I failed. The word is in ruined, Eggman is in control and it's my fault. Never in my life have I hated anyone more than I hate myself now.
Everyone says it's not my fault, that there's nothing I could have done. Eggman had the Chaos Emeralds, the mechs, the power. But that never stopped me before. So what was it this time? I keep replaying that final battle in my head over and over. It's like a song stuck on repeat, I can't get it out of my head.
You'd think that everything would be a blur cuz that's how everyone sees me. And usually, yeah. Every fight with the egg head usually just… morphs together? Like a smoothie, all my fights blend together. Did I fight Egg Wyvern during my world adventure? Egg Golem during the quest that ended with a fight Neo Metal Sonic? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. I'm a busy guy after all.
But this one? Oh man this one. This one is so… so vivid! Every second plays out so slowly it feels like Time Break times a thousand. It's like every move Eggman and I made towards each other is permanently burned into my brain!
Every move, every little action. On loop. Forever. When I'm awake, when I'm asleep, when we're planning our next move against the Eggman Empire. Always.
The thing is, I think I may have pinpointed where I went wrong. Maybe? Tails is insistent that I was doomed from the start- okay, he didn't put it that way- but I know I could've beaten him. But I messed up. I messed up real bad, man.
The battle had been pretty straight forward. At first at least. Eggman had built a base on an outset of Hill Top. Who would build a base somewhere as boring as Hill Top? I knew Eggman had bad tastes but this was beyond even my expectations. But, whatever.
We had known that he had had all the Emeralds. Well to be fair, he had told us. That cocky son-of-a-gun sent a video message to the Miles Electric flaunting them in front of our faces. Uhg, do I have to say it? I gotta say it. We were too slow to get them first. Don't ask how, he just swiped them from under our noses. Doesn't matter now, I guess.
Anyway, we were down the Chaos Emeralds but that had never stopped us before. So Tails dropped me off in the good 'ol Tornado, Amy and Knux wished me good luck and whoosh! I was off to kick some mondo egg butt.
I'll admit, for a fortress built by Eggman it was impressive. Huge, red, and foreboding. All it needed was some bats and thunderbolts and it would've been straight out of a cheesy, but good, horror movie from like the 50's. There were some Eggpawns and refurbished GUN Robots guarding the entrance. Now that I think about it, where did he get those GUN 'bots? Doesn't matter, they went down in a single homing attack. Nothing out of the ordinary, Egghead doesn't usually place his heavy artillery outside his base's walls.
So those metal heads were down, the Chaos Drives were collected- look, Cream maintained a Chao Garden, don't judge me- and I gave Tails a confirmation via our telecomm that I was heading in. Stuff we do every time; ya never know if the base is gonna jam our signals. Actually, they always jam our signals. So, I take that back.
Heavier forces greeted me inside. Eggpawns with shields, mechs I didn't recognize with electricity shields. A bit tougher than what was outside, but it was still mere child's play for a hero like me. The rest of the base fared the same more or less. It was actually easier than I expected which honestly should have been my first alarm that he was up to something.
Oh, did I mention that he was taunting me the entire time? He had, like, an intercom system or something throughout the metallic fortress and it was nonstop. Every couple of minutes I'd hear the dumb things he'd spout. But the thing was, he didn't sound frustrated? He was saying thing I would say. Stuff like, "Just wait, you rat! You're in for a surprise! Oh ho ho ho!" and "These are the easy pickings, Sonic! The main course has yet to come!" Okay, look, my Eggman impression isn't stellar. Sue me.
So I finally encounter the good doctor in this big, open space. Of course it was a big, open space. Why wouldn't it be? Except it wasn't inside. He had challenged me in a courtyard of some sort. I could see the sky above me. Nice change of pace, in all honesty.
"So you've finally made it, my spiky blue friend!" He had laughed with disgusting confidence. He was sitting by some sort of control panel. I was so looking forward to kicking his butt.
"McNoisehair!" I retorted. I remember smirking really hard at that. He hates that name. "Why don't you just give me the Emeralds to me and make this easier on the both of us?"
"I was hoping you'd ask that!" He cackled, pressing a button, a maniacal grin plastered across his face. I took a stance ready for a bot to appear but nothing of the sort happened. Instead a dome of some sort covered Eggman and the control panel.
Then he started to rise.
From the ground, like some sort of spawn of Dark Gaia, Eggman began to rise. It seemed slow as I was standing there, but thinking back it was actually pretty fast. It was an Eggpawn. The biggest Eggpawn I had ever seen. Taller than most buildings in Empire City, looking back. And it just kept getting bigger.
It towered before me, gray and foreboding. From its center I saw the glows that I recognized as the Chaos Emeralds. This thing was being powered by all seven Chaos Emeralds. "What the hell…?" was really all I could muster.
"Oh ho ho! Not feeling so mighty now, are you Sonic?" Eggman's voice had bellowed. It echoed loud enough off the metal walls surrounding the courtyard that I can still hear. "Meet your new best friend." He sounded utterly malicious. He wasn't playing around. It was time to spring into action. A battle for the ages!
Except I didn't. I froze. I froze up on the spot. I couldn't move. It had never happened before. It was just, like, my feet wouldn't move.
That's when the first hit landed. It was a blow from the mech's huge hand. It swatted me like a fly, like I was nothing. I'm in pain just thinking about it. But that blow wasn't anything compared to the impact against the wall. I heard my bones crack. If it weren't for the rings I had absorbed previously surging me with concentrated Chaos Energy, I'm not sure I would be alive to tell this. But thanks to those rings, my bones healed. It didn't curve the pain though.
"What's wrong, Sonic?" God, I hate the way he says my name. I really, really hate it. "Is your new friend playing a little too rough for you?"
It had been a hard hit and I felt blood trickling down my nose. He's been busy, I had thought. Aloud, I put on my usual cocky attitude and tried to regain myself. "I-I'm just warming up! Bring it on!" I knew then I was lying, but damn was it convincing lie.
I jumped and aimed a homing attack to the closest thing to me, a leg joint. I bounced off. Not even a dent. I would even go far to say it hurt me. I was stunned as I hit the ground. That's when the second blow hit; this time it was a kick. Pretty sure I lost a tooth. At this point I was beginning to see the gravity of my situation. I was getting scared.
Not deterred, I figured I would try to get to the cockpit, as daunting as a task it would be. I ran and jumped and didn't even get half way up before I was knocked back down with such a force I left a crater behind. Three hits in and I felt so defeated. I'm pretty sure even a light gust of wind could have knocked me over. But I couldn't give up.
I was in the process of picking myself up, ignoring the aches. I wasn't even on my feel yet when a surge of electricity surged through me. It was excruciating. I have no idea where it came from but I can only assume it was sent out by the feet of the robot. It stopped me in my already slow tracks. The next something I felt something pierce my skin. Bullets. In my arm, my legs, my stomach. I knew that Eggman knew that the rings would prevent bullet wounds from being fatal, yet he aimed for non-fatal areas anyway. He was toying with me.
A giant robot arm punch to the face was the last thing I saw while fully conscious. I remember him laughing, taunting me. I was blacking in and out but I was willing myself to stay awake. The sounds of the Tornado's engine was the last thing I remember before blacking out completely.
I have no idea how they got me out of there. I haven't bothered to ask because it wasn't important. Tails told me I was out for a week. He told me that Eggman had an entire army of those giant Eggpawns, but his was the strongest. He had been attacking cities around the world. They, Tails, Knuckles and Amy that is, had tried their best to stop him but he was too strong. Even when Team Chaotix and Shadow's group pitched in, they were too much.
I was in a dark place for a while after that. I blamed myself. I still blame myself. I don't care what Tails says, if I hadn't locked up I could've beaten him and none of this would have happened. I didn't eat for a while. Barely slept. Went on a bunch of solo missions. They gave me my space, they knew I needed time to heal. But man, when Shadow begins to worry about your mental state, you know you're in deep.
I've gotten better, but sometimes it comes back. We'll come across a particularly ravaged city and we won't be able to find any survivors. Our progress evacuating an area will be halted by the appearance of a giant Eggpawn. When those thing happens, it's hard to not be reminded of my mistakes. But I have my friends. I have the resistance. I have hope.
And in times of crisis, all you really need is a bit of hope.