OCs, AUs, and Overthinking

Dr Cain once told X that the Maverick rebellion was not his fault. If anything, it was from Dr Cain’s own impatience that led to years of war. X needed to grow, to become his own person. But X had to grow up too soon. To solve a problem he didn’t even start.

X could feel his body curl inward as he thought more about Dr Cain. The archeologist had taken care of X before he joined the Maverick Hunters. But Dr Cain was gone now. X didn’t have Dr Cain’s apartment to retreat to as he figured his life out all over again. He didn’t even know if the apartment still existed, let alone if he could afford it. Nothing of the world he was activated in existed anymore. X felt alone.

But that was why he was on this train, was it? He wasn’t truly alone. Outside of the Maverick Hunters, he had her. Barely. But she was still alive. He could find peace in that one fact alone.

The train started to slow as it came to X’s stop. He gathered up his single suitcase and waited for the train to open its doors so he could step out. Waiting on one of the landing platform benches was X’s one constant in this new world- even if she had aged a bit since they last met.

A lump formed in X’s throat as he tried to think back to when they last met. Dopper. He hadn’t seen her since Doppler. It had only been a handful of years, so why did everything feel so different? She seemed to have aged a bit more since then. Her face a bit thinner. A little bit of a laughter line around her mouth as she half smirked at her phone. Did she prefer her hair a bit shorter now, or had she recently gotten a trim? In any case, it framed her face perfectly.

When she finally looked up, her dark brown eyes immediately locked onto his bright greens. That grin caused X to relax in an instant.

“You’re early!” her bubbly voice teased. She gathered up her things before standing up. When she was ready, she looked up at X with a smile that couldn’t be contained. X had to catch his breath. He could feel his heart race the longer they stared at each other. She was the same, yet something was different…

“You okay?”

X blinked. “Y-yeah.” he then nervously said, scratching the back of his head. “I’m just… a little stuck in the past, I guess.”

Aero gave a little pout. “Did I get fat?”

X’s face paled.

“What?! No!” he quickly denied. “You look… You look good. Beautiful.”

“You need to stop telling me that, because soon I’ll start denying it.”

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true.”

Aero grinned. For the first time since leaving the Maverick Hunters, X knew he had a place to belong.

-

Normally, Red liked to know what he was getting into before taking a high stakes mission. For this one, the only information he could gather was that there was a Reploid here. No identification code, no idea what this Reploid looked like, just the intel that there was a very interesting Reploid that needed extraction.

At least he had been able to parse some information about this deserted research center. Built in the first quarter of the 21st century, it likely would have been in operation when Doctor Light was still tinkering with X. An earthquake in the past 20 years had made the area unstable. The earthquake itself burying the research center to a depth unsafe for humans. Even now, Red could feel the small tremors threatening below his feet. He had to make this extraction quick. His sensors weren’t sensitive to incoming tremors, but he had enough understanding to realize that one wrong rock hitting the roof would make this place crumble like tissue paper.

He almost missed what he was looking for by the time he came to it. The status pod was behind a large plexiglass window. When this place was in operation, it would have been where students would watch as experts picked and prodded at whatever was in the status pod. But now? It was exactly what Red was looking for.

To avoid damage, he tried the door first. No dice. He returned to the plexiglass window and gave it a good stare. Red summoned his scythe to slice the plexiglass with two precise swings. The top fourth of the plexiglass fell out of the frame easily, leaving Red to lift the bottom fourth with ease. In seconds, he was in the room with the status pod, carefully looking the rest of the room over for traps or alarms.

Curious, Red took a peek inside the status pod window. Yep. There was a Reploid in there alright. Dark grey armor with red streaking. A mess of orange hair splayed behind his head like a crown. Red smirked. This kid was going to need a haircut.

Red turned his attention to the status pod proper. He took his time disabling the codes to open the pod. Its door slid open with a hiss. Red looked back at the Reploid. It would be in activation mode soon. Still curious, Red reached inside the pod to touch the Reploid’s forearm.

Newer construction. Already a higher energy reading than a standard Reploid. No weapon in sight. Either this kid was a ticking timebomb in and of himself, or there was something bigger this kid was able to do.

That was when the Reploid’s eyes shot open. Its whole body jerked upright, grip tight on Red’s hand. It turned to him, staring with dead eyes. For a moment -a flicker- Red saw his own face mirrored through the Reploid. Then, as sudden as the moment started, the Reploid fell back as if nothing had happened. Red reclaimed his hand. He stared at it, then the Reploid.

“Fascinating” was all Red could find himself saying.

-

Alia looked at the time Zero had been in the training room and frowned. 12 hours. No breaks. That won’t do. Alia went to the training room console and shut the simulation off. It hadn’t fully offline before Zero barked, “Turn the simulation back on.”

Alia remained firm. She folded her arms in front of her chest as she said, “No.”

Zero let out an exasperated sigh. He couldn’t see her in the console room, but he could recognize her voice no matter how hard he tried not to.

“Alia, that was an order, not a request.”

“And some people eat their feelings, instead of single handedly wasting the training dummy budget.”

“The simulations don’t use physical training aids, Alia. You know that.”

Now it was Alia’s turn to let out an exasperated sigh.

“Zero.”

A grumble. The sound of his saber being withdrawn. Then a door opening and closing. Not long after, Zero entered the console room and shut the door behind him. The glare the two gave each other were equally venomous.

“You need to take a break.”

“I’m getting sloppy.”

“Because you’ve been in there for 12 hours and need rest.”

More glaring.

“If this is about X-”

“This has nothing to do with X.”

Alia cocked an eyebrow at him.

“You do know he planned his exit long in advance.” Alia then told Zero. “Gate was the last straw. Your DNA being used to harm others again. The implication that the world could finally breathe after all of Eurasia’s cleanup. X knew this was the time to leave. To better himself outside of the Maverick Hunters. And what did you do?”

Zero looked away from her. His face sour.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“You told him that he was weak. You told him that he had to fight a war he never wanted. That he hated fighting in. That you knew he wanted to stop because of his role in it. And you told him it didn’t matter. That this was his destiny. To keep fighting. To keep being reminded of earth’s destruction because someone wants to be the next Sigma. Of someone reviving Sigma. Of the possibility to lose you again. What’s your count up to now? Three? Four?”

Zero’s face darkened more.

“You don’t know anything.”

“Look up and say that to my face.”

He couldn’t.

Alia continued to glare at him for another minute more. Then she decided she was done with his moping and grabbed Zero by the hand. He finally looked at her again- scorned. Annoyed.

“If you won’t take a break, I’ll make you take one.” she vowed.

For this, Zero scoffed.

“I’m not going shopping.”

Alia raised a finger obnoxiously close to his face. “No shopping.” she told him. “Paperwork.”

“You know what? I changed my mind. What size are you wearing now?”

Alia offered a small chuckle before leading Zero out of the room. He obediently allowed her to do so. Paperwork was mind numbing, but at the same time, it offered some kind of activity so he didn’t have to sit and think about X for the rest of the day.

What was X even doing now? His only home had been the Maverick Hunters for nearly a decade now. Even if the retirement was inevitable, he had nowhere to go. Yes, Zero could admit that he needed to frame his words differently. But was he wrong? The Maverick Hunters were the only home X had for years. Now he had nothing. He would come back just because there was nowhere for him to go.

Terrible as it was, Zero wanted X back sooner rather than later. The reason why not even he was willing to acknowledge yet.

-

The cafe was very homely. And quiet. X considered dispelling his armor in the event someone recognized him, but so far the only people here outside of him and Aero were the employees and one exhausted college student. No one was going to question his presence here. For that, X was already grateful.

Aero had ordered rooibos for both of them. X contributed by ordering them a little chocolate cake to share. With all the catching up they were doing, the tea had gone cold and the cake had yet to be eaten.

“I don’t know how long you plan on staying, but Komaki Town is really pretty this time of year.” Aero told him with a beaming smile. “If you like walking, I can give you the address of a good nature trail. It’s artificial trees, of course, and it’s kinda bizarre watching it give off this ambient glow, but it’s super pretty. Especially at night.”

“I’ll look into it.” X nodded. “Why Komaki Town, though? I thought you and your grandmother lived closer to the city? Not that there’s anything wrong with this place or anything… I just… am a little confused, I guess.”

Aero smirked. “Too much street cred to be a country bumpkin?”

X nervously laughed, reaching behind his head to absently scratch the back of it. Aero laughed right back.

“I don’t mind if you’re curious.” she said. “It did kinda come out of left field. Kinda serendipitous in its own right. When I turned 18, the babushka gave me the deed to my parent’s old bungalow in Komaki Town. Kinda been living there since. It’s not a bad place. The location and the bungalow. I am a bit lonely working with Doctor Weil, but I make due.”

X nodded. He looked down at his tea cup, his finger absently tracing the rim as he thought of how lucky she was. Even with Doctor Cain -a distant cousin on her mother’s side- gone, she still had her paternal grandmother to rely on. Not only that, her late parents left her a piece of themselves too. She had housing, she had a job. X had to hold back admitting to himself how jealous he was of her.

“Do you… have room for another?”

Aero cocked a bemused eyebrow.

“Not officially.” she said, leaning back in her chair. “Is this an invite?”

X nervously laughed. “Might be more of a plea.”

Aero grinned (she really couldn’t stop doing that around him today, could she?) as she looked him over. Years and years ago, Cain had deduced that her and X were the same age mentally. His excitement over it was how they first met. Even if X’s face hasn’t aged, his demeanor had. At the same time, it was still the same X who confronted her when Doppler defected. The same X she had befriended before then and once even tried to date.

“I have a couch you can crash on. But you’ll need to pick up some chores.”

X’s genuinely shocked expression made her chuckle for a second.

“O-of course! If I can find a job, I’ll even pay for rent!”

“That’s not necessary, but I appreciate it.”

And one day, Aero bemusingly thought to herself suddenly, I might even share my bed with you.

-

“You’re doing great Axl.” Red approved as Axl shot a bullseye at one of the targets. The young Reploid looked over at his mentor with a wide grin.

“You think so?” he even asked.

Red nodded.

“In fact,” he told his protege, “I think it’s time for a little present to mark the occasion.”

Axl couldn’t help but bounce on his toes with excitement as Red went to get a small package he had left on the ground. He immediately stopped when Red turned back around. Even then it was more than apparent he couldn’t keep still.

The package itself was unassuming. Moderately sized and the shade of brown you’d expect from a nondescript mailing package. Red handed it over carefully. Axl’s hands shook as he exercised every bit of discipline he had so far to take the package’s lid off. Inside were twin buster guns, not in any design Axl had seen before.

“They were made just for you,” Red softly informed Axl. “You have an incredible ability, Axl. These pistols were made to help you better call out that ability. Keep them close to you at all costs.”

Axl gawked. He placed a hand over one of the pistols and shivered. These were his. They only belonged to him. To help him with his chameleon powers. When he looked up at Red, it was with a newfound appreciation and respect.

“I will!” he promised. “These babies aren’t going to leave my sight! Not now, not ever!”

Red grinned to himself.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

-

“You’re not as alone as you think.”

Zero was on a mission. A week had passed since X had left the Maverick Hunters. HQ still didn’t feel the same. It was like a light had gone out and no one felt like replacing the bulb.

“I said,” Alia reiterated, “You’re not as alone as you think.”

Even Zero had known Alia was going to mother hen him still, he wouldn’t have chosen her as his Navigator.

“Alia, this communication line is for emergencies and information only.”

“And someone is still burying themselves in their emotions instead of talking about them.”

“Alia,” Zero warned. She still ignored him, because of course she would.

“I wasn’t here when Iris died, nor has anyone told me how you and X handled the situation after. But I can infer. Just… write your feelings or record it on tape, slip it under my door, and I’ll burn it without even looking at it, okay? X leaving has caused ripples all over HQ. It reached primetime news for god’s sake. I know I can’t solve everyone’s problems, but I care a lot about the both of you. I can only hope X is doing well, however I’ve seen first hand that you’re not. So just… talk to me sometime, okay? Or at least sit by me and remember you’re not alone in this.”

Zero paused. Had he really been so unfocused since X left that Alia was that worried? It almost made him feel guilty.

“I’ll… do that. After the mission.” Zero promised. “And now that you’ve distracted me, I need a full survey of the area again. Place priority on any high energy Maverick signatures.”

Alia laughed. “On it.”

since no one's reacted to this yet after 30 minutes after posting, imma assume it hasn't been seen yet, so have this description:

Roxas sleeps as Sora travels through Castle Oblivion. Xion doesn’t know this. What she does know is that she has to work for two while still working out the Keyblade itself. Its inconsistant. It puts her in danger far more than she cares to admit. But she has to pull through- the Organization depends on her now.

Zero doesn’t mourn. X leaving the Maverick Hunters is not something that concerns him. Alia listens to his complaints, although she doesn’t really understand. Zero will never admit to being lonely. Being lonely and afraid is beneath him. But he is- losing a partner like X is a change Zero wasn’t ready to face yet.