Hey everyone and here's the third chapter of "Twist in Time!" And now, to respond to the reviewers:
???: Yes, Vent/Aile is, in fact, scheduled to make an appearance. I can't say anything else without spoiling it!
Shadowneko003: Thanks for the review! Nice guess but who knows? I may just decide to have Serpent/Model W make an appearance if the reviewers demand it although I don't know how I'll work it in.
MungoJerry: I'll try to make the story more descriptive. And thanks for the review!
Chewycrcodile: Giro WAS a cyber-elf (Or whatever happened to him in ZX). But he was resurrected. I'll get into more detail in later chapters!
In this chapter, the Mavericks from Giro's time show themselves, and the encounter takes a surprise twist!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
----------
The next morning, X was the first one up. He always liked to get up early and watch the sunrise from the roof of the base. And besides that, he had a lot to think about, mostly about what had transpired the previous day.
As he watched the night sky slowly light up with the colors that marked the start of the day, his mind began to wander. He still wasn't entirely sure how trustworthy Giro was. Perhaps he just didn't want to trust him because he didn't want to believe that no matter what they did, Mavericks would continue to exist.
X had always assumed that as soon as they were able to defeat their arch nemesis, Sigma, then they would stop the Mavericks for good.
But what if there wasn't a way to permanently destroy Sigma? Or what if, after Sigma was destroyed, the Virus simply found a new host to turn into an instrument of evil?
It was a depressing thought, but how else was he able to explain that Mavericks continued to exist, centuries after he, Zero and Axl were gone?
Giro was wandering through the base as it slowly came to life. Navigators were heading for their stations and hunters were going to be debriefed on their more recent missions.
Although for everyone else it was typical daily bustle, it held a certain level of curiosity for Giro. After all, he was in a time so much different from his own. It was interesting to see history play out right before him instead of just reading about it.
He himself was drawing some curious looks. After the previous day's events, word has spread quickly of the reploid from the future. Some hunters were still skeptical about Giro's claim that he was from the future. And one those reploids was watching him from the shadows at that very moment.
"I still don't get it!" The reploid growled. He and his companion were hidden in the shadows, but a silhouette of a serpent-like reploid could still be seen. "How could the commander let him in so easily? He could be lying for all we know!"
"Think of it this way," His friend said carefully, "If there really is a danger to our time, don't you think its better to just go ahead and trust him rather than risk facing a danger that only he can handle?"
The serpent-reploid growled, "I still don't like it."
"Hey! Giro! Wait up!"
"Hm?" Giro turned around just in time to see the black, oranged-haired reploid he had met yesterday, Axl was his name if he remembered right, run up to him. "Yes what is it?"
Axl stopped in front of him, puffing a bit, "I…was…just…seeing…what…phew…you were doing…this morning."
"I don't have anything on my hands at the moment, why do you ask?"
Axl smiled, "Well, I wanted to ask you more about your time, are there really still Mavericks?" Giro smiled sadly,
"I'm afraid so, although there aren't as many, thankfully."
As they began to walk through the base together, Axl continued to pepper Giro with curious questions, all of which Giro answered patiently.
"So the Virus is still around in your time?"
"The Virus?"
"Y'know! The Maverick Virus!"
"I have truly no idea what you're talking about."
"Really?"
"In my time, a Maverick is defined as a reploid or Machaniloid that attacks people. I've never heard of any 'virus.'"
"Huh." Now THIS was interesting. If the Virus was nonexistent in Giro's time, then that meant that there was something else causing Mavericks. But what? Something told Axl that, at the moment, he didn't want to know.
Zero was in another part of the base, leaning against a wall, worrying about his own problems. That damn voice in his head continued to pester him. It seemed to happen at random times and it never seemed to say anything directed toward him. It was a disturbing development; one that he was planning to tell X about once he got the chance. He hoped it wasn't a sign he was going Maverick.
Because that was the last thing he needed.
A voice over the intercom interrupted his thoughts,
"X, Zero, Axl, and Giro, please report to the main command room immediately."
Zero let out a weary sigh. He had a feeling that if whatever the situation was involved Giro, then it meant that the situation involving him was going to get a hell lot more complicated.
In the command room, Alia was pointing to two odd signals on the screen.
"We just picked up this signals from Sector 8. They are different from normal Maverick signals. That's why we called all four of you down to the base."
"It's them," Giro breathed, looking at the screen. Turning to the group, he said quickly, "We need to get over there right now!"
"Wait, who is it?" Axl asked.
"The Mavericks from my time! It has to be them!"
"You sure it's the Mavericks from your time?" X asked.
"Positive. And there's no telling what the damage they'll two if we don't get over there!"
Alia nodded in understanding, "We already have the teleporters on standby."
District 8
This part of the city was surprising well kept. There weren't as many skyscrapers as in comparison to others parts, but many of the building were very well maintained.
People, humans and reploids alike, were fleeing, as a fire attack engulfed a nearby building. Screams of terror could be heard, and one reploid was savoring every minute of it.
"Heh heh, I'm loving this! If this doesn't draw out the Guardian hiding in this time, I don't' know what will!" Prometheus cackled. He was a black-armored reploid with a helmet that resembled a pointed skull. He also wore a turquoise cape and carryed a scythe bigger than him. He was standing on top of a building along with another reploid, Pandora.
"We must take care not to underestimate our opponent Prometheus…" Pandora spoke. She was a white and light-blue reploid with a red crystal on her helmet and carried a yellow staff. "Recall what happened with Model W…And if we do not exercise enough caution before the time is right…we risk eliminating ourselves…"
"Aw quit worrying! With the safeguard we have, we don't have to worry about that at all!" Laughing evilly, he jumped up and swung his scythe downward, sending a burst of fire to incinerate the buildings below. He chuckled listening to the screams.
Pandora said nothing, just simply lifted up her staff. A blast of ice froze the streets below, cracking many of them, and tripping up those who were trying to flee. She did not take pleasure in others suffering the way that Prometheus did. She just knew that they had a mission to complete. A mission to remove the one who could bring all their plans to a screeching halt.
"Ah ha! I knew it was you two!"
"Hm?" Both Pandora and Prometheus looked down. On the street below, a familiar red reploid stood, his expression a mixture of anger and rage.
Prometheus's eyes lit up in surprise, "You're the one the Guardians sent!?" He asked in disbelief.
"I thought that we…had taken care of you…" said Pandora, a hint of surprise and amusement in her voice.
Giro stood very firmly, "Well I'm back! And I don't intend to let you two alter this time so you may be successful in the future!"
"Those two are the Mavericks from your time!?" Axl had just run up from behind to join Giro, along with X and Zero.
Prometheus chuckled a bit, "A Maverick in this time is one who's infected with some kind of 'virus' right? So by this times standards, we technically aren't Mavericks."
"Anyone who attacks innocent people like this is a Maverick to me!" said a very angry X fiercely, pointing his buster at the pair. He was both angry at himself for refusing to believe Giro that Mavericks still existed in his time and angry that someone who was clearly Maverick would deny being one.
"Heh, and what are you going to do about it? Fight me? Because very frankly, it seems you guys do a lot of fighting as it is."
"If you wish to avoid conflict…" Pandora began quietly, "Then you will stay out of our way…"
Zero stepped forward and drew his saber, "Not a chance. I'm not backing down from a fight!"
"Heh heh, is that a challenge?" Prometheus asked in an amused tone.
"What do you think?"
"Well, if you insist!" Prometheus drew forth his scythe and jumped down from the building, sliding down the wall a bit, and then jumping off and onto the ground.
"Prometheus…!" Pandora called out to him in a cautioning tone. Prometheus looked over up over his shoulder at Pandora, who was still on the roof,
"Don't worry! This shouldn't take very long, and if it does, it's been a while since I've had a true challenge!" He then turned to face his opponent.
Zero took a fighting stance, his lips curving into a smile,
"Bring it on."
----------
I love P&P! No seriously, they're among my favorite characters in the Megaman games! I think I managed to get their characters right. A sadistic Prometheus and a soft-spoken Pandora. Most of you reviewers saw them coming but I'm not complaining! BTW I've heard that Prometheus and Pandora are actually siblings. I would like confirmation of this because I've yet to play Advent and I think it would be an interesting fact to incorporate into this fic.
I was contemplating whether to include the battle scene in this chapter or not, but in the end, I decided against it. Since I've never written a true battle scene before (the only other battle scene I've written was in my "Darkness Rising" fic and you can hardly call that a battle scene), I thought it would be better to just leave that for the next chapter and just get this chapter out early.
Oh yeah, that reploid observing Giro when he was in the base we'll be seeing more of as the story goes on.
So what do you think? R&R! And next chapter, we have Zero vs. Prometheus! Wish me luck writing the battle scene!