Scheming complete, the trio of mavericks poked their heads back out of the room to see what progress had been made by the Guardians on their counterattack plans. Prairie, Aile and Mikhail were well into their discussion, pondering over details of Thomas' plan to reset the world. Vent and Ashe were nowhere to be seen, and Grey was just standing around looking confused. Someone had apparently taken Model Z to repairs (probably Vent), as the biometal was also gone from sight. All the better really, Omega scowled.
Seeing as Grey wasn't doing much, Prometheus barged up to him without a shred of hesitation. "So hot shot, what're those dolts up to?" He indicated towards the Guardians and Master of Legions. Mikhail, who was currently being harried by a medic, shot back a retort.
"A mess. That's what we're up to!"
"Ashe and Vent went off to help rally the Hunters and Mikhail is trying to figure out if evacuations are necessary and, if so, where we're gonna put everyone," Grey answered, completely ignoring Mikhail's initial input.
"Anywhere the space cannons can't hit, obviously," Prometheus suggested cheekily. Pandora stifled a giggle at Grey's put-out look.
"As we were discussing earlier," cut in Prairie, her posture regal as ever, "there's not many places a space cannon can't blast into oblivion." Her eyes brooked no mischief as they glared at the Model W Mega Men. She grimaced, "This space cannon issue is bringing up bad memories for me...but regardless. The Guardians have always done their best to prepare for the worst. Just..." and here she faltered, "there's just no way we could have prepared for this."
"And this is where I come in," Mikhail answered. He adjusted himself, half smiling and half frowning. "As much as I hate to admit it, none of the Sage Trinity were without their scheming. We were world leaders. All of us had our own secrets and none of us begrudged the others for it." He sighed sadly, "But Albert's secrets were far darker than I could have possibly imagined. And to have Thomas defect so soon after-! The one man I thought I could trust above all!"
Aile patted his arm as he gripped his fists. "Hey. We've got you. We'll get justice done one way or another."
"Justice can wait until after we've saved as many as we can," Mikhail responded, breaking from his moment of distraction, "like I mentioned, I wasn't free from scheming. Under my friend's... former friend's noses, I prepared a moon base. I originally intended to keep it as a secret library of all genetic data and other historical information. I even put up another spare body up there. After the losses incurred during the fall of Neo Arcadia, and even further back... for better or for worse, I wanted to save history as it was as best as I could, not how it was written."
"Is there something we're not privy to?" Stepping into the room came Vent and Ashe, the Model ZX speaking now, "I'm afraid I'm not a history buff. You might have to let me in on a few things."
Mikhail grinned, "I have my correspondence with Prairie to help with much of my knowledge. May I?" he asked, facing Prairie.
"You are best to tell it" she replied.
"Thank you. Well. To make it quick, long ago there was a horrible war. Even I know little about the details. I believe it was called the Elf Wars, and was instigated by a man named Weil. During this war, many historical truths and documents were lost, and when Weil was eventually defeated, he was exiled. All knowledge of him was destroyed by the government at the time, Neo Arcadia, in an effort to undue his efforts and erase his legacy. As you can imagine by the tone of my tale, it didn't work. He came back, took control of Neo Arcadia, and caused such havoc that even now we're still recovering." He made as if to finish, but Prairie cut him off.
"What I left out when we first shared the resistance's... well, the original Guardians' data files," she started, "was that we are certain Weil didn't truly die. Vent and Aile are privy, but the rest of you should know. Weil, that horrible man that nearly ended the world, became what we know today to be the Model W. His mind may not have been intact, but his soul resides... resided," and here she sighed in relief, "as the core of Model W."
"Which you blew up to hell and back if I'm not mistaken," Omega stated simply. Prairie startled, having forgotten his presence. That kind of oversight could have been a fatal mistake. Omega smirked inwardly, even if he was as emotionless as ever on the outside, "I am programmed to serve and protect Weil. This programming does extend to Model W, to a degree."
This got a few grimaces and tense postures from the menagerie around him. Ashe snarled, "So wait... This ancient asshole that caused all of us so much grief! You work for him!?"
"I was indeed under the understanding that Weil programmed you to be loyal to him," Prairie growled, "I wonder if you still feel the need to avenge him." She straightened, and her Guardians moved protectively beside her.
Omega snorted, "There's a time and a place for revenge, and now's not it. There's a bunch of space cannons aimed down at us all if you've already forgotten."
"As much as we... don't want to be bothered... With all of you. We're all in a... spot... if the cannons fire." Pandora summed up. She stepped forwards, her proximity to her new protector giving her courage despite being outnumbered. "Thomas is an obstacle... to us... as much as you. But... we are still weakened from... from..." She snarled, composing herself, "From Albert. And... the Ouroboros incident. Prometheus and I... could help distract the elemental... Mega Men... but we are unsure... of Thomas himself..."
Prometheus gave a cocky grin, "Those elemental Mega Men are fools. Leave them to us, and you guys could go deal with Thomas and his machinations. We only just got our freedom and we've fought damn hard for it! And then that red-bearded bogeyman thinks he can go and start his own schemes right behind our backs? Wreck everything when we only just got out from under Albert? Hah! What a sham!" He stomped his feet, standing tall and proud. "I'm not going to sit and let that man ruin the chance we worked so hard for! You four together could easily take Thomas. So let us three sabotage his pesky little minions!"
"Well first of all, we need to actually find Thomas before we can do anything," Mikhail started. He scratched his chin in thought. "I have to admit, having you on our side, at least for now, will be a nice weight off my back. But how on earth does anyone propose to get Thomas to show himself?"
That brought the group some halt. All but one.
"If you're going to blast the world to ashes, you usually can't do it while you're in the line of fire." Omega stated. Vent's eyes lit up at that revelation.
He pounded his fist into his palm, realizing the train of thought. "Of course! Thomas hasn't fired any of the space cannons yet. Either he's somewhere they can hit him too if he isn't careful, or he hasn't got complete control of them yet. He's in need of something, and we might be able to convince him that we have that something that he needs."
We could bait him out!" Ashe grinned. "The classic bluff bait! Awesome!"
"One problem. I don't think we have anything that he needs, and we don't know what he needs. And I'm not a great liar if we're going to bluff him," Aile admitted.
"You have a moon base." Omega huffed. "there's not much better you can do than that."
Mikhail frowned, "I'd rather not risk that but... we really don't have much choice. It's all or nothing at this point. But we still need to feed him the bait. How...?" He hummed and hawed, and no one could really give him an answer.
Prometheus pondered aloud, "Is there any way to get to the elemental Mega Men? They might be easier to track with their biometal signatures, and you can bet they'll have a direct line to Thomas."
"Very true! We can just tell them what we're planning, and they'll have to tell their boss and take the bait! But, uh... what do we tell them?" Grey asked and answered at the same time.
"If any of us try to talk to them, they might catch on and call our bluff immediately," Aile noted. "They know Vent and I are too experienced to let something important slip, so if we said anything they'd be immediately suspicious."
"And I doubt it would be safe or smart for me or Mikhail to do it. And they aren't going to listen to a random Guardian... well. They very well might. But myself or my Guardians might not survive the encounter," Prairie said worriedly.
"I'm not too experienced! They might believe me!" Grey chimed.
"Or," Prometheus started smarmily, "you could leave it to us. Think about it for a minute." Suspicious gazes peered at him for his input, but he continued regardless, "We've worked with them before so they'd trust us, they know we can be cryptic as hell because, let's admit it, it's fun to mess with them! And thanks to our history, we're more than willing to watch the world burn. Thomas and company might happily let us feed them a stack of lies for all they care!"
"One problem," Prairie pointed out, "you're supposed to be dead. So if you suddenly show up, very much alive, and spouting information you have no rights knowing, they're going to wonder if something is up. What could you tell them in response to that?"
"The truth," Prometheus sneered. "We tell them some silly little Guardians picked us up and tried to help us out. But we just want to watch the world burn! So we ditched them after we recovered, and just wanted to continue to destroy everything Albert made! And I mean, everything!"
Mikhail bared his teeth, "You little monster-! You'd ruin the world for revenge? Is that your truth!?"
"Hah hah hah! Is that the truth? Or not? Either way, watching the world burn would suit us fine!" Prometheus laughed.
"As long as we... don't burn with it... Think about it. It benefits us both... to have things happen this way. Thomas gets your bait... and you get your chance to have your showdown with him. And us... we can start our revenge... by destroying Albert's prized Mega Men..."
"Whether or not we destroy anything else beyond that point... well. Maybe we'll just wait and see how you all do!" Prometheus finished triumphantly. "Go on then! We'll open the way for you. So you show us what way the world will go! Will you triumph and save everything? Will the world burn in a rain of fire? Or will something else unexpected happen? I can't wait to see!"
"I knew we couldn't trust you." Vent snarled. Prometheus just grinned and continued his tirade.
"Maybe you can. Maybe you can't. But after being held hostage by Albert and his 'destiny of destruction' for so long... well. We'll make destiny our own. And who better to help us than the God of Destruction himself? Hah hah hah!" Prometheus made a grand gesture towards Omega, grinning all the while.
Mikhail went wide eyed, shocked at the revelation. He stared at Omega. "Wait... you are...?!"
"The one and only, original,devil reploid," Omega said, eyes narrowing. "Talk is cheap. Actions speak. Guardians? Track down one of the elemental Mega Men. Prometheus, Pandora, I will let you two take the lead. The Mega Men won't recognize me, but their biometals might, even if only by instinct. They might flee too soon. I had best stay hidden until we are sure Thomas has the information, then we destroy his Mega Men. Who knows. The knowledge that we are potentially against him might spur him to flee to the moon to escape."
"Yes. This is a... good plan." Pandora nodded. She, her brother, and Omega himself all looked to the others, their eyes glinting fiendish glee. "For now, Guardians... we are at your command..."
"I know you goody two-shoes usually like to be the hero types and try to save everyone. But now, I think you're out of any other options," Prometheus grinned. "It's no time for heroes. It's time to get things done."
The sunset gleamed in from a window behind them like a macabre parody of light. It was not a peaceful sunset. Reds and oranges glowing fiercely as the day died behind them. Wind howled outside the Grand Nuage, and the clouds were dark like ash. The colour of fire lit them up from behind, their eyes glowing bright crimson.
"We're no heroes... Just put an enemy in front of us. We will destroy it!"