At Arceus' Behest Ch. 00 - Prologue
Throughout the grove an eerie silence hung in the air. Normally this place is very abuzz with life, but today everything there was watching a man in a red and black helmet with white accents as he lay against a large boulder with a brown cloth draped around him. His blonde hair was long, almost as long as his body, and naturally settled into a ponytail hairstyle. His eyes were shut. He was not breathing, and appeared dead. One of the creatures moved closer to try to rouse him. As her paw pulled back the cloth, she saw the man was wearing matching armor. Confusion came across her face; she never knew of any man that would try to protect itself so.
Suddenly there was a bright red glow coming from the armored man. As the light intensified, every other creature around him scattered.
Reserve Tank Activated
Active Memory Restored - 32768 PBytes
Running System Analysis...
Accumulative Energy Generator - Online
Fusion Energy Tank Containment - Online
Voice and Language Recognition System - Online
Broad Range Optics - Online
Z-Saber Base - Activated
Z-Buster - Activated
No other energy weapons detected
WARNING - Unknown Alloy detected in Outer Armor and Skeleton
Analyzing...
Viral Activity detected...
Payload Analysis indicates regenerative properties...
No negative effects currently detected
Current Risk Assessment - Beneficial/Symbiotic
Powering Up...
The last moments before the explosion played through Zero's mind. He recalled that awful battle.
"So this is the Ragnarok's Core," Zero said to himself.
"Hehehahagha... Welcome to the front seat for the end of the world!"
"That voice... Dr. Weil!" Screamed Zero. "How did you survive Ragnarok's Attack?"
"Survive? That's easy.." Dr. Weil then appeared before him, the top left half of his face torn off, helmet destroyed. "Because I can't Die!"
Zero's eyes widened at the sight of a human so torn up still functioning, but then noticed no blood. "What happened to you?!"
Dr. Weil laughed at the question, "Did my mechanical body suprise you? Did you think that I was a Reploid and you could fight me? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm pure Human.. even WITH a body that looks like this!" He could see the question in Zero's eyes. "How? When the Dark Elf took control of the Reploids and destroyed the Mavericks in the Elf Wars, the Humans of the time modified me. They transferred all of my memories to program data and switched my body for this armor with the power to rejuvenate me... do you have any idea what that means? I can't age, and wounds heal more quickly than ever! After the war, I was cursed to live an eternity in a world without light or nature. The Humans expelled me from Neo Arcadia! Justice?! Freedom?! Worthless ideals! You Reploids are just machines, but you started a war a long time ago in the name of freedom! And Humans! Look what they did to me! Driving me away while spouting the word 'Justice!' Zero, why do you insist on saving them?! Controlling the Reploids is nothing! The destruction of all mankind is only fleeting! Not quite alive.. Not quite dead... Forever, by my side! I'll make you suffer a fate far greater than anything ever experienced before!"
And with that, Dr. Weil merged with the Ragnarok's Core.
"Bwahahahah.. I'll teach you there is no place for fools to hide! Fools must live under my rule and my rule alone thanks to Ragnarok!"
The beginning of the fight itself was shortlived. Dr. Weil continually tried to pummel Zero with debris surrounding the room as well as energy blasts, but could never quite land a hit. Zero however was just too fast. With cut after cut from his Z-Saber, he slowly tore the armor off of Dr. Weil's new body. Dr. Weil quickly vanished and appeared in the middle of the room. With a loud scream, he started summoning Light Constructs of his minions to attack. Zero managed to avoid taking any serious hits, and when he saw an opening he charged with his Z-Saber at the ready. Finally he punctured something critical on Dr. Weil, and there was a massive explosion.
Zero found the room around him destroyed, exposed to the vaccuum of space. He quickly activated the Mag-Grips on his boots, so he wouldn't begin to float. He watched as the world below him became increasingly larger. He frantically started looking for the control panel that could restore the satellite's orbit, but it was nowhere around. "Damn! I can't stop the descent!"
The receiver buzzed in his ear. It was Ciel, "Zero! Ragnarok is reaching critical speed! If it gets any faster I won't be able to get a lock on you! Hurry!"
Dr. Weil's voice suddenly jammed the transmission, "No... this isn't over yet!" He suddenly appeared from a floor cave-in. "I told you, I can't die! Nobody can stop Ragnarok now!"
Ciel's voice could be heard on the receiver again, her signal much stronger. "Zero, there's no time! Get back here now!"
"No. There is a way," Zero replied. "If I destroy Weil's core, the explosion will take Ragnarok out with it. If Ragnarok is blown apart, it no longer poses a threat.."
"But what about you?!" screamed Ceil.
Dr. Weil laughed wickedly, "Are you even capable of it?! The Reploid hero.. Protecting justice and humanity! I am one of those Humans you have sworn to protect! Do you have it in you to destroy me?"
Zero gasped at the monstrosity that began to take form in front of him. Dr. Weil suddenly merged with Ragnarok itself. Large energy conduits began attaching themselves to his armor. Then there was a bright flash and the debris around the area was no more. It was turned into a new layer of armor around the deranged monster.
He stared coldly at the once-human before him, "I never cared about justice, and I don't recall ever calling myself a hero. I have always only fought for the people I believe in. I won't hesitate... If an enemy appears in front of me, I will destroy it!" He could hear Ciel calling his name in his receiver. "Ciel, believe in me.."
The rest of the battle is mostly a blank, but he remembers ungodly powerful beams of energy being shot at him, Dr. Weil's armor itself detaching and attacking him, and then landing the final blow that cracked Dr. Weil's fusion core. The force from the explosion knocked him back against what was left of a wall, his Mag-Grips finally catching something to hold on to. Zero looked himself over. His outer armor was shredded to pieces. A leg was bent sideways, not at the knee. His gun arm barely responded to his commands, indicating torn Myomer muscles.
There was a great rumble and flash from the satellite. Time began to slow down.. and then stopped. Before his eyes was a great stag like being, with what looked like a gold thorned halo around its body. It looked at Zero, like it was considering what to say to him, then raised its head back. It began to grunt and growl, and make other strange noises. At this, Zero raised his Z-saber feebly and took a defensive posture. The creature's eyes widened as if in amusement. Zero then heard a word come from it. Arceus. But the creature was only repeating it, and saying it in different manners and inflections, or only part of it at a time.
Zero looked confused at this, but lowered his Z-Saber and asked, "Is that your name?"
The being's eyes widened again, realizing the language Zero spoke was familiar.
Arceus nodded, "I did not expect you to know a language from my world, Champion. I cannot contain the time warp for long, so I must be brief." Zero waited, thinking to himself at how such a feat could be possible. "I need your help. My world is in danger. The ones on my planet that you call Humans have within them a group that is trying to enslave my creations for purposes I do not yet know. I need your help in freeing them."
As the creature named Arceus was talking, Zero noticed that time was beginning to return to normal. He could see the movement of the debris coming at him and this being named Arceus. "But what of my world? My friends? They need me!"
Arceus responded, "Your determination is strong." An image of Ciel then appeared in front of Zero. He saw her on her hands and knees, crying, in front of a large tree. She then looked up and said in a sobbing voice, "Zero.. You believed in us.. Now it's our turn to show you that your faith in us was not misplaced. Watch, Zero.. I'll make this world a better place.. One where Humans and Reploids can walk hand in hand, living in peace... Just come back someday.. I... I believe in you!"
He could see a lot of falling stars in the sky behind her. Was that the Ragnarok? "I should be dead by now."
Arceus looked at him, "When this time warp unravels, if you choose, you may take your final rest. Know this, however. You have done well, your sacrifice will mend the broken ties between the two civilizations on your world. I need your help to do the same on mine."
Zero could see the debris flying at him gaining speed. There was a large bladed piece of the armor of Dr. Weil coming straight at him, being pushed by the force of a second explosion. "Very well, I will help you."
At soon as the words were said, Arceus shot a beam of white light at Zero and he was brought up onto Arceus' back. Arceus then sped away from the satellite. As they moved away Zero saw it was surrounded by a thin membrane that he did not see when they passed through. It then ruptured with the force of a nuclear explosion. Time rushed quickly to fill the void that was made by the being he now rode. Within a second of that explosion he saw the world spin faster below, he saw the moon nearby move. It occurred to him then that the time warp this being created finally failed, and nearly an hour had passed as he checked his internal sensors.
He then turned to the being and said, "Arceus, my name is Zero." Arceus nodded. "I will do what I can to help you. What happened on my world should never happen anywhere else... but I would like to return, someday."
"In due time, you shall," was Arceus' reply.
Zero thought to himself for a second then asked, "Though I must ask, why can you not do this yourself?"
Arceus thought carefully about the words to say, "I have made a vow to never directly interfere in the affairs of my world again. Over time, the Humans on my world have developed ways to capture my kind."
Zero began to think to himself. They must be powerful indeed if they can capture a being able to warp time itself. I have my work cut out for me.
"How will I know the difference between those enslaved and not?" Zero asked.
"Those enslaved show no emotion, no sense of self, no life. They coldly follow commands of those who have taken their wills," said Arceus.
"Then let's do this," was Zero's only reply.
He was silently wondering how he could do this while his body was in its current condition. Arceus started gaining speed, the gravity from this world finally losing grip on the two. Then everything went black.