The Hunter's market was alive with activity, both happy and not-so-happy shoppers laughing, chatting, buying, or window shopping as they walked past stalls overflowing with colourful goods. Likewise, the shopkeepers called at the bustling pedestrians, shouting out the superiority of their products. Everything from clothes to food to weapons gleamed under the bright sunlight. The ground was covered in cobblestone, dust, and the occasional tough moss or grass eking out a hardy existence. It was a bustling rural atmosphere, merry and hectic for all those within it.
Omega had just gotten out.
He ran along an unkempt alley, the sound of the wide open market muffled by the heavy silence of the corridor. Two weathered buildings crowded the lane, their battered shapes looming over the thin alley and giving it an atmosphere he'd more readily associate with a tunnel. The Red Demon's narrow escape from Opal and her cohorts, the other Gem Gang women, was still in progress. As soon as he rounded a corner, their voices rang from the entrance behind him.
"I think I saw something!" Opal yelled.
The rebuff from Ruby was immediate, "Well I don't see anything."
"But I really-!"
"That alley's at least 50 feet long, there's no way he could've gotten to the end of it already."
"P-perhaps we should look over there," came a shy peep. Sapphire most likely.
"Oh alright, good enough plan!"
Omega held his breath, waiting for his pursuers to leave. He didn't have to wait long, as the sound of the women's footfalls quickly faded away. The Devil Reploid peeked cautiously around the corner to asses the situation, but saw not a soul in the alley apart from himself. Satisfied that the women had left, he continued on his way.
As Omega followed the maze-like alley, he noticed that it twisted and turned between numerous different buildings, usually not far from the main drag. It also branched off at relatively random intervals, leading into other alleyways and around tight corners you couldn't see unless one was right in front of them. Dust and grime from ages unknown thickly carpeted the ground, adding to the silence by muffling his steps. Omega memorized the path he took, noting whatever "landmarks" he could. He also noted that, if it came to it, the alleys would be a nice and quiet place to off someone if necessary. After all, judging by the muck, no one ventured here.
Several minutes later he left the alley, gazing around his new surroundings. Omega was a bit surprised; He was at the hangars.
"Ah well, since I'm here..." he muttered to himself. The blonde meandered towards the hangar his new ship was in, gauging his surroundings casually as he went. He looked into the other hangars as he passed; Most of them were empty, or contained damaged ships, while a couple had people or parts sprawled around in haphazard arrays as their respective owners toiled away. Some of the ships being worked on were particularly battered, a string of foul language arising from one particularly frazzled-looking hunter as she threw a wrench in disgust. Omega watched it sail overhead in amusement. That amusement faded when he noticed a short, squat man standing at the door of his own hangar, scanning around for someone. He had an overgroomed mustache, complete with goatee and glasses far too large for his face. Slightly bald, the man wore smart, almost formal clothes despite the dirt of hunter's camp. Omega made to enter the hangar warily, but was stopped by the man.
"Hello there! Might you be the one whose ship is in this hangar?"
Omega glanced back at the man aggressively, "So what if I am?"
"You're a suspicious one, hmm?" The man smirked, raising his hands in a placating gesture, "No need to worry though. I am merely the landlord, if you will, of this block of hangars."
"I got permission the other day to park here, you know."
"Oh I know, I know! I merely came to settle some loose ends."
Omega folded his arms, frowning down at the landlord. With his red eyes it was an unnerving gesture, and he knew it. "Just what do you mean, loose ends?" His eyes slanted, making Omega appear most displeased. Which he was.
The landlord noticed this, deciding to cut to the chase before things went too sour, "What I mean is that I'd like to know if the arrangements are permanent. I don't mind lending the hangar out for free for a little while. After all, after the Ouroboros incident, I'm not in need of empty space! But if you wish to keep your ship here for a while, then I need to be paid some rent. Sorry, that's just how it goes."
Omega's frown became more pronounced, his eyes angled more sharply. Both parties were well aware that he was becoming more bad-tempered and intimidating. "Rent? I'd like to know how much rent you want from me."
"Well, you don't have to pay it immediately-"
"How much?" Omega's voice had lost all traces of pleasantry.
"Five hundred..."
"Five hundred, huh? How long will that last me for?"
"Two weeks. Are you fine with that?"
Instead of answering, Omega went inside the hangar. The landlord followed into the entrance, then stopped just inside the door. He looked quizzically at Omega as the silver-haired reploid went over to his ship, opened the hatch, reached inside, and began rooting around for something. As the ancient reploid leaned further into the ship, he grumbled loudly. The words were indiscernible from a distance, causing the landlord to lean in curiously until the moment Omega re-emerged from the cockpit, holding his prize. "Aha!" Reaching inside the battered wallet, he took out a large sum, twice as much as he needed. Walking over, he handed the money to the landlord. "That should pay for the next month, shouldn't it?"
The landlord took the money, looking astonished but pleased. "You're just going to hand me a month's worth of rent? Good, good! That should... er, ahem, I'll take it, of course." the money was pocketed, and he turned to leave.
"Just don't bother me for the next while, got it? And if you're trying to steal from me, you'll regret it." Omega gave him a look that could melt ice. The landlord gulped.
"I assure you, I mean you no ill will. Have a nice day, then!" The man left hurriedly, leaving Omega standing with the near-empty wallet.
Omega looked down at the leather object in his hands, counting the remaining funds inside. There was a decent amount left, close to another two weeks of rent left inside it. He took out the money, putting it in his pocket, then threw the wallet to the side to be forgotten.
"Well, I suppose I should get some clothes of my own." With that he left, heading back towards the market.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Uhh... I don't get it..." Prometheus recited for the umpteenth time. The others around the table all sighed in exasperation.
Pandora, Prometheus, Siarnaq and Aeolus were currently gathered in a sitting room deep within Legion headquarters. It was a casual room, no pictures on the wall, but comfortably furnished for the discussions that would be inevitably held there. All of the Mega Men were sitting in either a chair or sofa, lounging around the circular glass table in the center of the area. Two biometals, Model H and Model P, were floating just beside the shoulders of their respective Mega Men.
Pandora, who was previously scrutinizing a plant, turned to her brother. "What they're trying to say is that they gave us new bodies, since they were unable to modify our old ones. Hence, when Grey asked us if we liked our new bodies."
"If that's what they meant then why didn't they just say it?"
The others sweatdropped. "But that's what we did say..." muttered Aeolus loudly. Pandora turned back to the plant with a mild groan, but whether it was from embarrassment or tiredness was beyond what anyone could tell.
Prometheus huffed, "No, you said something long and convoluted about biometal cores and genetics codes and-"
"INPUT: SITUATION FUTILE. CHANGE OF SUBJECT MAY PROVE USEFUL."
"Yes, you're right. We'll just talk about this some more later, alright?" Aeolus shifted in his seat, glad of the distraction. Model H also moved, floating forwards slightly. He turned to face Aeolus.
"Perhaps we should inquire about their allegiances," suggested the green biometal. Aeolus nodded in acknowledgment.
"Allegiances? Whatta you mean by that?" The Grim Reaper growled.
"Well, according to the mission report Grey and Ashe submitted, you two said right before the Model Ws attacked you that you wished to destroy all that Albert had made," Aeolus said, his mouth a straight line, "quite frankly, we are all concerned that you meant Legion."
"Oh yeah..." Prometheus looked to the side meekly, "Well, me and Pandora were really mad about being enslaved for 150 years, so we kinda wanted everything dead. You could say that we weren't all there at the time..."
"One must wonder if you ever were," Model H quipped
"Shut up birdbrain."
Aeolus smirked. Pandora turned away from the plant again shyly, pointing something out, "Well, there shouldn't be any need for you to worry about that anymore... after all, our new bodies... are just normal ones..."
"That is true." Model P mused. "No special powers, no anything. Nothing to worry about."
"Yeah, nothing to worry about. We're just normal people now." Prometheus frowned, "With normal timers." He looked perplexed, as if unsure of how to continue with that particular train of thought. "Oh well, at least we won't have to go for "maintenance" every week, I guess."
"Ah, that. About the timers..." Aeolus started. Prometheus' eyes shot towards him, staring him down.
"What about the timers?"
Aeolus coughed nervously, "Well, Legion's workers were in such a rush to get your minds out of your old bodies that they didn't have time to program the timers in the new ones."
"Oh." Prometheus backed off, looking somewhat relieved. "Are we going to be programmed later, then, or what?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, I have no idea. It's up to the digression of the Masters, really. And seeing as they're so busy right now, I doubt they'll have time to think about that."
"Hey, that's fine with me! It just means that we get some more free time!" He stood up, grinning. "Now if you're alright with it, I want to go and have some fun with that free time." The former Model W Mega Man looked o his sister, who nodded as if to second the motion.
"Fair enough. Just put on these tracking devices." The other Mega Men rose, Aeolus putting his hand into pocket to retrieve out two bracelet-like mechanisms.
"You do not trust us... I can't say I blame you..." Pandora reached out her hand. Her brother followed suite. Aeolus gave them the bracelets, which they put on immediately with some trepidation.
"Now if you'll excuse us, we'd like to leave now." Prometheus grunted uncomfortably. The siblings headed towards the door., the others making no motion to stop them.
After they had left, Siarnaq turned to Aeolus. "INQUIRY."
"Hmm? What about?" the wind mega man asked curiously.
"OBTAINED RECORDING CONTAINING HUMOROUS SUBJECT MATTER. INPUT COURSE OF ACTION."
"We'll watch it, then blackmail someone with it. That's the usual thing to do, anyways. I have some free time, do you wish to watch it now?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Pandora ran down the crowded street, dodging people as she went. Here eyes flitted to and fro worriedly.
"Damnit, where'd he go?"The Witch Mega Man kept running, occasionally stopping to glance through groups of pedestrians as they passed within her line of sight. Of all the places to go after being freed, the first place Prometheus and her had agreed to go was the market to see people without anyone seeing them back, to hide in the crowds. It had backfired spectacularly in the very full, very noisy market. The pair had split up to explore with the promise to each other to meet back up later, but only after they had separated had she realized they'd forgotten to set a time and place. She couldn't risk calling out her brother's name since he was infamous among many people. Blowing their cover the first day wasn't an option, but the two had neglected to think about alternate names to use.
"Of all the places, why did we choose here?" she complained, dashing off into the thralls of shoppers. The next time she stopped and looked, gaining her bearings, a rough voice from behind hailed her.
"Are yeh lost, missie?"
When she turned she saw a large, rough looking man. Behind him were two more men, big and imposing as they grinned cruelly. She didn't need supremely sharp instincts to realize why she didn't like them one bit.
"That's... none of your business..." she retorted quietly but firmly.
"Aw, come on, we was only tryin' ta help," one of the men said gruffly. Pandora backed up, fear beginning to nag at her mind.
"Shame, such a pretty wee thing like you all alone out here."
"Come with us, we'll help you out!"
"No, thanks, I don't need any help." Pandora backed up faster, wishing that she had a weapon. Losing her original body had a horrible drawback she was only just beginning to realize.
"That weren't a question, missie..."
The trio started walking closer, grinning menacingly. Pandora turned and ran, passing through the oblivious crowds in a mad rush. After a few minutes of bumping past strangers she looked behind her for the men. One of them was only a few meters away, his large size having allowed him to bull through the throng of people much more easily than her. She increased her speed, facing forwards again-
And ran into someone.
Pandora fell to the ground with a loud thump. After the initial shock, the Witch got up and faced whomever it was she'd just run into. The man simply looked at her, his face emotionless. He wasn't one of the three men that was chasing her, she noticed with relief. In fact, he wasn't anything like the other men at all. His figure was a lot more thin and lean with long, flowing hair accenting the muscles rippling discreetly under ill-fitting clothes. Red eyes glowed with a concerning lack of compassion, but didn't contain much aggression either. If anything, they were as curious as they were mildly annoyed.
"There you are, missie!" She jumped forward, just in time to avoid one of the mens' grasping hands. Pandora stumbled backwards, somehow avoiding backing into tha man, a stall halting her progress instead. The two other men chasing her surrounded Pandora and the stranger, forcing her into a situation with no escape route. The stranger barely noticed, continuing his investigation of the shop's contents.
"You're a sneaky one, missie. Hehehe, We're gonna have fun with you!" The three snickered cruelly.
"B-back off! You will leave me alone!" She demanded, bringing up her fists defensively even as she forced her voice not to rise in worry.
"Ooh, look at that! She thinks she can fight!" the leader teased, laughing along with his partners-in-crime. "How long do you think she can last against us, boys?"
"Not long, unless her boyfriend here tries to help her! She may last another minute, then! Gwahahaha!" One of the attackers howled, motioning towards the lean stranger even as the blonde raised an eyebrow callously in response.
The leader clenched his fists, still smiling nastily, "So, boyo, you gonna help her or not? If you're not, then step aside." He took a step closer to Pandora, looking down at the newcomer smugly.
The stranger merely glanced over his shoulder, apparently uninterested in the situation. "There is no need for me to be involved in this affair, so I'll ignore it, thank you."
"You're quite the stubborn one, ain'tcha? Just get outta the way, you little twerp, and we may spare ya!" replied one of the lackees. He and his partner moved in closer, boxing Pandora and the stranger in closer.
Pandora had nowhere to go, so she readied herself to retaliate. The stranger turned, placing a shirt back on the stall. "Did you just order me to "get out of the way"?" he asked, a strange tone to his voice.
"Ya, so what if I did?" was the reply.
"No one orders me around. No one." He suddenly jerked forward, catching the lackee in his chest with a powerful punch. The sound of ribs breaking caused the crowds of people to instantly fall silent as the injured man sailed through the air, landing on the ground with a crash. He tried to get up, but fell backwards, coughing up blood.
"Anyone else think that they can order me around?" he asked the remaining men. They backed off, ferociously shaking their heads. When out of his attack range, they turned and ran, leaving their comrade to be administered to by some of the crowd.
As quickly as he had turned to fight, he went back to scanning the shirts on the stall. His silver hair followed his movements like a cape, glinting slightly in the sunlight.
Pandora was stunned at his agility and power. She stood there, mouth slightly open, until she shook herself out out her daze and addressed the man.
"Uh... thank you... for helping me..."
He faced her, that uncaring look back on his face. "I didn't do it for you. I did it because he was an idiot and deserved it."
She looked to the ground. "...Still... thank you..." She smiled, although she didn't know if he could see it. Her face was burning slightly.
"Hmph. Whatever. You're welcome then." He was back to looking at the stall. Pandora's smile widened, but only a little. Then she heard him.
"Oi! Sis! SIS! Get over here! Where were you?" Prometheus ran over, grabbing her arm. Pandora almost didn't recognize him without his armor. Another reason she'd lost him she supposed. His short red hair, so dark that it looked black in most lights, had become rather scruffy looking since she last saw him.
"Oh thank heavens I found you, we forgot to set a time! Silly aren't we, sis? Anyways I found this really cool thing I wanted to show you over here over here! Geeze sis, you need to be more careful! It could've been you that weirdo punched out! Who was that guy, anyways?" He ranted on, dragging her through the crowd.
Despite her recent encounter Pandora couldn't help but smile. Some things never really changed, and anyone who knew Prometheus as the Grim Reaper would probably have been surprised how endearing he could get. She, at least for the moment, let herself forget what had just happened, instead opting to let her brother drag her back into the bustling market.
Not without a parting glance behind her though...
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Omega watched the siblings leave.
They were a strange pair he mused as the two left. The groups of people went back to their own business, with the exception of those taking the injured man to the hospital. A few of them spared him a wary glance, but with the fight over before it even began opted to keep their noses clean of whatever business wasn't theirs. The girl from before however, was currently giving him a deep stare, her shoulder length blue hair waving and her cheeks were pink for some odd reason.
Omega ignored her, turning back to the stall as he picked up the dark crimson shirt he'd been looking at earlier. He slung it over his arm, beginning to investigate a pair of dark charcoal pants instead They were his size, lined with many pockets that would be useful for holding armaments. He picked them up too, looking around for the owner of the stall as he did so. The owner, a skinny female, was hurrying to the stall, looking suspiciously at the blood on the ground not far from her wares.
"I'd like to buy these," he asked the moment she was within hearing range.
"Oh... ah yes, okay, I'll get that wrapped up for you right away!" she reached beneath the other side of the stall, taking out a paper bag. Said clothes were neatly packed into the bag as she quoted a price. Omega took out the necessary money and gave it to her coolly. She took it, putting it in a small safe that Omega thought couldn't keep anything determined enough out if it tried. As she passed him the wares he grabbed the crinkled bag with one hand, tucking it at his side before setting out to look for more goods.
"THERE HE IS!" someone shouted. He turned towards the voice and saw Ruby running towards him, a furious temper easily visible on her face.
"Shit."
Omega dashed into the crowd, leaving a panting Ruby screaming at him as she followed behind.