It was well known that the greatest fighters in the Guardian organization had long hair, red armour, and used both swords and energy guns in battle. What wasn't well known? Vent and Aile, the two Model ZX Mega Men, weren't the only ones that fit that description. If Legion ever found out just who their third big fighter was, though, then they were in for some serious trouble.
There was an explosion deep within the ship. Even in the middle of the command center upstairs, the noise was unmistakable; Cédre and her new best friend were laughing at the chaos they'd created in the lower deck, their maniacal guffaws resounding throughout the base. Vent and Aile, along with half of the members in their retinue, groaned at the occurrence. In hindsight, letting the trigger-happy, hot-blooded, red-headed gunner meet with their newest member had been a terrible idea.
He wasn't called the God of Destruction for nothing.
"Remind me again why we set those two up?" Aile bemoaned, her long hair still looking a little scorched from yesterday's incident.
"Because," Vent began, "we wanted to introduce him to some normal people to help stabilize his demeanor. Or however Fleuve put it back then."
The scientist in question, short, wearing blue, and with hair gone white from stress and age, not-so-silently whimpered in a corner as several Guardians in the room shot him a dirty look. An impact below deck rattled a console. The idea to have Omega interact with Guardian members in non-combat scenarios should have been fine, after all, meeting normal people should have helped calm down a not-normal maverick, right? Give him some perspective in his life? Unfortunately for them all, Cédre was quickly proving that she was on the less stable side of normal the longer she hung out with their rambunctious recruit. Those glaring at Fleuve let up on him fairly quickly though, because in all honesty, it hadn't seemed like a bad idea at the time.
Key words: At the time. Another explosion echoed down the metal halls. Aile sighed, stood up, and wandered forwards to deal with what was quickly becoming their new normal. "My turn. I got this one, Vent."
Vent collapsed into his chair in relief.
Another blast resounded. This time, the cheers of the Guardians' youngest member sounded alongside Cédre's hollers. Uh oh. It seemed that their resident demolition experts had amassed an audience of impressionable youths (or, well, one particular impressionable youth. Guardian HQ generally didn't have too many kids running around). Seeing as that was the last thing anyone wanted to have to deal with, Aile picked up the pace. She stepped out of the elevator just in time for a fellow Guardian to run for cover, taking advantage of the newly-arrived shelter behind Aile. The elevator wouldn't stand up to a dedicated assault, Aile had to admit, but she couldn't blame the poor guy for trying to put a door between himself and the mess that met her gaze. The reek of sulfur and gunpowder permeated the hall, charcoal smudged over windows and smoke hovering in the air. The gorgeous mid-day sun streamed in through glass panels on either side of the reinforced walls, clouds whipping by as the Guardian HQ, an airship, flew casually across the skies. The picturesque outdoors were a stark contrast to the chaos before her. Aile crossed her arms crossly as she stared down the culprits, "What have Vent and I said about weaponry in the halls?"
Three people turned to look at her, two adults and one child. Cédre, who was sitting on a crate, was the first to catch Aile's eyes. Her guiltless grin all but mocked her superior. Beside her the kid, Sardine, watched the proceedings eagerly, his short hair in disarray from the blasts. Despite that, it was the man in the middle, standing tall with a cheshire grin, that commanded Aile's attention. Platinum blonde hair was draped over his shoulder as he waved a carefree hand towards her, "Weaponry? I have no weaponry."
Aile's eyes narrowed as she stared him down, "Right. Sure you don't."
"Really! I don't. This time it's not on me, I have nothing in hand. See?" He held out his hands which, while covered in soot, were indeed bereft of any tools of war, "I'm doing what you asked. I'm unarmed in the base!"
"Yeah, see? I got his sword, it's all good!" Sardine piped up, happily holding the lit-up O-sabre aloft for her to see.
Aile looked down at the literal child, who was grinning as the magenta blade glowed innocently in his hand, before she turned to give Omega a thousand-yard-stare. "You did not. Tell me you did not give your sword to the one kid we have on base."
"I won't tell you, then," Omega smirked cheekily.
"Dozens of adults, elders, even a few teenagers, and you choose to give a weapon capable of massacring thousands of people to the one and only child we have on this ship."
"And doesn't he look super happy about it? You really should find him some proper playmates though, the runt gets bored way too easily," was the reckless reply.
Aile growled at his flippance. Beside her the dark-haired kid spoke up, "I'm not a runt!" Sardine, greedily holding Omega's energy sword, pouted when all he got in response was a raised eyebrow. Cédre just laughed. Then she whooped as her latest glued-together firecracker abomination went off with a bang loud enough to crack a reinforced window and make the Guardian commander jump a full metre into the air. Well, at least Aile knew who the ringleader was this time.
Omega turned, cheering her on for a moment, before he turned back to Aile as serious as ever. "Speaking about being bored," he started softly, dangerously, and oh boy Aile knew she was in for it, "when was the last time we had a proper spar? …Over a week ago?"
"We can't spar all the time, no matter how much you want to," Aile ground out aggressively, but she could feel her stance faltering.
"Why not? You keep me cooped up in your flying airship, don't let me out on missions unless you're absolutely sure no one can link me back to you, and avoid fighting with me when you and I both know full well that that's the only reason I joined." Omega's eyes narrowed. Aile stiffened, realizing that this whole situation wasn't just another bout of mischief on his and Cédre's part. The redhead herself had smartened up, seemingly realizing the tension building in the room. She took Sardine aside, gently lifting the sword from the small boy's grip as he stood transfixed by the argument unfolding.
"I'm here because you beat me. Because you and your brother, a pair of teenagers, managed to knock some sense into my four hundred year-old skull. I have had a lot of shit happen to me in my life, and the only thing worse than going insane and getting locked away in a cave for centuries was going insane, getting locked in a cave for centuries, and then getting my ass handed to me by a couple of immature brats and their floating belt buckles!" Cédre covered Sardine's ears as Omega continued, his fury coming to the fore, "And then, those wretched kids get their hands on yet another biometal that has my power within it, use it to lark about a goddamn forest because they were bored, and when I finally decide that enough is enough and I'm gonna swallow my pride and ask to train with them, what do they do? Refuse me!" Omega towered above her, maybe not in height, but certainly in presence. His eyes blazed with anger and ancient, unbridled power.
Aile began to regret not bringing the biometals to this debacle. Model X and Model Z would have been great moral support right now, if nothing else. She cowered as she gulped nervously, "Look, I know-!"
"Not once, not twice, not even three times! Five! Five times!" He bellowed in rage, "Five times you refused me, most of which ended up in a brawl anyways, and the only damn reason you relented is because you and your brother, in your infinite wisdom, managed to get four of your biometals stolen. You finally gave me what I wanted, letting me fight with you, but only after you made me promise to work as a Guardian, help you guard your base and play nice with civilians, and suck up to the government. You only gave up because you needed me, and I accepted your terms. Well la dee dah, here I am, upholding my end of the bargain, but where are you? Huh!? Where. Are. You."
On one hand, Aile knew she needed to stand her ground with Omega. The man was dangerous, disturbed, and would take any inch given to him and go a blood-stained mile with it. On the other hand, someone that volatile needed to be kept as calm and content as possible, because woe betide any world where someone called a God of Destruction wasn't kept content or contained. And truth be told? He had a point. Even though he was bloodthirsty, brutal, and downright caustic at times, he was still a person. A person they'd made a deal with.
Aile took a deep breath, then let it out in a long, exhausted huff. "Alright."
"Alright?" Omega perked up, as if surprised at her acquiescence. That lack of trust, the fact that he hadn't expected to be listened to? That alone made Aile feel oddly guilty. (It also made her wonder about his background. No one that batshit crazy could have had a stable upbringing.)
"Yup. Alright. Get your gear, I'll go get Vent."
Omega's carmine eyes lit up with glee at her statement, a complete turnaround of his mood. "Hahahaha! Finally!" He stepped over, yanked his weapon out of Cédre's hands, and practically skipped down the hall to reach the training room they'd recently installed.
Aile growled at the only other adult left in the hall, "And you, Cédre! For pete's sake, stop it with the explosives or you're on toilet duty for a month!" Cédre, properly admonished, scampered out of the way. Aile turned to leave, her justice meted out. The Guardian training room, the place she would eventually head for once she gathered her sibling, used to be a storage room. It had been built extremely sturdily to handle the crates that would have been contained within, crates that could easily be knocked loose if they had to take evasive maneuvers with their airship. Omega's recruitment had necessitated that the room be updated into something else. If the other Guardians made use of it too, well, it certainly didn't hurt any of them to learn a few new battle tricks and techniques. But before she went there, a detour was required first. Aile left for the command center. Cédre, whom she left behind, at least had the presence of mind to look a little chagrined at what had occurred. Sardine giggled to the side, having gotten off scot-free. The female Mega Man slowly made her way back to the bridge, walking with the misery of one sent to the gallows. Vent, who had turned to her with a look of hesitant optimism when she arrived, quickly changed his tune at her dour expression. "Armour up Vent," Aile moaned, "we're in for it today."
"Whatever happened to dealing with it?" Vent asked, though not unkindly. Every Guardian in the room winced with sympathy at what was about to occur. A few left, some to get the med bay ready, others to presumably get snacks to eat while watching the upcoming fight. (Traitors, the lot of them!)
Aile sighed, fidgeting with her hair, "He made a good point, is what happened. Maverick or not, we have been neglecting him. Come to think of it, it's probably been at least three weeks since our last spar, hasn't it?"
Vent paused at that. His face scrunched up as he thought back on recent events, then went blank as he connected the dots. "Oh. Holy. Yeah, you're right. It's a wonder he didn't murder all of us in our sleep."
"He would have been in the right if he did. We did promise him a tussle at least once a week, didn't we?"
"Yup. That we did. …Welp. Time to face the music."
Vent and Aile nodded at each other, went to gather their biometals, and traveled to the training room. Model X and Model Z gave them both a surge of silent support, an action for which both of the ZX Mega Men couldn't help but be glad. Nothing could ever compare to their mental bonds with the biometals (even if, on occasion, Omega hijacked the connection using Model O. Getting mentally photo-bombed by the God of Destruction, on semi-regular occasion, was definitely high up on Aile's "things you don't tell anyone unless you want to prove you're batty" list). The doors to the arena opened with a hiss. Around the perimeter, behind sturdy but see-through barriers, were members of their organization awaiting the match, saluting the duo as they readied themselves for battle. In the middle of the training room stood their foe. Regal, silent, unrestrained, terrifying. Omega smiled widely at them, his grin full of too-sharp teeth. The demon's poise was loose and light, happy as a babe. He smirked at them, "About time you two showed up. Almost wondered if you'd chickened out! Oh well, ware wa messia nari and all that, eh? Ah ha ha ha haaa!"
It was well known that the greatest fighters in the Guardian organization had long hair, red armour, and used both swords and energy guns in battle. There were once two people who fit that description.
Now there were three.
"Gods help us both," Vent sighed.
Omega charged.
Bonus I
The two Model A Mega Men began their attack on Ouroboros. The pair forged ahead, intent on delving deep into the bowels of the maverick battleship in their quest to stop their nemesis, Master Albert, for good. Fire and smoke obscured their exit, the shriek of metal adding to the chaotic atmosphere from where the Guardian base had unofficially 'docked'. The moment Grey and Ashe were out of sight, Aile brought up her communicator.
"Alright, coast is clear. Go nuts."
"Booyah! Whooo!"
Vent merely shook his head in exasperation as Omega barrelled past them, doing as he was told by unleashing all nine levels of hell on his foes. Grey and Ashe weren't the only ones to assault the ship, but they weren't having nearly as much of a blast as Omega was, as evidenced by the volume of his cheers. His giddy hollering wasn't necessary for his own attack on the Ouroboros, sure, but the red-armoured reploid was clearly having a good time and making his foes tremble all the while. The ZX siblings wouldn't begrudge him that. (They did, however, plan to ban the phrase "go nuts" whenever Omega was in the room because, judging by the carnage, that was just asking for disaster.) The mad reploid charged in the opposite direction to the one the two grey-haired teenage heroes had gone, as was planned, so that he wouldn't accidentally take them out alongside whichever poor maverick sods were sorry enough to get within eyesight of him (or within weapons range of him, which was, terrifyingly enough, usually the larger of the two distances).The zany reploid excelled in collateral damage, and the Guardians were not up to letting the kids become part of that.
Grey and Ashe needed all the confidence they could get for this venture. They needed courage and self-assurance if they were going to save the world. They had good hearts, neck-deep in trouble as they were, and Vent and Aile had gone easy on them for a reason. Sure, the ZX siblings could have stepped up to deal with Albert, but it wasn't their fight in the end. It wasn't them who had to earn their stripes and their confidence. Watching Omega go to town, with his heart-clenching laughter and bloodthirsty aura, was not something the two silver-haired youths really needed to deal with right now.
Besides, it was a hell of a good distraction for Albert. What was the Destiny of Destruction to a reploid named the God of Destruction? Suck on that, Albert! It was about time his over-inflated ego got a good trouncing.
Bonus II
"What the fuck."
Ciel, the original commander of the Guardians, had returned. She and Prairie, who had left on a covert mission to find her, had finally come home, despite all evidence seemingly showing that Ciel had met with a horrid end. There was much rejoicing, yells of happiness and shock, tears of relief and joy cascading down many a face at the sight of their beloved, long-lost leader. Yet Prairie had been puzzled by the pale expressions of Vent and Aile, the fidgeting and guilty looks that the two couldn't help but shoot at each other when they thought she wasn't looking. What had happened in her absence? The pink-clad commander resolved to find out the source of their unease, because anything that could cause stress to those two, even during a joyous occasion such as this, was something that needed to be investigated. She resolved to find out… But only once the festivities were over, of course.
Then Omega showed up, and she got her answer whether she liked it or not.
"What the fuck?" Ciel stammered out again.
Omega just smiled. It was a reply all on its own.
Prairie turned to the two Mega Men, "I love you two. I am proud of you. You two have done a wonderful job in my absence despite everything that has been thrust at you. But, I must ask…" And here she pointed at the God of Destruction, whose shit-eating grin was threatening to rip his face in half, "What, in the everloving HELL, did you two do!?"
Vent and Aile turned sheepish, blushing and stuttering and gawking like fish as they tried to explain. Ciel, brilliant commander of the Guardians, a genius whose intellect and kindness were unparalleled, continued like a broken record. "What the fuck."
Omega fell over laughing.