By now, the Freedom Fighters in Emerald Hill were in the middle of it. As soon as the convoys saw Sonic and the others speeding along, they stopped dead in their tracks and unleashed the troops onto the battlefields. There were SWATbots, Troopers, and all sorts of badniks up the whazoo. Floating spike balls, robotic monkeys, and more besides. Not that it deterred Sonic and co any. Sonic was buzzing through bots left and right while Manic was smashing them with his ring. Tails was flying about with an experimental ray-gun and blasting them from afar, while Antoine was dodging their blows and blasts and striking them clean through with a sword stronger than any he had ever held. Bunnie was switching between bashing them up and close personal and raining down death from above. It more or less depended on her mood.
Throughout it all, Amy was commanding the lot of from the rear while getting in potshots with her laser crossbow when she could. The Minutemen were also under her control, and while they weren't as powerful or effective as the Freedom Fighters, they still more than did their fair share. After all, there was still such a thing as strength in numbers. With her at the helm, her batch of Freedom Fighters was a well-oiled fighting machine, ready for any challenges that came up.
That just left Sonia. Sonia had done little more than run around the battlefield, shooting at anything resembling a bot and doing everything she could to stay alive. But mostly, she had been fixated on the crystal. She knew what Tails had told her to do, but she still couldn't get it to work. Apparently, it required more than just fixing some circuits, but she couldn't quite remember the rest. She thought back to everything. Everything she had been through. Everything from the present and everything from her past. And she wondered that even if they got it working if she had what it took to use it. Or if she had a future. But that didn't matter. None of it mattered. And nothing would matter if she didn't do something NOW!
And then it happened.
"Uh, guys?" Sonia's whole body began to glow. It was brightening, getting brighter and brighter and turning ever more purple. "Guys? Could use a little help here!" Her clothes rapidly vanished, disappearing into herself "(Eek!)", and her entire body was becoming ever lighter and lighter until—
"OH HELL!"
A massive, blinding blast of energy was unleashed from Sonia's body, demolishing everything around her. Bots included. She felt… different somehow. Even when the dust settled, she couldn't bear to open her eyes. Not that she could feel her eyes. Or much of anything. In fact, she couldn't feel herself at all. But she still couldn't just stand there and do nothing. And so, against her better judgment, she opened them wide.
The first thing she noticed was that everything was a lot more purple. She could still make it all out well enough, but it was all still a lot more colorful. The other thing was when she looked down. For all intents and purposes, her body was no longer a body. Not in the traditional sense. It was more of a purple energy construct that looked like a body. And it was hers.
"Oh Gaea, I'm a purple Manic ring… thing. I think. And I'm naked! 'Cept I don't have any naked bits. Wait, what?"
That was the third thing she noticed. Her form was au' natural, but she didn't possess anything that actually was natural. It was as if someone had put her entire body on PG and removed any questionable content. "Well. On the one hand, I guess I don't need any clothes. On the other hand, WHAT THE HELL?!"
Not that she had any time to think about it. Having gotten over the initial shock, more robots were closing in, and they were all unleashing hell on Sonia. Or at least they tried. They tried so hard that it almost made Sonia made cower in fear. But as she did her best to hide in plain sight (and fail miserably at it), she soon realized one fundamental fact. Which was that she couldn't feel a thing.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a very lamentable thing. Not being able to feel the cool winds caress her cheeks or the warm rays of summer sun beating down on her. Or a lover's kiss. But seeing as these weren't normal circumstances, it didn't mean a thing.
Sonia couldn't feel a single laser blast as they shot into her. In fact, it was actually somewhat tasty. "Tastes like chicken!" Instead, she absorbed it into her. Every single blast only added to her and amplified her strength. Not that she knew how she knew this, but she knew. And she also began to know other things. Things about how her new 'body' worked. How it functioned. And how to use it to beat the living hell out of anyone that crossed her.
"Okay, no time for existential angst! Long as I'm like this, I might as well use it! You all ready to get Sonia-ized?!" She braced her wrists together, letting loose another wave of energy that thrashed everyone and everything around her. She lifted herself off the ground until she was hovering in mid-air and charged into the enemy head-first.
Sonia was now as strong as could be. And she reveled in it. It was almost enough to forget one had been fully Mobian just a few minutes ago. In any case, she decided it was time to play hardball. She closed her eyes and focused as though the secrets of the universe were at her beck and call. Not that they were, but still. She then began to radically shrink and condense herself until nothing but one single purple laser remained. And it started shooting straight through the bots like an epidemic.
She zipped and zagged, darting through the bots and bringing them down while absorbing enemy fire in the process. Tails looked down from above as he rained destruction from the same place. "Sonia? She must have gotten it working!" He then took a closer look. And saw exactly what he had unleashed. "Oh. Didn't expect THAT." He started to think of how Sonia would react when the dust settled and the adrenaline wore off. And he gulped as though he were taking the most gargantuan swallow of water imaginable. "I'm a dead fox."
With Sonia finally becoming a force to be reckoned with, the tides seemed to be turning in the Freedom Fighter's favor. The bots were slowly but steadily being vanquished, and while the FF were had taken some hits, it was nothing they wouldn't bounce back from. It was a heck of a show. One that someone was eagerly recording. A small, tiny device had flown into the battle, floating high above even Tails' little head and watching it all from above. And it saw everything. At which there was only one very salient question: Why?
"Well now, this is a delight!"
Eggman watched the monitor in the Control Room with glee, like a child watching his favorite cartoon. "Just when it seems they might not have what it takes, BLAM! They throw you a curveball."
Eggman looked away from the monitor towards Chuck. He was standing with handcuffs in the center of the room and had been watching the proceedings like a father concerned about his son.
"So! What do you think?"
Chuck was too busy trying to unlock his restraints around his wrist to care. "You go and attack my nephew, even my niece in broad daylight and you expect me to tell you what I think? Well, I've only got one thing to say to that. Not that I can say it without being taken out back and shot though, I'm sure."
"Did I say that?" said Eggman.
"No, to be honest," said Chuck. "But I'm willing to bet that's how it would happen you ever did take control of Mobius. Not too different from how GUN used to handle things, really."
Eggman's face suddenly turned red like fire. He was absolutely livid. "DON'T. YOU. DARE."
"Oh, I'll dare. If this were about your grandfather, that would be one thing. But if it were, you wouldn't have even bothered trying to take over one little kingdom in the boonies. You would've gone straight after GUN. You would've tried to take them down from within and without. Instead, you're playing the Mad Genius, desperate to be remembered. And trying to harm my niece, nephew, and everyone else in the process! Tell me. How is this any better than what GUN did? I'm dying to know the answer."
"That is enough!"Eggman stomped over to Chuck and lifted him up by the throat, desperately trying to strangle so him so he would just. Shut. UP! "How dare you! HOW DARE YOU! I AM FAR BETTER THAN THOSE CRETINS WERE! THAN ANYONE EVER WAS! FAR BETTER THAN YOU! WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU—"
Just then, the door to the Control Room opened with Grimer stepping right inside. "Ah, Julian! I trust things are going—"
Eggman stopped his stranglehold dead in its' tracks. He looked at Grimer as though he had a sudden case of stage fright, though his hold on Chuck hadn't lessened. For his part, Chuck tried to wave hello, not that he was in much of a position to do so just then.
"Chuck!" said Grimer. "Uh, hello. It has been a while, hasn't it? If I may say so, I honestly did not expect to see you like THIS. Julian, don't you think it would be a good idea to put our most esteemed prisoner down before you strangle him to death? If you want to prove to everyone you actually have a case, this isn't helping it."
Eggman looked at Grimer. Then back at Chuck. Then back at Grimer. Then back at Chuck. Until finally, his rage lessened, and he slowly put Chuck back down on the ground like placing a priceless statue.
"Well now," said Grimer. "Good to see you again, Chuck." He eyed Eggman as though he had been keeping his right hand from Grimer's left. "I wasn't aware you were here. Or why such a good, old friend is being kept in chains. Of course, I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation. Isn't there?"
For the first time in ages, Eggman knew that he was NOT the one with the power. Even if it was only for a moment, Grimer was now the one calling the shots. He stuttered and started, fumbling about for the right answer to please the only person he would ever dare listen to, if only for a minute or two. "Uh, ahem, that is to say. I was only making sure that our guest was properly protected from himself! You know Mobians. They have their uses, but in the end, they only end up hurting themselves."
"Even if that were true, and I am quite sure it isn't, Chuck is an old friend. Or at least he was supposed to be. And you don't have too many of those these days."
The aforementioned moment was beginning to pass. Eggman's veins began to bulge, nearly bursting from his skin as he barely struggled to retain his rage. "You call this THING a friend?! Do friends insult one another?! Do they accuse them of being nothing more than selfish bastards who only care about themselves?! Because if they do, then I personally don't much care for them! If you don't mind me saying so."
Grimer stood silent like a tree, his eyes open wide. As though he could scarcely comprehend what he had just heard. "Excuse me?"
Eggman quickly caught himself and backpedaled like the dickens. "Uh, that is to say, I don't much care for friends… except you, that is."
"I'm sure," said Grimer. "In any case, were you planning to do him harm or not?"
"Does it matter if I say 'yes?"
Grimer folded his arms as though the answer should have been obvious. "What do you think?"
"You know," said Chuck, "I'm impressed you're going to such lengths to keep me from getting the daylights strangled out of me, Grimer. Seeing as you haven't really done the same for anyone else."
"Everyone else is simply a causality of war. You are an exception."
"And why's that? Because you know me? Just because we spent a few years in college together, I should get special treatment? Makes you sound like a hypocrite, doesn't it?"
Grimer looked both directions as though he were crossing the street before whispering directly into Chuck's ear. "For once, could you please quit the moral grandstanding and just allow me to save you from being turned into roadkill?! You want to play the hero, fine, but you might want to do so after I get you out of here!"
"Something you wish to share with the class, Grimer?" said Eggman.
"Not really, no," said Grimer. "Simply advising our dear guest not to kick the hornet's nest if he knew what was good for him. Although I don't think that leaving him out here in the Control Room will do anyone any good. Might it not be better to bring him back to his cell where he can spend some time reflecting on the error of his ways?"
Eggman placed a gloved hand over his mouth as if deeply contemplating his next course of action. "Not just yet. I still haven't proved my point."
"Which is?"
"That no matter what he or anyone does, no matter what his niece or nephew do, there is no stopping me. Perhaps they have enough raw power to take down hordes of cannon fodder, but the full might of my Egg Bosses is another story. Never mind that I've got something else I've got up my sleeve."
"And what would that be?" said Chuck. "I'm curious."
Eggman pushed back his glasses, smiling like the devil. "Remember when you noticed those robotized Mobians on your way into Robotropolis?"
"Yup. One of the most horrifying things I've ever seen. What about it?"
"You hadn't visited in ages, I'm sure, so you probably didn't know. But the city is currently missing a tenth of its' population. Would you like to know where it is?"
It took a while for the full impact of this declaration to fully sink in. And once it did, it hit Chuck like a blow to the gut.
"You didn't."
For once in his life, Grimer almost seemed to feel the same way. Almost. "Sir. Excuse me for asking this out of the blue, but is there a reason you've kept me busy working on our two special projects for the last week while you were busy arranging our deployment forces? Because I believe I am entitled to know."
"Don't tell me you actually give a damn about any of this." Chuck was unconvinced that the same man who had willingly helped Eggman commit so many grievous wrongs would actually be concerned about such a thing.
"Let us simply say that I see no value in letting such a valuable commodity go to waste. Which is what I'm concerned you may be doing."
"No matter," said Eggman. "Besides, they still have to stand up against the Eggbosses. If they manage to take those Freedom Fighters out, there won't be any need to deploy anyone else.
This didn't please Grimer in the least. "But you still sent them."
Eggman was not amused. "Whatever. In any event, let us see if they have any more luck this time than the last few times, hm?"
"Speaking of which, there's been something I've been meaning to talk to you about. You possess a robotic army of sufficient numbers that would under normal circumstances be enough to take the entire island hostage, nevermind your crack squads of Eggbosses and mercenaries, yet you continue to be upstaged by a ragtag band of rebels led by a teenage squirrel and her small band of plucky friends. Don't you think it's time to consider a different tact?"
"Oh, Grimer, I'm surprised you would think so little of me! You do remember all of those special projects we're working on, don't you?"
"I do. But I'm not sure it will be enough. It honestly defies all reason. By all rights, one group of freedom fighters should not be enough to take on entire hordes of robots regardless of how powerful they are! Nevermind if they can rally the rest of the island. I can't help but feel as if there's more to this than we know. Some sort of unseen force or cosmic rule of nature that would make such a thing possible. I'm just not sure what it is."
Chuck massaged his thick, bushy mustache between two fingers, almost getting a kick out of Grimer trying to make excuses for what he saw as the obvious. "Or you could just accept that the both of you don't know what the hell you're doing and that my nephew and niece and all their friends are just that good. And that maybe it'd be best to pack it up and call it a day."
Eggman could barely hold himself in. "SHUT UP! Unless you want me to strangle you again?"
"Heaven forbid."
"Calm yourself, Julian," said Grimer. "Think of it this way. If you lash out, he wins. If he hasn't already."
Eggman took another deep breath, doing his best to remember that book on zen he read during summer camp all those years ago. "You're right. You're quite right, Grimer. Besides, I have more important things to worry about. Such as whether or not I'll have to play hardball." He turned his attention back to the screen, hoping that the Eggbosses would be enough. But if they weren't, then those pesky Freedom Fighters would be in for a heck of a surprise.
By this point, Amy's Freedom Fighters were in the thick of it. Hordes of robots and badniks had been totaled left and right. The only reason the plains didn't resemble a junkheap was that they were so gargantuan, but they were still spread out as far as the eye could see. As for the FF, they were battered, bruised, and breathing like there was no tomorrow, but they were still standing.
That said, even Sonic was starting to feel the strain. He stood in the middle of the battlefield, holding up his back as though his quills could come off any minute. "Uh, well. That was fun! But also kinda a mess. Just how many of those guys were there?!"
Tails flew back down from the skies ahead, almost spiraling with how fast he was plummeting. "A lot. I think. Honestly, I'm pooped."
Amy walked over to the others. Out of all them, she was probably the worse for wear. Trickles of blood were streaming down her right shoulder, and as much as she tried to stop it with her other hand, it just kept coming. "Everyone okay? Did we get them all?"
"Maybe?" said Manic. "We got most of the bots, I think. The militia and some of the others are doing clean-up. Still took a while though. I'm surprised my ring hasn't needed a recharge."
"All I wanna know is, WHERE'S THAT DAMN FOX?!" Sonia stormed into the growing circle of freedom fighters, still glowing and pink and non-fleshy. Tails hid behind Sonic's legs, desperate not to be skewered alive. And everyone else couldn't help but stare. "YOU DIDN'T SAY THIS WAS GONNA HAPPEN! I'M A WALKING PINK LIGHTBULB! LET'S PUT THE CRYSTAL ON YOU, SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!" She tried to rip it off, but as much as she tried, it was stuck. "Huh. Well, how do ya' like that?"
"WHOA! You okay, Sonia?!"
"Uh, I'm fine, I guess? It's kinda weird, but I'm still alive and kicking. And I can do a buncha cool stuff! BUT I'M STILL A WALKING LIGHTBULB! WHERE'S THE DAMN FOX?!"
Sonic raised his hand in a desperate attempt to change the subject. "Ah, well—"
It happened before they could blink. Before they knew it, a green blur swooped in and rammed into Sonic. The two merged together, forming one green-blue mishmash that raced across the plains like a runaway train. It went up, down, left, right, all around and back again, and didn't have any rhyme or reason other than the need to RUN.
"What the hell was that?!" said Sonia.
"It's got to be Swifty!" said Tails. "He must've swooped in and grabbed Sonic before we could blink. And now—"
"And now they're racing across the plains like no tomorrow," said Amy. "Just great."
"Hey," said Sonia, "I know I'm still kinda working this out, but I might be able to help! I can turn myself into this sorta laser or whatever, and when I do, I'm nearly as fast as Sonic! I think. Can't do all the crazy things he can, but it's something!"
"Fine!" said Amy. "As is, they're too evenly matched! Something needs to tip the balance. And I guess you're it."
"Alright!" Sonia condensed herself into a pink laser once and more and flew into action, aiming herself towards the racing blur.
"Hey, Tails?"
"Yes, Amy?" said Tails.
"Did you know that crystal would turn Sonia into a walking lightbulb?"
"Uh, not really. I just thought it would give her energy powers. Firing energy blasts of her hands, maybe some basic flight. Something like that."
"So you didn't know it'd actually turn her INTO energy?"
"No, not really. But we can't always test these things in advance either. They're tuned to a specific person. In most cases, only that person can wield it. But we usually still have a pretty good idea what these things do regardless."
"But not this time?"
"Apparently not."
"Uh-huh." Amy pinched her nose, as though she couldn't believe the sheer amount of incompetence on display. "You know you're a dead fox, right?"
"It's been starting to sink in, yes. But that said- LOOK OUT!" Tails jetted up just enough to tackle Amy and bring her flat to the ground. A massive blast of energy suddenly flared toward the both of them, threatening to vaporize Amy and Tails both. Manic managed to get a shield up just in time, but a millisecond later and Tails and Amy would've been toast if they hadn't ducked.
"Heads up, people!" said Manic. "We've got company!" Little did they know just kind of company they'd receive.
