[2nd POV]

You failed. Both the Crown and the Sword of Acorn are in Mammoth Mogul's grasp, the sword glowing golden with energy as his eyes shined a bright green.

"Crap! Not good!" you say, your clones agreeing. "We need to get those away from him!"

You and your clones rush at Mogul and his men, most of your clones going after the Destructix as you and a smaller amount of your clones going after Mogul himself.

"Idiots! You mean nothing to me now!" Mogul exclaims, swinging his golden sword at you and your clones.

You were able to dodge the attack, but your clones weren't as lucky. They were sliced in half and completely annihilated, their disintegrating corpses falling to the ground.

Then a white wolf goes to attack you, you raising your hands in front of you as you form a shield from your Ring Blades, but the wolf gets punched away from you and you look to see Danny grinning at you.

"Danny?!" you question as the lion drops to the ground, the rest of the Freedom Fighters appearing and joining the fight

"Glad you're safe, kid!" Danny tells you as he smiles at you. "Got me worried for nothing!"

"Sorry!" you say, kicking away the bird guy that was attacking Tails earlier. "Didn't mean to worry you."

"Hey, Blue! Can we wrap this up?" Fiona asks Sonic who is fighting off Sergeant Simian. "This is getting tiresome always fighting these guys!"

"Sure thing, Fiona!" Sonic says, punching Simian away. "I've never been one to disappoint a lady!"

Sonic makes his way through the battlefield, soon arriving next to Sally.

"Present company excluded," Sonic tells the chipmunk.

"Now is not the time, Sonic!" Sally tells the hedgehog.

"Never is," Sonic says. "Nice to see you back in the field, though."

You appear next to Sally and Sonic, kicking away the bird guy again and landing next to Sally.

"It's good to see you guys all okay!" you tell them. "Thought it would take longer for y'all to get back up!"

"Hah! It'll take more than a blast to keep us down!" Sonic declares and speeds away to Elias.

"I really am glad to see you okay, though," you say, fighting beside the Acorn Princess and making sure she didn't get too hurt and she did the same.

"Same here!" Sally says, taking notice of one your clones fighting of some weird spider warrior. "Is that... you?"

"Yeah! New technique I learned!" you tell Sally.

Suddenly, their was a flash of light that blinded you two and you turn your heads to see a smoking suit of armor falling to the ground. You recognized the armor as Sir Connery's, and you and Sally ran over to see what had happened.

"What happened?" you ask.

"Where's Connery?" Sally asks as both of you see Tails holding the fallen armor.

"He used his very life to destroy the Corrupted Source," Merlin states. "He gave everything."

"I'm... I'm sorry," you say, looking at Merlin is sadness.

"It's fine," Merlin tells you. "He died giving it his all to save this world. There's no death greater than that."

"RRRGH! This means nothing!" Mogul declares as he gets to his feet. "NOTHING!"

This made your anger rise even higher than before, hearing that this entire fight ment nothing to the mammoth.

"NOTHING?! THIS MEANT NOTHING?!" you ask, glaring at Mogul as your eyes glowed bright green. "WE LOST A LIFE TO TAKE AWAY YOUR TOOLS! THAT'S GIVING UP TOO MUCH!"

"This day may be weary with the toil of battle, but it is not over!" Mogul exclaims. "I still command incredible power!"

"Did you seriously just ignore what I said?!" you ask Mogul. "You really do see us as nothing but wastes of space, huh?!"

"WHAT A COINCIDENCE!" a male voice says through speakers, the voice coming from the sky. "SO DO I! FIRE AT WILL!"

Everyone looks up into the sky to see an eagle-like jet flying above the Freedom Fighters, other jets of sorts along with it. Those jets start firing at you and everyone else, not caring who the targets were, and making everyone  run for cover. Then even more firepower crashes down on everyone and you formed a shield around you, Tails, Danny, and Sally as lasers blast the shield which thankfully holds. The ones that did get hit, which were the bad guys, seemingly started disappearing, some slower than others.

Then the eagle-jet-thing landed on the ground, making you lower your shield as you, Tails, Danny, and Sally get up to your feet and make your way to the landing jet.

"Come on, everyone!" Sonic says. "We ain't finished, yet!"

"Relax, hedgehog," the man inside the jet tells Sonic. "I'm not after you today."

"Right," Sonic says, not believing anything the man was saying.

"I'm being sincere. Mammoth Mogul and Ixis Naugus were far more a threat to me than you," Eggman informs. "I've lost a lot today because of them."

Then the man in the ship took notice of you and the others approaching him and Sonic, curiosity growing inside him.

"And who're you?" the man asks you.

"Name's [Y/N]," you say, stopping next to Sonic. "From your overly annoying voice and all these ships, I assume you're Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik?"

"You're well educated, boy," Eggman tells you. "Just know that next time we meet, we may not be on the same side."

"Noted," you say, nodding.

"Now, that we got that outta the way... what about us?" Sonic asks Eggman.

"What about you, Sonic? Look at my Egg Fleet! I could wipe you off the map!" Eggman exclaims. "But not yet."

"No need to be shy, Eggman!" Sonic says. "We got new firepower of our own, now! We can settle this right now!"

"I will crush your pithy resistance when I want to, Rodent!" Eggman tells Sonic, his ship rising into the air. "You will meet your end on my terms, and mine alone!"

"We'll see about--HEY!" Sonic says, going to jump on to the ship only for it to fly away with Eggamn laughing.

"Too slow, Sonic!" Eggman shouts with laughter. "You're all too tired to be worth my effort. Until next time, Sonic!"

And with those words, Eggman and his Egg Fleet fly off and leave you and the Freedom Fighters alone.

"Whenever you're ready, Robotnik!" Sonic declares, everyone watching as the many ships fly away.

"Well, he seems pleasant to be around," you tell Sonic, making the hedgehog laugh a bit.

"You got that right," the Blue Blur laughs, making everyone smile and laugh as well.

Soon, though, everything went back to normal. Well, as normal as it could get when you live on an alien planet filled with anthropomorphic animals that speak while a sociopathic genius madman tries to kill all of you, along with tons of others as well.

Right, and you're also blaming yourself for Connery's death. Even though you barely knew the guy, you thought if you had been faster and stronger to take down Mogul, Connery may still be alive.

Currently, to give your respects to the horse, you were with Merlin, Sally, Tails, Elias, Sonic, and Knuckles at his grave to mourn.

"I wanted to back so much of the old kingdom..." King Acorn says. "... and so much was taken in one day."

"It's my fault," I say, my head lowered in shame. "If I had been stronger... if I'd been faster... I would've been able to stop Mogul and Ixis in time and Connery may still be here."

"It is not your fault, Young [Y/N]," Merlin tells you, placing his hand on your shoulder. "He gave his life defending his kingdom and his world. For a paladin, he could receive no greater honor."

"But... I just can't help but wonder if--" you start to say, only for Sally to speak up.

"All of us wonder about the "what ifs", [Y/N]. But what we don't do is let those "what ifs" get the best of us," Sally tells you, wanting to comfort you. "What matters now is that you learn from your mistakes and get better. We won't always be able to save someone, but we have to make sure we always do save someone."

You look at Sally who was smiling at you, a smile forming on your lips as you look at your friends.

"Sally's right!" Sonic says. "Sir Connery wouldn't quit or shame himself if I'd but it. I won't dishonor his sacrifice by moping around, taking about how we could've saved him when he's already dead. Are any of us gonna quit just because someone died helping us?"

Sally and Sonic's words made you tear up a bit, not entirely used to people giving you so much encouragement and comfort. Of course, you aren't the only one moved by their words. Elias Acorn shed a tear as well as he pondered his sister and Sonic's words.

"No. His sacrifice will not be in vain! The kingdom of Knothole will be as valiant as he was!" the chipmunk declares as he stands to his feet, raising Conncery's sword into the air as it shined in the sunlight. "I will try to be brave, and his sword will be passed down the Acorn Line! A symbol of our commitment and a testament to his bravery!"

"Y'know, for someone who avoided the crown for so long, you sure got the speech-making down," Sonic tells Elias. "Good one, your majesty."

"Thanks you, Sonic," Elias tells the hedgehog.

"And I promise to fight as hard as Connery did. I will honor his death by being the best Freedom Fighter I can be," you vow, a determined look on your face. "I will make sure no one else sacrifices themself to make sure others are safe. I will make sure you all have a day where you can smile without fear. I promise."

Sonic, Tails, Sally, Merlin, Knuckles, and Elias turn to look at you, nodding to you in agreement. From now on, not a single death made for the future of Knothole will go unaccounted for. Not one. Past, present, or future.

"Come on, everyone," Sally tells everyone. "Let's get some rest. Today was taxing on us. Especially you, [Y/N]."

"There's no rest for the king, Sally," Elias tells his sister. "I promise to sit down for a minute, though."

"I could use some rest as well," you say, yawning and stretching as Sally and Elias walk off.

"Okay, so we've lost the Ancient Walkers," Sonic states. "Now who do we turn to for a new Dues Ex Machina?"

"I should consult my mother about Aurora," Knuckles tells Sonic.

"And we know Athair's spirit is still string, right?" Tails asks his uncle.

"We do, Tails," Merlin says. "And I have a few connections."

"Looks like we got tons of work to do still, huh?" you ask your friends.

"[Y/N], there's something you need to learn about us Freedom Fighters," Sonic tells you. "Work is never far from the horizon."

Sonic then speeds in front of you all, a smile present on his face.

"Besides, we're the best of the best!" Sonic exclaims. "We can make do as long as we can count on each other!"

"We can do it together!" Tails says.

"Right!" you and Knuckles say at the same time.

"So! Who's up for Chuck's?" Sonic asks you and everyone else, wanting to get some food.

"I'm up for some chile dogs, actually," you say, your stomach growling right after. "Erm..."

This makes everyone laugh, making you laugh as well and smile as you realize just how lucky you are to have all these friends. Now all that matters now is making sure they stay safe. You are not going to watch more of your friends die again. Not like last time.

[In Robotropolis...]

Inside Dr. Eggman's base, the Destructix--along with Mogul, Ixis, and his spider warriors--are seen in pods as Eggman himself smiles at them.

"I am reading that Mogul is protecting them all from biofield deletion, Father," a robot voice tells Eggman.

"Let him struggle, ADAM," Eggman tells the computer. "It will make his destruction all the more enjoyable. I may have lost a few thousand Mobians, but I have some top-quality catches now! And now that the Void has been fused with the Zone of Silence, the power I obtain will be far more stable and useful."

Eggman walks away from the pods, making his way out of the lab.

"Once the power is mine, Knothole will cease to be," the madman states. "Until then, Daddy needs his shut-eye. It's been a... "trying" day."

"Yes, you should rest, Father," ADAM tells his "father". "There is much left to be done."

"Of course," Eggman says, making his way to the lab door before stopping. "And ADAM?"

"Yes, Father?"

"Run some date searches on a boy called "[Y/N]"," Eggman tells the his creation. "His mere presence when I met him... intrigued me. I want to know everything about him. From how he sleeps to how he fights. No detail will be overlooked, understand?"

"Yes, Father," ADAM says, making Eggman smile as he nods and leaves his lab.

But as he does so, ADAM stays silent before he shows a vicious smile on his screen.
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What is Eggman planning to do with the power he gains through the Void and the Zone of Silence? Why are Mogul and the others in strange pods? Why does Eggman want to know so much about [Y/N]? And is ADAM truly loyal to his creator? Find out, next time on Only Human!