Chapter 34: Countdown to Chaos (Part 2)
"Wooahhooohoohooo!" Eggman bellowed from the seat of his mech, his metallic palm open as a ball of energy started to form within. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to put an end to you vermin."
The aura of yellow color grew around the mech, rocks and other debris floating alongside Eggman's machine as the ball of energy expanded in size, static electricity forming around the sphere.
"Get a load of this!" Using his other arm as a brace, Eggman launched the energy ball, forging a path of destruction that left nothing but smoke, fire, and devastation through the city, as far as the eye could see.
Eggman observed his immediate surroundings as the dust settled, onlookers watching in shock as they processed the decimation caused by the mech.
"Yes, I've won! Took them all out with one blast!" Eggman laughed as he shifted his focus to the President, who was already being escorted into a military van by a group of soldiers.
"Oh no you don't!" Eggman cried as he took aim at the vehicle. "The presidency, along with the rest of your pathetic government, is hereby dissolved!" The evil doctor charged a sphere of energy, but just as he was about to release it, the ball was kicked away. "What?" Robotnik peered down to find Sonic falling back to the ground while watching the sphere of destruction arc toward the nearby Station Square coastline bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
"No, how did you escape!?" Eggman cried, twisting around to find the rest of the heroes behind his mech. "No matter. You may be fast, but even you need to rest at some point, but the power of the Chaos Emeralds is infinite!"
Without so much as a quip, the blue hedgehog jumped up in the air, wrapped himself into a ball, and targeted the center of the mech, launching himself at Eggman's machine. Sonic merely spun in place, however, causing no visible damage to the outer shell of the mech.
"For example," Eggman continued as he grabbed Sonic with his metallic hand, "you'll find it nearly impossible to pierce my armor!" Robotnik squeezed, causing Sonic to yelp in pain as he tried using his hands to pry himself out from the metallic hold.
"Sonic!" Tails flew to Sonic's aid, but he was quickly swatted away like a bug by Eggman's other hand.
"Tails!" Sonic tried tugging his way out from the robot's deadly grip, but he was unable to slip away.
"As you can see, my reflexes have increased several fold, and my strength is beyond calculation!" Eggman peered down to find Rouge and Knuckles attacking the mech's legs. As with Tails moments before, Eggman whipped the two Mobians away, sending them flying in the opposite direction. "It's because of our skirmish back on Earth, where Bokkun was able to easily steal the Chaos Emeralds from my last mech, that led me to increase the maximum power capacity of my latest creation and install proper fortifications to ensure my mistake won't be repeated!"[1] Eggman squeezed Sonic once more, causing the blue hedgehog to choke in pain. "I think I'm enjoying this a little too much!"
"Open fire!"
"Hmmm?" Eggman twisted the mechanical neck of his mech just in time to witness a slew of missiles hit his back. The evil genius dropped Sonic in surprise, but when the smoke cleared, there were no signs of visible damage. His bellowing laughter echoed out of the speakers of his mech once more as he watched the soldiers who took aim at him moments earlier starting to flee. The one exception was Topaz, who stood her ground, grinding her teeth with knees bent as she tried thinking of a strategy to take down the terrorist threat. "When will these ants realize resisting the Eggman Empire is futile?" With a sweeping kick, he sent Topaz flying high in the air.
"Topaz!" Rouge yelled as she launched herself from the ground and flew as fast as she could, swooping down and grabbing the agent within seconds of what would've been a debilitating fall.
"Rouge?" Topaz opened her eyes to find the bat thief above, holding her in her arms against her chest as she flew the two to safety.
"How many times do I have to save you today?" Rouge replied with a smirk, earning a small chuckle from the injured agent. "You definitely owe me a drink after this."
The bat landed near a set of ambulances, the emergency medical personnel taking the agent in as soon as she landed.
"Be…careful…" were the last words Topaz spoke before she fell out of consciousness and was rushed out of the warzone.
"Don't worry, Topaz…" Rouge returned her sights back to the mech. "I will."
"You better stop, you big meanie!"
"What?" Eggman peered down to find Cream lecturing him from below, Cheese floating at her side. "Oh, it's just you brats. You looking to get captured again?"
"You will never win!" Cream yelled. "Just stop this senseless violence!"
"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed.
"Given how you're just a child," Eggman replied, "I'll go easy on you. Surrender to the Eggman Empire, and I will promise no harm to you. In fact, you can be the first enrollee of my new Eggman Obedience School! You can teach your classmates how to bow down to the Eggman Empire like a good little rabbit!"
"I would never do such a thing!" Cream yelled in response, keeping up her resolve. Cheese nodded beside her.
"Well, at least I tried…" Eggman shook his head. "Youth these days are so rebellious. Maybe they just need an attitude adjustment." The evil doctor raised one knee, his foot directly above the two Mobians. "Lights out, kiddos." The evil doctor slowly lowered his foot. Cream and Cheese, for the first time during this confrontation, were paralyzed with fear, peering up with dilated pupils as their arms shook in terror.
"Heyaaaa!"
Cream gasped at the sight of Bokkun, who used his arms and jetpack to keep the mech's foot from crushing the two Mobians.
"Cream, run!" Bokkun struggled to say under the pressure of Eggman's foot.
"Bokky…" Cream stood still, watching hopelessly as the messenger robot struggled to keep them both alive.
"Pathetic little robot," Eggman replied as he pressed a few buttons on his dash, enhancing the aura around his metallic form. "For betraying the Eggman Empire, your fate is sealed." The evil doctor pressed his foot down harder, making Bokkun's arms buckle under the pressure. Before his arms gave way, however, a blue blur stepped in.
"Need some help?" Sonic gave him a wink as he raised his palms up.
"Sonic?" Eggman replied before grinding his teeth in anger. "No matter. Not even he can stand up to the might of my Chaos Emerald-powered mech!" The evil doctor pressed more buttons, forcing the machine to exert even more energy than before, its glowing yellow aura growing as the ground started to shake.
"I've got your back, too," Tails added as he swooped in, joining Sonic by his side.
"Let's defeat Eggman once and for all," Knuckles declared as he lent his strength.
"Let me join, too," Amy said to Knuckles' side as she raised her palms.
"Those Chaos Emeralds are mine," Rouge quipped as she joined Amy's side.
"Don't forget about me!" Helen said as she rolled under the foot, raising her arms and pressing her palms against the underside of the robotic boot.
"Curse you!" Eggman cried as he pushed several more buttons on his dash. "I'm going to increase my power output to 300 percent! Let's see how you handle THIS!" The aura surrounding the mech was now as tall as a building and spanning a half a block. Small tornadoes were forming around the machine, making it even more difficult for the heroes to maintain their hold on its foot.
"Are you ready to help, Cheese?" Cream asked as she turned to her chao companion.
"Chao, chao!" Cheese replied with a nod of determination.
"Then let's do it!" Cream declared as she jumped up, using her ears to fly upward as she pressed her palms against the mechanical foot above. Cheese quickly joined using their stubby arms, floating in place next to the young rabbit.
"Gahhhh!" Eggman cried as the mech started tipping in the opposite direction.
"Keep it up, everyone," Sonic said. "We've almost got him!"
"Right!" They replied as their second winds took over, the blue hedgehog's motivational push tipping the scales in their favor.
"Nooooo!" Eggman yelled as he fell backward, landing in the already destroyed decorative water fountain.
"We did it!" Cream cheered.
"The fight's not over yet," Knuckles noted. "By the look of things, that fall hardly made a scratch, and we're already pretty beat."
"You idiots!" Eggman cried as he pulled himself out of the fountain, balling his metallic hands into fists. "Didn't I tell you it was futile to resist! Gahhh, you're making me so angry!" Steam left Eggman's ears as he aimed his arm at the party once more. "Enough of this nonsense. I'm going to keep blasting until I burn this entire damn city to the ground, and you lot with it! Wooahhooohoohooo!" The unhinged scientist started charging another sphere of energy as the aura surrounding the mech grew once more.
"Say goodbye, you pathetic swine!" Just as Eggman was about to unleash the energy beam, however, the ball dissipated. "What's this?" Eggman peered around frantically as his golden aura disappeared. "What's the meaning of thi—" The evil doctor was launched out the top of the mech by the spring in his chair, landing in the grass below with his head below the ground.
"What…just happened?" Sonic asked, instinctively turning to Tails for an explanation, but all he could do was shrug.
"I have no idea," Tails replied as he turned his attention back to the empty mech above, "but I think things went from bad to worse!" He pointed up to the mech, which started levitating autonomously, the golden aura returning. It raised its arms and released several beams of energy into the air, falling like bombs to the city below.
"Run!" Sonic yelled as the party left the openness of the city park, finding refuge in a nearby bank. Tails pushed Helen through the doorway, who was closely followed behind by Chuck. Knuckles was the last to arrive, dragging Eggman in by the left side of his mustache.
"All right," Knuckles began as he threw the evil scientist into the lobby. "Start talking. What's going on out there? What sort of trick are you trying to pull on us?!"
"Take it easy, you brute," Eggman replied as he pulled himself up, dusting the dirt from his red jacket. "You rodents weren't giving in, so I had to crank up the mech's power to its maximum capacity, using the power of the Chaos Emeralds to give it a nice supercharge."
"But now the mech has a mind of its own?" Chuck asked.
"Such an unscientific conclusion coming from a fellow researcher," Eggman replied with a snicker. "It would be more accurate to say that the high levels of Chaos energy corrupted the CPU of my mech. The last time I got my hands on all the Chaos Emeralds back on Mobius, I only tapped into a fraction of their true power, but this time, I put my mech into overdrive."
"So what you're saying is that you miscalculated," Tails chastised, "and likely doomed us all?"
"If there's one comfort from all this," Eggman replied, "it is that my machine will be the end of you, even if it takes me down with it! Wooahhooohoohooo!"
"There's just gotta be a way to stop it, though," Helen said as she rolled to Eggman. Chuck was about to stop her, but Tails tugged at his lab jacket and shook his head. Instead, Chuck watched with arms folded. "Don't you have a master override you can use remotely?"
"Well, as a matter of fact," Eggman said, "I very well may…" Pressing a button on his wristwatch, he summoned the floating Egg Mobile, which crashed through the glass doors of the bank. Hopping inside, he pressed several buttons on his dash. "I'm about to disengage the mech's security protections, meaning that, even in its super form, one could infiltrate the mech and retrieve the emeralds. I can't completely shut it down from here, though."
"All right!" Sonic replied, giving Eggman a thumbs up.
"Before I do," Eggman said, a mischievous grin growing across his mustachioed face, "I want to work out an arrangement."
"An arrangement?" Helen asked.
"I save your lives, and in exchange, I get all the Chaos Emeralds. I will keep you lot alive, but you must obey the Eggman Empire. I'd say that living in servitude is better than death, wouldn't you say?"
The entire party simply stared at Eggman, placing their hands on their hips. They were not amused.
"So you don't want me to save your hides?" Eggman asked.
"What we want is for you to do the right thing," Knuckles replied as he smashed the back of the Egg Mobile with his fist, sending the evil doctor flying backward.
"Disengage the mech's security protocols," Rouge declared as she placed her foot on Eggman's chest, "or we will make you." Eggman tried crawling back, but Knuckles' foot against the back of his skull stopped him in his tracks. The evil doctor was quickly circled by the heroes.
"Okay, fiiiine…" Robotnik pulled himself up, dusting the debris off his jacket once more. "All I'm saying is that you'd be far less stressed if you simply accepted my rule. Plus, we'd have the most diabolical outfits!"
"Just get on with it," Rouge commanded, pressing her government-issued pistol against Eggman's back.
"So uncivilized," he complained as he pulled himself back into his Egg Mobile. Pressing a few more buttons, he turned his attention back to the party. "If you're able to get close to the mech, you should now be able to get into its head and press the big red button to disengage and remove the Chaos Emeralds."
"Why is it always a big red button?" Helen asked herself.
"Regardless," Tails said as he called the team in for a group huddle. "I have a plan." The Mobians and humans, save for Eggman, locked arms around each other's shoulders. "First, we will need a distraction. Multiple distractions, in fact." The orange kitsune turned his attention to Knuckles. "I need you to get the mech's attention by bashing the ground."
"Ah yes, my specialty!" Knuckles replied, raising his fist into the air. "That is, besides treasure hunting and guarding the Master Emerald."
"Rouge," Tails continued, turning her attention to the jewel thief," I want you stationed near Knuckles. Fly around him to get the mech's attention away from him. I want you two to keep distracting it while Sonic and I retrieve the emeralds." The prodigious fox shifted his focus to Helen and Cream as he pulled out some headsets from his namesakes. "I want you two to keep Sonic and I posted from the ground. If it looks like the mech's gonna do anything that will put us at a disadvantage, let us know ASAP."
"We will," Helen and Cream replied as they put on their headsets. Tails placed a single earbud in his left ear, giving the right piece to the blue hedgehog.
"What should we do about Eggman?" Amy asked, pointing over her shoulder to the evil scientist who attempted to slip away, but stood frozen when his attempt at fleeing the scene was noticed.
"Keep him detained," Tails replied.
"I've got that covered," Amy declared as she pulled her Piko Piko Hammer from her hammerspace, destroying Eggman's unguarded personal transport with a single swing of her weapon, earning a cry of dismay from its owner.
"I'll inform the authorities of the plan," Chuck said.
"And I'll…" Bokkun peered around, eventually hearing a cry for help from an injured child in the nearby alley. "I'll go help that kid out!"
"Good luck," Cream replied, giving the messenger robot a kiss on his forehead, making him blush a deep shade of red.
"Yes, Cream!" Bokkun replied with a salute before rushing out of the bank. The rest of the party, save for Eggman and Amy, who was eyeing the evil doctor carefully with both hands gripping her hammer, left the bank as well, peering around to find the mech still on a rampage, launching energy balls of various sizes into the sky, peppering the city with destruction.
"Let's finish this!" Knuckles declared as he ran toward the mech, dodging the falling energy spheres until he was close enough to get its attention, slamming his fist on the ground. Making the Earth shake just enough to force the mech's focus on him, Knuckles continued pounding the ground. The mech slowly walked toward the red echidna, but just as it got within striking distance, Rouge flew around its arm, giving the unmanned machine a second distraction. The mech didn't notice Tails flying in from behind, Sonic dangling from his hands.
"You're clear to land," Helen noted from a distance.
"Agreed," Cream added. "The mech is completely distracted, Mr. Tails."
"Perfect," Tails whispered under his breath as he found the open roof where Eggman was launched from. The orange kitsune began swinging his arms, gaining enough momentum to toss Sonic into the mech. He let go of the blue hedgehog, who loosened his grip on his little brother's gloved hands as well, launching him into the mech. The orange fox soon swooped in after him.
"It's tight in here, you think?" Sonic asked as the two tried sitting on the single chair.
"Allow me," Tails said as he pulled himself up and sat in the blue hedgehog's lap. If not for the circumstances, the sight would've been adorable.
"It appears the display is frozen," Tails said as he studied the monitor affixed to the control panel. He tried pushing the shoulder buttons on the Xbox controller installed in the dash. "Nothing. Looks like Eggman was telling the truth about the mech going haywire…" He turned his attention to the red emergency button on the far side of the dashboard. "…and if he was completely truthful, this should put an end to things." He smashed the button with his fist.
"Self-destruct sequence initiated," said a robotic voice. "30, 29, 28…"
"Well, that was a bust," Tails replied.
"Look!" Sonic pointed to the seven slots in the dashboard which have since opened, revealing the entire set of Chaos Emeralds.
"18…17…16…"
Tails started pulling them out.
"13…12…11…"
"We're not gonna make it!" Tails cried.
"Just relax," Sonic replied with a smile, "and let's use the Chaos Emeralds…"
"You mean…Super Sonic?" Tails asked.
"And Super Tails!" Sonic replied with a wink. "I'll finally get to see your super form in action!"
"Right." Tails nodded as he reversed himself in the chair and placed the gems in their lap. Finally, the two brothers held each other's arms, closed their eyes, and took a deep breath. Before they knew it, the Chaos Emeralds started to glow, floating in place between them.
"3…2…1…"
BOOM!
"NOOO, SONIKKUUUUU!" Amy cried, falling to her knees moments after witnessing the head of the mech exploding before her eyes.
"YES!" Eggman cheered, performing a happy dance. "Down goes Sonic and Tails! That ruse was too easy." He massaged his mustache in delight.
"Tails was my friend…" Amy slowly approached the evil doctor. "And Sonic was my one true love. My future husband." She pulled out her Piko Piko Hammer, her face turning dark and her eyes wickedly staring at Eggman. "You are going to pay…"
"Well, just…calm down, will you, I mean…" Eggman stepped back until he was against the wall. "Let's just talk this out rationally." The evil doctor peered over Amy's head, through the broken window of the bank, to find two golden forms floating above the downed mech. "Hey…is that…Sonic and Tails?"
"Don't try tricking me with your nonsense again!" Amy smashed the evil doctor's belly with her hammer, sending him falling to the ground in pain. The pink hedgehog turned around to find exactly what Eggman described, except the two brothers were now emanating a golden aura.
"Sonic! Tails!" Amy dove out of the bank and peered up into the sky, accompanied by Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, Bokkun, Rouge, and Chuck.
"Hey, Tails! Lookin' good!" Sonic gave his golden apprentice a thumbs up, making the fox blush as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Still hard to get used to," Tails replied, "even after using this form back on Mobius."[1]
The moment didn't last long, however; the mech, now headless and without Chaos Emeralds, managed to return to autonomous mode nevertheless, pulling itself up and entering a fighting stance.
"No way!" Tails exclaimed. "The brains of the mech must be stored in its chest, and there must be enough backup power from the Chaos Emeralds to keep it charged for who knows how long!"
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Tails?" Sonic asked, giving his little brother a smirk.
"Yes, exactly," Tails replied with a wink.
The two floated so they were nearly at eye level with the mech. The machine pulled both arms back, charging an energy beam in its palms. The two brothers furrowed their brows and tightened their fists, bracing themselves for its attack. Just as the mech unleashed its devastating energy beam, they charged forward, meeting the stream of chaos energy head on.
"Beam struggle, beam struggle, beam struggle…" Helen whispered under her breath as she gripped the handlebars of her mech. She was soon joined by the rest of the party, who also chanted as they balled their hands into fists, watching intently at the display of intense power above.
"Sonic!" Tails yelled from the golden hedgehog's side. "It's…so much power."
"Just focus," Sonic shouted. "We'll get through this."
"Right," Tails nodded as he pressed onward. He exerted an incredible amount of strength thanks to the power of the Chaos Emerald-induced super form, but while he felt he was flying at the speed of sound, he had only moved a few feet against the seemingly insurmountable pressure of the energy beam. Nevertheless, the brotherly duo was making incremental progress, inching closer to the mech.
"It's…I'm losing power," Tails said as his momentum started slowing.
"Don't give up buddy!" Sonic bit his lip as he pressed on, the two flying like Superman as they reached a few yards of the mech's chest.
"C'mon, Tails," he said to himself. "Almost…there…"
Sonic and Tails screamed as they made one final push, not only overcoming the gap between them and the mech but completely penetrating the robot's armor, blasting through to the other side. The energy beam completely dissipated, and the mech started falling back. At the speed of light, Sonic and Tails flew through and around the decimated robot like an atom, turning the machine into Swiss cheese. Before it had the chance to fall to the ground, the mech exploded, but there was no smoke, no fire, and no loud noise to accommodate the brotherly duo's final blows.
Instead...
"Sonic…it's a white void…" Sonic peering at the center of the mech, frozen in midair as an aura of pitch white completely encapsulated the machine and started growing outward in all directions.
"Just like…back on Mobius…" Tails noted. "Just like what sent us to Earth…"
"Let's get back to the group," Sonic said.
"Right," Tails replied with a nod, furrowing his brow as he followed Sonic back to their gathering place.
"It's Chaos Control," Knuckles said, his arms folded as he stared at the incoming white wave that would soon engulf them, and the rest of the Station Square municipal park. "It means…we're finally going home. Back to the Master Emerald."
"Back to my mother!" Cream replied with a cheer.
"Chao, chao!"
"To…Mobius?" Helen asked. The group turned to her and Chuck.
"Yes…" Tails replied, gripping the young girl's wheelchair handlebars. Sonic grabbed Chuck, placing him over his shoulder.
"Where are you taking me!?" Helen cried as Sonic and Tails, still in their super forms, got them away.
"This should be far enough," Tails replied as they screeched to a halt. Indeed, peering back, the featureless, blank white space was still growing, slowly approaching the four of them but providing enough time for them to say their goodbyes.
"Time for us to go, Tails," Sonic said as he gave his little brother a thumbs up. He turned his attention to the two humans. "It's been fun you guys! Catch ya on the flip slide!" Sonic zoomed forward, diving into the creeping white void.
Smiling, Tails turned to face Helen. "Well, I'll admit, this departure was sooner than expected…" The golden fox scratched the back of his head nervously.
"No, Tails…" Tears started to form in the young girl's eyes. She reached her arm out, grabbing the golden kitsune with her fingers. "I'm not ready…please…" Pulling at the fox's arm, she pulled herself and the wheelchair closer to him. Tails hugged her from her side, letting her tears soak into his fur. "Please take me with you."
"Helen…" Tails patted Helen on the shoulders before leaving his super form. "I'm sorry, but I need to go. I wish I could take you with me." He started walking in the direction of the white void, which was now only a few dozen yards away. "There's still so much I wanted to experience on Earth, and you're one of my closest friends, but you have family here on Earth. You don't want to leave them, do you?"
"Then we'll find a way back!" Helen protested. She rolled forward once more, grabbing Tails by the arm. "We can work together, using the Chaos Emeralds, to create a bridge between our worlds."
"A…bridge?" Tails asked, stopping to give Helen the opportunity to explain herself.
"Yes," Helen replied. "You guys came here by accident, and you're about to return home." Helen peered into Tails' eyes, tears streaming down her face. "Please, we can work on this together. With your brains, it wouldn't take long at all, and we could create a permanent way to get between our homes!"
Tails froze for several moments before turning back to face Chuck. "What do you think?"
"Well…" Chuck folded his arms, peering down at his only granddaughter and sighed. "Helen deserves the most out of life, and this would provide her an opportunity no other Earthling has ever experienced, at least to our knowledge," Chuck peered up at Tails, "but the thought of facing my son and his wife, letting them know I let their daughter leave like this…" Chuck raised a finger to his chin in thought. Finally, he approached Tails, placing a palm on his shoulder. "Let me come, too." Helen peered up at his grandfather, a smile slowly forming across her face.
"You really wanna come with?" Tails asked, tilting his head concernedly.
"Why yes," Chuck replied. "The thought of exploring a whole new world, working on technological innovations with both my grandkids all day would be a dream come true. Certainly the best way I can imagine spending my retirement!"
"Grand…kids?" Tails peered up at the aging scientist, his eyes glistening. "You consider me…your grandkid?"
Chuck lowered himself to one knee, placing a palm on the orange fox's shoulder once more. "Absolutely. You and Helen give me a reason to get up in the morning, even as old age makes it increasingly difficult to do so." Chuck pulled himself up but was quickly met with a warm hug from the young kitsune.
"You're the best grandpa a fox could ever ask for," Tails said, his tears soaking into the aging scientist's lab coat. With a warm smile, Chuck lifted him up, placing the orange fox on his shoulders.
"Well, there's no time like the present. Let's go!" Chuck declared.
"Right," Tails and Helen replied. The young kitsune rested his palms on his knees as Chuck and Helen locked hands, bracing themselves for their new adventure.
"Well, here we go," Tails said as they were enveloped by the void.
And then all went white…
…and then faded…
…to black.
End of Season 1.
1: See Chapter 21 of A Prelude to Chaos Control.
All right, folks! That's a wrap for season 1 of my Sonic X reimagining! Stay tuned for season 2, which will start with the next chapter! I want to thank everyone who has read up to this point, especially to the ones who have provided positive comments and constructive feedback. These reviews help motivate me to keep pushing forward, and I appreciate them all!
I may take a brief break to brainstorm season 2 ideas. In the meantime, feel free to join me on the Tails Discord server, where we have an entire channel dedicated to Sonic fanfiction. I'd love to connect! To find the server, simply find the pinned post on Reddit's r/MilesPrower.