-Chapter 86-

Come the Conquerors

Panic Puppet Zone

As everyone laid on the ground, immobilized, Davros lowered his staff.

"Now, I ask again," he said. "Who discovered the secret of the Mobius Ring? Who opened the door into our dimension?"

Sonic raised his head. "Look pal, what's going on here? Just what is the Mobius Ring?"

"You desire information…." Davros mused. "Very well. Thousands of years ago, we Drakons had several outposts on Mobius, and often found ourselves fighting with your kind."

"Then... Atlantium, the Aquatic Ruins…" Tails realized. "They were all Drakon outposts?"

"Indeed they were," Davros confirmed.

"You... You were also on Angel Island," Knuckles remarked. "Relic found a mural. One with your face on it."

"Yes, you Echidnas caused quite a bit of trouble for us back then," Davros recalled. "But eventually, we lost interest in the primitive Mobians."

He gestured to the giant ring. "When we departed, we left behind the Mobius Ring, knowing one day you would become advanced enough to use it. And on that day, you would perhaps be a threat to the Drakon Empire."

"For the record, we Mobians are a peace-loving bunch for the most part," Amy told him before gesturing to the immobilized Egg Shell. "Well, except for him."

"So, the one in the suit is who I seek," Davros deduced.

"And what exactly do you seek?" Robotnik demanded. "Because you're not getting it!"

"You will come back to me to the planet Drak for questioning," Davros declared. "Once that is done, we will lay claim to the legendary Chaos Emeralds, and Mobius will be added to the Drakon Empire!"

"What?!" Robotnik shrieked. "Dream on! I'd never come with you! And for the record, Mobius is the property of the great Dr. Robotnik! If anybody is going to conquer it, it's going to be me!"

"Very well," Davros decided. "If that is your decision…"

He lashed out, destroying the Egg Shell. Once that was done, he yanked Robotnik out of the debris and made for the Mobius Ring. As the gravity returned to normal, Sonic got to his feet, charging forward and Spin Attacking Davros in the back. He hit the ground, dropping Robotnik.

"Sonic?" Robotnik let out, surprised. "You… saved me?"

"Don't get the wrong idea, Eggman," Sonic told him. "I'd love nothing more than to be rid of you for good. But you're wanted for crimes on Mobius, and should be tried for them by Mobians. We take care of our own problems."

"I'll take what I can get," Robotnik rose to his feet. "Until this 'Davros' is dealt with, I say we put our past to the side."

Davros got to his feet, scowling.

"You dare to interfere with the affairs of the Drakon Empire?!" he roared.

"When you interfere in the affairs of my planet?" Sonic questioned. "Yes."

"There's only room for one future ruler of Mobius, and that's me." Robotnik declared.

He removed his glove, preparing his cybernetic arm, while the rest of the Freedom Fighters joined him.

"You annoying little flies…" Davros growled. "Do you truly think you can stand against the Drakons? I was being trained to conquer galaxies while you were still being weaned away from your mother's milk!"

"Yeah yeah, blah blah blah," Sonic rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and fight already!"

Davros pulled out what appeared to be a curved hilt, squeezing the handle, upon which blue energy came out, creating an oval-shaped energy blade. Sally charged forward, clashing against the blade with her Ring-Blades.

"You won't take Mobius!" she shouted.

"And who will stop me?" Davros shot back. "You? You couldn't stop a gnat with a flyswatter!"

"You have no idea what we can accomplish!" Sally declared. "Underestimate Mobians, you pay the price!"

"Pathetic animals who learned to walk on two legs and think themselves better," Davros spat. "Let me remind you of your place."

He kicked Sally back, and was about to stab her when a yellow energy ball hit him in the back. He turned to see Tails standing there, a red arm cannon manifested around his right hand.

"Leave her alone!" Tails shouted.

"An energy cannon," Robotnik mused. "Color me impressed, fox boy."

Tails shrugged. "Been saving it for a rainy day."

Before Davros could turn to attack him, Knuckles tackled him, slamming him into the wall.

"You don't belong on this planet," he spat. "So get. Off."

"Rotten Echidna!" Davros shouted. "I've always despised your kind!"

He drew a raygun, blasting Knuckles back. Before he could get back up, Davros waved his staff, pinning Knuckles to the ground with higher gravity as he drew his sword. Just when he was about to stab, the Piko Piko Hammer came flying in. Davros ducked, before turning to scoff at Amy.

"You missed," he told her.

"Maybe," Amy replied. "Maybe not."

At that moment, the hammer came flying back, slamming into the back of Davros' head before landing back in Amy's outstretched hand.

"Mobian magic," she boasted. "Didn't count on that, did you?"

She enlarged her hammer before charging. From the side, Robotnik and Tails covered her with their respective rayguns. Sonic ran over to Knuckles, helping him up.

"You good?" he asked.

"Let me bash his face in and I will be," Knuckles replied.

"I grow tired of this!" Davros roared.

He slammed his staff into the ground, immobilizing them all with high gravity again.

"You will come with me now, Dr. Robotnik! And once we're done with him, the rest of you are next!"

With that, the Prosecutor headed for Robotnik, while Sonic closed his eyes, focusing.

"Hey, Davros!" he shouted, getting the Drakon's attention. "You want the Chaos Emeralds' power so bad?! You can have it!"

He began floating as the Emeralds swirled around him, before phasing into his body and turning him Super. Before he could react, Sonic flew right at Davros, plowing through him. They both went flying.

"So this is the power of the Chaos Emeralds," Davros mused in awe. "It's… beautiful."

Sonic landed a mighty punch that sent Davros flying into the wall, smashing his armor apart. Much to their surprise, rather than having a body beneath, the Prosecutor was just a small fish sitting inside the head of the suit.

"What the hell?" Sonic let out in shock.

"Yes, as you can see, we Drakons hail from the sea," Davros confessed. "With our superior intellect, we were able to construct robotic bodies to help us function on dry land."

"Well, Davros, now the shoe's on the other foot," Sonic declared. "I'd say we have a few questions to ask you."

"Go right ahead and take him, if you want," Robotnik told him.

"Just like that?" Sally questioned.

"I'm no fool," Robotnik said. "This thing, these… Drakons, they're dangerous. Now that I know what else is on the other side of that Mobius Ring, quite frankly, I'm done with it."

He called in the Egg Mobile at that. "Once again, Sonic, you win, I lose. No harm, no foul. Let's call it a day."

"If you think we're just gonna let you walk away-" Knuckles began.

"Go," Sally cut in.

"What?!" Knuckles shrieked. "With all due respect, Sally, are you out of your Aurora-damned mind?!"

"Eggman's done here," Sally pointed out. "Besides, you heard what Davros said. About his empire considering Mobius a potential threat. Frankly, if and when these Drakons return, we'll need all the help we can get."

"Exactly what I was thinking, Princess," Robotnik agreed. "Neither of us want the Drakon Empire to take over our world. And at least with me, you know the devil you're getting."

"Just get outta here, Eggman," Sonic ordered. "While we still allow it."

"Yes, of course," Robotnik answered. "I suppose I'll see you next scheme."

With that, he flew off in the Egg Mobile, leaving Sonic to open up a Warp Ring.

Knothole

Back at Freedom HQ, Davros was placed in a fish tank in the lab. The rest of the Freedom Fighters looked it over as Sonic and Sally explained the situation.

"Aliens?" Rotor asked. "Seriously?"

"And the unique Flickies that appear during the Great Migration are from their world?" Chris questioned.

"Yep," Sonic nodded. "Got it in one."

"To hear Davros tell it, the Drakons have had an on-off interest in Mobius for centuries," Tails recalled.

"Not only that, but my people fought them during ancient times," Knuckles added.

"You're kidding me," Porker let out.

"I wish I was," said Knuckles. "One of the murals on Marble Garden depicted a figure in armor just like him. Face and all."

"They're clearly dangerous," Sally noted. "They know about the Chaos Emeralds, and what they can do. And they plan to add Mobius to their empire down the line."

"And when they come, we need to be ready," Knuckles insisted.

Off to the side, Amy had her arms crossed, thinking of something.

"Penny for your thoughts, Amy?" Keith asked.

"Well… I was thinking," Amy admitted. "The Flickies are connected to the Emeralds. They can sense them. And their connection made them super-powerful organic batteries for the Badniks."

"Yeah, and?" Mina asked.

"Well, the Flickies apparently came from the same dimension or whatever as the Drakons, right?" Amy pointed out.

"What are you saying?" Tails questioned.

"What if… the Drakons have something to do with the Emeralds?" Amy pondered.

"That's preposterous!" Antoine insisted.

"Is it really?" Bunnie asked. "The stories go that the Emeralds fell upon Mobius from space thousands of years ago."

"So… you think the Drakons are the ones who brought them?" Johnny asked.

"I'm saying it adds up," Amy clarified. "I don't know what I think."

"And to think, we were just going to look for birds," Sally remarked. "Now we've uncovered an alien force. And the potential origin of the Chaos Emeralds."

A dark chuckle reached their ears, and they turned to see Davros glaring at them from inside the tank.

"Speculate all you want," he boasted. "It will make no difference in the end. Someday, my brethren will arrive, and you will all rue the day you-"

As he was going on, Shortfuse calmly opened the tank and Tekno poured some fish flakes into it. The minute he saw the flakes floating down, Davros' gloating was forgotten and his hunger took over.

"Eat up, Nemo," Shortfuse taunted.

"Whatever's gonna come next, we'll deal with it," Tekno decided. "We always do."

At that, Sonic stood up.

"Speaking of eating, I'm starving," he said. "Think I'll run by Meh Burger for a quick bite. You guys want anything?"

"Nah," Knuckles shook his head. "I hate all that greasy stuff."

Sonic shrugged. "Oh well. More for me."

With that, he sped off, leaving the others alone. After a minute, Kat broke the silence.

"Why do they call it Meh Burger?" she asked. "Isn't that a lousy business decision?"

"They were gonna call it 'Nasty Burger', and then 'Good Burger', but they were already taken," Chris explained.

"The name fits," Hope added. "The food they serve isn't great, but it's not bad either. It's just... meh."

Kat nodded in understanding. "Okay, yeah. That makes sense."

Robotropolis

Meanwhile, Robotnik returned to the citadel with Snively and Grimer.

"Sir, why didn't you try and take the Drakon?" Grimer asked. "It'd be a perfect opportunity to get information. There's so much we could have learned."

"The Freedom Fighters already have that covered, Grimer," Robotnik said simply. "In the meantime, we need to focus on countermeasures for when they invade. It might not be today, or tomorrow... but it's coming."

He marched off, his two cohorts exchanging nervous looks.

Author's Note:

There you have it. The 3D Blast arc is done and over with.

Next chapter will be some more filler, for everyone to unwind and whatnot.

Please R&R. Until next time!