Welcome to the final arc of Trials of War: The Metropolis arc. After five freaking years, we finally made it. And I'm hoping that with this storyline, I am hoping that 2024 will mark the end of the story.
We've come so far after everything that has happened and I'm just glad that I can finally say that we made it to Metropolis. I know I sound like a broken record, but I really would not have gotten this far if not for all of your guys' support over the years. I mean, 160 favs, 140 follows and 440 REVIEWS! I never could have imagined this story would get so far, but I am so, so happy that it has. Seriously, I probably would have quit if not for so many of you continuing to support this story to this day. So whether you're new here, or you've been here since the beginning or even if you came and left, thank you so much for reading this story and getting us to this point.
I'm still running this until the very end and I hope you all stick with me for that.

Additional fun fact, if this were an actual game, this level would be when the second version of the world map theme would kick in since I like to believe that theme as the theme of the Eggman Empire as we are officially going into that territory now.

Everything has been leading up to this so now it's finally time to begin.

Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite
Chapter 37-
Walls Were Meant to Be Broken

[Sonic Adventure 2- Strategy] [1]

With their mission set and everyone determined to take out the Doctor's forces in Metropolis, the resistance was ready to go to battle and begin their charge into Metropolis. But first, they needed a plan...

"Alright… So, the last time we tried the whole gung-ho charge into Metropolis deal, it didn't really work…" Knuckles sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Which is why we need a plan to make sure we'll be able to get both the main strike force and the rest of the team into the shield generator room as quickly as possible so that our forces will be able to get in and make a mess of the place."

Tails nodded at this and began fiddling with the Miles electric. "From what I understand of your last trip into Metropolis, you guys managed to get past most of the main defenses just fine but once it came to actually managed to make it through the gauntlet that leads to Metropolis: Mortar Canyon, you got into a fight with the Egg Emperor."

"And we lost, badly." Vector groaned. "That thing's been upgraded so much that it's nothing like the thing we fought back when Metal attacked. It's a whole different animal."

Tails nodded. "Right, right. You guys got in a whole lot of trouble there."

"So if we're talking about getting past Eggman's defenses, wouldn't the best course of action be to go around the way we did before?" Silver suggested. "Rather than take the same path, we take some other way around."

Rouge shook her head. "The best route that optics found was the one we took. If we were to make our way around, we'd be blasted and shot at before you could even say Metropolis."

Amy sighed. "Okay… That's not so bad then. We made our way through the defenses before and we can at least count on the Egg Emperor not showing up this time."

"What? What makes you say that?" Mighty asked her.

"Because the last time Eggman didn't think that the ancient God of Destruction corrupted by the Phantom Ruby wiped us out along with an endangered race."

The older Sonic chuckled. "If I know the old Eggster then he's probably gloating about it right now."

The younger one laughed too. "Tell me about it, Robuttnik is probably somewhere right now, standing in front of some crowd and hamming it all up."

The dimensional counterparts looked at one another and smirked. Together, in their worst impressions of the doctor they announced, "The complete and utter destruction of the resistance ohohohohoho!"

A couple of the members of the resistance couldn't help but snicker at that two while the two hedgehogs slung their arms over one another laughing.

Commander Tower put a hand to his chin in thought. "Yes, this is perfect. The Doctor's ego will be sure to be his downfall as we strike."

Charmy threw up his arms in triumph. "Great! So then we make our way through the defenses again and then easy peasy. We're in Metropolis, we shut down the generator, take the city and win the war, right?"

"Easy peasy?" Cream shook her head and frowned at him. "Charmy, did you not hear what we said about last time?"

Charmy chuckled. "With the look you're giving me, probably."

"Dude, you were there!" Tangle groaned.

"Okay, and I forgot." Charmy rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face.

Silver frowned. "Last time we were there, Eggman destroyed the generator himself only for the shields to immediately go back up. After all that hard work, we got so far and had nothing to show for it."

"If Eggman's able to destroy the generators in a show of strength, then how do we get in?" Gadget wondered.

Tails frowned. "Well if the Generator went down the last time only for the shields to go up shortly after, then it's obvious that he's rerouting it to some sort of auxiliary generator."

"But where are we gonna find that?!" Vector groaned.

Tails sighed. He didn't have an answer to which the younger Sonic put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He smiled.

But that was when someone spoke up. "This seems to be where I come in."

Everyone turned their attention to none other than the former traitor himself, Shadow the Hedgehog.

He walked over to where Tails was and took a look at his holographic screen.

"You all did a good job when you tried to make your way into Metropolis last time but the Doctor was ready for any and all intruders."

Commander Tower frowned. "And what makes you think that you have the answers to our current problem, Agent Shadow?"

"Because I sided with the doctor for several months for my own personal gain." Shadow sighed. "And that includes gaining as much information about the Empire as I could in the event I returned to where I was meant to be."

Tower still scowled at him but nodded. "Go on then…"

Shadow sighed at that but proceeded. "While the main generator may be at the end of Mortar Canyon and the main entrance to Metropolis there is an auxiliary generator as Tails suggested."

Tails nodded. "Clever of the Doctor to leave the one where we would expect but tuck another one away somewhere."

"Okay, but where is this other Generator?" Knuckles asked. "I don't expect that it's anywhere easy to get to."

Shadow shook his head. "It's not."

Tangle sighed. "He can't make it easy, can he?"

"Wouldn't make it fun otherwise." Corvin smirked.

Shadow continued. "The auxiliary generator is located in a gauntlet underground where just about everything on the outside of Metropolis is powered. You'd have to not only make your way through all the electrical systems below."

"What?!" Tails gasped. "You're telling me that he put the generator in what's basically a gigantic circuit board?!"

Shadow nodded.

"Anyone stepping foot in there would be fried alive if they went in there! No way are we getting to that thing!"

The resistance looked down at that once again.

Shadow shook his head. "Normally that would be the case. But Eggman still needs a way to allow for regular maintenance on the generator to make sure none of his enemies can make their way inside."

"Lemme guess, Cubot gets fried and then Orbot turns it off." Sonic snickered.

"Actually, yes." Shadow nodded. "In a section of the Eggman Empire Fortress is what's called The Iron Fortress. At the end of it is a switch to make the electricity in the path leading to the generator far more manageable. Turn off the lights down there and then you're on your way down to your Final Judgment and then the Generator."

Amy smiled. "This is perfect. So we send a team to take out the main generator in Mortar Canyon, then we send someone to turn off the power underground, once that's done somebody goes down there to turn off the generators."

"Perfect!" Sonic grinned. "I've got the Generator then. If that wall's going down, then I'll definitely be the one to do it."

"Hey, don't think for a second you're going down there alone." Celeste spoke up. "I'm coming too."

Sonic grinned and slapped a hand onto Celeste's back. "Heck yeah, partner. It's you and me down there."

Amy frowned. "Can they do it on their own?"

Knuckles shook his head. "Those two have always brought results together. I know they'll be able to get it done."

Tails smiled. "In that case, I'll be headed up to the switch at the end of Iron Fortress. I know that I can get it off, no sweat."

The younger Sonic grinned. "And I'm coming too. Heck, gotta get Blaze and Omega in on this biz."

"I don't see why not." Blaze nodded as she crossed over to him along with Omega.

"Mission Objective: Set." Omega confirmed.

Knuckles then turned to the likes of the Betas and smiled. "Guess that leaves you guys to get to the middle of Mortar Canyon. Think you're up to the task?"

"Yeah!" All of the Betas cheered …except for Gadget who gave a prompt "No." but was completely ignored as he listed off all of the reasons they were likely to die in Mortar Canyon off to everyone.

"Everyone else will be on airships awaiting movement into Metropolis." Amy confirmed. "Once they're able to break in, all remaining troops will make their moves."

"And from there, it'll be a free for all." Knuckles confirmed.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" The older Sonic asked. "Let's go!"

The resistance cheered at this and together they began to board their ships. The eve of the final battle was now upon them.

[Song End]

~Trials of War~

Down in Metropolis, a reporter and her cameraman were getting ready for another big speech that the doctor was going to make in the town square. The two were under a tent where Brenda was getting her makeup done, standing before a mirror and a

"Another stupid speech…" Brenda groaned. "Another one! I mean, come on Carl, how many could this guy have?!"

Carl the Koala couldn't help but snicker at this. "Well, he does like twirling that mustache of his in front of the camera doesn't he?"

Brenda rolled her eyes. "A little too much if you ask me."

Carl chuckled. "Well… He must get bored with all the paperwork and war profiteering or whatever it is he does in his down time."

"I don't even want to know what that man does for fun." Brenda chuckled. "Remember like a year ago, right before Sonic and Tails went off on that adventure that nearly got the planet sucked dry of all its resources? We had that interview with them and asked the same question."

Carl nodded. "Tails thinks he builds more and more elaborate machines to destroy Sonic."

"And Sonic said that he just has a dart board with a picture of his face on it that he likes to throw at."

"And you said that he takes an obscene amount of selfies." Carl laughed.

Brenda simply shrugged. "Hey, you and I both know I found that suspicious account on social media that may or may not be him. I was about to blow the lid on that before…" She trailed off, staring at the shock collar around Carl's neck and his eyes drifted to the one around hers.

She sighed. "Maybe one day I'll be able to tell that story and others."

"If the resistance wins the war." Carl slumped.

Brenda shook her head. "They will. Sonic's out and they've been taking more and more territories since then. You and I both know that the old man is getting scared."

"He is… But I don't know, Bren. This whole thing has been going on for months now… You and me, we've been trapped doing this for almost as long. Eggman has control over everything and I'm just scared that one day, he's gonna think he doesn't need the two of us or you step out of line and then what…?"

"I would never let him hurt you." Brenda frowned.

Carl shook his head. "I'm not the one I'm worried about."

Brenda blinked. "I- what?"

Carl just sighed. "Brenda, you've been snarky and rude to the guy who has control over the entire planet the entire time we've been here."

"I have not!"

"You told him you hated him right before we broadcasted that stupid general talent search contest thing."

"It was funny. Let him know that we won't take his crap."

"It was dangerous!" Carl shouted back at her. "I'm surprised that he didn't do anything to us after that stunt but he was so caught up with Starline and that resistance raid that he just kinda forgot about us."

"Lucky us, huh?" Brenda chuckled.

"Brenda…" He sighed.

Brenda sighed too and got out of the makeup chair. She leaned down to the Koala and gave him a hug. "Hey. I'm sorry. If you want me to be a little more careful, then I will be, okay."

He squeezed her back. "Please. You're all I've got here in this city."

Brenda couldn't help but smile at that. "Hey, you're all I've got too."

The two held for a moment, just keeping each other comfortable.

"That was so sweet, you guys!" The sound of a very annoying robot let out.

The two broke away and looked up to see that it was none other than Cubot floating outside of the dressing room with a clipboard and a pen in front of him. He was rubbing his eyes with his stubby arm as if he were wiping away tears that were simply not there.

Brenda let out a sharp cough at that and immediately the robot stopped. "Oh, sorry. I just get so emotional in moments like these y'know? Two close friends doing their best to look out for each other. How sweet!"

The two glanced at one another and then looked over at Cubot. "Um… Can we help you?" Carl asked.

"Oh yeah. You guys are wanted on the stage."

The two nodded.

At that, Brenda picked herself up so that she was now towering over the Mobian and the robot by about a foot.

"Well, the show must go on."

With that, she sauntered out of the room, head held high despite the collar around her neck and Carl was quick to follow after.

~Trials of War~

[Sonic Forces: A Hero Will Rise- Mortar Canyon]

Grinding atop a trio of rails, Beta Squad made their descent into Mortar Canyon. The highly fortified canyon laid out sprawled ahead of them, a marvel in regards to the doctor's defenses as not only did he manage to seemingly turn a once barren straight of rock into a technological marvel in which all sorts of robots, lasers and watch towers were stationed all over and it seemed that every single one was targeted on that of Beta Squad.

At the head of the group was none other than their leader Fierro who had her arms to the side, her Wispon tied tightly to her belt. "This is it, everyone!" Fierro announced as the wind whipped around her hair, the lasers flying around. "We're diving deep into Enemy Territory for the final mission! No matter what we're coming out of this war, one way or the other!"

Corvin, who was on his Extreme Gear flew next to her, completely circumventing the rail and he was beaming with excitement. "Heck yeah! I've been waiting a long time for this! Let's teach that Eggman a thing or two about what happens when you mess with the resistance!"

Gadget came grinding next to them, a little shakier than the two and having trouble with his balance but managing. "Need I remind you that we're making our way through the fortified fortress of death first before we can even think of getting to the final battle?!"

"All the more reason for us to do our part and make sure the resistance can make their way through!" Rhythm grinned as she came sliding in next to them. "Full speed ahead to the final battle, am I right everyone?!"

"Full speed ahead!" Fierro and Corvin cheered.

And together, as Rhythm was pumping her fist they sped down the rails.

Gadget groaned, still sliding along a little behind them. "This war is going to be the death of me."

But he continued along, following his friends into certain danger.

It wasn't too long until they landed on a stretch of a metallic walkway where his friends were already in combat.

A group of silver Eggpongs had appeared before them with their weapons trained on the advancing group.

Fierro was ready and nodded towards Corvin who grinned as he sped ahead on his gear, his Drill Wispon in front of him and charged forward.

The Eggpongs in the center of the group were instantly mowed down but there still remained a few stragglers.

Fierro moved in with a well-placed kick to the head of one of the remaining ones while Rhythm came in swinging on another. Once the robots were dispatched the two women gave each other a fist bump before proceeding down the bend to catch up with Corvin.

Gadget just sighed at this and was quick to rush off after them.

To his shock and surprise, the metal path led down to a steep incline which he found himself speeding down, quickly catching up with the likes of his three teammates who jumped from one stretch of metal to another.

"Where ya been?" Corvin grinned at him.

Gadget groaned. "In a perfect world, far away from here. And yet, here I am!"

"You're doing great, Gadget. Let's keep going." Fierro insisted.

Gadget gave a stern nod and together, the quartet flung themselves over a deadly gap in the metal and onto the next path.

There they were met with a row of Eggpongs who all had their blasters trained on them, but this time Gadget was the one who propelled himself in front of the others and unleashed a stream of fire that were easily able to burn their way at the competition.

The bespectacled wolf let out a sigh of relief only for Fierro, Rhythm and Corvin to run past him to the next area. Fierro gave him a quick comforting squeeze of his shoulder, Rhythm gave him a pat on the back and Corvin gave him a good natured shoulder check and smirked back at him.

Gadget couldn't help but chuckle a bit but chased after them.

Soon they found themselves on another incline only for explosions to ring out in front of them.

The group stopped dead in their tracks, each with their weapons at the ready.

"Look!" Fierro shouted.

And to the shock and surprise of the group lines of Valkeens swooped down from overhead and raced into the path ahead of them. Immediately, they began to drop their cargo on the path forcing the team to improvise a new way ahead as the path before them was completely broken.

Corvin smirked and went directly for the gap on his extreme gear, he gathered up air and when he reached the gap, he grinned and used the ramp to fly up into the air and shift his board in all sorts of different directions to perform a trick that would've made even Jet the Hawk jealous. When he was done with the initial flipping around he ended by holding the nose of his board with his left hand while his right was up in the air in the most dramatic pose possible. He then reached that right hand out and aimed at one of the Valkeens. With a smirk, he sent his grappling hook out at the one and used it to trail along, all while dodging the bombs that would drop behind it while dodging from side to side.

Rhythm saw this and couldn't help but shake her head and give her a good natured smile. "Show off."

With that, she too decided to show off as she took out her hammer, swung it around and around, before pounding it on the ground to allow a shockwave of energy to ring out around her that caused Gadget to slightly trip up a bit. She flew high up into the air and landed atop one of the Valkeens which she rode for a few moments before she steered it into another one. She jumped off right before they met and exploded. She landed on the ground past the bridge and continued to make their way across.

Fierro on the other hand reached her own grappling hook to the walls around them and grappled from wall to wall to make her way across as if she were Tarzan. She spotted one of the flying robots in her swing and stomped down on it with a grin plastered clean upon her face. The robot fell down to the ground and she stood atop the broken remains with her hands up in the air in a dramatic fashion.

That left poor Gadget who had recovered from Rhythm's little stunt and groaned at his friends' flashy and dramatic maneuvers. He lifted his own arm up and used his grappling hook to get onto one of the arches that were still overhead and used one of those to swing up into the air, up towards the remaining Valkeens. He pulled out his Wispon, screwed his eye shut, aimed and fired. A burst of flame popped out that disintegrated the last of the robots. As always, he stumbled a bit and landed but was quick to join the rest of the group as they made their way down the path.

They managed to make their way across only for said path to be broken up into all sorts of different walkways. All of them lead to the end of the room, but each would take them across all sorts of different challenges littered with robots and traps, and all of them suspended over a laser field that was sure to chop them to pieces if they dared to fall.

Where Gadget gulped, the others didn't bat an eye and continued along their own paths.

Corvin once again launched off a ramp and found himself on a path straight along the middle. There, he was encountered with rows upon rows of the silver Egg Pongs, each with their blasters trained and ready upon him. He smirked once again, and performed a few excellent maneuvers on his gear, dodging left and right from the blasts, all while he had his finger pressed on the trigger of his Wispon, charging it and getting it ready to go. Once he finally reached the head of the group, he grinned from ear to ear before he let loose and plowed his way through the cannon fodder.

Fierro once again took to the skies and used her grappling hook to find herself on one of the platforms above. There, she found the roof of the little room they were in was actually the floor of another area, with a gridded floor. She smiled at that and used the gaps in the floor as handholds for her to hold onto and climb her way across. A couple of Buzz Bombers did try to fly towards her but a few single handed punches and kicks were able to dispatch them. One she made it to the end of the room, she swung off and skidded along the wall, before jumping down to the ground.

Rhythm went on one of the paths to the side and she found herself in front of a field of mines, each ready to detonate at a moment's notice. But she couldn't help but beam at the sight before her. Running forward, she reared back with her hammer and brought it swinging down hard on one of the bombs. She quickly hopped on top of the head of the hammer just as it was about to take off. Holding as tightly as she could, she along with the hammer went flying across, whooping along the way.

Gadget took the path underneath and there he found a mess of enemies that were ahead of him. All the Eggpongs pointed their guns at him, to which he sighed and held up his burst wispon. Flame poured out the end as he did his best to scamper his way across the field.

The four converged on the other side and continued on their trek through the facility. After plowing their way through another row of Eggpongs they were back outside with the open air around them.

They skidded to a halt and it was then that Fierro pointed out in the distance.

"Look there!"

Lo and behold, they had nearly made it to their destination as just past a very long road, was the same spot that they had fought the Egg Emperor in, a large conical building that had blue energy pouring out of the ceiling and into the force field that was surrounding Metropolis.

"We're almost there!" Fierro grinned. "Come on guys, let's do this!"

And just as they ran off, they had tripped a security system.

TSEW!
TSEW!
TSEW!

"Oh crap!" Rhythm groaned as the sounds of rockets came from overhead.

From above appeared seven Eggman themed robots that each had a jetpack on their backs and twin lasers in hand.'

Corvin clenched his fist and growled. "Chasers!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Gadget yelled as the group now flew in front of them and set themselves up so that they would be in front. They kept running forward and the chasers kept consistently ahead as they made their way forward.

But Fierro just shook her head. "They're not going to stop us. Everybody get down."

Gadget gulped. "Oh, she's gonna do it!"

Each of the remaining Betas each ran out of the road and ducked for cover while Fierro finally pulled out the Wispon on her back. She stopped and the Chasers stopped too, keeping a consistent distance from her and then, they began to all charge their lasers.

Fierro however, simply stood there and parted her feet so that they were shoulder's length apart and fired.

The black hole erupted from the gun and enveloped each and every one of the robots into the void before it disappeared.

She smirked at this and blew the barrel of the smoldering Nega Wispon. She then turned back to her group and smiled as the charge began to build up again. "Shall we?"

They nodded and together they made their way across the path and into the building. There, they found the same open room with the bulbous machine at the end. Quickly they raced their way over to it and there they saw a bunch of colorful buttons for them to get at. This was definitely the force field generator that they were talking about.

"This thing is lit up like a pinball machine. What do we do?" Gadget asked.

Rhythm and Corvin looked at one another and shared a knowing look.

"We've got this." The two smirked as they held up their wispons.

Fierro chuckled and was quick to pull Gadget out of the way.

With a twirl, Rhythm came in swinging at the thing like it was nothing, knocking a few dents into the machinery and Corvin finished it off with a drill to the machine.

The machine exploded into millions of tiny pieces.

The two grinned and gave each other a Fist Bump.

"Mission accomplished." Gadget sighed as the two rejoined the group.

Fierro shook her head. "Things have only just begun."

There she pointed out the window and they saw the city of Metropolis shining bright behind the illuminated force field that flickered for a few moments but soon came back to life.

Fierro went to her com and called Tails. "We're done over here. How are things going on your end?"

~Trials of War~

[Sonic Forces: A Hero Will Rise - Iron Fortress]

"Could be better…" Tails chuckled as he answered Fierro on their com.

The quartet of Sonic, Tails, Blaze and Omega were standing back to back to back to back as they were surrounded by a mess of robots. Egg Pongs of both silver and regular varieties, Buzz Bombers, Roaders and the like were all around them.

But the little blue hedgehog simply flicked his nose and laughed. "Are you kidding, we're about to have a houseparty in here and I couldn't have asked for a better group of hosts. You guys ready?"

Blaze, who had her hands out in front of her and gave a sly grin to the hedgehog. "But of course, little one."

"Affirmative! We shall move forward and crush any and all obstacles that lie in the path!" Omega declared.

Tails simply shook his head, but he was smiling now. "You're all crazy. But I'm here for it. So let's go!"

Together the quartet tore their way through the opposition.

Sonic was off like a shot as he stopped, dropped and rolled into a group of Egg Pongs and knocked them away like bowling pins. He then laughed as he got up from the carnage, jumped up into the air and landed atop a Roader that raced towards him. He landed in a crouch atop the silver bug and began to steer it around, knocking it into all sorts of other robots that were in the way, continuing to laugh all the while.

Blaze on the other hand, took to turning this battle into an interprative dance of sorts. Where the hedgehog was wild and crashing into things, she was far more acrobatic and skilled. She did pirouettes, twirls and spins that were all accompanied with bursts of flame that were easily able to take out the competition in no time.

Omega on the other hand, immediately went to the worst type of offensive. He opened up his metal hull to reveal rockets of all sorts of different shapes and sizes and fired up into the air, allowing the rockets to fly high up before they came down on a lot of the unsuspecting robots.

"MUST DESTROY ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS!" He announced to the room before switching his right arm into a gattling gun and proceeded to charge through the room, firing away at any unsuspecting outliers around him.

Tails, who was flying through the sky with his own arm cannon and firing away at Buzz Bumbers was quick to dodge the oncoming rockets. "H-hey, easy on the artillery there, Omega!"

Sonic who was on the ground, decided to flip off of the roader he was riding and onto the groud again. He gave Omega a thumbsup. "That's it big guy! Don't let a single one of those tools get away!"

With that, he jumped into the air and began homing in on more of the robots.

Blaze was now situated at a corner of the room lobbing fireballs at any of the bots that came her way. "Should we really be using such weapons around an open flame?"

"Eh… It'll be fine." Sonic shrugged. "We've made it this far and haven't had any accidents yet."

Tails frowned as he blasted away at another Buzzerbomber. "Which is shocking, all things considered."

"This unit's targeting system is unmatched by all foes and would never harm a bystander." Omega added. "Though those that are annoying may find themselves under friendly fire."

"Yeah, so stop being such a buzzkill you two!" Sonic snarked at the two of them.

Blaze rolled her eyes. "You're enjoing this too much."

He laughed as he joined them at the end of the room. All of the robots had been turned to scrap metal.

"Maybe a little bit." The hedgehog gave a cheeky grin before dashing off.

Once the quartet found themselves outside of the building, they found themselves back in the massive fortress like the betas had been. The same towers and structures looming overhead and all the metal paths that they could dream of.

But the group continued on pouring their way down the path.

As they travelled along, they spotted little red boxes along the walls and on the paths, that confused them.

"What are those?" Tails wondered aloud.

"Perhaps a new contraption developed by the doctor?"

Their question was answered when those boxes opened up to reveal missiles of the same color that flipped out spinning and trying to find guidance in the air right next to them, before they turned their attention on the heroes and fired.

Sonic laughed. "Well that's new!"

Blaze ignored this and immediately took to chucking fireballs at the boxes to which the others followed suit. Tails, Omega and Blaze would use their various artillery to get at the ones on the walls while Sonic would easily home in on or spindash in the ones that stood in their path. All things considered, it was a pretty easy time for them as they made it to the end of the path.

There they found an elevator that lie open for them.

"Going up!" Sonic announced as he dashed inside.

"Sonic! Wait!" Tails called out. "We don't know where that lea-"

But he was cut off as Omega grabbed him and he and Blaze joined Sonic in the elevator. It immediately closed behind them and they rocketed up to where they found another path to head down.

Ahead of them were more of the support beams to jump along as well as strange spinning platforms that didn't look to be stopping anytime soon.

"Those look dumb." Sonic noted at the platforms before Tails offered him a hand, which he took and together the two flew up into the air. Omega did the same and Blaze took to easily hoppping along the platforms like it was nothing.

Soon more of the rockets began to fire upon them but they were easily able to dodge them no problem.

Once they arrived on the other side, they found yet another stretch of the path that they easily were able to cross and at the end of it was a winding stairwell, that went round and round. Tails and Omega simply took to flying again, while Sonic and Blaze blitzed it up the stairs arriving even before the two fliers could. But once they were all at the top they continued along.

"Stop!" Tails shouted. He reached out and was quick to grab the two speedsters by the arms.

Sonic and Blaze both came to a halt and looked over at the fox.

Sonic was quick to look annoyed at the fox. "What's the big idea?!" He asked, impatiently tapping his foot against the metal platform.

"Look!" Tails shouted as he pointed in the direction of the path ahead of them.

To the utter shock of the two, patches of the ground ahead of them were black grilled pieces of metal.

"Okay, so what's the big deal about that?" Sonic asked.

Tails sighed and began flying into the air. He delicately lowered himself above the platform in question and very quickly it began to spark and sputter with electricity. Tails was quick to fly up and avoid it to which the others were relived.

Sonic sighed. "The good old fried hedgehog trick. Stay classy, Egghead."

"Thank you for informing us of the trap." Blaze nodded. "Looks like we both had to look before we leaped."

"No kidding." The hedgehog huffed. "So, we've just gotta avoid the dumb yellow pieces of metal. Sounds easy enough."

"Yep. That's it." Tails nodded.

With that, the group continued their trek, being sure to jump over any such traps that held in their way. Once they got across that field, all that was left was a path straight to their destination.

A single bridge stood before them, a single metal stretch that stood high above the ground and a quick and grizzly demise if they were to fall and from the very clear instability of the structure, that was likely the plan for them.

Sonic laughed. "Welp. I know that trick, you guys ready?"

Everyone nodded and quickly they made their way across.

At the end of the bridge stood another metal building, this one seemingly built right up against the forcefield that lead to Metropolis.

Sonic looked up at the field in awe. "He really surrounded a whole city with a force field? Man, you guys weren't kidding."

Tails nodded. "From what we've been told, the resistance took quite the beating trying to get in the last time."

Sonic couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, that's cuz we weren't here. I'd have taken on that Egg Goliath or whatever it was no problem."

Tails couldn't help but feel a pang of regret in his chest at that.

Sonic however, got into a boxing stance and began to make punches at the air. "Would've been all wham, bam, thank you ma'am and have gotten things up over and gone before they could even know what hit him!"

Tails couldn't help but smile at the kid's antics.

Omega then leaned over the hedgehog and said, "While you may or may not have been able to best the doctor's machine with your own skill, you still would not have made your way into Metropolis. Had it not been for Shadow's key intel, there simply would not have been a way inside."

Sonic deflated at that.

Tails and Blaze both laughed.

Sonic sputtered now. "Y-yeah, well I'm sure this guy would've figured something out!" He pointed at Tails.

Tails couldn't help but feel another pang again and sighed. "I- I guess so?"

Blaze simply gave a warm smile and put a hand on each of the children's shoulders. "The important thing is that we're here now. All of us are together and we're close to accomplishing our one goal, taking Eggman's Capital City in the name of the resistance and putting an end to this conflict once and for all."

"Here, here!" Omega added with a fist in the air.

Tails once again brightened a little bit and nodded. "Yeah, we're here now and we're gonna put an end to this."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sonic asked them.

The group ran inside the building and were quick to find the terminal that would open the way to the underground circuit board that was Final Judgement.

Tails glanced over the machinery, seeing all the buttons and lights. He simply shook his head. "Let's smash it."

"Sounds good to me!" Sonic smirked as he jumped into the air and homed in on the console.

Once he bounced away from it, Blaze followed this up with a ball of flame, which Tails followed this up with a blast from his arm cannon, Omega finished things off with a rocket from his chest.

It exploded in a fiery heap to which they all grinned.

Tails then took out his communicator. "Sonic?"

"Yeah?" The little hedgehog asked next to him, a cheeky grin on his face.

Blaze elbowed him, but his grin only got bigger.

Tails simply shook his head at this and returned to his call. "Sonic, you're up."

[Song End]

~Trials of War~

Eggman was practically beaming at the sight before him. He was standing atop a stage, podium in front of him. Starline and Infinite sat in chairs behind him, Infinite looking rather satisfied with himself despite the miasma continually covering his broken mask and Starline sharing in the doctor's excitement. Brenda was not too far off, standing off to the side of the stage where she and that silly camera man of her's -the squirrel or whatever he was- began to get ready themselves.

Today was a glorious day for the Eggman Empire and he couldn't wait to share with the world the good news.

Brenda stepped onto the stage, being sure to put on a winning smile while her little friend pointed the camera in her direction. He did the countdown and then it all began.

"Hello, Eggman Empire!" She grinned at the camera to which the audience watching began to cheer. "We are coming to you live from the capital right here in Metropolis where our benevolent emperor seems to have an announcement for the entire world to see! What exciting new updates could the Emperor have for us today? Well, let's find out!"

With that, she gestured to him and all attention shifted to the doctor.

[Sonic Forces: A Hero Will Rise- This is Our World Phase 2]

"Citizens of the Eggman Empire! It is I, the great emperor of the world, here to address you yet again. And I come bearing great news for you all!"

The crowd roared at the mere sight of him, happy to see that he was there to address him.

"Now, I am sure you are all wondering of the war effort. How our empire has been dealing with those troublesome resistance rats, daring to ruin the glistening utopia that we have created here for you all!"

Some of the crowd booed at this.

"But I am happy to tell you all that your fears, your worries are all over!"

The screen behind him then shifted to show a map of the world which zoomed in on where Green Hill Zone was located.

"As of just a few hours ago, the Great General Starline was able to locate the resistance after those pests believed that they had claimed a victory by eliminating a robot factory in Green Hill Zone. Little did they know, some of the data that they stole from us also contained a tracking program which allowed us to narrow down their base of operations."

The screen shifted again, this time to show pictures of Angel Island, all of them were outdated and were of times before the war where it was simply the dwelling of the Guardian of the Master Emerald and not the ancient civilization of Echidna it seemingly was today.

"With this information, our forces acted swiftly. Generals Infinite and Chaos moved forward with me to confront them on their grounds and wipe them out once and for all. We demanded their surrender to put an end to their fighting. But like the pack of wild dogs they are, they simply refused to listen to reason and resorted to violence."

At that the screen shifted to show a recording of the confrontation between Eggman and the resistance was shown. None of the sound was there, so it appeared that Eggman was simply speaking to them before Sonic abruptly attacked and Eggman counter attacked.

"So… We did what we simply had to…"

At that they showed the transformation into Phantom Chaos and the flooding of Angel Island.

"I am proud to announce that the resistance has been completely wiped out! The long war between the Eggman Empire and the resistance is over! Victory is ours!"

At that, the crowd erupted into applause as a band appeared from seemingly nowhere and began to play the Eggman Empire Anthem loudly for all to hear.

Brenda had joined Carl where he was filming the whole ordeal, her hand on his right shoulder. And at the doctor's words, her grip tightened so hard that she was practically crushing it.

Carl looked at Brenda, Brenda looked at Carl.

Both of their eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

What had the world come to…?

~Trials of War~

[Sonic Forces: A Hero Will Rise - Fist Bump - Piano Ver.]

Celeste was staring at the metal door to a zone that was fittingly referred to as Final Judgement. She wondered why Eggman had named it that, but Shadow insisted that that was actually the name of it.

She sighed. Even now, as they stood before the final battle, she wondered how she had come so far.

She thought back to when this all started, when she was a scared little girl in the city who had scrambled her way out of being shot by Eggman's forces and into the resistance. A lot of dumb luck lead her to meeting Gadget that day, but she had managed to come out of all of that in one piece. How? She wasn't entirely sure.

And then more dumb luck lead her to finding Sonic aboard the Death Egg and becoming an unlikely partner to him across many battles in this war. She was fighting alongside the world's greatest hero and while she had needed some saves here and there, through her dumb luck she had managed to survive…

Until she decided to go off on her own and Infinite reminded her just how small and insignificant she was in all of this. He had so effortlessly wiped the floor with her in that moment and it seemed her luck had run out. That is until Sonic was there for her yet again, just in the nick of time.

She sighed. Yeah, she had come a long way since then, gaining new power in her laser Wispon and making some victories here and there like in Green Hill. But even now she worried that she wouldn't be enough to take on what was before her, the end of the war… Here she would face her final judgement and she hoped she was ready.

And so there she stared at the door, watching and waiting with anticipation for what would happen next. Her eyeridges were furrowed and a frown was plastered across her face but she continued to watch.

"Hey…" A very familiar voice said to her as a gloved hand was placed on her shoulder.

She looked up to see that it was none other than the fast footed hero himself, giving her a calm smile.

"We're gonna get through this, no worries."

"Y-yeah, o-of course." Celeste tried to return the smile, but it was a pitiful attempt.

The hedgehog couldn't help but chuckle. "Heh. Those jitters. You remind me of a certain somebody so many years ago."

Celeste raised a ridge at him at that. "Tails?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah. Somebody a little bit faster and more blue."

"You?" Celeste asked, completely shocked. "No… That can't be right."

Sonic shook his head. "Are you kidding? Back when I had my first run in with the doc, I was practically shaking in my boots when I first made it to Final Zone. Sure, I kept on running but I just was sitting there like 'Man, I'm just a kid and I'm here fighting this crazy guy atop a death machine!'"

Celeste shook her head. "What about the little you though? I know he's not really you you but isn't he just like you were when you were that age?"

Sonic laughed. "Kid's already got a big head from winning against Eggman for the first time. There is no stopping that. Believe me, many have tried and many have failed."

Celeste chuckled.

Sonic grinned. "First adventure is always a rollercoaster, you always wonder if you're gonna make it. But you know what? You've made a lot of progress here. More than a lot of people would've."

"I lost to Infinite back in Adabat." Celeste shook her head. "I've only made it this far because you've been here to protect me."

Sonic shook his head. "Sure, I've made some saves here and there but you've also made a ton of accomplishments in this war. You were the one that busted me out of jail on the Death Egg, you stopped Shadow dead in his tracks when he could've caused even more trouble back in Soleanna and heck, you were the one that helped save Green Hill."

"I-" She stopped for a moment and then she smiled. "Y-yeah… I did."

Sonic grinned and patted her on the back. "I know it's scary. But you're gonna make it through, kid. I wouldn't have picked you for this mission if I didn't think you would. So, you ready? None of this quitter talk? Gonna keep going and not let that fear own you?"

Celeste nodded. "I've got this!"

"You've got this!" Sonic grinned as he held up a fist to her.

She happily returned the fist bump.

And that's when the door slid open, daring them to come forward.

Sonic's com then flickered to life to which Tails announced that they were on.

"Here goes, partner! You ready?"

"Let's go!" Celeste grinned.

Together, they ran through the open door and into the darkness.

[Trials of War]

[Sonic Forces: A Hero Will Rise - This is Our World Phase 2]

Across the planet, everyone was staring at screens in cold shock and horror at the Doctor's words.

"With this victory, one thing is certain…"

In Spagonia University, several students and staff were watching on a flat screen in a common area for the dorms.

A young woman named Lilli with long brown hair, wearing a green and white hoodie and jeans, covered her mouth in shock. But her boyfriend, Raimondo, another young Spagonian man wearing a cream colored jacket and had his brown hair grown out so that a lick hung down his face, held his girlfriend's shoulders. He glared at the screen as Eggman continued.

His friend, another Spagonian man named Franco, put a hand on his shoulder to which Raimondo looked back at him and nodded.

Professor Pickle's assistant didn't know what to do as several began to look to him for guidance.

"The reign of the Eggman Empire can truly begin to prosper."

In Viemigos, many were in their homes watching the news unfold.

One of those citizens was none other than a green colored sloth named Moss, who looked at the screen and brought a hand to his chin in thought at how things had gotten this way.

"And with the new reign, our world can begin anew."

High in the skies, the massive airship belonging to the Babylon Rogues was flying away from yet another successful heist. The rogues were now standing in Jet's office, listening to the news as well.

"No…" Jet stood in stunned shock as the scene of Sonic being blasted by Eggman's rocket was played yet again. His rival and all his friends couldn't really be gone this time, could he?

Wave and Storm looked down at the floor.

"Rejoice!"

In the underground GUN Facility in Station Square turned refugee camp, was a giant screen that they had managed to tune into the frequencies of Eggman's channels.

President Marcus stood amongst many and couldn't believe he was seeing. And yet… It was all true.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a very crumbled piece of paper. He smoothed it out to reveal a copy of the photo of Sonic and Shadow in front of the White House. When he had gone to give his address, he had kept it on hand as he had planned to give his own speech about believing in their heroes and trusting that they would be able to pull through. His staff thought him foolish to have been ready to say that of a dead man and a traitor at the time, but he really had believed in them. Could he really have been wrong?

He lowered his head and screwed his eyes shut at the thought.

"For my rule shall go on for many generations…"

In another university in Sunset Heights, an auditorium had been outfitted into a base of sorts. Many soldiers who continued to defend the city, all took off their war helmets and allowed themselves a moment of silence as they listened to the emperor's victory speech.

"Where all will continue to pledge themselves to me and the Empire…"

Out in the center of Soleanna's castle town many had gathered to watch the speech in the square. A screen had been set up for news and other things of the like. Among them were citizens of both the country itself as well as the city of Adabat.

Rudi was hugging her yak friend and Tenchai couldn't even say anything. How could he? Even with all of his stubbornness he couldn't comprehend the fact that the resistance, the people that had helped him and protected his family, were just gone now…

"And those who do not…"

In Metropolis itself was the Queen of Soleanna, watching from her own cell.

She didn't know why, but at the sight of Sonic's falling a single tear rolled down her face. She remembered this feeling at the sight of Sonic's passing as the war began. A tug at her heart and a deep personal sorrow for the world's hero that she felt went beyond being a fan of his antics. No, it was something else… But what…?

Did it matter? He was gone.

All of them were gone…

The resistance…

The Sonic Heroes…

Her… Her fr-

The war was lost.

"And those who do not?"

In Holoska, like Soleanna, a screen had been set up in the center of Holoska's main village. It had initially been used for the child workers to receive news and updates from Eggman and now was broadcasting the announcements loud and proud.

Jari-Thure and Jari-Pekka had their teeth clenched and looked at each other only to be interrupted by the loud wailing of Marketa, who had to watch her friend die yet again along with all the other heroes. The world was doomed.

Quickly the two abandoned their anger to comfort the child along with her mother

"Will be wiped out, just as the resistance has been."

~Trials of War~

[Sonic Forces: A Hero Will Rise - Final Judgment]

Out in the darkness of Final Judgement, Sonic and Celeste only had the tip tap tap of their feet running along metal to really guide them. But when the lights finally did switch on for them, the two were absolutely shocked by what they saw. Shadow had not been kidding when he said the place was a giant circuit board as the place was alive with electricity. Mechanical parts seemed to shift every which way and that up in the ceiling of the room along metal railways. Shining flashing luminescent tubes of light hung overhead, illuminating them in an ethereal green glow.

Celeste couldn't help but be awestruck by the sight before her. It was honestly kind of breathtaking to see such a mechanical marvel deep inside the heart of this canyon.

Sonic himself couldn't help but smile a bit at his partner as he continued to run alongside her. This was it, they were approaching the final battle.

Unfortunately this moment was shortlived as the swooshing sound of Chasers could be heard overhead.

"Here comes the parade!" Sonic shouted.

And immediately, Celeste snapped back into focus as she pulled out her Wispon, ready and loaded to fire should need be.

The Chasers began to fire on them, but the two were quick to dodge the blow. Sonic quickstepped to the left, while she did so to the right.

Celeste was left alone with the Chasers who continued to fire blast after blast down the track, but she was ready for them this time. While she was sidestepping the beams, she was able to pull out her Wispon, aim and fired at the bots before her. Her first shot was able to hit a Chaser square in the chest, it blinked and sputtered, and clattered to the floor in front of her but she was quick to jump over the wreckage and continue her run. One by one, the bots each fell to the floor or fell into each other until there were none of them were left.

Sonic ended up being away from the range of the Chasers but he had new problems as the whirring of engines were heard around him. He looked shocked to see none other than the glowing chromium shells of Roaders all around him, each keeping pace and attempting to rev him off the trail. But the hedgehog simply smiled and began to pour power in his legs as the familiar aura of the boost appeared around him, easily ramming into them like it was nothing before there were none left.

The two reconverged just in time to be launched off of a ramp and out towards the machinery in front of them, a big glowing orb of light that had wires from all over behind it. The two were definitely going to fly right into it if something wasn't done now.

Luckily, Celeste was a quick thinker. She reached her right hand up in the air and her left one out to Sonic. Just as quickly as Sonic snatched her left hand did her grappling hook spring from her right. She was able to hook onto the ceiling and the two were able to redirect their fall to a trio of electrical cables that lead somewhere down below.

They were able to use said cables to grind across. Except the cable that they were on started blinking with warning yellow light. Celeste gulped at this, but Sonic was quick to take charge and direct her to jump towards the next cable. They were lucky too as the one that they were on shortly began to sparkle with electricity but stopped. Then… The one they were on began to glow too and they were quick to jump back. The process continued for a few moments before they were able to make their way off of the rails and back onto a similar platform to the one they had started off on just moments before.

But they made quick work of them, dodging their laser shots and either homing in or using laser shots.

It was too easy for the two of them.

Finally, they launched themselves off of yet another ramp and they had finally made it.

A massive machine was standing before them, with four massive legs that kept it suspended in the air above them. A metal ring was running around what appeared to be cylindrical arrangement of trapezoidal metal locked neatly together like sardines. A blue energy could be seen rising from the center of that machine and into the air, no doubt supplying energy to the forcefield around Metropolis. On the ring itself were five glass tubes set equidistant around the metal cylinder and a single console.

"Finally, this is it." Celeste grinned.

Sonic smiled too. "Let's give the old doc a checkup, ey Celeste?"

She gave a confident nod and reached her hand out towards him. He took it and with the other they swung up to the machine.

Sonic looked around at the machine and smiled. "Alright, Cel. Looks like we've got three big tubes, a control panel of some sort and the giant machine. If you ask me, I doubt we can get past the metal and the control panel looks like it's for controlling so…"

"The three tubes have to be what's powering the shield generator!" Celeste announced.

Sonic grinned and patted her on the back. "Exactly. So now we know what we gotta do."

"Let's split up then. Take two each and whoever's done first gets the last one."

"Sounds like a plan!" Sonic gave her a fistbump and a cheeky grin. He then began to jog off. "Last one done is a rotten egg!"

Celeste laughed at this and turned back to her own machine, it was time.

[Sonic Forces: A Hero Will Rise - Final Judgement Reactor]

Sonic jumped up into the air and homed in on the glass of the machine and as soon as he did, an alarm started blaring around the facility.

Celeste tightened her grip on her Wispon, standing ready for whatever may come their way.

Immediately, a silver ring appeared from the machine and from them, blue cannons about the size of their bodies appeared. The blasters fired out large beams at them and began to circle around. Sonic was quick to jump over the first of the blasts.

Celeste took to her grappling hook and aimed at the glass tube next to her. She was flung up to the top of it, just barely avoiding one of the lasers. On the top she clung to the side of the tube and took her Wispon out again in her other hand. She fired off multiple rounds of lasers that made it shatter instantly.

She fell to the floor and was quick to dash off, making sure to hop over another laser at it came around.

"All right, partner!" Sonic cheered as he threw a fist up into the air and quickly jumped over another laser.

He quickly dashed off to the next of his tubes where he jumped up into the air and opened with a roundhouse followed up with a few quick jabs and ended with a homing attack, that caused the glass to shatter like nothing.

Celeste was running over to her next tube and took to firing a few shots as she ran. Being sure to jump over the lasers that would come her way all the while.

By the time she had reached the tube, it had been peppered with shots. A single touch was enough to cause it to shatter into a million pieces.

Finally, there was just one more tube and both Sonic and Celeste came from it at opposite ends of the ring.

Celeste fired off several lasers and Sonic finished things off with an air boost that took it out in no time.

Sonic landed next to Celeste and offered her a high five to which she was about to accept only for the metal to immediately explode next to them. The structure then began to shake as more and more explosions began to rake their way through the entire machine underground.

"We should go…" Sonic gulped.

"Really?!" Celeste shouted over all the blasts. "You really think so?!"

He laughed and nodded. "Come on, escaping from explosions like this is all part of the fun. You ready?"

Celeste nodded and took his hand.

Together, the two activated the Double Boost and ran their way down a single corridor to the exit as the explosions tore open the entire building around them.

But they reached out to the light at the end of the tunnel, desperately trying to make their way out and…

[Song End]

~Trials of War~

Eggman was wrapping up his speech.

"Through this victory, we enter a time of peace, a time of prosperity and a time of triumph for all as we pledge our allegiance to me, the Emperor of the world! So with that, I ask you all to say it with me now, long live the Eggman Emp-"

But Eggman was a loud draining sound was heard around them. Everyone looked around confused at this.

"Look!" Someone pointed at the sky and to the shock and surprise of them all, the force field that was once protecting the grand capital of the Eggman Empire began to fade away.

[Sonic Forces: A Hero Will Rise - Fist Bump - SXSW Ver.]

"The field?!" Eggman shouted. "Wh-who could've-"

Brenda and Carl looked at each other confused.

And then… Several resistance ships began to pepper the sky.

Instinctively, Carl started pointing his camera at the sky as he too was loooking up at the sky too. But he then pivoted his camera down in shame at the thought of what Eggman may do to him over that.

But Brenda was quick to pull him aside. "Do not stop rolling!" She hissed in the koala's ear and he nodded. Continuing to point at the Resistance ships.

Everyone started running and screaming in the crowd while Eggman was absolutely furious. "How dare they?! I thought I had gotten rid of them on that cursed island and now they would be here in my capital city?!"

Brenda then nudged Carl and with clenched teeth she gestured her head in the direction of the frenzied crowd before she too began to sneak off into it.

Carl nodded and was quick to follow after her. There was news to report.

Eggman still stood atop the stage. He was red in the face and watched as the ships began to pour all sorts of fighters into his city, they were officially under attack. "I want all ships, all sentries, to blow those traitorous rats out of the sky! Cubot and Orbot, you two just stay out of the way!"

The two robots saluted and Cubot took out a broom to begin cleaning up after the mess while Orbot simply took out a magazine, kicked back and relaxed without a care in the world.

"Starline, get back to the main headquarters now! We must secure the princess and make certain she stays our prisoner!"

Starline who had dove behind his own chair in fear was quick to respond. "R-right away, y-your lordship- of course!"

He quickly scampered away in the confusion.

"Infinite! Wreak as much havoc as you can!"

Infinite flew up into the air, his fists clenched and miasmic energy freely flowing around him. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Orbot peeked up from his magazine and chuckled. "And just what are you going to do?"

"Me…?" Eggman darkly chuckled.

"I'm going to go and wait. The Resistance wants a fight, then a fight they shall have and if I know one thing then I know who will come for me."

Cubot dropped his broom. "You don't mean…"

The doctor nodded and began to walk towards his Eggmobile.

~Trials of War~

Elsewhere, at the edge of the city, a blue hedgehog skidded to a halt as he looked in on the battle unfolding.

He flicked his nose and grinned as a dog was quick to join him.

The battle for Metropolis had officially begun.

[1] Huh, been a while since I've needed to do one of these little note deals, huh? Anyway, this is silly but I have been waiting for years to be able to use the song in this exact scene and am actually surprised with it being all military sounding and junk that it didn't get some sort of remix in Forces proper. If this were a game, the song would definitely be touched up but probably largely left alone. I absolutely love the way music is used in games and shows and junk and to me the triumphant return of this theme in my fanfic probably feels a lot more important to me than it actually is to the rest of you lmfao. And honestly? That's okay.
[2] I am probably never going to decide on a method that I like to put music in this fic. So I guess this is the flavor of the week and we'll see how long this lasts.

So… It's been eight months now. Or nearly eight months anyway… This chapter, while I'm very proud of how it turned out was definitely a challenge but I'm happy to say that it is here. So… While I am still shooting for a goal of this story ending next year, I think it's safe to say that Trials of War will end when it ends. I'm still intending to carry it all the way to the end, because as I've said, I want to give you all the ending that this story deserves. But yeah, life and work and writers block and all sorts of fun stuff definitely delayed things and I apologize to all of you for that. I'm hoping the next chapter will be sooner rather than later, but time will tell.
With that said, it's been a fun chapter and I'm very much looking forward to the next one where we'll be taking on the level Metropolitan Highway, but it'll have a fun twist that I think you'll all enjoy. It's another thing that I have been looking forward to doing for years with this story haha. But even then, with the Metropolis arc now into full swing, I cannot wait to show you guys all the tricks I have up my sleeves for all of this. You're not gonna wanna miss what happens next and I can't wait to show it to all of you. But until then, let's go onto the review replies.

Review Replies:

The Sensational SpiderDom321:
Well, it's not quite Christmas anymore, but I did have a good holiday. Thank you. We talked quite a bit, and I'm really happy that you could say the same for yourself. It's funny that I know your opinions on Frontiers now though lmfao

Yeah… Like I said in the last one, the original plan was for Pacchy to join up but I realized nah, he's a jerk. He's not going to agree to this so as I wrote that is what came to be. I'm glad that the echidna following Tikal has become one of your favorite moments in this story. It's definitely one of mine too.

It's incredibly flattering that you think this is one of the best origins for the ruby that you've seen. Thanks, man. As I've said, this has always been the plan for my version of the Phantom Ruby and with Forces all but being a sequel to Generations, it just made sense for its origins to come from Generations. Tie everything together. But yeah, the thing is an abomination and it does what it wants. If it wants to come to Prime Zone, it absolutely will.
Yeah, the Sonics are not at fault at all for what happened to the ruby. Their energy, sure. But not like that was their intention.

Zavok is just too good for this chapter haha.

We've still got a bit of a way to go before that end, so until then let's just enjoy the ride.

Thanks for the support, man and while irrelevant now, Merry Christmas lol.

Dreamy Mirastone:

Cream's arc is one that has been important to me throughout this story and while I didn't initially intend for it to mirror Tikal's at the start, it became something I became very aware of early on and moved forward to continue to have them mirror each other until they came together at the end. It was nice, it was fun and I'm glad that you found it well earned.
It really is all coming down to this and I'm looking forward to how things are going moving forward.
Sonic's 2022 was amazing and I'm happy to see that 2023 has been pretty good too.

Thank ya, Dreamy!

SilverNova:

Two updates in the same year. I wonder if I could do that again? Lol.
Lmfao that certainly is one way to refer to the beginning of the chapter and you honestly wouldn't be wrong haha.
Oh gosh, I still gotta fix that typo lmfao
Gonna take a page out of Ian Flynn's book and "Knowing Smile" your Phantom Ruby theories. Ahem! #KnowingSmile
Episode Silver at this point, is probably gonna be a separate oneshot if I ever finish it because it never really had a place that it fit naturally within the story. Ah well.
It doesn't matter at this point but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Thank you so much for the anniversary wishes!
Thank you for the continued support!

numberjacksoctonauts:

An alternate timeline would be interesting to explore if I get the chance. It likely won't happen in this story if I do, but maybe a fun what if side story.
Well, you have your answer if they're going to Metropolis or not. Lol.
Thank you for the support.

SuperSilverNova:
Yeah, you essentially figured out why I'm ignoring Frontiers lol. It's the Chaos lore. It does not at all line up with what I have and I am not changing it, so I'm considering it non-canon to this story lol. I acknowledge that part of it is because of my own headcanons, but also I just do not at all like what it decided to do with the origins of the Chaos Emeralds.

Welp. That's it for now folks. See you all next time, hopefully before 2024 lol.
R&R.