I am SO SORRY for not updating! I've been EXTREMELY busy and I also finally got a copy of Advent, which I've been playing nearly non-stop. As a result of playing it, my original story plans have changed. I also decided to push the duel chapter I had planned back and post it up later, with some editing of course.
Meanwhile, I decided that since it had been a while since I updated, that I might as well go ahead and make it extra long and more worth the wait! I'm sure that you'll all find this chapter satisfying as the plot thickens and characters whom ZX players should instantly recognize appear.
Disclaimer: I don't own the X series or the ZX series.
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It had been a month since Giro had arrived and since the last time the Mavericks from his time had appeared. They hadn't shown up since, a fact to which Giro expressed disturbed him. Nevertheless, Giro had taken to doing normal hunter duties, in order to prevent further alienation from the rest of the hunters. He was doing quite well and he had gone on a few missions with Zero, X and Axl.
After the battle a month ago, Zero had talked to X about the strange voice he had been hearing. As Zero had expected, X had dragged him to see Lifesaver. Surprisingly, nothing wrong was found with him. But the voice continued to haunt him. In the end, X, Axl, who had also inadvertently found out, and Zero decided to just keep it to themselves and Zero just got used to the voice.
As for Giro, people just got used to him, as what always happens. There had been skeptics before but there were only a few now. And even they were just plain stubborn.
The only real thing that puzzled people about Giro was what he did whenever he was in his room. As he was the only one with his own private room, people, especially the rookie hunters, liked to try to guess just why he wanted the room in the first place. Some claimed that they could smell coffee from there in the morning, which was strange considering how reploids didn't need to drink and that caffeine had no effect on them. Others said that he was hiding something in there. One time, as a joke, a few rookies had snuck in while he was in there. The next thing that happened was that all of them found themselves face to face with the sharp edge of Giro's saber. Giro hadn't been angry though, he was just trying to make the point that his room was strictly off limits. Still, it had been enough to stop future attempts to try to see what he did while he was in there. The hunters could only guess.
All in all, things were going quite well, Mavericks aside. Giro had even admitted that he was starting to grow attached to the time he was in. He certainly couldn't go home until he was sure that Pandora and Prometheus were back in their proper time, and they hadn't showed up for a while. The only thing that bothered him was what they had meant by they had found a way to assure that they wouldn't vanish no matter what they did in this time. It bothered him greatly, but at the time, there wasn't much he could do about it.
This temporary lull, however, ended with a visitor to Signas's office.
"A pair of humans that can transform into reploids?" Signas asked, not quite believing it. The human in the office, a middle aged man, nodded,
"Yes, and we have even already seen them in battle. They are quite capable. My superiors firmly believe that they would make a fine addition to the ranks of the Maverick Hunters. Which is the reason I'm here. To inform you of your new arrivals."
"I'll make sure that they get settled in." Signas replied. The man nodded them exited the room.
Signas sighed. Two humans that could transform into reploids? The possibility itself was beyond belief. But the real thing that bothered Signas was that by admitting them into the Hunters, the government had effectively found a way to keep an eye on the hunters. It was extremely likely they were going to be used as an inside source. But there was nothing that Signas could do about it. Only let the pair into the hunters and hope for the best.
"Humans who can turn into reploids?" Zero didn't quite believe it.
"Yeah, and Signas wants me to accept them into my unit." X had just got back from Signas's office. He too had been in a state of disbelief when Signas had told him the news. He and Zero were in the hunter's lounge, along with Axl and Giro sitting on a couch across from him and Zero.
"Sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie to me," said Axl, looking skeptical, "What do you think Giro?"
Giro remained silent.
"Giro?"
"What do they look like?" Giro finally asked.
"Hm? Oh, apparently one's a boy and the other's a girl. Signas gave me a picture of them. Here," X took out a pair of photographs as everyone else leaned in closer. One photo showed a boy with long brown hair that reminded them of Giro's or Zero's. He wore a blue outfit and had green eyes. The other photo showed a girl who also had brown hair, green eyes and a blue outfit. She wore her hair in a long ponytail.
"Huh, they look almost like twins," Axl observed.
Giro stood up, "Come with me, I want to show you three something."
The S-class hunters looked at each other and blinked. They soon stood up and followed Giro out of the lounge. They were surprised when Giro led them straight into his quarters. They all looked around, curious. Giro had clearly done some work in the room, as it now had a bed, instead of the usual maintenance pod, and, strangely enough, a stove.
"Why would you need this stuff? We reploids don't have very much use for these y'know." Said Zero.
"Let me just show you instead of telling you." Giro replied, with his back turned. A flash of light and then…
Axl nearly fell over in shock, "You're human!"
"Ha Ha! Close but not quite." Giro was now unarmored, instead, he was now wearing a red shirt with tan pants. His visor had been replaced by a pair of glasses. "Allow me to explain. This is what I really look like. I was simply Megamerged before."
"Megamerged?" X asked.
A red object floated, seemingly out of nowhere, and hovered in front of the hunters.
"This is the Model Z, it's what allows me to Megamerge,"
So you finally decided to reveal the truth to the hunters. A sudden thought occurred to Zero.
"Did you hear that?" he asked Giro.
Giro looked confused, "Hear what?"
"That voice, it said 'So you finally decided to reveal the truth to the hunters.'"
Giro blinked, and then realization came to his face, "Well that confirms one of my theories."
"Theories?" X asked.
"What the hell is going on here, Giro? And just who are you?" Axl demanded, shaken by what had just occurred.
"Allow me to explain, would you all mind taking a seat? This might take a while." Giro gestured to the chairs in the room. As soon as everyone was seated, Giro began to talk,
"First of all, I want to sincerely apologize for keeping all this a secret. I had to in order to reduce the risk of severely altering this time. But I can see that's no longer an option. Those two you showed me are not from your time. They're from my time."
"WHAT!?" The trio looked shocked.
"I recognized them as soon as I saw the photos. They happen to be a pair of very good friends of mine." Giro explained to the shocked hunters.
"Hold it! Even if you look human you're still a reploid, right?" Giro nodded at Zero's comment. "So then how the hell can you be such good friends with them if they're human? From what I know, humans aren't fond of interacting with us reploids."
Giro chuckled, "Humans and reploids have MUCH better relations in my time then in this time. Let me begin. In my time, humans and reploids are at peace, "race" is never an issue, it never really matters."
"Sounds like one of X's fantasies," Zero remarked.
"I assure you its quite real. Those two who are coming are very precious to me you see, and the fact that they are human doesn't matter. What caught me off guard is the fact that they came here at all." Giro then took a deep breath,
"In my time, those who can Megamerge are those chosen by the Biometals like the Model Z," Giro gestured to the floating object.
"Biometals?" Axl asked.
"Metal with its own conciseness. Most of them were based on heroes of legend."
A sudden thought occurred to the hunters. They remembered how Giro had mentioned that X and Zero had resembled heroes of legend from Giro's time. And the Z in the Model Z just might possibly stand for…
"Are you saying that the Model Z was based on me!?" Zero asked, thoroughly shocked. A nod from Giro confirmed it. So the fact that Giro looked so much like him when transformed wasn't a coincidence…
"My theory was that since the Model Z WAS based on you, that you might be able to hear it. Turns out I was right. There are at least five other Biometals in my knowledge. It used to be six others but one was supposedly destroyed…" Giro trailed off a bit.
"Why was one of them destroyed?" X asked.
"Because its only purpose was destruction. It was too dangerous. But that's another story."
"So what's the reason you're in this time?" Axl asked.
"I already told you. I'm here to fight Pandora and Prometheus. Here's how it goes," he paused for a moment before continuing, "I was supposedly killed in a battle against the evil Biometal. I thought that I had died for sure after…something else happened. The next thing I knew, I woke up in the Guardian Base."
"So you weren't lying about the Guardians?" Zero asked.
Giro shook his head, "No, that was one thing I WASN"T lying about. The Guardians are a group of volunteers organized into a militia that fights Mavericks and help protect innocent people. And I am also a member of their group. After I woke up, I met with Prairie, she's the Commander by the way, who might I add was exceptional relieved to see me alive. Neither of us know who exactly resurrected me however." He paused again, "Long story short, we found Prometheus and Pandora just as they came to this time and Prairie ordered me to go after them."
"But how exactly did you and those Mavericks reach this time?" came X's question.
"That is not something that you need to know at the moment." The way he said it told the hunters not to pursue the subject any further. Giro looked like he was about to say something else when a voice came over the intercom. They could barely hear it for some reason, but they could tell that it was summoning them to the command room.
Giro sighed, "We'll have to save the rest for later." The Model Z floated near him. Giro grabbed it and let out a yell of "Megamerge!" A flash of light and he was in the form that the hunters were more familiar with, effectively destroying any doubt they might have possessed.
Well that certainly explains a lot, Zero thought to himself.
The mission given to them had been an urgent one. A fairly large outbreak of Mavericks had occurred in an area of the city. And apparently the pair of humans that were to be admitted into the Hunters had been seen in that very section of the city. And speaking of them…
A young man who looked to be about nineteen was running through the city. Fire had broken out everywhere and as a result, it was both hot and smoky. He would have just escaped from there, but there was someone he needed to find first. A shot from a Mechaniloid barely missed him, and then he stopped short. A variety of small Mechaniloids were blocking his path. Turning around, his heart sank. A gigantic crab-like Mechaniloid was there behind him. It was charging up a shot. He threw his arms up in front of him and braced himself for the hit.
It never came. There was a large explosion. He lowered his arms down low enough to see what had happened. And what he saw shocked it to his very core.
The Mechaniloid had been destroyed, but it was WHO had destroyed it that caught him off guard.
"Sempai!?" Giro turned around to regard him.
"Vent! Are you alright?" Vent nodded, trying his best to remain calm. But it's not easy to stay calm when the person who practically raised you has seemingly come back from the dead. "I take it from the way you're looking at me right now that Prairie didn't tell you."
"N-no, she didn't-but how-?" Vent was in a state of total disbelief, even though he didn't show it. Giro was dead…he and Aile had saw him die and yet…and yet here he was, right in front of him
"It's a long story. Why aren't you Megamerged? And where's Aile?" Giro's expression told Vent that this was a serious situation.
"The Model X is with Aile, and I lost her a few minutes after the attack started. I have no idea where she is."
Giro sighed, "All right, I'll have to track her down. Some friends of mine will help you get out of here while I try to find her."
"What friends?"
"Look behind you."
Vent turned and received yet another shock. Two of the reploids now standing there where the Mechaniloids had been looked eerily familiar. The third one he didn't recognize at all.
"Who…are you guys?" Vent asked slowly.
"They're friends of mine. Don't worry you can trust them." Giro regarded the hunters, "I need one of you to come with me and help me find Aile. The other two need to help Vent get out of here."
"I'll go," Zero promptly said.
"Good, then me and Axl will help him here," X gestured toward Vent.
Giro nodded, "Right, let's go!" Zero ran past Vent to join Giro as he began to leave.
"Sempai! Wait!" Vent felt like he was in dream…the kind that if you let someone leave, you lose them for good…
Giro turned around and gave Vent a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. We'll save the reunion for later, alright? Just make sure YOU make it out of here." With that he and Zero left and disappeared behind a curtain of smoke.
"So, your name's Vent, huh? Mine's Axl! Nice to meet ya!" Vent turned to regard the two reploids.
"And mine name is X, it is very nice to meet you Vent."
Vent mentally flinched in surprise when X told him his name, but made no comment and nodded respectfully, "It's nice to meet you both."
"Why'd you call Giro 'Sempai'?" Axl asked curiously.
"Because he is. Why?"
Axl shrugged, while X said, "I think Axl is trying to say that we wouldn't expect you, a human, to treat a reploid with that much respect."
Now Vent was genuinely confused. What kind of time had he and Aile landed in? "What does Giro being a reploid and me being human have to do with anything?"
Vent had no idea what impact his words had on the two hunters. Both of them had been a bit skeptical with Giro's description of his time. After all, a place where humans and reploids could live peacefully seemed like such a distant dream to them. But when Vent had clearly implied that Giro being a reploid didn't matter to him, any doubts they had evaporated. For X, it meant that someday, his long held dream of humans and reploids coexisting peacefully would come true.
Vent, meanwhile, was struggling with some disturbing thoughts. The way that X had said that they did expect a human to treat a reploid with respect said leagues about the time they were in. He and Aile HAD been warned that they might wind up in the middle of the war between humans and reploids that had occurred so long ago, but he didn't see any fighting between humans and reploids here. He saw plenty of fighting between reploids, but there wasn't much human participation from what he saw so far. But what X had said…did that mean that reploids were perhaps, discriminated in this time? But why? Perhaps it has something to do with the Mavericks in this time. I wonder…is it because of the reploids being treated unfairly that triggered the war?
Meanwhile, in another part of the city….
"Darn it! How many of these things ARE there!?" Aile was currently Megamerged with the Model X and firing at the attacking Mechaniloids best she could. The area she was in was charred black from the fire that had come through a few minutes before. Aile wasn't in the for every one she destroyed, it was like another two took its place. And Aile was not happy about it.
A shot barely missed her as she swore, "This is unbelievable! They just keep coming! I can't keep this up for much longer…!" Just as she said it, a shot hit her point blank, causing her to fall over backward on her rear end.
Aile! Are you alright? Came the Model X's worried tone.
"I'm fine. But I think I'm in trouble…" She looked up and the horde of Mechaniloids that were moving toward her, many of which were preparing to fire. She tried to fire off a few more shots, but to little avail, as more filled in for the fallen. Aile cursed under her breath, as the Mavericks quickly surrounded her, cutting off any escape.
Aile!
"PLEASE tell me that you have an idea!" Aile said to the Biometal, her voice with a desperate edge to it.
I do! Listen carefully…The Mechaniloids continued to gather around, clearly ready to attack, until…
The gigantic blast set off from the charge shot was huge. It effectively eliminated every Maverick in the immediate area. Aile however, was left breathless from it.
"Y'know, after all these years, you could have TOLD us that there was a fourth charge level!" She said slowly, standing and panting a bit.
I was afraid that it would take too great of a toll on your energy. And besides, you both were using both me and the Model Z together, so the buster didn't have the same capabilities.
"Oh, right. Sorry. DAMMIT! JUST HOW MANY ARE THERE!?" Aile's sudden outburst was a result of even more Mechaniloids then before beginning to crowd around her. Suddenly, two familiar figures jumped down from a high up spot, one landing in front of her, the other landing behind her. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw who was in front of her.
"G-Giro!?" No way…It was impossible…and yet…
Giro just simply looked back at her and gave her a reassuring smile. In the next few minutes, the Mechaniloid horde was all but decimated. And Aile was left speechless and in complete disbelief as Giro finally turned to talk to her.
"Huh, I've had tougher fights..." came Zero's comment, who was only a few feet away.
"Aile, are you okay?" Giro asked, his concern evident in his voice.
"Y-yeah…I'm fine…but how…? We saw…you die…I mean…" Aile couldn't believe what she was seeing as she returned to her normal form. Giro just simply smiled,
"Vent reacted in a similar manner. Huh, now I wonder why Prairie didn't tell you."
Aile felt tears come to her eyes, "It's really you!" She ran over and hugged Giro tightly.
Zero looked on in surprised as Giro tried to get Aile to calm down. Why would a human care about a reploid so much?
"Well, well, what do we have here? It appears that a bug has come to this time." All three of them turned around and flinched. Standing on a heap of burned rubble, was Prometheus.
"You!" Zero growled, stepping forward with an angry look, "We have some unfinished business!"
Prometheus laughed, "Oh, it's you again! Sorry, but I can't fight right now! I just have to stall until Pandora finishes with your friends!"
Aile looked confused for a moment, "Friends…? He doesn't mean…Oh no! Vent!"
"Darn it!" Axl was getting more and more frustrated as he dodged yet another bolt of lightning. This Pandora character was stronger then she looked. Normally when Axl faced an enemy that had an element, he usually liked to transform into a reploid who was strong against that element. Unfortunately, both he and X quickly learned that Pandora could control TWO elements, lightning and ice. Needless to say, it certainly made the battle that much more difficult.
X wasn't having the best time either. Every time he thought he had Pandora figured out, she seemed to simply come up with something else
Vent, meanwhile, was hiding out nearby, as much as he hated it. But without the Biometal, he couldn't Megamerge. The fire that had raged earlier was gone now, leaving huge piles of charred rubble.
A huge plasma blast suddenly came out of nowhere, aimed straight at Pandora. Pandora cried out in surprise from the blast as Prometheus appeared near her.
"I thought…you were going to stall them…!" Pandora hissed at Prometheus. He shrugged,
"It doesn't matter now. The chosen ones have only the Model X anyway. It's not like they'll be nearly as powerful as before."
Pandora shook her head as Aile, Megamerged of course, Zero and Giro all ran into the area.
"You have grown careless Prometheus…"
"What makes you say that?"
"Have you forgotten…that one of the chosen ones…have the Model Z…?"
The first thing Aile did was unmerge and run over to Vent. "Aile! You're alright!" Vent exclaimed in relief.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting!" Zero said as he ran over to X and Axl.
It's good to see that you're alright Vent. X blinked as Giro walked up.
"You hear it don't you?" Giro asked. X nodded,
"Yeah…what is it?" Giro just simply chuckled as he unmerged.
"What are you doing?" Axl asked, wondering what possible reason Giro would have for changing back.
"You'll see it a few moments."
Prometheus, however, was furious with himself. How could he have been so nearsighted? Had he been too overconfident? "I'll just have to kill you both!" He yelled as he lunged forward at Vent and Aile. His scythe promptly met with Zero's saber. Zero's lips curved into a smile, "As I said before, you and me have some unfinished business!" he said as he shoved Prometheus backward.
X and Axl meanwhile, stood before Pandora, as she looked on at the two. "This is not necessary…" She remarked.
"So what? We still have a fight to finish!" Axl shot back.X meanwhile, had half a mind to just stay out of this altogether. What had she meant that fighting wasn't necessary? Was it necessary? A memory from a month ago surfaced, memories of fire and of innocents fleeing…X shook his head of the thought as Pandora unleashed a barrage of icicles.
"Sempai!" Vent felt relieved when his old mentor ran over.
"Here, no time to explain," Giro added as he handed Vent the Model Z.
"The Model Z…" Aile whispered. How had it wound with Giro? Both she and Vent supposed it didn't matter at the moment.
Prometheus cursed as he watched what happened next. He would just go over there and kill them but Zero blocked his way every time he tried to move in their direction.
"DOUBLE MEGAMERGE!" The pair's cry was followed up by them being enveloped in a huge surge of energy and light as the ultimate Mega Man once again took form.
"X! I'm detecting a huge energy signal! What's going on over there!?" came Alia's voice over the radio.
"Don't worry about it Alia. It's nothing dangerous. On the contrary actually," said Giro, smiling as he watched what was occurring.
When the light finally faded, the hunters got yet another shock.
"Wow! They look even more like you then Giro did Zero!" Axl commented.
"So the Model ZX finally reenters the playing field!" Prometheus said in voice that was somewhere between a taunt and a snarl.
Vent, now in Model ZX form along with Aile, stepped forward with his ZX saber, "Listen," he said, addressing Zero was looking on in awe, "You and the other two would be doing us a huge favor if you get Sempai out of here."
"Are you sure you two can handle it?" X asked thoroughly shaken. Just who were these two? Giro said they were from his time but…What had happened in the past few hours had thrown everything they thought they knew into doubt.
"Of course!" Aile said, stepping in Pandora's direction, "It's not like we haven't done this before!"
A frustrated Prometheus finally lost it. "BURRRNNN!" He yelled out as he leapt in the air and two large pillars of fire appeared. Vent quickly got out of the way and shortly afterward there was an audible sound as Vent's ZX saber met with Prometheus's scythe.
Pandora was sorely tempted as Aile stood before her, waiting for her first move. If she and Prometheus could eliminate the Model ZX here and now, it would take care of several problems. However, they had to remain focused on their task. And besides they hadn't managed to destroy the Model ZX before. Although they had gotten stronger, so had the Chosen Ones. There was absolutely no guarantee that they would win this battle. And that was not a risk they could take right now.
"We shall battle another time…" said Pandora in her usual tone to Aile. She looked at Prometheus who was just preparing to charge at Vent. Prometheus noticed and growled. He would have to wait for another time to battle.
"We'll finish our business later," he said venomously to Vent before teleporting out along with Pandora.
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Passes out This is the LONGEST fanfic chapter I have written yet! And it's probably not going to be the last long chapter I write either. But I hope this chapter is worth the long wait! I was actually considering making it longer with a battle scene but I decided that my readers had waited long enough along with some other reasons.
I got to the part where Vent and Aile enter faster than I thought. Ah, well. The story should get a LOT more interesting from here on out. Once again, my story plans have changed but the story is going to be more exciting (not to mention a lot longer) and more epic then I had originally planned. Giro doesn't know about the existence of the Model A or the multiple Model Ws for those who've played Advent. Vent and Aile are the ones from Advent. Oh yeah, and Giro traveled back in time AFTER the events in ZX Advent.
If you prefer that I use Japanese terms (Rock on instead of Megamerge for example) just tell me! I know that there are some out there who prefer the Japanese terms over the English translations so don't be afraid to speak up! The only reason I used the English terms is because I've been playing the English Advent just a bit too much.
In the next chapter, just why are Vent and Aile in 21XX? Are they also in pursuit of Pandora and Prometheus? Or is there another reason?
R&R!