I never finished the last chapter of this story. I finished a big portion of it, but it got deleted while I was checking it on-line and the computer crashed shortly after. On one of the rare moments we actually got the computer on, it said the document was still there, but it was all blank. I restarted the computer yet again, opened the document and…nothing there. It broke my heart and that was why I stopped working on this. I was only able to salvage the first part (the chapter before this) because I saved it on my e-mail account. But now, I shall finally finish it because even if it sucks, it deserves an ending.
Thought I have improved in writing, I shall be writing like I did waaay back then. Maybe a little less crappy, but even after all these years…I remember the ending and everything leading up to it so, fun stuff. Now we begin:
Chapter 7: Did I mention this story is terrible old?
By: Ghostwriter no. 3
Disclaimer: Even after all these years, I still do not own the Megaman Series, but I've played all of them since then, even the Star Force Series. I even watched that crappy Battle Network Anime and I own all of the comics for Battle Network. Well, I have yet to play any of the Megaman XZ or ZX series, but that stuff cost money. Even though I've burned through various genres, I seem to always visit Megaman at least once a month because…I like it.
Author's Notes: this author's note is moved to the offical last chapter...so yah.
"Are you sure we are going the right way?" Asked Zero.
"Yes." The ghost said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I mean, we've been walking for a bit and if you knew where we were going, we should be there."
"It's a bit longer because we have to stay between the walls. It's not a straight line. It's like…not a straight line."
"Oh…" Zero said. He stayed silently for a few moments. "So, are you sure we are going the right way?"
"ZERO!" X shouted and angrily glaring at the red-bot. "You have asked that question fifteen times already, and that was after I decided counter. But you've been asking that question since we started, which has been going on for thirty-six minutes and four seconds. Since we haven't gone around in circles yet, so we are getting somewhere! You understand?!" The blue-bot put his hands on his head.
Zero stopped his steps, and then crossed his arms over his chest. "…I don't see why you are yelling. Why are you yelling? There is a child about." He rolled his eyes.
"Technically, I'm not a child anymore. I mean, I am, but have been around at least twenty years like this. I also live with another specter being who has been known to randomly curse and throw object on a good day." She supplied, not liking that they talked about her as if she was not here. But then she smile, "Ooooh, it's a pretty thing on the ground!" She bent over, inspecting it, and decided to writer about it. The two 'adults' moved along.
"See? Be considerate and be a good role model." Zero stated.
"Well…" X let out defeated.
Zero then said with a smirk, "Then again, I wonder if 'death' is an impressionable age."
"Zero!" X hissed, but then the Commander of the 17th Unit grasped his chin. "Though you make a point. Even though she cannot actually get hurt because of her…predicament, we should be watching out for her."
"Yah. And you know what else?"
"What?" X asked, still deep in thought.
"Are you sure we are going the right way?"
"Zero!"
"Ohhh…boys?" A familiar girl voice called out. They looked behind them to see that the ghost was gone. The both looked at each other and shrugged and followed the voice around the corner to see what was up.
And then they saw what was up, and both stared quietly for a few seconds. Right before them was a giant pile of metal work. It filled the whole area, except with a little area near the top.
"Oh. Yah. That would be a problem." Zero comment
"Wow…" X asked, looking at the…thing.
The little ghost crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't remember this."
"You walk through walls, you've been leading us somewhere, and you don't remember a stupid pile of tetanus-death?" Zero asked, looking down at the little girl with a sharp glared.
X opened his mouth and begin talking carefully, "You know, technically, none of us here can get tetanus, so it not-"
"I know that, X! That's not the point!" Zero screamed at his shorter friend.
"…Don't yell at me…" X said quietly and rolled his eyes.
The ghost girl frowned and tilted her head, not even paying attention to the skirmish between the two. "I didn't actually go down ever stretch of the area to explore every little corner." She glared back at Zero, "I am not an anal person." Then she giggled. "I said anal!"
X, still upset at being scolded by Zero, look over the structure of the…structure. "Is that a bicycle?"
Zero pointed to another section, "I think that thing is several water-bottles stuck together." Zero comment.
"What's that one?" The little ghost asked.
"Which one?" X said, mapping each and every one of the pieces. It was a little hard, as several things appeared to be broken or tired around to other things or were half buried under other things.
"The peachy one. The one near the left side-no, our left, not the mountain's," The girl stated once she stopped the lud-heads glanced in the wrong direction. But she focused back on her spotted prize. "It sort of looks like a rocket, except it's domey on top instead of pointy."
"I can't spot it." Zero comment, always a fan of 'Where is Waldo' types of searches. They were as testing as they were fun and had so many little scenes going on inside them that if someone got bored with finding the actual guy, they could observe everything else. Perfect for the attention-challenged that was Zero.
"It also has those two blasters on the side." She remarked with frown, "They looked a little warped or the exhaust ports are closed, but they are on the side."
X and Zero kept looking, and looking and looking. Then Zero grinned. "Oh yah, I think I see it." He pointed to the supposed object, "Though, that doesn't look like a Rocket. That looks like a-"
"Zero!" X shrilled out and cut the other reploid off before the other warrior could finish. The blue bot blushed while the blushed color bot turned a light-blue tint. Quickly, the two men covered the little ghostie's eyes.
Of course, it was unsuccessful as the spectral being stepped through their fingers and glared back at the two. "What the heck is you guys' problem?" She turned around to face the pile, looked at the area for a few seconds, then stomped her feet. "Oh, well, now I lost it."
"Oh thank you." X mumbled quietly. He was not sure what age human children learned about the birds and the bees, but he did not want to be the one to explain that particular issue to anyone. He looked over the whole structure, partially to see if any other inappropriate looking items propped out of the mess. "Well, if we are careful, we could probably climb it, but the other side might be a bit of a problem since for all we know there are honest-to-goodness spikes on the other side. I really do not want to impale my optic sensors on something."
Zero smirked and cracked his knuckled, "Safety, blah. I can make it to the top and the other side."
X raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
"I'm a pro, X." Zero remarked coolly and brushed off his armor, "You and the little kid can just watch and be amazed." Zero shook out any kinks still present in his joints, both internally and externally.
"You going to bolt up this thing or do it carefully?" X asked.
"I take option C." Zero said, giving a thumb up before glancing around the pile carefully, as if mapping out his route.
"Alright." X stepped back and said with caution, but a little grin appeared on his face.
Zero moved in front of the pile, just a foot away from what appeared to be a tree made out of bells. He crouched with a wild look on his face before he jumped with incredible power and speed. He sailed in the air, his hair whipping behind him like a fine-silk scarf. He volleyed to under a third up to the side. And he came down onto the jagged part of the hill. Zero landed on it with a wobble. The piece of metal he land off started to disjointed, but Zero already flipped over in the air to land his hands perfectly on a large bar sticking out. For a moment, he balanced vertically up on his hands, body held up straight in the air before he let himself fall, spinning around it aerobatic style for one uneven circle, then a second smoother cycle. With enough momentum behind him, he flung himself off of the bar and went sailing back through the air effortlessly.
The little ghost watching, mouth open and gasping as the red bot more or less dancing the in the air and on shards of unbreakable pieces or artwork. X shook his head, but chuckled, commented lightly the words, "Show-off," And watched his best friend with a bit of pride.
Now, Zero was one of the most skilled hunters ever to exist. He held all the highest records in all of the simulations (barring shooting, defensive battle predicaments, and crowed control tactics) as well as created quite a many of his own 'adventures' once he got bored with what was available. To sum it up: Zero was no A hunter for nothing. He was perfect in balance and movement among other things.
However, even Zero could not predict the total future.
Him jumping around the pile made certain sections start to wobble that were already wobbly to begin with. Even though the structure set on balance with each other little piece, just one little shift could break the whole thing.
When Zero pointed his right-foot to what he though was a stable platform, just above it the supports shifted and spilled, causing the object he planned to land on to start slipping. Zero's eyes opened and he thought, 'Oh crap.' He had the barest of seconds to move his feet to keep himself up. Zero was able to do that, but he had to almost half split on something made him stand on almost a point. Even though it looked like he would fall, Zero skillfully caught himself. Yet, Zero only bounced about half way up the hill. And the shift at the bottom caused a bunch of stuff near the top tumbled down, in Zero's direction. Zero looked around but knew from his posture that he would have to time to prepare another jump. He had enough time to stare and said out-loud, "Oh Sh-"
Even though Zero was himself perfect in balance, it did not help when the objects he was situated on were unstable. And so the Commander of the 0 unit became a red-and-yellow slinking that made noises like this:
"Ah-" *crash* "-What the-" *smash* "-Son of A-" *bump* "-Holy- *bang* "-Oh God- *strike* "-It Doesn't Bend That-" *hit* "-Ooff-" *slice* "-Aaaaaaaah-" *splotch* "-Nooooo-" *slap* "-Hey, I'm flyi-" *knock* "-Back-" *whack* "-Daaaam-" *cuff* "-his suc-" *rap* "-Aaaaaaaaaaah-" *crack* "…" *snap* "…" *thump* "…" *skid* "….ooooooo…."
After the noise, a new slightly smaller pile fell around the bottom. Somewhere under it a certain red droid laid buried. It was clear he was there; pieces of the red armor appeared under openings in the debris, a hand stuck out in a funny way, and his hair appeared through and in the mass of garbage.
His two companions had stood still, knowing they could do nothing but watch with anxiety. The whole fall lasted under thirty seconds. The little one could not have grab him or hold him; the best she could have done was freeze up his circuits and hope his brain shut off. All she did was have her eyes follow him as he bounced up and down.
X flinched at each sound, but him jumping on there would have just made him a victim along with Zero. He opted to covering the girls ears (he was not to sure if it would actually do any good). During the loud noises of Zero's many impacts, the other man let out curses that probably killed all of the remaining pixies in the world.
When everything settled, X lifted his arms away from the rather cold child. "Zero…" X whispered carefully, not sure if speaking would be good.
All he got was a pitiful groan.
The most depressing thing about the whole situation was the fact the little opening at the top was still quite little. Oh, and the next shift of crap to fall on the fallen Hunter after another thirty seconds of near total silence. That stung, too.
"If you guys want…" The ghost began quietly, looking slowly back and forth between X and what she assumed was Zero's right foot. "I can, like, go on the other side and check…things."
"…Yep." X simply mumbled.
There was another groan, which convinced the ghostie that was another confirmation.
---
With the bad-guys…
---
"Where the heck could they have gone?!"
"Well, it's a big place, and we did not have enough screens to monitor everything."
Vile and Stardust were quickly skimming and scanning through all the video data they had at their disposal. It was a quite a big task and they were rather snippy with one another due to it.
Sigma sat in his throne-like chair, drumming his fingers. "I am not pleased with this. I'm stating it riiiight now." It did cause the two servants to flinch for one second, then work faster. Sigma let a sigh, "Give me estimates, now."
The two stood up, saluted, and took turns speaking, "Alright, we do know that they have not escaped." Vile stated.
"The have been no teleportation and our shields are still up, so there is no way for them leave." Starburst commented as well.
"So they are all here?" Sigma asked calmly
"Yes…but." Vile commented a little nervously.
"Buuuut?"
"But," there are places where we haven't quite marked with surveillance."
"And why didn't we do that?" Sigma asked with a glare.
"We ran out of wires." Stardust said quietly. "It is a big place, and we don't exactly have a large amount of funds.
"And since we can't see the area, what do you think we should do now?" Sigma asked lowly and leaned down in his chair to look at the two.
"We should probably investigate those areas with our own two eyes." Vile remarked.
"And…why aren't you two…doing this?" Sigma asked through clenched teeth.
"…Because?" Stardust replied oh-so-intelligent like, but she tried to sound as sweet and innocent as she could. It might work, after all.
Sigma was silent for a moment, and then he stood up and shouted, "GO DO IT NOW!" That got Stardust and Vile moving their metal butts. Sigma sat back down and grabbed his big, baldhead in his palm, just wonder if he should not just blow the place to pieces.
---
On the big pile…
---
"-then I told the guy, "Just take the name. It's not as if Atropos is inappropriate name, just sounds very old and means an old lady who cuts people, but it's an alright business name. You understand?"
"…you lost me at 'Cautions Division.'" X replied
"Oh." The ghost looked disappointed. "Well, basically it ends with this phone-call and he ends up not getting the position."
"That's kind of sad."
"Well, the next day, he meets this nice waitress, and they get married, like, six month later and him and the misses ran a grocery store. I wouldn't say it's a perfectly happy end, but it's a content and sweet ending."
"Hmmm…" X thought about it as he dug carefully while the girl next to him watched.
This had been going on for the last ten minutes. Before that, the little dead girl came back from the other side, reporting that each side was about identical in amount of crap, though each piece that formed it was just as numerous and just as different as the other side. X, after making sure Zero was alive enough to repair himself, slowly and carefully climbed up the mound. True, he disturbed it in his walked, but he never fell down.
"You okay there, Z?" X asked, just being the good friend he was.
Screw you both." Zero snarled up, still embarrassed and irate that he could not scale the pile. And a little prissy at X for getting up the top the boring way. And that their little friend could more or less float up there without any pain while something metal and twisty had twirled in his locks and ruined his hair a tad.
However, neither X or the ghost would let that get them down. They instead ignored the big baby and focused on their work. "I wonder why all this stuff is just all piled on here?" X contemplated aloud.
"Maybe it's a statement." The girl commented, a fist under her chin. "I mean, all this stuff looks like all the modern-art crap. So…it's a giant pile of art, which makes it in it's self a piece of modern-art crap."
"That could be it." X commented. "Though there are a lot of drag markets around this whole place. And some of this stuff looks pricy, yet it looks like someone carelessly through it together instead of taking the time to do so. Mavericks probably moved all this. It would be pretty hard for a human or even several to move all these items by hand. And rather dangerous, by how sharp some of these are. But what reason could they want with an empty building?" X started to get deep in thought, staring through the little opening he had made so far.
"I kind of would like to know, too." The girl commented to X's thoughts. "This place is boring and it sucks." Although her thoughts were a little less deep
"If I only knew what they were planning to do here…especially with…ah, you." X commented and looked her up and down, trying to be nice about his next couple of comments. "No offense, but even though they fail, there is usual a slightly thought-out purpose behind it. And really…You don't fit into something that is…life-threatening on our loves." X looked away, wondering if he should feel wrong about using the word 'life' to such a being. And for good measure, he added on an extra, "No offense."
"None taking. I'm actually a pacifist." The girl commented bubbly.
"Really? Me too!" X was happy to find common ground.
The ghost looked him over with a frown, "Um…no offensive, but you seem kinda…too decked out for pacifist."
"Well, I never said I was one all the time!"
Zero turned his back away from the pile. Not out of anger, just to guard their backs. Or to sleep on his. He yawned and stretched, starting to feel sleepy and a bit stiff now that his repairs were at 84%. He started to look himself over to make sure everything healed properly.
X looked at a lops-sided ball of metal with confusion. "This has a face on it. Why does it have a face on it?" After carefully inspecting it and making sure nothing he was on would fall to pieces if he pulled it out, X tossed it behind him, already knowing that due to the strength of his throw, it would be tossed away a safe distance from the pile. Unfortunately, he did not realize Zero took off his helmet for a moment to let his poor scalp breath.
A solid, metal thud sound hit the room. Zero fell over, flat on the ground. X thought it was the round object hitting and did not think to turn around.
The little ghost's eyes look blank for a moment, then she uttered, "I feel a great disturbance in the force."
"What?" X asked.
"What?" The girl asked back, blinking for a second.
"What did you say?"
"I didn't say anything."
"Yes, you did."
"No I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Really?"
"Yah."
"Oh…okay."
The little ghost tilted her head to the side, and asked carefully. "…You want to talk about it?"
"What?"
"You know, talk about it. You are hearing voice, it seems."
"Um…I think I'm good." X answered back, but rubbed the side of his head a little, wondering if it was time for a self-check on his systems.
As for Zero from his spot on the floor, he simply laid on the ground until he started to twitch. Then he slowly stood up, a wicked grinned spreading across his visage. It was not his drunk, lecherous grinned. It was a bad one. Then the laughter came. It was low, almost like a hum, but it soon became a throaty chuckle. "Finally." Zero's voice hissed out, but it lacked the lightness that Zero's voice usually held. "After all this time…I can finally begin the ravish I started so long ago. To be able to feel the warm of life essence of hundred running down my fingers. My chaos shall reign again and all who oppose me shall fall down to the light of my sword." More laughter. "And nobody would realize it, nobody could stop me…and even if they could, they'd be dead before they get closet enough. Just like last time!" Then the laughing started, again low, then slowly gaining in strength.
Meanwhile and totally oblivious to what damage he may have caused, X looked down at the next piece of debris in his way. It was square and held with a metallic backing, but covered in some sort of canvas. A battery pack also connected to the center for no reason X could tell. Yet again making sure nothing would collapse under and behind them, he carefully pulled it out. As nothing shifted, he paused a moment to flip it over and inspected the front. "Hey, it's a clock!"
The ghost leaned over and gazed at it, becoming equally as interested in the object as X had become. "Hey, it's a woman painted on the background." Indeed, it looked like a picture but on the left side, little pieces of metal without numbers form a circular around two equally metallic hands. The minute hand bent an odd way, but it continued to shift as if it wanted to keep moving.
"Okay, this isn't so bad. I'd hang this in my room." X may be a bot, but he could appreciate a fine piece of artwork.
The little ghost looked it over, then frowned. "Why does she have an onion on her lap?"
"Hmmm?" X had been busy looking more at the clock part and the fruit basket on the woman's head before he actually looked at the other areas of the painting. "What onion?"
"The one on her lap." The ghost touched the odd item that popped against the dark dress the woman wore. "The onion attached to the tube."
"Tube?" X gazed at the lap and saw the peculiar addition the girl spoke about prior. "Oh, um…hmmm, I'm not sure." X stared at it for a moment, then laughed, "Oh no, that's not an onion. That's a…a…ahhhhhh!" Without a response, he half-hazard tossed the damned thing away from them.
Let it not be said that while X can toss things in a spastic moment like a little girl who realized there was a spider on her favorite book, he does not throw like a little girl. In fact, as shown before, he throws hard and far.
Like an odd Frisbee, the clock picture went and it connected, or at least a corner, embedded itself into Zero's cranium while the Robot's back was turn and had been enjoying the sound of his laughter. The Red Wonder's eyes rolled in the back of his head. "What did you do that for?" The girl asked, glancing at X and not pleased he threw such a pretty thing away, though not looking at where it landed. Zero's knees folded under him, and he collapsed with a thump.
"That…you don't need to…see." Excuse, Excuse, somewhere around here, oh, Zero made a sound! "Why, look, Zero is in trouble." Then the sight part of his circuits caught up with the logical part of his circuits and, "Oh dear light, ZERO!" X would have rushed down to his fallen comrade, but when he stood up quickly, he already had to keep his balance since just his jerky movements caused a small shift in the pile. But it did not make him want to any less jump down to inspect his friend, as there was a big, sharp thing jammed into the side of Zero's head and it was his fault.
The ghost stared off for a moment, and says quietly, "And the world stayed right."
X may have commented about her strange talk in tongues, but as it was, Zero had something in his head a few inches deep. "Zero, are you alright?!" X was going to jump, he had to jump! That was his buddy down there…who he might have killed. Then, Zero started to twitch, and in dizzy motions, stood back up with groan. His head wobbled a little from the imbalanced, but he had yet to notice it actually stuck in his noggin. "Z, buddy, you okay?" X called frantically.
Hearing his name, Zero turned to glance up at X. "Yah, but it feels like I got a splitting head-ache. What happened?"
The ghost chuckled, and X glared down at her. She stuck out her tongue at him, added, "It was his own fault for not wearing his helmet," but left it at that.
X traced his gaze back to his friend, "Okay, what's the last thing you remembered?"
"Let me think…blood, warmth, old people, old-dead people, lots dead people, explosions…" He paused, then grinned and flapped his hands like an excited autistic child, "Oh yah! X, after we get out of here, can we go pick up the new zombie game?"
"Yah, we can do that." X commented, sighing with relief to see that no serious damage prevailed...so far. He then pointed to his temple and commented loudly, "You…you got something there."
"Huh?" Zero said, feeling the side of his head, and then felt the picture, "Oh." With a bit of a tug, he pulled out the picture. He dropped it to the ground and went to pick up his discarded helmet. Without worrying about the gapping hole in his head, which did slightly spark every now and then, he slid his helmet back on. It was now impossible to see the wound; the only clue was a slight stream of dark liquid running down the side of his face. But Zero ignored it to favor at the object that only moments ago found a home in his temple.
"You might not want to look at the picture." X warned and slightly cringed.
Zero inspected the painting further, then snorted and looked up at the two on the pile, "X, it's just a clock with a women sitting in the background watching the su-DEAR MAVERICK," He tossed the picture far away from him, "THAT should not be on a woman!"
And on that note…well, that is as good as any note to end a chapter, I think. I was going to add another section, but it starts some time later with the trio here. It fits, especially with what has happened. For the younger people, they won't get what is going on. For the old people, enjoy my childish joke at the end. That was added in with my gutter mind instead of my more innocently 13 year old brain that started this story.
It's been a bit since I updated, but Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia constantly calls my attention. So does work, but as work is not fun, we don't wish to care about it. Though I did say this was the last chapter, I mentioned I would be breaking this up. There will be three more chapters to follow, possibly four if I need to break it up a little more. They are all written; just need to be checked over. It takes a bit for me, folks. Hope I haven't kept anyone waiting too long!