-Chapter 60-

Greater Evils

Mobotropolis

A guard ran into the throne room, getting King Max's attention.

"Sire, we're getting an SOS from a ship off the coast of Westside Island," he informed him.

"What?" Max was already on his feet, rushing to the radio room.

"This is the S.S. Genesis!" the man on the radio screamed. "We are under attack by Kodos! Repeat! We are-!"

There was a loud crash, then terrified screams and some sickening sounds.

"What's going on?!" Max demanded. "Can you hear me?! Respond! Respond!"

After a minute, someone picked up the radio on the other end.

"Hello, King Max," came a deep, menacing voice.

Max's blood ran cold. "Kodos…"

"I take it you got my message," Kodos mused. "Sent all those pests scurrying for their holes."

Max gritted his teeth in anger as the lion went on.

"I rotted in the Devil's Gulag for a decade and a half because of your soft heart, Max. And now it's payback time."

"You brought all of that on yourself, Kodos." Max spat. "You murdered innocent men and women."

"They were animals. Lambs to the slaughter," Kodos said simply. "Don't you see? We're better than humans. We have everything they have and more. Humans shouldn't just fear the Mobians, or respect them. They should serve the Mobians."

Max shook his head in disdain. "You're sick."

"No, I just see the truth. Maybe when I snap the neck of that little brat of yours, you will, too."

Max stiffened as Kodos went on. "I'm on my way to Station Square as we speak, Max. And once I'm done there... I'm coming for you and yours."

There was a snap, and the radio went dead. Composing himself, Max headed back to the throne room.

"Contact Sonic and Sally immediately," he ordered.

Knothole

Sonic arrived at Freedom HQ. He plopped Agatha down, removing her blindfold.

"Everyone, meet Eggatha," he introduced as he returned her glasses. "She's Robotnik's eyes and ears."

Eggatha greeted them casually, before her eyes fell on Hope.

"Hope!" she greeted happily. "Good to see Sonic got you out of Kodos' way."

"Agatha…" Hope sighed, shaking her head. "Why'd you do it?"

"Same reason you joined up with Sonic," Eggatha replied. "Because I wanted to. Well, and because he lets me build all the robots I want."

"I just don't get why you'd want to work with him," Hope said. "He's not Uncle Julian, Agatha. He died when the ROCC blew up on him and turned him into Robotnik."

"Is that what you think?" Eggatha questioned.

"It's the truth," Hope replied.

"If that was true, would he care so much about stopping Kodos?" Eggatha asked.

That got Hope's attention, before Sonic cut in.

"We can debate later," Sonic insisted. "We need to figure out where Kodos is heading."

"Station Square," Sally said, walking in. "He's on the S.S. Genesis, which is en route to Station Square. My dad just sent me a message."

"Back home…" Chris perked. "Keith, our family…"

"My dad's on duty today," Keith realized. "He'll be on the front lines…"

"Then we'll have to get to the city before Kodos does," Sonic decided. "When he shows up, we'll be ready."

"I'll call Uncle Robotnik," Eggatha said. "Let him know to meet us."

"I'll call my dad, let him know what's going on," Keith decided. "Maybe he can evacuate."

As everyone went off to get ready, Hope grabbed Eggatha's arm.

"You really think Uncle Julian's still in there?" she asked.

"There's no real reason not to," Eggatha replied. "Besides, you know he always had a soft spot for us, and I am known for following my brother around."

Hope perked, getting it.

"Bingo, Hope," Eggatha confirmed. "Between you and me, that's part of the reason I'm with him. Give him a morality pet, someone to stop him from doing something really bad."

"You always were the smartest of us," Hope said with a smile.

"And you were the bravest," Eggatha replied.

The two of them shared a hug.

"So," Eggatha began once they parted, "once his truce with Sonic's over, when I'm not helping him with evil schemes, why don't we go out for hot chocolate sometime?"

"I'd like that," Hope agreed.

Hand in hand, they joined the rest of the group.

Station Square

Near City Hall, a human man with red hair and green eyes was talking on a cell phone, sitting on the roof of a Formula One race car. This was Sam Speed, an officer of the Station Square Police Department's Speed Team division, and Keith's father.

"Kodos is coming here right now?" he asked.

"Yeah, Dad," Keith confirmed. "We've got confirmation he's on his way. Dad… please, be safe."

"I will, son," Sam assured. "Even if we can't stop Kodos, we can at least hold him off until Sonic gets here."

"Just don't do anything crazy,"

"No promises. But I will promise this: we all come home alive."

"I'll hold you to that."

Sam hung up, looking at the caller ID photo for a moment before taking a breath and stowing his phone.

"Alright, people!" he declared. "Everyone get ready! Do not show this guy any mercy and do not underestimate him!"

The squadron gathered at the docks, setting up a roadblock as the S.S. Genesis floated into port. Kodos leapt off, a battle-axe in his hand, and the sound of numerous guns cocking reached his ears. One cop held up a megaphone.

"Kodos Lion!" he shouted into it. "You are completely surrounded! We are authorized to use lethal force if you refuse to surrender!"

Kodos snorted, slapping the axe in his hand. "You're welcome to try. I'll cut you all down in seconds."

"Have it your way," the megaphone cop said. "Drop him!"

They fired on him, and Kodos launched himself into the air, a frenzied look in his eyes as he raised his axe over his head. They scrambled to avoid as the lion came down, his axe slicing the front of a police car clean in half.

"That's the problem with you humans," he scoffed. "You have no respect for the superior species!"

More cops began shooting at him, trying to take him down. Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters arrived via Warp Ring.

"Oh, no…" Tails gasped. "It's him! He's already here!"

"Tails, take Rotor and the rest of the science squad and start getting people to safety," Sally ordered. "Bunnie, you and your group start working to cut off all escapes. Sonic, Kodos is all yours."

They scattered as Sonic turned toward Kodos, watching as he effortlessly swatted cop after cop aside. He had Sam pinned down, and was about to bring the axe down on him when…

"HEY!" Sonic shouted.

Kodos looked up just in time to get a Spin Dash to the chest.

"You're not killing anyone else today, Kodos," Sonic swore.

As Kodos reeled, Sonic turned to Sam.

"Time for you to tag out," he insisted. "I got this."

Sam nodded. "He's all yours."

He retreated, whistling for his men to back off. They all did, forming a circle around Sonic and Kodos along with the Freedom Fighters. Kodos watched them, scoffing in disgust.

"Defending the weaklings, treating this trash like they mean something. You must be the Sonic I've heard about." He looked Sonic up and down. "And from your coloring and those spines, I wager you're Jules and Bernadette's son."

"And you're the violent psychopath who gets off on killing everyone around him," Sonic retorted. "There's something I need to know: How the hell did you escape?"

"Patience," Kodos replied. "I waited. Waited until the prison's own hubris made them sloppy. The second I saw my chance…" He lunged at Sonic, grabbing him by the throat. "I took it!"

Sonic squirmed in Kodos' grip, before landing a kick to his face, freeing himself.

"Stupid brat," Kodos growled. "Humans are petty-minded creatures. They're selfish and lazy! They betray! They lie, cheat and steal! And they hurt other living things without a second thought! For fraternizing with such scum, you deserve to die as well!"

Suddenly, Kat jumped on Kodos' back, wrapping her arms around his throat.

"Buddy, you know absolutely nothing about the human race!" she snapped.

Sonic seized his chance, landing a powerful kick that knocked Kodos back.

"You've got a lot of room to talk, Kodos," he told him. "We know about the horrible things you did in the war. You never fought for your kingdom! You killed for the joy of killing! The only one as monstrous and evil as you claim humans are is YOU!"

Kodos clawed at Kat, finally grabbing her and throwing her off of him. She hit the side of a building, crumbling to the ground.

"Kat!" Keith shouted.

He tried to run to her, but Sally grabbed him, keeping him from breaking the circle. Kodos threw his hands in the air, turning to the circling fighters.

"Humanity is a stain!" he ranted. "A pestilence on this entire planet!"

Sonic tried to grab him, but Kodos snagged him again, choking him with one hand while readying his axe with another.

"And I'm the cure."

He slammed Sonic into the wall as he went on.

"Why are you and the rest of the Kingdom of Acorn so damn blind? Mobians are superior to humans in every way! I want to lead you all to a better life, where we don't need to fear or respect humans, or their equivalents such as ants and dirt!"

"Dear Aurora, are you still talking?" Sonic wheezed out.

Kodos just scoffed.

"Very well." He turned to the downed Kat, raising the axe over his head. "Let me show you."

Suddenly, something hit Kodos square in the face, knocking him off Sonic and sending him through a window. Sonic coughed, rubbing his throat as he looked at Kodos' attacker. It was none other than Robotnik, who was lowering his robotic arm. Kodos exited the window, a low growl exiting his throat as he saw the doctor.

"Julian Kintobor," he spat. "I was hoping to run into you sooner or later."

"Clearly you've been receiving all the wrong news," Robotnik shot back. "I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik now, and I don't much care for what you're doing."

As if on cue, the 6-S, Commander Brutus, and several Badniks began emerging from the circle. Everyone, human and Mobian alike began parting. Sam looked utterly confused at the arrival of the mad doctor, but neither he nor his cops did anything to stop him, sensing it would be to everyone's detriment if he did.

"What?" Kodos snapped. "Do you take offense to me cleansing Mobius of your kind?"

"Oh I very much do," Robotnik replied. "You see, it's one thing to threaten them, or use them as batteries for robot parts. But this? This is murder for murder's sake."

He glanced down at Sonic, who was just staring at the exchange with wide eyes. Robotnik snapped his fingers, getting the hedgehog's attention.

"Take the brat to safety," he ordered. "She, and any other kids here better not watch what I do next."

Sonic stood up, picking up Kat and carrying her out of the crossfire. The badniks then pushed themselves to the forefront of the circle, surrounding Kodos with weapons at the ready.

"Wait, what's going on?" Keith asked.

"My guess, something long overdue," Chris replied.

Decoe found Eggatha, covering her eyes. Chris and Keith covered each others' eyes, and Sonic covered Kat's. A slew of weapons firing sounded, followed by a roar of pain and rage from Kodos. The weapons didn't stop until Kodos fell silent. Then, as quickly as it began, it was over.

"It's over," Robotnik declared.

"Wait… that's it?" Brutus questioned. "I thought we were here to fight!"

"We were here to put down a rabid monster," Robotnik said simply. "Mission accomplished."

With that, he departed, calling his Badniks away as well. Sally and Sonic slowly approached Kodos' laser-riddled body, followed by the others, looking between it and the departing Robotnik.

"Are we… okay with this?" Sally questioned uncertainly.

Sonic looked down at the barely conscious girl in his arms. "Honestly, yeah. Where exactly were we going to put him, Sal? If he broke out of the Gulag once, he'd most likely do it again."

"I'm with Sonic on this one," Keith agreed. "On top of all the crap he pulled during the Great War, he tried to kill my dad, Kat, and Sonic in that order. He threatened your family as well, Sally. As far as I'm concerned, Kodos deserved what he got."

"He was irredeemable, and if we did let him live, he'd just come back and hurt so many others," Chris added. "This was the only way."

"I know, but-" Sally began.

"It's sad, but it's true," Shortfuse cut her off, not unkindly. "We can't save everyone. And not everyone wants to be saved."

"We'll deal with the cleanup, Sonic," Sam told him. "Just get the kids out of here."

"Yeah," Sonic nodded. "Our work here's done, anyway."

Knothole

Once they returned to Freedom HQ, Hope decided at that moment to tell them what Eggatha said.

"So that's why she's working for Eggman?" Sonic asked.

Hope nodded. "She's there to try and coax Uncle Julian out."

"Makes sense," Chris mused. "Keep him from going Little Planet again."

At Kat's look, Sonic shrugged. "After I junked Metal Sonic, on top of us beating him to the Time Stones, he went a little... nuts."

"By nuts, he means flip-flopping between being super-calm, foaming at the mouth angry, and laughing like a maniac," Tails clarified. "It was... really creepy."

"Yikes…" Kat winced. "And I thought he was terrifying before."

"Is Eggatha even safe with Eggman?" Tails questioned.

"She is," Hope promised. "Agatha's not some Stockholm victim. If she was in any danger, she'd get out, and make sure whomever hurt her would regret their choices for a long time."

"Still..." Sonic let out.

"Sonic," Sally cut off. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

Sonic sighed. "I hope you're right, Sal,"

Robotropolis

Snively and Grimer were busy conducting research when Robotnik and Eggatha entered.

"Welcome back, Doctor," Grimer greeted. "I trust Kodos has been dealt with?"

"Permanently," Robotnik nodded. "He won't be bothering anyone anymore."

"Good riddance," Snively spat.

"It was nice to see Hope again," Eggatha mused. "I'm glad she's okay."

"Now, what have you two been up to while we've been gone?" Robotnik questioned.

"Just an idea," Grimer explained. "Improving on some of your old mech designs. With the data we have now, we could easily make them stronger to take Sonic down."

Robotnik took a look.

"Not bad," he admitted before crumbling up the blueprints.

"What the-?!" Snively objected.

"I admit it wasn't a bad idea," Robotnik began, "but Sonic's already defeated these mechs and knows how to counter them. Why would I want to give repeat performances?"

"B-but…" Snively stammered. "We worked so hard on-"

"Uncle!" Eggatha declared. "Check these out!"

Robotnik held up a finger, signalling Eggatha to wait as he spoke to Snively.

"I apologize for wasting your hard work, Snively, but reusing the same schemes and mechs again and again will just make me predictable," he explained. "I'll definitely never make any progress on defeating Sonic and taking over the planet that way. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

With that, he went to see what his niece wanted. She held out seven different blueprints.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"Hmmm…" Robotnik mused. "Mixing it up a little, I see."

"You like them?" Eggatha asked.

She was hopping on her toes, eager for his response. Robotnik nodded.

"Sonic won't know what hit him," he remarked.

Seeing this, Snively fumed, turning to Grimer.

"That… ingrate," he hissed. "I work my tail off trying to improve his designs, and he automatically chooses my kid sister's plans instead?"

Grimer just shrugged. "I actually saw her designs. They're rather interesting. I'm curious to see how they perform in the field."

"Of course you'd go along with it right off the bat," Snively spat. "Even when he was still Julian, you've always been my uncle's doormat."

"Excuse me?" Grimer blinked. "Doormat?"

"Yes, doormat!" Snively snapped. "If you had a middle name, Grimer, it would be 'welcome'!"

"Now see here!" Grimer objected. "I have the highest respect for the doctor, whether he go by Kintobor or Robotnik. I respect talent and vision, something you, Snively, are sorely lacking. When was the last time you ever had respect for anyone but yourself, or didn't work for anything other than your personal gain?"

With that, he stood up, adjusting his coat. "Agatha my dear, shall we help your uncle with your designs?"

"First, what's your progress been on finding the Little Planet?" Robotnik asked.

"You're still trying to retrieve Metal Sonic?" Snively asked.

"Metal Sonic?" Brutus piped up.

"This robot made to rival Sonic," Eggatha explained.

"Of course I'm retrieving him," Robotnik replied. "He's come the closest to stopping Sonic of all my creations. Good help is hard to find, after all."

"Have you forgotten how close I came to destroying him on Angel Island?" Brutus demanded.

"Of course not," Robotnik answered. "But Metal has put Sonic on the ropes so many times, and has almost outraced him. Besides, if I hadn't forgotten your own success rate, I would have just left your head in the garbage can on the island where Sonic left it."

Brutus grumbled indignantly.

"Now then…" Robotnik headed for another part of the lab, leaving Snively and Brutus alone to vent.

"Well... at least I'm not the only underappreciated being in this city," Snively muttered.

"I was Robotnik's top Badnik," Brutus remarked. "What does this Metal have that I don't?"

" I was asking myself the same thing about my sister," Snively mused. "Ever since she came along, my uncle has been pushing me to the side and doting on her for every little invention she makes."

"And what's to stop Robotnik from doing the same to me?" Brutus demanded. "I could be on the scrap heap tomorrow!"

He clenched his fists. "I'm better than any stupid Sonic knockoff. And if this Metal thinks he can upstage me, he's got another thing coming."

Snively smirked. "Then perhaps, we can help each other out."

He tapped the bot on the head, ushering him off. "Brutus, my friend, we have much to do."

Author's Note:

Well, now we know why Agatha/Eggatha is working with Robotnik. And it seems Snively and Brutus are planning to get a little more respect around the Citadel.

I know Kodos was a recurring villain in the comics for a while, but that was mostly because he was working with Ixis Naugus. Here, he's a maniac acting on his own, so… yeah, his story ends here.

Also, to answer some of your questions, Void Reader, you clearly haven't paid much attention to the movie. It's never explained where or how Sonic got the lightning power in that, and it's triggered more by his emotions than anything else; the EMP that caused the blackout was because of him feeling so sad and angry over being alone for ten years. Here, I'm explaining it as him manifesting a form of Chaos energy due to prolonged exposure to Chaos Emeralds and Power Rings; it manifests whenever he's feeling strong emotions like sorrow, anger, extreme joy, etc.

What are these seven new Badnik blueprints Eggatha has whipped up? Can the Freedom Fighters stand up to them?

Please R&R. Until next time!