Chapter 1: Making Things “Official”
“You sure you don’t want someone going with you?” Keeper asked. You see, we just rescued Kayla from Xcom custody and one then left to another and I ended up kissing her… only because Keeper give me a stupid Psi Inspiration! Regardless, after it all went down she ending up running into the forest and now I’m judging whether to go after her or not. And if I am to go after her at all, I’m doing this alone… having one of the others with me would just add into the chaos that was already occurring. That and this just feels like something I should do alone.
“No, I should do this one alone…” I replied, slowly walking into the trees and bushes to find Kayla. Most likely she’s hiding somewhere with her camo on. As I entered the forest, I could hear what sounded like crying.
“I can hear you out there, just go away!” I could hear Kayla’s voice booming in the distance.
“Oh, come on! I just wanna talk and find out what happened! I won't try nothing, I promise!” I shouted back.
“Ugh… fine.” I heard a sigh as Kayla became visible a few feet in front of me. “What do you want?” She asked, crossing her arms.
“About what happened after we rescued you… why’d you run off? I’m a bit confused.” I asked.
“It’s just that, you guys save me gotta know were and you kiss me! I don’t know if I can trust you guys, regardless of my past.” Kayla replied, kicking the dirt at her feet.
“Will, think of it like this, we have been through alot in the past, and I guess you had a good impression cause Fell Sans and Keeper seem to think you're ok.” I said, taking my helmet off. “And I know you said you were cheated on before, but I’d never think of doing ANYTHING like that, sure we all have a dark past, but we can’t change that, we can only learn from it.” I added.
“Well, the thing is… as dumb as it seems, it’s just I’m confused, I don’t know what I want… and something tells me you only saved me to make a move on me!” Kayla snapped, but relaxed quickly.
“NO! I’m not like that, I really care about you, and we make a good team. We also have a common enemy, and we can, and already have helped each other.” I replied, a little offended, but I can’t blame her.
“You DO understand that I am afraid, right?” Kayla looked me straight in the eye, kinda like a silent way of telling she’s serious.
“Yes, I can see how a group of Advent soldiers banding together to save an Ex-Xcom op is sketchy, but I want to take our partnership to a… I don’t know, higher level… like make it more official, ya know?” I tried explaining it as best I could.
“You mean you wanna start a relationship, like dating?” Kayla just rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, pretty much.” I chucked a bit.
“I just don’t know how that would even work out.” Kayla muttred.
“Well, you already called me to help you before, so I guess if you wanna hang out sometime you can do the same.” I offered.
“How about you get me a place to stay at the Blacksite? I mean, at least for a bit.” Kayla counter-offered.
“We could always give you some space in my living quarters, share the room kinda thing. There's enough room… I think…” I replied.
“Alright, wouldn't all the aliens take note of me being there?” Kayla asked.
“I’ll make sure no one bothers you too much about it.” I slimed.
“Ok, thanks…” Kayla slimed back for the first time in forever.
“So, do you have some things to take care of before be settle you in?” I asked.
“No, let’s just go.” Kayla replied and we both shared a non and started making our way to the Blacksite.
Chapter 2: A Hidden Gift
As we both walked into the Blacksite, a few passing soldiers eye’d Kayla. But I guess they did not care that much as none of them tried anything. Before we got far, I literally ran into Keeper. A loud THUD echoed as my face slammed into the back of his shell… that’s gonna leave a mark.
“Huh? Wha- oh… hey Shields.” Keeper mumbled as he spun around, rolling his eye.
“Agh… hello to you too…” I replied, holding the side of my face. I could hear Kayla holding in a laugh behind me.
“Ugh… why is SHE here…” Keeper psi-whispered to me, gesturing to Kayla.
“Oh, relax, she’s gonna stay here for now… and if you haven't noticed already, yes we are together…” I whispered back.
“Alright, I guess I can try and stop the Caller fr- agh hell here she comes…” Keeper was cut off my Caller floating up. She took one look at me, then Kayla, and looked back and forth between us before releasing whats happening.
“WHAT ON EARTH IS SHE DOING HERE!!??” Caller screamed at us. Kayla just rolled her eyes at Caller.
“Alright, listen up… Kayla is gonna stay with me, and I swear if you harm her is anyway… I will PERSONALLY RIP OUT YOUR HEART AND FEED IT TO THE BERSERKERS!!!” I could feel some sorta strength building as my voice and anger grew, I could tell that both Keeper and Kayla eyeing me.
“Whatever, there is nothing you can do to change my mind.” Caller scoffed. I raised up my hand to flick the Caller off, but then I lifted it up into my view… I saw purple energy pulsating from my hand. At first I was completely confused… then it slowly got to me… is this Psionic energy? Have I somehow through rage managed to channel it into the energy… there was not enough time to try and make sense of is.
“Is that a threat?” Caller approached me, opening her shell and prepared an ability.
“Ugh… whelp… this is… ah…” I had no words, I tried to open my had to stop the build up, but instead a mini null lance shot out between Caller and Keeper. Caller looked back at me with a death glare.
“IT WAS A THREAT!” Caller yelled as she charged up a full power null lance.
“Oh, come… we know soldiers can’t naturally use psionics… I swear I did not mean that…” I tried but Caller was not buying it.
“You ment to, admit it!” caller launched the null lance at me, but somehow when I went to activate my shield, the null lance ended up forming in my hand, like somehow I managed to block it and turn it into my own ability. I was too confused to even think, my nerves took over and I fired the attack back at Caller. Suddenly she was encased in a orb of energy and her eye slowly closed as stasis took effect. Me, Kayla, and Keeper just stood there confused.
“How am I doing this?” I asked, psionic energy still pulsing from my hands.
Chapter 3: Getting Crafty
“Ugh… just go on ahead I guess… I’ll deal with this mess…” Keeper mumbled as the psi energy stopped pulsating from my hands. As Kayla and I started walking towards my quarters, I heard a loud bang as the unstable stasis shield surrounding Caller dissipated. As I could hear was her screaming as I opened the door to my quarters.
“Alright, so what’s the setup here?” Kayla asked, looking around.
“Well, if we move my workbench to the other side of the room, that old couch can fold out into a bed I think. I mean, it’s not much but probably much better than sleeping on the ground outside.” I explained. I grabbed one side of my workbench and Kayla took the other, with a bit of effort we managed to move it across the room. Then I went and folded out the couch into bed form. Kayla laid down instantly.
“Wow, it’s been forever since I slept in a REAL bad, thanks.” Kayla smiled. It was getting late, I went into the bathroom to change into my casual clothes and when I got out, Kayla was practically already asleep. I rolled my eyes, got in my own bed, turned off the lights and went to sleep as well.
The next day, Kayla was already up and gone. I decided not to worry about it too much and get back to work on some Christmas gifts I’ve been working on for everyone at the Blacksite. You see, I don’t simply buy gifts, I make them… forge is a better term though. I took a metalworking/welding class before joining Advent so I know how to work a forge and workbench, and I also have my own forge in a separate, opened roof subsection of my quarters. Anyway, I changed into my armor what also works as a protective suit when I’m working the forge and walked into the forge room. The sun was casting shadows of all sorts through the open skylight, clearly I don’t want a closed room to work a forge… all the smoke and chemicals would not be good to breath. Regardless, I’m just about done with the last gift I’m doing, Kayla’s. I’d makeing duel black swords for her. They also have a multi-blade system that can be changed by a button on the handle. The three modes are fusion, arc, and poison so depending on the enemy she is fighting, she can choose the best mode for the job. I had to do a lot of carving and special work inside the blade itself and I hope it does not mess up the balance of it. Regardless, I only have the sharpening and polishing left on both of them and that would be all the presents completed. Everyone is gonna flip out after they all see what I made, I spent a lot of time and resources on building these so I hope they appreciate it. As I’m grinding out the edge on one of Kayla’s blades, I heard someone knock on the door. I shut off the grinder and went closer to the door.
“Hey, everything good in their? What’s happening?” I head Keeper’s muffled voice shouting through the door.
“Nothing… unless you wanna ruin Christmas!” I shouted back.
“Alright, I’ll wait…” Keeper replied. I guess he floated off cause outside went quiet again. I went back to my forge to finish the swords.
Chapter 4: Gift Exchange
I ended up spending most of the night doing some last minute touches on everyone’s gift. Keeper recommended that we all do the exchange together in the center of the Blacksite, which was fine with me. I did end up falling asleep, but I did not get much of it.
The next morning, I woke up slowly. Kayla was again, already up and about. I changed into my armor and walked outside, calling everyone.
“Hey, guys, gather around the center of the Blacksite, I got some stuff for you!” I shouted, soon after the Skelebros, Keeper and Caller, and Kayla were all gathered around. Sans and Papyrus was their first, so I quickly went back to my quarters to bring them their gifts. They were both big tall mobile things covered in a tarp. Sans and Papyrus pulled the tarps off their gifts, and I took a few minutes to explain.
“Sans, what you have is a fully loaded Ketchup dispenser! So, whenever you want some, you no longer have to walk all the way to the mess hall to get it!” I clapped my hand.
*“Hey, that’s actually really convenient. Thanks, buddy.” Sans nodded his approval.
“You're welcome, now Papyrus, what you have is a completely stocked, ready to use mobile cooking platform! So whenever you have to leave the Blacksite, you don’t have to leave your love for cooking behind!” Papyrus’s jaw dropped, and he got a insane sparkle in his eyes. He was left speechless.
*“Don’t worry, it means he really likes it.” Sans insured. I laughed a bit as Kayla and the Keeper/Caller combo showed up.
“Oh hey, we are all exchanging gifts? That’s cool, I just made a new pasta recipe, how about you all try it?” Kayla quickly ran away, and then came back holding a bunch of plates full of pasta. Papyrus full on fainted this time.
*“Again, don’t worry about him, he’s just really excited.” Sans helped Papyrus up.
“Hey, the food is great kayla, but now I have something special for you…” I said a few minutes later, after finishing the food. I put the plate down and grabbed Kayla’s gift from my belt. I gave it to her and she looked surprised at it’s weight.
“Oooo, I wonder what this is.” Kayla said cursorily as she opened the box. The look on her face was priceless.
“Those are twin shadow swords planned to be practically invisible at night. There's also a button on the handle that changes the blade type from classic, arc, fusion, and poison for a better effect depending on your target.” I explained. Kayla pressed the button on one of the swords and the blade retracted, and came out again with a arc blade style edge.
“Wow, the base itself feels great. The handle is a nice fit, a bit unbalanced but that’s just my preference.” Kayla did a few practice swings, and also tried the buttons some more. I was so relieved, because I was cared there was gonna be major problems.
“I thought all the interior work I had to do to make the multi-blade system to work was gonna mess it up, but it appears it did not. But I made sure in case you wanted to try dual wielding, but if not, then think of as now you have an extra one.” I breathed a sigh of relief.
“No, really they're awesome.” Kayla smiled as she sheathed both swords. Next up was Keeper's… and I guess Caller’s too as they both can use it. But Caller has really been treating me and Kayla like crap so she is lucky I’m letting both of them have it. Regardless, I ran off and wheeled there's over to the group. Keeper used his psionics to throw off the tarp.
“Ok, so I guess the both of you can use this, but this is a complete Gatekeeper repair and cleaning station, so if and when you do get damaged, you don’t have to wait forever for the engineering team to get to fixing your shells up. Or, if you come back from a mission and you're shell’s just got really dirty, you can have it cleaned here too. Just float on in and let the machine do the work… it even hand free, as it can respond to psionics.” I explained.
“Whoa, that’s pretty cool! Caller could use a shell polish, I mean look at her! It’s been DAYS since it was cleaned!” Keeper replied. “Anyway, I could go get yours and Kaya’s!” Keeper added as he floated off and came back carrying some Psi Amps… well more like make them float along with him, but you know what I mean!
“Are those... “ Kayla started but was cut off.
“Yes, these are alien psi amps taken from some old Xcom psi ops a while back, I thought since Shields showed the Psionic gift, and Kayla was a psi assault, maybe you could use their to better hone your skills.” Keeper explained as he tossed us the amps.
“That’s pretty cool, I’m impressed you managed to find some still intact!” I said. Soon after it was getting late and Kayla make a campfire in the middle of the Blacksite where we spent the day talking and finally, after so long, relaxing.
Bonus Chapter: The Meta, The Muton, and The Soldier
The next day, it was my scheduled patrol around the blacksite. But before I could get started, I was walking past the gates to get my weapon re stocked with ammo as I saw Classic Papyrus beating up a new Xcom soldier looking guy.
“Venting some rage there, Pap?” I asked, walking up to him.
“Well...apparently...Fell...Sans...found...this...guy...talking...to...some...humans...out...side…” Papyrus replied in between kicks. As I was about to say something else, I heard the sounds of transport vans enter through the main gates. Classic Sans joined us as a bunch of Advent soldiers of various classes walked out. I guess it was our monthly round of reinforcements. Keeper flated by as we saw a Muton walked out of the last transport, sniffing the air he cheeked his plasma rifle and approached us.
“Huh, you my new crew… don’t look like much.” The Muton mumbled looking at us.
*“Well, hello to you too… welcome to the Blacksite family.” Sans replied.
“At least it’s not a berserker…” I whispered to Sans.
“Why, scared of more girls around the Blacksite?” sans whispered back, winking. I gave him an annoyed stare.
“Wait… are you...skeletons? What on earth are two boneheads gonna do?” The Muton bursted out laughing.
“Those skeletons are more powerful then you may think.” Both Keeper and I replied in unison.
“Anyway, I gotta go on patrol. Catch you all later.” I started walking to the gates, but Papyrus cut me off.
“Oh, perfect! Can you drag this soldier dude back to the Xcom HQ? It’s no fun when they go unconscious.” Papyrus asked.
“Can’t we just pop the guy in the back of the head?” I asked.
“Oh, I want to send Jet a message. That, and I learned this guy has access to spawning technology. Killing him would just reset him back to full health.” Papyrus replied. “You can get the Muton to carry him.” He added. The Muton grunted and picked the soldier up by the leg and heaved him over his shoulder like a old bag of sand.
“Fine… come on big guy, it’s a long walk.” I waved the Muton alone, he just grunted again and started following me.
The first few minutes of the travel went fine, no Xcom patrols or any signs of movement. I used this path before, it cuts through the forest and I used it in the past with Kayla before she moved into the Blacksite. But as we got deeper into the forest, I could hear movement within the trees… it almost sounded like flapping wings...someone...or THING was following us from the air. We made it through the forest and was in a large empty field that used to be farmland. Then, from the treeline behind us, I heard a glass shattering screech from the trees and bushes. I droped my rifle and covered my ears.
“AGGGGGGGGGGGH! What the hell was that???” I shouted as the noise died down. The Muton dropped the soldier and held his rifle up, roaring back at whatever it was. Suddenly a massive lizard… no, DRAGON thing came crawling out the treeline. And I mean this thing was HUGE! Straight outta a fairy tale… but with a lot more metal plates and a lot less scales. Before I could react, the thing leaped at me, grabbing me in it’s claw and pinning me to the ground, one of it’s claws inches from my face.
“What is this place? Who are you? Where am I? What people live on this tiny planet?” The Dragon thing roared in my face. Even the Muton was confused.
“Well, you are on EARTH. E-A-R-T-H, planet of the humans… and a bunch of other animals, but we are the dominant species. I am a soldier of Advent, who are in the middle of a war with a terror group called Xcom.” I replied, trying to play it cool.
“A war? It’s been a long time since I was in a war! What are you fighting for? Phazon?! Is there phazon here?!” The Dragon asked. I had no idea what it was talking about, but I tried my best to explain the best I could.
“Er, no… but we fight under the command of the Elders, powerful psionic beanings.” I explained, Muton was still waiting either for me to be killed, or set free.
“And what was that weird felicity I few over a few seconds ago…?” The dragon asked. I was getting bored of all the questions, but I also felt I was in no place for arguing.
“That was a Advent training Blacksite where Advent soldiers go to train. I’ve been posted to guard the area, their is also 4 skeletons, 2 Gatekeepers, the Muton back there, and a Ex-Xcom ranger. Everyone else are just trainees.” Suddenly the dragon looked confused.
“SKELETONS??” He asked.
“Yes, but they are more powerful than you think.” I replied.
“Are you done yet?” The muton called.
“I believe Mother Brain told me about this world of yours. What exactly are you fighting for?” The dragon asked.
“Advent is fighting to keep the world securely and in order, Xcom are cationic. Dirty, and have so sense of authority.” I replied.
“Ah, I like chaotic environments! And humans suffering! You have my interest now.” The dragon perked up.
“Well, if you join us, you can kill and eat all the humans you want!” I offered, now releasing that myself and Kayla are humans.
“Humm… sounds interesting. I'm tired of commanding worthless space pirates anyway. I'll tell mother brain to put Kraid in my place. I will have to continue looking for phazon on earth though, it's my mission after all!” The dragon said and let me go, I got up and brushed the dirt off my armor.
“What can we call you, anyway?” I asked.
“I'm Ridley, from Zebes.” Ridley replied. I breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, two familiar forms appeared from the path.
*“Hey, what’s going on, I heard something from the Blacksite a-...” Fell Sans started but stopped as soon as he saw Ridley.
“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!” Fell Papyrus shouted.
“Again, I'm Ridley, from Zebes.” Ridley screeched again.
*“Great, as things finally started to calm down, we have a overgrown Gatser Blaster to deal with…” Fell Sans muttred.
“What are we gonna do about it?” Fell Papyrus asked.
*“How am I supposed to know??” Fell Sans snapped.
“I agreed to stay around to kill humans for you guys. They BLEW UP K2L! I was engulfed in flames!!” Ridley explained what happened. Fell Sans and Papyrus just had blank expressions on their faces.
“Oh, and if you see a chick in the Blacksite, try not to kill her, She is the Ex-Xcom ranger I told you about.” I warned.
“As long as she is not a blond woman in a suit named Samus Aran I won't kill her, and as long as she doesn't piss me off.” Ridely replied.
“No, I mean it, DO NOT HARM HER!” I voice went deep and I felt the psionic energy return to me.
“Yeah, whatever.” Ridley replied, clearly not threatened. I don’t care if it worked or not, NO ONE harms Kayla and gets away with it. “Anyway, I will return to your facility and make myself at home, as one may say.” Ridely took to the sky and flew off.
*“Yeah, we should probably go back too, make sure he does not try anything.” Fell Sans winked, and teleported both him and Fell Papyrus back to the Blacksite. I rolled my eyes and myself and the Muton continued on our way, we still had a Xcom soldier to drop off.
