Buster and Annabella exited the portal expecting to see a wide open plain with skyscrapers in the far off distance. Instead they saw industrial fluorescent lights that scarcely illuminated a small room they now found themselves in. Upon Buster's feet hitting the ground, a loud beep was heard. Before the noise ended a trap door beneath their feet opened, sending Buster and Annabella into a free fall. Once they passed the parted doors the trap door slammed closed preventing their escape as they continued to descend deeper into the darkness below.
The two siblings screamed as they fell, unsure of what fate awaited them when the surface of the chute began to curve, turning into a slide. The two traveled underground for a good minute, several cobwebs were destroyed as they slid and upon reaching the end of the slide they were sent flying into the air. The pair screamed, terrified their bodies would be splattered on a metal wall, killed by nothing more than mere gravity and the mind of Eggman. To their relief and surprise, they came to an abrupt stop when they landed in a mountain of pillows, which cushioned their impact, sending feathers flying everywhere.
They had landed in a well lit and barren room deep underground. The only feature of note was a large metal door that had Eggman's face on a pair of door handles. This door was their only means of exiting the room without activating their time machine to return to the future. That was an option but Annabella and Buster both agreed they should wait until their situation was more grave before they considered abandoning their rescue mission. Both Prowers were still determined to overcome whatever ploy Eggman had prepared, find their parents, and return with them to the future. Then, they all could be a family again. Perhaps use the chaos emeralds to help save Sonic, Amy, and the others. They had to try.
"Buster, it's Eggman's trap."
"No, really? You think?"
"We need to be ready for anything."
"Yeah, I don't know if that's possible with Eggman."
As they spoke, a secret passage in the wall opened momentarily with a swatbot exiting the hidden passageway, the passageway then closed behind the robot, becoming inaccessible. The swatbot was unusual as they looked constructed in the likeness of restaurant waiters, with a metallic homage to the prim and proper white dress shirt, and black server vest ensemble of days long past. It even wore an actual black bowtie completing the server bot look.
Before either Prower could react to the flanking service swatbot, it spoke to the foxes in a cheerful and high pitched robotic tone.
"Welcome honored guests! The Doctor has been expecting you. Please holster all weapons. Failure to do so may result in your unfortunate extermination. Such an outcome would displease my Master and result in me being recycled. Fortunately, I have not been programmed with a sense of self preservation and am indifferent to your plight of existence."
Buster and Annabella stared at the talking Swatbot in silence.
"Please enter the next room when you are ready."
Buster holstered his Revolver and slowly opened the door. His sister walked nervously behind him.
Upon stepping inside, classical music began to play.
The room the two Prowers found themselves in looked like a large restaurant, with no expenses spared for the grandeur of the decor. The room was filled with marble pillars, dozens of elegant tables that had been set as if expecting reservations, and the wall was lined with egg themed paintings resembling cheap knockoffs of history's great works, spanning every era. Despite this grandeur, the room was empty except for a robotic quartet that played music in the corner of the ballroom and one Dr. Eggman who sat at a table for five in the middle of the dining room.
"So glad you two could drop in." Eggman ecstatically shouted from across the room. "Please, please, come have a seat. You must be hungry. I imagine mushrooms get passé after you've had them for years. There's only so many ways you can prepare them. Enough of that though, please, grab a chair. We have so much to discuss and I have prepared an eggcellent meal for all of us! Ho ho ho ho!"
After overcoming his surprise, Buster's features sharpened, his fangs were bared as he pulled out and pointed his revolver at Eggman, his hands shook in anger, his eyes dilated as he restrained himself from killing Eggman right then and there. His years of anger and rage barely suppressed, "Where the hell are our parents?"
Eggman was not intimidated by this at all. It was as if Buster had asked if they would be having dessert as well.
"Yes, yes, I know you are worried about your parents. After our meal and a little chat I promise you'll get to speak with them. We'll get to that in due time but first you must sit down and cooperate. Today's chefs are making the most delicious steak and greens. They say the secret ingredient is love but between you and me it's definitely the fresh ingredients, simply cooked." Eggman said, then after a moment he could not help himself and began to quietly laugh to himself.
This unsettled Buster and Annabella, the latter of which gently pushed Buster's hand down, lowering his shaking gun. "Let's just hear him out okay? He obviously has the upper hand here. Let's play along for now. Okay?"
Buster put away his gun then whispered, "Fine, but one wrong word or move..."
The pair approached the table and reluctantly sat down with Dr. Eggman.
"Oh waiter!" Dr. Eggman said, clapping his hands. Suddenly Metal Sonic, complete with a red bowtie and looking very vexed, appeared holding three plates on a large tray, and three glasses of water on a separate tray that was held in his other hand. He then handed the trio their food trays, silverware, and crystal glasses of water, then removed the lid to the trays all in the span of a few seconds.
Placed before Buster and Annabella was the same meal they had last had with their parents before they had died.
The meal looked and smelled as if it had been cooked and prepared perfectly, in the same manner their parents had last made it for them before their death. Even the manner the steak had been seared was the same.
Eggman spoke casually, as if he had been talking about the weather or stating the laws of gravity to a forgetful student. "Go ahead and eat. I promise it's not poisoned. If I wanted you two dead you'd be dead already."
Dr. Eggman's promise did little to cure his guests' fears and distrust. Still, Buster's mouth watered, uncontrollably so, so much so that drool ran down his face. He wiped the drool from his mouth, a futile act as saliva quickly seeped out of his glands. Ever stubborn, Buster pushed the food away from his salivating jaws. Annabella reluctantly did the same before she spoke, "We're not hungry. We're here for our parents."
Eggman sighed. "Please. Just eat the food. This will be so much more pleasant an exchange if we talk on a full stomach. It's been scientifically proven after all."
Annabella looked at Dr. Eggman in the eyes, "To be honest, we simply don't trust you. We can't trust you."
Dr. Eggman sighed, "Do you trust your parents?"
"Of course we do. What kind of sick question is that?" Buster cut in, fuming.
"Well, your parents made this for you. They asked if they could prepare a home cooked meal and me being the kind soul that I am, agreed to their request."
Buster and Annabella looked at the steak and greens in a new light. Both on the verge of giving in to their hunger.
"W-we can't trust you. It's just not possible." Annabella said.
Dr. Eggman grabbed both of their plates and cut off two pieces from their stakes, then ate them. "There. Satisfied?" He then returned their plates to them.
Buster and Annabella looked at one another then dug into the steaks. It tasted just as they had remembered, just as it had in their dreams. There was no doubt in their minds that their parents had made this meal with careful execution and love for them to eat. They wished Colette could have been here.
After the food had been eaten, and a few silent tears had been shed by Annabella at the memory of better days, Buster was back to business. "We've finished eating. Now tell us. Where. Are. Our. Parents?" Buster said as he tried to hold his flaming temper at bay.
"I said you would see them soon after our meal and a chat. We haven't had time to talk with how fast you two were stuffing your faces. While I can understand your eagerness to be reunited with your parents after so many years... but you need to be patient. You'll see them very soon you have my word. Now, down to business. I've been wanting to speak with you about a very important matter."
"Which is?" Annabella asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Stop opposing me and with the completion of a single errand I will assign you, I will grant you a rare mercy. I promise to leave the fox boys loin spawn -that's you two kids, not including your youngest sister- alive. Naturally this means swearing allegiance to the Eggman Empire." Eggman said curtly as he took a bite of the tender and juicy meat.
"We've only just started to oppose you. You cannot imagine what we have in store for you old man."
"I don't need to imagine, I've seen it. No, your problem is this. You don't realize that you have already lost. Your defeat is inevitable. In a far flung future, should you continue this nonsensical war, you will be killed by me and join your parents in death. I am offering you a parley. A cessation of hostilities. In terms of intellect, the apple fell far from the tree for the both of you compared to your Father, no offense, but that does not mean you are not a nuisance I'd rather not deal with. This is your only chance to live and the only offer I shall give you to spare your lives. I have even given you the gift of having a meal from your younger, happier days, and am even letting you meet your parents before they die. Do the right thing, your parents want you to live a long and happy life. Make the hard choice of honoring their legacy. Bend the knee. They did not bring you into this world to be a pointless martyr... your deaths lost to the void of time. Now, think for a minute, and make your choice."
Buster and Annabella pondered his words, their faces heavy with trepidation.
"You said we already lost. What makes you say that?" Annabella asked.
"It's simple, you of all people should understand fox girl." Dr. Eggman began, "The No-communication Theorem… has been proven false."
"That's a load of crap. Disproved by who?" Annibella asked, her voice shaking.
Buster looked at Annabella and Eggman with a confused and aggravated expression. "What are you two talking-"
"-quite Buster." Annabella snapped.
Eggman grinned. "Why, disproved by me of course. How else could I have known where you two would have appeared? How else would I have been able to capture your parents and convince them to... cooperate. To know when and where you would leave your base to come here. Think about it girly, you know that none of what has happened and nothing that will happen beyond this moment is of coincidence, not anymore at least. In a more normal world without chaos energy or the Chaos Emeralds, information and quantum information would be impossible to send faster than light. Chaos Energy solves that problem, but you already thought about that possibility, didn't you?"
"Anna, what is he saying?" Buster asked, as he became ever more muddled and agitated.
Annabellas face became distraught, part disbelief, part horror, and part heartbreak. "This can't be. It can't be true. We… we've…"
"You've lost the game before we've even started." Eggman smiled devilishly.
Buster's temper flared, "How exactly have we already lost? We're just getting started you fat f-"
Eggman's eye twitched, "-Whoa! Let's keep our temper in check? Surely your parents raised you better than that. Oh wait. They didn't. Did they? Well, in a minute maybe they can teach you a lesson in manners before they go back to sleeping with the worms." The last sentence was screamed by Eggman, veins could be seen along his neck and forehead as he shouted mockingly at Buster.
Buster blinked, then glared at Dr. Eggman. "Drop dead." Buster pulled out his revolver, pointed it at Eggman's head, then pulled the trigger.
Upon firing the revolver the bullet flew true but then was deflected by an invisible electromagnet shield. The round ricocheted causing sparks to fly briefly before the shield became invisible once again.
A few seconds later an eerie silence remained. Everyone at the table was motionless, until Dr. Eggman spoke in a quiet and ominous tone.
"Do that one more time and I will have the three of you kids skinned alive by Metal and turned into fur coats. Trust me, you three would not be the first. Now, this is your last warning, boy. You will cooperate. That is, if you want to see your parents once more before they die. You will do as I say and put away your toy, and sit there like the arrogant and insolent child you are."
Buster did as he was told. Eggman grinned at the sight of his obedience.
"See? Was that so hard? Now we can talk out our differences and avoid so much unnecessary violence and loss of life. We have an opportunity. We can truly have peace in our time. All I ask is one little favor as I foreshadowed, then you can leave that dreary cave you call home. You'll find the task I give you will be nothing more than a minor inconvenience."
"What if we refuse?" Buster asked.
Eggman laughed maniacally. "I know you won't." Eggman clapped his hands and Metal Sonic cleared the table in a flash. He then left and quickly returned, putting a rectangular metal box on the table.
"W-what's in the box?" Annabella asked nervously.
"Don't you worry your little head about that. Curiosity killed the cat after all. He he he."
Annabella glared at Dr. Eggman.
"Metal, bring them in."
Metal nodded and disappeared into a doorway at the far end of the room. A moment later he exited the door frame and stood aside as two figures walked out and into the light.
"Mom! Dad!" Buster and Annabella shouted at the sight of their parents.
Their Mother and Father, Zooey and Miles Prower recognized the voice of their children instantly. As their gaze shot up, tears of joy and sorrow seemed to fill their eyes.
"Look at you two. Oh my gosh. You're so big!" The husband and wife walked side by side, loosley chained at the legs. At the sight of their children, the loving couple made a mad dash to the table tripping over themselves and their bindings but arrived without much delay or incident.
The Prower family, minus one, embraced one another in gentle arms, as parents and children who held the most genuine of love and care for one another, in a manner very few families can truthfully claim.
It was then that Buster and Annabella, along with their parents, shed tears of joy as reality set in, tears of sorrow soon followed as they all began to weep knowing that in all of the universe, across all of time and space, this moment could never last long enough. As they wept, they wondered if the tragedy they all faced could ever truly be avoided. It was a moving moment that lasted mere seconds, even Dr. Eggman could not help but wipe away a tear and blow his nose. It marked its place in the annals of time as one of the most tender moments ever felt by sentient life. Then, their perception of time cruelly marched onward to an unknown fate.
"W-we're s-so sorry. We're s-s-so sorry. W-we tried." Annabella sobbed. Her mother, Zooey Prower hugged her again. Hushing her gently, "Hey now, everything is going to be fine. Don't give up! You're a Prower, right?"
"B-b-b-but the No-communication theorem." Annabella said as her teary assault began with renewed vengeance.
Eggman drank in the scene with a self satisfied grin.
"Oh, sweetie. I don't know what that means but your father and I only want you to be happy. If that means breaking the laws of time and space then we have full faith in your ability to succeed." Eggman frowned at this. This was not how he thought the conversation would go…
"Dad…" Buster said, his throat hoarse.
"Hey kiddo, you look a lot like your old man. I'm sorry this task had to fall upon you three. It's not fair you should have to pay for our failure."
"Dad." Benjamin walked forward and hugged his father. "It's been so hard without you two."
"I… can't say I know what it is like to lose a father. I never had a father to lose, but I did lose a Brother. It's hard, but you can't dwell in sorrow. You need to remember to look forward and create a new future. It's not fair for us to place these hardships at your feet, but your Mother and I have the three best and brightest kids any parent could ever hope for. You three are capable of changing the world, the universe even. You're capable of anything you put your mind to. Trust me, I'm a little smarter than your average fox." Miles Prower accented his smug expression with a wink.
"Allright. Break it up." A miffed Eggman said. "I'm about to vomit. Let's get this over with. Your parents don't have all day."
Annabella and Buster looked at Eggman then looked at their parents with a look of horror.
"What does he mean?" Their silent and petrified stares asked.
"We've been given a lethal injection. We won't live but for ten or twenty minutes." Zooey nodded off, her eyes feeling heavy all of a sudden, but perked up a moment later.
"That's so… so cruel." Annbella said as she sobbed silently. It was getting hard to cry as she was running out of tears due to the roller coaster of emotions she'd experienced that day.
"Well fox boy. Let's finish this. Once and for all." With those words Eggman opened the metal box Metal Sonic had put on the table revealing a metal chess board with several pieces that momentarily hung upside down thanks to small magnets on the bottom of them.
"Sweetie, Kids, gather around the table. Let Papa Tails show you how to make a grown man cry."
"Hmph, confident are we? Shall we make this game more interesting? It is, after all, the last bit of excitement you'll get before you join Sonic underground."
"Sure thing, baldy Mcnosehair." Tails chuckled, some old jokes dying hard, "Instead of solely determining once and for all who is more intelligent, why don't we also agree that whoever wins is destined to emerge the victor in this little war we're in."
"You've already lost!"
"Then why feel the need to prove you're better than me? Why the lack of confidence, old man?" Miles 'Tails' Prower said mockingly, "Why, you've never miscalculated before so surely this too will go all according to plan. You do have a master plan, don't you?" Miles 'Tails' Prower grinned, flashing pearly white fangs.
"That's of no concern to you. Very soon you and your wife won't have any plans. You won't have anything at all!"
"Yeah yeah, as you said. So we should probably get started unless you need to stall longer to give yourself a better chance. You never struck me as a fan of blitz."
"I can defeat you in any variant, just like how I defeated your dear friends."
Miles Prower took a seat, he neatly placed his twin tails behind him, swishing them gently about in eager anticipation. He grinned. Utterly confident in himself and his children. "I suppose it would be silly to add another timer to the game wouldn't it? Do you agree with playing a standard game of chess?"
"Fine."
"Would you like to play as white, Eggman?"
"No! I-I mean. You can go first."
"Whenever you're ready, Eggman." Miles Prower said.
As white, Miles Prower got to make the first move. He grabbed a pawn that sat in front of, and protecting his king, smiled, and pushed it to the center. Eggman met his pawn with his own. Without hesitation, the twin tailed fox pushed his bishop's pawn two spaces forward so that the pawns stood side by side to face the coming eggman's army.
Eggman scoffed at this. "Really? King's gambit? It's been solved. I'll simply play the Fischer Defense and you're done for. Pull any trick you want, you can always play differently, but then in the end… you'll merely lose differently. "
"Make your move, Eggman. I don't have all day."
"Hmph." Eggman accepts the gambit. Cutting down the bishop's pawn, and advancing diagonally one space forward.
Miles Prower grins, a single fang bearing, his kids think he is excited at the development. His wife knows better. He is out for blood. "Bishop to C4."
"Hmph. Futile." Eggman moves his left Knight to stand guard in front of his King, though it's real purpose is to prepare for an invasion that is yet to come.
"Knight to C3."
"Tell me, do you miss your friends?" Eggman said as he pushed his bishop's pawn one space, building his forces for an attack.
Tails bites down on his lip with a razor sharp fang, drawing blood. "King's Knight to F3."
"I miss our little games, I really do. But the problem with you… the problem with people you and Sonic is you never learned when you've lost. When you're out of your league. You, your wife, Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, you all are like children. You don't consider the consequences of your actions. You don't know when to surrender." Eggman pushed his queen's pawn forward two spaces, uniting all his previous pieces in a unified assault on Miles Prowers delicate position.
"Dear, I'm… getting… very tired." Zooey Prower said.
"Hang in there dear, this won't... take long." As he spoke, Mile Prowers eyes felt very heavy, he grabbed and held onto his dear wife's right hand with his left, as the pair began to fight their sudden and violent fatigue.
"Perhaps you would like to surrender and spend your last moments with your children? This is just a game-"
"No! We keep playing." Tails said, his concentration waning. "Now take your move-"
"It's your move dear." His wife reminded him.
Their children watched the battle and verbal exchange with heavy hearts. What to say? What could they say, except… "Dad. Mom. We love you."
Their mother leaned forward, threatening to fall asleep, then her eyes shot open and she sat up straight. "We… we know. Now watch the game closely. Your Father and I have one last lesson to teach you."
Miles Prower pulls his bishop back, protecting it from the coming onslaught. "Bishop to B3."
"So it begins." Eggman callously captured the E4 pawn that shielded whites King from danger.
"Knight captures pawn on E4." Tails says with a subtle edge in his voice as he takes the murderous pawn from Eggman. His knight now shields his King from any frontal assault.
Eggman's nostrils flared, "Knight to D5." He said, contesting the center of the board.
"Queen to D2." Miles Prower said, bluntly.
Eggman now moves his Bishop to E7, to prevent any sort of check or future attack on his King.
"Pawn to C7." Miles Prower said.
"Look at you, fox boy. You think you have me beat. That blue rat thought he could best me as well. Now look at where he is... You'll soon join him."
"Take… take your move." Tails said, suddenly finding it difficult to focus on the game and speak at the same time.
Eggman pulls back his Knight. Finding himself awkwardly on the defensive.
Miles Prower picks up a pawn, "Pawn to D4." Now, a Bishop, two pawns, and two Knights, backed up by a Queen hidden in the shadows, stood firm. They had lost several brave freedom fighters, but they would persevere. Now, White had gained full control of the battlefields center. They could win from this position.
A bead of sweat began to run down Eggman's face as his perilous position became apparent. He quickly wiped the droplet away and castled, moving his cowardly King to G8 and protecting it behind the strong fortifications of his rook, which now was positioned to aid in future assaults into Prower's center position, the goal of which was to pressure and capture Whites Queen.
Miles Prower bit his lip, hard, as he used all his mental powers to stay awake and focused on the game. "Eggman you detestable being. This move is for Sonic and Amy... Bishop captures pawn on... F4. The center of the battlefield now liberated from Eggman's forces."
Eggman immediately moves his Knight to E6, his Knight ready to slaughter Whites Bishop and oppress the center if left unchecked. "So what? You recaptured the gambit pawn. Big deal. I have plenty more pawns to replace it-"
Miles Prower's head slammed onto the table, hard, then bounced off, waking his momentarily sleeping self up. "-I'm awake. I'm… awake. Is... is it my turn?" The twin tailed fox's eyes were heavy and he was constantly at war with them to stay awake. His wife fared no better.
Annabella and Buster cried out for their parents, offering words of encouragement that fell on deaf ears. Zooey Prower's mental fortitude was spent embracing her husband and trying to stay awake. While Miles Prower's world was that of a singular chess board. He thought to himself, "I have to teach them… one last… lesson."
"Your move fox boy. Make it quick. I don't think you have much time remaining."
"... Bishop… to E3."
"That's what I thought. Keep running with your tails between your legs. Now let me show you how a Ruler takes command." Eggman slides his Bishop to B4 threatening to kill White's King.. "Check. It's your move fox boy. Why don't you stop running and fight me. Sonic did that much at least."
Tails was asleep. His wife was asleep. The children seeing this panicked. Stood up. Rushed to their side and shook them. "Wake up! Please wake up!" They cried.
The pair did, if only for a moment, "M-my turn?"
"Dad!" Benjamin 'Buster' Prower yelled.
"Mom!" Annabella said as her Mothers eyes fluttered open.
Miles Prower looked at the battlefield. With a weak and weary voice Miles Prower looked at Eggman and with a cocky grin that would have made Sonic proud, he said, "Eggman, you've never studied the classics have you?"
"My IQ cannot mathematically be measured. I am the greatest genius to have ever lived. A King does not study the lives of pawns or peasants."
"You… you may be a genius at chess. But Bobby Fischer was a God." Miles Prower said as he picked up the King, then dozed off and fell out of his chair.
"Dad? Dad!" Buster screamed as he tried and failed to help his Father off the ground.
Miles Prower's eyes opened but were not focused, they could not be focused on anything or anyone. "My wife… where is she?"
"I'm here Tails. I'm right here." The pair were guided to one another then they sat on the ground, cuddled, and hugged one another, not letting go. "You kids need to take charge now. I entrust this game to you." Miles Prower handed his children the White King.
"We can't possibly beat Eggman. There… there's no way!"
"You can. He is not a God. He makes mistakes like anyone else. He's overconfident… arrogant…ignorant. You can win."
Tears were streaming down Annabella's face. "B-but you touched the King, we have to move it now. We can't Castle anymore."
"It's fine. It's just a minor inconvenience. You can win. You're Mother and I believe-" Miles Prower gently dozed off in his Wife's warm embrace. Never again to wake.
Zooey Prower kissed her husband on the lips then turned to her children and finished his sentence, "No matter when or where you are in space or time. We believe in you three. You can win. Never give up..."
Then, she too drifted to sleep. The loving couple were silent and motionless. Their chests stopped gently moving up and down. Eggman had expected their children to break down crying. He had been looking forward to it. Instead… something else happened. They stood up off the ground and took their seats, silently. Not a single sob, nor a single tear was heard or seen. Buster turned the chess set so whites side of the board was in front of the remaining Prowers'.
Eggman stared down the two two foxes, locking eyes with them.
Buster and Annabella glared back at him.
Buster, still holding the White King, broke eye contact to look at the state of the board…
He had not realized it during the heat of the moment…
"I'll kindly remind you that your King is in check." Eggman said with a patronizing tone and smile.
"King to F2." That was Buster's answer. The King had to move. It had to be manually castled. It will take precious time, but that would ultimately be the key to victory. All his pieces working in unison, in different spaces and different times, they would all be essential to achieving victory. Sacrifices would need to be made too. Like their parents. Sacrifices would need to be made. This was the lesson their Father wished to impart with his dying breath. Buster and Annabella saw that now. They saw what Eggman couldn't… they could win.
Eggman's grinned. Pleased that Buster and Annabella had not chosen to block with the Knight. Soon Eggman's grin turned to worry, and as the game went on, worry turned to disbelief, then disbelief to rage.
"This is a stupid game for stupid people." Eggman said as he hurled the chess set off the table. "You two have overstayed your welcome. Head home. I'll have a few errands for you to take care of. I'll send you the coordinates of where you are to go, and what you are to do soon. Agree to this and I'll ensure your lives will be spared."
Buster and Annabella stood up, feeling a fire of rage and determination growing inside them.
For Buster, it was not just determination or anger he felt, he was bloodthirsty. He wanted to kill Eggman. He wanted him to suffer and fail. To see his world and all he held dear destroyed. He wanted to tell Eggman to go to hell and that they would never stop fighting him until he was dead or they too lay dead like their noble parents who sacrificed their life so others might one day have freedom and liberty from Eggman's tyranny.
Buster crossed his fingers behind his back, "Very well Eggman, we agree to your generous offer of peace and mercy."
"Good. Don't cross me or there will be nowhere you three can hide to save you from my wrath. You best remember that."
"Understood, Doctor." Buster said as he activated the portal device on his wrist that would take them home. It materialized next to them.
Then Annabella and Buster walked through the portal arriving back home at their underground hideout.
…
"Colette! We're home!" Annabella called out.
There was no response.
"Colette. This isn't funny. Come out now. It's just us." Buster said nervously as his heart began to pound faster, echoing in his eardrums.
There was still no response, only silence.
The pair raced around the house looking for Colette. Hoping she was hiding from them. They soon found their worst fears were realized when they discovered an underground tunnel Eggman had created now connected to their hideout. The panic room had been broken into, with several books on the ground, and scratch marks on the walls and the ground of her room implying a desperate struggle to get free. A futile, blind, struggle to not be abducted.
They realized Colette had been captured and taken against her will. All so Eggman would ensure the remaining Prowers' caused him no trouble. The siblings walked about like zombies, emotionally devastated by the day's events. Then, Annabella saw an envelope on the counter with Eggman's emblem and name printed on it. She opened it and read the letter contained within quickly.
"What does it say?" Buster asked.
"We have two tasks we need to do for Eggman exactly as he commands. He will give us our orders in a day or two. If we do as he commands we will be given our sister back along with a Chaos Emerald and sent into exile to another world. Or so he says..." Annabella closed the letter slowly.
"W-what? Where is Colette?" Buster asked again, not accepting as reality what his sister had said.
"Buster… Eggman has her. We need to go along with Eggman's plan for now then-"
"-No."
"We... no?"
"No, and fuck this." Buster was fuming with rage. He checked the rounds in his revolver.
He had five left.
"What? W-what do you mean?" Annabella asked, perplexed. "We have to do what Eggman says or we won't ever see Colette again!"
"I can't do this anymore. I thought I could. Abducting Colette? That was it. She was the last straw Anna. Any goodness or decency that had been left in me has been ripped out, along with my twice broken heart." Buster walked over to the time machine and started adjusting the settings and punching in random numbers.
"W-what do you think you're doing Benjamin?"
"I'm going to kill Eggman. I don't care how or when. I don't care if I have to strangle him with my own two hands as he sleeps in his crib or throw him against a wall until he loses his will to live and dies of heartache with nothing left to live for. I am going to find him and I am going to kill him."
"C-come on Buster. You don't actually mean that."
Buster turned around from the keyboard he was punching numbers into and faced Annabella, tears silently streamed down his face, contrasting with the rage plainly seen on his contorted glaring brow. Buster tried to look strong and commanding, rather, he looked like a young boy with a twice broken heart who had lost his will to live were it not for a sense of love and retribution that swelled inside him.
"I mean it."
Benjamin 'Buster' Prower felt dead inside. His heart felt cold and hollow, as if it had turned to ice and ceased beating. His parents had died, yet again, and nothing could hope to revive them or repair the despire that blazed in his immolated heart. As Buster grew ever more desperate and deranged as the seconds ticked on, neither of the siblings noticed the Chaos Emeralds housed in the time machine start to darken and begin to spin faster. Their bright coloration slowly became muted as Buster's emotions became ever more inflamed.
"You can't do this Buster. We promised Colette we wouldn't kill!" Annabella spat back with righteous outrage at her brother's statement.
"I don't care." Buster began, "I'll kill anyone and do anything to protect our family if that is the price of victory. Anyone who opposes us I- I- I'll kill them all. I can't live like this. I can't live without them anymore. I thought I could but I can't. Not after today. Not after seeing them again. Not after feeling their warm touch and smelling their nostalgic scent. I just can't take this anymore Anna."
"Buster... you can't do this, Buster! What would Mom and Dad-"
"-They're dead Anna, they're both dead." Buster cried out in heartbroken rage.
The Chaos Emeralds started to lose even more of their color, turning an almost unnatural and ominous black. They began spinning faster and faster. Unbeknownst to either Buster or Annabella the space time coordinates were rapidly being altered without any input by either of them as if the Emeralds themselves could sense the male fox's ill intent.
To Annabella, her brother had gone mad. She had to save him from this dark path he was about to embark on.
"I can't let you go. I'll stop you if I must." Annabella said as she clenched her fists.
"Don't. Please… Anna. Don't come any closer. We know you can't beat me in a fight. Please. Just let me go… let me go and fix all our problems."
"You don't have the coordinates… you don't know when or where you are going. Think about this. We need you to help get Colette back. I need your help!"
"That doesn't matter, not anymore. I'll spend the rest of my life finding Eggman… finding the perfect time and place to kill him. This has to be done. It's the optimal solution Anna. It prevents all the suffering of our parents, our friends, and ourselves. One bullet could free the world of Eggman. Just one bullet, just one little bullet and we can save the world!"
"I can't let you do that. I can't let you justify the murder of an innocint child!"
Buster's face scowled when he heard his sister's response, A guttural and primal growl hung in his throat. Then his anger spilled out like fire, directed at his sister. "He's far from innocent, he has killed our parents twice now and who knows how other families he has destroyed."
"I can't let you leave Buster." Annabella said, shaking her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I have to stop you."
"Why? Why try to stop me from ending all of this? Why!?"
"Because you're my brother and I love you. I can't let you become a cold blooded murderer. I can't stand by while you become what our Mother and Father taught us to stand against. Please don't do this. Please don't become my enemy. My heart couldn't take it." Annabella said as tears streamed down her cheeks. She took a few small steps closer toward her brother.
Buster raised his revolver and pointed it at her chest. His hand shook violently as he aimed at his beloved sister.
"Please…" Buster begged as tears silently rolled down his face. "I have five bullets. I only need one to kill Eggman."
"Buster-" Annabella took a step forward, then fell backward and landed on the ground crying out in pain as a bullet tore through her left foot, shattering bone and ligaments.
"-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. Y-you'll be okay. I have to go and stop Eggman. Everything will be okay. Just a single bullet, and everything will be okay. This will never have happened. None of this will have happened. Oh chaos, please let this just be a horrible nightmare. None of this should have happened. I'm so sorry Anna. Please, forgive me."
"Buster," She cried out as her body was flooded with adrenaline and other natural hormones in response to her pain. She knew she could pass out any second. "You don't want to do this."
"No. You're wrong. You're so unbelievably wrong Annabella. I want to kill Eggman. I've wanted to kill him for so long. I've dreamed of it. Fantasized how I would do it, and now I am going to kill him and set everything right."
Buster pushed a button and a portal materialized. Then he continued speaking, "I'm sorry I shot you. I love our family, I love you, I love Colette, and I love our parents more than life itself. I am doing this for our family. For Mom, Dad, you, everyone who has ever suffered or died by his hands and machinations. Please… please understand."
Buster did not hear Annabella begging him to stop, nor her cries of pain. He did not hear his sister cursing his name. All he was conscious of was a single thread of memory that held his broken mind together and kept it from breaking into unrepairable pieces of total despair.
All he heard was the voices and words of his late parents echoing in his ear… words he had forgotten the sound and cadence to until today. Words he could not live without any longer...
"We love you."