A/N: Welcome to another episode of Practical Problems! Last chapter, the heroes have won! With Eggman finally defeated, the heroes can now rest easy...or can they? There's still the subject of 'Regina' Snively mentioned. Time will tell people. Time will tell.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Sega or Archie Comics except my OC.
-Outside the chamber-
While Sonic and Eggman were battling one-to-one, the rest of the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix were battling six-to-one odds. The soldiers were well defended and constantly shooting an endless barrage of fire at the heroes, forcing them to take cover on the opposite side of the barricade.
"How did Sonic pass through just fine, yet we get the unwelcome wagon?!" Vector shouted.
"He must've been captured...we gotta find a way around them!" Mighty said.
"We didn't hear any signs of fighting shortly after he went in!" Kor said. He looks through the hole and notices a large door alittle behind the soldiers. "There's a large door back there! Wonder what they're protectin' so bad?!"
"Sally! Got any plans?" Bunnie asked. "
You know that idea I had before the Legion fled? Sounds like a good time to try it now!" Sally told her. "Kor! Bunnie! One the count of 3, I want you both to fire at the same time to scatter them."
Both of them nodded and took position on opposite sides of the wall. Bunnie charged her arm cannon while Kor loaded his launcher.
"We better make this count. Only got 6 rockets left." Kor said to Bunnie. "Right." She nodded.
"On 3. 1...2...3!" Sally ordered.
One the third number, Kor and Bunnie fired their weapons at the Legion. Bunnie shoots several laser blasts and Kor empties all 4 rockets from the launcher's clip. The Legion soldiers take cover in adjacent hallways or rubble to avoid the attacks. "Now Tails!" Sally yelled.
Right on cue, Tails tosses a few neutralizing mines to disable half of the battalion's weapons. "Didn't hit them all but it should be enough." Tails told them.
"Everyone! Charge!" The princess ordered again.
The group bursts through the barricade and began their battle with the Legion. Those with weapons disabled flee in terror while everyone else still armed engage the heroes. Knuckles, Mighty, and Vector gave fierce punches to the legionnaires when they got close, Espio used his natural abilities to blend into the environment, dispatching a few more legionnaires while Julie-Su used her blaster and combat skills to deal with any soldiers she came across. Charmy and Saffron annoyed the others, keeping them distracted so the less combat oriented heroes could subdue them easier.
The Freedom Fighters used their hand-to-hand combat skills to take out what was left of the battalion. Any soldier that was still conscious had fled. Once they made sure their enemies were knocked out, the heroes regrouped at the door. There were sounds of fighting coming from behind it.
"What do you think's on the other side?" Charmy asked.
"I hope it's not another 'surprise'..." Kor said.
"Ooh! I like surprises!"
"Not that kind of surprise Charmy..." Vector sighed.
"Well, we're going to find out one way or another, and given by the sounds of battle I think Sonic went in there...think you two can pull it open?" Sally gestured to Bunnie and Mighty.
Mighty cracked his knuckles. "Not a problem."
"Sure thing Sal." Bunnie said. "Wanna lend a hand Kor?"
"Um, I don't think this hand can give out much physical strength, sorry." He said, scratching his head.
After a couple minutes of bending metal, it was opened just enough to let the heroes in. When they entered, they were met by a disturbing scene. While it seemed that Sonic had won the battle against Eggman, the doctor himself was shaking violently, babbling nonsense, and ripping off the hairs of his moustache.
"Sonic...what did you do to him?" Sally asked.
"I just beat him like always...then he started to flip out..."
"You didn't just beat him this time Sonic, you broke him." The heroes turned to the direction of the voice and saw Snively walk in through another door.
"Eccentrics aside, he really is a genius. He could build the most amazing things and plot a hundred steps ahead. Even the world fell to his brilliance in a few short years. Yet...all the building, calculating, and planning in the world couldn't beat you and that it's been gnawing at his mind for over a decade now. He took his latest defeat at New Mobotropolis very hard, and he's been losing his sanity for the past few days. All it took was one more defeat from Sonic to finally make him snap." The short overlander explained.
"Huh, I see what you mean, although this is ironic." Kor said, causing everyone to look at him. "Remember back when Eggman burned Knothole to the ground? It sounded like at the time he tried to break Sonic physically and mentally, yet Sonic never broke down and we rescued everyone. It's ironic that, in the end, Sonic was the one who broke him, though inadvertently." The red fox explained.
"Hmm, it seems you're smarter than I took you credit for Mr. Kor." Snively said.
"Thanks, I guess..." The engineer said sheepishly.
"So..what now?" Sally asked.
"Now? Now you leave me to care for my poor uncle. You may go home and celebrate. You've won." Snively said.
Then, he had two soldiers carry the now insane doctor out of the chamber and leaves. It takes a minute for it to dawn on the heroes they've actually won. After fighting against Eggman's reign of terror for over a decade, they've finally put an end to his schemes. Once it does click in their heads, the heroes cheer loudly.
"Had I known this would happen I would've asked you to save us some action Sonic." Knuckles says, patting the blue blur on the shoulder.
"Heh, it was nothin' Knux." He says with his usual grin.
"Once again the blue blur wins. Although I feel alittle sorry for that Egghead, he pretty much deserved it." Kor says.
While everyone is giving Sonic their congrats, Sally talks to Nicole. "Did you catch all that Nicole?"
"Yes, and so did everyone. People are already dancing in the streets!" She says with a wide smile.
As the heroes walked out of the Eggdome, Sonic explained to Tails and Amy what went on in the battle. However, he started to become a little disheartened, and he had a lot on his mind right now. Sally noticed this and asked the two to help Rotor find their ride while she talked with him. "You gonna be ok Blue?"
"Yeah...it's just that I didn't think it'd end like this. I didn't know what to expect, and I don't know what I'm gonna do now."
"Don't worry about it Sonic. Finding what's next is an adventure in itself. Plus, fulfilling your 'duty' and moving on can be a good thing." Sally assured him.
Sonic smiled. "Yeah. Guess you're right. Thanks Sal."
"Anytime Blue. Anytime."
Shortly after, everyone headed home. Amy blew a kiss to Sonic, Charmy and Saffron were having a conversation, Ray and Mighty slapped a high five, Vector and Tails shouted in victory, Knuckles and Julie-Su kissed in the back, Antoine waved his sword in victory while Bunnie flew along side, Rotor was driving, Espio was sitting calmly, Sally felt the wind in her hair, and Kor shot lasers into the air from his hand while cheering. He looked back at the wrecked city, and noticed something floating in the air. He made his eyes zoom in and spotted what looked to be some sort of chinese-looking blimp. "
What's that thing doing there?...Eh, it's probably nothin'." He thought to himself.
-Inside the Eggdome-
Eggman, still muttering nonsense, was now sitting in a padded room wearing a straitjacket. "Uthahea...hedgehog...ehahye"
"Now now uncle don't worry, the big bad mobians are gone. Oh, and don't worry about the Empire. I've found someone who can handle the job, and we'll be happily ruling together! So just sit back let your nephew take the reigns." Snively said with an evil grin before shutting the door.
Minutes later, the bald overlander makes his way to the top of the Eggdome, just in time to watch as a large blimp makes a landing. Dimitri is also there to make sure the Legion handles this with precision, and to meet his new benefactor. "You do realize I've risked a lot in siding with you on this matter..." Dimitri tells him.
"Save your threats Dimitri. I assure you, your choice in loyalty will be rewarded." Snively said.
Once the derigable landed, various beings stepped out. One faction were bats dressed in ninja outfits, another was an orange lynx dressed in a purple gi-like outfit wearing a conical straw hat, but towering above them was a ox clad in silver armor weilding a large mallet-like hammer along with an overlander wearing a red dress/robe with pointed black stripes with a golden headress on her head. She also weilded a large gold staff with an orb at the center.
"Dark Legion, meet your new masters: The Iron King and Queen!" Snively announced.
-A couple hours later: New Mobotropolis-
When the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix arrived at the city, they were greeted to a hero's welcome. People congradulated them left and right and some even paraded with them, holding them up high as they all cheered. It was a very joyous occasion, and even the Forget Me Knots, Mina's band renamed in memory of the destroyed village of Knothole, were hosting a concert later in the day. All the attention was starting to make Kor blush. He was rarely called a hero, but sure did gain some fans given everyone watched the broadcast. He managed to slip away from everyone long enough to make it to his house.
"Yeesh...I don't think I'm gonna get used to this kind of attention..." He sighed.
However, he thought back to the battle he and rest of the Freedom Fighters went through against the Legion. To be frank, it did bother him that they had been suppressed for minutes at a time without having enough firepower to easily change the tide, and but like Sally and the others have told him: they don't really resort to guns. Not that anything was wrong with it, but sometimes the best way to solve a problem was to use a gun, at least in Kor's basic engineer jargon. Sure he had his rocket launcher, but it didn't have any stand-off suppression fire his sentries would have.
"Hmm...all my sentries would've been good in that battle, but I can't be lugging around a tool box all the time, it'll slow me down and make me an easier target. Plus, it'd be a hassle trying to move the sentry all the time, unless..." A lightbulb turned on in his head, and he smacked his forehead for being stupid.
"Duh! It's so simple. Instead of moving the sentry, the sentry could move itself! But, I can't use the old model sentries...they're too fragile." He said to himself.
In the past days during the Gravel War, the sentries built back then could easily be destroyed by soldier rockets, demoman pipebombs, and even bullets from a simple pistol. Kor decided he would need to built a better armored sentry if it wanted to even have a chance to do its job.
He grabbed a stack of blueprints from a nearby drawer and began to sketch out his idea. It wasn't even 20 minutes later that someone came knocking at his door.
"Yo Kor! You in there?!" It was Sonic. "Yeah! Come in."
Sonic entered with Tails right behind him. "Dude, why are you in your house? Shouldn't you be with us celebrating?" The hedgehog asked.
"I would, but I'm not exactly used to that kind of attention like you guys are." Kor replied, still drawing.
"Soooo what are you up to?" Tails asked, lookng over his shoulder.
"Designing a new, mobile sentry. Had been thinkin' about our last battle and I thought it would be helpful if I brung somethin' that would give us an edge."
"Would we even need something like that? Eggman's finally given up...sorta...but I doubt we'll see many battles at this point." Sonic told him. He was still a little shaken at how Eggman broke down in front of him.
"Maybe so Sonic, but in the world we live in, anything can happen, so as some would say, better safe than sorry." The engineer stated.
"True...so what do you think of when you see Nicole?" Sonic asked with a grin.
The sudden question made Kor accidentally break his pencil. He turned in his chair. "W-What do you mean by that?"
"Oh come now Mr. Fixit, we know how you two had been spending time with each other even if you guys weren't planning something." He pressed.
"And? We're close friends."
"Might be getting closer than just 'friends'." Tails chuckled.
"Oh please. You two wouldn't know anything about it." Kor retorted.
"Sally told me what you guys were doing before Miles came, and given that you told us you two built that awesome robot of yours AND she built you replacement eyes, you can't tell me you haven't formed some attraction to her." Sonic explained with a smug look on his face.
Kor looked at him with a glare before sighing. "Alright...I do like her to a degree. It was something I didn't expect but over the past 5 months we got to know each other more. She understands me pretty well and I to her, though I'm just not sure if it'd work out..."
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.
"Well, she's a highly advanced computer and I'm a mobian. Although she can project a holographic form, she can't keep it for long if something happens. I never told you guys this, but I promised at some point I would make her a real body..."
Both Sonic and Tails went wide-eyed at that. "Is that even possible? Last time she switched bodies with Sally-" Tails started but Kor cut him off.
"It is. Back where I come from there was a system called respawn." Kor then explained to the two what it did, how he should've been dead already if it weren't for that machine, and how it could give Nicole a chance at actually living.
"Huh. Sounds like alot of work. Think we can help with that?" Sonic asked.
"For another time. With our odd schedules even I don't have time to make arrangements. And I hope Nicole hadn't heard what I told you guys...given that she's literally everywhere here..." Kor muttered.
"Why's that?" Tails asked.
"I...don't know how to tell her my feelings..."
"Ah don't sweat it Kor. One of these days you'll find the courage for it. If Ant can propose to Bunnie then you can tell her how you feel. Besides, if you can handle getting shot at, you can totally handle this. Trust me, Sal and I used to date and I felt the same way you do right now." Sonic explained.
"True. Thanks you guys."
"Anytime." They both said.
"Speaking of which, I should find Nicole. I promised to teach her something." The engineer said, remembering something.
"Like what?" Tails asked.
"You'll see." Kor said, putting his half-finished blueprint away before heading outside. Little did they know, Nicole had heard everything, and a blush had pixelated on her face once more.
-Minutes later-
"Are you sure this a good idea Kor?" Nicole asked.
"Don't worry Nikki. I've built these plenty of times to know how they work, inside and out."
They were standing next to a red-colored standard Mann Co. licensed sentry gun, the one both RED and BLU engineers used daily during the Gravel Wars. Sonic, Tails, and Sally were watching nearby.
"Being that you're an advanced computer, I know you already know how to keep digital intruders out, but physical intruders take a different step to keeping them out. Shields are fine an' all but you gotta have something more than that to dissuade attackers, hence the sentries I built. So, we'll start small with this ol' thing." He smiled, patting the sentry as it continued to do a mindless scan of the area.
"True...I've just never had to fire anything before." Nicole said, staring off to the side.
"That's why I'll walk ya through it. Ready?" He asked. She nods before touching the sentry, her holographic form dissapating.
Nicole shuffled about inside the inner mainframe of the sentry. She came across some files and open them, viewing target protocols, scanning techniques, the range of the gun, etc. It didn't take her long to figure out the inner workings of the machine, and within a couple minutes, she assumed control of the turret. She could see the world through the sentry's main scanner and looked around. Kor looked at the level 1 sentry as it stopped its usual scanning and turned its turret in random directions, looking at the space around it. He found it to be rather cute.
"Ya done lookin' around yet?" He chuckled as the turret moved its gun nozzle up and down.
The turret looked at him, and his surprise, it spoke. "Yes. Was just getting used to being in something like this." Kor stared at the turret for a minute. "Something wrong?" It said, tilting its head slightly.
"Well, no. Just didn't think you'd actually make it talk."
"Well I am an advanced computer." Nicole smirked inwardly.
"True. Now I set up a target board that's about 10 feet over there. Think you can hit it?"
"I'll try." Nicole said through the sentry.
Normally when someone first fires a gun, they may get thrown by the recoil. This was one of those times, as when Nicole fired, the head of the sentry flipped backward, surprising her. Everyone else couldn't help but laugh. She continued to swing the turret to and fro until Kor straightened it out. "Relax Nicole. That's just how people react when they first shoot."
"I guess...but I didn't find it funny!" Nicole said, looking at the others. They held innocent grins on their face to try to contain their laughter.
"Just don't worry about it. Plus, you hit the bullseye." The fox said, pointing at the target. Indeed, there was a bullet hole in the center.
"Wow..I can't believe I actually managed that."
"Yeah, though lets work on you getting used to the recoil first." The engineer said, making some slight adjustments to the sentry's center pivot joint.
For the next few minutes Kor trained Nicole on how to shoot. The longer she got used to firing, the better she could control the effects of the knockback given from shooting. With that, Kor tapped the sentry twice and upgraded it to level 2. This time, Nicole was sporting twin automatic gatling guns. Like the first time, she had to get used to the recoil first before making good hits on the board. By now the target board was replaced due to too many holes in the first.
"Think you've got the hang of it now Nicole?" The engineer asked.
"Yes, though I'm curious. It says in here there's a third level to this machine." Nicole said, curious.
"Yeah, that one has a rocket battery in the back."
"Can we try it out?"
Kor shrugged. "If you can handle it."
He hit the sentry twice, making more exterior legs sprout from behind and the main casing in the back flipping down to allow the rocket battery to come out, the sentry's height increasing slightly.
"Now remember Nicky, rockets travel slower than bullets but have a lot of kick to them."
The sentry nodded before taking aim and firing. As the rockets left the battery, she almost felt the entire sentry tip backwards, but thanks to the extra stabilizers it prevented her from falling over. The rockets impacted the board, blowing the top portion off. After a couple more shots, she obliterated the bullseye with bullets and rockets from the sentry. Now that she had some experience with firing a weapon, she stored the collected data into her memory banks for later use, as well as if she needed to maintain control of another weapon.
"Heh, looks like ya finally got the hang of it Nicole. Nice job." He patted the sentry with a smile.
"Thank you Kor. Although I somewhat doubt I'll use a firearm, the data I got should come in handy later." The A.I. said before exiting the sentry's system.
She materialized into her holographic form next to everyone else, and seconds later the sentry was running on its own accord again.
"You know, it was actually interesting watching that sentry in action." Tails said.
"Well, it's nice to look at, so long as it's not pointed at you." Kor chuckled.
"Now I know what would happen to someone if they were in front of it..." Nicole said, a chill proccessing down her spine.
"To be honest I'm not entirely comfortable with Nicole experiencing this, but if it does prove helpful later..." Sally said.
Kor gave a small laugh. "Don't worry about it. Despite these things being absolute killers, they're rather fragile."
"Yeah. Back on Moebius I ran into some built by your faker. They were easier to put down than Eggman's robots." Sonic told them. He then looked at the sky and noticed the sun was nearly set. "Shoot. We got a concert to attend! See ya there!" He said before running off, leaving a streak behind him.
"Wait up Sonic!" Tails shouted, flying after his brother.
Kor shook his head. "I still ain't used to bein' called a hero."
"Weren't you one back in your world Kor?" Sally asked.
"Nope. If anythin' we were mostly called idiots, murderers, psychopaths, and the like, especially in this town called Teufort."
"I see...but make no mistake Kor. No one will dare call you that after today, especially since you helped us take down Eggman. Besides, you gained some fans recently." Sally said with a smile.
"To be honest, I try to not remember that." Kor said with a nervous smile.
A minute later, Sally and Kor meet up with the others at the coliseum before splitting off. Sally escort Sonic to their seats, but as she does she notices a troubled look on the hedgehog's face. "You ok Sonic?"
"Not really...I feel as though I went a little too far when battling Eggman earlier, with him losing his mind and all..."
"Well, maybe hearing Mina sing will put you in better spirits." Sally said.
"Hopefully..." Sonic sighed.
"HELLO NEW MOBOTROPOLIS! ARE YOU READY?!" Mina shouted into the mic, prompting the crowd to cheer. "This song goes to all the brave heroes, who gave their all in finally defeating Eggman! May we now live on in peace!" She shouted once more.
However, just as the band was about to begin, the stage was suddenly struck by lightning, throwing the Songoose off her feet. Everyone looked up to where it came, especially since no adverse weather was scheduled that night. What they see instead, is a brown-furred monkey wearing a red and turqouise vest/coat that split half-way down at the back along with a crown on his head. He was also holding some sort of golden staff that crackled with lightning at the tips. The weirdest thing, however, was that he was floating on a cloud.
"Uh, Tails? Any idea who that is?" Kor asked.
"That's Ken Khan! He's from the Dragon Kingdom!" The kit told him.
"Dragon Kingdom?"
"Somewhere in the Far East."
"Oh so like China and Japan." Kor said.
"What places are those?" Tails asked. "Not important right now." The red fox said, getting his laser gun ready.
A/N: And that's the end of this chapter. So, Iron Dominion has taken over the Eggman Empire, and Ken just ruined a perfectly good concert! Someone's gonna want their money back! So what is Ken's reason for being here? And what does the Iron Dominion plan to do now? Tune in next time to find out.