Chapter 21 - Don't Be a Hero

Sonic, Shadow, Miles and Maria stared fearfully at the door gradually opening on the far side of the chamber. When the metal door had lifted completely, a loud noise began to echo into the room from beyond the open doorway. A minute later, all four hedgehogs' eyes were widening in shock, for an enormous mecha was striding into the chamber, towering menacingly over their heads.

The machine stepped into the middle of the huge floor and stopped. Eggman laughed at the sight of his brilliant invention positioned in the center of the room, then pressed a few more buttons on his control panel. A large glass case lowered slowly from the ceiling and stopped just above the high platform. The case contained a large board facing away from the platform, which was holding the six Chaos Emeralds the scientist had stolen from Sonic and his friends. Evidently the villain had moved them from their case in the chamber where he had kept his hostages in order to show them off to his rivals now. This was a sign that he had known for a while that the prisoners had escaped, and he had been expecting his enemies to arrive in this particular room to rescue Maria.

Another control on Eggman's panel triggered a long mechanical arm, which reached down from the ceiling of Sonic's and Shadow's cage and grabbed the Chaos Emerald from the black hedgehog's hand. The arm then retracted into the cage roof again, and after traveling up the long pipe leading to the chamber ceiling and through a few more pipes in the roof, the silver gemstone was lowered by another mechanical arm into the glass case with the other Emeralds. As the second arm retracted, the villain laughed evilly and gloated to his archenemy:

"At last I'll be able to power my machine and set my plan for world domination into action again. And this time, you won't be able to stop me, Sonic!"

The mad scientist gazed happily at his complete collection of Chaos Emeralds for a moment, then turned to the lavender hedgehog standing beside the cage close to the side wall on the floor below.

"Alright, Miles, from what I understand, your greatest wish is to be just like your dad. Well, now the time has come for you to choose whether you really want to take that path."

Sonic and Miles glanced nervously at each other through the cage wall before turning back to the scientist and listening to his proposition.

"The hedgehogs I have in the cages are currently my prisoners, and the mecha is what stands between them and their freedom. Now you have a decision to make, Miles: you can turn and run, or you can stand and fight. If you run away, I will let you escape with your life; you can return home with your mother and sister, but Sonic, Shadow and Maria will stay here with me, and their fate will have yet to be determined. If you choose to fight the machine, I will release Maria immediately, but whether the four of you can leave my space station freely... depends on whether you survive the battle."

The lavender hedgehog felt a horrible icy chill run through him. He glanced wildly around the room, first at the laughing Eggman, then at Maria staring nervously back at him, then at the enormous mecha standing in the center of the chamber, and finally back at his father. Sonic gazed fearfully at his son and frantically shook his head, but didn't say a word. The hedgehogs turned back to the scientist as he spoke to Miles again with an ugly sneer on his face.

"My advice, young man? Don't be a hero."

"Eggman, you can't force him to make a decision like this!" Sonic suddenly yelled desperately to his enemy. "He's only fifteen!"

"So what?" Eggman shouted back defiantly, turning to face the blue hedgehog. "From what I recall, Sonic, you were only fifteen when you had disrupted my evil plans several times over! If your son really wants to be like you, he will make this choice on his own."

The teenager glanced between his worried father, his frightened crush, and his newfound enemy one last time. He quickly weighed his options in his mind. If he ran away, he would be nothing more than a coward, and that was knowledge he could never live with. On the other hand, if he chose to fight the machine, the other three hedgehogs in the room with him had a chance of escaping safely. If Miles didn't survive the battle, at least he would have tasted the sweet life of adventure Sonic used to live, the life he so desperately wanted for himself. If he had to die, this was how he wanted to live his last moments: just like his father.

Having made his decision, Miles changed his expression from fear to determination and slowly nodded his head to the villain on the platform.

"I choose to fight", he called out boldly. At this, Eggman grinned, Maria gasped, and Sonic cried out desperately:

"Miles, no! It's too dangerous!"

The lavender hedgehog turned sharply back to his dad and spoke to him in an unfaltering voice.

"I can't run away, Dad. I can't leave you all here. I may never be a true hero, but I refuse to be a coward. I choose to fight."

Something in Miles's tone suggested to Sonic that there was no argument that would counter the teenager's choice. Sighing deeply, the blue hedgehog raised his hand higher on the net of his cage and said in a calm and encouraging tone:

"Son, you already are a hero. You may never have faced an actual villain before, but you risk so much for the people you care about, and that's what makes a true hero. If you can remember everything I've ever taught you, you can beat this challenge hands down. I have faith in you."

Miles smiled weakly and placed his own hand on the glass of the cage over his father's.

"Thanks, Dad", he whispered. "I'll try to make you proud."

And with that, the teenage boy stepped away from the cage and faced Eggman again. Glaring at the evil scientist, he shouted out defiantly:

"I'll take your challenge, Eggman. But only if you keep up your end of our deal. Let Maria go, now!"

Eggman raised an eyebrow at the lavender hedgehog, then quickly pressed a button on his control board. Before anyone had time to react, the mecha standing in the center of the chamber whirled around and shot a laser blast directly at the cage containing the light gray hedgehog. The glass-and-steel prison exploded, and as it shattered into several small pieces, Maria's scream could be heard through the cloud of smoke that was now covering the spot where the cage had been only moments ago.

"Maria!" Shadow cried desperately, rushing forward and pushing his hands against the wall of his own prison. A moment later, the smoke cleared, and Maria could be seen kneeling and trembling in the middle of the debris of the broken cage, her hands over her face.

"There", Eggman laughed as he turned from the shaking Maria to the enraged Miles. "She's out of her prison now. Time for you to uphold your end of the deal, young man. Are you ready?"

In fact, Miles could never be truly ready for the challenge he was about to face, but at that moment he was as prepared as he would ever be. The lavender hedgehog glanced back at his concerned father one last time, then walked into the center of the improvised arena and nodded once to the scientist.

"Excellent!" Eggman taunted gleefully. "Then let us begin!"

The evil villain suddenly shot his hand out and pulled a switch on the control board. The giant robot in the arena sprang to life, and thrust its enormous mechanical arm forth at high speed, aiming directly at Miles. Fortunately, the lavender hedgehog was quick-witted, and managed to leap out of the machine's path just in time to dodge the attack. The mecha punched a huge dent into the ground, then slowly retracted its arm and returned to its original standing position.

Eggman's maniacal laughter echoed throughout the chamber. Maria had screamed in terror during the machine's attack, and now she was staring stunned at her crush, who had rolled along the floor and sprung to his feet again. Sonic, in turn, had felt his heart jolt into overdrive when the robot had moved towards his son, and he now stood trembling with his hands pressed almost painfully against the wall of his cage.

Miles, determined to prove himself a potential hero, was not fazed by the attack. A second after the robot retracted its arm, the young hedgehog pulled into his dad's signature Spin Dash move, charging it up for a few seconds before shooting forth towards the mecha's leg. He managed to rupture a few metal pieces on the machine's foot, and the robot stumbled back a step or two in response. Miles had successfully scored a hit; he clearly had a chance to emerge victorious.

The battle raged on. Sonic, Shadow and Maria watched in fear as the hedgehog and the machine in the arena fiercely fought one another, each for their own cause. The robot was enormous and powerful, but Miles was agile and sharp. By using his father's famed battle techniques, the teenager managed to hold out for a surprisingly long time against his foe. He dodged laser blasts, avoided physical hits from the robot's limbs, and crashed into the machine several times, often breaking pieces off its figure. Everyone realized there was hope of the lavender hedgehog surviving the challenge, even Eggman, who was so disappointed by this thought that the smile had completely vanished from his lips.

But Miles had one disadvantage in the fight that the robot did not: he was getting tired. The poor teenager, as brave as he was, had never endured an actual battle before, and this one was really taking its toll on his limited stamina. After a while, he actually felt himself slowing up, and more than once, he was almost crushed by a melee attack from his opponent.

When Sonic noticed his son was faltering, he immediately tried to break out of his prison, but unfortunately, his attempts were made in vain. The cage had been specially designed by Eggman to resist the blue hedgehog's attacks, and no matter how hard Sonic and Shadow crashed against the prison walls, they could not rupture it the tiniest bit. They were trapped, and Miles was alone.

Nearly an hour into the battle, the dreaded turning point of the challenge finally came. Too exhausted to dodge the incoming attack, the young hedgehog was hit in the leg by a laser blast and fell to the floor, temporarily stunned. The mecha saw its opportunity and took it; reaching out its giant hand, the machine grabbed Miles, lifted him up, and began to slowly crush him in its grasp. The teenager squirmed in his opponent's clenched fist with all his might, but he couldn't escape the powerful metal fingers. The robot continued to squeeze the hedgehog, and before long he began to cry out in agony.

Maria, who hadn't moved from her spot on the platform since she was freed from her prison, suddenly felt as though a pin were being pushed deep into her heart. The light gray hedgehog turned her tear-filled eyes from the battle to the laughing villain on her right and shouted to him desperately:

"Stop it! Stop it, please!"

Eggman glanced indifferently at the young hedgehog kneeling a short distance away from him, an evil grin planted on his scarred face. He then turned back to his control panel and casually pressed a button on it. The mecha unclenched its fist, and Miles slipped out of the metal fingers and fell several feet to the ground. Upon impact with the hard floor, the lavender hedgehog collapsed and began coughing uncontrollably, no longer having his breathing constricted by the robot's mechanical hand.

For a moment, nobody else in the room moved. All eyes were on Miles, who was trembling and coughing terribly. Before the staggered hedgehog had a chance to recover, however, Eggman suddenly pulled another switch on his control panel, and his mecha sprang into action once again. The machine rapidly swiped its huge arm across the floor, sweeping Miles off the ground and tossing him several feet through the air at high speed. The lavender hedgehog crashed into the chamber wall, then collapsed to the floor below and stopped moving.

The realization of what had just happened induced great shock in the other three hedgehogs in the room. At the sight of the courageous teenager lying sprawled on the floor with his eyes closed, his head bleeding and his body covered in bruises, Sonic and Maria screamed simultaneously:

"Miles!"

But Miles did not move. Sonic pressed his hands harder than ever against the wall of his cage, wishing more than anything that he could somehow slip through the steel and glass and rush over to aid his son. The blue hedgehog gazed helplessly at the fatally wounded teenager, feeling tears forming in his eyes as he muttered desperately through his gritted teeth:

"Get up, son! Come on, get up!"

Maria stared between the young lavender hedgehog lying motionless on the ground below and the evil scientist laughing maniacally beside her. She struggled with the emotions writhing within her, unable to escape the feeling that this ordeal was entirely her fault. As a tear rolled down her cheek, the young light gray hedgehog glanced to her left at the shielded board containing the Chaos Emeralds.

"The servers are the seven Chaos..." a memory rang in her mind. "Chaos is power, enriched by the heart... The controller is the one who unifies the Chaos..."

"Maria..." came another memory, clearer than the first, "you must uncover the source of Chaos power, in order to bring Control back to the world. Without Control, Chaos shall prevail, and the world will fall into darkness."

The controller... Uncover the source of Chaos power... An idea suddenly struck her. Maria wiped the falling tear off her cheek, and switched her expression to one of determination. If this entire charade had begun by her means, then she would be sure to do whatever it took to make things right again.

As Eggman continued to laugh evilly at the sight of Miles's injured figure and Sonic's heartbroken expression, Maria carefully reached for a metal rod on the ground nearby, which had previously been part of her glass-and-steel prison. When her fingers were closed around it, she brought the piece slowly to her side, standing up as she moved. Eggman, distracted by the scene playing out below, did not notice the hedgehog beside him raising the metal rod in her hands to behind her right shoulder.

The most fortunate factor of the following sequence of events was the fact that Eggman had made a single mistake in his otherwise perfect plan. As it turned out, his own pride and desire to flaunt his genius to his rivals would ultimately be his undoing. In his eagerness to exhibit the Chaos Emeralds to his foes, the scientist had moved the precious gems from their thoroughly protected panel to a flimsy, thin-glassed case, which was currently holding them over the high platform. Although the glass covering the gems was somewhat reliable as protection, it was not strong enough to withstand a fast blow from a heavy object... such as the metal rod in Maria's hands.

The young hedgehog suddenly thrust the mechanical piece in her hands sideways, swinging with all her might. The rod collided with the glass of the case, which shattered under the force of the blow. Glass shards began to rain down upon the floor below, and the Chaos Emeralds were now completely exposed.

The energy flowing among the Emeralds began to emanate from the board out to the rest of the room. Because Maria was especially sensitive to this energy, she immediately collapsed to her knees again, dropping the metal rod and feeling suddenly weak. To her right, Eggman had ceased his laughing and turned sharply towards the source of the shattering noise.

Knowing she had little time before the scientist reacted to her rebellious move, the light gray hedgehog summoned the last of her strength and pulled the board holding the Chaos Emeralds out of its case, tossing it out and letting it drop to the floor below. Seeing the gemstones falling before his eyes, Eggman gasped and cried out:

"No!"

The evil villain rushed towards the broken glass case, but he didn't reach the platform railing in time to reach out and stop the board from falling. The panel with the seven Chaos Emeralds plummeted to the floor below, and upon reaching it, the glass shattered and the gems rebounded slightly, scattering across the ground close to Miles.

Eggman stared stunned at the collection of gemstones on the ground below for a moment, then turned angrily to face Maria. He took a step towards the weakened hedgehog and slowly lifted his hand, but at that exact moment, Shadow yelled out to him in rage:

"EGGMAN, IF YOU TOUCH HER, I WILL KILL YOU!"

Looking behind at the black hedgehog staring fiercely back at him, Eggman could almost see fire burning in his eyes. The scientist lowered his hand and glanced coldly at Maria.

"I'll deal with you later", he muttered threateningly to her.

What Eggman did not realize at that moment was that he had a much bigger issue on his hands than having to find a new case for the Chaos Emeralds. The energy from the scattered gemstones had reached Miles, and he was now stirring slightly in his place on the floor. The lavender hedgehog slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to look up at the platform. His father was watching him with an expression of mixed shock and relief on his face, his hands sliding weakly down the inner wall of his cage.

Miles gazed up at Maria, who was staring back at him through the railing of the platform with a newfound hope in her eyes. The teenage boy then looked directly in front of him, and noticed the Chaos Emeralds scattered before him. Feeling his spirits rise with determination again, the lavender hedgehog crawled slowly towards the gemstones, reached out, and grabbed the one nearest to him: the first Chaos Emerald he had ever seen in his life.

By the time his fingers were closed around the blue gemstone, everyone else's eyes were on Miles again. For a minute, no one moved, for they all sensed that something incredible was about to happen. The Chaos Emeralds soon began to glow, and as the others stared quietly at the young hedgehog, Maria's father suddenly broke the silence.

"What's going on?" Shadow asked, concerned.

But Sonic already knew what was going on. He stared transfixed through the reinforced steel net and bulletproof glass of his miniature prison at his son, who was beginning to tremble slightly from the force of the seven Chaos Emeralds scattered around him. As Miles closed his eyes against the energy flowing almost visibly through him, his father realized what was going to happen next. It was the same thing that had happened to him the first time the seven Chaos Emeralds had been joined in his presence.

The blue hedgehog suddenly turned to Shadow, who was still crouching a short distance behind him, and said only two words:

"Brace yourself."