Chapter 14: Intermission (休憩; Kyūkei)
Sonic and Tails exchanged glances. When Dr. Doppler revealed that he was infected with the Maverick Virus a long time ago before "he" went berserk, Marty and Dr. Cain looked at Doppler in shock. Dr. Doppler, out of his guilt, did not look directly at everyone. X was alarmingly quiet. There was silence until an elderly scientist broke the silence with a question:
"Doppler, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?! If I had known about this earlier, I would have helped you!"
Dr. Doppler remained silent, not wanting to answer the question.
"Doctor Doppler, when exactly did you discover that you were infected with the virus?" Tails asked, turning his head towards a reploid scientist. "Exactly when?"
A reploid scientist remained silent until he finally spoke.
"...Several months ago, I explored the North Pole together with my scientific colleagues. While I was exploring the area, I came across a strange device that was floating on the surface of the ocean. I took out this device and showed it to my other colleagues. I ended up taking this device home with me and started studying it. I inserted it into my computer and suddenly my computer started lagging. I tried to fix it, but the computer ended up exploded for unknown reason. Bit and Byte, who heard explosion, came, discovered me, and helped me. At first everything was fine, until suddenly I noticed that I began to be aggressive and always take my anger out on everyone even over small trifles. I became concerned and decided to get myself tested for infection because I thought that was the reason. Sadly, I was right about having virus in my body. Phillip, I didn't tell you about this because I didn't want to worry you, especially when you lost Sigma, and I thought that I could handle the virus since I'm a genius scientist. But I was mistaken...Even that same cure for Maverick Virus or Sigma Virus did not help me, although they worked great on others. MaVi was stronger than I thought, and he always knew my every step. He eventually consumed me and with the help of my body he started all this. I fought him several times, but he always fought back."
"So, I understand few things. MaVi was in this device that you picked up, and then he found a way to get into you, right?" said Sonic.
"Have you by any chance connected your brain to a computer?" Tails asked.
"No." answered Dr. Doppler. "Maybe he got into me later. If I knew exactly what was in that device...If I told everyone that I was infected with the Maverick Virus...If I wasn't convinced that I could handle it...None of this would have happen..."
Before a reploid scientist had time to say anything, he suddenly felt himself begin to lose consciousness. Doctor Cain, Sonic and X, who joined them, managed to catch Doppler before he could fell. An unconscious reploid scientist's body was placed on the ground and Dr. Cain sat on his knees and pulled back his sleeves.
"What are you going to do, Doc?" Sonic asked an old scientist. "Is …Was alright?"
"Don't worry, Sonic." Dr. Cain replied. "He just lost consciousness to reboot. It's like when you reboot the computer, so it can work better in some situations. I will line up as best I can. I'll turn off the electromagnetic bomb inside Doppler."
"Are you sure, Dr. Cain?" A worried Tails asked a scientist. "Can I help you? Last I checked, it's not easy to turn off bombs."
"I can handle this, Tails." Dr. Cain said with a smile. "I'm a recognized scientist for a reason. Previously, I had worked on disabling a bomb in a shopping center in the middle of the city. It was a fun story, but I will later tell you about this later."
"Okay." Said a little fox before he continued to monitor Byte's condition. "When you're done with the bomb, can you tell me about it?"
"I'm pleased to do that!" Dr. Cain smiled.
While a fox cub and an elderly scientist were busy, Sonic and Marty approached X.
"X, are you okay?" Asked a blue hedgehog. "You've been quiet lately, and you've made me a little worried about you. Maybe we can help you with something."
"When you accidentally exclaimed for me to shut up, I was immediately scared because it didn't sound like you!" Marty said in turn. "It was as if you were a completely different person, and it scares me!"
A white reploid said nothing. A blonde pirate and a blue hedgehog exchanged worried glances before Marty continued.
"X, forgive me if I started with this right away. We...Can we help you somehow? Or…"
"I don't need help." X answered immediately and gloomily. "I just need to be alone."
"Well, whatever you say." Sonic said, although there was still concern in his tone. "You can talk to us if you need help. Well...If you need it."
"I said that I don't need it." A white reploid said, turned to a hedgehog and a pirate, and he looked at the two of them with a cold gaze.
If Marty were an organic being like Sonic, then such a look would also give her goosebumps like a blue hedgehog. She always remembered X as a soft, brave, and gentle reploid who always came to her aid in difficult times. Now, she has the feeling that she is not looking at X, but at another, scarier being. Sonic noticed how scared Marty was deep down, he turned to X:
"Listen, X, don't scare her like that. She's already worried about you because of the way you've been acting lately. We'll leave you alone and we won't touch you, okay?"
This time, Marty agreed with a hedgehog one hundred percent. Soon they both moved away from X. He continued to stand still.
"Sonic, can you help me a little?" A little fox asked a blue hedgehog loudly.
"Of course, Tails!" Sonic said loudly in response and approached the fox. "What do I need to do?"
Marty stopped and looked at X again. She swore she might have just seen a demon inside him. But a pirate decided to chalk it up to her anxiety for the person she had feelings for and decided to just sit and relax for a while. But the feeling she had experienced earlier did not leave her alone.
Sometime later, Dr. Doppler came to his senses and opened his eyes.
"Thank God you've come to your senses again, Doppler." Dr. Cain greeted his friend with a smile.
"Phillip?" A reploid scientist asked, he then looked down at his body because he felt moving inside his body and saw that was doing something with his systems inside his body. "Are you...ARE YOU TRYING TO TURN OFF THE BOMB INSIDE ME?!"
"Yeah. I need to restore your core main program to disable the bomb inside you." Dr. Cain said. "Maybe MaVi deliberately inserted a bomb inside you so that even when you are on your own, you will obey him."
"You're right about that, but...No, no and NO!" Dr. Doppler said loudly. "Phillip, do you understand that this is suicide!? Do you remember that you didn't tell me not to use that bomb?! So, you shouldn't touch it! Do you remember that you promised me that you would not talk about my main program anymore?!"
"I know about that." Dr. Cain replied. "But due to some factors, I must do that. You and everyone know what I'm talking about. I'll continue to do this."
"I...I..." Doppler began. "No, you cannot! Why are you doing this in the first place?! You might get hurt!"
"I'm worried about you, Doppler." An elderly scientist answered again. "I don't really blame you except for the fact that you didn't tell me that you were infected with the virus a long time ago. You were a great person, Doppler, and I know you didn't deserve this, so I had hope that you would come back to yourself. My hopes were justified. You are a victim of this nasty MaVi, like all of us. You're still my friend, Doppler. And friends never leave each other, right?"
"You're stubborn as always, Phillip." Doppler said. "Stubborn, but an excellent philosopher."
As soon as Doppler said this, suddenly everyone heard loud sounds. Everyone except Doppler turned towards the source of the sound and saw a huge number of machines crawling out of the ground. The structure of these machines was somewhat like reploids, but unlike latter, they did not have a head. They had a huge upper body with huge shoulders attached to them.
"Great, now MaVi invites us to prepare for the battle with him through his horde!" Sonic grimaced, starting to prepare for battle.
"MaVi sent this whole horde here...But why?" Tails rhetorically asked, becoming suspicious, that MaVi was planning something.
"I have the idea that he is distracting us from something." Doppler said in turn, raising his head a little.
"Doppler, I'm not finished yet!" Dr. Cain said loudly, placing a reploid scientist's head on the ground with his hand, to which Doppler loudly said "Hey!". "X, Sonic, can you deal with this horde while Tails and I are busy?"
"Old man, did you even see this horde?!" Marty asked loudly, turning to Dr. Cain.
"He heard the horde, Marty." Sonic said. "Now let them prepare for a full charge on their metal butts!"
"X! Better not do something without thinking!" Marty shouted towards X.
"Yes." X said simply.
"What "yes", X?!" A pirate asked, then she slammed her fists together in annoyance. "Bah! Then I will help you!"
"Stand back. You and Sonic." Said X.
"Ah?" Marty and Sonic asked puzzled.
"If any of them pass through me, then I'll leave it to you and Sonic." A white reploid answered, turning to her with a serious expression on his face.
"What do you mean by "if"?" Marty asked.
"So you don't need our help, yeah?" Sonic asked.
X transformed his right hand into a blaster and moved his hand upward. At the end of his blaster appeared something resembling a yo-yo, but with sharp spikes along the edges.
"SPINNIG...!" X began before he threw his weapon towards the horde. "...BLADE!"
The Spinning blade went through many of the robots in the horde, splitting their bodies in two, causing the robots to explode. Suddenly hearing something above his head, X looked up and saw flying robots. Having exchanged weapons for another, a white reploid pointed the blaster upward and a ball flew out of the blaster. The ball flew straight up to the robots. This weapon was called Gravity Well, which X picked up from Gravity Beatle. Gravity Well created a black hole and could attract enemies to that. This destroying many robots in the sky.
"GRAVITY WELL!" X said loudly, calling the name of this weapon.
"How cool~!" Marty said, admiring X's power.
"It was even cooler if X didn't shout his attacks." Sonic said. "Back in my world I heard that one dude decided to try this plan... He ended up getting his butt kicked because the enemies have known what he was going to do. Crystal clear, that X doesn't need our help after all. Let's go back, Marty."
"I'll stay and see what he can do." Marty said.
"Well, okay." Sonic said and turned to go to Tails and Dr. Cain.
While all this was happening, Dr. Doppler silently watched X's battle with the horde of mavericks, then he looked at a little fox, who meanwhile was looking at Miles Electric and checking Byte's condition.
"Tails, can I ask you questions?" Asked a reploid scientist.
"Of course." Tails said, turning to Doppler. "What questions do you have?"
"What does your world look like, where are you and your friend from?" Asked Doppler.
"Doppler, can you move your hand?" Dr. Cain asked and took the reploid scientist's hand to move it away. "Thank you."
"I'll say this briefly, Sonic and I live in the Land of Sky on one tropical island." Tails began. "The Land of Sky are a series of islands and continents that, in the literal sense of the word, fly in the sky. That is, Sonic and I live on the flying tropical island, where a lot of equipment has miraculously been preserved from the time before this ill-fated day. For me, this is a miracle, because such a technique could have survived even after millennia from the beginning of the existence of planet Freedom."
"Ill-fated day?" Asked Dr. Doppler. "What happened on this day?"
"Atomic day." Sonic answered gloomily as he approached. "We don't exactly remember what day and place it was when one of the powerful countries from the past of our planet used weapons that were stronger than the atomic bomb. But this day literally changed all living beings on the planet and the planet itself. All humanity was almost wiped out, but there were many survivors, which was a miracle. One part of survived humanity died a painful death due to mutations caused by radiation, the second part turned into post-humans, and the third part remained themselves because they were wary of radiation and lived underground. The planet and living beings took many years to recover from Atomic Day. Many animals also underwent mutations, and from this my species emerged. I and Tails are Mobians, although the name of our race remains a mystery. Our race lives side by side with post-humans in the Land of Sky."
"What happened to true humans?" Asked a reploid scientist, who was already interested.
"The true people, or known to us as homo sapiens, disappeared later and were never heard from again." Tails answered. "The famous representative of homo sapiens is Dr. Eggman. Mobians and post-humans moved to the Land of the Sky because it was unsafe to live on the surface of the planet. This surface would later be known as the Land of Darkness. The Land of Darkness themself recovered over time, but... No one else lived on these lands besides Dr. Eggman and his army. This is only thing I know."
"Wait a minute, Doppler..." Said Dr. Cain and moved a little.
In his hand was a small chip, which an elderly scientist placed inside Doppler's body, pushing the wires away.
"Your world is very interesting..." Dr. Doppler commented, imagining floating islands in the sky.
"Now it's my turn to ask you one question." Tails said and asked a reploid scientist. "You mentioned that Dr. Cain took the promise that he does not talk about your main program. What is it about?"
Hearing this question, Dr. Doppler fell silent and turned his head in the other direction. It was clear from it that Doppler did not want to talk about it.
"Before Dr. Doppler became a scientist, he was a soldier reploid." Dr. Cain began to explain. "He was invented for a terrorist organization as a weapon during the war in Central Asia. Doppler fought in this war, but I ask you not to ask him for details, because... To be honest, a lot of scary things happened in this war and Doppler does not like to remember them. During one operation, the group in which Doppler was located was destroyed with absolute cruelty. Doppler was the only survivor of this group. I was a volunteer during the war and when I and other volunteers were exploring a former battle area, we found Doppler trembling with fear. We helped him, and I became friends with him when he stayed with us. He was inspired by me and decided to become a scientist. He really worked for this and eventually quickly advanced his career. He doesn't like it when people talk about his main program because it gives him bad memories of the war and being a gun in someone's hands. His past is the reason why he created the anti-virus program against the Maverick virus and adopted Bit and Byte. Those second names that Doppler gave to Bit and Byte... These are the names of his dead friends he was close to during the war. Mandarela and Vajurila.
"Phillip, don't give away details!" Dr. Doppler exclaimed, scolding his friend.
"I'm really sorry to hear that." Tails said with a sympathy for as a realization entered his head. "When MaVi was in your body, it is possible that he could look at your memories and based on them create your identity as a Maverick...Doctor Doppler, do you have any idea where MaVi went? And can you wait a minute? I need to check something."
Tails looked back at Miles Electric and clicked on the phone icon and began scrolling through his contacts until he clicked on one of his friends' contacts. After waiting a few seconds, someone did answer the call.
"Hello, Tails! How are you doing? We've been really worried about you and Dr. Cain since you flew out to check out this mysterious shot. Sorry if you called because the shuttle is late. These dragons and mavericks are a real headache."
"We're fine, Jumper." Tails said and asked. "Jumper, are the Chaos Emeralds with you and are you okay?"
"Ha, of course! Are you worried that this sapient virus would get into our ship and turn us into his cronies?"
"That's why I called you." Said a little fox. "Do you remember what me, Sonic and Dr. Doppler told you about MaVi? He recently left Doppler's body and went somewhere. I asked Doppler, the real Doppler, if he had any thoughts about where he could go. I called you to check that you were okay."
"I see, Foxy. Recently this Still guy from one of the sub-groups of the spy class called us and told us that he ended up in a creepy underground laboratory. In this place, he and his group found the bodies of some reploids that were in capsules, and chain wires on top. He also added that someone or something was hanging on these chains and..."
"MAVI WAS THERE!" Doppler suddenly shouted, standing up abruptly, causing Dr. Cain to quickly move away. "MaVi was in this place, and he took Sigma's body with him!"
"SIGMA?!" Dr. Cain and Jumper shouted, Sonic and Tails looked at Doppler in surprise, and this attracted the attention of Marty and X, the latter who was still fighting the horde of mavericks.
"When MaVi took control of my body and mind, he obtained Sigma's body parts and brought them here to Doppler Town to rebuild the body with upgrades." Doppler explained. "I saw the upper body once when I temporarily came to my senses in this laboratory, but MaVi absorbed me again and made sure that I did not know where this place was."
"Doppler..." Dr. Cain said quietly until one thought came to his mind and asked Doppler. "When MaVi was in the body, do you know what happened to Sigma? With the real Sigma?"
At this point a reploid scientist fell silent, pondering the question. Then he replied:
"...To be honest, I don't know what happened to him in the end. But the only thing I know... Is that Sigma may have ceased to exist... In the metaphorical or maybe literal sense of the word..."
"So Sigma...Is dead? For real?" Jumper asked, although to check that he really heard everything, because he had previously heard that Sigma was resurrected months ago and was defeated by X again.
Tails just remained silent, not wanting to share any comments on this matter. Dr. Cain was greatly shocked by what he heard. Sonic walked up to an elderly scientist and patted his hand on scientist's back. Soon Marty approached them.
"Sigma is dead?!" A blonde asked, looking surprised herself.
"Sorry if I said this at the inappropriate moment, Philip." Doctor Doppler apologized. "I was shocked myself when I heard about this, when MaVi threatened me that he could do the same as he did to me if I caused trouble for his plans. MaVi also threatened to harm Bit and Byte...I have no right to talk…I'm sorry..."
"Perhaps you said all this at the unfitting time but thank you." Sonic said, causing Doppler to look at a hedgehog in surprise. "We now know that Sigma may have been innocent in his first rebellion and perhaps when he took the leader place for the second time."
"I can agree with Sonic on this." Tails said. "What you said is something we all need to know, including Dr. Cain. He was very worried that Sigma took the wrong road when we were in his base, but now we somehow feel...A much lighter?"
"Okay...Now we officially have "A smart virus is to blame for everything.""
"Doppler, although I am shocked and saddened by this news, but... Now I know that Sigma is innocent." said Dr. Cain and tears of relief and sadness appeared in his eyes. "I'm very glad to hear about this…"
"Yes, Phillip, you are the same as you always have been since we met." Said Dr. Doppler. "You try to do things that are impossible, and you are too sensitive. Or I just don't understand anything about humans completely."
"Well, as for the meaning of "impossible," I'll probably find out in the future." Dr. Cain said with a smile, although drops of sweat could be seen on the elderly scientist's face.
Suddenly, everyone heard hissing and turned their attention to Dr. Cain and Doppler.
"What is that sound?" Doppler asked and raised his head a little to see where the hissing came from.
"DOCTOR CAIN, YOU BURN YOUR HAND!" Tails shouted, realizing what was happening.
Hearing what a little fox said, Doppler took Cain's hand and moved it away from his body.
"What are you doing?!" Dr. Cain asked loudly. "IT HURTS!"
"Damn it, Philip!" Doctor Doppler in turn said, looking at the burnt palm of the human scientist. "YOU BURNED YOUR OWN HAND! STOP TURNING OFF BOMB INSIDE ME AND GIVE IT TO TAILS! At least he's wearing gloves!"
"Eh, you're as stubborn as always." Said Dr. Cain and continued. "But I want to keep turning off the bomb for you so that it doesn't end up hurting you in the first place. There's still a lot I can do. That's why…"
An elderly scientist raised his leg to walk to the other side of the reploid scientist. When he stood up, raised his index finger upward, smiled and winked his eye.
"...I will survive with my friends!"
"Keep it up, Doc!" Sonic said with a smile and high-fived to a human scientist.
"Together..." Said Doppler and he smiled. "Plus, you are always an optimist. In the good sense of this word."
"I'm almost out of ammo!" X suddenly shouted, which everyone turned their attention to him. "I doubt I can stop them with just my blaster!"
As soon as a white reploid said this, he noticed that the eyes of the machines suddenly went dark, and the horde stopped moving. X looked in surprise at the turn off machines and let go of his blaster. He couldn't understand why these machines stopped moving. Those near Doppler could not understand why the horde stopped.
"They just stopped moving..." Said Marty, pointing her finger at the horde.
Something occurred to Tails and he turned back to Miles Electric and said in the phone:
"Jumper, tell everyone to get ready and improve defensive positions of this ship! I have a feeling that MaVi..."
BOOM
EEOO
"What the…?!"
"Jumper, what's going on here?!" Marty asked loudly in Miles Electric as she and Sonic walked up to Tails and she sat down next to a fox.
"Jumper, we've been penetrated! Mavericks attacked our ship from the other side and got inside! But I don't know exactly how this happened!"
"Sorry, Tails and Boss. But I need to run to grab the Chaos Emeralds before those damn mavericks. Thanks for calling us, Foxy. As for the shuttle, fortunately it will arrive at your place in minutes. See you later."
At this point, Jumper hung up. Sonic, Marty, and Tails looked at each other in worry and concern. Meanwhile, Dr. Cain found wires under the Doppler "belt."
"If my memory serves me correctly, then this is the red wire." Said Doppler, helping his friend. "Now hurry up and cut this wire!"
"Okay..." Dr. Cain said and took out a wire cutter that he took from Tails' bag. Dr. Cain cut the red wire, then he sighed in relief and said. "Now the bomb will not be able to activate. Whush...Thank heavens..."
"That's good." Sonic said before he continued with a serious face. "We have two problems for now. MaVi took the renewed body of a deceased reploid and now he's after the Chaos Emeralds...Guys, can I go here for a minute to get them? It will be fast."
"You can go, just be careful on the way." Tails said. "And take this also for the Chaos Emeralds."
A little fox took out another bag from his bag, but a little smaller in size.
"Thank you, buddy!" A blue hedgehog thanked, before he sarcastically said. "Also, then I come back I will ask how much you put in your bag."
"Um, Sonic, you…" Marty began, but by that time Sonic had immediately run away towards Marty's ship, and a blond turned to Tails "Is he always like this?!"
"You can relax, Marty, he knows what he's doing." A little fox said, calming Marty. "He can also help your team, so don't need for double worry. I knew him for a long time and I'm sure of it."
"Doctor Doppler..." A little fox and Marty turned and saw that X stood next to a reploid scientist and looked at him.
"Hello, X..." Said Dr. Doppler and began to get up.
"Doppler, you still need to lie down! You…" Dr. Cain said loudly, but a reploid scientist had already stood up on two legs.
X and Doppler glanced at each other before the latter began to speak:
"X, forgive me for allowing MaVi to take over my body and mind...Because of me, people and reploids suffered...Your friends were injured or killed...And because of me, you went through such grief that even any living creature could lose sanity because of that. If I had told Phillip about this earlier...This wouldn't have happened..."
"You are not guilty, Doctor Doppler." X said simply and Doppler looked at him in surprise. "In this situation, MaVi is to blame, and he is the one who started this, not you. You are a good and strong person, Doppler, and I can feel it. Even when you were under his control, you were able to fight him for the sake of others. If your heart wants to help us defeat or battle him, then it's your decision."
"My heart?" Asked a reploid scientist and immediately understood what X meant. "My choice…"
Suddenly, everyone felt a strong wind and, Sonic appeared and stopped in front of them. There were a few small scratches on him. Sonic has something in the bag, that blue hedgehog carried on his shoulder.
"Sonic, what happened?" A little fox asked worried and approached his friend.
"MaVi took the rest of the emeralds with him!" Sonic said loudly. "I tried to stop mavericks, but I was only able to get three emeralds with me! I helped Marty's team get out of the ship and get into shuttles. Everyone was safe, including Jumper and Thomas. Before I get back to you all, I told them to tell the shuttle that we have a patient who needs help."
As soon as Sonic said all these words, suddenly everyone felt that the ground began to shake violently.
"What is this?!" Marty asked loudly in surprise and fear since she did not expect an earthquake at all.
"Where is this earthquake coming from?!" X asked in turn.
"You can say that in this way MaVi greets us..." said Sonic with a serious, concern and calm expression on his face.
"Look!" Everyone turned their attention to scared Tails, who was pointing his finger at something in the sky in horror. "Towers! They take off!"
Tails didn't lie. The towers flew up into the air. Soon these towers began to come together, forming something huge.
"These towers...They are uniting!" Dr. Cain shouted, then he realized what they would unite into. "What in the world...?!"
When these pillars finally united, everyone looked in horror at what appeared from the devouring of the towers...
"Compared to this, Eggmanland seems like a friendly place." Sonic commented, looking on with a worried and serious face.
The castle itself was the head of a demon with horns on the sides, an open "mouth" with sharp teeth and glowing eyes, the latter of which gave Dr. Cain and Tails goosebumps. On top and below the demonic head were buildings in a mix of futuristic and medieval styles. Everyone looked at the castle until everyone heard the screams of an elderly scientist. Everyone turned to see "Dr. Doppler" holding Dr. Cain's head with his hand with a creepy smile.
"KIYAH HAH HAH HA!" MaVi laughed inside the body of a reploid scientist. "DIE! DIE! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL SOON!"
A single second completely not passed, when Sonic, Tails, who handed his bag into Marty's hands, and X together hit MaVi, sending him flying in the other direction away from Dr. Cain.
"If you want to destroy us, then you better go through us, MaVi!" Tails shouted to the virus, while Sonic and X began to prepare in case MaVi attacked them again.
"YOU ARE A MONSTER!" Marty shouted towards MaVi and helped Dr. Cain get up. "Old man, are you okay?"
"I would be completely and perfectly fine if MaVi didn't come…" Said an elderly scientist.
"Oh no..." Said the blonde pirate, covering her face with her hand in disappointment. "I was ready for the happy ending…"
"All three of YOU..." MaVi growled, looking with anger at a blue hedgehog, a white reploid and a little fox. "...Don't you dare LAUGH at me and look down at me AS A MACHINE! AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Releasing a war cry, a sapient virus directed Doppler's hand at X, wanting to start with him. But all three, including Sonic and Tails, managed to catch his hand and began to hold him from them.
"DOPPLER!" Dr. Cain shouted, standing up on his two feet hoping that his friend under the control of the virus will hear him.
Luckily, Doppler was able to hear Dr. Cain's voice and began to fight against the virus in his body. Temporarily returning to himself, Doppler looked at his friend with sadness and fatigue in his eyes.
"Phillip…I'm sorry, what am I going to do now…" a reploid scientist said sadly. "But I will do this... To protect you and others and not start all this again...To fix what I done…I am already infected with the virus to the roots... I can no longer be saved... Please take care of Byte when I leave this world..."
"Doppler, no! You still have a chance to overcome MAVI AND WIN!" Dr. Cain exclaimed, supporting his friend.
"GAH!" Doppler screamed in pain, grabbing his head as MaVi began to try to take control of him.
A reploid scientist extended his hand forward, which alerted everyone... But instead of attacking the others again...
SCRATCH
Everyone stood there wide-eyed and looked at Doppler, not believing what they had just seen or what a reploid scientist had did...Doppler tore the device inside him away from him in the process, destroying his main program. And at the same time...Himself.
Dr. Cain walked close to Doppler's now dead body. He watched in silence until he began in an alarmingly calm voice:
"You destroyed your main program...To prevent MaVi from using you again as a weapon, you chose death...You followed your heart...You h-h-helped us...Y-Y-You're destroyed himself…D-D-Doppler...DOPPPPPPLEEEEER!"
Shouting his dead friend's name into the sky with tears in his eyes, he then slammed his fist into the ground. At this point, a grief-stricken elderly scientist began to beat his fists on the ground.
"OLD MAN! DON'T DO THIS!" Marty shouted, and together with Tails and Sonic she grabbed Dr. Cain and did not allow him to hit the ground with his fists anymore.
"Dr. Cain, you need to stop and calm down!" Tails said with tears in his eyes, being sad because of Doppler's death and looking scared for a scientist. "You are scaring me!"
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" Repeated Dr. Cain, who began to try to get out of the hands of a pirate, a hedgehog, and a little fox. "WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DEATH!? WITH YOUR TALENTS AND MINE, YOU COULD REMOVE AND WIN THE VIRUS INSIDE YOU!"
"Old man, he did what he had to do!" Marty said to him. "His sacrifice will be in vain if you say such words!"
"Marty's right, Doc!" Sonic said loudly. "He did this to protect you and all of us who are here! He followed his heart!"
"SO FOOLISH! SO FOOLISH!" A scientist continued to shout. "WHY CAN'T YOU FIGHT THE VIRUS?! WERE YOU THAT COWARD?! SO FOOLISH! SO FOOLISH!"
"OUCH!" Marty shouted as Dr. Cain punched not only her, but also Sonic and Tails back. "OLD MAN!"
Dr. Cain didn't listen to her and continued to slam his fists on the ground. A blue hedgehog helped Marty and Tails up, before he walked over to Dr. Cain. Sonic stood in front of an elderly scientist, and he grabbed the fist that was about to hit the ground. Sonic looked at him straight in his eyes while Tails and Marty was standing nearby and making sure that this is going to be okay.
"Doctor Cain, that's enough." Sonic said quietly. "I understand that you are upset and that's understandable and okay. But the way you express your grief is starting to scare us all, even me. Dr. Doppler is not a coward, Dr. Cain. On the contrary, he was brave enough to end his life for the sake of all of us. He sacrificed himself so that you and everyone else could move on. He himself didn't want to upset you and see how you grieve for him. We can help you if you need it. You're not alone, Doc. We are all with you. Just please don't hurt yourself, okay?"
Dr. Cain looked at a hedgehog, and he began to calm down.
"Forgive me, Sonic, Marty and Tails, that I pushed you all in this way and behaved inappropriately..." an elderly scientist, who had come to his senses, quietly apologized. "I'm really sorry…"
"Can I help you?" Sonic asked, offering his hand to Dr. Cain.
"Thank you, Sonic." Dr. Cain said, and a blue hedgehog helped him stand up while Tails signed out of relief.
A blonde pirate smiled and was glad that Sonic calm down an old scientist. She looked towards a white reploid who was standing nearby. Suddenly her body and mind trembled with fear, as a pirate again thought, that instead of X, she saw a demon around whom there was an ominous and murderous aura.
"What the…?!" She thought with horror, gasping loudly.
"Marty, are you okay?" Tails asked with concern, seeing the look of horror on the pirate's face.
Suddenly everyone heard a sound from above and they all looked up to see two shuttles, one of which belonged to Marty's team.
"CAPTAIN! WE HAVE COME TO SAVE YOU AND YOUR ALLIES!"
"Thomas?" Marty said, recognizing the voice of her assistant, then he rubbed his eyes and looked at X. What did I just saw?
Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails were talking to each other as they watched the two shuttles land.
"Sonic, are you sure that you will go with X to this castle?" A little fox asked, looking concerned for his friend.
"Yes, I'm sure, Tails." A blue hedgehog said in turn. "I, in turn, worry about X. I'm afraid that the same story will happen to him as with Ares. Maybe I'm paranoid, but this feeling doesn't leave me."
A little fox looked at Sonic, understanding his concern for X, then he took out Miles Electric from his bag. From his device, he pulled out another smaller device and handed it to Sonic.
"Take this." Tails said. "Through this, I will help you and X with your mission in this castle."
"Thanks, buddy." Sonic thanked his friend. "By the way, how many other things do you have in your bag~?" I see that you have got many things."
"I tried to pick a little to make it easier for me, but the main thing is that everyone came in handy." Said Tails. "Like X with his ammo for his enemies."
"It seems like X is more like you than me." Sonic said with a grin.
"And little like you sometimes." Tails agreed, starting to laugh himself from Sonic's joking attitude, he need so much.
But his laughter died down when a little fox saw two reploids from Marty's team leading Dr. Cain onto the shuttle, while one took Bit's dead upper body with him. Then he looked over and saw several medics, carrying Byte on a metal stretcher to the medical shuttle. They didn't immediately recognize the member of the Nightmare Police, as they thought that this was the patient they had heard about and judging by the look on the face on some medics, they were disgusted to look at Byte's body. Can't blame them for that. Tails then turned to Sonic:
"Sonic, I'll go with them. They still need my help, and I can help them the best I can, especially with Byte when we get back to base. I'll be in touch with you. Good luck. The rest, you know what to do."
"Me too, little bro." Sonic said with a smile, then he waved his hand to a little fox.
Tails waved at him as well and he walked towards Marty's pirate team's shuttle. A blue hedgehog looked at the device and then at the three Chaos Emeralds that were in the bag he was carrying. He then turned to walk towards X...
"X, JUST WAIT FOR ONE MINUTE!" Sonic heard Marty calling a white reploid.
Sonic strained his ears to hear what Marty was going to say.
"You'll still go there, right?" A pirate asked before she continued. "Even though I can't stop you, you owe me one thing. You were resurrected thanks to me. Here's why...Here's why...Make sure you come back ALIVE! You still need to thank me!"
"Marty." Marty turned and saw Sonic, who stood next to her. "X knows what he is doing... And this is his decision. I will go with him. I'm not sure X can promise you that."
"Marty, Sonic, hurry up!" Thomas said loudly, calling a blue hedgehog and a pirate. "We're going to taking off!"
A pirate continued to look at X until she said. "Tell me already..."
"I won't be able to make this promise..." A white reploid simply said and moved on.
"Don't be afraid, Marty." A blue hedgehog turned to her. "Tails will be in touch with us, and we will try to get back safe and sound. I'll try to keep my word. See you soon!"
After Sonic said this, he went after X. Marty looked after them until she said:
"X, you idiot..."
After that, she went to her team's shuttle and climbed inside the shuttle with Thomas.
Next time...Sonic and X vs. Purple Demon!
*I can call Jumper an analogue to his expy Cliffjumper from Transformers. When I write this chapter, I was really looking forward to the two Transformers comics from Skybound, which is why I wrote this character. I took inspiration from the Energon Universe version of Cliffjumper.
*At the beginning, when I wrote about Doppler's backstory, I first decided that, as a reploid belonging to a terrorist organization, he fought in the war in the Middle East. But I changed this part to the war in Central Asia for two reasons. First, the most important thing, I thought that the first version with the Middle East would be a little...You know. And secondly, this may explain the origin of the second names Bit and Byte and how his backstory can be perfectly written in the tone of X's world. I came up with Doppler's background by following small detail - Dr. Doppler's main program. I thought: What if this is more than that we see? And so, I wrote his backstory. I don't fully recognize it as canonical yet, especially in terms of games and the original manga itself, but since the manga version of Mega Man X can be considered an alternative reality, it's kind of possible. I do not know. You can write in reviews about that.
*I called this chapter "Intermission" instead of the original title of the chapter "Wrath" because this chapter supposed to be rest (not completely) before the boss fights with MaVi and one particular persona.
Next time this month we'll see two of our blue heroes battle it out against one of X's enemies from the past! If you have questions, ask in the comments!