Chapter Three – Pathogen
This caused panic. The war wasn't over. Sukko hated it when he's proved correct, and soon it was decided to investigate Eggman's disappearance. Sukko's brother had noticed his presence at the Restoration, and was extremely glad to have him there. They hadn't worked this closely together in years, due to Sukko's remoteness. Their relationship had always been so distant. But with Eggman's return, the reunion would have to wait, as Sukko was ordered to stay at the Restoration and protect it at all costs. Not his usual order from his brother, defence was not his forte, Intelligence was, but right now they needed all the help they can get.
As he watched his brother leave to find Eggman, it would the last time he'd see him during what he remembered the worse time of his life. He genuinely believe it was the last time he'd see him alive.
All seemed well, until word got out that the Hero of Mobius, Sonic, had been infected by some kind of virus. The Restoration thought nothing of it, people get sick all the time, it believed he would just recover and move on. He'd just run it off. As time wore on, it seemed all quiet on Eggman's front. Nothing, no success in finding him, but no attacks, until his new flying battleship, the Faceship, hit a city with such force that it caught the Restoration completely off guard. Sukko was working in the Archive room, next to the Main Control Room, when he overheard the commotion.
Sunset City. Originally a major merchant hub. Early on during the Eggman war, however, Sunset City was attacked by Badniks (Eggman's robots) and heavily damaged. However, its citizens stayed strong, and in the aftermath of the Eggman war, the city began to rebuilt with aid from the Restoration. It had been hit with some kind of grey sludge, which when touched, turned organic people into robot zombies. Zombots. Some kind of Metal Virus, and it was absolutely devastating the city. Vector, Charmy and Espio were already there, and as things in the city got absolutely dire, the Restoration quickly emptied of all its powerful Heroes. Soon only Amy, Cream and Vanilla were the only ones left along with the locals, no one with any Chaos Power. No one, expect Sukko.
Now he understood why he was asked to stay. To use his powers to protect the Restoration if necessary. Then suddenly, more and more attacks from Eggman's Faceship across Mobius saw Sapients running for their lives from the Zombots. It crushed him, as he kept overhearing Amy desperately trying to keep some control of the situation. Sukko desperately wanted to help, but couldn't, he couldn't expose his Chaos Sorcery in the Restoration until it was an absolutely last resort. He tried using Telepathy but heard nothing but pure panic, which quickly overwhelmed him, and nothing from the Zombots. Robots have no organic minds so can't be telepathically read. Zombots were organic people turned into robot zombies. A type of Robotisation. Thus the mind had been in converted into a machine and unable to be read by Sukko. A process he found both fascinating and frightening.
As more and more cities, towns and villages fell to the Metal Virus, the Restoration began filling up with refugees, as a safe haven underground, and Sukko found himself extremely busy catering for everyone. He didn't have time to think about his Chaos Sorcery, at that moment in time. There were a lot of very frightened people there, from all walks of life, and filling up very quickly. Sukko knew the Restoration were desperately trying to help these people, but if the Metal Virus got in, it would be a disaster. But Sukko couldn't think of an alternative, so just went with what he was ordered by Amy. To look after the refugees.
There was commotion in the Main Control Room, of which Sukko was not a part of. Vector had butted heads with Gemerl, a Resistance-turned former Eggman robot, over whether or not an imprisoned Zombot Charmy could be kept there. Sukko didn't think that was wise, but in the Great Hall, there was nothing he could do without revealing his true identity. His brother had advised against it, and right now, Sukko agreed.
Then he spotted it. In the Great Hall. It was full of people. Sapients of every species, gender and age. A Eggman robot in the room. He felt the metal with his Telekinesis, it was extremely slight but he instantly recognised it. Sukko Magic's constantly surveyed the world around him Invisibly, to identify tiny changes like this. It was something he'd developed for Intelligence, but it was now proving vital. He desperately looked around the very busy room full of people, looking for one of Eggman's Badniks. But the screams told him, a Zombot had got in. She was spreading the Metal Virus rapidly among the crowd. An outbreak, just by mere touch. Soon they'd have more Zombots then people in the room. Absolute panic ensued. Sukko saw Amy dive into the crowd, grab her friend Cream and get out, leaving her mother, Vanilla behind, who was already infected. Amy and Cream successfully got out of the Restoration, taking any and all non-infected they could find with them, leaving Sukko behind.
When he first came face-to-face with a Zombot, he couldn't believe that this completely one hundred percent robotic machine used to be an living, breathing, organic person. He had to resist the urge to completely disintegrate it, with his Disintegration cast, as they registered as an Eggman robot to him. He'd be killing real people, and he just couldn't do that. So stopping them was going to be difficult, especially without touching them. But as more and more people were getting infected, Sukko had to save as many uninfected as possible. But the infection spread through the the Restoration like an avalanche, Sukko soon found himself alone, the last not infected. Sukko had notice that when the Metal Virus took someone with Chaos Powers, such as Vector and his Super-Strength, it had access to those powers.
This truly terrified Sukko. If a Zombot had access to his abilities with Chaos Sorcery, the Restoration would never win the fight. Completely surrounded by Zombots, now was not the time to stand on ceremony. He had to get to the Main Control Room, and Magic was his only way there. To hell with the consequences, there was far more at stake. His brother. He had to find him. Using a combination of Telekinesis and Force-Field Generation, he brushed the Zombots aside. His eyes glowing cobalt blue, luminescent vapour of bright blue hue emanating from his hands and body, he was in his element. Careful not to touch any Zombots, he pushed his way through the them until he found the Main Control Room.
Pushing his way in, then pushing the Zombots outs, be managed to lock the doors. To his dismay, he found the main control unit was covered in the Metal Virus grey sludge. If he touched it, he'd turn. It was all over the metallic floor too, forcing Sukko to hover. He looked over the console and wondered if he could control it without touching it. This was more delicate Telekinesis then he was used to, plus the constant hovering was beginning to tire him. But he had to push on, he could not be taken. Even underground, here, as a Zombot, the Restoration would not hold him. He'd destroy the place.
Very carefully, he got the console computer back up and running, and to his absolute relief, his brother was still alive, and when Sukko messaged him, he was looking for Eggman. He smirked. He could do that. With a console computer, and completely alone, (he didn't care about the Zombots), he used his Magic on the machine to expand his Telepathy and quickly found Eggman at Barricade Town. As the only Human on Mobius, it was easy. He hadn't done this at the Restoration before, out of fear of being found out as a Sorcerer. But right now, he didn't think anyone would care. He had to help.
Soon he learned that the Restoration had set up in Spiral Hill Village, as Sunset City had completely fallen. But they were found before they could settle, a Zombot outbreak happening there. Fearing another complete failure, for a second time, Sukko warns his brother, who immediately goes to help. As Sukko investigates more with the console computer, he feels something extremely odd along the Telepathic line. Six minds whom Sukko could not pinpoint. He saw their locations but had no idea who or what they were. He'd never seen them before.
But before he could investigate further, he felt an enormous explosion at one of the locked doors to the Main Control Room. The normal Zombots had parted to allow the most powerful of them there, Vector Zombot, to break the door down. This forced Sukko to use his Telekinesis, while still hovering, to hold the door. The entire room shock with every blow from Vector Zombot's Super-Strength. Now his Chaos Sorcery was being push to the absolute limit, how long will it hold? He didn't cry for help, he knew no one would come. He was alone. His brother had enough to deal with.
Still with one hand free, he uses his Magic to hack into the Eggnet, not very deeply but enough to overhear what was going on. Someone called Dr. Starline (no one whom Sukko knew) had invited the Deadly Six onboard the Faceship.
'The Deadly Six?' Sukko thought. 'Are they those six strange minds I detected earlier?' He wondered. Straining, Sukko manages to activate the video feed, and see six strange creatures, called the Zeti. The Zeti looked Humanoid in terms of overall physical appearance, but possess some unique key features. Common physical characteristics Zeti share are five fingers with claw-like nails, two-toed feet with a claw-like appendage on each of their toes and heels, and tails. Each Zeti also possesses a number of striped horns on their head, with the number of the horns differing between each individual, though two appears to be the most common. Varying in colour, they seemed incredibly powerful creatures, and when Eggman and this Dr. Starline failed to control them, they fled the scene, with what appeared to be a repaired Metal Sonic, through some kind a strange teleportation device.
Horrified, Sukko watches the Zeti divide and use the Chaos Emeralds to empower themselves and control the thousands of Zombots around the world. Rouge, who managed to sneak onto the ship earlier, relaid this information to Sonic and the others, who are now using Angel Island as a last safe haven. Knowing the Zeti had the Chaos Emeralds was one thing, keeping up with them was quite another, and soon the Restoration, or what was left of them, had completely lost track of them. Then the call came in, from his brother. Find them. The Zeti and the Chaos Emeralds.
Sukko pushed his Magic still even further, even as Zombots started barraging the other door, the other side of the Main Control Room. This forced Sukko to throw his free-hand out to hold the door. Now hovering a foot of the ground, royal blue hue everywhere, both hands out to stop the Zombots. Now being controlled by the Zeti, their attacks were stronger, Sukko had no choice but to use his eyes to control the computer console. That took a huge amount of concentration, one that could potentially knock him out. But time was not on his side. He sighed. He couldn't let his brother down. He never had, and wasn't about to start.
Right! Six Zeti, six Chaos Emeralds. One at a time. Thankfully the Chaos Emeralds were with the Zeti. Find the Zeti, find the Emerald. He gritted his teeth as the room shock. Boulders started to fall everywhere. He ignored it. He stretched his Telepathy further then ever, using his project he been creating, which was now completed, and now thankfully working until finally, he found them. Zazz was at Riverside, Zomom was at Vista View, Zor was at Orchardville, Zeena went to Sunset City, Master Zik went to Winterburg, and Zavok continued to command his Zombots from the Faceship.
Struggling to stay awake, Sukko pasts the information on to his brother, who extremely grateful told him to hang on just a little longer. Sukko couldn't guarantee that. The Zombots were almost through the doors. Sukko closed his eyes, fearing the inevitable. He had no idea how much time had passed. Then he felt the a huge amount of Chaos Energy above him, the Metal Virus beginning to swirl all around him and the Zombots attack significantly easing. Sukko cheered, they'd done it. Super Transformation. They successfully gotten the Chaos Emeralds off the Zeti. But who or how they were going to get rid of the Metal Virus, Sukko didn't find out, as the drain from the extensive use of Chaos Sorcery got the better of him, he passed out cold, falling to the floor.