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Hail to the King

Chapter 11

The sun was setting, backlighting the ever-present smog clouds with bloody light. Mephiles stood on the roof of Iblis, the heart of his operations, and stared out over Mobotropolis. His face was impassive but his thoughts were racing a mile-a-minute beneath the calm mask. His plans would come to fruition soon, sooner than he had ever even dared to dream. When he had begun planning he had anticipated years or even decades of waiting and careful maneuvering before any definitive actions could be taken. But then, roughly two or three years ago, those three hedgehogs had emerged from the woodwork and captured the entirety of Robotnik's attention.

And while Robotnik was distracted Mephiles had stolen the city out from under him. He owned the streets, the bars, the drugs, the whores, the guns, everything. All he needed to do was neutralize the SWATbots and put Robotnik's head on a pike.

Prower's defection could not have come at a worse time. Robotnik had recently upgraded the SWATbots with Mark III hardware, eliminating their susceptibility to water and making energy shields standard on all models. This made some of the weaker blasters he had had produced next to worthless. It would have been much simpler to have had Prower reprogram the SWATbots to ignore Robotnik's commands rather than having to send his men out to deal with them as he would have to do now.

The sun had almost disappeared beneath the horizon and the clouds had lit up in fiery hues of red and orange. Mephiles' muzzle twitched in amusement as he appreciated the symbolism.

The sun was setting on Robotnik's empire. Soon it would rise on his.

Hideaway had fallen.

Munch the Rat, the sole remaining member of the Mercian Freedom Fighters, leaned heavily against the trunk of a tall tree. A lance of silver pain came from the wound on his chest and he groaned through clenched teeth. His hand tightened convulsively around the hilt of his sword. Another hut exploded, sending shards of flaming wood flying in every direction. Joyous whoops and laughter carried back to him on the wind and he found himself wondering what kind of monsters could do this.

A twig snapped behind him and Munch whirled around, bringing his sword up into ready position and ignoring the bolt of pain the action sent through his chest. An albino hedgehog stood opposite him, appearing almost ghost-like in the flickering firelight. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled up to the elbows and streaked with blood. His left hand clutched a switchblade knife.

Munch knew with a certainty he couldn't explain that this was the leader of whoever had attacked them. Rage bubbled up from the pit of his chest.

"You bastard," his voice shook and cracked from the force of his emotions, "you killed them all. They're all dead!"

He lunged forward with a speed that surprised even himself and swung his sword in a hard horizontal arc, aiming for the hedgehog's neck. The albino ducked under the blade effortlessly and sidestepped before lashing out with a foot that Munch barely managed to dodge.

"They're all dead?" the hedgehog murmured mockingly, his voice carrying easily over the crackling of flames and the sounds of distant pillaging. His mouth split into a sadistic grin, "Not all of them are quite dead. The children are alive," he leaned his head forward conspiratorially; "you would be amazed at how much an able bodied child will fetch at auction." His grin widened at the outraged and sickened look on Munch's face. "And the women who didn't fight are alive…well the ones my men didn't play with at least."

Munch lunged forward with a choked scream of rage, thrusting his sword wildly in front of him. A red fog seemed to seep into the backs of his eyes and coat his brain, making rational thought almost impossible. The albino shrieked with laughter and twisted his body away from the blade in a movement so graceful it was almost grotesque. The switchblade shot out almost too fast to follow and opened up a deep gash on the back of Munch's sword hand. The rat hissed in pain and barely managed to parry the knife as it angled towards his stomach in a follow up strike. He took a quick step back and swung his sword at the hedgehog's legs. If he could sever an artery then he could just let his opponent bleed out rather than having to fight him while already wounded. The hedgehog jumped back just in time, Munch's blade missed his legs by less than an inch. The albino scowled and whipped his knife forward with snake-like speed going for the rat's eyes. Munch ducked his head, feeling the knife whistle through the air over his scalp, and lunged forward again. The albino tried to twist out of the way but wasn't quite fast enough. The sword cut through his dress shirt and opened a thin wound on his side.

There was a moment of stunned silence as the hedgehog stared disbelievingly at his bleeding side. He touched a hand to it as if to confirm that it was really there and then looked up at Munch. His expression slowly drained of all emotion.

"Your leader screamed like a little bitch before I gutted him." The hedgehog said tonelessly.

The remark was so sudden and unexpected that for a moment Munch was thrown off guard.

That single unguarded moment was all it took.

A foot slammed into the rat's chest, sending him back against the trunk of a nearby tree. His grip on the sword slackened for the briefest second and it was batted out of his hand. The switchblade sunk into his stomach and twisted mercilessly. Munch groaned in pain and slowly slid down the trunk of the tree before collapsing in a heap at the base. For a second the only thing that was real was the incredible pulsing pain that started in his torso and spread out to every nerve in his body. He felt a hand grab him by the hair and drag him upright. His sword was slammed through his shoulder, pinning it to the tree. A sheet of grey pain washed over him and for a moment the world disappeared.

"Hey! Hey! DON'T FUCKING PASSOUT ON ME YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

A sharp, stinging pain brought him abruptly back from the brink of unconsciousness. Dimly he realized that he had just been slapped.

"Can't have you drifting off just yet," the hedgehog said casually, "I have a couple questions to ask you." He pressed a hand against the wound on Munch's chest and began applying pressure, "Now, where is Miles Prower?"

Munch stared back, remaining defiantly silent in spite of the pain.

The albino's face worked horribly, becoming unnaturally distorted by rage, and then it was abruptly replaced by a charming smile.

"I fucking love it when they try the tough guy routine," he purred, pulling another knife from his pocket, "it makes them so much more fun to break."

The knife descended.

Munch began to scream.

A/N: BOOM! New chapter! Sorry it's a tad short, my writers block hasn't completely cleared up yet. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it.

Reviews are always welcome,

Trancepanda.