Legends of the Halcyon Era – The Avion Adventure: Tempered Steel

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Legends of the Halcyon Era

The Avion Adventure: Tempered Steel

by

David Oxford/LBD “Nytetrayn”

*****

Previously, in Legends of the Halcyon Era…

After arriving on Avion, Commander Black Draco and the Dragon Knights invited the group to a special dinner to get to know each other’s parties a little better, and when it was revealed that both Celeste and Steel had been dealing with issues of memory loss, the Avion Commander offered a possible solution – albeit one with certain risks involved.

The two both jumped at the chance to regain their lost memories, and when Steel came out of it, he snapped, and tried to attack an unseen enemy. After he came to his senses, Celeste went to take her turn, and as she was being seen, tensions brewing beneath the surface finally came to a boil as Nytetrayn verbally lashed out at Black Draco before departing the scene.

It would turn out that Celeste declined the treatment, ultimately deciding that whatever life she had before, she wasn’t willing to risk losing the one she’d since built, ultimately accepting who she is now and setting out to find Nytetrayn.

In the following days, Steel began to train in earnest with the gold Dragon Knight, SunFlame, while Nytetrayn – at Celeste’s behest – made amends with and began hanging out with his creator. Meanwhile, Celeste would venture off on her own to a history museum, where she discovered an exhibit that she found particularly inspiring.

Black Steel wrapped his bruised and blackened knuckles in a fresh set of bandages, musing to himself that training against Mechadrakes, while effective, was still not easy on the ol’ bones. Even then, he knew the gesture was ultimately pointless, as his newfound ability to heal himself would see that he was good as new in an hour’s time.

“Damn, but if it doesn’t hurt in the meantime,” he said to no one in particular.

A knock came at his door, and after throwing on a black shirt, he heeded the summons.

“Hey,” said Adam Powers, standing before him with his sunglasses and signature flame-adorned black leather jacket over his armor, all while the large sword which carried the soul of MegaMan Blade was secured to his back. “Just thought I’d stop by, see if you’d be interested in joining me for a visit to Katrina’s place.” After noting the bandaged knuckles, he asked “What’s the deal with those?”

“Mechadrakes make lousy sparring partners.”

“Can’t say I ever thought to pick a fight with one, but hey, if you asked Katrina, I bet she’d be interested in a sparring session. She’d probably make a better partner. Or at least a softer one.”

“Hmm,” Steel thought. “Well, I do need all the training I can get before we go back to Terra…”

“Great! I was about to go find Cel and Nyte, in case they were interested as well. I mean, less the sparring – I dunno, maybe Nyte would – but in seeing Katrina’s lab.”

“She has a lab?”

“That’s what she tells me, anyway. Haven’t been there yet, myself.”

“Well, my sparring partner has things to do, so I’m free. May as well make something of it.” Something in Steel popped as he moved. “I guess it’d be nice to go more than an hour without a beating, anyways.”

The pair checked Nyte and Cel’s room to no avail before heading downstairs. Celeste was there, sitting alone, sadly stirring at her drink and seemingly unaware of their approach.

“Hey, what’s new?” asked Adam as they arrived at her table.

Celeste blinked and perked up, as if coming out of a trance. “Oh, hi guys. Nothing much. What are you up to?”

“We were going to go see Katrina. She wanted to show me her place, and then we’re going to see if she wants to spar with Steel. You want in?”

“Yeah, sure. I mean, I don’t want to do any sparring, but the rest sounds like fun.”

“I thought Nyte might be interested, too,” Adam said, as he looked around for the young Digger. “Any idea where he is?”

“Yeah, I think he’s off doing training or something with the Commander… again.”

“Oh,” Adam said. “There something wrong?”

“No… I mean, sorta, I guess.”

“Let me guess: You haven’t seen him as much lately, and you’re getting lonely, huh?”

She sighed. “I’m glad they finally managed to hit it off, but yeah. I haven’t seen much of him lately, after I talked him into giving it another chance.” She stirred at her drink some more.

“Hey, don’t worry, I’m sure he’s not trying to avoid you or anything. He’s just busy.” Adam smiled as he continued. “Come on out with us, maybe you’ll feel better.”

“Yeah,” Celeste said, smiling. “That sounds good.”

Outside, Adam checked the directions via the GPS on the wrist comm they’d each been given upon their arrival on Avion. “I think we might need to get a taxi or something. I can’t carry both of you while flying, and honestly, I don’t think any of us would want that, anyway.”

“No, I walk. Just tell me the directions,” Steel said. “I haven’t had my jog today, after all,” he added with an odd cheerfulness.

“Okay, that works, too,” Adam said.

“No reason for both of you to suffer. I just need to keep my body up,” Steel said. “You two can take a cab.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m going to wear these out,” Adam said, knocking on the armored exterior of his mechanical legs.

“Well, what about her?” Steel said, as he gestured to Celeste. “And would she be comfortable with you carrying her?”

Adam turned his attention to Celeste. “You alright if I need to carry you?”

“Er, I… uh…” Celeste was not expecting that. “I… guess?”

“Okay, let’s get going, then,” Adam said. As Celeste and Steel followed, he was pleased to see that his knuckles were already on their way to a complete recovery.

***

Adam looked around periodically as he led his friends on their voyage through the streets of Avion City. Despite their short time here, he already seemed intimately familiar with the city, and had to watch his pace so as not to leave the others lost.

Eventually, they found themselves in what appeared to be an older area of the city. The style of architecture found on the buildings seemed a little different from what they had seen near their hotel, and the facades seemed to be more weathered as well.

“Looks like we’re getting close,” Adam said, as he checked his map. “Yeah, it’s right over there. How are you guys holding up?”

Celeste just nodded, while Steel jogged in place and threw a few punches at the open air. “All good here,” he said.

“Alright, let’s go check it out.” Adam led them to the building, which was divided into numerous sections. The street level seemed to be comprised of shops while some sort of rooms or apartments sat upstairs.

Outside of a shop advertising electronic equipment, Adam said “This looks like the right place. Let’s go in and have ourselves a look.”

Inside the shop, one could describe the setting as cozy. Some merchandise was protected within glass cases, while other devices hung from the walls. What looked to be a human sat in the corner near the register, leaning back in his chair. He was dressed in black pants with a white shirt and leather boots, and an outback hat rested atop his head, while a magazine laid open across his face.

“One hell of a ‘lab’, Powers,” Steel said.

Adam ignored the remark, and approached the man in the corner, who had so far not acknowledged their presence. “Excuse me…”

“Hrmm?” grunted a sleepy voice from under the magazine. “What is it? It better not involve me getting up unless it involves you buying something, y’punk…”

“Uh…” Adam said, taken a little aback.

“We were actually looking for someone,” Celeste said. “She said we could find her here. Her name’s Katrina – do you know where we can find her?”

The clerk mumbled something as he pressed a button somewhere behind his counterspace. “Hey!” he shouted into the microphone. “Y’got visitors.”

“I’ll be right up,” came Katrina’s voice through the muffled speaker.

Soon after, she appeared through a door situated behind the clerk. “Hey Adam, hey Steel, hi Celeste!” The trio greeted her, and she continued. “So, here to see my lab? Come on in!” She motioned for them to follow as she headed back through the door, which led to a stairwell heading down beneath the shop.

Adam glanced at the clerk, who hadn’t moved since calling for Katrina, and shrugged before following her, with Steel close behind. Celeste followed as well, but paused for a second to poke her head back out. “I like your hat, by the way,” she told him, before moving to catch up with the others.

Unseen by the others, the clerk allowed himself a brief smile before getting back to his nap.

Katrina led the group down a narrow flight of stairs, and to a large concrete room with numerous shelves and workbenches anchored to the walls. A large table sat in the center, seemingly for some sort of work. A mug with a danger tape design on it that read “Caution: Hot” sat near one side. A pile of monitors littered one corner. In another, there leaned a capsule with a clear lid. More equipment and parts were strewn about the place.

“Welcome to my world,” she said. “Sorry about the mess, I haven’t had a chance to clean up. But feel free to have a look around, and if you have any questions…”

“What’s this?” asked Celeste, as she looked closely at one of the devices on the center table.

“Oh, that’s for the analysis of energy patterns, as well as the potential output of any samples I’m able to get my hands on. I’m researching new types and sources of energy.”

“Ah,” Celeste said, nodding. She and Steel both looked around with a mix of interest and intimidation, not being the most tech-minded individuals of their group.

Adam poked around the lab a bit, and picked up something with a few loose wires dangling from an opening in its housing. “And this?”

Katrina took a closer look. “I’m not sure. At least, not without studying it more. It’s probably something Stu handed off to me to fix so he could sell it, but I just haven’t gotten to it yet.”

Adam put it down, then approached the capsule. After looking it over for a few minutes, he finally asked “What about this thing?”

“Oh, that’s just my recharge capsule. That’s for when I get too caught up in my work here to go back to my apartment and sleep. Can’t say I’m too terribly fond of it, though.”

“What’s it like in there?” Celeste asked.

“Cramped. And it’s not as refreshing as actually sleeping. It feels more… forced. I’ve heard some Reploids prefer it to a more regular kind of bed, but I don’t really. I like to stretch out.”

“And you said you were looking into new energy sources?” Adam asked.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Ever seen a quantum refractor?”

“Uh… no. What’s that?”

Adam smirked a little as he reached into his pack, pulling out a refractor shard. “This is a shard. Why don’t you give it a look?”

Katrina held it up and looked at how it glistened in the light, before taking it to the machine Celeste had pointed out earlier and placing it inside. She tapped a few keys, and it hummed to life. “Wow,” she said, almost spellbound by what she saw on the screen. “Where… where did you find this?”

“On Terra,” he said. “They’re something of a commodity there, with value based on size. Full-size refractors can generate quite a bit of energy when they’re spun.”

“I’ve… never seen an energy density like this before. And are you saying these are common back on your world?”

“Well, the shards are, yeah. The bigger ones are rare, and you usually have to dig for those.”

“You go mining for these?”

“Oh, well, not exactly. I mean, some do, but we usually venture into ruins that are scattered around everywhere to find them.”

“Amazing,” Katrina said, as she tapped a few keys, powering the machine down before handing the shard back to Adam.

As Adam put the shard back into his pack, he looked over to Steel and quietly mouthed a “Well?” along with a slight head gesture towards Katrina.

This didn’t escape Katrina’s notice, as she looked at the pair. “Er, was there something else?”

“Ah, well,” Steel began. “Powers suggested I seek you out for a sparring match.”

“Oh?” she replied, looking at the violet-haired Digger.

“Well, I did say you might be interested…”

“…as a break from fighting Mechadrakes,” Steel added.

Katrina’s eyes widened. “Wait… you… were fighting Mechadrakes?” she asked, her voice showing no want for incredulity.

She circled and examined Steel, who stood still, save to allow his eyes to follow her as best as they could. After a couple of gentle pokes at his shoulder, she said “You are a human, aren’t you? If you fought a Mechadrake, shouldn’t you be in the infirmary with at least six broken bones?”

Steel blinked, as if to stop himself from rolling his eyes. “Well, that’s not a problem for me these days.”

“Really,” she said, looking him up and down as he nodded. “Wow.”

“I realize now that coming here for the express purpose of fighting was probably very rude on my part, and I apologize.”

“No need to apologize, I like to keep my skills sharp. But yeah,” Katrina said as she cut him off, sounding increasingly into this idea. “I want to see what kind of skills someone possesses to come out of a match with a Mechadrake unscathed.”

“Oh, I didn’t make it out unscathed. I can count how many matches I won on one hand.” Steel paused, and continued, his voice a little lower. “Mostly because it requires only one finger… and that was on a technicality.”

Katrina raised an eyebrow at him. “But you’re standing here. Talking to me. And you’re not a puddle. Which is remarkable in itself, considering you were fighting a ‘drake.”

“I appreciate the praise…” a flattered Steel began, but Katrina wasn’t quite done.

“Hell, there are even some Reploids who will ‘nope’ right out at just the mention of fighting a Mechadrake. Out of curiosity, who were you fighting?” she asked, as she took a sip out of the mug that was sitting on her table.

Steel scratched his head for a moment. “Sorry, I’ve got a terrible memory with names… SunFlame, was it?”

Katrina’s eyes widened as she spat out her drink, and something on the other side of the room sparked and popped. Celeste jumped slightly at the sound, while she, Steel, and Adam looked towards the source, though Katrina seemed content to ignore it.

“You survived SunFlame?!” she said. “Incredible… now I really want to see what you’re made of.”

“I think nanites, mostly. Maybe some black stuff,” Steel said.

“C’mon, let’s go hit the gym,” she said as she headed for the stairwell, with Adam and Celeste following along, and Steel stifling his regret at challenging a lady.

***

Katrina led the group to the training facility, which was only a few blocks away.

“So tell me,” she said to Steel, “what weapons were you equipped with when you beat SunFlame? I want to see your ability at the same level.”

“Er… I tripped him,” Steel admitted. “When he bent over too far to try to bearhug me.”

Awkward silence followed.

“That knocked him out of bounds,” he added.

“You… didn’t use any weapons?”

Steel scratched the back of his head. “Training with weapons isn’t really the point.”

After another awkward pause, Katrina said “You gotta be kidding me.”

“I already have a healthy understanding of most weapons,” Steel continued. “But that’s the problem – I’ve relied on them too much.”

After another pause, Steel added “Big guns didn’t pull through when I needed them the most. Sabers and traditional weapons are a side project.”

“You’re just ribbing me, right? Because there is no way you could have matched up with SunFlame unarmed.”

Adam just shook his head, and Steel looked to Celeste for support, but she was stunned by this, too.

“I’m not sure which is more impressive: That you would think up such an elaborate yet completely unbelievable fib… or that maybe you’re not lying?”

“I’m not a liar,” a flustered Steel responded. “I’ll prove it!”

“I guess we’ll find out, then, won’t we?” she said as she opened the way into the gym and continued leading the way into a sparring room.

Adam and Celeste took up a spot on the sidelines, well out of the way, while Steel and Katrina took to the center of the room. Steel was dressed in his light workout clothes, which made his movement easier, while Katrina remained armored up.

“You want me to ditch the armor?” she asked. “Even the playing field a little?”

“No, you’re good,” Steel replied, as he took up a proper fighting stance he’d learned from his harsh training he’d undergone recently.

“Okay, now we can see how much truth your claims have to them,” she said, taking up a stance of her own.

“First move is yours,” Steel said.

“You sure about that?” Katrina asked.

“Yeah,” Steel said, with a touch of pleasantness in his voice that seemed to hint that he was looking forward to this.

Katrina shrugged. “Alright…”

She began to slowly circle around Steel, closing in with each pass as she sized up her opponent. Steel held his ground, stationary, carefully following her movements with his eyes as he held up his guard.

From out of nowhere, Katrina launched into a flying side kick at Steel’s torso, which he instinctively reacted to by bringing a right forearm hardened by warding off metal arms the size of tree trunks up to knock the kick aside. The kick was successfully blocked, albeit with enough impact that it was likely going to leave a mark.

Unfazed by the deflection, Katrina dropped to the floor and attempted to sweep the leg, but Steel leaped up and back, away from the sweep, skidding to a halt a few feet back.

Wasting no time, Katrina sprang forward with a punch that was once again centered on Steel’s torso, which he threw a bare hand out, palm forward, to hold the blow at bay. The block held, though the power of the punch was such that Steel’s hand rang with the harshness of the impact.

As Katrina countered the block with a roundhouse kick aimed for Steel’s side, he raised his right knee to counter the kick. His muscles flared, but he apparently expected no less from this exercise.

Adam quietly said to himself “She’s holding back,” which drew a curious glance from Celeste.

“If you want to see me fighting with my all,” Steel said, “then I ask you to do the same.”

“You can’t handle my all,” Katrina told him. “That would involve turning your bones into puree.” With that, she used his knee as a stepping stone to elevate herself enough to swing her leg around for an enzuigiri kick aimed at the back of his head, but he ducked the move, her leg passed less than half an inch over his skull.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said.

Katrina twisted as the kick missed, and landed back on her feet before launching a barrage of punches aimed at both his torso and face, gradually picking up speed with each successive blow until her fists were blurs that the naked eye would strain to follow. Steel swerved and darted his arms about, catching blows, dodging them, and even turning a few aside. When the barrage ceased, he kept his forearms held up before him, now bruised to an almost blackened state.

As Katrina looked on at the damage, Steel told her between breaths “You don’t think I can keep up… maybe you’re right… but I won’t get any better if you keep holding back.”

“Glutton for punishment, aren’t you?” she replied, not believing this.

Steel gave a soft smile. “Desperate, is what I’d call it.”

“So, what? You’re desperate for me to shatter your bones like cheap paint on a wall? Desperate for a visit to the hospital?”

“There’s someone I have to fight,” he said, still breathing heavily. “And they’re much stronger than me. But I have to beat them, you see. So my only option is to keep taking these beatings… I won’t die a second time.”

Katrina shook her head and sighed.

“Stop holding back,” he said. “This time, for real.”

“Fine,” she said. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Steel readied himself, and Katrina moved around him, faster now, with her feet flying back and forth as she prepared for an attack. Out of nowhere, she leaped at him with another flying side kick, only this one came even faster and with a much greater amount of force behind it.

Steel took the blow dead across his face, as the impact lifted him off his feet. He landed on his knees, sliding back several feet before coming to a halt. He lifted his head to reveal a huge, blackened bruise that covered the side of his dislocated jaw.

Katrina didn’t stop, dashing in after him with a punch to the torso. The hit doubled him over before sending him flying once again, this time sending him flying back into the far wall, where he bounced off the padded surface, but managed to land on his feet before coughing up some blood.

As this went on, Adam continued watching with a grim look on his face as the sound of metal impacting flesh echoed out across the room. Meanwhile, Celeste was wincing at the brutality, and covered her eyes for part of it, peeking out occasionally.

Katrina kept up her attack, as she followed at a speed that made her look like a red and yellow blur. She battered Steel with a flurry of kicks and punches strong enough to bruise, if not break bones.

As Steel continued to be completely battered by the blows, each one left black bruises over his body. Still, he did not fall.

Katrina followed one such kick with an uppercut to Steel’s jaw that would likely have knocked out a Reploid, which lifted the Digger clean off his feet and slammed him headfirst into the ceiling. After the force of his acceleration wore away, he fell back down to the floor, landing before the Avion on one knee, his head lowered.

Katrina watched him as she took a moment to catch her breath. Steel looked up at her, smiling. His bruises already seemed to be fading, while his jaw was clearly reset.

“That’s… better…” he said.

Suddenly, Steel rose as he performed his own uppercut with a force greater than what any human should be capable of.

But Katrina caught the fist in her hand, and gritted her teeth as she stopped it just two inches from her jaw. She squeezed the hand hard enough to crush the bones within, and Steel’s face twisted with a pain that eclipsed his smile. “Not the first time,” he said, as he tried to headbutt his opponent. She took the headbutt, but kept a grip on his hand as she toppled back a bit.

In an instant, she was throwing Steel into the air, and just as quickly appeared behind him, delivering an overhead axe kick with her full force to send him crashing hard into the floor. Adam noticed that the impact had left a depressed area in the floor beneath the mats, which were set atop a concrete-reinforced metal surface.

Steel didn’t remain there long, however, as he rolled to one side and leaped back to his feet in time to swing his fist in an arc, hoping to catch Katrina in midair. But again, Katrina caught his fist, and once again threw him into the ceiling. But before gravity could perform an encore of its earlier performance, she pulled him free herself before swinging him around and sending him careening towards the floor at even greater velocity than he’d met it with before.

Katrina dropped back down, landing next to the new depression in the floor, which was noticeably deeper than the first, as some of the mats began to tear from the impact.

Steel didn’t move for a moment, but then rose once more as he shook off the pain. As he looked at her again, she could see his eyes were red around the rims, but his wounds were already healing as he stood before her, the bruises he’d accumulated slowly fading.

“Impressive,” she admitted. “I think I can see now why you were able to beat SunFlame. No matter how much I dish out, you’ll just recover from it quickly.”

“Nanites,” he said. “My body is filled with them. They fix my wounds, and strengthen my body with each blow I take.”

“So then, short of just killing you outright by, say, taking your head clean off your body, it looks like an opponent would have a hard time keeping you down for any good length of time.”

“I managed to be killed once, I’m sure he could do it again,” Steel said as he winced.. “But right now… I need to take a break. I can take it, but… that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.”

After a brief pause, he added, “Unless you want to continue, that is.”

“If you need a moment, that’s fine by me,” Katrina said, as she looked herself over. “It’s not like you really did much to me, anyway.”

Steel chuckled. “Which is why I keep training. And when you put it that way,” he said, returning to his stance. “I feel there’s plenty more left in me.”

Katrina fought back a sigh. “If you insist,” she told him as she took up a defensive stance. “Hit me, if you think you can.”

“Alright,” he said, as he took a breath and then charged her full on. He drew back his fist as his muscles tightened in anticipation of delivering a blow. But at the last second, he dropped and slid between her legs to a stop behind her, where he flipped up and kicked her square in the back.

Katrina lurched forward, but let herself fall forward to the mat, where she caught herself with her hands and pulled her legs in before thrusting them out to deliver a devastating mule kick, which caught Steel square in the chin, knocking him backwards through the air before hitting the ground, where he slid across the ground.

In mid-slide, Steel redirected his body and kicked off the ground, propelling himself elbow first at Katrina. She delivered a roundhouse kick, knocking the pointed appendage aside as one of the talons on her feet cut across his face in the process. The cut didn’t go too deep, but enough to draw out a bit of blood. As Steel staggered back, he took a few steps to recover.

As they carried on, a group of people who’d heard the commotion gathered near where Adam and Celeste to watch the match. Some of them whispered among themselves, speaking highly of Katrina and her reputation, and surprise at how the newcomer seemed to be holding his own.

In her defensive stance once again with a serious look on her face, Katrina asked once again. “You sure you don’t want to stop and rest?”

Steel ignored her question as he took in the sight of the gathering masses. “The crowd seems to think you’re pretty hard up, ‘cause of some reputation, meaning that you’re fighting harder to meet their expectations. You don’t want to look bad in front of others.”

Katrina raised an eyebrow at that as Steel continued. “Nice thing about being a punching bag is you don’t have a good reputation to uphold, so you can just focus on keeping up.” He spit out a wad of blood.

Katrina tried not to roll her eyes without much luck as she dropped her stance. “I don’t fight to keep up my reputation, Steel. I’ve already proven myself in battle more times than I can count.”

Steel chuckled. “And that proves just how much you need to keep it up. I’m not down yet. Let’s go.”

As some of the onlookers whispered about this guy “really asking for it”, Steel charged at Katrina and threw a barrage of blows that seemed to only get faster as he pressed forward. As he drew nearer, Katrina could see how bloodshot his eyes had become.

She blocked and dodged the blows as they came, and caught his fist in her hand, once more throwing him up at the ceiling. Rather than follow, this time she sighed and backed away to give him room when he came crashing back down on his own.

And fall he did, only this time leading with his feet as he aimed for her head. Katrina managed to block the attempt with one arm, stopping him cold, as though he’d been trying to kick through a wall of granite. She quickly whipped the arm around to grab him and toss him a short distance into the air, but not so far that she couldn’t grab him by the leg and begin spinning around with him in place with increasing speed.

Finally, she released Steel, sending him flying into the wall with what was her hardest hit yet. He hit with enough force that the padding might as well have been purely decorative.

Expecting him to get up once more, Steel did just that, and staggered forward. However, his nanites unable to keep up with the abuse he was taking, he finally collapsed.

“Huh. And I was just about to call the match, too,” she said, as the gathered spectators began to disperse.

***

Steel awoke in his bed, with no clue of how he got there, or of what time it was. For a moment, he suspected Janine, but there was no sign of her around. He forced himself upright and wandered through his memories for a moment before the recollection of his defeat caught up with him.

He growled inwardly before putting his hand through a pillow. “Dammit,” he quietly cursed. “Just…”

He threw off his blankets and shuffled over to the balcony to stare out at Avion City. It was now nighttime. Likely the same day, he figured.

Steel wandered towards the cooking area, and began taking out knives, forks – anything sharp he could find – and took them to the lounge area and affixed them so that they stuck out from the wall.

He hesitated for only a second to consider whether or not his healing factor could handle this level of abuse when he had a quick spectre of his past, recalling the sensation of metal in his lungs.

Knowing there was only one path to revenge, he balled up his fist and punched at the jutting blades with his right fist, throwing his head back and gritting his teeth at the pain. Redoubling his efforts, he repeated the process with his left.

Outside, Steel could hear Adam’s voice in the hallway, either talking rather loudly, or even possibly arguing with someone. He paid it little mind, however; instead, his focus now laid on his newly-shredded hands, even as the sound of Adam’s voice seemed to have moved away from his room, no longer able to be heard.

Steel let his hands fall to his sides as he screamed inwardly, waiting for the nanites that were now a part of him to do their work and perform their technological wonders. He knew not how he came by these marvels or why, but he wasn’t about to let them go to waste. Even as he thought about this, he could feel his body beginning to mend, quicker this time than before.

“It’s like I thought,” he said to himself. “They’re… improving. To meet my needs.”

As he stood there and watched, his hands mended, and soon returned to their original state.

“Yes, this is what I need,” he said. “Fighting Katrina has forced me to evolve further. But I must continue this. I need more combat, to go even further beyond…”

His monologue was interrupted by a knock at the door to his suite, almost as though someone had heard him.

Steel answered the door, his wounds already faded. On the other side stood Katrina. “Hey, Steel,” she said.

“I was just hoping I’d see you again,” Steel replied with a smile.

“I just wanted to stop by and see how you were,” she continued. “I… hope I didn’t hurt you too badly.”

“Oh, you hurt me alright,” he told her. “Terribly. But I need more of it.”

The tall Avion looked the Digger over and noted that he didn’t seem any worse for wear than before they began their matchup, despite his words to the contrary. She looked him in the face again, and asked “What do you mean, ‘you need more of it’?”

“Fight me again. At full.”

Katrina paused for a moment before replying. “Why?”

“Fighting you has forced my nanites to enhance themselves. I’m growing more impervious to damage. I heal faster with each fight. The stronger the fighter, the harder my nanites work, it seems.”

Steel looked down at his hands. “When I return to Terra, I am to be beyond death itself.”

Katrina looked on, unsure of how to respond to that. She could see that his eyes had a heavy red tint to them, as though he was tired, or maybe disturbed. Or both.

“We can use SunFlame’s gym,” Steel said, pressing the issue further. “I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”

“I think I might’ve hit you in the head one time too many.”

“Not enough, actually. Come on, join me in this.”

Katrina paused for a moment to take this in, and said “I’m sorry, Steel. I don’t know what’s going through your head right now, and until – unless I do, I don’t want to fight you again.”

“What I’m thinking?” Steel said, as though it should have been obvious by now.

“Okay, look, I get the whole ‘make your nanites stronger’ part, but why do you want them to be stronger?”

“What I’m thinking is that I’m not going to die again.”

“Nanites might help keep you from getting killed, Steel, but they won’t–”

“Look, when I go back to Terra, I have someone to kill. As it is, even with all my nanites, it’ll kill me again. Until I’m strong enough to push past death itself, I can’t rest.”

“And did you ever stop to think that they might fail and stop working if you push them too far?”

“Then at least I wouldn’t be alive long enough to consider their failure,” Steel said grimly.

“Besides, didn’t you say you were already killed once? So if that’s the case, then haven’t you already transcended death?”

“Apparently not. My body lived on, yet for months, I was comatose. Apparently the nanites took over. The others tell me I acted erratic, insane, while I was technically dead. But I need to be in complete control. If I’m not, Noh will dispose of me again, and I doubt it’ll fail next time.”

Following a brief pause, Katrina said “I’m sorry, Steel. I didn’t realize… But if you’re trying to get stronger, then just getting beaten down by me and anyone else you can find isn’t really going to help. Have you considered learning more martial arts? Or better honing your skills with the weapons you do have?”

“I’ve been working on that as well,” Steel replied. “But I’m no fool. I need to focus on my one true advantage: Endurance.”

Katrina let out a sigh. “You… you’re really set on this, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, since I can’t seem to convince you of any other way, I guess I’ll try to help you. And I’ll see if I can get Adam to help, too.”

“Excellent.”

“On one condition, though…”

Steel looked on, curious.

“Get some damn sleep. You look like hell.”

“Yeah,” he said, yawning. “I do feel a little tired. Very tired, in fact. Hey, have you seen Jan around?”

“Nope.”

“Damn, she’s been away for a couple of days now.”

“Adam said something about finding her and telling her what happened today, but it’s anyone’s guess where she went.”

Steel chuckled. “No telling. Can’t help but worry, though. I hope she’s not… nevermind. Thanks for coming by to check up. Can I get you anything while you’re here?”

“No, I’m good, thanks,” Katrina said. “I’m just glad you’re alright. And… I think I understand where you’re coming from now.”

“I’m glad. Just don’t lay off on me because of it, ‘kay?”

“I won’t,” she told him with a smile.

“Thanks,” he said, returning the expression. “Well, I’m going to go pass out now. Say ‘hi’ to Adam for me.”

“Sweet dreams!”

As Katrina went on her way, Steel returned to the bed, where he promptly passed out after collapsing on it.

***

Several hours later, Steel awoke once again. It was still night, though later now than it had been before. “Damn Avion hours,” Steel cursed to himself, as he tried to get back to sleep, to no avail.

He looked around, and still, there was no sign of Janine.

Rather than lay there awake doing nothing, Steel decided to go and look for her.

But what he found instead…

To be continued…

Next time: “The Enigmatic Lesson of Sophie”

—–

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, Bluesky @LBDNytetrayn, and @themmnetwork on both, 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 art by Victor Campan. Logos by Tabby Ramsey.

Thanks for reading!