"NAUGUS?" they yelled in shock as Naugus then clapped his hand holding his staff and his claw together as he then faced them. He then put up a blast of fire at them with his staff and Sonic then leaped at a ball taking in the flames and forced himself to fight against the blast until he reached the staff and Naugus sent him flying away.
He was launched into the wall but launched himself as a ball again at Naugus who took the hit and sent him flying back. Snively then snickered as his throne began flying up again.
"SNIVELY! COME BACK HERE YOU COWARD!" Sally snapped out in rage at him thinking of her father's death but Snively just ignored him as he made his escape. The rest of the Freedom Fighters tried charging at him but they were caught in bubbles along with Sonic and held in place.
"Snively; what's the big idea in teaming up with Snively? Robotnik is dead and you shoud feel satisfied that he is gone and you have survived... Were you on board with his plan to trick us into destroying the King? He was loyal to you all that time and I thought that we were kind of cool... Apart from you tricking us and all... What gives?" Sonic then snapped as Naugus then walked closer slowly.
"Vengeance on that insolent rodent Robotnik was far from my only goal upon freedom Hedgehog. My goals along with the type of person I am are complicated..." Naugus then said.
"Then how about you uncomplicate it for us Big Horn!" Bunnie snapped as Naugus looked at her and then shook his head.
Using his staff he then conjured up a vision of a land filled with medieval castles and cloaked people walking the stone pavements. "This dimension is not where I was born nor raised... I come from a land filled with magic crossed with technology... The wizards and dragons in Mobius are descended from those that emigrated from this world... We honed our magic prowess to protect our land from threats." Naugus then explained.
"So how long is this story going to take? I see a wizard whose butt needs kicking and so I would appreciate it if you would get a move on!" snapped Naugus who then glared at him.
"Impotent hedgehog but you shouldn't wait very long... I was one of the best there was and an up and comer even if they looked down on how unorthodox my methods were." Naugus then said as it then showed a vision of Naugus as a young man with long black hair and looked humanoid in his clothing.
"Wow... What a transformation..." Tails then said.
"We were met with a great threat... A dark force of destruction known only as Mephiles... Everyone was scrambling to come up with a solution and every attempt to deal with him at best delayed him. I thought out of the box and went to the High Council as my plan wasn't permitted by their laws... I thought that I could convince them but they were a bunch of stubborn fools who stuck to the books and none bigger fool than Nate Morgan the head of the Council." Naugus then ranted as he then showed a vision of himself before a podium of cloaked figures and at the centre was a bald headed black wizard with along white beard and an orange cloak.
"High Council; I beg of you to think this over... We are desperate and this kind of power that we have been sitting on could save us..." the vision Naugus then said.
"More likely would doom us all Naugus. You are suggesting that we call upon the power of the dark forces from the dimension filled with monstrosities... The power of these demons would transform us and turn us into shadows of our former selves..." Nate then argued.
"Could that have happened if we had gotten Lazaar's computer..." Sonic whispered to the Freedom Fighters wearily as they then frowned.
"They are just strong magic that can be tamed like all others; misunderstood and only evil when used by evil beings... We have to bend the rules if we have any chance of surviving Mephiles..." vision Naugus then pleaded as Nate and the other High Councillors then shook their heads as he then stormed out.
"Let me guess... You went through with it anyway..." Sally then guessed as Naugus then glared at her.
"Desperate times called for desperate measures... I had to prove them wrong and I snuck in to the forbidden housing the forbidden power... I called upon the power of 3 lesser demons... The Rhino, the Crab and the Bat..." Naugus then explained as it showed him with the tome open and out from a dark red portal came 3 spirits that went into his body as he felt their power but then the guards came out and surrounded him and took his arms as he was being forcibly transformed.
The saw as he dropped the tome with it landing open on the ground with the portal still open; he then managed to fight himself free and escaped to a portal machine and went through. "I had to escape from my home... I swore to return as I honed my powers... I ended up Mobius and time went by when I found a gifted scientist and took him under my wing as he took on a role for the nearby kingdom... I helped him with his own inventions and helped him with building the portal machine like the one used by my people... We found the place that would act as Sanctuary and I hoped to study its magic for use when I found my home... But I was betrayed..." Naugus then explained and snapped.
"Robuttnik..." Sonic then said as Naugus then looked at him.
"I was stuck there in Sanctuary for over a decade... Hoping for freedom so that I could bring vengeance upon Robotnik as well as find a way back to my home... Show them how much stronger I was and how I mastered the forbidden arts... I got free thanks to the tear in the fabric of reality thanks to Robotnik's Doomsday Project and the Deep Power Stones... However upon escaping the Void... I looked beyond space and I saw my home again..." Naugus then said as he then filled the room with visions of the place desolate with all plant life torched and the buildings destroyed.
They were open mouthed and Tails was looking away in fright.
"Mephiles must have destroyed them all... They were helpless... They turned me away when I could have saved them... If only they had listened to me..." Naugus then snapped furiously as they looked at him.
"You don't know that... You could have just made things worse..." Bunnie then said as Naugus got in her face.
"Worse than this... I tried to save them but they were stubborn fools... They doomed themselves..." Naugus snapped as he got the vision down. "I was found by Snively and we struck a bargain... I would help him with solifying his rule over Mobius and he would help me find the power to fix my home to what it was... The King served me well during the last decade but his sacrifice was a small price to pay for Snively's help..." Naugus then said as Sally got into a fury.
"HOW DARE YOU!" snapped Sally as Sonic glared at him.
"All I see is an evil wizard making excuses why he is working with a wannabe tyrant... Your world was better off without you..." Sonic then said as Naugus then glared at him.
"Let's see you lose someone hedgehog..." Naugus then snapped as he called Chuck over being held in his bubble. Sonic yelled out for him as Naugus then shrank his bubble and dispelled it as the broken pieces of Chuck filled the ground as they stared in shock.
Naugus then fell in pain as they let go as Sonic charged at him at full speed and struck him as a ball sending him away. Naugus then yelled as more SWAT Bots came filling the room as Naugus then protected himself with a bubble.
"Sonic... Sally... I think we had better leave..." Rotor said as Sonic and Sally looked like they wanted to argue but relented but not before looking at the broken remains of the King and Chuck on the ground.
The cloaked figure was in the Great Forest seeing some scared civilians; "Things were supposed to be much better with Robotnik gone... Now Snively is allied with an evil wizard... Has things only gotten worse..." one of them asked in fear.
"I am on the run and my options are limited... Should I seek out the Freedom Fighters and would they even accept me if I did... Yet if I don't..." the figure then asked himself.
A lab inside Robotnik's old lair; Snively was scanning Naugus; "Your power was limitless inside the Void but it seemed that you were in there so long that you are not as strong you were there... Using too much power at once will tire you out..." Snively then informed him as Naugus didn't look happy at this.
"I must find more power to stabilise myself... If I am going to rebuild my home to its former glory... I can't be like this... I have grown too accustomed to using as much magic as I want inside Sanctuary..." Naugus then ranted clutching his chest.
"I will help you find it and you will be able to help me destroy the hedgehog and the Freedom Fighters once and for all. Mobius will be mine unopposed as I reign supreme." Snively then said as he went back to his throne while Naugus shot him a smirk.
"Off course your highness..." Naugus then replied.
Things were tense in Knothole as everyone there had to be given the news; "I have used NICOLE to alert all the other Freedom Fighter groups... That Snively was in control of the SWAT Bots... They shouldn't have as much problems as much if Naugus focuses here... Still Snively is no Robotnik and wouldn't be a threat that we can't just take down easily if he didn't have Naugus with him." Rotor then told everyone as Antoine nodded while Bunnie was looking at her hands.
"Sorry that I couldn't be any help Sonic... I am no Freedom Fighter..." Tails muttered to Sonic who was lying down on a slump as he then got up and put his arm around Tails' shoulder.
"That's nonsense T2; you were great out there and your flying tail... That's cool; it just so happened that it was your biggest field mission where Naugus had to reveal himself..." Sonic then assured him as they then noticed Sally sitting down at a tree.
"How's Aunt Sally..." Tails asked concernd as Sonic then went up to her.
"Sal..." Sonic asked as Sally got up and looked at him with tears of rage on her face.
"It was over... Robotnik was gone... We won... We should have been able to handle the remaining SWAT Bots, take back Robotropolis, turn back the the Worker Bots and find a way to free my father... I have been dreaming of taking back Mobius and saving him all this time but now... He is gone for good... It's like Robotnik was replaced by someone worse..." Sally then snapped at him.
"I am here if you need me Sal... I lost my Uncle for good today as well..." Sonic then said softly as she then threw himself at him as they then put their arms around each other's shoulders to comfort eachother as they let their tears fall...
Made Naugus somewhat like MCU Thanos with the backstory that I came up for him; convinced that they are the heroes in their own stories and were cast out after their methods to save their people were considered extreme and monstrous. Found their homes destroyed and convinced that they would have survived if they had just listened to them.
Yes funny enough Nate Morgan wasn't really an Archie exclusive character as he was designed for the SatAM show even if he was never used. Though he was a wizard instead of a scientist in that pitch.
So the Freedom Fighters deal with the fact that the fight isn't really over, that Chuck is gone as well as the King and a bit with Sally inspired by the Sea3on trailer is used. But who is the figure in the cloak?