Family ties put Aile in a bind. AKA she really should have gotten a map, but screw it, she's off-road anyways.

If Aile had anything else to say to her brother after the revelation that she was his long-lost sister, it was abruptly cut off as he rushed at her full strength screaming, "AILE!"

Needless to say, having a fully armoured male teenager throw himself at you at top speed was not the most comfortable experience Aile could have endured. Especially not when he had dash boosters. Vent's reckless charge made Aile let out a wheezy, "Oof!" as he tackled her, accidentally broke the fence she was sat on, and knocked the pair of them to the ground.

"Aile! Oh my gods, Aile, I c-can't, it's you? It's actually you!?"

Aile was simultaneously exasperated at her brother's far-too-easy acceptance of the fact that they were related, breathless from the death grip he had around her ribs, and bawling with joy that she was somehow, against all odds and logic, holding her beloved sibling. She couldn't reply to his inquiries with anything more concrete than some shudders and whimpers and a big bear hug of her own. Her lean muscles trembled as she grabbed him for all she was worth. He reciprocated. The pair of them were a sobbing mess.

A couple of biometals struggled to get out of Vent's pockets to look at the pair of siblings, and the emotional wreck the wretched duo had become. It only ended when Aile realized that she was literally breathless because of Vent hugging too hard and began furiously tapping at his arm so that she wouldn't suffocate. He jumped at the realization and hurriedly loosened his grip. She gasped in some precious air once she was free, but wheezed a bit anyway since her ribs hurt and she'd breathed in too fast. Despite this, the beleaguered teenager still managed to give Vent a wry smile. Tears ran down her face as she spoke, "It's me, Vent. It's me all right. I'm. Oh gosh. It's been a while, hasn't it?" She adjusted her mask back onto her face, which had been knocked askew during the hug.

"Yeah. It's been…. Yeah," Vent agreed somberly, his throat tight and his voice cracked at a high pitch, "Yeah. It has." He looked around the amusement park as if trying to ground himself. Here and there were the remainders of some minor mavericks, dozens of fully-functioning rides in a variety of gaudy colours, and bits of trash that were occasionally tossed about by the wind. It was all situated on a tackily patterned ground made to look like fairy-tale paving stones, but obviously false and all the more cheesy for it. The gaudy locale was not the most dignified area for a reunion. And yet, considering it was that last place they had last seen each other alive, it was somehow perfect. Vent hugged her again and took a deep breath, "I killed Purprill."

"Who?"

"Purprill. He was…. He was a maverick involved in the attack here. The one that... that…!" Vent couldn't bring himself to say the rest. He didn't need to. With his eyes roving everywhere around the park but at Aile, watching studiously for even the smallest of dangers, It wasn't a hard leap to make. This is where their mother had died. Where they thought each other had died. Rather than state this, Vent simply held her tighter and continued to keep his gaze semi-alert. His surveyal wasn't directed anywhere near Aile, as if afraid that she'd disappear if he looked at her too hard.

The small brunette paused for a moment. "Good. Sounds like he got what was coming to him," Aile commended him, "I'm glad that one of us was able to grind Purprill's dead, ugly face into dust. Asshole." She chuckled as she gently tightened her hold, "It might be ten years late, sure, but knowing that one of us got revenge for mom feels good." She huffed, leaned away from her brother, and stared him into the eye. "One down. One to go. I know Serpent had something to do with that too."

"He did," Vent acknowledged.

"An astute observation indeed," said one of the small floating biometals.

Aile looked at a green object that hovered nearby, where the voice had come from. Another biometal, this one orange, seemed to levitate languidly and bobbed slightly in agreement, "Yeah, kinda weird that she figured that out though? How'd ya manage that girlie?"

"I saw a few things…" Aile grinned with a wink.

Vent didn't seem entirely convinced with her paltry explanation. He finally released his hug as he gave his sister an appraising look, "You saw a few things?" Then he seemed to be completely distracted as another realization hit, "Wait, you can hear them? The biometals?"

Aile blinked. "Eh? Yeah?"

"Oooh, now that's curious…" said a blue biometal. Aile watched as it surveyed her, and took stock of its features in turn. This one had a different, more feminine voice than the first blue biometal she'd seen back in the Area A forest.

Vent coughed a little in response, "Uh, yeah, it's… apparently being able to hear 'em might not be too common of a thing? Maybe? I don't... Er, I don't know why though."

Aile frowned, because Vent was clearly being a bit dodgy about it. He probably did know, looking at the way his eyes started shifting again. He introduced each biometal to her, perhaps as a distraction, or just as a courtesy. Model X, Model Z, Models H, L, F, and P. There were quite a few of them! Model Z especially… well. She couldn't help but be worried about its uncanny resemblance to her parent, its voice especially. But she let the initial query and her suspicions slide, instead directing her attention to the others, "It's nice to meet you all! Thanks for taking care of my brother. I have no idea why we can both hear you if it's so rare, but hey, I'm not complaining. I'm just… I'm really glad to see you again," she smiled at Vent, entirely genuine.

At that, Vent smiled as well. They gave each other yet another hug before Vent pulled back a bit and looked at her fondly, "Yeah. I'm glad too. And even moreso, I'm glad you managed to figure it out and find me. But…How did you know it was me?" His eyes were wide with confusion as he asked her, "How did you know that I was your brother? It's been so long… We've never even met, really, and yet you knew exactly where to find me after all these years? How did you figure out to follow me to Area H?"

Aile shuffled around a bit sheepishly before she explained, "I, uh, I only figured out who you were a few days ago. It's, hmm… I first saw you when you fell off the cliff in Area A. I was snooping around at the time, then followed you for a while after, since I heard your name and stuff and wanted to know for sure. I figured it out pretty quickly after that-oh! Uh, heh heh, whoops..." As she spoke she remembered, "I think this, er, this was yours?" Because it was at this exact moment that she realized that she still had her brother's change purse. She figured that she should probably give it back. With that, Aile reached into her pocket, rooted around for a bit, then held out the stolen item sheepishly.

It didn't take long for understanding to dawn on his face. He was definitely a little surprised and insulted when he realized what she was holding out to him. It was actually really funny. "Aile!" He squealed, aghast, "I can't believe it! That's my wallet! You stole it from me!?"

"I thought you were dead at first! Why the hell would a dead guy need money? Finders keepers and all that," she argued, unable to stop herself from laughing a little, "besides, I'm giving it back, right? No harm done!" She offered back the pilfered purse, watching Vent's expression shift rapidly between affronted, confused, relieved, and indignant. Finders keepers, all right. But she'd found something a lot better than some scummy old money bag that day. She couldn't help but glow a little at the thought. Her brother. Her brother was here, alive, and well. And they were talking. This was the best thing ever!

The troublemaker's thoughts were interrupted when one of the biometals came forward and looked at the purse, "She does have a point," Model L spoke up as she twirled a little to face the young teen in front of her, "Not that I agree with her morality, but it's hard to argue the practicality." Beside her, the purple biometal, Model P, seemed to bob up and down in agreement.

"See? This gal gets it!" Aile grinned and jutted her finger towards the small figure as it floated around her curiously. Aile figured she liked this one already. The blue biometal seemed to feel the same way. She was enraptured by Aile and her staff, even going so far as to almost land on her shoulder as she inspected Aile's weapon. Vent didn't particularly notice, too distracted by his own loud complaints.

"I can't believe you," Vent bemoaned again, accepting back the small purse. Then he gave an accusing glare at Model L, "Both of you. You're horrible."

"And you're stuck with us. Good thing we're on your side, eh? Sorry bro but you're pretty naive I think. Someone has to watch your back!" Aile sighed sadly. Vent looked a little upset at the comment, which she ignored as she continued, "But don't worry! I've got you covered, and I'll show you the ropes!" A hearty pat on his shoulder nearly toppled him, and a couple of the biometals laughed at her shenanigans.

It was at this point that Vent yelped, "Ack! I almost forgot! Prairie said there were ships headed straight for Guardian base! We have to hurry! Er, I mean… I have to hurry?"

Aile was instantly concerned, "Alright then? If they're important to you, then I guess we'd better go bail them out!"

Vent startled a little. "Ah, no, Aile! It's too dangerous. You should stay behind somewhere safe. You're not a Mega Man after all, and-"

Aile's finger waving in his face cut him off. His request for her to stay behind was probably from some misguided belief that she couldn't handle herself. Which first of all was very false seeing as she, a non-Mega Man, had saved his sorry ass at least once already. She raised her eyebrow and said, curtly, "Not a Mega Man? Need I remind you which of us two needed bailing out?" Vent wanted to protect her? In his dreams! That sort of chivalrous stupidity wasn't going to fly with her, of course. Aile's conviction didn't waiver even when he brought out the puppy eyes, wordlessly begging her to stay out of what he thought was a very dangerous situation. It was adorable. It was purposefully pitiable. And it was also totally unfair. But screw it, she was not leaving him alone. Aile rolled her eyes, "You want me to stay safe and wait? Wait where? Where could I go anyways? Nowhere is really 'safe' with Serpent running the show. Not even Innerpeace, not that they'd be happy to have me anywhere near there." Vent seemed troubled as she thought about her response. Aile gently pushed him towards the exit, "Your friends need help, right? Then we need to help them sooner rather than later, so quit lollygagging! Besides, if you want me in a safe space, wouldn't it be best if I could hang with your other allies?"

Her brother eventually groaned, unable to refute her logic. He perked up despite his loss, a shine coming to his eyes at her offer of assistance. Aile shook her head at his enthusiasm, and also his airheaded ways. How could someone forget that there was an aerial assault headed straight for his base of operations? Tch, how had this kid survived this long? She had to give his parental figure credit for that, at least... Or maybe not, because clearly his teacher had failed to bestow enough common sense to avoid getting himself into such situations. Oh well. This is why she was going to be the best big sister ever (twin status be damned; she'd probably come out first anyways). Also she could fight, despite what her brother might want or wish. As long as there weren't too many long range fighters or dangerous mechaniloids around, she could always help out the other Guardians or something.

It was at this point that Aile fully realized that she was going to Guardian base… willingly.

Oh.

Oh shiiiiiiit.

Well this was a conundrum, now wasn't it? At least the Guardians were being attacked and probably wouldn't care too much about her presence? Maybe? Ugh. FINE.

Aile was forced from her musing when Vent dashed away towards the exit. Aile did her best to follow, but the top speed of a Mega Man was a teeny, tiny, massive bit faster than an unenhanced human like herself. Not quite on the level of her father, but more than enough to leave her slightly breathless as she sprinted after her brother and took some slightly riskier jumps than usual in her effort to keep up. He still had to pause and wait for her several times, though the dawning dread and impatience of knowing his friends were in danger was clearly making the breaks a difficult endeavour for him. Thankfully the nearest teleporter wasn't too far away, and wow, getting to use one of these things was going to be a first for her.

"Sweet! Never got to play with one of these before," Aile mentioned as Vent took over and typed away furiously on some sort of keypad. That wasn't a lie either: though she'd seen one or two on occasion, she'd never been able to figure out how to use them.

He gave her a mild look of surprise before he finished what he was doing and gripped her arm, "Really? Uh, well, good thing I'm here. You probably wouldn't be able to get to base without me anyways, so yeah, that's lucky. Stay still and don't move until it's over, okay?

"Oka-"

She didn't even have time to finish before the world shifted in a whirl of data and reality that probably should have been a lot more disorienting than it was. Thankfully Aile cottoned on quickly and held statue-still until the ordeal was over. She blinked when her brother rushed out of the room, apparently signaling the end of the event.

Aile was taken aback by his rapid departure. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she glanced around the area to get her bearings. It was a fairly utilitarian and unremarkable place all told. Along one wall was a massive window, clouds softly roaring past its clear surface. She took a step towards it, and saw that they were high up. Like really, REALLY high up. What a time to realize that she wasn't so good with heights. Oh no. Aile pointedly ignored any and all windows from then on, especially when she came to the realization that her brother had left her behind. How rude! She bulled her way out of the room, looking up and down a hall filled with half-panicked Guardians (oh damn her haste she was in deep trouble here). They were running around in a frenzy, seemingly preparing for the attack. A few of them did a double-take at the sight of her. Aile dismissed them with a casual wave, and told the one that slowed down to look at her that she wasn't there to cause trouble. Whether or not they believed her, they saw no immediate threat, so promptly ignored her. Clearly there were more important tasks at hand. She hollered for her sibling, "Vent! Vent, where are you?

One man, his long blonde hair in a disarray, turned and looked at Aile with a stupified expression from where he was leaned against a wall. He merely pointed down the hall, "Uh, he's that way?"

"Giro! What are you doing, we're under attack! Get back to the med bay!"

Aile watched a nurse of some sort rush to the aide of the man who'd indicated Vent's direction. She only now noticed that he was trembling, pale with effort, yet still looking a little flushed. Aile was struck with indecision for a moment as he replied, "Muguet, I know, but Vent, he's-!"

A massive crash rocked the base. Aile didn't think she wanted to know what sort of ordinance could make an entire base rock side to side. She was distinctly ignoring the very-real possibility that the base they were in was an airship. Aile definitely wasn't comfortable with that thought, but quickly shoved it aside when she noticed her brother rocketing towards her. She immediately followed after him, ignoring the plight of Giro (wait, wasn't he the same guy from the Serpent HQ attack?) in favour of narrowly managing to follow her brother onto an elevator. He gave her a worried look, but she merely brandished her staff and gave him a cocky smirk. He nodded back, seeming a bit relieved, "Keep that near, Aile. We've got boarding parties going unchecked."

"Not for long!" Aile snickered.

She was completely correct in her assumption. Shortly after the pair of them made it to the upper deck of the Guardian base, other ships appeared out of the clouds and launched large grappling devices towards the sides of the deck. Vent was shooting at them before the machines had even attached themselves properly. (Guardian base was a ship. An airship. It was totally a ship, gods damn it Vent, how did you get into these sorts of batshit situations?!) Thankfully the mavericks that poured out after the structures latched on were easily disposed of, and Aile was grateful to admit that Vent wasn't completely out of his element and gave as good as he got, if not exponentially better.

That's when another boarding device crashed down in front of her and opened up. The next thing Aile knew, she was staring Pandora in the face.

Aile dove back with a yelp to literally hit the deck. Pandora also startled at the sight that had greeted her. Both recovered quickly. Vent turned towards them, just in time to see Pandora and Prometheus rush past his downed sister. He froze. Aile scrambled up before he could assume the worst however, shrieking at his dumbfounded expression, "Vent! Stop staring and go after them!" Another vessel approached to board in the distance, but Aile knew that priorities had shifted. "I can handle myself here, go! Get them!"

Vent dashed off, clearly coming to the same conclusion. Aile could more than easily handle a few galleons, or whatever these purple, humanoid mavericks were that kept trying and failing to board. Better them than Pandora and Prometheus anyways. She'd taken the purple peons down before, after all. And with the way these ones hesitated to confront her, she was going to have a relatively easy fight this time around too.

Several moments of battle passed with unnerving silence beating through her ears. The occasional (yet oddly hesitant) firing of a weapon, the stomping of booted feet on a metal surface, and the multitude of painful crunch sounds from her weapon striking home, were all oddly muffled by the rushing of the wind around them. Aile let the blood that pumped in her ears drown out any unnecessary noise. Another half-dozen mavericks fell before true silence claimed the deck. Aile quickly looked around, saw no more threats (but did see a hell of a lot of munition from the Guardian airship's guns), and nodded to herself in satisfaction. She looked outwards to the other ships, watching a maverick vessel burst into flame and pinwheel downwards as it was struck by Guardian counter-fire. She could see no immediate attackers, but the miscreant wouldn't have been surprised if another round of boarders was waiting in the wings.

There was the feeling of eyes upon her, and a harsh chill shuddered down her spine. It wasn't a physical drop in temperature that caused this though, oh no. Aile knew what caused this. She gulped, steeled herself, and turned around to face Pandora.

Alone.

Aile slowly fell into a battle stance, calculating her odds and how best to strike out if the opportunity arose. The pale Mega Man floated across from Aile, Pandora's staff lazily circling around its owner as the two sized each other up. Aile snarled, "Well, well, look who it is. Been a while, hasn't it? So, what tricks are you up to this time?"

Pandora hummed aloud, observing Aile in turn. Her posture was relaxed, but in a way Aile knew could turn hostile in a heartbeat. It was a deceptively friendly gesture, but extremely eerie when all Aile could see was the way Pandora's sharp gaze focused hungrily upon her. What was that old saying again? Ah, right. Will you walk into my parlour, said a spider to a fly…

Pandora seemed to mull over her reply for a while before she finally spoke, "The game... Just beginning. A few loose ends… before we start." She then casually, all too meaningfully, floated down to the deck and took a few delicate steps towards Aile. "Funny that you ask… here yourself," she said as she cocked her head curiously. In a mockingly guileless tone, Pandora mentioned, "Never did ask… name. Did I?"

Aile grumbled out under her breath at this callout, and snorted at the obviously fake innocent act that followed it. Pandora stopped her slow approach when Aile tensed up, bearing her own staff at the ready, "The name is Aile, asshole. And it's none of your business why I'm here. Family business, if you must know. I'd stay out of it if I were you, and knew what's good for you!" It was a thinly veiled threat and they both knew it. Yet Pandora's eyes only seemed to light up at these words. She took a look around, and that's when the two women realized just how alone they were up there. Or at least Aile did. Thanks to the brutally strong breezes out here, no one would hear the two of them if a fight broke out, or if anything else happened. By the way one of Pandora's hands twitched greedily, she was very aware of how isolated they were.

Pandora's eyes fell on Aile once more, "A pretty name, and yet… You… a wrench… the works. The Guardians… supposed to end them… destroy his friends… support system. And yet," she tapped her chin thoughtfully, pausing, "maybe… Hmm. Maybe. You're not one… the Guardians…" Pandora then spoke, as if to herself, in a voice that Aile only barely caught, "You… Prometheus and I agreed, and yet… Maybe I could… Yes. Worth the risk… The Guardians… wouldn't be missed…" She took another step towards Aile, once again looking around. As if making sure there were no witnesses. No. There was no 'as if' there. Pandora was eager yet wary, wary like a furtive thief with their hands already on the prize. Aile knew that sort of emotion by heart, of course, having felt it countless times herself. Being on the other side of such a plotting expression was not fun.

Forcing herself to show a bravado she had no right to feel, Aile took a step of her own towards her foe. The young teen thudded the blunt end of her staff into the deck to make a point, "Hah! Lady, first of all, I'm a lot stronger than when we first met. You don't know what you're in for if you try anything here with me! Second of all-" and here Aile grinned maliciously and whirled her staff "-do you think Daddy wouldn't miss me? He knows I'm out and about! Face it, you're boned if you try anything."

There was a sudden distortion in the air next to Pandora. Prometheus appeared out of nowhere, falling to the deck with a clang and a slightly pained expression, "Oof. Dang. That blue brat's got claws now." He brought himself to his feet, suddenly tense as he noticed the situation between Pandora and Aile. He chortled wryly, "Huh, now ain't this nostalgic." He sighed loudly. Pandora seemed to gather some sort of meaning from the gesture, as she lost the tension in her body and began to pout. Her brother grumbled at Aile, "You're lucky, girl! We're in a hurry here. We don't have the time to deal with you right now!"

Aile sneered, "More like you know you'd get your ass kicked if you so much as laid a finger on me!"

Her cocky grin caused Prometheus to growl lightly, "You, girl, are a little shit. You have horseshoes up your ass and you know it. Facing enemies like us so boldly… If that other Mega Man back there didn't herd me off, you'd be in some real trouble right now!" Despite his bluster, Aile merely laughed at him and his obvious and flimsy excuse. Sure, blame it on someone kicking his sorry behind, they both know the real reason he had retreated that day. If anything had happened to Aile, such as getting hurt by them or by being stuck on a crashing airship, they both knew just who Omega would hunt down first. Them and their boss wouldn't be safe from the God of Destruction's wrath no matter how many cities or civilians they tried to hide behind. Prometheus rolled his eyes at her in turn. If she didn't know any better, it almost seemed like a fond gesture instead of a completely exasperated one. He turned to his cohort, "C'mon sis, we're outta here!" And with that the two Model W Mega Men teleported away, disappearing without a trace.

Aile looked around slowly, not quite letting herself relax yet. The sky keened loudly around her as the ship continued its path through the clouds. Still unsettled from the encounter, Aile didn't let her guard down. Instead she kept her eyes on her surroundings. It was this cautious surveyal that led her to the realization that all the attacking ships had backed off. They hadn't left without leaving a mark, however. The deck and hull of the ship was battered and burnt, holes and scars from gunfire interspersed with torn metal and a few scraps of maverick carcass. The railing was completely torn off along one side too, only a few dangerous spears of bent metal hinting that there'd ever been one in the first place.

Aile pondered to herself as she considered her surroundings, "That other Mega Man…" Had Prometheus been talking about her brother? That must have been the case. So, unicorn-head had ended up in a fight with Vent, and seemingly lost. Good for Vent! She was proud of him. And yet… well, she didn't know if she could give him all the credit. Quite frankly, Aile wouldn't have been surprised if Prometheus had thrown the fight willingly once he knew just who would have been implicated in the collateral damage. Aile's mere presence alone might have saved the entire Guardian organization for all she knew. After all, Pandora had come to her, rather than go destroy whatever counted for an engine on this ship. Seriously, who made their base a flying aircraft? There were all sorts of logistical problems with base defense! Although the mobility was probably nice.

Aile was distracting herself. Her brother was still indoors, and she wanted to be sure that he was okay. With that in mind Aile turned, leaped over the damage to the deck, and made her way towards her family. Towards the guts of Guardian HQ. The very same Guardians that probably had her near the tippy-top of their wanted list. Ugh. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Oh well. Nothing for it. She gave the entrance to the base a final look-over, dreading what was to come. After that, she went indoors.