Chapter 10: Freedom

Far away from the city, Iblis, Darkspine-Sonic, and Finitevus stood outside a magnificent temple, bodies of the guardians scattered around them.

"Why are we here?" The hedgehog asked.
"This, Sonic, is the last stop on our journey. Within this temple is the so-called "Tomb of Iblis". We're going to open it, and restore me to my rightful form."
"And then Sally will be in control of her body again?"
"Yes."
"Then let's get that tomb open already."

Stepped through the doors, they were faced with a gargantuan statue of Iblis' serpentine form, sitting on a black throne. One pair of arms gripped the arm rests, the other two stretched outwards, palms facing upwards. Embedded into the rocky chair was a door, sealed shut with no apparent way to open it.

"This is what I need you for... the statue's upper hands are torches, which must be lit by your Chaos fire." Iblis explained, gripping Sonic's shoulders. "And yes, it does have to be you. I could've taken the fox, or gone for the echidna, I decided to reward the sacrifices that Sally made to ensure my perfect world, and take her hero."
"Thank you, my Goddess..."

Darkspine-Sonic stepped forward, and raised his hands towards the statue's. White fire streaked from one to the other, igniting the torches. Murals dotted around the room, depicting ancient Mobians worshipping Iblis, along with another figure wreathed in darkness, as they appeared to descend from the sun, illuminated at the same moment, as a deep, earthy rumble shook the room. Looking down to the door, it slowly slid away with the sound of stone grinding over stone, revealing a small passage, lit by more white torches.

"Excellent work, Sonic. Sadly, Sally and I must do the rest of this alone." Iblis purred, walking past him and into the tunnel. It was small, descending into the ground below the temple. At the base was a small room, with a simple altar at the back. In the centre sat a glowing orange orb, about the size of a Mobian's head, which flickered in the gloom. Iblis picked it up, ignoring the burning heat of the artefact on her stolen fingers, held it above her head, then began to chant in the ancient language of her long-dead followers, her voice devolving more and more into a malevolent hiss as she spoke. She felt the stone tugging on her, trying to pull her from Sally's body, and she smiled, letting it take her. Sally immediately took over the incantation, and, once Iblis had been drawn entirely into the orb, a stream of fire erupted from the top of it. She groaned, crumpling to her knees, but a few moments later, the heat of the orb faded to nothing, the noise of the surging flame died away. The squirrel's arms fell to her sides, her her lolling downwards from exhaustion.

Then, the familiar feeling of warm, muscular coils returned, curling tightly around her slim form, lifting her off the ground. She opened her eyes, and found herself looking at the massive, serpentine form of Iblis, the same one she had seen in her vision earlier that day. She was easily twice the size of a regular Mobian snake, and she smiled warmly at the princess, reaching one of her hands down to stroke her muzzle.

"Al-almighty Iblis?"
"Yes, my little servant... I have returned to form, and it is all thanks to you." She purred, squeezing her gently in her coils. "You have done so well... so very well indeed..."
"Thank you, Almighty Iblis."
"Good girl... now, shall we take you back to your partner?"
"Oh, yes please."

Smiling, the serpentine deity turned, and slid back out of the tunnel, squeezing her bulky form through the entrance. Sonic and Finitevus looked up at her, then immediately knelt, bowing their heads.

"Rise, my followers, and rejoice, for I have become whole again." She grinned, carefully lowering Sally to the ground. She embraced Sonic, leaning against him with a happy sigh, while Iblis turned her attention to Finitevus. "Warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it, doctor?"
"I don't see why you allow them express such pointless pleasantries. Wouldn't removing their individuality make them so much more effective?"
"Perhaps, but I am a benevolent Goddess. Besides, in terms of losing freedom, if anyone here is going to suffer that, it is you. Sonic unlocked my body. Sally was my host. All you have done is provide disposable minions and distractions, which I have little need for now. It might be wise to consider your place before you criticize my methods, doctor." She smiled knowingly, closing all three of her eyes as she spoke. "Oh... this is a new experience for you, isn't it? Being at a disadvantage? You always had the plan to get out if you needed it... but with this..." She tapped the green stone in his forehead. "It doesn't matter how far you run, or how fast... I will always be with there to bring you crawling back. Do you want to be part of my new world, or burn in the fires that cleanse this one?"

Within Emerl's processor, Nicole crashed against the ground, weapons falling from her grip, the black Gizoid hovering over her. Growling, it dropped towards her, claws first. She rolled aside, two blades appearing in her hands. It turned, a pair of curved energy blades forming around its forearms. It lunged at her swinging both of its weapons down. Blocking with her left blade, she jabbed the right into its stomach. Focus lost, the blades faded, at the maddened Gizoid lurched back, hand clapping to the damaged area. Much to her shock, blood oozed from behind its fingers.

"It's... alive?" She mused, pausing for a moment to stare. That proved to be a mistake, as the robot lunged again, ramming into her. Grasping her shoulders, it lifted its knee into her stomach, the bladed fin stabbed through her armour and piercing her stomach. She reeled back, as the gold accents on its body turned purple, and a pair of swords, just like her own, appeared in its hands. It raised them to strike, pointing both of them at her torso. Regaining her senses, Nicole smashed the pommel of her sword into its face, shattering the faceplate. Beneath it, she saw not the expected smooth white face, but the jaw of a Mobian, covered in brown fur and lined with sharp teeth. It backed off, spitting fragments of the plate out, as she stood again.

Spinning its swords around for a second, it rushed forward, slashing at her throat with one weapon. She knocked the weapon aside, shifting to evade the second strike, then triggered the engines of her new armour, tackling it. She flew upwards, braking sharply to launch it upwards. It righted itself, diving down towards her, driving its blades forward. Jinking to the side, Nicole stabbed it through the jetpack, pulling away as quickly as possible. The resulting explosion hurled the Gizoid back into the glowing pit, where it crashed into the ground and stood up. Storming after it, she tore past, cutting its side open. It stumbled, but raced after her. Turning, the jinked again, and severed the droid's forearm with an upward slash, turning into a vicious cut across its central optic.

Dropping its remaining weapon, it clutched at the ruined sensor, roaring with pain, staggering backwards. With the plate gone, the reaction sounded almost feline, and much higher than before. Nevertheless, she stepped forward and drove one of her blades into its chest.

Impaled, the Gizoid stumbled again, but managed to stay upright. It twisted, wrenching the hilt from her grip. Its still-functioning hand grasped the hilt, and tore the blade out, ignoring the blood flow. To her surprise, the outer armour of its head began to fall away, as a row of purple chevrons appeared on its torso, forearms, and shins. Beneath the armour, as she had begun to suspect, there was a Mobian face. The real surprise was exactly whose it was. Hers.

The sharp teeth and the hungry, feral look were new, but she new her own appearance. The Gizoid's hair was neat, tied back in a tight bun, supported by two long hairpins, and her eyes were crimson, but it was her, regardless of how much she wanted to forget that identity. It made sense now- the Gizoid had the ability to assimilate the powers and skills of others. In here, it could even copy appearances, it seemed, and the powerful, dominant, invasive virus that Emerl had succumbed to wasn't defending itself, it was trying to infect her as well. When it broken her defences for that moment, it had gained access to her memories. Regardless of its feral attitude and frenzied attacks against her, it had shown itself to be an intelligent and adaptable fighter in the outside world. It knew about Iron Nicole, and it knew about her issues surrounding that, so it was copying her form to try and put her off. It was sorely mistaken.

Nicole charged, lashing out with her remaining sword, as her counterpart tucked her arm behind her back, and parried the strike. Shoving back, it lunged again, swinging madly at her. Sidestepping, she turned on her heel and drove her sword straight through the Iron Nicole-Gizoid-Hybrid's head. It screeched for a moment, then went limp, collapsing and fading away.

"Phew... okay... it's over." Nicole sighed, turning back to Emerl's cage. The red light around them both faded, and the cage flickered, disintegrating bit by bit, letting the golden Gizoid fall out. She rushed over to his side, cradling her friend's slowly reactivating body. "Emerl... Emerl are you okay?"

"Nnngh... Nicole?" He wheezed. Nicole raised her eyebrow at the idea. As a robot, Emerl shouldn't have needed to breathe, so wheezing was right out. Still, the Ultimate virus took the form of an organic inside the armour, and she was currently in the same state. Maybe Emerl was the same in here.

"I'm here, Emerl." She replied, helping him sit up.
"Oh... thank Chaos... the pain's gone... Did you do that?"
"Yes. I deleted the Ultimate virus that Finitevus stuck you with. You should be fine now, and I think your Ultimate powerset should be intact."
"Thank you, Nicole..." He said, his mouthplate clicking open to give her a smile. Like their mutual counterpart before, he had a Mobian's mouth beneath it, not his normal face. The fur was white, the teeth looking suited for a feline of some sort.

"You're welcome, Emerl, but... your mouth..." She said. "It's organic.."
"Yeah... hang on a sec." He said, sitting upright. He reached up to his head, which seemed to hinge open at the top. It pulled away, revealing the rest of the face underneath. His eyes were blue and wide, his fur yellow, bar the white muzzle, and he had a messy mop of ginger hair. The tips of his ears were the same colour, and he smiled. "I... remember now. Getting my mind unlocked restored most of my memories. This is what I used to look like."
"Oh, I see."

"I still don't remember my name, but I know that I'm a serval. That city above is Nocturne, home of the Nocturnus, a splinter faction from the Dark Legion."
"I guessed that."
"Right, well, the Gizioids were the Nocturnus' not-so-secret weapon. Unflinching robotic killers, able to copy their enemy's attacks... they were terrifying."
"I can imagine."
"The terrifying thing, though... was the later ones. Like me. They made us by taking Mobian prisoners, either highly skilled captured warriors, or Adepts, or both, roboticized them, and transplanted their sparks into a Gizoid shell, then wiped our memories and shoved the Ultimate program into us."
"Oh my... that's horrifying..."
"I know..." Emerl nodded. "I agreed. I was angry, hateful, scared at the time. I knew they'd robbed me of something. I just... triggered the Ultimate mode and... I wiped them out."
"Oh..."
"I know it was wrong... but I couldn't stop myself. Eventually I just ran out of power, crashed into the desert, and, well, that's where you found me... and taught me to live as a Mobian again..."
"No, it's not that..."
"Then what is it?"

"I used to be a Mobian too." She admitted. He stared at her, incredulous.
"Really?"
"Yes. I was Sally's closest friend as a child... but Robotnik kidnapped me, and... after that it's kinda the same with you. I was roboticized, my mind was transferred into a computer body, and I got mind-wiped."
"This Robotnik sounds like a nasty piece of work."
"He was. I was responsible for the mind-wipe, though. Turns out that I was the daughter of a powerful telepath, and I'd inherited his powers. I didn't realise at the time, he died in the early days of the Great War, and I was too young to realise that he had those abilities... It was those that Robotnik wanted, in an easily-controllable state. I used my powers to alter the memories of all parties, so no-one would miss me, then wiped myself so I wouldn't be tempted to misuse my abilities..."
"That's awful..."
"I know... Sonic and Sally discovered the truth later, and helped me become me again..."
"When did this happen, and what happened to your mother?"
"I was changed seventeen years ago, and Sonic and Sally found the truth about me several weeks ago, almost a month now." Nicole explained. "As for my mother... I'm looking for her... but I don't know how I'm going to explain everything to her."
"I'll help you."

Nicole smiled, squeezing his hand, causing his cheeks to turn red. He gulped, scratching his head, then looked back at her.

"Uh... before we go back to the land of the living..."
"Hm?"
"I need to tell you something."
"Oh, go right ahead."
"I... I'm... I..."
"Emerl?"
"I'm in love... with you." He admitted, blushing crimson.
"You do?"
"Yes... I..." He looked down at the ground, drawing a circle in the dust with his finger. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that..."
"No... I..." Nicole began, blushing herself. "When we were chatting before I brought you back online, I... felt a connection that I haven't felt with anyone before. The only thing I could equate it to was something I felt when Sally and I briefly swapped bodies."
"Uh..."
"It was about Sonic."
"Oh...Oh." He said. "So what you're saying is-"

He was cut off when Nicole kissed him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Surprised for a moment, he closed his eyes and cradled her, holding her close.

"I love you too."

***

In the damaged city sector, Nicole's shield bubble faded, and the group turned to see her helping Emerl stand.

"Are you two alright?" Tails asked.
"We're fine. The Ultimate program has been deleted."
"Guys, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself..."
"It's alright, you weren't in control of your actions." Rotor said.
"You're no more to blame for this than Sally is for what Iblis does." Amy added.
"Yeah, we deal with this kahnda thang every other month or so." Bunnie shrugged.
"If people can forgive me, they'll forgive you." Fiona smiled.
"Thank you..."
"You're welcome."

"We're going to need to report what happened to the council, unfortunately." Nicole sighed.
"You can count on my support, but the others might be a harder sell."
"Then we'd better go and get it done, so we can get back to rescuing Sally."
"Sonic's Super form will have run out by now." Shadow mused. "He likely needs saving too."
"Alright then..." Tails said. "I'm going to go and mull some things over."
"Want me to come?" Fiona offered.
"No... I'll be alright. You've got Ant and Amy to look after."
"Okay hon, catch you later." She hugged him, before he warped away with Chaos Control.

***

Nicole, Rotor and Emerl headed for the Council Chamber together, discussing the events inside Emerl's processor.

"That's a fascinating story." The walrus said, rubbing his chin. "I didn't realise that there were Roboticizers before Sir Charles and Robotnik made theirs."
"They probably had very different systems." Emerl replied. "I doubt a Nocturnian Robian would look anything like a modern one."
"True, true. The ever-changing face of science and all."
"Yes."
"Congratulations on getting together, too."
"Thank you." Nicole smiled, grabbing Emerl's hand.
"What's the betting that they'll want me to be shut down?"
"Hamlin will. The others are unknowns at this point, but if it's a tie, which it often is, then I think we can rely on Elias' mercy."
"Okay, good."

***

Tails arrived back in his home, and flopped down onto the couch, head in his hands.

"Now what do I do?" He sighed, his body glowing slightly as his energies healed the wounds her had taken during the battle. Heavy footsteps sounded behind him, and he turned to see his father approaching, a concerned look on his face.

"What's the matter, son?" He asked, sitting next to him.
"I... I don't know if I can do this..." The golden fox replied. "The team needs a leader... and I'm not that."
"What happened?"
"I made two plans, and both of them almost got everyone killed."
"That's nothing to be ashamed of." Amadeus replied. "It happened to me, and it happened to Sally. You've been thrown in the deep end, and well, did anyone actually die?"
"No."
"Well there you go. What happened anyway?"
"I thought that, because the Ifrit- the big dragon-thing- was Iblis' ancient enemy, then something that could kill it could defeat her, but she had gotten stronger, and the Ifrit weaker..." He said. "And because of that, Sonic's been captured, and Emerl got afflicted with a virus that turned him berserk, and my plan to deal with that almost got Antoine and Amy killed. A lot of the others took a beating too, and a whole area of city has been ruined..."
"Could you predict that any of that would happen?"
"No..."
"Again, there you go." He smiled. "Son, every leader has to deal with these stumbling blocks. Everyone starts out inexperienced, and the fact that you've evidently overcome the second one is something to celebrate, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"You can do this, Miles. You can save Sonic and Princess Sally, or you can create the plan that saves them. I know you can."
"Thanks, Dad." Tails smiled at his father.
"You're welcome."
"I, uh, hooked up with Fiona, before it all blew up."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. She's taking care of the injured at the moment."
"Ah, good." He nodded. "I'm a little surprised, though. What's going on with her?"

"She says that she made a lot of mistakes, but she's here to redeem herself for them, and I believe her. It's a little interesting, really. According to Nic, she started acting like her normal self again the moment she realised how things had gone. It's like the persona she had when she was with Scourge was just a façade that she put up. She wasn't a bad person, just... lost, and I'm glad that Nic and Rouge were able to snap her out of it."
"I see. Well, I can imagine that she needs someone like you."
"Thanks."
"You should bring her over for dinner tonight."
"I'll ask her if she wants to."
"Alright."

***

In the council chamber, Nicole and Emerl stood before the assembled council, the former preparing to mount a defence.

"Miss Lynx, can you please inform us as to why your secret weapon has destroyed a chunk of our city." Hamlin demanded, glaring at the robot.
"It's quite simple, Councillor Hamlin." She replied. "There was a program hidden inside his system that was designed to deactivate his morality, memory, and personality cores. He was, after all, built as a weapon, so this would've been put in so that they could drop him into enemy territory and forget about the whole battle. Unfortunately, Finitevus, who is working for Iblis, was able to trigger the mode and then throw him through a Warp Ring. However, we were able to subdue him and I hacked into his mind. The program, the Ultimate Mode, worked like a virus. It tried to get into my head, but I destroyed it. The power that it granted is now safe for him to use, and I found something rather interesting in there. Show them, Emerl."

The robot nodded, his chestplate opening up to expose his spark, beating constantly.

"As you can see, he has a pulse. Constructed robots don't have that. Their cores are constant. Only Robians have this so-called "Sparkbeat. The scientists that made him took the spark of a Robian and put it in this body. He's as alive as I am, and he deserves his chance at life."
"Still, something must be done about this."

"It doesn't matter." Emerl spoke up, closing his chestplate. "It doesn't matter what you decide to do with me. I can save Sally, rescue Sonic, and beat Iblis. I know I can, and I'm going to do it."
"How can you be certain?"

Emerl's third optic opened, his mouthplate snapped shut, and all three of his eyes, as well as the lights on his chest and shoulders, turned yellow, an aura of the same colour appearing around him.

"Because I'm the Gizoid, the Ultimate Weapon. Doesn't matter what they do, I can do better. They've got my friend, they've got the best friend of someone I love, they've turned me into a monster, and they've tried to wipe us all out three times. I'm going to beat Iblis, and cram her back into whatever pit she came from, and there's nothing you can say or do to change that."