Disclaimer- Temporoc belongs to me, along with any other characters mentioned as belonging to me, however all characters not mentioned as belonging to me can automatically be assumed as belonging to CAPCOM. My use of them is purely for entertainment purposes.

Sat upon the highest pinnacle of his laboratory chamber, a great bird of blue displayed its wings as a nervous scientist entered. Stepping forward cautiously, the tiny man shivered in his overlarge lab coat, his gaunt figure only further announcing the differences between their sizes The small man was unable to do much more than look up at the regal being towering above them.

"Temporoc... we need to discuss your recent... actions..."

With a quick snap of its head, the roc pseudoroid fixated both of its eyes on the man, its baleful, disinterested glare not helping the poor scientist's nerves one bit. Metal slid against metal smoothly as the creature moved its beak, "What dost thou pine to discuss, diminutive human?"

"Your... you've been acting up recently. You've been taking unauthorized actions, and quite frankly our team is more than a little worried with your mental stability. W-we are going to run some tests on you, alright?" he gulped, nervous but imperious. At least, that was the attempt.

The great bird, azure and gold feathers rustling, appeared to take great consideration of the matter. "I have made no unauthorized actions. Thine observances are flawed. As for the matter of thy tests, I shall respectfully decline."

The scientist seem shocked, then outright indignant, "Decline! You can't decline! Be aware of the structure of power here! You're but a measly pseudoroid! Legion commissioned us to make you as nothing more than a scientific experiment! You took years, but that doesn't make you any higher up in the hierarchy than the others! If your creators want you to go through a few tests, you go through a few tests! That's the law!" finished the man, breathing heavily.

The pseudoroid, instead of becoming enraged at the blatant reminder of its supposed level in society, merely huffed in a dignified manner, "And that is where thy mistake lies. I am no mere pseudoroid. I am time itself! I shall give my forgiveness to thee for thine ignorance. I dub thee innocent, if only by lack of knowledge."

The scientist sputtered, "Wh-what! You judge me as innocent?! What gives you the right to judge anything!"

"Quite simple. I am time," stated the great bird. "I am that which revolves this earth, I am the one who shall remain for eternity, to judge those worthy of remembrance. This pseudoroid body is but an avatar for my great power. Time judges all, it heals all wounds, forgives sins, and erodes evil. I am the supreme judge of this earth!" shrieked Temporoc, metallic wings glinting with splendor. "This world has lain unjudged for for too long! Canst thou not understand, even in thine ignorance, what mine ultimate power means? I am time! And now, I shall place judgment upon the mortals whom roam the lands which I watch over! Skreeeaaaa!"

The scientist watched as Temporoc suddenly flew skywards, smashing through the roof of the facility and winging their way deep into the sky above. They watched the creature leave, helpless to stop him."...He really did go insane, just like the reports said. I need to inform Legion," muttered the scientist. But, before he left, he gave the impromptu skylight one last glance. "...Temporoc... do you truly believe that you are the embodiment of time?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Mikhail sat in the middle of the conference hall of Legion, enjoying a rare break from the unending inquiries and debates brought by visitors and ambassadors to Legion. He glanced out of the great, spherical glass window that enclosed the hall, enjoying the view from the center of Legion's power. It was a view that left most in awe if they were not used to it, and still struck him every once in a while.

This peace was shattered by a panicked intern who rushed into the room, tripped over their own feet, and got back up again. Here we go again thought Mikhail grudgingly as the human stopped in front of him, panting.

"What is it then? What's wrong?" Mikhail asked. The intern gave him the report of what had happened at the facility. Mikhail gave them a grave look, dismissed them, and grabbed a PDA communicator. "All available Mega Men to the main conference room, now."

x-x-x-x-x

Ten minutes later, Aeolus, Atlas, Siarnaq and Thetis were stood in front of Mikhail, grim expressions on their faces. They had just received a briefing on the situation.

"So, we need to destroy the maverick before it causes too much trouble?" asked Aeolus.

"Yes," confirmed Mikhail gravely, "it has an experimental energy system which appears to cause temporal anomalies. It was still being researched when it went haywire."

"So, something like old Chronoforce had, right?" Thetis inquired, referring to the horseshoe crab pseudoroid from Albert's reign.

"Well, yes and no," replied Mikhail, "Chronoforce was the pilot project. However, most of his powers relied on disrupting the sensory circuitry of other reploids. Temporoc came later after some scientists studying Chronoforce discovered an inexplicable side-effect of some of his attacks. They'd isolated the sub-routine responsible and, well, Temporoc was the result."

"Sounds like fun," Atlas added sarcastically.

"INPUT; SUBJECTS AVAILABLE FOR OPERATION APPEARS REDUCED. INQUIRY AS TO STATUS OF MISSING SUBJECTS," droned the shadow mega man.

Thetis piped up, looking curiously around the room, "Hmm? Yeah, where is everyone?"

Mikhail sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose to ward off a headache. "Well, not too long ago, Ashe made a request on behalf of the Guardians for funds to repair their ship. Thomas went with Ashe, Grey and Aile to observe the damages so he could approve the request. So him, as well as the Model ZX and A Mega Men are, unfortunately, unavailable. A message has been sent to them, but they may not receive it in time."

"Regardless of whether they arrive, this threat needs to be dealt with immediately," Aeolus responded regally. He turned to Mikhail, "Do they have any idea where this pseudoroid was last seen?"

The Master nodded, "Yes, they do. It was recently spotted in the field research area of the facility where it was manufactured. For now it seems to be acting fairly docile, merely telling the workers what to do and what not to do, but they're all worried that it could get violent."

"Well then, perhaps we should be the ones getting violent first, eh?" smirked Atlas. "When do we go? I don't think we have all day to sit around and wait for the blasted thing to start getting aggressive, now do we? When do we start the mission?"

"As soon as we get our favourite mercenary out here. I'm not having him unguarded in Legion after all."

Aeolus frowned, "But won't he be a hindrance in the mission? Why must he attend, surely Legion security is formidable enough that he may be left here alone?"

Mikhail smiled, "I think he's shown that he's more than capable of defending himself, really. Besides, I don't doubt the power of you four, but Temporoc is not someone to be trifled with. At the very least, you can count on him as backup. Even if he won't fight with you, if he's anywhere near you, Temporoc may think he's with you regardless and he'll be forced to fight. That, and the facility is well covered with cameras, if nothing else we can use this as an opportunity to see him in action."

"I worry more about him stabbing our backs, actually," Atlas grimaced, "but he does seem camera shy from what I've heard. I think the thought of cameras layin' around will be just enough to keep him under control."

"If Temporoc's gonna target anyone, I'd rather he hit the meatshield than me," Thetis laughed. Mikhail looked slightly offended at the suggestion of using their ally as a method of self-defense, but the other Mega Men were all for it.

"Hah hah, good plan!"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"With any luck, the two will deal with each other without us having to lift a finger!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Omega woke with a start as the door to his room opened. Soft light filtered in through the window, glinting off the glasses of the attendant stood there. "Your presence is required by Master Mikhail," she said. Without another word, she left the room. Clad in nothing more than a pair of shorts, Omega was forced to scramble up, grabbing a shirt as he left to follow her to the Master's chamber. This effectively left him quite disorganized, the sudden start to his day ruining any planning or countermeasures he might scheme up. Upon entering the Master's chamber, the attendant gave him a curt nod and left him standing like an idiot in the middle of the room, barely dressed and fairly frustrated. It was then that he noticed the four Mega Men looking at him, smirking slightly.

"Look who just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, eh?" Atlas grinned. Omega gave her a snarl before realizing just how much of a predicament he could be in right now. He was still technically unarmed, and for some reason they were all megamerged. Things didn't bode well for him if they planning something against him. Fortunately, fate had a different plan for him that day. Mikhail spoke up, "Ah, there you are, about time. You're to go on a mission with these four Mega Men today, they'll explain as you go." With that he nodded to the Mega Men, who headed to the teleporter soon after. Caught completely off guard, Omega had no choice but to follow, forced to be reliant on them for information about what on earth was going on.

The next few minutes were a blur, and it wasn't until he was standing in a flat landscapethat he had any idea of what was happening. The hills and short plants of the plain seemed to stretch for miles, tan-green and barren. It was covered with short, hardy grasses and little else. Throughout the expanse in one direction were channels made out of concrete, plain half-pipes filled with a viscous, slightly greenish-tinged liquid. Behind him was a large flat building, spreading outwards like a weary animal basking in what meager daylight filtered through the clouds. It looked a lot like a research facility. The signs randomly dotting the landscape and building only added to that impression.

"Beware those channels, they are meant to deter intruders," warned Aeolus, "the liquid in them will keep any trespasser immobile until help, or law enforcement, arrives." Warning complete, the group moved towards the facility, no one even giving Omega the time of day. A few researchers seemed to filter from the facility. Eventually, as one of the Mega Men had stopped to talk with a witness, he finally snapped.

"Could someone explain what this farce is about? I get woken up for who-knows-what kind of a mission without a word from anyone! Tell me what's going on!?"

Atlas glanced back at him nonchalantly, but spoke up, "We're trying to track down and destroy a rogue pseudoroid. I guess you weren't told?"

"Obviously not," Omega snapped back. The Fire Mega Man rolled her eyes. The group continued their search, the red demon only slightly appeased. Witness questioning seemed complete. The God of Destruction tried to assuage himself that there would at least be something to kill afterwards. He looked around, grimacing. Nope, never mind, there were cameras everywhere and he couldn't afford being seen at full power. Scratch the bonus at the end. He fell back into his sour mood, tired and grumpy. By Weils rotted corpse! How he wished he was still in bed and not being forced to do this mission. That fact was, quite frankly, something he was not going to let the others forget.

"I can't believe it. You lot wake me up for this? It's not like you need my help to tramp around like losers all day. But nooo, you just had to drag me out of my nice, warm, cozy bed," he complained.

"Don't think we want to do this either!" was the retort, the fiery female the first to react to his bad temper.

Omega ignored her, continuing to grouch, "Seriously, you're a pack of idiots. You're all so incompetent you had to force me along. Tch." he swung his hair out behind him in the most irritating manner he could. Hey, with any luck, they'd get so tired of him they'd send him home.

"What are you trying to say, that we needed a competent idiot around?" Aeolus barked mutely. This earned snickers from the Model F and L Mega Men. Omega was quieted by the retort, but soon recovered and shot back an insult of his own. The four (because Siarnaq was not getting himself involved in that mess) argued back and forth irritably for quite some time, even stopping at one point to exchange insults. It was very nearly turning into a shouting match. Tensions were high. It was during another bout of Omega's bed related whining that the group finally came across the objective of their mission. Too preoccupied to notice the sudden silence of his audience, the red reploid walked smack-dab into the large bird.

"Oi! What the-?!"

Temporoc glared down at him, the two-story bird taking stock of the small reploid in front of him. Likewise Omega had finally found motivation to shut up, at least for a moment, as he surveyed the great mutos in return. Temporoc was appropriately named. The roc pseudoroid had magnificent wings, metal blades resembling plumage held proudly skyward with humongous golden talons planted firmly on the ground. As the avian twitched in curiosity, twelve longer golden feathers were stretched outwards magnificently, resembling the marks on the face of a clock. Decorative but highly dense and functional armor plated its body, scraping lightly against itself as Temporoc moved their large head.

"Whom hast appeared before me?"

At this point, any normal person, sane fighter, or even Mega Man would have stopped dead and considered their options about facing the giant pseudoroid (as exemplified by how his allies had gone extremely quiet).

"Who the hell are you, feather-freak?"

Omega was quite clearly not in any of the aforementioned categories.

Temporoc glared down at the insolent God of Destruction, "I am time."

Omega snorted derisively, "Yeah, sure you are, oh great pillow-in-the-making." Having not been briefed on Temporoc's powers, the mercenary had no idea why the Mega Men were frantically backing up, making panicked gesture for him to cut it out. The bird rose into the air, screeching indignantly.

"I am time, not a being to be mocked! I shall judge thee accordingly, he who laughs at time!" With a great beating of its wings Temporoc rose into the air, the twelve long feathers and a red gem on its chest glowing with power.

Atlas yelled, "Hit the deck!"

Her and the others all dove behind cover, and it was just then that Omega started wondering just what they were dealing with. He took another good look at Temporoc, confused, and blinked as the bird released power. The second he finished his blink, Omega was clutched in the bird's talons, three of the four Mega Men hitting the bird with all they had. Several scorch and slash marks had appeared spontaneously on Temporoc, who was using their wings to send energy at the offending attackers as they hovered in the air.

Omega was completely dumbstruck. What the hell just happened!?

To any observer beyond a certain range, the answer would have been obvious. The energy that Temporoc released had enveloped everything nearby in a blue sphere. Anything that was inside the sphere had simply stopped moving, stopped breathing, stopped all functions altogether. Just stopped. The only two affected had been Omega, right in the middle of the attack, and Thetis, trying unsuccessfully to launch himself out of the area affected. He hadn't made it like the others. Instead he was brushed by the edge of the sphere, levitating on the spot with his features frozen.

While the remaining three attackers got back up, Temporoc made their move, swooping down to pick up Omega. The bird grabbed him securely, talons grating against the thick hide of their prey. A triumphant screech brought the attentions of the Mega Men, who immediately came to the God of Destruction's rescue.

Thetis, who had also just recovered from the attack, finished his dive and looked around for the others. He was startled by the sudden onset of battle, but brought his trident to bear regardless.

"Let me go!" roared Omega, beginning to struggle, "what the hell did you do? Let me go, airhead!" Temporoc's head whirled, resting a baleful stare at their prisoner before squeezing harder. Omega hissed in pain.

"It used its temporal powers on you, idiot! It can control time!" yelled Atlas, who shot at Temporoc's wings with guns blazing. The mutos took the hit but remained airborne, squawking as kunai hit the back of its head and bounced off. They brought their wings forwards, charging power before jerking them fully open to release a barrage of energy towards the pests assaulting their splendour. The Mega Men were forced to dodge or be knocked over by the energy blasts. While Temporoc was preoccupied with defending against the fighters below, Omega had maneuvered his arms to where he could push against the confining talons. He'd nearly levered them open by the time the roc realized what was going on.

"Thy affronts will be judged later, Mega Men. For now, it is this one's injustices that shall be punished!" Without warning the roc beat its wings and rose high into the sky, headed for another part of the facility. Aeolus tried to catch up, but was promtply swatted back down. With that, the Mega Men's figures slowly faded into the distance, unable to properly follow the bird except by foot.

Although Temporoc seemed to think they were in control of the situation as they flew over the facility, Omega decided it was high time to prove them wrong. Having finally gained some room to move in the enclosed grip of the great bird, the red reploid grabbed one of the claws holding him and used his immense strength to snap it. Temporoc screamed, but held its course. It stopped over an open area, eyes glowing as they hovered in place.

"Time judges all, foolish mortal! Fear my wrath, thy punishment!"

When the roc opened his mouth, Omega knew instantly that it was going to involve more of that 'temporal power' displayed earlier. He also knew it was going to hurt. One last yank at the bird's claws released him, and he bailed without a moment to spare, a small blue sphere hitting his arm and causing intense pain. Omega fell to the ground, wincing as his shoulder, now rusted, cracked upon hitting the ground. He struggled upright, holding the dead limb in place. One thing was for sure, there must have been some nasty amount of power behind that attack if it could rust his metal. He'd really dodged a bullet there. Temporoc snorted at the miss, flapping its wings once to gain some air, "Ah... it seemeth that mine power is less effective on thou than others...

The roc suddenly swooped down, catching Omega by surprise. The red demon struggled as he was lifted off the ground once more, not having expected Temporoc to attack him so suddenly. One set of talons grabbed him around his shoulder to prevent a counter attack while the other clutched his midriff. The roc hovered just off the ground, its enemy effectively immobile in its grasp.

"If time alone will not suffice, then brute force seemeth appropriate for thine punishment!"

"What the hell are youaaaaAAAAAAAUUUUUUGH!" screamed Omega as Temporoc promptly reaching down to the damaged limb, tearing it off. Blood splattered everywhere. Clutched in his beak, the limb sparked and fell limp. It was then lowered, dangling tauntingly in front of the one who had previously owned it. It slowly rusted as the pseudoroid influenced it with their power. Temporoc sneered, glaring at Omega before it taunted him, "A fate most most unfortunate for thyself! It seemeth that the hand of fate hast taken a hand from thou!"

Furious and bleeding, Omega spared one second to fix Temporoc a hateful, murderous glance that said everything about what he thought about the damn bird and wanted to do to it. Temporoc was slightly startled by the sheer malice. Omega took a deep breath. Now it was his turn! With a great exhalation, Omega finally found a use for Ignis's EX Skill.

Temporoc screeched at the flame enveloped its face and the thoroughly rusted limb. The roc pseudoroid dropped the offensive object, which shattered and dissipated into an orange dust upon impact with the ground. Likewise Omega was dropped, but with a less disastrous result. However, the God of Destruction's victory was short lived. Temporoc's talons slammed down on the prone reploid, trapping him belly down. The roc lowered its lethal beak, poising it just behind Omega's neck.

"I'll rip every atom of thy being apart for that affront!" shrieked the very ticked off mutos.

The Mega Men rounded the corner of a hallway just in time to see the action unfold. With his remaining hand, Omega reached behind him and grabbed Temporoc's beak, holding it in place. Then he routed all of his energy into stopping the bleeding from his side by regenerating the lost limb. Stunned and struggling, Temporoc could do little more than move one eye to gaze at the limb as it regrew in a flash of light. Cracking his knuckles once, Omega drove his fist straight into Temporoc's eye socket.

Temporoc screamed.

Omega was jerked skyward, the pseudoroid's golden beak closed around his head. His limbs flailing, he could do nothing as the bird snapped its head one way, then straight back the other, attempting to break his neck as it twisted its whole body and flung him towards the horizon. His neck sore, but otherwise undamaged, he was shot into the sky like a slingstone. He absorbed Temporoc's DNA as he flew, intent on using it later in the fight to surprise the hated foe.

Fate, once again, had other plans. Nearly a kilometer away from the fight, he landed with a snap in a pit. Omega cried out in pain as his limb, delicate because it had only just been regenerated, snapped upon impact. He readjusted it with a crack, and it began to heal properly and harden. He panted heavily with the exertion of regrowing a limb. Looking around at his surroundings, he noticed with a lurch that he had ended up in one of the slime-covered channels of the outer research facility. He tried to climb out, holding his damaged limb to prevent further injury, only to slide back due to the slippery material. By foot, in his humanoid form, there was no way out. There were also cameras everywhere. He couldn't risk being seen transforming.

Omega had been cut off from the battle.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Temporoc flexed his wings, bellowing in pain and rage as it prepared to lift off and find its foe. It was so enraged with the crimson mercenary that it completely ignored the four Mega Man as they filed into an attack formation nearby, panting from the exertion of running to the scene.

"You just saw what our mystery mercenary did, right?" Atlas asked the group, huffing in surprise.

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"Damn. And here I'd hoped I was hallucinating or something," she replied with a frown.

"Less talk, more fighting. We still have a problem on our hands," Aeolus reprimanded.

"Right," Thetis nodded. He turned to Temporoc, grimacing as the blue bird prepared to fly off "Uh, how are we going to keep that guy where he is?"

"Oi! Attention, all overgrown, birdbrained chickens! Time's up for ya you flying feather mattress!" yelled Atlas, taunting the beast and not bothering to give the others a say in the matter. Regardless, it worked. Temporoc whirled, shrieking in rage.

"Since when did that seem like a good plan?!" Thetis backed up nervously as the enraged roc winged its way to their location.

"A good plan? Hell, it was just a plan, did you really think I'd think it through or something first?" Atlas laughed back.

Siarnaq facepalmed. His action went unnoticed as Temporoc was suddenly upon them, no longer restraining itself as it harried them with its razor-sharp wings. In the process of attacking it landed, its guirth shaking the facility. The Mega Men scattered, surrounding the mutos as it began to charge its attacks. Thetis narrowly dodged a beam when it was aimed at him. Screeching, Temporoc took a step towards him only to turn to Siarnaq as the Shadow Mega Man flung kunai at it. The ninja began to dodge and continued to throw kunai even as Temporoc's attacks peppered the area around him. Siarnaq smirked behind his mask as he effectively drew the bird's fire. With the fire raining down elsewhere, Atlas took the opportunity and dashed in, pounding Temporoc's right leg. It stumbled, screeching, before taking to the air where Aeolus awaited it.

The Wind Mega Man flew in to Temporoc's blind side. The pseudoroid began charging its giga attack, only to be stopped halfway by electrified blades aimed at its disintegrated eye. The sound of energy blades shredding apart metal echoed along with the infuriated, painful yell of the mythical bird. "Aaaaarraaaaargh! You shall pay for thy insolence, Mega Men!" the beast shrieked. It roared in pain as its wound fell into further disrepair, but otherwise seemed just as functional as before. Aeolus was sliced in return by Temporoc's wing, the action ending his assault and causing him to fall to the ground. Enraged, Temporoc fell with him, intent on tearing him to pieces.

The roc's neglect of the others cost him. Siarnaq jumped in, deflecting the talons with a shield in the shape of a shuriken. Thetis dashed in from the side, intent on jabbing his staff into one of the air vents in the pseudoroid's chest. His shot became a lucky one as the staff embedded itself to halfway up its hilt. Temporoc screamed, but the mutos was far from done yet. It swatted away Aeolus and Siarnaq then pecked at Thetis, who still hung by the spear-hilt in his side. The sharp beak caused a deep gouge in the Ice Mega Man's side. Thetis yelled in pain, dropping like a stone. Temporoc turned to finish the job, but was jerked to instability by Atlas grabbing its leg.

"Oh no you don't!" she hollered. With a powerful yank she brought the pseudoroid to the ground from its hover. Temporoc was taken by surprise and succumbed to the maneuver. It recovered swiftly though, and tried to get its leg back from the Model F's grip. A short tug of war began, Temporoc emerging the winner. The bird brutally kicked away the female Mega Man, knocking her to the ground. A movement distracted the pseudoroid from further action. It bared its beak angrily at Aeolus, who had come in to defend his downed comrades. After managing to slash at the birds face twice, he too was battered to the floor. With three of the four Mega Men momentarily incapacitated, Temporoc crowed triumphantly, again trying to charge its ultimate time attack.

If there's one thing you never do, it's let an assassin out of your sight.

Siarnaq came in to Temporoc's blind side. Preoccupied with ending the lives of the other three, the roc was unable to react as Siarnaq jumped up its side, straight to the open eye socket. The Model P user latched onto the mutos' face, grabbing a kunai firmly in his grip. Temporoc finally realized that something was up, breaking its attack off and whipping its head to try and dislodge the dangerous fighter. Siarnaq gamely held on, drawing his kunai back. He mustered his power, plunging the kunai, and the arm that held it, deep into the opening and Temporoc's brain.

The bird shrieked as its body began to spasm. Siarnaq tried to pry himself free, but was having trouble as the armoured head swung around, dislodging his grip and thus any attempts to push away. Thankfully, Thetis had recovered by this point. He lunged to Temporoc's chest, removing his staff with a twist. After avoiding the bird's flailing limbs, he maneuvered quickly to the head even as the body began to spark and glow, its overloaded core beginning to self destruct. The body stopped twitching wildly, falling forward and squealing as its internal mechanics tore themselves apart.

Thetis jabbed his staff under Siarnaq's arm and levered him out just as the powerful core exploded. The two were sent flying by the blast along with some debris, crashing painfully against a wall. After the others were sure that everything was stable again, they ran over and helped them up.

"You guys alright?" Atlas asked. Thetis nodded, but Siarnaq winced as he was helped up. After an inquiring glance from Aeolus, he managed to squeeze out a response.

Pointing to his arm, he spoke, "RESPONSE; SPRAIN. OTHERWISE SYSTEMS ARE MODERATELY FUNCTIONAL."

Thetis coughed apologetically, "Ah... sorry if I got a little rough there. I just wanted to get you out before you got... you know." Despite the spear-wielder's unsure mood, Siarnaq simply shook his head and raised his good hand to show that he understood.

Silence reigned as the group took a breather. Finally able to unwind after a tough battle, they all unmerged with their biometals, letting them float and talk to each other, recuperating both physically and mentally. Several minutes passed before Aeolus spoke up, bringing them back to the matter at hand. "Well then. I will activate our communicator and inform Legion of our success. They have probably already seen this facility's recordings, but I will inform them of the results regardless."

"Hey, speaking of reporting back, we're missing someone, aren't we?" Thetis pointed out.

"AFFIRMATIVE. REPLOID DESIGNATED 'BLOOD DIAMOND' IS MIA."

"He flew over that way, didn't he?" Atlas pointed, waving her arm in a vague gesture. Thetis responded to her with appropriate confusion, and the two began a short argument over which exact direction he took. Aeolus simply let them be, contacting Legion and giving them the message. As he did, Siarnaq watched the others arguing with a blank stare, hiding his amusement at their antics. Aeolus finished, turning to them.

"Legion has been informed of the situation, as well as our charge's apparent regenerative powers. I am almost surprised that they weren't surprised... but regardless. Let us go find our mercenary. Which way do you assume he went?"

Atlas and Thetis pointed in two opposite directions, exclaiming at the same time, "That way!" The two glared at each other, still undecided. Siarnaq calmly rose as the two began to argue again, heading somewhere entirely different from where they had pointed. He ignored their protests, eventually focing them to give up and follow. Aeolus chuckled and followed suit. A short while later they had found Omega, much to the grumbled complaints of Atlas and Thetis. Aeolus told the pair to shut it as he inspected their dangerous ally's predicament.

Omega, after having landed in the pit, had tried valiantly to get out. He had been extremely eager for battle, but that eagerness had turned to exhaustion after numerous failed attempts to escape. Thoroughly tired now, the most he could do was an occasional burst towards freedom. Judging by the slime coating the walls of the half-pipe, none of these bursts were very successful.

"Hey down there! All your limbs still attached?" Atlas hollered. Omega looked up, finally noticing their presence. He gave her a very crude gesture with the regenerated limb to show her exactly how well it worked. She laughed as he, once again, attempted to grapple up the sides unsuccessfully.

"I'm... I'll get you... in a minute...! Just give me a sec to- oh to hell with this goddamn pit!"

Atlas shook her head and teased, "Well, it's nice to know that the guy we're all afraid of can be torn limb from limb... and come back to beat your ass up despite that."

"Probably with one of his own dismembered limbs too," Thetis added, leaning over the edge to look.

"Puts a whole new meaning to 'punching your lights out'," Atlas joked. Thetis laughed at the the mental image.

"Kick your ass?"

"Smash your brains in!"

"Rip your guts out!"

"Can you all stop dismembering me verbally?" Omega moaned, still trying to crawl out of the slime trap. Silence reigned for all but a second before the Mega Men laughed at his expense, not bothering to help him in the least.

"Oh come on, we'd better get him out and cleaned up," Atlas smirked, "the Masters wouldn't be at all happy if we dragged him back to Legion like this. He'd ruin all the good carpets!" Omega slid down pitifully one last time as the comrades laughed. Defeated, he slumped, his whole body aching and heavy. The result was that he accidentally planted his face in the ooze, and quite frankly, the red reploid couldn't be bothered to take it out.

This day, he mentally noted, had sucked.