Hey guys! Sorry that updates have been a little random the past while. Part of the reason is I've been typing some other fanfictions (I'm in a Star Wars AU mood at the moment) and another reason is AP testing is just around the corner so I'm trying to not get super stressed. And if there's one thing that can get me super stressed, it's rushing to finish a chapter. So… slow going.
WARNING: This chapter is crazy and dramatic and a little dark at certain points. We have [SPOILERS], a [SPOILERS], and a [SPOILERS]. In other words: [SPOILERS]. So… maybe a trigger alert. Warning you now.
Anyway, Halo and I loved your reviews on the last chapter!
StarlightSparks: I have seen every episode as well. It was so much fun coming up with the references. No, the medallions were a one time thing. Halo and I did try to find a way to bring them in but… nothing ever really clicked. And honestly, I hate Sonic fighting with a guitar that shoots laser beams for no apparent reason. I think my favorite would be Manic's earth abilities… but once again: THE HECK, THIS MAKES NO SENSE.
ultimateCCC: … I have no idea what you're talking about. Sonic? Maurice? The Master Emerald? What?
Zosonils: Hi! Happy to see you're still reading! And can I just say, I read your review like three times before screaming with happiness into my pillow. I am… I can't… I can't even… I AM SO HAPPY YOU LIKE THIS STORY THAT MUCH. I can die and be happy knowing I made someone's day… but let's not do that.
Autumn: I honestly don't know why people are worried about that… although I suppose it is a worry so makes sense. Let me put it this way: I wrote a 20 chapter story about Sonic and Tails bonding. I don't think I'm going to just throw that relationship out the window. Think of them like the double duo. Sonic will always be closer to Tails and Sonia and Manic will always be closer to each other than to Sonic. That's just how it's going to turn out. Hope that soothed your fears.
Another Viewer: Best. Username. Ever. *reads review and tilts head* Okay, this is new. I'll look it up and see what we can do. LOL. Nintendo vs. SEGA. Thanks! Hope you continue to enjoy.
Agent BM: *blinks* OH FORCE, MASTER YODA? IS THAT YOU? XD
That Speedhunter: Um…? Okay then. Why not…?
Luna Hedgefox: No, I like reviews! Sorry that came out wrong. And you didn't waste my time. I waste my own time. (; Sonia and Manic did combine their powers but… eh, Chaos energy is chaotic so you can never expect perfect results. Que Star Wars Quote, "I got a bad feeling about this." Me: *grins* Oh you don't know the half of it. Robotnik's attempt to kill his new family will be explained in this chapter. Sonic '06, why did you do that? And yes, they were voiced by the same actor. I don't mind her voice but… sometimes I just cringe. Also, thanks for all of the reviews on Long Road Home! I enjoyed the reactions.
msyafinas: Aw, thanks! Will do!
IcyPinkFlower: That. Was. Awesome. I have never had anyone beg for an update in that way before. Loved it! And your wish is my command, here is thy update.
Get ready for a long chapter, guys. Better buckle up.
Sonic's POV:
The moment my eyes opened, I knew it was going to be a bad day. A few things contributed to this conclusion.
The first one was that I overslept. Most people think I'm all about sleeping in until the sun is high in the sky. They're not totally wrong, but hey, they're not right either. I'm fine with nine in the morning and sometimes even ten. But eleven? On a weekday? That's just unnatural.
Second factor was the date. June Twenty-first. Two days before my seventeenth birthday. Eleven years to the day that my family was brutally murdered by a madman. This was always a painful day for me.
The last contributor was when I went downstairs, Tails was sitting in front of the TV, unblinking and unmoving. And to my surprise, so was everyone else. Amy, Rouge, Knuckles, heck, even Shadow was present.
Please tell me Tails wasn't planning another surprise party. With the past year I'd been having, I didn't think I could take it.
Good news: it wasn't a birthday party. Bad news: it was Robotnik.
The two reporters were talking when I came in so I managed to figure out what was going on pretty quick.
"-with a public announcement not to GUN or even the world as a whole, but to our hometown hero, Sonic the Hedgehog."
"I'm going to be honest, Gracie, when I woke up this morning, I didn't think anything like this would happen today. Doctor Robotnik, the world-renowned evil genius who has been terrorizing Mobius for over ten years, is issuing a public challenge to his oldest rival- clearly, a stepping stone in history."
I quickly sat down next to Tails, who looked at me with those big eyes, "Sonic, what's he talking about?"
I frowned, "I just woke up. How could I have known that Robotnik would issue a 'challenge'?"
"Not the news report! Robotnik!"
That caught my attention.
"For those of you who are just joining us, Robotnik began this beautiful morning by hacking into every radio and satellite to play out this challenge to none other than Sonic the Hedgehog."
The two news anchors faded and up popped a glitchy image of Robotnik, his evil grin spread across his face. "Good morning, Mobius! But more importantly, good morning Hedgehog! Hope you've had a decent night's sleep, because today is a very special day, rodent. Or don't you remember?"
I tensed up. He wouldn't.
"In celebration of the... events that transpired on this day- was it eleven years ago?- I am personally inviting you to a challenge. Winner walks away in one piece, loser… well, I believe you can imagine the outcome. Team Sonic and Team Dark are also formally invited- although, I do think it's a little rude to be crashing in on our Special Anniversary, wouldn't you agree?"
I didn't hear the rest of the message. Without even thinking about everyone else in the room, I stood up, marched over, and slammed my hands down on the television. The set sparked slightly and then I shoved it off on the side, throwing it on the ground, the glass breaking and scattering.
My breathing was heavy and my fists were shaking with anger. How dare he. How dare he broadcast that across the world. How dare he! I glared at the broken remains of the television, wishing it could've been him that I had smashed. This… this was sick.
A soft hand touched my shoulder. Amy looked a little terrified at my sudden explosion. "Sonic…?"
I shook her off and whirled back around. "Before I got here. What else did he say?"
Tails's eyes had gotten a lot bigger, filled to the brim with shock and… was that fear? "Just… just the time and location of the challenge. Three PM at an old factory about four or five hours from here. Three, if we're fast."
Of all the days… I mentally cursed Robotnik to whatever horrible afterlife existed. An angry growl escaped my mouth and I began to pace across the floor, trembling in anger.
This day was going even worse then I thought it would. If it had been yesterday, or tomorrow, or even on my birthday, I wouldn't be as worked up. But not today. Today was the one day I couldn't put up an act. I usually stayed away from everyone because of that. Today was the one day of the year I couldn't put my Sonic charade. Today I was Maurice. Not Sonic the Hedgehog. Not the Sonic the Hero. Maurice.
Over the years, Maurice had changed. He wasn't that scared little boy who ran at the first sign of trouble. He fought for peace and justice in the world, if only so that no one else would have to experience oppression and war.
But he wasn't Sonic. Sonic smiled and joked around while fighting for justice. He was cool under pretty crazy pressure and was rarely angry. He was laid back and chill and kept his emotions in check. Everyone loved him and thought he was cool. Sonic had an ego the size of Station Square and lived for pleasing the crowds.
Maurice wasn't like that. Not at all. Maurice only came out his box when Sonic wasn't available, which was for the big problems. Maurice was serious. He was focused and wouldn't back down from a problem. He cared more about others then his ego or himself. But the most important difference that I'd noticed was his emotions. Maurice didn't have much control over them. When he was happy, people would know. When he was sad, people could tell. When he was angry… it was impossible to hide. He was heated in his emotions and would act on them in a heartbeat.
For the first time, my friends- my family- actually saw me. Not Sonic. Not the act. But me.
It scared them.
Everyone's gaze was locked on me as I walked around and around the room, caught up in my own thoughts. Some expressions were shocked but a few held the start of terror. But the worst was from Shadow. He looked back and forth from the TV and me, his face thoughtful and contemplating. At one point our gaze locked for a single second and my mind flashed back to a conversation between the two of us a few months ago.
"Sorry about the TV."
"No need to apologize. It's my fault anyway."
"I should have just left without a word. Didn't really think."
"Hey, I would have done the same thing. Although, I think I would have picked the thing up and thrown it out the window. Not blow it up. But hey, that's just my preference."
I swear I saw a wave of understanding and he gave a slight nod. Oh, Chaos…I was getting sympathy from Shadow. This was serious
I had to get out of there. "I'm going on a run. I'll be back… later." Without another word I rushed out the door, not even pausing at Tails's cry of protest.
The last thing I registered before I left the house was Shadow's voice.
"Give him some space. He needs it."
XXX
The run didn't help my head. If anything, it only irritated me more. Every sonic boom just made me remember my dead family, how I wasn't able to save them and how . At one point I fell on my face and bawled for about a half an hour, unable to to think of anything but how that lunatic destroyed everything I had ever loved, and somehow had the nerve to celebrate the day he killed my whole family.
I was tough. I could take a lot. There honestly wasn't much that I couldn't handle by now. If I hadn't trained myself over the years to roll with the punches and bounce back with a smile, I probably would've gone insane. But Robotnik knew how to push my buttons. All of them. The ones that hurt.
This was the first time in years that I couldn't just ignore the problem or pretend I was fine. Robotnik had done a lot of ugly things to me before, but this really took the cake. There was no way I could blow this off.
Sonic wasn't that into hurting people. He preferred to forgive and forget, to go with the flow and laugh his problems away. No matter what evil, sadistic crap Robotnik pulled, Sonic could never bring himself to really hurt him. After all, Robotnik was still a person. Who was Sonic to decide to gets to live or die?
Maurice, on the other hand, was all for giving 'Botnik a taste of his own medicine. This was unforgivable, and someone had to bring about justice. Robotnik was going to pay for what he had do-
No.
Sonic couldn't do that. I couldn't do that. Robotnik had killed my family. Sonic- I could never bring myself to become anything like him.
Maurice, however, was still deciding.
XXX
The wind whistled through my quills and made me shiver. Sometimes I envied Tails when he sat in the cockpit of The Tornado, but not today. I was glad for the chill of the wind. It reminded me that I was able to feel something other than an insatiable need for vengeance.
It was as if Maurice had broken out of the shadows and forced his way to the front of my mind. Feelings I had bottle up for years had finally surfaced- Anger; hatred; unbridled rage that I struggled to keep under wraps. I was afraid to even speak in case that Maurice's voice would replace Sonic's- mine. Besides, I had nothing I wanted to say.
So I crouched on the wing of the biplane, ready for action, for a fight. Oh, how I wanted to fight… Robotnik wouldn't know what hit him...
"Um… Sonic? Are you feeling okay?"
I pricked up my ears and turned to Tails, who looked concerned.
"I'm fine," I said flatly, turning away. I was so not in the mood for this.
"Then, um… why do you look so mad?"
"I said, I'm fine."
"Sonic, come on. I'm not stupid. What's going on?"
Maurice wanted to snap at him, to tell him to mind his own business and leave me alone. But Sonic couldn't- Icouldn't do that.
"... I just don't want to talk about it right now, okay?" I said quietly, unable to look Tails in the eye. "I'll tell you later, promise."
Tails studied me curiously, seeming to detect the insecurity behind my voice. Sometimes I wished he wasn't so smart. Then he wouldn't be as good at figuring things out.
"Alright, then… if you're sure you're okay," he replied.
"I'm sure. Let's just… go."
We rode in silence the rest of the way; The only sound I was aware of now was the deafening hiss of the wind and Maurice's near-constant thoughts of revenge. I was going to make him hurt, make him beg for mercy… No, stop it. Stop thinking like that.
Even from this high up, I could make out where the factory was on the ground. I motioned for Tails to lower the plane a little, then once we were only a few dozen feet above the building, I jumped, spin dashing directly into the roof. I dimly heard the shattering of the wood and brick and felt aware of the splinters digging into my skin, but the only pain I felt was from how tightly I was clenching my fists.
"ROBOTNIK!" I roared, my voice echoing through the deserted factory. "Where are you?"
I searched around aimlessly for him, running at top speed around the premises, but he was nowhere to be found. If this was some sort of prank… a way to rile me up, get me mad enough to make a fool of myself…This was low, even for him.
One by one, each of my other team members filed in, ready for a fight but disappointed when they found nothing but me. Soon, they had all arrived, watching as I stood shaking with fury; If this was a joke, I wasn't laughing.
"Why're you hiding, 'Botnik? Chicken?" I called out, getting more keyed up with every second he didn't show. "You wanted a fight? You'll get one!"
Behind me, the slow, infuriating sound of smug applause drew closer, sending shivers up my spine.
"Goodness me, my dear rodent! We do have a temper, now, don't we?"
I whipped around to see him walking ever so slowly towards me, that satisfied grin bringing Maurice farther and farther out of his shell until he and I weren't even different people anymore. Before I could register what was happening, I spin dashed right at Robotnik's round belly; and fell on my face. That was impossible; It was almost like I had…
Passed right through him.
I picked myself up and glared at the now-glitching hologram of my worst enemy. He chuckled.
"Tut, tut! Not that I would expect you to have any manners, Hedgehog, but I don't believe that is the proper way to treat your host, not at all. Didn't your mother ever teach you that?... Oh, that's right…" His sick grin grew wider, showing off a mouthful of yellowing teeth. "Silly me."
If Shadow hadn't intervened, I think I might have lost it completely. He teleported in front of me and crossed his arms, scowling, "What is this about, Doctor?"
I expected Robotnik to be disappointed that Shadow had shown up-less of a chance of him winning, in his head. But to my confusion, his grin only spread wider. Was he… happy about this?
"Ah, Shadow. The Ultimate Lifeform has come to play! How delightful. The more, the merrier!" His teeth gleamed, reminding me of fangs.
"You did not answer me, Doctor," said Shadow, crossing his arms and glaring. "What is this about?"
"You Hedgehogs always ask the very best questions. But-" Robotnik paused and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, swarms of robots came flying out of hidden compartments in the walls. "I believe I'll let you find the answer on your own this time. Ta, ta, rodents!" The hologram blinked out for a second and Robotnik was gone.
Okay, time to focus on the threat. I scanned the area; no ordinary SWATbots this time. I spotted a Metal Sonic in the corner, and… a Metal Amy? Metal Tails?
Oh, no.
As I studied each robot closer, I realized that these weren't any normal badniks; somehow, Robotnik had built robot duplicates of Team Sonic and even Team Dark, and they weren't bothering to conceal their weapons. I was used to seeing robotic versions of me, but this was just unnerving.
I didn't have much time to dwell on this, though- these bots were looking to pick a fight.
Shadow was a little caught off guard and before he could move his robot double rushed forward and shot two cuff things on his inhibitor rings. Shadow growled and attacked the thing without hesitation. His bot looked pretty normal except for the guns on his hands. Shadow himself looked a little… confused. Metal Shadow attacked with bullets and some really weird Chaos attacks I had never seen in my life. He had the average spears, and blasts, but then there was these sudden explosions that seemed to come out of nowhere. Oh, and he could fly without rocket boots and seemed to know what Shadow would do before he did it. Meanwhile, Shadow… seemed to be struggling with summoning even a Chaos spear. He kept pausing and trying to pull whatever the things on his wrists were off before ducking and dodging, running around at top speed. (He later managed to tell us via com that whatever the bot had shot him with seemed to transfer his chaos energy to the bot and he was unable to teleport, summon chaos spears, etc.)
The Metal Knuckles seemed to have razor blades sprouting from its hands, arms, and dreadlocks, and was slashing at Knuckles without mercy. This may sound easy, but there's one thing I've learned with Knuckles: he's physical combat, not weapons. So imagine an unarmed man dodging someone with two swords and is skillfully trained. Not fun.
I expected the Metal Amy to have hammers, but instead it had some kind of ball-and-chain thing, I was later told was a mace. She yelped and flipped backwards out of reach, summoning her hammer to try and block it. Her bot would often wrap the chain around the handle and yank it out of her hands, costing Amy some reflex time summoning another one (Okay, seriously. How many hammers does she have?)
Metal Rouge could fly just as well as her namesake, and had bright turquoise laser beams she shot out of her eyes and hands. Rouge didn't seem to appreciate it very much.
Metal Tails honestly didn't look so bad, just a robot twin with sharp claws and a blaster in its chest. Tails was doing just fine against it, and it actually looked like he was winning- until I heard him scream. It wasn't even grabbing him, just pressing its palms into Tails's back. It wasn't until I saw crackle of electricity that I realized what was going on. Robotnik had electrified that robot, knowing full well about Tails's hatred of it. A hatred that was Robotnik's fault in the first place. This just got personal.
I had just enough time to kick away the Metal Tails before Metal Sonic rushed me, again. He was pretty average: rocket boosters, claws, and the strong silent type. And he still had his famous move: the chokehold. Whatever. I've dealt with it before.
And then I got blasted in the face with a fire hose.
Or at least it felt like a fire hose. When I came to, I was able to piece together the fact that Robotnik had outfitted this version with water cannons. Perfect. Just perfect.
I tried to dodge the blasts of water, but it was difficult to go very fast when the ground was so slippery. I hardly had time to breathe with how much I was getting hit- and it was making me mad.
As the fight went on, it didn't seem like I was making any real progress at all. Metal Sonic always gave me a workout, but now that he had water on his side, I couldn't catch a break. Looking around, it didn't seem like anyone else was doing very well either; Rouge and her bot were wrestling on the ground, Rouge dodging lasers firing left and right; Tails was… flying in circles, occasionally throwing a wrench or something at the bot. Metal Amy was swinging her ball-and-chain like a wrecking ball, and Amy was constantly having to whack it away. Knuckles had been smashing his bot with nothing but scratching the paint job as the result. And even though Knuckles was red, I could tell that he was bleeding.
It's not like I was expecting an easy fight. Far from it. If Robotnik had the nerve to bring up the fact that he killed my entire family, he'd better have brought his A-game if he wanted to survive. But for once, these bots weren't falling apart, no matter what we were throwing at them. What were these things made of?
The first wrong move came from Amy. She was tired and I don't think anyone really was shocked when we heard a cry of pain and she dropped to the ground, unconscious. I tried to run to help, but got thrown across the room by another water cannon-ball. Before I could even shake the water out of my eyes, Metal slammed into me and pinned me to the ground as I kicked in protest.
In the sky, Tails was hit by a blast of electricity and dropped with a scream before passing out. Knuckles's feet were knocked out from under him and his robot slashed his back thigh, making the echidna cry out in pain before being pinned to a wall. Rouge's wings and legs were pinned down to the floor by her bot. Based on her language, she was not happy about it.
Last, but not least, Shadow. I'm going to be completely honest. I did not see this coming at all. Shadow was shot in the leg. Three times. And do you know how he reacted? He grunted. GRUNTED. Faker's faker then pinned Faker's arms behind his back and held him slightly off the floor, ensuring that some weight was on the injured leg. It looked painful, but Shadow only seemed annoyed.
"Bravo, rodents! Goodness me, you really do know how to put on a show, now, don't you?"
Robotnik's hologram was back, walking towards me and clapping smugly. While I was distracted, Metal took the opportunity to grip me in a chokehold, tilting my head up and forcing me to face the doctor.
"I must say, you've done quite remarkably, Hedgehog. Far better than I expected when we began this little game all those years ago." he said curtly, his lips curling into a sadistic grin. I couldn't speak with Metal's arm gripping my throat, so I spat at his feet.
"Tut, tut, Sonic! Watch yourself!" he chuckled, flicking me hard on the cheek. Wait… this wasn't a hologram. This was the real Robotnik. "Come now, let's have us a little chat, shall we?"
Robotnik snapped his fingers and Metal clamped something cold and metallic to the back of my neck. I felt a jolt of electricity ripple down my spine… and then I couldn't move. Metal snatched up my quills in his fist and dragged me behind Robotnik. I wanted to fight back, but it was like my entire body had just shut down.
We made our way up to a balcony overlooking the fight on the ground floor. With Metal Sonic propping me up, I had a perfect view of my friends as they strained against their Metals... and were slowly but surely losing. It was painful to watch.
"Aren't they wonderful, these beautiful machines I've created?" said Robotnik with pride. "I've been working on these masterpieces for months now, tweaking and improving them until they were absolutely flawless. They've been specially designed for you and your friends, you know. Everything you struggle with, these robots excel in. And the best part is, unlike you and your friends, they never tire. They'll fight till the end of eternity if I give the command. Fortunately, that won't be necessary…"
He chuckled, coming to watch alongside me. "It's been difficult these past few months. Death traps are very difficult to set up, and making sure they challenged you to the maximum limit took long hours of thought. I hope you appreciate the time I've invested in your demise over these past years."
"Oh, yeah… I really appreciate it." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
Robotnik grinned, his eyes shining with pleasure at my position. "Oh, but you really should! My bots were recording every second of your hopeful demises which I then studied for every type of weak point in your physical, mental, and emotional state. And I mean every point."
He pointed at Amy, who still hadn't stirred, "Miss Rose, for instance, is very good with her hammer until she is up against another weapon that does not involve some form of blaster, either laser or cannon-ball… that was a horrible mistake. Never should have tried that. The clean-up alone… But I digress.
"I've noticed that your little girlfriend has a very short temper, but rather than getting flustered in battle, the adrenaline keeps her going… for a while. Eventually in her wrath, she'll make a mistake. But unfortunately for her, she has no big blue hero to save her this time."
I gritted my teeth so hard I felt like my jaw was breaking, "She's not my girlfriend!"
"That's all you're concerned about?" Robotnik raised an eyebrow. "My, my. We do need to keep our priorities in check, don't we? Let's move on to my next subject. Your little friend Miles seems suitable."
"Leave him out of this."
"Too late! I've observed Miles is afraid that he will let you down, an easy fear to prey off of. Because of this, he tries to fight a lot like you- with one exception. His two tails give him the unusual ability to fly, the logistics of which I still do not understand completely…" Robotnik paused and frowned, "For this reason, any sort of 'weapon' he uses seems to come from a toolbox, which is rather useless unless he can somehow dismantle my robots without getting himself killed. Useful little weakness for me. And of course his aversion to… what was it… electricity?"
I growled and tried to lunge at him, but found my body still frozen.
"Let's see, where did that originate from again?" Robotnik grinned evilly. "Oh yes, I remember. Do you remember, Sonic?"
"Very. Vividly," I snarled, wishing to get my hands on him.
Robotnik chuckled, "All your friends were quite easy to catalog… with the exception of Shadow. He remains a challenge… hence the parasitical chaos amplifiers installed into Metal Shadow. Simply attach them to his inhibitor rings and all of his chaos-related abilities are transferred to the robot." Well, that explained something.
But Robotnik wasn't finished. "And now, rodent, we move onto you," he said nastily. I felt a twitch in my left pinky finger and hoped that the freezing was wearing off.
"I've been watching you, Hedgehog. How long has it been? Six, perhaps seven years?"
I narrowed my eyes and clenched my jaw. "Eleven. To the day."
He laughed out loud this time, and a bubble of fury rose up in my chest. "Oh my, my, my, my, my… I had almost forgotten! You know, you're an even bigger nuisance than your father. Much bigger. What a shame that my robots didn't finish the job when they had the chance. Well, I won't be making that mistake again..."
I was able to wiggle some of my fingers now and I didn't think that it would take much longer until the effects wore off completely- then Maurice would… I didn't know what Maurice would do. Sonic told him that we needed more time. We needed to stall.
"So, uh…" I started, averting my eyes away from him. "I'd kinda like to know what my dad used to do that ticked you off so bad to kill him and his family. Mind explaining?"
"Oh, don't even get me started with that wretched blue pain in the neck. Every time I'd destroy a village, even just a tiny one, he'd ruin everything by jumping in and rescuing people! Then he'd help rebuild the village, of all things!" Robotnik seemed to get really easily distracted. Good for me; both my arms had regained most of their feeling. "Then there were the dozens of militias he organized, getting the villagers to fight back! Some of those insolent worms even tried to raid one of my factories, all because of that infuriating hedgehog. Like father, like son, I suppose, only you're ten times worse. I'll give your father one thing, he was far less fond of the, er 'direct approach' than you are."
That's right, 'Botnik, keep talking. I'll be able to move in just a little longer, then-
"So it was quite the delight to kill him personally. Did you know how flammable fur is? Almost burned my fingers after I lit the match."
My ears pricked up and my hands began to shake. "Robotnik, I'm warning you-"
"Your mother was very stupid," The mad man ignored me. "Tried to save your father and had you run into the forest to your… who was the other man?"
"My uncle." I was shocked my teeth hadn't broken from the force I was biting down on them with. Every word out of my mouth was painful and nearly unbearable.
"Uncle. Thought he was a relative. Looked similar enough. It was so satisfying to bomb his little cottage with him and your, siblings, were they? I do so enjoy the sound." Robotnik leaned down next to me and grinned in my face, "You're the only remaining member of your family… the only one I've let live for this long. And just as that night, you will watch everyone die," he motioned towards my friends either unconscious or struggling with their bots, "Helpless to save them."
Maurice lost all patience. I tightened my fist and slammed it as hard as I could into Robotnik's face, blood spurting from his nose. Metal immediately grabbed my arms and yanked them back as I began to scream at Robotnik every insult I could think of.
Robotnik snapped his fingers and a tissue-box was brought by one of those annoying bees. He wiped the blood off his face, "My, my, we do have a temper…" He smiled, "Of course, this is a little concern."
Robotnik abandoned his quiet voice and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "Now tell me, Hedgehog. Who do you wish to watch die first?"
Rouge gasped and looked up from her position, her eyes wide, "Excuse me? Who worked for you a few years ago?"
Knuckles didn't really look surprised at the outburst and Shadow didn't even flinch.
I struggled, beginning to panic. "No one! You aren't killing anyone else, Robotnik! I'm the one you want, leave them out of this!"
"Not an option, I'm afraid. The rest of them irritate me almost as much as you do."
Rouge was still complaining about the unfairness of the situation and Tails was just barely starting to stir. For once, I wished he would stay down.
Robotnik's eyes scanned the struggling Mobians before finally resting on-
"The pink one, shall we?" He snapped his fingers and pointed at the bot before turning me, "Should we light her on fire as well? Or perhaps a good old-fashioned maiming? Yes, that sounds just splendid right now."
"ROBOTNIK!" I think I almost broke my arm trying to get out of Metal Sonic's grip, but even with my mobility returning fast, I couldn't break free.
And that was when everything went from terrifying to just… weird.
As Metal Amy was preparing to smash Amy's skull with her mace, everyone struggled to break free even harder than before. I felt numb and frozen, wanting to help her but being held back by my own shock. Amy was going to die. And I was going to watch.
Suddenly, Amy jerked upright and leapt to her feet, readying herself in a fighting stance. Even from a distance I could make out her fierce expression. Metal Amy tried to smash the real one, and Amy just dodged every swing and, for a reason I didn't understand, punching and kicking the robot. It felt like Amy and her Metal counterpart were the only two in the room, battling with such intensity that I couldn't tear my eyes away. Metal Amy tried to lasso Amy's legs with her chain, but that only gave Amy the advantage as she jerked the mace right out of the robot's hands. Swinging it like a wrecking ball, Amy smashed the mace into the bot's head several times, until assorted pieces of metallic shrapnel were flying in every direction.
"NO!" shouted Robotnik furiously. "That shouldn't have been possible! My observations… she shouldn't know how to use that type of weapon…"
I grinned at Robotnik's discomfort and silently cheered on Amy as she tore her bot to smithereens. With a loud crunch, she slammed the mace straight into Metal Amy's chest, striking the fatal blow. The light in the robot's eyes flickered for a moment and went out.
I almost didn't notice the glint of blue that rolled out of the bot's chest, not until Amy picked it up to examine. My eyes widened in disbelief; it was a Chaos Emerald. That robot had been powered by a Chaos Emerald. Amy and I looked at each other and nodded; it was like we could read each other's mind.
Amy ran over to where Shadow and Rouge were pinned by their Metals and knocked the bots away, then did the same to Tails's and Knuckles's robots. Tails was still unconscious, but coming around. Knux got up, shakily at first but was quickly able to get back in the game despite his slashed leg. Tails took a little longer to recover, but was back in action in no time.
Amy led the team really well, actually. While everyone focused on distracting their Metal, Amy focused on helping them and swinging the mace and tearing them apart before her temporary partner retrieved the Chaos Emerald from inside. I watched with excitement and was itching to get out there and help, but Metal Sonic had me in a wrist lock and I was still partially frozen in my feet. Besides, they looked like they had it covered, and I could be content to watch Robotnik go crazy. He tried to call in some emergency SWATbots to give my friends some grief, but they smashed those rust buckets easily while dealing with Metals.
Metal Tails was the first to go- not to anyone's real surprise. I don't think I've ever seen Tails so angry… well actually, I don't think I've seen him so angry unless it's me in the kitchen. He literally ripped the helicopter tail off and smashed it on the ground while Amy took care of the body.
She then switched over to Metal Rouge, Amy continuing to use her robot's mace instead of her usual hammer. Rouge distracted by diving and kicking whenever she could. Metal Rouge blasted at the two with her laser beam, sending Amy flying back into the wall with a lucky hit.
"ARRGGH! THOU BRUTISH FIEND BORN OF WITCHCRAFT, THY TRANSGRESSIONS SHALL BE PUNISHED!" Amy stood up with her mace and glared with a ferocity I had never seen before.
I swear, it was like everything froze in place to look at her. And I mean everything. Even the Metals paused and stared for a moment.
Tails was the first to speak, very confused, "Uh, okay, I'm sorry, but are we living in the Dark Ages?"
Amy suddenly found the chain on her new mace very interesting, "Um… no, I just…"
"Can we talk about this later?" Shadow and his Metal returned to their brawl, jerking everyone but Amy back into the fight.
I watched her as she hesitantly raised her weapon again, "Um… You, uh… stupid robot! Um… You are going to- uh- pay for that! Yeah!" She then threw the mace as hard as she could, annihilating the bot with ease. Rouge eagerly dove in and pulled out the purple Chaos Emerald, her eyes shining.
Knuckles threw his bot off him and hobbled to his feet before pointing a finger at her accusingly, "You are not keeping that!" Rouge immediately voiced protest until Shadow ordered her to help him with his stubborn bot.
Okay, I was officially getting bored. I yanked as hard as I could at Metal Sonic's grip, but was still unable to get free. Robotnik seemed especially ticked that two of his Metals were nothing but scrap. He ordered Metal Sonic to go help after putting me in chains- but I managed to slip out and sprint across the room, spin-dashing into a very stubborn Metal Knuckles that was about to cut the echidna's head off. Knuckles nodded his appreciation before we returned to our doppelgangers.
Amy was trying to pull her new mace out of a robot but seemed to give up. She flicked her wrist and pulled her hammer out of thin air, slamming it into Metal- Woah, wait a second.
I sped over and kicked Metal Knuckles sending him flying, landing next to Amy "Um… Amy?"
She glanced at me, an eyebrow raised. "Yes?"
"What in Chaos happened to your hammer?"
She looked a little confused looking down at the weapon in her hands. Her expression turned to shock and she looked back at me. "I am... unsure." Her red and yellow weapon had been replaced with a bronze and maroon hammer with giant spikes on the circumference on its head. It looked a lot heavier than her normal hammer, but she didn't seem to notice the weight difference at all.
"Less talking, more smashing!" Knuckles yelled from his new predicament of getting a cut on right arm. Knucklehead must be more injured then I thought for the situation to get this out of hand. Metal Sonic interrupted me before I could comment and I went back to trying not to drown from his water cannons.
Somewhere behind me, I heard Amy finally finish off Metal Knuckles, then she suddenly appeared and slammed her weird hammer into the back of Metal Sonic, breaking through the plating in a few simple swings. She grinned at me before tossing the turquoise emerald in my direction.
The last bot standing was Metal Shadow, to no one's surprise.
Shadow himself was struggling with his wounded leg, trying not to worsen the injury and get the inhibitors off his inhibitor rings… apparently. While he was dealing with that, we all tried not to get killed by sudden explosions in midair with no warning and a bot that had a warning sense.
Robotnik had vanished- no surprise. I felt Maurice's anger begin to rise, but forced it down. Focus on the here and now, not the... then.
"Sonic!" Shadow yelled as he grappled with his Metal.
"What?" I replied.
"Go… erg!... Super! You need to- Arggh! Hurry!"
We were all fighting Metal Shadow at this point, but were still hardly able to make a dent in its plating. With Shadow's chaotic abilities hindered and the rest of us badly wounded, the bot still seemed to be stronger than all of us combined.
I gathered up all my strength and spin-dashed into the Metal's head, hearing a loud crack and hoping it wasn't one of my bones. "What? Why?"
"ROSE, DUCK!"
Amy yelped as she dropped to her stomach, Metal Shadow getting flung across the floor by a very angry, very broody hedgehog.
"Just do it, hedgehog." Shadow snarled, obviously losing patience.
"But we don't-" I paused and spun-dash into Shadow again before being thrown back by some invisible force field. "-have all the emeralds! CHAOS! HOW MANY SKILLS DO YOU HAVE?" I ducked as hundreds of mini Chaos spears flew over my head.
Shadow frowned and mumbled something incoherent. He tried to yank his inhibitors off again but miserably failed, cursing under his breath. He pulled the green emerald out of midair and threw it at me. "The last one is in my robot. You will have to concentrate to activate it, but it should be fine. I would do it, but I am… occupied. Go Super and tear it apart." Without another word he dove at the remaining Metal and entered the fight again. Where he had been previously standing a small pool of blackish green, ink-like liquid remained. I frowned slightly until clicked in my brain a few seconds later. Shadow's blood.
I swear, that hedgehog is insane.
I turned my attention back to the fight and Shadow was right about one thing- if we didn't do something fast then not everyone was going to come back alive.
Rouge's right wing was tucked near her back and she was now stuck on the ground, the bruises and burns obvious on her skin and clothes. Tails was still suffering from his many electric shocks and was covered in cuts and bruises, an especially large, bloody slash lining his right arm. Shadow was obviously more injured than he let on, but the blackish green blood on black fur made it hard to see the extent of the injury; But if I looked close enough, I could swear one of his gloves was covered in it, probably from an attempt to stanch the flow. The same went for Knuckles- red on red was very difficult to tell apart, but his shoes and gloves were torn and spattered with blood and his cheek was starting to show a large purple bruise. Amy was probably the best off in the injury department- although I had no idea how she was dealing with the killer headache she should have had from her first knockout.
I glanced down and was shocked to find myself in similar conditions to my friends- one lucky cut from Metal Sonic was especially noticeable as it ran across my chest, oozing an uncomfortable amount of dark red blood. The rest of me wasn't doing too great either; A combination of blood and sweat was running down my forehead in rivets, getting in my already blurred eyesight. The room was spinning like a merry-go-round, and I had to hold my head in both hands to keep steady. If there was anytime for me to go Super, it was now.
Gathering up my energy, I zoomed around the room, gathering up each Chaos Emerald until I had all six. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard to connect with the Chaos field. I felt the vibrations within Metal Shadow and imagined myself extracting them, and as I did I began to levitate.
The stinging pain I had felt before had been replaced by an exhilarating high; the amount of pure energy surging through my veins was enough to send me bouncing off the walls.
But I still didn't feel… right. It didn't seem like I was quite at Super yet, and the only explanation I could think of was because the final emerald was still in Metal Shadow. But I was strong enough now that I could totally take him.
I swooped down on top of the robot and grabbed it from behind, throwing it high up in the air and kicking it up and down like a soccer ball. Just as it was beginning to fall, though, it blipped out of existence and reappeared below me, clawing at my legs and swinging me like a lasso. I probably would've slammed into the wall, but with me being Super, all I had to do was fly around to punch it in the face.
It got seriously annoying, though, trying to teach this bucket of bolts a lesson when it kept teleporting out of reach. I had to fly all over the place to try and catch it, and when I did, I could only land a few hits before it would teleport away again. Coward.
After chasing it around for a solid ten minutes, I'd had enough. I lunged at Metal Shadow from behind and slammed it into the wall, then seized it by its arms, throwing it as hard as I could and ripping them off in the process. It teleported again, but I was ready for it, doing the same thing to its legs, tossing the appendages to the side.
With no way to move around now, the bot was easy prey. I flew all the way up to the ceiling, then dropped, spin-dashing hard onto the bot's already severely damaged plating. I did this three times, and by the fourth, Metal Shadow had been reduced to a lifeless pile of scrap. The emerald embedded in its chest rolled out; I summoned it and had it join the others in the levitating horde around me.
Taking a deep breath, I decided that it was probably time to power down. With Robotnik gone and all the Metals destroyed, there was nothing left for me to blow off some steam on, and I still had a lot of steam to blow off. No one- no one- makes fun of my dead family and gets away with it.
I drifted down to the ground, my friends swarming me. Despite their many injuries, bright smiles beamed on their faces.
"Sonic, that was great!" said Tails. "Really cool. ...Can we go home now? I think I need to sleep for like, a week."
Everyone nodded in agreement to that, mumbling insults about Robotnik under their breath as they made their way towards the factory doors. Shadow was still trying to remove the inhibitors, which Knuckles promptly crushed off with his fists. Shads grumbled about how Knuckles could have done that earlier in which Knuckles replied with "You were never holding still long enough."
It almost made me smile. I muttered something about catching up with them in a minute, then refocused on the emeralds, ready to power down-
Suddenly, I felt a sharp sting in my forehead, like someone had hit it with hammer and nail. I yelped and clutched my head with both hands; something wasn't right. The usual vibrations I felt from the Chaos emeralds were calm and energizing; this felt wrong.
I began to shake and felt myself sink to my knees, still holding tight to my pounding skull. The color of my fur was fluctuating unpredictably between blue and gold, ripples of chaotic energy making me twitch. What was wrong with me?
Someone cried out a warning… or perhaps it was a concern. At this point, sound had faded into just dull throbs in my head.
I closed my eyes and again tried to focus. I didn't know what, but there was something in the chaos field that wasn't right. It felt new, but at the same time, very, very old. I as I concentrated, I could see something coming into focus… something familiar, but new at the same time…
Out of nowhere came a deafening shriek of a laugh, snapping me out of my daze. It echoed around me, filling my ears and making me feel like I was going insane. My eyes burst open and I saw that my fur's unpredictable coloring had shifted briefly into a dark blue, almost black.
The pain I had felt in my forehead overwhelmed me, crippling my every nerve. I could feel myself screaming, but there was no sound. Only laughter, that sickening, terrifying laughter… I had heard it somewhere before…
Then the world went white.
XXX
My first thought when I started to come around: "Ow."
My entire body felt like it was on fire. I pried my eyes open and found the drained emeralds on the ground around me, dull and practically void of color. I was more concerned about other things at the moment.
The factory had been shredded- that was the best way to describe it. Tiles had ripped up from the floor, doors blown off the hinges and any robot that had been in semi-one-piece was nothing but shrapnel.
I groaned and pushed myself to my feet, cradling my head and trying to remember what exactly had happened.
Someone moaned.
My eyes flicked towards the sound and I swear, I almost passed out again.
Tails was lying on his stomach, unconscious, with a protective arm from Shadow slung over his back. The hedgehog was also unconscious, lying next to Tails. A few feet away Knuckles was in a similar position, but he was lying on his back, his head rolled to one side. Amy was next to him on her stomach, her hammer gone. Rouge was the furthest one in the group, slumped in a ball, most likely unconscious before she hit the ground.
I ran over, my heart dropping into a strange feeling of panic and calm- if that was even possible. All were breathing, all were alive, and didn't look any more injured than they had been before… whatever just happened. No, everyone was fine. Just passed out from a combination of shock and shock waves.
What did just happen? All I remember was trying to power down, then the chaos emeralds not working, then… that laugh. It didn't feel like it was mine. Maybe I had only imagined it.
Then there was no more sound and everything whited out. And now my friends were out cold and the factory that used to be in pretty good shape was practically demolished. Could I have done this?... No, I didn't remember anything like that. Did I pass out too?
"This is your fault, you know."
How was this my fault? I didn't do anything. I don't even remember doing anything.
"You hurt them. You let yourself get out of control."
Alright, me (or whatever was speaking), how the heck am I supposed to know when Chaos energy gets… Chaotic?
"You can't. It's hopeless. You're a danger to everyone around you."
That made me pause. I looked around at everyone, motionless except for their ragged breathing and slight shifts of pain. Was I really a danger to everyone?
"Let's see: Robotnik wouldn't be attacking them if it wasn't for you. He wants you! Why'd you go and get yourself involved with their lives?"
Running alone for years gets lonely. I was probably desperate for some com-
"Oh, for Chaos sakes! It's your fault! Quit denying it!"
I knelt down next to Tails and gently rolled him over. The memory of the first time Robotnik abducted him popped in my head and suddenly I was six again, watching helplessly as my parents were burned to ashes in front of me. I stumbled back, wanting to forget.
"You hurt everyone. If you want to keep them safe then do yourself a favor: get away."
The last time I left, Tails almost died. How the heck is leaving supposed to keep them safe? If anything, it could put them in even more danger.
"Robotnik wants you the most. He wants to kill them in front of you just to make you suffer. If you're not around, then he can't hurt them. Or you."
Good point, me.
I shook my head. Was I seriously having a conversation with myself? This day was going worse than I thought it would. I was starting to lose it.
Was it really a good idea to leave?
Okay, think. Pros: Robotnik wouldn't kill anyone if I'm around and… maybe he'll lose interest. I won't have to answer any questions about how I acted today. And maybe I can figure out what the heck happened with the Chaos field without putting anyone else in danger.
Cons: … I'm leaving everyone.
"Are you seriously debating this? The answer is obvious. Leave. Get out of here."
Alright, this day has apparently driven me to the brink of insanity. My personality has always been a little… split. But this was just ridiculous.
I needed to clear my head. As gently as possible, I pushed the dulled blue emerald in Tails's hand. I squeezed it tight and smiled, "I'll be back… I promise."
And then I ran.
XXX
Shadow's POV:
Sounds were muffled and distant, but words could be deciphered.
"I'll be back… I promise."
A whip of wind and then silence. My head pounded, my arms were lead and my leg ached from where the bullets had ripped through my skin. I knew none of the injuries would matter- I healed quickly enough and although the pain was less than desireable, I could manage.
The uncanny quiet of the virtually deserted factory gave me time to run through what happened during the mission- successes and failures, and, in this case, anomalous occurrences that in no logical way connected with previous encounters with Sonic's team.
The emotion commonly known as "anger" was something you could say I was... familiar with. It can drive anyone to do horrible things, inflicting permanent damage to those on the receiving end. I had learned in my lifetime that there were several different categories of anger. The short bursts appeared to be common in ordinary situations, which could act as the drive for mostly insignificant actions or words they would later regret. Other types of anger seem to seep slowly out and eventually fade, such as when a Mother forgives a child for breaking a cherished heirloom- but holds a grudge into the child's adult years.
Then there was the revenge drive.
Never had I encountered another being who had strived as far as I had for revenge… or at least I had thought that, until Sonic practically exploded this morning. No warning, not even one of his usual smiles; just a rush to finish the job and finish it quickly. If no one else had been present, I suspected that the clean-up would have been… much messier.
Amy Rose's behavior in the second half of the fight was also questionable. No one suddenly shouted in medieval language without explanation. Rose had always been a strange sort of person in my opinion- it is highly improbable for anyone to be that cheerful without putting on an act of some sort- but accusing her Metal counterpart of "witchcraft"? What on Mobius was she going on about?
The Doctor's behavior too, was strange. His interactions with Sonic carried a tension of past fights and eternal grudges that I had suspected, but never seen before. Almost never seen before.
Finally, the explosion… or chaotic shock wave. Whatever it was, it was definitely abnormal. The Chaos Force was behaving in ways I had never seen before. Ever since the incident on the ARK, I suspected that Sonic possessed more chaotic abilities then he let on, or even knew about. Chaos Control with a fake emerald? I was not even sure if I could do that. Not sure if I wanted to know.
I remembered it clearly; As soon as I had my back turned, I sensed something was wrong. When I turned back, Sonic was holding his head as if in pain and his fur was fading from gold back to blue. Miles started to panic and began to rush to try and help when I felt the initial surge.
I had grabbed the fox, pushing him to the ground while instructing the others to get down. The Guardian grabbed Rose and echoed my actions. I had just enough time to form a domed chaos shield around us all before the world exploded into a white-hot flash of nothing.
Which is where I cease my recollection, and find myself now.
A sharp, creaking noise beckoned my consciousness back to reality. My eyes opened and I was greeted by the sight of total devastation; smoke, shrapnel and scrap metal in every direction. The building creaked again, indicating the weakening structure. I had no idea Sonic was capable of this level of destruction.
I pushed back the slabs of scrap metal and climbed out of the wreckage. Luckily, everyone had been inside the shield when the blast hit and were all lying in a pile near the doors, albeit unconscious. A few stirred, but for the most part everyone was still enough they may just as well have been dead. I imagined briefly what the consequences would have been like had I not raised the shield in time. I stopped imagining it.
I counted each body to occupy my mind; one, two, three, four, five… I paused, then counted again, observing closer. Only five.
Sonic was gone.
I disposed of more of the shrapnel, wondering if Sonic could be hidden under something, unconscious like the rest of them. Likely, given that a blast of that magnitude would have overwhelmed his body. Unless there's some sort of chaotic immunity power he has neglected to inform me of.
My search was fruitless; Sonic was nowhere to be found.
The Guardian had awoken and was moaning in the corner; any other time, I'd think him foolish for acknowledging such insignificant details as physical pain, but in this case, I could sympathize to a point. The Doctor's Metal series had been truly formidable- even I had felt their effects.
I rubbed my leg, which was slowly beginning to heal as my connection with the Chaos force had been restored. The pain was still intense, but I chose to ignore it. A certain absent hedgehog was still in the foremost of my mind- and which was promptly shoved aside as Miles awoke and began to cough up blood.
My first priority became medical assistance to the injured. Sonic could wait.
XXX
General Towers was rather perplexed when I returned to GUN Headquarters via teleportation with the unconscious forms of my partner and Team Sonic (sans Sonic). He ordered a team of medical personnel to the hanger and me to his office.
Explanations were given, questions were answered, and tempers were raised on both ends. The General was very frustrated that I was unable to explain Sonic's disappearance and his… Super incident.
"Are you absolutely sure you did not see him run away?" asked the General for the third time.
"General, when I came to, he was not within the facility." I assured him, growing weary of this charade. "I may have heard his voice, but I did not see him."
"What did he say?"
"I believe he promised Miles Prower that he'd return."
General Towers stood at his desk, beginning to pace the floor with a vigor I had rarely seen. Mumbling under his breath he ranted about Sonic's lack of discipline and knowledge, to no surprise. He halted at the window and stared at the setting sun, "Do you know when he'll return?"
"I do not." My temper was starting to flare, annoyed with the prospect of answering the same question over and over again.
"I suppose he needs to clear his head," General Towers frowned, his voice lowering to hardly a mutter. "It's been a hard day. Many memories have been resurfaced and Sonic has been stressed." It was almost as if he forgot I was in the room.
Another confirmation that today was not a good day for the hedgehog. "Sir. Sonic was very… temperamental during this mission. His mannerisms indicated that he was distracted and unfocused, which is unlike him during battle. I have reason to assume that you have some knowledge as to why this is."
"It is of no concern to you, Agent Shadow. Dismissed."
What? Of no concern... the nerve of him...
"My partner is in the hospital with three members of Team Sonic- all seriously and possibly gravely injured." I said with gritted teeth. "Understand, General, that Robotnik nearly killed us all after exchanging a secret conversation with Sonic- who is now missing. It does concern me."
"No. It does not. Dismissed."
"Robotnik mentioned that today was an anniversary of some kind in Sonic's and his past. What happened?"
"None of your concern! You are dismissed!"
I didn't believe him for a moment. "General Towers, I demand to know what is going on."
"And I am informing you that there is nothing that concerns you, nor is your business."
I banged my fist on the table, "What is Sonic hiding?"
"Sonic," General Towers returned to his desk, his eyes narrowed, "is not hiding anything. This confrontation is yet another chapter in Robotnik's and Sonic's rivalry. Nothing is special about this day. Understood?"
"General-"
"Understood, Agent Shadow?"
I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, resisting the urge to kill the man where he stood. "Understood."
"Good. For the last time, you are dismissed."
No salute was even attempted as I stormed out of the room. My leg was healing slowly and every so often a sharp stab of pain would prick me like a needle. It was bearable. There was no need to visit the medical bay- no one would expect me to be there, including myself. Something much more important was on my mind.
Who is Sonic the Hedgehog?
Yes, we are insane. SHADOW'S POINT OF VIEW. Ugh, his is so hard! You have to make it straight forward but descriptive- and that is HARD. But it is also really fun… is that even possible?
Also, AP TESTING IS OVER. Which means I literally have no homework so TYPING CAN BE DONE.
10,000 words for this chapter… I am so sorry. Now you know why it took so long.
PLEASE READ FOR EXPLANATION TO STRANGE EVENTS YOU MAY NOT HAVE UNDERSTOOD:
Amy Rose Explanation: Alright, Amy suddenly yells in medieval speak and knows how to use a mace. Chaos, I'm just throwing out random jokes at this point, right? WRONG. Okay, so here's the dealio:IF YOU DIDN'T READ "SHATTERED THORNS" THEN YOU'RE GOING TO BE CONFUSED. YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO READ IT BECAUSE I'LL EXPLAIN IT RIGHT HERE AND NOW. So I have this weird AU theory about Amy's powers. Yes, I know in the Archie comics it has something to do with the Rings of Acorn and blah, blah, blah, but I don't think that's the same for the games because of a little fact of: I don't see a Kingdom of Acorn anywhere. Amy just suddenly can summon a hammer out of a pocket dimension for no reason whatsoever. So here's my little headcanon: Amy is always wearing rings in the game on her wrists. There is absolutely no reason for it. Shadow has inhibitor rings and Silver has his gloves, but Amy just sort of... has them. For no reason. So in my mind, Amy's right ring is where her powers come from. Over time, she learns how to shape-shift it and can turn it into other rings (hence all the weird designs with her in rings) and she just wears another one on her wrist for balance in her look. This makes sense, right?
HERE COMES THE WEIRD PART: In the AU, her ring has a trapped, ancient female warrior who was cursed by a wizard and she talks in Amy's head. Because of how long the warrior has been in the ring, her memory has gotten a little fuzzy and she has forgotten her name and most of her past. Due to this fact, Amy calls her 'Rin', short for 'Ring'.
No, I'm not kidding. That is this story. NO, SHE IS NOT POSSESSED. Calm down, Amy's fine. She's not insane, she isn't going to suddenly lose her mind. In fact, she'd be dead if it wasn't for Rin. Here's what happened: Amy was knocked unconscious. Rin was trying to wake her up, but Amy was too exhausted. When Robotnik went to go kill her, Rin took control until the battle was over. YES, SHE CAN DO THAT. She did it once before, once again to protect Amy. Other then that, Amy's in charge. So, the weapons… Rin knows how to use one and her hammer looks different then Amy's. Amy will be using her normal hammer the rest of the story, promise. You'll get to meet Rin later on in the story. She's pretty funny. She calls science "witchcraft"… hence the exclamation up above.
If you want the full story, it's only six chapters long and it's called "Shattered Thorns" and it's on my profile page.
SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG EXPLANATION: Some of you may have noticed that Metal Shadow was super overpowered. It's a headcanon of mine which is as follows: Shadow has a lot more chaotic abilities then he lets on for two reasons. One, he can keep people on their toes. Powers like his are the most useful when your opponent isn't aware of them. Two, it takes a lot of energy to use them, so he generally doesn't. Chaos spears and blasts? Easy peasy. Teleporting? No problem. Reading minds, levitating, machine gun-like chaos bullets, and making things explode with his mind? ...Give him five minutes and a lot of adrenaline.
Metal Shadow has a Chaos Emerald which is pretty powerful, and he doesn't have any sort of limitations that living organisms would have, hence why he is using all of these abilities. Robotnik was actually quite terrified with what happened with Metal Shadow, but was also really excited to learn about some of Shadow's rare abilities. ("Observations!")
Also, the whole "blackish green" blood thing… Well, he's part alien, and I think all of the aliens had blackish green blood, so Shadow has blackish green blood. Which is kinda… weird, but hey, whatever. I mean, we have blue blood until it touches oxygen (that's right, right? Or ar the veins just blue?) so it's not super strange, all things considered.
And his Chaos abilities allows him a healing factor sort of similar to Wolverine's. So fast but not insane like Deadpool's.
Am I missing anything? If so, ask in the reviews.