Well folks, thanks for reading this story so far.
I promise this story will take a new direction in future chapters, focusing more on Ashe, Grey, Aile, and Vent. For now, just be patient with me.
The next morning in the Grand Nuage, Prairie felt herself finally waking up to the new day, fully rested and rejuvenated. As soon as she opened her eyes, she quickly realized that she wasn't in her room. She suddenly remembered that she'd fallen asleep on the roof last night, and that everything after that was a blank. "Where am I?" she asked herself as she got up from the bed.
After looking around, she caught sight of Neal sitting in the corner, using his trench coat as a blanket while he slept.
"Neal must've taken me here after I fell asleep last night," she said to herself. A moment later she remembered what she had almost done, and was thankful that she fell asleep when she did as a blush crept acrfoss her face.
"Morning sleeping beauty," a voice said from behind her.
"Eep!" Prairie eeped as she suddenly turned around, but calmed down when she saw that it was only Model E floating there. "Oh, good morning Model E."
"Morning," he replied back.
"Um… Do you think you could tell me why I'm here?" she asked.
"Oh Neal said something about not knowing where your room was, and since he didn't want to wake you up and ask, he thought it would be best to just put you down in his bed," Model E answered. "Of course sleeping in a chair in the corner can't be good for his joints either."
At that moment the images from last night flooded to her memory again, causing her blush to increase further. "I can't believe I did that last night. I mean, that normally isn't like me, but now…"
"Well when you stop to think about it, you're still a teenage girl after all," Model E said as he floated over to her and set himself down on the pillow, like a parent about to give their young charge "the talk". "Neal's the closest thing you'll ever have to a normal boyfriend, so when you look at the facts, they make sense."
"But I've only just met him," Prairie said. "I mean, at the most we've only known each other for a week."
"I think what you're experiencing is called 'love at first sight'," Model E explained. "I mean, I've only known him for a week myself, but I can already tell he's taken a liking to you."
At that moment Prairie blushed, but quickly shook it off. "So we've opened up to each other a bit. I don't think he'd like me like that after a few little chats."
"Oh I'd say they're more then a few little chats," Model E said. "Remember, both you and him lost people important to you, and to the same person no less. Plus he isn't ignorant like most people in this world are, so that's a plus for you too."
Prairie sighed. "Maybe you're right. But still… I'm not completely sure about my feelings right now."
"I know you've got a job to do right now, but what about after?" Model E asked. "I mean, you don't want to be the commander of the Guardians forever do you?"
"Well I've already been doing it for a couple centuries," Prairie admitted awkwardly.
"I'm just saying to keep yourself open to him. Don't burn any bridges you may regret burning later," Model E explained, knowing that if he had knownhis own advise those centuries ago, things would've turned out differently between him and the Resistance. "Plus you wouldn't want Pandora to steal him away from you, would you?"
At that moment Prairie remembered the former-evil Mega Man, her hands balling into fists as an image of her linking arms with Neal flashed through her mind. "Wait? Am I getting jealous?" she suddenly asked herself, realizing that was in fact what was happening.
"Could be," Model E said. "But hey, I'm just a floating piece of metal. I'll let you make your own decisions."
"Thank you Elpizo, I mean, Model E," Prairie said with a slight bow before getting up to leave. As she neared the door, she hesitated for a moment, then walked over to Neal in the corner. She gently brushed some hair away from his face. After looking around to make sure no one was at the door, she slowly leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, saying a silent 'thank you' before heading out.
"Neal, you have excellent taste," Model E said contentedly as he sat himself down on the pillow, watching his Chosen One. "I'm sure if Ciel and Zero were still around, they would approve."
Several hours later.
Neal yawned as he drowsily opened his eyes. As he got up, he bent his back backwards, earning several audible cracking sounds that could be heard on the other side of the wall. As he stretched his neck, it cracked several times too, all of his muscles stiff from sleeping in a chair.
But, in the end, making sure Prairie had gotten a good night of sleep was well worth the physical abuse on his part. Even though he'd probably have to go to Rose for a couple days' worth of physical therapy, but that's beside the point. "Morning Model E," he yawned as he stretched his arms, retching on the inside as several loud popping noises issued from his shoulders.
"Morning Romeo," Model E said, his voice sounding like he were smiling.
Neal flushed crimson as he bolted up from his chair. "Floating piece of metal say what?" he demanded. At that instant several more popping noises came from his lower spine too. God damn! I would've been better sleeping on the floor! he thought to himself.
"Don't be coy with me. We both saw how much that girl likes you," Model E said smugly.
"Her name's Prairie! Not that girl!" he cried, but slapped his hands over his mouth as a tinge of red graced his features, realizing what he had just said.
"See. You do like her," Model E said smugly.
Neal stretched all the cricks out of himself before throwing his trench coat over his shoulders. "Model E. Can we talk about this later? There's something I need to discuss with Prairie."
"If you want me to give you some privacy, I'm more then happy to oblige," Model E replied.
Neal simply stuffed the chatty paperweight into his pocket and walked out the room.
Chatty paperweight. Been nothing but trouble for me since I got the darned thing.
"I can hear your thoughts you know."
FUCK!
A while after breakfast, Prairie had made her way back to the bridge. Upon entering, she saw that everyone was in better spirits then they were yesterday. It was obviously due to the fact that last night everyone had gotten a good night's sleep since the "incident". As she took a seat in her chair, she pressed a button on the control panel and spun it around, facing the wild blue yonder before the Grand Nuage.
"Status report on Inner Peace's current activities," she asked as she saw a few tiny mechaniloids repairing the monitors in the room.
"The majority of the citizens have been taken into account," Gardenia replied. "We're still waiting for an updated field report, but we should be getting word from them any minute now."
"Excellent," Prairie said. "Tulip. Current status on the media?"
"Nothing too concrete yet," Tulip replied as she typed onto her keyboard. "I've found out that the mayor of Inner Peace is slated to make an official statement some time later today."
"I see," Prairie said, nodding her head. "Marguerite. Security details?"
"Most of the selected cameras were knocked out during the fight," she stated. "A few are still intact, but none of them managed to get a good look at the visible half of Neal's face."
"Good. Keep me informed," Prairie said as she got up from her seat. "If any of you need me, I'll be in my office."
"Yes, Commander," the three operators replied before going back to work.
As Prairie looked out her office window, a knocking sound came from the other side of the door. "Who is it?" she asked.
"It's me, Neal. Can I come in?" he asked from the other side of the door.
She quickly shook off the blush that had form the memories of the two of them last night. "Yes, Neal. You can come in."
The door opened with a silent hiss. After Neal walked through, the door closing behind him, he took a seat in front of Prairie. "Prairie. There's something I need to say."
"What is it Neal?" she asked, putting her hands on the desk.
"I've come to a decision," Neal said as he took the seat across from her. "I'm leaving the Grand Nuage."
At that moment a lump of fear formed in Prairie's throat. "Neal if this is about last night I-"
She was suddenly stopped when Neal put his hands on hers. "Prairie, this isn't about last night. This is about the safety of the crew and the other Mega Men," he said as he looked into her eyes.
"What do you mean?" Prairie asked as she hunched her shoulders, using her coat's collar to hide the blush forming on her cheeks from Neal holding her hands.
"Before the incident, the four evil Mega Men came after me in an attempt to eliminate me from the Game of Destiny," Neal explained. "Shortly after, Vent, Aile, Ashe, and Grey all appeared. All appeared," he said with added emphasis. "If the four of them had simply been bait, then everyone could've easily been overwhelmed by a mechaniloid ambush or something even worse."
"But uh- Why are you leaving the Grand Nuage then?" Prairie asked, Neal's hands still holding hers.
"Because if I leave here for other areas, then the enemy would be forced to divide their forces," Neal explained. "If everyone's in the same place, they'll know where we are, but if one of us, the one being me, leaves, then if they want to get to me, they'll have to divide their forces accordingly."
"I see what you mean," Prairie responded. "For all we know, the enemy could have access to large amounts of troops, so if we scatter our forces, then they wouldn't be able to hit all of us at the same time unless they split up."
"My thoughts exactly," Model E said as he floated out of Neal's pocket.
"Okay then. I'll begin the plans immediately," Prairie said. "And um… Neal?"
"Yes?" Neal asked.
"I'm sorry if I put you in an awkward position last night," she said in apology. "I'd normally never do something like that. I don't know what came over me."
"Hey uh- It's okay," Neal said. "We all make a lapse in judgment once in a while."
"Yes... Except that wasn't a lapse in judgment," Prairie said nervously, meeting Neal's eyes.
"Uhhhhh-" Neal uhhhhhed as his cheeks heated up. A moment later the steel door behind them opened with a hiss, Vent and Aile walking in.
"Ah Commander there you-" Aile said, but stopped as a smug grin crossed her face. "Oh, I didn't know you had company," she said smugly, noticing that Prairie and Neal were holding each other's hands.
At that moment the two of them separated, Prarie trying to hide the blush that had formed on her features. "W-Wait this isn't what it looks like!" Neal panicked.
"Hey, it's perfectly natural for a guy your age," Aile said condescendingly as she pat Neal on the head.
"But still, your commanding officer? Pretty bold," Vent added with a grin as he poked his head into the doorway, only for Aile to jab him in the ribs with her elbow.
"Guys, all this aside, there's something I need to ask you," Neal said.
"You want to borrow our old Giro Express motorcycle?" Vent and Aile both asked after Neal's explanation.
"Yeah. I've decided to set out from here," Neal concluded. "If I do so, then it'll be more difficult for the enemy to attack us en masse."
"I can see where you're coming from," Model Z said as he floated up. "They can't get all of us if we aren't all in the same place."
"But why our old motorcycle?" Vent asked. "Wouldn't it be better for you to get a new one? You know, one designed for off-roading?"
"I'd already considered that as an option this morning," Neal said as he put a hand to his chin. "I remember that Atlas had a large, personal army of galleons and all-terain vehicles at her disposal the first time I met her. That's an indication that whoever we're up against has a hand in Legion's affairs, and if that's the case, a hold of Legion's information network."
"Ah, so you're afraid of giving them another way of tracking you," Aile finished. "But our old motorcycle is just that, old. It won't last too long off-road in its current state."
"I'd considered that too as a contingency," Model E said. "However, we can't risk Legion tracking our purchases immediately, so he best way I see is to salvage some good-quality parts from a scrap yard or something along those lines. After all, people throw perfectly good stuff away all the time that doesn't even have a scratch on it. I'm sure a few off-road parts aren't out of the question."
"If that's the case, then I may know someone who can help you," Vent said. "I'll contact Ashe at the Hunter's Guild and see if she can show you to The Scrapyard. We may be able to salvage enough items to make a cohesively-working off-road machine."
"If that's the case use the Transerver's reserved emergency channel and go there in person," Prairie ordered. "We can't risk the enemy tracing a Trans Message and set up an ambush."
"Yes ma'am," Vent said with a salute as he ran out the door.
"Aile. I need you to take Neal to the your old storage facility and grab Giro's retired motorcycle," Prairie instructed. "I normally wouldn't suggest that since…" she paused as her voice trailed off. "But that vehicle has already been registered, and we'll be able to put it out in the field again without being immediately discovered."
"Ah, right Commander," Aile said as she went to the door. "C'mon Neal. Let's get going."
"Ah, right Aile," he said as he got up. "Just wait for me in the transerver room. I'll be there in a second," he said as he stopped mid-stride.
"Alright. Just don't keep me waiting," she concluded as she ran down the hall.
"Okay Aile," Neal said as the door closed behind him. "Prairie. Before I get ready to leave, there's something I need to say to you."
"What is it?" she asked.
"I'm just going to come out and say it," Neal said after taking a deep breath. "I like you, but I don't know if it's love or infatuation, so until I can get my feelings sorted out a bit… could you give me a bit of time?
Prairie's blush began to die down after that statement was uttered and she regained her composure. "Yes Neal. Take all the time you need."
"Thank you," Neal said as he headed for the door. He raised his hand to open it, but he stopped short. He quickly walked over to Prairie and took a deep breath, which caused Prairie to think Neal was about to do something. He held his arms out as he moved forward to hug her, but couldn't bring himself to go through with it, so he dumbly stuck his hand out instead. After a tense moment, Prairie shook Neal's hand before he left. "Uh, bye," he said nervously as he ran off.
As soon as the metal door hissed shut, Prairie slumped backwards onto her desk, exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding in. This is all happening so fast. I mean, this kind of thing was never an issue for me, but now that someone's showing an interest in me, I'm just not sure of what to do.
Her thoughts drifted for a moment, a blush forming on her cheeks as her imagination began to run away from her. A nice, cozy room. A soundproof office. Doors that can't be unlocked from the outside. Blinds. A big desk. Lots of possibilities…
A moment later she desperately shook the blushing off her face. ACK! Prairie! Don't think like that! If Ciel were still here she'd… GAH! I knew I should've had her give me "the talk" that one time! Now I can't keep my thoughts straight!
The blush on her cheeks began to recede to a degree as she took a seat. As she looked out the window, one last thought crossed her mind. But if it were with Neal, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. At that instant her blush returned, with a vengeance. EEEK! Prairie! Stop thinking about him that way! He just said he isn't sure of himself yet! Get a grip girl! You'll scare him away if this keeps up.
In the Transerver Room at the Hunter's Guild camp, Ashe and Grey were busy doing their own thing, enjoying the relative peace, however both of them were still sore frm the incident a couple days ago. At the moment Ashe was listening to some strange alien music on a device she had come across in the Scrapyard a while back, while Grey was simply fiddling with one of those chain-link puzzles where you need to separate the links without breaking the puzzle itself.
At that moment, the Transerver flashed to life before Vent stepped out. As he straightened his clothes and fixed his hair, he turned towards the somewhat-surprised Ashe and Grey. "Hey Ashe. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Should I give you two some privacy?" Grey said jokingly, only to be smacked upside the head by Ashe.
"We're just friends, so don't joke like that!" she said angrily. "Anyway, Vent, what can I do for you?"
"The new kid's setting out soon, and we need to salvage some parts from The Scrapyard," Vent explained. "Do you think you could get in touch with James and see if he can't help us find some off-road parts? Maybe a few off-market extras?"
"Off-road parts and off-market extras huh? That'll be a pretty tall order to fill," Ashe said. "Why don't you just buy him an off-road vehicle?"
"We don't want to raise any red flags," Vent explained. "It's better this way."
Ashe stretched her back as she got up from her seat, wondering why they didn't just risk it. "Okay then, fine. However before the new kid sets out, I'd like to at least meet him. See who I'm dealing with exactly."
"I'm uh, sure that can be arranged," Vent answered.
"C'mon Grey. Let's go," Ashe said as she grabbed the back of his collar.
"But I'm not done with this puzzle yet," he protested as he tried to pull the puzzle apart.
"Forget the kid games. We're going hunting," Ashe said as pulled him along. At the same time, Vent sighed at the lame joke just made.
At the same time in Inner Peace, Aile and Neal had transported into a back alley in the midst of the industrial district. Very few people hung around that district as it was, since there was a dedicated mechaniloid patrol squadron monitoring the whole place, and the area was mostly used for storage since the new industrial district went up.
Aile poked her head out from the alley and looked around. When she was sure no one was around, she motioned for Neal to follow. "Come on. The warehouse is this way."
Neal silently followed behind, the only sound being their shoes clotting against the ground. They eventually came to a small storage warehouse labeled GE. Aile quickly pulled out an old card key and opened the door after putting the password into the keypad. After pushing the wave of dust out of the way, she pulled Neal in and closed the door behind her after making sure no one had seen them.
Once the lights turned on, Neal saw that there were a few crates around the area, all with the Giro Express logo on them. At the very least, it'd be easy to find the motorcycle here.
"Come on Neal. Let's get to Giro's old motorcycle and lets go," Aile said as she grabbed a nearby crowbar and started opening crates.
Neal followed suit, and after a moment he came upon a crate containing something motorcycle-shaped covered in a tarp. Once he removed it, he saw a slightly-damaged red motorcycle with a side car. "Aile, I've found it."
Aile came over to his side and helped him pull the vehicle out. "Okay good. Let's see if this thing still works before bringing it to the Grand Nuage's repair shop."
As Aile checked the engine and tires, Neal opened the glove compartment, slightly filled with dust, and pulled something flat and rectangular out. After blowing the dust off of it, he saw that it was an old picture; On it was a blonde guy in a red jacket and tan cargo pants wearing glasses posing for the picture with a pouting boy and an nervous girl in the same outfits, except the shirts were blue. "Aile. I think this belongs to you," he said, passing her the old pic.
Aile looked at the picture before a tear came to her eye. "Th-Thank you Neal," she said before wiping away the tear.
"Aile. I'm sorry I'm taking Giro's motorcycle like this," Neal apologized as he patted some dust from the seat. "I know how much he meant to you. Or, at the very least, guess how much he meant to you."
"It's okay, Neal," Aile said reassuringly. "This bike is just a bike, and Vent and I still have our memories."
"I can tell from the picture this was taken quite a while ago," Neal complimented. "You sure were a cutie weren't you?" he added with a smile. "Bet you got the bigger tips," he added again half-jokingly. For some reason whenever he was at resturants, he tended to give the cute waitresses the bigger tips. Sure it was biased, but at least he was willing to admit he was a bit biassed.
"Um," Aile umed at the directness of his comment. "I wouldn't go that far. I mean, one time Giro told me the customers liked my smiling face, but that was a long time ago."
"Don't sell yourself short," Neal said. "You're still cute, but you're just a bit taller now is all."
"Heh, thanks Neal," Aile said as she brushed some hair behind her ear. "Anyway, it seems that even though the outer casing still has a few blast holes in it, that it can still move. The engines intact, though the oil will probably need to be changed."
"What happened anyway?" Neal asked as he looked at the holes. "Did you get attacked by mechaniloids or something?"
Aile looked at him sternly before she sighed and sat on the driver's seat. "It was about five years ago. We were making a delivery in the Outlands when we were suddenly attacked by galleons en route to the rendezvous point. Mine and Vent's motorcycle exploded next to us, sending us and Model X over the cliff."
This is starting to sound familiar, Neal thought to himself before it dawned on him. Wait! This must be when she and Vent got Model X.
"Anyway, when we awoke, we met Prairie for the first time," Aile continued, having not noticed Neal thinking to himself. "We were about to deliver Model X to her, but we were suddenly attacked by a massive snake mechaniloid."
Aha! So that's what those tracks came from, Neal said as the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together more clearly.
"We wanted to just leave the Biometal and run for it, since the mechaniloids would just chase after us, but Prairie said it was too important to leave behind," Aile spoke. "Then a few moments later, Vent and I had transformed into Mega Man Model X."
"And then you began fighting Serpent's forces," Neal said -though more to himself- in a hushed tone.
"Huh?" Aile asked. "What was that?"
"Ah! Oh! Nothing!" Neal said hastily. I'll tell the two of them at a later time, but not now. I need to start getting ready to leave, he thought to himself. Oh wait, there's still that matter I need to take care of. "Aile, can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What is it?" she asked back.
"Okay," Neal said taking a deep breath to calm his nerves and give his brain a little extra oxygen. "I'm not going to give you that 'friend of mine' speech and get straight to the point. I think I'm beginning to like Prairie more than a friend, but at the same time I think that Pandora has been sending me her own signals. What do I do?"
"Ahhhh," Aile said smugly. "So there was something to it when you were holding Prairie's hands this morning."
"Aile. I've been punched, shot at, nearly killed on numerous occasions, and transformed into a raging berserker-lunatic all in the timeframe of a few weeks. You do not want to test me," Neal said darkly, narrowing his eyes in a menacing way, although it clearly wasn't working on the older girl.
"Okay, okay, relax," Aile said patting him on the shoulder like a little kid. "In all seriousness, these feelings are normal for a boy your age."
"Normal for a boy who can transform into a warrior from the old Maverick Wars using a talking paperweight?" Neal asked, ignoring the ranting from his Biometal at being called a talking paperweight.
"That isn't important!" Aile blurted out, before regaining her composure and began talking again. "What is important is that you're at the age where you'll start noticing that girls aren't icky, and that they smell nice, or any number of things. Just give it some time and I'm sure you can sort your feelings out. Like I said, what you're going through is completely normal."
Neal opened his mouth to speak, but Aile cut him short. "And no! I'm not talking about the whole Game of Destiny, try to stay alive, and save the world thing!"
"Um, okay, thanks for the pep talk," Neal said after that conversation. "But it's just that… There are so many things I haven't gotten to do yet, like have a girlfriend, or my first kiss, and other stuff like that. I don't think I'd want to die without getting any of that out of the way first."
"Awwwww," Aile gushed playfully. "You've still got your virgin lips."
"I'm warning you," Neal said darkly as he reached into his jacket for his Biometal, ignoring Aile laughing at his displays and thought it was cute.
A while later at the top of a mountain overlooking The Scrapyard, Ashe, Grey, and Vent all arrived at a metal-built house carved into the side of the mountain.
"Hey James! You in there!" Ashe asked as she pounded on the door.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," James said from the other side of the door. "Young'ns have no patience these days," he said as he opened the door. "Oh, it's you Ashe, good to see you again," he said when he saw it was Ashe. "Need another Booster for that highway race thing?"
Author's Notes:
James is the guy you meet at the Scrapyard (duh) who gives you the Booster after you get him the three parts.
"Taller order," Vent said. "Things are starting to get bad again, and we need to set up a friend with a good off-road vehicle."
"Off-roader eh?" James said as he turned around on his cane. "Well if you can pay me, then I can hook you up with pretty much anything. Please, follow me inside," he said, motioning for them to follow him in.
After walking past the door, they saw that James' home was actually an old storehouse that had been station in the mountains before all the snow melted, the older lighting fixtures flickering on and off as they walked through the long corridor. After a minute they suddenly came into a large room, big enough to park the Grand Nuage in. Maybe. It was hard to tell with all the junk in the way.
No pun intended.
"So you said you need off-road parts eh?" James said as he walked down one of the aisles. "People don't really travel through the Outlands that much anymore, but I think I have a few high-powered axels, some all-terrain tires, and maybe a mudflap or two."
"Thanks James," Vent replied. A moment later his Comm started ringing. "Hello?" he asked as he pushed the button on the side of his ear accessory.
"Vent. This is Aile speaking. Are you anywhere near those parts?"
"Right on top of them. We just need to find them is all," Vent replied.
"Well tell whoever's in charge that we're going to need some new plating too. Seems Giro's motorcycle took a bit of a beating before it was moved into storage."
Vent sighed loudly, knowing this was going to cost quite a bit. "Okay then. I'll get on that too."
"And remember! You still owe me that Droid Popper!" Neal suddenly shouted from the other end of the line, causing Vent to cut the volume on his Comm Link in half.
"Okay okay, sheesh. I'll get that Droid Popper for you," Vent grumbled. We should've just taken our chances with Atlas' mechanlioids.
"Did you happen to say you needed a Droid Popper?" James asked, suddenly standing next to Vent, which caused him to freak out. "From what I can tell, your friend is very practical when he travels."
"Er, yeah," Vent admitted. "He uh, needed to use it to bail us out of a jam a while back, but he kinda lost it afterwards and now I need to get him a new one."
"Ah, I happen to have one in storage," James said with a smile as he led the three of them down one of the aisles. "Found it a few years back but haven't found that much use for it. It's still illegal though, and I can't imagine how your friend could have gotten one in the first place, but I suppose if he went through the trouble to get one, he must've needed it for something important."
"You know now that you think about it," Vent said as he put his hand to his chin in thought. "He never did tell me why he had it in the first place." Of course before when Giro was still alive, he never really questioned what was in the different boxes they delivered, since their motto was in fact, We transport anything anywhere, legal or otherwise.
"And I never will!" Neal suddenly commented from his end of the Comm link, causing Vent to sigh.
"All that aside," he said as he reached up onto the shelf he finally came to, pulling down the dull brown orange-sized device, "here you go."
"Thanks," Vent said as he reached out for it, only for James to pull it back in defense.
"Oh, now hold on! This is a rare find, and mere money won't be enough for an exchange," James said wagging his finger. "If you want this, you'll have to trade something just as rare for it."
Author's Note:
I use the term "money" and "E-Crystals" in regards to currency in this FanFic interchangeably.
"Here, take this," Ashe said defeatedly as she passed James the device she was using to listen to the alien music earlier.
"What is this?" James asked as he examined the small device.
"Some kind of music player I came across when I came here a while back," Ashe replied. "There's some sort of music I never heard before on it."
James put the headphones in his ears and began playing the music on it. After a few minutes a smile crossed his face as he tossed Vent the Droid Popper, nearly dropping it before Grey caught it. "It's all yours, just don't drop it too hard. It could go off, and this one's had its safety lock removed."
"Safety lock?" Grey asked.
"The electromagnetic-pulse that thing emits will end up shorting out any form of tech," James explained. "Even the Humanoid Implants."
Author's Note:
"Humanoid Implants" are the machines people have implanted in them to put them on par with reploids.
"I'll just… have Fleuve look it over," Vent said warily as he put the device in his pocket, making sure it wouldn't fall out. "Still don't see why the kid's so adamant about replacing his," he grumbled under his breath.
"I just am! Deal with it!" Neal roared again from the other end of the line, causing Vent to wonder how Neal kept getting to his Comm Link.
"Anyway, now that that's done, I'll see about getting you those parts and armor plating," James said as he walked down another aisle. "And remember not to touch anything. You break it, you buy it."
Vent just sighed. This kid's gonna make me broke if this keeps up, he thought to himself.
A while later, Giro's old motorcycle had been transported into the Grand Nuage's repair shop. At the moment, several mechanics were looking the motorcycle over, removing a few parts and setting the metal casing to the side by the welding equipment. The tires were completely deflated, but that's just what happens when you leave a motorcycle in storage for half a decade or so.
As Neal sat to the side and watched, one mechanic asked for his driver's license. It was a regular D-Class –for civilian-based vehicles- and it checked out, so he could drive the motorcycle legally.
A few minutes later, another mechanic came up to him and asked him if he'd ever driven a motorcycle before. He answered no, but the mechanic agreed to show him to the simulator later.
As the majority of the motorcycle had been taken apart and rearranged according to the categories of the parts, the old Giro Express licence plate had been removed, and a new, more-recent one, was needed to replace it. Neal was asked for what preference he had, if any. After a moment, he came up with the idea, and was led to the designing computer.
After a half hour or so, he had finally came up with the design. The license was a valiant red –just like the legendary hero Zero's armor-, had blue trim and hidden Guardian decorations on the edges –just like the Maverick Hunter X's armor-, and had gold letters reading ZERO–01.
Finally, Vent came into the garage, a crate full of parts behind him. "I hope you appreciate this. It was a pain carrying all these from the Transerver room."
One of the mechanics took the crate from behind Vent and began to look the contents over. After a while, he looked up and gave the thumbs up. "We've got enough parts to make this motorcycle off-road worthy. We can also do some work on the sidecar if you want."
"That sounds great," Neal said. "How long do you think it'll take."
"Well, we'll need to patch up the holes in the outer casing and apply some of the armor to the more crucial points," the mechanic explained. "If we work through the night we should have it ready by tomorrow afternoon."
"Thank you," Neal said. "I appreciate this."
"Hey, don't worry about it," the mechanic said shaking his hand. "After all, it isn't often we can work on a vehicle worthy of a Mega Man."
Neal just laughed nervously. "Yeah well… thanks again."
As soon as the two of them walked out the door, the IN SERVICE sign above the door lit up, and the latches fell into place, locking the place up.
"Oh. Here," Vent grumbled as he passed Neal the dull-brown sphere. "I managed to find a Droid Popper."
"Good, good," Neal said as he took the sphere in his hand before suddenly twisting it in half, exposing its internal mechanisms. "Later on, I'll modify the shockwave to only affect mechaniloids, seeing as how the safety is off."
"You can tell?" Vent asked.
"I studied advanced and theoretical mechanics early on," Neal answered. "Now come on. Prairie wants to see us."
In Prairie's office, the shelves on the walls had retreated into the walls, the window's metal guards lowered, and her desk lowered into the floor as a large metal table with a holographic projector screen set down from the ceiling, turning the entire room into a more futuristic-looking strategy room. Like the kind you see in futuristic-military video games.
"Vent, Aile, thank you both for coming," Prairie said as they sat down on metal chairs that had risen from the floor. "I assume you are wondering why you are here?"
Vent and Aile nodded, then looked to the table as the holographic screen began to light up. The next moment a globe appeared, then split in half and fell onto the table, forming a world map.
"This, in case you didn't know, is a satellite image of our planet," Prairie said gesturing to the map on the table. "At the moment, we are right about here," she said pointing to the bottom of a large continent on the far right, just above the ocean where a pink Grand Nuage-shaped symbol was. "Now, the Grand Nuage, home to the head branch of the Guardians, travels the majority over the continent of Asia, one of seven throughout the world."
Neal looked at the map before pointing at three key points; The first being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the second {insert locations here} "What about Atlantis, Lemuria, and Mu? From everything I've heard, it's viable that those lost continents do in fact exist. After all, it isn't that much of a stretch to say there's no such thing as no such thing."
"That isn't the issue here," Prairie said, pushing Neal's hand aside from the holographic projection. "Anyway, the majority of our Guardian forces are stationed in Asia, while we have a few stationed across Europe, Africa, and South America. In Neo America, we have the second largest number of Guardian members, although that isn't saying much since they're scattered. As a covert operation, we need to keep our numbers manageable. As for Antarctica, we have a few members out there on rotation, but they can only be there for a few weeks every six months. Especially since I get so few volunteers."
"Why are you showing us the world map?" Vent asked.
Prairie looked up at him before giving her answer. "Do you see these six dots?" she asked pointing to the map. On the Grand Nuage were four dots; one was pink-red, another silver, and the last two red and gold. Another two dots inland of Asia were red and purple. "Those symbolize the current locations of you, Aile, Neal, Pandora, Ashe, and Grey. At the moment, all of the Mega Men who aren't trying to destroy humanity are all in one place. That is why, we'll be sending Neal and Pandora out into the world," she explained. "If we split our forces, the enemy will have to split them accordingly. We'll also be able to hide them better, and just for the record, these four beacons aren't being tracked by satellite. These are just used for representation from our current knowledge."
"But why repair Giro's motorcycle?" Aile asked. "Couldn't Neal and Pandora just take the train or Transerver networks."
"Hey wait a minute. Why are Neal and Pandora going out like this?" Vent asked.
"To answer your question, Aile," Prairie started, "the reason they're going out like this is because by traveling through the Outlands, it'll be more difficult to track them, and as for the Transerver networks, we'd be running the risk of being tracked down. As for your question Vent, this is for their own safety. With Atlas, Aeolus, Thetis, and Siarnaq hunting them down, since they are two of the newest Mega Men, it'll be better for everyone if we hide them in plain sight, instead of where they know they'll be found."
At that moment Model E hovered out of Neal's pocket and looked the map over, before scanning it. "Hmm. Things have changed a bit during the century or two I was gone."
"Wait, why isn't Pandora here to see this?" Neal asked.
"Well, when word got out that you may be leaving, Neal," Prairie said, "Pandora asked to go with you. We went back and forth for a bit, but after a while I decided it would be better to send you two into the field together, rather then sending you out alone, without backup."
"Wait a minute, how do we know the bad guys won't just slap up some wanted posters?" Vent asked.
"The people of this world may be ignorant, but they aren't complete idiots," Neal said, hissing the last part. "If such wanted posters were to go up, then people would ask questions, and if Legion does have anything to do with this, then they'd rather maintain their cover, as opposed to having too many people snooping around."
"Ah. I see," Neal said.
"Neal has also been selected because he's also had the most experience traveling through the Outlands," Prairie continued, giving Neal a wink that went unnoticed by Vent and Aile.
"Experience? What do you mean?" Vent and Aile asked.
"Well," Neal said getting up from his seat and stretching his back. "I think we're done here. I'll go pack my things, and someone who isn't male can go help Pandora pack her things," he added, immediately changing the subject away from his past -which at the moment he wasn't ready to explain-.
Vent and Aile just looked to each other confusingly, but then caught what he meant. "Don't worry. I'll take care of that," Aile said as she got up.
As the two of them left, Prairie was just about to return her office to normal when she noticed that Vent was staring at the map intently. "Vent? Is something the matter?"
"Well…" Vent said looking the map over. "It's just… I never would've thought the world was so big. Guess I never took the time to look at the big picture during everything that's happened."
Prairie smiled as the shelves came back out, the table rose up, and the seat folded back into the floor, causing Vent to fall on his rear. "Don't worry. With Neal collecting Transerver coordinates for the Guardians, I'm sure we'll be able to set up a new network for you and the others to use."
That evening, Neal slept in his room on his own. His duffel bag he had been using prior to his whole Mega Man business starting, had been damaged, and if taken on a long journey, would fall apart within a few days. One of the guardians, a skinny, cowardly guy by the name of Congre had given him a green Guardian-issued duffel bag, with plenty of pockets on the inside to hold his stuff.
He then began to think back to before this whole thing started. When life was a whole lot simpler.
After he had left his home –after the whole mess with Serpent had been resolved- he began living by himself at school dormitories when he pursued his studies. What he kept with him was mostly shirts, jeans, a couple pairs of shoes, socks, and the other stuff he'd need like toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.
Now that he had his Droid Popper again, he'd feel safer traveling through the Outlands again. When he had first begun traveling through the Outlands, he usually used the Droid Popper to short-circuit the mechaniloids that were too big for him to deal with the simple use of the crowbar he had carried with him. That thing had saved him on multiple occasions at various instances, and he had the feeling he'd need any advantage he could get.
At the same time, Prairie sat in her office, looking at the stars with her sister-given stuffed toy sitting in her lap. As she thought back to the past, when life was simple and she was a little reploid girl known as Alouette, her thoughts then drifted back to last night.
"These stars. Are they the same as they were back then?"
Prairie smiled as an image Zero with his arm over Ciel's shoulder while her arm was around his waist appeared before her in the moon, both giving her a smile and a thumbs-up before her own self-imposed illusion faded.
"Sis. Zero. Thank you for everything you've done," she said to herself as she continued to look into the stars. As she remembered back to the Ragnarok burning up in the heavens, she no longer saw it as a time to despair, but saw it the way Zero wanted her to see it.
A beacon pointing to a brighter future. For humans and reploids alike. For the world to begin moving forward, rather then being trapped in its cycle of stasis.
Or at least, for a couple centuries or anything.
The next morning, much to Neal's surprise, Gardenia, Tulip, and Marguerite were all at his doorstep with a simply-wrapped present in their hands. By some odd happenstance, the gift was for Neal himself. He didn't really know the three girls that well, but decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth and just took the present.
He opened the gift and was surprised to find a pair of white metal bracelets with inlaid green circuitry. They explained to him that when he wore them, he simply had to bang them against each other lightly before pulling them apart, and that an interface screen would appear for him to use on any piece of technology, provided it wasn't too encrypted or too primitive. It was like the equipment they all used in the bridge, except Fleuve had just finished making the prototype for the newest model, which they had just given him for a "field test".
Neal thanked the three operators, and to his surprise they all winked at him after raising their visors, telling him, "Come back soon handsome." before walking down the hall, giggling to eachother at how cute the new Mega Man was.
At that moment his face heated up into a blush. First it was just Prairie he liked, but then there was Pandora who he was unsure of his feelings for. Now, the three operators for the Grand Nuage were suddenly hitting on him. He admitted that with their visors off they were all pretty, but the fact was he just didn't know them well enough to be certain of anything.
Life was a lot less complicated before this whole Mega Man business started.
But anyway, aside from that, he placed the Interface Bands in his inside jacket pocket before getting ready for the day. Today was the start of his and Pandora's adventure to find the world's truth, and he certain as hell wasn't going to be late for it.
After dropping by the Grand Nuage's repair shop, he was surprised to find that his motorcycle wasn't there anymore.
One mechanic told him that the motorcycle had already been transported to a secluded area of the Outlands, just outside the Hunter's Camp. They also said the motorcycle had been fully tricked out for off-roading. Not only had the shocks been replaced, and the tires replaced with a highly durable poly-nano-resin, but a street mode configuration had been added too to help with mileage. What was also new was that the vehicle now had an electrically-based Nitros.
Of course with his cyber elf Juice, he needn't worry about getting it refilled too much at public places without drawing suspicion to himself.
Later that afternoon after everything had finished being prepared, both Neal and Pandora stood in the transerver room. Along with them were Vent, Aile, and Prairie, waiting to say goodbye to them.
"So you two are really gonna go?" Aile asked.
Neal nodded. "Yeah. Plus, someone needs to keep an eye on Pandora for the time being. After all, I did promise I'd keep her in line."
Vent nodded in understanding.
"But how will you survive in the outlands on your own?" Aile asked.
"That's kind of a stupid question, considering you're talking to a Mega Man here," Neal said coyly. With the additional training he had received, he was beginning to feel more confident in himself, although he knew he couldn't just spout Mega Man wherever he went. Until he could last longer then three seconds against the other four, he'd have to keep as low a profile as possible.
Aile just groaned. "Just try not to get yourself killed out there."
"Do not worry about him Aile," Model E said as he floated out of Neal's pocket. "I've got his back."
"Us too!" Recon, Juice, and Periscope said, suddenly appearing behind him, nearly freaking out Vent and Aile, though Prairie remained more composed.
"Ah, it's been a long time since I've seen Cyber Elves," Prairie said as she pat Recon on the head, then ran a hand down Periscope's right fin. "I see you've got a Nurse, Animal, and Hacker type."
"Wait, I thought Cyber Elves were a person's soul," Vent said, remembering all that had happened before.
"That's a story for another day," Neal said as he and Pandora walked onto the Transerver, his Biometal and Cyber Elves retreating to his person.
"See you later," Pandora replied as they were whisked away.
After the two of them were gone, Vent and Aile headed for the door. "Commander. You coming?" Vent asked.
"You two go on ahead. I'll just be here a minute, looking at the sky," Prairie said as she stood by the large window dominating the starboard wall.
The two of them simply shrugged their shoulders before opening the door and leaving their commander to her thoughts.
In a flash of light, Neal and Pandora with their bags in tow now stood in the Outlands just outside the Hunter's Camp. A short distance away, the vehicle they'd be using for the foreseeable future was parked.
A brief walk later they had placed their bags in the sidecar, which Neal had told the mechanics would be a good idea to keep around.
"Well, shall we get going?" Pandora asked as she hopped onto the vehicle, content on riding behind Neal.
Neal raised his leg to get on, but he suddenly stopped. "Hold that thought. There's one last thing I have to take care of before I go."
Pandora tilted her head slightly as Neal tapped into his Comm Link while he was still within the Grand Nuage's range.
Prairie just stood in the Transerver room, looking out the large panoramic windows to the clouds rolling through the sky. As she turned to the door, the Transerver suddenly started up. In a flash, Neal stood on the platform before he hopped off.
"Oh, Neal, did you forget something?" Prairie asked, wondering why Neal was back there. Not that she was complaining or anything.
"Uh… Yeah… Um… Prairie," Neal spoke with a hint of finalism in his voice. "Before I go… I was wondering… if there was something you could help me with?" he asked, trying to gather his thoughts together. "I mean…" he said rubbing the back of his head nervously. "You don't have to if you don't want to," he said in finalization.
"Oh. Of course Neal. Anything," Prairie answered.
Cue Soundtrack – Libera Me From Hell
At that moment, Neal quickly mustered up all his courage and tipped Prairie's commander's hat back a bit, then held her arms. To her surprise, he suddenly leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss. For a moment her eyes widened, only for Neal to pull away a moment later before she could lose herself.
"Heh. Sorry 'bout that. Just thinking of myself back there," Neal admitted, a playful smirk on his face as he looked into her eyes.
Prairie snapped herself back into attention, the blush on her cheeks receding as Neal walked towards the Transerver. "I-It's okay," she admitted, not having a problem with what had just happened. He really does like me, she thought to herself as her cheeks turned a healthy shade of pink.
"Well…" Neal said as he stepped on the teleporter before pressing the initiation button. "So long… For now," he said with a smile before he disappeared in a flash of light.
As soon as he had left, Prairie straightened her commander's hat and walked out of the Transerver room, a determined look on her face as she headed for the bridge. Once this is all over, maybe the two of us can… No, I can't think like that yet. There's still a lot of work I need to do.
She swiftly sat down onto her commander's seat and addressed the three operators. "Change course to starboard 20 degrees, incrementing 2 degrees with each half mile. Effective immediately."
"Yes ma'am," the three of them replied as they changed the ship's course.
Neal. Don't die on me, Prairie thought to herself. Sis and I already lost Zero. I don't want to lose you too.
In a flash of light, Neal appeared beside the now modified, off-road motorcycle, the sidecar mounted on its side with both his and Pandora's bags in it. They had both agreed that while the sidecar would hold their belongings, that they'd both ride in the seat, since it would just be easier that way.
"Hello Neal," Pandora said in greeting. "Did you finish up?" she asked as he walked toward her.
Neal smirked as he hopped into the driver's seat, slipping the provided red helmet over his head as he lowered the black visor over his face. "Yeah. Now c'mon, let's get going."
"Right," Pandora replied as she slipped her own blue helmet on, a slightly more clear black visor going over her face as she wrapped his arms around Neal's waist.
Neal looked over his shoulder to the green-haired reploid girl, a contented look on her face as she looked off into the distance, her eyes filled with wonder at the wide world around them.
Pandora. I'm not sure if your liking me is just because I saved you, but even if that's the case, I'll still show you the world you missed when you were under Model W's hold. At the very least, I can do that much.
Pandora looked up at Neal, who at the moment was lost in thought. "Neal, is something the matter?"
Neal shook his head, turning back to the horizon before them. "No. Nothing's wrong," he said as he revved the engines. "C'mon. Let's get going."
"Right," Pandora replied.
As Neal cut back on the brakes, the motorcycle -rechristened the Zero-1 for his journey in honor of the late Maverick Hunter Zero- drove off, the sunset before them as they disappeared from view, the only noise around was the slight roar of the engines, and the rumbling of the earth beneath the tires.
Mom. Dad. I'm going now, but know this. I've met a lot of good people, and… the hole in my heart that formed after your deaths is slowly starting to fill. So just wait for me to come back, OK? I'll drop off some flowers the next time I'm around.
At the same time in the highest levels of Legion, a heavily battle-damaged reploid was laying on a heavy metal table, various machines repairing his fragmented armor. As this was going on, a large man with red hair and beard carrying a short sword oversaw the operation.
"So. How do you feel, Mega Man Model W?" the man asked.
The reploid, now revealed to be a repaired Prometheus, rose from the table and kicked the machinery out of his way as he strode towards him. "Just fine. Thomas."
"What? No Master Thomas?" the man asked, wondering if this reploid was just ignorant of his position.
"Hey, the only one who I call master is Model W itself," Prometheus spat. "Aside from that, I don't work under anyone. Only with."
"Very well then," Thomas said as he strode out of the room.
"So. Any news on the pink Mega Man?" Prometheus asked.
"Seems he is attempting to cover his trail," Thomas replied as he walked through the large halls to the main chamber. "But don't worry. This world belongs to me, and has belonged to me for centuries. He won't remain hidden for long."
"Very well. Until all of my strength returns, I'll let him run," Prometheus spat. "For now," he said with an evil smirk.
"Just remember," Thomas said. "Just because he was made a Mega Man by a near impossibility doesn't mean you should underestimate him."
"Pheh. Don't worry about that. I'll take him down no problem the next time I see him," Prometheus said.
"And what of your sister? The silver Mega Man?" Thomas asked with a raised eyebrow, interested in the answer he received. "Are you willing to take her down?"
"Hah! That traitor ceased to be my sister when she chose to side with the human," Prometheus said, just imagining separating Neal's head from his body.
At that, Thomas smiled darkly. Soon there would be nothing keeping him from ruling the world, as he already had been for centuries.
The second-to-final scene is partially-based on the scene from the anime, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, when Kittan leaves in order to destroy the Death-Spiral Machine.
The reason I say "partially-based" is because Neal doesn't die after kissing the girl.
You'll also notice in this chapter that I've finally admitted to Master Thomas being the bad guy, instead of indirectly saying it like I have in previous chapters.
Author's Note:
To make something clear about this story, I'm using our world as a template for the "global stage". Since the events in Mega Man ZX Advent occur in the year 2554 (from my understanding), that means I'm placing this story 542 years after the year 2012. Geologically, it makes sense that Asia be used for the setting of Mega Man ZX and ZX Advent (based on the maps from the Mega Man Zero series, and how the geographical profile matches with the four/six games). I also back this up with the logic that in Mega Man Zero 2, one of the misions took place in Antarctica, which prooves our world was used as a template for the overall world by Capcom, and in Mega Man Zero 4, the continent clearly looks like Asia.
Note: I do not believe in the whole Armageddon thing (2012), but I figure that's a good year for the world to slowly turn into the Mega Man X/Mega Man Zero/Mega Man ZX/Advent world. And by that I mean by the technology standard.
Just in case you didn't get a clear enough definition of what the rest of the world looks like on a planet-wide scale, let me re-illustrate it for you.
The majority of the borders between the countries/states are the same, although the human population is more concentrated in specific area (i.e. capitals, major cities, costal cities), giving rise to walled cities like Inner Peace or Legion. The rest of the area outside the walled cities or outposts is mainly uninhabited (with the exception of a few small towns here and there). The majorities of stone-hewn ruins and such are mostly gone, except for the ones that have survived for centuries completely intact. (i.e. NOT the pyramids of Egypt. Those things are hardly standing as they are.)
The continents are still where they are, with the addition of around 550-554 years of continental drift. The yearly average per continent is 7.5 cm (3 inches).
If you take into account 542 years of continental drift, each continent would be moved 1626 feet.
I'm not good with metrics and all, but at the least I'm able to calculate it to be 542 yards.
That means in total that the continents have been moved a little more then five football fields in their respective directions.
From my understanding, the distance the continents would have moved in their respective directions is about a third of a mile, so in perspective, everything is still pretty much in the same place (just some places are a third of a mile apart).
Also, all mountain ranges are just slightly higher, although from a story perspective, I don't think that'll be an issue.
The rivers are also mostly the same, although canyons carved with moving water are deeper then before.