Mega Man Cross
Chapter 15
"Redemption"
By MEGAMANX411

Morning soon came, and the boat was bathed in the gentle touch of sunlight. However, something was odd about this light. It didn't seem to have the normal passing feeling that one got when being cloaked in real light. It was like the light was frozen in place. X slowly rubbed his eyes and yawned.

He looked to his right to notice Alia still asleep beside him. X smiled, and then decided to see what was going on. He walked towards the front of the boat and went to see how Norris was doing.

"Hey Norris, what's the deal?" X asked, tapping the soldier on the shoulder.

Norris slowly turned around and gave X a strange look.

"X...I think we made it. The coordinates you gave were right...but look..." Norris muttered, pointing outside.

X stared outside at the waters. Something about it seemed fine, but on the other hand...there was something off. It didn't look normal. The water was too still. It didn't move, it stayed perfectly still. It was like there was nothing to upset the tranquility of the water. There wasn't anything swimming in the water, there wasn't anything making the waves shift...there was a complete stillness.

But something about it was eerie. Things seemed so...dead. Like nothing living was there at all. X turned back to Norris.

"I suppose that's why they call it the Dead Sea..." he muttered.

Zero then walked up beside X and looked outside at the Dead Sea.

"Guess that means we've arrived, eh?" Zero added, his gaze focused intently on the water.

"Yeah...let's go get everyone," X replied.

X and Zero proceeded to wake everyone else up, and they all gathered by the front of the boat. X looked nervously down into the water.

"Is it like normal water?" he asked.

Alia shrugged her shoulders.

"It seems fine to me..but it just seems so perfectly still. I guess that means there's nothing here really. So it can't be all that dangerous then," Alia reasoned.

X sighed lightly and looked back at the water. There wasn't anything there that could hurt him, so he ruled out that possibility. But there was still something that really weirded him out about this. Reluctantly, he lowered himself down. But he didn't go into the water as he expected to..he stayed on top of it. It was like the water was frozen..but it wasn't cold.

"I'm on top of the water...?" X muttered.

"It's like time itself is completely nullified here. It doesn't have any impact on the actions taken," Alia muttered, taking close observation of the situation.

"So where do we go from here X?" Norris asked, getting off the boat himself.

X looked over his shoulder and saw a small building off in the distance. He pointed towards it.

"That's where. We're going there," X replied.

"What's over there?" Zero asked.

"I don't know, to be honest. But that's where I think we should go," X replied.

"It's not like we have any other options," Alia added, looking around.

The whole area was so still and calm. There was nothing but a frozen body of water and a building off into the distance. The group followed after X's lead and walked towards the building, taking special care as they did so. Things may have seemed calm, but they didn't want to take any chances. As they drew closer, they saw more things come into view.

Not complete buildings, but a lot of them were fragmented pieces of things. Of towers, of houses, of just about anything. Even reploids. But something was off. A lot of the things they saw...didn't appear to be complete. They were partially transparent, as if they were torn halfway between reality and possibility.

It was like it was the merging of what is and what could be. Like the colliding of possible outcomes. X suddenly grew more and more wary of his surroundings as he got closer to his destination. Alia huddled closer to him, showing signs of worry as well. Zero kept an eye on his surroundings, and a firm grip on his saber as Kid and Korcha stood close by him. Norris brought up the rear with his pistol ready.

X then saw figures walking towards him. They were reploids.

"Hey, you there!" X called.

There was no answer. There wasn't even a sound. The figures kept moving. To X's horror, he dicovered that these figures, like the odd buildings, were also torn between existence and probability. They weren't quite real, but they almost were. They looked at X solemnly, as if he was the reason they were there. As if he was the reason they were suffering, the reason why they were trapped between dimensions.

X looked on to see thousands of reploids...all of them with alook of pure agony on their faces. Reploid men, women, and children, all of them. It was then that X realized...this was the meeting of two possible outcomes. The combination of saving these reploids, and failing them. They were half-way here, but not quite. In his world, they were alive. In the other, they were dead. So here, they were torn between the two fates.

X's eyes were wide with terror. Alia couldn't say much herself, because trying to rationalize something like this would be rather difficult. And bearing it would be even harder to comprehend.

"So you've finally come, I see," a voice announced.

"Who's there?" X replied.

Slowly, another figure came into view. But he was unlike the others. He had full form, so it was obvious that he was not meant to be there. But what surprised X more was how he looked...he had a long, white beard, a lab coat, several robotic augmentations, and he also wore glasses. It was the form of Dr. Doppler.

"Doppler..it's you...but who?" X asked, at a complete loss.

"Wait a minute..you're supposed to be dead!" Zero shouted.

Dr. Doppler smirked and nodded in response to Zero's claims.

"I am dead. In a sense," Dr. Doppler replied.

Zero cocked his head to one side and tried futilely to grasp the concept Dr. Doppler implied.

"In a sense? What are you talking about?" Zero asked.

"I suppose I should tell you. It's why I've brought you here, after all," Dr. Doppler answered.

X's eyes widened. The dreams. The visions. Were they some form of manipulation by Dr. Doppler?

"Before you say anything X, yes, those dreams were from me. I managed to build a device that allowed me to implant some memories of mine into you. You see, I am Dr. Doppler, but I am not the same one you know. I am the Doppler of this dimension, whereas you know the one from the other. Before he died, he contacted me. That was when he was being manipulated by Sigma. We worked together on a project for Sigma called FATE. It's a machine design to twist the rules of space and time to Sigma's advantage. You see, you live in this world, and he lives in the next. What Sigma planned on doing was changing all that," Doppler announced.

"Sigma was involved in this?" X asked.

"Yes. He was the reason for the project starting. It was considered a failsafe in the even of his death. So he could alter his fate, and therefore exchance places. The living Sigma would be put into your dimension, and you would be trapped here. I worked with the other Doppler on this machine, but after he died, I realized the error of my ways. I decided to somehow redeem myself, and I thought that the best way to do it was to come into contact with you. It was fate that you would come here anyway, as dictated by that infernal machine. But I thought I could help things in your favor," Doppler continued.

"So what does Lynx have to do with it?" Zero asked.

"I'm getting to that. You see, to prevent the machine from being destroyed, Sigma also ordered that we create two defense programs. These programs would be very special, and they would also be able to assume a pseudo-physical form. The two you know as Lynx and Harle are actually defense programs of FATE. They were designed to protect the machine, and to collect the Frozen Flame," Doppler replied.

"What is the Frozen Flame?" Alia asked.

"The Frozen Flame is a super powerful force metal. If combined with the FATE machine, it can increase its influence over the space time continuum further, and therefore give Sigma far more control over the existence of everything," Doppler answered.

The entire group was struck speechless. Everything was revealed to them. The reason why they were there, who Lynx really is, how Sigma is involved...everything. But they still didn't know how to stop Sigma, or how to get X's body back.

"X, I've decided to redeem myself. To do so, I have some things for you," Doppler replied.

"What is it?" X asked.

"I have your body. Because I had access to the machine ata time, I could also manipulate time to an extent. So I got another copy of your body. It's the same as your old one exactly. But I've also decided to give you another force metal-the Dragon Tear. This will allow you to erase Lynx and Harle and destroy FATE," Doppler replied.

"So you're saying...this whole time, we were being manipulated? That we had no control over what happened, and that Sigma was behind this whole scheme? Are you saying that we have no say in our destiny, is that what you mean, old man?" Zero asked.

Zero's voice had a hard edge to it, and X knew exactly why. Zero wasn't one to accept being controlled.

"Zero, calm down. Let's just let Dr. Doppler help us," Alia replied.

Zero shook his head and spat, obviously not liking how things were turning out. This whole time, they had no control over what was happening. It was all planned out from the very beginning.

"X, step into this capsule. When you come out, you'll be back in your own body, and you can discard that shell," Dr. Doppler announced.

X reluctantly looked at the capsule that was behind Doppler. It was exactly like the ones Dr. Light had given to X as well, but X was a bit apprehensive about the whole ordeal.

"Can I...really trust you?" X muttered.

Alia placed her hand on X's shoulder and whispered into his ear.

"X, I think you should do it. I mean, he's brought us here, and he's told us all of that information. I think it's safe to say he's on our side," Alia whispered.

"Are you sure about this Alia?" X asked.

"Yeah, what if yer wrong?" Kid added.

"I have a feeling about it..I think it'll turn out ok. Just please trust me," Alia added, giving X a strong and determined look.

X nodded slowly, and stepped into the capsule. There was a brilliant flash of light, and afterward, smoke billowed down out of the capsule. Slowly, a familar form stepped out. A blue boot touched the ground slowly, and there stood Mega Man X in his original form.

"Here," Doppler added, handing X a piece of force metal.

X weighed the thing in his hand, and looked back at Dr. Doppler.

"Is this the...?" X asked.

"Yes, that's the Dragon Tear. But there is something else I must tell you," Dr. Doppler replied.

"What is it?" X asked, listening intently.

"Before you can get to the machine, you must destroy six guardians. They each hold a key to the machine. After you defeat each one, they will help open the way. I will give you the coordinates to find each of them, and the way to FATE will be shown to you after you defeat all six," Dr. Doppler replied.

X nodded slowly and then took a data chip from Dr. Doppler.

"Use that to find them," Doppler added.

"What about you?" X asked.

Dr. Doppler smirked and then looked back at the ruins around them. It was the combination of a paradise and hell, the merging of possibility and reality...things that weren't meant to be fused together with the things that were.

"I belong here. I am of no use to anyone anymore...and I would prefer to not be aorund for Sigma to use me anymore," Doppler mutered.

"What are you saying?" X asked.

Dr. Doppler merely faced X and gave him a hard look in the eye.

"X. I don't want Sigma to control me anymore. I don't want him to use me anymore. And now that I've told you everything, now that I've atoned for my sin...I want to rest in peace finally. Do you understand?" Dr. Doppler asked.

"But...I'm not going to..there's no way..you can't expect me to do something like that!" X shouted.

"I never expected you to...but it's something I want in return for helping you. Please," Dr. Doppler replied.

X was practically tearing and screaming his head off. There was no way he'd willingly kill someone.

"No! I refuse to kill you! Why don't you just come with us?" X asked.

Alia didn't say anything. She merely hung her head low, trying to think of something to say to X. Something to say to comfort him, and something that would provide a rational, reasonable answer. But she didn't know what to say. Kid was in a similar predicament, and Korcha would rather not get involved either.

"Old man..why do you want to die, really?" Zero asked.

"I want to rest in peace finally. I don't belong anywhere else..." Dr. Doppler muttered.

"No! You do, you're just deluding yourself!" X shouted, getting angrier.

Zero slowly pulled out his saber, and gave Dr. Doppler a hard gaze.

"Are you really sure you want to die? How sure are you?" Zero asked.

"Zero, what are you doing? You're not going to.." X muttered.

Zero shook his head, and put his saber back.

"I'm not going to kill you, old man," Zero muttered.

"Fine then..." Dr. Doppler mutered, lowering his head.

He reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a strange looking device. He slowly weighed it in his hands, and then eyed it intently.

"This device is what allowed me to implant memories into you X. I can also use this device to give you hypnotic suggestions if I want," Dr. Doppler threatened.

"Dr. Doppler! You're not seriously going to FORCE X to kill you!" Alia gasped.

Dr. Doppler lowered his head, and a single tear streamed down his cheek as he pushed a button on the remote he held in his hand. Suddenly, X's arm shot up and transformed into a buster. X tried to pull it back down, but it refused to obey.

"No! Don't make me do this!" X screamed, pulling down on his arm.

X's buster began to charge more and more energy, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was powerless to stop his own power, in a sense. X was doing everything he possibly could to stop himself, everything he could to avoid becoming a killer. But Dr. Doppler wanted him to do it.

"I'm sorry X..." Dr. Doppler muttered.

All of the sudden, there was a sudden flash of light. X looked on to see that his blast didn't hit Dr. Doppler. It missed, but just barely. But then he saw that Zero stood behind Doppler. Zero loosely held his saber in his hands, and he looked down on the old man who now laid in a heap on the ground. He had a massive gash across his chest...which was obviously caused by Zero's saber.

Zero chose to accept the responsibility of killing someone so X wouldn't have to bear it. X stood there, speechless and horrified. Alia couldn't say much either, she could only keep her gaze focused on X. She tried her hardest to think of something to say to comfort him..but it was just so complicated.

"X. I'm sorry," Zero muttered.

"Zero..you..." X whispered, at a loss completely.

"Come on. Let's get going. We have a job to do," Zero added.

The group slowly trudged back to the boat, with mixed feelings of victory and despair in all of them. They had gotten the information they needed, X was back in his old body..but what just happened was too much to bear. When they got back onto the boat, they all decided to get going to their next destination...they would face the six guardians, they would destroy FATE...and they would face Sigma.