Legends of the Halcyon Era – Clash of the Titans

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Legends of the Halcyon Era

Clash of the Titans

by

David Oxford/LBD “Nytetrayn”

*****

Previously, in Legends of the Halcyon Era…

With news of a carnival coming to Monroe Island, Nytetrayn and Celeste wound up making it their first date, and admitted their feelings for one-another. Meanwhile, Janine found herself having a frank discussion with Tom Morrow and Black Steel that left her feeling shaken to her core.

It was late the following day. Nytetrayn and Celeste had slept in after their night out, and an afternoon breeze wafted softly through the apartment, lifting the curtains delicately and fluttering them inward. The entire place seemed to be still and silent – almost oppressively so. At least, if one was of a certain state of mind.

The door to the room Janine had once shared with Fenix slowly cracked open, and she skittishly peeked out into the living room through the crack. Detecting no one else there, she quietly emerged, clutching at a voluminous robe that covered her from head to toe. She sat down to watch a little bit of TV, nice and quietly.

“HEEEEEEEEY KIIIIIIIIIIIIDS!!!!!”

The opening to “The Binky the Clown Show,” complete with circus music and horns blaring, rattled the entire apartment before Janine could hit the “mute” button or turn the volume down. Whoever had last used the TV had apparently cranked the volume up to insane levels.

“IT’S YOUR PAL… BINKY!!!” the awful clown announced, as Janine desperately fumbled with the remote before finally shutting it off, cursing the machine out in multiple languages.

Awakened by the earth-shattering noise, Nytetrayn stepped out of the other bedroom, closely followed by Celeste, both still wearing their clothes from the night before. “Jan, did you crank up the volume again?” he asked, as he rubbed his eyes. Celeste yawned.

“I must have turned it all the way up last night… I was watching a show about mimes, and I thought the volume was screwed, and… and…” She stared at the obviously sleep-rumpled pair. “…and… you two are sharing a bedroom.”

Nytetrayn listened while popping his neck. “Oh… er, yeah… that,” he said. “Uh…” He pointed at Celeste. “It was her idea.”

“Hey!” she shouted from under the proverbial bus.

“Amazing,” said Janine. “It couldn’t have been that quiet, it was her first time. My hearing must be going… You go, girl.”

“We didn’t do anything,” Celeste said. “We just shared a bed. That couch was ruining his arm.”

Meanwhile, Adam Powers was in town, running errands and testing his recently-finished flight legs, when he decided to drop in on the gang. He came in for a landing outside of their apartment, and knocked on the door.

“…I got it,” Nyte said, as he went to answer.

“His arm?” Janine said, when the knocking interrupted her. “Wait, we have visitors.”

Nyte opened the door. “Hey, Nyte. What’s up?” asked the visitor.

“Heya, Adam. Not much, you?”

“Same old, same old. Gotten used to having Dunkus in my head now, so… Oh, and I finished my flight legs,” he said, pointing at the winged leg armor.

“So,” Janine said, as she turned her attention back to Celeste. “Was he gentle? I always figured he’d go pretty slow and easy…”

“Jan, we didn’t do anything! We just shared the bed. That’s all…”

“Hmmm… really slow, apparently.”

“And his arm’s been bothering him since Creed and East, remember? Haven’t you noticed?”

Janine raised an eyebrow. “He said it was better…”

“Creed?” said Adam. “Sorry, couldn’t help overhearing…”

“Long story,” said Nyte. “And my arm’s okay.” Janine frowned at Nyte.

“It’s still bothering you? I thought you went to the doctor?”

“I did,” he said, “they couldn’t find anything.”

“Maybe you should get a second opinion,” she suggested.

“…don’t worry about it, I’m fine,” he insisted.

Janine and Celeste frowned, but didn’t press further.

“So, uh, long story, huh?” said Adam. “Well, I’ve got time if you want to tell it…” Nytetrayn went on to explain about what had happened with the dig going awry, Fenix, Fenix’s dad, and the rest of what took place. “…and that’s basically what happened.”

“Well, that explains it,” said Adam. “Sounds like you had a fun time.”

“…right,” Nyte said, while Janine’s eyes sparked mildly, just thinking about the lecherous Air Pirate.

“No wonder Blade has been so pissy lately,” Adam added.

“Huh?” asked Nyte, while Celeste gave him a questioning look.

“Blade and East were pretty much mortal enemies when he was alive,” Adam explained. “I don’t think he’s looking forward to a rematch, considering the outcome last time.”

“I see,” said Nyte. “Well, we got the jump on him one time after that… but that’s a story you don’t want to hear. Trust me.” Celeste nodded in agreement, turning a bit red at the mention, as did Janine.

“I’ll take your word for it,” said Adam. “Anyhow, Fenix left, eh?”

“Yep,” Nyte said. “No telling when or if he’ll be back, sadly.”

“Honestly, I don’t see what he’s going to accomplish by hunting down his own father.”

“Patricide, hopefully.”

Janine looked despondent at the mention of that, and stared down at her feet, sadly. Celeste patted her on the shoulder.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, though. Fenix can take care of himself,” Adam said.

“Indeed,” Nyte agreed. “So anyway, what brings you by?”

“Just thought I’d drop by and see how everyone’s doing,” Adam said. “I haven’t seen you guys for awhile, and just thought I’d make sure you all were still alive and kicking.”

“So far, so good, I guess. How’s… er, Blade doing?”

“Pretty good. He’s been teaching me a few techniques to use the sword’s energy generation capabilities.”

“That’s cool.”

As Nyte and Adam talked, Celeste sat on the sofa next to Jan. Jan glanced at Cel, and edged away from her just a little. Noticing the strange reaction, Celeste asked, “Jan? Are you okay?”

“Sure…”

“Are you sure?” Celeste continued. “You seem more… covered… than usual.”

“What?! Is there something wrong with that? I’m allowed to wear clothes, aren’t I?!”

Celeste reflexively moved back from Jan’s jumpiness, and just said, “Uh, sure… sure Jan.”

Janine looked down at her lap and fidgeted, her lip quivering a little.

Nyte asked, “Jan, what’s wrong? You’re not usually like this.”

“Like what?” she shot back. “Not naked? Would you prefer I was?”

Nyte looked on for a moment before answering, dumbstruck by this. “I meant more the fidgeting and lip quivering and general jumpiness, actually.”

“Yeah,” said Adam, “you don’t seem to be your usual, perky self, Jan.”

Janine’s eyes widened like saucers. “I can’t help it if they’re perky! They were made that way! Don’t blame me!” She then scooted back on the sofa, away from the others.

Nyte and Celeste looked at each other, and then at Adam, who said, “Not those. I mean, you’re acting kinda weird… Are you okay?”

As Janine huddled further into a corner of the sofa, Celeste asked, “Jan… did something happen we missed out on?

Janine’s lip quivered a little more, and a tear formed in the corner of one eye. And not the puppy dog-eye kind of tear, either. “No, no, nothing happened… Everything’s fine…”

Celeste carefully put her hand on Jan’s shoulder. “No, it’s not… what’s wrong?”

“Yeah,” said Nyte. “Come on, Jan, we’re all like family here…”

Adam frowned for a moment, then said, “You miss Fenix, don’t you?”

Janine flinched. “Fenix… I don’t… I just…”

Then she started sobbing, and Nyte patted her other shoulder. “It’s alright… I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

“Fenix was the only one who was comfortable around me… the rest of you are offended by me!”

“Huh?” said Nyte, as the others looked on in confusion. “I’m not… I mean, we aren’t offended by you…” Nyte looked at Celeste, and just mouthed the word, “What?” Celeste just shook her head that she didn’t know.

Adam said, “I’m not offended by you, by any means.”

Choking back tears, Janine continued. “Tom and Black Steel… they said I acted like a slut… that nobody wanted me, because all I did was try to screw them…”

After a moment of stunned silence from the three, Nyte said, “I… that’s…” then headed for the door. “Excuse me a moment.”

While Nytetrayn ventured outside, Adam said, “That’s not true, Jan.”

“Why would they say that?” Celeste asked.

Moments later, Nyte returned. “Bastard wasn’t home. We’ll have some words with them next time we see them…” As Janine sniffled, Nyte said, “You’re not a slut, Jan… You’re just… used to doing things differently than people are used to…”

“They may have said that because they aren’t comfortable around Jan. They don’t know her like we do,” Adam suggested. “I’m sure it’s a culture shock. You have been sealed away for an awful long time. Look at Christmas. Before, you weren’t even allowed to celebrate it. But now, you can.”

“Yeah,” Celeste agreed, and Janine let her head droop onto the younger girl’s shoulder. Celeste just patted her reassuringly.

Adam continued. “I know it’s been a huge culture shock for Blade, as well. He asked me questions non-stop for quite a while about why I was doing what I was doing around other people.”

“You’re a little more forward, in some ways,” Nyte said. “You express yourself a little differently than some people, but there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I’m just tired of everyone flinching when I touch them,” Janine said tearfully. “I don’t mean to do that ear-nibbling thing, it just sorta happens!”

Nyte patted her on the shoulder again. “As long as you don’t go overboard on them… I guess that sort of thing is alright?”

Celeste added, “You just kind of… I guess you find some things more… normal than others do…”

“I guess,” Janine said, as she seemed to be calming down a little bit. She let out a heavy sigh, and sat back up, yanking off her robe to reveal a t-shirt and black pants underneath. They’d be modest, were it not for the statuesque body she’d been crafted with.

“Maybe we should try and teach you to adapt your feelings to actions that people are more comfortable with?” Nyte suggested. “Like maybe instead of ear-nibbling, maybe a hug or something?”

“But whenever I hug people, they disappear into my cleavage,” she said sadly.

“Um…” Nyte said, trying to figure out where to go from there.

“I guess you can’t help that,” said Celeste.

“That’s not your fault, though. That’s just the body you were made with,” Adam said.

“Maybe… if you tried it level with the person you’re hugging?” Nyte offered. “So their head isn’t at your chest-level?”

“Hmmmm,” Janine said. She turned and hugged Celeste warmly, pressing their chests together. Celeste sort of smiled nervously to show support, and encourage Janine that what she was doing wasn’t wrong. But Janine pulled back quickly, and said, “I’m a bad, bad person…”

“No, no, it’s okay!” Celeste urged, as she desperately tried to not lose the progress they were making with her.

“No, you’re not,” Nyte said. “Maybe you’d just be bad if you were forcing yourself on people without listening or anything, but you’re willing.” Janine nodded, slowly. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you out. Right, guys?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” said Celeste.

Nyte nudged Adam, who’d gone quiet, for a response. “Sure.”

Janine smiled. “Thanks, guys.” Celeste then hugged Janine back, albeit from the side, to show her, “yeah, this is okay.” Janine smiled at her, and Celeste smiled back, and told her, “We’re here for you.”

“Right,” added Nytetrayn.

“Thanks,” Janine said again, as she started to sound more like her old self.

“Now that that’s out of the way (we’ll speak with Steel and Tom later), what should we do now?” Nyte asked.

“Any set plans for the day?” Adam replied.

“Not really. Guess we could look into earning our keep.”

“Might be a good idea.”

Abruptly, the long-range radio equipment Adam had in his shades began to go haywire. “Gaah! Geez!” he shouted.

“W-what’s that?” Celeste asked.

The transmission consisted mostly of wild, maniacal laughter by an indistinct male voice. However, Janine recognized the more mechanical male voice that was screaming in pain in the background. “…M-Magnus?” she said.

“Magnus?” Nyte echoed, as the transmission continued.

“Yes, that’s right! Scream… scream in anguish over the fate of this world, scorched by fire, and torn asunder by your own hands!” The maniacal laughter continued, and then the transmission cut off just as abruptly as it had begun.

Janine looked disturbed by the whole thing, while all Nyte could think to say was, “What the hell?”

“That screaming… I think… that was Magnus,” Janine said.

“Uh-oh,” said Adam. “Blade is gonna be pissed about this.”

Elsewhere, Black Steel had topped the hill near the place where he remembered Janine dwelled. He then looked over the area to make sure he was in the right place, before making his way down to the apartment, where he knocked on the door.

“Oh, for the love of – I’ll get it…” said Nytetrayn, who answered the door. He and Steel looked at each other for a moment, before Nyte said, “Funny thing – we were just talking about you.” He then grabbed the taller Digger by the front of his black shirt, and yoinked him inside with a yelp and shut the door.

“Company, guys!” Nyte shouted, as the rest turned to regard the two. “Who wants the first piece?” Janine immediately went through several shades of red, and covered her chest with her arms.

Steel looked suitably freaked out at the sudden turn of events. “What the hell?”

“We were hoping you could tell us,” Nyte said, as both he and Adam made knuckle-cracking motions, while Celeste just tried to ease Janine. “What the hell got into you and Tom?”

Steel backed away, now dreading that he hadn’t come equipped for battle. “What are you talking about? Tom? That guy from the ice cream shop?”

“I guess,” said Nyte. “I don’t know where you two go to call people sluts.”

“Excuse me?” Steel said, more firmly standing his ground. “I’d never use such a word!”

Nyte paused. Come to think of it, it didn’t really sound like something he would say, did it?

“He didn’t say exactly that…” Janine said. “The exact words were ‘the hot chick’…”

Nyte paused again. “That… that’s not nearly as bad.” He looked at Adam. “Isn’t ‘hot chick’ usually a compliment?”

“It can be, depending on the context…”

“It’s the way he said it,” she said, as she drooped in her seat.

“How’d he say it? How else can you say it?”

“He said that’s all I was.”

“Wait, I said you were just a ‘hot chick’?” Steel said, with bafflement written across his face. “That doesn’t sound like me…”

“I think we’ve got a communication problem here…” Celeste said.

“I think Cel’s right,” said Nytetrayn. “Let’s all just sit down for a moment and straighten things out…”

“You said I always would be, as long as I acted the way I did,” Janine said sadly.

“All I said was that you needed to exercise some modesty. I didn’t mean for you to think… I mean, it’s just that… I didn’t mean to call you anything wrong, and if I did, I’m sorry!”

Nyte looked to Janine, who chewed her bottom lip. “So, you don’t hate me?”

“I’m sorry I can’t remember better myself, but I assure you, I’d not say anything to imply that I hate you, or think poorly of you! In fact, it’s just the opposite… I happen to be very fond of you. I mean, I came here today to see you…”

“But… you seemed so upset,” Janine said.

“Well, I was,” Steel said, “but not with you… Not… uh. Not with you.”

“Um, okay… sorry about the yoinking, then, I guess,” Nyte said.

Steel muttered to himself, “Next time, I’ll remember my ammo…”

“I heard that,” said Adam.

“Speaking of hearing stuff,” Nyte said, “what are we going to do?”

“About that radio transmission?” Janine asked.

“Transmission?” Steel asked. Nyte nodded. “If that was Magnus, I don’t think that was healthy.”

“Well, that was definitely Magnus,” Janine said. “And if he was screaming like that… he’s definitely in trouble.”

“Perhaps we’d better go check on him,” Adam said.

“But why would whoever was doing that contact us?”

“No telling. Maybe it was Magnus trying to…” Nytetrayn said, before he was cut off by Adam.

“Probably a trap, to lure us in.”

“A trap? Who would set a trap for us?”

“Creed and East are the two that come to mind.”

“I’m not positive either of them could hurt Magnus like that, though,” Janine said with uncertainty.

“Well, someone is,” Nyte said. “We should get ready. Adam, your ship can get us there, right?”

“Sure can,” Adam confirmed.

Meanwhile, Steel was desperately trying to get caught up on what was going on as Nytetrayn, Celeste, and Janine went to get ready. Nyte and Cel took turns in the bedroom getting armored up.

“Someone wanna fill me in on everything?” Steel asked.

“We’ll tell you on the way,” Nyte said.

Janine emerged from her room dressed in a green Sailor Soldier outfit. “We just got a radio transmission that mostly involved screaming and laughing, and we recognized one of the voices,” she said.

“Damn,” Steel replied. “Knew I shoulda brought more…” He stopped mid-sentence as he looked at Jan. “…weapons.”

“You sure you want to go digging in that?” Adam asked, his eyebrow raised.

“This is a battle costume,” she said. “I saw it on TV.”

“Okay, then,” he said.

Nytetrayn looked, and muttered to himself, “God, I hope she doesn’t say it…”

“May I suggest… some armor?” asked Steel.

“She’s never bothered before,” Nyte pointed out.

“I’m not quite as fragile as you guys,” Janine said with a smile and a wink.

Recalling their earlier battle, Steel let out a dumbstruck, “Oh, yeah.”

“Alright, let’s get going,” Nyte said.

“For love and justice!” Janine shouted, as she ran out the door.

Nyte practically fell over. “…she said it.”

As Adam led the way to his ship, Steel asked himself, “Why am I going again?”

“You like adventure and stuff, right? And big-ass refractors?” Nyte asked.

“Because you came in at the right time, and you want to help Janine, right?” Adam added.

“That, too,” said Nyte.

“I gotta learn to just think things,” Steel muttered.

Outside, Nyte closed the door, and tried to fake the doorknob still being on. As he did that, he realized, “Whups, almost forgot. Twirl! Come on!” The robot quickly joined them, as Nytetrayn tried to fix the door. “Wait, better yet… Twirl, you watch the place, since we don’t have a new doorknob yet,” he said, as he briefly glared in Janine’s direction while she put on an “innocent” act. Twirl saluted, and went back inside. “Alright, ready.”

Adam led the merry group back to the airship dock on the outskirts of town. The Sky Shark was powered up and ready to go, and appeared to have been modified to sport a pair of large nacelles on top of the ship.

“It looks like the Enterprise,” said Janine.

“That’s not a bad thing,” Steel pointed out. “Wait, Shatner version, or the bald guy?

Adam rolled his eyes. It didn’t look anything like the Enterprise… did it?

“The one at the end of the series, from the future where Admiral Riker had it re-outfitted,” Janine said.

“Ah, man, that series was great,” Steel said. “Riker annoys me, though. Too much facial hair.”

“I thought it was sexy…”

As everyone else entered the ship, Steel stared up at it before setting foot inside. “Wonder if this one has phasers…”

Inside, Nyte tried to break down what was going on to Steel. “Anyway, it’s like this. We got some weird transmission through Adam where a friend of ours in a ruin sounded like someone else was putting him in a world of hurt. And now we go to see what’s up. Got it?”

“Got it.”

As soon as everyone was on and situated, the ship took off. Adam seemed to be in quite a hurry, as the takeoff was a bit rough, and the ship seemed to be going faster than its normal cruising speed. Celeste was thrown off her feet from the takeoff, but Nyte caught her. “You alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks…”

“Sure you’re up to this?”

“Yeah… I think so.”

Steel looked over at Janine. “Again, I’m sorry. I should have approached things more carefully.”

She nodded, and said, “It’s alright.“

“No, it’s not.”

“It’s something I should have been made aware of, in any case.”

Meanwhile, Adam had ventured back to his room, and emerged later, fully-armored and with his sword at his back.

“Hey, Yu-Gi-Oh,” Nyte said, as he looked at Celeste and back to Adam. “Easy with the takeoff next time, huh?”

“Yu-Gi-Oh? Yugi doesn’t wear shades or have a body that’s around 50% metal.”

“But he has the magic talisman that – oh, never mind. Just go easy next time, huh?”

“I’ll try.”

Our heroes eventually made it to Archie Island with a minimum of bickering, and landed next to the ruins which housed the MegaMen, Rom and Magnus. The group disembarked the ship, and Janine floated over to the ruin gate to open it, but strangely, nothing happened. “Eh? It’s locked!”

Adam’s eyes flashed red for a moment. “Locked, eh?”

A voice familiar to some of the group, but strange to others, called out. “Well, well, well… now, isn’t this interesting?”

The group turned to face the voice, and found Trevor Creed, sitting on a nearby log, where he observed the group with a creepy smile on his face. “Oh, damn,” said Nytetrayn, before telling Celeste, “Stay behind me.”

Steel whispered to Nyte, “Who is this?”

“Fenix’s dad.”

“…oh no.”

“I should have guessed…”

Janine floated a few inches off the ground, as power arced between her hands. Adam silently reached up to draw his sword, its runes giving off a soft glow.

Creed pulled himself to his feet. “I wondered who would have the balls to summon me.”

“What?” said Nyte. “Summon you?!”

“Just for the smartass radio signal, I’ll kill you slowly.”

“You received the transmission, too, then,” said Adam.

“Whoa, hold on,” said Nyte, to which Creed raised one eyebrow. “We didn’t send any signal; we’re here to check it out ourselves.”

“Really, now…”

“So you didn’t summon us, then,” said Adam. “And we definitely didn’t summon you.”

“Wait,” Nytetrayn said. “If it wasn’t you who’s attacking, then…”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t play a little,” said the Air Pirate.

“No. Not now, Creed,” said Adam. “There are more important matters to attend to.”

Creed snorted. “More important than sacking, pillaging, murdering, and destroying?”

Steel was quietly sizing up this potential foe, while Adam didn’t seem to be intimidated at all by the infamous pirate. Nytetrayn and Celeste, on the other hand, having seen what Creed was capable of first-hand, were scared out of their wits. For his part, though, Nyte didn’t let on in the slightest, though he knew his arm wasn’t at full this time. And then there was Celeste to worry about.

Steel glanced over at Nyte, and noticing the concern, whispered, “Is he that strong?” Nyte just gave a slight nod, as he kept his best poker face on.

Janine continued to eye Creed menacingly, but now seemed more distracted. She glanced around her, as though she could hear something. Steel went over to her, and asked, “Something you notice?”

“Something… on the air…”

“How’s some big ass refractors strike you?” Adam asked.

Creed stroked his chin. “Bigass, eh? Just how ‘bigass’?”

Adam’s eyes flashed again. “Let’s just say it would fetch you a price that would be worth your trouble for coming all the way out here, and would probably allow you to do some major upgrades to your ship as well.”

“Uh… they might not fetch that much,” said Celeste. “Something’s… I think they’re… fade –”

“Hm?” Creed said as he suddenly stared right at her, stopping her cold in mid-sentence as a chill ran down her spine. “Fading?” he said.

“Their power is fading?” Adam asked.

Celeste just nodded.

“What could draw the energy from such refractors…?” asked the Air Pirate.

“That would be me,” said another familiar voice.

As the Diggers turned to face the source of the voice, Janine paled. “You?!” said Nyte, as he saw the face of Sherman East. Creed turned toward the voice slowly, and a smirk spread slowly across his face.

“Well, well… you again,” said Creed.

“Who the heck is this now?” asked Steel.

“You may call me the Pale Horseman,” East replied. Steel’s eyes widened.

“The Reanimator,” said Nyte. “Sort of a half-Reaver, half-demon…”

“Yes,” Steel replied. “I recall hearing of this one.”

“Did you summon us here?” Nyte asked East. “Wait, how are you doing it if you’re up here?”

“To answer your question, Nytetrayn, I have taken what energy I need from the refractors. The rest, however, is going towards something much more interesting. And yes, I did call you here, if it’s not obvious.”

Creed frowned and pulled out a rather massive machine pistol.

Adam’s eyes began to glow red, and the runes on his sword flashed as his eyes burned from behind his shades as MegaMan Blade took control. “East,” he said, drawing a glance from the villain. “Remember me, East?”

As soon as he recognized the energy signature, East’s face lit up, and a smile spread over it. “Blade? How interesting! I was sure I had killed you!”

“You destroyed my body, but my soul lives on.”

“Fascinating, I’m sure,” East said, almost dismissively. “Well, well, it’s almost like the old gang is all here… but wait! Our guest of honor hasn’t arrived yet! Tsk, such a bother. But then again, he was never very punctual, was he? I had hoped to fix that.”

“Guest of honor…?” Blade said. “You bastard!”

Janine’s eyes widened. “No…!”

Steel, Celeste, and even Creed were trying to figure out what was happening, when East started to chuckle as the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. Nyte took hold of Celeste, in case anything were to happen, while Steel gritted his teeth and tried to steady himself. Blade began hovering, using the new flight legs Adam had equipped.

“What the hell’s going on?” asked Creed.

“That’s what I want to know,” said Steel.

“You’ll find out,” East told them, before reciting out loud: “Initiate program: Purifier level ten, terrain destroyer mode.”

A massive shaft of light erupted from the top of the ruin gate, and the rumbling grew worse. Far off in the distance, the Diggers and Air Pirate could hear something pounding, like thunder. Creed started, eyes wide. “That… that sounds like… the polar continents…”

“What do you mean, ‘it sounds like the polar continents’?!” Janine asked.

“The polar continents… where icebergs break off of the glaciers and fall into the sea…” the pirate replied.

MegaMan Blade held his sword in front of him with one hand, and held its edge with the other as he began to chant something. East rose into the air as the ground beneath their feet crumbled, revealing smooth white rock beneath the layer of topsoil. Blade rose with him, still chanting.

“I don’t like this,” Nyte said. “Not one bit…”

East smirked as the rumbling grew nearer. On the horizon, an entire city fell, swallowed by the ocean reclaiming the earth beneath it. “Holy shit,” said Creed.

Steel glared off into the distance, his jaw dropping. He regained his composure, looked at the one responsible for this, and then to Nyte, desperate. “The Reanimator there is the source of this, right?”

“I… I guess so…” said a stunned, wide-eyed Nytetrayn.

“Then why aren’t we shooting at him?”

“Good question,” Nyte said, as he aimed his Buster and let a round go at the floating Ancient. But East flew backward, into the pillar of light, which blocked Nyte’s shot. “Damn!” he said.

Archie Island was now gone, and all that was left was a pillar of stone – the archive, jutting out of the sea, over 30 meters in diameter. Alpha-Red had managed to get the Sky Shark airborne before the ground collapsed; however, hundreds of innocent lives had just been lost.

Nyte looked at the others. “Janine, Blade, what do we do?!”

Janine gulped. “He’s initiated the facility’s failsafe protocols! All of its power is available to him now, in whatever capacity he requires of it!”

“Excellent!” said East. “I see you remember your job better than I thought! Now, let’s invite an old friend back into the fold. Magnus, come on dooooown!”

Blade finished his chant, and the sword’s entire blade was bathed in a swirling, blue energy. “I knew it would come to this.”

The massive form of MegaMan Magnus rose into the pillar of light like an ancient god. His appearance was largely the same as before, only now, the off-white portions of his armor were now black as coal, and the gold portions were now silver. His eyes glowed red as he beheld his former allies, with nothing but death in his glaze.

“…wonderful,” said Nytetrayn.

“What the hell is that?” asked Steel.

“It’s ugly, whatever it is,” said Creed.

“MegaMan Magnus,” said Nytetrayn.

“Now,” said East, “behold your doom, and the birth of my new order!” The others braced themselves for what was to come next, but East paused. “However, before we go any further, it behooves me to allow you all one last opportunity: Join me, and you can rule as gods among insects.”

“Bite me,” said Janine.

“Never,” added Nytetrayn.”

Celeste just shook her head.

“Go to Hell,” Steel said.

“How about we crush you like an insect?” offered Blade.

“…join you, and do what?” asked Creed. East smirked.

Steel regarded Creed, as Nyte let out an, “…oh, jeez.”

“Well, Creed… between the two of us, very little is impossible. With our skill and my power… the world is ours to do with as we wish.”

Creed nodded slowly. “Sounds like my kind of deal…”

“He would…” said Nytetrayn.

“Bastard,” Steel said.

Creed chuckled. “Now, now, nothing personal. I’m just in it for the profit.”

“He’ll suck your soul and use your dead body as his puppet, Creed,” said Blade.

“You were given the same chance. It’s not my fault you’re all idiots.”

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on entirely, but I am not dying here today,” said Steel, as he pulled out his saber, the only weapon he had on him, and ignited it in readiness.

Nyte quietly told Celeste, “Keep as far away from this as you can.” Looking around the pillar they were on, though, he knew that could only amount to so much.

“Nytetrayn, I’m crushed,” East said. “I already have a soulless automaton.” Under most circumstances, this might have gotten under Nyte’s skin, but he knew he couldn’t lose his cool now.

“Oh, do shut up,” said Steel. “You bad types are forever running your mouths.”

East turned to Creed. “I ask only that you secure the young female… Celeste, is it? She has a peculiar aura. It bears study.”

Creed nodded, and looked towards her with a sinister smile. “I can do that.”

“You keep away from her,” Nytetrayn said, as he readied himself.

Steel moved alongside him. “No women will be hurt here,” he said.

Nytetrayn just swallowed. He knew this was going to be Hell.

“Magnus,” said East. “Kill them.”

MegaMan Magnus came roaring out of the energy pillar like a bat out of Hell, as a massive vertical energy blade arced out of his hands and tore through the ground as it shot towards MegaMan Blade. Blade dodged to one side, then jetted in at Magnus at full speed. Magnus fired off another arc at him, this time horizontal, but Blade swatted it down with his sword, with sparks arcing off the blade.

Meanwhile, Creed advanced towards Celeste, but Nytetrayn kept himself between the two. “You can’t win this, boy,” said the towering Air Pirate.

“No,” the Digger replied. “You won’t take her again.”

“I haven’t properly ‘taken’ her at all yet, but that can be arranged.” Creed fired his pistol at Nyte, who used his shield to block the attack, then began to dart back and forth quickly, using speed augmentations in his boots to pepper Nyte with bullets. Nyte kept the shield up, and was focused on the one and only thought in his mind: Protect Celeste.

As this was going on, Steel took in everything, and backed off. Without his weapons, he thought himself useless at the moment. After all, the only thing he had on him was his beam saber – no Buster, no claws, no missiles, and no protection. What could he do in the middle of all this, besides get in the way?

Janine tackled Magnus out of the air, and slammed a ball of energy into his face to stagger him. As she did this, Blade swooped over Magnus, and swung the sword rapidly, forming balls of energy that flew off and pelted the Annihilator Unit. Magnus hurled Janine off of himself, just in time to be struck by the attack. He flinched, but his armor was little more than singed. Then he fired a thin beam from his fingertips at Blade.

Creed charged Nytetrayn head-on, his right arm coruscating with energy as he raised it over his head, and brought the cruelly-clawed mechanical hand down at Nytetrayn’s head. Nyte grabbed the arm by the wrist with both hands, keeping it from striking down. Creed smiled sadistically as he used his other hand to raise his pistol to Nyte’s face. Nyte gritted his teeth, unable to defend himself from both attacks.

MegaMan Blade dodged the thin beam fired by Magnus, and fired two rounds from his arm cannon at the massive MegaMan. Magnus was able to dodge one round, but not the other, and snarled as the large explosion impacted his armor and rocked him. Janine tried to take advantage of his position and lashed out with an energy sword of her own, but Magnus grabbed her by the arm and hurled her at Blade.

A shot rang out, striking Creed’s pistol and knocking it from his hand with a curse. He and Nytetrayn looked to the source of the attack, and saw Celeste nervously lowering her pistol slightly. Creed grabbed Nytetrayn by the neck, and hurled him aside, then glared balefully at the girl before him before he started to close in on her, blue energy crackling over his hand like livid, azure-colored snakes.

MegaMan Blade managed to catch Janine, though the impact pushed him back several meters. “Gah! Sorry,” she said, as she tried to get off him quickly.

“Not your fault,” he said, as he helped her.

Magnus then fired a larger beam of energy from both hands at the pair, as an inhuman roar escaped his throat.

Celeste backed away slowly, as the towering Air Pirate approached. “You’re a bit more spunky since last time,” he said. “Good.” Celeste, for her part, was still scared as hell.

Blade was able to deflect part of the blast away with his sword, but was struck by another part of the beam, and tumbled in mid-air for a bit before regaining himself. Janine managed to block some of it with her own energy shield, then sent a blast of similar size at Magnus, who was able to block it, but not without leaving himself wide open.

Just before Creed could reach Celeste, Nytetrayn kicked the Air Pirate from behind, right in the groin. Despite being armored, the kick still hurt like hell, and the pirate’s eyes widened as he screamed out. “AAARGH!” Nyte then took advantage, and shot Creed in the back of his knees. With his electrified arm, he whirled to backhand Nyte, who blocked with his Nyte-Saber.

Blade managed to regain himself, and fired a larger blast from his sword at Magnus, who was busy blocking Janine’s beam attack with one hand. He turned to block Blade’s attack with his other hand, to explosive results.

Creed tried to punch Nyte in the face, but the smaller Digger ducked, and instead tried to punch the Air Pirate in the groin. Instead, Creed blocked the attempt by grabbing Nyte’s arm and leg sweeping him, slamming him into the ground. Nyte winced and grunted in pain, albeit more from his arm being grabbed than the leg sweep.

From on high, Sherman East smirked as he watched everything from on high, like a Roman emperor observing a gladiatorial contest.

Steel’s attention had since turned to watching the trio of Janine, MegaMan Magnus, and MegaMan Blade, as they battled it out in the sky above. He realized that thankfully, he’d been forgotten in the midst of all the chaos and vendettas, and that there might be one way he could help. After summoning up the nerve and aiming carefully, he hurled his beam saber towards MegaMan Magnus’s exposed spinal region, praying this would help somehow.

Creed intensified the flow of power over his right arm, as the energy transferred from electricity to plasma, then brought the charged arm down at Nyte’s chest, intent on ripping out his heart. Another shot hit the arm before it could make contact, however, again fired by Celeste. Creed screamed as the near-range attack pierced his arm, which showered them with sparks as it shorted out. Celeste tried to shield herself from the sparks as Creed rolled away, shoving Nytetrayn off as he went.

Nyte staggered back, and activated his Powered Buster and opened fire. Creed activated the force shield in his left gauntlet, and used it to block Nytetrayn’s Powered Buster shot. “Resourceful, are we…?”

“Dammit!” the Digger shouted.

MegaMan Magnus threw back his head and let out a monstrous scream as the beam saber impaled him. His weakened armor buckled, and the tip of the saber came out through his stomach. Steel smiled and thanked whatever gods might be listening for guiding that toss, and shouted, “GET HIM! NOW!”

MegaMan Blade moved in quickly to take advantage of the opening, and aimed a stabbing blow straight for Magnus’s head. As he did this, Magnus wrenched the weapon out of himself and rose into the air as a pair of massive plasma cannons formed up on his shoulders. Janine slammed into Blade, and yanked him out of the way with a grunt, just before he’d have been annihilated by the power pouring forth from the weapons.

Magnus followed the two with his cannons, which continued spewing a torrent of earth-shattering energy like a river. Blade managed to evade the blasts as he flew acrobatically around the larger MegaMan and peppered him with energy blades and shots from his arm cannon. Magnus snarled in frustration as his attacks couldn’t keep up with Blade, and ceased firing. The energy now gathered inward, and surrounded his body with a blue glow.

East frowned as he beheld the color of the energy surrounding Magnus. Up to this point, all of his attacks had been formed of crimson energy. “Internalizing energy…?” he said. “That wasn’t in his specs…” His eyes widened as he witnessed Magnus convulsing as power crawled over his body, and his eyes shifted from red to their normal gold, then back.

MegaMan Blade’s eyes seemed to become brighter, as blue energy flowed from the sword to surround his entire body. He noted East’s reaction, but kept his eyes on Magnus.

Janine came up beside Black Steel. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, thanks. Just be careful, alright?”

“Sure, except… I’ve never seen him do that before…”

MegaMan Magnus roared as the energy surrounding him suddenly blazed red again, and cupped his palms, focusing the malignant power into them.

“I don’t understand,” said East. “There’s so much energy… where could he have gotten it all from? Unless…”

“Not good,” said Steel. “Janine.”

“Yes?”

“I seriously doubt I’m gonna live through this one. But before I die, I at least want you to know, I did not think badly of you at all. I came over today to ask you out. I was upset that day because I saw you with Tom, and… I guess I was jealous. I’m sorry. Just promise me that no matter what happens today, you’ll live through it.”

Janine’s eyes widened. “Steel… I…”

MegaMan Magnus continued to focus his power, and little by little, it left his body and joined the sphere that was forming between his hands. The more energy that went into it, the more his armor began to look like its normal colors again.

East’s eyes glowed a solid, sickly green as he gritted his teeth in rage. “You… can’t… do that!”

With all the toxic energy gathered and his body purified of the contaminant, Magnus turned his gaze towards East, eyes burning with hatred. “YES, I CAN,” he bellowed.

“Mother wanted to make sure you couldn’t steal her warriors from her anymore,” added Adam. “Do you really think she’d let the incident happen again?”

Creed noted Magnus and frowned. “This is becoming interesting…”

Nytetrayn and Celeste made note of it, too, but kept their eyes on Creed, with Nyte taking advantage of the distraction to attack him with his saber.

MegaMan Magnus turned towards East, and fired a blast that would make a Kamehameha look like a laser pointer.

“Holy…!” said Janine, while Steel threw his hands up to block out the light from the fierce attack.

The attack was enough to throw Nytetrayn off of his own, which Creed casually blocked with his energy shield. This allowed him to back away long enough to draw his own massive saber.

Sherman East roared in supreme rage as the attack not only found its mark, but atomized the ruin gate and smashed through the energy pillar. However, it dissipated before it could do more, and East remained where he was, none the worse for wear… save for being royally pissed off.

Creed whistled.

“This is the power of The Reanimator…” said Blade.

“…shit,” said Magnus.

“Moron,” said East. “I said I took all the power I needed from the ruin before resurrecting you! Did you think I gave you the lion’s share of my energy?!” With that, East made a violent gesture with one hand, and sent Magnus flying backwards, and his body dug a trench in the stone ground before coming to a rest, where he lay still.

“…ohcrap,” said Nytetrayn, while everyone else looked on, speechless.

East sighed. “Oh, well. More for me.” He then held his hand out towards Janine, and sent a bolt of green lightning in her direction.

“NO!” shouted Steel, as he threw himself between Janine and the attack. It was for naught, though. She screamed as the energy arced over her body, and red power flashed out of her, traveling along the length of the blast back to East. The Ancient chuckled, as merely coming into contact with the crackling green energy was enough to burn the Digger and throw him aside.

Steel found himself charred to a crisp, and deposited many feet away, and Janine fell limply to the ground, twitching.

Blade tried to blast East in the back with a huge ball of energy while he was distracted, but he was protected by a spherical shield of reddish energy. “Shit,” said Blade.

Nyte’s all but forgotten the fight with Creed, as he saw his friends zapped by East. “Jan… Steel…”

East laughed. “Hehehehe… yess, marvelous power! Splendid! This is what I needed! To fight without the use of paltry flesh, to unveil my true glory!” East threw his arms back and exploded, with black blood spraying everywhere until nothing was left but his metallic skeleton, glowing red and silhouetted by a cloud of emerald lightning. Celeste covered her eyes as the transformation took place.

Meanwhile, Steel tried to crawl towards Janine, his legs seemingly unable to move. “Janine…” East’s explosion of power threw him across the ground like a ragdoll, his hands clawing for any sort of hold he could get as he was pushed along. He fought his way over to Janine, and attempted to rouse her. “Jan… Jan… please…” However, she remained still, her skin pale and cool.

East’s skeleton shifted and changed, becoming more demonic in shape and its color shifting until he was an ebony black monster. The Reanimator was just shy of two and a half meters tall, lanky, and had spikes jutting out from his arms, shoulders, and back, with massive horns crowning his head. “Heheheh… hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

Nyte addressed Creed. “You’d align yourself… with that?”

“That is the face of power, young one. If he can offer me what I want… then who cares where the power comes from?”

“Have you even considered what the cost might be? From the look of things, he probably doesn’t even need you. I wouldn’t consider that a stable business relationship.”

MegaMan Blade returned to the group. “He’s right. He doesn’t require anyone to help him.”

“Everyone can use more power,” Creed said. “However,” he added to himself, as he stroked his chin. “I wonder… is he the means to my ends?”

The Reanimator slowly floated to the ground before them, and beheld the mortals with infernal eyes.

Suddenly, Creed whirled and leaped behind Celeste. He grabbed her by the arm, and she shrieked.

“LET HER GO!” Nyte shouted, as he started towards the Air Pirate.

The Reanimator watched the proceedings. He may have been smiling, but with that face, it was difficult to tell.

“Let her choose, boy.” He pulled her in close, and rasped in her ear as she struggled to get free. “Listen carefully. The kid may like you, but he can’t offer you anything. I can give you the world. Between me and the demon, we can do pretty much anything. Why throw that away?”

Celeste kept struggling. “Because… all I want… is to be with him… Now let… me… go!”

“Oh, is that really all? What about your past?”

Her struggle weakened, as she looked back in shock. “How… how would you know… anything about that?”

Creed chuckled. “You’d be surprised what someone will tell you if they’re drunk enough… and my family has a history of solving their problems with alcohol.”

“I… I don’t… understand…”

Nyte bided his time while Creed was distracted. He had to wait for just the right moment, with Celeste in the way.

“He found me, alright. But I wouldn’t kill him. Confused the hell out of him, that one did. Went straight for the bar, and from there? It was easy to play the repentant father card and get him smashed. Told me everything, from your powers to your past. Mentioned you were hot under this tin can, too. Hehehe! You should have seen the look on his face when he sobered up!”

Suddenly, it all clicked. “…no… you’re lying…!” she said, shaking her head as she resumed her struggle, though she wasn’t having much luck with it.

“Yep. You poor little girl… got no memory, and everyone wants a piece of you because you’ve got refractors and a nice rack. Hell, I almost feel bad for you.” Abruptly, Creed let her go, and took a step back as she fell backwards onto the ground. “I can fix all that.”

Nyte took his opening and leaped at Creed from behind, hoping to strike deep across his back with the Nyte-Saber. That is, until he was blasted out of the air by The Reanimator. He rolled a short distance, and came up kneeling by Steel and Janine. “N-Nyte…” Steel said, and Nyte paused to check on the fallen Digger.

“Steel, just hang in there…”

Steel gestured to something nearby. “My… sabre… there… use it…” Nytetrayn grabbed the weapon. “Not even… metal bastards… can’t be opened like a can…”

Nyte nodded, and told Steel, “Just hang tight.”

“Good luck…”

Nyte took up Steel’s saber in his left hand, and activated the Nyte-Saber on his right.

“Just… just keep away from me. I don’t want any part of you!” Celeste shouted at Creed.

Nytetrayn made another go at Creed, but The Reanimator rolled his eyes and tried to blast Nyte down again. Nyte was expecting him to get involved again, and dodged the blast on his way towards Creed.

“I can give you your past, Celeste. I have connections. I can find things out. Hell, I’m willing to bet our glowing friend could dig those memories out of your pretty little head with half the trouble. You can know who you are.”

Celeste just lowered her head. “Just… go away. Leave us alone…”

Creed’s lip curled. “One skinny kid means that much?”

“He means everything…”

“Fine,” Creed said. Then he turned and fired his Plasma Caster at The Reanimator.

Nytetrayn, Celeste, MegaMan Blade, and even The Reanimator himself reacted with widened eyes, the latter taken unaware and forced back by the blast, the ground tearing up beneath his feet.

“What the…?” Celeste said.

“…the hell?” said Nytetrayn.

“All of you!” the Air Pirate called out. “Hit him fast and hard now, or we don’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell!”

MegaMan Blade took the opportunity to blast The Reanimator with a huge beam of energy that mimicked the Plasma Caster blast. MegaMan Magnus, who’d been slowly dragging himself to his feet, decided not to question providence, and opened up with his shoulder cannons to strike the beleaguered demigod. Nyte launched a helix of saber energy from his and Steel’s blades, and even Celeste tried to get a shot off with her pistol.

As this was going on, Steel growled and forced his legs to work, whether they wanted to or not. Upon seeing this, Nyte shouted, “Steel! CATCH!” and hurled the deactivated saber to its owner. Steel reached out for the saber, catching and activating it.

The Reanimator screamed as the attacks smashed into him, throwing him further backwards, and nearly off the stone platform. Nyte converted his now-free arm back into Powered Buster mode, and fired on The Reanimator, while MegaMan Blade blasted him again with an even larger blast. Finally, Steel hurled his saber.

Pelted by blasts, it was the saber striking him full in the face that finally made The Reanimator topple. He fell off the platform backwards, and hit the sea below with a mighty splash.

“That won’t kill him,” said Blade. “I don’t think…”

Creed turned to Blade, and told him, “Get your ship and get everyone off this rock, unless you want to die.” As he spoke, the Nemesis rose from the ocean behind them, towering from above like a giant, floating black monolith.

Blade nodded, and soon Alpha-Red came swooping in with the Sky Shark, and extended a rooftop boarding ramp.

Nytetrayn rushed over to Celeste, knelt beside her and helped her up. “Cel, are you alright?” She nodded, and they headed for the ship, helping MegaMan Magnus along the way. “C’mon, big guy, we gotta move!” he said, as they helped steady the big bot.

Likewise, though breathing heavily and barely able to stand, Steel went for Janine and struggled to pull her up. With his muscles at their limit, he managed to lift her and move her towards the Sky Shark before Blade came to help move her. “Thanks,” he said.

Alpha-Red took the ship away from the ruin at top speed, once everyone was on board.

Once Steel saw Janine was set down safely, he dropped against the nearest wall, leaning heavily on it. Nytetrayn and Celeste went to check on him and Janine. “How is she?” Nyte asked.

“I don’t know… she hasn’t been conscious since…”

MegaMan Blade tried to help Steel get to a bunk, but he refused, choosing to stay by Jan’s side. Blade went on to check on Janine, who was unconscious, but breathing. “At least she’s still alive,” said Nyte.

Blade asked, “Can you check the status of her mind, Magnus?”

“I don’t have that power… I’m a combat model,” he said, as he knelt beside Janine, and stroked her hair.

Meanwhile, the Reanimator rose from the ocean, a fireball of chaos that roared dire threats. “INSECTS!? YOU DARE TO DEFY A GOD?!”

Creed cackled, and leaped onto the Nemesis, as it passed beside the pillar.

“What are we going to do?” asked Nyte. “We can’t just let that thing roam free…” He went to the window to see how their fiend was doing, and watched as the Nemesis seemed to grow larger as panels opened up across the ship. Panels that were hiding a lot of weaponry. “Uh-oh. I’ve seen that before. Creed is bringing out the big guns…”

MegaMan Blade said “Great, lemme see,” as he joined Nyte at the window. They watched as The Reanimator had about a second to realize what was going on, before being struck with enough firepower to level his entire base of operations. Which, incidentally, it did as well.

“It’s gone now,” said Nyte. “The archive…”

Most of the ship’s weapons folded back into the ship before a single, sleek cannon emerged from beneath the main fuselage, nearly half as long as the ship itself.

“What the? That’s new…”

“Traitor!” shouted The Reanimator, now a single glowing speck amidst a vast ocean. The Nemesis, and moreover, its very accurate targeting computers, ensured that The Reanimator was hit dead-on. “SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII—!” Nytetrayn, Blade, and now Celeste watched as The Reanimator went down yet again.

“I guess that’s it for East, for now,” Nyte said. “What got into Creed all of a sudden?”

MegaMan Blade sheathed his sword and laid his hand on Janine’s head. They both glowed blue for a moment, before he stood up again. “Is she okay, Blade?” asked Steel. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I’m not sure.”

Suddenly, Janine stirred slightly in her sleep as a soft moan escaped her lips. Nyte and Celeste went and hovered over her with the others. “What’s happening?” Celeste asked.

“I… I don’t know,” said Magnus.

“Janine?” said Blade. “Can you hear me? Janine?”

“Janine… please,” said Steel.

Janine’s eyes fluttered open, and glowed for a mere second. “Wh – what…?”

“Jan!” shouted Magnus, while Steel took a very deep breath and fell back against the wall, smiling.

Janine blinked. “Ohhh… do I have the mother of all headaches… Someone get the number of that train?”

“Jan, you’re okay!” Nyte said with a smile, as Celeste breathed a sigh of relief.

Steel said, “Good to see you again, Jan.”

She nodded in return, slowly, and said, “Good to see you, too…”

MegaMan Blade’s eyes flashed, and faded out. “Well, that was interesting,” said Adam. “It’s different, being inside there…”

“Interesting?” said Magnus.

“I could see what went on, but I couldn’t do anything.”

Nyte looked to Magnus, and asked, “What about MegaMan Rom?”

Magnus just shook his head. “What East did to him doesn’t bear repeating.”

Nyte just lowered his head, and said, “I guess Jan’s appointment is canceled.”

“Anywho, let’s get the injured into their bunks,” said Adam. “Alpha, set a course for the nearest island with a hospital.”

“Yessir,” said the Reaverbot assistant.

Just then, a radio transmission crackled over from the Nemesis. Adam clicked it on.

“I trust everyone is alive… and in one relative piece?” came the voice of Creed.

“Yes, everyone is alive and in one piece,” said Adam.

“Excellent. I’d hate to think I killed you all by accident before I got the chance to do it on purpose.”

“Did you destroy The Reanimator?”

“Oh, he’s gone for the moment, I’d daresay. That cannon once imploded a ship the size of yours.”

Adam laughed a bit. “I don’t doubt it.”

“What changed your tune about helping him, anyway?” asked Nytetrayn.

“Don’t misunderstand, kid, I was using him. I don’t help anyone.”

“Should’ve guessed.”

“He’ll hunt you down now,” said Adam, “but you’re not too worried about that, I suppose.”

“I have a lot of people hunting me. What’s one more?”

“Good point.”

“Anyway, enjoy yourselves while you last… I’ll see you later,” Creed said before signing off. Then the Nemesis turned and fired its engines, and streaked off into the sunset.

“Later, Creed,” said Adam. Nytetrayn breathed heavily outwards, relieved that the Air Pirate was gone. He went over to the nearest wall and leaned on it, his arm feeling pretty bad after the fight.

Meanwhile, Black Steel couldn’t maintain consciousness any longer. Now relieved that Janine was okay, he passed out, and Alpha-Red dragged him to a bunk. Adam showed Magnus where the bunks are, so Janine could rest, too. She quickly drifted back off, still weak from her ordeal. Nyte and Celeste got a bunk as well, and Adam returned to the bridge and helped Alpha pilot the ship.

The weary adventurers settled in for a well-earned rest, having defeated The Reanimator once again. And now, they’ve gained a new companion. Or two? What are Creed’s true motives? Can anyone guess?

To be continued…

We’re going biweekly from now through the rest of the year! In two weeks, be here for the start of a new storyline in “Legends of the Halcyon Era – Revelations: Nytefall”!

—–

Legends of the Halcyon Era is a work of fan fiction set in the world of Mega Man Legends. It is largely adapted from a series of freeform RPG sessions, combining ideas from several contributors, and further fleshed out here in a prose format.

David Oxford, also known as LBD “Nytetrayn,” is a lifelong Mega Man fan who, along with his wife Nadia, has co-written the Mega Man Robot Master Field Guide and Mega Man X Maverick Hunter’s Field Guide from UDON Entertainment, and runs The Mega Man Network (themmnetwork dot com). You can also find him on Twitter @LBD_Nytetrayn and @themmnetwork, and on Twitch and YouTube under the name “Nyteworks.”

You can also find Legends of the Halcyon Era as it updates at Archive of Our Own.

Character designs by LBD “Nytetrayn” and Victor Campan. MegaMan Magnus and Trevor Creed art by Victor Campan; Sherman East art by LBD “Nytetrayn”. Logos by Tabby Ramsey. Arrangement by LBD “Nytetrayn”.

Thanks for reading!