Chapter 10: Revenge (復讐; Fukushu)
In the dark room on the wall, visit the image of Mega Man X. Suddenly the image breaks. The frame this image was on was broken and it fell to the floor with the same broken frames. Soon a shadow grew above them and said:
"I will kill you...I will kill you...I will kill you...I WILL KILL YOU, MEGA MAN X, YOU SON OF &*# *!"
His loud voice could be heard throughout the room. This voice was filled not only with anger, but also with sadness about something.
Currently…
Tornado II flew through the sky with such speed, as if it was in a hurry to get somewhere. In the cockpit, Tails and Sonic looked at the radar, which showed several circles ahead, while their plane in the form of a purple directional was heading towards these circles.
"Who would have known that this Gravity Beetle captured X and Zero and would keep them captive on his flying ship?" Sonic asked.
"I was surprised myself when Dr. Cain told me how they were captured." Tails said. "I didn't expect that Maverick defeated them so easily with the help of gravitational holes. (The little fox turned to the blue hedgehog). I still don't know what means it has other than creating gravity holes. Here you go."
The little fox gave away his flash drive.
"Connect this to the nearest computer aboard the ship." Tails continued. "Download everything as it develops. Some of them are files that I didn't find in the weapons factory. I hope that from them we will get answers to our questions about Dr. Doppler's plan. But if it turns out that there are no files, connect it so that I can hack the ship's system and control the ship itself and the drones."
"Roger, Captain Tails!" The blue hedgehog said with a grin before he jumped out of the plane with flash drive
While Sonic is doing his job... The little fox looked, flying towards the drones. And I'll deal with the drones.
Sonic landed on top of the ship, where the view resembled a huge Rhinoceros Beetle. Walking through the ship, he found himself in a corridor inside the ship and ran towards her.
Meanwhile…
"Ah..." Muttered X as he began to come to his senses. "What the hell is this attack...?"
The blue reploid remembered that when he and Zero appeared on this ship, a black hole appeared out of nowhere and they lost consciousness. The only question that X asked himself was: What was that?
"In any case, I have to find Zero and..." X began, trying to move from his place.
But he didn't move. The Reploid noticed out of the corner of his eye that his arms and legs were chained to futuristic balls and things near his legs that somewhat resembled rocks.
"…What the heck?!" Shouted the shocked blue reploid.
After that, he drew attention to the screens that appeared on the wall of the room where X now lived. In his heart, Mega Man X was horrified when he saw drones bombing buildings in the city.
"Stop... stop..." Said a shocked X before he screamed loudly. "STOP IT!"
"This process cannot be stopped, Mega Man X." Suddenly the blue reploid heard a voice familiar to him. "What we started to do will be done."
The blue reploid turned his head and saw a reploid with green eyes. Its body color was red in most and was based on the stag beetle. His face was hidden except for his eyes. The beetle reploid had huge two horns. The limbs, his arms were insectivorous and skinny, and he had sharp blue shoulder pads. The robot had no lower body. Along with it was a device that was shaped like a skirt, which served as a wheelchair for him. You can also use the cables that were attached to the "brain" (he was without a helmet and hair)*, one arm and the upper body of Zero. The red reploid itself was unconscious and imprisoned in the same rock-like trap.
"Hello, X." Said the reploid beetle. "We haven't seen you for a long time since you sent me to hell."
"Boomer Kuwanger?!" X said loudly in shock, not believing his eyes and seeing the Maverick he had once defeated and destroyed. "You are you? Are you sure you're not an illusion?! And what did you do with Zero?!"
"Tsk-tsk." Kuwanger repeated. "You still haven't changed since we were both work colleagues. Just as noisy and naive as always."
"I am the one who brought him back to this world from the Kingdom of the Dead." Suddenly the blue reploid heard another familiar voice and noticed that a silhouette had appeared behind the reploid beetle.
This silhouette was soon revealed to be another reploid beetle like Kuwanger, but it had largely blue armor and was based on the Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle. In this representation, the horns are represented by the antennae on the head and the elytra on the back. He also had red eyes. The blue reploid beetle silently looked into Mega Man X's eyes. You can see the gleam of anger in his eyes.
"Gravity Beetle?!" X said, shocked by the mixture and surprised to hear his work colleague missing. "What are you doing here?! We've been looking for you for two months! Where have you been?!"
"You can guess it in one try, Captain." Beetle said sarcastically.
"You disappeared for two months just to bring your brother back from the dead?" X asked.
"You guessed right." Said the blue reploid beetle.
Suddenly, X's "shackles" Exploded and the blue reploid fell to the ground.
"Now answer my question, Captain." Beetle said angrily, slowly approaching X. "Why is my younger brother considered one of the "bad people"? I remember around the time you killed him, everyone said that your "judgments" were true and that Kuwanger deserved it all because he joined Sigma. And yes, all the time about judgments…"He didn't have a chance", they said… "We're sorry" they said...These words constantly irritated and angered me...Especially from you!"
Approaching X, the reploid beetle hit him hard with its "antenna", causing the latter to fall to the ground once again.
"I remember when I was feeling bad after learning about my brother's death, you came up to me with your pathetic excuses like "I'm sorry" and "It just happened." Beetle continued. "But I know you haven't sincerely apologized to me because of what you did to my poor brother."
"But, Beetle..." Mega Man X began, but the reploid beetle took him by the throat with his hand and lifted the blue reploid up.
"And you know what..." Said Gravity Beatle, looking with ominous and creepy eyes straight into X's soul. "I will never forgive you for what you did to Kuwanger...Never in my damn life."
5 years ago...
Gravity Beetle opened his eyes as he woke up inside his pod. This was his first awakening. He looked around the room he was in. It was some kind of laboratory in which he was alone. Soon the capsule opened with a hiss and the reploid beetle stood up from its capsule. He looked around the laboratory again, but this time with an eye for detail. Suddenly Beetle noticed another capsule. Approaching him, the robotic rhinoceros beetle saw him as Kuwanger with his eyes closed (he has legs).
"Who is this?" Beetle thought and approached the capsule with his hand.
Suddenly the capsule hissed and opened. The red reploid beetle emerged from the capsule and tried to find balance on its feet. He saw Gravity Beetle and they stared at each other. They did not know each other and believed that each of them was strange and incomprehensible.
They didn't notice two mysterious human figures in lab coats. It turned out to be two men. One of them wore glasses and the other did not. Both men approached the two confused reploids, and the one with the glasses coughed. Hearing a cough in their sound receptors, Beetle and Kuwanger turned to the two men.
"Welcome to this world, Gravity Beetle and Boomerang Kuwanger." Said the second man, greeting them.
"Who are you?" Kuwanger asked puzzled. "And why did you call us these strange names? Are these our names?"
"Yes. We are scientists in the department for creating military reploids and we are your creators." Answered the man with glasses.
"The creators?" Asked the red and blue reploid beetles.
The men nodded their heads before the man with glasses said:
"You were created for the Maverick Hunters organization, and you have the skills that we put into your program. Tomorrow, you will show us your abilities. In the meantime, we'll go check on the other awakened reploids."
With that, both scientists left, leaving Kuwanger and Beetle behind them. Once they were completely out of the room, both reploid beetles looked at each other.
"They're strange." Kuwanger said.
"And we are strange..." Said Beetle in turn.
The next day, the reploid beetles entered the huge training room, as the scientists had asked them to do. The scientists themselves were on the observation deck and observed from there. Soon one of them clicked something on his computer and suddenly the whole room turned into a battlefield. Seeing the changes, Beetle and Kuwanger were scared, but they were explained from above what was happening and instructed what to do. While the scientists explained it to them, holograms of mavericks appeared on the battlefield. Eventually, the red and blue reploid beetles began to do as they were instructed. Kuwanger demonstrated teleportation and great speed. He also discovered that he could use his horns as a boomerang. Beetle was slow, unlike the red reploid beetle, but he could jump high and throw balls that created high gravity zones around him. Also, gravitational balls could increase in size to turn into a black hole and suck in everything that came across.
Soon Kuwanger and Beetle were destroying the mavericks that were on the battlefield before they were told they were finished and both reploid beetles walked out of the training room. They started talking on the way.
"Hey, Beetle, you made a great use of what they call "gravity wells." Can you teach me how to use them?" Kuwanger asked.
"I doubt it." Replied Beetle. "I used them for the first time. You, Boomerang Kuwanger, also have good attacks and speed. I also want you to teach me, but maybe that will be later."
"You know, I don't like "Boomerang" in my name." The red reploid beetle turned to the blue one. "It's too boring, strange, and typical. I want a unique first name instead. Do you have any recommendations for this?"
"Why are you asking me?" Asked Beetle confused.
"I knew it." Said disappointed Kuwanger. "See you."
"Boomerang Kuwanger, where are you going?" Asked the puzzled blue reploid beetle.
"Somewhere far away from you." The reploid beetle answered and disappeared from the Beatle's field of view.
Gravity Beetle continued to stand there, eyes wide and worried that he might have offended Kuwanger with something.
Currently…
"Let's shoot at me." said the blue reploid beetle, holding X's hand. "Shoot me if you want to win and save people. But for this I will take your friend's life with me."
"What?" X asked.
"There is a sensor in my body and if I die, a sharp reaction will occur..." Beetle explained. "Soon Zero's body will be Kuwanger's body, and with this body my brother will live in peace. Choose: lose your friend and survive or let the city collapse and people die."
Damn it, Beetle, you sound like a damn dramatic character from a Shakespeare play, Kuwanger thought, a little irritated by his brother's dramatic behavior.
Meanwhile…
Sonic continued to run through the corridors. Because he and Tails didn't have time to scan the ship, the blue hedgehog quickly became lost, like a student at school looking for his class. The more he ran back and forth, the more he could not stand it. In the end, he couldn't resist and ran back to the exit. Once back on top of the ship, he sighed in exasperation.
"In the name of Freedom!" He said loudly. "These liminal and closed corridors not only irritate me, but also scare me! Eh?"
He noticed that on top of the "horn" on the beetle-ship there was a huge reploid, which was looking in the direction of the hedgehog. The reploid's head was colored gray, and its armor was colored red and orange. He had a large chin, and the structure at the top of his head resembled a mohawk (punk and goth hairstyle). Attached to his feet, shoulders and knees were notched circles that resembled a screw. The most noticeable thing about this reploid is his huge belly and the ring behind his back.
They stared at each other for a minute before they both jumped onto the "head" of the bug ship. Standing up, Sonic greeted him with a wide and friendly smile.
"Hello. My name is Sonic the Hedgehog. Did you also come to the rescue of X and Zero? I'm here for this too. You won't mind if you help me not only help them out, but also get information from this ship..."
"Sonic the Hedgehog." Said the mysterious reploid, moving towards the blue speedster. "If you think that I am a Maverick Hunter, then you are very mistaken. My name is Byte, and I am a member of the Nightmare Police. I came here to fight you one on one, and I will not allow you to take anything from our master's system."
"Hello, Byte from the Nightmare Police." Said Sonic. "And let me guess…Are you by any chance Bit's partner, who looks like an Egyptian scarab?"
Hearing what the blue hedgehog said, instead of getting angry, he smiled. Byte admitted that Bit was indeed somewhat reminiscent of an Egyptian scarab, even though his partner insisted to the contrary. Soon his smile fell and the huge reploid focused on Sonic and assumed a fighting pose.
"Are you ready to fight, Sonic the Hedgehog?" Asked Byte.
"One minute." Said the hedgehog, raising his pointing finger. "I need to put the chip in one place so that Tails doesn't get upset that his invention was wasted."
He ran off somewhere, leaving the Nightmare Police member confused. He had never in his life seen his opponent do anything before a fight to avoid upsetting the other. It was somewhat reminiscent of himself...Back in the days when he and Bit were in that underground arena.
Soon the blue runner came back and prepared his fists himself.
"Begin?" Sonic asked.
Byte nodded his head to this.
Meanwhile, deciding to see what was going on this ship and how his friend was doing, Tails flew up in his plane and reached the required height to see that Sonic was fighting with Byte. The blue hedgehog ran around the huge reploid while it tried to attack and followed the movements of the hedgehog.
I hope everything will be okay with Sonic, The little fox thought before flying to the remaining drones. I'll probably get a flash drive with information from him later.
With determination in his eyes, Tails flew towards the drone beetles and opened fire on them. In his heart, he hoped that when he was done with all this, he could help Sonic or X and Zero, who were still captured. About them, Tails was worried, but at the same time believed that the two reploids would be able to get out of the hands of Gravity Beetle.
Meanwhile, X...
The blue reploid fought Gravity Beetle while Kuwanger watched. Previously, X ran towards him to detach Zero from him, but the red reploid beetle defended itself by throwing its horns at the blue reploid and gave him a cut on his nose. Kuwanger reminded him that he was still here before Beetle attacked Mega Man X with his gravity hole. During the battle, the beetle reploid recalled these moments in the past.
3 years ago...
Beetle was near the computer and looking at something on the Internet. Suddenly he heard the door opening behind him and turned around. When the blue reploid beetle saw whoever came in here, its eyes widened in shock.
"Kuwanger! What happened to you?! Why are you covered in scratches?!"
The red reploid beetle paused as his brother walked up to him and examined him. Kuwanger was covered in scratches and minor injuries.
"Who did this to you?!" Beetle asked with concern in his voice, and anger shone in his eyes at the one who could do such a thing to his little brother.
"It's fine, it's my own fault." Kuwanger answered. "I had an argument and a fight with Flame Stag. I provoked him myself."
"How?" Asked Beetle.
"I heard that he was previously defeated in a duel by a lower-ranking hunter named Mega Man X." The reploid beetle explained. "In the corridor, I brought up this topic in front of him, when I was talking with other hunters and... I got horns in my ass from him. The same thing went for the guys I talked to. We all got into a fight until X got involved and calmed everyone down."
"I see." Said the blue reploid beetle. "I'll go deal with Stag."
"No more." Said Kuwanger. "Flame Stag was sent to a cell as discipline because he was the one who started the fight. So, no need to go and deal with it."
Beetle looked at his brother for a minute before he exhaled and said:
"It's good that you're alive, although with injuries and scratches. You can go to the doctor..."
"Beetle." Kuwanger looked at his brother as if he wanted to tell him something important. "I want to talk to you here about something that is personal to me."
"Which one?" Asked the blue reploid beetle, approaching the red one.
"Beetle, I want to leave the Maverick Hunters." Kuwanger began.
"Why?!" Gravity Beetle asked with a puzzled and surprised expression on his face. "Why do you want to leave the Maverick Hunters?"
"Because I want to be free." The red reploid beetle answered and explained. "Over the years, since I've been here at this base, it's starting to seem to me that I'm more of a weapon for everyone than a person. I don't completely agree with the way the hunters deal with the mavericks without giving them a chance. Most of all, I want to live a normal life, and not this, like all the reploids in this base. I told my superiors about this, but they... They don't want to let me go. They tell me that I will become a "dangerous maverick" and blah blah. But I still want to achieve this freedom and live like all ordinary people on the streets of Arcadia City. What do you think about it, Beetle?"
"Well, I agree with you." Answered the blue reploid beetle. "But…"
"What "but"?" Asked the red reploid beetle with narrowed eyes. "Are you going to tell me: "We are Maverick Hunters, and we have a mission that we must shoot Mavericks left and right"? I think I already told you that I don't like it?"
"Well, yes..." Answered Beetle, feeling a little guilty that he said something wrong, even if it was one word. "Sorry if I said something wrong..."
""Sorry if I said something wrong."" Kuwanger mimicked. "Listen, when are you going to stop saying this? This already annoys me, just like when you start talking like a character from a Shakespeare play. (He comes close to Beetle) Listen to me Beetle. At least once in my life. You are a living and intelligent being. You are a reploid, a robot with the ability to think independently and show emotions. You can firmly and confidently say your thought and stand up for it even though, as you call it, "you said something wrong." The main reason why X is a naive fool is because he blindly believes everyone around him and believes in his version of "justice" without even delving into what is happening in the dark streets of Arcadia City. Instead of shooting mavericks left and right and then regretting it, he should just leave this place and go to enjoy the life. Have you ever noticed that X looks more like a human than a reploid?"
"To be honest, no." Beetle replied, causing his brother to roll his eyes.
"Okay, I'll go." Said the red reploid beetle, but as he left, he turned and looked at the blue reploid beetle. "If the bosses don't want to let me go, then I'll come up with a new way to become free."
"Boomerang..." Began Beetle.
"BOOMER! BOOMER KUWANGER, IN THE NAME OF ALL SAINTS!" An irritated Kuwanger said loudly in the corridor.
When his brother left, Gravity Beetle couldn't help but worry about him, as he was afraid that something bad might happen to him.
Two years later…
"Kuwanger!" Beetle called his brother, looking for him.
He entered his personal room, hoping that he would find his little brother. But instead, he found a note. He took it and began to read. With each line, the pupils in the blue reploid beetle's eyes became smaller in shock.
"K-Kuwanger..." He said with a shaking voice. "W-Why...? Why did you join him...?"
He then let out a loud cry of despair. Beatle didn't want to believe it, but it happened...
After X defeated Sigma for the first time...
The blue reploid returned to base, where the hunters greeted him with glee. Among the crowd of delighted reploids was a gloomy Beatle with his head down, and it was not visible what the expression on his face was. Soon the reploid beetle approached X with trembling hands. Seeing his head down, the blue reploid asked him:
"Gravity Beatle, are you okay?"
The reploid beetle did not answer. Suddenly he hit X in the face with his fist, causing everyone present to gasp loudly and in fear. The blue reploid managed to stay on two legs and looked at Beetle in shock and surprise. X saw his angry face with wild eyes, and it felt like he was looking at a maverick.
"You..." The reploid beetle growled and raised his fist again. "YOU SON OF THE…"
Before he could finish speaking, he was grabbed by several Maverick hunters, but even this did not stop him.
"YOU (* (($&*)#^!" He shouted. "YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! YOU KILLED KUWANGER! I WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS! I WILL KILL YOU!"
Soon the Beatle was pulled aside while everyone watched. Shocked, X continued to stand there, looking at the reploid beetle before it completely disappeared from their field of vision.
Currently…
Tails managed to shoot down all the drones. As he looked down at the ruined city, he couldn't help but feel compassion for the people and reploids that were down there. The little fox raised his head and looked at the ship, worried about Sonic. He soon decided that he needed to help the people below. Deciding to warn Sonic about this, Tails sent Tornado II upward.
Meanwhile, on deck, Sonic was fighting Byte. The blue hedgehog ran quickly, dodging Byte's attacks and finding the perfect spot to then curl into a ball and attack the Nightmare Police member. The hedgehog also used acrobatic and fighting techniques for a strong attack. Byte, in turn, quickly twirled his arm to launch his opponent upward, threw a mine (Gravity Shot) and attacked with his shoulder.
All this continued until Byte launched Sonic upward. In the air, the blue hedgehog saw Tails, who gestured to him to say something, and the blue hedgehog grinned and gave him a thumbs up. The little fox smiled a little and flew down. The hedgehog landed on his feet on the ground and said to his opponent:
"Listen, Byte, at least I understand that we are still fighting, but I want to ask you a question: why do you serve Doctor Doppler? What did he do to you that made you and Bit go to serve him?"
"Then I'll ask: why are you chasing the Chaos Emeralds?" Byte asked in turn. "I know that you want to stop our master from fulfilling his dream, but I think that you have another reason for your actions."
Sonic immediately replied:
"To return home."
"Home?" Asked a member of the Nightmare Police and stopped. "Were you collecting the Chaos Emeralds so you could return home?"
"You're right." the blue hedgehog answered and stopped. "We need to get home before my sworn enemy, Dr. Eggman, does something bad in my world and harms my friends and innocent people."
"Is it important for you?" Byte asked again.
"Well, yes." Sonic answered. "This is my world and my close friends, and I will protect them no matter what. I don't care who is right or wrong. I care about making sure people can be safe and most importantly, free."
"Is your desire for everyone to be free the main reason why you fight Eggman?" Asked the huge reploid, catching the meaning of the blue runner's words.
"Not only with Eggman." answered the hedgehog. "Well, also with other villains of my world. But in general, you are right about me. What you see is what you get. I'm a guy from the planet Freedom who loves adventure and appreciates other people's freedom of choice. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, that's who I am."
When Sonic finished talking, many thoughts flashed through Byte's head. In his head he compared the hedgehog not only with X, but also with Zero. Like X, Sonic is also willing to fight to protect others, and like Zero, the blue hedgehog kept his cool. The Nightmare Police member also thought about the hedgehog's words. While he was in thoughts, Sonic walked up and snapped his fingers to get his attention.
"Byte?"
The huge reploid turned to the hedgehog before saying:
"I went to Dr. Doppler because he saved Bit's life."
"He saved him?" Sonic asked. "If he saved him, then who was he before you began to serve him?"
"We were reploids of the underground arena." Byte answered. "Bit was a fighter there, and I was his medic. The battles in this arena were like gladiatorial battles in the Roman Colosseum. There, reploids fought against each other to the death for the amusement of people who came to watch these bloody and brutal battles. Bit was a local champion, and we had a relationship that was like that between brothers. I tried to persuade him to let us both run away from the arena together but Bit always refused because he didn't want to lose his champion status. But despite this, I came up with different ways how we could leave the arena...But this day came...I remember it like yesterday. Bit went out to fight one reploid and... This reploid defeated him, severely damaged him and literally tore off his spine. After this battle, they wanted to throw Bit into the trash because of his worthlessness, but I managed to pull out his body in time and run away. I arrived at a hangar on the edge of the city and there I tried to repair it. But everything was unsuccessful. Every day I went and collected the necessary metal to repair Bit at the local junkyard. It was there that I met Dr. Doppler. He passed by and saw me. After I explained to him what I was doing at the garbage site and what happened to Bit, he agreed to help us. Dr. Doppler repaired Beat, but unfortunately, due to the damage he received in battle with this reploid, Beat became mentally unstable. I went into Doppler's service to support Bit's mental state. When he improved us, he named Bit after a short metal weapon and me after some god, both of which came from Buddhism. But we left our names because we are us. In the beginning, our master was a good person, and I agreed with every word he said. But ever since he suddenly began to hate people, despite my devotion to him, I began to doubt what he was doing. But I can't leave Bit alone...So I won't leave Dr. Doppler."
After listening to Byte's story, Sonic looked at him with sympathy. At some point, instead of the mad scientist's minion, the blue hedgehog saw a man who cared about his friend and could not so easily abandon that one, even when his friend had mental instability due to injury in battle. Soon the hedgehog noticed that his opponent had taken a fighting pose.
"Are we still fighting?" Sonic asked.
At this point, Byte nodded his head. Realizing that he had no choice, Sonic also assumed a fighting pose.
"Byte, at least I don't blame you because you care about your friend." The blue hedgehog addressed the huge reploid. "But if there is a moment in which Doctor Doppler tries to harm your brother or does something beyond the bounds of clear reason, then leave him with Bit. It will be better for you and for him."
"I'll think about your advice." Said Byte.
They soon continued their battle.
Back to X and Gravity Beetle...
Both reploids continued to fight each other. This continued until the blue reploid beetle released a black hole and the red Reploid beetle released its horns as a boomerang towards X.
"Are you still not giving up?" Beetle asked the blue reploid mockingly. "You can't defeat us!"
But something unexpected happened for maverick. Mega Man X literally grabbed the gravity ball with his right hand (it's broken).
"You took Gravity Well with your right broken hand?!" The blue reploid beetle screamed in shock.
"Although I can't use my right hand, but..." X said and ran to where his unconscious friend and the red reploid beetle were, while using a black hole to break Kuwanger's horns (in the literal sense of the word). "But there are other options!"
"GAH!" Boomer Kuwanger gasped one last time before Mega Man X hit him with a black hole, destroying the reploid beetle a second time.
Kuwanger's head hung in the air. The red reploid beetle's eye pupils turned completely white, and the top half of its head fell to the ground. Seeing what happened to his little brother and what was left of him, Beetle froze in place. His pupils shrank and he began to scream loudly, crying for his brother. But suddenly the blue reploid beetle noticed something, which made him laugh darkly and creepily like crazy.
"Beetle." The blue reploid said, looking at the maverick with a puzzled look before he felt a strange sensation on his right arm, causing him to look at it.
X was horrified when he saw that a black hole was growing and literally sucking his hand. X threw the black hole at the ceiling without thinking about anything, and that gravitational ball soared through the ceiling into the sky.
Meanwhile, below...
"Don't worry, sir, I'll help you get up." Tails turned to the elderly man, helping him stand on both legs.
Ever since he landed, the little fox had been helping some people get to the center where their injuries were being tended to and evacuated from the destroyed city. While the little fox was helping the old man stand on both legs, he suddenly heard something from above. Looking up, Tails was horrified to see a huge black hole that was sucking in Gravity Beetle's ship.
"What's happening?!" The little fox screamed in fear and shock, but he was more worried about those who were still on this ship. X! Zero! SONIC!
On the ship...
"Hey what's going on?!" asked the blue hedgehog, feeling the ship being sucked into a black hole.
Byte turned and looked at the black hole that contained Kuwanger's ghostly and huge face before he answered calmly:
"Beetle went too far with his black hole in his heart."
"Eh?" Sonic asked in surprise, not understanding what the huge reploid was talking about.
Inside the ship...
"Heh, heh..." Beetle laughed quietly before he started speaking loudly. "It worked...MY BROTHER IS STILL ALIVE!"
Approaching X and staggering, he continued to laugh and say his brother's name until the reploid beetle collided with the blue reploid's back. Something immediately dawned on him, which is why he came to his senses and turned to X.
"X! My brother is there! Yes, that's it! Let's go to his place! I'm sure you will make peace with my brother!"
In response, Mega Man X turned and said:
"The black hole in your heart will be in conflict with mine!"
With these words, X ran and left the room, leaving the surprised Beatle alone. The blue reploid beetle turned its head away before slamming its fist onto the floor.
Black hole...In my heart... thought Gravity Beatle. Is this what was inside me...?
Outside…
"Byte, get out of here!" Sonic shouted to Byte, trying to stay in place.
"I can't." The Nightmare Police member replied. "I need to fight you."
"I understand." Said the blue hedgehog. "But now is not the time for that. If you don't leave right now, you'll just get sucked in! You said earlier that you couldn't leave Bit alone?"
"I remember." Answered the huge reploid. "But…"
"Byte, it's better not to forget about the one who needs you now more than ever." Said the hedgehog, looking at him seriously. "Go."
The Nightmare Police member silently looked at Sonic and imagined what would happen to Beat if he was eventually sucked into the black hole.
"Okay." Byte said firmly and pressing something on his hand, he teleported from the ship somewhere.
After the huge reploid disappeared, the blue hedgehog turned around and saw X running towards him.
"X!" Sonic called to him before feeling him leave the ground. "WHOA!"
The blue reploid managed to catch the hedgehog by the hand with one hand.
"Thanks, buddy." The blue hedgehog smiled and raised his thumb.
"Sonic, thank you for probably coming to help me, but you urgently need to go inside so that you don't get sucked in!" Said X.
"I agree with you." Said Sonic. "But how did you..."
"SONIC!" Suddenly the blue hedgehog and the reploid heard the voice of the little fox and turned around to see Tails, who was flying near the ship and holding a green Chaos Emerald in his hand.
Knowing what this could mean, Sonic quickly ran and jumped from the ship onto the plane. Opening the cabin, the little fox said to him:
"Plan B?"
"Plan B." Sonic answered with a smile.
Having pulled out one Chaos Emeralds with the rope, so the emerald cannot fly away. The blue hedgehog returned to X. They climbed to the top of the "horn" of the beetle ship, where X, with the help of Sonic, attached cables to himself from the ship itself. The blue hedgehog held on tightly to X's elbow not only for not flying away to the black hole, but to give Chaos energy to X to help him. Looking at Sonic with determination in his eyes, the blue maverick hunter raised his blaster and began to charge it...
Inside the ship...
X, your spirit is every time like the one when you face your enemies. Gravity Beetle was conducting an internal dialogue. Why don't you think of running away? Despite the difficulties, you never leave a single person behind your back...You are not afraid of being wounded. You always keep your fear to yourself...I always wanted this...
He clenched his hands into fists and continued to speak inside:
But you are the man who killed my brother! I can't forgive you. I can't! In my head, I knew you were sorry for what you did to my brother, but my reploid heart couldn't accept it! So, I ran away from the Maverick Hunter base with Kuwanger's chip and tried to fix it. But later this man came to me and told me why worry about all this. Reploids don't need a heart anyway; they're fine without it. Then he gave me something that resembled a centipede and I took it so that my heart would be free of me. And my heart was freed. Damn...Damn...Why...Why did I do this...?
Outside…
X fired a fireball filled with energy not only from the ship's cables, but also from the Chaos Emeralds. The ball fell into a black hole.
"Did it work?" X asked, puzzled, before he closed his eyes at the sudden glow.
Opening them, the blue hedgehog discovered that the black hole had disappeared. Looking at X, Sonic said:
"Great job, buddy."
The blue reploid smiled back.
Sometime later...
The Beetle's ship was on the water next to the coastal rock, on which were the reploid beetle, X, and the already awakened Zero and Sonic. After they landed, Tails went inside the ship to not only explore it, but also copy information from the ship's computer. Regarding this the blue hedgehog gave the little fox a chip, which he hid in a safe place on the Beetle's ship.
There was silence until Zero pulled out his blaster and pointed it at Beetle.
"Zero?!" X and Sonic said, drawing Zero's attention to them.
Reploid and the hedgehog stood in front of the red Reploid to stop him from shooting the Reploid beetle.
"Zero, please don't shoot Beatle! I am begging you!" The blue reploid begged him.
Sonic just looked straight into Zero's eyes. The red reploid stood and looked at them for a while and...
BLAM
The blue reploid and the hedgehog looked up at the sky, watching as the blaster shot flew straight towards the sky.
"We were built to hate guys like him." The red reploid began to say. "But it won't hurt anyone to give them respect. We are reploids. Our hearts are mechanical. But...Today I somehow don't like this part of myself."
"Eh?" X said in surprise while Sonic looked at Zero questioningly.
"I sometimes wonder whose influence it is on me..." The red reploid smiled.
Understanding the meaning of the Maverick hunter's words, the blue hedgehog smiled and looked at the blue reploid, to the latter's embarrassment. Tails soon arrived and told Sonic that he had found some information on the ship's computer that might be useful to them.
"Well, let's go back to Dr. Cain to fix your arm, X." Zero said.
"What about the Beatle and the ship?" Sonic asked, pointing his finger at the blue reploid beetle.
"We will take him into custody." X replied. "But we won't do anything with him until we finally decide." What about the ship...We can place guards near the ship. And...Sonic, you said earlier that you fought a member of the Nightmare Police named Byte, right?"
The blue hedgehog nodded his head.
"We can talk about this in Dr. Cain's laboratory." Zero said. "And now we are going there. But first, I will inform Dr. Cain so that he can teleport us to the base's garage."
After these words, X and Sonic followed the red Maverick hunter, but the little fox was the only one who stood still. He was holding something in his hand. Opening our hand, we see a slightly damaged chip. Tails found this chip while exploring the ship. Having decided something in his mind, the little fox turned and walked up to Beetle. He tapped his finger on the former Maverick's back, causing him to pay attention to him. Tails handed him the chip.
"Hold it." Said the little fox. "This is for you."
Beetle took the chip from Tails' hand and looked at it. His eyes widened as he realized whose chip it was.
'K-Kuwanger..." Said Beetle and hugged the chip to himself. "T-thank you..."
"My pleasure!" Said the little fox with a smile. "See you!"
Tails followed the others down. The Beatle was very happy that his brother's chip was found intact. How exactly Kuwanger's chip remained intact after such a black hole... No one knows. Sometimes wonders happens.
When the little fox joined the group, he saw Sonic's bright and proud smile. Seeing this, Tails himself smiled and scratched his head below. Before they teleported with the plane, everyone saw the other Maverick Hunters approaching Beatle.
Sometime later...
"Good job, guys!" Dr. Cain said as X, Zero, Sonic and Tails came to his lab before he addressed the little fox. "And you found information related to Dr. Doppler's plan."
"Well, I wouldn't say that right away," said Tails, holding the flash drive. "I don't know what kind of information this is, but we'll see."
"That's right, buddy!" Sonic said, agreeing with Tails.
The little fox inserted the flash drive into the computer. The information began to load. Everyone tensed up, waiting for it to load. Soon the information was downloaded in the form of a folder. Dr. Cain clicked on the folder and information...Um...
Dr. Cain's eyes widened in surprise at this "information", X looked very surprised, Zero's eyebrows rose slightly, and Sonic and Tails were speechless. On the screen, instead of information, there was... A photo of a cute cat.
"What the…" Began X.
Meanwhile…
"PHA-HA-HA-HA!" Dr. Doppler laughed as he watched all this in his laboratory.
He couldn't stop laughing, it was so funny to him. Behind him stood Bit and Byte, who were looking at the mad scientist with a neutral expression. The yellow reploid addressed the large reploid in a whisper:
"Thank you for dissuading him from using explicit photos as "information." I still can't believe that he continues to look at them, even after he figured out exactly how new people are born."
"I did it for the sake of one child." Byte said in turn. "He's still a child and he shouldn't see such things. Including...Your reprisals against enemies."
At this, Bit glared at Byte, but the large reploid gave him a look like, "It's not my fault you're like this." Letting out an annoyed sigh, Bit left the room while Byte remained and stared after him. He thought about Sonic's words about his service in the Doppler army and... Surprisingly, it made him think about everything.
Next time...Invitation to the Dr. Doppler's base!
*I decided that his original name upon awakening would be his Japanese name - Boomerang Kuwanger. But our reploid beetle decided to change it to Boomer Kuvanger, because he thought that "Boomerang" was too boring and kind of stupid.
*Reference to the Japanese names Bit and Byta in the original games and manga.
I know that for some, flashing back to the two brothers' time as Maverick hunters doesn't seem like a good addition to this chapter, but I think that it does help to understand the Beetle's loss of his close one. It's good that Kuwanger's chip was preserved.
See you next month!