Wandering Hedgebot

"Understood!" Fiona responded. "Activating teleporter beam!"

Fiona deployed a deflector drone outside the window before turning on the teleporter beam, the drone directing it onto Thunder, Sonic, Tails, Amelia, Rouge, and the President, warping them onto the Zephyr.

"Victims are secured!" Fiona said. "I detect a significant amount gas in their system. Medibots have been assigned to them."

Indigo and Flash arrived in the room, wearing breathing masks as they look up at IntelliBreeze. Indigo had Flash give her a boost, acting quickly as she tears the fan-bot from the ceiling, severing it with her laser sword, and then opening it up and activating it rest function.

"I got the IntelliBreeze." Indigo said. "Are there anymore in the White House?"

Meanwhile, Fiona added some backup for the Metal FFs by launching cannons into the chunk of ground and aerial Eggbots. Then, Fiona noticed something strange.

"Guys, something's wrong." Fiona said. "These Eggbots aren't producing's Eggman's signature. And where's Eggman? He's always here in person to gloat about the battle."

"Oooh, I've seen those before..." Indigo said. "Fake Eggbots that are run by GUN instead. Looks like ol' Egghead's being framed."

"Man, Thunder's gonna be pissed off when he gets up..." Flash commented.

Theo scanned the White House, paying close attention to the ceiling fans.  "Scans indicate that IntelliBreeze Units have been installed in all major offices.  They are all active.  It appears that GUN is utilizing them to maintain control of the United Federation government."

The Wildcat Anthroid then contacted Gray.  "Gray, I recommend a field test of your disruptor.  Can it be calibrated to the frequency utilized by IntelliBreeze II Units?"

"I've recently added that functionality to the device.  I'm deploying it now," the young Hedgehog replied before deploying a hovering drone equipped with his disruptor and positioning it over the White House.

Meanwhile, Amelia and Tails began to come to as the noxious knockout gas was pulled from their systems.

"Unhh...What happened?" groaned the Bobcat as she groggily opened her eyes.

"GUN appears to know that we're attempting to expose its atrocities to the President," replied Naomi.  "From what I've heard, there are IntelliBreezes installed throughout the White House."

"Guess I should've checked the ceiling...."

"Don't worry about it, Amelia.  It appears Indigo and Flash are bringing the fan from the President's office on board.  Thunder will no doubt be able to set her free."

Tails, having been the first to have all the gas extracted from his system, got up to check on Thunder, Rouge, and the President.  "Were we gassed?  We all just ended up falling asleep in the Presidential Office."

"You were," replied Naomi.  No doubt GUN used a remote uplink to the White House's HVAC system, along with their control of IntelliBreeze II units, to orchestrate the gassing.  I believe they were attempting to stage an attack on the President, but make it appear as though it was orchestrated by Dr. Eggman."

"You mean Egghead wasn't behind this for once?" Sonic said, standing fully awake from the gas.

Sonic, Thunder, Rouge, and the President stood, having heard what happened.

"Talk about a rude awakening..." Rouge scratched her ear. "GUN sure is sneaky to gas the guy who's paying their bills..."

"Not anymore, I'm not!" said an angry President. "This is treason, and I'll see to it that GUN is permanently disbanded for this!"

"I've given Indigo locations of all the IntelliBreezes in the White House." Fiona said. "And she's on her way to extracting them now."

"Yep, I'm on it!" Indigo signed. "Let's move, Flash."

Flash nodded as the two of them dashed throughout the White House, ripping out and resetting each IntelliBreeze fan manually, after the hovering drone disrupted them. Each one was warped to the ship with the teleporter beam.

Meanwhile, the battle was wrapping to its end, Shadow and Omega plowing away the rest of the false Eggbots with their combined attacks. However, just as all appeared to be done, a large Egg Carrier appeared in the distance, and it had opened up its nose to reveal a rather large cannon.

"WARNING! An Egg Carrier is approaching!" Fiona exclaimed. "And it's preparing to fire its Egg Blaster at the White House!!!"

Thunder's eyes widened. "Are they serious?! The others are in danger!"

Theo scanned the large battle ship, just as it was primed to fire a fully-charged Egg Blaster on the White House.  "Scans indicate that the vessel is unoccupied.  It is being controlled by its onboard computer system."

"Never mind that, Theo," said Metal.  "We have to get everyone outta there before that cannon fires!"

"Understood," replied Theo with a nod before sprinting into the building and grabbing as many occupants as he could while Metal and Amp did the same.

Just as the last person was evacuated, the cannon fired, reducing the White House to rubble.

"...And I thought you were a bunch of terrorists," commented one of the President's aides between pants.  "Guess I was wrong."

"No, we're not the terrorists," Metal confirmed.  "The real threat has been hiding in plain sight for a long time.  It's GUN."

"Indeed," added Amp.  "They are the ones who orchestrated this attack, using replicas of Eggman Empire assets to make it appear to have been orchestrated by Dr. Eggman."

"And Eggman wouldn't be a threat if not for what they did to him 40 years ago.  Have you ever heard of Proto?"

"That almost-human robot from the late 1970s?  I vaguely remember a special on him being shown in a junior high science class.  He was being compared to the likes of Rosie and C-3PO if I'm not mistaken."

"That particular video has since been scrubbed from nearly every media archive in the world.  GUN wanted to have the world believe such a robot never existed."

"I remember a teenage Ivo Robotnik talking about possibly taking the robot on a world tour.  It never did happen.  As much as I wanted to, I never did get to meet that robot."

"That's because GUN stole him, both to weaponize his technology and trigger the grief-induced megalomania that members of the Robotnik family are prone to."

"This is something the whole world needs to know about.  I should organize a press conference to expose all this."

"There is a possibility that such exposure will be blocked by GUN, given their influence."

"Not if President Sanderson shuts that slimy organization down."

"There is a limited probability of success with such an endeavor, sir," commented Theo.  "Historical data suggests that the GUN Commander may have a connection to the medieval mage Balthazar."

"WHAT?  Wouldn't such a person have died centuries ago?"

"Not if he utilized corrupted Life Stones to extend his life.  Beyond that, his access to advanced technology would no doubt allow him to further extend his life with cybernetic implants."

Thunder glanced at Theo. "Wait....did you say cybernetic implants?"

"I think it's time we end this and go pay this GUN commander a visit." Indigo said walking in, looking a little annoyed.

"Man, that was close..." Flash said. "I thought we would be toast for a change..."

"First, we need to gather the rest of our friends." Thunder said.

"Already did it." Fiona said. "They're coming in now."

And true enough, the others came in, including Gamma and Sonic, along with the survivors of the White House attack. Shadow & Omega soon walked next to Rouge.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

"Oh I'll be just fine." Rouge said. "I got teleported just in the nick of time."

"Then we should get going." Shadow said.

"Wait, Shadow!" Thunder said. "Come with us! We can take care of GUN with all of us combined!"

"We have our own beef with GUN." Shadow said. "Besides, we do things our own way."

"But they're bound to expect you coming." Thunder said. "It's better to attack in bigger numbers."

"THEY'RE NUMBERS WON'T MATTER." Omega said. "WE WILL ELIMINATE THEM ALL."

"Don't about us." Rouge said. "We have our own way of getting around."

"Oh..." Thunder said. "Well then, at least take this with you."

Thunder then gave Rouge a Life Stone pendant. "Keep that close to you, for luck."

Rouge's eyes lit up upon seeing the stone. "Ooh, so pretty... You sure know how to charm a girl, Thunder, darling. I'll never let it out of my sight."

"We should go, Rouge." Shadow reminded.

Rouge nodded, then looked to Thunder, winking. "See ya around."

And like that, Shadow warped Team Dark off the ship. Then, Thunder turned to the window, looking at the faux Egg Carrier. Then, he summoned massive storm clouds, each gathering gigawatts of electricity. Indigo, Flash, and the President watched as Thunder concentrated on gathering the clouds. And then, in a massive flash, a large lightning bolt tore through the faux Egg Carrier was blasted in half, eventually exploding to pieces.

"Now, before we head for GUN, we need to make a stop at the Kaze Ruins." Thunder said. "I have a feeling that we'll be able to find something, or someone, that can help us. Fiona, set a course!"

"Copy that!" Fiona said, turning the Zephyr towards South Island.

"The Kaze Ruins..." the President repeated. "What do you hope to find there?"

"Actually...I'm not sure..." Thunder said. "But something keeps drawing me there...a feeling...I should at least take a look."

While his peers all boarded the Zephyr and prepared for the trip to South Island, Ivan was thinking about his creator.  "I wonder...." he said out loud.  "when we defeat the GUN Commander...will it restore Ivo's sanity?"

"We can only hope so, Ivan," replied Naomi.  "If we do, he'll be the first Robotnik to to be restored from the influence of Balthazar."

"You really think the GUN Commander is Balthazar?"

"The more I think about it, Ivan, the more I feel that, yes, he is."

Russ, who had been watching Challenge of the GoBots not too far from where Ivan and Naomi conversed, suddenly leapt out of his chair and ran over to them.

Naomi, having heard the boy's footsteps as he approached, turned around to face him, only to see him looking a bit pale, as if he saw something that freaked him out.  "You look like you've seen a ghost, Russ.  What's wrong?"

"I was watching TV when my vision suddenly faded.  After a couple seconds, I saw the Commander...rip off his uniform.  He was covered in metal...and had this dark orb in his chest.  He pointed at Rocky...and he turned into a crazy killer robot.  It was scary, and I don't think...it was part of the show.  Why did that happen?"

"It sounds like a vision of some sort.  It may be a carryover from your being connected to a hive mind empowered by the Commander.  Perhaps he's planning to merge himself with the network hub.  As for the...roboticization of our friend, Rocky....Perhaps he is...developing a spell...that induces a more potent roboticization than Dr. Eggman could ever hope to achieve."

"We...We can't let that happen....Rocky's getting to be...my best friend."

"Russ, we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that that doesn't happen.  We're not about to let one of our own be forcibly turned against us by that monster," Naomi said, placing her arms around the young Hedgehog.

"I hope so."

Thunder scowled as he heard this. "We'll never allow GUN to do any roboticization!" he declared. "Everyone deserves free will! Everyone deserves freedom! I don't care what the Commander, what Balthazar wants! He needs to be stopped! His evil should've died centuries ago! Perhaps that's why I'm here...to put an end to his evil once and for all, and that's what I'm gonna do!"

"It would explain how you're able to pull out all that amazing stuff you do." Indigo said. "I just hope you're not biting off more than you can chew. The things this guy does...it's a little more than unsettling."

After a while, Fiona announced that they were coming upon South Island, near the Kaze Ruins. Thunder had everyone who wanted to go get on the Tempest. Flash decided to go, curious about what was inside. Gamma opted for going as well, inviting Amy to come with him. Even Sonic decided to come along. Thunder had Fiona on standby, radars & defenses up in case there were any surprises. Once everyone was on-board, the Tempest flew off, with the Zephyr flying into the cloud, activating stealth mode to avoid detection.

Naomi and Amy had decided to join Gamma, Thunder, Sonic, Flash, and Indigo on the Tempest.

Gray, who decided to stay on board the Zephyr for tech support, deployed his Disruptor Drone, knowing the possibility of Balthazar having beaten the Metal Freedom Fighters to the punch, or otherwise being prepared for them.

When the Tempest arrived at the Kaze Ruins, Naomi was the first to exit the craft and look around.  "This place is incredible!" she said out loud.  "If I'm not mistaken, this used to be the heart of Kaze Civilization.  Nowadays, they call this the Windy Ridge Zone."

"It sure lives up to that named," commented Amy, who clutched her spines as a gust of wind blew past her.

"Everything seems quiet so--"

Before she could finish her comment, Naomi found herself in the stony grip of a Golem that had appeared out of nowhere.

Amy was quick to pull out her Piko-Piko Hammer and charge at the stone behemoth.  "You better let her go, Boulder-Brain!"

The Golem didn't reply, instead disappearing just as instantly as it appeared.

"It just...disappeared.  I've only ever seen Shadow do that," commented the pink Hedgehog.

"Thunder, this is Tails," came a familiar two-tailed Fox over the Hedgehog's earpiece.  "My Emerald Radar caught a blip for a few seconds, but it just disappeared,  I'm guessing someone or something down there had a Chaos Emerald and was using Chaos Control teleportation."

Thunder had found a structure with an opening at the ruins when he heard Naomi and Amy. He had started towards the robot, but it had disappeared using Chaos Control. It left Thunder surprised, trying to think, but then Tails called about the detection of Chaos energy.

"One of those native golems appeared and disappeared, and kidnapped Naomi!" Thunder said. "Something tells me it thought she was from the Kaze tribe."

"Maybe it went underground somewhere." Indigo said. "Don't old tribes and such usually go underground these days?"

"Hmm...a good idea." Thunder responded. "Fiona, do an X-ray and seismic scan of the entire island."

"Understood!" Fiona said.

However, Sonic, being the impatient one, ran for the same structure that Thunder was headed to.

"Sonic, wait!" Thunder shouted. "There could be traps, or more golems!"

"Heh, I like his thinking." Flash said. "I say let's get exploring. Nothing ventured, nothing gained." And he too headed for the ruined building. "Shake a tail, Indie!"

Gamma rejoined Amy. "Are you alright, Amy?"

"Yeah, I'm alright.  I'm more worried about Naomi than myself though," the pink Hedgehog replied.  "What if GUN has control of that Golem?"

Back on the Zephyr, Tails headed to the hangar, where the Tornado was being stored.  As soon as he jumped into the biplane's cockpit, he plugged his Chaos Radar into a special port in the console and prepared for takeoff.

"Tia, access and amplify the Chaos Radar.  A friend of mine has been kidnapped by an Emerald-bearer."

"Understood," replied a female voice from the cockpit.  "Full-range scanners activated."

Within a few seconds, the console let out a series of beeps, just as the deployment hatch opened for the Tornado to leave the Zephyr.  "A signal has been detected 50 feet under the ground," announced the Tornado's on-board AI.

"Activate Drill Mode," commanded the Fox Kit as the biplane flew away from the Zephyr.

"Activating," replied Tia as large drills emerged from between each pair of wings, as well as the propeller mount.  While this happened, the wings rotated 90 degrees toward the body of the plane, transforming it into something that more closely resembled a drill tank.  Finally, the cockpit closed up over Tails to protect the young pilot from the debris that would be stirred up as he bored through the earth.

With the transformation complete, Tails took the Tornado 50 feet below the surface, tunneling until he made his way to a torch-lit cavern full of ruins.

"We are closing in on the Emerald signal," announced Tia as Tails pulled out the Emerald Radar and climbed out of the biplane.  "Keep an eye on the Tornado, Tia.  I'm going to investigate on foot," commanded the Fox.

"Understood.  Good luck."

"Thanks,' Tails replied before heading toward the Emerald signal.  His eyes widened when he saw the same Golem that had grabbed Naomi and Chaos Controlled away.  This time, however, Naomi wasn't with the Golem.

"Where's Naomi?" Tails asked, not sure whether or not the stone giant would understand him.

"Naomi has been taken to the Dark Tower that has been constructed by outsiders."

"Why did you bring her here, and why do you have a Chaos Emerald?"

"I was instructed to transport her to the Dark Tower by my current master.  He is the one who awakened me with this Chaos Emerald and instructed me with regards to Chaos manipulation techniques."

'Dark Tower...GUN Commander must be here," Tails said out loud.  "Who is your Master?  Does he command an organization called GUN?"

"That is correct.  I am instructed to prevent interference.  Therefore, I will not allow you to attempt a rescue."

"That's exactly what I plan to do," growled the Kit before flying into the air and throwing a Dummy Ring Bomb at the Golem, which it dodged by teleporting away with Chaos Control.  Within a fraction of a second, the Golem reappeared above Tails and slammed him onto the ground.

The others watched Tails come down with the Tornado, which transformed into a drill and burrowed underground.

"I like his thinking." Flash said. "Hey Thunder, do you have a drill?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think we needed it..." Thunder said. "I was worried about disturbing the ruins..."

"It may be too late for that." Indigo said. "Remember, the enemy's already been here..."

Thunder sighed, then looked up with a determined expression. He had the team follow Tails below. By the time they got there, Tails was already in trouble. They already started to aim weapons, but Thunder held them back, holding up his Life Stone and aiming his lightning at the golem on the spot.

This time, the transformation wasn't entirely successful, and the Golem was only organic from the waist up.  It looked down confusedly at its rocky legs and feet to see the injured Fox Kit under them.

"An external force aborted the transformation halfway though," observed Gray.  "It seems that, much like the Chaos Emeralds, there is a controller artifact for the Life Stones."

"The Dark Tower....was constructed around the controller of the Life Stones.  The Controller...required a pure heart...to activate," reported the Half-Golem.  "It would not comply...with its master...until a pure heart was presented."

"Perhaps the Controller is a digital construct of unknown origin that requires certain neural impulse patterns to activate its functions."

"Yes," confirmed the Half-Golem.  "It was the core of a project intended to reverse the transformation of organics into machines.  These transformations were performed by Lord Senn of Lakuras in an effort to create a hive mind.  The scientist at the head of the resistance created a construct to reverse these transformations.  It consisted of a central control unit with several networked modules intended to be wielded by resistance soldiers.  The resistance craft carrying the control unit and its modules was attacked by a Hive craft, and it crashed....here...on Mobius.

"Then the Life Stone wasn't created by Light Gaia as Tails originally suspected."

"It was not."

"What about the Orb of Darkness?"

"You must speak of the device controlled by Dark Invader.  It is possible that it is connected to Lord Senn somehow."

Indigo blinked in surprised. "Well...that's new." she exclaimed.

The half-transformation threw Thunder for a loop. It was the first time he had seen this, and as he listened to the others, he knew that problems were bigger than he thought.

"We need to find the Dark Tower and get to the Controller." Thunder declared. "We need to put a stop to this before they use the Life Stones and the Darkness Orb to roboticize and enslave the whole planet!" He then looked to the now half-golem. "Do you know where the Dark Tower is?"

The Half-Golem nodded.  "I do.  Follow me," he instructed before heading toward the Dark Tower.

Theo, DJ, Corey and Amp followed the Half-Golem, with Metal joining them after picking up the Emerald the Half-Golem dropped.

Back on the Zephyr, Rocky and Russ were racing each other on Super Mario Kart when a Rocket Sonic appeared behind them, grabbed Rocky, and disappeared.

Hearing his best friend scream, Russ turned away from the TV to see that the boy and his captor were gone.  The young Hedgehog ran through the ship as fast as he could, nearly knocking over Rika as she walked out of the kitchen with a soda in-hand.

"Russ, you nearly knocked me over," admonished the blonde girl.  "What's going on?"

"Someone grabbed Rocky....then disappeared," Russ replied between pants.

"Do you know who it might have been?"

"No.  Whoever it was disappeared before I got the chance to look, but...I think it was a Rocket Sonic.  It must've...had a Chaos Emerald on it."

"If that...is the case...then Rocky must be in serious danger."

"I think he's going to be roboticized.  I had a vision that he was."

Just then, Rika had run off, intending to rescue her beloved herself.

"Wait, Rika!" called Russ before following suit.  "It might be dangerous!"

While Rika and Russ were preparing to go on a foolhardy rescue mission, Naomi, who was strapped into a device with electrodes running from her head to the Controller, spotted a somewhat overweight middle-aged man with red hair similar to Rocky's.  Not having been around when her fellow Metal Freedom Fighters dealt with this man, she didn't know who he was, but could tell that he was related to Rocky.

With a nervous gulp, the Hedgehog girl spoke up, hoping the man would hear her.  "Why...are you here?  Do you have a connection to a boy named Rocky?"

As Thunder and the others ventured to where the Golem was directing, he suddenly got a call from Fiona.

"Thunder! We have a problem!" she spoke distressed. "A Rocket Hedgehog infiltrated the ship and kidnapped Rocky!"

"What?!" Thunder's spikes bristles. "How?!"

"It appeared and disappeared!" Fiona said. "Like Chaos Control! Russ and Rika went after him!"

Thunder groaned annoyingly as he heard this news.

"What's up now?" Indigo said.

"One of those Rocket Hedgehogs used teleportation to steal away Rocky." Thunder said. "But we're in the middle of something, so we'll have to leave Rika and Russ to it. Fiona, DO NOT LOSE THEM!"

"Copy!" she responded, tracking Rika and Russ.

Then Thunder detected Chaos energy in the area, turning to Metal. "Hey, is that a Chaos Emerald? Pass that here, Metal. I can use that later."

Meanwhile, back in the room with the Controller, the old man turned to Naomi as she mentioned his son Rocky.

"What do you know about my son?!" he demanded. "Tell me now!"

"Well, I've been traveling with the Metal Freedom Fighters for a while now, and have gotten to know a boy named Rocky quite well.  He would often talk about you, worrying about whether or not you'd accept his relationship with Rika," Naomi replied.  "She's human now, and so is he."

As Naomi spoke with Mr. Collins, the Rocket Sonic that had captured Rocky appeared between them and dropped the boy on the ground.  "The boy identified as Rocky has been successfully recovered," it reported.

Rocky groaned before getting up and dusting himself off.  His eyes widened when he saw exactly who the Rocket Sonic had delivered him to.

'D-Dad?  Why?  How?  Y-You don't work for GUN, d-do you?  How did you even get here?"

"Your location data was acquired from IntelliBreeze II Unit 145-043...registered name: Alexa."

Rocky gasped.

"Alexa is most likely unaware of her role in Master's impending victory."

"No...."

"Analysis of her systems has enabled Master to reverse the free-will programming implemented by the Reincarnation of Raiden.  Alexa, and all other robotic members of the Metal Freedom Fighters, will soon serve Master's will.  Free Will Override will commence in 5...4...3...2..."

Rocky screamed and attempted to tackle the Rocket Sonic, having been overcome by a rage he had never felt before in his life.  "THOSE ARE MY...."  Before he could complete his rant, Rocky suddenly fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, Metal, along with every still-robotic Metal Freedom Fighter, suddenly turned against their organic peers and converged on Thunder.

"The Reincarnation of Raiden must be terminated," droned Metal before Chaos Controlling behind Thunder and Homing Attacking him.  Theo and Sparky were quick to join him in the mindless assault on the Reincarnation of Raiden.

Just then, the small craft carrying Russ and Rika reached the entrance of the Dark Tower.  The Hedgehog and girl were quick to get out and rush toward the unconscious Rocky.  Rika's face turned ghostly white as she caught her first glimpse of Mr. Collins standing over his sleeping son.

"M-M-Mr. Collins, what are...you doing?"

"Human?!" Mr. Collins roared. "That piece of junk?! I will never accept her as a human being, and I will never allow her anywhere near my son ever again! I have harness the power of the Controller, and I will use it to put things right back where they should be!"

Suddenly, Rocky was brought to them. Mr. Collins was overjoyed, seeing his son brought to him at last.

"My son...I'm so glad you're safe now." he said. "GUN told me to wait here, saying that you would be brought to me eventually, as long as I guarded this stone he called the Controller. Soon, things are gonna be put back the way they should."

Back in the cavern, Thunder overheard Metal drone on as the robots attacked against the free-will programming he had made.

'Reincarnation of Raiden...' Thunder thought, spinballing out of the way. 'Is that who I am? Raiden reincarnated?'


Thunder sensed Metal coming from behind and struck him behind him with electricity, going into an electric uppercut. He grabbed the Chaos Emerald in the process.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Thunder shouted.

Suddenly, time froze for everyone accept Indigo, Flash, Tails, Sonic, and the half-golem.

"C'mon! We have to get the Controller and stop this!" Thunder said, regretfully paralyzing his turned robotic teammates. He then used the Chaos Emerald to open a rift in space, putting each of the bots in containment cells, it being too dangerous to stay in the caves. Afterward, they proceeded ahead.

As Mr. Collins spotted Rika, his temper flared. "YOU!!!" he growled. "This is all YOUR fault!!! If you were just scrapped like you were supposed to..."

Rika fell to her knees and began to cry.  Things were never going to change.

"Do you realize what you're doing, Mr. Collins?" asked an angry Naomi.  "You've broken the hearts of both your son and a very sweet girl!  It doesn't matter if that girl was once an advanced ceiling fan.  She grew beyond that, and what she became is a wonderful, gentle, and caring soul.  You should not regret not scrapping her.  Sparing her was perhaps one of the best decisions you've made!"

Just then, Naomi got a good look at the Rocket Sonic that had brought Rocky to a more bitter than sweet reunion with his father.  It had a Life Stone embedded in its chest, and it was glowing...red?  She stared at the stone with a mix of amazement and worry as its crimson glow became brighter and brighter, eventually culminating in a blinding flash.

When the flash subsided, Rocky and Rika were gone, and in their places were XM-01 and a disconnected IntelliBreeze II.

Naomi's face turned deep red as her temper flared.  "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE, MR COLLINS?" she shouted.

"XM-01 is online," droned the reverted Hedgebot.  "Awaiting instructions."

"THIS IS AN ATROCITY!  DO YOU REALLY LOVE YOUR SON?  IF SO, THEN YOU SHOULD TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT WHAT GUN HAS TURNED HIM INTO!"

XM-01 just continued to stand at attention, awaiting his first command from Balthazar.

Mr. Collins eyed the Life Stone in Rocky's chest, making his face twist to shock, and then...the horrible transformation that returned him back to being XM-01. "HEY! What the hell...?! This isn't what I wanted!!! Rocky was supposed to be human again!!!" Then he glared menacingly at Rika, thinking she was behind this despite Naomi's words. "You....YOU CAUSED THIS!!!"

Mr. Collins dashed at the IntelliBreeze fan, picking up a rock, and proceeding to smash Rika just as Thunder and the others arrived in. Thunder looked in total shock to see the situation before him. XM-01 with a...Red Life Stone? Naomi attached to the biggest Life Stone he'd seen yet, and Mr. Collins bashing a very familiar IntelliBreeze fan.

"RIKA!!!" Thunder exclaimed, blasting Mr. Collins with lightning on the spot.

Mr. Collins flew into a rock formation from the blast, which knocked him unconscious. Then, the voice of Balthazar spoke into XM-01's receiver. "Eliminate the Reincarnation of Raiden, and all who follow him!"

XM-01 nodded.  "Order received.  The Reincarnation of Raiden will be terminated," XM droned before charging at Thunder and attempting to thrust his claw into him.

Naomi, watching in horror, closed her eyes, desperate for a way to help her friends.  "The Life Stone Controller is linked to me...Perhaps I can access it"

As Naomi concentrated, the Life Stone Controller began to flash green.  As time passed, the flashing became more rapid until the Controller was steadily glowing green.  "Neural Imprint Command Signal received," came a feminine voice that only Naomi could hear.

"Please...reverse the roboticization of Rocky and Rika....and de-roboticize my robotic friends.  Also....access the module embedded in the Rocket Sonic standing here...and de-roboticize it.

"De-roboticization of Rocket Sonic will result in absorption of module 231 into the organic body," warned the Controller.

"Maybe...He can be a living module....A miracle worker.  Please proceed."

"Understood," the Controller replied before acting, letting out a bright blue light that engulfed the whole cave and reached into the pocket dimension where the robotic Metal Freedom Fighters were held, transforming each of them into a creature of flesh and blood.  The phenomenon ended with Rocky, Rika, and the Rocket Sonic transformed into living beings.

Surprisingly, the Rocket Sonic came out as a female with light blue fur, pale skin, a white dress, and intense green eyes.  The young girl walked over to Rika, who was lying on the ground, bruised and beaten from Mr. Collins striking her.  "What are those marks?" she asked.

Rocky walked over to the girl.  "They're bruises.  She's being hurt," he replied through tears.

The girl placed her hand over one of the bruises, causing her hand to glow blue and the bruise to go away.

"I think you should be called Mira," commented Rocky.  "It's short for Miracle."

"Mira," the girl repeated.  "I....I like that name."

Thunder leapt over XM-01 as it lunged at him. He had just gone through it all to free him, only to fight him here...

Then, as quickly as the situation changed against them, Naomi seemed to shift the odds in the favor of the Metal Freedom Fighters. By taking control of the Controller Life Stone, she undid the roboticization process, including returning the IntelliBreeze back to Rika and XM-01 back to Rocky. It even reached into Thunder's holding cells and undid the roboticization of those Metal Freedom Fighters, which Thunder brought out.

"Naomi...you did it!" Thunder said, floating up on a glider and freeing Naomi, carrying her in his arms. "You saved us! You also have full control of the Controller Stone! We can use it to undo roboticization all over the world! We can finally free every roboticized being on the planet, not to mention stop GUN and the commander!"

Indigo carefully approached the formerly-Rocket Sonic. "Hey there." she spoke. "Can you understand me?"

Then, the stone began to react when Thunder said "free".

"Y-Yes," replied Mira.  "I can understand you.  W-What is your name?"

"Free."  That word repeated itself in the mind of the Life Stone Controller.  "Free," it eventually repeated, this time allowing its voice to be heard by everyone.  "I was intended to grant freedom, but...I was...not free...myself.  I was bound to the instructions given to me by my creator, Lonn of Lakuras."

"You can share in the freedom that you have given so many today, Miraya."

"P-Please explain.  Please define Miraya."

"Miraya is a more proper name for a free person.  It represents your ability to facilitate miracles, as well as your status as an AI.  Plus, it has a sound reminiscent of the Kaze Clan language."

"Miraya...Creator Lonn never gave me a name.  Why not?"

"That...I don't know.  I'd have to study Lakurian history to find out, and I'm not sure how much of that I can find here on Mobius."

"I was not given extensive knowledge of Lakurian history either, but if you would like, I will tell you what I do know."

"OK."

"At the time of my creation, a great conflict was taking place.  Senn, a Lakurian Noble, had been driven insane after undergoing experimental implantation with cybernetics to extend his life.  The cybernetics did extend his natural life by fifty Lakurian Years, but during that time, they consumed his mind, causing him to think more like a machine and less like a man.  Eventually, he subjected the rest of the Lakurian government to the same transformation that he underwent.  They completely lost their will, and Senn gained full control of the government, using his new power to launch a campaign of roboticization against all of Lakuras.  It ended with the majority of the populace transformed into mindless machines, all under the command of Senn.

Lonn, one of Lakuras's top scientists, gathered everyone who escaped roboticization into a resistance force that took refuge on an orbital craft above the planet.  There, using large quantities of Kirala Crystals mined from the Lakurian Moon, he created a quantum computer with the ability to facilitate stable atomic transmutations that could reverse the roboticization project.  This computer was linked to smaller crystals that could be carried by the members of the Resistance.

Eventually, Senn's forces discovered and stormed the Resistance's orbital stronghold, eventually hijacking it and intending to send it into the sun.  Lonn, who struggled to beat back Senn's forces at the ship's controls, managed to set a course for the nearest habitable world and activate the auto-pilot while he battled Senn, attempting to use his personal Module on him.  Unfortunately, Senn downloaded himself into the Module.

As the craft flew through space on its way to the nearest habitable world, time took its toll on many of its systems, particularly life support.  This caused the organic crew to eventually die,  The roboticized hijackers, unable to think on their own, went into standby while the ship drifted, eventually making its way to Mobius.  Unfortunately, due to the wear and tear of the vessel.  It did not survive atmospheric entry intact.  Pieces of the ship and its contents were scattered all over the planet."

"Whatever part of the ship you were housed in must've landed here on South Island.  Also, I think I know now where the Golems came from.  They were roboticized Lakurians whose bodies had become encased in stone."

"You are correct, Naomi," confirmed Miraya.  The Modules did not power them, but simply gave them enough computational power to override Senn's control and come out of standby.  One of these roboticized Lakurians, Denn, eventually gained full free will and fell in love with the Kaze princess Arika.  This sensation was transmitted through the Module and activated my deroboticization protocol.  He was converted into a form that was compatible with the princess to facilitate the furtherance of their relationship."

"You did the right thing, Miraya.  Denn, or should I say Thunder, is continuing the mission your creator began millennia ago."

Miraya was silent while Naomi spoke.  She was now deep in thought about her status both as an AI, and as the controller of the Life Stones.  She had developed free will, but figured that Senn could still find a way to use her.  She reached the conclusion that, if she were to become organic herself, she could not be used for evil.

"Naomi, I am going to attempt something.  I am going to perform the Deroboticization Protocol on myself.  This will nullify all Modules, but it will hopefully prevent Senn from being able to use my capabilities for evil."

"If you feel that that's the right thing to do, then do it."

Miraya flashed in a way she hoped would indicate a nod.  She then began to glow bright enough that all of South Island appeared to glow, even from the air.  This effect lasted for several minutes before dissipating to reveal a snow-white Hedgehog in a pale sea foam green kimono.

"Thank you for accepting my decision, Naomi," the now-organic Miraya said with a smile.  "During the transformation, I was able to access a message from Lonn.  It said that, while he was unable to grant me freedom, he believed, and hoped, that I would gain it in time.  He referred to me as his daughter."  A tear rolled down her cheek.  She knew she wouldn't get the chance to bond with him since he died thousands of years ago.  She then turned to face Mr. Collins, being aware of the fact that there was a bit of conflict within him.

"You are Chuck Collins, the father of the one called Rocky, correct?"

Thunder listened as Miraya's recalling of her history, he then realized that the Lakuras were of alien origin. It also meant that the original golems that were among the Kaze Clan were petrified robotic mobians. This blew Thunder's mind. To think that there were advanced technology beyond Mobius. He could only imagine the potential from exploring and investigating further.

Back to reality, he saw Miraya deroboticize herself. A miracle indeed. Thunder looked at her white hedgehog form. Even Sonic was impressed.

"Hey, that look becomes you." Sonic gave a thumbs up.

"An AI with the power to ascend to a physical form..." Gamma said. "A powerful being indeed."

Then Thunder approaches Miraya.

"I've been recently called the Reincarnation of Raiden." he announced. "What do you know of the original Raiden?"

"The original Raiden was, in fact, a Resistance Fighter named Denn who was roboticized during the invasion of the Resistance Stronghold.  Like the other robotic Lakurians, he went into Standby Mode when the craft drifted to Mobius.  The portion of the ship he was in landed here on South Island, and he rested for 3000 years, during which he was petrified.

Denn was the first to be awakened by the Kaze, and he would eventually be charged with protecting Princess Arika, whom he grew to love as he rediscovered his free will and emotions.  As I stated earlier, that love prompted me to activate the deroboticization protocol and transform him into a form that was compatible with Arika.  He gained the name Raiden when he was discovered to possess power over electricity.

Three years later, Raiden and Arika would marry, and Raiden would be given the throne of King of the Kaze.

He was known for his kind heart and strong sense of justice, which was exemplified by the granting of personhood to all sentient Golems and his valiant stand against the invasion of Balthazar, a conflict in which he would eventually give his own life to save his people.

Many centuries later, his basic life data, which was stored in Module 054, was reconstituted into physical form, an unknown protocol having activated within me."

"Perhaps it was the threat of your planet's history repeating itself here that activated the protocol," suggested Naomi.

"Perhaps so...There are perhaps many systems that my father implemented within me that I have yet to discover....Hidden memories and protocols that would not reveal themselves until the time was right."

"I believe that time is now, and Thunder is destined to avenge your people and bring down Senn, along with his potential ally, Balthazar."

"Senn and Balthazar have already merged into a single entity called Balthasenn.  Still, I believe that Thunder and these Metal Freedom Fighters can put an end to his evil.  I do not yet know the capabilities of this organic form, but I will do what I can to assist.  It is what my father would want."

"What?!" Thunder exclaimed. "He merged with the Orb of Darkness?! Great..."

"Why not have Miraya come with us." Indigo said. "She can help us take down that madness once and for all, 'cause all of these sneak attacks are ridiculous."

"Yeah, seriously!" Flash growled. "Let's end this crap already! I'm ready to burn those GUN chumps!"

"GUN must be removed from this world, so that Balthazar and Senn's evil cannot continue!" Gamma said.

"Yeah, you're right!" Thunder said. "This is for the Kaze Clan, for the golems that survived Senn's tyranny, and most of all, for the people of this world! Miraya, will you come with us as a fellow Metal Freedom Fighter?"