Well, before we begin the next chapter, I'll just address some concerns:
SpartanCommander: Everyone has their own tastes, and you probably are more of the action/adventure type of person than romance. As for the concerns about Model W's plan, I didn't have a lot of time left last chapter, but I'll explain some things.
Charli: Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to ask someone else on that one. I've never played Megaman X8 and have no idea who the heck Layer is. I never played Megaman ZX either, but I've done my research and it's closely connected to Megaman Zero, which I did play.
Well, as for the other reviews, thank you for supporting me so far by reading the story. As for the lemon problem, I've written the chapter but it's not really connected to the story plotwise so it'll be an optional read. I've heard that fanfiction banned lemons, so you'll have to all wait until I find a suitable place to post it, probably adultfanfiction.
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"What did all of you want to talk to me about?" Shademan rests his head by propping it up with his arm while he sits down on his throne. The eight other Robot Masters are kneeling down in front of him.
"We all think that there are things that really need changing, Shademan." Geminiman stands up to speak. "Some things just aren't working out for us right now."
"Like what?" Shademan closes his eyes with disinterest and the other Robot Masters all stand up. "Hurry up and get on with it. I have better things to do."
"Like you!" Plantman's arm turns into a long whip-like vine and he lashes it at Shademan. Shademan extends his arm and takes into the air and the vine smashes his throne into pieces.
"Crush Noise!" The shockwave hits Magnetman and Metalman while the less bulky Robot Masters manage to avoid the attack. Shademan uses his other wing to launch another attack, but Shadowman jumps into the air and slashes at Shademan with his katana.
The vampire Robot Master falls down to the ground and Magnetman's hands begin to glow. "I can't… move." Shademan tries to struggle to get out, but fails. "What's the meaning of this?"
"We've decided that we don't need you to lead us anymore. The eight of us are going to follow Model W." Geminiman goes in front of Shademan and his hand transforms into a buster.
"What made you decide this?"
"During our fights my fight with Prometheus and Vent, Prometheus planted a microchip on me in the middle of our battle. The same goes for Magnetman for his fight with Pandora. As for Shadowman, it's when he fought Phantom. The chips helped us see the truth, and later, we didn't even need them anymore. We planted them on the others and now they're on our side as well."
Shademan just chuckles at Geminiman's explanation. "That's all I needed to know." The vampire Robot Master transforms into hundreds of tiny bats and a claw tears through Geminiman's chest. Blood drips onto the floor and Geminiman falls down to the ground.
"GET HIM!" Magnetman prepares to launch a Magnet Missile at the bat-like Robot Master, but a katana is held beside his neck and Magnetman stops. "Shadowman!? What are you doing?"
"The two of you are weaklings, believing that sticking with Weil will make you safe." The other five Robot Masters stop attacking and stand in front of Shademan. Plantman continues explaining to Magnetman. "We needed to root out all the weeds, so we pretended to be on your side."
"That's impossible! Shadowman, you're supposed to be with us. How could the six of you have resisted the microchip?"
"I guess you deserve to know the cause of your death." Shademan steps up and holds a claw against Magnetman's cheeks and Shadowman sheaths his katana. "When you and Geminiman first made contact with Model W, there was a plant in the room. Plantman heard everything and informed the rest of us. We got upgrades to make ourselves immune to the effects of the microchip."
"But-" Magnetman is cut off by Shademan's claw tearing through his armor, completely annihilating the red Robot Master.
Shademan turns to the five other Robot Masters. "Use their remains to create more mechaniloids." The leader of the Robot Masters then turns to Shadowman. "Did you get the location of Weil's base?"
Shadowman nods and hands Shademan a disk. "Excellent work," Shademan turns again to face Plantman. "You didn't have to destroy my throne, you know?"
"Well, you said to make it look a bit convincing, and I that attack's hard to control." Shademan nods and dismisses the six remaining Robot Masters with a wave of his arm. Plantman stops to look at Shademan. "Now that the traitors are out of the way, how long until we get to have some fun and get rid of Model W and his cronies?"
"Soon, Plantman, all of you won't have to wait for long. Once I examine the necessary information, we'll make our move." The other Robot Masters give a nod and leave the room while Shademan gets to work.
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Vent and Aile's Room
"Aile, are you here?" Vent looks around and sees the figure of Aile under white covers. Vent shakes it and Aile let's out a groan before wiping her eyes and looking at Vent. "Isn't it a bit early to be sleeping?"
"Is it that weird for me to be taking a nap? I'm exhausted right now." Aile yawns and looks at Vent. "What took you so long?"
"I guess I lost track of time." Vent reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small package. "I bought this for you." Aile gets up form her bed. She opens the small package and finds a gold bracelet with her name on it in all capital letters. "I just saw this and thought you might like it."
"It's not like anyone will notice a difference because of the gloves that we always wear." Vent realizes that Aile's right and blushes at his own stupidity.
What the heck was I thinking? I should've spent a bit more time on this instead of buying something on impulse.
"It's the thought that counts. I'm just glad that you remembered." Aile puts Vent's present on her wrist. "How does it look?"
"Great." Vent takes a deep breath as he prepares himself for what he's about to say next. I think now's the best time to ask her. She seems to be in a better mood than last night. "You're not still mad, are you?"
"I'm feeling a bit better."
"I was wondering if you could reconsider getting to know Pandora…" Vent looks down on the ground as he waits for her answer. I got to know her a lot better… He adds silently in his mind.
"Maybe later," Aile notices a bump in Vent's pocket. "What's that?"
Vent's eyes widen and he immediately takes out a small pink stuffed animal. "I almost forgot about this! I'm planning to give this to Prairie. Can you do that for me?" Aile nods as she takes the miniature doll in her hands. Aile leaves the room and Vent watches her go.
Well, that went a whole lot better than I expected. Vent climbs onto his bed at the top bunk and sighs. Maybe my luck is finally starting to change. I wonder what improved Aile's mood. Oh well, the important thing is that she isn't mad at me anymore.
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Ciel and Prairie's Room
Ciel steps out of the bathroom after changing into a new set of clothing and sighs. Prairie looks at her sis. "How did the visit to Zero go?"
Ciel cheeks turn the slightest tinge of pink as she answers. "Fine…"
"You were gone for two hours. You two must have talked about something really interesting." Prairie stretches her arm upwards as she yawns while sitting on her chair. "Doing paperwork is so boring. Maybe I can get some of the operators to help."
"Zero and I fell asleep for a while." Ciel looks at the pile of paper on Prairie's and her desk. "Yeah, maybe that would be the best idea." Someone knocks on the door and Ciel turns to shout. "Come in."
The door opens and Aile steps in with a miniature doll in her hands. "Vent told me that he wanted me to give this to you." Aile holds it out to Prairie and the Guardian Commander takes it. Prairie turns the stuffed animal around as she looks it over.
"Aww, this is so cute." She makes a space on her desk between the line of other dolls that she has and puts it in. Aile looks at it and notices something. She arranged all the dolls in order of size. Maybe I can ask her about Vent's request…
"Prairie, I need some advice." Aile looks at Ciel, wondering if this is really the best time to be asking right now.
"I know when I'm not needed. I'll just go ahead and give the two of you some privacy while you talk." Ciel leaves the room and closes the door behind her and Prairie turns to face Aile.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Hmm? Oh, right. Vent wants me to get to know Pandora better, but I'm not really sure if I should. What if it turns out to be really awkward?" Prairie sighs as she rubs her temples, contemplating the question.
"Why do you always ask me about problems in your relationship? What makes you think I know anything about that?"
"I just want to get your input." Aile looks at the pink reploid as she thinks of Prairie's question herself. Now that I think about it, that's a really good point. She's not in a relationship, but maybe that's why I always trust her with these questions. Her answers won't be limited to her own experience.
"Well, I think you might as well talk to her. If anything, at least you'll be able to find out if Vent really likes her and why." Prairie looks across her desk as an idea forms in her mind. "Since you don't seem to be that busy, why don't you help me with this load of paperwork?"
"Praiiiirie."
"Don't think that sounding cute will get you out of all your responsibilities. Just tell me if you find anything interesting and I'll look over it and take care of it." Prairie piles a bunch of papers about three centimeters thick on Aile's palms as the ex-delivery girl tries to keep it from falling with her fingers.
"But I don't have a pen!" Prairie puts a black pen on top of the pile of papers. Aile sighs, knowing she's been beat. "Well, thanks for the advice." Aile walks out of the room after steadying the papers in her hand.
"Here, let me get the door for you." Prairie opens the door and Aile walks out carrying the paperwork with her.
Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go to Prairie. I should've known she'd try to pull something like this. Aile sighs as she walks along the hallway. Still, I guess what she said did make sense.
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Vent and Aile's Room
"What do you expect me to do with all of this?" Vent looks at the pile of papers that Aile put on his desk.
"Just read through all of them and if there's anything interesting, mark it down." Aile stretches her arms after finally getting rid of the paper. Wow, it might be light, but it sure strains the arm.
"Why do I have to do all of this?" Vent looks at all the paper in the pile, deciding if it was a good idea to try and argue.
"Just think of it as punishment for staying out so late. Besides, I need to talk with Pandora, as you suggested."
"I buy you a present and this is what I get in return?" Vent mutters quietly as he starts reading over the first report.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" He reads over the report faster and hears Aile exiting the room. This is so boring, I wonder how the others can even stand doing this. Vent's eyes start to get heavier and heavier as he goes on, slowly trying to take in the details. Maybe I can just say none of these reports have anything interesting, but if Aile finds out…
Vent decides it's best to not risk it and starts reading through it, trying to absorb all the small details.
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Prometheus and Pandora's Room
Aile peeks in through the door to find Pandora without her helmet on. This is the first time that Aile's seen the white reploid without her helmet on and pays attention to the details of her face. There isn't a single fault that Pandora could pinpoint and her green hair just adds to the effect. Does Vent like Pandora because of her looks?
"You don't have to hide. I can see you." Aile gulps and walks into the room. Pandora turns to face Aile. "Did you come here to tell me to stay away from Vent?"
A part of me wanted to, but… Aile takes a deep breath and begins to speak. "Vent said that we should get to know each other a bit better." Aile tries to read Pandora's expression, but fails at finding any traces of emotion.
"What did you want to know?"
Wow, what do I want to know? Vent really didn't think any of this over. "Umm… maybe you can start by telling me a bit about your childhood?" Wow, that's a really dumb way to start things off.
"I have no childhood."
I knew she'd be… wait, what? Aile tries to figure out what Pandora means by this. "I know you're a reploid, but I just wanted to know where if there was a time when you had no worries and played with others, that sort of thing."
"I've never told anyone this since they never asked, but…" Pandora pauses for a moment. "The humanoids who took me in when I was complete only looked at me as free labor. I had to work hard everyday for my own survival and barely had any time to associate with others."
That really makes me seem like a jerk… "I'm sorry, I had no idea."
"Now that I think about it, that's probably the main reason I gladly joined Model W back then when he offered me power."
"What exactly did any of that have to do with joining Model W?"
"I guess I just thought of everyone as the same, just selfish people who only cared about themselves. Sometimes I had a notion where I might be wrong and attempted to escape, but Weil captured me and tortured me along with Prometheus, who tried to escape as well."
That explains a lot of things. Maybe Vent's right about Pandora not being a bad person. I guess it's not really Pandora causing the problems, it's Vent. What am I supposed to do? "It must be very hard to not have anyone that cared about you. Vent's and my mothers died, but we at least we knew they loved us, and then we had Girouette to take care of us after that."
"It's a sign of weakness to rely on others, that's what I've learned to believe." Pandora sighs. "Still, I wonder if it's also a sign of weakness to be able to enjoy some companionship for once instead of being all alone."
"You chosen ones should just mind your own business instead of keep coming here." Aile turns her head to find Prometheus standing by the doorway.
Pandora's one thing, but I really don't want to be dealing with him. Aile turns and exits the door while brushing past Prometheus. Prometheus enters the room and closes the door while Aile walks a long in the hallway.
Now that I know her a bit better, maybe she's not evil, but she's still trying to steal Vent away from me. I'll just have to deal with this some other time.
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Desert
"Well, figures this place would be where someone would hide. There are almost no life forms out here." Plantman looks around the area for any signs of a base. "Where did you say their base was, Shadowman?"
"We'll have to go about ten more miles west of here before it's visible. It's hidden by a cloaking program, but we can just change our vision to bypass that."
"Alright, let's begin." Shademan raises his hands as mechaniloids start to march forward to Weil's base.
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Model W's Base
"Is she almost ready, Phantom?" Weil's image moves closer to a capsule as Phantom begins pushing buttons on the computer.
"She'll be complete in about five minutes or so."
"Good, how's our other project coming along?"
"The data from the piece of Ragnarok that Prometheus and Pandora sent us have been extracted." Phantom goes to the computer and presses a few buttons as a disk ejects. "We'll be able to start with the next phase soon."
"Things are progressing along better than I had hoped. Soon, the Guardians will be at our mercy." The alarm begins to ring and mechaniloids show up on the monitors. "Someone's attacking? Deploy the defense systems at once!"
Phantom presses a button and looks at the monitor. "That's strange, those are the Robot Masters mechaniloids, but none of the Robot Masters are anywhere to be found."
"I guess we overestimated Magnetman, Geminiman, and Shadowman's competence. It doesn't matter. This is just a minor setback."
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Outside Model W's Base
Cannons and guns begin to appear on Weil's base and then they start attacking the invading mechaniloids. "I guess it's finally my turn." Sand begins to lift up as Metalman stands. He tosses his Metal Blade and it rips through all the guns and cannons.
An entrance opens up in Model W's base and an army of mechaniloids move out. Before they could start attacking, the sand freezes, causing the mechaniloids to short circuit. Freezeman appears beside Metalman. "This is too easy. I wonder when they'll actually come out themselves."
Burnerman comes flying in and he stops above Model W's base. His two hands become flamethrowers. The red Robot Master aims downwards and starts setting the whole base on fire. "Now they'll have to come out sooner or later, and that's when we'll destroy them."
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Model W's Base
"What, how could this be happening?" Model W slams the table, but his holographic hands just go right through. "Phantom, alert Pandora and Prometheus to come back immediately, we're retreating."
Phantom nods and he gets out his communicator. "Did the two of you forget about me?" The ninja Robot Master appears phases through the wall and walks into the room.
"Shadowman? Why are you working with Shademan again?" Weil looks as the purple ninja Robot Master walks toward the central computer.
"I was never working for you in the first place. I wonder what would happen if I press this button." Shadowman uses the hilt of his katana to smash through a protective glass and presses the emergency self destruct button.
"Countdown has begun. Five minutes until the base explodes. A timer appears on the screen and Phantom draws his own weapon, preparing to fight Shadowman.
"We don't have time for that right now. Let's get out of here." Shadowman just phases through the wall as Model W and Phantom start floating toward the exit.
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Guardian HQ
Prometheus's communicator beeps and he immediately gets it from his cape. "What is it, Model W?"
"The Robot Masters are attacking. It seems that we underestimated them. We need you and Pandora to get back here immediately and help." Prometheus nods as he closes the communicator.
"Come on, Pandora, let's go." Pandora just gives a small nod and puts on her helmet. The two of them run towards the Commander's Room and Prometheus looks inside. "There are a few operators in there. I'll just take care of them and use the trans-server to get out."
Prometheus gets out his scythe and prepares to rush in, but Pandora stops him. "There's no need for that. I'll take care of this." Pandora opens the door and walks into the room.
"Pandora, what are you doing…" The operator turns, and before she could finish her question, Pandora draws her staff and shoots out electricity at every operator in the room, knocking them unconscious.
"You didn't kill them? I think you're beginning to get a bit soft." Prometheus goes up to a trans-server and types in the co-ordinates. "Are you ready?"
"I guess…" Pandora and Prometheus steps onto the trans-server and warps out of Guardian HQ.
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Model W's Base
Pandora and Prometheus appear beside Phantom and Model W and cough because of the fumes inside the base. "What the heck is going on right now?"
"Shadowman activated the self-destruct system and we need to get out of here as soon as possible." Phantom answers as he keeps running. The four of them reach the exit, but finds that they're surrounded by flames.
"Crush Noise!" Shademan dives at the four of them from above and aims the shockwaves at the three retreating reploids and the hologram. The four of them are hit by the attack and slammed against the walls of their base.
"I'll make you pay for that!" Prometheus lunges at Shademan with his scythe, but vines shoot out from the sand to entangle him. Prometheus screams and lets out a yell, causing flames to surround his body and burn the vines.
Shademan shoots his arm at Prometheus and his claws pierce through his shoulder, bring down the dark purple reploid. Pandora and Phantom prepare to fight as well, but ice begins to encase their bodies.
"Just give up, the four of you are outnumbered and outmatched, not to mention that only three of you can fight." Freezeman and Plantman walk through the flames first, and then the rest of the Robot Masters follow.
Pandora and Phantom breaks out of their icy prison, but the ground below them explodes, knocking them backwards. Shademan turns to Crashman. "Good job, Crashman. Now, time to finish you all off for good."
A dark streak of lightning shoots out from the entrance to the base and knocks back the vampire Robot Master. A red and blue female reploid with brown hair and dark purple eyes appears walks out. A dark purple aura surrounds the figure, protecting her from the Robot Masters' attacks. "Who's this? This may be unexpected, but it won't make a difference!"
"Dark Elf, I'm glad to see that you're finally awake. I need you to teleport the five of us out of here right now." The brown haired reploid nods and snaps her fingers, causing a dark purple portal to open.
Pandora, Prometheus, Phantom, and Model W go in and Iris goes in last as the portal closes. Shademan shoots out his claw at the portal, but it touches nothing but air. "They escaped." Shademan lets out a growl and bares his teeth. "It doesn't matter now, we've destroyed their base. They won't be a problem for us for a long time."
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Commander's Room
"What happened here?" Prairie, Aile, and Vent help the fallen operators get up as they slowly cough. "Who did this to you?"
"Prometheus… and Pandora… used the trans-server to get out… of here." One operator opens her eyes and slowly begins to speak. Vent and Aile look up in surprise at the mention of the two names.
"I'll go and check their room." Vent bolts up and heads out of the door as Aile looks at the operators.
"Can you tell us exactly what you saw?"
"I turned as Pandora walked in the room… and the next thing I know, I'm unconscious…" The operator coughs a little bit and Prairie starts going up to the trans-server.
"I'll try to track down their location and see where they went." Aile helps two operators get up and gets them to the Medic Wing. After safely transporting all of them, she looks at Prairie.
"Did you manage to find anything?"
"I managed to locate that they teleported to a desert and I opened up a visual, but wherever their base was, it's been burnt down. I'm guessing that someone attacked Model W and he had to get Prometheus and Pandora's help to try and get out.
"Does that mean the four of them are all dead?"
"That's hard to say. I'll have to organize a search squad to go in there and see if they can find any bodies." Aile nods and Prairie starts to move away. "The two of them turned out to be traitors after all, but it's a good thing that they didn't learn anything too important."
Aile nods again and Prairie leaves the room. All the operators weren't heavily injured or killed. Does that mean Pandora decided to spare them or that they just didn't have enough time to finish the job?
Aile thinks of Pandora's and Prometheus's abilities and concludes that they could probably save more time if they just killed all the operators right then. Does that mean that Pandora was telling the truth, or is this all some kind of trick?
Vent runs in the room panting. "I can't find any signs of them in the room. The beds are made as if no one was ever there. Did you and Prairie find out anything interesting?"
Aile explains to Vent what Prairie told her and he stops to think. "Did that mean that Pandora tricked us the whole time? If so, I can't believe that I was such an idiot to have believed her." Vent clenches his fist.
"Actually, I don't think she had much of a choice whether she went back or not, but whether she lied to you or not still remains to be seen." Vent looks at Aile wide-eyed.
Is she actually defending Pandora? Vent stares at Aile for a moment, wondering what to say. "Did you go and talk to her like I suggested?" Aile replies with a nod. "Do you think she's lying, then?"
"Her story would explain a lot of things, and I don't find anything wrong with it, but maybe she's just a good actor. What do you think? You were the one who spent a whole day with her."
"I enjoyed spending time with her, and she really seemed to enjoy it as well. I don't think she's lying, but I can't be sure whether she's still with Model W or not." Vent looks at the clock in the room. "Well, it's almost time for dinner, let's go."
Aile nods and the two of them exit the room together. Now that Pandora isn't here, Vent's all mine, but this doesn't feel right. I feel like I cheated to get him, but that's ridiculous. I'm sure things will look different soon.
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"I always have a back-up base just in case something like this happens." Model W moves around in their new nearly identical base. "Phantom, do you still have the disk with the data of Ragnarok?"
"I've got it right here." Phantom inserts the disk inside the machine and the data appears on the monitor.
"How come you didn't tell any of us about this extra base?" Prometheus looks around and touches the machines. "If I hadn't been there when our last one burnt down, I'd say this is our last base."
"It wouldn't be as safe if everyone had known about it now would it?" Model W goes to the monitor and goes through the data. "Excellent, everything seems to be in order. I underestimated those Robot Masters and they took us by surprise, but now we have the advantage. Prometheus, make your report on what the two of you have discovered about the Guardians' base."
Prometheus nods and goes to the computer to insert a disk. A map of Guardian HQ appears on the screen. "The most heavily guarded place is over there, and there." Two spots on the map begin to glow. "If we want to sneak up on them, then the best choice would be to enter from this direction…"
Prometheus finishes his report on Guardian HQ and Model W nods. "You two have done very well, I'm pleased." Model W then turns to the newest addition to their group. "Now, Iris, would you like to greet Zero again?"
"Zero?" Iris looks at Model W with blank eyes.
"Of course you don't remember him, but I'm sure he'll remember you." Model W checks the map of Guardian HQ one more time. "We'll make those Robot Masters pay for what they did. Everyone shall soon bow down before our might."
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Well, that's about it for now. Remember to tell me your opinions by leaving a review! The lemon chapter probably isn't suitable for even with an M rating and a warning of lemons, so I'll let you guys know how it goes once I find out what to do with it.