Told ya I'd have this chapter up sooner. I can keep promises when I want to! I think the thunderstorm while I'm writing this chapter fits the mood. Man, someone has angered Zeus. Anyway, thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews! Feedback always inspires me to keep going.
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28: Master Emerald Showdown
"Amy." Dark Sonic called out in a sing-song voice as he entered her cell. His white eyes scanned the room before they landed on the small pink hedgehog, curled up as tightly as possible and shivering in the corner. Dark Sonic then sighed as he walked over to her more cautiously than normal.
Amy didn't respond and curled herself up impossibly tighter, refusing to look up and acknowledge his presence. This only served to frustrate him though as he bent down next to her and placed a hand on her arm. The fresh blood on his hands trickled onto her arm, dripping off it. At the feeling of this, Amy finally gasped and looked up. Pure horror dominated her normally cheerful features. Her face turned pale as she tried to push herself further into the corner, as if in the hopes that the cell wall would somehow consume her and swallow her up, never to be seen again.
"I wanted to believe it wasn't true." Amy whispered and gagged, closing her eyes as tightly as possible and tilted her head away from Dark Sonic.
"What wasn't true?" Dark Sonic asked as he held Amy's arm tighter.
"That you would hurt…kill all those people." Amy whimpered. "How? How could you do such a thing?" She added, beginning to sound slightly hysterical.
"Amy, we've been through this," Dark Sonic sighed, "It's in the world's best interest."
Amy shook her head. "No," She gasped out. "You're sick…SICK!" Amy opened her eyes as she yelled and attempted to push Dark Sonic away from her, but he wouldn't budge.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" She yelled. "BRING THE NORMAL SONIC BACK!"
Dark Sonic growled in annoyance, his grip on her arm now becoming painfully tight. "How many times do I have to tell you? This is the real me! Now and forever."
"Sonic, please," Amy begged as she began to cry, "You can't want this. Not really. This isn't what you'd do."
"Don't presume!"
Amy flinched slightly, but stood her ground. "I'm not though, am I? I know you Sonic. You'd never cause such harm to people. Especially to the innocent man you just killed!"
Dark Sonic remained silent as his whole frame turned stiff.
"Please, Sonic," Amy begged again, "Just let me help you. We can get rid of the negative energy together."
Dark Sonic continued to remain silent before he finally shifted slightly and glared at her. "No." he said in a final tone and Amy glared back at him.
"So you wanna be a lunatic forever then?" She snapped. "I've been inside your head Sonic, I know what little control you have. You can't help but lash out first. I can't stand being in your head. So I know you can't stand it either."
Dark Sonic stood up, his glare never left hers. "Like I said: don't presume."
He then began pacing the cell as usual and Amy slowly uncurled herself out of her position before standing up. She couldn't afford to be afraid of him anymore. No matter how times her heart jolted and her instincts told her to run and hide when she caught sight of his blood stained gloves and fur; she had to stand her ground.
"I'm not presuming and you know it." Amy snapped. "I want to help you." She added, saying each word sharply.
Dark Sonic snarled, "Well I don't need your help." He then sighed and smiled a twisted smile at her, a smile so different from his usual happy, carefree one. "You know, if only the whole world was populated with people like you. People like you who are so good, nice and helpful. Is that so bad?"
"No, but it's just the way you're doing it." Amy scolded as she fought off the disgusting images that threatened to pollute her mind. The disgusting images of…what he did. It made her physically sick to think that he had done that. But then Amy was reminded once again that this was her fault. If she hadn't been so eager to impress Sonic and joined Shadow's stupid mission then none of this would have happened. She had given Eggman exactly what he wanted. She had made him this way.
"And I'm to blame." Amy mumbled and Dark Sonic's eyes widened at her sudden change in tone. "I'm the one who made you like this."
Amy gasped as she felt Dark Sonic placed a hand under her chin before he tilted her head up and pressed his lips against hers. What would be the point in fighting? So she stood there, unresponsive as he kissed her and forced her lips apart. He transferred some of his energy to her once again and it coursed through her veins. The feeling made her dizzy as it went to her head, healing the injury that Eggman had inflicted on her a month before that was now threatening to return. An injury that should have killed her until Dark Sonic intervened. She wished the injury had killed her there and then. That's what should've happened. Dark Sonic had defeated the Lieutenant and there was no way of stopping him. She wasn't sure if she could live in a world where the normal Sonic had no hope of returning. No matter what, she just couldn't figure out a way to bring him back.
Dark Sonic's lips finally left hers and Amy felt her knees buckling beneath her and her mind interlinking with Dark Sonic's. He caught her as she fell, her mind spinning the whole time. Dark Sonic looked down at her barely conscious form in his arms before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and carefully placing her down on the ground.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again," He sighed, "You'll soon see things my way. You and Tails and the others."
"SONIC!" The voice of one of the soldiers called out from the other side of the cell.
"What?!" Dark Sonic snapped in annoyance.
"Eggman has been spotted!" The soldier replied. "He's near the base!"
A sadistic smile crept its way onto Dark Sonic's face and his white eyes seemed to glow even brighter as this news reached his ears. He became almost twitchy with excitement before wasting no time in gliding across the room, throwing the door open and slamming it behind him as he flew off to hunt the evil scientist down.
Amy looked up from the floor weakly at where Dark Sonic had disappeared. He had left the premises. This would be a good chance for her to escape. She knew he could read her mind right now, but she didn't care.
I'd just easily find you again you know.
Amy growled to herself as she dug her fingers into the hard, metal ground. Even if he sounded so confident about that, she had to try. Maybe she could even find help along the way. Trying her best to push herself up, she glared determinedly at the door. Guards were behind there, she knew it, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. They wouldn't be able to use deadly force against her and they were only mere humans that were easily dealt with. She could do this. She had to. She had to get out there and get help. From where, she didn't know. But it was better than sitting in this cell and doing nothing.
Pressing her palms against the floor, she managed to push herself into a kneeling position. Colours danced across her vision as her sight blended with Dark Sonic's as he chased after Eggman. For the most part, he seemed to be ignoring her, mainly focusing on the task he had set out to do. That suited her just fine. She managed to stand up and her ears began ringing loudly. No. She couldn't be weak. One foot in front of the other. The whole world seemed to be turning sideways as she practically fell forward towards the door. Leaning against something cold and solid helped her get her bearings slightly. Concentrating hard, she summoned her piko piko hammer and held it firmly in her hand. It had been a while since she'd used her old friend properly.
Knowing she couldn't afford to waste any time, Amy swung her hammer around. The metal clanged underneath the force, but didn't break. She had merely made a small dent. Amy growled in frustration once she realised that she had no choice. It would give her less time to find help, but it was worth a shot. Closing her eyes in concentration, she once again summoned the negative energy that was inside her. It tingled in her muscles like tiny little pin pricks except it wasn't painful, it was strengthening. Her head pounded, her vision turned blurrier with the edges of her line of sight turning red. It felt as if all of her blood was rushing to her head as if she had suddenly stood up after sitting down for so long, only this was much worse. She didn't have much time.
Amy let out a yell as she swung her hammer again, this time breaking the door in half with the force also sending it flying forward. One of the guards got caught in the blast and cried out in pain as a piece of the metal door hit him, knocking him back against the wall before he fell to the floor. The two other guards stared at her, not knowing what to do.
"I think it would be wise to get back into your cell." One of them suggested, sounding unsure.
"I think not." Amy answered, hitting the soldiers on the back of the heads just hard enough to knock them out for a while. "Sorry." She mumbled to them as she stared at their unconscious forms sadly before turning to the other soldier.
"No, don't hurt me!" He begged as his eyes zeroed in on her giant hammer. He remained on the floor, clutching his chest as he panted slightly. It seemed he had a few broken ribs and wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.
"Don't worry, I won't." Amy promised, not quite being able to make out the soldiers face as her vision remained blurry and the world continued to spin slightly. "I didn't want to hurt those other soldiers, but don't worry, I'm going to go get help."
With that, she turned around and began staggering down the corridor. She just hoped that she could make it.
.
All was quiet outside the base with only a few guards strolling around. Even though the bodies had been removed, there were still blood stains on the ground forming puddles of red all over the place. This was the first thing Rouge noticed as her heels clicked on the ground as she gracefully landed. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight and she placed a hand over her mouth. So much blood had been spilled here. If she was being honest, all of this trouble could have been saved sooner if Tails would've just made up his mind. They should have carried out this plan the moment the idea came to them. Oh well, too late now. Better late than never.
She surveyed the area as she remained concealed behind a rock. The main entrance was open, obviously from where Dark Sonic had just flown from. The problem was, that would be the busiest area. Entering through an air vent wasn't an option with Knuckles' injury. She'd have to find another way in.
In the distance, she spotted a peculiar gathering of a few guards, so obviously something must be there. With a quick flap of her wings, Rouge soared into the sky again and glided towards the gathering. A smile formed on her face when she realised that they were guarding a hole that had been blown into the side of the base. That would have to do.
"My my," Rouge whispered lowly to herself, "Thanks for the help GUN."
"Rouge." A low voice asked through her communicator. "Have you found a way in?"
"Don't worry Shadow," She responded, "These lovely gentlemen have kindly showed the way."
"Well where is it?!" Another male voice hissed. "Tell us and stop messing about!"
Rouge chuckled. "Someone sounds jealous Knuckie. I do love a man in uniform."
Her smile widened as she heard Knuckles growl from the other end.
"Enough playing around Rouge and inform us of the location." Shadow ordered seriously.
Rouge rolled her eyes before responding, "It's on the east side of the base. There's a gathering of guards protecting it so you can't miss it."
Rouge suddenly jumped as she saw a black blur appear out of the corner of her eye that landed just below where she was hovering.
"The east," Shadow mumbled, "Perfect."
Without another word, he dashed forward, easily and effectively hitting them on the back of the head, knocking them out. Their unconscious bodies fell to the floor and Shadow watched them for a few seconds to make sure none of them came round before raising his wrist to speak into the communicator.
"The coast is clear." He said. "The Doctor said he disabled all the cameras so don't worry about them."
Both of them then watched as Tails flew up from below the cliff face, carrying Knuckles with him who had a disgruntled expression on his face.
"I feel so useless with this damn broken leg." He growled.
"I think it makes you look cutely vulnerable." Rouge purred which only made Knuckles angrier.
Tails sighed. "Just stay with me and pipe down. You are useful Knuckles. You're the one who's going to disable the master emerald's power and put a stop to all of this once and for all. Without you, we wouldn't be able to do anything."
Knuckles huffed, but remained silent after that. While what Tails said was true, he wanted to fight. He wanted to be able to defend his team as usual. He felt like such a failure for allowing Dark Sonic to overpower him like that and take the master emerald. Well at least he would get even with Dark Sonic now by taking his power away. Knuckles smirked at this new thought, before his face fell once he remembered what this would cost them. But this was for the best, he told himself. If he knew Amy, then this is what she would want. But they couldn't afford to think about the aftermath right now. There was no telling how long Eggman could keep Dark Sonic distracted. They had to get this done and get it done quickly.
Tails continued flying with Knuckles in his grip, flying them both over to the giant hole in the wall. Rouge followed and Shadow peered around inside as they approached. The hole led into a half destroyed corridor with walls blackened by the explosion and fire and lights destroyed, leaving most of the corridor dark.
"Knuckles, can you sense the master emerald?" Tails asked.
"Yes." Both Knuckles and Rouge answered at the same time which resulted in Knuckles turned to glare at her and Rouge winking at him in return.
"Hands off." Knuckles growled at her. "We're here to stop Dark Sonic, not go on a jewel heist."
Rouge gasped, pretending to be offended. "I'm offended that your mind would jump to such a conclusion with me."
"Enough bickering." Tails snapped as he flew inside with Knuckles.
"She started it." Knuckles huffed and Tails frowned down at him.
"Down there." Knuckles nodded his head in the general direction.
Tails flew in the direction with Shadow and Rouge following them. The corridor was long with doors on the side opening up into very large rooms, some were filled with machinery and robots, while others looked more like a workshop or a lab.
"There." Knuckles gestured towards a set of double doors to the right hand side. Tails once again obeyed with Shadow bursting the doors open for them. It led them to a set of large stairs that winded both up and down.
Knuckles gestured for them to head down and to keep going until he said so.
"Couldn't we just take the elevator?" Rouge moaned.
"Oh yeah, that's a sure good way to get caught." Knuckles snapped.
"He's got a point Rouge, at least here we can see people coming." Tails agreed.
They continued heading down until Knuckles yelled out, "Stop! It's on this floor."
Shadow looked around and spotted the sigh next to some double doors. "Level 3, this is it. Let's move."
They made their way through the doors and followed Knuckles' senses. However as they turned a corner, they froze and hid behind once again when they saw guards stationed outside a large set of double doors.
"I'm guessing the master emerald in in there then." Tails said, slightly started by the sight of the guards.
"No problem." Shadow smirked.
"Please, try not to hurt them too much." Tails begged. "They're innocent."
Shadow huffed in reply before he confidently walked out of hiding and towards the guards. The guards all gasped and raised their weapons, aiming them at him.
"Agent Shadow, stop right there!" One of them yelled.
"You fool," Another shouted in slight fear, "Sonic ordered us not to harm them."
"Is that so?" Shadow smirked before easily smacking the soldiers head and knocking him out onto the ground. He quickly did the same with the other soldiers who were powerless to stop him and then called for the others to come out.
Tails carried Knuckles out, followed by Rouge and they stood outside the door.
"Is it definitely in there?" Tails asked.
"Oh yeah." Both Knuckles and Rouge said at the same time.
Tails sighed, his face turning bleak. "Then let's get this over and done with."
Shadow kicked the doors open easily and there, in the middle of a warehouse style room, was the master emerald. It glowing brightly in the centre of the dull looking room that was mainly empty. The tiny slit windows at the top had been smashed in by the shockwaves of the bombing and Tails wasted no time in flying Knuckles up to the giant green master emerald.
"Ok, Knuckles," Tails' voice cracked slightly with repressed emotion, "We're counting on you."
Knuckles nodded, his expression turned grave and he rose his hands slightly before closing his eyes. The master emerald began glowing brightly as he began chanting.
"The severs are the seven chaos – "
"Tails? Knuckles?" A familiar high pitched voice gasped from behind them all.
Everyone in the room turned around in horror, their worst fears coming true as a slightly delirious looking Amy stared at them in confusion from the doorway before her expression too turned to one of horror and terror.
"NO!" Tails screamed as he realised what this meant.
Amy also screamed and fell to the floor, holding her head between her hands, her eyes wide and wild.
"HE'S SEEN US!" Tails confirmed everyone's thoughts just as his wrist communicator went off.
That could only one person. He must have realised as well. Tails quickly answered the call.
"Tails, what happened back there?!" Eggman demanded in a panic. "Dark Sonic seems to have realised our plan."
"Amy walked in on us." Tails cried back.
"YOU IDIOT!" Rouge began screaming at Amy who was too busy crying and screaming on the floor to pay attention. "YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL!"
"He's coming back for you all! You've got to get out of there now!" Eggman yelled. "I have no choice!"
"What?!" Tails shrieked into his communicator, his heart pounding in the most intense fear he had ever felt in his life. There was a sudden screeching noise on the other end of the communicator, then there was incoherent yelling promptly followed by what sounded like an explosion before the signal cut out.
"Eggman!" Tails yelled. "Eggman do you read me? Eggman?!" Tails eyes went wide as he froze with his mouth agape in shock and horror.
"Finish the incantation!" Shadow ordered Knuckles. "We can still stop this!"
"The servers are the seven chaos – " Knuckles began again before he was interrupted.
The sudden sight of the master emerald shattering into smaller pieces before his very eyes forced him to stop in his tracks. The green pieces glistened as they all floated away out of the windows into some unknown location. As the chaos cleared, Dark Sonic revealed himself from the pieces of the master emerald and grinned down at everyone.
No, Tails thought in horror. That was their only chance. He's won.
Dark Sonic's eyes then locked with Tails' before he bared his teeth at him in a sadistic smile, proud that he had ruined their plan and was now enjoying the looks of defeat on their faces.
Dark Sonic began manically laughing at out loud at the joy of it. "Think again."
Feel free to leave your opinions.
So, we're starting to come towards the end now guys and I feel the need to answer a huge question I've been getting off a lot of people. What are you doing next? A lot of you have asked. Well, for now, I'll be continuing with Sonamy one-shot requests and also have two collaboration stories coming up with aliixo and Jowy Avilon. In the meantime, you should definitely check out their solo work if you like to be emotionally traumatized with Sonamy feels: Rise of SonicEXE by aliixo and Final Fate by Jowy Avilon.
