Chapter 2: Free Will

It was the next day. Sotsu didn’t sleep well, unsettled with his newly surfaced reality. 

Robotnik ran a few tests on him, nothing much though. Then he was sent to tour around Robotropolis. He looked on it in awe, the seemingly endless skyscrapers, the varying life forms, and the psychotic way everything of this city was . 

He looked about the shops, and just as back on Earth nothing truly took his interest. He spotted no other echidna’s but that didn’t really matter. One thing he did know about this world is that the echidna society sat atop the Floating Island. 

Knuckles. I don’t wanna fight him he’s cool. Sonic and the Freedom fighters, that doesn’t include him. Good. I need to meet him then. 

After checking out a few more blocks Sotsu headed back to Robotnik’s base. Robotnik informed Sotsu the Freedom fighters might attack his base soon due to various circumstances. Sotsu was expected to protect the base. Sotsu didn’t bother asking Robotnik exactly why the Freedom Fighters would attack, he never did question authority. 

Sure enough around noon, the Freedom Fighters were reported spotted heading though Robotropolis heading toward Robotnik’s base. Sotsu was to cut them off at the entrance and make quick work of them.

Sotsu began to warm-up, trying new things as he did. He conjured his escrima sticks that he used in Taekwondo. Now slightly larger though. They didn’t hinder what he could already do with them. 

Then he conjured his Bo. It was already heavy when he was human… but now he was actually stronger. 

"This is great," he told himself.

The sirens went off inside the base. They were here… he’d now have to make a show for the Freedom Fighters. Hmmm what should I begin with?

"Hurry up and get up though this door?" Sonic complained as Zhi Wei was reading a powerful attack to knock down the bulkhead.

"Alright stand back," Zhi Wei blasted at the door, but it only dented it. He began to charge up another attack when loud foot steps were heard behind them.

They turned to see a wiry figure wearing some form of a long coat. It had large metal buckles holding it together in the front. Atop his head sat a black bowler’s hat. His long black hair hung out of the hat. The neck of the black coat was tall, and covered the neckband. 

"I would stop that if I were you," Sotsu simply said.

"You work for Robotnik or something?" Sonic snapped.

"Yes… I do," Sotsu replied calmly. He did feel like Legato, damn how creepy.

"Well then bring it on!" Sonic shouted as he prepared a spin dash his assailant in two.

Sonic hurled himself at the Sotsu who simply stood there waiting. As Sonic neared about ten feet Sotsu held out his right arm. Sonic found himself flying toward a wall, being held by some form of invisible force. Sonic pelted the wall hard but already began to steady himself.

"What’s this? Is he an ex-earthling?" Sally asked. Sotsu remembered that there were others like him. The fox-thingie and the cat and the hedgehog that looked like he feel in lime-flavored Cool Aid.

Sotsu was about to be hit by an on-coming ball of ice when he brought up a shadow-field. Then he wrapped the shadow-field around the ice and hurled back at it’s originator, Kevin.

Kevin dodged it and began to charge another attack, as did Zhi Wei and Why Kit. 

"Your resistance against me is useless," Sotsu said as the barrage of attacks flew toward him. There seemed to be a pause, somewhere, but then the attacks had somehow hit the wall of another building and… Sotsu was next to them! 

They reacted by beginning to hit at him. Sotsu being a trained martial artist found their attacks simple. After he managed to jump back a ways away and he conjured his escrima sticks. 

He charged forward to meet head to head with Kevin. Kevin had summoned a weapon to. It was an ice sword. He thought he would strike through the sticks but found that he couldn’t as he the sword meet the attacks of one of the sticks. 

Kevin quickly found himself grounded as the other stick stuck his face. Zhi Wei got behind Sotsu and was going to blast him. Sotsu merely turned and struck the cat by forming to large shadow-rods and projecting them at him, he was too slow to avoid them and found himself grounded several feet away from where he was standing.

The whole rest of the Freedom Fighters and Why Kit were about to charge at their powerful foe when they felt themselves being twisted in an invisible force. A sickening sound of bones making cracking and popping sounds filled the air. They all moaned as their joints were pushed into ways they weren’t meant to go. And they were held there. 

Kevin and Zhi Wei were the only ones free. They stood up and readied to attack.

"If you value the lives of your friends you’d leave," Sotsu said calmly. Dear God he did turn into Legato, even using his attacks! Next he’ll be saying the Power of Death is intoxicating! He’d better not he’s not actually evil after all.

"Let them go!" Kevin shouted as he watched the horrible scene of his friends twisted and in agony. No actual damage was coming to there bodies though. 

"If I were actually inclined to kill you guys I would have. Now please leave," Sotsu said. He bowed his head down, the brim of the hat now covering his face. 

"If you don’t leave I’ll let them go them then quickly pick them off on by one," Sotsu seemed irritated by Kevin’s hesitating. Kevin was just glad Nikki and Alex decided to stay behind on this one.

"Come on Kevin let’s go!" Zhi Wei shouted to his friend. They did leave. After a few minutes Sotsu released to grasp on the Freedom Fighters. They stood up in surprise that there was no psychical damage. 

"Go now," Sotsu said quietly. With a few more glares and threats toward Sotsu they left.

Sotsu headed toward the dented door and it opened up. He looked up to see Robotnik. He let Sotsu inside and began to talk with him, "Good show boy I’m proud of you."

"Thanks. I wonder why the other people from earth didn’t get me though. I’m I truly stronger then them?" Sotsu asked, showing actual concern.

"In one of the tests I did I read that you have a greatly more developed brain. You have an IQ of easily a hundred and fifteen or so," Robotnik replied.

"So are you saying that I can cast stronger and quicker attacks with less time because I am smarter?" Sotsu sounded surprised.

"Yes I guess it does! Those were some good moves. Nice one with the twisty thing."

Sotsu liked this a lot. He was making someone happy. He always tried to help people. Now he was, though he felt ashamed that he had to hurt someone. He found out that the escrima sticks disappeared after the short combating with Kevin, he didn’t even notice until now. 

"You didn’t even seem to have to try," Robotnik complimented.

"That’s what scared me… I didn’t."

Sotsu rested for most of the day. Robotnik told him that the Freedom Fighters would probably come back. That they had an irritating thing of not giving up even when they know they can’t win. Sotsu was afraid Robotnik was right, the Freedom Fighters probably wouldn’t be able to win against Sotsu. Sotsu did know that Robotnik was a bad person, but he couldn’t go against Robotnik’s word, not with his life on the line.

Sotsu noticed that the collar had a monitoring device. He was sure it’d activate the shock wave if he tried to remove it. Sotsu almost forgot to return the clothing back to Snivley. Sotsu thought Snivley was a pretty cool person. He was his size, and knew how to access secret parts of the base that were suppose to be off limits. Sotsu didn’t care for any of those parts, he just thought Snivley was handy to have around.

That night he sat on his bed thinking of what he had done. 

"And to think that I could kill every man, women and child here in the blink of an eye. The power of Death is intoxicating," is what Legato had said in that on episode twelve of TRIGUN. 

A man obsessed with his own power of death. No Sotsu was better then that. That is why he didn’t use those same powers to keep them alive while ripping them apart like Legato did to people.

But it was amazing to think that he could easily have done a number of things. He could have sat atop one of the buildings and picked all of the Freedom Fighters off with a "Kain the Longshot" fashion. Or he could have chopped them to pieces "Nightmare" style. Could have blasted them with that shadow energy "Setsuna" kinda thing. 

Obsessing about his powers like Legato? He stopped when he thought of that. But it’s true he probably could have gotten away with it to. Doing all those things. Kevin and the others probably have the same powers, just not the same potential. Far from it. 

Sotsu knew he always had a horribly vast imagination. That’s what he used when he conjured things. He used his imagination to develop the item. But it couldn’t be anything too great. He knew he couldn’t get himself a car or anything like that, too complex. Maybe perhaps something complex and small, he hasn’t been able to….

An abrupt explosion cut off Sotsu’s thoughts. Sotsu opened the door to find that the Freedom Fighters had managed to blow a whole in the wall. There they stood in the hallway.

"You haven’t given up yet?" Sotsu asked. They turned to see the black echidna, yet they haven’t really had a good look at the echidna until now. 

"You guys go ahead I’ll take care of him," Kevin said stepping in front of the group. He gave Sotsu a cold and determined look.

"You again… this ‘ll be fun," Sotsu said.

Some of the group began to protest but ended up going. Nikki yelled "Be careful!" and was the last to go out of the hallway and into the door at the end.

"Emotions. They weaken you," Sotsu said, his face was emotionless and cold.

"You just say that because no one likes you!" Kevin snapped.

"Really? I thought it was because it’s true. I know that she is your girl friend, and I can use her against you."

"You son of a b*tch! You’d better not!" Kevin shouted, he felt a furious rage building up, the "lunatic energy".

"You seem stressed. It’s funny to think that you think you’ve felt pain before. My whole life has been nothing but though. So how can you say that you’ve felt pain when it’s only immediate?" 

Kevin didn’t reply… he focused all of his pain into an ice arrow. It was a massive one at that. He let it fly swiftly across the room toward Sotsu.

He merely stood there and let it bounce off a shadow-shield. All that energy Kevin used was wasted.

"Funny," Sotsu calmly began," that same anger and pain you used to fuel your attack is the same I use all the time. Since pain seems to be a prime in my life I have the upper hand."

Sotsu let Kevin hail down a barrage of small ice arrows that all seemed to hit the shadow-field and fall uselessly to the ground.

Sotsu decided to actually attack now. He thought about all the pain everyone had put him though… people who he thought were his friends, people he thought were his family, people he trusted that all hurt him. These people… had all killed a part of him, leaving the soulless de- sensitized person he is today.

Sotsu began to develop a shadow material in his right hand. He pressed it between both of his hands with his palms open. Kevin was getting ready to avoid the attack. Sotsu knew what to do. He extended out both of his arms and slowly began to spread out his arms. The ball shot out a beam and the beam continued widening with his arms. The whole hallway was filled with the shadow-beam. 

Kevin tried to put up a shield, but to no avail. He was pummeled into the wall and pressed into it until the beam thinned down and depleted. He fell out leaving his imprinted hole in the wall.

"That attack was best used in situations were the group was still around. Let me show you what I will do to focus on you," Sotsu said, with the same emotionless tone.

Kevin dashed forward conjuring the same ice sword from before… he was angry at the black echidna for threatening his friends, especially Nikki.

"How arrogant," Sotsu said as he conjured his bo. 

Kevin thrust the sword at Sotsu, only to be quickly parried and already countered at. Sotsu continued the side movement by bringing the other end towards Kevin’s temple. Kevin ducked it and slashed at Sotsu’s open stomach. 

But found the blow blocked as Sotsu drew his bo back in front and then pushed up against the blade. They fought for a few moments then when the bo was level with Kevin’s underarm Sotsu jammed his bo into Kevin’s ribs. Then followed up with another blow to his other side. Then Sotsu quickly jammed the ball of his foot under Kevin’s chin causing the cooxen to fall on the ground and drop his sword. 

"Anger leads to recklessness. Recklessness causes leads to failure. Failure leads to death," Sotsu said approaching the grounded Kevin. 

Kevin lifted up his lead hand and blasted an ice storm at the echidna. Kevin was now not only upset at the echidna because of his threatening but now also because of his power.

The ice went right around the shadow-field and jammed itself into the walls and ceiling behind Sotsu. 

"Pain is what you shall feel. MY pain," Sotsu said raising his open right hand. Sotsu then clenched his hand into a fist causing the psychic- hold on Kevin.

Kevin felt his body twist and wrench itself. The pain was too great for him to concentrate correctly. 

Sotsu let his bo disappear when Kevin’s sword did. Then he applied slightly more pressure on Kevin’s joints, Kevin moaned as he heard his bones pop and crack. 

"This is a mere fraction of the pain I feel all the time. How could you possibly understand?" Sotsu said.

"I… I…am….sorry," Kevin managed to say. Suddenly he felt the pressure release, he stood up, no permanent damage of course. He looked over to see a very hurt look on Sotsu’s face.

"So am I," Sotsu said quietly, his voice wasn’t emotionless, he did actually sound hurt.

"Go… help your friends," Sotsu began," if I die because of what I did just now. Don’t let it go in vain."

"Why would you die?" Kevin asked.

"The collar I am wearing was made so if I didn’t follow Dr. Robotnik’s orders, or if anyone tried to remove it, it’d kill me," Sotsu replied.

"Oh I understand now," Kevin said quietly. 

"Go, hurry before Robotnik comes," Sotsu said. 

Kevin ran down the hall and opened the door at the end. He turned back to see Sotsu walking back into his room, his head hung down in a depressed manner.

"Hey if you come with us we can help you!" Kevin yelled. 

"I… will see what I can do," Sotsu said hesitantly.

He walked into the room and sat at the bed. The earring’s comm. came on with a click sound.

"What are you doing? The Freedom Fighters got into my research lab!" Robotnik shouted.

"I... am sorry they caught my off guard! I’m wounded!" Sotsu replied in the neckband comm., trying to sound hurt. 

The sound of battle rang though the walls. No doubt the Freedom Fighters were beating the SWATbots up. Poor Robotnik had been betrayed again. Sotsu felt sorry, but then again he felt good that he had managed to get Kevin to help him out. Perhaps God has given my another chance. Perhaps I will regain my free will.