Epilogue: Regrets
September 5th, 2316 – 5:40 AM – Robotropolis, Robotnik Empire
"Heh heh..." Nail chuckled, looking at the explosion in the distance. He turned to Tails. "Your idea worked like a charm, Tails."
The group of five stood on top of a tall skyscraper near Robotropolis, where Tails and Knuckles had carried Nail, Redrum, and Canma a minute earlier. Just a moment ago, Tails had broken into one of Robotnik's transport planes in a hangar close to the elevator shaft, engaged the autopilot, and then jumped out as it flew out of the complex. Tails was right. Robotnik took their bait, and destroyed the plane while assuming they were using it to escape. Now all of Robotnik's forces were returning back to Robotropolis, mistakenly believing they'd completed their mission.
While Nail, Canma, and Redrum all grinned ear to ear, Knuckles and Tails looked as though they'd just had their hearts ripped out. Tails hadn't even bothered to react to Nail's compliment. Nail decided to try to cheer them up.
"Tails? Knuckles?" he asked. "What's wrong? We got away! We're free now! We won!"
"Won?" Tails asked, casting a glare at Nail. "You call this a win?"
"What do you mean?" Canma asked.
"Sonic!" Knuckles roared, facing Canma, Redrum, and Nail. "Robotnik's still got him, and he's even got a new Metal Sonic operational now! This is no victory! It's nothing but a retreat! If anything, I'd say we've lost! Don't you remember how much destruction the first Metal Sonic caused to Planet Freedom? He nearly destroyed the Land of the Sky! And now Robotnik's going to go try it again, I bet! This time he's even got two metal hedgehogs to do it with!"
Canma, Redrum, and Nail both backed up a bit, apparently realizing the full scope of the situation.
"You know what?" Tails said, as he pointed at the three of them. "This is all your fault too! You were the ones who captured Sonic and brought him into Robotnik's clutches! If it hadn't been for you, none of this would have ever happened!"
"Because of your greed, the entire world's in danger again," Knuckles said, speaking up. "I'm going to kill all of you right now for what you've done!"
Knuckles went into a fighting stance, but Tails put an arm on his shoulder.
"Wait Knuckles," Tails said. "Even with all they've done, we do owe them our lives too. If it weren't for them, none of us would have gotten out of Robotropolis alive."
Knuckles sighed, and straightened back up again into his usual stance.
"I suppose he's right. We'll leave you be, since you did help us get out."
"You better hope we don't meet again though!" Tails shouted, narrowing his eyes at three of them. He then turned to Knuckles. "Let's get out of here Knuckles. We need to hurry up and warn the President about what's going on, and then we need to think of a way to stop Sonic and Metal Sonic."
"Yeah... We've got a lot of work to do, so we don't have time to waste on these idiots."
The echidna and fox moved to the edge of the skyscraper's roof. Tails immediately jumped off and twirled his tails, sending him flying off into the distance. However, before Knuckles followed, he turned around to face Canma, Redrum, and Nail.
"All Sonic ever wanted to do was to keep you and this world safe by fighting Robotnik, and you spat in his face, you greedy bastards. I hope Robotnik sends him and Metal after you first. The world would be a much better place without scum like you."
And with that, Knuckles leaped from the roof and went into a glide, flying off through the air after Tails. Within moments, they were already no more than pinpricks in the distance.
Part of what Knuckles had just said echoed in Nail's head.
"All Sonic ever wanted to do was to keep you and this world safe..."
A memory flashed through Nail's head.
"Guys! In front of us!" Sonic shouted, pointing to the cliff.
Half and Redrum stopped their fighting and looked out through the windshield. The truck was now smashing through the brush on the side of the road, and headed for the edge of the cliff fast.
"Oh shit!" Half screamed, as Redrum released his grip on the fox.
Half grabbed the wheel again with his free hand and slammed down on the brakes. The vehicle came to a sudden, violent stop, sending Sonic crashing into the bars on the front of his cage. Meanwhile, the other two only lurched forward, due to their seatbelts. Sonic looked up again, and saw that the truck had stopped just a couple feet from the end of the ground.
"Phew..." Half sighed. "We gotta stop arguing so much."
"Agreed," Redrum said.
Half turned back to look at Sonic.
"Thanks for watching out for us," he said.
"Yeah, you owe me one," Sonic said, with a smile. "What do you say you let me go, since I saved your lives?"
Half and Redrum appeared to be contemplating it for a few seconds. They silently stared at each other, and then looked back at Sonic.
"Terribly sorry Sonic, but I'm afraid this isn't going to change anything," Half said. "It's definitely not worth giving up ten million demens. We're still taking you to our client as we planned."
"My God..." Nail said, not realizing he was speaking aloud. "What have I done?"
"Nail?" Redrum asked, stepping up to him. "Something wrong?"
The vulpine realized his eyes were beginning to get watery, and he quickly ran a hand over them to get rid of the tears. When he was done, he turned to face Redrum and Canma.
"It's nothing," he said, forcing a blank face. Nail turned to face Redrum. "What do you say we get back home now? I'm exhausted..."
"Go home?" Canma asked, raising an eyebrow. "How far is 'home' for you anyway? I'd think it's a ways off since we're square in the middle of Robotnik's territory here."
"Actually, it's inside this city here," Redrum said. "We figure this is the safest place for a hideout."
For a second, Canma didn't say anything, probably thinking she heard him wrong. Then when she realized she had heard Redrum properly though, she let out a high laugh.
"You're joking, right?"
"Nope...dead serious."
Canma raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of logic is that? This is the most dangerous place on the planet! Nobody in their right mind would come out towards Robotropolis without a really good reason, let alone live here!"
"That's exactly why we have our house here," Redrum replied. "Like you said, nobody comes out here, and that includes all the people who want our heads. We've got many people, on both sides of the law who'd like nothing more than for us to die or rot in jail for all eternity."
Canma looked thoughtful.
"Well...when you put it that way, I guess it sorta makes sense why you'd say its safe here..."
"Yeah...anyway," Redrum said. "Let's head on over there and rest up a bit."
Canma nodded. "Sure."
The two of them turned to Nail.
"All right Nail?" Redrum asked. "Think you can make it?"
Nail didn't respond. He appeared to be staring off into the distance, not really acknowledging Canma's or Redrum's presence. Redrum gave him a little pat on the shoulder. Nail blinked, and suddenly remembered where he was. He nervously smiled.
"Um...y-yeah," he stammered. "Let's go."
He started walking for the stairwell leading down off of the roof. Nail felt the two of them looking at him quizzically, like they didn't know why he was acting this way. He didn't really mind...
Nobody spoke the entire half-hour journey to the hideout. Again though, Nail didn't really mind, since he was busy thinking over this entire episode in his head, thinking about what he should have done, and cursing himself for his greed.
Why didn't I just let Sonic go for saving my life? None of this would have ever happened if I'd just repaid his kindness. It's all my fault. I feel like the stupidest person alive...
Without even realizing it, Nail had reached the apartment building he and Redrum used for their hideout. He snapped out of his personal thoughts and glanced up at the ten-story building. It wasn't much to look at, really, considering it had been abandoned for almost six years, until Nail and Redrum took up residence here about a year ago. The brickwork was a dirty white, crumbling in places and covered with grime. Many of the windows were either smashed, or covered up with plywood.
"This is it?" Canma asked. "This dump?"
"Don't worry," Redrum said. "It's just the outer shell, meant to camouflage what's inside."
Nail was only dimly aware of what they were saying, as he walked over towards the glass entrance door. The glass had been smashed through a long time ago, so he just stepped in through the frame. The other two followed after him. Their footsteps caused fountains of dust to gush up into the air, dirtying their shoes. They went up the stairs to the second floor. Nail walked over to the door nearest the stairs, marked Room 201. After unlocking the door with a key, the fox pushed the door aside and switched on the lights.
A room that completely clashed with the rest of the building appeared before them. While everywhere else had been dark and dilapidated, this place looked downright bright and inviting compared to it. The paint covering the walls was a light tan color, while the floor was wood. A powerful personal computer was on a desk in one corner, with boxes and boxes of files on various bounties stacked next to it. Off towards the back of the room was a door leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as a brightly lit kitchenette.
While the city's water and power systems had long since gone down, Nail and Redrum leeched off of Robotnik's power grid for electricity, and they also had a water boiler that could provide fresh water to the room. It didn't provide much water at a time, but it wasn't like they needed a lot. After all, Redrum didn't even need to eat or drink to stay alive.
That's not to say it wasn't an average apartment though. Covering almost every wall and table surface of the den seemed to be an assortment of all types of firearms, from handguns to grenade launchers, from Wild West revolvers to the most advanced laser weaponry stolen from Robotnik's armories. This definitely looked like a place that befitted Nail's and Redrum's interests and job occupations.
"I would be impressed..." Canma spoke up. "If these weren't weapons that filthy humans brought to Planet Freedom. Not to mention I wouldn't set foot in the home of such human lovers like you, but since this is my only port in the storm I'm willing to let it slide this once."
Nobody said anything. Nail silently wandered over to the kitchen in the back of the room. He got a glass from a cabinet and filled it with tap water. As he sipped the water, his ears picked up what Redrum and Canma were speaking about.
"Canma..." Redrum started.
"What is it Redrum?" she asked, as she sat down in a recliner near the door.
"Why'd you come to Robotropolis and help us? I thought you were our enemy."
She sighed a bit.
"Well...as much as I don't like you two for using human weapons, I'd hate the idea of letting a filthy human win even more," she answered.
"What do you mean?" Redrum asked.
"I feel very ashamed for taking on that job to capture Sonic and his friends now, because I found out in the end that I was doing it all for a human," she said. "That would have been bad enough, but it turned out to be the one human I hated the most of all, Robotnik."
"So you wanted to undo what you did for him?" Redrum asked.
"Yes, exactly."
"Well, I'm very glad you did."
Redrum then fell silent for a moment. He spoke to Nail.
"Hey Nail...my batteries are running low. I think Robotnik must have forgotten to recharge me or something while he was fixing us up again. I'm gonna go power down in my room so I can recharge, all right?"
Nail turned around, and silently nodded as he sipped his water. However, he took one glance at Canma, and then looked back at Redrum.
"Hey, do you think it's a good idea to power down though?" Nail asked. "What if Canma is planning to kill us in our sleep or something?"
Canma gave Nail a dark look. "Oh come on Nail! If I had wanted you to die, I would have just let Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic kill you and not bothered to interfere."
"Good point," Redrum said.
Nail had to admit, she was right. A tad frustrated, he gave a little sigh and sat down on a couch in the living room, as he continued to drink his water.
"Well...see you two when I wake up then," Redrum said, as he walked through the door to their bedrooms.
Now Nail and Canma were alone in the room. For a little while, they didn't say anything. Nail simply stared at the wall, with a hard expression on his face. He paid Canma no mind at all, for he was still lost in his thoughts.
Damnit...if I'd just repaid Sonic for saving my life, we wouldn't even be in this situation right now! Why didn't I just do as he asked? I'm such a goddamn idiot! I'm stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!
"Nail?" Canma asked, a tone of concern in her voice.
Nail glanced over towards her. She seemed worried. Nail didn't care much about starting a conversation though.
"What do you want?" he snapped, trying to sound as angry as possible.
He hoped that would shut her up. Canma let out a sigh in response, and then kept talking.
"You're mad at me for leaving the battlefield with Nack, right?"
"No...well that's part of it. It's something else too."
"What is it?" she asked. Canma stood up from her chair and moved to stand next to his couch. "Mind if I sit down next to you? Maybe we can talk it over better here."
"No way," Nail said, glaring at her. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Nail, quit pretending," she said, sitting down next to him. She put an arm around behind his shoulder. "I can tell something's wrong just by looking at you."
Nail shook off her arm.
"Why do you care about me so much all of a sudden? We barely even know each other. This is only the first time we've had a proper conversation!"
He then got up right in her face, forcing her to back up a bit.
"Not to mention, up till now, you've been one downright bitch to pretty much everybody you've met. You betrayed Nack, you cut my best friend in half, you ran away with Nack to leave us to get captured in that battle. Hell, you admitted that you rescued us mostly just so you wouldn't have any shame on your head about working for a human."
A glare of anger appeared on Canma's face.
"Why does everyone have to treat me like this for trying to change my ways? The only one who's shown me any sort of thanks for the rescue is Redrum, while you, Tails, and Knuckles have treated me like dirt. Maybe I should have just left you all to die, if this is how you were going to repay me."
She looked away from Nail, closing her eyes and folding up her arms as she sat there. Nail realized what he'd said was pretty rude, after what she'd done for them, and decided to try to make amends.
"Thanks for saving us," he said, sincerely. "I mean it. In all the rush...I just...forgot to say thanks."
"You do?" she said, opening her eyes and looking back at him.
Nail nodded. Canma smiled back, and unexpectedly wrapped her arms around him. Nail was surprised by the move, but he began to realize he liked the feeling of being in her arms. He smiled, and started to hug back. Their tails also curled together. They separated a moment later, still smiling at each other.
"Well...do you mind telling me now about what's bugging you? You'll feel better afterwards."
For a second, Nail didn't know what she was referring to, and then he remembered it was his not repaying Sonic for saving his life. Nail also vaguely thought that this situation reminded him of when Carrie talked to him when he was angry. She had a real knack for calming Nail down. Maybe Canma could do the same thing with how he was angry at himself for capturing Sonic?
"All right," he started. "If you must know, it's like this..."
At midnight…
Robotnik grinned maliciously as he looked down from a catwalk. In the room underneath, several repair robots were busily working over a metal table. Upon the table laid the partially disassembled bodies of Metal Sonic and Mecha Sonic. The robots were fixing the damage that had been done to them during the test match in the Robot Generator room. Even with all of their power and stamina, sending them out to conquer the world was not something to be taken lightly. He wanted to make sure they were at peak performance before he allowed them to go out and play. That electric shock and that hangar door crushing their bodies had done quite a bit of harm, after all.
As he watched the robots bring over new chest armor for both hedgehog robots, he let his mind wander to how well they'd done in battling Tails, Knuckles, Nail, and Redrum. The results had been most pleasing, and once again he congratulated himself on a job well done. These two robots were by far his greatest creations ever. Had it not been for Mecha Sonic accidentally breaking down the door leading out of the room, the four opponents would have been finished off there. Not that it really mattered... Soon after they escaped the room, they'd stolen a plane that had been brought down in very short order, again due to his two new hedgehog robots. So either way, the test was a complete success.
Robotnik looked out a nearby window, across the city. He could still faintly see the oily smoke trailing up from the plane's wreckage, despite the darkness. A grim smile spread out across his face, as he imagined the melted, twisted bodies of his greatest adversaries still trapped inside the plane, all burnt to a crisp. The last obstacle to his plan had been removed, so now he could go full steam ahead with his plans to conquer Planet Freedom once again.
Robotnik had been viewed as something of a joke lately, due to how often he was thwarted by Sonic and his friends. But now, since all three of them had been disposed of, that was no longer an issue. It was time to show people just what he thought of being labeled as "egg belly", or "egg head" or whatever other name they could think of that involved the word "egg."
Again, Robotnik smiled, staring down at his two creations. He noticed their eyes were faintly glowing.
"You two will be my keys to conquering this planet..." he started, raising his hands a little for emphasis.
Robotnik was quiet for a moment, but then his grin spread even wider across his face. Why stop with just this planet, now that his greatest enemies had fallen? The possibilities... They were endless... He began speaking again.
"Come to think of it, once Planet Freedom has fallen, I should go to other planets that humans have colonized too! They will fall one by one beneath the new might I have from you, until Earth itself is mine! I will control the entire Earth's empire!"
He reared back and broke out into laughter, and it was so loud it could almost be heard in every corner of the base. When he was done, he looked back down at the robots.
Heh...well I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself. Planet Freedom must fall first, after all. I should start making other preparations for my world conquest.
Robotnik smiled again, and then he hurried to the Control Room. He was giddy the entire way, knowing that this time he was virtually guaranteed victory. Now that Sonic was in his pocket as well as the new Metal Sonic, the world would quickly fall before him...
The end of Freedom Series 4: The Last Obstacle
To be continued in Freedom Series 5: The Wrong Side
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I thought I'd try something different this time around, and have the good guys be the losers instead of the bad guys. It would get boring if Sonic and his friends always came out on top in the end of my fanfics, don't you think? I just hope this isn't too big of a cliffhanger for you.
Sorry to say it, but you're gonna have to wait until Freedom Series 5 to find out how the good guys deal with Robotnik's latest bid for world domination, and how they're going to deal with Sonic fighting for the wrong side now. Not to mention, there seems to be a little bit of chemistry starting between Canma and Nail…
Anyway, I'd like to thank Stryker20 and Tocole for being consistent readers of my fics. Without you guys I'd have a lot less reviews on my stories.
I'd also like to thank Luigi and Yoli Riona for coming out and reading my storis whenever I bug them to do it XD
And lastly I'd like to thank MTP for providing the original inspiration for me to start writing stories. Without him, I wouldn't be here today.
Here's to hoping Freedom Series 5 will top Freedom Series 4, and that it won't take too long for me to finish it.
If you guys are interested though, I have an idea for how we can pass the time. This fanfic was actually based somewhat upon the first fanfic I ever wrote, which is titled Sonic Assassin. I made it in the summer of 2003 though, so the quality level is pretty low compared to what you're reading today. Not to mention, Nail is more of a Mary Sue in Sonic Assassin than he is now, and it's based in the SatAM universe instead of the movie universe too. But if you like, I can post that up chapter by chapter as we're waiting for me to finish Freedom Series 5. What do you say?