Sonic the Hedgehog

Bad Times

Sonic wishes he had noticed sooner. It would have given him the time needed to mentally prepare himself. But it's too late. Right now, hesitation is a luxury no one aboard the Tornado Two can afford.

It's unavoidable. If he wishes to pull off what feels like the impossible and achieve his greatest triumph, he'll have to revisit his greatest failure. Mobius's greatest failure.

Marked on the G.U.N map as the location of the sixth energy reading is an area Sonic, Tails, and Amy are very familiar with. The latter two of the three would much rather have such a location repressed in the deepest vault of their minds. As for the war hero... he made a promise all those years ago. He'll never allow himself to forget.

Scrapbrain. The place where the sixth emerald awaits. A city once bustling with joy, freedom, and life- turned to no man's land with a single activation of a switch. Eggman needed a place to test his new weapon of mass destruction. Somehow, the end result proved too needlessly destructive for even him to approve.

"Sonic... you alright?" Tails asks, recognizing the somber face his friend bears.

Sonic doesn't hear the question, indirectly answering it. His mind is occupied with flooding memories of the first week after the attack. The Metal Virus consumed and controlled everyone it touched, turning a bustling city into the most dangerous place on the planet overnight. So many cried out in protest for a hunane way of solving the situation. But Station Square never heeded these calls. It simply wasn't on their list of priorities.

There has to be a cure. Sonic internalizes. There has to be. I won't be shooed away this time. Once this is over, I'm paying a visit to Station Square. They can do more. They have to.

"Why do you all look so scared?" Knuckles ponders aloud, acknowledging the frightened looks on each of his teammates. "We took off with such fire... such determination. Don't let your doubts take that away."

"It's not doubt, Knuckles," Amy says, looking up at the sea of ugly, grey clouds looming over them. "Where we're going is a very bad place..."

"How... bad?" Knuckles asks, slightly nervous after realizing just how unsettled his friends are.

"During the Metal War, GUN used a Chemical Plant as a base of operations to test and authorize new types of weaponry and defenses," Tails begins. "They were desperate to turn the tides of Eggman's conquest. We were desperate. That's where they had me stationed... coming up with new technology that could counter and even damage Eggman's machinery. In retaliation, he created his own chemical weapon. I think he was just trying to show off. He created the Metal Virus. And he used Springyard- an innocent city that had no chance of defending itself- to test it. Everyone inside is now a... ZomBot."

"You speak of these victims as if they're no longer themselves?" Knuckles catches.

"Because they're not," Sonic says, arms folded, staring off at the grey sky. "At least not anymore. We haven't found a way to save them yet. But we will."

"For now, though, they're VERY dangerous," Tails warns. "Just one touch and you'll be trapped, unable to control your own body. Even if we could touch them, they're completely invulnerable to any kind of attack. We have to stay in the air, no matter what."

"And if the emerald is on the ground?" Knuckles asks.

"Leave it to me," Sonic assures. "I'm too fast for them."

"I remember seeing it on the News," Amy says, sitting back in her seat. "I just... couldn't believe it. I CAN'T believe it. How could someone do something so cruel? So horrible? To so many innocent people...?"

"Robotnik is not a person," Sonic answers, looking back at his three allies. "He's pure evil. And that's why we have to stop him. Whatever it takes."

"This might sound random, but why do you call him by his real name?" Amy asks, her sudden question making the blue hedgehog go wide-eyed. "Everyone else just calls him Eggman. But not you. Why?"

The question makes Sonic freeze, his mind working to try and answer. He never really noticed.

"I don't know, Amy," Sonic shrugs. "I don't know."

...