A/N: SONIC MOVIE 3 TRAILER HYPE LET'S GOOOOOOOOO!
Okay, so I'm hearing that people are getting scam DMs here about concept art requests, and I've already gotten three over the last week. These are obviously scams, and it's been brought to FFN's attention, which means they're going to take care of it very soon hopefully.
However, if you guys really do wanna draw stuff for my stories, you don't need my permission to do it, just go for it! :D And if you do make fanart for Chaos on Earth or any of my other stories, let me know in the reviews or DMs so I can check it out!
Believe it or not, both this chapter and the next one were fully planned out in a single night. I had spent over five hours in a Discord call with my best friend OliviaGames1208, and we planned them out in the early morning hours of October 6, 2023.
I would like to thank Blue wolf blade 16, darkkingmaster, and Heart of Shepard for favoriting and following since my last chapter!
Without further ado, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!
? Reviews
Monster King
Thanks! Here is the next chapter!
danielman21
Same here, Cream is so sweet and adorable, not to mention super brave when she was in the Death Egg prison!
Oh no indeed... Will there be a way to revert the Robians back to normal? Only time will tell!
Guest
I've seen clips of the Sonic X Shadow Generations trailer, but I haven't seen the whole thing yet, but I have definitely seen art of Shadow's new Doom powers. I haven't seen them enough to form a solid opinion on them yet, but if Shadow does have Black Doom's DNA in him, then this proves it. His powers will probably grow on me over time though, but I don't plan on having them appear in this story at this time until I can learn more about them.
Josiah Sommer
Don't worry, it's not a bad time to ask, in fact, it's actually perfect time! After this chapter, there will be just 5 more chapters to go before Season 2 ends and we begin the Metarex Saga! Although, there's a chance I'll start that in November due to Whumptober, but I could start it sooner than that depending on how things go.
Super duper waffles
Not only has this been darker than other sagas, but I feel like it has some of my best writing so far, and I'm always looking to improve on my older styles!
1. In chapter 8, it's revealed that Eggman has Internet access at his base, and he's played Earth video games as well. His favorite TV show, movie, and video game are Doctor Who, Megamind, and League of Legends respectively.
2. That's a very fascinating question! I haven't thought much about what Mobian human media is like, but I'm gonna go ahead and say yes, they do have a Captain Federation, known as Captain Fed for short.
3. School on Mobius in both the Mobian and human societies are generally simpler and seen as more fun than school on Earth, even middle and high school. While they still have extracurricular programs, they mainly teach concepts that people will need in life, like paying taxes and preparing food. Human schools are closer to Earth schools than Mobian schools are.
4. Sonic and his friends know the basics about United States' history, but they don't know much about any other countries' history, except for Japan and maybe the UK.
5. Sonic has indeed partnered with the Sonic fast food chain in this universe! He's done several commercials with them as well to help boost their popularity.
6. SEGA in this continuity is generally different than the real SEGA since its mascot is Segata Sanshiro in the Chaos on Earth universe. While many popular SEGA franchises like Phantasy Star Online, NiGHTS, and Yakuza still have plenty of games, Segata Sanshiro has his own game and TV franchise in this universe!
7. The average human usually only know what Sonic and his friends have mentioned in various interviews, so they know it has several diverse continents like Earth, but it also has cleaner air and a more stable society for the most part. One thing they find the most intriguing is the naturally-forming loops in Green Hill Zone.
8. Sonic prefers PlayStation more, mainly because the Thorndykes use their PlayStation more than their Xbox.
Five-Chosen (first review)
I like that idea, and the temporary Cafe Chaotix works since it may be tacky for them to bring their entire detective agency with them. The only issue I can see with that is they were in business for some time before Sonic and friends showed up on the planet. But then again, the original episode doesn't show how the Typhoon got on the planet or why they were forced to hide, but I'm guessing that the Metarex suddenly descended on the planet in search of anyone who was a threat to galactic order.
I'll make sure to check out that fanfic!
Five-Chosen (second review)
I was originally not going to have Watcher die, but then I changed my mind when I realized it could boost the confidence of the rest of the Society if their worst-performing member was finally out of their hair.
Five-Chosen (third review)
I have indeed seen the trailer! :D
I really love it, and I have no complaints about it so far. However, I know there are at least two sets of complaints that I'm seeing from fans:
1. They're saying that Keanu doesn't sound like Shadow, and that he sounds like Keanu. That doesn't bother me at all, and in fact, I'm pretty sure people said the same thing about Chris Pratt and Mario, and that movie turned out to be fantastic.
2. They're saying Amy and Rouge should have been in the movie. It doesn't have to be a perfect one-to-one recreation of Sonic Adventure 2, and I love the movie for that. It's doing its own thing, and I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, if either Amy or Rouge were in the movie, we would have to spend time establishing their characters which would likely bog down the rest of the plot.
Though I am curious if there's going to be an equivalent to the Stewart/Franklin subplot in this movie.
CreativeKitty975
I'm gonna miss this story too when it's done, I can promise that there will be more stories after this one! And of course, we have the upcoming Metarex Saga!
The concept of Robians are actually from the Archie Sonic Comics! They are essentially roboticized Mobians, and they look like their normal selves, except they're covered with metal and weapons.
It took months of planning, and I had to scrap several ideas, but I'm happy with the way this story is turning out! And I too love how it keeps getting more intense! I'll go over this arc in more detail after the final chapter of the arc, which won't be too much longer!
I was really amazed at how high-quality the animation of the trailer was, and Tails looked so cute wearing his helmet in the helicopter! It's gonna be really cool seeing Shadow on the big screen! I will definitely be seeing it! Most likely I'll be going to see it on December 21, the day after it comes out in the US.
Chapter 54
Original Episode
Operation Endgame Part 8: Roadblock
The Death Egg – Outside – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV
The helicopter that Topaz, Shadow, Rouge, and Omega were occupying was flying at full speed across the desert, flanked by an escort of other GUN and CLIP helicopters and drones. They were all in a different helicopter than the one they took to get to Area 99; the one they were in now was larger and carried more soldiers.
"Eggman units detected in four miles," Omega reported, breaking the silence as his head swiveled toward the front of the helicopter.
Topaz gripped the barrel of her rifle tighter as she rested the other end on the floor in front of her. "This is it…" she quietly said.
Rouge, who had been somewhat restless and opted to pace back and forth rather than sit with everyone else, peered outside, and she let out a hum of interest.
"Looks like the fun's already started," Rouge said. "Oh, and there's even a sideshow!"
"What do you mean, 'sideshow?'" Topaz asked, before she looked outside. It only took her a second to see exactly what the bat was talking about.
There was an ongoing fight between the GUN Fort V3 and the Death Egg. All the while, the Death Egg's guns and thousands of aerial Badniks were firing on both the GUN Fort and the Egg Carrier, which was presumably invisible but they could see where the lasers were impacting. Even the Valkyries which were previously on the Egg Carrier were now engaged in battle with the GUN Fort.
"Looks like we got a free-for-all on our hands," Topaz dryly commented, sitting up straighter in her seat so she would be more alert.
"Multiple Chaos Emeralds have been detected on the Death Egg," Omega reported.
"Ooh, I like the sound of that," Rouge said. No one could miss the look of intrigue in her eyes.
"All right, listen up, troops," Topaz spoke up, and all eyes turned to her. "We're getting pretty close to the Death Egg now, and it's a literal war zone out there. The GUN Fort's already occupied with the Death Egg, so we're gonna engage the Egg Carrier as soon as we're close enough and arrest the Society."
"You do that."
All eyes turned to Shadow in surprise as the black hedgehog rose from his seat and turned to leave the helicopter.
"I'm getting the Chaos Emeralds," he continued. "Rouge and Omega, go and take the Egg Carrier and get ready to crash it into the Death Egg once everyone's out."
"Wha–" Rouge was a little surprised at this.
"I am capable of communicating in over 170 languages," Omega stated. "You are speaking my number one language."
"But you're ruling out the Society," Topaz told Shadow. "We're supposed to arrest them. That's one of the main reasons we're out here to begin with. And second, I barely know you, you can't just barge in and take control of–"
"Relax, Topaz," Rouge told her as she too stood up, trying to sound soft, despite still being surprised herself. "It's fine. Shadow knows what he's doing. Sometimes what he does might be a little extreme for people like you, but he gets the job done, just watch."
"Do you have a gun I can use?" Shadow asked Topaz, turning to look at her from the door of the chopper.
Topaz blinked in surprise. "You… have superpowers, why would you need a gun?"
"Guns are cool," Shadow replied automatically and nonchalantly.
With a shrug, Topaz looked around the helicopter before grabbing a spare semi-automatic rifle no one was using, and handed it to Shadow. The hedgehog gave her a curt nod before his air shoes ignited, and he took off from the helicopter, His shoes slowed his descent as he made it to the nearest hangar bay seconds later and disappeared inside the battle station.
"Um… right…" Topaz said, trying to clear the air a bit. "How, um, is he okay with guns if they're what killed Maria?"
"I tried to figure that one out many times myself," Rouge said. "I think it's because it's different if the guns are in the wrong hands, but if he has a gun? I guess it somehow gives him control of the situation. Plus it seems cathartic for him."
"Huh…" Topaz thought. "The more you know…"
The Death Egg – Hallway – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV
The roboticized Big, Vector, Espio, and Charmy wasted no time launching themselves into combat against Sonic and his friends, who were forced to defend themselves from their suddenly strong attacks. It felt wrong to have to fight them, especially since they looked just like their friends, except for the cold gray armor and machinery that entombed them.
"Chris, Vanilla, get back!" Sonic ordered as he dodged a swing of Big's fist.
They didn't have to be told twice, They scrambled back out of harm's way as fists, spin-dashes, and a hammer flew everywhere. Even Cream and Cheese were involved in the fight, and Cheese and Chocola were doing a number to Big's armor, even though it was incredibly tough. No dents were forming in his armor whatsoever.
"I don't know what these things are made of!" Amy called as her hammer attack on Vector did absolutely nothing.
"And also this hall is really narrow!" Tails added, having to suddenly dodge a shuriken attack from Espio. His statement was further punctuated when Chocola almost hit Tails trying to shake Espio off. Everyone had to be careful not to hit each other by accident. It didn't help that the nearest open space was outside the large prison block.
Vector took a step back when Sonic drove himself deep into his chest with a spin-dash, yet the crocodile looked no worse for wear. He was sent flying and landed a few feet away from Chris, who felt bold for a split second. He tried to kick the downed crocodile, but not only did it do absolutely nothing, but it got his attention, much to Chris' dismay.
Before the human could react, Vector suddenly stood up, grabbed him, and held him in a headlock, securing his limbs with his arms and massive tail. Chris heard Eggman laughing over the intercom.
"Good," the doctor said gleefully. "Now bring him to me. I have plans."
As soon as Chris heard that, his heart pounded faster than it already was, and he struggled against Vector's grip as he felt himself being carried away from his friends.
"H-Help me! Help!" Chris shouted.
"Chris!" all of his friends called to him at the same time. They desperately tried with all their might to make it past the Robians that were blocking the path. They were all doing too good at their job of keeping them at bay in the claustrophobic hallway. Big took up over half the width of the hall on his own, and he was single-handedly preventing anyone from passing him.
"Let me through!" Amy demanded, hammering Big over and over. But without even flinching, the Robian cat grabbed her hammer and threw it across the hall with one hand, and it narrowly missed Sonic.
"Whoa, what's going on? What'd I miss?" came Knuckles' voice as he rounded the corner and joined them, right after Vector and Chris disappeared from sight. "Wait, are those Robians?!"
"They took Chris!" Amy exclaimed, pointing toward the other side of Big.
"Help us get past these guys!" Tails added as he tail-swatted Charmy, but the now-robotic bee was only sent back a few feet before he quickly regained control of his flight.
Knuckles did not need to be reminded twice, or even once for that matter. He charged straight into the fight and punched Charmy into the wall, creating a bee-shaped indent in the wall near the ceiling above one of the cells.
Meanwhile, Sonic tried to leap past Big at every opportunity he could find. Even though the giant cat seemed somewhat slow before he was roboticized, he was surprisingly agile and strong now, and he kept stretching his arms to block Sonic. It was like he could predict where the hedgehog was coming from. And when Tails tried to fly past Big's other shoulder while he was preoccupied with Sonic, Espio leaped into the air in front of him, cutting him off, before kicking him back onto the floor.
Big was able to hold Knuckles, Amy, and Cream back all by himself as they tried to make it past him, to say nothing of Espio and Charmy. In all the pandemonium, no one seemed to notice Froggy was there too, and of course, he too was turned into a robot. He leaped off of Big's shoulder and onto Sonic, and before the hedgehog realized what was happening, he injected his electric tongue onto Sonic's neck. He was just about to charge it with electricity when Chocola flew in and punched him off, freeing Sonic.
"These guys just don't let up!" Sonic said as he took a step back. He was forced to dodge to his right out of the way of Charmy, who was shockingly fast to the point where no one was able to land any hits on him so far, not even Sonic. And even as a robot, Espio could not only blend in with his surroundings, but he could also truly turn invisible to the naked eye. Even though Amy was able to get two hits on him with her hammer, it barely did any damage. And not even Knuckles' fists could make dents in Big's heavily armored chest.
"Where's Chris?!" Knuckles exclaimed as he ducked under one of Espio's kicks. "Where's the robot who took him?!"
"Vector?" Sonic asked. "You just missed him, he hightailed it around the corner right before you got here!"
"Is there another way around?" Knuckles asked. "'Cuz I didn't see where they went."
Before Sonic could answer, Charmy, who was already flying around erratically, activated his newly-upgraded laser stinger and fired lasers down at everyone. Amy and Knuckles took a few hits as they tried to avoid the lasers, but while they were busy doing that, Espio kicked Knuckles into the wall, before throwing a shuriken that narrowly missed Cream.
"Don't hurt 'em, they're still our friends," Sonic reminded Knuckles, even though he was stressed about the situation himself.
"I know, this is not my first rodeo with Robians," Knuckles responded as one of Big's massive fists narrowly missed him.
"There has to be a way we make them stop fighting and listen to us!" Cream pleaded, hopping backward out of the way of one of Charmy's Buzz Bomber-like lasers.
"I know!" Tails called. He wanted to tell her that it couldn't be done by fighting them, and definitely not without a deroboticizer, but not only was there not enough time for him to say all that, but he didn't want to bring the mood down for her, since she was holding onto hope that everyone could be changed back to normal.
"Sonic!" he called, glancing to make Vanilla was safely away from the fight, before turning to Sonic. "Go find Chris, we'll take care of the Robians from here!"
Without another word, Sonic took off in the opposite direction, the one where Knuckles came from, and disppeared from sight. He didn't let anything else get in the way of his thinking. He was going to get Chris back and that was that.
"I'm scared…" Cream admitted once she was relatively safe at the back of the fight. "Even though we all helped to train Chris, it was still not enough!"
"Did you see the headlock Vector had him in?" Amy asked, brandishing her hammer tighter as Big took a single lumbering step toward her and her friends. "There was no way he could get out of that on his own."
"We gotta do what we can," Knuckles told everyone, "and that's to get past these guys without destroying them. And it's gonna hurt us more than it hurts them. I mean, me and the Chaotix go way back."
Knuckles gritted his teeth to keep the stress low.
"Wait, why can't we go around the way Sonic did?" Tails asked.
"I was gonna ask the same question, but I realized why," Knuckles said. "One, we're not as fast as Sonic, and two, because we're not as fast as Sonic, Charmy and Espio can easily cut us off." He dodged Espio who nearly succeeded in kicking him. "So we gotta put these guys away without outright destroying them."
"Okay," Tails said with a nod. "Let's do it to it."
The Egg Carrier – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV
Narasu watched on one of the bridge's overhead monitors as Beta Mk. III and Metal Sonic were still locked in intense combat. Not even Beta's searing acid seemed to be able to affect the roboticized Sonic, much to his shock. He knew the Society was done for if even their heavily modified Eggman robot couldn't defeat Sonic.
"One of the Valkyries just got shot down," Browning reported, looking up from another screen nearby.
"Wait, was that…" Dragg gasped. "Hold on, that– That was the one Watcher was in!"
"Then does that mean the Organizer just… straight up got rid of him?!" Passer asked in shock.
"Not just got rid of him, he killed him!" Dragg breathed in shock.
"Yes and no, Passer," the Organizer spoke, startling everyone in the room. They didn't realize he was still on the screen. "He was lording it over you the whole time. Browning told me everything."
"Yeah, he was getting worse and worse as time went on," Browning confirmed.
"I figured," the Organizer said. "Though, I only planned to drop him off in the middle of the desert. GUN decided to take matters into their own hands. But he's gone now, and that's all that matters. And I wasn't bluffing when I said I can take control of the Egg Carrier, which meant I heard and recorded every word of that call between Watcher and Dr. Eggman. And from the intel I gathered from that, Watcher used a Chaos Emerald, so he was going to die anyway."
"I'll be right back," Narasu said hastily as he left the bridge. He paused a moment, wondering if the Organizer was going to stop him, before he disappeared from sight. He had an idea, and he had to make sure it worked. It was the only way they would get out of this situation alive.
He sprinted through the ship in the direction of the Sky Deck. He couldn't hear the two robots fighting from where he was, but he knew they were both still at it. But as he looked around, he could see more and more debris from the GUN robots piling up. There were nearly twice as many robotic corpses as there were at the time he activated Beta.
He was running so fast that he nearly tripped over the shell of a Beetle that was lying on the ground, but he caught himself before he fell. Beta had been very thorough in his destruction, because there were at least a dozen broken robots gathered in front of the lab as he entered.
His idea had to work. He didn't want to think about what would happen if it didn't. Sonic had been roboticized, he was sure of it, but Narasu seemed to underestimate him, because he was making short work of Beta at that very moment.
He looked around for a moment to make sure he wasn't being followed before he opened a drawer and pulled out a box. He glanced inside to make sure its contents were still there before he closed it again.
Now came the hard part. He had to locate Sonic and make sure he was his target and not Beta by accident. It would be very hard for Narasu to pull this off without getting caught in the crossfire.
After roughly three minutes of sneaking through the ship and bypassing the Sky Deck, the sound of heavy metal clashing against each other and explosions came within hearing range. Narasu hid behind a door as the robots came his way. Even though the robots were fighting incredibly fast, he saw for a split second that Beta was heavily dented. As he thought, Beta was on the losing end.
He hid there behind the door for a full two minutes waiting for his chance. Then, when Sonic was close enough, he reached into the box, pulled out one of the nano robot spiders that were inside, and tossed it directly at him. Fortunately for Narasu, Sonic was too busy blocking one of Beta's attacks to notice the spider coming right at him. The spider disappeared inside his circuitry, and he paused in place, his cold red eyes changing to the same red eyes that appeared on the hacked house appliances last month.
Narasu was shocked that his plan actually worked. However, his chest pain started to flare up, and he held onto his chest with one hand while holding the box under his other arm. Knuckles had landed more than a decent punch on him yesterday. However, he was glad he had the time to upgrade the nano spiders, which meant their hold on technology was even stronger.
The two robots just stood there, doing nothing. But that was fine, considering they weren't fighting each other and destroying the ship anymore. So now that the danger was finally over for now, Narasu made his way back up to the bridge.
"Where'd you go?" Dragg asked when the doctor returned to the bridge. Notably, the Organizer was no longer on the screen, so he had hung up while he was gone.
"Just finished bugging Sonic," Narasu replied, shrugging as if it was no big deal.
"What do you mean, 'bugging Sonic?'" Browning asked.
"Well, remember the nano spiders we designed for the diversion?" Narasu asked.
Browning's eyes went wide. "You're kidding! They actually worked?!"
"Yes!" Narasu exclaimed. "I was honestly shocked myself that it worked. So now we have both Sonic and Beta on our side!"
"Okay, that is a huge breakthrough," Browning commented.
"Egg Carrier's made a full one-eighty," Passer reported from his post. "GUN is moving in faster than I thought, we got a whole fleet of helicopters now. So the strategy is, they and Eggman will take each other out, and then we'll swoop in and finish off the aliens." He glanced back at the vacant command chair. "I'm just glad that jerk is finally out of our hair. It's truly a breath of fresh air."
"Absolutely," Browning said emphatically from his post. "Like the Organizer said, I'm the one who reported him, 'cuz I felt like he was bossing me in particular around too much lately. I mean… I didn't want to see him die, but… it is what it is, I guess."
"Before I forget, you were there too when he used the Emerald, how are you feeling?" Li Yan asked, speaking up for the first time since they gathered on the bridge.
"Honestly, not too bad," Browning said. "It might be because I wasn't the one who actually used the Emerald, but I think I'm gonna be okay."
"That's good, that's very good," Li Yan said jovially. "I can't have one of our own dying on us like Watcher did!"
"Heh, I like how you said that like he was not one of our own to begin with," Dragg said in amusement.
"So Dr. Narasu," Passer said, looking at the man in glasses nearby. "You're positive both robots are fully under our control now?"
"Yes, sir," Narasu said. "I upgraded the nano spiders so their hosts will respond to basic commands rather than wandering around aimlessly. So you should be able to give Sonic some orders and he'll carry them out."
"Okay then," Passer said, turning to the intercom. "Beta Mk. III, engage the GUN Fort V3, and Sonic, engage the Death Egg!"
Without hesitation, the two robots did as they were told and flew through the ship toward their respective targets.
"Just because we're hanging back for now doesn't mean we won't have any involvement in this," Passer said. "If anything, it'll mean things will become much more complicated for both parties."
The Death Egg – Outside – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV
As the helicopter Topaz was in approached the direction she last saw the Egg Carrier in, something caught her eye.
Her pupils shrank, and she paled.
"Oh please no, not again…"
"What? What is it?" Rouge asked, and then she saw it. Beta Mk. III was flying toward their general direction from where she assumed the Egg Carrier was. But instead of flying toward the helicopter, it veered toward its left and flew straight toward the GUN Fort's bridge. They couldn't see the impact, but they could faintly hear the sound of glass shattering as the robot disappeared inside.
Topaz was immediately hit with flashbacks of her close encounter with Beta two days ago in Jennings State Forest, where the killer robot mowed down two-thirds of her troops. Even now she could hear the buzzsaw and the screaming echoing throughout the vast landscape of her memory. She was only in her thirties. It was too early in her life to get PTSD.
"Hang in there, girl," Rouge told her.
"How did you know what I–" Topaz's voice trailed off as she saw Rouge smirking.
"I had a hunch," was the bat's simple reply.
Having Rouge with her this time seemed to ease Topaz's nerves somewhat. She turned to the rest of the helicopter's occupants.
"Pilot, take us down to the GUN Fort," she ordered, her heart pounding. "As close as you can get."
"Copy."
Topaz felt the helicopter move forward, and she held on to the nearest post as it slowly descended in altitude during its approach. She could see several soldiers running across the deck and entering the ship's main quarters, presumably to engage Beta in combat.
"I'll carry you," Rouge told her as she flapped her wings and became airborne. "And Omega, don't wait up."
"'Waiting up' is not in my itinerary," Omega responded.
"I thought you had to go to the Egg Carrier first," Topaz said. "Shadow said–"
"Oh, that can wait," Rouge said, taking Topaz's hand and flying her out the door. The human didn't dare look down as she clung to Rouge's hand. "We gotta get you some well-earned revenge first."
Topaz wanted to look back because she remembered something she needed to tell the chopper's occupants, but it was too late. She was already too far away from the helicopter.
"I see our friend made an opening for us," Rouge said, eyeing the gaping hole in the windshield spanning the front of the bridge. "That'll save me a lot of time and energy."
Satisfied that she would be able to make it in without touching any of the glass, she dove straight for the window and flew through the hole. Not a single shard of glass touched her flawless fur or Topaz' skin as she landed them both on the floor inside. Already there were a few bodies scattered across the bridge.
"My, my…" Rouge said, concern etching into her features as she looked around the bridge.
"Where did he go?" Topaz asked frantically, unstrapping her rifle from her back.
"I see a whole trail of carnage over there, it's kinda hard to miss that," Rouge said, pointing to the bridge's exit.
"I see it too…" Topaz said, cautiously approaching it and leaving the bridge. Rouge followed alongside her.
C'mon, Topaz, you're not normally like this! She told herself. Pull yourself together!
The sounds of shouting and gunfire could be heard in the distance, along with the occasional sound of metal crunching. Topaz and Rouge didn't get to make it very far through the hall before Beta suddenly rounded the corner and opened fire. Rouge grabbed Topaz's arm and pulled her out of the way just in time, but Beta's lasers found six victims.
Topaz gritted her teeth and ran after Beta, trying her hardest not to let her flashbacks and common sense get to her. Fortunately, the robot didn't go after her, but it did turn off the lights in each room it passed through, hampering her efforts.
"Left my night vision goggles in the chopper," Topaz muttered under her breath.
"That's fine," Rouge said, to her surprise. "I can improvise. You may wanna hang back, this sort of thing is right up my alley."
"W-wait!" Topaz called, but Rouge was already taking off into the darkness.
Being a bat, her eyesight wasn't exactly 20/20, but she could see about as decently as a human could in the dark. However, she more than made up for it with her excellent hearing and natural echolocation skills. As a result, she quickly found Beta and matched his pace.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" she called to the robot, but it responded by swiveling its shoulder cannon in her direction and spraying a stream of acid in her direction. She barely managed to dodge it in the dark, and while the acid nearly clipped her wing, it did hit a nearby computer, shorting it out instantly.
Rouge winced at the impact. Topaz wasn't kidding about the strength of this robot.
As she avoided another acid blast, she was aware that it was starting to burn holes in the wall and floor. She didn't know where the Society got this kind of technology. Acid weapons were banned by GUN back on Mobius, and she had no doubts that they were frowned upon by Earth's GUN too.
On the bright side, the acid was glowing slightly, and while it wasn't much, it did act as a guide for Rouge to know where she was going.
"You mind slowing down for me? You could bump into someone in these tight quarters!" Rouge said, but of course, Beta didn't listen as it barreled it way through the ship. It seemed to be indiscriminate as it expertly navigated its way through the halls, shooting different things it passed, both living and inanimate. No bullets seemed to be able to harm it. However, as fast as it was flying, Rouge stuck to it like white on rice. Even though she was an expert flier, her skills were further honed through her rigorous GUN training.
"Screw Kick!" Rouge called out as she twisted her legs and body into the form of her signature attack, but Beta seemed to act on instinct. It grabbed her legs, pulling her out of her attack, before swinging her around like a javelin. After three rotations, the robot hurled her into the wall before flying back in the opposite direction.
"Hope that won't affect my flying…" she said to herself, quickly examining her wings before running after Beta.
When she caught up with the robot, she found it paused in front of a computer, connecting a USB wire directly from its motherboard into the computer. Thousands of lines of code whizzed by in a blur on the screen, and Rouge could only guess what kind of information it was trying to retrieve. Now that Rouge was this close to Beta, she could see that it was heavily damaged.
"Looks like you've been through the wringer," she said as she stepped forward. "So tell me, big guy, who have you been tussling with lately?"
Without unplugging itself from the central computer, Beta swiveled its head to face her, but before it could take action, the opposite door blew off its hinges and Omega stepped into the room, aiming both his guns at Beta.
"You are using illegal modifications," he stated. "Therefore, you are not genuine Eggman technology."
Beta unplugged its wire from the computer and retracted it into its body before turning around to give Omega its full attention. It immediately charged and fired a powerful laser point-blank at Omega, who fired lasers out of his arms to block it. It resulted in a beam struggle, which was so bright Rouge had to avert her eyes.
"You are classified as an imitation," Omega said as his lasers intensified. "No comeback line detected. My superiority is confirmed."
However, Beta found a way to redirect Omega's attack away from itself, and the beams were thrown into the adjacent wall, creating an explosion that rained debris everywhere in the computer room. Chunks of metal and machinery struck the two robots, but neither were harmed. Rouge hopped out of the way of the explosion, feeling relieved for a split second that her flawless fur wasn't singed.
"Target engaged," Omega turned, before he turned to Rouge. "I wish to assert dominance."
Rouge shrugged. "Go for it, big guy."
The bat stood back at the entrance of the room as Beta flew straight toward Omega, who shot him into the wall with both guns at full power. Large cracks ran away from the impact zone as Beta fell to the floor and picked itself up. Next, Beta tried to power up an energy ball, but Omega shot several lasers into the energy ball, overwhelming it. Rouge's eyes widened when she realized Beta was starting to lose control.
"Danger level is 85%! Evacuate the perimeter!" Omega warned.
"You show him who's boss, Omega," Rouge told him before she turned around and flew out of the room as fast as she could.
Moments later, there was a tremendous explosion behind her that shook the entire ship. At that point, she was already a few rooms away, so she was in the clear. However, she started to wonder if Omega pulled through okay. The explosion was quite violent, and she figured no human would be able to survive it.
"Omega!" she called as she flew back the way she had come from. Suddenly alarms blared everywhere, accompanied by flashing red lights, and the ship's intercom activated.
"Attention all crew and soldiers, there has been a massive explosion in the engine room," the GUN official announced. "An evacuation order has been given for everyone on board! I repeat, evacuate the ship immediately!"
"Omega!" Rouge shouted again as she picked up the pace, flying to cover more ground with less energy. She was starting to become a bit more worried now. She wasn't worried about Topaz because she was at the front of the ship, which meant she was a lot farther away from the engine room than Rouge was.
It took two minutes of backtracking and navigating through the smoke and debris, but she finally located Omega at the other end of the hall, making a beeline for a particular direction.
"Omega," Rouge called as she caught up to him. "Did you get him?"
"Target obliterated," Omega confirmed, waving one of his gun arms. "It was likely weakened in a previous conflict. Details unknown. Detail that is known is that I am once again the ultimate robot."
"Was there any doubt?" Rouge asked with a smirk.
"Doubt levels negligible," Omega said, before swiveling his head, as if looking at something through the wall. "Egg Carrier detected. It is leaving the vicinity. I will pursue."
"I'll come with," Rouge told him as she ran ahead of him, "but first, I gotta check up on Topaz."
"Ship hull integrity is diminishing," Omega warned her.
"I know, I'll be fast!" Rouge called behind her as she flew down the hall once again. She was getting some good exercise today, especially in close quarters.
She didn't know the layout of the ship as well as she wanted to, but the more she flew around, the more familiar she was becoming with it, even though it was going down fast.
The closer to the front of the ship she got, the more noise filled her ears. GUN soldiers and personnel were crowding into escape pods, and she spotted Topaz on her way toward one of them along with about a dozen other soldiers.
"We got him," Rouge told her, and Topaz looked over, having to strain to hear the bat over the noise. "Or rather, Omega got him. I'm gonna pop over to the Egg Carrier in case you start wondering where I went."
"Good luck," Topaz told her before disappearing inside the escape pod.
With a hiss, the door sealed behind the dozen soldiers, and it was launched toward the ground, joining a few other pods already on the ground. Before the bay door closed, Rouge leaped out of the ship after Topaz, then spread her wings and glided to her right toward the Egg Carrier. Glancing up, she spotted Omega, so she knew she was heading in the right direction.
The Death Egg – Roboticizer chamber – Tue March 21 – Chris' POV
No matter how much I struggled, Vector's grip on my arms, legs, and torso was too strong. I was running out of hope, especially since none of my friends were able to make it past the Robians that were blocking the way. And even when they tried to backtrack, Charmy and Espio kept cutting them off.
The robotic crocodile carried me into another room, and when I looked up, there was a massive machine unlike any I had ever seen before. There were many controls on a nearby console, including a master lever, but the main feature was the massive cylinder next to it. Standing next to the cylinder was Dr. Eggman himself, hands clasped behind his back and a wicked smile on his face. Orbot and Cuboy hovered silently on either side of him.
"I've been waiting a long time for this," Eggman said gleefully. "You've evaded the roboticizer countless times now, Christopher, but even luck has its limits."
He must have seen the petrified look on my face, because his tone changed.
"Don't give me that surprised look," he told me. "You knew this was going to happen to you sooner or later."
"Sonic is gonna find me," I definitely told him, "a-and besides… he's training me so I can fight for– hngh!" Vector squeezed me tightly in an attempt to get me to stop talking.
"That's cute," Eggman said with an intimidating chuckle. "And how many robots did you destroy on your own?"
I thought about telling him about the time I took out a few Beetles yesterday at the Society's base, but I decided it wasn't worth it because Eggman wouldn't buy it.
"I thought so," Eggman grinned. "You're just a human. You lack Mobian agility, and even if there was a drug that could give you Mobian agility, you would die of a heart attack. And as it stands, you along with all other humans also lack inner Chaos energy, and since you foolishly decided to use a Chaos Emerald yesterday, the Emerald is eating you alive from the inside since there's no Chaos energy for it to consume instead. In other words, you're going to die anyway."
Those words hit me like a bombshell. Fear overtook my mind in an instant.
"Wh-What…?"
"You heard me right, Christopher. Humans were never meant to use the Chaos Emeralds. Everyone's been warning you of this all along, but what do you do? You decide to play the hero and throw reason out the window. While it may be the right thing to do morally, you paid no attention whatsoever to the consequences of your actions. And if you didn't decide to be a hero and attack Vector here, you wouldn't be in this room right now. So now I have to roboticize you in order to prevent you from going to an early grave. Vector, do the honors."
As the cylinder slid open at the press of a button, Vector carried me toward the open chamber. I was scared for my life. I was too scared to scream, too scared to call for help. I didn't know if anyone could hear me. Vector must have carried me roughly a quarter of a mile through the winding halls, so I was definitely out of earshot.
I didn't know what it was like to be roboticized, and now that I thought about it, I never did ask my friends about the details because I didn't think I wanted to know. From the little I knew, it was a gruesome process. It sounded like torture to me.
"This may come as a shock to you, but I would like to apologize for my treatment of you in Silver Valley back when you took the Chaos Emerald," Eggman said, turning to face me. I was in shock as he spoke. "I had a personal vendetta against you, as you know. I don't normally torture people for real, so I'm sorry. I wasn't acting in my right mind then. The reason is simple, it drove me absolutely crazy that you came in out of nowhere and thwarted my plan, and I had no idea who you even were."
"Y-You…" I stammered. Eggman was actually apologizing to me? But… He was about to roboticize me! Why was he apologizing now?
"However," Eggman said, his tone changing as he turned to the console next to him, "Operation Endgame is nearing completion, and it's running too smoothly for me to go back on it now, not that I ever would. I promise you the roboticization process is mostly painless. The older models hurt quite a bit before, but I made some modifications because at the very least, I'm not as sadistic as I used to be."
That was not helping at all. I was scared for my life, and fear was quickly taking hold of my mind and robbing me of what little sanity I had left. Before I knew it, I was screaming and banging on the glass, hoping that someone, anyone would hear me!
"Sonic! Soooniiiic!"
"You're wasting your last breaths, boy," Eggman said coldly. "The glass is tempered, and you will barely be heard outside the room."
I didn't care. With tears pricking my eyes, I kept shouting, until Eggman stepped in front of the cylinder again.
"Believe me, I know how you feel, Christopher," Eggman told me. "You felt incredibly lonely before the hedgehog and his rodent friends came to this planet and started living with you. You know deep down that when they inevitably return home – or become robots, whichever comes first – you will feel lonely again. They are no substitute for your parents who are never around. You'll be all by yourself again, almost as if the rodents were never here in the first place. Simple memories of them are not tangible.
"However," he continued as he walked over and grasped the lever, "that feeling of loneliness will vanish in a few short moments once you become my servant. You'll never be alone again, since you'll be surrounded by thousands of my robots as your soulless companions."
He flipped the lever, and the machine started to let out a low hum as it came to life. It started as a low whine that gradually rose in pitch and intensity, kind of like an airplane taking off.
"Farewell, Christopher," he said in an even tone. "You've been a worthy adversary."
Before I realized it, a strange for and pressure filled the chamber. I had never felt anything like it in my whole life. And then a tingling sensation took hold of my entire body. The tears flowed freely from my eyes as I screamed my lungs out.
"SOOOOOONNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!"
I suddenly started to feel numb in my feet and ankles, and I couldn't help but stare in shock and disbelief as they were instantly converted into metal within seconds. The machine really was turning me into a robot.
As the process worked its way up my legs, I could feel my clothes sticking to me, and they felt stiff as my legs and knees were next to become metal. It felt like someone was grabbing me super tight as the force moved up my body. Despite what Eggman told me , I actually did feel some pain. The force was so strong that I wanted to cry, but I felt like I was too scared to completely break down.
Furthermore, I could feel and even taste metal. There was so much metal everywhere, both inside and outside, that I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. I even started to feel a bit queasy. The last thing I wanted to do while dying at the hands of Eggman was to throw up.
I didn't know if this was normal for any one of the hundreds if not thousands of other people who got roboticized in the past. Judging from the somewhat alarmed reaction on Eggman's face, it didn't seem normal.
"You look sick…" he realized, musing aloud. "No one's ever gotten sick from the roboticizing process before. The only other human I roboticized didn't get sick like this, so it has to be an allergic reaction!"
An allergic reaction… I hadn't thought of that. Now that he mentioned it, as my upper legs and lower torso changed to a shiny metallic sheen, I could feel my face and throat breaking out and feeling very irritated.
Eggman tried to pull the lever to shut off the machine, but to his shock and my horror, it wouldn't budge. Not even what I assumed was his emergency override button was working.
"NO! Stopstopstopstopstop–"
Realizing that he couldn't stop the process any longer, he stopped to listen to a voice coming from his wrist communicator. I couldn't make out what it said, but it must have been bad news for Eggman, because he cursed his bad luck, then turned tail and fled the room. Orbot and Cubot followed him at a slower pace.
"Wait! Doctor, don't you want to see the rest of the show?" Orbot asked.
"We got popcorn!" Cubot added.
"No time! I have to deal with that meddling hedgehog!" Eggman called as he disappeared from view. Now I was alone with Vector, although I might as well have been all by myself.
As my arms and chest turned to a dull gray shade of metallic gray, I no longer felt the nausea for some reason. I no longer felt the urge to cry. In fact, as I gradually lost consciousness, I could no longer feel much of anything.
The Death Egg - With Shadow – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV
Shadow skated methodically through the Death Egg, searching for any sign of the Chaos Emeralds. Since he didn't have Knuckles' ability to sense them, he didn't know how many there were, but if Eggman was fighting as desperately as it seemed, then he figured the doctor had at least three of them.
As he sped through hall after hall, he looked both ways for oncoming robots. He was so laser-focused on his goal that his forward momentum was not hindered whatsoever by the many robots he came across, not even the occasional Super Badnik. He wouldn't allow himself to stop for anything.
However, after about ten minutes of searching one of the many levels of the Death Egg, he ruled that the Emeralds weren't there. He expertly wall-jumped up the stairwell to thoroughly search the next highest floor.
Soon after he began his search anew, he spotted the doctor fleeing down a hall, with Orbot and Cubot right behind him, trying to keep up with the speedy scientist. Shadow got a sudden idea and sped straight toward him.
"Take me to the Emeralds," he demanded, and Eggman flinched at his sudden presence.
"Sh-Shadow! Uh… wh-what makes you think I have them?" the doctor stammered.
"Omega detected several of them here," Shadow said, giving Eggman a deadpan look. "He doesn't lie."
"Huh… I seem to have underestimated my own genius… again…" Eggman mused.
However, before Shadow could act, the scenery around him changed, and the Death Egg was quickly changed to Central City. His quills bristled as he became more alert, and he flinched briefly at the sight of several Black Arms that approached him from up ahead. His teeth were gritted; he was not expecting to see them.
"What is this…?" he mused, taken by surprise by the sudden change of scenery.
With a growl, he lunged forward before kicking one of the Black Arms squarely in the face. And just like that, the illusion ended, and he was back in the Death Egg. He realized he had kicked a clean hole through one of the walls.
"Phantom illusions…" he spat. "They got old when they were new."
However, when he looked up, he saw that Eggman was nowhere to be seen. Of course he had to run into terrible luck the moment he met Eggman. But he would make up for it somehow. He always did. While he wasn't Sonic's biggest fan, he did hold an amount of respect toward him, and the blue hedgehog's knack for improvising seemed to have rubbed off on him to a certain degree.
Eggman seemed to act a bit sketchy when Shadow ran into him, which meant there was a chance he was hiding something. So instead of following the doctor, he opted to go in the direction Eggman had come from. There was no point in following Eggman through the winding corridors since he could have gone anywhere. So he wanted to see where he had come from. Perhaps he could find the Emeralds there.
As he skated through the hall, he found that most of the rooms looked the same, and nothing stood out to him. They were all storage and maintenance rooms that didn't interest him in the least.
However, there was a pause in the monotony of the Death Egg when he stepped through a doorway into another room. It looked like a back entrance to another room, and at a quick glance around, he found that he was right. It was the back entrance to the massive roboticizer chamber. More importantly, the machine was humming, which meant it was either currently being used, or just used recently. Yet Eggman was not there to monitor things.
His attention was diverted to the roboticizer itself as the cylinder slid up with a hiss of steam. He took a step back, ears twitching at every sound as he concealed himself. There came the sound of a few metallic footsteps as a human-like robot stepped down from the roboticizer platform. He didn't approach the robot, but he stood there in the doorway, watching to see what the robot would do. Normally he would have destroyed or found another way to shut it down, but he had never seen a robot like it before, plus something about it seemed familiar somehow.
Shadow barely blinked before there was a blue blur from the main doorway opposite him. Sonic was there in the room, quills heightened as he was on full alert. He looked around, probably for any sign of Eggman or any other robots that were there. But Shadow could only see Sonic and the new robot.
"Chris…" he could hear Sonic say in a low, pained voice. "What did he do to you…?"
Shadow's eyes widened in recognition.
Chris…
That got the robot's attention. He turned his head to face Sonic.
"I promise I'll fix this," he said, walking slowly around the robot. "Can ya still hear me, buddy?"
As an answer, Chris wordlessly raised his right arm and fired a sweeping laser directly at Sonic, who yelped and dove out of the way. Sonic seemed to have let his guard down for a second. The more Sonic ran, the more Chris followed him with the laser, which was now starting to leave scorch marks on the floor.
"Chris! It's me, Sonic!" the hedgehog pleaded. "I'm your friend, remember?"
But Chris didn't listen and kept trying to shoot Sonic, who, of course, was too fast for him. No matter what Sonic tried to tell Chris, nothing seemed to work. Chris was too far gone, a testament to the effectiveness of the roboticizer.
Stressed and left with no other choice, Sonic fled the room, and Chris turned and followed him at a walk. Thirty seconds after the room was fully vacated, Shadow crept out into the open. He stepped down the stairs from the viewing deck onto the main floor, his attention drawn to the roboticizer chamber.
He was still surprised that the robot he saw was actually Chris Thorndyke, the same human he had met earlier that day, not even three hours ago. This was the first time he remembered Eggman roboticizing a human. But there was no reason Chris should have been anywhere near the Death Egg, unless Eggman captured him and brought him there in an attempt to emotionally maim Sonic somehow.
But that was Sonic's battle, not his. Shadow had his own problems to deal with.
The hedgehog searched around the chamber for any sign of the Chaos Emeralds. He didn't know everything about Eggman's plan; in fact, he didn't know anything, but that was all he needed to know because he had already come across a roboticizer within twenty-four hours of arriving on Earth, and Eggman never used it for its original intended purpose.
Shadow didn't know what he was expecting, because he did not see any Chaos Emeralds plugged into the machine. And he realized, if there were any, then Eggman would not have left them unguarded, because he was the only one in the room at that moment, both organic and robot. And since the roboticizer was unguarded, that confirmed to him that the Emeralds he was looking for were not there.
As he turned and ran up the stairs to the upper deck, a stray thought crossed his mind. He could destroy the roboticizer. He smirked at the thought of causing a little carnage in his wake. Eggman and his robots would come running, and Shadow would skate off to find the Chaos Emeralds virtually unobstructed.
However, as tempting as it was, he already started to have second thoughts a few seconds later.
He remembered a time in his past where Tails mentioned the possibility of deroboticizing people, making them organic again. And if he were to blow up the roboticizer, then there would be no way that Chris' friends could change him back again. He didn't know how old the human was, but he was definitely a child, and Shadow knew he didn't deserve the fate he got.
Deroboticizing people was nearly impossible, even for someone as smart as Tails. Eggman's roboticizers had been getting more and more complex lately, and most of them had been destroyed in base raids. So in order to change Chris back into a human, they would need… well, a roboticizer.
Shadow shook his head.
What am I thinking? This is not my problem!
Without a second thought, he ignited his air shoes and took off from the room, skating back the way he came from at a faster pace than before.
The Death Egg - With Sonic – Tue March 21 – Sonic's POV
With gritted teeth, I tore my way through the hall to get back to my friends, knowing full well Chris was right on my tail. I saw it coming, I saw all the signs that Chris was gonna become a robot, but seeing him step out of the roboticizer in person really made things real for me. It motivated me even more to stop Eggman as soon as possible.
When I got back to my friends, I was pretty shocked at what I saw.
"Whoa… What happened here…?"
All of my friends were beaten and battered by the Robians, yet none of them were giving up no matter what. From the looks of things, they managed to do a little damage to Big, but the other two looked no worse for wear. All of them looked bruised, and I saw a few cuts and burn marks from the shurikens and lasers that they utilized. Only Vanilla was unhurt because she was standing far enough away from the fight that she wasn't affected.
"Sonic!" Amy called, being the first to notice me. However, Tails seemed to notice my expression.
"Sonic, what happened?" he asked me, an earnest expression in his eyes. "Where's Chris?"
"Right behind me," I told him, trying to contain the emotional strain in my voice. "Eggman… Ch-Chris… He–"
There was a sudden gasp from Amy, and I turned around to see Chris coming into view all the way down the hall. I could hear the shocked and angry expressions from my friends as I watched Chris slowly approaching us, and my heart broke when I heard Cream starting to cry.
I felt their pain. This was the sort of thing I tried to prevent from happening for over a year now. We made a solemn promise to protect him. And now I felt like I failed to protect Chris from being converted into a robot. Eggman kept threatening him with the roboticizer ever since he found the first Chaos Emerald, and now my worst nightmare had come true.
You gotta hold it together, I told myself, at least for now.
Out of the corner of my eye, Amy whipped out her hammer and took a single step toward Chris, but there were no targets to damage because I was sure she knew attacking any of the robots was the same as attacking her friends. With nowhere else for her anger to go, she took it out on the wall, hit after hit from her hammer denting the steel surface.
Without warning, Chris ran toward us, and at the same time, Froggy leaped off the wall toward me. I barely had time to hop out of the way of the robotic frog.
"Run!" I called to everyone around me.
I turned around and ran the other way, and my friends joined me, even though Espio and Charmy in particular were trying their hardest to cut in front of us and make sure we didn't go anywhere. But thanks to me and Knuckles, we forced our way through the barricade and out into the open hall.
"There's gotta be a way to reverse all this," Knuckles said, swatting Charmy away. "This is really messed up."
"I'll see what I can do, but– Whoa!" Tails narrowly flew out of the way of a laser that Chris fired out of his arm. "I-I'll see what I can do, but it's… really hard to make people organic again!"
"You got this, lil' bro," I told Tails, giving him a thumbs up. "Just believe in yourself. Remember the time you helped Rotor make a deroboticizer for my uncle?"
"Oh yeah!" Tails said as the memories flooded back to him. "I can do this! Just cover for me, okay?"
"You got it!" Sonic said. "We're right behind ya, Tails!"
Tails nodded, his eyes full of determination and his hands balled into fists, before he turned and flew back in the direction I had come from. Just as I thought, the Robians ran or flew after him. Espio and Charmy were the fastest, and we were all quickly buffeted again by their various attacks. We had to dodge electric tongue attacks from Froggy, lasers from Charmy and Chris, rockets from Big's chest armor, and shurikens from Espio.
One of the missiles was flying straight toward Tails, but I zipped toward it, grabbed it, and threw it off to the side, where it exploded harmlessly in an adjacent corridor.
Tails yelped as a sudden laser blast from Charmy flew past me and missed him by inches, right as he disappeared into the roboticizer chamber up ahead to our left.
Even though I tried to keep up a positive attitude in front of my friends, I was feeling my morale quickly slipping deep down. I hadn't felt this hopeless since the war. Not even the time Eggman nearly pounded me into oblivion last May was enough to get me this down.
It was oddly convenient that one of the entrances to the roboticizer was on the same level as the prisons. It probably meant Eggman didn't want them to have to go far before they entered their new life inside a metallic body.
As I flipped out of the way of a group of shurikens thrown my way by Espio, I was able to take a quick peek inside the roboticizer chamber. Tails was the only one in there, and while that sounded like good news on the surface, it also meant Eggman and Vector were nowhere to be seen. That meant they must had fled the scene the moment Chris was roboticized.
"You ever have to pick these things up when you're done throwin' 'em around?" I quipped. It wasn't as good as my usual ones, but I didn't have time to improvise another one when I was suddenly kicked to the ground by Espio. I hadn't even seen him, so he had just turned visible the moment his feet made impact with my chest and sent me to the floor. Notably, none of the robots had said anything to us the whole time.
As I leaped back up, I saw Amy and Knuckles trying their hardest to hold their own against Big. Just when it looked like they were driving him back away from the roboticizer room, he suddenly launched his hands like massive rockets at them. Amy dove out of the way at the last second, but the other hand pinned Knuckles against the wall.
I wanted to help, but Espio was keeping me busy. I ducked under one of his kicks and lashed out with one of my own, but he dodged before blending in with the steel walls again.
"Hey Cream!" I called. "Get your mom to safety, it's gettin' real dangerous!"
"Okay, Mr. Sonic!" Cream called back before she and Vanilla disappeared around a corner. My eyes darted over to see that Amy was managing to free Knuckles with some difficulty.
However, right as Amy finally pulled Big's hand off of Knuckles, Charmy swooped in from directly overhead and kicked him to the ground. As he fell, a Chaos Emerald I didn't know he had fell out of his Hammerspace and clattered onto the floor. Chris walked over to pick it up, but to my surprise, Charmy cut in front of him and grabbed it out of Chris' hands. He looked at it for a moment before taking off in the other direction.
Since Amy and Knuckles were occupied with Big and Chris, I took off after Charmy, but I was suddenly kicked back down to the ground from behind by Espio. When I looked up, the bee was already gone.
"What was that all about?" I heard Amy say from somewhere behind me.
There was a pause.
"No idea," Knuckles said dismissively. "But we can't waste our time fighting these guys! Eggman's already got most of the Emeralds, and we can't all stay here and hold them off!"
"So what do we do?" Amy asked with a grunt as she swatted Big away from her with her hammer.
Her comlink must have gone off, because Amy lifted her arm to answer it.
"Did you get it, Tails?" she asked, keeping a wary eye on Big.
I couldn't hear what Tails said on the other end, because Espio too his opportunity to attack me again, and I tussled with him for a bit. Even though I sparred with him several times when he wasn't a robot, he was somehow even tougher now that he was surrounded with a thick metallic shell. Plus his disappearing act wasn't helping matters at all.
Even though I could no longer see him now that he had become invisible once again, I could still hear him, and my ears twitched at every sound in my immediate vicinity. When I punched the air where I thought he was going to be, he became visible a few feet away from where my fist landed, and he karate-kicked me across the room once again, and I left a hedgehog-shaped impression in the wall where I landed.
"Guys…" Amy said, her voice filling with an emotion I couldn't quite place. As soon as there was a lull in the fight, I turned to her, and Knuckles did the same.
"What did he say?" I asked her.
"He said at first glance…" She swallowed nervously. "There's no way to reverse the roboticization…"
That was not good news. It was not good news at all. It was, in fact, the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear. Eggman's roboticizers had been getting more and more advanced, and today we were seeing the fruits of his labors.
I didn't know what to feel anymore. I knew I was super stressed out already, but…
Is this what it feels like to not have any hope… Is this… Wait… This is what I felt during the Phantom War… Hopelessness… I'm supposed to be the hero, I shouldn't feel this hopeless!
The only enemies around me were my friends.
For once, I, Sonic the Hedgehog, Hero of Mobius and Earth, didn't know what to do.
A/N: And that concludes part 8 of Operation Endgame! After a long tone of threatening to potentially roboticize Chris... it finally happened. We're getting pretty close to the climax now, anything can happen from here on out!
Since my concept of humans dying if they use the Chaos Emeralds was kind of a last-minute concept, I ended up realizing that Eggman had to turn Chris into a robot because he had used an Emerald earlier.
In case I didn't mention it earlier, the Society don't know that Metal Sonic is his own robot and not a roboticized Sonic.
Hopefully my characterization of Shadow is a little better than the last time, since I'm still trying to get a feel for him.
Let me know if you have any suggestions, complaints, or if anyone's out of character!
Next time is part 9, which is probably one of my darkest and most emotional chapters in this entire fanfic thus far. Don't miss it!