*Finally crawls out of the depths of the hell called real life*

I… I have made it! I'm finally back! Oh, and... uh... happy holidays.

Here it is! The story isn't dead, but most of you probably forgot what is happening. You can reread it again, but that would probably annoy you, and I am really sorry about that. This story might very well be abandoned by most of you at this point.

Even so, I haven't given up. I am still shaky, and not that enthusiastic as back then, but my will hasn't been extinguished. And I want to apologize to you all for causing problems to those that had been waiting in anticipation.

So without further ado, here's the next chapter that has been long been in wait.

Chapter 18: Guilt and Empathy

"... ia…" a voice echoed from the void that surrounded Sonia, her senses starting to regain itself. She could faintly hear the voice more and more. "... ake… p… Soni…" What was once a faraway echo started to feel right in front of her, as she slowly opened her eyes. Though her vision was hazy, her emerald eyes made out the crimson orbs staring at her.

"Wha…?" Sonia muttered while trying to figure out who was speaking, right before her mind registered the wave of pain that spread through her body like electricity, forcing the preteen to let out an anguished cry. "Owww…"

"Take it easy. You took quite the beating there…" the person holding her cautioned. As her hazy vision began to clear, her brain finally registering her helper was Solo.

"S-... Solo…? Wh-what are…?" she tried to mutter, but even that was too painful of a feat. She wanted to ask what he was doing there and figure out why she was hurting all over, but slowly, she could feel her memories of the events that transpired earlier start to flood back. She wanted to ask if he was there to help her out but realized immediately how silly a question that was.

She felt his hand wrap around her shoulders and the back of her knees, and she slowly rose from the ground. She expected to feel more pain, but he moved gently that her body relaxed on him. "Lyra, can you transform her? It would help to take her to AMAKEN that much faster," Solo said facing to the open air, but Sonia could assume that Lyra was out of the Star Carrier and was actually floating where Solo was staring at.

Despite that, Sonia could still hear lyre-shaped FM-ian. "I'm low on energy right now. If I were to transform with her right now, especially in her condition, we would last only for a few seconds before it falls apart," Lyra informed.

"I understand. I can make it back to AMAKEN at that time. I already have the quickest route we can take. Just hold out till then. We've got a big mess on our hands…" Solo expressed and the singer could only wonder what happened while she was out here.

Aware of Lyra's presence near, she was expecting the surge of power to course through her the moment that she felt Lyra merge with her. However, just as the power surge, so too did the pain that had been inflicted on her, multiplying to new heights that she closed her eyes firmly, biting her lip in a vain attempt to not scream.

Just as quickly the power had come, Sonia felt it being drained from her in equal measure, and with it, her consciousness began to be drawn back towards the void, her eyes unable to even focus on the movements being made for their travel.

"OW!" Geo hissed as he wanted to pull his hand away, but fought through the painful stinging as Aaron placed another dab of the rubbing alcohol onto his right palm, soaking up the blood that was leaking out of the torn skin.

"Stop being a baby, Geo. You need to hold still," Aaron lectured before resuming his effort to clean Geo's injury.

Although the brunet knew that he took more beatings that were worse than this, it did not change the fact that it hurt a lot. Plus, as much as Geo would love to clench his hand to prevent the cloth from making contact, the mere effort to clench hurt even worse. So all the child could do was resign himself to the lesser pain. Thankfully, it would last only for a few more moments, before Aaron finally began to wrap bandages around the hand. "Alright, just take care of yourself and you should be alright," Aaron finished though Geo couldn't look him in the eye, instead Geo only gazed at his bandaged hand.

Perhaps Aaron sensed the mood and stepped away from Geo. "It's been a rough day. Stay here and get some rest. I'll try and see if I can patch up your shirt and tell your mom that everything is okay," Aaron said to Geo before he slowly walked out of the room, but stopped at just before he was out the door, perhaps turning to look at Geo once more. "Geo… don't blame yourself, okay? What happened wasn't your fault."

Once Aaron was gone, though, Geo felt as if the room had disintegrated into nothing, and Geo was alone in the void. "Not my fault…? How could he say that? Everything… this was… I'm to blame for it happening…" Geo muttered as he gripped his right wrist with his left hand, clenching it tightly.

If only… if only he hadn't been stupid enough to actually listen to Vix's instructions, actually listened to what Omega-Xis had warned him about, none of this would have ever happened.

"I just think it's weird that it's asking us to put it in the main computer of all things. Why not just a regular computer? Also, why is this lab empty? There's usually someone here."

"He warned me…" Geo whispered through gritted teeth, his right hand starting to clench. Despite the pain that was shooting through the injury from that action, Geo couldn't care less right now.

Omega-Xis… it was Omega-Xis of all people that warned him that something was fishy, and Geo had just…

"That's true... but I don't think we should worry much about it. If there's something in here that would cause problems, the security system would detect it."

How pathetic could he get? Don't think they should worry about it, AMAKEN's security would surely detect it? How could he have brushed off Omega-Xis' warnings like they were nothing like that? If there was ever someone that Geo wanted to punch right now more than anything else, it was the him that was stupid enough to actually say that.

"Hah… and I thought I was the calm and collected one… but you were the smart one here…" Geo choked as the tears began to roll down his cheeks, the pain from clenching his injured hand not even a fraction of the reason for said tears.

The amount of time that passed might have lost itself on Geo, as he became aware of shuffling from outside the door and recognized Aaron's voice being rather panicked. Just as he was about to investigate, the door opened, and Geo felt his stomach twist into knots as he saw Aaron rushing in with Solo behind him, carrying an unconscious Sonia in his arms. Previous thoughts were immediately assaulted away as Geo cried out, "Sonia!"

Rushing to her side as she was placed on the infirmary bed, Geo quickly looked over her body and noticed almost immediately the bruises that were on here. Emotions whirling into a ferocious cyclone, Geo turned to Solo. "What happened?!" he asked, the control over his voice completely lost.

"A fight. While we were busy here, Sonia was fighting off another attack by herself," Solo replied simply, not meeting Geo's eyes, almost like Solo couldn't be bothered to give Geo the attention. Instead, the Murian was already opening cabinets and pulling out the medical supplies, handing them to Aaron. "Now get out so that we can treat her."

Despite how monotone his voice generally sounded, Geo visibly flinched at the underlying harshness behind it and was swift to silence himself. Step by step, Geo felt the distance grow between him and the others. Aaron might have said something to Solo, perhaps at the way Solo had spoken to Geo. Geo couldn't hear anything at the moment, though, his eyes and thoughts focused solely on Sonia. Despite the growing distance as Geo's back approached the door, Geo began to notice the marks on Sonia to be more severe than he had first realized, the bloodied lip, the growing bruise on her cheek and eye, the gash over her right leg, the burn over her arm, he could see it all. Each mark seemed to strike into Geo with forces that were incomprehensible to the child. As Solo and Aaron began to obscure Sonia from his view, the door had closed before him, never realizing when he had stepped out of the room.

And he was alone...

The thoughts were vicious in their attack on Geo as he wandered aimlessly through the halls, the fury towards himself beating him down till he tripped and fell to his knees. The pain may have registered in his mind, but he ignored it. Instead, he tried to hold the wall for support.

'Sonia was fighting… all by herself… and she got hurt… It's all… it's all my fault…' Geo thought, vainly attempted to stand up.

How could he have made the situation so much worse? Those injuries on Sonia… were they as serious as they appeared? Would there be permanent damage? Could her life be in danger?

With each concerning thought he had made towards Sonia, an equally angry remark he would make toward himself.

He should have been there!

Then she wouldn't have gotten hurt!

But no, he just had to cause problems, and everyone…

… Everyone could have gotten hurt…

The words Solo spoke before about the dangers the EMP explosion echoed through his mind.

"Electromagnetic Pulses can cause malfunctions within electronic devices, or sometimes outright destroy them. The pulse would send out could reach anywhere from several miles to maybe even 100 miles. Imagine, humans within a 100 miles radius losing all electronic devices. To you humans, it'd be the very equivalence of losing the air you breathe. You'd end up panicking en masse and struggle to escape it at all costs."

His body suddenly convulsed at the thought, as he could feel his stomach twisting in knots, the contents within began to threaten to rise from the depths. Geo clamped a hand over his mouth, his eyes watering while he tried to hold back as much as he could. His lung huffed, forcing him to cough out. He couldn't even concentrate on what was in front of him, the world itself began to distort in its image.

Every ounce of strength in his body that he'd have attempted to use to hurry to the nearest restroom had been drained from him.

"... -o?" He could hear a faint voice from behind him, muffled by the ringing in his ears. The voice continued to grow louder and louder after a bit, and he could start to make out the words.

Reality seemed to have been restored to its original state, as Geo could finally look at the person holding onto him.

"Mr… Dubius…?"

The scientist's eyes seemed to examine Geo as Geo felt himself be helped up, some strength finally returning to his knees. "Come on. I should take you to the infirmary," he said, gently tugging Geo to follow him. The young Stelar resisted, trying to pull his arm free, but the adult's grip strengthened. Though he couldn't free himself, his actions had made Tom stop pulling his arm, and instead, the man would look at him, eyes filled with concern.

Geo couldn't bear to stare at those worry-filled eyes. He didn't deserve it. However, for a moment, just for a fraction of an instant… he had seen something else in those eyes, but he couldn't decipher it from how fast he had averted his gaze.

"Something happened in the infirmary, I take it…" Tom finally said, deducing Geo's thoughts before releasing his arm. "Would you like me to at least take you somewhere where you can sit down?"

Sitting down definitely sounded nice. His legs still felt like they could collapse on him at any minute. And yet, his mind drifted towards another concern that was haunting him, one that he couldn't hide away from. "No… I… I want to see Omega-Xis…" As Geo asked that, he finally forced his eyes to look at Tom's, silently pleading the scientist to allow him. There was a clear hesitation in the scientist, but before long, he surrendered to Geo's request, now switching the destination to the lab where the AM-ian was being kept in.

"You shouldn't have been so harsh on him," Aaron said angrily at the Murian as Geo left the room, seeing the child's hurt expression, Aaron couldn't help but feel immense anger towards the white-haired ancient. Despite his own anger, Aaron maintained his focus on the task, placing some disinfectant on one of the cuts on Sonia's arm, earning a movement of discomfort from the unconscious girl.

Solo seemed to ignore the question and instead started to place bandages over the other injuries on the idol that had been cleaned.

The crisis was more or less over, and they had a more stable environment now, and yet Aaron had no idea how to handle this person that was in front of him to assist in patching the young idol. They had only just met, and though Geo had told Aaron about Solo being a Murian, now being alone with him in a room together, Aaron had no idea how to handle him. Everything about him indicated he wasn't like Geo or the others, but instead abnormal. No, maybe abnormal for a human, but perfectly normal for a Murian. Here he was, in the presence of an ancient race of superhumans, who wielded advanced science that could overtake their current technology, and the only thing Aaron could think about was how rude Solo had been with Geo.

Though his appearance was unusual, with his snowy white hair and those crimson irises, that had it not been for the tanned skin color, Aaron would have thought the boy was an albino. Yet no human would have this combination of appearances. Perhaps this was a normal trait for Murians. Or was Solo perhaps the exception once again?

Solo definitely posed many questions through the scientist's mind, though mostly in particular was how Solo looked about the same age as Geo. Yet despite that, Aaron knew that he must have been thousands of years old, the thought enhanced with the fact that the boy had intelligence he held was beyond that of humans no doubt, this very incident proving as much.

Just as the last of Sonia's injuries were patched up, Solo finally spoke. "You are far too kind on him," he said.

Caught off guard, Aaron had no response, merely trying to process what was said to him.

Sensing Aaron's hesitation, Solo continued, "You try to insist that Geo is not to blame, that he had nothing to do with it, but you know as well as him that it was his fault. He placed the virus of his own will and nearly caused a catastrophe. Even if he had no idea what he had done before, he is still responsible for the event that transpired."

Truth.

Every word the Murian uttered was nothing but the truth.

No matter how much Aaron wanted to deny Solo's words, the Murian was not wrong, and in Aaron's heart, he knew that Geo was at fault, if only in part. If Geo hadn't done what he had done, they could have avoided much of the problems that occurred now, and even more problems that would inevitably follow for AMAKEN following this incident. Even so, Aaron didn't want to ever voice such cruelty, not for Geo. "He's just a child. Maybe it is different for you, but for us humans, Geo is still too youn-"

"And yet you allow him to go out there fighting for his life against enemies that can and will kill him at the first opportunity," Solo cut him off, and the words were like swift punches to Aaron's stomach, the scientist visibly flinching from the facts behind those words. Whether Solo noticed Aaron's reaction or not, he continued. "By trying to coddle him and deny him these things, you treat him like an ignorant child when he should be aware of the consequences. If he isn't prepared for the truth, then later when it happens, he will break."

Gritting his teeth, Aaron thought back to the incidents with Andromeda and the FM-ian attack months ago. There were many casualties and lives that had been lost from those incidents, especially from Andromeda having destroyed five populated cities before MegaMan and Lyra Note had finally managed to intercept it, though they hadn't actually been able to halt its advance. It was unlikely for them to not have at the very least heard of the destruction, as it had been on the news for some time, but were they aware of the death tolls? If they had actually learned the full extent of the damages, would they have taken it well?

Aaron glanced at the girl now resting peacefully on the infirmary bed, only twelve years old and already a famous idol, yet on top of the many burdens she must already deal with, she also fought alongside Geo for the sake of protecting the planet. How would she react at the revelation of the devastation that had been caused? Knowing Hope, she likely would not have allowed her son to see the news for such coverage. Sonia likely was too busy to actually be informed of it or made to watch the news over it.

But had they known, would that have been better? Would they just move on and understand that it was the fault of the FM-ians and not their own?

Or would they blame themselves for the lives that had been lost? Believe that they could have protected everyone else had they just been stronger? Allow the guilt to drain away every joy in their lives? Would telling them about the incident have been in any way better for the two?

The man shook his head, clenching his fist firmly. "No… it wouldn't be better. If you force them to accept all the responsibilities and treat everything they do as a fault, that would break them just as much. They may not be ordinary kids anymore, but they are still kids. As the adult, I can't let them take responsibilities for any of this," Aaron insisted, waving his arm in front of him in a gesture for his words. "Your way of telling them like that will only hurt them worse. It's just wrong."

Even if there had been validity in Solo's words, it didn't mean that telling Geo that it was his fault would make him simply accept it and feel better. He didn't need that kind of mental burden thrust upon him when he's already done so much already and still intends to do so much more.

The Murian merely shook his head. "That is why I say you are far too kind…"

For him, that seemed to mark the end of their conversation.

Each step seemed to echo in Geo's mind, his heart weighed down more and more by the recollections of the state his partner was in. Even still, Geo pushed his legs forward, wanting, needing, to see for himself how badly he had hurt his own friends.

Doors opening immediately upon reaching it, the boy immediately turned his eyes towards the window that viewed into the room by them, spotting the AM-ian, suspended in the EM room, the bars holding his waves together that were slowly breaking apart off of his body. Approaching the window, Geo pressed the glass with his hand, muttering his partner's name, helpless to do anything but stare at the scanner would continuously roam across the EM being's body, showing the condition Omega-Xis had been on the monitor above the window.

He didn't know how long he had been staring, but couldn't tear his eyes away as Tom typed onto the keyboard. The man had been silent, but Geo could assume that what was coming next. Now the scientist would likely try to console Geo, tell him that it isn't his fault, that he was tricked, that he shouldn't feel-

"I remember that time you gave me that snack. You know, when I had been testing my Sky Jacket," Tom explained, throwing Geo's thoughts off the rails. "You were hungry, and still you'd share it with me, even though I was being so mean by accusing you of being a spy."

Why would he bring that up? What did…?

"After we separated, I thought to myself that you were a pretty nice kid… that was when his voice warned me to be cautious around the nice ones." The moment Tom brought that up, Geo immediately realized what Tom was saying. Though the revelation was surprising, learning how Cygnus had taken control of Tom only moments after they split off back then.

"And then… I ended up using that power, used my knowledge to find a satellite to crash onto AMAKEN, nearly killed you, three times, created a device to help give the FM-ians the ability to perform EM Wave Change independently, then even took control of the Satellites to bring viruses to the real world, and then finally, I was on the verge of destroying the entire planet after getting the Andromeda Key."

Geo recalled the memories of what had been done and turned to face Tom. "But Mr. Dubius, that wasn't your fault, you were being contro-"

"Just like how you were tricked by someone into placing the virus into the systems," Tom dashed Geo's concern off. There was something about the way Tom's silencing eyes looked that petrified Geo's whole body. The man wasn't sympathizing with Geo, nor was he trying to make Geo feel better, they looked understanding. Heart caught in his throat, Geo's thoughts were beginning to break apart.

When Tom pressed his hands down against the boy's shoulders, the featherweight enough to make the boy's knees buckle. Geo fixated at the broken ground with his wet growing eyes. Tom's words were the only thing that echoed in the shambled void.

"I'm a grown man who couldn't trust anyone. You're just a kid that didn't realize what he was doing. We both failed to see the bigger picture. We both let ourselves get tricked, manipulated, and nearly hurt many people."

Geo's voice cracked as he clawed at the cracking glass that boxed him in the confines of his heart. As it shattered apart, the shards dug onto him, finally exposing his weeping figure for the world to see. "I… almost… hurt them…because… I-I…"

Using the boy's shoulders as a ladder to climb down slowly, Tom knelt to be at Geo's level.

"You aren't alone… You and Aaron made me realize that lesson. You both helped me escape the nightmare of the loneliness I had felt for so long… so this time… let me have this chance to help you."

Geo gripped the man's jacket, forcing his howls into Tom's shoulder.

"I'm sorry! Sonia! Omega-Xis! Everyone! I'm so sorry!"

His flesh boiled off of his skin with each apologetic, yet agonizing plea. The pain could not be muffled by an army, nor the world, let alone a single child.

Yet then, a comforting gentle hand rubbed Geo's shoulders. His muscles that melted off his bones started to grow back. The heat began to gently cool. The boy pulled away, sniffled and rubbed his nose with his sleeve. He gazed upon at his savior who salvaged him from his own damnation.

"There, are you feeling a little better?" Tom asked.

It took a moment for Geo to catch his breath. Nodding in response to his question, they let out a small smile. Satisfied, Tom shifted his attention towards the screen and began typing on the console once more. "Don't worry about Omega-Xis. He's going to be alright."

'Why… why do I feel so much more comforted by those words now…?' Geo thought to himself. As the world kept turning, he stood there and stared at Omega-Xis, no longer filled with the tension that plagued his mind, instead replaced only with the hope that everything would be alright for them all.

I did it. After over an entire year, I finally have this chapter completed.

Again, I'm truly sorry for delaying everything as things went. Perhaps it was the release of Megaman 11 that helped spark my desire to write the story, or maybe I just could finally feel the creative juices in my brain flowing after the random hiatus that I took.

I won't make false promises saying that I will update regularly. I'll only end up hurting your expectations. But if you guys are still reading and want to keep reading, I hope that you guys continue to support me and leave me reviews. At this point, the reviews are the only proof that I have readers.

And I will try my best to not take this long again for updates.

So until my next chapter, I hope you can find the strength to wait for me. Happy Holidays.