But, fast as he was, Zachary was always faster. How he managed to accomplish the feat was anyone's guess. But, he did it none the less.
With a single hand held outward, he stopped Sonic dead in his tracks once more. Sonic hung in mid air like a puppet attached to strings. As Zachary raised his hand, so Sonic also rose. Zachary lifted him up so he was just dangling about six inches above the ground.
"What the," Sonic gasped in disbelief. He felt almost weightless, dangling in zero gravity; But there was still a slight pull that he could barely feel; that was almost unnoticeable. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Zachary turned his head to speak to Tails, still holding Sonic in air. "Tails, my boy," he said plainly, "Will you do the honors?" Tails grinned.
"Of course!" Tails bent down, handling the gun in his gloved hands. He pulled back the hammer arm as he aimed it weakly at Sonic's belly.
"No way, man. Don't do it!" Sonic said, struggling to break free of Zachary's icy, telepathic grasp. But the more he struggled, the tighter the pull became. He deemed it useless and ceased the fight. He gave Tails a quick, sorrowful glance, then turned to look the other way, awaiting the inevitable.
The Tails clone felt a rush of energy blast through him. What was this new feeling? This feeling of excitement. Zachary had built him well, not leaving out the smallest details. Even emotions were downloaded! Everything from being joyful to feeling grief, and, quite possibly, even love. But, he wasn't any George Lucas A.I.; he still had limitations. There were some ideas that he had fixed in his memory that he couldn't erase. He was given a false past; a life created on a computer. He was only to do what Zachary commanded him, because he had taken him in when no one else would.
"Get out of my sight, freak!" That's what the hedgehog had yelled to him when he came, looking for a place to stay. He laughed and slammed the door in his face. How could anyone be so cruel to another living being? Then Zachary had showed him the light. He had showed him how to talk, how to fly using his dual tails. He was like a father to him. He demanded respect and obedience, and that was what Tails (clone) was determined to deliver.
Obedience.
He squeezed the trigger, again feeling that surge of excitement that intoxicated him. He watched the barrel slowly begin to rotate, placing another bullet into position to be released. Then he felt a slight gust of wind on his side.
Knuckles threw himself into Tails, knocking him onto the ground forcefully. The bullet crashed into the cathedral-style ceiling, sending debris down in a mist.
Just as all this was happening, Julie-Su jump kicked Zachary in the face, knocking him to the floor, and, consequently, sending Sonic crashing to the floor.
"You okay?" Julie asked Sonic as she extended a helping hand.
Sonic jumped up quickly, "I'm fine, thank you. Now, let's go kick some butt, shall we?" He and Julie raced at Zachary, who was just recovering from the unsuspected blow. He saw them coming, and quickly smashed the heels of his feet into both their faces, sending them rolling different directions. Julie-Su back- flipped onto her feet and planted yet another kick into Zachary's face. He stumbled, trying to regain his composure, just as Sonic placed his knee right into Zachary's nose, sending him, and some blood, rolling to the ground.
"All right, tell me what the heck you think you're doing-," Knuckles said, as he got off of Tails. He paused to notice that Tails wasn't moving. He was obviously out cold from the force of Knuckles' body, and possibly the fact that his head hit the floor at an alarming speed. He left the clone there as he jumped into the brawl against Zachary.
Zachary propped himself up on his knees, wiping the blood from his nose. All three of the creatures were standing around him, waiting for hi to make a move. He sneered at the thought of them ever really defeating him, and rose to his feet. He stood perfectly still, closing his eyes and concentrating. Just as everyone jumped at him, he opened his eyes, sending a shockwave of PSI into the air. Everyone was thrown in different directions, crashing through tables and into walls. Enraged, he again found Sonic, dazed and confused once more. He picked him up so he was face level, stared into his green eyes, and then, threw him into the wall in disgust. He turned around just in time to see Knuckles' fist slam into his face. He was thrown aghast into the floorboards as Knuckles planted his foot on Zachary's chest, pressing as hard as he could, getting a cry of pain from his victim.
"Now," Knuckles said, enjoying the moment even though he was blinded with rage, "Tell me! Why do you want to kill us?"
Zachary snarled, "Don't put your nose where it doesn't belong, echidna! What a way to treat your maker!"
Knuckles cocked his head to the side in confusion, "Come again?"
Zachary groaned, "Sit back, it's a long one."
"Back in the year 2059, the world was at war. With the development of nuclear technology, battles were no longer fought face to face, but with guided missiles and laser-."
"Quit stalling!" Knuckles barked, "Get to the point!"
"When the third world war came to a close, neither side won. The world had become a desecrated nuclear wasteland. I was one of the few who had made it to the safe houses. All life was destroyed on that day.
"But, with the nuclear radiation reigning over the earth, the evolutionary process was sped up to an alarming rate. When the radiation cleared, and we, or rather, I, was sure that it was safe, I came out to see a world like none other. New foliage had sprouted, none of which I have never seen before. With these, I constructed the house you now stand in. And, over time, I watched the evolutionary process continue.
"Of course, after the radiation wore off, the process lagged, and I was desperate to make new creatures to inhabit the earth. I used my psychic abilities and plant samples to create two new living creatures: a male and a female. I let them free to populate the earth, and let evolution take it's course.
"I have survived long enough to see my two creations spawn into entirely different creatures. None of which I have ever seen before." He looked back and forth between Knuckles and Julie-Su. "And now, I see the two living happily as ever."
"Cute," Knuckles joked, "But, you tried to kill us, so, unless you surrender, you'll be killed as well."
Zachary smirked, "I doubt you comprehend my strength." As soon as he finished, every muscle in his body tensed, and his eyes began to glow a dull blue, like turquoise. He let out a shrill cry as he sent out wave after wave of PSI energy, knocking everyone away. Soon the beams that held up the house began to creak and moan from the immense pressure that Zachary was forcing on them with his psychic waves.
Knuckles tried to get up, but every single blast shot him back to the ground. The pressure was immense, and he didn't know how much longer his body could take it. He painfully looked over to Julie-Su, who was doing exactly what he was. Then, he turned to Sonic, who had given up altogether. He sat, back against the wall, letting every beam hit him with anguish. He just took the pain without retaliation. Then Knuckles' attention was brought to the beams above. Dust landed on his wet nose as they began to crack and, over time begin to break off. He shot a quick, non-believing look at Zachary. If he shot another PSI wave, the whole house would come down. He could tell by the psychotic glimmer in Zachary's eyes, that he didn't care if he had to go down with them.
"You never turned out as I planned!" Zachary yelled, "Now I will start over! A new beginning will befall this planet!" He tensed up once more, ready to shoot another wave.
"No!" Knuckles yelled, using the pause to his advantage. He got up and dashed towards Zachary to try and stop him.
But he was too late.
A large snapping sound emanated from the ceiling. Both Knuckles and Zachary looked up to watch a wooden beam begin to descend right above Zachary's chest. He had no time to scream, only to look on with terror as death hurdled towards him. It made contact to his rib cage, breaking everything above his torso into shards and ripped pieces of flesh. He couldn't shriek; not with the blood that he threw up. "They are superior," Zachary muttered, watching Knuckles help Julie-Su and Sonic up.
Knuckles spoke frantically. "Come on, we have to get out of here before the whole place comes down!" No sooner had he said this when another beam dislocated and plummeted downwards. Everyone looked up to watch it plant itself right on Julie's legs.
"Aaaaarrrrrggggghhhh!!!" she cried as the beam broke both her legs. She struggled to break free, but the large beam held her fast. Knuckles and Sonic tried to lift it off, but the beam weighed much more than both of them combined. Suddenly, to their amazement, the beam began to levitate. Knuckles and Sonic exchanged glances, and then turned to see Zachary, using his last ounce of strength to lift the beam.
As soon as it was high enough, Julie used her hands to shuffle out from under it. She had to look the other way when she saw the bloody masses that were her feet. Despite the gore, Knuckles picked her up, as he and Sonic dashed down the hallways and out the door, into the snow, where they both dropped to their knees in exhaustion. Sonic looked around frantically.
"Where's Tails?" He asked, half yelling. He was interrupted by the sound of the while mansion crumbling behind them. He stared in amazement as the house crumbled inside itself; reduced to rubble.
Knuckles looked back at Julie-Su, who was cringing in pain. "We gotta get you to a hospital, pronto!" He got up and raced to his jeep, putting Julie in the passenger's seat. Then, as he wrapped her legs with a blanket, he looked back at Sonic, who was staring dumbfounded at the rubble. "Come on, what's done is done! He isn't coming back! Let's go!" Sonic took one last look at what was the mansion and then jumped into the back of the Jeep, which sped off into the sun.