Chaos Control
Chapter 9
Everyone stared in amazement at the design and physical appearance of the robot that stood before them.
"You like it?" mocked Mojo. "We spent half of the day yesterday constructing our most powerful robot yet. It is with the combined efforts of me and Eggman that went into the construction of this machine. Since it was built by me and Eggman, it has the combined style and abilities that can be built by either me or Eggman alone and thus this is the ultimate weapon, one that will destroy the girls and that pesky blue hedgehog with them. You cannot defeat this robot and because you cannot defeat this robot, you will surely parish and be no more and with you all out of the way, nothing can stop us from obtaining the last Chaos Emerald and Eggman and I will rule the world. Wahahahaha."
"What a jabber mouth." said Sonic. Mojo pressed a button on a remote control that activated the robot. The robot began to buzz loudly as its internal mechanisms began to prepare for attack. Everyone got into a fighting stance, waiting to dodge or deflect whatever it was that about to come but they were in no way prepared for what came next.
The robot opened its large mechanical mouth and began to suck air like a vacuum, surprising them with this unexpected attack. The girls were strong enough to resist the force of the wind and because Sonic was capable of displacing wind, he too was unaffected by the sucking air. However, everyone else wasn't immune to the sucking air and as a result, Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, and Amy were sucked into the robot's mouth, screaming all the way. The force of the wind carried the five of them into the robot's mouth and down a narrow tunnel until they landed into some kind of chamber inside the robot.
"Oh no, we got to save them." said Blossom after she had witnessed their friends get sucked up by the robot. The robot stopped sucking in air and then (with speeds so fast that the girls couldn't react) it leaned forward and used both arms to pin Buttercup and Bubbles to the ground.
"Blossom, help." screamed Buttercup and Bubbles as they struggled to push the robot off of them. The two girls tried to struggle free from the monster's grasp but the robot was too strong. Blossom immediately tried to lift the arm off of Bubbles but the arm was too strong. Sonic tried to cut Buttercup free from the other arm but the metal hardly dented with every slash Sonic made.
"Try as you might but this is an extremely powerful metal we had placed on that robot." bragged Mojo.
"It could take days for you to break it." said Eggman. Struck with an idea, Blossom flew up under the robot's chest and since the robot was leaning on Bubbles and Buttercup, Blossom was capable of lifting the robot off of them. Blossom then attempted to push it so far that it would fall backwards but the robot resisted using the strength in its legs and she couldn't push him any further. Blossom was amazed at the robot's strength, she had never encountered a machine this strong before. It was then that Blossom truly knew that they were in trouble.
Meanwhile, Tails and the others were trapped inside a chamber in the robot. It was fairly dark inside because the only light sources was a few neon lighting that ran along the sides of the walls.
"Where are we?" asked Cream.
"We're in the robot." said Knuckles. "That Eggman and his cheep tricks. When I get out of here, I'm so going to pound his face in."
"Well, at least it couldn't get any worse." said Tails. Suddenly, there was a loud sound as gears and machines began to move within the walls.
"What was that?" asked Amy. Amy soon got her answer when the walls in the chamber began to close in on themselves in an attempt to crush its inhabitants.
"We're going to be crushed." shouted Amy in horror.
"Quick, push up against the walls." said Knuckles. Everyone began to push up against the rapidly closing walls but to no avail.
"It's not working." panicked Cream.
"We'll try something else, then." said Knuckles. He balled his fists and then he began repeatedly punching at the walls. Amy pulled out her mallet and began hitting the wall with Knuckles but so far, the two were hardly able to dent it. Things did not look so good for our heroes.
Meanwhile, Sonic and the girls were having troubles of their own. The robot had opened numerous compartments and gadgets from its arms and it began to fire a shower of guns, lasers, and rockets all at once. Sonic's super speed was capable of outrunning and dodging the attacks while the majority of the weapons had little affect on the girls.
"Girls, plan Benta 57." ordered Blossom. As planned, Blossom flew towards the robot's face, causing the robot to aim all of its weapons at her. Blossom easily knocked the incoming missiles away while the lasers and bullets didn't harm her. Blossom's approach was a distraction as Bubbles and Buttercup flew along the sides of the robot's arms and with their eye beams, they melted the weapons that lined the side of the robot's arms. The plan worked and all the robot's weaponry (on its arms, at least) was disabled. Mojo and Eggman watched with surprise.
"I guess I should have made the weapons more harder to destroy." said Eggman.
"The robot still has a chance but we best escape anyway." said Mojo.
"I agree, lets get out of here." said Eggman. The two villains turned their flying vehicles around and they began to retreat.
As Blossom began to think of some more plans, Blossom suddenly heard the faint cry for help. Despite the thick metal, Blossom could just barley make out the screams of help coming from Tails and the others from within the robot. Using her x-ray vision, Blossom looked inside the robot and gasped when she saw Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Knuckles within the chamber and just minutes away from being crushed by the closing walls. She gasped in horror as she frantically looked for some way of getting inside the robot to save them. She noticed that the jaw of the robot was held together by huge screws. Struck with an idea, Blossom flew over to the screws and with her strength and speed, she unscrewed the screws while avoiding the robot's hands who tried to bat her away. As Blossom tried to unscrew the screws, Buttercup and Bubbles realized that Mojo and Eggman were getting away.
"Come one, Bubbles, lets catch them." said Buttercup. The two girls flew towards Mojo and Eggman but they didn't get too far when two arms stretched out and grabbed them from the air. The girls were pulled to the ground and they quickly realized that it was Chaos who had pulled them from the air. Chaos was partially liquified into a puddle with the upper torso still visible and the rest as a puddle. Bubbles and Buttercup were about to scream for help but Chaos quickly shaped his hands into cylinders of water that covered them from the top of their mouths all the way to their ankles, trapping them in place.
Blossom had finally pulled off the last screw and, as she hoped, the robot's jaw fell off and it landed on the ground with a loud "clang." Immediately, Blossom flew down the robot's "throat" and when she reached the chamber, she realized that the others were almost about to be squished. Immediately, she laid herself out so that she could stop the walls by pressing her hands against one wall and her feet against the other wall, stopping the two walls in place by sandwiching herself between them.
"Good job, Blossom." said Tails.
"I can't hold on forever." said Blossom. The walls were stronger than Blossom anticipated and she couldn't hold them for too much longer. "We need Sonic." Everyone called out to Sonic, screaming for his help. Sonic was just outside of the robot and since the robot didn't have a jaw anymore, its mouth was wide open, allowing Sonic to hear the sound of their cries. Knowing that he has to save them, he came up with an idea.
"Hey Metalhead, over here." taunted Sonic. The robot reached over and tried to grab Sonic but Sonic quickly leaped onto the robot's arm and began to run up it. When he was at the shoulder, he leaped into the air and performed a homing attack which aloud Sonic to spin into a ball and fall down the shaft to the chamber within the robot. Upon reaching the chamber, Sonic continued to fall and spin and he struck the floor of the chamber, drilling through the metal. Since the metal inside was weaker than the metal outside, Sonic was capable of drilling a hole through the floor and he spun through the interior of the robot and, like a ball in a pinball machine, he smashed the interior of the robot, destroying the delicate gears and motors from within until finally, both the robot and the crushing walls stood still.
Blossom released her tired arms off of the walls and relaxed. Sonic leaped out of the hole he had made and landed beside Blossom and immediately, Amy (while in tears of joy) wrapped her arms around Sonic.
"Oh Sonic, you saved us." said Amy.
"Well, Blossom did the hard part. I only finished the job." said Sonic modestly.
"Yeah yeah, lets just get out of here." said Knuckles irritated. One by one, they exited the robot through the mouth with Cream (while holding Cheese) flew out first, followed by Tails, then Blossom (while carrying Amy and Knuckles) and ending with Sonic who somehow managed to use his spinning abilities to shoot up through the throat like a bullet out of a gun. They all landed in front of the robot who stood motionless in front of them.
"We did it, we won." said Amy.
"True but we lost the Chaos Emeralds." said Knuckles.
"Hey, where's Buttercup and Bubbles?" asked Cream. Concerned, Blossom looked around and gasped in horror when she noticed Chaos in the distance, still holding onto Buttercup and Bubbles and silently strangulating them to death. Blossom shot forwards to rescue her sisters but Chaos saw her coming and to stop her, Chaos threw the two girls at Blossom and the momentum of the toss pushed Blossom backwards and she skidded across the ground. Chaos then melted into a puddle and slid away to make his escape.
Sonic and the others ran to the the girls' side.
"Are you okay?" asked Sonic.
"I'm fine." said Blossom. The girls got themselves back into the air and levitated themselves to eye level with Sonic.
"Where's Chaos?" asked Bubbles.
"He must have escaped." said Blossom.
"Well, where's the emeralds?" asked Buttercup.
"I'm afraid Mojo and Eggman have them." said Sonic. Buttercup screamed in anger and frustration and suddenly she flew out into the open, looking for Chaos.
"Where are you, you gelatinous jerk." shouted Buttercup. "Come out here and fight like a man." The other two girls caught up with her.
"Buttercup, calm down." said Blossom.
"How can I calm down when it's all Chaos's fault we failed." said Buttercup. "If it wasn't for Chaos, we would have had those emeralds by now."
"I know Buttercup but there's nothing we can do about it." said Blossom. "We need to return to the mansion." Buttercup didn't say anything more but she aloud herself to follow her sisters and the others back to the mansion.
When they returned to the mansion, Sonic told Chris and Professor Thorndyke about what had happened. They were shocked that even after all that, they still lost the emeralds to Eggman and Mojo. Now Eggman and Mojo have six of the seven Chaos Emeralds which means there is one more unaccounted for. If Eggman and Mojo manages to obtain that emerald, then they would have all seven of the emeralds and once they manage to control the emeralds' power, they would be invincible.
Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Knuckles, Chris, and Professor Thorndyke all lounged around the living room, moping about their loss. Eventually, Blossom broke the silence by saying, "What I don't understand is why is Chaos helping Eggman and Mojo in the first place. It just doesn't make any sense."
"When I get the chance, I'm going to pound that Chaos into jelly." said Buttercup still mad about what happened. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Blossom.
"What if Tikal is trying to tell me and Knuckles something about Chaos." said Blossom. "These visions and dreams Knuckles and I have been having. What if Tikal is trying to tell us what Chaos is up to."
"That's actually possible." said Knuckles. "I've heard that ghosts are not capable of directly communicating with mere language but they can communicate by sending visions of the past. I knew that Tikal was trying to tell me something but I couldn't figure out what because in order for me to ask her what she is trying to tell me, I have to find some way of contacting her from beyond the world of the living and to this day, all methods that I have tried have failed, unless..." Knuckles suddenly cut off his sentence as a realization occurred to him.
"Unless what?" asked Sonic.
"I have an idea." said Knuckles. "There was a ritual I had tried once but it failed because the ritual has a greater chance of being successful if two or more people who are trying to be contacted by the same ghost use the ritual together. I always had to do the ritual alone so the ritual was not strong enough but it might be strong enough if Blossom helps me."
"Sounds a little far fetched but I'll try anything at this point." said Tails. Everyone else seemed okay with the idea so Blossom agreed to do the ritual with Knuckles.
Both Knuckles and Blossom got down on their knees and faced each other. They held onto each others' hands, getting into position. the position was a little awkward since Knuckles was taller than Blossom but they seemed to be in an appropriate position.
"Now Blossom, I want you to close your eyes and relax your mind." instructed Knuckles. "I want you to visualize the Master Emerald. Pretend you are high above it and spinning around it." Blossom and Knuckles closed their eyes and they focused on the image of the Master Emerald. They continued to concentrate on that image.
"This is the part where we make contact to the power of the Master Emerald." explained Knuckles. "I want you to clear your mind of all other thoughts except for the thought of that emerald. Imagine yourself drawing power from the emerald like a battery supplying power to you." Blossom concentrated on that image. She became deeper and deeper into a trance as she continued to focus on that thought. She began to become relaxed as she felt a sensation of weightlessness but she wasn't sure if it was just the effects of hypnosis or something else.
"Now, I want you to repeat after me." said Knuckles. "From physical to spiritual I request to thee, through the Master Emerald, may the spirits speak to me." Blossom and Knuckles continued to chant this same phrase and with each time, they began to glow brighter. Everyone stared in amazement as they glowed brightly. Suddenly, the light that Blossom and Knuckles were creating had removed itself from them as if it was a physical material. The lights merged together and an orange sphere of light was created. The sphere floated around the room like a fly looking for a way out. Everyone stared in aw, including Sonic who seemed transfixed by the light. Knuckles and Blossom got back onto their feet as the light began to lower itself to the ground. It began to shape and materialize until it formed the ghost of Tikal.
"Tikal?" chorused Knuckles and Blossom.
"Yes, I am the spirit of Tikal." said Tikal. "Your combined strength of will has managed to conjure me here so I can tell you what I have been wanting to say for so long." Hardly anyone spoke or even blinked. They just stared at the sight of Tikal. Amazingly, she didn't look transparent as everyone expected but solid and corporeal as if she was alive. "I suppose you all are wanting me to explain about why Chaos is here and his involvement with the destruction of the Echidna Tribe."
"Not only that but we also want to know why Chaos has been helping Mojo and Eggman collect the emeralds." said Sonic. "So are you going to tell us?" Everyone looked eager to hear her story as well.
"Very well." said Tikal. "As you may know, the chao had been slowly dying out in our dimension and they would have become extinct if it continued. To help save the chao, the Echidna Tribe set up a preservation for them. They collected as many chao as they could and put them all under their care. To help care for the chao and protect the Chaos Emeralds, the Echidna Tribe used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to create a monster out of the water from the magical fountain that held the Chaos Emeralds. They named this monster Chaos and when he was created, he was a kind and caring creature who protected the chao vigilantly and cared for them like a mother. But that would all change when a great evil started brewing within the Echidna Tribe."
"There was a rival tribe known as the Tenrec Tribe who were larger and more powerful than the Echidna Tribe. The people of Tenrec Tribe were selfish, self centered, and they didn't care much for nature like the Echidna Tribe did. They squandered their resources and destroyed many natural inhabitants. Not only that, but they were like big bullies to the Echidna Tribe. Disguised by the Tenrec Tribe's lack of respect for nature and how they bullied the Echidna Tribe, the Echidna Tribe vowed to stop the Tenrecs at all costs but because of the Tenrec's huge size, the Echidna's could not fight them with their armies alone. Instead, the Echidna's wanted to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to destroy the Tenrec Tribe but I knew that such an act could be disastrous to the Echidna Tribe. At the time, my father was the leader of the Echidna Tribe. I tried to persuade my father and the rest of the tribe to not use the emeralds but they didn't heed my warnings. The tribe's sorcerers conjured a spell from the Chaos Emeralds and that spell caused massive destruction to the Tenrec Tribe. In just one minute, every man, women, and child in the Tenrec Tribe was killed."
"How terrible." chorused Bubbles and Cream.
"That was only the half of it." said Tikal morbidly. "Chaos's power is drawn from the emeralds and so he has a direct connection to them. When the Echidna Tribe used the emeralds to destroy the Tenrecs, their anger against the Tenrecs had filtered through the emeralds and into Chaos himself. This anger and lust to kill transformed Chaos from a kind hearted care-taker to an evil being bent on the destruction of all life.
"First, Chaos murdered all the chao under his protection, then he move into the Echidna Tribe and slaughtered them. The Echidnas were defenseless against his power and they perished." There was silence as they all listened to the story. Cream, Cheese, Amy, Blossom, Bubbles, and even Buttercup was disturbed about all this talk of death. "I was the last one standing and I knew that if Chaos got a hold of the Chaos Emeralds, he would have the power to destroy the world. I had to stop him and although I had experience in the use of magic, I lacked the power to destroy Chaos so I did the next best thing. Using the power of all seven emeralds, I tore open a portal as Chaos came towards me. The portal banished Chaos to another dimension. Only a planer boundary can cut off Chaos's power to the emeralds so while he was in another dimension, Chaos's power would be cut off and he would be powerless. But my body was not physically capable handling all that chaos power and once Chaos was safely sent away, my body was disintegrated."
"So you gave your life to save our world." said Knuckles. Tikal nodded her head indicating "yes." There was a dead silence in the room as this sad story sunk in.
"But wait, you said that Chaos was sent to another dimension." said Sonic to Tikal. "Is that dimension, by any chance, this one?"
"Yes." said Tikal. "Chaos was banished here. Without the Chaos Emeralds, Chaos remained weak and harmless but from the moment the Chaos Emeralds came to this dimension, his strength returned as the source of his power was within his grasp again. Chaos seeks to obtain all seven Chaos Emeralds. Once he has them, he could use a powerful Chaos Control which would transform him into the most powerful creature in the universe. Once he is that powerful, he could destroy all life in this universe."
"But why is he helping Eggman and Mojo collect the emeralds for him?" asked Blossom. "Can't he just do so himself?"
"Yes but he choses not to and it is because of Sonic that he avoids obtaining the emeralds himself." said Tikal.
"Me? Why me?" asked Sonic.
"Chaos is well aware of how powerful you are." said Tikal. "Chaos knows that you are a formidable opponent and not to mention you have strong allies at your side. Chaos knows that unless he has used the seven Chaos Emeralds and transformed into his most powerful form, there is a chance you could defeat him. That is why Chaos is helping Eggman and Mojo because it directs your attention away from Chaos and towards Eggman and Mojo since they're the ones collecting the emeralds, not Chaos. If he had obtained the emeralds himself, you would have tried to search for him. Eggman and Mojo don't realize this but Chaos has been observing them, watching them collect the emeralds, and once Eggman and Mojo have all the emeralds in one place, Chaos will easily break in and steal the emeralds for himself."
"Well then got to do something." said Buttercup. "We got to find Chaos and beat the stuffing out of him."
"And while you are looking for Chaos, Eggman and Mojo would already have the final emerald and Chaos would simply go to them and steal the emeralds." pointed out Tikal. "Chaos is too good at hiding so there's no assurance we can find him in time. It wont be long before Eggman and Mojo's Chaos Radar finds the location of the remaining emerald so our best chance is to keep the remaining emerald away from Eggman, Mojo, and Chaos while at the same time, locate the other ones."
"She's right, but how are we going to find where Eggman and Mojo took the emeralds?" asked Blossom.
"You must use your talents." said Tikal. "I have faith in all of you. Good luck." Tikal then vanished into a flash of light, leaving the others behind.
"Now that we know what we're up against, we should figure out some way of finding that last Chaos Emerald before Eggman and Mojo does." said Blossom. "Tails, are you sure you can't improve that Chaos Energy Radar?"
"I've tried but I can't seem to improve on it." said Tails.
"I would help but I know nothing about how these emeralds work, what they can do, or anything else there is to know about Chaos Emeralds." said Professor Thorndyke.
"Wait a minute, our dad could figure out something." said Bubbles.
"That's a great idea, Bubbles." said Blossom brightening up. "Our dad is a scientist and with his brilliance, he could improve that radar in no time."
"Looks like we're taking a trip to Townsville." said Sonic.
"Then we better ride in the X Tornado then." said Chris. Everyone ran to the laboratory so they could use Tails's planes to fly to Townsville.
Meanwhile, back at Townsville, Professor Utonium was at his lab with a small cardboard box in his hands.
"This is a most extraordinary find." said Professor Utonium. The Professor opened the box and reached inside it. He pulled his hand out of the box and in his grasp was a fist size diamond with an unusual silver coloration. The Professor had found the diamond in the park and he had brought it to his lab in order to study it. The Professor put the diamond into a scanner which looked like a microwave oven attached to a computer. He placed the diamond inside it and the scanner studied the diamond's characteristics. The Professor's jaw dropped open when he saw the results of the scan.
"What incredible amounts of power coming from just this one diamond." said the Professor in astonishment. "Not only does this diamond have an unusual color, it also has incredible power. I must study it further." What the Professor didn't know was that the diamond he had in his possession was the seventh Chaos Emerald. What he also didn't know was that Mojo and Eggman knows he has it and they are on their way to Townsville...