Legends of the Halcyon Era – The Avion Adventure: Sobering Up

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Legends of the Halcyon Era

The Avion Adventure: Sobering Up

by

David Oxford/LBD “Nytetrayn”

*****

Previously, in Legends of the Halcyon Era…

Upon learning of the amnesiac status of both Steel and Celeste, Commander Black Draco offered a potential solution to their memory problems, though it came with certain risks.

Steel took the treatment first, and came out a temporarily crazed mess at first, before regaining his senses. As Celeste went to take her chances with the procedure, things came to a head between Black Draco and Nytetrayn, who lashed out after convincing himself that the commander had just taken away the thing he cared about most and took off.

Steel would reveal what he had seen to Janine, and as they sparred in preparation for the battle ahead, she would reveal that the power for her battle routines had been irrevocably drained.

Meanwhile, Celeste would reveal to the group that she’d chosen them over the risk getting her memories back posed, and went to find Nytetrayn…

The following morning, at the hotel restaurant, Nytetrayn and Celeste are seated at a table, eating breakfast.

“Nyte…” Celeste said, after working up the nerve to approach a certain subject.

“Hrmm?” Nyte said, looking up from his feeding in mid-chew.

“You really should talk to your dad.”

Nyte paused, then swallowed his food. “What for?”

“Well… I think he feels bad for what happened. I don’t think he meant to hurt you in any way.”

“Hmph,” Nyte grumbled. “I almost lost you because of him –”

“ – but you didn’t. He wasn’t trying to do that, he just wanted to help.”

Nyte paused again, then continued eating. “Yeah, I’m sure he has the time. On top of exploring the galaxy and fighting wars and running a planet… there doesn’t seem to have been a lot of time for me on the itinerary so far.”

Celeste sighed. “Please, Nyte… give him another chance.” Then, after a moment, she played her trump card. Placing her hand atop his, she added, “Do it for me?”

Nyte stopped again, as he thought to himself, “Dammit.” With a deep, almost frustrated sigh, he told her “Alright. I’ll do it. But only because you want me to.”

Celeste smiled and said “Thanks, Nyte,” before going back to eating.

Soon after, Fenix and MegaMan Magnus entered the restaurant, singing Irish songs. Though Fenix was still sporting his helmet, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that read “I slept with your wife.” They took a seat near the two lovebirds, and ordered as many different varieties of deceased pig as the menu afforded them, throwing in a couple of new ideas along the way.

“Hi, guys,” Celeste said cheerfully, before taking a sip of her beverage.

With a mouth full of food, Nyte added his own greeting. “Hwi.”

“Good morning to you,” Magnus said.

“How’d you guys sleep?” Fenix asked.

Nyte choked on his food, while Celeste immediately spit out her beverage. Her face turned a few shades of red, while Nyte was going into purple.

Fenix and Magnus exchanged looks. For once in his life, Fenix was asking with no implications attached whatsoever.

Nyte finally forced the food down, and replied “fine” with a wheezing gasp, before grabbing a glass of milk to wash down the choking sensation.

“We slept alright,” Celeste said. “How about you guys?”

“We have reached a consensus that it will never be spoken of again,” Fenix told her.

“Look, I told you before: The lights were out, and I didn’t have any idea that you were there–”

“SILENCE!” Fenix said to cut him off, to the awkward stares coming from Nytetrayn and Celeste.

Magnus coughed. “We slept well,” he told her, gesturing with one hand as though to straighten an imaginary tie hanging from his neck. “Thank you for asking.”

The waitress arrived at the latter arrivals’ table with a couple of plates full of large, juicy sausage links. “Oh, and here’s your milk, hons,” she said as she placed a pair of glasses down.

Simultaneously, Fenix and Magnus said “Thank you! A thousand blessings upon your home, ma’am. Are you single? Hey, I saw her first! Did not! Oh yeah? Why I oughta…”

The waitress just giggled as she made her way back to the kitchen.

Deciding to stop any potential fracases before they have a chance to start, Nytetrayn asked “So! What do you guys have planned for the day?”

“Oh! Lots of stuff,” said Fenix. “Right at the top of the list is ‘no freakin’ idea’.”

“I suggested hitting up one of the local gentlemen’s clubs, but they don’t open before six,” Magnus said, before leaning over and trying to whisper. “And if we’re being honest, after what we’ve seen of some of the anthropomorphic Reploid women around here, the thought kind of scares us a bit.”

Nytetrayn raised an eyebrow at the Annihilator Unit.

“Look, I’m just not interested in the idea of slipping credits into the g-string of an upright walking cuttlefish.”

“Kinda picky, considering, aren’t you?”

“At the very least, I can say that I don’t have tenta– oh. Wait. Yes, I do.” Magnus’s head drooped with a sigh, while Celeste simply shuddered upon remembering that.

“So all we have to do is find you a woman who is, as the kids say, ‘into that,’” Fenix said.

“Jan was, but then, she’s into just about anything.”

“Yeah,” Nyte said, “but I think she’s been claimed.”

“True,” said Fenix. “So then all you have to do is kill Steel, and you’re home free.’

“Hmm,” Magnus said, as if seriously considering it. “Do you think that would be difficult?”

“Considering Jan might kill you as a result?” Nyte asked. “Not to mention those nanomachines, son.”

“Oh, she certainly would,” Magnus confirmed. “At least, she would if her energy readings haven’t been almost totally flatlined lately.”

“Wait… say huh?” said Nytetrayn.

Magnus kept partaking of his pork. “Her energy levels? They’ve been nearly depleted since the fight with East. It would surprise me if she can even float quickly, never mind generating any kind of meaningful level of blasts.”

“Wow,” Nyte said. “All that? I had no idea.”

“Me neither,” Celeste agreed.

Magnus nodded. “I believe East damaged her generator, though I can’t be certain without a detailed scan. And I’m not sure that’s something she will afford me.”

“Will she be okay?” Nyte asked.

“That would depend. That energy generator is used primarily for combat functions, but if he got her fusion core as well, then that would be trouble. But I believe she would be able to tell if things were that bad, and would likely tell someone.”

“Someone like Steel?” Nyte suggested.

Magnus’s eye twitched a little. “Yeah.”

“Aha.”

“So,” Fenix said, striking his chin, “she’s no longer a powerhouse? Fascinating…”

“Yeah, really,” said Nytetrayn. “Well, guess I should get this over with.” He stood as he finished the last bits of his meal.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Celeste asked.

“No… I should probably do this on my own.”

“What’s he doing?” Fenix asked.

“Going to see his dad,” Celeste replied.

Nytetrayn winced a little at that, as the association of the word “dad” with Black Draco still felt a bit unusual to him.

“Just be sure he doesn’t go for your arm,” Fenix said playfully.

Nytetrayn raised an eyebrow and gave Fenix a confused look when it hit him. “Ahhh, gotcha,” Nytetrayn said, as he and Fenix smirked at each other.

“Bye, Nyte!” Celeste said with a quick kiss.

“Seeya, guys,” Nyte said to the others with a wave as he went on his way.

Fenix and Magnus returned the gesture, before turning their attention to Celeste as she sat back down.

“So! Got any plans for today?” Magnus asked her.

“Hmm, not really.”

“Would you like to hang out with us? I’m certain we can find something nonhazardous around here with which we can occupy ourselves.”

“Yeah, sure,” Celeste said. “As long as there are no tentacles involved,” she added playfully.

“Dang. There goes my idea,” said Fenix. “So, then! Who’s up for some vidya games? I saw an arcade just up the way. Fancy place, too. I bet they serve pizza and/or beer.”

“That sounds like it could be fun,” Celeste agreed, as she went to finish off her drink before they left.

“Oh, and by the way? Janine said taking an aspirin the morning after usually helped.”

Celeste spit out her drink again, causing Fenix to smirk under his helmet as he went to settle the bill.

***

Black Steel awoke in the bed he was sharing with Janine, blinking his way into consciousness – and just as quickly wishing he hadn’t. “Oh God, my head…” he muttered. “It’s true. Sex does put a strain on the mind as well.”

As he shared his epiphany, Janine stroked his chest and purred softly. “Poor baby.”

Steel kissed her hair and pulled her closer against him, finding her warmth was comforting and inviting. Janine snuggled against him.

Licking his ear, she said “Would you like to go another round, or would you rather get something to eat?”

Steel pondered what to do today as he managed to pull himself out of bed.

“So, breakfast, then,” Janine said as she continued to lie half-covered on the bed, looking at him cutely with her hair mussed up.

As he gave her a good look, he said “God, you’re beautiful.”

With a dazzling smile, she replied “You’re not bad yourself,” then licked her lips.

Steel was ready to forget anything else he was thinking about, and melt back into her warmth, but he forced himself to remain free of the hotel room’s cozy entrapment.

Instead, while Janine went to take a quick shower, he opted to go out onto their room’s balcony. As he leaned on the railing and looked out over Avion City, he considered everything he’d learned yesterday. It was a lot to take in. He ran through the many options in his mind, and decided there was only one true course for him at this moment.

Returning to the bedroom, he fished out the wristwatch-like device he’d been given upon his arrival, entrusted to each of his group by Avion Sub-Commander Edge. Steel tried to figure out how to activate it to transmit an outgoing communication, poking at a few settings and speaking into it. “Hey, anyone there…?”

A familiar, holographic visual of a red Mechadrake Reploid with sunglasses popped up. “Yo.”

“Edge? That you?”

“Yep, it’s me. What’s up?”

“I got some things I need to do here. I was wondering if you had someone who could give me a good workout?”

“Workout? What sort of workout?”

“I need to train with people much stronger than me. You guys are about as strong as I can think of right now.”

“Well, shucks,” Edge replied. “Yeah, I’ll check around, and see if anyone’s free and up to it. Get back to you on that, okay?”

“Alright, thanks a lot,” Steel said, as they closed communications. Then he sneezed. “Why do I have this feeling that people who hate me are plotting against me?”

Janine emerged from her shower, drying her hair with one towel while wrapped in another.

As Steel forced a droplet of blood back into his nose, his communicator watch went off. “Come in, Steel. Are you there?”

He pulled his gaze away from Jan long enough to respond. “I’m here.”

“Yeah, got someone on their way over for some training. Anything else?”

“That’ll do it for the morning.” He paused. “Incidentally, would you be interested in coming with me to those ruins later?”

“Maybe. Check back with me later, I’ll have to see if anything is going on then.”

“Alright,” Steel said, as Janine leaned on his back. “Thanks a lot, Edge. By the way, who should I expect?”

At that moment, a knock came at their door.

“…nevermind. I’m pretty sure that’s them now.”

Steel signed off and got up, reluctantly, due to Jan, and went to open the door. Immediately, he regretted everything that brought him to this point.

“Hey,” said a familiar gold Mechadrake with a sharp-toothed smirk, as he towered over the Digger. “Howya doin’?”

“Howdy!” Janine said with a cheerful wave.

“SunFlame,” Steel said with a small chuckle. “Shoulda known you’d be up for this. Thanks for coming by.”

“My pleasure. So, did you have a certain place you wanted to go, or is the training facility good by you?”

“Whatever suits you best. I don’t think I’m going to have much of a chance to enjoy the scenery.”

“Alright then, training facility it is.” He paused, as he got a better look at Janine. “You guys, uh, need some time first?”

“Nah, we’re good!” Janine said cheerfully.

“Jan…” Steel said.

“Oh, all right,” Janine said with a mock-pout. “Just give us a minute.”

A short time later, Steel emerged – not in his armor, but in a black tank top and some loose black pants. Janine followed in her lighter attire, deciding to contrast Steel’s attire, rather than match it.

“Alright then, let’s get to it,” SunFlame said, as he led the way.

A short time later, they arrived at the training facility, which was currently empty. All sorts of different equipment, ranging from weights to targets, mats, and other stuff was arranged all over the place.

“So, what was it you wanted to do? Sparring?” SunFlame asked.

“To an extent,” Steel explained. “Sparring alone will only slightly increase my skills… but actually fighting will accelerate it tenfold.”

SunFlame looked at Steel in disbelief. “You want to actually fight? Like, for real?”

“I think it might be the only way I’ll grow stronger, and I need to do so as quickly as possible.”

Janine looked just as baffled as SunFlame. “Shall I flag down an ambulance in advance?” she asked.

“Alright, then,” SunFlame shrugged, as he led the way into a large room with gym mat-styled padding on the floor, walls and even on the high ceiling.

“Normally, I’d ask why the ceiling,” Steel said as he took in his surroundings, “but I have a feeling I’ll learn soon enough.”

SunFlame took a look at Steel and his chosen training attire. “Guess it’d be unfair if I kept my armor on, huh?”

“I doubt my enemies will give me the luxury of choice, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Okay, let’s see here. I guess I can start with the armor, and when we’re ready to move on, I can get rid of it for some extra strength and speed. How’s that?”

As Steel tightly wrapped tape around his wrists and fists to shield them from blows, he said “Sounds good.”

“Alright, then,” SunFlame said, as he prepared to get started.

“SunFlame…” Steel said upon his approach. “Don’t hold back. He won’t.”

SunFlame tilted his head to one side, then to the other, his neck giving off several loud popping sounds in either direction.

“Just say the word,” SunFlame told him.

“You first, please.”

No sooner than the words left Steel’s mouth than SunFlame dashed across the room, closing the distance between the two fighters at a speed barely detectable to the human eye, and delivered a right fist to Steel’s stomach, sending him flying backwards. Steel slammed into the far wall, and dropped off of it, leaving a nice, padded imprint of himself. He landed on his feet and staggered forward slightly, clutching at his side.

“Okay… that hurt,” the Digger said, while Janine frowned as she watched the exchange.

Before he knew what was happening next, SunFlame followed up by grabbing one of Steel’s arms and hurling him across the room. Steel slammed against the far wall and flopped off, landing down on one knee.

Fortunately for him, the damage from that attack wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t rebound.He leaped up from the floor and spun in mid-air, coming down with a right hook at SunFlame.

SunFlame turned to the side, avoiding the attack, before delivering a headbutt down onto Steel’s own head, dropping the Digger to one knee instantly.

“Heh, good stuff,” Steel said, before suddenly standing up and delivering an uppercut.

The blow connected, but SunFlame wasn’t really phased by it – certainly not nearly as much as hitting metal and scales would hurt a fist, even a taped one. Steel ignored the pain, though, and tried to punch through the armor before him, to similar effect.

Steel gave a tired chuckle. “Your turn, I presume?”

Without saying a word, SunFlame put his index and middle fingers underneath Steel’s chin, and quickly lifted him up into the air. Steel seemed to float for a moment, just before SunFlame’s massive roundhouse kick connected with Steel’s ribs and chest. Steel spun through the air and thudded off the wall, slamming hard onto the mats down below before bouncing a few times.

“Um, guys?” Janine interjected. “Maybe you should tone it down a little?”

Steel put his hand on the ground to help push himself up. Groaning, he managed to find his feet under him. “Yeah… This is fighting,” he said, as he put his shoulder back into place.

“You hangin’ in there okay?” SunFlame asked.

“I’m great. This is very helpful,” Steel told him. “My turn, I think.”

“Sure,” SunFlame said with a slight shrug.

With that, Steel broke into a run at his opponent once again.

***

Elsewhere in the city, Nytetrayn arrived at Black Draco’s quarters. He stood there for several moments, staring ahead at the door, as if expecting it to do something that would lead to any outcome other than opening it.

He took a deep breath, and then entered.

Inside, the Avion Supreme Commander was sitting behind a large desk, seemingly at work on something. He looked up as his guest entered.

“Nytetrayn…”

He rose from his chair, and the two walked towards each other, stopping at a respectable distance apart midway.

“So you’ve come…”

To be continued…

Next time: “Arcade Anarchy”

—–

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, and on Mega Man Legends Station!

Character designs by LBD “Nytetrayn” and Victor Campan. Cover and kiss scene by Victor Campan. Logos by Tabby Ramsey.

Thanks for reading!