Let's go for another chapter of Trials of War. I wrote Sonic Forces at first, man that's gonna take some getting used to. But I'm sure I'll get it. Anyway, this time we'll be having some fun surprises in this chapter. But rather then spoiling them, let's get into the review replies and then the chapter.
Infinite's Ruby:
Yep, Eggman and Zavok aren't happy campers. Their relationship is so much fun tonight and it's only going to get even more crazy.
I'm glad you're liking Sonic and Tails, like I said, the game had a great idea with pairing them together and just didn't use it to its fullest potential and writing them together like this is both a lot of fun and very satisfying. The excitement at the Egg Dragoon and the Omega high five were some of the most fun as well.
I'm glad you're loving it, man. And oh… I'm hoping you're gonna love this chapter because I'm super proud of it.
SharpDragonKlaw:
Differences in dimensions? Whatever do you mean? Sonic and Tails have no idea what's going on and we're just gonna have to wait and see what that'll bring. Glad you noticed and liked protective Tails because that's important. I too hated Tails portrayal in Forces and I have so much planned for his arc in this story. Just gotta stay tuned.
Alexandria Prime:
Thank you! And lol, yeah. Glad everyone seems to love his reaction to the Egg Dragoon, had a lot of fun with that.
bajy:
Thank you!
SpiderDom321:
No worries, pal. You're all good.
Yep, because SOMEBODY wasn't a team player, Sonic was able to escape. If it weren't for Zavok, Eggman could've captured several key players in the resistance right then and there, but nope. I'm glad you loved Eggman & Zavok. Their scene was so much fun to write and expect more tension between them.
Yep, the Egg Dragoon fight was a lot of fun and both Tails and Omega's actual involvement is super important to this story. Especially since right now, Sonic and Tails are on the way down to the Mystic Ruins to fix Omega.
As always, you're the best, SpiderDom and I really appreciate your encouraging words and thoughtful reviews. Thanks so much! I really hope you like this chapter as much as the others.
Trials of War
Chapter 10:
Crowd Control
For Shadow the Hedgehog, working on the field was always one of the hardest parts of being in the Eggman Empire. But a job was a job and he had to do what he had to do. Of course, luckily for him doing what he had to do didn't really mean doing much of anything most of the time.
Yes, people ran in fear as he strolled his way down the streets casually tossing an Emerald in hand without a single care in the world. Occasionally, he had to shoot a glare at someone or something so that they wouldn't cross his paths but otherwise, it was simple walking.
After the fallout of Sonic's escape, he and the remaining generals were deployed to major areas around the world to control the situation. Luckily for him, he had been sent to the capital of Spagonia and with it being a mostly human populated area, it was easy. Most Mobians, even those with powers or weapons wouldn't dare oppose the ultimate life form, so those as powerless as the humans wouldn't think twice as they saw the Hedgehog walk down the streets.
He honestly preferred it this way. He hated getting his hands dirty like this and hated the fact that the world was in so much danger. Maria would've never wanted this.
But he knew why he had to, Infinite.
Ever since that day just eight months ago when he was revealed to him, his whole world had changed. To think that the Doctor was even capable of something like him, something so big, it was unprecedented. Shadow knew he had to get up close and personal with Infinite to do what only he could do and get the answers he needed. That of course meant going against his friends and the world as a whole. Things were just too personal with Infinite to the point that he didn't see another choice.
So that's how he calmly walked down the barren streets of this otherwise pleasant town.
It was when he finally got to the front steps of the university that he stood still, waiting.
It was then that one of the classic Eggpawns ran out and set up a classic Eggman shaped microphone in front of him, giving him the all clear to speak.
He looked to the windows of the houses all around him where he could see the terrified eyes of people, young and old looking out at him. His eyes snapped shut at that, looking away for a moment before shaking it off and continuing.
"Citizens of the Eggman Empire!" Shadow barked. "I am sure many of you are terrified at the events that you saw unfold on air yesterday. The Eggman Empire was dealt a heavy blow yesterday when those terrorists known as the resistance took over our airwaves, brought destruction to Sunset, massacred one of our generals and brought Public Enemy Number One back into the world to destroy everything our glorious emperor has worked so hard to accamomplish! But know this, the Eggman Empire is not defeated, not yet. We will fight back with everything we have and make sure that these terrorists are brought to justice."
Every single word stung. He didn't believe this garbage, but knew his job and knew it well. If he wanted to get to Infinite then he had to play the stone cold, obedient general of the Eggman Empire and he hated every minute of it.
Just two nights ago, when he and Sonic were on the Death Egg, he was relieved that he had finally found a way to escape. Zavok's stupidity had ended up working in his favor with Sonic out and about. He gave enough chase to make it seem as if he had truly lost to the blue blur and had let him escape. Sonic was free and that was one burden off his back.
"Sonic will stop you!" Someone shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts and the prewritten garbage that Eggman had assigned for him to read out to the town. The voice was clearly that of an older human being but still held a lot of strength and respect to it. It came from the university.
Shadow whipped his head in the direction of the voice only to find himself face to face with a rather stout old man, slightly hunched over and wearing a nice brown suit. He had large bushy eyebrows that drooped down low, almost covering his beady eyes and short greying hair that hung around his face.
But there he stood at the window standing proud and tall while a smaller, younger man in a sweater was frantically tugging at his suit jacket while trying to keep himself out of sight and fearfully eying Shadow.
While Shadow had never met the man himself, he knew the man to be none other than Professor Pickle: a world renowned scientist known for his research on all things mystical in the world, but unlike most, he studied Gaia rather than Chaos and had been especially known for his large involvement during the shattered world crisis two years ago.
Shadow was frozen at the sight of him, unsure of what to do.
"Sonic will stop you!" Professor Pickle repeated sternly.
"Professor, please!" The younger man pleaded.
But the professor continued. "You rapscallions have done more than enough to our poor nation and the greater world at large. And what for? Plastering that buffoon's face on a few flags?'
He gestured up to the waving banner of the university that would have normally been the one of the country but had been replace with one of the Eggman Empire.
"No! No more! Sonic is free and we all saw so just last night. In mere hours he and his friends were able to free Sunset Heights and show the world that we can no longer stand for your tyranny. And if my friend can say no to this then surely we can too."
Shadow's blood ran cold at that, just staring at the old man, fearful. But not for what this could mean. No, rebellion was important and they needed to make a stand. He feared for what he would have to do to this man if he were to keep things up.
But he was able to build up the façade again. Coldly, he said. "Are you done?"
Professor Pickle was slightly taken aback by that. "Well I-"
"Good. Detain him."
With that, Eggpongs came out from the back alleys of the streets, each with their weapons at the ready.
At the sight of the guns, immediately Shadow snapped at them. "Peacefully! This old fool will be of no harm to you."
The robots obliged and their weapon arms turned back to hands and they got Professor Pickle, his assistant and anyone else in the room out of the school and lined them up outside.
"Unhand me, sir!" The Professor shouted as he struggled with his energy cuffs and an Eggpong that had a hand to his back as he walked him away, but to no avail.
The other people, students and teachers alike were escorted into a transport that arrived outside of the city for any prisoners that would shortly be transported to the Death Egg.
Shadow didn't look at them as they were escorted out of the city.
It was hard, but he knew why he had to do it. So long as he got to Infinite, it would be worth it all.
They'd probably be safer on the Death Egg away from it all than down here anyway.
~Trials of War~
"We're not really supposed to go outside…" Gadget told Celeste. "The Echidna don't like it when we go outside of our building, but it's still nice to see what they're up to."
He was right, Celeste looked outside the window and could see the Echidna mingle about. They were such a strange people, what with their tribal wear and old fashioned weaponry, but they were interesting all the same. They walked and talked as if they were in ancient times what with them scattered about drawing water from the river or hunting out in the greater jungles of Angel Island or the few that stood just around the Emerald altar, thrusting their spears in the direction of anyone that came within spitting distance of it.
With everything that had gone on, Celeste hadn't really had the chance to explore the resistance base, having instantly gone to bed after the mission on the Death Egg and the day out at Studiopolis, she hadn't exactly had the time to look around. But Gadget had changed that, deciding she needed a grand tour of the place, taking her all around the base. He showed her all over, the map room, communications, dorms, kitchen and more. The place really did have everything they needed to run their little operation against the Eggman Empire.
"And finally we have the dining hall over here." Gadget said as he gestured to a room filled with fold out tables, chairs and sidebars with all kinds of foodstuffs in them. Several Mobians and humans stood at the food places in hairnets and holding utensils, ready to take orders.
Celeste was just about to respond to this only to be cut off by a loud static noise.
She looked up in confusion only to spot a PA box near the corner of the room.
From there, Amy's voice rang out. "All available personnel report to the map room for new assignments. Repeat, all available personnel report to the map room for new assignments."
"Well, guess we better head over there." Gadget said to which Celeste curtly nodded.
Together, they made their way down the halls to the map room.
When they arrived, they found a mess of resistance fighters around the room with its large map of the world overhead.
Amongst the crowd, Celeste could spot a few familiar faces like Silver and the Chaotix.
At the head of the room she could see Knuckles and Amy with Sonic peering over Amy's shoulder at the map, curiously as she worked and spoke to Knuckles. While this was happening, she spotted red blips popping up all over the world.
The two of them conversed for some time while the rest of the resistance talked amongst themselves.
But soon that stopped and Knuckles quickly tried to get their attention. "Alright… Everyone, settle down."
Everybody was still talking.
"Come on guys, enough talking…"
They still didn't.
Getting a little more agitated.
"That's enough…"
And yet, no one would stop.
Finally, Knuckles inhaled, ready to yell at the group. But it was not his voice that came out, but a more shrill, higher pitched voice.
"Everybody shut up!" Amy roared at the crowd causing everyone to stop, staring at the captain of the resistance who smiled sweetly at them and completely changed her tone. "Knuckles would like to speak with you."
Knuckles, who was left completely aghast by this looked at her for a moment with his mouth hung open. "R-right." He cleared his throat. "Okay, so as you all know last night, we had one of our first major victories against the Eggman Empire. Before, we had simply warded off invasions and barely held out own in the world. But now? We actually reclaimed an area. Sunset Heights is now officially protected by the Resistance and Eggman won't be getting his hands on it for a very long time."
With that, the people in the room cheered.
Amy stepped in. "We owe it to all of you for your hard work against Eggman last night, whether it was on the field in Studiopolis or Sunset or even right her in the base, making sure the broadcast was up and running, you all did you're part and we're thankful for the help."
Knuckles nodded. "Couldn't agree more, we owe yesterday's success to all of you."
The resistance cheered some more.
When it finally cleared, Knuckles continued. "But the work isn't done yet. We may have won a battle yesterday, but we've still got the war."
"And Eggman, knows that what we did yesterday, really does mean war." Amy added.
She then gestured to the giant map on the screen, which showed a percentage bar showing a blue resistance star on one side and the Eggman Empire logo on the other. It inched a little only to arrive at 9%. With that, the bar disappeared and was replaced with the map of the world again where Sunset Heights turned blue while the rest of the world was red.
"After last night, Eggman sent his armies out to major places around the world to strengthen his hold on the Empire. While our forces in Sunset have been able to hold their own, others are at high risk." Amy explained and as she did, more little Eggman heads appeared in different spots in the world.
"That's why your missions today will be a little bit of ground control to counter Eggman's ground control. You'll be protecting the people and also see if anybody might be willing to join the resistance."
"Everybody please line up so we can give you assignments and decide where you'll be headed today."
One by one the members of the resistance got assignments to go out and into the world. Silver was sent solo to Holoska, the Chaotix to a village out in Southside Island, Amy was headed back to Sunset and more.
It wasn't till they got to Sonic, for Celeste to be taken by surprise.
"Sonic, we have a location for you but don't think you should fly solo." Knuckles explained.
"Oh come on, I just saved Sunset! Can't you guys trust me a little?"
"I would, but Amy's not so sure yet."
Sonic looked over at Amy to which the girl blushed and tried hard to focus on the computer before her.
Sonic shrugged this off though. "Okay, who do you have in mind?"
"Take your pick."
Knuckles looked around at the people all around the room, looking at unattended resistance fighters before his eyes finally landed on Celeste.
"How about her?" Sonic asked, pointing at her.
Celeste looked around confusedly, sure that he was talking about someone else.
"Me?" She asked.
"Sure." Sonic nodded. "You helped get me out of prison, right? And you wanted me to save Sunset. So… how about we work together this time?"
Celeste didn't know what to say. Sonic the Hedgehog… Sonic the Hedgehog was asking if he wanted to go on a mission with her. Celeste. Just Celeste, it was crazy to think about, like some sort of fantasy or bad fanfiction on the internet. The world's greatest hero chose her to help him out and she, she just didn't know what to do.
"Hey, rookie!" Knuckles shouted at her.
Immediately, she snapped out of her thoughts and saw that they were all looking expectantly at her.
"Uh… y-yeah, sure. No problem at all, haha." She nervously chuckled.
"Great, so the Rookie will head with Sonic to Veimigos, Soumerica and recruit more members of the resistance." [1]
"Sounds good." Sonic grinned. "Ready to go partner?"
Celeste, shakily nodded her head and followed Sonic out of the room. Most of the resistance dispersed and got to their ships to handle their missions, but once enough people were gone, Knuckles grabbed Rouge by the shoulder.
"Rouge wait."
Rouge looked at Knuckles and smiled. "Getting me all alone now, Knuckles? You should at least get me dinner first."
Knuckles immediately went red in the face at that. "I- uh- no!"
Rouge laughed at this to which the Echidna steamed.
A moment passed for the two of them to calm down.
"Anyway… I called you here because you and I will be going on a special mission together."
Rouge smirked, ready to make another snide comment only for Knuckles to cover her mouth.
"If you try another one of those, I swear."
"You're no fun anymore, Knuckie." Rouge shook her head. "You know, if the stress of the war is getting to you, I am always here for a little stress relief."
"Rouge please."
She chuckled again, it was so easy to get under Knuckles' skin.
"You and I will be heading to Spagonia."
"Oh, how romantic, you really know how to show a girl a good time-"
"Shadow has been sighted there."
Immediately, any joke that was at the tip of her tongue was immediately drawn back and plummeted to the pit of her stomach like a rock flung off a cliff. Shadow was there. Shadow the Hedgehog, her former teammate, colleague and friend was there. The last she really saw him, he had barked at her and Omega to leave back at Arsenal Pyramid all those months ago. Every other time she had spotted him, he would consciously avoid her which only made her even more hurt, confused and angry at the loss of her friend. And with Omega gone… he was the last of the weird little patchwork family that she had in Team Dark.
But now she had the chance to speak with him, to see what was going on that thick skull of his. If she headed to Spagonia and confronted Shadow then maybe she could even… maybe she could even bring him home.
She looked Knuckles in the eyes and tentatively nodded, following him to the bay for them to take care of the problem.
~Sonic Forces~
The Soumerican city of Viemigos was an oasis in an otherwise barren desert, complete with tumbleweeds, cacti and the like. It had buildings made mostly made of some sort of clay like rock on the outside but complete with electric, plumbing and other modern amenities for basic living. Mobians roamed about in this town, most being salesmen selling all kinds of things while others milled about their daily lives. Despite the place being relatively happy and the hot sun beating down on them, there was a slight chill in the air that each and every citizen had. They knew they had been largely untouched by the Eggman Empire, but the question was, for how long?
For Sonic and Celeste, they didn't realize that was the question on people's minds as they trudged their way through the packed crowds and insufferable heat.
The two had been there for hours, attempting to spread the good word of the resistance. But unfortunately for them, most people were pretty resistant of the resistance around here.
Admittedly, the public wasn't too willing to join the resistance. While they were all starstruck by the sight of Sonic and incredibly happy to see that he really was alive and well; not many people wanted to uproot their lives and take the fight to Eggman when they were so safe in Viemigos.
Sonic got that, but truthfully, he wished that things were different. He was so excited to see all these people join the resistance after everything he had done in Sunset the day before, but people were still terrified of the Eggman Empire. Still, he wish he'd have a few new members to show for with this trip.
As for Celeste, she dutifully followed Sonic around and tried to help the blue blur with the recruitment, but she was an awkward mess that only seemed to fumble at her words. She knew she was messing this up and kinda hated that she could be so awkward around the hero, especially when she had technically broken him out of space jail.
Now, the two were shuffling through the crowds in an attempt to get something to eat, hours of failure could make a person hungry after all.
Quickly, they found a traditional Soumerican restaurant selling all kinds of traditional cuisine. Sonic had ordered patas bravas, some kind of dish that had a lot of potato and chunks of sausage in it while Celeste went for a bowl of gazpacho.
The two sat together at the table quietly eating, Celeste unsure of what to say to Sonic while the blue blur chowed down.
It was after a few moments that Sonic spoke up, his mouth still full. "Y'know Viemigos may be a little bit on the boring side but the chow here is great!"
"Yeah, this stuff is really good."
"If we ever come back, you should try their tortilla espanola. It's soooo good."
"You've been here before?"
"Oh sure. I'm always running around the world, trying out new places and seeing what kinds of things the world has to offer. I usually end up running into Viemijos whenever I'm going to visit Tai-" he stopped. "A friend up in the Mystic Ruins."
Celeste nodded, not wanting to push. Course, she knew what exactly where Sonic had been going. If there was one thing the world knew about Sonic's personal life it was that his best friend was Miles Prower. Granted, things had changed since Sonic and Tails and friends had started catching the public eye four years ago with Chaos, Station Square, Shadow and the Space Colony Arc. Celeste had only been 9 years old at the time, but she remembered watching the fox kit dutifully following Sonic around and had been viewed by most as a sidekick. Course, as time went on, Tails began to do more and more for himself and prove to the public that not only he could save the world, but he made great strides in technology benefiting the planet. Everyone knew that even though they had become their own things they always found each other, especially when it was time to save the world again. And with Tails having disappeared along with Sonic, she knew that the Hedgehog wasn't having a good time thinking about his lost brother. But she continued to quietly nod at that.
Quickly, Sonic changed the subject. "So what about yo? tell me all about Celeste."
"Me?"
"Sure."
Celeste awkwardly chuckled at this, but she saw the Hedgehog's curiosity and sighed.
"Well… I don't know what there is to tell. I had a normal life growing up in Sunset after all. Thank you for saving it, by the way."
"Of course!"
"I'm an orphan though. Sunset Heights treats foster kids well and I pretty much had a normal life with school and friends and all."
"Friends are nice, but school yuck!" Sonic made a face that made Celeste laugh. Sonic smiled at that and laughed too.
"I mean, books and math and stuff? Pass. I like running better." Sonic shook his head.
Celeste raised an eyebrow. "Did you ever even go to school? No one ever talks about that with you?" She really hoped he wouldn't take offense to that.
Sonic didn't even bat an eye. "Me? No. I've been on my own for as long as I can remember. Course, I do know how to read and write and junk thanks to friends. Basic stuff for whatever I can't punch or kick, y'know? Actually, when I'm out running around the world, sometimes I like to find a good spot, curl up with a book and just read. I love a lot of cool stuff like that one about the wizard kid or that crazy family on a scavenger hunt or even the one about the kid that's like a Chaos demigod with the pen sword, that one's really cool." [2]
Celeste grinned. "I really love to read too. The school library had so many good books! Although I never imagined a guy like you would like to read so much?"
"Dude, books are great. They're like movies in your head that you can enjoy any time you want."
"Why read about adventures when you go on them all the time? Don't you get tired?"
"Nope! I'm just a guy that loves adventure!"
Celeste couldn't help but grin at this. When getting into this mission, she thought that she'd be an awkward mess on this mission since she was on board with the world's greatest hero. But the guy was just so down to earth and normal that he had an infectious attitude that anyone could fall into. During that lunch she found herself laughing as she and Sonic continued to talk about books and the type of stuff they had read.
Soon, lunch had ended for them, they paid for their meals and went out to get more recruits. Or at least, they thought they were going to only for sirens all around the city to blare.
Sonic and Celeste were immediately on their feet, the latter drawing her Wispon as they prepared for whatever threat may come.
People rushed past them in a flurry of fear and confusion as they tried to get away from whatever was causing so much commotion and soon they saw it.
Walking calmly towards them was the most feared being in the world, glaring intently at them with a single red cube conjured up in his hand.
Infinite.
~Trials of War~
When Rouge and Knuckles arrived in Spagonia, they were shocked to find that the city was still in one piece. But still, that didn't mean that everything was all smiles for the town. Things were deathly quiet save for the repeating mechanical thrump of robots marching down the street.
Knuckles and Rouge could see the people of the fine city had stuck to hiding in their homes, not wanting to get involved with the Eggman Empire. Both of them couldn't really blame them, the community of Spagonia was almost entirely human and that meant that they couldn't do much against Eggman's forces. Maybe if it were just a pack of robots. But with Shadow on sight, there wasn't a chance in the world that a mere human could stand against the Ultimate Life Form without some means of weaponry.
As the two made their way through back alleys, they could feel the fear of the entire town baring down on them in waves. They knew they had to save them somehow. Shadow too, Rouge had hoped.
Quickly the two had made their way to the center of the city. They peeked out from their hiding spot and could see a pack of robots marching around the school, ready to eliminate anything in their sights.
Rouge and Knuckles quickly ducked back into their hiding spot and looked at one another.
"He's in the school." Knuckles confirmed.
Rouge nodded and sadly chuckled. "Shadow never could keep control of his Chaos Energy levels. Made him all that more easy for GUN to keep tabs on him. Not so great during missions spying on Eggman since he has a bunch of Chaos Energy trackers up and ready for Sonic."
"Well, when you're made of the stuff, it just makes it easy."
Knuckles the Echidna was guardian of the Master Emerald and while not being Chaos Sensitive himself, he had a certain acquired skill when it came to things of a more Chaotic nature. Due to spending so much time around his beloved Master Emerald, he was able to easily sense Chaos Energies whether that be the emeralds themselves or Chaos Sensitive beings with high levels of the energy in their bodies like Sonic or Shadow. While he could never wield the emeralds in the same way that the Chaos Sensitive type could he still had a few tricks up his sleeves when it came to the emeralds.
It was this power that Knuckles was able to also tell that. "He has an Emerald with him."
Rouge put a hand to her chin in thought. "So Shadow's in there with a Chaos Emerald but he's also got a whole pack of robots with him, we can't exactly walk through the front door and say hello."
"Yeah… We're gonna need some sort of diversion."
"Well, Mr. Big Strong Leader of the Resistance, what do you have in mind?"
"Me?! Uh… I don't know uh…"
Rouge chuckled. "As usual, it looks like I'm gonna have to bail you out. Don't worry, I have a plan."
~Trials of War~
At the mere sight of Infinite, Celeste's proud stance as a resistance fighter turned to a fidgeting mess of a little girl fearing for her life as she looked the malicious figure down. She could barely keep hold of her electric whip and hated herself for losing her cool.
But really, who could blame her? On the two occasions she had been up close and personal with Infinite she had several people much stronger than her to back her up. Now, it was just her and Sonic and while Sonic was incredibly strong, she couldn't help but feel that she was facing him by herself.
With each step he took towards them, she could feel her heart beat faster and faster, louder and louder to the point where it was pounding in her ears. She was surprised she hadn't fainted right then and there.
But Infinite just about ignored her and spoke to Sonic, who stood there with teeth grit, fists clenched and spines sharp as nails ready to bare down on him at any moment.
Infinite couldn't help but chuckle. "Well… well… well… look who's back from the dead? The little blue savior. But I see no so called hero here. Just the rabble that the resistance and this pathetic world clings to, an annoying little sewer rat. Didn't I teach you to know your place all those months ago? Or was that not enough? Surely the time on the Death Egg would've sufficed."
Sonic said nothing, his stance getting even more rigid than before.
"But it seems that when the rat is let out of its cage and flops back into the sewage, it decides to make waves? You've made quite the impression on the world, Sonic. An impression that I, nor the rest of the empire approve of."
Sonic tried to snap back at him, but the words didn't meet him. He hated this. Wisecracks were his specialty, especially when it came to Eggman or one of his cronies. But here… here he just found nothing. Sonic's eyes screwed shut as he looked away from him, shocking Celeste.
Infinite however, couldn't help but laugh. "But it seems that I have made an impression as well. What is wrong, Sonic? Your tongue is known to be as sharp as your spines and yet I see nothing but a weak and trembling fool before me. You reek of fear."
Sonic glared back at him, but even then, he could they didn't stay still. His hard glare wavered.
Celeste saw this and was shocked. Sonic was afraid. He was afraid of Infinite and she didn't know what to do. If Sonic was afraid then what could she possibly do against Infinite on her own? It was that fear and that desperation to do just about anything that she found herself doing something that she instantly regretted.
"We're not afraid of you!" The words spilled out of her mouth before she even realized it. What did I just do?!
Infinite finally turned his attention to her and she could feel the entire world around her seemingly freeze as that one golden eye penetrated her defenses and bore directly into her soul.
"You should be."
With that, the gem on his chest began to glow and the sound of distortion with it.
Celeste could only shriek as Infinite raced towards her in less than a second.
"Celeste!" Sonic cried out, finally broken out of his silence and able to move again.
He was off his feet and raced towards her at incredibly high speeds, whisking her off her feet and out of harm. And right on time too as Infinite appeared right where she was standing, sending a punch with blazing red energy into the air that sent the building behind her crumbling to the ground in an instant.
Celeste screamed at this only to realize that she was not being confronted by Infinite and was instead in the arms of the hedgehog.
He set her down. "Are you okay?!" He asked, his voice nearly cracking at that.
Celeste slowly nodded her head at this to which Sonic let out a sigh of relief.
He then turned back to face Infinite who was now rising up into the air.
"So the rat still has some fight in him? Let's see how long you last against Infinite power!" [3]
And with that the sound of distortion rang out again and walls of red cubes rose out of the sides of the street and rushed towards them, attempting to close them in.
Finally seeing her life in danger again, Celeste snapped out of it and immediately rose her Wispon, swiping out at the walls.
Luckily, it seemed to work and the cubes vanished.
Infinite growled at this and Sonic took the chance to jump into the air and home in on him.
The hit landed to which, he grunted.
Sonic landed next to her and gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks for the assist partner."
Celeste shakily returned it.
Infinite growled. "Lucky shot."
With that, Infinite continued his onslaught of attacks, this time racing towards the two of them with his red aura surrounding him.
Both of them jumped out of the way in opposite directions.
While Celeste tumbled to the ground in a heap, Sonic landed on his feet and was quick to chase after him through the city.
When Celeste got up she could see trails of blue and red ahead of her and knew that Sonic was hot on pursuit. How she would ever catch up? She had no idea. But she got up and decided to make her way through the back alleys of the town, hoping that somehow she would luck out and they'd run towards her.
Sonic and Infinite clashed into each other, letting out piercing shrieks as their auras met. But if that wasn't enough, Infinite continued to raise walls of those mystical cubes in his path, forcing him to dodge each and every one of them as he also focused on Infinite. He swerved around, hopped over and slid under them as Infinite continued to bring about more and more walls of cubes.
Soon, Sonic didn't do well as he tripped over one and fell face first into the pavement.
Infinite laughed at this only for it to be cut off when an electric whip snapped into him, forcing him into the ground as well.
Infinite's head snapped up into the direction of the blow and he soon scowled at the sigh of Celeste running towards Sonic.
She helped him up to which Sonic quickly thanked her and Celeste shakily nodded.
With that, Infinite warped back up so that he floated in front of them.
Infinite then began to fire lasers at them, to which Celeste grabbed Sonic and used her grappling hook to swing away from the first shot.
They landed on a roof and Sonic used the opportunity to try and home in on Infinite only for him to warp away. When Sonic landed, Infinite was waiting for him and sent a kick into his stomach that sent him flying away and crashing into a building with a yelp.
Just as Infinite was about to go after him, an electric whip lashed out towards him to which he called upon the energy within his gem and slowed down time for a moment. Using the time, he was able to cover his hand in the Ruby's energy to protect him, he then reached out and grabbed the whip right out of the air, his hand protected by the energy.
To Celeste, it seemed almost instantaneous when Infinite grabbed her wispon and gave her this condescending look as he shook his head.
Just as Sonic was running towards Infinite, he flung her into Sonic with the whip. They both landed in a heap to which Infinite could only shake his head.
"You two are pathetic, hardly worth my time. To think that you believed you would defeat me."
He then floated up into the air.
"Perhaps I should destroy this town, make it clear that you were here and that you failed yet again, Sonic."
Sonic was immediately up on his feet at that. "No!"
Infinite then raced off through the town.
~Trials of War~
Knuckles the Echidna calmly walked out from his hiding spot with his hands behind his back and his eyes closed as if he were a child walking to the front of the classroom to ask a teacher a question.
When he reached one of the Egg Pongs he tapped it on the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir."
The Egg Pong turned around and looked at Knuckles confusedly only to get a fist to its face.
Immediately, the robot exploded into scrap.
All of the robots in the area immediately turned their attention to Knuckles, who grinned as he got ready to fight.
While the emerald guardian was mixing it up with the robots on the ground, Rouge the bat took to the skies and flew into the university undetected.
She quickly made her way through the halls and soon, she soon found herself in a room where Shadow calmly looked out the window, watching everything unfold with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
"Hey, Shadow."
Shadow jumped at that, but turned to face her.
"Rouge…"
Not much had changed about Shadow in the past six months, same black quills, same red streaks, same tuft of fur on his chest. It was still the same Shadow that she knew. But there was something in there that only someone who had known him as well as Rouge did could. Unlike his Chaos Energy, Shadow was very good at masking his emotions. But Rouge saw right through him. Shadow gave off this air of fatigue that only she could see. It saddened her.
She tried to handle the situation as calmly as possible. "How's it going?"
Shadow stared at her, confused. But he answered anyway. "Well. Yourself?"
"Same old, same old. Fighting for the world and all of that."
Shadow slowly nodded.
"But the real question is… why aren't you?"
Shadow didn't say anything, instead reaching into his quills and pulling out the Chaos Emerald. He screwed his eyes shut and raised it into the air.
"Chaos-"
"Shadow, please!"
Shadow couldn't help but open one eye only to immediately wish he hadn't. There, he saw his closest friend looking at him with pleading eyes for him not to leave her again. He hated this, he hated how Rouge could get to him like this, it was why he actively avoided her over the course of the past six months. He knew that out of anyone in this world, it would be her that would get through to him.
"I just want to talk…"
Shadow sighed and lowered the emerald. He crossed his arms and looked at Rouge.
"Shadow, just please help me understand… why would you turn away from the world like this?"
Shadow just shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."
"No, I don't understand. But I want to. Shadow, you're my best friend in the entire world, you and Omega both. There's so much that I know about you that no one else does, like how you spend over an hour every morning making sure your quills look perfect; or how you write letters postcards to Maria about where you've gone in the world and the good things you've done with GUN or even that you drink coffee grinds right out of the container [4], I know it all Shadow. I know you better than anyone else does!"
Shadow didn't say anything.
"So I know that there's no way you'd turn your back on the world, not like this! Not without a reason. So I want to know why, Shadow?! Why are you doing this?"
"I- I-" Shadow stammered. For the first time in a long time, Shadow didn't have any idea what to say, he just fell silent.
But Rouge didn't stop looking at him, waiting for an answer. When she didn't get one, she finally asked him. "Is it… is it because Infinite is an-"
"That's enough." Shadow snapped. "I have no time for this and have finished my mission here."
"Shadow, no! Please don't-"
"Chaos Control!"
And in a blink of an eye, he was gone.
Rouge sighed. She pushed too hard and now Shadow was gone again. Who knew when she would get another chance to talk to him?
With that, she and Knuckles quickly took care of the robots, made sure the people in the town were okay and learned of the capture of Professor Pickle and the university students in the building.
And then, they flew back in silence. Knukcles kept trying to ask her how it went, but she wouldn't budge.
When they arrived back at the base, Rouge went straight to her room and didn't say anything to anyone.
~Trials of War~
"Come on, Celeste. We have to go after him."
Celeste just stayed crouched there, staring at the ground in stunned silence. While they had managed to get a few hits in, Infinite was absolutely whipping the floor with them. They couldn't do this, they couldn't fight him! What was she thinking joining the resistance in the first place?! She should've gone to Adabat and relaxed, but now… now what was she going to do, Infinite was going to destroy Veimigos.
She was hyperventilating now, absolutely terrified.
"Celeste!"
Finally, she looked up at Sonic, still unable to get herself under control.
"Celeste are you okay?"
She shook her head. No, she was not okay at all.
"Celeste, it's okay, please try and calm down. Deep breaths okay?"
She nodded and slowly took deep breaths, they could hear the destruction in the background but she had to focus on Sonic right now to get her breathing under control.
"S-Sonic," She choked out, her breath somewhat under control. "We-we can't fight him. He-he's too strong."
"We can."
"No, we can't. Or maybe, you can. But I- I can't. I'm not a hero like you, I'm just a scared little girl. I never should've joined the resistance."
Sonic shook his head. "Hey, it's okay to be scared. I'm scared too."
Celeste just closed her eyes and looked away.
"Hey, you know what happened the last time I fought that guy? I got creamed. I got creamed so bad that I got locked up for months and the world fell apart. I'm scared too. And you know what, even when I went up against huge bad guys like Chaos or Dark Gaia, I was scared then. Being a hero isn't about being fearless, it's about putting on a brave face and taking on the bad guys no matter how scared you are because it's the right thing to do."
Celeste looked at him, with wide eyes.
Sonic offered his hand down to her. "I may be strong, but I can't do this alone. So are you with me, partner?"
Celeste looked at his hand, she tried desperately to give him her best smile and shakily took his hand.
And as soon as they touched, Celeste suddenly felt a new energy within her, like something had changed. She looked to Sonic and was surprised to see him glowing with a blue energy and the same coming off of herself. The energy was warm and powerful, tingling her entire body and rejuvenating all her energy. She felt the instant need to get moving and knew that Sonic probably felt the same.
Sonic grinned at this and she couldn't help but smile, together they took off down the road at incredible speeds, surrounded by Sonic's boost aura.
Quickly, they found Infinite and before he could even figure out what was happening, they slammed into him. He was knocked out of the air and into the ground below.
Sonic and Celeste landed on the ground together, finally letting their hands go and the energy fleeting from them.
Sonic was absolutely amazed at what happened. "That was incredible! I'd never felt anything like that before! That- that was like some sort of Double Boost! I loved it!"
Celeste couldn't help but smile at him at this as he continued to ramble on excitingly. She couldn't believe what they had done either, but she liked it. It was incredible.
And then, Infinite rose into the air.
"That was a mistake…" He growled.
While Celeste gulped and stepped back, Sonic couldn't help but smirk at the masked one. "Well, well, if it isn't the masked clown. Wanna take on some more?"
"None of your data shows any of this power. What- what is this?"
"It's called payback, Infinite! Why don't you try and come at me again!"
Infinite clenched his fists and began to charge them. Sonic stood proud and tall while Celeste cowered in fear behind him.
But at that very moment, the craziest thing happened.
Infinite was thrown off his flight path when a yellow blur zoomed on past him.
Infinite was confused at this, only for the blur to fly past him again.
"What?!" Infinite said.
Sonic was confused as well.
Soon, the yellow blur was flying around him at incredible speeds to which Infinite was confused and kept trying to make grabs for it. Finally, it formed into that of a yellow flying squirrel wearing a blue scarf and blue shoes. He sent a flying kick into Infinite that threw him off his path and sent him down into the ground.
He groaned at this and just before he could even get up, a red ball came down on him, hard. It completely knocked the wind out of him and before he could even notice what was going on, the red blur hopped off of him revealing him to be a black armadillo with a red shell wearing fingerless black gloves and brown combat boots.
He then kicked back onto the ground in a spindash and slammed into Infinite again, knocking him straight into a wall.
When the Armadillo reformed again, he smirked at Infinite. "Alright, tough guy, you want some more? You don't mess with my town and get away with it."
"Yeah, we showed you!" The squirrel smirked as he landed next to the armadillo and grinned.
Sonic was shocked and ran over to them, Celeste coming after him. "Mighty?! Ray?! I haven't seen you guys in ages!"
"Sonic, hey! Long time no see!" Mighty grinned. He brought his arm around his friend and smiled.
Ray nodded. "We haven't seen you in like five years!"
"Dudes, it has been way too long!"
The three were all smiles and laughs at this, but finally Infinite rose from where he was, clutching his head.
"Urg… what is this?"
"Your worst nightmare, punk!" Mighty pointed at him. "You picked the wrong town to mess with!"
"Yeah!" Ray agreed.
Infinite rose into the air and formed two balls of energy in his fists to which the four stood ready, although Celeste still shakily.
"It's four against one!" Sonic shouted. "Think about what you're doing before you fight."
Infinite looked down on all of them and analyzed the situation. Four fighters were here before him, four. The girl, Celeste, was weak, hardly a problem even without the data. She was only still alive because Sonic was here and with the fear in her eyes, not only did Infinite know that she knew this, but that fear was bound to have her make a mistake. Then there was Sonic the Hedgehog, Infinite had all the data on him and knew exactly how to defeat him in almost any scenario. But the other two, this Mighty and Ray? He had never even heard of them and had absolutely no idea what the two were capable of. But they were strong, strong enough to have taken him on and catch him by surprise. That was something he could not take the risk of and would definitely need to add them to high priority threats, especially since they seemed to be friends with Sonic.
So with that, Infinite took the two balls of energy in his hands and chucked them down at the two to which they all scattered.
Before they could even act, Infinite's hands and the gem on his chest alit with red energy before he made the infinity symbol in his hands and vanished in a flash of light, leaving glitchy particles behind.
Infinite had retreated.
They had won.
Quickly, the group began to celebrate, with Sonic, Mighty and Ray having their reunion. Celeste had learned that they had been friends of Sonic in his early adventuring days and apparently, they had ended up in one of Eggman's death traps together five years ago and hadn't really seen each other since. As it turned out, the two ended up in Soumerica where they lived and tried to lead normal lives as surrogate brothers, choosing not to get into everything. But they continued to fight and train to protect themselves since Eggman and his schemes were always on the news. They quickly caught up with Sonic to which Celeste backed off and thought to herself.
They may have beat Infinite, but she knew that was only because of Mighty and Ray. Infinite had nearly killed her multiple times during this mission and she knew Sonic had saved her life. Had she been alone, she wouldn't be standing here today. She was afraid, she was very afraid and she wondered was she really cut out for all of this?
As they headed back with Mighty and Ray as the new members of the resistance, Celeste thought on her life.
[1] The name Viemigos is derived from the words Viejos Amigos which means Old Friends in Spanish. Decided to go with that name to allude to what happens at the end of the chapter.
[2] Sonic references Harry Potter, The 39 Clues and Percy Jackson.
[3] Those of you listening to music, it's time for that Battle with Infinite First Bout.
[4] Don't you just love the Sonic Twitter takeovers?
And we are done! The next chapter of Trials of War is finished and I can die happy now. This is a chapter that was a long time coming and I'm honestly incredibly happy with how it turned out what with Rouge and Shadow and Celeste and Sonic and Infinite. It was such good stuff. And Mighty and Ray! The bois are back! Honestly, whether or not you wanna believe it, I had actually planned for the two of them to be in this story before they were announced for Mania Plus and wanted them to be a big surprise. I know the real canon has the whole "Classic and Modern dimension" BS but I don't care and I'm adding them in here anyway. So yeah, Mighty and Ray have officially joined the resistance and they're the first of a few more surprise characters that'll be joining up in this story.
Next time, we'll be heading to Studiopolis Zone with the Classic bois in what I'm sure will be a short chapter and after that? We'll be going to the next Forces exclusive location with the resistance. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I had a lot of fun with it.
R&R.
