Author's notes: Nothing new.
Chapter 55
Egg Carrier, Infirmary...
"I swear, I didn't plan for you guys to get in trouble without me. But Scourge needed to go." said Mayhem as he sat on an infirmary bed, the pipe still lodged in his eye.
"Fine. Let's get that pipe out of your eye." said TD, in Mobian form, as he grabbed the pipe and begin pulling but the piece of metal wouldn't budge.
"Ah! Hey! That actually hurts! Just because I ignore most pain, doesn't mean there's stuff that can go through my tolerance!"
"Well, how deep is it? Feels like it's lodged near your brain or something!"
"Are you sure we should be letting the one who can't hold much, even as a Mobian, try to pull out a piece of metal from another guy's skull?" asked Frenzy to Tails.
"Your ribs are still healing and my arm is..." said Tails as he held up his arm that had been ripped off and put back together and was slowly repairing itself but still looked like a horrible mess with broken parts slowly realigning and mending, "mangled."
Frenzy is silent as he relaxes on the medical bed, letting his ribs heal.
"Why can't you just let your blood melt the pipe then we remove it?" asked TD as he put a foot in Mayhem's face trying to get leverage.
"Because I don't need lead poisoning! I get sick from things!" replied Mayhem as he dug his claws into the table to hold himself in place.
A crack is heard and Mayhem's other eye widens and goes unfocused from pain.
"Okay! Okay! Stop! Something went wrong!" said Mayhem quickly as he suddenly went limp and TD let go of the pipe.
"What happened?!" asked TD urgently.
"We cracked something...lot of pain. Pipe's lodged in further than I thought..."
"We might have to do surgery..." muttered TD as he looked at the pipe.
"No, you're just too short." said Slothic as he entered the medical room.
"I'm not short..." grumbled TD grossing his arms in anger, "I'm the same height as Tails."
"I'm comparing you to...Mayhem, was it?"
"Yeah..." mutter Mayhem, not fully aware due to the pain now.
Slothic looks at the pipe silently. Despite being half blind, closer distances are easier for him to see.
"Yeah, looks like it got lodged in some pain nerves. He's not full Mobian. He's mostly dragon, so there might be some differences in the skull. One second."
Slothic shifted into his other form, going up to nine feet which puts him three feet below Mayhem's twelve feet of height but gives him more leverage than what TD has. He then reaches up and grabs the pipe with one clawed hand and yanks on the metal lodged in Mayhem's skull. Mayhem's eye widens before he passes out, collapsing onto the floor. The eye the pipe was formerly lodged in slowly begins to heal. Slothic shifts back into his "Sonic" form and goes to grab a biohazard container but notices that the blood on the pipe isn't melting through the floor as it drips off nor is the pipe melting.
"Huh. Guess he can control his blood's acidity." muttered Slothic but he still got the biohazard container and put the pipe into it before getting another container for the drops of blood on the floor.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, why does your version of me lack a heart but is still alive?" asked Tails to Slothic and the hedgehog freezes up, with his quills going rigid.
"Sonic...calm down." said Frenzy to Slothic who begins to calm down after taking a few deep breaths.
"Well, do you want the full story or the short version?" said Slothic as he got the container.
"We got time. We can do the full story." said Tails and TD shifted into doll form and sat near Tails.
Slothic is silent as he seals the second biohazard container and put the two containers into an incineration unit located within a corner of the room for disposing of such items.
"You know that I'm clearly not the original Sonic, right?" asked Slothic calmly.
"Kinda obvious when you go into a monster form like TD does." said Tails calmly and Slothic chuckles.
"Monster form. No. It's just a tone-downed version of my true form." said Slothic chuckling.
"Then why don't you show it?" asked TD.
"It's too big for indoor use." said Slothic looking at the doll.
"How big is too big?"
Slothic thought a moment.
"I'd have to do it in one of the hangars and you three are still grounded until further notice."
Tails and Frenzy groan.
"So it IS a grounding! Huh. I thought there'd be more pain." muttered TD as he looked thoughtful.
"You're not allowed to leave this room. Anyway, not important to the story. Now, where was I? Oh yeah. I won't go into details but I was once a defender of a city, against Hell."
"Wait, are you saying you're an Angell or something?" asked Tails.
"I was. Until the city fell. Because I fell asleep. Hell's forces used underhanded tactics. People say angels don't get exhausted. They do. Especially when you fight for three months straight, losing more and more of the soldiers under your command until you're the only one left but your superiors refuse to send you reinforcements. And then when the Council showed up and forced a truce between Heaven and Hell, I thought the ones responsible on Hell's side for the city's fall would be punished...No, I was."
Slothic's horns poke through on his Sonic form as he begins to get angry before he calms himself.
"The Council then had my wings coated in molten metal and declared me as a new version of one of the Seven Sins. Sloth to be exact, if my poorly designed name to distinguish me from this world's Sonic was any clue. They then banished me from the universe I was originally from and I couldn't do anything to escape it since my wings were...well...now effectively lead due to being coated in metal."
He's silent a moment.
"I gave in. For a long time. Of course, I could watch things while asleep and I looked around. Until I found a Sonic. I got interested and kept watching. Eventually, I wanted to escape the life I was stuck with because of watching him save his world over and over, no matter how exhausted he was inside. Then that world's Robotnik cheated and I took a shot in the dark."
Frenzy looks sad and Slothic sits down.
"What happened exactly?" asked Tails, looking between the two.
"Sonic had Robotnik beat. Robotnik was begging for his life. Sonic made Robotnik promise to never do anything evil again. Robotnik did and Sonic turned away and began walking back to me. I...I thought we had won. Then I heard the discharge and I saw Robotnik holding a laser pistol and Sonic's pained expression...I caught Sonic but he wasn't responding. Robotnik laughed and flew off. I...I tried to wake up Sonic but..." said Frenzy before he breaks down and starts crying at the memory.
"I contacted Sonic as he was dying and made a deal with him since he was technically dead. His world needed him but he couldn't come back. The deal was, he pass on peacefully and I take his place. He didn't trust me and made me promise that I'd protect his friends. I told him I'd do the best I could. He glared at me for awhile and I expected him to reject the deal. He then smiled and said that despite how I looked, he was willing to give me a chance to do his job. I then woke up, choking a moment as I adjusted to the body before Frenzy practically made me choke." said Slothic chuckling softly at the last bit.
"I was so overjoyed that Sonic woke up after three hours of trying...I didn't care. I was just glad to have my brother back." said Frenzy sadly.
"So, how are you two so friendly with each other?" asked TD.
"I forgot that you don't have those memories. Well-" began Slothic before being interrupted by Frenzy.
"Slothic, despite not being Sonic, treated me just as well if not better than Sonic did. He effectively became my second brother even if he pretended to be Sonic. I could see it from time to time. He had a more tired tone sometimes but would then switch back to the usual Sonic energy. I didn't care though. We were just saving the world as the best duo ever." said Frenzy.
"Until Robotnik stepped up his game and we had to join the Freedom Fighters. And then you showed up." said Slothic pointing at TD.
"I did?" asked TD.
"Yeah. You showed up during a thunderstorm. You were just a doll then but you moved around on your own. Trying to help out with anything but everyone got freaked out by the magically floating doll. Except Frenzy. You showed up at his workshop while he was working on an earlier version of his Tornado. I wasn't paying attention and he asked for a wrench-"
"Screwdriver."
"-again, I wasn't paying attention. And you handed him the screwdriver while I handed him the wrench at the same time. He noticed the two different hands and looked. You got freaked and ran and hid. Of course as we tried to catch you, you went and dropped a bucket of used oil on yourself."
Tails stifles a laugh and TD gently punches Tails on the arm while having an amused angry expression.
"That slowed you down enough for us to finally catch you. Of course, then we had to clean you off. But once we got things straightened out, you stuck around. You did try to help us out when we found out you were Robotnik Tech but none of the security codes you generated ever worked for us so we eventually stopped that plan. We had to rescue you when you tried to sabotage a factory by yourself once." said Slothic chuckling.
"How much trouble did you get into before I knew you?!" asked Tails looking at TD in shock with the doll shrugging.
"Oh you wouldn't believe the amount of times we had to save him! The only time we didn't was when he was thrown into a wood chipper by our Robotnik."
"HE DID WHAT WITH ME!?" yelled TD in shock.
"Calm down. He threw you into the wood chipper but your gem absorbed the metal or something and it made you like...a monster Mobian is the best I can think of." said Slothic thinking on how to describe the small clawed monster that came out of the wood chipper.
"He never tried that again. Eventually, we got tired of the endless stalement we were in and we went for one massive assault against his city. Repurposed some mega moto-bugs into tanks, Frenzy's plan with that. And everything was going fine, until I got into the tower."
Slothic closed his eye a moment.
"ROBOTNIK CHEATED AGAIN! WE WERE WINNING AND HE CHEATED! THE SORE LOSER ALWAYS CHEATED!" yelled Frenzy as his fur turned fiery again before it changed back to black as he coughed up blood and held his ribs.
"Frenzy, calm down. But yeah. He did cheat. He activated Metallix Neo. I'd faced a few other Metal Sonic designs but Metallix Neo threw me around like a chew toy." said Slothic, "He then had Metallix Neo target the Freedom Fighters. He was outside before I could even stop him. I watched from the hole in the wall as he slaughtered everyone..."
"I pushed you into a portal before got me." wheezed Frenzy as he looked at TD.
"And then there was the bright light. I don't understand everything but these invaders were puppeteers. Controlling everyone but me. I watched for awhile, trying to figure things out. Everytime though, the invaders lead everyone to their deaths. Every time. I tried to change things. Leaving warning markings, notes, even directly speaking with them, or tried to,...still lead everyone to death. Just death. Over and over, trapped in a single loop. I eventually noticed the strings they were using on everyone. It cost me my eye to free Knuckles, or Ravager as we call him to distinguish him from your world's, as the puppeteers made him uppercut me...he still died to Metallix Neo..."
Slothic is silent a moment.
"Uh...we can stop now if you don't want to continue." said Tails but Slothic holds up a hand.
"No. We opened the can, now we have to finish it." said Slothic calmly, "I then tried to free Frenzy and..."
"They forced me to throw a flashbang at him. At point blank." said Frenzy dryly.
"Yeah...I then found they had manipulated our world and took the tech for myself and used it to lock them out of being able to puppet everyone. For about three hours. They then locked me in the artic wastes in a cage. I snapped and went on a mercy killing spree..." said Slothic looking down.
At that moment the door to the room is kicked open and Ravager walks into the room carrying a crate of medical supplies. He sets it down before he notices the spooked Tails and TD, TD looking like a spooked cat as he clung to Tails' head. He then notices Slothic with a "really?" look on his face.
"What? What'd I do?" asked Ravager.
"Were you not aware of the infirmary being in use?" asked Slothic a bit annoyed.
"Nobody told me it was in use."
"Anyway. First one I actually mercy killed was Ravager here." said Slothic pointing a thumb at the echidna.
"Wait, are you telling them the full story?"
"Yes."
"Well, goodbye then! I don't need a walk down memory lane!" said Ravager before he quickly shut the door and ran away from the room.
"Why's he so spooked?" asked TD as he calmed down and sat on Tails' head more calmly.
"I...may have teleported him to Angel Island, kicked him away, revealing a river of lava as he smashed through a rock wall from the kick and then...dunked him in lava..." said Slothic nervously.
Tails and TD both look horrified.
"HOW IS THAT A MERCY KILL?!" yelled both angrily.
"To be fair, I didn't INTEND to kick him to where his arms went into the lava but...as the puppeteers were trying to pull him out of the lava despite how much pain he was in...I just went with the face in lava dunk for a faster end...he was the only mercy kill that can be considered a bad one due to unforeseen consequences."
"And the volcanic rock arms?"
"That's from me bringing him back with earth and fire elemental spirit energies. Anyway, the other Mobian mercy kills were a lot faster and a lot less painful than his."
"And your Tails' mercy kill?"
Slothic is silent as he looks down.
"The invaders made me hide in my lab. I was terrified because I knew something besides Metallix Neo was now hunting us down but I didn't know what it was." said Frenzy looking angry yet sad, "They made me get an old arm cannon prototye to defend myself with. I was six years old and scared out of my mind. I mean, how would you feel if you kept dying over and over? Heck, the worse death I remember was being trapped in the robot factory, fighting endless waves of freshly made SWAT-Bots and then Metallix Neo activated the facility's purge function on me! Which was the whole factory turning into a trash compactor!"
"Frenzy, off-topic."
"Sorry. I was terrified. Afraid of dying again. Of course, I also didn't like being a puppet but I couldn't think straight on how to escape it because I was just so terrified. Then I heard Slothic's voice outside. It wasn't Sonic's but it was also his. I didn't want to fight anymore. But the invaders wanted me to. I don't know how but went I actively fought against their control, it felt like my whole body was on fire. I threw out away the cannon and headed outside. It hurt the whole time I walked. But I just wanted the pain to end. And it did once I got outside."
"Of course, I tried bringing back Frenzy with every elemental energy available. Air first since well..."
"The two tails. Yeah, I get it." said Tails calmly.
"But that didn't work. I then worked my way down the list until...I was out of elements. So...I went with an alternative I didn't want but I had to. To save him." said Slothic.
"What exactly did you do?" asked TD.
Darksiders universe, years ago, Ruined City Streets...
A demon, covered in merchant-like garbs, hover-paced in a small circle while looking very anxious.
"Oh where is he?! If War finds out about this, he'll kill me for sure!" muttered the demon as he paced before a huge cut appeared in the world in front of him and he hovered back a few feet from it as claw-like gauntlets forced the portal open and an angel covered in blackened armor with wings coated in a heavy metal walked out of the portal. The angel towers over him and looks down at him with one glowing red eye behind a blackened helmet. Through the other eye and rendering it useless are two scars.
"That look doesn't fit you." muttered the demon known as Vulgrim.
"Hold your tongue Vulgrim. Do you have what I asked for?" snarled the black armored angel.
"That depends. Do you have what I asked for in return?" asked the demon.
The angel pulls out a large cyclinder with many souls whirling around it slowly. The demon merchant reaches for it despite the angel being bigger than him. The angel doesn't give it to him.
"Do you have what I have?" asked the angel in a commanding voice.
Vulgrim grumbles before pulling out a small intricately made vial filled with a lava-like soul essence.
"There! Happy?" snapped Vulgrim as the angel bent down and took the vial. He then dropped the cylinder and the demon went to catch it only for it to pull him to the ground from its sheer weight, "Heavier...than it looks."
"You'll manage demon." snarled the angel as he stood back up. The angel looks as footsteps are heard approaching.
"What is this?" snarled War as he looked at the angel and Vulgrim.
"None of your concern Horseman." said the angel calmly as he turned back towards the portal.
"He's right you know. Dealing with another universe's Seven Sins member is not part of the Council's mission." said a black-purple (1) wispy figure appearing next to War and glaring at the angel.
The angel stops a moment halfway through the portal before he resumes walking. The portal closes behind him once he's through, leaving War and Vulgrim standing in the ruined streets of the Third Kingdom.
Present...
"Nothing that will harm me." said Slothic calmly.
"I don't like that tone." said Tails nervously.
"Well, it saved me. Yeah, I gotta keep my anger in check. But I'm honestly fine with this." said Frenzy, "Besides, the fire effect on my fur's cool."
"So, what's with the purple eyes then?" asked TD and Slothic shrugs.
"Don't know but everyone I brought back got them." said Slothic.
"How many did you bring back exactly?"
"Eh...everyone who was alive before Metallix Neo showed up and wasn't a Robian...so...a lot."
"What's a lot?"
"I don't know? However big the population was."
"You don't even know?"
"Hey, not my fault Mobious during a time of war never took a population count!" said Slothic crossing his arms (2).
At that moment, Mayhem groans as he begins to come to, his left eye fully healed and he slowly gets up from the floor.
"Enjoy your metal nap?" asked TD jokingly.
"Oh ha hah ha. Nice that nobody got me off the floor." said Mayhem sarcastically.
"You looked pretty comfortable." said Slothic smiling, revealing his red teeth.
"Oh yeah, cold floor is REALLY nice to sleep on. Go jump off the airship!" said Mayhem sharply to Slothic.
"OKAY!" came Razor's voice from down the hall followed by a fading, "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"DID YOU TELL THAT IDIOT TO JUMP OFF THE AIRSHIP AGAIN?!" yelled Shade.
"I swear it wasn't me this time!" came Admin_Fun's voice.
Mayhem face-palmed.
END CHAPTER
Hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review, follow and/or favorite.
CONSTRUCTIVE Criticism is welcomed, DESTRUCTIVE is not.
(1) I'm colorblind so if I got the Watcher's colors wrong, my colorblindness is to blame.
(2) Seriously, how much of the Mobian population remains free?