Chapter Text
Ashe always thought that being a hero was overrated. She was a bounty hunter. She was not a hero or anything special. She ran her fingers through her hair, the light gray hair and sighed. Her new room, at least for now. Meandering around was a different way of life, not one others would prefer. She liked it, though. She was hardened and raised to be like that. Vent offered to have her join a team, offered to have her be a part of something where the people knew how good she was, and she didn’t have to always have good days. Showing off could be so exhausting, Ashe mused as she took off her jacket, exposing a jumpsuit underneath. The jumpsuit was sleeveless, to remove all hinderance on movement. The jacket she wore was baggy, protecting her from the cold, and covering up her scars.
It’s not that she wanted to hide the scars, it was that she wanted to he bright and happy and how others react to her cheery outlook would change if they saw the scars. These weren’t from missions that went wrong or bad nights. She could not remember where she got them. They were remnants from a past that she could not claim. She unclipped her hair and let it flow down, running to the bag to fetch out pajamas and a brush.
“Ashe… phone’s going off” Her Biometric companion seemed to shout in her mind. The bimetal went by A, but since ALBERT was out of the question, she wondered what he wanted it to stand for, she never knew. Ashe ran to her phone, noticed that the number was already recognised as…
“Vent. How did-”
“Blame X. You eat yet?” Vent’s voice rang out a bit breathless through the phone.
“No, but what does that have to do with anything?” She asked. She was extremely confused and was bewildered when he hung up and there was a knock on the door. Ashe looked through the peephole of the door and completely understood why he asked. Vent rushed in and set down a couple pizza’s.
“You wanna tell me how the hell you found me?” Ashe asked, kind of surprised that he was here.
“X’s been keeping tabs on lil’ A.” Vent said, like it explained everything. Ashe blinked and sat down.
“How have you’ve been holding up. I know that losing Z-” Ashe said as she sat down and took a slice of pizza. Vent was about to answer but X responded first.
“It’s not the first time that He’s been lost. We’ll save him.” X said with practiced poise, like he trained himself to give that response. Ashe felt the need to hug him. Vent smiled sadly
“Z was a gift from the man who raised me after. After he died, I kind of treasured Z and the double megamerge that it was because you could feel the partnership that the two have.” Vent’s said in between bites.
Ashe didn't know what to say. She knew what merging with a bimetal felt like. When they felt emotions that the biometal felt and they felt what the wearer felt. Ashe thought back to Biometal A. How would she feel if A sacrificed himself for her. He knew her and megamerge gets her to know him because they literally one. If Ashe lost A, she’d be completely upset, and feeling like a part of her is missing.
Vent sighed. “the other megamen are still in the ocean. Z holds them down there.”
“Z is extremely powerful, but even he has his limits.” X said
Ashe nodded. “So are we gonna get him and release the other megamen? We know what megamerge is like. We can’t rip the biometals away from them.”
“I mean we’ll have to, save him I mean.” Vent said.
“But what about the megamen? I lost my mother during a maverick attack and-” Ashe looked at Vent.
“yeah, I know.” Vent sighed. “We’ll figure something out, kid.” Ashe and Vent say in silence, not knowing what to say. On the surface, hey, they were family, but the ‘father’ had some questionable motives because he left women pregnant, just to have the kids fight in some tournament. He either forgot about her, or he thought that she died.
“Hey, kid, try not to think about it too much ok? Blood doesn't mean much if there's no bond.” Vent said, smiling. Ashe, shouldn't help but smile back.
“So, we’re gonna go save Z?” Ashe said. “This may be fun.”
The two of them looked over the ocean. It was extremely beautiful.
“It’s hard to see that He’s down there.” Vent whispered, quiet and thoughtful. Ashe quietly nodded, and the two megamerged. Ashe had her usual armor on, but Vent had the blue armor on and his green eyes, the only family resemblance that the two had, were dulled, like he was about to cry. Ashe looked at him and offered a hand.
“I'm ok kid.” He smiled sadly. “It’s just that without Z, everything's different.”
Vent transformed into biometal L, and looked at Ashe, raising an eyebrow. Ashe blinked and nodded, putting a hand on Vent’s shoulder and copied him. Ashe flinched at the pain, like her body was getting rewritten. After a few seconds the pain faded and she took a breath.
“Ready, Ashe?” Biometal A asked. She nodded and transformed into a copy of model L. Ashe smiled and jumped in the ocean, with Vent right at her heels.
Chapter Text
The ocean was beautiful. It was blue and clear. Ashe was almost breathless, her green eyes were wide. Vent smiled at her awestruck expression, a rush of nostalgia slapping him in the face.
“Yeah the open ocean is beautiful, but we have a mission to complete.” Vent said, the blue armor clinging to him in a comfortable place, but his eyes were dulled, like he was fighting a wave of grief and anger.
“We’ll save Z, ok Vent?” Ashe said, her voice hardening with determination. Vent nodded and gave her a grin, and Ashe could see how they truly were related.
They swam for miles, looking at the schools of fish that were swimming away in shock and the bigger fish that were watching them go.
Ashe used to love swimming in pools in her downtime between bounty and treasure hunting. She hadn’t done that since she became a megaman. A rock settled in the pit of her stomach at that train of thought. She was ashe, not the bastard daughter of Alfred. Biometal A buzzed in comfort, having sensed her distress.
Vent was lost in thought as well. X was brave and saintly and just fun to be around, but after Z fell into the ocean, X was more withdrawn. He’s said that Z has done the self sacrifices so many times, that he had gotten used to it. Vent didn’t but it. When you mega merge with a biometal, It’s like working with another person, but like reading their soul. X could see his goals, his wishes, his joys and his fears. Vise Versa was also true. Vent could see how much Z’s ‘death’ bothered him.
They arrived at a building that had no business being underwater. It had a huge hole in the side. Ashe grimaced at the taste of rust that was getting through the filter that the Biometal L had helping her breathe underwater. Vent had a small look of aspiration, mainly do to X muttering ‘Z, you better still be in there’.
They swam through the building. It had rust, and lots of debris, and a locked box. A red shiny thing was right in the middle of the lock.
“Z!” Vent said, a smile spreading across his face. X let relief wash through whatever link that a biometal and a megaman shared.
Z’s eyes lit up and he buzzed with acknowledgement. Otherwise he remained quiet. Ashe could feel A buzz with anxiety. She could feel tears build at the rush of mixed emotions coming from A.
Z just remained silent. They could not tell what he was feeling, but he didn’t seem angry just quiet. Vent lifted a hand to Z and touched it.
“...they're still here. All of the other megamen. They didn't survive the fall…” Z spoke in a small voice. “The biometals in there completely lost control and are now using the bodies as some kind of puppet. I can't leave…”
“what? Can biometals even do that?” Ashe felt vomit rise into her throat.
“C- the creator of the biometals didn't intend for it but Albert messed with all of us to create perfect soldiers. So yes.” Zero answered, seemingly looking at Ashe and A. A seemed to buckle into himself under his gaze.
“oh.” was the only reply ashe could muster.
Silence filled the area. They could hear dull thuds. Z let out a soft growl in effort. The Biometals were trying to escape. They were banging against the door and Z was losing his grip.
“Vent. all of the Biometals you have are attracting them. You have to go-” Z tried to warn them, but a loud crack and bang the biometals burst through the wall. Z fell off the door and Vent grabbed Z. One of the biometals looked at Ashe, hi dold fish eyes looked through her. They didn’t look dead. They looked alive, they looked normal, but the face, the expression was anger, but the eyes stayed glassy.
The biometal grabbed Ashe and jetted up towards the surface of the ocean. Vent left the other biometals behind and tried to reach her, but the biometals were holding him back. That was a stupid move. One mega merge later and he had the familiar sabre in his hand and slashed at the biometals.
Ashe was getting dizzy from the pressure. A had to lose the copy to help protect Ashe. She screamed from the pain. Vent was coming to help, but they reached the surface before he did and kept skyrocketing upward.
“There-is-no-bond-like-a-megaman-and-one-of-us.” The biometal spoke, but the jaw was stiff and it almost didn’t know how to use a mouth. Ashe and A felt dread as the Biometal used one cold clammy hand to hold Ashe by the throat. Vent watched in horror as Ashe was dragged further and further up. If she fell from the height she was at without A, she’d be completely killed on impact of the water. He couldn’t do much, because the biometals he shared with the other mega men were being morphed. Ashe was being held up by a metal H morphed into a angry shell. “You-should-know-the-pain-of-having-that-pain-severed.” Model H snarled, the face trying to morph, but it was impossible. The other hand of the dead megaman hovered over her chest, right above the diaphragm and the hand went through the armor and he pulled away with model A in his hands. Ashe screamed in pain with tears in her eyes. Biometal H seemed satisfied with her look of anguish and let go of her neck, leaving her to plunger towards the ocean.
Vent let out a scream. His little sister was plunging towards the ground after he sought her out and got her involved with this and now he had to think fast. He had to think fast and he grabbed one of two spare Biometals that he never let anyone use. He grabbed Model O.
Model O gave you unbelievable power, but it every hit a megaman delivered with O dragged them closer to the edge of bloodthirst. He figured that Ashe didn’t have time for a choice and threw it at Ashe.
“Ashe..” an unfamiliar voice said to her as it rushed to her faster than the incoming ocean. “Vent sent me, no time to explain. Just say megamerge!”
“Megamerge.” She whispered in pain as the ocean came even closer.
She was barely in time. She was enveloped with a flash of light when a loud boom and a splash was heard. Vent swam towards where the splash was and saw an unconscious but alive and breathing Ashe. She was chuckling in her sleep. It was just an uncontrollable laugh, the same one that Vent had when he himself used it.
“Ashe, we’ll get you outta here ok?” Vent whispered as he grabbed her and swam to safety on land.