HEBM - PART IX
DAWNS OF CHAOS
From within a deep layer near Robotropolis, clickety clack sounds of one typing on a keyboard could be heard. The figure typed vigorously and with determination to get this certain word out. Once finished, the send button was clicked.
Meanwhile in Knothole around 3 pm a couple days after the events with Lighgresonic, Rotor dropped his tools working the SOS pod and diverted his attention to the main screen in his lab after the sounds of an incoming message beeped throughout. Rotor opened the message and saw it was from Sonic's uncle. After quickly reading it, he printed a copy to show the others.
"Sally! Wake up! I have critical news!" Sally quickly found herself awake from her nap. Rotor held up a letter addressed to them from Uncle Chuck.
"What is it?"
"It's from Sir Charles. It appeared on the main screen just a few minutes ago. He states that the terrebot invasion that we had was triggered by the collapse Robotnik's command center."
"What caused the command center to collapse?"
"He doesn't know for sure but thinks Snively was involved."
"Ok then. We should go alert the others."
"That's it, Tails. Just keep those tails of yours rotating with that same torque and you may be able to keep up with me." Sonic said racing through the forest with Tails widening a gap between them.
"Have you been hanging around with Rotor too much Sonic?"
"Yup. He mentioned it."
"I thought so. What do you mean by torque?"
"I think it has something to do with with your tails rotating. I'll have to ask Rotor about it. I forgot most of it."
"I thought so, Sonic." Tails said carelessly. "Are distractions a real major concern too? Like if they cause you to trip or something?"
"Not really. It depends. If there are several trees then yeah, you'll wanna make sure you're keeping ahead but if its very widened, I wouldn't worry about it."
"Gotcha, Sonic. I'm ready for lunch."
"Sounds good, Tails. Meet ya back." The duo continued to demonstrate their speed as they made themselves back to Knothole.
"There you two are!" It was Sally and she was anxious to tell them of the recent information gathered.
"What is it, Sal?" Sonic could tell it wouldn't be anything good by the look on her face.
"Nothing good. Rotor has received a message that the invasion we had a few days ago was no accident and was caused by Snively and Otrebor."
"Otrebor?"
"The flying monkey. Snively's new companion."
"Ah yea. I remember now."
Sally continued, "We're working on gathering a party to seek them out and completely seize them or do whatever it takes to put them away."
"Wow. We're really that concerned about them?"
"They're responsible for many deaths. That will not be tolerated by any conditions and besides, they are very dangerous out there."
"Alright. I guess I'm ready for some action. Do we know where they are?"
"We're working on that. Rotor's using our satellites to relay places they have been. So far, we haven't come up with anything."
"Well, maybe it wasn't ol' needle nose then"
"That's very unlikely. There was no seismic activity reported before or and other disturbances. My guess is that he was getting even from being a lackey by destroying Robotnik's command center."
"Good point, Sal."
Meanwhile Otrebor and Snively have made their way to the Floating Island originally in search for the Master Emerald but have been experiencing several difficulties with finding where it was stored.
"Snively, I thought the emerald was stolen?"
"If it weren't on here, then how would this island still be aloft?"
"I see."
Knuckles who was trying to relax in an above tree, overheard them and snapped back to his senses. Instead of jumping down, he decided to stay above and continue to listen in.
"Where was it before?"
"Dunno. Its different than before."
"Wasn't it by the lake?"
"Ah, yea!"
Knuckles then knew. "Great, they're after the Master Emerald again. Just when its back to its former place… I wish they'd get a new hobby." He thought to himself. "This time they won't get the jump on me but I will on them."
Knux then jumped from the high tree branch and let gravity do its thing. He managed to drop kick Otrebor who had kissed dirt in result.
"Echidna…" Snively said in his dark robotic voice.
"Yea. Nice to meet you too, robo Sniv." Knux then began to punch the mechanoid Snively and finished with a high kick to the torso, sending him back but not far enough.
"Impressive, echidna but you see, I'm a lot stronger than I was before. You cannot hope to defeat me. You may be able to take down Otrebor but I will forever be the most powerfullest!"
"Blah. That's not even a word."
"SILENCE!" A yellow glow could be seen on his arm as Snively charged a blast up.
"Eat this!" The charge in the form of yellow energy was released and sent at Knuckles who was able to dodge it. Otrebor just watched as the two battled on.
"Where is the Master Emerald?!"
"Ha! Like I'd tell you!" Knuckles clocked the mecha Snively followed with a ram from his fist. Knuckles could tell he had damaged an important part of him and let out a smirk. This smirk agitated Snively to no end as he dashed forward and went at Knux at full force. They were both able to block and counter each of their attacks.
"When are you going to learn, needle nose?"
"We'll see who needs to learn. Oh how we will see." Snively propelled himself high above and began to charge two separate blasts within each barrel on his arms. Both illuminating brightly. A whining but staggering hum started to rise in pitch as he continued to charge.
Once this hum was nearly too high to hear, the light was so bright, Knuckles had to look away.
"Lets you see you dodge this, echidna! I'll rip apart this island to pieces until I find that emerald!"
Knuckles could tell Snively was desperate and looked eagerly around for some way to counter the attack. Otrebor was just speechless but flew out of the way.
"This blast will destroy you along with your beloved island!"
"Arg… I've had it with you, needle nose!" Knux jumped in the air and used an updraft from the side of the island to get him aloft into the air. He then aimed straight for Snively whom was still charging.
"Why, you! I'll.-*"
"Wait! Snively! If you fire now, it could possibly affect us after it would hit the echidna."
"He's right, needle nose." By this time, Knux was in range for hand to hand combat with Snively but since Knux could really fly would the greatest of ease, he had to glide around. "I have to get him anywhere but here. Even if he doesn't release that energy, he won't be able to withstand it himself and destroy himself." Knux thought to himself.
"Foolish. You cannot hope to have any chance against me up here."
"Oh, I don't know. With you constantly charging with both arm cannons, I somehow doubt you'll be able to measure up even if you can keep yourself in the air." Knux then glide punched Snively, knocking him down into the ocean.
"Oh no. If he releases it in there… it may not have any effect with the Floating Island but it'll decimate Knothole and many other inhabitants with a huge tsunami! Especially since he's STILL charging up."
Suddenly, Snively arose from the water in attack position. "Okay, echidna Knuckles. Prepare yourself as your island is decimated leaving only the shiny jewel in the center!" Knuckles just continued to glide around and maintaining balance aloft in the air.
"FIRE!!!!!!!" Knuckles shielded himself not expecting it would do much good but then found out nothing had happened.
"What? Why wasn't I able to… what's this?… AH!!" The enormous yellow light had engulfed him entirely. Knux knew what to expect next and so did Otrebor. They both took to the Floating Island which would hopefully be away from the blast radius. And what an explosion it was. The yellow light then went 10 times brighter before turning orange then red with a ball of this light racing forward quickly followed by and intense explosion of sound. After the light show was over, Knuckles turned to see Otrebor had already flown off in the distance.
RSupremor. Main CHAOS Laboratory. Within a murky, dark room where what appeared to be numerous amounts of computer like hardware lurked C.H.A.O.S, the Cyber Holistic Advancement Onboard Supremor. Robotar had entered this room, letting light into it. It was then when he heard…
"Recorded data file eraos604op_23.rdc_32360611. . . PLAY"
"You still do not understand. Still after two centuries you do not know of our true purpose in this operation? We need every star's hydrogen in the galaxy to convert to Nuersosnivasium to power our main ship, the Megaplex to get back to our proper time, 31 billion years into the future from when we mistakenly used the Eraos Emerald. Our miniplex ships are specifically designed for this operation Once then, we will not bother you."
"It is an emerald in our time capable of fulfilling ANY desire. All that is required is to place a hand on it and simply imagine what you truly desire and instantly it will come before you. This can be done as often as you like, however, the same thing cannot be desired if it has already been desired. This extravagant gem was said to be evolved after the universe was truly done expanding which is still another 20 billion years from now."
"The Eraos Emerald shall be achieved. Initiating final phase in consciousness transfer …" From within this room, odd noises could be heard. Suddenly, light poured forth from a ripped space-time materializing within Robotar. His cyborg self emited a high whine indicating distress yet no one was around to hear him. It engulfed his structure and rearranged it. This body was about same height. The shoulder like pads were now more pointed and feet were broader. Instead of the cyborg like head, it was metal. Much of it was obscure in shadow. This new form, just as it was created using Robotar, reopened ripped space-time and vanished, not seen again.
After catching his breath, Knuckles decided to radio Knothole about the recent events with Snively. He stepped into a hutt with an antenna, held a button and began to speak.
Sally, still gather information of the attack and the fall of the command center noticed Nicole giving off a beep. She took her out of her vest pocket, flipped it open and saw a somewhat pixilated Knuckles.
"Hey Knux. Glad to see you ok. What is it?"
"Long time no see, Sal. I've got some pretty good news. Snively was just here earlier and in search for the master emerald like always. Well, this time I put him out for good."
"Really? Snively was just there? And you defeated him?"
"You got it!"
"We've been trying to track him ever since we gained intelligence that he was responsible for the onslaught of terrebots that terrorized Knothole just a few days ago. What about Otrebor? Did you kill him too? We need to interrogate him."
"He's still alive, unfortunately I let him get away."
"I need you to recapture him."
"Alrighty then. Will do."
"Thanks for the information. We'll be up there in about an hour. Sally out."
Knuckles sighed. He would now have to recapture Otrebor for the Freedom Fighters to interrogate about the terrebot invasion. He turned in the direction he went to see how far he had gotten. About two miles out. It would be awhile until he would catch up to him.
About halfway from the sun and Mobius traveled the most sentient being within the galaxy. CHAOS easily was able to manipulate around the debris left from the RSupremor from when it last came through, destroying Mercury and Venus from testing the bedlam cannon. CHAOS was able to either break through or get around them. After getting through, it was a clear sail to Mobius, about the size of a pea, outstretched at arms length, the closest planet to the sun.
Meanwhile on the RSupremor, Lighthead was discussing to Gore and Orlo. They had recovered from the blows that the Star X Conquerors had given and were discussing if and when they would come again.
"Dr Lighthead, I do believe that we have not seen the last of them. We should have taken them out when we had the chance."
"Orlo, we did what we could."
"It wasn't enough, though! The sun is now unstable. I fear now that it will go nova much earlier than expected."
Gore then spoke, "That's besides the point. They will not be back for 1000s of years and even when they do come back, they will not have enough forces to overwhelm us. By that point, the RSupremor will be twice the size it is now. They're not getting the Lighgretron."
"True Gore. They're not. However, they're not interested in Lighgretron anymore but the Master Emerald. The gem we, ourselves were interested in when we first invaded Mobius to power the Supremor."
"Ah yes. They mentioned something about it being the Eraos Emerald billions of years into the future."
"Indeed, Orlo and we don't have it anymore. The Rwerviums have no reason to come back here."
"Yes, Gore but they do not know that. When the hedgehog, echidna and fox all fell on top of it, it vanished. They believe its hidden here. They didn't bother to look further because their forces were already depleted."
"I see. So when can we expect them, now a third time?"
"I'd say only 2 years."
"WHAT?! Really?"
"Yes. They are very desperate to get it. They will rip apart the RSupremor looking for something we don't have. Robotar will be in charge making sure they don't enter the ship."
"Speaking of Robotar, I haven't seen him in a while."
"He mentioned something about looking through C.H.A.O.S for more information on the Eraos Emerald. I'll check to see what he's gotten."
"Ha! Caught you!" The stealthy echidna had caught up to the flying monkey. Otrebor did his best to keep going but was severely restrained from Knuckles weight.
"Let go of me!"
"That'll be the day. You're coming with me. The Freedom Fighters of Knothole have a bit to discuss with you." The memory of the explosion that had killed Snively resurfaced. This intensified him. He broke free and turned around back to the Floating Island. Knuckles was confused.
"That's it! I'll fulfill what Snively wanted! Stealing the Master Emerald! It does however rightfully belong to me!"
"Not this again." Knuckles thought to himself. He shrugged and followed in pursuit of the flying monkey.
Once they made it back to the Floating Island, Knuckles saw that the core Freedom Fighters were all there. Once Otrebor landed, he began running in search of the chaos chamber. Knuckles saw this, and signaled that he was getting away which allowed Rotor to activate a net trap from the transport they used to get there. The net caught Otrebor and stopped him dead in his tracks. Knuckles then went over to him and carried him back to the Freedom Fighters.
"Its great to see you Knux. Certainly has been awhile." Spoke Princess Sally.
"I know. It has. We had one hell of a time at the sun."
"Sonic and Tails told us all about it."
"But anyway, the matter at hand. Were do you want with him?"
"Just set him right there." Sally pointed to a nearby stump. Knuckles did so and set the flying monkey on the stump.
"What do you want with me?"
"A few days ago, all of Knothole was braced with an invasion. An invasion of armored raptor like robots known as terrebots. These terrebots ripped through the Great Forest and killed many innocent lives and shedding blood. We know that you know about this invasion and how it was caused."
The flying monkey then spoke in a frustrated tone, "It was Snively's fault! He charged up a blast and fired it upon the fat one's command center. It toppled and somehow triggered the green bots to come out from underground."
"Uncle Chuck was right then and let me guess, Snively did this out of spite for ol Buttnik?"
"Yes. I had asked him why we were there and he said, 'Paying back one last favor to my uncle.' I remember it clear as day."
"Ok then. That's what we originally thought."
"Snively is gone, as you know."
"Yes, you told us."
"So then what should I do with this pest? He always seems to be eager to get ths Master Emerald and avenge Snively."
"Well, we can take him back to.." Suddenly a loud noise sounded forth and emerged C.H.A.O.S, with his new form taking place of Robotar. There was no warning to his arrival.
"What in zee?! Who ees ZAT?!" Antoine shrieked.
"It almost looks like Robotar, one of Lighthead's frontline bots… but different."
"I am C.H.A.O.S. Cyber Holistic Advancement Onboard Supremor."
"Ah. That's nice. I don't believe you're on the Supremor now though if you're way over here. I think you're in need of a name change." Sonic and Knuckles got in a fighting stance.
"Sentience is power of the imaginable sort of which the mind thrives upon. I have the sentience of an unimaginable sort that you would never be able to comprehend."
"That's great, bub but we don't take kind to visitors who come unannounced and especially from out of nowhere!" Knuckles cried out as he and Sonic both charged at C.H.A.O.S
C.H.A.O.S was ready. Otrebor and the rest of the freedom fighters watched as Sonic and Knuckles' attacks such as uppercuts and spin dashes had no effect upon the super sentient being.
"Rotor! You think you can hack this guy?" asked Tails. He was overheard.
"I am not a computer. I'm a new life form. Can you conceive of that?"
"Not really. Only thing we conceive is that you're trespassing on my island!" It was not C.H.A.O.S's turn. With one swift move, he was able to take out Sonic and Knuckles with one punch. This sent them in two different directions, each landing about 60 feet away.
"To learn is to achieve. To achieve is to succeed. Don't underestimate what I have learned to achieve because I will succeed." With that said, he took off for the chaos chamber and so did everyone else but at a much slower rate. Otrebor struggled against the netting surrounding himself as everyone had left in pursuit of the omniscient being. Once he got it off, he too took off, following the Freedom Fighters.
Once Sonic and Knuckles got there, they saw that the chamber was still flooded from the time before with the Master Emerald at the bottom. C.H.A.O.S had bent over at the Master Emerald, performing rituals not seen before. These rituals appeared to have effect on the emerald. It glowed brighter and pulsated more rapidly. It appeared to be hopeless to stop him for no one knew what he was doing.
Once the rest of the Freedom Fighters arrived, hope was restored. Sally had the chaos emeralds within the knapsack from before with the encounter with LighgreSonic. Knuckles was wide eyed with delight. Sally handed Sonic the 7 emeralds and they all watched intently as Sonic powered up to Super Sonic, sending ripples of transverse and longitudinal waves throughout the cavern underground making the ground shake briefly. C.H.A.O.S' attention was still drawn to the Master Emerald. It glowed brighter and brighter and began to hum. The pulsation also increased to twice a second.
With great force, Sonic dove into the water and attacked C.H.A.O.S and this time there was noticeable effect. C.H.A.O.S was overpowered and knocked around by each punch Sonic gave. The attacks themselves were really quick but the after effects were in slow motion. After a combination of these, he was sent into a wall in the chamber. C.H.A.O.S then grabbed Sonic's right leg and threw him in the wall himself, breaking through a hole. Realizing Sonic was severely limited underwater, C.H.A.O.S stayed underwater while Sonic went above.
C.H.A.O.S then rose from the water and gazed at his formidable opponent, giving off a soft, yellow glow. The glow wasn't as vibrant as the Master Emerald's but was still noticeable. It was now Sonic's turn. Within less than a nano second, Sonic had dashed from his spot and straight into C.H.A.O.S leaving a gaping hole, Sonic then used this momentum to ricoshet off the walls and through him again… and again… continuously. Until, he was nothing but a scrap heap, Sonic stopped. All of C.H.A.O.S' robotic parts were scattered everywhere. Sonic landed in front of his fellow companions, wiped his hands, and chanted, "That's that!"
Or was it? Suddenly, a foreign hum came forth along with an eerie radial white light with no source. The light was so bright that they couldn't see what was happening but could certainly hear. All of C.H.A.O.S' self came together, reforming back into him. The light was gone. Everyone wide eyed to see C.H.A.O.S had somehow regenerated but appeared somewhat differently. With virtually no warning, it had restrained Sonic, even in his super form and began a motive. This motive quickly and effectively sucked the living force out of him, and returning him blue once again. Once C.H.A.O.S was done, he through him aside, at a moderately low speed but still fairly fast, striking the wall and knocking him unconscious. This was then followed by a dive back into the water towards the Master Emerald. The pulsation was still the same from before. After C.H.A.O.S returned to it, it began to pulsate even more wildly. Knuckles was speechless along with everyone else… especially Antoine. No one knew whether to try and stop C.H.A.O.S from doing what he was doing or tend to Sonic who now had a mild concussion and bleeding from the head. Sally decided to take that job along with Rotor who had went up to get a form of gauz.
The Master Emerald created even more dazziling effects as it seemed to be changing but not having any effect on the Floating Island or the immediate area instead of the ambient vibrant of color pulsation. Strangely, it now began to slow down and then to a crawl until it finally stopped completely. In result, the net glow was about 20% less than what it was before. Knuckles was puzzled until it finally hit him. The Eraos Emerald. Could he have been trying to achieve the Eraos Emerald by somehow accelerating the aging process? It seemed so. C.H.A.O.S, uncontent of his efforts, broke into a loud cry, echoing throughout and broke out of the exit and vanished in seconds.
Lighthead continued down the path toward where Robotar was said to be going. Upon arrival, he noticed differences. The C.H.A.O.S hardware was silent, with no activity echoing forth. Realizing the darkness, as he continued further into the dark room, Lighthead activated his light bulb effortlessly. This brought out more light, illuminating the long, narrow room greatly. Lighthead then noticed something he had not seen before. Part of C.H.A.O.S was missing. He didn't think this was responsible for the system to no be up and running but something else caught his eye.
C.H.A.O.S creator : Ubunan Del Gruke.
It couldn't be. That same name…belonged to his father. "How could he have created C.H.A.O.S? Why didn't he tell me? It almost seems like yesterday, when he was here. He always babbled on about the properties of light and becoming one with it. He also said the means of doing this was through the light bulb yet I've still yet to figure how nor understand it. I'm sorry, father… for I have not discovered the full potential that light has nor do I seem to be near it. So many unanswered questions…"
