Disclaimer: All characters and settings belong to SEGA.
Sonic felt the heat of a massive explosion warm his back while he barely avoided disintegration. When he reached a safe distance, he skidded to a halt, turned around. Sonic's heart pounded rapidly while he observed the dark orange fires that spread out over the burning land. They were surrounded by black plumes of smoke, which filled the air around it. The greenery around the burning remains of the building was turned into ash within a mere second. It hurt Sonic to see beautiful nature get destroyed so suddenly; that forest was gone, forever. The blue hedgehog only avoided the same fate of the forest because of his speed, so he was alive.
Surely Eggman was dead this time, since there was no way the mad scientist could have avoided the explosion. Sonic had barely escaped the explosion, himself, so Eggman wouldn't stand a chance. Regardless of that, past experiences told Sonic that Eggman's death was unlikely and the scientist was probably planning his next evil scheme already.
Nevertheless, if Eggman returned, at least Sonic would have a few extra tricks up his sleeve. This was courtesy of the mad scientist himself. The very thing that was meant to kill Sonic only made him stronger. Sonic felt very proud of his new victory; another battle was won… even if it was a close call.
Merely a few minutes ago, Sonic stood in that new base and faced his enemy in yet another battle. As soon as the hero arrived at the control room in the centre of the base; the lights dimmed. The room was large and circular, measuring at about ten metres in diameter, and made of metal from top to bottom. Sonic could see a control panel to his left with the limited light available. There were two large, metallic doors on either side of the control panel, one of which Sonic came through. Eggman entered through the other.
The scientist was in a large robot, similar to past creations. Its body was round and robust with a large cannon in the middle, the arms and legs were short and sturdy, and the shoulders were topped with small cannons. Eggman was seated in his Eggmobile, which was parked at the head of the machine.
"Ah, Sonic, I knew you would turn up," said a voice both sour and familiar.
The blue hedgehog began to sweat with anticipation when he saw the unusual cannons at the top of the machine. The barrels were long and thin, with pipes leading to the main body of the machine where the power source and ammo was.
"I see that you've noticed my new invention. You see, Sonic-"
"Cut the explanation. Everything you make is the same; they all fail. Let's get this over with, Eggman." Sonic held out his fists and hopped on the spot playfully; he was more than ready to play with Eggman's new invention.
"Oh, but Sonic, this one's different."
Sonic's quit the playful teasing and stood still, regardless, his relaxed nature stayed. Eggman sounded extremely sinister; there was no humour in his tone. However, there was no time for Sonic to wonder about Eggman's mental state.
"Yeah right," Sonic scoffed, shaking off the brief stab of confusion. "How is it different? Does it stop you from sucking, because that would certainly help! What, did you think that you just grew the ability to stop sucking overnight, or have you forgotten how fast I am?"
Sonic put his words into action by zipping around the room like a turbo powered pinball, leaving dents in the walls. He wasn't showing off though, as he skidded around the machine; he searched for a weak spot.
Unfazed by Sonic's usual tactic, the doctor rumbled with sinister laughter. "For someone so fast, you're awfully slow on the uptake. Run all you like, Sonic. You'll never escape!"
Suddenly, the both metal doors closed. The sound of metal clanking sounded in Sonic's ears as the metal sheets closed over the exits, sealing them both in completely. Judging by past experiences, Sonic worked out that they would open again as soon as he destroyed the robot.
The tip of the barrel on the cannon began to glow a deep purple. Light was limited in the room, causing the dim glow of the gun to stand out more. The deep purple glow of the gun glinted off of Eggman's glasses. Sonic skidded to a halt in the middle of the room, and eyed his enemy with determination.
"Who's escaping?" Sonic teased. "I'm just here to take you down!"
Sonic's first attack rebounded and he landed on the ground. The hedgehog leapt to the side to dodge the first blast of cannon in the middle of the robot. Three more thick missiles followed the hero as he dodged their expected assault. Sonic felt like sighing; Eggman used the homing missiles again. Boring! Sonic thought. The hedgehog outran them with little effort and they exploded on the wall. Sonic turned around and looked at Eggman arrogantly, noticing the scientist's confident face expression. Not wasting a second of time, Sonic dived into the robot again at full pelt while the missile cannon was still open; trying his second attack.
Finally, a dent. Sonic found its week spot. The structure was weaker when its interiors was exposed. But something wasn't right. Eggman wasn't reacting to Sonic's arrogance. The mad man should have been having a tantrum by now. What was so different about this battle that made him so calm? Sonic thought it must have had something to do with the new weapon on the robot's shoulders.
Eggman fired another set of missiles. The blue one ran to the wall to his left, using the slight curves in the structure to his advantage, enabling him to reach the ceiling. Sonic felt his centre of gravity sway and change as he went upside down. The pressure in his head increased as the blood rushed to it. The missiles followed the same path as the speedy one and curved in the same way, flawlessly. They all followed him effortlessly, like metal to magnet. Sonic pushed himself from the ceiling when he got to the middle again, hoping to trick the homing technology. Unfortunately, gravity couldn't pull him to the floor faster than he could run. The sudden change in tactic was a big mistake as the hedgehog wasn't fully ready for it yet. He stumbled slightly when he hit the ground. The blue one escaped a millisecond before the missiles trashed the floor.
Looking flustered, Sonic stood up straight and shook himself to get back in the zone. Noticing he had his back to Eggman; Sonic turned around to face his enemy.
"Even when I mess up you can't get me," Sonic teased. "Are you failing on purpose?"
"Yes."
Sonic didn't expect this answer, nor did he expect the offence to happen simultaneously. It all happened so quickly that Sonic's thoughts couldn't keep up. When he realised what was going on; it was too late.
Sonic's pupils shrunk, his fur bristled, and a look of true pain fell upon on his face. The blue hedgehog took in a ragged breath of agony then dropped to his knees. The pain quickly spread from his chest to the rest of his body. His limbs were the last to feel it.
It was that purple substance. He'd been shot by it. Like a laser, it hit Sonic before he'd even realised it left the barrel of the cannon. The rest of the hero's body fell, and the palm of his hands hit the floor. Sonic shut his eyes tight and bared his teeth, breathing in sharply.
"Now, can I give the explanation?" Eggman asked snidely. Sonic couldn't even say no. "This is negative Chaos energy; it's attracted to positive Chaos energy, which your body is filled with. It followed you like a magnet. When it hit your arm it was absorbed into the rest of your body like positive Chaos, which is why it lethal anyway."
"What have you done to me?" Sonic growled.
"Replaced all of your positive energy with negative energy, which will kill you," Eggman said simply. Sonic gasped in pain again then cried out as it became too much to contain. "Hmm, I thought it would kill you a lot quicker than this… at least I get to watch you squirm in pain."
"I can't die… everyone's counting on me… n-no…" Sonic became weaker with every word. His eyelids became heavy, and his words became slurred. The hedgehog's limbs and the side of his face rested on the floor. His tired green irises looked up at Eggman, as if they were asking for mercy.
"You shouldn't have come to stop me. I wasn't even planning to take over the world. You saw my new base and decided to take action, well it was unnecessary and now you've lost your life," Eggman teased cruelly.
"I… hate you," Sonic choked then went silent. His eyes closed and his whole body became lifeless. The room was silent while Eggman took a moment to reflect upon his victory.
The two large doors in the room opened as Eggman turned his robot to leave. But Sonic's eyes shot open before Eggman came to face the door. The scientist noticed this and turned his body around because his machine wasn't fast enough.
"What!?"
The hedgehog, that was once lifeless, stood up with a smirk on his face. "You've done it for yourself now, Eggman!" he yelled out. There was a flash of purple, and a ripple of negative energy emerged from Sonic's body for a split second. The scientist's confidence turned to fear.
Sonic held out his hands in front of him, and a large ball of negative Chaos energy flashed into them. The orb became larger, soared straight into the robot's torso, and broke right through the armour and machinery inside. "What!? I made this out of reinforced steel!" Eggman cried out as he was thrown to the floor.
"These powers are stronger than steel," Sonic said in triumph and grinned. The hedgehog pointed another dark ball of energy at Eggman.
"If I'm going down, you're going down with me!" he yelled in a cowardly voice and ran over to the control panel. Sonic managed to hit the floor where Eggman once stood with his spear or negative energy; he didn't expect the man to move so quickly. The blue hedgehog sent another one, but by the time it hit the console it was too late. Eggman was thrown back by the blast that hit the console. Sonic watched as he began to pull himself up from the floor.
"SELF-DESTRUCT-SEQUENCE-ACTIVATED!"
Sonic's face filled with panic at that phrase. The hero darted around the remains of the robot then out of the door. He needed to find the exit.
"TEN!"
Sonic knew he wouldn't make it in time by taking the established route, and spindashed through the walls of the building. The purple energy mist leaked out of him as he spun and blasted through the walls, propelling him farther and faster. Sonic broke himself out of the building; into the green area around it. By then, the countdown was on its last few numbers.
"TWO!"
Sonic dashed into the distance. He didn't even hear the number one, only an explosion. Then felt the heat of the exploding building on his back, causing him to turn around to look at the damage.
Taking deep breaths of shock and fatigue, Sonic slowly made his way back home. He had a tale to tell his friends, and new powers to show off to them.
Author's Note: This chapter has been edited to correct technical mistakes. Thank you to, Chaotic Hedgehog, Beyond an Anomaly, and Lord Kelvin for the constructive criticism. Thank you to all other reviewers for the praise. Finally, a special thanks to Knockabillar for beta reading this chapter.
If there is still a problem with my writing, please point it out in the review.
