Set in Zone 3 just before the battle with Enoch. Heacanon and worldbuilding. Semi-experimental fic. Ace World. Aro Zacharie.
WARNINGS! for violence, apocalyptic scenarios, talk about a destroyed world, talking about sex/masturbation.
SPOILERS for the entire game.
OFF (c) Mortis Ghost
000
Zacharie zipped up his pants and turned to the door, only to find The Batter standing in the doorway to his makeshift shop.
"Buenas, amigo," Zacharie said, leaning against the plastic counter. It was neon orange—all colors were neon, now, of course. Even Zacharie had faded to monochrome. Still, he liked the idea of having a real shop with a roof over his head and shelves to store items on and cash registers to settle credits in. The life of the obligatory video game item merchant was rife with longing for… well. Profits and investments. But he would enjoy having a physical store for however long he was scripted to have this one. "What can I do for you?"
"What were you doing?" asked The Batter. The Batter had been born monochrome. There was nothing faded about him. Just a very stark sort of man.
It was probably foreshadowing.
"What was I doing when?"
"Just now," said The Batter, "What were you doing when I came in?"
"Oh! Masturbating," said Zacharie. "It's an old world thing. Don't worry about it," he waved his hand and pulled out an old sweater he had long worn tired and outgrown to clean his other hand and the mess on the floor. Real soft cloth was rare now. He wouldn't ever let his money go to waste by not reusing his clothes for cleaning supplies when necessary.
"'Master baiting,'" said The Batter. "What."
Alpha and Omega whirled around The Batter's head, echoing his confusion.
"It's an old world thing, like I said," said Zacharie, sliding up on the bright orange counter until he sat at its edge.
"Tell me about it," said The Batter.
"Oh?"
"The master baiting. Tell me about it. I have an interest in old world things."
Elipson circled around The Batter's feet, almost touching the floor. As The Batter stepped forward, Elipson wove through his legs, never quite touching or coming close to impeding his steps.
"Why should I do that?" said Zacharie. "Unless you have an incentive, of course."
The Batter paused and then looked down, rifling through his inventory for a suitable payment.
"I have three piles of sugar."
Zacharie hummed. "You're there already? Why didn't you just keep progressing?"
"The Puppeteer is not guiding me at the moment, and so I felt it was wrong to continue my quest alone. I will resume my mission when they return to me."
"Oooh," said Zacharie, "Solo audience. Three piles of sugar it is."
The sugar was situated in the back of the shop in one of the various metal boxes so, once The Batter left, Zacharie could easily pack the piles up and deliver them to Sucre. She always liked surprises.
"So, you suddenly got interested in the old world?" he said, situating himself on the edge of the counter, swinging his legs and knocking his ankles against the hard plastic.
"This isn't a sudden interest."
"You're almost trying to being conversational today. It's a nice change."
"I don't have time for this," said The Batter. "I don't know how long my Puppeteer will be away I will have to return to the last Area. Tell me what you know about the old world."
Zacharie continued to swing his legs. He cocked his head and took a moment to readjust his mask.
"You know Hugo—"
"Of course I do."
"—which is what I just said. But Hugo doesn't know everything about the old world. He's just a little boy, after all. H made this world from the bits he did understand, and anything else that existed was simply there because it had survived. Like the guardians!"
"And you."
Zacharie hummed and brought his hands up to his mask to press on its cheeks. "That requires more compensation for confirmation, mi amigo."
The Batter said nothing, and so Zacharie sighed and continued. "I guess it wasn't that much of a secret. But masturbation was something a lot of people used to do. No one really does it anymore, though. No one's got the urge. It's just kinda something I do to pass the time in between watching the world get fucked. That was a pun…. But I guess 'fuck' doesn't mean that anymore, either."
"I don't understand," said The Batter.
"Think of the Elsens. The sugar junkies. You know?" Zacharie clapped his hands as he found his comparison. "That's how people used to be about sex—uh. Which is basically what masturbation is… in a way. It's complicated. There was this whole spectrum. Kingdoms rose and fell because of it. Because people had a drive to have sex and to masturbate. It was like the Elsen's sugar addictions. But people didn't burn out because of it. No one really ever burnt out like that. There were some who burnt out, but never like the Elsens do. There were no phantoms like the ones now. And no guardians, just temporary leaders."
"It sounds like a good world," said The Batter. He was likely only talking about the lack of phantoms and guardians.
Or perhaps he was pleased by the idea of kingdoms falling down.
"There was also love," said Zacharie, spurred on by the thought. "There was so much love in the world once. You still have love now. Did you know that?"
The Batter shrugged.
"Do you remember your wife?"
It was surprising, how quickly the plastic counter shattered. Zacharie tumbled to the ground, unhurt. Alpha and Epsilon had wrenched the counter apart underneath him and now floated, tamely, on either side of The Batter's head. Omega nuzzled at The Batter's back.
"Yes," said Zacharie, picking himself up and brushing the plastic shrapnel off of his sweater. One shard in particular had embedded itself in the heart pattern and did not seem to want to come out easily. "That. You're really lucky Hugo remembered the love of his birth parents when he created you and your wife. I suppose you're lucky, anyway. I wouldn't know."
"How do you know these things?" asked The Batter, twirling his bat and scowling.
Zacharie tried very hard to not cackle. He hoped his grin wasn't showing through his mask. "I don't know 'these things.' I don't feel love. Not like you do for Vader Eloha—"
The Batter gripped Zacharie's collar and lifted him from the floor effortlessly. "I want to know how you know these things."
"I wish…" said Zacharie, gasping, gripping The Batter's hand and struggling some to stand on his tiptoes, "…that Hugo's father were nicer, honestly. You're kind of a dick—I don't—I don't fucking just know things. I just still don't get why you two got together. I don't get things. Not omnipotent. Just good ears and common sense. Let me go."
The Batter snorted and looked to his Add-Ons—Elipson had taken to the ceiling, reacting to his anger and ready at any moment to let out a barrage. Alpha was similarly hovering above their heads. Omega stayed close by The Batter's side, poised and ready to react.
The Batter released Zacharie's collar, but the Add-Ons did not move.
At least Pepper Steak hadn't started playing. Zacharie knew he would be in for it if that ever happened. Still, The Batter needed his item merchant, and Zacharie needed a… an envoy, he supposed. He clung to his neck and coughed, trying to catch his breath again.
"You do still love her, don't you?" Zacharie said once he had recovered enough to straighten up.
The Batter scowled. "I don't understand why you're asking."
"It's important," said Zacharie. "Trust me, buddy, por favor? Do you still love her?"
"I don't," The Batter said. "I don't know. She has abandoned Hugo."
"So did you, though."
"She was supposed to take care of him in my absence. Now the world has fallen into ruin through her neglect. It must be purified. All of it must be pure again."
"Do you know what will happen when you flip the switch, Batter?"
The Batter stilled. He hadn't been moving much in the first place, but his form solidified more substantially. Even his pixels ceased blinking for a few moments.
"The game will turn off. The world will be pure."
"You know what that means for everyone, don't you?"
"Have you ever seen the purified zones?" asked The Batter. "They are free of strife. There are only hazy souls and echoes remaining. When the game is turned off, even their torment shall end."
"And what about me?" Zacharie said. "I'm flesh and blood. Moreso than the Elsens. I breathe air, not smoke. What happens to me when the game is turned off?"
"If you are frightened, I can purify you before I flip the switch."
Behind his mask, Zacharie grinned. "I'll take my chances with the switch," he said.
"Very well," said The Batter. He took several steps back and Zacharie breathed, slumping against the neon wall. The Add-Ons relaxed and resumed hovering in lazy circles around The Batter's body.
"I am pleased you approve of my plan," said The Batter.
"I never said that," said Zacharie, not moving from his spot on the wall. He was tired and his throat hurt. It didn't dampen his desire to just run his mouth. It had been a long time since he'd been able to talk to anyone away from the Puppeteers. "I just want to know for sure how much I want to live or die in this world. I can't figure it out. It's probably simpler for you. You were made by a little boy. I grew up in the time of bullshit and full emotional ranges. It makes being an asshole fun at least."
"Wait—" said The Batter.
"I know you don't understand," said Zacharie, waving his hand. "Maybe I—"
He was interrupted by The Batter's bat smashing against the side of his head.
Zacharie tumbled to the ground.
The Batter stood above him, bat raised and Add-Ons glowing with charge power.
"How dare you," said The Batter. "How dare you even suggest I don't have emotions. Do you know what it took to decide to fulfill my holy purpose?"
Zacharie raised his hands up to cover his face as the bat came down again.
"Holy shit! I'm sorry! I didn't—"
"I told you how I feel about V—the Queen!" the bat knocked against the side of
Zacharie's head again. He clung to his mask, holding it in place. "I'm sorry. Stop! Shit, stop!"
"I should cleanse you now."
With the third blow, blood smeared across the floor, dripping from beneath Zacharie's mask.
The Batter stilled, bat still in the air.
"What is that?"
Zacharie only whimpered in response. The Batter lowered his bat and knelt down beside where Zacharie was curled. He dipped his fingers in the blood and brought them up to his face, frowning.
"I asked what this was. This isn't an attack."
"My hit points," said Zacharie, his voice muffled from where he was still pressing his mask to his face as hard as he could. His eyes were squeezed shut. "They're my hit points. They come out."
"It looks like meat."
"I'm made of meat."
"Like a cow."
"Yes. But no metals."
The Batter frowned again. He stood. "You old world creatures are strange. Different."
Zacharie laughed from under his mask. The Batter pressed a foot against his ribcage. He felt the rise and fall of Zacharie's chest.
"Sorry," Zacharie said, wheezing under the weight of the Batter's shoe. "Sorry I said that. Didn't really mean it that way. You guys have full emotions, it's just different. Like you said, amigo, different. I'm just tired of being different. I wanna go home."
There was a long silence where nothing but the game's background music and Zacharie's rattling breaths could be heard.
"What do you mean?" The Batter asked eventually.
"I was different back home, too," said Zacharie. "Most people felt love. But at least they bled and… and they didn't turn into monsters when they were stressed out, and at least they looked like me."
"Things looked different?" said The Batter. He removed his shoe. Zacharie curled up tighter against himself on the floor once his ribcage was free.
"Like you can't even imagine," he said.
"Do you look different?" said The Batter.
"S'what the masks are for, hombre. Couldn't keep having the Elsens blow up at the sight of me."
"Let me see," said The Batter. He reached down with his cold, long fingers, and pried Zacharie's fingers one by one from his mask. "I'll give you a fortune ticket once I do."
"Was that a fucking bribe? I sell you your tickets."
"It wasn't a bribe," said The Batter, his fingers slipping beneath the edges of the plastic. "I said I would not purify you until the switch is within reach. This is a promise."
And The Batter pried off Zacharie's mask.
000
A/N
This is part of my series, Asexual Relationfics. Where I write fanfiction that has Asexual characters in it. This was my first time ever writing an Aro character; I'm not sure if there's quite enough in there to talk about his characterization with? But if anyone has any tips or critiques, I would certainly be happy to hear them! I am not Aro myself and so unlike with Asexuality I cannot draw upon personal experience to render a more authentic representation: I'm relying on what I've heard and been told by others who are Aro or have talked about Aromanticism.
I'm… not sure about this. All the sexual stuff in the fandom kept throwing me for a loop because I'd viewed it as a very non-sexual world. So I guess this was born? I understand putting Ace and Aro people into this sort of world and these sorts of characters is kind of a risky thing, and I was planning to have a sex-enjoying Ace person show up next to counterbalance Mikasa, but, uh… I made this thing and I don't know what to do with it now except to just post it. I do like it though; it's certainly not the darkest thing in the OFF fandom, and definitely not the worst butchery I've made of anything.