Character Development Infodump Part 2: Psychics

Most of the general psychic-ery stuff was inspired by Paranatural, which is a comic done by Zack Morrison about a kid who found out he had some weird powers and crazy bullshit. Also inspired by Earthbound and Mother 3, some of my favorite games that i never completed based around psychic powers. I wanted it to happen somewhere more familiar. Where discrimination was still rampant in all shapes and forms.

So I stared at a map of Maryland, pointed at a random city, and said, "I AM USING THIS AS THE BASIS OF MY STORY."

And so, that's how the Augusta series began.

Sammy Goddard - Shy girl with an Electric Personality

Originally, she was supposed to be that one girl in 2011 Alex worked with. I believe she acted as Lunar Woman in the whole "Dr. Triden" sequence in Tridenland? I forget. She was a huge fan of Megaman, but was more of a fan for the underrated Bubble Man rather than Air Man. Alex promised he'd take her to meet them next year.

AND THEN THE GREAT HARPY DROUGHT OF 2012 CAME ALONG AND I FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT

I wanted to create a character that symbolized all the things girls seemed to get trashed for: Body weight (the idea is seen as being skinny, and even though I'm at a relatively healthy body weight, I get shit for it), playing games ( 'lol go back to playin with barbies' ), and being in positions of power. Everybody uses girls as the butt of  insults: YOU HIT LIKE A GIRL and all. But when Sammy comes a-swingin, you're gonna regret saying that. Because what you really mean is "YOU WEAK".

Sammy still has the same sort of personality I planned for her to have earlier: Shy, bit soft spoken, sort of average and intelligent. Mostly around strangers so she doesn't scare anyone off or be labeled as a 'freak'. When she finds someone who doesn't judge or doesn't care or likes her for it, she's outright confident and suddenly becomes all Wheeler-like in speech (Sammy-like? how do you even definte her like this). Nothing brings her down. Well, aside from a sumo wrestler. Electricity seemed to represent her the most, with all the excitement she brings. Originally, she was supposed to be an ordinary businesswoman with yo-yos!

By the way, yo-yos were definitely taken from Ness. Sadly, I did not take PK Rockin' from Ness, because how the hell do you even describe it?

I hope to continue her arc through RP and through blogposts, since it's an interesting subject I like to explore more. Besides, Goops is a total fanboy lel

Carlos Sanchez- Ordinary Guy in an Extraordinary World

For every crazy confident gal, there has to be someone reigning her in. Carlos seemed to fit the bill, as he finds most of Augusta weird, he doesn't exactly like being a psychic all too much, and he just wants to go to pharmacy school, ya knoooow?

Originally, he was going to continue with the Janitor legacy, but midway, I thought that he'd be cool as a barista. A COFFEE Barista! A coffee fanatic! He probably has a good coffee rig back at home that friggin' dork.

I also wanted him to share similar interests with Sammy, a connecting point with them. His arc would be mostly focused on discovering who he is and fearing himself, because his powers cover a broad range of things and flipping out could wreck just about anything. It isn't helped by the fact that he has to use his powers for combat situations against demons and crazy fey, since Tae Kwon Do can only take you so far against a vampire. I never really got to explore deeply into that, but maybe one day, I'll be able to touch on that.

Sol Stanton - Steady as the Earth, Weeping over Soap Operas

I didn't get a solid characterization for him until early this year. He was supposed to be more of the mentor type, more quiet and wise. A friendly rival to Carlos, at least for Tae Kwon Do and martial arts. Then I realized he didn't have much more to him than that and I was recently watching Kill la Kill (shoot me), so I decided to base him sort of off Ira Gamagori in appearance and yet have a sweet personality.

And so, now you have a giant knitting sweaters for his wifey and making bento boxes and writing romance novels and eeee

Earth was a pretty good element for him, since he usually doesn't make rash decisions and usually remains calm. Earth can be fierce with earthquakes and all that, but look! It has such pretty flowers and plants and everything!

..Yeah I came up with that on a dime, mah baaaad.

I wasn't able to get much characterization in for him this year, but maaaaybe later, in blogposts, I will solidify it.

Yes. He was always meant to be that buff.

Angie Stanton - giant nerd of a scientist

I keep changing her. She used to be a police officer who had a gunbrella or some shit like that. Then an ordinary police officer. Then a scientist. Married to a giant.

I have no idea what's going on.

Basically, though, I wanted a non-psychic that relied more on gadgets than psychic powers. Angie fit the bill, and she's married to a psychic, to boot! I guess the best way to describe her is a giant nerd fitting into that sweet, loving wife persona. Very encouraging to all of her friends, more than likely to make lunch boxes and leave happy notes for her husband, and most likely canidate to kick your ass in Mario Kart.

She's probably better than Sammy, at least.

Nothing is really solidified for her personality, though, which I hope to correct through blogposts. That is my answer to everything related to character development that didn't come out during RP.


Michaelangelo Hunter - Fish-lovin Dual Psychic

Oh, boy. This guy originally was supposed to be a REPLOID. A fish reploid like Pisces, with the ability to switch between three different elements. A slacker, a ladies man, a coward, and the supposed leader of a group of several types of fish reploids.

That never came to fruition, so instead, we got a timid boy with no luck with ladies and really, really loves art.

His character arc is supposed to revolve around how he was adopted, his adopted parents don't know how to handle him, and how he joined a gang in order to feel accepted and understood. Something his adopted parents couldn't provide. He would be an antagonist for a while, until Sammy and pals managed to convince him that he is kind of working for someone who wants to destroy the world and rebuild it. Kind of like a more delusional god.

He'd help them defeat the leader of the gang, dual-psychic Francis, but in doing so, he wouldn't be sure who to believe and he would lose an important father figure. Since dual-psychics are more susceptible to mental illnesses, he would develop a split personality to cope. Thus, Gemini  was born.

So much for mental illness, though; that got corrected last year. Whoops. LOOKS LIKE I'LL BE SEEING SOMETHING ELSE TO PLAGUE HIM WITH nah j/k

I was inspired to choose Melanokinesis due to Ed from the Paranormal comic being one, and water because of the fish-related theme mentioned earlier. The plot development that happened this year with him being ashamed of how he actually snapped and killed Kit was an interesting twist I came up at the last minute, and although he's not acting as if he's affected by it, you can bet that it's a question still lingering deep in his mind.  What's right? What's wrong? Who can he trust?

A cycle of doubt.

Siren - a giant ball of what the fuck

Okay, let me be straight with you: I made her up on the spot.

Because nothing is more hillarious than a narcoleptic Siren who can sing and do crazy illusions doing hacking and learning about the world and playing WoW on Carlos's computer.

I wanted someone who used magic, but wasn't exactly a  psychic. I also wanted to use a mythological creature, so why not a Siren? Sirens were cool. I also wanted to emphasize that the fey and demons were based off of  mythos creatures, and that the fey, while they look cute and cuddly, can become batshit insane.

Kind of like how Siren set herself on fire.

She's a different level of crazy, although most of the time she is elegant, curious, thirsty for knowledge and Coca Cola. Just sort of... otherworldly, not exactly understanding the human world except through books and experience?

Her backstory is deeply rooted in the eternal battle against demons, the scar under her mask given to her by Jack the Ripper, a demon who took advantage of girls with low self-esteem and gladly ripped their faces off and let them bleed to death. I meant to do that battle against him this year, but I was overwhelmed, and didn't see a good time to do it. Maybe next year, though.

Maybe.

Character Development Infodump 1: Mondorians

Mondorians had the oddest origin of all. It all started after developing an alternate scenario for Kirby's backstory, where he was supposed to have met the yellow kirby on Mekkai. A jealous 2P situation would arise and that would be that. And yet, here we are, with Hansel, Janet, and the others. Let's take a closer look at what inspired them!


Hansel Rivendale: Phantasm of Mondor

AKA Yellow Kirby. AKA Keeby. I first came up with the idea of this depressed, "always 2P" character when developing the Kirby backstory. First it was as a masked kirby with two staves, ala Queen Septonia, who wanted nothing but to defeat his rival and take the role of 1P for himself. Then, later, as the second Kirby ever created, only his mind was super developed because ~Nightmare drugs~ and he was forced to work in a factory for them to try to keep him in check. I played a lot with the idea of the bitter character dealing with the incompetent hero.

Then, as the idea became less and less "Kirby-like", I thought, "Well, might as well make  it an semi-original idea."

And so, I wrote the blogpost that sounded a lot like Meta Knight complaining about Kirby. Only this time, Hansel was trapped among the walls of the La Plata Castle, forced to be the Machina Monarch's Court Magician in a world covered in smog. His previous employer, who he also despised, falling to the hands of a derpy hero, Peter Rustal.

As I went further and further along and went along for the finale of Wheelerplot, I made him act a little funky in the head, and to explain that, I ended up with a tragic backstory involving torture of the mental sorts. Nothing pleasant, for sure.

He was always meant to have a sword and a staff, representing strength of mind and of body. The balanced character of the group, even if he was pessimistic. Always thinking ahead, always planning, sometimes doing things that "REAL HEROES" would never find acceptable. The paranoid type who spoke his words carefully and always made sure to address everyone the right way.

I wanted to use a Kirby because, well, Yellow Kirby. Why not? I had to explain it somehow, and so, the curse was born: to be a creampuff when one thought of himself of lowly and nothing. I thought it was interesting, at least!

Janet Kingston/Gaea: Sunny Shaman of Mondor/Earth Given Form

Janet was sort of a spur-of-the-moment sort of character. I wanted a Nature vs. Technology theme for Mondor, and Janet was just the right girl for the job. She's fast on her feet, even faster with a pen, confident to the point of cockiness, and always willing to learn. Hansel's opposite, in other words. Someone had to balance out his bitterness and pessimism, and what better person to do that than with someone who feels on top of the world and is new to adventuring?

Granted, her design wasn't set until later, where I decided "black haired girl with a braid with a butterfly hairband" was to way to go.

Technically, she's the main character of Mondorplot, since she's the one capable of doing Purification, which essentially allows plants to grow and stuff. Hansel only learned it from her, and his version is less powerful. Honestly, I wanted a girl who was more spunky and made mistakes, curious and pushing the boundaries of everything.

Gaea, of course, had an earth-y motif, being the primordial of earth. She used to be a he, but I figured it would be better to give her a girly appearance. She's here to keep Janet in check and let Janet borrow her powers, and advise. She is mostly emotionless, and... well, I didn't really develop her more than that.

BELINDA SONIKA- Booming, Thunderous Princess

I didn't get the idea for a daughter for a Monarch until I realized that a scrapped idea was still hanging around. I don't really like having recently scrapped ideas to stay scrapped for long, so I rekobbled- (rekobbered, heh) her into this role, where she can still have her role of fighting against the evil forces (which is her dad) and take on a different sort of position in the story. She's loud, rough and tumble, less elegant than what I originally planned for her, but eh, things change.

She was always destined to be the one who orchestrated destruction and faught against her own dad, since he was doing nothing to make the lives of others any better. So what other way to emphasize this than making her a shaman, with a muse by her side? I chose Aoede because she represented music, although she respresented the flute more than any other instrument.

As for her design? Can't have a loud mouthed princess with an accent if they don't have red hair and freckles! Her suit's supposed to look more like she's a conductor. A conductor of kickassery. And with her personality, she seemed more suited to a higher position than to be ruled by anyone else. More assertive than Janet and with a bit more brains than her, too.

(Sorry, Janet.)

JUAN LYON- Reaper of a Thousand Emotions

Just another reworked idea. Juan is one of my more long-lived characters, originally created around 2003, which is when I had my demon rush. Lots of ideas about demons. He was originally a Demon King, then just a demon, then an earth bender (don't ask), then a god, and now just a regular guy with empathy who is bound to the death god.

I wanted someone who was contradictory in nature. I mean, an empath? Working with death? He'd be overwhelmed! And that was the case when he first started the job, up until now. He had time to settle into things, but his empathy won't go away anytime soon. So basically, he has to pick his battles well, or else the sheer amount of emotion will cause him to go out of control.

Probably makes him ragequit Mario Kart on more than one occasion.

All of my other characters were a bit more serious, so I wanted someone a bit more laid back, someone who could reel in Belinda's temper and bounce ideas off of her. I may have portrayed him a little too laid back, among many other flaws that I need to fix. I also thought it would be interesting for someone not to make summons from defeating them, but by talking to them, understanding them. A willing pact, rather than one that was forced. He can borrow their powers or summong them directly, but without that consent, he can't use them. The summons, of course, would end up being things I liked the most: Undine, dogs, musical onis, Pikachu... a giant fuckin dragon. That trend will probably continue until someone else tosses a possible summon at me.

AVENTURINE - Black Dog of Death

I just wanted to roleplay a dog. And what's the best kind of dog? The one that can spit out acid and use magic and wear armor! I wanted her to be goofy and loving, like most dogs are. Granted, most dogs don't really spit acid, but most dogs don't get to beat up enemies, anyway. Not much to say about her, aside from dogge. DOOOOGGE.

Nice dogge there :3

The Need for Speed, Part 1

 What a mess.

 Stan woke up on the same lumpy bed, to see all his clothes littered about and posters of famous reploids and humans plastered over the walls, as well as a few rock band posters scattered about. With a yawn, he rolled out and drowsily put on a shirt and at least some pajama pants before going into his bathroom, which was as disorganized and messy as his normal room. He made sure to tame his wild, long, blonde hair and put his red headband on. Even after taming it, though, his eyes were hidden behind that mane, and he had no choice but to leave it like that. Would have been more of a pain to actually tame it.

After doing his daily routine of brushing teeth, showering, and watching some boring news segment on TV, he stumbled around the base until he reached the Command Room, slumping into a seat in front of the main computer and laying his head down on the keyboard.

"So tired," the blonde groaned, taking a moment to look out the window and immediately regretting it when the sun shined in his eyes. "Uuuugh, I hate waking up this early. I feel like a log."

There was no response, as he expected. Sasha and Tina usually slept in, so it was his job to wake up early and check to see if there was any communication from other bases or some other important thing. He hated it, but he remembered Sasha being up late at night, bags under her eyes as she watched reruns of detective shows in the break room. That girl was a night owl, for sure. Tina was just a kid and needed as much rest as possible, so he didn't bother her much.


So here he was, checking out the computer, seeing no new mail or communications, and promptly putting his head on the keyboard again. Nothing as usual. Why does he even bother? Nobody even makes breakfast anymore. God, he could use a pancake, but ovens spontaneously combust if he ever gets near one-

Oh? Someone is cooking pancakes? Sniff, sniff.

Definitely pancakes, Stan thought, drooling a little at the thought of someone actually making pancakes. He didn't have them in so long, it was like a dream... A really crazy dream. Oh man, that smell is getting stronger. And is that maple syrup? Oooh, someone's going all out!

Stan couldn't stand it anymore. He got up and followed his nose to the scent. And there it was, a tower of pancakes on four different plates, all topped with syrup and a bit of butter. Oh, come to papa, you delicious little stacks, you-

"And now to wait for everyone else! Maaaan, I haven't had pancakes in forever!"

Stan turned towards the source of the voice and saw Pisces, wearing an apron and now holding a fork and knife, taking a seat in front of one  stack of pancakes. "You made these?!" he asked, eyes wide open and staring right at the reploid. "Usually reploids don't make food, nevermind eat them! No taste buds or need for it!"

Pisces smiled and replied, "Well, I figured that you guys would need some yummy in your tummies, and one of the few things I'm good at is cooking a meal, so I thought, 'Pancakes!' And yeah, it's normal for reploids to have no taste buds, buuuut my creator wanted to make me and any other reploid she made as humanlike as possible! Soooo we got some sensors that act like taste buds, and systems that can break down food into energy we can use and all that jaaaaazz. Now sit down and let's wait for Sasha and Tina, we gotta have this meal together to make it extra awesome!"

"Yooo, fish boy, not sure if you got the memo, but Sasha and Tina are like, never up at this time. Serious. They don't even wake up 'til 9 at earliest! So those pancakes are gonna get cold as hell before they get here."

 The fish reploid frowned and whined, "Aaaw, can't you just wake them up? I made it with an extra helping of love and appreciation!"

 "What does appreciation even taste like?"

 "Oh, like any other thing: like joy, filled with buttery goodness and so much syrup, it would give a human a big helping of diabetes."

 Stan cringed, making an odd, disgusted noise.

 "Guessing you don't want to try it?"

 "If that's what appreciation tastes like, no!"

 "Suit yourself.

 Pisces daintily cut himself a large piece of the stack before bowing his head and closing his eyes in some prayer, then stuffed the whole piece into his mouth, syrup splattering all over his lips and chin. Stan stared, first out of shock, then out of amusement, and then because goddamn it, maybe he should just eat the things. Stan sat down in front of another stack and started to eat, making sure not to have it all in a stack when he cut into them, although he did eat much, much faster than Pisces did.

"So," Stan said with his mouth full of buttery goodness, "You like racing?"

"Mrph hrmf!" came the muffled reply.

"Good, because nobody seems to be in the mood for that type of stuff around here! I get bored in the mornings, so what I usually do is- get this- I take a Ride Chaser out and do a few laps around the forest. I try going faster and faster each time to try to break my record, but it's gotten boring lately. Especially since none of the girls are interested in doing it with me." Stan put his feet up on the table and leaned back in his chair, plate in one hand and fork in another. "So maybe you and I should go out and see who's the King of Fast, huh?"

The reploid took a moment to actually swallow his food this time before speaking. "Oh, is that a challenge? Well, I'll have you know that I know my way around a Ride Chaser! Speeding through the sea, feeling the rush of water against my fins, maybe crashing into an ancient pillar or two-"

"But it's been a long time since you've ridden one, huh?" Stan topped off three pancakes while Pisces was speaking, starting on his fourth as he began to smirk. "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you the first few go-arounds. But once you're up to speed, no more holding back, fish boy!"

Another giant stack piece, cut down and devoured.

"Oh, you won't need to hold back," Pisces retorted with a smirk of his own. "Riding a Ride Chaser is like riding a bicycle: you never forget once you learn it!" He thought for a moment, putting a finger on his syrup, stained chin, before adding with a nervous chuckle, "Well, after you nearly wreck the thing a few times."

"Yeah, I did that the first few times. Cost us a fortune. And now, I'm a speed demon!"

"And I'm Megaman X, savior of human and reploidkind," the fish reploid teased.

Stan stood up, grinning and putting his fists together as he called out, "You wanna go, punk? Because I'll take you on!"

Pisces prayed a little more, or at least it looked like it, before he took the last stack piece and stuffed it in his mouth, taking out a napkin and wiping his lips daintily as he chewed. Then he stood up, grinning right back at him. "You're on."

"Then let's go, then! Let me show you where we keep the Ride Chasers and all that glorious shit. The deets can wait until we get to the forest! And once I'm there, oh, your ass is grass!"

Just the Beginning, Part 5

 After sweeping the rest of the base of any stray mavericks and repairing what damage was done, the three humans and the reploid gathered around in the Command Room, where Tina and Stan watched Pisces' blunder from earlier using the big screen. It also served as a little break room, just for the three of them, complete with fridge, cabinets, a microwave, and a stove/oven combination.

Okay, break room didn't cut it. It was more of a kitchen.


Stan high fived the reploid, much happier after all the mavericks had cleared out. "Nice job out there!" he said, patting Pisces on the helmet. "Could have done it without ya, but you blew a hole in that damn fire wolf, so I don't really mind!"

"Please watch the fins," Pisces mumbled. "And it's no problem, really. I was designed to help humans, after all."


Stan snorted, moving his dirty blonde hair away from his eyes as he replied, "They were designed to help humans, and yet they turned against us, whether from a virus or from their own free will. That's the case for most big-time mavericks." He pulled out another cigarette when Pisces started intensely at him. He made sure not to light up and instead looked outside the window, watching the sun set over the horizon. "We try to fix up our mistakes, only for them to continue holding a grudge. They wiped most of us out just from their actions from the Space Colony incident; now we're both having trouble surviving this crazy thing we called life."

Sasha leaned against a wall, holstering her guns and brushing back her hair as she said, "They only wish to be independent and disagree with us, but go about it through violence. And so, we have to fight back, when we can."

 "Right," Pisces said, leaning back in his chair and staring at the wall. "That's how it's always been. Kill or be killed. You're either with them or against them. It's not so black and white, but nobody seems to see any sort of peaceful compromise."

"They gave that up the moment they started killing people without a second thought. When they allow mavericks like Frostmane and Firemane to live and ruin lives just because we are different."

The fish reploid couldn't help but slump and mutter, "I still believe there are more peaceful ways," but out loud, he replied, "And we have to fight against that, and change things for the better, I know."

Stan glanced over at him before smiling at him again. "Well, let's change the topic then," he said, brushing away his hair and putting his hands on his hips. " Mind if you join us? We're a little shorthanded on reploids helping us, and we can't say no to someone who helped us out!"

"I dunno... I don't really like fighting all that much. I fight when there's no other choice."

"You say that as if we like to beat up the big bad robots!" Tina cried. "I don't like beating them up either, unless they were really, really bad and mean and hurt people, but we have to do it, you know?"

Stan shrugged and added, "I guess I must be an exception, since I love punching the hell out of their faces."

"Just like you, we do not like combat, but we prepare for the worst," Sasha said, making eye contact with the fish reploid and speaking in a low voice. "It is for our own survival." After a few minutes with no response, she added, "If you don't wish to, that is fine. We won't force you. But we would much appreciate the help."

Pisces considered her words carefully. Of course, they would appreciate the help. And of course, he would be willing to help. They were capable in their own different ways. On the other hand, he only stopped here for shelter. He had a different objective, someone he needed to find...

But... he could do both, right? Help them, and find the person he sought. He wanted to see the hope they would bring for himself, whether they can bring not just humanity, but all life out of the darkness and into the light.

And then... somewhere along the way, he would find him. That person who caused all the death and destruction back at "home", in the lab he was created in. That person who left broken reploids and dead humans behind, his creator among them. The one who may have taken away the other Zodiacs...

The one who killed Aquarius in their rampage throughout the lab.

He needed to find him. Had to. He needed to unravel the truth behind her death and many others.

And what better way to find clues than to join the Resistance?

"Alright, alright," Pisces said, straightening up and smiling, "I'll help out! I might run up maintenence costs, though; I am such a frail little reploid!"

"We've seen worse," Tina admitted. "Mr. Spider was always breaking his legs because they were made out of some super weak metal, and he left to find someone to make them more durable! He was really hard to take care for."

"Good riddance," Stan grumbled. "He was more of a pain in the ass to protect than he was worth."

"Stan!" Tina crossed her arms and glared, tapping her foot impatiently. Stan only shrugged and went back to staring out the window.

Sasha didn't smile back. Instead, she handed him card keys. "Welcome aboard," she said. "Good to have you. Those keys will be your way into some of the areas that are for us only. Some are classified libraries, others are our bedrooms."

"Speaking of bedrooms, we gotta show him where he's goin' to sleep!" Stan piped up.

Tina quickly grabbed both of Pisces' hands and pulled him out of his chair, dragging him along as she chirped, "Come on, come on! I'm gonna show you all of our rooms, and we're gonna be best friends, and we're gonna have milk and cookies! MILK AND COOKIES!"

It had been a long time since he saw any form of human life.

But Pisces couldn't help but feel blessed that he stopped here, meeting such awesome people.

Just the beginning of the wild ride that lay ahead of them.

-FIN-






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The screen lit up during the dark night, fingers dancing along the keys as data appeared. The head of Frostmane lay on a table, head opened up and chips already stripped out and downloaded. The only sounds anyone could here, were they awake, were the gentle taps on the keys and the crickets that chirped outside.

A new file was downloaded. He was told to get it as soon as he woke up from his stasis. Told that it would help him with his search, among many other things.

I hope I'm not putting anyone in danger for doing this.

Click click.

The screen suddenly turned purple, a diamond insignia showing in the middle before returning to a normal state. Only now, there was a little reploid, a girl with purple hair, white armor, and purple earrings, floating around the screen. She noticed who was behind it and flew to the middle with tears in her eyes!

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygod you have NO idea how long I waited to see you again, I missed you a lot, then again I miss everyone a lot, but especially you Barry, because you were there and a very good listener and ohmygodiamsogladtoseeyou"

 "Ssssh, not so loud! You might wake them up. Sorry I took so long to reach you. I don't want to leave you on here; they might mistake you for a virus or something, so let me download you or something-"

 "You know, you could have like, directly downloaded me from that internet app I know you have in your head."

 "No wifi, sorry to say."

 "What kind of base doesn't have wifi? I need to speak to their managers! Just so rude! Humanity desires internet, and internet it shall have!"

 "Not so loud! Sssssh!"

"Oops. Just put me on a chip and download me that way, and we're gonna be BFFs! With emphasis on the last F! Foreeeever!"

Click. Wrrrr. It only took a minute or two to actually get the strange AI onto a chip and downloaded, then the program deleted off the system. And now, he had the AI doing stretches in his H.U.D. and speaking to him through there.

"You know, Barret? I really did miss you. Welcome back!"

I missed your company too, Gemini. Now, tell me what went on in the couple years I spent asleep... 

Just the Beginning, Part 4

 Pisces dashed through the halls and around corners, using his scanning abilities to see where exactly the mavericks were. It was made much harder by the fact that he didn't have an idea as to what the layout was, and he didn't download the map of this place when he had a chance. So all he could do was trust his mechanical gut instinct and listen to the sounds of battle. Gunshots, roars, blasts... He heard them, and he followed.

As he got more and more lost in the labyrinth, his systems pointed him in the right direction, towards the energy spikes. It was a constant beeping noise as he got closer and closer. Beep. Beep. Beep beep. Beep beep. Bebebebebebebebebebe-

Okay, I get it now, I'm close.

WARNING: LARGE FIRE ELEMENTAL ENERGY SPIKE DETECTED. BOSS-LEVEL MAVERICK DETECTED.

One more turn around the corner and the fish reploid was greeted with thirty or so Preons. They didn't pose a threat, at least not to him. He could safely ignore them for now. No, the real problem was behind them, standing tall, mane of fire surrounding his neck, with eyes that seemed to pierce through one's DNA soul. 

It may have been a hundred or so years since he had seen one, but Pisces made no mistake: that was a classic Maverick, the ones the Maverick Hunters were used to fighting.

The preons lifted their stun guns and screeched before their leader said, "Halt." That word alone was enough to make them drop their arms, staring intently at the unexpected arrival. Their leader leapt over them and landed in front of the fishy reploid, sniffing at him, looking down on him.

"Another reploid?" he asked. "Have the humans held you against your will?"

Oh, good, he wasn't attacking immediately. That was a good sign.

"Nooooope, came here on my own!" came the cheery reply. "Did you come here on your own, too? And why'd you bring all these guys?"

The wolf snorted, a plume of flame shooting out of his nostrils. "I came here of my own volition to rid ourselves of the eyesore and plague against the mighty race of Reploids, as have they."

"That's a pretty weird goal. They haven't done anything, have they?"

The glare that followed was enough to make Pisces gulp.

"You say they haven't done anything," the maverick growled, "but the truth remains: they only wish to use us as tools for their own benefit! They disregard our feelings! Their sins, their envy, their folly, have resulted in world ruination! The world may be recovering from the devastation of the Space Colony disaster and the Moon Base disaster, but the world shall never forget the irreversible changes the humans brought unto us!

And you dare to say they haven't done anything?!? You insult me and your own kind!"

Not good, Pisces thought, ignoring the blaring warning in his head. I made him mad. And what I might say next might be a dealbreaker.

Well... time to take my chances.

 

"They're just trying to survive now, like us! We should be working together instead of fighting against each other, you know? Then it'll be a win-win situation!" He said this with a smile, hoping all would turn well.

The warning in his head only blared louder as the flames intensified around the wolf.

"Ha! You're so naive, traitor, thinking we would ever cooperate with those who destroyed our home and oppress us, even now!" With a snap of his fingers, the Preons  took a battle stance. The wolf snarled, "We don't need you or any of your kind in our future. Preons, attack!"

Yeah, figured that wouldn't work. I need to work on my communication skills.

The preons charged at the fish reploid, holding up their stun gun arms and trying to prod him with them when he dash jumped over them, landing on the other side and pulling out his trident. He pointed it at the enemies, watching as they hesitated to attack. They knew the humans were tough, but this was a reploid. They might not even stand a chance.

"Don't come any closer!" he yelled, glaring right back at the fiery wolf. "Or else I'll be forced to fight back!"

"You were first insulting me with your treacherous words, and now you dare to threaten me?" The wolf chuckled before he bared his claws and fangs. "Clearly, you don't know how dangerous I am, traitor."

"I don't like fighting when I don't have to. Just leave, and I won't hurt you."

In a flash, the fiery wolf was in front of him, breathing down the fish reploid's neck, whispering in his ear.

"What now, little traitor? Will you try to strike me down? Me, the mighty Firemane?"

 Pisces didn't even flinch. He only glared at him and said in a calm voice, "Last warning."

When those claws tried to rake through his torso, he reflexively  boosted backwards, skidding towards a wall. They grazed him, but no major damage. And that Firemane was laughing at him.

Well. It's your funeral.

Activate Combat Mode.

Firemane may have been laughing, but he wasn't laughing for long when the fish reploid boosted towards him and jammed his trident into the wolf reploid's chassis, piercing through it and damaging him. He howled in pain before Pisces jumped above him and stabbed him from above. He was forced to dodge the third blow before it pierced through more of him.

"H-how?!" Firemane sputtered. "You can't POSSIBLY be-"

Another jab to the arm. That did it. The fires surrounding Firemane intensified as he was stirred into a fiery frenzy, lunging towards his prey as he tried to rend him to pieces.


-----------------------------

Death was breathing down her neck. But she didn't care. Death was about to devour her, but she didn't care. Death lusted for her blood. She didn't care.

She didn't care because she shot Death right under the chin without even turning back to look at him.

Frostmane yelped, hydraulic fluid leaking onto Sasha's battle suit. She did not turn to face him as Stan leaped over her with a battle cry, electric knuckles connecting with Frostmane's chest. The wolf kicked the blonde man off of him before howling and breathing out an icy wind. Stan cursed as his arm was frozen over, trying to break the ice by smashing it with his other fist, but Frostmane took advantage of him and bit him right on the shoulder.

 Stan's cry was enough to make Tina scream, "YOU BAD DOGGY! LEAVE STAN ALONE!" She hurled her chakrams as hard as she could, as far as she could, but it could only graze the frost wolf reploid as he turned his attention to her.

"Oh, what's this? A tiny little human thinks she can kill me? HAHAHA! I'LL DEVOUR HER, BONES AND ALL!"

Frostmane leaped towards Tina, jaws wide as he tried to bite down on her head, but she produced a giant wrench and jammed it down his throat. He gagged and sputtered as the tiny little mechanic took out her wrench and bashed his chest, leaving dents and making him stagger back, right into Sasha's bullet storm. As he tried to determine which girl he hated most, Stan up above him, smashing his iced up arm onto Frostmane's skull and shattering the ice that trapped it.

 The wolf reploid stood up, glaring at his attackers. "You think that's enough to stop ME, FROSTMANE THE GREAT?!" he boomed. "HA! I THINK WILL ENJOY MOUNTING YOUR HEADS ONTO OUR WALLS!"

Holes appeared in his palms as they fired off a salvo of icy missiles, exploding into a cold cloud that froze over anything it touches. Tina and Stan were fast enough to dodge, but Sasha had her foot caught in the radius. She watched as it froze over, but she did not struggle to get out as Frostmane lunged at her, ready to rend her with icy claws. She merely took aim and fired four powerful shots, pushing him and herself away from the enemy from the force involved. Tina rushed to her side as Stan kept Frostmane distracted, trading punch after punch.

"Are you alright, Sasha?" Tina asked as she tried breaking through the ice with her wrench.

"I'm fine," Sasha replied, taking the time to reload her rifles. "You shouldn't have wasted your time on me; Stan needs more help than I do."

Tina puffed her cheeks up and glared. "But you're my friend, and friends help friends out of trouble! I don't want you to get hurt!"

The woman thought for a moment before the girl managed to break through the ice. She stood up, her leg still a little wobbly after being frozen over. And then, with a smile, she said, "Thank you, Tina. I appreciate your concern. But for now..."

"Gotta beat up the baddies!" Tina said cheerfully, readying her chakrams as Sasha took careful aim, making sure that her bullets wouldn't hit Stan.

No more holding back.

-----------------------------------

Firemane found his claws parried by Pisces trident before the fish reploid jabbed him again, forcing him away. The wolf then used his speed to get behind the reploid and  rend him from behind, fiery claws tearing at pieces of his armor. Pisces boosted backwards and slammed the wolf into the wall before dashing towards the Preons. The Preons panicked as the reploid approached and swept through them with his trident, knocking them over in a flurry of strikes.

The maverick howled and charged through his own minions as well, using their bodies as stepping stones towards destroying the traitor. The traitor only had to boost himself up into the air for the wolf to crash into another wall, his fiery mane melting some of the steel. Pisces could hardly surpress a giggle as  the wolf struggled to pull himself out and the Preons struggled to get back on their feet. A perfect chance to think.

Right, he's a fire element reploid. What do they hate most? Water. Time to use that weakness to my advantage.

Pisces pressed a button on his trident and watched as  water began to surround the three prongs. He lifted it up high, aiming right for the mane-

Claws met his hands,  leaving gashes and causing  his trident to fly out and skid on the ground away from him. Another claw met his face, before Firemane backed up and headbutted him hard enough to send him flying back to the other side. The wall dented from the sheer force of the blow, Pisces wincing at the pain and the inevitible alarms blaring in his head. His H.U.D. was flashing red, pointing out areas of damage and just how much damage was taken.

Firemane was slowly approaching him, a demon surrounded by hell's flames. "You underestimate me, traitor," he growled. "And you will pay the price."

I'm sure I will, Pisces thought bitterly to himself. That was a bust. I have time to think of something else, but not much of it. Trident's out of my hands- sorry, Aquarius - I need to use a different weapon. System, diagnose Aqua Buster.

BUSTER: DISABLED DUE TO ERRORS. USE MAY DAMAGE IT FURTHER. 

Do I have any choice if I want to survive? There are other lives on the line, and if there's another maverick like this one... If they team up, they don't have a chance. Enable Buster. Setting: Aqua Buster.

WARNING: USE OF AQUA BUSTER MAY DAMAGE IT FURTHER. CONTINUE? Y/N

No other choice. I'll take my chances. Y.

BUSTER ACTIVATED. SETTING TYPE TO WATER. 30 SECONDS TO CHARGE TO FULL.

Thirty seconds... Thirty seconds are all I need.

Pisces kept his left arm hidden as the wolf approached, channeling solar energy into it, counting down the seconds as his would-be murderer walked even closer.

25...24... 23...22...21... 20...

"You thought you could win against me," the wolf sneered. "However, you were weaker than you thought."

"Sucks to be me, then," Pisces replied, trying hard not to roll his eyes.

"Oh, yes, it really is unfortunate to be you. You won't even see the new world we'll bring. Imagine, a utopia... where no humans exist to use us, manipulate us into doing what they desire!"

15. 14. 13. 12. 11. 

"It is the end of their era, and the end of yours, dear traitor. Soon, we will rule, and we will make things right!"

"I'm sure you will," the fish reploid replied sarcastically.

10. 9. 8. 7. 6.

Firemane stood over the slumping reploid, like death ready to strip the soul from the dying body. His claws extended and lit on fire, bringing them to the reploid's neck, watching him wince.

"Hmpf. You wouldn't understand our great vision. Any last words... traitor?"

I'm really getting sick of that tone.

5. 4. 3. 2. 1.

A smirk formed on his lips as Pisces looked Firemane dead in the eyes.

"Gotcha."

CHARGE COMPLETE.

He channeled energy first through the gem in the middle of his helmet, forcing it to shine brightly like a flashlight and blind the wolf. Firemane yelped, covering his eyes as Pisces quickly used his right hand to hold his left arm steady and watched as it shifted into a buster and blasted him with a mix of aquatic and plasma energy. The force knocked Firemane  down onto his back, the mighty predator screaming in pain as the water doused his fiery fur.  The fish reploid quickly boosted to his trident and picked it up, pressing a button and replacing the water streams with bolts of electricity dancing around the prongs. When the maverick inevitably charged him, he jumped up and stabbed him in the back, the drenched wolf reploid conducting the bolts and receiving a nasty shock.

Firemane struggled to get back up and breathe fire as his brother breathed ice, but he found himself swallowing another Aqua Buster shot, dousing what little flames he had left. He was barraged by them, unable to do anything but claw at the reploid frantically. Pisces didn't let up his assault, even if his armor was chipped off by the slashes. Soon, it was the predator that was the prey, backed up in a corner, unable to do anything.

"M-mercy!" the wolf reploid pleaded. "Mercy! I-I'll do anything you want! Anything!"

 Pisces looked down at him, charging yet another Aqua Buster shot.

And then, the pleading stopped as that shot ripped right through his torso,  leaving naught but a broken maverick. The preons were finally able to get up, only to see their leader die. Pisces turned his head towards them, one glare enough to send them running back towards where they came from.

Pisces sighed and put away his trident, changing his buster back to a hand. The joints were beginning to smoke, most likely damaged from the use, but he didn't mind. He just bent over and dug through all the fur on Firemane's head before finding a little slit on his head. He pried it open and looked, seeing two chips sitting inside. And soon enough, they were out of Firemane's head and in the fish reploid's palm as he opened up a part of his right arm, revealing slots that fit the chips just right. He just had to insert them as so, close that part... And let his processor do the rest.

BEGINNING DATA DOWNLOAD.

FIREMANE DNA CHIP AND MEMORY CHIP DOWNLOADED INTO SYSTEM. 

First time I did that in a long time. 

Pisces stretched his arms a bit before dragging Firemane's body, now following his radar to that spike of icy energy.

-------------------

Frostmane wasn't faring much better against the humans. The blonde moved out of the way for his companions to unleash bullets and chakrams on him, sawing into his armor and opening up new wounds. The frost missiles didn't even slow them down as much as he wanted to. No, they were working together as a team, backing each other up. Stan distracted him up close with furious punches, while Sasha used grappling beams from her guns to drag him towards her and blast him with powerful plasma shots, and Tina used her chakrams to weaken his armor and break it with her wrench.

Even when he made the Preons charge towards them, Sasha tore through them with a storm of bullets right in the eyes, leaving broken bodies to crowd the hallway. Stan used some of these bodies as bludgeons to Frostmane's face as the wolf tried to breathe ice onto him again, distacting him long enough for Tina to leap onto him and use her wrench to loosen up a few bolts keeping one of his arms attached. He grabbed her with that arm and hurled her away, his arm flying off with her. She blew raspberries as the wolf reploid growled, irritated that these humans were more competent than he thought.

"Feh! You think you've won?!" he yelled. "You haven't seen the full power of the Wolf Brothers!" He then held up his other arm and screamed, "COME TO ME, FIREMANE, MY BROTHER!"

Stan stared behind the wolf and pointed behind him. "You mean... that Firemane?"

Confused, Frostmane turned around to see a fish reploid, holding up the broken remains of his companion. His jaw dropped as far as it could go, too shocked to do anything about Stan laughing behind him.

The fish reploid said, "And now you can be reunited and have your honest bro to bro pep talk before you kick ass! So sorry, I was just talking to him a minute ago and it was such a riveting conversation!" He then tossed the remains at Frostmane, catching the wolf reploid off guard.

"Brother!" Frostmane cried. "Wh-what happened to you?! Are you okay?" He saw the big, gaping hole in his brother's chest. Then, he glared at the fish reploid and screamed, "YOU DID THIS TO HIM, DIDN'T YOU? I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES!"

Frostmane lunged at Pisces, only for him to dash jump over him and over to Tina, watching as he, like his brother before him, crashed into a wall. In the moments Pisces had given them, the Lightbringers gathered around him, with looks varying from a smirk, a worried look, and a cold stare.

"You did that, huh?" Stan said with a grin. "I underestimated you! Sorry about calling you a Maverick earlier. For now, how about we kick some more maverick ass, huh?"

Tina added, in a more worried voice, "I know what you did was cool and all but now you're all hurt again and your arm is smoking! Did you use the buster? I didn't fix it all the way I'm sorry! Sorry for waking you up from sleepy times!"

"You can fight?" asked the battle-ready woman.

"Yes, yes, it's okay, yes," Pisces answered hastily. "Can't help it; helping's programmed into me! But if this guy is anything like his brother, we should get ready!"

Frostmane pulled himself out from the wall and launched another salvo of icy missiles. The team moved quickly to avoid them. At least, everybody but Pisces did. He was frozen comically for a moment before the ice around him shattered on its own.

"Whew! If someone told me he had that, I would have put on a jacket!"

"YOU'LL NEED MORE THAN A JACKET TO SURVIVE THIS!" Frostmane howled as he dashed towards his brother's murderer and breathed ice upon him. He didn't freeze like before, though, and he was glaring right at him.

"Pisces," he said calmly. "Type: Water Elemental. Resistant to all forms of water-based attacks.  Ice is included in that mix. And I know what your weakness is."

"YOU DON'T KNOW SHI-"

BOOM. Stan's electric knuckles connected with Frostmane's back, the mighty wolf crying out in pain. Sasha's bullets and Tina's chakrams came next, widening the wounds he had sustained before and allowing the electric attacks to damage him further. The frost wolf reploid howled, icicles forming on his mane before launching them at his attackers, driving them further back as he turned his attention to Stan and bit his side. Pisces charged his trident with electrical energy again and thrust it into the maverick's side, stunning him long enough for Tina to come in and wrench off the wolf's other arm. With no claws to attack, he tried to bite anyone who came too close, only for Stan's knuckles to connect with his teeth and knock them right out.

More icicles were shot, only for Tina and Sasha to shoot them out of the air. They were closing in on him, and he was running out of energy. Soon, he was surrounded, Stan and Sasha glaring, while Tina was smirking a tiny bit.

Pisces didn't need to do anything more.  The humans had it covered.

"EVEN IF YOU DEFEAT ME," Frostmane bellowed between shallow breaths, "MY... MY BRETHREN WILL COME! AND THEY WILL SLIT YOUR THROAT AND WATCH YOU BLEED! AND YOU WILL BE NOTHING! YOU ARE NOTHING! NOTHIIIII-"

Bang. One good shot between the eyes shut him up, the wolf slumping over with his eyes deactivated.

Tina turned towards Pisces and asked, "What were you gonna say about his weakness, Mr. Fishy?"

The fish reploid shrugged.

"I was gonna say a Thunderstorm... but that was more of a blitzkrieg."

Just the Beginning, Part 3

 "Brother?"

 The reploid gone maverick, with a mane of flames surrounding his neck and almost enveloping his muzzle, glanced over to the one calling him, who had streams of frost sitting on his mane.

"What is it, brother?"

"You know our objective."

"No need to tell me twice, brother! Kill all humans in sight and paint their little base with their blood!"

"And?"

"Steal and destroy all data related to us so they can't call for help!"

"And?"

The frosty wolf reploid stared at his brother, confused.

"I'm confused, what am I missing, dear brother?! I know what I have to do!"

"Ah, but you forgot, dear brother..."

A smirk crossed his face, although it looked more like a snarl.

"Let us not leave a trace that any humanity lived here. Crush their hope, and deliver the dusty remains to their little commanders. That, perhaps, will send the signal that Firemane and Frostmane, the Wolf Brothers, are not to be trifled with."

---------------------------------

"Those two again!"

 Stan grumbled to himself as he suited up, Sasha and Tina getting ready for battle alongside him. "Why does it have to be THOSE two again? Least now we get a chance to smash their faces in, but they took out a good part of our men before they got away!"

"They won't escape this time," Sasha said calmly, making sure her guns were all loaded up.

"Heh, I'll make sure of that. Damn wolves don't know when to piss off."

Sparks flew as Stan put on some knuckles and put his fists together. Tina took out what looked like a chakram and spun it round her finger.

"The men are mobilized."

"Damn right they are. Already fighting the mechaniloids and faceless one-eyed reploids, too. As mooky as they come."

There was a distinct sound of a gun, locked and loaded.

"Don't underestimate them. They killed our men last time, they can do so again. Show no mercy."

"Way ahead of you. I'll make sure not a piece of them remains, for what they did."

Sasha turned to Stan for a moment before opening the doors out, leading her little group into the fray. They could hear the gunshots, the screaming, the howls of the two brothers carving their people into pieces. It only fueled the fires in their hearts as they went in, guns a-blazing. Sasha pulled out her two guns and fired plasma bullets right into the eyes of mechanaloids, blinding them before Tina took out her chakrams and sent them flying, watching as the outer ring lit up with plasma energy and carved the arms off the robots. Stan was more than happy to jump right into a crowd of mavericks and start swinging, watching the lightning arc between reploids with each and every punch.

These three brought hope to their own. They had skills and talents that they could only dream of having. They had the respect of the General, given the armor that would withstand more hits from reploid forces than the regular sort. They were the people that they couldn't afford to lose.

They were called the Lightbringers for a reason, after all.

And the Lightbringers fought to the tooth and nail.

Soon, the mavericks started sending out Preons to attack, with big heads and stun-gun hands. They charged recklessly, allowing Stan to leap above them and kick them down.  Sasha clicked something on her gun and fired a laser at one of the preons that bound it, before she tugged it over to her. By the time it was unbounded and ready to stun her, she was up in the air, firing two plasma blasts simultaneously and blowing the head completely off. Her guns were smoking, and she took the chance to blow away the smoke from the barrels before any more came.

 They were stunned. Even though they were mechaneloids, they could still reason. They weren't completely mindless. They could reason out that if they got any closer, the woman with dark skin would blow them to bits, or the teeny girl would saw them apart, or that the blonde man would  drive his fist through their "skulls." They hesitated to strike, taking steps back. Unsure.

"What the hell are you guys waiting for?!" a voice barked. The preons knew that voice well by now. "Kill them! Or do I have to do everything for ya?!"

Sasha was the first to strike, letting loose a flurry of bullets towards the source of the voice. She could see a blur, dodging them with relative ease. She could also feel the temperature of the room drop by a few degrees, even the Mechaniloids starting to shiver. She could feel the eyes on her, she could sense that blood lust... That blood lust she encountered before, the one that took so many of her good men... Those who had families...

 Her expression did not change as she came face to face with Frostmane, death's cold breath breathed in her face.

-----------------------------------------


He wondered why nobody was here in the lab.

He had only woken up a few minutes ago, but he had figured at least Tina would still be around. Apparently not; maybe she went off to do other things? Pisces sighed. The first company he ever had in a few hundred years, and he probably gave a bit of a bad impression. And he couldn't talk to them much. And he had no way to repay them. Did eternal servitude count? Probably not.

Initiate System Diagnosis.

STARTING DIAGNOSIS....

DIAGNOSIS COMPLETE.

HEAD: OK. FINS FUNCTIONAL. SOLAR PANEL FUNCTIONAL. SOLAR POWER GENERATOR AT 50%.

FACE: OK. BOTH EYES FUNCTIONAL.

TORSO: FUNCTIONAL.

ARMS: RIGHT ARM FUNCTIONAL. LEFT ARM IS OPERATIONAL, BUT BUSTER IS STILL INACTIVE DUE TO ERRORS.

LEGS: FULLY FUNCTIONAL. EMERGENCY BOOST SYSTEM ACTIVE.

ENERGY: FULLY CHARGED.

BUSTER USE MAY CAUSE FURTHER DAMAGE TO ARM IF USED. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

So she wasn't able to completely fix it? Well, she was only 10. It was too much to ask a 10 year old to repair a buster system based off X's. She still did a very good job with everything else. What can I even thank her with, though?

Where is she, anyway?

SCANNING AREA.

His fins flopped as he stared at the walls intensely, his radars picking up large energy spikes. Organics and inorganics were detected. That could only mean one thing: The humans were facing Mavericks. Fighting hard for survival.

WATER AND FIRE ELEMENTAL ENERGY SPIKES DETECTED. MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER LEVEL MAVERICK REPLOIDS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Wonderful. It had been a long time since he faced any high leveled mavericks on his own.  And if they were high leveled, the humans were going to have a hard time taking them on.

First thing's first: get disconnected from this recharge station.

Then, to make sure that thing was in its right place. After standing up with no problem at all (which was a relief, after his legs felt heavy for so long), Pisces pulled a small, blue cylinder out from his back and pressed a button on it, watching as it shifted into a full trident.

It's still in good condition... Great! She'd be so happy to see I was taking good care of it. Even after all this time..

No. Can't dwell on that. Focus on the now, Barret: Protect humans from harm. Try to get Mavericks to disengage. If they don't, as they usually do, then strike them down before they can do any damage.

Let's just hope my fighting skills haven't rusted after all these years.

When a few humans, ordered by Tina, came into the lab to make sure the reploid was okay, all they could see was an empty recharge station. All they could hear was the distinct sound of something boosting away, into the fray.
 

Just the Beginning, Part 2

 The base's labs weren't exactly the best. They had a few resting chambers for any stray reploids and enough tools for basic maintenance, but funding cuts and the fact that they were in maverick territory made it difficult to get any specialized equipment for more efficient work. All they really had money for was armor and weapons to defend themselves. Food supplies, too, since reploids typically had no need to "eat", and the mavericks weren't smart enough to take out their food sources. At least, not yet.

 Times had been tough since the Moon Base disaster. They had only recently began rebuilding on the Earth surface, after one of the space colonies collapsed on the planet and ravaged a huge chunk of resources and making it almost inhabitable to anyone and anything organic. Even after the Maverick Hunters did so much, mavericks were still roaming about, taking advantage of their prolonged absence. Humankind knew that if they wanted to survive, they had to get on their level and prioritize weaponry and armor that could withstand maverick attacks. They also had to genetically modify crops to make them capable of surviving harsh conditions, as well as any domesticated animal used as food sources.  They needed to produce reploids and robots to aid them in reclaiming areas and exploring new ones, and prayed that they didn't turn against them.

Even then... Even now, they lived in fear. Fear that all that they had worked for would be destroyed, and told that their planet was no longer their home. That they would lose everything.

 So it was odd that this child... Tina, was it? That Tina was just cheerful as she got a little pink toolbox and got to work. His own kind were responsible for all of the chaos and problems. The world was in ruins. Why was she so... happy?

As she hummed and started tinkering with his right arm, Pisces glanced around the lab with his one good eye. Pictures were plastered all over the place. Some were drawn in crayon, others with colored pencil, and still others with markers. Some were more well-drawn than the others. At least one of the drawings, he could tell, was a sketch of a young girl with curled hair, a woman with braids and armor befitting of a military woman, and a man with short hair and bright red armor, posing with a smirk on his face. All had the signature that was lovingly placed in the corner of the paper: Tina Faust.

 She's a pretty good artist, Pisces thought. I wonder how many people asked for a portrait.

She probably brings a lot of hope and happiness to everyone. A pretty big change from what I'm used to seeing.  The world needs more people like her: bright, inspiring minds that can lead to a brighter future. 

I hope all the problems we bring won't cloud that sunshine.

Things were quiet as the reploid was lost in thought, Tina working towards repairing his legs now. After a few minutes, she stopped and smiled at him.

"What do you like to do, Mr. Fishy?" she asked sweetly.

Oh, boy.  She's asking the tough questions. How long has it been since he did anything he liked? Think, think...

"Well, I like swimming!" he answered with a grin. "And I like going to the aquarium, which is like a place where all the sorts of types of fish are! And I like long walks on the beach, really romantic you know-"

Tina crossed her arms and stuck her lips out in a pout. "That's not fair!"

"Of course not, it's a beach. Fairs are differe-"

"Nooooo, it's not fair! You got to go to an aquarium! I never got to go to one!" She paused a moment and her pout intensified as she whined, "I never got to go to a fair, either! Everybody keeps talking about those 'good old days' where those were a thing, but I never got to go..."

 Pisces blinked. "How old are you?"

 Tina held up her tiny little hands, ten tiny little fingers standing right up.

 "Ow, that stings. I'm actually really old. You know how reploids can last longer than humans?"

"I know all about that. That's 'cuz you guyses don't need to eat or drink, you just need energy crystals and energy to do stuff! Which is kinda like your food and stuff! And we get all old and wrinkly while you guys just need a lot of oil and TLC to look like you never grew up!"

The reploid sighed, "Apparently, I didn't get enough of either. Now I'm just a rusty bucket."

  Tina puffed up her cheeks in defiance and shouted, "You're not a rusty bucket, Mr. Fishy! You're Mr. Fishy! A nice reploid! You just need lots of oil. Your legs nearly rusted over! And your arm needed an armor replacement, and I need you to go sleepy bye so I can fix your torso armor and your eye and your other arm!" She pointed to each as she spoke, gradually becoming more and more worried as she went along. When she stopped at his left arm, she gently picked it up and examined it, taking it apart almost like a surgeon dealing with a human patient: gentle, careful, and with no hesitation.

 This girl is more talented than I gave her credit for, the reploid thought, a smile forming on his lips. The world's in good hands... and so am I. A little rest won't hurt.

Initiate Sleep Mode.

SLEEP MODE ACTIVATED.

 --------------------------------------

Tina turned around and asked, "So, will you take me to an aquarium or a fair when we see one? Because I'd-"

 Then, she noticed his eyes were closed. He really did go sleepy-bye. She frowned. Sure, she'll be able to fix up the chest and eye, but she wanted someone to talk to! That and this arm is all weird and stuff. It's nothing like she's used to. Like, it shifted into one of those buster weapons when she messed around with it. And that's neat, but she doesn't know how to fix it!

Oh well. Mr. Fishy wouldn't mind if she only half-fixed it until she could find someone else who can really fixy-fixy the thing!

Still, all this was weird to her. Mr. Fishy was really, really banged up. He musta been sleeping for a long, long, long time, and his creator musta died. Sasha said that a lot of reploid makers put their creations in a sort of sta...sta.... a long sleepy when all the bad things happened, both so that the reploids didn't do any bad things, and so that they'll be nice and fresh when they woke up and had work to do! Mr. Fishy looked pretty bad, like he got into a bad fight or something. Maybe he walked a really long way but couldn't do anything about the rust cuz nobody brings oil with them anywhere. Either way, Mr. Fishy needed TLC, and she would give him that!

It took a long time, though. So while she worked on him, Tina plugged him into an energy resource so he could charge up and stop relying on the solar energy! He probably needed that to use his buster, anyway. She could hear the faint whirrs and hums as his systems began to work harder, motivating her to work even faster. When she was almost done, she heard the lab door open up and the sound of heels meeting steel.

 "Any progress?"

 Tina greeted the woman with a smile and a salute. "Everything's A-OK, Sasha! He's all fixied up, except for this arm."

 Sasha raised an eyebrow and walked over to her companion, taking a look at the arm herself. "What's wrong with it?"

"Like, I could fix up the whole wires disconnecting and all and some of the parts missing, but his buster is really weird, like X's, so I don't know how to fixxy, so I just went and fixied what I could and then we can find someone else who can fixy it better than I can fixy it!" Tina took a deep breath and added quickly, "Is that bad?"

 The military woman patted the girl on the head, smiling for the first time today. The kind of smile that made a pretty face even prettier and could light up a room. "No. You did what you could, Tina." Tina had to hold back from vibrating out of happiness, but couldn't once Sasha added, "Now, let's go enjoy some milk and cookies together, okay? As a reward. You need a little break, after all."

"YAAAAAY! MILK AND COOKIES!" Tina shouted, flailing about, the happiness in her tiny little heart intensifying.

The duo started to leave when the biggest mood killer of all blared throughout the building.

WARNING. WARNING. INTRUDERS DETECTED! IDENTIFIED AS MAVERICKS!  WARNING. WARNING. 

Just the Beginning, Part 1

SYSTEMS ON

    STARTING DIAGNOSIS…

    DIAGNOSIS COMPLETE.

    HEAD: OK. FINS FUNCTIONAL, SOLAR PANEL FUNCTIONAL. SOLAR POWER GENERATOR AT 100%.

    FACE: FUNCTION LOST IN RIGHT EYE.

    TORSO: DAMAGED, BUT FUNCTIONAL.

    ARMS: DAMAGED.  MOVEMENT IN LEFT ARM LIMITED. BUSTER DEACTIVATED.

    LEGS: DAMAGED. MOVEMENT LIMITED.

    ENERGY: LOW.  RUNNING SOLELY ON SOLAR POWER. REQUIRES RECHARGE AT PROPER STATION.

    SEEK REPAIRS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

    SCANNING AREA...

    SCAN COMPLETE. SHELTER DETECTED IN 3 MILES.

    "Only three miles, huh?" the reploid asked nobody in particular. He covered his entire body in nothing but the ragged remains of a brown sheet as he trudged through dirt and grime slowly, legs heavy as if being held down by invisible cement blocks. "Long as that means people inside, I should be good." As he spoke, sparks flew from his left hand. The fins on both sides of his helmet flapped uselessly, trying to swim through water that just isn't there. With each breath, hot, dry air entered his systems. Each step felt like an eternity for him.

    When the shelter was in sight, a smile played upon his lips. It was too long since he had seen a sign of life. Judging by the condition, it was built recently. Any older and it might have been ruined by maverick attacks or the remnants of a space colony crashing down and crushing whatever they touched. Life had to be there. It was a matter of whether or not the life was hostile or docile...

     For his own sake, the reploid hoped it was the latter.

------------------------------------

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

    The shelter seemed eerily empty as the reploid walked through the hallways. Nothing but steel surrounded him: Steel plates, steel floor, steel pipes. The only things that weren't steel were the cameras overlooking the area. He didn't particularly feel like smiling for them, though.  Maybe if he didn't stare at them and waved, nobody hostile would see him-

    WARNING. WARNING. INTRUDER DETECTED! POSSIBLE MAVERICK! WARNING. WARNING.

 Okay, maybe it was time to smile at the cameras. If he smiled, they'd spare him, right? Nope. Dozens of people, decked in suits and armor and holding rifles, swarmed him and surrounded him. A quick scan revealed that behind the suits, they were all made of 100% organic material.  Humans. He couldn't hurt them. One shot would be enough to get him labeled as a Maverick. How to get through this without hurting anyone?

Wait. His legs.

System, diagnose legs.

BEGIN DIAGNOSIS...

DIAGNOSIS COMPLETE.

LEGS: DAMAGED. MOVEMENT LIMITED.

What about the Emergency Boost System?

EMERGENCY BOOST SYSTEM IS ACTIVE, BUT NOT RECOMMENDED. MAY DAMAGE LEG PARTS FURTHER.

I'll take those chances.

Taking a deep breath, the reploid dramatically pointed  behind him and yelled, "THEY GOT ME! RUN, GUYS!"

The hunters turned towards where he pointed, giving him a chance to charge energy in his legs and dash through the crowd, breaking free and making a sharp turn at one of the winding hallways. It wasn't long before the hunters realized there wasn't another maverick there and chased him down. The fish reploid kept dashing, pushing his emergency boosters to his limit. His own legs weren't capable of running in his current state, anyhow.

Soon, he found a door. Freedom awaited! Frantically, he fumbled with the doorknob and opened the door...

"Take one more step and you'll have more to worry about than those amateurs," a cold voice said. The reploid didn't have to turn towards it: it came from right in front of him. A woman in a black suit, much like the hunters he encountered, stood before him, pointing a gun right at his head.

Busted.

---------------------

In the Shelter's Control Room, a little girl in a white and blue dress and a tall man wearing only a T-shirt and ragged jeans was watching the action from the main computer. Apparently, a fishlike, yet humanoid reploid had gotten in. He looked pretty goofy, to be honest. Who puts cyan and aqua green together like that for their armor? Ew. There was something more important nagging at his mind, though.

"Hey, Tina?" the man asked his companion. "How stupid do you have to be to wander into a shelter that's been attacked by Mavericks in the past few days?"

"Maybe he didn't know!" Tina replied, playing with her long, brown curls. "If he was a maverick, he'd shoot at least one of us."

"Maybe he's trying to infiltrate our ranks with the innocent look."

"The mavericks around here don't think that far, Stan. They're not like Lumine or Sigma!"

"Thank god, too," Stan sighed, holding his head in his hands. "I'd hate for them to come back. Either way, Sasha has this one. Kid waltzed right into her. Poor guy, I'd haaaate to be him right now!"

"Looks like she's taking him up here, judging from the movement on the monitor! We're gonna be able to question him! If he's really a maverick, he might not tell us anything, though."

"Oh, we'll see, kiddie. We'll see."

---------------------------------------

Well, that sucked.

The reploid found himself in the sort of room he thought were only in movies. A dim light hung overhead, swinging to and fro, as he was chained down to a folding chair. He sat in front of a folding table, nothing but the drawings of a 5 year old plastered over it. The walls, of course, were made of steel. Could have used a poster or two to liven things up. He was going to really hate the shades of gray for a while after this, wasn't he?

Either way, he figured he was in an interrogation room, considering the circumstances. Maybe they wanted to talk to him about maverick activities. Yes, talk. With guns. And very angry noises. Maybe it'll have some complementary tea-

WARNING: SOLAR ENERGY AT 50%. PLEASE RECHARGE AT THE CLOSEST STATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

...Scratch the tea, what he needed with a solar battery upgrade.

 The door creaked open, humans here to greet him. The suited woman from before... a child... and some Zero-wannabe, he figured from a cursory glance. The man looked pretty irritated as he slammed his fist down on the table, scattering some of the pictures.

"Okay, dumbass, I'm only gonna ask this once: Serial number and your reason for invading."

 The reploid couldn't help but pout for a moment, but when the woman and man motioned for their weapons just in case he was uncooperative, he knew they meant business. Better not to ruffle these feathers. "PCS12931121602."


The woman motioned towards the child, who happily inputted it into a miniature computer. She made some funny beep boop noises until she pressed a key and flailed about. "The only reploid with that serial number is designated Pisces, Stan and Sasha!"

Stan crossed his arms and asked, "And? That doesn't answer my second question!"

"Weeeeeell, I dunno either! He's supposed to be an underwater exploration reploid, if this stuff is right!"

"Oh, I was," Pisces added helpfully before pulling off a dramatic sigh. "And yet, now I'm merely a fish out of water!"

 Stan clearly wasn't impressed. He took out a cigarette and lit up, taking in the toxic fumes before blowing it in the reploid's face. "Guess you lost a couple bytes of data from being out of the water too long, eh?" he said before he laughed. "You just waltzed right into enemy territory like an idiot!"

 He laughed for a little longer, almost like he was gloating over the reploid's loss. Pisces didn't really mind that much, but he did mind the cigarette. There was a little girl right there! He turned to Sasha and asked, "Are your subordinates always this inconsiderate?"

 Sasha stared at him for a moment before glaring at Stan, who grumbled something under his breath before heading out of the room. She then turned her gaze back to Pisces as she asked, "Well? What were you doing here?"

 "Maybe take these chains off and remove the cloth, and you'll find out," he teased.

 That got their attention. Sasha removed the chains, allowing the reploid full movement. She did, however, point a gun at his back. Smart one, this girl was. Didn't want a runner. The child walked up to him and removed the cloth for him, adding a little "Ta-dah!" with a flourish.

 He watched their expressions change from wariness and happiness to shock and worry. Sparks were still coming off from his left arm, and his legs were  torn up, wires sticking out where armor should be. His torso had chunks of armor missing, as did his right arm. All in all, he was a giant mess.

 "Not the best condition I've ever been in," he admitted with a nervous chuckle. "But hundreds of years can do a number on you."

 Sasha exchanged glances with her friend before putting away her gun and shrugging.

 "Mavericks usually don't come in such a bad condition to fight us," she reasoned. "That and you didn't attack any of my men, or scream about how we're the ones who caused the apocolypse. You're welcome to stay for a day or two."

 Pisces couldn't help but let out a "WHOOP WHOOP!" and do a fist pump with his left arm. The two ladies smiled, probably because he wasn't going to hurt them or anything.

Especially not with his left arm falling off onto the ground, sparks flying and hydraulic fluid leaking from some of the parts. He couldn't help but wince in pain.

The suited woman sighed.

"Tina, he needs repairs. Now."