- Chapter 15 -

Relics and Badniks

Aquatic Ruins

After exiting the Chemical Plant, the Freedom Fighters found themselves within an open area containing deep, widespread lakes and filled with ancient Roman-esque buildings and structures.

"The Aquatic Ruins," Tails mused in fascination. "Another Ancient colony. It's amazing how widespread they were."

Sonic was more focused on the numerous lakes everywhere. "And just like the Labyrinth Zone, the place is filled with water."

Sally took his hand comfortingly.

"It's okay, Sonic," she soothed. "Relax."

Sonic took a deep breath, composing himself.

"You're scared of water?" Rotor asked.

"So what if I am?" Sonic defended. "A lot of people are."

"Not really," Tails cut in.

"You're not helping, Tails," Sonic hissed through clenched teeth. "Really not."

Tails just shrugged as they continued on. It wasn't long before they heard a scream.

Sonic disappeared within the second, running towards the scream.

"After that hedgehog!" Bunnie shouted.

Sonic soon came out near one set of ruins, seeing a swarm of Buzzbombers harassing a female Mobian. Tucking into a Spin Dash, he homed in on each of the buzz bombers, smashing through them one by one. Once they were all destroyed, Sonic landed right in front of the woman, taking in her appearance; it was a Mobian pika (1) with teal fur and brown eyes. She wore a shoulderless black bodysuit with a long, light-brown jacket and matching gloves, as well as white and brown shoes, along with a backpack matching her coat and a pair of purple spectacles, and had hair matching her fur that she kept in a lock that stuck out from her forehead and in a bun at the back of her head.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'll live," the pika nodded, speaking in a British accent. "Thanks."

"Sonic!"

They turned to see the rest of the Freedom Fighters run in.

"Will you stop running off like that?!" Sally demanded.

"Sorry, Sal," Sonic said sheepishly. "Force of habit."

With that done, Sally turned to the pika.

"Ma'am, you shouldn't be here right now," she insisted. "This island isn't safe."

"Believe me, I'm aware," the pika replied. "Comes with the territory. Though I will admit, the robots were not the type I was expecting."

"And what territory is that?" Antoine questioned.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the pika bowed her head respectfully. "My name is Relic. An archaeologist by trade." She straightened. "And you are?"

Everyone was surprised at that.

"You… don't know about us?" Sonic asked.

"Sorry, no," Relic replied. "Current events aren't my expertise. Now, ancient history, that's my bread and butter." She squinted at Sonic. "Like for example, you are the spitting image of Solaran the Hedgehog. A great warrior of the ancient hedgehog tribes. Oh, the stories I could tell you about-"

Sally cleared her throat at that, and Relic snapped to attention.

"Oh yes, of course. Sorry about that." She adjusted her glasses. "I get lost in my work. What were we talking about?"

They quickly explained the situation and their fight with Robotnik, and Relic perked.

"That's right. Now I remember. I've heard in passing how a blue hedgehog defeated that Robotnik man two months ago. I imagine you'll become as great as Solaran, or Pachacamac, or even Aurora herself."

Sonic shook his head. "I'm just a guy trying to make a difference."

Antoine leaned over to Bunnie. "Is it just me, or is this petit a few cards short of a full deck?"

"Hey, we all get passionate about certain things," Bunnie replied. "No need to judge."

Before the conversation could continue, from the nearby ruins came a small robot.

"Mistress Relic, I believe I've uncovered something," he reported.

"Badnik!" Shortfuse shouted.

He aimed his laser blaster, but Relic stepped in the way, waving her hands.

"Hey!" she snapped. "Put that down! What are you doing?! Honestly, control your automaton!"

"He's not an automaton," Sally explained. "He's a Badnik who resisted reprogramming."

"And I wanna know why you're defending that Badnik!" Shortfuse demanded.

"He's not a Badnik," Relic replied. "That's my assistant, Fixit."

"Salutations," Fixit gave a small wave.

"Also, what's a Badnik?" Relic asked.

"Robotnik's robots," Sonic answered. "Like the bee-bots that attacked you."

"Oh, that's what those were," Relic mused. "I was thinking they were more ancient automatons. I thought they seemed a bit too clean."

"You have a robot assistant?!" Tails exclaimed, excited.

"Yes," Relic confirmed. "I found him at one of my old dig sites. I believe he may have been a remnant of the ancient Echidna Empire, or even the Ancients themselves. So I fixed him up and made him my assistant."

As they entered the ruin, Relic continued to talk.

"I've spent years searching for the answers my father and his father failed to find," she went on. "Who were the Ancients? Why did they create the vast monoliths that litter our planet? How did they harness the powers of the Chaos Emeralds? What was their purpose, and why did they vanish?"

"The Chaos Emeralds…" Sonic muttered, once again thinking back to his dark persona. He shook his head, shoving his trepidation down. "What can you tell us about them?"

"Their exact origins are shrouded in mystery," Relic replied. "All I've gleaned for sure is that they first appeared during what the Echidna Tomes call a 'Day of Fury.' The sky turned green, and numerous emeralds rained down on Mobius like a meteor shower, triggering the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. I, however, have a theory on their origin. Some cultures have a passing mention to an energy field they refer to simply as the 'Chaos Force.' If it truly exists, I believe the Chaos Emeralds are physical manifestations of it."

"Really?" Tails asked.

"Oh yes," Relic confirmed.

Fixit led them to a back room. Relic squinted at the wall he pointed at, looking it over.

"Hmm, that's odd," she mused. "This doesn't seem to match any Ancient script I've seen." She looked closer. "In fact... it doesn't look like any writing system on Mobius."

Everyone gathered around.

"But if it's not from Mobius…" Tails began, "then where is it from?"

"Space aliens, maybe?" Rotor offered.

"Be serious, Rotor," Porker scoffed. "Aliens? Really?"

Before the conversation could continue, the ground began to rumble ominously.

"What the…?!" Sonic managed.

"Earthquake!" Relic screamed. "Everybody out!"

Everyone began running, Sonic snagging Relic and Fixit as he sped out. However, once they got out, they stopped short to see a massive metal tentacle emerge from the lake before them.

"Bloody hell…" Relic managed. "What is that?!"

From the lake emerged a large mechanical nautilus shell, one that had several long, metal tendrils coming out of the shell's mouth. A glass dome on top lifted up, revealing Dr. Robotnik.

"It's Robotnik!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Yes, Sonic," Robotnik deadpanned. "How incredibly observant you are."

"That's Robotnik?" Relic mused. "Nothing like what I expected."

Robotnik stuttered and gagged, utterly insulted. He then began glaring at Relic, who remained unphased.

"You should watch how you speak of your future emperor, little girl. Unless you want a date with the Roboticizer."

Relic tilted her head in confusion. "What's a Roboticizer?"

Robotnik blinked, surprised.

"She doesn't get out much," Sonic explained.

"Actually, I get out a lot," Relic insisted. "I think what you mean to say is my grasp on current events is-"

"ENOUGH!" Robotnik roared, cutting her off before pointing a condemning figure at Sonic. "You may have survived the Mega Mack, Sonic, but the Egg Nautilus is invincible in its native element! I'll squeeze you into paste!"

"Bring it on!" Sonic shot back. "I'll smash it to bits and use the scraps to make a coffee table!"

Robotnik just chuckled before descending into the lake, the tentacles whipping about.

"Okay…" Sonic began, "how are we gonna do this?"

"I got this!" Rotor declared.

Before anyone could stop him, he dove directly into the lake.

"Rotor?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Let him handle this one, Sonic," Sally insisted. "Trust me. I didn't hire him just for his brains."

-X-

Rotor swam down into the depths of the lake, seeing numerous submerged ruins as he heard Robotnik's diabolical laugh.

"Do you honestly believe you have a chance against me?" the doctor taunted.

"Do you think you stand a chance against a walrus in his natural element?" Rotor shot back.

The Egg Nautilus came into view, waving its tentacles threateningly. Rotor straightened out his body, holding out both fists as he began rapidly spinning in place before launching himself through the water like a torpedo. Before Robotnik could react, he rammed right into the Egg Nautilus, sending it spinning through the water.

"What?!" Robotnik shrieked. "Impossible!"

"That's how we do it up North!" Rotor declared.

He came around for another strike, ramming into the Egg Nautilus again and again. Eventually, Robotnik began to surface rapidly.

-X-

On the surface, the group watched as the Egg Nautilus emerged from the lake, battered and dented, before beginning to spin its tentacles under its body like a helicopter propeller, lifting it into the sky.

"Did not see that coming," Sonic remarked.

"Sonic!" Tails declared. "I've got an idea!"

He began spinning his tails, lifting off the ground and offering his hands.

"Grab on!"

Sonic leapt up, grabbing Tails' hands. The two then took off as Relic blinked in surprise.

"A flying fox. Just when you think you've seen it all."

-X-

Flying with all his might, Tails intercepted the Egg Nautilus in a matter of minutes. As they got above it, Sonic looked up at him.

"Rolling Combo!"

Tails nodded and the two clasped hands before spinning around in mid-air. Eventually, their synchronized movements formed a blue and yellow-colored Spin Dash, moving so fast that a circular wave of wind surrounded them, allowing them to hover. After a moment, the two launched themselves forward, plowing clean through the Egg Nautilus, which began to spark and smoke.

"Why, you little-!" Robotnik managed before the Egg Nautilus crashed into the ground, Sonic and Tails landing safely.

"Oh, yeah!" Sonic cheered. "Who's bad?!"

He pointed at himself with both thumbs.

"Hey!" Tails objected.

Sonic grabbed him, giving him a friendly noogie. "Relax, buddy. Couldn't have done it without you."

Tails smiled at that. Once that was done, Sonic turned to the remains of the Nautilus.

"Now, let's deal with the doc."

He approached, only to be surprised when he saw Robotnik sparking and whirring in the cockpit, metal and wires sticking out of his skin. The others came along, seeing the sight as well.

"So, this Robotnik bloke was a robot himself," Relic mused. "Who would have thought?"

"No, Relic," Tails told her. "This is a decoy."

"So where's the real Robuttnik?" Sonic asked.

"My guess?" Sally pondered. "Still in Robotropolis."

"But why use a decoy?" Rotor wondered.

"So we would think he was here," Tails realized. "The Death Egg… he's probably working on it right now."

"So this whole mess was to keep us busy! Stall for time!" Shortfuse cursed. "That sneaky tub of lard!"

"Easy, Shorty," Bunnie soothed. "We'll stop 'im."

"Count on that," Sonic agreed.

"Well, you better get moving," Relic said, adjusting her glasses. "Next stop from here is the Casino Night Club. But watch yourself. I've heard talk

that everyone who goes in there gets hooked and gambles everything they've got away, no matter how hard they try not to."

"Sounds pretty fishy to me," Johnny mused.

"If there is something fishy going on, we'll figure it out," Sally decided.

"What will you do, Relic?" Antoine asked.

"Casinos aren't my cup of tea," Relic replied. "I'll stay here and study the ruins a bit longer."

She started heading off. "C'mon, Fixit! There's history to uncover!"

Fixit followed closely behind her, the Freedom Fighters watching her go.

"Now there's a girl who's devoted to her job," Sonic remarked.

Robotropolis

Robotnik watched spy camera footage of the Egg Nautilus going down. He sighed at the sight.

"So, they took down my Egg Bot," he remarked. "Pity. He was such a handsome devil."

"They'll be a bit more suspicious of you from now on, Doctor," Grimer remarked. "We should be cautious."

"Suspicious or not, it doesn't matter," Robotnik said flippantly. "We just need to keep them occupied, and the Casino Night Club will do that spectacularly."

Author's Note:

(1): Not a reference to Pikachu. A pika is a real animal, mountain dwelling animals related to rabbits that live in Asia and North America.

Relic and Fixit are taken from the Archie comic, as are the Egg Nautilus, and Relic's statements on the arrival of the Chaos Emeralds and Chaos Force. Rotor's attack he uses on the Egg Nautilus is called the Drill Rush, also taken from Archie.

And to Void Reader, you may not be interested in all the Sonic the Comic stuff I've spliced in, but this is my fanfic and I will splice in whatever Sonic media content that I choose. If you have issues with that, it's your problem, not mine.

Next chapter, the gang investigates the strange goings-on at the Casino Night Club. Will they get out with their money… and their lives?

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Relic - Camilla Luddington (Lara Croft from Tomb Raider 2013 and onward, Jo Karev from Grey's Anatomy, Zatanna from Justice League Dark)

* Fixit - Chris Collet (Orbot's original voice in Sonic Unleashed, Conklin/Raizou Mototani from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)

Please R&R. Until next time!