Chapter 25: A New Venture

When the Tornado landed at the Einzbern Castle, The second thing Tails, Knuckles, and Amy did was unload the biplane of its cargo and begin setting up a new hideout. The first thing they did was give Knuckle and Amy, who had never visited the place before, the chance to see the glorious splendor the Einzberns, a clan of powerful mages, could erect so far from their homeland.

"What a dump." Knuckles commented.

Of course, given that the damage from the time Eggman attacked hadn't been repaired yet, "glorious splendor" was a rather generous term.

"I guess Illya's family haven't gotten around to fixing things yet," Tails said, hovering into the air for a better look around. "At least Sella and Leysritt managed to clean up most of the rubble before they came with us to Fuyuki."

"Well…I'm sure it was probably quite pretty before Eggman came around," Amy said diplomatically, "Let's see if we can get settled in the non-wrecked parts."

Unpacking didn't take long. It was decided that they would leave most of their more important equipment inside the Tornado in case they would have to make another fast exit. Because the castle's generator had been turned off (And no one wanted to look and mess with it), they would camp out in the main hall. While Tails and Amy set things up, Knuckles was sent on an expedition to gather firewood for dinner. It wasn't easy. For some reason, the forest was clear of kindling or other pieces of stray wood.

Considering that weird girl had magic maids or something, I wouldn't put it past her to have them clear out her 'backyard' every day just to make it look pretty. Knuckles thought, Though I gotta admit, it is that.

As Knuckles trekked, it soon became less about the firewood and more about taking in the surroundings. He realized that he had spent too much time in the city of Fuyuki. He missed the untamed regions of the world, the serene peace of a forest. Knuckles visualized himself relaxing under one of the many giant mushrooms on Angel Island, just waiting for life to go by. The warmth of the Master Emerald...

Knuckles sighed, and shook himself out of it. He had no idea how homesick he was getting. He knew he couldn't let himself go soft, not when the game was reaching the final innings. Glancing up at one of the trees, Knuckles had an idea. He didn't want to restore to chopping down a piece of this beautiful forest, but he figured that the wind may have broken a piece branches. Perhaps a light punch to the trunk would knock them down.

Giving his gloved right a kiss for luck, Knuckles slammed the fist into the tree, making sure to hold back enough not to break anything. A minute later, he pulled himself out of the pile of fallen fruit.

"Unbelievable!" Knuckles grumbled, "Hundreds of trees, and I choose the only one with apples!"

As Knuckles prepared to try his idea on a different type of tree, a faint light reached the corner of his eye. Looking, Knuckles saw something shinning in the distance. There were too many trees in the way to get a good look, but that was easy to fix. Munching on an apple, Knuckles began to weave around the trees to get closer to the shiny thing. It was slow going, and he almost tripped over a few roots, but soon he made it. In the center of a clearing was a giant golden ring, spinning in the air. A portal to a Special Zone.

Knuckles grinned, tossed aside his apple, and then leapt. Both he and the ring vanished.

Knuckles reappeared in a very different world. The ground was a smooth surface, painted in red and yellow squares. All around him were giant balls, most red, but some blue.

Knuckles clapped his hands together. He knew this kind of Special Zone. When he touched a blue ball, it would become red. And if he touched a red ball, the Special Zone would eject him. The problem was, once he began to move, he wouldn't be able to stop. He would only be able to turn and jump.

Knuckles took a step, and sure enough, the momentum began to carry him. Knuckles saw that there were lines of blues mixed with the reds, but chose to ignore them at the moment. Instead, he went for the large groups of blues that were in empty clearings. They were easy to gather, and less chance of accidentally running into a red ball. Once he was done, Knuckles turned his attention towards the blue balls that had been fitted between the large amounts of reds. The lines were not always straight, some of them zigged and zagged, forcing Knuckles to spin on his heels to avoid colliding with one of the red balls. And the speed of his pace quickened, but not by his choice. It was if the world beneath him was beginning to spin. Knuckles pivoted, jumped, and continued to move. He touched more blue balls. Ran away from the red balls.

Unlike most Special Zones, this kind allowed for an infinite amount of time. In theory. In practice, the forced increase in speed meant that it was only a matter of time before a participant would slip up and run into a red ball and be expunged. Adding to the fact that any watch brought inside a special zone would stop working, it was hard to say just how long Knuckles spent running around the Zone touching blue balls. However, in time he was able to successfully tap every blue ball in sight. But there was one problem.

"Where's that stupid Emerald!?" Knuckles yelled, his voice echoing pointlessly into the air.

If he had tapped every blue ball, then the Emerald should have appeared. There had to be a single blue ball left. That was the only explanation. As Knuckle found himself running faster and faster as he searched frantically, trying to spot a lone blue in a sea of red. But it seemed useless. Knuckles began to sweat as the world around him started to blur.

I'm just going in circles! Knuckles thought, I have to do something different…

Out of the corner of his eye, Knuckles saw something yellow out of corner of his eye. He turned abruptly, and found himself being flung into the air. A yellow sphere! Yellow balls were like spring pads, and Knuckles had run right into one. Beneath him was a sea of red dots, and Knuckles knew that when he landed it would be game over. And he wouldn't be able to glide on the air with his quills because the Special Zone's wonky physics wouldn't allow it, for some bizarre reason.

Knuckles grimaced and gritted his teeth. It wouldn't hurt when he landed, but being forced out of the Special Zone after getting so close to getting the Emerald was not an easy feeling to swallow. While the Special Zone's entrance would reappear the next day, it would be such a pain to have to traverse the Zone all over again.

But as Knuckle fell, he saw that in the middle of the red balls, there was a single blue ball. The grimace quickly spun into a smile as he went down, and landed right on top of the blue orb. As he did, every single orb in the Special Zone suddenly flew away into the air and out of sight. A new object came down, and landed in Knuckles' hands; the silver Chaos Emerald. It emitted a bright light, and Knuckles found himself back in the Einzbern forest.

"All right!" Knuckles cheered, holding up his trophy in the air. "I found one! Only one more to go!"

It was then that the alert for Knuckle's communicator sounded off. The timing and abruptness startled Knuckles, and he almost dropped the Emerald in shock. After a few seconds of awkwardly juggling the gem, Knuckles answered the hail.

"Hey, Knuckles!" Tails called, "I've got great news!"

"You found the last Emerald?" Knuckles asked.

"That would be pretty great, but no," Tails replied, "Sonic just called. That evil priest has been beaten, and Rin's okay."

"So where is he? Why didn't he come back?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah, he's just settling some things with the cops, and then he'll be right over here."

"…The cops?"

Shirou's life was in danger. That much was certain to Saber.

Her own interview (Or rather, interrogation) with the government agents had been going well enough. The agent, a Mister Satou, had been questioning her. With her heightened senses, she could hear the questions that were being fed to Satou through the earpiece he wore. Although minuscule, that brief preview gave Saber just enough time to formulate a decent answer that was both technically honest, but easy to misunderstand.

That was, until she had been called into another room, where both Shirou and Rin (Who was looking much better, albeit patched up) were. Saber had hoped that it was tell them that they were being allowed to leave. And as it turned out, they were.

Because Shirou had told the agents everything. And did a demonstration of Magecraft, to boot.

So, Shirou and Saber were taken to the medical ward where Rin was being kept, and given the big news from Satou himself.

Once she had gotten over the shock, Saber considered Shirou's decision from a tactical perspective. Essentially, the government had made huge strides in uncovering the illicit activities happening in Fuyuki through Magecraft, even with the Mage's Association's agents working behind the scenes to cover everything up. And as slow as their progress had been, they were making progress. Judging from all of the secrecy the agents themselves used, it was apparent that they suspected coverups were happening. They were taking many precautions and avoiding notice, at least until they had solid evidence to make arrests…but once they did, the Mage's Association would leap into action.

With that in mind, it was understandable that Shirou would prefer revealing the truth on his terms, in a controlled setting. Rather than letting the government come to their own conclusions and make their own interpretation on the matter, Shirou had chosen to warn them of what they were stepping into. It was an understandable, if not naive move. For the most part, from what Satou was saying, Shirou had put more emphasis on the dangerous moves the Association would do, and there seemed to be no imminent danger yet.

That is, until they were released from custody. Then Rin would commit murder, alliance or not.

But Rin wasn't thinking of murder. Oh, she briefly considered killing someone, but once what Shirou had done had sunk in, she found that she was…tired. That's what it was. The last few days had been a never-ending attack on the pillars Rin had built up to keep the sorrow from her parents passing. The traditions of heretical Mages were all Rin had for a decade. But things were different now. She had reclaimed her sister. Learning of Archer's plight gave her new insight. He became trapped in an endless cycle from his unyielding dedication to his ideals. Would she suffer a similar fate if she continued her own path?

Rin resolved that no matter what, she would handle it with grace, and only slightly injure Shirou when they got home.

Satou continued to speak, "…I would like to say that although we are releasing you from custody, we will be forced to keep an eye on you, in case this organization you've mentioned tries to make contact with you."

"How very kind of you," Rin said evenly, "Is that for our protection, or do you need someone to act as bait?"

Satou sighed, "Tohsaka-san, I understand that the movie industry has given a rather dramatic view of how a government investigation works, but I can assure you that our goal is only the protection of its citizens, which includes you and Mr. Emiya, here. From what the two of you have described, this…" He sounded uncomfortable. "Mage's Association will only be a problem if there comes a risk of the existence of the powers Shirou demonstrated becoming common knowledge. Right now, our biggest concern is the one who's openly threatening the city."

"Dr. Eggman." Shirou stated.

Saber asked, "What measures are you taking to deal with him?"

"I'm not authorized to reveal anything," Satou replied, "However, I need to ask you if Eggman knows anything about this…War…of yours. We've noticed that his automated weapons have been constantly seen in the same vicinity as these battles you've had. You can't tell me that's a coincidence."

"It's probably not, but who can figure the reasoning of madmen?" Rin said smoothly.

"The members of the War…" Saber glanced at Shirou, "The other members of the War would never reveal its existence to an outsider. And even if Eggman became aware of it, he would be able to claim the Holy Grail without a Servant."

"…And this the Badnik production plant." Eggman stated, "Thanks to the miracle of innovation, imagination, and a relaxed attitude towards building codes, we can imprison animals inside robots at three times the speed of any other robot facility!"

"How many factories make their robots like that?" Cubot asked, "I thought it was just us."

Eggman punched Cubot.

Eggman wasn't too happy at the visitor Shinji and the robots had brought to the Egg Saucer. His first instinct had been to summon a cadre of Badniks to deal with Gilgamesh. All it took was the Gate of Babylon opening for three seconds to trash that plan, along with aforementioned robots. Eggman immediately decided that maybe he needed a new partner to move the plan along. Which meant giving Gilgamesh a tour of his Egg Saucer.

The five of them, Eggman, Gilgamesh, Shinji, Orbot and Cubot, were seated in a golf cart, with Eggman at the driver's seat, Gilgamesh riding shotgun, with Shinji and the bots squeezed into the back. It was an awkward ride, what with the cart not being very big, and Gilgamesh's body language stating that he would go on a killing spree if Eggman's shoulder even grazed him. But Eggman stuck it out, even while knocking Cubot off the cart for speaking out of turn.

"With this production plant, restocking our Badnik supply is easy as one-two-three," Eggman continued without missing a beat, "And once they are finished, they go out to find more animals to put in robots, ensuring a steady flow of production."

"Why do you need to put the animals in robots?" Gilgamesh asked.

Eggman tried to speak, but himself floundering. He screwed up his face in thought as he tried to muster an explanation, but Gilgamesh's overwhelming presence was making it hard to think.

Finally, Eggman snapped, "Well, what else am I supposed to do with them?"

That seemed as good an answer as anything, so Gilgamesh didn't say anything. A strange beeping caught his ear, and he glanced over his shoulder. Orbot had some tablet with a gratuitous antenna sticking out, and seemed to waving it in Gilgamesh's general direction. Gilgamesh's eyes narrowed, and over his shoulder, Eggman made a cutting motion under his neck. Getting the drift, Orbot shut off his device, hid behind his back, and smiled as best he could. Gilgamesh rolled his eyes in annoyance and turned his focus back to the tour.

After leaving the factory, Eggman steered the tram down another corridor. After some time, the Egg Tram drove into a wide area with a large variety of flight Badniks, Egg Mobiles, and other units. Egg Pawns were performing general clean-up and maintenance on all docked vehicles and inactive robots.

"This is just one of the Egg Saucer's hanger bays," Eggman explained, "Our best projections show that when loaded to maximum capacity, we will be able to invade and conquer a small country in hours."

"Too bad we can't do anything about Sonic." Cubot sighed. Eggman gritted his teeth and forced a smile, pretending that the yellow robot didn't say anything.

But Gilgamesh just laughed mirthlessly. "Yes, that blue mongrel is quite the pest. I thought that, given your experience, you might aid me in dealing with him."

Grinning with more confidence, Eggman continued the tour. They soon had to park the Tram and continue on foot. Taking a moving sidewalk, Eggman showed off the various engines and oversized gears that turned to keep the Egg Saucer up and running. Unfortunately, due to poor timing, they came by just in time to see a Orbinaut getting crushed between the teeth of two massive cogs. The little birdy that escaped and narrowly suffered the same fate fluttered up left an unpleasant surprise on Eggman's shoulder.

"This…this is why we put animals in robots!" Eggman grumbled, steam emitting from his mustache. As Orbot tried to clean up the mess with a paper towel, the birdy landed in Shinji's hair. Cubot tried to snag it with a buttefly net but all he caught was Shinji's annoyed head.

Gilgamesh said nothing to these antics.

Eventually, Eggman led the group into the Egg Commissary. The various empty tables each had a picture of Eggman's face painted on top, with the exception of a smaller table off in the corner, which had a Crabmeat picture. Shinji and the 'bots were forced to sit there while Eggman and Gilgamesh took one of the 'adult' tables. Loudspeakers softly played a BGM Gilgamesh wasn't familiar with ("Scrap Brain Zone" from Sonic the Hedgehog) at a decent volume.

"This is where I like to have lunch, whenever I feel like I've spent too much time in the lab." Eggman explained as a Ball Hog wearing a chef's hat shuffled up to deliver a can of Chao Cola.

Judging by the size of that gut, I'd say you spend a great deal of time here. Gilgamesh, Orbot, Cubot, and Shinji thought at once.

"Care for a bite?" Eggman offered.

Gilgamesh glanced at the menu that had been on the table. The selection looked normal enough…except every item name was preceded by the word "Egg". There were Egg Salads, Egg Burgers, Egg Ramen, Egg Meatloaf...

("The Doc's keeps trying to build his brand, but it's not going so hot." Cubot whispered to Shinji.)

Gilgamesh tossed aside the plastic sheet aside with a dismissive roll of his eyes. "I sincerely doubt anything your toys could prepare would not insult my kingly palate. In any case, I brought my own meal."

A small vortex of golden light appeared at Gilgamesh's side, and out came a vintage Mobile Suit Gundam lunchbox, which landed in the blond man's hand. He popped open the lid, and pulled out a neatly-made BLT, wrapped in plastic. As this went on, Orbot waved his device in Gilgamesh's general direction again. On the screen was a single word "ENERGY" with three arrows pointing up. Orbot pushed the "Send" button, and Eggman's watched lit up.

"So, eh, what do you think so far?" Eggman asked awkwardly, covering his watch as casually as he could manage.

"I must admit, your base is quite the technological marvel- compared to this era's crude standards, that is," Gilgamesh replied evenly, "However, you still haven't told me what exactly you plan on doing. You send your ridiculous machines to the city, looking for those 'Chaos Emeralds', but for what purpose? Do you have an actual plan, or are you just trying to make everyone's lives difficult?"

Eggman finished off his soda and tossed the can in the general direction of a garbage chute. The can hit Cubot in the head. He fixed Gilgamesh with an evil smirk, and twirled his mustache.

"I'd thought you'd never ask." Eggman said.

"So he told them?" Sonic asked.

"Apparently, according to Rin," Archer replied.

The two of them were hiding out in an unused conference room this time. Sonic was sitting in an office chair, occasionally spinning around in the seat. Archer was standing, but leaning against a wall.

"And she's okay with that?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Archer replied, "But she's taking it better than I thought she would."

Archer had been surprised when he learned what Shirou had did. But he had been even more surprised by how Rin was reacting. Rather than thinking about how to neutralize the government men and remove the evidence, she was providing them with more information. Not all of it, but just enough so they would feel compelled to do what she wanted. Perhaps all of the experiences in the War, or more specifically, since Sonic and his group arrived, had changed Rin enough to consider a new path to walk. He certainly wished he had changed his path when he was alive.

"So, are they gonna let us go?" Sonic asked, "It'd be nice to leave one of these army strongholds through the door instead of the fire escape."

"Right now, it seems like they're not going to hold Rin, Saber and Shirou any longer," Archer said, "But the real question whether or not they'll do the same for you."

Sonic sighed, and hopped off the chair. He began to do stretches. "Here we go, another daring escape from the Few, The Proud and so on."

"I know the feeling." Never mind that I didn't actually get away... Archer sighed, "Well, let's see if Rin can convince them otherwise."

"Maybe I should pop back to my cell," Sonic considered, "You know, just so the guys camped outside that bathroom can go back to their regular posts."

At one point, Sonic lead the security force trying to track him down towards one of the rest rooms, opened and slammed the door before running away. Because he was moving so fast, the agents following him missed his exit and began to gather outside the rest room door, intent on catching Sonic, unaware that he had already left.

"I'm not sure that would be a good idea," Archer replied, "They might do something drastic to- What's that?"

"That" was a klaxon going off. Following that, a voice appeared on the PA system, saying, "Alert! Alert! This is a Level 5 emergency! Code Red!"

Sonic looked to Archer for an explanation, but the Servant was already gone.

Agent Stuart observed the conversation between the three youths and Satou through a security camera. Every now and then, he would suggest a question to ask through Satou's earpiece. He was so fixated on them that he almost didn't notice Twice enter.

"So, if Eggman doesn't know about your 'Grail', why has his automated weapons been found near the areas where these battles have happened?"

"We think Eggman's technology can detect the energy used for Magecraft, just as certain sensors could be used to detect radiation levels. It's more than likely he's just investigating and trying to determine the facts."

"Not a bad hypothesis," Dr. Pierceman remarked, taking an unused chair. "I was considering something like that myself."

Stuart didn't respond. His mind was still trying to come to grips with what he was learning. Magic...of all possible explanations, he had not even considered that when investigating Fuyuki's mysterious crimes. While he suspected that there may be larger group operating, he hadn't expected actual sorcery. The investigation had unofficially gone to "Beyond my pay scale" levels of absurdity. 'Unofficial' in that Stuart had no idea how to put that in his formal report. He had a feeling if he did, he'd be lucky to be fired. If there really was this massive force operating, Stuart had a feeling that if he spoke to freely about what he knew, he might find himself encountering it in a less-than-civil manner.

"When we examined Rin for injuries, we didn't find any signs of her being different from any other person," Twice went on, "No signs of mutations, no abnormalities in her system- aside from the injuries from her fending off Kotomine, that is -nothing to indicate that she's more than what she appears to be. Perhaps we can convince the three of them to take part of a more thorough examination before releasing them."

There was an unsettling eagerness in Twice's voice that Stuart thankfully picked up on. Being allowed to tinker with Eggman's leftover was bringing out Pierceman's "Inner Mad Scientist" to the forefront. The problem with being black ops was that even the most disciplined member would be tempted misuse the freedom that came with the lack of oversight.

"Let's hold off on that for now," Stuart said, grinning at Twice's disappointed expression. "We'll continue surveillance on them for now. We don't have any real legal right to hold them. And if it was an assassin from this Association that offed Kotomine, we'll have better luck-"

"Agent Stuart! Dr. Pierceman!"

Their conversation was interrupted by a soldier running in. Judging from how harried he looked, he may have been among those trying to keep Sonic wrangled.

"Did you guys get Sonic under control?" Twice asked.

"No, it's not that! You have to evacuate!" The soldier reported, "We're under attack! Eggman's found us!

"What?!"

The robot approaching get the Unused Building was easily the most human-looking unit sent out by Eggman to date. If not for the fact that it stood at a whopping fifteen feet, it could have passed for a man wearing highly-advanced robotic armor. Although a bit on the top heavy side, the robots legs were as thick as phone poles, with the arms being the same. Instead of hands or even claws, the wrists were topped with large spheres. The head looked like a helmet that allowed no features to show, save for the half-circle lights where the eyes should be, angled into an ominous glare. Around the shoulders were pink fuzzy pads, with a third tip of fuzz on the back of the head, like an artificial top knot.

E-3382 : Sir Fuzzy-Logik

Of course, by the time it reached the hideout, a military force was already prepared to intercept. Tanks rolled out down the streets, military choppers armed with launchers hovered around and about, ready to engage when given the word. Sir Ffuzzy-Logic quickly glanced at all of the combat vehicles that now surrounded him. Because his face wasn't designed to express emotions, there was no way to tell what he thought of the hardware that opposed him. Of course, it was possible he didn't think anything of it. Eggman's robots weren't known for being deep thinkers. Or even shallow thinkers.

"Huh?" Shinji glanced down at Orbot and Cubot, "What's wrong with you two?"

For both robots, their eyes had twisted to emulate expressions of sorrow. Their hands dragged on the ground as they floated next to Shinji.

"I don't know…" Orbot admitted, "But for some reason I feel very depressed."

"Yeah," Cubot sighed, "Like we've been insulted but can't think up a retort…"

An opening appeared on Sir Ffuzzy-Logik's right ball. Through a series of unfolding mechanisms, a trident came out in a way that made it look like the robot was gripping it in one 'hand'. When the tanks fired at Sr. Ffuzzy-Logik, the robot spun his trident around, deflecting the shells. The choppers fired their missiles, but Sir Ffuzzy-Logik leapt aside and dodged them. The missiles destroyed a good portion of the street, but the robot was unharmed. Sir Ffuzzy-Logik pointed his left ball at one of the choppers. An opening appeared, out shot an arrow made entirely of steel. It struck just under the rotor of the chopper, causing a jam and sending the craft plummeting to the ground. Something red zipped by and the chopper crashed onto the ground, exploding shortly thereafter. In a nearby alley, Archer gently laid the pilot down on the ground. He was unconscious (The pilot), having been knocked out by Archer during the rescue. Once he was done, Archer faded back into astral form.

Meanwhile, Sir Ffuzzy-Logik was on the move. He was moving very fast, and towards one of the nearest tanks. He jammed his trident into the tank's treads, and with a swing, flipped the tank over. The other tanks and choppers fired at the robot, but Sir Ffuzzy-Logik whirled about, once more deflecting their shots with his trident. As he was whirling, something shot out from the Abandoned Building, jumped off of the flipped tank, went directly over Sr. Ffuzzy-Logik before plummeting directly down and slamming onto the robot's head.

CLANG!

Sir Ffuzzy-Logik stopped whirling his trident about and tried to steady his shaking noggin as Sonic hopped down and faced his adversary. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Archer shimmer into and out of physical existence on a rooftop, coveniently in the military's blindspot.

Sir Ffuzzy-Logik saw Sonic's attention wander however minutely, and rushed at the Hedgehog, bringing his trident to bear. The robot stabbed at the spot where Sonic was standing, narrowly missing as Sonic zipped at him and darted around his legs. Once he was on the other side, Sonic leapt up to do a Homing Shot at Sir Ffuzzy-Logik. But before he could connect, Ffuzzy-Logik pivoted and brought up his trident to block the attack. Sonic bounced off and landed back on the street. He wasn't even down for a second before Sir Ffuzz-Logik fired an at him. Sonic ducked, and the steel shot struck an old mailbox, impaling it.

Sonic rubbed the space under his nose. "Looks like this is gonna be a bit harder than usual. Nice!"

Sir Ffuzzy-Logik lunged, but instead of dodging, Sonic ran straight at the trident, running along the handle and up the robot's arm. He then struck Sir Ffuzzy-Logik with a Homing Shot, causing the robot to stumble.

"Not that I'm gonna make it easy for you." Sonic smirked as he landed.

While this was going on, Satou was leading the Masters and Saber down a hallway. All around them other agents and workers were busy hurrying out as fast as they can. The intercom blared evacuation orders, complete with the requisite "This is not a drill!" Shirou carried Rin (Who was still recovering) on his back while Saber jogged by his side. The blond Servant could have easily outrun everyone else, but she would never have left Shirou's side unless there was clear and present danger. She would have carried Rin herself, but wanted to be ready in case they encountered a new enemy and she needed to fight.

"So, it's Eggman?" Shirou asked Satou.

Satou nodded absent-mindedly. He was listening to someone on his ear piece. He then said, "It's one of his robots. The military has it pinned down, but not without causalities. Hold on…" He paused, then grimaced, "Looks like your friend Sonic is fighting it now."

"What about Eggman himself?" Saber asked, "Is he here?"

Satou shook his head. "No. But he's sent these weapons alone into the city before."

"Let's just leave it to Sonic," Rin said, "They all came from the same world, and he enjoys fighting those things," She paused briefly to rub her head against Shirou's shoulder. Once she was done, she said, "Or do you want our help?"

"Our mission leaders would rather you didn't," Satou said, "Your Mage's Association would just tamper with our records, and that's the last thing this investigation needs. More to the point, you're still recovering. Just focus on getting better."

"Who is the head of this investigation?" Saber asked.

"That's classified." Satou said briskly.

Of course it was. But Saber only asked her question as a feint. She already knew who Satou was speaking with through his earpiece. She recognized the voice from the first day she set foot in Shirou's school.

So Mr. Stuart was a government agent… Saber thought, but choose to keep that a secret. For now…

Sonic ran circles around Sr Ffuzzy-Logik, creating a minor cyclone with his speed. However, the robot's body was far too heavy to be moved by the winds. At best, Sonic's maneuver threw Sir Ffuzzy-Logik off balance, giving the Hedgehog the opening to launch a Homing Shot at its head. However, the minute Sonic stopped circling to attack, Sir Ffuzzy-Logik recovered enough to block his attack.

Sonic landed back on the ground and considered his options. That thing's reactions are good enough to keep up with me…I guess the best time to hit is when it's trying to stab me with that oversized tuning fork!

Sir Ffuzzy-Logik fired a volley of arrows, which Sonic rolled around to avoid. He sped up in speed, and flipped up onto his feet, landing on the wreckage of the helicopter. He then turned about and smacked his rear to taunt Sir Ffuzzy-Logik. Rather than lunge at Sonic again, Sir Ffuzzy-Logik took another shot with his arrow, wrecking the chopper further when Sonic dodged.

Meanwhile, the remaining tanks and chopper awkwardly tried to keep up with the action, looking for an opening to attack. Unfortunately, Sonic was moving around so quickly that he kept confusing their scopes, leaving the pilots feeling both impotent and and dizzy. One tank managed to get behind Sir Ffuzzy-Logik and fired. As the shell flew towards the robot's back, Sir Ffuzzy-Logik spun on one heel to swing back and repel it with a roundhouse kick. The shell blasted a nearby building. Sonic took advantage of the robot's distraction by hitting him with a Homing Shot. Refocusing on Sonic, Sir Ffuzzy-Logik ran after the Hedgehog, its massive footsteps causing the ground the quake slightly. Being faster, Sonic easily out-sped his pursuer, running up a building and kicking off to leap over Sir Ffuzzy-Logik's head. The robot fired another arrow at Sonic, but missed. It almost looked like the shot was going to hit the other helicopter, but before it could connect, a second arrow countered it!

Archer quickly reentered astral form. That was close. while Sonic easily dodge whatever the robot attacked with, the military vehicles trying to 'contain' the battle were sitting (Or hovering, in the chopper's case) ducks. And there was no way to know how many arrows that robot was packing. Luckily, Archer was far away enough that it was unlikely that anyone would spot him providing covering fire. Still, it was probably wise to move to a different position, just in case...

Sonic ducked and slide underneath Sir Ffuzz-Logik as the robot tried to pulverize him with another roundhouse kick. Leaping from knee to elbow to shoulder, Sonic hit the head with another Homing Shot. After he connected, Sonic landed back on the ground and zipped away from the robot to avoid a counter. He was right to do so, as the instant Sir Ffuzzy-Logik recovered he swung his trident at where Sonic had been mere moments ago. As he did, the remaining chopper swiveled to remain in the robot's blindspot.

"This is TR-57. I have the bogey in position. I'm preparing to to open fire."

"Negative, do not engage, I repeat, do NOT engage. Just focus on keeping the enemy contained. Standby in case situation changes."

This sort of back and forth kept happening as Sonic and Sir Ffuzzy-Logik fought. Occasionally, the giant robot would try to attack one of the military vehicles, but Archer would intercept with his own shots.

I must be getting soft, saving a bunch of nameless strangers... Archer thought, Maybe I should get a helmet of my own in case I get spotted...

Meanwhile, Sir Ffuzzy-Logik had begun a new tactic. Squatting down, the robot then pushed off the ground and blasted off of into the air with a piston-powered jump. Sonic looked up into the sky and tried to see what was happening. The glare from the sun made it hard to get a good look at the dot in the blue.

A dot that was getting bigger.

No, not bigger. Closer.

Sonic waited. He tapped his foot, and then checked his watch. As he did, a shadow cast from above appeared over him, getting bigger by the milisecond. Once the radius of the shadow was about several feet wide, Sonic used a Spin Dash to zip away. A second later Sir Ffuzzy-Logik landed back on the ground, slamming his trident down so hard the tips went several feet beneath the asphalt. While he missed Sonic, the impact created a shockwave that knocked Sonic off of his feet, and the Hedgehog fell into a tumble that left him on his head against a wall. Sir Ffuzzy-Logik ripped his trident out, taking a chunk of the street with it. He kicked the piece of asphalt at Sonic, but before it hit, sonic had already rolled out of the way. He flipped up on his feet and jumped on top of a street sign. Sir Ffuzzy-Logik fired arrows at the Hedgehog, but Sonic, without losing his place at the top, ducked, weaved, and avoided the arrows. The robot once more jumped high into the air. When Sir Ffuzzy-Logik came down, Sonic was already well away from attack. But when Sir Ffuzzy-Logik hit the ground, Sonic jumped to avoid being knocked by the tremor, and followed up with a Homing Shot.

Sir Ffuzzy-Logik's head shook, and kept shaking. Soon, his entire body began to shake. The robot started spin around, sending out arrows that flew in random directions. Some struck the tanks and one winged the chopper. Sonic found himself forced back by both the arrows and the winds being generated.

Crud! It's moving around so much that I can't get a clean shot at it! Sonic thought as he darted around.

Before this could go on any longer, a bolt of light shot down and blasted off the head off of Sir Ffuzzy-Logik's trident, causing the robot to stop in shock. This was followed by a second shot, one that blasted Sir Ffuzzy-Logik's head right off of its shoulders. Sonic, righting himself, looked from the shot had come from. Standing on the rooftops, his longcoat waving heroically in the wind, was none other than Archer.

Who was wearing a Kamen Rider helmet.

I probably look really stupid, but... Archer saw Sonic flashing him a thumbs' up. I guess this sense of fulfillment sorta makes up for it.

In the Egg Saucer's main control room, one of the computer terminals had been displaying Sir Ffuzzy-Logik's status. His ammo count, fuel levels, damage accumilation, shown for all to see. That was until the screen turned to static, followed by a screen that looked like a 1950s television test pattern only with Eggman's head in place of the Native American chief.

"That's another sub-boss down." Orbot noted.

Behind him, Cubot drew a line over a collage of the sub-bosses Eggman had built for his latest venture. Only one picture was left. Shinji watched a different screen, one that showed Eggman leading Gilgamesh down a corridor in his lab.

"It was once stated that anything that can be imagined can exist," Eggman said, "Or something. With the infinite possibilities of the multiverse, one can find whatever they want somewhere, anywhere.

"But why should we take the trouble of finding one of those worlds, when we can just as easily bring it here?"

Eggman brought Gilgamesh to a table. On top of the table was a fern in a flower pot. Above the potted fern, attached to the ceiling, was some sort of laser cannon, pointed directly down. Around the barrel were seven prongs, curved around so that they pointed at the laser's center. Eggman began to type onto a nearby terminal.

"My latest invention is a combination omniversal scope, analyzer, and molecular re-arranger," Eggman continued, "It scans the dimensions for whatever asked of it, analyzes its properties, and when it fires, transforms a target by breaking down and reassembling its atoms to match that of the scanned object."

As he spoke, the cannon's lights began to go on, and the barrel glowed. An ominous hum filled the air. Eggman handed Gilgamesh a pair of goggles and flipped his own over his glasses. The cannon fired, and when it struck the fern a bright light filled the air. Once the light faded, where once was a perfectly healthy plant was a model of a garish, Eggman-themed city. It looked like a miniature Las Vegas combined with an amusement park's roller coasters. A bright, neon sign was displayed, reading "EGGMAN LAND!".

Eggman declared, "I call it the Genesis Ray!"

"Impressive," Gilgamesh said, removing the goggles. He was more interested in the method than the result. "Can your invention affect a larger area?"

"Of course!" Eggman boasted proudly, but then said awkwardly, "Er, Once the necessary power requirements have been met, of course. With all seven Chaos Emeralds, my Genesis Ray can transmogrify an entire planet. Of course, that pest Sonic and his friends have been…interfering with with Emerald acquisition."

"Which is why you've been trying to claim my Holy Grail," Gilgamesh chuckled, "Incredible! I was just planning on unleashing the Grail's power to purge this rotten, crude world and rule only those who could weather the storm, but this…" He waved at the Genesis Ray, "This is even better! With this machine, I can upgrade this primitive realm into something more deserving of my splendor. You have done well, Doctor."

Eggman forced a smile. He wasn't particularly happy with Gilgamesh essentially shoehorning himself into the Genesis Ray plan, but from what Orbot's scans had discovered, it was a headache he could deal with.

"So glad to be of service." Eggman purred as he and Gilgamesh shook hands.

TO BE CONTINUED

Tiger Dojo

Taiga: Atten-hut! All troops fall in! The Tiger Dojo has begun, with your instructor, Fujimura Taiga!

Illya: And don't forget about your Number One Student, Illya-chan!

Taiga: We're finally here! After so long, the final arc has begun; "Farewell, Genesis!"

Illya: So Eggman went for the team-up after all…not that Goldy would let him otherwise. I think Gilgamesh could operate Eggman's weapons all on his own, but just enjoys making that goofy old man bow to him. That guy is such a jerk!

Taiga: No doubts about that. But, enough about those baddies, let's get this Q/A going!

Illya: Our first question comes from godzillahero3, who asks, "Are you ever going to introduce Mordred into your story?" Fuuu! Why do we need that clone of Saber? The real Saber gets too much attention as it is!

Taiga: I doubt the author is skilled enough to shoehorn Mordred into Fate / Genesis at this time…but I'm sure Mor-chan would appreciate you mentioning her!

Illya: The author's only a passive fan of the Fate series, anyway…Only read Zero and watched the first anime series!

Taiga: Next is, "what Barthomeloi Lorelei thinks about this situation?" from Mr. STAIN. Huh? Who's that?

Illya: Barthomeloi Lorelei is an aristocratic mage that was mentioned in a supplementary book for Tsukihime. She doesn't have much presence in any of the main series, but she was featured in the Prelude I short story. She's annoyed by the Fuyuki mages for letting Sonic, but is too distracted by the Dead Apostles to really do anything about. Apparently, the Chaos Control from when Sonic's group appeared awoke something horrible in South Africa, and she's taking care of that!

Taiga: Wow! That's convenient! And now, our last question, from superpierce, "I'm assuming that when Kirei was saying the Grail was a creation of god he was just saying that to seem like he was a devote even though he knew the grail wasn't a divine construct?" I think he was just trying to screw with Sonic. Some villains like to pretend their evil deeds are justified if it is in the name of God.

Illya: Sonic wasn't fooled, though! I don't think he's faced any religious villains, but when you've befriended the incarnation of your planet's positive life-force, it's hard to be intimidated by those claiming to be doing the Lord's work.

Taiga: And that is all the time we have left. But before we go, I have an announcement; Chapter 8, "Leave That Sword For Now" was featured in "Fate Cinema Order" D.N. Works. Please read it and leave a review!

Illya: Guh…! That was the chapter I lost Berserker, why couldn't they have watched something cooler, like when he destroyed that Eggman robot…?

Taiga: We will see you at the next practice! Goodbye, everyone!