Review Responses:
To AnT: You know, I didn't think about Amy's flanderization in that light. That's an interesting way to look at it. See, these are the kinds of reviews that I really look forward to reading. I appreciate your thought provoking perspective on certain characters. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you think about this chapter. Also, please feel free to spot as many references as you can in this chapter. Because there are a ton of them. One is not from the Sonic franchise.
To Void Reader: Arthur Mongoose is alive, but Mina and her mother have both died. But she was never a Quickster in this continuity. And not all Mobian hedgehogs look like Sonic in this universe. They are more stylized and distinct in the same vein as the IDW comics. This makes Sonic stand out, which is why he
To enigma: SonAmy is not my favorite couple, but I can see why people like it. I just do not like how people vilify an "opposing" girl to make the other one look better as a method to validate their favorite couple. Especially if it's out of character for either girl. I chose to give Amy her anime counterpart's traits given that she's a fourteen year old girl who's famous for her hotheaded short fused temper. Developing Amy is going to be interesting, and I wanted to start off by deconstructing her to build her up.
Mobian Music Festival, Furville, Acornia
"-Low and behold the harbinger of your demise! Bask in the terror and magnificent power of Metal Robotnik!" The doctor declared, piloting the mech from inside the it's "stomach".
"Metal…Robotnik?" Sonar echoed, intimidated by the cloak wearing red machine that was two thirds of the Ferris wheel's size and a third of its length.
"That looks like the Egg Emperor," Amy stated, keeping her hammer close to her on standby. "But there's something off about it. Something…nasty."
"Yeah, I get where you're coming from." Tails agreed. "I can tell that this model borrows elements from older units like the Egg Pawns and the Death Egg Robo."
NICOLE's irises glowed teal, then dimmed while her face scrunched up as if she found something foul.
"Princess, I'm detecting a high amount of concentrated Ixis Magick within the structure of Dr. Robotnik's vehicle." NICOLE voiced, causing Sally and Sonar to gasp in horror.
"No…!" The fennec whispered, not taking the new information too kindly.
"He didn't!" Sally denied, trying to fathom what she was hearing.
"Oh! But I have, Princess." Eggman said through Metal Robotnik. "This technological marvel that stands before you is the result of the efforts of my scientific genius and the mystical prowess of Naugus' corrupted magic. And while this mecha is a prototype, its polymer alloy has been enchanted thanks to its Ixis driven power core. Our combined power makes this machine a force to be reckoned with!"
"Princess, h-how bad is Ixis M-Magick?" Cream asked as she trembled from the unusually low and creepy tone of Eggman.
"It has been responsible for extremely vile acts throughout history, Cream." Sally responded grimly. "Its presence alone can pollute nature if the will of its caster decides it. Ixis Magick can wield the dark reflections of the elements, and if the caster is experienced enough, can even siphon the life out of its target."
Cream's eyes dilated in terror, experiencing a large pit of dread sink in.
Sonic, placing the Chaos Emerald in his quills, stepped near the robot with his signature self confident and upbeat attitude.
Grinning at Dr. Robotnik, Sonic cracked his knuckles as he said, "You know what, doc? I'm glad you came around. Today has been quite the stressor and I'm itchin' to blow off some steam!"
"Oh, I'd hope you'd say that. In fact…" Eggman, or Metal Robotnik, stated.
Metal Robotnik took his right and fashioned a electrical whip similar to Antoine's Enerbeam from the tip of its left fingers. The machine then ensnared Breezie as it reeled the whip back, grabbing the screaming and thrashing businesswoman.
"AH! NO! LET ME GO!"
The scientist smirked, "...I'll be counting on it!"
"BREANNA/BREEZIE!" Sonic and his friends cried out at the same time.
Sonic's confident assurance shifted into an angry and concerned expression.
Turning to the mech where the roboticist piloted, Sonic demanded, "Put her down, Eggman! She ain't got nothin' to do with this! This is between me and you!"
Metal Robotnik cackled at this, saying, "Hehehe! Now, now. You're in no position to be making demands. Especially with a bargaining chip as precious as this…"
Metal Robotnik dangled Breezie around mockingly, earning the scowls of the Freedom Fighters and especially the Blue Blue.
"...And yes, I know all about your little failed endeavor with this female rodent. I am aware that your heart still lingers for her. Now, we each both have something of value to one another. If you want to see her alive again, you bring the Chaos Emerald and come seek me by the cathedral at the heart of the town. Alone." Metal Robotnik calmly demanded as he held Breezie up close to him. "And if you don't…!"
The machine's other hand turned into crystalized claws and aimed it towards the head of the fearfully flinching hedgehog.
Sonic clenched his fists as sparks of neon blue energy flashed in his irises for a split second.
Metal Robotnik moved his other hand as he transmuted his black cloak into giant mechanical bat wings and activated his jetpack.
"The choice is yours, Hedgehog. If you truly value this woman's life, you'd see to our confrontation with that gemstone. Oh, and don't keep me waiting. Or you just may find your Songbird headless."
With that, Metal Robotnik took to the sky with Breezie in his metallic clutches while screaming for help.
"BREANNA, HOLD ON!" Sonic screamed, ready to take off.
"Sonic, wait! We need to come a pla–" Sally said while several Aero Chasers were flying towards her with the intention to vaporize her with their laser beams.
Before anybody was able to react, NICOLE, holding her handheld computer hardware, held up one hand and formed a rectangular barrier that reflected the beam away from the princess.
Sonic retaliated on Sally's by landing a series of several Homing Attacks to destroy them.
This caused five of the Egg Fighters to charge at some of the other Freedom Fighters. Fortunately, Amy, Tails, and Cream were fast enough to stop the opposing forces from causing harm.
With a hardened and urgent expression in his face, Sonic gritted, "Want a plan!? Fine, I got one! All of you need to smash these bots and meet me at the center of town! I can make it there in no time but I can't be everywhere at once when people are in danger! I gotta go get Breezie out of this and fast!"
"Sonic, just listen for a moment! You shouldn't blindly charge ahead when Eggman's robot has Ixis Magick!" Tails interjected. "Sure, those Phantoms were easy for you, but they had next to no conscience. Apply how unpredictable that magic is to Eggman's intelligence! It's too risky to engage a foe when you're not thinking clearly!"
"I am thinkin' clear!" Sonic argued back, getting into a running position with one hand on the ground. "And my mind's tellin' me to get movin'! I'm outta here!"
The hedgehog then wound up his legs until his moving legs formed a figure eight, then took off in a blue streak as he executed his Super Peel Out successfully.
Amy, after smacking the head off of a random Egg Fighter, shouted towards Sonic's direction, saying, "BE SAFE, SONIC! AND GOOD LUCK!"
"Amy, look out!" Tails cried, watching as an Egg Fighter carrying a sword was ready to strike at her.
Luckily for her, Cheese came in the nick of time by knocking the blade out of the machine's mechanical hand. This was followed by Cream drop kicking through the midsection of the robot, tearing through its innards of wires, gears, springs, and other parts which caused the Egg Fighter to stop functioning.
As Cream landed behind Amy's back with Cheese not too far behind, the pink Mobian hedgehog said, "Thanks, Cream, Cheese!"
"You can count us! We always have your back, Miss Amy!" Cream mentioned, never taking her eyes off her targets.
"Chao!" Cheese agreed in a meaningful and dutiful manner.
Sally, accessing her Blue Rings around her wrist, formed a sword construct and a shield construct, joined Amy, Tails, Cream (and Cheese), and Sonar while standing beside NICOLE.
"We'll be working off of Sonic's plan! Clear out all of Robotnik's forces!" Sally reinstated. "Then, we'll book it to the cathedral and back Sonic up!"
"Right!" The others acknowledged by nodding.
"Good," Sally nodded before everybody sprung into action as they charged forward. "Let's do it to it!"
Ian St. John Cathedral, Furville, Acornia
The tranquility of the small town of Furville was interrupted by the sound of the Metal Robotnik's rocket screeching as the mecha flew overhead with a famous celebrity tightly in one of its hands.
The pedestrians that weren't screaming in horror or recording the flying spectacle on their smartphones or other devices were watching as the machine landed on top of a large cathedral which borrowed its design from Western Europe.
"SOMETHING'S UP IN THE SKY!"
"OH CHAOS! iTS HUGE!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?"
"LOOK! IT HAS SOMEONE IN ITS HANDS!"
The bystanders that were nearby the church watched with apprehension as the robot perched at the edge of the roof before standing tall. It retracted its wings before spawning its black cloak once more in wait.
Lifting his hand with Breezie for her to see that they've arrived at his desired destination, Eggman, through Metal Robotnik, said, "At last, we've arrived."
Of course, this fell into deaf ears as the former-pop star-turned-businesswoman was preoccupied in trying to break from the clutches of Metal Robotnik.
"Struggle all you like, girl." Said the conniving doctor while his voice modulator tweaked it to sound low pitched and digital. "It won't do you any good. You're not escaping the grip of my latest creation."
Breezie turned her head towards the face of the machine and scowled at it.
"Shut up! I'm not listening to a crazed egocentric coward."
"Me? A Coward?" Eggman said, feigning a hurt tone calmly. "Your words wound me, Miss Breezie. That's quite a bold accusation. I fail to recognize my supposed cowardice given that I came in person rather than fetching a mechanical lackey to capture you in my place."
Breezie scoffed saying, "...Right! Because a hostage makes you look sooo tough! Who are you trying to fool, yourself or me?"
"Be silent, you wench!" Eggman hissed through Metal Robotnik before composing himself like nothing happened. "My tactics are not based on honor or morality, therefore, your opinion means nothing to me. With you at my mercy, Sonic will have no choice but to bend to my will. And once he does, you can kiss that Emerald and that irritating rodent goodbye."
Before Eggman could let out his usual chortle, he was beaten by Breezie, who snorted at first until it turned into full blown laughter.
Definitely not the kind of reaction that Eggman was expecting.
From the inside of his machine, Dr. Robotnik's eyebrows furrowed as he demanded, "...Why are you laughing? I just threatened to kill your former lover! Stop laughing and answer me, girl!"
Breezie eventually settled down with a saw of relief.
"...Wow! The rumors are true. You've lost your marbles." Breezie snarked.
"What was that?" The doctor gritted, reeling the girl close to the robot's face.
"Let's make something clear, Robotnik. I'm not afraid of you. Like, at all. You're constantly getting humiliated by a kid on the regular, your most notable achievement was not done by a weapon that wasn't your own but was undone, and most of your "brilliant" creations are useless faulty robots that can't even harm a wall. And no matter how large or tough you make them, they get scrapped by the end of it all. Face it, Eggman. Sonic's going to show up and put you in your place like he always does. He has you beat."
Breezie was then met with an unsettling low cackle that was so chilling that a chill ran down her spine.
"Hehehehe! I wouldn't be so sure, rodent. I have a few tricks up my sleeve this time. He won't know what'll hit him." Metal Robotnik smirked before Eggman's interface detected movement from a mile away heading towards his direction at a fast rate.
"Ah, and speak of the Blue Devil! He's on his way just as planned!" Said Metal Robotnik before binding the businesswoman to a pole on top of the church with chains made of Ixis Magick so that she could not escape. "Don't blink, girl. You and this town are in for a show."
"Y-You—!"
Before Breezie could spew obscenities at the scientist, Metal Robotnik then hops over to another side of the church's roof. Thirty seconds later, Sonic arrived, leaping from one building to the edge of the Ian St. John Cathedral.
"Ah, if it isn't Sonic! My admirable adversary." The maliciously giddy scientist announced. "Glad that you made it on time. Not that I wasn't expecting anything less from the World's Fastest Hypersonic Hedgehog."
Sonic, however, did not share the same excitement or zeal that he once possessed. Instead, his face was firm, serious, a no-nonsense get-it-done attitude.
"Out of all the schemes that you've come up with against me, this has got to be a new low." Sonic said, clenching his fists out of his calmed rage. "Down right dirty, even for you."
"Poor boy, hadn't those old hoots taught you anything?" Metal Robotnik mocked, causing Sonic to growl at him in anger. "All is fair in love and war. And unlike your hopeless love life, I have more experience in the latter. Now, the Chaos Emerald. I know you have it with you, rodent. Out with it!"
Breezie watched as Sonic slowly took out the dark blue gemstone from his quills.
From his cloak, Metal Robotnik extended his hand with its palm reaching out.
"Good. Now, be an obedient little animal and hand it over to me." Commanded Metal Robotnik.
Hearing this, Breezie shouted, "No! Don't listen to him, Sonic! He's egging you on!"
Sonic, glancing at the gemstone, the machine, then Breezie, the hedgehog placed the Chaos Emerald back in his quills and stared at Metal Robotnik defiantly.
"You want this Chaos Emerald, Eggman? You're gonna have to take it from me!" Sonic declared before backflipping to the street, awaiting the tussle. "Let's dance!"
Metal Robotnik ditched the cloak to activate his bat-wings and jetpack.
"I expected your defiance, you insufferable rodent!" Eggman cackled as Metal Robotnik flew overhead and dropped right in front of Sonic. "It's time you learn the meaning of respect. GET READY TO BE SCHOOLED!"
Metal Robotnik opened up its wings as it glowed violet. From there, large shards of Ixis crystals with the size of small pillars flew out of the glowing bat wings and towards Sonic. The seasoned adventure acted quickly and evaded the incoming projectiles by side stepping out of the way as he moved forward. Sonic then hopped on the shards in the air as a means to travel directly to Metal Robotnik.
Out of habit, Sonic resorted to performing the Homing Attack to strike the head of Metal Robotnik with the expectation to inflict moderate damage. However, the mecha that the grandson of Gerald Robotnik piloted fashioned the mystical bat-wings into a protective shield, successfully stopping and repelling Sonic into a nearby empty SUV that had already been evacuated.
Breezie gasped in shock, feeling her heart clenched in emotional pain.
"Oh Hohohoho!" Eggman laughed mockingly. "Try nice, but predictable! You'll have to do better than that to best me, Hedgehog!"
The hedgehog rolled out of the windshield he had barreled into, shaking his aching head.
'...Okay, OW! Can't take the direct approach.' Sonic groaned in his mind as he got up from the ground. 'That's fine by me. In times like these, an ol' sayin' that Granny Owl always told me comes to mind.'
As he gazed up to the walking Metal Robotnik, Sonic's confident grin returned as he calmly recalled, "There's one more than one way to skin a catfish!"
With that, Sonic used the Super Peel Out to regain the speedy momentum that he possessed.
Through the interface of Metal Robotnik, the doctor watched as his archenemy raced around his creation's legs.
"What is the animal up to this time?" Eggman questioned, watching as Sonic ran in circles.
Using his incredible speed. Sonic accelerated in speed as he continued to run around Metal Robotnik's small legs while spinning until he formed a small tornado effect that obscured the visual of the doctor.
This was known as the Tornado Attack, specifically, the Blue Tornado.
"GAH! CURSE YOU!" Barked Metal Robotnik, trying to see through the tornado in order to read Sonic's next course of action.
Seeing that his enemy was distracted, Sonic sprinted to the space in between the mech's legs.
"Gimme those kneecaps, doc!" Sonic cockily demanded before he curled into a ball and landed several Spin Attacks into the joints of Metal Robotnik's legs.
Breezie witnessed Sonic's attack and cheered for her former lover.
"YEAH! THAT'S IT! LET HIM HAVE IT!"
The repetition of this strategy and the constant assault he was being dealt, Eggman's agitation eventually reached his breaking point. Out of anger, Eggman pressed a few buttons on the interface. As a result, Metal Robotnik flexed its bat-wings with enough force to disrupt the Blue Tornado Sonic produced, sending the hedgehog skipping a yard back as the mecha levitated several feet from the street.
"ENOUGH OF THESE GAMES!" Metal Robotnik bellowed. "ALL SYSTEMS, FULL POWER!"
Accessing the Ixis-based Power Core, Metal Robotnik began to channel the evil magic throughout the machine, gaining an ominous violet outerglow while blue electrical sparks danced around it.
Sonic watched this as he felt a shiver run down his spine.
'...That can't be good.' The hero thought to himself.
While the yellow stripes moved out of place to reveal small missiles with spiked balls made up of crystals as the missile head, Metal Robotnik cackled evil as he said, "NOW… GET A LOAD OF THIS!"
Seeing six missiles launched directly at him at speeds that were nearing his own, Sonic muttered two words.
"...Aw, crap."
These missiles forced Sonic to be on the defensive as he ran away away from the projectiles that were hot on his trail.
The Azurite managed to lead one missile into a nearby car, only for the collision to detonate and skewer the vehicle by a protrusion of crystals.
"No way!" Sonic cried as he kept moving. "I can't let any of those things hit me!"
Eggman and Breezie as Sonic hopelessly dashed back and forth with urgency, attempting to shake the Ixis Missiles off but failing in the process.
Furrowing her eyebrows in frustration, Breezie thought, 'This doesn't make any sense! Why isn't Maurice shaking off those rockets?'
This was answered by Robotnik seconds later.
"Hahaha! Run all you like, Hedgehog. I personally programmed those missiles to follow the Chaos Energy that flows through your body." Metal Robotnik cackled. "It's only a matter of time before you slip up. And once you do, my creations will gore you in an explosive mess!"
Sonic, while being chased, began to formulate a plan to deter the homing missiles without causing too much collateral damage or costing any innocent people's lives.
'This is getting on my nerves! I can't touch these things, I can't outrun them, and I can't afford to wreck anybody else's rides 'cause I ain't got no car insurance!' Sonic complained. 'Alright, then! It's time I got a little creative!'
Sonic stopped running for a split second, then backflipped onto one of the missiles' shafts to essentially ride on the Ixis Missile.
"WHAT TH–!? WHAT IS HE DOING!?" Metal Robotnik cried while Breezie cheered again upon figuring out her ex-boyfriend's strategy.
"THAT'S IT! SEND THEM CRASHING INTO EACH OTHER!"
Right after Breezie's cry, Sonic guided these projectiles using the one he was riding and swiftly hopped off the missile once all five were close enough.
This resulted in a large explosion above the descending Sonic.
"...WHY THAT HORRID LITTLE–!" The hedgehog hating roboticist growled before vanishing in a violet mist.
"Holy–! W-Where did he go?" Breezie questioned with anticipation.
Despite being the world's fastest hedgehog, Sonic couldn't anticipate Metal Robotnik reappearing from a mist to send him back upward with a front kick. Warping once more, Eggman warped fifteen feet in the air as had his mech wait for Sonic's to fly near him.
"TAKE THIS!"
Reeling its right fist back, Sonic was sent through two buildings by the punch of Metal Robotnik, only for him to crash into the wall of the Sir Connery Public Library.
"MAURICE, NO!" Breezie wailed, with tears threatening to pour from the emotional stress.
Sonic gasped in pain upon his back making rough contact with the stone wall, causing him to cough up blood.
Fidgeting ever so slightly from the crater that he was in, Sonic found himself stumbling ten feet into the ground, hitting branches from the suburban trees that were around.
"ARGH…" Sonic groaned while on his knees. "S-Shoot! That definitely d-did damage!"
Sonic did not have time to catch his breath as he sensed another projectile heading towards him through his quills.
As it turned out, Metal Robotnik materialized while planting its feet on top of the water fountain. It had its left arm extended, with its smoking fingers now morphed into gun barrels.
But before the blast could hit Sonic dead on, Knuckles (wearing a satchel) emerged from the underground as he deflected the blast with an uppercut.
Eggman, while inside the cockpit of Metal Robotnik, sneered at the sudden appearance and meddling of the echidna.
Slamming his fists down, the echidna's sent a wave of large sharp protruding stones at the robot, prompting the doctor to move out of the way.
"Knuckles!" Sonic cried before smiling a bit. "Boy, am I glad to see you. How'd ya find me?"
Knuckles turned around and helped Sonic stand by grabbing one of the hedgehog's arms.
"I trained myself to sense the Chaos Energy within objects in a similar vein to how my father taught me to sense the Master Emerald. I homed in on the signature of Chaos Emerald that you held, which made it easier for me to find your location." Knuckles explained. "That, and I followed the loud vibrations from underground."
"Heh, that's a nifty trick ya got there." Sonic smirked.
Metal Robotnik reappeared again from the sky, raining down bullets made of Ixis Magick on the two rodents with its Machine Gun fingers.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR YOUR INTRUSION, ECHIDNA!"
Sonic zigzagged past the widespread bullets while sidestepping from the projectiles. Knuckles, however, jumped over a few of them before charging up his right fist and sucker punched one of the upcoming larger volley of bullets, taking Eggman by surprise.
"You first!" Knuckles fired back in an aggressive fashion, having aimed the trajectory of the light bullet right at the Ixis Power Core.
"NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
As a result, the menacing robot took a considerable amount of damage, forcing Metal Robotnik to take one knee down as the mech malfunctioned momentarily.
While inside the cockpit of the large robot, Dr. J Ivo Robotnik ordered his AI to give him an update on the status of his latest creation.
After running a quick diagnostic, SNIVELY then told Dr. Robotnik, "Sir, I have unfortunate news. The operating systems of Metal Robotnik dropped from ninety five percent to thirty five percent in power."
"What!? How can that be!?" Robotnik shouted in an uproar. "There should have been a barrier protecting the machine!"
"Damage, sir. The Ixis Power Core has sustained battle damage from Metal Robotnik's own Ixis Bullets. The projectile bypassed the force field that was created by the vehicle. Therefore, it is experiencing a loss of more than half its full power."
"Wait… Are you telling me that Ixis Magick can cancel itself out?"
"It seems to be that way, sir."
In a nasty growl, Eggman barked "Never mind that! I need this problem solved today! Switch to the Chaos Drive powered generators. I need to preserve as much Ixis Magick inside of that Power Core as possible!"
SNIVELY responded by telling his creator, "Yes, sir. Though, I am required to remind you that this transition will take at least a full minute and thirty seconds. Will this command suffice?"
"YES! Stop asking stupid questions and do what you're told!" Eggman barked, waiting for his machine to be running properly again
Meanwhile, Knuckles and Sonic were talking amongst themselves for a moment.
"What are you doing allowing yourself to be thrown around like this?" Knuckles questioned, glaring at Sonic. "Have you no honor, no dignity?"
"Hey, now, I've got plenty of dignity. And some honor to boot." Sonic said, rebuking Knuckles' accusation.
"Could have fooled me." The echidna snorted.
"Knux, don't you start that mess with me right now. I'm not in the mood for it." Sonic warned as he explained his case. "Listen, this Metal Robotnik robot is not only decked out with Eggman's latest tech, but it's been supercharged by that troll's magic."
Knuckles' face went from disappointed to shocked.
"You're kidding!" Knuckles growled.
"Tch! I wish…" Sonic said, rolling his eyes. "But it looks like whatever you did to land a hit on him stunned the bot for a minute."
"Good. Now's our chance to," Knuckles started as he was ready to charge at the fallen machine, only for Sonic to interject.
"Hold your horses, Knucklehead!" Sonic said, holding out his hands in front of himself to stop the echidna warrior. "I can't let you do that."
Knuckles, crossing his arms, asked, "And why not, Hedgehog? Wait, don't tell me. You wish to have fun all by yourself, right?"
Shaking his head, the blue adventure stated while placing a hand on the echidna's shoulder, "As much as I would love to jump this fool together, I've got a favor to ask of you."
The purple eyed Mobian raised a brow at the younger green eyed Quickster.
"...You need a favor from me now, out of all times?" Knuckles questioned in mild irritation.
"There's a girl that Eggman's usin' as a hostage against me, Knuckles." Sonic said, getting Knuckles' complete attention without any sort of snark to him. "At anytime, he could do somethin' horrible to her if I don't face him alone. I can't afford to put her life at risk 'cause of me."
"... My apologies, I didn't know of this." Knuckles said as his way of apologizing as he then asked, "Who is this girl? Where can she be found?"
"Her name's Breanna, as she's over on the roof of a cathedral not far from here." Sonic explained, pointing at Ian St. John Cathedral landmark in the distance. "That's a large fancy church, by the way."
Knuckles dismissively held on gloved hand up, saying, "I'm perfectly educated in what are considered places of worship, thank you. But, you do not need to worry. Consider this Breanna freed."
"Hold up," Sonic cried. "I gotta warn you, the doc's got her tied up in Ixis Binds. With all of this hocus pocus nonsense that we're dealin' with, somethin' tells me that they ain't gonna break as easily or by any normal means. Think you can handle that?"
Knuckles, as he began to walk away from the blue hedgehog, stated, "Well, that's not your problem now, is it? Besides, I relish in a challenge. You focus on trouncing that freak."
And with that, Knuckles took off in a red blur to the nearest high building, jumped off, and glided away to his next destination.
Sonic nodded then turned to see Metal Robotnik, now standing without that violet light surrounding the machine.
"Round two, Hedgehog! And you'll be paying for that annoying little rodent's transgression in full!" Eggman said through Metal Robotnik, summoning a checker-wrecker-ball flail, and a round red and white shield with a golden star on it.
While Metal Robotnik swung the flail around in the air, Sonic crouched on the ground to prepare himself to perform a Spin Dash.
"You want it, you got it!" Sonic cried before curling in a ball and launching himself at Eggman with his left fist cocked back.
Meanwhile, With Sally, Sonar, Tails, Amy, and Cream in the Mobian Music Festival
Currently, the Freedom Fighters were holding their own against Eggman's mechanical forces.
Over at the Acornian princess' area, the Mobian chipmunk had torn through half of the wave of Robotnik's killer robots using the sword construct that was powered by one of her blue wrist ring cuffs while the other construct was that of a shield.
As Sally did battle with an Egg Knight in a clash of swords, Sally shouted, "What's our progress, everybody? I'm halfway through with my horde!"
Tails, after giving Sonar one of his Tempest Bracers, was blasting Egg Knights and Egg Pawns left and right by activating his arm cannon alongside his fellow Mobian fox. Tails had taken to the skies while Sonar remained grounded.
Picking up Sally's voice, Sonar replied, saying, "We're almost done, Sally!"
Meanwhile, over in another horde of Bandiks, a familiar red and gold hammer flew through the bodies of several Egg Pawns. The hammer then found itself warping back to the fourteen-year-old hedgehog's hand.
"Give me a second, princess! There's still a bunch of Egg Pawns that need to go, and I've got a lot of steam to blow off." Amy said with determination before charging forward with an angry battle cry.
Sadly, for the next dozen Egg Pawns, they had to suffer the wrath of Amy and her Piko Piko Hammer. This came in the form of an advanced technique which involved Amy jumping into the air while twirling her whole body around vertically. She then brought her hammer down while somersaulting, and hitting the ground with it. This briefly created a small pink column before it formed a pink dome of energy that expanded large enough to envelop all twelve Egg Pawns.
Not far behind Amy, Cream and Cheese coordinated swift aerial strikes together. Cream's simple but powerful kicks were changed into her performing Spin Attacks, which she did in such a rapid succession that Cream and Cheese finished their wave of enemies.
When she dealt the finishing blow to an Egg Knight, Cream shouted, "We're all finished over here, Princess Sally."
"Chao!" Cheese chirped.
Nodding, Sally parried a sword strike from the blade of the Egg Knight, cut the sword-wielding hand of the robot, kicked its shield away, and finally split the Egg Knight in half with a downwards slash.
Within ten minutes of hard working labor and combat, the Freedom Fighters regrouped upon finishing their work of sending every machine into piles of scraps.
"Great work, Freedom Fighters!" Sally congratulated the group. "The enemy was taken down with minimum collateral and no casualties."
NICOLE, upon rematerializing from her hardware, stated, "...I've successfully erected the barrier around the Safety Center. A majority of the civilians are entering the building as we speak."
"Excellent," Sally said before looking back at everybody else. "Now that the civilians have a place to take shelter, we can go and assist Sonic."
"Yeah!" Tails agreed, with Amy and Cream nodded.
"W-Wait!" Sonar blurted out, causing all eyes to fall on her. "What about Breezie? We can't leave her helpless to Robotnik's mercy. She still needs help!"
The image of Breezie being captured by Metal Robotnik suddenly flashed in the group's mind, reminding them that her life was at risk.
Amy, while not exactly fond of the older hedgehog, knew that Sonic still cared for the girl. And regardless of how she personally felt about Breezie, Amy Rose was a heroine and she would always help those in need.
Sighing, Amy said with determination, "...You're right. As much as I can't stand I can't stand her, nobody deserves to be used like a pawn. Especially not by creeps like Eggman. I know how that feels."
Everybody on the team smiled at Amy's compassion.
"Well said, Amy," Sally proudly said as she then turned to NICOLE once more, "If I remember correctly, Robotnik was taking her over to Ian St. John Cathedral. Can you confirm this?"
NICOLE gave her leader a silent nod before creating a visual by creating a digital viewing portal through accessing the street lights' cameras. This was when they saw a red figure seemingly gliding in the air towards the church's roof.
"Hey guys, guess who's back!" Amy pointed out with a smirk.
"It's Knuckles!" Both Cream and Tails exclaimed excitedly.
NICOLE stated, "It appears that he has arrived to free Breanna from her capture."
"Oh, thank goodness." Sonar exhaled in a sigh of relief. "Right on time, too."
"In that case…" Sally spoke up again, "We'll meet up with them, then help out Sonic."
"Sounds like a plan." Tails concurred, with the others agreeing with Sally's plan as well.
"Right, let's get moving!" Sally commanded
With everybody onboard, the Freedom Fighters race towards the church on foot.
Sir Connery Public, Furville, Acornia
This wasn't a piece of cake. No, scratch that. The cake was a lie. Whoever came up with that idiom or saying deserved a Spin Dash to the butt.
Sonic thought this all the while dodging regular missiles which had been deployed by Metal Robotnik.
At first, Sonic was confident. Eggman was using his normal power source and usual tactics, something that the blue hedgehog was all too familiar with. So, he figured that a couple of Spin Attacks and a Homing Attack was all that was needed since Knuckles bashed the doctor's fancy new power source.
…Oh boy, was he wrong.
Each Spin Attack was met with a punishing blow of his checkered wrecking ball that Eggman flicked at him with incredible timing and accuracy.
And the Homing Attack? Well, Eggman's shield was used to not only block the offensive maneuver, but like some sort of spring, he repelled the speedy hedgehog with it.
Now that Eggman had Sonic on the ropes in their bout, Sonic was trying his hardest to deal with the flying missiles as he fought Metal Robotnik.
The blue hedgehog, despite his bruises, was still hot on his pursuit of Eggman as he leapt from missile to missile in order to close in on the giant mech.
"What's wrong, Sonic? You're being awfully quiet this time, no witty remarks or jokes at my expense. Have I done it? Have I finally squashed that egocentric nature of yours?" Eggman inquired while dodging another direct attack from the Blue Blur as he batted Sonic away from his shield. "I was expecting more spunk, more fire from this game of ours, but I guess comedy hour is over and the kiddy gloves are off!"
Sonic skidded on the concrete, bouncing a few times like a rock skipping across a pond before correctly positioning his feet on the ground.
While one leg was kneeling on the ground, Sonic's face scrunched up in anger as he hissed at the doctor.
"...Game!? This is a GAME to you!?" Sonic said before boosting forward to face his archenemy head on. "To threaten somebody close to me!? To threaten the life of the woman I loved!?"
Sonic decided to go and parkour on one of the arms of Metal Robotnik in an attempt to punch his metallic face.
"Oh, so now you have a love life? Now, you're interested in chasing hedgehog tail? And they say that I'm the delusional one!" Metal Robotnik mocked Sonic with the machine's free hand and brought him close to the robot's face. "Get with the program, Mister 'Hero of Mobius', cause as much as you want it to be true, you're not some everyday run of the mill Mobian hedgehog who gets to fall in love with some overrated songstress, who if I might add stole your sappy little love song and made millions off of it!"
Eggman then proceeded to throw Sonic into the ground with enough force to make him bounce off of the ground, then roundhouse kicked Sonic into a nearby bank with walls made of granite.
Once again, Sonic found his back against the wall, embedded there for a few seconds until he fell down.
"Let me enlighten you on the harsh reality we live in, boy. The ideal and beautiful world you envisioned doesn't exist, wanna know why? Because you, Oliver Maurice Cobalt, are a child! An ignorant, stupid, arrogant and petulant child! One that has no business interfering in affairs that has no relevance to you, nor do you have true comprehension of." Metal Robotnik declared as he swung his flail with great force.
A vein on his forehead became more visible on the forehead of the Fastest Thing Alive. Sonic stood up from the ground and defiantly glared at Metal Robotnik.
"SHUT UP!" Sonic shot back, boosting once more, except instead of utilizing the Homing Attack, Sonic faked one so that the doctor could take the bait. Metal Robotnik did so by trying to smash Sonic by punching the ground. The hedgehog's quickness allowed him to scale that arm, and executed a Drop Dash to try and cut off that arm from the shoulder while creating sparks that flew all around. "You act like you know every little thing about me, but you don't! So, stop actin' like it, Eggman!"
Sonic gritted his teeth as he struggled to cut through Metal Robotnik's arm from the shoulder, thinking, 'Come on, you hunk of junk! Why won't you budge!?'
"Don't know you? Please, I have studied and analyzed your power, your movements and your tactics for years, Sonic! All for the pleasuring of finally destroying you and proving my superior intellect! I'm sure you've already noticed that my Metal Robotnik has been outfitted with weapons designed specifically to counter your famous techniques, and it's only just a prototype yet look how well it's performing against you, Hedgehog."
Tapping into a bit of Ixis Magick, Metal Robotnik electrocuted the speedy blue hero with an aura of electricity, causing Sonic to scream in agony which attracted the attention of the bystanders that were watching from the safety of the windows of their homes, business establishments, and vehicles.
When fifteen seconds passed and the voltage subsided, Sonic was about dropped to the ground, only for Metal Robotnik to flick him to the floor with his free hand.
Sonic hit the ground once more, now with his burnt skin now smoking from having been recently fried.
And yes, Robotnik savored every moment of Sonic's torment, he was far from done with his arch adversary.
Eggman had Metal Robotnik take a single mighty step forward, causing the vehicles around him to shake.
"GET UP, BOY! I'M NOT FINISHED PUNISHING YOU YET!" Metal Robotnik commanded.
Regardless of the pain, Sonic shakily stood his ground, never daring to admit defeat.
Meanwhile, Sally (with NICOLE), Tails, Cream (and Cheese), and Sonar had met up with Knuckles and Breezie after the echidna freed her by breaking the Ixis Binds using a large crystal to smash them with.
After regrouping, they managed to follow the sounds of clashes and explosions, leading them to a street that was near the site of the vicious battle. Now they were in the town square of Furville where there was a park right below the library.
"Pick up the pace, guys! The closest explosion was heard in this direction, so they must be somewhere in this area!" Sally instructed.
"Says, you!" Amy complained aloud as she looked around aimlessly with Tails, Cream, and Sonar glancing around as well. "I don't see him anyway!"
Before any more inner conflicts could arise within the group, Knuckles said as he and the others stopped moving, "No, she is right! Sonic is here. I can sense him on the other side of the street."
'Maurice, you better alright.' Breezie thought to herself before her hardened expression turned into a worried one. 'Please, be alright.'
"Really, but I don't see him or that madman an–"
Sonar's sentence was cut short by Metal Robotnik crashing through an entire building like a blitzing football play as Sonic was sent flying into a statue where the Freedom Fighters and Breezie were adjacent to by several yards away and several below them.
"SONIC!" Sally, Amy, Tails, and Sonar screamed, horrified to see Sonic's beaten state slumped against the statue.
Cream gasped, "Oh no, he's hurt!"
"Chao…" The normal Chao muttered in sadness.
"Damn, Eggman's done on him! He's not playing around this time!" Knuckles said, clenching his fists.
"Oh Gaia, Maurice…" Breezie whispered, not being able to take her eyes off a seemingly defeated Sonic. "What did he do to you?"
"SONIKKU! Don't worry, I'll save you!" Amy screamed with hammer in hand as she prepared to leap into action, only to find herself being repelled back by an invisible force field.
"Oh no!" Sally said in worry. "Robotnik must be using Ixis Magick around the area! We can't pass through to help Sonic!"
"No! NO!" Breezie said in panic as she banged on the force field. "MAURICE! GET UP! YOU HAVE TO GET UP! YOU JUST HAVE TO!"
Unfortunately for her, Breezie's words fell on deaf ears.
'...S-Shoot! …C-Can't move. T-too weak.' Sonic groaned in his mind as he struggled to keep his eyes open. 'My eyes…I can barely keep them open. Pain…everything is in pain. Man, this isn't good.'
"Hehehehe!" Metal Robotnik cackled as he slowly stepped closer and closer to Sonic. "Not so fly now, are you Hotshot? You're beaten, squashed, broken. If there's one thing nature has taught me, it's that all organisms have limits, and you Sonic have reached yours. Sure, you can get back up and keep fighting and even get stronger than you are now, but eventually that tiny body of yours will reach its zenith, while my machines and technology will grow indefinitely. Why delay the inevitable? You can't fight change, Hedgehog."
Everybody listened to Eggman's speech, NICOLE included. And while the whole group watched in apprehension as he verbally dismantled the blue hedgehog, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles found themselves tensing up when the doctor brought up a particular word around their friend.
This did not go unnoticed by Sally and NICOLE (who had been out of her computer at the time). In spite of the princess not being a mind reader, she knew how to read in between the lines.
And Amy, Tails, and Knuckles' expressions screamed, "He shouldn't have said that…"
For a brief moment, the entire world around Sonic the hedgehog had slowed down to a screeching halt when a single word that flew out of the doctor's mouth registered in Sonic, causing an unreadable expression to take form on his face.
"...What the fuck did you just say to me?" Sonic cursed evenly, as if he didn't hear the scientist clearly as he barely managed to stand up straight.
Inside of the machine, Dr. Robotnik was taken aback by the swearing mouth of the teenager. He had never heard the rodent take this sort of tone with him before, let alone resort to such foul language. Nonetheless, Eggman decided to presson on anyway.
"Maybe I wasn't being blunt enough. I said you've reached your limits, and even if you got stronger, you can't reach infinity, no creature of flesh and blood can."
'...Limit? LIMIT!? HE SAID THAT I REACHED MY–'
Sonic didn't dare to finish that sentence in his thoughts since he was so angry. No, he was outright furious!
That controlled rage manifested into power as blue bio electricity began surging through his irises, parts of his body and through his quills. The power was so great it began to tear through the streets and nearby metallic devices.
This phenomenon of wild energy coming off of Sonic grew at an alarming rate which caught the attention of Dr. Robotnik, Sally, NICOLE, and Tails. When asked what was happening, none, not even Eggman nor NICOLE could come up with a logical explanation.
This occurrence was a new development for Sonic the Hedgehog.
In a flash of blue lightning, Sonic bolted east, leaving a trail of flames behind him as cracks of sonic booms could be heard miles away.
"WOAH!" Exclaimed Tails said as all of the Freedom Fighters covered their faces from the force in which the wind blew.
"WHAT THE DEVIL!? WHERE IS HE!?" Metal Robotnik gasped in shock before he barked at his AI. "SNIVELY, WHERE DID HE GO!? TRACK THAT HEDGEHOG VIA THE EGG SPY SATELLITES! I NEEDED HIM FOUND YESTERDAY!"
SNIVELY stuttered, "T-Tracking, sir! Doctor, Sonic's already arrived back in Acornia! And he's approaching fast from the Wes–"
"GAH!" Metal Robotnik grunted, as if he was physically struck himself.
Suddenly, a powerful blow was dealt to Metal Robotnik now that the shield arm completely gone, having been reduced to charded scrap.
The Freedom Fighters could only see the aftermath of the first attack, and stared in awe of the damage dealt with.
"No way, he took it's arm off!" Knuckles pointed out. "I can't even track his movements!"
"Me neither!" Amy stated. "I don't think he's ever moved this fast before!"
"N-NICOLE! Where is–"
Before Sally could finish the question, NICOLE broke out her usual impassive exterior out of bewilderment as the advanced AI openly calculated the speed in which Sonic was currently moving.
"What's wrong, NICOLE? You've never acted like this before?"
"It's Oliver, Princess. He is accelerating at an alarming rate." NICOLE clarified. "Our satellites detected that he just circled around the planet in ten seconds."
"What!?" The chipmunk gasped. "My gosh!"
Just then, Sonic reappeared from the South in a fast velocity to strike Metal Robotnik in the back, creating a large dent as he vanished from sight once more.
Meanwhile, inside of Metal Robotnik, SNIVELY was also doing so in a manner similar to NICOLE in which the doctor interpreted as a bunch of nervous ramblings.
"ARGH! Damn it, SNIVELY! Quit your babbling and give it to me straight!" Robotnik growled.
"I-I-It's the hedgehog's speed, doctor! It appears that he is moving at speeds that is far greater than anything we've ever recorded on his file!" The AI stumbled. "His second attack just clocked under eight seconds, meaning that he had traveled 5,009.375 kilometers per second."
"Excuse me!?" Eggman denied in disbelief. "He's only been able to move at Mach 15 as his maximum speed without the Chaos Emeralds, and you're telling me he's gone Mach 14,604!? It's impossible!"
SNIVELY defended himself, saying, "I-It's the truth, and–hedgehog incoming!"
Despite the AI's best efforts, Eggman's creation wasn't fast enough to react to Sonic's insane speed. In four flashes , Metal Robotnik was down a knee, lost its other arm, got its wings clipped, and lost the armor plating around its chest which revealed the damaged Ixis Power Core.
This time, Sonic ran four laps in under two seconds.
The blue hedgehog then finally showed himself in front of his friends and Metal Robotnik, sparking with an aura of blue lightning surrounding him as he vibrated dangerously.
"...I-Is that Maurice?" Breezie questioned in awe and with a tinge of fear.
"Yeah," Tails nodded lightly, still processing what he's watching. "Or, at least I think it's him."
"Come on, Hedgehog! Wrap it up!" Knuckles encouraged with a bit of a firm eagerness to his voice.
"T-This can't be…" Robotnik groaned bitterly as he forced the robot to stand. "No… I refuse to be made a fool by a lowly brat! I will not be brought down by you, Hedgehog! NOT AGAIN!"
As a desperate attempt to end the match, Eggman used the last bit of Ixis Magick to charge a widespread explosion that was intended to wipe the town off the map. In spite of this, Sonic intervened by making use of his fully charged state to bounce off of the side of nearby buildings, landing a series of rapid fire body slams while curled in a spiky blue ball, denting and smashing the once menacing mecha into a heap of compressed scrap.
As he slid back while cloaked in blue lightning, Sonic shouted, "YOU'RE FINISHED, ROBOTNIK!"
With a supercharged Spin Dash, Sonic shot through the chest of Metal Robotnik, shattering the Ixis Power Core and causing the machine to explode. From the smoke, Eggman was blown out of view as he swore his revenge in the sky.
"I'LL HAVE MY REVENGE ANOTHER DAAAY!"
Sonic landed on the ground, looking up to the sky as the electricity around him slowly faded. He panted in fatigue, trying to catch his breath after the lightning faded from his body and irises.
"Tch! Limits…" Sonic scowled, glaring at Eggman's direction with his narrowed eyes. "How's that for m-my limit, doc?"
"SONIC!"
The hedgehog turned around to see his friends and ex girlfriend approach him. Of course, Amy had been fast enough to swoop in to hug him first.
But much to the sixteen year old's surprise, Amy's embrace was much more gentle and careful.
While the fourteen-year-old looked up to Sonic while still hugging him, Amy said, "Thank Chaos, you're okay! We were worried about you."
"There wasn't a need to worry, Ames." Sonic said, giving a small weary but reassuring grin. "Everythin' turned out A-okay in the end."
"Are you sure that you're okay, Sonic?" Tails questioned, with Sally, Breezie, Cream (with Cheese), and Sonar gazing at his injured form. "It looks like you've been put through the wringer."
"In more ways than one," Knuckles bluntly added.
Sonic masked his true feelings by telling his friends with his trademark attitude, "The adventure would be a let down if there ain't no challenge to it. Besides, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. This war ain't gettin' any easier from here, and I welcome it."
Upon hearing this Sally dropped her head out of disappointment, mentally sighing at Sonic's actions.
'Oliver…why do you keep doing this to yourself? The princess mentally inquired.
NICOLE floated over to Sonic, and said, "180,150."
Sonic and the others turned their attention to the AI in her holo lynx form in confusion.
"...Uh, what?" The Azurite intelligently questioned.
"Your speed, Sonic," NICOLE clarified. "I've calculated what's possibly your maximum speed. The circumference of Mobius is 24,901 miles (or 40,075 kilometers). Velocity equals distance divided by time. From the data that I've gathered using the satellites to track your movement, you've managed to successfully cross the entire planet four times in two seconds. That leaves me with the answer of 80,150 kilometers a second."
This left Tails, Sonar, and Sally speechless while Cream, Amy, Knuckles, and Breezie were confused by the lynx's explanation.
"What does she mean by that, Tails?" Cream asked, looking to the older fox to break down NICOLE's explanation,
"According to those calculations, Sonic must have run over 179,000,000 miles per hour." Tails explained.
Sonar added, "Specifically, he ran 179,290,443 miles per hour or 288,540,000 kilometers an hour."
"-Many times faster than the fastest terrestrial vehicle, aircraft, and sea vessel on the planet combined." Sally simplified, prompting the rest of the group to react similarly to them.
NICOLE continued speaking, asking Sonic, "Vigor and determination aside, you should have long since perished before our arrival from battle damage. And yet, in spite of all of the odds that are against you, you managed to find tremendous strength to overcome them. How are you able to do it?"
Sonic gave NICOLE a weak smile, saying, "Hehe! What can I say? I can't stand being told what I can and can't do. It drives me nuts, ya know?"
"...I still do not understand,"
"I don't expect you to, NICOLE. Some things can't be defined or explained merely through calculations or science. You'd have to go beyond logic and learn to have faith in a person. That takes spirit." Sonic said, wagging his index finger of his right gloved hand. "And I can see that there's more to ya than what you've been programmed to be."
NICOLE remained speechless for a good ten seconds before saying to him, "...I must reevaluate this hypothesis."
Nodding to NICOLE as she returned back to Sally's miniature computer, Sonic walked up to Breezie, who met him halfway with her eyes clearly filled with concern.
"You good, Bree? Sorry that I couldn't get you out of that bind, myself. That Egghead didn't hurt you, did he?" Sonic questioned, with his eyes looking at the female hedgehog to see if she was injured in any way.
Placing a hand on his cheek, Breezie whispered intimately, "You idiot! Of course I'm fine! How can you be worried about me when you're the one who's been beaten to hell and back?"
Sonic's eyes became half lid as he said, "You know me, Breanna. I like to do my thing, but I get a kick from lendin' a hand from time to time. It's what I do."
Breezie hopelessly shook her head at him but found herself forming a small smile on her face.
"...You're such a boy scout." Breezie playfully mocked.
'...But that is what I always loved about you. No matter what, you cared.' The former singer thought to herself, but never admitting it out loud.'
"Oh, before I forget…" Sonic said as he was taking something out of his quills. "Here,"
Breezie's eyes widened along with the other Freedom Fighters as they watched Sonic place the dark blue Chaos Emerald back in the business woman's hand.
"W-What are you doing, giving this back to me? Don't you need this to go and save the world?" The purple eyed hedgehog questioned.
Sonic's weary smile never waved as he explained, "Well, yeah. I need the Chaos Emerald, but you never gave it to me fair and square. You dropped it when Eggman shot that missile at us. I always intended to return it to ya."
Breezie shot back, "Why? You could easily swipe and make a break for it! So, what's stopping you?"
Sonic, despite the immense fatigue beginning to take over as he breathed harder, said, "Not my style… When I make deals with folks, Sonic the Hedgehog always delivers! Besides, I could never take some from you. I wouldn't be able…to live…with myse-"
Sonic's sentence was by the heaviness in his eyes finally taking him. The hero had found himself passing out, dropping to the ground. The last thing that he heard before unconsciousness embraced him was the sound of his name being called repeatedly.
And finally, silence.
Little did everybody know, a single Egg Spying Drone had been recording the entire bout the whole time.
Eggman's Base, Great Forest Mountain Range, Acornia
Naugus the Dark sat at the main computer of Dr. Robotnik's command center. He had long since made a hobby out of watching the various actions of both Eggman and Sonic alongside the Freedom Fighters. And while the minor setback of the Desert Raiders (Team Sandstorm) left a bitter taste in the troll's mouth, the process of gathering the seven Chaos Emeralds was more or less going according to plan.
Currently, the Destroyer of Nations finished watching Dr. Robotnik's Metal Robotnik being defeated at the hands of the Quickster, Sonic the Hedgehog.
"...Once more, the doctor has failed to defeat the Quickster." The troll sighed, shaking his head at his manipulated subordinate. "The mortal let his newly found knowledge against his adversary get to his flawed feeble mind. In the end, his over inflated ego and pride eventually lead to his downfall. A predictable scenario, as one would expect from a man clouded by hubris."
While watching Sonic take out the dark blue Chaos Emerald, Naugus added, "Robotnik's failure even cost him a Chaos Emerald. A shame. All he had to do was to remain pragmatic and he may have seen the victory he desperately strived for."
The troll cackled as he dashed the thought of Eggman winning against the blue hedgehog. The troll then turned around and got up from the computer chair and left the room, saying, "It matters not, though. The fact that the doctor successfully got a rise out of the Azurite prince validates the mission's true purpose. Even now, the Quickster's descent into despair and fear continues to deepen. Slowly consuming his mind and soul. It's only a matter of time before the boy reaches his lowest point in his darkest hour." Naugus said, as he clenched his normal hand into a fist. "And when that day comes, I will savor every moment of his suffering until I finally bring an end to the Cobalt bloodline once and for all. No more prophecy, therefore, proving that blasted Oracle of Azuron, Delphius, wrong."
As Naugus walked along the hallway, a throbbing sensation ran through the Ixis Warlock's mind which prompted him to stand still. In a split second, a vision of a fiery monster with glowing green eyes bombarded him until it disappeared. He gasped with his irises dilating, only to find himself cracking a menacing smirk.
"At last, my other half has finally come out of hiding!" Naugus grinned gleefully as he faced to the left. "And it's located in the far East."
Naugus held out his human-like hand, then summoned the yellow Chaos Emerald from Dr. Robotnik's computer room. Accessing the power of Chaos energy, the Ixis Warlock found the location of the Living Flame via a vision of the Scepter of Light being held in the Headquarters of the Guardian Units of Nation over in the United Fortress.
"...Oh! Interesting. Very interesting!"
Queen Alicia Memorial Hospital, Several Hours Later
Upon his collapse, Sonic was rushed back to New Mobotropolis by the Freedom Fighters via Sally's Warp Ring. The group took him to the nearest hospital, where the medical professionals got to work on stabilizing him.
Fortunately, Sonic's injuries were not only mild, his accelerated healing factor made it easier for the doctors to do their job.
After a couple of hours of medical treatment, the doctor let Sonic rest for several hours until further notice or unless there was a change in his condition.
Soon enough, the hedgehog found himself emerging from his slumber in a low groan.
Sitting up, Sonic rubbed his head with his hand as he muttered, "What hit the heck me…?"
Sonic then noticed that his hands were gloveless, exposing his peach skinned pawed hands with black nails. Looking underneath the sheets, Sonic saw that his shoes and socks were taken off as well. That's when he looked over to his right and saw an IV machine next to him.
"What the–!?"
"Ah, you're awake! Good evening to you, Mister Cobalt." An older, kinder, but professional voice spoke to the teenager.
Looking straight forward, Sonic saw a middle aged duck with yellow feathers and baby blue eyes while wearing a white coat standing in front of his hospital bed with a clipboard and pencil in his hands.
"Huh? Who are you? And where am I? Last time I checked, I was takin' to Breezie at Furville." Sonic asked while clutching his throbbing bandaged forehead. "Ugh…"
"Relax, son. No need to stress yourself. You're in New Mobotropolis. Specifically, you've been admitted to Queen Alicia Memorial by the princess and the Freedom Fighters. And just in time, if I say so." The doctor stated. "You've taken quite the thrashing. The fact that you're body was resilient enough to keep you alive for that long was a miracle in of itself–"
"–I don't mean to sound rude and stuff, but who are you? I didn't catch your name, doc." A disoriented Sonic said, cutting the duck off.
"Oh, where are my manners?" The doctor said, chuckling at himself. "My name is Dr. Brandon Q. Quack. I was assigned to be your primary care doctor by his Majesty at the request of Sir Charles."
Sonic nodded slowly, accepting the Mobian duck's answer.
"...Alright, I'll buy that. How long until I'm good to go? I got things to do and places to be, you know?"
"Whoa, there! There's no need to rush," Dr. Quack said, holding out a hand. "While we were made aware of your enhanced healing ability, you've suffered an extraordinary amount of damage to your body; ranging from multiple first-degree burns, two fractured ribs, and several bruises around the upper body. Not to mention, the stress that you put your body through has caused it to go into fatigue. If anything, you should be taking it easy for the time being."
"Aw, what?" Sonic said in protest. "Come on, Dr. Quack! I'm fine, honest! I can prove it–"
Sonic said, trying to get out of bed, only to find himself wincing in pain as he held his ribs.
"Ow, ow, ow!" Sonic groaned.
Dr. Quack shook his head with a smile, thinking to himself, 'Yep, that's Jules boy for you. Just as restless as ever.'
"Listen, son. I know that you're a Freedom Fighter and that you're involved with an important mission, but recklessly driving yourself to the ground with little to no regard for your health will not help anybody, let alone contribute to ending the war." Dr. Quack explained evenly. "Right now, what's more important is making sure that you make a full recovery. Understand?"
Sonic looked down, took a deep breath, then listened to the doctor's orders.
"Okay, doc. You're the boss. I'll stay put for now." Said Sonic, laying back down.
Smiling as he wrote notes down, Dr. Quack said, "Excellent. By the way, you have a few visitors sitting in the waiting room."
"Huh? I do?" Sonic asked, tilting his head. "Who's here?"
"Why don't I send them in, instead?" Dr. Quack questioned while he walked out of the room.
After a minute of waiting, Dr. Quack brought in Sir Charles, Amy, and Sally to see the blue hero.
Sonic's eyes widened for a moment before a smile found itself on his muzzle.
"Yo," Sonic greeted.
"Hey Sonic," Amy and Sally said at the same time.
"You gave us quite a scare when the others brought you back. How are you feeling, sport?" Sir Charles asked.
Sonic responded, saying, "I'm in pain, but nothin' I can't handle. How's Furville? Was there anyone who got hurt there?"
Amy shook her head.
"Thankfully, there weren't any casualties thanks to our efforts and NICOLE." The pink hedgehog answered.
"Collateral damage is a different story…" Sally drew out awkwardly. "Daddy had to pull quite a bit from the treasury to cover the property damage."
Sonic's nervous tick reappeared full force in the form of his awkward grin.
"...Oh, uh, my bad." Sonic apologized, rubbing his head sheepishly. "Where's Tails and Knuckles?"
"Miles is resting at his parents' house, and Knuckles is staying at a guest room in the castle." Sally explained, which Sonic nodded.
Amy then turned bashful for a moment, folding her gloved hands together while she called out to her crush.
"...Um, Sonic?" Amy meekly called out, prompting the hedgehog to turn his attention to her.
"Yeah? What's up, Ames?" The older hedgehog responded.
"I-I'm sorry," Amy said, bowing her head down a little. "The way I acted was totally inconsiderate and nasty, and there was no excuse for how I treated everybody today. Especially you."
Sally and Sir Charles smiled at Amy owning up to her actions. Sonic was taken aback by the younger hedgehog's sudden growth and consideration, but gave her a reassuring grin.
"Hey, now. That's all in the past, water under the bridge." Sonic said in a soft manner. "I'm not gonna let the past change ruin our friendship. Sure, I may not share the same feelin's that you have for me, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about you. You're practically family to me, and you'll always be. You know that, right?"
Amy's face froze in disbelief, while a large part of was saddened that Sonic didn't reciprocate her love, the fact that he expressed how he felt about her made Amy feel better albeit bittersweet.
Giving Sonic a small nod, Amy soft said, "I know. You've always shown that, even if it's not the same type of affection that I longed for. To be honest, I don't know if I'll ever stop feeling this way about you. But whatever choice you make later down the line, whether it's to pursue love or not, I'll support you no matter what. As long as you're happy, I'll be happy."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Sonic agreed as he turned to Sir Charles and Sally. "Anyway, did anybody catch where Breanna went? I've been meanin' to talk to her before she had to leave."
Sally turned her head over to Sir Charles and Amy, asking them, "Could you give us a moment?"
Sir Charles, walking over to Amy as he brought a hand on the girl's shoulder said, "Why, of course, Sally."
Looking over to Amy, the scientist then said, "Why don't I take you back to Beauregard's home? I'm sure the day has been a long one for you."
Amy agreed, bidding farewell to both Sonic and Sally before leaving the room. Sonic glanced at the door, then immediately shifted his focus back to his oldest friend.
"What's goin' on? Is somethin' wrong?" Sonic questioned, gaining a feeling of dread from his chest. "Did somethin' happen to Breanna?"
"No, no, no! Breezie's just fine! I promised." Sally reassured, holding her hands out. "She couldn't stay for long, though. So, we gave her a Warp Ring to send her back home safely."
"...Oh." Sonic said in a low tone, laying his head down on the pillow. "That's good. At least she made it back safe and sound. Guess that means we've gone and lost another Chaos Emerald."
Sally took out the dark blue Chaos Emerald, catching Sonic off guard as the princess said, "I wouldn't be so sure."
"No way! She gave it to you!?" Sonic exclaimed, sitting upright out of disbelief. "How'd you get her to change her mind? Breezie almost never changes her mind!"
"Oh, I have my ways," Sally said while walking up to Sonic and sat on a chair next to the bedside. "When needed, I can be very convincing. How did you think I got through to Amy?"
"That's fair,"
From her pocket, Sally handed her friend an envelope while saying, "Here, this is for you."
Sonic gazed at Sally curiously, then took the envelope. Upon closer inspection, Sonic recognized the handwriting that says "To Maurice".
"...This is her handwriting." He said. "She wrote me something?"
"Mhm." Sally nodded tentatively. "Listen, while you were unconscious, Breezie and I got to talk for a little while."
Sonic frowned as he stopped tearing open the envelope halfway.
"...And? What did she gon' and tell you?" A serious Sonic inquired, almost glaring daggers at Sally.
Sally steeled herself and calmly said, "What we've discussed is between Breezie and myself. But, I will say that what I've suspected happened between the two of you based on your metaphor has been confirmed by her."
In response to this, Sonic let out a sigh in shame as he remained silent.
Rubbing his back, Sally said, "I'm not going to judge you, Ollie. I'm just worried about you, and I want to help."
"...Does anybody else know?" Sonic questioned.
Sally shook her head negatively and answered, "Just NICOLE and I. But I've got to know, why haven't you-"
"-Said anything?" Sonic said, finishing her sentence. "Sal, that was the first girl that I ever fell in love with. That ain't the big bad pop star-turned-business-lady to me, that was the bright and strong pretty young thing that aspired to rise up from poverty and be something great. To show the world who she is, and that she's worth something and much more. She proved her worth to me the moment I first heard Breezie's voice while she performed in the streets of Station Square with nothing but a guitar and her gift. I watched that girl work hard day and night to get where she was. Even if she took my song, I couldn't jeopardize her livelihood like that. Every other song after Sweet Dreams came from her, anyway."
"But Sonic, that's still your song. A song which she profited off of for years. She based her career off of a stolen piece of music. That's money that she essentially robbed from you." Sally tried to reason.
"I know that it's wrong, Sally." Sonic understood. "Still, stripping her of everything because of a song is wrong too. At least, for me to do so would be wrong. Look, I don't expect you to understand, but I can't bring myself to ruin her life over it. I've let that go, now. And the last thing that I want is to draw attention to the media regarding our history with each other."
Sally sighed, placing her hand on her forehead as she said, "You're right, I don't think I'll ever understand something so complicated. I'll just drop the topic."
"Thanks, Sally." Sonic said gratefully.
The girl got up from her seat and made her way towards the door. Before leaving, she said, "It's getting late. I should head back home, now. I don't want to miss dinner."
"Alright, then." Sonic nodded. "I'll see ya tomorrow, Red."
"See you in the morning," Sally responded, only to add something else. "Oh, and Sonic?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"It's okay to express yourself. If there's something on your mind and you need a person to listen to you, I'm always free." Sally said before stepping outside and gently closing the door behind her.
Sonic stared at the door for a couple of seconds before returning to the envelope. After ripping it open, Sonic unfolded a letter written beautifully in cursive. Thankfully, Sonic could read it perfectly without struggling.
To my dearest Maurice,
By the time that you're reading this letter, I should be home. And no, I have not been harmed in any particular way. Princess Sally saw to it that I had been guarded by her militia and your friends. I'd wanted nothing more than to stay by your side in the hospital room for the rest of the night, but other responsibilities and my limited time made it so that I couldn't.
I hope you can understand.
During your admission, I was approached by the princess. We spared some time to get more acquainted with each other, and she helped me fill in a couple of blanks that I had about you. That allowed me to put things into perspective. …With that being said, I owe you an apology. And while I meant what I said about not knowing who you are back when we were together, I acted out of selfish desire and wronged you. I took something that wasn't mine and benefited from it.
I won't lie to you, I basked in the fame and the fortune that came with being successful. I had achieved my lifelong dream. Originally, it was out of chasing the need for admiration, wealth, and praise. It was an addiction, craving that I couldn't drop. I used the problems that I had with you in our relationship to justify my actions. But as I kept writing songs, the more that those times we've spent together came pouring back in my mind. Diamond in the Sky, Living in the City, Can You Feel The Sunshine, Back In Time; I noticed that nearly all of my songs came back to how I felt about you. Your smile haunted my consciousness daily. That's where the guilt started to gnaw at me. The foundation for my career wasn't passion that I enjoyed anymore. That's why I retired to focus more on owning my own record label rather than to continue performing on stage.
Ironically, it was at the height of my success where I felt the most lonesome. Did you know that it was Honey who pointed out who you were to me? She always thought that you sounded familiar to her, but could never put two and two together. When you met the president of the United Federation on national television, she immediately blew up my phone. It took me a couple of times to replay it to draw the connection. It was a bitter pill to swallow.
In retrospect, we could have made billions together if things were different.
Alas, that's not the reality that we live in. We've chosen lives that diverge from one another. I am a businesswoman and investor, and you're a free-roaming vigilante. I have responsibilities to my company and myself, while you prioritize other people regardless of what happens to you. And while I could never hope to understand why you'd constantly risk your life in situations you're not obligated to get involved with, your compassion was something that I always came to fancy about you. After all, it was that compassion that saved my life today. …The compassion that nearly got you killed, too. Seeing you pass me as you fell to the floor terrified me to no end. I'm unsure if I'll be sleeping sound tonight. I thought you were going to die before my eyes. Yet, you got back up and saved us. You saved me, after what I put you through. It reminded me why I fell in love with you a long time ago.
Sonic, I'm saying all of this is because I don't want things to end sourly between us. Either of us could be dead the next with baggage left unloaded. I don't want that for us. I'm not asking for a second chance as a lover. Those days are long gone. What I want for us is to start over. A friendship. You don't have to accept the request, I'll wholeheartedly understand and accept that. But it would be a real shame to lose the only boy who'd ever really known the real me. Please, just think it over. I can wait as long as it takes.
One last thing. I want you to do me a favor and start taking better care of yourself. You may find comfort in your lifestyle now, but sooner or later, that may change. Life will pass you by and the next thing you know, everybody's so far ahead of you that not even the Fastest Thing Alive could catch up. If you ever get interested in planning your future, ring my number printed on the card.
I hope to hear from you soon, Maury. Don't be a stranger.
With love, Breanna Simone. Breezie the Hedgehog.
Sonic reread through the letter over and over until he finished going over it on his tenth time. With one pawed hand, he ran his fingers through his quills as a whirlwind of emotions ran through his body. A few tears unknowingly fell from Sonic's eyes, landing on the paper. He quickly wiped his face with his free arm and placed the letter back inside the envelope after taking out Breezie's business card with both her printed work number and handwritten personal number.
After looking at the card, Sonic placed it in his quills and laid back down. Before heading to sleep, he looked at his nightstand and found a small music player device with earbuds attached to it on it. After going through the device, he tuned into the local radio station. Much to the hedgehog's surprise the upcoming song was dedicated to him upon today's events being broadcasted by the news.
This song happened to be a track by Breezie and the Songbirds.
As the music played, Sonic began to listen, letting his emotions slowly settle down.
I was trapped inside for so very long...
How could things turn out so wrong
You came along, to save the day...
I knew that it would be okay.
My knight in shining armor came,
My life would never be the same!
'Cause you're my hero,
You came to rescue me!
And now you've set me free,
There's so much, that I want to make you see!
You're my hero,
Don't ever let me go!
I just want you to know,
There's so much inside and I want to let it show!
And now I owe, so much to you...
Is there anything that I can do?
I want to show you that I care...
When you need me I'll be there!
I hope that you don't go away,
I'll always wish that you would stay!
'Cause you're my hero,
You came to rescue me!
And now you've set me free,
There's so much,
that I want to make you see!
You're my hero,
Don't ever let me go!
I just want you to know,
There's so much inside and I want to let it show!
'Cause you're my hero,
You came to rescue me!
And now you've set me free,
There's so much, that I want to make you see!
You're my hero,
Don't ever let me go!
I just want you to know,
There's so much inside and I want to let it show!
Finally, as the music faded away, Sonic had already fell fast asleep. He held the music player to his chest, resting with a peaceful smile on his face.
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes:
Guys, this is the longest chapter yet. There are simply too many references here for me to point them all out. I want you guys to point out any references that you can spot through reading the chapter.
In the meantime, I'll just give you lore explanations.
Ixis Magick can be countered by a strong enough force, another Ixis Magick wielder if their will is more dominant, or something that rebels magic all together. And since the source was in the form of a small Power Core (like from Sonic Heroes), it was a means to exploit as a weak point. And given that Metal Robotnik was a prototype, it was a matter of time before Sonic defeated it.
Sonic's speed is potentially immeasurable. The feat he displayed in this chapter is not something he can do on the fly like he's Archie Sonic. RESURGENCE Sonic can only tap into this power out of feeling extremely powerful, yet concentrated emotions. After tapping into his true power (in base) he'll tire himself out. Though, this is not his maximum speed (aka, his full capabilities with his speed). That has yet to be seen.
The Oracle from Sonic Underground is canon here. However, he is called Delphius while he was known as the Oracle of Azuron. He will be further explored at a later time.
Sonic refuses to expose Breezie due to his past relationship with her and to keep the media from getting involved in his private life. He hates being in front of cameras and refrains from being the center of attention. Remember, his characterization is based more on the Japanese interpretation of Sonic.
Dr. Quack from this continuity borrows his first name from Dr. Quark from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog while the rest comes from the Archie Comics.
Amy, while still infatuated with Sonic, through having a talk with Sally off page, has come to the conclusion to let Sonic be so he can decide how he wants to be happy. Even if it means that he may not choose her.
Anyway, let me know what you think about this arc now that it's over. What are your likes, dislikes, favorite moments, characters, and overall opinions about it. The next story arc will not come for a while, but it will be quite the crazy ride.
I'll see you guys next time!
-DarkShadowGames451