HELLBOUND {Sequel}

Five

__The boys were laughing amongst themselves while they drank alcohol, but not too much or too hard of course. T-Pup was just resting over by the front door as if it was taking a nap. Tails had immediately forgotten about the drama that started today, and so have Sonic and Knuckles. Every time it was just these three all they ever talked about was themselves, nobody else unless it related to the topic of interest. At this moment was when they were discussing Knuckles' difficulty of trying to have a baby, and of course Sonic and Tails were teasing him about it. As annoyed as Knuckles was he couldn't bring himself to be mad at them.
__"I don't think it's infertility," Sonic was snickering. "I think you just suck ass that bad!"
__"Literally!" Tails blurted out. He had an unopened container of new mints Sonic had given him. He set his beer bottle on the glass coffee table in order to open the mints before pouring the entire contents into his mouth.
__Knuckles just stared at Tails. "How can you eat that much without freezing your mouth?"
__Tails just giggled as he shrugged his shoulders.
__Knuckles scoffed with a smile as he shook his head before he turned to Sonic. "Sorry not all of us have the luck to make a kid the first time."
__Sonic's only reply was to shove Knuckles against the couch they were sitting at while laughing. He simmered down to giggling as he turned to Tails. "So, how's Cosmo?"
__Tails immediately frowned and flattened his ears. He made an awkward groan as he looked down to the floor. "Good I guess."
__Knuckles managed to sit up straight as he looked at Tails. "What's up then?"
__Tails sighed as he laid himself down on his back. "I don't know, man. Back when it first happened I could always sense she was here, but now it doesn't feel like it. I mean, I know she is, but I just feel normal again."
__Sonic tilted his head, his ears folding the opposite way as he looked concerned. "You don't talk anymore?"
__"Sometimes, but that hasn't happened for a long time now."
__Knuckles looked uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck. He turned to Sonic. "Hey, I know I shouldn't bring this up, but I think we need to talk about Sonia and Manic."
__Sonic groaned as he waved him off. "No thanks. We're here to forget about that."
__"I'm only concerned," Knuckles said quietly. "They sounded like something had happened."
__Sonic just rolled his eyes. "That's just what they want me to think to make me listen and feel bad." He then took a long sip of his beer.
__"I'm not so sure..."
__BAM! The whole house shook. All the items hanging on the front wall of the house fell to the ground. The three mobians lost their balance and fell down. T-Pup was immediately standing up. It ran for the door and began jumping up and down while braking and growling angrily. It's eyes had turned red. Tails knew that it meant it could sense an enemy. This made Tails stand up immediately and start running. "Up and at 'em!" he shouted.
__Sonic and Knuckles did not hesitate to get up and follow. They all ran outside and froze on the front lawn. There was a very pale little girl in a black dress and white hair floating in front of them. Tails remembered that this was Sage, one of Doctor Eggman's creations. He didn't know the whole story, but Sage had risked her life to save Sonic. But the doctor must have found a way to restore her, and now there was no reason for her to be on friendly terms again.
__There was black smoke coming off of a dark spot on the front wall of the house. Sage had shot a small blast to the house just to get their attention. Well, she had it. Tails checked his communicator on his left wrist. It was sending out a distress signal. The others will most likely join them soon.
__Sonic was staring at the little girl in disbelief. "Sage? You're alive?"
__The little girl nodded. "Father was kind enough to bring me back. He spent countless hours trying to restore me as I was before."
__"Then what are you...?"
__Sage shook her head. "What we had before was only temporary. Now it is time for me to better serve my father in his dreams." She then held out her right hand, which glitched in red, and shot out a red beam of energy.
__Tails turned to the robot dog. "T-Pup!" At his command T-Pup flew up and shot out its own laser beam from its mouth. The two red beams made contact and blew everyone back. Sage and T-Pup managed to stay floating while the mobians were smacked against the house. Sage and T-Pup continued to glare at each other while the mobians got back on their feet and braced themselves.
__"I don't know what you're up to," Sonic started shouting. "but things are different now, Sage! I'm a father, which means I cannot afford to lose a battle! I'll be going all out!"
__"That's what I like to hear." Behind Sage came an old man in his flying contraption. His mustache was still brunette, but there were some gray hairs popping out here and there. The old human cackled as he stared down at the mobians. "Good to see you! It's been quite a few years, hasn't it?" While Doctor Eggman had been unleashing a bunch of attacks and raids as of late, the human had managed to stay hidden for many years until today.
__"What's your game, Eggman?" Knuckles growled while he held his fists up.
__"Oh, come now! We can get to that later!" Doctor Eggman shrugged off rather casually. "Now's the time to catch up! You remember Sage," He gestured to the little girl. He then leaned back and pointed behind him. "and Metal Sonic, of course." Just then a robotic duplicate of Sonic appeared behind him and positioned itself beneath the floating human, ready for battle.
__The mobians grouped up closer together as they saw the Freedom Fighters run in. They all saw the scene and immediately rushed to join them. Amy had ran over to Sonic's side, holding Eli tightly. "Sonic, what's happening? Is that Sage!?"
__Doctor Eggman immediately took interest in Amy, or rather Eli. "Ah! There's who I was hoping to see! Heard you had a pretty little thing, Sonic. You sure have been busy," he added rather darkly. This made Amy hug her daughter even tighter.
__"Take her inside," Sonic told Amy. She did not hesitate. Amy continued to hold Eli tight as she retreated inside.
__"You, too, Fi," Scourge told Fiona. "Take the kids as well." Fiona immediately grabbed Avery and Wyatt by their arms and followed after Amy inside.
__This made the human eye Scourge skeptically. "I see. So the rumors were true. The great and powerful King Scourge the Hedgehog has softened up and become a goody-two-shoes."
__Scourge scowled. "Da fuck did you just say, old man!?" He went to move but Tails grabbed his arms and held him still.
__Sage only moved her eye to look at Doctor Eggman. "Father, we're starting to steer away from our current objective."
__But he waved her off. "Leave me be, dear daughter. I'm almost done."
__Scourge looked to Tails in confusion. "Who the hell is she? Dear daughter?"
__Tails brought himself to a whisper and did not dare take his eyes off the threat. "I'll explain later."
__Doctor Eggman suddenly leaned forward and smirked at Sonic. "I must say, Sonic, I truly am sorry for what's happened. A real travesty you must feel."
__Sonic looked confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"
__Suddenly Sonia was panicking as she ran to the front of the group. "Robotnik! Don't you dare!"
__But he just continued to make that classic sinister smile. "It's a shame, really, what happened to your mother."
__Sonic perked his ears. "What happened?"
__"Don't!" Manic shrieked.
__"Oh! You don't know?" Doctor Eggman said slowly. He then started laughing as he slapped his controls. "What a pathetic son!"
__"Answer me, dammit!" Sonic growled.
__"Yeesh! All right!" The human said promptly. He then giggled again. "Desperate to find out about your mother's passing, aren't ya?"
__Everything fell silent. Tails looked at Sonic immediately. The blue hedgehog didn't look like he had processed what the old man had said. "What?"
__"She had cancer, didn't she?" The human continued to smile. "Looks like she couldn't keep fighting. She's dead!"
__Everyone was freaking out quietly. Sonia looked devastated as she collapsed on her knees and started bawling. Manic had to kneel down beside her and hold her.
__Sonic had flattened his ears as he grabbed on to his face. His eyes were shaking as he started panting and heaving. "She's... what!? No. No. NO! NO!"
__Tails went to reach out for his best friend. "Sonic, I'm..."
__Sonic had fallen on his butt and continued to freak out. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! This! NO!" He kept shaking and started to cry. "She can't! She can't! SHE CAN'T!"
__As Doctor Eggman continued to laugh out maniacally Metal Sonic sprang forward. This made Tails turn to cut it off. He locked fingers with the robot in an attempt to push it back, but the robot managed to overpower the fox and pin him to the ground. Tails let out a hard grunt as he tried to kick the robot off. Scourge then ran in and used his homing attack on Metal Sonic, causing the blue robot to be tossed back to its master once his laughing died down.
__"Welp, that's all I needed to get off my chest. Ciao!" The human waved to everyone as he retreated and flew away. Metal Sonic head stood up and shook its head before flying after Doctor Eggman.
__Sage did not move. She was staring at the Freedom Fighters with no emotion. "Prepare yourselves, Freedom Fighters. The war has yet to begin." She then quickly flew after her father.
__When Sonia had finally calmed down she immediately ran over to Sonic with Manic. She hugged him tightly as she struggled to speak. "I'm sorry, Sonic! We wanted to tell you sooner! We just...! We couldn't...!"
__Sonic burst out of his sister's grip and ran off with his super-speed. No one was fast enough to stop him from leaving.
__Tails tried running after him. "Sonic!"
__But Scourge cut him off. "I'll go talk to him. You figure things out here like you always do." He flicked his two fingers from his forehead to Tails before he followed after Sonic with his super-speed.
__But Tails was just stumped as his ears drooped down the side of his face.