Sonic: Atonement
Chapter 6: Surprise Attacks
Even with a forewarning, Sonic managed to be the only one who was still caught off guard by the news of Eggman's attack.
He was at Vanilla and Cream's house, feet kicked up on the couch and in the middle of a heavy nap when he started to feel rumblings in the ground. He was fully woken up by his communicator going off. Still half-asleep, he answered it.
"Mm, hello? Oh hey, Tails. What's going on, buddy?" He asked.
"Sonic! Eggman's attacking the city! You gotta hurry over here!" Tails exclaimed, causing Sonic to flail his legs as he turned to get off the couch. He fell onto the floor with a thud.
"Unh! You mean right now?! What time is it?!" Sonic asked.
"Time to get to work! I'll see you out there!" Tails said before abruptly ending the call. Sonic got to his feet and stretched his legs out.
"Aw man. Why can't Eggman ever schedule his attacks in advance?" Sonic muttered aloud, taking a few moments to stretch his legs before hurrying out the door. He took a few more steps forward before breaking into a full sprint towards the city.
Vanilla and Cream's house where Sonic was staying at was far outside the limits of Station Square, out in the woods where there were more animals and less noise. It was a beautiful, secluded place to live, but in situations like this, it forced Sonic to have to run a few extra seconds.
Sonic skidded to a stop at the end of a cliff where he could see Station Square in the near distance. Two large Eggman robots were attacking the city, fighting against Tails who was in his plane. Sonic pressed his fist into his palm and nodded to himself.
"Hang on, buddy. I'm coming!" He said, crouching down and getting ready to boost off the cliff, "You won't get a second chance this time, Eggman." He said to himself...
"Excuse me...are you Sonic the hedgehog?" An unfamiliar voice asked.
"Huh?" Sonic stopped and glanced over his shoulder. A gray hedgehog with black stripes in his quills was walking up next to him. He had on a black jacket with gray pants and black shoes similar to Sonic's red shoes. Sonic nodded in his direction and gave him a once-over.
He kinda resembled Shadow in a way...but only in the most basic of ways.
"Yep, that's me...the one and only Sonic the hedgehog." He confirmed, standing up straight.
"Everyone's been waiting for you, Sonic. I take it that you're getting ready to stop Eggman again?" The random hedgehog presumed.
"Absolutely. You just leave it to me, alright?" Sonic said with a nod, giving him a thumbs up. The hedgehog nodded and briefly smiled before speaking seriously again.
"And what will you do...when you catch him this time?" He asked Sonic.
"Huh? Whattaya mean 'this time'?" Sonic asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.
"Eggman's never gonna stop; surely you know that. You brought him down when he took over the world, and now he's trying again. What will his punishment be this time? How will he be brought to justice?"
"...what's your name?" Sonic asked.
"It's...Zero. Everyone calls me Zero." Zero answered awkwardly.
"Nice to meet you, Zero. Stay somewhere safe while I take care of this, alright?" Sonic said, patting a hand on his shoulder.
"Nice to meet you too. Isn't there something I can do to help?" Zero inquired, keeping his arms stiff down at his sides.
"Stay safe and stay out of the way. That's the best thing for you. Trust me, I've got plenty of experiencing walloping ol' Eggman." He said, taking a step back. He started to turn around, but then looked back at Zero again.
"I'm well aware..." Zero said.
"Hm," Sonic smiled sideways, changing subjects now. "So you're the guy that's supposed to take me out, huh?" He asked, deciding to confront Zero directly.
"Huh...?" Zero's eyes widened. "I...don't know what you mean."
"Yeah ya do. So what's your plan, hm? How you gonna do it?" Sonic asked with a teasing smirk.
"Ah...I guess there's no point in hiding it now, huh?" He said, taking two steps back.
Several things happened in the next few seconds. Zero reached back and pulled out his gun. Sonic reacted and boosted towards him to knock him down. Zero was barely able to move out of the way in time. Sonic stopped in place. Zero turned and pointed the gun at Sonic.
"Stop right there!" Silver shouted, reaching his hand out. Using his telekinesis, he pushed Zero back, sending him flying through the air and smashing back-first into a tree. The impact caused him to lose his grip on the gun. It fired off a stray round as it bounced away.
"Whoa, Silver! Didn't expect you to come to the rescue! But thanks!" He said.
"I had a feeling I'd have to keep an eye on you. Sorry it took me so long. Are you alright?" Silver asked.
"Never better."
"Silver," Zero got up to one knee, glaring up at them. "You don't look familiar. Where'd you come from?" He asked curiously.
"I've come here to stop you, Zero. Your plan to kill Sonic and Eggman is over!" Silver declared, throwing his hand to the side. Zero's eyes widened in surprise.
"There's...no way you could know about that."
"Go stop Eggman. I can handle this guy." Silver said to Sonic.
"You sure?" Sonic asked, looking at him.
"I'm positive."
"Alright. I leave it you, buddy!" Sonic said before rushing off. Zero tried to chase after him, but Silver grabbed him with his psychic powers and threw him back again. Zero tumbled back across the grass.
"Your fight is with me now, Zero!" Silver stated, getting into a fighting stance.
"Urgh...alright..." Zero grunted and got back up to his feet, "You have some serious powers, Silver. Maybe you should be out there dealing with the real threat." He said, tilting his head towards Station Square with a slight sideways smile.
"I came all the way here just to deal with you. I don't know what your motives are, but you have no idea the amount of damage killing Sonic and Eggman will do."
"I've got a pretty good idea." Zero said with a smug expression, pulling at his sleeves before bending his knees and boosting towards Silver.
Silver flew up into the air to avoid getting hit by Zero. He reached out to grab Zero psychically again, but Zero ran through the trees to avoid him. He then ran around and jumped into the air, grabbing onto Silver and sending them spiraling over the cliff.
Zero growled aggressively, grabbing onto Silver. He punched Silver several times then grabbed onto him, pulling his head in and hitting with in the face with his knee. They both tumbled sideways on the ground, but Zero rolled sideways onto his feet.
"I don't know who you are, but if you think you're gonna show up and stop me, you've got another thing coming!" Zero said, running up again and kicking Silver in the chest, knocking him into the air. Silver spread his hands out, stopping himself in midair.
"Right back at ya!" Silver grabbed onto Zero again, pulling him up into the air, "I've already seen what your actions will do to this world. Never again!" He slammed Zero down into the ground and pinned him. He slowly floated down to the ground.
"Urgh...then there's more to you than I thought, hedgehog." Zero was able to force his hands under him before getting into a spin dash, building up enough energy to force himself out of Silver's grip. He crashed right into him, knocking Silver back.
"You're strong. But you're not who I'm after." Zero said, landing on his feet. He turned around and ran towards Station Square.
"Ah! Darnit!" Silver exclaimed, slamming his fist on the ground in frustration before flying into the air and chasing behind Zero. He wasn't going to let that bad future come to pass, but with Zero's speed, he was quickly falling behind...
Meanwhile, Sonic had already made it to Station Square. He ran through the streets and saw one of Eggman's giant robots on the other side of a city block. He jumped into the air, did a spin dash, bounced off the road, and then skidded up the side of the skyscraper in front of him, sending his momentum upwards.
He extended his legs to get out of the spin dash, switching to running up the skyscraper before jumping back. He twisted his body towards the Eggman robot and did a homing attack right into its head. The giant robot leaned away before slowly turning its attention to him.
"Nice of you to join us, Sonic. Think you can take care of this guy?" Tails said through Sonic's communicator.
"No problem, buddy. Sorry to keep you waiting. Had a little run-in with our hedgehog of destiny – that Zero guy Silver warned us about." He explained to Tails before running to the side to avoid getting shot by the robot.
"You mean he actually showed up?! Are you alright?!" Tails questioned.
"I'm all good. Silver's taking care of him right now, which leaves me free to crack these Eggman robots wiiide open!" Sonic smirked, turning and jumping into the air again. He hit the robot with several homing attacks in quick succession, confusing and damaging it.
Sonic landed on the roof of a building on the other side of the street.
"Glad to hear it! Let's knock these guys out before they do too much damage." Tails said, flying over Sonic's head in his plane and shooting at the giant robot.
Sonic took a deep breath before crouching down and charging up a spin dash. Tails continued to distract the robot by flying around in circles and shooting it while it unsuccessfully tried to shoot him down or swat his plane with its other hand.
With a loud grunt, Sonic shot forward off the roof of the building and straight into the robot's head with enough force to puncture through one side clear to the other. He slid sideways on his feet when he landed back on the other side. He brought himself to a stop. The robot shut down and fell to the ground behind him.
"They just don't make 'em like they used to, ey, Tails?" Sonic quipped.
"Heheh, you nailed it, Sonic. But we can't rest yet. We've still got one more over by the coastline." Tails said, turning his plane around and beginning to fly towards the beach.
"Alright! Let's show 'em who's boss!" Sonic said, turning and starting to run after him.
However, right as he was about to jump off the roof, he was suddenly tackled by Zero. Both of them went careening through the air. Zero grabbed onto Sonic and tried to get a few wild punches in before they both hit the street below and tumbled over each other.
"We're not done yet!" Zero growled. Sonic grunted in pain and kicked him off. Zero rolled backwards a few times before getting to his feet. Sonic got up and into a fighting stance.
"You better not have done anything to Silver!" He said seriously.
"Don't worry, I'll come back for him when I'm done with you." Zero threatened before rushing straight at him.
Sonic moved to the side to avoid Zero attempting to shoulder-check him. Zero turned just in time to narrowly avoid getting kicked in the face by Sonic. He took a few steps back.
"Sonic! What's going on?" Tails called to him through the communicator.
"Tails, I might've spoken too soon on the whole Zero thing. He's here now." Sonic reported.
"What?! You want me to circle back?!" Tails quickly asked.
"Negatory, buddy, stay on that Eggman robot. I can take this guy." Sonic said.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Sonic! I'm coming ba-" Tails started to protest before Sonic shut off his communicator. He let his arms hang down at his sides as he stared down Zero.
"Hm, one on one? Suit yourself." Zero said with a faint chuckle before speeding forward again.
Zero threw the first punch. Sonic dodged it. Zero slid right past him. They both turned and threw a kick at the same time, their shins colliding. Sonic growled in pain before jumping and throwing another kick that hit Zero square in the chest.
Zero stumbled back before dropping into a spin dash suddenly, shooting forward and smacking Sonic in the face.
"Unh!" Sonic grunted as he was knocked back. He rolled backwards and got back to his feet, "It's like fighting Shadow again. Been awhile." He said to himself before attacking.
He ran in circles around Zero. Zero looked around in confusion then tried to charge at him. Sonic swept his legs out from under him and knocked him into the air with a homing attack.
Zero's body spun as he was knocked into the air. Sonic jumped and hit him with several more homing attacks, bouncing off of him and then hitting him again from different angles. The last homing attack sent Zero bouncing and tumbling down the road.
"Hm," Sonic smiled a little, fixing his gloves before turning his communicator back on. "Tails? Nothing to worry about, buddy. I just beat this guy." He said.
"Alright, Sonic. I'm on my way now. Just hang tight."
"Thanks," Sonic started walking towards Zero, who was still on the ground. "Had enough yet?" He taunted him.
"Urgh," Zero grunted in pain as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. "I underestimated you." He admitted.
"Why do you wanna kill me anyway? What did I ever do to you?" Sonic questioned him.
"I lost everything because of you, Sonic. You keep letting the doctor go free, and people die!" Zero spat at him. Sonic's eyes widened.
"You lost somebody...what happened?" He asked with genuine concern. Zero's eyebrows furrowed and his eyes fell to the ground. He shook his head defiantly.
"Don't pretend like you care." Zero grumbled. He looked up at Sonic for a moment before suddenly turning around and speeding off.
"Wait!" Silver yelled, flying up behind Sonic and stopping next to him. He landed on the ground and doubled over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath, "I'm sorry, Sonic. I couldn't keep up with him."
"It's alright. You did your best," Sonic said, patting Silver on the shoulder before folding his arms. "I was able to hold him off alright, but he'll be back. I'm gonna help Tails finish off that last robot. I'll be back." Sonic said before running off.
Sonic and his friends were fortunate today. Zero didn't return, and they were able to thwart Eggman's surprise attack. They had won the battle, but the war had only begun. Both Sonic and Silver now knew that Zero's mission ran deeper for him than just looking for a fight.
That made him very dangerous...