Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Sins Past ❯ Chapter 3

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Things grow interesting it reflected. The seeds of discord have reaped wondrous fruits. Just as it was before. Make them question each other. Keep them diverted from the main picture, while we gather our forces, make plans.

Soon, though. Very, very, soon.

Misery Zone

Rock. As far as the eye could see. The occasional fire on what remained of what passed for lakes in this place, but besides that, that monster really did a number on the place. A castle loomed, distant and proud, against the star-spattered sky.

Sonic leaped from the bi-plane, eager. Knuckles followed close behind, nervous. Several bad experiences had left him paranoid around dead places. Tails came last, after the… unpleasant incident which saw him trapped here a few years back.

“See, Tails? I told you, there are no satanic rituals. There are no bones scattered on the dirt. Perfectly safe.” Sonic called as he led the way. Tails rolled his eyes, and tried not to remember the time.

Knuckles glanced around, at the devastation. All that was left was the shadows of its previous… inhabitants? Denizens? Monsters? So this was how the war was won. Didn't matter. All that mattered was the Emeralds.

The castle loomed higher than ever, now. Clouds swirled around it.

Frog Forest

Well, this sucks. I oughta demand a raise.Rouge muttered to herself. Shadow was wandering the forest, and Omega was… well, Omega was doing what he did. And watching her. Always watching her.

I can see it all. All this forest. There is nothing here. No clues. No trace of the Doctor. Nothing.

The trees rippled in the breeze as Shadow watched and waited. For anything. Another fight, even. A few birds flew close by. The clouds swirled in the sky.

Red. Fire. Pain. Death. Iblis. A purging fire from heaven. The power Chaos. Tears of the gods. The Dark Lord. Kintobor. Robotnik. Can't remember. Scared.

Several months ago

“Its time to die, ya striped freak!” the demon screeched. The Death Carrier was in flames around him. The plan had been dismantled by the hedgehog. The power of a god in little more than a child.

The comedy of it was lost to me as he pummelled me. By the time he reverted to his normal state, it was too late. The Doctor was in danger. A choice. My life, for his death. Or his life.

No way I was walking away. It had been too much. I turned to the Doctor, now docile. I made my choice.

Darkne-

Frog Forest

He awoke with a start. Just a dream. It had to be. Iblis? Robotnik? Just words. Nonsense. They didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Not anymore.

He turned his back on the view, and walked away.

Green Beach Zone

Espio's fist tore through the final robot. It sparked defiantly, then went dim.

“Bit more resistance than we thought.” he muttered. This stinks. Robotnik's gone off the deep end. He doesn't matter anymore. Who the hell is pulling the strings here?

Amy and Vector led the way into the facility. Hundreds of ships floated overhead, still being fueled. If they were going to take the new player down, they had to be quick. In minutes, the ships would be gone, with Mighty and their answers.

“Just like old times, huh, Amy? Another nut with some robots, same as always.” Vector observed. “Robotnik, Sidewinder,-”

“Sonic never mentioned Sidewinder used robots.”

“Nobody hears about the good stuff.” Espio said darkly. “It destroyed a good stretch of New Tek before we took it down.”

“It was so cool!” Charmee enthused, swooping overhead. “It was twenty feet tall, all covered in lasers and cannons!” Then he saw Espio's look. “Until it smashed up houses and stuff.”

Amy reached for an air-lift. Not that far now. They climbed in, and ascended to the ships level.

Misery Zone

The door loomed overhead. A huge, impenetrable oak job. A demon of some sort lurked above the door.

“Well, egg-head's here alright. This is definitely his style.” Sonic said, as he tore through the door without a second thought. Right into the path of a badnik army.

“Welcome, dear friends! I had hoped it would be you who would witness my glorious return!” boomed Robotnik, from all around. A screen dropped into view. It was him, alright. Same snot-filled nose, same unwashed moustache.

“Okay, Egg breath. How'd you manage it? Last time I saw you, you were-” Sonic snapped.

“A minor problem, I assure you, dear Sonic. Tails. And Knuckles, as well? My word, the gangs all here. See any good robots lately, Knuckles?”

“Where are the Emeralds?!”

“Safe, my friends. Several hundred miles away, though. I hope you don't mind if I look after them in your absence? Good.” the former dictator oozed.

Behind them, the army waited. Hundreds of them, of varying sizes. About seventy were over twenty foot high. Waiting for a sign. They loved father. They would die for him. They would kill for him.

“Now, I just built a new badnik army. Would you mind, awfully, if I asked you to test them for me? Capital!” The screen took off, cackling.

The army charged.

Frog Forest

Chaos reigned. Thousands of robots descended in a black cloud. No way anything could survive.

But they fought. Shadow tore through the ground troops. Omega took out the long distance fighters, and Rouge took the aerial opponenets. It didn't matter. They could not surrender.

Shadow fought for answers. Rouge fought to avoid the wrath of Scholar. Omega fought because he was programmed to.

Too many. Always too many. Shadow felt his skin begin to burn. To blister. No. I've been hit. I'm going to-

BOOM.

Somewhere Else

Now that is interesting. It observed its enemies. Knuckles was doomed. Shadow was providing an interesting light show.

Amy and Chaotix had come close, though. Too close. Perhaps it was time to step in.

No. Too risky. They had shown their resilience the last time they had fought. Let the robots deal with them. Except Sonic. He had to suffer for what he had done.

Sky Chase Zone

The fleet of attack craft was vast. How long had this been planned? Was Robotnik's madness a trick, while he made his plans, undisturbed? Insane. This was all so well planned…

“Amy, perhaps we should split up here. We can do more damage that way.” Vector suggested.

“See you on the other side, then.” she laughed as she led Big and Cream away.

Cream carried them to the nearest ship. Turrets swivelled into position at their approach. Amy grabbed her crossbow and fired first. The first three turrets exploded. The fourth got lucky. Big dropped like a rock.

“BIG!” Cream screamed.

No. He's got nothing to do with this. He just wanted to get his friend back. I have to save him. Amy thought as she fired a grappling bolt at Big. Thank God cats have such good reflexes. He snatched it out of mid-air and dangled like a worm on a line. The last turret swivelled once more, in his direction.

Frog Forest

“Its over. The robots were either destroyed or… irrelevant. Shadow… did something. Overloaded their circuits with chaos energy. Did a number on me and Omega.” Rouge reported.

“Interesting. This warrants further investigation. Continue your observation, Rouge.”

“Of course, Master Scholar.”

She snapped her comm off and turned, straight into Omega.

“Who were you talking to?” the robot demanded.

“No one, Omega. Shadow must have rattled your auditory uni-”

“All is in perfect order. I am well. Who were you speaking to?”

Rouge looked around, desperately. There had to be some way out of this. Start inventing, number one.

“Well, my little sister is-”

Shadow interrupted, dropping in between them. “We need to go back to Green Beach again. The Doctor is there.”

“And you know this how?” Rouge asked, cocking an eyebrow. She was glad of the distraction.

“When I destroyed those robots, I saw… him. It. Something. Air ships. Fire and destruction. And he was at the center of it all.”

Omega walked towards Shadow. “She is not to be trusted. She is plotting behind our backs.” he said. He didn't even bother lowering his voice. “We can find the Doctor ourselves. We don't need her.”

Rouge, irritated, grabbed Omega and spun him around. “Now you listen to me, bolt-brain! You need me. I know how Zachary works, how he thinks. You don't. I can sneak into places, I know my way around this planet. And Zachary trusts me. Can you say that?”

Shadow shoved them apart. “This is a waste of time. I can find him myself.” He walked away, leaving them still arguing.

“Shadow, wait! You can't just walk in. You have to be careful. I can help you.” Rouge gushed, holding his arm. “And, we need Omega. We need the information he's got.”

Shadow just looked at her.

“Whatever. Chaos Control.”

Misery Zone

It was hopeless. Thousands of badniks against a hedgehog, echidna and fox? No question. Tails was the first to go. One of the giants netted him. Knuckles got taken by one of the flying bots. Sonic was left, and he wasn't the hero of Mobius for nothing.

Spin attack three. Ricochet off the giant. Through the next five flying bots. Into the next giant. Onto the ground, through another two. Then up, into a net. An electrified one. The last thing he saw was the giant's hammer. Then darkness.

Sky Chase Zone

The first clue that they were expected was the army of robots. The second was Robotnik in his battle armour.

“It is pointless to stand against me, Chaotix! This is my world, not yours!” he screamed at them, as he unloaded his artillery at them. Vector ignored him, while Charmee dragged Espio out of the way.

“Go for the knees!” Espio shouted over the noise. He kicked a missile away. “Would you get the hell out of his range, Charmee?!”

Vector clamped his jaws around the suits legs, and held tight. No way was he going to lose to a giant omelette. Espio dropped onto Robotnik's face, and commenced punching him in the face, good and hard.

“You dare touch me? You DARE touch the ruler of Mobius?!” Robotnik screeched, jabbing a button. An electrical current ran through Vector, knocking him away. The pilot then grabbed a laser pistol and shot Espio at point blank range. The suits massive fist swatted Charmee out of the air.

“ROBOTNIK CONQUERS!”

Green Beach Zone

The three ran towards the docking area, following the sounds of destruction. The last ship was pulling away from the fueling area as they approached. Fuel spilled across the platform before them.

“Damn! The slightest spark will set that off!” Rouge groaned. “We can't get close enough.”

Shadow glared at her, and looked pointedly at her wings. “You have wings. Fly us over. Or I could Chaos Control us there. There are plenty of ways we could get there.”

“That's why the master sent us, Shad. We're supposed to keep you here until he's ready to deal with you.”

The owner of the voice stepped out from behind some barrels. Tall, mechanoid, and pig-like, it wore a leather jacket and sported a laser rifle on its wrist. Beside it were a similar turtle and alligator.

“And who are you supposed to be? The welcoming committee?” Shadow demanded, hiding his surprise.

“We are the representatives of He Who Lives. We are the elite. We are destruction.” the alligator intoned.

“We are the pure, we will replace the flesh. Metal and oil will triumph over the flesh and blood.” the turtle continued.

“But most importantly, we're the one's who're gonna kill you.” the pig finished, raising its rifle.

Sky Chase Zone

Amy stared at the suit Robotnik wore. The Egg Emperor, he called it. And now he was giving the standard evil genius speech. Blah blah blah power blah blah blah ruler of Mobius etc. It got boring after a while, since they tend to be the same.

The power of the thing though. No way was this new. He'd been working on it for years, she'd bet. It had already put Big through a wall. She was just overhead, holding tight to Cream.

“Amy, my dear, it is, as always, a joy to see you. But I'm afraid I'm rather busy at the moment. If you could just surrender, it would make things so much easier for ALL concerned.” he roared.

She dropped, and fired three bolts tore through his protective dome, giving her a clear shot at him. She levelled her bow, easy shot. Anyone could make it.

Until Robotnik grabbed Cream out of the air, and held a laser to her head. “Your choice, hero. Surrender, or I'll kill her. I have come too far to be denied now.” he growled.

The crossbow dropped to the ground. No choice at all, really. No choice at all. The light hit her dead on.

Somewhere Else

It is done. Only Shadow and his allies remain free, now. It is almost time for the end-game. it thought. Only one thing remains for them to do. Then, I can kill them all. I've done it before, and I'll do it again.

And it laughed, long and hard, into the darkness.