Oh look, an updated!
Hello! I'm not dead, huzza! I am incredibly, so sorry for the long months of hiatus. But I didn't lie in previous updates, I will not abandon the story. I'm in college now, so fanfic writing time has been severely declining for me. I am holding true to my word on this one, Sonic will be finished! Luckily, the story is in a good place for me at the moment, and its actually almost finished. So hopefully it won't take me months to upload anymore. I was inspired recently to continue this and the Hyrule Warriers fic I've had going as well as a couple new ones. Hopefully those of you who have stuck with it this long have enjoyed the story (even with the incredibly long absence).
(I've been gone a long time, so this feels necessary): Previously On Marked By Betrayal
LAST TIME
"Huh... well I guess I'll head out for a while then. Thanks a lot Orbot! I'll be back for another game later, if you and Cubot are up to it." The blue blur winked and placed a gloved hand on Orbot's head briefly.
"Sure thing. Good luck Sonic." The robot said. He watched as the hedgehog gracefully flipped off the rooftop and ran down the side, disappearing into the woods below. Yes, he had lied about the doctor letting him go... but Sonic would become depressed if he hung around the base all day.
Tails stepped into the room gripping the cylinder, "Silver... if you're here that has to mean something is wrong with the future right?" The little fox gulped. Silver put his hands together as if just remembering why he was there.
"Ah right. We've got a problem. Is there any particular reason why Sonic ended up a dictator? Now that's something I didn't expect to come back here to fix." The whitish-gray hedgehog ran a hand through the quills atop his head.
Tails nodded nervously, "So if we get all the emeralds to Sonic and make him go somewhere he would remember really well... like Green Hill Zone... If we do that, it could jog his memory."
When Tails had finished, his friends all nodded in agreement. If nothing else, it was worth a shot. Knuckles and Cream had found four emeralds earlier, and Shadow already possessed one. They only had to find two more.
The sonic boom echoed across the hillside, for mere seconds flattening trees and grass within a mile radius. The blue hedgehog flipped into the air with a holler. It was the first time he had run in such an open area, and it sure beat the doctor's base. He almost wondered why he didn't run around more often, if it was this fun. Emerald green eyes were wide with wonder as the hedgehog sped past even greener fields. With the palm of his had, he caught the base of a palm tree and swung up into the air with a triumphant bellow. From high up in the air he could see spiraling loop-dee-loops and multicolored plants spanning for miles around.
Sonic had found an interesting emerald while he was running around in the field. It was shaped more like a diamond than anything, but the dark blue color matched his own pelt, and made him want to take it with him. There was some kind of weird power resonating from the thing, so it had to be important. He kept it hidden in his quills for good measure. And if he didn't need it, he could always give it to Eggman.
Even farther off, the desecrated city of Station Square sat, looking positively lonely compared to the beautiful checkered grass. With his curiosity piqued, Sonic opted to head there. Now maybe he had remembered wrong, but the lack of life in the city was a tad concerning. The red-sneaked hedgehog reached the gray buildings that were once the bustling Station Square, and looked on the utterly empty streets from a rooftop. Something seemed slightly off with so many egg-pawns patrolling along the road below. Farther down the street several of the street lamps had been knocked out. Sonic watched the light at the farthest flicker on and off, almost like it was calling out to him. With nothing else to do, the hedgehog sped off towards it into the back alleyways. All the egg-pawns were off in the other streets for whatever reason, leaving the back alley utterly empty. Soon enough the blue blur's eyes caught that of another hedgehog. Sonic stopped to a skidding halt, cringing inwardly at the noise the soles of his shoes made on the sidewalk pavement.
"Well looky who it is!" He began with a smirk, "didn't think I'd see you again so soon." The pair of red eyes across from him narrowed. The black and red-striped hedgehog had been standing comfortably, arms folded, leaning with one knee kicked back and his shoe resting the wall behind him. If the blue blur had to guess, he would have made it out to be an old storage building of some kind. From the broken windows and completely black insides, It was probably taken over by Eggman's forces a short time ago.
"Sure took you long enough to get here Faker. You sure you're still 'the fastest thing alive'?" Shadow retorted, and returned the sneer defiantly.
"I didn't know I was on a schedule! What about you, working with those rebels... Tsk tsk."
"The doctor has gone too far this time."
"Technically I have gone too far. HE wasn't the one that totaled all these cities. You know something though, it's a good thing you're here Shadz. Catching the leader of the rebels will win me some points with the Doc."
"An interesting notion faker, but I'm not the leader."
"Who else could it possibly be?"
"Your best friend." That caught the blue one off guard. Pfft what is he trying to mess with me? He glanced up at a security camera above him that Shadow had mangled with a chaos spear. All the cameras in the street lamps were the same. Now that the city essentially belonged to Robotnik, he had spread out his forces to look for the rebels. This particular street seemed devoid of much of anything. Shadow was a clever one; it wouldn't be easy to capture the ultimate life form. Now the blue blur couldn't even have him surrounded with egg pawns. Shadow's statement brought him back from his thoughts.
"You mean that little fox? HE is the leader? Hahahahaha, now THAT'S a laugh. What is he, like eight years old? Imagine-"
"One-hundred percent true, Tails is the genius behind our master plan."
"Okay and fill me in, what 'plan' is that?"
"To save you." There he did it again, catching me off guard with those blunt answers, like he rehearses them. The pair of emerald green eyes blinked unable to find a snarky comeback in the red pair across from him. When nothing came to him, he pouted slightly and opted for the obvious question.
"Save me huh? How exactly am I in need of saving?" He tossed a charming smile in with his mocking tone in attempt to show he wasn't affected. Shadow lifted his shoe off the wall and unfolded his arms. The glare in his red eyes would only prove that the ebony hedgehog was ready to be serious.
"You just have amnesia. I know what that's like. But unlike me, you have a lot of friends who care about you and want you back to your old blue, idiotic self."
"Touching. What is your motive then? It's hard to picture you feeling that way. You don't exactly look like the sappy type," The blue one replied stoically.
"I have my reasons. Mostly because Tails is a wreck about this and thinks it is his fault. I can relate." A lot of friends who want me back? And… Tails… Thinks it's his fault… Is there something wrong with me? The blue hedgehog didn't want to think about that. It was only making his head ache. He brushed it off with a coy look as he normally would.
"Whatever, quit trying to trick me. I'm not falling for it."
"I had a feeling you'd say that... Silver now!"
"Silver?" Sonic was about to turn around, only to find that he couldn't. He couldn't move even in the slightest. He was glowing a bright turquoise blue color for some reason. From behind a nearby wall came a silver-white hedgehog that Sonic didn't recognize. The guy seemed to be rocking some questionably shaped head-quills that seemed vaguely familiar. Silver held his hand up, making the turquoise mark on his glove glow faintly.
"Whoa, word of advice pal, ya might wanna invest in a hair cut sometime soon." the blue hedgehog commented. Silver half-lidded his gaze in annoyance.
"I wish you'd stop forgetting me. I can only tolerate that comment so many times," the silver hedgehog sighed, turning to Shadow while keeping the blue hedgehog frozen in place.
"Will you be able to hold him until we get back?" Shadow asked the other. Silver nodded confidently with a smile slapped across his muzzle. Payback certainly was enjoyable.
"Kidnapping me eh?" Sonic started, "I'm calling treason!"
"The plan was to have you come along willingly, but you decided to be a stubborn fool. Also I'm not that terribly patient. Its your own fault," Shadow retorted dryly before pulling out a chaos emerald. Sonic's eyes flicked over the red gem curiously. It looks just like the one I found...
"You're going to chaos control?" Silver asked the other.
"We can't be too careful. If he finds where everyone is hiding, he could report it to Eggman."
"Oh yeah, good call Shadow." With Shadow's mutter of his signature chaos control, the three hedgehogs were swiftly teleported away from Station Square.
Sonic's eyes strained in the new bright light. When he opened them slowly, he found they were in a baron room in some dark underground cellar. Silver was still holding the blue hedgehog up with his psychokinesis, so the blue blur couldn't move from his standing position. He could do little more than blink and breathe at the moment.
"Nice kidnapping and all guys, but you never gave Eggman any ransom for me. You're not getting anything out of this," the blue blur said sharply. He was almost bored already. Ignoring the comment, Shadow left the room, leaving the silver-white hedgehog alone with the blue one.
"So who are you?" Sonic asked, looking at Silver as he stood stuck there. Silver spared a glance at him, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"Silver. I'm Silver the hedgehog. I tell you that every time I'm here." The psychokinetic hedgehog answered. He would have done so spitefully, but he couldn't bring any kind of bite to his already beyond high-pitched voice. That, and Sonic didn't look like he was actually trying to offend him. If anything, his green eyes were full of amused curiosity.
"No offense man, but my memory hasn't been that great lately in general. Whats your deal though? How are you keeping me here?" Sonic asked, eyeing the turquoise lighting on the other hedgehog. Silver's yellow eyes widened. Sonic had never asked him that, even when he could remember him. Actually, the blue blur never payed much mind to the silver hedgehog in the times that their paths had crossed. It spurred a certain excitement in the hedgehog from the future.
"Huh... well I'd be happy to explain. I'm psychokinetic and-"
"SONIC!" a high-pitched squeal from a pink hedgehog interrupted. With the abrupt warning, Amy Rose busted into the tiny room, earning wide-eyed looks from the other two hedgehogs. Sonic shot the futuristic hedgehog a pleading look, and Silver understood. As soon as Amy tried to jump on the blue blur, Silver maneuvered him out of the way with a flick of his hand. Amy offered the silver-white hedgehog a distasteful glare as she picked herself up from the fall. Silver meanwhile looked up at the ceiling, whistling something that sounded curiously similar to dreams of an absolution. When the door opened a second time, Tails and Shadow returned. The little fox's bright blue eyes opened wide at seeing his best friend.
"You found him already... did you have any luck with the other two chaos emeralds?" Tails directed to Shadow. The black hedgehog nodded, quills bobbing briefly, and he revealed the red chaos emerald.
"We got one of them. The other is still missing."
"Thats still great! If there is only one more, I bet we can get Sonic back to normal in no time." Tails said excitedly.
"I'm right here, seriously," Sonic said with as much of a scowl as he could manage.
"Sorry Sonic..." the little yellow fox apologized, rubbing the back of his head lightly, "but your memories have been messed with pretty seriously. If were going to help you, we have to take some extreme measures."
"Tch, help me," Sonic mumbled under his breath before nodding to Silver, "so psycho-hog, can you let me go now or what? I got a killer itch I'd like to scratch right now." Silver directed his gaze to Tails and Shadow, as if asking permission.
"That depends faker," Shadow started, "are you going to run off as soon as Silver lets you?" From the mischievous look in the blue hedgehog's eyes, it was clear the answer was yes. All the same, crimson eyes didn't so much as waver as the ultimate life-form continued, "go ahead Silver. Just be ready to do it again if he does something stupid." Tails quickly closed the door, and Shadow moved in front of it cautiously. The futuristic hedgehog carefully released Sonic from the psychokinetic grip, and braced himself. When all Sonic did was reach up to scratch his nose, the tension fell from his shoulders quickly enough.
"Knuckles is going to bring in the other emeralds. Then we can at least see if they will do anything," the fox offered. Soon after he had spoken, the ebony hedgehog moved aside to allow the red echidna into the small room.
"Its like a regular party in here. All for me? You shouldn't have," the blue speedster joked halfheartedly. His green gaze was directed to the gems in Knuckles gloved hands. With no warning he felt the quills on his head twitching. He remembered solemnly that he had hidden the deep blue emerald there... Shadow was the first to notice it. Being able to harness chaos abilities made it easier to find chaos emeralds, especially when he had one himself.
"Seems like we already have all seven chaos emeralds after all," the dark hedgehog said quietly to Tails, nodding to the blue blur. Sensing himself unable to hide it any longer, Sonic reached behind his head and brought out the gem. Before he could react, it floated free of his gloved palm as the other six did. Sonic found himself surrounded by the chaos emeralds. All seven of the bright gems rose into a circle around him, sending flashes of light from each one. The blue hedgehog felt himself lifting off the floor along with them. His fur began glowing a faint golden color. He was in a panic as the gems spun around him. Like the flick of a light switch, the gems abruptly stopped and trickled unceremoniously back onto the floor. The hedgehog fell back to his feet, taking in a deep breath as his fur went back to its normal deep blue.
"The heck was that?" the blue blur asked aloud, though not to anyone in particular. The other anthropomorphic animals around him didn't bother to hide their confusion. Tails felt an intense fear, worse than Chaos or any other creature could manifest inside of him. The emeralds hadn't worked. The almighty magical chaos emeralds that solved all of their problems, could not make Sonic remember who he was. They didn't even make him go super, as they normally would. Now what would they do? Tails swallowed cautiously. He felt his head growing dizzy with each passing second and each pair of eyes turning to him. They were counting on him. He had failed. They would expect another plan, surely. But no matter what the fox did, he couldn't will any ideas to his panicked thoughts.
"Tails?" Amy's concerned voice called to him. The fox couldn't answer. He felt her comforting hand on his shoulder for a moment. Hot tears were welling in his baby blue eyes. He caught Sonic's gaze, unable to comprehend the look that rested in them. It soon became too much. Without so much as a word, Tails turned around and ran out of the tiny room, effectively slamming the door behind him. The blue hedgehog was baffled. The fox's crying face made something twist inside of him. Well that wasn't strange... they used to be friends right? Odd that Sonic still couldn't pull up any reason that the friendship had ended.
"What do we do now?" Silver asked the quiet room.
"Wait until Tails thinks of something?" the red echidna offered, earning a glare from Amy.
"Knuckles, poor Tails couldn't think straight right now even if he wanted to. Why don't we all just get some rest and we'll figure this out in the morning?" she reasoned. When it seemed that no one disagreed, Knuckles and Shadow gathered up the scattered chaos emeralds. They'd worked out that they would alternate keeping watch over the blue hedgehog, who was to stay in the tiny room for the night. They had to be idiots, the blue hedgehog found himself thinking. They didn't bother to tie him up, or even keep an eye on him. It would be far too easy to steal those emeralds from them and sneak off. Thats exactly what Eggman's loyal lackey planned to do. After waiting a few hours, the blue hedgehog opened the door that the others hadn't even bothered to lock, and snuck out into the dark hallway.
"Sup Sonic," a sudden voice caught the blue blur's attention. The red echidna was leaning on the door frame, violet eyes watching him intensely.
"What do you want Nibbles?" the blue hedgehog said, using the term Eggman had called the echidna on more than one occasion. Said echidna didn't exactly look enthused to hear it.
"You going somewhere blue?" Knuckles asked with a challenging smirk. Sonic glanced around briefly, making sure the psychokinetic hedgehog wouldn't be anywhere and ready to freeze him. Being in such a tiny place wouldn't help his chances of winning a battle against Shadow either. Spotting none of the others, the hedgehog decided that a little banter wouldn't hurt his options, so long as the echidna didn't call out for back-up.
"Yeah. I'm outta here. You gonna try to stop me then?"
"No. I'm strong alright, but I'm not nearly as fast as you."
"Okay then... I suppose we have a truce then."
"Just tell me this first... How many more people need to tell you that you're one of us, not Eggman's lackey? I know you're not exactly bright, but you'd be pretty stupid to fall for somethin like that," the red one went on. His violet eyes were as serious and disapproving as the words he was using.
"Look at the pot calling the kettle black on that one" Sonic quipped quickly, "I think I would know if I weren't suppose to be helping out Eggman."
"Notice how you're not a robot?"
"What do you mean..."
"All of Egg-face's minions are robots right? Robot-nik, get it? You're just a hedgehog. Just an animal, like us. How do you explain that?"
"I'm sure not all of his minions are robots." Sonic wracked his thoughts for any organic looking individuals he may have seen at the doctor's base. Orbot and Cubot were off the table, as were the squadrons of egg-pawns and various badniks the genius had invented. Much to his dislike, the blue blur seemed to be the only one. Unfortunately, that wouldn't help his argument any.
"Okay blue. Then after you get out of here, why don't you go smash up an egg-pawn or a moto-bug or something. What you find inside of them might surprise you. Might remind you of the reason were even fighting to get your sorry butt back," Knuckles spat roughly. Sonic was tired of the lecture. He was decently sure everybody in this little cause for rebellion was trying to mess with him. He was about to say as much, but for hearing footsteps behind him. In a quick movement, the blue hedgehog had flipped backward over the most ridiculous set of head quills ever seen on a silver-white hedgehog. So that's what Knuckles was... a distraction? Fair enough. Sonic reacted quickly, knocking Silver over with a dance-like twist on the ground. He homing attacked into Knuckles to send the echidna flying into the dirt wall behind him. When a spattering of dust fell from the ceiling, he decided it was high-time to get out from the underground cellar. By the time Silver was up, he caught sight of a blue streak flick past him, up the narrow stairwell leading to the surface.
"No! Wait!" his high-pitched tone called after the other. There was no way the psychokinetic hedgehog could compare to the blue speedster where quickness was concerned. That didn't stop him from trying. "Knux, he's escaping!" he said quickly to the Knuckles-shaped hole in the dirt wall. The silver-white hedgehog didn't bother with running, instead using his power to boost into a hover after Sonic. He felt Knuckles trying to keep up with him, soon the two of them busting through the top of the cellar and into the green field. Their temporary base was cleverly hidden within a small alcove underneath a hill. Silver and Knuckles reached the exit, searching the dark field for any sign of blue. There was nothing but green hills in any direction. Sonic had escaped.