Enemies Merge (A Sonic / Mega Man Crossover)

XI. Sonic the Hedgehog

The drilling was like a jackhammer on my back; the vibration carried through all the way. I tried not to make any noises of pain; I didn't want to discourage Mega Man anymore. Once it had broken into smaller bits, I crawled away. Turned out the rocks on my legs wasn't really holding me down much at all; it had just been the one on my back that had tried to kill me.

I tripped as I stood painfully. "Don't push yourself, Sonic..." Mega Man said. I nodded, taking a few minutes to rest before I tried again.

I waited a minute before trying again. That time, instead of standing up immediately, I went on each of my legs slowly, rising up as slowly as I could. But my back still gave out. It worried me; especially since the schedule we were on didn't give us much time to lose.

The entire cave shook violently, as if trying to kill us. Rock and the robot looked at each other, nodding. They then each grabbed one of my arms, putting it around their necks. Mega Man called his dog, who came immediately.

They dragged me along as they ran, my back painfully spasming. It twitched, the muscles seeming to churn around. Rocks fell just behind us, trying to take us with them in the collapsing tower of dirt.

Just in time, as seeming just to be dramatic, we made it out. They set me down, my back on something cold. I realized we were in a world filled with ice. The strange thing was that there was what looked like the sun; was it just an illusion? Nobody else seemed to be questioning it, so I put the thought aside.

"Good." I said sarcastically. "Somewhere nice and warm to rest."

Instead of a smile, Mega Man seemed to be studying me. Then, he knelled by me, looking at something on my chest. I bent my neck to see what he was looking at, and I was puzzled. There sat a small device of some sort. It just looked like a small, square sticker of some sort, but when Mega Man tried to pull it off, it slightly hurt and rejected him. It wasn't on me; it seemed to be a part of me.

"What is it?" I asked him, thinking he would know the answer.

Mega Man only shook his head. "I have no idea. Maybe Dad put it on you for some reason. It doesn't seem like it will hurt you in any way. If I could communicate with Roll, then she would be able to scan it, but... I think it's fine."

"Fair enough, kid." I replied. If he thought it was okay, then I was fine with it. After, all, he was a robot, and he was probably smarter than me. Just not as cool.

The robot stepped in to say something. "My programs do not indicate that this is a form consistent with those of life." Now that sounded more like a robot. It seemed to have much intelligence, but didn't talk like a kid. For that matter, it didn't talk like anything but a machine.

"Never thought I'd be wondering why a robot didn't have emotions..." I said to Mega Man. "What's with her?"

"She..." Mega Man hesitated, as if trying to put it into words. "Her creator didn't feel that emotions were necessary, so she didn't add them. There was this whole incident years back... She has her feelings now, but they haven't all been processed completely. Oh! I haven't introduced you two. Tempo a.k.a. Quake Woman, Sonic, Sonic, Tempo a.k.a. Quake Woman."

I guessed that she was in her form that she used to fight, mostly because one of her hands was a drill. Her armor was green and purple, and she looked down at me with her green eyes, as if she imagined that she was far superior. Her hair was pulled into two parts that were both tied back. "Er, nice to meet you." I said, still laying on the cold ground.

"So, uh, where to next?" I asked. To my surprise, Quake Woman answered.

"We are to cross these ice burgs and stop the Robot Master that is potentially there. Then, we will proceed to the next area."

"Geeze, lighten up!" I replied. "Can't you just say, 'let's go kick the Robot Master's butt!'?"

"I..." She paused. "I am not so certain that it would be of the correct manner. Speaking correctly and respectively in even the most dire of situations reveals ones dignity."

I'm not so sure I had understand what she had said. "Can't you fear? Are you excited? I don't understand..."

"Dignity is not a matter of excitement or no excitement." Tempo replied. "It is a form of keeping cool under the most..."

Something seemed to affect her suddenly. She looked at the rocks, studying them. "Yes. I do fear. I fear things that most would not see as a major threat. I am... Happy with Rock and his new found friend."

"Hah!" I pointed to Mega Man. "She is your girlfriend!"

Quake Woman blushed. "That was not that which I said. I merely was saying that we are friends who enjoy each others' company. Now, shall we continue into the water?"

"Nah, you're totally - " Water. She said water. She said into the water. She meant swim. She meant swim in the water into a battle. Had they no idea that I was frightened out of mind by the thought of swimming?! "Wait, what?! Are you out of your mind?!"

"I am not sure I comprehend..." She began, but her voice trailed off and she looked at Mega Man, who shrugged. That's right; he hadn't gotten the chance to learn that I couldn't swim.

"You're robots, so you can swim!" I yelled. "You can breathe underwater! I can't do either of those things!"

"Sure you can, Sonic." Mega Man said, as if it were obvious and true. "Everyone can swim."

"No, no, no..." I said that to myself over and over again. "You don't understand. There has to be another way."

"Fear is natural." Tempo said, as if she weren't listening to what I was saying, only wanting to contradict it. This robot was really getting on my nerves.

I looked at her angrily. I stood up, my back finally stopping its spasms. "Are you saying I should get over it?!"

"If that is what I had implied, I apologize." She replied. That seemed to ease my anger a bit. "What I was meaning to imply was that fear is natural, and fear is something that should be avoided."

"Good." I said. "So what should we do?"

"We shall journey into the sea." She said.

I looked at her like she was stupid. "But you just... what?"

"I said it is something that should be avoided, did I not?" She answered. "But even fear must be faced, as the result may turn into something that is greater. And, as I have just thought of every possible way, this is the least likely to result in your death."

I sighed. "So now you're telling me to get over it?"

"In its own form of accuracy, yes."

I rolled my eyes, letting them trail off to look at the water. "Alright, this conversation is boring me, so let's just get on with it." I wondered if that had been her plan all along.

Mega Man blinked a few times. "O-okay. So, all we need is a place where we can get to it safely. Or maybe we will have to end up jumping into it..."

I dreaded this. For one, I wouldn't get to fight, and I would barely be able to walk in the water. There was no way of running in it. And, if there were no air pockets, I would be doomed.