Chapter 5: Blank Points

Despite how eventful the next few years were, they seemed to just flow right by for me. As the Knothole Freedom Fighters were reassembled, they fought many villains. Mammoth Mogul, the wizard named Ixis Naugus, the Xorda, evil doppelgangers from Moebius, the Dingo Regime, Enerjak, and many others.

All of that fighting, while I sit in a dark office, just watching, and directing.

At some point, a nuclear strike destroyed Robotropolis completely. And months later, Robotnik's new base, the Eggdome, was raided. This marked the end of the Second Robotnik War.

For his many heroic deeds, Sonic was declared to be the Man of the Year. Many festivities were held in his honor. Envious though I was, it couldn't be helped. I can't afford to draw attention to myself like that. I heard that Robotnik tried to impersonate Sonic to ruin his reputation. Truly, he was just as petty as ever, and Sonic didn't need my help to put a stop to him.

Later, I learned of the Four Clans of the far east nation of Yurashia, and how a new military state known as the Iron Dominion was out to take over. A warrior named Ken "Monkey" Khan arrived, seeking help. And behind the scenes, I directed him to Sonic, Sally, and Tails, who aided him in liberating the four clans.

Eventually, Ixis Naugus returned, and took over the Republic of Acorn, becoming its new King. Fortunately, he never learned of my existence, as I held many authorities, including command over all military forces, out of his reach. And I enjoyed many of his frustrated rants, as any attempt to seize power was denied to him.

But now, his true test as king had come. Robotnik's first Death Egg arrived. On it was the Retro Orbital Chaos Compressor, or ROCC, which used the Chaos Emeralds to power the World Roboticizer. I knew Naugus could not be trusted, so the moment his attention was set on Robotnik's forces, I struck him in the back with my Stun Baton.

"Long live the King." I said, taking away his magic scepter, and crystalizing him with it. With his influence gone, the citizens of New Mobotropolis lost their magically-induced loyalty to him. No one knew of my regicide against Naugus, and at this point, no one would care. He kept us in a reign of terror for long enough.

The sabotage took the combined efforts of all the Freedom Fighters, as well as me. The Knothole Group focused their efforts on the World Roboticizer, as well as Robotnik's forces. I, on the other hand, having learned of the ROCC, focused my efforts on sabotage.

I remember. I ran through the halls alone, with my Stun Baton in one hand, and Naugus's Scepter in the other. I don't remember how, but I ended up dropping the scepter to the lower floor by mistake. Time was running short, and my Stun Baton wouldn't do much to the ROCC.

I don't remember how I came into possession of a rotten egg. Perhaps it was in a kitchen? Either in New Mobotropolis or the Death Egg? Either way, I threw it away in utter disgust. It fell into the energy matrix between the Chaos Emeralds and the World Roboticizer. When I saw an explosion, I knew it was time to run.

Sally used Naugus's Scepter to crystalize the World Roboticizer, moments before it fired. This, combined with my sabotage of the ROCC caused the entire Death Egg to malfunction, and crash onto the land in a heap.

The Chaos Emeralds then unleashed a massive flare of energy. A Genesis Wave. Sonic, Tails, and Robotnik were nowhere to be found. But there was one last problem. Sally had been roboticized, and I gave the remaining Freedom Fighters an order to capture her.

The battle was fierce, and we almost lost, had it not been for the intervention of an unidentified, white hedgehog, who I later learned was named Silver. He informed me that he seemed to have gone too far back in time, and he left without another word. Knowing what I know now, it makes more sense than it used to.

Maximilian Acorn was still suffering from a poison attack, so his eldest son, Elias, was crowned King. And with his permission, I took the Freedom Fighters under my wing, making them all true Covert Operatives. They were all still young, and had been through so much. But there was now so much more work left to do.

First things first, I used the last of the magic in Naugus's Scepter to crystalize Sally, and then de-crystalize her, as that had proven to be an effective method of deroboticization. I had planned to do the same for Bunnie Rabbot, but that will have to wait for now.

Our hit list dwindled down to some Iron Dominion holdouts, a rising military group known as the Battle Bird Armada, the demonic Tails Doll, the Dark Legion of Echidnas, and a dangerous vigilante named Thrash.

It would be a few more months before all of those threats were taken care of. My memory of those events is somewhat of a blur. And even now, I fear I may have been at this for too long. I have fought against so many people, caused the defeat of so much evil. But I had lost sight of why.

One day, I began looking through my spy network, searching for information. But suddenly, when I patched into the security footage of New Megaopolis, I saw a young Jackal mobian weeping over a dead Overlander. The murder weapon was a large, red knife, still dripping with blood. And he was the one holding it.

I couldn't believe my eyes. It was Zero. My little buddy from years ago. He was made into a criminal while I had a chance to save him. I felt my heart implode. My one chance to save someone from my past had already passed me by. But little did I know, that he would eventually grow up to become someone… infinitely worse.

And then, I turned my focus to South Island. The telltale smoke and pollution that marked Robotnik's presence was there. He had constructed a new industrial nightmare of a city known as Scrap Brain. I was on the verge of giving up. All of this hard work and heartbreak was almost too much for me.

Until, I saw Sonic. He was nearly twice as fast as he once was. I watched him dash from place to place on South Island, effortlessly destroying Badniks as he went. As Scrap Brain fell before him, and South Island cleared of pollution with 6 of the 7 Chaos Emeralds, I was inspired to keep up my work.

I made an announcement to my agents, the Freedom Fighters. That from now on, Sonic will be the hero that our world needs. Our story has ended, and his had only just begun.