Later, Prometheus and Pandora were preparing to meet with Serpent, an ally of theirs that they had eventually swayed to Model O's control. But Pandora's mind was elsewhere, something about what Juno said to Master Albert really struck a cord in the Reploid girl.
"The Mother Elf..." Pandora mumbled to herself as she tried to think something over.
"What's the matter Dora?" Prometheus questioned, knowingly using the nickname that Juno used to give his sister. Possibly out of spite -a conscious that's-what-you-get-for-liking-her remark- or maybe it truly was out of genuine care about his sister's feelings for the human.
"How could Juno know who the Mother Elf's children are?" the Reploid girl asked out loud, drawing her thoughts out as she spoke them. "The Mother Elf existed over twenty-five years before Juno was even conceived, and no one but Master Albert knew that she imprinted something in the Four Guardians code… But the matches for THOSE Biometals have already been found."
"Perhaps she was thinking of the Baby Elves." Prometheus suggested with a roll of his shoulder. "They say that the Mother Elf held great reverence for the two of them for some reason."
"But what did that have to do with the missing Biometal?" argued Pandora. "It was as if… as if the Mother Elf had blood children. Living creatures, like us."
"That wouldn't have been possible." Prometheus scoffed. "When Master Albert goes off with his head, it always comes to the discussion of the Mother Elf's original form being-"
"Human." both Reploids addressed at the same time.
"And that she was eloping with a..."
"Reploid." they said together again, now giving each other a rather inquiring look.
"Is there anyone even like that?" Pandora whispered quietly. Thinking of a different question that will always remain unspoken between them.
"I sure as hell hope not." Prometheus retorted. "But imagine it Pandora, a decent fight for once, and not one hit kills all the time. Part human, part Reploid; do you think they'll bleed before they explode into a million little pieces?"
Pandora didn't look at him.
"I… I wonder how Juno is doing..."
"Never mind that, remember that we have work to do. Come on."
"Yes Prometheus..." Pandora softly agreed, her mind unchanged and even more confused than earlier.
. . .
Meeting with the Guardians about the safety of Model X was hell from the start. Girouette's fears seemed confirmed when Juno didn't come back, leaving the Reploid to either go around the subject when Vent asked, or not even mentioning it at all. Her room had been locked from the inside, more of a way to prevent Girouette himself from going in than to block anyone that sought her belongings. He wasn't sure about it, but Vent's nightmares were getting worse in tandem with his.
Vent was never supposed to go with Girouette to exchange Model X with Prairie.
With Juno missing, Girouette's first line of trusted individuals horribly dropped. He needed Sho to help maintain the warehouse, because that was what the young Reploid was best at. Telling the teen about his new role helped Vent's mood, that was for sure. But when the Mavericks came and attacked the two, sending Vent over the edge of the cliff they were on due to an exploded gas tank, Girouette couldn't have whipped out Model Z fast enough to send those Mavericks straight to Cyberspace.
'Calm yourself Giro,' Model Z said to him in a calming, although not soothing, tone 'Relenting your anger and fears on others will not end the situation.'
"Ah, but it helps fuel Model W just fine..."
Girouette looked up and was stunned to see a Megamerged, feminine form that nearly resembled Juno's frame and height. The figure wasn't looking at him, and a saber in her right hand emitted a glow, dark purple glow. The Biometal armor nearly resembled the armor Model Z granted Girouette, but it seemed darker, and split between two conflicting designs; one dark and robotic, the other struggling to show humanity and resistance.
'The energy coming from that form… it's dark… and familiar. A very familiar, dark evil. Take caution Girouette, there may be more than what meets the eye here.'
All Girouette could see was Juno, and unwillingly, he took a stance to strike.
"J-Juno? Is that… really you?" Girouette asked, trying hard to not let his guard down in case this was all just a trick. The woman refused to look up for a moment, but her chin slowly started to rise.
"Ever since the earth began, devils and angels danced together in a bloodshed of death and destruction." a dual voice said from the armored woman, one that was her own and the other from another influence who demanded control. "It is only destiny that we met again in this fashion. But this time… one of us will fall for good."
Suddenly, the woman's eyes snapped open. Girouette could see the color in the woman's eyes and staggered back in shock; she had blood red eyes that pulsated into another color, an army green maybe, before returning to the darkened red color.
'She's fighting it; she's being influenced by two of the most powerful forces of evil and she's fighting it…'
"Come with me darling, let's live in a world where only we can exist." the woman muttered, offering a hand out to him. "You and I, two halves of the same whole. We could be Adam and Eve, yin and yang… Zero and Omega..."
Without input from Girouette, Model Z immediately drew the zetsaber and made an attack toward the woman. She stepped out of the way with a smirk and took hold of the back of Girouette's neck in an extremely tight grip.
"Did I pinch a nerve?" the woman hissed into Girouette's ear with enough charm to make one's skin crawl. "After all these years, you're still so predictable..."
Giggling, the woman flung Girouette in the opposite direction with all of the Biometal's strength. Hitting the wall had hurt, even with Model Z's powers to give him a bit more strength- but Girouette attempted to stand up again regardless. The woman remained where she was, her body turned around enough to watch him attempt to get back up on shaking knees.
'We lost a lot of health from that blow. Giro… I apologize…'
"It's alright." Girouette told the Biometal in honesty. "We're still alive, so it's fine for now."
"Alive for now, but for how long?" the woman inquired with a sadistic little tilt of her head. Girouette took a few steps back, regaining his composure as he tried to quickly find a way to bring Juno's main consciousness back into field.
"Juno snap out of it, don't let the Biometal control you!" he called out as the woman did nothing of the sort, and made an attack toward him. Girouette dodged out of the way and retaliated with a blow of his own, almost connecting the blade of his zetsaber to the woman's neck. The near hit shocked Juno enough that her eyes returned to green. Before thinking, Girouette rushed to Juno to embrace her, but the woman waved her hand at him.
"No… don't..." she muttered. Giro didn't back down, causing the woman to aim her dark purple saber back at him, effectively keeping well enough distance between the two. Juno looked up at Giro, the green slowly fading in and out to red. She was shaking as she held the saber at him, determination from both sides of influence reflected harshly in her eyes.
"You need to leave!" Juno told him in full panic. "He's going to get Vent! You need to help Vent!"
"But you-" Giro started to say, moving closer, Juno responded to this by strengthening her grip on the saber.
"No Giro, listen to me!" she snapped at him. "Vent is in real danger, Prometheus and Pandora are looking for him now because of his connection to Biometal Model X!"
For a moment, Girouette took a step back in shock. "His connection to…? How would they know about…?"
"You need to go!" Juno repeated. "Giro, please, if you really love me then you'd go to save Vent!"
"But I don't want to leave you like this." Girouette told her. "I can help you control the Biometal if you just let us-"
"Giro!" Juno screeched in anger and desperation before her body was flung to the ground as if someone had pushed her.
'She's lost control, Girouette, we need to get out of here. We need to get out of here NOW!'
A sick, twisted, and sinister laugh emitted from the merged Biometal armor that leeched Juno's life force as the body slowly started to curl back up like a badly controlled puppet.
"I want to see you dance Maverick!" Biometal O declared before lunging into attack.