#16 years... its been almost a decade since I first played it... (crumbles to dust)

[aimer-arts]

Happy 16 years, Explorers of Sky!

[mmxficlets]

Prompt #16: Berserk (Status Effect)

So, I am playing Command Mission for the first time, and I got the berserk status effect on X, and he immediately turned and tried to shoot Spider, which was STRESSFUL. So obviously I had to write a little snippet about that moment LOL. This one's pretty angsty, but nothing too serious. I think once I get to Zero series, that's when the really angsty writing will come. Anyway, enjoy!! I put this one off waaaay too long.

Zero jumped at the cry from help from their comrades, ringing out as the chaos of battle settled and faded around them. 

The warbot spun around, his eyes widening in disbelief at what he saw.

X stood, his buster raised and pointed at Spider, his eyes crazed and his mouth open wide as he panted. His whole body trembled and shook, his fiery red scarf fluttering hopelessly in the wind behind him.

Massimo, Marino and Cinnamon stood off to the side, mouths agape and in varying stages of disbelief to outrage. They moved to grab the Maverick Hunter, but Zero was faster, jumping in front of X’s buster.

“X, whatever the hell you’re doing, you have to stop. Stop, X!” Zero shouted, placing his body in the android’s line of sight. Marino and Massimo rushed over, helping Spider to his feet and escorting him away from the two hunters.

“That’s...that’s Sigma, Zero....Sigma is h-here...he’s ri-right there...I-I....I have to shoot…” X’s voice shook as the buster held its charge, now pointed directly at Zero’s chest.

That’s when the warbot really looked into X’s face. His eyes were maroon, like a fog had descended over the verdant irises and left him in a haze of red. He wasn’t seeing anything at all, whatever hallucination that had caused him to go berserk capturing all of his attention.

Zero remembered now that some mechaniloids had the ability to distort and confuse their enemies perception of reality, causing them to act out in fear and anger to all of those around them, like a spooked animal.

The Red Ripper reached out, laying one hand gently on X’s buster and pushing against it to lower it.

“X, Sigma isn’t here. He’s gone, remember? We beat him...he’s long gone X.” Zero spoke softly, reaching with his other hand out to his lover, trying to bring him back to reality.

The Blue Bomber shook his head, his whole body stiff and unmoving. There was something playing out in that head of his, a memory, or a nightmare, Zero couldn’t say. But it was there, he could see it in the terror behind his eyes, in the way he gasped for air, like there was a fire burning X up from the inside, desperately trying to put it out.

Sigma had haunted the both of them since the First War, a shadow in their minds and a constant threat, always looming on the horizon of peace. He was a portent of war, destruction and death. X had had nightmares about the Reploid he had helped Dr. Cain build so lovingly all those decades ago. How horrible it must be to see the corruption and downfall of someone as close as a younger sibling.

X’s whole body shook, his eyes wide in panic as his breathing got quicker, his hand gripping his buster tighter than ever.

“No...no he’s here Zero...he’s...he-THERE!” It all happened so fast, Zero barely had time to think. 

X’s anguished cry made everyone around them jump, as the Azure Hunter yanked his buster away from Zero’s guiding hand and fired the charged shot. The plasma whizzed past Zero’s head, the heat registering on his cheek as the bolt melted the air around them, exploding in a flash of light and fire behind the warbot.

X fell backwards, his whole body out of balance from the sudden movements. The Light-bot didn’t even try to catch himself as the back of his head struck the rough ground around them, laying stunned for a moment as his eyes finally began to clear.

He groaned and sat up, propping himself up with his hand while his buster sizzled and hissed from the discharged plasma. 

There was confusion in X’s eyes as he looked up at Zero’s stunned face, their companion’s shocked ones, and his own smoking arm. Realization crawled across his face as everything clicked into place, his hand transforming back and grabbing his mouth in disgust.

Zero crouched, getting a reign in on his own fear and shock at the situation. 

“X…” He called out, reaching for his lover.

X recoiled from him, curling away from him as tears streamed down his face, his whole body shuddering as he came to terms with the fact that he had almost shot his lover.

It had been so long since that tragic showdown between the two, so so long since they had been forced to raise their weapons against one another. The conflict was a closely guarded secret, the only reploids to know being themselves, Sigma, and their closest and oldest friends from the Maverick Hunters. Not even Axl knew.

Zero tried again, reaching for his husband and speaking so tenderly to him. “X please, come here. It’s not your fault, I’m fine see? Please…” His hand faltered, gently falling against the ground as he settled into the dust and dirt, feeling miles away from his beloved.

Axl had returned at this point, and had promptly escorted the rest of their party away, knowing his two partners well enough to know there was something deeper happening here.

X’s muffled, quiet sobs rattled through his body, filling the now empty clearing with the melancholy song of heartbreak. And Zero didn’t know how to fix it. In the last few minutes, X’s entire world had crumbled in front of him, from the visions of ghosts to the very real near destruction of the only person left in the world who could understand him.

Zero bowed his head, unable, or unwilling, to approach his husband. They sat together, drowning in their own sorrows until X could finally speak again.

“I...I almost shot you…” His voice, broken with turmoil, whispered into the breeze, the words being carried across the now silent battlefield.

Zero looked up, his golden hair fluttering like a shining pennant, drifting across the dust. 

“You didn’t mean to X.” Zero’s own voice was just as quiet, like speaking too loudly would break the silence around them.

“I...saw him Zero. He was right there...oh god what if I shot any sooner…” X buried his face in his hands, body trembling as he attempted not to cry again.

Zero finally found the strength to move, scooting closer to his husband to wrap him in an embrace and pull him into his chest. Even with the armor on, he rubbed circles into X’s back, kissing the top of his head.

“I know X, but you didn’t shoot me, and Sigma is gone. You’re gonna be alright. We’re gonna be alright.” Zero murmured into X’s shiny blue helmet, adjusting his position so X would be fully against him.

X said nothing, stifling his sobs and letting himself be pulled against his husband. He buried his face into Zero’s neck, his arms wrapped tightly around his husband’s torso as both androids clung to each other like their lives depended on it.

The wind changed direction then, making Zero’s hair blow into the androids, trapping both of them in a golden cage, glittering in the setting sun. In a way, Zero thought, he was like a shield, giving X the shelter he needed at that moment.

Maybe it was time for both of them to retire. After all these long years, maybe it was finally time they got the break they so desperately deserved.

Later. He thought. When this mission and pointless Rebellion is over, then X and I will finally leave.