Part 4: In Which the Chaos Council Makes A HUGE Mistake
The next morning dawned on Seaside Island with no incident, but the tension was palpable everywhere.
At Hedgehog Village, Staci patted her twin sister on the back and relieved her of her guard shift. The villagers, though unaccustomed to combat, were all armed with blasters and any sturdy tools they could use to bash a robot's head in. They walked the streets, shoulders tense and eyes darting about.
Goggles kept glancing at his Miles Electric, half-expecting Sage to send him the alert. He saw Sticks pass by, a bo staff strapped to her back. The badger kept her eyes on the sky.
At the Robotnik-Hedgehog house, Scarf and Terios were already up and keeping a watch out on the front porch. Scarf slowly chewed a cold chili dog while his husband stood beside him, back ramrod straight, his scarlet eyes never leaving the horizon. Scarf finished his breakfast and glanced at the large window of Faith's bedroom. The curtains were still drawn. Only Faith stayed asleep, hugging Gay Horse with all her other plushies surrounding her. Meanwhile, Sonic and Shadow stood guard at her bedroom door. Both hedgehogs barely got a wink of sleep last night. Truth be told, almost everyone on the island hadn't had an easy night.
Meanwhile, inside his island fortress, Dr. Eggy chugged his third cup of coffee as he monitored his island's defenses. Orbot and Cubot were quiet as they tidied up. It was rare when their creator was serious about mounting attacks. What was odd was that the Doctor was prepared to go to war against other versions of himself.
"Sage, status report," Dr. Eggy said, keeping an eye on the AI program's signal.
"I have not detected any enemies, Father." Sage floated above the ocean half a mile outside of Dr. Eggy's island lair. A swarm of Bee Bots surrounded her as a precautionary measure. "Father, I am confused. Why turn away these counterparts of yourself when your combined genius can be utilized to improve your knowledge?" she asked.
"As tempting as it may be, Sage, too many me's will cause unnecessary conflict. And I wouldn't want them to try and reprogram you. You're perfect as is," Dr. Eggy told her, his tone filled with pride.
Sage smiled and was about to respond when she spotted a ripple in a patch of sky not far from her. Her usually red and black color scheme briefly turned cyan and white in surprise as the sky seemingly shattered in front of her. At the sight of orange robots flying out of the purple expanse, Sage steeled her focus.
"All Badniks, engage!" she shouted and began directing her forces. The Bee Bots left the lair in swarms, the rhythmic hum of their wings a distracting symphony to the Egg Forcers as they were shot down by their red-hot lasers. Sage herself flew around, firing energy blasts.
"Father, they're here! You must engage the lair's defenses!" she alerted Dr. Eggy, who quickly typed away commands on his keyboards.
But more Egg Forcers kept coming through the portal. Sage and the Bee Bots only had a minute's reprieve after wiping out the first wave before the Chaos Council's mothership emerged.
"Blast it…" Dr. Eggy grumbled as the Chaos Council's logo appeared on his screen.
"Aha! Got a signal to hijack." Dr. Don't's face appeared. He stared at Dr. Eggy before shrugging and saying, "Oh, hey, there's another one of us."
"What?! Let me see!"
'Oh, come on! The other me gets to keep all of his hair?' Dr. Eggy frowned as Mr. Doctor Eggman shoved the teenage Eggman away. "Well, well, this is certainly a surprise! Greetings, other me. I never thought I'd meet another evil genius in any universe," said the latter before noticing Dr. Eggy's bald spot. "Ah… the years have not been kind to you," he observed.
"Tell me about it," Dr. Eggy scoffed but sent out more of his Badniks to attack the mothership. "As nice as it is to see other me's doing well, there can only be one Eggman ruling this corner of the Shatterverse!" he declared as his larger robots began to engage with the Egg Forcers that had slipped past Sage's group.
Inside the mothership, the Chaos Council were confused as more of their Egg Forcers were destroyed. "Doesn't that other guy know we're on the same side?" Dr. Done-It complained as a particularly strong energy blast from both Sage and an entire swarm of Bee Bots caused their vessel to shudder, throwing him off balance.
Dr. Babble shrieked, flailing his chubby arms about. "Babble's right. If he won't join us, then we will beat him and take his world for ourselves!" Dr. Deep translated.
"Very well." Mr. Doctor Eggman turned away from the screen and went over to a console where a certain fox was being guarded. "Alright, fox. Time to put that energy cannon to good use," he commanded, prompting one of the Egg Forcers to prod their prisoner with an electric rod.
Nine flinched at the shock and begrudgingly began charging up the mothership's energy cannon.
"Father, we're taking heavy losses. And it looks like the Chaos Council's preparing to launch a counterattack," Sage reported upon seeing the telltale glow from the top of the mothership. Around her, all of the Bee Bots were being overcome as more Egg Forcers kept pouring out of the portal. The Egg Forcers plucked Bee Bots in midair, ripping their wings off or shooting them point blank with lasers as they writhed in their grasp. With every Egg Forcer taken down, three more took its place. It didn't take long for the massive hive to be cut down to just a handful of Bee Bots circling Sage as she tried to even the odds. Those, too, were ripped to shreds or blasted apart by the Egg Forcers.
Dr. Eggy swore under his breath. "Fall back, Sage. We're shifting to our main line of defenses," he commanded, fearing for Sage's safety.
Sage teleported into the safety of the EggNet where the bigger and more dangerous of Dr. Eggy's Badniks powered up. Metal Sonic awoke and flew out of the lair just as his creator powered up the force field.
"Good thing I convinced the fox to reinstall the security upgrades to the lair…" Dr. Eggy muttered to himself, beaming with pride as Metal Sonic powered up his chest laser to melt an incoming horde of Egg Forcers getting close to the fortress. "That's it, Metal Sonic! Kill for Daddy!" he cheered.
"Fascinating. He's created a robotic copy of the hedgehog," Dr. Deep observed Metal Sonic join Mega Bot in smashing apart the Council's Egg Forcers as they landed on the island, sharpening his samurai armor's swords. The philosophical Eggman then realized something. "If this guy has a robot Sonic, then that means there's another flesh-and-blood one running around this world!"
"Another Sonic…?" Nine murmured and kept an eye on the monitors showing the battle taking place below the mothership. 'Two Sonics in one Shatterverse… I wonder if…' he thought before he felt Rusty Rose shove past him.
"Well, let's see if our Rusty can take on this Metal Sonic." Mr. Doctor Eggman smirked as Rusty exited the command room. "It'll be a good stress test for her," he snickered.
Rusty Rose heard that last sentence and felt something foreign surface in her programming.
It was almost akin to… hurt.
But the Chaos Council's primary directives screeched back into her cyborg brain. Shaking her head, Rusty Rose got on a launch platform that ejected from the top of the mothership as it neared the fortress's force field. Landing on the ground, she found herself face-to-face with Metal Sonic.
"The Chaos Council demands your Eggman's immediate surrender," Rusty Rose commanded as she and Metal Sonic faced off on a ledge near Dr. Eggy's rock garden. Metal Sonic looked at this imposter of the Amy Rose he knew up and down. He let out a few beeps that Rusty Rose's sophisticated coding translated.
"You say that your counterpart will not allow this universe to be ruled over and we should turn back while we still can?" Rusty Rose asked with disbelief.
Metal Sonic nodded and beeped another message to her, readying his claws.
"Things will not end well for us if we continue our conquest?" Rusty Rose nearly smiled at that. "Once again, I wish I had been programmed to laugh," she said before dashing forwards. Metal Sonic blocked her first punch and retaliated with a swipe of his claws. Rusty Amy jerked her head back before they raked her face. She felt no pain when Metal's claws raked across her chest armor and lifted her right leg, extending it to kick Metal squarely in the chest.
Metal Sonic activated his thrusters and flew up before he could hit a nearby boulder. He dive-bombed Rusty Rose with a spin attack that sent her into the ground with enough force to leave her in a crater.
Shaking her head, Rusty Rose glared up at Metal Sonic before hearing a loud boom from high above.
"Shitshitshitshitshitshit!" Dr. Eggy frantically typed away commands to seal all lair exits and entrances as the Chaos Council's mothership fired a massive yellow laser at the force field. His computer screen flashed red as the words SHIELD INTEGRITY 79% appeared, the percentage lowering with every second.
All around his island fortress, his Badniks were valiantly fighting the Egg Forcers as they advanced on the lair. Sage was hard at work within the EggNet, giving out commands to her father's creations. When she saw Rusty Rose and Metal Sonic locked in combat, she assimilated with her brother's programming.
'I must collect as much data about Rusty Rose as I can. Miles Prower may be able to find a way to free her from the Chaos Council's programming,' she thought as she helped Metal copy his opponent's data while they fought.
Rusty and Metal were vicious in their attacks. Metal charged at Rusty, grabbing her by the waist. Spinning around, he threw her into the air and flew up to kick her over the rock garden wall. Rusty landed on one of the fountains. Seeing Metal Sonic headed her way, she used her extending arms as a springboard to jump. She then retracted her arms and quickly stretched out her legs and spun them wildly about, sending Metal slamming into the dirt. Rusty smirked as she landed on her feet, hearing his enraged beeping.
Metal Sonic got up and propelled himself forward, spinning in midair to tackle Rusty into a wall. Rusty retaliated by pushing herself off the wall and headbutting Metal. The two of them locked fists. Metal activated his rocket thrusters while Rusty dug her heels in as they tried to push each other away.
Their battle raged on while the Chaos Council's mothership's energy cannon fired multiple energy blasts in the background, putting more holes into the lair's force field. Metal dodged a punch from Rusty, ducking to get in close so he could fire a laser at her from up close.
Rusty was thrown back several feet. For the first time, she felt white hot pain as the laser began to slowly melt her torso and rolled to the side. Gritting her teeth, she waited for the precise moment when Metal Sonic temporarily paused to cool off his chest cavity before making her move.
"Metal, look out!" Sage shouted as Rusty extended her right arm and grabbed Metal by the throat. Frantically beeping, Metal thrashed in Rusty's grip as the cyborg pulled herself to him. Sage just barely managed to consolidate all of Rusty Rose's data into her memory banks before she found herself back in the EggNet. To her horror, Rusty was now tearing into Metal Sonic's body, her claws tearing out his chassis and circuitry with terrifying speed and efficiency.
As Metal Sonic's optics flickered, he looked Rusty Rose in the eye and beeped weakly.
"The Chaos Council will find your world's Sonic and destroy him. As they will to the other Sonic they are pursuing," Rusty Rose told him coldly.
Metal Sonic managed to beep one last time before his red optics went dark. But what he told Rusty Rose shook her.
'I LIKE THE REAL AMY ROSE MORE THAN YOU.'
'The real… Amy… Rose…' Rusty suddenly saw another pink hedgehog like her. But, no… this hedgehog wasn't like her. She was flesh and bone. Smiling… A pink Flicky perched on her shoulder…
And she was free.
"Good job, Rusty!" Mr. Doctor Eggman's voice derailed her train of thought. "For a second, we thought we were going to have to replace you if you hadn't beaten that inferior copy of our Public Enemy No. 1. March on! We're almost done with this bad egg's force field."
Shoving aside those strange images Metal Sonic's last words put into her brain, Rusty Rose marshaled the rest of the Egg Forcers forward. One last blast from the mothership's cannon took out the force field entirely and, one by one, Dr. Eggy's Badniks fell.
"Hey, Boss? Maybe now would be a good time to surrender?" Cubot suggested as he and Orbot struggled to push a bookcase to barricade the doors.
"Perhaps forming an alliance with the Chaos Council will be beneficial. If there's more of you, the easier it'll be to conquer your enemies," Orbot said helpfully.
Sighing, Dr. Eggy turned to his henchmen. "If I let them take over this world, you know that Sonic and his friends will try to stop them, right?" he asked.
"But wouldn't the Chaos Council overpower them?" Cubot tilted his head to the side.
"Probably. Most likely. And then Faith will definitely try to follow Sonic and Shadow to help them in the fight. Need I remind you two of what will happen if Faith gets injured in this fight against the Chaos Council?"
Both robots took a moment to think. And, if they had had actual throats, they would have audibly swallowed. This was enough for them to try and barricade the control room as fast as they could. But that wasn't enough. Barely five minutes later, the control room's walls started shaking.
"Crap…" Dr. Eggy typed a string of code into his master computer. "Sage, I need you to get out of the EggNet. Jump into the fox's network and sound the alarm," he said gravely.
"Father, I will not leave you!" Sage banged her fists against the computer screen separating her from Dr. Eggy.
"Dear daughter, you must! I will not let those impostors of me take control of you." Dr. Eggy finished inputting the string of code.
Behind her, Sage heard the hum of the back door program opening. At the same time, the door to her father's control room came crashing down.
"Go, Sage! Warn them!"
Tears in her eyes, Sage escaped.
Dr. Eggy breathed a sigh of relief before cringing as he heard Orbot and Cubot's screams as they were flung into a wall. Raising his hands in surrender, he turned around and found himself face-to-face with the Chaos Council. Seeing five versions of him, each in varying stages of growth and personality, was, honestly, surreal and just a little unnerving.
Mr. Doctor Eggman stroked his mustache thoughtfully before looking at Dr. Eggy with a sly grin. "Last chance, my friend. Join us and we'll let you rule this universe however you wish. All we want is your cooperation in finding a certain blue hedgehog and a shard containing the power to travel between dimensions," he offered.
Dr. Eggy merely laughed in defiance. "Oh, I know that blue hedgehog you're looking for. And I'll tell you this: don't even try. That pesky blue pineapple will wipe the floor with you copycats," he told the Chaos Council. Mr. Doctor Eggman merely scoffed and had Rusty take him to the mothership after securing Orbot and Cubot.
"I'm serious. If you guys know what's good for you, you'll leave this dimension and never come back," Dr. Eggy managed to say before he was shoved into a cell.
"Ha! Your Sonic's probably as pathetic as the one we've been chasing. What makes you think he can take all of us on?" Dr. Done It guffawed before coughing.
Dr. Eggy was tempted to tell him exactly why, but kept his mouth shut. 'It'll be more fun to see these suckers get their asses kicked,' he thought with a wry smile.
Sage navigated through the many digital pathways until she found Goggles' internet server. At the same time, the genius fox was downing his second cup of coffee while he recorded the Shard's energy readings.
"Tails!"
Goggles jumped up at Sage's icon popping up on his Miles Electric. One look at Sage's teary expression and his heart sank. "Oh, boy… Here we go…" he muttered tapping his communicator.
In Hedgehog Village, the villagers tensed as the klaxons started going off.
Rosey, Big Knucks, Sticks, Glamour, Omega, Scarf, and Terios all heard the alert loud and clear, and sprung into action.
"Children and elderly, make for the town hall!" Rosey shouted as she herded non-combatants off the streets. Big Knucks rallied the men into prepping the catapults and loading the cannons while Sticks and Staci mobilized the small army of villagers and armed them with blasters and riot shields.
Goggles, with Sage's help, uploaded all of the data gathered from the Shard into an encrypted file on his Miles Electric. He then placed the shard in a metal chest, securing it with a passcode, and ran for the Robotnik-Hedgehog residence as fast as he could. Glancing over his shoulder, he could make out several small shapes coming down from the horizon. Twisting his tails, Goggles propelled himself faster until he made it to his brother's house.
Sonic and Shadow were already shepherding Faith down the stairs. Faith, still in her pajamas, was clutching Gay Horse and had a knapsack. Goggles could make out Lulubelle's head, Mini Dad's arm and Mini Papa's legs sticking out of his niece's knapsack. No doubt she refused to hide until her stuffed animal friends were allowed to come with her.
"Is your plane ready?" Scarf dashed into the house with Terios.
"Sage is interfacing with the weapons system as we speak." Goggles told him and then turned to Terios. "We can board and take off faster if you can teleport us," he said.
"The Shard?" Terios asked him.
Goggles patted the chest in response.
"Okay." Taking the cooler from his little brother, Scarf went over to Sonic and Shadow. He looked at Faith and smiled. "Alright, kiddo. Time to do your part. Keep the Shard safe with Sonny and Shadsy. And don't come out until we contact you or one of us comes back. Try to be as quiet as you can," he instructed.
Faith nodded and tried her best to look brave, but her eyes betrayed her true feelings. "You and Papa will win, right?" she asked timidly.
"We will definitely do our best," Terios told her, him and his husband kneeling in front of her. "We'll always come home to you, sweetheart. But, until we do, summon all your courage. And, remember, you won't be alone. They'll take care of you." He looked at Shadow, who gave him a nod.
Faith hugged her parents tightly. "I love you guys…" she mumbled.
"We love you too, kiddo," Scarf whispered, softly kissing Faith on the forehead. He then looked at Sonic, a stern look in his eyes. "Keep her safe."
"We will," Sonic replied. He and Shadow then went to the living room with their counterparts. Scarf lifted the carpet, revealing the trapdoor hidden underneath.
Beneath the floorboards was a ten-inch steel door. Going down the steps, Sonic and Shadow discovered that the basement was already stocked with enough food and water for three to four people, a toilet and sink, as well as sleeping bags.
"It was Aunt Sticks' idea to put a basement underneath the house. She wanted me to experience living in a bunker," Faith explained once she, Sonic, and Shadow were safe inside the basement. Her Dad and Papa closed the door and she listened closely until their footsteps faded away.
"We got to camp here once after we moved in. It was fun 'cause we got to do shadow puppets when the lights were off…" she said before trailing off. It had been lighthearted fun during that one night. But, now, there was no time to play shadow puppets or take popcorn down from the kitchen, so they could watch a movie projected on one of the walls. The thought of her family going to fight multiple Dr. Eggmans and scarier Badniks.
And then there was Rusty Rose…
'I can't believe there's an evil version of Aunt Amy. That shouldn't be real. My Aunt Amy's the sweetest lady ever. No version of her would ever follow a Dr. Eggman,' Faith thought, squishing Gay Horse to her chest.
"Hey, it'll be okay," Sonic reassured her as he and Shadow unrolled the sleeping bags. "You've got us, Faith. And we're not gonna let anything bad happen to you," he said.
"I know… But I'm worried about Dad, Papa, and everyone up there… I don't want them to get hurt," Faith mumbled and took a seat on one of the sleeping bags.
Shadow sat next to her. "Your family's got a lot of experience fighting evil. Your parents, especially, are stronger than Sonic and me," he reassured her and, hesitating slightly, gently patted Faith's head. To his surprise, the little tenrec crawled into his lap and buried her face in his chest fur.
Feeling Faith trembling, Shadow looked to Sonic, silently asking for guidance. The blue hedgehog wrapped his arms around himself in response. Sighing, Shadow gently hugged the child and whispered, "It's gonna be okay, Faith…"
Meanwhile, the battle was on in Hedgehog Village. Sticks yelled out, "FIGHT ON AND TAKE NO PRISONERS!" as she led a group of villagers armed with blasters and truncheons to attack the Egg Forcers that had made it to the ground.
Meanwhile, Big Knucks, Mayor Fink, Admiral Beaverton, and Professor Cluckins were manning the catapults, slinging boulders at more incoming.
Rosey was a blur on the battlefield, smashing apart Egg Forcers left and right. She looked up and saw Glamour, carrying a trigger-happy Omega, flying alongside Goggles' yellow plane. Already, Terios was firing Chaos Spears while Scarf unleashed rapid Homing Attacks as they flew to Dr. Eggy's lair.
'Be careful,' Rosey prayed before she heard a familiar voice.
"The Chaos Council demands your immediate surrender."
The villagers couldn't help but gasp as Rusty Rose arrived with reinforcements. Squaring her shoulders, Rosey strode to the front lines.
At the sight of this world's Amy Rose, something in Rusty glitched. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I should be asking you that question." Rosey glared at her, one hand on her hip and the other gripping her trusty Piko Piko Hammer. "What did they do to you? How could you let them take away your heart? Your soul?" she asked.
Rusty Rose clenched her fists. "I was selected to enforce The Chaos Council's autocratic rule. I have risen beyond my inefficient flesh and bone form to be superior in every way," she retorted.
"You think you've gained more, but you couldn't be more wrong," Rosey said, gesturing to her friends and the villagers, armed and ready, behind her. "You have nothing but soulless machines that serve you according to their programming and cruel masters who would discard you the moment you don't meet their expectations. So, tell me…" Gripping her hammer in both hands now, Rosey looked Rusty in her one real eye.
"Is that what you want the rest of your life to be?"
Rusty felt that same glitch in her program again. Her head jerked and her robotic eye flickered. "What… I… want…" she muttered as images flickered into her brain.
She was relaxing under a palm tree. There were Flickies chirping to her, their dulcet melodies making her smile.
She wasn't a cyborg. She was flesh and bone.
She was happy.
Static.
A hammer broken in half. Her blood staining the grass.
The Chaos Council… Bright light…
"ENOUGH!" Rusty Rose extended her legs and glowered down at Rosey. "Your words will not sway me! I am Rusty Rose! And, by order of The Chaos Council, you shall be subjugated!" she shouted.
Sighing, Rosey shook her head. Mere words weren't going to be enough, but the way her evil counterpart glitched gave her some hope. 'I'll bring her to Tails and see if we can free her from The Chaos Council's brainwashing,' she thought and grinned.
"Thanks for the opening. Say goodbye to your kneecaps!" she chirped before dashing forward and swinging her hammer into Rusty's left leg.
At their commander's startled yell, the Egg Forcers rushed forward and were met with the determined Seaside Islanders. Together, they charged ahead with their blasters and whatever makeshift weapons they had to meet them head-on.
Meanwhile, up in the sky, Scarf and Terios' teams were waging a battle of their own.
"Those clouds are swirling pretty ominously. That's got to be The Chaos Council's mothership," Glamour observed as Omega reloaded his arm cannons.
Scarf then noticed something odd. The robots appearing out of the clouds were getting fewer. He and Terios had taken out what seemed to be the last of them. That's when he remembered seeing a brilliant beam of light earlier this morning. Not long after that, the alarms sounded.
"The energy cannon…" Scarf muttered while Goggles tried to do a comprehensive scan of their surroundings.
"Detecting a buildup of heat straight ahead," Goggles alerted the group as they flew on.
"Get in close as fast as you both can. We need to get inside their mothership," Terios instructed, reaching into his quills.
"Going as fast as I can, hun," Glamour huffed and flapped her wings harder to stay close to Goggles' plane.
Inside their mothership, The Chaos Council watched with glee as the intruders continued to fly.
"Heeheehee! Those idiots. What were they thinking? Flying into our airspace all on their lonesome! They must be trying to commit suicide," Dr. Done-It chortled before falling asleep and snoring.
"And what's with the lame-o plane? Pfft, even this nine-tailed freak's hunk of scrap was way cooler," Dr. Don't scoffed, eyeing Nine who was working on readying the energy cannon for another shot.
Nine looked at the computer screen, his brow furrowed. He couldn't see him, but he knew that that yellow plane was being piloted by another him. He looked over his shoulder at The Chaos Council, who were already gleefully proclaiming that they'd won, and then back at the screen.
Was he really going to let them get away with this? Make him shoot down his own counterpart and let The Chaos Council get rid of this world's Sonic?
"C'mon, fox! Aim and fire already!" Mr. Dr. Eggman snapped and looked at the monitors recording all the activity outside of the mothership. "That plane's getting closer!"
Indeed, it was. Now Nine could see through the camera two hedgehogs standing on the wings of the plane. One was another Sonic. The other was a black-and-red hedgehog. Flying close to the plane was another Rebel carrying a huge robot that wouldn't look out of place among the Council's battalions.
Gritting his teeth, Nine took aim…
"Everyone, stick together!" Terios yelled as a huge glowing yellow dot appeared in the swirling clouds. They were just two kilometers away from the mothership's location and they could already feel the heat. Narrowing his eyes, Terios stared into the mass of clouds. All he needed was a glimpse of an opening. A hatch, a launch pad, anything the plane could land on…
The energy cannon fired a laser at an acute angle, the yellow beam missing them completely and disappearing into the sky.
"Well, that was weird…" Scarf muttered, blinking the sunspots out of his eyes.
"Weird, but to our advantage." Terios caught sight of a landing strip and pulled out a red Chaos Emerald from his quills.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
The plane, Goggles, Scarf, Terios, Glamour, and Omega disappeared in a flash of light. And then they reappeared on the landing strip a few meters down towards the very bottom of the mothership. Any Egg Forcers who were preparing to disembark down to the island were run over by Goggles' plane.
"Comeoncomeoncomeon…" Goggles muttered as slammed his foot down on the brakes, trying to stop his plane from crashing. Scarf and Terios gripped each other's hands tightly as the plane finally came to a stop, its nose just missing a wall by an inch.
Barely taking a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, Goggles pulled out a laser gun and jumped out of the plane.
"Look alive, boys. We've got company," Glamour alerted the team and surged forward, using her Screw Kick to topple down an Egg Forcer.
"ELIMINATE ALL CHAOS COUNCIL ROBOTS!" Omega went ham on the shooting, serving as the group's battering ram/shield as they made their way down the corridors. Scarf and Terios were blurs, Spin Dashing and hurling Chaos Spears at any Egg Forcer within their reach.
The five of them ran through the halls, fighting with all their might, until, finally, they burst into the control room.
"Sonic has a fraternal twin brother?" Dr. Done-It squinted through his glasses upon seeing the two hedgehogs.
"That's his husband," Dr. Don't corrected him, glancing up from his laptop which he had used to research everything he could find on this new dimension.
Dr. Babble screamed and banged his rattle against the master controls, waving pudgy fists at the intruders.
"Oh, I pity his mother…" Glamour rolled her eyes at the baby's threats.
Mr. Doctor Eggman grinned and steepled his hands under his chin. "Fascinating. A dark mirror of the blue hedgehog in this world. What sort of powers do you hold?" he asked Terios, who smirked. The grin on Mr. Doctor Eggman's face dropped when the black hedgehog suddenly vanished into thin air.
Terios reappeared behind Mr. Doctor Eggman. "Care for a close-up demonstration?" he snarled and held a Chaos Spear to the mad scientist's throat. He glanced at the other Eggmen and growled, "Move and this man's throat gets cut."
Dr. Babble, Dr. Done-It, Dr. Don't, and Dr. Deep froze, troubled.
"Y-you wouldn't…" Mr. Doctor Eggman looked at Scarf. "C-come on, Other Sonic. You wouldn't let such brutality happen on your watch, w-wouldn't you?" he stammered, all bravado gone.
"If you think I'm a wise-cracking, happy-go-lucky blue hedgehog like the Sonic you guys have been chasing… you're half-right."
Omega pointed his guns at the Chaos Council alongside Goggles while Glamour got into a fighting stance. A blue Chaos Spear materialized in Scarf's right hand as he slowly walked toward the Chaos Council.
"I'm all fun and games until someone threatens my world and everyone I love. So, either leave and take your whole army with you. Or we get rid of you five and rid the Shatterverse of your evil for good. Honestly, my husband and I are leaning towards the latter option," Scarf drawled with a cold look.
Dr. Babble let out a small whimper while Dr. Don't tried to slowly pull him to the back of the group. Mr. Doctor Eggman gulped and frantically glanced at Dr. Done-It and Dr. Deep, swallowing when Scarf took another step closer.
"W-well, we have a trump card of our own!" Dr. Deep snapped his fingers.
"Arrggh!"
Omega, Glamour, Goggles, and Scarf turned around. Behind them, an Egg Forcer held up a bound Nine. The young fox had a black eye and blood dripping down his nose. His arms, legs, and tails were tied up. Nine flinched when the Egg Forcer holding him brandished a cattle prod at him.
"Let. Him. Go," Goggles growled, whipping around to glare at the Chaos Council.
"Call off your feral hedgehogs and we will," Mr. Doctor Eggman demanded with a sneer. Terios grit his teeth and teleported away from the madman, reappearing next to Scarf who begrudgingly motioned to the others to stand down.
"And… got em'!" Dr. Don't flipped a switch on his chair. Nine, Omega, Glamour, and Goggles yelped as the floor gave out beneath them. Scarf and Terios tried to grab them but, suddenly, restraining orbs shot out of Dr. Deep and Dr. Done-It's chairs. The two hedgehogs were caught and suspended in midair.
"Hahaha! Seems like you share the same weakness as that annoying Sonic we've been chasing around!" Mr. Doctor Eggman cackled as he and the other Eggmen turned around to watch the screens. Scarf and Terios struggled against their restraints, their rage simmering as they saw the villagers beginning to lose ground. There was a beep from one monitor and Rusty Rose appeared on-screen.
"Sirs, we have tracked down the Shard to an abandoned residence," Rusty reported.
At the sight of Egg Forcers surrounding their house, Scarf and Terios' eyes widened. They tried to hide their fright, but the Chaos Council was quick to notice.
"Oho, is this your residence by any chance, Mr. Hedgehogs? Don't worry. We're not going to destroy any precious family memorabilia you two happen to own. And…" Mr. Doctor Eggman pulled up a picture of Faith and his evil grin widened.
"I do have to commend your good parenting practices. Leaving your child at home to keep her out of the fight is smart parenting. But not when you have your world's new rulers looming at your doorstep," the leader of the Chaos Council remarked.
"Leave Faith out of this! If you lay a single finger on her, you won't live to regret it!" Scarf yelled only to scream immediately afterward as the orbs sent thousands of volts through his body.
"Sonic!" Terios tried to teleport himself free only to scream as he was electrocuted as well. The Chaos Council smirked with triumph as the two hedgehogs convulsed and screamed in agony.
"Rusty, be a dear and pick up the Shard from the house. Oh! And if there's a little girl there, bring her here as well. She must be missing her daddies," Mr. Doctor Eggman instructed the cyborg with a malicious grin.
Rusty Rose nodded and, along with a squadron of Egg Forcers, made her way to the house.
Meanwhile, the Chaos Council sent out drones that projected Scarf and Terios suspended in midair and getting electrocuted.
"People of Seaside Island! This is your final chance to surrender. We have two of your strongest fighters in our custody. Further resistance will guarantee their demise. Think carefully. We'll give you a minute to consider," Dr. Deep announced.
Big Knucks, Rosey, and Sticks looked at each other and the rest of the villagers. They were getting outnumbered and more of them were getting beaten down. At the sight of Scarf and Terios in the Chaos Council's clutches, morale dipped.
"Faith's not with them, is she?" Perci whispered to Rosey, who shook her head.
"We can't risk losing them." Stacey glanced at the remaining fighters they had left. Begrudgingly, everybody lowered their weapons. They couldn't afford to lose their island's strongest defenders.
At the same time, the villagers thought of Faith. If they didn't surrender now, there was a chance that the little tenrec would become an orphan.
Big Knucks, Rosey, and Sticks were rounded up by some of the Egg Forcers and were marched toward the Chaos Council's mothership while the rest of the villagers were cuffed. The trio's faces were grim. They hoped that Scarf and Terios would be able to endure whatever torture the Chaos Council was doing to them.
Shadow was the first to hear the footsteps.
"Quiet," he ordered Sonic and Faith, who were playing with the latter's plushies. Upon seeing his rival's dead serious face, Sonic picked up Faith and cradled her to his chest.
"Head to the back," Shadow whispered as he walked to the steps leading up to the basement's door. Sonic carried Faith over to the very back of the room. Crouching down behind a few gallon jugs for water, he looked at Faith and put a finger to his lips. Faith hugged Lulubelle tightly, lips pressed into a thin tight line.
The footsteps grew louder as the seconds ticked by. Accompanied by bangs and crashes. A particularly loud crash close to where the three were hiding made Faith scream. Sonic quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and hugged her tightly in hopes to calm her down.
"Once the door's open, I'll clear a path so you can get Faith and the Shard out of here," Shadow instructed Sonic, who held the chest under his left arm while holding Faith in his right.
A minute passed… thirty seconds next… twenty… ten…
There was the heavy clunking of the Egg Forcers' feet. And then…
BBBRRRRSSSSSHHHHHKKKK!
The basement's ten-inch thick steel door was ripped from its hinges by Rusty Rose. At once, Shadow used a Spin Dash to propel him upstairs and sent the cyborg hedgehog flying.
"Hold on tight, Faith!" Sonic revved up and followed Shadow out of the basement. He yelped as he was met by an Egg Forcer and quickly slid down low between its legs so he could make a mad dash for the front door. Behind him, Shadow stomped on other Egg Forcers' heads and pinned Rusty Rose to the ceiling with a Chaos Spear. Both hedgehogs made it out of the house with their precious cargo but were met with even more Egg Forcers.
"A valiant effort. However, it is pointless to even try." Rusty Rose stomped out of the house, her armor scratched and smoking. She glared at Sonic and threw out her fist at the blue hedgehog who jumped out of the way.
"You're willing to hit a little kid?! Okay! I'm done hoping there's still a hint of the old Amy in you!" Sonic yelled at her and cradled Faith protectively. He then glanced at Shadow, who was already charging up another Chaos Spear in his hand.
"Sonny…"
Faith wiggled in Sonic's grasp. "There's a lot of them. You and Shadsy can't beat them all by yourselves. I wanna help…" she whispered.
"Sorry, kiddo. We promised your parents we'd keep you safe," Sonic reminded her.
Faith noticed that more Egg Forcers were surrounding them. Sighing, she looked at her Dad's counterpart. "Sorry about this, Sonny…" she said before sinking her teeth into Sonic's hand. As soon as the blue hedgehog dropped her, she curled up into a ball and started spinning.
"Ow! Faith, no! Your Dad told us to keep you…" Sonic said before Faith broke away from him and Shadow in the most spectacular super-charged Spin Dash either of them had ever seen. Purple lightning bolts shot out of Faith's curled-up form and ripped through Egg Forcers as she bowled them over.
"...safe." Sonic finished before Shadow grabbed his hand and led him past the stunned Egg Forcers.
Shadow scooped up Faith as she uncurled and smirked. "Your parents taught you well, kid," he complimented her.
"Yup!" Faith grinned back at him.
Setting her down, Shadow stood back-to-back with Sonic. "Think you can help us take a few of them down?" he asked, focusing on the Egg Forcers left behind.
Sparks danced around the copper coils on Faith's gloves and boots. "Ready when you are, Shadsy!" Faith proclaimed.
Rusty Rose scoffed and charged along with the remnants of her squadron.
"I'll handle her!" Sonic tossed the chest to Shadow, revving up for a Spin Dash. He knocked down Egg Forcers in a wild zig-zag pattern and then rammed into Rusty Rose at top speed. Locking fists with her, Sonic snarled, "You and those monsters aren't taking over this world! Not if Shadow and I can't help it!"
Rusty Rose pushed back and Sonic struggled to keep his footing. Behind him, he could hear the crackle of Shadow's Chaos Spears and Faith's lightning hitting Egg Forcers. But, suddenly, he heard a loud buzzing from above. Looking up, Sonic's eyes widened at the sight of a drone flashing a holographic projection of Scarf and Terios getting tortured.
Faith looked up and the color drained from her face. "Dad! Papa!" she screamed. Shadow tried to cover her eyes from the sight, but the little tenrec dashed towards Rusty Rose. But, rather than hitting her, Faith clung to Rusty's waist.
"Let them go! Please, Other Aunt Amy! Tell them to stop hurting my Dad and Papa!" Faith begged, tears welling up in her eyes.
'Aunt… Amy…?' Rusty felt a circuit in her brain twitch as she gazed at this strange child. This girl just helped take down her entire squadron of Egg Forcers, yet refused to raise a hand to her. Was this a ruse to make her lower her guard?
"You can't be all bad… Y-you're Amy Rose. And Aunt Amy's kind, caring, and brave. There's got to be some good in you. Please…" Faith whimpered as the tears started to fall.
For a moment, Rusty Rose stared at her with a troubled look. Then, to Sonic's horror, she smirked and extended her arms, pushing the blue hedgehog back. Faith gasped before she was suddenly grabbed by her shirtfront.
"Choose, hedgehogs. The Shard or the child," Rusty Rose threatened as she held a glowing pink fist inches from Faith's face. The little tenrec could only stare, stupefied, at this menacing version of her Aunt Amy. Tears continued to drip down her cheeks and tiny whimpers left her lips.
Sonic and Shadow froze, their hearts thudding in their chests. Shadow growled, his mind going into overdrive. 'Teleport to Rusty and pummel her from behind? Try to swipe Faith from her? Shitshitshit! What can we do?!' he thought. Seeing more Egg Forcers arriving from the horizon, he clutched the chest containing the Prism Shard. Maybe they had to take a risk and go, regroup, find a way to…
Shadow felt Sonic grab his arm. The blue hedgehog looked at him with equal parts sternness and fear.
"We made a promise," whispered Sonic, his emerald eyes looking back and forth between Shadow and Faith in Rusty Rose's clutches. Shadow felt his stomach churn with self-disgust. He tossed the chest to the cyborg.
"There. Now give Faith back," Shadow demanded. Rusty Rose nodded and dropped Faith. The little tenrec whimpered as she scrambled to her feet and ran to the safety of the two hedgehogs' arms.
More Egg Forcers came and surrounded the trio. Taking the chest, Rusty Rose held it up to the drone. "We have retrieved the Shard and have captured the hedgehogs and tenrec," she announced.
Faith cried out as the video of her parents was replaced with a gleeful Chaos Council.
"Brilliant, Rusty! Now, do kindly escort our esteemed guests to our mothership!" Mr. Doctor Eggman looked down at Faith. "Why, hellooo, little Faith! We're so excited to meet you. Don't worry about your parents. We're taking good care of them," he said in a sickly sweet tone.
Sonic and Shadow glared at the projection and held onto Faith's hands. Neither of them let go even as they were forced to march a long distance to the mothership.
"Seriously?! I made a huge deal gloating how those two would kick the Council's asses and they captured them?!"
"They caught us by surprise!"
Nine tried his best to tune out the Other Eggman and Other Rebel's bickering. Looking around, it was almost surreal to see other versions of people he'd seen in New Yoke City. The robot, Omega, according to the Other Rebel, had taken a nasty shock to its circuitry and was now lying in a heap in one corner of their prison cell. Getting stuck in a cell with another version of himself was not how Nine was expecting the rest of his day to go. His counterpart helped a non-cyborg Rusty bandage him up. All the while, an orange and brown badger stared at him, grimacing.
"Sooo, you're not an evil cyborg sent by the Council to supplant our Tails here?" Sticks questioned him.
"I'm a prisoner here, too, you know," Nine scoffed and looked up at a spot of rust in the ceiling. "Figures this is what I'd get after agreeing to help the rebels. I should have just gone back to the Grim…" he muttered.
Goggles looked at Nine with sympathy. "But you didn't. Because you wanted to help Sonic, right?" he asked gently.
Nine shrugged and glanced at him. "I kinda owed him. He was the one guy who didn't make fun of me," he admitted.
"Yeah, he told us about you. He's been really worried since you two split up back in your world," Goggles told him.
Nine's heart warmed at that. 'He didn't leave me behind… He accidentally brought himself to another world while he was looking… for me…' he thought and sighed. The next time he saw Sonic, he was going to apologize and try to be a little less abrasive. At this point, he'd be okay with Sonic giving him head pats. The blue hedgehog had done it once and it felt kind of nice…
"You know… when your rebel groups take down the Chaos Council, they're gonna need somebody to help restore the land. Could be you," Goggles suggested.
Nine bristled and pulled his arm away before Rosey was done bandaging it. "Why should I? Nobody in New Yoke City gave a damn about me," he growled.
"It's just an option." Goggles held his hands up. "I understand that you're not me. You don't have the same thoughts or emotions as I do. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of struggles you endured. But don't you think isolating yourself in a grim, uninhabited wasteland might get a little lonely?" he asked.
Nine frowned but didn't say anything. He knew that Sonic would be returning to his world at some point. But he couldn't go back there. Back to a world where he'd only been beaten and mocked by everyone for his two tails. Even after he'd made his extra tails, people still called him a freak.
To his surprise, Big Knucks piped up. "If you want, you can stay with us. You could pretend to be Tails' lost twin brother!" he chuckled, ruffling Goggles' fur.
Nine looked at his smiling counterpart. He was the complete opposite of him, from his fluffier twin tails to the hopeful sparkle in his eyes. Would he have turned out like him if he'd lived in a different world or if somebody like Sonic had found and taken him under their wing?
Before Nine could ponder further on this proposal, the door to the prison cell opened. An Egg Forcer tossed in a little pink tenrec, a black-and-red hedgehog, and a familiar face.
"Sonic!" Nine rushed over to the blue hedgehog, hugging him. Sonic could hardly believe it. He'd had a sinking feeling that Nine might have been captured while helping him back in New Yoke City, but had hoped that his gut feelings were wrong. It was horrible to learn that it had, indeed, happened. But at least he could see the kid now. A little worse for wear, but alive.
"Nine…" Sonic murmured and nuzzled the kit's head. "I'm so sorry, pal. I didn't mean to leave you behind," he whispered.
"It's okay. Goggles told me everything." Nine trembled slightly as he tried to hold back tears. "I didn't know you were looking for me…" he mumbled, sniffling.
Once the two dried their tears, Sonic and Nine grouped up with the others.
"Who are they?" Nine asked, pointing one of his mechanical tails to Shadow who was trying to soothe a crying Faith along with Rosey, Glamour, Goggles, Sticks, and Big Knucks.
"That's Shadow. He's a friend from my world." Sonic's gaze became sad when Faith met his. The little tenrec was clinging to Shadow, face half-buried in his chest fur and streaked with tears. "That's Faith. She's the daughter of this world's Sonic," he murmured.
Nine watched as Sonic approached Faith and, with Shadow, tried to comfort her. It was a far cry from the energetic and reckless blue hedgehog he'd seen back in New Yoke City.
"It's okay, Faith… It's gonna be okay…" Sonic murmured, running his hand through Faith's lavender-tipped quills.
"Th-they're hurting Dad and Papa…" Faith sobbed, trying her hardest to stifle her tears.
"We're going to free them," Shadow promised her and looked at the others. "We just need to find a way out of here."
"How? We're trapped in here," Sticks informed him and kicked at the wall. "And we've got a tyrannical band of Eggmen currently holding the entire island hostage." She looked at Rosey and smirked. "I told ya I was right to be paranoid ever since that meteor shower!"
"Glamour and I checked the whole cell. No way to tunnel out of here," Big Knucks said, gesturing to the four walls of their cell. Nothing but cold metal walls and a floor with no windows and automatic doors that only opened from the outside.
"No way for me to hack into the system either." Goggles pulled out his Miles Electric. On its screen, Sage's avatar managed to give Dr. Eggy a relieved smile.
"I am also unable to access the Chaos Council's systems from here to disable the security system. But from what I was able to gather during Metal's battle with their enforcer, I hypothesize that it will require a temporary blackout for me to safely access their mainframe and override all of their systems," Sage told the team.
"A temporary blackout, huh?" Dr. Eggy looked at Faith with interest. "Well, we got somebody who can fry this mothership," he said and walked over to Faith. "Okay, kid. I know things look pretty hopeless, but I think you're the key to victory here. We just need to wait for our chance to get to the Council. So try to stay calm, okay?"
"Can't believe I'm going to say this, but he's right, sweetheart." Rosey smiled gently at Faith. "Your Dad and Papa are strong. They're not going to give up easily, so neither should we," she said.
"O-okay…" Faith mumbled and wiped her tears away. Spotting Omega, she had Shadow put her down. Taking a deep breath, she pressed her hand onto Omega's chest and sent a low current through the robot.
Nine watched in amazement as Omega's optics flickered on and the robot stood up.
"SYSTEMS REBOOTED. PRIMARY DIRECTIVE STILL TO ERADICATE CHAOS COUNCIL," Omega droned and looked down at Faith. "THANK YOU, FAITH." He carefully patted the little tenrec on the head.
Faith managed a watery smile before jumping as the doors opened. Egg Forcers entered and, with quick efficiency, cuffed everybody present. Omega prepared to open fire only for two of the Egg Forcers to point their blasters at Faith and Glamour. The former Badnik slowly lowered his arm cannons. Rusty Rose appeared and, with a smug smile, marched all 11 prisoners to the heart of the mothership.
"Ah, our guests of honor. Glad to see you all in good shape," Mr. Doctor Eggman greeted the gang as they arrived from atop the raised platform he and the rest of the Chaos Council were on. He grinned at Sonic and Shadow, the two hedgehogs inching closer to Faith. "Rusty told us about your heroic deed. How noble of you to choose the little crybaby over the very thing that could help you save the world."
"You leave our niece out of this!" Rosey shrieked only for an Egg Forcer to jab her with a cattle prod.
"Now, onto business." Mr. Doctor Eggman pushed a button on his chair. A section of the floor in front of the captured heroes opened up. Faith cried out as Scarf and Terios were raised in front of them. Both hedgehogs looked worse for wear, with cuts and bruises littering their bodies and quills disheveled. They were still held up by the special shackles keeping them suspended in midair.
"Dad! Papa!" Faith cried out and moved to reach them only for two Egg Forcers to seize her by the arms and throw her back to her aunts and uncles.
"H-hey, kiddo… Don't worry. W-we're okay…" Scarf managed a weak smile even as his body trembled from all the electrical shocks he'd endured.
"Just a little banged up. We're… We're gonna get out of here. Just give us a minute…" Terios muttered, blood dripping down his face from a cut on his brow.
"Oh, quit pretending, you two!" Dr. Done It waved his cane at them. "Maybe another round through the ol' torture gauntlet will finally get you to tell us how to open this dang thing!" he yelled as Dr. Don't pulled out the chest containing the Shard.
"We've been trying to get this thing open. Not even our strongest lasers and saws can break through the metal," the teenage Eggman said and glared at the passcode lock.
"You guys would have to be insane to try and destroy it with the Shard inside! You don't know what could happen if the Shard's damaged!" Goggles reprimanded them.
"We wouldn't have had to resort to such measures if these two," Mr. Doctor Eggman pointed at Scarf and Terios. "Just give us the passcode," he grumbled.
"Like we'd tell you knock-off Eggheads…" Terios scoffed, his husband snickering in agreement. In response, the shackles glowed and electrocuted them again.
"No! Let them go!" Faith screamed, struggling to move as the Egg Forcers closed in on her and her family.
Goggles tensed when Dr. Don't rode his chair over to him and thrust the chest in his face. "You made this, right? Give us the passcode and we'll let them go," he threatened.
Another surge in electricity was sent through Scarf and Terios, making them scream louder. Big Knucks, Rosey, Sticks, Glamour, Sonic, and Shadow yelled at the Chaos Council to stop. Dr. Eggy and Nine huddled around a desperate Faith who was already crying and screaming.
"Okay! Okay!" Goggles punched in the passcode. "There! You have the Shard! Now let them go!" he pleaded.
Dr. Don't grinned and zipped over to his brethren.
"Ah, another trophy to add to our grand conquest," Mr. Doctor Eggman cackled in triumph before nodding to Rusty Rose, who went over to a control panel.
"No…" Sonic paled as he saw a familiar steel contraption - an arm with a needlepoint laser - lowered from the ceiling. "NO!"
"Oh, yes, Sonic. As interesting as it would have been to study you along with your new friend there…"
Shadow's quills bristled as Mr. Doctor Eggman watched the device position itself before Scarf and Terios.
"We had our fun testing these older versions of you two. And, astonishingly, their energies are much more powerful. Comes with age, I suppose. Anyways, don't fret." Mr. Doctor Eggman grinned as Rusty pulled on a lever. "You and Shadow will make fine replacements when these two run empty," he said before the Energy Siphon activated.
Scarf and Terios shrieked in agony as two red lasers hit them in the chests. A burning sensation plagued their bodies as they felt their Chaos Energy sucked out of them.
Amidst the eerie red glow, Faith only saw her fathers struggling against their restraints as their Chaos Energy was siphoned away. All noises were muffled except for their agonized screams. Vaguely, she heard her aunts and uncles yelling as they were made to watch. But she herself couldn't scream. Instead, she stayed rooted to the spot, her eyes wide in horror and glazing over with unshed tears.
Faith's palms started heating up.
Dr. Eggy was the first to notice her quills bristling and wisely started backing away.
"Oho! Going somewhere?" Mr. Doctor Eggman noticed him backing into an alcove and snapped his fingers. Rusty Rose gripped Dr. Eggy's shoulder and shoved him back. To both of their confusion, this world's Dr. Eggman was smiling.
"Hehehe… you're all going to pay for this," Dr. Eggy snickered just as the shackles around Faith shattered in an explosion of sparks.
"Whoa… what the heck?" Dr. Don't muttered and directed two Egg Forcers to restrain Faith, who was slowly being surrounded by more sparks. Nearby, Goggles, Big Knucks, Rosey, Glamour, Sticks, and Omega looked at each other with varying degrees of fear.
One Eggforcer tried to jab Faith with a cattle prod, but the bright yellow crackling volts were overtaken and subsumed by purple sparks. Faith glared at the unfortunate robot who tried to jab her, and snapped her right arm to the side. Purple lightning bolts shot out of her fingers and tore a hole through the robot's torso. The other Egg Forcer met a similar fate a second later.
Quills floating up and bristling with electricity, their tips now glowing white, Faith cast her gaze towards the Chaos Council and screamed.
"DON'T HURT MY DAD AND MY PAPA!"
A shockwave tore through the room, shorting out the mothership's systems and knocking Rusty Rose and all of the Egg Forcers to the floor. Scarf and Terios' restraints vanished and the two hedgehogs fell in a heap.
Everyone's shackles fell to the floor. Sonic and Shadow both surged forward and helped Scarf and Terios to their feet.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't pass out on us now!" Sonic insisted as Scarf leaned heavily on him. Scarf groaned and looked forward. In the middle of the room, Faith was surrounded by an electrical field and she was stomping towards the Chaos Council. Red sparks danced across her arms and her quills bristled as her glowing eyes glared daggers at the stunned Chaos Council.
"Kiddo, don't!" Scarf called out to her. Faith blinked and, like magic, the angry glow from her eyes vanished along with her lightning.
"Dad! Papa!" Faith ran to the four hedgehogs, helping Shadow support Terios.
"Good job, sweetie… You did well…" Terios breathed out and managed a weak smile at the little tenrec.
Meanwhile, Goggles rushed to the control panel Rusty Rose was manning earlier with Nine. While Nine held Rusty down with four of his tails, Goggles plugged his Miles Electric into the controls.
No sooner had the power returned through Dr. Don't and Dr. Deep's frantic repairs, Sage's face appeared on all the screens.
"Thank you, Tails. Overriding mothership's systems now," Dr. Eggy's AI daughter announced.
To everyone's surprise, a slew of Badniks led by Orbot and Cubot burst into the room. "REVEEEENNNGGGEEE!" The two robots bellowed as Motobugs, Bee Bots, Crab Bots, and Egg Mantis' rushed forward to battle with the Egg Forcers.
At the same time, the Chaos Council's mothership began to lurch away from where it was parked next to Dr. Eggy's lair. Dr. Don't yelped as the chest containing the Prism Shard slipped out of his hand. Nine took a chance and used his mechanical tails to spring him forward to grab the Shard. Unfortunately, an Egg Forcer slid across the floor and collided with him and knocked the yellow rock out of his hands.
That started a brawl as the Chaos Council and Team Sonic scrambled to get the Shard while the mothership lurched about like a spinning top losing its momentum.
"Grab that Shard and kill them all!" Mr. Doctor Eggman screeched as various pieces of metal and armor flew out of compartments surrounding him and the rest of the Chaos Council. Various battle mech suits formed around the five Eggmen and, before long, they too jumped into the fray.
"We need to get you guys out of here," Shadow muttered as he and Sonic tried to get Faith, Scarf, and Terios out of the master control room.
Just a few feet away from them, Big Knucks and Goggles were holding back Dr. Babble. The youngest Eggman wailed as he tried to swing his giant baby's rattle at the hobbling group while Big Knucks yanked back on his rattle arm.
"No… We're going to fight back," Terios said and straightened up.
"But, Papa, you and Dad are hurt!" Faith protested, clinging to Terios' leg.
"Don't have much of a choice, kiddo…" Scarf groaned and stood on shaking legs beside his husband. He looked at Faith and grinned. "Show the Chaos Council what you can do," he said.
Faith perked up and, with a determined smile, summoned lightning bolts into her hands. Terios smirked and formed a Chaos Spear in his right hand while Scarf readied for a Spin Dash.
Rusty Rose approached the four hedgehogs and one tenrec. "We'll handle her," Terios told Sonic and Shadow. "You two keep an eye on Faith," Scarf added before he and his husband dashed towards Rusty Rose.
Sonic and Shadow glanced at each other, their counterparts' determination rubbing off on them. At Faith's determined shout of, "Let's do it to it!", they charged!
A couple of Egg Forcers flanked Dr. Don't as he piloted his mech around, which consisted of his gaming chair with added rockets controlled by his gaming console. The Egg Forcers fired lasers Glamour and Sticks as the duo fended off Dr. Deep's katana swings.
"Get out of our dimension, you meanies!" Faith yelled, flinging her lightning bolts at the two Egg Forcers. Sonic curled up into a ball and launched himself at Dr. Don't while Shadow got behind him. The teenaged Eggman ducked a second before Sonic collided with his mech.
"Ha! You got lousy aim, hedgehog!" Dr. Don't taunted Sonic, but then noticed that the blue hedgehog's companion who'd been running behind him was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he felt somebody slam into his mech suit.
"And you have tunnel vision," Shadow sneered and roundhouse kicked the rocket thrusters off the mech suit, sending it plummeting to the floor.
Sonic and Faith joined him. The trio both curled up into balls and went to town barreling through scores of Egg Forcers. A heavy thud caused them to uncurl and look up to find Nine up in the air, using a laser gun to try and bring down the shield surrounding Mr. Doctor Eggman's mech suit.
Compared to his fellow Eggmen, Mr. Doctor Eggman had the largest mech suit. Its arms were thick as tree trunks and sported buzzsaws on its shoulders. Sharp claws adorned its hands and small rockets fired out of its palms.
"You could have had a cushy gig with us, fox! But noooo! You just had to miss when we commanded you to fire on that other fox and his crew!" Mr. Doctor Eggman shouted up at Nine as the fox dodged his attacks.
"You stole my tech! As if I'd willingly work for you jerks after that!" Nine yelled back. Mr. Doctor Eggman's mech suit launched a rocket at him. He tried to fly out of the blast radius as fast as he could, the projectile hitting the ceiling. But the shockwave of the rocket's explosion still caught up to Nine, sending him plummeting too fast for him to try and use his tails to propel himself back up.
"NINE!"
Sonic rushed in and caught the fox before he hit the floor. His ears still ringing, Nine looked up at the blue hedgehog and managed to give him a wink. Sonic let out a small laugh and helped steady him. Looking at Mr. Doctor Eggman, he knew he and Nine were up for a fight.
Luckily, Shadow and Faith arrived to stand by the two of them. "His mech suit's surrounded by a shield. Your regular attacks won't work," Nine warned the two hedgehogs.
"Well, it's a good thing we've learned some new moves," Shadow said and glanced up and then at Sonic. To his amazement, Sonic seemed to get his cue. Sonic crouched down and held his palms out to Shadow, who jumped over to him. With a heave of his arms, Sonic launched Shadow up into the air. Using his air shoes to give him an extra boost, Shadow locked onto Mr. Doctor Eggman's mech suit and started morphing his Chaos Energy into spheres.
"What in the…?!" Mr. Doctor Eggman yelled as several crackling yellow energy spheres flew at his mech suit. At the same time, Sonic leaped up and rapidly kicked his legs in the air, sending several shockwaves out to slice at the suit's shield.
"Together?" Sonic reached for Shadow's hand.
"Together!" Grasping his friend's hand, Shadow used his air shoes to accelerate them in an arc. Both hedgehogs entered a combined Spin Dash and hit the mech suit with everything they got. Mr. Doctor Eggman screamed as his mech suit toppled over with a mighty CRASSSHHHH!
"Haha! We actually did that!" Sonic whooped and held up his hand to Shadow before blushing and started lowering it. To his surprise, Shadow high-fived him, a small smirk on his face. Sonic giggled a little before the two of them went back to beating down more Egg Forcers with Faith and Nine.
In the chaos, Dr. Eggy had nabbed the Shard and was now guiding Sage through the Chaos Council's network. "Find every scrap of data they have on the Shard's properties, dear daughter. We're going to need it," he murmured as he tapped the Miles Electric's screen and typed commands into the control panel.
"Understood, Father." Sage navigated the winding orange network channels. Her red and black colors turned to white and cyan when she found a file containing data on Faith. Frowning, she placed her hands on the file and reduced the file's data into inaccessible fragments of code. "I will not let these imposters of Father know anything else about my best friend," she muttered and went on her way. Finally, she found a large compilation of data about the Paradox Prism. Placing her hand against it, Sage downloaded all the information into her programming. Her mission complete, she returned to her Father's EggNet, sending a copy of the data to the Miles Electric.
"Good work, Sage." Dr. Eggy smiled before screaming as Dr. Done It's mech suit, which wielded a giant spiked version of his walker and grabbing claws swooped at him.
"Heeeheeeheeee! You're not getting away with that, sonny!" Dr. Done It cackled as he chased Dr. Eggy, the latter zigzagging through the battlefield with the Prism Shard tucked under his arm. Rosey looked up from helping Orbot and Cubot out of a pile of fallen Egg Forcers that had buried them and saw her world's Dr. Eggman being pursued.
"Can you handle the rest from here?" she asked Orbot and Cubot.
"We'll do our best!" Orbot said as he and Cubot grabbed the Egg Forcers' weapons and headed off to break more stuff.
Rosey dashed forward, jumping onto a Motobug which drove her to a line of Egg Forcers marching towards her. At the last second, she leaped off the Motobug and jumped onto the Egg Forcers' heads, smashing each one with her hammer as she went. On the last Egg Forcer, she jumped again. Momentum carried her through the air and she reached Dr. Done It's mech suit.
"Oh, crud…" Dr. Done It muttered upon seeing Rosey who swung and sent him and his mech suit flying into the ceiling.
Landing on her feet, Rosey spotted Scarf and Terios fighting her evil counterpart. The two hedgehogs were rallying, but she knew their injuries were forcing them to be more on the defense. Gripping her hammer, Rosey dashed forward. She swung at Rusty Rose just as the latter slammed Scarf into a wall when he tried to Spin Dash her.
"You still didn't answer my question from before!" Rosey yelled as she batted away Rusty's claws. Rusty Rose glared and thrust out her arms, grabbing Rosey's hammer.
"Your meaningless inquiry is but a mere distraction to my objective! You are weak in your current form! You lack the superior power the Chaos Council has bestowed upon me!" Rusty told Rosey and tried to wrench the hammer free from her grasp.
"Bestowed upon, or forced onto you?!" Rosey's arms ached as she played a fierce tug-of-war with the cyborg. "You must have memories of your life before the Chaos Council! Deep down, there's got to be a part of you that never wanted any of this to happen!"
"Shut… up…!" Rusty saw more errors accompanied by flashes of the same pink hedgehog. "Shut up! ShutupShutupShutup! SHUT UP! I don't need to know who I was! I! AM! RUSTY! ROSE!" she screamed and wrenched Rosey's hammer out of her grip.
Rosey braced herself for the blow but it never came as Scarf and Terios put themselves between her and the cyborg. Both hedgehogs strained to hold back Rusty, but she tossed them and Rosey aside. She saw Sonic, Shadow, Faith, and Nine near Mr. Doctor Eggman and began to stride over to aid her superior before Scarf and Terios tackled her.
Recovering from the fall of his mech suit, Mr. Doctor Eggman looked down and saw the annoying hedgehogs, the traitorous fox, and the little brat of a tenrec laying waste to the Egg Forcers. Meanwhile, the other members of the council weren't doing so well against the other pests. Frustrated, he slammed down on the controls. "That's IT!" he growled as his mech suit stood up.
"First, there was one! And then two! Now, there's just too many of you insolent pests!" Mr. Doctor Eggman yelled and launched his suit's buzzsaws and fired a whole barrage of lasers and rockets all around the room. Everyone scrambled to find cover as explosions echoed all around them.
Rusty took the opportunity to pin down Scarf and Terios while the Chaos Council got a second wind.
"Ha! Now, that's more like it!" Mr. Doctor Eggman cackled before yelping as a surge of electricity went through him. Looking down, he saw Faith standing defiantly before him. Curling up into a ball, Faith charged up and launched herself at the mech suit. Quickly, Mr. Doctor Eggman put up a shield that sent the little tenrec bouncing back. Faith landed on her back, eyes wide at the mech suit now back on its feet.
Mr. Doctor Eggman glared and lifted his mech suit's arm. Faith didn't get a moment to dodge. All she heard was a sudden whoosh as it swung.
"NO!" Sonic and Shadow screamed and tried to run and shove Faith out of the way, but it was too late.
Faith yelped as she was backhanded sent her flying, one of the mech suit's clawed fingers slashing her forehead above her right eye.
Still being held down by Rusty, Scarf and Terios helplessly watched their daughter get attacked by Mr. Doctor Eggman. Their eyes widened as they saw drops of Faith's blood fly through the air.
Sonic and Shadow caught Faith before she collided with the wall, both hedgehogs grunting as they took the brunt of the impact.
"Oh, gods…" Sonic breathed out upon feeling warm blood seep into his glove. He cradled Faith in his arms, shaking. "Faith? Faith…? Kiddo?" he whispered as he tried to rouse the little tenrec. But Faith didn't stir. Blood trickled down her forehead and Sonic was on the verge of a panic attack until he noticed that she was still breathing.
"K-keep pressure on the wound," Shadow stammered, looking just as shaken as he was, as he shielded both Faith and Sonic.
Suddenly, the two hedgehogs heard the screech of tearing metal followed by a mighty crash.
Turning their heads towards the sound, they were stunned to see Rusty Rose lying in a heap. Both her arms and legs had been torn right out of her sockets, their ends buried into her torso. The Chaos Council's chief enforcer stared at her own limbs impaling her, just barely missing the containment unit that housed the Flicky in her chest.
'Enemies: Terios and Scarf, threat level 100%. Avoid engaging at all costs. Danger. Danger. Danger. Fear. Fear. FEAR THEM!' her very programming screeched at her as she lay there, her usual cold aloofness replaced with raw terror. Looking up, Rusty flinched at the sight of Scarf and Terios merely looking in her direction. Then, to her immense relief, the two hedgehogs went to Sonic and Shadow.
Kneeling beside their counterparts, Scarf and Terios assessed the situation and, silently, came to an agreement.
"Get Faith out of here now," Scarf instructed Sonic and Shadow.
"We'll take care of the Council. Just get her and everyone else out of here," Terios reiterated.
"But…" Sonic weakly gestured to the Chaos Council, who were slowly getting back on their feet at Mr. Doctor Eggman's prodding. All five Eggmen were still armed to the teeth and, in spite of their numbers, they were getting overwhelmed. He could understand bringing Faith to safety, but…
"NOW!" His train of thought was broken by the sharp, authoritative tone in both Scarf and Terios' voices. He and Shadow flinched, but obeyed.
'Was it just the light playing tricks on me or did Scarf's eyes turn a darker shade of green…?' Sonic wondered as he and Shadow led the whole gang out of the lair, Faith clutched protectively in Shadow's arms. Dr. Eggy and Goggles were both carrying a confused and protesting Nine out of the lair while the rest of the team ran.
Scarf and Terios, once they were left alone, stood and faced the Chaos Council, their minds made up.
They needed to do more than defeat the Chaos Council now.
"You. Hurt. Our. Baby."
