Chapter 17: Never Say Goodbye
"MEGA MAN!!! ZEEEEEEROOOO!!!"
As they walked through the smoldering, scattered wreckage of Uni-Sigma, Scorch, Auroran Flash, Buzzsaw, and Royaltie all searched for any signs that Mega Man X and Zero could still be alive. They looked under a couple of twisted metal plates, but still found nothing.
Aurie stammeringly said, "Please X! You can't be dead!"
Buzzsaw put his hands on Aurie's shoulders and replied, "Don't give up hope, Aurie! If they're alive, we'll find them!" They both then continued the search further down the path.
Scorch looked towards more of the wreckage and said to himself, "I really don't know if X survived this."
Royaltie overheard what he said and said to him, "Scorch! Do you actually believe that our brother is........DEAD?!"
Scorch continued to look onward as he replied, "I could sense what he was doing, almost as if I could actually see it. The Uni-Sigma robot's reactor had enough power to blow a large hole on this planet, and it was reaching critical mass. X........he........" He suddenly stopped talking and saw a gleam of light only a few inches from where he was standing. He said, "Look, Roll! Over there!", and they both ran to see the light was coming from under a metal slab. They both lifted the slab and threw it aside to see what was under it. Royaltie immediately said, "X? Are you in here?"
It wasn't X, though. It was the Orion Crystal, apparently unharmed by the explosion.
"The Orion Crystal!", yelled Scorch as he went in and picked it up. His reflection gleamed off of the hexagonal surface of the Crystal as he said, "Duo will be happy to have this back!" Royaltie turned towards his visor-wearing brother, "But Proto! We still need to find....."
"X!!!"
Scorch and Royaltie ran further down the path to see Aurie and Buzzsaw standing near a crater, the apparent "ground zero" of where Uni-Sigma exploded, and they all looked down to see what they feared the most.
Mega Man X, lying backside down in the middle of the crater, still and not moving.
They all ran down to X's body, yelling out "X!!" all the while. When they finally reached to him, they saw his face had the look of death, and there was no sign of movement. This only meant one thing to the Hunters:
X was gone.
Scorch dropped the Orion Crystal in disbelief. Royaltie yelled out, "X! NOOOOOO!!", and had cried as she hugged Scorch in comfort. Buzzsaw also cried and turned his back to hide the tears. As for Aurie, tears streamed down her face as he kneeled down next to X's body. She put her hand to his as she said, "Oh X! It should have been me in there! I never told you what I had to say! It's ALL MY FAULT!!" She then buried her face in his chest and cried.
Buzzsaw turned back around, with tears still present on his face, and said, "At least we know now.......X died a hero. He will always be in my heart." He then saluted X solemnly.
Scorch spoke out as he had Royaltie in his arms, "Dr. Light would have been proud of you, X. I still wish I could have you back, but I guess wishes only happen in fairy tales." He then hugged Royaltie again as tears became visible from under his visor.
Suddenly, as if it heard Scorch's wish, the Orion Crystal glowed bright purple with a blue aura around it. It continued to glow as Aurie said to X, "You'll always be a hero in my heart." She then leaned over to kiss him. As she kissed him, a blue (yes, BLUE!) bolt of energy came out of the tip of the Orion Crystal and had struck X square in the chest. No one saw what the Crystal was doing, as everyone had their eyes closed in mourning. The crystal had finished his work as Aurie stopped her good-bye kiss and raised her head. She said solemnly to him, "Good-bye............Meggy."
"Don't........call........me........Meggy."
Aurie screamed as she jumped back in surprise. Everyone opened their eyes in reaction to Aurie's outburst, and they all looked towards X's body. Aurie shyly stepped forward and said, "X?"
X had groaned and sat up as he said, "It's really embarrassing when you call me that!"
Aurie's surprised look turned to a look of pure happiness as she squealed "MEGGY!!" in pure delight and ran to hug him. She softly said to X, "I thought I had lost you forever, X." X replied to her, softly, "You'll never lose me, Aurie. I promised I would come back to be with you, and I did." They then both let go, and X was soon hugged by Royaltie, overcome by tears of happiness. X said to his sister, "Hi, Sis.", and Royaltie said back, "Oh, X! YOU SCARED ME!!" They then let go.
"You scared us all, X!", added Scorch, "But I'm so glad I have you back, bro!" He then went to hug him as X said, "Thanks, Proto!" They then let go and X was soon met by Buzzsaw *the RIGHTEOUS and don't you forget it! ^_^*
Buzz said to X as he shook his hand, "You were great, X! You truly are the most RIGHTEOUS Reploid in the world!"
As X let go of Buzz's hand, the azure Hunter replied with a smirk on his face, "No Buzz! YOU are the righteous one! You helped support me throughout this long battle, and you have a righteous Enchanted Blade, too!" Everyone laughed at that remark.
Buzzsaw let the laughs roll off of his back and he asked X, "So what exactly happened in there?"
X cleared his throat and told everyone, "I fought a battle against Dr. Wily and won. He had power that I never seen before, but thanks to Duo, I beat him!"
Scorch said to X, "What happened to Dr. Wily? Did he get away......AGAIN?"
X replied, "No. He committed suicide after our battle ended, saying he was sick of this war and he wanted to die happily."
Scorch stood silent for a minute, then he said, "Well, as mad as Dr. Wily was, I guess he wanted to die with dignity."
Royaltie stepped into the crowd and asked everyone, "Ummmmm.........guys? Where's Zero?"
X wore a look of uncertainty and told everyone, "I told Duo to get Zero out of there. Did you find them?"
Before the others could answer, faint sounds of robotic stomping came from afar. The Hunters looked on towards a plume of smoke as a figure stepped through it.
It was Duo, holding a limp and lifeless Zero in his arms as he walked.
"Duo!", yelled Mega Man as he and his friends ran to see their friend. As they got there, Duo kneeled, had gently laid Zero to the ground, and had gotten up again. X kneeled before Zero and felt to see if he was alive, but the crimson Reploid did not move. Fearing the worst, X looked at Duo and asked him, "What happened to Zero?! Is he......."
"Mega Man.", interrupted Duo, "Zero is not dead. But because of the battle with Sigma, his body lies dormant. I was fortunate to get Zero out of there before the reactor exploded, but there was nothing I could do to awaken him. Perhaps it is best if you heard what happened from Zero himself."
"How can we do that?" inquired Buzzsaw.
Duo raised his oversized hand and, like magic, the Orion Crystal came to him and rested on his palm. He then held it over Zero's body and said, "Crystal! Use your power to grant Zero's wish! Allow him to talk to his friends!" Then, the Crystal glowed bright purple with a blue aura around it, and the same bolt of energy that restored X had came out of the Crystal's tip and hit Zero in the chest. Zero glowed in red bright light as the bolt finished its work, and suddenly, like a clip from a horror movie, a virtual ghost of Zero had appeared from Zero's body, and stood up before the Hunters.
"Zero?", said X. They all listened as Zero spoke:
"Mega Man X! Everyone! The presence of Sigma will haunt us no more! I had found a lost anti-virus program within my systems that protected me from the very virus that Wily created! I had strengthened it again with the help of Doppler's own anti-virus stored in Dr. Cain's personal files, and had trapped Sigma within my own body when the time was right. Little by little, the anti-virus will strip away every ounce of Sigma's binary code and every branch of the virus that Sigma left. Soon Sigma will be gone for good and the Mavericks will become a memory."
"But......Zero! What about you?!", queried X as he faced his friend.
Zero lowered his eyes as he said, "I'm sorry X, but...........I'm afraid I won't be around for quite a while. Because it is not known when I will wake up. It could be weeks, months, maybe even a couple of years. All I know is that the anti-virus had shut down my systems to keep me from being corrupted, and it will not allow me to wake up until the Sigma Virus is completely destroyed. I'm sorry I never told you all."
Zero's image stepped before the group and he said his individual good-byes:
"Scorch. Royaltie. I hope you can forgive me for my past sins when I was Bass and Zero. And I hope you live well."
Scorch said, "I forgive you, Zero. Robots can truly find salvation when they are Reploids. I know that now."
Royaltie said, "I hope you wake up soon, Zero. And thank you for everything!"
"Buzzsaw. I'm sorry we never got to settle our bet. Maybe someday we can, and have good times again."
Buzzsaw said, "I can wait. Expect a hero's welcome when you do awaken, my RIGHTEOUS friend!"
"Aurie. Do me a personal favor, and take care of X for me. He'll need a shoulder to lean on while I am resting."
Aurie said, "Okay, Zero! You can count on me to look after Meggy!" She giggled after that remark. X blushed and rolled his eyes.
Finally, Zero's image stood before X and said to him, "X. Again I want to say..........I'm glad I became your best friend. Once I awaken, we'll have nothing but good times again. I promise!"
X wore a proud look on his face as he said, "We fought great battles, Zero. It feels like dejavu, not seeing you again for awhile."
"I will be back, X.", said Zero, "Tell Dr. Cain to have my body protected, and also tell him.........that there is another symptom that causes Reploids to go Maverick, not just the Sigma Virus. And it must be dealt with."
"What symptom is that?", asked X. Zero's image didn't answer immediately. He walked away from X and his image began to fade as he laid back down in his body on the ground. Before he completely faded, however, Zero had said one last thing:
"Unacceptance!" The image then faded completely, and Zero was once again silent. Everyone stood in a moment of silence to remember Zero and his bravery.
"Unacceptance?", said Buzzsaw, "What did he mean by that?"
"I think I know what he meant." replied X. "Lately I have seen some Reploids treated like dirt by their human masters, as if they were emotionless robots. And Repliforce revolted against us because we accused them wrongly of murder, and we should've known it was Sigma all along. We need to find a way to make peace between humans and Reploids, and help make Dr. Light's dream come true." Everyone cheered "YEAH!" at that remark.
Duo smiled at X's speech and proudly said, "You truly are a good man, Mega Man. With your help, this planet will survive."
X took Duo's smaller hand and said to him, "What will you do now, Duo?"
Duo looked down at X and replied, "My work here is finally finished. I will travel the farthest reaches of the universe and use the Crystal's power to help those in need. With every good deed, The Orion Crystal will reclaim every ounce of the good energy it once had, and I will rebuild my home galaxy." Letting go of X's hand, he then turned to everybody and finished, "I thank you for all you have done for me! Someday I hope to come and visit, since you are the best friends anyone has ever had! Farewell to you, Maverick Hunters! And thank you!"
"GOODBYE DUO!", said everybody.
With all that said and done, and with Orion Crystal in tow, Duo transformed into his comet-like ball form and had sped away from the group with incredible blazing speed into the sky until there was nothing left but a shooting star. Duo was gone.
"Soooooooo, where do we go from here?", inquired Aurie.
X scooped up Zero's body in his arms and replied, "We go home........and look forward towards a better future!"
Buzzsaw added, "I wouldn't have it any other way, my friend! Any other way!"
With those final words, all of our heroes (Zero included) had walked away from the Uni-Sigma wreckage and headed towards the horizon. Towards Enlitia. Towards their home. Towards the unknown future ahead.
Nowadays, in the crumbled remains of Skull Castle, one could almost hear the ghostly voice of Dark Phantom, Zero's brother, constantly call out, in a voice filled with good intentions:
"THE FUTURE IS INEVITABLE!!!"
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