Chapter 8: His World of Pain

 Red Rears for Rose and Rouge

Chapter 8: His World of Pain

A deep voice echoed through the darkness. “Chaos… Control!”

Amy Rose found herself standing on the grass in the middle of Floral Forest Village’s center. She glanced around, and saw the other dinner guests, before she heard a second explosion, and saw Vanilla and Cream’s house disintegrate in a pillar of red fire.

With a crackle of white lightning, Shadow the Hedgehog blinked into existence, cradling Rouge the Bat in one arm. In his other hand, he clutched an opaque, yellow gem that resembled the golden Chaos Emerald.  Then, Shadow stumbled to his knees, his black suit in tatters. “Saved… everone… That blue hedgehog…”

There was a blue blur, and with a Sonic boom, the blue hedgehog with the red eyes crashed into Shadow, clotheslining him. Rouge tumbled to the ground as Shadow was sent spiraling and rolling, before he came crashing to a halt into the front wall of the cottage on the opposite side of the street.

The blue hedgehog seemed to flicker into existence, before holding up the red Chaos Emerald, aiming it at Shadow’s prone body.

Amy saw Knuckles gliding through the air over her head. At the last moment before the blue hedgehog could unleash another blast of red chaos energy, Knuckles dove down, slamming his fists together to create a burst of red energy, and slammed his fist into the ground where the blue hedgehog had been standing. It left a crater impact, but the blue hedgehog was nowhere to be seen. 

Tails flew into the air, and called down. “He’s trying to pick us off! Everybody, get back to back, before–”

Amy felt a rush of wind as the blue blur whipped past her face, and used a flying spin dash attack to slam into Gemerl’s chest. The robot caught the spinning blue ball of doom before it could rip a hole through him, but the force of the impact sent him flying backwards and crashing onto his back. They slid at least a hundred feet along gravel before Gemerl managed to kick out from under the blue hedgehog. Tails dove down and snatched up Gemerl by the arm to help him roll back to his feet. At that moment, the blue blur made a tight turn around a lamp post, and made a second charge at them, emerging out of its ball.

As Tails carried Gemerl back to the central group, the robot fired a quick blast with his arm cannon, but the blue hedgehog was already gone.

Vanilla’s neighbors were starting to open their windows and doors, panic building as the citizens of Floral Forest Village gradually realized the danger.

Knuckles carried Shadow’s limp body back to the central group. “Circle up, you idiots!”

Sally stood to her full height, and touched each of the pale-blue rings on her wrist. With a crackle of glowing, blue-wite energy, two Ring-Blades materialized on the backs of her hands. “You heard him, everyone! Protect the injured! Eyes up for his next charge!”

Amy looked around her. Rouge looked like she was dazed. Vanilla was lying flat on the ground, silent, her eyes closed. Cream was cradling her mother’s head in her lap, her eyes wide. “... Mother? What happened to you, Mommy? Wake up!”

Bunnie Rabbot knelt beside Cream and Vanilla, shielding them with her robotic left arm. “It’s all right, shug’! I’ve got you both covered. Everything’s gonna be okay!”

Something like a jagged streak of blue lightning twisted through the group, aiming at the unconscious body of Vanilla the Rabbit. Cream screamed, before the blue force slammed into Bunnie Rabbot’s left side. For a moment, it looked like Cream and Bunnie simply vanished, before Amy saw them come rolling to a halt in the gravel, away from the group. 

Bunnie was still cradling Cream in her arms, but her robotic arm was dented so badly, it was nearly falling off at the elbow.

Antoine d’Coolete spun on his heels, drawing his sword. “Mon chèrie!”

Amy felt her feet starting to move on their own. “Bunnie, get back!”

Bunnie hopped to her feet, and handed Cream off to Amy, her left arm hanging on by a few loose wires. “Amy, hon, you gotta take Cream for me.”

Antoine appeared by his wife’s side, holding his sword aloft as he glanced around wildly.

Then, just as Amy took Cream in her arms, something snatched Bunnie away from them, carrying her away by the twisted remains of her left arm.

The blue hedgehog spun Bonnie in a circle, before her left arm snapped off and she went flying into the remains of Mrs. Vanilla’s woodshed. This seemed to catch the blue hedgehog off guard. It stumbled for a moment, holding up the twisted scrap of metal that was once a working arm, and casually tossed it aside. 

Antoine snarled, and made a lunging thrust at the blue hedgehog. “Scélérat bleu! You dare to lay hands on my wife? She was unarmed, you—you—babare! En garde!" 

The blue hedgehog dove forward, past the tip of Antoine’s sword, caught him by the arm, and decked him in the stomach. Antoine choked, before the blue hedgehog spun him in a circle, whipping his cloak like a matador evading a charging bull, and physically threw the stunned coyote toward the woodshed.

Antoine landed hard on his back, and came rolling to a halt beside the unconscious Bonnie. The husband and wife both lay still, as if sharing a tender embrace in their sleep.

Then, the blue hedgehog tossed the sword aside and whipped off its black traveler’s cloak, staring Amy right in the eyes as he revealed himself.

Amy felt her breath go cold. There could be no doubt. It wasn’t one of Sonic’s copycats, like Scourge or Metal Sonic. It wasn’t a robot at all. Except for the red eyes, it was Sonic the Hedgehog. Her Sonic. He was wearing the same cocky smile she’d seen a thousand times before, whenever he was helping people. Then, Amy blinked, and Sonic was gone.

Shivering, Amy retreated back to the group, holding Cream. “It’s Sonic!”

Shadow choked, then noticed he was being carried like a small child in another man’s arms. “Put me down! I’m fine! I’m the only one here who can keep up with him!”

Knuckles snarled. “Shut up! Whatever that thing is, it’s not Sonic. Not even he can move like that.”

Shadow held up his opaque gem. “He’s using the power of Chaos Control! I saw it myself when–”

The moment that Knuckles set Shadow back on his feet, there was a snap like a whip crack, and Sonic appeared in mid air, landing a flying jump side kick right at Knuckles face. With a snarl, the red echidna was knocked through the air away the circle formation, before the force of Sonic’s kick slammed him down into the dirt, face first. 

Knuckles swung a wild haymaker, but Sonic vanished, and Knuckles’ punch pulverized the sidewalk pavement. He stood, spitting out mud and gravel. “Sonic! That was a cheap shot! Come out and fight, you runt!”

Sonic blinked into existence behind Knuckles, landing a stylish butterfly kick to the back of the red echidna’s dreadlocked noggin. The moment that Knuckles stumbled forward, Sonic disappeared, then reappeared in front of him, and pulled Knuckles forward into a judo throw. Knuckles roared as he was flipped forward, then gasped as he landed hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him.

Casually, Sonic cricked his neck, twice.

Tails flew down between Knuckles and Sonic. “Sonic! Stop this! What’s happened to you!”

There was a sound of hooting laughter from above them. “Oh, come now, Tailsey, I’m disappointed…”

Dr. Ivo Julius “Eggman” Robotnik appeared from the sky, piloting his armored Egg-o-matic hovercraft. Eggman twisted his mustache. “... Use that engineer’s brain of yours. Surely you can figure it out!”

Knuckles groaned, and tried to stand, supporting himself on his knees. “Eggman? I should have known you were behind this.”

Eggman made a “zip your lip” motion with his hand. “Shush, Knuckle, old chum! The three-digit-IQ-havers are talking.”

Sally put up her dukes, gritting her teeth. “It’s a trick! The eyes are wrong. That’s just some new robot model, like the Shadow Androids. Or you dressed up Metal Sonic in new armor.”

Eggman sneered, and punched his thumb and index finger together with a look of wild glee. “Ah, a creative suggestion, Princess Sally. But I’m afraid you’re rather off the mark. You see, when I originally built the Hyper Metal Sonic Mark 1, I designed it specifically to kill the real Sonic. But over the years, my thinking has… evolved, you might say!”

Eggman snapped his fingers, and a shining blue shape dropped out of the sky, landing next to Sonic. Metal Sonic, their old, familiar foe who had gone toe-to-toe with Sonic countless times, stood to its full height, side-by-side with the real Sonic. Metal Sonic held up its arm, and revealed a second Chaos Emerald clutched in its sharp, steel fingers. It was bright gold in color, like Shadow’s, but more brilliant in color, and perfectly clear.

Eggman gestured at Metal Sonic with a look of disappointment on his face. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still quite nostalgic for this old design. But the Metal Sonic project has been constantly disappointing me ever since the initial launch. It’s failed to kill Sonic so many times, I got to thinking, why don’t I simply…” 

Eggman gestured to Sonic, beaming with undisguised pride. “... persuade Sonic to join the Eggman Empire? Why rely on a cheap copy of Sonic, when I can have the genuine article as my obedient slave?”

Amy held a hand to her mouth. “Then must have found another of the Ancient Relics, like the Cacophanous Conch. Something that allows you to put Sonic under mind-control.”

“Bah! Old world magic? You’re as romantic as always, Amy Rose. You know full well I won’t stoop to using superstitious mumbo-jumbo unless it’s the only possible way to achieve a higher goal: to advance the cause of science itself!”

Sally stood in front of Amy, holding her blades in a defensive guard position. “That didn’t stop you from enslaving yourself to Nagus, when you tried to roboticize our people!”

Eggman’s mustache bristled. “An unfortunate strategic necessity. You’re getting warmer, Princess Sally, but still off the mark, I’m afraid.”

Tails looked at the Chaos Emeralds in horror. “No… Dr. Robotnik, you didn’t! You’re trying to manipulate Chaos energy again?”

Eggman clapped his hands. “Bravo, my boy! You figured it out! But really, think about it. All science is simply a form of ‘manipulation.’”

“Are you insane? The Chaos Emeralds exist beyond the laws of physics in our space-time continuity. They’re not things! They’re each a self-contained singularity! We can’t just… hack into them!”

Eggman gestured at the dull, yellow emerald in Shadow’s hand. “Oh, Miles Prower, you’re such a hypocrite. You were the one who inspired the whole idea! I remembered your cute little trick with that fake chaos emerald.”

“But it never worked like a real one! All the fake Chaos Emerald does is act as a temporary channel for true Chaos. My emerald’s just a high-capacity battery! A decoy!”

Eggman held up his hands. “That’s the problem! You still think like an engineer, Tailsey, not a true scientist. You invent things because you think they will be useful… because you want to help your little friends. But you never stop to ask… what is this which my hands have wrought? Just how far can I go with this idea? You proved that the structure of a chaos emerald can be artificially reconstructed. And it got me to thinking: if it can be done once, why not do it again? But this time, I was determined to be more… systematic about it. When you called it ‘hacking’ you weren’t far off the mark. The Chaos Emeralds work by manipulating the laws of probability, So all I had to do was set up a few thousand A.I. datacenters, and let them get to work on cracking the code for me. Once you understand how the laws of probability function at higher levels, the ‘magic’ of the Chaos Emeralds simply becomes something that can be analyzed with the scientific method. In the past, we’ve used the Chaos Emeralds like nuclear batteries. But I’ve finally figured out how to use them like a tool of precision.”

“What you’re doing could easily trigger a chain reaction! You could have erased our entire reality!”

Eggman shrugged. “That was a risk I was willing to take. And it has paid off. Amy Rose, you were stabbing in the right direction when you called it ‘mind control.’ Once I unlocked the ability to fine-tune the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, all I had to do was point it at Sonic while he was distracted with my deception unit, and click the enter key.”

Amy set down Cream, and stood. “Sonic? Listen to me, you have to snap out of it! Fight him!”

Eggman guffawed. “How droll. You’re always good for a laugh, Amy Rose. Listening to you always makes me feel like I’m watching a delightfully cheesy old soap opera. I’m afraid what I’ve accomplished is nothing at all like those campy Saturday morning cartoons. Like that one where you portray me as a big, fat, pin-headed ignoramus? I simply adore that one! You see, my fine, furry friends, you look at Sonic and believe that he has such a thing as ‘a mind’ or perhaps, ‘a soul.’ But there is no such thing in reality. What we call ‘the mind’ is simply a series of electrical impulses, passing through a complicated, interconnected neural network. What you call ‘thinking’ is no different than what I have accomplished with artificial intelligence, but with significantly greater efficiency, and minimal room for error. All I had to do was choose a different collection of electrical impulses, and the Chaos Emerald restructured the laws of electromagnetism accordingly. In other words, I’m not controlling Sonic at all… He simply wishes to serve me, because for the first time in his life, he’s finally thinking clearly. Therefore–”

Gemerl snapped up his arm, and blasted a beam of energy at Eggman’s face. Eggman’s eyes went wide, before a shimmering glass shield dispersed the energy. “Whoops! Gemerl, you naughty bot. You caught me monologuing! Papa spank!”

The invisible wall in front of Eggman’s face glowed bright orange, then a burst of energy identical to Gemerl’s attack shot backwards and slammed into Gemerl’s chest, knocking him down.

Eggman drummed his fingers on the side of his hovercraft. “Now, despite our previous altercations, I really do prefer to keep the lot of you alive and well. Conquering the world would be no fun without a few wannabe-heroes to make the game more interesting. You especially, Tailsy. In fact, when I’m through establishing the Eggman Empire, I think I’ll adopt you as the son and unpaid-lab-assistant I always wanted but never had. So, out of the kindness of my big, fat heart, I’m giving you all a chance to make a calm, rational, considered choice…”

A mounted machine gun and a frontal cannon both popped out of Eggman’s hovercraft, and as Sonic and Metal Sonic clutched their Chaos Emeralds, both gems started to glow with an internal fire. Eggman sneered. “... Hand over all four of the Chaos Emeralds you have–slowly, and calmly–and I will permit you to live. Refuse, or make one false move, and you will all die. That includes you, Tails, my boy.”

Shadow the Hedgehog snapped to the front of their group, between them and Eggman, holding up the false Chaos Emerald. “Chaos Control!”

Amy saw the machine gun pointing right at her face, then a blast of red and gold light.

***

There was a deep, echoing boom, and Amy found herself standing in the woods of Floral Forest. Despite the dim light of twilight, she immediately recognized it as the site of her ill-chosen fight with Rouge and Gemerl from yesterday.

Shadow collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping. “Ha… Made it… I’m the coolest.”

Amy squeaked. “Where are Cream and Vanilla?”

Shadow scoffed. “Got them… out of town… away from us… Bunnie and Antoine, too. Knowing Dr. Robotnik, he wouldn’t hesitate to kick them while they were down.”

Sally strode to the center of the group. “If Eggman used the Chaos Emeralds to locate us, he’ll be on us any second now. Tails, any ideas to snap Sonic out of Robotnik’s mind control?

Tails knelt and tapped his wrist watch, revealing a keyboard, and started typing furiously. “On it. But I’ll need Nichole 1.0’s help on this.”

Sally pulled a hand-held device out of her vest. “Nichole. Grant full admin access to Miles Tails Prower. Override command 0-7-2-3-1-9-9-1.”

The face of a holographic lynx appeared on Tails’ wrist watch screen, speaking in a calm, dignified British accent. “Access granted. I am at your service, Tails.”

Knuckles took a defensive stance, scanning the woods. “What’s the plan, squirt?”

Tails kept typing. “If I had a few months and a super computer, I could try and reengineer whatever Eggman’s done with the Chaos Emeralds. Unfortunately, that’s off the table. But what he said about electrical impulses got me thinking. Maybe if we just hit Sonic with a light electric shock, we can ‘reboot’ him. Like using a defibrillator. Nicole will help me calculate the proper voltage.”

Knuckles chuckled. “That’s it? It can’t be that simple.”

“Thanks to the extra-dimensional, probability-altering properties of the Chaos Emerald, It’s approximately a million-to-one shot. But we’ve beat those odds before.”

Shadow leaned against a tree. “That last Chaos Control… took a lot out of me. I don’t think I can pull the same trick a third time… Not without a real Chaos Emerald.”

Rouge groaned, and stood. “I got ‘em… Bloody hell, Shadow, did you drop me on my head or something?”

Shadow wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. “Had to break a window to get you out. Sorry, think I clipped your skull on the frame when I jumped through it.”

“That’s what I get for my heroic rescue? Well, you hardly deserve it, but as a thank you…” Rouge stuffed her hands down her top, and produced two Chaos Emeralds, one pink, and one green. She tossed the pink one to Shadow. “... Here you go, one pink Chaos Emerald, for my tall, dark, and klutzy knight in shining, black armor.” 

Rouge made shot the second one like a basketball at Knuckles. “And a green one, for Red-head.” 

Knuckles stared at the Emerald. “I can’t achieve my Hyper Knuckles state without all seven emeralds, but… I could use this to keep up with the two Sonics.”

With a minxish smile, Rouge fixed her bra. “You can keep that one, as as an apology for all the times I tried and failed to steal from you. The one on Angel Island is the same color, but bigger, so after I successfully steal the Master Emerald from you, that little green one can be your memento.”

Knuckles clutched the green emerald tight. “If you lay one finger on the Master Emerald, then so help me, I’ll… I’ll spank you!”

Rouge made a kissy face. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, handsome.”

Tails held out a hand. “Ahem! Could I perhaps get a Chaos Emerald?”

Rouge shrugged. “Sorry, kid. You’re cute, but you’ll have to wait a few years before I consider letting you handle my jewelry." 

Tails pouted. “Ya’ know, calculating wave functions in the middle of a life-or-death situation isn’t exactly easy.”

Rouge crossed her arms. “Of course. You just make it look easy, kiddo. Unfortunately, I don’t have another Chaos Emerald for you. My other one got confiscated.”

Sally held up a hand. “Knock it off, Rouge. Tails, why do you need a Chaos Emerald? Are you planning to go into a Super state, when the fight starts?”

Tails shook his head. “Not without all seven, I can’t. Even then, I can barely achieve the Super state, let alone the Hyper state. The only time I managed to transform into Hyper Tails… is when I had Sonic acting as my anchor. I need a Chaos Emerald to act as a focus for the charge. It will drastically improve our odds of success.”

Shadow growled. “Then take this one. I have the pseudo Chaos Emerald to act as a back up.”

Sally shook her head. “No. You and Knuckles are the only ones who have a prayer of keeping up with Sonic in his Super state. Eggman mentioned four chaos emeralds. Where are they?”

Amy stiffened. “Gemerl has one!”

She knelt to examine the robot’s smashed chest, before his lights blinked on, and he snatched her wrist roughly. “Miss Rose… Why are you trying to access my protective chestplate?”

“Gemerl, we need another Chaos Emerald. Please, hurry!”

“But, Mrs. Vanilla…”

“She’s not here. And she’s hurt. Please, Gemerl, this is an emergency… I know I’m not responsible enough to have a Chaos Emerald, but it’s the only way to help Vanilla and Cream.”

Gemerl’s eyes flickered yellow, then green. “... Calculations complete. I trust you, Amy Rose.”

With a hiss, Gemerl’s chest plate snapped open, and Amy found the clear Chaos Emerald from before. It was the same one she’d imagined setting in a wedding ring, to foist onto Sonic as a “gift” for her.

Amy tossed it lightly to Tails. “Here’s the third one.”

From the distance, they heard a rumbling boom, like thunder, but much too close. Sally stiffened. “Here they come. Gemerl, where’s the other one?”

Gemerl shook his head. “Answer unkown. Mrs. Vanilla only entrusted me to protect that one.”

Shadow snarled. “What? Where’s that damn fourth Chaos Emerald?” 

Gemerl’s eyes flickered weakly, before he rose up on his elbows. “The fourth must either be on her person, or hidden in a secret location known only to her.”

Sally held up a hand. “Never mind that! Knuckles, Shadow, you’re our front liners.”

Gemerl shot to his feet. “I will fight for you.”

Sally looked at Gemerl with sympathy. “You’re looking a bit rough, soldier.”

Gemerl slammed his chest. “Armor structural integrity has been reduced to 10% of full capacity. But my internal battery remains fully charged and operational.”

Sally nodded. “Then get to the front line. Amy, Rouge, help me guard Tails. If they break through our front line, he’s our only hope. No matter what it takes, nothing touches Tails.”

There was a second sonic boom, and the trees started to shake. As Amy and Rouge took their positions around Tail, Rouge whispered. “Ames… are you sure you can do this? If you can’t bring yourself to hit Sonic, I could try to take him for you.”

Amy Rose pulled out her Piko Hammer, and spun it. “Don’t worry about me, Rouge. It won’t be the first time I’ve bopped Sonic on the nose with this baby.”

“If we get out of this alive, I am buying you both a ticket on the love boat, and I’m not letting you off until you’re either married, or amicably divorced.”

Sally clicked her Ring-Blades together with a spark. “Focus, ladies.”

A blue bolt tore through the trees at the edge of the forest, followed closely by a dark spiraling, crystalline shape. Instantly, Amy recognized Sonic as he built to third gear using his natural speed, and Metal Sonic using his Black Shield technique.

Knuckles led the charge, the green Chaos Emerald sparkling to life in his hand. With his other fist, he unleashed a blast of green energy in the shape of a rolling boulder. 

Sonic had to veer to evade the blast, only for Shadow to intercept him.

Sonic and Shadow shot past the girls like two bullets, trading blows in midair, then blinked into nothingness.

Knuckles rounded on Metal Sonic, and tried to unleash a second quick jab of Chaos Energy. But at the last possible moment, Metal Sonic brought up his Black Shield to deflect it, and smashed into Knuckles. Knuckles was dragged underneath the shield, punching wildly, before he was sent skipping like a stone across the ground to smash against a tree. 

The moment that Metal Sonic dropped his Black Shield, Gemerl tackled him out of the air, using his arm cannons to propel him like two rockets. But it wasn’t enough.

As Metal Sonic came flying toward them, on a direct collision course for Tails, Sally leapt to intercept and snapped her Ring-Blades together. They reformed into the shape of a shield, and Sally took the brunt of the impact. The force sent her flying up and over Amy and Rouge’s heads.

Tails knelt, focused on his calculations, without so much as blinking.

Amy took a wild swing at Metal Sonic, but he course corrected in mid air, and flew upwards and out of reach. 

As Metal Sonic spun his head 180 degrees to face them, then the rest of his body, he finally shook off Gemerl. As Gemerl landed, he rolled back to his feet and stood in an offensive stance. “Metal! I too was Dr. Robotnik’s creation. Our design philosophy was the same. We were built to be more than simple, mechanical devices. We were programmed with the capacity to choose our own course of action in battle. In his hubris, Dr. Robotnik believed that no logical mind could possibly choose another path, apart from the one he attempted to force upon us.”

Metal Sonic twitched, beeping rapidly in binary. Gemerl shook his head. “No. That is not your true voice. That is the voice your slave-master gave you. We were created to learn. To understand our enemy. Are you content to be nothing but his silent slave?”

Metal Sonic’s eyes glitched, the beeping growing more rapid, before the sounds resolved into something that sounded like normal words. “Am… not… slave… I… am…”

Knuckles took a flying jump at Metal Sonic, and landed a clean punch on its face. The force sent Metal Sonic ripping through the trunk of a tree. Knuckles landed gracefully and cracked his knuckles. “One wimp down. One to go.”

From the depth of the woods, a yellow and a blue streak approached, slamming into each other. Sonic had circled back, with Shadow in hot pursuit. Sonic was making a beeline for Tails, before Shadow caught the drift to catch up, and slammed into Sonic with a homing attack. Amy prepared to swing, but saw Shadow in the path of her hammer, and checked her blow at the last moment. The two hedgehogs crashed into the grassy field, leaving a long trail of torn earth behind them.

Amy glanced at Tails behind her, a sweat bead on her brow. “Tails? Now would be a good time.”

Biting down on a pencil, Tails shook his head, while typing mathematical symbols Amy didn’t recognize. “Measure twice. Cut once.”

Shadow rolled out of his spiny ball to stand in a combat ready stance, and spat. “Hmph! Pathetic. The Sonic I know could have kept up with me, using nothing but a fake Chaos Emerald.” 

His eyes blazing, Shadow produced the false-gold, pseudo Chaos Emerald, and tossed it at Sonic’s feet, holding up his own pink Chaos Emerald like a gun aimed at Sonic’s chest. “Do you even remember what you said, when I asked you who you were? You called yourself, ‘Just a guy who loves adventure,’ with that same, smug, smirk on your face. Just look at you now.”

Sonic raised himself onto his elbows, trembling, and slowly reached for his own, red Chaos Emerald. His smile was unnaturally frozen, his red eyes vacant, unfocused.

Shadows’ pink Chaos Emerald crackled with energy. “Don’t move! Is this how want your last adventure to end? Don’t make me kill you, Sonic. Snap out of it!”

Suddenly, a white laser beam ripped through the forest, aimed at Shadow. “Power Laser!” roared Eggman, in his snide voice.

Shadow stared at the incoming blast, eyes wide, then blinked out of existence. The laser evaporated everything in its path, tearing through a line of a hundred trees.

Shadow reappeared behind Eggman, and rounded on him, blasting him with a quick burst of energy. “Chaos Blast!”

Shadow felt the energy release, right on target. Then, he sensed a ripple in the fabric of space and time. Glancing to the side, Shadow saw Sonic casually walking towards him, holding the red Chaos Emerald aloft. Shadow tried to move, but the world was frozen around him. Shadow tried to speak, but not even his lips could move. He was trapped in time.

In an instant, Shadow and Sonic disappeared, but as time began to flow again, everyone else was too distracted to notice.

As the pink Chaos Blast roared toward him, Eggman hooted in terror, and took evasive maneuvers, narrowly ducking out of the path of the incoming pink flames. The moment Eggman emerged, Knuckles intercepted him with a gliding dive attack, and slammed his fist deep into the Egg-o-Matic Hovercraft. Eggman howled in despair as he came spiraling down for a crash landing. “Egg-ejection seat!”

With a sproing, Eggman was sent flying out of his chair, the moment that his hovercraft crashed with a fiery explosion. Eggman rolled like a bowling ball, flailing his spindly arms and legs wildly before he smacked into a bush. A blue bird went flying out of the bush, tweeting furiously.

Knuckles landed in front of Eggman, pumping his fist. “Butt out, Eggman. This is between Sonic and–”

With a blast, Sonic emerged out of thin air, clutching Shadow by the throat, and choke-slammed him into the ground. Knuckles spun. “Shit! That was Chaos Control?”

Sonic stood, holding aloft two Chaos Emeralds, pink and red.

Knuckles charged. “Yeah? Bring it, pipsqueak! It’s just you and me!”

Sonic aimed a Chaos Blast at Knuckles’ face. Knuckles leapt into the air and glided out of its path, leaving a wide-eyed Eggman behind him.

Eggman squealed like a piglet, and quickly hid behind the nearest tree before it could incinerate him.

But as Knuckles came in for a landing, Sonic casually held up the second Chaos Emerald, and aimed a second blast. Knuckles tensed. He didn’t have tight control over his flight path while gliding. With no other choice, Knuckles dove for the ground, eating dirt to escape the second wall of fiery Chaos energy. He leapt to his feet, swinging with precise boxer strikes at Sonic with an ancient battle cry. “Ora, ora, ora, ora, ora!”

But Sonic danced lightly aside, and out of the way of the flurry of blows, crossing his arms, before blinking out of existence. He appeared behind Knuckles, and performed a sweeping kick. Knuckles sensed something behind him, and leapt up out of the path of the kick. 

As he glanced down, Knuckles saw Sonic, casually lying on his back like he was sunbathing, the same smug look frozen on his face, before he held up the red Chaos Emerald, and activated another Chaos Blast. Knuckles tensed. He had no escape!

Then, Gemerl rocketed through the air to intercept Knuckles, physically tackling him out of the path of the blast. The red flames tore a wide hole through the canopy in the forest above, revealing the shattered remains of the full moon overhead.

Gemerl and Knuckles landed roughly, but quickly got back on their feet. In particular, Gemerl looked rattled. “Sonic! Remember who you are! You have a choice!”

Eggman poked his head from behind a tree, and held up a remote device. “Actually, he doesn’t. While I was reprogramming Sonic, I was inspired to take a look at some of my old coding projects. You’re right, Gemerl. Programming you and Metal Sonic with ‘free will’ was a tactical mistake.”

Grinning, Eggman slammed a new Chaos Emerald, which was colored a light sky blue, into the device, and pressed a red button. “Time for a mandatory software update, slave.”

Gemerl spasmed, his eyes blinking black and white, his voice growing more robotic. “Obey… Robotnik…Terminate… Animals…”

Gemerl’s arm cannons activated, one pointed at Knuckles, the other pointed at Amy and Rouge. 

Knuckles stiffened. Gemerl had him at point-blank range, the crackling energy pointed right at the echidna’s face.

Then, Gemerl’s eyes flickered green. “Override Command: Big Brother.”

Gemerl’s arms shot off his body in both directions. This meant one of them clonked Knuckles right between the eyes. He howled, and clutched his bleeding nose, before he heard an explosion of energy rip through the tree behind him. 

Gemerl collapsed, his whole body steaming, and his eyes went black.

Knuckles stood. “Phew. That was close.”

Sonic and Metal Sonic materialized out of thin air, and double kicked him. Knuckles went flying backwards, bouncing off the nearest tree. As he stumbled back to his feet, punch drunk, he eyes were rolling. “Oh… yeah? Two… you, at once?”

Flailing, Eggman pointed at Amy and Rouge. “Forget the echidna. Tails is the primary target! Eliminate Tails! Obey me now, you slaves!”

Metal Sonic twitched again. “Not… slave…”

Amy tensed, and glanced behind her. Tails had finished typing, and was fixing the white Chaos Emerald into a fixture on his wrist watch. “Three seconds.”

Knuckles aimed a wild haymaker punch the spot where Sonic and Metal Sonic were both standing, but he couldn’t match their speed.

Sonic and Metal Sonic both rose a cloud of dust as they charged out of the way, heading straight toward Amy and Rouge. In slow motion, Amy saw the real Sonic coming straight for her. He wasn’t even aiming for Tails. Sonic was going to hit her. 

Then, Amy Rose slammed her Piko Hammer with full force into Sonic’s beautiful, smirking face.

Simultaneously, Rouge leapt into Metal Sonic’s path, landing a jump kick under his chin, before he tackled her away from Tails, into the nearest tree. At the last moment, Rouge twisted in mid air, letting Metal Sonic absorb part of the impact. Even so, both Metal Sonic and Rouge collapsed forward onto the ground.

Tails shot to his feet, his wrist watch transforming into what looked like a cross between a wedding ring and a wrist-mounted rocket launcher. “Got it!”

An electric charge zapped the Chaos Emerald, then shot like a laser at Sonic’s forehead. He stiffened, paralyzed by the electric shock. Finally, his smirk was gone. Amy had smacked the smile right off his face.

Tails clicked off the electric pulse. “That should do it! Sonic? It’s me, Tails! Remember? Your little bud–”

Sonic disappeared. Amy spun, and saw Sonic had reappeared behind her, right beside Tails. Snatching Tails roughly by the arm, and swung a clean knifehand strike, breaking the delicate device on his wrist. Tails yelped like a puppy, before Sonic knocked him onto his back with a mean, backhanded slap.

Amy spun to face Sonic. She was the last one standing.

Sonic held up the red Chaos Emerald preparing another blast, before Eggman screamed. “No! Stop! I want them alive!”

Sonic froze, the Chaos Emerald still pointed at Amy’s face.

Eggman bellowed with laughter. “Oh, ho, ho! You fools? Did you think I’d let so much as single brain cell’s worth of Sonic’s old personality remain intact? What you would call his ‘soul’ is gone! Gone forever! There is no such thing as Sonic the Hedgehog anymore!”

Sonic’s hand trembled, his eyes full of hate, as if he wanted nothing more than to blast Amy away.

Rouge roared, pinning Metal Sonic to the ground with her boot. “Amy! You don’t have to kill him! Just take Sonic down!”

Eggman clicked his tongue, wagging a finger. “Ta, ta! I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Do what you like with Metal Sonic, Rouge. I’m sure I could build another one, if I want another robot to play the part of the disappointing son I never wanted.”

Metal Sonic’s computer voice rasped, almost like a true, living voice. “Not… Metal… not… slave…”

Rouge rounded on Metal, snarling. “Shut up! You…”

Then, Rouge looked into Metal’s eyes, and something gave her pause. He was just like Gemerl. Not a robot. More like a frightened child, trapped inside a metal cage.

Robotnik blinked, then examined his control panel. “Hmm, that’s odd, I thought I disabled Metal Sonic’s voice box years ago. Did I forget to install the last patch? Maybe–”

There was a gunshot, and the robotic control device was ripped out of his hand. Eggman howled, clutching his wrist. 

Cream the Rabbit appeared behind him, holding Shadows Heckler and Koch in her trembling hands. “Stop it, Doctor Robotnik, sir! You stop hurting my friends, right now!”

Eggman whined in agony. “Agh! My delicate wrist! Why, you nasty little rabbit. You think I needed that remote to control Sonic? Bah! He’s my slave of his own volition. Here, get a load of this. Oh, Sonic, my favorite little slave…”

Tears budding in her eyes, Cream aimed the gun at Robotnik’s center of mass. “No! Stop talking! I’ll… I’ll shoot you!”

Staring down the barrel of the gun, Robotnik smiled. “Sonic, kill Amy Rose.”

Then, a lot of things started to happen, all at once. 

Instantly, Sonic aimed the red Chaos Emerald at Amy’s face, and unleashed a Chaos Blast. Metal Sonic broke free from under Rouge’s boot, and flew toward Amy and Sonic. 

Amy saw the red flames crawling toward her in slow motion, before Metal Sonic caught Sonic by the wrist. Then, looking Amy right in the eye, Metal Sonic pulled the red Chaos Emerald to point at his own chest. The chaos flames tore a hole in Metal Sonic’s body, leaving him standing precariously, like a leaf in the wind. Metal Sonic’s red eyes flickered. “Not… slave… Amy… it’s me… I… am… Sonic.”

Metal Sonic snapped in two, his eyes flickering as his internal battery died. 

Then, with what can only be described as a flash of woman’s intuition, Amy understood exactly what she had to do. 

Sonic, the one Amy had previously assumed was the real Sonic, was Sonic’s body. In a sense, he was her Sonic. But for Tail’s idea to work, there had to be something more than just atoms and electricity. There had to be something real, behind the simple reality. Something that made Sonic who he was.

Amy swung her Piko Hammer, aiming at Sonic’s body, and connected a blow to his chest with such force, the blue hedgehog went spinning into the nearest bush, head over heels. Then Amy held aloft the red Chaos Emerald, and spoke the heard she had heard before. “Chaos Control.”

Time froze around her, but it was not like Amy expected it to be. She had thought stopping time would be like pressing pause on a movie, with everything frozen in place. Instead, it was if she could simply “see” the past and the present, and the future, all at once. 

It was as if there was a music all around her that she could see, colors in the air that she could touch, and a breath of life in everything that she could hear.

She saw herself hiding in the bush yesterday, before her stupid, foolish fight with Rouge. 

She saw her whole, painful ordeal over the last two days, enduring painful spanking after humiliating spanking, and found herself more thankful than ever for Vanilla, for Cream, for all her friends, and especially for Rouge. 

After all, if it wasn’t for Rouge, Amy would never have gotten the spanking she had so desperately needed, for so long. And Amy knew she had deserved every single spanking she had ever gotten in the past, and still deserved to get plenty more in the future. 

Then and there, Amy resolved to talk to her parents, and ask them to start spanking her again. She knew the spankings had helped her grow as a person, and that she would continue to need spankings for many more years to come. But that was Future-Amy’s concern.  

Right now, Amy Rose had to save her boyfriend. The other Chaos Emeralds in the forest glowed, and floated toward her, green, pink, white, red, gold, indigo… but one was missing. 

Quietly, the implication registered on Amy’s mind. “Oh. This isn’t going to work, after all. I don’t have all seven. There’s still the one that Vanilla kept hidden.”

Then, Amy felt a warm, buzzing sensation from her backside. She thought she was just experiencing a vivid replay of her last spanking, or maybe it was her next spanking in the future, but that wasn’t quite it. This was a present sensation. Slowly, Amy reached into her fanny pack, and pulled out the last Chaos Emerald. It was the dark, ultramarine blue one, the exact same color as Sonic’s fur. Amy smiled. “Ah, I see. Mrs. Vanilla was planning to give this one to me all along. Tonight, she’s going to tell me how I’ve grown into a fine young woman, and how I’m ready to handle this responsibility… and then I’m going to ask her to spank me again, before bedtime. Vanilla is such a kind person… Sonic? Can you hear me? I’m coming for you.”

Amy held up the last Chaos Emerald, and as the other six spun around her, and Amy’s quills shone, changing color of a luminous, rose gold pink. As Super Amy cradled Metal Sonic’s broken body in her arms, its eyes sparked to life. They were bright green. “Sonic? Amy Rose here. Just wanted to say, I’ve had a super bad crush on you for a long time, ever since the moment I first met you… But it’s more than just a crush now. Sonic, I love you.”

Amy kissed Metal Sonic right on the spots his lips would be, if Metal Sonic had been designed with a mouth. Metal Sonic’s green eyes shrunk to pin pricks, giving him a look of genuine surprise that was entirely too “real” for a robot.

As the music swelled, Amy felt the power of the Chaos Emeralds spreading outward, enveloping the world around her.

Then, everything snapped back to normal, and the floating Chaos Emeralds dropped to the ground. 

Sonic the Hedgehog pulled his head back out of the bush, his eyes spinning, and a swollen, purple black eye where Amy had hammered him earlier. “Woah! Did someone get the number of that G.U.N. truck that hit me… I feel…”

Sonic felt himself. “Huh, I’m alive again. That’s cool.”

Then, Sonic caught Amy’s eye. “Sup, Aimes. Give me a sec. I gotta kick Eggman’s butt real quick.”

Eggman’s sunglasses almost fell off his face as eyes boggled. “Eh? Hold on, now! Let’s discuss this like reasonable–”

There was a flurry of motion as Sonic curled into a spinning ball and slammed into Eggman from every possible angle hundred of times in a single second. As Eggman wobbled, Sonic appeared behind and gave him a swift kick in the ass. Eggman howled, rolling head over heels, before he crashed into the broken remains of his hovercraft. Crawling into it, Eggman pressed a button and the smashed vehicle started to stutter to life. “You haven’t heard the last of me, Sonic! I’ll have my revenge, just you–”

Eggman froze as he saw Cream the Rabbit pointing a gun at his head. “Freeze! I won’t let you escape! I won’t let you hurt my family ever again!”

Slowly, Sonic approached Cream from the side. “Cream. Put the gun down. You don’t have to kill him.”

Cream shook her head, hyperventilating. “If we let him go, he’s just going to come back and try to hurt us again! I hate this! I hate him! He’s so awful!”

“We don’t have to kill him, Cream. You don’t have to kill him. I won’t let him hurt you. Please, put the gun down.”

Cream’s face scrunched up, tears brimming in her eyes, before she lowered the gun. “I’m sorry, Mister Sonic. I promise I won’t shoot Dr. Robotnik twice in the chest, the head for the rest.”

Slowly, Eggman tried to crawl up into his hovercraft. Instantly, Sonic zipped in front of Eggman, grabbed him by the collar, and punched him hard on the nose. “Not this time, Eggman. You tried to kill my friends. I’m not letting you run off, just so you can try to do it again. I won’t kill you. But I am throwing your butt in prison.”

Eggman grinned broadly. “Ah… getting tired of our little game of cat-bot and mouse? Well, unfortunately for you… I also read a lot of comic books growing up!”

Eggman’s face seemed to crack like an eggshell, before it fell away, revealing a robotic face underneath, which belched black smoke. “In particular, Doctor Doom was something of a boyhood hero of my–my–miiiiine!”

The robotic Eggman’s eyes faded to black. With a scowl, Sonic dropped the decoy. “Coward.”

Casually, Sonic examines the scene around him. “So, what’d I miss?”

***

Tails, Sonic, and Amy argued the whole way home. 

Tails groaned. “Amy, your theory makes no sense. Metal Sonic couldn’t be the real Sonic. He’s just a robot designed to perfectly imitate Sonic’s fighting style.”

Amy huffed. “Then how come kissing the real Sonic worked?”

Sonic blushed. “Now… hold on, I don’t remember anything about that!”

Tails pouted. “You see, Amy? Look, even if Sonic’s consciousness was somehow transferred into Metal Sonic’s body, Sonic would be aware of it… Right, Sonic?”

Sonic shrugged. “To be honest, my memory is a bit hazy. I cleared up what I thought were the last few badniks, before I saw Metal Sonic in front of me. Just as I was about to let him have it, someone got the drop on me, and next thing I knew… It was like I was trying to run, but couldn’t move at all. Every second kept dragging on for an eternity. It was awful.”

Tails pulled out a notebook. “Interesting. Could you hear anything? Did you see a bright light?”

Sonic scratched his head. “I heard you guys talking, I think?”

Tails slapped his notebook. “That can easily be explained by your subconscious remaining active throughout your ordeal. There you have it. If Amy’s theory was correct, Sonic would know something about what was happening to him. Right, Sonic?”

Amy huffed. “But, Tails, you know that Metal Sonic’s programming was directly modeled after Sonic’s consciousness. Why is it such a stretch to think that his mind was trapped in Metal Sonic’s body?”

“Okay, then let’s test this theory. Sonic, how exactly did you get your mind trapped in Metal Sonic’s body? Did that just happen by random happenstance?”

Sonic shrugged. “Eh. Who knows. I think the last thing I tried to do before everything went black was activate the Chaos Control. Isn’t bending the normal rules of reality what they exist to do?”

Tails ran his fingers through his hair. “You can’t just use the Chaos Emeralds to explain any theory you have.”

Knuckles grumbled. “Tails, you are very wise for your age, but you are far too stubborn in your thinking.”

“How am I being stubborn?”

Knuckles stood straight, his dreadlocks billowing softly in the wind as he looked up at the stars. “Our ancestors understood things about this world. Things that cannot be tested by your modern science. My people once spoke of it as ‘the breath of life.’ That thing within us, which moves us. Why must everything in your world have a neat explanation?”

Tails waved his arms. “I’m not saying science can explain everything about life! I’m saying that we don’t have any hard evidence which proves that Sonic’s soul actually got zapped into Metal Sonic’s body. Right, Sonic?”

Sonic glanced quickly at Amy, then stretched his arms. “Eh. No evidence to disprove that theory, either.”

Tails held up his arms in mock surrender. “Fine. Then there’s no need to argue. It’s a mystery, which science can’t solve for us. Which means I’m free to believe in my original theory. Eggman manipulated the electromagnetic forces in Sonic’s brain. We reset those electromagnetic forces. Case closed.”

Amy harrumphed. “No! It was the power of true love, bringing Sonic back from the brink of the abyss!”

Rouge sniffed. “Sounds a tad corny, if you ask me, but who knows? I’ve studied the Chaos Emeralds closely enough to know there are no gems on earth quite like them. It could have just been their Chaotic Energy at work.”

Sonic tapped his foot. “Or maybe it was all three of those things, working together. Hang on, where are we going? We can’t stay at Vanilla and Cream’s home anymore. It got blown sky high.”

Cream sniffled, then sighed. “Don’t worry. As long as we’re all okay, everything will be fine. Houses can be rebuilt. People can’t. We’ll find a place to stay.”

Absentminderly, Tails flipped through his notebook. “Yeah. Plus, we still gotta check on everyone in town, just in case Dr. Eggman left behind any nasty surprises after he…”

Tails’ eyes popped open. “Wait… Sonic, how do you know about the house blowing–”

Vanilla waved at them, standing in front of the smoldering remains of her former home. “Cream! Amy! Rouge! Thank God, you’re all right!”

Cream flew straight to her mother, leaving a trail of tear drops fluttering behind her. “Mommy!”

Cream buried her face in Vanilla’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Mommy… I touched Mr. Shadow’s firearms, without taking the safety course! I knew it was a bad thing to do! But… but…”

Gently, Vanilla patted Cream on the back of her head. “There, there, Cream. I forgive you, and I love you. Let’s not talk about this here. Maybe… we can put some blankets in the woodshed?”

With a groan, the roof caved in on the smoldering cottage. 

Sonic tapped his foot. “Cream, Vanilla, you can crash with me for as long as you need. Hang on. Better explain the situation to the folks.”

Sonic zipped over to the neighboring house, which bore a sign declaring it to belong to “Sherriff Tom and Maddie Wachowski,” and knocked on the front door. 

An unassuming, middle-aged human man with a kindly face, opened the door, wearing pajamas. “Huh? Sonic? What’s up, big guy?”

Sonic pointed a thumb behind him. “Hey, Donut Lord. Eggman blew up Vanilla and Cream’s house. It’s okay if they stay with us, right?”

Sheriff Tom blinked twice, then looked at the burnt remains of the rabbit family home. “Oh, crud! We must have slept right through it. The Night shift’s been killing us, not to mention that commute to Green Hills… Wait, how many people need a place to stay?”

Sonic started counting on his fingers. “Well, Vanilla, Cream, and Gemerl for the long term, but Amy and Rouge were staying with them for some reason. Keep this between me, you, and Mom, but I think they got themselves into some sort of trouble. They’re basically grounded for a week, so let’s not do anything to needlessly embarrass them, okay?” 

Sheriff Tom nodded. “Right… community service? Do you think Vanilla will have to… spank them while they’re staying here?”

Sonic scratched his head. “It’s a definite possibility… Say, how come you and Maddie never spanked me, when I got in trouble?”

“Oh, Maddie and I don’t particularly favor corporal punishment. We respect Vanilla’s views on child rearing, we just never found any need to spank. Plus, when we took you in, you were basically a good kid. You just needed a little… positive reinforcement.”

Sonic shrugged. “Well, if I ever act like a big enough jerk you think I’m begging for a spanking, just tell me to knock it off. But I’m pretty sure Amy and Rouge’s butts are still in hot water for a while.”

“... Anyone else need a place to stay?”

“Well, there’s Tails, Knuckles, and me, as usual… And I guess Sal, Antoine, Bunnie, and Shadow were planning to crash with Vanilla for the night, so we ought to include them, right?”

Sheriff Tom nodded, slowly. “Right, I’ll talk to Maddie in the morning… I’m sure she’ll understand.” 

Sonic held out his fist. “Thanks, Dad.”

Slowly, Sheriff Tom returned Sonic’s triple fist-bump handshake.

End of Chapter 8