The Robotic Endgame

IX. Mega Man

"I don't see how I can code the virus protection into you..." I told him, trying to look away but unable to.

"You can't." Shadow said firmly. "I have no access panel. No wires. Nothing you can use to code."

I stared at him for a few more seconds. "I'm sorry, Shadow."

"How did I... get it?" he asked. He seemed to be holding fine.

"I was probably carrying it in my systems," I explained, "but since I have the virus protection, it wasn't affecting me. It was just sitting in my systems. When you grabbed my arm-"

"It traveled over to me." Shadow finished.

"So what," Rouge said, "he's going to join Eggman and this Wily guy?"

I paused for a moment, looking at Rouge with sadness. She seemed to understand. "Yes."

"Fight it, Shadow!" Rouge suddenly shouted. "Fight it! You've been through worse than a computer virus, so get over it!"

Shadow laughed. "It's not as easy as that."

I squinted. Something was suddenly coming up on my scanners. "There's something else out there, guys. I don't know how long it will take for the virus to take over him, but..." I gulped. "Hear me out. When he turns over, he'll attack us. I don't know how powerful he is, but I say... we leave him behind."

"What?" Rouge yelled, taking a step toward me. "Are you crazy? I'm not letting those doctors get their hands on Shadow! That would be trouble for everyone!"

"Rouge," Shadow said, "he's right. Leave me."

Rouge's eyes seemed to get a bit shinier. For a few moments, she didn't say anything. Then, she smiled. "You're crazy if you think I'd leave you, Shadow. We're a team. We stick together." She punched the big robot on the arm, which made me wince. "Right, Omega?"

"It would not benefit me to leave my team," Omega said to my dismay.

Shadow frowned. "That's not... a good idea."

"Well, it's my idea, and I'm the brains of this operation." She turned to me. "You can go find out what that is on your scanners. We'll be here."

I looked at Shadow. "If he disappears, find Light Labs. I'll make sure you're welcome there."

Rouge nodded, and I ran off in the direction of the yellow object that had appeared on my scanners. It wasn't moving, or, if it was, it was moving very slowly. I didn't remember what Sonic had described Tails looking like, but yellow seemed to stick out to me...

The further away I got, the more concerned for Shadow I became. I had only just met him, sure, and there was nothing we could have done to prevent the virus, but still... It was like seeing any of Wily's robots have to be destroyed. I didn't like it. I hated it.

The yellow dot was indeed moving, but very slowly. It seemed to be going in tiny circles, as if trying to decide where to go. It was dark, and with the trees everywhere, it was hard to see the hand in front of you.

When I saw the creature, I nearly hugged him with happiness. It was like I recognized him from all of Sonic's descriptions of him. He had two tails and looked like a fox. And he was yellow. "You must be Tails!" I yelled, my eyes like dim flashlights so I could see in front of me.

For a moment, the creature seemed hesitant, almost wanting to back away. "Yeah, I'm Tails... who are you?"

"I'm Mega Man," I told him. "Sonic and I-"

"Sonic's here?" Tails asked, looking more puzzled than concerned. "When did he get here?"

"He... kind of fell from the sky yesterday," I told him. He didn't seem surprised at this, as if Sonic fell from the sky into other worlds often. I blinked, then told him about the virus, and how Sonic had helped so far. Tails nodded as the story went on, smiling more and more. I hadn't wanted to tell him about how one of my friends had tricked him, though, so I left that out and waited to see what would happen.