I'm ready and super charged for some great chapter writing. I've been completely inspired after buying Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity for my PS2. It was awesome! Hope you all enjoy this.

Chapter 26: Destiny

3-way villa: Dessert Region 9:18 am

"Arrrgh! Come back here and face the full blunt force of my hammer you BASTARD!"

"Heeeeeeeeeell NO! Get away from me bitch!" Igneous kept running across the desert terrain while dodging hammer after hammer in many attempts to avoid being turned into a crater.

Knuckles ran closely behind them snickering and thinking this entire situation was somewhat amusing.

"STOP CALLING ME A FANGIRLISH WHINING VOICED WHORE!" Amy shouted while swinging her newest hammer across the air.

"What! I never said that!" Igneous couldn't believe it. He the almighty 'He who smoked bitches' was getting smoked by a bitch!

Igneous looked far ahead of himself and saw that they were nearing the Ice region.

"Isn't that where Karst is suppose to be? Awesome! If I find him maybe he can help me�escape from this crazy whore."

"I HEARD THAT!" Amy shouted while bombarding Igenous with another unnecessary pile of hammers.

"DAMNIT! STOP THROWING THOSE AT ME!

Ice cap castle: Ice cap zone of 3-way villa-9: 20 am

Metal Sonic still sat there at his lone table. Empty castle, empty seats, and an enormously huge amount of wasted space surrounded him and secluded him into deep confinement. This was his new occupation. He is a follower of Darkness but still took orders from Eggman by order of his new master.

It was power; simply power that gave him the strength to wait. The promise of more power than any robot of any kind had ever been graced with in this lifetime.

Armed with this knowledge he continued to wait even though he didn't consider it in his best interest to. So he waited and he waited…

Hidden Village: Green Hill zone of 3 way villa-9:21 am

Strobe had finally reached the village and quickly scanned the area. Robots were everywhere! They shot bullets at random places not really caring who they hit. Many of them gathered outside of Princess Patella's medical palace and began shooting at the doors.

It didn't take a genius to tell that she was in danger.

Strobe immediately sparked up his hands and bolted toward the palace as quick as he could. He zipped straight through the courtyard of the palace so fast that it set off an electrical surge that destroyed mainly all the robots. Each one in front of the palace exploded while Strobe stood there and waited for their parts to hit the ground and confirm they were defeated.

Afterward he punched in the palace doors and blasted his way to Patella's room. Terrified of what he might see lie beyond that door he ripped the door off of it's hinges and turned to face her.

Instead of her, however, he was greeted painfully by a foot in the face. The lightning themed commander fell backward and brought his hand to his bruised nose on instinct.

Although he was dazed he still had a pretty good idea of what had hit him.

"Sorry, bolt boy I'm not letting you harm this princess." Remarked the 11-year-old hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. He stood there with his eyes gleaming and his hands outstretched as if to say he was a one-man blockade.

Strobe stood up and stopped rubbing his nose. He let his hand drop down to his side. Then he just stared at the determined boy's face.

"Even if you do love her… you told me about how your ambition and Eggman's is the same. If that true then you really are here to kill her." Sonic explained.

Behind him was, of coarse, the princess who had just been told by Sonic what was happening. She sat there crying and not wanting to move. She wanted to be comforted and told that everything would be all right. However, the only person who could do that was now the reason for her grief and turmoil.

Strobe watched as the princess sat with her knees up and her head buried in her hands. He felt so incredibly guilty that he almost wished himself dead. It was just like he thought it would end up. Fate was incredibly cruel to him.

"Listen hedgehog… I…"

BOOM!

A crash was heard from the wall behind the princess. Sonic and Strobe immediately faced it in shock. Eggman's robots sure had lousy timing.

The princess lifted her head up and faced the wall only to be gripped roughly around the waist and carried out of the palace by one of Eggman's E-series flunkies.

"Help! Sonic! Strobe!" She had no idea why she called the help of someone out to kill her, or at least she thought she didn't, but at that moment it didn't matter to her.

"All this mess over a two-tailed monster. Honestly…" Strobe remarked sadly rather then frustratingly. He jumped out of the palace and ran after the robot within the demolished village at an amazing amount of lightning fast speed. Sonic followed suit, however, he wasn't able to accurately catch up to Strobe for some reason.

Strobe had meanwhile destroyed countless robots with his maxim attacks and was nearing the robot. He quickly over took the monstrosity by delivering a swift kick to its chest that cut it into a clean half. The robot capsized and the princess was set free.

Strobe immediately kneeled down to her when she was dropped on the ground.

"Are you alright?" He sounded very concerned. It sounded like the Strobe she always knew.

"Y-yes… but… aren't you..." Patella didn't know what to say or think. Was Strobe on Eggman's side or Sonic's? Who was he really? She remembers Strobe as being a once lost 12-year-old kid who found his way to their palace one day and was taken in when they realized he had no place left to go.

They were both 12 at the time of his arrival and because of his kind demeanor there was no reason to suspect him. Patella knew it was true… it was true that whatever was happening wasn't Strobe's intention.

Meanwhile in the ships above them Bokkun had just witnessed the amount of extensive damage that was just done to their robots.

"Uh-oh! The doctor isn't going to like this." He stated while looking a bit concerned.

"I'm not going to like what?" Eggman suddenly appeared behind him startling the little messenger robo.

"Uh…well…"

Back on the ground Sonic had finally caught up to them.

"Sonic…did you…lie to me?" Patella asked the confused hedgehog.

"L-lie to you? About what? Strobe?" To be perfectly honest, Sonic didn't know whether it was a lie or not himself.

"No princess, I assure you that whatever he told you was the truth." Strobe butted in standing up with the princess in his arms. He was comforting her like he always did when she was frightened. It isn't�everyday that you see your entire village being destroyed by an egg-shaped maniac.

"But if it's true then… why… why are you helping me?" She asked with tears starting to form.

"I'm the one who should be asking that question!" Came that horrible evil force again. All three of them looked up and saw Eggman in his Egg-mobile and Bokkun perched by his side.

"Strobe…please tell me…what the hell do you think you're doing."

There was silence… a very cold and disturbing silence that seemed to linger on forever.

"Doctor… I…" Strobe began.

"Silence traitor!" Bokkun shouted.

"He's no traitor Bokkun. He's just a little… confused. That's all." Eggman seemed to smirk a bit.

"I think we're all confused Eggman. Maybe it would help if you provided us with the answers seeing as you're the only one here who knows exactly what's going on.

"Oh yes! I assure you I know everything about anything that you wish to know." Eggman sneered.

"Yeah he does! He's the great Doctor Eggman!" Bokkun said happily.

"Okay then 'Great Doctor Eggman' then tell me what you did to Strobe to make him act this way. Oh, and while you're at it, tell me where EXACTLY Tails is." Sonic shouted clearly angered.

"Didn't Strobe tell you he was in the Ice region?" Eggman said while nonchalantly picking his ear behind his goggles.

"Err! I said exactly where he is!"

"And as for Strobe… I've done nothing wrong! He's the one who came to me seeking help all those years ago. It's his fault!" Eggman said rather harshly.

"Liar!" The princess shouted below getting Eggman's attention. "Strobe cares about me! He cares about everyone in the village…"

"What village? All I see is a bunch of burned down buildings and dead bodies."

That little statement prompted everyone to remember the situation that was at hand. They all looked around and saw the terrain. The area was filled with burned down buildings and dead bodies just as the doctor stated. All that remained were Eggman's silver robots.

"It's sad." Eggman spoke again with his head resting on his fist. "If that little brat had just shown himself earlier and stopped resisting me I probably would've disregarded this village and they might've lived for a couple more days. HOHOHOHO!"

"EGGMAN! I've had enough of you now tell me what I want to know!" Sonic wanted answers and now.

"Sonic. Please stop. Eggman was right. It was my fault." Strobe spoke up walking beside the hedgehog. Tears had formed in his eyes but his expression of half-consciousness stayed the same.

"What do you mean? Eggman clearly manipulated you into believing that his ambition was yours as well. If you'd just…"

"Listen to me. I went to him seeking help years ago when I was a kid. I was a nothing but a meaningless shell. After 'his' death I couldn't go on living the way I lived by my standards. I thought I was evil and seeked a new path to follow but cautioned myself not to follow my own ambition."

"Huh? B-but that doesn't make any sense.�You hooked up with someone evil because you didn't wish to be evil. What was wrong with your ambition? And also, who was this 'he' that died?" This whole story confused Sonic.

"My brother… he died when he was only 5… and I killed him."

Sonic stood there amazed, as did the princess. Eggman merely smirked and chuckled to himself.

"Y-you're joking right? Y-you didn't really…"

"At the time I thought it was an accident but after a while I realized it was my fault."

"You're probably blaming yourself to harshly again. Just listen to yourself. You love this princess, you love this village, you love basically everything here and yet you claim Eggman's ambition is yours. That makes no sense."

"Actually, it sort of does." Eggman cut in. "You see, Strobe became one of my commanders when he realized that it was useless to resist the painful fact that he had failed at being an older brother. He believed that he was evil and foolishly came to me for help when I beckoned him to me."

Sonic didn't understand it. Eggman was flat out telling Strobe that he had been foolish and Strobe still showed no signs of stopping this crazy insisting. He could tell by the look on the commander's face.

"After that," Eggman continued. "I gave him what he needed to begin a new life. I had my robots train him, take care of him, sent him to Patella's village, and placed a little bomb in his head to insure he didn't try to escape. You know, the basics."

"What?" Both Sonic and the Princess turned to Strobe, who now had his eyes closed as if he were pondering something.

"Strobe! You can't still believe that you and him…" Sonic began but�Eggman just interjected.

"Go on and tell them what you're thinking Strobe…EXACTLY what you're thinking. If I don't feel that you're telling them everything you're thinking then I'll press the little button I've got in my coat and it's�by, by, brainy."

Strobe sighed then spoke again.

"Everything Eggman wishes of me I must do or else he'd activate that bomb he put in my brain. It never used to be a problem before because I believed that I was evil and it was my destiny to do evil things but after I met you Patella…"

Patella looked into Strobe's eyes with huge concern and fear for Strobe in hers.

"… After I met you I fell in love… and I decided that despite what Eggman told me… I'd never harm you." Strobe held her hands and Patella began to cry. Bokkun began to cry too while Eggman made gagging sounds with his mouth.

"So… you only do what you do because you believed it was your destiny to become evil after your brother's death. You're judging yourself to harshly!" Sonic shouted.

"Perhaps, but it's too late. Eggman already has his hold over me." Strobe pointed out.

"That I do. And that being said; Strobe I command you to kill the princess and Sonic or I'll

�press my little button.

"… D-doctor…what are you…

"You heard me! It's show time! I'm tired of this talking so I want to see some fireworks fly!"

Strobe stood there for a brief second then sighed.

"You can't escape from you're feelings no matter how hard you try." He whispered while still holding Patella's hands.

"Huh?" Eggman and Bokkun leaned in closer for a better hearing range.

"I'm sorry Eggman but I can't kill the princess… something in my heart commands me not to."

"Well, your heart's not gonna do you any good without a brain to go with it." Eggman said while holding up the button. Sonic's sweat dropped as he watched the scene unfold.

What happened next surprised everyone.

"32 Kilowatt Maxim!"

A battle cry was called out and a shout of pain was heard across the landscape. It was so quiet after the attack that you could hear the victim's blood dripping on the ground.

"S-Strobe… h-how could you…" The princess asked clearly shocked.

"Heh heh! That a boy!" Eggman shouted still a little disappointed though.

It was clear from the grunting from Sonic's mouth that he was still alive after taking Strobe's attack head on. Eggman didn't like that.

Ice wasteland: Ice Cap zone of 3-way Villa.

"Ah man… is everyone all right?" Vector asked as he poked his head up from the snow.

"You mean besides the whiplash and the sprained ego then yeah I'm fine." Espio remarked as he slowly lifted his leg to stand up. When he did he shook his head a bit and looked around the area.

"I don't think you can get whiplash if you don't have a neck." Vector said while also standing up.

"Where�is�Charmy… and the fox?" Espio asked ignoring Vector's comment.

Soon they both heard small crying coming from a short distance. They both turned to face the direction in which the small cries came from.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination as they had only walked about 10 steps until they came across two small and frightened figures sitting on the snow.

Charmy was crying softly into Tails' chest while Tails hugged the small bee reassuringly and cried as well. Vector and Espio felt bad for them. They were experiencing a situation that kids their age should never have to deal with.

Espio kneeled down and helped the two up. Charmy still clung to Tails' warm fur as a way of still feeling safe while Espio led them across the snow toward the mountains where they were now headed.

Vector, however, remained behind for a second and analyzed the terrain. He could've sworn he had felt a frightening presence nearby. It wasn't his imagination and he knew it. Karst had survived that crash somehow and was approaching them as silently as an assailant.

He wasn't going to like telling the others this but he had to in order to insure they stayed alert. He really couldn't believe this was all happening. They found out why Sonic and Tails were on the run from the police a while ago and didn't really think much of it at first.

However, all the Chaotix thought about at the time was paying the rent.

The newspaper that Espio found back in Future City stated that it was a two-tailed fox that had killed many residents at the mall and had escaped with the now former hero of Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog. Vector just assumed the fox was an insane grown male, not a four-year-old fox.

Saying a four-year-old fox killed so many people at the mall and was able to escape from the military's top G.U.N agents and robots in one day didn't make sense ANYWAY you hear it.

The detective sighed at how careless he had previously been and turned to follow Espio and the others. At least that's what he tried to do but he couldn't move. He looked down at his feet and saw ice accumulating on them. That was weird because he knew he hadn't been in the snow very long, not to mention his element was fire…

He tried to move again and found that he couldn't even wiggle his finger. He was frozen…

A little farther ahead

Tails had noticed that his kitsune powers had been dormant for a while now. He didn't know if that was good or bad depending on the situation. It was good in the sense that Charmy; whom he was still clinging to, and Espio; who still walked worriedly beside them, wouldn't get hurt or killed because of him.

It was bad in the premise that if they were attacked Tails could do very little to prevent anything from happening. Tails hated feeling useless. Even worse, he hated it when people hated him. All this was happening because of him and he wanted it to end.

Why? Why can't it end?

'You're so close…'

Tails stopped walking which in turn prompted Charmy to stop as well.

"…Tails." Charmy hovered by the fox and tugged on him lightly, wondering why they stopped in the cold snow. Espio had also noticed Tails had stopped and turned to face them while deciding to wait for them. He knew they were scared and whatever reason they had for stopping was probably a decent one. If it took too long, however, he'd just take them back with him on the trail.

Tails stood there frozen and scared. That voice in his head! That horrid voice was back.

"You're so close." Tails repeated.

'Yes! Young Miles, you are so very close…'

"Wha?" Charmy asked hearing what Tails unknowingly said out loud.

"So close…" Tails said again.

'You're but a few miles away from achieving your goal. So much death is headed this world's way and you shall be the cause of it all… can you not wait?'

"…" Tails just stared out into space with a look of pure horror on his face. The look on his face completely scared Charmy stiff.

'Keep going Miles… move faster…do not wait for these unimportant people any longer. They're just holding you up and I KNOW you realize this.'

"…N-no…"

'Hmhmhmhm…what's wrong… did something happen? You seem… troubled by my voice…' The voice chuckled to itself.

"T-Tails…n-no what?" Charmy tugged on the little fox's fur.

"…No!" Tails repeated.

"What's going on?" Espio noticed how Tails began to sweat and fidget. None of them noticed, however, that a huge trail of ice began to materialize behind Espio.

'It's getting closer… and so are you… It's that time again.'

"NO! NO! GO AWAY!" Tails shouted clutching his head in more than obvious pain as the ice behind Espio drew even closer.

"Why does Tails want me away?" Charmy asked the fox but the only answer given was a whole bunch of muffled words.

The ice encircled around Espio's legs.

'Give in and MOVE!'

"No! I can't… S-Sonic… S-Sonic wouldn't like it… he'd be sad… I don't want Sonic to be sad because of me! NOT AGAIN!"

Chamry began tugging on Tails' arm and pleaded for him to stop.

"Tails is scary! Stop Tails! Pwease! Pwease stop!"

"ARRRRRGGGH!"

"Huh?" Tails asked looking ahead of himself. The loud scream didn't come from Tails nor Charmy. It came from…

"ESPO!" Charmy yelled.

"Espo? You mean Espio?" Tails tried to make sense of what he was seeing but his eyes, for some reason, couldn't make out what was in front of him.

"Wow! Now that was incredibly easy." Spoke a very triumphant voice. Tails noticed the voice had malice just like the one he had heard in his head but it was a different voice.

'Now Miles! It's time!' Now this was the voice in his�head. As if it mattered. They were both scary to Tails.

"T-time! Time for what?" Tails' vision began to return.

"Espo! Espo!"

"HAHAHAHA! Stop crying you annoying insect! You look pathetic!"

'It's time Miles! Now is the time!'

Tails' couldn't take this. It was too much.

"So many voices… I can't tell whose is whose… Now's the time for what!" The confused fox asked himself.

'Now is the time to FIGHT!'

Suddenly Tails' vision became clear, however as soon as it did he immediately wished it hadn't.

Charmy was crying uncontrollably and what lied ahead of Tails told him why. Behind Espio was the very being they had escaped from not long ago. The child murderer and now Eggman flunky stood there looking more than smug. The ice themed commander Karst Ice had somehow gotten ahead of them and attacked! It was too late to realize this now, however.

In Karst's hand was a once air piercing; now flesh piercing dagger made of ice. In front of him was blood. Dripping all around the front of his body was blood.

It dripped down Espio's back for that was where the dagger had pierced.

Tails saw the scene in front of him. The look on Espio's face was that of someone who had seen a ghost, as was the look on the terrified fox's face now. It seemed as though time had stopped and Tails had lost all his senses.

'Do you see now young one… this is the destiny of all your friends.'

Karst forcefully pulled the dagger out of Espio's back.

'And as the fate of your friends become ever more clear so does the fate of you yourself.'

The chameleon's head fell forward.

'They shall all die… and now you Miles…'

Espio hit the ground with a thud while a strange energy began to engulf Tails. The only sound heard was that of Charmy's crying.

'…You shall FIGHT!'

"ESPIO!" Tails shouted all of a sudden catching Karst off guard.

"Ah I see… It's been born again… that annoying kitsune that destroyed my palace is back… and coincidentally shall DIE TODAY!"

Tails looked straight into Karst's face. He aurora was purple and his fur was black. Tails didn't care what he was blabbering about. He had had enough with all the voices. As of now the only voice that was allowed to speak was his.

"Honestly, It's a shame that such a young fox with so much potential had to be secluded to that blue…"

Karst didn't get to finish as a strange purple gas chopped his arm clear off.

"Arrgh! What the! How'd you…?"

"Say another word and you're dead."

"…"

"…Oh what am I saying? You're dead either way you BASTARD!"

Well I hoped you liked this chapter. I'll update again soon yada yada yada. REVIEW PLEASE! I'm off to do some boring studying.