Hey, everyone! Look who finally got her story files back! And look who's finally gotten one of her most popular stories off hiatus! That's right folks, "Twist in Time" in back! I've started naming my chapters if anyone has noticed. I can't say how frequently I'm going to be updating from here, as I've got another story in the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom, "A Hero's Return," going that I would like to put part of my focus on. Anyone here who's a Sonic the Hedgehog fan (Especially of the games and the Sonic Underground cartoon) should definitely check the story out. In the meantime, some very important questions are answered in this chapter, and the overlying mystery grows ever deeper. So enjoy the long awaited return of "Twist in Time!"
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot and my OCs.
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"How did I get stuck doing this again?" Axl asked. He had received a mission to retrieve a time crystal just a few hours earlier. The crystal had been detected in an old abandoned tower. The tower had once been a communications center, before Mavericks had attacked the area. There were still electronics running on what remained of the tower's backup power.
Remember, X and Zero were sent out on another important mission. Ashe, Grey and Giro decided to take the day off and go out into the city. Ashe said that she found a way to disguise Grey and Giro so that they could go out into the city without being Megamerged.
"Alright, so tell me again why you decided to tag along?"
Model A chortled, Because I was bored. Giro wouldn't let me go with then because they said it would attract too much attention if they were caught talking to me or the Model Z. I needed something to do, so I decided to keep you company.
Axl didn't mind the Biometal's presence actually. Once he had finally gotten used to another voice echoing in his head, he found that he actually held a lot in common with it. What frustrated him was that he was alone. Whenever he was alone on a mission, it reminded him of that one mission right before he had met X and Zero…
He shook himself of the thoughts. That had been a long time ago. And technically, he wasn't alone either. After all, he had the Model A for company.
"So why exactly did Vent and Aile attack me?" Axl asked as he made his way through the room that served as part of the tower's first floor. He stopped at the stairs.
What was left of them at least.
The stairs had crumbled. What was left couldn't possibly hold his weight up. He would have to wall kick his way up to the next floor.
As he did so, he heard the Model A talking in his head,
Truth is, we aren't entirely sure. We used to be allies with Vent and Aile. They helped us during the Game of Destiny. We met a few more times, each time as friends. But then…
Axl made the final wall-jump to the next floor, lost his balance for a moment the quickly regained it. He mentally slapped himself when he realized that he could have just turned into a flying reploid to reach the next floor. It was too late now though.
"So then what?" Axl asked.
Well, they showed up at Hunter's Camp one day. At first, it was just like previous times we'd seen them. We did some catching up and I talked with Model X. But at some point, Vent and Aile asked to have me.
"How did Grey and Ashe react?"
Well they wanted to know why. It was then that they dropped the bomb. They said that they discovered that I was going to become a very real threat in the near future. And in order to prevent that from happening, they wanted to get rid of me.
"Yikes. And none of you took that very well, huh?"
Not really. In the end, they attacked, and we barely got away. And soon after that, the distortions occurred.
"Distortions?" Axl was now making his way along the second floor, which was similar to the first. He hadn't seen any Mavericks yet, which was at the same time a relief and unnerving.
Temporal distortions I think was the exact term. Strange things, cracks in thin air is the best way I can describe them, began showing up at random at various places. Most of them were so small; no one could really do much with them. But then we saw one so big that…
"What were those cracks, exactly?" Axl asked, sensing the Biometals hesitance. And where the heck is that elevator shaft!? Axl though to himself in frustration. He had been trying to find it for a while now. But no matter where he looked, he couldn't seem to find it. He thought that if he could find the shaft, he would be able to easily reach the top floor.
It turned out that those cracks were actually time rifts.
Axl stopped, putting two and two together, "Those rifts led to our time…" He started.
And some of them were big enough that one could step through them. Model A confirmed.
"And Vent and Aile used one of them to get to our time! In fact, I bet that's how everyone from your time got here! By using the time rifts!"
Exactly! We saw them stepping through one of the rifts. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were up to. They intended to alter the past so that I didn't exist. We followed them through another rift.
"That's how all this started. With those time rifts. But what caused the rifts?"
Beats me.
n/n/n/n/
Meanwhile, deep within a mountain range, a group of reploids were growing more and more frustrated with their situation.
"I can't believe we fell for it! How could we have been so stupid?"
"Calm down Zero, getting angry won't help anyone," X said, his voice completely calm. He and Zero had been sent out to eliminate a group of Mavericks hiding out in the mountains. Unfortunately, they had fallen for a very clever trap. Now they were stuck inside a cave, with both their respective units, and outside was a huge Mechaniloid just waiting for them to come out.
"What do we do now sir?" One of the other reploids asked.
Actually, that was a very good question. From what X could see, they were trapped. They couldn't use their busters, the Mechaniloid was bound to react violently and bring the whole cave down on them. Short range attack were also out of the question, as the thing would likely shoot them and drive them back into the cave before they could do anything. They were stuck.
But at least they were fighting reploids. Maverick reploids and Mechiniloids, not…X had to repress a shiver and force himself off his train of thought. He didn't like thinking about his encounter with Aeolus. He couldn't think about it now, not with a mission in progress.
"I think it's safe to say that we're open to suggestions here," X finally admitted.
There was a very long silence, interrupted only by the quiet muttering of a slightly stir-crazy Zero. None of them were sure how long they were there, seconds, minutes, hours? After a long while, one of the reploids at long last, spoke up,
"Um, sir, I might have a plan, but it's kinda risky."
"Tell us," Zero prompted, "Anything's better then hanging out here waiting for our energy to run out."
n/n/n/n/
"Finally!" Axl looked up the elevator shaft. The elevator itself wasn't present, there were only a few hanging cables to indicate that one had even been there. The walls of the shaft itself were dirty with mold growing in some places. There was a faint light shining at the top.
How the heck do you plan on getting up there? Model A asked.
Axl smiled, "I already know for a fact that you allow Grey and Ashe to change into enemies they've defeated before, right?"
Right, but what does that have to do with-? The Biometal got its answer a second later.
Axl had changed into a flying reploid, Mach Jetra from his mission in Giga City more specifically.
Oh…
"This is the first time you've seen me transform, right?"
Yeah…guess that only reinforces the theory that I was based on you.
Flapping his new form's wings, Axl took flight. Using his new form's jets, he literally shot up the shaft. In no time, he was at the final floor. Blasting the door blocking his way out of the shaft, he landed on the edge of the now open entryway.
He changed back to normal and walked forward. This area was a lot darker, with only a few flickering lights to illuminate it, making it hard to see. It was also strangely empty.
Axl flicked on his comm., "Hey Pallette, where exactly in this place was the crystal supposed to be?" Since Alia was acting as the navigator for X and Zero at the moment, Pallette was his navigator for this mission.
Unfortunately, at the moment, all he got over the comm. was static.
Axl cursed, "Damn, that's not good."
Uh, Axl…? I think I heard something…
"Huh?" There was a whooshing sound, so faint he could barely hear it. Axl quickly turned around, "Who's there!?"
No answer.
"Maybe I'm imagining things." It was futile trying to convince himself. The Biometal had obviously heard whatever was in the area with them.
There was another faint whooshing sound. And Axl was getting more and more spooked by the minute.
"Whoever's there! Show yourself!"
Another faint whooshing and then…
"TARGET CONFIRMED. PROCEED WITH COMBAT."
n/n/n/n/
What the hell are you doing here? Model Z was in Giro's room, left there while his friend went to the city. And the one that had just floated in was none other then the Model X, having phased through the wall. The Biometals had that ability, being part data.
If you must know, I'm on a kind of recon mission. Model X replied floating near the red Biometal.
Recon mission? For Vent and Aile I assume?
Who else? And you sound a bit bitter there.
Those two effectively betrayed me and Giro. Model Z spat, So excuse me for sounding bitter.
They honestly didn't want to, once they knew that you and Giro was involved. No matter what may have happened, they still consider you two close friends. As do I. But we had no choice. Z, if you had still been with us, you would have understood.
So enlighten me. What exactly happened before you three came to this time? Those two may be trying to do something nearly unforgivable, but I know them well enough to know they wouldn't be doing it without good reason.
Model X sighed, Very well, you deserve to know after what we did to you last time.
You mean when I tried to cancel the merge once I realized what was happening? And you three effectively tried to suppress me? I wasn't thinking clearly for hours afterward.
I could tell from the lame excuse you made for leaving us after that conflict. It was only part of the reason. You claimed that you had to remain with Giro, but what was happening went against your very beliefs.
As I said before, my mind was still foggy. I'm not entirely sure what I was saying that night either. So are you going to tell me what the hell led to all this?
Model X bobbed in the air slightly, seeming troubled, It all started when we found an old laboratory within some ruins. What we found in that lab, that what was made us realize that the world wasn't nearly as safe as we thought it was. And it was then that we also realized that the Model A could not be allowed to exist any longer.
What the hell did you find?
You're better off not knowing, trust me.
Alright, then what happened?
First of all, we tracked down Ashe and Grey. And we asked them for Model A. But they saw right through us. Even when we told them there was danger if A continued to exist, they still refused to hand it over. And then…we had no choice…Model X trailed off.
What did you do? Z prompted.
We attacked them. Tried to force the Model A away from them. In a way, I guess we weren't thinking very clearly. All we cared about was getting A and destroying him. The three of them got away. And we were left with the regret of knowing that out former allies were now our enemies.
X, I'm not sure what the hell you found or why you believe that A is dangerous. But frankly, you three have been making a lot of powerful enemies since you started this little crusade of yours.
We didn't want it to be this way. We honestly didn't. The two Biometals hovered there, Model X seeming more depressed then Z had seen him in years. Then Model X spoke again, Now for a few questions of my own. What the hell happened to you after the Ouroborus?
I couldn't tell you. Model Z said flatly.
What!? Why not!?
Apparently, someone tinkered with me and some point, because some of my memories are scrambled. The last clear thing I remember from when I was with you three is Vent and Aile talking to Grey and Ashe after fighting with them over that Model W. Everything after that is iffy, only bits and pieces standing out, with the only thing with anything close to being clear what happened on the Ouroboros . The next truly clear thing I remember is being on a bedside table with none other then Giro out cold on the bed. Took me a few minutes to convince myself it wasn't a dream.
I can imagine.
You should have seen Prairie's reaction. You know as well as I do how she feels about him. I'm honestly surprised how much she was able to hold herself back when he finally woke up.
What happened after that? Model X prompted.
Pandora and Prometheus is what the hell happened. Those two used the temporal distortions that were occurring to get to this time. And we had no choice but to follow them. We didn't want Vent and Aile to get caught up in the business of time traveling.
Which they did anyway.
True.
Any idea who messed with your memories?
Model Z did the mental equivalent of shaking his head, None. But both me and Giro have theorized that the person who messed with my mind was the same one who resurrected Giro.
But why? Model X had to wonder, For what purpose?
We don't know. All we know is that we are here now and our purpose is to send that insane nutjob of a Grim Reaper and his little witch companion back to their proper time. After that, then maybe we can investigate the mystery behind all this.
Model X pondered all this for a moment before speaking again, I better get going. Any idea where-?
If you're looking for Axl, he was sent on a mission. Same with X and Zero. As for Giro, Ashe and Grey, those three went to the city.
Giro and Grey went without being Megamerged?
Ashe claimed to have an idea to hide their identity.
I see. Model X floated to the outside wall with the intention of leaving. It paused a moment before phasing through, Model Z, none of us wanted it to get this bad. Our only intention was to preserve the world. If you only knew…
Model Z sighed, X, I don't trust you any less then I did before. Call it an instinctive feeling. And from what I've seen from this time so far, it seems as if that instinct was strongly founded.
The blue Biometal managed a mental chuckle, Yeah, our past selves seem pretty close don't they? Well, farewell for now Z. And with that, the Biometal phased through the wall.
n/n/n/n/
"Who the hell!?" Before Axl, stood one of Pandora and Prometheus' allies. It was that demonic purple one, with the ragged cape and glowing red eyes staring at him from a white and purple mask.
Model A gulped, the Biometal taking refuge behind him, That's Siarnaq. He's the Chosen One for the Model P and is called the Shadow Megaman.
At the Biometal's words, Siarnaq seemed to vanish. "What the-Where did he go?" Axl began spinning around, trying vain to locate him.
To your right!
Axl reacted just in time to dodge a flurry of throwing knives. Looking in the direction they had come from, he got a brief glimpse of the dark figure before it vanished again. Swearing under his breath, Axl scanned the area again for his elusive opponent. Another flurry of knives shot from the dark, this time from above. He dashed to get out of the way, one of the knives barely hitting him.
Once again, when he looked up, the figure vanished. "How the hell is he doing that!?" Axl asked in frustration.
That's one of Siarnaq's special abilities! He moves so fast, it's like he disappears and reappears at will! The Model A explained.
"Any idea how I fight this guy?"
Try anticipating his movements. He has to reappear to attack. Just watch out for-
"Holy shit!"
-His shuriken…
If Axl were human, he would have started sweating right then and there. A huge shuriken, which he had just barely avoided, was embedded in the ground just a few feet from him. Once again, Siarnaq vanished just as Axl spotted him. Alright, he had to think! What could detect something moving quickly in the dark…dark…detection…that was it!
Axl shape shifted again, this time into a bat-like reploid. He cast out a wave of sound in his new form. The reverberating echo told him that there was something in the room, moving at a very fast, confirming the Model A's statement that Siarnaq was simply moving too fast for the eye to follow.
Another idea occurred to Axl. He was surprised he came up with it. Using his new forms' sound based abilities, he released a very high frequency noise, earning a metal yelp of complaint from the Model A.
The noise had the intended effect. Siarnaq stopped short, his hands shooting up to where his ears normally would be. Axl chose that moment to act. He transformed back, locked on and fired his dual pistols. The purple warrior was startled. Axl got off a few good shots before he vanished again. It was futile. Axl had locked on to him and could now easily follow him around the room.
Axl kept firing. A thought suddenly occurred to him. He addressed the Model A,
"Hey, this guy is a reploid, right?"
Far as I know.
"Just making sure." Axl resumed firing. Although the shadow warrior's speed allowed him to avoid some of the plasma shots, most of them found their mark. Siarnaq didn't stop moving, not until Axl heard him say,
"OBJECTIVE DETECTED. RETRIEVING…"
"What the hell?" Axl stopped firing as Siarnaq reappeared briefly before disappearing again. When he reappeared again, he was holding something. It didn't take Axl even a moment to realize what the green object was.
"A time crystal!" He cried out.
"OBJECTIVE COMPLETED. COMMENCING RETREAT."
"Hey wait!" Axl ran up to Siarnaq, but was too late.
Siarnaq warped out.
And took the time crystal with him.
n/n/n/n/
"Wow. You guys look worse for wear." That was Ashe's comment when she saw the three Hunters enter the lounge, them having returned from their missions. All three of them were absolutely exhausted. Ashe, Giro and Grey were relaxing on one of the couches. Giro was now Megamerged but Grey had on a jacket and a hat, clearly meant to disguise his appearance.
"What the heck happened to you guys?" Grey asked.
"Let's see…First we encounter an unstable Mechaniloid, then we get lured straight into a trap set by the Mavericks and we holed up in a cave for who knows how long while we try to figure out a way to bring the damn thing down." Zero was not in the best of moods. The mission had been successful, but it had been hard as hell to complete.
"At least we didn't lose anyone," X reminded his friend. Zero grumbled but made no comment.
Axl on the other hand, was strangely quiet. Giro was the first to notice.
"Something wrong?" He asked the black reploid.
A lot of things happened during our mission. The Model A spoke as it floated over to Ashe and Grey. There was a quick flash of light as Grey Megamerged. But long story short, Siarnaq appeared, attacked us, and took the time crystal!
"A time crystal!?" Ashe said in shock.
"A time crystal was found!?" X exclaimed upon hearing Ashe mention one of the powerful crystals.
"Was," Axl replied, sounding depressed, "But we couldn't get it…I'm sorry guys…"
A long silence hung in the air. None of them were quite sure what to make of this new revelation. How many time crystals did their enemy have now? How many were there altogether and how many were left?
Model A finally broke the silence, So, what did you guys do in the city?
Ashe smiled, "It was great! You see, I first bought a few things to make sure no one recognized Giro or Grey. Then we walked around, had lunch at this fantastic restaurant and relaxed in this gorgeous park!"
"Least you guys had a good day," Zero grumbled.
They all shared a laugh, except for Zero who was glaring daggers. It was a much needed release of tension. By the time they all said good-night and left the lounge for their respective quarters, they all felt much more relaxed. But a nagging feeling, a shadow, was still cast upon their thoughts.
How much closer to the fulfillment of their plans were Pandora and Prometheus now? What, exactly, did they plan to do with the crystals?
The answer would come sooner than they ever expected.
Deep within a large old building, a female figure floated in front of a huge tank of water. The room was dark, so it was impossible to make out anything else other then the dimly lit tank. And even then, only a huge shadow could be seen in the tank. The female, looking at shadow in the tank, spoke only three words:
"It is time…"
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Killed you all with this cliffhanger, huh? All of you who read the preview (which I replaced with this chapter) should be able to guess what's coming next. I know the battle was a little short, but you gotta remember, the time crystal was close by and Siarnaq's main objective was to retrieve it.
It's about darn time that I gave Model X and Model Z a slightly larger role not to mention a bit more personality. The part with them was a bit longer then I anticipated however. And the mystery deepens doesn't it?
In the next chapter, after an accident during an at sea mission Grey finds himself stranded all alone. But deep beneath the ocean depths, a powerful force stirs. Grey is suddenly in a battle for his life as he faces a foe as powerful as time itself! And he has to do it without anyone's help (except for the Model A of course). If Grey can defeat this enemy, he may get a glimpse of Pandora and Prometheus' true plans.
A sincere thanks to all my reviewers!
R&R!