Zero withdrew the rod and stared at Mega Man in disbelief. "I thought you were down. All that damage you took should have meant your end."
Weakly, Mega Man said, "You're…forgetting one thing, Zero…I don't fight for myself, or even for my creator. I fight to protect all life from evil robots like you."
Zero started to laugh. "Well. Look where it got you…stupid robot."
"Maybe…but you're missing one thing."
"And what is that?"
Mega Man's attention went behind Zero. "Pharaoh Man. Let him have it."
Zero turned behind him to see Pharaoh Man standing up, but weakly. Pharaoh Man activated his Eye Shield and jumped toward the ceiling with all his might. Pharaoh Man slammed it hard with his shield, but then fell back to the floor, landing on his knees.
The ceiling, being weakened from the constant fight, began to crumble. Zero was in dismay. He watched as chunks of debris fell around him. He looked over at Sonic, who was jumping and rolling to avoid it. "No…!" Zero said. He turned back to Pharaoh Man, who made a final wave goodbye to Zero before a large chunk crushed him. Zero didn't have time to dodge a large pile of rubble that came down on top of him and Mega Man.
"Mega Man! NOOO!" Sonic shouted. Sonic couldn't get close as the ceiling continued to fall apart. When it was all over, Sonic cleared away the dust in the air in front of him and began to dig for Mega Man. It didn't take him long to clear enough away to find Mega Man's head buried in the debris. He dug deeper and freed his upper torso as well. It was then that Mega Man regained consciousness.
"Sonic…" Mega Man said weakly, "Did it work?" Sonic looked over to where Zero was standing and acknowledged Mega Man's question with a nod. "Sonic…go. Stop Dr. Wily and destroy this place."
"Don't you start that now. Come on, get up." Sonic tugged on Mega Man, but couldn't free the rest of him. "I'm…gonna get you out of here."
"I'm afraid that would do nothing." Mega Man said with remorse. "My primary integrated circuit chip was pierced by that metal rod. My cognitive circuit…has been cut."
"Cognitooo…what now?"
"It would be the equivalent of a soul to beings like you. My power levels are dropping fast. I've only got a few minutes before I completely shut down. If both of those fail simultaneously, then the one known as Mega Man will be gone for good."
"No, you are not going to die, Mega Man. Call Roll. She's right outside."
"If I could, I would have done it already, but that shot from Zero knocked out my long range communication system, as well as my GPS tracker, so I can't teleport out of here. Too bad…Perhaps we could have been friends."
"We still can be. Now get up!"
Mega Man just smiled and his eyes began to close. "Power levels are depleted. Good bye…friend." With those last words, Mega Man's eyes closed shut.
"Mega Man?" Sonic shook Mega Man, but he didn't wake up. "Mega Man?" He tried again and still no response. Sonic soon gave up and just held his head for a minute before standing back up again. The door on the other side of the room slid open. He walked toward it, looking back at Mega Man one last time. "Rest." Sonic then sped down the hall.
Seconds later, the rubble next to Mega Man began to move, and a white and red robotic hand punched through the debris.
It took a while for Sonic to find Dr. Wily in the lab where he created Zero. The door opened as Sonic approached. When he looked inside, he saw Dr. Wily staring at the door in fear. "V-Vhat." Wily cowered. "Please don't hurt me." Sonic glared at Wily and ran up to him in a nanosecond, meeting the doctor face to face. Wily dropped to his hands and knees and begged, "Please…don't hurt me. Let me go…lock me up…anything. I'm just a weak old man."
Sonic bared his teeth and scolded, "You know, you remind me of another scientist from where I come from; Dr. Robotnik. He's just as cowardly; sending robots to do his dirty work.
Wily continued, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to Vin for once. I NEVER VIN! I can NEVER vin over Dr. Light!"
"People like you never win, Einstein. I've beaten Robotnik and his robot armies before. Did you really think you could beat both me AND Mega Man."
"I built Zero to destroy Mega Man, which he did! But then you had to ruin everything. You brought down my greatest robot ever. I'm nearing the end of my days. I could never build another robot like Zero before I pass on."
"Then let that be a lesson to you, doctor; the greedy and evil will never come out on top of those who stand for the greater good." Sonic began as he bolted for a computer console. He found quickly found the button that read "Self-Destruct" and slammed it hard. Red lights started flashing and a loud alarm went off.
"Vhat are you doing!?" Wily yelled, "Ve only have a few minutes to escape and it can't be reversed."
Sonic ran back up to Wily and stared at him. His glare soon turned into a cocky grin. He grabbed Wily by the wrist. "Then I guess you'd better hold on, Wily. There's a reason they call me the fastest thing alive". Holding Wily by the wrist, Sonic took off at full speed.
"WwaaAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Wily screamed in terror as Sonic pulled him through the air as he ran.
He ran back the way they came, passing Mega Man's body, the door that Guts Man smashed, all the corridors he and Mega Man had taken to get there, and finally, the main door. Sonic and Wily were already at the top of the gorge when it exploded. They both looked down at the castle as it went up. Wily looked down at Sonic with a puzzled look. "Vhy…Vhy did you save me?"
"I guess you could say I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress."
"VHAT!? DAMSEL!?" Wily growled.
"Now if you don't mind, I've gotta get back to Dr. Light." Sonic zoomed off. Wily watched as he went and soon collapsed on his knees.
"Th-Thanks." Wily said to himself.