Chapter 74; delivering justice

Sonic woke up the next day after their successful expedition in the xyz dimension unaware he had even fallen asleep. He got up instantly eager to get back in action. He looked for Amy and eventually found her in the council room watching the training grounds outside.

"Hey general. Sorry that I slept so much. It was a hell of a duel yesterday it drained me".

She didn't reply though.

"General?"

"Huh? Oh hi. How did you sleep?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"…No. Lost in my thoughts. Tails has been weird since this morning. He was giving instructions on one of our soldiers on how to use the tri-brigade deck most efficiently when another soldier questioned his advice. I've never seen him go so mad."

"He went mad over another soldier just disagreeing with him on the use of a deck?"

"Yeah. I don't know why and he won't talk to me."

"Is his deck tri-brigade as well?"

"Yeah. It was also the deck the Sonic from our dimension used. The one that he used to become the duel king."

"Aah. I see. Makes sense why it is so important to him."

"Could you go talk to him? To at least try to make him feel better?"

"Yes. Matter of fact I'll go right now" Sonic said and left the council room using the elevator to go to the training grounds on the ground floor.

Once he was on the training grounds he was greeted by Shadow who was training the recruits who had turned their backs to the warlord. Right by his side was mephiles with his usual pessimistic face.

"Man this guy will get beat to death one day by the soldiers and we won't even know until it's too late" Sonic thought half joking half serious.

He asked a group of soldiers if they had seen Tails. One of them explained that after the argument about the tri-brigade deck, Tails left the fortress and headed to the beach. Sonic followed the footsteps on the sand and found him under a tree looking at the horizon.

"Tails everything ok?"

"Did the general send you?"

"No. Amy Rose from your dimension send me. She is worried about you."

Tails didn't respond.

"Why did you get so mad over someone having a different opinion about the tri-brigade deck?"

"What does he know about tri-brigade?! What gives him the right to question this deck's power or the way to use it?!"

"Woah woah chill dude."

"Don't tell me to chill. Do you even know anything about tri-brigade?!"

"In fact I do. It's the deck the second son of the Knuckles of my dimension uses."

"Oh so you know about it? And you think that means you can judge who was right in that argument?!"

"No i.."

"You know what enough talk! Duel me!"

"What?!"

"You wanna have an opinion about this deck? Beat me then!"

Sonic was trying to help him calm down when they both received a voicemail in their wristwatches.

"Emergency council meeting. Report to the council chamber immediately".

"Saved from the voicemail. Let's go" Tails said and left to return to the fortress. Sonic was about to follow him when he saw a card lying on the sand. He picked it up. It was a prismatic rare copy of the trap card tri-brigade revolt, the key card of the tri-brigade deck. Sonic noticed this one was in a sleeve. He turned it around and saw that the sleeve had a picture of Tails and Sonic 616 holding the card together above their heads triumphantly.

"Damn. They won this card together. I better return it to him."

Sonic put the card into his deck box and headed for the council meeting. Everyone was already there.

"Finally. Settle down Sonic. We got a big emergency" Amy said once she saw him.

"What is it general?"

"One of our 2 scout teams on dimension 219 were slaughtered."

"Wait a minute. Isn't 219 the next dimension on the list?"

"Yes. I sent scouts there prematurely to give us a head start on what to expect but it looks like the warlord is catching up fast. The murderer of our scouts is his personal assassin."

"His what?!" Tails said in anger "And we're gonna let him get away?!"

"I know how you feel about this Foxy. But we have to be patient. That man is very dangerous and you know it".

"We can't let him escape again general! Not after.." his voice cracked.

"I sent a second team earlier to locate whatever clue exists in that dimension. Once we have a lead as to where it is, we are marching to get it."

"Shouldn't we go now? We can't let the warlord get his hands on whatever is there" Sonic suggested.

"If the assassin had found it he would have left already. Our other 2 scout teams have seen him around the ruins of machu picchu in that dimension. But just the location is not enough. We need more evidence. In the meantime, Shadow of war I want you to gather a team of soldiers who know about machu picchu and mastermind if possible complete the grappling hook program as soon as possible. In a rocky place like that it could be useful".

"Yes general" Shadow and Silver both said.

"Rogues I need you 3 to find a good map of that dimension's machu picchu. We will need to know the layout of the place inside out".

"On it right now general" Jet said.

"Good. Meeting dismissed. Foxy you stay behind for a moment I need to have a word with you".

Sonic left with the other leading members of the rebellion but right at the door of the elevator remembered he hadn't given Tails his card back. He walked down the corridor to the council room, but when he got to the door he heard Amy and Tails arguing.

"How can you be so calm?! That guy betrayed us! You're gonna let him walk?!"

"I know how you feel Tails. But we can't risk the mission of the rebellion for revenge".

"That man is the reason Sonic is no longer with us!"

Sonic 999 was shocked. He believed he was the reason Sonic 616 had perished. Why was Tails so mad at the warlord's personal assassin and not the man who in Sonic's eyes let Sonic 616 to die?

"I know Tails. And one day he will pay. But that day isn't today. Go now and consult with the rogues on locations on machu picchu that could hide a secret. And watch out cause this is an order. Do NOT under any circumstance go after him. Revenge won't bring back Sonic. And you know it".

Sonic feeling he shouldn't be listening to that left before they could exit the room. Once again he forgot to give Tails back the revolt trap. But it was all so much to take in over just minutes. Tails had an anger explosion at a soldier who had a disagreement with his deck, yelled at him for no reason and now as it turned out it was all because of the rage in his soul.

"But who was this traitor he was talking about? And why exactly does Tails blame him for 616's death? I was there when 616 died and I couldn't save him. He should have been blaming me not him" he thought as he joined Shadow in the training grounds.

1 hour later during lunch time Sonic saw the rogues coming to the cafeteria for lunch and approached them.

"Any luck on those machu picchu maps?"

"Little. That place is an ancient city with god know how many secrets yet to be uncovered. And we also have to take into consideration that it's in a dimension none of us is from therefore the place could be entirely different."

"Duh Wave. It is different. Don't you remember that giant temple picture the scout team sent us?" Jet said.

"A giant temple in machu picchu?" Sonic asked in surprise "how did the mayas built a giant temple in the mountains?"

"It is a mystery. But that probably is the most likely place to hide the clue for our quest."

Good I'll go see if Silver is done with the grappling hook program. We will need it there even more now" Sonic said and got up to leave when Amy barged in in a rush.

"Where's Tails?!" she asked the rogues.

"Isn't he with you? He said he had an urgent thing he had to take care of with you general." Storm answered.

Amy's eyes widened in shock.

"You don't mean…" Sonic said realizing what had happened.

"The urgent thing he had to take care of is revenge" Amy whispered terrified.

Sonic got up.

"Mobilize the soldiers. I'll go first at 219 and try to stop him or at least delay him."

"Don't be crazy. If you come across the assassin…"

"I can take care of myself general. But if Tails gets his revenge he will regret it. I have to get there now!"

Amy looked at him trying desperately to find a reason for him not to go alone. However in the end she nodded.

"Go. I'll find Shadow and join you with reinforcements as soon as possible."

Sonic nodded back at her and ran to the labs where he asked Silver to quickly install the grappling hook program into his duel disc. Silver obliged and 5 minutes later Sonic met Amy outside as she was informed by Shadow that they had to actually pull back soldiers from the field to assemble a big enough team to go to 219. Sonic let them know he was ready to go and as Shadow left Sonic activated his wristwatch immediately setting the numbers 2 1 and 9. The portal opened and he walked through it finding himself in the ancient city of machu picchu.

"Good luck and take care!" Amy's voice was heard from the closing portal.

Sonic looked back to let her know he would be ok but the portal had already closed. Looking back ahead he witnessed the ruins around him. Empty, creepy and ready to collapse. He walked through the muddy ground of the ancient city, on his guard ready to fight in case anyone tried to ambush him. He noticed some rubble ahead of him and noticed they were recently broken.

"Looks like there was a fight. I don't know if it is the right choice" he said looking higher up the hill to the giant temple at the top "but if Tails and that assassin are here they must be there".

He used the grappling hook program to slowly but steadily climb the steep hills. Eventually he made it to the entrance of the temple. A gargantuan room welcomed him along with its inhabitants, snakes and other sorts of bugs who all fled upon Sonic's arrival. He knew that not all those animals would flee so he found a torch and used his power to create fire and light the torch. He proceeded inwards, trying not to make sounds while walking in order to listen better. After a few minutes of exploring he entered another big room and saw a strange message written on a stone slab in the middle of the room.

"Damn. It's in the maya's language. How do I read this?"

He tried for 10 minutes to make anything out of the slab but had no luck. At that moment he heard footsteps behind him.

"Don't move!" a voice was heard.

Sonic stood still knowing he had just been found by the assassin.

"Well well well. My master will be quite pleased. Delivering him both the hidden relic of this temple and Sonic 999? I'll be swimming in riches."

"Who are you?" Sonic asked him turning around to see the assassin's face not caring whether he would get shot.

In front of him stood a very familiar person. He looked like another version of him but it was not a Sonic, that Sonic 999 could tell. He was green instead of blue like most Sonic variants. He also had a funny haircut.

"My name is Manic the hedgehog."

"What are you? A variant of me?"

"No. But I happen to know 2 variants of you well. One my master. And 2…"

"Don't you dare say his name!" a voice suddenly screamed in anger.

Sonic and Manic both looked back and saw Tails sprinting towards Manic. He tackled him and they started rolling on the ground fighting. Sonic was in shock. He tried to get close to separate them and capture Manic but accidentally stepped on a block on the floor that was pushed down by his weight. Manic noticed this and stopped fighting against Tails who tried choking him to death.

"You killed my best friend you monster! I will end you right now!"

"The.. the…"

"What?!"

"The door!" Manic managed to scream.

Sonic and Tails looked at the door of the room closing immediately trapping them inside.

"What did you do Sonic?!" Tails asked him.

"He killed us!" Manic said.

"What?!"

"Don't you morons know what happens when you press those blocks that move?!"

"Don't tell me…" Sonic said realizing in terror what he had done.

"They are booby trap triggers!" Manic said as a giant boulder was dropped on him and Tails. Pushing Tails off of him, he rolled to the side sparing them both from being crashed by the boulder. Tails attempted to get back up and attack him again.

"Stay still you idiot!" Manic screamed "if you trigger any more traps it will be our end!"

Tails stood still but kept staring knives at Manic.

"You. 999. Can you carefully get close to the slab?"

"Yeah.." Sonic said cautiously "why?"

"The mayas made this temple to hide something. But they also must have created a way to turn off the traps. If you can get closer to the slab and show me the reflection of it with this mirror" he said tossing it to Sonic who caught it successfully "I can read the slab and figure out which block deactivates the traps."

"Why should I trust you though?" Sonic asked him suspiciously.

"You shouldn't. But the situation is dire. We need to free ourselves before we settle this. So just follow my lead for now and we kill each other later".

"Don't listen to him Sonic" Tails said still wanting nothing more than to attack Manic again.

"We have no choice Tails. He is our best bet in getting out." Sonic said started walking carefully towards the slab trying his best to tell if each block he stepped on was a booby trap without triggering it. After a lot of close calls he made it. He reflected the symbols on the slab with the mirror so Manic could see them.

"Ok. Very carefully take a step back and find a block that can move to your left and step on it."

"Ok" Sonic said and did as Manic instructed. He stepped on the block which sank a bit but nothing happened.

"Good. Now try to jump over the 2 blocks in front of you and step on the third."

Sonic obeyed and once again the switch was triggered but nothing happened.

"Alright now for the last step. Very carefully make your way back to the slab and stand in front of it. If everything has worked the block in front of the slab will be triggered and open the door".

Sonic made his way to the slab. But before he could step on the block a scream and a thud echoed in the room. Sonic looked for the source and saw Manic on the ground holding his bleeding head and next to him a rock with some blood on it. And right when he had just processed all of this a block sank under Manic's weight.

"Tails what did you do?!" Sonic screamed half angry half terrified.

At that moment the ground around the slab sank creating a steep incline. Sonic, Tails and Manic all slid falling inside a hole at the center of the cone the inclined floor created. Sonic tried to grab from a protruding rock but cut his hand badly. All 3 fell into the hole and through a series of pipes screaming at the same time. Sonic couldn't see anything having lost the torch when falling. He also felt several scratches and cuts on his body as he hit the walls of the pipe-like tunnel.

Suddenly he felt crashing on the rocky ground hurting himself pretty badly. Not moving at all he harnessed his power healing his injury including the earlier cut. Once he had completely healed he got up with a lot of effort and knocked his head on the rocky ceiling.

"Damn" he said as he once again healed his injury with his mark while blood streamed down his face "looks like I'm in a small tunnel. I hope my mark can continue healing me cause I will crash into more walls for sure. Unless.."

Sonic harnessed his power and created a small sphere of blue light with his mark. He made it solid and held it in his hand. It was warm and slightly cold at the same time. He started walking forward, following the path ahead of him.

"If we fell down the same pipe-like tunnel then where are Tails and Manic?" Sonic wondered.

After a small walk he saw a big mass blocking his path. However when he got close he saw a pair of twin tails protruding from the mass.

"Tails!" he said in shock as he approached him. He was greatly wounded, just as Sonic was earlier. Cuts and wounds all over his body. His clothes were wet in blood. Sonic looked for his pulse and felt it calming his heartbeat. Knowing he didn't have time to re-awaken and teach Tails how to use his power to heal himself, he harnessed his own power and healed Tails' wounds at a great cost of his own stamina. Tails' wounds closed as he slowly opened his eyes while Sonic breathed heavily from exhaustion.

"Wha… what happened? Where's Manic?" Tails said before looking around "where are we?!"

"In… in an underground tunnel. Probably.. a maze.." Sonic said still exhausted.

"What happened to you?"

"You were badly injured a moment ago. I had to use my power to heal your wounds before you bled out."

"You healed my wounds? How? The lunar dragon's powers have never been used this way by any singed one variant I've ever met. And we've tried this a lot to save soldiers from death after battles. How is it possible you can do it?"

"I don't … I don't know. But that's besides the point… we need to get out of here".

"No! We need to find that monster Manic and end him!"

"Why are you obsessed with killing this guy? Don't you see this is putting us at risk? Look at us! We're trapped in an underground tunnel full with god knows what… and before I forget it was your doing that led us here…"

"My doing?!"

"The general ordered you not to chase this guy. You disobeyed her and came here… and when we were in dire danger and had to disable the traps in that temple to escape you caused him to fall with that stone! So yes this is YOUR doing!"

"Fine! If you're against me in this I will go on alone! You go back to the rebellion and let me deliver justice to this guy!" Tails said and grabbed the sphere of blue light Sonic was using to light the tunnel up until now.

"Stop lying to yourself" Sonic said attempting to get up "this isn't about justice. It's about revenge".

"Shut up! You don't know the story! So you can't have an opinion in this!"

"Then help me understand! Tell me what happened!"

"No! I don't want you to have any part in this! This is my fight!"

"If you want to hurt someone for what happened to Sonic 616 hurt me ok?!" Sonic screamed unable to hold his guilt in anymore, his scream echoing in the tunnel.

Tails turned around.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm the reason Sonic 616 is dead!"

Tails froze in place.

"W-what?!"

"We… we infiltrated a fortress in the first dimension I arrived at when I joined this war. I followed through with his plan. I thought he was planning for both of us to take a wristwatch and escape but… he only planned for me to escape. He pushed me through the portal and was shot by the warlord's soldiers! I… I should have stuck by his side. Or not agree to go through with his plan…" Sonic muttered as he couldn't bear to look Tails in the eyes.

Tails approached Sonic.

"Look at me".

Sonic raised his head and received a huge slap that sent him on the wall cutting his skull open. Healing this new injury he looked at Tails once again readying himself for a beating.

"You are a big idiot! You think you killed him?! Did you ever stop and wonder why he was in that dimension?!"

"W-what?"

"He had a wristwatch all along! We heard of his escape from the warlord's son's fortress. He used a wristwatch to escape! So ask yourself you idiot! Why wouldn't he follow you?!"

"I don't know!" Sonic screamed unable to process this new info.

"He died because he didn't want to fight in this war! All because of Manic!"

"What?!"

"Manic is his brother! The Sonic I knew cared for him deeply! But Manic was always out for himself! When the war arrived in our dimension he immediately joined the warlord, thinking of all the privileges he would get under a powerful ruler like him! Amy and I escaped and found the remaining members of the rebellion and formed it officially. Sonic refused to join!"

"He refused?!"

"Yes! Even after Manic's betrayal he was unwilling to fight his brother! He abandoned us and hid from everyone!"

"So…. Why did he go through with a suicidal plan?"

"I can only imagine that he didn't want to live anymore with this situation. We'll never know for sure. But what I know for certain is that he gave you the means to travel through the multiverse because essentially… he sent you to join the rebellion for him! He wanted to stop the warlord but not to fight his brother! He knew you would stand by the rebellion no matter what! Your loves are protected back in 999 so you can go all out on the warlord! He gave his life to give you power and hope to the multiverse!"

Sonic was in shock from all he had just heard. He felt the guilt slowly creep away but still could hardly believe all of this. That finally explained why Tails was so adamant on chasing Manic.

"Now I understand why it is so important to you… but still we shouldn't chase him. We need to stay focused on the mission."

"Currently the two align. Manic is after whatever is in these tunnels. So we need to find it first so we can get him once he arrives."

"And then what? You will kill him?"

"Yes! He will pay for what he did."

"I won't let you do this" Sonic said standing up with a lot of effort.

"What?! After all you heard you still take his side?!"

"No. I just don't want you to become a killer."

"We are all killers! This is war. Do you know how many enemy soldiers we've killed on the battlefield?!"

"I can't imagine. But as you said this is war. So I can understand that. But you want to kill Manic out of revenge. This will not end well. If you give into your rage now you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

"How could you know all that? Did you ever kill anybody out of sheer rage?"

"Yes! 4 people!"

"What?!"

"In my dimension I traveled to the future with my wife and we stopped an evil descendant of mine from being a tyrant. Though that didn't matter because later on we changed the past and that future was re-written. Point is the guy being a descendant of mine had access to the lunar dragon's powers for some reason and became a dark version of me whom I absorbed and sealed inside my body. Some years later when someone insulted my wife and my parents.. at least back when they were alive…" Sonic said remembering his parents "I literally almost beat him to death until the Tails of my dimension restrained me. The darkness in me… this dark Sonic… he took over my body and made me kill this guy. Actually no this isn't even the right term. I let him take over. It's my responsibility as much as dark Sonic's. And after that I let him unleash my rage on 3 other random duelists who had never done anything to me! I have been regretting acting on my rage my entire life! I won't let you repeat my mistakes!"

Tails was speechless. But only mere moments later he sighed and walked away from Sonic.

"I don't care if my rage consumes me. I will make Manic pay! I owe Sonic that much."

Sonic knowing he would have to stop him eventually followed Tails who was still holding the sphere of blue light Sonic had created.

They walked for several minutes not talking. The met crossroads on their way and depending on their instincts moved forward. While walking Sonic remembered the card.

"Here" he said giving it to Tails.

"Where did you find it?!" Tails said in shock "I checked my deck when I arrived and it was missing. I was focused on finding manic that I brushed it off thinking 2 copies are enough and proceeded."

"You left it at the beach earlier today."

"Oh.. right.. thanks."

"…. Don't you think he would agree with me here?"

"About not killing Manic? Yeah he would. But if he was here I wouldn't need to kill Manic. So shut up and let's go"

"No. Not about killing Manic. About pursuing him out of revenge."

"Again if he was here I wouldn't want revenge" Tails said unfazed.

Sonic sighed and followed. He only hoped that if they crossed paths with Manic again he would be able to convince Tails to stop.

Soon they found themselves in another gargantuan room. Light was coming through from the holes on the walls. A small cylinder was standing on top of a big rock in the center

"This must be it" Tails said "but why would they put it on the rock without any defenses?" he wondered as he moved to get it.

Sonic though learning from their previous shuffle with Manic looked at the ground and saw it; a small cable at knee height right in front of Tails' foot.

"TAILS WAIT!"

But it was too late. Tails pushed the cable forward with his leg and it triggered the trap. The floor collapsed but Sonic was able to grab Tails and thinking fast threw him on a platform he saw didn't crumble. He then fired the grappling hook onto another platform but the hook got nailed into the rock and Sonic swung like a pendulum mid-air until he crashed into the rock. With a lot of effort he managed to heal his wounds with his mark. He tried to climb up the rock but was unable to due to his decreased stamina from healing Tails earlier.

"You ok?!" Tails said in shock.

"I'm… I'm fine. But I'm gonna be stuck here for a while. I don't have energy to climb".

"Don't worry I'll come get you… somehow" Tails said.

At that moment the wall exploded. Manic emerged from it wearing a sort of jet boots. He landed on the platform Sonic's grappling hook was nailed at and looked around.

"Well, well" he said after seeing the situation Sonic and Tails were in "fancy seeing you here. And in a situation that's so much in my favor."

"You coward! Come here and I'll make you pay for what you did!"

"Way to ruin my fun. It really has grown tiring hearing you talk about my stupid dead brother. I don't even think it's worth killing you. I'll just take my prize and get back to my master" Manic said flying towards the cylinder.

Tails taking advantage of the grappling hook system as well launched himself towards the rock. He got there before Manic and making a 180 turn careful not to fall off he punched Manic as hard as he could. Manic let out a cry of pain. Tails grabbed the cylinder and put it in his belt then tried to get to the platform Sonic was hanging from. Manic got in the way and punched Tails who with a lot of effort sent the grappling hook on the original platform he was on. Once he got on he saw Manic about to kick the hook Sonic was hanging from off the rock.

"Stop!" Tails screamed in horror.

"That's up to you. The cylinder" Manic said with an evil smile.

Tails gritted his teeth in anger. If he gave Manic the cylinder Manic would just fly away and it would be entirely his fault for the warlord gaining a clue to the center of the multiverse.

"The cylinder" Manic repeated "or 999's life. I don't care which I will take".

"Forget about me Tails!" Sonic said "get back to the rebellion!"

"No way! I'm not losing another Sonic!" he shouted, his anger radiating like an aura.

"I'll give you 5 seconds!" Manic said losing his patience "5".

"Wait!"

"4"

"Duel me!"

"Yeah sure. 3"

"Duel me! If you have any honor duel me here and now!"

"I don't have honor. I never needed it. 2"

"I can bet something your warlord would want back!"

"Desperate until the end huh? Funny but not enough. 1!"

"Your brother stole this list from your warlord right?!" Tails said taking it out of his pocket.

Manic's face froze in shock. He didn't move at all.

"The list… it got to the hands of the rebellion?!"

"Yeah! And I was entrusted to protect it! This is the only copy. Duel me. If you win you can have both the list and the cylinder. If I win you won't kill Sonic".

"Damnit. This complicates things. Very well. Prepare to lose all hope. Once my lord gets this list back you will all kneel before him."

"Sonic, I will avenge you right now!" Tails said.

"DUEL!"

"I'll start it! I draw!" Tails said "I discard tri-brigade fraktall to activate his effect! I can send a tri-brigade monster from my deck to my graveyard."

"I discard ash blossom to negate it."

"Damnit. In this case I summon forth tri-brigade kit. I set the link marker with it! Circuit combine! Link summon! Appear salamangreat almiraj! I activate kit's ability in the graveyard! When it is sent there I can send a tri-brigade monster from my deck to the graveyard. I choose nervall. Then nervall's effect activates! I can add a tri-brigade monster to my hand from my deck. I select tri-brigade kerass. Then I activate kerass' effect! By discarding another copy of kit I can special summon it! Now I use its effect. By banishing beast warriors, beasts and winged beasts from the graveyard I can link summon a beast, beast-warrior,or winged beast link monster! However this will lock me into using only these types as materials for the rest of this turn!"

"Yeah. Don't bother explaining your moves. I know my foolish brother's deck all too well" Manic mocked him.

"I'll shut you up permanently just you wait! I banish fraktall and kit to link summon tri-brigade bearbrumm the rampant rampager! I now activate the spell card zoodiac barrage! I use its effect to have it destroy my almiraj and special summon zoodiac raptier to my front line. Next I activate pot of desires! I banish 10 cards from my deck and draw 2 more cards! Now I set the link markers with all 3 of my monsters! Circuit combine! Link summon! Rise apollousa bow of the goddess!"

"Nice. You actually improved the deck. You might actually entertain me".

"I activate the effect of beardrumm in the graveyard. I can add a tri-brigade spell or trap to my hand and return one card to my graveyard. I select Sonic's favorite card! Tri-brigade revolt! Now I set it and end my turn."

"Pathetic field. One card in hand 1 apollousa and 1 puny revolt set. So easy. I draw. I activate cosmic cyclone! I will destroy my puny brother's memory right now! Remove from play the revolt!"

"Damnit! I activate revolt! I can special summon tri-brigade monsters in my graveyard and/or banished zone and use them as link materials! I summon back all of them! Appear! Fraktall! Kit! Nervall! Kerass! Now all 4 of you make way for the one and only tri-brigade shuraig the ominous omen!"

"There it is. Unfortunately I control nothing so its effect can't be actually used."

"But the effects of the link materials can be used. I use nervall to add a copy of kit to my hand."

"You won't need it. Cause you won't survive! I activate the effect of drytron beta rastaban in my hand. I tribute alpha thuban to summon it!"

"No you don't I use apollousa's effect to decrease her attack by 800 and negate it!"

"Indeed. But I'm far from done. I normal summon diviner of herald! I use its effect to send a monster from the extra deck to the graveyard."

"Apollousa negates it!"

"I use the effect of drytron gamma Eltanin by tributing delta altais"

"I use the effect of apollousa!"

"And just like that she is out of attack power. I use alpha thuban by tributing cyber angel benten!"

"Damnit no!"

"Oh yeah! Alpha is summoned and in turn he allows me to add herald of ultimateness to my hand. Furthermore benten triggers allowing me to add drytron zeta to my hand. But there is more! I activate the effect of delta allowing me to tribute zeta aldhibah to my hand. I now use the effect of delta to add a ritual spell like meteonis drytron to my hand! Next I overlay alpha and delta! Xyz summon! Appear drytron mu beta Fafnir! I use its effect to send a drytron card to the graveyard like a copy of alpha thuban. Next I activate the ritual spell meteonis drytron! But instead of using materials based on the level I can actually detach materials from Fafnir as materials until the attack points of the materials equals the attack power of my ritual monster! I detach alpha thuban! Ritual summon! Rise majestically! Herald of ultimateness!"

"Oh no!"

"And there's more! I activate the spell card foolish burial to send the monster known as eva to my graveyard! Next with eva's effect I banish the copy of alpha i sent to the graveyard and eva herself to add a copy of gamma and herald of orange light to my hand. Now for the big finale! I set the link markers with Fafnir and diviner! Circuit combine! Link summon! Blossom and destroy! Predaplant verte anaconda!"

"No! not that!" Sonic said in horror.

"What are you summoning?" Tails said.

"I use the effect of anaconda. By paying 2000 LP" (Manic LP 6000) to send red eyes fusion to the graveyard and copy its effect! I fuse dark magician and red eyes black dragon from the graveyard! The ultimate magician of illusions and the red-eyed dragon born in flames! Now become one and give birth to the unholy offspring of death! Fusion summon! Come out! Red-eyes dark dragun!"

"Shit!" Sonic said in horror remembering facing that beast when Knuckles wielded it against him.

"I use my dragun's effect! I can destroy a monster on your field and you take damage equal to its attack points!"

"What?!"

"And I can use it as many times as the normal monsters used for the fusion summon so twice! Dragun! Eliminate both of his monsters!"

"AAAAAAH!" Tails screamed as his monsters were destroyed and his was knocked down (Tails LP 5000)

"And now to end this! dragun! Herald of ultimateness! End him!"

"Tails no!" Sonic said in horror!

"You forgot one crucial thing!" Tails declared getting back up.

"What?!"

"Earlier I retuned a card to my deck. That card was the monster card known as deus ex deck! When I'm about to be defeated and he had returned to the deck a turn earlier he can come back out and block one attack!"

"If only he could! Dragun can negate this effect!"

"Not this time! Deus ex deck's effect activated when he was returned to the deck. The effect was lingering the entire turn! Your attack just now has allowed it to resolve!"

"Grrr! Fine! Herald get that card of the field! Dragun, verte anaconda attack him!"

"AAAAAH!" (Tails Lp 1500) "when deus ex deck is destroyed after being summoned by his effect I get to draw a card!"

"I end my turn. I must admit it was impressive that you survived my onslaught. But it's over. There's not a single card in your deck that can stop dragun!"

"We'll see about that. I draw! Excellent! I activate the continuous spell fire formation tenki! With this card I can add a beast warrior or beast monster to my hand! I select tri-brigade nervall! Now I summon it!"

"I think not! By discard my copy of herald of orange light herald of ultimateness negates the summon and destroys it!"

"Perfect! When nervall is sent to the graveyard I can add kerass to my hand!"

"Dragun negates this effect!"

"Now I got you! I activate the spell card forbidden droplet!"

"NO! Impossible! My brother doesn't have that card!"

"As you said earlier I upgraded the deck a lot! By sending tenki to the graveyard dragun's effect is negated and its attack power is cut in half!"

"Nooo!"

"And your hand is empty so ultimateness cannot negate anymore! I discard kit to special summon the added kerass! Now I use kerass's effect! I banish fraktall and kit to link summon once again beardrumm! I now use the spell card I drew. Pot of greed! I draw two more cards and then I will activate the spell card monster reincarnation! I discard one card to add back tribrigade fraktall to my hand. Next I link summon using kerass and beardrumm! Appear tribrigade rugal the silver sheller! Next I use the effect of beardrumm to add another copy of revolt to my hand! And now to end you! I activate the revolt!"

"What?! Impossible! You can't! It's a trap card you have to set it first!"

"Yes but I have a little help from the graveyard!"

A shadowy figure appeared out of Tails' graveyard. It lingered for a moment then took the shape of…

"Makyura the destructor?!" Manic said in utter horror.

"Yes. I discarded him as cost for monster reincarnation. And when he sent to the graveyard, for that turn only I can use traps without having to set them! Now revolt! Summon back my monsters!"

Out of nowhere 5 monsters appeared. Shuraig, both copies of beardrumm, fraktall and kerass.

"And now by using my 2 beardrumm's as material I can link summon shuraig once again! and this time you have a card to lose! Get that herald out of the game!"

"NO!"

"Rugal attack dragun!"

"AAAH" (Manic LP 5200)

"Shuraig number 1 destroy verte anaconda!"

"AAAAA!" (Manic LP 2700)

"Shuraig number 2 and fraktalls end him!"

"AAAAAH!" (Manic LP 0)

Tails deactivated his duel disc and fired his grappling hook to get to that platform sure that revenge was finally his. Manic however punched him as hard as he could once he landed causing Tails to fall off. Using the grappling hook system again he got back on but witnessed in horror Manic targeting the hook of Sonic's duel disc with his firing system.

"You're so naïve to believe that even if you beat me I would let you go. The cylinder and the list. Now!"

"Hehehehe" Sonic was heard laughing from below.

Tails and Manic looked at his direction with utter shock.

"What are you laughing about 999?!" Manic said angry.

"You said you have no honor. And Amy from 616 said you were always out for yourself. Ironic. Cause this will be your downfall."

"What?!"

At that moment the wall which separated them from the outside world exploded. Manic lost his balance and set off the firing system sending Sonic plummeting to his doom.

"NOOO!" Tails screamed in horror.

But the next moment Shadow appeared from the chasm holding Sonic's hand using the grappling hook system to land back on the platform Tails was using during his duel.

"Shadow?!"

"You're lucky Sonic activated his beacon during the duel. Otherwise we wouldn't have found you in time".

Tails looked to the hole on the wall and saw Amy standing there with an angry look on her face along with several other rebellion soldiers. Looking back at Manic he saw that he was about to get back up. Rage filling him again he jumped on him and punched him so hard he felt the nose break. Manic screamed in pain but Tails unmoved grabbed his head and started hitting it on the rock. Manic begged for mercy. Tails saw someone with the corner of his eye trying to stop him. He punched them fast sending the soldier down the chasm though the latter used the grappling hook to survive. Tails activated his duel disc again and set the firing system on putting the hole of the gun in Manic's mouth who begged him with his eyes.

"My best friend is dead because of you! Your own brother! I will end you right now!"

"Tails no!" Amy said in anger "he needs to be tried for crimes against the multiverse".

"What?! Why try him?! He is a monster! Sonic is dead because of him!"

"I know" she said calmly "but we need to be the good guys here. If the multiverse is to be freed we need to show compassion and fairness. Let him live for now".

Tails looked back at Manic and then at Sonic who was standing with a lot of effort next to Shadow. Sonic nodded negatively.

"It's not worth it" he said.

Tails screamed in anger and fired on the air. He then collapsed as two soldiers took Manic away. Sonic, Amy and Shadow approached.

"You did the right thing" Amy said approvingly.

"But… I promised.. I would avenge Sonic…."

"You have" Sonic 999 said "we captured him. And his trial will be broadcasted live across the multiverse using waves of quantonions. The whole multiverse will know that scumbag has surrendered his right to live".

"You need not stain your hands with blood for such a reason" Shadow said patting him on the shoulder.

Tails looked at them and thinking it out realized they were right. Manic was the enemy but not the true enemy. Merely a pawn. The real killer of 999 was the warlord.

"Yeah… you're right. General I'm sorry for disobeying you."

"It's ok. All ended well".

"Too well in fact. We found the clue in this temple" Sonic intervened.

"You did?!" Amy said surprised.

"Yeah." Tails said handing her the cylinder.

"Another cylinder huh? We'll look at it tomorrow. For now let's go back."

They all left and returned to their dimension. Manic's trial began immediately. He was allowed to defend himself but didn't deny any of the accusations. He merely stated that his master was an unstoppable force and simply did what he had to do. Soon enough he was found guilty of treason to the leading members of the rebellion and war crimes against the inhabitants of the multiverse and was sentenced to death by being shot. Tails was offered to be the one end him but rejected the offer.

"I don't need to kill him myself" he said and finally believed it being in peace with himself at last.

Eventually the one to execute Manic was Shadow. After that Amy sent a speech out across the multiverse condemning the warlord's conquest and ended by having Sonic 999 sending a message himself.

"Today you lost your personal assassin. Soon enough you will lose the war".

After that they all were allowed to finally rest as while the adventure in 219 was taking place the warlord's army made moves on other dimensions taking advantage of the rebellion's forces retreating. However there was one more thing left to do. Amy asked Sonic to come to her room so they could be the first ones to examine the clue.

"All right here goes" she said opening the cylinder and removing a small scroll from inside. She unraveled it and started reading.

"In the beginning there was nothing, then the big bang happened and a creature was born. An entity made of pure energy. The entity existed for millennia in absolute nothingness growing in power until it decided it couldn't take the solitude anymore. It created a universe and many creatures to inhabit it. The entity watched its creations live for ages and ages and after a while took the shape of a blue dragon to approach them."

"A blue dragon?" Sonic said "could it mean the lunar dragon?"

"Maybe" she said continuing "the entity soon began to be worshipped by the humans it had created. They gave it the name blue dragon. The dragon helped the humans evolve and grow and for millennia everything was ok. But then the dark times came. An evil man who wanted the power of the dragon for himself, manipulated his fellow people saying that albeit they were free on their world they weren't truly free because of the existence of the dragon and its superior power over them. Slowly but steadily he convinced the human race to rally against the dragon by using its own powers against it. They summoned the dragon and attempted to kill it. The evil man, a blue hedgehog whose name has been lost in time, stabbed the dragon in the heart."

"A blue hedgehog?! Me?!" Sonic said in shock.

"The dragon nearing death overpowered the humans and escaped but them having access to its power chased it. The dragon having no other choice, used all of its godly power to split the universe into hundreds of dimensions. The dragon laid in its domain in the infinite blackness that once tormented him due to loneliness looking into the dimension depicted as spheres to it. It wanted nothing more that to be with humans again but knew that after that betrayal revealing its true nature again would be devastating not just for one universe but for the entire multiverse. Using the last resort it split its soul across the multiverse sending one piece into each dimension to choose a worthy team to guide humanity in its stead."

"The singed ones" Sonic said.

"To this very day the blue dragon stays in its domain hoping that one day a worthy person from somewhere in the vast multiverse will come and its loneliness will end" Amy said reaching the end of the story.

"So…. This story" she said connecting the dots "was the origin of the multiverse?"

"All the dragon wanted was not to be alone. And humans just like they always do tried to seize its power… and my original variant led them" Sonic said in disgust and sadness.

"I am a mistake. My very existence is a mistake. From the beginning of time all I have done is cause pain and suffering"

"Stop it!" Amy said grabbing him from the shoulders and making him look at her in the eyes.

"It isn't your fault. You are not your original variant. You are you! The most kind, compassionate, brave and selfless Sonic variant I've ever met! You have created an amazing family!" she said showing him his deckbox "and an amazing legacy as a person! You told me youself! You are one the most influential people on your dimension!"

"And what about that? I haven't changed the world. Humans continue to destroy the planet day by day."

"You can't change everyone. Like we can't save everyone in this war. You do what you can. And in the end all that matters is that we do the right thing and never give up. And fact that you don't stop no matter whether others listen to you or not… respecting their freedom and rights… that is truly amazing".

Sonic was moved by her words. Every time he had an adventure reflecting on himself or a variant of himself from across time or dimensions he always saw similarities with other Sonics. But Amy was right. It was neither his similarities to his variants that defined him, nor the differences.

"It's my choice that matters right?"

"Exactly. And you almost always make the right one".

Sonic smiled genuinely.

"Thanks general" he said while stopping himself from yawning "well I'll be off to bed. We have to engage the enemy tomorrow".

"Yeah. Thank god the multiverse moves in the same time. Everyone is sleeping at the same time".

"Yeah" Sonic said turning to leave. However when he got at the door he remembered something he noticed during Manic's trial.

"Gereral?"

"Hm?"

"During the trial… when Manic realized who you are he said… oh look the poor lover of my brother. What did he mean by that?"

Amy seemed to be ready to say something for a bit but then just brushed it off.

"He just referred to the time I dated Sonic in my dimension… even if it didn't last long.."

"I see… I'll leave you be then. Goodnight general".

"Goodnight" she said. Once he closed the door however tears ran down her cheeks. She laid on the bed, face in the pillow, sobbing as she recalled every little thing Manic's words brought in her mind. Sonic felt her sadness like an aura radiating albeit not understanding where it came from. Minutes later both were fast asleep.