With any luck, I won't keep you all waiting as long as I did with the last chapter again, but my parents like banning me from typing as a punishment. I decided to focus on developing a few characters in this chapter.
This story is up and running again so enjoy the thirteenth chapter of "Twist in Time!"
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs.
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Aile found herself in front of the old Slither Inc. building. Vent was next to her. They were both merged with the Model X.
This seems so familiar…
She felt her heart drop when she saw who was in front of both of them. He was trying to maintain control of himself, if only for a few seconds longer…
No…I remember this…
"Vent…Aile…Shoot me..." Giro managed to get out before Model W's power completely overtook him.
God not this again…
She still remembered everything. Her sadness when he asked them to shoot them. Her horror when he started to attack. She went through the whole fight, and then she saw the lighting bolt attack strike Giro with her and Vent calling out to him in worry and fear…
Aile woke up in a cold sweat. She was in bed, in an old abandoned house she and Vent had discovered while looking for a place to stay for the night. The area had apparently been attacked by Mavericks years before, and the prior inhabitants had fled, leaving nearly everything behind.
The house was very dusty, with mold growing in several places. They had swept and cleaned up the place, if only to make it inhabitable again. Cleaning the kitchen especially had not been pleasant. They would have probably avoided it if it wasn't for that awful smell that came from there. The house itself was fairly small, with only a few bedrooms, a kitchen, and what looked to be a living room.
Aile sighed, relived that the dream was over. "I thought I was long over that," she muttered to herself. After that battle, she had been haunted by nightmares of it. Vent hadn't faired much better either. They had both blamed themselves for what had happened, herself for being so reckless, Vent for not being able to protect Giro. It had been like the nightmares she had were taunting her, reminding her that it was all her fault.
Aile would later find that it was a bitter irony, that both she and Vent had finally gained the power to protect those around them, yet they were still unable to save the one closest to them at the time from dying…That day was the day that Vent had promised himself that he would become a Mega Man that could protect everyone. Aile herself had made a similar vow. Unfortunately for her, it had been lost among the events that happened soon after Giro's death, which for her included an identity crisis and some surprising revelations about the enemy she and Vent had dedicated themselves to fighting.
Realizing that she wouldn't be getting back to sleep any time soon, Aile climbed out of bed. She decided she needed some fresh air, so walked out of the room and down the hallway of the house. It was very dark inside, and a little bit creepy, although she was the last person to admit something like that.
She felt a bit better once she was outside. The air was cool and crisp, with a slight breeze that blew around her lightly, as if nature itself was trying to comfort her. Aile looked up into the night sky. The lights from the city a mile or two away blocked out some of the stars but it could do nothing to hinder the light of the bright crescent moon.
Aile smiled sadly. When she and Vent had come to this time, they had thought it would be simple. Find Axl, destroy him, and then go back home.
But that was before they had found out Giro was alive…and that Pandora and Prometheus were here as well.
"So I'm not the only one who can't sleep tonight."
Aile turned around to see who was talking, "Oh, Vent."
Vent smiled as he walked up next to her, "What woke you up?" He asked curiously.
"An old nightmare," she replied simply.
There was a silence, both lost in their own thoughts. It was Vent who finally spoke, "You think we're going to end up fighting Sempai again?"
Aile shook her head, "I don't know. On one side we have a task to complete in this time, but on the other side, Giro opposes what we are doing, so well…"
He nodded in understanding, "I know how you feel…"
Another silence.
"Vent," Aile said slowly, "If we do wind up fighting Giro again…this time it will be for real…we'll be enemies…Giro won't be possesed by Model W or anything…this time, if he dies again, it will truly be all our fault…"
"Don't talk like that!" He snapped, "If we do fight, we have enough experience and knowledge to not only succeed but to also avoid having that happen. We'll just disable him so he can't fight. We'll do the same with X and Zero as well."
She sighed, "I just can't shake this feeling…" Looking out at the city, she asked, "What are we going to do about Pandora and Prometheus?"
"I think those two are first priority at this point. I don't particularly want to think about what they want to do that requires the time crystals."
"…There's another reason isn't there?"
"What makes you say that?"
Aile snorted, "I know you to well, that's why!"
He sighed, "You see…why me and Axl were underground the other day…I met this girl, Tatiana was her name, and she asked me to collect the time crystals before 'the evil ones' did. And I have a feeling that the evil ones she was referring to was Pandora and Prometheus."
"Not to mention those Biometal thieves!"
"Yeah, she probably meant them too."
Aile smiled at him slightly, "So, looks like we have another mission. We need to find the time crystals as well"
Vent smiled back, "Yeah."
There was another long silence, both of them enjoying the serenity of the night, with only the noise of the nearby city to disrupt it.
Aile finally yawned, "Well, I'm going back to bed. G'night."
"Good night," Vent said to her as she left. He stayed out there for a few more minutes. I still wonder…what did Tatiana mean by 'Silvera?' She said that when we were lost, Silvera would point the way. But what did she mean by 'lost?' Will we lose sight of our goals? Or did she mean it literally? He finally sighed in defeat. He better get back to sleep. Tomorrow was another day. They would have to get up early and start tracking down the crystals. Even now, Pandora and Prometheus and those Biometal thieves were probably still trying to find them, and might have even found one. Turning around, he went back inside.
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I actually had another part planned for this shorter chapter, but I decided to shift it to the next chapter. I think I really deepened Vent and Aile's characters. Just a side note, the Model X didn't notice either of them going out as it was preoccupied with it's own thoughts (it's encountered it's past self after all. The Hunters and Grey and Ashe aren't the only ones struggling with the implications of what they've learned in 21XX!) so that's why it didn't get any lines during this chapter. However, to make up for the lack of focus on the Biometals (not to mention their lack of lines!), I'm planning on basing a chapter around them in the future. But that's for another time!
In the next chapter, the focus shifts back to the hunters as Bomber Lizard challenges Ashe to a little competition while Grey learns a bit more about the time he and Ashe are in.
Sincere thanks to all my reviewers!
R&R!