A full week has passed, your fur a little better looking now that you bothered to use the comb Tails gave you. Something seemed off, the usual 40 minute rotations not on time as they had been leading up to now. You check the treeline scanning with your eyes for movements or colors that stood out.
An explosion rang out in the distance, the ground shaking beneath your feet. Stacks of smoke bellowed in the distance, the faint sounds of screams carrying on the wind. You grit your teeth, looking around in a futile effort to find anything you could've missed. The comb flashed with a small red light, the handle popping out a tiny button. You squint at it pensively, what could go wrong right? I'll either stay stuck here and get caught up in the attack or I get free. You press the button, the cage blinking for a second before disengaging and retracting into a ball.
The fox gave me a means of getting out-?
You walk over to the ball and pick it up, Tails' logo plastered on the face of it. You smirk a little, That fox is almost as smart as the doctor isn't he... It sucked that you lost the chaos emerald but if the heroes were distracted now would be the time to flee back to Eggman. Where was your stuff though? It's not like you could leave without at least what you had recovered, the doctor cared for the research and not your life. Your expression hardens as you run toward the chaos, hoping to find a few heroes in the heat of battle with some answers...
. . .
You burst through the trees, a small village set fully ablaze similar to the last one you saw Amy in but the mushrooms here were different and more arid. There were several badniks burrowing underground and swooping through the air lighting it all on fire. You see Amy rushing into battle, crushing as many moles as she could while Knuckles took to the sky and assaulted the bird-bots lighting everything up. You sneak around them quietly, preferring not to get pulled into a confrontation. This was your battlefield, stealth and espionage. You roll behind a building and stay out of line of sight of the heroes. You approach a mole-bot and tap on it's back.
"Doctor, do you copy?" It spins around and jumps out at you, it's drill whirring loudly. You dodge to the side and grab it's tail end before spinning it around and holding it's head tightly. Looking it over it didn't seem to be a model that was too advanced all things considered. No eyes, no ears.. Does it use some kind of sonar to 'see' where it's going? The doctor's plan was probably to overwhelm the heroes while he did something shady in the background, but what? Unless he was coming for the star post research himself! It had been too long without contact, he probably thought that you had failed or fled...
I'll show you, Doctor...
You still weren't sure where you were, but taking too long could mean that he'd get what he wanted and retreat. You tisk your tongue and throw the mole-bot down as you stomp it's head under your shoe. Confusion would be your greatest ally- you rush toward the battle jumping and flipping as you gain momentum propelling yourself into the air grabbing a bird-bot with a spin. It starts spewing fire as you land making it easy to take down several more birds, roasting them in the high heat. You rush forward as you slam the bird-bot into the ground and it burns itself in a blast of fire.
You run beside Amy and kick away incoming mole-bots drilling out of the ground at her. She looks at you in shock, "What are you doing out-!?"
A bird-bot swoops down behind her, you grip her wrist and pull her toward you while spinning forward in a reversal. Your foot impacts the underside of the robot causing it to spiral upward before exploding. "Time and place, ask when we're not under attack."
She pulls her hand back, "Wait so you're on our side now-?" Two more moles pop out of the ground, both of you slamming them back down forcefully and crushing their heads beneath your feet.
"Ask me again when we're not in the middle of battle. The fox and hedgehog, where are they?" You scan the ground for more bots that threaten to pop out.
Amy looks at you pensively, "I don't think I trust you with that information..." She throws her hammer at a bird behind you causing it to explode before gracefully catching the hammer out of the air.
You feign irritation and sigh extra loud, "If you won't tell me then let's hurry up and deal with these small fry."
The ground rumbles behind you, Knuckles landing and gearing up to swing at you. You jump away and assume a defensive stance. He points at you, "Go figure you're behind this attack! How did you get out of your cage (Y/A)?"
Amy taps his shoulder, "I don't think they're involved with any of this Knuckles.. I mean I don't trust them either but they didn't surprise attack me earlier and it would've been easy for them to."
Your eyes hone in, tracing the paths of the robots' movements. The bird-bots and mole-bots are synchronizing an attack-
One, three, seven..? Seven points of attack- Two moles and one bird on the echidna, two moles and birds each on the hedgehog... The echidna will be attacked a moment sooner...
Got it.
You rush at Knuckles, a menacing look in your eyes. He grits his teeth and winds up for an attack as he waits for you to be in range.
Perfect.
You orbit around him slightly as you get close, it would be a rough attack to dodge but this was the only way to get the information you needed before the doctor's forces left. He turns to his side as you come within range, his fist smashing down and just barely missing your tail. Before his fist can impact the ground he sees the mole-bot breach the dirt as his fist impacts them into scrap metal.
Five to go...
Using Knuckles as leverage you push off his shoulder and aim a spinning kick forward, hooking the bird-bot on your shoe and propelling it toward the two attacking Amy. They collide in an explosion as fiery metal bursts into the air.
Two more-
You land between Knuckles and Amy, extending a sweeping foot and knocking one of Amy's legs out from underneath her moments before the mole-bots breach the soil. One of them barely trims Amy's quills as it passes. Reaching your hands out they're both caught in the air, inches away from hitting Knuckles too.
Your body releases tension as the attacks are thwarted, you heave a heavy breath crushing the mole bots into each other. "It's a good thing you don't trust me echidna, if you did then those moles would've drilled right through you." You hold a hand down to Amy, "I'll say again, we need to hurry up here otherwise bad things are sure to happen to your friends."
She looks at you shell shocked, reaching a hand as you pull her to her feet. "Umm- thanks... Could you always do stuff like that-?"
"In ideal conditions, yeah. The middle of the night exhausted in pouring rain on an empty stomach was less than ideal." You snap your fingers, "Seriously, save the questions. The fires will spread across the island if something isn't done quickly. I recommend destroying the robots then evacuating the civilians further toward the coast. During the evacuation me and one of you should find the fox and hedgehog."
Knuckles stomps toward you, "Hey, why should we believe you WANT to find our other friends? It's not like saving our skin one time is enough for us to completely trust you."
You sigh to yourself, "You think I'm shady, so I would argue why would the people that live here listen to me either? I could try to get them to the coast but they have no reason to trust me." You shrug, "When it comes down to it if these folks end up dead that blood's not going to be on my hands. You lot are the heroes, so be the heroes and lead the innocent to safety." The words cut your throat as you said them. Heroes? Come off it. Hurry up and take the bait you idiots...
Knuckles groans to himself, "Fine I guess, but just because you're making sense doesn't mean I trust you for a second."
You fend off the robots with Knuckles and Amy, working surprisingly well as a unit. Amy weaves through crowds of robots swinging her hammer like a whack-a-mole game while Knuckles jumps and glides between enemies with fists ablaze. You monitor the battle as you continued your graceful assault on the ground and in the air, propelling yourself between Amy's and Knuckles' attacks to cover them as well as go on the offensive. The fire rages on as the three of you clear the townsfolk of danger, checking each house as you make swift work of the robots.
You reach the end of the block, three more houses left unchecked. The three of you nod to each other and charge into the burning buildings. The smoke burns your eyes as you burst through the doorway, the intense heat threatening to catch your fur on fire if you stood too close to the flames. Crying is heard in the back of the house, a child's voice coughing as you could hear they were struggling. You vault over the burning furniture and close the distance to discover a little dog boy desperately trying to move a collapsed 2x4 off of his parents that were unconscious underneath.
He looks up at you with pleading eyes, trying to speak but coughing horribly with each breath as his tears blurred his already impaired vision. You glance around, the house only getting further engulfed in flames. You look down on him apologetically, Sorry kid... He attempts to scream but only coughs more as you pick him up and shield him from the falling debris as you charge through the house. The door flies off its hinges as you shoulder tackle it and roll across the grass with the boy tucked between your arms. He pushes away from you and looks on his home in horror, attempting to get past you to run back inside but to no avail.
Knuckles runs up, "Its alright kid, we're here to get you out of here. Everything's alright."
The boy coughs up more smoke, his passageways clearing just enough for a raspy "-my mommy and daddy-" as he bawls and drops to his knees. Killing the kid's parents wasn't necessary regardless of the goal here doctor... There was no point in them dying, that helped no one and nothing...
Before you knew it you were back inside the house, Knuckles was yelling something behind you but it was too loud in your own head to hear a word he said. You get to the back of the house again, the fire threatening to consume the parents as you squat down and grip the wooden beam with all your might. You bare your fangs as you push your legs up, more, More-! The beam begins to creak as it budges only a few inches.
That's not good enough... More (y/n), come on-!
Your voice bellows into a roar as you put your all into moving the beam, your arms and legs shaking with adrenaline.
MOVE DAMN IT-!!
The beam cracks and pops, your gloves burning against the fiery surface as you huck the beam to the side. Sweat pushes its way through your fur, evaporating in an instant while you hoist both of them onto your back. All other thoughts have left you and the only thing you knew for sure is that you HAD TO save them. You press forward to the entrance, debris falling around you and shrapnel pinging into your fur. You could feel the fire licking at you and the shards burning your skin underneath as you coughed violently, the smoke finally having worn you down.
By the time you get outside Amy and Knuckles were keeping other people from the community from going inside. Everyone's eyes light up as you crest through the doorway, several patches of your fur burnt off but the two parents unconscious and alive. You lower them into the grass as the boy runs up to them and cries on their chests, looking between them as he tried to wake them up.
You walk to the side coughing violently, you had inhaled a lot of smoke... Your vision blurred slightly as you bend over holding your chest and gasping for oxygen. Knuckles and Amy approach you pensively, you're only able to notice them as their shoes come into view in your blurred vision.
"That was... Wow. Never expected you to run back in for that kid's parents." Knuckles offered a hand down.
Amy looked you over, taking note of the burnt patches of fur. "Differences aside that was really courageous of you to go back inside for the sake of someone else."
You barely hear them over your hacking and coughing as you take Knuckles' hand and struggle to stand at height. "Couldn't let some kid become orphaned over something as preventable as a fire. Its nothing."
Knuckles tone softened for the first time since he's spoken with you, a knowing look in his eye. "That definitely wasn't nothing. Not a lot of people would do that for a stranger. Maybe I had you pegged wrong this whole time, (y/a)." He smirked to himself, "You're still an ass for attacking us and helping Eggman but there's still some good in there, eh?" He punches your arm jokingly, but still a little too hard as you stumble to the side.
"Anyways, lets get this done with. Both of you can save the compliments till after." You feel a pulling in your chest again, praise for risking your life felt- Really good. No- you shouldn't be having fun with the enemy, that's just what they WANT you to do.
But this was nice wasn't it, (y/n)? There was finally someone that thought you were worth their praise, a few someone's at that.
But no... my mission comes first. I wont let sentiment cloud my judgement... I can't... I don't belong in this group...
. . .
Amy takes lead with the villagers, taking them out of the village and toward the beach. You and Knuckles proceed out of town rushing through the dense forest before the valley opened up into Green Hill again, you were on the north side of the island. Knuckles grabs you and throws you up into the air, your body flailing as you land on his back as he glides over the valley.
"Next time you plan on doing that warn me first, I thought you were trying to kill me again." You huff at him annoyed.
He laughs loudly at you, surveying the valley, "Don't be a baby, I've hit you harder than this ground ever could. Suck it up you pansy!" You shake your head with a light smirk, it was hard to digest that even someone as hot headed as the echidna had a side of him that wasn't completely annoying. Apparently even he had a sense of humor, imagine that...
"So where are we going?" You scan the valley as well, your eyes squinting as they looked over the smaller details. Many flickies seemed to be fleeing away from where you had come from too, then a few other groups as smoke stacks could be seen in the distance. Knuckles clings to the side of a small mountain and ascends to the top as both of you look around.
The entire island was under attack.
Fires had been lit in various places and while you could see some forces working to put the fires out there were still too many to account for.
Knuckles points far south, "See that city over there? That's where we're going. Sonic and Tails should be there researching whatever Eggman's up to. We knew an attack was coming- but this much damage so quickly..." He grits his teeth, slamming a fist into the ground. "We'll fly over the valley, but after that we're running. The wind is too weak for us to cheat and get there faster. You can handle that, right?"
You nod, "Of course." Now if only you had your gear, this would make things so much easier... But still, the city looked more technical than all the mushroom huts and houses. If your gear was going to be anywhere it would have to be there.
. . .
The wind rushes past you as the scenery flashes by your eyes, many mobians dressed in armor fending off the array of robots that were shooting, drilling, and cutting up the place. Several of them salute to Knuckles as you run by, you could see the conviction in their eyes. So this was the resistance? They had been around for a long time but hadn't made any large strides, at least not that you knew of. You fight your way through town, stepping over fallen robots and mobians alike grimacing all the while. You reach the central building, Knuckles punching in a code before the doors slide open. More explosions shake the air as you step inside, following behind Knuckles as he leads you up a few flights of stairs to a large circular room kitted out with a bunch of complex machines and computers. Tails stood beside a console and typed into it furiously while Sonic stood behind him, a crutch under his arm to support his bad leg. You could feel guilt creeping into your heart...
"Knuckles! Boy it's good to see you! What's the situation outside?" Sonic hobbled over with urgency. Even you could see that the crutch had taken it's toll on him, his eyes looked... sad.
"Not so good, we saw how much damage has been done, and Eggman's forces have launched a full assault across the entire island. Fires are everywhere, I was with Amy earlier and she's helping get civilians down to the coast but- We need water rescue boats and operators to man them." He looks to Tails, "You think you can broadcast a message across the entire island? We need to make sure everyone knows that they need to flee toward the water."
Tails didn't take his eyes off the screen, his tone elevated, "A little busy right now Knuckles... I don't know how but Eggman hacked into our systems- His virus has been wrecking havoc in the computers and deleting random files. I'm trying to contain it but- Crap!" The screen flashes red, Eggman's insignia popping up on it. Tails smashes the keys, "I'm locked out!"
You step forward, scooting Tails to the side firmly. "Let me try-" He looks surprised to see you at first, glancing back to Knuckles whom just shrugged in response. Your fingers get to work as you start typing every bypass you knew of that was incorporated into Eggman's systems. The screen remained the same, a nagging voice in the back of your head yelling at you to do better, figure it out, people's lives' were at stake!
"Fine, let's dance then..." You pick up the pace as you start hacking the system. First I need to hack into the automated functions and switch them over to manual controls- Alright now a backdoor to let me into the main systems, the light switches or basic sensors, heated floors, anything will do... Got it! Okay now if I can just-
Tails looks on in awe as your fingers clack away. He was used to programming so he could read the language well, but when it came to breaking into systems quietly you had the expertise he lacked. The screen crackled for a few seconds as you worked your magic, you slap the ENTER key and it flashes white before the interface is restored. You look to Tails with a satisfaction in your eyes, "Fox, you're in."
He looks at you for a few moments dumbstruck before he gets back on the console, "R-right. Thank you for that-" There was a small smile on his face, his eyes stealing glances at you while he typed furiously back into the interface.
Sonic hobbles over to you, "Well, good to see you again, chum! I've been taking it easy lately but don't you think for a second that I'm not gonna get you back for this leg!" He winks at you playfully, the sadness in his eyes replaced with relief as soon as he realized that you were actually trying to help this time around.
But why were you helping them-? To get your gear back and regroup with the doctor. Saving a few innocent mobians along the way didn't hurt though, it's not like the residents of the island were at fault.
"Done!" Tails clicks a few more keys before sighing emphatically as his hands finally relaxed. "The warning is broadcasting all over the island, we've done all we can from here. Knuckles do you think you can-"
-KA-BOOM!-
The wall erupts into a ball of flame, a giant mech-suit floating outside. The Doctor's mocking laughter can be heard echoing into the opening. "Well hello pests! I really love what you've done with the place! Very roomy!"
The dust settles, Sonic struggling to his feet as he retrieved his crutch, "Oh, hey Egghead! I see you're still compensating with those massive mechs as always. Don't you get tired of doing the same thing all the time?"
He cackles as the robot points at the crutch, "Clearly you do too, what's wrong rodent? Tired of running so much? Taking a little extended vacation?"
Sonic scowls, "Hey I can still spin dash you into next season!" He throws the crutch to the side and attempts to gain speed, but his leg gives out as he hits the floor.
Eggman laughs even harder, leveling a cannon at him, "Well no matter hedgehog, allow me to approve your leave of absence! Enjoy the dirt nap!" The cannon charges up, it's glow illuminating the room before it fires a beam of energy, scorching the ground in a big black circle.
Tails and Sonic can be seen beside the marking, the ends of Tails' tails scorched with black soot. "Sonic c'mon, we've gotta get out of here, you're in no condition to fight."
Knuckles lets out a battle cry and charges at Eggman, "You guys get out of here, I'll hold him off and be right behind you!" Knuckles looks to you, "Do or die, (y/a)!"
Eggman grips Knuckles tightly in a robot hand, finally taking notice of you. "(Y/N)? What are you still doing here?" He aims the cannon at you. "Bah, no matter. I already have what I need and you've failed me for the last time. But you made a great distraction this time! Good work 'Dragon of the East,' now do me a favor and get out of my sight." The cannon charges up...
You look into the light of the cannon. If the doctor was done with you now then what was even the point of all of this? The sneaking, the stealing, everything that you had done before, your plans, your goals, all the people that were swindled and lied to and stolen from for the sake of peace later- It wasn't far fetched, you knew the kind of man he was and this was always possible but it just felt so... Wasteful. No questions, no backlash, never once even tried to foil the doctor's plans. You'd save people as you could but it's not like anyone ever truly got out of his schemes unscathed...
"-You've gotta be kidding right?"
You devoted years of your life to the doctor, didn't that mean anything? You were a capable fighter and spy, you even managed to seriously injure the doctor's long time enemy-
"If this is really it then what's the point of everything I've ever done for you doctor-? I gave my life to you, used my skills without hesitation to do what you commanded and I only recently failed this mission- Why would you want me gone-?" You look at the mech as your arms fall limply to your sides. You needed to hear the answer...
"Why?" The doctor laughed again, Knuckles struggling in his grip. "-well obviously because you know too much! Besides, with the star post research back on track I won't need you anymore, I'll just make a Metal (Y/N) if I start feeling nostalgic!"
The light of the cannon flashes. "Did you expect something more dramatic?"