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Zero stormed through Maverick Hunter HQ, his lips drawn in a scowl. Hunters scrambled to get out of his way, navigators averting their eyes from the warbot as he rushed past, their hushed whispers filling the hall like hisses.
The warbot ignored them, his head pounding in pain. He ignored that too.
The door swished open to the Lab, the mechanics and researchers inside scuttling away, trying to avoid eye contact.
Zero strode directly to one reploid, glowering at him as he slammed the large piece of machinery he was carrying down on the desk.
The reploid looked up at him, the only one in the room brave enough to look the man in his eyes, raising a single, unimpressed eyebrow.
“Careful Zero, any harder and you would have shattered it. Then all of this would have been for nothing.” Douglas spoke, putting his clipboard down and folding his arms over his chest.
“I gathered everything you need. I’m ready.” Zero hissed, his eyes dark.
Douglas leaned down, examining the engine part he had brought back with pursed lips.
“Give me a few hours. The shuttle will be ready to fly then.” He spoke, tapping the side of the metal with his pen.
“We don’t have a few hours. Eurasia is coming down. And Sigma is still out there. I’m gonna kill him.” The cold fury in his voice echoed in the silent room, no reploid or human even daring to breathe.
“We have a few hours because I say we do. You don’t fly until I give the go ahead. Go see Lifesaver for that bump on your head. And rest, you’re gonna need it.” The engineer waved his hand, dismissing Zero.
The warbot opened his mouth to argue, but winced as the action brought a pulse of pain behind his eyes.
With an angry huff, he turned, stalking out of the room and leaving Douglas behind.
The reploid watched him go with sad eyes. He missed the old Zero.
The warbot numbly walked to Lifesaver’s medbay.
The reploid regarded him coldly, gesturing to Zero to sit. He glared before complying, turning his gaze to the floor.
“This is the first time you’ve been here since X.” Lifesaver grumbled, tugging Zero’s helmet off of his head.
“Didn’t have time.” The warbot winced, squeezing his eyes shut as Lifesaver’s thumb dug into his temple.
Lifesaver didn’t respond to that, simply continuing his job.
Zero sighed as the medic worked, feeling the pain begin to ebb away from the countless battles he had forced himself through in the past 18 hours.
It was hard to believe that so much about his life had changed in such a short time.
With the pain drifting away from him, his mind began tormenting him instead, flashes of memories and grief trickling in between the relief.
He could feel it choking him inside.
Zero briefly wondered if maybe, this was all a dream, and he had died on top of that tower. Before Sigma released this terrible fate onto everyone. Before he had had his life changed permanently.
Before X…
Yes, this had to be a dream. There was no other explanation.
The last dream of a dying man.
Lifesaver shoved Zero’s helmet back into his arms, tilting his head toward the door.
“You’re all finished. Make sure to rest for a little while. You’ll need a clear head for your flight.” The medic spoke coldly, turning away.
The warbot stood, grumbling a thanks to the man before leaving, feeling Lifesaver’s eyes burning a hole into his back.
He wandered the base for a bit, ignoring the hushed whispers of his fellow hunters and the pitying eyes of the navigators.
It didn’t matter to him. All the rage inside of him gave way to deep loss and mourning. He could feel it eating away at him.
Zero stopped his meandering, turning towards the massive window lining one of the halls.
The shuttle gleamed in the fading sunlight, the cockpit twinkling down at him, beckoning him towards his mission.
The cannon had failed, and only five hours remained. It may already be too late.
He hardly heard Alia walk up next to him, the navigator staring at him for a moment before looking up at the shuttle.
“It’s almost time. Are you ready?” Her voice broke the tense silence.
“I’ve been ready since the top of that statue.” He whispered, his voice husky with emotion.
She didn’t turn to him, simply reaching over and grabbing his hand.
“It wasn’t your fault, Zero. It was Sigma.” Her voice was barely audible, her eyes not leaving the window.
Zero choked back emotion, his throat tight as he forced the words out.
“It should have been me. If anyone was supposed to die up there, it should have been me.”
Alia squeezed his hand, the fabric of his gloves rubbing uncomfortably between his fingers.
“You and I both know that isn’t true. Sigma would have killed both of you if he had had the chance. And nothing would have stopped him from going up after you.” She chided gently.
Zero closed his eyes, wave after wave of grief hitting him. He had kept so busy, he hadn’t let himself feel it.
How had X been dealing with this for so long?
They stood together in silence, Zero’s mind playing the moment over and over again in a loop. The weight and guilt crushing his soul with every minute passing.
Alia stood with him, holding his hand. She never made another move, content to stand with him as he processed his emotions.
It felt like an eternity, and like mere seconds all at once, when Alia got the call.
She twisted, releasing Zero’s hand and pressing her finger to her ear.
No words passed from her lips as she finally turned to gaze at the warbot, her eyes full of regret and fear.
Zero knew. It was time.
He turned to leave, heading for the launch pad.
“Zero. Please, we can find another way.” She pleaded, a single tear falling from her eye.
“We have no time. I’m the only one left who can do this.”
“Just…promise to come back? Don’t let his sacrifice mean nothing. You have people here who need you.”
He continued walking, ignoring her.
“I’ll never forgive you if you leave us alone! You hear me?! I won’t!” She called after him, her voice trembling as she held back sobs.
He ignored her again. Her cries hurt, but he had already made up his mind.
---
Signas was standing on the launch pad when he arrived. His hat was drawn over his eyes, but even Zero could see it wasn’t enough to cover the sparkle of a tear.
The Commander said nothing as Zero stalked by, his head held high.
With a simple salute, Signas wished him farewell, watching his best hunter, and dare he say it, friend, climb up the ladder to the cockpit.
Douglas watched from the command center, his arms crossed. Every reploid and human in the room held their breath in anticipation.
Alia turned her back to the screen, a hand held over her mouth.
First X, now this?
She inhaled shakily, unable to watch as another friend left her.
Signas strode in, placing a large hand on her shoulder in sympathy before turning to the screen.
“Zero, all lights are green down here. We’re out of time.” The Commander spoke, his eyes glued to the screen.
Zero’s voice crackled over the radio.
“Understood. Launching in five minutes.” the warbot replied.
Douglas punched in the coordinates, and began final preparations.
It gave the warbot a chance to think, his head hitting the back of the pilot's seat with a quiet thunk .
He closed his eyes, letting memories flow freely over his mind, his teeth gritting as he relived that moment.
---
Zero gasped, falling to his knee as his arm was severed. His saber plunged over the side of the scaffolding, Sigma standing with a wicked grin over him.
“I expected better from you, Zero. Has all my training gone to waste over these long years?” The man gloated, towering over the fallen warbot.
Zero scowled back, his lip drawn back in a snarl as he challenged the Maverick Leader.
He knew, in the back of his mind, that he was defeated.
It made him grateful, almost, that X wasn’t here yet. He wouldn’t see him like this, in his final moments.
He closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate.
With bated breath, he tensed, waiting to feel Sigma’s saber cut him down.
But no searing heat came. No pain.
Had he died already?
Zero opened his eyes, confused as Sigma was nowhere to be found.
The Maverick wouldn’t have spared him…would he?
The familiar whine of a buster filled Zero with dread. He shuffled around, peering in all directions, searching for the source of the sound.
No…he shouldn’t be here.
He should have stayed home!
With a flash of boosters, the love of his life appeared over the edge of the scaffolding, his buster hissing as the plasma and metal rapidly cooled in the falling rain.
“Zero! Are you okay?!” X rushed to his side, his eyes filled with concern.
“X, you’ve gotta leave, now! Sigma is still around here!” The warbot pleaded, falling to his side as he tried to bodily put himself in front of the Blue Bomber.
X stood up straight, touching a hand to his helmet, his magnificent Fourth Armor gleaming from the glow of his power gem.
“He’s here…but where?” Mega Man X mumbled, his eyebrows knit in confusion.
Zero opened his mouth to speak, trying to ask X to leave before it was too late, when Sigma’s raspy laugh echoed around them.
X tensed, his buster raised as he scowled in front of him.
The head of the statue moved, its massive metal lips warping unnaturally as it spoke.
“Welcome, Mega Man X! I knew that if I left your plaything broken, that would come running!”
Sigma’s words made Zero run cold.
Was he…bait?
“Show yourself Sigma! This is all over, you won’t win!” X shouted, his voice oozing with confidence.
Zero was still processing what the Maverick meant, the longer he thought about it, the more upset he grew.
With a rumble, the head of the statue ripped off of its neck, the metal plates falling away and revealing a grotesque version of the Maverick Leader’s head.
It was deformed, pipes and tubes running in and out of the torn and stretched faux skin. It was horrifying to look at.
X didn’t waver, his buster still valiantly raised as Sigma pressed the attack.
With a battle cry, the Blue Bomber leapt forward, his weapon sizzling and whining as plasma erupted out of it, Sigma’s massive head never losing its grin, stretched too thin along its fake skin.
Each blast of plasma or snap of massive teeth shook the scaffolding, the precariously placed wood falling and rattling as the battle waged on.
Zero could only watch, his teeth grit in rage and frustration at his helplessness.
Suddenly, and without warning, the Sigma heads jaw tore itself open, wider than should have been possible as a massive laser cannon jutted out of the open maw.
The deep thrumming of mounting energy filled the air, reverberating deep in Zero’s audial cones. Light seemed to be sucked out of the air itself as the cannon grew brighter and brighter.
X was screaming at Zero over the sound of plasma and whistling wind, his voice drowned out by the cacophonous noise.
With a final blast from his buster, X released a volley of plasma into the heads open jaw, the flash of light so intense that even when Zero closed his eyes, the light blinded him.
The head screeched as the cannon began firing indiscriminately. X dove out of the way as the beam flew over his head, vaporizing the very air around him.
Zero scoot back, his legs scrabbling as he desperately moved to get away from the head.
X reached him first, grabbing at him and trying to drag him away, his feet scrabbling against the unstable surface of the scaffolding.
He stopped as the Sigma head jerked, the laser changing direction until it was almost upon them.
Time seemed to slow as Zero watched the beam get closer and closer, the glowing plasma shining so brightly, his eyes burned.
This had to be the end, right? Sigma was finally going to win.
Strong hands under his arms shook him from his reverie, time beginning to turn back to its normal rate of passage.
He twisted his head back, gazing into the eyes of his fiancé.
X was looking at him with a mix of love, guilt and regret.
Zero wanted to ask him what he was doing.
He never got the chance as he was flung from the top of the statue, his arm reaching desperately for his partner as he watched him get smaller and smaller.
The laser illuminated the sky as it struck where he had just been, the flash of light and molten metal as the entire top of the building seemed to explode.
Glowing purple mist spread from the top of the tower, drifting down into the city and floating on the wind.
Zero screamed for X, even after he had landed with a sickening crack and being unable to move.
He reached his hand up to where he had last seen the love of his life, and screamed.
---
Zero blinked his eyes open, that last image of his beloved stuck behind his eyes.
He reached into one of the compartments on his leg, pulling out an old photo that Dr. Cain had taken of the two of them and placing it on his flight console.
X’s beaming face was caught, frozen in time, on the little piece of paper.
It filled the warbot with fresh grief, seeing the happy, carefree face of the man he loved most.
A private message appeared in the corner of his vision as the engines revved to life, the propulsion systems coming online.
“Zero, I know you probably won’t listen to me, but I want you to know. I put an ejector seat into the cockpit. There is a handle next to the headrest. Pull it once you are close enough to Eurasia to detonate the rocket.
Oh and Zero? Please come home.”
The message was signed from Douglas.
The warbot felt his hand shake for a moment.
Even through everything, a part of him was scared to die.
He tried to squash down the annoying feeling as the ship rumbled underneath him.
His whole body jerked back into his seat as the rocket flew up, its nose pointed to the stars.
Above him, the glow of the Eurasia Colony lit up the sky, like the hand of God himself coming down to destroy what he had created.
Zero grit his teeth at the imagery, his only thoughts on X as the G-forces increased, pulling at his body.
If he were human, he was sure he would have expelled any lunch he would have had.
The ship rumbled and groaned around him, his fists clenched so tightly around the controls, fingers hurt.
Another message pinged in the corner of his vision, but he ignored it.
He was ready. He was truly ready.
“I’ll see you soon, X…” he mumbled to himself, wincing as the pressure rose again.
His on screen computer was flashing warning signs, alerting him to the oncoming collision and begging him to pull up.
Instead, he jerked the control sticks forward, forcing the rockets to push even harder.
Another message, Alia was frantically trying to reach him.
The part in his mind that screamed for him to live roared to life, begging the man to eject.
The computer wailed at him, the word ‘EJECT’ flashing at him.
He continued pushing.
Another message.
His eyes darted to the handle next to his headrest.
Another message.
The computer was so loud now, it drowned out the sound of him exiting the lower atmosphere.
Another message.
He glanced back and forth at the eject handle, the computer raising in decibels.
His eyes grew wide as the point of impact became visible.
Now.
A voice whispered in his head.
Let go, Zero. Let go.
It was louder. He glanced at the handle.
Time seemed to slow, the Eurasia colony so close now that it took up his entire vision.
His finger curled around the eject handle.
It was now or never.
Would he survive? He didn’t know enough about re-entry to be sure.
Does he want to?
Please Zero.
X’s voice echoed in his heart, as if he could feel the man's hand wrap around his.
Zero yanked the eject handle, the cockpit detaching entirely and flying away, the heat immediately flooding the enclosed space.
His head smacked against the side of the window, his gyros panicking as the shuttle groaned and spun. The entire world seemed to be full of fire.
Zero yelled, his hands gripping anything he could get a hold of.
With a final jerk, Zero’s head cracked against the wall, turning his world dark as he fell.
---
He awoke to the smell of smoke, the crackle of flame, and the distinct feeling of wrongness.
Zero’s head lolled as he tried to sit up, realizing with a jolt that he was upside down.
Everything ached, his ears rang, nothing felt right.
One hand was still desperately clenched around the eject handle.
He could hear voices outside, flurries of people rushing around as they called for him and banged on the metal carapace of his shuttle.
Or, the remains of his shuttle.
He shifted, groaning as pain erupted in his side.
“Here…” his voice was raspy, nearly drowned out by the crackle of flame.
The walls seemed to echo with the slamming of tools against them, someone trying to dig him out.
His world was flooded with light as they peeled back the metal panels holding him like a coffin.
Strong hands reached for him as Zero fell out of consciousness again.
---
He woke again, this time in the medbay.
Everything ached, and he was certain he must have lost limb again.
Zero wouldn’t admit it, but he was grateful for the softness of the recharge bed underneath him.
He opened his eyes, letting the stabbing pain fade as he breathed through his body readjusting to being alive.
With a blink, he could finally see Alia looking over him, her big blue eyes tearful as she gazed at him.
“You idiot.” She breathed, resting a hand on his chest plate.
Zero huffed, setting his own hand on top of hers.
“Sorry.” He mumbled.
“A few more seconds and the re-entry would have vaporized you.” She whispered, glaring down at him.
Zero said nothing, letting himself come to terms with his decision.
He thought he’d been ready…
Something pulled him back, though.
“I don’t suppose you saw our messages while you were up there, did you?” She asked, her voice tight.
“I didn’t really have the chance, no.” He grunted as he tried to sit up, pain lancing through his body.
Alia said nothing, placing herself under his arm and pulling him to his feet.
They both knew Lifesaver would be furious with them for moving before he allowed it, but Zero could see that Alia didn’t care.
She led him down the hall, past other hunters rushing around and other medics.
The warbot briefly wondered where she was taking him, his head glancing around at everyone running between them.
As he opened his mouth to ask, Alia stopped in front of one of the intensive care units, the door closed and the room dark inside.
He looked at her, trying to catch her eye as she led him in, the door opening with a hiss.
Light entered the room, illuminating a recharge bed in the middle of the floor.
Zero limped forward, his throat tight and his core leaping in his chest.
There was no way…
The warbot crept closer, leaving Alia’s hold as he caught himself on the edge of the bed.
He let out a dry sob, reaching a hand out to caress the man’s cheek.
X stared up at him, his eyes half closed. He moved one hand to cup Zero’s against himself, tears filling his eyes.
“Hey there.” He whispered, his voice tinny.
Zero fell to his knees, letting his hand drop as X squeezed it softly.
The warbot wailed, hurting his own ears at the sheer volume as he clung to his fiancé’s hand.
Alia stood behind him, wiping away tears.
“He pinged us from under the rubble. His self repair had managed to fix enough of his communications center that he was able to call for help.” The navigator explained.
Zero didn’t hear her, too busy clutching to the man he loved like he would never see him again.
Outside, the apocalypse was only just beginning.
But for this moment, this one perfect moment, Zero’s world was complete again.
X held him close as Zero sobbed, no tears flowing from his eyes. His partner soothed him, running his hand over his head as he gazed lovingly at him.
The message pop up was still hanging in the corner of his vision.
Out of curiosity, he opened it.