Ready for the next chapter? Sorry for making you all wait so long. And this is only one part of the battle.

The next couple of chapters will tell how Tobias became the hero the other heroes knew.

Oh, and I made a mistake in the ages. At the time of the wedding, Accel would have been 15, and Mech would have been 16 (That is, if you factor in months, not just years). Apologies to Babylon Sky Hawk for the mistake. Plus, I had meant Thunder instead of Maelstrom. It was Thunder that was talking to James.

Let's see what the others think about what Armand has told them so far, then continue.

Chapter 2: Tobias Becomes a Hero, part 1.

Armand has finished the first part of his story. After hearing what the others say, he would continue. Emily was the first to speak up.

"I'll bet Armand was cute when he was a baby." Emily said, making Armand blush.

"Emily, don't do that." Armand asked.

"So, my father died at the hands of the Rogue Riders?" Storm asked.

"That's what Accel was told. A few weeks after I was born, it was confirmed. They didn't know each other formally, but they were able to communicate. They were good friends, even if they didn't know each other formally. When Accel and Mech were on a mission, Thunder was helping them out in some way." Armand said.

"Where are they?" Storm asked.

"The Rogue Riders are dead. They were killed a few years after my father died. By Accel and Mech, of course." Armand told him. (This event may be the final chapter, or maybe the one before it. But the Rogue Riders will show up from time to time.)

"At any rate, let me tell you about how my father became the hero we all knew."

15 years from present day…

It was a clear, bright, sunny day in Station Square. Armand was about 2 years old. Accel and Mech had been pursuing the Rogue Riders for the past four years since they heard Thunder had died. Thunder's wife, Sylvia, had a son 2 years ago. His name was Storm (you all know him). Thomas had gotten married (I'm not revealing who his wife would be), and Basil had been born about a year ago. Armand was playing in the yard, while Alicia and Tobias were watching him, making sure he didn't hurt himself. That's when a huge shadow nearly covered the whole city.

"Tobias, was there supposed to be a storm today?" Alicia asked.

"No way. There wasn't supposed to be a storm for three days from today."

They both looked up and saw a huge flying battleship. It looked like the Egg Carrier, yet it was black in color. Armand looked up and quickly ran to his mother, who hugged him.

"Don't worry Armand. Everything will be all right." Alicia told her son.

"I wonder who's in that ship." Tobias wondered.

Then a giant robot appeared from the bottom of the battleship. It was an all-black robot that looked like the final boss from Sonic Rush (That's the boss in Unknown, not the Ultimate Mecha). They heard a voice come from it, obviously from a speaker.

"Attention, denizens of the city. This city is now under control of the Nega Empire. Surrender to my rule, and I shall spare you all. Resist, and you die."

Well, Tobias wasn't about to let that happen.

"And just who are you to come to Station Square and declare your rule?" Tobias asked.

The cockpit opened to reveal a fat, egg-shaped man with a gray mustache, a red bodysuit with a black and yellow jacket, goggles on his head, flat-top sunglasses over his eyes, and white gloves on his hands.

"I am Dr. Eggman Nega, and I come from another dimension to take over this city."

"Nobody will allow you to do that." Tobias told him.

"And just who's going to stop me?" Nega asked.

"Well, I suppose I could try."

"What? You think you alone can stop me? If I were you, I'd just surrender and become a slave. Well, if you desire a fight, I'll be happy to oblige."

The fight began with Eggman Nega charging up a blast from between his hands.

"Let's see you handle this."

He finished charging the blast, then unleashed it on Tobias.

"FLASH SPARK!"

Tobias dodged the attack, but it left a huge hole in the city's road. Luckily, Tobias's house was out of the range.

"That was too close." Tobias commented.

Nega unleashed another Flash Spark, this one bigger than the last. It hit one of the city squares, totaling everything within a 100-foot range. Tobias saw what Nega was doing. Nega was trying to destroy the city in an attempt to bring Tobias into surrender. As Nega was about to unleash another Flash Spark, a few red lasers hit the robot, causing the attack to dissipate. Tobias had countered the attack.

"I won't let you destroy the city!" Tobias said defiantly.

"Then I'll destroy you!" Nega said.

Nega brought down one of the huge fists, causing a shockwave. Tobias jumped over it, and it shortly faded. Tobias saw his chance to really do some damage.

"How about this? LASER THRASH!"

Tobias formed a blue laser sword and charged at the robot. He slashed upwards, then downwards, and then pulled off multiple sword slashes, ending with a stab that shot the robot to another part of the city. As the robot went flying, Tobias followed. Alicia looked on as Tobias headed after the robot.

"Tobias, be careful." She said to herself.

It wasn't long before Nega's robot landed. It was in the Emerald Coast region of Station Square. Tobias was unlucky, as he hated water as much as Sonic would.

"Ah man, did I have to send him here?"

Nega recovered and began his attack anew, firing several beam waves from the robot's fists. Tobias dodged all of them with ease, only to find a fist connect with him. Tobias was sent flying into an apartment building. He emerged unharmed, though.

"Well, that was close. Now to get back in this fight."

Tobias rejoined the fight. He had amazing jumping abilities, and could hover for a long while. He charged at Nega and unleashed his best move.

"Here's my favorite move. MEGA LASER!"

With that, Tobias charged up a huge laser ball from his laser watch, which he then fired, creating a huge beam of laser energy. The beam connected with the robot, dealing a huge amount of damage. Nega couldn't even calculate the force of it, and once the damage had been dealt, the robot had a huge crater in its chest armor where the laser had hit.

"Amazing. I never thought that such a blast would have so much power. But it matters not. I shall win, and nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is going to stop me."

Nega then used the robot's hand and grabbed Tobias. He tried to escape, but the robot's grip tightened. Tobias couldn't escape.

"Let…me…go…madman!" Tobias demanded.

"I don't think so. I shall crush anyone in my way, and I think I'll start with you."

Tobias continued to try to break free, but the robot's grip tightened even more. It wasn't long before Tobias couldn't take it anymore. He started to black out, until…

"RAPID WIND STRIKES!" Someone said from nowhere.

All of a sudden, a light-blue hedgehog with a cobalt sword came out of nowhere and pulled off hundreds of Sonic Wind-powered slashes, each one coming at the speed of sound. About half of the slashes hit the arm, freeing Tobias. The rest were concentrated all over the robot.

"About time you got here." Tobias said.

"I came as fast as I could." The hedgehog said. It was Zeus, and he had come just in time. "Any idea who this freak is?"

"He calls himself Eggman Nega. He wants to take over the city, and crush everything in his way. It also doesn't help that he's from another dimension."

"Another dimension? You're pulling my leg!"

"He's not, but I am!"

Nega then grabbed Zeus by the leg and swung him around, then threw him towards the nearby restaurant. This place was one of the best, and if it were to get destroyed, the cost to replace it would take more than half of the city's funds. Tobias wouldn't let that happen. He used his watch to fire a grappling hook and caught Zeus just in time. Nega saw this and fired a missile to destroy it and them, only to have it destroyed by Tobias's lasers. Nega then fired several missiles, only to have them destroyed by Zeus's Rapid Wind Strikes. Not as many came out since there was no need to unleash hundreds. To them, the city's protection was more important than themselves. The battle continued with Tobias and Zeus double-teaming Nega's robot. Its huge fists started to come down and send out shockwaves, but Tobias used his lasers and Zeus used Sonic Winds to keep them from landing.

"Get out of my way or die!" Nega demanded.

"We'd rather die than let you destroy the city." Tobias shouted.

"That can be arranged!" Nega said.

The battle raged on. Nega sent his robot to attack Tobias and Zeus, and to hold nothing back, even if it meant destroying the city. The two heroes weren't about to let that happen, so they went on the offensive. Tobias used several laser beams and Zeus kept piling on the Sonic Winds.

It wasn't long before Zeus and Tobias were held captive. Nega started charging up a huge laser beam from the robot's head.

"And now, the city shall witness the death of two so-called "heroes"." Nega declared.

"HYDRO BLASTER!"

Just then, a huge water beam came out of nowhere and blasted the robot. Thomas the Fox had shown up and delivered his best move, and it seriously damaged the robot.

"Grrr. Now I have to face three heroes? This is getting too frustrating." Nega complained.

"That's what happens when you attack a city that has heroes in it." Thomas said.

The battle continued. Thomas used his Water Lasso to tie the robot's hands together while Tobias and Zeus kept piling on their attacks. The robot broke the water lasso and knocked Thomas clear across the city.

"WHOOOOOOOAAAAAAA!" Thomas yelled as he was sent flying.

"That takes care of that obnoxious fox."

"I'd have to disagree with that!"

Thomas, who had recovered, was soaring towards the robot. He had charged up a water ball and was ready to unleash it.

"Let's see you handle this! HYDRO SPHERE!"

Thomas launched the attack, which hit the robot dead center. Such a huge amount of water would short-circuit a normal giant robot, but this one was from another dimension, so the water ball didn't have the extreme effect Thomas thought.

"No way! How is that possible?" Thomas asked.

"Because, my robot isn't from this dimension. I created this robot to be extremely resistant to large amounts of water." Nega answered. "Now, are there any more attacks you all want to try?"

"SONIC STORM!" Zeus called out.

Zeus had charged up a blue orb the size of his body, and launched it at the robot. When the orb hit the robot, hundreds of individual Sonic Winds appeared and nearly sliced the robot clean. The robot had no defense against the attack and took it full blast.

"No way! How can such a small hedgehog unleash such a powerful blast like that!?" Nega wondered.

"Because I can, and that's all you need to know!" Zeus answered.

"Okay, I'm through playing games! DIE!"

Nega then unleashed thousands of lasers, more than Tobias could ever fire. Each individual laser headed towards the city. There was no stopping this attack. There would be no way. All hope was lost.

At least, that's what it looked like…

"BREAK SHIELD!" Someone called.

James the Cheetah had appeared and formed a giant shield that absorbed each laser and dissolved it. Nega was beside himself. One of his best and most powerful attacks had come up zeroes.

"NO WAY! HOW ARE ALL OF MY ATTACKS BEING DEFEATED!?" Nega asked.

"Because, you don't know how many heroes are involved." James answered.

"James, where the hell have you been?" Tobias asked.

"I had to leave Emily with someone. It took a while due to that gray freak's attack." James responded, referring to Eggman Nega.

"How is Emily doing?" Zeus asked.

"She's fine. I still can't believe she was the sole survivor of that attack."

About a year ago…

James was walking in the forest when he saw something red in the distance. He went to check it out, and saw it was a fire. He recognized the village as that of his friend. Alonso Leot had lived in that village. James rushed to see what the commotion was all about.

"What happened here?" James asked himself.

Nearly all of the cheetahs had been killed. Up ahead in the distance, he saw Alonso holding a baby cheetah. The baby cheetah had a blue gem embedded in her stomach.

"Alonso! What happened?" James asked.

"James…somebody attacked…set fire to the village…killed nearly everyone…"

"Alonso, don't talk. I'll save you."

"Don't bother. It's over…for me. Please…take Emily…into your care…make sure she never…roars out in anger or…sadness, or both. If that happens…the Chaos Gem…will react…and…"

Alonso then died before finishing the sentence.

"And what? Alonso, tell me! Alonso! ALONSO!!"

It was no use. Alonso Leot had died.

"It's over for him. I'll take Emily into my care. She'll live."

James then walked away. He told her what had happened when she was 5 years old.

Back to the present, on the ship…

"I still remember when my stepfather told me that. It still pains me to this day to even think about it." Emily said.

"I know, Emily. Now if I may continue..."

Back to the battle…

"Well, let's finish this guy off." Thomas said.

"Sure." James replied.

The battle continued. Multiple attacks were flying from one side of the battle area to another. Zeus tried to pull off some Rapid Wind Strikes, but he was interrupted by the robot's Flash Spark. Tobias fired multiple lasers, but they didn't have any effect. Thomas kept on launching water attacks, but the robot kept fighting. James kept attacking with his power, but he wasn't doing any damage. It was as if the robot's armor was upgrading during battle, which it was, as they would soon find out.

"Damn, what is taking so long with this? We should have shut this thing down permanently by this time." Zeus asked.

"That's easy. This robot has auto-upgrading armor. The longer the fight goes, the stronger the armor gets. Soon, this armor will be impenetrable."

"DEATH BARRAGE!" Someone called out.

A green rabbit appeared and unleashed a torrent of deadly punches and kicks, ending with an uppercut that put a major dent in the robot's armor. Mintra had come and unleashed one of his most advanced moves.

"I was wondering when you would show up, Mintra." Zeus said.

"Well, I just learned about the attack on the city. So I came here to help." Mintra replied.

Nega's robot recovered from the blow, and turned his attention back to the heroes.

"So it's now 5 heroes? No matter. I'll still destroy you all!" Nega declared.

The heroes prepared for the upcoming assault.

This would be a battle not easily won.

End of Chapter 2.

The heroes seem to be having trouble with the battle. Where are the other heroes? And will they all succeed? Or will Nega accomplish his goal?

Only one way to find out, and that is to wait until part 2. I have yet to decide whether there will be two or three parts.

Oh, and I'll be starting a Jak and Daxter story soon. Look out for it. I won't elaborate on details, but I will tell you this: Sig is the main character in the story, and a villain returns…on the hero side. Take a guess if you want, but I'm not going to reveal who it is to you…unless most of you guess it correctly.

DarkspineSilver92, if the Death Barrage wasn't right, sorry about that. If it isn't right, consider it a slight adjustment.

Read and Review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.