Chapter 11
Time was of the essence now as the three teams sprinted towards their targets. The mission had been calculated near perfectly but there is always a variable, and that variable was the dark doppel of Sonic the Hedgehog. No plan ever survives first contact and this was a prime example Rob thought to himself. He still new he didn't have that much to worry about. Nega Sonic's prime target was Rob, so he would come after him. Dash would get the shield down and Chris the air defenses. Even with the factory still producing Giziods, without air turret defense the Sonic Heroes could tear down the factory in one quick strike. The information Rob needed to get would still be acquired because once the Sonic Heroes arrive, Sonic and Nega Sonic will battle it out as enemies will leaving Rob to his information.
It was a perfect plan, Rob thought to himself. The group charged down another Giziod patrol and barreled down another corner.
Dash and his team arrived at the entrance to the shield generator. The generator was large tower that shot a deflector beam that was dispersed by three beam splitters at the top of the tower producing a shield that covers the entire factory. The shield was made to stop fast moving objects such as cannon and laser fire. Slow moving objects such as ships and people could enter unaffected. The whole idea was to ward off any attempt at an aerial bombardment. It was a common misconception to think that having a shield generator was fool proof. Ignorant fools Dash said under his breath.
Dash slammed through the entrance to the tower, followed by Amarena and Sarah. He spotted the controls and Amarena sprinted towards it. Two ways of taking the tower off line was to either shut it down using the controls or to blast it. Though blasting it would bring the whole thing down on top of them. Dash looked up and his eyes widened. "Get down!" He yelled and he jumped pushing Amarena out of the way of a chaos spear that would have impaled her. Dash fell on top of Amarena and shook his head.
He looked at Amarena who stared up at him blushing. "Um thank you." Her face was as red as her fur now. Dash felt his face grow warm and he quickly jumped to his feet with a look of embarrassment on his face. "Er-no problem Amarena." He scratched the back of his head.
"We'll now." Dash's mind stopped instantly at the voice. "Isn't that touching? You know I haven't seen that kind of sappiness since I last fought Rob." Dash looked up and his eyes widened. "W-what? You?" Standing above him on a platform, the wind blowing his cape and the sun giving light to his dark blue fur, was the heartless monster, Nega Sonic. Dash stared up in shock, he had thought Nega Sonic would go after Rob, but he was dead wrong. Dash normally was never afraid but even very presence of Nega Sonic sent shivers down his spine.
Amarena on the other hand dropped into a fighting position. "They say you're powerful? We'll try me then!" Her body ignited with a burst of flames, Dash did not just see but also felt the fire radiating off her body. "Amarena don't!" He tried to grab her arm but was too late as she jumped towards Nega Sonic. The fire around Amarena shot up and formed a ball of fire in her hand. She sent a beam of fire hurtling toward Nega Sonic. Dash looked up amazed that someone of her looks could hold that much power. The dark hedgehog looked up at the fire coming towards him and smirked. The fire blast slammed into him at full force. Amarena smiled victoriously as she fell towards the ground.
"Was that supposed to hurt girl?" Amarena and Dash spun around and jumped back seeing Nega Sonic behind them. "If you think those pitiful attacks will have any effect on me then you're more hopeless than I thought." Amarena growled and summoned an aura of fire. She charged Nega Sonic with full force, her hands and feet covered in flames. Nega Sonic dodged and somersaulted between the blows. Amarena jumped into the air and sent multiple blasts hurtling towards Nega Sonic. He took the blows head on with a huge explosion erupting from the impact.
With a quick flash of light Nega Sonic appeared in the air right in front of her. "Too slow girl." Amarena for a moment was shocked she hadn't even seen him move. The next thing she felt was Nega Sonic's knee slamming into her gut. She felt the wind fly out of her wind pipe as she let out a soundless yell. Nega Sonic then jumped above her and slammed his fists down on her back sending her towards the ground. Dash jumped and caught her.
Dash looked at Amarena with anger and worry, his gaze was then at Nega Sonic. "If there is one thing I hate more than people who hurt me friends. It's guys who have the nerve to hit a girl!" He placed Amarena on the ground and charged Nega Sonic. The dark hedgehog smirked and vanished, reappearing behind Dash and throwing his leg at him. But Dash could sense him using his own chaos energy, he brought his elbow up and blocked the blow, the whirled around launching a barrage of blows at Nega sonic. The two started blocking and attacking, disappearing and reappearing in the air. Nega Sonic caught Dash of balance and slammed his foot into his gut. Dash grunted but quickly recovered slamming his fist into Nega Sonic's jaw.
Nega Sonic hovered in the air whipping blood from his lip. "We'll I must say you're faring better than most have." He chuckled, "But you must realize that all I've done is distracting you from your objective. As long as the shield stays up your army will be sitting ducks once they arrive." Dash growled under his breath. He had let his anger and rage get the better of him.
"But you must also realize that I'm not even trying to fight you." Nega Sonic laughed mockingly at Dash. "Enough!" Dash yelled and in an instant had his hand around Nega Sonic's throat. "Chaos Blast!" the explosion was huge. The mass of energy Dash released tore the air around them. He landed on the ground. "Naive fool…" Dash felt a sharp pain in his leg causing him to topple. He looked up and saw Nega Sonic, who had shot a chaos spear at him.
"You think that you can actually beat me like that? I'm the most powerful being in the Universe!" He fired another shot at Dash. He couldn't move this time, there was too much pain in his leg for him to do anything. To suppress the pain and get up would take too much time. He struggled desperately to stop the shot using his own chaos power but it was no use.
The shot was brought to a halt as a fire barrier was summoned up in front of it. Dash got up slowly and looked to see Amarena back on her feet and at his side. "Let's tag team him. Maybe together we can stop him." Dash nodded. "Sarah! Get to the controls we'll distract Nega Sonic!" The two charged the dark hedgehog. He blocked both attacks by raising his arms in a block and jumped into the air clicking a button on his wrist com. Giziods poured into the area, cutting Sarah off from the controls. Dash noticed this and tossed his blaster to her.
Sarah ducked down and looked the weapon over. "But I don't know how to use a gun!" Dash's eye slightly twitched at this. "Just aim and shoot!" Sarah ducked behind a barrier and shot wildly at the Giziods. Her shots were wild and way off target. Dash refocused on Nega Sonic. He jumped into the air while Amarena shot out a blast of fire from her finger tips. Nega Sonic jumped into the air just as Dash anticipated. He charged his chaos energy into his hands and thrashed at the dark hedgehog. Nega Sonic ducked and brought his leg up trying to nail Dash under the chin. But Dash was ready; he flipped over Nega Sonic and slammed into his back using a spin ball attack. Nega Sonic recoiled and spun around unleashing a blast of chaos energy at Dash.
Dash held his hands out and blocked the energy with his own. Amarena jumped above Nega Sonic and slammed her leg down on Nega Sonic's temple. He slammed into the ground but quickly sprang up unleashed an immense blast of power from the palm of his hand. Amarena was ready for the attack. She summoned a wall of fire and covered herself in a whirlwind of flame. She spun through the blast and came down landing her foot into Nega Sonic's chest. Dash appeared behind him and sent him into the air with the movement of his leg. He grabbed Amarena and chaos controlled them above Nega Sonic.
"Together!" Dash yelled! He summed a mass of chaos energy around him. Amarena nodded and pulled all the fire power she could from her body. "Chaos, Control!" They both shouted send a burst of fire and chaos energy at the paralyzed hedgehog. He was sent down slamming into the ground. The two threw everything they had at him. Both a mix of multiple chaos and fire attacks lit up the area and shrouded the ground with smoke.
They stood their frozen in midair, both panting hard due to the energy they lost in the previous attack. Amarena held on to Dash as he brought them to the ground. "We'll I don't say this much, but you are very skilled." Amarena took is as a complement and smiled. The smile quickly faded as a chaos spear flew from the smoke and hit her square in the back. Time slowed as Dash watched her fall to the ground. "Amarena!" He knelt down to check her vital signs. She was unconscious and bleeding from her upper back, her dark red blood staining her blue jacket. Dash looked back up to see Nega Sonic standing with his hand pointed at him.
"You really thought that pitiful display of power would stop me?" He chuckled and whipped a little blood from his mouth. "You're more of a fool than I first believed" He looked eyes with Dash, who was infuriated and shocked at how Nega Sonic came out of the blast with barley any scratches on him. "Now let me show you another level of my power." Nega sonic charged Dash who was already in attack position. He caught Dash off guard by stepping to the side mid-attack and slamming his fist into Dash's gut. Dash grunted and was knocked off his feet by another blow by Nega Sonic.
He hit the ground and was paralyzed, his ears ringing with pain as he tried to move. Nega Sonic slammed his foot into Dash's chest and held it there. "Weakling, I'll kill everyone you care about, just like I did Rob, and I'll start with that meddling cat over there." Dash's mind halted at that moment. He had seen so many die in war, but for Nega Sonic to kill Amarena was going too far, Dash had already taking a liking to her, see as she was not like most girls he's met. Normally he felt disgusted by girls, but this was different, he wasn't about to let a potential friend die.
"I'll send you to hell!" He yelled and smirked. "Chaos blast," For a moment Dash's body grew a bright red and he unleashed his energy upon his unsuspecting opponent. Nega Sonic flew back grunting from the aftermath of the blast and looked up to see Dash with a green aura fixated around him as he stood in front of Amarena. "I won't let you touch her!" He now knew how Rob felt when he lost Saysha, this is what he hated about emotions, they were so annoying to him… but he had to admit they had their upsides.
Dash lashed out swinging blow after blow with chaos energy flowing through his fingertips. Nega Sonic dodged and step right and left as if the blows were nothing. He found Dash's rage and anger enjoyable, as if Dash thought that caring for other would give him the power he needs. It was a laugh to the dark lord. Hate and anger would always prevail; Nega Sonic lived by that mindset. Dash pulled back and launched his fist. Nega Sonic caught it with ease and pulled him into his knee, then threw him up into the air, blow after blow Nega Sonic unleashed dozens of Chaos spears at Dash, each more painful than the rest.
His body went numb as the last of the Chaos spears slammed into him. He tried to open his eyes and regain his balance but it was no use, Nega Sonic was in control of the battle. Nega Sonic jumped up and slammed his fists down into Dash's gut. The wind left Dash's through as he flew towards the ground only to be met by Nega Sonic driving his fist into his back. "They said you were stronger than the rest." Nega Sonic slammed Dash on the ground next to Amarena. "They said you were like Shadow." He placed his foot on his gut. "But they were wrong, you're weak."
Sarah took her eyes off the Giziods and fired frantically at Nega Sonic. The attack was sloppy and anticipated. Nega Sonic drew his sword and quickly battered the shots away, then firing a beam of chaos energy knocking Sarah, sending her flying into the wall. Dash knew it was hopeless now, but he didn't want Amarena to die. There was only one shot, he summoned what little chaos energy he had.
Nega Sonic noticed this and stepped on Dash's arm, attempting to snap it under his foot. Dash gritted his teeth but then smirked. "You're the fool Nega Sonic." He fired the beam of energy from his free hand at Nega Sonic. He did exactly as Dash wanted him too, and moved out of the way. Nega Sonic saw that Dash was still smiling and he turned to see his mistake. There was a flash of light and an explosion as the shield generator's power was hit. The tower collapsed under its own weight and fell to the grown. There was fire all around them now and groaning metal.
The dark hedgehog was angrier now than ever, he looked to Dash he slowly stood to protect Amarena. He chuckled, "Look's like I beat you Nega Sonic." Nega Sonic didn't wait another moment he slammed his fist into Dash's jaw with great force. Dash fell to his knees groaning from the pain.
"I think it's time I put you out of your misery you miserable insect!" A ball of chaos energy formed in Nega Sonic's hand. Dash new there was nothing he could do now, this was the end. Amarena with barley any strength left took his hand. He looked over to her weakly and saw her look of determination that he did the right thing. "Say goodbye!"
Nega Sonic was mid attack when a blue whirlwind formed around them. The wind whipped past their feat. Nega Sonic stood still now; he knew the cause of this anomaly. The wind let up into a blue streaked that stopped at the top of the pile of rubble formed by the destroyed shield generator. The blue streak faded as a figure formed out of it, the figure stood his back to Nega Sonic. The figure knew that Nega Sonic was staring at him with an un-amused look on his face.
"Pretty snazzy performance there, don't you think? Start the party without me eh Nega Sonic?" The person said mockingly. The smoke now cleared and their stood a tall blue figure. "Ready for round two?" The blue hedgehog turned. The forces of Garland had arrived and with them, Sonic. Nega Sonic's tensed at the sight of his clone. "You always know how to make an entrance Sonic, but your rising action, and climax, will result in your defeat!" Nega Sonic charged Sonic. Sonic smirked and turned into a ball and slammed into him.
The two rose into the air with high speed attack that even Dash could not keep track of in his tired state. Back and forth the two collided in spin ball and fisticuff attacks, each anticipating the others moves. Dash was able to catch glimpses of the two fighting. Sonic and Nega Sonic collided in a fist clash, Nega Sonic threw his leg up aiming for Sonic's chin, but he recoiled and blocked the attack with his elbow. The hedgehogs were evenly matched, dodging, spinning, their attacks creating a whirlwind of electricity and chaos energy as the fight pressed on.
Sonic came down hard on his feet and jumped back toward Nega Sonic drawing his fist back, Nega Sonic caught his fist mid blow and swung his fist into Sonics gut, but he was already in motion, he flipped over Nega Sonic landed his foot into his back. Nega Sonic grunted and flew back. He smirked and turned around unleashing an immense wave of chaos energy from the palm of his hand. Sonic battered the attack away with a quick spin dash. The two then erupted in a fury of spin dashes, colliding through the air with each collision stronger than the last.
Nega Sonic collided with is doppel again and quickly grabbed his foot hurling him over his shoulder towards the ground. The world spun and was upside down as Sonic fell towards the ground. Sonic gained back his focus and landed on the ground standing on his hand. He stayed like that a second to catch his breath and heard Nega Sonic charging at him. Sonic jumped off the ground using his hand right as Nega Sonic's fist slammed into the ground. The metal floor screeched and groaned from the impact of Nega Sonic's blow.
He didn't take a second to breathe; he jumped at Sonic drawing his sword with a quick swipe aiming for Sonic's chest. Sonic jumped back and drew his own sword. Dash noticed his sword was unlike Rob's; it was a smaller standard issue sword that most Sonic Heroes received. He collided in a sword lock with Nega Sonic and brought a barrage of strikes at him. Dash was bewildered at this; for Rob to do battle with Nega Sonic like this, it would take every ounce of hero he had in him. But what he saw in Sonic was unreal. Sonic never drew back feeling pain; never let his emotions run wild. He was both cool and calm, Dash for a moment thought that either Sonic was just that powerful, or crazy.
Dash faintly saw the battle over head in the clouds as Garland forces battered away at the remaining defenses protecting the factory. The aches and pain of Nega Sonic's attacks started wearing off as he began to push himself off the ground slowly standing up. Amarena on the other hand could not do the same. She was still bleeding and in more pain than Dash. Though Dash had received more damage than she had, he was naturally used to pain. He could remember his training that had started when he was a little hedgehog. The intense environmental training, the cuts and bruises that he received when fighting multiple combat robots with only his bare hands, all that and more turned him into the heartened warrior he was today. But he knew he had farther to go.
He picked up Amarena and placed her on his back slinging her arms over his shoulders and holding her legs at his waist, gently leaning over so that she wouldn't fall off. Sarah had climbed out of the rubble that blocked her way to them when the shield generator was hit. With Nega Sonic distracted they all left walking towards the extraction point.