-Chapter 139-
Countdown to Armageddon
Space Colony ARK
Flashback
Maria and Shadow were seated on Maria's bed, Maria reading Alice in Wonderland aloud to him.
"'Please would you tell me,' said Alice, a little timidly, for she was not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, `why your cat grins like that?' 'It's a Cheshire cat,' said the Duchess, 'and that's why. Pig!'"
Maria shouted that last word, startling Shadow. He yelped and fell off the bed, eliciting a giggle from Maria.
"I got you, Shadow," she teased.
Shadow chuckled, pulling himself up onto the bed.
"You really like that book," he mused. "How many times have you read it anyway?"
"Oh, I've lost count," Maria replied. "It's my favorite story. A girl just like me escaping into a world of fantasies and imagination, where anything can happen and there's an adventure around every corner…" She sighed. "I'm actually a bit jealous."
"I know what you mean," Shadow looked out the window at Mobius down below. "Sometimes, I wonder if we'll ever get to see Mobius."
"Of course we will," Maria assured. "You're my grandfather's greatest creation. Once you and he figure out how to harness your Chaos Energy, you will be able to heal even the worst of injuries and illnesses. Then we will go down and explore every nook and cranny of Mobius. We'll help so many people, and you'll be a hero everywhere."
"Yeah…" Shadow agreed. "That would be nice."
"And I'll be with you the entire time," Maria said, taking his hand. "I promise."
Flashback Over
Shadow came to, standing at the window overlooking Mobius.
"You were never able to keep that promise because of them…" he said bitterly.
Rouge entered at that. "Why so serious?"
Shadow growled. "What are you doing here?"
"Just came to get you," Rouge replied. "The doc's about ready for his demonstration. Might want to grab the brat too."
"Her name is Hope," Shadow corrected.
Nonetheless, he went to do so.
-X-
Before long, they were all gathered in the central control room, the six Chaos Emeralds in their possession hooked up into the computer.
"All set and ready to go!" Robotnik declared.
Hope blinked. "That's what you needed the Emeralds for? This rusty heap of metal?"
"Oh come now, Hope," Robotnik insisted. "You're smarter than that. While this machine may be a bit old, it's far from a rusty heap of metal."
"Then what is it?"
"This is our grandfather's greatest achievement, the Eclipse Cannon. Enough firepower to destroy an entire planet. I could blow Mobius into space dust if I so desired!"
"WHAT?!" Hope shrieked. "Eggman, have you completely lost it?! I thought you wanted to rule Mobius, not burn it to ash!"
Robotnik sighed. "My dear, the key word in this context is 'if I so desired.' If."
Hope was far from reassured, looking at the Eclipse Cannon in fear and horror. Robotnik ignored her, and turned his attention to a large array of screens.
"Are you sure about this, Doctor?" Amino asked. "We only have six Emeralds."
"Which is more than enough for the demonstration," Robotnik insisted. "Besides, it's time the world saw the true devastating power of Dr. Ivo Robotnik!"
Mobius
On the planet, screens all over flickered and went out, replaced with projections of Robotnik everywhere.
"Citizens of Mobius, lend me your ears! You all know me as Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the world's greatest scientist. But soon you'll know me as the world's greatest ruler! Now, watch very closely."
The screen shifted to an image of an asteroid in space, the bottom half cracking off to reveal a space station that appeared to be in the shape of Robotnik's face. Its nose split apart into four stems, which began radiating an energy net.
"I now possess the ultimate force of destruction! And now, you will witness the beginning of the greatest empire of all time!"
A massive beam of light shot from the cannon, traversing the void of space in a matter of seconds before striking the moon, blowing the entire right half of it into space debris. Everyone watching was dumbstruck, horrified whispers and screams echoing all over as Robotnik cackled. A timer counting down from 24:00:00:00 appeared on the screens, the threat crystal clear: unless all of Mobius surrendered to the Robotnik Empire, the Eclipse Cannon would fire again, this time at the planet itself.
Space Colony ARK
On the ARK, both Hope and Rouge just stared at the remains of the moon, completely and utterly shocked by what they were looking at. Robotnik and Amino were both grinning, and Shadow just looked indifferent.
"Gerald, you sly dog, you," Amino remarked in admiration. "To think you were capable of such destructive power."
Hope found her voice, turning to Robotnik.
"You…" she began, "you're insane!"
"Don't get your overalls in a twist," Robotnik told her. "I'll fix the moon once I've established my empire."
"You shouldn't have to fix it!" Hope screamed. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! The irreparable damage destroying half the moon has done?! And you actually want to turn that thing on Mobius?!"
"I'm evil, Hope. Not stupid," Robotnik replied flippantly. "Through this console, I can regulate the Eclipse Cannon's power output. A city or two might be decimated, but as a whole, the planet will survive."
Hope sputtered.
"You- You promised Aggie you wouldn't do that anymore!"
"She'll understand," Robotnik replied with a shrug. "Besides, that's one of the perks of being evil. You get to lie a lot."
Hope clenched her fists.
"And what's stopping me from hijacking the console and shutting this place down?"
"You mean aside from the fact that you know absolutely nothing about this machine and could potentially set it off early?"
Before Hope could come up with a retort, Rouge grabbed her shoulder.
"C'mon, kid. Let's cool off before the doc decides to lock you up and throw away the key."
She ushered Hope away as Robotnik turned back to the screen, grinning.
-X-
Outside, Hope pulled herself free of Rouge's grip.
"I can't believe you're actually going along with this," she hissed. "I thought you were supposed to be on our side."
"I am," Rouge assured her. "Look, I only came up here so GUN could figure out what was going on, but I can't get through the encryption on the database here." She pulled out a flash drive, holding it out for Hope. "But you… you just might. More than that, even if you get caught, neither Shadow nor Eggman will hurt you."
Hope looked at the drive, then took it.
"Maybe I can figure out how to convince Shadow that this is all nuts, and why exactly Great Grandpa Gerald created the Eclipse Cannon."
"It's worth a shot," Rouge told her. "Meanwhile, I'm heading back to the planet. I have my own personal mission to accomplish, and I'd rather do it before your uncle gets an itchy finger."
"Well, good luck," Hope said.
"Same to you."
With that, Rouge made her way to the shuttle bay as Hope went for the databanks. She entered, inserting the flash drive before beginning to type.
"Sonic… you better hurry," she whispered.
Knothole
In Freedom HQ, the Freedom Fighters were in open-mouthed shock at Robotnik's display.
"He did it…" Sonic managed. "That lunatic actually did it!"
"He blew up the moon…" Tails gasped.
"Oh Aurora, it's gonna be pandemonium out there," Sally said.
"This can't be," Mina insisted. "You don't think Eggman's really crazy enough to fire that thing at the planet, do you?"
"I'm not taking that chance," Sonic said firmly.
"Is he really going to turn that on Mobius?" Cream asked fearfully.
"Absolutely not." Kat picked up Cream, hugging her. "There's no way any of us are gonna let that happen."
"We need to find out where Eggman's launch base is," Sally insisted. "Now!"
"Scanning…" Omochao's eyes unfocused for a minute. "Dr. Robotnik is currently contacting President Roberts in his limo as we speak."
"If we can get into that limo and trace the call, we can use it to pinpoint the base!" Shard exclaimed.
"Let's get to it!" Sonic grabbed Omochao and took off.
Mystic Ruins
Atop the jungle temple, Knuckles was staring at the shattered moon.
"By Tikal…" he managed. "Eggman's not screwing around this time."
He turned on his comms, contacting Chaotix. "Are you guys okay?"
"Espio, Charmy and I cleaned out all the shards here in Wild Canyon," Vector replied. "Some of them were a doozy to find, but we found them."
"Ray and I got the ones in Pumpkin Hill," Mighty added.
"I think these guys are really going out for Halloween here," Ray mused.
"How about you, Julie?" Knuckles asked.
"Aquatic Mine scanned and cleaned out." Julie-Su confirmed.
"Great," Knuckles noted. "We'll regroup at the final spot. I can rebuild the Master Emerald at once."
"Uh…" Charmy began, "where's the final spot again?"
Knuckles face-palmed. "The Sand Ocean, Charmy. Outside the Death Chamber Pyramid."
"The old pyramid?" Espio asked. "I heard a rumor that it had been seized by Eggman awhile back."
"All the more reason to get there and gather the shards in the area," Knuckles replied. "I am not letting Eggman lay his grubby fingers on a single piece of the Master Emerald."
"And if Eggman has set up shop here, we can pass it on to Sonic and the Knothole gang." Mighty added.
"Got it in one, Mighty," Knuckles agreed. "Now let's move. Time's wasting."
Sand Ocean
Sometime later, they met up in a vast expanse of desert outside of the Sand Hill Zone. In the distance was an old Efrikan-style pyramid.
"Woo!" Charmy removed his helmet, wiping sweat from his antennae. "It's a scorcher out here."
"Fan out and search," Knuckles ordered. "They're here somewhere."
"Can we at least drop these big bags?" Vector held up a brown sack full of shards. "These suckers are heavy, even for me!"
"I will admit, these gem shards are incredibly dense," Mighty admitted, holding up his own sack.
Knuckles turned to Julie-Su, who just nodded before dropping her bag.
"Alright," Knuckles conceded. "Just put them somewhere a Badnik isn't likely to find them."
They deposited the bags by a large rock, Julie-Su taking up a guard position.
"I'll keep an eye on them," she assured.
Knuckles nodded, and with that, they spread out, looking around the dunes, under rocks, and around the cacti. As Julie-Su kept watch, a shadow passed over her. She looked up, gasping and diving to the side. Mere seconds later, Rouge came down, her heel cracking the stone Julie had been sitting on.
"Nice one." the bat mused. "Not many have dodged that shot of mine."
"You must be Rouge," Julie-Su noted.
"And you're most definitely new," Rouge remarked.
"I'm Julie-Su," Julie informed her.
"Cute," Rouge deadpanned. "Just what are you doing here, with my Emerald shards?"
"Yours?" Julie-Su spat. "These belong to Knuckles."
"And yet you're guarding them," Rouge pointed out. "Tell me, just what are you to him that he'd let you anywhere near them?"
Julie-Su smirked. "His soulmate."
Rouge took that in, blinking. "Really?"
"Yes, really." Julie-Su drew her proton gun, pointing it at Rouge. "Go help yourself to Mobini blood, or a nice beetle."
"Bloodsucking or bug-eating…" Rouge sighed in annoyance. "I hate that bat stereotype."
She charged right at Julie-Su as the echidna fired. They both went rolling into the sand, trading blows the entire way.
"Knuckles and the Freedom Fighters said you were a GUN agent!" Julie-Su shouted. "That you'd reformed! But I guess once a jewel thief, always a jewel thief!"
"I am a GUN agent, but I never said I reformed," Rouge retorted. "Old habits die hard, honey."
"Eat proton, bat bi-" the gunshot drowned out Julie-Su's words.
The shot just missed, but Rouge's ear was burning slightly. She hissed, then turned to Julie-Su, taking a deep breath. Suddenly, she let out an ear piercing shriek that dropped Julie-Su to her knees, her cybernetics fritzing out. As she knelt in pain, clutching her ears, Rouge pounded into her with a Screw Kick, knocking her flat on her back.
"What does Knuckles see in you?" she mused as she went over to the bags, grabbing the biggest one and slinging it over her shoulder. As she did, Knuckles and the Chaotix came running over, having been drawn in by the scream. Knuckles saw the downed Julie-Su, then Rouge, and his eyes lit up with rage as he realized what happened.
"You bitch!" he roared before running at her, fists raised.
Rouge quickly swung the sack of shards, hitting Knuckles square in the face.
"Not this time!" she declared.
With that, she spread her wings, flying in the direction of the pyramid in the distance. Knuckles spat out a little blood before turning to check on Julie-Su. She groaned, slapping her mechanical arm as it popped and fizzed. After a third strike, it stopped twitching and she sat up.
"I can see why you don't like her," she noted.
"She's heading for that pyramid," Espio noted. "If that is an Eggman base, she might be working with him."
"Or spying for GUN," Vector deduced. "Didn't she say that she needed the Master Emerald for governmental reasons? Maybe it's her way of getting into the doc's good graces."
I don't care why she needed it," Knuckles spat. "She just stole half of the shards and hurt Julie!"
He dug his phone out of his pocket. "I'm calling Kat. It's time we regrouped and dealt with this mess."
"And have Tails take a look at my bionics while we're at it." Julie-Su chimed in, wincing.
Knothole
At Freedom HQ, the others were waiting on word from Sonic when Kat's phone went off.
"Knux, you good?" she asked. "You kinda just hung up the other day."
She listened intently as he explained to her the situation with Rouge and the Master Emerald.
"So Rouge stole the Master Emerald, wanting to use it to get into Eggman's good graces, but you smashed it so she couldn't, and while you've found all the shards, Rouge stole half of them and disappeared into an Eggman base in the Sand Ocean," she listed off.
"Basically, yes," Knuckles confirmed.
"This base could be the launching point up to ARK if that's where she went," Kat deduced. "Once Sonic returns, I'll pass word."
"Sonic's okay?"
"Very long story. I'll fill you in when you get here."
"We're on our way now. Rouge did a number on Julie-Su's implants before her escape."
Kat winced. "Ouch. I'll get Tails."
-X-
Before long, Knuckles and the Chaotix Warp Ringed in, Knuckles supporting Julie-Su. He helped her over to Tails' worktable, where the fox got to work examining her cybernetics. With that, Knuckles turned to the others.
"So… what'd we miss?" he asked.
"Where to begin?" Sally said flatly.
They got him completely filled in as Tails did a quick once over on Julie-Su. By the time he was finished, all of the Chaotix was utterly floored. Knuckles just flopped into a chair, taking off his hat and running his hand through his fur.
"Holy…" he managed.
"Yyyep," Sally nodded. "Sonic's chasing down the United Federation President so Omochao can hack the call and we can confirm Eggman's current location. Once we have it, we'll head for the Sand Ocean base. With luck, there will be a shuttle there we can 'borrow'."
"Let's hope Sonic's able to get those coordinates in time," Amy said quietly.
Central City
President Michael Roberts sat in the back seat of his limousine, Dr. Robotnik's face dominating his video screen.
"Listen, Robotnik," the President nearly growled. "Tell me your demands and I am sure we can come to some sort of… agreement."
Robotnik gave a small, triumphant laugh.
"Now that's what I like to hear, a reasonable man who knows when he's beaten. My terms are quite simple. All you have to do is submit to the Robotnik Empire."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then the United Federation's capital goes out with a bang!"
The President stiffened, then swallowed hard.
"That is… a tall order, Doctor. I'll need time to run it by my joint chiefs and-"
"-and give them a chance to organize a counterattack against me. Face it, Mr. President, I know all the tricks you can pull. There's nothing you can do that I won't see coming."
"But how about me?" Sonic shouted.
The President all but jumped out of his seat, turning to see Sonic running alongside the limo. The hedgehog jumped up and came through the skylight, holding Omochao to the monitor.
"Do your thing, little guy."
Omochao connected to the monitor as Robotnik glared at the screen.
"Sonic… I'd heard rumors that you'd been arrested for Shadow's crimes. I guess it was too much to hope that those fools would actually hold you."
"Please, I was never a prisoner. But speaking of, I don't suppose you'd let me talk to Hope, would you?"
"My niece is currently sulking after my power display, but is otherwise unharmed. Do you really think I'd stoop so low as to hurt her?"
"Trust me Eggman, I think you're lower than the dirt on my sneakers."
"Location found!" Omochao declared.
"Perfect!" Sonic grinned as he unplugged and scooped up the mechanical Chao. "See you soon, Eggman!"
With that, he hopped back out of the skylight and dashed away.
Space Colony ARK
Robotnik ended the call, turning away from the screen. Shadow, who had been watching off to the side, crossed his arms when he spotted the small smirk on the doctor's face.
"You seem surprisingly nonplussed, considering your demands just fell on deaf ears."
"On the contrary, everything is falling into place," Robotnik assured the black hedgehog. "You see, we're still one Chaos Emerald short, and I know for a fact that Sonic's two-tailed friend has one in his possession. Knowing the Freedom Fighters, they will no doubt bring the Chaos Emerald here, either as a way to bait me, or combat me. Whatever the case, they will save me the trouble of going down there and collecting it myself."
Shadow mulled that over, then gave a nod.
"Clever," he remarked.
"Why thank you. Now, do me a favor and find Hope. While she will probably not try and hijack the cannon, the idea of her running around here unsupervised does not sit well with me."
"I'll find her," Shadow promised.
He walked out, just as Rouge walked in with her bag of stolen shards.
"What did I miss?" Rouge asked.
Robotnik looked at the sack, then at Rouge. He raised an eyebrow and Rouge rolled her eyes.
"Relax. I didn't touch your precious Chaos Emeralds. These are Master Emerald shards, and they're all mine."
"Whatever," Robotnik growled. "Just store them somewhere else, alright? When that echidna and his feral brat come looking for them, I do not want to get caught in the crossfire."
"Fine by me." Rouge slung the bag back over her shoulder and walked out.
She walked out and Robotnik turned towards the window, smirking as he looked down at Mobius.
"Everything is falling into place."
Author's Note:
The climax is approaching. Dun dun duuuuun...
The President here is a mix of the game and Sonic X ones, mostly the game. His name, Michael Roberts, is taken from X; in the Japanese version of the Project Shadow episode, his name was revealed as Michael R.
BTW, the flashback with Maria reading Alice in Wonderland is from Author of the Insane and Writing Avenger 2016's fic, used with their permission.
Voice cast for this chapter:
* President - Wally Wingert (Rufus Shinra from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Cubot, Amshel Goldsmith, George Miyagusuku, & Nathan Mahler from Blood+)
Please R&R. Until next time!