Chapter 5: A Rude Awakening
Just before the sun set, a group of Ruin Hunters were excavating around deep underground at the Quarry. Some Hunters helped with the sudden attack in Kairos City, but most remained at the site. A tall and muscular dark-skinned female hunter wearing a hard hat made her presence known as she started shouting out to her fellow Hunters.
"Alright, that's a wrap!" She yelled. "Time to pack up and move out!"
"Dang, already!?" A blond male Hunter groaned. "I swear, it feels like we get nothing here nowadays!"
"Still, I'm not stoppin' till we find somethin'." A red-haired female Hunter said. "We'll probably find something tomorrow!"
"Well said!" Another Hunter came from a passage, grinning as his long green hair flowed. His bangs hid his eyes completely, but he walked as if that wouldn't have been an inconvenience. "You guys heard how someone from Sentry found a Biometal, right!? They found it here, in this very place! There's more booty like that here!"
"Yeah, well, you better go after it tomorrow." The muscular woman told him sternly. "You know how it is now. The Mayor of the city is raising the security around the island thanks to those Raiders. We're not going to be able to keep going with this even when we got permission. So pack it up! It's time to go!"
"Hold on though!" The green haired Hunter replied. "I found something crazy back where I came from! It looked real expensive!"
"Alright, I can spare a little extra time!" The redhead Hunter grinned.
The other Hunters started following the green haired Hunter through a passage, much to the annoyance of their 'Boss'.
"HEY! Didn't ya hear me!? Ughhh, I'm breaking heads after this..." Reluctantly, she followed her crew deeper inside.
The crew were led inside a larger underground area which looked like an arena given how it was dug out. They were led to a dead end where they found a tall container embedded into the wall. It looked like a gothic coffin but made with highly advanced tech evident by the dimmed lights found all around it, especially at the center where a big yellow jewel was in place of where a cross normally would be found on the lid.
"What the heck is this?" The blond Hunter asked.
"Looks like a coffin." The Boss observed. "But that's not a real one. It's too high tech. Someone definitely made this for some reason..."
"Could it be a Biometal!?" The redhead asked.
"No way!" The blond spat. "Biometals are a lot smaller than that!"
"Hey, a lot of Model Ws were huge chunks of metal. Some the size of a house!" The green haired Hunter corrected. "Anything's possible!"
The blond had some reservations though. "But... What if this actually IS a coffin? I'm not about to get bad luck disturbing the dead..."
"If this was an actual coffin, then it's way too deep underground to be one!" The redhead retorted. She then turned to her boss. "Come on, Boss! Who knows when that Mayor's gonna kick us out from the Quarry! We gotta get this out now!"
"Besides, someone else could take it!" The green-haired Hunter added.
Their Boss folded her arms, giving it some thought. Although she was going to regret it, she came to a decision. "...Okay, fine. If we're getting this out, let's make it quick. I don't want anyone grilling us about still being down here."
The Hunters started cheering...until they were interrupted by someone slowly clapping from behind them. Alarmed, they turned around and saw three individuals behind them: A Mettaur, a Batton, and a Joe series bot. The last one, Sempronio, was the one clapping.
"Well, well, well, boys. We found ourselves a consolation prize after all." Sempronio said with a sarcastic tone. He then transformed his arm into a Buster and pointed it at the Hunters. "...It's your unlucky day, Hunters."
The Hunters were alerted of the danger and tried to pull out their weapons to fire back. Sempronio took charge while his other two comrades watched as he...utterly outclassed the poor Hunters, forcing all of them to the ground, motionless.
The Mettaur, Tizio, walked over and poked the muscular female Hunter with the tip of his hammer. Sempronio walked past his little Mettaur ally, dematerializing his Buster, "Relax. They're not dead... Or maybe one of them is. I don't really care."
The Batton, Caio, was perched on Sempronio's shoulder, grinning as he eyed the unusual high-tech coffin ahead of them. "Those stupid Hunters! HAH! They led us right to the treasure!"
Tizio joined Sempronio, standing right beside him as the latter placed his hands on the coffin to examine it.
"So... What is it?" Caio asked.
"How should I know? I'm trying to figure that out," Sempronio told him flatly. "But it's not anything I've seen before... This island is most unusual..."
"Do you think Folly's gonna give us a big reward for taking this!?" Tizio asked, hopping up and down.
Sempronio gave the 'coffin' a knock with the back of his fist. "Hmm... We don't even know what it is... I don't detect any Biometal signature... But if it is a Biometal, it's probably inactive which is why I wouldn't be able to scan it... But then we wouldn't be seeing the active lights-"
"WHO CARES!" Caio shouted, surprising Sempronio who looked at him wide-eyed...or as wide-eyed the single eyed Joe bot could get. "Just open it already! The vampire bat in me wants to open it up! It's a coffin after all!"
Sempronio rolled his single eye. "Fine. We're still going to have to dig this thing out for Mistress. Better hope there's something inside it before we bring this to her..."
Sempronio, being the only one with proper hands, tried the hardest to pry the coffin open. Caio flew off his shoulder and used his body to try and shove it open with Sempronio while Tizio used his tiny spherical hands to push like Caio. Eventually, all three of them fell to the side as the coffin finally opened up with the hatch falling over with them. The three quickly got up and observed the contents of the coffin...
Inside was a bat looking robot, about 6 feet tall in height with its big ears making it look even taller than that. It was clad in brown with some sprinkles of yellow on the armor. The wings were close to his hips, and it looked like it also acted as hands... Which was an unusual trait for more advanced bat-themed robots like this. Usually, they typically have wings on their backs with their hands acting akin to humans, but this was one of the few bat-themed robots that had hands and wings more like a bat, particularly like the Flying Fox animal. The wings also had lightning-bolt-shaped lines with yellow energy flowing.
Despite being tall and imposing, he also looked...somewhat goofy, but not as goofy as Caio.
"It's a bat! I knew it!" Caio cheered.
"It...looks like a Pseudoroid!" Tizio said.
If he could, Sempronio would grin. "About time things went right for us. That girl's going to be pleased with our findings... Let's haul it in."
All of a sudden, the eyes light up on the bat-like robot. Its mouth opens as he lets out a blood-curdling screech. This screech was so powerful that it made the three robots scream and groan in pain, leaving them immobilized. It was like a powerful wave came from the bat bot's mouth. It was enough to force all three of them to the ground, twitching violently with electrical surges surrounding them as if they got shocked. They were out like the Hunters they (or rather Sempronio) took out.
With these unknown entities down, the bat robot busted out of the coffin, landing on its feet and twitching uncontrollably.
"Where a-aaa-am I!? W-W-What am I!?" The bat Pseudoroid shouted with a high-pitched voice that sounded very glitched evident by his stutters. "AGH! I-IT HUUURTS TO THINK! HURTS TO T-T-TALK! A-AA-AAAGH!"
Sprouting his wings, the Pseudoroid took off into the air and made a mad dash out of the Quarry, screeching more and more as he flapped his wings wildly, escaping the underground site and escaping out into the night sky.
He was making his way to a place with lights and buildings in the distance...
About five minutes before midnight, Rokku was sound asleep in his bed, tucked into his comforters and resting his head on his two pillows.
With the day he's had, he was sleeping like a bear...
...That is until Model M slammed his entire tiny but metallic body on Rokku's forehead.
"ROKKU!"
Rokku jolted up with a yelp, covering his head with his hand and his eyes shut tightly. "OWW!"
When he jolted up, the comforters flew off his body, revealing he was wearing simple blue pajamas consisting of a blue shirt and blue long johns. The young boy glared at the Biometal floating beside his head. "What was that for!?"
"Sorry!" Model M apologized.
"Yeesh! About time!" A voice belonging to Aimer shouted in annoyance. That voice came from Rokku's ear plate and the sound of her voice shocked Rokku as much as the pain Model M inflicted on him. "I've been trying to contact you, but you wouldn't answer!"
"Sooo... I kind of had to...hit you a little." Model M confessed. Because he was a Biometal, Aimer was unable to hear his voice from the other side of the call. Model M could hear her voice via the speakers of Rokku's ear plates, something he must've left on after the Alphonse affair. The girl had no idea that Model M had to ram himself against Rokku's forehead to wake him up... But considering the boy didn't wake up even with Aimer's voice in his ear, M figured that some physical pain would do it... Not that he enjoyed that in the slightest.
"What time is it...? 11:56...?!" Rokku (sleepily) cried when he saw the time. "What am I doing up so late...?"
"It's an emergency, Rokku!" Aimer told him in an alerted tone. "Meet me in Luna Town! In the, uhhh... In the town's center! There's a PSEUDOROID in the area!"
Maybe it was because Rokku was still sleepy, but he had a hard time...processing any of what Aimer just told him. "...What...?"
Armed with Model M, Rokku ran out the house and headed straight for Luna Town's center. This town was where he's lived for as long as he could remember and knew this place far more than he knew Kairos City. Compared to Kairos City, Luna Town looked archaic in design, resembling that of a Queen Victoria era town but with high tech advancements much like other big locales like this.
Technically speaking, Rokku lived just barely on the outskirts of the town in a village-like community. The roads led him directly to Luna Town which a 5-minute run. He wishes he had a bike or something to speed things up, but Aimer told him that she needed to stay there and keep her eye on the Pseudoroid. Even though Rokku argued that she couldn't lose the Pseudoroid given his apparent size, Aimer informed him it was more to ensure this thing didn't attack.
Rokku didn't know what a Pseudoroid was, really...
Arriving in the center of town, Rokku met up with Aimer who was watching from a distance by some large stairs.
"Yeesh... It hasn't even been a full day since the last major attack..." Rokku complained, hands on his hips as he heard terrified screams in the distance.
"Come take a look at this." Aimer pointed ahead. After being led to the stairs, Rokku was wide and awake. He could see a giant bat-like mechanical creation walking around, scaring the people as they fled away from the robot.
"Uhh... That's..." Model M started.
"...The Pseudoroid, yeah." Aimer finished. "I was looking at those computer chips you gave me when I got a call from Candice about the disturbance. The Guardians are focusing on getting the people away from the area since I called you in and Sentry thinks a Mega Man like you can handle a Psuedoroid like this, so I'm all you got. Don't worry, I took the liberty of accepting the mission request for you before I called~"
Rokku tilted his head in confusion. "Uh, okay, thanks. But... What's a Pseudoroid exactly?"
Aimer folded her arms. "Short to the point, bigger and badder robots than Galleons or Hallow Jacks or any of the mechaniloids you're used to seeing. Origin wise, they're an enigma, but they're bad news regardless. My research indicates that draw power directly from Biometals so that guy likely has a Biometal inside of him. Most Pseudoroids I've researched used useless fragments of Model Ws... But the actual thing's long gone with Ouroboros destroyed."
"...If these guys are basically monsters, then... What's going on with that guy?" Rokku asked, pointing at him. The Pseudoroid was whimpering and muttering things that the two teens couldn't decipher from afar. Whenever he approached a civilian, they would get scared and run off. He clutched his head, looking upset. "He looks...confused."
Aimer tapped her chin with her finger. "Yeaaah, that's the weird part. Pseudoroids are usually preeetty hostile. When Model Ws were around, Pseudoroids were constantly killed and revived. But when they came back, they'd behave like wild animals and lacking the intelligence they'd normally have. Even with Model W gone, Pseudoroids are still popping up and I haven't figured out why... I'm thinking this one might be one of the revived Pseudoroids done by Model W. But he hasn't attacked anyone...yet."
"Could this be a situation like Alphonse? Where's he mind-controlled?" Model M asked.
"Hey, yeah! I bet the guy's scared!" Rokku grinned.
Aimer didn't look very convinced by Rokku and Model M's theory. "...Uh-huh. I doubt it. But I think this is a good time to give you this new chip I made a few days ago with Model M's data."
Aimer reached into her pocket and handed Rokku a blue chip that had Model M's likeness. When he took the chip into his hand, it was absorbed into him just like the computer chips he collected from those Hallow Jacks.
"It's the "Wire Chip"." Aimer explained. "One of your arms will transform into a Buster with a grapple hook attached. You can shoot it out and a long wire will follow. I designed it to go as far as 30 feet. The claw is designed to grab onto something or stick to something. Maaaybe you could swing around like a spider can too~? ...But this is the first time I've designed something like this, so you'll have to be my lab rat."
"...I'm not a fan of rats, Aimer." Rokku told her with a deadpan tone, voicing his...surprising distain for the rodents.
"Whatever," Aimer playfully retorted. "Just try it out! You can even use your Super Arm too!"
Rokku scratched his head. Two new abilities in a single day...and he had yet to take either of them out for a test drive. Honestly, it was a miracle the Pseudoroid wasn't going berserk given how they were just talking so casually while he walked around.
"Great! Two new abilities!" Model M exclaimed. "Let's hope we don't have to use them here. Let's try to talk to the Pseudoroid!"
"I like your thought process, Model M!" Rokku agreed before hopping down the stairs and rushing to the Pseudoroid, surprising Aimer.
"Wha-? WAIT! KEEP YOUR DISTANCE!" She frantically cried, waving her arms.
Rokku ran up to the Pseudoroid, realizing that the bat bot was...much taller than he was expecting. He looked shorter from afar...
"Hey there!" Rokku greeted, earning the Pseudoroid's attention as it looked down at him with his glowing pupils. It spooked Rokku but he kept talking. "Sooo... You're scaring everyone and I wanna help you out! Plus, it's way past my bedtime, so I'm hoping we can settle everything nice and neatly! Whaddya say?"
He beamed a cute, big, and wide smile at the Pseudoroid, holding his hands together and against his chest. The Pseudoroid blinked and tilted his head, looking confused... But soon, the Pseudoroid started twitching before he opened his big mouth and screeched.
"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAK!"
Rokku's eyes widened and dilated before he shut them hard as he tried his hardest to shut out the literal ear-piercing screeching noise. He covered his helmet's ear plates with his hands, gritting his teeth. From afar, Aimer saw yellow hoop-shaped waves leaving the bat-bot's mouth and witnessed a surge of electricity surrounding Rokku.
Eventually, the Pseudoroid ceased and was even more confused when Rokku was still standing despite the electricity around him. Once the screeching stopped, Rokku lowered his hands and looked at the Pseudoroid in shock. He was in pain. VERY much so. But he was resilient enough to keep standing just like before.
"Y-You didn't fall!?" The Pseudoroid spoke in a glitchy voice. "My Electro Wave didn't send you crashing to the floor!?"
"Y-Y-Your...whaaat...?" Rokku asked in a bit of a daze. His eyes widened further when the Pseudoroid opened his mouth again and lunged at Rokku. The boy had the speed to dodge it, rolling to the side. "WHOA!"
"Y-You...T-Threat!" The Pseudoroid shouted. "SQUEAK! You're a threat!"
Rokku hopped back to his feet, readying his Buster. "Okaaay... So much for talking it out..."
"I TOLD YOU IT'S A PSEUDOROID!" Aimer shouted, hands together to form a makeshift megaphone. "PSEUDOROIDS CAN'T BE REASONED WITH!"
"M-Maybe it can be reasoned with!" Model M shouted back... Before Rokku jumped in the air as the Pseudoroid pointed his right wing at Rokku, shooting a ball of electrical energy. The teenager dodged that orb which collided into a building behind him, and that orb split into two smaller orbs that went up and down respectively before dispersing completely.
"Y-You... You're a Mega Maaan... A-A-Aren't yo-o-ouuuu...!?" The Pseudoroid sneered with his glitchy voice. "I-I've finally found one! A M-Meee-ega Man... You will f-fall by I, WINGWAVE!"
Rokku gulped. "...Okay, so we can't reason with it."
"...That's unfortunate." Model M voiced with a sigh.
The Pseudoroid, Wingwave, was now attacking. Rokku had no choice but to fight back. Wingwave opened his mouth and started shooting out smaller electrifying sound waves that reflected off the walls. Rokku could strangely see these waves coming, but with their traveling speed, they weren't easy to dodge. When he got hit by his bigger sound wave, which he assumed was called the "Electro Wave", Rokku was paralyzed and couldn't move no matter how much he tried until the attack finished. He took damage over time through the wave's electricity surging around his body too.
Rokku hopped into the air and dove at the Pseudoroid with both of his boots, crashing down on the bat's face before hopping off of his face after the hit connected. Wingwave wailed from the pain while his wings began surging with electricity as he pointed them and shot more electrical spheres at his foe. It was a good thing the people had left the scene, or they'd be hit with these projectiles. With the people away, the Guardians closed off the scene while Rokku fought.
"St-Stay stiiill!" Wingwave shouted.
"I can't do that! Not unless you cut it out!" Rokku retorted.
The Pseudoroid grinned and muttered, "Oh, I-I'll cut it out alriiight..."
Wingwave lunged at Rokku and attempted to slice Rokku with his sharp wings. The boy fell backwards to the ground from the initial slice and rolled out of the way of Wingwave's attempt at impaling the stumbling Mega Man. Those wings were sharper than the Hallow Jack's claws and almost as sharp as Inverse's buzzsaw form.
At first, Rokku considered Wingwave to be...pretty sloppy and somewhat slow, but his mind changed quickly when his opponent started slashing at him. He was lucky he liked living enough to dodge it.
Wingwave then took off in the air, flapping his wings much like an actual bat. Rokku kept his eye on the Pseudoroid and started shooting at the bat. Unfortunately, each and every shot missed completely.
"He's too fast...!" Rokku said under his breath. On the ground, Rokku could consider Wingwave to be slower than him... But in the air, Rokku was at a disadvantage. Not unless he could sprout wings on his back or have a jet board or even a spring pad to bounce off of... But he had neither of those things.
Wingwave laughed with his glitchy voice as he dove down at him, his mechanical tongue dangling out of his mouth. Rokku shot at Wingwave's face, fearing for what he was going to do, which worked in his favor.
"EEEYAH!" Wingwave shouted and hovered in the air with his flapping wings, shaking his face. He then screeched at Rokku, shooting more smaller electric sound waves at him. Rokku dodged most, but he was hit in the back by one that reflected off a building wall.
Aimer observed the fight from a distance, watching as Rokku took some hits from the Pseudoroid. Appearance wise, this was a rather unusual Pseudoroid, looking a little like a animal-based Reploid in some aspects. But this was definitely a Pseudoroid, no doubt about it. But she observed the attacks of the Pseudoroid known as Wingwave, looking at the patterns and hoping to help Rokku out in any way she could with her observations...
Wingwave dove at Rokku once again, this time grabbing Rokku's shoulders with his feet, surprising Rokku by his actions. "SQUEAK! SQUEAK! Gotcha! HEE HEE!"
Wingwave took the helpless Mega Man into the air a bit before slamming him down to the ground hard. He repeated this action two more times, with his last slam being the hardest. This was so hard that Rokku was almost implanted into the ground from the impact. The Pseudoroid let out glitchy laughs as he took off into the air again. Rokku lifted his head up, glaring at the foe as he mocked him.
"You're going nowhere...!" Rokku growled, aiming his Buster at Wingwave...and summoning a grapple hook. "Better hope this works..." He thought.
The hook looked more like a claw found in one of those toy crane machines. This was his first time using any special weapon like this and he had no time or patience to really express his excitement and awe at the technological advancements.
Shooting the claw, a long thick mechanical wire followed as the claw attached itself to Wingwave's left leg. The Pseudoroid yelped at the sudden hook and began soaring to the sky...taking Rokku with him.
"SQUEAK! Wh-Whaaat are you doing-g-g!?" Wingwave shouted. He flew faster than before, hoping to drop Rokku, but the claw wasn't letting go of his leg and neither was Rokku...even if all of the Pseudoroid's aerial maneuvers was leaving the young Mega Man dizzy and a little sick.
Rokku then decided to reel himself in, even after Wingwave started flying in loops. Once he was close enough, Rokku changed his other arm and hand. It changed from blue, black, and white to a brown, black, and white. More importantly, his fist was completely enlarged and had thicker armor plating, looking like Rokku's new arm belonged to a giant robot. Despite this, Rokku held his arm back as if the arm wasn't very heavy.
Once close enough, Rokku swung his fist down on Wingwave's head, sending the Pseudoroid crashing to the ground and having Rokku follow after. The claw detached from Wingwave's leg and back to Rokku's Wire Buster while he was in mid-air, and he landed safely compared to his opponent.
"...You weren't kidding about the Super Arm's power, M." Rokku noted, looking at his arm. Rokku took note of just how hard he hit Wingwave. Sure, he was aiming to hurt the guy to subdue him but... He totally underestimated just how powerful the Super Arm was. He definitely could not use this against any person... He'd have to reserve this for the mechanical threats like Wingwave.
Although he was just in the heat of battle, his mouth formed a wavy line as his brows furrowed. He didn't look...too pleased at what his arm looked like. "...My hand is so big, it's weird..."
"That's...Not how the Super Arm looks... Not normally at least." Model M noted. "Normally, my entire armor changes color... But it looks like only your arm changes color... And not just that, your arm grew bigger. It's like you're wearing a big mechanical glove... That never happened with me..."
"It looks like I'm wearing one of those giant glove toys..." Rokku whimpered. Despite that, he was able to move his arm normally. The arm looked much heavier than his other one, but Rokku was moving it around as if it wasn't heavy.
Wingwave groaned as it slowly got up. He was in pain after that megaton punch he received. He was secretly amazed he wasn't destroyed... But he was definitely not in the best condition. "H-How... How could you have hu-uuu-urt me this b-b-badly!?"
"I told you I wanted to avoid this." Rokku reminded him, his Wire Buster changing back to normal. "You give up?"
Wingwave quickly took off into the air, hovering high in the air as he flapped his wings. Rokku quickly brought back out his Wire Buster to try and grab him, but Wingwave was flying too high. "I-I won't go down like this... I-I...must recover... Y-Yeeees... Recover... Gather...my bearings... And prepare for vengeance...!" He then flew away, letting out an...eerie cackling that made Rokku's skin crawl.
Noticeably, the glitchy voice...slowly became less glitchy...
Rokku's arms turned to normal. "Uhhh... That's not good."
"No! It isn't!"
Rokku turned and saw Aimer arrive on her motorcycle, the tires screeching as she came to a sudden halt. Patting the seat behind her, she gave Rokku a determined look and said, "Get on!"
The teen quickly hopped onto the motorcycle and Aimer sped away after the fleeing Pseudoroid. When one encounters a Pseudoroid, it was important to end it when you meet it... Now a Pseudoroid was fleeing from the fight. Aimer was not going to let this monster get away.
Wingwave was a fast Pseudoroid but Aimer kept her eyes on him as she sped after him. The chase was over when the teenage duo arrived at the large opening where the Quarry was located at. With Wingwave diving inside, the hunt began...
"The Quarry...?" Rokku muttered.
"Why did Wingwave come here?" Model M asked.
Aimer hopped off the bike with Rokku following right behind. "He talked about recovering, didn't he? It's possible that he's going to heal himself with something inside here."
Rokku had his hands behind his head as he walked to the entrance. "Heh."
Aimer gave Rokku a confused look. "What?"
"It's funny... I was planning on coming here that night." Rokku said with a chuckle. "You know, the night I met you and Model M?"
"Wow, really?" Model M asked. Despite that event being three days ago, M nor Aimer never did find out why Rokku was out here. "That is funny."
"Haha, yeah. I came here looking for something to power my airship. A power source of some kind." Rokku said, dropping his arms as he approached the entrance.
Aimer looked at him again. "A power source? What kind?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it some time." Rokku told her before patting her on the back. "Now come on, we gotta find that wing nut before we lose him!"
While Rokku was eager to find the Pseudoroid, Aimer slowed down.
"...You told me that earlier!" Aimer pouted; her cheeks puffed in frustration. Almost word for word, that's what Rokku told her earlier today when she asked about his airship. He even pat her back just like earlier!
Sempronio's hands curled into a fist as he got up from the ground. He looked around and saw his allies getting up around the same time as him. Those Hunters were still down...but they were covered by small surges of electricity.
"...The Pseudoroid is gone." Sempronio growled, no longer immobilized by the Pseudoroid's devastating screech...
Tizio's hands slumped to the ground as he looked sad. "Folly will be upset with us."
"My brother! Nooo!" Caio shouted in anger. "We must find him immediately!"
Sempronio folded his arms, looking down at his smaller allies. "My thoughts exactly. Who knows how long we were out... But if that Pseudoroid is out an about, he'll be causing trouble. You two. After it!"
"With pleasure!" Caio quickly hurried after his 'bat companion', all eager to catch up with him. Tizio remained behind, however.
"But what are you going to do!?" Tizio asked.
"For one, I'm going to move these bodies out of here." Sempronio told him, going to the muscular woman first and lifting her over his shoulder with ease and walking behind some boulders. "Regardless of if you catch it or not, Mistress will want some info on the Pseudoroid so I will..."
Sempronio dropped the unconscious Hunter behind the rocks, but faintly heard panicked screaming... Approaching him and Tizio was Caio, flapping his wings frantically. "IT'S COMIIING!"
"What!? Who!?" Sempronio shouted.
"The Pseudoroooid!" Caio flew to Sempronio's shoulder.
Sempronio's single eye shrunk. Quickly, ran to the other Hunters. "Quick! Hide the others!"
With his allies help, Sempronio quickly moved the remaining Hunters out of sight, just in time for Wingwave to arrive, landing in front of the coffin. From behind the rocks, the three minions observed.
"Aaah... There is my stasis capsule..." Wingwave chuckled. "H-How long has it been since I was last a-awake...? It feels like this hasn't aged a day... But I must heaaal..."
Wingwave approached the fallen lid with the gemstone attached. Yellow energy started flowing from the gem and into Wingwave's body. He let out a big sound of relief as the energy rejuvenated him. "Aaaah yeeesss... SQUEAK! I'm back! HEE HEE!"
"Stop right there!"
Sempronio and his crew looked and saw Rokku and Aimer approaching from behind.
"Aw crap! It's him again!" Caio cursed while Sempronio smacked his hand over his mouth.
"SSH!" Sempronio shushed before he whispered, "Just as I thought, the Pseudoroid went and got itself into trouble. It even got the attention of Mega Man Model M... We must remain hidden for now... And quietly alert Mistress..."
Tizio nodded while Caio groaned in annoyance over Sempronio's hand over his mouth.
Rokku pointed at Wingwave dramatically. "You've gone far enough! Give up or else!"
Wingwave began laughing and turned around to face Rokku. "HEE HEE! I'm so happy to see you now!"
Both Rokku and Aimer exchanged confused glances before Rokku replied, "Uhhh... You are?"
"YEEES!" Wingwave said, walking away from the coffin lid which now had a lifeless gemstone. "Thanks to your attack earlier, my mind is now clear again! I was behaving like a mindless Maverick earlier and then you showed up... With my mind now clear, I, Wingwave the Chiropteroid, will fulfill my mission and eliminate you!"
"What mission is that!?" Aimer cried out.
"That information is for classier company, fair maiden!" Wingwave grinned with Aimer taking small offense to the title he gave her. "Now stay out of the way! This duel is between the Mega Man and I! This time...I will use every ounce of my power now that I can think clearly! SQUEAK! SQUEAAAK!"
Suddenly, Wingwave's body started coming apart, much to Rokku and Aimer's shock and horror. But those individual body parts transformed into Battons with Wingwave's color scheme. But not any Battons. Unlike Caio, these Battons were based specifically on the Batton Bone from the 22nd Century, the successor series to the Battons found in the 21st Century. Dozens of these bats spread far and wide and surrounded Rokku in a tornado swarm, knocking Aimer away.
"ROKKU!" She cried, watching Rokku entrapped in the eye of the Batton storm.
The Mega Man looked at the swarm surrounding him like a tornado, confused on what to do, let alone what was happening. Before he could form a plan, he was swatted by one Batton from the swarm, making him stumble. Another Batton swarmed upward like he was uppercutting Rokku, knocking him back towards the Batton vortex. When Rokku's back hit the vortex, he cried out in pain as he was sent to the ground. The speed which the Battons were swarming around Rokku meant that he couldn't touch a single one without being knocked away.
"HEE HEE!" The Battons with Wingwave's voice cried with eerie joy. "AM I TOO MUCH FOR YOU!?"
Rokku took more hits from the Battons, and Aimer couldn't help but feel dread as she heard his cries, all while Sempronio and his crew felt joy.
One Batton slammed down at Rokku's helmet, knocking him face flat to the ground. "AGH! They're too fast...!"
"Use the Super Arm again!" Model M shouted. "There's no way they're stronger than the Super Arm!"
"Y-You're right..." Rokku grunted. Maybe he could disrupt this tornado attack with a good punch... Materializing his Super Arm special weapon, Rokku threw his fist forward against the swarm, dashing towards it... But suddenly, the swarm left a big wide opening for Rokku to go through. "!?"
Rokku didn't see this coming, let along believe it was possible. His hit didn't connect, and he fell through the Batton-made hole, looking foolish as he fell to the ground. At least he was out of the tornado.
The Battons dispersed their tornado swarm, taunting Rokku with a laugh as they formed a large cluster until Wingwave was whole again. He closed his wings together and laughed louder as he began spinning really fast in the air before slamming down on the ground and spinning around like a violent spinning top. Unlike spinning tops, Wingwave had a barrier of electricity surrounding his spinning form as he sped towards Rokku.
The teen tried using his Super Arm to punch the spinning Pseudoroid, but Rokku was electrocuted. The Super Arm couldn't go against Wingwave's electricity as mere physical contact like that shocked the poor boy. With Rokku immobilized, Wingwave laughed as he rammed into him, knocking the boy to the ground again.
"UNGH!"
"SQUEAK! I am perfection!" Wingwave taunted, knocking Rokku around more in his spinning form, leaving the Mega Man little time to recover before he's hit again. "You won't be able to beat me, boy! HEE HEE! SQUEAAAK!"
The next hit sent Rokku colliding into a wall before he fell to the ground. This Pseudoroid was a lot harder to beat... He hadn't landed a clean hit yet... He was much easier earlier...
"This...hurts..." Rokku whimpered. He tried getting up, but he fell back down on his one knee, panting heavily.
"Are you okay!?" Model M queried. "Take it easy! We can do it!"
Wingwave stopped spinning and opened his wings as he remained stationary, standing tall as his feet clicked together. "SQUEAK! You're not so special after all! I still thank you for your help with clearing my mind! I'll repay the debt with your death! SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQEUAAAK!"
Suddenly, Wingwave was hit by a Charge Shot, sending him back. "OUGH!"
Rokku was aiming his Buster at him, the barrel smoking from the shot. "Your squeaking is making my head hurt worse than your Electro Wave..." He groaned.
Wingwave was angry at first...but then chuckled again. "Aaah, so you still have fight in you? SURPRISING! HEE HEE! This will be fulfilling after all...!"
Aimer had been watching the fight since the initial fight in Luna Town. She was hoping to contribute somehow even if she wasn't armored up like Rokku. Her thoughts were getting frantic as she watched Rokku take his worst beating yet... and she wasn't even there to witness the berserk Alphonse slamming his body down like a ragdoll.
...But a thought then came to her.
Wingwave's wings started surging with electricity as he prepared shooting those electric orbs again. "Let's see how much fight you REALLY have then! HEE HEE!"
Aimer pulled out her custom Buster-Pistol from her holster and swapped the elemental chip. Taking aim, the young teen shot a charged blast of frozen ice energy. Wingwave didn't even get to shoot his orbs as he was hit by the ice energy sphere. He let out a painful wail as thick icicles appeared from where the shot hit him. The electricity completely died down and he fell to the ground.
"W-WHAAAT?!"
Rokku was surprised by the sudden attack. The arrogance in Wingwave's voice was completely gone. He looked to his right to see Aimer pointing her Buster-Pistol. With a determined smile, she looked at Rokku.
"I figured it out!" She cried. "Since he's been using electric attacks, I figured he'd be weak to my ice chip! He's not the only one who can keep people immobilized now~!"
Wingwave growled and finally broke out of the ice, swinging his left wing violently. "AGH! The fair maiden strikes! You'll regret interfering!"
Before Wingwave could get up, Rokku ran up to the Pseudoroid and sucker punched his cheek, sending him flying towards some rocks... The same rocks Sempronio and his crew were hiding behind. Quickly, they fled further away to hide before they were caught by the Pseudoroid and especially the two enemies.
Wingwave then took off into the air, screeching down at Rokku with his Electro Wave attack. Rokku ran over to Aimer and picked her up to get her out of the way, making her blush in surprise from the pickup. Probably the worst time to feel flustered, but she couldn't help it. The fact that Rokku dodged the deadly sound waves angered Wingwave.
"Aimer, if you can shoot at that wing nut with your ice gun, then we can finish it off together...!" Rokku told her after putting the girl down.
"That's the idea!" Aimer exclaimed.
"Then let's do it!" Model M cheered.
Wingwave closed his wings and spread them apart to shoot multiple electrical orbs towards Rokku and Aimer. Rokku rushed forward while Aimer ran away and shoot multiple ice blasts at Wingwave. Despite the Pseudoroid's best effort, he was caught by each and every one of those blasts. Before Wingwave fell, Rokku turned his other arm into the Wire Buster and shot a grappling claw at Wingwave's leg and forcefully pulled his arm down, sending Wingwave crashing to the ground and shattering the ice in the process.
"AGH! I won't lose because... Y-You're cheating...!" Wingwave shouted before splitting up into dozens of Batton bots and swarming Rokku and Aimer like a tornado once again.
Aimer swapped her elemental chip to a fire chip and used it as a flame torch to disperse the swarm. It did the trick as they didn't dare get close to Aimer while Rokku had his back against her, shooting Charge Shots at the swarm. The two managed to destroy some Battons as a result, forcing them to regroup and form back into Wingwave. However, because the two teens managed to destroy some Battons, Wingwave was left broken and incomplete in some places, most notably his right wing. Those Battons were made from his body, and they weren't regenerating.
Wingwave, still flapping his wings frantically as he was losing altitude as a result of his somewhat incomplete right wing, closed his wings and formed a spinning top once again. He slammed the ground and made his way to the teenagers. Aimer grinned and shot him with another ice blast after switching her elemental chips, freezing him in place. Rokku rushed in front of her, giving Wingwave a big punch with his Super Arm, shattering the ice and sending Wingwave flying back.
"SQUEAAAK! MEET YOUR END! HEEAAAAAAAAH!"
Wingwave was looking worse and worse, and he was getting desperate. His wings became electrified and he spread his wings apart, releasing large electric blasts outward. These electrical strikes looked a lot more lethal than before as he was outputting a lot of electrical energy with this desperation attack. He was even screaming as this process was taking a lot of him.
Rokku managed to push Aimer out of the way, the both of them dodging the electrical current's path and evading it completely. While on her side, Aimer shot her ice blast at an angle where Wingwave was left wide open, freezing him again and ceasing his desperation attack.
"N-NO!" Wingwave cried.
Rokku grinned and ran to Wingwave, grabbing Wingwave's frozen body with the Wire Buster's claw. His other arm transformed into the Super Arm once more.
"C'MERE!" Pulling back his Wire Buster's arm, he forced Wingwave to come towards him. With the force of the pull sending Wingwave hurling, Rokku reeled back his Super Arm and gave him the worst punch Wingwave's ever felt, sending him crashing against a wall before bouncing off it and landing on his front side.
Wingwave's body started cracking in various places uncontrollably. He slowly got up, audible cracks being heard as he wailed and whimpered in pain. "I-I'm...su-supposed to be...peeerfec-c-ction..."
He got up on his feet and took a single step forward... before his wings broke apart with explosions appearing all over his body." I-I've...faaa-a-a-aaaaaailed..."
Wingwave fell backwards with a small groan that left his dying body with more lights appearing out of his body as a giant explosion overtook him, finishing the Pseudoroid off...
When the explosions finished, all that was left was Wingwave's broken body. It was amazing that this was all that was left. Sure, most explosions would leave many pieces of what they used to be, but Wingwave was still identifiable even with his death.
"We...We did it..." Rokku said, dematerializing his weapons. He breathed a sigh of relief, but he wished this Pseudoroid wasn't so hostile... It couldn't be helped, however.
Aimer got off the ground and dusted herself up before holstering her Buster-Pistol. Rokku turned to her and smiled. "Thanks. You were a big help."
"Yeah!" Model M agreed.
"It's what friends do, right~?" Aimer said, chuckling nervously. "I've never fought against a Pseudoroid before either... Wow... What a rush... My heart's still pounding, haha..."
Rokku grinned and placed his hands on his hips. "It goes to show that I need more training... I already got my Dad helping me out with hand-to-hand, but I'm hoping the Guardians have something that can help me too."
"They likely do." Aimer chuckled again.
All of a sudden, from the corpse of Wingwave, a stream of yellow energy came out and formed a orb that flew into Rokku's chest, just like with Alphonse earlier.
"Another Special Weapon...?" Rokku asked.
"That's right." Model M confirmed. "I guess Pseudoroids can give these out too..."
Aimer turned to the corpse of Wingwave, her fist on her hip as her look turned serious. "Speaking of which, we need to take his body in for study. Who knows where he... HUH!?"
Just as Aimer was speaking, a familiar pink portal materialized beneath Wingwave's corpse, and he sunk beneath it. Rokku, recognizing that portal, ran towards it but was incapable of stopping the extraction.
"No!"
As Aimer approached Rokku, the two of them heard the laugh of a very familiar girl. "Hehehehe... Sooorry, Rokku, but I'm afraid I can't allow you to take my treasure~"
Rokku grits his teeth and clenches his fists. "Folly!" He couldn't see her, but her voice echoed in the arena.
"I'm flattered you remembered my name~! Truly I am~!" Folly replied with another giggle.
Aimer shouted back, "Show yourself!"
"Yeah!" Rokku barked.
"I'm quite a busy girl. Surely you two understand that~" Folly teased. "But Mr. Hero, you're doing so well thus far. Keep it up! I'm rooting for you, honest~"
Her voice disappeared, making the two teens realize she must've left now...
"She left..." Model M said with melancholy.
"This is the second time too..." Rokku fumed. "Now she took Wingwave!"
Aimer frowned. She did not like this Folly person already, and she hadn't even met the girl in person, having only gone on what Rokku and Model M told her and hearing her voice just now. But something else caught her eye.
"Well, she didn't take that." Aimer said, walking over to the coffin and the fallen over lid.
Rokku walked over to Aimer as she observed the strange high-tech coffin. "What's...That?"
"Aside from it looking like a coffin, I don't know." Aimer said, touching the coffin's lid with her fingers before looking at the interior of the coffin still in the wall. "Wingwave probably came out of this thing... That means he's been in here for who knows how long... I'll ask the Guardians to get this out so we can research it."
"Sooo... It might not be a total loss after all?" Model M asked.
"Maaaybe..." Aimer admitted with uncertainty, standing up and sighing. "But it's better than nothing."
Rokku nodded in agreement. "Even so, we did take out a Pseudoroid right? Even if wing nut's body is taken away, we still defeated him and that's always a plus."
Aimer smiled. "That's right~ After I call some Guardians over, let's get out of here and submit your mission request."
"Yeah and go to sleep." Rokku sighed heavily. "I did not expect to wake up so late..."
The three individuals were unaware of the Hunters slowly stirring awake from Sempronio's attack behind the rocks. Some had wounds that needed to be treated, others were only mildly inconvenienced surprisingly...
Rokku was concerned about this Folly character. What was she up to? Why did she take Wingwave? And why did she...act so weird towards him? He hoped to get answers to at least one of those questions soon, but he wouldn't think about it further.
With the night he's had, Rokku was ready to sleep like a Koala...
Inside their brand-new hiding place, Folly was sitting on Inverse's back, looking at Wingwave's broken body lying on top of a table. Her three minions were on the other side of the table, Caio perched on Sempronio's shoulder and Tizio on the table next to Wingwave's head, poking at it with his spherical hand.
"Congratulations, you three~" Folly sang. "You've managed to find something quite special AND you furthered our goal off script as well~! Two wins in a single day, hmhmhmmm~"
"We are grateful for your praise, Mistress," Sempronio bowed.
"VEEERY grateful." Caio added with a sneer... before frowning. "Wish the blue brat didn't destroy the guy."
"Who made this thing anyway? Tizio asked.
"We'll find out after we study it." Folly claimed. "Master will be most interested in this."
Sempronio then laughed, earning Folly's attention. "...And why are you laughing?"
"My apologies, but I can't help but laugh." Sempronio trumpeted quietly. He then pierced his hand into Wingwave's chest, shattering its body even further as he dug out something shiny but broken... "We have succeeded not once, not twice, but THRICE in one day, Mistress...! Behold, a BIOMETAL!"
Folly had a rare look of surprise as she saw a yellow, red, and black Biometal in Sempronio's hand. But her look of surprise slowly transitioned into a sinister smirk while Inverse purred cheerfully.
"...Well, it seems you have succeeded, Sempronio. This island seems to be full of surprises..." Folly noted. "...Hmhmhm~ I'm excited to uncover more of its secrets... You three will continue to serve me well, won't you~?"
The three, content with their success and desires to serve Folly, agreed with a "YES MISTRESS!"
They'd do anything to succeed in their goal...