The God's Pest: a Sonic.EXE tale

Chapter 2: Flight of the Undead

 Deep underneath the ground and lava of the Marble Zone, X appears, his failure to contain Sonic filling every thought in his mind. The demon ponders for a moment, looking for a way to catch Sonic and take him out of the equation once and for all. 

"Hmm...wait...why don't I defer to the "experts" on this rodent!" X exclaims as he summons three souls from the void. The first one to fully manifest is a yellow fox with unkempt fur where two flowing tails once were. 

"Sonic, sto-! Wait, m-my hand!" Tails looks down at the burnt stump where his hand used to be with a panicked expression before X grabs the twin tailed fox by the neck. 

"Hello, Tails, my best friend!" X stares into Tails' hollowed out eye socket, his mouth contorted into a devilish grin extending to the edge of his muzzle. "I need a little favor from you, and if you don't comply, well...you already know the consequences, don't ya?" Tails stares up at X with fear until another soul manifests, a red echidna with spikes on his one remaining glove.

"Ugh...Where are- You're that monster I saw at the Scrap Brain!" Knuckles exclaims, looking over to X with an angry expression. X drops Tails on the ground and slowly floats over to Knuckles, his grin unchanging. 

"Monster? Oh, please, surely you have a better word for me than monster!" X retorts, grabbing Knuckles' face with one hand in a demeaning manner. Knuckles smirks before punching X in the gut, sending the demon flying backwards and breaking the chains holding Knuckles up. Knuckles drops to the floor, preparing for a fight as X flies back over to the warrior, fury written on his face. 

"I can think of a word: Undisciplined!" Knuckles yells as he lunges at X, who fades into smoke before his eyes. X attempts to use the distraction to slash at Knuckles, but the Echidna sees this coming and ducks out of the way before quickly charging a Spin Dash and crashing into X, sending him backwards into a nearby wall. Knuckles looks around, only noticing a rather scared Tails looking for a spot to hide. "Tails, get out of here. Find Sonic, he's probably the only who can stop this monster." Tails looks at Knuckles with even more concern. 

"Knuckles, now is not the time for sacrifices! We can get out of here, I know I-" Tails attempts to say, but is cut off by Knuckles stomping on the floor. 

"Forget about me, I'm already a lost cause. I'll hold him off for as long as I can, but you need to GO!" Knuckles insists, a determined look on his face. Tails attempts to respond, but ultimately nods his head, his concern turning to sadness as he waves goodbye to his friend one last time. Knuckles watches Tails run off before diverting his attention to where X was, only to find he had completely disappeared. Knuckles looks around for him, only to hear an all too familiar cackling echo through the catacombs. Knuckles takes a defensive stance, but he is send flying through the roof of the catacombs and into the Marble Ruins on the surface. Knuckles shakes off his confusion and narrowly manages to glide onto a platform floating atop a stream of lava. X appears soon after on another platform nearby, his arms crossed and his grin replaced by a look of pure anger. 

"You are one of the most annoying pawns I have EVER claimed...but no matter, your last stand shall only prove how fruitless your resistance is!" X declares, purple energy swirling around both of his hands. Knuckles stares at X, waiting for his next move. "Aww, hedgehog got your tongue? Oh, well, that makes this easier!" X fires the purple energy into the lava, causing it to explode out and into the air. X teleports behind Knuckles and holds him up to the falling lava. Knuckles desperately tries to escape X's grip, but to no avail as the lava melts through Knuckles' flesh and bone, leaving him nothing more than flaming viscera. X laughs wildly as he holds Knuckles' soul in his hand, "I must admit, you were a worthy adversary, but a warrior is nothing when faced against a god!" X says before he casts Knuckles' soul back into the void once more. X then remembers that Knuckles was talking to someone, and so he quickly returns to where he left the other two souls, noticing that the two tailed fox was missing. X balls his fist and roars in anger as he realized what Knuckles was doing. "That red VERMIN! Where did the fox go!?" The last soul finally manifests, re-adjusting his glasses. 

"He made an escape while you were distracted with that Knucklehead." Dr Robotnik answers, looking up at X with a slightly analytical expression. X floats down to Robotnik's eye level, toning down his anger just slightly. 

"Oh, yeah? And where did he go?" X asks. 

"Well, my body didn't manifest in time to see exactly where, but there is only one way out of these catacombs. But I wouldn't worry about that freak of nature too much!" X's face changes to one of confusion. 

"And why is that?" Dr Robotnik's face changes into a wide toothy grin. 

"As I see it, the little fox can't do too much to in his current state. After all, he's missing both of his tails, one of his eyes, and a whole arm! Even with the help of that horrible hedgehog, he's only delaying his return back to your clutches." X thinks about what Robotnik is saying and finds the doctor's logic to be infallible. 

"I see...I suppose you make a good point...alright, fatty, what should I do instead of finding the fox?" 

"Simple, I believe you and I have very similar goals, that being the destruction of Sonic! After all, two geniuses are better than one." X ponders on Robotnik's deal once more, before his usual sadistic smirk creeps back onto his face.

"Alright...I accept, but don't you dare think about betraying me...you know the consequences..." X's pupils disappear as he stares Robotnik down, the doctor staring back without hesitation. 

"Lead the way, my lord!" Robotnik says, X nodding as his pupils return. X teleports himself and Robotnik out of the catacombs, Robotnik slowly piecing together a plan to take down Sonic once and for all.