Friends and Enemies
"Is that the last of them?" Knuckles asked Sonic.
"It looks like it." Sonic replied. Sonic wasn't wrong. Scrapped pieces of metal lay around the scarred island. Only a few were whole robot limbs, but Sonic and Knuckles had won the grueling battle that decided the fates of young lives.
Sonic helped Knuckles stand. Knuckles's arm had been broken in the battle. It hung, limp, and lifeless. Although the two were victorious, they did not emerge unscathed. Sonic led Knuckles inside. He set Knuckles's broken arm straight on the table inside. "I'll see if Tails is awake, he'll probably know what to do about this." Sonic walked off to Tails's room.
Sonic peeked into the room where the two brothers slept, recovering ever slowly. Sonic walked in and got down on his knees, trying to get level with Tails. "Hey, little buddy." Sonic nudged at him trying to wake him up. Tails barley managed to open one eye. "I need your help real quick."
Tails pushed himself up and in moments was examining Knuckles's injury. "Just wrap a bandage around, he's a fast healer isn't he?" Tails didn't seem to care much. After giving his advice, he went back to his room, and tried to sleep but couldn't, knowing what he just did was certainly out of character. Despite this fact, Sonic and Knuckles were still thinking about their recent victory.
"Well, it's apparent." Robotnik concluded. He was overlooking the vast flat land surrounding his mighty fortress. "The X squad failed miserably. They'd have returned by now." Robotnik turned over to Ron. "I hope you have something in mind to make up for this defeat." Robotnik complained to his partner.
"Fortunately, I've had one ready for the past few years." Ron replied confidently.
"Years?" Robotnik began. "Why have you waited so long!"
"Because the time is very near my friend." Ron explained. "To lure an enemy in, there has to be bait."
"You make less sense than a drunken man, Ron." Robotnik insulted.
"If we can get Sonic to come here with good reason, we will achieve what we've longed for so many years." Ron elaborated. "I've done my part in setting the trap, now you have get him come to it." Ron commanded.
Robotnik walked off confused. He didn't know what Ron was trying to explain. But if there's one thing he knew about Sonic, it was the fact the he'd try to be hero, no matter what. "A threat to one of his friends won't do any good, but a threat to the world may appeal to him more effectively". Robotnik thought. "But where can I get the power?" He asked himself. Then his idea struck him. He rushed over to Ron's room. He found within a heap of what looked like failed projects, the greatest threat to the world.
Nightfall, peace was plentiful on the floating island. All of its residence was sleeping. Sonic's minor wounds did not disturb his from his well deserved rest. Knuckles's wounds didn't bother him either. Tails was unfortunate though. He had only begun his road to recovery. The friends savored the rest they were getting, dawn was only a few hours away.
Miles couldn't sleep very easily. He wandered outside and stared out into the night sky. "Stars are beautiful, until you find out what they really are." Knuckles assured. "You should be asleep." Knuckles added.
"This is the first time I've ever seen them." Miles admitted. His attention focused downward. Knuckles was trying to figure out what would cheer the young boy up. He wanted to mention that Miles perfectly resembled his father, but that would only awaken painful memories.
"You know, I used to always be quiet. A loner, I would only trust in myself." Knuckles explained. "But eventually, I found someone I could trust. Maybe that's all you need."
Miles got up and headed back towards the house. "I already found him." He whispered as he went off. The sun was beginning to rise. Knuckles was almost depressed. He felt sorry for the boy, knowing that he was separated from his father so young. Knuckles went back to sleep, but only for a few minutes before being awakened by a call he hoped he wouldn't hear for a very long time.
"SONIC!!!! KNUCKLES!!!!Get out here before my patience runs out!" The demanding voice could only belong to one person, Robotnik. Sonic and Knuckles hurried out quickly only to be caught in shock. "It took you two long enough!" Robotnik complained.
"Some nerve, disturbing us like this just to hear yourself talk." Sonic insulted.
"I'm here to let you know about the greatest achievement by one of the greatest minds in existence!" Robotnik informed. He was in one of his signature egg-transport, a floating semi-spherical shaped floating craft.
"You mean another creation of yours that will miserably fail! You never learn, do you?" Sonic continued.
"Wrong! It's no creation of mine that will destroy you, if you know what's good for you." Robotnik threatened. "You see, you're next fight isn't with me, but with a very old acquaintance
of yours."
"What?" Sonic questioned. "Who could you possibly be talking about?"
" The very person who nearly caused your destruction so many years ago." Robotnik explained. "The very powerful, the eternal, Ron Prower!"
"What?" Sonic demanded to know. "What makes you think I'll fight this person?"
"I'm glad you asked." Robotnik replied. He slammed a button on a console next to him down hard in excitement. A large cannon emerged from the rear and aimed at the rear downward direction away from the small ship. "This is what will happen if you don't!" Robotnik mentioned. The cannon brightened to a blinding light, then a large beam fired straight towards the ground. The explosion was massive upon contact.
Minutes later when the smoke cleared and the light dimmed Sonic and Knuckles knew now the true capabilities of Robotnik's power. Robotnik made a sinister laugh as the dust settled as to express his pride and power, his loud voice sounded as if it would spread fear to anyone who could hear it. Sonic and Knuckles couldn't believe what they were seeing. There was a crater a mile in diameter and a mile in depth where the cannon fired. Nothing but charred ground remained. "You see Sonic, only by fighting Ron will you avoid large sections of the planet looking like this." Robotnik pointed to the crater he just made as an example. "Of course, once I get a hold of more emeralds, each one added will double the power it had before." He held out the dark emerald he found in Ron's belongings.
"There's no way!" Knuckles exclaimed. "There's no way a chaos emerald could produce that much power!"
"You of all people should know, Knuckles, that this is not an ordinary chaos emerald!" Robotnik pointed out. "This is proof that the dark side has more power!"
"That can't be..." Knuckles was shaking in fear. "That can't be what's been producing all of that evil power."
"Yes Knuckles, you should be worried. This could be the undoing of the hidden city of yours as well as the balance of power in the chaos emeralds!" Robotnik bragged.
"I'll accept your challenge Robotnik." Sonic announced reluctantly.
"A wise decision indeed Sonic. Be at my fortress in exactly one week, or I will hunt you down!" Robotnik instructed. Once he announced this, he left in the direction of his fortress in excitement. "Sonic is sure to fail this time. He can't run from the awesome power of the dark emeralds!"
Robotnik arrived back at his fortress an hour later, barely able to contain his excitement. He found Ron waiting for him in the half destroyed conference room. "Ron? I thought you'd be preparing for your upcoming battle." Robotnik questioned. Ron turned and faced his partner.
"Why not a premature victory party first? I mean after all, we've got him in check." Ron was holding a wet wine glass. It was apparent he'd been drinking before Robotnik's arrival. "This is all just a big game of chess my, dear friend." Ron explained. "For years, we've been throwing feeble attempts at them, just to lull them into a false sense of security. But we managed to gain an unexpected advantage in the process. Tails, their strongest night, is now unable to fight. Knuckles was weakened also. Now that you've revealed your best weapon, Sonic is being backed into a corner. If he attacks, his chances at victory are almost nothing. If he flees, Our mighty weapon will destroy him!"
"I understand now that waiting all of those years was part of your plan Ron." Robotnik complemented. " But I feel as though you should make sure you will win."
"I've already taken care of it." Ron replied. "I've built the perfect training place. It's a large room with a cylindrical core. You see, I will fight the strongest of our artilleries for the remainder of the week."
"Ron, I know you can handle our robots no problem. How will this aid your training?" Robotnik wondered.
"Here's the challenge." Ron began. "The central core will provide enough electric power to channel throughout the entire surface of the walls of the room. This power is high enough to disintegrate anything upon contact."
"Which means if you come in contact with the wall, you die?" Robotnik was confused. "But Ron, why to yourself, it'll hardly do any good."
"Not only is it the training room, but it is also the arena." Ron revealed. "I will be used to the environment, where as Sonic will not."
"Absolutely brilliant Ron!" Robotnik was overjoyed. "I know now that victory will be ours."
"In one week," Ron began as he held up a half full glass of wine, "Sonic will be crushed." Ron crushed his glass as he said this. The dark red wine ran down his hand.
Sonic and Knuckles were discussing how they would take on this new threat. "Ron Prower..." Sonic said to himself. "Tails's dad, with Robotnik?"
"I find the situation surprising myself." Knuckles confessed. "I guess I have some explaining to do. Maybe Tails should be here for this too." Knuckles suggested. Sonic went over to Tails's room and came back momentarily. The two sat down, Tails, with things to confess.
"Okay, I assume you both know That Tails's father is working for Robotnik." Sonic began. "How come you guys didn't tell me?"
"I found out very recently." Tails explained. "I didn't even know he was still alive until a few days ago."
"I didn't know either." Knuckles added. "I knew he was alive, but I never knew that he would work for Robotnik."
"What do you know about Ron?" Sonic asked.
"About 25 years ago, Ron was a wanderer." Knuckles began. "He ventured our peaceful planet in seek of a purpose. He had no ancestors, or any relatives here. But, being the genius that he is, he was able to find my hometown. The guardian of the emerald at that time was very impressed that Ron managed to find that place without a clue where it is."
"The guardian felt that Ron had great potential for handling the power of the chaos emeralds. Ron didn't befriend anyone, he lived alone. His power was great, he even mastered a technique, not even the guardian himself new about. Ron's natural ability to control the emeralds power enable him to create weapons from its power.
"He could use the power and energy to form a blade, that only he could handle. He doesn't even need access to an emerald to use it. He can draw it spontaneously. No one knows why he was granted the power. There's no proof of ancestors with similar powers. The guardian tried to find out how Ron was able to accomplish this, but it ended in tragedy."
"The guardian felt that his power was too dangerous to handle. The Guardian demanded that he gave up his powers to avoid any catastrophe, but it wasn't that simple. Ron became consumed by his power, he didn't want to give it up just because the guardian thought he was too dangerous. He couldn't help but act on impulse."
"According to what was seen, a strike from the waist up from his blade is most likely fatal. The chances of survival are very minimal." Tails looked down at his wound after Knuckles mentioned that fact. He couldn't help but wonder why his own father would take such a risk, and with his own son.
" After the guardian was struck, he had only a few hours left to live. He explained what happened, before he passed away. I wasn't born at that time, but events like this are remembered by everyone back home. That's why it's risky business to even talk about Ron."
"I guess I should be afraid of this guy." Sonic commented. "If he strikes fear into the likes of you."
"Is that all you know about him?" Tails asked.
"I'm afraid so." Knuckles answered.
"Well I guess I can fill you in on what I know." Tails began. "The only reason he's working for Robotnik is to get revenge."
"Revenge?" Sonic interrupted. "For what?"
"He says that you were the cause of his misery." Tails continued. "But I don't know what you could have possibly done to him. At that time you should have been too young to do anything to him."
"Well, I won't be able to do anything anymore if I don't do something to avoid getting myself killed." Sonic noticed.
"Right." Knuckles agreed.
"But how?" Tails questioned. "The Master emerald probably wouldn't do the job."
"I don't know, Tails." Knuckles argued. "It worked against Metal."
"Ron is completely different. He's way stronger than Metal was." Tails added.
"Perhaps Sonic already has the strength, maybe he needs something more." Knuckles wondered.
Tails was pondering this situation. "You're right. Sonic, I think we have the answer."
The next morning was the start of a rigorous week for both adversaries, one a Prower, the other, a hedgehog. Ron awoke from his intoxicated state, nowhere near ready to start his week of training. His overconfidence cost him a day's worth of training. Sonic on the other hand, was ready as ever to take on his new adventure.
Sonic was to travel around the underground world, facing every single one of his course's challenges. After accomplishing this, he would do the same on the outer surface of the planet. He would try to do this in five days, but in this adventure, he would try to use a new key to victory: Persist an endure.
Sonic's first obstacle was the large forest Tails had already encountered several times before. Sonic didn't have the I.Q. of Tails, but he knew enough to know, navigation was not easy. One wrong turn would lead him into deeper and deeper trouble. He was tremendously slowed down by his faulty navigation. But through Tails teachings, Sonic was able to make it out before the end of the day. The daytime was no different than the nighttime. The underground world was a land of darkness.
Sonic traveled past Knuckles's home, so he figured he'd challenge himself by going through the gigantic maze nearby the city. Upon entering, he almost regretted his decision. It would take him at least another day to get through the maze. He figured he'd put his speed to good use, the faster he made his mistakes, the faster he'd make it through the maze. He began going through the twists and turns as fast as he could, coming at a dead end at almost every single one of them.
Ordinarily, this would make Sonic frustrated, but he was putting what he learned to the test, persist and endure. He thought he must have went through the same turns at least twice, before figuring out where he needed to go. He managed to find the center, but like the rest of the Maze, it was a dead end also. He did notice however, a stone with an engraved message.
"Life is nothing but eternal. What seems like the end is a new beginning." Sonic read. He was stumped on this one. He wasn't even good with riddles to begin with. He pondered hard, trying to make sense of the message. Then it hit him. "It's an endless maze!" Sonic concluded. "The end, is the beginning." He new where he had to go. Back to the beginning of the maze. With Sonic's speed, and tails's teachings, he was able to make it out of the maze by the start of the second day.
For Ron, his week had just begun. He finally engaged in his training, once he recovered from his illness. The room he had constructed was very large, so large, it seemed to cover more area than the fortress did. But Ron ignored this. He entered the room, followed by a large squad of robots that were similar to the one's destroyed by Zero, many years ago. Once all were inside, the door sealed them inside. Either Ron survived for the week, or he would lose the fight before it began.
Many sections of the core began to light up. The core was charging the walls with unfathomable amounts of electric energy. All of the robots remained at one side of the room, waiting their command to attack their creator. Ron pointed to one robot, and commanded it to come forth. This particular robot had massive drills for arms. It looked like it could travel at an incredible speed. It launched at an incredible velocity as soon as Ron gave the signal to attack.
The robot lunged it's drills at Ron rapidly and repeatedly. Ron dodged every attempt, making the robot look feeble. One of the robots's shot managed to strike Ron across the face, leaving a nasty scratch. Ron grabbed hold of one of the robots arms, then shoved it back hard into the core behind it. The body almost collapsed inward, it couldn't make any aggressive attacks. Ron swung it around and threw it into the wall directly behind him.
The high voltage of the wall completely annihilated every piece of the robot. The electricity seemed to create an illusion of the other robots watching in fear. The electric horror stopped, and not even a charred piece of metal remained. It was completely destroyed. Ron turned and faced the other robots, and smiled sinisterly. "Who's next?" He whispered to himself.
Sonic's Only challenge for a while was running the surface of the planet. There were no oceans or major bodies of water on the lower level of the planet. He saw very little civilization during his travels. His only challenge right now was to go a very long distance, without falling asleep.
Ron on the other hand was still working diligently. He had just finished off another one of the robots sealed inside the arena with him. He grew bored of fighting one after another, so he decided to try surviving against three robots instead of one. He signaled to three random robots to start attacking him. They did as commanded. One was armed with large sword like blades that would penetrate almost anything. Another was equipped with electric shock inducing weapons that were similar to the ones that defeated Zero, many years ago. The remaining robot had heavy armor and gigantic arms that packed monstrous power. Ron thought he may have gotten more than he bargained for.
Sonic had reached his next destination the morning following his long yet boring travel. It appeared to be a huge metropolis. It glowed a fiery red as he approached the humongous city. There was a sky scraper every where Sonic looked. The buildings never seemed to end. Sonic managed to use his incredible speed to run up the side of a nearby building. As he reached the top, he stopped for a brief moment. He ran straight down the opposite side and towards the ground. He didn't slow down. Instead, he curled into a ball, and penetrated his way through to an even lower layer of the planet.
This is were the fiery glow was coming from. He had breached the crust of the planet, but the cities roots started even further below. There was an entire system of roadways throughout the area. But this way would be much faster than going through the upper layer of the city. He began running at high speed once again, the flames licked against him every other moment, Sonic was unfazed by the fire.
Although Sonic ran through the roads quickly, their massive numbers and uncomparable lengths made it last for several minutes. The roads swerved and twisted, proving not even the least bit dangerous to Sonic. He came to a vertical loop that sent Sonic above to the upper level of the city once again. The winding roads continued above. As he passed by he noticed the road was deteriorating more the further he went. He figured that the roads must have been old. No matter what the reason was, the pathway crumpled beneath him, Sonic was falling after it.
What he didn't anticipate was the fact that there was no road beneath him in the lower level either. The Boiling magma seemed to look like his premature grave. But Sonic knew he had to survive. The entire planet was relying on him. He managed to land on one of the pieces of road, one that was large enough to support the pressure of his jump to safety. Sonic landed on the edge of the nearby road, his heart pounding. He nearly escaped with his life. He continued, slightly more cautious the rest of the way out of the city. It took him nearly fifteen minutes to find his way out of the winding roads. He never felt so glad to be on safe land.
Ron dodged blasts of electricity, while slowly approaching his attacker. He readied a strong punch. He lunged toward the robot when his attack was intervened by the robot with incredible armor. Ron's strike didn't make even the slightest dent in the thick plating. He tried to throw another punch with his other hand, but the robot caught it. The large metal hand crushed Ron's hand like it was glass. Ron screamed from the pain. His rage was unleashed in his strongest punch ever.
His strike went straight through the torso of his towering opponent. The giant now dead hunk of metal collapsed over Ron, but he was able to stop it from crushing him. He was barely able to suspend the unfathomable weight of his creation. He was so occupied with the titanium behemoth, he had totally forgotten about his other two opponents. This mistake had proven dangerously near fatal.
The third robot he ordered to attack him had incredible sword like blades on each arm, and skill to match that of an expert swordsman. The robot took advantage of this situation, and slashed Ron on the side. The sword gashed through six inches of Ron's back.. Ron collapsed, releasing his hold on his only chance to survive. He was able to look up one last time at the tumbling giant of metal before passing out.
Now that Sonic had escaped the fiery city, he was on the surface of the planet. Sonic took in a deep breath. He never knew how lucky he was to see the morning sunrise again. But he couldn't dwell on how beautiful the scenery was for long. He only had a couple of days before he had to be at Robotnik's fortress.
Now that Sonic was on the outer surface of the planet, his next obstacle would be the vast deserts of the southern region. He came across them shortly after running his usual speed. The deserts seemed to continue forever. Sonic had never been to them before. He had no time to admire any scenery. He only had about two days left to complete his training.
As he was passing through the desert, he saw no life there whatsoever. Not even a single sandstorm bothered to form in the intense and intolerable heat. He continued running mile after mile, reaching no landmarks, or any life forms of any sort. He began to slow down. Even Sonic had his weaknesses. He fell to his knees, weak, tired, and what bothered him most, thirsty. He knew he wouldn't find water anywhere near nor far. He squinted his eyes and noticed what looked like a small structure.
He hurried up to it, to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. To much of his surprise, it was an entrance to a dark and shady place. He rushed in, hoping for a slight chance of finding water inside. Upon entering, he noticed there were no lights inside. The sunlight was providing the only light. He wandered deeper inside. The sunlight was no longer visible. But as he advanced further, there were lit candles providing the perfect amount of light. He enjoyed the shade, and he could see where he was going.
But his mind kept on pressuring him for water. He was dreadfully thirsty. He tried to ignore his thirst to the best of his ability. He kept on going, he had to find a way back out. He couldn't, and he didn't want to stay in here forever. The boom of a wall falling down to the floor, sealing him inside, gave him the thought that this was a trap. A large and unusually shaped mummy began to move. It's big and bulky figure made it look powerful. As it approached, Sonic noticed a glow in the eyes.
The glow turned into a beam of destruction. It missed Sonic. Sonic didn't even know if he was it's target. He assumed that it was some sort of robot, since obviously, no living thing could survive in here, or produce a weapon such as a laser beam. But if it was a robot, who would have built it? Sonic pondered this. Was Robotnik so confident enough to go ahead and build a robot to interrupt his training? He didn't think this could be true. The construction was rather different than Robotnik's style.
Never the less, he had to deal with the situation at hand. He lunged an attack at the robot, trying to find a weak spot. The robot caught Sonic's attack and threw him to the wall to the left. Immediately after throwing Sonic to the wall, the robot deployed a tough wire, entangling Sonic and pulling him closer. The robot spun it's left hand into a drill and pointed it at Sonic. Sonic only had a few moments before possible death.
He remembered that the room was candle lit, so if he could get a hold of one, he could burn the web he was tangled in. He didn't have the use of his arms, so he tried to hold himself back from being pulled any farther. The robot came charging after Sonic instead of pulling him in. Sonic ran backwards up the wall, and kicked down a candle, catching the threads on fire. Sonic was able to break the threads before getting burned. The fire caught on to the robots mummy disguise, and it burned away in an instant.
The robot was revealed to be lightly armored. Sonic remembered the robot's drill. He overpowered the robot and positioned the drill to damage the wall. He was hoping he could smash the wall in a little bit. The drill was caught in the wall. The crumbling wall fell and crushed the robot. The collapsing wall provided an exit from this chamber. The sunlight once again was shining in. Sonic knew he had to continue forward.
Twenty four fours have gone by. Ron had been crushed by mechanical giant he was fighting. Blood was still running from his side. His hand still trembled. The other two robots had ceased since their master fell. Ron had barely regained consciousness. He struggled pulling himself up. He had only one arm free. He lifted himself up ever slightly, but fell again. He managed to summon enough energy to form his blade.
He stabbed into the already dead mechanical monster. The metal became red from the intense burning of the blade. The heat spread to cover a large area of the machine. The burning reached through to Ron, but this was the only way he be able to get out of this. He gathered every last bit of strength he had and broke through the metallic beast. Ron was able to breathe deeply again, until a sharp pain overcame him. He reached for his wound. He fell to his knees again.
Ron could only make short quick breaths. He didn't know how he was going to get his cut treated. He was sealed inside until he defeated Sonic. He would have to end his training now, and spend the rest of the week resting. He didn't like the idea of stopping now, but if he continued, he would be killed for sure. He laid down on his side opposite the wound, and tried to forget about his pain.
Sonic wasn't having an easy time training either. He was still crossing the desert that seemed to last forever. It only seemed to last forever because he could only walk. He was too tired and too thirsty to run. The sand gave way under him. He fell down, but he couldn't get back up. The sun's rays sapped away more and more of Sonic's life as he laid there, sleeping. He was too tired to move on. He was almost too tired to dream. He felt like was going to die. All he could do was lay there, as his time shortened ever more.
When Sonic did begin to dream, his fear became a reality. The entire planet was aflame. Robotnik was the only thing alive. Tails, Knuckles, young Miles, and even Ron laid below Robotnik, lifeless and mutilated. The power of the Dark Chaos reigned supreme. All fell at the power created by a madman. All because Sonic couldn't even make it through his training.
Sonic awoke. He couldn't let his fears become reality. He had to continue forth. He forgot his body's limitations and began rushing towards the ocean that preceded the entrance back to the underground. Sonic knew he hadn't much time left. His difficulties in the desert cost him a few hours he didn't have to spare. He still continued forward, hoping that he would make it in time. If he didn't, he knew the costs would be dire.
Ron awoke from his sleep. His cut had still not healed, but it had stopped bleeding. He was able to use his other hand again. He looked at the six robots still remaining. He knew he couldn't defeat them even if he tried. He would have to destroy them using his superiority as their creator. He order each one of them to walk into the wall of the room. They had no choice, for robots are meant to follow commands, especially those of its creator. One by one they did as commanded. They electrical mayhem was short but powerful. Not one piece of them remained. The Room darkened slowly as Ron awaited his adversary.
The week was over, Sonic and Ron were both done with their training. Ron awaited Sonic for their duel in Ron's deadly trap. Sonic was still rushing towards Robotnik's fortress, knowing that his time was almost expired. He was only miles away from the stronghold in the middle of the underground wasteland.
Sonic arrived at the front, looking for an easy way in. Robotnik looked out from above. "I was hoping you would show!" Robotnik declared excitedly. "I'd really love to see you die at the hands of my very own partner."
"Just let me in so I can get this fight over with!" Sonic demanded.
"So quick to die, are we?" Robotnik taunted. "Well then, be my guest." Robotnik threw a lever, causing the large heavily armored door to open. Sonic entered, slightly nervous of being tricked by Robotnik and his minions.
Sonic went through a labyrinth of corridors throughout the base, when he finally came upon a door that seemed to open as he passed. He rushed in, fearing that it may close on him in seconds. The room was dark, with the exception of a circular glow surrounding where he was standing. He walked in farther into the room, the glow followed beneath him. "It's nice to finally meet you." A voice said in the darkness.
"Who are you?" Sonic asked.
"You don't remember?" the voice responded. "You ruined my life. I lost everything because of you. My wife, my son, my freedom." A glow of light surrounded Ron, revealing to Sonic who he was up against."You've taken everything but one thing, my sanity."
"I imagine that you would have lost it a long time ago." Sonic insulted.
"One of us is not making it out of here alive." Ron threatened. The whole room lit up, as if it were commanded. Ron and Sonic both charged at each other at the same time, a collision seemed inevitable. The two met, head to head, hatred in Ron's eyes, bravery in Sonic's. The two foes' hands were interlocked in a fierce power contest, Ron was pushing Sonic further and further into the wall behind him.
Sonic stopped himself only an inch away from certain destruction, Sonic was overpowered, he tried to gain a good grip but it was nearly impossible. He didn't know if it was because he wasn't strong enough, or if he was in the right state of mind for this duel. He was confused, why did he not see Ron as a true enemy? Was it because he was the father of his dearest friend? He couldn't figure out what to see Ron as, a friend, or an enemy.
Sonic was finally able to push Ron back a little, saving himself from an early demise. They looked evenly matched in strength now. Sonic had regained his confidence, he pushed Ron back even further, enabling him to walk away from the wall. Sonic thought he had Ron overpowered now, he could have sworn that a moment ago, he would have been dead.
Ron wasn't trying to win the pushing match anymore. He didn't want it to be that easy. He let go and swiftly drew his blade and slashed out toward Sonic, backing him off. Sonic avoided the blade, but barely. He felt a drop of blood run down his cheek. He was astounded by the speed at which Ron made his attack. He knew winning wouldn't be so easy.
"Winning this way would be a waste of time." Ron exclaimed. His blade disappeared in a fraction of a second. "I'd rather rip your heart out using my hands rather than the power of the Chaos."
Sonic didn't know what to do. Ron was toying with him. Ron was trying to lure him into a false sense of security. Sonic had to keep his focus. He would lose miserably if he let his confidence get the best of him. He positioned to take another attack from Ron. Ron charged at him to fool Sonic into thinking he was making a stupid move.
Sonic kept his focus, he knew Ron wasn't bound to make a head on attack. Ron disappeared right before colliding with Sonic. Sonic turned around in anticipation, ready to defend himself, when he was struck from behind. Ron had struck him in the back, using the momentum of his charge, and his ingenuity. Sonic fell and couldn't breathe, the pain was too much to handle.
"It takes more than first hand anticipation to out-smart me." Ron informed. "Get up! I know you're not finished."
Sonic was just about to get up, when he created a tactic. He remained in his position, waiting for Ron to make a move. Ron walked over to where Sonic laid. "Fine, If you won't get up, then I guess I'll kill you now." Ron announced. He drew his blade, preparing to stab Sonic, when Sonic whipped around and quickly tripped Ron. Ron regained his balance, but did not fall. Ron turned around but found that Sonic was gone.
Sonic was catching his breath behind the cylindrical core, and also planning his next move. Ron looked straight where Sonic was hiding. "A fine trick! Only one thing, there's only one place to hide in this room." Ron said eerily. Sonic knew this and was waiting for Ron's next attack. "And that's right HERE!" Ron stabbed where Sonic was standing as he said this.
He looked at his blade and found that he missed his target. Sonic readied the strongest punch he could make, and hit Ron so hard the Ron was flying towards the wall at an incredible velocity. Ron punched through the floor to stop himself, ignoring the fact that he was damaging the room. He stood, but he was in remarkable pain.
Ron turned to face Sonic, his anger was flaring inside him now. "You're dead hedgehog!" Ron yelled across the room before charging into his next attack. Sonic simply struck Ron when he was at the appropriate distance for an attack. Ron fell back, blood running near his eye. Sonic had done it. He enraged Ron to the point to where he couldn't think.
Ron got back up, enraged like never before. He charged again, but not planning to make the same mistake again. Sonic ran, Ron gave chase. Sonic ran only about an inch away from the wall, Ron followed. The traveled the perimeter of the room before Sonic ran straight for the core. Ron had no idea what Sonic had planned. Sonic had an idea of just how to defeat Ron.
Sonic ran up the core, his incredible speed was gravity defying. Ron followed, hoping to corner the crafty hedgehog once they reached the top. Ron drew his blade, ready to stab. Sonic jumped down once he grew close to the top of the core. Ron stabbed, but missed once again. He found that his blade was cutting through the core. The blade continued to do damage as Ron fell downward, trying to catch up with Sonic.
Ron retracted his blade when he reached the bottom, and found Sonic ahead of him, but Sonic discontinued to run. Ron had no idea what Sonic was planning. Sonic charged right at Ron, regardless how risky this move was. Ron prepared to strike with his blade, but it was all for naught.
Sonic's momentum was enough to bend and break Ron's arm by ramming it to conform to the core. It was a horrible site, but Sonic knew it had to be done. Ron couldn't contain his pain, his arm was bleeding badly. He couldn't stand anymore, he dropped his blade, he was almost about to burst out in tears. Sonic was now confused with what to do.
Sonic had just won the fight, but he couldn't live with himself knowing that he killed Ron. He had to do the most difficult thing between enemies, make peace. "Ron, we don't have to continue this fighting." Sonic began. "We can end this hatred. I can help you."
Ron stood up, and to Sonic's surprise, drew his blade with his other hand. The blade was nearly touching Sonic. Ron's eyes were flooded with tears, he stared into Sonic's eyes. "No." Ron decided. "Don't help me. Save yourself." Ron turned and faced the door, then threw his blade at it. Upon impact, an explosion destroyed the heavily armored door. "Better hurry, If I know Robotnik, he's gone back on his word." Ron warned. Sonic hurried, worried that if what Robotnik claimed before was true, he didn't have much time left.
Sonic started towards the door when Ron stopped him one last time. "Sonic, promise me you'll tell my son something." Ron began.
Sonic turned to Ron. "Tell him what?" Sonic asked.
Ron stared into Sonic's eyes for a brief moment. He put his remaining hand on Sonic's shoulder. "Tell him, that I'm coming." Sonic was confused. "I don't know when, but I will." Sonic turned and started towards the door again, but he stopped himself this time.
"Which one do I tell?" Sonic asked confusingly.
"Which ever." Ron replied. Sonic left knowing that he hadn't time to spare.
Robotnik was already about to start his vengeful assault by the time the battle was over. The residents of the floating isle were prepared to defend their home. Robotnik was outside waiting in the place where he was a week before. His craft had increased remarkably in size. "You'll not escape my vengeance. Just because the battle was lost, I can still win this war!" Robotnik shouted out to strike fear into Knuckles and the others.
"There's no way your fake chaos power can defeat the real power of the chaos!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"How fun, a real challenge of my power!" Robotnik yelled with delight. "Let's see what your power can do against this!" He punched down on the button he did the first time when he demonstrated his power. "I may have only possessed five more emeralds since last time, but it's more than enough to do you three in!"
The cannon began to glow the eerie light it did before. But this time, it did not fire. Robotnik noticed this, and almost went mad. "What's wrong with this thing!?" He pushed the button several times, trying to get his weapon to fire, but each was a waste of time. The carrier split itself in half, then sections of it began separating themselves held on only by an actuator or sliding joint. "What is going on?!" Robotnik hollered.
"It's transforming!" Tails exclaimed. Indeed he was right. The small craft was changing into a different machine.
"But how? I know I didn't design it to do this!" Robotnik complained. The transformation stopped leaving Robotnik stumped with why it did so in the first place. But then his memory struck him like a gunshot. He remembered that this was a project he stopped working on a long time ago. A clear dome covered the exposed cockpit area. "This can't be..."
Knuckles and Tails looked and their memories were jogged also. "It looks like Metal Robotnik!" Tails pointed out.
"This can't be Metal Alpha!" Robotnik continued. The new machine certainly did resemble the giant robot known as Metal Robotnik. Knuckles and Tails remembered the mayhem it caused so many years ago. They hoped they would never see this beast again. Robotnik never counted on seeing the giant resembling himself again either. "This project was a prototype of Metal Robotnik. I never did get it working properly, I just used the same construction methods to build the real thing."
The robot landed on the island and began walking around, causing the ground to quake with every step. "That thing is moving by itself! This is not going to be good!" Tails observed. The two were running form the giant's chase, Tails with his brother.
"We stopped the other one, we'll just defeat it again." Knuckles suggested.
"We can't do that without Sonic!" Tails replied.
"We'll just have to stall him until Sonic gets back." Knuckles planned.
Metal Alpha continued to chase the two like a mindless drone. Robotnik was becoming frustrated. "Can't you do anything other than walk!?" Robotnik screamed at his forgotten creation. Alpha stopped. "Now what!? Get moving you useless piece junk!" Alpha's eyes lit up, and fired a powerful laser beam at the Knuckles and Tails.
The beam fired right between the two and continued to advance toward the house. The beam damaged it slightly, but Alpha started to give chase once again. Alpha fired beams again and again, never hitting their targets. Alpha stopped once again, then uncovered to hatches. It fired small missiles, each one of them dodged by the two targets. "You idiot, if your going to attack them, at least try to hit them!" Robotnik complained. "Quick start firing your arsenal while they're standing still!" Robotnik commanded.
Alpha started running, then leapt over Knuckles and Tails, then reached for one of them, hoping to snatch one of them. Alpha succeeded in grasping Knuckles, he began crushing him in his grip. "Yes! Nice work. Now doesn't this look familiar." Robotnik taunted. He knew Knuckles remembered being in the clutches of Metal Robotnik just like this. Knuckles tried to survive as long as he could, hoping Sonic would come to his rescue just like before.
Alpha wasn't able to crush Knuckles very hard because of his old construction. "Come on Alpha! Crush him while you have the chance!" Robotnik pounded on the control panel. "Why won't you do what I tell you!?"
Alpha pulled a large gun from his back and pointed it at Knuckles's head. The gun began glowing. "That must be the power of the false chaos!" Knuckles concluded to himself.
"Of course!" Robotnik exclaimed. "That's why Alpha is able to run! The dark chaos is being used as his power source." Th gun was about to fire, when Sonic appeared on the end of the gun. "What! Where did he come from?"
"Well, well. If it isn't the big metal behemoth." Sonic taunted. Alpha looked at Sonic. Alpha turned its gun away from Knuckles and pointed it up trying to aim at Sonic. With Sonic on the gun, Alpha wasn't able to aim at him, but the gun fired straight up into the sky. "This one's kinda dumb." Sonic concluded.
"Sonic!" Knuckles called at him. "Less talk, more help!"
"Right!" Sonic curled into his ball form. Spinning at his incredible speed, he cut through Alpha's hand like a saw. The hand fell, releasing Knuckles on the way down.
"Seem familiar?" Knuckles asked Sonic.
"It sure does." Sonic agreed. "Should we take this one out like the last one?"
"Whenever you're ready!" Knuckles confirmed. The two ran side by side and Knuckles hurled Sonic straight towards Alpha. Sonic curled into his ball position again, and went right through Alpha. Tails flew around the other side of Alpha, ready to catch Sonic in mid air. Tails prepared to throw Sonic back to destroy Alpha, when an orange glow pierced the clear dome that contained Robotnik.
Robotnik instantly recognized what it was. It was Ron's blade stuck halfway inside the cockpit. An explosion followed shortly, creating an exit for Robotnik. Robotnik took advantage of this and leapt out and off the floating Island. Ron was waiting in one of Robotnik's egg-carriers. After making sure his partner was safely inside The two fled back to their fortress, leaving the others in the dust of the explosion.
There was mass confusion back on the Isle. Sonic and Tails were looking for Robotnik. Alpha was still standing, but the explosion caused a tremendous amount of damage to him. Alpha was not moving. Tails was circling Alpha, inspecting every part of him, when he noticed a blinking light in the back. He realized what it was. His heart started pounding like he was going to die. "Run, hurry!" Tails screamed as he rushed past Sonic and Knuckles.
Robotnik was eyeing a switch on his control panel. "This will light up their day." Robotnik sad to himself. He triggered it, setting off the self destruct mechanism in Alpha. The four on the Island were barely out of range of the huge explosion.
The four were inside later that night, after everything calmed down a little. Sonic still hadn't given the message to Tails or Miles. "He said to only tell one of them." Sonic pondered. "But which one should it be?" He thought about it late into the night, then he decided, who it should be.
Sonic went over to Tails's room, but found that Miles was missing. Sonic went about looking for the young fox. His search led him outside, where Miles was staring at the stars. Sonic sat next to him, thinking about how he should tell him. "Knuckles told me earlier, that everyone needs someone to trust" Miles confessed to Sonic.
"Have you found that person yet?" Sonic asked. Miles gave a small nod. "Well, if it's your father," Sonic paused for a moment. "Then he'll be here." Miles looked confused. "He says he's coming." Sonic explained. "He wanted me to tell you." The two went back inside. Sonic walked with Miles back to Tails's room, and quietly shut the door.
Sonic turned to go to his room, but he was stopped by Tails. "Ron caused that explosion." Tails claimed.
"What makes you so sure?" Sonic asked.
"I've seen it done twice before." Tails explained. "I thought you took care of him for good?"
"I couldn't kill your own father." Sonic replied
"Why not?" Tails snapped.
"Because," Sonic stopped.
"Because what?" Tails asked
"Because, he's not an enemy." Sonic excused.
"But is he our friend?" Tails asked. Sonic walked off into his room, saving himself from an argument. Ron was dealing with his own situation at the time.
"Well we didn't exactly win Ron." Robotnik began. "So why are you drinking?" Ron had pulled out his favored red wine.
"To celebrate another year through my sentence." Ron explained.
"Odd, I would have figured you 'd be celebrating your birthday rather than your sentence anniversary." Robotnik joked.
"Just five more years my friend." Ron began. "Five more years to my friend, five more years to my enemy."
THE END