SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Chapter Sixty-Five: Betrayal
The scene opens at midday at the newly sea-bound Angel Island. Near the shores of the island, the Sonic Heroes and Team Virtex were gathered around three separate rock formations. Joined by the heroes was Eggman, Rai, Metal, Violet, and the Metal Squadron; Bokkun was currently locked in a closet. With the exception of Violet and the robots, everyone bared the same sad expression on their faces.
"You know, I always fought him over the years." Eggman said mournfully. "But I never wanted him dead."
"I don't think any of us would have expected this." Howl said solemnly.
"I'm so sad, mates." Marine informed.
"At least we know they're in a better place." Tikal stated.
The three rock formations were actually monuments dedicated to the fallen Golden Trio. Each of the moments was carved with the date of birth and death and had a special symbol carved in the center. Sonic's was a blue hedgehog head with the quills shaped like a buzz saw; Shadow's was a red mark that signified his alien heritage (the symbol on his game), and Silver's was a silver shooting star. Everyone except Metal and Mecha walked up to the monuments and said their final respects. After a few short minutes, Kumori, Amy, and Blaze stood near their lover's stones.
"Silver, we went through so much together." Blaze said. "Iblis, Nazo, the Sol Emeralds. And every step of the way, our love always kept us together. I will never love anyone as I did you, Silver. Good bye."
"Shadow..." Kumori murmured. "At first, I hated you because you surpassed me. But the more I knew you, the more I came to understand you. You changed me, Shadow. And I thank you for that."
"Have anything to say, Amy?" Rector asked.
"No." Amy said lowly. "I refuse to do it. I won't say good bye!"
Before anyone could react, Amy stood up and zipped across the island, away from Sonic's grave. No one tried to stop her, knowing how rough things were for her. After Eggman had finished showing his respect for his former arch-enemy, the groups left back to their own paths. As the heroes passed by, Metal leaned near a tree, clearly waiting on something. The wait ended when Emerl fell behind Blue and Vector, who were too busy talking to notice him.
"Have you taken the necessary procedures?" Metal questioned.
"I have copied Knuckles' essence." Emerl informed. "Now I will be able to move the Master Emerald without waking Chaos or alerting the echidnas."
"Then you must do it tonight." Metal said seriously. "Remember what is at stake."
"I know." Emerl said, clutching his fist. "Once we hand over the Master Emerald, the Dark Rulers will return mom."
"We don't know that for sure." Metal said cautiously. "That's why we have an alternative. Understand, son?"
"I understand, father." Emerl nodded.
With their conversation ended, Metal performed Chaos Control to return to the Egg-Carrier III. Emerl remained rooted to the spot, but eventually return to the heroes to head back to the base. His mother's life was now in his hands.
The scene changes to nighttime at the Sonic Heroes base. After Amy's outburst at the funeral earlier, she resumed her usual mourning in her room. The only time she would open the door was to let Kumori into her room to sleep. But our attention focuses on the actions inside Cream and Blaze's room. While the two heroines rested peacefully, Emerl suddenly went active.
"Reboot mode complete." Emerl whispered. "Now engaging primary mission."
The traitorous robot stood up from his place and stealthily swept past the girls beds. He had almost made it to the door until a sudden squeak came into play. Realizing that he had stepped on one of Cheese's toys, Emerl sharply looked back at the two. They both shifted slightly at the noise, but otherwise remained asleep.
"Yes, Tails." Cream giggled in her sleep. "I would love to go to the moon with you."
"I'm not even going ask." Emerl sweat-dropped.
Emerl reached for the door and slowly snapped it shut behind him. Using the data he scanned from Espio, Emerl crawled along the ceiling; not taking any chances of getting caught. He found himself it Tails' workshop and was lucky that the kitsune wasn't there. Playing by memory, Emerl crawled across the hanger and found the secret wall to the storage room. He dropped down form the ceiling and stopped in front of the hand print scanner.
"Accessing biological scans." Emerl stated. Slowly, Emerl's hand begins to glow and fingerprints begin to form on the ends of his metallic fingers. "Miles Prower DNA accessed."
Emerl placed the false hand signature on the scanner and the secret door opened. Beyond the displays of past victories, the Master Emerald spread its glow along the walls. The container that once stored the Chaos and Sol Emeralds were empty. Knowing Tails wouldn't leave the room defenseless; Emerl activated his scanners and found inferred security beams. With the acrobatic skills of Blaze and Kumori, Emerl swept past the beams with ease and landed in front of the Master Emerald.
"This is way too easy." Emerl sniggered.
The scene alters to the inside of the Master Emerald, which served as a prison for the legendary overlord, Zeenint. The evil green hedgehog was sleep momentarily until he felt his prison move. He waved his hand and called forth a screen to show him what was happening outside. He could see Emerl attempting to steal the emerald which contained him.
"So, someone's trying to take me away." Zeenint smirked. "If it wasn't for Aero's seal, I would kill him. But still, this could be the perfect opportunity to push towards my escape."
With a menacingly look in his eyes, Zeenint held out his hands and release a massive green pulse.
Outside, Emerl used the strength he gained from Knuckles and Vector to lift the large emerald on his back. But a moment later, Emerl could see a large green pulse escaping from the crevices of the Master Emerald.
"That can't be good." Emerl commented.
And he was right. The moment the pulse passed by the rooms, Tikal instantly awoke from her sleep.
"The Master Emerald is in danger!" Tikal yelled.
"Not now." Wave moaned, putting her pillow over her head. "Can't it wait until morning?"
"Wave, the Master Emerald is in danger!" Tikal shouted seriously, throwing her own pillow at her roommate. "We need to wake everyone up."
"Ok, ok." Wave mumbled.
Wave slowly pulled herself out of bed and dragged herself to the side wall. Like Sonic and Shadow's room, there was a big red button on wall, which Tails and Wave installed themselves. She slammed her fist at the button, activating the alarm system. Back in the storage room, Emerl set the Master Emerald down as the alarm blared across the base.
"I knew that wasn't good." Emerl said.
"You got that right, buddy!" Knuckles' voice echoed.
A moment later, the red echidna slammed his namesakes into the secret door, knocking it off his hinges. At once, Knuckles burst in along with Tikal, Wave, Blue, Tails, Espio, and Amy; the others somehow managed to stay asleep.
"Give it up, pal!" Blue shouted. "There's no way you can..."
The Chaos clone trailed off from his sentence when he realized that the thief was actually little Emerl.
"Emerl, what are you doing?" Tails asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Emerl replied sarcastically. "I'm stealing the Master Emerald."
"But for what purpose?" Espio questioned. "I thought you were on our side."
"You guys are as gullible as Knucklehead over there." Emerl laughed; Knuckles started sharpening his namesakes. "You should have realized that I was working for Metal Sonic from the beginning. I'm not a traitor like Omega."
"But why work for someone like him?" Wave asked.
"Because he's my father." Emerl stated simply.
"Whoa, didn't see that coming." Tikal commented.
"I don't care who your father is." Knuckles growled. "You are not taking the Master Emerald as long as I'm alive!"
"Then we'll just have to fix that." Emerl said menacingly.
Irritated by Emerl's laidback attitude, Knuckles dived in head first with his fists held high. Knuckles put all his power into his fist and struck at Emerl's face. Unfortunately, the tiny robot caught it with one hand, not even putting any effort into it. Knuckles stared in confusion, but shrugged it off and thrust his other fist. Like the last one, Emerl put in minimal effort into grabbed the other attack, this time grabbing his wrist and twisting it around to his back. Knuckles cried out in pain as Emerl pushed his arm further back, forcing the echidna to his knees.
"Come on!" Emerl laughed. "Being Metal Sonic's son, you would have expected me to have copied all you powers."
"But did you copy the echidna's ultimate technique?" Knuckles questioned, wincing in pain.
"What ultimate technique?" Emerl asked confused.
Knuckles smirked at Emerl's lack of knowledge. A moment later, Knuckles sparked his namesakes, surrounding them in an aura of fire. Emerl stepped back in fright, accidentally allowing Knuckles to break free. The echidna warrior spun around and thrust his enflamed hands forward, releasing a column of flame. Acting fast, Emerl accessed Blue's data and reduced himself to a puddle of water. When Emerl was nowhere to be seen, Knuckles felt proud of himself.
"That's what you get when you mess with Knuckles the Echidna!" Knuckles boasted.
"Great, another Jet." Amy sighed depressingly.
Knuckles' eye twitched at the comment. But before he could even make a comeback, Emerl suddenly appeared behind the echidna and kicked him across the head. The sudden blow knocked Knuckles to the wall and unconscious.
"That oughta teach you not to mess with Emerl the Great!" Emerl shouted.
"Ok, that name sucks." Wave commented.
"Wow, tough crowd." Emerl muttered.
With Knuckles down, Wave and Tails stepped up to the plate. As Wave pulled out her wrench, Tails twirled his namesakes to get an aerial advantage. Emerl leaned back as the purple swallow swung her weapon near his head, barely able to avoid it in time. Before Emerl could counteract, Tails threw down a handful of explosive rings on the mech; Wave jumped away to avoid the blast. They two geniuses stood together across the cloud of smoke, expecting anything to happen.
"Think he's done yet?" Tails asked curiously.
"Do you really think he's going down that easily?" Wave replied sarcastically. "Seriously, you need to pay attention, shorty."
"I do pay attention!" Tails yelled furiously; his eyes slowly turning red. "And don't call me shorty!"
"Uh, hello! I'm in need of attention!"
As the cloud of smoke faded, Emerl was found to be unharmed by the attack. He apparently reached for the nearest artifact and it just happened to be a piece of Metal Overlord's armor. Emerl tossed the fragment aside and rushed forward with the speed of Sonic and Shadow. Wave swung randomly at the robot, but Emerl easily ducked under the attack and kicked his foot upwards at her face. Wave was tossed back into the air and left helpless, leaving Tails to face off against him alone. Tails tried to reach for another handful of explosive ring when he realized he didn't have anymore; Tails' panicked.
"Out of juice, huh?" Emerl chuckled. He slapped Tails in the chest, throwing him to the wall. "I was kinda hoping someone like you could be a good enough match."
"What do you think of me now?"
That voice sounded nothing like Tails; it was too dark and evil. When Emerl looked back, Tails' fur was bright orange and his eyes were blood-red. Emerl remembered this form from the battle against Black Doom, but never had a chance to copy it. When Emerl stepped backwards in fear, Tails' demonic instincts reacted and commanded him to attack. Emerl tried to analyze a way to counterattack, but Tails' uncontrolled chaos was blocking his scanners. By the time Emerl could refocus, Tails had grabbed him by the neck and slammed him in to the wall; a crater forming around him. Emerl kicked wildly in hopes of breaking free, but it proved useless against him.
"You know, maybe this wasn't a good idea." Emerl said nervously.
"You think?" Tails growled menacingly. "Now I'm gonna..."
Unfortunately, Tails had still not learned to control his demon persona. The half-demon's fur returned to its normal yellow, his eyes became normal, and all his energy exhausted out of his body. Tails slowly released Emerl before falling into a state of unconsciousness.
"Well, that was fun." Emerl commented embarrassingly.
"Please listen to me, Emerl." Tikal said, holding the robot by his shoulders. "If you take the Master Emerald away, terrible things will happen. You cannot possibly hope to understand the danger of something you can't control."
"I can control it!" Emerl glared, clutching Tikal's wrist tightly; the echidna priestess winced. "After I copied you and Knuckles essence, I can know manipulate the powers of the Master Emerald for my own!"
"Copying the trait can only get you so far." Tikal groaned under the pressure. "If one does not posses a heart that is pure, they are doomed to the consequences of their own misdeeds."
"I've had enough!" Emerl yelled furiously.
Emerl threw up Tikal's arms and took the opportunity to punch her in the stomach. Tikal was not a warrior like the rest of her tribe and was not used to the art of battle. The force of the attack knocked out the wind out of her, forcing her to her knees. After Blue had seen this, he roared furiously and shot his arms forward. Emerl barely caught sight of him and flipped away just in time. Emerl, accessing Espio's data, clung to the wall as Blue jumped protectively over his crush.
"You heartless monster!" Blue yelled.
"Ok, now those are the kind of comments that hurt." Emerl said. "Wow, that sounded familiar. (Guess who and win a prize!)
"Words aren't the only thing that hurt."
All of a sudden, a shuriken spun around Emerl's body with a wire wrapping around his body. Emerl looked over and saw Espio, who was also clinging to the wall, pulled at his end of the wire. The wire snapped and closed around Emerl's body, preventing him from moving. As the small robot struggled, Espio produced a series of hand signs and held the wire close to his teeth.
"This is trouble." Emerl commented.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!!" Espio called out.
The ninja chameleon breathed and blew out a torrent of flames from his mouth down the wire. Emerl, using the combined strength of all the power heroes, escaped from the wire, but was unable to avoid the wave of fire. Not taking any chances, Espio drew out several kunai with pieces of paper attached to the ends. He threw them forward and watched as the exploded in the sphere of fires. Blue and Amy quickly grabbed their unconscious friends and dragged the outside the room as the ceiling fully collapsed in the storage room; Espio joined them a moment later.
"I think we're going to need a new ceiling." Amy stated.
"Be glad Shadow is dead." Blue laughed. "Because he would kill you if he saw this."
"At least I saved the Master Emerald." Espio replied seriously.
"Don't be too sure." Amy said warningly.
Surprisingly enough, Amy was right. Only a few minutes after the roof feel, Emerl emerged from the rubble with only minimal damages. His armor was scratched, his head plate was chipped, and his right eye was sparking. Other than that, he appeared fine.
"Oh, you are seriously going to pay for that." Emerl said evilly. Espio started to perform another series of hand signs, but Emerl beat him to the punch. "Not this time! Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!!"
Despite not having a mouth, Emerl spat out a gigantic sphere of flames. Espio was frozen in shock, leaving him unprotected. Acting fast, Blue tossed his friends aside and jumped on top of Espio, surrounding the chameleon's body in aquatic armor. The attack did save his life, but the force sent the duo flying backwards. Espio smacked his head into the wing of the tornado III, knocking him out, and Blue collapsed into a puddle of water. Now it was just Amy and Emerl.
"Now that I've won, I'll be going now." Emerl said nonchalantly.
"No way!" Amy shouted, holding her Piko-Piko Hammer. "You still have to get by me!"
"For what?" Emerl shrugged. "You're completely useless against me."
"That's not true!" Amy yelled.
"Face it; you're a shell of your former self." Emerl chuckled. "Ever since Sonic died, you've just been moping around all day and night. It's no wonder why that pitiful blue rat died."
"Don't call him that..." Amy muttered then yelled. "Don't you ever call him that!!"
"Oh crap!" Emerl exclaimed in fear.
In a rush of anger, Amy zipped up to Emerl and smashed her hammer across his face. The robot's head was nearly snapped off its hinges, but managed to retain his stability. Emerl was thrown against the Master Emerald, nearly pulled apart on contact. Emerl fell to his knees, but had no time to rest as Amy came swinging around again. Since the first hit and knocked out his right eyes, Emerl was left at a disadvantage. The small mech manage to avoid a good number of hits, but Amy tripped him by swinging at his feet. Once on the ground, Amy took another swing towards the robot's head. Emerl barely had time to roll away before becoming a permanent part of the floor. Emerl weakly pulled himself up to his feet across from a tired Amy.
"Had...enough." Amy panted.
"I can't let you win." Emerl groaned. "I need the Master Emerald."
"I don't understand it, Emerl!" Amy cried with tear in her eyes. "Sonic and I always treated you well, like you were our own son. Acted as like a mother to you and this is how you repay me?"
"I'm sorry, Amy." Emerl said sorrowful. "But I need this to save my own mother."
Amy looked sad and confused for a moment, torn between what to do. Emerl was weak and frail at the moment and was unable to move. In one swing, she could end this nightmare. But was it worth it. It took a moment before she finally came to a decision. Gripping her hammer tightly, Amy ran over and brought her hammer down over the wounded mech. The hammer slammed and crashed the metal apart, but it didn't belong to Emerl. Amy's hammer slammed into the wall, barely missing Emerl's head.
"I can't do it." Amy whimpered. "No matter how much I want to, I can't hurt you, Emerl."
"Too bad I can't say the same." Emerl said, slowly walking over to the Master Emerald. "I'm sorry, Amy."
Using power from the Master Emerald, Emerl performed Chaos Control to escape. The heroes were scattered across the base, either asleep or unconscious, and Amy remained in her place. Slowly, she dropped to her knees and cried mournfully.
The scene changes to a tall plain outside Westopolis. Metal Sonic was standing in the midst of the tall grass; his cape blowing in the wind. He waited for many hours, but his patience had finally paid off. A flash of green light erupted close to him and Emerl appeared alongside the Master Emerald. Upon seeing his son damaged, Metal kneeled down to him and held him comfortably.
"What happened, son?" Metal asked.
"One minute, I was sneaking my way through the base." Emerl explained. "The next, I find myself fighting for my life. It took a lot of effort, but I was able to successfully capture the Master Emerald."
"And just in time." The two mechs looked over and Mephiles appeared in a sphere of purple energy. "Your son's efforts have proved to be valuable. Now I will take the Master Emerald."
"We had a deal, Mephiles." Metal growled. "We hand over the Master Emerald and you return my wife."
"That's true, we did have a deal." Mephiles nodded. "And I am a demon of my word."
Mephiles held out his hand and summoned forth a sphere of purple energy like before. A moment later, Metal Amy dropped to the ground, slightly damaged. After the battle against Black Doom, Mephiles had kidnapped Metal Amy while Metal was still weak from battle. Seeing his mother back, Emerl staggered over and hugged his mother to death.
"Mom, I'm so glad your alive!" Emerl cried.
"It's ok, Emerl." Metal Amy whispered.
"Not to ruin this cherished moment, but I must be getting back." Mephiles said, walking over to the Master Emerald.
"Yeah, but your plan seems to have a flaw." Metal said sinisterly.
As Mephiles looked back, Metal suddenly loomed over him and stabbed his claw through the time demon's chest. While Mephiles was in shock, Metal released a surge of electrical energy through his body. Mephiles cried out in pain and fell limp in Metal's palm. Metal raised the body of the dark demon over his head as a sign of victory.
"It would seem that you have forgotten you were dealing with." Metal laughed.
"And so have you." Mephiles said, suddenly shooting up. "Have you forgotten? I'm immortal!"
Mephiles grasped Metal by his arm and snapped it apart, causing the powerful mech to fall back in pain. Metal Amy and Emerl ran over to his side in worry. Mephiles pulled out Metal's torn arm and tossed it to the ground in front of them. The evil time demon walked over to the Master Emerald and touched it delicately, feeling prideful of himself.
"Soon, all our plans will come together." Mephiles muttered.
"It's not over yet!" Emerl exclaimed. "Once my dad gets back up, he'll kick your butt!"
"I highly doubt that." Mephiles said amusingly. "For now, you have other things to worry about. In three days, the Winter Solstice will arrive and Lord Nazo will return."
"Nazo's coming back!" Metal yelled fearfully.
"You better start preparing." Mephiles laughed.
Before Metal could even stand, Mephiles had disappeared in a flash of green light. While the metallic family helped each other home, many questions went through their minds. But only one question always appeared: Was Nazo truly coming back?
The next day, Amy was seen at the shores of Angel Island, near the grave markers of the Golden Trio. She sat across from the gravestone of Sonic the Hedgehog, staring endlessly into the reaches of space. Suddenly, a noise cracked from behind and Amy turned sharply back. She was surprised to find that her brother, Rector Rose, was walking up to her. He stood next to her for a moment before sitting down. A moment of silence passed between them before Rector spoke up.
"Tails told me what happened yesterday." Rector said. "I'm sorry."
"Why do these things keep happening, Rector." "First our parents, then Sonic, and now Emerl. It's like the whole world is against me."
"I know it's hard to accept, but these things happen." Rector sighed. "All we can do is move on."
I miss him so much, brother." Amy sobbed into her brother's chest. "Please, make it stop."
"I can't do anything to make it hurt less." Rector said sadly. "All I know is, no matter what happens, Sonic still loves you."
"You think so?" Amy whispered, holding Amy close.
"He's probably waiting for you." Rector stated. "Waiting for the day when you two will be together forever."
"Then I'll wait, too." Amy muttered. "Thanks, Rector."
"No problem, Amy." Rector smiled.
Both brother and sister remained together, even as the sun went down, knowing Sonic was watching over them. As they watched the beautiful sunset, a gust of wind suddenly picked up. Amy shivered slightly and Rector held her closer to keep warm. But as the wind blew against the, Rector could not believe what he heard: a voice mixed with the gale.
"Take care of her, Rector. I'm coming back." Sonic said.
Pain divides, but love brings others together. What will Mephiles do with the Master Emerald? Will the God of Darkness truly return? And is Sonic coming back? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes!
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