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Stephen Zacharus

WRATH OF THE GODDESS

 

Chapter III: "Doomsday"

 

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Sonic grimaced as he approached Knothole. He knew exactly what was coming—exactly how the others would react to his news. But the worst part was knowing that he'd let his friends down; he totally blew it! He frowned and kicked the dirt, frustrated at the grim reality of his situation.

He entered the village with an ever-tightening knot of dread in his stomach, already picturing the disappointed faces after he spoke of his failure. Almost immediately, a small crowd of curious and hopeful friends had gathered around him, chattering excitedly.

"Sonic! Sonic, didja do it?" his two-tailed fox bro—Tails—asked, anxiously jumping up and down.

"You are making zee big boom-boom?" asked an enthusiastic Antoine.

Similar queries erupted from the crowd. Sonic drooped his head, ashamed. "Sorry guys—didn't happen."

And there it was: that unanimous murmur of disappointment. Tails looked to his feet. Antoine fainted. Rotor and Bunnie sighed. Others simply went quiet. Sonic winced; he couldn't stand it!

Sally's heart went out to the poor hedgehog. "You did your best, Sonic," she purred, giving him a tight hug. From the crowd, he noticed his uncle—Sir Charles—give him an encouraging smile.

"Well now what do we do?" Tails asked, pulling Sonic back into reality.

A shrug. "I dunno, T2—I'm clueless."

"One thing's for sure," Uncle Chuck said, stepping forward. "We can't give up! There must be a way!"

Sonic couldn't bear to look his roboticized uncle in the face. "I don't know about that, either. The reactor's covered with something called Diamond-Glass™. Tough stuff."

Sir Charles scratched his metallic head, thinking. "There could still be one possibility..."

The dual-tailed kitsune behind him furrowed his brow. "What's that, Uncle Chuck?"

"The Deep Power Stones!"

Sonic snapped his fingers. Of course! Why hadn't they though of it before? Since the Deep Power Stones contained so much raw energy, they could be used to either emit huge quantities of their power or cause mass-destruction, depending on which way they were connected.

But then, thinking back to the original DP-Stone-ordeal with Robotnik, Sonic arrived at a problem. "No go, Unc—we've only got one, remember? 'Buttnik's got the other."

Sir Charles grinned mischievously, in such a way he resembled his nephew almost uncannily. "Not if you take it from him!"

Sonic couldn't help but return his uncle's grin. "This could be fun..."

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There were so few SWATbots guarding Robotropolis it was ridiculous. Go figure; it seemed typical that Robotnik would relocate the majority of his forces to the Doomsday Project.

"Oh well," Sonic thought as he explored the Round Guy's private office. "I guess it'll just make this job easier."

It wasn't long before Sonic came upon a large combination safe—a suspectable enough location for the Stone. He whipped-out Nicole. "Hey babe, can you crack this thing for me?" He attached the computer to the safe, just over the combination dial.

"NO PROB, BLUE DUDE—GIMME A SEC."

Sonic soon found himself tapping his foot impatiently. "Can we pick up the pace a little?"

"JUST CHILL, SONIC.  YOU'RE STRESSIN’ ME." Not more than four seconds later, the safe popped open. "OPEN SESAME, AS THEY SAY."

"Way past, Nicole!" Sonic wasted no time in beginning to sort-through the contents of the vault: a few reports, some assorted computer printouts, various memos to Snively, a couple of archived vid-discs containing Robotnik's favorite "Lifestyles of the Sick and Twisted" episodes, more documents, an ugly paperweight...

No Stone.

"Aw, nothin'!" Sonic was about to leave and search elsewhere when Nicole suddenly beeped.

"BACK IT UP, MY MAIN HEDGEHOG. I HAVE AN ENERGY READING."

Sonic turned and, sure enough, saw the stone; it lay within a carved, stone display of sorts atop one of the numerous file cabinets, glowing radiantly. The energy was almost touchable...

He dropped the small artifact into his backpack and sped back to Knothole.

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"Supply check."

"Right, Sal."

The pair had a bird's-eye perspective of the demonic Doomsday project from their location atop the plateau—a foreboding sight to say the least. Ignoring the view, Sonic took off his backpack and awaited Sally's call.

"Rope?"

Sonic held up a few coils of rope. "Check."

"Com-links?"

"Check."

"Metal-eating balloon?"

"Check. Last one, too... I hope we put this thing to good use."

Sally took a breath. "Deep Power Stones?"

A flash of light-energy indicated their presence as Sonic removed the stones from his bag. "Check."

She kneeled beside him. "Okay, Sonic—now when we connect the Stones, we have..."

"Hold on," Sonic interrupted, raising a hand. "What's with this 'we' stuff? I thought you were gonna wait out here with the com-link and watch my back!"

Sally gave her friend a long, serious look. "I told you that because it was the only way I could get you to let me come along. I'm sorry Sonic, but I'm sure as hell not going to let you do this by yourself. Whether you like it or not, we're in this together."

Sonic was taken aback by her stamina. "Whoa..." The hedgehog then collected his thoughts. "Are you sure want to do this, Sal?"

She nodded. "However it ends."

A quick, warm glance was exchanged. Sonic smiled.

"Check."

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Snively gave a nervous glance to his watch... only twenty minutes before Doomsday blew itself sky-high.

He was going to have to find a way out of there very soon.

Behind him, Ivo Robotnik rotated his mechanized chair, tapping his fingers on the armrest. "Still no sign of the Hedgehog?"

The minion consulted the security screen. "Not yet, sir."

Robotnik swore under his breath. "The hedgehog is bound to return..." Alas, his mood suddenly changed for the better. "...and I'll be waiting for him. Oh yes—victory will be sweet!"

"Not for you," Snively thought bitterly as he returned to the console...

...and looked to his watch yet again.

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The sheer size of the reactor was enough to intimidate even the bravest Freedom Fighter. Sally was drawn in by its massive frame, hypnotized by the huge bolts of current that flooded the space beneath the glass dome.

And doubt came... slowly at first, but suddenly becoming all the more apparent. Sally grabbed Sonic's shoulder just before he removed the Stones. "Wait..."

"What is it, Sal?"

She looked up at the reactor. "What if the Stones destroy more than just Doomsday? We have no idea what kind of destruction those things are capable of..."

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were y—"

"You said this reactor is nuclear-powered, right?" Sally persisted. "We could be destroying the entire planet!"

Sonic went silent for a minute, then groaned suddenly and slapped himself in the forehead. "Damn, we always forget about something don't we?" He balled up his fist frustratedly. "I shoulda thought about that before we got here..."

"It's no use worrying about that now," Sally said. "But we don't have much time, Sonic—we need to come up with something FAST."

And if anyone could do anything fast, she thought... Sonic could.

The hedgehog brightened suddenly. "Hey! Couldn't we just put the Stones together the other way?"

Sally's eyes went wide with realization. "Yes!! If we used the energy from the Stones rather than their destructive-power... it just might work! Nicole—analysis, please."

"ACCESSING, SALLY."

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The alarms inside the Observation Room suddenly came alive, causing Snively to nearly fall out of his chair. "Sir!! The hedgehog is back!!!"

Robotnik whipped around to see his archenemy's image on the vid-screen. The hedgehog appeared to be holding something... familiar...

He gasped. "The Power Stones!! Snively, DO SOMETHING!!! Deploy all SWATbots to the reactor room!! BRING ME THOSE DAMNED STONES!!!"

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"ANALYSIS COMPLETE: THE POWER WITHIN THE STONES IS IDENTICAL TO THAT OF POWER RINGS, BUT GREATLY AMPLIFIED."

Sally felt another pang of tension. "How much?"

"TEN-THOUSAND TIMES."

She turned to Sonic. "Could that be dangerous?"

"THE POSSIBILITY OF DANGER DOES EXIST, SALLY," Nicole answered for him.

Sonic looked around. "Hey, this whole place is dangerous."

Confidence returned. "You're right, Sonic," Sally said. They hugged quickly. "We have to try."

It was then, with sudden, unanticipated force, that a team of deadly SWATbots swarmed into the Reactor Room. Their heavy, droning, metallic voices could be heard even above the sound of the reactor: _HEDGEHOG: PRIORITY ONE. TURN OVER THE POWER STONES. COMPLY IMMEDIATELY, OR BE DESTROYED._ Plasma guns were lowered and aimed directly for the two Freedom Fighters.

Sonic lived for moments like these. "You want 'em? Come and get 'em, SWAT-butts!" He turned to Sally and gave her one of the Stones. "Let's do it to it, Sal!"

_FREEZE, INDRUDERS!!_

They looked at each other.

_HEDGEHOG: PRIORITY ONE._

They looked at the SWATbots.

_TURN OVER THE POWER STONES!!!_

They connected the Stones.

Everything from then on seemed to be in slow motion. The two Stones fused together and melted, their power absorbed. Sonic and Sally, hands clasped, were enclosed within an orb of pure, white energy.

"So this is what Power Rings feel like," Sally thought dreamily.

As the power surged through their bodies, the duo built-up momentum... and shot off into a blazing, white energy-comet. The resulting shockwave destroyed the SWATbots on impact, as well as everything else in the room.

Including the Reactor dome.

The glass initially broke away in sheets, just prior to shattering violently into giant plumes of diamond-dust. With the Reactor now exposed, Sonic and Sally collided into the machine with sickening force—smashing through completely and (as a side-effect from the Deep Power within them) vaporizing any nuclear material upon contact... mere seconds before Self-Destruct could commence. An explosion of vast proportions filled the room; they blasted out of there. Together.

A blaze of motion.

A blur of destruction.

A streak of lightening.

 

...a team.

 

 

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[End, chapter three of four]