THE TENTH DISK
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001
Chapter Twenty-One
X
"Chakra?" I said expectantly.
He nodded on reflex. "25% to go, boss. Have it ready in a minute."
I nodded back. "Thanks. Zero?" I radioed. "Sigs get out okay?"
"Yeah, X. We'll be back in a sec. Just tell Chakra to hurry. I'm
forming a plan already."
"Already?" I repeated. "You amaze me, Zero."
He chuckled. "I amaze me too sometimes. Here we are," he said as I
saw his head peek from the hole in the collapsed doorway.
"Man, I wish this stupid computer could go faster," I heard Chakra
mutter. I just laughed.
"Finally, the tables are turned," I said. "Now the computer guy's in
suspense instead of us."
"I think it's really unfair, you not telling me your theory," he said with
a pout.
I lowered my head. "You really wanna know who I think it is, Chakra?"
I whispered.
He opened his eyes a little wider. "Sure, X. Who?"
I smiled. "See for yourself," I said, pointing at the monitor. The
status bar had completed its course: 100%.
He gave me a false glare. "I hate you," he said offhand.
I just walked back towards Zero with the news, laughing a hearty
laugh.
* * *
"Yo, bud," I called. "Zero, we've got the last person."
"And from the looks of things," he said as he cast a gaze over to
Chakra's place at the console, "it was slightly shocking to Chakra."
I glanced back now. Sure enough, the guy was sitting in a fixed wide-
eyed stare, not even blinking at the screen in front of him. "Sure was," I
said. "You think we were right?"
"Only one way to know for sure," he said, leading the way back to the
machine with Iris tagging along on his arm.
I dashed around in front of the two. I was eager to see whether
Zero and I had been correct in our theory. Had the second traveler from
21XX, in fact, been...?
"Argyle," I heard Chakra whisper. "That crafty old Reploid..."
I turned my eyes towards the monitor. Sure enough, the old guy was
captured in a picture on the screen.
I punched Zero's shoulder. "We were right, man."
"That we were, X," he said. "A question still remains, though: why?
Why did Argyle come here?"
I nodded. "He was a newer recruit to the Hunters. We have no idea
how long Sigma's been planning this whole thing. He's had five years to work
through the logic. Argyle could've housed another strain of sigmae
mavericus." I followed through with that thought. I knew anything viral in
nature could, and most likely would be destroyed in the time-distortion
process the machine used to transport a traveler. Dragoon's Maverick half
had been okay, because the virus had been implanted into a Reploid body, as
Argyle apparently had. They were both good ideas, but Sigs had to come
back here to do his own dirty work, I suppose. He must've found a crap body
to use while he called Wily back to build another one for him, and had Dragoon
guard him. But for what?
"Oh, God," Chakra said. "I just realized something..."
I cocked an eyebrow. "What is it, Chakra?"
He shook his head. "This is not good. This is so not good."
Zero seemed to suddenly get it too as Chakra motioned towards the
screen. He spoke: "Two identical parent strains of Sigma's virus exist in the
same time now."
"The effects could be disastrous!" Iris said worriedly.
I wasn't much better myself. "You think he's been meaning to warp
time all along, just so he could rid himself of the Hunters?"
"So he could at least have a chance at taking over," Roll nodded, her
arms suddenly around my neck. "He knows that, with the Hunters still in his
way, that he can never win."
Enker nodded, his face appearing from the darkness. "So he was
desperate to get you two especially out of the picture by any means
necessary. I felt that, too, when he still had me. There's this lingering fear
that he has, a phobia, almost."
It made me feel good, but not reassured. "Listen, for right now,
let's get Wily back."
"No," Zero said firmly. "Wait. We need Mega Man back here so he
can go back through the portal. He's, without a doubt, searching for the
good doctor here," he gestured.
Chakra nodded. "I've got something that closely matches his signal
about a hundred-fifty, two hundred yards from here."
"You wanna send a ship out after him?" Enker asked.
I shook my head. "Zero and the others can, if they want, but I've got
some serious mental preparations to do before I see the other me."
Roll smiled. "We'll be back before you know it, X."
I kissed her cheek. "I hope so," I said. "Get back safely, love."
"I will," she said, drifting closer to my ear. "I promise."
* * *
Roll
I hopped absentmindedly into the ship Zero would pilot to pick up the
old fighter, Mega Man. He was fun and cheery to talk with, I had heard. I
could believe it. X's body, personality, and even his voice had been based on
this older version of himself. I hid my fascination and eagerness quietly, just
telling Zero to hurry up.
"Don't worry," he told me. "I don't want time warping any more than
it already has. Once we get Wily and Megs back through the portal, we've still
got another version of Sigma to worry about."
Yes, of course. Sigma needed to be stopped. The only question I
still had was of this new version of Sigma's true intentions. Could he have
been the one that struck Iris, Enker, and I with the slavish virus?
Of course not, I thought quickly. He gave X and Zero help throughout
this mission. He wouldn't've done that if he hadn't been sincere.
Or would he? I now even questioned that. The hints he gave, every
shred of assistance, could've been a key piece to a gigantic plot to reel in the
Irregular Hunters. I'd settle with Sigs for now, but I still felt uneasiness
towards his sudden change of heart.
As the ship's engines hummed and the vehicle rose from the ground,
I hopped into the front seat alongside Zero. He acknowledged my presence,
but didn't offer a word. I couldn't blame him. Meeting this hero of the
robotic race was going to be more than an honor; it was to be a privilege. I
was dumbstruck as well. It wouldn't have done any good to try to talk.
I listened to a conversation between Skyler and Enker in the back,
giving no indication of my interest. "It ought to be cool to meet Rock," Skyler
said. "I may not be as old as he is, but I'm only a few days younger than X.
Rock and I used to talk about little things. He won't recognize me, of course:
we met in the early decades of 21XX."
Rock, I thought. Mega Man's other name, of course. And his sister's
name was Roll. Rock and Roll. That's just funny, in a corny sort of way.
"Hmm," Enker said. "I've heard he lived to be extremely old. Didn't
they put him in some museum?"
"He didn't die," Skyler said back. "He lived to fight Wily for many
years, sure, but he never died."
"Then what...?"
"He was deactivated when Reploids began to be mass-produced. His
technologies were custom-made by Dr. Light, and weren't all that
upgradeable. His only flaw was that when he became obsolete, he wasn't
needed anymore." *
"Interesting," Enker said. "I never knew that."
"Little-known fact," Skyler replied. "He chose for it to happen. Light
didn't want him to do it. He wanted to keep him as a worker robot or
something."
"So instead, he ended up...?"
"As a heroic display in the Terran Museum of Robotic History,"
Skyler finished. "Frozen forever as the figure he was. I visit the museum
when I can, pretend I can still talk to the old guy." A tear fell from his duct.
Remembrance of an old friend...touching.
I wanted to meet this Mega Man. I smiled. "Now I'm ready," I
whispered under my breath.
* * *
Zero
I saw a blue-armored figure fast approaching the ship. Setting
down, I swallowed nervously. Cutting off the engines, I said "we're here,"
then popped open the nearest door. Lumbering out onto the cracked earth
of the mountains, I looked to my left. There he was, walking towards the
ship with a charged shot of his Mega Buster going. Of course, he didn't know
whether we were friends or the enemy.
"You there, red robot!" he called. I widened my eyes to show I'd
heard him. "You see an old guy in a lab coat come this way?" I shuddered
inside. His voice was almost identical to X's. Weird...
"Yeah," I said. "In fact, we've got him back at the underground cave
where you arrived."
"Is that so?" he asked, with a rascally tone to his voice. "And you
are...?"
"Zero," I said with a smile. He was only about thirty feet from me
now. "You worn out, searching for Wily an' all?"
"Just a bit," he said.
"You can get rid of that charged shot," I said. "There's no enemies
to fight here."
"Oh, right," he said, taking a glance at his cannon suddenly and giving
me a classic Mega Man grin. He raised his blaster up in the air, prepared to
fire, and let the blast go...
Right at me. I had no time to move from the shock. The blast
struck me full in the chest, propelling me backward into Skyler's arms. He
shoved me back to my feet, where I examined my burnt armor. "Thanks,
Skyler," I said quickly.
"No prob."
I heard the shooter curse. "You couldn't've just died, could you?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Stop disguising yourself, virus..." I growled.
The evil grin of blue eyes returned to his face, and the voice
immediately became lower and more devious. "Can't believe you figured me
out this time, Zero," came Sigma's voice.
"Well, after Mega Man fired his Buster at me, I had this vague
thought that something might be up."
Roll looked at the robot, confused. "Isn't that Mega Man, though?"
I shook my head. "His system wouldn't have been compatible with
the virus. It's a cheap Reploid imitation. Notice the helmet light?"
Skyler slapped his head in exasperation with himself. "I should've
remembered that! I, of all people, should've remembered that!"
I raised my hand to signal the Hunters. They knew what the gesture
meant. I heard the charging of multiple blasters begin behind me.
"You've nowhere to go, Sigma," I threatened. "Give yourself up."
"For what purpose? What would it achieve? Surely even you see the
impracticality of that, Zero."
I gave him a cold stare. "My hand gets tired after a while, Sigs. If
you want to keep up the jabber, by all means..."
"No intention of doing so," he said. "My self-destruct has just been
activated. You'll hear from me a lot sooner than you think."
By this time, I was tired of his cryptic talk. I dropped my hand.
Thirty balls of plasma energy flew toward him, completely vaporizing the
body of the faux Mega Man.
"We ought to get back," Iris said. "I've got a feeling."
I nodded. "So do I."
At that moment, my radio beeped. I answered it. X was talking
hurriedly. "Zero, you've gotta get back to the outpost!" he yelled.
"What is it, X?" I asked.
"Sigma, here. The niceness, the help...his Reploid half is just gone...
Zero, he's nothing but our enemy now! Get your butts back here and help us
out!"
"What's he got?" I asked as I stepped back into the cockpit of the
ship and fired the engines.
"A horrible new body," he said. "Just get back... Get..." Then static
faded into his speech.
"X?" I asked. "X! Please respond!"
No reply, of course. I expected that. "One thing after another..." I
muttered as I lifted off and flew back in the direction of the haven. I'm sorry
it worked out this way. You're a good guy at heart. I wanted to believe it
could be possible, Sigma...I'm sorry... I thought wistfully, hitting the
afterburners.
Roll
I was seriously worried about X now. I urged Zero to punch it. He
pushed the throttle a bit harder, and we began flying faster. What if X had
been cut off because he'd been--?
Don't think of that right now, Roll, I told myself. X probably has
enough to worry about right now.
How many people had we left with him? Counting Netrix, Chakra, and
Gilley, three. I feared now that that wasn't enough. Gilley might not have
been able to fight in her state of emotion about Argyle, and Chakra, while
good with computers, wasn't the greatest of fighters. Netrix was X's only
real ace in the hole. And if Sigma's body was as bad as X had said it was...
I shuddered. Don't think of that, Roll. Think of how you're going to
rip Sigma open when you get back. I smiled angrily. Yes, Sigma, you will die.
Here and now.
* Author's Note: This is strictly of my imagination. The actual future of
Mega Man is not known for certain. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here.
By blackhart
copyright MM Abacus Fiction, revised 6/26/2001
Chapter Twenty-One
X
"Chakra?" I said expectantly.
He nodded on reflex. "25% to go, boss. Have it ready in a minute."
I nodded back. "Thanks. Zero?" I radioed. "Sigs get out okay?"
"Yeah, X. We'll be back in a sec. Just tell Chakra to hurry. I'm
forming a plan already."
"Already?" I repeated. "You amaze me, Zero."
He chuckled. "I amaze me too sometimes. Here we are," he said as I
saw his head peek from the hole in the collapsed doorway.
"Man, I wish this stupid computer could go faster," I heard Chakra
mutter. I just laughed.
"Finally, the tables are turned," I said. "Now the computer guy's in
suspense instead of us."
"I think it's really unfair, you not telling me your theory," he said with
a pout.
I lowered my head. "You really wanna know who I think it is, Chakra?"
I whispered.
He opened his eyes a little wider. "Sure, X. Who?"
I smiled. "See for yourself," I said, pointing at the monitor. The
status bar had completed its course: 100%.
He gave me a false glare. "I hate you," he said offhand.
I just walked back towards Zero with the news, laughing a hearty
laugh.
* * *
"Yo, bud," I called. "Zero, we've got the last person."
"And from the looks of things," he said as he cast a gaze over to
Chakra's place at the console, "it was slightly shocking to Chakra."
I glanced back now. Sure enough, the guy was sitting in a fixed wide-
eyed stare, not even blinking at the screen in front of him. "Sure was," I
said. "You think we were right?"
"Only one way to know for sure," he said, leading the way back to the
machine with Iris tagging along on his arm.
I dashed around in front of the two. I was eager to see whether
Zero and I had been correct in our theory. Had the second traveler from
21XX, in fact, been...?
"Argyle," I heard Chakra whisper. "That crafty old Reploid..."
I turned my eyes towards the monitor. Sure enough, the old guy was
captured in a picture on the screen.
I punched Zero's shoulder. "We were right, man."
"That we were, X," he said. "A question still remains, though: why?
Why did Argyle come here?"
I nodded. "He was a newer recruit to the Hunters. We have no idea
how long Sigma's been planning this whole thing. He's had five years to work
through the logic. Argyle could've housed another strain of sigmae
mavericus." I followed through with that thought. I knew anything viral in
nature could, and most likely would be destroyed in the time-distortion
process the machine used to transport a traveler. Dragoon's Maverick half
had been okay, because the virus had been implanted into a Reploid body, as
Argyle apparently had. They were both good ideas, but Sigs had to come
back here to do his own dirty work, I suppose. He must've found a crap body
to use while he called Wily back to build another one for him, and had Dragoon
guard him. But for what?
"Oh, God," Chakra said. "I just realized something..."
I cocked an eyebrow. "What is it, Chakra?"
He shook his head. "This is not good. This is so not good."
Zero seemed to suddenly get it too as Chakra motioned towards the
screen. He spoke: "Two identical parent strains of Sigma's virus exist in the
same time now."
"The effects could be disastrous!" Iris said worriedly.
I wasn't much better myself. "You think he's been meaning to warp
time all along, just so he could rid himself of the Hunters?"
"So he could at least have a chance at taking over," Roll nodded, her
arms suddenly around my neck. "He knows that, with the Hunters still in his
way, that he can never win."
Enker nodded, his face appearing from the darkness. "So he was
desperate to get you two especially out of the picture by any means
necessary. I felt that, too, when he still had me. There's this lingering fear
that he has, a phobia, almost."
It made me feel good, but not reassured. "Listen, for right now,
let's get Wily back."
"No," Zero said firmly. "Wait. We need Mega Man back here so he
can go back through the portal. He's, without a doubt, searching for the
good doctor here," he gestured.
Chakra nodded. "I've got something that closely matches his signal
about a hundred-fifty, two hundred yards from here."
"You wanna send a ship out after him?" Enker asked.
I shook my head. "Zero and the others can, if they want, but I've got
some serious mental preparations to do before I see the other me."
Roll smiled. "We'll be back before you know it, X."
I kissed her cheek. "I hope so," I said. "Get back safely, love."
"I will," she said, drifting closer to my ear. "I promise."
* * *
Roll
I hopped absentmindedly into the ship Zero would pilot to pick up the
old fighter, Mega Man. He was fun and cheery to talk with, I had heard. I
could believe it. X's body, personality, and even his voice had been based on
this older version of himself. I hid my fascination and eagerness quietly, just
telling Zero to hurry up.
"Don't worry," he told me. "I don't want time warping any more than
it already has. Once we get Wily and Megs back through the portal, we've still
got another version of Sigma to worry about."
Yes, of course. Sigma needed to be stopped. The only question I
still had was of this new version of Sigma's true intentions. Could he have
been the one that struck Iris, Enker, and I with the slavish virus?
Of course not, I thought quickly. He gave X and Zero help throughout
this mission. He wouldn't've done that if he hadn't been sincere.
Or would he? I now even questioned that. The hints he gave, every
shred of assistance, could've been a key piece to a gigantic plot to reel in the
Irregular Hunters. I'd settle with Sigs for now, but I still felt uneasiness
towards his sudden change of heart.
As the ship's engines hummed and the vehicle rose from the ground,
I hopped into the front seat alongside Zero. He acknowledged my presence,
but didn't offer a word. I couldn't blame him. Meeting this hero of the
robotic race was going to be more than an honor; it was to be a privilege. I
was dumbstruck as well. It wouldn't have done any good to try to talk.
I listened to a conversation between Skyler and Enker in the back,
giving no indication of my interest. "It ought to be cool to meet Rock," Skyler
said. "I may not be as old as he is, but I'm only a few days younger than X.
Rock and I used to talk about little things. He won't recognize me, of course:
we met in the early decades of 21XX."
Rock, I thought. Mega Man's other name, of course. And his sister's
name was Roll. Rock and Roll. That's just funny, in a corny sort of way.
"Hmm," Enker said. "I've heard he lived to be extremely old. Didn't
they put him in some museum?"
"He didn't die," Skyler said back. "He lived to fight Wily for many
years, sure, but he never died."
"Then what...?"
"He was deactivated when Reploids began to be mass-produced. His
technologies were custom-made by Dr. Light, and weren't all that
upgradeable. His only flaw was that when he became obsolete, he wasn't
needed anymore." *
"Interesting," Enker said. "I never knew that."
"Little-known fact," Skyler replied. "He chose for it to happen. Light
didn't want him to do it. He wanted to keep him as a worker robot or
something."
"So instead, he ended up...?"
"As a heroic display in the Terran Museum of Robotic History,"
Skyler finished. "Frozen forever as the figure he was. I visit the museum
when I can, pretend I can still talk to the old guy." A tear fell from his duct.
Remembrance of an old friend...touching.
I wanted to meet this Mega Man. I smiled. "Now I'm ready," I
whispered under my breath.
* * *
Zero
I saw a blue-armored figure fast approaching the ship. Setting
down, I swallowed nervously. Cutting off the engines, I said "we're here,"
then popped open the nearest door. Lumbering out onto the cracked earth
of the mountains, I looked to my left. There he was, walking towards the
ship with a charged shot of his Mega Buster going. Of course, he didn't know
whether we were friends or the enemy.
"You there, red robot!" he called. I widened my eyes to show I'd
heard him. "You see an old guy in a lab coat come this way?" I shuddered
inside. His voice was almost identical to X's. Weird...
"Yeah," I said. "In fact, we've got him back at the underground cave
where you arrived."
"Is that so?" he asked, with a rascally tone to his voice. "And you
are...?"
"Zero," I said with a smile. He was only about thirty feet from me
now. "You worn out, searching for Wily an' all?"
"Just a bit," he said.
"You can get rid of that charged shot," I said. "There's no enemies
to fight here."
"Oh, right," he said, taking a glance at his cannon suddenly and giving
me a classic Mega Man grin. He raised his blaster up in the air, prepared to
fire, and let the blast go...
Right at me. I had no time to move from the shock. The blast
struck me full in the chest, propelling me backward into Skyler's arms. He
shoved me back to my feet, where I examined my burnt armor. "Thanks,
Skyler," I said quickly.
"No prob."
I heard the shooter curse. "You couldn't've just died, could you?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Stop disguising yourself, virus..." I growled.
The evil grin of blue eyes returned to his face, and the voice
immediately became lower and more devious. "Can't believe you figured me
out this time, Zero," came Sigma's voice.
"Well, after Mega Man fired his Buster at me, I had this vague
thought that something might be up."
Roll looked at the robot, confused. "Isn't that Mega Man, though?"
I shook my head. "His system wouldn't have been compatible with
the virus. It's a cheap Reploid imitation. Notice the helmet light?"
Skyler slapped his head in exasperation with himself. "I should've
remembered that! I, of all people, should've remembered that!"
I raised my hand to signal the Hunters. They knew what the gesture
meant. I heard the charging of multiple blasters begin behind me.
"You've nowhere to go, Sigma," I threatened. "Give yourself up."
"For what purpose? What would it achieve? Surely even you see the
impracticality of that, Zero."
I gave him a cold stare. "My hand gets tired after a while, Sigs. If
you want to keep up the jabber, by all means..."
"No intention of doing so," he said. "My self-destruct has just been
activated. You'll hear from me a lot sooner than you think."
By this time, I was tired of his cryptic talk. I dropped my hand.
Thirty balls of plasma energy flew toward him, completely vaporizing the
body of the faux Mega Man.
"We ought to get back," Iris said. "I've got a feeling."
I nodded. "So do I."
At that moment, my radio beeped. I answered it. X was talking
hurriedly. "Zero, you've gotta get back to the outpost!" he yelled.
"What is it, X?" I asked.
"Sigma, here. The niceness, the help...his Reploid half is just gone...
Zero, he's nothing but our enemy now! Get your butts back here and help us
out!"
"What's he got?" I asked as I stepped back into the cockpit of the
ship and fired the engines.
"A horrible new body," he said. "Just get back... Get..." Then static
faded into his speech.
"X?" I asked. "X! Please respond!"
No reply, of course. I expected that. "One thing after another..." I
muttered as I lifted off and flew back in the direction of the haven. I'm sorry
it worked out this way. You're a good guy at heart. I wanted to believe it
could be possible, Sigma...I'm sorry... I thought wistfully, hitting the
afterburners.
Roll
I was seriously worried about X now. I urged Zero to punch it. He
pushed the throttle a bit harder, and we began flying faster. What if X had
been cut off because he'd been--?
Don't think of that right now, Roll, I told myself. X probably has
enough to worry about right now.
How many people had we left with him? Counting Netrix, Chakra, and
Gilley, three. I feared now that that wasn't enough. Gilley might not have
been able to fight in her state of emotion about Argyle, and Chakra, while
good with computers, wasn't the greatest of fighters. Netrix was X's only
real ace in the hole. And if Sigma's body was as bad as X had said it was...
I shuddered. Don't think of that, Roll. Think of how you're going to
rip Sigma open when you get back. I smiled angrily. Yes, Sigma, you will die.
Here and now.
* Author's Note: This is strictly of my imagination. The actual future of
Mega Man is not known for certain. I'm playing Devil's Advocate here.
