Mega Man Cross
Chapter 6
"There and back again"
By MEGAMANX411

X slowly opened his eyes, and he was greeted by the gentle presence of the sunlight coming in through a nearby window. He slowly sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He shook his head to remove any fatigue left in him, and he then turned his head to see a medic reploid staring down at him.

The reploid was coated in mostly white and blue armor, and was arguably around the same height and build as X. He had short blonde hair, and he appeared rather unfitting for a medical reploid.

"Whoah dudes....looks like he's ok," the medical reploid announced.

"Oi! X! Ya finally woke up, eh? Give yer thanks to Korcha. He's the one that saved us after we fell off the cliff," Kid added.

"Kid! You're ok...and Korcha, thank you" X asked.

Korcha was another child-like reploid, perhaps around the same age as Kid. He was at the same height as well. He had spikey red hair, and wore red armor.

"No sweat. It's just part of my job as a ferryman. But I have to admit, you caught me by surprise when you came fallin' from the sky. You're lucky that it was the sea thatcha fell into and not the rocks!" Korcha replied.

X stood up and looked around the room. The place he was in now was rather unfamiliar to him. It appeared rather destitute by any means, and seemed to be devoid of any high matenaince equipment. It was a run-down place, and when X looked out the window, he saw quite a bit of water. That's when he realized he was on some kind of floating village.

"Where the heck..am I?" X asked, rubbing his head.

Kid slowly walked up next to X and placed ahand on his shoulder.

"You're in Guldove," Kid replied.

"Good to see you're finally awake," Zero added.

X turned around to face Kid, and he was overjoyed to see that she was alright. His eyes lit up and his expression quickly turned to a smile. Kid chuckled and gave X a defiant look.

"You think a cheap shot from Lynx is enough to keep me...down...?! But geez, you're such a wuss! How could you get knocked out from such a short fall!? As for me...a little graze like this...ain't gonna...knock...me...down," Kid replied.

Before Kid could finish her boasting, she stumbled and fell tothe floor. She slowly tried to pick herself back up, but was seemingly unable to thanks to the massive fatigue. X quickly grabbed her and tried to steady her so she wouldn't fall again. He then placed her back on the bed.

"You're still hurt Kid..don't move for now. Ah, you're burning up.." X whispered.

"But.." Kid replied.

"No excuses. Let the medic take care of you...oh, I'm sorry, I haven't properly thanked you for rescuing us. I'm X," X began, stretching out his hand.

The medical reploid took X's hand and nodded back tohim.

"Don't mention it. My name's Doc by the way. But you shouldn't be thanking me," Doc replied.

X gave a worried look back at Kid.

"What's wrong with Kid? And why do you say that?" he asked.

"I haven't finished repairs on her yet. Looks like somebody did a number on her. But there is something else that's really causing complications. It looks as though she's been infected with some form of virus. There is a vaccine we can make, but unfortunately, we don't have the materials to do so.." Doc whispered.

"Wait, wait, what exactly is wrong with Kid?" Zero asked, crossing his arms.

"She's been infected with some strange form of virus. There is a certain mechaniloid known as a Hydra which produces a material which counteracts the virus. However.." Doc muttered.

"However..? What do you mean?" X asked.

"That creature's been extinct for a long time," Doc replied.

"What do you mean, 'extinct?' What's goin' on!?" Korcha asked.

The medical reploid's nurse then walked into the room. She was rather tall, and had long flowing blonde hair. She had deep blue eyes, and wore lots of white.

"What he means to say is that Hydra mechaniloids are no longer produced here, and no one around even knows how to make one anymore," the nurse replied.

The medical reploid bowed his head in disgrace, and began to walk out of the room. The nurse eyed him worriedly, and stretched out a hand to try and stop him.

"Doctor..?" the nurse whispered.

The medical reploid merely shook his head and continued walking out the room, apparently distressed.

"I need to be alone for awhile," he replied.

Korcha worriedly shouted out something to try to attract his attention back. Zero was a bit angered himself.

"Hey! Were do you think you're going?!" Zero shouted.

"H-Hey, doc! Where are you going!? Nothing's been resolved yet!" Korcha added.

Niki turned to X, who looked rather furious at this turn of events.

"X, what are we going to do? Kid is going to die if we leave her like this!" Niki shouted.

"Wait right here. I'll go get the doctor back!" Korcha answered.

Korhca dashed out of the room, but then bumped into a person as he tried to make his way out. He was sent backwards a bit, and he stumbled back. He shook his head, and then looked up to see who he bumped into. It was Harle.

"Who the hell are you!?" Korcha asked, rubbing his head.

Harle shook her head, and then gave Korcha a rather disapproving nod.

"What'z zis? Non apologiez for bumping into moi? Ooh la lah, don't you know any mannerz?" Harle teased.

Harle then shifted her attention to Kid, who was resting on the bed at the moment.

"Ha haa, she iz down for ze count, just az I t'ought..." Harle muttered, looking down at Kid.

Harle then looked back to X and smirked.

"X, mon ami, why don't we just leave her be?" Harle asked.

"What?!" X shouted, clenching his fist.

"Look, whoever you are, I think you better leave," Zero threatened.

"Se taire! I have no buziness wit' no chicken-hawk. I am having a converzation wit' X. You're bothering moi, so keep your mouth shut," Harle replied.

"What was that?!" Zero shouted.

"Why you...I ain't gonna letcha barge into this room and get away with all the stuff you've said! You've made me mad. I'll show ya some manners! I'm not gonna cutcha any slack just because you're a girl either!" Korcha added.

Korcha then dashed at Harle, but she quickly disappeared, and Korcha rammed into the wall. He slammed head first, and then stumbled back. Zero, in the meantime, kept his eyes focused on where Harle would resurface. She reappeared by Kid's bedside.

"Korcha, are you alright?" X asked.

"Ahaha, such a simpleton. It'z so much fun playing jokez on you. I waz only here to see how she waz doing, but I had fun while I waz at it. So long, X, au revoir, mon ami! Pleaze dream of moi every night! Oui!" Harle announced.

"Why do you insist on pestering us?" X asked.

Before Harle could answer the question, she left as quickly as she came. She definitely wasa strange one, certainly stranger than most X had known.

"Man, she sure is weird," Niki muttered.

"Yeah.." Zero replied, scratching his head.

Meanwhile, Kid was tossing and turning in the bed. She was clearly in distress.

"Oooo...... X......" she muttered.

X rushed back to her bedside, and clasped her hand in his. He looked down at her, and wiped her forehead with his other hand.

"What is it Kid?" X asked. "Don't try to move, just rest."

"X, I'l leave this... with you. It's my favorite amulet. Remember what the... prophet said...X. Where did...it all start? Where...do angels...lose their way...? Try to... remember ...X. I'm feelin' a bit tired...I'm gonna rest up...for a while..." Kid muttered.

Kid then drifted off back to sleep just after handing X a sparkling pendant. It shimmered with radiance, and seemed to emanate a strange power that X had never seen before.

"Kid, take it easy. I'll do my best to save you," X whispered.

"You know what the doc said..there are no more Hydra mechaniloids left in this world. Whatcha gonna do X?" Korcha asked.

X looked down to the ground, and then gave Korcha an innocent look.

"What else? I'm going to save her," X replied.

Zero gave X a smirk, and then placed a hand on his shoulder.

"That's the spirit. But where do we go from here?" Zero asked.

"Well, I feel as though I should help out considering I brought her back here. I may as well try to help ya out. I'll come along with ya," Korcha added.

"All we have now is Kid's amulet.." X muttered.

"What about this village? Is this anyone here that can tell us something?" Niki asked.

The entire group looked at each other, and then submersed themselves in thought. Then, the nurse came back into the room.

"Maybe you guys could see the village shaman? A shaman might be able to help you out. I'm really sorry that neither the doctor nor I could be of much help, but.." she whispered.

Zero shook his head and shushed her.

"It's ok, there's nothing else you could do. We'll handle it from here," Zero replied.

"Yes, that sounds like a good plan..but what is a shaman anyway?" X asked, scratching his head.

"The shaman is an elite class governing reploid who helps watch over the village. They're like a mayor or chief, and they have lots o' wisdom. The shaman might know something, although I can't say for sure. It's worth a try. We'll continue this outside," Korcha replied.

With that, Korcha, Niki, X, and Zero walked outside and continued their conversation.

"So where do we find this shaman?" X asked.

"You just go down thatcha way, head right, take the ladder, then enter the tower. It's the tallest building around here, so it's impossible to miss," Korcha replied.

X shrugged his shoulders, and then tapped Zero's shoulder.

"Come on, we should be going," X offered.

Zero nodded back, and then followed afterwards.

"What about us?" Niki asked.

Zero looked to X, and then shook his head.

"Sorry guys, you just stay here. We won't be long," Zero answered.

X and Zero followed Korcha's directions and came the supposed tower that he talked about. It wasn't very tall, perhaps only a few floors in height. It appeared rather drab and plain, and didn't seem to stand out too much for anything else besides its height. Zero and X walked in, and saw two female reploids there.

The first one appeared to be a bit older, and had dark hair. The other reploid had blue and white armor, which was designed in a very elaborate manner, and she had long silvery hair. The older reploid approached them first.

"Hello there. I am Steena, a shaman and servant of Direa. Do you need something?" she asked.

X rubbed the back of his head, and looked slightly embarassed. He looked to Zero for some confidence, and Zero just nodded his head, presumedly to give X some kind of signal to start talking.

"Well, um, yes. We were wondering if you could give us some information," X replied.

"Ah, well, Direa may be able to assist you. She should be able to give you some proper guidance," Steena answered.

"Thank you," X replied, nodding his head.

Direa walked towards them, her long, silvery hair billowing down, cascading down her shoulders elegantly. Her deep blue eyes conveyed a strong sense of wisdom and kindness, and she seemed to have an aura of gentleness. Her appearance and beauty were both awesome, and seemed to leave both X and Zero speechless.

She walked around X and Zero, and seemed to examine them both closely. She looked them over curiously, and was almost trying to discover their intent just by looking straight at them. X got rather tense and embarassed, and was a bit creeped out that this stranger was examining him so close. Zero, on the other hand, didn't really care one way or the other.

If some beautiful female reploid felt the need to get close to him, so be it. He didn't have any objections if she wanted to be close to him, if anything, it was an added bonus to his existing duty.

"You have a strange yet calm feeling about you. What is it that troubles you?" Direa asked.

X gulped loudly. He knew what to say, but he didn't know if he should even say it. After all, who would possibly believe his story? That he was supposed to be dead? That he came from a different dimension? It seemed ludicrous, but he decided to get it out of the way anyway.

"Well, you see..we're not from here. In fact, we didn't even come from this dimension. And here, I'm supposed to be dead. Also, during my travels, I found that some people have been after me. While we've eluded them, Zero and I have tried to get back home. But before we can do that, we have to help one of our friends. You see, she got sick, but the vaccine doesn't exist here.." X muttered.

"I see..you say you are supposed to no longer exist in this world? How interesting..that must be why you have such a strange feeling about you. If what you seek is no longer in this world, then perhaps what you want lies in the other. I do not know exactly how for you to get back, but I suppose perhaps if you return to were you arrived, there may be a clue. A dimensional rift, if you will," Direa replied.

X was completely dumbfounded. He did not expect her to listen to him at all, let alone give him an answer. Zero, in the meantime, kept his cool demeanor.

"Thank you very much Direa. We appreciate your assistance," Zero replied, sounding entirely suave.

"You are welcome. I sincerely hope my advice helps you," Direa answered.

With that, X and Zero turned and walked out the door to notice that Korcha and Niki were both waiting outside.

"What are you two doing out here?" X asked.

"We wanted to know what was going on," Niki replied.

"Well, if you know, X and I must be going. Come on, let's get to the boat," Zero answered.

"Hey, whatcha about me?" Korcha replied.

X looked over to Zero, who was shaking his head. X reluctantly looked back at Korcha, and then shrugged his shoulders regrettably.

"I'm sorry Korcha, but we don't want to get you involved. It could get dangerous..why don't you and Niki stay here with Kid?" X offered.

"But..oh, alrightcha.." Korcha muttered, hanging his head low.

Zero rubbed Korcha's hair in a teasing manner, and apparently tried to cheer him up.

"Don't worry, Kid will be fine. We'll be back with the vaccine," Zero replied. "Come on X, let's go."

"Yeah, coming," X answered.

X and Zero made the preparations on the boat, and then departed for where X originally entered this world. They both got off, and searched the area...but found nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary stood out, and everything seemed to be in place.

"What..there's nothing here!" Zero shouted.

X clasped the pendant Kid gave to him tightly in frustration. How could this happen? He came all the way out here for nothing! And what's worse, he wouldn't be able to save Kid!

"No..this isn't fair.." X muttered.

"X, don't let it get you down. We'll keep looking," Zero replied.

All of the sudden, a huge pillar of light shot up from the ground and shook the earth violently. X and Zero stood there in awe at its awesome presence, and seemed to be completely amazed at this sudden turn of events.

"X..do you think that's...?" Zero asked, almost at a loss for words.

"I don't know Zero.." X replied.

"You realize X..if we can go back..that we can just stay?" Zero replied.

X thought about what Zero said. It was true, he could just stay back and forget about everything that happened to him here. He could just call it a weird dream and nothing more. But what about Kid? What about his dreams? What about the people that were chasing him? What about Lynx? There were so many unanswered questions..and what about the prophecies he had heard? Sure, they were farfetched, but his dreams were certainly making him think otherwise.

"Yes..but..we have to help Kid," X answered.

X and Zero both slowly and cautiously stepped forward into the beam of light...