Sorry for going another long period without updating! I went through writer's block and it took me a while to finally overcome it. Not to mention that it's been getting harder and harder to find time to write for several reasons. But don't worry! Writing is my passion and this fanfic is almost always on my mind! Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this chapter of "Twist in Time!"
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OCs. Okay?
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"A duel?" Vent asked.
"A lot of the reploids here like to have friendly battles every once in a while. Helps keep their skills sharp. Though I don't know just how friendly it'll be if you fight this guy…"Axl eyed Bomber Lizard accusingly.
Bomber Lizard snorted, "I just want to see if these two humans are everything their cracked up to be! Which I doubt they are!"
"If you want to fight anyone, then fight me!" Everyone in the room turned in the direction of the voice. Bomber Lizard smiled evilly when he saw just who had said it.
Standing there was none other than Giro, who had apparently heard the whole exchange.
Bomber Lizard was exceptionally pleased with himself. Sure he wasn't going to fight the humans who had intruded on territory meant only for the hunters. But he WAS going to fight the one who, in his opinion, was the cause of the whole mess. Currently he was in the arena used for practice battles such as these, with that dratted "time traveler" reploid, Giro, standing at the other end.
While it certainly wasn't true that Giro was the reason Vent and Aile were with the hunters, pride, one of the most powerful of the seven deadly sins, had blinded Bomber Lizard. It was pride that had lead to the tragic downfall of the Repliforce during the fourth Maverick uprising and it would eventually, and inevitably, lead to Bomber's downfall as well.
"It's not too late to just quit now you know!" Bomber called out tauntingly.
Giro tightened his grip on his saber and forced himself to calm down. He knew that Bomber Lizard was among those who still didn't believe that Giro was actually from another time. If he won, Bomber would likely keep his mouth shut on the subject from then on in. If he lost…well one thing at a time.
"Let's just get this over with!" Giro called out to Bomber in response.
Bomber smiled and then…
He was right in front of him!
Startled, Giro barely had time to get out of the way as the lizard reploid swiped at him with one of his claws. Bomber turned and attempted to swipe at him at him again only to be met with the glowing end of Giro's saber. He yelped in a mix
Leaping back, it didn't take him very long to realize that Bomber was right in front of him again! Holy crap! He's fast! Bomber was suddenly gone again. Giro blinked. Why hadn't he attacked? Wait a minute… Giro looked down just as the small bomb that was planted went off.
"This is crazy! Bomber's never this fast!" Axl was watching the battle along with Vent and Aile, in a raised area just off to the side of the arena.
Vent, Aile, something is seriously wrong here. The pair blinked, hearing the Biometal.
"What do you mean Model X?" Aile asked as Axl gave her an odd look. Vent and Aile didn't normally talk to the Biometal unless they were alone. After all, they were the only ones who could hear and it wouldn't look very good if it appeared as if they were talking to thin air or what seemed to be an inanimate object.
Watch the lizard reploid closely... was all Model X said.
As they watched the smoke clear, Vent and Aile couldn't help but feel relived as Giro emerged from the blast, at the very least not as severely hurt as he had anticipated.
Bomber snarled again and before anyone could blink he had planted another bomb right next to Giro! In addition, Bomber had managed to return to his previous position. All in a matter of a second. Giro barely had time to move quickly enough to avoid most of the blast. His mind was trying to work out a way to defeat such a swift opponent. He made a quick survey of his surrondings.
Bomber Lizard, however, would not give him time to work out how to win. In just a few seconds, he had planted yet another bomb next to Giro. It was then that an idea popped into Giro's head.
When the smoke cleared, Giro was nowhere in sight. Aile let out a small gasp as Bomber allowed himself a triumphant smile. That hadn't taken nearly as long as he had thought it would. Nor had it been as hard. But just as he was about to turn to leave…
A pillar of light flared underneath him, followed by a sharp pain. The next thing he knew, he was against the far wall of the arena, completely and utterly defeated.
What had happened was this. Giro had managed to avoid the blast, while at the same time still being able to use the smoke for cover. He had then retreated to a more hidden part of the arena. When Bomber had turned, he had driven his saber into the ground, summoning the light pillar attack. After that, he had dashed forward and dealt the final blow with his saber.
Giro stood straight up and smiled. He had managed to win. He blinked when he saw two streaks of blue dash from the sidelines and right in front of Bomber Lizard.
"Alright, hand it over." Aile voice was dead serious. Both she and Vent were Megamerged with their busters aimed at the lizard reploid. Midway through the battle, they had realized something. And now there was a certain something that they had to retrieve from the lizard reploid. They were both standing before the lizard reploid.
"Hand what over?" Bomber snarled.
"You weren't just fast during that battle. You were actually warping around the arena. And there's only one thing that would allow you to do that," said Vent, "We've already figured it out so just give us the crystal."
Bomber growled as soon as Vent mentioned a crystal. "What will you do if I don't give it up?"
Aile got a gleam in her eyes. One that Vent knew all too well. He took a few good steps backward as Giro came up behind him.
There was the sound of plasma shots and then...
Bomber gulped as the smoke cleared. There were scorch marks left by Aile's buster shots dangerously close to him. The location of the marks were a dead giveaway to just how accurate she could be.
"Give it or else." Aile's voice seemed to turn to ice in the air, indicating her lack of patience for the lizard reploid.
"Aile's temper hasn't improved much over the few years I was gone has it?" Giro commented as he watched what was happening.
"Oh it's improved. She doesn't snap nearly as much as she used to. She's definently a lot calmer in comparison to five years ago. But still..." Vent looked at Aile and Bomber Lizard. Vent knew from experience that Aile was the last person you wanted to get angry. When they were younger, he had been at the recieving end of her fury more then a few times.
Bomber squeaked, "H-here!" Shaking, he took something from one of his many bomb-carrying pouches and tossed it on the floor where it rolled to Aile's feet. Aile bent over and picked it up. It was a perfect sphere that was see-through, colored a light pink. Darker pink energy glowed it it's very center. It was about the size of a tennis ball. When Aile looked up from this strange object, she noticed that Bomber was gone.
"Hey guys!" Axl ran up to the trio, "Bomber just went by me at about Mach 5. What happened?"
"Aile's temper got the better of her again," said Vent, sighing.
"What is it?" Axl looked curiously at the sphere on the table. He was in the hunter's lounge. Sitting next to him was X and Zero. Across from them sat Vent, Aile and Giro.
"Its a time crystal," said Vent simply.
Everyone except Aile gave him an odd look. "Time crystal? What the hell is that?" Zero asked.
"Its a special crystal that has that power over time." said Aile.
"Why would Bomber have it though?" X asked as Giro picked up the crystal to examine it.
"It's likely he was tempted by the power it gave him. That's the reason he seemed to be moving so fast. He was using the crystal to stop and slow time while he made his moves." said Vent
"The time crystals are extremely dangerous," Aile added, "They must never me allowed to fall into the wrong hands."
"Wait a minute! Are you saying that there's more than one of those things!?" Zero demanded.
"Unfourtunetly yes. And the more one has, the more power," said Vent grimly.
"Just how much power do the time crytals have over time, exactly?" Giro asked, finally speaking and still looking at the crystal.
"Well..." Aile trailed off, looking uncertain.
"We don't really know," Vent admitted, "We've only just recently discovered that they even existed."
"Could the time crystals, in theory, perserve one's existance even if they've erased themselves from the timestream?" Giro asked.
"Hell if we know! But I'd probably say yes. One crystal gives one the power to stop and slow time. If one collected enought crystals, then they probably could preserve their existance even if the past was altered so they otherwise wouldn't. Why do you ask?" Aile looked at Giro curiously.
Giro put the crystal back on the table, "I know what Pandora and Prometheus are after." He anounced, causing everyone to jump slightly.
"Woah, that was random!" Axl exclaimed.
"I'm serious. Do you three remember what they said they had found a way to ensure that they wouldn't vanish no matter what they did to this time?" He asked, looking at the hunters who nodded in understanding.
"Go on," said X.
"Well I think that the time crystals may be the way to ensure their existance that they've mentioned!"
"That's nothing more then a wild speculation!" Zero said.
I actualy think that Giro may be right. The time crystals may be the only thing with the enough of the kind of power that Pandora and Prometheus need. Zero blinked. Had the Model Z just directly addressed him?
I don't know what happened the last time you faced Pandora and Prometheus, but if they really did say that they had found a way to continue to exist no matter how severly they alter this time, then the fact that they may have found some time crystals would actually be a logical assuption. The Model X floated out and hovered in front of Vent and Aile.
X took on a confused look. "By any chance, did you just hear that?" Vent asked, noting X's expression.
"Yeah, I did..." said X, a bit unsteady. Giro chuckled,
"Just like the Model Z was based on Zero, the Model X was based on you. And given how my theory that the reploids would be able to hear the Biometals that that were based on them was proven correct, I pretty much assumed you would be able to hear the Model X."
"Giro, are you saying that Zero can hear the Model Z?" Aile asked curiously. Giro nodded to her in confirmation.
"Well its pretty much a given that the Model X was based on X. I mean, come on! Model X, X himself, you can't get much more obvious then that!" Axl exclaimed, "Hell, it even looks like X!"
Vent looked like he was about to say something when he noticed someone in the door of the lounge. He tapped Aile and gestured to the door. Aile nodded and then they both stood up, "Excuse us," she said. They walked over to the door, where the last person that they wanted to see.
"What do you want?" Vent asked the person standing there, his voice not the most polite of tones.
"Oh, X didn't bother to tell you that I would be checking in today? I want to know how the first day was for the Maverick Hunter's only two human recruits," said Draynor in his smooth, polite voice.
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Stupid writer's block….Anyways a sincere thanks to all my reviewers! Archaon, in the manual for both ZX and ZXA it clearly states that the humans in the ZX series are given cybernetic upgrades which probably explains why Ashe is able to pull off that stunt among other things. ???, at least you actually UNLOCKED hard mode! I can't even get past the sub-bosses for Chronoforce's level or Rosepark's level in Normal mode! TT Capt. Cheese, WHAT do you want me to have Aile do!? No offense, but it looks like you didn't complete your first sentence in the review.
In the next chapter, Axl and Vent, through a complicated series of events, wind up in some mysterious ruins and learn a valuable secret of the time crystals.
R&R!