Chapter 12: Comrade (同志;Doshi)
"Why am I here, Earthia?" A puzzled Sonic asked Chaos taker. "Why did you call me here?"
A blue hedgehog and a red-haired woman were sitting in a clearing on the ghostly Angel Island. There was a short silence until Earthia answered:
"Sorry that I interrupted your business...I need to talk to you about something."
"About what?" Sonic asked again before he continued. "Earthia, I need to return to the base, give back the Chaos Emeralds and later go save my friends who were captured! If I don't have time to do all this...I won't be able to save them!"
"I know that you are worried about the friends you have made in this world." Earthia said, understanding hedgehog's worries. "In the dimension where we are now, a lot of the time we will spend here is about minutes in this world. Sonic, did you and Tails see these visions inside the Chaos Emeralds that you found all over the world?"
"Yes, Tails and I saw and..." Sonic began until one thought came into his head. "I saw a girl in these visions who looked just like you. Her name is Emmy if my memory serves me correctly. Do you know anything about this?"
"Emmy is me in the past." Earthia answered, much to the surprise and shock of blue hedgehog. "Although I gave up my real name a long time ago somewhere... A thousand years ago? I don't remember how many years have passed since Blackwood disappeared."
"You are THAT GIRL?!" Sonic asked, almost jumping. "HOW?!"
"When I followed you and Tails as you traveled through this world and collected the Chaos Emeralds, my memories manifested through the emeralds because I was next to you." A red-haired woman explained. "You couldn't sense me because I created a barrier for myself...Sonic, I'm sorry if I'm scaring you now."
"Earthia, why were you following me and Tails?" Sonic asked. "You know that I can take care of myself and Tails without any problems, even when we are in another world."
"I know, Sonic." Earthia said before continuing. "But even when you can take care of yourself and your friend, there is one "but". Sonic, do you remember I told you about that some worlds have their own barrier, a shield that protects the world from outside threats? This world is one of these worlds. I kept an eye on you for this reason because the barrier could hurt you over time or worse. You yourself will learn to resist barriers in other worlds over time, and now I am next to you. But during the time I spent with you, I began to admire the beauty of this world. It reminds me of the times when I played with Cyan in the forest near Blackwood."
After saying this, Earthia had a sad smile, reminiscing about times like this where she was with her friend who left a long time ago.
"What happened to your friend and mom?" Sonic asked. "And "Cyan" is the name of Atomic Man? If so, then I will immediately understand why."
Earthia glanced at the blue hedgehog before she took a deep breath and began:
"Yes, I gave this name to Atomic Man because of the color of his body. But you've already figured it all out. What about what happened to mom and Cyan... When I walked with him and my mom down the street, we all hoped that we would make it to the Lands of the Sky so that we could enjoy a happy life and freedom. But unfortunately, we were captured by the Blackwood police. The Blackwood Police were notorious for adopting brutal methods to keep the town in what they considered "order." When Cyan fight back with Blackwood police, my mother helped me escape and hide in the forest nearby. The next day...W-When I came back to Blackwood, I noticed people walking towards the main square. I went there, and I...S-S-Saw how people were shot and among them was my mother. This has been a new tradition for Blackwood since Mayor Vilotex took office. This man was a real dictator and a terrible person. He was a fiend from the hell. He always enjoyed hurting others for his own pleasure. As a child, I was not even aware of his atrocities, as he skillfully manipulated the residents of Blackwood through propaganda. Just thinking about it makes me feel disgusted and hateful towards Vilotex for what he did to others."
"He sounds like Dr. Eggman, but much worse." Sonic commented, comparing his nemesis to Vilotex.
"This is the reason why I took the Chaos Emeralds away from him." Earthia said. "I don't want someone like Vilotex to own them."
After she said this, a Chaos taker sighed once more before she continued:
"When I saw my mother, I immediately ran to her. Unfortunately, when I got up on stage and covered my mother, I was accidentally shot somewhere in the stomach area. The only thing I remember as I lay there slowly losing consciousness was that Cyan appeared in front of people. The color of his body was red orange for some reason, and it was clear from it that Cyan was angry... After some time, I woke up, but not in Blackwood, but somewhere far from the city, in another forest, where I met Cyan for the first time. I noticed that I was unharmed and alive, but the forest around me looked as if...Almost dead. There was still greenery there, but most of the forest was covered in bare trees, hard earth, and darkness. That made me panic. I didn't know what happened, so I ran to Blackwood...But when I arrived...I saw only a gray wasteland...I realized what happened...Cyan exploded, erasing not only himself, but my entire hometown from the face of the earth."
Sonic's eyes widened in shock and surprise. So, Atom Man was responsible for the mysterious disappearance of Blackwood and its inhabitants?
"For two days I walked around the wasteland and looked for survivors, but I found nothing except things and food that were in the city's bunker." Earthia continued. "I took food and necessary things from the bunker, and left the place that had previously been Blackwood, grieving for the dead and my mother. For 5 years I wandered through the Land of Darkness. During this, I noticed that I had abilities that a normal person did not have…Telepathy, controlling natural forces, healing, regeneration, manipulating time and space, giving life, and reviving someone. Soon I reached the Land of the Sky thanks to the passage that I accidentally created. Two years later I arrived in one city, and I saw him..."
"Whom?" Sonic asked and bad thoughts about this began to creep into his mind.
"...Vilotex, but with a different name." Answered a Chaos taker and narrowed her eyes. "He walked the streets with his new and young wife and son. I was very surprised to see him here, and even married to a resident of the Land of the Sky. I didn't know how he even survived this tragedy in Blackwood. I didn't want anything to do with him because of what he did, so I tried to get out of there. But Vilotex recognized me immediately by my physical resemblance to my mother. He knew her when he looked at the list of criminals before Blackwood was wiped off the face of the earth. He called me and had the audacity to ask how I was doing, how I survived that terrible day and mocked those who died in Blackwood. I immediately sent him away and wished him death or even worse. I felt sorry for his wife, who most likely did not know who Vilotex was or what he had done. So, after meeting Vilotex, I approached her and warned her about him. I moved on after that and after a few years I reached one hidden island in the sky."
"Angel Island?" Sonic asked.
"Yes, it is." Answered Earthia. "I began to live on this island and help its inhabitants with the protection of the island. They are known to you as the Knuckles clan. It was they who came up with the title "Chaos Taker" for me because of my abilities. One thought occurred to me is that perhaps Cyan gave me his powers before he explodes. I took the name "Earthia" and I lived with this name until my death. Even though everyone considers me the first Chaos taker, I consider myself the second."
"Was there anyone before you?" Asked a blue hedgehog, interested.
"When I was alive, one echidna told me about a young echidna girl and her friend from ancient times before Blackwood." Earthia answered. "When they told me this, I remembered the time when I was with Cyan and my mother in Blackwood. I don't know the names of this girl and her friend because it's been a long time since I heard this story. I consider her a Chaos taker, because she sacrifices her life, saving the surviving members of the Knuckles clan and the whole world from the wrath of her friend, whom she imprisoned with her in the Master Emerald."
"What happened to Vilotex? After all, a guy like him can't get away with punishment so easily." Sonic asked. "And this girl and her friend are still alive?"
"About this girl and her friend, I don't know whether they are alive or not." Answered a red-headed woman. "What about Vilotex, his punishment befell him in the form of a terrible disease. He died a painful death all alone. His wife and son left him because of the way he treated them lately. I don't feel sorry for him at all, and I was relieved, because I thought that a person like him will never be appeared again. I thought about it that way until I met Ares. You know the whole story, how I gave him status as a Chaos Taker and powers, because at that moment, I thought that he could create a good future for everyone, and I believed in him. One thing I learned about him later from Alzali was that he was a descendant of Vilotex."
Sonic looked at Earthia in surprise. He did not expect to find a relationship between a previous Chaos taker and a terrible person like Vilotex, but everything was already coming together. Earthia continued, but with a rasping tone of voice, because every time she remembered Ares and what he had done, it filled her with a feeling of guilt.
"If I knew in advance that he would not cope with his role... That the Chaos energy in his body would get out of control... And transform him into a monster... Then I... Then I would never have given him the title of Chaos Taker and the powers..."
"Earthia, you have nothing to do with this." Sonic said, looking straight into his former mentor's eyes. "It's not your fault that he became a monster. It's hard for me to determine whether he did all this of his own free will or because he couldn't control the Chaos energy in his body, but you're not to blame for this. Even though the fresh traces of Ares still bother me, I have..."
When a blue hedgehog said the last two words, his eyes widened. He remembered that he had things to do.
"Earthia, I know that we have something to talk, but I need to go." Sonic said. "I need to help my friends save this world from the guys like MaVi. We can talk about the rest later."
"I was going to tell you about MaVi." A red-haired woman said. "I'm sorry I kept you. I'll tell you briefly what I was going to tell you next. I'm worried about the fact that MaVi, as you called him, has learned about the existence of Chaos Takers and wants to become one by collecting the Chaos Emeralds. I don't know him completely yet, but try to prevent this and, if possible, guide MaVi on the right path. If it doesn't work out...You know what to do. Knuckles also said hi to you and Tails when I talked to him. And...I pulled you out of this reality because one mechanical dragon was chasing you and you didn't notice it because you were in a hurry. Pass it on from me and those who remain in our world to Tails!"
"I'll pass! See ya!" Sonic said loudly before he ran and waved goodbye to her. Interesting, is that dragon is fast as me? Or it just waits to attack me? Maybe I can find answer on it later.
Earthia watched her former student run before she slowly began to disappear. She was glad that she gave strength to a person like Sonic. Sonic himself quickly headed straight, until in an instant, from the rainforest of Angel Island, he crossed into the rainbow tunnel. He soon reached the white light and Sonic jumped to return to Mega Man X's world.
In the world of Mega Man X...
"Tails, what exactly happened to X and Zero?" Dr. Cain asked a little fox, who at that time was busy watching over five former mavericks' activities in their former bases.
"Dr. Cain, I know that you are worried about both of them, but you should not know what exactly was done to him." A little fox said in a serious tone. "It is harmful for your mental health!"
"I want to know what exactly happened to them!" An elderly scientist said loudly, looking annoyed.
"If you knew this, I would have to call doctors from the base." Tails said in turn. "You are very stubborn, you…!"
Before Tails could finish speaking, a bright light appeared in the room. The light was so bright that a little fox and Dr. Cain closed their eyes. When the light disappeared, Sonic was there. Noticing a scientist and a little fox, a blue hedgehog smiled and waved at them.
"Hello!" He greeted loudly. "How are you doing?"
"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed loudly and approached a blue hedgehog. "I'm glad you're safe and sound. When you immediately disappeared, you scared us all."
"I'm sorry about that." Sonic said, then he whispered to a little fox. "Earthia pulled me out of this reality, and I talked to her. She watched over us when we were in this world so that the barrier of this world could not harm us. She and Knuckles said hi to us."
Tails smiled widely. A blue hedgehog turned to Dr. Cain.
"What progress are we making, Doc?" Sonic asked.
"We have already talked with commanders of the Maverick Hunter bases." Answered Doctor Cain. "They are getting ready now. If anything, they left the base to get parts of X's armor. Where were you and what did you whisper to Tails?"
"This is personal to me." Sonic answered. "Very personal."
"I see." Dr. Cain said gloomily and went to the end of the laboratory, where the Chaos Emeralds were there.
As a scientist walked away, Sonic, who began to worry that Dr. Cain was in a dark mood due to what happened to X and Zero, turned to Tails:
"Tails, what happened here while I was talking with Earthia?"
"About that..." Tails began, looking sad and worried.
Before Sonic appeared in the laboratory...
"LET ME PASS!"
"No!"
"I WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED TO THEM!"
"NO!"
"Tails, can I help you?"
"Hornet, I can handle this! Don't worry!"
"Maybe we can use a rope, so he doesn't have time to do anything stupid?"
"CATFISH!"
Currently…
"Yeah…" Said Sonic with wide eyes, having heard the first part of Tails' story. "I never imagine what a person like Dr. Cain could worry about them to such an extent. But he can be understood."
"I'm ashamed to say it, but I half agreed with Catfish that we should tie up Dr. Cain so that he wouldn't make things harder for us all, but we all agreed that we wouldn't do it." Tails continued. "As Dr. Cain said earlier, Hornet, Blizzard, Tiger, Rhino, and Catfish went to get parts for X's armor in their former territories. I'm a navigator now. By the way, have you found important information about Doppler's plans? I had access through the device at the base that contained the emeralds, but I didn't find any clues as to what the Doppler's plan was."
"I technically figured out Doppler's plan, but... It wasn't Doppler himself who came up with this plan." Sonic answered with a serious tone and Tails looked at him in puzzlement and worry. "And it's not Sigma, what you might think. This is a completely different person, or more precisely a virus."
"A virus?" Tails asked. "Sonic, what are you talking about?"
As soon as Tails finished his question, suddenly he and Sonic heard someone click on the computer. A blue hedgehog and a little fox turned to see Dr. Cain, who had already pressed the button.
"Dr. CAIN!" A little fox screamed, realizing that an elderly scientist will find out what happened to X and Zero. "You shouldn't find out about this! You…"
But it was already too late. Dr. Cain pressed one button and a broadcast appeared on the screen, which the computer picked up. What they saw on the screens shocked everyone present in the laboratory. Sonic quickly walked towards Tails and covered his eyes with his hand so a little fox would not see what was on the screen.
The computer's image showed a defeated and bloodied X and Zero, who were crucified on huge, long spikes that somewhat resembled crosses. The bodies of the fallen Maverick hunters were held by "hooks". On top of the "crosses" were drills aimed at the heads of X and Zero. Although Tails could not see what was happening on the screen, he clearly heard Bit's malicious voice with notes of sadism in it.
"Their execution will begin soon!"
"Execution..." Dr. Cain muttered.
"N-No, please DON'T!" Everyone in the laboratory could hear the voice of the helpless reploid, who was grabbed by the head by Bit.
"Don't slow down this process with your resistance." Bit said before he addressed the camera. "People of the Earth. The armor of this reploid is similar in structure and strength to the armor of your "savior"."
After he spoke, Bit threw the poor reploid directly onto the working drill. Once under it, at that very second, a reploid was gone. A blue hedgehog, an elderly scientist and a little fox had their pupils shrunk in horror, although Tails could not see what was on the screen, only hear.
"I believe you all saw this." Bit said, turning to the camera. "This armor is the same type as X's. You already know what will happen next."
Listening to Bit's words, sparks of anger appeared in Tails' eyes. A little fox was very angry not only with Nightmare Police, but also with the person who was mentioned by Sonic, for three reasons. First, because of what the Nightmare Police did to X and Zero. The second is how dare they carry out a public execution right on the day that fills people and other creatures on the planet with hope for a brighter future. Third, and most importantly, is how Bit and this unidentified man treated people and reploids on this planet who had hope that this mess would end. A little fox bared his teeth and growled like an angry animal. Tails wasn't alone. Sonic also bared his teeth, and looked like a beast that would soon tear these scoundrels to pieces. Suddenly they heard the sobs of an old man who came to his senses. A blue hedgehog and a little fox stopped growling and looked at him.
"Dr. Cain, are you okay?" Asked a concerned little fox, approaching an elderly scientist together with Sonic.
"It's okay, Tails." Said an elderly scientist, although he looked like he wasn't okay. "But...X and Zero...Wound after wound..."
"Dr. Cain, you're not okay, and I can see it." Sonic said with a serious look, standing in front of the scientist. "I understand that you are upset about X and Zero being captured. But they did not fight in vain. They fought for everyone on this planet. For people and reploids, including you. I believe that with the collected emeralds, we will be able to not only save the world, but also X and Zero. Dr. Cain, believe in them and fight for yourself. Don't let your spirit fall, keep going and don't afraid to be honest about you feelings and ask for help. Together with us."
Sonic extended his hand towards Dr. Cain. The scientist glanced at a blue hedgehog's hand before he took it.
"Thank you, Sonic."
A blue hedgehog and a little fox helped an old man to get up on his feet.
"Tails, do you know when they will be back?" Dr. Cain turned to Tails.
"The last time I talked to them, Buffalo, Hornet and Tiger found pieces of armor for X. Catfish and Rhino are still looking." Tails answered. "Dr. Cain, I heard from Sonic that Doppler was not behind what started all this, and that the virus was behind it."
"This is true?" Dr. Cain asked, turning to a hedgehog.
"Yes, that's true." Sonic answered. "This virus is the Maverick Virus itself, or MaVi, as I called him."
"A MAVERICK VIRUS?!" Tails and Dr. Cain asked in shock at this.
"I know you didn't expect such a turn, but he's the one behind all this." Sonic continued. "I have such suspicions that this is not the first time this all started and may relate to Sigma's first uprising. The virus has his own consciousness, in another words, he's sentient. Besides his consciousness, he has a program that tells him to hate humanity and X, although I don't know about the latter. But by his own will he hates the brother, he's mentioned, and me. This is because I remind him of one thing, that in his opinion, he will never achieve in his life – a freedom."
BOOM
The laboratory shook due to the explosion, which, judging by the sounds, was outside. Tails and Dr. Cain nearly jumped in place as Sonic looked up with a serious face.
"What is this?!" A puzzled scientist asked loudly. "Don't tell me it's Doppler!"
"…Or MaVi." Said Sonic.
"I'll see what's up there from the cameras!" Said a little fox and quickly went to the computer.
"Me too." Said a blue hedgehog. "Tails, Dr. Cain, stay here! I'll be back soon!"
"You don't have to do this, Sonic."
The three looked at the entrance to the laboratory where the voice came and saw Tiger. He was damaged and missing one eye, but he still stood on his own two feet. In his hands he held four X armor chips.
"Tiger, what happened!?" Dr. Cain asked loudly. "How are you?!"
"Dr. Doppler's army is already here." Tiger answered. "I don't know how he found this base, but I need to give you the armor chips before I go drive off the army with the others."
"I have a better idea." Tails said with a serious expression on his face before he turned to Sonic. "Sonic, go upstairs and tell everyone to enter the base and close the passages here!"
"What are you going to do, little fox?" A reploid tiger asked, looking up at Tails.
"Something with the Chaos Emeralds." A little fox answered and turned to Dr. Cain. "Dr. Cain, take the Chaos Emeralds that Sonic brought and place them with the others in that device. When everyone arrives, I will ask you all to be on the other side of the base. What Sonic will do soon could be dangerous for all of us."
"I'll be soon with them, buddy." Sonic said and ran out of the base, leaving the Chaos Emeralds behind him.
"What exactly is Sonic going to do?" Dr. Cain asked, picking up the Chaos Emeralds.
"Chaos Wave." Tails answered, taking Miles Electric, who was lying next to the computer. "This is a technique he learned when he started using the Chaos Emeralds. This technique consists of waves that go towards the enemy. This thing is very dangerous because it literally destroys everything in its way. Even advanced robots and organic creatures."
"From the way you talk about it, this "Chaos Wave" thing is stronger than the Zero's Earth Crush." Dr. Cain said and walked towards the end of the laboratory with Tiger and Tails.
Approaching the device, Dr. Cain opened the top of the device and placed the remaining emeralds into the machine. After this, a little fox and an elderly scientist began to work on the device while Tiger helped them. Minutes later, Sonic came back to the first wing of the laboratory along with Hornet, Buffalo, Rhino, and Catfish.
"TAILS, DOC, WE'RE BACK!" Sonic said loudly. "WE CLOSED ALL PASSAGES HERE!"
"Sonic, everything is ready!" Tails said loudly, returning from the second wing with Dr. Cain. "You can start!"
"What's all this matter, Tails?" Asked a puzzled Hornet. "Sonic told me that we should come here, because something dangerous is going to happen, but what does Sonic have to do with it?"
"I'll tell you what's going on along the way." Said a little fox. "Let's go away from the laboratory for our safety."
Judging by the fact that Tails was serious about this, the four reploids decided to listen to him. Soon a little fox, five reploids and an elderly scientist left the laboratory. A blue hedgehog looked at the second wing of the laboratory and went here. Soon he approached the device. Knowing what to do, Sonic opened the device.
Soon, on the other side of the base...
"So Sonic will destroy this entire horde with this Chaos Wave thing?!" Hornet said loudly when everyone reached an empty room in the base.
"Yes, Sonic can do it." Answered a little fox, entering the password for the room. "What you need to do is lie down on the floor and not move!"
"Why..." Began Catfish, when suddenly everyone heard Sonic's voice in the laboratory.
"CHAOS…
"ALL ON THE FLOOR!" Tails shouted and everyone lay down on the floor.
...WAVE!"
The blue wave swept outside the base. The base shook from the frantic Chaos energy that was in the waves. The light in the base kept turning off and on. Lying on the floor, Tails, Hornet, Blizzard, Dr. Cain, Catfish, Rhino, and Tiger felt the floor shaking. During this, four beast reploids except Hornet felt that they began to lose consciousness. When the base stopped shaking and everything begin to seem fine, Tails stood up first and began helping Dr. Cain to stood up on his feet.
"Is it was a Chaos Wave?!" Dr. Cain asked, looking scared. "I was right about it being stronger than Zero's move..."
"Okay, it's all fine now, we can get up." Tails replied before he turned to Hornet and noticed something strange. "Hornet?"
A little fox noticed that Hornet was checking out four reploids. Tiger, Rhino, Buffalo, and Catfish for some reason did not answer or even get up right away.
"Hornet, they..." Tails turned to the reploid hornet.
"They switched off due to their damage." Hornet said sadly. "Their injuries are more severe than it seems at first glance. They are still alive...But they will not wake up soon."
"Oh no..." Muttered little fox.
"You guys..." Dr. Cain, with tears in his eyes, turned to the disabled reploids. "You were once Mavericks and get back to normal... And you sacrificed yourself... For the sake of your friend and comrade... For the sake of all of us... People and reploids on Earth..."
Dr. Cain wiped away his tears with his elbow before leaving the room with Tails and Hornet.
They soon returned to the laboratory. Sonic was waiting for them in the laboratory, looking tired. An elderly scientist walked over to the computer and turned on the image. To his shock and horror, not only was Doppler's army destroyed, but the entire surrounding area was also destroyed. Greenery and all living things disappeared from the face of the Earth along with the robots.
"Oh my god…" Muttered scared Hornet, seeing what was outside.
"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked a blue hedgehog. "How are you after the Chaos Wave?"
"I'm fine." A blue hedgehog answered tiredly, then he looked at the sad picture on the screen. "But I feel sorry for those who were there outside besides the robots. This is one of two reasons why I don't like to use this technique."
"What is the second reason?" Asked Dr. Cain.
"When Sonic uses this technique, he spends not only Chaos energy, but also his life energy." Answered Tails. "He doesn't use this technique very often for this reason. If Sonic does this often, it will eventually take his life."
"Tails, where are Tiger, Buffalo, Rhino and Catfish?" Sonic asked.
Hearing Sonic's question, there was silence in the laboratory. The silence continued until suddenly an alarm sounded throughout the base.
"WARNING! WARNING! AN UNIDENTIFIED SHIP IS APPROACHING THE BASE!"
"ANOTHER HORDE?!" Dr. Cain asked loudly and looked at the computer screen. "Show me on the screen! NOW!"
"GOT IT."
An image of the outside appeared on the computer screen, and everyone in the laboratory saw a huge flying warship begin to descend to the ground. Everyone noticed that next to the warship there were five shuttles that belonged to the Maverick Hunters. Deciding to check that these were not stolen shuttles, Dr. Cain typed the shuttle number into the computer and called them.
"Yes, sir, what is it?"
"Sake." Dr. Cain replied, which confused Hornet, Tails and Sonic.
"Sake."
"Why do you say the name of the alcohol?" Asked little fox.
"To determine that they are ours." Dr. Cain answered, turning to Tails. "I specifically came up with this code to determine whether they are allies or enemies. Secondly, this is my favorite drink."
"Seriously?" Everyone in the room asked and huge anime-style drops fell above their heads. A fox looked up to the screen and carefully observed a warship.
"Wait a minute, this is Marty's ship!" Tails said loudly as he looked at the warship itself, causing everyone to look at a little fox. "If you're asking why I said it was Marty's ship, it's because I noticed some features of this ship that I first saw when I met her."
"How did you meet her?" Dr. Cain asked, looking worried. "You flew on a plane that previously belonged to the Sigma army. She didn't shoot you?"
"Honestly, yeah, she tried to shoot me when she saw my plane." A little fox replied, which made everyone except Sonic look at him with worried looks. "She didn't know I was friendly until I helped her deal with the Mavericks on Dr. Doppler's ship. She apologized for shooting at me and she invited me to look over her ship with her. Through her I learned how this world works and what is happening. I also told them about Sonic, and I even managed to make friends with some people from her crew. Let's go greet them!"
Tails quickly left the laboratory and headed towards the elevator, which was in the hangar. As he approached, a little fox began to remove the elevator's emergency mode. At the same time, Sonic quickly ran and stopped next to the elevator.
"Wait for us!" Hornet said loudly as he and an elderly scientist walked towards hedgehog and fox cub.
When Tails removed the emergency mode, Sonic pressed the elevator button to the top and everyone entered the elevator. The elevator closed and began to rise. While everyone was waiting for the elevator to reach its destination, a pleasant music was playing in the elevator.
"It's good that I made an elevator that carries heavy loads." An elderly scientist said to himself.
"Is this something related with your old base?" Sonic asked.
"When our old base was found, one Maverick named Violen from X-Hunters entered the elevator, which was under Zero's grave and... The elevator broke." Answered Dr. Cain.
"Everything is clear." Sonic said simply.
"It's just a pity that this base was discovered." Said an elderly scientist. "We had to move the base to another place. It was very good for this..."
"Just so that the base is not under someone's grave." Hornet said. "It scares me that someone is building a military base under the graves. But what scares me more is the question of how exactly Dr. Doppler found us."
"As they say, the less you know, the better you sleep." Said Doctor Cain, exhaling heavily.
"Although I definitely won't say that about you." Tails answered in turn in worry.
Soon the elevator arrived at the top, a blue hedgehog, a little fox, a scientist, and a reploid hornet exited outside. By the time everyone got out, Marty's ship had already landed along with the shuttles. The passage into the ship opened and Marty and her team emerged from the ship. A pirate herself was dressed in another red and purple revealing armor with a green crystal on top of her chest armor and on her tiara. Marty wore a belt over her armor. Her robot ears were like wings or fish gills. The blonde pirate looked all around until she noticed Tails, Sonic, Dr. Cain and Hornet heading towards her ship.
"Hello, Tails!" A blonde pirate said loudly, waving her hand to the little fox.
"Hi, Marty! Long time no see!" Tails, in turn greeted and stopped in front of her with Sonic. "Marty, this is Sonic. Sonic, this is Marty, I told you about."
"Hello, Marty." Said a blue hedgehog, extending his hand to her. "I'm glad to meet you...What are you wearing?"
"Why are you asking me?" Marty asked, puzzled by the hedgehog's question. "I'm wearing armor. What's bothering you?"
"To be honest, you're dressed revealingly." Sonic said honestly. "Is this how you'll greet your boyfriend? But regardless, you look cool in that armor."
"Um...Um...You know, let's leave this for later." Marty said, quickly changing the subject, then she began dramatically. "I came here because at one of the Doppler Army bases, I not only found out that X and his friend were captured, still in terrible condition, but also the coordinates of your base. I wasn't that surprised by the last one because it's obvious he'll try to find your base and end up turning into a creepy stalker. But here's the first...
"Wait a minute, she's X's girlfriend?!" A surprised Hornet turned to Tails in a whisper.
Tails nodded his head before he, a hornet reploid and the others noticed how Marty's fists shook from the inner anger that was inside the pirate.
"Marty?" Dr. Cain asked worriedly, noticing the pirate's trembling fists.
"I WILL NOT ALLOW X AND ZERO TO DIE!" Marty screamed loudly in such a loud voice that even everyone around her almost jumped. "I am ready to fight my enemies to the end for the sake of X! If it means I'll sacrifice my life for him!"
"YO-YO! Can you not be this loud?" Sonic asked loudly and he turned to Tails. "Is this always like this with her?"
"She's the boss and captain of her team, so yeah." A little fox answered before he turned to Marty. "Marty, I know you've been worried about X ever since you found out what happened to him, but I have a plan. We take out the necessary things from the laboratory for the rescue mission of X and Zero and the fight against the army by Doppler and Doppler himself. We…"
As Tails continued to explain the plan of what happened here and the information they had gained to Marty, Sonic began to think about their upcoming battle with MaVi and X and Zero's rescue mission. He remembered Earthia's worries about MaVi finding out about the existence of the Chaos Takers and his battle with MaVi. After some thoughts, Sonic clenched his hands into fists as he decided to do something to save X and Zero from captivity. After this, while Hornet and Dr. Cain boarded Marty's ship, Sonic and Tails, along with the Maverick Hunters and some of the reploids from Marty's team, went to the laboratory to retrieve the bodies of the disabled reploids needed and "Tornado II" for two missions.
Everyone entered the elevator and Tails pressed the down button. Once downstairs, Tails and Sonic, along with the others, headed to the laboratory to quickly pick up the fox's bag and things. When they arrived at the lab, four Maverick Hunters with a suitcase went to get the Chaos Emeralds while Tails packed his things into his bag. After they collected everything, Tails and Sonic walked towards the hangar. A little fox quickly climbed into the plane and put on his helmet while Sonic climbed onto the wing. Then, when Tails had his helmet fully on and his bag placed next to him, a little fox closed the cockpit of the plane and began pressing the plane's buttons. While little fox was doing this, he was at a reception with a scientist.
"Tails!"
"Yes, Dr. Cain?"
"We have already taken out everything we need. Buffalo, Catfish, Tiger, Hornet and Rhino are in the medic shuttle and ready to send back to one of closest Maverick Hunter bases. When we get the Chaos Emeralds and other things from the base to Marty's ship, she will take off. You need to follow the ship to Doppler Town. If anything, I will send the coordinates of Doppler Town and Marty's ship to your device."
"Thank you, Dr. Cain! We're already leaving. Catch you later!"
After that the line was cut off. Soon, "Tornado ll" began to move and headed towards the entrance to the base's hangar, which automatically opened. A little fox looked at Sonic and motioned with his hand to tell him to hold onto something tighter. After that, Tails took the controls of the plane and got ready. When he heard the engine start up inside the Tornado II, a little fox grabbed the lever and pulled it forcefully towards himself.
Tornado II accelerated sharply and flew straight through the garage entrance before flying upward. The garage entrance closed behind them. Sonic was still holding onto the wing and trying not to fall off the plane. Soon, Tornado II flew into the sky and leveled off, allowing Sonic to find his balance. They flew over the place where the warship and the shuttle were. When Sonic stood up on both legs, he saw that below, everyone had boarded Marty. He was sad that reploids like Blizzard, Tiger, Rhino, and Catfish passed out from their wounds and that his Chaos Wave move turned the area into a wasteland. But Sonic knew why he used this technique and what four reploids get these armor chips for. Now what he needs is to prepare to fight his enemies and end it all.
Soon a blonde pirate's ship itself rose up and the Tornado II followed the ship to Doppler Town.
Sometime later...
Tails landed Tornado II inside Marty's warship before he and Sonic went to the cabinet. Inside Marty's cabinet, a blue hedgehog, a little fox, Marty, a Marty's vice-captain and Dr. Cain were discussing plans for a rescue mission.
"We moving to the plan itself." Said Tails. "But now we need to discuss who will take the four armor chips for X. We need someone to take these chips to the execution place."
"I will go. Alone."
"I will go."
Everyone in the room looked at Marty and Sonic. If everything is clear about Sonic, Tails asked the blonde pirate:
"Marty, are you sure that you will go to X and Zero alone? Bit is at this place and monitors the execution process. He is a very good fighter and can beat you to death. I saw for myself and am still nervous that I will sooner or later run into him again."
"I don't care." Marty replied. "I'm already going to fight to the death with the bastard who did this to X. I'll be fine."
"Um..." Tails muttered uncertainly before he turned to the others. "What do you think about this?"
"Well, I like the fact that she does for her boyfriend." Sonic said with a wide smile before his smile fell. "But I also want to go after X. I am still tormented by the fact that they will soon be executed. Marty, I appreciate you sacrificing yourself for someone who is very close to your heart but let me be with you. I promise that I will not interfere with your mission. I also want help for X, just like you."
"I believe in our boss." Said Marty's vice-captain. "She's a great fighter and leader."
"I agree with Sonic and Tails." Said Dr. Cain. "I know you're a fighter, Marty, but you can't go there alone. You need someone with you."
"I actually can stand up for myself and fight." Marty stood up. "I alone can handle this well! In the past I fought with some of the mavericks and I survived!"
"Marty, your task is not to fight Bit, but to bring X his armor chips so that we can all win this battle." Said Dr. Cain. "I don't want the same thing to happen to you as to X and Zero. Bit is very dangerous, and I became convinced of this when I found out what happened to X. Marty, if you die in Bit's hands, what will your team do without you?"
"Dr. Cain, I think this is bit overboard." Said Tails looking at Cain. "I get it, what you are worrying about her, but don't use her crew like that!"
"I'm sorry." Said , realizing that this is rude on his part.
Marty opened her mouth to say something in response to the old man when her gaze fell on the hedgehog. She sensed the confidence and desire to help a comrade in Sonic's eyes, and his eyes reminded Marty of the moment when X saved her during a battle with a maverick named Bubble Crab. If X had not come at this moment, this battle might have ended in failure. After thinking a little, Marty said:
"Fine. I'll go with Sonic after X and Zero. Hedgehog, you better keep your word."
"Yes, ma'am!" Sonic said with a smile. "Perhaps I can help you and X arrange a date."
"SONIC!" Marty shouted in embarrassment, then she sat down on the couch.
"Okay, we already figured it out." Said Tails. "Dr. Cain, Thomas, and I will stay behind in this ship. Marty and Sonic go to rescue X and Zero along with the armor chips, and if anything happens to you, I will send reinforcements. The Maverick hunters and the reploids from Marty's crew will be in different groups. Maverick hunters are specifically divided into three groups that concentrate on attack, defense, and infiltration. The attack team will fight the enemies, and the defense team will protect those who remain in the ships, such as navigators. The infiltration team will penetrate important objects of Doppler Town and when the soldiers connect a special device for hacking in the buildings they enter, I, navigators and reploids specializing in hacking can hack them."
"You're a great strategist, Tails." Said Thomas' assistant.
"I know what I'm doing." A little fox smirking, winking his eye, and raising his index finger up.
In 25-30 minutes...
The ship containing Sonic, Tails, Marty, and Dr. Cain, along with many large ships of the Maverick hunters, were already approaching Doppler Town. Everyone in the ships noticed the flying horde of Dr. Doppler's army, led by a member of the Nightmare Police, Byte. He rode on the flying metallic turtle robot and looked towards those ships. A large reploid's eyes were filled with regret, especially in those moments when he knew full well what he would do.
Forgive me... Byte mentally apologized to his enemies before he loudly ordered the army. "FIRE!"
Dr. Doppler's army began to shoot at the ships. Inside that warship, Tails with Thomas and are above the captain's bridge. While Thomas and gives orders to the crew, Tails looked at the Miles Electric, specifically on two yellow points what moving across one of Doppler Town's streets. These two yellow points are Sonic and Marty on their rescue mission. Tails looked over the battlefield and saw the attack team fought entered the battle with the Doppler army, the defense team began to protect the ships and shuttles that were on the ground and other soldiers. As he heard, the infiltration team has already begun to move deeper into the streets of Doppler Town to reach important targets.
Guys, I'm counting on all of you. Thought Tails. Please be careful!
With Sonic and Marty...
The blue hedgehog ran next to Marty, who was riding a futuristic motorcycle. They were heading to that tower where X, Zero and Bit were at the top.
I'll bring these chips to him! Their donations will not go unnoticed! Thought Marty.
When they passed one tower that had a mechanical dragon on it. Suddenly, that same mechanical dragon flew off the tower and joined other dragons that were flying after a hedgehog and a pirate. Soon, Sonic and Marty were surrounded by dragons, and the two heroes noticed this. The mechanical dragons opened their mouths and began shooting at a blue hedgehog and a blonde pirate.
"Marty, BE CAREFUL!" Sonic shouted. "THEY ARE SHOOTING AT US!"
After a blue hedgehog screamed these words, he and Marty began to try to run faster to get out of the shot zone. The dragon shot towards the pirate, but Sonic, noticing this, quickly jumped over Marty's head and took the blow on himself.
"Sonic, are you okay?!" Said worried Marty.
"I'll live." Sonic said, landing on two feet and continuing to run before he noticed a ledge in the distance. "Marty, be careful, WE ARE GOING TO JUMP NOW!"
"Sonic, what are you talking about...OH, SH…!" A pirate said loudly, seeing the ledge in front of her, but her words cut short, when Sonic jumped, and she rode off the ledge on her motorcycle.
During the flight, the pirate took out the enhancement chips and handed them to the hedgehog.
"Hold on and move on!" Marty said to the blue hedgehog. "I'll come later!"
"How did you..."
Before a blue hedgehog could finish his sentence, Marty's motorcycle crashed into pieces. These pieces were attached to Marty and her tiara helmet creating new armor. The helmet changed, becoming harder and the wings or gills disappeared. Cyber wings formed on Marty's back, allowing her to fly.
She was crazy prepared for this. Sonic thought before he said loudly. "Marty, I wish you to be well and alive!"
"Challenge accepted!" The blonde pirate said with a grin. "After all, a woman like me never loses to the enemy!"
"What a spirit!" Sonic said with a smile and gave a thumbs up before running further, while being careful of the metal dragons.
Sometime later...
"7 minutes and 47 seconds left." Said Bit standing in front of the crosses on which X and Zero were and watched as the drills slowly approached their heads. "What a wonderful Christmas!"
At this, Bit laughed loudly maniacally.
"What a funny irony! On the day that Christ was born, the Messiah of Earth will die. HA-HA-HA!"
"You better not tell this to Winter Cloud." Suddenly a voice came from behind the yellow reploid and he turned to see Sonic, who was standing on the outskirts of the tower with a grin.
"Oh, are you Sonic the Hedgehog?" Asked Bit. "I didn't expect to meet you in person. I heard that you were causing trouble for my master. You even hit him."
"Sorry, but I had to." Sonic said with a grin. "And I apologize again because I'm about to kick your ass."
"And?" Bit asked, taking out his laser sword. "Did you bring gifts for me?"
"Only one and the most unpleasant." Said a blue hedgehog. "This is about your master. Are you generally sure that your master is him and someone is not forcing him to say something about the harm to the humanity and beauty of evolution."
"You mean..." Said Beat, his eye began to twitch. "What you...Do you doubt that Doppler is NOT HIMSELF?!"
"I'm one hundred percent sure." Sonic answered. "Do you want to check it out? Start asking him questions with a lot of "what.""
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Bit shouted in rage, losing patience, and heading towards the hedgehog.
He swung the laser, but Sonic quickly dodged the ball before a hedgehog hit Bit on the head. The yellow reploid lost his balance and began to fall to the ground. After making sure that everything was clear, Sonic took out X's armor chips and quickly approached to a blue reploid. He raised his hand high to throw the chips to X when suddenly he heard someone land on the surface of the tower. Looking back, he saw an injured Marty who had made it here and was still standing.
"Why are you standing?" A blonde pirate asked the hedgehog. "Throw these chips!"
As soon as Sonic open his mouth to speak, when he notices something behind Marty's back.
"MARTY, BEHIND YOU!" A hedgehog shouted.
Marty turned and saw Bit, whose angry face was like demon's. The yellow reploid directed the laser wave of his sword in her direction. The pirate threw off her armor, aiming them at Bit. The wave only touched part of her hair, thus cutting it off.
"SONIC, COME ON!" Marty screamed.
Sonic tossed her two armor chips before they quickly threw them towards X. At that time, the drill had already touched the blue hedgehog's head. As soon as the chips reached him...
BOOM!
Levitating and seeing the explosion, Bit laughed loudly and sadistically like a maniac.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS! HIYA-HA-HA HAHAHAHA!"
As the smoke from the explosion began to fade, yellow reploid looked down and saw that Marty and Sonic were still alive and sitting on the ground. A blue hedgehog coughed from the smoke. For Beat it was very surprising that they remained alive, and he began to land on the ground. During this, he laughed a little until he saw the hedgehog's damned confident grin.
"Why are you smiling?" Asked angered and irritated Bit.
"X, start your epic speech!" Sonic said loudly, turning towards the crosses, addressing someone.
"What the…" Began puzzled Bit, as he looked towards the crosses and his eyes widened in shock. "WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!"
He saw that Zero was not executed and the drill was broken. The end of the drill was completely missing.
Damn! Damn! GODDAMMIT! Bit started to panic in his mind until he heard a voice from the smoke.
"Bit…"
"This…! This voice...!" Bit muttered and it was clear from him that he was terrified.
"You can be proud that you were born a reploid. But you will regret it. Because even reploids can feel fear."
"Heh, I'll be damned." Marty said with a happy smile, who was happy that this reploid was back. "From now on... This day will be..."
"...Your gift from Winter Cloud or Santa Claus, as you call it in your world." A hedgehog said with a smile, winking the pirate's eyes and raising his thumb.
Soon the smoke cleared, and everyone saw X in his new white armor with a determined look in his eyes.
At this time, December 25th, the birthday of Christ, arrived. In the world of Sonic, December 25th is the birthday of the world of planet Freedom after long years of recovery from Atomic Day and the warrior of legends named Winter Cloud. On the planet Earth, this became the day when the savior of the planet was born. A messiah named Mega Man X.
Next time...Heroes vs. Nightmare Police!
Yeah, this chapter was huge, and I didn't expect it. In the beginning, this chapter was going to be the chapter that would be adapted from chapter 12 and half of chapter 13. But while writing, I chose to adapt only chapter 12, since the beginning of the text turned out to be huge in terms of pages and number of words. As you remember, in the previous chapter I introduced you to a character: Earthia the Chaos taker.
During this chapter, we learned about her past and how exactly she became a Chaos Taker (yes, she turned out to be the red-haired girl our heroes saw in their visions). Also, during the conversation, she mentioned two specific characters that you might recognize from the Sonic video game series.
In addition, especially for this crossover and possibly its sequel in the future, I made it so that the main villain of this alternate reality of the series would not be Sigma himself, but Maverick Virus himself. In this version, Maverick Virus is an artificial intelligence that has a mind and a way of thinking like X, but he is limited due to his programming that his creator put into him (Mega Man fans know who I'm talking about). For me, this was a creative decision to, well, deviate a little from canon in the manga. In my opinion, the fact that artificial intelligence, that is, a virus, is the very person who was responsible for all the events that happened in the Mega Man X series is a interesting idea. But also, an explanation for why Sigma always came back from death to play main villain role. Write in the reviews what you think about this.
Also you noticed that in this chapter and in final chapters of the SR2 I started to use horizontal brakes. I will start to add them in other characters of the two fanfics during the summer, where I have more free time for this.
See you in this month with chapter 13 of Sonic and Tails in Mega Man X3 manga! And happy 1st anniversary to this fanfic!