Four Years Ago…

Robotropolis, Northamer

Afternoon

"...Sonic the Hedgehog will come to order! Sorry your request was denied but that's democracy in action!"

"...But it's a perfect plan, any fool can see!"

"...C'mon, it'll work! We let Robotnik roboticize me and using one of Rotor's Neuro-Overriders, my mind will still be free! Then with a super-enhanced 'bot body, I'll trash him and Robotropolis for good!"

"...I won't make the usual mistakes this time... No gloating, no speeches, no chuckling… Straight to the Roboticizer with him!"

"...At long last, I get to turn Sonic into a mindless robot!"

"...He is risen! The one, true Mecha Sonic!"

"...Robotnik's word is law!"

"...Now go, my ultimate weapon of destruction… Leave not a scorched stone standing!"

"...They will perish!"

"...He's strafing us, get down!"

"...I strike you down for the glory of Robotnik! All hail Robotnik!"

"...How dare you attack mah friends that way!"

"...You traitor Sonic!"

Sally's voice, Robotnik's, Bunnie's and several other voices rang through Sonic's thoughts including his own.

Remembering how it began with a proposal to end the Robotnik War that got soundly rejected by his friends, then followed by his abduction and subsequent roboticization into the fearsome Mecha Sonic. A malicious being birthed from the Roboticizer's Brain-Burn-Through software utterly loyal to Robotnik that has full control over his physical body. The perfect answer to why his plan got shot down Sally and them.

Sent out to annihilate Knothole Village and its people. Leave no mercy for any of them. The absolute terror and destruction Mecha Sonic caused in others through his rampage. A monument to Julian's desire to have his most persistent enemies eradicated with extreme prejudice.

All while Sonic helplessly watches on through Mecha Sonic's crimson optics like an unwilling spectator. His loud screams of fear and anger all largely went unheard to anyone except for the A.I that hijacked his body.

The iron monster who only intensified his destructive rampage on Knothole because it sadistically enjoys the rush of terrified emotions his fleshy counterpart was feeding it with like succulent meat and mocking Sonic's inability to do anything to stop it. All of his friends were forced to fight for their lives against them. Bunnie and Shortfuse both had fought the A.I valiantly but Mecha Sonic's superior power soundly took down the pair of them.

The metal hedgehog had once even attempted to kill Bunnie just because she's close to the blue blur by trying to smash her skull open with its bare hand before Shortfuse thankfully rushes in and saves her from meeting her maker right there. A brief moment of relief for Sonic.

Knuckles entered the fight after the other two powerhouses were taken out and had fought him a bit in his organic form but even his impressive strength wasn't enough against the roboticized Sonic. Coming back a short while later as a roboticized Mecha Knuckles to even the odds and unlike his blue rival, he managed to maintain his freewill.

The both of them are currently engaged in a fierce fight. Metal to metal. Pound for pound. The guardian versus the enforcer.

That echidna gets to keep his freedom while he's got no control over his own body and can only watch himself trading blows with the red machine. He can't spindash, he can't summon the Chaos Emeralds and he can't pull a miracle this time. There is nothing that can help him stop Mecha Sonic. It's up to everyone else to save the day from him.

For a hedgehog who loves freedom and independence, this lack of autonomy and a complete absence of influence over his own actions is a conscious waking nightmare for him. This is the summit of his fears being played out in real time. Turning from a solution to defeat Doctor Julian Robotnik for good to being used by his sworn enemy to go defeat his own friends on his command.

They may have had their differences in the past and he knows Knuckles can not hear him but he prays that the red echidna does win this battle. Anything to put an end to Mecha Sonic's reign of terror.

For what he has done, Sonic doesn't believe he deserves to live and he wouldn't begrudge them for even terminating him if they can't save their friend. Should his transformation be irreversible, it would be a mercy kill for him because he doesn't want to live the rest of his life as a Badnik. Be enslaved like his own dear uncle and pet dog.

Best case scenario for him coming out of this saga with him alive and restored back to normal: The guilt over the horror that Mecha Sonic had inspired in others through him is something he will have to carry with him as a learning experience. No matter how powerful or great he is and will become, he is not completely invincible...

West Robotropolis, Big Kahuna Island

Late Evening

The blue hedgehog shook his head at the recollection during the middle of his search for an exit.

It was over four years ago and has been forgiven for it since but yet his guilt over it still resides with the blue blur years later and only lately has it been in the forefront of his thoughts contrary to his own philosophy of not letting the past get to him. It's hard not to when your own demon is back to cause more destruction in their wake.

Sonic and the rest of his party were still trying to find a weak point in the security of their cells with no luck. Without any tools or gadget on hand and Tails discovering the cells having a dampening field that nerfs Sonic's abilities as long as it's active, their progress has been very slow.

The blue hedgehog refused to let the idea of this old, irrelevant abandoned laboratory be the reason Tarek and the Dark Legion slipped away from them again. There has to be a way out of these cells. No such thing in this universe as an inescapable prison.

His thoughts were interrupted as two men from Lindsey's gang came into the prison block with a metal basket trolley. Identifying both as Troy 'Lionel' Lanley and Butch 'The Wake' O'Hare. The two were hauling the trolley around.

"Hey, we're supposed to be taking this to the cache." Troy says to Butch, clearly confused. "Why the detour?"

"Figured we'd check on the vermin here before we drop their toys off over at the lockup. Making sure they're up to nothing." Butch replied while glancing over at Sonic and his group in the cells. "See how they're doing."

"The brats ain't going anywhere."

"Never hurts to check just in case they try to escape and delay our departure." Butch points over at Sonic's cell. "You check that cell while I check the one with the chick."

"Fine…" Lionel left the trolley where it was and went over to Sonic's cell to do an inspection. "But if you're was—"

He'd suddenly stop mid-sentence as a dart pricks the back of his neck and knocks him out in seconds, dropping onto the floor afterwards. Sonic, Tails and Manic sees Butch wielding a pistol that the dart had come from before quickly going over to his unconscious colleague to remove the dart. Then see him slip something into one of Lionel's pockets.

The man then pulls out a device and shoots a beam at a panel that brought down the forcefield along with the dampener field to Sonic's cell. The blue hedgehog quickly tackles him to the floor.

"What's your angle here?" Sonic asked him with a knee pressed to Butch's chin. "Got no time for games right now."

"W-Wait, I'm on your side!" Butch choked out.

"Oh yeah? What's your proof Slick?"

"I-I'm the one who sent out that coded transmission about Casino Park and left you guys a card about the stolen chip! Is that enough for you to believe me!?"

"I think he's telling the truth bro." Manic says to Sonic as he checks out the trolley while Tails quickly busts out the rest of their group. "He must be the dude."

"Why are you doing this? Not satisfied with this blood money gig?" Sonic furrowed his brow at Butch, not taking his knee off him. Being uncharacteristically firm with him but he's not taking any chances here. Not if it allows Tarek and the rest of the culprits to get away from them again.

"I'm a… I'm an undercover agent!" Butch pulls out a data disk from his pocket and holds it up for him to see with the hedgehog swiping it out of his hands to examine the disk in hand. "Honest!"

"Since you're an agent, what's the scoop here?" Sonic took his knee off him and the agent got back up. The man was dusting himself off.

"If you're looking for the stolen cold fusion project, it along with that chip are used to build a new version of the Roboticizer called the Legionizer. Unfortunately, it's in another location that only the Dark Legion knows about." Butch points to the disk in Sonic's hand. "That disk there will tell you more about it. The Shards that made the cold fusion energy are still in the base."

"Shards?"

"From what I could gather, these two Shards can perform similar miracles like those of Chaos Emeralds. Their origins and Kirk came into possession of them are unknown but one can alter matter and one can create life." Butch reported his intel findings as quickly as he could. "And together, they can create the likes of new weapons and Mecha Sonic's casing. Right now, they're being used in a—"

"Experiment to see if they revive the dead back to full life." Sonic figured it out quickly to the agent's surprise. "Educated guess. Anything else?"

"Once they conclude the latest experiment, they're leaving right away. You just caught them as they're packing up to go." Butch hands Sonic a sheet of paper. "Here take this. It'll show you where to take out the defenses around West Robotropolis and you better take them out quickly before they catch on."

"And what about our communicators?"

"They're up in the security room and the rest of your friends are busy responding to an urgent SOS from a nearby settlement that's in the middle of being attacked by an army of Egg Gunners. Happened a little after you were captured." Butch gestured to a set of Dark Legion uniforms stashed on the trolley along with the confiscated equipment and gadgets barring the communicators. "If you want to get around, use these. There should be enough for all of you."

"And I'll be taking that." The head R.A.A Commando dressed in a Dark Legion uniform seizes the note from Sonic. "Don't take this personally sir but me and my squad here think you're a risk to our mission. This is just a precaution."

Manic and Tails who heard the exchange were about to protest the hound's sudden decision when Sonic puts a hand up to stop them. "No, I understand. Do what you need to do to get those defenses down and stay safe. All of you."

"Yes sir and we'll try."

The hound nodded as he pockets the note and went over to discuss plans with his men. Leaving the room shortly after to tend to their mission of taking out West Robotropolis's defense systems to allow Sally's team to safely storm the island and take the base quickly. Hopefully minimize their casualty numbers.

Butch had to leave with the trolley containing a tied-up sleeping Lionel inside to keep his cover and not arouse suspicion.

"What gave him the right to pull rank on you just because of what she said?" Julie-Su voiced her outrage to Sonic over what had just happened while getting into her disguise. The rest of the Freedom Fighters quickly got into theirs.

"Just drop it and get on with the mission. We need to get those communicators and warn the others. We're already behind schedule as is." Sonic's response was short and to the point. His mind focused on the mission at hand. Trying to keep cool inside to keep Mecha out from being alerted to the breakout.

With that said, the now-freed stealth team went off and infiltrated West Robotropolis where security around the base isn't too heavy but still very much fortified in keeping out any unwanted intruders outside from coming inside. To not be too suspicious looking and wanting to cover wider grounds, they split up into two teams. Both have their own objectives to accomplish.

Johnny led Gadget and Manic away to go retrieve the communicators.

Sonic, Tails and Julie-Su went off to do some investigation including hopefully learning where the new location is going to be at. Having once served the Dark Legion, Julie-Su took the lead while the other two followed her as a bunch of ordinary no-named Dark Legion Troopers who absolutely do not question Lien-Da's odd BDSM-inspired taste in fashion sense whatsoever. Just a pack of faceless mooks passing by.

Freedom Fighter Special Mark III, Great Canyon

Late Evening

Sally sighs to herself. Standing at the bottom of the F.F.S' loading ramp with binoculars in hand. Awaiting for a sign from Sonic's team to give the all-clear.

She's usually a patient one and knows that infiltration missions are slow in nature. Even leading plenty of them herself but they should have taken out the enemy's defenses by now even with some assurances from Sonic. The latter had called in earlier to basically say that everything's under control. A statement that didn't sit right with her.

However before she'd ponder on it any further, an SOS from a nearby settlement was intercepted about a Badnik attack on a verified frequency and her team happens to be the nearest ones that could respond to the emergency call in time. With the seriousness of the call in question, she had to send away a detachment from her group to go handle the crisis which left the chipmunk with less manpower on hand for the time being. Less people to be able to cover all the major escape points around Big Kahuna Island.

"How long ago was that call?" Sally suddenly asked as Rotor checked his watch on his power suit.

"About forty-five minutes ago. Radio silence since."

"They should have done it by now…" Sally murmured, bringing up her binoculars to see Big Kahuna Island in the distance from her vantage point at the shores. "What is keeping those guys and why are they taking so long?"

Bunnie clicked her tongue and glanced at the island of interest, tipping back her southern cowgirl hat. "I say they're all hogtied if Sughahog ain't makin' some noise over there."

"If that's the case, then we oughta barge on over there and kick the arses of all those bloody blighters!" Shortfuse voiced his frustration at the long wait and it was not helped by him being denied some Badnik action today when Sally had ordered to stay put where he is. "Make all their bums red from my boot for wearing out my patience here!"

"I'm as anxious about this as you are but cooler heads prevail." Sally assured him, staring out through her binoculars. "Saying that, I will admit they are taking a very long time over there on their end. Nicole, is it possible they've been captured?"

"About fifty percent based on current information. The Badnik attack might have been deployed as a distraction under the assumption our culprits are aware of us being here." Nicole reported on Sally's comm line. "I would suggest considering activating our backup plan if present conditions don't improve soon."

Sally contemplated her options. The longer they wait here, the more time their suspects have to prepare a new escape route. The window to catch them here is getting smaller and smaller. She needed to make a decision.

"I'll give them all roughly seven minutes to get the objective done. After that, we're going in." She made her mind up on the matter, praying Sonic's group can pull through on this one. "We're running out of time the longer we wait and who knows how long our next chance will come at. The sooner we put a stop to this now, the better. Is that reasonable?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm going with it. Keep me updated." Sally ends the call and spies on the target island from afar, a little anxious but steady. "Come on, I know you guys can do this..."

West Robotropolis, Big Kahuna Island

Late Evening

Johnny, Manic and Gadget wandered up through the halls like a pack of phantom thieves raiding a castle. The trio passed by other Dark Legion personnels who didn't suspect them and allowed them through. So far, so good.

Gadget was internally anxious about this mission and where it stands currently. They got jumped thanks to Mecha Sonic having spied on them ahead of their arrival and having to go try salvaging their task before security finds out they're out of the cells. A lot of pressure was being put upon him.

Another serious problem on his plate for him to resolve and make up for his prior shortcomings on field missions with a lot is riding on this to succeed. He doesn't want to cost his new friends another mission failure.

"Somethin' on your mind?" Manic whispered to him under the red mask. Picking up on his body language.

"Oh, it's… It's nothing…" Gadget responded in a low voice, shaking his head. "I should be paying more attention to what we're supposed to be doing."

"If you're feeling nervous, that's okay." Johnny interjects from the front. "Just keep cool as a cucumber and we'll all get through this together."

"And if we all pull this off my good man, all those doubters ain't got no more leg to stand on." Manic added. "You'll prove them all wrong and soon, you will have to fight off legions of fan girls wantin' your heart~"

"Hai..." Gadget nodded slightly. He hopes he doesn't fumble this one. The wolf hates being a disappointment to others and to himself.

They'd soon come upon the security room where their communicators are located according to Butch and saw that a few Dark Legion Troopers were posted there inside the room. None the wiser to the escape of their prisoners thanks to Butch somehow finding a way to spoof the video feed to show the captured Freedom Fighters still in the cells on their end.

"Halt." One of the guard's at the entrance to the security room put a hand up to stop Johnny's group. "Are you sent here to relieve the monitor crew?"

"On the Kommissar's order's unless there has been some miscommunication here between both of our ends." Johnny nodded and spoke in a more neutral accent to the security guard. The latter shook his head.

"We'll be leaving here soon anyways. No point in wasting time getting this sorted. You know it is." The guard said to them. "You're rather early though."

"When it's Kommissar Gae-Na's orders, we must be timely and orderly to please her excellence."

"But don't be expecting a dinner date from her."

"One can only dream, right?"

"Exactly."

"Say, you know whatever happened to the last Grandmaster Dimitri?"

"Heard a few different stories here and there. Some say he died of old age, some say he was assassinated by the Dingo Regime out of revenge and some say he has sacrificed himself in the name of our glorious cause." The guard shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't be looking into it too much if I were you."

Johnny knew exactly what happened to Dimitri through Knuckles but the guard did not need to know about that one and he allowed the trio into the security room to relieve the other team from their post. Once they were alone inside and locked the door, they got to work in searching for the communicators with Johnny standing guard by the entrance.

Sonic and his group made their way over to a section in West Robotropolis where an important experiment overseen by Tarek is taking place. So important that Lien-Da and Gae-Na are in attendance. Both accompanied by a few bodyguards plus a gray broad-shoulder husky with purple accents and a bored expression towering over his Dark Legion peers.

The lab itself is spacious enough for a crowd to stand inside and still have plenty of room for the scientists present to work away on the devices currently used for the ongoing experiment or taking notes from it including Slimy. Inside a glass tube lies a deceased homeless man who died from a wound to the heart. Freshly killed by a laser to the chest.

Tails quickly sights a powerbox near the glass tube where he can see two pulsing crystal fragments nestled inside glass bubbles where they're being used to power the new device. A device that can supposedly revive a dead lifeform back to life.

"...By your own admission, you said it was difficult designing a device that could use them." Gae-Na is in the middle of speaking with Tarek when the trio walks in. "How they respond differently to the technology than Chaos Emeralds. How did you get it working?"

"I had Wormtongue here modify the system architecture to interact and use these Shards after a series of trial and error. The softwares had to be modified as well so that they wouldn't crash as soon as they power up. Same for the other device." Tarek responded with his eyes trained on the project at hand and arms crossed behind his back. "If this succeeds, your Grandmaster would have a means of reviving all her fallen troops to full health again and achieve immortality."

"I would call it the ultimate weapon against the Acorn Republic and their allies but you already provided us with one of that kind." Lien-Da nodded, showing some interest in the project. "However, should you get any ideas of crossing me at any point..."

Gesturing to Gae-Na who showed Tarek one of her energy weapons. "There'll be severe consequences."

'Guess she's grown fed up with one too many betrayals.' Julie-Su sees her half-sister growing wise in dealing and making alliances with other people outside of the Dark Legion. 'I'd be proud of her for learning if we weren't so against one another...'

"Rest assured Grandmaster Lien-Da. My personal ambitions lie solely with the fields of bioscience not in geopolitics nor world conquest. I have no interest in either of those outside of needing resources to enable progress on my work. You have nothing to fear there." Tarek responded unfazed and unintimidated by the threat, only sparing a glance at Gae-Na's weapon. "As long as you continue to support me and provide me with what I need, you shall have my services for however long in return. Honor our agreement mutually."

"Good. I don't need another Doctor Finitevus to deal with." Lien-Da sneered at the thought of that albino echidna. Having declared him as an enemy of the Dark Legion since they became an independent faction again.

"You are largely interested in Project: Lazarus because it would potentially keep you forever healthy. Forever living." The jackal assessed the echidna's interest in his project that Sonic's group had just now learned the name of. "Forever beautiful."

Lien-Da smirked at the last part. "You're a real lady killer when you actually show signs of life behind that cold and distant shell of yours'."

"You are tolerable when you lay off the treachery and actually use your head to think ahead rather than trying to seize more power at every opportunity." Tarek calmly replied back to her. If Slimey had dared to backtalk her like that, she'd have his head off his shoulders for it besides already having a lot of contempt for the reptile.

Sonic needed to keep a level head and not let the presence of Tarek Mengele fire him up lest they want Mecha Sonic to show up. So, he focuses on Project: Lazarus and the lab technicians working away at it instead of him.

"How soon may we see a live demonstration?" Gae-Na enquired, checking her own watch. "We are rather pressed for time here."

"In a minute once they're ready." Tarek answered her question, gesturing to the radiating Shards. "We can leave this device here and build a new one elsewhere but we can't leave the Shards behind. Unless you steal the Master Emerald or a power source of equal energy levels to them, your new Legionizer will still function and can still be used but the margin for error is substantially greater according to Wormtongue."

"Such as?"

"To keep it short and to the point; the margin for error includes the risk of power surge, CPUs overheating and a chance of it exploding because of mathematics being beyond what it can compute. Might knock out or cause severe malfunctions to surrounding electronics nearby including the main systems and emergency systems of a Rodis-class or even a Sternbach-class ship."

Lien-Da furrowed her brow at that. "How come the Roboticizer doesn't have that issue?"

"The Roboticizer fully converts the subject, usually a single target at a time and was originally built for medical purposes. The largest model of Roboticizer required a Death Egg to house it and power." Tarek explained to both her and to the eavesdroppers present. "The Legionizer converts the subject halfway like Bunnie, brainwashes them into following the ideals of the Dark Legion, has a wider conversion radius and requires more complex math to ensure each subject is safely converted into a Legionnaire when struck by the beam."

Glancing back at the Grandmaster to finish his explanation to her. "We find that besides being the best main source of power, the Shards also help regulate the device's power flow for maximum output consistency in tandem with that top of the line chip processing all that data at a much quicker speed. The cold fusion we use as its fuel source wouldn't exist nor be stable if created under our atmospheric conditions. I would highly advise not using it without them installed..."

"...Find them yet?"

"Still lookin' around."

"Keep searching."

"What else would I be doing?" Manic replied rather facetiously to Johnny from the storage room while searching through the boxes in a storage room. The apprentice of Farrell trying to locate their seized communicators.

With that for an answer, Johnny looked over to see Gadget who was tending to the security monitors and watching what's going on in the feeds including the spoofed feed of the prison cells. There's a camera showing the lab that Tarek's in with him and Lien-Da in the middle of their exchanges to each other.

The Grandmaster on the screen shoots Slimy a harsh glare that makes him cower in fear of her. "...If Wormey's invention decides to fail me at my crucial moment of victory, I'll have him stuffed into that insufferable robot of his'."

"D-Don't worry, it w-won't fail you as long a-as long you follow o-our recommendation y-your worthiness." Slimy stammered with a nervous laugh that got picked up through the camera. Inserting himself into the conversation when he was mentioned by her.

"Just… Just go and do your thing."

Lien-Da's general attitude towards the forgotten cousin of Grimer shows how little she regards him and would have him killed if given any good reason to terminate his services on the spot. Gadget could almost feel sympathetic towards him until he remembered what the guy had done recently and the cynic in him thinks it's satisfying to see the egotistical scientist get put in his place like that.

A few of the cameras were keeping watch on some of the defense measures around West Robotropolis. One of them soon went static. The R.A.A Commandos doing what they set out to do.

"That's one down." The rabbit commented to him, eyeing the static screen. "Hey luv, think you can make those screens only show nothing going on like the one to our cells?"

Gadget nodded to that. "I'll see what I can do. Can't make any promises here."

"You're good with computers. You'll figure it out."

"Yo, I found our blowers!" Manic called out to the rabbit as he came out of the storage room and tossed him over his communicator. The latter shushed him as he caught his device.

"The guards are standing outside!" Johnny said to his green teammate in a low harsh voice, jabbing a thumb towards the entrance. Manic mouthing sorry to him and the gray rabbit quickly switches on his device to contact Sally on her frequency.

When Sally's device let off a quiet chime, she accepted the call. "What's your mission status? Why aren't the enemy's defenses down yet?"

"We've run into major complications. We got captured by the Dark Legion on the way to West Robotropolis and were held in the cells for a bit but we got out thanks to some help. The Commandos' taking care of the defenses." Johnny reported and the mention of the Dark Legion was a eureka moment for Sally as she now has the missing piece to the puzzle around the cold fusion case. "Only just got back our means of reaching you."

"I figured something was up when "Sonic" called earlier and told me nothing's happened…" Sally muttered before asking Johnny about what his group has learned on their end; "What have you guys uncovered so far?"

"To keep it brief, the stolen cold fusion and the chip went towards a new Roboticizer called the Legionizer. It's not on the island but Kirk's Shards are still here and the Legionizer needs those Shards to work properly. Right now, they're being used for a Project: Lazarus helmed by Tarek with Lien-Da and Gae-Na here to come see it."

"Did he just say that Lien-Da and Gae-Na are here?" Shortfuse straightened up upon hearing that as did the rest of the Freedom Fighters present. "We need to storm that island right now while we still have the chance!"

Sally put a hand up to shush him while Johnny's on the line. "What are they doing now?"

"They're currently watching the Project: Lazarus experiment and it's going to start soon. They don't know we've escaped just yet and I suggest you act fast when those defenses go down because we don't have long before they leave. And another thing, they knew we were coming before we had even set foot on the island and set up that ambush for us ahead of time."

"Any idea how they found out about our plan?" Sally had made sure that this operation was kept under wraps and as quiet as possible to catch the culprits by surprise. How exactly has the Dark Legion been managing to stay under their radar for this long until now?

"According to Lien-Da, Mecha Sonic's been apparently spying on us through Sonic and without him or us knowing it. Could be false info knowing her..."

"...It depends on how much he's been telling her. Do whatever you can to salvage the mission." Sally ends the call and her worst fears are confirmed.

Johnny puts away his communicator. Him and his team will see the mission through.

Gadget was trying to do something to spoof the feed signals on the monitors when the alarms suddenly started blaring which startled him. Making the wolf wonder if he set that alarm off by tripping some security measure he didn't know was there or not.

His question would have to wait as he sees the camera monitoring the hallway outside of the security room and seeing the crew that was supposed to relieve the other team from earlier speaking with the guards outside the door.

Said guards realizing they've been tricked before joining in their colleagues' attempts to break through the locked metal door and angrily pounding on it. Like a pack of wolves scratching at a door to get at their next meal.

"There's got to be another exit out of here!" Johnny said to his team and the three of them scrambled around the security room to find another exit out of it. The cramped space of the room versus the openness of the hallways made the idea of taking on the security force directly from where they are a no go.

Gae-Na immediately checked her commlink and got an answer for the alarm.

"The prisoners have all escaped!" The Kommissar reported to a livid Lien-Da. "What are your orders?"

"Have them all terminated and don't you dare say I told you so!" The older echidna said pointedly to the jackal, knowing she should have listened to his suggestion earlier as Gae-Na relayed her orders to the troops present as a bunch of them hurried off to go after the escaped prisoners. "I swear to Enerjak that I don't want to hear it from you!"

"Then hear it from us!"

Sonic quickly took out the Dark Legion Troopers present with Tails and Julie-Su joining in, catching their captors by surprise. Julie-Su would engage in a fight with Juile-Su engaged against Lien-Da and the husky while Tails took on Gae-Na. Sonic squared up to Tarek and the two stared each other down.

Leaving Slimy to go and collect the Shards from the device. Knowing their importance to the Legionizer as he ran out of the room with them in hand.

"So close…" Tarek said with a furrowed brow. "Just what is it you even want from me?"

"I want you…" Sonic points at the jackal, having just discarded his disguise and a quiet intensity to him. "And I have you where I want you. Give it up Doctor, you ain't getting away from me this time. I know who you are now."

"Is that so? Your obsession with me is intriguing as it is pitiful. Very unbecoming of you. The war has changed you." The scientist shook his head, disappointed at what Sonic is becoming. "Ovi Kintobor—"

"You keep his good name out of your mouth! He's more of a scientist than you'll ever be!" The blue hedgehog cuts him off. "He cared about life and everything in it while you're just some deranged maniac chasing an impossible goal!"

"But I thought you were all about the impossible or do you dictate who can and can't do so? My goal of unlocking the secret of life is more attainable than your goal of a free world where all are equals." Tarek took off his lab coat, not taking his eyes off Sonic. "You chase a dream that's more abstract than reality, I chase the ultimate breakthrough based on hard data."

"Not without spilling lots of blood to get there."

Not even a moment later when Sally ended her call to Johnny, a horde of Egg Gunners would swarm the coast in great numbers with both the Knothole Freedom Fighters and the Royal Acorn Army forced to fight them off. Just what they need right now Sally thought as she deploys her Ring Blades.

All while a bunch of their numbers are dealing with a Badnik attack elsewhere...

"We'll agree to disagree." The jackal taps on his watch and a golden suit starts appearing over his form. "Progress is rarely achieved without some blood spilled first. I am pursuing what all great and powerful minds have been after since the dawn of time…"

When his golden suit fully materialized with a T-shape visor helmet forming over his head, Tarek stood tall in his new suit of armor that appeared to be a mix between a roman centurion and a shogun warrior. "Like your own pursuit for freedom and independence, I will fight to have my dominion over death be made reality and any who dare stand in the way of that."

Sonic took a defensive stand, fists up and ready to pummel the life out of him. "Bring it on. I'll take you down no matter the cost..."

Down in another lab as lab technicians were scrambling around while the alarm continued to blare, Mecha Sonic stood asleep and deactivated in his booth. Having been quickly shut off by the technicians on Slimy's orders after being told to undergo a mechanical inspection in case of loose bolts. The reptile has been wary of him following his earlier display of defiance and the A.I making it clear on what he thought of him.

He is growing afraid of Mecha becoming a second Neo Metal Sonic where he starts having greater ambitions than the initial scope of his programming. Whenever they get to the new location, he's going to have him immediately replaced with a newer, more obedient one. A program that'll actually obey its master's commands.

Mecha Sonic is becoming too much of a risk in his eyes to be kept online as he is now and Slimy speculates that those four years of total isolation in the old data disk with little to no knowledge of what's going on in the outside world might have driven the software a little mad if that is even possible.

The only reason he had even got the accursed thing to cooperate with him in the first place was because he had promised the A.I to help avenge his fallen creator Julian Robitnik, revive the man back to life through Tarek's work and because he didn't have a physical body at that point. Him getting the opportunity to taunt and torment Sonic the Hedgehog was not part of the agreement. That's all on Mecha Sonic.

Then, the red light of his optics suddenly flashes to life…

Author's Note: The stage has been set for total escalation and total devastation. We finally get to see the mysterious Shards that kick-started this whole theft saga and what they're being used for.

Plus a little flashback to the seminal Mecha Madness that's been alluded to in this story a few times. Presented from Sonic's P.O.V and how he reacted to it during that period.

I also try to highlight what exactly makes this Robian Mecha Sonic different from all the other Mecha/Metal Sonics/Metallixs beyond the aesthetics including his inspiration Mecha Sonic Mk. II from 3 , Metal Sonic from CD and Shard the Metal Sonic from Archie.

If the others were built by Ivo to serve his ambitions of world domination including Shard before he turned good due to their own programming, then Robian Mecha Sonic is born from the evil of Julian to serve his evil goals despite coming directly from Sonic himself. Show the difference between Ivo and Julian Robotnik through him.

Leave your thoughts in the comments and I will see you all next time.