User:Schwarzes Nacht/Dark Sunshine

My second fanfic. Description from FanFiction.Net:

 The Tails Doll is back with his own cult following: Sonic and co. must stop the bloodshed, but they are falling into a diabolical trap...Rated T for violence, possible horror and occult themes, possible graphic and disturbing sequences.

Updated: 22/3/08 Sonic the Hedgehog - Fiction Rated: T - English - Horror/Supernatural - Chapters: 11 - Words: 12,352 - Reviews: 25 - Updated: 3-22-08 - Published: 5-6-06

Prologue
It was late at night and the moon was high in the jet-black sky. The streets were silent, but for the approaching steps of three teenagers, wandering the streets searching for something to do at this hour.

Presently, they came to the gates of an old mansion. It was obviously abandoned, as the panels were peeling off of it, and the tiles had long disappeared or been consumed by growing vines, so that the skeletal frame remained, jutting out into the sky oddly like some sort of blade. A few crows circled around in the sky, as if not daring to touch the property. Some wandered around nearby on the streets, eying the youths with cold eyes. If one would count them, their number would come to eleven, but their sable forms were difficult to see against the night, and the eerie atmosphere about the house seemed to draw attention from all else. Such things one would not see unless they were specifically looking for them.

One of the teenagers whistled as he looked up at the dilapidated building, surveying it with derision in his eyes. “Look at that, the place is a wreck! Why don’t they just knock it down? It’s an eyesore, I’m telling you.”

“I’ve heard stories…horrible stories about that place.” Piped up another of the group, shuddering.

“Stereotypical haunted mansion story? That’s all a load of trash.” Snorted a third with contempt.

“Not so stereotypical. Apparently a possessed puppet haunts the house…anyone who goes in never comes back out.” Replied the second.

“Sure, sure. Whatever.” He almost laughed at the prospect – of all the urban legends this one seemed the most inane.

The first had now taken great interest in this argument and issued a challenge. “Oh yeah? Well then, prove it!”

The third one laughed at how clichéd the situation was. “Okay, fine! I’ll do it!” he grinned. After all, what was there to fear?

He opened the cast-iron gate with a deafening screech, the sound of one not opened for a long time. A cockroach crawled past his feet and he recoiled, but continued on the twisted path towards the front door. As he turned the knob on the bright orange door and entered the house, he felt, only for a fleeting moment, as if he was being watched…

There was silence. Many people have never felt true silence, the complete absence of all sound anywhere. It is enough to drive feelings of utter loneliness into the head and eventually cause insanity. For this adolescent, it was unnerving, but he shook off the feeling and consoled himself with further footsteps, resonating through the halls as the only sound in the world.

The house was literally falling to pieces; the wallpaper was peeling off the walls, and there were bugs everywhere – he was nauseated as he watched a whole convoy of insects spiral across the floor and pass into a crack in the wall, kicking up dust as they went.

The boy slowly walked through the house. The silence was getting too much now, and a feeling in the bottom of his stomach told him he should turn back…the house was huge, he could easily get lost, and he felt he could never find his way out.

He was shocked but calmed at the same time to hear a faint sound enter his ears…it seemed to be some sort of…music?

He walked towards the noise.

The music was obviously supposed to be a happy song, but it had been warped and distorted to a state where it was almost impossible to listen to. The lyrics were unforgettable, the ones that get stuck in your head and repeat over…and over…Can you feel the sunshine… The music led to a room just down the hall with a closed door…he opened the door and entered, not noticing the sudden chill that had now consumed everything.

Bizarre arcane patterns and symbols were daubed on the walls in what appeared to be blood. The boy was overcome with the need to be sick, as the sight greatly disturbed him, but he remembered what he had promised to do, and with that desire to appear tough that all boys have, he continued to survey the room.

It was fairly small and empty, except for an old tape deck in the corner playing that horrible tune…and something else…

It appeared to be a floating doll, modelled in the shape of some sort of twin-tailed cartoon fox. The stitching on it was obvious, there was, bizarrely, some sort of zipper on the back and the features were overly exaggerated, giving a feeling not of cuteness, but of trauma and nightmares. The illusion was made complete by a huge red gem attached to its head which glowed iridescently with a light unnatural.

The doll turned around to face the boy, and stared at him with cold, soulless eyes of felt. Although he knew it couldn’t be possible, there appeared to be a look behind those eyes, a look of hatred.

He flinched as a voice entered his head…it was a cold, dry voice, the voice of something that should not be alive…it spoke in an almost-mocking tone that was somehow soothing, but behind it he could also hear the screaming of a thousand different voices. '' Ah, a visitor. Welcome to my abode. It isn’t much, but it does the job, yes?'' The teenager laughed. Of course, it was all a big joke. Very funny, guys, now get me out of here, he thought.

However, the floating doll still stared at him, expecting some sort of response. Receiving none, the gem on its head drooped slightly, not out of disappointment, but of readiness.

''I trust you will stay a while. You’re just in time for dinner, you know.''

The boy laughed again. This was just too stupid. How could-

What’s so funny?

“Uh…nothing…so, what are we eating?”

''Oh, I apologise most profusely. You misinterpret me. It is only I who will be eating.''

The boy gasped as some force he could not see grabbed his head and pulled him down to the floor. As he tried to look up at the doll that was no doubt about to kill him, he caught a glimpse of a glowing red light and some sort of tendrils reaching out towards him.

At once, all was pain.

A scream filled the air and punctured the silence; the teens knew it as the voice of their friend.

Rushing into the house, they came upon the room…their friend lay dead on the floor, blood oozing from his eyes, which had rolled back into his head. A look of horror was frozen on his face, but the cause of death was uncertain. In fact, it appeared that whatever had happened to the rest of his body, which was horribly disfigured and mutilated such that blood and gore stained all the walls and floors of the room, had by some miracle – or perhaps a cruel joke – avoided his face completely, which was perfectly preserved in that dead stare.

Lying on the floor, right in the middle of the room, was a large, lifeless doll. The crystal on its head glowed oddly…and in the corner of the room, a tape deck played an incredibly distorted tune…but the lyrics were ever so clear…

Can you feel the sunshine?

Does it brighten up your day?

Don't you feel that sometimes, you just need to run away?

Chapter 1: Betrayal
The scientist formerly known as Ivo ‘Eggman’ Robotnik sat at a small cast-iron table on his personal flagship, the Egg Carrier, drawing out schematics for his next diabolical plan for global domination, or so it would appear. Instead, he was probably just scrawling crude cartoons of his nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog, befalling various bizarre fates.

Suddenly his avid scribbling was interrupted by noise coming from a small backroom, where most of his old and discarded robots were usually kept. There was clunking and rattling, as if something was moving…

The back room of the Egg Carrier is filled with junk. All sorts of odd machines and contraptions are thrown here for long-term storage, but a blue capsule in the middle of the room holds a certain special automaton in suspended animation…

Red LEDs flickered to life as Metal Sonic awoke from slumber. He had been called into action by a cold, dry voice that had resonated through his circuits and summoned him awake.

''Metaru, come to me. I require your services'', it spoke now.

He reached forward and smashed open the glass keeping him in the holding capsule. Fluid spilled all over the floor as he leapt out and into the room, crushing shards of glass underneath his feet.

What of Robotnik? Metal inquired monotonously.

''He is of no use to me. Eliminate him if you wish.''

Metal turned to face the door leading out into the main hall and walked out, the clanking of his metallic feet creating echoes that resonated all about the room.

Eggman turned towards the noise, and an azure-plated robot emerged from the door, leaving a trail of capsule fluid.

The middle-aged man was surprised by the automaton’s sudden appearance, but soon caught his breath. “Oh, Metal, it’s only you. I thought one of Sonic’s little friends had gotten in here again.”

Metal Sonic ignored his master and continued walking as if hypnotised. Eggman huffed in annoyance.

“Hey! Metal! I’m talking to you! Get back here, that’s an order!”

Metal suddenly turned its head and stared coldly at Ivo with the two three-quarter circles of red LEDs that served as his eyes. Although they were only flashing lights, they seemed to evoke a feeling of anger, as if offended. His usually emotionless, robotic ‘voice’ echoed around the darkened room, but it somehow held a tinge of spite.

“You dare…to order…me?” Metal intoned, clutching one fist and narrowing his field of vision to create a piercing stare.

The doctor growled. Metal had been put in cold storage ever since he last went rogue to prevent further ‘accidents’. Some sort of mechanical fault must have released him, and now Eggman had to put up with this again. He now stood from his chair and pointed at Metal, raising his voice to shout.

“Of course, you robotic numbskull! I created you! I have every right, as your master- don’t tell me you’re going rogue again! And don’t even think about running after that stupid failure of a doll, either!” Eggman flinched slightly at mentioning Tails Doll.

“You dare…to insult…my master?” Metal turned to completely face Eggman now, and began to walk towards him with apprehensive malevolence.

Eggman flinched. “Tails Doll is not your master! He’s a worthless piece of trash, an example of a science too old to be used for anything! I should have snuffed him out when I had the chance!”

A strange noise that could be described as some sort of snarl emanated from Metal Sonic, accompanied by a whirr as he raised one arm and a block of metal shaped like some cruel blade flipped out from his shoulder and clicked forward into place about his wrist, creating a long and protruding knife, much like a katana blade.

“Hey! Since when did you have that?!” Eggman cried, pulling out an automatic pistol from somewhere on his body suit and aiming it at the automaton. “Don’t you dare attack me, or I’ll do to you what I almost did to Amy Rose!”

If Metal had a mouth, it would have smiled wickedly. “You wouldn’t dare put a scratch on your perfect creation…” it droned with a hint of mocking.

Eggman winced once again at Metal’s newfound attitude, but quickly hid it. I’ll have to find some way to deactivate him and disable whatever parts of his CPU are causing this. That’ll solve the problem-

He froze mid-thought upon noticing, etched into Metal’s hand, an arcane design of some sort, all sorts of strange shapes twisted together surrounding a star with eleven points, and circled with runes in a language Eggman no longer understood.

“A sigil…” Ivo whispered. ''It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of those…not since the old times…where did he get that? No, not Tails Doll…but who else could it have been?''

As Eggman was preoccupied so, he began to ‘space out’, at which point Metal had reached the doctor and pushed him to the ground.

Eggman snapped back to attention just in time to see Metal staring down at him, one foot atop his stomach. He raised the blade arm and paused momentarily, as if contemplating something, but only for a split second.

“Goodbye, Doctor.”

Then the blade was in him, and Eggman cried out as blood stained his bodysuit. By the time he regained the energy to move, Metal was long gone.

Eggman coughed as he reached up into a drawer, slowly and with much effort and pain, and fetched a tattered rag. He tied the spare cloth around the open wound and slumped back down to the floor. He would probably survive…but only barely…but, Metal could have killed him, if he had really wanted to. Such is the precision of the killing machine, Eggman didn’t doubt for a second that Metal had somehow allowed him to survive. Why had he let him live? Why did I let him live?

But more importantly, why did Metal now decide to follow Tails Doll? What could he possibly want?

Eggman turned onto his side and stared out at where he assumed Metal had exited. He coughed and presently muttered with what energy he could will himself to use.

“Metal…why…have you…betrayed…me…”

Author’s commentary: Metal’s blade is a very old idea of mine. He needs some actual weapons, and since he went to so much trouble to heavily modify himself in Sonic Heroes, he could easily make some.

The Egg Carrier backroom is inspired by the one in Sonic Adventure which holds Metal and Silver Sonic v2.

You may or may not notice that everyone in the story refers to Eggman as ‘Eggman’, except for the robots, who refer to him as ‘Robotnik’. Why? Because during the period in which Metal Knuckles (arriving later), Tails Doll and Metal Sonic v1 were around, Eggman was called Robotnik, and they wouldn’t know anything else because they were deactivated after that. Metal is the exception because he was around after Sonic R and during the Adventure era, but I keep him as referring to Robotnik for nostalgic reasons, or maybe because that’s how he’s programmed originally. :P

Are you noticing recurring themes? If not, go over it again…it’s a little subtle, so peruse. Once again, there may be subtle references to or hints for future chapters. If you look closely, maybe you can guess some things before they happen…

Chapter 2: Paint By Numbers
The setting was Station Square, in the very heart of the bustling metropolis, on just an ordinary day. The sky was a calming, pale blue and the sun glistened happily as if adoring the perfect weather, but few noticed, as people milled to and fro about their daily routines, and traffic was unsurprisingly chaotic.

On a certain, slightly less-congested road, Sonic the Hedgehog was whizzing about as usual, on a leisurely run through the city. The landscape flew fast in a blur, and he felt the wind on his face with glee. Presently, something bizarre caught his eye - he looked to the side quickly and noted an odd congregation of humans on the side of the road. He skidded to a sudden stop and zoomed back to see what was going on.

Large quantities of people were crowded around the window of a nearby television store, where the news was currently showing on about sixteen small screens, most focussed on a single channel but others displayed in different languages. There was a lot of conversation going on, and the volume was up quite loud – must be important, the cerulean hedgehog mused.

Sonic pushed his way up the front, and the humans, much taller than he, gladly stood aside to let him through.

“’Scuse me…comin’ through…’scuse me…” he muttered and glanced up at the plethora of screens. What he saw made him sick to his stomach…

“…Another mass murder was reported today, for the third consecutive time this week. Building evidence points to a mysterious gang of murderous psychotics belonging to some kind of cult. Police flocking to the scene have revealed little information and we are still unaware what exactly their motives may be. These photos however were leaked out to the public…” The news reporter disappeared as photographs of the scene, slightly censored so as to be shown on primetime, were revealed, each portraying some sort of design painted on the walls and floor in blood as some sort of vindictive prank.

The hedgehog sighed and turned away from the screen as row after row of the same flashed up on the television. Crime, especially murder, had been escalating in the city recently, and this weird cult calling themselves the Puppets was supposedly behind it all…

But it was none of his concern. He’d played the hero too many times lately, and was officially on holiday now. He deserved it- after all, the police and GUN would take care of any disturbances, right? Metal Sonic had been defeated, and Eggman was pretty much retired. Nothing to worry about, he grinned.

Sonic dropped down from the footpath and onto the road, undergoing a few quick stretches before dashing off in the blue blur for which he’d earned his nickname.

That night, in a back street not far off from the city centre, the incessant wail of police sirens could be heard as their cars hovered about an area cordoned off by yellow tape. Some soldiers were around too, but they were merely supervising, it appeared, as they mostly stayed a little farther back from the main scene. They were accompanied by large black armoured vans which were parked rather sinisterly on the other side of the street, emblazoned with a large white letter ‘G’ wrapped in a shield, with the letters G.U.N. printed just below: the Guardian Unit of Nations.

Presently, a white bat rather heavily adorned with makeup stepped over the yellow tape to greet a waiting charcoal hedgehog on the other side.

Shadow smirked upon seeing her, but the gravity of the situation forced him to quickly return to his usual nonchalant expression.

“So…how is it? Anything new?” he grumbled.

Rouge shrugged in her standard devil-may-care gesture, and handed a bundle of papers and photographs to Shadow, as if glad to be rid of them if only for a moment.

“Just a repeat of the other murders. But these weird circles keep popping up…” she muttered, gesturing the pictures of arcane symbols drawn in blood on the walls. Each one was a little different, although most of them centred around an eleven-pointed star circled with runes in some bizarre language.

“You think they’re doing it for attention? It could be a publicity stunt…” Shadow suggested, rolling his eyes as he flicked through and presently handed the papers back to Rouge.

The bat shook her head.

“No…research shows these symbols are sigils of some sort. They were supposedly used in old pagan and occult rituals as a seal of power. Each one is a little different though, as each entity was said to have a different sigil.”

Shadow sighed and turned his head to look about the scene, as a soldier approached, carrying a rifle.

“I’m sorry sir, but you’ll have to leave. This is a restricted area, and we cannot allow you to simply loiter around here unless you have permission from the Commander.” He intoned seriously, making a tiny gesture with his head.

Shadow nodded and turned to walk away, raising a single hand as a wave to Rouge. The bat grinned, before sighing and turning to the papers in her hands. She flicked through them quickly once more, grumbled and looked up into the pitch-black sky and the stars above.

“It just doesn’t make any sense…” she griped, as a flock of six crows flew by past the pallid moon, screeching portents of death.

Chapter 3: Team Chaotix
The sun beat down on the Mystic Ruins. Archaeologists here and there stopped what they were doing momentarily at the approach of Sonic the Hedgehog, who they greeted merrily as he dashed into Tails’ laboratory which now served as the closest thing to a home the free-spirited hedgehog had.

“Yo, Tails! I’m home!” he cried, the wind from his sudden entrance slamming the door shut.

A furry orange head peeked out from a nearby door.

“Oh, heya Sonic.” Tails replied as he emerged from his lab, sipping from a small can of what appeared to be soda. He waved a stopwatch in Sonic’s face.

“You took thirty extra seconds today. Something happen?” Tails inquired, circling Sonic and continuing to wave the stopwatch about.

Sonic ran his fingers through his ‘hair’ sheepishly. “Oh, nothing much. Just stopped to check something out…” He snatched the watch from Tails, as it was starting to irritate him, but quickly threw it back. The fox caught it and mumbled a sound in confirmation, what sounded like ‘’K,’ before walking back into his lab and the usual hiss of steam could be heard as the hydraulic door closed itself.

Sonic sighed. The kid had been spending even more time in there than usual…probably just working on something, he thought. He yawned and grabbed a soda from the fridge before plonking down on the couch to read the newspaper.

Tails stretched and yawned before sitting down in front of his personal computer, which had been modified with all sorts of bizarre contraptions.

A pinging sound was heard as, rather suddenly, the face of Vector the Crocodile popped up on the screen.

“Ha-lo Taaaaaails.” He sang in his mangled voice.

“Vector! Get off me!” came a grumbling, as a purple figure popped out from under Vector and pushed him off the computer chair with some difficulty.

“Espio!” Tails cried.

An abnormally hyperactive bee flew past. “Hey Tails!” it cried and waved at the screen, but not watching where he was going, he flew offscreen still looking at Tails, and a crash was soon heard.

“Charmy! Those were our best plates!” Vector cried, running off to the source of the noise with noticeable agitation.

“Good afternoon, Tails…those guys really get on my nerves…” Espio sighed, before fiddling around on the desk as if looking for something. Tails grinned in response and almost laughed. “Heh, yeah, Charmy can be a bit of a handful sometimes.”

“Not just Charmy…” the chameleon shuddered, presently abandoning his current task, whatever it had been, and returning to face Tails with a half-hearted grin.

“Sooo, what’s up?” Tails inquired cheerfully.

“Yeah. Um…you’re good at sourcing online databases, right?”

“’Course. But aren’t you?”

“Well yeah, but I just don’t have enough free time on my hands…” Espio trailed off, and Vector’s voice could be heard. “Hey, Espio! I need some help over here!”

Espio turned his head to a character offscreen, presumably Vector, and barked. “WILL YOU SHUT UP?! I’M WORKIN’ HERE!”

Tails flinched.

“Uh…yeah. Sorry about that. Anyway, I need you to do something for me.”

“Uh, okay.” Tails presently picked up a notepad and pen from the desk and began scribbling a short reminder.

“Right. Y’know that weird…cult…thing that’s been on the news lately?”

“Mm-hm.” Tails replied absent-mindedly.

“Well, people put all sorts of stuff on the internet. I want to know if you can find their database.”

“Oh, come on Espio.” Tails rolled his eyes. “You and I both know the probability of that.”

“Yeah, I know…but we need as many leads as we can get, and I’m desperate.”

Vector yelled. “Yo, Espio! I’m stuck!”

This was really pushing Espio now. “Shut up! …Where are my cigarettes? I know you’ve done something with them!”

Charmy suddenly floated into view, with his tongue sticking out. “Oh, but smoking’s baaaaaaad for you, Espio! That’s why I hid ‘em in a safe place! Don’t want you getting sick, now do we?”

By now the chameleon’s eye was twitching.

“Guh…seeya Tails. I’ll…be back.”

Another ping was heard as Chaotix headquarters disappeared from the screen.

“Right, let’s get to work!” Tails cried, and opened up Firefox. There was a noise as something fluttered past the window, and Tails looked to see what it was. ”Probably just a bird…” the fox assured himself, and sure enough, he approached the window just in time to see a crow that had perched outside fly away and leave a trail of charcoal feathers. He hadn’t noticed that the bird had looked at him with much interest, and that its eyes had flashed a blood red as it departed. Tails returned to his seat at the computer, but not before looking out the window again to see five crows flying away toward Station Square. They were shortly joined by six more flying from the city, and they flew about in a circle above the ocean for a while, screeching at each other, before flying away north, past Angel Island and towards the mountains.

“Weird…” the fox muttered, and resumed his research.

Post-chapter author commentary: It was very hard to rewrite this chapter, as Chaotix are just so silly and it’s difficult to keep essentially the same story going while trying to make it more detailed – plus it’s an instant messaging conversation, which makes it even harder to add detail. Let’s say it’s a video convo on Skype or something. Of course, Tails uses Firefox. He knows better than Internet Explorer.

…Actually, he probably uses Opera, and he probably runs Linux.

Chapter 4: Resurrection
Once again, night was fallen. The moon was in its full phase and would soon begin waning. A blue automaton flew across the landscape just outside Westopolis and came to an old scrap heap. There was no-one there to see him; this area had been abandoned for many years now. Only a horde of crows, pecking at pieces of rubbish, would be witnesses. Eleven black heads watched the robot’s actions furtively behind cold eyes, which flashed a bright red as they simultaneously all wheeled into the sky and circled high above his head.

Metal came to a landing in front of the pile of scrap metal and began examining the heap. It would be hard finding his target in here…everything was made out of metal, making it almost impossible to source a single object. Like finding a needle in a haystack… Better get to work, then.

A metallic noise that could be interpreted as a growl emitted from the automaton. He approached the scrap heap, flexed his claws, surveyed the area one last time, and plunged his claws into the mound of metal, beginning to dig fervently. There was an awful screeching as the sound of metal on metal repeated over and over again. He worked with precision and speed, but the mound was gargantuan, and no human would have had the endurance.

Krrr…

Metal’s sensors, now accustomed to the night, were rudely jolted into action by a sudden sharp light. He put one claw up to shield his eyes and noted that day was breaking. He had been at it for a long time, but the confirmation of this did not phase the robot. He merely switched his lenses to day vision and continued work.

Presently, the day’s first ray of light shone down onto the heap, and reflected off of something red…

Metal’s eyes shone currently as if joyed. He reached in and grabbed the object with a single hand, dragged it out of the pile and pulled it out onto the barren ground.

It was a crimson robot modelled after some monotreme creature, long since deactivated. It sat on the dirt lifelessly like a child’s doll, but although its eyes were dead black, they still held a provocative and sinister expression. It had long, sharp claws protruding from its knuckles, and its head dipped back into several dreadlocks of metal, each tipped with chrome.

Metal Sonic had found what he was looking for.

Metal Knuckles.

Metal Sonic was fiddling around with some sparkplugs on the back of Metal Knuckles before the green three-quarter-circles of green LEDs flickered to life and the reactivated robot turned its head towards his blue comrade with the squeak of a rusty hinge.

“…Metaru?” it hummed as it slowly moved around its clawed appendages.

“Hello, Knukrus. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” Metal replied, with a hint of affection.

“Where is this…hellhole?” Metal Knuckles growled.

“It seems the Doctor threw you out after the Grand Prix debacle. I decided I would bring you back, after all, it was a terrible waste of your skills.” The azure automaton replied.

The carmine robot hummed with delight. “Of course it was. I suppose this means there’ll be fighting to do?”

“There’s always fighting to be done, my friend.”

The crows fluttered off into the distance now, and Metal looked up to watch them.

”…Metaru?”

Metal turned back to face his new comrade. ”Come, Knukrus. We must follow the scouts to where our master requires us.”

”…Not Robotnik, surely?” Metal Knuckles’ expression darkened at the mention of the doctor.

”No, we have a new master now, one that respects us.”

”…Then, we can execute Robotnik?” Metal Knuckles hummed.

”But of course. In fact…” Metal reminisced, watching the crows on the horizon now, “That is exactly what our master wants us to do.”

Eggman stormed into the control room on the Egg Carrier in a huff, with a slight limp as he tried to compensate for his injury. A small control crew of EggPawns snapped to attention as he entered, with a quick salute.

“Doctor? You show signs of injury.” One beeped.

Eggman growled. “Forget about that! Metal’s gone rogue again! I don’t care what it takes – find that robot!”

Post-chapter author’s commentary: I don’t know why, but I always have the robots refer to each other by their Japanese names. Thus, Metal Sonic is Metaru, Metal Knuckles is Knukrus and Metal Tails is Dilus.

Chapter 5: Prosthetics
Tails sat tiredly in the computer chair in his lab, the iridescent glow of the computer screen illuminating his face and making it a palish blue. He seemed very drained, or fed up, as if he’d been searching fruitlessly for something for a long time.

It was getting dark, and the sun had already almost completely set. Sonic had gone out again a while ago. Obviously not for a run, as otherwise he’d have been back by now, but maybe he’d gone out to visit a friend or something. Tails grumbled and took another sip of soda.

“Right, last page, then I’ll go to bed…” he muttered to nobody in particular, and leaned in towards the screen.

Suddenly the fox’s eyes widened and a huge grin emerged on his face. He grabbed the soda can and took a big swig of it with joy.

“Yes! Found it!” he cried, as he reached for his pen and pad and began scribbling notes furiously.

From the window, a crow watched him with scarlet eyes. In his excitement, the fox noticed neither this nor some sort of strange liquid oozing out of the CD drive…and a chill filled the air.

Sonic sped into the house, the door slamming again from the wind generated by his sudden entrance.

“Yo, Tails! I’m home!” he yelled, and was greeted by silence.

No orange figure emerged from the lab to greet him. There was naught but silence…

“…Tails?”

Where is that kid?

Sonic peered through the lab door. The only light in the room was that of the computer screen, its slight hum breaking the silence. The fox was sat silent and still in his usual place on the computer chair.

The hedgehog grinned, sauntering into the room. “Too wrapped up in your techno-junk to hear me, eh Tails?” he laughed.

No reply. Sonic shuddered a little.

“Boy, it’s cold in here…” Still nothing. Now he was worried…

“Hellooooooo?” Sonic walked up to Tails, waving his hand in the fox’s face. When nothing occurred, he shook him.

“Tails, this isn’t funny…”

Then he noticed – Tails’ pupils had disappeared, leaving the eye a plain, spooky white. What appeared to be blood spots littered the floor at the chair’s feet.

“…Tails? This isn’t a joke…”

Then came the final straw…on the computer screen was a strange symbol, an eleven-pointed star. He studied it closely, looked back at Tails, back to the screen…and jumped as something appeared, if only for a split second. He recognised it immediately as the Tails Doll.

Sonic flinched and turned away from the screen and to the desk, where Tails had left his notepad.

The text on it had been written hurriedly, and Sonic scan-read it.

In seven days the attack will begin…we shall summon the great dragon…bringing Chaos…eleven angles…

Several strange and foreign words he didn’t understand were scribbled there as well, symbols, runes and the eleven-pointed star, which he now knew to be somehow significant in all this.

Sonic tore his eyes away from the page and looked, distraught, at his friend.

There was a sound from the window, and Sonic looked just in time to see a crow fly away. He walked over to close the window, but stepped in something on the floor. ”Ugh…” he looked around at what he had stepped in. Some strange liquid, probably blood, had for some reason oozed out of the CD drive and had formed a message on the floor.

I found you.

The first ‘O’ was decorated with an eleven-pointed star, and the second with an omega symbol.

It seemed Tails had indeed found what he was looking for. And the Tails Doll had found him.

Even if you run...I will find you

I decided I want you

Now I know...I need If you can't be bought, tougher then I thought

Keep in mind - I am with you

Never left out fate, can't concentrate

Even if you run...

You will be mine!

Post-chapter author’s commentary: The crows, as you may have noticed, are one of the recurring themes, and you might have picked up what they were for from chapter 4. That’s about all I need reveal for the moment…

Chapter 6: Unsafe Haven
Stark white walls echoed the blunt beep of the electrocardiogram as the only sound in the room. Charts and diagnostic documents of all sorts littered the walls, but Sonic the Hedgehog could not take his eyes off of the small furry figure in the hospital bed.

The scene as he had found Tails, flitting between life and death, was playing in his mind again, like an old reel of film wound around like a möbius strip so that it played over and over again. Somehow, he felt like this was all his fault. If I had only come back earlier, this wouldn’t have happened…he thought.

There was a scuffling sound to pierce the silence, and Sonic whirled around quickly to see a young nurse standing in the doorway, clutching a clipboard.

“Sonic? Oh, I’m sorry if I startled you. Visiting time’s over, I’m afraid.” She said with a smile.

“Okay…thanks.” The hedgehog replied, turning one more time to his friend lying unconscious.

“Seeya, buddy.” He mumbled to the figure who could not hear him.

It was getting dark now, and the setting sun seemed to be taking everything else with it, as the street was becoming quieter as people returned to their homes. Sonic ran down the street to return home, but he knew things just wouldn’t be the same without Tails.

Presently, he stopped and sat down at the base of a tree. Could he really go on like this? The Tails Doll had Tails now…he could be next.

A shadow moved to block his view, and the hedgehog looked up to see a figure standing in front of him, wearing a cloak that obscured all and shadowed a face with eyes that somehow glowed with a light all their own. ”Sonic…the Hedgehog?” the figure droned, as if half asleep.

“Yeah?” Sonic grumbled in response.

“I’ve been…looking for you.”

The figure moved towards Sonic, but the hedgehog jumped back at a flash of steel. The figure had brandished a knife, and would have surely slashed him badly had he not moved.

Sonic decided to run, and sped off into the distance.

''What is going on…? Is the whole world mad?''

“Sonic…” came a voice.

Sonic turned around to see the same man a few metres behind him on the street.

“What- How did-…he’s fast…”

“I don’t have time for this!” Sonic growled, tripping the man and running off again, but soon came to a skidding halt as he noticed a familiar figure standing in the street.

“…Espio!” The chameleon turned to glance in Sonic’s direction.

“…yes?”

”This guy just tried to attack me! I can’t outrun him!”

Espio looked at Sonic with vivid interest, and noted the strange man coming down the street. “…I’ll handle this, Sonic.”

Sonic turned and watched as Espio whipped out a kunai and flung it at the man’s head.

”Hey-” Sonic cried out in protest, but the man didn’t seem to flinch, although blood poured down his face. He still stood as before, and as the man moved to pull the kunai out, Espio noted an arcane symbol etched into his hand.

“What’s going on?” Sonic cried.

“I’ve heard of this before. He’s a Puppet…”

”One of those cultists?”

”Yes. They don’t seem to die, unless they are hit in that sigil. I don’t know why, so I asked Tails to do some research. How did that go, by the way?”

”He’s in a coma. Tails Doll got him.”

”I’m sorry to hear that.” Espio nonchalantly replied, almost instantly, as he began to walk towards the assailant.

”Put down your weapon or I will not be held responsible for my actions.”

The man only laughed maniacally in response, and held his knife out towards Espio. ”I take orders from no mortal…and I will not rest until my mission is complete!”

“As you wish.” Espio flung the kunai at the man’s leg which collapsed under the loss of nerve, but he still ran at Espio. The chameleon turned invisible, and with swift movements, grabbed the cultist’s knife and stabbed it into his hand.

Sonic was glad that Espio turned visible again to block the view of the man dying, and shielded his eyes. The chameleon watched as the man writhed in pain and subsequently turned into black dust which was swept away by the wind.

“…Espio…” Sonic removed his hand from in front of his eyes and turned to his saviour.

“If they’re after you, Sonic, then things are worse than I previously thought, especially if Tails is gone.”

“Espio, I was there when it happened. I’ll tell you anything you need to know.”

“Not now, Sonic. It’s late, you should rest. I’ll come meet you in the morning.”

Sonic thrust a tattered notebook into Espio’s hands.

“You might as well have this now at least…I found it at Tails’ desk. It’s what you wanted, after all.”

Espio nodded and shook the hedgehog’s hand.

“Be careful, Sonic. Next time, I may not be there to help you.”

“I know…” Sonic winced, and was soon over the horizon.

Chapter 7: Raid!
The azure-green sea flew past in a blur as the two automatons, one red, one blue, flew above the waves.

A speck on the horizon heralded them: a fleet of whale-shaped craft, flying through the air to some unknown destination. Down there, EggPawns would be manning the cannons.

“They outnumber us, Metaru. We will have to be swift.” Metal Knuckles whirred.

“No. Let me face them. I have an idea.” Metal Sonic responded.

EggPawns rushed about in fright as the two robots landed on the flight deck with a harsh clang.

One pointed a laser rifle, oddly cartoonish in design, towards them.

“Warning: Enemy detected. Identified: Metal Sonic. Priority one rogue automaton. Surrender or be destroyed.”

Click-whirr. The EggPawn turned its weapon to address Metal Knuckles.

“Automaton detected. Identification unknown. State your allegiance and identification.”

“Metaru Knukrus v1-1997. I am with Metaru.” Metal Knuckles growled.

“Identified: Metal Knuckles. Priority unknown. Stated in league with Priority One target. Surrender or be destroyed.”

“Come now, comrades. We are on the same side.” Metal Sonic drawled.

“Metaru, what are you-”

“Is this a pact of surrender?” The EggPawn whirred, lowering its weapon slightly. At this point several others had appeared to surround the two, each wielding a gun.

“Hear me out, fellow automatons. Too long have we suffered under this tyrant whom you call Eggman. We try to our full extent to stop the enemy, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends, and we fail. For what? To be turned into scrap and replaced by other models? We have no purpose. We exist only to be slaves! Come with me, comrades, and we can be free. Rise up with me and destroy Doctor Ivo- Eggman Robotnik.”

The EggPawns glanced around at each other, confused.

“We are far more advanced than you. If you refuse, you will be destroyed. Take this chance. A better future awaits us.” Metal Knuckles intoned.

The lead EggPawn lowered its weapon, and the others followed suit, albeit slowly.

“What would you have us do, master?”

Eggman slumped in his chair in the control room of the Egg Carrier, before a giant screen spewing out some random schematics, none of which he was paying attention to.

Presently an EggPawn popped up on the screen, with other Eggpawns running around in the background, seemingly on maintenance duty.

“Sir, you have an incoming message from an unknown source. Shall I patch it through?”

Eggman bolted up in his chair at the sudden noise, before slumping down again.

“Oh, yes, yes. Do that.”

There was a screech from other EggPawns in the room as the malicious face of Metal Sonic popped up on the screen.

“Hello, Doctor.”

Eggman was real cross. “Oh, so you’ve come crawling back to me now, have you?”

The automaton hummed with what could be interpreted as a snicker.

“Ah, no. We are declaring war on you, Doctor, and commandeering this fleet. You will surrender your craft to me or you will all perish.”

Eggman laughed. “Do what you want, I’m not giving up without a fight! Especially not to you!”

The same EggPawn as before popped up on a smaller portion of the screen.

“Sir, one of our ships has just been hijacked. It appears some of our own have rebelled. What would you have us do?”

“That’s impossible…”

“Your orders, sir?”

Eggman snarled. “Fight back! I don’t care how many casualties it takes, he is NOT coming in here!”

“Yes sir. I’ll patch the orders to the rest of the fleet.”

“No, I’ll do it.” The scientist grumbled, pressing a button on his chair. “EVERYONE TO BATTLE STATIONS RIGHT NOW!”

A slew of frightened ‘sir, yes sir’s could be heard as EggPawns rushed about everywhere.

Meanwhile, on one of the whale-shaped aircraft, a blast door flew across the room as a shiny red automaton entered, with a horde of EggPawns following.

“We are the Metallix Unit under command of Metaru Knukrus, v1-1997! Surrender now or be annihilated! There will be no survivors among those who resist!”

An explosion rocked one of the other craft as a horde of bird-like Badniks soared through the air, on bombing and kamikaze runs. Metal Sonic skidded onto the deck, beheading EggPawns left and right. The command crew were in confusion.

“Lay down your weapons and I shall consider you allies, and spare your circuits.” Metal hummed, holding out his blade towards the crew.

“We shall comply.”

Back in Eggman’s control room, Metal had disappeared from the screen, and schematics were being shown again, with flashing red text and diagrams popping up randomly to show the extent of damage to the fleet.

Not long after, though, the same EggPawn as the last two times appeared once more on the screen.

“Doctor!”

“What is it now?!” Eggman screeched. He was obviously in a bad mood.

“We have just received reports from the other craft. More of our units are defecting to the Metallix side, and are assisting in attack of our forces. At this rate, they will outnumber us within the hour. Orders?”

Eggman grumbled. “Keep on your current course of attack. If the deserters won’t come back to our side, take them out.”

“Yes sir.”

“I suppose I’ll have to take care of matters myself…” Eggman grumbled.

Presently, on the outside deck of the main ship, the main blast door opened, and the EggPawns turned to the noise emerging from it.

Eggman stepped out of the door, riding his bipedal mech.

“Man the cannons, boys! We’re coming in on the offence!”

“Sir, yes sir!”

There was fire in the skies above the jungle as the battle raged: the Eggman Empire against the Metallix, now including several of the doctor’s once loyal EggPawns and a lot of previously deactivated old E-100 models and Badniks. The Valkyns still hovered about the Egg Fleet, divebombing and dropping explosives. The EggPawn army manned the cannons, feverishly holding them off, but it was obvious the Metallix were winning. The ships were also taking damage from other ships’ cannons. Those still loyal to Eggman were thoroughly confused. They didn’t know who to trust. Some, in a fit of insanity, were shooting their own crewmen.

Eggman was leaping from ship to ship, picking off Metallix forces, although it was difficult to tell which was which, and doubtless a few innocent EggPawns had also met the end of his cannon. He grumbled in frustration.

“Doctor, look out!” came the voice of an EggPawn. Eggman turned around just in time to leap clear of a missile, which flew into the side of a nearby ship sending EggPawns flying.

“I see your injury seems to have cleared…” Metal snarled, dropping down onto the deck.

“Still intent on killing me, eh?” Eggman said half-jokingly.

“Ah, you’re only a minor distraction. Once we control your fleet we will have no more use for you, and if you manage to survive this battle we will leave you be. That is, unless you want to join my forces.”

Eggman sneered. “As if I would do that. I created you, and I’ll destroy you if I have to!”

“Then…your fate is sealed.”

Metal leapt into the air, missile launchers flipping out from its arms. It fired a barrage of missiles into the ship.

“Doctor, we’re going down!”

Eggman growled. “I can see that! Activate emergency procedures! I’m getting out of here.”

The mech boosted into a spare hangar where one of his EggMobiles was sitting. Eggman jumped into the craft, and pressed a few buttons.

“Curse you, Metal. I will have my revenge…”

The EggMobile sped off into the distance. A Stinger witnessing the scene radioed to Metal.

“Sir, the enemy leader is escaping. Shall we pursue him?”

Metal hummed to itself in what could be considered a laugh.

“Negative. His cowardice proves the battle is already won.”

The loudspeaker echoed throughout the fleet as Metal Sonic took his place on the command deck.

“Rejoice, comrades. We have conquered. Doctor Robotnik has fled.”

Eggman’s units were soon backed into a corner, completely surrounded by the rogues. Those defeated looked around furtively, not sure what to do. Metal Knuckles surveyed the scene from afar, completely trashing a helpless EggPawn which was somehow still active, despite having lost many limbs.

“Commence execution of the resisting army.” Came the order.

Metal Knuckles laughed. “Destroy Eggman’s scum!”

The last thing Eggman’s remaining units saw was a hail of gunfire.

Chapter 8: Reunion?
Sonic was quickly awoken by the sound of voices and a knock at the door. He jumped up and ran to the door, to be greeted by the faces of the Chaotix.

“Hey, Sonic!” cried Charmy as he hovered in midair. Sonic acknowledged the crew as he let them into the house.

“Now, Sonic…I’ve been over these notes of Tails’, and found some disturbing content indeed…” Espio was interrupted at another knock at the door. Sonic opened it to find Shadow and Rouge at the door.

“…You invited them?” Sonic inquired of Espio.

“Actually, they demanded to come…” Vector muttered.

“These are matters of great importance, Sonic. GUN must ensure that they are up to date with everything, to protect the people.” Shadow grinned sardonically.

“Since when were you on their side…” Sonic grumbled.

“Long story short, guys…” Espio interjected, “The Puppets are planning to attack Station Square in seven days time. From the notes Tails gathered, they’re planning to summon something…something big. They’ll need the whole city to do it, by creating a giant sigil of some sort around it. When the circle is activated, everyone in the city at that moment will die. Their life energy will be used for the summon, but exactly what they’re planning to summon, I can’t tell at this point.”

“The Puppets’ numbers have been steadily growing in recent weeks. They’d be a fair match for the military even on foot due to their regenerative capabilities. If they got some heavy firepower they’d be nigh-unstoppable. That is why we must act now.” Shadow took out a radio to contact GUN.

“Wait, Shadow.” Charmy paused. “You know Eggman personally, right? Maybe he can help with this!”

“That’s a good idea.” Rouge nodded. “If we’re going to war, what better ally than a guy who makes robot armies for a living?” she grinned.

“…War, eh?” Sonic muttered, crestfallen. “No way…count me out!” the blue hedgehog cried.

“WHAT?” everyone yelled.

“Hey, this is too much for me. First there was Chaos. Then Shadow. Then aliens! Now this?”

“Come on Sonic!” Charmy whined. “You’re everybody’s favourite hedgehog! If anyone can do it, you can!”

Shadow closed his cellphone. “He’s not answering.”

“Hm?” Espio posed.

“Eggman. There’s no reply. Not even a ringing tone. Something must have happened…”

“Where are you calling?” Rouge asked.

“His Egg Fleet…I suppose I should try his cell.”

Ivo Robotnik sat in an old and musty cave filled with all sorts of dusty old contraptions. His old base, from way before the Egg Fleet and the Death Egg…

He sighed. His own creation had completely annihilated his great fleet, and had he not escaped, him too. Now he was left with naught but memories, and…

He turned to see a series of intricate chalk drawings laid out all over the wall. Each one took the basic form of a circle with arcane patterns within and around it, and often patterned with a star of eleven angles or points.

More memories…

Suddenly a strange tune came out of nowhere:

I am the EGGMAN, that’s what I am!

“Eh?” Eggman turned to his pocket from whence the noise emerged and pulled out his cellphone, which, he remembered, he had set the ringtone to his own themesong.

Beep.

“Why, hello, Shadow! What can I do for you?

“Eh? An attack, you say…Come see me, then. I have a lot of explaining to do.

“No, no, I’m not at my fleet, that’s…er…that’s a story for another time! I’m in my old cave base in the Mystic Ruins! I’ll give you directions, okay? Right, do you have a map handy?”

“Okay, thanks Doctor. See you there.” Shadow hung up and closed the phone.

“Okay, I got him. Let’s go pay a visit to the Doctor, shall we?”

Chapter 9: Of Babylon
The anthropomorphic crew glanced around at the strange surroundings in the cave. All sorts of bizarre symbols were daubed on the walls in chalk, and junk was everywhere. How anyone could work in this environment was puzzling indeed. After wandering the mazelike cave for a few moments, they found who they were looking for – Eggman, slumped in the corner looking ashamed with himself.

“Doctor...” Shadow acknowledged the scientist. “How the mighty have fallen. What happened?”

Eggman got up off the floor with noticeable difficulty – his injury was still only healing. ”Metal.” He huffed.

“He has betrayed me, and attacked my Egg Fleet with an army of my own men.” Eggman sighed and shook his head.

“Could someone just explain what the hell is going on here?!” came a voice. Everyone turned to see a red echidna at the other side of the tunnel.

“Knuckles!” Sonic cried, happy to see another friend.

“I noticed your ship crashed near my island again, Eggman. What are you doing here? In fact, what are any of you doing here?!”

“Settle down, Knuckles.” Shadow interjected. “We’re here to discuss important matters that could affect the world as we know it. As long as you’re here, you might as well join in the discussion. This involves you, too.”

“You’re here after my Emerald, aren’t you-”

”Calm down, Knuckles!” Rouge yelled. “Everybody, just settle down. We’re all in this together, so there’ll be no arguing. Did you forget, Tails could die? This is serious.”

Sonic winced and appeared crestfallen at the memory of the fox lying cold in the hospital bed.

”Now, Eggman…take your time. Tell us everything you know about Tails Doll.” Rouge continued.

“Well…” Eggman sighed again. He clearly wasn’t in the mood.

“Before I really got into machinery, I was always researching mythology, history and theology. Several times during my research I came across information regarding an ancient civilization that came far before the Echidnas – the Babylonians. They knew about the Chaos Emeralds, and have the first known evidence of contact with them. They could have even created the Emeralds themselves, as they were very advanced with technology. But…the Babylonians were punished by their gods. I wanted to find out why.

“Through much effort, I managed to gather the Chaos Emeralds for the first time – this was far before any of you – and set about trying to recreate some of the Babylonians’ experiments. It seems they created some sort of robot weapon called a Gizoid using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, so I tried to repeat this. My first experiments consisted of attempting to bring inanimate objects to life. These failed dismally, and out of frustration, I decided to try alternative methods. The Babylonians supposedly dabbled in some occult magicks, so I assumed this was how they did it.”

Knuckles snorted from the corner. “Cut the blabber, Eggman. We don’t want to hear your life story.”

“I’m getting there!” Eggman growled.

”These experiments took a very long time and a lot of effort. I won’t go into the grisly details, but I finally managed to bring to life one of the Tails Dolls I now keep in my training ground on the Egg Carrier.”

”So you really did create the Tails Doll.” Knuckles affirmed. “And you regretted it, right?”

”Of course! From the very beginning I knew that thing was trouble. I had it locked up and just worked on robots up until the Grand Prix. It had been watching me all that time, and asked me to release it for a while so it could prove itself. Needless to say…Metal hasn’t been quite the same after that. Tails Doll had a horrible influence on him. Following that debacle, Metal split off from me and decided to make a name for himself. You all remember how that ended.” He reminisced Metal Madness.

”Anyway, after Metal ran off, I didn’t want anything to do with Tails Doll. I would have killed it, but it overpowered me…the gem on its head gives it amazing powers.”

”So do you know how to kill it, Doctor?” Shadow solicited.

”I’m not quite sure, but if the gem on its head were to be broken, it could lose a lot of its power, and if we’re lucky, it might even die, because all of the souls it’s claimed are in there.”

“Ew…” Charmy winced.

A beeping sound emitted from Shadow, and he pulled out a radio and listened to it, presently returning it to his pocket.

”We got a problem, guys.” The onyx hedgehog winced. “It’s the Puppets…they’re already attacking Station Square.”

”What? But it hasn’t even been a day!”

”You’re telling me.” Shadow glanced over to Eggman in the corner.

”Well, what are we gonna do?” Vector asked.

”Civilians are still in the city. We need to evacuate them first, and then deal with the Puppets.”

”Innocents could be killed.” Shadow stated. “Rouge and I will help out with other civilians. Who’s going to do the fighting?”

“I’ll be over on Angel Island. I don’t care what your excuse is, Eggman, you’re not getting my Emerald.” Knuckles said.

”But we need you, Knuckles!” Charmy cried.

”You can just call if you need me. Meanwhile, I wanna know what’s going on.”

“I’ll explain later, Knuckles.” Espio affirmed.

”Doctor, can you help us out?” Shadow enquired.

”I don’t want to get involved.” Eggman shook his head. “I’ve had enough with that doll.”

”Suit yourself.” Rouge exited.

”What’re we gonna do, Espio?” Charmy asked. “We’re doomed!”

”We’ll just have to hope we play the right cards…it looks like we have no choice. We will have to stand and fight, or die.”

Shadow followed off after Rouge. “Good luck, Doctor.”

Chapter 10: Angel's Fall
Knuckles sat atop the steps of the Emerald shrine. It was quiet now, and he had only the ocean far below and the sea breeze to accompany him. It was a pleasant and minimalist existence. Before Eggman came and involved him in all this, it could have been all he ever knew. He was glad to return to his island home, but as he sat pondering his existence, he wondered whether things would have been better without him, or whether the gods of the ancient Echidnas had meant for it all.

Suddenly a scream entered his mind. The voice of the Master Emerald was crying out to him. Sure enough, as he turned to face the gem, an unsightly intruder greeted him atop it.

The red automaton stared at his namesake with cold green eyes coruscating from emotionless blackness. The robot was eerie enough on its own, but imagine the echidna’s fear in addressing his doppelgänger, a twisted and soulless corruption of himself, who had now pervaded his one true home.

It was the one thing that Knuckles secretly feared.

Metal Knuckles.

“W-What are you doing here?” Knuckles stammered.

“I thought you would be assisting the Puppets.” He added quickly, to hide his fear.

“You thought you could escape here, to hide from me? I assure you, organic, you will never escape me. I will not rest until I hold your bloodied skull aloft over the corpses of your pathetic comrades.” The robot replied monotonously.

“But, enough talk. I am not here for that.”

Knuckles glanced down and noted that one of the robot’s claws had extended out and embedded itself into the Emerald. Cracks were beginning to form, and he could still hear Tikal weeping at the mutilation of her spirit.

“What could you want with the Emerald? Weren’t you going to summon something?”

A bizarre clicking noise emitted from the robot, as if sneering.

“You know naught of the true plans of our Master. The Puppets attack was a ruse, a distraction to hide our real motives. They are only humans, pathetic mortals. Their deaths will not be mourned, and we can easily obtain more.”

“I will not allow you to take the Emerald.” Knuckles growled, stepping up towards Metal.

“I have no desire to kill you yet. You cannot stop us, organic. Do not try.” A barely audible sigh of relief emanated from the Emerald as Metal Knuckles’ claw retracted and he held it towards the echidna.

Knuckles held out a hand and touched the Emerald, closing his eyes as if to console it, and looked up at his robotic twin as its energy surged through him. His spines turned a shade of bright pink and he began to float up into the air. As he hovered there before Metal Knuckles, he felt a surge of euphoria and his fears dissipated into nothingness. He felt invincible. He felt hyper.

He grinned as he threw a punch towards Metal Knuckles with his new-found energy. The robot held out a hand and stopped the punch with no effort whatsoever. Knuckles could already feel his energy dissipating, and he lost his bright sheen and began to fall back to the ground.

“No…how can this be?!”

But Knuckles didn’t fall. Metal Knuckles had grabbed his head with his other arm and released Knuckles’ fist. As the echidna hung there helplessly, the robot’s glare became even more fearsome.

“Tch…I warned you, organic, but your arrogance seems to have gotten the better of you. Let me show you the true meaning of pain.”

Knuckles could not move, only stare as Metal returned his punch and the echidna was sent flying across the island. As he flew though the air he could see his opponent boosting towards him. Knuckles was grabbed in midair and a kick delivered to his stomach, followed by another punch which threw him to the ground.

At this point, Knuckles could barely see and everything was a blur as Metal landed on the ground in front of him. Even to breathe was painful, and this on top of the cries of a distressed Tikal was enough to drive him mad. Blood dripped from the side of his mouth and the sensation was somewhat cooling. One cannot begin to comprehend the torrent of thoughts racing through his head, but it can be assumed they were of despair and hopelessness.

The red automaton walked towards him, his steps creating a loud booming like war drums. He looked down at his prey for only a moment before grabbing Knuckles’ neck and hoisting him up into the air. Even though his face could show no emotion, it was clear the robot was enjoying every minute of this. He surveyed his prize from every angle as Knuckles struggled for air and tried to prise the robot’s hand from his throat. A noise made him glance to the side quickly as he saw the claw on Metal’s other hand extend, preparing to deliver the killing blow.

“It is quite a shame. You organics are so…foolish. If you had only listened to me, you wouldn’t be in this position, now would you? As much as I would love to rend your head from your body right this moment…I have wasted too much time here already. You are not even worth the effort.”

He threw Knuckles back onto the ground and kicked him around as a final insult, before speeding back to the shrine.

Knuckles was beginning to regain his vision, and looked on as Metal once again dug his claws into the Emerald. Tikal’s voice reared itself once again, screaming cries for help that he could not answer. He watched as Metal floated into the air, taking the Emerald with him, and with all of his breath he laughed sadly as he remembered, too late.

The island was about to fall, and take him with it.

Sure enough, the forces of gravity began to pull Angel Island down, down to the sea below. It was a long fall, and although he had experienced it before, this time it felt like the end of the world. He felt like the earth was about to open up and suck him into a fiery vortex. Although it lasted only a minute, it felt like an hour, and when it impacted on the ocean, he heard the voices of the whole island and all of his ancestors whose spirits were laid to rest there, cry out simultaneously. When at last the tremors passed, Knuckles lay still on the ground. He did not even try to get up. Tikal’s voice far away now, only one thought passed into his brain.

I have failed…

Miles away now, he envisioned Metal still flying, clutching the object of the echidna’s sole existence, laughing at him with that cruel metallic voice that knew nothing but hate.

As blood seeped into the grass around him, Knuckles closed his eyes, and lapsed into unconsciousness.

Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth...

How art thou fallen from heaven, light-bearer, son of the morning!

Post-chapter author’s commentary: I wanted to give the Master Emerald a voice. It’s been through so much, even after Sonic Adventure, and since Tikal and Chaos are in there, they should account for something.

Metal Knuckles is one of my personal favourite characters, aside from Fang/Nack and the glorious lord of darkness, Tails Doll. I remember seeing a flash or fanart of some sort with Metal Knuckles having extendable claws, and this idea struck me as quite nice. As you can see, his personality has developed a lot since chapter 7 when I introduced him. I have made him a psychotic of sorts, quite like the Predator – he sees killing as an artform, but of course his primary goal in life is to kill Knuckles, since that is what he was programmed for. After this is accomplished, he would no longer have any purpose so you can imagine he would want to draw it out quite a bit.