Fate
i. Hook
Shock only came after the battle ended, and Zero let his head drop to his hand as he leaned heavily against what remained of the ancient pillar of stone. He had won… barely. Or did Omega let him?
He was not expecting to face a doppelgänger when he came out here. He was not expecting it to speak to him either… and what came out of its mouth should have left him shaken. Yet at most Zero felt mild confusion. His original body? That, inside of the armor known as Omega? Wouldn't X have told him?
Not that it really mattered. Catching his breath, Zero pushed himself off the hunk of stone and began the trip back to the base. Original body or not, an enemy was an enemy.
ii. Link
"Have you given my truth any thought?" Omega taunted as their sabers clashed.
"It doesn't matter," Zero hissed, exerting enough force to push Omega back and free them from the deadlock.
Instead of coming at him, like Zero prepared, Omega swung the saber so that it appeared he was casually letting it rest on his shoulder. "You don't care of the history between us?" He sounded almost surprised.
"What matters is your death," Zero responded coldly.
Omega tilted his head slightly. "Does my death mean anything, anyway?"
Zero responded with a bare tilt of his own head, and almost mirrored motion. And that small bit was, somehow, enough to cement the truth in Zero's mind.
Not that it mattered.
iii. Chain
"It happened before the Elf Wars even begun…" X muttered, looking down. "Weil had stolen your original body along with Mother Elf. That's what sparked that conflict. "
Zero stared at his hand, a quick flash of the recent battle against his original body in his mind; when Omega had grasped his hand, almost like a comrade, before flinging him across the arena. Was that just him overthinking, or was there was hidden message somewhere?
"I wanted to tell you… but a part of me was afraid. I… you're the true Zero. It's the heart that matters. I'm sorry, I…"
"It's fine." Zero raised his eyes, but they were blank, and X wasn't sure if he meant that statement or not.
"Besides. It's not like it really matters." He was convinced of that.
iv. Manacle
It was a short third meeting. Not because they fought and one was easily defeated. In fact, they didn't fight at all.
Omega touched Zero's face.
Then turned and walked away, and Zero only watched him go. He had no idea why.
v. Caught
Zero changed his plans. While he was adamant in the destruction of all of his enemies, he needed to prioritize them. With the Guardians pretty much gone and out of the way, and Weil's little tools easily disposed of, all that remained was Weil himself and Omega.
Of the two, Zero found Weil to be the bigger threat. As it were, his fights with Omega were more like sparring than fights, and they confirmed Zero's suspicion it was all a distraction. Once he destroyed Weil, he could dispose of Omega at his leisure.
At least that was the plan, if all Omega was, was a distraction. If he proved to be a serious threat, Zero would get rid of him then and there.
"They have Dark Elf," X told him. "Please, be careful."
"Take care of the Resistance," Zero said. He didn't need to be careful. He just needed to be thorough.
Possibly quick.
vi. Bound
The Baby Elves had gotten in the way, and Zero showed them no more mercy than he did the rest of his enemies. He knew Alouette would be highly upset, but a little girl's feelings were fairly low on Zero's list of considerations, as cold as it sounded. He was fairly sure she'd forgive him eventually, perhaps even forget the Baby Elves existed at all.
After them, however, his next opponent didn't surprise him in the least.
"You won't give up." Omega said as he sat on the lip of the open cockpit. His armor, golden in its fusion with Dark Elf, stood ready for him to use.
"Are you going to stand in my way?"
"That depends. Are you willing to go through me or do you prefer to go around?"
Zero glared, and Omega stared at him with a wide smirk. Both knew the answer.