Darkness Rising

Chapter 4

One Controller

Sonic stepped into the cold dirty street. Behind him Bunnie and Sally hid in the shadow of a junk pile, waiting for him to make his move. He looked left, nothing. Then right, nothing. Both directions held little for Sonic's eyes. After years of running missions in Robotropolis Sonic had gotten used the filth of the city. Here and there a weed grew from a crack in the cement. But that was the only things that grew.

Sonic dashed to the other side of the street. He spindashed a door in and looked around. Around him was what appeared to be a simple living room. Several old pieces of electronic equipment, mainly radio equipment, sat undisturbed in one corner. They were in the old suburbs of the city. He was currently in an old apartment complex. When Robotnik took over he took only what he could use. Most of the electronics that people owned were of no used to him.

Sonic waked to the old wooden door and turned the handle. The door creaked open on its rusted hinges revealing a long hallway. The paint had been worn away by the may chemicals in the air and left bare plaster along the walls. Equally spaced were many doors, each leading into a set of living areas.

Sonic ran down the hall and entered the stairwell. He quickly bounded up the steps to the roof. Upon opening the door, he immediately went into caution mode. He listened intently for any sounds of approaching SWAT-bot patrols.

He crept out onto the roof. He scanned the skies for anything out of the ordinary. Besides the cloud of smog that hung over the once great city, nothing was out of the ordinary. In the distance several hovercraft crossed an intersection and disappeared behind a building. Sonic didn't worry. They were too far away to detect him.

He walked over to the ledge and peered down. Sally and Bunnie could barely be seen near the junk pile. He quickly waved for them to enter the building. Both ran as fast as they could across the street and into the door Sonic had smashed down. Bunnie stopped for a moment to lean the battered door against the frame, masking the room from outside view.

Sonic waited patiently for them to arrive at the roof. He normally had little patience, however, the enormity of the problem seemed to calm him down from his normal upbeat self. He brushed a hand across his emerald belt. An observer would have noticed that Sonic's hands had brushed against nothing, as the belt was invisible to all but the wearer. Seven different color lights lit up as his hand slowly brushed across them.

His movement was too slow to activate the miniature super emeralds embedded in the belt. To activate them he would have to swipe his hand or hands across them quickly. He was ready to do it at a moments notice in case they ran into trouble.

At that moment, Bunnie and Sally opened the door to the roof and stepped over to him. Sally noticed him fidgeting his belt and sighed. "Don't worry Sonic, I'm sure this will succeed."

Sonic looked up and nodded; a worried look on his face. "I know Sal, but I can't keep from thinking the worst things since I heard about the Death Egg."

Sonic's uncle Chuck had warned them of the Death Egg two days before. Since then they had been working round the clock to gather all the information they could about Robotnik's plan.

"Well sugar hog," Bunnie said, giving him a light hug, "Don't you worry. Little old me will protect you in case the big scary ship comes after you."

Sonic looked up and laughed. Bunnie always had a way of cheering him up. Sally also had the effect, when she wanted to, and to a much greater effect.

"Okay," Sally said, pulling out Nichole, "Nichole, display map A-5."

"Affirmative Sally." The hand held computer said. After a few moments of flashing lights, the computer beeped and a holographic map was projected near the ground.

Sally squatted down and pointed at the map. "Sonic, take this route to the power plant. Do exactly as we planned. Once your ready, Signal us and we'll get to the secondary relay station."

"All right Sal. You and Bunnie be careful." He said, stepping back a few steps. "I am up, over, and gone!" With that he took a running leap to the next building. He ran down the fire escape and shot off through the street below toward a large building with smokestacks in the distance.

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Snively walked over to the glass tube encasing Metal Sonic. His modification was nearly complete. For the past eighteen hours Mecha had been in the tube undergoing modification for the pickup. Small robotic arms moved inside the tube through the green liquid, darting in and out of an opening in Mecha's back just above the jet engine. His chest also sported two small doors that had not been their before. A small cavity could was visible as the doors where open.

Snively coughed and rubbed his eyes. He had not gotten any sleep since the incident with the fox and the roboticizer. He had been working on repairing it until Mecha needed his modifications.

When the last arm attached the remaining armor to Mecha and retracted, Snively activated him. Mecha's eyes powered up and cast a red glow upon the green liquid. Snively pushed a few more buttons, draining the tube and retracting the glass upwards.

Metal Sonic stepped out and stood still for a moment, green liquid dripping off of him. "What are my orders?" the robot droned.

Snively sat down in a nearby chair, "You are to proceed to the coordinates in your memory banks and rendezvous with the convoy." Snively battled away unconsciousness and continued. "From there you will install the cargo and return here with all possible speed."

"Affirmative." The robot replied. He then turned and walked out the door. Upon leaving the building, Mecha ignited his engine and flew off towards his destination. Snively jumped up on a solid metal table. He lay back and closed his eyes. "I will rest my eyes a minute before going back to work on the Roboticizer." He told himself. He was asleep the instant his eyes closed.

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Sonic approached the power plant. He skidded to a stop as a patrol rounded the corner ahead of him, going the same direction as he. They had not seen him as they were turned the opposite direction. Sonic ran to a nearby alley and hid.

After a minute or so, he peeked around the corner. The patrol had disappeared and the street was empty. Even so, Sonic wasn't taking any chances. He dashed from shadow to shadow, staying away from the cameras and patrols.

After ten minutes Sonic was fifty yards from the doors to the plant. He could see the fifteen SWAT-bots patrol the perimeter, as well as the normal city patrols fly by. Sonic thought for a moment and decided to take the easer course.

Reaching down, he swept both hands over his emerald belt and flung them behind him. The power caused him to shoot into the air a few inches as it flowed into him. His blue fur and spines immediately went to hot yellow, then began their cycle of the rest of the colors. His color alternated every tenth of a second and small energy balls shot from him and away in different directions.

His power made him show up like a Christmas tree in a pitch-black room. Every SWAT-bot and patrol for two hundred yards immediately converged upon him. They leveled their weapons and one shouted "Priority one hedgehog, kill or capture. FREEZE!"

"No way bucket heads!" Sonic replied, flying at them with incredible speed. They immediately opened fire. Lasers bounced or were absorbed harmlessly by him. He tore through their ranks, destroying ten in the first three seconds.

The locked steel doors proved to be no match for Hyper Sonic. He barreled into them at three hundred and skidded to stop inside. One door shot from its hinges and smashed into a piece of equipment in the middle of the plant. The other door managed to stay on its hinges until it smashed into the wall holding it, effectively destroying the wall and falling to the ground.

The first door apparently hit something vital. Red lights suddenly blazed to life and a warning klaxon began to sound. A large generator in front of him suddenly exploded, sending metal chunks flying everywhere. This in turn caused another generator to explode. It continued until the fuel tanks providing fuel to the generators were hit. The tanks exploded, sending a massive shockwave out. The shockwave ripped through everything save Sonic. His invincibility protected him from being savaged by the wave. However, it did knock him back into the pile of debris caused by the shockwave. When the dust cleared, the plant lie in ruins

Sonic picked himself out from under the wreckage. Being invincible did have its advantages. He had done better than expected. Robotnik could never hope to repair the plant, for it had been destroyed beyond recognition. Sonic smirked and leaped into the air, flying away and circling back to draw as many SWAT-bots to him as possible.

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Blackness was all the fox knew. Alone in his mind he screamed out for something… and found nothing. Without input terrible things happen to the mind. Time seemed to slow. Minutes were hours. Hours were days. Days turned into seasons. Images and memories blended and mixed. Events toppled onto each other. Each one multiplying the impact of the others until his mind seemed to boil and explode with data.

Then, as suddenly as it had happened, it ended. He was torn from one extreme and thrown to the other. Every sense was active. Every smell he had ever smelled invaded his nose at once. His eyes were blinded even though they were closed. His body seemed to be torn apart from the inside, outside, and all around. His ears were tortured with the screams of unknown demons.

Then it ended. He felt himself fly through air and land hard on his back. When he opened his eyes… no, eye. He opened one eye and he gazed upon an overcast sky. The clouds moved quickly through the sky, getting darker every second.

The fox inhaled a deep breath and lifted his arm. Or rather, he tried to lift his arm. It felt like lead weights had been attached to his arm. He tried to move his other arm only to find the same dead weight. His body suddenly quivered with effort as he tried to sit up. All he accomplished was to tire himself out.

The fox was tired. That short amount of effort had been all he could muster. He yawned and closed his eye. He promised himself he wouldn't fall asleep. He would just rest until he could regain his strength. Like many things that had happened to him, this did not go the way he planned. He fell asleep within seconds of closing his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself looking up at a face. Panicking, the fox tried to lift a hand to ward off an attack. However, all he could do was shake his body a bit. He couldn't even open his mouth to speak. The face disappeared and he heard a voice.

"Finally awake I see. Don't try to move, you'll just waste your energy." A mid-pitched feminine voice said.

After a few scared moments the fox calmed down enough to look over at the speaker. He managed to turn his head enough to catch a good look at her. He found himself staring at a vixen. She was wearing a pair of black baggy jeans and a dark purple tshirt. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail. White fur marked her chin and throat, while brown fur marked everywhere else. Her eyes were dark brown that nearly matched his fur. She looked to be no older than sixteen. She was beautiful in his eyes.

She moved the single door in the room and opened it just enough to stick her head through. "Grandma! He's awake!" She said just before closing the door and walking over to his side. "Hey there, my name is Michelle." She said softly, smiling and staring into his eyes. "You just lie still and wait for my grandma. She'll know what to do." She walked out of his view and heard a window close. Before it closed, he heard the sound of rain start outside. The pit-pat of raindrops began to get quicker and louder on the roof.

He heard the door squeak open again. In walked a much older vixen than Michelle. He guessed this was her grandma. Her hair was white with gray strands placed here and there. It hung down to her waist and he wondered how heavy it must have felt.

The old vixen closed the door and walked over to him. She switched a glass from her right hand to her left and placed her right hand around his throat. She felt around for a few moments before speaking. "Well… looks like the medicine I gave you is working." She paused and took a sip of whatever was in the glass before continuing.

"You should have seen yourself when my granddaughter brought you in." She said, gesturing over at Michelle. "Your throat looked like a baseball. I'm surprised you were able to breathe."

The fox opened his mouth and tried to speak. All that came out was hoarse gasp.

"Don't try to talk. Your throat needs to rest. You should be able to talk again with a day or two. Until then you should rest."

"Grandma!" Michelle said suddenly, "What about his armor? I think it's keeping him from moving. He tried to before you came in but couldn't."

"Well then. Let's get this stuff off, shall we?" The old fox said.

In his tired state, the fox could barely move. He concentrated and tried to connect to his suit's computer. Try as he might, he couldn't get anything. That could only mean he was out of power. Although he had regained a certain amount of strength since waking up, he still did not have nearly enough to move with his un-powered armor on.

Without power the only way to get his armor off was to manually take it apart. As the two vixens were neither skilled mechanics nor technicians, they had no hope of removing anything save his gloves, which only needed a few screws loosened and then be pulled off.

After forty minutes of trying they finally gave up. They lay the fox back down on his bed and stood. "Well," Michelle said, "I don't think that worked." A sudden flash of lightning and a loud thunderclap caused her to jump suddenly. She turned and looked at her grandma, hand on her chest. "Wow! That was loud!."

Her grandma walked over to the window and looked out. "That's because it struck a tree near the edge of town." The tree she spoke of was now nothing more than a blazing pile of wood. Luckily the tree was the only thing flammable within twenty feet. The soaked grass easily repelled the flames from the burning tree.

The fox's eyes suddenly opened wide. As he lay there he could feel something powerful deep within him. It burned inside him, making him silently cry out. Suddenly red and orange hazards filled his vision. He felt the familiar vibration of his suits power core activate. He ignored the feeling of bugs crawling on flesh as his self-repair system started its tedious job of healing himself and his suit.

The warning lights winked out quickly as soon as his computer was back up. With power, the suit internal motors easily allowed the fox to move. He sat up quickly and turned to his hosts.

"Where am I?" he said. The two vixens turned and faced him. "You are here in our home, in Pilewood." The older vixen said, approaching him and offering him her hand. He took her hand and used it to help himself stand up from the bed.

"Thank you, but, who are you and what happened to me?" The fox said. "I can't remember." Michelle stepped toward him and spoke. Her voice soothed his ears tortured ears. "Well, we were hoping you could tell us what happened to you." She paused and looked at her grandma. "Yes, Michelle here found you outside our house just before the storm hit. She dragged you in and we put you here in bed Oh, my name is Laura Redfalls. Now, who are you?"

The fox stared at her for a second before looking down at his feet. "I… I don't know. I can't remember."

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Metal Sonic skimmed above the ground at three hundred miles per hour. Rain beat down upon his sleek metal hull. Each seem and crack had been sealed and waterproofed, effectively preventing any water from entering his internal systems.

He followed the trail in front of him past every twist and turn, dodged every tree and bush that grew where it wasn't supposed to. His old combat software had been reinstalled and needed calibrating. This software also included collision and dodge programming.

He passed three more sharp bends in the trail before stopping as fast as his braking system would allow. In front of him was a scene of chaos. Smoldering hulks of robots and vehicles littered the trail. A few SWAT-bots wandered around the perimeter, patrolling for any signs of a long gone threat. Several footprints of great size were still visible in the mud.

Mecha ran to the only remaining operation vehicle in the convoy. The tracked vehicle looked like a tank with no turret. Slits in its thick armor allowed laser rifles to be fired from within. The entire vehicle looked like it had taken a beating. Numerous breaches in the armor were visible. Many smoked from damaged equipment.

The blue robot walked to the rear of the vehicle and typed in a code on a keypad. The back end suddenly folded down, forming a ramp and revealing the interior of the APC. (armored personnel carrier) A small squirrel dressed in a tattered white lab coat walked up and greeted him.

"I assume you are Metal Sonic." Without waiting for an answer the squirrel turned around and motioned for Mecha to follow him. "We lost sixty- three swatbots defending this. I hope it was well worth it."

With that, the squirrel walked up to a small safe. He typed in the code on the pad and opened the safe. He reached in and pulled a small metal box from within. Mecha reached out and grabbed it quickly. He opened the box and stared at the object within.

"Ahh! The eighth chaos emerald! With this Dr. Robotniks plan can finally unfold!" Mecha pulled out the shining jewel and placed it near his chest. The squirrel scientist suddenly leaped at him, eyes glazed over and focused on the emerald. Mecha managed to put and arm out and bat him out of the air.

The scientist landed hard but immediately got to his feet. "Mine! I must have it!" The squirrel yelled as he charged Mecha. Metal Sonic sidestepped his next attack and grabbed him by the neck with one hand. He squeezed and smiled as he felt the familiar pop of neck bones. The scientist immediately went limp.

Mecha flung the squirrel out into the mud and turned back to the emerald. The small doors on his chest popped out to reveal a space just big enough for the emerald. He quickly placed it inside and closed the compartment. Mecha gasped as the power flowed into him. His metal hull gleamed brightly in the darkness of the APC. Several patches from earlier battles suddenly vanished, leaving his body in pristine condition.

Mecha floated out into the rain. He looked up into the sky and raised a hand. Immediately a bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds into the forest several miles away. Metal Sonic looked down at his hands. He waved them around a bit and laughed his mechanical laugh. Suddenly he shot into the air. His glowing form showed for miles around as he exceeded mach 1 back to Robotropolis.

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Hyper Sonic carried Sally and Bunnie out of Robotropolis. They had gotten what they came for. Among with the information about the death egg, the had confirmed that the roboticizer was down. No one knew why.

Just before passing the last scrap pile, Sonic groaned and closed his eyes. His glowing form suddenly phased back to blue and all three crashed to the ground.

Bunnie was the first to get up. She groaned and put a metal hand on her head. "Geez sugahog, could you give us a warning before you go back to normal…" She trailed off when she saw Sonic.

He was laying face down on the ground; his emerald belt flung five feet away close to a scrap heap. Sally picked herself up and immediately went to Sonic. Her recent laser wound had reopened, the bandage quickly becoming pink.

"Sonic! Are you alright!" She exclaimed, turning him over. She gasped and turned to Bunnie. "Bunnie, help me get Sonic, we have to get back to Knothole."

Bunnie scooped sonic up in her arms, noticing the large bump on his head that was quickly turning the color of his spines. Sally retrieved Sonics emerald belt. All seven stones pulsated with color. Each one dimmed and then became bright again. Sally caught up to Bunny and the two made there way out of Robotropolis towards knothole.

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