(See Prelude for Disclaimer).
~Chapter 7: We're Sonic Heroes~
Back in Green Hills, at the Mean Bean cafe, Agent Stone was tied to a chair and being quite badly interrogated by Wade after he went to the cafe to find it closed and looked inside to see Stone fiddling around on Robotnik's computer.
But just then, Robotnik himself had suddenly appeared in the room. He was glowing an ominous green light due to him now using the power of the Master Emerald.
"Doctor, you're here", said Stone.
"Yes, I'm here, and yet I'm…not all there", Robotnik said ominously.
"Sir, are you feeling okay?", asked Stone.
"I'm more than okay. I'm upgraded. Sinister 3.0. My game is next level", said Robotnik as he spoke like he had swallowed a synthesizer before he turned to Wade, "Hi. I can smell the electricity in your brain. You smell like a snack plate".
Wade looked at him fearfully, "Yeah, that's fair. I had a couple today", he said.
"Sit down. In the chair", said Robotnik as he untied Stone.
"I didn't know. 'Cause he, 'cause he was in the chair, so I didn't. Okay", said Wade as he sat in the chair and let himself be tied up.
"Sir? We have a problem", said Stone as he looked outside.
Outside, G.U.N. soldiers were arriving in tanks, jeeps and helicopters, surrounding the place since they knew Robotnik was inside the cafe.
"All teams in position!"
"Set up a perimeter!"
"Move! Move! Move!"
Robotnik saw this and smiled, "Incorrectus, my trusty barnacle. After all these years, what I finally got…is a solution", he said.
Back outside, a G.U.N. agent was speaking to Commander Walters, filling him in on the situation.
"Status report", said Walters.
"Robotnik is in there with Stone and a hostage. Possibly local PD. I'm not saying he's dumb, but if he is local PD, this town's in a lot of trouble", said the agent.
"Wade", said Tom and Maddie who were there as well.
Just then, the cafe doors opened as Robotnik floated outside, green energy sparking along his body.
"Rockin' that new spring collection, I see", Tom joked.
"Well, if it isn't the Pastry King", said Robotnik.
"The Donut Lord. A real genius would remember the name of the guy who helped kick your butt off this planet. And I'll do it again if you mess with Green Hills", said Tom.
Robotnik laughed, "Congratulations on your oh-so-temporary sense of superiority", he said.
"You're finished, Robotnik! We've taken everything. Your lab, your drones, your funding! Let's see how big of a man you are without your silly little robots", said Walters.
"Would you like to see…how big a man I can be? Welcome to the new norm", said Robotnik. He then began using the power of the Master Emerald to take apart the tanks, trucks, helicopters and even a nearby freight train; all the parts were being pulled into a massive tornado that sparked with green energy.
"My god!", said Walters.
Stone ran out of the cafe just as Robotnik floated up into the maelstrom, "Doctor, take me with you!", he shouted. Then he was pulled into the storm by Robotnik.
"He's taking everything apart", said Tom.
"He's building something", said Maddie.
Just then, a few miles away, a ring portal opened up and out flew Tails' airplane along with Penelope on her hoverboard. Sonic and Knuckles were riding on the wings of the plane, they were all flying towards the massive tornado.
"Um guys...I know in places like Montana, tornadoes are pretty common, but that doesn't seem like a normal tornado!", shouted Penelope.
"That can only be one thing", said Tails.
"The fearsome power of the Emerald", said Knuckles.
"If that thing really turns thoughts into power, we are in big trouble. Robotnik has a lot of bad thoughts", said Sonic.
Tails then leaned over to whisper to Sonic. "Hey, Sonic, are you sure it was a good idea bringing you-know-who aboard?", he asked.
"Knuckles isn't really a bad guy. He's just a little mixed up", said Sonic.
Knuckles overheard this, "I am not mixed up! I have steely focus. And I'm complex. And that's a lot for some people", he said.
Penelope laughed, "Oh yes! Very complex", she said.
Tails chuckled nervously, "Hope you're not still mad I hit you with that car", he said.
"Pfft! I was completely uninjured. And my revenge will come when you least expect it, fox", said Knuckles.
Penelope then looked over in concern, "Oh my gosh! I totally forgot that happened! Are you sure you're okay? Nothing broken?", she said.
Knuckles smiled at her, "You need not worry, New Sister. I am as solid and unyielding as a mountain, I have no injuries", he said.
"Oh thank goodness", said Penelope. She didn't notice Sonic rolled his eyes and huff, he may have welcomed Knuckles as a friend but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a bit jealous of the amount of affection he was getting from Penelope.
Oh well, it's not important now...I can live with it, Sonic thought.
Robotnik floated into a dark enclosure, that then became illuminated by glowing green energy. Next to him, a small alcove opened up revealing Stone sitting at a console; he stared at Robotnik with adoration.
"Sir, you're magnificent!", he said.
"Thank you, sycophant. Your admiration is inevitable", said Robotnik.
The tornado soon cleared away, revealing an enormous robot in his likeness. Everyone on the scene looked on in shock, "I knew it! Just like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man", Wade said.
Robotnik then started moving in a walking motion inside the robot, which caused it to start stomping towards everyone.
"Fall back. Fall back! Quick! Retreat!", shouted Walters as everyone began running for their lives.
Up in the sky, Sonic and the others saw the gigantic machine in all it's horrible glory.
"Ugh! I don't know what's uglier: Robotnik or that...that thing!", Penelope shouted.
"How are we supposed to beat this thing?", asked Tails.
"We need a plan. Knuckles, use your strength to…", Sonic trailed off when Knuckles folded his arms across his chest and willingly fell off the wing, plummeting to the ground below.
"What the flying Hell?! Knuckles!", shouted Penelope as she flew down to follow him.
Sonic stared dumbstruck, "...Jump off the plane. Wow. Okay, this is what we're gonna do.", he said as he got on top of the top wing, "Step 1: Light taunting. Step 2: I have no idea".
Tom and Maddie looked up to see him standing on the plane as it flew towards the robot. "Sonic!", said Maddie.
"Nice action figure, Eggman. Does it do anything or just stand there looking ugly?", said Sonic as the plane circled around the giant robot.
"Like a blister, he keeps coming back! He's on the okay-to-kill list. Shoot the missiles. Make a decision", said Robotnik.
"I need a moment, sir. I'm trying to figure out how to do this", said Stone as he was having difficulty figuring out how to work the machine.
"Did you even glance at a manual?", said Robotnik as he zapped himself over to the console, "I'll do it. Pardon my lightning. You might want to ground yourself".
A series of ports opened up on the outside of the robot and fired off a bunch of missiles.
"Uh-oh", said Tails.
"I'm gonna pop that thing open like a can of chili…Ahhh!", said Sonic as he saw the oncoming missiles. Missiles flew right towards the plane at top speed, "Hang on!", shouted Tails as he did a barrel roll, dodging all the missiles and relieving Sonic.
"Close one", said Sonic before one of the missiles hit him, making him fly away with it.
"Sonic!", shouted Tails.
Down on the ground, Knuckles entered the scene, running towards the giant robot, getting its attention.
"Robotnik! Deceiver!", he shouted.
"Die, mosquito!", said Robotnik
as he put his giant robot's hand on the ground and made it run right towards Knuckles. Knuckles generated chaos energy in his fist and punched the robot hand very hard, making it flinch.
Robotnik pulled his hand backward, "I felt that", he said. Then he tried to swat Knuckles like a bug with the robot's other hand, but then Penelope came flying in and scooped him up.
"EB! Activate Lethal Weapon Mode!", she shouted.
"My apologizes, Creator, but is my Lethal Weapon Mode not reserved for life or death situations?", asked EB.
"Yes, but I'm only using the laser on the robot, not Robotnik. I may hate him but I'm not a murderer", Penelope retorted.
With that said, EB adjusted his laser gun to the lethal setting as Penelope started firing on the robot, but it wasn't doing that much damage. Seeing this, she flew away quickly before Robotnik could try anything; as she flew off, she turned to Knuckles who clung to her hoverboard.
"Do me a favor and never jump off a moving vehicle ever again! Especially an airplane high up in the sky! You could've been hurt or killed, ya know!", she said sternly.
Knuckles looked at her and nodded nervously.
The hedgehog was right...she really does behave like a mother would, he thought.
Up in the sky, Tails was flying the plane at the robot, a pair of missile launchers popping out on the head of the plane and firing down on it. Robotnik thrusted its hands around in an attempt to catch him.
While the plane flew around the robot, its mustache clamped together, crushing one of the plane's wings and making it crash to the streets. Tails used his twin-tails to fly out of the plane before it crashed and landed safely to the ground.
Robotnik was shocked by what that had just occurred, "What just happened?", he asked.
"It's the Stache smasher", said Stone as he held up a manual, "Right here in the manual".
Sonic then came flying in, riding a missile. "Return to sender", he said as he jumped off the missile and landed on the ground. The missile hit the robot in the knee, causing it to jolt; Stone was thrown out of his seat, where he hit the wall and was knocked unconscious.
"Stone? Great. Next thing you know, there'll be a report about a hostile work environment", said Robotnik.
Meanwhile, Sonic and the others regrouped on the ground to get their bearings.
"Those were our best attacks and they did nothing!", said Knuckles.
"Not even EB set to Lethal Mode was enough to dent that oversized can opener!", said Penelope.
"We can't beat Robotnik as long as he's got that Emerald. He's too powerful", said Tails.
"Look we aren't strong enough to beat Robotnik on our own, but there's four of us", said Sonic as he looked to Knuckles, Tails and Penelope, "Your strength, your smarts, your heart and my speed, together. That's how we win".
"So we make our stand here on the field of battle", said Knuckles.
"As a team!", said Tails.
"Alright, let's get ready to this! We'll show that creep the real super power of teamwork!", Penelope said jubilantly.
"This is it. This is our moment!", said Sonic as they all stood up, ready to fight.
Robotnik prepared himself as well, "Time to fight", he said. Ports opened up all along the robot again, allowing Robotnik's new and improved badniks to fly out and attack the foursome, who all fought back.
"Bad time to say this, but I don't actually have a plan. Tails, any ideas?", said Sonic.
"We have to find his weak spot", said Tails.
"I suggest the groin", said Knuckles.
"Excuse me...WHAT?", shouted Penelope.
"What? No, no!", said Sonic.
"Traditionally, yes; the groin is the weakest spot", said Knuckles.
"Stop saying "groin"!", complained Sonic.
"Please do, for the freaking love of God!", said Penelope.
"Hedgehog!", shouted Robotnik as he pointed his robot's arms at the four. He began firing laser beams at them, "Look out!", shouted Sonic.
They all dodged the attack as they sped towards the robot, "Wait a minute, that's it! I know what his weak spot is: it's me! I'm the groin--"
"Sonic, if you say that one more time I swear I'm gonna..."
"No Sis, hear me out! Think about it! I live rent-free in this dude's head, so if I go out there and rile him up…", said Sonic.
"He'll focus on only you, leaving himself open to a flanking maneuver from me and the fox! Hedgehog, you are a brave and noble warrior! Go to your certain death with honor!", said Knuckles.
"We're gonna have to work on your pep talks, pal", said Sonic.
"Yeah", said Tails.
Penelope turned to Sonic, "Well you're not doing this alone! If you're gonna be a distraction, then so am I. After all, Robotnik hates me too, in fact I'm pretty sure he jealous that my robot designs are better than his", she said with a smug grin.
Sonic smiled back, "Let's go!", he said as all four of them sped off to complete their objectives. Sonic and Penelope stopped just in front of the robot, "All right, mustache. You want us? Come and get us!", shouted Sonic. And for good measure, Penelope stuck her middle finger out at Robotnik, but she made sure Sonic didn't see her do it.
Robotnik became very angry, "You don't tell me about coming and getting. I am on the cutting edge of coming and getting! Coming, getting. Coming, getting. Coming, getting. Coming, getting", he said as he started chasing them.
Behind him, Tails was flying towards the robot. Knuckles jumped off a roof, allowing Tails to catch him. "You're really heavy", Tails winced.
"That's because I am one million percent muscle. Faster, fox!", said Knuckles. They flew over and landed on the robot's leg.
Meanwhile, Tom and Maddie were helping the townspeople run away and get to safety.
"Go! Move, guys! Move back!", shouted Maddie.
"Let's go, that's it! Go, go, go! Keep going!", shouted Tom.
Just then, they halted a guy who came driving up in his truck. "Tom, what happened here?", the guy asked.
Tom looked at Maddie, "You thinking what I'm thinking?", he asked.
"Let's get our kids", she said.
They then turned to the guy, "We need your truck!", they said.
Back to the fight, Robotnik was still chasing Sonic and Penelope. "Coming, getting", he said before stopping momentarily.
Sonic then called out to him from atop a tree, Penelope hovering right next to him. "So what's the plan here? You gonna build a big robot house? Get yourself a big robot wife?", he asked.
"Yeah, I plan on building robots to benefit humanity. They'll be used to help the elderly, the disabled, even helping out parents take care of their children and assist in local businesses! What are you planning on doing, "Eggs Benedict"?", Penelope called out.
Robotnik laughed maniacally, "I'm going to enslave humanity and force them to service my machines. First, Green Hills. Then the universe. Then the multiverse. Then who knows? Maybe that'll be enough. Full disclosure? You two won't be there", he said as his robot started firing lasers from its eyes.
Sonic and Penelope dodged the lasers as they zipped across the bridge outside of town, "Eye lasers? Really?", said Sonic.
"Snot rocket!", shouted Robotnik as he shot fire out from the robot's nose at the bridge.
"No, no, no! No, no, no!", Sonic shouted.
Penelope flew over to him and grabbed him, holding him close to her body as the bridge collapsed. EB detached from her arm and grabbed them, opening his propeller; he tried to slow their descent, but it was no use, they still went plummeting to the ground as debris fell all around them.
One rock fell on EB, partially crushing him. "EB, no!", Penelope shouted as she tried to get up but then fell over next to Sonic yelping in pain.
"Sis, what's wrong?", asked Sonic.
"My left leg! I think its broken!", she shouted.
Robotnik laughed as he finally caught up with them, "Giving up already? Not so tough when you're fighting someone 700 times your size, are ya! You can't beat me! I'm all-powerful! All-knowing! All-seeing", he said.
Just then, something cut a hole in the side of the robot, revealing Tails. "Looks like your fancy robot has a glitch", he said as he and dozens of holograms of himself flew inside the robot.
Robotnik tried to zap the real Tails, but kept hitting the holograms. "Is it me? What about me? I'm over here. Up top! Down below! Behind you! I'm over here. Sorry! Over here. Too slow!", said the holograms.
"You can't outsmart me. I'm the outsmarter-er!", shouted Robotnik as he finally eliminated all of Tails' holograms, throwing the fox off balance.
"I didn't outsmart you. I'm just the distraction", said Tails.
Robotnik then turned to see Knuckles on the other side, "Robotnik! I am also a hologram", said the echidna.
"Disloyal", said Robotnik.
""Dis" is how I roll", said Knuckles as he leapt up and punch the Master Emerald right out of Robotnik. It flew out of the robot and landed just a few feet away from Sonic and Penelope; the robot then fell over, tossing Tails and Knuckles out of it, causing them to get thrown to the ground and be momentarily knocked out.
"Where's my Emerald? No, no, no, no! No, no, no! Computer, auxiliary power", said Robotnik.
Sonic looked up weakly and spotted the Master Emerald, "The Emerald. It's right there", he said.
"Move, you hunk of junk!", Robotnik shouted as he made the robot get back up and stomp towards the Emerald.
"I have to...reach it. Come on, come on, come on", said Sonic but he was so weak he could barely walk.
Penelope grabbed him and held him under her right arm as she limped towards the Emerald, "My leg may be broken but I can still move! We have to get the Emerald first!", she said as she gritted her teeth in pain.
Just then, Tom and Maddie were driving in on the scene in the truck. "There they are! Go! Go, go, go!", shouted Maddie.
Sonic and Penelope finally reached the Master Emerald, the latter picking it up and giving it to Sonic before her strength gave out and she collapsed to the ground. "I'm sorry, Sonic. It hurts too much, I can't keep going", she said weakly.
Just before Robotnik could stomp down on the two, the truck came speeding by and they were pulled into it by Maddie.
"We got you guys", she said.
"NO!", shouted Robotnik as he then stomped towards them.
"Hold on!", said Tom.
The robot stomped the ground, sending the truck flipping. When it landed, the four pulled themselves out of it and sat on the ground.
"You guys okay?", asked Maddie.
"Yeah", said Tom.
"More or less...", groaned Penelope.
"We got the Emerald. We can still defeat him. Come on, come on. How does this thing work? What do I do?", said Sonic. Just then, the Master Emerald started to break and fall into pieces, revealing the seven Chaos Emeralds.
"What? No. No, no, no, no! No, no, no, no!", Sonic shouted.
"What happened?! Why did it just break?!", shouted Penelope.
Robotnik stopped just near where they were, "Look at the happy little family", he said as he shot a ring of fire around them.
"You have to get away from us. We're the ones he wants", Sonic said to Tom.
"Hey. We're not going anywhere. We're family", said Maddie.
"And families stick together…no matter what", said Tom.
At that moment, as Robotnik was preparing to crush them to death with the robot's foot, Penelope burst out crying. She pulled Sonic into a hug as they were pulled into a hug by Tom and Maddie, "Mom...Dad...Sonic, I love you guys. I love you so much!", she sobbed.
Sonic held his sister's hand tightly as he looked at her, Tom and Maddie. "I love you too, Sis. And I love you guys too", he said.
"We love you too, kiddos", said Tom.
Just then, the seven Chaos Emeralds flew up and spun around in the air as they entered Sonic's body, just as the robot's foot came down on them.
"No!", shouted Tails.
"I got them! I finally got them! What was that?", said Robotnik.
Suddenly, the robot's foot started to lift up off the ground. Tails, Knuckles, Tom, Maddie and Penelope looked up in awe as Sonic had changed: his fur was now golden yellow, his eyes were red and he glowed with a strong energy. He shot up through the foot, knocking the robot back a bit as he flew up into the air.
Then, he spun around the robot's neck several times before he stopped, the head falling off as he had effortlessly decapitated it. Sonic then floated in the air before Robotnik, "It's over, Eggman", he said.
"I like the new look. It works for you. What do you say we just let bygones be bygones? I did some things, you did some things. There are good people on both sides. Surely two intelligent beings can work these things OUT!!!", said Robotnik as he tried to punch Sonic with the robot's right hand.
Sonic easily caught the fist as it came his way, then with a blast of Chaos energy, he destroyed the arm.
"Come on, buddy. Come on", said Tom.
"Get him, Sonic!", said Maddie.
"Get him, Little Bro! Kick his butt into next week!", shouted Penelope.
Robotnik then tried to punch Sonic with his other robot hand but Sonic easily blew that one up as well. Then Sonic began flying through the robot's body, tearing it apart from the inside out; once he had done a sufficient amount of damage, he lightly tapped it with his foot, tipping it over.
"Oh, it's like that? Okay, we're not friends", Robotnik said as the giant robot fell over with him falling off its platform, "Later, hater!"
The robot then finally fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Sonic began to lower himself down to the ground.
"Sonic!", said Maddie as she helped Penelope walk over.
"Buddy!", said Tom.
Before the three could approach him, they were stopped by Knuckles. "Wait! You cannot touch him! The hedgehog holds the power of the Emerald. I am sorry. He is no longer the Sonic you once knew", he said.
They looked up in confusion as Sonic lifted his right hand and began summoning a mighty storm, lightning shot down from the sky into his hand revealing...a chilidog.
Sonic sniffed it before he took a bite, "Mmm...you got to try this", he said. He then snapped his fingers and another chilidog came falling out of the sky, hitting Knuckles in the face.
"Okay. He is exactly the Sonic you once knew", he said.
After finishing his little snack, Sonic then flew over to Penelope and gave her left leg a gentle tap; a pulse of golden light flowed down her leg like a tidal wave. She slowly let go out Maddie as she carefully pressed her foot to the ground, "I...I don't believe it! My leg, its better!", she shouted happily.
Sonic smiled as he then ejected the Chaos Emeralds from his body, causing them to fly into the air and shoot across the sky, heading in separate directions.
"Sonic!", said Maddie.
"Little Bro!", said Penelope.
"Bring it in, bud", said Tom.
The family then shared in a big group hug before they pulled apart, "It's good to be back in blue. The golden god thing was fun, but blue has always been more my color", said Sonic.
"Looks good on you", said Tom.
"Yeah, blue was always my favorite color anyway", said Penelope.
"Sonic, you were the most powerful hero in the universe, and you let it go. Why?", said Tails.
"Because I still have some growing up to do. And I kind of like being a kid", said Sonic as he looked at his family.
"And you're not just any kid. You're our kid", said Tom.
"That's right. Bring it in!", said Maddie.
They all joined in a group hug again.
"Yay. Hugs", said Tails.
"Oh, my sweet little brothers!", said Penelope.
"It's a good thing we didn't do this before. You would've blown up", said Sonic.
Knuckles then poured the Master Emerald shards into his hands and pressed them together, causing them to glow. As Knuckles pulled his hands back, the Master Emerald was revealed to have been fixed.
"You fixed it", said Sonic.
"Cool!", said Penelope.
"I've spent my whole life questing for this. Now I have it. Now we have it. What do we do with it? What next?", said Knuckles.
"There were once two orders of heroes who protected the galaxy from those who would use the Emerald for evil", said Tails.
"But they have all passed on to the great battleground in the sky", said Knuckles.
"So we start a new order. The four of us", said Sonic.
"We can become the Guardians of the Master Emerald!", said Penelope.
"This is no light task. We must make a vow; to use our powers to keep the universe safe; to watch out for each other.Our new tribe", said Knuckles.
"I know! A power bump!", said Tails as he stuck his fist out.
"Good idea", said Sonic as he pressed his fist to Tails'.
"Right back at ya!", said Penelope as she bent down to join her fist with Sonic and Tails.
Knuckles seemed confused by the gesture, "It's an Earth custom. An unbreakable promise", explained Tails.
"Very well. A power bump it is", said Knuckles.
Tom and Maddie also power bumped as well.
"Power bump!", shouted Sonic and Penelope.
[To be continued...]
