Author's notes:

Nothing much to say than stay safe out there. The world has gone mad.

*Ducks under a flying book.*

Or, at least, my household has. Can't wait to my siblings are allowed to go back at school. :)

-Anomalous123.

Chapter 15- Grudges and Betrayls:

Edited: 05/09/2021 (dd/mm/yy)

Ivo Robotnick had a long history of betraying others or being betrayed. Some were earned, some were anticipated, while others seemed to come out of nowhere. It was rare in life to find someone who is truly honest in their intentions and was loyal to a fault, even amongst his robots. He was just too good of an inventor that he had to risk-free will for his followers to adapt, leading to various results.

Simplistic designs in the forms of Bocoe, Decoe, Orbot and Cubot were essentially personal assistants, scared of their master's wrath and would do anything to please him.

Then there were worrier classes. Separated into insect-type badnicks, androids, and E-Series. While the insect-type badnicks were limited in emotion and abilities, they followed orders to the letter, the E-series were more trouble than they were worth. Androids consisted of five conversions, including Metal Sonic and the Shadow Android. Only two were fully operational, one was offline, and the rest were being punished for their crimes against the Eggman Empire.

And finally, the E-series. Built for bigger threats and to command, the E-series were defective in their programming. They were either mindlessly destructive or disobedient. One, in particular, E-123 Omega had disappeared serval days ago after his initial instruction to infiltrate G.U.N's base and find the prototypes. His GPS single showed him lurking sulking around the forest for the past few days. He had sent others to spy on the seemingly malfunctioning robot while he was busy, but none never seemed to come back. It seemed hopeless tracking the odd robot, so he periodically checked upon him when he had time. Nothing seemed out of the unusual behavioural patterns until today.

He was startled out of his tinkering on a project by a bleep of his computer, announcing that E-123 Omega had breached city limits. The man rushed over in anticipation with hopes of the robot coming to his senses and finding the G.U.N base to finish his initial mission when he continued onto the streets. From what information Hope had given him, the G.U.N base was on the outskirts of the city, not the centre...

Curiosity got the better of him, so he abandoned his pet project and boarded his Eggcarrier, mulling over several possibilities. Before he left, he checked the camera feed and put the base on full lockdown, ensuring the forcefield was fully charged and online, and making sure no other emeralds were near his main control room. It would be a waste for Shadow to find an escape until Robotnick got some use out of Gerald's pet.

A loud bang rang through Tails' ears and echoed around the alleyway. His body was frozen, eyes wide as his new ally crashed through the wall and into the room behind it. Dust flew from the wreckage, stunning his eyes and blinding him temporarily.

He heard heavy breathing as a Shadow drew closer, the distinct sound of metal slapping noisily against the concrete. "Get up," the robot growled, teeth pulled back in a snarl. The whirl of gears sounded as Omega climbed to his feet, red eyes piercing through the smoke and dust. A gust of wind swept across the ally, leaving Tails enough senses to observe the scene in front of him.

Shadow shifted, holding his hand out with a determined expression. "Give me your Chaos Detector."

Omega head lifted in response, eyes scanning his attacker. "REQUEST DENIED. SAID ITEM IS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE CURRENT OBJECTIVE."

Shadow's frown depended into a scrawl, his eyes narrowing in anger. "It wasn't a request."

Before Tails could comprehend what was going on, Shadow launched, metal clashing against metal as the whirl of gears sounded. They moved in sync, matching claws to crawls and punch to punch. They seemed evenly matched, dancing around each other, anticipating the others move.

This continued for a few minutes before Shadow got tired of the routine and decided to teleport behind him, striking him in the back. Omega buckled under the weight of the bunch and fell forward, hitting the ground, hard.

"You're weak. You failed to protect either of them, even before you deserted us. I won't make that same mistake again. I may not be able to kill you, but I will be taking your tracker and Chaos detector. Have fun with the humans, traitor." He monologues before lifting his claws, ready to plunge them into Omega's back, right above the said components.

"NEGATIVE. THE PRIMARY DIRECTIVE WAS REINSTATED. OVERWRITE WAS NON-SUBJECTIVE. MUST FIND ORIGINAL OBJECTIVE, SUBJECT: CHOAS."

These words made Shadow pause for a long moment, his arm coming down to rest by his side. Tails could almost see the gears in his head whirling as the android stared at the robot. "That isn't your mission, anymore." Shadow started slowly as if being careful about what he was saying. His tone held a hint of sadness and resentment in it. Tails stored the observation, wanting to analyse the behaviour later. "We've all been replaced."

A movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head to stare at the fox, face full of concern and dread. His eyes were wide and glossy, tears forming in the corners from fright and confusion.

He knew someone else was there, huddled within the corner, but didn't believe they were a fret to achieving his goal. Bystanders were generally quiet, hiding in the showers and observing the horrors unfolded with feelings of hopelessness and loss. This one seemed different though. Something was shining in his eyes. A ferocious intelligence disguised under a childhood innocence. This kit looked amazed and disturbed at the same time.

"AFFIRMATIVE." The robot agreed somlenly, inclining his head in a nod. "BUT I ALWAYS KNOW WHERE OUR LOYALTIES LIE. NOTHING HAS CHANGED."

Shadow sighed, removing his foot from Omega's chest plate before offering a hand. A small smirk making its way onto his face. "Had to check." He tried to apologise as a metal clawed hand grasped his own. With one big heave, the android had his faithful ally back on his feet. "Can't be too careful these days. Welcome back, old friend."

He could spot the yellow fox a mile away. His fur gleaming in the setting sun. He hovered high above the city, watching the two dots make their way into town. Beside him, Cubot's eyes glowed, following their every movement as he both recorded the event and sent the feed to his holo-screen.

"Interesting," he hummed, turning his attention to the screen in compensation. Who would have fought that the fox kit and the traitious Omega-123 would be working together? He wished he could hear what they said to each other. Could they be plotting? Scheming against him? It wouldn't be the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last.

His attention was yanked away from his rogue creation as it flashed a warning red. "Subject's tracking signal: Offline!" It screeched in big obnoxious lettering. His eyes widened in surprise before narrowing, the beggings of a growl making its way to his lips. Underneath, there was the words 'iniciate self destruct sequence', with a two-choice option depicting, 'Yes' or 'No'.

His finger went to stab the 'Yes' button before pausing. His mind whirled, thinking of the pros and cons of going through with this. His hand withdrew slowly.

"Cubot," he started in a questioning tone. The minature robot jump, surprised, at his call. It turned, nervous, it's blue-tinted eyes glaring up at his master's face.

Robotnick suppressed a wince as his screen showed his own face,. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see how tired he was. His red eyes had become duller, sadder. His mushtash was frigid and tangled. His checks were red and his outfit was stained in dust and grime.

When was the last time he had a shower? Slept for more than a couple of hours at a time? Eaten a decent meal?

A few days ago? Last week? Last Month? He didn't know. His concept of time seemed to have disappeared to make way to his new objectives.

He turned to peak at the streets below, ignoring his reflection. He didn't have time for such trivial things. Who cares how he looked, or how bad he smelled, he could care about that after he fulfilled his promise.

With newfound determination, his smirk returned as he gave the order.

"Release the spy. We have more urgent matter's to attend to."

Rogue had never been good at comforting people. Sure, she had been good at giving other's a reality check, but that was when she knew all the person, and their situation, very well. So, seeing him break down next to her was disconcerting and a little heart-breaking.

Her usual go-to was; 'it's all in the past now' and that 'things will get better', but she knew from personal experience that some things never got better. Some experiences just stick with you forever, period. No matter what you tried, sometimes it was better to accept your fate and live with it. Instead, she tried to focus on the future.

Before she could scramble what to say, alarms blared within the base, the computer going nuts as the once-there-files began to delete themselves before their very eyes. "WARNING, FIREWALL HAS BEEN BREACHED. CLASSIFIED FILES HAVE BEEN ACCESSED. INCITE DESTRUCTION SEQENCE IN: 10"

Shadow's head snapped up.

"9."

They both rose to their feet.

"8."

Rogue grabbed him by the arm.

"7."

They ran towards the exit.

"6."

"5."

They tried the door.

"4."

It was locked.

"3."

Shadow tried to Chaos Spear it open. It didn't even leave a scorch mark.

"2."

Rogue closed her eyes, curling into a ball and waiting for the pain. Something grabbed her wrist.

"1."

The bomb exploded, sending the room in flames and dust, coaching everything and anything in it.

There was a wet cough, a flash of blue light, and then silence.

Just like that the fight was over and done for before it really had gotten started. Tails watched in fearful curiosity as the Shadow Android, one of Eggman's top of the line robot and leaders of armies, helped the other up and began chatting a whispering quietly to each other in a rapid, heated argument.

His head spun, trying to make sense of the situation before Shadow turned and glowered at him. "You can come out now, fox boy. I know you're there."

The sound of his deep voice made the kit jump, body jerking to attention as he sat up. The two were looking straight at him, emotionless expressions boring into him. He fought the urge to curl back into a ball for either fear or embarrassment from having the metaphorical spotlight being shone upon him but willed himself to walk- albeit shakily- instead.

"Come with me." The Shadow Android clipped, turning around to stalk down the road, strides purposeful and face determined.

Confused Tails glanced towards Omega, who inclined his head towards where Shadow was disappearing around the corner of the next street. Finding it was the best option, the two rushed after him, hoping to get some answers.

Four betrayals in one night? This couldn't be a coincidence, especially with his plan coming to fruition. It happened in rapid succession, one after the other. They had to have some connection. Someone was playing him for a fool, alright.

The arc incident made him relise that he couldn't trust anyone, not even his family members. No one was off the table, so to know that Metal Sonic had ran at the first chance he got and Rogue hacked his computer made him pissed, but not surprised.

No, what surprised him was Shadow Android's actions. Not only did he abandoned the mission in favour of going after that knock-off, but he blocked his Chaos Signature. Even with the conversion, it was clear he retained some memories of his old life. He was loyal to a fault once he gained the respect of another. The fact seemed to be a common trait in Shadow, despite what form he took or what path he led...

It was a shame he chooses Sonic.

They would pay; all of them will pay for betraying him. He needed them; trusted them to give them an important role to play and now his niece and nephew is home alone with that dictating ass, his control room (and by extension, base) was comprised, GUN was recycling his robots, and he was down two generals for his army.

How could this night get any worse?

Oh, yeah.

Now he remembers.

Upon following the last place Metal Sonic's signal came offline, he found Android Shadow had killed most of G.U.N witnesses and had no one to integrate about the whereabouts of his creations. To top it all off, the rodent had bumped into Omega and the fox kit and agreed, rather reluctantly, to find Sonic and Knuckles together (after a bit of a squirmish between his creations.)

(Seemed Shadow seemed to hold a grudge for abandoning his post to protect Rogue. Interesting. He should have to keep an eye on that. Maybe it'll lead him to the person who organised this small rebellion...)

Seething within his anger, he followed the three unlikely companions to an odds and ends store tucked away within the middle of town. He lost sight of them as they ducked into the building, and he cursed, covering his egg carrier to circle the building.

What were they doing here? He wonders...

TBC: