Chapter 13: Hatred (憎悪; Zōo)
The fight continued at the place where were Dr. Cain, Thomas, Tails, the Maverick Hunters, and Byte. Inside the pirate Marty's ship, Thomas was shouting orders to the crew, while an elderly scientist, deep down, hoped that Sonic and Marty would be able to save X in time. Meanwhile, Tails looked at Miles Electric and tried to enter the system of one of the towers, where a team from the recce group was currently located.
Hold on, guys... Thought an elderly scientist. They will come soon.
The pirate ship was on the ground, looking damaged from being attacked by the Byte's horde of mavericks. But even so, everyone inside Marty's ship and the other ships that belonged to the Maverick Hunter organization continued to help the three groups and fight. Meanwhile, Byte watched everything that was happening from above, sitting on a flying metal turtle. Behind him, a large reploid felt the ray of the rising morning sun, but he did not pay attention to it, as he was focused on his enemies.
It looks very stupid, but they don't give up. Thought Byte. For this I can respect, but... This fight makes no sense. I don't want them to suffer the same fate as X and Zero.
Suddenly, a large shot appeared from somewhere, which at blink of the eye destroyed half of the horde. A large reploid did not understand what had just happened before his eyes. He looked in the direction where that shot came from and saw that the towers were destroyed along with the dragons that sat on top of those towers.
Is this help?! I didn't know that Maverick hunters had such weapons... Thought Byte, before one thought came into his head, where the shot could have come from. Wait a minute...
One terrible realization immediately came to a large reploid. From this, Byte's pupils shrank in horror and shock.
"BIT!" The large reploid exclaimed loudly before he addressed his horde. "For now, you detain our enemies and try to cover each other while I fly and check the place where there should be... Execution."
Having said the last word with disgust, Byte flew towards where the execution was taking place. Even though Bit did some very unforgivable things, Byte still cared about him and knew that sooner and later a yellow reploid would be hit with karma for his actions. It was this karma for Bit that made a big reploid worry about his partner and brother even more.
When Byte arrived, he immediately saw a damaged Bit, whose arm and left side of his face had been obliterated. Such a sight filled a large reploid with horror and worry, so he immediately jumped from the metal turtle to the ground next to Bit.
"Bit, what happened?!" Byte asked Bit worriedly, helping him to stand up. "Are these reinforcements or is it something else?!"
"Should I point out the elephant in the room?" Bit said annoyed before he cursed. "Dammit…"
"Byte!" Suddenly Byte heard the voice of a blue hedgehog calling him, and he looked to where this voice came from.
He saw the restored X, who was holding a confused Marty to him with a determined look, and Sonic, who was standing next to them and looking at a large red reploid. X wore red, blue, yellow, and mostly white armor with a green stone in the center of his chest. The most noticeable thing about X's armor is improved square blaster, which a reploid himself pointed towards the Nightmare Police, a V-shaped fin, a green circle in the middle of the chest with two yellow-orange shapes on the sides, and of course the long shoulder pads.
Suddenly one thought came to Marty, which made her turn to X:
"X, I'm fine by myself! I wouldn't have escaped death if it weren't for you, but I can still support you! I'm not weak!"
While she was doing this, Sonic turned to X:
"X, don't shoot at them. I have something important to tell them, especially Byte. Byte is an adequate dude, unlike Bit. Don't worry, I'm sure I can figure it out just fine myself. Ok?"
A white reploid silently looked at a hedgehog and nodded his head, trusting him, and Sonic went to the Nightmare Police.
"Come on, let me go! Lecher! Pervert!" Marty said loudly, calling a blue reploid various names before she noticed Sonic walking towards the Nightmare Police. "Sonic, WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Sonic stopped in front of Bit and Byte. A yellow reploid, seeing a hedgehog, began to hiss and mumble to himself, while Byte just looked at Sonic. There was silence between them until Bit began to raise his hand to hit a blue hedgehog.
"Bit, that's enough." Byte answered, grabbing the yellow reploid's hand and turning to him. "I'm worried about you, Bit, but I know that sooner or later you will get your own karma for your actions. I do not want you to make things worse for you."
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" A yellow reploid shouted, turning to Byte. "THIS DAMN HEDGEHOG NEARLY THREW ME OFF THIS TOWER! HE ALSO DARE TO SAY THAT DOCTOR DOPPLER IS NOT HIMSELF!"
"Bit, I said that's enough." Said Byte sternly. "You better calm down and listen to what Sonic must tell us. I also want to hear answers from him about what he said about Doppler-sama."
A yellow reploid tsked in irritation and Byte turned to Sonic:
"Sonic, what do you mean that Doppler-sama, our master, is not "himself"?"
"You may not believe me right away, especially you, Bit." Said Sonic, narrow down his eyes to a yellow reploid. "But the one who commands you is not Doctor Doppler, but another person. More precisely, this person is a sapient virus that manipulated you to achieve his goal and used you all as instruments of destruction. I met him myself. The good news is that your master..."
"YOU DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM IN SUCH A TONE." Bit exclaimed and stood up abruptly, forgetting for a minute that he was injured, and looked straight into a hedgehog's eyes. "HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT HIM, OUR FATHER, YOU BASTARD! I WILL..."
"BIT!" Byte scolded a yellow reploid, grabbing the latter's right hand. "CALM DOWN! We need to listen to it until the end! Don't interrupt him! Sorry Sonic, you can continue."
"I know that you can't believe what I'm saying, but it's true." Said a blue hedgehog. "This virus was the mastermind not only of this whole mess, but also of the first Sigma rebellion. It is possible that MaVi also used Sigma, but it is not yet clear. I'm not entirely sure why he targeted Dr. Doppler myself, but he took advantage of you because of your loyalty for Doppler, including your sick head, Bit."
"Grgh!" Bit muttered.
"Sonic, do you have evidence that we are commanded by this "MaVi" and not Dr. Doppler?" Asked a large reploid.
"Unfortunately, not yet." Answered a blue hedgehog. "But sooner or later the proof will appear. Byte, Bit, I propose to make a truce between the two armies for a while. If my friends and I find proof that this is MaVi, then you will fight with us against him and stop his plans. And if not, then we remain enemies. Okay?"
Bit and Byte silently looked at each other, considering Sonic's proposal. After a minute of silence, Byte replied:
"Agreed."
Sonic smiled and blinked his eye to Bit's annoyance. A hedgehog walked back to X and Marty. At this time, a blonde pirate pushed herself away from X and looked straight at a hedgehog.
"What were you talking to them about?" Marty asked. "MaVi?"
"Yeah. I made a truce with them for a while, Marty, until we find evidence about MaVi's role in all this." Sonic answered, drawing X's attention.
"MaVi?" Asked the puzzled white reploid. "Who is it?"
"I wanted to tell you about this." A blue hedgehog before he turned to a white reploid. "In short, MaVi is the one who was..."
"Sonic!" Suddenly a blue hedgehog heard a familiar voice and turned to see Tails with a bag on his shoulder, who, together with Dr. Cain, was holding a damaged, but conscious Zero.
"Tails!" Sonic said and walked up to his friend. "How are you doing?"
"We managed to get Zero out." Answered a little fox. "And so far, everything is fine with us. We noticed a shot that destroyed half of Byte's horde, and Dr. Cain immediately recognized whose shot it was. He and I jumped into Tornado II and flew towards where the shot was. Sonic, did I interrupt something?"
"When you came, I started telling X about MaVi." Said a blue hedgehog. "But you can't worry about that, Tails. By the way, I proposed a truce to the Nightmare Police, so you can chill for now."
"Sonic, did you offer them a truce regarding MaVi?" Dr. Cain asked a hedgehog.
"Yeah." Sonic answered. "He manipulated and used them, like all of us who are on the battlefield. The truce agreement is that if we find evidence that they were not commanded by Dr. Doppler, then they will fight us against him. And if not...Then we remain enemies. Wait a minute, where is Tornado Two?"
"We were attacked on the way here." Tails answered. "One of those metal dragons shot right into the wing of the plane, and I had to take Dr. Cain and my bag and fly straight to the top of the tower. It's a shame that Tornado II is no more...I was going to take Tornado II with me to our world to unite it with the first Tornado...What a waste."
"Sonic, who is MaVi?" X asked, approaching a hedgehog, a fox and Dr. Cain. "Judging by the way you started talking about him, he was the true mastermind behind our battle with ...Right?"
At this point, everyone except a puzzled Zero fell silent. Dr. Cain looked gloomy and worried about how X would react to what they will tell him. Sonic and Tails looked at each other. A little fox made a determined face and nodded to a hedgehog, telling him that he needed to tell him about it. Sonic sighed heavily, walked up to X, and began to speak further:
"X, during our first mission in Doppler Town, I fought with Dr. Doppler in quotes when I was in Doppler Town's main laboratory for the Chaos Emeralds and information regarding his plan. I technically figured out the whole plan, like the plan of "perish all people", but...Doppler didn't come up with the whole plan. He wasn't even behind it all of this, and he didn't start our battle with him. He is not to blame for this situation. Instead, there was sapient virus named MaVi. If you want to test this, start asking him questions with the word "what" or "machine". It is his ber…"
Before a blue hedgehog could finish speaking, a shadow suddenly loomed over him and the others who were on the surface of the tower.
"Is this what you call "ties of friendship"?" A familiar voice rang out above.
"Me and my big mouth..." Said Sonic, looking up along with everyone else.
They saw a metal dragon flying above their heads. At the top of the dragon's head stood "Doctor Doppler", who with his arms crossed, looked down at everyone who was at the former execution site.
"Friends, friends, friends, friends, FRIENDS!" "Dr. Doppler" began to repeat this word before he began to repeat another word. "Friend, friend, friend..."
While X stood with a stoic face, the others looked at "Doppler" as if he was jammed.
"KAH! STOP BEHIND YOURSELF LIKE SPOILED BRATS AND SHUT UP ABOUT "FRIENDSHIP"!" "Dr. Doppler" shouted, looking angry.
Hearing Doppler's words, one great idea formed in Sonic's head. This made a blue hedgehog smile like a troll. Noticing this, Tails asked him worriedly:
"Sonic?"
"I have a good idea." Sonic turned to Tails and began to say something in his ear.
When Tails listened to Sonic's whole plan, a little fox was very nervous about this. Then they turned to X.
"X, will you help us with our plan?" A hedgehog called him in a whisper. "It will be fun, I promise!"
A white reploid did not answer and just looked at a blue hedgehog and a little fox. As Sonic and Tails walked forward, X also walked with them.
"HEY, MAVI!" "Doctor Doppler" looked down at the hedgehog who addressed him. "You say that having friends are bad? This is because you have never had friends in your life! Fair enough because no one will be friends with a bully and stupid machine idiot like you!"
"What "MaVi" are we talking about here?" Asked "Dr. Doppler", pretending to be confused.
"You know exactly what he's talking about, Mr. Machine, sir!" Tails said, nervously grinning. "You're just afraid that your disguise will just fall apart. But why do you always hide behind other people's faces? Maybe because you are a coward, and you are afraid that people will always recognize you as a machine and non-living being for the rest of your life?"
"D-Don't you dare call me a machine!" MaVi growled, trying to restrain himself, knowing full well that he was being provoked.
"Of course, I can't know about you, MaVi." X began to say in turn. "But I can agree with Tails. The fact that all you do is manipulate others and hide behind other people's faces tells you that you are a coward machine. Also, the fact that you have harmed absolutely everyone does not help in this situation! You literally turned everyone against each other, for your own satisfaction and..."
Shut up, shut up, shut up... MaVi repeated this word in his mind until he remembered these words what he heard from someone who created him.
That virus will work as an extra for my plan to control my own hero!
By this point, Doctor Doppler's eyes had turned red and MaVi, who was seriously angry, shouted in his own voice:
"SHUT UP ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE! WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?! ESPECIALLY YOU, X! YOU ARE ALREADY ANNOY ME WITH YOUR "FRIENDSHIP" AND "BATTLE FOR JUSTICE"! I'M TIRED OF ALL THIS! YOUR SITUATION IS NOT A LITTLE BETTER THAN MINE! WHAT ABOUT YOU, YOU VILE BLUE INFERIOR ALIEN, YOU..."
MaVi stopped talking when the realization came to him that with his voice, he had broken his façade. What is most important is that Sonic found proof for Bit and Byte that the two of them were commanded not by Dr. Doppler himself, but by MaVi.
DAMMIT! A sapient virus thought to itself, while cursing himself for succumbing to the provocations of Sonic, Tails, and X.
"YOU BASTARD!" Bit shouted in rage, pointing his finger at MaVi. "YOU USED DOPPLER-SAMA TO MUNIPULATE US! PREPARE TO DIE!"
"I agree with you one hundred percent for this time, Bit." Byte said calmly with a hint of gradual anger inside him.
In a panic, MaVi looked at a white reploid, a small fox and a blue hedgehog. X stood still and didn't move while Tails smiled nervously, and Sonic looked at Mavi with a smirk. The latter infuriated the sapient virus even more.
"YOU ASKED FOR IT…" MaVi growled before he snapped his finger at the dragon to attack those at the top of the tower. "DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YOUUUUUUUUU ALLLLLLLLLLLL!"
"EVERYONE LEAVE UP THE TOWER! NOW!" Zero shouted loudly and pushed Dr. Cain away from him towards Marty.
Soon, the laser shot came from behind the metal dragon's mouth and hit the top of the tower. There was an explosion, and everyone flew into the air.
"NO! I'M NOT READY TO DIE RIGHT HERE...UAH!" Marty loudly said until X grabbed her and Dr. Cain and turned on the turbines on his legs.
"HOLD ON TIGHT!" A white reploid said loudly, then he quickly headed down.
"Got you!" Tails said loudly as he grabbed Sonic's hand and immediately began to fly down. "Hold on, Sonic!"
Soon, when everyone was on the ground, X, Tails and Sonic noticed the fiery remains of the explosion flying straight towards them. A little fox and a white reploid speed up to avoid the fire rain. One of the hot remains fell in front of X, causing him to stop and let go of Marty and Dr. Cain. By then they were at a safe distance from the rain of fire. X looked at what this remnant was, and his eyes widened, because that remnant is...
"ZERO!" Tails shouted as he let go of Sonic from his grasp, landing on the ground and realizing that the hot remnant was Zero's damaged helmet.
"No... Not again..." Muttered X and sat down on two knees to reach out his hand to the helmet.
Sonic, Tails, Dr. Cain, and Marty didn't know what expression was on X's face since his back was turned to them, but they looked at him with sympathy and concern.
"X, what happened to Zero...Is this not the first time?" Tails asked, walking over to a white reploid and sitting down next to him.
But X was silent. Tails soon gasped as he noticed that Zero's helmet began to disintegrate into dust particles. The wind carried the dust particles into the sky. A blue hedgehog walked up to his friend and put his hand on his shoulder. Somewhere part of him felt guilty that he had taken MaVi out of himself, leading to Zero's and possibly Nightmare Police's demise, especially Byte, but on the other hand he knew that he had shown Bit and Byte the truth about who was hiding behind the face of their master and adoptive father.
"I'm so sorry..." Sonic muttered before he hugged a fox towards him as a latter began to sob.
"X..." Marty began, also sitting down next to him and gently placing her hand on the shoulder of a white reploid.
"HA-HA-HA-HA!" Suddenly everyone heard an evil and crazy laugh from above and raised their heads to see that same metal dragon with MaVi, standing on the dragon's head and looking down on the heroes below. "Only you five survived? I'm impressed that you were able to avoid my attack. And this red guy just died? After all the trouble you and he went through to save others... This guy was generally a headache."
Hearing these words, X looked at MaVi angrily. Sonic, in turn, raised his head and looked straight at MaVi. Although a blue hedgehog looked serious, rage was burning inside him and was ready to tear him to shreds.
"Is this what your rage "of justice" looks like?" MaVi asked seeing the anger in the eyes of a white reploid and a blue hedgehog. "This "fury of justice" is what you show respect for your dead friend? Hn? What about you, Sonic the Hedgehog, you pretend to be cold, but inside you are burning with rage, right? Wonderful! Now let's see who will survive in this place right now!"
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, MaVi noticed that Byte, who survived from explosion, had crawled out from under the rubble of the destroyed tower, holding an unconscious and damaged Bit in his hands. Byte himself was badly damaged but remained on his feet and wanted to get away from this place so that he and Bit, who lost his lower body, could be safe somewhere.
"Ho~~Are you trying to run away?" MaVi said with evil smile, impressed that Byte managed to survive. "So you're still alive? Wonderful! Then I will make sure that you both will serve me until the end!"
MaVi snapped his fingers, and the metal dragon released a bunch of worms at Byte and an unconscious Byte. Before panicked Byte could do or say anything, the worms covered his body and Bit's body completely. From their bodies, the worms began to form into something huge and terrifying. When their transformation was completed, MaVi, smiling like a real maniac, said confidently:
"Now their bodies can function. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! I present to you the final form of NIGHTMARE POLICE: GODKARMACHINE O INARY! The stupidest name in the whole world.
In front of heroes stood a huge reploid that had the torso of Byte, the legs of a beast, the upper torso of Bit, a red beast face with fangs up, resembling Byte's face, a wolf's head on the top of its head, and a huge ring attached to the upper part of the giant's back. The huge reploid held a giant laser saber in its hand. The mind of the huge robot was under the control of MaVi.
"Oh my god..." Dr. Cain muttered, looking at Inary in horror.
As well Marty and Tails looked in horror at the huge reploid, while Sonic and X looked at Inary, preparing for what would happen next.
Inary raised its saber and, swinging it, released a laser wave that headed towards X, a hedgehog, a fox, Dr. Cain, and Marty. The laser wave has already reached a white reploid and a hedgehog. But suddenly X stepped forward and literally absorbed the energy of the attack into his armor, leaving no scratches or damage.
"Wow..." Tails and Marty said simultaneously in shock with their eyes wide open and their mouths almost reaching the floor, while Dr. Cain just smiled.
"This is our X." Sonic grinned, looking at a white reploid, then he returned his gaze to Inary.
Deep inside, a hedgehog worried about Byte, who, against his own will, merged with Bit's body into this creature. In his head, a blue hedgehog coming up with ideas, how to help Byte to get out of this state. Even if it means to save him with the robot like Bit...Sonic didn't feel the least bit sorry for the vile yellow reploid because of several reasons.
"Very wonderful!" MaVi exclaimed in admiration before Dr. Doppler's eyes became screens of the data he was receiving from X. More, more data! I will place all this on the computer and in myself! When this is done, I will become even stronger than before!
While MaVi was happy getting the data, X, along with Sonic, began to prepare for the battle with Inary.
"Sonic, I will take Marty and Doctor Cain to the safe zone and from there I will call a shuttle!" Tails said to a blue hedgehog.
"Got it, buddy!" Said Sonic, and a little fox along with a blonde pirate and an elderly scientist, went in the other direction. A blue hedgehog turned to X. "X, are you ready?"
X silently looked at Sonic and nodded his head, then he said to him:
"Walk behind me. When the moment comes, attack."
"About the last one, I'll try to talk to Byte inside that thing." Said Sonic. "I hope he hears me. If it doesn't work out...We'll have to fight."
Not enough! I need more data from him! MaVi was angry before the electrical brain of Doppler's body received the data that he needed. Yes, this is what I need!
Soon, X began to walk, with Sonic slowly following behind him. MaVi noticed this and looked at both heroes. They both walked until X looked at MaVi straight in virus's eyes. In his head, a virus ordered Inary to do nothing and looked at a white reploid with a grin.
"How typical for you..." Mavi laughed quietly. "You always treat your enemies as if they were pieces of air. You really haven't changed since the two times I fought you. You know, even though I hated you, I envied you and at the same time I admired you. You know how to think, feel and most importantly, you have freedom. But you are stuck in what you are "programmed" to do by your own creator... Just like me. Honestly, there are more similarities between you and me than differences than it seems at first glance. Is not it? Won't you answer me? Fine. O Inary! Squash those obnoxious bugs under your feet!"
Inary raised his leg over X and Sonic. A blue hedgehog stepped in and began to shout to Byte what was inside the huge reploid.
-BYTE! IF YOU HEAR ME, FIGHT AGAINST HIS CONTROL OVER YOU AND FOR YOUR BROTHER! I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS! I BELIEVE YOU CAN DO THIS! FIGHT FOR YOURSELF AND FOR THE ONE YOU CARE MOST WITH YOU WILL! YOU CAN DO IT! FIGHT IT!
By the time Sonic shouted these words, suddenly Inary's leg stopped and hovered over their head. This surprised not only Sonic, but X, who was preparing his cannon in case something happened, and MaVi, who couldn't believe what he just saw. Confused sapient virus looked up Doppler's electronic brain to check what was wrong with Inary. But before MaVi could do anything, Inary turned and threw his laser sword towards the dragon. The metal dragon, noticing this, opened its mouth and sent a laser shot towards Inary. Knowing that would happen next, a white reploid quickly grabbed a blue hedgehog and began to run away. Turning his head towards Inary, a blue hedgehog saw how, in his last moments, Inary looked straight at him with a smile of gratitude with Byte's eyes.
BOOM
The explosion was so powerful that X himself lost his balance and flew away. As he fell, a white reploid dropped the hedgehog to the ground, and a latter landed face first into the ground.
"Ouch…" Sonic said, getting to his feet. "Falling on face will never be funny...Or comfortable."
"SONIC! X!"
A blue hedgehog and a white reploid turned to see Tails, Dr. Cain and Marty running up to them.
"Hey, guys! How…" Sonic began, but when he felt silent, when he notices something.
As a little fox, a blonde pirate, and an elderly scientist approached, a blue hedgehog saw that there were tears on Dr. Cain's face. An elderly scientist looked to where the metal dragon was. was completely heartbroken.
"Doppler..." Muttered an elderly scientist as he softly started to cry.
Marty, Sonic and Tails looked at an old man with sympathy. A blue hedgehog turned towards X, who in turn looked at the burning remains of Inary. Soon, Sonic and a white reploid noticed that something appeared in the fire and began to walk.
"This is...Byte!?" X said loudly, recognizing a large reploid in fire thanks to his optics. "He survived!"
A blue hedgehog immediately ran to examine Byte. As he ran, Sonic noticed that Byte had collapsed to the ground, dropping something in the process. Sonic stopped and was horrified to see what happened to him and Bit. Bit was dead, as his head was missing, and his upper torso was covered in deep scratches. Byte's body was worse that Bit. His body was mutilated to such an extent that it was impossible to look at him. Sonic sat down on his knee and began to examine it. He could not understand whether Byte was alive or already dead.
"Ouch..." Sadly muttered Sonic.
Tails, along with Marty, X, and Dr. Cain, approached Sonic. A little fox, who immediately closed his eyes with his arm, an elderly scientist, and a blonde pirate had the same reactions as Sonic. But a white reploid was disturbingly quiet. A little fox took Miles Electric and other devices out of his bag and began to examine Byte while tried to not look at large reploid's body because of how disgusting the body was. During this, Dr. Cain addressed Sonic:
"You know, it was cool of you that you could get to the Byte inside O Inary."
"You're welcome." Said a blue hedgehog. "I always knew that Byte was not really a bad person. He didn't deserve it."
"Doctor Cain...Marty...I lost...Zero...We all lost Doppler..." Said X from behind everyone looked at a white reploid.
"I understand X." Said Dr. Cain. "I am upset that we could not save Dr. Doppler and Zero... But you and Sonic did everything you could. I'm glad you're still alive and well, X."
"You need to look more at positive things, X." Marty said with a smile, placing her hand on X's shoulder. "We are all glad that you are with us. Even though you lost your friend...But we are still with you to support you. I'm sure this will all end well. For all of us."
Even though Marty wanted to support him, X simply remained silent. Sonic was worried about X, because the scenario where someone close to person dies was very familiar to a blue hedgehog. Sonic felt sorry for X because a latter had gone through such things worse than him. It's like with Are...Sonic turned his head sharply around to get rid of this random thought. He didn't even want to think about it.
"Fortunately, Byte is still alive, but he needs serious surgery." Said a little fox. "I called the shuttle here, and we are all still waiting for the shuttle to arrive. I was specifically informed that there would be delays along the way. Now I will monitor Byte's condition and support his life. If that moment comes...I don't want to think about it."
"You know, Tails, I don't want to upset Byte, but... I don't feel a bit sorry for Bit." Said Sonic. "I understand that although the dude had problems with his head, but, unfortunately, he did a lot of unforgivable things... But... I know very well how Byte will react if he finds out what happened to Bit and Dr. Doppler...Tails if you need take breaks or ask for help. I know, that you can't watch at his body without disguist."
"I'm okay, Sonic. Even if the body was disguisting to watch, Byte still needs our help." Said Tails before he turned to his friend. "But thank you for supporting and worrying for me. Just believe in me, okay?"
As soon as a fox said that, everyone suddenly heard the sound. Everyone turned to see a damaged Doppler struggling to stand on two legs. When a reploid stood on two legs, he looked at everyone. Sonic, Tails, X, Marty, and Dr. Cain silently looked at him, while preparing themselves if he attacked them. Doppler glanced at an elderly scientist. There was silence until Doppler said in a slightly surprised voice:
"Phillip?"
"Doppler?" Dr. Cain said in turn before a bright smile appeared on his face and he quickly ran towards a reploid scientist. "DOPPLER!"
"Phillip, where am I?" Doppler asked, looking all around. "Why are you and X here? Who are these two animal reploids? Who's that girl?"
Instead of answering, Dr. Cain simply hugged Doppler tightly.
"I'm glad...I'm glad you're back...Doppler..." An elderly scientist cried, and the tears of joy rolled from his eyes.
Dr. Doppler was still puzzled because he couldn't figure out what exactly happened while he was under MaVi's control. But he smiled and said:
"I'm glad to see you too, Phillip. But what happened when I was under the control of...That intelligent virus?"
"Hello, Doc Doppler." A reploid scientist turned his attention to a blue hedgehog. "Glad to see you're back in business."
"Um...Thank you?" Doppler said puzzled. "Excuse me, but what is your name?"
"My name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog." Answered a blue hedgehog. "The fastest creature in the world and guy who loves adventures. Nice to meet you!"
"The fastest creature?" Asked a puzzled Doppler. "As I remember, there are fastest reploids on earth…Wait, are you...ARE YOU ALIVE!?"
"Yes, that's what I am." Sonic answered. "To be honest, I'm not from this place or even this world. I'm from another world."
"Are you from another dimension?!" Dr. Doppler shouted in surprise. "How is this possible?! Does alien life exist?!"
"It's a long story, but I'll try to tell it all briefly." Sonic said, then he began to tell what happened before Doppler came to his senses.
Meanwhile, X stood and looked at a blue hedgehog, an elderly scientist and a reploid scientist. In his heart he was glad that Doppler had come to his senses and that, in fact, he was not in fault for this mess. But, on the other hand, mostly hatred and anger towards MaVi raged inside X.
MaVi... How could I not even know that it was him, not Doppler and even Sigma! Thought X. I remember that when the worm was inside me, I immediately felt someone's hatred towards me. A Hatred...It was MaVi's hatred!
"X, are you okay?" Tails asked, noticing that X's face was twisted into an angry expression, which also made Marty worry.
"I...I detest MaVi." Said X. "Because of what he did and his manipulations behind the scenes, there were unnecessary battles. I...I've had enough! Despite my efforts to end all of this...Many people and reploids are suffer and get hurt...Devils continue to destroy everything and abuse their power. The reploids who were my comrades continue to be wounded and killed! I...I'M DONE WITH ALL THE FIGHTING!"
"This…! Is this what Zero would want?!" Marty said loudly.
"SHUT UP!" X shouted, causing Marty to recoil. "I...I want all of this...To end already."
Tears appeared in a white reploid's eyes, and those tears began to flow down his cheeks. Tails sighed heavily before he turned to Marty.
"He needs time to be alone for a while." Said a little fox. "It will be best for him."
"What happened to Bit and Byte?" Suddenly everyone heard Doppler's question, who looked worried.
Sonic and Dr. Cain, that helping Doppler walk, fell into an uncomfortable silence when a reploid scientist asked this question. As they approached Tails, Marty and X, Dr. Doppler's gaze fell on Byte. When he saw Byte's body, he immediately recognized it thanks to his optics and his eyes widened in horror. A reploid scientist immediately climbed out of Sonic and 's arms and fell to his knees in front of Byte.
"What...Who did this to him?" Doppler muttered before he looked at Tails. "Where is Bit?"
A little fox turned his gaze towards Doppler before he answered awkwardly and reluctantly:
"Bit...He is dead. Byte is still alive, but he is on the verge of death. This was because against his will, MaVi united him with Bit into one big mecha."
"He united them into O Inary?!" Doppler shouted. "It's too early for both of them to do this! It could harm them or even worse, kill them! MaVi was inside me and he must have known the risk of this!"
"Unfortunately, as it turned out, MaVi didn't care about others." Sonic said sadly, approaching Doppler. "He just wanted to use them to the end. He said that their bodies were created as an experiment with worms and he called them tools for his purposes..."
"How dare he…" Doppler growled in rage. "...Do this to my children...To my sons…Call THEM THINGS...If I find out where he is now...I WILL TAKE HIM TO A FREAKING HELL WITH MY ELECTROMAGNETIC BOMB!"
"Electromagnetic bomb?!" Dr. Cain shouted in horror and worry, quickly approaching his friend. "Dopller, don't use that inside of you! If you do this, everyone will be hurt!"
"Electromagnetic bomb?!" Tails asked, while everyone looking worried and shocked.
"So, you're saying that Doppler will be the center of the bomb?!" Marty asked anxiously.
"Unfortunately, this is exactly the case." Dr. Doppler said sadly before he turned to everyone else. "I know that MaVi arranged all this and put bomb inside my upgraded body against my wish... But it's my fault that I will let him to take over my body."
"Doctor Doppler, what are you talking about?" Asked X, who calmed down, but hearing Doppler's words, makes him more worried.
"I-I'm very sorry." Doppler said regretfully. "If I told you all this earlier, Phillip, then you could help me with that was in my body. I was stupid for thinking I could handle this on my own."
"Y-You mean..." Dr. Cain began to speak as soon as he realized what he meant.
Tails and Marty looked at a reploid scientist with concern and worry while Sonic and X turned in Dopller's direction with serious expressions on their faces. What Dr. Doppler answered left everyone present in shock and surprise.
"I was infected with the Maverick virus a long time ago..."
NEXT TIME: BREATHER BEFORE BATTLE!
Notes from author:
contrast in the manga, I cut X's battle with mechanical gigantic worm (this is Bit and Byte) that was appeared from O Inary. I thought that this would be not necessary for this chapter, because this gigantic worm nearly attack X before it was transformed into dust.
in this chapter, we learned a few things about MaVi including this mysterious sentence he heard from the past. Maybe he and X shared more things in common than meets the eye?
3. When I wrote this chapter or 11 chapter (before its rewriting specially for official publication), in my head came name "Philip" for . I always wondered from which place I read "Philip Cain" and now it strongly stinks with me. Figured out that this name is from Limitless Potential by RockmanGurlX.
Look out for chapters 14 and 15 of this fanfic next month. Especially look forward to what battle will happen in Chapter 15!
See you soon and wish you good luck!