Sonic Universe: Tales of Mobius
SEASON 1: THE EGGMAN WAR (3230-3239)
ISSUE 14: FIGHT THE GLITCH
Marble Planetary Factory, Marble Zone
Ashura the Hedgehog flew through the air at breakneck speed. Being a glitch, he had some abilities of the Freedom Fighters and right now he was using Sonic's Speed and Tails' Flight to fly this fast. His destination appeared in the distance, as the purple ground and stone pillars were recognizable.
"I have reached my destination, If my calculations are correct, the Freedom Fighters are currently raiding the Marble Planetary Factory here in Marble Zone", Ashura said as he flew over the hills. His thoughts were confirmed correct when he saw the massive lavendar pearl factory get assaulted by pink lasers.
"There they are", Ashura said as he saw the Freedom Fighters fight off several hordes of robots and attack the factory. Bunnie Rabbot fired another laser from her arm, striking the factory yet again and doing more damage. Sonic ran in circles around a large number of robots and lashed out with a Sonic Wind, destroying them. Tails slashed a robot with his namesakes and fired his arm cannon at a massive Gun Pawn, taking it out. Amy was swinging with her hammer wildly, while Geoffrey fired several arrows. Manic punched and threw a robot into another one, as he was a beginner fighter. Last but not least, Sally slashed five Egg Pawns apart with her blades and Nicole flew at her side firing nanite lasers that evaporated any opposers.
"It's time to end this", Ashura said as the factory released a new model of robots, the Aero Chasers at the heroes.
Sonic kicked a robot to the ground and stood on top, cupping his hand over his face and gazing at the factory.
"Come on guys, we're almost through with this!" Sonic shouted leaping off and charging towards the factory in his Spindash. Sally noticed and chatged behind him, along with Amy and Geoffrey following.
"Let's go, let's go!" Sally shouted smashing through more robots along the way.
High in the air, Ashura smirked at the chaos taking place. Ooh, what's that? he thought as a massive robot piled out of the factory. The Freedom Fighters stopped to look at it, worried. The robot was massive. It was large red and purple tank like robot which sported a massive cannon in the front and had a steel roller in the front.
"EGG STEAMROLLER, INITIATED! COMMENCING, FULL ASSAULT!" the machine announced.
"Ohhh boy", Geoffrey muttered as the massive machine aimed the large cannon at his face.
"Um, guys we might want to run now", Tails said.
"No way, bud! I ain't running from no bot!"
"Sonic, wait!" Amy exclaimed, but Sonic charged towards the robot. The Egg Steamroller lowered its cannon and fired, narrowly missing Sonic by the top quill and blowing up a pillar far back. Sonic stopped running and slowly turned around to survey the damage. He glanced back at the machine and panic immediatly filled in.
"Okay, looks like we are running. BOOK IT!" Sonic shouted dashing away from the robot as far as possible. The rest of the Freedom Fighters shouted and followed Sonic while the Egg Steamroller took aim.
"TARGET LOCKED ON. FIRE!" The Egg Steamroller fired a missile, this one hitting the ground right behind the heroes, sending them flying back. The Egg Steamroller moved forward, ready to flatten the Freedom Fighters with the roller.
Ashura smirked, seeing as it was his time to shine.
"Time for my grand entrance", he said to himself before flying towards the robot and holding his hands out, forming a green energy ball and enveloping himself in it. Before the robot could end the heroes lives, Ashura slammed into it, creating a huge green explosion that sent everybody tumbling back.
"Da fuck was that?!" Manic exclaimed. Bunnie looked at the damage.
"Whatever that was, it sho took out that robot!"
"Guys...I sense a powerful being here", Nicole said floating up. Sally joined her and looked at the damage. Out of the smoke emerged Ashura, walking up to the Freedom Fighters with a cold smirk on his face.
"Whooaaa...talk about a wack hairjob!" Manic exclaimed.
"Bro, you're one to talk!" Sonic laughed, making Manic glare at him. Nicole wasn't laughing.
She kept staring at Ashura, feeling bad vibes come out of him. Not only that, but the hedgehog didn't look right. Ashura stopped in front of the heroes and surveyed them.
"Alright, who are you mate?" Geoffrey asked. Ashura didn't answer but shot daggers toward the skunk, making Geoffrey glare at him. Sally uneasily looked at the two before Ashura averted his gaze to Nicole, and the two locked down in a staredown.
"Um, thank you for saving us? Who are you?" Amy asked, hoping he would answer with politeness. Ashura still didn't answer. Sonic was starting to get pissed off by the silence.
"Hey, answer us when we're talking to you!" he angrily exclaimed. Ashura and Nicole kept glaring at Nicole before the green nanite chuckled.
"So this is the Freedom Fighters. What an honor to meet you".
"Um, thanks?" Sally said, oblivious to the change in attitude. Sonic however wasn't the one to take this lightly.
"How 'bout telling us your name, Manic-lookalike!"
"Hey, he looks nothing like me!" Manic yelped. Everybody shot him a "you got to be kidding me" look, except Ashura who merely sweatdropped at the attitude.
"Pardon me. My name is Ashura and I have come for one purpose", Ashura spoke.
"And that is?!" Sonic said starting to get impatient now. The answer he got shocked the living daylights out of everyone.
"To destroy the Freedom Fighters and take over Mobius".
The Freedom Fighters looked at each other, debating whether or not to believe the newcomer's words. Ashura merely watched them, patiently.
"Excuse me sir, but are you playing a joke on us? Is it already April Fools?" Tails asked.
"I am very well being serious with you. And I know what you're going to ask next. No, I'm not on Eggman's side. I am my own self and my own master".
"Yeah, that's some bullshit!" Sonic exclaimed, not believing a single word Ashura spoke.
"Wait guys...he's not Mobian", Nicole said. Everybody except for Ashura looked at her in shock.
"Huh? What do you mean? Looks perfectly like Manic to me!" Geoffrey said.
"HE DOES NOT LOOK LIKE ME!"
"Ok fine, you look like him!" Amy said.
"WHY YOU-"
"Guys, can we relax?!" Sally exclaimed. Everybody grumbled, but didn't say anything. Sally turned to Nicole. "Continue on with what you were saying Nicole".
"Yes. He is not Mobian, but also a nanite like me. A HoloMobian", Nicole said.
"But how? He looks like a normal hedgehog copy of Manic. Look, even his fur is realistic!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Do I have to dye my fur red or something? HE DOES NOT LOOK LIKE ME NOR DO I LOOK LIKE HIM!"
"Sonic, even I have realistic fur and look at me", Nicole said. "I'm a half Mobian half nanite and so is he! I can see it with my nanite ability".
Ashura chuckled. "How nice. Nicole is right about me. I am a HoloMobian, one hundred percent nanite!"
"So you are created by Eggman!" Tails exclaimed.
"Yes. I am created by him, but chose not to side with him", Ashura said.
"Like we'll believe that!" Sonic scoffed.
"Believe or not, it won't stop your incoming doom!" Ashura said.
"You want a fight? We'll give you a fight, freak!" Sonic exclaimed getting in a fighting stance.
"The name's Ashura. Remember it". Ashura then morphed his right hand into a green energy blade and shot forward. Sally barely had time to raise her Ring Blades and block the strike from Ashura, pushing her back. Sonic Spindashed towards Ashura, but the nanite teleported out of the way and reappeared in front of Geoffrey.
"Eat arrows, bitch!" Geoffrey exclaimed shooting multiple arrows from his crossbow. Ashura smirked as the middle of his body dematerialized, leaving the arrows to go flying through the hole. His body rematerialized and Ashura gave Geoffrey a solid punch to the face, sending the skunk flying back into a boulder.
Ashura was then smacked up in the air by Bunnie.
"Hey, nobody touches mah pals here!" Bunnie exclaimed swinging her robotic fist at Ashura.
"Excuse me, then!" Ashura exclaimed teleporting away from the punch and Spindashing Bunnie in the back and slamming her to the ground. Ashura floated up from the rubble and held his hands out, preparing green energy balls in each one. Tails and Amy charged at him, but were both sent flying in the air after Ashura slammed the energy balls into them.
He was caught off guard by a sudden kick to the back, followed by a left hook to the face and a right hook to his arm and lastly a knee to the gut. Ashura was thrown to the ground by Sonic who got ready to stomp him. Ashura teleported out of the way before the cobalt hero's foot came crashing down on him.
Ashura remerged behind Sonic and kicked him in the back and slammed both fists on his head. Sonic let out a cry of pain as he fell down, and suddenly Ashura was thrown off. The nanite looked up to see Manic smirking at him.
"Alright, pot head! Let's see who really is the real deal-", Manic said before he was cut off by a quick punch to the face by Ashura and sent flying back. Ashura flew towards Bunnie and the two met with fists colliding in the middle. The two engaged in a rapid hand to hand combat, dealing blows to each other. Ashura ducked and weaved under laser blasts from Bunnie and retaliated with his own only for the rabbot to do the same.
The stalemate was broken off by Ashura who pounded Bunnie in a flurry of punches, overpowering her and eagle kicking her to the ground. Ashura summoned a dozen green energy balls that rotated in a circle around him before he launched them at everyone, scorching them or blasting them back. Ashura laughed as the Freedom Fighters fell back, not knowing what to do. What's worse was the fact that Ashura hadn't even broken a sweat.
He prepared to fly down and attack, but Nicole teleported next to him and shot him on the side with a purple laser.
"GRAAAHHH!" Ashura screamed as the laser scorched his skin, and several green nanite chips fell off of him. He glared at the other nanite in front of him and the two locked eyes.
"It's time we actually finish this", Nicole spoke. If she so badly wanted to die, so be it.
"Gladly", Ashura said. The two shouted battle cries before rocketing towards each other and exchanging furious lasers and punches. All the Freedom Fighters saw were bright flashes of purple and green, and nanite chips falling down, each purple and green.
"HAAAH!" Nicole shouted as she teleported above Ashura and blasted him with a powerful purple laser that engulfed him completly and slammed him to the ground, forming a large crater.
"WHOA!" the Freedom Fighters exclaimed at Nicole's power. They were not expecting that kind of outburst. Nicole was surprised herself that she had been able to use such a powerful attack, but she shrugged it off and floated down next to Sally.
"Wow Nicole, that was...wow", Sally said, being at shock for words.
"I guess all that training paid off", Nicole said shrugging. Suddenly, they all heard a voice and turned around to find none other than Valdez the Chameleon running up to them. The appearance of the blue chameleon surprised everyone.
"Valdez? What are you doing here?" Amy asked.
"I was tasked saving some animals from Eggman's robots here. I heard an explosion and came here fast as possible. What was that by the way?" Valdez asked.
"That was Nicole. We got into a fight with another HoloMobian and Nicole blasted him with a powerful laser right in his face!" Tails explained.
"Nicole? Since when could you do something as powerful and chaotic as that?" Valdez asked pointing to the crater. Nicole just shrugged. Sonic peered over the crater and saw Ashura lying lifeless in it.
"Hey guys, I think the Manic clone is out for good. Looks like he ain't getting up anytime soon". Manic's eye twitched when he heard Sonic say that.
"For the last time, he doesn't look like me!" Manic exclaimed angrily. Valdez just gave him a strange look, then shook his head.
"Well, he's done, right? Let's take him back to Knothole so we could figure out what we could do with him", Valdez said.
"And what, risk getting our only home destroyed?" Geoffrey said. Valdez was about to counter that statement when the crater suddenly exploded in a bright green light that sent everybody flying back.
Sonic, Sally and Nicole looked up to see Ashura floating above the more damaged crater, glowing a greenish hue. He had alot of cuts and bruises from Nicole's attack, and his lip was bleeding as well like an ordinary Mobian.
Judging by his expression, Sonic saw that Ashura was far beyond pissed off. It entertained the hero greatly.
"You all think you can best me so easily? I've fought Metal Sonic and beat him to the punch! You guys are child's play compared to him!" Ashura exclaimed.
"So THIS is the nanite? Let's see what he can do!" Valdez said before shooting out a shuriken. Ashura merely grabbed the shuriken and easily snapped it into pieces with his one hand. He scowled.
"So, still continuing huh? Well, I'll just put you out of your misery right here!" Ashura spat before surrounding his body in green aura and rocketing towards the group.
"SCRAM!" Sonic shouted as the Freedom Fighters dove out of the way just before Ashura crashed down on the spot they were before, creating a second crater.
Using his reflexes, Valdez shot three shurikens towards Ashura and rushed at him. Ashura easily sidestepped the shurikens and blocked a flying kick from Valdez and attempted to punch the chameleon, only to miss. Valdez kicked him in the shins, but Ashura retaliated by grabbing his leg and slamming Valdez down on the ground repeatedly before tossing the chameleon away like a ragdoll.
Ashura teleported out of the way as Sonic's Spindash came crashing through where he was before.
"Where is he?!" Sonic exclaimed looking around for the nanite. Ashura appeared in front of him and gave him a solid kick in the chin, making Sonic go flying up before getting Spindashed to the ground, followed up by a familiar Sonic Wind attack used by Ashura.
Sonic tumbled away in a heap as Tails, Geoffrey and Amy charged at Ashura, intent on bringing him down. Ashura easily dodged a tail swipe and summoned a glass square that glowed green and blocked all of Geoffrey's arrows. Ashura somersaulted over Amy's hammer and slammed his foot down on Geoffrey's face and rolling out the way of Tails' tail swipe. Ashura kicked Geoffrey away and shot a green energy ball at Tails, who yelped and rolled out of the way. Amy rushed at Ashura with her hammer screaming like a wild banshee, but Ashura sidestepped it and Amy accidentally hit Tails right in the face. The fox kit groaned in pain as he held his nose while Ashura kicked the hamer out of Amy's hands and wacking her with it. He then wacked Tails with the hammer before grabbing his namesakes and spinning him around in a circle wildly before letting go and flying into Geoffrey. Tails and Geoffrey tumbled around in a heap, giving Ashura the chance to blast them with green energy balls. Amy made a move for her hammer, but Ashura wacked her again and chucked the hammer right into her, knocking her back.
Ashura leapt out of the way as Sally's Ring Blades swiped at him repeatedly. He morphed his hands into his own green blades and began to parry all of Sally's blows. Sally inwardly recoiled in fear at Ashura's swordsmanship skills and she knew the battle would not be in her favor.
She was right as Ashura kicked her in the leg and round house kicked her in the gut, causing her to lurch back. Ashura got ready to plunge his blades into Sally's heart, but Nicole intercepted by shooting out a purple energy ball right in Ashura's face. He stumbled back and glowered at his oppresor.
"You! I'll crush you for humiliating me like that!" Ashura exclaimed pointing at Nicole with his blade.
"Let's see you try!" Nicole scoffed as she and Ashura got into a one on one match. The two kept exchanging blows with each other. While Nicole didn't have sharp blades like Ashura, she had a weapon of her own. Nanite powers. Nicole raised a shield up as Ashura's blade came down, scratching through the shield. He lashed out rapidly until the shield broke apart and Nicole was sent flying back a little.
"You're going down!" Nicole exclaimed shooting out a purple laser that took down Ashura before. But the green nanite wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice.
Easily teleporting out of the way and reappearing behind Nicole, Ashura smirked. "Let's see how you like it". He then blasted Nicole with the same laser, this one being green as it was his, and Nicole was slammed to the ground. Like Ashura, she was lying in a crater, groaning as several purple nanite chips were chipped off her. Ashura got ready to finish her off, but a loud battle cry stopped him. He turned around only to be uppercut to the air and slammed to the ground.
Manic grinned at the downed Ashura. "Thought I would be down by your one punch? Well, you thought wrong! Manic the Hedgehog does not go down that easily-". Ashura just slammed his fist into Manic's face, sending the green hedgehog flying into a rock, breaking it.
"Hmph, you all are weaklings", Ashura commented. Sonic rushed up to him using his Sonic Boost, but Ashura put up a glass square that Sonic easily bounced right off of. He then shot Sonic with a laser, knocking him to the ground.
Ashura stood triumphantly over the beaten Freedom Fighters and floated up.
"You all are inferior compared to me. It's time I finally end this right here!", Ashura exclaimed charging a rather large laser that glowed bright orange. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters stared at him, trying to find a new idea. Sally rushed over to Nicole, who was battered and beaten more than anyone. Her purple toga had rips, exposing some of her brown skin.
"Are you ok, Nicole?!" Sally exclaimed helping the beaten nanite up.
"I'm...fine. W-what is...he doing?" Nicole asked pointing at Ashura. Sally glared at him.
"He's going to destroy us all. We need to stop him!"
"How? Whatever attack we throw, he always counters it!" Geoffrey yelped.
"We can't give up though!" Amy said. Bunnie tried to switch to her lethal weapon on her robotic arm.
"Mah arm is damaged so ah can't use a weapon", Bunnie said. Valdez groggily got up from the beating he got.
"My option is to keep fighting! We will go down in a valiant battle at least!"
"Are you crazy? I value my life!" Geoffrey exclaimed.
"I can't believe I'm going to die by some posure!" Manic wailed dropping to his knees. Sonic rolled his eyes. "We're not going to die! We're going to beat this virus!"
"Our best shot was Nicole but she can't even fight. Yup, we're doomed", Tails said.
"Buddy, you too?" Sonic said raising a brow. Tails shrugged. Amy was about to protest something until she saw something in the distance. It was three figures that were flying towards them. Ashura didn't seem to notice yet as he was busy charging up the orange laser.
"What the hell is tha-", Geoffrey was cut off by a blue blur suddenly slamming into Ashura, making him disable the laser and plummet to the ground. Everybody looked at Sonic, but he just stood there dumbfounded.
"Oh Ashura, we're baaackk!" a voice cackled, someone Sonic knew way too familiar. Eggman hovered down next to him in his ever present Egg Mobile, with Cubot and Orbot on each side of him. Snively hovered down on his own Egg Mobile right next to his uncle. The Freedom Fighters were not expecting an entrance like this, so they got into battle stances.
"Eggy! What are you doing here?!" Sonic exclaimed. Eggman grinned and wagged a finger at the irritated hedgehog. "My my, that's a little rude, considering the fact that I saved all your lives".
"Cut the small talk and tell us why you're here!" Sally ordered, obviously ticked off. The heroes backed down. They knew it was a bad time to say anything when Sally was this mad. Eggman huffed.
"Well fine! If you insist, that nanite hedgehog over there goes by the name of Ashura. I accidentally created him and he betrayed me and nearly destroyed all of us. I came here to stop him as he is a big threat to all of us", Eggman explained. Suddenly, the blue blur shot out and landed right next to Eggman, revealing himself as none other than Metal Sonic.
"He's not down yet!", Metal Sonic spoke, getting in a fighting stance. The Freedom Fighters curiously looked at Eggman, and the doctor sighed.
"Look, as much as I hate to say it, we've got a common goal here. So how about a truce until Ashura has been vanquished?" Eggman asked. Sonic and the others looked at Sally for confirmation and the squirrel thought to herself before sighing.
"Truce", she said. Eggman formed a smile on his face. "Perfect! Now let's tear this joker up, shall we?"
"Wait a minute, how did you create Ashura?" Tails asked.
"Erm, well I managed to obtain a little bit of all you Freedom Fighter's DNA and tried to mix it with the nanites, but something happened and formed them into Corrupt Nanites, thus creating Ashura, a mere glitch in an experiment gone wrong".
"YOU TRIED USING OUR DNA? ARE YOU INSANE?!" Tails shouted, trying to lunge at Eggman but Sonic held him back.
"Buddy, chill out! This is not the time to kick Eggman's ass!" Sonic strained, holding the thrashing fox back. Eggman gulped and looked at Snively.
"Go use the capsule", Eggman said. Snively nodded and hovered over to the crater Ashura was in and pressed a button, opening a similar capsule used for capturing the animals and Mobians. He was about to put it on Ashura, but the glitch teleported in front of Snively and grabbed the Egg Mobile he was in.
"GAAAAAHHH!" Snively screamed as Ashura easily snapped the Egg Mobile in half, then dumped Snively out. He threw the broken parts away and glared at Eggman.
"You! You have gotten in my way again! I should have killed you when I had the chance!" Ashura exclaimed. Eggman glared at him.
"Shut your babbling glitchy mouth up! Once this is over, I'm taking you back to Robotropolis and erasing you from existence!"
"That will not happen. I will incinerate you to ashes", Ashura said with a creepy smile on his face. Sonic jumped next to Metal Sonic and looked at him.
"I guess we have to work together on this one. You ready?" Sonic asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice. The hero could literally see the visable smirk on the robot doppelganger's face. "Gladly", he said.
"Psst! Who do you think will win?" Cubot whispered to Orbot.
"Not now, idiot! Can't you see this is a serious matter?...Although I do think Ashura has the upper hand".
"You're on!" Cubot exclaimed shaking Orbot's hand.
The Freedom Fighters and the villains rushed at Ashura, and the glitch got ready. Sonic rushed up to him and threw a punch, which Ashura easily swatted away. He narrowly avoided a Boost attack from Metal Sonic. The robot had a killer look in his eyes and Ashura knew he would be the hardest opponent.
Amy swung with her hammer, but Ashura easily dropkicked her away and teleported in front of Sally, giving her a boot to the face. He failed to notice Eggman launch a missile and strike him directly in the back with it. Ashura glared at the grinning Eggman.
"You forgot I have weapons of my own, huh?" Eggman mocked. The mad doctor grew uneasy at the cold smirk on Ashura's face as he stood up.
"Oh believe me, I was hoping for this". Ashura then morphed both of his hands into glowing green machine guns and aimed them at everyone.
"OH FU-" Manic didn't get to finish his sentence as Ashura started bombarding bullets at everyone, who scrambled for cover. Sonic narrowly weaved through every bullet. He screamed in panic as a bullet barely grazed his shoulder. Tails took out his arm cannon and tried to blast Ashura, but the bullets kept making him dodge and hard to aim. Geoffrey almosgt got hit when trying to fire an arrow.
"FUCK THAT!" Geoffrey shouted dodging every bullet. Ashura continued his assault, intent on killing everyone right there.
Snively had been hiding behind a rock the whole time.
Ashura narrowed his eyes when he saw Metal Sonic charging straight at him, taking the bullets with ease. His Black Shield was up, making him invincible currently and he had a dangerous look in his eyes.
Time for your end, Metal Sonic bitterly thought. He flew towards Ashura at astounding speed and gave him an uppercut that would have shattered anyone's jaw. Ashura was thrown in the air by the impact and kicked in the side. Metal Sonic delivered a series of left and right hooks and kicked him in the side again, making Ashura flip around in midair before Metal slammed him to the ground.
"Pathetic!" Metal Sonic spat kicking Ashura away. The green nanite hedgehog stood up a bit wearily. He was tiring out from all this fighting and if he kept this up, he wouldn't last longer.
"Let's finish him!" Sally exclaimed charging at Ashura with her Ring Blades.
"Hell yeah!" Manic shouted running beside her along with the rest of the heroes. It was then Metal Sonic saw the smirk on Ashura's face.
"It's a trap, you idiots!" Metal Sonic shouted, but it was too late. No sooner when the Freedom Fighters were an inch closer to Ashura's face, he slammed both fists on the ground, creating a large earthquake that sent everybody falling to their feet. Metal Sonic, at the last second, had activated his rockets and was hovering off the ground along with Eggman. Snively however wasn't so lucky without his flying machine and was forced to the ground as well.
Ashura madly cackled as the earthquake continued, with the heroes flialing around to keep their balance. Metal Sonic was about to go in for an attack, but he noticed a few cracks on the ground. The cracks grew larger and he immediatly knew what was going to happen next.
"Um, guys?" Sonic said, noticing the cracks. Everybody's eyes widened when they saw this.
"Run!" Tails shouted, but it was too late. The ground beneath them gave away and the Freedom Fighters fell down through the large hole that was once solid ground. In blinding speed, Metal Sonic had rushed over and struck Ashura as well, making him plummet down the hole.
Soon, it was just Eggman and Metal Sonic hovering over the hole.
"Dear Chaos, are they dead?" Eggman asked eagerly, hoping they would all be dead. Metal Sonic shook his head. "Negative. There is more ground beneath this floor, and they're energy readings are still active".
"Damn, I forgot about the underground floors Marble Zone has. Oh well, let's go join them!" Eggman said. Metal Sonic nodded and the two swept down into the hole. Snively peered over the rock, dumbfouned at what happened.
"Hello?" he asked. Not getting any answer, he sighed and sat down, leaning against the rock and taking out a device of sorts. He opened up a game and started up the same entertainment Eggman was playing: the game where he could beat Sonic the Hedgehog endlessly.
Underground Marble Zone
Sally groaned as she sat up. Her body ached severely from the fall and it was a miracle she was still alive. Looking around, she saw the environment had gone from being a lush green plain with old buildings to a dark, purple colored marble cave. Glancing down, she saw herself sitting down on the hard, purple marble floor. For some reason, it wasn't cold like it should have been, but rather it was hot. Not that much, but enough to warm Sally up immediatly.
"What the hell?" she whispered looking around. She saw the other Freedom Fighters lying there like she had been, only a few were moving around and waking up.
Sonic groaned as he sat up and looked around, surprised at the environment. He noticed Sally and nodded to her before standing up. The others did the same, although some did not.
Manic, Amy, Bunnie and Valdez were knocked out cold.
"Everyone okay?" Sonic asked. He got the casual "yes" from everyone. Sally walked over to him.
"Where's Ashura? I saw Metal Sonic knock him down with us!", Sally said. Sonic looked around. No sign of the nanite green hedgehog anywhere.
"Is he...", Tails said. Sonic was about to say something, but suddenly the ground behind him erupted, throwing him forward and tackling Sally, knocking them back. Tails, Geoffrey and Nicole gaped as Ashura rose from the lava, that had taken the place of the destroyed ground.
"Now I shall send you to your dooms!" Ashura claimed. The Freedom Fighters got into battle stances. Sally tried hard to get rid of the blush on her face when Sonic tackled her.
"Guys, get ready...", Sonic warned. Nicole floated next to him. "I so badly want to beat this guy down. It's time for some revenge!", Nicole glowered. Ashura smirked at her as he floated over the lava. He morphed an energy ball in his hand and shot it at the group, who avoided. Unfortunatly, this caused the ground to break and reveal more lava.
"Shit! Guys, be careful of this lava!" Tails shouted. Sally glanced at the hot liquid. So that's why the marble was so hot. All that lava was making it warm!
Before Ashura could launch another attack, Sonic jumped and hit the nanite in the face with a homing attack, knocking Ashura onto a platform. Nicole flew up and shot a purple energy dart at him, striking Ashura in the gut and making him hiss in pain. He glared at Nicole.
"Die you miserable nanite!" Ashura shouted lunging at her with his holographic blade. Nicole prepared for the worst and hesitantly put her shield up, ready to take the hit. But Ashura was suddenly slammed aside by none other than Metal Sonic.
"You shouldn't make such foolish decisions", Metal coolly said to her.
"I...I", Nicole stammered, completly fazed by what happened. Shaking his head, Metal Sonic flew towards Ashura and gave him a well placed kick to the gut. Ashura crashed onto another platform. Metal prepared to finish him off, but Ashura had other plans. Jumping back to his feet, he rushed at Metal Sonic and slashed the robot across the torso with his blade. Metal Sonic was pushed back and Ashura kicked him back a good feet, landing on the ground beside the Freedom Fighters.
"I'll kill all of you!" Ashura shouted rushing at the heroes. Using the little strength he had left, Sonic pushed himself up and air boosted Ashura across the cave, slamming him to the ground. Both hedgehogs fell down, too tired to get up. However, that was soon avoided, as Ashura stood up and readied his blade and held it over Sonic.
"Any last words rodent?" Ashura mocked in a deep voice. Sonic turned around and smirked at him.
"Yeah. I never thought it would be my metal wannabee to save me!"
"What are you talki-OOOF!" Ashura shouted as he was cut off by Metal Sonic suddenly Spindashing him off Sonic. The robot glanced at him.
"We have to get out of here. Eggman is going to blow up the cave and trap Ashura!"
Sonic's eyes widened and he got up. Sally was running to him, Nicole flying by her side. Behind them, Tails and Geoffrey helped Manic and Valdez while Eggman picked up Amy and Bunnie and placed them in his Egg Mobile.
"We have to move now!" Sally shouted.
"I'll help you up!" Nicole exclaimed grabbing Sally and beginning to fly up. Sonic hopped onto the side of the Egg Mobile, much to the displeasure of Eggman. The mad doctor looked over at the downed Ashura and nodded to Metal Sonic. Metal walked over and kicked Ashura a good feet back, making it harder for the nanite to get up.
"Job well done", Metal Sonic commened flying away from Ashura and hovering beside his master.
"Never thought I would be doing this, but hang on you ignorant Mobians!" Eggman said.
"Hey, if you drop us, I'll make you wish you were never born!" Sonic said.
"Oooh, tough guy", Eggman retorted and began to hover his Egg Mobile. Metal Sonic flew out of the hole along with Nicole, and Eggman gave one last look to Ashura.
"It's been fun, but it's time for the big ending!" Eggman exclaimed.
"Ooooh, I wanna see explosions!" Cubot exclaimed giddily pressing a button.
"My favorite part", Orbot said pressing a button. Eggman laughed as he pressed the final button and soon, a barrage of missile were firing from the Egg Mobile and trashing the underground cave of Marble Zone. Sonic gaped as he saw the lava rise and turn into waves due to the chaos. Tails quickly flew out the hole while holding onto Valdez, Geoffrey and Manic. Eggman laughed one last time before flying out of the hole himself. Ashura cried out as he was thrown into a wall by the explosion. A rock fell on him, knocking him down on his belly.
Once outside, the doctor dumped Sonic off his precious flying machine, making Sonic faceplant on the ground.
"What the hell, man?!" Sonic angrily exclaimed pointing at Eggman.
"It's been fun hedgehog, but I have some business to attent to. Next time, I will destroy you!" Eggman exclaimed flying away. Metal Sonic glared at Sonic one llast time before flying away with his master. Sally walked over to Sonic and helped him up.
"Are you okay?" Sally asked. Sonic nodded. "I'm good. I dunno about him thought". Sonic pointed over to the hole which had now been brewing with smoke. Sally had a bad feeling that wasn't the end of the nanite.
"This is probably the first time I hope someone's dead", Nicole said flying over to her. Sonic looked at her and nodded. Ashura was too dangerous to be left alive. Tails and Geoffrey walked over to them, the others still lying unconscious.
"I still can't believe how he's a glitch in the nanite system. How does that even happen?" Tails asked.
"Maybe my dad knows something about this", Nicole suggested.
"True. Dr. Ellidy knows alot about nanites", Sally said.
"Well, let's go home. I'm already tired from this", Sonic said.
"Agreed", Geoffrey said. And with that, the Freedom Fighters made their way towards the exit of Marble Zone, eager to get out of the lush place. But unknown to them, trouble was still on the rise.
From the smoky hole emerged a battered, beaten, bloody and bruised Ashura. He looked like he was about to pass out at the moment. Dropping to a knee and inwardly cursing the situation out, he glanced at the direction the Freedom Fighters went.
"Curse you, insolent heroes. You may have won this time, but next time I swear to God I'll rip your intestines out and smear them on the very earth of Mobius!" Ashura said before weakly getting up and walking away.
TO BE CONTINUED
Hey I'm back! Sorry for the delay. Lately, I've had no motivation to write but now I'm back on the grind! But I can tell you expect more of these "no motivation delays" again, since it's natural. And that takes care of the Ashura Arc, so tune in next time as our heroes go in their next adventure!
EPIC Out!