The next chapter is up and I really hope you enjoy it. Also I had some new reviewers Echo the fox, and Azerite Productions. Along with a wonderfully classical reviewer HealingHearts24. I don't own sonic or sega please read and review.
It had started to rain, but not in a pounding fashion that Fang always associated with the rain, for once he found it pleasant, almost a cleansing experience as he crept through the streets of Robotropolis. His body felt light, his steps seemed softer, and the smell and feel of rain distracted him but momentarily from his purpose, the end of Robotnik. The swat-bots passed him without pause, it angered him, he wanted the fight, not for the violence but to prove the waiting had not been pointless, yet judging from the response Robotnik's surveillance network had missed his visit to the floating island. Just another thing he had done wrong, he could have moved sooner, quickly pushing the thought aside he continued onwards, eyes set like stones as he walked slowly and unimpeded to Robotnik's citadel, the heart of his tyranny and of all Fangs sorrows.
On the opposite end of the city the Chaotix, Sonic and Stoat met heavy resistance, the bots poured from the alleys, rooftops and every dark corner of Robotropolis, their advances met on the rainslicked streets by the group. The mechanized hoard was pushed back, the spin-dashes, punches, kicks, and hail of gun fire pushing them back. A bots chest burst from the impact of one of Knuckles punches, oil mixing with the rain, as Sonic tore through four that had stood in line with another well aimed spin dash, Vector wreathed the ones before him in flame as Espio periodically reappeared to deliver an impressive attack before vanishing again. Mighty and Stoat stood side by sidewith Charmy floating up above, Stoat firing his gun and making several well aimed shots while Mighty would throw any that would get to close and Charmy would dive-bomb , the mechanical slaughter continued as the group continued to press deeper and deeper into the heart of Robotropolis.
Fang looked up at the impressive citadel, the curved walls, the grey metal, the reek of pollution, though lessened by the rain still ever present, distant noises reached his ears, metal grinding or perhaps being destroyed, he paid it no particular heed. His fur was soaked, and matted against himself as he walked through the front door and entered into the dark heart of Robotnik's control, he was in no rush so he looked around at the grey walls which surrounded him as he placed one foot in front of the other and listened to the deep echoing thud his boots made on the floor. He wondered if Tails would be alright, once Robotnik was dead he could return to his old life, something he had desperately wanted for himself for so many years it seemed. His thoughts turned to the Chaotix, of Charmy and Vector, of Espio and Mighty, even Knuckles, how would their lives be with Robotnik gone, he was torn from his thoughts when finally the event he had waited for finally occurred, the bot nearby turned and opened fire, Fang smirked as ages of aggression were released.
"Sonic come on we need to hurry!" Knuckles voice was aggravated as he and the group had already started running towards Robotnik's citadel as Sonic finished off the few remaining bots in the area they had been in. "Yeah cool it Red, I'm comin. Don't know why, Fangs probably setting us up again and you fell for it. Least I'll get an excuse to mess with egg belly." As Sonic quickly caught up Stoat looked at him and Sonic noticed being this close to him the general concern in his eyes, as well as a deep pain, Sonic sighed and just continued forwards as his and Stoats eye contact broke. This time it was Espio speaking and although his voice was cool, a note of indignation found its way into his words. "Sonic Fang could have thought of far better ways to lure us into this trap. The note was too personal even for the Fang we had thought we knew to have written. Let us hurry and hope we aren't too late."
No sooner had Fang torn the first bot in half using his combat knife than had an alarm sounded and countless more proceeded to come out of the woodwork, or as the base was largely metallic the metalwork. They had clogged the hall he had been about to venture into, the metallic frames forming a wall, Fang was calm, even as the first laser blast soared towards him and he narrowly avoided it, he remained calm. The lasers lit the hall with an eerie red glow as shot after shot was levelled at Fang who had now drawn his gun and opened fire, using his tail to fling himself out of the path of oncoming laser fire. The oil flew and ran down the hall as their numbers dwindled, Fang breathed heavily as a blast skimmed his left arm drawing a thin line of blood that mixed with the oil. The fight continued until forced to reload he tossed the gun back into his holster and with a large push from his tail bowled into the bots still arrayed. The steel plates from his gloves bashed into the metallic heads and the sound of sizzling circuitry filled the air as he levelled an impressive kick knocking three bots down as he continued forwards, another laser burst caught him off guard and with a quick pivot he dodged only suffering another glancing blow drawing blood from his cheek as he winced and continued his battle. He pushed forwards, reloading his gun when he found time and using his hand to hand when he did not have the time, he slowly made it to the elevator which had been disabled, ignoring the numerous near misses and glancing blows he pushed the doors open and jumped onto the wire which hung over the pitch black abyss. Wrapping his tail around the wire he started to climb as in the distance the sound of another fight was heard, just entering into the same citadel as Fang.
The Chaotix and Sonic looked stunned at the chaos Fang had caused, still sparking mechanical husks, oil oozing down walls, Stoat knew how capable Fang really was when not faking his fights, always losing by slim margins, he was a phenomenal fighter, and no longer having reason to hide it stunned the others. They rushed forwards, more bots coming to fill the hall, they stood on the corpses of their mechanical brothers neither caring nor understanding, and just like there mechanical brothers they were cut down. Tails nerves tore at him, he hoped they wouldn't be too late, hoped and prayed as they rushed forwards, Tails thought of Sonic as a brother, and strange as it had become he now found himself thinking of Fang as one to, he needed to protect him, needed to save him just like he had done.
Robotnik watched the monitors while grinding his teeth in raw hatred so powerful Snively stood trembling by his side, Fang had finally betrayed him, he would use Mighty as leverage and if that failed he would simply kill him, after all it would be no great loss to him. What was more concerning was the most hated hedgehog following after him, he had focused his attention so much on the object of his obsessions he had failed to note how close Fang had finally gotten to him until with a loud bang the door to his control room was blown and in the entrance was a purple half wolf half weasel, with murder in his eyes. Snively cowered behind Robotnik as the two stared, both thoughts murderous, and both full of hate.
For the group moving up the elevator had been easy, Charmy flew, Espio and Knuckles climbed up the wall, Sonic ran up with Stoat on his back, only Vector had trouble and had to be airlifted by Charmy who upon reaching the top collapsed with exhaustion once Vector hopped off. All the while travelling up the voices from the control room echoed through the shaft, not all the words were intelligible but an unprecedented amount of swearwords were present. With the top reached Sonic sped ahead Stoat still on his back just in time to hear the heated words between Robotnik and Fang. "YOU ROBOTIC FREAK OF NATURE! I HOPE WHEREVER MONSTERS LIKE YOU GO WHEN YOU DIE IS NICE BECAUSE YOUR ABOUT TO BE SPENDING AN ETERNITY THERE!" Sonic was at the doorway and he had no time to do anything but watch as Fang drew his magnum and Robotnik drew his hidden laser gun and the two fired, Fang being just a second faster the bullet sailed in the air and implanted itself in the skull of the mad dictator. The bits of blood and oil flew out as the fat body fell backwards crushing Snively beneath the enormous weight, chunks of skull and metal sprinkling onto the cold floor like a grisly snowfall. It all seemed in slow motion, and at last Fang dropped his on the ground a smile and tear escaping his face as he whispered into the open air, that it was finally over.
The Chaotix rushed in and saw Fang standing, covered in cuts but still much alive, and they ran to him and encircled him in a group hug, Stoat joining in, with Sonic standing looking over the defeated body of his long-time nemesis, it appeared a happy ending had been reached, when on the screen came an image of Robotnik's face, smiling like a demon dreaming of hell. "Ahhh Sonic and your wretched furball freedom fighters. Don't look so surprised, you didn't really think you could kill me did you! Oh but don't worry, I am truly dead, yes this is nothing more than a recording. Don't worry though I left you with a parting gift, something I rigged up, a real "dead hand" hahahahhaaaa. You see my base is rigged to overheat and explode if my heart ever stopped. Which means all those worthless roboticized junk heaps are about to be incinerated along with the entirety of Robotropolis. Farewell Sonic, enjoy the wasteland you helped create. HAAHAHAHAHAAAAHAA!" A countdown appeared on screen, five minutes, enough time for Sonic to escape, but at the cost over everyone, the hugs and cheers died, and only horror and despair filled the face present.
The ticks of time, like sand in an hourglass heralding their doom, Sonic wouldn't leave the Chaotix, no matter how much they asked to leave them behind, suddenly Fangs eyes lit up and he gave the faintest smile, but his eyes spoke of no pleasure as he voiced his realization. "I think there's a safe room on the lower levels, if we can get to it we can all survive the blast." The eyes lit up with hope for themselves, but despair for all the others, all the countless lives that would be lost, they decided to save what they could and proceeded down to the room, all monitors in the base showing how much time was left. When they reached a large open doorway with bulkhead already open and great translucent walls the group sombrely moved to enter, as the monitors displayed only sixty seconds. Fang had led them and had gained a fair lead in front of the group Sonic at his side, It was unexpected, the elbow of Fang ran into Sonic's gut and knocked the wind out of him as Fang used his tail to jet forwards and before anyone could realize, jet into the safe room and click the button at the side lowering the massive bulkhead into place, Fang ensconced in an unbreakable room, the other left outside.
Fang rushed to the console within, he only had 55 seconds left to do this, he was confident he could do it, he found what he was looking for and gave the order, furiously clicking the keys until it was done, the monitor said 30 seconds left, it would hopefully be enough to say goodbye. He walked to the intercom to communicate with those outside the room, the looks of furry and hurt on their faces evident, Fang thought it funny and appropriate that even right up till the end he should keep them guessing just who he really was, but when he spoke in to the intercom they finally had their answer. "I've vented the reactor into this room; it should be able to contain the explosion. If I unseal the door the command will be cancelled, so I think it's time to say goodbye. Goodbye and sorry for everything I've done, hopefully this will partially make up for it. Goodbye Charmy, I wish I could get the chance to see you grow. I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me. Espio I want to say you're the wisest person I've met. Vector, you rock, plain and simple, keep being yourself and people will keep liking you. Knuckles your braver than most of us put together, I wouldn't have trusted anyone else with guarding the floating island. Sonic you are reckless, rude, and without a doubt the greatest hero Mobius has ever known. Mighty you were like a brother, I'm sorry I left, I wish there had been another way, I wish so many things could have gone differently. Last, Tails, there's no point hiding any longer, you have your life back, I hope you don't waste it because you never know when things might end. You were the friend I didn't deserve, who saved me from what I had been for so long, thank you, you were all more than I could ever have deserved thank you…and goodbye." Through the glass they saw the tears coming down his face, the mask gone with no trace to be found, emotion choked his voice and through the glass he motioned for them to move away from the glass, and as they fled down the hall Fang at last looked back at his life and smiled.
5 seconds, he remembered the day he met the Chaotix, remembered the warming sun and smell of a fresh and healthy Mobius. The look on Espio when he had bumped into him as a child. The day they found Charmy. Challenging Mighty to an arm wrestling duel and being sent almost through the table. He chuckled at the memory. 4 seconds Playing with Mighty, climbing trees with Espio, siniging with Vecotr when all the others kept telling them to stop. 3 seconds becoming a detective, the faces of the clients when they had solved there case and helped them. The party they had after their first case where Espio fell in the punch bowl. Mighty getting stuck in a tree when he tried to get the cat down. 2 seconds, lying alone and thinking of his friends, looking at the pictures he had smuggled with him when he had been forced to work with Robotnik. Hoping they were alright and that he would one day get to be with them again. 1 second, waking up in Tails bed, in the tiny hut with the concerned face of him. Teaching him to use a gun. Telling him about his nightmare when he had become Stoat. He looked back and a final great big smile filled his face along with a tear which ran down his cheek as the air inside the room ignited, leaving only a white hot glow brighter than the sun in the wake of its release, and the world seemed a darker place. A miniscule red dot vanishing from existence amidst the burning white as the world kept turning amidst a rainy day, the sun already starting to peak through the clouds.
WOW that was hard to write. Don't worry though the story isn't over, I really hope you enjoyed this and will continue to enjoy this story as it unfolds.
