A/N: This is it. The final chapter. I just want to do a few thankyous and things...
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, even if some of you do reveal my lack of knowledge. ; It's concrete that Zero can't break through! That's all you need to know!
Thanks to Sailor Senshi Writer in particular, for proving that despite the fact that I didn't have many reviews, I might have more readers than I think. Oh, and also, the RP helped free my writer's block. :D
Thanks to the rest of the COD gang, even though none of you read this. ; Once again, RP Aisu no more writer's block.
Thanks to Ryuujin and Lis. Ryuujin is the one responsible for the evil Deathsong, his staff, and some plot. Lis came up with the concept for this chapter. ; Writing is a group effort for me, and I hope I won't be looked down upon for that...
And thanks for the OC Analysis livejournal community, for telling me that Hitomi is only a -little- Mary-sueish. Yet another reason to rewrite this in a few years, when I'm older and better at developing love plots...
Well, that's it for my rather egotistical AN. ; It's been fun writing this... And I promise, I'll keep writing MMX stuff.
Chapter 10: Sundeimasu (To Live)
X wandered alone through the destroyed base. He had tried his hardest to help during the attack, but one of the security cannons had struck him and managed to knock him out until now, when his auto-repair systems had finally compensated for the actually relitavley minor damage. However, he had still been too slow to save anyone...
He closed his eyes and shook his head. Even if he had been awake, there was nothing he could've done. It was a massacre, pure and simple.
The cannons were mockingly silent now, clearly disabled by whatever Maverick had activated them. For that matter, who -was- it? The security guards would capture any known Maverick who tried to enter and...
Any -known- Maverick. What if it was unknown, or the Maverick had already been inside the base, and what's more, had already been accepted - no, revered - by the Hunters?
What if Zero had been right?
His steps quickened, boots pounding on the floor a little faster than before. He had to get to Zero and make sure that the crimson Hunter was alright, that Deat-the unknown Maverick hadn't taken him down.
And that thought raised an interesting question. Why couldn't he convince himself that it was Deathsong? Why couldn't he trust his friend? Was it just Sigma? Was it X's inner self trying to pretend like someone who had taken down Sigma couldn't be wrong?
Hunters went Maverick often enough. In fact, they were much more likely to, since they were the ones most exposed to the Virus. Magma Dragoon, for one... And yet, he couldn't believe that it was Deathsong, not even with the evidence directly in his face...
He shook his head. This wasn't the time for inner debates. It was who it was, and right now, the fallen - and the possibly still living - were far more important.
He had finally arrived at the holding cell where Zero had been stored, to find the door opened. This was somewhat a suprise for X, and only worked to aid his unwilling suspicion of Deathsong. After all, only the S class Hunters and Signas had access to the keycodes. He had had to open the door for Hitomi earlier today, in fact. And there were very few S class Hunters, other than himself, Zero, and as of a few days ago, Deathsong...
He turned his attention from the door to the corridor. For added protection, there was a long corridor between the outside and the inside, both ending in sealed doors. Only a few knew the nescessary key codes, and he had opened the outside door so that Hitomi could visit just earilier today. He walked along the corridor in silence, eyes afraid...
Finally he got to the second door. This one was also open, the room inside dark. He could almost make out a few shapes in the gloom, and as his visual receptors adjusted, he could see a hint of silver hair...
He stepped into the room slowly, still adjusting to the light. "Zero?" he said quietly, the sound echoing slightly in the small space. However, no reply came. And then, as his eyes adjusted, he finally saw the scene.
Hitomi, crumpled in a corner, a trickle of red blood still at the corner of her mouth. Deathsong, with a single, semi-cauterized wound in his chest, staring at the ceiling with unseeing silver eyes. And...
Zero, the worst wounded of all, eyes closed, still sparking where the blade had cut him cleanly in two.
X knelt by the fallen Hunter's side, cradling his head with one hand. "Oh God, Zero..." he whispered. "I'm so sorry... I doubted you... You and I were supposed to be partners, and I broke that bond..." He closed his eyes, but too late to stop the thin trickle of tears. "Forgive me..."
Zero made no reply, of course. And what had he hoped for? Someone to call "X, it's time to wake up," and to have it all been a dream? To hear Zero speak again, for the crimson Hunter to tell X it was alright?
No. If anything was to be done, X had to do it himself. He wiped away the tears with a gloved hand and picked up the fallen Hunter's form. He only hoped that a few of the healing pods were still operational after Deathsong's rampage.
However, his hopes were in vain. All but one were shattered, due to cannon fire, desperate and confused Hunters, Deathsong, or some combination of the three. The one had a few severed wires and the glass had hairline cracks running through it, but X had no other option.
He placed Zero's form on the ground for a moment and sat down at the small control panel, pressing the button that he had seen the scientists press to open the capsules. It opened slowly and jerkily, but it opened, and X gratefully placed Zero inside before sitting back down again, working entirely through memory to close the capsule, fill it with liquid, and hook up Zero's ports to it. By the time he was done, the machine was emitting a furious humming noise and a few sparks emerged from broken buttons on the panel.
"C'mon, work just a little bit longer..." he murmured as he began the the scan. Soon, data poured onto the screen, almost all of it incomprehensible to X, except for one phrase.
The letters were in red, and dominated most of the screen, flashing rythmically. "Error: System to be repaired obsolete. No appropriate parts availible for..." and then more letters appeared, in a smaller font and clearly much less urgent, listing the various parts that the machine didn't know how to make.
"'Obsolete?' What the... This capsule always worked for him before... It must be broken..." X sighed and stood again, walking over to the capsule Zero floated in and pressing a hand to it.
"I'm... So sorry, Zero. I tried my hardest, but I'm not good enough... If I was a scientist or technician, I could fix you, but all I am is a guardian who failed his mission. But... Maybe somebody will find you..." He sighed and shook his head.
"I promise, Zero. I'll work my hardest to make this land a utopia, for your memory. A place where Reploids and humans can live in harmony, with no threats..." He managed the slightest of smiles. "And when I do, I'll come back for you. I promise you that..."
He walked slowly out of the room, trying his hardest not to look back, but at the doorway, he turned one more time. "I promise," he whispered, and closed the door, leaving the crimson Reploid alone in the darkness...
---
Zero opened his eyes slowly, revealing the world to be blurry and out of focus. His visual receptors were probably slightly damaged, but considering his blurry memories of a few minutes ago, he should be -far- more damaged... Perhaps even dead, especially considering the fact that he had been missing almost all of his limbs.
He sat up slowly, checking to make sure he was not still missing said limbs. However, he seemed to be fine now, and his system readings all seemed to indicate that he hadn't been damaged at all recently. He stared at one gloved hand in confusion for a moment, trying to figure out how this could be.
Eventually, however, his attention was drawn to the landscape around him. He was apparently in some sort of field of grass and wildflowers, the field dotted here and there in trees. The sky was clear and cloudless, and a gentle breeze ruffled the grass at his feet. Everything seemed... perfect.
He shook his head. "Heaven...?" he whispered. He hadn't been religious in life, but right now, the list of possibilities was shrinking rapidly.
A sudden feminine chuckle behind him broke his reverie. "Not Heaven, Zero-sama... sorry, but even if it exists, you're not dead yet. This is just the final state of a dying CPU..." came the gentle voice.
He slowly got up and turned around, revealing the speaker to be the familiar blue-eyed scientist, who was standing in a small cloud of cherry petals. "Hitomi...?" he said quietly.
Hitomi giggled again. "You're not listening to me, Zero-sama. I'm not really Hitomi. Like the rest of this world, I'm just your imagination..." She smiled fleetingly. "I'm not even quite Hitomi. She was just the last thing on your mind before you passed out..." She seemed to flicker for a moment, and suddenly Iris stood in her place.
Zero was still, unfortunatley, deeply confused. "Hito... Iris... I don't understand..."
Iris sighed. "Quite simply, your CPU is damaged beyond repair. As a result, various programs are running in broken ways before you die... Like a near-death experience in humans. One of those was the memory file that contained the data of the girls you loved... But alas, even in life, you could never entirely forget me, and thus, imposed parts of me on what you knew about Hitomi. Thus..." She shimmered again and the scientist smiled. "I am both..."
Zero looked at the sky in silence for a moment, before quietly saying, "So this is all just an illusion."
Hitomi nodded. "I'm afraid so, Zero-sama. What's more, this world is going to fall apart soon. You seem to have an energy current from somewhere that should enable you to keep your core systems running, but your memory files are going to fall apart soon, and this world will come down with it..."
Zero glanced around the field. Everything seemed peaceful enough, but as he watched, a tree flickered out of existance. "...I don't want to lose it..." he whispered. "I'll lose you... and X... and the lives of all I've saved..." He grinned slightly, but his eyes were pained. "At least I won't have to worry about being obsolete anymore."
Hitomi nodded, sadness showing in her eyes. "I'd help you if I could, Zero-sama, but I'm just part of the illusion..."
Zero nodded and turned back to Hitomi, a sad smile on his face. "Illusion or not... Let's try to make the most of the little time I have." He stepped forward and embraced the girl, kissing her deeply as the world began to fall apart around them...
---
And in the darkness, surrounded by the carnage caused by Deathsong, with the words he had so dreaded to hear blinking inches away, the obsolete Reploid smiled...
---
A/N: Too much Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. ;
I'm worried that the fic lost its original focus as things went on, but...
Anyway! For those who couldn't figure out what the deep secret hinted at in chapter 9 was...
It's turning into Megaman Z. ; Hence the about-to-break capsule and the new armour and the memory loss and the -stuff-.
...Right-o. I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D And also, moo.
Now, onto something more important. ;