Legends of the Halcyon Era

Episode 31 - Celeste's Gift

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After successfully overcoming the obstacle and threat presented by the Annihilator Unit known as MegaMan Magnus, the Digger group of Nytetrayn, Fenix, Janine, and Adam Powers – or rather, MegaMan Blade, as the spirit that was occupying his body was called – made their way back to the surface with no resistance.

After the final elevator carried the quartet to the surface, Nytetrayn stepped outside of the ruin's gate and stretched. "Well, that was fun. We'll have to do it again sometime." He then took note of Janine, who was now required to return every three years until it was deemed otherwise. "Literally, actually."

MegaMan Blade stepped outside as well, and looked around. "Hmm..."

Nyte looked around, too. "Hey, I wonder where Celeste ran off to?"

"Well, it was nice meeting you all," said Blade. "I shall return this body to its owner now, but rest assured, I will return!"

"Oh, okay," said Nyte. "Good to meet you, Blade."

"See you later, Blade," Janine said, as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

MegaMan Blade smiled, then drew his large sword and held it out in front of him. A bright flash of light came from the sword, and then his body fell to the ground.

"Uggghhhh..." said Adam, as he lay sprawled out on the ground. Nyte offered him a hand, which he accepted. "Thanks..."

"I think you need to work on your re-entry," Nyte told him. "How y'doin'?"

"What happened? I remember being blasted by that Reaverbot... and seeing this weird guy... but then nothing..."

Nytetrayn looked to Janine. "Why don't you tell him?"

Before Janine could say anything, however, Fenix popped up and shouted, "You were possessed!"

"Possessed?" said Adam, confused.

"We had sex," Fenix continued. "It was great."

Adam screamed.

Janine smacked Fenix, then told Adam, "That sword you have somehow houses the soul of a Reaverbot. His name is MegaMan Blade, and used to be a friend of mine."

"What the hell?!"

"He used your body to guide us through the ruin, and – what?"

"Someone's talking to me in my head!"

"...woah."

"He says he's this MegaMan Blade, and that he apologizes for using my body?!"

"Okay," Nyte said. "That works. And it'll make getting you up to speed a lot easier."

"What the bloody freaking hell?!"

"Oh, almost forgot," the young Digger said, as he rummaged through his backpack, and gave Adam the parts that Blade had asked him to hold on to.

"Huh?"

"Dunno why he didn't just hold onto these for you, sharing the same body and all..."

"Oh, thanks!" Adam said happily.

"Thank your roommate."

"He didn't know what to do with them."

"Ah."

"Apparently, he didn't notice that I had a backpack on... Shut UP! ...sorry."

Nyte just looked on, and wondered if he was even a part of this conversation anymore.

"This is going to take some getting used to."

"You're telling us..."

Janine watched, speechless, as the scene unfolded before her.

Then Fenix said, "Can we have sex now?"

Ignoring his Digging partner's query, Nyte's thoughts returned elsewhere. "I wonder if Alfred knows where Celeste went," he said. "Maybe she's on the ship?"

Just then, Adam's Reaverbot assistant, Alpha-Red, came scuttling out of the ship. "Adam!!" he cried out. "What happened? I lost contact with you!"

As Alpha disembarked the Sky Shark, Celeste exited right behind him.

Fenix continued. "Jan's been running around in that slinky kimono for the past few hours, and I dunno about you guys, but I have the worst case of blue balls in the history of mankind."

Janine sighed, and Celeste almost turned back around as he said that, but was stopped short when Nytetrayn called out, "Hi, Cel!"

Janine swatted Fenix in the head as she waved to Celeste, who decided to go ahead and join the others.

"Heya," she said.

"Hey, girlfriend!" said Janine. "How you doing?"

"Oh, I'm alright... I guess..." she said.

Meanwhile, Adam was talking to Alpha, as well as himself, seemingly. "I don't know myself, Alpha. No, he's my friend. How the hell should I know that? No, I think she's a little taken. Will you shut up?"

Celeste was dumbstruck by the one-sided conversation going on, and whispered to the others, "Why is he talking to himself?"

"He has another spirit living in his body now," Nyte whispered back.

Celeste just nodded and went along with it.

"Sorry..." Adam continued. "Ewwww... You pervert!"

"He's staring at my rack, isn't he?" asked Janine.

"No, I don't want to know what you and Jan used to do to piss Magnus off!! And who the hell is Magnus, anyways?"

"I don't suppose you two can wait and do that in private, could you?" Nyte asked.

"If only."

Nyte shook his head.

"Shut up. Shut up. ShutupshutupshutupSHUTUP!!"

"Know what?" said Nytetrayn. "I'm hungry. I'm going to raid the ship's fridge."

"Me too," said Adam, as he followed Nytetrayn into the ship and ventured to the galley. Celeste and Alpha soon reentered the ship as well, the latter headed for the bridge.

Outside, Fenix looked at Janine. "They're going to be occupied for a while," he said.

"Our cabin. Now," she replied, and they disappeared for a few hours.

In the galley, Nyte told Adam, "Just you wait. I bet you and he don't even have the same diet. And I bet you're going to experience the worst case of 'backseat driving' you've ever known on the way back..."

"Actually, he says he and I have the same diet..."

"Oh. Well, good for you!" Nyte said with a smile.

"No, thanks. Why? Because I don't want to scare the crap out of everyone who comes near me, that's why, dummy!"

"...I think I'll eat in the den," Nyte said, as his smile faded and he took the food he just made with him. Celeste followed, while Adam sat in the galley, ate, and talked to the spirit in the sword.

Alpha appeared in the den. "Ummm... Mr. Nytetrayn? Where should we go now? Is there any place in particular you'd like to go? Home?"

Nytetrayn shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Home works, I guess. I think we're done here... and I think we got more than we bargained for."

"Okay, I'll set course for Monroe Island," Alpha said, as he scuttled off back to the bridge, where he was eventually joined by Adam.

A while later, the ship could be heard gathering energy and taking off. Fenix and Janine arrived in the den, the latter in a t-shirt that hung down to her knees.

Celeste slumped on the sofa, looking depressed.

Nyte looked over. "Hey, Cel, something wrong?"

"I'm... I'm sorry, everyone..."

Janine took up a seat next to her. "What on earth for?"

"For... for chickening out..." she said with a frown, before letting out a sigh. "I let all of you down..."

Nyte looked concerned, while Fenix patted her on the head. "Nonsense," said the masked Digger. "Dungeons are freaking scary. We shouldn't have expected you to jump headlong into one on your first day out."

"So, what happened while we were off dealing with... stuff?" Nyte asked.

"Not much... I just sort of walked around... found a few refractors here and there..."

"Refractors are always good," said Janine. "How many did you get?"

Celeste pulled her backpack around the side of the sofa, and opened it up. Inside were numerous refractors, the total Zenny they were worth easily being more than what was acquired inside the ruin. "Just these..."

Adam came down and rejoined the group, after he engaged the auto-pilot. "Goofball in the sword says you guys missed something we were after down ther– JEEZ! You made out like a bandit, girl!" he said with a huge smile plastered across his face.

"How...?" Nyte said, as Fenix just stared, his eye twitching.

"Dear God, Cel, do you have a crystal detector or something?" Janine asked.

Nytetrayn looks at the refractors, then at Celeste, then back to the refractors.

"No..." she said. "I just... looked around. I guess I got lucky."

"Jeez," said Adam, "that almost makes up for what spirit boy says you missed!"

Nyte turned to Adam. "Say what to the who now?"

"Blade says that he was so focused on other things that he forgot to ask this 'Rom' guy to lift the shields on the smaller refractors in the facility. And he also says that no one else thought to ask either..."

After an awkward pause, Nytetrayn shouted, "D'OH!", while Fenix hit himself in the head repeatedly.

"Er," Nyte said, "I mean, 'd'oh'n't worry, we did that on purpose... because they were... so nice and all..."

Adam sat, speechless.

"It wouldn't... uh... it wouldn't have seemed right, after all they did for us, right? ...guys?"

As Janine hugged Fenix's sobbing head against her chest, Adam got up and said, "I'll be on the bridge, if anyone needs me."

Nytetrayn looked to Fenix and Jan for some sort of support, and found none. "...right."

Adam started to head back to the bridge, while Janine looked heavenward and sighed.

Suddenly, Nytetrayn's eyes lit up. "Waitasec... Cel, before we went into the ruin... didn't you say you felt something? Like there was something big down there?"

Celeste gave a slight nod.

"...five, huge refractors... and you find all of these by--no, that's ridiculous. Nevermind."

Celeste looked at Nyte curiously as he had his hand to his chin, and his eyes closed in thought.

"Insane," Adam mumbled to himself.

"...what?" asked Fenix.

"It's nothing... I'm sure..."

Fenix shrugged and went back to funny business with Janine again, who let out a gasp and scooted away before she shot him a look.

"And if you start haunting my dreams, I swear, I'll have you melted and made into scrap! ...DAMMIT!"

"Cel," Nyte asked, "can I borrow your bag for a minute?"

"Uh, sure, I guess so," she said, as she handed it over.

"Great, thanks! Now, just stay right here a minute..."

Nytetrayn left the room, and after about ten minutes, returned without the bag of refractors in his possession.

"Nytetrayn, why did you take Cel's refractors?" Fenix asked, while Janine gasped in mock-horror.

"Just testing something," Nyte replied, before he asked, "Celeste, could you do me a favor and find your refractors?"

Celeste looked at Nytetrayn, and stood up, a little uncertain about what was going on. "Uh.... o-kay... where do I look?"

"Just around. On the ship."

"Er, right," she said, as she went on her way.

Nytetrayn took his place back on the sofa.

"What are you on, and can I have some?" asked Fenix.

"Hold on a sec," Nyte said. "That's just the first part of the test..."

With that, Nytetrayn pulled out another refractor shard he'd kept hidden. As the others watched, he slid it underneath the couch, where it sat out of view, but not out of reach.

"Test...?" Janine asked.

"Just wait a second... we'll know if I've lost it or not in a minute."

Celeste returned a few minutes later, her backpack in hand.

"What the...?" said Fenix.

"Looks like things are in my favor so far," Nyte said.

She put the backpack back beside the sofa, and just sat, waiting to find out what was going on.

"How'd you find them?" Janine asked.

"I dunno," Celeste replied. "Just sort of followed a hunch, I guess..."

She looked from Janine to Fenix to Nytetrayn, and fidgeted nervously a little bit.

Fenix patted her on the shoulder. "S'okay, it's not bad."

"I..." Celeste then gave in, and felt around underneath the sofa for a second, before pulling the hidden refractor shard back out. "Did someone lose this?"

"Okay, now you're freaking me out."

Celeste frowned at this.

"Easy, Cel," said Nytetrayn. "Do you guys realize what this means?"

"It means," said Janine. "It means... it means Nyte is really bad at hiding stuff!"

Nyte fell off the sofa. Fenix chuckled.

"I think it might be a little more likely that... well," Nyte said as he pulled himself back up. "I think Celeste can sense refractors."

"Interesting," said Fenix, as he rubbed his chin. "So, not only are both of the women we've rescued incredibly sexy, but they're natural Diggers, too. Nyte, my friend, you must be some kind of good luck charm."

Janine snorted, while Celeste blushed a bit.

"I think she sensed those giant refractors in the ruin," Nyte continued.

"That would explain the general feeling of foreboding," Fenix said. "And why she couldn't go any further."

"Actually," Celeste said, as her eyes looked down in shame, "...I just couldn't go through with it."

"Why not?" Janine asked.

"I don't know... I just... couldn't," Celeste said, frowning.

"Odd..." said Fenix.

"It's okay," said Nytetrayn. "You don't have to go into any more ruins, if you don't want to."

Celeste's eyes remained cast downward, apparently not taking as much comfort in that as Nytetrayn had hoped.

Meanwhile, up on the bridge, Adam was mumbling to himself. Or, at least that's how it appeared, as he worked one of the ship's consoles. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide behind his shades. "Good lord! What is that?!"

"It appears to be a flying ship, sir," said Alpha-Red.

"It's huge! And I've got the feeling it isn't here for tea and crumpets!"

Just then, the Sky Shark was rocked as a blast of energy only barely missed it.

"Holy– battle alert!" Adam shouted, as he pressed a button that turned the ship's interior lighting red and an alarm began to sound.

"...the hell?" Fenix said, as the lights changed and klaxons rang.

"Uh-oh," said Janine.

They rushed to a window, but outside, they could only see clouds, which hid everything but the beams of red energy that came piercing through at the ship.

"What's going on?!" asked Nytetrayn.

Fenix replied, "We're being... attacked..."

"Aww, crap."

Moments later, the ship parted the clouds. It was positively enormous, around 250 meters long, and dwarfed the Sky Shark by comparison, with massive wings and a sleek, oily black appearance that resembled a flying killer whale.

"Oh no... not this... not now..." said Fenix, as his eyes widened. "The Nemesis..."

"Huh?" said Nytetrayn.

"Fenix, what the hell is going on!?" asked Janine.

"That's Creed's ship."

"Shit," said Janine.

"Who's Creed?" asked Celeste.

"The most powerful Air Pirate on the planet. My dad."

Celeste paled at that.

Fenix hit the button for the intercom. "Adam! Speed, now! We're getting messed with by TREVOR FUCKING CREED!"

Another blast punctuated Fenix's point.

"So, he's following you now?!" said Janine.

"I doubt it... we're probably just in the wrong place at the right time. Shit, if he's stomping around here now..."

A blast struck the ship along the starboard, and shook it hard enough to even knock Jan off her feet. Celeste shrieked.

"CEL!" Nyte shouted, as he grabbed her before she could get hurt. "...you alright?"

"Y-yeah," she replied. "Just a bit shaken."

"Good..."

Adam's voice came over the loudspeaker. "I'm charging up the particle beam cannon now! Nyte, Fenix, Janine, remember the hatches I told you not to go to? Go into them now. They lead to the gun turrets. I don't want to deal with fighters if I don't have to. Celeste can help Alpha-Red up here."

"Cel, you heard Moon Knight up there," Nyte said. "You go help Alfred, we'll handle things down here."

Fenix paused, then hit the intercom button again. "Adam, Creed doesn't use fighters, but the Nemesis has pretty thick armor plating. You'd be better off running!"

Nyte and Celeste pause upon hearing that. "Sounds like your dad has a hell of a ship," he said.

The Nemesis drifted down alongside the Sky Shark, its bridge visible through the window. A tall, shadowy figure stared at them, and a single red dot punctuated its face.

"Is that creeping anyone else out?" Jan asked.

Celeste stepped behind Nyte. "Which part?"

"I don't know, everything?!"

"All right, you asshole," shouted Adam. "Eat this!!"

The Nemesis trembled in the air as it was struck by the Sky Shark's beam, noticeably scarred by the impact. Then it replied with no less than a dozen bright red beams of throbbing power, one of which struck the ship again.

" Look out!" Janine shouted, as the ship was rocked again.

"New plan," said Adam over the intercom. "Everyone, get up here, immediately!"

As the rest of the crew arrived on the bridge, Nyte said, "I hope you've got more of those beams ready, or else this is going to be a short flight."

"Emergency procedures," Adam said, flipping a switch. Along the back wall of the bridge, several sections rotated out. "Strap in!"

Nyte, Fenix, Janine, and Celeste each went over to one of the panels and stood against them. Safety harnesses emerged from each panel, strapping them in and securing them in place.

"Ooh, kinky," said Janine. "I wasn't sure you had it in you."

"What now?" Nyte asked.

Adam turned around and lifted his head, revealing a devilish smirk. "Now," he said, "you get to see what we were made for."

The others looked at each other nervously as Adam threw off his leather jacket, revealing shiny, mechanical arms underneath. Unlike most cybernetic limbs, however, these had various ports down them, matching the ones that adorned the armor – was that armor? – on his legs.

"Interface mode, on!" Adam said, as he flipped another switch. Another panel in the center of the others along the back wall rotated out, this one different. As Adam stepped over and stood with his back against it, various mechanical bits extended out and plugged into him.

"Alpha-Red, activate PowerShark mode!"

Alpha-Red pulled a lever, and a large, circular panel over a generator opened up, doubling in size as the ship began to vibrate more and the connections plugged into Adam began to glow. "PowerShark mode, online!"

Outside the ship, panels slid away to reveal additional thrusters that began to hum with energy before igniting, sending the ship rocketing forward at high speed. The others soon realized why they needed to strap in.

Another volley of blasts came from the Nemesis, but none connected as the Sky Shark twisted, turned, bobbed, and weaved between them in seemingly impossible ways. At one point, the Sky Shark turned, and headed straight for the Nemesis. The larger ship tried to take out the smaller one with another hail of fire, but the Sky Shark was too fast, and buzzed the bridge of the opposing ship as its captain watched on, his red eye glowing ever-brighter.

"My only regret," said a grinning Adam, "is that I can't flip him the bird like this."

The Sky Shark turned again and soon resumed its course, getting well clear of the Nemesis and its artillery. A few more blasts were fired, but the effort seemed half-hearted, and the sleek engine of terror faded back into the clouds.

"Power down," Adam said, as Alpha moved the lever back into its proper place, and things returned to normal aboard the ship. The plugs that had been inserted into the various ports up and down Adam's limbs retracted, and he took a step forward before he staggered, with Alpha rushing up to support him.

The others were also released from their respective panels, and they turned back into the back wall of the bridge.

"That," Nyte said, as he helped Celeste and the others out, "was awesome!"

"What the hell was that?!" asked Fenix.

"I call it... 'PowerShark' mode," said Adam, as he tried to catch his breath. "That's where I interface with the Sky Shark directly. It gives me unmatched control and maneuverability, but... it takes a lot out of me, too."

Fenix stared out the window, his fists clenched, eyes narrowed into furious slits.

Adam noticed a radio signal coming through, and pressed the button to receive it. The voice that crackled over the speaker sounded deep and hollow, with a spine-chilling edge of cruel amusement. "Well, well, well... more prepared than I thought. I'll keep that in mind next time... You're marked now. Make peace with your god." A soft, frightening chuckle followed, before the signal cut out and the blip that was the Nemesis disappeared from the radar screen as quickly as it had first appeared.

"...asshole," said Adam.

"Marked?" Nyte asked, looking at Fenix.

"Damned if I know."

"...so, it's over...?" Celeste asked worriedly.

"I think so," said Nyte. "Is everyone alright?"

Celeste just nodded quietly.

Fenix, on the other hand, growled loudly. "Bastard..."

As Alpha brought the ship back to cruising speed and Adam started checking over the ship for damage, the others returned to the den area.

"Well, look on the bright side," Nyte said, as he took up his spot on the sofa.

"What bright side?" asked Janine.

"At least when we get back, we won't have to deal with him anymore!"

***

Time passed, and eventually, the ship arrived back on Monroe Island.

Now out of his armor, Nyte told Adam, "Well, it was fun. Too bad you missed most of it."

"Yeah, we'll have to do it again sometime soon," Adam said, before he patted the hull of the ship. "...but after I fix this thing up."

Janine gave Adam a big hug, unconsciously pressing his face into her chest. "Thanks for the ride!" she said with a big smile.

"We'll give you a call, once we find a good lead," Nyte said.

"Sounds good. I'll be in the same place, fixing my ship up..."

"And, uh, sorry about the ship..."

Janine floated over to Fenix, who had been standing there apart from the group, where he'd been staring off into the distance, more quiet than usual. He grunted noncommittally at her approach.

"Seeya, Adam! Seeya, Blade! Seeya, Alfred!" Nyte said.

Celeste said, "Bye, Adam! Bye, Alpha-Red! Um, seeya, 'Blade'!"

Fenix and Janine waved.

"Goodbye, Mr. Nytetrayn! Goodbye, Miss Celeste! Goodbye Mr. Fenix and Miss Janine!" said Alpha-Red.

"Blade says goodbye to all of you..." Adam added.

Nyte nodded, and the group started for town, while Adam and Alpha headed back into the ship and it flew off for the dry dock.

"Hell of a time," Nyte said, as he let out a deep breath. "So, Jan, any new memories come flooding back?"

"Yup!"

"Anything interesting?" he asked, as he shuffled some of the stuff he was helping Celeste with, between her armor, weapons, refractors, and whatever else.

"Yeah... like one time, me, Bullet, and Blade pantsed East and locked him out of his house... and then Magnus arrested him for public indecency." She grinned widely as she said this. "He was so pissed! It was great!"

Nyte laughed a little bit. "Ah, that East... what a loser."

"Indeed," Fenix said.

Once they reached their apartment, Nyte said, "Know what? I'm tired. I think I'm going to just collapse on the couch, and put my stuff away later..."

Celeste yawned. "Sounds good..." she said, as she headed into her – or rather, Nyte's room, as Nyte himself just collapsed on the sofa. Celeste likewise collapsed on the bed, ready for a snooze.

Nyte's respite was surprisingly brief, however, as Fenix told him, "Nyte, now's your chance!"

"Huh? Chance? For what?"

Janine headed for the room she and Fenix shared, not wanting to see how this turned out.

"She's tired, she'll barely know what's going on, just slip into the room..."

After a pause, Nyte said, "Fenix, I dunno what you're talking about. How long has it been since Janine gave you any? An hour? Two? Maybe three at worst?" He turned over on the sofa, facing the back with his feet sticking out. "Go get some already."

"Wimp," Fenix said, as he headed for his room.

"...dumbass."

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