#FS update

[praeyrp]

Plot Update:

As well as our main plot, we will be reopening with fresh new plot points, which you get to help steer. It is the perfect time for you to help get involved with the plot as a whole. To help shape the world in which your characters live in. 

Bookmark us, keep an eye on our tumblr, for further upcoming teases when it comes to our newer plot points, but for now, why don’t you take a look at our main plot, and the various things that have, and are still currently affecting the way of the world. 

500 years ago:

The supernaturals emerged from the shadows. The fae, the sempiternals, the immortals and the eternals, one after another at varied points throughout the years, forcing humanity to adjust. Although the years following were predictably full of cries calling for an eradication of these creatures, humanity would soon realize it had never truly been alone. The subsequent decades slowly evened out back into the quiet lull that had been before, almost. Segregation, discrimination, and inter-species waring for power still took place behind the scenes, but the lands were relatively peaceful overall. With peace comes comfort; allowing the species to mingle while dwindling the population of ‘pure’ humans enough that in truth, their numbers are reaching near extinction, a quiet thought at the back of everyone’s mind, but on the forefront of very few. With this peace also came new laws. A new world order slowly set in, and in many cities territories appeared, as well as the governing rule: do not mess with each other.

March 2020:  

One incident on Feb 29th, 2020 was all it took for the world to break; when a famously outspoken TV personality, most noted for sowing chaos and hate-speech, was mauled by a rogue shifter on air, all Hell broke loose. The actions only proved the bestial savagery of the species,  a species that have always been more beast than man. All eyes turned to the shifters. Fear broke out among the mortal population, calling for justice - ignorance is bliss however, and what no one knew was that shifters have always been allowed to handle their species issues, on their own. The world cried wolf. Hate, fear, and discrimination ran rampant, businesses shut their doors to shifters, civil & city jobs were forced to lay off their shifter employees or be overrun with hate; the people called for the city to reinforce their need of segregation while the shifters pulled back among themselves and reinforced their borders. The other species were pushed to make a decision; would they maintain a neutral stance? It was only a question of time before even they are dragged into the ultimate war: for San Francisco herself.

September 2020:

The world has been waiting for an answer from the rest of the the species, the hate that bred itself in the heart of San Francisco has bled out to touch most major cities across the world. Unperturbed by the frivolities of the mortals, the fae forged ahead with their annual solstice festival, the mayor declaring the weekend before the 22nd, one of peace. Things began peacefully enough, though it took only twelve hours before the world forced another hand into the fire; this time the fae. Outed publicly during the mayoral speech, as harboring the same privilege as the shifters in policing their own, the crowd broke into riot. This out of the fae took some time to settle, and even now it’s not fully settled into the cracks, though they’re slowly sliding down the same rabbit hole the shifters have; businesses have begun turning them away and letting them go from their jobs.

Present:

Old world factions have snuck their toes into the sand and gained footing, most notably the hunters; a secret society dragged up from the depths off the back of the spreading hatred. The shifters continue to reinforce, war and strengthen among themselves as the world continues to push against them. The clear want after justice has long since mutated and been lost in the message as the discrimination has spread to the fae; one thing is for certain, there’s no going back and there will be no peace until a resolution is found, or until one side comes out on top.

[userjongseong]

240609 GMP

(For Gentle Monster Aoyama Store Opening Event)

[housecow]

According to all your posts, you hardly do anything active anymore: Are you still doing something to deal with the new weight or is it noticeably more difficult for you?

it is so difficult 😭😭😭 i’ve been trying to deal with it and build up strength but my legs cramp up like a half mile in and i can’t be more active without taking breaks :(( what’s even more annoying is that im not even out of breath when i have to stop

[fruit-sauce]

Thinking about it more, I wanna expand on my Fallen Angel BBH headcanon, where he fell and became a demon because of Ironmouse questioning if the creator really existed (explained in this video), as well as update my personal headcanons/theories/timeline for q!BBH

Again, this is all my personal thought process, a lot of it is made up/may not makes sense, this is just me making a cool story lol:

Here's where my brain is at-

In her story, Ironmouse became curious in whether or not the creator existed, opening the inner chamber to see for herself. In the end, the image was stripped from her memory and she fell into the abyss below, along with many other angels who wanted to know, and was locked into a box, deprived of all her senses, until Bubi, the then ruler of hell, came along and freed her, wanting her power. She then became the new ruler of hell and.. you can watch her lore videos, they're really well made and she's super interesting

ANYWAYS!... BadBoyHalo :D

Going with the name "Saints of Games", before becoming a demon, Saint was an angelic deity that lived in heaven. He was a deity that revolved around games and luck. Alongside him was Philza, who is the angel of Death (Philza was not there when Mouse opened the chamber)

Being the curious creature he is, of course, he was there to witness Ironmouse opening the chamber, but knew of the dangers and stayed off to the side. So, when he fell down, he was not a part of Bubi's or Mouse's rule (as well as him not liking being ruled over).

Upon becoming a demon, he gained a new name and lost his status of being a deity of games and luck (with luck going to Alpharad and games becoming more like tricks/pranks), but he did not lose his power. Seeing as he resided in the outskirts of hell, most knew to stay away from him, resulting in him becoming very lonely, desperate for any type of interaction.

This desperation turned violent, growing worse as time went on, becoming hungry for food; for power; for soul energy... Until something finally happened.

Seemingly out of no where, he was dragged to the surface, summoned by a group of occultists, BadBoyHalo was pulled to the Earth's crust, against his own will. Unfortunately, they were a few centuries too late, this was not an all powerful demon, ready to make deals and offers- this was an all powerful demon, fuel with rage and hate, disdain for anything and everything that lived.

Atlantis sunk that day. Some random day in 9600 B.C.

Sitting in ash covered, charred ruins of once a thriving civilization, now sat a demon, curled in on himself, crying to no ears but his own. The one thing he wanted, he needed, was gone. And it was because of him.

For the first time in his eternal life, he felt so small; he couldn't stay here. He didn't want to stay here.

Thankfully, he didn't have to.

With the sheer amount of death and destruction he created, it was only a matter of time before one of Death's angel came by.

Philza, surprised to see Saint BadBoyHalo so far from hell, takes him to the Void as a last ditch effort to calm him down. I say "last ditch effort" because Philza tried to handle it there, but BBH was having none of it (they fought, which caused Atlantis to 100% sink)

Reaching the Void, BadBoyHalo was able to meet the Goddess of Death herself, Kristin (we love the goddesses in the household). Taking pity on him, the Goddess of Death, decided to help, healing his shattered soul and giving him purpose. While not fully whole, it was a start. From that moment on, he now serves as one of her highest ranking reapers (one of = there are others -> I see Missa as a grim reaper) BadBoyHalo then has the ability to travel from the Void to the surface, both for fun and for his job.

During this time, after destroying Atlantis, Foolish, a deity who once slept eternally, blessing a lucky few with the ability to come back from the dead, was awakened. He watched Philza and BadBoyHalo leave, but since he could not follow them, he walked the earth to bide the time.

In the background of all this BBH stuff, he is worshiped as a god, feared my many, and more, waiting for cross paths again. Basically, when BBH woke him, it forced a bond between the two that only death could break, but since BBH is immortal... they're kinda stuck with each other...

Eventually, BadBoyHalo finds himself in The War (hunger games), where he meets Cellbit. Instead of killing this small child, they form a pact, a deal-

BadBoyHalo becomes his familiar... temporarily, at least.

Of course, it doesn't last forever, they split paths; Cellbit gets arrested and BadBoyHalo does.. something???

Its during then and now where BBH not only finds Skeppy, but then the two of them manage to get themselves stuck in a timeloop, yet every time it looped, they still managed to find each other.

Skeppy is some sort of gem creature, being said to be made of purely diamond, only killable via extreme heat

To me, Skeppy and BadBoyHalo also form a pact, but it's way stronger than the one Cellbit and BadBoyHalo:

Skeppy is able to live for centuries, able to shift his body into any size and shape he so desires, look through diamonds as if they were his own eyes, shatter into billions of pieces and get back up again.

BadBoyHalo is constantly hungry, but no physical meal could satiate his hunger. No rare meats or pretty plants, rocks or wood, nothing.

Except soul energy.

In simple terms, Skeppy is a constant source of energy of which BadBoyHalo can eat from, without the worry of killing him. BadBoyHalo can consciously eat it, but he also naturally absorbs it, meaning that if he stays near someone for too long, he'll end up accidentally killing them or at least making them weaker. That's why, when he "pretends" to be the grim reaper, he's constantly telling people to drink water, or how he generally tries to keep people alive, healthy and happy- it lessens the chance for him to accidentally kill them.

By creating this deal, Skeppy gains some of BadBoyHalo's immortality, further becoming a constant fountain of soul energy.

With the idea that Skeppy and BadBoyHalo consistently found the other while in the time loop, I'm just gonna call them soulmates lol

Going back on myself, Skeppy being "a constant fountain of soul energy" is not an exaggeration, BadBoyHalo is considerably stronger the closer they are together. But, seeing as they are apart at the moment, BadBoyHalo is very weak; he doesn't want to feed off the other islanders, Cucurucho and the Code are not options he wants to try (looking at q!Slime being corrupted and q!Forever on the happy pills), so its just a waiting game

Things I don't know how to incorporate at the moment are all the references he makes towards Italy, being whatever happened in Venice and Naples, and anything involving Mount Vesuvius; I don't wanna make any guesses right now while cc!BBH is still dropping crumbs. Unfortunately, this includes anything with the Eggpire, not only do I need to rewatch it, but since it was retconned and cc!BBH said he'd reveal some stuff about it, that section is gonna be on hold for me. On top of that, apparently MCC being at least somewhat canon??? that was mentioned at one point

So instead, here are some little headcanons:

BBH hates being summoned, when he was summoned by Foolish, Cellbit, Roier and Jaiden is a perfect example of this; this trait was passed to Dapper, as she seems to also find it annoying to be summoned at random

BBH will pick up and cradle Dapper and/or Pomme while he sings to them, they find immediate comfort in being held by him

Grim Reapers don't kill, not often at least. They collect souls and guide them to the afterlife. It is the angels of Death that actively kill. This can be seen whenever Missa stands back while Philza kills off mobs. BBH, being a fallen angel/powerful deity, differs from this, as he does both the killing and soul gathering

BBH and Ironmouse never really knew each other as angels, nor as demons, but they could sense that the other was a demon, as well as just use their eyes, Mouse doesn't hide it and BBH is bad at hiding it. Tina, on the other hand, is good at hiding it! Since she has no wings and consistently files down her horns

Whilst wondering the mortal world, there have been times where people have tried to jail or contain him. Tried. Just for fun, BBH enjoys to wear some of the chains from their attempts, almost like jewelry! They make a frightening noise, clinking against each other, but it makes him even more terrifying when he appears without making any noise

Foolish and BBH love to fight, but it usually needs to be on a secluded island or a place very far from civilization because of how much destruction they usually cause

If BBH stands in one spot, the plants around him start to die. In contrast, if Foolish were to walk in the same path, they would regrow.

There are very few that BBH cannot eat soul energy from, some being: Death's angels and reapers (Philza, Missa, etc.) Dapper, Pomme, Tallulah and Chayanne. Everyone else would need time far away from him to recover, hence BBH living underground, far from anyone else

^ Foolish and Skeppy are technically in the same category for "infinite soul energy" but for different reasons

^ Very few eggs can withstand it, only the ones that are children of those who can already not be drained: BBH -> Pomme/Dapper; Philza/Missa -> Chayanne/Tallulah

^^ this means that, like Foolish, Leo has infinite soul energy

[chanstopher]

230602 Music Bank ©캥거루찬⁰³²⁵

[justpked]

Got a little confused here like will you write a A/B/O IF or still undecided?

I will. Once I finish designing some UI stuff, maybe characters, and perhaps some background pixel art.

Of course, before all of that comes, Fell Star's update is first.

[chichapalabok]

happy late late late valentines day!! finally got to draw some ritsumika <3

bonus:

the smooch

[terazonokeitafiles]

20240618 🖼️

©️ fin. (fin704)

[dailyexo]

Suho - 231222 'Gyeongseong Creature' OST 'Forever' Music Video

Credit: 1theK.

[quibbs126]

Someone somewhere made a post talking about how the symbol on the leaked Cookie’s chest and Fire Spirit’s symbol are similar but flipped, and then someone else in the comments was like “maybe Fire Spirit was originally from the Golden Cheese Kingdom?” and I’ve been thinking about that

[lldw]

[240420] Lee Dong Wook The Good Man Filming Update (Coffee Truck)

Lee Dong Wook's Thailand Fanclub sent a coffee truck for his filming of The Good Man! Dong Wook took some pictures, signed the banners, and spent some time choosing what to drink!

🐰 “Would you like a drink?” 🧒🏻 "Oh yes... I was trying to choose 🥺.. I'd like that strawberry yogurt!" He came out and said to the Imoi team: 🧒🏻 "The strawberry yogurt is so delicious🥺!! Croffle is delicious too.. Oh, the strawberry yogurt is really delicious..!” It was actor Lee Dong Wook who praised us and sincerely signed the banner ! So sweet!!🙈

Full original caption under cut.

🐰서포트요정 이모이가 <착한사나이>팀을 응원합니다🐰

타이 팬분들께서 다시한번 이동욱 배우님을 응원하며 애정가득한 커피차 선물을 보내셨습니다 :)

상기큼한 과일박스와 이동욱 배우님이 좋아하는 간식들, 크로플 그리고 배우님과 배우님 스탭들을 위한 쿠키박스까지 잔뜩 준비해주셨습니다 :)

잔뜩 준비된 상에 너무나 좋아하시는 스탭분들🥹 이모이가 에쁘게 세팅완료하고 맛있게 전해드렸는데요!

소문듣고 나오신 이동욱 배우님 :) 이모이팀에 인사주시고 귀엽게 ✌️하시고는 사진도 잔뜩 찍으셨답니다!

음료 종류가 가장많은 소울메이트 음료인지라 한참 메뉴를 고르시던 배우님

🐰 "배우님 음료 드릴까요오~??" 🧒🏻 " 아 네..고르고있었어요🥺..저 딸기요거트 주세요!"

배우님처럼 상콤상콤한 이모이 딸기요거트를 주문하셔서 재빠르게 만들어드렸답니다 :)

로투스 캬라멜 크로플도 잔뜩 챙겨가시고 배우님을 위해 준비된 간식들도 아무지게 챙겨가신 후

한동안 음료와 간식을 드리던 중

팬분들의 배너에 사인을 하러 나와주신 이동욱 배우님😭 연속된 촬영이라 다시 못나오실 줄 알았는데 팬분들께 감사인사로 사인을 하기위해 나오셨다지요😭😭 나오시며 이모이팀에

🧒🏻 " 딸기요거트 너무 맛있어요🥺!! 크로플도 맛있고..아 딸기요거트 진짜 맛있어요..!"

칭찬하시고 정성껏 배너에 사인을 해주시는 이동욱 배우님이셨답니다! 다정해!!🙈

배우님은 팬분들의 응원으로 팬분들은 배우님의 감사인사로 서로서로 애정으로 가득차는 이모이의 커피차 현장이었습니다❣️

#착한사나이#이동욱#이성경#류혜영

#이모이#커피차#간식차#야식차 #크로플#쿠키박스#coffeetruck#snacktruck#trucksupport

[getvalentined]

I can't believe Tseng spoiled the end of First SOLDIER in a board meeting because SE and Applibot failed to get their shit together soon enough for anyone to have the chance to play the events to which he was referring.

I'm so glad they skipped those FS story updates to shove Yuffie down our throats (even though the OG has been out for 26 years) instead of making it possible for players to know what was going on in Rebirth by updating the only new storyline in Ever Crisis, which is apparently integral to the storyline in Rebirth!

This is so fucking stupid.

[altocat]

When's the new chapterrr

Should probably be the week after next. They said mid-January.

I swear to god if they update OG instead to coincide with Yuffie being added I'm going to break something.

[ask-firespiritcookie]

Royal he just got home!!! at least give him time to sleep before talking to him!

Royal: Fine then. I can tell you had an...eventful night and you are exhausted. Proper rest is important. I'll leave you to it.

Knight: ...Thanks...

[The Next Day]

FS: When did I get home??? What time is it??? Why am I on the couch??

? There's a note on the table. Maybe that will explain it?

FS: ...It's such a good drawing though. I guess they didn't completely abandon EVERYTHING they learned in heaven.

Well, Devil clearly doesn't want to hang out so...

[One Flight to the Royal Castle Later]

Knight: What? What are you gawking at???

FS: I...I just haven't seen you wear that outfit in a long time. I think the last was...when you had long hair.

Knight: Well, today is a "special occasion". Not that I think I should dress up like this for it, but it's what he expects.

FS: Special occasion? He? What's going on?

Knight: *heavy sigh*

My brother came back.

[EVENT START: Family Gathering]

[justpked]

'Asol will never let you escape his grasp.'

Why do I feel... a strange subtext here?

Don't worry bout. Totally not me, planning a certain route, that requires the Harbinger to do one thing, that'll totally not backfire ahaha-

[fallen-savior-mmz]

Fallen Savior Chapter 3;

As long as he's safe...-

X stood by Zero’s capsule, watching him as he slept.

The last conflict he had had with Omega left him needing longer repairs than normal, and their opponent would not wait for Zero to recover.

X knew what he had to do, but now being faced with the task at hand, he was having trouble finding the courage to do so.

“Axl, I’m sorry to ask you to do this.” X started, still looking down at his sleeping husband, his new armor looking so different than he was used to, yet still somehow fitting. 

Even with almost an entirely new body, he was still Zero.

“But you need to take Zero and run. You have an hour, gather everything you need, anything you absolutely have to take with you. You can’t stay here, and neither can he.” X finally looked to Axl, the young hunter staring in shock at him.

“X, are you crazy? Omega will kill you, and if he doesn’t, the Dark Elf will. You can’t stay here by yourself!” Axl exclaimed, incredibility written all over his face.

“There’s a chance that the Dark Elf could possess me, and use me to destroy everything. Zero is the only one who could stop me at that point, and I won’t be responsible for everyone’s deaths like that. Yours included.” he turned to face the reploid that he called family.

“I can buy you and Zero time to get away, to hide so Zero can repair himself, and so you can repair yourself too. But you have to leave now Axl, find somewhere remote, somewhere far away. You can’t tell me where you go, they could use me to find you. Leave here and save yourselves.” X finished, his heart breaking with every word.

Axl put a hand to his head, trying desperately to think of a way out of leaving, “X, I can’t leave you here, you’ll die! There’s gotta be another way, when Zero wakes up we can-” 

“AXL, THERE’S NO TIME!” X’s shout startled the young hunter, staring wide eyed at his father figure.

With a shaky breath, he walked forward, hugging Axl against his body.

“Axl, I’m not commanding you to do this. I’m not asking as your mentor, your leader, your father. Nothing like that. I’m asking you as your friend. Please, take Zero and hide, don’t return until it’s safe.” X stepped back, looking into the young reploid’s eyes.

Axl’s eyes watered, but he nodded, stepping towards Zero’s capsule to begin getting it loaded onto a transport for them.

X turned to leave, unable to watch the two people he cared about most in the world get sent away.

“X, what about you?” Axl called after him, his voice uneven as if he was trying to keep from crying.

X straightened his back, pulling himself together before turning to look at Axl one last time.

“As long as you both are safe, I’ll be fine.” he spoke with conviction, willing to do anything to ensure their safety.

As long as he’s safe.

-------------------------------------------------

X cried out as he slammed into the ground, his armor sparking and melting where Omega’s plasma saber had sliced him.

The reploid with his husband’s face grinned wildly, holding his hands out to each side.

“X, why can’t you see what I’m doing? I’m trying to save you! Every single being on this planet is capable of sin and evil, you all cause pain and suffering!” Omega spun around, facing the setting sun.

X tried sitting up, his body protesting as he did. He just had to keep Omega monologuing long enough for his self repair to kick in, give him time to escape.

“If I kill everyone, no one can hurt anymore! You won’t hurt anymore X, I can free you!” he looked back at his opponent, his face split with a smile of pure glee.

“I AM THIS WORLD’S SAVIOR, X, I AM YOUR SAVIOR! I AM THE MESSIAH! LET ME SHOW YOU A GLIMPSE OF THE WORLD I HAVE ENVISIONED!” Omega called out to the sky, his head tipped back as he laughed.

The Dark Elf revealed herself above him, spreading her “wings” and opening her eyes.

X watched in horror as she opened her mouth, her scream piercing through his head. Everything felt like it was on fire, the pain so great that he thought for sure it would kill him.

He didn’t know when he had lost consciousness, merely realizing it when he finally opened his eyes.

Omega and the Dark Elf were gone, X was laying on his side in the dirt and rubble of whatever city this had used to be. It was well past midnight at this point, judging by how dark it was.

With a groan, X sat up, unsurprised to find his body protesting any movement at all.

“Alia? Are you there? I need a status report, where did Omega go?” the android pulled himself to his feet, his head throbbing from residual pain.

He trudged forward, not heading in any particular direction. He just needed some shelter, to get himself repaired a bit while he waited for evac.

X waited for a response, but was met with silence.

“Alia? Come in Alia, I need help.”

Nothing.

Panic began to rise in his chest, Alia was always there when he called!

“Maverick Hunter HQ, please respond, I need assistance.”

Silence.

X shuddered, his panic getting harder and harder to push down.

“....X….come in X…”

A voice came over his comm, not Alia, or a voice he recognized, but a voice nonetheless.

“Yes! Yes, I’m here, please, I need a report, what’s going on?” X was almost breathless with relief, leaning against some shattered remains of a wall.

“X? Oh thank god, we need help! Omega did something, we’re getting reports of mass casualties!” the mystery navigator sounded tearful, their voice breaking over the radio.

“W...what do you mean mass casualties…?” X’s words shook, panic taking hold of him again.

This couldn’t be happening. 

Omega’s words rang out to him, letting X see a glimpse of his world.

Was this what that meant?

“Hunter casualties are at ninety five percent, they’re all gone, they’re all dead! The commander, all the navigators, everyone’s dead! We’re getting reports of civilian casualties too, the numbers won’t stop going up! Reploids everywhere are dead!” the voice broke down, sobbing as they exclaimed their horror.

X fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

Dead?

Everyone?

Where was Signas? Or Alia?

Did this person really say all navigators?

“What’s the percentage of casualties all together…” X whispered, unable to make himself louder.

There was silence over the line for a moment as whoever else was there gathered themselves as much as they could.

“Reploid casualties en masse are at eighty-seven percent, they’re still going up.” The voice was small, clearly just barely holding themselves together.

“X...what do we do?” the voice asked.

X didn’t answer. How could he? What could he say? 

“X….please….”

Axl....Zero...did they make it out? Were they okay? Nothing felt real, it had to all be a lie. Omega and the Dark Elf couldn’t have killed that many people remotely...could they?

In one agonizing moment, X realized that not only could they, but they did. Everyone was dead, they were all gone. Alia, Layer, Palette, Signas, Douglas, Axl…

Zero.

X fell forward and screamed until he couldn’t scream anymore.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Was that a dream...or a memory? He couldn’t be sure. All he could feel was the pain of the memory as he floated in some void of awareness.

X drifted in and out of consciousness, hyper aware of the pain his body was experiencing in the moments of lucidity before blacking out again

He could feel someone touching him, something that made his mind recoil in disgust and rage. He didn’t want anyone to touch him, never again.

X really couldn’t do anything about that however, his body refusing to move. He supposed he would have to handle it once he could move again.

If he could move again. This might be the last time he was even alive enough to care. 

Only time would tell.

He drifted back out of consciousness.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Damn...that kid looks rough, is he the one you pulled out of the ocean?”

A voice woke X this time, his pain receptors flaring up to remind him that he still was very much NOT okay.

“Yeah, he is, and I’d show a little respect, Doigt, that’s no kid. That’s Mega Man X.”

Another voice, this one much closer. He must be the one touching X, another fact he was being made unfortunately aware of.

“Holy shit...that beaten up reploid is X? What about the one we saw makin’ that announcement this morning? Was that not X?”

The first voice, Doigt, sounded astonished. X wondered what he looked like right now to make them not recognize him.

“Cerveau...what does this mean? What are you going to do?”

A female voice this time, she sounded so solemn. 

X wanted to say something, to move, to do anything.

He wanted Zero.

“Z...ze…” his voice was hoarse, words not forming properly. It seemed that the beginning of his husband’s name would be all he could manage, as his mind faded into blackness again.

He didn’t hear his rescuers' responses.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

X’s eyes blinked open slowly when he woke this time, adjusting to the light directly above him. He didn’t feel as immediately panicked as he had when he woke on Weil’s lab table, but the fear was still there.

He turned his head as carefully as he could manage, trying to gauge his surroundings in case he needed to make another run for it.

He was met with a reploid’s face looking back at him, having the appearance of a middle aged human.

X grimaced for a moment, trying to get the pain in his head to dampen for a moment so he could attempt a conversation with this person.

“Well, good morning to you too.” the man huffed, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“What are you...doing to me…?” X’s voice was scratchy, either from trauma or misuse, he didn’t know.

“Saving your life, trying to put your organs back where they belong.” the man spoke, a note of sympathy lacing his voice.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say someone was trying to strip you for parts, and while you were still alive.”

X winced, sucking in a sharp breath at the memory of Weil’s hands pulling him apart. The memory felt too fresh in his mind still.

“Hey, shit I’m sorry, that wasn’t very smart of me. Look, my name is Cerveau. I’m an engineer from the lower districts of Neo Arcadia.” The reploid, Cerveau, drew the conversation away from X’s memories, bringing him back to the present.

“It’s fine. Just don’t touch me anymore. I don't want to be touched.” X mumbled, his face still tight from the phantom feeling of being opened up.

“Right, how am I supposed to repair you from here on then? You may be the legendary Mega Man X, but you aren’t immortal, and right now you’re a mess.” Cerveau snorted, looking X up and down.

X pulled a face, not particularly enjoying this conversation.

“I don’t want you repairing me, I want to be left alone. Go away.” X knew he was acting immature, but something in him really didn’t care. He was tired of being nice when he was uncomfortable.

“Yeah, that’s not happening. I don’t care who you are, Rocinolle and I can’t just let you walk around half dead. You need repairs.” the reploid reached for his tools, clearly ready to get started repairing X again.

“Don’t fucking touch me. I mean it.” X seethed, glaring at Cerveau.

“Look, I’m not real fond of you right now either. Your policies on mavericks and what classifies a maverick got some of my friends killed. A lot of reploids really don't care whether you live or die lately, but…” Cerveau trailed off, looking away from X for a moment.

“I can’t in good conscience let someone die when they’re clearly in need of help. So shut up and let me repair you.” He reached again for his tools, but gave pause when he saw X’s face.

“What do you mean by my policies on maverickism… ” X’s eyes were wide as he looked at the engineer, mind racing.

He hadn’t put any rules or legislation into place on Mavericks, he hadn’t done anything like that in over a century, not since the Maverick Hunters were still around.

Something wasn’t adding up, and X had a nagging feeling he knew who was behind it.

“Any reploid found participating in suspicious behavior was to be brought in for questioning and possible retirement under suspicion of maverickism. It’s been happening for a few years now, but it’s been steadily getting...worse…” Cerveau hesitated, watching X’s face morph from confusion to horror to sickened realization.

“Oh my god, you didn’t know did you...you had no idea this was happening…” The reploid sat back, his tools falling from his hands.

X turned to face the ceiling again, tears falling from his eyes,

“I’m such a fucking fool. This was happening right under my nose, and I was so wrapped up in my own pity, I didn’t even notice.” X hiccuped, his body pulsing in pain from the seal and Weil’s tampering.

Both reploids sat in silence, stewing in their own thoughts. Cerveau was the one to break the unpleasant void they had found themselves in.

“Well shit, there goes my justified anger. Guess we’re all fools then.” Cerveau chuckled darkly, moving to stand up again.

“If you won’t let me repair you, let me at least get the tools you need to do it yourself. I tried to patch out whatever virus that was that's tearing up your code, but nothing would work. I just patched the firewall that was messed with instead.” He explained, walking around the room and gathering various tools and pieces of metals.

“Whatever that thing is, it’s nasty. I’m sure you can feel it breaking you down. It’s gonna keep doing that until it either rewrites your code entirely, or kills you. It’s going to cause you a lot of physical pain, but I can help you fix th-” 

“No. I can’t mess with it more than you already have. I’m the only thing keeping her at bay. I’ll survive until I can get the original code back.” X interrupted Cerveau, sitting up and reaching for a soldering iron.

“You idiot, did you not hear what I just said? It’s going to kill you, after putting you through hell and back. Is that what you want?” The engineer grumbled, pushing the equipment closer to X and turning it on.

“Yeah, I heard you, I just don’t give a damn right now. I just need to focus on getting back to the sanctum and fixing all of this.” X grunted, beginning to solder down the wires in his arm, one that had been shredded by the grenade. The wounds looked so old, hadn’t they just happened a day ago?

“How long has it been since you found me in the ocean?” X asked, wincing as the metal and wires began fusing. It wasn’t the first time he had done this, but considering the amount of pain he had been through recently, and the Dark Elf’s influence still harassing his code, he really didn’t find himself caring too much about the sting of heat and metal.

“It’s been about seven months, I honestly thought we were going to lose you there for a while.” Cerveau faced away from X, searching for something.

X paused, processing the absurd amount of time. Seven months? Had he really been gone for so long?

“I’ve...been gone seven months? And no one’s noticed my absence?” He turned to face Cerveau, his mind racing.

In all that time, the Dark Elf’s seal remained closed, how had Weil not busted it open at this point?

“They have a very convincing body double for you, X.” The man shook his head, his own world view being thrown.

“That bastard...I hate him.” X’s voice was dripping with venom, anger flowing through him. Weil truly was something else, and X wasn’t sure how much damage he had let the man get away with at this point.

“We’ll worry about that later. Since you won’t let me help fix you, and I’m guessing you won’t let Rocinolle help either, the least I can do is craft up some new armor for you. You can’t be walking around naked like that.” Cerveau stood, walking towards the door.

“Don’t make it white...I hate white.” X called after the engineer, earning himself a chuckle.

“What, should I make it red? Like the legendary reploid, Zero?” Cerveau called back, looking over his shoulder. X felt his whole body tense up, his husband’s name something he couldn’t say out loud.

“Don’t. Don’t say his name.” X’s voice was barely above a whisper, his hand clenched tightly around the soldering tool.

“Make it blue...I like blue. I miss it…” he wouldn’t look at the engineer. Tears dripped down his cheeks, landing onto his bare lap.

“You got it, blue it is. Your hair is really long too, do you want Rocinolle to cut it for you?” Cerveau’s voice was soft, clearly taking the hint that Zero was a big no-no subject to X.

“No, I want it to stay long. Thank you though.” X reply was final, willing his tears to stop so he didn’t make more of a fool of himself

Cerveau said nothing as he left the room, closing the door to his lab with a quiet click.

X put his tools down, reaching up with his one functioning arm and wiped his tears away.

I swear, I won’t let you make me cry over you anymore Zero. I will not cry over the past anymore.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dim electronic lights hummed and crackled overhead, the energy crisis becoming more and more dire everyday. The spartan lab turned personal quarters felt cold and unappealing, dirty silvers and muted greys covering most of the room. The only splash of color was the former leader of Neo Arcadia.

X rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the pain there. It had been a while since the last flare up, the Dark Elf continually finding ways past his firewalls.

He hoped that nothing would happen today, their last few missions going a little rougher than he had intended.

Cerveau and Rocinolle had done a fine job creating new armor for him, his chest covered in a deep blue vest with an X on the front. His greaves and gauntlet-like armor had been replaced from that irritating white to rolling deep indigo. 

X was grateful that his helmet had once again survived the changing of armors, only slightly changed to remove the wings that Neo Arcadia had put there. He had made it a point as well to let his hair stay down, the long black locks drifting down between his shoulders. His bangs were so long that they fell from the front of the helmet, falling over his nose and peeking out from the sides of his face.

It felt right, donning blue armor again and letting his hair fall where HE wanted it to.

He stood, looking around the room. 

Maybe it was silly, for an ancient hero like X to have formed a resistance group against the people he was supposed to lead, but Neo Arcadia had forced his hand.

After months of recovering, gathering supplies and rescuing humans and reploids alike, he now had a safe haven for anyone fleeing from Weil and Neo Arcadia’s tyrannical ways. X’s departure from the city had opened the floodgates for even stricter and crueler rules against Reploids, to the point now where even some humans had begun to question the shady behavior.

X shook his head. There wasn’t really anything he could do to change that right now, his main concern was getting people out and getting them the help they needed.

Cerveau had begrudgingly become somewhat of a field medic, assisting Rocinolle in keeping any refugees healthy and in working order. Doigt...helped when he could, X found him more useful in helping run supplies through the base than at Rocinolle’s side. He was a fine budding engineer however, and definitely helped keep Cerveau from drowning in projects, X being his constant headache.

X regretted letting some reploids pick up weapons, but they needed to defend themselves, especially on rescue missions and raids. Young men like Colbor and Milan helped him with missions. It made him sick letting them fight.

He used that anger he felt as fuel to push through the pain of the Dark Elf and his still-healing body, determined to save as many people from his mistakes as possible.

With a huff, and an adjustment of his vest, X retrieved his buster from the table of his room.

He strode briskly through the hallways, lights flickering and the smell of dust filling his nose. Few reploids scurried around, attending to their own tasks to keep the Resistance base in working order. The single elevator in the middle of the base led out to the surface and below to the engine room.

X selected the latter, letting the mechanism lower him deeper into the base. If he wanted to, he could slide down the walls of the elevator shaft, letting the boosters in his legs help him descend faster like he did when he was younger. The thought instead left his legs aching, grumbling to himself that he was too old for that kind of crap.

The elevator stopped with a metallic groan, the doors opening with a squeal. X sighed, he supposed he’d have to look at that and make sure the damn thing wouldn’t fall apart with some unfortunate reploid still inside. 

He strode through the engine room, looking over the supplies, doing last checks before their mission. A young woman walked up to him, her long brown hair pulled back by a red headband.

“Master X, I have the latest information from the scouts, the refugee targets are three reploids, one child repoloid and a human girl.” The woman spoke, reading out from a small datapad in her hands. 

“What? A human girl? Why would a human be with a group of reploids to be executed?” X faced the woman, his brows knit in confusion.

“I don’t know, she was seen holding the little reploid girl, and she appeared to be trying to protect the other reploids. One of the Four Guardians apprehended her, according to reports.” She shrugged, looking distraught at the mention of the Guardians.

“Thank you Rouge, I appreciate the reports. I’ll be heading out soon.” X watched her leave with a dip of her head and a look of gratitude on her face, wincing at the subtle spike in pain in his body.

“And when you return, I’m taking another look at your back, Master X.” A voice chided behind him.

“Cerveau, I’m really not in the mood to hear you lecture me about this again.” X grimaced, turning to face the man as he walked out of his lab, Doigt trailing behind.

“Regardless of whether you’re in the mood or not, Old Man, you are still healing, and pushing yourself like this will only get you killed. After this mission, we’re looking at your back again.” Cerveau crossed his arms, the only one in the entire base brave enough to talk to X like that.

Probably because he had basically brought him back from the dead.

X sneered lightly at being called ‘Old Man’, but let it slide.

“I’ll get to my back when I damn well please, Cerveau. And if it kills me, then good, maybe then I can rest for a while without someone breathing down my goddamned neck all the time.” The android sassed back, turning and walking back towards the elevator.

He could vaguely hear Cerveau insult him before the door closed, Doigt waving goodbye and smiling sheepishly next to the engineer’s angry shouts.

X knew Cerveau was right, but he couldn’t really stop to care about himself now. There were too many innocents suffering because of his mistakes, and he would fix them even if it put him in the ground.

The elevator rode up the shaft, taking him to the Trans-Server room. When it opened, X made a note in his head again to make sure to look at it at some point when he got back and moved away from it.

Milan, the ever faithful young man, jumped up from his spot on the floor, the other reploids following suit, when they saw X step out.

“Commander X! We’re ready to deploy, Joan already gave me our report.” Milan trailed behind X, going over their own details of the mission they had received. 

X was reminded momentarily of Tria, walking him through their patrol route before being murdered in cold-blood in front of his eyes. That wasn’t a fun thought to have before starting another mission.

“Thank you Milan. I want you and your squad to deploy first. I’ll follow behind and get to the captives. Keep them busy.” X spoke, his buster humming as he prepared it for battle. He didn’t look Milan in the eyes as he gave him his orders, best to keep him at arm's length.

Milan nodded, signalling to his other squadmates to head through the Trans-Server. He watched them as one by one they deployed into Neo Arcadia’s holding cells, ready to engage with his city as ‘terrorists’. 

Once all of the reploids disappeared, X stepped forward, readying his buster. With a sigh, his boosters in his legs hummed to life, ready to dash immediately as he arrived.

“Transfer!”

A beam of light struck the android, and in a split second, he was gone.