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daybreak-academy-fanfic · 2 years

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Mega Man S: Chapter 15

A man named Master

Summary: In which Pandora encounters an enigmatic man in a black coat. Word Count: 1,962 First | Previous | Next ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆ ⚬ ☆

The boy was stalling. It was evident when he fought them, and it was evident now that a gateway home was half complete. Everything would be better if he left. This world didn’t need another Mega Man- there was barely room for the ones it already had. Three Biometals (Models W, O, and A) were destined for one fate; destruction. Four Biometals (Models H, F, L, and P) were destined to change hands until they no longer existed. The last two Biometals (Models X and Z) were resilient, but held destinies that could change on a dime. They could, for all intents and purposes, be ignored for the time being. There was no rush.

But the boy did not belong here. He had no excuses. The fact that he was not making moves to remove the boy was worrying. Did he not care? Did he not realize that this actually complicated matters beyond the Game of Destiny? He was an old coot, so it could have been possible. It was still rather worrying.

Serpent had placed Pandora in the outskirts to search for more Model W fragments. It was the only real mission he had for her and Prometheus while the business man established himself as trustworthy. Every so often he would request that they send a wave of Mavericks out to a civilian area, but there must not have been anything noteworthy going on today. Prometheus, she knew, would treat days like this as a vacation. He stayed away from anyone that could get hurt. Not because he cared, of course. More so because the noise of terrified screams annoyed him if it wasn’t for a higher purpose. Neither of them wanted to wake Model W’s true form until it was time. A premature awakening would be the beginning of their end. They were both sure of it.

There wasn’t even a Model W fragment in this area. That one had been extracted years ago by their master for his long-term plan. Where he kept it without alerting the others was something Pandora only had faint knowledge of; which was likely for the best. It was already a curse knowing that a back up existed…

“Wonderful day we’re having!” a voice called out from the otherwise still atmosphere. “Don’t cha think?”

Pandora stopped walking. She slowly turned to where the voice had come from to see a man in a black coat. It didn’t belong to any fashion she knew of. Looking to be made of some sort of cured leather, with a horrendous zipper making up the entire front and silver drawstrings hanging down the coat’s hood. Said hood covered the man’s head, effectively blocking out any facial features he could have had. He was a human, though. Pandora could feel the difference from here.

“Oh, come on. Don’t give me that look.” the black coated man then joked. “Let’s sit and talk for awhile, Pandora.”

The Reploid immediately recoiled.

“How do you know that name?” she asked, demanded, in her usual soft tone. “We have never met.”

The man laughed. He slapped his hands on his knees so he could stand up. Pandora watched in contempt as he then stretched a bit before turning his attention back to her.

“You know,” the man then went on, “For practically being omniscient, Over-1 sure doesn’t know much. Not that I’m much better. But this isn’t my therapy session either, ha!” To Pandora proper, he said, “If you want to fight me, don’t bother. Much like how Sora couldn’t interact with Namine, you won’t get much luck with me either. Gotta say though; I’m a real fan of that little snowman bauble thing you do. I think it needs some kind of other projectile than bouncing. You know, for that extra oomph.”

Pandora was now scowling. She had long since withdrew her wand, and he must have known it, which was why he warned her that any attack would be useless. The only thing she could do at the moment was leave. However, she didn’t see that as an option. This man still had a lot to answer for.

He dared to move closer to her. When they were just within arm’s reach, he stopped.

“You know, there’s a lot of symbolism to be had when you name someone after someone -or some thing- important.” he said. His voice was suddenly a lot more somber now. “Pandora; the first woman given a box containing all of the world’s evils. Tricked, of course, into letting it all out and found the only thing left inside was hope. Ava, short for avarice -or its even older form avaritia-, is the definition of greed when you collect the best only for yourself- possibly as a result of being coerced as well.” And just like that, his personality switched to something more playful again. “And then there’s me, only known as the Master of Masters. There’s no meaning in that. It’s just pointing out the obvious!”

The man let out a hearty laugh as he turned from her. Now would be the time to leave. So why didn’t she? It must have been curiosity now that kept her rooted in place. Whatever it was, it annoyed her.

“Oh! I have a present for you!” the man said. “Catch!”

A second later, something black was soaring through the air toward Pandora. She deftly caught it with her wand. After a moment or two, she realized what it was. She looked at the man with a quirked eyebrow.

“A black coat?”

“You couldn’t pull it off, but I’m sure you’ll find something else that could.”

Something?

Before she could ask anything further, the enigmatic man with the black coat was gone. Pandora was left there with the atrocious coat on her wand and a feeling that the man was just as dangerous as him. Regardless, she peeled the coat off her wand to carefully fold it into a neat square. A part of her already knew what to do with it. The only problem was that she didn’t have permission to leave the area yet. Both Serpent and Prometheus would question where she got the coat, so she had to dispose of it quickly.

And so, Pandora started to walk. Patience was her main -if only- virtue. This area would have enough mechaniloids, it was just a matter of finding one to her desires.

It did not take long for her to find the perfect one. A Galleon was roaming the area as well. Its green eyes denoting that it was here for some sort of scouting mission for the people living in the city. Pandora carefully approached the Galleon as to not attract its premature attention. Once upon a time, their liveries were blue and white, instead of purple, and were modeled after the ruler of a now fallen city. When not controlled by Model W, the Galleons were rudimentary protectors. They were still mindless. They were still tools. They were still easy to manipulate if you knew how.

And Pandora was more than familiar with manipulating mindless AIs.

Pandora carefully raised her wand once she was close enough to the Galleon. A shot of lightning struck the mechaniloid, immediately rendering it offline. Pandora then moved quickly to outfit the black coat on. Between now and when the Galleon came back online, there would have been enough exposure to Model W that it would be fully under her control. Or enough of it. She didn’t care what happened to this creature after this moment. It just needed to spread a little terror. That was the only thing expected for all Mavericks, no matter its size.

The Galleon took its time to come back online. When its eyes flickered to life in a bright red hue, Pandora knew it was under her control.

“Find Sora,” she told the Maverick, “And kill him.”

. . .

“You see that symbol there? It’s how we write a 0. Just tell us how much stuff have a 0 next to them, and we’ll handle the rest.”

Sora thought he was doing pretty well in understanding the language in this world. And then he realized he still knew nothing when stuff like this happened. Maybe it was a form of peer pressure. This was everyday work for Aile and Vent so they generally didn’t think twice about it. Sora still had yet to really complete any assignment given to him here. It made him feel bad.

Maybe he felt this way because of how Aile was looking at him, honestly. There was a lot of respect in those green eyes, and hope. For a moment Sora wondered how she would fare with a Keyblade- or even a Biometal. Model X seemed like a pretty good match; it would be like a father guiding his daughter. Then Model Z could be with Vent. There was just something about their sense of justice that seemed to mesh better.

Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember if Model X or Model Z have ever talked when Aile and Vent were around. Was it coincidence or part of what made the twins special? He’d have to ask Giro later.

“He should be helping over here instead.” Vent argued as he set a box down. He sat on top of it without a second guess before going on to say, “Dunno why you’re even bothering to teach him our language. He’s going to leave soon.”

“Maybe I want Sora to leave with a part of us with him.” Aile shot back, playfully sticking her tongue out at him. “Knowing our language would be an awesome way of doing that.”

“No it’s not.”

“How would you know? You parroted everything I said for nearly 10 years.”

“I did not.”

“Did too.”

“I’ll be fine with the clipboard.” Sora quickly told them, hoping to avoid a fight. “I may not always be the best at understanding other world’s customs, I do like knowing them anyway. It never hurts, I think.”

“See?” Aile beamed at Vent. “Let’s get going, then!”

Vent grumbled as he got up again. Sora let out a small sigh of relief. They might have avoided a fight for not, which was good. Maybe one of these days he’d be able to bring Aile and Vent to his world. The Destiny Islands in particular- he could see Vent enjoying the surf the most. They’d have a big barbecue on the beach, and Riku would relentlessly tell Vent every embarrassing story he had about Sora. Then Kairi and Aile could comb for seashells as they talked about how rowdy their boys were. It would be the perfect day, all five of them together. Giro and Juno could join too if they wanted. Although there would have been some relief in not having adults constantly watching them. Yeah, the more Sora thought about it, the more he just wanted the five of them to be alone and getting along.

Outside of Giro Express, hidden in the shadows of the buildings surround it, a single red eye glowed from under a black coat’s hood. Its instructions were to kill Sora, but not while he was in the courier service. There was someone that its master wanted to preserve- someone more of sentimental value than long term use. But it didn’t care about that. It wanted Sora to leave, out into a good space for an ambush. A small plan started to form in the Maverick’s processors. Anyone would see that the foolish boy was connected to those twins. There must be a way to draw them out to get Sora’s attention.

And if they died alongside him?

It was just as good as killing three birds with one stone.

#mega man s #kingdom hearts fanfiction #mega man fanfiction #chapter 15 #Pandora #MoM #Aile #Vent #Sora

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model-a · 2 years

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Model F is the only valid biometal for talking like a normal person instead of rambling in vague statements that are fucking incomprehensible to a 14 y/o

#txt #zx series #zx #model f

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beevean · 2 years

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Now let's talk about that time Megaman decided to have a Power Rangers/Sailor Moon phase :P

Not even Megaman can escape from The Superpower of Teamwork™ :P

Megaman ZX is fun! And honestly after some of the last games I had to go through, I'm glad I can just say “yeah it’s fun”.

The tonal whiplash from its prequel series Zero also helps. I admit, I barely tried to follow the plot, because in my mind it all merged together in “YEAHHHH THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIPPPPPP MAGICAL GIRLS TRANSFORMATIONSSSSSSS YOU’RE THE CHOSEN ONE MY DUDE/GAL SURE YOU HAVE POTENTIAL FOR EVIL BUT YOU’RE THE PURE HEARTED HERO/INE WITH A TRAGIC PAST WE NEED TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM THE BAD GUY”. Which, well, that’s fine by me! Although that heavily clashes with the realization that Reploids, a minority that was sent to concentration camps a couple of centuries ago, now are forced to follow a “death date”, and even get triangles on them to distinguish them from normal humans... and nobody says a thing about this in game. Oops...

Well, anyway. The game is basically Z1 but much, much more fleshed out, and much more fair. They brought back the interconnected world, they brough back the mission system, and there’s even a bit of Metroidvania here - you can’t reach some Data Disks until you find the right Model, for example Model H that makes you dash upwards. Thankfully it also has a much more reasonable life system, if you lose all your lives you get to retry from the start (and keep everything you collected so far, yay!), from the last checkpoint, or abort the mission (which thankfully doesn't make the mission unplayable later :^) )

But speaking of Models! The Biometals are the main gimmick of the ZX series. And, lore wise... they feel a little cheap? Like, I cried when Zero died, I felt so bad when X didn’t reappear in Z4... and now they’re basically Macguffins? Along with the previously-mysteriously-disappeared Guardians? Did they just rip the souls of all these dead Reploids from the Cyberspace to stuff them in an object and forcing them to become costumes for the Chosen Ones? Please let them rest.

But who cares, I get to play as not-Leviathan best girl, I’m happy :D

I like the balancing of the Models. Model ZX is just Zero from the Zero series but with a chargeable boost, and it’s just as great as the guy’s always been, the Kuuenzan is just as OP as I like it <3 Model H is super fun, it’s mainly a close range Model but the Air Dash and the gliding give it great mobility, love to traverse areas with it. Model L is of course mainly useful in water, but boy is it useful, you can swim everywhere (with a goofy animation though) and the swirling halbert move is OP - Area J was a blast to go through only for this model. Model F, I didn’t get to use it much, but I like how not only it shoots upwards, but you can also edit the trajectory of the bullets yourself, it made the miniboss of Area K much easier lol. Model P... is alright, I like the super fast kunai, but the ability to see in the dark feels gimmicky and I didn’t find a use for the ability to hang from the ceiling.

However. The biggest criticism I have is that, while I still think the life system is fair, the backtracking you have to do if you get a game over (especially if you died at the boss) is rather annoying. The only zone that gives you a save point more or less before a boss is Area O, the second-to-last one (and even then you’re forced to fight the most boring miniboss ever before getting to the boss)! And you might say, well yeah it's been the case in every Megaman game, but this one wants to be a Metroidvania, and save points are much more plentiful in that genre for a reason. Your character is not as agile as Samus or Alucard, the areas are long stretches filled with enemies and Megaman obstacles, savepoints/teleporters feel rare, minibosses don’t stay dead for some reason, and sometimes it's even hard to remember which door leads where - there is a “map”, but it’s more of a suggestion.

This ain’t a real “map” chief.

At least with something like this I could tell which door leads where.

So it's not really fun to dash through the entirety of the very long and nearly barren Area A or Area C, the main “hubs”, to get again to one of the many doors that lead to your objective. It doesn’t help that some transervers don’t even act as teleporters, for some unexplainable reason. Area H and Area J force you to take the long way back rather than just... teleport back to where you want. Why.

(I admit I'm saying all of this because one time I got through an entire area, down to the boss room, and it wouldn't open. Turns out that I had selected the wrong mission. I won't blame the game for this dumb mistake, but it’s both annoying and hilarious that this can happen lmao)

The level design is alright, the levels do feel a little long but they were clearly determined to create a large world full of secrets, and the various zones are fairly memorable: some are submerged in water, some are on fire and you have to rescue people, some have a tense lava chase sequence, some have missiles raining on you, fun stuff. The bosses are just as complex as the ones in the Zero series, and not as horribly broken because elemental attacks cost you energy! Man did the boss rush kick my ass :^) Even some the minibosses are a fair challenge.

I like the inclusion of humans you can interact with. Not only it gives a purpose to the Human form (which otherwise is only used to crawl through tight spaces), it makes the world you live in feel more alive, instead of just a nebulous entity in the background like Neo Arcadia in the Zero series. There are even some sidequest, which mainly give you small bonuses and flesh out even more the cute world, which I appreciate. The idea of doing errands in a Megaman game is just funny to me. I appreciate a little less the fact that one of the Sub Tanks is locked behind a fairly long and boring quest, though :\

The graphics are gorgeous. Instead of going for a pseudo-3D look they stuck to the original Zero style but beefed it up, and the game looks colorful and detailed and a pleasure to the eyes - Area J is just <3 And the anime cutscenes are well done and I’m genuinely surprised that the DS could handle them! Maybe some of the backgrounds lack some parallaxes? I’m thinking mainly of the city area. But it’s a nitpick.

The music is... not very Megaman, but it fits the more happy-go-lucky tone of this game! Just beautiful, catchy compositions all around, perfect for areas you’re going to be stuck in for a while :D definitely high up in my top list. My favorites are:

Green Grass Gradation and its strong “a new adventure awaits!” vibes - and when it plays before the final boss? What a great moment <3;

the absolute futuristic earworm that is Brilliant Show Window;

the mysterious Wonder Panorama, oddly reminescent of Water City from Z3;

the rocking Ogre Claw, very in tune with all the guitar-heavy tracks of the Zero series;

the soothing Misty Rain, which gives big Rusty Ruin Saturn vibes - and the rearranged version with the woman wailing? *chef’s kiss*;

the serene Ultramarine Meditation;

Doomsday Device which seems to be a more serious remix of Final Count Down from Z3;

the somber but determined Black Burn, the beginning of which seems to recall Straight Ahead from Z4;

the dance-y Snake Eyes, continuing the Megaman tradition of having catchy bangers for the last level (and being a remix of the “sad/game over” theme lol);

the appropriately named boss theme, that I imagine being the Megaman answer to Metal Scratchin’;

the oddly named miniboss theme;

the super boppy Sky High - I love how the “resistance base” theme went from scrappy, to militaristic, to determined, to peaceful, to finally cheerful and feels-good, saying a lot about ZX as a whole;

the badass and jazzy Trap Factory;

the epic and threatening Pallida Mors.

(also love how Weil's creepy leitmotif lives on in Deep-Seated Grudge, really drives the point home that the old nightmare isn't over yet)

However, I have another nitpick: the soundfont sounds straight from the GBA, just less crunchy. It has its charm, but if the graphics have been updated so much, I kinda expected to music to follow suit.

So yeah, ZX was fun. Not mindblowingly awesome, probably a step back from the peak reached by the Zero series, and it certainly tried to do a lot which ultimately clogged the experience. But it was an enjoyable experience, very cheesy, very earnest, and with a lot of heart put into it :) I heard that Advent fixed some of the problems I had here, so we shall see.

#megaman #megaman zx #and no i haven't tried to face the bonus boss #maybe another time :P

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ao3feed-izuku-midoriya · 3 years

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Transforming Hero: Megaman!

Transforming Hero: Megaman! by Ragnarok03

Izuku Midoriya might not have a quirk, but he does have a pro hero father and an adaptive biometal that gives him all the help he needs to be the hero he's always dreamed about. Of course, this'll probably lead to immense headaches for a certain exhausted pro hero/teacher, but his life is suffering so oh well.

Words: 1547, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia, Rockman ZX | Mega Man ZX

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Hisashi, Midoriya Inko, Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Nezu, Snipe, Bakugou Katsuki, Model A, Model Z

Relationships: Class 1-A & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Hisashi/Midoriya Inko, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead/Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku, Izuku Midoriya & Model A

Additional Tags: Good Parent Midoriya Inko, Scary Midoriya Inko, Good Parent Midoriya Hisashi, Pro Hero Midoriya Hisashi, Uncle Snipe, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Bakugou Katsuki is a Good Friend, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Sortof, NotReallyAQuirk, ButHeHasSomething, Biometal

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546287

#AO3 Feed #FanFiction #AO3 Izuku #♢#Izuku Midoriya #Hisashi Midoriya #Erasermic·#A:Ragnarok #Quirk AU #Crossover

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teamprototype · 4 years

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So been playing Zero Collection and replaying my personal fav of the games, ZX Advent and I just really was in the mood to draw some OCs in biometal merged forms. So here’s Sparks in Model L cause Thetis is easily my fav of the four. I also did @psydoktor‘s OC, Fenrir, with Model F since it was way too fitting. Never did the Zero/ZX style outfits yet, so this was fun for practice.

#yarkart #Gift Art #sparks #fenrir #costume

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megaman-zx-prismatic-kingdom · 7 months

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Chapter 19 cover art

Asuna is wearing the demon sword

#prismatic kingdom #crossover #megaman zxa #neon genesis evangelion #kaworu nagisa #asuna langeley shikinami #biometal model h #biometal model l #biometal model f #biometal model p #ghirahim #area A

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tigertaurus22 · 8 months

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Chapter 23: The Grand Divine Beasts is now up!

For context, the Divine Beasts we’re referring to aren’t the ones made by the Ancient Sheikah.

Some more new characters are introduced, but let me assure you they aren’t random.

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cosmosrebellion · 6 months

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Hey! I found you through your Megaman ZX Symphogear crossover idea and I just wanted to toss some ideas at you for other possible biometals for the characters. For instance, I would suggest Kirika and Shirabe have the styles of Prometheus and Pandora respectively. Chris should have model A for the guns and being able to go ballistic. Hibiki has Model X, but Maria has model O until she gets model P similar to her Argetlam. Then the Guardian biometals, most of the element ones with H, L, and F, are brought in for the Autoscorers later.

Your ideas are super-cool!!

Kirika and Shirabe having Prometheus and Pandora's powers and possibly roles is very interesting and could be very fun. Honestly I didn't thought of it because I want Prometheus and Pandora to be active villains in this crossover, but it's a really solid translation.

Giving Chris Model A was something I did consider because as you said, it is the "Guns, guns, and more guns" biometal and there's something really interesting you can do by having Finé play Albert's role. I just thought Model F's "MORE FIRE" strategy fit Chris style a little better than the A-Trans ability, but it's a super-cool idea.

And giving Maria model O is also a very interesting idea specially since she's later a foil to Tsubasa. And Omega Messiah-complex contrasting with her struggle to convince herself that the harm she caused in G was for the great good could make for great character work.

I thought of giving Model P to Kirika because the contrast of her cheerful personality with her having the creepiest looking biomerged form.

And the Guardian Biometals being merged to the Autoscorers is a great use of their elemental aspect, and could be used for interesting parallels between them and the Four Guardians.

#symphogear #mega man zx #kirika akatsuki #shirabe tsukuyomi #chris yukine #maria cadenzavna eve #mmz omega

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pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer · 5 years

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Mega Man ZX Termination

Part 10

The wounded Hunters were all recovering well, with Grey even departing to help the other squad monitoring the least-concerning Pseudoroid. Before he did, however, he told Aile that something odd had happened when he fought Fafnakkel: that he had blacked out for a moment, and when he came to, Fafnakkel had been badly wounded. He said he felt fine now, so Aile told him not to worry and wished him good luck. She had then pointed the ship in the direction of the Pseudoroid the Guardians were dealing with, stopped in to see Fleuve and temporarily left Model F in his care, and then gone to sleep off what fatigue she could.

Now she stood on the beach, the salty air calming her a bit despite the situation. Many of the Guardians on-site were slowly combing the ocean with small watercraft, while more formed a line along the shore, their weapons ready as they waited for a target. Aile looked away as someone called out to her.

“I’m afraid we lost track of it, Commander,” a Guardian informed her. “Though to be honest, we weren’t doing much good when we were fighting it.”

“Don’t worry, looks like the situation’s still pretty under control,” Aile said. “I’ll go in and see if I can’t draw it out.”

“One more thing,” the Guardian said, though he hesitated a bit. “We, um, found this child wandering around here…we told him to go home, but he said he was here to talk to you. We weren’t really sure what to do, but he’s in our custody.”

Aile sighed. “Oh, right. Can you bring him here?”

The Guardian left and returned with Thetis in tow. The boy grinned up at Aile, bouncing a bit as he said, “You’re finally here! What took so long? The other Pseudoroids weren’t really giving you trouble, were they?”

Aile crouched. “Alright, Thetis. What kind of Pseudoroid am I dealing with here?”

Thetis’s eyes gleamed. “Thomas created an amazing one! He’s an unstoppable creature that rules over the sea, called Levortex the Serpentoid!”

Aile grimaced. “Wonderful name.”

“It’s only a matter of time before he destroys this area! Then, with these humans and Reploids gone, there’ll be no one to threaten the ocean—and Levortex will move on to the next settlement, and the next! He’ll eliminate anyone who could pollute the water! I can’t wait to see it!”

Aile didn’t say anything, just placed her chin on her fist and aimed a concerned stare at Thetis. The boy’s enthusiasm gradually faded.

“…You still don’t want to protect the ocean, do you?”

“What did I say last time?” Aile asked. “We can talk about protecting the ocean. I’m all for clean oceans. But, maybe we can do it in a way that involves less…genocide?”

Thetis scowled. He was probably trying to look intimidating, Aile figured, but if so he wasn’t having much success. “Fine! I don’t need you anyway—I’ll protect the ocean by myself if I have to! I’m used to no one listening to me, ignoring me because they think I’m some dumb kid! You’re the same as everyone else!”

Aile cocked her head. It was Model L who came forward, the Biometal shouting, “Ugh, enough! You know why everyone treats you like a dumb kid? Because you’re acting like a dumb kid!”

Thetis recoiled a little, but then stamped his foot and replied, “Shut up! What do you know?”

“A hell of a lot more than you, that’s for sure! Listen to you, so sure that you’re right and everyone else is wrong, that your way is the only way anything’s going to get done! No one wants to work with you because you don’t know how to work with others!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Weren’t you listening? You’re stuck on this one particular way to do things, and want everyone else to agree with you. Meanwhile Aile’s saying she will help you, and you blow her off entirely because she wants to do it differently! It’s the most inane, self-defeating mentality I’ve ever seen, and as long as you hold onto it, you’re going to stay every bit as lonely as you are now!”

Thetis started to shrink away. Aile touched Model L, saying, “Hey, that’s enough.”

L glanced at her, then back to Thetis, and finally backed off in a huff.

“Thetis,” Aile said. “I’m sure you’re being stubborn because you think you have to be—protecting the environment has always been an uphill battle, and maybe it always will be. But what you’re planning to do is kill loads of innocent people just because they don’t agree with you. That’s wrong. Do you understand?”

Thetis crossed his arms and turned away, not saying a single word. Aile began working on another attempt, but she heard shouting coming from the Guardians, and turned to see what the commotion was. The ocean was churning, waves rising and falling in a very unnatural way. The Guardians on its surface carefully made their way back to shore, and up above, the HQ flew over the disturbance as the water began to bubble. Something broke the surface then, erupting in a pillar of water that reached high enough that it almost consumed the airship; Aile rushed down to the shore as the veil fell away, revealing Levortex to her. The serpent was massive, perhaps the largest Pseudoroid she’d ever seen, with not a single gap visible in the smooth bluish-white armor that coated his body. His wedge-shaped head was encircled with massive ice spikes, and while his teeth were small, there appeared to be hundreds of them, a sight almost as terrifying as the look he gave her, his eyes laser-focused despite the feral energy bursting behind them.

Levortex roared. The spikes on his head separated from him, flying through the air like missiles locked onto the line of Guardians on the shore. They opened fire, barely managing to destroy the projectiles in time, but their foe was too far away for their shots to reach him. He gave an unsightly grin at this. Above, however, he heard a high-pitched whine, and turned to regard the airship. A massive blast of energy met him head-on. Levortex screeched in pain, seeming to retreat back underwater. A second later, his tail lashed up out of the sea, only a quick turn saving the airship from being torn open by it.

“Yikes…” was all Aile could think to say.

Levortex soon resurfaced, now even farther out than before. The icicles on his neck had already grown back. He faced the sky and roared once again, but this time, the sky darkened at his call, the clouds turning gray as they all gathered together. Aile felt a drop of rain. It came slowly at first, but escalated quickly into a deluge that threatened to wash them all away. Thunder rolled above her as Aile activated her communicator.

“Come in!” she yelled, trying to be heard over the din that surrounded her. “HQ, pull out! It’s not safe for you up there!”

The reply was near-instant: “This is Tulip, Commander. We can handle a little rain—and judging from our ground troops’ reports, this thing can move fast. You might need us to keep an eye out in case it tries to run.”

“Now’s no time to…” Aile began, but then she stopped. As she watched Levortex sink back beneath the waves, an idea she hated struck her; much as she would rather get her crew out of harm’s way, her priority was stopping the Pseudoroid…and there was a way they could help her with that.

Aile merged with Model LX and waded into the ocean. Putting a hand to her ear, she resumed, “Alright, Tulip. Keep this channel open. Eyes on the Pseudoroid. If things get too rough, I want you to get out of here…but until then, follow my orders, and keep the ship’s weapons charged.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

With that done, Aile submerged and fired Model LX’s turbines, shooting forward until she could see Levortex’s massive frame moving in the distance. Angling down, she slowed her approach just a bit as she tried to slip in under the creature. When she passed under his tail, however, she saw one of his fins twitch, and the water between them began to move. The next thing Aile knew, a whirlpool had enveloped her, tossing her about but luckily doing no real harm, and eventually she managed to throw herself free. The first thing she saw once she was out were the jaws of Levortex as he charged at her. Spinning around, she just barely got to the side of the serpent as it swam past her, and she took the opportunity to switch to Model FX. She punched Levortex in the side as hard as she could, sending him rolling off to the side, and then returned to Model LX and touched her helmet.

“Thirty meters from my signal, opposite my heading—fire!”

A beam of energy lanced down through the water, striking Levortex with enough force to hurl the already-stunned Pseudoroid to the ocean floor. Aile rushed him down, switching back to FX only when she was right on top of him, and she slammed both cannons downward to send a wave of flame along his body. Levortex roared furiously…but then, with a flick of his tail, Aile was launched through a nearby coral reef.

Tough bastard, huh?

Ice spikes were bearing down on her. She used Model FX to obliterate them all, but then the water picked her up, spinning her into another whirlpool, and this time Levortex smacked her out of it with his tail. She bounced off the sea floor, switching to Model LX as she ascended, and then circled around her foe as he started to move again.

“Tulip, can you fire a volley? 100 meters to my…”

She sighed, not sure which direction was which after being spun around.

“Make it a circular spread, radius 120 meters from my position.”

Blasts began to rain down then, smaller than the earlier attacks but still just as fast. Aile carefully wove through them as she tried to get closer to Levortex. The Pseudoroid was pelted by a few shots before he began to twist and turn, his enormous body cutting through the water like it weighed nothing, avoiding any further damage from the volley. But it distracted him—and Aile threw her halberd like a javelin, puncturing his snout and giving her something to grab onto when she finally reached him. One of his eyes, larger than her whole body, glared at her as she clung there. She glared right back.

With a roar, Levortex swung to the side, smacking his face against the coral in an attempt to dislodge Aile; she switched to Model PX just before impact and jumped to the other side of Levortex’s face, using the Biometal’s ability to adhere herself there in an instant. Levortex slowed as he pulled away, so Aile went back to Model FX, and she began to pound away at the Pseudoroid’s face, the surface beneath her punches slowly but surely giving way. As she reared back for another blow, she was suddenly blinded by a bright light. It came from Levortex’s eyes, now glowing brilliantly as he bucked and dislodged the off-balance Mega Man, and he swam away then, stopping only to swat her aside with his tail.

“Dammit!” Aile grunted. She sped after him using LX, ordering, “Tulip, advance along my heading—see if you can cut him off!”

She rolled from side to side as more missiles came at her, but she never strayed from her course. While she was clearly gaining on Levortex, it wasn’t by much, and she would likely only get one chance to stop him once she did catch up. However, surprising him didn’t seem likely, and useful as Model LX was for underwater combat, its attacks didn’t pack the kind of punch she was going to need. The water ahead warped—she banked hard to avoid the distortion, barely clearing the whirlpool when it began. Levortex was changing direction, probably hoping to circle around and attack her, but upon seeing she had avoided the trap he instead charged off in another direction. Aile angled her approach to intercept.

“Can you see him, Tulip?”

“Yes—we’re changing course! We’re just about on top of him, Commander!”

Aile knew that meant she needed to think of something fast. “Alright…when you get over him, aim for the head. Then I want you to circle around and stay on the defensive for a minute, in case he counterattacks!”

“Understood!”

“Model F…I know we’ve only had a few chances, but we’ve been able to get some energy towards the Incarnation, right?”

“Some, yeah,” F replied. “Both you and the Pseudoroid have been makin’ your hits count, but we’re gonna need a lot more.”

Aile nodded. “Okay…stand-by.”

Levortex watched Aile as she came closer, not trying to avoid the interception at all. His eyes lit up as she drew closer, and though she raised one arm to block it (while pulling the other back and making a fist), she still floundered a bit and lost some of her pace. Levortex smiled. However, as he turned to attack Aile, another blast from the airship came down, hitting the side of his head and leaving him defenseless as he tumbled through the water towards Aile. At the last possible second, Aile threw a punch and shifted to Model FX, letting the momentum of LX’s underwater speed add to FX’s strength to land an extraordinarily devastating blow to the Pseudoroid’s skull. Cracks spread out from the point of impact, and one of his eyes exploded out of its socket. His entire body twirled around as he fell face-first into the ocean floor, skidding for over a hundred meters before finally coming to rest. Aile stayed where she landed and watched to see if he would get up.

He did.

“How are we now, F?” Aile asked.

“Close, but not close enough,” F said. “It’d take another hit like that to finish charging, and I don’t know if we’re gonna get that chance.”

Levortex roared at her, firing a barrage of icicles as he aimed his body and started to swim. Aile focused on shooting them down, knowing she had at least a little time to think, but Levortex was still growing ever closer.

“Commander!” Tulip said. “He hasn’t returned fire—what are your orders?”

That gave Aile an idea. She hated this one too, but again, she didn’t see much of a choice. Bracing herself, she said, “Tulip…fire on my position.”

“What?! Repeat that, Commander! It sounded like—“

“Fire at me!”

“Aile,” X said, “even if that’s enough to charge the Incarnation, it’ll almost be enough to finish your energy! If your Megamerge fails here, you won’t float back to the surface fast enough!”

“I know, X.”

“Aile—“

“It’ll work! Trust me, okay?”

X hesitated. Levortex was close now, so Aile shouted, “Tulip! Hit me!”

The next instant, she felt nothing but pain. The energy blast hit her dead-on, nearly knocking her off her feet, but somehow she managed to stay upright. Levortex was scared off by the attack, hanging back to see if she had survived. She swayed a bit as the world came back into focus. Then, she glared up at Levortex, and she raised both cannons.

“Let’s do it…Model F…”

A hysteric laugh came from the Biometal of Flame as orange light enveloped Aile. The water around her boiled, spiraling orbs of light mixing in with the sheet of bubbles that enshrouded her, and then, as one, they all burst. Aile sunk ankle-deep into the sea floor as her armor bulked up immensely, and her cannons floated out of her hands, turning into shining spheres of orange. After hanging there for a second, they transformed suddenly, each growing into a massive, cylindrical blaster five times Aile’s size. They hovered at Aile’s sides, each extending two long cables that connected to her forearms. Aile’s hands curled into fists as she lowered them. Levortex regarded her curiously.

“Model F…Armed Incarnation…”

She slowly lifted her right fist.

“Brimstone…Gatling!”

She punched. The cannon on her right fired a great orb of flame at high speed, catching Levortex completely off-guard—and then consuming him in an explosion that burned too brightly for the water to douse it. Aile punched with her left. Another blast, this one from her left cannon. She punched again, and again, faster with each jab, her fists moving back and forth in a blistering rhythm, and in response the cannons poured forth a ferocious barrage of exploding fireballs, the flame and smoke being enough to completely obscure Levortex from view and even breaking the surface of the ocean far above them. Levortex managed to poke his head through the cloud, and willed a whirlpool into being around Aile. But the heavy armor kept her planted firmly in place, and Levortex was out of sight once more, wailing in agony.

Eventually, Aile stopped. She felt a bit light-headed as she watched the smoke clear, but she was still lucid enough to see a badly-damaged Levortex still squirming around in the water. So, she clenched both fists and pulled them back, and the barrels of both cannons began to glow with heat.

“You’re not…escaping this,” Aile said. “I’m going to wipe you…off the face of the Earth!”

Levortex mustered what strength he had left. He charged forward, mouth open, but he never made it to Aile. She thrust both fists forward, launching two final blasts of Brimstone Gatling, and blew the Pseudoroid to smithereens. Her cannons shrunk down then, and her armor returned to normal. She took a moment to be sure he was really gone. Then, she smiled, feeling awash with a sense of relief…and then, her body cried out in sheer agony.

“Commander?!” Tulip shouted. “What was that? Are you alright? Aile?!”

It seemed to take ages for her hand to reach her communicator. “I’m here…Tulip…the Pseudoroid…is…gone…”

Somehow, she couldn’t hear Tulip’s reply. She became very aware of the ebb and flow of the water around her, realizing it was pulling her with it, slowly wrenching her off her feet, and there was nothing she could do to steady herself. The world warped around her—and she thought she was back at HQ’s transporter room, but only for a moment before she lost consciousness.

***

Thetis sat on the edge of the walkway, feet kicking slowly as they dangled out in open air. Beneath him, down at the bottom of Legion HQ, was a sprawling, bustling city filled with humans and Reploids going about their daily lives. The crowds had a certain flow to them, he thought, and watching it gave him something to do. Still, there was also something about it just made his heart ache.

“What are you doing?”

He looked up. Aeolus was slowly making his way across the bridge, staring down his nose at the boy. Thetis jumped up and said, “People-watching. What about you?”

“I’m returning to my quarters to rest.” He passed Thetis, not slowing for a second.

Following him, Thetis said, “Hey, did you read my report? Anything interesting you learned from it?”

“I did, and no.”

Thetis frowned. “Aw come on. Aile was able to take down something as big as Levortex, even after being worn down by the other two! That’s exciting, isn’t it?”

“We already know she’s capable. I see no point in getting worked up about it.”

“Really? You get worked up over little things all the time.”

Aeolus turned on his heel to see Thetis sticking his tongue out at him. With a heavy sigh, he said, “Thetis. You are a Mega Man. By now, I think it only fair to expect you to act like one.”

“Technically, none of us are Mega Men right now.”

“My point still stands. You have more than enough reason to have outgrown the immaturity that you still allow to define you. But if anything, you’ve dived even deeper into that pointless behavior.”

“What? That’s not fair! I’m totally mature!”

Aeolus paused. “Do you truly think that? Even now?”

Thetis furrowed his brow. “Even…what are you getting at?”

“According to your report, just today you told Aile that Levortex was going to scour the coast wiping out all civilization, in order to protect the ocean. But Levortex cannot speak. And as with all the Pseudoroids, Thomas gave him no directive whatsoever.”

Scratching his head, Thetis said, “Well…maybe I inferred a bit, but—“

“You projected your own desires onto a machine with questionable sentience. You were so desperate to feel like someone finally agreed with you, that you decided to invent a connection, and presented it as fact to someone else you hoped to convince.”

Thetis’s eyes wandered.

“The Pseudoroids are tools for collecting data. Not weapons to be used for your own foolish dream, and certainly not our friends. To think anything else is a sign of weakness not befitting one with your potential.” He stepped forward, casting his shadow over Thetis. “Grow up. Or give up. Those are your only options, Thetis. I suggest you consider them carefully.”

He departed, leaving Thetis alone again. The boy stared hard at the floor, slowly clenching his fists; he raised one sleeve to wipe his eyes, and then he turned around and sat back down where he had been, now sitting totally still.

“No one cares,” he mumbled. “Why do I keep trying?”

Soon he heard footsteps, but he didn’t turn to see who they belonged to. “Thetis.”

He recognized the voice. Quickly getting to his feet, he said, “Oh, Master Thomas! Is there something you need?”

Thomas stood there looming over him a moment, his expression unreadable, and then stepped beside him and looked down at the city. “When Aile went to fight Levortex, you did not pursue. Tell me why.”

Thetis fidgeted. “Uh, well…without Model L, I didn’t really have a way of getting out there…”

“The Guardians had numerous crafts. You could have taken one of them.”

“…I was still able to record the data.”

“Barely. I would have preferred clearer readings.”

Thetis hung his head.

“Did you at least carry out the other task I assigned you?”

“O-Oh, yes! I slipped the beacon into the Guardian’s pocket when he wasn’t looking.”

Thomas nodded once. “Hmph. Then that is good enough, I suppose.”

Hesitantly, Thetis said, “Um, Master Thomas…once he realizes it’s there, won’t he break it?”

“He will not discover it. The casing will degrade quickly, and then the beacon’s true form will emerge…a cyber-elf that will hide within the Guardian airship where no one can find it, allowing me to track its location no matter where it goes.”

“Oh. Must be one you made yourself, I bet! Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

Thomas turned to look straight at Thetis. “Because then you would have gotten cocky, and you would have implied something to Aile, allowing her to figure it out.”

Thetis didn’t know what to say to that.

“For now, Thetis…it is best if you simply stay out of the way. I will call for you when I have thought of some use for you.”

Thomas walked away. Once again, Thetis was alone. For a minute or so, he just stood there, trying to take stock of his feelings. When that was done, he sat back down again, buried his face in his hands, and quietly began to sob.

#Mega Man ZX #fanfiction #Aile #Termination

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