A Bloodstone Rose

by obsidian dreamer

It should be a perfect time, but something isn't yet right from below the earth, a horror from time's dawn is calling, and one hero is powerless to resist. Continuation from The Best Medicine. COMPLETE but to be continued...

26. Chapter 25 No Safe Haven

Chapter 25 – No Safe Haven.

A/N: Sorry for the posting delay – big chapter and I really wanted to get it right (let me know if the battles were tense enough and if you thought the scene at the end was in Dimitri's character – no peeking though, read it all first:-)) A few swift words:

Sonicron – Sorry, forgot to ask last time; has your school year finished as well? I know the holidays have started over here, are they the same your end? Just some random info I wanted to know…

TH – Well now you've asked for it (author ducks as a caffeine high Athair rockets overhead, swiftly pursued by a red-faced, swearing Spectre wielding a straight-jacket at the same time as trying to shake a gripping Sojourner off his leg). The next time you hear the door ring, for the love of everything don't wear anything metallic! Spectre's after you! Run, run while he's dealing with Athair and I'll try to cover for you (author dons Kevlar body armour and picks up a stun gun). Leg it!

Long before Amy had begun her desperate run, even before her coffee had cooled to form a skin, Dimitri had been in action. Having quickly assured himself that his grandchildren were following his orders properly, he quickly sketched out a plan of how to conquer Haven and those within it; it was a devilishly tricky little problem. I will not hurt them any more than I have to, both to honour Amy's selfless words and for my own weariness of war; the Bloodstone's glow dimmed as though sensing its creator's decision of pacifism; but I need them all under – that's not a problem, I can reconfigure the drones to have less of an impact on the target, something to send them into a catatonic state rather than hated death or serious injury. No, actually storming the place wasn't the real hard nut of the issue now he knew where it actually was, it was the fact that he wanted to speak to one of Haven's occupants face to face. The scientist's eyes hardened as he recalled the reasons behind why he wanted this little chat – he needed to see the reasons behind his enemy's seemingly baffling motives, but that meant that his target would have to be the last to go down; after all, he wanted a private conversation. Sighing as even his prodigious intellect was held in check for the moment, Dimitri made his way steadily to the main chamber of this base and the reason behind its construction, the crimson form of his greatest triumph bobbing in his wake at his mental command.

Strangely, despite the fact that nothing living had ever set foot inside this place, Dimitri was still struck by the sudden thought that by opening this door, he was unsealing an ancient, long decrepit tomb. The command panel that should have paved the way for him was broken beyond repair, something having nested within the exposed wiring under the console, forcing the grandmaster to resort to cruder methods of shifting this last obstacle. Rusted cogs ground against each other with a hideous grating sound as Dimitri exerted his physical strength and emerald powers on opening the door, powdered corrosion filtering to the floor, winking by the red sheen of the Bloodstone as finally, with a tortured shrieking of snapping metal, the chamber to the hidden warriors of the Dark Legion was unlocked. Taking a deep breath of the mouldy, stagnant crypt air, Dimitri strode forth, feeling the path curve upwards as he knew it would. He had planned the construction of this facility, a bastion of strength that he could fall back upon once the battle with Edmund had concluded. With the weapons contained within, the Legion would have taken Echidnopolis by storm, the populace held, waiting for the blessed immortality that only he could provide. Well now; Dimitri caught glimpses of rows below him, polished metal now dull and lifeless without the power he could feed them; these tools will serve to quash the Brotherhood for the last time, and after they have been brought into the fold, released from death's heartless gaze, the other echidnas should fall into line most obligingly. Somehow he doubted that was how it would turn out, but it didn't matter at the minute – he had to capture the Brotherhood first and neutralise the threat they posed, and he had to do it fast; already they would be preparing and the first strike could be critical.

Without further ado, the grandmaster of the Dark Legion swiftly moved up to the peak of the slight rise he had been travelling up, the light from the Bloodstone providing just enough illumination to see the platform was formed from the conjunction of four paths, all leading to the same place, high above the floor of this chamber. It had been built to his exact specifications; there were four separate entrances and exits to this chamber, the heart of his bid to win Angel Island and free its population for all time. He leaned back and placed a hand on the Bloodstone, his eyes showing him the divot in the floor, cut to the exact proportions necessary for optimal energy transfer.

"Come then", he whispered quietly, almost as if asking his invention to aid him in his noble quest, "let us end this family feud now and finally". With that, keeping the contact with the pulsating red stone, the echidna gently guided the point at the base of the cut ruby into the niche carved at the very centre of his podium. For a second all was still, then the process began; from directly beneath him, ancient power cables hummed with energy provided by the greatest of the Chaos Emeralds, funnelling it safely into the recumbent forms of his warriors. Lights blinked on and off, the scene becoming more illuminated as the Bloodstone glowed brighter in response to the drain being placed upon it. Casually, one of Dimitri's eyes rove around, watching approvingly as the scene beneath him was slowly revealed as more illumination became apparent.

Below his feet, arranged in neat rows, were banks of what looked like crystal eggs held in metal boxes. They were stacked atop each other, fifteen cells high and each one contained a single drone, complete with teleporter array to allow instant transportation to the location each was individually needed. Every one of these drones, though crude by the standards of technology the Dark Legion had perfected, was a machine more than capable of standing up to a fight with a gun-toting member of the EST and emerging triumphant in more then fifty percent of cases. Piqued by idle curiosity and bored as he waited for the rest of the cells to activate and report the status of their occupants, Dimitri activated the command console of this staging post and, selecting an active pod, ordered it to home its teleporters to a space beside him. With a whip-crack whooshing of displaced air, the drone was delivered and Dimitri was reminded of one of his first creations.

The machine was bipedal, a dull, steely grey and modelled very loosely on an echidna, albeit a particularly squat and blocky one. The face of the drone bore no features bar the LED vision sensors, the rest of the sensory equipment stored in the few dreadlocks secured on the back of the head; a weak point but, he remembered agonising about this seemingly obvious flaw in the design for weeks, in the middle of a fire-fight, it would be a very well-aimed or lucky shot that hit a target as small and constantly moving as a single metallic dreadlock. And a fire-fight was certainly what these things had been designed for; Dimitri flicked his eyes over the impressive armour that covered the torso and lower legs of this machine, though the joints weren't as well armoured and again, could be hit and knocked out with a well-aimed round. The left arm was missing from the elbow down, replaced with a short, stubby gun barrel; aha, need to deal with the power of these things; reminded by the sight of the gun, Dimitri broke off his inspection for a moment and once more placed his hand on the nearest facet of the Bloodstone, slightly altering the amount of power channelled into each drone to a much lower and less lethal level, about half of what they'd usually take. This would insure he wouldn't accidentally violate the pact with Amy and injure someone unduly; even before he'd been sealed away, they'd never been configured to kill but to wound, leaving the target down and ready for the Legion to capture and then save from death.

Once he was assured every drone would only be gaining enough energy to knock someone out, the grandmaster breathed a little easier and finished his cursory glance at the troops he would soon have to direct into battle. The gun was configured to shoot blasts of Chaos energy in much the same way as a guardian's emerald blast, though the shots were nowhere near as potent as those used by both himself and Edmund's descendents. The right fist was driven by several powerful pistons and was primarily used for breaking down barriers such as doors, though it could theoretically land a hefty punch in close combat. However, the grandmaster grinned ruefully, it would have to be a slow and stupid enemy that allowed the drone to swing without getting out the way, and he was certain none of the guardians were that. So this is it; Dimitri though to himself; the tools that will finally bring about the downfall of the Brotherhood of Guardians. Swiftly assessing that he still had a while to wait before his full force was mobilised, the brother of the first guardian nodded slowly to himself; though it would have prevented a lengthy detour, he had been right not to let Amy into this place and see what would be unleashed against her friends; she didn't deserve that, and seeing this would have crushed all hope of her ever recovering. Memories of his former host resurfaced again, and once more Dimitri found himself asking questions he knew he would ask himself for years to come – could there have been another way?

XXX

Red-eyed, snatching sleep in fits and starts, the current occupants of Haven gave the impression being under siege. On Spectre's word, each had brought the meagre belongings they still possessed into the main chamber of the underground complex, the most defensible location as it allowed a range of exits should the situation become dire. Now, swathed in blankets and resting on the cold, hard floor, there was nothing to do other than wait, wait for the hammer blow that the guardians were sure to fall, a strike that would, in all probability, end with them all captured or slain. Not much was said; there was nothing to say to friends who knew, just like you did, that it was now a case of when, not if, the fighting would start. Hunched over by a wall, Tails cast his eyes to the huddled gathering that stood just off centre of this soon-to-be mausoleum; everyone over the age of sixteen had been invited to hear the hastily drawn up battle plans and add their own opinions and ideas. Of course, that leaves me out on a limb, as always; the fox snarled bitterly as he realised that, once again, he was denied a place in the discussions because of his age. That was the sourest pill to take; he knew he was at least as smart as anyone else here, he was capable of thinking with the best of them; it was just because they didn't want him to outshine them, they wanted all the glory, they…

Calm down; the fox terminated that line of thought with a conscious effort; you know that's not true, it's just the stress talking – everyone knows you're able to fight, they just don't want you to because that's not what a kid's supposed to do. Sonic had explained the logic behind this a hundred times already – even during their battles with Eggman, the hedgehog had shielded him from the worst of the fighting, not to steal his share of the glory, but to stop him growing old before his time, aged by the toil of the struggling. Sighing, the fox glanced around a little to try and see what was going on around the sheltered forms of his friends; immediately something struck him. Cream, who he had lost sight of since they'd come back here, appeared to be sharing a blanket with the bee from Team Chaotix, Charmy if he remembered right. Tails felt his face flush a little as a tiny stab of something hot and sharp lanced at his heart; without really considering the impact of his actions, he crept swiftly around the edge of the main room until he was close enough to hear their voices.

"I'm scared Charmy".

"Just scared?" the bee gave a slight nervous chuckle, though whether the nerves were faked or not Tails couldn't tell, "I'm outright terrified".

"Nah, you're just saying that".

"Wish I was"; fighting down the urge to deliver an 'accidental' kick to whatever part of the blanket Charmy turned out to be hidden under, the fox felt it prudent to introduce himself.

"Hey"; there was some shuffling and suddenly Cream's face appeared before him, looking up with those large, soft cinnamon eyes,

"Tails", she smiled at the sight of her friend, pulling back the part of the blanket closest to her, indicating for him to join her in the warmth, "sorry I missed you; come on". He hesitated for a split-second before joining her; unbeknownst to the rabbit, Tails had just been checking that, rather than under the blanket as he had suspected, Charmy was in fact sitting a few feet away, talking at a distance. Feeling oddly reassured for some reason, he lowered himself to the ground, smiling back as he helped replace the blanket over the pair of them.

"Hey TT", he started at the voice, looking up to see Charmy chortling at something, "Cream was just telling me about what happened when the siren went off; did you actually carry her out her room?" Tails grinned back, chuckling a little himself as he remembered that moment now; somehow in the mad rush that the alarm had caused it had failed to register that he'd actually been holding Cream, had her cuddled into his chest, almost rescued her…

"Tails", he blinked as a hand waved in front of his eyes, "still with us in there?" Oh, sorry Cream; the fox shook his head sheepishly and apologised,

"Sorry, lost in thought for a minute, but yeah, I did carry her out".

"Fireman's carry?"

"Huh?" Both younger Mobians looked at the bee questioningly and he elaborated,

"Did you have her over your shoulder?"

"Oh, no", reminded by Charmy's explanation, the fox shook his head, "no, there wasn't time, I just scooped her up and ran for it".

"Why's it called a fireman's carry? I mean", Cream carried on as she realised that question on its own made her look silly, "is that the way they actually get people out of burning buildings?" To her surprise, Charmy suddenly looked at her directly with a knowing air,

"You bet your bottom dollar it is; I've been pulled out a burning building before".

"Really, how?" Cream and Tails both sat up straighter, piqued by this new information, though their hopes were dampened slightly by Charmy's sudden look of abashment,

"Well, I'd had a really long day and I mean one of those really, really long days; you know, sort of double physics followed by double maths, then double P.E to finish?"

"Sounds like a nightmare; not even I do days like that often and I work with aircraft" Tails chipped in, trying to keep the superiority out of his voice as he realised he could do days like that with impunity. Charmy gave him a small smile and then continued,

"Well, I got home, back to the office if you like, and I was dead beat; I put on a couple of chips and the pan caught fire when I wasn't looking – think I used too much oil. Well, I got back into the kitchen to in time to get a deep whiff of thick black smoke, I hear the smoke alarm go off and next thing I know Esp's slung me over a shoulder and dragged me outside, coughing like my lungs hit the eject button. While I was recovering, Vec said something about firemen and that was how they were supposed to get people safe".

"Chip pan fire; lucky you didn't throw water on it", Cream admonished with a slight smile, "I know about them, Rosie told me to…" she tailed off, all of a sudden silent for a minute, then she burst in tears, holding her head in her hands as she thought about what might be happening to her beloved sister. Tails threw off his shock and put a comforting arm around her, trying to soothe her without drawing attention from the gathering of older Mobians,

"Hey, c'mon Cream", he said with a confidence he didn't really feel, "remember what Knuckles said – we'll get her back, somehow".

"I know", the rabbit fought down her sniffles, trying to stay calm, "but what could he have done to her? You heard Spectre; Dimitri's a maniac who thinks he can save everyone by putting them in tin cans", she moved suddenly, placing her arm around his shoulders and dragging herself closer, desperate for support, "what if he's already done that to Amy, made her into a machine; I don't think I can cope with that". Seeing her in such distress, Tails wouldn't have been Mobian if a few fears of his own heart surfaced; he too had thought of such dire outcomes and the thought of them had chilled him to the bone; no-one deserves that, Amy least of all – why did it have to be her, why couldn't it be someone who asked for a horrible fate, like Eggman? He couldn't reply to Cream, lost within his own internal nightmare, unhearing as another joined them; both younger Mobians jumped a little as Knuckles' voice, soft and quiet, full of mourning but also steely resolve, spoke,

"Charmy, you're with your team; they'll explain everything to you", the bee nodded, rose to his full height and walked over to the other two members of the Chaotix, pausing only to whisper his goodbyes to Tails and Cream. The fox thought he could see fear in Charmy's eyes, well-hidden but present; but then again, we're all scared; the thought was fatalistic but, he thought grimly, ultimately true; you'd have to be mad not to be scared. Once Charmy was out of earshot, the echidna looked at them both,

"Cream, you're staying in the chamber here; you don't have Cheese and it could get very dangerous, so you're to stay here and stick close to Sabre; he'll look out for you. I expect you to do the same for him, okay?"

"Right" was all the rabbit would say in response; squaring her shoulders and determined to help in any way she could, Cream followed Charmy into the centre of the chamber, making her introductions to the surgeon of the Brotherhood again. Feeling himself next, Tails stood up tall and proud as Knuckles, turned to him; even in the half-light, the kit was shocked at how much Knuckles seemed to have aged in such a short time. He seemed more weary, less able to combat the forces that were sure to rage against them, though to his eternal credit he tried to hide it,

"Tails, Sonic wants to see you; he's over that way", he jerked a thumb towards the nearest exit and then, checking quickly to see they weren't being overheard, the echidna leaned a little closer and whispered, "he's not in a good way, if you catch my drift. He's been quiet and withdrawn and that's not right for Sonic – we need him at his best if we're to stand a chance". The kit nodded, a grim look on his young face as he looked up and spoke sincerely,

"I'll do what I can". He heard a gruff chuckle and a hint of gallows humour as the echidna made to move away,

"We all will Tails, it's all we can do". With that statement running in his head, trying to make it make sense, the fox headed towards his brother and his part in the plan the guardians had concocted to combat Dimitri's dark devices.

XXX

It's nearly there; the sense of mounting triumph Dimitri felt as the power, his power, flooded through the ancient chamber was nearly beyond compare, though it was tempered, always tempered, by the words Amy had spoke and the promise he had sworn. Now that over ninety percent of the drones he had were ready to go, he moved on to the next stage of his plan. He had a mental map of some of the Brotherhood's domain, but it was by no means complete and that could prove to be a major disadvantage. Normally before embarking on a strike of this magnitude he would have sent in specially cloaked spy drones, each individually linked to him and concealed from most forms of detection unless at short range. Recordings of enemy movements would be made and strategies planned down to the finest detail, maybe some small acts of sabotage carried out by the trained professionals of his legion. That was how most of his clinical attacks had been carried out in the past, but now there simply wasn't the time. He had to hit hard and fast, leave none standing save one and then get them all back here, ready for the extraction of their Chaos powers and then release. The ancient echidna held in a smile at that thought; the looks on their faces when I tell them they're free to go; before seriousness reasserted itself and he began to plan his grand assault.

XXX

The hedgehog was stood with his back to the chamber, gazing out into the darkened corridor as though daring the darkness to make the first move against him. Tails approached uncertainly, not sure if the Mobian he had known as a brother for so long was safe any more; he had seen Sonic's face when Amy had been taken, when he'd come back empty-handed and realised then that his failure to rescue her had hurt him deeply. Still, he needed to know what was expected of him in the coming fight, and Knuckles had said this was the only way find out, so licking his lips and crossing his fingers, he spoke up,

"Sonic", the hedgehog's ears quivered and he stood up a little straighter, "Knuckles said you'd tell me…"

"I know what Knuckles said" the voice was hard and brooked no argument, Tails fell silent immediately as the hedgehog continued, "we can't all stay in here, it's too open, so we're splitting into groups", Tails made to compare this to the Metal Overlord battles but cut off as he realised this would entail reminding Sonic of Team Rose, "Rouge, Knuckles and Thunderhawk are together, Shadow is with Sojourner and Athair and I've got Spectre and Locke, when he gets back that is". Tails let out a little of his apprehension with an insignificant question,

"Where's he gone?"

"To set the lights to this place; we'll all need to see as well as we can because most of the Legion have their vision augmented to see in low light; none of us can manage that save Rouge".

"Makes sense", Tails agreed before asking the burning, blazing question in his mind, "so what do I need to do?" Still Sonic didn't turn around as he answered,

"You're here with the Chaotix, Sabre and Cream; this place is the most defensible as there's more boltholes if we need them. Your job, along with the Choatix, is to look after Sabre as we'll need his skills if anyone gets blasted. Keep this place clear of enemies and watch each other's backs; the teams'll be trying to keep the pressure off you by striking at where Dimitri's troop hit; Spectre thinks it probably won't be the lift, apparently he's perfected teleportation technology". Tails felt a little instinctive disappointment well up inside him and voiced it before he could stop himself,

"But…"

"No buts", as if to emphasise the tone of the hedgehog, the lights around the corridor began to brighten, silhouetting Sonic in a halo of bright light, "I know you can fight Tails, but there's too much at stake here now", the fox held in his surprise as his brother's voice tailed off suddenly; if he hadn't known better he'd have been sure Sonic was trying not to cry. No, that's stupid – Sonic's never cried, not in all the time I've ever known him; Tails made to put a hand on the hedgehog's shoulder before Sonic span to face him and his movement ceased.

Sonic was on the verge of breaking down; Tails could see barely restrained tears anchored in the corners of his eyes and his bottom lip twitched occasionally, threatening to break down whatever bulwark he was using to hold his grief back. He was only successful in denying his grief because, Tails guessed, he was waiting to fight; Spectre had said Dimitri would strike Haven soon and Sonic would be there when it happened; he'd have a chance to avenge both himself and Amy on the fiend that had bedevilled them. The two emotions warred with each other, the sorrow etching itself deeper into the trenches of Sonic's eyes as he spoke again to his brother, the words so soft and strained even the fox's acute hearing was hard pressed to catch them,

"I've lost Amy, I'm not going to lose you as well". Unable to speak, unable to do anything due to the shattering emotion in the hedgehog's last sentence, Tails nodded, offered a very weak conciliatory smile and then departed back to the chamber centre, the hedgehog's words ringing in his ears.

XXX

The last drones were activated and the time was nearing; Dimitri gave a knowing smile as he realised the time had come. However, before he could commit his forces properly, the echidna knew he had to have a clear view of what was going on once they were on the ground. Fortunately, now he knew Haven's approximate location, he was able to transfer this knowledge into the Bloodstone with but a thought. In doing so, he was able to watch on as the insubstantial thought was solidified within the crimson depths of the giant stone, forming a very crude outline of the areas of Haven he was familiar with. What he planned next would require much power, but now his was infinite and at his command; with one hand on the top of the stone, he reached out with his mind and homed in on the area he wanted to see. As he did so, his eyes still open even through the strain of controlling such energy, he was able to communicate the touches of his mind onto the map held solid within the great ruby; before his restless pupils, the positions of his enemies became apparent.

XXX

It happened simultaneously; every Mobian present in the centre of Haven suddenly felt their skin creep as though caressed by cold fingers, under the scrutiny of shadowed, unblinking eyes. As they all swapped uneasy glances, Spectre raised his voice and gestured for them all to take their places,

"We're being watched as I suspected we would be. Get ready, this is it". He moved up to stand beside his sixth-son, who had raced into the fortified area and announced that was as good as he could get the lighting in the time available.

"Good luck everyone", Espio spoke with grim finality, a couple of his stars flickering in his fingers as he didn't take his eyes off the entrance he was guarding, "we are going to need it". For once, no-one contradicted the chameleon's gloomy prediction as, no matter how much they wished it was untrue, they all realised he was right. For a few, eternal seconds, here was a silence so deep that a pin being dropped would have sounded as loud as a cathedral bell; heart beats echoed like gongs in deserted temples before Spectre, something like smoke billowing out from his robe, transforming him into a creature from the deepest regions of darkest Hell, snapped his eyes open and pointed down the corridor across from him, voice infused with authority as he bellowed,

"There, they're coming".

With that pronouncement, it finally hit home to all concerned; this was it, a final battle in which there was only the slimmest chance of victory as their foe was, by the guardian's own admission, far mightier than they and had a legion of troops at his disposal. For a second the hopelessness struck a deep, nearly fatal blow, freezing the strength from their limbs and the resolve from their hearts.

"Well no point hanging around", Sonic's voice was velvet edged with steel; lashing out to either side of him, he gripped Spectre and Locke by the arm and took off, "time to show this Dimitri what he's dealing with".

"Hawk take the next contact, Sojourner any after that"; Spectre barked as he clung to the blue hedgehog; with those commands, the first trio were lost around the corner.

"Well you heard the man, get ready", Thunderhawk took command and pointed at the other six team members, "we'll buy you as much time as we can and come back if any are hurt. Give them hell".

"You got it Hawk" Sabre spoke assuring, rubbing his spurs as he realised for the first time he may have to put them to use to maim rather than to heal. A split-second later, the lavender echidna's head shot up and he gave a feral grin,

"That way"; Knuckles swapped a smile and a look with Rouge as they set off after him, calling for the sixth-father to enter a bet with them about who'd last longest. Sojourner watched his father go, hearing the bets that were being made and brought his hand to his head, shaking it as his doleful voice seeped out,

"I've got to spend my last minutes surrounded by madmen". Of course, it was then Athair swooped over and looked around blankly,

"I don't think so; none of us are mad, are we?" The room at large, many of them trying hard not to laugh, shook their heads and Sojourner sighed before offering his hand,

"Oh well, let's get this over with"; Athair grabbed onto one hand, Shadow the other and with a burst of green light they too were gone to battle.

XXX

From his virtual vantage point, Dimitri raised an eyebrow as the strategy the guardians were using seemed to become apparent; nine of them were forming packs to engage his forces as they teleported into Haven; of course, the guardians can detect the Chaos energy used in the process; memories of one of the guardians having this power flickered across his mind as he quickly realised there must be at least one guardian with each group, otherwise they wouldn't be able to track his forces down so quickly. So, that's at least three guardians out of the six; so there could be up to three left in the centre; that was the main problem he was facing. With that many Mobians guarding it, the chamber was going to be extremely difficult to overrun, especially if it was reinforced with the packs. He'd have to consider that a little later; for now, he needed to see how well his drones would fare against the trios that were approaching them. Based on this evidence, he would plan his next moves.

XXX

"Around the next corner, I don't know how many"; that was all Sonic needed to know – letting go of his passengers, the hedgehog accelerated to combat velocity, hearing the sounds of movement around the corner he was about to sprint around; familiar sounds as well, pistons hissing and machinery humming. A savage smile split itself across his face as he remembered that the Dark Legion were a bunch of technocrats; of course they'd use robots to fight for them. Well Dimitri, sending robots was your second mistake; Sonic flew around the corner at waist height, dashing up one of the walls as he was able to take in the scene without breaking stride. There was a tight knit group of what looked like metal echidnas; whether they were just heavily augmented biological echidnas or true robots he couldn't tell and didn't care. All that mattered was that they were Dimitri's; Dimitri who had tormented Amy, twisted her and then stolen her from right out of his hands; your first was to crawl out of that blasted red stone! Purged of all emotion save cold, hungry fury, Sonic speeded into battle.

XXX

The drone had predicted from audible information that a target was approaching from along the corridor; ponderously, it swung its weapons around to cover the avenue of attack. A shot was ready to be unleashed at chest height when visual confirmation of the target was granted, but even chest height was no good when the attacked whipped around the corner on the wing; the only visual confirmation of a target it got was when a pair of steel-shod feet smashed into its vision sensors, blinding them for all time.

Even before the robot she had screw-kicked hit the deck, Rouge was on the floor and fighting; recognising these things were slow to react to her fast attack, she swung her body around and ducked low, crashing her foot into the knee joint of the closest one to her. The sheer force of her blow buckled the metallic armour surrounding the vulnerable spot and, as it brought its foot down, the weakened support gave way, sending the machine sprawling sideways and blocking the shots of the other droids as twin blurs of red and purple raced past the crouching bat, vaulted over the still-falling foe and straight into the heart of their foes. Knuckles let out a fearsome shout as, at this close range, his opponent had no room or speed to dodge and his punch smashed the armour over its chest, a swift follow up denting it still further though the damned thing still didn't drop,

"Go for the face and the arms", Thunderhawk roared over the melee, practising what he preached as, with a deft twist, he wrenched the punching arm from his new foe and brought it slamming down on its own head, caving in the metal and putting it out of commission. Hearing him, Rouge tensed her legs and sprang,

"Duck!" Knuckles instinctively hit the floor and Rouge sailed overhead, her boot impacting on the face of the drone he'd weakened. It didn't quite give way but, as the echidna exploded upwards, his fist connected with the steel chin with such force that the machine was lifted off its clumping feet, crashing down a few metres away. Adrenaline singing, the guardian whipped around only to see that was it, the half-dozen were all that had been present. Taking a swift breath and dropping his arms, he gave an exultant grin,

"If that's all he's got we've no reason to be worried".

"Drones"; Thunderhawk spat on the bodywork of one of the broken machines, disgust in his tone, "they're not much good at fighting, but at this range one of their gun blasts'll do a lot of damage. Stay on your toes and follow me", he led off, a grim smile on his face as he caught a new scent, "that was six, there's at least three times that just arrived".

"Bring 'em on"; Rouge leapt up and caught the air as she locked eyes with Knuckles, "bet you a week's night watch I break more than you can". The echidna raised his eyes as they ran along the corridor, following Thunderhawk as he led them to the next combat,

"You're on; no chance".

"Well I'm already three-one up".

"Just makes it more of a challenge".

"Glad you think that way", Thunderhawk's voice cut across them all, "'cause here we go!"

XXX

Spectre and Locke followed in Sonic's blazing footsteps, the hedgehog had outpaced them and, judging by the way the sounds of battle had been quickly stifled, they judged it hadn't gone well for the hero. Both echidnas drew on the Master's blessing and green power surrounded their paws, ready to be unleashed as bolts to smite the creations of their mad great-uncle; they sprang around the corner, fists drawn back, only for the firs to dissipate harmlessly, shock at what they saw rendering them temporarily wordless.

There had been at least seven robots; had been being the operative word. Every single one looked like it had been hit with a cross between a buzz-saw and a wrecking ball; shattered metal was everywhere and none of the previously lethal gun barrels would ever fire a shot again. In the centre of the carnage stood Sonic, blue quill streaked with oil and gloves slightly torn, but here he stood tall, erect, the cold fire in his eyes visible for all to see, turning him into an avatar of destruction that none could stand against and be victorious. In that moment, the two mighty guardians forgot their powers, forgot the fact that the Master empowered them; both understood that, with Sonic empowered by rage and grief so strong, their efforts were probably going to amount to less than nothing. Seeing them, the hedgehog looked up and let a cold smile onto his lips,

"Pathetic, even Eggman did better than this; are there any more around?" Startled out of his reverie for a moment, Spectre swept the immediate vicinity and nodded,

"Good", the hedgehog brought his foot down on one of the upturned faceplates of a broken droid, the metal crumpling like thin tin as he finished, "let's get them". Without a word of argument, the guardians took off towards the closest remaining group of drones.

XXX

I may have underestimated them; Dimitri was a little disappointed in himself at this realisation – he normally didn't make mistakes such as that, but he certainly made one here. Against the three teams, not even half-a-dozen drones stood a chance; okay, so that number was a spit in the sea compared to what he had left, but still, no-one ever conquered anything by being careless with the lives of their soldiers. However, the destruction of this first wave was not a complete loss; for a start, a fortunate turn of events had become apparent; when the droids, and therefore part of the Bloodstone's power, had been present within Haven, the map he was currently overseeing suddenly became much sharper and in focus. Similarly, he was able to almost 'see' out of the eyes of his robotic minions; though he wasn't able to explain exact why this had happened, the grandmaster was nonetheless canny enough to take an advantage when it fell into his lap. A slight smile creased his face as he recognised the route on of the parties was taking; it was an area of Haven he was familiar with from wandering with his host. Opportunities beckoned…

XXX

Thunderhawk swore as more foes simply appeared in front of them with a sudden whip-crack noise. Unlike himself, the drones weren't affected by the suddenness of their appearance; they simply sought a target and fired upon it. The elder guardian recovered enough to throw himself flat as, with a hellish flare of red pulsing light, one of the drones fired, the discharge of its gun singing the fur on his back as it earthed on the wall behind him. It never got a chance to fire again; Knuckles skipped past his prone sixth-father and one of his fists closed over the gun barrel, the sheer strength of the guardian buckling the metal out of shape. With a smile, Knuckles heaved on his opponent, the veins standing out in his neck he fought to overcome the inertia of the metallic beast; suddenly it was torn free from the floor and Knuckles swung around dragging it with him. Thunderhawk felt the sudden darkness of a shadow pass overhead as his sixth-son completed a clumsy half-pirouette before letting go, sending the drone crashing back amongst the ranks of its fellows, sending two more of them to the floor. A white shape fell from the sky and danced a rapid tattoo on their prone forms, reducing them to scrap as an indignant voice filled the air,

"Hey, those were mine".

"Finders keepers".

"No way, I had them down and ready to go"; Knuckles was breathing heavily, rivulets of sweat running into his eyes as he flicked his head to dash them away. Rouge was hardly in a better state as she knelt to help Thunderhawk up, the elder echidna cursing himself for freezing up like that when in danger. The bat shook her head at his blaming,

"Don't sweat it; where to next?" she was answered, as if heard by someone other than her team mates, by another 'whip-crack' from further down the corridor. All three Mobians shared a glance and then took off for the battle.

XXX

Keep them coming; Dimitri carefully positioned his forces to keep his targets on the move; soon he'd have them where he needed them. Already the trap was set; all it needed was just a little hint of luck to go to plan.

XXX

"There's two that I can see", Rouge whispered, glancing around the corner from where the noise had come from, "but more could come in".

"That's a risk we have to take; we need to take as many of these things down as we can and keep the pressure off the Chaotix", Thunderhawk muttered in response, keeping his voice low in case he could be overheard by the surprisingly sensitive audio sensors of their robotic foes, "Rouge, you're quickest; this'll be up to you".

"Typical; want something said ask a man, want something done ask the woman", the bat complained, causing Knuckles to give a snort and shake his head, offering his grandfather a look-what-I-have-to-put-up-with glance. Rouge smiled, took a deep breath and then sprinted around the corridor corner, shouting to the two in front of her,

"This for fourteen-sixteen". There were twin flashes of red in front of her and she threw herself forwards, going into a forwards roll to dodge the shots. She gave a hiss of pain as something white hot grazed the tip of her left ear; that's it, you're history – no-one but Knuckles touches those! The bat snarled as she let her momentum carry her within striking distance; once there, she pushed off the earth with her hands and wrapped both her legs around the neck of drone that had shot her. With a deft twist and flap of her wings, she gave a vicious twist that would have broken the neck of a mortal opponent, letting out a loud shout as she did so.

It would have killed a normal man; the results on the robot were even more impressive; with a shriek of breaking metal, she tore the head compartment clear off; mind acting on overdrive, she quickly adjusted the course of her fall to allow the destruction to continue. There was a resounding clang as the disembodied head was slammed forcibly into the steel skull of its counterpart; the armour didn't quite give way, but from the way the eyes dimmed suddenly she could tell it was a fatal hit. Tucking her legs in, she span down around in mi-air to land on her feet and see the two echidnas racing towards her; feeling suddenly flushed with her flash of inspiration, she gave a swift pose for effect. A pose that, had circumstances been not too dissimilar, could have proven to be the last thing she ever did.

XXX

He was the Bloodstone, the Bloodstone was him; through it's creation, he was linked to it implicitly, closer to it than even the guardians were to the Master Emerald. The drones were powered by the Bloodstone and therefore, given a little concentration and effort, Dimitri could individually take control of a single machine, the connection between him and his greatest source of power allowing such a overtaking to be possible. Normally the grandmaster wouldn't have bothered to do such a thing as the normal battle drones were quite capable of working without orders and pretty much wouldn't have lasted against guardians anyway however much effort he expended. However, in certain circumstances, there were times when such close control was a definite advantage, and the precise nature of an ambush was certainly one of those critical times.

Dimitri's mental impulse had stilled the normal imperatives of the drone; instead of immediately seeking out the nearest viable target, it had waited quiescent at the post it had been teleported to, ordered only to divert power to its gun and raise its powerful fist. However, as the control was suddenly lifted and the directives took root again, the drone acted; smashing aside the flimsy barrier in front of it, the machine sought its nearest target. As its controller had predicted and hoped, there was one stood right in front of it.

XXX

It was one of those awful moments when time slowed to a crawl; Rouge had heard the splintering crack from the small door to her right and, almost even before she looked, she knew there was no way she could dodge a shot at this point-blank range. She saw everything, every reflection of the light from the polished steel surfaces of the machine that was going to kill her, there were tiny flickers of the red lightning around the extreme end of the barrel as the chaos power made itself manifest, she could even smell the ozone as there was a sudden ionising crack and rise in temperature. Then she was flying backwards, thrown haphazardly by the force of the hit but strangely there was no pain; shock maybe? Still confused, the bat was crashed into the floor as someone let out an agonised roar, swiftly followed by a heavy smash and a noise like someone beating a sheet of metal with a sledgehammer. There's no pain; the bat shook her head as she realised the ceiling above her head was starting to look boring, beginning to sit up and try to collect her bearings, still marvelling she was alive at all. There was Thunderhawk; he must have borne the machine to the ground and was now raising hell on its steel hide with his iron fists; that thing was a goner and no mistake. She flicked her eyes around, and suddenly being shot would have felt like a mercy.

Huddled against the wall opposite where the machine had burst out from, Knuckles was lying in a crumpled heap. He wasn't conscious, and it didn't look like he was breathing. The echidna had thrown himself forwards at full stretch to push the bat out the way of the gunshot, taking the hit that was meant for her.

Rouge was by his side almost before she realised it, fighting down her sudden tears as she was torn between thanking him eternally for saving her life and damning him forever for being so stupid as to risk his own. Her trembling fingers touched his neck and found a heartbeat; Rouge almost sagged on the spot, giddy with relief, but as more deadly 'whip-crack' noises were made close enough for her to hear, she was forced to make a decision. It was one that would probably mean the end of her, but looking at the helpless form of the man she loved and remembering how he had sacrificed himself for her, she made it in a second.

"Bloody hell", Thunderhawk pushed himself off the mangled wreckage he'd created and joined her, looking down at his sixth-son with worried eyes, "stupid boy; he should have been able to dodge that. Now what…?"

"Run".

The lavender echidna looked at the bat as though she'd gone mad,

"What?"

"Run", she repeated, pushing herself to her feet and turning to face where most of the new foes were coming from, "take Knuckles and run; get back to the centre and get Sabre – if anyone can help him he can".

"Rouge…"

"Just do it", the bat snapped, still not looking anywhere but forwards, ominous shadows now beginning to flicker along the corridor, "I'll buy you as much time as I can; he's saved my life, I'll do the same. Run and don't look back". Without saying another word, the sixth-father reached down and hauled the comatose form of his grandson over one shoulder,

"The guardians will remember you, Rouge the Bat". He heard a slight snicker as she began to walk forwards, towards a fight she couldn't possibly win,

"Funny that; no-one ever forgets me, for one reason or another. Now go". With that, he ran, muttering a short prayer under his breath even as he cursed Dimitri to an eternity of suffering for what he was doing.

Knuckles is safe now; with that thought in her mind, Rouge was content; nothing these things did could hurt her anymore. She carried on, breaking into a light jog as she heard the mechanised tread of enemies approaching,

"Come on then, don't keep me waiting all day. Yahhh!" With that, the first of them appeared, it's sleek, shiny hide quickly buckled and dented with a pair of boot prints. The kicks slewed the metal beast around and, unable to terminate its pre-programmed actions fast enough, its gun spoke and decimated the machine next to it, catching itself in the blast and blowing them both into shards. Flying slivers of metal gashed Rouge's bare arms but she felt no pain, simply leaping forwards to engage more of them, each second letting Thunderhawk get further away. With more of these implacable, unstoppable terrors appearing all the time, the struggle was doomed – however, if the bat knew this she didn't acknowledge it. Even as Dimitri sent in reinforcements to cut off any line of retreat she may have had, she lashed out, buckling the chest of her next victim.

Even as they closed in around her, denying her the space to kick properly, she threw herself against them, hammering their hides with her bare fists and cracking exposed optics, uprooting vulnerable dreadlocks.

Even as the lightning crackled all around her and the stink of ozone permeated the air, she took to the air, raking her feet across the heads of those droids nearest to her.

Even as the gun discharged and pain raced to claim her, she went down fighting, aligning her last dive to allow her to crash, feet first, onto the droid that had killed her. As consciousness fled, chased away by agony, she allowed herself a smile; I won Knucks – twenty three to sixteen.

XXX

Finally he had something to show for his not inconsiderable efforts; one of the three teams of three had retreated and, more importantly, it had lost one of its members, who had stayed behind in a desperate rearguard action, even though it had meant certain defeat. Dimitri could respect courage like that and, realising that if he didn't take a hand now, there was a definite risk that the drones close to the fallen form of one of his enemies would simply walk all over him in an effort to engage the next nearest target, he acted swiftly. Taking command of one of the droid nearest the slumped form, he had it touch the foe gently and, with a grunt of effort, he activated his own chaos power, dragging both the drone and the foe it had captured back to his control platform.

With a crack, the two rematerialised, slightly behind him; sparing nothing more than a swift glance, he noticed with surprise that it was the bat woman who had fought so hard and dragged at least half a dozen of his drones down before finally being brought to earth. Impressive even by guardian standards, but she is of no threat now; the impact of a shot from that range would have her under for at least six hours, more likely eight. Plenty of time to capture the rest of her friends and then sort out his other problem; how am I going to house them all? This place isn't a prison and I can't cater for fifteen now; with a sudden jolt, the echidna was swiftly reminded that before he could come to that problem, he have to actually capture his foes first. With a snarl, he returned to the fray and, recognising one of the teams was down, decided it was time to test what defences his nephews had left around their centre of operations.

XXX

Shadow had to confess that, though neither Athair nor Sojourner were true warriors in the way Sonic or himself were, neither of them lacked guts. Sojourner in particular had caught his attention by the extraordinary game of chicken he was continually playing to destroy his enemies. His small, wiry frame let him slip through the tight formations of the drones, then he'd wait until the first shot was on the brink of being fired and quickly activate his unique gift, getting out the way of danger as the drones committed themselves to the shots and opened fire, blasting each other apart. Athair was also proving have hidden depths; the flying echidna was proving a valuable assert as he could fly over the heads of his enemies and, once there, unload his emerald powers in a rain of green bolts, ripping the drones apart before, in some cases, they had even registered he was there.

The black hedgehog himself was finding this form of combat easy; somehow, it felt almost ingrained within him – he knew how to duck and dive in these confined spaces, how best to use the cramped, winding confines of Haven's layout to best effect, especially against slow enemies like these drones. Something was desperately clawing at the back of his mind but Shadow fought it down; it might have been a memory, but right now he couldn't afford to freeze up listening to it, not even for a second. With a last effort, he fired up his jet skates and rushed forwards, straightening out at the last minute to go into a floor slide, catching the drone ahead around the ankles. The speed of his approach ripped the feet from under it and it was tossed into the air as he carried on underneath it, his momentum carrying him forwards and out of danger. An emerald blast tore into the airborne robot and smashed clean through it, destroying the central core in its chest and rendering it completely inoperative, the beast hitting the metal floor like an earthquake in a blacksmiths shop.

"And serves you right", Athair lectured the destroyed machine, panting hard as the fighting took its toll on him, "you don't break into other people's property like that; I thought out great-uncle would have better manners".

"You expected him to call for a tea party?" Sojourner gasped, drained by using his gift so much, thought still managing to ladle on the sarcasm with a bucket. Athair dropped a little lower, taking advantage of the slight lull in the fighting to take a quick breath and keep their spirits up with inane chatter- or at least, Shadow hoped it was just inane chatter,

"You think he will", the flying echidna sank into a thoughtful pose, resting his chin on a fist while musing, "well I've got an old tea set grandfather Tobor left me; it's a bit dusty but it can be cleaned up, and you can make decent cooki…" with that he straightened up, pressing fingers to his forehead as thought struck; a split-second later Sojourner did the same, Shadow watching on intently, senses alert for danger as the two guardians engaged in their ritual. Fortunately nothing was close by; there were some faint, very faint, whooshing noises as more of these accursed metal echidnas were delivered into Haven but they were a way away yet, they had a little time.

"Come on", Sojourner straightened and offered his hands, face serious and possibly a little frightened as he shot an explanation for Shadow's questioning look, "Hawk's in trouble; something happened with Knuckles and he needs help. Hold on". That was all both his team mates needed to hear, each grabbed an offered arm and closed their eyes to avoid blindness from the glare that sprang up around them as the fifth-father homed in on his father's presence.

XXX

They were weakening now; under the constant pressure they were starting to give – grudgingly and fighting every step of the way it was true, but still they were giving ground. Dimitri realised he had to be careful in these last few movements; it would be easy to take them all with a last, relentless assault, but if he wanted to gain the information he desired a delicate touch must be used. To further this desire, he'd measured the resistance waiting for his forces in the central chamber and kept up a steady, constant pressure, gradually increasing it in increments, trying to force those who defended it to call for help from the teams that were still roving around and disrupting his deployment, forcing him to divert drone power to deal with their reckless drives and stymieing the attack on the heart of Haven. Fortunately, even this roving could be turned to an advantage if he played his cards right; even as he plotted the last roll of his dice, he was sacrificing some of his drones to divert the attentions of the most dangerous team, which as a fact that could in no way have been coincidence contained the one he needed to speak to, away from the central chamber, deeper into Haven's recesses. Now he was sure that, if he increased the pressure, the centre would call and, by pinning this most dangerous team in place with more drones, the other two teams would be the only ones able to respond. And when they do; the grandmaster thought, the culmination of his plans visualised in his mind's eye; I'll be there to rip the heart from their defence and finish the feud with my brother.

XXX

Thunderhawk ran, hearing the sounds of pursuit but not daring to slow down, the burden of his unconscious sixth-son heavy in his arms as he expected at any minute to feel the blistering pain of a shot in the back. With a grunt, he carried on; he'd sent out a call for help but he knew he'd be lucky to get any kind of response, everyone else probably had enough on their plates already. There was a sudden glare from directly behind him; instincts kicked in and in one moment he threw the recumbent form of Knuckles forwards and span into the guard position, squaring up to these new attackers, eyes darting for an opening even before his conscious mind realised the light from the teleportation had been green, not red.

"Whoa"; something ebony raced past on a trail of sparks; at the last second Thunderhawk perceived his folly and managed to divert his reflexive punch from Shadow's head to the wall just behind it. Agony sheeted up his arm and he let out a roar of pain, clutching his injured hand to his chest as, behind him, the black hedgehog went into a flat out dive to land underneath Knuckle's helpless fall, breaking the force of the echidna's impact at the same time as, at a conservative estimate, two or three of his own ribs.

"What happened father?" Shadow felt the pressure on his back lift and rolled over, getting to his feet in time to see Knuckles cradled in Athair's arms and hear Thunderhawk's response to his son's question,

"We were caught cold, ambushed; Rouge was about to get shot and Knuckles pushed her out the way…",

"I knew that bat was trouble", the fifth-father cursed, gesturing at Knuckles' limp body as proof his suspicions; only the knowledge that every pair of hands was needed to defend Haven stopped Shadow from blackening the obnoxious echidna's eyes.

"Wait", Athair glanced around desperately, voice rising in pitch, "where is pretty Rouge now?"

"She stayed behind", Thunderhawk looked his son dead in the eye, daring him to challenge his words as he finished, "she stayed to make sure I could get Knuckles as safe as possible, and I know she's not in Haven now". For a second his head dropped, as did Shadow's; Rouge is gone, just like Amy – two people who were part of my life, just gone; the black hedgehog was suddenly filled with a sense of his own mortality before fresh, fiery words pierced the silence,

"So I intend to honour her sacrifice; Sojourner, get Knuckles to the centre, we'll try and hold them off as best we can and…" he paused, for a second eyes wide and fearful, before shaking his head and pointing directly at Shadow, "no, you go; the centre's under attack and they need a fighter; you're fastest". Mortality replaced with resolve, sharing Thunderhawk's need for Rouge's sacrifice to come to fruition Shadow nodded and held out his arms,

"I won't let you down"; the second Athair had dropped the body of his friend and he was steady with the burden he was gone, flames from his specially designed footwear marking a blazing trail as Athair spoke again at his departure,

"Come on, let's finish this lot off and then head back; there are too many of them here now; the middle's our best hope". With a combined shout of battle lust, three generations of the same family turned at bay and ploughed forwards, towards the tide of steel that ran towards them inexorably.

XXX

Once more Spectre found himself overawed by the sheer cold brutality he was observing; Sonic was unstoppable with all the force of his loathing behind him. The bright blue ball rebounded from the walls of Haven like the world's most lethal Frisbee, slicing off heads, lopping metallic limbs off drones and sending one-legged droids crashing to the floor, where they were finished either by Locke or himself. The hedgehog showed no signs of tiring, the same patterns of spin, destroy and spin again repeating like an endless, monotonous procession that wreaked havoc on the forces of Dimitri. No matter how formidable he is though; Spectre though fatalistically as he used his own powers to disrupt the teleportation of more reinforcements, insuring they arrived as a collection of spare parts rather than functioning units; we can't go on forever – then again, that was never the point. The black echidna knew he was going to fall sooner or later; it was just a case of when and how many of these abominations he managed to drag down with him that mattered. As his sixth-son sent a wave of green energy flowing down a side corridor, incinerating the drones that had been trying to outflank them, Spectre smiled grimly; we will fall in our ancestral home Dimitri, but we're going to fall hard – by the manner of our deaths you shall know us, and know that we fight to the last!

It feels different; normally in battle, Sonic was all adrenaline and instincts, brain buzzing with different stimuli and what these stimuli meant for him if he did nothing about them. In this fight, this desperate, dirty fight in confined spaces that denied him the ability to use his full speed and skills, there was none of that; his mind was as clear as day, transcended from the chaos and randomness of a normal battle; his sole concern, his only purpose was to destroy these puppets of Dimitri, the faceless foe who had stolen from him the one thing he treasured, had always treasured and was now certain to never see again. Every drone destroyed hurt Dimitri and by destroying enough of these crude, hideous things he could send the rabid technocrat into an eternity of torment. It was this thought, crystallised into an ice-cold, frozen spike that allowed the hedgehog to survive and crush without thought, decimate without pity and cripple without mercy. Swallowed by hatred and consumed with grief, Sonic attacked, attacked and attacked, hardly caring if he was hit or not for he could feel no pain; all that mattered now was revenge.

XXX

He had expected bad and he was not disappointed; as he skidded to a halt, Shadow recognised a last stand was in progress. There was no chance of Sabre healing Knuckles now; he was too busy trying to save his own skin from being blasted from the press of robots he was holding off from one of the side tunnels, Cream at his side, looking terrified but still trying her hardest to help by fluttering up and obscuring the vision sensors of his opponents. Tails was side by side with Espio, both scrapping away to try and stem the tide from another direction with flickering ninja stars and, when a drone came too close, a taste of spike and fist. There was a roar and whoosh of flame as Vector burst from one side of the doorway he was sheltered behind and unleashed his inner fire on the drones in front of him; with such sudden movement their servos were confused for a second – a second later they were rapidly cooling slag. The crocodile span into the cover of the opposite doorway and breathed raggedly, the melted remnants of his destroyed attackers providing a temporary barrier from the press of metal behind it. Charmy circled overhead, a wary eye for any new threats that arose against their already overtaxed last line of defence; as he set Knuckles down, propped up by the nearest wall, the bee dropped by the side of him and shouted,

"Go relieve Sabre; we need him to call the others".

"Got it"; even as he spoke, there was a scream, high and piercing, that cut through the fog of battle at the same time it cut through the fog imposed on another by a battle with the Metal Overlord.

XXX

This was it, the timing was critical; he had to apply just the right amount of pressure to get them all where he needed. The team he wanted isolated was too far away to respond as it didn't include the guardian who could displace himself, though it costing an awful lot of resources to keep it pinned down, and they surely couldn't last too much longer in their now, not without help. Dimitri ground his teeth and suddenly had a flash of inspiration; keeping everything else exactly the way it was, the released prisoner sent his mind racing into the subject closest to the target he wanted to take. Slowly, with great slovenliness, the great claw opened and, the power of the Bloodstone refracting time minutely to allow the drone's arm time to manoeuvre, it closed gently on a target; perhaps another capture would force their hand?

XXX

She was screaming for help; he had to protect her, it was his duty, his life, his very reason for his existence. They promised it was just for show, just to make the training more realistic; there was nothing false about a scream pitched like that. Filled with righteous anger, he sped to the rescue like a hero from one of the books she had read to him in his infancy.

All around him were statues; there was nothing that could match his speed when she was in danger. Fire burnt out from under his feet and in his soul as he saw her caught, held helpless within this brutal grip. A loud cry rent the air and he was flying, kicking off the wall to gain leverage, plan ready and virtually tested to perfection before his boot had even touched the wall. The flames were low, he couldn't risk burning her by accident as he landed, one foot on each claw of the pincer, the impact of his landing forcing it apart a fraction, loosening its hold on her. He had her now; joy filled him as he felt her fall backwards against the soft quills of his back, but his work was not done. He flipped backwards, treating the accursed thing that had dared lay its filthy paw on his friend to a taste of flame as his shoes lit up to maximum. He completed his somersault and leant backwards, letting himself slide back across the smooth floor, completing the trial, and he was victorious!

Exultation slid home into him, he had saved her, and her voice, the sweet music of his personal angel, spoke to him, the words like the finest nectar on his ears,

"Shadow…"

XXX

Cream gave a heavy shove, not understanding why after his spectacular rescue the black hedgehog had frozen so suddenly in full view of the other drones when they all had guns pointed at him. Fortunately she had been strong enough; both of them were propelled into the lee of the door and safety, red bursts erupting behind them but impacting harmlessly on the wall opposite.

"Shadow", the rabbit repeated as he still didn't respond much, "what's wrong?" Slowly, far too slowly in her frightened eyes, he pushed himself to a lounging position and spoke to her confused,

"Cream?" The rabbit nodded and suddenly he was alert, looking around wildly as if he had lost something, "where is she?"

"Who?"

"The girl", the black hedgehog shook his head, trying to remember what had just happened with more clarity; he remembered a female voice, but no face, there was nothing for him to fix on there, "the girl I saved".

"Shadow you saved me", the rabbit was desperate to try and deal with whatever this was, especially as it seemed Sabre was on his last legs holding the doorway alone, Charmy engaged with the robots swarming through Vector's entrance as a lucky hit had laid the leader of the Chaotix out for the count, "that robot caught me and you jumped over his head and landed on the claw, grabbed me and flipped off it. Don't you remember?"

"Yeah, I remember", the black hedgehog realised what had happened and regret swirled into his stomach like icy water as this time the past would have to be forsaken to save the present, "but this isn't the time for memories". Minutes later, he was pushing back the robots that had been pinned Sabre down; with his last strength, the third-father sent out a last, desperate call for aid.

XXX

"Spectre", the black echidna ducked a clumsy swipe from the clanking machine ahead of him and threw it back against the wall, not hard enough to destroy it, but enough to make sure that he could hear Locke's desperate shout, "the centre; we need to head back!"

"I know, but there's no way though here", Sonic crashed into the drone he had been about to unleash and emerald blast at and he swiftly realigned his aim to take out the one next to it, "no easy way at least".

"Then we break through" the blue hedgehog declared, dodging a gun blast at point blank range and spinning the gun from the opponent who had tried his luck. It was as he said this that the strangest thing happened; all of a sudden, the drones fell silent, their power failing with a residual electric hum as the lethal fists and firearms fell limply to their sides. The two echidnas and hedgehog darted suspicious glances all around; why were they now surrounded by statues – had Dimitri called the attack off? Wetting his dry, parched lips, Spectre took command, his voice deafeningly loud in the sudden silence.

"We go to the centaahhhh!" Both he and Locke fell to their knees, emerald senses alive with molten pain as their enemy finally released his most powerful weapon.

XXX

It had ended quickly; with a green flare, Sojourner had answered the cry for help, delivering himself, Thunderhawk and Athair to where they were most needed. The weary defenders who were still fighting took heart from this new wave of reinforcements and redoubled their efforts, riving back the drones that had threatened to spill into the centre of the chamber itself. Thunderhawk homed in on one that had broken through Espio and Tails' corridor and smashed his fist into where a stomach would be; with a feral smile he released the pent-up energies of his Thunder Arrow through his fist and the machine disintegrated. As he span around, he saw that everyone was pushing these spawn of Dimitri back and, wait, they weren't fighting. Even as he looked, Shadow stepped back from his position in the mouth of an entrance, eyes narrowed as the drones he had been squaring off against powered down, their vision sensor LED's dimming to blackness as their arms fell to their sides.

"What's going on?" Cream's tiny voice questioned; Thunderhawk's immediate thought was nothing good, especially when he started to feel it. Something had just begun to creep over his skin like the warm, still air that precedes a thunderstorm; he could almost see sparks being struck off the walls as the process continued.

"Everyone out!" Athair barked, probably as attuned to this as he was and a great deal more cautious; before the command could be acted upon, there was a sudden concussive boom and, above the table in the middle of the Haven's heart a red dagger appeared, point down, to end the fight.

The strength drained out of Thunderhawk; in all his years of guarding the Master Emerald and training his various sons, never had he faced anything so powerful, or so terrible. He saw his own stunned reflection in the surface of the red jewel, cut into a grotesque parody of the soul of Angel Island, red fire flickering around it as though it had suddenly been raised for the pit of Hades itself, an crystallised sliver of hellfire. As his eyes rose, horrified at this desecration of his ancestral home, he took in the nightmarish figure that had summoned this dread weapon and now used it to end the line of Edmund. A black cloak, trimmed with red, fluttered in the ethereal breeze, the helmet reflecting the bale crimson radiance from the plinth he stood upon, transforming his face into that of a dragon breathing cold, cutting fire. Two gauntleted hands rose to the level of the armoured chest, and Thunderhawk felt his eyes drawn to the visor slit of the armour, a single word falling from his shock-deadened lips,

"Dimitri".

The hands exploded outwards, thrown wide as if embracing the room; goaded on by its master's command, the Bloodstone flashed and a perfect circle of gore-red power seared forwards, expanding to flood the chamber and all who stood within it. Thunderhawk raised his arms as a guard, seeking to protect himself with the Master's gifts even as he knew they couldn't protect him from this. The power raced over him, through him, there was a sensation of freezing, falling into eternal night and then Thunderhawk, great son of the first guardian himself, knew no more.

XXX

"What is it?" Sonic took in the look of horror and pain on the faces of both his companions, Spectre in particular looking like he'd just suffered a heart attack, "what just happened?"

"It's him", Locke croaked, one hand on the wall as he sought to push himself upright, still reeling from that much chaos energy assailing his finely tuned emerald sense, "he's here, and he's attacked".

"Dimitri!" Sonic spat the name like poison, spine bristling in rage, "he's in Haven now!"

"Yes, he…" Spectre was left talking to empty air as the rage that had been bottled up within the hedgehog finally claimed ascendancy; with a rush of wind and a snarled curse, Sonic was gone to gain revenge on Amy's kidnapper. Spectre and Locke were left gawping in his wake, neither able to move due to a combination of resident pain from the concussion of such a monumental surge of raw emerald power and shock that Sonic had deserted them in the manner he had. Therefore it was simplicity itself for the presence behind them to command the two drones he had requisitioned to take the two final shots…

XXX

Dimitri broke the mental contact with a smile of triumph – that was the last of the guardians down, now he had only to wait for Sonic to appear. Lowering his eyes, he caught a flash of blue coming right for him and with a thrill of sudden panic realised that for the second time in less than two hours he had made a miscalculation.

XXX

It was a scene from his worst nightmare, worse that his worst nightmare because it was all too real. The bodies of his friends were still warm, right before his appalled eyes; never again would he run a race with Shadow, he could never admonish Cream for giving him the title of Mr, Tails would…

Tails!

It was all too much; all semblance of rationality dissolved under the rain of sheer brute bloodlust that fell over him; a red rage, hot as all the fires of hell, surged through his body and rose in his throat to a low, rumbling roar. All he could think of, all he had eyes for now, was the figure standing on top of that red rock, the one responsible for the destruction of his life, the one who had to be Dimitri. With a scream of wanton destruction, Sonic Hedgehog hurtled blindly towards the Bloodstone and its deadly master.

XXX

He couldn't avoid the impact; he braced as much as was possible but even that was nowhere near enough – the armour on his chest crumpled like foil under the hedgehog's first assault. Vertigo clawed at Dimitri as he was catapulted off his platform by the strike, the floor spinning wildly as he fought to keep his mind clear, draw the energy he needed from the Bloodstone. He landed heavily and made to scrabble upwards, only to be sent sprawling by another impact, something sharp gashing the flesh of his upper arm. He felt himself flipped over, onto his back, and the next second fingers like iron bars were at his throat, threatening to cave in he throat guard of his armour with fury-lent strength. Even through the vision slit in his visor he felt hot breath from a face mere inches from his own, a Mobian overcome with blind anger and hatred was trying to choke the life from him and had it not been for his armour he would have betted they may well have succeeded.

"Die, die you madman", the tone was flint hard and he meant every word of it; unfortunately the words were ill-chosen. Another term may have brought Sonic precious few seconds extra, but that insult fanned the flames of Dimitri's own sense of injustice, especially from this Mobian. With a burst of power, he sent his assailant spinning upwards, crushing him into the ceiling to with a violent telekinetic shove,

"Who are you to call me a madman Sonic?"

XXX

The hedgehog was caught and held, giving him a birds-eye view of the floor of Haven; if I break free I'll fall and hit him – at this height I'll go right through! Sonic strained with every muscle in his body but still the grip was firm, unyielding and he couldn't fall, was unable to exact he final revenge on his hated foe. With a scream of anger he threw himself forwards again; for a wild second he thought he'd done it, but as he looked down to try an align his dive he saw he was heading straight for the nearest wall. The impact was hard but not enough to register properly; still he threw himself forwards, fighting with everything he had as Dimitri rose to his feet and, holding one hand up to him as though warding him off, advanced cautiously,

"Sonic". The hedgehog didn't answer, still engaged in his futile struggle against the telekinetic power Dimitri was employing; with a grunt of effort, the echidna acted, fighting down his own desire to inflict pain on this impudent warrior; it is a crime of passion – he doesn't see what I've done yet and I must show him. Sonic suddenly went rigid, unable to move anything but his eyes as the grip around him tightened; once he was sure the hedgehog was powerless the grandmaster repeated,

"Sonic, look around you", he waited until his younger opponent's eyes started moving over the hall before he spoke again, "none of your friends are seriously hurt, they're just knocked out, even Rouge and Knuckles. I'm not here to kill anyone". He loosened his power off a fraction, seeing some of the madness leech out of Sonic, replaced by confusion as he forced his mouth to move and answer,

"Why, not?" The ancient echidna felt a tug of impatience but wrestled it down,

"As the guardians should have told you, death is my only enemy, and I'm not about to give it the satisfaction of feeding on the remainder of my family and their close friends". He looked up and slowly pulled off his helmet, letting Sonic see that he was merely a mortal, just like everyone else, not some heartless tyrant who strove to crush everything in his path.

XXX

Try as he might, Sonic couldn't rekindle his earlier fury; the berserker lust just wouldn't come back. He couldn't see this echidna, who had spared the lives of everyone around him when he could have snuffed them out like candle flames, as a devil made flesh. His anger had been chilled and now he was driven by curiosity rather than the thoughtless need for revenge.

"So why are you here?"

"I came to conquer Haven and end my feud with Edmund's side of the family", there was a mirthless chuckle as he swept around one gauntleted arm, "and I have succeeded in that. However", he fixed Sonic with as piercing a look as his roving eyes could manage, noticing how his captive flinched upon seeing his insouciant pupils, "you have been left until last, and that is because you have he answer to a question I have wanted answering for a while".

"What's that then"; dictators are all the same – it'll be about my speed or how I can use the Chaos Emeralds; a steely smile fortified Sonic's lips as he remembered Eggman trying to discover similar answers, "'cause I can guarantee I won't tell you anything".

"It's about Amy".

Sonic had been prepared for anything but that; the name conjured such memories and fear as couldn't be concealed by his emotions; his face contorted like a snake into a mask of apprehension mixed with resurgent anger; he threw himself forwards again, managing a little purchase before Dimitri forced him back,

"Where is she? What did you do to her you psycho? Spectre said that to drag your body out of that thing", he nodded savagely at the Bloodstone, "you had to go into her body, make her do things – is this true?"

"Yes, and I'm not proud of it", Dimitri answered wearily, keeping Sonic's reaction in check with a little more power from the Bloodstone, "my mind hid itself within hers and, when hers fell dormant during sleep, I was able to take over and reclaim my freedom. I hated doing it and, as I explained to her, had there been another way to get my freedom, less painful to her, I would have taken it without a second thought".

"I bet" Sonic spat; Dimitri's temper flared and he pushed his hand forwards; Sonic saw stars flicker and burst in front of his eyes as his head was smacked backwards into the wall behind him suddenly, the echidna's voice once more in his ringing ears,

"I hated using Amy like that, because she was and still is a person in a million; she's safe now, in Station Square. You asked why I didn't kill anyone here, well when I was guiding her towards the Bloodstone for the last time she asked me, as a last request, not to hurt any of her friends; does that tell you what kind of a Mobian she is? How many others, in a life-or-death situation, would truly put their friends before themselves – I agreed to that promise without a second thought and here's the proof", he indicated the shallowly breathing body of Sojourner as evidence before facing Sonic squarely again, red fire crackling over his body as unconsciously his mind drew power from his greatest creation; to Sonic's eyes it looked like he was consumed in a torrent of fire.

"And that brings me back to my original question Sonic; I know Amy felt deeply for you, I saw it in her memories, her thoughts and her actions, and even if I hadn't been privy to her memories of her times with you, just by the manner in which you both fought me and demanded knowledge about her I'd know you felt the same way"; he's reading me like a book; Sonic felt his insides squirm and writhe as though being filled with cement as he guessed what Dimitri wanted to know, "so why did you never say it? Why couldn't you tell Amy her feelings were reciprocated?"

In that one second Sonic felt like he was under a microscope; Dimitri had him helpless and was digging deep into his soul to uncover the truth he'd buried so far down even he had forgotten the answer; anger forgotten in desperation, Sonic wanted nothing more than to run, to get away from this strange creature and what it was forcing him to face up to. Even putting his hands over his ears would have been a mercy, but there was still no give in his restraints as Dimitri continued his heart-breaking tirade,

"Why couldn't you, who has saved the world on many occasions, find it within yourself to tell her she was loved? Why did you run away from her, scorn her, throw away one of the two people on this forsaken world who would do anything for you? A girl in a million, why didn't you see that and…"

"I WAS AFRAID!"

The words echoed around the now soundless chambers, Dimitri looking up in shock to see tears, real tears, sliding down the hedgehog's face as, like a man who has nothing else in life but the desire to keep on living, more words, each as bitter as the last, slid forth,

"I couldn't tell Amy because I thought it was weak to fall for someone; I always said she wasn't cool enough for me, and besides she was always hanging around and trying to hug me, I kept telling myself she was annoying me so often I began to believe it", Sonic's voice broke as he realised he was spilling the deepest secrets of his heart to a total stranger who had just wiped out most of his friends but he was going too far to stop now, "I didn't dare tell her for fear of what everyone would think; it was mushy stuff and I didn't want that. She still chased after me and I just said she was a persistent nuisance and she'd go away in the end; even at Christmas, when we kissed and I gave her a present, I couldn't bear to admit it and lose my image, I was afraid of what everyone would say and think and, and now it's too late".

The last words were a shout, self-loathing manifest as Sonic raged at himself for squandering all his opportunities; now I can never say anything to her. Tears streamed down his face as the emotions coursed through him, though a voice, soft now, lacking anger, asked again,

"How old are you Sonic?" Through a curtain of tears the hedgehog saw Dimitri regarding him, something like wistful annoyance in his tone as he cocked his head and dangled his helmet carelessly by its chin strap,

"Seventeen now". Dimitri sighed,

"You're a young, hot-headed fool then; I know you don't listen to people much, but in the name of all that's holy listen to this; you have a bond with Amy that's very strong, but it's not unbreakable. If you keep on ignoring her, or denying both your own feelings and hers as well, you'll lose her to someone else, and then you'll really start to hate yourself. She's someone who will stick by you through thick and thin, but now she needs help", Sonic's head snapped up and Dimitri offered a tired smile, "when you see her again, and mark my words you will, she'll need you to help her get over this; it's not too late to start making up for your mistakes Sonic. For now, you should sleep"; time was pressing and Dimitri realised he had to end this; stretching forth his powers once more, the grandmaster of the Dark Legion slid tendrils of energy into Sonic's mind and switched it off, simple as you please – soundlessly, the last resistance of Haven fell into deep, dreamless slumber; the legion was triumphant.

Two tears fell like falling stars, impacting on the floor and breaking apart into swirling patterns; Dimitri's testament to the dogged resistance of his nephews, and the folly of passionate youth.

A/N: So it ends, Haven is conquered and the guardians prisoners of Dimitri. Where can it go from here?