Chapter Eight – Battle Grounds
Charlie was stunned. They all were. What was going on? Why would Eggman reigniteThe Purge? They hadn't heard from Eggman in months. Not that unusual but Sonic had the hunch, there was something more.
Then suddenly Manic came rushing to Sonic's side. He'd been to scoping out the local area, once he'd realised that his brother would be alright.
"We've got a problem!" He panted. "Eggman is marching an Army on Mobius. There's robots as far as the eye can see in the plains beneath us, right along the horizon. But they are some distance away, it will take several hours for them to get here." He panicked.
What?
It was a battle on two fronts.
They all looked at each other. They all had no idea about the Army. They barely heard it except for the very slight clink-clink on metal on the ground.
Shadow swore loudly and coldly, confirming what Manic had reported.
"Eggman kept that extremely quiet." He spat. Even he didn't know. Silver frowned.
"But how?" he asked. "How did Eggman sneak this one past us?" He shrugged. Shadow growled.
"Diversion!" He spat. He was extremely annoyed. "That dam crowd!" He hissed, pointing at Tails' House in the distance. It was completely up in flames. Being burned to the ground. The Fox was in tears. His life's work was in that house. Then Manic realised something.
"Don't you mean Double Diversion!" He piped up. They all looked at him. "Hey, didn't any of you notice that Eggman wasn't at the Grand Prix. Some would say, that I properly scared him off, and I would have done, if he was there in the first place. I know, I went looking for him." He shrugged.
Sonic had noticed that Eggman had arranged the Grand Prix but hadn't turned up. But he got too caught up with the Magic to do anything about it. He also must have been the one who told the Grand Prix officials about his unfair advantage. It was supposed to get Sonic kicked out but it backfired. Did Eggman know about his Magic at that point? Sonic suspected so, but had no way of knowing how. However, with Manic's shear power, nobody was that surprised that Eggman feared it, but it still didn't explain what was going on.
Then Sonic realised something. In fact, it hit him rather hard. He'd been thinking while the others had been talking. He got to his feet, shaking, supported by Charlie.
"Don't you meant Triple Diversion!" He smirked. Manic gasped.
"What do you mean?" He spat. He'd stormed up to his brother. Sonic sighed.
"The hostages in Robotropolis. That also was a setup by Eggman. All of this was." He heaved, struggling to stay on his feet. Manic stared at him.
"But why...?" He said, but Sonic cut across him.
"Don't you see. He's calling us out." He hissed. But Manic frowned. That made no sense.
"But what about The Treaty?" He spat, folding his arms.
Then it hit Sonic, hard. Extremely hard. Far harder then anything before.
So hard, that Sonic's feet gave way beneath him and he fell to the floor. He sat up, absolutely white, his hand over his mouth.
The Treaty!
Now it all made sense. Now he understood. Eggman was indeed calling them out.
"What Treaty?" Someone shouted at Sonic. It was Tails. He sounded very betrayed. He was storming away. Sonic somehow got up his feet and ran after him.
"It wasn't a Peace Treaty with Eggman!" He panted. "It was to end The Feud!" He spat.
Tails stopped and stared. They all did. Sonic sighed, He had to tell them, he had no choice.
"The Feud. The infamous fifty year long fight between Hedgehogs and Humans." Sonic shifted. But then someone cut across him. It was Silver, again.
"Or, The House of Phronshentico and the The House of Robotnik." He grinned. Sonic nodded. He continued.
"Believe me, by the time Eggman and I had come onto the scene, we'd both had had enough. They had been too many losses on both sides." He said, gritting his teeth. He was still in a lot of pain.
Tails frowned. He'd heard of The Feud, but didn't know any details.
"But what started the fight?" He asked, curiously. Sonic sighed.
"It wasn't what." He paused, turning around to face Shadow. "But who!" He sighed. The black Hedgehog exploded, getting incredibly aggressive, forcing Sonic to defend himself.
"Easy, Shadow." He panted. "You didn't directly start the fight, your innocent in all of this. It was your creation itself that started it." He said, shaking.
Shadow stopped. The word 'innocent' completely broke his temper.
"What do you mean?" He hissed, very coldly. Sonic sighed.
"There is a good chance that Gerald never mentioned in any of his diarys what I about to tell you. It is not the Robotnik way. You were not the first Hedgehog on the Ark. My great-grandfather Sir Charles Hedgehog was." He paused. Shadow stood back, disbelieving, but Sonic continued.
"As one of the best inventors of his day, he was commission by Gerald to help in the construction of the Ark. He and Gerald had become great friends and he stayed on the Ark, even after it's completion, and got to know Maria. Finding out that she was sick, he tried everything he could to help but to no avail. When he'd heard that Gerald was planning on creating you as a cure for Maria, my great-grandfather went mad. He said that Gerald had no right to mess with nature and that it was morally wrong." He heaved. He began pacing, still in pain, anger was welling up inside of him. He looked at Shadow.
"Well, my great-grandfather was wrong." He spat. "You have every right to live, just as much as anyone else here." Sonic was panting but Shadow raised an eyebrow. But the Blue Blur went on. "But it gets worse." He sighed. "The resulting argument was fierce, and my great-grandfather walks out on Gerald, and when he'd heard that Gerald had gone ahead and created you anyway." He heaved, gasping. "It was he who told GUN about you." He cried, hanging his head in shame.
Shadow was stunned. It was GUN storming the Ark that was the cause of Maria's death. A death that Shadow famously took incredibly badly. He would have exploded at the Blue Blur but he knew better. You can't blame an ancestor's crimes on the descendant's, its not fair. Just like you can't blame the creator's crimes on the creation. Shadow knew this only too well. But Sonic was in tears.
"I am so sorry!" He said, he knew what this meant to Shadow.
"It's not your fault." He hissed. Then he himself sighed. "I take it then that Gerald knew it was your great-grandfather?" He asked, curiously. Sonic nodded.
"Thus The Feud was spawned. Fifty years, four generations of Phronshentico (Charles, Maurice, Jules and us). Though Maurice didn't really do much, he just really hid and had kids." He said. "And three generations of Robotnik. (Gerard, Julian and Eggman)." He sighed. But Silver came over and joined in the conversation.
"But that wasn't the worse of it was it." He said. "I've heard about The Feud and how thousands were killed because of it." He questioned. Shadow stared, he knew nothing of this. Sonic was very ashamed. He nodded.
"That was when The Feud was truly at its worse. Peaking between Julian Robotnik and Jules Phronshentico." He said. Shadow looked up.
"Ah." He said, curious. "Eggman's father and..." He added letting the sentence hang. He didn't know the other person.
"Dad!" Both Sonic and Manic said together. Sonic was in tears but Manic's anger welled up and he took over from his brother. Shadow was very surprised.
"Believe me, we've completely disowned him for what he did." He spat. "Those two were so hell bent on destroying each other that they just didn't care. They fought anywhere and everywhere and as a result, over a quarter of a million people got killed in the crossfire." He paused. There was absolute horror from everyone. Manic was heaving with the anger.
"Including Mom!" He spat finally. Sonic looked up.
"Manic?" He pleaded. But Manic whirled round.
"No, Sonic. I'm gonna tell them. It's about time the truth came out." He spat and then he sighed.
"Mom never did anything except love Dad. Don't know why though. He didn't deserve her. I remember you telling me the story." He said to Sonic. "I wouldn't have remembered, I was only newborn at the time, but Bro was two years old and remembered everything." He said and was about to continue but Sonic cut across. It was better if he told the story. He sighed.
"We had a little house in a village, very discrete, nothing special. Not what you would expect from someone as famous as Dad but to Mom, Bernadette, it meant everything. She had been delighted to have had another baby and had only just brought you home from the hospital. She had been expecting a visit from Lisa and Isabelle Robotnik, who were coming to see the new baby." Sonic said, but Shadow cut across him.
"Who?" He spat. He thought he knew all of the Robotniks. Sonic smiled.
"Eggman's wife and daughter." He smirked. There were gasped from around the listeners. But Sonic giggled.
"Eggman was a good man. Once. When he graduated with a Doctoratein Robotics. He wasn't interested in following his father footsteps into The Feud so he became a Doctor of Prostheticsat Robotropolis General Hospital. It was where he met his wife who was a nurse, and where they'd met Mom." Sonic shrugged. His friends were finding this information difficult to believe, but it struck a cord with Shadow.
"But something happened to them. Didn't it?" He spat. "The wife and daughter?" He asked. Sonic nodded.
"In a series of events that no one could have foreseen." He sighed. "It all started then our village and ultimately our house was attacked by Julian Robotnik. He'd found us. Desperately trying to defend his family, Dad when out to him, and I never saw him again." He gulped, tears down his face. "Our house was on fire, and falling all around us. There was no way out, except for only small gap in the window. Mom threw me out of it, and then passed me the baby." Indicating Manic. "And told me to run like the wind and never look back." He snuffed. "So I did. I remember the house exploding behind me, taking her with it, but I ran and ran until I ended up in the middle of a big city." He said, but got cut across.
"Robotropolis!" It was Charlie. "Which was where I found you." He stammered. Sonic nodded.
"Yes, but despite Dad's transgressions, he was very popular amongst the Sapient community, who vowed vengeanceagainst the House of Robotnik for his death." He said but got cut across again by Shadow swearing very loudly.
"They got the wrong Robotnik, didn't they?" He spat. Sonic again nodded.
"They found a house belonging to a Robotnik and stormed it. A mob of Sapients attacked it, flames engulfing the entire building. Lisa and Isabelle were inside. They were burned to death." He exclaimed. But Shadow sighed thinking.
"Thus Eggman's grief changes him forever from a good man to an evil one." He said. "I thought there was an air of familiarity in him with my own grief. His utter hatred of all Sapients." He sighed, looking up from his thoughts. "And thats why you signed the Treaty. With the lose of your parents on one side and Eggman's wife and daughter on the other, enough was enough." He spat. Sonic sighed.
"Yes." He said. "The Treaty was designed to end The Feud. Neither of us ever wanted any part of it. So we agreed, including Manic, that any fights that happened between us, were strictly between us. Well away from any villages or cities." He was panting. But Shadow smirked.
"I'm guessing that also meant no friends either." He hissed. Shadow had nailed it, the reason why he'd been hit so hard before with the mention of the Treaty before. Sonic gulped and nodded.
"I tried to tell them." He defended. "But they kept following me." Indicating Tails and Knuckles. "Constantly helping me with the fights." He was panting. Shadow's smirked broadened.
"You broke the Treaty." He hissed, very coldly.
There was absolute outrage.
Manic, Tails and Knuckles went for Shadow in Sonic's defense, forcing the Blue Blur to use some serious Magic to keep a fight from breaking out. They had been there for several hours now and Sonic knew that they had to decide on a plan and move. This safe haven would remain safe for much longer. The crowd of Sapients would find them soon. He was angry, but with that second use of Magic, he was now in more pain then ever and a matter of minutes from passing out.
"Look." He spat, visibly shaking having finally settling everybody. "Regardless of whether I did or didn't break the Treaty, Eggman thinks I did. But he can't take me and Manic on directly, we're just too powerful, so..." He said, gasping for air, but Tails finished the sentence for it.
"So he's turning Mobius against you." He said. He looked out on to the plains. "But what about the Army?" The mass of robots were almost on top of them. Manic stepped up.
"I've got them." He smirked. "They won't get through me." He hissed. But then Sonic had collapsedto the ground. He heaved.
"And that's the point." He spat. "I'm on my knees with the Magic and can't stay here. Manic is the only one here who can defeat that Army. It's to split us up. I got to admit, it's ingenious." He stammered.
Everyone now looked extremely worried. Having the brothers split up was not wise at the moment but they didn't have a choice. Sonic was right and he knew it.
"Look." He said to everyone, gasping for air. "Flee, get out of here. Hide. Lie low until all this is over." He turned to the black Hedgehog. "Shadow, please can you take Silver to the Ark, I don't want either of you being accused of something you didn't do." Shadow frowned but eventually agreed. He didn't fancy being accused of Chaos Sorcery again, but he wasn't enthusiastic about taking a very excited Silver to the Ark, either. He had never been before and had always wanted to go. But he looked at Sonic.
"But what about you?" He asked. Sonic had no idea, he hadn't thought that far ahead. He knew that Manic would be alright. He was more then capable of defeating that Army and taking care of himself afterwards. Tails had a backup plan if ever his house got hit. Sonic was almost certain both he and Knuckles would head to a safe house. Amy and Big the Cat would go and stay with Vanilla, Cream's mother. Team Chaotix had several detective houses, one of which they could hold up it. Blaze would properly go with Silver to the Ark. Sonic had no idea where Rouge and Omega would hide, but with Rouge's underground contacts, he was certain they would find somewhere.
The darkness was creeping up on him. He was really struggling to stay awake. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry, old friend. I've got you." A gentle voice said. It was a familiar voice, of someone who had done this before.
Time to go.
The pain and the tiredness got the better of Sonic, he closed his eyes and fell into blackness. He was down, again.