-Chapter 221-
The Battle Rages On
Emerald Coast
Akhlut and Sonic's clash continued to rage on. The beach looked like the aftermath of a hurricane; tables and chairs reduced to hunks of wood and plastic, massive palm trees lay fallen and broken in two, and craters dotted the sand. As for the combatants themselves, Sonic was beginning to regret what he said after his argument with Shadow a while ago. Akhlut wasn't just giving him a challenge, he was giving him nothing short of Hell itself.
The orca was as insanely strong as he was tough. A single one of his punches managed to reduce half of the giant stone loop near the end of the beach into a pile of rubble, some of which had managed to bury him. Sonic hoped that it would've been enough to bring him down, but to his horror, the orca didn't even have a scratch on him.
His psychic powers only made things worse. Sonic was no stranger to telekinesis after his facing off against Silver back in Soleanna, but Akhlut was on a completely different level. Between his force fields blocking all of his attacks, his psybeams blowing him away, and his ability to grab and throw him like a rag doll, Sonic wasn't even able to touch him.
"What's the matter, hedgehog?" Akhlut said with a grin. "Getting tired?"
Sonic let out a strained laugh in between labored breaths. "Are you kidding? I could do this…all day!"
"Heh! We'll see about that!" Akhlut's jewel began to glow again, unleashing yet another blast of psychic energy. Sonic responded tumbling out of the way before revving up another Spin Dash and charging at him, going into a barrage of spin kicks, and finally getting the orca on the defensive.
"Alright, focus, Sonic," Sonic thought. "He may be bigger, stronger, and tougher than you, but you've been through worse. You. Can. Do this!"
His resolve renewed, Sonic charged at Akhlut, only for the orca to catch him once again.
Station Square
Meanwhile, the battle between the Freedom Fighters and the Egg Army had turned the section of the city into a warzone. Most of the Freedom Fighters had been badly wounded, forcing them to take shelter behind a makeshift barricade of wrecked cars, while Sally led a squad of the few, able-bodied front-line fighters to keep them safe.
"This is crazy!" Johnny yelled, warding off a Trooper with his staff. "At what point did we lose control here?!"
"I don't know!" Sally cried. "All we can do is hope Sonic's having better luck than us!"
"He'd better be!" Sticks shouted as she swatted away a soldier with her spear. "Cuz I don't know about you, but I could really use a hand he—Gah!"
Sticks hit the ground with a thud, landing on her face. She tried to get up, only to have her face shoved back down into the pavement by an Egg Trooper's boot.
"Sorry, kid." the soldier said as he cocked his blaster. "But it's either you or me."
Sticks looked over her shoulder in horror as the soldier's blaster lit up, energy gathering into the barrel, ready and waiting to blow her head off. Fortunately, she was spared that fate by a powerful Graviton Blast blowing the soldier off his feet and into a wall.
"Thanks, Tekno!" Sticks called out, giving the canary a thumbs up.
"Don't mention it!" Tekno replied. As Sticks got back into the fray, Tekno ducked for cover to avoid another blaster shot.
"Geez! Everyone's going for my head today!" she shouted as she put her hand to her chest, trying to steady her heartbeat.
"Could be worse," Chris said as he lobbed a Nitro Ball at a group of soldiers before ducking for cover. "They could've got you in the knee, then you'd have to get a job as a guardsman!"
"Seriously, Chris?" Keith deadpanned.
"We are getting hammered, Keith!" Chris snapped. "I will sing the One Piece Rap (1) if it'll keep me from freaking out!"
Keith turned to the rest of the team, taking stock of their situation. Rotor and Shorty were replacing their suits' power cells; the squirrel's fur having been singed in places while the lens' of Rotor's goggles were cracked. Porker was patching up a blaster hole on Bunnie's robotic leg, while Antoine was finishing up bandaging her organic arm. Hope was off to the side, curled up in a fetal position against a wall, still traumatized by Kage "cracking" the two soldiers. Kat was there beside her, clutching her hand tightly; trying not to break down herself.
"Yeah, you got a point." Keith conceded. He turned his attention to Tails. "Tails! Have you managed to get ahold of anyone?"
"No, I haven't!" The fox said, his hands gripped tightly on the Miles Electric. "Something's blocking our communications!"
"Seriously!?" Tekno shouted, as she fired off another Graviton Blast. She tried to fire another, but was met with only clicking noises. "Dammit! That was my last cell!"
"Hang on!" Antoine said as he finished bandaging Bunnie's arm. "I'll grab a couple as soon as I get the injured back to Knothole!"
Antoine pulled a Warp Ring from his pockets and threw it. At first, the ring began to glow and grow into a portal as usual, only for it to start sparking and flickering like a faulty lightbulb.
"Don quoi!?" the coyote shrieked.
The Warp Ring continued to glitch out for a few more seconds; after which it grew dull and tarnished, then crumbled into dust, leaving the Freedom Fighters looking on in horror and confusion, Tails especially.
"Okay, " Porker said, breaking the silence. "That's…different."
Chris began to hum the first few bars of the One Piece Rap, a look of sheer horror on his face as he tried to keep himself calm.
-X-
Back on the rooftops, Knuckles and Kage continued their duel to the death.
"I've been dreaming of this for a long time, echidna!" the Kage shouted as Knuckles barely dodged a swing from his claw. "The only way this could be better is if your jackass father and the rest of your tribe were here to watch! And when I'm done with you, I'll track down your little pet ginger and skin her alive!"
He swung at Knuckles again, only to be grabbed in a submission hold. "Dammit Kage, do you even hear what you're saying!? You call my people monsters, but you're hardly any better yourself! What would your father think if he saw you right now!?"
"Shut up!" the dingo roared as he headbutted Knuckles, causing the echidna to release him. "Helmut Von Stryker is worthless and weak! He lacks the resolve to do what needs to be done! A soft-hearted fool like him is unfit to lead the Dingo Regime; but, once I take care of you, I'll go back and fix that." He grinned wickedly. "Under me, we'll claim Angel Island as our own and crush you worthless echidnas under our boots!"
Kage began cackling like a maniac, visions of echidna genocide dancing in his head. Knuckles used this opportunity to charge at him, fists glowing with green with Chaos mist.
"Bastard!"
Knuckles struck Kage with a powerful haymaker, knocking out a tooth and a satisfying amount of blood.
"You…" Kage snarled. He then proceeded to press a button on his metal claw, causing a compartment in it to open up, revealing a miniature missile launcher.
"Oh no!" Knuckles said.
"Die, echidna!"
Kage fired the weapon at Knuckles, who just barely managed to avoid getting blown to bits, only for Kage to continue firing at him.
"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! DIE!"
"Dammit!" Knuckles panicked internally as ran around Kage, dodging missiles. "At this rate, he's gonna blow the whole city!"
"DIE!"
Knuckles turned to Kage and saw that he had one last missile, this one slightly larger than the others.
"That's not good." Thinking quickly, Knuckles closed his eyes. "I hope this works." He started taking slow, deep breaths, focusing his Chaos energy and gathering it into his feet. After a few moments, his eyes opened, glowing green as he looked right at Kage. The dingo's face contorted into a crazed grin.
"Say hello to your jackass ancestors in Hell, you damn-!" Suddenly, Knuckles appeared right in front of him. "Bastard?"
Knuckles punched Kage in the face, sending him flying and causing him to fire off into the air. Knuckles smiled in satisfaction as Kage bounced off the ground a few times.
"Dammit…" the dingo hissed. "How the hell did you…?"
"Chaos energy, doofus. I'm a Guardian, remember?"
Kage just growled and charged at Knuckles again.
"Well, he's stubborn, I'll give him that," Knuckles thought as he fended off the dingo. "Hopefully Sonic's having better luck."
Emerald Coast
Back at Emerald Coast, Akhlut and Sonic's own brawl continued to rage on. All the while, Eggatha filmed the entire thing with a grin.
"This is great!" she exclaimed. "You can't get entertainment like this on Breeze Media!"
"I'll say!" Bokkun concurred as he took a bite from a jumbo chocolate bar.
"Bokkun, bring us in for a close-up!"
"Yes ma'am!"
As the Egg Mobile lowered, Eggatha failed to notice her radar going off, alerting her about the missile. Meanwhile, Akhlut perked, sensing something. He turned to see the missile approaching them; specifically, heading right for the young Robotnik.
"Agatha!" he shouted. "Behind you!"
Eggatha turned, gasping to see the missile approaching. Before the missile could hit her, Akhlut abandoned Sonic and shoved the Egg Mobile out of the way. Sonic and Eggatha both gasped as the missile flew right into Akhlut's body and detonated with a loud, fiery boom. As Eggatha regained her bearings she turned to the flames in shock and horror.
"AKHLUT!"
Station Square
The sound of the explosion could be heard all the way from the city. Even as far as the police station, where the Freedom Fighters and Egg Troopers alike were paralyzed with shock.
"What the heck was that!?" Sticks shouted.
"That sounded like a bomb just went off!" Shorty added.
"It sounded like it came from the coast!" Rotor pointed out.
Sally's eyes widened in horror. "Sonic…"
Even Kage and Knuckles could only look on in shock at what had just happened.
"Wow," Kage said as he eyed his empty missile launcher. "This thing really packs a punch."
"No shit," Knuckles agreed.
"Though honestly…" the dingo lunged at the distracted echidna, seizing the opportunity to attack, "I'm more of a slashing guy!"
Kage slashed at Knuckles with his claw, shredding his shirt and leaving a set of nasty looking gashes across his chest. The echidna stumbled as he clutched his chest, which the dingo took advantage of to deliver a series of rib-crushing blows, followed by a kick to the chest, knocking his opponent to the ground.
"Uuugh…dammit…" Knuckles grit out, before Kage slammed his foot on his chest. Knuckles let out a pained gasp for breath.
"Ohhhhh…this is delicious," Kage said as he licked his lips. "Look at you, Knuckles the Echidna, Scion of the House of Edmund, one of the mighty Guardians, laid low by a mere, pathetic dingo."
"Heh! At least you have the courage to admit it," Knuckles snarked, earning him another stomp.
"Shut up!" Kage shouted. "You echidnas think you're so high and mighty! You think that just because you have all this fancy technology and a fancy, green rock and that everyone else should just get in line and kiss your feet!" He grinned wickedly at Knuckles as he leaned in closer to him. "Well, look who's laughing now?!"
Knuckles watched as Kage raised his metal claw in preparation to slice his face off. As he did, his life began flashing before his eyes.
He remembered training his father as a child, his mother telling him stories of the echidnas of old. He saw the day his family and people vanished during the battle with the dingoes. He remembered the years of loneliness and isolation as he guarded the Master Emerald, the last thing he had left of them. He recalled when that isolation ended, when he first fought with Sonic and when Kat first stumbled into his life. He felt his heart stir at the memories of becoming a Freedom fighter, and reuniting with his family and tribe after they'd finally been returned to reality. He remembered how it felt to finally stand up to his father, and how after all this time, the stubborn Sandcrawler of an echidna had finally changed for the better.
Finally, he remembered how Kage, this rabid animal of a Mobian, was willing to throw his lot in with a madman, slaughter innocent people, and destroy everything he loved, all for the sake of a grudge. Knuckles couldn't let him win. He wouldn't. He refused to.
"Say goodnight, you red, dreaded son of a…!"
"Shut the hell up, Kage."
"What the…!?" Before Kage could react, he was struck by a flash of green, launching him several feet in the air and away from the echidna, landing flat on his back.
"Gah!" he winced as he slowly sat up. "What the hell was…that?"
Kage could only stare in slack-jawed shock as he turned to his opponent. Knuckles stood before him, glowing with a misty aura of emerald green energy. His dreadlocks danced about of their own accord. And his purple eyes shone like a pair of amethysts, glowing with mystical light…and cold fury.
"Wh-What the hell is this?" Kage asked fearfully. His attention then turned to the echidna's torso, specifically where he'd slashed him…and what was missing.
"N-No way!" the dingo thought. "His wounds are healing already!? What the hell is going on!?"
"Kage," Knuckles snarled, snapping the dingo out of his thoughts, his voice was cold, but furious.
"You…" the dingo ground out. "What the hell are you!?"
"I'm Knuckles the Echidna," He said with a smirk. Kage's response was to charge at him.
"And now, you're gonna be a corpse, you-!" Suddenly, Knuckles appeared in front of Kage and buried his fist in his stomach, interrupting his charge before it could even begin.
"Scion of the House of Edmund." Knuckles delivered another punch to Kage's gut, causing the dingo to cough up a substantial amount of blood. "Guardian of the Master Emerald."
Knuckles followed with an uppercut to Kage's jaw. The dingo's teeth cracking in a few places from the force of the blow.
"And right now…" Knuckles gritted out as he pulled back his fist, which practically shone with Chaos energy, "I am seriously pissed off."
Kage's world seemed to slow to a crawl as he watched Knuckles deliver another uppercut. The dingo winced and closed his eyes as the echidna's fist made contact. He could hear his jawbone crack. He could feel the spiked knuckles boring into his flesh; blood trickling down his neck from the wounds. Finally, after what felt like an hour of searing pain, Kage was launched into the air and fell off the building, screaming the entire way down, landing with a thud.
"Grgh…I hate that damned echidna." Kage ground out as he tried to get up.
"Captain Von Stryker!"
As Kage got up, he turned to see a few of his men running to his aid.
"Captain, sir! Are you alright?" one said as he helped him up.
"Did you defeat the echidna?" said another as he pulled out a pack of healing gel.
"Get the hell away from me!" Kage shouted as he shoved the two aside before grabbing the healing gel and applying it to his chin, closing the wounds and relieving the pain. "I don't need you idiots babying me!"
"Yes sir! Sorry sir!" the soldiers replied.
Before Kage could do anything else, he noticed his men still fighting the Freedom Fighters.
"You still haven't eliminated these brats yet!?" he roared.
"W-We're sorry, sir! Th-They're stronger than they look!"
"We managed to get most of them cornered though!" another soldier pointed out. "They're stuck behind that barricade and can't call for help!"
"And how close are you to breaking that barricade?" Kage asked menacingly.
The soldier winced fearfully as he twiddled his fingers. "Well…"
"Gah!" Kage shouted, punching the hapless mook in the face as he did. "You people are freaking useless!"
"Just like you."
Kage and cronies looked upward and dived to the side, narrowly avoiding a dive punch from Knuckles, still glowing with Chaos energy.
"Oh great," Kage groused, "and now he's here."
"What do we do now, sir?" one of the soldiers asked fearfully.
Kage thought for a moment. Attacking him head on was suicide and he was out of missiles. If he wanted to end the echidna and claim his vengeance, he'd need to be clever. Fortunately, he had an idea.
"Don't worry, soldier." Kage said as he put a hand on the man's shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. "I know just what to do."
Suddenly, Kage shoved the hapless grunt toward Knuckles, but before the echidna could dodge, Kage pressed his thumb again.
"Get cracked, maggot!"
Knuckles barely had time to react when the soldier began to spark and flash, then exploded in a giant fireball; leaving Knuckles reeling and knocking him out of his heightened state.
"Ha! Gotcha now, echidna!"
"Knuckles!" Sally called out, having heard the explosion.
"You…You bastard!" Knuckles spat as he struggled to get up. "How could you-!?"
Kage stepped on his hand before he could finish, causing him to yelp in pain. "I told you, echidna. I'm not some pathetic weakling like my father. I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get my revenge and put your people in their place. And if I have to step on a couple of bugs to get it, so be it." He stopped for a moment. "Speaking of…"
Kage turned to the remaining soldiers who with him and smiled at them, a smile that filled them with pants-darkening terror.
-X-
Back in the barricade, Tails continued to tinker with the Miles Electric; hoping beyond hope he could get it work and finally call for backup.
"Come on…" the fox gritted out as he tried to get a signal through. "Pleeeease work…." Suddenly, the device sprang to life with a loud beep. "Yes! I did it! Guys, we're connected!"
"Hooray!" the others wearily cheered.
"Alright, I'm sending out a message to Sonic, the Chaotix, Team Dark, and GUN," Tails declared as he got to work. "With any luck, at least one of them should be able to…"
Tails was interrupted by the sounds of screaming, followed by a loud, metallic clang that shook their barricade.
"What was that!?"
"Guys, you might wanna take a look at this," Keith said as he pointed to just outside the barricade. The others gathered and noticed a disoriented Egg Soldier lying against the barricade, bleeding and battered, but alive.
"What in the world?" Kat said.
"Incoming!" Chris shouted as he pointed at another soldier flying right at them, flailing his arms before crashing into the barricade. Followed by a third and a fourth.
Outside the barricade, Rotor was about to sock a soldier in the face when his opponent was suddenly pulled away by something.
"What the…?" the walrus looked ahead and saw that Kage had dragged the soldier away with his grappling hook. He then proceeded to throw the hapless grunt toward the barricade alongside the others.
"What is Kage doing?" Antoine asked, right as his opponent had been snatched up.
"I think he's tryin' to throw his goons over the barricade," Bunnie added.
"Alright, that should be enough," Kage said as he put away his grappling hook.
Back in the barricade, Hope used her Omochao helmet's binocular function to see what the dingo was doing, and her eyes widened in terror as he raised his thumb.
"Everyone, scatter! Now!" she called out. The others frantically obeyed, getting as far away from the barrier as they could before Kage pressed his thumb down. The last thing the Freedom Fighters heard was the sound of the soldiers screaming before they exploded.
"No!" Sally screamed.
"Chris! Kat! Hope!" Rotor called out. "Are you guys okay!?"
Back at the barricade, Chris stood up and waved to the others.
"Yeah, we're fine!" he said.
"Somehow…" Keith said as he coughed up a bit of smoke.
"Ummm…guys." Hope said as he pointed ahead. They turned their attention to the barricade. The smoke began to settle, revealing that a huge chunk had been blown out.
"Oh no…"
"Oh yes…!" Kage whispered to himself before turning his remaining troops. "Alright maggots, the way is clear! Now get in there, and gut those brats!"
"Yes sir!"
The Egg Soldiers rushed forward, weapons drawn, and began their renewed assault on the Freedom Fighters, many of whom were still recovering from the initial onslaught.
"No! Get away from them!" Sally shouted as she locked blades with one of the soldiers. As soon as she did though, the trooper began sparking. The squirrel had just enough time to get out of the way before her opponent exploded, but was still knocked off her feet.
"What in the world-!?" she asked, wondering just what was going on. She didn't have to wonder for long though when she noticed several other troopers getting close to her friends, only to explode as soon as they got close.
Chris and Keith barely managed to get Hope and Kat away from a pair of soldiers before they burst. Bunnie and Antoine were launched into an alley as the former saved the latter from a soldier who got blown up trying to blindside him. The worst part was when Rotor and Shorty got dog-piled by a group of soldiers, who similarly exploded as soon as they buried the two. All the while, Tails could barely move, too horrified at what he was witnessing.
"By Aurora…" the fox said breathlessly. "I gotta call Sonic!"
Emerald Coast
Sonic couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. Akhlut, his enemy, the same bloodthirsty murderer who nearly drowned him back at Meropis, had just abandoned his battle with him and got himself blown up…to save Eggatha.
"Holy crap…" the hedgehog said breathlessly, too shocked to do anything else.
Eggatha, on the other hand, was freaking out.
"Akhlut!" she screamed as she began frantically pressing buttons on the Egg Mobile's console, causing a cannon barrel to emerge and a tube to descend into the water. She pushed a few more buttons, causing the tube to start pumping ocean water into the Egg Mobile and into the cannon to douse the flames.
"Akhlut!" she called out. "Akhlut, are you okay!? Say something!"
A few moments later, as the smoke began to clear, Akhlut emerged; battered, bleeding, and a little bit singed, but very much alive.
"Will you shut up?" He winced slightly, but shook it off. "I'm fine… see?"
"Akhlut!" Eggatha gasped in relief as she flew over to the orca…and proceeded to bonk him on the head.
"Ow!" the orca yelped.
"You… You big, dumb idiot! What the hell were you thinking just running in and shoving me out of the way like that!?"
"Idiot!?" the orca shouted indignantly as he rubbed his head. "I just saved your life, you little brat!"
"I would've been fine! My shields would've blocked the missile easily!" Eggatha threw her arms up in frustration. "You saw how powerful they were yourself when you tried to punch my head off!"
"How about I try again!?" Akhlut shot back.
As they got into an argument, Sonic's com went off. He pressed the button.
"Sonic!" Tails' voice came.
"Tails!?"
"Sonic, Kage has completely lost it!" the fox frantically explained. "He's turning his men into suicide bombers, and things are going bad! We need you here NOW!"
"Hang on!" Sonic told him. "I'm coming!"
He turned to run, only to be stopped by a horrific pain in his brain. It felt like his skull was being cracked open and set on fire at the same time. He turned to see Akhlut focusing on him, his gem glowing brightly.
"And where do you think you're going?" the orca demanded. "We're not done here, boy!"
"You're not the least bit concerned about the missile that almost blasted Eggatha into the next state?!" Sonic shot back, trying not to let the pain he was in show.
"What concerns me is putting you in your place!" the orca barked.
"You stupid son of a-!"
"Easy Sonic, I'll handle it," Eggatha cut in. "You just focus on your battle here." She handed the camera to Bokkun. "Bokkun, keep filming. I need to look into this."
Bokkun did so. As soon as she was gone, Sonic turned to Akhlut.
"You saved her," he said, causing Akhlut to look away and the pain to abruptly end.
"I was just doing my job," the orca defended.
"Whatever," Sonic shook his head. "Look, you just got blown up. You're hurt. How about we call this off and pick back up some other time?"
"No," Akhlut stood up, steeling himself. "This changes nothing. I've waited long enough."
"And people say I'm a reckless dumbass…"
With that, the clash resumed. Sonic hoped that the orca's injuries would make him easier to fight, a notion he was quickly dissuaded of. Though a little bit slower from the explosion, Akhlut hadn't lost any steam.
"Dammit, this isn't working!" Sonic thought. "I gotta figure out a way to beat this guy, fast! But no matter what I do, he just blocks and dodges everything I throw at him! What do I do?" Suddenly, inspiration struck. "That's it!"
Sonic looked over his shoulder to find Akhlut charging at him. Thinking quick, he revved into a Spin Dash, kicking up a ton of dust and sand in the orca's face, stopping him in his tracks before rolling off toward the docks and going into a sprint.
"Come and get me, Willy Whalefart!" he called out.
"Little, blue rat!" Akhlut growled as he leapt into the water. "Come back here and face me like a man!"
Sonic ran down the docks as fast as his feet could carry him. "Alright, I got him worked up," he said to himself. "He's pissed off. He's focused on me, and nothing else. I just gotta keep running a little longer until I reach…!"
"HEDGEHOOOOOOG!"
At that moment, the wood exploded behind him, and Sonic turned to see Akhlut wreathed in psychic energy, plowing through the docks like they weren't there after him. He took off running, but eventually, the orca tackled him into the ocean, holding him underwater as he furiously struggled to get loose.
"Can you feel it, Sonic?" Akhlut taunted. "The icy cold of death's embrace, wrapping its arms around you? You fought well… but this outcome was inevitable."
Unable to break free, Sonic focused with all his might, sparking brightly. Akhlut had just enough time to realize what was happening before Sonic unleashed all of his Chaos lightning in a massive, devastating blast, the water amplifying the power and shocking Akhlut senseless. The orca's arms fell away, allowing Sonic to quickly get back to the shore. He took two stumbling steps before collapsing, catching his breath before raising a hand to his communicator.
"Tails?" he asked, but didn't get an answer. "Tails, can you hear me?" He looked at the device and discovered that it'd been fried by his attack. "Damn it…" he hissed in annoyance, then once again in pain. "Agh! Double dammit!"
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a Power Ring, but before he could focus on channeling its power to heal, an unmistakable green blast of psychic energy surrounded it before it shattered in his hands.
"What!?" Sonic managed, a look of absolute terror on his face as he turned back to the sea. "No…No, no, no, no, NO! No way! No freaking way!"
"Yes, hedgehog, way."
Despite his pleas, Akhlut emerged from the sea, looking no worse for wear.
"That…That's impossible!" Sonic shouted. "I Spin Dashed you hard enough to dent Megatal! I fried you with enough lightning to power Casinopolis! How are you still standing?!"
"I told you," Akhlut said as he began to approach him. "I'm not the same orca you fought in Meropis. I'm stronger, tougher, faster, and more focused than I've ever been in the near fifty years I've been alive. I've slain beasts and monsters the likes of which you Drylanders only see in your nightmares. Fought battles that make the Great War look like a children's playground fight. And all of that before the doctor weaved his mechanical enhancements into my flesh."
As Akhlut got closer, Sonic began to visibly lose his cool, backing away. As he did, he felt a rock.
"If you think your usual tactics are going to work against me, you're-"
Sonic threw the rock right at Akhlut's gem, but the orca casually plucked it out of the air with his hand right before it even got close to his face. Sonic's jaw dropped, while Akhlut was far from impressed.
"So…this is how the great Sonic the Hedgehog acts in defeat," he mused as he crushed the rock into dust. "Disgraceful. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised though. The only noteworthy opponent you've had is a chubby, bald man with an army of tinker toys who you only defeated by running really fast, pushing him, and running away; assuming you didn't have your friends to soften him up." He shook his head in pity and contempt. "You are but a child. A mere boy fighting a man's war. If this is any indication of what you're capable of, you wouldn't last a minute against the others."
Sonic's jaw dropped. "Wait, what do you mean, others?!"
"Let's just say that the game is changing, hedgehog." Akhlut said with a grin. "New rules, higher stakes, and dozens of new players." He sighed. "A pity you won't live to see it. Though in your case…" His gem began glowing. "That may be a mercy."
Sonic could only watch as Akhlut's gem charged with light in preparation to utterly destroy him. He closed his eyes as he braced for the inevitable, while Akhlut gave him his signature, diabolical grin...
Station Square
As Eggatha flew over to Station Square, she tried to get in contact with Kage.
"Eggatha to Kage, I repeat, Eggatha to Kage. Come in Kage!" She got no response. With a shake of her head, she lowered her hand. "What's going on? I told Uncle that bringing Kage on this mission was a bad idea. I-"
As she finally got close enough to get a visual, she found herself horrified by the sight before her. The battle was raging on, with both sides suffering heavy damage. The Freedom Fighters were running out of stamina, ammunition, and power, and the Egg Soldiers were blowing up left and right.
"What the hell is this!?" Eggatha's question was answered in the form of maniacal laughter. She looked down and saw Kage standing atop Knuckles, forcing him to watch his friends fight for their lives against his soldiers; blowing them up the second they showed signs of slowing down or had them cornered.
"That's right, maggots! Keep fighting!" the dingo ordered. "I want what's left of those little pests mounted on my wall!"
"Kage…you…" Knuckles grit out, only to get his face slammed into the pavement.
"Oi! No talking during the movie, echidna!" the dingo barked. "Unless you want me to blow everyone up right now and save myself the trouble."
Knuckles could only snarl in fury.
"Ha! That's what I thought, you-"
"KAGE!"
All eyes turned to see Eggatha floating overhead, scowling at the dingo.
"Eggatha," he said with a scowl of his own.
"What in Aurora's name do you think you're doing?!" she demanded.
"My job!" Kage shot back. "I was sent out here to destroy the Freedom Fighters, and that's exactly what I'm doing!"
"Really?" she questioned, gesturing around. "Because it looks to me like you're blowing up all the soldiers we spent weeks recruiting!"
"Just a demonstration of your uncle's new failsafe," Kage said dismissively. "Makes for a good intimidation tactic, doesn't it?"
"Are you crazy!? The Crack Protocol is meant to prevent betrayals, not turn them into suicide bombers! It's cruel and wasteful!"
Kage just scoffed.
"This is war, Agatha. Wars are never won easily! There will be sacrifices and deaths, and there's no place for honor, mercy, or compassion! We either win by being ruthless and taking the most extreme measures, or we don't and lose!" Kage gave her a nasty looking smirk. "You of all people should understand that."
That set Eggatha off.
"That's it!" she shouted as she reached into her pocket, producing a red button. "I told Uncle Ivo you couldn't be trusted! Now that you've proved me right, let's see how YOU like getting cracked!"
Eggatha prepared to press the button, but Kage was quicker on the draw, firing a blast from his cannon that hit her Egg Mobile, causing her to drop the button.
"What!?" Eggatha shouted as her craft began sparking.
"Shield buster cannon," Kage said with a grin. "Shoulda thought about that before you gave me all these new toys, Aggie."
Eggatha snarled at Kage as her Egg Mobile went out of control, forcing her to eject just as it exploded…
Emerald Coast
Before Akhlut could finish Sonic off, they heard the explosion.
"What the…?"
"Boss Akhlut?" Bokkun called out, sounding scared and on the verge of tears. "Something's wrong, I-I can't detect Miss Eggatha's Egg Mobile!"
"Agatha…"
Sonic watched Akhlut look back and forth between him and the city. The orca looked conflicted and…terrified. After repeating this a few times, he gritted his teeth and sighed.
"Well hedgehog, you're in luck." Akhlut dropped Sonic to the ground, heading for the water. "It seems you get to live after all. But make no mistake, the next time we clash…" he looked over his shoulder, "you won't be."
With that, he dove in the water and swam off, Bokkun going after him. This left Sonic sitting there, stunned and horrified at how badly he had been beaten and how close he had come to death.
Station Square
Eggatha stumbled out of the smoke, coughing.
"Crazy, dingo bastard," she huffed as she attempted to regain her bearings. "I swear Kage, you aren't going to get away with-!"
Suddenly, a mass of sticky goo hit her and pasted her to a nearby wall. Kage lowered the blaster on his arm.
"Useless brat." He uttered with contempt. "The battlefield is no place for children."
Eggatha glared at Kage with more hatred than she thought possible for anyone, but the dingo just ignored her in favor of turning his attention to Knuckles.
"Now that that's done…" Kage said as he raised his claw at the echidna. "Let's take care of you."
Knuckles watched as Kage's cannon began glowing with energy, the dingo smiling evilly as he prepared to deal the finishing blow. But right as he prepared to fire, Kage clutched his head in pain and fell to his knees, as did everyone else.
"Ugh! My head!" Antoine cried.
"What the hell was that?" Shorty demanded.
"Not what, Shorty," Sally realized, her eyes flicking over to an approaching figure. "Who."
Everyone turned to see Akhlut walking in, looking absolutely livid.
"What…is this?" he growled.
Akhlut surveyed the damage, piecing together what happened. He saw the ruined buildings, the wounded Freedom Fighters, and the blown-up remains of the Egg Soldiers. Kage looked right at him, trying not to show his fear as Akhlut finally took notice of Eggatha bound to the wall.
"Agatha…"
"I'm sorry, Akhlut," Eggatha let out, grunting in pain. "He got me."
Akhlut turned to Kage, furious. "Von Stryker, what the HELL do you think you're doing?!"
"What I was sent out to do! Kill the Freedom Fighters by any means necessary! I cracked half my men to blow them up, and I was just about to finish them when you interrupted!"
Kage clutched his head and fell to the ground as Akhlut blasted his mind.
"You idiot!" the orca roared. "Our mission was to kill Sonic and his friends, not our own soldiers!"
"Oh please," Kage said, rolling his eyes. "They're pathetic nobodies Dr. Robotnik plucked off the street! So what if they get blown up? We'll pluck some more. You would've done the same thing, 'Black Ice'."
"No!" Akhlut roared, causing Kage to flinch. "I would've fought alongside my men and crushed our enemies into dust!"
"What I did was more than justified!" Kage interrupted. "I'm avenging the wrongs inflicted on me by the son of that racist asshole Locke and his human pet!"
"We were given orders by Dr. Robotnik. Petty matters like personal revenge are secondary to that. The mission is what matters."
"Oh, like you have room to talk, you waterlogged hypocrite! If you care so much about these worms, why weren't you the one leading this operation?!" That last statement made Akhlut flinch. "You didn't fight alongside your 'warriors' and you sure as hell didn't put your stinking mission first! No! You dragged Sonic away from his little friends so you could restore your stinking honor and get your 'personal revenge' by taking him out yourself! And the same goes for that frizzy-haired runt Eggman has you babysitting! Your hands are just as bloody as mine!"
A dead silence followed as Akhlut grit his teeth and glared at the dingo, his jewel flickering like a lightbulb about to burn out. But instead of going berserk, Akhlut took a deep breath, calmed down, and gave a solemn nod.
"You're right," he admitted. "Those were my mistakes. I accept them, and own them."
Kage smirked. "Heh! That's what I thought, you-!"
But before he could gloat, he found Akhlut's hand wrapped around his throat. "I've made terrible mistakes. Mistakes that cost the lives of warriors under my command. But I intend to rectify them… " he glared at the dingo, green eyes glowing with fury. "Starting with my biggest."
He turned to Eggatha, who looked upon Kage with more burning hatred than anyone present thought possible in the young Robotnik. She then turned to Akhlut and nodded. With that, the orca turned to Kage, his gem glowing brightly as he focused all of his psychic power on the dingo. Several of the Freedom Fighters, and even the surviving Egg Troopers, were forced to look away as Akhlut crushed and grinded away at Kage's mind and body, the dingo screaming in agony as waves of green energy washed over him. Blood oozed from every orifice in his head, his body convulsed and spasmed as his implants sparked and overheated, badly burning over half of his body. Once Akhlut finished, he dropped Kage onto the ground in a twitching heap.
"Honorless bastard," he spat in disdain. "I'm amazed your father didn't do this to you sooner."
With Kage taken care of, Akhlut walked over to Eggatha and used his powers to destroy the goo binding her.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," the young Robotnik said. "Kage only damaged the Egg Mobile's thrusters, so I was able to eject in time."
"That's good."
Once that was done, Eggatha called in her personal ship, while Akhlut turned to some of the able-bodied men.
"You there!"
"Sir!" one of the soldiers saluted.
"Gather the wounded and get them to the medical bay for treatment!" the orca ordered. "We're going home."
"Yes, Boss Akhlut!"
The soldier saluted, Akhlut nodding.
"Sir," one of the soldiers motioned to the mangled Kage. "What about him?"
Akhlut just sneered. "What about him?"
Eggatha cleared her throat, arms crossed and foot tapping. Akhlut sighed.
"Take him to the burn ward for treatment," he gave in. "Get him some smelling salts and iodine." He furrowed his brow as he took one last look at the dingo. "Burning, stinging iodine."
Eggatha smiled, nodding. An Egg Carrier floated overhead, preparing a tractor beam to pick them up.
"I apologize for Kage's horrific conduct today," Akhlut told the Freedom Fighters. "I assure you he will be severely disciplined for this affront."
Just as the tractor beam came down, Sally stepped forward.
"Wait!" she shouted. "Where's Sonic? What did you do to him?"
Akhlut glanced over his shoulder at the princess. "He lives if that's what you mean. I left him on the Emerald Coast. It should be easy to find him, though I cannot say he was not left unchanged by our battle."
With the, the Egg Army disappeared onto the ship.
"Come on," Sally said as she headed for the coast. "We have to find him!"
Emerald Coast
The Freedom Fighters hurried for the coast, splitting off to look. They looked every which way before Bunnie stopped short. Sitting where Akhlut left him was Sonic. As if sensing the severe distress the hedgehog was in, both Hope and Kat rushed to his side. Though he didn't seem to notice them, he instinctively reached for them, clinging to them both while staring off into space as he shook.
"I found him!" Bunnie called before hurrying over. "Sonic? Sonic!"
"I gave him everything…" Sonic muttered, borderline catatonic. "I gave him everything I had. All my power...all my speed…and it wasn't enough. I barely even slowed him down."
By this point, the others had approached, seeing his condition
"Sonic, you're scaring me," Hope let out nervously. "Are you-?"
"Deena was right," Sonic went on, still not registering her presence. "He really is a monster."
"Sonic!" Sally shouted, getting his attention.
"GYAH!" Sonic screamed, nearly falling over before looking up. "S-Sally? You're all… okay?"
"I'm the one who should be asking you that."
"What happened?" Sonic asked.
"Kage happened," Tails spat in disgust. Kat flinched at the mention of the Dingo, her grip on Sonic tightening slightly.
"The bastard nearly wiped us all out and tried to take out Eggatha too," Knuckles said. "Blew up over half his own soldiers to do it. If Akhlut hadn't shown up when he did, we'd be-"
At the mere mention of Akhlut's name, Sonic began trembling, his own grip on the girls tightening.
"Wh-What's wrong?" Porker asked.
"Sonic?" Hope asked, she and Kat backing away.
"It was all dumb luck," Sonic said. "If Kage hadn't attacked Eggatha, Akhlut would've… I could've been…and then you all would've been…"
He froze in place before beginning to laugh. It started small, but before long, he had thrown his head back and was cackling psychotically.
"Sonic!" Sally snapped. "Snap out of it! Get ahold of yourself!"
In desperation, she slapped him across the face, getting a pained yelp and snapping him back to attention.
"Sonic…are you alright?" she asked after a minute.
"No, Sal. I'm pretty freaking far from alright," Sonic replied, just pulling Kat and Hope in closer, his side aching from an age-old pain. "I failed. He beat us…we lost."
Author's Note:
(1): At the time of Sonic X's airing, 4Kids had the rights to One Piece, as well as Sonic X. The Grand Line was even name-dropped in the tie-in comics by Archie.
Say it ain't so... Sonic lost?! Horrors!
Next chapter will be the end of this little scenario. Please R&R. Until next time!