Hi All. Sorry about the slight delay to this update. I've had mid-term exams to deal with and now that those are finally over I can update this story, as well as a couple of my other works that I've neglected for so long. But this will be taking up most of my time. So anyway. Enough from me. Just sit back and enjoy Chapter 10
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Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all official characters are copyrighted by SEGA and Sonic Team
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Chapter 10: Breathe Again
The sounds of gunfire and flashes of light echoed all over the deck of the Egg Carrier as, in the arena where Sonic and Knuckles had vanquished Chaos 6, two brothers fought each other.
E101-Beta's claws raked through thin air as Gamma ducked underneath his charge. With a digital shriek, Beta slammed his jets into reverse, trying to swing round and present his energy shield to Gamma before his brother could recover. One laser burst snagged some exposed wiring on his left arm, but the two other shots fizzled out harmlessly against his shield, illuminating it for a brief moment as a rainbow coloured bubble before it faded back to transparency. Beta opened the concealed weapon compartments on his arms before firing a group of cluster missiles at the red E-series member. Gamma's laser tag flared into life, targeting the missiles. All but one detonated in a ball of fire and ash, but the one that remained unscathed slammed into Gamma's breastplate knocking the younger robot onto his back.
For a brief moment, Gamma's optical sensors registered no more than blackness before, with a flicker of static, he was able to see again. As the younger robot had taken more and more damage over the course of his mission and this battle, his vision was now interspersed with the occasional patch of binary code, giving him debilitating blind spots. Gaping holes were apparent in his torso from where Beta had scored a lucky hit on one of his previous attack runs. Exposed wiring was now visible through the hole and the damage he had taken had knocked out his radar systems. Gamma's right leg was buckled as well from when Beta had slashed him. When the black robot had flown at him Gamma had the presence of mind to grab the black robot's arms and drag the two of them down in a metallic heap. Gamma's leg had been bent badly in the struggle, but Beta had flown away with one less claw than he had gone in with. The black robot was smoking now from his jets and his left arm kept twitching uncontrollably. Gamma looked at his brother with pity. Pity? Where had that come from? Unbeknownst to Gamma, the link between robot brain and organic battery was breaking down, allowing Gamma to begin to exhibit emotion, a previously unknown experience amongst robots. The process had been catalysed when Sonic had torn into Gamma during their battle aboard the Egg Carrier, in a location close to where the two brothers were now fighting.
The creature inside Gamma could tell that the organic battery powering Beta was suffering. The robot's programming was far less forgiving than Gamma's was. Gamma's programming was designed to ease off the pressure on the organic battery during times of combat, allowing the creature's natural instinct to take over and assist in battle. Beta's new design was to keep the organic component completely subservient for the entire time, rendering it as no more than a captive fuel source. With an effort, Gamma pushed himself to his feet and dodged his brother's next ramming attack. His gun swivelled instinctively with Gamma's eye-line and landed a shot on Beta's exhaust pipe. The left pipe of the pair spluttered, coughed and died, sending Beta into a frantic spiral into the ground. Gamma hobbled over, trying to keep his weight off his bad leg. Beta spun around, trying to ignite his forward shield and save himself from more structural damage. Gamma fired at Beta's prone form in order to prevent his brother from using his aerial advantage. As Gamma closed in on his brother, Beta turned and thrust forward with his dual claws, only one of which had been broken off. The three spikes shot forwards into Gamma's torso punching through his ammo feed line, his visual feed and his engine. As they did, Gamma's cannon placed a charged shot straight into Beta's eye. Gamma's pilot saw nothing but blackness, the inside of a metallic chassis that was now lit a dim red with warning lights. Now, lacking power, the metallic restraints holding the pilot in place snapped open and the creature wriggled free, her tiny wings flexing for the first time since Gamma's activation. Her eyes focussed on the slim rays of light filtering through the tears in Gamma's torso. As damage levels neared critical levels, Gamma's pilot managed to squeeze out of the damaged shell and into the air. Her eyes squinted as she saw sunlight for the first time in what seemed like an age. Her lungs filled with clear air as she inhaled a new type of air, other than the recycled oxygen that was pumped through Gamma's shell to keep her alive.
Now airborne, the pink flicky looked down at Beta's smouldering remains. As she stared, another beige flicky struggled out of it's remains and took to the air. Noticing the hovering bird overhead, the other flicky soared on the updrafts to her side.
"Thank you." he said, the words hoarse through unused vocal chords. "I could not fight the programming. I did not want to hurt you, but I couldn't fight it."
"It's OK Darling" the pink flicky responded nuzzling her husband's chest feathers. "We are both free, and that is all that matters. We may breathe free air once again."
And, now truly free, the duo flew away, as a pair of robot brothers died beneath them.
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Thanks for reading this. I hope you enjoyed it. When it came to writing this chapter, there were three real options that sprung to mind. I could deal with Sonic's aversion to water, but that's a bit straightforward and hard to write for 1000 words about. I could have dealt with Sonic or Shadow's resurrection, but I've already done Sonic's resurrection and I've been a bit Shadow heavy the last chapters and I do love the E-series so I figured I'd do this. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review. It makes it so much easier to write well when I know that people are enjoying this. But anyway, please come back and join us again for Chapter 11: Memory.