Omega wanted to sleep in. He really did. After yesterday's gong-show of a race, he really wanted a break, a day to himself. The devil reploid shifted forlornly against the leg ofhis ship, accidentally kicking away some of his beddingin the process. He still wasn't quite used to having so many people around him after being alone for so long, and the loss had stung his pride dearly.
Unfortunately, some higher deity seemed to like making his life miserable. Thetis had arrived a short while ago at the door to his hangar (a quick peek out the hangar's window confirming his identity)and was stood outside the door to Omega's hangar, knocking politely.
Knock, knock, knock.
He hadn't stopped for the last five minutes.
The red reploid grimaced, wishing that little shit would just go away. Omega had been trying to ignore him so that he'd go away. Didn't he get the message?
Knock, knock, knock.
Apparently not.
Knock, knock, knock.
This wasn't working...
Knock, knock, knock.
And it was starting-
Knock, knock, knock.
To get-
Knock, knock, knock.
REALLY annoying!
Knock, knock-
"Would you STOP THAT?"
"Ah! I knew you were in there!"
Omega grimaced. Whoops.
"Hey, come on, open up! I don't have all day!" Conceding that the jig was up and the brat knew for sure he was there, Omega slowly got to his feet and opened the hangar door. Thetis was just outside, tapping his foot and frowning with impatience. "It's about time you opened that up! Why didn't you open it earlier, huh?"
"I was hoping you'd go away so that I could rest," replied Omega truthfully.
Thetis looked taken aback for a second, but the laughed, "Hah hah, I get it lazybones! You didn't want to come out, eh? Well, too bad! I've got some plans for us today!" He beckoned for Omega to follow him. Seeing as Thetis wouldn't give up if he said no, Omega merely sighed and followed. A hot, dry wind howled through Hunter's camp, warning of a hot sun that was sure to rise soon.
Omega growled tiredly, "So, what plans do you have? Let's hear it already."
"Well," smiled Thetis, "since I taught you to swim, I thought it might be good to follow up on that lesson! You know, make sure you remembered? I saw about this polar bear swim that was going on, to raise money for the environment, right? I thought it might be a good challenge for you!"
"You just couldn't find anyone else that wanted to swim with you, could you?"The mercenary noted bluntly.
"Aheh heh heh..."
Omega rolled his eyes. "So, anyways, how are we getting there? Might as well get this over with."
Thetis perked up, "Oh, easy, there's a mass transport going there from the Hunter's Camp teleporter."
The God of Destruction grimaced again. He wasn't too fond of groups, but what choice did he have? A Mega Man was staring at him in the face, and refusing would be just as much, if not more of a pain than just getting the event over with. Thetis blinked, smiled, and raced ahead, forcing Omega to follow at a brisk pace. They arrived at the teleporter behind several groups of people, most of them in swimsuits but some in shirts and shorts. A few of them looked familiar, but Omega pushed that aside when he noticed something else. Each group lining up to the transporter were flashing some sort of card to the operator before being sent off to whatever destination they were headed. Omega leaned over to Thetis, "Uh, hey, what are those cards they're using up there?"
Thetis stared at Omega. "Uhm... did you just ask what those cards are?"
"Yes, something wrong with that...?" Omega frowned. Was the boy dense?
"Those are Hunter IDs. You need them to use the trans-servers here. Are you telling me you don't have one?"
"If I've never seen them before then obviously not," snapped the crimson reploid.
"Uhm, what about a legion ID? Have that?"
"Nope."
"Citizenship card of any type?"
"Nada."
"Oh, cripes."
"What?"
"We can't use the transervers if you don't have an ID! How have you gotten around before, huh?" Thetis whined.
Omega shook his head in annoyance, "I've used my ship or had someone else with ID with me. Geeze, can't you do the same? You're a Mega Man, for crying out loud!"
Thetis rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Well, no, actually. Me and a few of the other Mega Men, we... we made some bad decisions, and because of that, we're on watch from Legion. I'm not sure they'd trust me to bring you with me, I mean-"
"No, I get it. One person on watch getting another person on watch without ID through a teleporter circuit would make you look even worse. Hmm, I thought you worked for Legion, though?"
"Only to make up for what I did, and to raise awareness about the environment..."
"Then call them, geeze! I'm sure they can arrange something."
"Err, okay...?"
Omega waited impatiently as Thetis brought out a communicator, calling Legion to try and get clearance. Not only was he being forced to do something with an idiot like Thetis, he was kept waiting because of a lack of ID. What a pain. That was a problem he was going to have to fix sometime in the future.
Thetis finally finished, sighing with relief. "Okay, that wasn't as bad as I thought. We can go ahead, we just have to tell the operator what's going on.
Omega nodded, and they went ahead with the plan. The operator let them through, smiling confusedly at the situation but complying anyways. The pair stepped onto the transporter with a few others. Omega vaguely wondered where the polar bear swim was taking place.
Thetis looked away from Omega, unnoticed. He'd neglected to mention that Legion staff were going to use the opportunity to keep a very close eye on the mysterious mercenary...
x-x-x-x-x
The moment the transport sequence ended, the drop in temperature became blaringly obvious. Rather uncomfortably, too. More than a few gasps of surprise rose from the crowd as they quickly filed off the transporter, rubbing their arms to keep warm. Omega was less phased than others and acted indifferently, but he couldn't help but feel the difference as well.
Thetis was the only one who seemed to enjoy it, "Ah, nothing like a cool dip in the morning!" He grinned aloud.
"Cool? It's bloody effing cold!" replied a smart aleck in the crowd.
As the group slowly slipped off of the trans-server, several began to stumble as they slipped on the icy ground. The slightest trace of snow fell chillingly onto the frozen sea below, the temperature dropping as the wind blew through the barren landscape. The sun shone brightly, hindered only by the faintest wisps of high clouds. Down the middle, a wide lane of snow had been pushed to the side, making room for the large mass of people slowly skittering towards the open area of deep blue water.
Omega was pushed along and Thetis seemed too excited to notice that he'd been split from his swimming buddy. That didn't bother the God of Destruction, though; the sooner he was able to get in and out, the better.
From a covered booth to the side of the pool, an announcer began his speech. "Welcome, everyone, to the seventeenth annual polar bear swim! Thank you all for your participation! As you all know, our generous patron-"
"Hey, Bead!"
The new voice came from somewhere in the crowd, unheard by most except for the one to whom it was addressed. Omega's eyes shot open as he jerked in the direction of the sound.
"Oh hell no, not here."
"Hey! Long time no see, where the heck have you been!"
The leader of the gem gang, Diamond, was struggling to get through the crowd, a pacifying smile on his face. Omega began walking backwards as the white-haired man slowly made his way towards him. Like hell the leader hadn't known where he'd been, not with all the members he'd spotted eyeing him up from a distance. A quick glance behind Diamond confirmed the God of Destruction's fears; the rest of the gang was also there,, making their way towards him.
"-are donating six hundred dollars for every collective minute the entrants of the swim can stay in the water! There's also a prize for the person who can stay in the longe-"
"Bead! Hey! We were worried about you, get over here!" Opal hollered.
"-without further ado, let's begin!"
For once, Omega was happy for the crowd. It surged onwards with a wild whoop, straight into the frigid waters. He gave the Gem Gang asnarl before making an escape. Screams and gasps were audible in the chaos, and no one noticed when one contestant dived head-first into the water. With such a large mass of various hairstyles and colours and people, Omega disappeared with surprising ease into the below zero waters.
He swam well, alright. Straight down. Under the thrashing feet and bubble-filled surface, the cold was forgotten as he dove deep into the glaciated depths below. He sank quickly, the sounds of the crowds on the surface swiftly muffled to nothing by the oppressive depths. He finally levelled out about sixty feet down, where chunks of submerged ice jutted out from the ocean floor another twenty feet below.
Omega didn't have a plan for what he was going to do next. He obviously couldn't stay down too long or someone would notice his absence. At the same time, it was a hell of a lot more peaceful down here than it was up there. Omega sighed in happy relief. Well, he might as well enjoy himself while he could, he supposed.
Deciding that a minute was all he could spare, Omega basked in the serene scenery of the ocean's floor. A surprising amount of life was hidden under the cold blue surface of the waves. Small algae clung to the rocks, some animal life-forms swimming about in clusters nearby. Starfish by the dozens marched ever-so-slightly on the ground below, attacking molluscs everywhere they went. Something large loomed in the distance.
Something that didn't quite seem to fit.
Omega fixed his gaze upon it, watching it as it made its way towards him. When it came into sight, Omega knew he was in trouble.
It was a large sailfish pseudoroid. The mutos regarded him with its harsh red eyes, its teeth jutting out into an eternal grimace. Its tail and fins were composed of sharp, hard looking ice and yellow spines that erupted from its plated back. Opening its large jaws and snapping them shut again, the sound of the bite echoed through the water as it slowly swished its lance-like nose.
"So, a little fish has come down this far into my domain? How interesting. And here I thought all the fun would have to be at the surface."
Omega frowned, not liking the vicious attitude of the mutos at all. "Hmm? You came here to have fun?" He looked up at the people above, then back down at the pseudoroid, "Perhaps... with them?"
The mutos sniggered cruelly, "Yes, yes, I came here to kill a few morsels for my master. We'd heard the Model L Mega Man was going to be here... nothing like killing a Mega Man to put the fear into Legion! But, it looks like I get to have a little warm-up first!"
He stared hungrily at Omega, then began circling his prey. Omega reached down to his pocket for his sword, only to have a sickening discovery.
He'd forgotten it.
"My name is Oceatar the istiophoroid, by the way. Nice to meet you, but I suppose this is also goodbye..."
Oceatar stopped moving, aiming his nose towards Omega, "Because pretty soon you're going to die!"
He suddenly increased his speed, surprising the God of Destruction. The crimson demon was forced to twist to the side, barely avoiding the mutos' attack. Oceatar changed direction, coming at Omega again. Omega dodged. Several times this pattern repeated. Oceatar was grinning widely, enjoying the game and eagerly awaiting the time Omega would fail to dodge.
Again he sped forward, but this time Omega tried a new strategy. He punched at the istiophoroid's side as he went past. It glanced harmlessly off the swiftly moving fish pseudoroid's armour.
Oceatar laughed, "Hah hah hah! Is that the best you can do? This is what you get for picking a fight with me!"
Oceatar lunged again, but this time, he too tried something new. He span in circles, his icy fins cutting a dangerous path through the water. Omega was hit and sent flying, a cut opening on his arm.
Realizing that the pseudoroid had a clear advantage in unobscured water, Omega tried to swim down farther into the depths. If he got to the bottom he could get some obstacles between him and the fish, as well as some purchase to increase his ability to attack.
Unfortunately, Oceatar wasn't having any of that.
"Ooh, is the little fish gonna try something? Fat chance!"
He increased his attacks. Omega was hard put to dodge, and was eventually caught in the gnashing teeth of his foe.
Oceatar swept his head side to side, trying to rip Omega's arm off. Omega countered by punching Oceatar's eye as hard as he could. This made the pseudoroid let go, but the attack had done its damage; Omega was too far from the bottom to get there in any reasonable amount of time. However, it gave the red reploid an idea for another way to attack.
As Oceatar turned around to attack again, Omega braced himself. Instead of dodging like usual, he grabbed the istiophoroid's nose and spun himself around to where he was positioned against the fish's side.
"Oi, what?" Oceatar said, surprised.
Omega's answer was to punch the fish repeatedly in the head. Bubbles arose as Oceatar thrashed in the water, trying to rid himself of Omega.
"Argh! Get off get off get off!"
He bolted in one direction, then another, but even the rushing water didn't phase Omega's fierce grip. He kept hitting away whenever he could, driving the pseudoroid into a rage.
"Okay, that's it, if you don't want to come off, I'll damn well make you!"
He abruptly changed his course, heading straight for the surface.
"ICE BREAKEEERRRR!"
When Omega finally recovered from the excess water pressure caused by Oceatar's change in direction, he managed one glance towards their destination before letting loose a curse.
"Shit!"
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
The event at the surfacewas going well. The contestants of the polar bear swim shot out of the water almost as quickly as they went in. Some people couldn't stand the water for more than five seconds, but most stayed in for about thirty. Draped along the frozen banks, contestants lounged with heated towels provided to them by the hosts of the swim, celebrating their daring swim.
Diamond gazed around, first at the people on the banks, then at the swimmers still in the water who were slowly spreading outwards. Repeating this gesture several times, his expression changed from anger, to annoyance, to outright worry. His hurt expression from earlier, one that had arisen at seeing Omega's disregard for them, had taken back seat to his leadership role. Sapphire, the team's medic, was attending to the shivering twins. Her blue hair bobbed about freely as she turned her head, unburdened by the water since she was the only one who hadn't gone in.
"So, have you... found Bead yet?"
Diamond spared the shy medic a solemn glance, "No. I haven't. I can't find him either on the banks or in the water."
Sapphire's expression quickly turned to concern. Diamond turned back to his search. He cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling to anyone listening, "Hey, all of you? Have you seen our buddy? We can't find him! He's got long white hair and a sour expression!"
Few people bothered to look up from their individual activities, but a boy in the water with short blue hair spoke up. "Oh, him? I brought him here! Why are you looking for him?"
The boy swam to the bank edge of the ice where Diamond had stationed himself. Leaning down, Diamond explained, "That guy, he's an old buddy of ours we found wandering in the desert. We tried to get him to join our group, but he got touchy and ran off. We hadn't gotten a good chance to chat with him until today, but he went and disappeared again. Wesaw him goin the water, but haven'tspotted him since."
Thetis looked curious. "You know him?"
"Yeah! Something wrong with that?"
"Oh, no, of course not! I was just under the impression that he never socialized. Found him in the desert, hmm... er, ah, anyways, you're looking for him? Where is he, anyways?" The Ice Mega Man looked around just as Diamond had. He, too, became concerned when he realized that Omega was nowhere in sight.
He frowned, calling out, "Oi! Anyone! We've got a missing person here, anyone seen him? He's got long silver hair and is wearing red! Anyone?"
That caught a few people's attentions. A small search party began, more and more people entering when they realized that no one who fit the description was about. Even the announcer joined in, calling out for Omega to answer.
There was absolute silence. Even the crowd, normally boisterous, was dead quiet. Despite the fact that they didn't have as much instinct as Omega, it didn't take a lot to realize when something had gone horribly wrong. Thetis' face flashed gultily before got out of the water, megamerging to the surprise of many and preparing for a dive.
"I'm going in! Keep an eye out for him!"
It turned out, they didn't need to.
The ice suddenly burst open, chunks of frozen water and spray flung aside as the duelling pair breached the surface. Omega finally let go of Oceatar's head, his grip dislodged by the shock to his system. The pair slammed into the ice. Omega skittered about, his traction all but gone due to his water-soaked condition, and Oceatar flopping uselessly because of being, literally, a fish out of water. Omega alternated between trying to gain a footing and attacking the mutos, cussing and swearing all the while. The istiophoroid, however, was able to recover his traction first. Taking advantage of this, he savagely whipped his body to the side and slammed the prone reploid scratching and kicking beside him. The blow hit him soundly, sending Omega straight through the unbroken ice they were on. It shattered upon impact, splitting open the back of his head. Screams erupted from the crowd at the sight of the pseudoroid, who slipped into the ocean soon after.
Thetis leapt into the water.
x-x-x-x-x
Omega recovered instantly due to his partially open skull hitting the icy water. He clutched the back of his head, screaming in rage and pain. The red reploid glared around for Oceatar, who was sweeping back to deliver a finishing blow. Omega, instead of dodging, grabbed the lance-like nose of his opponent and redirected it to the side. He received a scratch on his chest for the effort.
"Oh, going to try holding on again? It won't work, give it up!" taunted the istiophoriod.
Omega, one hand on his rapidly healing head and another on the pseudoroid, wasn't in a state of mind to listen. He roared let tinggo of his head and hitting Oceatar just above the eye with a vicious jab. Oceatar reeled. Omega's strikes were getting stronger.
"What! Gwaah! Since when could you hit this hard?" the fish struggled, throwing off the aim of the blows aimed at his eyes and head. However, when Omega did hit, it did major damage. The lighter armour of the pseudoroid, designed to be more buoyant in water, was barely a match for the enraged God of Destruction's blows. A series of dents appeared along Oceatar`s side, wrecking his streamlined design and threatening to damage the circuitry beneath it.
"Gyyyaaaaaaarrrrgh!"
Oceatar struggled, aware that he needed to get Omega off as soon as possible. One last flail dislodged Omega, and Oceatar swam off. He swerved again, sizing up the red reploid.
"You damnable bastard! It's about time I killed you, enough of this!"
Omega took the moment to take a breather, desperately trying to think of a way out of this situation. Despite the facts that his blows had mysteriously grown stronger (how so he had no idea; maybe he was just that pissed off), it was still a useless upgrade if Oceatar hit him first.
Oceatar poised to strike, then suddenly increased his speed. Omega braced for the hit.
Again, the blow was redirected. But this time, it wasn't by Omega.
"Get out of here you stupid fish!" Thetis yelled.
Oceatar was taken aback by the introduction of a new fighter. He retreated, taking stock of the intruder. Thetis swam in front of Omega, putting himself between the reploid and the pseudoroid, "Piss off already! Go away, shoo!" He fell into a stance, his halberd at the ready.
Oceatar grimaced. Omega had been one thing, easy prey in his watery domain, but after getting surprised by how much that "prey" could fight back, he wasn't too keen on taking on a Mega Man as well. The istiophoroid stopped for minute, then swam away. He disappeared silently into the gloom.
Omega wasn't sure that was such a good thing, but Thetis didn't lose a moment. He grabbed Omega, powering his way to the surface with the injured battler.
They breached the surface . Excited and relieved cheers greeted the two. Omega spat out a lungful of icy water, gulping up air greedily. Thetis dragged him to the edge of the ice, leaving Omega holding the side as he raised himself out onto the ice.
"You okay?" Thetis yelped.
Omega gave a daredevil pseudoroid would never be enough to take him down! More cheers accompanied him as the mercenary clawed his way back onto the ledge, his legs beating the water as he lifted his torso out.
Oceatar made his move.
Leaping straight at Omega's unprotected back, there was little else but his feral, joyous scream to warn Omega as he closed in for the kill.
Omega jerked around, his eyes meeting Oceatar's victorious glare.
Pure instinct kicked in. Something splattered on the ice. Time seemed to stop. Omega, somehow, had Oceatar's lance in one hand, his other raised.
Oceatar's eyes widened. His gaze turned fearful, his body fully out of the water from his charge. He couldn't move.
Every last ounce of strength Omega had left was put into a final punch, directed straight down.
The next instant, the pseudoroid sank below the wave, his mechanical skull caved in. Omega grabbed a towel someone held nearby, holding it as tightly as possible against his side. Thetis jumped back into the water.
Omega stood up abruptly and shouted, "Home! I want to go home!"
The crowd was stock still for a moment. Then a disagreeing murmur arose.
"No way! You need to go to a hospital!"
"How the hell are you even standing up? You were attacked!"
"It's a miracle you've survived this long, you need medical attention immediately!"
Omega smiled widely. Too widely. "Hah! A miracle, to be sure! Not! I admit, it hurts a lot, but he was only toying with me. Thanks to Thetis I got out of it before he got serious, but that pseudoroid didn't do any real damage! See?"
He smacked his side. Omega was hard put not to cry out in pain, but kept a smiling face on anyways. The last thing he wanted to do was admit any weakness.
"Bullshit! Look at all that blood you've lost!"
Amethyst, the purple member of the Gem Gang, pointed his finger aggressively at the shore, "You can't tell me that you're fine if you've lost that much blood!" The man's protective streak was ignited ashe stepped forwards towards his old , nearby, was already fiddling with a medical kit.
Omega turned around, surprised at the pool of red dripping into the icy ocean. He looked back, still smiling, "Oh, geeze, you're a bloody worry wart. That's watered down, can't you tell! Yeah, I lost some blood, but not that much! It's just an optical illusion. No prob!" However, despite the grin plastered on his face, Omega's temper was quickly weakening. Damn it, if anyone could call him on his bluff, it would be those wretched Gem Gang members.
In order to head off any more concern, he started walking to the transporter, ignoring thepurple sniper's concerns, "Now, can someone send me back home already? I don't have a license actually, 'cause I came here with my friend. I'm going to borrow someone else's."
Diamond stepped in front of him pointedly, a look of concerned determination on his features, "No. You've just been attacked and wounded, what you need is-"
"Medical attention blah blah blah," Omega snorted. "Look, if I really needed it that badly, I wouldn't be walking about and smiling like this, now would I? I just need to go somewhere and relax, and if it's really that bad I'll get some help, okay! Yeesh!" he snapped.
That put Diamond off. He had to admit, if Omega was moving around the way he was, he must have been fine, even if a little in shock. But that wouldn't stop him entirely.
"Are... are you sure?" He pushed.
Omega growled defensively, "Yeah, I'm sure, now give me your license so I can go home already!" Diamond was taken aback by Omega's fierce attitude.
"Fine, fine, you win, you can borrow mine. Just give it to the operator when you're back and she'll give it to me, okay?" the white haired man conceded.
"Hmph."
Omega took Diamond's Hunter's license when it was offered to him, then slowly drudged his way to the trans-server. The Gem Gang began muttering behind his back, planning something, but he paid them noheed. Because it was covered by his hand, no one noticed the towel he held at his side.
It was gray when he'd gotten it. Not anymore.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Thetis jumped back out of the water to a silent crowd. Heads were directed away from others, many deep in their own thoughts or trying to deal with the shock of the attack. Someone to his right asked quietly, "Did... you get him?"
"I couldn't see the pseudoroid. It got away." Thetis replied emotionlessly, eyes downturned. He looked up, "Where's that guy? Is he okay?"
"He left. He actually demanded to go back to hunter's camp. He seemed okay, he stood up pretty quickly afterwards. Just a little angry," replied the same civilian.
Thetis nodded. He looked at the splatter of blood on the bank, slowly being washed away by the melting ice and waves rippling out from where Oceatar sank.
"I just hope he really is okay..."
Had he been looking, he might have noticed more than just the silverette missing from the crowd.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Upon arrival at Hunter's Camp, Omega made an immediate beeline for his hangar. After giving the operator the card to return it to Diamond, he lunged at the door. Stumbling and clutching his wound, he had to work hard to focus on his surroundings. It seemed like forever until he was finally home, leaning against the hangar to take a breather. The towel covering his wound felt soaked through. Only a few hunters glanced his way every now and then, and those that did so were given the nastiest glare that they'd ever received in their short lives. Most of them simply glanced away after that. After all, they were pretty much used to his weird behaviour by now.
The lock clicked open. He shut it again as soon as he was inside. He flopped down heavily onto the pillows behind the ship, immediately regretting the action. Fresh blood seeped through his entirely-red towel, the plush fabric overfull. Settling into a more supported position, he finally lifted the towel to inspect his wound.
Immediately he replaced the towel to stem the resulting flood of crimson.
He'd only had a second to look, his vision blurred and tunnelling, but it was all the time he needed.
Oceatar had done far more damage than he'd previously thought.
Finally the blood loss was too much. Omega fell into unconsciousness, panting and grimacing. Things weren't looking at all good for the God of Destruction...
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Somewhere in Legion, a deep frown resided. It belonged to an investigator researching the result of the grand race held yesterday. Reports had come in of a contestant not registered in the race roster. To top it off, that contestant had never reached the finish line.
Any good investigator of this day and age started with satellite recordings. They were always there, watching the activities of people from above. He'd had to work hard for a warrant, but had finally gotten access to the recordings of the race.
The investigator cursed his luck. Whichever satellite had gotten the recordings must have been malfunctioning. The data was damaged, and a certain area of the recording had always been indistinguishable. Almost as if it was censored, or the data had been removed... oh well. He'd make do with what he had.
And what he had was a frightful scene. Due to the damaged recording, he couldn't see what had happened beforehand, but currently...
Craters, scrapes, and thick patches of blood and burns dotted the top of a mountain. There were no bodies evident, but the investigator had no doubts that there was one somewhere.
Legion would hear about this...
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Complete blackness consumed the hangar as the last of the day's light left the landscape. A small knock came from the door of the hangar. Then a thud. Then a bang.
"Hey, open up! It's me, Iggy! I've come to see how the ship fared after her flight yesterday!"
She received no response.
Iggy hummed to herself, "Hmm, maybe he's out? Ah well." She fiddled with the keys, letting herself into the hangar. The iguanaroid ignored the foreboding feeling from earlier when some hunters with gem-emblazoned bandannas had desperately asked her to go check up on her old friend. Although she had no idea how they knew her and the mercenary had any relations, she chalked it up to the rumour mill (iguana pseudoroids weren't all that common and attracted attention after all) and simply prioritized going to his hangar. Iggy took a few steps into the darkened metal space, eyeing the ship.
A strange jangle echoed throughout the previously silent room the moment she looked away from the Harbinger. Her startled gaze was set on the pool of blood hidden behind its rear leg. The keys held in her grasp had dropped to the floor, forgotten. She dashed forwards, falling to her knees in front of Omega.
"Oh my Gods, what happened!?" She felt his neck for a pulse. It was there, but weak. Iggy threw aside the pillows, laying Omega flat on his back and deftly opening her tool box. She thanked whatever deity was listening that she'd decided to bring her toolbox along, in case she needed to do any small repairs on the ship. It would do just as well fixing whatever was wrong with the red reploid unconscious at her feet.
She inspected the deep wound at his side, bringing out a vial. She quickly took a sample of blood to check for nanite infection later. For now, she corked the vial and put it away, then carefully opened the wound to assess the damage.
What she saw next stunned her. It wasn't the severity of the wound (and it was pretty severe, an artery had been cut!), but what that wound had affected. Where normal reploids would have something akin to a digestive system, he had a power core! Oh, this was bad. She hoped like crazy it was a secondary power core, because if it was a primary one, the mercenary was as good as dead. She fell to work immediately, repairing as much as she could of the tubing and wiring leading to the complex mechanism. The half of her mind not focused on repairing Omega was pondering the reploid's anatomy. Hmm, yes, it had to be a secondary power core. If it was the only one, there would have been no pulse, since it had received damage and consequently should have killed the mercenary.
And yet, while that explanation made sense, it only made things stranger. Why would a reploid need two power cores? First of all there wasn't a need for that much energy. It would also mean that there wouldn't be enough space for other systems, such as the "digestive" system. Not to mention other systems that civilian reploids needed to be ordinary, including a couple that were, ahem, recreational in nature.
Then it hit her. This reploid, whose life she possibly held in her hands, wasn't made to be allowed that sort of thing. This reploid was designed, through and through, to be a weapon. No ordinary life, no choice in the matter. A literal killing machine, as further proven by yesterday's incident.
Omega's main repairs were finished. The circulation to the secondary core had been restored, and it came to life. Iggy was forced to retreat her claws as Omega began to heal before her very eyes. Other damaged systems, far too complex for Iggy, began to repair themselves without any outside assistance. The secondary core slowed down, so did the healing. All the vital systems had been repaired, and now it was up to the primary core to finish the job.
Iggy absent-mindedly cleaned her claws with a rag, staring at Omega's slowly healing sides.
So that's why there was a secondary core. To heal him when his fate should have already been sealed. Located in his abdomen, it was situated in a place where, even if he was nearly cut in half, it would work with his other core to repair his wounds in no time flat. That was dangerous. He could, literally, come back from the brink of death, if not beyond, and keep fighting when all others would have perished long ago.
A weapon. A deadly weapon. That's what she was staring at.
When she thought back on it... That artery was already repairing itself when she had gotten to it. If she had just sat there and watched, it might have healed itself, and the long haired reploid could have woken up another day, completely unfazed. She took out the vial of blood from earlier. What sort of secrets would it contain?
Iggy stared down at the God of Destruction, who was still unconscious due to blood loss. But, for all she knew, that wouldn't last long. She had no doubt that the lost fluids would regenerate themselves soon enough.
Taking her things with her, Iggy left the hangar. Again, this was something that she would tell no one. Not even the mercenary himself would be aware of this. He'd probably just think that his systems had done their work, and he'd be back and up-and-at-'em like it was just any other day.
Obviously he could be wounded, and therefore killed. But damn, Iggy thought, he'd be one tough bastard to slay. She had no idea how true that was.