Author's Note: As much as I really wanted this to be a four-parter, unfortunately this is now officially going to be a five-parter, so this chapter and the next won't be as long as the previous chapters lately.
I'm really sorry about this, everyone. I have tried, but it in the end I was forced to make this decision. Hopefully the final episode of the Cream and Cheese Arc's update won't take as long.
In the meantime, happy reading!
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Episode 29: Evil Reborn.
Last time, Sonic and his friends fought in a very difficult battle
against the Iron Empire's air fleets, where they were aided by the surprise return of Knuckles, and even the GUN agents Rouge and Topaz who both decided to join our heroes in their cause to rescue Cream and Cheese.
Meanwhile, Dr. Robotnik has made his attempts to get his revenge on his brother Julius, but Sonic has successfully reached his kidnapped friends first while Knuckles, Rouge, Topaz and the Chaotix storm the fortress to rescue the rest of the hostages.
But now Sonic comes face to face with the evil Iron Empire's Leader himself.
Sonic is about to begin the biggest challenge of his life.
It took Knuckles and his group a quite a few twists and turns to locate the dungeons where the trapped Floral Forest Villagers, and according to Rouge and Topaz, the missing and captured Construction Workers that were at the remains of Robotnik's destroyed base, were at. The six of them had to take down more of the Iron Empire Soldiers who either surrendered, rendered unconscious, or fled for their lives like cowards.
The group stood silent against the wall around the corner where two more guards, who were sounded by the alarm to watch out for intruders that no doubt had the key cards with them that would be the only way to unlock the doors where the prisoners were held at. To the red echidna's frustration, there was still no sign or indication of where the Master Emeralds was.
"We'll need to take out those two without creating too much of any more noise." Topaz whispered, deep caution etched in her tone, her back firmly against the steel, cold wall behind her.
"We could always use the purple lizard's invisibility cloak to do that." Rouge suggested slyly, playfully gesturing at Espio who frowned at her jesting.
"I may be a lizard, but I am a ninja with the arts of camouflage." The teenage detective corrected in annoyance, masked by his stern and serious expression.
"It could work, if the punches weren't that loud." Knuckles pointed out. If done incorrectly, it would sound the alarm for reinforcements and then it was game over. A risk none of them wanted to take
Vector on the other hand already thought of an alternative, smugly. "I've got a better idea," He turned to the youngest of the group, whispering. "Ya' still got the you-know-what?"
"Right here, boss." Charmy, thankfully keeping his voice down to avoid the guards overhearing them, happily and silently pulled out the familiar can of knock-out spray, surprisingly enough and as though reading his oldest friend's mind. "Want me to talk to them?"
"Just be careful there, Charmy. Those guys are dangerous."
"I know." The five year old donned a hard helmet and placed it on his head, much to the confusion of Knuckles, Topaz and Rouge who stared, blankly and dumbfounded.
The two other Mobians shared a glance with the fifteen year old guardian shrugging at the bat(the latter's eyebrow raised in skeptism), just as perplexed as his rival. "Don't look at me, I haven't known these guys for that long."
He should know, because the last time Knuckles saw them was at their Agency, up until today. How those three managed to stay in business with all of their quirky and crazy mixed personalities-well, okay, Espio seemed like the type to be more serious than his buffoon of a crocodile boss, and obnoxious pipsqueak of a bee kid co-worker and ward-, the guardian of the Master Emerald will never figure out.
In the reluctant agreement(at least on Knuckles and the two women's part) of the plan, they waited until Charmy made his move. He began laughing loudly to get the two Iron Soldiers' attentions, causing the two guards to quickly stand in defense, their batons ready.
"Who's there!?" One of them demanded, guard raised.
"Excuse me," Charmy began as he innocently came out of hiding, beaming a smile. "I'm kinda lost and bored and wanted to hang around for a bit. Wanna play tag with me?"
"Huh?" The two men blinked, dumbfounded while sharing a glance. Where did this kid come from and how did he get here?
"I don't know what your game is kid, but if you came here with intruders, then you're in for a real punishment. You should go home to your parents!" The second guard scoffed, not taking Charmy's lies seriously.
"Yeah, buzz off, you bee!" The first one commanded, tapping his baton against his palm.
Charmy in response just gave the two soldiers a raspberry before he began making fun out of them, including making a silly face, his tongue sticking out mockingly. "~Bad guys can't catch me, bad guys can't catch me, bad guys can't catch me!~ Na na na na!"
This instantly irritated the two men with the first one hissing darkly, faces all red, insulted by the young child's misbehavior. "Why you little brat...!"
"Let's show this little punk a lesson!" His partner declared with the full desire to capture and imprison the Mobian Bee, both of them charging to grab the young child.
Unfortunately for them, this was exactly what Vector had planned, as Charmy, like he did with Sonic, calmly used the knock-out spray right at the men's faces quickly. They both stopped instantly, perplexed at first, before the effects of the chemicals instantly made their way into their eyes and noses, and they passed out while falling backwards, their eyes swirling and their tongues sticking out as though they had had drunken or fever dreams.
"Well, that was easy." Knuckles remarked, admittedly impressed with the realization this was how the Chaotix managed to kidnap Sonic in the first place. 'No wonder they managed to catch Sonic that day when they thought he was the one who kidnapped Cream's Mom.'
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! I can't believe grown ups like them fell for that." Charmy laughed hysterically, just as the others emerged with Topaz and Rouge wasting no time in tying up the two unconscious men as well as gagging them for extra precautions and rummage their pockets to get the key card.
"Good work, Charmy," Vector praised proudly, cracking his knuckles as he gazed solely onto the locked door. "Now let's go get those people and get the heck outta here!"
"Once we do, I have to go back in to find the Master Emerald." Knuckles reminded, his eyes narrowed with the pure determination. He wasn't going to fail. Not again.
"Can't you sense it?" Espio questioned, raising an eye ridge with concern spreading across his features.
The teenage echidna closed his eyes to try and focus on his inner Chaos Energy in hopes of feeling the giant emerald's power.
"No, it's completely blocked off...!" The Guardian sighed explosively, before punching the side of the wall in frustration that made the Chaotix, especially Vector who nearly let out a high-pitched scream and Espio who's eyes widened in shock and intimidation, all jump in fright that Knuckles actually made a pretty deep hole in it. "Where could have that creep Julius hidden it!?"
"Maybe you can find it, if you do us a favor and don't knock down the whole base until everybody's out." Topaz suggested warily, sweat dropping with her heart skipping a bit with fright herself.
"She's right..." Rouge, the only one out of the group not as intimidated, agreed in a sing-song tone, teasingly as she could tell that Knuckles' strength increased and ran wild whenever his emotions got to him.
Leaving the two unconscious morons leaning against the wall to the side where they couldn't escape or sound the alarm, the GUN agents used the Key Card to unlock the door before they and the boys rushed in, finding themselves on the ledge of the sidewalk that was suspended high above the huge room before them. Knuckles and his companions all gasped in sheer horror and shock to have discovered a gigantic area that resembled to a large underground city with buildings made of metal everywhere, security lights flashing, nearby cells in towers acting like structures themselves, and a huge sky-scraper and stadium like building at the very heart of it.
It could very well resemble to a nightmarish version of Station Square, the Iron Empire's symbol imprinted along the walls and higher structures, in the very heart and center of it was a statue of the Organization's insigma visible as far as the eye could see.
"Wha...What the?" Knuckles murmured, feeling his heart go up into his throat and increasingly turning pale at the mere horrific sight of the Iron Empire's city within their own secret base.
"What kind of...?" Rouge trailed off, as even she wasn't immune to the terrifying landscape. She covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes shrinking back a little. "This wasn't what I had in mind...!"
"I'll say..." Charmy agreed, shakily.
"I can't believe the Iron Empire had built all of this...This is just too horrible." Topaz half-whispered, feeling a bit light-headed at the enormous city that was the true base of the evil organization itself.
"What kind of monstery did Julius even create? This is unforgivable...!" Espio murmured, shaking his head slowly.
Vector in the meantime blinked, sweating bullets. "Man, talk about an underground metal city! No wonder those guys were so sneaky and creative, and not in a real good way."
"Excuse me?"
Blinking in confusion at the soft voice speaking out to them out of nowhere, timid and frightened flowing, turning to their right when they saw another cell cage close by. Inside was a Mobian rabbit similar to Cream and Vanilla, only she was a chocolate brown wearing a prisoner garment and looking quite worn and exhausted for having spent months trapped as a prisoner. Her eyes were dull, almost void of life, the torment of being held against her will rendering her of losing hope of ever escaping or being set free, spend the rest of her life as a slave for the Iron Empire.
"Are you here to rescue us?" She continued, timidly.
"Yeah, we are," Knuckles immediately went over, kneeling when the others approached. "Are you okay? Are you one of the Floral Forest Villagers?"
"Yes, I am. All of us have been here for months, and that cruel man Julius kept us in hopes of finding sweet little Cream and Cheese." The young woman nodded, shaken to the core as she shuddered with fear spread right across her face.
"Where's Mrs. Vanilla?" Charmy asked, hopefully.
The young rabbit, who looked to be around Vanilla's age, choked a sob. "That horrible man took her hours ago...and he...he plans to use her for this so called Master Emerald."
"WHAT!?" The group exclaimed in horror, none more so than both Knuckles and Vector. They all shared a worried glance, their hearts plummenting into their stomachs.
For Knuckles, it was because the Master Emerald may already be with Julius.
For Vector, it was because Vanilla was with that monster herself.
But none of them could understand how or why, and what the man had planned. Yet one thing was for sure, they had to first get everybody out, then hurry to find Sonic to help him not only rescue Cream and Cheese, but Vanilla, and the Master Emerald as well as the Chaos Emeralds themselves.
Before it was too late.
Back with Sonic, he was absolutely shocked to find not just his little sister-figure trapped along with Cheese, but now he was face to face with Julius Robotnik seated on his throne, an exhausted-looking Vanilla, her face pale of tiredness, lack of sleep and energy, wild Chao with mournful and frightened chimes in their voices, and both the Master and Chaos Emeralds sealed in glass capsules and equipment, all in the evil man's possession.
This was truly unforgiveable!
"What've you done to them, Julius!?" He demanded angrily, clenching his fist to hold back his rage ready to erupt. "Let them go right now!"
"No. They belong to me, just as the little girl that has given me no end of trouble. Same as you," Julius chuckled, gloating over his prisoners and the furious hero of Mobius whose glare just deepened. "And soon Mobius will bow before me, and I will take the pleasure of destroying you and all who attempt to rise against my might. You should learn to be more careful, especially how that girl and her little pet have finally led me to the Chao Garden...by leading you."
Sonic and Cream both released a simultaneous gasp, the former quickly connecting the dots in remembrance of the attack in Nun-Chan with the giant robot that threatened to destroy the village of Tanaka's childhood home, and the Chao Garden soon afterwards. A surge of horror and guilt rose up.
"So that attack in Tanaka's hometown was a distraction, and you were using spy surveillance to try and kidnap Cream and Cheese! You were spying on us the whole time, and that's how you know about the Chao Garden we promised to keep secret! And how you managed to kidnap all of these innocent little Chao before coming after us!" Sonic grunted accusingly, pointing at the evil man who's grin only grew.
"Clever little boy. Yes, it was not long after you and your friends have returned to Station Square that I had my men invade the Chao Garden, collecting these precious little creatures and destroying their home as a result...Just as it was before, all those years ago." Julius chuckled, not even bothering in refuting the claim and enjoyed the second horrified gasps from the two young Mobians.
'No...The Chao Garden...It's gone!?' Sonic felt his heart sink, remembering how he helped to clean the beautiful lake from the muddy pollution Eggman's giant robot had caused, how it reminded him of the one in the mountains.
To think that he and his friends planned on going back the next time for a visit...But now it was just a fantasy. The beautiful and peaceful secret world...Was destroyed. Lost forever to the world. He could just picture how terrified the poor things were when the Iron Empire invaded their home and kidnapped every single one of them, the vivid squeals with panic-stricken expression the adorable little creatures, losing it all together and even after this was all over, they had nowhere else to go.
"Oh no...Not the Chao Garden!" Cream wept, crying her heart out as her misplaced guilt ended up increasing. Her hands almost immediately flew to cover her face, tears soaking the material. Not that it mattered to her.
Her thoughts all went to the loss of the Chao Colony, the beautiful sanctuary that was once the peaceful home of Cheese's new friends. Her memories returned to the fateful day of the discovery, the fun she and her friends had shared, all making the vow to keep it a secret. Now neither of them would ever see it again.
Even worse, the wild Chao had no home to go back to anymore. Once again, the five year old rabbit girl blamed herself for all of the terrible tragedies she has put all of her friends, as well as so many innocent people, animals and Chao into.
"Hold up," The blue hedgehog held up a hand, realizing what else the monster of a man in front of him had said, brows narrowed with suspicion creeping up in his eyes. "You said that it was destroyed before a long time ago. How did you know about that?"
"I thought you would ask," The Iron Leader's grin of evil sickly grew, he was really enjoying giving the children a lecture before he would destroy them both, especially the hero of Mobius. "Long ago, a little girl who resembles to your friend right there, has been secretly sneaking out of her home village to play with the sacred White Chao, the Hero Chao, and it's clan. They were once guardians of protecting the secret Miracle Gems, that are named today-"
"The Chaos Emeralds. Chao were guarding the Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic blinked, thinking back of his dreams that showed Camellia, Clover, and that horrible man Jonathan who somehow grew into a giant.
"In a way. She knew nothing of the crystals, yet should become friends with the creatures, believing their secret was safe. However, what she and her family did not know was that a human general, Jonathan Robutious, sought out the Chaos Emeralds and their connections with the Hero Chao in order to rid the world of kindness and generosity and rule it with fear and control, until eventually he sought to destroy it and have the planet enter a never-ending darkness." Julius continued.
"I can get the ruling part since that's just like how you and Eggman try to do these days," The cobalt teen crossed his arms. "And I can't help but feel like the Robutious name is kinda similar to your family name."
"It is more than just a mere coincidence, Blue Child. In the end, he did gain power, but the Hero Chao sacrificed itself to use the Emeralds to destroy Jonathan's body and seal away his soul, scattering the Chaos Emeralds to a far away island where they wouldn't be seen for another few centuries...until three years ago."
"South Island. No wonder nobody knew where they were, except when Robotnik used his technology to find them, but even he didn't know much about that kind of legend." Sonic realized, his eyes widening in shock. Even worse, the more he listened to the terrible story, the more his dreams, the legend he heard from the kind ladies that had given him a tour.
The story of Jonathan's rebirth, the Hero Chao's rebirth, leading up all the way to the present. Could it really be...? No...Oh no!
"Oh, it gets better than that. The Hero Chao, as most Chao are, would be reborn into their egg cocoon, and wait until the time came for it to be discovered by the descendants of the little girl, who went by the name of Camellia Rabbit."
"What!?" Sonic gasped. How on Mobius did Julius know about the girl he kept on dreaming about?
"Camellia?" Cream murmured, surprised that Julius knew that name already.
"Ah, but there's more. I did a DNA test upon discovering her remains in a burial site as well as learning of her moving away, restarting her family in Floral Village, matching that with your mother and came to an 100% conclusion: Judging how old she was before she died and going through the secret ancestry long forgotten for possibly a secretive reason in an fultile attempt to ensure history doesn't repeat itself, Camellia is your Great-Great-Great Grandmother, little Cream. Yet you and your mother were never told the truth, I gather." The Iron Empire Leader continued, the wicked grin entching his face in the most monstrous way possible.
Cream gasped in absolute shock, her sweet cute eyes widening with her heart pounding in her ears and feeling it drop, esculating up and down her chest. "My...My Great-Great-Great Grandmother?"
"WHAT!?" The blue hedgehog nearly screamed, recoiling a little.
Camellia...was a relative of Cream and Vanilla!? No wonder they looked so alike! Gasping softly as he finally gathered the final pieces of the puzzle, Sonic clenched his left fist, nearly making it squeak with pressure. "Now I get it! Cheese is the Hero Chao reborn, and his egg drifted off from his Chao Coloney where Cream found him and raised him after he hatched!"
"And yet it's clear that the secret was not told, since I gathered that brat all those years ago would keep it even from her own family to ensure their safety...But she failed to realize that her precious little Clover wasn't the only own resurrected." Julius cackled, sense of enjoyment creeping up in his voice.
"I've heard about that legend. They say that the evil one would be reborn into the future too-Wait!" Sonic cut himself off, now even more horrified, and for a split second he saw a vivid image of the evil man Jonathan in Julius' place, the same gentlemen clothes, but the resemblance was just like a mirror image.
The realization struck like a cord. "No...You're...!"
"Ha ha ha ha...Ha ha ha ha ha...! AH HA HA HA HA HA!" Julius laughed manically, his eyes now glowing more darkly, as though an aura of darkness was seeping out of those orbs. "Yes! My memories have fully returned! You, Sonic the Hedgehog, are in the presence of the man reborn, taking on the name of Julius Robotnik: It is I-Jonathan Robutious reborn!"
"It can't be!" The fourteen year old exclaimed, horror rising through his veins, a vice grip squeezing at his heart. "I can't believe Eggman's brother would be the guy reborn from the past!"
"I don't understand...! What does he mean by that?" Cream asked, fearfully.
Sonic couldn't understand it either, shaking his head in disbelief. "This is totally messed up! I thought it was impossible for the whole rebirth thing!"
"It seems you know so little, even with you being the Chosen One, hedgehog. But yes, when the power of the Emeralds evaporated my body, the little Chao sealed away my soul rather than allowing me to pass on. Yet while I remained trapped in limbo, I have discovered that should I inherit a newborn's body, I would continue my plans. Yet it would cost me my memories until the Chao reborn and all of the Chaos Emeralds, as well as the descendants of Camellia would all gather." The evil leader only had his grin widen, the lack of remorse and compassion as crystal clear as the cleanest ocean in the world.
"So you decided to be reborn as Eggman's older brother?" The blue hedgehog narrowed his eyes even further, remembering how Lisabeth possessed Lindsey's body since it was reincarnated with the spirit of Chris' mother. "You monster...!"
Julius grin never wavered. "Yes, I am a monster, and I am proud to be one. Ivo's older brother never existed, not in spirit wise. Because tragically, the spirit of his real brother had died, yet the fools thought they revived the child named Julius, only I had taken his place, and while those feelings are real growing up once more, my rage made me open my eyes as the youngest Robotnik will always be put down. The Robotnik family-line was always meant to be treated as outcasts."
"You're the one who made the whole family outcasts, Julius! You ruined Robotnik's life and lead him into becoming evil in the first place, to try and use the Chaos Emeralds and take over the world! In that turn, you ruin everybody else's lives, and torn away so many families!" Sonic hissed, his voice lowering as he tried to hold back his anger.
Especially since with the Chaos Emeralds this dangerously close, the blue hedgehog knew if he were to lash out any further, they would read and feel his negative emotions and could...Oh, Chaos, they could turn him dark. That was one of his greatest fears and he had to be careful.
"Well, guess what, Ju-Loser!? I won't let you keep Cream and her mother and Cheese for your own sick, twisted goals!" He continued, positioning himself for a fight to save Cream, her Mother and all of the Chao, determination raging through his benevolent heart and soul, courage once again ignited and never to be snuffed out.
"I told you, child. You are too late!" Julius rebuked, his extended finger hovering over a simple, red button on the left arm rest, a simple push to unleash his final victory. "We all know that humans cannot form a bond with the Chaos Emeralds like you Mobians could, especially you, Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the many few who can harness their power with very little effort because of your far too pure heart. But...if a Mobian would volunteer along with the mystical power of the Chao combined with the Miracle Gems..."
Fear mounted on Sonic's face, crossing through his mind, remembering the nightmares he had, and, realizing that unlike today, technology wasn't that well known in the past and Jonathan only used Chao and the Chaos Emeralds alone which left him unstable...and much easier for Clover to use the crystals to save the world at the cost of being with Camellia, being forced to be reborn. Now Julius was going to use Vanilla since Cream was far too young and most likely to die...
"NO! DON'T!" The blue hedgehog screamed out, pleadingly. But it was too late.
Just as Sonic was about to race over to try and stop the twist man, the Iron Empire Leader grinned and pushed the button and the machine, the amphilizer, soon began to start up. It sparks small jolts of electricity with a loud hum, the Chaos Emeralds glowing brightly of their powers beginning to be converted from their crystal shells into the machine, with the capsules holding Cheese, the rest of his kind, and even Vanilla doing the same, and the imprisoned Chao and Mobian mother all began to scream, feeling the electrical surges fuse into their bodies, absorbing their Chaos Energy from their souls and bodies, little compared to Sonic's, streaming through the wirings attached to Julius' body fusing into his own Energy-less veins and cell tissues, and the Master Emerald blinking softly in and out like a light bulb dimming.
"MAMA! CHEESE!" Cream screamed out pleadingly, tears threatening to escape through her watery eyes, the fear of never seeing her mother or beloved Chao ever again threatening to engulf her.
"STOP IT!" Sonic shouted, anger and plead fusing in his voice, his legs becoming a blur in desperate hopes to smash into the pods, only to be forced to skid to a stop, his trademark sneakers screeching when out dark shadows in the corner to his right, three of the Warrior Slayers emerged, their steps vibrating the solid, steel hard floor, blocking his path to keep him from harming their creator.
The three giant robots leering upon the target locked on, their optical sensors detecting the adminable survival. Silent command to eliminate all threats of the Iron Empire, the three Warrior Slayers opened fire with 1000 volted electricity and 500 degree heated lasers attempting to destroy him.
The blue hedgehog clenched his teeth, the testimony of his growing frustration, having no choice but to fight the monstry of the Samurai robotic warriors made for deadly combat and deflecting his attacks.
Sonic leapt out of the way while making sure that none of the attacks would accidentally hit the terrified five year old who could only watch helplessly. The first Warrior Slayer held it's electrical whip in a fluid reflect, plumes of dust engulfing parts of the battle area where the hedgehog once stood.
Meanwhile, Tails and his group were in the midst battle to continue blocking the Iron Empire Soldiers in mid-air as well as preventing Dr. Robotnik from gaining access to the base in hopes that Sonic and Knuckles' group would be able to rescue the kidnapped hostages, and retrieve the Master and Chaos Emeralds before Julius could use them to take over Mobius itself.
The heat of the battle went on much longer than any of them imagined, the sunlight slowly sinking into the horizon of the ocean, far below and in the distance, the sky's brilliant blue fading into the shades of yellow, creeping into the orange and red hue, clouds turning pink, yet merged with the dark grey and black smog of the missiles launched, colliding and exploding, vessels of the Iron Jets and GUN Beetles rendered into nothing more than scraps of metal, descending into the mighty ocean's deepest depths.
"Take this, Eggman!" Tails shouted, opening fire to counterattack Robotnik's own lasers, the two missiles colliding in an explosion in midair, plumes of dust expanding, before the young fox maneuvered the X Tornado further away to avoid receiving damage or any further ambushes by the decreasing numbers of the Iron Empire Soldiers who by now were struggling to regain control over the situation.
"I've lost contact with Iron Emperor!" One of the Iron Soldiers reported to the last two remaining other soldiers in their aircrafts, sweating bullets with his heart rattling in his chest rib cages, tightening his grip on the controls.
"It's no use! We can't handle the forces of GUN, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends!" The second remaining soldier panicked.
"Or Dr. Ivo Robotnik! This is the end of the Iron Empire!" The third screamed out, hanging his head low in the devastating defeat. After years of envading capture and defeat, the Iron Empire is finished.
All because of Sonic the Hedgehog, his friends and Robotnik.
"It looks like the Iron Empire's finally losing!" Chris managed to take notice of decreasing numbers of the Iron Air-Fleets with more and more pilots and soldiers being forced to eject themselves out and parachute to safety.
"That means we're winning!" Amy cheered, raising her clenched fist. "Now it's just that stupid Robotnik and his brother Julius!"
"Not to mention getting the Chaos Emeralds back, and rescuing Cream, her Mom, Cheese and all of the kidnapped people. We're so close, guys!" Tails smiled confidently, his eyes narrowed with pure determination to keep on fighting Robotnik until Sonic came back after the defeat of Julius.
)-(
At the same time, another GUN aircraft arrived, the pilot within with more GUN soldiers within the back cargo ready for command. With their numbers dangerously increasing, yet the Iron Empire's army finally decreased into nothing more than the leader himself and a few soldiers and scientists hidden within, under the President's orders, it was time for the ultimate rescue mission.
That, and Agents Topaz and Rouge went against protocol, but for good reasons, one that neither could argue against anymore with the odds against Julius and Robotink turning in the favor of the heroes and the Military.
"This is Beetle Mach 2! Do you copy, Agent Topaz?" The Pilot communicated through the head-speakers.
"Affirmative! We've found most of the kidnapped Floral Forest Villagers and the Construction Crew alive! The only one unoccupied is Vanilla the Rabbit. Sonic the Hedgehog should be rescuing her as well as her daughter Cream, with Knuckles the Echidna to retrieve the Master and Chaos Emeralds! Meet us outside to take the people and evacuate them to the mainland for safety! Over!" Topaz reported over the radio, her voice loud and clear other the unquestionable authority, leaving no room for an arguement.
"Roger!" He responded without hesitation, looking over his shoulder, expression firm with years of practice to follow orders and give them out in the line of his duties. "Men, orders are to rescue the hostages and evacuate, no injuries or casualties!"
"Sir!" The men saluted, ready to take action on the rescue mission, also without hesitation.
The Aircraft soon made to land on Angel Island while the air battle finally seemed to settle down in the heroes' favor. Their mission now was to collect the long-over-due prisoners held against their will in the ongoing months of war against the Iron Empire.
)-(
Within the Egg Fort, Robotnik was anything but pleased with the results of the ongoing battle against him, while GUN was also getting in the way at the same time.
"That little nuisance of a fox! He's been raised by Sonic for way too long!" Robotnik growled, beyond furious. Why did Sonic had to influence his annoying meddling habits into his friends!?
Ugh, how he hated kids of the current generation!
"At least the Iron Empire's fleet and army are decreasing by the growing number of 96% and still accelerating." Decoe tried to lighten up the mood, meekly.
"Even so, now is the perfect time to rise my own big guns, just in case Julius calls for another retreat! Get ready! Begin Egg Fort transformation!" The evil scientist declared, now pushing the button to start his ultimate super secret weapon. "Merge mode number 1!"
One part of the fort begins to transform into a thick, gigantic arm, metal reflecting under the setting sun's light, electrical surges sparking.
"Merge mode number 2!"
The second part quickly joined in, becoming the second, left arm, in a repeat of the first attachment.
"Merge mode number 3!"
Finally, the third part of the fort split into a pair of enormous legs, attaching to the now middle part of the ship which acted as a body and head, the latter being the cockpit where Robotnik and his two minions continued to be seated. the attachment of the fortress clunging through the empty, enormous air, raging through the thin white floats surrounding all in the ongoing battle. On it's back, two slots opened up to reveal two powerful rocket jets which quickly ignited to keep the now newly transformed 100 foot tall giant robot from falling, much to the horror of Tails, Amy, and Chris who all gaped in shock, their eyes widened and their hearts and blood freezing with screams coming out of their throats.
The trio began sweating with bullets. This was going to be a serious and very deadly problem. How in the world can they counterattack that monstrous machine?
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Robotnik laughed evilly, grinning. "Say hello to my ultimate robot creation, the Eggsterminator!"
Any confidence that Tails mustered up during the battle fled from him in a near instant the moment he caught sight of the Eggsterminator's transformation. Doubt, fear, panic and uncertainty began to take hold of him, clenching his grip on the X Tornado's controls. Memories of his futile fight against the Fun Fun robot came back to him, taunting the two-tailed fox cub that he began to have difficulty in breathing.
"This is not good..." Chris murmured, horrified. He glanced back at the base set foot on Angel Island, where Sonic and the others still were. If Robotnik got to the Chaos Emeralds to power up the robot even more, then nothing to beat the evil scientist.
Not even the cobalt hero or Julius.
"Tails...What do we do?" Amy asked, pale and now realizing that the outcome has switched from their favor into 'Eggman's'.
"I...don't know. The X Tornado can't do much of anything else now. Not without a Chaos Emerald. I can't even transform it into the X Cyclone Battle Mode." Tails shakily lamented. He really wanted to keep on fighting, to help Sonic and the others. But what can he do to keep distracting Robotnik without getting himself and his other friends killed?
'C'mon, Miles! Think!' The seven year old fox squeezed his eyes shut, desperate to do something, anything, to prevent any more disaster.
"Alright, Eggsterminator! Take hold of that little two-tailed brat!" Robotnik commanded.
The Eggsterminator roared to life, soaring it's course for the X Tornado, making all three occupants within, including Tails who snapped his eyes open, to scream in fright. Thinking quickly and telling his friends to hold on, the young kit maneuvered the plane out of the way, being forced to make risky aerial movements before another idea formed into his mind.
Wait...Aerial movements...that might actually work!
"Hold on tight, guys! I've got an idea!" Tails glanced over his shoulder, determination leaking in his tone, refusal to give up, before he put the aircraft into as much speed as he could despite lacking the Chaos Emerald's power.
He flew the plane straight towards the giant robot who attempted to punch at him, but even with it's speed and new power, it missed while Tails had the X Tornado dodge at every movement before he began flying around their enemies.
"What is Tails doing?" Decoe asked, concerned and utterly perplexed.
"Maybe he is retreating?" Bocoe guessed.
Even Robotnik had no clue on what Sonic's best friend/little brother was doing, narrowing his brows in suspicion. Something was definitely up, he could sense it.
The X Tornado then began to fly around the Eggsterminator, the latter attempting to keep track at it. But the more it did, the more it began to slowly lose altitude while the evil scientist and his two minions all groaned, too dazed to focus anymore. Continuously attempting to keep their opponents within their sights became far too difficult, their visions swimming and swirling with Robotnik feeling a headache coming on, throbbing and pounding.
"It worked!" Chris cheered on, a collective sigh from him, Tails and Amy echoing within the cockpit.
"Let's fly over to Angel Island. We'll need to come up with a new plan." Tails responded, the gravity of the situation engulfing him like an ocean wave making his fur soggy in sweat.
Tension filling the air, absorbed into their lungs through the ordeal of the crisis seemingly never ending, Amy and Chris both nodded in agreement, their gazes once more onto the beautiful, mystical floating land of Angel Island, it's never-ending mystery clouded in the eons of mist, the lush forests, high-peak mountains hiding even more secrets and much more, tainted by the black, grey and silver metal of the Iron Empire's base. Deep within, heroes and villains resided in a heated battle for the fate those imprisoned...
And the planet of Mobius itself.
Sonic ran along across the walls in the chamber, his nimble and reflexed athletic skills pattering on the thick steel in extreme perfect balance, taking out a Power Ring from his hammerspace that Tails had given him a short time ago in cause of emergency. The sense of urgency fueled him with determination to rescue his friend and her mother, all of the Chao.
Their frightened and pained squeals, filling the walls of a never ending vibrations like an echo was enough to send his heart plummeting, rising his desire and his anger towards Julius Robotnik, Jonathan reborn he reminded himself, for the man's cruel, twisted and evil ways.
He absorbed the ring's power, feeling it's bright light and energy flow through the course of his body, bending his knees to push himself off the walls and using a Homing Attack in a powerful spin to try and slice off the heads of the huge robots, the loud clang echoing in the air, but all he managed to do was slice away their swords that were sent flying in a twirling motion, whipping through the air, clattering onto the floor one by one, and one arm each, sparks of wiring flowing through the severed metal limbs.
Yet before Sonic could even plant the soles of his shoes onto the body of one of the robots, he was then knocked back by the Warrior Slayer-Crimson that found an opening for a surprise attack, thrusting it's remaining arm that hit him painfully hard, metal making contact with his skin and organs. He cried out in alarm, the sheer pain coursing at the right side of his waist, before somersaulting swiftly in a bit of an awkward back-flip to land safely in front of his increasingly concerned friend.
While thankful that the impact wasn't enough to break his bones or cut into his body, Sonic knew that he was in for a real big bruising, yet he tried to ignore the pain, fueled with the desire to win this fight.
"Mr. Sonic!" Cream felt her heart jump into her throat, the latter squeezing itself that it was making it difficult for her to breathe. Her concerns for Sonic's welfare and safety nearly brought her to shed her tears once more.
This didn't go unnoticed, and Sonic's chest ached to hear more than see his friend on the verge of crying. He continued to blame himself for not being able to be by her side and keeping her safe, vowing to make sure that once this was all over, the blue hedgehog would give as much apologies as possible.
"I'm okay!" The blue hedgehog quickly reassured, wincing with the soreness in his ribs that he clutched his side under his left, sweaty gloved hand, glaring up at the three powerful robots that began to advance on him, their steps rocking the floor with thunderous movements, their shadows looming before him.
Knowing that he had to at least make sure they wouldn't hurt Cream as well as try and get to Vanilla, the Chaos, and all of the eight Emeralds, Sonic then raced forward once more to try and get through, his signature red and white sneakers a blur against the polished floors. The original Warrior Slayer, once again withdrew it's Katana, lashing it's electrical whip at him in a increasing speed many would not be able to escape from.
Thinking quickly, he leaped straight to the side narrowly dodging the paralyzing rope only for it to slither straight after him like a snake. Sonic gasped, his eyes widening only to be distracted when the second Warrior Slayer, this time the Gold version, punched him from the right to the side so hard that he was sent flying straight towards the ceiling.
"UGH!" The cobalt teen grunted, his eyes squeezed tightly with the continuous injuries he knew he was in for, the air in his lungs nearly giving out with the exhaustion creeping into overwhelming him, but he refused to let it do so, and was about to hit the ceiling when the Warrior Slayer-Crimson charged, raising it's blade in a uppercut movement to slice him in half.
"Sonic, look out!" Cream screamed frantically, her hands covering her mouth.
Eyes snapped open the moment he heard his youngest friend's voice, Sonic looked over his shoulder just in time to see the other giant robot ready to cut him in half in mid-air. Hissing while steeling his expression, he painfully curled up, spinning around to form his Insta-Shield(that he decided to call his new ability) to block the attack with it's Chaos Energetic force-field, sparks of the shield and weapon raining like a fire sprinkler. It still pushed him downward, but it was enough to keep him safe yet it sent him descending to the floor with a scream.
This gave the Warrior Slayer a chance to capture the fourteen year old, it's whip thrust out underneath him to coil the hedgehog. Sonic, however, noticed and, despite knowing that it could electrocute him regardless on what he could do, acted quickly and somersaulted upright before his feet landed onto the giant wiring, and he didn't waste anymore time as he began grinding along, leaping and hopping at the right moment, not stopping when the giant robot, recoiling in apparent shock, then began to try and grab him with it's free arms and surging the electricity to shake him off.
"Come and get me, Knife-Guy!" Sonic taunted, his smirk mounting his muzzle, leaping off of the wiring while for a Homing Attack again right at the Warrior Slayer's face.
Despite bouncing off in a loud clang, he shook off the effects to plant his feet on the Warrior-Gold's face before launching himself off to the side in the nick of time, Warrior Slayer-Crimson charging in the growing fit of rage once more with it's own Katana held up high, it's blade reflecting on the ceiling lamp's light and aimed to chop the blue hedgehog into pieces. Unfortunately for the Iron Robots, the Crimson creation sliced right through it's fellow creation's head, carving it in half including destroying it's power core deep within, sparks and alarms going off.
Sonic used this to his advantage, landing on top of the first Warrior Slayer's head just as the Warrior Slayer-Gold turned to him before attempting to slash through him, only to miss when he narrowly launched himself upward, his legs strength being his key to survival and sliced it's head off where it's power core actually was. Finally, blind and unable to see in it's final moments, the robot's electrical wires wrapped tightly around Warrior Slayer-Crimson's body and seeped deep into it's neck. The blue hedgehog landed safely on the ground just a few meters in a safe distance just as all three robots, caught in each other's traps, all ended up destroying each other and exploded upon impact behind him.
"Ha! Looks like the Ro-Brothers Band just split up!" The hero of Mobius grinned victoriously for finally getting rid of the super tough robots, rubbing his nose while in glancing at the readers/viewers, breaking the fourth wall.
Unfortunately, not all was well as the illuminating bright light from the amphilizer's functions in absorbing the seemingly unlimited power of the Chaos and Master Emeralds bright his senses back into the dire reality of the situation. Alarm and instincts of the reminder kicking back in, Sonic turned his focus to the source, once more horror holding him in it's clutches when he saw Julius bellow in the monstrous laughter, his evil will and blackened stone heart known to many and all, yet the blue hedgehog could see the increasing discomfort raging in his blinking red, purple and black eyes, holding the dark soul breaking through the shell that once belonged to Ivo Robotnik's brother.
Within the capsules, Vanilla's voice carried the shaking and agonized scream, her energy struggling to remain within her, her silent pleads for the pain to stop echoing and shattering the hearts of both her daughter and the hero of Mobius. Cheese was in the same horrible situation, his squeals for help reaching the young Mobians' ears, alongside the other Chao, the one whom Cream loved so much since the day of his hatching wearing the red bow now losing all of his original colour, fading into the white and blue only known to Hero Chao.
Droplets of tears escaped from Cheese's eyes, his scream with his little heart pumping loudly in his ears that one would think that others could hear it as well, vibrating against the electricl humming of the amphilizer, the screams belonging to the kindly mother rabbit, other Chao, and the bellowing cackles of Julius Robotnik. The man himself raised his arms to all, embracing the immense power he craved for, denied for so many centuries. Now it was his at long last.
'Oh no...NOOOO!' Sonic thought, horrified as he realized that the evil man's goal was almost complete.
The teenage hedgehog was too late.
Wasting no more time as the entire base soon began to shake in a violent tremor, plumes of dust and concrete only confirming everybody else's worst fears. Scientists and remaining lower-ranked soldiers, fearing what was happening as well as their lives, all made the instant decision to evacuate, scrambling to safety of the emergency exits and leaving behind all of the months and years of research under Julius' command without second thought.
They even cared less for the prisoners, humans, Mobians and Flickies alike, leaving them to be crushed, their demise never crossing into the organization's minds.
But hope wasn't lost to the Floral Forest Villagers or the Construction Crew. Knuckles and his group wasted no more time in freeing the prisoners, the use of the key-cards however slowing them down. Taking matters into their own hands, Knuckles, his undeniable strength, thrust the bars into worthless pieces of discarded metal, determination of his willpower increasing his stamina. Vector pulled at the cell doors, straining at the bars with his own hands but refusing to allow anybody to die. Rouge cleverly used her Drill Kick to smash the other doors, kindly gesturing at the stunned, and anxious prisoners that it was safe to come out.
Though while they eventually got all of them out, the group were unable to keep much balance with the entire base's violent movements filling their hearts and guts with pools of dread threatening to burst and engulf them.
"Uh...Guys?" Charmy began, a hint of a whimper creeping into his voice, a sweat drop formatting on his head and his heart hammering so fast he thought he was about to have a heart attack. "I think now's a real good time to get outta here!"
"I'm with the kid on this one." Even Rouge couldn't hold back the hint of uneasiness in her voice. She didn't want to die young and not claim the Chaos Emeralds. That was one of her worst nightmares.
Knuckles hesitated, the urgency to reclaim the Master Emerald burning strong, but at the same time his deepening concerns for Sonic, Cream and Cheese, and Vanilla increased. He can only silently hope and pray that his younger rival would be able to get them all out before the whole collapsed, and reclaim all eight sets of Emeralds, still within the evil clutches of Julius Robotnik. Anticipation grew within him, his eyes squeezed tightly with the inner struggle to make up the most difficult decision he was forced to make.
However, the lives of the people here, he realized, was the top priority at this stage, and time was against them.
"The rest is up to Sonic," He finally announced, taking the lead to ensure the safety of the freed prisoners, who all feared that they would not be able to make it out, some embracing with the dreaded thoughts of dying crossing their minds. "Let's get outta here!"
"You heard the man! Let's move it, people!" Vector almost instantly agreed, guilt and fear raging through his chest as his thoughts turned to the most beautiful female rabbit, the mother of a sweet little five year old girl, raced across his mind.
He could only hope that Sonic would be able to save Vanilla on time.
Without anymore time to waste, Knuckles and his team lead the increasing frantic prisoners back towards the exit of the holding cells, through the rocking corridors with debris and ceilings collapsing everywhere they went. Dust pluming to block everyone's sights, shock waves causing some to tumble and/or fall, but were helped out by their fellows, none of them willing to leave anybody behind. Eventually what felt like an agonizing long eternity, the promising light of freedom to the outside world and the lush, fresh soil of Angel Island welcomed them.
But the freedom itself may be coming to an impending end with the greatest threat of all igniting his final plan for world domination of the planet itself.
The amphilizer continued to drain the Chaos Energy from the weakening Vanilla, her hands clenching, hunching forward with quivering breathes, tears escaping her eyes, and the wailing Chao, their movements swivering with high-pitched squeals, airs of begging for this horrible drainage to stop. The powers of the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald flowed through the connection cables, seeping into the manical Julius, who by then was gritting his teeth, surging his willpower to absorb every single one of these energies into his own body, flowing into his veins, mutating the power no human man has ever succeeded in all of the existence of mankind, or the entire history of the Chaos Emeralds and Mobians since the evolution of the latter species.
"VANILLA!" Sonic screamed in dismay, realizing that even if he couldn't figure out how to stop this quickly, Vanilla and all of the Chao were going to lose their lives.
He felt powerless to stop the heart-wrenching cries, the blue hedgehog could even somehow sense that the Chaos Emeralds were screaming in pain, their very powers dimming and absorbed into the body of the monster in a human disguise. The hero of Mobius knew he had to do something, before it was too late.
"Yes...Yes! This is the great power I have been waiting for!" Julius, gloating over the fact that he has finally succeeded, bellowed as the power of the Chaos Energy began to flow right into his skin.
Very soon now, he will be the most powerful being in the face of the planet, unstoppable, unbeatable, the supreme ruler of all of Mobius.
The moment the energies of the Chaos Emeralds, and the Chaos Energy from the Chao and Vanilla who whimpered, gazing helplessly at both the fourteen year old hedgehog and her beloved daughter, solely onto the blue hedgehog who stared back, catching her weakening, silently pleading Sonic to take Cream and all of the Chao and leave despite that the hedgehog frantically shook his head, able to understand what she attempted to say inspite of words not spoken, the evil man suddenly felt a painful jolt of discomfort, wincing as the forced powers and energy were fusing the evil aura deep within his heart.
"Ngh...Ugh...NGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Julius grunted in sheer agony, panting at the painful transfer while clenching his fists, attempting to ignore the pain to absorb them. "AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"
Sonic and Cream could only watch in shock and horror as the darkness and light soon consumed Julius Robotnik, before the evil man soon began to suddenly extend his arms and legs, and were getting longer, thicker...and bigger! The Iron Leader stood stood, throwing his head back with a near-monstrous scream, and while Cheese's capsule broke free and rolled away while with the other Chao that were also finally freed, hitting the floor with tumbles and cries, the glass cases all breaking with a powerful energy blast of wind hitting everything and everyone.
One of the falling debris from the destroyed Warrior Slayers were caught by the winds, smashing against the wall and into the open of Angel Island outside of the building, the waves escaping from the confinements of the Iron Empire after so long.
"AAHHHHHHHHHH!" Sonic screamed while raising his arms to shield his face, shutting his eyes just as he, the terrified Cream still trapped in her capsule, her screams known and high, and all of the Chao were then blown away, when the entire room, the whole base, burst open and out of the destroyed building itself.
The group were trapped in the winds, sucked by the currents with screams engulfed by the roars of the powerful energy winds.
)-(
Those who were still fighting in the mid-air battle, and even having just finally exited the Iron Empire's base, all saw what happened before they too were blown away by the powerful gusts, that even the aircrafts nearly lost control. Tails, Chris and Amy all screamed as the X Tornado nearly lost altitude before the twin-tailed kit attempted to fight against the dangerously increasing air currents, Knuckles, Rouge, Topaz, and the Chaotix, who had successfully managed to get everybody out while making sure every single Mobian, human and mobini were all there, were also knocked out along with the armies of GUN and the evil organization, scattering acrossing the fields.
Those who didn't get involved in the fight evacuated, panicking and fearing for their lives, while the kidnapped citizens and Flickies were being lead into the aircraft having docked to evacuate them off the island and to safety by the Evacuation squad of GUN itself. Dazed by the impact, wondering what was happening, Knuckles and his team could only watch on in horror to see a burst of light explode.
Within his Eggsterminator, Robotnik, Decoe and Bocoe, recovering from losing sight of their current targets, saw what was happening and could only gaze in pure shock.
"What is happening!?" Decoe cried out, frantically. If he was made of flesh, his blood would have run cold in sheer terror.
"I do not like the looks of this," Bocoe shuddered. "Certainly hope that isn't the sign of the whole planet blowing up."
"So do I...What has Julius done?" Robotnik muttered, his heart freezing up at the sheer petulance on the explosion. Plus, if Mobius was destroyed, he would never be able to build his Robotnikland Empire.
In a matter of minutes, cracks, lights and smoke emerged from the building, before a massive explosion engulfed the entire base, forcing those in the air to drift further back to safety, and those on the ground to grip on the ground hard to avoid in being blown away or hit by the falling fireballs and debris. Vector and Espio both covered Charmy, holding them close to ensure the youngest was secure, Knuckles, Rouge and Topaz braced themselves, before it seemingly finally died down.
There was absolutely nothing left of the Iron Empire's base at all. Yet emerging from the thickness of the black smoke drifting skyward, polluting the once clear, orange-hued afternoon sky into a deep-crimson red, similar in the fashion of a wildfire.
)-(
"Whooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Sonic in the meantime was flown straight towards the ground, descending in a dangerous speed with nothing to save him from his approaching demise, while Cream's capsule finally burst open, causing the little girl to tumble out and fall as well, screaming.
The blue hedgehog, wincing by the impact that really knocked the wind out of him, gasped in horror when he saw his youngest friend falling before he quickly reached out for her, calling out her name.
"Mr. Sonic!" Cream exclaimed, just before her older friend and big brother figure managed to catch her, his warm, secure arms wrapped around her waist, and the falling Cheese who fell quite close to them, then, despite how terrified she was, strained herself to flap her ears very quickly to slow their descend, eventually hovering in the air. "Sonic, are you alright? Cheese!"
"Well...That could've gotten a bit better, I suppose." The cobalt teen couldn't help but mutter sarcastically, wincing over the painful beatings and close calls today.
On the ground near the now destroyed base and nearly wrecked Shrine, Knuckles, Rouge, Topaz, Vector, Espio and Charmy all groaned before they call could hear fearful squeaks, looking up to see weakened wild Chao falling. They, and those who were still in the air, all gasped in horror to see the state of the poor, sweet little creatures unable to fly in time.
"The Chao!" Tails exclaimed in dismay.
"They're falling!" Chris screamed out, wishing to go out and save them.
"Somebody save them!" Amy pleaded loudly, her heart breaking to see that the poor little things did end up captured after all. In fact, much to her horror, she realized almost instantly that they were the same ones back in the Chao Garden.
The sky, covered in the afternoon sunlight that shone desperately through the thick smoke of the burning remains that was once the Iron Empire Base, now had the stage of blue, white, and tinge of yellow that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions.
"Catch those Chao!" Topaz sharply commanded, her voice cutting through the air.
Rouge was the first to recover, extending her wings as she took flight, her form a wisp of grace and determination. Her wings, the hue of midnight, sliced through the atmosphere with a finesse that seemed almost supernatural, propelling her upward in a fluid, spiraling arc.
"Ha! Yah! Hm!" Her triumphant cries flowed with the very currents that carried her, and within the blink of an eye, her nimble fingers made contact with the delicate forms of five Chao, her touch as fleeting as the brush of a butterfly's wings against the skin. The Chao, their round eyes wide with astonishment, gazed upward with an air of reverence, their forms an echo of innocence against the vast backdrop of azure infinity.
The deepening trust radiating within these gentle Chao who snuggled against Rouge's form. This moment made the usually sly bat giggle in a silver bells, her laughter resonated through the open air.
"Aw, you're so welcome. Aren't you such cute little munchkins?" She cooed, her heartstrings strummed by the sight of these Chao, each one a living embodiment of the purest charm. "How could such a big, bad man like Julius hurt you little cuties?"
Amidst of the chaos above, the group on the ground bore witness to a scene that mirrored the meteor shower in the sky. A frantic surge of urgency flowed as Knuckles, Topaz, and the Chaotix dashed through the terrain. Their arms were extended, hands poised to catch the innocent creatures, fearing that they would end up missing and the poor little things would be badly hurt.
Fortunately, none of them missed the mark, successfully saving those that were descending towards the group. Knuckles and the Chaotix bore the weight of responsibility in their outstretched limbs, refusing to surrender to the depths of failure. Espio and the echidna each cradled four Chao in their arms, the small forms delicate against their stronger frames.
In the midst of the frenzy, Topaz, her movements were precise, extended her arms to ensnare three of the tiny beings, gently holding the small creatures in a careful embrace.
"I got 'em! I got 'em!" Charmy cried out, desperately reaching out in the most comical position, he even unintentionally mirrored his movements from Vector who frantically extended his arms in the similar movement.
"We gotcha's, we gotcha's!" The green crocodile exclaimed, sweating like bullets, his heart's rate accelerating that one would think he was beginning to hyperventilate.
Charmy, the pint-sized bee, and Vector, the crocodile, both knew the full responsibility to save the precious Chao, failure being out of question. Charmy clutched two Chao in his small arms, his frame almost dwarfed by the little beings. Vector's robust arms cradling at least eight of them. His muscular form bent under the weight, yet his determination held them ever so gently with unwavering strength.
Seeing that they managed to catch the Chao, the group all exhaled a collective sigh of relief. Fatigue mingled with triumph, leaving them breathless yet triumphant as their arms embraced the precious cargo.
"Whoa... That was close," Vector panted, his voice a testament to both exhaustion and relief. He turned to the eight Chao in his arms, their safety etched in the glow of his gaze. "You li'l guys okay?"
"Chao, chao! Chao!" The Chao all perked up happily, nodding before they and the other rescued Chao all cuddled against their saviors, making the Crocodile blush heavily in embarrassment, their tiny forms a testament to trust forged within the crucible of chaos.
Laughter soon echoed, Vector, Charmy, and even Topaz shared it all in the mirth. The ticklish hugs of the Chao were a reminder of innocence in a world that often knew otherwise.
"H-hey, hey! No need to thank us! S-Stop! You're tickling me!" Vector's laughter rang in the air, warmth seeping from within.
"Hey, these little guys are super cute and cuddly, just like Cheese!" Charmy's giggles were as infectious as the sunlight at dawn, a testament to the purity of heart that resided within him.
"They really are more adorable than I thought they were." Topaz agreed, a note of surprise noticeable, her voice carrying the weight of newfound understanding. Her gentle pat on one of the Chao's heads was a gesture of connection already forming between her and the little creatures.
Back up in the air, the remaining released but highly energy-drained Chao were unfortunately descending far from the safety of Angel Island's soil, with the X Tornado glittering in the sunlight's reflection. Amy, her determination pure and ignited, and Chris, his heart hammering and his breathing quickening in the anxious desperation, both stood in the slightly unbalanced but steady posture, their delicate arms extended wide.
"Here they come!" Amy cried out, her balance wobbly, her arms extended in a desperate attempt to rescue the poor little things, her heart aching at just how Julius had found and captured them, in such the cruelty of the man's dark, blackened heart.
"I got ya!" Chris called out, yelping a bit when he nearly lost his balance.
In a nearly not so quick swipe and gentle grip, the twelve year old boy's thin but still warm and secure arms quickly but carefully embraced four of the adorable little Chao, bending on his knees in the assurance of not falling over the sanctuary of the X Tornado's wings. The pink hedgehog nearby, her voice and gasps breathing out like a deflating air bubble, coiled three more in a quick reflex, her heart pure as light shining even brighter than the sun, cradling the precious little creatures, faintly panting in the sheer relief, the weight of the fear of failing her task and burden lifted from her shoulders.
Finally, Tails, in the assurance that the glass hatch would remain open, nimbly maneuvered his aircraft in a delicate swift, the remaining five Chao's landing cushioned by the softness of the plush, comfortable seat behind him. A collective sigh of relief echoed through the afternoon light, the feelings shared in their voices adding to the layer of their success.
"Everybody get in, it's not safe out there." The two-tailed fox quickly ordered, and his older friends, sharing a united nod of pure agreement, didn't need to be told twice, carefully climbing back in with the rescued Chao in their arms before the seven year old closed the hatch, ready to make landing to reach Sonic and the others.
Once knowing that they were all safe for now, the thickness of the situation hanging in the air like a flood ready to suffocate all in it's presence, Cream delicately lowered Sonic onto the ground with a soft drop, the cobalt teenager landing on his feet, his sneakers touching the softness of the grass and dirt, as he gently held the young girl and the now white and blue Cheese in his arms, putting them down but held them in a very relieved hug, his stronger, thinner but secure arms holding them in the security of his embrace, to which the five year old child and her weakened but slowly recovering and glowing Chao returned, the youngsters crying their hearts out.
"You okay, guys?" Sonic asked, gently swaying his two friends who could only nod, tearfully. While he feared for the safety of Vanilla and hoped that she was still alive, he focused on comforting his distraught sister and her little Chao.
His heart sank with devastation and guilt of his youngest friend's absolute loss. Despite all of his efforts and having come so close in succeeding...Vanilla was still in the building...the terrible sense of dread over the thought she may not have survived that explosion clenched his heart like a pair of cold hands squeezing it within it's grip, and while he was uncertain what happened to Julius, the evil man may have been lost as well. Either way, Sonic struggled to hold back his tears and the urge to cry himself was so strong, because he knew of one thing that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
He may have ultimately failed. For the first time in the hedgehog's life, the failure of saving lives swept through his very benevolent soul, tears hot and stinging, his throat squeezing itself as though he was being choked.
If Vanilla did not survive...Sonic would be facing the same grim reality his own father has been feeling for eight, long, terrible years: The deaths of Uncle Chuck...and the fifty other innocent people which to this day, and while Jules didn't say it, continued to haunt him as well.
"I-I'm so sorry, Mr. Sonic...! It's all my fault...!" Cream wept, tears soaking the teenager's chest, but the latter ignored the wet moisture.
"Shhhh...Everything's gonna be okay, Cream. It's not your fault." The blue hedgehog whispered, his voice soft and soothing to ease his friends' nerves and hearts, carefully rubbing the five year old's back, planting a gentle kiss between her adorable, long ears.
The five year old rabbit girl sniffled, not having the heart to blame her older friend, and she didn't want to. She continued to blame herself for getting everybody involved into this mess and she knew it. Sonic, Amy, Tails, Chris, Ella, Tanaka, Helen, Chuck, Lindsey, Nelson, the Chaotix...
Julius' words rang and echoed through her mind, and she knew deep down that the terrible man was absolutely right.
"You have been such a very naughty little girl. Running away from those who would take better care of you, and should have stayed home to obey your mother's rules to not leave the house."
'Everybody's been in danger because of me...and My Mom...' Cream continued to cry her heart out, remembering her mother's final words before all of this happened.
Now she will never see her again, and maybe...just maybe...It was best if she want to jail, Cheese goes back to his own kind where he would be safe...and Cream would never see her friends ever again. She really is a naughty, bad girl.
Unbeknownst to her, Sonic was scared of what Cream and Cheese's future would be like now. He knew that he had to go back inside that building and search every nook and cranny to ensure the mother rabbit's survival, praying to every entity he could think of that the worst she received was injuries that can be mended and healed in a hospital.
"I'll find your Mom, Cream. I promise," Sonic reassured, willing his tears to fade, swallowing the lump threatening to strangle his oxygen supply. "She's still alive. I can feel it."
The two gazed at each other as Sonic paused his singing, sad, emotional smiles shared. The teenage Mobian gently wiped away Cream's tears, with Cheese chirping a soft but very sad, 'Chao...' before the trio shared another embrace.
The two shared the warming glance, their bond radiant and pure, being more than just friends, the young Mobian rabbit slowly smiling in sadness, but very relieved that Sonic and Cheese were safe and sound. She nuzzled her face, the warm of the hedgehog's fur, peach chest radiated in the mixture of the sound of his heartbeat, bringing in the rhythm of serenity and peace.
"Thank you, Mr. Sonic...For saving me and Cheese...I'm sorry I ran away." Cream sniffled.
"I'm not mad at ya', Cream. I'm angry at what Julius had done," The cobalt hedgehog sighed, his smile turning to determination he was born with. "I promised I'd find your mom and save her...and I'm still going to."
"I know...I'm just so happy that you and Cheese are safe."
"Hey, now. You didn't think we wouldn't be worried about you, did ya'?" The hint of teasing echoing in Sonic's tone, sharing the lighthearted moment which, as he had been hoping for, resulted in his youngest friend giggling the sweet, soft and beautiful sound of the child she was.
"Sonic! Cream!"
Blinking at the sounds of Tails, Chris and Amy calling out to the duo, Sonic, Cream and Cheese glanced up to see the promising sight of the X Tornado hovering down towards them, the trio having relieved expressions as they waved them.
"It's Amy, Mr. Tails and Mr. Chris! They're okay too!" Cream exclaimed happily, her heart swelling with relief.
"Chao chao!" Cheese, his energy regenerating slowly but surely, waved his little arms excitedly.
"Sonic!" Next came Knuckles' voice, making the hedgehog and his friends turn to his left and saw the red echidna along with Vector, Espio, Charmy, Rouge and Topaz run up to them with the newly rescued Chao who were chirping, the young bee waving happily at them, his giggles also echoing in the dusk of night creeping in.
"Hey, guys! Glad to see you're all okay!" Sonic greeted with a wave.
However, there was a strong jolt which made everyone almost lose their balance on the ground of Angel Island, Sonic holding onto Cream and Cheese who both screamed, Vector, Knuckles, Espio, Rouge and Topaz nearly falling over while Charmy and the Chao looked around frantically, and Tails, seeing the ground shake, reluctantly pulled his plane into a hover.
"What's going on?" Chris asked, frantically, before seeing a large glow of purple light and a mist of darkness forming from the wreckage of the base, gasping in horror with his heart nearly leaping into his throat. "Uh...g-guys! Is that...!?"
Tails and Amy both glanced to see what the human boy was talking about, letting out terrified gasps and screams. On the ground, Sonic, his friends and allies all turned to see for themselves, gasping in absolute horror when something huge emerged from the ruins, thickness of negative Chaos Energy radiating and expanding, taking shape of a massive humanoid figure, one that was quickly becoming far too familiar for it to be a coincidence.
Unbeknownst to the heroes, Robotnik, Decoe and Bocoe were witnessing the same thing and the evil scientist felt as though his own heart, and his stomach, were both about to leap out of his throat as he recoiled in absolute horror. Of all the years he has experienced many things, causing destruction and chaos in his goals to dominate the planet, never in his life that Robotnik ever thought to witness the terrors that would spell doom to Mobius itself.
It frightened him more so than Sonic ever did in his transformations of becoming Super Sonic, the usage of the Chaos Emeralds granting the cobalt hedgehog the seemingly unlimited power to achieve the impossible.
"What's happening now, doctor!?" Decoe screamed out, hugging Bocoe as they both shook fearfully.
"It...It can't be!" Robotnik exclaimed. "This is impossible!"
By then, the darkness faded, but the aura of darkness continued to surround the shape, the body, of an 100-foot giant human with evil glowing, red-demon like eyes, but there was no mistaking of the shape and appearance of the massive monster that stood before them.
"HEHEHEHEHEHEH...HA HA HA HA HA HA...AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA!" The figure bellowed in evil laughter, towering over the terrified Mobians and normal-sized humans below him.
"Urm...You guys seein' this, or am I having some sort of crazy nightmare?" Vector asked, nervously.
"Did Julius just grow into a giant, or is that a robot shaped just like him?" Charmy added, frightened with the silent hope that he was having a nightmare right now.
"It IS Julius...But how!?" Espio couldn't believe what he is seeing.
"That aura...It's the negative power of the Chaos Emeralds! But how did he fuse with them!?" Knuckles exclaimed. No ordinary human would accomplish such a feat.
"I thought it was impossible for human beings to use Chaos Emeralds on themselves!" Topaz's eyes widened in sheer horror. This almost went against everything she knew in her whole life.
Apparently she wasn't the only one feeling it, because Rouge blinked in disbelief. "From the looks of it...I'd say that ugly man figured out a way to do that to himself."
Sonic, standing quickly in front of the frightened Cream as she whimpered, at first couldn't understand it either, until he spotted something in the middle of the giant Julius Robotnik's chest and softly gasped, his emerald pupils shrinking, his heart freezing in the icy cold dread like a frozen lake: It was a capsule, and inside was a unconscious and almost-tranced like Vanilla who was still glowing within her prison, implanted on the gigantic monster's chest plate. Seeing that and the fact that the Chaos Emeralds were also lined up into the man's body with another capsule on his upper left arm, a memory came into the hedgehog's mind.
"We all know that humans cannot form a bond with the Chaos Emeralds like you Mobians could, especially you, Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the many few who can harness their power with very little effort because of your far too pure heart. But...if a Mobian would volunteer along with the mystical power of the Chao combined with the Miracle Gems..."
"Vanilla...and the Chao..." Sonic began, his eyes widening in sheer disbelief and horror, another gasp escaping his lips. "Now I get it! He's using Vanilla's Chaos Energy to keep himself stablized so he can use the Chaos Emeralds, and used all of the Chaos' connections and energy to give him that extra power, using that machine to grow into a giant! Just like he did hundreds of years ago!"
"Huh!?" Everybody else exclaimed, confused and shocked.
"I don't know what the machine actually was, but that monster hooked himself up with it, Cream's Mom and the Chao including Cheese who's the Hero Chao reborn, and is the best friend of Cream's Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Camellia, so he can use the Chaos Emeralds to power himself up like certain Mobians including me!" He quickly explained.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?" Vector exclaimed loudly, while everybody else were shocked speechless.
"I didn't know Cream and Mrs. Vanilla knew that Camellia girl...whoever that is." Charmy blinked, dumbfounded.
"It gets worse," Sonic continued grimly, turning back to glare at the giant Julius. "Julius isn't spiritually Robotnik's brother! He's the evil guy who tried to use the Chaos Emeralds before all those years ago. The legend was right: That guy's Jonathan, having been reborn without his memories until now!"
"Julius is...the man who attacked all those years ago!?" Knuckles shouted, horrified.
"Of course, that's why he needed Cream as well as Cheese and all of the Chao. Their connections made Julius wishing for that kind of power, which was slowly causing his memories to return from his previous life and as he failed to stablize in using the Chaos Emeralds powers due to being a human, he needed a real Mobian and the Chao in order to use the Chaos Emeralds correctly." Espio realized gravely.
"And because of that, he probably gave that idea on how to use Chaos Control to steal the Master Emerald in the first place to give him extra points." Vector added.
"But since they didn't have the right stuff to that, that's why the Chaos Emeralds got split. It was all Jonathan's memories giving Julius those ideas! And now this is the result!" Sonic concluded.
Everyone, both on the landmark and formerly isolated beauty of Angel Island and in the air with the remaining GUN beetles hovering, continued to watch in horrified awe as the giant Julius grinned, gloating at himself as well as the rest of the world.
"YES! AT LAST! THIS IS THE POWER I HAVE BEEN CRAVING ALL THESE YEARS!" Julius declared victoriously. "HEAR ME, ALL OF MOBIUS! YOUR DAYS OF FREEDOM ARE OVER! YOU SHALL BOW BEFORE ME AND BECOME MY SLAVES, FOR MY MIGHT!"
As Julius continued to laugh evilly, while most of the heroes and Robotnik's group could only gaze on in terror and wondering if there was a way to stop the evil gigantic villain, Sonic on the other hand could only think of one thing, with his undying resolve and courage fueling him deep within his heart.
He had to fight the evil man to save Mobius and rescue Vanilla once and for all!
To be Continued!
A/N: When I have reached this part and saw how long it was going to be, I didn't want to risk in making this chapter to be super long, so I was forced to once again break it up into parts. But this time I am definitely positive the next chapter will be the final part of the current arc and then we'll finally move onto the next saga.
Also, sorry that it wasn't as great as I hoped, but I am trying my best to make it as good as possible, especially when the fighting scenes are always the hardest to get by. Hopefully the final battle between Sonic and Julius will make up for it. I also want to thank Assassins Creed Master for helping me out with certain parts of this chapter.
Although I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again due to daily life, but I will try and come back to either of my stories as soon as possible.
See you later!
