This chapter is freakin' long, but it's worth it. Enjoy!

MMZX3: Mega Man ZX Enforcers

Breaking Siarnaq's Shell

The Commander was awaiting the return of the Mega Men when the transporter glowed. From the light, the six warriors emerged, already De-Megamerged, carrying their purple-haired casualty. The commander went to speak, but he was cut off.

"No time to talk, man. Where's the medical bay?" Taylor said.

"Follow us!" Ashe responded as she and Grey ran ahead of the group. The other four followed them close behind, the Commander joining them. Luckily, the medical bay was not too far away. When they entered, Anna, the green-haired nurse Reploid (A/N: If you've played Advent, you know who this is.) greeted them and placed Siarnaq on a recovery table. She ran a few tests to see just how bad he was.

"He took quite a bit of damage, but it's nothing bad." The nurse told them. "Whoever did this to him underestimated his strength. He should wake up soon."

Model P sighed. "That's good. Curse that dragon!"

"Don't worry about him. He's nothing but scrap now." Model O said.

"Hey, Anna, think you can fix his voice system?" Grey asked. "Somehow, he can only talk like a Mechaniloid."

"Maybe. Let's see how bad it is." Anna replied. She ran another scan of the Shadow Mega Man, focusing on the voice system, but she was surprised at the results. "Hmm, this is strange. According to this, his voice system has had no alterations whatsoever."

"How's that possible?" Ashe wondered. "Every time I transformed into him, the voice I copied sounded natural. How is it that he talks like a computer if he has his original voice system?"

"I have no idea." Anna said. The rest of them looked back at Siarnaq. Something caught Thetis's eye.

"What the…?" He breathed as he walked over to the Reploid. A small object could be seen on his scarf. Thetis removed the object and examined it, completely clueless. It was a small square shape with a speaker. It was quite damaged. "What the heck is this?"

"Let me see that." Aeolus said. The blunette handed the Wind Mega Man the object. He held it close to his face, but his thumb accidentally pressed a button.

"ELABORATE FUNCTION OF OBJECT." A familiar robotic voice came from the speaker. Aeolus jerked the object away from his face.

"I could've sworn I said 'What does this do?'" He remarked.

"Well, that's a mystery solved." Taylor spoke, taking the object from Aeolus. "This thing is a special voice modulator. Not only can it make your voice sound different, but apparently it projects different words to perfectly replicate the voice." He pressed the button on the device. "Test phrase: What should I do?" He held the speaker to his mouth. "SELECT COURSE OF ACTION." Taylor removed the device. "Theory proven."

"So that's how Siarnaq made himself seem so emotionless." Atlas commented. Taylor attempted to test it again, but nothing happened. He tried a few more times with the same result. It was apparently no longer functional.

"Nnnnngh…" A voice groaned. Everyone jerked. "Uggghhh…" The voice was coming from Siarnaq's direction. Everyone turned to see the Shadow Mega Man moving around on the bed, his eyes still closed. His eyes shook a bit before slowly opening, revealing his small red eyes. "Where am I…?" His voice sounded completely natural. (A/N: This natural voice can be heard if you transform into Siarnaq with Ashe in ZX Advent. I recommend finding a clip.) He slowly sat up, holding a hand to his head. When he saw the Mega Men, his eyes shot open, and he realized where he was. He jumped off the table, pulling his scarf back over his mouth. "Why did you bring me here?" He asked angrily, but he was shocked that his voice modulator wasn't working. He checked his scarf, finding it was gone. "Where the heck is my modulator?"

"I've got it right here." Taylor told him, holding up the damaged device. "It won't do you any good now. Your little brawl with Shadraco busted it. If you still want it, here." He threw the speaker to Siarnaq, who examined it. After seeing the damage, he growled and crushed it in his hand.

"I'm gonna kill that Pseudoroid!" He shouted.

"Too late for that. We already took him down." Thetis explained. "After we turned him to scrap, we found you and brought you here to recover."

"I didn't want your help, nor did I need it!" Siarnaq snapped at the Ice Mega Man.

"Yes, you did." The echoed voice of Model P spoke. Siarnaq turned to face his Biometal. "If Shadraco had found out you were still alive, he would have killed you. If they hadn't come, you would've perished."

"But-"

"Look, if you don't trust us, then fine." Grey said. "We can understand that, because of what happened to you."

"You don't know a thing I've gone through!" Siarnaq yelled.

"Oh, don't we?" Ashe asked with a scowl. The Commander pulled out a small disk and threw it to the Shadow Mega Man. It activated, showing a hologram of him. A voice rang out from the device.

Data File B09 – Siarnaq

Model P Biomatch (Shadow Mega Man). A former hunter and assassin for hire whose past includes being betrayed by his friends and left for dead. This is the reason for his cold impassiveness towards others.

The hologram vanished. Siarnaq just stared. "We know you better than you think we do." Grey told him. "Your past is something no one should have to go through."

"So you know my past. Big whoop." The Shadow Mega Man remained cold. "That doesn't make you friends in my book."

"If you don't want to be our friends, then that's fine." Aeolus said. "We could use your help, though. Model D betrayed you, and I'm sure you'll want revenge." Siarnaq nodded at that, though his face didn't soften. "With your help, we can awaken Biometal Model Y and destroy Model D."

"I don't think so. You'll just stab me in the back like everybody else."

"We would never do that!" Atlas cried.

"Give me one good reason why I should trust any of you!" As if on cue, when Siarnaq finished his sentence, a frantic Hunter rushed into the medical bay.

"Sir! We have intruders in the Central Area of the Camp! They are aligned with Model D!" He shouted to the Commander.

"What? Intruders?" The Commander shouted back.

"Model D servants? I'll take care of them!" Siarnaq yelled with hate in his voice. "Come on, Model P!" The enraged Reploid darted out the door, the Shadow Biometal following him.

"You all go as well!" The Commander told the Mega Men. All of them rushed out without a second thought.

"These guys have some nerve attacking the Camp!" Thetis commented.

"I'd be willing to bet they sent some powerful troops!" Atlas added.

"Let's hope they haven't done too much damage!" Grey cried. When they reached the Central Area, there were definite signs that something bad had gone down. Strangely, there was nobody around.

"Okay… where are these intruders?" Ashe asked.

"Right here!" A voice chirped. From the right, something whipped dangerously close to her, slicing a few strands of her ice blue hair. Atlas caught it in mid-air. It was a green metallic leaf with sharp edges. "Dang it, I missed! My aim's off today!" Everyone turned in that direction and saw two figures standing on top of a building. Both of them jumped across the air and landed in front of the group. Both of them were clearly Model E Mega Men, but something was different. One had lime green armor instead of gold, and short stands of forest green hair came out of his helmet. The other had dark grey armor, and two light grey spikes of hair jutted out from two holes in the helmet. Both of them had mouth guards and red eyes.

"Let me try!" The grey-armored Mega Man said. He pulled out a small grey sphere and threw it out at Aeolus. The sphere landed near him and exploded, causing a cloud of smoke to erupt from it. Aeolus waved the smoke away, coughing all the while.

"Who *cough* are you?" He asked.

"Stop right there!" A voice demanded. Siarnaq had managed to find the area.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in!" The green-armored Mega Man laughed. "It's been a long time, 'pal!'"

"Wait… you can't be!"

"Man, you always were the dim bulb of the group!" The grey one said. "Don't you recognize your old pals?" The two Mega Men De-Megamerged, revealing their true forms: two Reploids that looked very similar to him, only with no scarves and different outfit colors and hair. Siarnaq's eyes went wide.

"Forrest…" He breathed, looking at the green-haired Reploid. He turned to the greyette. "Shade…"

"Hah hah! Man, this brings back memories of our last hunt!" Forrest chirped. "Remember, Shade?"

"Oh, yeah! I can still picture that look on his face when we left him there! Priceless!" Shade responded.

"So these are the guys are betrayed you?" Taylor asked the Shadow Mega Man, who only nodded in response. Both of the enemies laughed.

"How could you do such a thing to your friend?" Atlas demanded to know.

"'Friend?' Puh-lease!" Forrest jeered. "He was just a pawn to us!"

"His naivety helped us a lot, and when he outlived his usefulness, we dumped him like old garbage!" Shade shouted, causing them both to laugh out loud again.

"You toyed with a person's heart! That is unforgivable! Everyone, stay back. I'm doing this myself!" Grey yelled, and he grabbed Model A. "I'm going to take both of you down! MEGAMERGE!" Grey combined with Model A and drew his pistols. "You'll pay for manipulating Siarnaq like that."

'Go get 'em, Grey!' Ashe cheered inwardly. Siarnaq was having conflicting thoughts. Part of him wanted to trust Grey's words, but the other didn't.

Forrest and Shade just smirked and drew their Model E copies. "MEGAMERGE!" Both of them donned their Mega Man armor. Grey dashed toward them while firing off shots from his guns, but the two enemies dashed off. Out of nowhere, Grey was covered by the smog from one of Shade's smoke bombs. He tried to quickly get rid of the smoke, but he was sliced by Forrest's razor leaves, which did more damage then he anticipated. As he reeled from the damage, Forrest and Shade appeared right in front of him.

"Here a little tidbit: our Model E copies were specially designed for us." Forrest told him. "We're much stronger than any other Model E Mega Man!"

"I've overcome worse than this before." Grey groaned. "I will win and make you pay."

"What a dope." Shade taunted. "You seem to forget that it's also two against one!" Both Mega Men delivered a harsh kick to Grey's stomach, sending him flying backwards.

"Gaaaaahh!" He yelled in pain as he hit the ground hard.

'Grey!' Ashe shrieked in her head. She was worried about him.

"This wasn't very fun at all." Shade commented as he and Forrest walked over to the downed Grey. "We might as well finish the job."

"I've got dibs on this one." Forrest spoke, pulling out a razor leaf. He rose it up, preparing to stab him.

'Grey, NO!' Ashe was scared now.

"MEGAMERGE!" A voice rang out. Before Forrest could thrust the leaf down, a kunai whizzed by and knocked it out of his hand.

"What the-" Forrest couldn't finish his sentence before a figure appeared out of shadows and delivered a roundhouse kick to him, sending him backwards. The figure then turned and roundhoused Shade as well, knocking him back. Both of them recovered from the impact and were surprised. The figure was none other than Siarnaq, Megamerged with Model P.

"You all right, Grey?" He asked.

"Yeah… thanks for the save." The Model A Mega Man replied as he got up.

"Well, I'll be! The dimwit decided to join the fight!" Forrest remarked.

"So, what brought you into this?" Shade asked.

"I've learned not to be afraid anymore." Siarnaq said out of his shadowed face. "I was cold towards everyone because I was scared that I would be betrayed again. But after seeing Grey's determination and remembering his kind heart, I knew that he wouldn't turn his back on me, and neither would any of the others." All the Mega Men smiled. "Well, that's only one reason. The other is this: anybody who fights against you traitors is OK in my book!" He chuckled at the end of his statement.

"Touching." Shade said. "Such a shame we'll have to end this so soon-"

"Bounty hunters!" A voice rang out on their communicators.

"'Sup, Model D?" Forrest asked.

"That voice sounded like Thomas!" Grey realized.

"There's been a change of plans. I want you two to return to the castle for a new assignment. You'll get another chance at them, I promise." The Biometal told them before ending the conversation.

"Man, what a way to kill the fun!" Forrest complained.

"You guys are lucky, 'cause we gotta jet! We'll see you around, hah hah!" Shade jeered. He threw a smoke bomb at his feet while Forrest covered himself with a ninja leaf veil. When they cleared, both were gone. Siarnaq and Grey De-Megamerged.

"Glad those two are finally gone." The purple-haired Reploid sighed. Both of them walked back to the others, but Grey was intercepted when a relieved Ashe threw her arms around him, causing him to wince in pain.

"Grey, you're all right!" She cried.

"Easy, Ashe, I'm still a bit injured here." He groaned.

"Oh! Sorry." She apologized, letting him go. Both of them were blushing like mad.

"Nice job out there, Siarnaq." Atlas said, giving him a thumbs-up. "You sure showed them what happens to traitors."

"What can I say? What goes around comes around." Siarnaq replied. "If you guys are against Model D, then I'm with you. Not only are Forrest and Shade going down, but so is Model D for betraying me again."

"Uh… how come your eyes are still red?" Thetis asked with uncertainty.

"Oh, that? Don't worry about it. I'm a natural red-eye."

"Yo, Grey, Ashe!" Taylor called to them. "We've got a new ally now!" The Reploid and human walked back to the group.

"Good to have you on the team, Siarnaq." Grey said.

"Good to be here." The Shadow Mega Man replied. The two Reploids shook hands, firmly establishing the formerly cold Siarnaq as a member of the team.

I hope the end of this chapter didn't suck. It wasn't easy thinking of the words for it. Either way, Siarnaq has been saved! What will happen next? Stay tuned to find out!

Computer Voice: Vile, logging out.