Wave's Allure
-
Triese twitched once Siren spoke up, having been hit with a bizarre wave of anxiety as she listened to her partner explain the situation. W-well, of course. All good things had to have a catch, didn't they? She'd always been warned about how the Net in ACDC was monitored, so this wasn't really a surprise. Staring at Mt. Belenus from afar, a strange feeling of deja vu overcame her - but the anxiety was slowly winning out, and she stepped forward on the Wave Road as if to get a better look at the peak on the horizon.
"Th-that's horrible," she muttered, putting a hand on her mouth - perfectly following Siren's script. "Wh-what can we do about them, if they're watching us? I mean, we can't just go in and fight them alone... right?" Nervously, she curled her fingers, taking a look around the Wave Road. That's right... no one like her was around. It was just a bunch of smaller maintenance programs... just like how her own Net worked...
"B-but what if..." She didn't want to imply that they were the 'only ones', because Siren was telling her there were other Wave Changers she had to help. "W-well... we have to do something! I can't be totally useless! We need to go there... right?! Sabotage something... at least!"
(Too easy.)
Triese was brave. She was getting stronger. Siren had gifted her power! She wasn't going to be a coward and completely ignore the problem, right...? If she Wave Changed back in her world, then she'd start taking down all the people she didn't like with no hesitation... right? Siren Splash would do that, right?! No... would she...? What was she thinking...?
She continued to step forward toward the silhouette of Mt. Belenus in the distance, as if she expected it to whisk her away at any moment, but her anxiety was slowly turning to hesitation and panic.
-
Siren giggled deep and melodically, "Perhaps there is something we can do..."
"It's not gonna be that big of a problem, Geo," Omega-Xis grumbled over Geo's shoulder.
"Well, I know, but," Geo sighed, arms full of fresh snacks from the local konbini, "It's gonna be awkward if I hand her a tuna fish sandwich and she doesn't eat fish and gets sad about it cause she likes fish that are alive, you know?"
"Things eat tuna! Ocean things! Probably some big thing like a shark!" Omega-Xis countered.
"No Triese likes fish and probably small and cute fish, right?" he wondered, trying to recall all the chatroom messages he had back read, "Girls like small and cute things, right?"
"Girls like many things, Geo," Omega-Xis warned with a far off stare.
Geo wasn't sure what his partner was thinking about in particular, but he nodded to himself in agreement. Girls did like many things.
They passed by the park outside Big Wave, but slowed down as they noticed Mr. Suther looking rather worried about something. Before even asking what was wrong, Omega-Xis held a claw up in front of Geo, stopping him.
"Geo, something's up," his partner cautioned, "I'm sensing... an FM-ian. Intentionally obscured trail. Whoever was here is trying their best not to be found."
"You're kidding," Geo worried, heart rate quickening, "We need to check on Triese!"
He ran as fast as he could to the top of Vista Point, huffing and puffing, nearly collapsing as he dropped all the snacks he was carrying once the truth was revealed to him. Triese was gone. And a new FM-ian was threatening the peace. He didn't like how that sounded.
"Mega-"
"It's Wave Changing time! Get to it Geo!" Omega-Xis barked.
"Right," he nodded, holding his Hunter-VG out and then up, "Transcode! Mega Man!" and in a beam like flash disappeared and jumped onto the Wave Road up above.
Up on the Wave Road Omega-Xis materialized next to the Wave Changed Geo to assist in looking around for anything Triese shaped. Luckily for them, it wasn't hard to spot the suspiciously blue thing in the distance and he dashed over to investigate.
"No doubt..." Omega-Xis muttered, "That hair and that water theme..."
"Triese!" Geo called out, "Are you okay!?" coming to a stop some distance away, just in case things were not okay. And in his experience... things probably weren't okay, but he had to hope.
-
Triese immediately jumped as soon as a weirdly familiar voice called out to her, turning around to face the first actual EM Being she'd had the opportunity to encounter. "H-huh...?! Who are you?!" she reflexively barked out. "H-how do you know my name?!"
Siren let some of Triese's own panic overtake her the second she saw that Mega Man had caught her red-handed. Of course, this wasn't entirely unexpected... this girl just so happened to latch herself to a dangerous person, after all. But for Mega Man to come after them before they had even made it to WAZA... Well, her luck was certainly taking a turn for the worse. Luckily, she had just conditioned Triese with the very excuse she could use to turn the tables in her favor - and it was all the better that Triese didn't seem to recognize the person she'd been hanging out with, either.
Feigning a gasp, she began to speak inside of Triese's mind again. "Ah! Speak of the devil! They must have been tracking us down after all," Siren exclaimed, trying her damndest to sound worried so Triese would also worry. "That's one of the Wave Changers that sold themselves to that organization! I suppose we can't all be so noble..." Already, she was placing targets on Mega Man through their visor. "If there's any time to act, it's now, my doll~! Before he gets the upper hand!"
The idea couldn't help but make Triese hesitate even more, though. She couldn't run, and this person would probably chase her to that mountain in the distance, right? She raised her buster in a panic as she took a step back, but she didn't fire, not yet. "W-wait! Please! I'm just trying to help! I-I'm not doing anything bad, I swear!" she blubbered. "D-don't make me fight... because I don't want to... I promise!"
(She didn't exactly sound confident about it, though. Which was great for Siren!)
-
That Mega Man looked shocked and a bit hurt at the blubbering Triese was making so Siren knew she as going to have to swoop in and salvage this whole thing. Subtle changes to the visor display made Mega Man more shadowed, obscured his eyes and expression, and projected a menacing aura looming over him.
The dialogue he was spewing was a bit harder to tweak, but she made due. Triese heard through the shells a low drone with a slight robotic compression to the sound each time Mega Man or that partner of his spoke.
"Triese!" she heard, "We don't have to fight. Just turn yourself in and you'll be safe. I'm Mega Man, I'm with the Satella Police. I'll need to bring you in to the station so we can talk."
"There's a way out of this, Triese," Siren advised gently, "Their databases are located in the same place as the monitoring equipment. Destroy them both and we can be free. Remember, you don't have to beat him, just survive long enough til we get to Mt. Belenus. Don't worry, I'll be right here with you, my doll."
"Geo I don't think she's listening," Omega-Xis grumbled.
"Should I apologize harder? I thought I was pretty clear..." Geo worried, holding his fists in close.
"It's not that... I think... If I had to guess," Omega-Xis contemplated, "This might be Siren's doing. I don't know much about her, never met her, but long ago Ophiuca and Gemini kicked an FM-ian named Siren out of Cepheus's court cause she was 'too good' at manipulating. So if we're dealing with a master manipulator, it's gotta be her."
Geo recalled the cutthroat world of Planet FM with its many power hungry advisors and their eyes on Cepheus's throne. For this Siren to be such a danger to Ophiuca's and Gemini's plans that they would agree to get rid of her? That must've meant she was downright terrible.
"The only way your words are gonna reach her is if Siren's grip is loosened," Omega-Xis shot a glance at Geo, "Forcefully."
Geo slowly recoiled, knowing what his partner meant but dreading the actions needed to do it.
"Triese if you can hear me..." he raised his buster, charging it, "You have to fight back against the Wave Change! You're being manipulated! Please...!"
He couldn't bear to fire, not until he knew for certain that it was absolutely necessary.
-
Siren's tweaks worked like a charm, at least for the first few seconds that their opponent spoke. She took a step back, glancing at Mt. Belenus nervously... and then their mysterious assailant just to happened to specify his name. Something in the Wave Change snapped, and Siren couldn't help but recoil. "M-Mega Man...? Huh?" Triese muttered, her shoulders raising as she swirled back to face him. "B-but that... wouldn't that mean...?"
"What's wrong, my doll?" Siren immediately interjected, though she was having trouble keeping herself completely composed. Well, it was no surprise that Triese would have that sort of reaction to hearing the name of the supposed 'hero' of this wretched planet. "Ah, you didn't know? Yes, despite his reputation, Mega Man is quite the... unsavory character. Every wise Wave Changer knows not to cross into his territory..."
It was then that Mega Man raised his buster, and Triese began to panic. "N-no, wait that doesn't make any sense," she muttered to herself. "If he's Mega Man, then that means, he, he- Reg- he-" Her head twitched a little bit. "He... helps people..."
...What was she trying to say? Whatever. It didn't matter - Siren needed to get Triese back under her thumb before she figured out what was going on. A bass-heavy tone began to hum in Triese's ears, drowning out her thoughts. "Only the people under the Satella Police's thumb," she clarified, her voice lowering to a whisper. "But there's an easy way to beat him, my doll. We have to strike the very place he gets his support from. Only Siren Splash can do that... do you understand?"
Triese clutched her head, her oversized sleeve briefly drooping over her visor. "I-I'm... I..." she muttered, before she slowly took another step back... and raised her buster back at Mega Man. "I-I'm... Siren Splash..."
Suddenly, she fired a cluster of bubbles at Mega Man's feet - and then made a break for it, following Siren's directions to try and reach Mt. Belenus before they were crushed.
-
"No..." Geo faltered weakly, lowering his buster in disbelief.
Not only was Omega-Xis right that it was this mystery FM-ian Siren, but she was clearly in complete control of Triese. She was unreachable like this. His hesitation left him completely unprepared for Siren Splash's attack and he was hopelessly bubbled by it.
"Geo!!" Omega-Xis barked, slashing at the inside of the bubble, tearing it open with one claw attack.
"Right!" he bounced back, righting himself and tossing a hand out, "Shuriken!!"
A spinning blade whirled out of the arc from Mega Man's arm, swooping low and then angled up, aiming to head Siren Splash off and prevent her escape. He readied a Jet Attack and began pursuing after her, holding off on activating it until she attempted to dodge his first attack.
The visor indicated a line of hazardous space just before Siren Splash.
A twinge of excitement arose from Siren as Mega Man very clearly became aggressive, "Trust me, little doll, we've got this."
Words alone would likely not be fast enough in this fight so Siren nestled into the nice little space she had carved out in Triese's heart ready to steer her precious little catch whenever the poor little thing inevitably faltered. Triese's body no longer belonged just to her now.
-
Triese wasn't going to be conscious enough to notice that Siren was burrowing a little bit deeper into her, especially when she was panicking at Mega Man breaking free of her attack so easy. She stumbled to get out of the way of the Shuriken, before she reflexively shot her bubble buster at the ground, forming another bubble that bounced her up and over the incoming attack.
For a moment, she felt proud of herself for the maneuver! It was sort of like how she'd always known she'd fight if she finally got to transform... right? That meant that she couldn't allow the bad guys to take this away from her, right?! Th-there was no way she could back down from this fight... especially when she'd already made the first shot...!
As she made a break for it, she loaded a Battle Chip... Card?... to try and distract Mega Man. Oh, wow, that was so cool, she was just able to pull that up with her mind, there was no way she could let this go! "I-Ice Grenade!" she shouted, awkwardly overhand-throwing the projectile at Mega Man's location. The grenade exploded on the Wave Road behind her, freezing it up.
There was a tiny urge in the back of her mind to use the ice to her advantage, to freeze the opponent and then use a big breaking attack, just like she would with Lu- with Lure- where was Lurerre? Wasn't Lurerre-?
"Ah, don't falter now, my little doll," Siren interrupted, sensing that Triese's thoughts were spiraling out of control. A tone continued to hum through the conch-shaped receptors on Triese's head. "Remember, I'm right here with you. We can take any threat on, together. We, alone, have the power to stop this madness."
Triese's head lowered as she dashed across the Wave Road. "Y-yeah... yeah," she mumbled, choking up a little. "I-I'm going to fight... I'm going to keep fighting..."
-
The Jet Attack that Geo summoned launched him, closing the gap between him and Triese in almost an instant-
The Ice Grenade exploded throwing Geo's trajectory off course and leaving him sliding across the ice. He stumbled until he reached its edge where the road finally had friction. He straightened back up into a fighting stance, farther than he wanted to be, but close enough to land some sure hits.
He pulled up a card and winced, hesitating for a moment as he prepared to use it.
"I'm sorry Triese, this is gonna hurt," he warned shakily, then followed up boldly, "Siren Splash! Stop this! Give back my friend!" activating the card and running at her with a rapid fire buster.
Behind Siren Splash, a Stealth Laser was summoned silently and fired upon her all without Siren taking notice of it at all.
-
For whatever reason, Triese only reacted to Geo's second callout, rather than the first. Whether or not it was because she couldn't hear him, or because she was no longer thinking of herself as 'Triese', was unclear. "A-are we...? Friends...?" she couldn't help but confusedly mutter to herself, which Siren responded in turn by dialing up the anxiety in the back of her host's mind.
Unfortunately for the two of them, such a conflict left them wide open for the Stealth Laser. Triese was electrocuted by the triple-shot of static beams, and for a moment, she felt an uncharacteristic glee at having been inflicted with that kind of pain. That was her weakness! She had an Aqua-element body! She was just like a Navi, wasn't she?! She got to fight like a Navi, she got to feel like a Navi, she got to delete like a Navi...
"Push through it, my doll," Siren helpfully reminded, though she could sense Triese's bizarre masochistic glee. Why a human would feel that way was beyond her. Regardless, she kept her focus on controlling Triese, refusing to acknowledge the so-called hero chasing after them. She forced Triese to stagger backward and resume fleeing, controlling Siren Splash's arm to fire another curtain of bubbles to keep Mega Man at bay.
"I-I... um... S-Snowball," Triese stuttered, awkwardly throwing out a - who could have guessed - snowball that quickly gained traction and size as it barreled across the Wave Road. Geo wouldn't be able to see it beneath the visor, but Triese was feeling vaguely hurt and confused. "I-I'm... but I'm Siren Splash..."
-
Geo leapt back to dodge the wall of bubbles, hearing the The Snowball thundering towards him, but not Triese's hesitations. The giant ball of snow burst through the bubbles, ending up large enough to obscure where Siren Splash was, which meant she also couldn't see Mega Man was well. Geo estimated how long it would take for the attack to reach him, preparing his counter, waiting for the last moment to activate it.
The Snowball slammed into a cloud of leaves and appearing right next to Siren Splash was Mega Man, sword in hand, slashing down and just barely missing her. In that moment as he finally got in close, time seemed to slow as he recognized the face of that girl who was opening her heart up just minutes before this.
He couldn't follow up with another attack. He took too long and landed out of his Fox-Fu awkwardly.
"Triese..." he squeaked, then emboldened himself, "When this is all done, I promise I'll make it up to you!! Just hang in there!"
With a swift raise of a foot, he activated his next attack, "Flicker Kick!!" and began rapid fire kicking, launching electric laced projectiles with every strike, peppering Siren Splash with bright, flashing bursts of electricity.
-
Siren detested how much Mega Man was trying to plead to this human. Well, if he believed that he was somehow at fault for this, then that was some pleasant schadenfreude... but she would have to keep nestling herself inside of Triese's heart to make sure she didn't get any funny ideas. She pushed her own soul a little harder, and made Siren Splash almost scowl when Mega Man made such a foolish blunder.
"Wh-what are you...?" Siren Splash stammered, charging up another spray of bubbles. "M-make-up- what, you-?" It was then that the Flicker Kick slammed into her; she'd hesitated too long herself, and ate another seriously painful attack because of it. "Ah-ha-ha-ha..."
Siren Splash stumbled backwards, before jumping away and escaping to a higher connected road. "S-stop, stop, leave me alone," she whined, her tone unreadable. It almost sounded unnatural for there to be a hint of anger to Triese's voice. "I'm going to be important! I'm going to do something that matters! Don't get in my way!"
They were making progress toward WAZA. Just a little bit longer, and she could be free. She could live the life she always wanted to, without anyone interfering.
For good measure, she swiped her arm in an arc, summoning an array of watery notes to hover around her like a shield. A few more Bubbler shots, and he'd stop, right. He'd stop! He'd stop! He'd leave her alone! She was Siren Splash!
-
Triese's sorrowful rage struck a chord and for a brief moment, Geo hesitated. It was only a second but that was all it took for Siren Splash's attack to hit its mark.
Trapped in another bubble, he and Omega-Xis were flung and bounced down the wave road until it popped on its own, sending him sliding on the road prone.
"Gah-!" Geo coughed, quickly struggling to right himself, "Sorry-! I-!"
"Oi! Don't you start Geo!" Omega-Xis interrupted swiftly, "She's getting in your head, just focus on how happy Triese'll be when you get her out of this mess!!"
His partner was right, so much so that it almost seemed obvious in retrospect. With his mind unclouded, he affirmed with a short rallying cry and loaded his next Battle Card.
"Black Ink!!" he yelled as a black missile shot out of his buster, landing in front of Siren Splash's path with a burst of heavy dark clouds.
It formed a dense fog, instantly turning the area around Siren Splash into a false night. Silence fell in the darkness. Then a blur of light silhouetted a humanoid figure that burst from the ink with a sword made of lightning aiming straight for Siren Splash's helmet.
-
The Black Ink popped against Siren Splash's shield of notes, briefly obscuring her vision and making her panic. "Why... why, why, why?!_ Stop interrupting! P-please...?!" she shouted, the tiniest hint of vulnerability slipping into her voice. Her lips twitched, making her hesitation more noticeable. The Elec Slash cut a crackling gash through the side of her helmet, and she squeaked in pain as she pulled away.
It was so annoying to Siren that her host was still trying to act soft, as if she was actually going to talk Mega Man into leaving her alone. Actually, everything was starting to get on her nerves. It wasn't like her to lose her composure, even if she was painfully close to getting off scot-free... It was more like some kind of petulant rage, or perhaps fear, was bubbling in the back of her mind. Was it even... her own feelings...? Whatever- it didn't matter. She needed to stab another round of needles through this girl's heart so that their plan didn't fall apart.
As an anxious sting hit Siren Splash's mind, the remaining watery notes shot out and bounced along the Wave Road like rubber balls. There was some sort of urge in the back of her mind, to pull out some kind of finisher, like she would in Net-something, with.... with.... That didn't matter.
"S-Sticky... Rain!" Siren Splash shouted, throwing her arm out in a panic. Raining on Mega Man's parade would keep him at bay for just a little longer, ah-ha-ha-ha. Bubbles formed around her right arm as she desperately tried to think up some kind of super-move. Why didn't she just have that by default? Any cool ---- would have that! "Need... WAZA... get to WAZA," she muttered under her breath, gliding across the road as fast as she could with the time she bought.
-
Slipping right between the water notes, Geo dashed in, delivered his attack and leapt out of the way of the oncoming shielding notes. The slash revealed just a sliver of Triese's face underneath and Geo swore he could see the panic in her eyes.
Just a little bit more...!
He prepared hit next attack -- the only way forward was a relentless barrage! Stun Knuckle ought to stop all this-!
The deluge from Sticky Rain stopped him in his tracks while the force of the water held him in place. He cursed the fact he was countered so deftly. Was that Triese or Siren that was this good at fighting!? It was concerning that as the fight continued, Siren Splash was getting stronger. Whatever that meant, it wasn't good...!
When the attack ended, Geo and Omega-Xis were left way far back. Siren Splash was so far ahead that it'd be impossible to catch up now.
"Blast it! Geo! Get moving! She's gonna reach WAZA!!" Omega-Xis roared.
Worry gripped Geo and tightening by the second. He couldn't stop her from doing what she'd soon regret.
"Hate to do this but..." he muttered, pulling up an air display, "I'm going to make a call. WAZA needs to know what's heading for them."
-
Siren Splash was finally feeling a little calmer now that Mega Man was out of her sight. (Wait, why would she think that-? Mega Man's the good- no, he's with the WAZA people who are going to hurt her-) The end was in sight. She had totally been running on adrenaline this entire time, hadn't she? She still felt it now. Get to WAZA. Destroy WAZA. Save everything... from...
As the WAZA building appeared over the horizon, a wave of nausea came over her. Wasn't she just here before...? No, no, that wasn't important. "I'm strong... I'm strong, I'm strong..." she exhaustedly repeated to herself. She really did feel winded, like she'd used up all her brain power trying to fight a real fight. She was starting to forget why she was here. There was something... that needed to be destroyed. That's right.
(Siren, too, was struggling to fight against the haze. What in the world was going on? Surely it couldn't have been the effects of one of Mega Man's attacks... but it made no sense for the girl to continue resisting, either. Hadn't she completely fallen under her control? She was so easy before - why would she become a problem now?)
At last, Siren Splash reached the Wave Roads in front of WAZA. It didn't seem that difficult to get into the main building... but she was still unbearably tired, anyways. She hesitated for a moment, staring up at the ridiculously tall building. Something felt abyssal about it... but she aimed her buster straight for it anyways.
-
"Halt!!" a Satella Police Wizard called out as it lead a charge of other official looking Wizards brandishing stun batons.
They warped in and stormed forward, becoming an oncoming deluge of a counter-attack. As Siren Splash began her assault, a barrier arose around WAZA, encompassing the building in hexagon patterned light. The Satella Police Wizards quickly surrounded her, but were quickly knocked aside and bubbled by Siren Splash's strength.
Inside WAZA, Dr. Goodall watched the feed with a tense expression. She whipped around and quickly made way for the main computer in the back. She continued her work on clearing the Noise from Lurerre, focusing intently as if the world around her had disappeared entirely.
Aaron did a double take as he watched the doctor walk away while the rest of WAZA was scrambling like a disturbed nest of ants.
He followed after her, leaning over conspiratorially and hissing, "Dr. Goodall, is this really the time to be working on that?"
"Now don't blurt this out, Aaron dear," she advised sweetly, keeping her eyes trained on the screen and hands on the keyboard, "But that's Triese that's attacking us."
"That's Tr-!" he sputtered, covered his mouth and quickly recovered, "Wait, do you think Lurerre can help us with this?"
Dr. Goodall furrowed her brow, "Not yet... Maybe at the right moment. We can't risk looking like a kidnapper and agitating her further. This is a delicate situation."
Aaron nodded and adjusted his cap, "Right. Ok then! I'll contact Geo and keep him updated. Let's hope he can get through to her."
"It's not him I'm worried about," she noted.
The entire building shook like someone had slammed a drum against the outside, making some lights flicker and causing everyone to pause and look at the monitors. The fight was not going in their favor.
Aaron pulled out his Hunter and called Geo, anxiously watching as the signal struggled to connect through the shielding, "Come on... Geo, wherever you are, please be okay."
-
It was just like Siren said, wasn't it?! If these people didn't have something to hide, or some kind of will to impose on everyone else, then they wouldn't be defending their fortress so vehemently!! The barrier being raised was a little intimidating... but she'd push through it!! For the sake of everyone like her...!!
It was easy enough for Siren Splash to find herself on autopilot. These guards may have had some kind of voice clip or something, but they were the same as scary, wild viruses, weren't they? She'd done that a million times. She'd operated her Navi- her- her- her...? It was just like before, but she wasn't there, she was here, inside instead of outside and the one firing endlessly on her targets and feeling the most focused she'd ever felt, no, no, was this right? She wasn't a Navi- why was she fighting-? Keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting...
Siren was having a difficult time comprehending what was going through her host's mind, and she pushed herself to repress it. This human could have a mental breakdown and die, for all she cared - all that she needed to do was last until their job was finished. They'd even managed to give Mega Man the slip - so. Just. Listen. And keep fighting.
Siren Splash, in her panic, tossed out an Ice Spin Battle Card, which was enough to cut her a zig-zag-y path through the Satella Police Wizards attacking her. It was almost impressive that she was still able to keep fighting well even while under so much duress. Like the motions had been burned into her brain, inexplicably.
(She was doing better than when she was Operating L------, how pathetic-)
