So yeah, I do realize that this story has too many cliffhangers, which are admittedly quite annoying. I apologize for that. Unfortunately, there is a limit to how many pages I can produce and proofread within one day (I'm only human after all). Also, I do have a day job at my family's café to top it off (my shift lasts from 5 AM to 1 PM plus some extra hours in the evening when busy).

That being said, I'll try to end each chapter nicely, but no promises there. Besides, cliffhangers make things more exciting. ;)

Okay, not much action in this chapter, either. It's basically one long history lesson from start to finish. The events are strictly based off of my own imagining. Enjoy! :)


Chapter 10:
History

"Tails is…Tenebrae?" Sonic muttered weakly, finally putting his hands down and looking around at the other occupants of the control room, his eyes wide in clear disbelief. "Tails is…the enemy?" he choked, his lower lip trembling uncontrollably as he turned to Amy, who was also on the verge of breaking down as well.

"Yes, Sonic…" she replied in a low voice, her eyes downcast, and crouched down to regard her younger friend. "I know it may sound absurd to you that Tails is the one who…well, you already know the stories…Unfortunately, it's the truth. Tails – Our Tails – is long dead to us…Now, he is nothing more than a soulless and merciless killing machine."

"How…How the hell did that happen?" asked the blue hedgehog, raising his voice slightly, "Didn't you say he saved everyone by sacrificing himself?"

"That's…" Knuckles began, but he didn't have a clue how to explain to his distraught friend. In his mind, it was like having to relive the day his friend had been lost to everyone forever, replaced by an evil that nobody could expect or fathom. In his mind, it was like having to witness Sonic's descent down the path vengeance and self-destruction yet again.

The echidna , after a huge intake of breath, was about to resume the story, but a new voice – one that Sonic really had no interest in hearing at the moment – spoke up and cut him off.

"I believe I can explain that," said Master Zik, his voice seemingly devoid of any emotion and his face completely neutral. Immediately, Sonic whipped his head toward the old Zeti and shot him a glare and a threatening glare that could even force Chaos himself into submission at first glance. Despite being on the receiving end of such an intense glare, the wizened being remained unfazed and unimpressed.

"Sonic, please…" said Amy this time, her hand lightly squeezing the tense hedgehog's shoulder to calm him down, "At least listen to what he has to say. Please!" she pleaded.

The cobalt hero of blue would have ignored her and lunged for the spherical alien if it hadn't been for Eggman's restraints. After growling deeply for a while longer, he reluctantly conceded and leaned back on his chair.

"You'd better hold me tight, Eggman," Sonic threatened in a dangerously low tone, slightly scaring the scientist in the room, "Otherwise, I don't know what may happen to one of your Archlords…" In response to that, the scientist narrowed his eyes underneath his glasses.

"Your threats are amusing – brutally amusing" began Master Zik as he regarded Sonic with utmost interest.

"Just stop wasting time and speak, Zik!"

"…Fine," the Zeti replied evenly, "Continuing from where your friend leaves off, after we succeeded in cornering you and Eggman, we were about to deliver the killing blows that would have ended your lives then and there."

"However, we didn't foresee the intention of that fox…"

"Tails" interrupted Sonic yet again, wearing the same scary snarl on his face, "His name is Tails. Not 'that fox' or anything." Master Zik narrowed his eyes slightly, but made no comment on the hedgehog's interruption.

"…Like the Doctor told you, Tails pushed them inside the emergency capsules and detonated the Chaos Energy-powered bomb inside the base. However, he failed to take into account our natural Zeti ability to remotely control any electronics we desire."

"With our collective power, we forcibly shut down the entire base and cut off the energy supply. Without the energy from the emeralds, the bomb couldn't go off. Once that was done, we cornered and captured him and took him back to our base."

At this point, everyone could clearly sense a dangerous aura oozing out from Sonic's still form. His head was downcast, and that posture made it impossible for everyone to see the current expression on his face. At that moment, however, it was, in all likelihood, a sight nobody in their right mind would wish to see at the moment. In silent agreement, Amy and Knuckles wordlessly readied their weapons again just in case the restrained hero broke out and seriously injured someone – himself included.

"Once we were back, we began to force the young cub to conform to our will," continued the Zeti in an unnatural calm tone, not even intimidated in the slightest by the hedgehog on the opposite side of the table, "We began to turn the cub into a cyborg using the same process as before, only this time, Zavok and I personally supervised the transformation to make sure no stupid mistake was made during the process."

"Once that was done, we performed surgery on Tails and implanted a microchip in his brain, which made him completely susceptible to our manipulation of magnetic fields like all electronics out there."

A sudden and rather loud cracking noise was then heard coming from the restrained hedgehog, catching everyone's attention instantly. When they looked at the cobalt speedster, they saw that his fingers were wrapped tightly around one of Eggman's arms with so much force that multiple cracks began to appear on the surface. Nobody dared speak, however. The hedgehog still didn't say anything, either; instead, he simply remained motionless and eerily quiet, his head down and his face hidden from view.

After that brief moment of distraction, Master Zik cleared his throat, one thin hand unconsciously reaching for the staff he had placed on the table in preparation for a possible brutal assault due to take place at any given moment. Without batting his trained eyes away from the seemingly despondent form of the motionless hero, the old master continued recounting his side of the story.

"…After that, the Zeti acquired a new enforcer whose skills were utterly unrivalled by any military forces or armies in this entire dimension. Using Tails' brain and knowledge to suit our needs, we took careful steps to cripple the infrastructures of major cities around the world from the shadows, to discreetly force all nations to wage bloody wars against one another by having the kid hack into their systems and unload their arsenals on one another. In short, we controlled Tails to commit various criminal and inhumane acts against every nation and every agency and organization in the world, all of which ultimately left this world completely defenseless against our eventual invasion."

"With the world severely devastated by the wars and the irreparable damage we had wrought, total conquest was, of course, simple for us Zeti. One by one, nations fell to our will, and one by one, people and all living things were forced to swear their eternal servitude and unquestionable to the Zeti. Within a few weeks after the conquest, we had the entire world under our thumbs without meeting any notable interference, save for a few elusive factions you probably recognize."

The old creature took a brief pause to study the current atmosphere inside the room, and instantly learned that the tension had not been cleared yet. If anything, it had somehow gotten even more suffocating as time passed, and all of that originated from one single being. The four Archlords, at that moment, thought that they were in the same room with the devil himself, but nobody made any offhand comment for fear of incurring Sonic's hellish indignation.

"With Tails' brain being used to its fullest potential, the Zeti soon grew to be a force unrivalled by any other. Our influence even extended to other places outside this planet" Master Zik continued after a short pause, still eyeing Sonic with extreme caution. "We really thought that at last, the ancient civilization of the Zeti could rise from the ashes of this dead world. However, the complete conquest of this world ultimately marked the end for us all."

"Zavok, the main orchestrator of all the events I've just told you, the one that secretly remained behind and pulled the strings of every single heinous act carried out by your friend, soon became drunk with the amount of power he had acquired. After getting his hands on the seven Chaos Emeralds, his obsession with becoming the most powerful overlord in the universe took over his mind and ate away at his sanity."

Master Zik, at this point, began to squeeze his staff tightly, his hands trembling visibly and his face beginning to show intense expressions of rage and disgust at the name of his former student.

"Consumed entirely by his own greed and delusional ambitions, Zavok continued to drift further away from me and his kin. After a while, he began to give my other students…impossible demands and orders. He was so consumed by the power of his standing and the power of the Chaos Emeralds that he began to seek out and wage war with other races in the universe, no matter how powerful and dangerous."

"His madness finally became impossible to bear when he sent Zazz into the Twilight Cage through the use of Tails' technology and knowledge to conquer that universe…He never returned after that."

"After the loss of one of our comrades, my other students and I decided to confront Zavok personally…Yet, he refused to listen to reason, clinging tightly on to his madness that had come with power and refusing to listen to anyone, including his old teacher. To Zavok, Tails, or Tenebrae, was an asset more valuable than any of his kin combined, who he had come to see as expendable pawns in his insatiable lust for conquest and dominance."

It was at this point that Sonic began to lift his head up and looked directly into the eyes of the old Zeti, who was now wearing an expression that could be best described as a mix between rage and grief. With a sigh, Master Zik looked at his palm and continued his story.

"Unable to overlook his growing insanity any longer, I, along with my remaining kin, engaged Zavok and Tenebrae in a brutal battle. We fought to the best of our ability, but Zavok, with Tenebrae and Eggman's old Fleets and armies to back him up, soon overpowered us and…"

Another pause, another pain-filled sigh...

"Zavok defeated my students and absorbed them into his body by some means unknown to me, possibly of Tenebrae…Tails' design. In an instant – one single instant as quick as a blink of an eye - I lost all of my students…all I had left of my people…gone on one fateful day because of the stupidity and greed of one single madman…the very madman whom I had personally raised and taught…"

The ancient Archlord closed his eyes to shut out the gruesome images and the haunting cries that the other Zeti had let out before disappearing forever.

"He was about to finish me off as well," he continued, now returning the gaze that Sonic had been giving him, "But I managed to escape from the fortress with my life intact, albeit barely. After an unknown number of days spent walking around the lifeless world we had created, I began to feel weary, feeling as though Death's cold embrace would come for me at any moment. And I was ready for that…After all, what else did I have? I had lost everything, my people, my students…my family…due to my own blindness and stupidity."

"However, in my most critical moments, the hands that took me was not of death, but of life" Master Zik then cast a sideway glance at Amy, a gesture that was not lost on Sonic.

"I was taken back to this base, where I was held prisoner for many years to come. During that time, I continued to offer the resistance forces valuable advice and strategies on how to fight against my former student, for I above everyone knew how his mind works, deranged or not. At first, as you can imagine, they didn't believe me. It took a bit of persuading and a long time of building up trust, but in the end, I am now here, as a Supreme Archlord. And that is my full side of the story."

Sonic had been sitting still and listening intently to everything the old Zeti had to say. During the entire time, he didn't make any noise, simply maintaining eye contact with Zik and keeping his expression completely neutral.

When Master Zik had finished retelling his story of how things came to be, he looked the hedgehog dead in the eyes and said in a low and calm tone.

"Sonic, I don't expect you to trust me immediately, especially since you've just come here from a time when our grudge is still fresh in your mind. However, I will tell you here and now that I no longer bear any ill will towards you and any of your friends. If anything, I probably owe you a debt of gratitude, since it was Archlord Sariel – your counterpart - who gave me a pardon for my past crimes and vouched for me for this position when everyone else voiced their protests."

"Sonic…I vouched for you?" asked the hedgehog in a low tone, his expression still unreadable.

"Yes, if you can't take my word for it, ask your lady friend over there for more detail."

Immediately, the cobalt hedgehog's eyes left the spherical Zeti and landed on its new target. Amy, who was wearing a sad smile on her face, looked at her younger friend and sighed.

"It's true, Sonic. Sariel, in his last moments, decisively gave him the title of an Archlord in person after he had provided us with a very clever strategy to destroy one of Zavok's bases and rescue all the people imprisoned there, despite all protests from all of us. However, now that we look back, it was probably the day that changed everything for us."

"How so?"

"Before that fateful day, Zavok's main strategy was to enslave humans in the same manner as what he had done with Tails in order to build up his armies and expand his influence on a galactic scale. I don't know if you can imagine this, but it was absolute hell for everyone."

"We were helplessly forced to witness the Zeti lead legions of brainwashed soldiers into towns to kidnap and force people into servitude. We really wanted to do something about that, but found that we couldn't," said Amy sadly, "His troops back then consisted entirely of brainwashed humans and beings like us, so it was difficult for any of us to fight against them…Enemies or not, they were all innocent civilians…people who had no will of their own being controlled like puppets to serve a madman."

In response, Sonic said nothing. Seeing his silence as her cue, Amy took another deep breath and continued with her explanation.

"On that day which we dubbed The Great Revolt, however, Zik gave us the location of Zavok's confidential cyborg-transformation facilities, where most of his prisoners were kept, waiting to be conformed to his will. Also, that place served as the main computer for delegating and controlling the actions of those who were brainwashed."

"Following Zik's ingenious strategy, we successfully managed to get in and liberated everyone there. Once every single one of the victims had been taken to a safe place, we destroyed everything in that base, effectively negating most of Zavok's influence over the minds of his troops and causing a massive revolt against him on a global scale."

"No matter how powerful our power is," Master Zik cut in before Sonic could ask his question, "A single Zeti cannot control electronics on a global scale. Zavok could only control about a million at best, which is a considerable feat for our kind. Therefore, to keep his legions of brainwashed troops in line, he had to rely on a highly sophisticated system to influence the rest. That being said, when controlling a target, we Zeti can do that at any given distance, no matter how far."

"…I see…" Sonic muttered in understanding.

"So, with the destruction of that central computer," Amy continued, "we successfully liberated more than two third of Zavok's men, and at that time…it also included Tails…" she cut herself off then and there, unable to meet Sonic's questioning gaze and having to tell him what came after.

"What happened?" said the hedgehog slowly with a note of authority in his tone, making Amy sigh in resignation and begin to recount the events that day.

"Like I said, it was a day of change for all of us, Sonic," she paused for a while, a frown forming on her face, "…And it was also on that day that we lost our Sonic."

The cobalt hero's eyes widened immediately, but he said nothing. He understood her hesitation, and so he waited for her to continue at her own pace. Nearby, Knuckles and Eggman also wore sad expressions on their faces as their own memories backtracked to the events that had taken place.

"We managed to rescue Tails" continued Amy after what seemed like an eternity, "but that victory was short-lived, and what started out as a wonderful day ended in tragedy for all of us."

At this point, Amy couldn't keep her composure any longer. She shut her eyes and looked away, unable to look at the face of the friend whom she believed she had failed. Seeing that heart-breaking scene, Knuckles hesitantly jumped in and told the rest of the tale.

"Our Sonic instantly went to check on Tails for reasons you can probably understand without anyone telling" he began, "At first, everyone was happy that Tails had finally been free from his curse…However, we…we never expected Zavok to…to remotely resume control of his mind chip from his base a split second later, when everyone's guard was currently at their lowest."

Realization immediately dawned on the hedgehog, and he could easily guess what came after that. His mind brought forth a gruesome image with disturbing clarity, as if it was taken from one of his own memories. Tails, controlled by the tyrannical Zeti, subsequently pulled out his sword…One stab, and blood spilt all over the floor. He shut his eyes immediately after that.

"I suppose you can already tell from the looks on your face," finished Knuckles as he looked at his cybernetic limb pensively. "We gained many followers that day, and we managed to deal a heavy blow to Zavok's system of enslavement, but we also suffered heavy losses. I have to live with this thing as a reminder for my carelessness, and so does Eggman, with both his legs now gone and being forced to remain inside his…whatever the hell he calls it. But the heaviest loss was Sonic. We lost our Sonic right after that victory…"

A brief moment of silence followed.

"Our troops managed to chase Tenebrae away and we took you back to base as fast as we possibly could. However, the damage had already been done…Your inner organs were…destroyed beyond saving by the time you entered the infirmary…You barely had seconds to live before you…well, you know the rest" said Eggman in a hushed tone as he took over, relieving Knuckles of his burden.

"And in those last seconds of life, you appointed me Archlord in front of everyone" said Zik as he stood up and looked at Sonic straight in the eyes again. "For the first time in centuries, someone thanked me for my help…especially after all the chaos and destruction I have wrought. For that, you have my gratitude, Sonic the hedgehog."

"…What happened next?" asked the hedgehog solemnly, his eyes studying his hands in a thoughtful manner. Seeing Sonic this quiet was somewhat unnerving for everyone inside the room, but no one was brave enough to admit that aloud.

"…After that, things began to change, quite dramatically I might add" replied Eggman, "The incident seemed to have made Zavok realize the underlying danger of relying on his chips to create his army. He didn't dare risk another worldwide revolt like that afterward – He barely managed to survive the first one thanks to Tails' weapons of mass destruction."

"Therefore, he completely switched to a new battle plan, relying solely on the machines and robots that I had abandoned in my old bases, which were given drastic modifications by you-know-who. For many years now, Zavok has yet to return to his own mind-controlling trick, with the only notable exception being Tenebrae."

"Like I said" Master Zik chimed in at this point, "Tenebrae is undoubtedly Zavok's greatest asset. From what he learned from that revolt, Zavok now focuses his energy only on controlling your friend to do his biddings and supervise his mindless robotic troops. And since Tenebrae is an extremely dangerous opponent, Zavok has absolute confidence in his abilities to defend himself against all possible threats."

"…I see" Sonic said pensively before looking at everyone in the room one by one.

After that, another session of deathly silence reigned again as the cobalt hedgehog seemed to meticulously study every single one of the present Archlords, especially Zaphkiel with keen eyes, as if he was searching for something. During that time, nobody dared to make any sudden sound, patiently waiting for Sonic to finish whatever it was he was doing. From one glance, Amy could detect a glint of skepticism in his eyes as they fell upon the advanced Zeti in the room, but she kept that opinion to herself.

Sonic's owlish eyes were scary and intense at first, but after a relatively long while had passed, the original shade of green returned to them, and his facial features were rid of the threatening scowl that he had been wearing. Much to the Archlords' relief, Sonic had finally calmed down and he was taking in everything rather well – or at least he seemed to be.

"I understand…" he muttered weakly, still trying to process the substantial amount of information that his allies had just given him. It was a bit much, he had to admit, and he was overwhelmed. "Thanks for telling me all this. I know it must have been torture for you to…you know, relive that day…"

"It's only fair that you know what you're getting into, Sonic" said Amy sadly, "And I'm really sorry you got involved in this mess…This isn't even your world, and yet…"

"Stop that, Ames. This may not be my world, but it is still a world in trouble, and I cannot just let that slide, no matter what!" he replied with conviction in his tone. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the Archlords except Zaphkiel either giggled or laughed, seemingly happy with that ridiculously simple logic.

"You're a really nosy hedgehog, Sonic, you know that?" said Knuckles light-heartedly, a small and extremely rare grin of genuine happiness on his face.

"Well, it certainly takes one to know one" retorted Sonic in the same fashion before turning to look at Eggman , "Do you mind getting these things off of me?" he moved his head toward the giant arms keeping him tied into the chair and shot the scientist a meaningful look.

With a shrug, the doctor did as told and recalled his limbs back to his side. All of the sudden, a light bulb went up in Sonic's head that got him curious.

"So, if Zavok can control all electronics with his thought, how come you two are immune?" he asked innocently.

"These cybernetic limbs are connected to our nervous systems, and that essentially makes them part of our own bodies" said Eggman with a smug look on his face, "The Zeti can control machines that have AI, or electronic brains, but these, old friend, are directly linked to our brains, so they are, as you say, 'immune' to Zavok's manipulation."

"Interesting!" Sonic mumbled thoughtfully, making Eggman sigh.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" asked the doctor as he smacked his face with his organic palm to fully express his annoyance.

"Nope" was all the cobalt hedgehog said in reply, a sly grin on his face.

"Typical" muttered Knuckles and Amy as they fondly shook their heads, happy that Sonic was taking in everything much better than they had first suspected despite the initial episode regarding Zik's sudden appearance and story.

"So, now that I know about the brief history of 'World War Z' already," said Sonic after a while, "What do we do from here?"

"That is where I come in" replied Master Zik calmly, attracting the young hero's attention once again. Sonic darted his eyes towards the old Zeti and narrowed them slightly, seemingly debating whether to trust him or not. With a sigh, Master Zik put his staff down and shook his head.

"I told you" he began, "You don't have to trust me, Sonic. Given our history, even I wouldn't trust myself."

"…I trust you," Sonic said all of the sudden, making everyone's heads snap toward him simultaneously. Needless to say, even the old Zeti, who was hardly impressed by anything due to his advanced age, was surprised by the sudden yet strong declaration.

"I trust you," Sonic repeated with finality in his voice, "You saved billions of people from their fates as mindless slaves to Zavok. And since my counterpart declared you our ally in his last moments, I'll honor his last wish."

"Is that it?" asked the old master skeptically.

"Hey" Sonic said with a frown, as if insulted, "I'm proud of my ability to tell who is good and who is not. And if my future self trusts you enough to make you into an Archlord, then so do I. Besides, if you had planned on doing something to backstab us, you would have tried it already, why wait fifteen long years? Your eyes spoke volumes back then."

In reply to that, Zavok could do nothing more than nod his head slightly and chuckle to himself.

"Okay" said Sonic again, his tone cheerful and eager to provide help in any way he could, "Where do we start?"

"To defeat Zavok, we must first cut off his most prized asset – Tenebrae" said the Zeti, "That is where we start, take down Tenebrae and cut off Zavok's influence over his robotic troops."

"How do you propose we do that?" asked Amy this time, now reverted back to her Archlord tone.

"I have a plan to subdue Tenebrae that I've been devising for quite some time now, but since the key ingredient was not available at that time, it was virtually impossible to carry out. But now, I suppose that plan is plausible" Master Zik said, his eyes travelling toward Sonic, who was a little stunned.

"Me?" the young hedgehog asked in surprise, pointing at himself.

"Yes, you are the key, Sonic" confirmed the old strategist as he pointed is staff at Sonic, further emphasizing his point.

"How?" asked Knuckles in confusion, "Last time, he got his butt handed to him, as well as the time before that."

"Geez, thanks for the confidence boost, Knux" Sonic said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes, "You're a real help."

"Face it, Sonic. Even when we combined our strength, we couldn't land a single hit on Tenebrae. What can you possibly do alone?"

"Yeah, what can he possibly do alone?" Amy repeated the question to Master Zik, causing Sonic to let out an annoyed "Hey!" at her, but she didn't bother to take notice.

"The thing is you can't outmaneuver Tenebrae" answered the wise being as he stroked his beard thoughtfully, "His reflexes have been trained to the max, making him extremely difficult to beat in combat. However, I don't plan on having Sonic fight against him with his fists."

"Then what do you have in mind?" asked Eggman with an interested look on his face.

"Sonic can't outmatch him" said the reformed Zeti slowly and dramatically, making the hedgehog in question frown in irritation at the thought of being put down by someone he had beaten before "But he can outrun him long enough to stay alive, and that is all I ask."

Silence. Unnerving silence as every eye in the room turned to Sonic, making him slightly uncomfortable. Immediately, he looked away and began to think, trying his best to ignore the spotlight that everyone was putting him in.

After a short while, the hedgehog looked up, his eyes bearing into each and every pair of eyes in the room. And with a confident smile and a trademark post, he spoke, his voice carrying no sign of doubt or uncertainty.

"Count me in!" was his response – one that everyone had half expected, but couldn't help but feel astonished to hear.

After all, everyone in that room knew very well. Despite the fact that Sonic could be heading face-first into the cold embrace of the callous reaper, he would never, ever turn his head around and back down from this fight – not until his only family was home by his side again.