Chapter Text
At some point after the maverick wars started to bubble up, another infection started affecting reploids long before Sigma's rebellion would really kick up. At first X had only observed it from a distance, analyzing how it affected reploids safely in the lab. Some would cough up pieces of flowers, others the whole flower at times as it was small enough. The plants mainly tangled themselves along the reploid's insides, usually their inner fuel systems. Sometimes in more severe cases, it would spread further into a reploid’s systems, making cooling down a lot harder if it got into their cooling systems. Regardless, all they could do was check up on them, and flush out their systems for a bit unless they confessed whatever more tender feeling they were holding deep down. Something he stopped worrying about when joining the maverick hunters originally, as he was more focused on his training at the time. It wasn’t that X saw it as not one of his priorities anymore, but that he saw it directly less and less under the hunters.
It wasn't until after knowing Vile for a while, and realizing his developing feelings for Zero, that he got a reminder of the disease's existence. In the most unfortunate way possible; coughing up flowers of his own into the trash. Soft Purple blooms and pink petals of a different flower, the intact blooms have oval shaped leaves along their stems, and three petals that point upwards; Milkvetch he recognizes. He looks a little closer to the pink petals, they curve out words and are shaped like an oval with the smaller ends leading to a point, but he can't quite recognize the species of lily. He couldn't find it in himself to be bothered to have the flower tested to see the species, instead at the time he got up to continue his tasks.
He had to get out of the hallway before Vile showed up to push him around again, he'd rather not deal with that today or anytime soon. Maybe Zero would like to spend time later, that would be nice. The two of them seemed to be getting closer and closer as of late, and even platonically X enjoyed Zero’s presence. It felt like whenever Zero was around, all of his struggles momentarily fade. Little did he know of the rebellion that would transpire later on, leaving him alone with Zero to face their own unit. A nervous, anxious rookie against far more experienced and confident mavericks. Moments that would end up changing him as a person forever. Moments he wouldn’t be able to just forget.
~×~×~×~×~×~
After Sigma's rebellion the pink lilies stopped coming up from his throat, yet here he sits over the bin seeing the pink lily petals returned next to the Milkvetch, this time they appear a little dry next to the milkvetch flowers. Only for the coughing to start up again, internally he cringes at the sound of it. The pain settling down allows him to look down at what just left his throat, only to be met with more dried up remains of a flower, this time with its dried out state it broke into pieces allowing X to see the flower for the first time. A dried and fractured belladonna lily sits within the bin in front of him. Once a vibrant and attention grabbing flower known for its heartiness, now withered and broken in a bin. it was a strange sight to X, he hadn’t heard of any reploid coughing up decaying flowers before.
It didn't matter at the time, didn't he have something to do over at Doppler Town? X gets ready for that mission, and steps out the door to go meet up with Mac. Eventually at the end of it all, he would end up greeted by Vile once more. Rage had consumed Vile’s mind at the time, X could see that clear as day. Humiliation, hurt, so much pain in that confrontation. There’s a tightness in his chest from just thinking about it, a tightness he can’t really get rid of. It made him feel pathetic, crying over someone who once tormented him; but then again Vile himself said X would likely even cry over a worm if given the chance, and X had to admit he was somewhat right.
And for the most part the lilies stopped once more, while the milkvetch continued. X wouldn't get the chance to tell Zero how he felt until much later, during the nightmare conflict. The moment they were reunited he could help the quieter “I love you” he slipped into Zero's ear. And from there their relationship was allowed to progress, the milkvetch and snowdrops that plagued them both had left their systems. It was such a relief for them both, like a weight had been lifted from their shoulders, and systems X supposes. And with the absence of the belladonna lilies in so long, he assumed that they were completely free of the virus. Maybe they represented something between them both, that was on and off four different points in their relationship. Regardless he felt at peace with Zero by his side, it felt like he could confront anything that came his way.
~×~×~×~×~×~
It had been a long time now since he coughed up any belladonna lilies, yet here he was looking at those very flowers in the trash so horribly withered. Their color was almost lost in the state of decay, he only recognized them from their shapes. The Milkvetch had stopped coming out of his systems when he confessed his feelings to Zero, so X had assumed he was completely clean of the virus. That Zero in turn has been cured, as he stopped coughing up snow drops in turn. Yet he swore he saw Zero cough something in a bin as well, perhaps out of curiosity X decides to go check that other bin. Near the bottom were some decaying poppies, he can't quite recognize any of the colors, their shapes the only thing that makes them blatantly clear. Flowers usually used to symbolise soldiers lost during war, odd. It was clear then, that neither of them were fully cured, there's another out there somewhere.
Only for a mission with Zero and Axl to give him some ideas, as he watched Vile take Lumine hostage. Of all people, why did it have to be Vile that was back again? Though X would have been lying if he said it didn’t give him theories– oh wait that explains so much actually. For now they had to focus on the current outbreak, which it would not be long before they encountered Vile again.
Leading up to the present moment, while making their way through the orbital elevator. “Someone's coming up ahead.” Layer informs him and Zero. “Do you ever get tired of playing the hero, Zero? Always being so nice and kind to everyone else…” Vile descends from above to land in front of them, arms crossed up until his black heels clack to the floor. X readies his buster behind Zero, completely prepared for the inevitable fight ahead. “Do you ever get tired of being Sigma's little pet?” Asks Zero back, a desperate attempt at keeping things positive for the moment.
“Really? That's how it looks to you?” Looking to the side for a moment, Vile clenches his hands for a moment. A small detail X almost misses, there's something underneath the surface.
Coughing for a moment, it’s one of those unpleasant sounding coughs with a slight gurgling sound, so he’s definitely not clearing his throat X mentally notes. Vile straightens himself out, looks back over to Zero and continues. “Everything here at this elevator has allowed the world to keep going on for so long. Do you really think he's going to let go of it so soon? How much longer do you think you can keep fighting?” asks Vile at the ready for the fight, so X and Zero ready themselves as well.
Zero speeds forward to strike, only for Vile to catch his attempted attack.
Electricity cackles across the battlefield, reflecting how he's perfected tools of the past.
“What's the matter, Zero? Cat got your tongue?” teases Vile, only for X to strike him in the side.
Maybe things could have been different, if they took different paths. But for now, X knows he has to focus on the present moment. “Some things never seem to change.” Comments X, more than familiar with this habit from Vile.
Vile blocks the attempted hit and throws a counter attack of his own, moving to sweep the leg at X which manages to land. “The same could be said for you, X.”
Seeing an opening Zero knees Vile in the back of his helmet, helping X get out of Vile’s grasp.
Eventually however the two are forced to warp away from Vile, for the betterment of them all.
The hunt for Sigma continues, they suppose, a very tiring cycle. Another journey that seems to just lead them back to Vile with a new ride armor, as their communications slowly fuzz out sending them both into a panic for a moment.
“So you refuse to stop fighting, huh? Are you that convinced in hope?” Enquires Vile, for a moment X could swear he heard him quietly say something under his breath. But X thinks it's probably him hearing things, with how much it sounds like Vile's talking about missing Zero. “Fighting? I'm tired of having to face you and Sigma every time I turn around, it seems to be a neverending cycle at this point.” Responds Zero, earning a laugh in response from Vile. It sounds forced and pained to X, but for the moment he decides to remain tight lipped about it. “What a waste it would be to end this soon, it's been so long since we've seen each other. Let's have a little fun shall we?”
Vile jumps atop his new ride armor, and readies his weaponry. Here we go again, is the only thought X can muster.
X leaps over the ride armor as Vile dashes over, his systems roaring in his ears. A situation all too familiar to him, but in that moment only one thought comes to mind this time. please don’t die on me this time, Zero.
Let's both make it out alive this time, I don’t want to walk out of here without you. thinking for a moment, X redecides his desires this time. No, I want all of us to come out of this alive, I don’t want a repeat of last time.
X watches for a moment as Zero slashes at Vile, only to move to dodge Vile’s own attacks with the ride armor.
Leading Vile to fly off the armor, breaking the familiar cycling pattern. Running beside Zero, X shoots at Vile as his feet scrape along the floor, he takes a deep breath to calm the sounds of his systems. I wasn’t expecting him to do that! Usually Vile just stays in the ride armor most of the time, and it just has some extra weaponry. But then again, catching people off guard was always his specialty.
Vile’s laughter is clear as day despite all the loud noises in their environment. The metallic walls and floor of their surroundings are starting to feel like a metallic cage, a pair of rabbits trapped with a cat. X shakes his head, Vile’s old habits are just getting to his head.
Each strike leads with the familiar tightness in his chest, but Zero’s presence assures X a little more. Zero dashes ahead golden hair leaving an elegant trail behind him, as he quickly dashes around slashing as fast as possible, giving X a brief window of time to prepare a charged shot.
Both time their attacks to strike Vile at the same moment, rather than attacking separately. Screeching and a crunch sound out making X internally cringe, as it sounds very painful and Vile’s scream just adds to that perspective. That tightness in his chest worsens at Vile’s screaming, when the light fades X can only stare at Vile’s damaged body. It’s a situation he wishes he was never forced back into, forced to take such an action against Vile once more. He never asked to end up this way, it wasn’t exactly a choice for Vile. Yet once again X was forced into more drastic measures for his own survival, and left with that same pain immediately after the skirmish.
He looks badly damaged from the fight, his armor is littered with various dents and cracks. But the worst of it is the hole he managed to bury into Vile’s armor, from his attack with Zero earlier. He feels horrible just looking at Vile crumpled on the floor like this, so frail and weak for once. The world has not been the kindest to Vile over time, and right now that’s even more painfully obvious in the moment.
“Don't feel so lonely Vile, Sigma should be joining you soon enough.” says Zero completely full of himself in the moment, with the confidence boost of that fight. “We did it Zero, let's go.” adds X, as Zero walks through the door he hears it abruptly shut behind him. A soft click rings out, preventing Zero from opening the door, as X turns around. “Huh?” questions X seeing Vile start to get back up again, despite the extensive damage he's taken. Laughter rings in his ears, as Vile charges towards him. It’s then that X’s systems roar his ears once more, as panic sets in for him. Damnit, of course he’d pull a fake out like that. Vile always has a way of pulling a number of emotions from X it seems, an ability that always intrigued X.
“X!” Zero calls out beyond the door, as Vile tackles him into the wall. But what really catches him off guard are the petals that fall out of Vile's helmet behind him, it takes him to realize the combination of yellow rose petals, along with the petals of primroses. The first of which stick out to him the most, sure they're great for platonic feelings and all but that's not why it sticks out to X. Betrayal and jealousy, the second isn't surprising but the first still sticks out in X’s mind, betrayal because it adds to his interactions with Zero a little more. Telling him that he misses Zero like that, but that makes him wonder about the primroses. Regardless he still calls out to Zero for a moment, having not expected this situation to turn out. “Vile?” X looks to that blank visor quieter out of concern, seeing how Vile's shaking slightly above him. The man looks very weak above him yet still tries to hold himself above X, refusing even now to give up.
“Don't pity me.” states Vile leaving X even more concerned, as he watches Vile self destruct. The blast is far weaker than Vile likely intended, X is completely intact from the attempted assault. Perhaps it was selfish, perhaps he didn't want to see this continue for Vile; but despite his better judgement at the moment, X makes a note in his head where he is so he can pick Vile up later. Something tells him there's something going on underneath the surface, that he didn't realize before. There’s something up with Vile, and the curiosity is getting to X.