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treepan0 · 9 days ago

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For funsies ZX themed bonus chapter I made for Slick

Word count: 2,126

warnings: none this time :)

Four hundred years have passed since then, a lot of things have changed in that time. By then Slick had gotten Vile repaired again, sadly it was too late to enact revenge on X and Zero. the ruler of neoarcadia had been killed off, and Zero had long since turned into a comet in the sky when they tried to head for him. On top of that Sigma had been killed, not that it mattered much to Slick. Seeing a mechanical ring in the sky Slick saw bigger chunks fall down, curious about what’s going on he dashes over to where they should fall. Just barely catching the two forms, they’re small, almost looking like teenagers. Neither is awake one in purple and red, the other white and blue the first thought that crosses his mind is how they reflect and contrast each other. Siblings perhaps? He’s gentle when he sets them down, taking a repair kit out of his subspace to do some quick repairs. The damage is pretty bad, but they shouldn’t struggle to recover if they don’t move around too much.

Once the worst of it is repaired and the young reploids have stopped bleeding, Slick gently picks them up and takes them into the cave he and Vile have been hiding in. Gently he rests them on top of blankets he lays on the ground, it’s not much but it should go for now. From there Slick can only wait for the two siblings to wake up, or for Vile to get back first. He takes the rest he gets for a few moments, since he’s sheltered from any harm once more. Vile makes it back to the cave first and wakes Slick gently, who awakes with a stretch and a yawn. “Why are there kids here?” having the digital imitation of a face return and replicating blinking his eyes open, Slick looks to Vile tiredly. “They kind of fell out of a giant ring shaped ship thing in the sky, I couldn’t bring myself to leave them alone for some reason.” Giving a hum in thought Vile moves over to Slick and pulls the ex-popstar under his arm, only to aggressively ruffle his knuckles along Slick’s helm earning a laugh from him.

Upon release Slick settles his laughter down, having not expected such affection in that moment. “You act like a complete jerk on the outside, yet deep down you're secretly a softy. And practically like a little puppy that follows me around when I allow you to.” Slick quietly stutters failed attempts of denial, small ‘no I-’s and ‘I don’t-’s that fail to form a complete sentence. “Ahahahaha! You can’t even think of a response to that.” Slick practically feels squished under Vile’s presence, Vile could probably squish him down onto a rock and Slick probably wouldn’t find it in himself to fight it.”I guess I do.” Caves Slick, admitting it quietly in that moment. “WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” “Kid’s up.” the shout from the much younger male, and the comment from Vile practically brings Slick to melt from exhaustion a small “Ugh…” leaving him from it. In turn Vile just laughs once more, before turning to take a seat nearby.

“Technically an old man that saved your life in my case, My name’s Slick.” In turn Slick just looks over to Vile, letting him introduce himself to the two rather than doing so himself. “I’m Vile.” The boy tries to get up and get a better look at Slick, but is pushed down by the blue reploid before he can. “You’re not a Mega man, I can tell. No reploid is put through a punishment like that anymore, the documentation on how to do it has been destroyed.” a title that he never expected to hear again earning a snort from Slick, though Vile watching in the background is still a pretty clear sensation to Slick. “Good, no one should have to suffer like that again.” looking at Slick with wide eyes and a small ‘o’ to his mouth for a moment, the teenager speaks up again.

“You would prefer that?” sighing Slick quietly recounts everything to the younger reploid, the pain and anything else he can say without getting too violent. And eventually the same for his sister when she wakes up, anything to keep them from moving around too much in this stature really. Hearing their own story in turn, Slick moves a little closer to them for a second and grabs a hold of Prometheus first. “Alright, I get it.” Vile moves over closer to the other three, before doing something somewhat familiar to him. There was a time a long time ago where he would make his own weapons and upgrades, so it was a pleasant surprise that the programming hasn't dramatically changed. While Vile moves away once he’s done, Slick remains at their side.

Even though Slick notices that Vile hasn’t left very far, not a word is spoken about it at that moment. A small song finds its way to his non-existent lips, the only comfort he can think to offer in that moment despite having not done so in so long. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you, oh please don’t take my sunshine away.” the first lullaby that comes to mind, one he sung to himself all those years ago to relieve the emotion that flooded him back then. “ The other night, dear as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms. When I awoke dear, I was mistaken, so I hung my head and cried.” static licks his face once more, scanlines visible again in that moment.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you, oh please don’t take my sunshine away.” No way Slick would ever admit why that was the first song he thought of, was that specific old human lullaby. Feeling a grip on his wrist, Slick looks down at Pandora curiously. “Why would you sing to us like that?” the false digital eyes of his face widen for a moment, the question was not something he expected to hear and it concerns him a little. “I think I severely underestimated how awful your dad was, if the bar is that low. It’s already pretty obvious that your relationship with him wasn’t great with how you spoke of him, but your confusion over a simple lullaby shows how much I underestimated it.” thinking about it, yeah no he’s keeping these two by his side.

That man be damned Slick will use everything Vile and Sigma taught him to maim him if he has to, no way in hell is he letting Albert take his kids back Slick is stealing them now. “You keep them and the responsibility is on you.” “Okay!” That response is so quick and eager it causes Vile to jump a little, but he straightens out quickly so Slick hardly notices. With that Vile gets up to leave the cave, leaving the other three alone again. “Where’s he going?” turning back to Prometheus Slick allows a smile to display on his fake face, trying to appear as harmless as possible. “Likely to go start up a fight.” Prometheus tries to get up, only for Slick to push him back down again. “Take the time to rest please? You two can ask to join him when you're done healing.”

Groaning in frustration the two just comply for now, though neither fully trust Slick at the moment. Healing takes them a long while but Slick takes the time to make sure they’re properly fueled and taking things slowly, helping them recover faster not that they realized it until they were done healing. Having someone fuss over them like that was entirely new to them, the kindness so foreign they're not entirely sure about trusting it at all. The complete opposite of how Slick himself used to be, but he doesn’t let it bother him, instead Slick simply remains patient in earning their trust.

By the point they’re all healed up, Slick just sits and watches the twins' antics with a smile displayed on his screen, before joining in himself attempting one of his old dance routines from a time lost long ago. While Prometheus' movements are more dramatic, and Pandora’s are more calm yet happy, Slick skate dances around them with a familiar fluid feeling movement, only hindered in movement by what was forcefully changed with his body. There’s a laugh released near them that gets them to stop, with Slick jumping before turning to the source with his mood unchanged. “Hello! They wanna go out and fight now. Admittedly they kept trying to do so early while healing.” still happy and chipper, a complete contrast to all those years ago.

In a way it reminds Vile of just how much Slick has changed with time, and just how much he’s responsible for it. “So wanna take them out later?” sighing Vile just puts the gathered supplies away, before turning back to Slick again. “Alright, another excuse to fight anyway.” The massive grins Vile’s agreement earns from the twins warm Slick’s heart a little, they’re definitely smiles of pure blood lust but Slick can’t help but find them adorable. “I’ll help get things prepared, we can plan some stuff out later.” Responds Slick, practically inviting the twins to help formulate a plan of attack in the process. “You think he’s still out there, don’t you?” A question that Slick more than knows the answer to, years of experience with Vile made him easier to read. “He’s definitely out there somewhere despite all the time that’s passed, I can feel it.”

Looking at each other for a moment, it’s Pandora that decides to ask. “Who exactly?” a question both the twins had, with far less familiarity and time spent with the two to know. “X...” responds Vile saltily, as if it were bile in his throat. “And if we’re lucky, perhaps Zero as well.” It's then that the dots connect for the twins, dots neither expected to connect. “The model ZX Mega men… He did say Model X holds the cyber elf of X, so likely with a name like Model Z for the other…” Slick turns to the two curiously, that was the second time he’s heard the two use that title to refer to someone outside of X. “Okay, you two have a lot of explaining to do, that’s the second time I’ve heard that title used for someone outside of him.” points out Slick, confused by the mention for the second time.

“Alright fine, the man you have been talking about is a biometal now, a small mechanical being that hosts the cyber elf or soul of warriors that have died long ago. A biometal can then be used to mega merge and take on the armor and abilities of that warrior, with varying drawbacks. Those who can mega merge with a biometal are called revived warriors or revived heroes, and often referred to with the title of mega men in turn." The explanation earns a hum from them both, just processing how much everything has changed with time. “So the title has an entirely different meaning now, shouldn’t change your goals and desires though.” adds Slick in response, turning to Vile, who just sighs at the complete change. “So our worst enemies are fused with a kid now?” Prometheus holds up two fingers “two other teenagers but yeah.”

Groaning in annoyance Vile looks over to Slick, who just shrugs. “I don’t mind the idea of you taking out Zero in the process, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t found it appealing for a while.” Those words get Vile to freeze for a moment as it’s the first time he’s heard Slick admit that, and for the longest time he assumed that Slick’s hatred of Zero meant he wanted to be the one to take Zero out, especially with how he reacted to the news all those years ago. “Though I’m pretty sure it's because of how much you mean to me.” It brings a sense of calm from the initial thought from the conflicting reactions and feelings, no Slick was fine with it because of his emotional attachment to Vile, the same emotional dependence that caused Slick to allow Vile to twist his personality in such a way over time.

“Alright, let’s go.” and with that and having everything ready to do so, all four go outside together for the first time.

#mmx vile #mmx vava #prometheus mmzx #pandora mmzx #mmx oc #reploid oc #mega man x oc #megaman x oc #megaman zx #megaman zx advent

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treepan0 · 11 days ago

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I agree and honestly this is why I love messing with Vile's gender sometimes and love seeing other people do it too, mainly because most of those people that view things that way tend to see characters like Vile as one of the most masculine characters, so Genderbent Vile or similar diversions are a fanfiction thing I low key love seeing every time

Like; buff bully of a lady who likes exploding things and setting stuff on fire? Yes please, I'd like more please

How about more fem presenting Vile? Yes please

Even traits that most would see as more feminine, or not very masculine I low key love

Underlying misogyny in the Mega Man X fandom

Maybe I'm coming across as "too woke" here or reading into things too much, but I'd like to talk about the misogyny surrounding the mmx fandom as I feel it's an overlooked issue .

My first example is the treatment Iris gets in the fandom.

Ignoring the blatant sexualistaion she's gotten over the years, Iris is either forgotten (which I don't fully blame people for actually), treated decently or hated and bashed for.......kinda nothing honestly

You see, Iris suffers from this thing called "treating writing flaws like character flaws." A.K.A. hating characters for what is clearly an out-of-universe problem.

The most common example is that characters (usually female) are poorly written, and fans of the media hate the characters for it. It's made even worse when male characters suffer from the same writing mistakes and get little to no negativity.

You can probably see how this relates to mmx. Iris is very much not a well written character. She barely has a role other than "extra trauma for Zero boo hoo," but then again, X and Zero ALSO aren't well written. They just seem better because you see more of them, but truthfully, you only need a maximum of three words to describe any of these characters.

Fandom misogyny also applies to other female characters, especially in the oversexualisation or complete ignorance department. Another great example of this would be Layer.

In-game Layer is a reserved, calm, collected woman who only really breaks out of that when Zero is around, in which she seems to get awkward, no doubt due to her hinted crush at the man. Even then she doesn't act all that different.

In a lot of fanon interpretations, though Layer seems to be sexualised and even demonised despite her barely contributing to the games. Granted colourisim also plays a part in that not only in fanon content but in canon media as well. Layer is the only black character in the X series, and she is by far the most sexualised, no doubt also contributing to her fanon depictions.

Another chatacter I'll mention in relation to underlying misogyny in the fandom is one you might not expect.

It's X.

Yeah

X suffers from this thing in male characters especially, where a desire for peace, benevolence and a dislike of violence, or any indication of emotions really, are seen as weak, soft, or you guessed it, feminine traits.

These type of characters are then often infantilised, fetishised, and generally misrepresentation in fan made media.

(It's at this point I would like to state there is nothing wrong with soft or weak or feminine male characters on their own)

X very much suffers from this, as despite fighting several wars people still portray him as a wimp. Even in the Zero games which is honestly kinda absurd to me?

Speaking of the Zero games, this post ia about mmz, so I'll keep this brief, bit there's also a lot of weird stuff when it comes to female characters in that fandom aswell, mostly sexualisation. For Fairy Leviathan, even though I don't like it and think it sucks, I can at least understand it. She does seem to have the maturity of a young adult and is almost flirtatious in her appearances. However, I can not say the same about certain depictions of Ciel, who is a confirmed CHILD. She's 14 in mmz 1, and she's 16 in mmz 4. No excuses.

Well we've come to the end of this rant where I'd like to say that there is nothing inherently wrong with ooc depictions of characters. People are allowed to have fun and play around with characters they enjoy. That's not at all my problem.

My problem is when fanon is treated like canon, to the point where fan made contet is treated as official information which ofc leads to a lot of confusion, misunderstandings and it'd honestly just plain annoying.

There's also problematic aspects like misogyny, racism and others, which I mentioned previously. To anyone with half a brain it should be obvious why those are bad things.

Anyway I saulte for making it the end of this thank you for listening to my ultimately not that clear way of presenting things

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