Chapter Six

Path So Twisted

Twelve sets of mechanical legs moved together in unison, stomping on the concrete beneath them in such an organized fashion that it seemed to be military procedure. Tiny beads of rain trickled down onto their steel heads as clear droplets washed over fluorescent optical sensors. A cold haze quickly settled over the small regiment, nearly petrifying the freezing hostages crowded between their ranks, leaving them shaking due to both fear and bitter cold. Most of them were human, while the minority of them were sentient animals, or as most were accustomed to calling them, "furries." The mechas, however, trained their weapons on them indiscriminately; no hostage would be allowed to escape.

The machines ushered their captives to the sidewalk, having no intention of giving them the opportunity to use the overturned car in the street as cover-fire. Another convey of mechas marched by, patrolling the streets in search of more survivors. Above them an alarm wailed loudly, although it was difficult to hear above the pounding of the rain against the asphalt. Broken glass and chunks of singed building materials were everywhere; the last evidence of G.U.N's attempts to stop the mecha invasion.

A small girl in the crowd started to whimper as they moved toward an evacuated office building near the square. Not by a small degree, it was the least damaged in the vicinity, and additionally, the tallest. One by one, the hostages were herded through the doors and into the dark lobby.

Even inside, it was crowded. Small groups of humans and animals were hunched together on the floor, with mecha guards towering over them, watching with an extreme intensely. The new prisoners were split into smaller groups, and forced to wait. Each Mobian still shivered, the inside of the building being no warmer than the cold streets they had been forced to walk across. Silence stretched on for what seemed like hours; the only sounds made were the occasional cough or sneeze, and even that alerted the tireless suspicion of the mechanical guards. It wasn't until several minutes later that something did occur.

Stepping out onto the balcony above them was the dark silhouette of a human. What light there was only revealed the half-moon smile on his face. Everyone's attention was immediately drawn to the figure as his voice echoed down to them:

"Welcome, citizens of Central City. I do hope that you are enjoying your stay, because you are going to be here for a very long time."

The man's smile grew wider. A shivered spread through the crowd as a large mecha stomped toward them.

...

"Hi! You've reached Amy Rose. Please leave a message after the beep... Beep!" sang Amy's voice. The audio recording rang into the blue hedgehog's ear.

Sonic held back a sigh, anxiously scraping his fingers on the couch on which he had slept last night. He swallowed hard, trying to ensure himself that the situation couldn't possibly be as awkward as it seemed.

He didn't believe it.

"Hey, Amy. It's Sonic."

No answer.

"Look, I'm... um, sorry that I was late yesterday."

She still didn't pick up.

"Please don't be mad at me. There was this crazy robot, and Eggman got out of prison! I mean, I still want to take you to Twinkle Park, okay? So... Amy, can you please pick up?"

...

"...okay, just call me later then. Bye."

That was a disaster.

Sonic was puzzled. What could have made her so upset?

Amy had been offended by him before. Purple bruises beneath his fur, caused by being struck by a particularly large hammer proved that. But she had always bounced back. She could be upset one moment, then happy fan-girl the next. Could his late arrival really have been the breaking point? It seemed strange, uncharacteristic even, for Amy to be so distressed merely because he was twenty minutes late. Although he knew that he had arrived even later than that at other occasions, some part of him was concerned for her feelings, in a weird way.

Despite all of the thinking he was doing, Sonic couldn't help feel that he was forgetting something. Something important.

Sonic sighed. Maybe some TV will help me think. I wonder if there's some car chase going on or something…

The cyan hedgehog turned on the television, expecting to see a morning news segment.

He saw something quite different.

The screen showed a aerial view of the Central City Plaza. Or, at least, what used to be the plaza. Rain poured down mercilessly from dark thunderclouds, as if a warning from some divine being that something was extremely wrong. The buildings were dark silhouettes with sharp, jagged features, making them seem unfamiliar and strange, even though Sonic must have seen them before in plain daylight. Even from the height at which the view was broadcasted, one could seen mechas plodding through the rubble, silver armor gleaming hazily in the sparse light. Occasionally, the pale moon would be exposed, casting nightmarish shadows of an airborne armada, as fierce as shadowy creatures stalking prey. There were no people to be seen.

The icon at the bottom of the screen which usually displayed "Channel 6 News", was gone. In its place blared the red insignia of Eggman's smiling face. The madman must have hacked the Central City News Station.

A message blared from the television. Eggman sounded more ruthless than ever.

"This is Doctor Eggman," began the recording. The sound was slightly scratchy, but still perfectly understandable. "Eight hours ago, my mechas invaded Central City, and secured a large sector to the South. In agreement with the Commander of Guardians of the United Nations, I have permitted the area to be evacuated of the majority of the population in exchange for a temporary cease-fire."

For a moment, the recording skipped, and the blue hedgehog found his heart do the same. He turned up the volume.

"-have secured a total of ninety-seven hostages, whom I will kill if the military takes premature action. However, I am willing to release all hostages and withdraw my forces if Sonic the Hedgehog agrees to an unconditional surrender. If my demands are not met within twelve hours, my mechas will kill the hostages regardless, and reduce this city to a smoldering black crater. You have twelve hours."

Sonic noticed a timer at the bottom of the screen, which had already counted down over three whole hours. The message replayed once more, giving Sonic a sick feeling at the pit of his stomach.

Normally, the blue hero would try to lighten up the situation with a little humor, but the jokes were not quite so funny when lives were in danger. Eggman usually didn't use hostages. They had always proved bothersome and impractical during most situations, as far as Sonic could remember. It also seemed like the doctor was starting to change his general strategy. Eggman never invaded an entire city without reason. For him to attack the capital city, essentially corning himself in an area easy accessible to the G.U.N. military units, was downright suicide. Sonic knew the madman well enough to say that he wouldn't attempt such a dangerous venture unless...

Unless it would pay off.

Not for the first time, Sonic wondered how Eggman intended to get even with him after being locked in prison for two long months. With all other arguments aside, one thing was unmistakably certain:

They weren't playing games anymore.

...

Shadow was leaning against the compartment wall, not bothering to try grabbing the hand strap above him. He couldn't reach it, anyway. He preferred standing to lounging in the padded seats like Rouge did. The bat was seated across from him, toying with the tracking unit while putting on a bored expression. The muted thrum of the helicopter's steel blades could barely be heard from inside of the cabin.

Looking out the window, he could see the giant forms of oil derricks and factories in the murky haze. Metropolis had always been polluted, but when G.U.N. had cleaned Eggman out of the city, things really fell apart. Distantly, he could remember the sound of the main oilrig exploding, and the crackled orders from the control unit to find cover. The scorching flames spread over everything. Metropolis had practically burned, if only for a few moments.

Although the skies were no longer seared with red, the chaos was not difficult to recollect. The smell of petroleum was still very strong, and brought back more memories of the terrible battles during the liberation. The siege had lasted four months, without stopping. Even Shadow had to admit it to himself, the fights were gruesome, and didn't want to have to do it again.

But here he was again, in Metropolis.

This time, however, he would only have to deal with the memory of it all.

"Hey, Shadow." Rouge was standing by the door and giving him a curious look. "The pilot found a place to let us down. Try to keep your head out of the clouds after we make our descent, okay?"

"Whatever," Shadow replied in an autonomic manner.

The bat rolled her eyes in his general direction as Shadow approached the door. A quick glance out the window revealed the ideal landing location. The helicopter was sweeping over a low building which had the top floor mostly blown off. What used to be the wall now formed a concrete parapet, preventing visibility of the inside from other buildings.

But the helicopter kept moving, seeming to have found a different location. Shadow looked out the cockpit window and realized that the pilot was probably going to set them down out in the open.

Shadow opened the loading doors.

"What are you doing?" asked Rouge, who was giving him another one of her looks.

"We shouldn't land over there." Shadow briefly explained. "It's too open to the surrounding buildings. If there are sentries around, we'll be dead."

"You're paranoid."

"And you aren't?"

Having no desire to continue the conversation, Shadow dived out the doors to the building below. Spreading out his arms like a skydiver to slow his descent, Shadow watched his distance to the ground as the wind whip past his quills in violent bursts. Once the building was close enough, he flipped himself forward while simultaneously activating his hover shoes.

The small rockets at the bottom of the footwear flared up, and Shadow stood up straight, bracing his arms against his sides in an attempt to maintain balance. Just before striking the surface of the roof, the hedgehog curled into a ball. Upon impact, he quickly shred across the building, tearing up both concrete and the layer of plaster beneath it. He pulled back to fight off the momentum of the stunt, and halted next to the wall.

I'd like to see Sonic try to do that, Shadow thought, and permitted himself a small smile before banishing from his range of emotions again.

After spending a quick moment to catch his breath, Shadow turned around at the sound of wings fighting back a gust of wind.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rouge demanded as she landed next to him. She looked agitated, and eyed him with slight disapproval, although her slightly arched eyebrows hinted that she was mildly impressed. "Do have any idea how dangerous that was?"

Shadow wasn't in the mood to argue, but decided to have a go at it.

"I want to get this search over with. Especially since we didn't find anything in the cruiser that Metal Sonic used to get here," the hedgehog pointed out.

Other than the operating room and all that blood... he quickly reminded himself.

"Besides, the commander wants this done quickly," Shadow continued, "and I'm not interested in wasting time myself."

Rouge crossed her arms. "Oh... fine. But warn me next time, got it?"

Shadow finally gave a reluctant nod.

"Fabulous. Anyway, can we somehow operate the city's sensor network to expand the tracker's range?"

"No good. G.U.N. took down the mainframe during the siege."

Rouge sighed. "Well in that case, I guess we're going on foot."

The two continued on, saying nothing as they cautiously wandered Metropolis' streets in search of a signal. Although the tracker was professionally made, Metropolis proved to be too big for it to be effective. The general idea was to head to the center of the city in the hopes of finding a signal, but so far only broken down robots and trash filled the streets.

Shadow could remember the glory days of the Metropolis, when it had been the fully functional capital of the Eggman Empire. In fact, he could remember when it had only been The Metropolis Project. In his service to the doctor, the madman had talked for hours about his inventions, plans, and sometimes, his dream. The doctor had a very sick and twisted vision for the perfect world, of that Shadow was certain. Death and destruction on a global scale brought upon by mechanical armies that would stop at nothing to carry out the commands of their creator.

But if Eggman actually did have a plan for world domination, it had been well hidden from the Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow sometimes doubted if the doctor even had a plan.

Metropolis provided a glimpse of Eggman's cruel ideas of oppression for the rest of the world. The civilians who lived in the city had been forced in populating it because their homes had been burned down by his mecha taskforces. They weren't even called civilians; the official term had been "civil servants". Even that couldn't accurately portray how they had been treated.

Labor was something that the doctor didn't like to use robots for when people were much more expendable. Factories needed workers, and at the time Eggman had been short of worker robots. The giant statue in the center of the city had been one of many civic projects taken upon by the populace under threat of further privation.

But Eggman was just as much an economist as he was a tyrant. The deviants of the black market were the doctor's best buyers. Weapons, oil, machinery, and even robot parts were sold at exorbitant rates in exchange for anything of value, usually money or service. Some of the buyers would purchase items just to gain an advantage that the others might not have. This proved useful because several of them couldn't tell a particle transfusion device from an oversized trashcan.

Only a select few knew that the city had another discrete, more expensive export. There had been vague rumors of civilians being taken from their industrial homes during the dead of night, and never being seen again. Sometimes entire groups would simply vanish from the factory records, and weren't allowed to be spoken of at risk of the mechas becoming suspicious of treason. Cooperative citizens were seldom taken, but if they were, a greater price was offered as some form of consolation.

Shadow had met many of Metropolis' citizens when G.U.N. had liberated the city. They were haggard and always tense. Deep rings of purple formed under their eyes from lack of sleep, their shoulders constantly sagged, and their arms hung limply at their sides. Fur had thinned, and their skin had become pale, the most reasonable cause being malnutrition. A group of them had marveled at the C-rations they had been given after the liberation; their mouths had watered at the sight of pre-heated beans. Shadow didn't want to know what they had been fed during their citizenship.

"Hey," said Rouge, waking Shadow from his thoughts. "I'm picking up some chaos energy around here."

The hedgehog wrenched his mind back into reality. But just as soon as he heard the news, it was back to business. "How strong is it?"

"Kind of weak, actually," Rouge said, "but it's definitely nearby."

Shadow thought for a moment.

"Then it's probably in the underground," he said, and motioned to a nearby set of stairs which descended below the street level. "The ground usually causes strong interference."

"Alright then," Rouge confirmed. "Lead the way, handsome."

Not wanting to dignify her comment with a response, Shadow said nothing and made for the stairs while Rouge followed behind him. As they went farther down, the air grew thick with moisture, and the smell of petroleum became almost unbearable. In order to provide some means of illumination, Shadow held out his Chaos Emerald in the darkness. The green glow reflected on pools of spilled oil and partially rusted piping.

"This place is disgusting," Rouge said, waving her hand in an attempt to waft the smell away from her nose. "I can see why the doctor ordered his machines to hide down here during the siege."

"Who says he ordered them?" Shadow replied.

Rouge gave him a curious look, but Shadow didn't bother to explain himself.

"Come on," he prompted while walking forward. "Metal Sonic should be down here somewhere."

Shadow thought for a moment about his remark. Just what was Metal Sonic doing in Metropolis anyway?

Something about it bothered him, but he kept going forward. He was sure he'd find out soon enough anyway.

...

Sonic gritted his teeth in an attempt to prevent them from chattering, his right hand gripping the front of the bi-plane wing in preparation for another spray of oncoming mist. Chilling vapor met his face, drenching already dampened quills until they darkened from absorbing so much moisture. The wind whipped against him, like a violent hand intent on wrenching the hedgehog from the plane and hurtling him onto the ground below. A tempest roared above, the raging storm occasionally rocking the plane back and forth in an unstable manner.

Black clouds spiraled and twisted in the sky unnaturally, contorting into impossibly complex shapes and patterns. Helixes and spirals; perfect spheres and cubes; cones and cylinders... or was he imagining it all? Could the wind and rain have sedated him into such a dream-like stupor that his ability to discern reality from such apparitions was so depleted?

I'm thinking too much, Sonic told himself as the aircraft plummeted through another layer of cloud cover.

The distant roar of thunder could be heard as the plane drew closer to a heavy black cloud in the distance. Sonic checked over his shoulder to see how his sidekick was doing. Tails had never liked thunderstorms, and Sonic knew that his pal's fear of lightning had never truly abated. The young fox gave a nervous smile, although the hedgehog could tell there was some fear in his eyes as they neared the storm clouds, and in turn, Central City.

"So," Tails shouted over the mechanical thrum of his plane's engine, "do we have a plan?"

"Nah. I'm kinda' winging it right now," Sonic replied.

Under normal circumstances, Tails might have laughed, but the thunderstorm was taxing to his nerves. "Sonic, we don't have time to mess around. Eggman's probably expecting-"

Gunfire, followed by a loud metal crunch,was heard as Sonic saw the wing opposite of himself snap. Thankfully, it was still attached, hanging feebly to the main wing in a crumpled kind of way. As the plane swayed dangerously, three airborne objects split through the clouds, commencing another fusillade. From the quick glances Sonic could manage, he could see that they were dark silver, and their reflective surfaces established that they were metal. They looked like jets, although he couldn't see a cockpit for the pilot. Red streams of light burned from behind them as they maneuvered through the air, pursuing the small blue aircraft. More bullets cut through the air as Sonic held onto the wing, casting a concerning look to his companion.

Tails was arm wrestling with the throttle while simultaneously pressing buttons in an effort to lose their pursuers. A missile was fired from one of the metallic aircraft, and the plane swerved to the side, slow enough so that Sonic could stay on, but quick enough so that the missile was successfully evaded.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted over the sound of more gunfire. "I can't shake them! I need you to get off the plane!"

Sonic found himself yelling over the booming roar of thunder. "Are you crazy, Tails? I can't leave you from up here! I'll-"

His speech was interrupted as the ruined wing broke free of the craft and was flung backwards into the abyss of vapor. Tails cast his brother a concerned look. The plane was losing balance quickly.

"This isn't my first crash-landing!" the fox proclaimed. He pointed a shaking finger at a skyscraper protruding through the cloudscape. "Get into that building! I'll meet you on the ground!"

"But Tails, I-"

A missile shrieked past them, hurtling into the darkness, and resolving the argument.

Reluctantly, Sonic grabbed the front edge of the biplane wing, and braced himself for a jump. The building came closer, and the hedgehog quickly planned his landing. If everything went right, he would break through the window, slow himself down, and stop before he crashed through the opposite side.

Easier said than done.

Another round of bullets fired, leaving no time for second-thoughts. The structure rushed forward, and when he could almost see the inside of the tower...

Sonic leaped.

He was flung forward into the cold darkness, vapor pelting his face. Bracing himself for impact, Sonic shut his eyes and held his knees close to his body. Squinting his eyes, he was just barely able to view the dark windows of the structure. This was it! He was going to make it!

Unexpectedly, the wind changed direction, causing him to veer right. His heart thumped loudly against his chin as he resisted the urge to panic. Without warning, he broke –no, more like crashed- through the window, splintering glass through his fur and onto the marble floor. In an uncontrollable manner, Sonic slid over the waxed marble surface and rammed into the wall, sending a painful cry up his spine and out of his mouth.

His vision grew blurry as he watched the entire room shift unsteadily back in forth like a pendulum. Instinctively, he grasped at the wall for support, but realized that the building wasn't actually moving, only his vision. After a few blinks, the subtle shaking ceased, and he pulled himself up off of the ground. Thankfully, nothing had been broken, and the glass had not penetrated his spines.

"I should write a book," Sonic joked while popping his back. " 'One Hundred and One Ways to Injure Yourself.' "

Carefully, he began to stretch, his eyes examining the room while he did so. The lights were off, presumably because the power wasn't working. Eggman probably demolished the grid directly before his attack. On account of the power outage, the lightning was the only source of illumination. The harsh blue light would suddenly flash, casting long, dark shadows across the polished marble. Sonic didn't really find it eerie; he'd been in worse situations. Plus, it just added to the suspense.

The sound of an electronic ding was heard as the elevator chimed. It was probably running on off of an emergency generator. The doors opened, revealing a small troop of robots. Each was about half of Sonic's height, with four small wheels that made tiny motor sounds as they moved. They were low to the ground, and the back ends were raised slightly for aerodynamics. A miniature turret was mounted on each of them.

"Cool! These guys look like little RC cars!" Sonic said with a grin.

The mechas responded by firing at him.

Sliding on the glass, Sonic spun to the side, then swerved into the nearest robot, knocking it over. He bounced off of it, then onto another before landing in between two others. The turrets fired, and Sonic sprung upward to avoid the bullets. The shots succeeded in hitting the opposite mecha, rendering them both destroyed.

"That is so classic," the hedgehog laughed.

He knocked over the remaining two and stood up straight, managing a yawn.

"Okay, so I've beaten the toys. Now where's the real action?"

As if in response, the sound of heavy footfalls shook the floor slightly. Something was drawing closer. It sounded like it was coming from... the stairs?

Sonic opened the door opposite of the elevator that led to the dark stairway. A large, heavily armored robot was trudging up the steps, causing the walls to shake as it did so. It was humanoid in shape, and had large fists with spikes for knuckles. Its head was made to look somewhat like Eggman's, with a half-moon grin and small, glowing eyes to match. The center of its abdomen was a shade darker than the rest of its armored boy. It seemed to Sonic as though it was a possible weak point.

All right. Now we're talking.

"I guess you were too heavy for the elevator, huh big guy?" Sonic taunted.

The mecha stomped onto the landing, just eighteen steps away, and looked up at him. It turned so that it faced him, then threw its arms back, simultaneously opening the covering on its abdomen. A heavy machinegun emerged, which promptly began pelting bullets at Sonic.

Taken by surprise, Sonic almost stumbled, but quickly bounded from the floor, to the wall, to the landing, and back up the stairs again, a trail of ammunition following him as he went. The magazine emptied, leaving empty bullet cartridges scattered on the floor. In order to reload, the weapon retracted back into the machine's body. Just for fun, Sonic dashed directly adjacent to the robot, then dodged as it tried to strike him with its fist now that he was at close-range. Bouncing onto its fist, Sonic lunged at the mecha's head, quickly curling into a ball in mid-air. He rebounded off, then landed at the top of the stairs once more. When he looked down at it to admire his work, there wasn't even a dent.

That's weird, Sonic thought. And I hit him in the head, too.

The machinegun appeared again, propelling more bullets at him. Once more, Sonic bounced off of the walls to avoid the attack. The mecha withdrew the machinegun, seeming to have given up. Just when Sonic was about to attempt a counter-attack, its abdomen opened up again. This time, a short, black nozzle stuck out. The nozzle projected a plume of flame in his general direction, and Sonic barely leapt away from the fire in time.

A wave of heat washed over him a he managed to lunge onto the rail, then quickly skate downward, sweeping past the mecha. Using the momentum provided from grinding on the rail, Sonic went straight for the wall. In an instant, he put his foot out, struck the vertical surface, and began to run.

Running upside down wasn't unusual for Sonic; matter of fact, it was almost second nature to running on the ground. Besides, it wasn't quite as difficult as gping across water. That required some skill. All he had to do was keep up his momentum and not go on for too long. Compared to rail grinding in space, this was a piece of cake.

Looping around from behind, Sonic shot off the wall and struck the robot in the back like a bullet, sending it tumbling down the stairs. The floor seemed to shake just slightly, and for a moment, Sonic wondered if it might collapse entirely.

He noticed with a twitch of his nose that something was burning. His eyes followed the amber lighting to the top of the stairs where he had first entered to see blazing fire. It wouldn't be wise to carry on this fight any longer.

"Hey!" Sonic shouted down to the robot. "If you do that again, I'll recite the fire code!"

The mecha began stomping up to him with surprising speed. It looked to Sonic almost as if it was angry. With each step, the floor shook, and Sonic even wondered if it might collapse.

"That's funny," Sonic mocked as he leaped into the air. "Eggman really does model you guys after himself. You even throw fits!"

Before the robot could offer any response, Sonic tightened into a ball and spun, shearing the side of its head like a rotating saw blade. Again, he landed a short distance away to observe the damage, but found that he had only managed to shear the paint from the side of its metallic cranium.

This isn't good. My attacks aren't doing anything because its armor's too thick. There's no way I can hurt him unless-

Sonic heard the slight groan of wood from above as the fire ate away at the beams above his head.

...something bigger hits him.

"Hey!" Sonic shouted, promptly sticking out his tongue at the mecha. "Guess I'm too fast for you to hit me head-on, huh?"

The mecha slowly turned towards Sonic, and stomped forward. For an instant, its grin almost seemed to widen.

Suppressing the strange thought, Sonic backed up towards the wall slightly, making room for the robot. It swung one of its fists forward, which Sonic easily evaded, as well as the upcoming punch from its other arm. The mecha swung its massive fists back and forth, stomping around angrily, Sonic dodging every movement. Almost instantly, Sonic ran to the lower flight of stairs, and leaned casually against the rail.

The mecha took one step onto the stairs, sending another slight tremor through the stairway. A loud, wooden groan was heard from above, and the mecha looked up in time to see fiery timbers fall onto its head, burying it. With a satisfied grin, Sonic quickly glanced at its head, seeing that the impact had caused its eyes to dim. Its arm lift once, then fell, and Sonic knew it was over.

"This is great. Even taking the stairs is fun!" the hedgehog exclaimed.

A sudden feeling of melancholy dimmed his spirits, and he suddenly remembered why.

I shouldn't be messing around so much. I need to find Tails. After all, fun can be dangerous too.

Quickly pulling the fire alarm before dashing down the stairs, Sonic could faintly hear the sprinklers turn on as he went down several more steps. Sonic didn't really like stairs. When it came to ramps and loops, climbing them was easy because every step had a particular rhythm, which wouldn't disturb his momentum. But when it came to stairs, descending was awkward and uneven because he had to slow his pace to avoid even one misstep.

But when he ran anywhere else, it almost felt like flying; the movements were quick and breathtaking, but also peacefully slow, as if every moment was important in the grand scheme of things. Just like a musical note in a song, each footstep was an important component in the vast panorama of running.

Sometimes he really hated stairs.

But, he was still fast, and it only took him less than a minute to reach the bottom, even in a tall building like this.

When he reached the lobby, several of the RC mechas were there to greet him. They opened fire with their turrets, and Sonic simply rolled into a ball and zigzagged into each of them. One sputtered sparks, but other than that, all signs of operations ceased. He could only guess that Eggman used them as scouts, not infantry, and that the cannons were merely support for their fragile frames.

Once he was alone, Sonic pulled up his glove a little, revealing a communication device disguised as a wrist band. After Sonic had told his story to Tails the other day, the fox went into his lab to fetch a pair, in case they might need them. He had gotten the idea from the com-unit Shadow had used.

Sonic tapped the device lightly with his finger, then spoke into it.

"Yo, Tails. Have you found a safe place to land?"

A wash of static sang back to him.

"Aw man," Sonic sighed, then lightly scratched his ear in worry. "Why couldn't Eggman have attacked in fair weather? Honestly, he has such poor taste..."

Not knowing any other way to improve the situation, Sonic opened the sliding glass doors, intending to see where in the city he was. What he saw was the unquestionable aftermath of a warzone. Cars were toppled over, glass was scattered all over the street, smoldering pavement congealing into cracked asphalt. The steel corpses of combat mechas, both G.U.N.'s and Eggman's, lay frozen under the pattering rain. A soldier lay against a car, weapon in hand, dead. The heavy, bullet-proof vest he wore had several holes in it, with heavy blood pouring from them, only to be rinsed off by the rain. His chin tucked into his collarbone lifelessly, like a broken puppet; a marionette with its strings cut.

He had seen dead people before. Eggman's battles weren't always without casualties, and there were some people that Sonic hadn't been able to save. A rooftop fall, bullets from a mecha, structural collapses, missile fire, fatal burns. Men, women, kids, and...

His parents.

Sonic didn't stick around to observe the body, but quickly ran in the general direction of the square. If Eggman was planning something, he would probably pull it off where he could be found. After all, he hadn't called Sonic here just to hide from him.

A small convoy of six robots confronted him just a few blocks from the square. They looked similar to the Jetblade mecha, only less sturdy and with thinner armor. Their scythe-like arms, however, were longer by a few inches. He guessed that the armor had been removed due to its weight, allowing the mechas to more even faster.

"So, you're the welcoming party? You don't look very hospitable to me."

The joke wasn't as funny as he thought it would be, and another melancholy feeling stirred inside him.

Come on, Sonic, pull it together, he thought as the first mecha propelled forward, blades slicing through the air.

He slid underneath its legs, knocking it over as he sped into the next mecha. This one seemed prepared, and quickly made a downward slashing motion to protect its footing. But Sonic took the opportunity to bounce from the ground and into its abdominal area, sending it crashing to the ground. He followed up the attack by bearing his sharp quills on top of it while spinning; its midsection was shred. As he jumped off, another mecha sliced up at him, and Sonic could feel the small currents of air breeze past him, the blades tickling his quills.

That was close.

He tried to hit its head, but it boosted to the side, evading the attack. Another came from behind, attempting to stab him with its first blade while the second tucked itself closer to its body, preparing for a counter-attack. Sonic made a dash to the side, quickly circling the robot until he was behind it, then kicking it in the head. The mecha spun around, scythes cutting toward his abdomen. As he stepped backward, his foot slipped on the wet pavement, and he fell. This apparently saved him from an attack from behind, as another mecha whirled its blades toward where he stood.

Man, this is great! Still, I think the fun's over.

Making a quick recovery, he sprung from the ground, knocking into the first robot, then bounced backward into the second. Two more mechas advanced on him, but Sonic quickly sped a short distance away.

"That was fun, but I have to go now! Laters!" Sonic called, then sped off.

Pedaling his feet against the pavement, he glanced behind himself to see the mechas attempting pursuit, although they weren't fast enough to keep up. There were still five of them; he had only gotten rid of one.

Hmm... maybe I underestimated these guys.

He lost them on the way to the square. Still, he had to admit their speed was impressive, even though they couldn't catch up to him.

The square looked as though it had been a strategic point in the battle, seeing as to how much damage it had taken. Smoldering black craters rippled through the street; small chunks of asphalt lay everywhere. Two cars were turned over, a streetlamp had been twisted unnaturally, and the statue of the woman in the fountain was missing her head.

Stopping to further examine his surroundings, Sonic looked up at the sky, feeling the gentle battering of the rain against his eyelids. It appeared as though Eggman was using the tall buildings in the vicinity as an airstrip for his fleet. Sonic could see one the doctor's battleships in the distance. It was a massive aerial fortress with roaring engines and large, fin-like structures that provided minor lift. The general shape was like that of a trout, or some similar aquatic creature. It was painted a classic red and yellow, colors Eggman was fond of.

Sonic could only guess that Eggman's presence in airpower was what had driven G.U.N. away. His robotic ground troops were thinly spread, and they certainly couldn't fend off G.U.N. mechas by themselves. The mechas produced by the Guardians were bulky and heavily armored, and more than a match for Eggman's versatile, but weak creations. An entire fleet of warships seemed the only real threat.

But they seemed to be rather crowded in the skies. Eggman had given the impression that he had taken over the whole city, but it was fairly evident that it wasn't the truth. From what Sonic could guess, Eggman had merely forced his way into the downtown, and set up shop while G.U.N. had him penned in. Even the air fleet kept closer together, probably afraid that the Guardian Units were setting up anti-aircraft cannons near the perimeter.

As soon as Commander Tower grew bored of Eggman's shenanigans, mortar would probably rain from the sky and scare the doctor off.

I guess that just leaves me to save the hostages, he thought, looking up at the buildings surrounding him. Now which one of these buildings would Eggman be in?

The answer struck Sonic immediately. The Kailman Building. It was the tallest structure in the square, reaching almost six-hundred feet. Dark, tinted windows gleamed against the flash of lightning. It stood out against the overcast clouds as a mere silhouette, which looked strikingly impressive. Surely Eggman would hide the hostages in there.

Without warning, Sonic was struck in the back of his head with such force that he fell face-first onto the wet pavement below. He grunted in pain as the bare skin of his muzzle scraped against the rough asphalt. Head pounding, he dragged himself to his knees, looking up to see Robo Knuckles standing about thirty feet away, holding the purple Chaos Emerald.

"Hey!" Sonic spat, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline. "That's mine!"

The mechanical echidna said nothing, but instead just stood there and stared at Sonic.

"Look, pal!" the hedgehog growled as he stood up, his muscles tensed in preparation for a fight. "If you think you can just sucker punch me and take-"

A shadow moved past Sonic, causing him to angrily glare at the interloper.

"Excellent performance, BTA-971," Eggman chuckled as his pod floated over their heads. It lowered in elevation as the doctor positioned himself next to Robo Knuckles, who promptly held out the emerald for him to take.

The scientist chuckled smugly, holding the emerald in his hand and inspecting it. "Your efforts have proven to be most satisfactory."

"I try," Robo Knuckles replied, casting a glance at Sonic.

"So, you've been playing sidekick all along," the hedgehog observed, crossing his arms in irritation.

The mechanical echidna folded his arms behind his back in contentment and chuckled.

"Of course, hedgehog," Robo Knuckles hummed in monotone satisfaction. "Who else would have saved the doctor from the G.U.N. prison? Perhaps you believed that the combat robots had plotted the prison extraction while completely independent of a superior AI? How unperceptive of you."

Sonic's teeth ground together at the sudden blunt insult. Eggman seemed to be enjoying the tension.

"So glad you could make it, Sonic" the doctor began with a convincing show of interest. "I see you received my invitation. And you brought me a gift as well. How kind."

"Yeah, well the party's over, doc," retorted Sonic. "And I wanted that back... don't have the receipt, you know."

Admiring the gem's reflective facets, Eggman bantered on, "I don't think that will be necessary." The doctor put a hand to the side of his face in mock surprise, and added, "Oh my, it seems as though this present was regifted. If I'm not mistaken, it was one of mine."

He cast Sonic an expectant look.

Dang it, Sonic mentally scolded himself, whilst still trying to keep his cool. Of course he wouldn't just let me take it. I'm being as gullible as Knuckles.

"What did you do to it?" Sonic asked.

"Not much," Eggman sarcastically assured him. "I just placed a small tracker on it. Under normal circumstances, my trackers don't last long when exposed to such high levels of radiation, but thankfully you arrived early. It's a good thing you brought all the way here then, isn't it?"

"So that's how those robots of yours found us so quickly," reasoned Sonic. He placed a hand to his chin before smiling and adding: "And I thought you had actually ambushed us." Sonic made a big show of wiping the back of his hand against his forehead. "What a relief!"

Eggman growled a little, but quickly regained his composure. Wanting to add more pressure, Sonic continued on.

"So, doc. Care to tell me what's going on here?" the blue hedgehog pestered. "You're putting yourself at a tactical disadvantage with this charade. I mean, hostages? Really?"

"Merely a distraction, Sonic," Eggman countered. "When my plan is complete, not even G.U.N. will be able to stop me."

Robo Knuckles helpfully added, "Yes, hedgehog. Your inconsequential observations leave you unable to anticipate important future events. The Mystic Ruins base, for instance."

"Shh, you'll spoil the surprise!" Eggman urged.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh, just forget it. Are we almost to the part where I trash your robots and stuff?"

"I hate to skip to the end, but if you insist," Eggman said, and typed into his pod's console.

The doors to the Kailman Building opened, and numerous robots exited in battle formation. Like the Jetblade mechas, they were bipedal, although their other features were rather different. They did have boosters on their backs, but their exoskeletal bodies were designed for durability, not aerodynamics. Instead of blades, they had mid-weight guns with laser sensors attached to the scope.

More of them appeared from behind the nearby buildings, until they completely surrounded the square. The mechas marched into a wide circle, their weapons gleaming against the quick but intense flashes of lightning. It looked as though there were more than fifty of them, maybe almost sixty. To make matters worse, the light-armored Jetblade mechas, who finally caught up, entered the circle of mechas and surrounded Sonic.

"All right!" Sonic suddenly shouted, "Now we're talking!"

Eggman smiled callously. "Oh good. I'm not the only one who was looking forward to this."

The line of mechas as the other robots leveled their weapons at Sonic. Then they stopped, waiting for the order to attack.

A ring fell onto the ground, seemingly out of nowhere. The circular object flashed a rich gold, even in the sparse lighting. Hovering a few feet away, it gleamed teasingly at Sonic. A second ring fell, followed by a third. Sonic traced the motion of the falling objects to the peak of a close building.

On the edge of it stood Tails, who was hurtling the small golden hoops down in Sonic's relative direction.

"Sonic, get the rings!" the fox shouted, but gave a conspiratorial wink.

After taking notice of the signal, Sonic dashed to the nearest ring, and was quickly blocked by one of the Jetblades.

"Don't let him touch those!" Eggman shouted. The robots stomped over to what rings they could in order to prevent the hedgehog's access to them.

Sonic continued to dash towards the golden objects, then backed off as the mechas reactively guarded them. For the most part, this broke their formation, and they were now roughly scattered over the strewn rings. From the corner of his eye, Sonic saw Tails back away, and one of the rings glimmered oddly.

Without warning, Sonic sprang forward, and pounced onto a nearby mecha's head. Using it's shoulders like a springboard, he jumped several feet into the air, hoping that it would be enough. As the robots aimed their weapons, the rings gleamed bright yellow, and released static bands of electricity. Each mecha was temporarily stunned, and slumped lifelessly where it stood.

Sonic went to town.

Compacting in mid-air, he projected himself from one robot to another, sawing each into asymmetrical pieces of junk. Eggman watched as his archrival's blue spines sliced through his creations, all of which stood motionless like targets in a shooting gallery.

But, strangely, he didn't seem to be bothered by it.

Sonic had just finished cleaning up the remaining robots when Tails quickly flew down to him.

"Nice going with the shock rings, buddy," Sonic congratulated as Tails met the ground. "I wouldn't have thought of that."

"We don't have time to celebrate, Sonic!" Tails insisted. "Eggman and Robo Knuckles are getting away"

Sonic looked over his shoulder to see the doctor making his getaway while more robots converged toward the square. Robo Knuckles followed behind him.

Pretending to be unconcerned, Sonic gave a shrug and said, "It looks like they're heading for the ruins. Don't worry, I'll catch them in time."

He was about to prepare for a quick dash, but Tails halted him. "Wait, Sonic! This is really important. Do you remember what shape that base was?"

Temporarily stumped, Sonic thought for a moment. "You mean the one in the Mystic Ruins?"

"Yeah, that one," Tails confirmed. "Did it look anything like a hexagon?"

Sonic tried his best to recollect on such short notice. One thing he could clearly remember was the intersecting corridors and hallways. "I dunno. It was all zig-zaggy and weird. But I guess it could have been. Why?"

The fox glanced at the escaping Eggman, as if calculating how much time they had to talk, then he quickly looked back at Sonic.

"I don't have enough time to tell you everything," Tails said. "But if that base is what I think it is, then Eggman must be trying to power something huge."

"Huh?" Sonic gaped. "Like a giant robot or something?"

Tails shook his head. "No, Sonic! I think that the entire base is some kind of generator!"

Sonic was stumped by that, and unable to think of what Eggman intended to use it for. What would be big enough to require so much energy?

"Listen, Sonic," Tails continued. "You have to stop Eggman and Robo Knuckles from reaching the base. If Eggman uses the Chaos Emerald, something terrible could happen!"

Taking another quick glance at Eggman and Robo Knuckles, Sonic judged that they weren't too far ahead yet. He could catch up to them in time.

"You go after them, Sonic," Tails affirmed. "I'll free the hostages. You worry about Eggman. I'll try to see if I can catch up with you later."

As Sonic looked at his friend he could see a strong, determined look in his eyes. If the fox felt fear, it wasn't visible to Sonic, who had learned to read the kit's expressions with ease. Matter of fact, Tails looked different. He looked...

Man... thought Sonic with a slight hint of melancholy, Tails really is growing up.

"Don't worry, pal," Sonic said, finding himself. "There's no way I'm letting Eggman beat me in a race!"

Sonic gave a supportive nod, briefly taking notice of the responsible glimmer in Tails' eyes.

Knowing that there wasn't much time, Sonic turned to the street and ran.

I'm sure it's obvious to everyone that this chapter is late. Extremely late. As a matter of fact, you probably thought that this story was dropped. It was not, and it is not. The truth is that I have temporarily lost interest in Sonic, although I have found my way back to the computer in order to continue this story. I have no reason to drop it, and will continue to write it as best I can. Scratch that – as best I have time to.

I'm glad you took the time to read this chapter, in spite of such a long update gap. On the plus side, it was a larger chapter in order to (or try to) mount the tension.

Facts for this chapter:

Metal Sonic fought Eggman (and won)!

Robo Knuckles did not work for Eggman.

Did I mention that Tails had lost his memory too?