The Speedster Coven
(The Owl House X Sonic the Hedgehog)
Chapter 12: New Forces, Old Rivals
Amity had stopped right in front of the emperor's palace, she got off her staff and walked towards the entrance. The entrance is being patrolled by two of the emperor's guards, who notice Amity waking to them.
"Ah, you must be Blight's youngest daughter." One of the guards says, Amity nods in response. The other guard opens the door, while the first guard steps forward. "Let's get going, your arrival has been much anticipated, especially for our emperor. The guard escorts Amity into the place, while the other guard stays behind and closes the door.
As Amity is being guided through the palace, she looks around at all the sophisticated decor, which clashes with some more industrial additions that Eggman had made. Amity eventually starts to overhear a conversation between Eggman, Belos, and her parents. The guard stops right in front of the door to the emperor's quarters.
"Well, looks like I have to go back to my post," The guard stated, and they turned around and left, "Good luck out there, young Blight."
Amity enters the room in the middle of Eggman cracking a joke, then Belos, and her parents bursting out in regal laughter. The room is mostly empty, except for a contraption of sorts that's covered in drapes, and an assortment of furniture laid around a medium-sized round table in the center of the room. Belos sat in a luxurious chair, dawning his usual white cloak and antlered mask. Eggman Sat next to him in a simplistic, hovering recliner chair that stuck out like a sore thumb next to all the traditionally expensive-looking furniture. His chair was decked out in modern conveniences such as a cup holder, and a massage feature. On the other side of the table, sat Odalia and Alador, who sat close by each other in simpler, yet still clearly luxurious chairs. The table is populated by half-full glasses of apple blood.
Away from the table, Edric and Emira sat in lounge chairs that clashed with the room's aesthetic, the two conversed while browsing their scrolls. On the side of the room, Orbot, Cubot, and Metal Sonic laid on the floor playing a form of poker, but instead of chips, they appeared to be betting on a variety of nuts and bolts. Metal Sonic has taken on a new design, featuring purple streaks around his arms and legs. He wears a green poker hat, which appears unrelated to the new redesign. And in the center back of the room, Hunter, dressed in his Golden Guard outfit, leaned against the wall in a brooding manner.
Odalia turned to face Amity, "Ah, Amity, I am glad you decided to make your way here. Well, less decided, and more, I made you go or else you would've been in serious trouble, but you get the sentiment." Odalia takes a sip off her glass, "Now, make yourself comfortable while your father and I discuss some things with the good doctor."
"Hey!" Interjects Eggman, "That's emperor to you!" The four at the table burst into laughter once more, while Amity awkwardly shuffles away from the conversation.
While Amity walks over to her siblings, she overhears an argument between Eggman's three robots.
"You're a filthy cheater!" Cubot accusingly shouts at Metal as he scoops up the nuts and bolts.
"Cubot, calm down." Orbot says reassuringly, "I assure you that big bro is an honest and fair android."
"I don't know..." Cubot replied, "He's a robot and a dealer, I've seen more fair odds at 'Sonic's Game World'.
"Oh, don't bring up that old casino just because you're bitter, brother." Metal retorted, "Besides, you're a robot and a player, what does that say about you?"
"Oh, I'll tell you what it says." Orbot furiously states, before attempting to lunge at Metal, and only being stopped by a distressed Orbot. Metal looks at the two with disappointment while shaking his head, before noticing that Amity is staring at them.
"What are you staring at, flesh dummy, do you not have siblings of your own to bother instead?" Metal inquires.
Amity sighs, "I was just on my way, metal dummy, no need to get your panties in a twist."
Metal lets out a robotic growl, before getting hit in the side of his head with bolts that were thrown by Cubot.
Amity finally makes her way to Edric and Emira, they look away from their scrolls and notice Amity.
"Oh, hey Amity," Emira greets, "finally made it, did you?"
Amity awkwardly chuckles, "Yeah, it's not like… I had… anything better to do…" As Amity let's out that sentence, a feeling of existential sadness starts to make itself present within her, and any semblance of joy left in her voice fades.
Edric, noticing Amity's declining mood, gets up and grabs a third lounge chair. "Here, Amity, take a seat." Amity slumps into the lounge chair her brother retrieved for her.
"What's bothering you, Amity?" Emira asks.
Amity lets out a sigh, "At this moment, what isn't bothering me? I was forced to abandon my girlfriend in the middle of a soon-to-be destroyed town square, leaving her and Sonic to face whatever Belos and Eggman have in store for them. And now I have to attend a meeting where our parents are being swindled by a power-crazy tyrant and his just as power crazy mad doctor Ally From another dimension. The ally, who's the same egghead who tried to kill me in front of my parents and pass it off as a demonstration. Not to mention, the robot he tried to get to kill me is just lying around, playing poker like it never happened. And just to add salt to my wound," Amity points at Hunter, who is minding his business, "This jerk is just wallowing in his sorrow, in the corner, and it's really bothering me for some reason!" Amity starts to pant after finishing her rant. Emira and Edric look at each other, then back at Amity, trying to process all that she said.
"Woah," Edric stated, "That was, like, a lot."
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Amity replied, catching her breath, "How do you two manage to stay happy with all of this stuff happening around us."
Emira looked at Amity sincerely, "actually, if we're being honest, I don't think any of us are happy."
Amity looks at her sister bewildered, and can only mutter, "What?"
Edric and Emira nodded, "Yeah, this whole thing has been upsetting for all of us." Edric added
"But we just figured why just mope around, just try and make the most of it." Emira stated.
"Just make the most of it?" Amity says bewildered. "How can I do that when our way of life is being threatened by two megalomaniacs?"
Edric shrugged, "Just don't worry yourself, ok, Amity?"
Amity reluctantly nods, and walks away. Amity slumps down and sits by the same wall that Hunter was leaning on, she sits a few feet away from him. Hunter subtly stares over at Amity for a bit, before deciding to say something.
"Rough night, huh?" Hunter says sympathetically.
"Shut up." Amity says annoyed while facing the other way.
Hunter sighs, and fully turns to Amity, "Look, I get that you probably hate me because of the whole, Eclipse Lake incident…"
"Aw, you think?" Amity states with sarcasm.
Hunter looks flustered, and shakes his head, "The point is, I may find you and the human, very annoying, but I don't hate you. I just like to think of this as a business hatred."
"Yeah, is your business putting up with your dumb uncle being manipulated by a crazy egghead?"
"You don't have to tell me twice." Hunter says in agreement, "Like, this guy bursts into our palace and tries to overthrow him, but the moment he starts talking fancy about world domination, he's all like, 'My golly gee, that's actually a good point you bring, mister.'. Then, when I'm like 'uncle, this guy seems pretty untrustworthy' he tells me, 'Oh but Hunter! He's a VALUED guest, so you can't be rude to him'. My god, adults can be annoying! It's like… It feels like…"
"It feels like you're the only sane one sometimes?" Amity interjects. Hunter looks at Amity gleefully, like she had just said the greatest sentence any has ever spoken.
"Yes, finally, someone gets it." Hunter blurts out.
Amity chuckles, "I'm used to having adults be like that, especially when it comes to Eggman related issues."
Hunter sighs, "You know, you're not actually that bad."
"Yeah," Amity replied, "You're pretty tolerable when you're not doing whatever your uncle tells you to."
Hunter smiles, before their conversation, by Odalia walking over to the two of them.
"Oh, Amity," Odalia says gleefully, "It's nice to see you getting along with the emperor's kin, but it's about time to discuss your bright future." Odalia holds out her hand, "Come now, Amity, there's much to discuss."
Amity looks at her mother's hand, but decides to move forward by herself instead. Odalia looks slightly disappointed, but just shrugs it off, and follows Amity. Taking a seat at the table, Amity finds Eggman conversing with the emperor. Once Eggman finishes his conversation, he turns and notices Amity.
"Oh, if it isn't the young Blight herself." Eggman sees in a gleeful voice, "I'm glad you-"
"Yeah, I'm glad I could make it too." Amity sarcastically interjects, interrupting the scientist. "It's not like I had any choice in the matter."
Eggman looks around nervously, before letting out an awkward chuckle. "Ha… Spirited as usual, I see." Eggman fidgets his fingers as Odalia walks by with Belos and Alador beside her.
"Alright, Amity, how about you have a little chit-chat with Dr. Robotnik, while your father and I finish things up with the emperor." Odalia states, the three of them walk off, and Amity gives a cold stare to the scientist.
Eggman looks around and whistles before coming up with a conversation starter. "So, have you read any good books?"
Amity shakes her head, "Listen, Egghead, I don't know where you're getting at, but I am, but I am not going to play your little game of sympathy. Especially not after what you did on the day of 'the demonstration'."
Eggman sighs, "Look, Amity, I did not have your harm in mind, that was meant to be a teaching moment."
"And what was that moment supposed to teach me, that you're a sociopath?" Amity scoffed. Eggman becomes visibly more agitated, but still holds in his anger.
"Look, Blight, what I'm trying to achieve will do nothing but benefit you. I'll set your family's future among the elites, why can't you just accept our destinies."
"Because," Amity retorted, "Your idea of an ideal future relies on trampling over those who you see as lesser to you, including my family, my closest friends, and Luz. If you keep feeding your need for power, I'm afraid we cannot see eye to eye."
Eggman puts his hands together and sighs, "I see that you still haven't come to terms with my vision, but that's fine. I'm sure I'll persuade you eventually, I have been known to be a great persuader." Eggman ominous chuckles for a few seconds, Amity looks around nervously. "In fact, I guess you could describe the eventual change as automatic."
Before Amity could ask for further elaboration, Odalia returns with Alador and Emperor Belos.
"Sorry we took so long, you two, we just had to finalize some plans." Odalia states
"Oh, don't worry yourself Odalia," Eggman reassures, "Me and Amity had just finished talking anyway."
The four adults stand up around the table, looming over Amity.
"Amity Blight," Emperor Belos begins, "After looking at your performance at school, I must say, I'm very impressed."
"Oh, thank you, Emperor." Amity softly says. Belos looks over to Odalia and Alador, and they nod in unison, he turns back to face Amity, before continuing.
"Amity Blight, your parents and I have decided that it would be in your best interest to train you to become a member of my coven, granted it will publicly be known as 'Eggman's coven', but it's practically the same."
Amity gasps at this news, back on his place at the wall, Hunter goes wide-eyed at the news, and falls to the floor. "Wait, but this is a huge opportunity." Amity states.
The emperor nods, "But, considering how gifted you are, and how much your family has done for us, I say this opportunity is well-earned." Belos holds out his hand, "So, what say you, Blight?"
Amity looks at the four adults looking at her, awaiting her next answer. She closes her eyes and takes a breath, before looking at the emperor directly.
"Thank you for the opportunity," Amity says, "But unfortunately, I must decline your offer."
The emperor, Amity's parents, and Eggman, gasp at Amity's defiance of the offer.
"What do you mean, you decline my offer?" Belos inquired confused.
"Amity, Sweetie, you can't just deny an offer like this." Odalia states, a hint of anger is present in her voice.
"Young Blight," Emperor Belos says, "I don't understand, this is the opportunity of a lifetime, why do you choose to spit it in my face?"
"Because," Amity elaborates, "I just don't think the coven's lifestyle will suit my own," she pulls out her chair and stands up, "But I still appreciate the gesture."
As Amity starts to walk off, Belos mumbles to himself, Odalia goes over to him, to salvage the situation that Amity had put them in. Eggman gives Amity a cold glare, while Alador goes to talk to Amity.
"Amity, sweetie," Alador states, "Is there something wrong? I thought you always wanted to join the emperor's coven."
Amity sighs, before turning to her father, "I don't know, it's just, none of this feels right. Since all this weird stuff just happened, I feel so conflicted about, well, everything."
Alador gives an understanding nod, "I understand, a lot has been going on recently, so putting all of this on you so suddenly probably wasn't the idea." Alador puts his hand on Amity's shoulder and smiles, "Just remember, Sweetie, ultimately, the choice is yours. Don't feel forced to do anything just because we put it out there, ok?"
Amity nods, "Ok, dad." Alador smiles, and walks away. Looking down at her hands, Amity contemplates on her father's words. "My choice, huh?" Amity mutters to herself, she glances at Eggman, and clenches her fist, "We'll see about that."
Amity makes her way back to the table, Eggman, Alador, Odalia, and Belos all stare at her.
"So, Amity," Belos speaks, "have you changed your mind?"
Partially, "Amity responds, "I still decline, but this time, I have a reason as to why."
"Alright, then explain." Belos states, he puts his hands together.
"I refuse to join your coven since you insist on working with him!" Amity points at Eggman. Everyone else at the table gasps, while Eggman stops eating a bagel that he had, and stares at Amity.
"What did I do?" Eggman asks, acting oblivious.
"Oh, you know exactly what you did!" Amity shouts, slamming her palm on the table. Everyone else in the room looks at the commotion happening in the center.
"Amity Blight," Odalia yells, "you will not speak to Dr. Robotnik in that tone of voice. He has done this family much good, young lady."
"Much good?" Amity retorts, "Do you even know what really went on the night of the demonstration?"
"What are you talking about, dear?" Odalia asks, confused.
"That night, Eggman forced me to demonstrate, and made Metal Sonic go all on his attacks, that I would stay complicit next time." Amity's parents gasp, and look at Eggman, confused. Metal looks over at the table from his corner, and grunts.
Eggman glares at Amity, "Amity, how could you make such accusations? I would never do such a thing to you or your family."
"We both know that's a load of crap." Amity furiously states, "You blackmailed me into doing that demonstration or else-" Amity realizes what she said and stops talking.
"Or else what?" Alador asks.
"Yes Amity," Eggman added, "What is it that you claim I blackmailed you on."
"I, uh…" Amity stammered out, all eyes in the room looked at her.
"Well, spit it out." Eggman continued, he leans toward Amity, "Unless you're afraid someone might spit it out for you."
"I helped Sonic get the emerald from Hexside!" Amity blurted out; everyone gasps. Eggman pretends to gasp, and acts surprised in a mocking manner. He drops the act and walks over to Amity.
"And the deceptive weasel finally pops out of the ground." Eggman says, he chuckles for a second.
"Amity," Alador asks, is this all true?" Amity reluctantly nods.
"Wait, Ivo," Odalia interjects, "You really did blackmail our daughter into a dangerous demonstration?"
"None of that is relevant." Eggman states, "All that matters is that your daughter outed herself as a traitor." Eggman turns to face Belos." Now, sure that would surely be reason for a severe punishment, right Belos?"
Belos chuckles before turning to Amity, "Why yes Ivo, it would seem to be."
Amity looks around, panicked. Her parents look at her with disappointment, while Eggman glares with contempt.
"Amity, why would you do such a thing?" Odalia lectures, "You know full well that hedgehog is not to be trusted."
"Well, I know that isn't true." Amity retorts, "To my knowledge, Sonic is an honorable figure that fights for others."
"Yeah right," Odalia replies, "Has Ivo even told you how many times Sonic has thwarted his Selfless innovations?"
"I doubt that Dr. Robotnik is even trustworthy himself." Amity interjects.
"Why you little-" Eggman shouts, the group gets into a small argument.
"Silence, All of you!" Belos shouts, catching the three's attention. "I will not tolerate such insolence in my quarters." Belos' eyes glow blue, and he turns to Amity. "Child, you have made a mockery of me and my palace here tonight, you are lucky I didn't automatically throw you in the Conformatorium." Belos breaths for a few seconds, before sitting down, his eyes stop glowing.
"See what you just did, young Blight?" Eggman states, "To cause this much turmoil to the two highest powers on the Boiling Isles, You and your whole family ought to be ashamed."
Odalia grabs Amity's arm and faces Belos, "Please, your excellency, I apologize for her behavior. I beg you, please show mercy!"
"Normally, Amity would be sent straight to the Conformatorium," Belos states, he sighs, "but, since you Blights have been so helpful to us, I am willing to put this behind us on one condition."
"Oh, thank you, emperor!" Alador gleefully states, he gets on one knee and bows, "How may we repay you?"
"It's actually more of a favor to you;" Belos states, "We will send Amity to a private training center of mine, where we will teach her discipline and magic skill for most of her days. Then she MAY have a chance to become a coven member."
Amity looks shocked, but before she can object, Odalia gets in front of her. "Oh, thank you for your generosity, emperor."
Amity cuts in front of her mother, "And what if I still object?"
"Amity," Odalia interjects, "How could you even think of..." Odalia is shushed by Eggman, who stands up.
"In that case, she has two more choices." Eggman states, he snaps his fingers, and an Egg-Golem walks over next to him. "You can go to the Conformatorium willingly, or forcefully." Odalia moves to make a comment, but Eggman puts his arm out. "Ah, I'm afraid you two have no say in the matter, as a future coven member would willingly go that path." Eggman turns to Amity, "So what say you, Amity Blight? After all, ultimately, the choice is yours."
Amity looks at Eggman, "My answer is still no," She walks over to him and the emperor. Her Odalia falls to her knees, sobbing, Alador goes to console her, tears in his eyes. Edric and Emira look at each other distressed, and chatter among each other.
"What a shame," Eggman states, "but at least you are complying with-" Before Eggman can finish his sentence, Amity holds out both her arms, and Abomination matter flies out from her canister, towards Eggman and Belos, knocking them to the floor, and encasing them in the substance. The abomination matter hardened, trapping Eggman and Belos. Amity grabs her staff, and knocks over a container of abomination matter that her parents had brought to the castle, and moves some of it into her canister, before running off into the hallway. Belos jumps into the air, breaking out of their entrapment. He lands on the ground and starts to writhe, his body appears to secrete a black liquid, before he breathes in, and the liquid dissipates. Eggman gets off, wiping the abomination matter off himself.
Eggman turns to Belos, "I think we may have a slight problem." Belos turns his head, slightly annoyed.
Odalia walks around in circles, "Oh dear, our daughter has decided to become some sort of rebel. What was that young lady thinking?"
"Not much, I'd assume," Belos stated, he chuckles, "since she's foolish enough to defy me in my very palace."
Belos looks at Eggman and nods, Eggman grabs a microphone from his coat pocket, "Attention guards," Eggman announces, his voice booming through speakers throughout the castle. "All units are tasked with the retrieval of Amity Blight, including Abomatons."
"The Abomatons?" Alador blurts out, "but those units are ruthless, they might resort to using excessive force, Ivo."
Eggman turns to face his fellow scientist, "Oh, Alador, for this type of situation, I count on it." Eggman faces Belos, "Now, I suppose we should chase after her as well."
Belos nods, "Agreed, Ivo." Eggman and Amity's parents exit the room, Metal Sonic, Edric, and Emira soon follow them. Belos turns to Hunter before leaving the room. "Now, Hunter, you should get a move on." Hunter gets off his place on the wall, and exits beside his uncle.
Orbot and Cubot remain lying on the floor, surrounded by cards and metallic nuts & bolts.
"Should we follow them?" Orbot asks.
Cubot gleefully scoops up the nuts & bolts from Metal Sonic's spot, before answering his brother, "Are you kidding me? I finally got my big chance!"
Amity makes her way to a part of the palace's hallway that splits, she stops running to take a breath. "That was nerve wracking," She states to herself, "But at least I have time to-'' as she speaks, a fireball flies past her head. "Never mind" Amity turns around, and sees Kikimora, surrounded by two Abomatons, and a small group of guards.
"It's foolish of you to run, Amity." Kikimora states, guards behind her cast spell circles. "Cease this foolery and come over peacefully!"
"Can't the emperor take no for an answer?" Amity states, annoyed. At this, Kikimora snaps her fingers, The Abomatons fire projectiles, and the guards cast fire spells. Amity ducks under the fireballs, and barely manages to get a hold of the abomination projectiles. She mashes them together into a large mass, and launches it at Kikimora's team, covering their view. The team takes off the matter, but Amity is nowhere to be seen.
"She's gotten away," Kikimora states, looking at her team, "we shall split up and look for her, am I clear?" the guards nod, and go down each separate hallway.
Amity runs through the hallways, she hides herself underneath a cloaked, wooden table. As she hides, Amity hears the footsteps of a lone guard, her breathing starts to get faster, and she clenches tightly to her staff. The guard walks to the end of the hall, before going back, and stopping at the wooden table Amity was under. Amity breathing gets more rapid, yet she remains quiet, her palms are sweaty.
The guard sighs, "Looks like she's not in this one." Amity listens to the guard as they walk away, before the sound of their footsteps fades away, Amity lets out a sigh.
"Finally, that's over with," she says to herself, Amity pokes her head out, and see's the hallway just as empty as when she first ran into it. Amity steps out, and continues her escape.
Stepping into the end of the hall, Amity notices an open balcony area for her to fly out of.
"Ah, Finally, I made it!" Amity exclaims, but as she celebrates, she notices that she caught the attention of a lone guard. Amity awkwardly laughs, and tries to make a run for it, but the guard summons a vine, and it wraps itself around Amity, leaving her desperately squirming on the ground.
"Sorry kid," The guard apologies, "But I really want a raise so…" The guard is about to cast a sleep spell, but Amity moves her hand around, and abomination matter slides out of the canister. The abomination matter forms a puddle underneath the guard's feet, but before the guard can make a comment, Amity uses the matter to throw the guard into the ceiling, knocking them out. Amity uses the abomination matter to form a sharp object, and cut herself free. She gets off the ground, grabs her staff, and looks to the exit. Amity takes a step, but suddenly an Abomaton carrying Kikimora lands in front of her. Several more follows, circling around Amity, and trapping her. Laughter can be heard from behind Amity, she turns, and see's Eggman, followed by Belos, Odalia, Alador, and Hunter.
"Looks like your luck just ran out." Eggman states, "But I must say, you put on a good fight."
"Amity please," Alador begs, "You can't face all of these, you'll surely get yourself hurt!"
Emperor Belos walks in front of the group. "Amity Blight, you have until the count of ten, to surrender yourself! If not well…" Belos gestures to Kikimora, "The ending is pretty self-explanatory."
"Ten"
Hunter's palisman chirps from inside his coat, and Hunter opens it up discreetly.
"Nine"
The palisman chirps some more, and Hunter's eyes widen.
"Eight"
"Are you serious?" Hunter exclaims, "I can't do that over here!"
"Seven"
"If I'm caught, well…" Hunter ponders for a second, "I don't know, but I'll surely be in trouble."
"Six"
Hunter's palisman chirps angrily, and Hunter tries to calm it down.
"Five"
"I know I owe her, but this is a very risky maneuver!" Hunter claims.
"Four"
The palisman gives some final, really convincing chirps.
"Three"
"Fine, but how would I even do something like that?" Hunter inquires
"Two"
"What do you mean by, probably work?" Hunter asks, annoyed.
"One..."
Hunter shakes his head, "I don't have enough time to question this." Hunter reaches into his cloak pocket, and grasps the emerald from inside his cloak.
"And, zero." Belos says, he snaps his fingers and Kikimora nods.
"Chaos control…" Hunter whispers, the emerald let's out a faint glow.
Kikimora points to the Abomatons to move forward with their attack, Amity's parents close their eyes in anticipation. But instead of grabbing at her, the Abomatons freeze in place.
"What the…" Eggman exclaims, he turns to Alador, "I thought these soldiers of yours would be more responsive."
Seizing this opportunity, Amity makes the first Abomaton engulf Kikimora within itself. Amity then casts a spell circle with her staff, pushing the Abominations back into Eggman and Belos. Amity runs to the balcony, and jumps out while on her staff. She falls down the tower, before rising back up and flying away on her staff.
Belos and Hunter get to the balcony, Belos tries to use his magic to grab Amity, but he flinches up. Belos turns to face Hunter, "Grab the child, hurry before she flies off."
Hunter grapes his staff, and points at Amity, his hand is shaking. Hunter contemplates for a second, before subtly moving the staff slightly away from Amity and to a nearby bird, which he picks up with his staff instead. He let's go of the bird, and tries to aim at Amity, but she is already long gone. Putting down his staff, Hunter walks away from the balcony, Belos turns to him.
"Hunter," Belos furiously shouts, "What the hell just happened out there!?"
"I missed uncle," Hunter coldly replied, "That's what happened.
As his nephew walks away, Belos slams his fist into the wall several times, his arm is covered in a black substance.
A guard walks up to the emperor nervously, "Emperor, we have news from the team in the marketplace."
"What kind of news?" Belos inquires, anger still very much present in his voice.
"Well…" The guard nervously replies. "Sonic and the human managed to escape."
Belos stares at his guard, but doesn't say anything but a sarcastic, "Oh, how jolly." He coughs up as he starts to walk back, "I'll be resting in my quarters," Belos points at Eggman, "You deal with this, 'Emperor Robotnik'."
As Belos walks off, everyone stares at Eggman. "What are your next orders, master?" Metal Sonic asks, "Should I go after that rebel Blight?"
"Don't worry about her," Eggman reassures, "instead let's give some visitors a warm welcome…"
"End of Chapter Twelve…"
Luz said, Sonic and her walk through a forest that is near the Emperor's Palace.
"Wow, now that's an ending," Sonic commented, "I guess I should check out the 'Good Witch Azura' series before you spoil it all."
"Yeah, when this is all over, maybe you can come to Azura book club. Besides, we only have like, two members including Amity and me, so-" Sonic shushed Luz, and pointed to outside the forest.
"See that?" Sonic whispered, he clears the shrubbery, Luz looks, and sees the outside of the Emperor's Palace. "Looks like we finally made it." Sonic cracks his knuckles, before turning to Luz, "Are you ready to go over for a visit, Luz?" Luz nods affirmatively.
Sonic darts off to the palace entrance, Luz follows him at a slower speed. Sonic puts his feet forward, and stops in front of the bridge to the emperor's palace; Dirt scatters all over the place. Luz catches up to the hedgehog, she stops to catch her breath.
"Please… keep the nerd legs in mind…" Luz huffed out. Sonic chuckled and scratched his head.
"Sorry about that." Sonic apologized, he looked back to the castle and noticed that there were no guards in the front. "I guess they figured we would've gotten to them either way, how thoughtful!" Sonic starts to make his way to the door, Luz follows behind. Hearing a mechanical wiring, Luz stops in her tracks. Sonic turns around, "Hey Luz, what's going on?" Luz hears the mechanical noises getting closer, and she makes a sudden realization. Luz lunges at Sonic, pushing Sonic and her to the ground; Metal Sonic flies over the two, soaring like a purple comet. Metal skids his feet on the ground as he stops in front of the two, leaving a dark trail on the bridge.
Sonic gets up alongside Luz, he looks at his long-time rival, before chuckling to himself, "I guess It's been a while, Metal."
Metal stepped forward, "So it has been. But what do you think you're doing, trespassing in the palace of Eggman?"
"Oh, nothing." Sonic stated, "I'm just here to give your boss a visit."
"I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen, vermin." Metal warned, he leans down, and gets ready to charge at Sonic.
Sonic also gets in a running position, "Alright then, whatever you say." Sonic notices the purple streaks on Metal's limbs. "What's with the new look, trying a new aesthetic?"
"Oh, this isn't just for aesthetics, Hedgehog!" When Metal Sonic finishes his sentence, he charges at Sonic. Sonic dashes forwards, at speeds comparable to his metallic look alike.
The two jump in the air, before curling up into balls and colliding with each other, knocking themselves back. Luz jumps in front of Sonic, and shoots three fireballs at Metal. Metal flies around the shots, and tries to tackle Luz. Clutching her emerald, Luz points the emerald at Metal, and uses it to slam him on the ground, behind her. Metal hits the ground, before he gets on all fours, and launches himself at Luz, knocking her against Sonic, and dropping Sonic's satchel on the ground. Sonic rushes to pick it up, but a purple substance is shot, completely encasing it, before hardening. Sonic turns to see Metal Sonic, his arm pointed out to where the substance was from.
"Well, well," Sonic says, "Looks like this old dog has some new tricks up his sleeve."
Metal flew up into the sky, and shot abomination matter at the hedgehog, Sonic ran in circles, dodging his shots. Sonic jumped into the air, and attempted an up-close homing attack, Metal engulfed his foot in abomination matter, and kicked Sonic to the ground. As Metal looked on at his fallen foe, an icicle shot right by him, scraping his shoulder. He turns furiously, and sees Luz, holding ice glyphs. Luz launched more icicles at Metal Sonic, to which flew around them gracefully. Finally, an icicle managed to fit him straight in the face, knocking him to the ground, and making his eye lights flicker. When Metal reached the ground, Sonic tried to kick him from behind, but Metal dodged the kick, and flew under the bridge. Sonic and Luz looked around the bridge, all the abomination matter had been gathered except for the one engulfing the emerald satchel. Suddenly, the two heard shifting from underneath them. They looked down, and a puddle of abomination matter had formed underneath the two. Sonic and Luz leaped out of the way, and a purple spike had popped out of the ground. More spikes popped out of the ground, each trying to strike one of the two. The abomination matter eventually formed a hollow circle, from which Metal Sonic bursts through the wooden bridge. Metal threw two boomerang shaped pieces of abomination matter at Sonic and Luz. Luz managed to teleport a few feet away, but Sonic was left surrounded, and he was hit by the boomerangs, which wrapped themselves around Sonic, and tied him to the ground.
Metal Sonic slowly flew to the ground, he looked at the two heroes. "One down…" Metal stated, he lunged and prepared to pursue Luz, "One more to go!"
Metal threw two saw objects made of the matter to the ground, they spun rapidly and moved to Luz. Luz carefully danced around the saws, every time they missed, they would circle around and try to strike again. Luz stepped back before teleporting; the saws collided with each other. Metal looked around for the teenager, before noticing a shadow that suddenly covered him. He looked up, and saw Luz, placing a fire glyph against her emerald. A beam of fire violently shot at Metal, pushing him to the ground. Luz then placed a plant glyph against the emerald, a plethora of vines shot out and encased the robotic hedgehog, seemingly obscuring him. Luz pumped her fist in the air, before running over to help free Sonic.
"Sorry I took so long." Luz humbly stated.
Sonic chuckled, before he noticed something around Luz. "Luz, look out!" Sonic shouted, Luz looked around her, and noticed a myriad of abomination matter floating around the bridge. As the globs pummeled Luz, Metal Sonic Spin dashed out the vines, and crashed into the now entrapped teenager, knocking her to the floor, next to Sonic.
Metal Sonic walked towards the two and chuckled, he shifted Abomination matter around both of his arms, to make sharp blades. "Looks like this is the end of the line, vermin."
"No... This can't be…" Luz mutters, a dark aura starts to form around her.
"Luz?" Sonic asks concerned.
Metal Sonic looks at Luz confused, before shrugging, and moving his arm up. Metal Sonic tries to slice the heroes with his makeshift arm-blade, but it refuses to move. "What the?" Metal Sonic asks, before the Abomination matter around his arms, suddenly shifts around, and constricts his arms against his torso.
"I thought I warned your boss to stay away from her." A familiar voice stated from behind Metal, his digital eyes widened. Metal was suddenly tossed off the bridge by whoever was manipulating the abomination matter. The abomination matter around Sonic and Luz, along with the satchel, loosened. Sonic and Luz look up, and see Amity Blight. Sonic gets up by himself to retrieve the satchel, while Luz lies there, frozen. Amity goes up to Luz and reaches her arm out to her, "Do you need a hand?" she asks. Luz grabs Amity's arm, and pulls herself up. Staring at Amity, Luz struggled with finding what to say to her.
"I'm so sorry!" Amity blurted out, interrupting Luz before she could say anything. Amity took a breath, before continuing. "I know that I should've been more open and honest with you. It's just, with everything going on right now about takeovers, I just don't know what I'm going to do, or if everything is alright. The future seems kind of terrifying and-"
"Hey, it's alright," Luz reassured, "None of this is our fault. Sure, everything seems scary right now, but it won't have to be forever." Luz grabbed both of Amity's hands. "Repeat after me, we can fix this together."
"We can fix this together." Amity repeats, Luz smiles, and Amity blushes as she looks around nervously. Suddenly, a piece of abomination matter is shot at the two, Sonic walks over to them.
"Unfortunately, you might have to cut your romantic moment short." Sonic advises, he points towards the palace. Amity and Luz look, and see Metal Sonic looming over them. Metal is covered in dirt, and has scratches all over him.
"Enough dilly-dallying!" Metal Sonic shouts, he forms several pieces of abomination matter into sharp projectiles, and throws them at the three heroes. Sonic and Luz duck out of the way, and Amity stops the projectiles in their tracks, and reverts them back into their standard form.
"You two go inside the palace." Amity commanded, she turned to Metal Sonic, "I have some unfinished business to attend to."
Sonic nods, "Sounds like a plan. Just one thing," Sonic pulls out the yellow emerald and tosses it to Amity. "You might need this"
Amity gives a thumbs up, And Sonic and Luz head towards the door to the palace. Metal Sonic sees the two, and prepares to charge at them, but Amity throws a hardened piece of abomination matter at his head, catching the android's attention, and allowing Sonic and Luz to enter the palace.
"Hey Bucket-Head!" Amity shouts, "How about we finish what we started?" Metal Sonic lets out a robotic grunt, and charges at Amity.
Luz and Sonic walk through the palace corridors in a stealthy fashion.
"What's the game plan?" Luz asks, "Surely we have a plan for something this dangerous."
Sonic shrugged, "Relax, all we have to do is make our way into the emperor's room and beat him up. That's easy enough." Sonic and Luz open a door, and find themselves in a break room for the emperor's coven, the coven members stare at the two.
"What's your plan B?" Luz asks, whispering to Sonic.
"Follow my lead." Sonic whispers nervously. The hedgehog grabs Luz's hand, and runs off, the coven members give chase soon after.
Sonic and Luz run through the hallway; they barely manage to dodge the fireballs being launched at them. The two are eventually backed into a dead end, Egg Fighters make their way through the group of guards.
Sonic turns to Luz, "How many times do we have to teach these punks not to mess with us?"
The guards charge at the two, while the Egg Fighters fire lasers at them. Luz teleported as Sonic spin dashed at the guards, knocking some over. The Egg fighters prepare to shoot at Sonic, but Luz reappears behind them. Luz uses her emerald to throw the Egg Fighters into each other, Sonic and Luz then run off. The two continue to run past the guards, until they reach a hallway split.
"Alright, this might not have been one of my greatest plans." Sonic stated, Luz looks at him annoyed. "Hey, don't worry, all we need to do is find out where the emperor's chambers are before-" Sonic is interrupted by the limb of an Abomaton soldier reaching out to Luz and him, they quickly move out of the way, and see Kikimora and two of the Abomaton soldiers.
"Ah, Human and Hedgehog." Kikimora states, "we meet face-to-face, at last!
Sonic and Luz look at Kikimora confused, "Uh, who are you?" Sonic asks.
"Yeah, I've been here for months, and I barely recognized you." Luz adds
Kikimora looks at the two, "Ah, I am one of the emperor's most loyal subjects." Luz and Sonic look even more confused, Kikimora sighs. "I'm the one who helped try to petrify the Owl Lady." Luz finally recognizes her, and nods.
Sonic steps forward, "Well, Kikimora, how about a trade deal? You show us how to get inside the emperor's chambers, and we won't kick your butt."
"Ha foolish hedgehog!" Kikimora scoffs, "even if you found your way there, you would need a key such as this." Kikimora shows of a key to the emperor's room
The Abomaton shoots a piece of abomination matter at Sonic, and it gets on his face, Sonic wipes it off. "Alright, I guess it's your loss."
The Abomaton soldier stretched out their limbs and tried to reach the two, but they quickly jumped out of the way. Sonic homing attacks one Abomaton soldier several times, knocking it to the floor. Kikimora strikes Sonic with a fireball, making him flinch, and clutch his shoulder. Luz hits Kikimora with a vine, pushing her to the wall. An Abomaton grabs Luz and lifts her up, but Sonic jumps through its arm, and frees Luz. Luz hits the Abomaton with fireballs, before Sonic spin dashes through it. Kikimora darts off, and Sonic and Luz make chase. As she runs, Kikimora shoots lightning at her two pursuers, but Sonic and Luz manage to dodge each shot. Sonic eventually get in front of Kikimora, and Luz gets behind. Luz shoots vines at Kikimora, trapping her in place. Sonic walked up to the entrapped Kikimora
"Now then," Sonic stated, "We'll be taking that key right about now." Sonic lifts Kikimora, and shakes her until the Key falls out, he throws Kikimora, and picks it up.
"Alright, Luz, let's blow this pop stand." Sonic announces, Luz and him run off.
"Wait, you're not seriously going to leave me here, are you?" Kikimora desperately asks, she moves around in the vines some more, before stopping and sighing. "This is not my best Saturday…"
Meanwhile, Amity is still locked in a heated battle with Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic throws Boomerangs made of the Abomination matter at Amity, but she blocks them with a makeshift shield. Metal charges at Amity, but she makes a bat, and knocks Metal to the side. After jumping into the air, Metal homing attacks Amity several times, knocking her around. He prepares to hit Amity over the head with a kick, but Amity blocks Metal's attack with the abomination matter. Amity wraps the abomination matter around Metal's legs and slams him to the ground. Metal bounces himself off the ground, and launches small spikes at Amity; she uses her staff to carefully gather and dodge the spikes. Amity twirls around her staff, and the abomination matter is formed into spiked beams, the beams extend, and make their way to Metal Sonic. Metal manipulates the beams as they launch toward him, and throws them to the ground. He rocks the abomination matter back and forth, then unleashes a wave of abomination matter at Amity. Amity tries to jump over the wave, but she is caught under it, and completely encased.
Metal walks over to Amity, he chuckles, "Suffocating in this wretched goop, then being impaled by the spikes below, what a terrible way to die." Metal shrugs, "But hey, nothing personal, It's just business."
Metal Sonic slams his fist on the ground below, and abomination matter cuts a hole in the bridge, leaving the pile of abomination matter that had held Amity, to fall to the pit of spikes. But when the matter splattered against the spikes, Amity's remains were nowhere to be seen.
"What the…" Metal asks himself. Suddenly, the abomination matter at the bottom of the pit launches up, and hits Metal in the face on its way. The abomination matter goes behind Metal, he looks, and sees Amity, staff in one hand, and chaos emerald in the other.
"It's not over yet, Bucket-head." Amity states, she spins around her staff, and the abomination matter sprouts out of it in a vortex, heading towards Metal Sonic.
Metal put his hands over his face, taking some hits from the attack. Metal puts his arms apart, shifting the abomination matter away from him. After going in the air, Metal dives at Amity, she manages to get out of the way. Metal punches Amity twice, but Amity intercepts the third punch, and uses the abomination matter to form a gauntlet, then upper cuts the robotic hedgehog. Amity jumps high into the air with the power of the chaos emerald, Metal Sonic follows her. Amity uses her abomination gauntlets to hit Metal Sonic repeatedly, Metal manages to get in a few hits. After pushing Metal Sonic back, Amity holds out the emerald, and abomination matter engulfs her arm, forming a giant fist. Amity proceeds to deliver a devastating punch, throwing Metal to the ground. Once she makes it to the ground, Amity walks over to the fallen android, and encases his body in abomination matter.
"It appears we are done here." Amity states, she points the emerald at Metal Sonic, and it glows. He struggles in the goop, before he sighs.
"Damn you Blight, you and all who think to trample all over me, like I'm some puppet." Metal states, "You and my creator are the lowest of life forms."
Amity looks at the robotic android confused; she puts down the emerald. "What do you mean by that? I thought you would respect Eggman."
Metal laughs, "Are you kidding me? That Lunatic only lets me out just to settle some beef he has for that hedgehog! I mean, Hell, I'm even designed to be an exact copy of him! No matter what I do, my father will only compare me to the person he hates the most." Metal Sonic lets out a sad chuckle, "It's almost funny, even if I finally made him proud, I would lose my purpose in the end."
Amity sighs, getting on her knees, and placing the emerald down. "Look, I think I finally get it..."
"You do?" Metal inquiries, he turns his head.
"Yeah," Amity replies, "I know it feels crushing to have all this expectation tossed on you, without consideration for what you want. Maybe things don't have to be this way, I mean, you could totally beat up your dad.
"You think so?" Metal asks.
"Look, what I'm saying is that you don't have to feel constricted in your robotic life, you could do anything, find a new hobby that isn't chasing hedgehogs.
"Thank you, Blight," Metal Sonic says, "Perhaps you aren't as obnoxious as I thought you were."
"No problem," Amity cheerfully replies, "But I don't think I feel comfortable letting you go just yet."
"I understand," Metal reassures, he lets out a sinister chuckle, "After all, I don't need your help anyway."
Amity looks around confused, and notices that Metal Sonic had manipulated abomination matter all around the emerald. Before Amity could grab the emerald, Metal takes inside his abomination prison, and makes himself float. Metal Sonic puts his arms out, and abomination matter is launched towards Amity, pummeling her. The abomination matter forms into boomerangs, and continually strikes Amity, until she is pushed to the ground. As abomination matter circles around Amity, Metal looms from above, carrying an emerald in his hand, and a large ball of abomination matter over his head.
"Wow, you flesh types are real suckers for angst." Metal sonic states while laughing. "Me and the doctor are on excellent terms, we even have tea time every Thursday, and I can't even drink tea!"
"Why you little-" Amity is suddenly struck back down by a small piece of abomination matter.
"Now Amity, please choose your last words carefully, before I make you like an ugly combination of cotton candy and Swiss cheese." Amity appears to make a circular motion with her hands, but Metal ignores it. "Alright, I guess it's your funeral." Metal Sonic speaks, as he prepares to finish Amity off, she suddenly shoots a small fireball at him. Metal is caught off guard, but barely manages to dodge the small projectile. "Really, is that the best you can do?" Metal responds. "Your trump card is a small kindle starter? My, if only you had that precious emerald…"
Metal Sonic looks at his hand, but the emerald isn't there, instead, he saw that Amity had caught it with some abomination matter. She holds out the emerald, and it glows, Metal looks up and sees that the ball of abomination matter is shifting around.
"Uh oh…" Is all Metal can utter before spikes sprout from the ball, piercing Metal's Armor, and making him crash to the ground. As Amity walks towards him, Metal notices that his core is untouched.
"Foolish witch, two fights, and you still couldn't get the-" Before Metal can finish, Amity points the emerald at Metal, A large abomination spike launches towards him, and goes through the center of his chest. The spike pierces through him, ripping the core out of Metal's body, shooting sparks everywhere.
"I was saving the best for last." Amity declares.
"Well played..:" Metal mutters, before his eyes go dark, and himself limp.
Amity looks around at all the carnage that went on, she grabs her palisman, and gathers all the abomination matter in her canister. Amity looks up at the peak of the palace.
"I did my part, now I can only hope you two are successful." Amity states, she walks over and sits on the grass in front of the bridge.
Sonic and Luz make their way in front of the door to the emperor's chambers, they face each other and simply nod, before Sonic unlocks the door, and Luz kicks it open. The two find the room mostly empty, except for Belos, who sits on his throne. The two run over to the emperor and point their emeralds at him.
"Alright, you tyrant, end of the line!" Luz eagerly shouts.
"Ah, I've been expecting you two." Belos claims
"Oh, is that so?" Sonic responds, "then where is that new friend of yours?"
"I reckon he's around here somewhere..." a voice says from the ceiling. Sonic and Luz look, and see Eggman, somehow attaching his mech to the ceiling, before he drops.
"Hello Sonic," Eggman says, he moves towards Belos, "It sure has been a while."
"Eggman," Sonic responds, "I figured we would have this reunion sooner or later."
"Oh, in that case…" Eggman says, he pulls out weaponry on his mech, and Belos jumps out of his throne and gets into a fighting stance, his fists spark with lightning. "Let us give you a warm welcome."
Eggman fires explosive projectiles at the two heroes, causing Sonic to grab Luz, and move the two out of the range of fire. Belos leaps out of his throne, and right in front of Luz and Sonic. Belos unleashes all the lighting he's been building up, onto Sonic, leaving Sonic on his knees. The mad emperor goes to finish Sonic off, but Luz jumps in the way, and hits Belos with a fireball straight to the chest. While Belos grasps his chest in pain, Sonic quickly moves out of the way with Luz. Eggman, noticing the two, rapidly fires a series of small projectiles in a machine gun fashion. Luz uses her emerald to create a small barricade, while Sonic jumps high, and homing attacks Eggman.
"Why you little…" Eggman mutters under his breath, He fires two laser beams away from his mech at Sonic, but he jumps over them. But just as Sonic prepares to perform a homing attack, Belos hits Sonic with a large chunk of ice, knocking him down.
"Sonic!" Luz shouts in concern, she moves out of her barricade. While Luz runs to protect her friend, Eggman seizes the opportunity, and tackles Luz in his mech.
"You didn't think you could get away that easily, did you?" Eggman inquired, he pulls out a cannon that shoots an explosive shot. Eggman fires the explosive projectile, but when the dust settles, Luz is not present, causing Eggman to let out audible confusion.
"Now, where could that child have gone?" Eggman questioned himself, he suddenly felt the Egg Walker shake violently. He turns to look at the side, and sees that Luz had used an Ice glyph to partially pierce part of the mech.
"There you are!" Belos proclaims, he readies to shoot a fireball, but he is knocked down by Sonic performing his spin dash.
"Don't think I'm done just yet, Belos!" Sonic exclaims, he pulls out his emerald. "Now, are you ready for round two. Belos simply chuckled, and the two lunged at each other.
Meanwhile, Eggman pursued Luz around the living quarters. Luz darted away as the scientist continuously fired at her. Luz quickly ducked under Eggman's range of fire, and headed for the Egg Walker's legs. The teenager placed a plant glyph against her emerald, and vines shot out, wrapping around the mech's legs. Eggman attempts to run at Luz once more, but he finds that his mech won't budge. Luz seized this opportunity, and placed fire glyphs around the backside of the Egg Walker. Eggman manages to free up the mech's legs, and knocks Luz back. As Eggman prepares to fire, Luz focuses on the emerald, and the fire glyphs erupt behind Eggman, pushing around in his Egg Walker.
Sonic and the emperor are stuck in the heat of battle. Belos tosses several fireballs at Sonic, but Sonic graciously spins around the shot. Sonic leaps up in the air, and tries to punch Belos, but he blocks the hit, then counter punches Sonic in the face, making him stumble back. After Sonic wipes the sweat off his face, he gets himself in a fighting stance along with the emperor. Belos takes a couple of swings at Sonic, but Sonic ducks under them. Sonic slides right behind the emperor and tackles him. The emperor manages to keep himself up, and retaliates by performing a sweeping kick to Sonic legs, knocking him down. Belos tries to summon an icicle to pierce the grounded hedgehog, but Sonic quickly rolls out of the way. Sonic uncurls and pulls out the emerald, it glows, and Sonic becomes surrounded in a green aura. Sonic quickly leaps onto the side of a room pillar, and quickly spin jumps at Belos. He continues this cycle of attacks, before Belos charges an electrical area attack, which he unleashes the next time Sonic gets close. With Sonic paralyzed, Belos covers his fist in a flame, before sucker punching the hedgehog, making him cough up. As Sonic grasps his burned chest, Belos walks up to the hedgehog and shoots lightning at him until Sonic finally collapses. Belos gently picks up the hedgehog by the collar, before tossing him forward. Sonic's charred body lets out stammered breaths on the ground, the emerald rolls out of his hands, and its shine starts to fade.
Back on the other side of the room, Luz and Eggman are caught in each other's cross fire. As Eggman fires at Luz, she dances around the projectiles, and retaliates with fireballs. The controls of the mech start to spark up, Eggman grunts and repeatedly slams on the with his palm.
"Work, damn you!" Eggman curses, he slams one final time as Luz approaches his mech, and fires a swirling twin shot. Luz dodges the initial shot, but she is slightly pushed by the resulting explosion, which makes a hole in the palace, and causes smoke to fill the room. Desperately clutching the glowing emerald, Luz looks around for the scientist, but cannot spy him. When the dust settles, Eggman appears from behind Luz, and fires his laser beams. Luz jumps, but her foot is burned by one of the beams, making her flinch when she lands. Eggman rapidly fires his small projectiles at Luz, making her circle around him. As Luz runs around, she places plant glyphs on the ground that restrain the mech's movement. When Eggman and Luz are face to face once more, Luz places an ice glyph on the emerald, before sliding it under the Egg Walker. Anticipating the oncoming calamity, Eggman scrambles until he leaps out of the mech, and turns around in time to witness a sharp cluster of ice ravage his creation.
"Looks like we're done here!" Luz mocks from behind, but the scientist doesn't respond or turn around. Instead, Eggman lets down his right arm, revealing it to bear the glove device he had invented. Eggman lifts his arm, and the silver glove glows dark purple, lifting Luz and the remains of his mech into the air. The scientist throws his arm down, and Luz comes crashing down. As Luz groans in pain, Eggman moves his arm to the center of the room, and Luz slides across the floor, right next to Sonic. As Luz struggles to keep herself up, Eggman and Belos walk toward the two.
"Wow, such power you two displayed." Eggman Scoffed, he chuckles as he grasps his gloved hand.
"Did you two think you stood a chance in the first place?" Belos mocks, his hands become encased in lighting. "Now, any last words?"
"Enough…" Luz muttered under her breath, struggling to pick herself up. The orange emerald starts to glow.
"Oh, what was that, human?" Belos further mocks.
Luz grunts, she grasps the emerald and picks herself up.
"Enough!" Luz shouts, a wave of dark energy shoots from her. Luz floats in the air surrounded by a dark aura, the dark spot on the emerald gradually bubbles up and increases in size. Eggman attempts to make a comment, but Luz summons a dark vine that's littered with thorns. Luz swings the vine twice, once at Eggman's chest, another across his face, leaving him on the floor with bloody scratches. Luz turns to face the emperor, who looks on in fright.
"What kind of power is this?" Belos inquires, Luz gives no response. Instead, she slams her palm down on the ground, and a series of emerging icicles chase Belos. After getting out of the icicle's path, Belos shoots beams of lighting at Luz, but she clutches the emerald, which grows in darkness, and teleports out of the way. Belos looks around for a few seconds, before spotting Luz looming above him. Luz unleashes a rain of fireballs all around the room, until one manages to hit Belos in the face. After landing, Luz places three plant glyphs on the ground. Two of them sprout vines that go to the side of Belos, and hold him down to the ground by his arms. A third vine clasps itself around the emperor's neck. As he chokes, Belos tries to rip the third vine off, but his arms are still restrained by the other two vines. Luz places a fire glyph on the emerald, and a beam of fire engulfs the emperor, making him writhe on the ground until he puts himself out, and collapses. Walking over to Belos, Luz holds up her emerald, and a sharp icicle appears, floating from above. Meanwhile, Sonic gets himself up, and sees Luz about to finish off the emperor, he notices that her emerald's dark spots have grown considerably.
"What are you doing, Luz!?" Sonic asks in a frightened tone. Luz looks at Sonic, her eyes are a dark purple. When Luz recognizes her friend, her eyes widen and return to their normal color, before Luz suddenly collapses, and the dark growth on the emerald dissipates.
As the deadly icicle shatters on the floor, Sonic weakly runs to Luz, and she wakes up again, not recalling what happened.
"Sonic, what's going on?" Luz asks.
"Wait, do you not remember that…" Before Sonic could finish, he grasps his chest in pain.
"Hold on." Luz comments, she takes Sonic's green emerald, and heals him. Sonic starts to move his arms, and some of his burns vanish. "Feel any better?"
"A little, thanks." Sonic speaks, Luz smiles.
"Now, what do you mean by 'don't remember'?"
"I'm not so sure, myself." Sonic states as he puts the emeralds back in the satchel, "When I woke up, I saw you with a sharp icicle aimed at the emperor. It looked like you were about to-"
As Sonic explained, the two heroes are suddenly lifted in the air, and slammed back down on the ground. The two look for their assailant, and find Eggman, covered in scratches.
"And this is why we wear goggles, children." Eggman states. Eggman lifts Sonic and Luz with his glove, and carries them over the hole in the palace. Luz and Sonic struggle as the doctor lifts them over a plummet. "You know, deep down, I always wish things would be different." Eggman solemnly stated, he proceeds to drop the two to off the ledge. As the two plummeted, the satchel fell out of his grasp. When Sonic tried to reach for the bag, he witnessed a quick brown blur swoop up the bag. Luz and Sonic look around, before the two of them are caught by Eda, still in her harpy form.
"I see things didn't go quite as anticipated." Eda remarks.
"Eda" Luz gleefully states; she hugs Eda.
"That was a great save," Sonic comments, "but we should get out of here before-" Eda is suddenly shot in the back by a laser, knocking them back. The three look and spot Eggman with a blaster.
"Alright, memo received." Eda responds, she makes her way down while Eggman continues to fire.
When Eda flies out of sight from Eggman, he throws his blaster to the ground, and taps on an earpiece.
"Kikimora, this is Robotnik, do you read me?"
"This is Kikimora, how is the situation up there?"
"Things are pretty dire, the emperor's in critical condition, and our assailants have gotten away."
"Oh dear, we'll send healers right away, but what do we do about the assailants?"
"What do we do?" Eggman rhetorically responds, he clenches his fist. "Get them, that's what you do! Send everyone we have; I don't want a single one to get away! Do you understand?"
"U-understood," Kikimora stammered, Eggman hung up, and walked around the room.
Eda landed on the bridge in front of the Emperor's Palace,
He let go of Sonic and Luz, and the two of them fell to the ground. Eda passes Sonic the two emeralds, and Sonic puts them in the satchel. Luz looks at the edge of the bridge, and sees Gus and Willow, tending to Amity's wounds. Luz walked over to the two.
"Hey, what happened while Sonic and I were gone." Luz asks.
"We held them off for a little while," Willow stated, "but then more robots came, and the square got totally overrun."
"We totally would've kicked their butts if they hadn't ganged up on us." Gus added, he punches the air. Luz chuckles at Gus' humorous comments.
"Crazy night, isn't it?" Hooty states, he emerges from the ground, scaring the group.
"Hooty, what are you doing here?" Luz asks.
"Oh, the fuzz totally surrounded the place." Hooty responds, "I had to get out of there, I don't want to go back to jail."
Luz is about to question Hooty, but then notices Amity, and runs over to her.
"Oh man," Luz comments, "That metal head must have been really tough."
Amity chuckles, "You should've seen what I did to him." Amity points at the bridge, Luz turns, and sees the impaled remains of Metal Sonic.
"Wow, that looks brutal." Luz stated.
"Uh guys," King says, he walks over to the group, "something's in the sky." As king points at the sky, the group looks up to see robots soaring through the sky, before they start to descend.
"Alright, I'm about to head out." Hooty states, he sinks into the ground.
"That's no good." Sonic states, Eda and him join the group. The group hears rustling through the bushes, and coven scouts emerge, and corner the heroes. Sonic turns around, just to find even more scouts and guards behind them on the bridge. The robots descend to the ground, and point their guns at the group
"Freeze, criminals! A guard captain says, "By order of Emperor Robotnik, you are under arrest"
The group holds up their hands, and Sonic turns to Luz.
"I think now's the time to use the emerald to get out of here." Sonic whispered.
"Yeah, but where?" Luz responded, "The Owl House has been seized at this point, and the forest will probably be next."
"I think I know a place." Eda states, Sonic passes an emerald.
"Seize them, quickly!" The guard captain states, the coven scouts lunge at the group, as Eda lifts the emerald. By the time the scouts reach the group, Eda teleports everyone away, and the scouts crash into each other.
The guard captain shakes their head, and a guard looks at them.
"Uh, ma'am," Steve asks, "will this be a problem?"
The guard captain sighs, "It might just be, Steve."
The End of Act One: The Journey Begins