Глава 6: Кибер Башня (яп. サイバータワー;Saibātawā)
Заметка:
текст – мысли или речь из прошлого (обычно воспоминания)
«Текст» — робо-голос и речь по радио.
Сегодня была хорошая погода. Океан внизу был ярко-голубым. Среди облаков слышен крик чаек и звуки движения самолета. Скоро мы увидим «Торнадо лл». Соник лежал в самолете, в то время как Тейлз управлял самолетом. Маленький лисенок смотрел на радар и искал башню доктора Эггмана, которая тоже могла упасть в этот мир. Поиски продолжались до тех пор, пока на радаре не появилась яркая точка. Заметив точку, Тейлз направил самолет в том направлении, куда указывал радар.
— Мы скоро будем там, — сказала маленькая лисенка. «По дороге мы можем составить план того, что мы будем делать в башне. У меня есть такая возможность. Во-первых, мы очистим саму башню и пойдем в офис связи, чтобы подключиться к нашему миру и сообщить нашим друзьям, что с нами все в порядке».
Как только лисенок закончил, он вдруг вспомнил, что ежик был не в кабине, а на крыле. Из-за этого Соник не мог слышать план Тейлза.
«Ой...» — сказал Тейлз, когда капля в стиле аниме упала ему на голову. «Я, вероятно, расскажу ему план, когда мы туда доберемся».
Самолет продолжил движение в том же направлении. Некоторое время спустя к башне стали подлетать «Торнадо ll». Сама башня находилась на довольно маленьком острове. Внутри кабины Тейлз улыбнулся, но, увидев что-то рядом с островом, сделал озадаченное лицо.
Кто-то был здесь до нас, — подумал Тейлз, все еще глядя на таинственную лодку.
Вскоре они прибыли на башню. Тейлз посадил самолет на воду и открыл кабину. Соник прыгнул с верхней части самолета на крыло. Лис вылез из кабины, схватив при этом свою сумку и Майлза Электрика, и приземлился на крыло.
«Как дела, приятель?» — спросил синий ежик своего друга.
«Со мной все в порядке», — ответил Тейлз, прежде чем спросить спидстера. «Соник, ты заметил ту моторную лодку, которая стоит рядом с островом? Кто-то был здесь до нас».
— Я тоже так чувствую, — ответил Соник. «Судя по лодке, которая здесь, прибывшие все еще находятся в этой башне».
«У меня есть предположение, что это мог быть солдат доктора Доплера или кого-то еще», — сказал маленький лисенок. «Но это всего лишь моя теория. Мы должны протестировать лодку, чтобы подтвердить теорию».
— Ладно, — сказал синий ежик, прежде чем обернуться. «Но сначала нам нужен план от нашего самого блестящего механика в мире!»
— Ну, ладно, — сказал Тейлз и начал, когда они с Соником направились к таинственной лодке. «Это будет простой план, состоящий из нескольких этапов. Этап 1 - мы проберемся внутрь башни. Этап 2 - найти коммуникационный центр и, возможно, портал. Этап 3 - мы свяжемся с остальными с помощью компьютера. Этап 4 - Я собираюсь немного покопаться в информации и захватить несколько файлов. И 5 этап - мы остаемся здесь на некоторое время, чтобы проверить, как там с порталом, и возвращаемся обратно.
"Легко и быстро!" — прокомментировал Соник и погладил лису. — Молодец, Тейлз!
— Хе-хе, — сказал маленький лисенок, почесывая затылок. — Спасибо, Соник.
Вскоре они оба подошли к моторной лодке. Они немного вытащили корабль на берег (хотя им было тяжело это сделать) и стали осматривать его со всех сторон. Пока синий ежик смотрел на несколько вещей, таких как дождевик, фонарик и батарейки, оставленные на этой лодке, он услышал, как его друг зовет его.
— Соник, посмотри на это!
Спидстер подошел к лисе, которая находилась с правой стороны лодки.
«Что это, Тейлз?» — спросил синий ежик.
«Эта эмблема...» — начал маленький лисенок, указывая на стилизованную букву «∑» на борту моторной лодки, прежде чем повернуться к Сонику. «Эта лодка принадлежит армии Сигмы!»
— Сигма? — спросил Соник. «Тот Большой Злой, о котором ты говорил мне раньше... Хм?
— Соник? — вопросительно спросил Тейлз, увидев, как Соник повернул голову в другую сторону.
— Я побываю здесь минутку, — сказал синий ежик и побежал туда, где что-то увидел.
Остановившись, Соник очутился у другой моторной лодки, которая находилась ближе к берегу. Синий ежик стал смотреть на корабль и увидел знак. Эмблема представляла собой желтый ромб, который был ткнут в оранжевый прямой треугольник и снизу треугольник поддерживался двумя держателями, распростертыми вверх, как крылья птицы.
Ежик вспомнил, где раньше мог видеть этот символ. На базе Охотников за Мавериками...
"Соник!" - громко сказал маленький лисенок, когда подошел к Сонику.
— Хвосты, — обратился синий ежик к лисенку. «Эта моторная лодка принадлежит охотникам Маверик».
— Откуда ты это знаешь? — удивился Тейлз.
— Раньше я был у них на базе, — серьезно ответил синий ежик. — Значит, они тоже здесь... Нам нужно найти их и индивидуалиста. Если они находятся в этой башне, то есть шанс, что что-то может случиться с порталом.
Лисенок кивнул головой в знак согласия со своим другом, и они с Соником отправились в башню.
Тем временем...
Внутри башни реплоид быстро бежал по коридору. В какой-то момент он остановился у стены. У этого робота была темно-красная и черная броня и шлем. У него было открытое лицо, и было ясно, что зрачки его глаз были фиолетовыми и светлыми бровями.
Он спрятался за стеной, как только услышал шаги в другом коридоре башни. Вскоре в этом коридоре появилась огромная черная тень, медленно идущая и что-то ищущая. Как только та огромная тень исчезла, реплоид заглянул в коридор и, убедившись, что никого нет, стал тихо ходить. Он надеялся, что скоро найдет выход из этой злополучной башни.
Сонику и Тейлзу...
Внутри они шли по коридору, который вел их по маршруту к офису связи. Вскоре наши герои повернули направо и пошли по следующему коридору. Вдруг мы видим, что что-то загорается зеленым в темноте.
BIP
Соник и Тейлз повернулись, чтобы найти источник звука. Внезапно они стали слышать больше звуков. Синий ежик и маленький лисенок обернулись и увидели, как странные красные квадраты начали заполнять коридор.
— Что происходит? — спросил Тейлз, не понимая, что происходит.
Соник и Тейлз закрыли глаза от яркого света. Когда синий ежик и маленький лисенок открыли глаза, они увидели, что находятся посреди цифрового города. Здания были полностью черными, настолько, что вы не могли разглядеть очертания. «Земля» была покрыта красными прозрачными сетками, а небо светилось желтым светом. Вокруг летали буквы, слова и цифры в виде ленточек. Атмосфера этого места была жуткой и тревожной.
«Где мы?» — спросил ежик, оглядываясь по сторонам.
— Киберпространство, — ответил Тейлз. «Мы, должно быть, прошли через невидимый портал». (Маленький лисенок поворачивается к Сонику) «У меня есть теория, что доктор Эггман, возможно, добавил этот портал в качестве защиты. Таким образом, те, кто приходил на эту башню, могли попасть в эту ловушку. Может быть, то же самое случилось с Мавериком и охотниками на Маверика.
— Ну, что мы будем делать? — спросил Соник.
— Мы разделимся, — ответил Тейлз с серьезным видом, к удивлению ежа. «Соник, ты исследуешь все киберпространство и найдешь выход, а я отправлюсь на поиски индивидуалиста и охотников».
— Тейлз, ты уверен? — спросил Соник.
— Уверена, — ответила лисенка с уверенной улыбкой. «Мы уже были разлучены, когда в последний раз были на одной из баз доктора Эггмана. Вы нервничаете?
— Нет, я беспокоюсь о тебе, — ответил Соник. — Боюсь, с тобой что-то может случиться.
— Не волнуйся, — сказал Тейлз и открыл сумку, чтобы найти рацию с радаром. «Подожди. Мы будем на связи. Это радио подключено к моему Miles Electric, поэтому я могу слышать вас и видеть сигналы от него. Если что-то случится со мной или с тобой, то дай мне знать, и мы встретимся в одном месте, где я укажу».
"Okay, buddy!" Sonic said and took the radio station with the radar. "You took something from me after all."
After that, they dispersed in the indicated directions. Sonic went in a straight line. On the way, he surveyed the buildings and surroundings. Somewhere in the depths of his soul, he worried that something terrible would happen to his friend. Soon he came to some place resembling a highway. The highway was yellow and its edges were red. Sonic walked up the highway and stopped in the middle. He looked where the highway was leading before he said:
"Unlike the rest of the surroundings, this highway is a little nicer."
As soon as the blue hedgehog said this, he heard strange sounds. It looks like something or someone is approaching him. Sonic turned to see what was there, but suddenly a phrase flashed through his mind:
"Destroy the annoying hedgehog."
Sonic quickly moved aside and a shadow swept past him. When the shadow stopped, it revealed itself as... The evil metal counterpart of our heroic hedgehog - Metal Sonic. They both looked at each other in silence. The silence was broken as a thought ran through Sonic's head:
"Hello, Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Hi, Metal," the hedgehog greeted him back. "I see that you are alive and well. How are you doing?"
Metal Sonic looked at our hedgehog with a clear sign of hostility. Sonic noticed this and asked:
"What is it, Metal? Are you still mad at me?"
"Remember what happened to me on the Ice Bridge?"
Hearing what Metal said, Sonic fell silent. He remembered what had happened on the Ice Bridge back on the planet Freedom.
In the memories of a hedgehog...
Sonic was in a subglacial volcano, holding out his hand to Metal Sonic. The metal double climbed up towards the hedgehog.
"Grab my hand!" the blue hedgehog said loudly to him.
Knuckles appears behind Sonic and grabs the hedgehog.
"Don't do that Sonic! He will take you with him!"
Metal Sonic's hand reaches out for Sonic's hand, but instead of grabbing onto it, he strikes Sonic's hand, thus rejecting help. The puzzled hedgehog looks at its doppelgänger. Sonic's metal was covered in rising lava. But the metal double managed to say:
"There is only one Sonic."
Before the magma covered him, destroying him...
Return to reality...
"I remember what happened to you, Metal," answered the blue hedgehog in a grim tone. "You died in the magma after you saved President and the Old Man from death. But I have a question for you…What do you want from me?"
"I want to find out which one of us is the real Sonic," Metal Sonic replied. "Even when I'm already dead, I can't find peace because of my doubts about being the real Sonic. To find out, I want to compete with you in a race. In the end, we will decide which of us is real. So I can find peace."
Sonic considered. He continued to stare at Metal Sonic. He knew that he needed to explore this territory and find a way out for his friends, but looking at Metal Sonic, the hedgehog understood that the ghost of his doppelganger would not leave him like that. Sonic wanted the "soul" of Metal Sonic to finally find peace after death. After a quick thought, Sonic replied:
"I agree. Just let me tell my buddy."
"Good," said the metal double, approaching the blue hedgehog.
Sonic said into the radar:
"Tails, if you can hear me well, then I want to inform you that I will be late. I met Metal and I have to compete with him so that he can find peace."
"Alright Sonic," the little fox said over the radio. "But are you sure this is another trap?"
"Not yet," said the blue speedster. "But I know that Metal will not leave me behind if I do not race with him."
"Understood," Tails said. "Good luck."
After he finished, the hedgehog put away the radio and walked to the starting strip, where his long-dead evil doppelgänger was. Sonic and Metal Sonic sat like athletes at the start before running. The blue hedgehog glanced at his opponent. He knew that in this way he would help Metal Sonic find peace after his death. But, on the other hand, he wanted to quickly finish the race and return to his duty. Sonic and Metal Sonic began to prepare. Before them appeared a traffic light for racing, which burned red. Soon a voice was heard:
ON YOUR MARKS. ATTENTION.
Tails, thought the blue hedgehog. Wait for me.
The traffic light turned green and the voice said one last word before the start of the race:
GO.
With that word, Sonic and Metal Sonic ran down the highway.
Meanwhile, Tails...
A small fox walked along one of the streets of the digital city. He was very worried about Sonic and that something could happen to him. While he was thinking about Sonic, suddenly a beep sounded on the Miles Electric. The little fox looked at his tablet and saw a dot that was approaching the arrow (this is Tails himself). The fox raised his head and began to look into the distance. After a few seconds, he saw a dark red reploid running towards him. Seeing the little fox, the robot in fright began to run in the other direction, but Tails quickly caught up with him and abruptly stood in front of him. The reploid fell to the ground and covered its eyes with its hands, trembling with fear.
"P-p-please don't touch me…" the dark red robot said. "…Don't "recycle" me…"
"It's all right," said the fox, approaching him a little and sitting on his knee. "Although you don't seem like a maverick hunter to me, I won't touch you. I can help you get out and I won't hurt you. You first need to calm down, breathe deeply."
The crimson reploid opened his eyes and looked at Tails. Seeing his blue eyes looking at him with calmness and no judgment, the robot took a deep breath and calmed down.
"Better?" the fox asked with a smile.
"Better," replied the Reploid.
"What is your name?" Tails asked.
"My name is Lurk," the Reploid answered simply and briefly.
"Thank God we found you here," Tails said, causing Lurk to look at him in surprise. "Now it remains to find the Maverick hunters…"
"They are no more."
Tails looked at him questioningly, not understanding what he meant. The reploid noticed this and explained:
"So they are no longer who they used to be."
"What are you about?" asked the little fox. "Did something bad happen to them?"
"Yes," Lurk answered in a trembling voice. "I imagine their faces when they were processed into something else."
"Processed?" Tails asked before his eyes widened as he realized what the reploid meant.
ROAAAAAR
Reploid and fox heard a roar in the distance. They soon felt heavy footsteps approaching Lurk and Tails. The little fox readied his fists while the crimson reploid trembled as he knew what it was. When someone came, the little fox's eyes widened in horror.
"What is this…?" Tails asked fearfully.
"This is…" began Lurk. "…This is what happened to the Maverick hunters."
Meanwhile, Sonic...
Sonic continued to run down the highway, competing and fighting against Metal Sonic. The highway itself lengthened with every step of the riders and it seemed that it was endless. Soon a hole appeared on the highway with sharp spikes at the bottom. Sonic jumped over the hole and continued to run. Soon, Sonic noticed red squares that filled the entire area, except for the highway, Metal Sonic, and the blue hedgehog himself. When the red squares disappeared, Sonic realized that they were no longer in the digital city, but at the North Pole of the planet Friend. The hedgehog looked around in surprise. The strangest thing is that he immediately felt cold, as if it were real. Sonic noticed something up ahead. He placed his palm vertically on his forehead to make it easier to see what was there.
Ice Bridge... The place where Metal Sonic was destroyed.
I'm beginning to suspect that the Egghead is using all this on purpose to mentally suppress me, thought Sonic. But I won't let that happen!
With confidence, he quickly ran forward, overtaking Metal Sonic. The metal double, in turn, picked up speed and flew further down the highway.
Meanwhile, Tails...
Tails fought off the mechanical monster's attacks. This monstrous robot looked like something that looked like a broken creepy animatronic. But even more creepy, those body parts on it were made from six Maverick hunters who were not lucky enough to be in this tower.
Is this what Eggman did to them?! Tails thought as he continued to fend off the attacks. I need to figure out how to defeat him and get Lurk to safety…
An idea came into his head. Tails didn't exactly like her, but it was the only option.
"Lurk!" the little fox turned to the crimson reploid. "Run to safety while I deal with…This."
Hearing the words of the fox cub, Lurk got up and ran towards another street away from the battle. Noticing that his prey was leaving, the monster chased after him, ignoring Tails. But suddenly, unexpectedly for the fox cub, a huge monstrous robot fell to the ground and began to cough up oil (reploid blood).
At this, Tails realized one thing: due to the fact that six hunters were combined into one creature against their will, this caused them unbearable pain. Since he had seen it like this before, he knew only one thing: he needed to break this creature, and if possible, take out the chips of these hunters.
Taking advantage of the monster's distraction, the little fox curled up into a ball and passed through the body of the suffering robot with great speed. For a few seconds, the robot knelt with its head up before it completely shut down. The little fox approached the fallen monster and, taking out the necessary tools from the bag, began to pull out the chips * of the hunters from the robot.
Meanwhile with Sonic...
Sonic and Metal Sonic reached the Ice Bridge. We see that two riders were damaged, but this did not prevent them from continuing the race. The highway beneath their feet disappeared, replaced by an icy road. The finish line was visible on the horizon. This place reminded the blue hedgehog of his fight with Metal Sonic at this place back on the planet Freedom. As soon as they were in the middle of the Ice Bridge, when suddenly the hedgehog's metal counterpart began to attack Sonic.
"Hey! What's the matter?!" asked the indignant hedgehog. "I thought that..."
No sooner had the hedgehog finished his sentence than he felt that the Ice Bridge was staggering under his feet. A crack formed in the bridge, into which the damaged Metal Sonic fell. Seeing the Metal fall into the crack, he remembered the last moments of the metal twin.
"Not again," said the blue hedgehog and jumped into the crack.
Clinging to the wall of the crack, he began to climb down. Down below, Sonic saw Metal Sonic and magma slowly rising. The blue hedgehog extended his hand to his doppelgänger, who was clambering towards him.
"Metal, grab my hand!" shouted the heroic hedgehog.
Metal Sonic's hand reached out to Sonic's, but the metal double hit Sonic's hand, rejecting his help. The magma began to reach Metal Sonic's body.
"There is only one Sonic," the metal double said, and the magma had already reached his feet.
This phrase awakened something in Sonic. He took Metal Sonic's hand, much to the robot's surprise, and began to pull him up.
"NO WAY!" said the blue hedgehog in a slightly decisive tone.
Sonic rolled onto his stomach and ran upstairs with his legs, dragging Metal Sonic with him. When they were back on the bridge, the blue hedgehog helped his doppelgänger to his feet.
"Why did you do that?" Metal Sonic asked in a robotic but puzzled voice.
"Metal, I won't let you die like last time," Sonic replied before smirking. "Well, shall we continue the race?"
"No…" said the metal double.
"Why?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "Are you afraid I'm winning this race?"
"I already figured out which one of us is the real Sonic," Metal said. "When I watched you in the race, I saw that you have something that the real Metal Sonic did not have until the moment of his death ... It is to be yourself…"
"Wait, "real Metal Sonic"?" Sonic asked. "So you…"
"I'm just his illusion, assembled from the matrix," Metal Sonic replied. "I personify him himself ... And now you have proved to him which of you is the real Sonic ... And which is just a copy ..."
"Copy?" Sonic asked.
"In his life, Metal Sonic wanted to be a real Sonic in order to be original…" Metal Sonic said. "It's hard for him to be someone's copy and therefore he wanted to prove that he is Sonic. But... You, Sonic the Hedgehog, proved otherwise... Thank you... Now I... I will... K-know"
After the metal doppelgänger spoke his last words, his body began to disintegrate into red squares.
"Wait!" Sonic said loudly.
But Metal Sonic has already disintegrated into matrices, disappearing completely. At first, the blue hedgehog looked rather shocked by this, until he smiled and said softly:
"Rest in peace, Metal Sonic."
He pulled out a radar radio and looked at it. He told the radio station:
"Tails, I've already dealt with Metal Sonic, so I can continue my work."
"Sonic, you don't have to do it anymore."
"Eh? Why?"
"I have already found a way out through my Miles Electric. You can come where I am."
"Okay," Sonic said, and a dot appeared on the radar, on which his friend was located.
The blue hedgehog ran towards this place.
There…
Upon arriving at the scene, Sonic saw Tails standing with the monster's body and holding Miles Electric. Noticing the body of the robot, he stopped.
"Sonic, while you were at the race, I found a maverick named Lurk, but he's not bad guy morally" said the little fox. "But here are the hunters… Eggman grabbed them and turned them into this… I managed to defeat them and take the chips of these reploids. Through these chips, I learned where the exit from cyberspace was."
Tails pointed at the monster's body. Realizing what his friend meant, the blue hedgehog looked at the fallen robot with regret. Inside, he was angry at his nemesis for what he had done to those hunters. After calming down a bit, Sonic said to Tails:
"Tails, do you know where Lurk is?"
"When I was fighting the robot, I told him to run to a safe place…" the little fox began.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Hearing someone scream, Sonic and Tails turned around and realized in horror whose scream belonged.
"LURK!" Tails screamed.
Meanwhile…
"You thought you were successfully hiding from me, you pathetic robot?" Dr. Eggman asked through one badnik who was holding the reploid at the moment.
The badnik itself looked like an exact copy of the eggwalker, but only he had a head with red eyes and a mouth. Behind the huge robot, there was a caravan of badniks. Lurk was very frightened by what was happening and the thought that the same thing would happen to him as to those hunters. He resisted, but the badnik-eggwalker gripped him tighter. Soon they came to a large area of the city, where there was a portal that served as an exit from cyberspace. Lurk closed his eyes. For him, this is the end. He probably deserved it because he joined Sigma's army. Just as he prepared to accept his fate...
BAM!
But suddenly he heard someone hit the badnik-eggwalker. He opened his eyes and saw that there was a blue hedgehog in front of the dragon. He seemed to be preventing the robot from entering that portal.
"Hey, Egghead!" Sonic said loudly with a cheeky smirk. "Long time no see!"
"SONIC?!" shouted Dr. Eggman, seeing his sworn enemy.
"If you want to do something with Lurk, then only through me!" said the blue hedgehog, preparing his fists.
"Oh, you're a blue rodent!" the mad scientist shouted in annoyance. "I knew you and that damn fox would be here!" Well, well ... You yourself asked for it."
After these words, the badnik threw Lurk up as if he were a virus. Flying through the air, the crimson reploid screamed, but luckily, Tails grabbed him. Unfortunately, the badniks noticed this, and several Buzz Bombers began to approach the little fox and the reploid. While this was happening, the blue hedgehog was fighting a badnik-eggwalker.
The hedgehog ran around the robot and curled up into a ball when he got the chance. The robot itself, in turn, fired rockets and lasers at him, but the hedgehog outflanked them, and usually they hit the badniks. Soon Sonic curled up into a ball and hit the badnik. He did this about 10-12 times until he managed to break the huge badnik completely.
Meanwhile, Tails put Lurk on the ground and attacked the Badnik caravan. While he was breaking three robots, he did not notice another badnik who was standing behind him. Luckily, Sonic knocked him down before the robot attacked the little fox. The battle was over.
Sonic and Tails approached Lurk, who was getting to his feet.
"Lurk, are you all right?" asked the blue hedgehog.
"Yes," replied the crimson Reploid.
"Okay," Sonic said, giving Lurk his sincere smile. "Shall we hurry to the exit?"
The crimson reploid nodded and, along with Sonic and Tails, he quickly walked towards the exit. They entered it before the passage closed.
In the world of Sonic...
"Dammit!" Dr. Eggman yelled in frustration when he failed to close the passage in time. "If it wasn't for those damn intruders who came to my base, then I…!"
CRASH
"Eggman!" suddenly a mad scientist, he heard someone call his name and turned around.
He saw Knuckles, Sara and Fly, who were standing on the threshold of the door and, judging by their appearance, they were already ready to kick the scientist's butt.
"Oh, sawdust…" Dr. Eggman said, knowing what was coming.
A little while later…
Sonic and Tails were in the communications section. Before they got to the squad, a blue hedgehog and a small fox led Lurk out of the tower. On the way to the exit of the tower, the dark red reploid told his story about how he got to this ill-fated place.
"I joined Sigma's army to fight for our brethren," Lurk said. "But later I realized that I was in a bad place. I wanted to get out of there, but they didn't let me in by force. I had many attempts to escape, but they all ended in failure. But during the second fight between Mega Man X and Sigma, I managed to grab a motorboat, took important things on the road, and sailed away from Sigma's army to hell. I sailed the sea for several months, trying not to run into maverick hunters and Sigma army soldiers. Finally, I arrived on this island and decided to spend the night there. But in the end, I ended up in the trap of this madman. He was interested in my appearance and wanted to "recycle" me into something. I hid in this tower from him and was in absolute fear. Then the Maverick hunters came to this tower and saw me. Realizing that I was a former soldier of the Sigma army, they tried to capture me, but I ran and we all ended up in cyberspace. Then these incomprehensible robots appeared, grabbed six hunters, and I did not see them until I ran into them, but they had already become a single creature. This creature began to hunt me, and I ran for ages, looking for a way out of this tower, until I ran into you. I am absolutely grateful to you that you saved me from death."
The crimson reploid was left outside while Tails and Sonic went back to find the communications control. In the present, the blue hedgehog was thinking about Lurk's story and it seemed to him that the Maverick hunters were not the good guys that Sonic himself considered them to be.
After some thought, he turned to Tails and asked:
"Tails, how's the reconnect going?"
"It will take a few minutes to restore the connection," Tails replied. "So you have to wait."
"Fine." Sonic said and returned to his thoughts again.
The little fox continued to re-establish communication until the device finally worked and voices began to come over the radio. As they became clearer, Sonic walked over to the radio. He looked at Tails before they both smiled and the blue hedgehog spoke into the radio.
"Hi guys, long time no see!"
"Hey, Sonic!" Sarah said, hearing her friend's voice. "We were so worried about you. Where have you been all this time?"
"We are in another world that is different from ours," Tails replied. "We are now looking for the Chaos Emeralds and travel around the world, seeing places and getting to know people. How are you doing there?"
"We're doing very well," Knuckles replied. "After you disappeared, Sara called me, and I, along with her and Fly, went to the Land of Darkness and infiltrated Dr. Eggman's base. We're in his base now, holding Egghead."
"Wow! Tails said in surprise." Sara, you're really something else! How did you get to the Dark Lands if the "Tornado" was not on the island? And how did you get into Eggman's base?"
"To be precise, we went to the South Island and took a plane from there to fly to the Land of Darkness," Fly began. "And Knuckles helped us get in. It was a crazy adventure. If you ask me why I'm with Sara and Knuckles...I was persuaded."
"Understood," Sonic said. "Well then, hold on to Eggman until we finish collecting the Chaos Emeralds."
"Roger!" Sara said. "By the way, about the world in which you ended up. How is it different from ours?"
The hedgehog and the fox began to tell their friends about their adventures. Meanwhile, Lurk sat on the sand and watched the sunset. The crimson reploid represented a world where reploids and humans coexisted peacefully, and where the word "maverick" didn't exist.
Next time... Egyptian Pyramid Secrets!
Wuh! I finally finished chapter 6! You know, this chapter turned out to be very difficult for me, because I had to rewrite to keep you interested in this chapter. Initially, this chapter was something like a horror about the fact that the tower is actually alive and can devour reploids. But after looking at the text, I realized that it was rather uninteresting, so I had to rewrite everything. Oh... For me, rewriting the text was a difficult task for me, but in the end, I gathered my strength into fists and finished it all.
The note:
*Chips = DNA program (Because the manga ran during 1996-97, the term DNA program did not co-exist in the Mega Man X games until Mega Man Xtreme 2).