Robotnik thrashed around madly, like a caged animal as he was forcibly dragged back to his cell…Fear and frenzied rage exploding out of him, his mouth releasing a torrent of profanities towards the two G.U.N soldiers who dragged him along, their expressions impossible to see under their gas masks, however they didn't respond at all, so the good doctor could only assume they didn't care in the slightest over what they were doing.
It disgusted him…They were going to be compliant in the murder of his adopted son and for no other reason than blindly following orders…It was so…foul and vile…This was evil, evil beyond measure…He may have had a hand In a few world domination plots himself…But he would never…NEVER…Kill children or innocents, he tried to take over the world because he genuinely thought he was the best man for the job, he had the brains and the forces to do so he would attempt to take power every now and again, and even though his nemesis turned ally Sonic would stop him at every turn, they were never hostile and a lot of the time wouldn't even think of killing each other…To them or Robotnik at least it felt like a game.
But he had hung it all up when he found Miles, he wanted to turn over a new leaf and do some actual good in this world due to his plots being fruitless and doomed to end in failure…And while he had lost him he knew he still wanted to be in the kids life…now more than ever…So the knowledge that they planned on murdering Miles was absolutely horrifying…He had to stop it…In any way possible…
…
He fell to the ground with a dull thud against the cold, iron grey concrete of the floor of his cell, the slamming of it's door just as loud a cacophony as ever, however he didn't care…With vigour he raced over towards the small radio in his cell and frantically yelled into it.
"SONIC?! SONIC ARE YOU THERE?!"
…
The aforementioned Hedgehog had been resting upon his horrible stone like mattress when he had received the message…His eyes slowly beginning to close for a quick nap, however any chance he had of rest was shattered by the bellow of Robotnik…It's cacophony of noise causing him to yelp in shock, falling from the pathetic excuse for a bed and down onto the concrete below.
"Owwwww….Ivo? What is it you want? I was just about to take a nap…" he mumbled, irritation and disappointment of being unable to rest lacing his voice.
"Oh thank Chaos…Sonic…It's bad, it's really bad…It's Miles…They're going to kill him Sonic…"
"WHAT?!"
The very words that left the doctor's mouth caused any remnants of fatigue and tiredness within him evaporated like water splashed on a red-hot frying pan, the mere suggestion that his little buddy and best friend was going to be murdered by G.U.N was absolutely mortifying and rage inducing…How could they so willingly murder an innocent kid? Why would they ever think of doing such a thing?!
"Oh my Chaos…We have to get out of here now!" he yelled frantically, quickly running over to the doors of the cell, frantically banging against the door.
"Come on! COME ON! LET US OUT!" he bellowed with anger, violently beating his fists against the cold iron bars, trying desperately to escape and rescue his little bro.
However it was in vain, the bars just wouldn't budge, not for him nor for anyone…The hedgehog growing more and more desperate to escape this place, tears beginning to well up in his eyes as he tried to deny his helplessness in this situation…he had to get out…He had to, he was Miles's brother, his best friend, he was family…he couldn't let him die at 9 years old…He had so much to live for…
"No…No, no, no, NOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed, slamming his fist against the door one last time, the futile blow not changing the situation in the slightest…
He fell to his knees, weeping…He couldn't save him…he couldn't do anything…He was the hero of Mobius, the protector of Knothole and a proud ally of all in need…and yet he couldn't save his closest friend…He couldn't turn aside the fate of his brother…He was helpless…Unable to do anything…resistance was completely and utterly futile at this point…what could he do? What could Robotnik do…They were helpless…Utterly helpless…
BANG!
A loud bang sounded out in the cell, the back wall shaking slightly…A following sound could be heard….It sounded like concrete slowly crumbling away…It made Sonic turn, his tears still freely moving down his cheeks…What on earth was happening?
BANG!
Another loud thunderous bang sounded out, cracks began to appear upon the back wall of the cell, dust falling from the wall in great clouds as it's structural integrity slowly disintegrated…What was going on? Was somebody trying to get in?
BANG!
With one almighty blow the wall began to collapse with a loud cacophonous crash…The bricks falling to the concrete below and the great dust cloud from the destruction filling the entire room, the sun's rays piercing the cloud and illuminating multiple silhouettes standing in the gaping hole where the back wall of the cell used to be.
Sonic squinted his eyes slightly, wanting to get a better look, however the figures were more than comfortable to approach…As the dust cloud parted…He saw them…
It was…Amy? Vanilla? Cream? And…And the Echidna that had ended up landing here in the first place…Confusion filled the hedgehog's voice as he spoke in bewilderment.
"…Guys?...What the hell are you doing here?"
Amy grinned maniacally, holding her hammer tightly to her chest as she spoke happily,
"Rescuing your butt and getting our fluffy canine friend back! Isn't that right Cream?"
"Hell yeah! We're gonna show these mean G.U.N men what happens to people who mess with family!" Cream valiantly cried, carrying in her hands a small metal baseball bat that she was clutching unusually tightly, her hands trembling slightly, something told Sonic that she wasn't intending on using it, only having it in the case that combat was unavoidable.
'Too right Cream! Sonic, what's been going on, where's Miles?" Vanilla asked, frantically.
Sonic got to his feet, wiping his eyes slightly as he spoke,
"I don't know…But we have to act quickly…Robotnik said that they're gonna kill him!"
A range of gasps sounded amongst them, Amy's face turned to a scowl of rage, the Echidna appeared livid too, Vanilla and Cream however were shocked and looked scared for Miles, wanting to make absolute sure that their friend was safe…
The Echidna approached Sonic, shaking his hand and said warmly,
'Then I suggest we move quickly and save him…I apologise for our encounter in the Temple…I'm Knuckles, Knuckles the Echidna."
Sonic shook back and smiled, he didn't even care about their earlier encounter within the confines of the temple, he was just happy that he wouldn't have to worry about Miles alone…
"So…What's the plan?" Cream asked, raising her hand as if she was at school.
Sonic smiled at her, he clenched his fist tightly as he gave his speech…
"Knuckles, Amy and I will find Miles and have a nice little chat with whoever is responsible for trying to kill our friend. Cream, you and your mum should look for Eggman, it may sound absurd but I promise you he's on our side in all of this. I mean that so don't try and belittle him or insult him got it?"
The two bunnies nodded, although Cream did seem a tad curious about why they had to assist Eggman of all people in escaping, however if Sonic wanted it done then oh boy would they try and do as good of a job as they possibly could…If Sonic wanted Eggman free, then he would be freed.
"Great! Right, lets go and save our favourite fox!"
…
Miles screamed as 20,000 volts of electricity coursed through his veins, rapidly awakening hi from his dart induced slumber, his eyes frantically moved around the room where he was being kept…He could no longer see Reddick, the Commander or even his father and that terrified him…he knew now that Commander was planning on killing him so he could feel a plenty of fear running down his spine…
His eyes frantically moved around the place, he was in some kind of medical chamber, with glistening marble white flooring and walls will no other identifiable features, the room itself was rather small only around 6 meters wide and 8 metres long, with very little furniture other than a small table standing in front of him…With a wide variety of syringes and other surgical tools aligning it on a small leather rack that rested along the length of the small table.
Then there was the couple of cupboards and cabinets that likely contained medicinal records from throughout G.U.N's long and winding history, however what alarmed Miles was what was happening to him and where he was.
He was stuck in some kind of straight jacket that bound his arms and stopped him from being able to use them, with his legs bound and his tails receiving equal attention rendering him totally immobile on the metal stretcher where he lay…He felt well and truly afraid…More than afraid, terrified…He didn't want to die…He had so much to live for and so much to do…He had to get out…But he knew that any attempt to break out would be met by harsh resistance…
So all he could do was sit there and wait…Hoping that something would happen…That his father, Sonic, Reddick…Anyone would come and save him…Save him from the grizzly fate that awaited him…However most of the hope he had drained from him when in strode the same familiar psychotic Commander who had sentenced him to execution in the first place.
In he strode with a wide, sociopathic grin, eagerly almost dancing his way over…Glee ringing in out in his hums as he came over,
"Why hello there 92341…Have a nice sleep? Hopefully so…Because it'll be your last…Heh heh heh…"
Although Miles was shaking slightly, he didn't want to give the sadistic creep the satisfaction of making him beg or whimper or cry…So he merely scoffed and turned his head, not wanting to give him any attention.
"You know…It's awfully rude to ignore your superiors…" The Commander spoke, in a rather…Intimidating tone…one that was laced with malevolence and the will do to harm…
But Miles still refused to acknowledge him…Mustering up all of the courage he could in an act of defiance…However…The commander didn't seem to be having any of it…Violently he grabbed his face and yelled with an ear splitting bellow.
"LOOK AT ME BOY!"
Miles was beginning to struggle to quell his fear now….He was growing more and more afraid by the second, he didn't know for how much longer he could keep up this act of bravery, he was quite literally staring at his own death right in the eyes…
"I am going to look forward to putting you down like the broken and useless tool you are…I can't have any defective assets in my G.U.N Miles…You must know that by now…But noooooo…You just had to go and be a problem, you had to go and ruin all my brilliant plans…And for what? Just to pretend that you're a normal person? Just to hide away from your true purpose in this world and to go running along playing scientist and hero in training? That's very immature of you…I expected better…Ah well…it matters not, all I need to do Is get one or two good…Loyal clones and start from a cleaner slate…and once that's done I'll make sure that your precious hedgehog friend never sees the light of day ever again…And the same can be said for that fat, lazy oaf you call an adoptive parent!" The Commander boastfully said, chuckling with glee as he described the agonising ways he would make sure to torture his family…
Miles could only listen with horror at the entire thing…He was beginning to feel even more scared and distressed and this time he was unable to hide it, tears beginning to well up in his eyes as he whined out,
"You sadistic monster…You're bluffing…You're bluffing!"
The rather pathetic display only caused the Commander to laugh cruelly at in the boy's face…He truly did not care about the sheer evil of his words or the actions he was willing to partake in, he merely relished in it…He may as well before he finally put the small fox out of his misery, he approached the table and grabbed one small syringe containing a pale green liquid, Miles was not aware of what malicious chemical it contained however he was nigh certain that it would be the tool used to murder him, if the chemical didn't kill him, then Miles was pretty sure that the surgical tools that also dotted the table would be used on him to inflict a bloody, brutal end to his short life.
He slowly moved over, his sick twisted smile wide and unnerving as always…Syringe in hand and murder on mind. He looked truly psychotic now…Like some mad doctor in a horror movie, but all too real this time…
"Ah I'm going to enjoy this Miles, you have no idea how valuable your clones are going to be heh heh…Such a shame you'll never live to see them grow up to be G.U.N's most powerful weapons…I may even have my own private security force made up of them…Who knows…Now…Just hold still…"
He was interrupted by the shrill, loud cry of an alert system…It's cacophony causing Miles to wince in slight pain at how utterly, catastrophically loud it was…It was not a very pleasant experience, especially considering he couldn't cover up his ears at all in the slightest.
Two G.U.N soldiers stormed into the small medical bay, one of them struggling to put on her gas mask as she said,
"Sir, there's been a break in, the hedgehog's escaped and from what I can tell he's brought friends with him!"
"Who?!"
"It's Sonic sir! As well as the Echidna you made a bargain with some time ago, seems he wants his emerald back. Then there's another hammer wielding hedgehog too."
"What?! Damn it! Hold them off for as long as you can! We can't let them free the fox, he's too valuable!"
Miles could feel his heart skip a beat when he heard those words…The Echidna, Amy and Sonic was coming for him? Was he really going to get out of here? Perhaps there was hope for survival, as the joy built up within him he said in a very confident sounding voice,
"AHAHA! You're so screwed now!"
"SILENCE YOU WRETCH!"
The sharp sting of the Commander's palm colliding with the side of the fox's face overcame his senses yet it failed to kill the hope in his heart. He was going to get out of here, the Commander was going to ultimately fail in his task, even if all Miles could do was sit there with a confident grin plastered on his face.
As the Commander pulled out a small radio from his pocket, Miles started giggling quietly to himself, something told the fox that the Commander wouldn't be getting much in the way of a friendly reply…If he even was going to get a reply to begin with…
"Jacobs? Warwick? Lawson? ANSWER ME DAMN YOU!" he screeched into the radio, however he was met by only silence, no reply would come from them, however Miles saw this as a good time to speak,
"HEY SONIC! IF YOU FIND A DUDE CALLED REDDICK FREE HIM FOR ME!" he called…however this time the radio answered.
"Sure thing bud, we've got Amy and Vanilla off to free Robotnik as we speak, I'll make sure she knows that she needs to free somebody el-" Sonic happily said before he was cut off by a younger voice.
"HI MILES! You alright?!" The voice was loud and feminine and Miles could recognise it fro anywhere, so grinning he called back.
'Yeah I'm good Amy! I will be at least when this fat prehistoric oaf lets me go!"
"SILENCE!" the commander roared, sending another blow crashing into the side of Miles's face…However Miles didn't stop.
"You know this isn't going to work, they'll soon be here, and then you'll have to deal with all of us! You can say goodbye to your cloning project asshole!"
"I SAID SILENCE!" he yelled once again striking the boy…This time Miles laughed through the pain, inciting the Commander to punch him again, and again, and again…
Miles kept laughing, even as blood leaked from his mouth and nose…He had no reason to be afraid now…Besides, if he could keep the Commander occupied then he could stall for long enough for the others to get to him…
"Beat me up as much as you like Commander…It isn't going to change anything…I'm still gonna survive this and you will be stopped!"
"WILL YOU SHUT U-"
He was interrupted when he began to hear gunfire coming from outside the room…The sound of struggle was loud however swift, it only lasted a matter of seconds…A few moments of loud bursts of gunfire before a loud crashing noise and two light thuds…
Miles's grin spread even more, he knew they would come for him eventually…And now it was finally happening, what was even better was the look that had started to spread on the Commander's face…It was one of fear, no…Terror in fact, he knew that the jig was up and that he was going to have to answer for the atrocities he had committed in the name of his precious progress…And knowing that made the look of fear on his face all the more satisfying.
The Commander still wanted to get the last laugh though, so very swiftly, he moved behind Miles, holding the syringe to his neck and placing his hand over the fox's mouth.
CRASH!
The door burst open, in the doorway stood the three who Miles had been anticipating, the Echidna who was cracking his knuckles in anticipation for a fight, Amy brandishing her gargantuan hammer and Sonic just standing there with a smug grin on hi face…Knowing that the Commander's reign of terror was finally going to be brought to a conclusion.
"Well, if it isn't the mad old goon who threw me and Miles in this hellhole…Release the kid now and we won't have to hurt you." Sonic said, taking a step forward.
"NOT ONE STEP CLOSER HEDGEHOG! If you do then the boy dies!" he yelled angrily, pressing the tip of the syringe against Miles's neck.
"Is this really what you want? To go down in history as a child murderer? Stand down immediately!" the Echidna yelled back, rage flowing in his amethyst purple eyes., red energy beginning to crackle and pop around his spiked gloves.
"Never! You can't do this to me! The boy's mine! He's my experiment! My creation and nobody else's! I won't let you take him away from us!"
All three of them gave confused looks, what on earth did he mean by that? What on earth was Miles's explanation for that going to be once he was free of this mess? But that didn't matter, all that mattered was freeing the boy without provoking the Commander.
"Yes…That's right, he's mine I tell you! Mine! I created him with the very best genetic engineering techniques and experimentation G.U.N could do, he was meant to be OUR weapon! OUR tool, not some silly little freakshow who cares about his friends and family! But now because of his whore of a mother sacrificing herself to get him away from us, you've corrupted him, robbed him of his true purpose and destiny and now I have no other choice but to clone the worthless little freak and start again! I'll make sure you all regret thi-AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!"
The Commander screamed, feeling sharp canine fangs dig deep the flesh of his hand into the flesh of his hand, the pointy razor teeth drawing blood almost immediately, he collapsed backwards, cradling his injured hand, dropping the syringe to the ground and letting it shatter into pieces and a small green puddle on the floor.
"YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" he yelled, Miles didn't even respond to him, he merely called to Sonic,
"Get me out of this thing! I want to deal with this piece of filth myself!"
The hero of Mobius was happy to oblige, walking over and unfastening the straight jacket, breaking the bonds that bound his arms, legs and tails and letting him rise up…Miles turned to the Commander, the Echidna stepped with him however Miles gave him a short sentence in reply.
"Let me."
The warrior obliged and hung back with Sonic and Amy, each of them eagerly watching as Miles stepped towards the pathetic figure of the Commander who clutched his bleeding hand, a defeated look on his face,
"You could have been so perfect Subject-"
He was cut off when he felt the sharp pain of Miles's foot colliding with the side of his head, sending him crashing down to the floor, Miles didn't stop with his assault there as he delivered another kick, finally beginning to release his rage upon the man who had caused so much pain and misery before he had even been born.
"MY NAME IS MILES YOU MONSTER! MILES ROBOTNIK! YOU MAY HAVE CREATED ME IN THOSE LABS OF YOURS, I MAY HAVE BEEN INTENDED TO BECOME ANOTHER ONE OF G.U.N'S SICK AND TWISTED EXPERIMENTS, BUT I AM MY OWN PERSON AND I REFUSE TO LET YOU TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME!"
Miles delivered another savage boot to the stomach, causing the Commander to yell in pain,
'THAT WAS FOR EVERYTHING YOU PUT ME THROUGH!"
Another blow came in the form of Miles pulling the Commander up by his collar and delivering a swift blow to the old man's nose, breaking cartilage with a wet crunch which caused him to howl in pain.
"THAT WAS FOR TAKING ME AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!"
And with one final yell of rage Miles slashed at the face of the Commander with his claws, carving small, bloody canyons of flesh across the face of the man.
"AND THIS WAS FOR KILLING MY MUM!"
That blow was what ended it, the Commander slumped down to the ground unconscious, the supposedly almighty and powerful leader of G.U.N had been defeated at long last, Miles turned to face the others, Vanilla, Cream, Reddick and Robotnik bursting in behind him, each of them relieved to see Miles was alright and unharmed.
"It's done…" Miles whispered, his emotions swirling within him like a great tempest.
No words were said for a solid minute…Each of them taking in what had been going on over the past few weeks…Miles reflecting on his past and everything that had happened to him…
However the first to break it was Cream who swiftly rushed at Miles, pulling him into a tight hug and crying out,
"DON'T YOU EVER SCARE US LIKE THAT AGAIN! WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU FOR THREE WEEKS!"
Miles, momentarily stunned by the act of affection by the loveable rabbit he saw as a little sister immediately returned the hug…Happy to finally be rid of the Commander.
Then came Amy, then Vanilla, then Sonic, then Robotnik and finally even Reddick. With only the Echidna hanging back and smiling warmly as he watched them all embrace Miles at once,
"Thank you guys…So much…" Miles whispered, tears of happiness streaking down his face, washing the Commander's blood away from his muzzle…The feeling of all their arms around him made him feel all of the negativity and anger inside of him begin to slowly wither away and die…He may have been created as a twisted attempt to create a perfect soldier…But now? He was in the arms of his friends…No…His family, and he would never give them away for the world.
As they all pulled away he smiled at all of them, but then going over to the Echidna who appeared to be extremely happy at the sight of them all reunited.
"I don't believe we've met each other…Not properly anyway, I'm Miles…Miles Robotnik." The fox stretched out his hand, wishing to greet his ally.
The Echidna laughed and returned the favour, grabbing Miles's hand and holding it in a steely strong grip that could likely crush boulders.
"Knuckles, Knuckles of the Echidna Tribe. Sorry for the incident in the Temple." He said, a trace of guilt presence in his tone.
Miles didn't cease his smiling, and merely waved his hand,
"That's alright, you helping in saving me from that psycho on the floor will be more than enough in terms of reparations…Why did you even help though?" he asked curiously, wishing to know why Knuckles had gotten this change of heart.
"Well, I went to Knothole after delivering you to G.U.N and I noticed Ms Vanilla staring at me, she came up to me and asked if I had seen a two tailed fox and a blue hedgehog, I was already down in the dumps over that sick messed up bastard stealing something very dear to me, so I told her everything that had transpired in the temple and what I had been tasked to do…Yeah, turns out Ms Vanilla and her little girl can be quite the scary sight when enraged, they turn into completely different people…Besides, I felt bad about delivering you to the doorstep of that monster…So I volunteered to help since I knew where this place was. And…Well, you know the rest." His gaze fell on Reddick,
"You there, I know you're with G.U.N or used to be, where's the Master Emerald?"
"It's being kept in the Section 3 storehouse! I'll show you the way in a bit…I think it's important we make sure that the Commander is dealt with first!"
Reddick moved over to the unconscious, bleeding form of the Commander and grinned, oh how he had longed for a day such as this…To finally see the malevolent bastard removed from power…He knew that there would be a significant legal battle once all of this was over…And that the United Federation was likely going to be on all of their asses for this…However Reddick was well aware of the files and files worth of unethical garbage that the organisation had done under his leadership and hopefully that would be enough to ship him off where he deserved to be…A prison cell.
Picking him up and fastening him down on the same stretcher that Miles had been resting on, he dusted off his hands, knowing that it would be enough to keep him from escaping…As for other matters he needed to make sure that Knuckles got the Master Emerald back, as well as releasing a certain black and red hedgehog from stasis…
Miles however was just grateful that It was all finally over…His suffering at the hands of G.U.N, being cooped up in this horrible place, being constantly told of his dark origins, it was all over now…
He turned to his father and asked,
"So…What now Dad?"
The Doctor scratched his head in a rare moment of befuddlement, he didn't really have a home to go back to…Nor did he expect to be welcomed by the village of Knothole, he had absolutely no idea…And he voiced that fact,
"I don't know Miles…The Death Egg's gone so we don't really have a home to get back too…Nor do I really have any friends who would be willing to take us in…I really don't-"
"That's where you are wrong Eggman!"
Sonic's voice was unexpected and upbeat, all eyes turned to him…Vanilla, Cream and Amy giving him a confused glance,
"Now, I know that you three will be wondering why I'm saying this…But hear me out…Eggman took Miles in, he was the one who saved him from the horrible poverty he spent his first 3 years of life in! And he treated him as best as he could, Miles called him "dad" for Chaos's sake, so if that doesn't warrant us helping him out like we did for Miles then damn us all!"
Robotnik was touched, he hadn't expected anyone but Miles speak up for him…But Sonic? His arch rival and nemesis? He hadn't expected that at all…It was heart warming…And it made Robotnik smile, Amy, Cream and Vanilla looked to Miles, then to Robotnik and then Sonic…They could see no deception in the Doctor's eyes…Sonic was telling the truth.
"Alright then, we can help him back on his feet and let him stay in Knothole while he rebuilds the Death Egg or whatever he wants to do. If it's for Miles's sake I'll do it gladly!" Vanilla spoke, Amy and Cream nodding in agreement.
Robotnik gave a touched smile to all of them, he had never expected such kindness out of who he had formerly thought of as his enemies…And he voiced it,
"Thank you…Thank you all so much, you're too kind…I promise to make this up to all of you! You won't have to worry about me ever again, I promise." He stated, walking over to them and shaking Vanilla's hand.
Miles smiled at the sight…He may have been born as some sick experiment, he may have been born with unique things about him that only a handful of other people shared…But he was Miles Robotnik and proud of it…And nothing…nothing would ever take that away from him…
The End…For now…
Miles Robotnik will return...