Eyes of Fate

The baffles eyes of the speechless Freedom Fighters were simply at a loss to explain what they are witnessing before their eyes. There, in the hut, standing in the center was Uncle Chuck, completely de-roboticized. The old blue hedgehog's nuts and bolts have been replaced by his old flesh and blood. "Uncle Chuck?" Sonic said with a stunned, shocked look on his face. Chuck blinked softly and said with teary eyes "Sonny boy……I'm back".

Sonic and Chuck happily hugged each other, and tightly closed their eyes in infinite happiness. This was a feeling both hedgehogs had been waiting to feel for what seemed like ages. "You're back, I knew you'd be back Uncle Chuck" Sonic sniffled, "I love you too sonny boy" Chuck replied. The others all too eagerly greeted and shook Chuck's hands once again, happy to have him back as well. "I don't believe it, this is like a miracle" Tails said.

Bunnie gasped "Miracle, oh mah stars it was HIM, sugar hood changed old Charlie back and healed Sonic too". Sonic snapped his fingers at that remark, "Of course that explains everything. I could have sworn I had seen that shadowy hood before, he must have healed us with his magic". Rotor quickly headed outside the hut's door, shouting back "Hey guys I'm gonna go give the king the good news". The others nodded and watched him exit.

"I have to say, I had my doubts but it looks like you were right all long Bunnie, Miracle truly is a hero" Sally said. The cyborg rabbit half smiled "Yeah, too bad we just ran him out of Knothole". The speedy hedgehog smirked "Not a snowball's chance Bunnie, now that I'm back in business, I'll track him down in a sonic second". Sonic rushed to the door, and opened it without a moment's notice. KABOOM, a sea of flames savagely exploded.

Sonic's body was vaporized in a matter of seconds, "SONIC" Sally screamed out. The massive energy explosion engulfed the hut and utterly annihilated Sally, Bunnie, Tails, and Uncle Chuck before they could even blink. A roaring wave of destruction obliterated countless lives in an astronomical blast of indescribable proportions. The flames of death could be seen for miles, rising higher and higher as they wiped out all of Knothole.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

A savage scream escaped Miracle's lips as he cried out into the sky with all of his sorrow, anger, and suffering. The vision burned painfully in the masked man's mind, scorning his very soul with images of Black Death. Miracle's powers had just projected another doomed scenario for his furry friends. Sweat dripped off of Miracle's face, his lungs gasping for air.

Miracle screamed "No, no, no, no, NO BLAST IT! It doesn't matter how many times I try, no matter what I do differently, the outcome is the same. Sonic, Princess, fair damsel, they all DIE. Robotnik's super weapon destroys Knothole, just as I predicted from the beginning. Oh god if only they knew.

I've known the truth, known it right from the beginning and I couldn't tell them. I couldn't tell them that I saw their future right before my eyes. I saw Knothole destroyed, wiped out by Robotnik's crystal cannon. I thought if I could protect them; watch them, maybe I could've found a way to prevent it.

But no matter how much power I use or how hard I try, the scenario turns out the same. If I had stayed to heal Sonic and his uncle, Robotnik would have killed them all. I know now what I must do, to save Knothole, to save peace, to save……the fair damsel. I hope you shall forgive me one day".

"To prevent the future from entering eternal darkness, and the death of my friends, I must alter the course of history of this world. I must……I must……I must KILL Dr. Robotnik"

Those were the thoughts that fueled the desperate mind of a desperate being. Miracle's blue cloak soared like a cape as he reached the skies, flying into the air like a bird in the sky. The energy signatures brimming in Miracle's eyes were tracing another type of energy, a life force. Robotnik was sensed on the edge of the Great forest with Snively, limping back to Robotropolis, or so he thought. Miracle quickly soared towards Robotnik's direction.

"Stop here Snively, this is precisely the spot I've been looking for, set it down over there" Robotnik commanded. The diminutive little man groaned as he dropped the massive metallic object he was carrying. The device was a large, silver gun with a multitude of buttons and a very large open hole in its center. The gun's top compartment had an open slot, and inside the slot was a barrage of reflective mirrors. The gun looked more like a cannon actually.

Snively coughed "I trust this will be all worth it in the end sir?". Robotnik removed the glimmering chaos emerald in his metallic hand, grinning wickedly as he placed it into the gun's open slot. "Believe me Snively, you have no idea of how right you are" Robotnik chuckled. Snively blinked back in confusion. The gun's lights blinked to life as the emerald was entered, raw energy charged around the weapon's main engine. Miracle secretly watched.

The mad doctor laughed "Behold, my latest and deadliest creation to date Snively. The supreme chaos concussion crusher cannon FX4, or as I like to call it, the C4 for short. This marvel of modern science is now the greatest power source on the entire planet. By manipulating the light refractions of concentrated lasers, reflected through the geometrical designs of diamonds, it can fire a beam so powerful, every living thing in its path will evaporate.

You see Snively, each gemstone and diamond has its own unique structural patterns. Once a power source like the chaos emerald is focused into the base of those patterns, it creates a laser beam. But, when the power source is amplified by a multitude of different stones all at once, it creates a super nova energy beam unlike anything ever seen before. I can wipe out every form of life on the planet with just a few blasts from this single cannon.

And once it reaches maximum power, I'm going to blast every inch of the Great forest into cosmic particles, destroying Sonic and his miserable little kingdom of fur balls into NOTHINGNESS". Powerful energies forged deep into the palms of Miracle's twin white gloves, magic forces started to circulate into the ground. "You shall poison this planet no more vile one" Miracle whispered, he closed his eyes and summoned forth his strength. Robotnik and Snively blinked as they thought they had heard something.

Sudden tremors in the ground washed out a ripple of trembling stone underneath the 2 humans. Robotnik gasped in confusion "What in the? Snively, what's going on here? The ground is forming ripple waves". Snively gulped, having trouble keeping his footing as he stammered "I don't know sir, it's a mystery". Miracle shouted "There is no mystery to solve, for it is the sound of your final hour Robotnik". The fat, bloated dictator screamed into the sky "HOW DARE YOU, who do you think you are?".

Miracle scowled "My name is Miracle, and your reign of terror is at an end. I will no longer allow you to violate these people or their planet any longer, you must be stopped, right here, right NOW". The masked man roared into the air, unleashing a devastating charge of magical energy into the Earth. Thundering waves of up churned Earth hurled Robotnik and Snively onto their backs, crushing stones, plants, and dirt across their helpless bodies.

"GAH, he's burying us in the ground, Snively quit screwing around and save my cannon" Robotnik growled. The little man grumbled angrily as he tried to move through out the dirt and filth, swimming towards the cannon. Robotnik ignited his jet boots and soared out of the dirt and into the sky. ZAP "Eat laser you faceless freak show" Robotnik cackled. A laser beam fired from the bad doctor's mechanical arm, Miracle gasped and dodged it. The masked stranger began lifting boulders off the ground and hurling them.

Again, Robotnik used his laser to blast every rocky projectile Miracle could throw at him. Snively coughed up chunks of dirt as he locked his arms around the cannon. "Is that all you got magic man?" Robotnik laughed, Miracle frowned and snapped his fingers towards the sky. BZZZZT! The sky struck a colossal lighting bolt into Dr. Robotnik's mechanical arm. The wicked man screamed as he was literally electrified like a lighting rod, his jet boots exploded. Miracle watched as Robotnik smashed into the ground.

Not wasting any time, the cloaked figure soared down and tackled Robotnik's gut with his fist. The wicked egg man groaned loudly in pain, still burning all over from the mystical lighting bolt. "End of the line Robotnik" Miracle said, raising a tightly clenched fist into the air. ZAAPPP! In a flash of incredible energy, Miracle was blasted off of Robotnik, Snively snickered from behind the smoking chaos cannon.

Robotnik laughed "Absolutely marvelous, it works like a charm, can I build them or can I build them? Well done Snively, now finish the twit with one final blast".

The sniveling Snively coughed "Uh I'm afraid I can't sir, you see it's kind of um……broken".

"WHAT?" Robotnik screamed.

The mad doctor started to savagely strangle the little man, veins and eyes bulging out with tremendous anger. Miracle coughed as he lay on the ground, burnt out and singing in immense pain.

Robotnik snarled "What do you mean it's broken? Idiot, we just finished making the blasted thing. How can it be broken after just one stinking blast?".

The little man gasped for air "But sir don't you see, that is the problem. You said it yourself that cannon was supposed to vaporize anything it was fire upon instantly".

"So what's your point?" Robotnik asked.

Snively sighed "That man in the cape is STILL alive, the blast simply wounded him. The shot I squeezed out was just a spark. If the machine were functioning properly he would just be a pile of burnt dust".

The over weight overlander gasped, dropping Snively as he realized he was right. Robotnik carefully examined his chaos cannon, analyzing over every technical aspect of the gun. He gasped as he saw a smudge of dirt and chipped metal by the cannon's power converter. Robotnik opened it up and growled, the circuitry was burnt and twisted in a mess of fried wiring.

Robotnik hissed "That miserable, little, side show carnival reject. That dirt storm mucked up the energy conversion motor, it's completely useless now. Even with all the gems in place, this hunk of junk won't be able to fire a spit ball. We'd need a completely new energy source that could power the gun's energy matrix. Something stronger that wouldn't burn out or overload".

Suddenly it hit him, Robotnik's beady eyes gleamed with an insidious idea. Miracle's burnt body twitched as he turned to look. Robotnik chuckled.

Robotnik grinned "It looks like your going to be of use to me after all little man HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA".

The Freedom Fighters had continued to search the grounds of Knothole for any trace of Miracle. Sally, Tails, Sonic, they were all very confused. Miracle had vanished right after they gave the final order to exile him from the kingdom, Sonic and Uncle Chuck still recovering in the medical hut. Tails turned to Sally, such fear and uncertainty in his young eyes. "Aunt Sally, where did Miracle go, why would he just leave like that?" Tails asked.

The red headed princess sighed "I don't know Tails; everything seems like just a blur. He must have taken off the minute he exited the castle, you'd think he'd at least stop by to heal Sonic and Uncle Chuck". Rotor suddenly ran up to them, oil and grease stained over his forehead and hands. "Well I did my best to patch up Uncle Chuck, but Sonic's burns are pretty nasty, it might take a while" Rotor said. The blue hedgehog suddenly approached.

Sally and the gang saw Sonic, using crutches to pull himself from the recovery room. Sonic smirked "Hey guys, don't worry about me, I'm juiced and (winces) ready to go". Sally ran to Sonic and immediately grabbed him, gently holding the wounded hero. "Don't even think about it Sonic, you're going right back to bed and heal up this instant, and that's an order" Sally scowled. Sonic laughed weakly "Awe come on Sal, you know me by now.

I'll try and sneak out again anyway, might as well just accept it and let me tag along". The princess sighed, knowing full well that Sonic's stubborn attitude was too tough to tie down in a bed. "So uh does anyone know how……you know, is doing?" Sonic asked. The gang knew exactly who he was referring to. The cyborg southern belle was sitting outside her hut, rubbing her mechanical arm softly. A sad, sullen, look on Bunnie's face.

"Attention, attention, testing 1, 2, 3" a booming dark voice echoed over the hills of Knothole. Sonic and the others gasped, immediately recognizing the voice of their arch foe, Dr. Robotnik. The megaphone voice continued to boom "Attention rodents, this is the great and mighty Dr. Robotnik speaking, and I have a very important announcement so listen up. The one you call Miracle is now in my possession, he stands beside me as we speak.

Your friend however is longer on your side; his mystical powers are now the fuel for my newest ultimate weapon of mass destruction. My supreme chaos concussion crusher cannon is using Miracle as its power source. And if you do not surrender Sonic the rat hog and Princess Sally to me in 3 hours, I will obliterate every inch of the Great Forest and your pathetic kingdom as well. Now, allow me to give you a little demonstration of my cannon's power".

The mechanical hum of the cannon's engine surged to life with electricity sparking over its whirring motors. Miracle lay strapped to the back of the device, hundreds of plugs and wires jabbing into his body. A massive energy drain suddenly slammed into Miracle's body, he screamed out in agony. Robotnik laughed "With the chaos emerald serving as an energy conduit, I can suck Miracle's powers dry without ever overloading the chaos cannon".

BAM! The gigantic multi-colored energy beam fired from the cannon over the sky of Knothole, a massive explosion erupted over the Mobians hidden world. Solar flares and energy bursts blinded the Freedom fighters, as they desperately tried to shield themselves from the burning flares of the energy blast. Robotnik laughed over the intercom "As I said you have 3 hours, otherwise my cannon will turn all of Knothole into the world's biggest crater". The Freedom fighters gasped and looked to the skies with fear.

Sonic frowned "Guys, this is way past un-cool".

To be continued……