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Post by Warrior on Aug 11, 2024 19:58:29 GMT -8
#s://www~sprites-inc~co~uk/files/EXE/EXE2/Chips/nodata~gif #s://www~sprites-inc~co~uk/files/EXE/EXE2/Chips/nodata~gif
Abandoned LegacyReal World?
- - - - Gate's Gambit. It was an unwritten chapter of The Perfect Cherry Blossom when Navis and Humans alike worked together to prevent Duo's Meteor from colliding with the earth, but it ultimately ended in failure. Our rewritten history states that Vinyl repaired the shattered planet and prevented the catastrophe from recurring, and for a time, only 6 beings existed that were able to recall the original events before Eon and Vinyl later restored the memories of the rest of the world.
In actuality, however, that Earth remained destroyed. Vinyl instead diverged our timeline from its original fate, and since then we've branched to the point we're at today, but the history of the first timeline didn't end after Duo's Meteor made impact.
This is where Faith found herself now: the abandoned Earth.
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Post by Warrior on Aug 11, 2024 19:58:48 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/d3oYlzz~png (Coming from Resistance of a Lost Time)
" ... "
Faith remained silent as David explained the situation, soaking in the information without interrupting the lengthy speech. She had come here through what appeared to be a Black Hole in the Cyber World, but it still didn't quite make sense to her how she ended up in the Real World. Perhaps this was just a Vision Burst instead of reality? It was her virtual body that operated right now, not her physical body, so it would certainly make sense, but what a strange way of entering one if that were really the case.
" So, the six people that originally retained their memories... "
" Six that we know of. Vinyl asked for a sacrifice, and five declined: Jake, Genesis, Embera, Serix, and Ciel. They were the first to be ferried from the destroyed world. "
" And Vinyl, the sixth. So was that the sacrifice he asked for? To lose your memory? "
" For those that accepted, their new selves would forget and their old selves would remain on the broken world, abandoned of hope. For those that rejected, a different sacrifice was made instead. "
Her eyes furrowed. She'd heard about this part before, but had difficulty believing it at the time. Hearing at again from someone other than Jake, having it confirmed to her, bothered her more than she'd liked to admit.
" From Genesis: his power. From Embera: her flame. From Serix: her voice. From Ciel: her life. And from Jake-- "
" His Remnant. "
Jake's fear had costed David's salvation, and while she could find it in herself to forgive him for it, her patience was certainly tested all the same.
" ... Right. With Eon's intervention, Vinyl was later able to restore everything that was sacrificed. "
" Not everything... "
She looked upset, and how couldn't she be at the unfairness of it all. They were both punished for somebody else's shortcoming, while the others were punished more personally.
" No, not everything. Not in the same way, at least. I was still restored, just not in the place that you or I would have preferred. "
" Hmph. "
She humphed in frustration. They were always just out of reach of each other. Was it fate's cruel twist?
" There is another oddity, though. In the time I was absent, Jake's erasure from this timeline created an anomaly that needed solving. "
" ...? "
" There are a finite number of atoms in the universe: matter cannot be created or destroyed. The others that refused Vinyl's sacrifice and were ferried were Navis: they didn't take up "space" in the universe, they were just data stored on machines. Data that could be rewritten to exclude them without any serious repercussion. "
" Right, I've wondered about this before when Jake recounted it to me. He was human, he took up some of the universe's finite mass. I understand the contradiction with the laws of physics there, so I always had a hard time believing his story. Even I couldn't run the simulations that would lead to an answer. "
" Those unused atoms were repurposed to rebirth Ciel and the original David Pele. "
" Wh-?! "
She was talking to David Pele, wasn't she? There were two of him now?
" So you're a... copy? "
" I was always a copy, Faith. You only gave me his memories, I didn't live them myself. "
She couldn't help but acknowledge how messed up in the head she had to have looked to anyone else. David Pele was her fiance, but was mortally wounded over a decade ago. While he was on his deathbed, she searched high and low for a procedure or elixir that could heal him, but nothing surfaced. In her search, she learned of Hub Hikari's death and rebirth as MegaMan.EXE. Inspired by it, she sought to emulate that procedure on her beloved once he drew his last, but she wasn't Yuichiro Hikari, and so the process was imperfect. What she ended up with was a Navi with David Pele's appearance and memories -- "The Remnant".
" ... You're in the Real World, though. "
" Many breakthroughs have come to light since Duo's Meteor struck. Earth's electromagnetic field was permanently changed, and combined with technology that Netopia had been researching, Humans and Navis alike are able to interface with it in ways you might not expect. "
She didn't reply, but this seemed consistent with what had happened recently in her own World involving the NIA's activity. She had her own taste of that at Donburā Lake -- while the anomalies were isolated in her timeline, it seemed rampant in this one. She'd hate to have imagined the consequences that must have had on the safety of the world, what was left of it, anyway.
" Which brings us to the crisis at hand. "
" Right, The Monster we saw earlier. "
" ... Yes. "
Faith detected the grief in his reply. She could only assumed it meant one thing.
" Is... Cherish... "
" ... "
She could see the answer on his face, he didn't have to say it: Cherish was dead.
" Did she... Was it her? Was it 'The Monster' that-- "
" Be careful how deeply you read into it, Faith. "
It was too late, she'd gotten her confirmation. Cherish was murdered, and Faith wouldn't bother hiding the anger in her eyes. She'd kill that monster if it was the last thing she did.
Faith wasn't so daft that she didn't realize when she was outmatched, though -- she'd seen the power, the speed, the strength firsthand. Even in her virtual body, even with Optima Flux, even with prep time, she wouldn't close the gap on her own. But two Faiths, that was another story...
" What about this world's Faith? Is she still alive? "
" ... "
He nodded his head side-to-side. She should have expected that, and was somehow less bothered by it than she was by Cherish's death. She could tell it was hurting David to have to revisit it, though, so she didn't press further. After all, it didn't matter how she died.
" After the meteor struck, one of the Reaver Kings was the first to demonstrate that Navis could enter the Real World through the distorted EM field. Humanity and Navis were nearly wiped out by the calamity, but he was empowered by it. "
" Deav, no doubt. His strength grows in the presence of death, and I can only imagine what an extinction-level event would do for him. I've had my encounters with him. "
" You did. And he remembered them. "
Strange, she remembered him winning the first time they fought, but perhaps this world's Faith was stronger, or maybe this world's Deav was just weaker than the one she crossed paths with.
" What we didn't know at the time, though, was that he wasn't a Navi. "
" ? "
She could quickly make sense of it since Deav was already familiar with traversing EM Waves -- it had been hinted to her several times in the past, as well, so this was confirmation of her previous assumptions.
" An EM Being, then? "
He looked at Faith directly, watching for her reaction.
" A Carbon. "
" ! "
She knew he was watching, and she still couldn't hide it. Shock filled her eyes as her mind fit that crucial puzzle piece into everything he had said so far -- along with the one piece she never gave anyone until now.
" And that was the day that we also learned something about you, Faith. "
" ... "
" You're one too. "
She looked away. It wasn't exactly accurate, but she had some Carbon in her without a doubt. Otherwise, she couldn't have been the one to awaken Juno. He referred to her as a "Trigger" at the time, which had its own degree of accuracy as well, but a Trigger wasn't a species so much as it was a designation.
" He comes from a timeline where he sent his species to extinction to recreate the human race; sacrificing their future to renew humanity's. After the millennia that followed, he seems to regret that choice now, searching for worlds where carbons still walk. But you weren't wrong in that he's also an EM Being, or at least shared traits with one. He was almost like a mixed bag of species. "
" ... "
Faith looked distraught, now. She already knew where this was going, there was only one logical conclusion to it.
" So he sought me out... "
" Yes. "
If Deav was an EM Being, then based on what she had learned from Sirius, he would be able to merge his consciousness and body with a human, becoming a new being entirely. And if Deav was also a Carbon, while Faith herself had traces of Carbon in her DNA, then that would make her the most suitable candidate, because...
" ... because my Resonant Frequency was compatible... "
" Yes. "
She was barely able to fend off a weakened Deav even with powerful allies around her. But against an extinction-empowered Deav and by herself? There was no chance.
" ... and he overpowered me. Took my body, killed the survivors of this world, becoming stronger with each encounter. "
" ... Yes. "
And, most painfully, that would also mean that:
" I... killed Cherish. I killed all those people. I'm 'The Monster'. "
" Deav did, with Faith as his vessel. Her consciousness fought back, but she could never gain full control. He couldn't utilize your body's full potential as a result, though. "
" ... of course not. Only I could. "
" Do you have more secrets, Faith? We need to know how to fight her, we need to know her weaknesses. "
" I... do. "
She paused after that, taking it all in. She knew she didn't have the luxury of time right now, but it was a lot to process. And in spite of it all, there were some secrets that couldn't be shared.
" I can't, though. I'm sorry. "
" ... I understand. I've always known the red eyes and white hair were peculiar traits, I just never understood their significance until that day. "
Indeed. The eyes of a Reaver, the hair of a Murian, the blood of a Carbon, and the body of a Human. What even was she? Whatever she was, it was the only explanation for her abnormal Resonant Frequency. And speaking of...
" We might have another solution, though. There's another powerful EM Being that I share a Resonant Frequency with. "
" Sirius. "
" ...? "
" You were putting up a good fight in his head, Faith. You were holding him back every time we fought you, and so he needed a way to solve that. "
" How would Sirius have solved that? "
" Sirius has a peculiar ability he calls 'Remove Will'. "
" Ah... that'd do it. "
And she knows she wouldn't have fought it. So the picture was easy to paint from that: by whatever means that a being like Deav had access to, he learned about Sirius and sought him out to get that pesky thing called Faith out of his head. And she knew that, in that situation, she would embrace the erasure if she were aware of everything she had done. An added bonus was that her "secrets" were lost during the exchange.
" But even without your mind, your body was still compatible with Sirius, so when 'The Monster' returned, she was merged with both Deav and Sirius. "
" How could you possibly fight against that? "
" The world unites in remarkable ways during crises. The remnants of OEL, ONB, NIA, Creamland, and Sharo all brought their knowledge together to confront her. Most of our strongest heroes either died upon impact of the meteor, were killed later by Deav, or were ferried by Vinyl before this nightmare began. "
" Who all is left? "
" I am. "
" ... "
Genesis, Warrior, and Embera were ferried. Xion was absent entirely during the whole ordeal, as the Dark Colony was extracted from this universe and only recently rejoined her own. Vanguard hadn't come into his own yet. And the other freedom fighters' fate had always been a mystery in all this, much less Rockman, Serenade, Forte, and the remaining higher powers at be, if some of them were even compliant to begin with. The arrogant ones would go first, fight alone, die, and be absorbed -- it wasn't hard to see how vicious this cycle was.
While there were plenty of other Humans and Navis, the list of capable fighters was understandably empty -- quite a conundrum when the enemy was arguably the most powerful amalgamation of entities to date. David didn't even get to the part where Faiv, 'The Monster', traversed other timelines to siphon power from them as well.
" I've been modified to have EM capabilities as well, and having an exact Resonant Frequency as the original David Pele gives us an enormous boost in power when we Wave Merge. Sharo had also been working on powerful technology in secret that they unveiled in our eleventh hour, dubbed the 'M.E.G.A. System', that we use to amplify our fusion even further. "
" You can't trust everyone that lends you power. They need you for now, but when they don't, they'll take advantage of what they've given you. There's always some sort of trap or failsafe installed, you have to--"
" I know. But there's no other choice. They'll do what they do with me when the dust settles, and I'm trusting that someone else picks up the responsibility that's left behind when I'm gone. As for now, it relies on me to accept the cost and give my all. "
" ... "
So self-sacrificing. She loved it and hated it at the same time.
They had been traveling for some time now and were coming up on the waterfall that they were told would lead them to the Reaver Kings.
" It's nearly time, Faith. These Reaver Kings will be different than the ones you've faced -- whether stronger or weaker is hard to say, but you can't hold back. "
" We'll beat them together, you've fought off my empowered counterpart so this should be a breeze, shouldn't it? "
" Not quite. My frequency doesn't match yours, so we can't merge. And right now, I'm still fighting that counterpart of yours -- this is just a clone to accompany you. "
" ... always just out of reach of each other. "
It'd been so long, she forgot he could even do that. She just hoped it wasn't taxing him to be here right now while he was still fighting somewhere else. If defeating these Reaver Kings could help though, she would give it her earnest regardless of the disadvantageous circumstances.
" Let's go, then. I won't keep you all waiting any longer. "
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Post by Zane on Aug 14, 2024 5:15:21 GMT -8
Arriving at her destination, there was one thought that became apparent to her without any sort of warning or provocation, as if it was just something that occurred out of nowhere. That they were hiding something. This location was important and served as a base because there was something they couldn't get rid of and had to keep here. Fighting this battle, winning this battle, was imperative to learning something that was incredible critical to the battle that was taking place now. And almost as if to make it clear, Faith could feel it wash over her. A different but familiar feeling.
It wasn't as if she was used to sensing things, but like the first thought it was as if the process worked itself out in her mind without rhyme or reason. It was akin to the giant that she had seen in Creamland beside Deav before. It wasn't alone either, as another was beside it. She would have time to prepare one last time before taking the plunge into the fire and the depths. And once she did, it was abundantly clear that a battle would ensue. Even without any form of signal given, it seemed like the answer was given already. They were only to serve this purpose; this purpose was what they were still around for. And this purpose was what they would fight and fall for. With the knowledge that she possessed, she knew she would have to win the fight in both a way to incapacitate them but to not end them as well, lest things become more trying on the other battlefront as well.
So, it was now or never.
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Post by Warrior on Aug 14, 2024 16:08:39 GMT -8
#s://i~imgur~com/Pth93Lo~png "You can't hold back".
David's words echoed in her mind -- whether this place was real or not, it relied on her coming out of this on top. If she lost, she'd experience the regular consequence of breaking the Pulse Transmission and waking up in the Real World after a while, albeit with progressively worsening side effects depending on just how bad the psychological link was ruptured. While it didn't seem like much skin off of her back, she knew that she wouldn't be able to return after the fact, leaving David by himself to fix all of these problems she created.
" ... "
So the fact that "holding back" was still crossing her mind was alarming right now.
Truthfully, she always fought with a hand or two behind her back, but it wasn't out of hubris or pride and really out of necessity. Beyond the possibility of Faiv witnessing her body's capabilities, there were inherent risks to pushing herself that far. If that's what it was going to take to stop herself, though, then she supposed she would have no choice.
Fighting alone against a Reaverking, much less three in succession, already stacked the deck against her as she couldn't conceal her contribution behind her allies this time. More over, she fought with a dagger; her technique required the utmost precision, and that demanded a certain degree of intel on her target to pull off. There would be nobody else here to cover for her while she studied her enemies, she'd have to just learn on the fly.
David at least gave her the primer on two of them so that she could formulate something as she made her final preparations.
Her senses were signalling new messages to her as she drew closer, but she'd have more time to read into that when there was less on her mind. For now, she plunged forward with dagger drawn, determined as ever to see it through.
( Link to Battle Thread ) ( Vital Battle RP will be included in this post below for retention's sake )
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