Disclaimer and warning: I don't own the rights to ZX, or anything Megaman. This is kinda violent and sad, but it's the worst in this chapter I believe. Oh yes, these are all the pairings I'm planning on having: AileXGiro, DuoXHilde, then AileXDuo. It's not really a crossover, but three characters from Gundam Wing make an appearance, even though two of them die in the first chapter. I believe that's all, so I hope you enjoy!

The Shinigami's Angel

Chapter One

It wasn't his real name, Shinigami. Neither was Duo Maxwell. He didn't know his real name. It could be his real name, he supposed. He never knew his parents. Or, he did at one point. They died in a Maverick raid when he was far too little to remember them. He didn't even know the name he had been given. The first thing he had remembered was being found by Solo. Solo was a few years older then him, and had taken him into his band of children, all of who's parents had been killed as well.

He lived with them for a few years, until he was about six, and he and Solo grew very close. Solo became like an older brother to the nameless boy.

Then came the Mavericks, unexpectedly attacking this small group of children. All died that day; all but the nameless boy. His "brother" died in his arms. From that day, he decided, he would not be nameless: He would be Duo, so Solo would live on also.

He was found by a couple a few months later, who then took him in; the Maxwell's. Maxwell was a pastor in a church, and Helen was his wife. Duo was very happy there, and finally had someone to go to, a "mother" and a "father", even though he wasn't technically their son they thought of him as such.

Then, after a few years, it happened again.

Mavericks.

Duo had been out playing by a river about half a mile away when he heard the sound of gunfire coming from the church. He immediately got up and ran over there, but by the time he got there, the Mavericks had gone. They had killed everyone except him, one more time.

Duo then decided that he was cursed, that everyone who got close to him would be killed. He took the last name Maxwell in honor of them, and left. He promised himself that he would never let that happen again, and started wandering around the Inner Peace, taking any jobs anyone had for him, never staying in one place for more then a few months.

Then, when he was fifteen years old he joined a small group trying to colonize the area out of Inner Peace. There he met a pair of twins his age: Heero and Hilde. Their mother had died shortly after giving birth to them, and they previously had met very few children their own age. Heero was cold, efficient, and caring underneath a mask of stone. In short: Duo's opposite. Duo tried reaching out to the boy, soon seeing Heero as his best friend, and (eventually) Heero grew to feel the same.

And then there was Hilde.

Oh, how he loved her. She was bright, kind, determined, innocent, always ready to pull Duo out of his shell and make him truly smile. She told him once that she loved him, and he couldn't honestly disagree. She made him feel like all was right in the world, there were no Mavericks, no death... no Shinigami. With a friend who stood by his side and a wonderful girl who loved him back, Duo finally felt that maybe he wasn't cursed after all.

Until one day, two years after they met...

"Duo!" Said boy ran up to Heero, who was firing his gun, ducking behind a building, reloading, and starting again faster then Duo could completely follow. All of a sudden, the Mavericks had attacked, just like that. Everyone over thirteen was given a gun, while the others took shelter in a building.

"I want you to take the children and Hilde out of the city."

"What?!" Duo was stunned.

Heero ducked back against the wall again, wiping a thin layer of sweat from his forehead.

"There's just too many, Duo. We can't beat them. I'm counting on you to protect her, Duo." Heero stated the horrible statement in a monotone.

"What are you saying? You'll pull out of this, you don't die that easily..."

"Duo. We can't win here." The seventeen-year-old looked his one friend in the eye. "We've already lost many of our fighters. They outnumbered us three-to-one in the beginning, but we're taking them out too slowly. I need you to keep her safe, Duo." Heero's voice lowered and a thread of emotion colored his speech. "You two are all I have, now that dad's dead. I know I won't be able to make it out of here alive, but I'll be content knowing the two of you and the children are safe. Take them to Inner Peace, Duo, please."

"But..."

Duo was cut off from a short yell of pain from his friend. One of the Mavericks had managed to get his shoulder, close to his body.

"Heero!"

"Duo..." Heero struggled to hide the pain in his voice. "Don't... worry about me... save Hilde..." now he smiled softly. "Get married and live like you told me you would..."

"Heero..."

"Go!!" Heero screamed, causing Duo to take a step back.

A... alright, Heero. Duo turned to go to where Hilde was stationed, being careful to weave so he was behind the buildings and out of range of the Mavericks.

"Hilde!" Duo called as soon as he reached the girl.

"What is it, Duo?" Hilde turned, eyes and voice betraying her concern.

"Heero wants me to take you and the children to Inner Peace... says there's no way we can win..."

"What?! T-that's not like Heero..."

"I know... that mean there really is no hope, come on Hilde, we have to go get the children."

Duo grabbed Hilde's arm gently, but she pulled away sharply.

"No! I can't leave now! I have to help Onii-chan!" She rushed away, out from the protection of the buildings.

"Hilde, don't--!" Duo's warning came too late. Hilde was shot three times in the chest, and, with a cry, fell to the ground.

"HILDE!!" Duo cried rushing out and kneeling by the girl.

She was dead.

Duo bit his lip, eyes watering, and he reached down and stroked her hair softly.

This is all my fault... if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have died...

Suddenly, Duo's head shot up. There were three shots heading straight for him. He froze, unable to move. He felt for sure now he was going to die...

The first shot, slightly ahead of the others, grazed his left temple, causing him to flinch instinctively and close his eyes. Which in turn caused the other two to pass by him harmlessly. Duo opened his eyes, surprised to find he was still alive. He got to his feet shakily, pulling his handgun from it's sheath by his hip. The Maverick shot at the gun, this time hitting it perfectly, causing the gun to explode and fling Duo backwards and hit his head on the building wall behind him hard.

I... I failed you... Heero, Hilde... gomen...

Those were his last thoughts before losing consciousness.

Everything had gone as planned.

They had wiped out all inhabitants of Colony A4.

"Uugh..." Duo moaned as he opened his eyes to the ruins around him. He blinked then jumped up, then lost his balance and fell back on the remains of a wall. He cast a weary gaze around the empty town. But not quite empty, only empty of living people; dead ones were everywhere. Duo pushed himself away from the wall, and took a few shaky steps forwards, shocked and numb. Everything was slightly hazy- Duo wasn't sure if it was because of the blow to the head or denial of the situation. He stumbled forwards to the high building the children had been in. Once there, he turned away quickly, not wanting to look at the small bodies in front of him.

They were dead. Everyone. The children, the people of the village, Heero, Hilde...

And he was alive.

The only survivor.

Again.

Duo fell to his knees, not caring to support his weight anymore. Tears streamed down his face as though they'd never end, but he just kept staring blankly into the ruins before him, unseeing. His thoughts seemed to stumble over each other, but the message was all too clear.

It's your fault.

You got close to them; you loved them. You swore you wouldn't do that again.

You killed all these people.

It must be your fault; if it isn't why are you always the one alive?

You're the bringer of death.

You are Shinigami.

You don't deserve any other title: Duo Maxwell? Ha!

You stole those names, formed who you are, from the people you killed.

So why did you do it this time, Shinigami?

Didn't you care about them enough to stay away?

Duo shut his eyes tightly and let out a long wail of despair. A cry that no one was left to hear.

After that he wandered, from various different parts of the Outlands, taking on various small jobs to survive, giving no one his name. He didn't want to live anymore, but he wouldn't just die of starvation. He would get killed by a Maverick.

After all, it was only fair.

Unfortunately, while the Mavericks had the uncanny habit of showing up when he was with others, he could never find any while he was alone. He continued on in this way for two years, which brings us to the start of this story...

The boy leaned against the wall of a house, half-smiling as he watch a group of three children playing in the street. They were playing some sort of game with a ball, Duo couldn't tell and it seemed the kids couldn't either, as the two boys kept arguing about the rules. All of a sudden, the girl looked up and gasped. Duo turned his head disinterestedly to the place all three children were now staring, terrified.

There was a Maverick.

Duo frowned. He heard the Mavericks had gotten in the habit of making quick hit-and-run attacks, to hopefully be gone before any Guardians showed up. Duo had unfortunately never been nearby any of these attacks. Because of the Maverick's new tactics, most townspeople had gotten in the habit of carrying handguns.

Children, of course, were not given such weapons.

Duo stepped out from the wall, and walked in between the two groups, facing the Maverick. This action seemed to knock the three children out of their shock, and they fled and hid behind a house a short ways away.

Good, they should be safe...

Duo closed his eyes and smiled slightly, as he heard the whine of a gun being charged. Finally, he'd be dead. He would never hurt anyone again...

'Hey, kid! What are you doing?!'

Duo's head shot up and his eyes snapped open at the sound of a voice. A small black and white... something with a purple jewel was hovering nearby, coming towards him quickly. Suddenly, it met with him. Duo screamed in surprise and a shock, as he felt an irrepressible urge to grab the object. He clenched it in his fist and raised it high, smiling. Suddenly a white light surrounded his arm, and soon his whole body was glowing with a pulsating light. His eyes closed and he felt his body being changed, but it didn't feel odd or bad. It felt... like he was supposed to be like this. The light left, leaving his head bowed and he was himself wearing black armor. He wore a black helmet with two fins and a purple jewel, with his normally braided medium-brown hair down and flowing around him like a cape. His head raised, and his eyes shot open. Instead of their normal purple-blue, they glowed a deep red for a second, along with a purple jewel on his helmet. He leapt forwards with a grin, and grabbed the Maverick's head, and started squeezing, delight evident in his now-red eyes. Behind the wall, the girl gasped at the violence, while the boys looked startled and slightly intrigued by this power. "Duo" let go of the Maverick, smirked dangerously as a dark purple energy formed in his right hand. Suddenly he thrust his hand forwards, letting out a shock of power that ripped through his enemy. Now the Maverick was dead, Duo started breathing heavily, and his eyes faded back to their normal color.

What... what happened?

Duo raised his head, surprised at the black and sizzling lump of wires that had once been a Maverick.

"Wow... that was..."

'Powerful, ne? Now, what were you doing, trying to get yourself killed?!'

"You... you're speaking to me... inside my head?"

'Huh? I... I guess I am...' The voice seemed slightly confused, then took back a hard edge. 'Now tell me: Why were you trying to commit suicide?'

"I... I... who are you?"

'Uh...' the voice seemed surprised at this. '...I'm Forte, I guess.'

"'You guess'? Where did you come from?"

'I... I don't know. I just remember... being shut down... and then... this. I can't remember anything for a long time before a few minutes ago.'

"W... what did you do to me?" Duo queried, inspecting his armored hands.

'I... don't really know. I could never do that before... but that was back when I was a robot.'

"'Robot'?" Duo asked again confused. "Do you mean Reploid?"

'You're sure curious, aren't you? I asked a question too, you know. Why do you want to die?'

Duo bit his lip and stayed silent. Forte let out a noise of frustration.

'Fine... if that's too hard, what about this: what's your name?'

The boy hesitated. He wasn't sure what he should be called anymore, after not being called by any name for so long. There was only one name he felt he deserved to be named, but he wasn't sure about telling it to this strange... Forte. However, he had this strange feeling that he could trust him, that Forte'd understand...

'Well?'

"... I'm Shinigami."

'Shinigami, eh...?' Forte seemed surprised, but not doubting. Shinigami got the feeling that Forte understood completely.

'If you team up with me, I can make you into a true God of Death to the ones who made you like this.' Forte bragged.

"... a true God of Death..." Shinigami repeated almost wistfully. Then he raised his head and smiled wanly. "I'd like that." Shin got the direct impression Forte would be smirking.

'All right then... let's go!'

Shinigami's eyes glowed once more to red, then dashed off in search of the Mavericks.

Author's note: So, what did you think? I wasn't sure whether the way Duo killed the Maverick was too violent, but that's the way I pictured it... if I should raise the rating, please tell me. I don't think the violence should be much worse then that, though. Aile will show up in the next chapter, and don't worry, Pandora and Prometheus will come in the story as well. (Well, I'd worry if they didn't show up... they're the best, aren't they?) Also, I started writing this before I played Advent, but now I have and I'm really glad since now I have some idea where I'm going with this story. And, yeah, Heero and Hilde aren't really twins, but it seemed to make sense here. Well, they aren't perfect copies anyway. Oh yes, my thinking for this pairing was actually "Oh, poor Aile, all the people close to her died... Hey! All the people close to Duo died also!" (Believe it or not, that's not my least-sane pairing and reason for pairing. That would be Dark RockXIno, and I paired them because they are both assaociated with the color purple.)

Anyway, I have several multi-chapter stories I'm planning on writing, but this is the only one that I had the entire first chapter written out. If you enjoy this one then I'll try to write more, if you don't I'll put it on hold to write a different one. (I have the first chapter of an original series (not Cartoon) story written now, and I'm in the middle of writing a much longer one-shot then I've written before, so... I have forgotten where I was going with that. Oh well, just to let you know. Most of my multi-chapter stories are for Battle Network, but I have a ZX one with no original characters (well... kinda) and a few Cartoon series. And the original series one of course.)

Okay, I just edited a few mistakes. I really though I had fixed those before, but I guess I didn't save it. Oh well, they're fixed now.