smash_logs | Guardian's arrival.

Just because a whole lot of shit went down and he had to deal with the fallout of a plan that was destined not to go smoothly from the start, didn't mean that Zero wouldn't have to keep on top of his day job at the same time. If anything, he had become even more watchful for threats appearing over the horizon, even if he had no cause to. But perhaps he was a little justified in keeping an eye out - because today just happened to be a day that he finally saw a familiar face.

But the Guardians had been pronounced dead years ago, by his reckoning. To think that one would appear here all of a sudden... was it really him? Not knowing what to make of this sight, Zero knew he had to confirm the man's identity up close, with his own eyes.

Running out into the field, he stopped a few yards away from the magenta reploid, just to be safe. Close enough for both of them to see each other clearly, but enough of a distance in case it came to battle. Though the other reploid was so injured, it'd hardly be a fair fight.

Zero was silent for a moment, clearly stunned and more than a little wary. But he breathed one word.

"...Fefnir."

Dead? That's certainly what Fefnir should be right now, though he doesn't know it. The scorch marks on the front of his chestplate attest to that- if he hadn't appeared here when he did, then the flames of Omega's explosion would've done far more than that to the Guardian of Neo Arcadia.

Fefnir doesn't know about any of that, though. All he knows is that Zero's here now- strangely spotless compared to the beaten and battered state he remembered seeing Zero in when he struck the finishing blow, but. Maybe the Dark Elf healed him? Wasn't it going to do that with Omega, before he and the others showed up?

He isn't thinking about it too deeply. No, he's far too distracted by his synthetic blood boiling at the sight of the legendary reploid, his face quickly twisting into a grin at the sound of his voice.

"Zero! Glad to see you're okay. I'd hate for you to have lost to Omega before I got a chance to defeat you myself!!"

That's all the introduction Fefnir needs before charging straight towards Zero, leaping into the air to slam his weapon onto the ground, causing a shockwave that makes rocks erupt from the ground, preferably beneath Zero. Injured or not, Fefnir feels well enough to fight, and it's been far, FAR too long since he last got to battle him.

Fefnir wanted to fight. Nevermind how injured he was, of course he still wanted to fight.

Zero had half a mind to try and talk to him - they both needed answers, he suspected - but he quickly decided against that option. There was no way words would get through to the fiery guardian when his blood was burning like this. The only way Fefnir would settle down is if he was brought down. And thankfully, Zero had plenty of experience doing that.

The red reploid began glowing with a charge for his weapons as he leapt into the air, jumping over the eruption caused by Fefnir's attack. Zero couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance though - this was no desert, that was genuine grass he was destroying.

Firing off a few rapid shots from his buster as he landed, Zero watched for an opening for his sword. Avoiding Fefnir's fireballs was his first priority though - the power of his dual cannons was no joke.

Zero's shots manage to hit their mark, Fefnir grunting as they impact against his body. He doesn't seem too concerned about them, though. In fact, Fefnir's got an almost maniacal grin on his face while Zero opens fire on him. They're barely even started, and he already feels more alive than he has since... well, since the last time he challenged the legendary reploid.

Besides, without a charge, they're a considerably small threat to him. It'd take dozens more shots to really bring him down. No, Fefnir's aware that the biggest threat from Zero is his sword. The Guardian isn't exactly a pushover at close range either, but judging by that glow, he'd prefer to keep Zero at arm's length for now, retaliating with a burst of fireballs, and taking a moment to build a charge and fire a larger one.

Zero's body became a red blur as he dashed rapidly to avoid the spray of fireballs. They flew over his head as he moved in on Fefnir - with a gun that huge, the guardian couldn't exactly run and gun. Which meant Zero could take advantage of how stationary he was while firing.

The moment there was a pause in Fefnir's attacks, Zero charged in. The larger reploid was probably charging for an even more powerful fireball, but that left a window of opportunity to interrupt him.

The Z-saber crackled as its blade became pure electricity, and he lunged at Fefnir with a stabbing strike.

Electricity. It just HAD to be electricity.

The Guardian's body is too strong to just cut right through, fortunately, but that's still going to do a lot of damage. Which isn't even getting into the volts surging through Fefnir's body, the impact knocking him back.

Fefnir's first thought is to rush straight back at Zero and grab him with his weapon. The first step he takes though, has his leg giving out, the reploid dropping down onto his knees. "Damn, I couldn't have taken that much damage before I got here!"

A failed attempt to get up proves that yes, yes he could have. Fefnir angrily slams his fist onto the ground, shouting. "Arrhaah!! I can't believe this!" He sounds furious with himself. His first fight with Zero in a very long time, and he's made himself seem like a complete weakling.

Thankfully for Fefnir, Zero wasn't judging this particular performance.

"That much damage...?" Zero echoed his words with an air of disbelief before stepping back. So Fefnir had no idea at all - he must've been plucked from time right before his death, or revived, not unlike X's copy had been.

Then what about the other guardians? Where they somewhere on campus as well? It was a possibility... but Zero couldn't very well search for them until he had dealt with Fefnir first. While he was sure no one at the school (other than himself) was in any danger from the fighter, leaving him to his own devices while wounded in this unfamiliar place was far from ideal.

With the stern, professional demeanor of a soldier, Zero sheathed his sword and told the other reploid, "You were pronounced dead after the final battle with Omega. That was years ago..." His voice trailed off, unsettled.

"Where is Harpuia and Leviathan? Did they make it here as well?"

That's a tone of voice that Fefnir's never heard from Zero before. No, it's always been the calm, collected voice fitting of a legend. Whenever Zero actually speaks, that is- so far as Fefnir can tell, Zero does most of his communication with his actions, something that the Guardian can respect.

Zero's next words sound more natural coming from him- though Fefnir's still stunned by them, this time by the content rather than the tone. He quickly shakes his head dismissively, though. No, that just doesn't add up at all. "Heh... Who knew you had a sense of humor?" Fefnir chuckles a bit, as he forces himself back onto his feet, resting most of his weight on his good leg. He refuses to have a conversation with Zero on his knees. "But I just saw you finish off Omega less than five minutes ago, and I obviously wasn't killed in battle. You're gonna have to try harder than that to fool me." Fefnir knows nothing about Zero's personal life. For all he knows, the red reploid could make jokes like that all the time when he's with his friends.

"No idea where they are. Your Resistance friends did a damn poor job of trans-ing us back. I don't even know where this place IS."

Yes. Because that was what Zero was known for. His sense of humour.

He couldn't be surprised that Fefnir didn't believe what he was saying, but it wasn't like he had anything to gain by deceiving him. Still, the guardian would be able to see the truth with his own eyes quickly enough, so there was no point in trying to sway him with words right now. They simply had to get back to the school.

"This... is a school. Smash Academy." The warrior paused, stopping himself from saying more. It had been almost two years since he first arrived at the school, but again, Fefnir would probably be skeptical if Zero told him now.

There was someone he'd have to meet first, before he would start believing the truth of these temporal anomalies.

"I'll fill you in later. You need to get repaired, first."

"A school." He's already pretty damn skeptical about this whole thing. He's even skeptical that Zero was joking, but. He was just there, he saw what happened. How could what Zero said be the truth?

"So what, is that a nicer way of saying 'boot camp' or something? Because if so, you really need to start sending your soldiers to it." The reploid holsters his weapon on his back, and takes a couple of shaky steps towards the building.

"You guys have definitely been busy, to get all this stuff built. It's even got the most realistic nature I've seen, outside of Master X's sanctuary. I take it that that was the work of Ciel. She gonna be the one doing my repairs, too?" Going back to Neo Arcadia wasn't an option anymore, after all. Not with Weil still in charge of it... though that's the least of the problems preventing Fefnir from doing that.

Seeing that Fefnir was capable of walking on his own - albeit slowly - Zero wasn't about to insult him by offering him a hand. It was bad enough that the guardian went down in one strike. This would take his pride a while to recover from. Zero simply walked ahead, guiding his wounded foe towards the student dorms at a steady pace.

Again, he wouldn't bother correcting Fefnir's misguided assumptions. (Bootcamp? Really?) But he would answer his questions.

"Ciel's not here. None of the Resistance are. But I have a friend who might be able to lend a hand."

That said, Zero brought a hand to his helmet and opened up a line of communication to said friend. Hopefully he wouldn't be imposing on any plans you had, Rock.

"This is Zero. I ran into an... acquaintance and he's sustained damage." In other words: sustained them from Zero. "Would you be able to patch him up?"

~~Rock was busy making out with Lucca and didn't answer.~~

The communicator crackled to life, and Rock answered promptly. "Can you bring him in, or do you need me to come to you?" he asked, lab assistant instincts kicking in right away. He wasn't an ace at robotics, but he could do simple repairs with no problem. But at least he could call Lucca if Zero's... acquaintance needed some more attention.

Zero glanced back at Fefnir. Well, he was still walking, even if it was with a limp, so... he'd probably make it all right. If the big guy passed out, Zero could always carry him.

"We'll come to you. ETA ten minutes. Zero out."

It was times like these he really missed trans servers.

To be fair, the bootcamp part WAS a joke. Mostly. He really doesn't know what else the Resistance would need a school for, though.

He growls a bit at the implication that he can't walk, able to overhear Zero's conversation, but ignores it. "Ten minutes, huh? Well, go ahead and lead the way then. And please, don't hold back on my account." Fefnir starts walking a bit faster to prove his point, ignoring the pain his body feels from the increased pace.

Zero made no comment, despite the fact that Fefnir's stubborn, macho ways were putting his body through undue strain that would make the repair process harder. It was his choice if he wanted to push himself to the brink of unconsciousness (and besides, Zero couldn't exactly lecture anyone else with his poor track record of self-preservation). He did quicken his pace a little, just to keep ahead of Fefnir.

As they walked through the campus, the unfamiliar faces of human and not-quite-human students passed them by. Some accompanied by unfamiliar animals and others dressed like they came out of a fairytale. The level of technology built into the school was also at least two hundred years behind, from the looks of it - all these doors actually had hinges and everything.

Finally, they made it to BE-05. Zero knocked on the door.

The door opened, and standing there was a shorter robot, whose face might have felt a little familiar to Fefnir. Rock took one look at Zero, then at Fefnir.

Then he looked back at Zero. "What did you do?"

Hey c'mon.

Is this what you thought of him? Zero only stabbed him, like, once. Most of those wounds weren't from him. "I had to make him settle down a bit," was all he had to say for himself.

Then, glancing back at the taller reploid, Zero added, "Fefnir. This is Rock."

He had to wonder if being made from X's DNA helped the guardian sense anything from Rock. In a way, it was like the two of them were related. Zero didn't know if it would be anything like what he felt when he heard Dr. Wily's name for the first time, but he was a little curious if the most brash and bull-headed of the guardians could make the connection.

Something's definitely up here. There's humans. Humans, outside of Neo Arcadia! That just... didn't happen. The planet wasn't livable. Not only that, there were... other things. Other, non robotic looking things, and Fefnir has no idea what they are. He tries to stay cool and stoic like Zero, but the surprise is obvious on his face, especially when his head cranes to look at the people they're passing by.

When he sees Rock, Fefnir looks... curious. There's something... strangely recognizable about his face. Something in the expression, that reminds him of X.

Not the Master X that he'd followed- the real one, that he'd only ever seen pictures of, and only ever had a brief conversation with the ghost of. It reminds him of the compassionate hero that X had been said to be.

Fefnir quickly dismisses it as a vague feeling though, with no bearing on reality, and returns to being brash and bull-headed, pushing past Rock to step inside. "Uh huh. And where's the person that's going to be fixing me? Unless you're serious about it being this kid."

"Yes, he means me," Rock replied, taking hold of Fefnir's shoulder and pushing him to sit on the edge of his bed. He was REALLY glad that Skull Kid wasn't there right now, as he started to examine Fefnir for damage. Rock was definitely stronger than he looked.

"I've been helping work on robots with Dr. Light for years now," he explained. "I know a thing or two about repairs."

Zero had taken his usual spot of leaning against the wall like the cool, aloof loner that he was, watching this all play out.

Rock really was far more human-looking than either of them. Figures, since he wasn't originally designed for combat. But Fefnir was going to have to learn very quickly to treat the kid with the respect he deserved.

Did the guardians ever learn about Dr. Light? Then again, this being Fefnir, Zero didn't expect he had a lot of patience for history. In that case, he'd break it to the big guy: "Rock is X's older brother, from 20XX." So behave yourself.

Getting fixed up on a little reploid kid's bed. Definitely a far cry from the advanced repair facilities he's used to- though admittedly, not too much of that had been going on during his last visit to one. His body still bears most of the marks of his first encounter with Omega, plenty of bumps and dents from those huge fists, and various energy burns. Not to mention the obvious scorching on his front from what little of Omega's explosion that he received. Very little of the damage was caused by Zero- unless you want to get technical about it.

Fefnir does think that he's heard the name Dr. Light before, from some old historical document. He's never heard the name Rock before, though, so Zero's words definitely come as a surprise. "...What? What're you talking about? That'd have to be at least 300 years ago! Reploids didn't even exist back then!"

"Time works in weird ways here," Rock explained. "So he's telling the truth. And Reploids don't exist in my time, at least not yet," he added, going for a small toolbox next to his bed. After the incident with his arm failing on him, he decided keeping a few tools around the room to do some simple self-repairs wouldn't be a bad idea. Taking out a device, he got to work, sealing up the damaged wiring as best he could. Fortunately, as much as robotics technology had advanced in 300 years, they were similar enough from a hardware perspective that Rock could do his work. "So I'm not a reploid, I'm a robot."

"And that's how you've been dead for two years, for me," Zero bluntly remarked from his spot against the wall. Kind of explained why he was so surprised to see Fefnir up and about.

Frowning just slightly, Zero's voice took on a serious air as he added, "A lot's happened since Omega was destroyed."

"Never heard of a robot as human-like as you..." Wasn't that the main distinction? Reploids were capable of complex thought? Fefnir's pretty sure it is. He's also wrong. To be fair though, even before Fefnir's time, the word's meaning was often confused.

"Well, you're wrong, then! I told you, I JUST SAW Omega die, and I'm damn sure he never managed to kill me." Fefnir's glaring at Zero, obviously insulted by the implication.

Admittedly, most of their conversation went over Rock's head, but then again, it all had to do with their future. One Rock had no context for beyond what he'd gotten out of Zero. How advanced Rock was compared to Zero and Fefnir might have been a matter of debate, but he was comfortable with what he was at the very least.

When he finished repairs on an arm, he moved to the other one, sealing up what he could.

If it makes you feel any better, Fefnir, Zero was also reasonably sure he was dead too.

But at this little outburst of denial, he couldn't help but roll his eyes. Who died when was a matter of semantics now, he supposed, considering the both of them were alive and well. But being questioned and blatantly turning away the truth certainly didn't lend well to Zero wanting to share any more information.

"Fine. Think what you want." he crossed his arms and looked away impassively, his face devoid of emotion. Content to let Fefnir fume a little, he said nothing else.

"You're the one that's thinking what they want- if you didn't find me after that fight, it's because I just now ended up here, NOT because I died. Don't tell me I'm dead when I'm still talking to you. Omega didn't even touch me in that fight." Fefnir's tempted to get up and take a swing at Zero after that little eye-roll, but he'd rather not end up with a botched repair job, staying still for Rock to work on.

"Now, tell me what happened while I was missing. I take it that you put a stop to Weil."

"The Resistance recovered your bodies, Fefnir," Zero flat out told him, no longer in the mood for tolerating any more nonsense. ~~"Ciel's working on turning you into a magic rock"~~

"And Dr. Weil has been terminated."

It was unspoken, but from the hardness of Zero's eyes, it was clear that he was the one responsible. He killed a self-proclaimed human, and harboured no remorse over it.

They recovered his body.

They recovered THEIR bodies.

Him, and the rest of the Guardians... This time, Zero's words clearly hit their mark. There's no ambiguity there, no implication that they just hadn't found anything, that Fefnir had gone missing and been declared dead. No, he WAS dead. Killed in a fight, by someone that'd never even really attacked him. How could that have even happened? Unless... the thought had been nagging at the back of his mind when he kept listening to Zero... He'd even thought that was what happened before he found himself here, but he'd refused to accept it...

"I died in Omega's blast." Fefnir's voice is quiet, but. It's by no means calm. He's speaking through his teeth and sounds like he's boiling over with fury. "Me, Harpuia, and Leviathan, dead. Just like that."

Zero didn't say anything for a long while. What could he say, exactly? There weren't any words of comfort he could give that could hold any meaning for the guardian right now. To learn that everything they stood for had been wiped out in a instant... it was crushing.

Stone-faced and silent, he watched Rock work on the repair job - mostly for lack of anything else to focus on at the moment. But eventually, Zero pushed himself off the wall and turned to leave the room.

"Rock, I'll leave him in your hands for now." He felt vaguely apologetic about dumping his problems onto his friend's lap, but Zero knew he wasn't contributing anything by simply staying put and watching the process. "I'm going to search the campus. It's possible that his siblings were also revived somewhere."

Edited 2015-03-02 08:06 (UTC)

"Okay," he said simply, continuing his work. He disconnected Fefnir's chest plate so he could examine his power core as Zero left. And when they were alone, he looked up at the orange reploid. "I really don't understand what's going on, but... You're alive now, aren't you? Whatever else is going on, you've got another chance, right?"

"Yeah, I know. And trust me, I'm going to make the best of this chance." Even if he's... not quite sure how, yet. He doesn't want to end up like how Zero said he went, though, he knows that much. Fefnir isn't afraid to die, but he doesn't want to believe that there's a reality where he died so suddenly and pointlessly.

Fefnir's quiet for a bit longer as he thinks about what his next move will be, letting Rock work on him before he gets curious. "...So, kid. You're X's... brother...? How well do you know him? Or Zero, for that matter? Did he get... transported here suddenly like me, or what? Why hasn't he gone back yet?"

Rock focused on his work, and as such didn't look up at Fefnir as he questioned him. "I don't know him at all, really," he admitted. "From my time, he hasn't been built yet. But thanks to Zero, I know he was built by Dr. Light, some time in my future. I met Zero here. I'm not entirely sure about that, you'd probably have to ask him."

Get used to never knowing then, Fefnir.

"Zero and I are friends." That was the best way for Rock to describe it. His relationship with Zero was complicated. But he did know he could trust the blonde reploid, and that was what mattered.

"Huh. Guess that makes sense. Figure there'd probably be some kinda record of it if X had... siblings, at the same time as him." That's such a strange way to think of it. Technically, he and the other Guardians were kind of like siblings, and kind of like X's children... He'd never really thought about it before.

"How the heck can you be Zero's friend and not know that? Don't you two, talk, or what?" Fefnir is apparently under the impression that when Zero's not on the mission, he's able to function like a normal person. "What's he even doing here? Is he a student, or, what?"

"So... How did you know X?" Uncle Rock asked his nephew Fefnir.

"Zero... really doesn't like to talk about himself or his past," Rock explained. "A lot of painful memories for him, I think... I don't like to drag them up if I don't have to. He's campus security."

"I know him about as well as anyone else in my time. He's a legend. A hero, that fought and won countless battles, and always did his best to protect humanity. I never knew him personally. At least, not the real one..." Fefnir sighs a bit- he's still dealing with the fact that Master X might not have been as perfect a copy as he always claimed. Which means he might've been committing an unjust extermination of innocent reploids after all. "The closest connection I have to X is that me and the other Guardians are based off his DNA data."

"Huh. Really? I figured a hero like that would have all KINDS of stories. Tales about great battles and the fate of the world and crushing his enemies, that kinda stuff!" Fefnir says, totally unaware of the hypocrisy of his words as he just decided not to go into his own past. But he figures it'd be different, for a legend. "You're telling me someone like that just works as... a security guard, for a bunch of kids? That sounds so BORING... There'd barely be any action at all."

"So you and the other Guardians are heroes following after X?" Rock asked. It was the easiest assumption to make after learning what he had.

"Zero... isn't exactly a glory kind of person," the robot explained. "At least he's never seemed like that to me. He's reserved..."

"Basically, yeah. Without us maintaining order, Neo Arcadia probably would've fallen apart." He's always thought of the Guardians as heroes, but the actual heroism of their actions is... questionable.

"Huh. Probably just because you're a kid. Doubt he'd want to freak you out, talking about the countless enemies he's blown apart." Go ahead, Fefnir. You just hang onto your delusions that Zero enjoys what he does- or enjoys anything for that matter.

"I... really don't think that's it," Rock explained, reattaching Fefnir's chest plate. "I've never seen Zero eager to talk to anyone about it. He really likes to keep to himself, to be honest..."

He looked up at him. "How do you feel now?"

"Seriously?" Fefnir seems pretty surprised. "What the hell does he DO all day?"

Fefnir experimentally moves his arms a bit, flexing and stretching them. "Hm... Everything seems okay. Guess you're not as bad at this as I thought you were!"

~~"Brood."~~ "He... I guess he's never really off duty that I've seen," Rock said. Zero was always on high alert, never quite calm or relaxed.

"I've helped Dr. Light repair plenty of robots in my time," he explained, smiling a bit and putting his tools away. "Before I was upgraded for combat, I was his lab assistant, working on his Robot Masters."

Fefnir doesn't respond this time- the kid clearly doesn't have any answers. Zero just can't be on duty all the time, right?

He does give a skeptical look down at Rock, though. "Huh... So is this what a combat robot used to look like 300 years ago? Because I kinda figured you'd get upgraded with, you know. Armor, or weapons, or something."

"Hm?" Rock turned his attention back to Fefnir. "I did. I'm just not wearing it right now."

"...Why aren't you wearing it, then?" The idea of not being prepared for battle was a concept that had never occurred to Fefnir. A lot of people didn't know he even had the capability to remove his armor. He's not sure he's ever actually taken it off!

"Well... nobody's threatening the school, are they?" Rock asked. "So why not? Besides, I only fight when I have to..."

"Tch. That's just being naive! Just because they're not threatening us right now, doesn't mean they won't later." Fefnir crosses his arms, a bit annoyed. Granted, this is a kid and all, but. Still, it just sounds like a dumb question. "Why would you even want to be upgraded for combat if you don't like fighting? I've never known a combat reploid that didn't take some kind of pleasure out of it."

Rock's expression became sterner at Fefnir's accusation. It's a question he'd wrestled with ever since becoming Mega Man, and thus one he was ready and willing to answer. "I became Mega Man to protect the world, to fight for peace. I don't WANT to fight. I fight because I have to. I fight so that one day I won't have to anymore."

"Well you better START wanting to fight, then. If you're from my past, I can tell you that day isn't coming for a long, looooong time." Thoughts that he might be polluting the timeline or stomping on Rock's dreams by telling him things don't really occur to Fefnir.

He stands up, making sure that his legs can support his weight- everything seems to be in working order. "If you're going to spend your entire life doing something, you might as well enjoy it, at least. Now, is there anything else for you to work on, or can I go?"

Rock could feel his fist clenched. He knew Zero's future wasn't great. He'd been able to intuit that much. And Fefnir clearly knew the same. But Rock couldn't give up his dream. He wouldn't give up the dream. "You can go now," he said tersely.

"There's nothing to enjoy about destroying sentient beings, humans or robots. I'm sorry you can't understand that. But one day there is going to be peace, whether it's because of me or someone like me."

Guardian's arrival.

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