Disclosure: I do not own anything related to Sonic the Hedgehog or The Familiar of Zero/Zero no Tsukaima. All properties belong to their respective owners. This is a fan-fiction and should not be treated as part of a canon with any franchise.
Sonic is owned and trademarked by SEGA corporation.
Familiar of Zero/Zero no Tsukaima is made by the works of Noboru Yamaguchi and its Light Novels are published under Media Factory.
Apart from that, I hope you enjoy!
-TokuBinu
With the Death Egg at long last destroyed and Angel Island returned to its rightful place in the sky, peace had returned to the lands.⁽¹⁾ Since the events of Sonic's last adventure aboard the mystical floating island, Dr. Robotnik had been quiet in his activities. Sonic was content with this new development as it had been a long while since he'd been able to take a break from his adventures, so he resolved to get himself a well-deserved break.
His friend Miles "Tails" Prower however, was worried about the ephemeral peace since then and strived to keep an eye out for any sightings of the doctor. To be fair, Sonic did find it strange that Robotnik hadn't displayed any desire to steal the chaos emeralds, which they had kept since their grand adventure aboard Angel Island. Despite his friend's unease, Sonic blew off his worries, acknowledging that while they might be caught off guard, whatever the doctor plans next they'll be ready for it.
Underneath a tree in the hillside plain of the island, to the sounds of the Earth, Sonic slept peacefully. It was the dawn of night on Christmas Island; his quills comfortably rested in the cushions of his white gloves. The gold buckles on his big red shoes glistened in the dark as he lay snug. The chill wind of the night swished the branches of the tree. Leaflets pricked themselves free amongst the wind and tickled his cat-shaped ears making them twitch instinctively.
The dark blue hue of the sky with the stars lighting the zone expressed an ethereal beauty. In the cool wind of the night, the grass encompassing the hillside whispered around him, adding to the milieu of the given piece. The blue hedgehog took a large breath and stretched himself along the base of the tree. His arms and legs stretched and quivered slightly as he tested the strength in his body. His breath escaped into a long and loud yawn.
Blinking a few times with watering eyes, he looked around himself confused as to where he was, but a glance to the landscape eased his dubiety. Sonic thought how long he must've slept at his spot and went to check the constellations in the sky, but the sky cracked as dawn arrived. Sonic held a hand over his eyes as his vision adjusted to the simmering red sky. He whistled at the remarkable rosy tint of daybreak.
He took a glimpse of the landscape, peeking at the horizon and seeing that the sky was blooming a brighter blue. The warmth of the sun was trying to reach him, telling him that morning will come soon. He smiled a grand smile and laid back as the grass and its flowers blossomed with the layer of light approaching them.
He looked high up to the sky as the fading stars went by. His eyes glazing, Sonic reminisced about his past adventures in the checkered plains of Green Hill Zone. His two-tailed friend, Tails the orange fox; the capricious, choleric guardian of the master emerald, Knuckles; and the pink-haired rabid fangirl quickly pass by his thoughts as he sifts through his memories. The shade of the sky brightened to a turquoise blue illuminating the island with the soft sparkling sheet of dew that accumulated overnight, and he smiled a wide smile.
This was his home.
He began to stand up when a sharp golden ring fell from his fur, thumping softly in the grass. He picked up the ring and held it to the sky, observing the runes along the outside of the ring to which Sonic only assessed as an ancient language.⁽²⁾
Thinking back in his last adventure, the lush green grass, the tall palm trees, it was almost... nostalgic. Angel Island, an island that floated amongst the clouds in much the same way as his previous adventure in Southside Island. A landmass wandering without direction above an endless sea, hidden in a distortion field by its relic jewels the chaos emeralds. The same milieu pervaded him as he explored the two islands, the same feeling of awe, wonder, and nostalgia wrapped in a beautiful green.
He brought down the ring closer to himself as he felt the texture of the ring through his gloves. It all came to a head when he found this ring drifting along the shores of Westside Island. An inexplicable nostalgia consumed Sonic, seemingly beckoning him towards Angel Island. Since then, he gradually began to notice in all his recent adventures the similarities of the landmasses —the tragic histories of the islands— binding them together.
Islands seemingly impossible to come across normally, hidden by strange powers with ancient civilizations of incredible power, their ruins, relics, and temples lost to the sands of time. One holding the chaos emeralds and another holding their controller, their Master Emerald. This ring he understood then was a puzzle to all of this, yet it bothered him as if it were something he should know while being simultaneously so foreign and strange to him. It made him feel like searching for a place he dreamed he'd never find. It was all bizarre and a little upsetting, so he strove to understand why.
In the doctor's absence, Sonic took the ring to Tails to see if he could make heads or tails of the ring, but despite their best guesses, Tails was in a rut. He devoted his time and studies to mechanical engineering, not to philology. At best Knuckles may have an idea, but it's probable to assume that despite leaving in good terms, he doesn't want them back on his island. So with no leads nor any experts to give them a start, his search ended before it began. Now he was enjoying the peace whilst bound down by a curiosity.
A breeze rustling the leaves above him caught his focus and a soft reassuring smile dotted his face.
The grass waved like the ocean, giving the flurry sounds of the plains. He watched the light of the sun brighten the landscape, and as if in a covenant with the Sun, the ring he held glistened littering the grass underneath in a sheen of gold. A small beat of wings caught his attention but he decided not to move and lay as if he were sleeping. The sound softened and he could feel tiny legs resting on the tip of his nose.
As he contemplated what to do with the ring as he moved it around on the palms of his hands, a spluttering, buzzing sound, not unlike that of television static or a helicopter, resounded from up above.
Sonic looked up —startling the butterfly off— and there, an almost black dot in the plains was Robotnik flying his Egg Mobile. It seemed he was cautious and in a hurry, as his Egg Mobile hugged the ground, however, he passed by the hedgehog completely unaware of his presence. Still, Sonic didn't take any chances and hid under the grove of the palm tree he had been napping beside.
He contemplated whether he should demand his presence on Robotnik who was quickly and urgently fading away unto the sky or leave him be, however soon enough a trail of Egg-Robos followed behind in an orderly fashion. He took a glance at the ring, secured it, and solidified his thoughts on the former.
Being careful not to alert Robotnik of his presence, Sonic chased after the Eggman, his speed almost teetering on breaking the sound barrier as he quickly made way to catch up to him. However, the hedgehog quickly realized that following the Egg-mobile was easier said than done.
While Sonic had his speed to keep up with the scientist, he remained wary of the robots that were following Robotnik. The big ball-shaped robots would occasionally check their surroundings to see if they were being followed, and within those instances, Sonic had to hide behind trees, scurry into bushes, and crouch into the tall grass. Sonic was great at chases though he felt himself becoming tired out having to hide from sight and sneak quietly.
For a while, Sonic followed a pattern of chasing and hiding from Robotnik until he noticed they were approaching the edge of Christmas Island. The hedgehog hesitated to keep his pace as he neared the beach leading to the ocean, yet in his pursuit, he realized that his distancers weren't stopping. Dragging his feet, Sonic slowed down as he skidded to a stop on the white beach, and in his abrupt halt, the hedgehog skipped awkwardly before planting his feet firmly on the ground. He looked to the horizon and found Robotnik and his goons disappearing from his field of view.
Finding himself in a dilemma, the hedgehog had an internal debate over what course of action to take. Spontaneously, Sonic brought out the chaos emeralds, ready to transform and question Robotnik— he stopped whilst a look crossed him. The last time Sonic used the chaos emeralds so recklessly, he got the super of 'Super Sonic' knocked out with an uppercut. The hedgehog pocketed the chaos emeralds. He cupped his chin in a puzzled expression, his foot tapping on the ground wildly, but as he turned to see the distant figures leaving his sight, he anxiously raced to the heart of Christmas Island.
Sonic's face flushed with agitation as he stumbled haphazardly across the uneven terrain. He continued running, the plains around him transposing into a forest as more trees frequently appeared. Sonic leaped over a short hill drawing him to the scenery of the forest. He slid down the hill as it progressed further into a declining slope, gaining enough momentum to roll himself into a ball. He continued to push his speed before launching to the sky, casting a looming shadow underneath him.
Sonic unfurled himself as he fell deep into the heart of the forest. Once the trees neared, he swung his legs and slid down the trunk of a tree. The hedgehog launched from the hull of the tree, grasping onto a branch and swung high into the air, reaching further above the trees. Sonic continued this flow, bouncing onto tree branches, swinging from their vines, and sliding down further to the base of the forest to maintain his momentum, however as he smashed into another tree, the frail old oak croaked as it fell.
Sonic yelped as the tree fell to a ravine, chunks scattering apart. Racing up the body of the tree, he leaped to the other side of the ravine, leaping across fallen tree husks until he escaped. Sonic raced across the landscape rolling under exposed roots, springing above boulders and avoiding hazards.
After dealing with a world full of obstacles, Sonic breathed a sigh of relief as he came into view of Tails' workshop. He glanced at the watermill which powered the light inside the workshop that stored the Tornado. Both Sonic and Tails wanted to remain environmentally friendly as possible, so it was a practical invention using natural water streams to power the electricity inside the small building.
Dust scattered into the air as Sonic passed through the natural surface of the runway. He jerked to a halt in front of the garage door and lifted it. Rushing inside, Sonic went to start the engine of the Tornado, recently modified to have two rocket boosters underneath the body of the bi-plane. Sonic's speed was at his convenience since igniting the engine and spinning the propeller simultaneously was easy for him.
The engine sputtered as smoke popped from the exhausts before the spark plugs fired the motor up, roaring the bi-plane to life. The plane nudged forward slightly in its proof of turning on. Sonic took a few steps back to admire the work put onto the Tornado, before turning around to find Tails. He scoured high and low inside the workshop but came back to the Tornado without his partner. The hedgehog groaned as he remembered Tails warning him so many times about the doctor, yet the fox himself hadn't practice what he preached; gone at the moment Robotnik revealed his oily head again.
Tapping his foot impatiently, Sonic hesitantly admitted to himself that he would have to go alone on this one. In his haste, Sonic quickly found a pencil and paper, leaving a sloppy mess of handwriting amidst his rush on a note. The contents on the paper were of the hedgehog's next course of action, catching Tails up to speed about the egghead's general location and Sonic's reasoning for taking the Tornado with him.
The blue hedgehog put away the pencil and slapped a piece of tape onto the paper, making sure it wouldn't fly outside. He quickly jumped into the cockpit of the bi-plane and put on his pilot's headgear, taking ahold of the control wheel. Before he released the brakes, Sonic glanced at the note one last time. For some odd reason, he had a sinking feeling that note would be the last Tails would ever know of him. He shook his head and released the brake, moving forward from his thoughts.
Baring itself from the shadows, the crimson sheen of the bi-plane shined as it reflected the blaring light of the sunny day. Sonic kept an eye on the sky, occasionally glancing at the gauges on the dashboard. He confirmed that no flocks of birds were migrating above him, and with the added clearance of clouds, the hedgehog could focus on the rumbling of the wheels. Facing the bi-plane towards the opposite end of the runway, Sonic flicked a switch and the rocket boosters underneath the body of the plane boomed to life. The bi-plane lurched as it picked up speed rapidly.
Sonic slowly pulled the control wheel back as the Tornado shot down the runway. The plane swiftly gained air just as he took off to the sky. Once he was above the trees, the hedgehog tilted the plane and turned to the landmass far off the horizon. He continued to gain altitude as the island below him shrunk and gradually transposed into the cobalt hue of the ocean. Even behind the protective gear of his goggles, his eyes squinted at the intense pressure of the winds crashing against his face as the modified bi-plane rocketed against the sky.
Sonic poked his head out of the cockpit and surveyed the land below looking for any indications of Robotnik, however, he was only met with the vast and seamless blue ocean. Sonic huffed, his face flustered with anticipation as he could only wait and hope that Robotnik was still somewhere in the general direction he last saw him. The minutes passed by and stacked up upon Sonic's worries. For the first time since perhaps his last adventure, he considered if only for a brief moment, that Robotnik once again got the slip on him and would return to whatever basket he made for himself.
Sonic slumped in his seat, upset for allowing Robotnik to get away from view. He smacked the control board in dismay, an exasperated groan escaping him. As Sonic internally debated with himself for his next plan of action, there was a faint noise, and if it weren't for his keen sense of hearing he would've dismissed it under the roaring of the propellers. Sonic strained his ears to focus on the foreign noise as he tried remembering the pitch of the Egg-Mobile or the doctor's Egg-robos. Sonic stuck his head out once more and surveyed underneath him, the ocean flushed with scattered pillars of rocks jutting up from the sea-bed as waves relentlessly struck the lumbering dotted rocks.
As he strained to look further ahead of the ocean, he saw that he was coming upon the land with green plains as far as the eye can see. He squinted his eyes to see what was making that noise as it continued to grow louder. Debating whether or not to check up the landmass as it came underneath him, Sonic spotted a few figures in the distance amongst the clouds. He yanked the control wheel forward as he dipped to the clouds.
The plane rattled as Sonic was teetering on experiencing advanced g-force levels. He feared if he put his bi-plane into any more punishment, it'll fall apart. And so reluctantly, he killed the boosters and gradually applied pressure to the brakes as he gently pulled back the control wheel. The racketing around the plane calmed and eventually, his flight returned smoothly. Sonic turned to look towards the clouds just a short distance away from him, struggling to get a general shape or idea of where the figures were until he found something strange. Amid the clouds sprinkled across the sky, there was a glint reflecting the light of the sun, and as he focused on the sheen of light, for a split second he saw the red body of one of the Egg-robos. Sonic applied the break quickly, not wanting to lose the element of surprise.
As the blanket of clouds cleared, Robotnik came into view and Sonic steered the bi-plane accordingly. The massive continent in comparison to his humble little island stretched as far as the eye can see into the horizon. The green-fielded landscape of the plains underneath him altered as he flew further inward as hilltops began to dot the land. He studied the scenery mesmerized by its beauty, however, a faint thought crossed the back of his mind—a sense of "Deja vu". The hedgehog was soon about to realize where the group was headed towards.
Within the cockpit of his sputtering Egg-mobile, Robotnik glanced at his watch. He pulled down his sleeve only to find a plain wrist without a watch wrapped on it. "Dah-blast!" Robotnik exclaimed, turning his hand around frantically, and then proceeded to search around his Egg-mobile for the now missing watch. He quickly found the gadget left on his seat and picked it up with a sigh of relief. Holding the watch up slightly in the air, he inspected the item for any damage. In his musing, he noticed his goons following behind him accordingly in the reflection within the glass of his watch. He huffed with pride for his creations.
His latest and greatest achievements since perhaps the creation of Hyper Metal Sonic, the Hard-Boiled Heavies; his elite squadron of Egg-robos. Scavenged from the destruction of the Death Egg and modified to be his most sophisticated armed force, not only with the ability to mobilize his badniks in coordinated groups, they have built-in artificial intelligence systems allowing for the machines to learn from experience and even self-repair themselves. They were his most adaptable machines yet.
It was immensely gratifying to not be bogged down by clumsy and primitive machines as before but instead assisted with his grandest scheme yet. He happily put on the watch on his wrist and continued piloting towards his greatest plan of evil. It'll only be a few more minutes before his project will be launched. Now, what will he do with his second group of Egg-robos?
Two groups of robots...
Second group...
...
"Waitaminute..!"
As if all noise stopped within a second, Eggman quickly took a glance at his watch. Inspecting the arm, it shifted, revealing the reflection of the Tornado. Robotnik whirled his head to look behind him. To his surprise, it was true that the Tornado was behind them, most likely following them. Though the biplane was a ways away, he could tell it was the instantly recognizable red color of the bi-plane.
Sonic meanwhile had been staring intently at the Egg-mobile, trying to find a way to keep out of sight of the ship while not straying too far from the group, yet what he neglected to see was that he'd been spotted. His eyes looked up to meet Robotnik's—and his face went blank—completely at a loss. Not sure how to react accordingly, Sonic adorns a timid smile whilst he gives a slight wave.
Impulsively, Robotnik's face blanched before his head boiled red with rage and absurd fear. He pointed at Sonic, "Hard-Boiled Heavies, attack!" his voice cracking. The robots took action whilst Robotnik turned and jump-started the Egg-Mobile, igniting its boost and shredded across the sky.
Sonic quickly noticed the evil doctor leaving in the distance and his first encounter with Robotnik's Hard-Boiled Heavies was about to begin. The robots were closing the distance without stopping and Sonic had to prepare for whatever may come towards him. He weaved the plane off to the side and avoided a collision with one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies, which was followed up with gun-fire by the remaining robots. The hedgehog then realized the predicament he was held in. It was stupid to find out now, but it would be really nice if he were able to return fire. Not only that, but these badniks also had the advantage of aerial speed while Sonic had to steer a 5-ton bi-plane.
He clenched his teeth in frustration as he struggled to dodge the surrounding laser beams. Holes began to pile up but he made sure to keep the damage minimal and exclusively to the wings of the plane. It was a lot sooner than he expected, but a stray beam pierced the engine and a plume of smoke exploded in front of Sonic's eyesight.
The dashboard lit up with warnings of engine damage. The hedgehog covered his face as his eyes watered from the intensity of the smoke. He felt the speed of the plane drop significantly, no longer in cruising speed. He checked the status for the booster underneath the Tornado, finding that it was still in good condition. Now having to rely on the booster alone, Sonic pushed the control wheel leading the plane down to a nosedive.
While it may not be the best way to outmaneuver gun-fire in the open, it was the best way to gain speed using the weight of the biplane to put some distance to his pursuers. He pushed the rockets to full power, which barreled the plane to a popular maneuver that Tails always wanted to try out.
If only he were here right now, Sonic thought. A stray laser whizzed by him, the hairs on his back had singed and brought Sonic out of his reverie. Dodge and weave were all he could think as he spun around like a giant propeller. He coughed up fumes but did his best to hold himself together in such a one-sided dog fight. Even with the improvised smokescreen, one of the heavy gunners miraculously clipped the booster underneath the Tornado. Sonic felt a thump underneath his seat and he curiously looked out the bi-plane beneath him. The rockets detached themselves from the bi-plane before spiraling out of control, soaring in random directions. The Egg-robos shrank back as the boosters, barreling in the sky, blew up in intense balls of fires and flames.
This is going downhill fast.
Sonic took ahold of the control wheel as he felt the plane starting to vibrate. Without any source of propulsion, Sonic could only use the wind to guide himself midair. He watched the propellers slow to a stop and the sputtering of the damaged engine stopped altogether indicating that the engine died. The winds lapping against him were the only ambiance to accompany him, leaving him as the bi-plane suddenly plunged in a quiet freefall.
The entire bi-plane was shaking erratically as the intensity of velocity increased. Sonic anxiously pushed the brakes to slow the aircraft down but he didn't feel any significant change in acceleration. Sonic hissed as he realized the hydraulic system was out of commission. The increasing list of problems was starting to bear down on Sonic. The tornado wasn't slowing down, was quickly losing altitude, and now it was spiraling out of control as it was nearing terminal velocity. The blue hedgehog came to the hard conclusion that he would have to make an emergency crash landing. His hands were tied as options were quickly becoming limited. He breathed deeply, before steeling himself.
The Egg-robos abruptly stopped in their onslaught and watched. The bi-plane smeared against the earth as a resulting plume of flames erupted from the crash site. In the rising of a mushroom cloud from the explosion, the Egg-robos turned to each other as if they were confirming what they saw. They glanced back and forth to the crash-site and their fellow badniks before a recording of Robotnik bellowing in pure schadenfreude erupted from their speakers as they guffawed at the sight.
This lasted for a minute until Robotnik contacted them. Immediately they became impassively rigid and turned to the skies before blasting off once more. They should have stayed a little bit longer if only to confirm if they truly destroyed Sonic for good because as the field was cleared of the badniks, a yellow gradient light illuminated the area. The yellow light inside the plume of smoke suddenly stopped and contracted as a blast wave erupted from the site. The negative pressure of the blast wave sucked the mushroom cloud back into a single point. The smokescreen gradually faded away unveiling an array of golden flames and twinkles of light encompassing and dancing around Sonic.
It was a last resort for him to end up like this. Sonic's sights were sealed with his pale eyelids and he exuberated a calm stoic exterior, yet he knew with this transformation, he might not be able to keep up the calm expression he portrayed before witnessing the result of the chaos surrounding him. The hedgehog opened his eyes and turned around, facing the flames crackling behind; the Tornado was in complete ruin. The body of the bi-plane was crumbled up and completely flattened like a pile of scrap with the only recognizable bit being the engine as it jutted from the earth, blackened and spewing out trails of inflamed oil, burning the ground underneath it as it caught on fire.
The wings were torn off as chunks of the wings littered and juxtaposed against the fields. Sonic grimaced as he looked at the sight and sadness laced his soul. This was no ordinary bi-plane in his eyes. It was not gifted for his heroics nor had he much recognition for his efforts anyway, but it was built by his hands. The little hedgehog had always wanted to fly and see as much of the world as he could, and he tirelessly went through so much to get into aviation to understand the functions of every little part of a plane that makes it fly. Tails had even helped to modify the plane to make it exclusive to his style: fast and powerful with the extra boost added underneath along with the new paint-job the fox gave it.
And now? Now there was nothing left to salvage from.
Furthermore...
Sonic looked to the grass, charred or lit aflame, and spun around to the trail of destruction his crash landing had left behind. His eyes slit and a fire burned within. The natural vegetation and life that had for so long lived in harmony before his uninvited crash were lacerated and betrayed. Sonic, whether directly or not, had undoubtedly displaced and killed the small ecosystem that had once thrived and painstakingly tried to keep at a balance, ruining the exotic and beautiful fauna that sprinkled the plains and scarred the earth with his flying battery.
With the amount of rage he held for the loss of the Tornado and especially the devastation of the environment, his lust for revenge was becoming center stage. Sonic immediately went to work, digging out the remains of the Tornado from the earth. Once that was done, he got a clearer look at the extent of the burned grass and flames that quickly began to chew up the land. He immediately put a halt to its greedy consumption of life.
He held his hands out as the emeralds appeared and shared the power of the chaos emeralds to the earth; the damaged and burned grass began to stand straight and regained their healthy shade of green once more. Sonic sprinted over to the trail his bi-plane left behind and the sparkling light that surrounded him enveloped the area and dripped to the earth. The soil began sprouting grass and seedlings emerged from the ground, dotting the lands once more and healing the wound he made on the land.
A soft smile fixed upon Sonic as he turned to the sky. The fading silhouettes of the Hard-Boiled Heavies could still be seen. Sonic studied the path they were taking as a stern frown laced his face. He brought out the emeralds once more and called to them, asking to receive their power as before. His head held low as the emeralds circled him, and as he felt their connection, he closed his eyes. The area flashed white and faded away to reveal Sonic hovering over the earth encased in a golden flame with lights sparkling about him. Sonic opened his eyes up and looked towards the sky. A determined glint shone in his eyes as they turned green from the transformation and he rocketed towards the Egg-robos.
The Hard-Boiled Heavies meanwhile had contacted Dr. Robotnik on their re-entry to the sky and updated him on the status of the blue hedgehog. The Doctor gleefully cheered in the built-in communicators as he heard first hand the blue hedgehog was out of commission for good. Saliva got caught in his throat and his laughter was thrown into a coughing fit. After a moment, he coughed to clear his voice.
"Good, good! Very excellent news indeed. This is a momentous occasion, no—a triumph! That meddling little rat finally breathed his last! And thus my glorious empire should celebrate this day once the final act of my project has finished." Robotnik's voice boomed from the speaker's, great pride and joy laced his every word. The Egg-robos turned to each other, gloved fists raising high in the air as they cheered for their accomplishment. "You, my elite squadron, my loyal model machines, have done a great service to my new empire..." As Robotnik babbled on about the pride of his creations there was a resounding roar of a Sonic Boom.
Individually, one-by-one the Egg-robos turned to the direction of the Sonic Boom and the bleeding crimson irises of their glass eyes were quickly blinded by the golden bright light that approached them. They instinctively raised their gloved hands to shield their receptors from the blinding light. Not a moment soon the bright light faded and the Egg-robos gaped at Super Sonic, whose emerald green gaze pierced the machines to their cores searching them and studying them.
They shrank back as terror wracked their servomechanisms. Sonic's body tensed, his brow quivered with the desire to unleash his wrath, but as he prepared to cut through the machines, the transmitters within the Hard-Boiled Heavies picked up and their communications system activated. "...Now with that being said, resume course destination: Never Lake, as we were heading to earlier—" Sonic's eyes widened as he whirled to a patch of the land, a large long river stretched for miles.
Little Planet! Sonic thought anxiously, recalling the yearly cycle of the planet's visits on top of the large lake. The Time Stones! Sonic gasped sharply, realizing the gravity of the situation he was in. Without any further time to lose, he soared through the sky, trailing the river, leaving behind the frazzled Hard-Boiled Heavies. "You, my elite model machines, are of the utmost importance to my final act! So get going!" Frantically looking at the golden trail Sonic left behind, they ignited their jet boosters and raced to the lake.
It didn't take Sonic long, hardly any effort was put in this form as the silhouette of Little Planet came into view, casting a looming shadow over Never Lake and the surrounding rock formations as it stood in the direct path of the sunlight. Sonic looked above to the floating planet and stared, searching for the giant chain Robotnik had placed before, but as he was just outside the walls of Never Lake, he saw none, leaving him bewildered. The light rays of the sun were making it hard for Sonic to see clearly, so he started to fly high until he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The surface of Little Planet seemed to collapse within itself as two giant hollow hemispheres encased the planet. A resounding metallic clang echoed against the scenery, scaring flocks of flickies as they flew away from the unpleasant noise.⁽³⁾ Sonic could only stare, his heart fluttered anxiously waiting—waiting for what he didn't know nor for what could he fathom. Suddenly an ethereal noise reverberated around Little Planet, stirring the surface of the calm and still lake underneath it. Loose rocks and boulders tumbled from the rocky formations echoing the sound of sharp cracks fumbling and stirring up dust and dirt.
Two violet pulsating walls erupted from the open ends of the hemispheres, lighting up the dark side of Little Planet with a purple hue.
As the two walls met up together and encapsulated Little Planet, two massive oscillating violet lights ignited simultaneously, parallel to each other. The lights revealed rows of metallic panels dotting the surface of this prison, and in the middle of the construction right above the heart of Little Planet, was an abstract reconstruction of Dr. Robotnik's face, plastered for all to witness.
Sonic remained hovering in the air, gawking at the utter abomination of human ingenuity and lust for power.
It was the Death Egg reborn, new and improved.
But how!? It was torn up, blown to smithereens—there was nothing left! How did Robotnik bring back the Death Egg? Sonic wracked his brain for answers as he stared at the mocking bushy-toothy smile of the battle station. Before he could dawdle on the question any further, he heard a faint screech. Suddenly the Hard-boiled Heavies appeared blasting through the sky as they went to board the Death Egg. With their disappearance into the giant metal planet, a deep bellow erupted from the Death Egg.
With unfocused eyes, Sonic noticed the sphere hovering its way upwards, albeit far more quickly than he expected. Sonic's fists tightened as memories of his last two adventures surged through his mind. He failed to prevent Robotnik from sending his metal planet to the sky, but this time he won't fall through to stop the Death Egg from reaching space again. The hedgehog burst with free-flowing energy as he soared to reach the Death Egg.
Within the confines of the Death Egg, Dr. Robotnik roamed the corridors leading to his laboratory in his Egg-Mobile.⁽⁴⁾ With how lucky his day was coming along, Robotnik looked forward to the finality of his perfect plan. Along with Robotnik, he carried with him a small pouch, and gingerly he rummaged in the bag and plucked something out of it. Robotnik laid out his gloved hand and unfurled it, unveiling a small gem.
A Time Stone.
Upon closer inspection, however, the rock was faded to its basic color. Since the incident with little planet some time ago, the power of the Time Stones drained, ensuring that no one tried to access its powers for evil again. Of course, Robotnik was more than a nobody, and even bigger than evil. He's the greatest threat to the world and soon... even more than that. Robotnik held up the stone one more time before he pocketed the Time Stone back in its pouch and quickly tightened up the cover again.
He hummed a tune dedicated to his glorious legacy, which he named the song 'Doc Robeatnix'. It was almost infuriating how catchy the melody was, but he continued humming the song regardless, letting himself sneak in a few more spikes of dopamine before the tune would lose its vitality.
Just as he was about to turn another corner, he received a notification from the monitor of his Egg-Mobile. It was quite out of the 'blue' as warning indications blared from his screen. The Doctor grumbled as he lost his chirpy mood from humming, shifting his glaring annoyance towards the monitor. As soon as he opened the notification, the screen was filled with nothing but five bold words.
'Intruder alert. Sonic is here.'
Without missing a beat, Robotnik was quickly draped in red as red lights appeared from the ceiling. The sound of sirens followed up the lights as the voice of the Mother Computer repeated "Intruder Alert." in the speakers to fill up the gaps between each signal. "Wha—HOW!?" Robotnik gaped, his mouth flung open wide with absolute bewilderment. "How did he recover? My Hard-Boiled Heavies outnumbered him five to one!" Robotnik was almost heaving as he brought up the screen, showcasing Super Sonic tearing through the surface of the Death Egg MKII as massive explosions rocketed its surface. "N-No matter, this time it will be different! This time I will come out on top!"
Robotnik went to work, typing up commands in his built-in computer.
"If brute force and marvelous death machines won't cut it, then numbers will!" Robotnik declared as he inputs the final key. Robotnik leaned over in his Egg-Mobile and jump-started it, flying through the complex maze-like interior of the space station, taking a shortcut to the main headquarters. He held his gloved finger over a grey button and the sound of speakers resonated across the battle station "Attention, all forces of the Eggman Empire! Redirect all programming duties towards a forward assault on that hedgehog!" Robotnik typed in new commands, voice-activating the mother computer, the overseer, and systems management of the entire space station. "Computer, initiate defense protocols of the Death Egg MKII!"
Clenching the steering wheel tightly till sweat poured down his unfathomably jittery hands, he anxiously made way for the headquarters.
Sonic soared high in the surface of the Death Egg, destroying and tearing through every tall and important structure he could see, trying to flush out Robotnik from whatever hole he could be hiding in. Chunks and metallic pieces tore off the structure and collided with other buildings causing chain reactions of chaos and destruction. Sonic searched high and low and tore through as many structures as he could to find and confront the rotund man, but he was nowhere to be found.
He wracked his mind for an idea. Where could Eggman be? Sonic momentarily paused as he hovered above, silently admiring his handiwork. Super Sonic, however, failed to take a deep dive in his surroundings as light and heavy gun turrets, deployed by the activated defense systems, appeared below the smooth surface of the Death Egg camouflaging it. In the barrels of the gun turrets, a blue light ignited and simultaneously they fired.
An explosion erupted as the lasers collided, and Super Sonic was shot far from the Death Egg MKII. A look of surprise came upon Super Sonic's face as he caught his bearings and slowed himself to a halt.
That was new..! He narrowed his eyes, a determined and unwavering fire raged within him, as swarms of aerodynamic badniks launched from the heart of the Death Egg and grouped together in a pack towards Super Sonic. The gun turrets re-calibrated themselves and aimed at Super Sonic's new position, and before the turrets could begin their barrage, a golden flame encased Sonic and he erupted towards the underbelly of the Death Egg MKII.
The legions of badniks met with him and unleashed volleys upon volleys of rounds at Super Sonic. Despite this, he went in headfirst as the rounds smashed against him and flew off harmlessly.
Balkyries, Buzz bombers, Buzzers; Spikes', Batbrains... all types of flying aerodynamically fine-tuned badniks and their variants came at Super Sonic like a tsunami hell-bent on getting a shot on him. The spiky yellow hedgehog met that vigor enthusiastically as the properties of the golden flame changed and ignited into a deep shade of blue and Sonic blasted straight through the center of the mass of machine parts.
Miniature explosions rocketed the surface of the Death Egg MKII as the swarm imploded from within. The swarm quickly went to recollect itself and formed a spherical mass, circling the center as more badniks came and joined in the fray. Another tiny explosion rocketed from within and the outer surface layer of the swarm shrank back to get a better view of their target.
Super Sonic appeared momentarily, driving a fist through the hull of a Batbot. The swarm reacted instantaneously as volleys rained down upon Super Sonic. Hmph! Super Sonic grunted as he smacked an armful of rounds away blasting a portion of the ever-growing sphere of badniks, tearing a hole through it. However, just as quickly, the portion of the barrier of badniks reformed itself and continued to expand.
Thousands upon thousands of more volleys joined soon after illuminating the sky in a cast of neon light. The gun turrets dotting the surface of the Death Egg MKII finished re-calibrating and unleashed torrents of gun-fire at the spot in the sky; the laser beams collided with the surface of the swarms of badniks, coating the area in a thick cloud of ash. The gun turrets continued onward for a solid few minutes until they determined no signs of movement and no detection of a heat signature.
All forms of machinery waited for the smoke in the air to clear, and just as the thick grey color faded, a flock of Flickies flew away from the evaporating cloud. Each turret continued to scan the area meticulously, finding no hints of any heat signature within the floating ash, sans one small dot of life. Every gun loaded itself to prepare for another onslaught of heavy fire until they were met with one single Flickey flying off quickly from the cloud. All scopes were lined onto the small bird that caught up with its brethren, looking as if the machines were left disappointed that no enemy could survive their attack.
Suddenly, a burst of energy exploded from the center of the cloud. All ash and dust dispersed as a golden hue expanded from a stubborn little hedgehog. Sonic looked around at his supposed surprise attack with determined eyes, glaring at each piece of machinery as if he were advising them to back down. It was almost an effort of saying that everything they would do was meaningless. It was probably foolish to assume a piece of metal, let alone a turret, would miraculously gain emotion and suddenly experience fear or shock without any possible form of self-awareness, yet in his presence, not a single machine gun fired at him.
Little did Sonic know that all the turrets were still following and firing at him. It was just that they ran out of ammunition and a multitude of clicks could be heard from every turret. Quietly they began to reload.
Sonic took one more glance around himself before nodding his head once in approval. The hedgehog turned and went on to continue his improvised plan of 'Search and Destroy' until he was stopped by another swarm of badniks unleashing a hail storm of firepower onto him. The hedgehog easily outmaneuvered the barrage of beams, dodging and weaving up and down and all around in-between the beams of light. A pair of spikes aimed straight for him, but before they had the chance to unleash their spiked balls Super Sonic came up to them and gripped the cores. He shot away from the swarm of badniks and surfed the body of the Death Egg.
The legions of badniks thinned into a straight point as multitudes of gun turrets restarted their assault and discharged hundreds of rapid continuous volleys in his general direction. Sonic was quick on the move and made sure to avoid the blasts from the more powerful anti-aircraft weaponry before he turned around in his flight, flying backward.
He tensed his grip on the spikes and spun around blurring out like a toy top and tossing the bodies of the spikes at light speed tearing through the hordes of badniks like butter to a knife. Before Super Sonic had a chance to assess his situation as he cleared the legions of badniks, a fringe group he missed smacked behind him. Sonic yelped as they surrounded him and redirected his flight, shooting away from the body of the Death Egg.
Super Sonic tried moving his limbs but the intense pressure applied by the badniks made it cumbersome. Sonic growled, annoyed by the badniks persistence of keeping him away from the heart of the Death Egg MKII. Suddenly, as he was still struggling, Sonic closed his eyes, his golden aura igniting into white light. He reappeared in a flash off to the side of the horde. The swarm of badniks rerouted themselves and redirected their efforts towards containing Sonic. He tensed and prepared to face the onslaught when his ears twitched and he caught the faintest *click*.
Sonic's eyes widened and he flashed away from the area. Reappearing a short distance away, Super Sonic turned to see a tsunami of turret fire shredding through the badniks. Sonic shot up higher hoping the increased distance would make the turret's shots prone to missing. Once Super Sonic felt he was far enough, he stopped and turned to face the body of the Death Egg MKII. This time he looked closely at the hull of the body of the Death Egg and found where exactly the badniks were swarming from as two large holes opened up to bring another wave at Sonic. He wasted no time and surrounded himself with a fierce blue aura, slinging himself towards the badniks and towards the massive hangars.
Trying not to crash into the walls of the corridor leading to the heart of the Death Egg MKII, Robotnik arrived at his laboratory. He abruptly pushed the brakes of the Egg-Mobile, briefly forgetting about the laws of inertia, and flung himself into the control room. He slammed into a wall and comically fell onto his head before gravity came along and brought his legs into the splits. The doctor grumbled to himself, saying something along the lines of adding in two large cushions to 'break the fall' next time.
Robotnik hoisted himself up, putting his arms on his hips and stretched, cracking his back with a resounding snap. He halted as soon as the sound registered in his ears.
"Oh... my back." Robotnik astutely observed, holding a hand out as he shuffled along to his Egg-Mobile. Strange grunts were made along the way, but as soon as he took a hold of the hovercraft, he sighed in relief, resting his head along the side of the Egg-Mobile. Preparing himself mentally, he tightly gripped onto the door of the Egg-Mobile and jerked himself up, causing another horrendous noise to escape his nostrils. While it was intentional, it helped resolve his temporary yet painful issue.
With the doctor finally able to focus onto the Time Stones, he pulled out the small pouch that held the gems. Robotnik walked over to his surprisingly small desk that had one monitor turned on, albeit being that the room was dark. The screen was white with two words that said "Input Password" with a black outline shaping a rectangle that showcased a blinking cursor. The doctor whisked away chair that stood in front of him and tapped his fingers onto the plain surface underneath the monitor. For the average normie, it would've appeared that the man was blind and typed on an empty table without any keyboard, yet once the doctor was finished, the color of the screen changed.
"Welcome, Ivo." A female voice echoed.
"It is good to see you too, Computer," Robotnik replied, massaging his tender back.
All at once, the lights within the room lit up every surface within the laboratory. Monitors revealed themselves from the walls, screens opened up to data filled with the research of the Time Stones, and a machine littered with gauges appeared from the floor. The laboratory had two doors, one from which the doctor came from and the other right next to a large glass window that showcased the room next door. Robotnik turned to the large computer screen hogging the wall. The display of the screen reflected off of Dr. Robotnik's glasses as he switched over from his notes to the camera system keeping an eye on Sonic's every move throughout the Death Egg MK II. The hedgehog was finishing rattling up a few badniks who were easily destroyed within seconds.
The doctor thought for a moment, observing Sonic in his super form before speaking. "Computer, would you kindly initiate the activation of Generation Three Mecha-Sonic over to the dastardly hedgehog?"
"Third-generation Mecha-Sonic has been deployed. Remaining Mecha forces on standby..."
Robotnik turned to one of the monitors watching as his third generation of metal machines jump-started to life, its wire-framed visor lighting up with an orange glow. The capsule in which it was encased slid open followed by the release of wires and anchors holding the robot in place. The metal arm attached to the back of its gunmetal grey body pushed the Mecha-Sonic forward, freeing its grip on the machine and returned to its position in the capsule. Synchronizing with the Death Egg and finding the location of the golden hedgehog, the machine blasted down the corridors leading to Sonic.
Dr. Robotnik placed his finger over a button and communication to the flying machine was established. "Mecha-Sonic," The doctor started, his voice echoing right into the vocal receptors of Mecha-Sonic. "You have the most vital mission that I have assigned to any of my machines ever yet! Create a diversion and lead Sonic away from the core of the Death Egg MK II. Eliminate him if the opportunity arises." The last sentence he made was left with a guttural inflection, though the Mecha-Sonic gave no physical indication that it acknowledged Dr. Robotnik's hidden anger and only responded with a distorted "Affirmative."
Robotnik turned his attention to the room that held the seven empty pillars. He tightened his grip on the pouch holding the Time Stones and anxiously walked to the stainless steel door separating him from that room. The door leading to the room opened with a hiss as thick steam rolling out onto the floor giving free access to the doctor. Robotnik loosened the tough knot of thread sealing the pouch and poured the Time Stones all onto his free hand.
Finding himself absorbed in his growing grandeur, Robotnik stared at the Time Stones, the sheen of light reflecting the dull color of the stones in his glasses. He lifted the hand up to eye level as an epiphany struck him. "The power of time... in the palm of my hand." A crooked smile dotted his face as he came upon the pillars.
One-by-one, Robotnik placed the faded out Time Stones in their respective pillars. The shape of a circle could be made out as all the pillars surrounded an altar far larger and grandiose holding a mien of superiority. The doctor stepped back to observe the scene in front of him. All he needed now was one more thing to finish his plan and conquer the entire world. The pillars with the Time Stones held in place shrunk back into the floor sealed tight. He turned to one of the monitors on his desk displaying the image of a large green emerald pulsing at a steady rate with coordinates on the screen.
"That foolish hedgehog practically gave me the Master Emerald." Robotnik sneered haughtily, recalling in his research the electromagnetic waves of the chaos emeralds pulsed in a direct line to the Master Emerald and back to its point of origin. The unique but still largely identical pulse of the Master Emerald allowed Robotnik to seize the general location of Angel island. All at once upon seeing the image, Dr. Robotnik felt a surge of excitement as he yelled with vigor.
"All systems, full power!"
A golden bullet shot away from the hangars of the Death Egg MK II, explosions rocketing the badniks production lines setting the hangar bays ablaze. The massive inferno consumed all in the pit and the heavy flames activated the smoke detection system. Emergency protocols activated as large doors closed shut and air sealed the room in an attempt to isolate and control the damages caused by the flames. The massive hole underneath the space station retracted as shrapnel rocketed about it, tearing its hull. The golden flame suddenly stopped, hovering above the surface of the giant industrial sphere, an accomplished smirk graced Sonic's face as he took care of the issue with the badniks. The hedgehog turned to the glowing eyes of the space station and his triumph was gone as a determined frown made itself known.
The last line of defense of the Death Egg MK II. Sonic recalled the destructive power of those eyes, hot enough to reactivate Angel Island's long inactive volcano, and if not for his quick thinking, as well his great speed the magma would've done him in. Super Sonic readied himself and launched towards the eye of the Death Egg MK II, intending to pierce and deactivate the superweapon. Super Sonic was engulfed in an aura of blue flames as he flew to the surface of the Death Egg MK II, but as he neared one of the eyes, his ears twitched at the sound of a shrill cry erupting from the hull of the Death Egg, barreling in intensity underneath him. Super Sonic reacted instantaneously, bringing out his arms just in time as a dark figure smashed against him and sent them both flying miles away from the surface of the space carrier.
The ride came to a halt as the two figures battled to overwhelm their opponent with the brute force of their dexterity. The two beings, locked in their arm-wrestle, struggled to find any opening to counterattack their foe as their arms were stiff and yet shaking in place, neither side budging. Super Sonic quickly gained his bearings and studied this new figure, and at a glance, he assumed it was the same Mecha-Sonic he faced back in his last adventure in Angel Island, but that was not to be the case. This machine is the newest generation in line with the production of mecha replicas in Sonic's image.
The designs of the first mecha he faced back when Robotnik launched the original Death Egg were much more prominent in this version than the one he faced at Angel Island, with a primary color scheme of gunmetal grey and a secondary color scheme of royal silver. Its arms were decked out with rocket boosters, and as Super Sonic was gaining the upper hand in the struggle, it ignited the boosters to max power, turning the flames blue but did nothing to slow Sonic's succession in the arms struggle. Processing the dire situation it faced, the machine's fingers suddenly straightened, pointing at Super Sonic. The hedgehog had no time to react to the sudden move as a hail storm of bullets unleashed from the fingertips of the machine.
Sonic gripped the machine's arms and spun around like a spinning top, throwing Mecha-Sonic away. The Mecha Sonic in response rolled up into a flat disk, forming large blades around the face of the disk and spun like a saw blade, redirecting its course like a boomerang aiming to slice its directive in two. Sonic caught wind of its actions and instead of merely avoiding it, he hovered randomly in place, trying to foresee its future position until at the last possible second, the hedgehog whisked out his hands and slapped his palms flat together at the body of the badniks formation.
The machine continued spinning in place as if it truly believed if it spun fast enough, it could escape Super Sonic's grip and tear him in two. A determined, concentrated expression etched on Sonic's face as he noticed the machine aiming to free itself in vain. His brow furrowed and his arms stiffened as he began crushing Mecha-Sonic, sparks discharging from the disk. Mecha-Sonic momentarily stopped and unfurled itself, and by knowing an opportunity when he sees one, Super Sonic quickly made work, homing into the machine and kicked it down to the surface of the Death Egg MK II, back from whence it came. Tearing through the complex structures of the facility, chunks of metallic debris were kicked up from the piercing impact the robot made, leaving a small storm of shrapnel falling from the sky like rain.
Super Sonic hovered down onto the Death Egg, stopping to stand above a giant pipe near the crater the machine left behind. The seconds grew and Sonic crossed his arms. Impatience rattled every nerve in his body as he started tapping his foot, and with every passing second, his impatience grew to annoyance. The hedgehog pondered if he had gone too hard on the machine and utterly annihilated it too quickly, as he was both interested and curious about what type of fight the machine could put up compared to the older models. As if the moment were jinxed, the pipe underneath him rattled and groaned with slight sounds reverberating in intensity. He glanced cooly at the noises the pipe was emitting before floating away from the site.
Sonic leaned back as Mecha-Sonic blasted through the gap between the pipe, knocking out the manhole which Sonic took ahold of. Mecha-Sonic slowed to a stop and hovered a fair distance away from Super Sonic, staring down at the golden hedgehog with an indescribable demeanor. Super Sonic wasted no time and threw the manhole towards the inferior replica. The Mecha-Sonic anticipated this and pulled out a final maneuver Sonic didn't expect.
A cube manifested itself around the machine crackling with dark energy, forming the prototype black shield Dr. Robotnik made, invulnerable to any outside attacks. The manhole impacted against the surface of the cube and dematerialized. Sonic followed up the attack by rushing Mecha-Sonic with an elbow drive, and although Mecha-Sonic staggered, the cube held firm. Sonic hovered a few feet away, stunned that the machine could withstand a direct blow from his super form. That moment of stupefaction was all the robotic copy needed to make its next move.
Mecha Sonic dropped the shield and blasted away. Sonic hovered, bewildered by the sudden decision to flee, though he quickly recomposed himself and raced towards the machine. The machine meanwhile flew in random directions, making sure that it did not lead Sonic towards Robotnik's hiding place. Mecha-Sonic attempted to put some distance between it and Sonic, but the golden hedgehog reappeared in front of it, waving with a sneer before socking Mecha-Sonic, drilling it across the sky.
Before the machine could recover, Sonic rebounded and appeared behind the machine again, throwing an axe-kick on its head and struck the machine hard, drilling it to the surface of the Death Egg MK II. Sonic watched as the wretched machine crashed into the ground, however, the Badnik was able to recover long enough to reorient itself and land on the ground with a resounding thud. A small pit formed underneath Mecha-Sonic as it locked its feet together standing even as gravity worked against it.
More sparks discharged from the machine, emitting a low and deep hum with its body twitching ever so slightly. It stared upwards looking at Sonic, its visor flickering. Sonic chirped in response and cheekily rubbed his nose. He suddenly spun in place, unveiling the spindash supercharged by the power of the Chaos Emeralds. The technique was so powerful in this state, the wind wrapped around the hedgehog in a whirlwind, thickening the atmosphere and deafening sound itself. Super Sonic streaked from the sky and reappeared in front of the Mecha-Sonic, crashing against the hull of its body and launched the two of them across thousands of miles, and yet there followed no sounds of destruction or chaos. Just deafening silence. Thousands of miles back the sound barrier broke, unleashing a mighty sonic boom that cast the area in a spectacular bass drop, long after the golden hedgehog unleashed his devastating attack against the machine.
All around the Death Egg MK II, structures continued to collapse as they were ripped from their foundations. A vague shape of Sonic and Mecha-Sonic whizzed around the surface of the Death Egg until the blurry figures suddenly stopped at a trench line between walkways. The two careen towards the side of the massive industrial complex and dented the Death Egg, igniting a massive cloud of debris. The cloud gradually began to settle, uncovering a golden hue as rays of illumination escaped the thick cloud.
A sudden strong breeze picked up in the area and carried scrap along with the wind, revealing Super Sonic standing victorious in all his glory as his quills lapped along with the strong breeze. He stared down the pathway underneath him, glaring at the mess of garbled metallic limbs, flying sparks, and exposed wiring that was once the form of the third generation Mecha-Sonic, yet despite the punishment the machine received, it still continued to persist.
It's orange wire-framed visor still flickered to life, smoke still poured from the excess of the machine, and still, some limbs continued to move about, albeit erratically. The machine was missing an arm and one of its legs was out of commission, bent to a degree that exposed wiring circuits that hung too loosely to even work. In the little ditch, the robotic doppelganger made for itself, upon looking down at its broken form, a resting place that appeared like a throne. Sonic walked towards Mecha-Sonic. The machine slowly raised its head looking up towards Sonic, and in the darkness of its visor, the golden flames dancing around Super Sonic reflected from the depths of its flickering light.
The hedgehog stopped in his tracks and stood just a foot away from the badnik until a sudden rumbling reverberated from the depths of the Death Egg MK II, shaking the walkways and structures violently as if an earthquake erupted from the core of the space station. Sonic glanced underneath the walkways and into the depths of the metal planet, curious and on edge. He hadn't even taken down the generator holding Little Planet in place, never mind the fact the Death Egg was still functional and intact. Sonic whipped to the skies, and of all the surprises he's had all day—and he was beginning to get sick of surprises— this took the cake.
It was the mythical Angel Island, still flying, still drifting along with the wind.⁽⁵⁾ The hedgehog tightened his fists at the prospect. First the imprisonment of Little Planet and now he's after the Master Emerald? There was only one conclusion to draw upon and he blanched at the thought. Robotnik wasn't just going to control Little Planet's flow of time and space, but the power bestowed by the Master Emerald would be enough to create an overflow of power in the Time Stones, affecting time outside and beyond Little Planet. Nevermind the fact that the doctor would have total control over the flow of time itself, he'd be ensuring the permanence of the Robotnik Empire on Earth if he had his hands on the giant emerald.
Just as Sonic figured Dr. Robotnik's ultimate goal, several Egg-Robos launched from one of the many bases littering the space station, blasting off the hull of the Death Egg and swarmed into the heart of Angel Island undoubtedly after that emerald. Meanwhile, behind the super-powered hedgehog, Mecha Sonic MK III watched the hedgehog's behavior, and it calculated the probable seconds left before Sonic would leave, destroy its comrades, and rob the doctor of yet another chance of world domination.
The command was still influencing the programming of the badnik; its directives were absolute. The text in his built-in monitor enlarged and he replayed his directive once more, "Create a diversion and lead Sonic]... Eliminate him if- diverge and..- Eliminate." An aura surrounded the machine, rotating between dark and light colors.
The sky from Sonic's perspective suddenly turned black and the area surrounding him went in vertigo. Sonic recoiled at the sudden transformation of the environment around him. He looked to his sides and pressed his gloved hands against the black screen, pushing against it and trying to shatter the makeshift prison. He punched the walls but it did not give, and though he charged another super-powered spindash and unleashed it, whatever the source of power Robotnik installed in the machine, his quills could not penetrate the black shield. Sonic could only watch in disbelief as the Egg-Robos were making landfall on Angel Island. He yelled silently in protest, in denial of the injustice occurring before him and he could do nothing as he fruitlessly banged against the screen.
Behind the hedgehog, the faint hum of electricity escaped from the Mecha Sonic as a sign of internal damage and processing failure within the machine's systems. Sonic turned to the noise to find Mecha Sonic in a defensive form as it maintained the shield surrounding Sonic. This darn robot! Sonic glared at the machine, though it gave no physical indication that it acknowledged the tense look Sonic gave it, the machines visor turned pitch black with a single white point fading in the middle of its visor. The black window stared back at Super Sonic, still polished enough for Sonic to see his reflection. The hedgehog roared in a fit of desperation as he quickly made work of the machine.
He drew a fist and lunged at the faker, driving his fist into the black shield and shattered it apart at such a blitzing speed, the metallic head of Mecha-Sonic compressed into the shape of his knuckles as Sonic tore the head off the body. Wires connecting inside the outer shell of the machine were ripped violently along with the head, flailing right as electrical discharges spewed wildly. The hedgehog smashed the mold of metal against the black shield, flattening the head and obliterating it into tangled wires and disfigured metal.
Sonic pulled his fist back, unclenching it as hardware fell from his hand. Sonic turned to the body of the machine still standing intact and rushed it, knocking the metal body back slightly, unleashing the full might of his super form against the copy, tearing and scattering wires, screws, and processing chips throughout its body, deactivating receptors and rendering all actions useless under a second.
All that remained was the core of the machine and yet the black screen did not give. Sonic's eyes slit with determination as he grabbed the chest piece and gripped, digging his fingers into the skin of the body like butter before he yanked the piece and tore it from its place. Throwing the offending appendage away among the scrapyard, Sonic went to study the architecture of the body's system, instead, he found himself face to face with a timer, actively counting down by just mere milliseconds away from "00:00". Outside the shield, the cube glitched and a bright scathing light enveloped its innards.
Faraway from the scene, the floating island experienced incredible darkness —akin to that of a solar eclipse— when mere moments ago the endless blue horizon, empty of clouds and illuminated by the sun, stretched out for miles with no end in sight. The island's guardian, the sole and final protector of the Master Emerald, awakened from his afternoon nap by the startling noises of the wildlife that co-existed with the Echidna; the mien of active and living creatures within the tropical rainforest suddenly screeched with sounds of anxiety before stopping, casting the island in unnerving silence.
Not even the bugs chirped anymore.
The Echidna's enhanced hearing picked up on the oddity and felt a shiver come up his spine, and though he'd never admit it, there was a slight unease that began to bite at him. The Echidna stood up from his spot on the foot of the shrine of the Master Emerald and turned towards the origin of the dark shadow casting upon his home.
Once Knuckles discovered and stared at the massive industrial space station parked right in front of the island, his eyes narrowed in distaste at the mere sight of the offending industrial orb. What is the meaning of this? Knuckles demanded to know.
Knuckles was the guardian and protector of the Master Emerald for a specific purpose, a duty passed down to a chosen one from generation to generation, a tradition his civilization made amends to uphold many years ago after a tragic calamity was incurred by their own hand. This duty was given to make sure no thief can steal the gem and ensure the same tragedy will never happen again inside or beyond the borders of their civilization. Before he could draw up any conclusions, he heard the faint whirr of jetpacks, where the elite squadron of Egg-Robos revealed themselves.
The Hard-Boiled Heavies dropped upon the entrance to the altar of the Master Emerald one-by-one. The final Egg-Robo descended before Knuckles, their blaster whining as they were primed and aiming squarely at Knuckles. Knuckles looked up to the red irises of the presumable leader of the squadron, unimpressed. The machine's attempt to intimidate the guardian was met with a scoff; Knuckles reached his lips, pinching the blade of grass he'd been previously chewing on, and flicked it away.
The Echidna glanced behind the robotic Eggman replica, leaning to see the Egg-Robos taking a position to begin their assault on the altar, the heart of this island, and without that emerald, this island will fall to the ocean. Guess they aren't here for a little chit-chat, huh?
Knuckles steeled his eyes and lunged forward, taking a hold of the blaster the Hard-Boiled commander pointed squarely at him. Predictably for Knuckles, the badnik pulled back and squirmed under his intense grip. The Egg-Robos beside him lined up their shots and began blasting him. He smirked underneath the shade of his dreadlocks and promptly let go of the Egg-Robo's weapon, sending it tumbling backward by the weight of its own brazenness, crashing onto the floor. Knuckles leaned backward and twisted his body accordingly, avoiding blaster shots and performing an aerial cartwheel into a drill dive, digging straight through the ground.
The earth underneath pitched up, creating a dirt mound loosened by the digging which allowed the Egg-Robos to shoot at a general shape. The Hard-Boiled Heavies rallied together and rained volleys of blaster bolts into the ground, but despite their inhuman reactive speed, they could not hit or seemingly catch up to the underground Echidna. The Hard-Boiled Heavies were getting outmaneuvered by a foe they couldn't touch until the trail of dirt headed straight underneath one of the Egg-Robos. Acting on its logical algorithm, the Egg-Robo stomped the head of the trail, stopping the dirt snake in its tracks. It turned to its comrades unsure of its accomplishment, who looked back shrugging.
The Egg-Robo shrugged back and raised a fist to the air, celebrating too early as Knuckles rocketed from the earth and socked the machine square with an uppercut. Knuckles grabbed ahold of the leg of the machine and spun it around with a mighty swing, using it as a shield to deflect blaster bolts from touching him. He continued at this pace, spinning so fast the two became a blur of a red canvas against the beautiful landscape of the island. Meanwhile, a rogue Egg-Robo slipped from the fight, intending to carry out its master's orders accordingly as it snuck into the chamber, yet the perceptive eyes of the echidna caught wind of the machine's intentions, so he launched the metal body in his hands at the Egg-Robo.
The red pupils of the machine comically enlarged in horror as the Egg-Robo flew straight in its direction. Without any time to react, the Egg-Robo smashed against the other and flung them out of the chamber. An Egg-Robo crashed through an unstable pillar breaking it apart along with the withered stones surrounding the temple in a circular formation. The remaining two Egg-Robos facing Knuckles momentarily paused in their fighting to look at the level of destruction. The Hard-Boiled Heavies looked on with astonishment while Knuckles looked on with abject horror.
The sacred temple!
Knuckles shook with rage at the destruction of his people's long history and hard work as the last remnants he had to his past were being taken away from him. Knuckles growled menacingly at the two Egg-Robos showcasing his long and sharp fangs. A fire brewed within him as he raised his spiked fist to strike, but he stopped, almost paralyzed as his eyes glazed wide before he dropped to his knees suddenly, revealing behind the guardian an Egg-Robo he didn't notice in his haste. The Egg-Robo's red irises pierced the glare of the sun, staring down at the crumpled form of the guardian while holding the butt of its blaster like a tool.
Caught off guard and dazed from the pistolwhip, the Echidna was dragged away from the badnik. The last two standing Egg-Robos grouped up against Knuckles, arm locking the Echidna and holding him in place as they stomped on his feet. Knuckles hitched, trying to regain his breath as he slowly met eyes with the squadron leader who pistolwhipped him earlier. The red guardian looked furious as a large bump could be seen protruding from his head, bruised as he struggled vainly to escape the machine's grasp. The Egg-Robo walked up calmly to the guardian as two electrical serpents unhooked themselves from the machine and snaked around the air.
Knuckles' pupils dilated at the sight of the offending tendrils, recalling his journey towards discovering the doctor's true intentions with his island, and more importantly, with his emeralds. Robotnik, right after Knuckles and Sonic brawled in the catacombs of that cryptic mosaic, swiped the Master Emerald under his nose, and as repayment for foiling Sonic at every step of the way, he electrocuted the guardian. It seems the doctor made sure to install these weapons specifically in the Egg-Robos for this purpose as the Egg-Robo stopped just at arms reach. The tendrils slithered their way above the badnik and curved down like a scorpion's tail.
Knuckles grit his teeth, mentally preparing himself for the shock and burns he would have to endure until a quick glance to his side revealed that the other Egg-Robos had their own too. Knuckles forced himself to look at the offending smug mien the commander of the Hard-Boiled Heavies gave the guardian and furrowed his brow. Just as the tendrils were about to shock Knuckles, he swung his head forward with all his might, denting the leader's headpiece and damaged the badnik's sight as the eyepieces caved in. Knuckles chuckled as he watched the Egg-Robo doubling over, agonizing over the lack of sight.
The guardian's victory, however, was short-lived as the two Egg-Robos holding him in place struck Knuckles with their electrical tendrils and shocked him harshly. He jerked and shook feverishly as he tried to cry out but couldn't. The tendrils retracted after a few moments and Knuckles hung limp. There was the sound of a whistle and the Egg-Robos turned to the temple as two other Egg-Robos Knuckles had taken out of the fight removed the Master Emerald from its shrine. They tossed Knuckles aside as they went back to their directives: retrieving the Master Emerald. One of the Egg-Robos went to help carry the giant emerald while another tended to their commander.
Ready to take flight once more and return to the Death Egg MK II, the machines took a quick glance at the guardian. Knuckles groaned, bleary from his condition as he struggled to hold onto an image or color to focus on. He tried in vain to reach out to the Master Emerald and stop the fiends, but the machines laughed at his expense playing a recording of Robotnik's schadenfreude as they rocketed away from the temple destroying more valuable and priceless pieces of the foundation of the temple. Knuckles looked at the fading figures in the sky, still desperately trying to keep them in view before his strength gave in and he fell unconscious.
Super Sonic stared at the torso of the metallic copy with an unreadable expression as he held an unidentified object in his grasp. The black shield imprisoning Sonic faded away and the remains of the machine were scattered by the wind as they plummeted far into the crevices of the space station. Sonic turned to the object in his hand as he lifted it up to view and studied it. The object appeared to be some sort of tube containing an emerald shard within.
Sonic frowned at the thought of the doctor tapping into artificial and alternative sources of power, and he quickly disposed of the chaos drive, crushing it in his palms. He shook off the shards in his gloves as his mind wandered elsewhere before he heard rumbling in the distance. The hedgehog turned around, facing the horizon to see to his horror Angel Island falling from the heavens.
This meant only one thing; the Master Emerald had been stolen.
The pit of horror deepened in Sonic as he watched the floating island, stripped of its heart, plummet to the Earth. But that sorrow could not last as the hedgehog spotted the Hard-Boiled Heavies entering the airspace of the Death Egg MK II. They would soon disappear into the depths of the Death Egg, so with the few seconds he had to catch up, Sonic made a promise as he watched Angel Island fall from view. He will defeat Dr. Robotnik and take back the Master Emerald to where it rightfully belongs. Without any hesitation, Sonic blasted to where the Hard-Boiled Heavies were last spotted, forcing his way into the facility.
Meanwhile, Robotnik was busy typing on his keyboard until he heard the growing sounds of muffled clanging approaching his laboratory. The doctor became tense with anxiousness as he turned around in his seat to face the door. With what felt like seconds stretching into minutes, the door quickly opened letting in two Hard-Boiled Heavies, carrying the jewel piece, into the room before the door shut behind them. Robotnik dropped his anxious look as he stared at the gem, overcome with joy at the sight of the Master Emerald glimmering beautifully in his room.
Robotnik donned a long and toothy smile stretching across his face "Ahah! Yes-YES! At long last, the Mas!-" *WHAM* The doctor flinched, almost jumping from his spot until he noticed the door behind the Egg-Robos was dented with impressions. The door opened a moment later and three Egg-Robos fell at the doorstep. "-ter Emerald..?" Robotnik looked incredulously at the sight, quickly regaining his good cheer as the mad scientist laid his hands on the emerald and eagerly felt along its edges.
"This is my dream come true, for so long now I have been humiliated by that blasted hedgehog! But now with this beautiful gem, my glorious eternal empire will be realized upon this world and I will rule it all!"⁽⁶⁾ Robotnik cackled hysterically, still incredulous at how easy this all was. Everything was going according to plan, and now he could begin the final curtain call.
"Quickly, my Hard-Boiled Eggs. We must commence now before it's too late!" Robotnik stormed into the laboratory adjacent to the headquarters with the rest of the Hard-Boiled Heavies trailing closely. Robotnik glanced at the seven pillars of metal emerging from the floor before turning to the small laptop on his desk. The room appeared empty but as Robotnik input some codes upon his keyboard, steam clouds sizzled from the ground as a large grandiose and complex altar arose from the floor.
"Place it right there... Excellent!" Robotnik cheered as wires cables and metallic limbs attached to the giant emerald. Green divine electricity discharged from the emerald as a loud but ambient hum escaped from the gem. One-by-one, several pillars holding their own respective Time Stone jutted from the floor encircling the grand altar. When the last pillar came to a stop, the machine holding the master emerald came to life as several beams of light shot out from the emerald and pierced the Time Stones. The doctor stepped back to observe the scene in front of him.
Finding himself enamored by the beauty of power, Robotnik stared at the contraption as the sheen of light emitted by the Master Emerald was increasingly blinding. A wicked smile crossed his features as his chuckles raised until the mad doctor was howling in laughter. He turned to a lever nearby and grasped the handle, Dr. Robotnik felt a surge of excitement as he turned back to the scene. His heart was thumping against his chest till all he could hear was the blood rushing to his ears and the beating drums of his heart. He composed his features returning to his toothy cheeky grin and he yelled enthusiastically.
"Get a load of this!"
Robotnik pulled the lever down, and all at once the machine went into overdrive and the beams of light from the Master Emerald intensified as a wave of power surged through the Time Stones, the dull colors of the gems faded away as their natural colors retook their gems. Soon not only did the jewels regain their color, but they were getting oversaturated with their primary colors until all they emitted was a bright white glow. "Now... now the transformation has been realized." Robotnik whispered as the Time Stones began to hover in place.
A bright orange laser shot down from the heavens and struck every one of the Time Stones concurrently as the twinkling of stars enveloped the gems. The Time Stones flickered for a few seconds before they reappeared with a drastic increase in size along with a low hum. Robotnik clasped his hands together rubbing his hands eagerly as he walked up to the Time Stones and stood a foot away. "In the palm of my hands..." Robotnik shakily reached for the Time Stones, his fingers mere centimeters from grazing the surface of the Time Stones and controlling all of time itself.
There was a faint screech on the other side of the room before the steel wall that separated Robotnik and the other adjacent room blew open as a golden flame burst into the room Robotnik and the Hard-Boiled Heavies all turned to stare at their intruder. "Nonono! Not here, not now!" Robotnik shouted, aghast as Super Sonic blew away the fog that enveloped the entrance. The hedgehog glanced around quickly, glimpsing at the bodies of the Egg-Robos before he landed his sight on Robotnik and glared with dark intent.
If looks could kill, Robotnik felt the daggers being thrown at him would surely encase his body. The Hard-Boiled heavies swarmed the golden hedgehog and each of the Egg-Robos grabbed ahold of the superpowered being, trying to form a bodily shield to protect Robotnik against Super Sonic. The hedgehog scoffed at their feeble struggle and sent a blast wave knocking the Egg-Robos off him. Super Sonic then dashed forward, his hand reaching out to grab ahold of the doctor.
Robotnik paled under his expression sweating bullets, as his skin turned to a sheet of white. Robotnik reached for the Time Stones, knicking them off first as Sonic held onto Robotnik's hand. "B-better luck next time, hero!" Robotnik cackled in hysteria as the area around them exploded with a piercing light. Sonic instinctively released his grip on the doctor and held his hand out in front of him, turning away quickly and squeezed his eyes shut from the blinding light.
All around Sonic was the boisterous condescending guffaws of the doctor as if he was the only noise that could be heard, the only noise that could exist. This went on for a while, a very long while. The doctor's laughter was ear piercing, boundless, and without end on every single fiber of his being.
Sonic swore he heard the doctor's laughter coming from his own mouth.
The hedgehog tried to shift his feet, looking to grab ahold of something, but he tumbled in his steps. Like a weary and unstable drunkard, he fell kneeling against the floor. Sonic opened his eyes to see a white void, all the while Robotnik's laughter only worsened, distorting and warping around different octave levels seemingly taking a life of its own, cutting deep into the crevices of the hedgehog.
Sonic breathed heavily and hugged his chest, face down on the floor; the hedgehog felt sick, incredibly sick as if every single atom of his being was being torn to shreds. His breathing became more labored as his body was sizzling, glitching away from existence. His body became more and more distorted, flickering between his super form and his regular form. He was convulsing rapidly as parts of his being faded from existence with the gnawing feeling of withering away.
Was, this it?...
Is this, the end?...
The chaos emeralds tore from his body, but unlike usual in his last adventures after use, they did not scatter away around the Earth. The emeralds hovered around the hedgehog shakily, losing form as they flickered from their natural bright colors to dull and lifeless rocks. Sonic held out a hand, a show of desperately trying to keep himself together. His legs faded from existence yet he still stood kneeling, held up by something.
His fingers were reduced to stubs and his quills were shrinking past their roots as his head began to disappear. He looked from the floor to the endless horizon surrounding him. His sight began to blur as he neared total annihilation. Only his upper body continued to remain all while the emeralds turned to stone, but they still circled around the hedgehog without fading. Sonic took a deep breath as the last corner of sight left him and he saw nothing.
Not darkness.
Nothing.
This was it, the end right? Were there any regrets left? No, no regrets. Time doesn't wait.
The laughter withered into white noise, becoming lower in volume and pulsed rhythmically like the beat of a drum. The beating dampened into a soft reverberation, like running water. It was through this weird disorientation that the hedgehog could barely make out a voice as if he were in the midst of awakening from slumber.
Sonic held on, hanging by the edge of time even as all that remained of him was his mouth. Sonic held on, hanging on "What if?", holding on to "What if?" Nothing remained of the hedgehog, nothing but a single golden ring he dropped as the fibers of his being were scattered by the time-storm, and yet the emeralds still hovered around the spot continuing to persist even though there was nothing left.
Golden beams of light shot out from the emeralds as they spun around in a circle spinning so fast they made the outline of a black ring. The golden ring floated upwards to meet the emeralds and held in place. They stopped and swarmed at the center combining into one emerald inside the gold ring before they dissipated with a flash. He chose to go his own way. A surge of pure chaos erupted as a gleam of golden flames came into existence and exploded.
Sonic opened his eyes startled as he concurrently hitched a breath, breathing quickly to get the airflow through his system. He held a hand over his neck to make sure he was alive. Sonic was in shock, how was he alive? There was nothing of him left! Sonic stiffened suddenly as a thud rocketed the chamber. Sonic glanced to his side to see a golden ring, the same he found on the beaches of Westside Island all those months back, rolling across the floor and stopping at his foot. Sonic stared at the ring, a million questions rolling in his head all coming back to one question.
What?
Sonic glimpsed back to the center of the room as a hiss escaped from a loose pipe knocking him out of his reverie. He looked at the general direction of the pipe before inspecting the room. It seemed the exact same as when he found it barring the steel door put back in place as if he didn't just rip it from its hinges and threw it against the other side of the room. Everything looked pristine in this room, in fact, it was too well maintained.
Papers sitting on the desk beside him weren't overturned or shredded by the chaos in the room; the electrical equipment appeared to run in a functional and expected manner, though the biggest key difference in the room was the lack of the big machine filling up space in the center of the room. The altar for the Master Emerald was gone, and so were the pillars hugging around it. Sonic stood up hesitantly, gradually slowing his breath down to normal tempo and studied the room a bit more.
He was confused about how he was still alive and why the room appeared to be so sterile and clean while simultaneously missing key features. Sonic shook his head as he reached to grab the ring, stopping as he saw his reflection within the ring and on the floor. It was so painstakingly clean he could even see his glossy reflection. The hedgehog blinked and shook his head utterly lost as he brought the ring to eye level.
Whatever this thing is, where ever it came from, or whatever the meaning of its existence could be, it saved his life from total annihilation.
A determined expression dotted his face as he gripped the ring tightly, clutching it in his palms. Sonic heeded to the importance and power the ring had and securely fasted it onto the cuff of one of his gloved hands. Despite that, there was still one last thing to do —Sonic spun back, looking at the insignia of Robotnik plastered in the middle of the steel door— and that was to find the Doctor and finish the fight.
Sonic looked to the ceiling but envisioned far beyond it as he closed his eyes, focusing on something. Sonic made several faces as he concentrated hard, his lips tugging along his cheeks in anticipation. The room was deathly silent beyond the noises made by the little trinkets working within the chamber, giving the impression of abandonment. This silence continued on for several more minutes when Sonic's eyes shot open as he felt a pulse. A pulse belonging to the Master Emerald! It was nearby, still on the Death Egg but high above the room. The golden hedgehog got into a stance, and once more, he was engulfed in his divine golden flames before he rocketed out of the room, tearing through the ceiling and hundreds of floors above.
High above the surface of the Death Egg, Sonic tore away from the ground level of the space station, tearing through several layers of construction and work on the skin of the Death Egg before stopping to hover a few hundred feet above the ground. Super Sonic relaxed his stance as he checked and observed the Death Egg, but to his dismay and sorrow, everything he knew had changed for the worst. The Death Egg had gone under some intense construction since he last saw it. Giant towers had made themselves known —at least six in total— distributed across the surface of the Death Egg, each ending in the shape of a sphere along with several other smaller satellite space stations orbiting them.
Now, however, it became apparent some time had passed as Sonic looked to the sky to see... no sky. Just the vast empty vacuum of space. The last time he saw where the Death Egg was, he presumed it was somewhere in the stratosphere where Angel Island floated around, but that was clearly no longer the case. Sonic, as he processed everything before him, felt increasingly worried as things he couldn't believe could exist come to fruition. His feet felt heavy like bricks, his heart sunk in his chest, and he choked as he looked upon the corpse of what was once Little Planet.
Little Planet, an actual living planet, a world that visited the globe every other year, was completely industrialized. Nothing of the environment was preserved in the conversion as the smaller orbital station was chained to the Death Egg for whatever purposes it may have.
The most gut-wrenching discovery was what became the fate of this planet. The blue globe as cool and blue as Sonic himself was cast in a burgundy shadow. He could see nothing but the thick smog of industrial chutes fogging up the planet, so much so, all Sonic could see was a red marble in space. Super Sonic choked back a sob, everything-everyone, was likely dead or had been converted into Robotnik's army of badniks to protect them from the hazardous environment. He couldn't know for sure, there was nothing Sonic could see beyond the smog.
He lost. Sonic lost. He failed beyond all measure.
Sonic slumped in the sky, tears forming in the edges of his eyes as he silently mourned... perhaps the only one left to mourn what remained of this tragedy; his failure. Thunder and steel clouds roamed in the air choking out the ambiance of the space station with the low growls of technology. The silence remained for a few seconds till once more he heard the pulse of the master emerald, like a droplet to a pond disturbing the calm and rippling against the surface.
No.
While he could hardly swallow this pain, there was still time, still a chance to correct this madness from continuing any further. Super Sonic swiveled to the origin of that blip, the quiet ethereal pulse of the divine emerald. There was nothing as far as the eye can see except the endless trenches, tunnels, and passageways that littered the surface of the Death Egg till the globe appeared to be a giant maze of corridors.
Still, the emerald remained here somewhere in the depths of the space fortress. Sonic engulfed himself in blue flames as he soared the surface of the new and improved battle station.
Every second that passed was like the beat of a reawakened heart pulsing faster and faster with every second. The pulse grew nearer, grew stronger and eventually, all the hedgehog could hear was the ringing pulses of the Master Emerald beating like crazy. Sonic's eyes widened as a colossal figure rose from the distance getting sharper and growing exponentially with every passing moment. Sonic slowed down his flight and scrutinized the figure in its entirety starting from the bottom up. He gaped as he looked on, horrified and in awe at the absolutely gigantic machine that towered above the surface of the Death Egg.
Its size could be comparable to the largest mountain he'd ever seen! It appeared to be some sort of Death Egg Robot or at the very least an interpretation of the Death Egg Robot Sonic faced in his last two adventures. This machine, however, was incredibly modified; outfitted in state of the art life-destroying weaponry wherein the robot's two hands there were giant gaping holes easily fitting the entirety of angel island twice over. The arms of the machine were decked out in massive spikes as they were placed alongside its elbows and shoulders as large as its arms.
On its midsection, giant bulbous orange orbs were plastered all around the surface of the Robot, reflecting large chunks of the area underneath it. Its legs were comparable in length to its arms with gears and wiring the size of entire islands. On the body of the Death Egg Robot, there appeared to be gigantic gold-armor pieces on the chest of the machine with Robotnik's insignia, made in his likeness, plastered in white all across. The size of its head was almost synonymous to that of the Appalachian Mountains, with two red glowing eyes on the cockpit, acting less like a screen for the user to see through but also functioning as massive searchlights. Alongside the eyes, two massive searchlights were installed, bathing everything in sight of the Death Egg with neon red lights. Beyond the intimidating sight, there were superfluous design choices such as the addition of Robotnik's resemblance in the face of the machine where a giant pink nose erected between the eyes, a burly brown steel mustache placed underneath the nose, and rows upon rows of teeth lining up to make a wicked smile that stretched across its face. Behind the enormous machine, two giant columns were erected in the shape of a royal collar that protruded further up than its head.
Sonic stared breathlessly at the sight and he knew —he could feel it— that the Master Emerald was inside the machine calling out to him to free it. He gulped, feeling for the very first time in his life the daunting task set out before him. This is perhaps the most powerful machine/weapon in the list of arsenals Robotnik had ever created in all their battles powered not only by the Master Emerald but also the new and juiced-up Time Stones. Sonic flew up alongside the machine, reaching high enough to the cockpit of the robot where he felt the strongest pulse of the Master Emerald emitting from within the machine. The golden hedgehog slowed to a stop as he faced head to head with the machine. Nothing of the background behind the giant robot could be seen as its entire face covered the golden hedgehog's field of view. The exchange of silence between the two seemed to last forever as neither side budged. In the chill of space, Sonic instinctively shivered, skipping a few breaths. His ears twitched at the slightest noise, expecting something to happen like the alarms being ignited or a surprise foe.
Nothing came and nothing happened in the quiet of space. The darkness surrounding the stars while lighting the zone expressed an ethereal beauty as the backdrop for this terrible confrontation. In the chilly existential dread of space, he felt these things whispering absolute nothings, words without rhyme or reason. This dread pervaded and corrupted the milieu of the wonders of space. Sonic narrowed his eyes as he blasted forward, engulfed in blue flames as he aimed a punch to pierce through the machine and take back the world.
The flaming super hedgehog was within arms reach of the machine and... time seemed to slow to a crawl as the knuckles of his fist barely poked the surface of the machine. Sonic held still in the sky, the flames wrapped around him paused as if they were captured in a still image. His form hadn't budged a muscle and his face portrayed one of anger and the beginnings of horror.
A white dot, flat at an angle, appeared between Sonic and the giant Death Egg Robot, growing exponentially larger with each passing moment until it dwarfed Sonic, tripling in size. The dot made in the shape of a throwing star, expanded outwardly, bulging erratically and sharply as if something were trying to escape from the depths of this single point. At last, the expansion stopped as the dot formed a vortex in the shape of a ring. White flames faded beyond the borders of the ring until the emptiness inside brightened to an aqua blue color.
A figure hovered out of the ring and stopped in front of Sonic. Outside the portal, the silhouette of the figure came into view as a heavily modified Egg-Mobile, appearing more regal and decked out with all sorts of valuable treasures and jewelry hanging around the ship as a white boot stepped on the windshield of the flying object. While struggling to look upwards, Sonic saw Robotnik, entirely different than when he last saw him in the laboratory.
Gone was the rotund, egg-shaped, lard of fat that belonged only to this man. In its place, Robotnik's physique appeared as an egg turned upside-down. His thin legs were bulked, his waist diminished to match the proportions of his legs, and the upper body of the man was enormous. His once thin noodle arms were now tugging against the cloth of his regal flight suit, his chest looking as if it wanted to burst from the concealment of his clothing. His once-iconic design of a face changed significantly as well with his bushy mustache finally groomed to a respectable looking handlebar mustache. His cobalt blue glasses were redesigned to be golden spectacles, hooked to a golden chain—and he even grew out hair! Albeit trimmed and combed to the side like Theodore Roosevelt.
Robotnik held out his hands as if he were worshipped and tagging alongside him were the seven Time Stones orbiting around the mad man like a mosaic piece of art. Robotnik looked down with a sneer as he observed Sonic's form, putting his hands behind his back. He shook his head, mock tut-tutting the terrible position Sonic was in: completely frozen in time and unable to do anything but watch the man who destroyed the world. He sighed with a gravel of annoyance at the end of stroking his unending ego.
"Of course, it would be you. The anomaly who messed with the flow of time. It always must be with you isn't it, little rodent?" Robotnik asked rhetorically, his voice sounding much more youthful than before, knowing full well Sonic couldn't get his voice out, being frozen in time and all.⁽⁷⁾
"The Chaos Emeralds must've been the only things powerful enough to chance with and disobey me, the supreme ruler of life and time itself!" Robotnik snarled flashing his teeth. "The only reason you were saved from the brink of total oblivion isn't it? Only through the power of your super form could you be exempt from total annihilation of my Time-Storm!" Robotnik huffed, gripping his palms tightly and threatening to rip his gloves apart from his sheer strength.
Robotnik stopped and recomposed himself, taking a deep breath and turning slightly away from the golden Hedgehog. "It doesn't matter anyway, the divine power of the Master Emerald dwarfs those rocks beyond infinity!" Robotnik outstretched his arms in a grand gesture, donning a toothy joyous grin. "It's beautiful isn't it Sonic? I've been hard at work forming the Robotnik empire, even reforming the Death Egg to the Death Egg II to accommodate my grand ambitions. Thanks to you I was able to find and locate Angel Island, capture the Master Emerald, and control the flow of time itself!" Robotnik cackled wickedly to the point of tears as he looked upon the marble red planet that was once Earth.
The ring on Sonic's cuff shook slightly.
"I should thank you. Really Sonic. Because without your super form none of this would be possible." Robotnik gestured to the area surrounding them with a gleeful smile that belonged only to a kid. The doctor then leaned down eye-to-eye with Sonic. "Not only did I bag Little Planet because of you, but Earth is underneath my complete and total control! And not just the planet, but all its citizens, plants, and animals alike! All life under the sun united as one, with complete and absolute loyalty to my cause. I merely had to give them a little... push, if you know what I mean. Hehe!" Robotnik chuckled in the insinuation as he turned to the gigantic robot.
"The heart of my Robotnik empire, the Titanic Monarch is the embodiment of my movement. All my dreams have led us to this!" He stood straight again and looked down at Sonic crossing his arms, letting out a mock sigh as genuine emotions rolled out of him. "Ah well... it was nice chatting up with you again Sonic, if only briefly. Brings back memories you know? Before all of this I mean, even though it may not appear like so-" Sonic was still frozen, the only indication he was listening was the slight tremble in his eyes.
The ring continued shaking in place.
"-But all good things must come to an end, sadly. So with that being said!" Robotnik grinned devilishly, holding the Time Stones around him. The Time Stones reacted to his wordless commands, as they fazed through the cockpit of the Titanic Monarch. The faint red glare of the neon lights coming from the Titanic Monarch ignited in a blazing hellish inferno, drenching Sonic in a reddened world. The construction cables unhooked themselves and construction towers fell to the ground below as the machine came to life.
The ground underneath the Titanic Monarch trembled and shook viciously as the machine activated for the very first time. What was more surprising about the machine, however, was that it did not move in proportion to its size. If anything it defied the weight of gravity applied against it as the robot moved with as much grace as an average-sized human. The machine leaned to the side as Sonic was suddenly let go of his time prison.
Sonic backed away before stopping in his flight. Horror and so many emotions overcame Sonic's features as he swiveled to meet the Titanic Monarch. The hedgehog had no time to react as a mere second later the machine reappeared in front of him and socked him against its arms, drilling him against the surface of the Death Egg II.
Sonic smashed against the metal ground of the space fortress, crashing through many structures and skipping against the Earth before he recovered and dug his hands into the ground slowing himself to a stop. Sonic stared at the ground, stiffening when he saw a single red splot drip from his face.
Hesitantly he reached his face and touched his forehead tentatively, removing it quickly and seeing it stained red. He gaped, dumbfounded. Robotnik hurt him?! Sonic turned to the horizon as his ears twitched, the foot of the Titanic Monarch smashed him, flattening the ground. The Titanic Monarch popped from the scene reappearing a few hundred miles away.
The ground underneath the attack of the Titanic Monarch was flattened in the imprint of the robot's foot and in the center of the imprint, Super Sonic lay stretched. His quills were mottled and his skin was scratched up with the imprint of the Titanic Monarch. He slowly got onto a knee and struggled to hold himself up, looking at the ground while trying to catch his breath. The Titanic Monarch stared at the small golden point in its screen, before raising its arms to point directly at Sonic. A bright yellow light formed from the depths of the barrels of the Titanic Monarch.
"I'm afraid our little game ends now!" Sonic stood up and as he did, the ring, which had been shaking crazily now, tore itself away from Sonic's cuff, tugging slightly on his wrist before it flew to meet the Titanic Monarch.
Gold glittering light trailed behind the ring as it made its way to the gigantic machine, stopping suddenly between the Titanic Monarch and Sonic. In their scuffle, the ring reacted violently to the presence of the Time Stones, and as it floated in place, it started vibrating erratically. The ring stopped suddenly and enlarged in size comparable to a door, revealing a green portal opening up inside the ring.
"What!?" Robotnik stared bewildered at the new development before everything around him succumbed to chaos.⁽⁸⁾ All forms of electrical equipment showered the cockpit with sparks, going haywire right after alarms blared behind his seat. The inside of the machine rumbled, quaking and roaring as if it were being torn open. That's when Robotnik made a terrifying discovery. His connection to the Time Stones severed as on-by-one they tore away from the machine and swarmed the ring, spinning rapidly around it.
"NOOO!" Robotnik yelled as the Time Stones began acting of their own volition. "Come back, Come back!" He begged.
Sonic looked up with a blank expression as he watched the ring and Time Stones warp the world all around them. He felt something out of this world, however. Something called for him that required his immediate presence. He was pulled from the ground taken by the strong winds towards the ring, and though he could easily fly away from it, he didn't feel the need for whatever particular reason. From the depths of the ring, an ethereal and simultaneously grounded voice called out to him.
"I-I beg of you, t-to the ultimate life form—my perfect and pure familiar! Wh!-who hails from a world enriched with power and strength most deserving of familiar spirits! O my most sacred, most powerful, beautiful, and heavenly familiar that lives s-somewhere... in this boundless perfect existence! I wish, I desire... and I beg of you! From the depths of all my heart, please... I'm more than just a zero! Give me a chance wherever you may be, somehow, someway answer my call!" Sonic felt his heart aching as he clasped his chest, empathy swallowed her pain in kind. The tiredness, the desperation, the hope, her cries bleeding out for help! All the girl's life, her struggles, her fears, and pain laid bare within the wound deeply embedded in her soul; it was too much to endure for this divinely gifted hero!
Sonic was bitterly torn and confused. Never before in his life had he felt such a raw confession expressed so squarely to him, poured from pain and hope. His mind went blank as he tried to understand, but the golden hedgehog couldn't. Sonic turned from the ring, floating high above in the sky creating a fissure in the world, to the Titanic Monarch as the once quickly speeding orbs within the chambers of the arms of the robot slowly crept up brighter and larger.
This was his opportunity to strike! The Super Time Stones, at least momentarily, was no longer under Robotnik's control so his time-warping powers were gone; no longer influencing the perceived speed of the machine. All he had to do now was take back the Master Emerald and restore the order of time. Super Sonic grit his teeth as he bulleted towards the core of the Titanic Monarch while Robotnik was momentarily distracted. Now's not the time for confessions! Sonic was encased in the flames of ultraviolet light as the tails of the aura flew wildly against Sonic. But he was stopped in place, frozen by the might of the Super Time Stones.
"Please! T-this... means everything to me! Answer to my guidance a-and come forth!"
Even if they couldn't see each other, even if he couldn't understand where the pain came from, why it was directed for him, and why he was chosen for her, the power of the confession and the Super Time Stones compelled him.
With only a few feet of reaching the ring, the intense gravity surrounding the unnatural phenomenon pulled Super Sonic into the portal. The Time Stones revolved continuously around the ring until they blurred like a fan. A small crack started to envelop the rocks, spewing out thin rays of light of the color spectrum. They continued cracking as the world warped, draining into the fissure made upon the world when the rocks exploded, enveloping the area in white light.
Robotnik held his hands out and squinted his eyes as the bright light consumed everything "NONONONO!-".
End One-Shot.
Well, congratulations! You just finished the chapter and now we're here.
...
Huh...
Usually, there would be a few author's comments left down at the bottom of the chapters of fanfiction, but I'm kind of at a loss of words. This turned out WAY bigger and more ambitious than I thought it would be.
Originally, my editor and I planned to create a chapter that had at least 7,000 words minimum for this One-Shot, yet as we progressed the whole thing escalated to 20,000 words!
[Editor] D:
[Editor] We didn't actually expect it to be this big, in fact if we went with the original script it probably would've been less than half as long. When we started however, the plot shifted and established themselves naturally beyond the rough draft, and by then I joked that at the pace we were going and the words already put in the chapter we'd go over 10,000 words. Well, it certainly is over 10,000 alright. We wanted to make this fanfiction when we noticed the lack of Sonic (the main character of his franchise!) in this particular crossover.
[Editor] We were careful to make sure this one-shot (and potential series!) were unique from the trap most crossovers to ZnT have where the OC/EC(Established Character) replaces Saito and not much else changes besides the dialogue and character motivations, so this prologue/one-shot serves as the starting point of the fanfiction where stakes are raised and goals are made clear early on. Hopefully, this would help make the crossover stand out among the rest.
This is also the first fan-fiction I've legitimately taken seriously, the production time being 2 years and all. All that time wasn't actually put into this chapter alone, only a month's worth actually. Of course, there was a lot of procrastination and stalling on my part throughout the process, mostly due to my fear of this one-shot being rejected and scorned from the face of the earth, but I persisted with some encouragement from my editor to make it through.
It is our hope that this fanfiction gets enough support and traction to have reviews shortly within its publishing; 5 reviews and 50 views to be exact, at least within the first couple weeks the chapter had been released. My editor and I are hoping to reward the readers with a second chapter to the One-Shot (as if the title of the chapter didn't give that away) soon after if the general consensus is interested in the effort.
I guess to follow up with the paragraph above, we hope that you'll leave a review for this One-Shot.
[Editor] I imagine it would be quite a daunting read, what with over 20,000 words by the first chapter alone!
...
[Editor] Talk about first impressions am I right? Still, I really want this One-Shot to turn into a story!
Oh!
Constructive criticism is always appreciated, though if you don't have any, some comments are always nice. Frankly, we're quite proud of how many references/easter eggs, and play on words we've made on this chapter alone. If my editor and I had the eyes of a hawk and the focus of cheetah (or something idunno?), we wouldn't have to read this thing however many times we did, but mistakes were made sadly. It does feel a little burnt-out in the bottom half of the chapter, though.
It was one rollercoaster of a ride I'll admit; [Editor] (With its ups and downs and all arounds,) but in the end, it was fun. How can something be so fun without any obstacles along the way? [Editor] (Don't answer that, it's a rhetorical question!)
Anyways, that'll be all from me for now, but because this is a One-Shot (and because of how much I love replay-ability in video games), my editor and I decided that we'll leave a list of recommended songs to listen to if you wanted to read the chapter again to help with the immersion.
[Editor] In case this becomes a series of chapters, don't expect this music list to show up for every single chapter, only every so often if the author and I feel it's worth the inclusion.
There'll be quotes and sentences that'll go along with the insertion of music, so you'll know when you'd want to start or change to a different song.
List of Music:
"With the Death Egg at long last destroyed and Angel Island returned to its rightful place in the sky, peace had returned to the lands." - Beginning of the story (1).
- A New Journey, Sonic Unleashed
"He began to stand up when a sharp golden ring fell from his fur, thumping softly in the grass. He picked up the ring and held it to the sky, observing the runes along the outside of the ring to which Sonic only assessed as an ancient language." - (2).
- Legend of Babylonians, Sonic Riders OST
"A resounding metallic clang echoed against the scenery, scaring flocks of flickies as they flew away from the unpleasant noise." - (3)
- Eclipse Cannon - Shadow the Hedgehog [OST]
"Within the confines of the Death Egg, Dr. Robotnik roamed the corridors leading to his laboratory in his Egg-Mobile." - (4) Optional
- E.G.G.M.A.N. [Doc. Robeatnix Mix] - Shadow the Hedgehog [OST]
"It was the mythical Angel Island, still flying, still drifting along with the wind." - (5)
- Vast Nazca - Shadow the Hedgehog [OST]
"This is my dream come true, for so long now I have been humiliated by that blasted Hedgehog! But now with this beautiful gem, my glorious eternal empire will be realized upon this world and I will rule it all!" - (6)
- Event: 3 Black Noises (Revival) [Game Version] - Sonic Adventure 2 OST
"Robotnik asked rhetorically, his voice sounding much more youthful than before, knowing full well Sonic couldn't get his voice out, being frozen in time and all." - (7)
- Null Space - Sonic Forces [OST]
"What!?" Robotnik stared bewildered at the new development before everything around him succumbed to chaos." - (8)
- "Death Egg Robot - Phase 3" - Sonic Forces Epic Orchestral Cover - By Stephen Ddungu
[Editor] Well, with all that, I think it's a good time to close things out. Until next time friends!
I hope you enjoyed the One-Shot!