-Chapter 190-

Divine Intervention

Author's Note:

Ignore this if you haven't read How to Train Your Robot, Mean Machines, and Night at the Club before now. Author of the Insane and I recently went back and re-edited those chapters after realizing we screwed up and left out the part where the gang was supposed to split up and find Chaos Emeralds. It's been fixed now.

Holy Summit

As the incident in Rouge's nightclub was going on, Rotor, Porker, Johnny, Sticks, and Shorty had followed the Chaos Emerald signature to a new area of the Mystic Ruins, one that the five Freedom Fighters had never seen before. The area was a large clearing, with cliffs overlooking the ocean. Ancient ruins were everywhere, and the entire area felt like sacred ground.

"Whoa…" Sticks let out. "What is this place?"

"Holy Summit," Rotor chimed in. "Part of the Knuckles Clan's empire three thousand years ago. According to what Cobar told me, the mountain is home to the very Chao Garden where Chaos was born."

"I thought this place felt sacred," Johnny remarked. "Everyone keep your hands to yourselves."

All eyes fell on Sticks.

"Seriously?" the badger asked, indignant.

"You're pocketing a Chaos Shard as we speak," Shorty pointed out.

"You can't prove anything!" Sticks insisted, despite her hand in her pocket.

All of them just rolled their eyes.

"Shorty, your scanners picking up anything?" Porker asked.

Shorty tapped his helmet, scanning around. He zoomed in on what was undoubtedly a Chao Garden pond, the creatures frolicking about. The garden itself was surrounded by Echidna ruins bearing what appeared to be Chao hieroglyphics.

"Biggest concentration is in the garden itself," he reported.

"Then that's where we go." Rotor decided.

They headed for the ruins, and were greeted by the sounds of Chao vocalizing..

"Ah, singing Chao," Johnny remarked. "I'm never going to get over how beautiful it sounds."

Rotor approached the garden. The Chao within stopped singing, turning to him.

"Uh, hi," he greeted. "I don't suppose you know where we can find a Chaos Emerald here?"

The Chao all fluttered around the five, chirping and communicating with one another. Then a Hero Chao fluttered into the water. She came back up, the yellow Chaos Emerald in her hands. Johnny held out his hand, the Chao depositing it in his hands.

"Easiest one yet," he boasted.

Suddenly, there was a distant explosion.

"Never say that, Johnny!" Sticks snapped. "Never! The second you say something is easy, it stops being easy!"

Johnny just nodded. "Lesson learned."

Three robots marched toward them at that, all grayscale copies of Chaos Gamma. Shorty powered on his weapons as everyone got ready to fight.

"You want this Emerald?" he demanded. "Come and take it!"

Angel Island

Meanwhile, Team Sonic had taken Kat to Angel Island for Chaos radiation therapy at the Master Emerald. Cream took the opportunity to escort Emerl to Azure Lake.

"You'll love it here, Emerl," Cream assured. "The Chao are so sweet, and Team Chaotix are fun to play with. Especially Mr. Vector."

At the lake, Drake was vocalizing with the other Chao. Cream closed her eyes, bobbing her head to their song.

"What is this?" Emerl asked.

"They're singing," Cream explained.

Emerl began scanning the Chao, especially Drake. As he was doing that, the door to Chaotix HQ opened up, allowing Julie-Su to step out.

"Hey Cream, who you talking-" she was cut off at the sight of Emerl, her eyes going wide. "Gizoid!"

Within minutes, her proton gun was in hand, and she was pointing it directly at Emerl. The Gizoid merely turned her way, scanning the gun.

"Julie, wait!" Cream cried. "He's not our enemy!"

"Cream, step away from that thing!" Julie ordered. "It's a dangerous machine! A weapon of mass destruction! Vector! Everyone! Get out here!"

Within minutes, the rest of Team Chaotix poured out.

"What's going on?!" Ray demanded.

"Gizoid!" Julie-Su pointed at Emerl, whose eyes were still red from scanning.

"Could you fill the rest of us in, please?" Saffron requested.

"Remember the story of the war between the Nocturnus and Knuckles Clans?" Julie-Su gestured to Emerl. "Bots like him were their ultimate weapons. What drove Pachacamac to try to steal the Master Emerald in the first place!"

"You don't understand!" Cream shouted.

"Sorry Creamy, but if that thing's dangerous, it's gotta go," Vector decided.

"Darn it, you're not listening to me!"

He charged at Emerl, teeth ready to chomp. Instead, he was caught by Emerl's left hand, morphed into a crushing maw resembling Vector's jaws. Vector went wide eyed as he was thrown across the lake, skipping twice before splashing down.

"Vector!" Charmy screamed.

He charged at Emerl, stinger outstretched as Saffron did the same. Emerl caught both of them by their faces, scanning them before tossing them into the lake as well.

"Stop it, everyone!" Cream begged. "Please!"

"They're attacking me, Cream," Emerl told her calmly. "I'm merely defending myself."

"Try to defend yourself from what you can't see," said Espio.

He began to go invisible, Emerl copying him as best he could.

"Why won't you guys listen?!" Cream yelled, stamping her foot. "Emerl isn't dangerous!"

Shuriken came out of nowhere, embedding themselves in Emerl's arm.

"There you are," he remarked.

That was when he two turned invisible.

"What the-?!" Espio let out before they heard sounds of a struggle.

Eventually, something splashed into the lake, Emerl reappearing on the shore, untouched. Ray flew around him at that as Mighty flew down with his Hammer Drop. Looking up, Emerl caught Mighty in mid-drop before throwing him at Ray, knocking them into the water.

"Damn it…" Julie-Su cursed.

She aimed her gun right at Emerl.

"STOP!" Cream shouted, running between the two. "Just stop!"

"Cream," Julie sighed, "you don't understand-"

"No, you're the one who doesn't understand!" Cream snapped. "I've been trying to tell you for the past ten minutes that Emerl isn't our enemy! He's only fighting you and the Chaotix because you attacked him first!"

"Cream, that is a Gizoid. A highly dangerous robot that will destroy all of us!"

"No, he's not! He's my friend Emerl! I know who and what he is, Julie! He's Linked to me!"

That made Julie pause. "It... Linked with you?"

"Yes," Cream nodded. "I showed him the Mystic Melody. I'm teaching him not to be a weapon."

"She is telling the truth," Emerl confirmed.

"I don't believe this…" Julie sighed. "A good Gizoid?"

"This from the good Dark Legionnaire," Cream shot back.

Julie blinked. "Okay, that's a fair point."

At that moment, sloshing sounds reached their ears. Chaos emerged from Azure Lake, depositing the Chaotix on dry land. All of them were coughing and sputtering. Emerl was immediately scanning Chaos.

"Chaos!" Cream greeted.

The minute Chaos laid eyes on Emerl, they narrowed. He was clearly about to go on the attack when…

"Hey, hey!"

Sonic ran in-between them, arms outstretched.

"Can't we go two minutes without someone picking a fight? We're all civilized critters here!"

The rest of Team Sonic came running in, along with the kids, Kat now sporting bandages around her head.

"Damn it, Knux, we never told the Chaotix about Emerl," Kat realized.

A dead silence followed.

"Wait, wait," Julie piped up. "Hold it. You guys have been running around with a Gizoid, one of the most dangerous robots in Mobius' history... and you just forgot to tell us about it? How can you forget to mention something like that?!"

"Simple," Knuckles replied. "We did."

"Julie, we've been preoccupied with this little guy," Kat added, patting Emerl on the head. "Not to mention Eggman's latest escapades. Things tend to get lost in the shuffle."

"Well, now's a good time to fill us in." Espio deadpanned.

-X-

They sat everyone down, explaining everything.

"So, to recap," Vector began. "The Gizoid was found by Professor Gerald while working on Project Shadow, and was in cold storage on the ARK until Eggman found him. But he couldn't get it to work, so he dumped him in the sea."

"And from there, Cream and Helen found him on Emerald Coast," Sonic added. "I showed him some of my power, got him working again, then we brought him to Knothole, where he Linked with Cream. From there, we've been dealing with whatever Eggman's planning."

"I apologize for the rough stuff," Emerl chimed in. "But you refused to listen to Cream and attacked me unprovoked. I was merely acting in self-defense."

"Besides, all he did was throw you in the lake," Cream added. "He could have done much worse."

"Right," Chris nodded. "I mean, he's torn apart every robot we've come across, and has pretty much everyone's skills now."

They took that in, Chaos gurgling in a low, almost angry fashion. Cream's fur bristled; whatever he said was clearly not something she wanted to hear from him.

"He is not a threat, Chaos," she said firmly. "He's my friend."

Chaos gurgled again, clearly defending himself.

"I know what the Gizoids did. Everyone keeps telling me what they did. But Emerl's not like that."

Chaos just kept gurgling.

"Well, I'm willing to take the chance. And frankly, I'm shocked you're being so mean."

Chaos let out a questioning gurgle.

"Because when everyone was saying how threatening and dangerous you were and wanted to lock you away, we gave you a second chance. So why can't you do the same for Emerl?"

Chaos blinked as Cream went on.

"You forget, Chaos, you're not clear of crimes yourself. You wiped out the Knuckles Clan. Flooded Station Square. Hope's grandma was one of the people who... didn't make it. But despite all of that, Sonic insisted on saving and redeeming you rather than just sealing you back up in the Master Emerald to wallow in your pain and anger. On giving you a second chance. So what? If Emerl can't be forgiven or offered a second chance... why should you?"

Everyone just stared at her.

"Are we sure she's only six?" Keith questioned.

Chaos remained silent, then just slowly sank back into the water. He vanished from sight as Cream smiled.

"Thought so. Come on Emerl, we're going on a walk."

She took the robot's hand and they both left everyone at the lake.

"Well…" Vector began, "that happened."

"That little girl is going to be a force to be reckoned with when she grows up," Knuckles remarked.

"You mean she isn't already?" Kat quipped.

GUN HQ

Meanwhile, Team Dark explained the situation to Dr. Bennett while Hope was going through Gerald's diary.

"With all due respect, Shadow, didn't you promise Cream you'd give Emerl a chance?" Rouge asked. "Why are you still so obsessed with finding counters for him?"

"Trust, but verify," Shadow said matter-of-factly. "Link with Cream or not, the fact remains that Emerl is far too dangerous to lack a failsafe against any possible misuse of his power. Besides, do you honestly think Eggman won't try and reclaim Emerl now that he's seen what the bot can do?"

"Sound logic," Omega conceded.

"Exactly. And while the Mystic Melody is powerful and unique, we all know that the doctor isn't bound by very strong morals."

"And you're concerned for what he'll do to try and top the Melody," Rouge realized.

Shadow nodded. "He blew up half the moon. Threatened to firebomb Soleanna. You're damn right I am."

"Well, let's hope Great Grandpa Gerald's diary can tell us more," Hope said.

She started scanning the entries, trying to find anything.

Holy Summit

Meanwhile, Rotor's team had managed to lure the robots away from the Chao Garden. From there, they were tearing them to pieces without mercy. They stood over the broken heaps, exchanging high fives.

"Not bad, team," Johnny remarked.

"The garden's safe and untouched," Porker remarked.

"And I got new scrap to play with!" Sticks cheered, gathering it into her bag.

"Let's get this Emerald back to base," Rotor said.

Knothole

Rotor's team returned to base, where Team Sonic was waiting for them. Cream was sitting on the rug with Emerl, teaching him how to do Jacob's Ladder.

"Hey, was wondering when we'd hear from you," Sonic greeted with a wave.

"Did you find it?" Sally questioned.

Johnny proudly displayed the yellow Emerald. Almost immediately, Emerl turned and absorbed it, just like he had the rest of them. As the yellow Emerald joined the other six, Emerl's chestplate closed, and he resumed his game with Cream like nothing had happened.

"Just one more to go," Tails declared as he brought up the Miles Electric, running a scan.

Rotor's team all stared at Emerl, their jaws all on the ground.

"Uh, are we not gonna talk about what just happened?" Sticks questioned. "Because that is probably something that should be discussed!"

"Oh, right," Sonic realized. "He did that at Rouge's club. Must've slipped my mind."

"And... you're not worried that the very powerful robot has... eaten six emeralds?" Rotor questioned.

Before the debate could continue, Tails cut in.

"I finally pinpointed the Emerald. It's in Green Hill."

"Seriously?" Sonic asked. "Man, that place is constantly teeming with them."

"Well, let's go get it," Sally decided.

"No need for we," Sonic cut in. "Hang tight, I'll be right back."

He tossed a Warp ring and jumped through it.

GUN HQ

Meanwhile, Hope was cycling through Gerald's diaries, reading the entries she found on Emerl.

"'My worst fears have come true. The Gizoid has absorbed enough weaponry and technology that it has started to go out of control. The resulting rampage resulted in the destruction of most of the ARK.'"

Everyone winced at that, before Hope went on.

"'I have deciphered the rest of the stone tablet. It says, 'When the Gizoid had learned all that it could, it became a god of wrath, and all was destroyed.' The researchers somehow managed to subdue the Gizoid and sealed it away. Luckily, it only had one Chaos Emerald installed. If it were to have all seven Emeralds installed, it might destroy the whole planet. The Gizoid is too much of a liability. I tried destroying its core, but nothing I did worked. I understand too little of the technology that built him. My best hope is to try and reprogram its AI into a free-willed, emotions-based AI…'"

"All seven Emeralds... and he has at least five," Shadow muttered. "I'm a fool to have let this go on for so long. We can't let him awaken."

Hope looked at him reproachfully.

"Hope, don't give me that look. I'm not the villain here. Emerl is the ultimate weapon, created with enough power to destroy Mobius. Awakening him is sheer madness!"

"And what about you?" Hope shot back. "You say he's the ultimate weapon, but weren't you supposed to be the military's ultimate secret weapon? Maybe you've forgotten, but I seem to recall you saving humanity at some point."

"...That was for Maria," Shadow said after a moment.

"Exactly. If you have a heart, you would never use your power for the forces of evil. There's no way you could. Weapons aren't supposed to have hearts. But, both you and Emerl do."

"Cream the Rabbit," Omega chimed in. "She is Emerl's Maria."

Shadow was silent as Hope turned back to the computer, scrolling down.

"This is interesting," she turned to them. "Great-Grandpa did one last thing to curb Emerl's destructive tendencies. He gave him a code-based soul. Identical to Aunt Maria's."

"He what?" Rouge asked.

"Apparently, he was able to give Emerl a genuine soul. One almost identical to Aunt Maria's. Kind, loving, and wanting to give the world a chance. It was a failsafe in the event his original programming resurfaces. When the override code is spoken, Great-Grandpa's programming is complete, and Emerl will become just like Shadow."

"And the code is?" Sarah asked.

"Something Aunt Maria said he would always do one day. 'Bring hope to humanity.'"

Shadow put a hand to his chest, remembering those words often from Maria.

"Heh…" he let out. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

"How do we input the code?" Sarah questioned.

Hope scrolled down some more.

"Yeah, about that…"

"Well?" Shadow pressed as Hope turned to them.

"It'll only work once he has all seven Emeralds. We have to do it when he awakens."

"That is highly illogical," Omega declared.

"I'm with Omega," Rouge agreed, jumping to her feet. "We need to get to Knothole now."

"Agreed," Shadow nodded, also getting up. "Odds are, Sonic and the others have the complete set by now."

Knothole

A new ring opened up and Sonic hopped through.

"Alright! Got it!" he cheered.

Emerl immediately turned to him, his chest opening up...

Author's Note:

We're on the home stretch, people! What will happen next?

Please R&R. Until next time!