Well, I've decided to put a little twist in Forte's return, so he won't be the way you would imagine him. Anyways, I got this idea a few days ago, so here's the next chapter:
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Ragnarok Remains
"You know about that as well?" Yuriskah reaches into his pocket and gets out a biometal. "Well, you can call me Forte as soon as I recover my original form and destroy you. Rock-on!"
Yuriskah's armor transforms into a black version of Zero's as Shademan prepares to fight. "You may have been stronger than me as Forte, but I've already defeated the other two chosen ones."
"Then we'll just see about that. This is where my powers have been hidden for one hundred years. As long as we fight here, I'll keep on getting stronger." To prove his point, Yuriskah draws the ZX Saber and it transforms into a purple color.
"If that's the case, then I'll have to finish this duel off quickly!" Shademan charges at Yuriskah and swipes his claw at him. Yuriskah brings up his purple saber as the two of them meet.
"You don't stand a chance like that." Shademan pushes more as Yuriskah loses his balance. "This all ends now!"
Yuriskah smiles as another blade appears on his free arm. He slashes at Shademan and then follows up by launching a charged shot with his ZX Buster. "I already told you, the longer the fight drags on, the stronger I become!"
Yuriskah moves forward to Shademan but jumps out of the way when a piece of the ground starts to glow. "I've finally found it!" Yuriskah reverts back to his human form as he points his hand on the ground.
"Don't turn away from me!" Shademan stretches his arms out, but a dark sphere appears from the ground as Yuriskah laughs. Shademan tries to attack Yuriskah, but the sphere separates and covers Yuriskah in a bright light.
"I won't let you win!" Shademan raises his claws again but finds his efforts almost useless. He keeps on attacking until he makes a small crack in the barrier. "Now's my chance, Crush Noise!"
The attack breaks through the light barrier as Yuriskah screams. "This isn't over yet, Shademan!" The light disappears as Shademan smiles.
"Looks like Forte won't be coming back anytime soon." Shademan turns to leave, but finds the chosen ones standing up. "Oh? You two want another beating?"
"Stop right there, Shademan!" Vent and Aile turn to the direction of the voice to find Zero and the others. "Sorry we took so long."
"You really think you stand a chance against me!? We'll just see about that!" X, Leviathan, Fefnir, and Harpuia prepare to attack but Zero stops them.
"He's mine." Zero transforms into his black armor as he gets out his Z-Saber. "I'll be the one to defeat you once and for all!" Zero charges at Shademan and brings his saber down. Shademan jumps away and avoids the attack as Zero follows up by shooting his Z-Buster.
Shademan uses his wings as a shield to block Zero's attack. "You need to do a lot better than that to defeat me!" Shademan opens his wings, revealing a swarm of bats. Zero raises his blade up as the swarm gets closer and then brings it down, sending an ice wave along the ground to rip through them.
The attack pierces Shademan's wing and Zero jumps into the air to follow up. "This isn't even close to over!" Shademan extends his arm and grabs onto Zero's neck. Not good! He brings Zero closer as he uses his other hand to reveal his undamaged wing.
"Crush Noise!" The speed of the attack and Zero's descent sends him flying back. Zero lowers his Z-Buster to the ground and fires to push himself higher and to land safely.
"Lord Shademan, the other two Robot Masters are complete." Plantman's voice comes out of Shademan's communicator as he nods.
"Looks like we'll continue this another time, I'll take my leave for now." Shademan warps out of the room as Zero reverts back to his normal form.
"Hey, are you two okay?" Zero looks toward Vent and Aile as they slowly nod. "Looks like there's nothing else to do here, let's go back." The others follow Zero as he goes toward the exit.
"Anything wrong, Aile?" Vent notices Aile looking back as she scans the room.
"I just thought that I heard something for a moment. Come on, let's check." Vent nods as the two of them start to search around the room. The five reploids start to help as well after watching them search.
"Hey look, I found something!" The others turn to Aile as she slowly turns. A small bundle is in her arms, and as they get a closer look, they recognize it as an unconscious, small child.
The child seems to be a black and gold reploid with small fins on his head. X and Zero immediately recognize the figure and the realization slowly dawns on the three reploids.
"Forte!?" Zero gasps in surprise at the small bundle in Aile's arm. He looks at Aile and Vent quickly and then back at the miniature Forte. "What exactly happened here?"
"Let's explain once we get back to Guardian HQ." Aile continues to hold the child in her arms. "What should we do with him? Do you five know him?"
"We'll explain that later. Let's just go back and ask Ciel."
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Guardian HQ
"Hey so all of you are back. What do you have in your arms, Aile?" Prairie takes a closer look as the figure turns. Prairie almost freezes as she recognizes Forte. She looks at Zero and X for an explanation.
"Don't look at us. We know about as much as you do. Maybe you should explain the situation to Ciel…" Prairie nods as she leaves the room. After waiting for a few minutes, Ciel appears as she carefully takes Forte from Aile's arms as she leads them to her room.
"Maybe you two should start off by telling us exactly what happened." Vent and Aile take a deep breath as they prepare to tell them what they witnessed.
"…and then the light disappears and that's where you guys come in." Vent and Aile are out of breath after explaining the situation as Zero looks at Forte and back at them.
"So… Yuriskah was Forte all along… I guess that does explain some things." Zero takes a look at Ciel. "You think he's going to be permanently like this?"
"I'm not sure about that just yet. Whatever Forte was trying to do, Shademan got in the way and for some reason, he's like this now." Ciel turns to the sleeping figure as he starts to yawn.
Forte wakes up as he rubs his eyes and look at everyone in the room curiously. "Who… are… you?" Taken back by the question, X tries to think of a way to answer.
"Uhh… how much do you remember?"
"My name Forte… everything else blank…" X smacks his head with his hand and the others look at Forte.
"Looks like he got his memories erased as well…" Zero looks at the reploid that's supposed his big brother. Zero eyes the door and looks at X. X nods and the two of them make a break for it.
"We're not taking care of him!"
"Hey!" Vent, Aile, Ciel, and Prairie call move to the door, but find the two reploids long gone.
"Well, I guess we'll be going now as well." Harpuia, Leviathan, and Fefnir slowly walk out of the room and meet no protests from the other four.
Prairie takes a look at Aile and Vent. "You two should take care of him. Sis is busy and I have a lot of paperwork to do."
"Wait, but we don't know anything about taking care of a child!" Vent tries to protest but Prairie looks at Forte.
"These two will show you where you'll be living for now." Forte nods his head as Vent and Aile sighs.
"Alright, Vent, let's go."
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Vent and Aile's Room
"Wait! Don't put that in your mouth, it's not a toy!" Vent yanks the biometal from Forte's hand as Aile comes out of the washroom.
"What's wrong?"
"He tried to eat Model X!" Vent looks at the small figure as tears start to form in his eyes. Vent looks around the room to find something to divert Forte's attention but isn't quick enough.
Forte starts to cry as Aile looks at Vent. "Nice going, Vent." Aile tries to calm the small reploid, but none of her attempts work as Vent panics. "Do something! He'll disturb everyone in the base!"
"What am I suppose to do?" Vent tries to put Forte in his bed on the pillow, but the black reploid continues to cry. "This isn't working!"
The door opens as Prairie steps into the room. "I've been getting some complaints by the people near here. Can't you two take care of a child?" Prairie sighs as she picks Forte up. Forte seems to stop crying and stare at Prairie curiously.
"Wow, Commander, looks like you're really good with kids. Can you take care of him instead, please?" Aile looks at Prairie as she sighs.
"Alright, I'll take care of him for today, but don't count on me to help you every time." Prairie looks at the small figure. "Come on, Forte." Forte obediently follows Prairie to her room as Vent and Aile sigh with relief.
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Ciel and Prairie's Room
"Hey, Sis, I'm back." Forte looks around the room curiously and jumps onto the bed. Ciel takes a look at the child and then at Prairie. "Vent and Aile couldn't take care of him, so I agreed to help them out for now, hope that doesn't bother you."
"That's fine, he seems to be behaving." Forte runs to Prairie's desk and picks up a crystallized stuffed animal.
"What's that?"
"It's just something that a friend gave me…" Forte nods as he explores her desk and finds stuffed animals of all different sorts. Ciel just smiles at the small black reploid. "You know, I never thought of Forte like this. He kind of reminds me of you."
Prairie faintly blushes as she thinks about the grown up Forte acting like this and changes the subject. "Where should he sleep?"
"Well, there's an extra mattress somewhere, and I'm sure that we can find a spare blanket." Prairie nods as she leaves the room the room. She stops halfway through the door.
"Actually… Why don't we get X and Zero to do it? They seem to have a lot of spare time."
"Alright, I'll tell Zero the next time he comes." Forte leaves Prairie's chair as she gets closer and sits on it. Prairie gets out a pen and starts to do some paperwork as Forte stares at her.
I never thought that Forte would come back like this… I wonder if he'll return to normal… Prairie puts the finished paper in a corner of the desk as she grabs another one from the pile.
Forte looks at the finished paper as he stares at something. "Pra…i…rie."
Prairie smiles and pats Forte lightly on the head. "That reminds me, you haven't been introduced to anyone yet." Forte nods his head and smiles at his accomplishment. The door opens as X and Zero walk in.
"X, Zero! Just the two I wanted to see." Ciel motions to Forte as he follows her. "I want the two of you to show him around and introduce him to everyone."
X and Zero look nervously at Forte, but Prairie blocks the exit as they try to make a run for it. "Alright, we'll do it."
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After a long day of chasing a hyper kid around the base, Zero and X collapse on their beds. Zero looks at X as he thinks about Forte. "Hey, what do you think he'll grow up like?"
X tries to catch his breath as he thinks about the grown up Forte compared to the hyper kid. "Probably very different than the one that we're used to. I don't know how Ciel and Prairie manages to keep him in control."
Zero collapses on the bed and X follows his example. "Well, good night, X."
"Night, Zero." The two of them fall asleep, and the next morning, X didn't give his usual wake-up call to Zero.
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Alright, so now we have a chibified Forte with no memories other than his name. Remember to read and review!