Part 1
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Sonic kept looking at the device Tails had made. He trusted Ivo's judgment, and the kid's intentions seemed pure. He trusted Tails; it wasn't the issue. But he couldn't bring himself to use the device. Even with the curiosity gnawing at him, the fact that he'd had his memories tampered with felt like such a violation, and the device felt the same way. Sonic knew it wasn't. This was just an attempt to undo that damage, that betrayal. And yet, he couldn't.
The watch Ivo had given him rang, breaking Sonic out of his thoughts. "Emergency! Emergency! All able-bodied personnel, go to the coordinates given in this message. Directions to the location are being transmitted to all available personnel."
Sonic turned on the navigation device in his watch, and ran as fast as he could. At first he was focused on the directions, then he heard a massive boom. A shockwave formed a ring of energy behind as he realized he'd broken the sound barrier again. He hadn't even been trying this time, thinking it would break his navigation device. Luckily his watch was still working.
The device showed the emergency message was a priority 1. That was only used for existential threats. The world itself was in danger, but what on Mobius could be that dangerous? When he got near the coordinates he noticed bits of smoke wafting into the sky. Not enough to cover anything, but still visible.
He looked around for any sign of what had turned the ground to glass and brimstone.
Something flew overhead as Sonic saw Shadow on the ground. He was covered in bruises and wasn't moving. There was also a silver hedgehog, a pink echidna, a purple cat, and a woman being attacked by a pile of goop. Sonic went from serious concern to blinking in confusion. Then his instincts kicked in, and he punched the goop. He hit several times using his speed to create shockwaves and push the goop away.
Once he'd created enough space he started getting everyone he could see to a safer distance. He distracted the goop for a little longer checking on Shadow between hits. Shadow was awake, but seemed delirious, laughing and rolling his eyes.
Sonic wasn't struggling yet, but nothing he did seemed to be affecting the goop monster for long. In fact the monster seemed to be getting a larger and more defined shape with every minute. He'd have asked Shadow or his group for help, but none of them were in any position to fight. The woman was the only one still conscious, and she could barely move.
Sonic wanted to ask what had happened, but if he stopped for even a moment, the goop would likely kill someone. The emergency call had been sent out, so he just needed to buy time. But he wasn't sure how long he would last.
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Part 2
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The gray stone felt like it was closing in as Tails finished explaining his story to Knuckles.
Knuckles paced back and forth between the cave walls, casting shadows as he blocked the lights Tails had set up. "And he just left?"
Tails nodded. "That's the gist of it."
Knuckled rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "I was uneasy before. But now he really might be our enemy again."
"I'm not so sure about that." Tails pulled up a file on his computer.
Knuckles sat down at the plastic desk. He looked over the document before glancing at Tails. "What does pardoned mean?"
"We're no longer being hunted and our criminal history has been wiped."
Knuckles stopped himself from spitting in front of Tails. "Crimes. Like I care what humans consider a crime. This land was here before them, with older laws. Those are the laws that matter. Not ones made by a group that invaded and continues to destroy everything it touches."
Tails sighed. "We can go out without being attacked. Isn't that a good thing?"
Knuckles felt the pressure in his clenched fists, trying to keep his anger in check in front of Tails. He took a deep breath, then exhaled the tension in his body. "I'd like to believe that. But I have a hard time believing it's not a trap."
Knuckles stood up. "I'll go ask Amy what she thinks." He walked through the cave away from the lights of Tails's workspace. The gray stone around him got darker and darker as he kept moving, and soon he had to place his hand on the walls to know where he was going. He kept walking until he saw a pinprick of green in the center of his eye. As he got closer, the pinprick changed to white, growing larger and brighter the closer he got. Soon he saw a hole big enough to climb through as the walls of the cave became visible again.
Knuckles stepped out to the edge of a swamp.He looked out at a patch of reeds, surrounded by muck. Further out, the water got deeper, to a place that once had fish. It had been a beautiful lake once upon a time. But over time, residue from the nearby mine had turned the water so acidic it could kill someone trying to swim in it. Some creatures still lived in it, there was always some micro-organism that could handle the harsh conditions, but the plants and animals couldn't exist in such an extreme area.
Humans hadn't done as much damage recently, and it seemed the lake was getting better. But it still smelled with the toxins they'd dumped in. They didn't always destroy, and in some cases did make efforts to preserve nature around them. But more often than not, they just kept going. Their endless hunger for more resources. A necessary evil they called it, whether to push their technology, prepare for war, and just because they wanted more.
Knuckles could accept some of that. Survival would always have some impact, that was simply what it meant to be alive. But humans went far beyond what was necessary. And they didn't seem to be stopping any time soon. If anything their lust for material possession had only increased over the years.
Why Amy always insisted on sparring the lives of those that had slaughtered their kind to near extinction, Knuckles never understood. And now it seemed even Tikal was working with them. Chaos was a bigger threat. Knuckles knew that, and he could accept a truce for the time being. But he remembered the last time one of his kind tried to make a truce with those in power, and Knuckles didn't want to die in the same way.
He was also afraid of what mankind would do if they ever got the chaos emeralds. Sonic could perhaps be trusted. The blue hedgehog for all the pain he'd caused Knuckles, was honest. He didn't deal in tricks and mind games like the society he served.
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Part 3
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Sonic dodged goopy arm after goopy arm. Chaos wasn't giving him any chance to catch his breath. Even one mistake, and he'd be hit. Chaos had done something to its body, because any time it hit the ground the dirt would bubble and burn.
The air heated up any time one of Chaos's arms got too close. Shadow had mentioned something about this creature before, but he hadn't gone into detail. What had he been fighting this whole time? Then again, Shadow had beaten and trapped this thing somehow. And Chaos wasn't attacking anyone but Sonic. That at least was a good sign. If it couldn't split its focus, maybe Chaos would get tired as soon as Sonic. There was no way of knowing, Sonic would just have to be efficient with his dodges.
Another arm came dangerously close to him. Sonic kept thinking as he dodged, leading the creature away from Shadow and the others with him. There had to be some way of beating this thing without touching it. Again he thought of tiring it out, but the creature wasn't showing any signs of fatigue. He needed a way to strike back. The wind rushed around him as he kept moving, blowing leaves on the nearby hardwood trees and even causing some branches to sway.
Maybe there was something there. His speed could create some strong winds. It might not hurt Chaos, but at least there was a chance of stunning it. He tried clapping his hands together at high speed. The wind hit an incoming arm splitting it apart.
That was something, but he needed more.Sonic dodged another strike, trying to come up with any other solutions. He kicked some dirt, but didn't do much. Chaos kept coming. Sonic backed up to the start of forest. He tried jumping in between trees, and Chaos struggled for a little bit. But then it grabbed some tree limbs, breaking them off and throwing them at Sonic.
This time he couldn't completely dodge and a few throws hit him. Sonic backed before a few more trees planning his next move. Chaos had grabbed tree branches without destroying them, meaning it could turn its acid on and off. How adaptable was this thing?
Dirt didn't work, wind barely affected it, what else could he use? Water might not be affected and might work since it was thicker than air. If it was affected and boiled, the expansion to steam would likely blow Chaos back. But he didn't see any around.
Chaos thought about his options, instinctively feeling how much battery he had left. He still had plenty of electricity, but his organic parts would struggle to keep up as long as his robotics. That's when Sonic had an idea, electricity. Chaos was a creature made of liquid that didn't seem to have a container of muscle, or skin, or anything like that. If it wasn't being held together by physical objects, some sort of other energy had to be in play. And assuming he was right, it would probably be electromagnetism.
If he could produce a large enough charge, he might be able to disrupt whatever Chaos was using to control itself. It was a gamble, Sonic could create a large burst without depleting himself, but he'd run the risk of short circuiting himself. If that happened he was likely dead.
For now he'd see if he could tire out Chaos. But he had a feeling his last resort would be his only chance. Sonic started hopping onto tree branches, and this time Chaos struggled to keep up or throw anything.
The creature was fast and flexible, but it still needed to get all the way through the trees. It also never seemed to leave any parts behind. Chaos could mold around, but for its flexibility, it couldn't split in two.
Maybe Sonic could use that. Chaos might need to be connected to control a part of its body. Sonic tried breaking a branch and throwing it in a spin at one of Chaos's tentacle arms. The branch dissolved where it hit, breaking in two.
The arm was still intact, but there had been a cut for a few moments. Bits of hoop fell to the ground
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A/N:
Comment responses
@momojifan lowki: I get that feeling. You try to spend time on the stuff you love to do, but there's only so much available for it.