Rock Man ZX

By Search Man EXE

Aile, a fourteen-year-old girl working at a transporter company known as Giroette Express, was half asleep. She let a soft yawn emit from her lips as she loaded yet another box onto the back of the waiting carrier. She went back for another box, when she heard something behind her. Someone...or something, was sneaking up on her. “Vent?” This isn't funny,” She said as she turned, hoping it was her twin brother playing a trick on her. Instead, she saw something horrifying. Something so startling, so insane, it made her say, “Put the mask down, Vent.”

“DANG!” Vent's voice was muffled by the mask, but it was still much louder than normal speech. “Why do you do that?”

“For one thing, it's a lot of fun.” Aile said, grinning, “And also, it's just so easy...”

Vent muttered something about how easy it would be to “accidentally” drop something on his sister's toes. Then, clearing his throat to regain Aile's waning attention, Vent continued, “Anyway. Boss sent me to tell you to gear up. We're going with him on a really, super, special, secret delivery!”

“Must you overstate everything like that, Vent?” A man with long, blond hair and a red version of the uniform the two teens were wearing stood leaning in the doorway. He grinned.

Episode One:
ROCK ON!

Giro smiled, “Did you forget our company motto? 'No questions, no complications'.”

“Yeah, but you said this was real special, right Boss?” Vent said, blinking. “What if it's a bomb or something?”

“Then we wouldn't want to know that, would we?” Giro asked, smiling wide and adopting an innocent look on his face.

“Errr...” Vent blinked and Aile sighed. It seemed they'd never know what was in this mysterious package...

A purple reploid stood on a ledge overlooking the main path through the forest. It's visor scanned the area. It's audio receptors picked up the hum of a trio of bikes coming it's way. “Targets detected. All Galleons, prepare to ambush.

Vent was passing the time throwing bits of paper at Aile, who focused entirely on the road. After all, the bikes were on autopilot, but if there was an obstacle of some kind, she would have to avoid it manually. She looked up just long enough to glare at Vent, and in that time, a troop of Galleons leaped from behind cover on the ledges and opened fire! The bikes crashed hard, sending Vent, Aile, and the package sailing off a cliff. “VENT! AILE!” Giro leaped off the flaming bike and rushed to the cliff.

“Ugh...” Vent struggled into a sitting position, quickly realizing his left arm was broken somehow. He began trying to remember what had just happened. I was with Boss and Sis, and we were delivering a package...and...! Vent jumped up, remembering the crash, but immediately collapsed back to the ground. His right leg seemed badly hurt, too.

Suddenly, Giro's voice came from above. “VENT! AILE!”

“Hn? Boss?” Vent barely managed through fits of coughing.

“Vent? Hold on, I'll be there in a second. Try to find Aile and the package!” Giro called down, then turned away from the cliff.

“Easy for you to say...” Vent muttered.

Giro turned to face the advancing Galleons. “You ready?”

“Always.” Came a voice from his pocket.

“Let's do this.” He said, reaching into his pocket...

Vent crawled father up the hill he landed on. Finally reaching the top, he collapsed with a sigh. Still breathing hard from the effort and pain combined, he lifted his head. What he saw amazed him.

Aile couldn't believe her eyes. She landed on top of the package, which protected her from much harm, but ejected the contents of the now shattered box. Then the blue object had floated into the air! “No way...” She breathed as she took a step towards it.

“Back off!” A voice shouted from beyond the blue thing. Two soldiers in green uniforms stood there, guns pointed at Aile. “Don't move.”

“No! Aile!” Vent tried to get to his feet, only to fall back down the hill. “NO!”

“H-hey! Wait! I'm just here to deliver a package!” Aile said, hands in the air.

“Put your weapons down.” A female voice spoke up from behind the two. They obediently lowered their guns, but kept an eye on Aile. A girl about Aile's age stepped forward. “Are you a transporter?”

“Y-yeah.” Aile said, lowering her arms slowly. “Are you the people we're supposed to deliver the package to?”

“Yes, we are the Guardians. I am Prairie.” The other girl said, smiling. She opened her mouth to speak again when she was interrupted by a sound behind her.

The two soldier whirled, guns at the ready. But they almost dropped them at the sight of the giant Mechaniloid. “Holy...” One of them began before they were both swatted away by the giant snake's tail.

“Aspisssss!” It hissed, it's gaze focused on the blue object. Prairie screamed, rushing to the side of the fallen Guardians.

Aile leaped in front of all three, arms outstretched. “RUN! Leave the package, it's after that! If we take it with us, it'll only follow!”

“But...I can't let the Biometal fall into the wrong hands...” Prairie said, looking up.

“Whatever this Biometal is, it can't be as important as your life!” Aile shouted over her shoulder.

“...But...Sis...She left it for us...I can't lose it!” Prairie said resolutely, standing shakily.

“Dang, you're not gonna listen...” Aile muttered, “What should I do? ...What should I do!?”

“Don't worry.” A calm voice came from behind Aile, and the blue package floated in front of her. “I'll help you.” It then moved forward, into Aile's grasp. “Compatible host found. Biolink established. R.O.C.K. System operational.” It continued, glowing.

At that moment, Vent made it over the hill. He almost fell again at the sight. Bands of pure energy surrounded Aile, solidifying into blue armor. Her arm suddenly transformed, building up energy and forming into a buster. It fired, the large blast coming into contact with the snake. “ASPISSSS!” It roared, retreating swiftly into the forest, leaving behind a panting Aile.

After taking a few breaths, she spoke, “What...was that...?”

“Don't be afraid. I am Model X.” The calm voice from earlier spoke inside Aile's helmet.

“Model...X? I don't get it. Are you in my head?” Aile asked.

“I reacted to your bravery and gave you the power to back it up. It's that simple.” X's voice said.

“Power?” Aile gasped, looking herself over. “Amazing...”

“Amazing...” Prairie gasped as well, eyes wide. “She...Biolinked with it...is she...a chosen one?”

“AILE! AILE!!!” Vent shouted as loud as possible, causing his sister to turn around. “Are you...what?”

“I...I have...I can protect people now, Vent! I...I have...power! The power to save everyone!” Aile said, still a little in shock at the transformation.

“You...you do...?” Vent asked, blinking. A sad look crossed his face for a moment, but it quickly brightened with a smile. “Well then, why not use it! Go! Take that giant Maverick down with your new power!”

“Huh?” Aile looked up, startled by Vent's words. Then, she smiled and nodded. “Right! Look, sorry Prairie, I'm gonna have to borrow your package for a little longer.”

Prairie just nodded, still wide-eyed. Aile smiled and gave a thumbs-up. “Don't worry, I'll keep it safe and return it in one piece. My name's Aile, and I'll be your transporter today!” With that, she dashed off in the direction the snake took.

Giro leaped into a tree. He had scaled the cliff that Aile and Vent fell off, and was now performing a search of the area. It didn't take long. “VENT!” He landed next to the wounded transporter, forgetting about the red armor he was wearing. “Are you alright?”

“Boss!” Vent's eyes were wide, “You too? What's going on here!?”

“Hm?” Giro looked down, remembering his appearance. “Oh, right. Model Z, deactivate.” A glow accompanied his command, and the armor vanished, returning to the small, face-like object it had formed from.

“Giro-kun!” Prairie's shout reached them moments before she did. She wore a smile on her face, obviously excited to see him. “We found her! We found the RockMan destined to link with Model X!”

“Eh? Prairie-san?” Giro turned to her voice, surprised by her presence. “You what? Already? ...Wait...was it...”

“Boss, what the heck's goin' on here!?” Vent suddenly shouted. “First some guys in green are pointing guns at Aile, then she transforms into this weird blue reploid thing and fights off this huge snake, and now you...”

Giro cut him off, “WHAT!? Aile transformed? What snake, which way did they go? Come on hurry up, tell me!”

Vent fell backwards from surprise. “Uh, that package we were delivering was all glowy and said something about 'Biolink established, R.O.C.K. System operational', and the huge snake that beat the green guys ran off, and Aile went after it, and...YOU HAD A SWORD!” Vent's eyes were wide in a mixture of surprise and amazement.

Giro stood, drawing Model Z out of his pocket. He stared at the Biometal for a long moment. Then he held it out in front of himself, and gave the activation command. “ROCK ON!” The familiar bands of energy formed the armor Giro had earlier yet again. The handle that materialized with the armor glowed, flaring to life with blue-green energy, forming a blade. “Don't worry, Vent,” Giro said, staring in the direction of the flattened grass. “I'll be back soon.” With that, he dashed off, leaping through the trees for more speed.

Meanwhile, Aile had finally caught up with the snake. Her arm was once again in the shape of a buster, a tremendous amount of energy built up inside. “Alright, Maverick, time for you to go to the scrapyard.” She took careful aim, then leaped back and up to gain some extra hight. She fired, the blue sphere of energy impacting the snake's head perfectly. It roared, spitting a projectile of acid at Aile. She dove forward, the acid narrowly missing. Then she back flipped, preparing to fire again. This time rather than just one, both arms formed into busters and fired simultaneously. Both shots struck home, causing the Mechaniloid to thrash about. It retreated suddenly, hissing. Before Aile could even think of following it, it slammed it's tail down, sending large boulders at Aile, who did her best to avoid them.

The snake roared it's triumph as it slithered away, when a voice suddenly shouted, “RETSUZAN!” The snake's thrashing increased briefly, then stopped altogether. Giro then walked up to Aile, deactivating the Biometal on the way.

“G-Giro-san!” Aile blinked surprised by both his sudden appearance and the Biometal he carried. “You...but...what?”

“Aile.” Giro placed his hand on her still-armored shoulder, “Take the Biometal to the rendezvous point. I'll bring Vent and Prairie-san soon.”

“Prairie...?” Aile watched Giro walk off, still totally confused. Then, shrugging, she proceeded to do as Giro instructed.

MISSION SEIKOU!

(NOTE:Seikou=Success)