Chapter 18: The Doomsday
Last time on Maria the Tenrec, after witnessing Sonic's seeming death, Maria snaps at Eggman, leading to an absolutely brutal fight between Robotniks, with Tails as the witness. With a solid push, Eggman was sent back to Mobius by flying through space thanks to Maria's rage. Though the mood was somber, Sonic did reveal himself to be alive, leading to a wave of relief from Maria and Tails. After calming down with the rest of the heroes, Sonic, Maria, and Rouge set off to shut down the cannon with Knuckles providing back up. However, as they succeed in their mission, a new monster arrives… The Biolizard.
Starring:
Sonic the Hedgehog - The Blue Blur
Maria the Tenrec - Gentle Soul
Rouge the Bat - Government Spy
Knuckles the Echidna - Guardian of the Master Emerald
The Biolizard - Project SHADOW Beta
[G.U.N. Fortress - Commander's Office]
*Within the heavily protected G.U.N. Fortress, the current commander was sitting behind his desk, eyes hidden behind his glasses' glares as he leaned on his desk in an imposing way. A soldier then comes in with a report.*
Soldier: "Commander Brass! Report! ARK surveillance has discovered that the subject has entered the space colony."
Brass: "I see. Do they know?"
Soldier: "It is suspected that the subject may know the truth or at least most of it, sir!"
Brass: "...Heh. Activate Clean Sweep Protocol."
Soldier: "B-But… Isn't Sonic on our side, sir?"
Brass: "Are you questioning your commanding officer's orders, soldier!?"
Soldier: "N-No! O-Of course, Clean Sweep Protocol!"
*The soldier makes a hasty retreat, Commander Brass simply smiling as he looks forward to meeting with them.*
[Space Colony ARK - Computer Room]
*In the computer room, everyone brought in by Tails is trying to relax, though some were concerned by the sudden roar they heard. Topaz though was clicking away at the computer.*
Tails: "Miss Topaz? What are you doing?"
Topaz: "Looking into the Space Colony ARK's personal data files. Some things aren't adding up and it's worrying me. From what you said, Eggman mentioned that Maria was meant to destroy the Mobians, but…"
Tails: "Yeah… Something about that has gotten me thinking… What did Eggman mean?"
Topaz: "Either he was lying… Or he knew something none of us know about."
*Topaz continues until another series of passwords stops her.*
Topaz: "Damn it! What the hell is G.U.N. hiding that's so important!?"
*Tails looks at the passwords before thinking. He then got an idea before grabbing some parts from a nearby cabinet, constructing a very strange looking device. Topaz couldn't describe it other than it looking like junk. Tails attached it to the computer and within seconds, passwords were auto generated, unlocking access for Topaz. The lady looked at the fox with astonishment.*
Topaz: "...How?"
Tails: "Oh, intuition. That's all."
*Topaz looks at Tails smiling innocently before just sighing. She moves to the computer and starts looking at the files. There were a bunch of logs from Professor Gerald.*
Topaz: "Professor Gerald's journal, huh? And some recordings too. Let's see…"
Journal: "June 4 - Maria's arrival was met with silent fanfare from myself and her mother. The witch simply left without so much as a show of concern! Maria is only 6 and she's contracted such a dangerous disease! At least the atmosphere of the ARK seems to keep Maria stable so there is some cause for celebration. Still… What I am about to walk into cannot be seen by the government below. As far as they know, I am developing weaponry for their foolish war below. …I hope when Maria is free of her illness, she never has to witness the horrors of warfare… I hope she grows up to be a nice girl…"
Topaz: "Hmm… Nothing we don't know…"
Tails: "What about this one?"
Topaz: "Okay."
[Space Colony ARK - Cannon's Control Room]
*Meanwhile, Sonic and his team were greeted by one of Gerald's other creations, the Biolizard, roaring at them before jumping off the wall and slamming onto the platform, weighing it down before snapping it off, causing it and everyone else to fall into the abyss. Rouge and Knuckles slow their descent while Sonic jumps from debris to debris in order to catch Maria. The group then land, finding themselves in some kind of arena within the Cannon's Core.*
[Space Colony ARK - Cannon's Core]
*As the heroes land, the Biolizard slams in a pool of the yellow liquid, picking itself up as it roars at them. Sonic takes Maria out of the way as Knuckles punches the Biolizard in the face.*
Journal: "July 8th - A year has already passed since Maria's arrival. My work has been steady, if slow. A number of my test subjects have failed to create any meaningful cure. I may have to look into other means of finding a cure. Perhaps looking into the Mobians themselves…"
*Rouge comes in from above and drill kicks the Biolizard, slamming its head into the water with a large splash. But the creature lifts its head, simply growling as it fires off blasts of energy at Rouge and Knuckles, these blasts creating powerful explosions. Sonic rushes in, slamming into the machine on the Biolizard's back.*
Journal: "Log 256 - I've lost track of how long I've been working on a cure for Maria… It has been years now and while I'm glad I can offer her some form of comfort, she has repeatedly stated how much she misses being on Mobius. So far I have tried to make a variety of creatures from my research of artificial life. Suffice to say the process is…draining… The subjects either die too soon or don't live long enough to be worth researching. This latest experiment seems promising… But I have no hopes…"
*The Biolizard roars out in some kind of pain from the machine, it's life support, being damaged, causing it to erect a shield over it. It then tries to slam its tail into Sonic, though the blue hedgehog was too fast for the attack to land. As Knuckles comes in for another punch, spheres of energy suddenly start appearing around the Biolizard, one flying at Knuckles and exploding, sending him flying to the ground.*
Journal: "Log 257 - A new benefactor appeared to me on the day of the Black Comet festival. I had forgotten all about it, but this specter alien creature came to me today. He offered me a way to improve my experiments by using his DNA. In truth… I am reluctant, but anything to save Maria… I can only hope I am not too late…"
*The Biolizard turns and slams its head in Knuckles' general vicinity. Rouge swoops in and saves the echidna before the slam hits. However, those same orbs flew at Rouge as well, trying to ground her. Sonic glares at the Biolizard before attempting to slam onto the life support system again.*
Journal: "I type this after my arrest… The commander in charge has allowed me a chance to save my granddaughter, but… After Project Shadow was killed, I will have to restart from scratch. And worse, Maria's condition has worsened to the point of organ failure. If she is let out of her stasis, she will die… So I must hurry…"
*As Sonic curls up to land on the life support systems, he is hit by the Biolizard's tail, slamming him to the ground. The beast then fires off a blast of energy from its mouth, hitting Sonic directly, causing him serious pain, much to Maria's horror.*
Maria: "Sonic! No… Not again…"
*Unknowingly, as Maria starts to panic, the Emeralds, including the fake Emerald used to deactivate the Eclipse Cannon, start to glow, reacting to her.*
[Space Colony ARK - Computer Room]
*Topaz and Tails continue to examine the files, shock on their faces as they just kept reading journal entry after journal entry. Before they knew it, they had a growing audience of their friends listening in.*
Topaz: "My Gaia… This man truly wanted what was best for his granddaughter. But then… What's this recording here?"
Tails: "An audio recording? It's…only labeled with glitched text…"
*With a gulp, Topaz clicks on it and the file plays, hearing the voice of Professor Gerald.*
Gerald: "Those monsters! Traitorous monsters the lot of them! The commander had no intention of letting me save my granddaughter! He only wanted a weapon to destroy the Mobians with! Over some war that's subsided by now! Have those fools truly blinded themselves to their own pride to use a little girl as a means to genocide!? Maria's body is unstable now… As is, she is a lethal bomb that could destroy herself and half this damned country! And worse yet, if she were allowed to absorb any strong concentrations of Chaos Energy, the results could be unpredictable! Maria… I am working on a secret project that might help restrain the unstable nature of her body… It's the last thing I can do… Maria, my beloved granddaughter… I pray you live your life how you want to… Please… Be a good girl…"
Tails: "Wait… Then those rings Maria wears… They must be what Gerald made to restrain her unstable Chaos Energy…"
Topaz: "Have you seen this yourself?"
Tails: "Sonic has. And… Wait… If what Gerald said is true… If Maria absorbs a large quantity of Chaos Energy…and she's with the Chaos Emeralds…"
*Realization hits as the two try to get some kind of video feed on what was happening at the Control Room.*
[Space Colony ARK - Cannon's Core]
*Maria stares in Sonic's direction as the Biolizard gets ready to finish off the weakened Sonic. Her eyes widen in horror as her mind flashes to Shadow's death and Sonic's previous near death experience.*
Maria: "Sonic! NOOO!"
*She reaches out, her power resonating with the Chaos Emeralds before…a bright glow encompasses her. As the Biolizard charged up a laser in its mouth, a sudden strong punch sends it flying to the wall of the arena, causing a massive dent into the wall. As it looks around, it sees a figure floating in the air, a golden aura around her. It was Maria, her fur now a golden yellow. Her previously blonde hair had changed to a purple hue with white highlights now. But the most notable change was Maria's look… This Maria cracked a very sadistic smile, her eyes more deranged than even those Eggman! She looked…evil… And Sonic could tell as much.*
Super Maria: "What's wrong, fatso? You crying over a little tap on the cheek? Maybe I should snap your neck then!"
*The Biolizard roared at the insults before firing its previously charged laser at Maria, but the tenrec just warps away. She appears under the Biolizard, giving the lizard a hard punch to its gut, knocking the wind out of it. She then grabbed its tail and swung it around, almost hitting Rouge and Knuckles in the process.*
Knuckles: "Hey! Watch where you're swinging that thing!"
Sonic: "Knuckles! Rouge! Get back! …That's not Maria!"
*Maria slams the Biolizard hard on its back, destroying its life support in the process. Without the life support, the creature could only weakly scream for mercy. But this Maria only smirked before flying at the Biolizard's mouth and feeding it an energy blast, causing it to expand until eventually…violently exploding. Those present and those that watched were in horror and disgust at what kind of monster they were faced with. And it seemed like this monster wasn't satisfied.*
Super Maria: "Aw… My toy went boom too quick. Weak. Oh well. …May as well play with you guys next~"
*Super Maria wastes no time, warping over to Rouge and, in slow motion, almost punches her with enough force to obliterate her head on contact. But Sonic rushes in with a rescue, slamming with all force he could muster to get Maria away from Rouge.*
Rouge: "Gh! S-Sonic!"
Sonic: "Get going! I know what this transformation is capable of and I can handle it! You two get out of here while you can!"
Knuckles: "But…"
Rouge: "He's right… We're just in the way."
*Knuckles looks as Sonic hops away from Super Maria releasing an explosive discharge of energy, she angrily rushing at Sonic. His speed was thankfully superior, meaning he could at least dodge the super charged being. With a growl, Knuckles climbs the wall while Rouge flies out.*
Sonic: "Maria! Come on! I know you're in there! You've been a lot today and I get it! But you need to calm down!"
Super Maria: "No! What I need is more power! Power to destroy! To eradicate! To murder!"
Sonic: "Whoa… Yeah, you are definitely not yourself…"
Super Maria: "What do you mean? I'm me alright~ I'm the creature that you hide away from! The power you refuse to let loose! I'm raw Chaos Energy given life!"
*Sonic tries to think. He can't just dodge until the time limit runs out. He may have a lot of stamina, but she - it will catch on to his dodge patterns eventually. So he needed a plan. That's when he thought about the Chaos Emeralds. If Maria could turn Super with even a fake Emerald… He quickly jumps back from another punch before using a Sonic Tornado to cause a dust cloud blinding Super Maria.*
Super Maria: "Hey! Coward! Where are you!?"
*Sonic uses this time to get to the Chaos Emeralds and starts to use their energy to charge up. As the dust settles, Super Maria notices what Sonic is about to do and tries to stop him, but is too late. Sonic becomes Super Sonic, catching Super Maria's incoming fist, the impact distorting the air as the entire Space Colony shook.*
Sonic: "...You want power. Then let me give you some…in the face!"
*Sonic immediately uses Chaos Control to warp Super Maria and himself out of the space station and into outer space. He then blasts Super Maria in the face, sending her flying back. As the tenrec recovers, she sees Sonic rush in. She quickly blocks a punch from Sonic before engaging in close quarters combat with the hedgehog. Exchanging blow for blow, the two's fight could be felt even on Mobius, shockwaves causing minor tremors to the planet as each blow connects. Sonic lands a solid punt to Super Maria's chin, sending her flying back. The tenrec, looking even angrier than before, starts firing a barrage of blasts in Sonic's direction. Of course, simple shots couldn't even hit the faster hedgehog, leading to him simply toying with Super Maria.*
Sonic: "If that's your best shot, you should probably stick to a different hobby, monster!"
Super Maria: "Grr… HOLD STILL, YOU MISERABLE PEST!"
*Sonic smiles as he continues to dodge around Super Maria's blasts. He then got in close and starts unleashing his own barrage of punches and kicks on the tenrec, knowing at least the Super form will keep Maria safe at least. He just had to be ready when the timer finally ran out. The super charged tenrec was knocked back by a kick to her chest, causing her to grit her teeth. She then saw the ARK and smiled a toothy grin. She then tossed a charged up blast at Sonic, which he predictably dodged.*
Sonic: "I told you, your aiming sucks."
Super Maria: "Who said I was aiming at you?"
*Sonic was confused at first before realizing what the monster meant as he saw the blast heading to the ARK. Sonic quickly rushed at the blast and blocked it, causing him to take the brunt of the attack. Super Maria then rushed in and started landing all kinds of attacks on Sonic, he started to feel it from how savage each blow was. But as it seemed like Super Sonic was reaching his limit, Super Maria, as she charged up a punch to utterly kill Sonic, finally vanished, Maria's fur and expression returning to normal. However, she falls unconscious from the return to her normal form, falling into Sonic's arm from the forward momentum, the golden hedgehog catching her softly. He then quickly warped inside the ARK, holding Maria tightly.*
[Space Colony ARK - Computer Room]
*Tails, Topaz, and everyone else was watching the surveillance with confusion and baited breath as Sonic and Maria just vanished and quakes were felt from the duo fighting. But after all that subsided, Sonic warps in in his Super form, his form returning to normal afterwards, carrying Maria.*
Tails: "S-Sonic! You're okay!"
Amy: "How's Maria?"
Sonic: "Exhausted it seems. The moment she transformed back to her normal form, she immediately fell unconscious."
Tails: "Thank goodness…"
Topaz: "Sonic. There's a lot we need to talk about. And it involves her."
[Space Colony ARK - Cannon's Control Room]
*Rouge and Knuckles climb out of the pit from below, sighing as they make it to solid ground. But as they come back, the door leading out suddenly opens and the two are hit by some kind of gas.*
Knuckles: "What the!? What's this gas!?"
Rouge: "It's sleep…ing…"
*As Rouge tries to make sense of the sudden gassing, the two of them are knocked out, two soldiers walking in to detain them. A few soldiers are then sent into the Cannon's Core to get the Chaos Emeralds, as instructed by the leading officer.*
[Space Colony ARK - Computer Room]
*As Topaz was about to explain to Sonic what she and Tails found out, they see military soldiers on the monitors starting to swarm the space station.*
Topaz: "What the!? What's G.U.N. doing here!?"
Amy: "You didn't call in back up?"
Topaz: "No. This was a top secret mission."
*The doors suddenly fling open and the room is suddenly gassed as well, causing everyone present to fall to the floor unconscious. Topaz tries to fight it, looking up at the leading officer of the squad.*
Officer: "Sorry, Agent Topaz. You know too much. You're under arrest by the higher ups."
*Before Topaz could argue, the soldier pulls his rifle out and smacks the blunt end at her head, knocking her completely out.*
Officer: "Operation Clean Sweep Protocol complete! Get these punks to the carrier! And as for our special snowflake… Make sure she's nice and taken care of by the time the boys in the lab are done with her. Hehehe…"
*As the heroes finish one fight, another one blindsides them. What was going to happen to Sonic and friends? And what was G.U.N.'s plan with Maria?*
To be continued in…
The Finale