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"The next mission will not pose much of a threat, as long as the enemy is defeated in due course..."
Axl’s eyes were on Zero as Signas continued to describe the mission in detail. The red hunter stood next to him, arms crossed and a deep frown marring his features. X was several meters away from them both, with a similar expression to Zero's.
A pang of guilt surged through Axl. He was the one who'd caused the two of them to act like this. If he'd just stayed with Red Alert, then none of this would've probably happened…
"Zero, Axl... you have the coordinates for the next mission. Good luck, and come back safely."
Signas's words broke Axl out of his thoughts. No, he still had one more chance to prove himself, to make it up to them.
"Yes Sir!"
Axl looked over to Zero, who didn't move or reply. His eyes darted back and forth between Zero and X, noting a strange tension between the two of them. He wondered if this had started before he was brought to the hunter base: maybe something else was going on between them.
"The rest of you are dismissed."
Grabbing his weapon, Axl began to run outside before suddenly coming to a halt, turning around to face his mission partner.
"Zero?"
"You go first. I'll meet you there."
Axl watched the other Reploid in concern, before reluctantly teleporting away to the coordinates saved in his main memory.
Wordlessly, Zero locked onto the same coordinates, preparing to teleport as well—
"Wait, Zero!"
The red hunter froze. He didn't turn around, but he knew exactly who was behind him.
"You're really going to continue working with him?" X asked as he caught up to the other hunter.
"Him?"
Zero's reply was sharper than he'd intended it to be. His coldness towards X had started when he'd decided to step down as a hunter, and it had only gotten worse since then. When Axl was brought to the hunter base, X had immediately protested against letting him join the Maverick Hunters, even if it had only been temporary. What Zero didn't know, however, was why X was so against Axl becoming a hunter...
It wasn't just because Axl had been questionable to begin with. A mysterious Reploid who was part of a criminal syndicate, who also wished to join the hunters despite his lack of experience... It was almost ludicrous that a child would tell X, who'd at that point been through more than most other Reploids: “Sometimes fighting is the only choice.”
The thing is, X knew that was true, and he hated it. He didn't want to face the fact that he'd eventually have to use the buster on his arm to destroy more Reploids—because a world without violence was actually unattainable. If he didn't take care of the Mavericks, they would continue to infect and kill more innocent Reploids.
X thought of all the times he and Zero had fought together. For decades, it had just been the two of them. And now that X was no longer on the front line, Axl was now his... his replacement. To think that even Zero was okay with the arrangement had caused a strange feeling to run through X. Axl was Zero's partner now, not X's... He didn't know what to make of that.
Zero finally turned towards him, his gaze silent and expectant.
"I... I still don't think it's a good idea to let that fugitive Reploid go on missions," X went on. "It's far too dangerous, plus there's not enough data on him or his background. We don't know if he's ever been in contact with the Maverick Virus…"
"It's better than doing nothing at all."
X froze as if he'd just been slapped.
"You're going too far now, Zero."
"Going too far?" Zero's expression was livid. "If I don't say something about this now, what are you even going to do? Just sit in the hunter base and do nothing all day?"
"That's not—"
"What about the humans? What about the Mavericks, X?!"
"That's enough!!" X roared. "You don't know anything! You don't know what I've been through... The choices I've had to make! You have n-no idea how m-much I..."
X reached up and wiped furiously at his eyes, not noticing how Zero's angry expression had softened to one of concern.
"I already lost you twice, plus countless other Reploids during this ongoing war... I don't want to lose anyone else. That's why I stopped fighting... But would you even be able to understand how I feel? Nothing hurts more than losing someone who's important to you!"
X turned around to face the other Reploid fully, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"Just what am I to you, Zero?"
"X..."
Zero couldn't say anything more as he watched X run off. Cursing, he sent a quick transmission to Axl before teleporting to the coordinates of their next mission. He'd deal with this later.
[x]
"Hey, Zero... Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Axl glanced over at Zero. They were currently in the Lava Factory, where several Reploids had been held hostage in and needed to be rescued before they were blown away to pieces.
"Did something happen between you and X?" Axl asked, narrowly dodging shots from a nearby Flyer.
"I said I'm fine," Zero snapped. He looked up and immediately felt regret as he saw the hurt look on Axl's face. "Sorry, Axl..."
"Hey, it's okay." Axl fired a few shots at the Flyer, smirking in satisfaction as he watched it fall into the lava pit below. "You wanna talk about it?"
"Not right now... Thanks though."
Zero readied his saber and dashed forward, leaping up and sliding across the upper railing until he was closer to the first group of rescue Reploids. Axl hovered above him, firing away at a new swarm of Flyers.
"Ugh, these things just keep coming!" Axl groaned.
Zero dropped down the railing and dashed forward, taking out the bomb on the wall before slapping a teleportation device onto the first rescue Reploid.
"They didn't tell us there were bombs in this place!" Zero yelled.
"Well they didn't tell us there weren't any!" Axl retorted. "Man, I wish X was here right now."
"Axl."
"I know, I know. He's not actually gonna come... but any backup would be great right now."
"Now you're starting to see why being a hunter is such a tough job. Still wanna do it?"
Axl dodged a couple of shots fired towards him, letting out a yelp as his arm was grazed by one of the bullets.
"Of course! I still wanna be a Maverick Hunter! I'll—hah—show X... ugh! That I can do it!"
“That’s the spirit,” Zero replied. “Now let’s keep going!”
[x]
Back in the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, X stared down at the armor part programs in his hands.
'What are you even going to do? Just sit in the hunter base and do nothing all day?'
'Sometimes fighting is the only choice…'
X closed his eyes. Opened them again. And then he sighed.
"Alia, do you read? I’m..."
[x]
Things had just gotten from bad to worse.
The end section of the factory had four bombs all lined up in a row: these were sensor bombs, which meant the timer would start counting down as soon as he came into proximity. What that meant was Zero had to make a mad dash forward, slap four teleportation devices onto the rescue Reploids before they got blown to pieces, while also trying not to get killed himself—all in the span of several seconds.
He’d been through worse. He could do this.
Zero sped across the room as fast as he could. Axl was busy firing at the airborne enemies to prevent them from stopping his task. His timing was absolutely crucial at this point: it was all or nothing. He clenched his teeth and propelled himself forward, somersaulting into the air and towards the line of bombs, then slapped one, two, three, four teleportation devices onto all of the rescue Reploids.
He was, unfortunately, 0.0036 seconds too late.
The explosion tore through Zero's left side, sending him flying towards a nearby platform. He let out a yell as he hit the ground, collapsing in a heap as his saber skittered out his hand.
"Zero!!" Axl hopped onto the platform and rushed towards the smoke. "Zero! Are you okay?"
Axl gasped as Zero's form came into view. His left shoulder plate had been completely blown off, and a massive chunk of metal was missing from the ball joint, exposing the broken wires and circuits underneath.
"It's just a scratch... I'll be fine." Zero grunted.
Axl fell to his knees beside Zero. "Are you stupid?! You’re hurt! You need to go back to the hunter base—"
"Axl!!"
Axl let out a cry as a blaster beam hit the back of his armor. The impact knocked the wind out of him as he was sent flying into Zero. He heard the other Reploid let out a grunt as they were both sent rolling over the ground until they finally came to a stop.
Axl groaned, pushing himself up and reaching a hand out towards Zero. "You okay?"
Zero was about to reply when a shadow loomed over them both. Axl spun around, eyes widening when he saw the Dragon Blaster in front of him.
"What is that thing?!" he yelled, and then he frantically tapped onto his communication device. "Alia, we need an analysis!"
The receiver was only met with a scratchy distorted noise.
"We've lost contact! What do we do now?!" Axl looked around, his head shaking wildly in distress.
Zero narrowed his eyes, then readied his saber. "We rescue the Reploids first, then we fight."
Without waiting for Axl's response, Zero leapt up and swung, impaling the dragon's back with his saber. The Dragon Blaster let out a long shriek and jerked back and forth, trying to stave off its attacker. Zero gripped onto the hilt and pushed down as far as he could go, then catapulted himself backwards just as the dragon was about to dive back into the scorching hot sea of magma. The pain in his shoulder screamed at him, reminding him of how even he had his limits, but Zero ignored it: rescuing the Reploids was far more important right now.
"Axl! I'm counting on you!"
"Leave it to me!"
Zero slapped the teleportation device onto the last Reploid just seconds before the bomb exploded.
He faintly registered Axl yelling while shots fired in the background, and he dashed towards the noise as quickly as he could possibly get there.
Axl leapt up, hovering in the air and aiming at the green crystal on the dragon's head. He was about to shoot when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Axl gasped, his finger frozen on the trigger.
Zero let out a cry and thrust forward, plunging his saber into the crystal and shattering it into pieces.
The dragon robot suddenly fell forward, taking Zero with it as it plummeted down towards the lava.
"No!! Zero!!"
Axl drove forward, pushing his dash capabilities as hard as he could. He leapt under Zero, one arm wrapping around his back and the other under both his legs in a bridal carry.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Axl hovered across the lava and maneuvered them both to safety.
"Thanks, Axl."
Zero reached up and gripped at the injury on his shoulder. His hand was covered in a dark red substance: he was losing too much coolant, and it was starting to make him feel light-headed. He could barely make out Axl's panicked yelling over the static white noise in his audio receptors: if this continued, he may end up shutting down soon.
What neither of them were expecting, however, was for a second Dragon Blaster to emerge from the lava.
"You've got to be kidding," Axl groaned, drawing his gun and firing away a continuous stream of bullets. His eyes darted back and forth between the dragon and Zero, who looked worse for wear as he clutched onto his damaged shoulder.
"Just how many more enemies are there?! There's no way we'll be able to defeat all of them like this!" Axl cried out.
"You won't have to."
A charged shot suddenly flew past them, stunning the dragon momentarily. Axl's head whipped around towards the source of the blast. Once the smoke cleared, his eyes widened and a loud gasp escaped his lips.
There in front of him was Mega Man X, equipped in a full set of new armor.
"X?!"
X turned towards him. "Go make sure Zero's okay. I'll handle this!"
"You got it!"
Axl dashed towards where the injured hunter was lying. He knelt down next to Zero and placed an arm around his back for support, the other one pressing firmly onto the wound to stop the coolant from leaking.
"Please... don't die," Axl whispered.
Zero let out a snort in response. "As if I'd do that."
"You and X still need to make up for whatever thing is going on between you right now." Axl pouted. "I don't like seein' you two like this."
"Maybe later... I think I need... to rest... a bit first..." Zero's eyes fluttered shut as he slumped against Axl, his head lolling backwards.
"Zero!!"
Meanwhile X glided up, circling the giant enemy. The dragon aimed for him and fired, but he flew out the way. It aimed again, and again, seeming to growing more frustrated every time it missed. X's buster rung as it reached full charge, and then he released it, sending the shot flying straight into the dragon's mouth. The Dragon Blaster let out a shriek as it was immobilized once again, desperately trying to wretch itself back into mobility. Its mouth opened, then closed, but nothing came out other than a thick line of smoke.
"This is as far as you go!" X braced himself, then lifted his arms up towards the heavens. "Giga Crash!!"
BOOM!
Axl shielded both himself and Zero at the impact. All he could make out was a blinding light encompassing X, followed by bright blue bolts of energy which rained down like a sky full of meteors.
"Wow..." Axl breathed out, clearly starstruck.
When the smoke cleared, X turned towards the younger Reploid, his brows furrowing as he took in Zero's disheveled state. "He's just unconscious. We need to wait for the rescue team to arrive. They will bring Zero to the repair centre. Once they leave with him, I'm going with you."
Axl's eyes widened and he slowly turned towards X, who gave him a reassuring smile in response.
They waited for the rescue team to arrive, and once Zero was teleported back to the hunter base, X and Axl made their way further into the factory.
[x]
"And then he just came in like, bam! That thing had no chance against him at all! X was just, like, so cool, y'know?"
Zero glanced over at Axl, a small smile on his face as he watched the younger Reploid babble excitedly. After they defeated Flame Hyenard, X and Axl had returned to hunter base with minimal injuries, and X had also transformed back into his regular blue armor. Zero’s repairs had already been done, a new joint having been fitted onto his shoulder several hours ago.
"You really look up to him, huh?"
"Are you kidding? He's the whole reason why I wanted to be a hunter in the first place!"
It was at that moment that the blue Reploid in question walked in.
"Uh, hi X! I mean, ahem, Commander X." Axl blushed as X's eyes settled on him.
"Just X is fine, Axl." X nodded before turning towards Zero. "Can we talk?"
"Uh," Axl's eyes darted back and forth between the two older Reploids. "I-I'll be going now! See ya around!"
Both Reploids watched as Axl waved before disappearing down the hallway.
X turned back to Zero, fidgeting with his hands nervously.
"How's your shoulder?" he asked.
Zero shrugged. "Better now. They just told me to rest up for a few hours. I've been through worse than this."
X flinched. Memories of Zero's mangled torso flashed through his mind, and he could still remember the way he'd cradled the other Reploid's broken body against his own as the tears endlessly poured down his face. Back then, Zero had gotten hurt because of him, and this time had been no different... all because of his own hesitancy to fight.
They were both silent for a moment before X blurted out: "Zero, I just wanted to say... I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I know you're all working really hard to defeat the Mavericks,” he sighed, closing his eyes. "Without me."
A flicker of surprise ran across Zero's face before he turned around, his back turned towards the other Reploid. "Whatever, I don't really care. As long as there are Mavericks, I'll keep stopping them."
He gritted his teeth, hands balling into fists at his sides. "If Sigma wants to keep using my DNA for his own gain, then I'll do whatever it takes to turn him into a pile of scrap metal!"
X looked up in alarm. "That... still bothers you?"
Zero didn't reply.
Tentatively, X took a step forward, gently taking one of the other Reploid's hands in his own. "Zero... Take me with you. Let me be by your side, just like old times."
"X?"
"Just give me an answer. Yes or no."
"I... Fine. Do whatever you want—"
Zero was cut off as a pair of arms wrapped around his waist, and he looked down in surprise at the other Reploid.
"I'm sorry," X mumbled. "I didn't stop to think that maybe you were hurting, too. I was too self-absorbed with my own feelings, so I did what I thought was the right thing. But all I've done is I've just let down everyone who's ever believed in me, haven't I?"
"..."
Reluctantly, Zero reached up to place both hands against X's back. He gazed down at the shorter Reploid, who looked small and vulnerable in his arms. When it was just the two of them, Mega Man X was just X, not the Reploid with limitless potential who always saved the world.
"You're talking nonsense again," Zero murmured. "People believe in you because they know you'll always be there to protect them, to protect the Earth. Even if you leave for a while, you'll always come back. But you can't keep running away whenever someone gets hurt."
"I..." X choked out, his arms tightening around Zero. "I won't break my promise this time. Let me fight alongside you. If I have no choice but to fight, then I don’t want to do it alone."
X pulled away slightly so he could look up at the taller Reploid. Zero's gaze was soft as he smiled down at him. It felt almost as if they'd never argued in the first place, as if everything would be alright again.
X placed both hands on Zero's shoulders, closing his eyes as he leaned up.
And then Zero's lips were on his.
The first touch was feather-light, as if Zero was afraid of hurting X, but it still sent sparks of electricity running through X’s circuits. A part of his mind thought it was strange that he was able to experience something so human, yet so natural that it felt right. God, but he’d missed this… He clung onto Zero as if he was going to lose him once again if he let go. In a way, X had lost Zero: when the other Reploid had avoided him after his retirement, it hurt almost as much as when Zero had been physically gone.
Zero was about to pull away until X's hand found its way into his long blonde hair. He let out a soft moan against X's mouth, his own hands coming up to wrap around X's hips. They kissed for what felt like hours, just getting used to each other's bodies again and touching each other, memorizing the way it felt each time their lips pressed together and how their fingertips slid against artificial skin.
They finally broke apart, and X's hands slid up to cradle Zero's face gently.
"If you ever retire again, I'm personally going to drag you back onto the battlefield even if you end up kicking and screaming," Zero said, half-jokingly.
X let out a laugh. "Whatever you say, Z."
"I meant it, you know." Zero leaned down and pressed his lips against X's helmet. "People need you, more than they need me."
"But, I..."
Zero silenced him with another kiss. "People also look up to you. Just look at Axl... All he ever talks about is you."
"He does?" X blinked up at him in surprise. "But I thought..."
"That I was his favorite? Nope." Zero laughed, leaning down until their forehead crystals were touching. "It was always you, X."
"I feel silly now," X mumbled. "I got all upset over nothing."
"What? Why would you be upset?"
X tried to hide his blush, burrowing his head into Zero's chest piece. "It's nothing! Well, nothing important, anyway."
Zero raised an eyebrow at him, his lips curving up into a smile. "You're weird."
"So are you."
"It's part of my design."
"It's also a part of mine."
They both let out a laugh simultaneously.
"I missed you, X." Zero murmured, wrapping his arms around X’s smaller frame and drawing him in closer. "It's good to have you back."
X smiled softly, leaning into Zero’s touch and closing his eyes. "It's good to be back."