the garbage. She brought out a napkin and wiped some of the Ice Cream off her mouth. She gave Rokku a napkin to wipe the Ice Cream off his face, which was a lot, considering how much of a pig he was with it. He couldn't help himself. He loved Cookies 'n' Creame Ice Cream. The two threw away the napkins and began walking to find Prairie and Fleuve.
"Today was great! I never had this much fun since last year with Vent!", Aile cried.
"I agree! I never actually normally enjoyed myself in a long time!", Rokku said.
"I only wish that Vent was here. Maybe you two could have gotten to know each other better like you sand I have.", she said sadly.
Aile sighed looking down, remembering Giro again. Rokku cheered her up by patting her on the back. She looked and smiled at him.
"Thanks Rokku...", Aile said, blushing a bit.
Rokku looked at the sky and then he looked back at Aile a little nervously.
"A-Aile? Is it possible to love a friend?"
"W-what do you mean?"
Aile blushed at this. She thought Rokku had fallen in love with her. Rokku noticed it and wrapped his arm around her neck. This gave her even more thoughts about Rokku falling in love with her.
"I mean... is it possible to love a friend but not be IN love with that friend?"
Aile sighed in relief realizing that Rokku had not fallen in love with her.
"Yeah. It's the way I feel about you."
"Really?"
"Of course. I wouldn't be your best friend and not love you... Well I can, but... Never mind. The point is that I love you, but I'm not in love with you."
Rokku smiled and pulled her closer to rub her hair with his hand. He stopped and saw how messed up her hair was.
"ROKKU!", Aile screamed, knowing that he ruined their own moment.
"Sorry! Sorry! I-I'll fix it!", Rokku cried as he held out his arms to help.
"No, no.", Aile said refraining Rokku from helping. "I'll handle it."
Aile fixed her hair back the way it was and after that, she punched Rokku's arm. Rokku rubbed his arm to wipe away the pain again.
"You know at this rate, my arm will be broken.", Rokku said, looking annoyed.
Aile giggled, "Then stop messing with me."
Rokku intentionally took what Aile said serious and walked away from her. Aile watched him in confusion.
"Where are you going?"
"Doing what you said: Stop messing with you.", Rokku said. Although he noticed that he repeating what Aile had said didn't truly make sense to her.
Rokku continued to walk away from her. Aile knew he was doing this on purpose and decided to do something on purpose to him. She decided to act like she was crying. Rokku immediately noticed this and ran to her.
She smirked as he approached her. When he did get close to her, Aile immediately jumped on Rokku's back.
"What the!?"
"Come on! Keep walking!", Aile said, kicking Rokku's sides.
"Get off me!", Rokku cried, hoping that Aile would stop kicking him. Her shoes were painful.
"Nope! Not until we find the others! It's about time to go, you know?", Aile said as she stopped kicking him.
Rokku didn't even try to escape. He just went with what she wanted. To Rokku, Aile wasn't heavy because he was able to carry anything... at least, that's what he thought. In fact, it was actually because Aile wasn't heavy at all.
Aile was still on Rokku's back walking to find the others. It was slowly getting dusk as the sun slowly was setting.
"Aile! Rokku!"
Rokku and Aile found Prairie, Fleuve, and Mega Man running towards them. Aile jumped off of Rokku's back to greet them.
"Hi guys!", Aile yelled.
"So, what did you and Rokku do all day?", the commander asked.
"Prairie, it was amazing! Me and Rokku had fun all day!", Aile said. "First we went on the swings, then we went to do a toy car race, and we did so much more after that! Ah, it reminded me how much fun it is without doing missions all the time."
"Sounds like you two had a great time. So did you two...", Prairie said with a sly look.
Prairie smirked and winked at Aile. She immediately had gotten what Prairie was getting at with her wink and how she sounded when Prairie asked giving it away.
"Prairie! No! We're just friends!", Aile cried blushing.
Rokku didn't know what the girls were talking about. He decided to ask what Mega Man had done while Aile and Prairie barked at each other's throats.
"So what did you do all day?"
Mega Man smiled, "Well, Prairie wanted me to interact with the others, so she had me socialize with some little kids in the stores." Mega Man rubbed the back of his neck continuing on, "We went shopping and Prairie bought me some clothes that I could wear. She also bought you some clothing too, since, well, you are staying for a while."
"What?", Rokku asked in confusion. "I don't remember saying I was staying here."
Mega Man sighed and stared at Rokku. He pointed his hand at Prairie and Aile, and also Fleuve who tried to stop the two from suddenly arguing.
"Rokku, you finally got true friends, human AND reploid. Why would you want to leave after you got your wish?"
"Well, I...", Rokku said looking down.
"Rokku...", Mega Man started as he pointed at him with his finger, "...I'm giving you until tomorrow at the evening."
"Tomorrow at the evening for what?", Rokku asked.
"Tomorrow at the evening for you to make a decision without second-guessing yourself. Become a Guardian and stay with your friends, or leave them and feel bad about yourself for the dumb choice.", Mega Man said with a serious look.
Mega Man wasn't joking around with what he said. Rokku looked at Mega Man with the serious look still attached to his face. He looked back at his friends. He didn't want to leave them, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be a Guardian. He didn't know why, but he felt like he shouldn't become one. He sighed and looked down, thinking hard about what Mega Man had said.
His thoughts were interrupted by the commander's voice,
"Alright, it's getting dark. We should head back home now.", Prairie said looking at the sky.
"I will hold onto these memories for as long as I live! Come on Rokku!", Aile said looking at the boy who was looking down.
Rokku snapped out of it and he and Mega Man followed the three back into the Transerver Room. Inside the Transerver Room, the sky grew darker and nighttime had began. Prairie had given out instructions for the four others,
"When we get back to the Guardian Base, it's bedtime for everyone.", Prairie said.
Rokku thought Prairie sounded like a mother or like a big sister, although he knew that she was probably the same age as him... still, she was older than him.
Arriving at the Guardian Base, everyone headed straight to bed, as Prairie had instructed. Aile and Rokku had already gotten into their sleeping clothing. Aile gave Rokku the covers to sleep on the floor again. Mega Man was about to change back into a Biometal, but Aile stopped him.
"Mega Man, you don't have to change back into a Biometal you know.", Aile said as she enjoyed Mega Man's cute look.
"But, where would I sleep?", Mega Man asked.
"Uhh...", Aile couldn't truly think about this.
"Maybe in the bathroom?", Rokku jokingly suggested.
"...Or, maybe Prairie could let you sleep in her room if you ask.", Aile said.
"I don't know if Commander Prairie would allow me to sleep there...", Mega Man nervously said.
"Of course she would! Just go ask!", Aile said with a smile.
Mega Man thought about it, but he eventually nodded his head,
"'Kay! I'll do it! I'll be back if she says no Miss... er, I mean, Aile.", Mega Man said.
"Night!", Aile and Rokku said in unison.
Mega Man left out the room waving to his friends. Aile turned off the lights and went to her bed.
Five minutes of being on the floor, Rokku asked Aile:
"Aile, can I sleep up there with you?"
Aile blushed red thinking about what he had just said.
"EH?", Aile said as she quickly jolted up from her bed.
"S-sorry. I'll stay on the floor.", Rokku said as sweat went down his cheek again.
"I'm sorry. We'll get you a bed soon... Wait a sec, you aren't a part of the Guardians... You're still a guest...", Aile said. "Wait... Is he even a guest still...?", she thought to herself.
Aile thought about what she had said and so did Rokku. He knew he had made his decision about being at the Guardian Base, because Mega Man wouldn't give him any other choice but to make his decision. He had made his decision since he hung out with Aile and Vent. He wanted to stay with them and he also wanted to protect the world. He finally had someone he could call, his best friend and there was no way he would just leave that behind. Plus, Rokku wants to protect and the Guardians will help him achieve that goal. He didn't even know why he had a thought about NOT joining the Guardians.
"Aile...", Rokku said as Aile gave him her attention, "...I'll be a Guardian."
"What!?", Aile said as she jumped like she was jumpscared.
Rokku chuckled, saying, "You heard me. First thing in the morning, I'll tell Prairie."
"I don't know if you know this, but you have to take a test.", Aile said nervously.
"Yeah I know. I talked to Prairie about it and she told me I would have to take a test.", Rokku said with a smile, "So like I said, I'll tell Prairie first thing in the morning."
Aile hopped on the floor next to Rokku and hugged him.
"Rokku, that's great!", Aile cried.
"Hehe, not so loud. Everyone is asleep.", Rokku said silently.
Behind the door, Mega Man was still there, his arms crossed, lying against the wall by the door. He smiled to himself as he walked to the Command Center.
"I knew you'd make the right decision brother... You and me will protect this world along with new friends along the way...! I'm proud of you, Rokku... And I'm sure your parents would be too..."
Aile eventually stopped hugging Rokku and started a conversation with him. The conversation lasted for two hours and in time, Aile had drifted into sleep, not even knowing that she was sleeping on the ground next to Rokku. Prairie and Mega Man walked in the room to check on them and spotted the two sleeping together. Prairie didn't know whether or not this was a friendly thing or romantic thing, nor did she know what to do, but she left the two alone to sleep, taking Mega Man along who left behind a smile.
Fourth Chapter! My third biggest chapter yet!
Note: I changed Chapters 1-3.
With this chapter, I wanted to evolve Aile and Rokku's friendship by spending a typical day at the park. And BTW, I think Cinq Ville is a country. It may be a city, but it's confusing due to how it's stated in ZX Tunes and ZXA Tunes. Judging by the title in ZX Gigamix, "Reconstruction of Cinq Ville", it would sound like it's a city. But in my story(ies), it's a country. I also wanted my character, Rokku, to interact with the other Guardian members. I was going to have a moment where Mega Man mentions that Thon looks like Guts-Man, but I decided against it. Maybe in a future chapter, ha ha.
And I get Mega Man to meet Aile and... This is how I imagine her reaction! Maybe it would be a little more serious, but I'll just go with this because I like it!
Yay! Rokku joins the Guardians! Or at least, he will soon!
Fact Time!:
- According to the Mega Man Knowledge Base, it is said that Classic Mega Man is 4'4. You know what, I wanted Mega Man to be a little taller, so I increased his height by... 6 inches. Now he's 4'10! Ha ha! His height may increase in time.
- The part with the tree was what happened to me when I found my best friend. She was a girl, yes, and I acted stupid when I asked what BF meant, boy was I silly back then...
- I don't know if a park is actually in Area C, so I added this in here... You know like in New York or something (in my case, Minnesota in the Twin Cities (or whatever its called) because we had a park in the city too).
- The kids Rokku and Aile meet... uh... I originally had the girl be a reploid, but I decided against it. Both are human!
- I thought of the Chao Race from Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut when I did the car race scene. I love that song, lol.
- I based Mega Man's civilian form off Archie's Mega Man civilian form.
By the way, here are the ages for the Main Characters:
Vent - 15
Aile - 15
Prairie - 16
Rokku - 15
Rokku is older than Vent and Aile by a month but Prairie is older than him... WAY older (although in this case by a year).
See You Next Chapter!
...
Don't get it?
See You Next Game! (From Sonic CD, lol)