Author's Note

Justalad wrote some of the scenes, and Cyrus wrote the descriptions of the characters.

Sorry it took so long. I had some difficulty with this chapter. It will probably be the case with the following ones too.

Chapter 184: Retaking Grust

Sweetie Void:
Hello Tails. Can you and your counterpart prepare the deroboticizer? We need it. Prepare also material to build a mobile workshop with self-producing electricity for it. I am currently in a medieval world in the middle of a war against Eggman, so electricity isn’t available and the deroboticizer will need to move a lot. Also, bring something to immobilize the roboticized without having to kill them. Reply once everything is ready.

Sweetie Void sent the message to Present Tails.

“There. Message sent. It will probably take Tails an hour or two to prepare everything, so it means that it will take a few days here. No choice but to wait.”

At least, she chained all the roboticized to ensure that they wouldn’t move, so they won’t be a problem. It was just a matter of defending their position while waiting for Tails.

“It will be nice to have Tails with us,” Past Amy said happily. “He will be very helpful against Eggman.”

Past Sonic agreed with a nod.

“These will be some difficult days, remaining in position doing nothing but resisting the repeated assaults of the robots,” Marth said. “But to save these roboticized people, we will do it.”

“Don’t worry, if any dragon appears, I will be here to deal with them,” Sweetie Void said.

Marth showed his sword. “Thanks to Falchion, I can also kill them easily. You can count on me.”

“And us too!” Amy said for herself and Sonic.

With that, everyone got ready just as transport ships arrived.

The days passed on as the heroes waited, thankfully without any major incident outside the occasional attack from Eggman's army.

Past Amy was taking a stroll around, enjoying her current free time outside battle when suddenly she heard someone talking rather loudly. Curious, she approached the sound of the voice and saw a group of the local warriors talking with each other.

The one that the loud voice she heard before belonged to was a blonde guy with green cloth armor with strips of hardened leather and patches of steel plate and a gameson wrapped around his waist speaking to a group of companions:

A man with red hair, an eyepatch over his right eye, a metal spaulder over his right shoulder, a leather pauldron over his left, otherwise dressed in light armor meant for mobility.

A woman with long purple hair that reached past her shoulders, a cloth wrapped around her head, though why, Amy couldn’t tell from her current position. Her garb seemed more accurately described as a dress with a purple fabric tied to her right hip than armor, save for the single spaulder on her left shoulder. A sword rested at her side, tucked within its sheath, yet still showing its gentle curve.

A tall man with a horned helmet and a breastplate and spaulder on his right shoulder and a green cloth over his left. As he turned to look at the woman, Amy spotted a large mustache across his face.

And, finally, another blonde man, dressed in a hardened leather chestpiece, a blue shirt underneath, with green pants and a pair of blades hanging off his back and belt.

The loud blonde was apparently trying to convince them minus the red-haired one of something.

“Let me tell you, it’s a great opportunity! Our country is completely made by and for mercenaries, with all the accommodations we could ask for. Doesn't it sound appealing? What say you, Ogma?” the blonde asked.

The other blonde, Ogma, crossed his arms with a serious face.

“Mmm, it does but… what would that even entail?” he asked.

At that, the blonde smirked and gestured to the red-haired with the eyepatch. ”Tell'em, Saber.”

Saber nodded. ”For starters, it would be primarily a safe place. No more just being on the run looking for jobs or being chased by enemies made on said jobs, our country is a place where we could genuinely settle down and have a home. We all watch each other's backs,” Saber said. The blonde then continued,

“And not to mention, it would also be a place with all kinds of accommodations for us! Bunches of armories and stores for gear, guilds to facilitate finding jobs and recruiting companions to take on bigger jobs, we even plan on having something like a kind of school,but apart from regular things, we teach the populace the arts of combat so even those that don't want to take part on the mercenary life at least know to defend themselves, should the need arise.”

By the end of his talk, they all seemed more or less convinced.

Then, the big man with the mustache and the helmet talked,

“Mmm, aight listen you, uhh…”

“Jesse, my good sir,” the blonde said.

“Yeah Jesse. Now don't get me wrong, and maybe I ain't the smartest guy around but… what you say sounds good, too good in fact… I ain't sure me and my daughter Malice can exactly trust it,” he said, the woman with purple hair, Malice, nodding.

“I share the same sentiments as Dice,too,” Ogma said.

“Ah, do not worry, it’s normal to have doubts. Why, I myself would be skeptical too-but fear not, Saber and I can assure you it’s all gonna be real! Already we have gathered a good amount of good people to our cause, not to mention we count with the blessings and support of Their Majesties King Alm and Queen Celica. Already our country is starting to take shape, a pretty little thing that will grow in the future,”Jesse said.

He then looked at Malice, and after some thinking he got a knowing smirk.

A smirk his companion Saber knew all too well.

“Jesse, don't-” he hissed at him, but Jesse was already talking.

“What says you, dear Malice? If you would have me, It would be an honor to show a lady of your beauty around our country once this dreadful war is over.”

Malice looked at Jesse as if he just grew a second head, and Dice only arched an eyebrow.

“Ex…cuse me? Me… a beauty?” she said.

“Why yes! you are quite easy on the eyes if I say so myself, you have such nice hair, and great figure! While most men would think bad of muscles on a woman, I can appreciate how they make you look fierce and exotic, like a glorious battle maiden! And I've seen how you fight before, the way you effortlessly weave through these metallic foes is as if you were dancing, an incredible dance that-”

But before he could say more, Jesse suddenly found himself with Malice having drawn her blade and in less than a second she had it mere centimeters of his neck.

Immediately, everyone was alerted, and Saber couldn’t help but sigh.

Damn, he just never learns… he thought before he started to look for how to calm the situation.

But then, just as quickly as she drew it, Malice sheathed her blade back.

“S…sorry,“ she said. ”It’s… a bad habit.”

Jesse, still a bit shocked, looked at her.

She was visibly blushing.

Did she really just… threaten me because she got embarrassed!? he thought with no short amount of disbelief.

“Ahem!I… guess that since you’re offering… I could at least go see this country of yours…” Malice said.

“Uhh, sure. It’s a date then-”

This time, Ogma did Jesse a favor and held Malice's arm in place just as she had her hand on the handle of her blade. His arm was visibly bulging with strength however.

“Y-yeah… A-a date…” Malice said.

Through the whole exchange, Dice just looked on with some amusement.

Hah! Seems you don't know just where you landed yourself on laddie. Let's bet how much you last… he thought to himself.

Saber, for his part, could hardly believe what he was seeing. He knew Jesse was a hopeless flirt, and never could have predicted that the day would come he would see a woman actually fall for his silver tongue.

Jesse too could hardly believe it himself, and was heavily debating with himself.

This woman seems… complicated but… well I wasn't lying-she IS really pretty. But is it worth it? hmmm… Big blade… but pretty lady… Could easily shred me into pieces… but pretty lady…

Past Amy, who spied on the whole thing only uttered three words at the end of it all.

“Oh… my… GOSH!” she said, eyes sparkling.

Present Tails:

Everything is ready. We are even bringing some help.

Sweetie Void:
Ok, I’m coming. Where are you?

Present Tails:

In New Halcandra, before Magolor’s laboratory.

At that, Sweetie Void opened a rift, shocking all the locals.

“I don’t know how long I will be gone, probably several hours. Hopefully, I return before Eggman’s next assault,” she said before she jumped into the rift.

She appeared in New Halcandra before Magolor’s laboratory where she found the Tails as well as Susie beside the deroboticizer and all the material needed to build a small mobile workshop for it. There were also several Haltmann Armors (Invader Armor was out of fashion since they stopped invading).

“Susie? You are the help they are bringing?” Sweetie Void asked.

Susie bowed. “Yes. I will build the workshop with my crew and help stop Eggman. Technology against technology. I’m going to show the locals that not everything is bad about it. The first impression may be ruined, but the second impression can still save the day.” She then brought out a gun. “Also, I have something to immobilize the roboticized. This gun can shoot electric projectiles. Nothing too bad, just enough to make them stop moving long enough to…” She showed a strange round device with a single red button. “put this on them. This little baby will destroy whatever program is forcing them to act and will allow them to regain their free will.”

She pointed at two groups of crates. “These crates are full of these guns and devices. Enough to equip hundreds of people. And there is more!” She pointed to more crates. Many more crates. “Modern weapons to better equip this medieval army of yours. Familiar weapons so training won’t be needed. Beam weapons and energy bows. The robots’ bodies of steel won’t be a problem anymore.”

Sweetie Void grinned. “Thank you, Susie! The soldiers really had difficulty cutting the robots, and let’s not talk of the archers. These weapons will make the battles much easier, and dragons won’t be a problem anymore too.”

“Dragons?” Past Tails asked.

“Yeah, Eggman now has an army of roboticized dragons.”

The two Tails gulped at that.

“Well, time to bring all that stuff to Archanea. Time passes much faster there, and Eggman could attack anytime. I want to be there when this happens. So, without losing time, Higitus Figitus!”

A wand suddenly materialized in Sweetie’s hoof, and she began to repeatedly wave it along with her other forehoof before the deroboticizer, material, and crates began to float in line toward a rift that she opened, sometimes shrinking so they could pass through.

The Tails gawked while Susie giggled.

They then jumped through the rift, the Armors coming just after them.

Back in Archanea, the army could only look in awe at the procession of floating objects coming out of the rift and settling nicely before them. Sweetie Void, the Tails, Susie, and the Armors then came out of the rift before it closed.

Susie clapped her hands. “Alright boys, let’s start. We have a mobile workshop to build.”

The Armors immediately went to work while Sweetie Void and the Tails moved toward Marth, Caeda, Alm, and Celica.

“Nothing happened while I was gone?” the filly asked.

“Nothing,” Alm answered.

“Great!”

Sweetie Void proceeded to present everyone. Then she and the Tails showed the roboticizer before they opened the crates to present their contents.

“The taserguns will need some training, but the rest shouldn’t be a problem,” she said.

“And if there is not enough for everyone, we can always build more using the remains of the robots we destroy, and also pieces from the factories,” Present Tails said.

Kris grabbed one of the beam swords, which were just cylinder devices while turned off. As instructed, he pressed a button, and the sword activated. He then tested it, carefully swinging it. It was much lighter than a normal sword. It will take some time to get used to that, but it was very good. Not cumbersome at all. He will just have to be careful not to touch the beam blade when activated.

“Eggman will have a nasty surprise,” he said.

Many were grinning, agreeing with his words.

The workshop was built in a few hours, looking like a large caravan. The deroboticizer was immediately installed, ready to be used.

Merric was the first to use it and return to normal. As soon as he exited the workshop, Marth embraced him.

“It’s good to see you again, Merric.”

“I’m glad to be myself again. My Excalibur is yours, again.”

One by one, the roboticized they captured were turned back to normal, all people who fought the robots and avoided being killed, but were captured and turned into killing machines. They immediately wanted to join Marth’s army. Marth welcomed them with open arms.

And with that, the battle to retake Grust was able to restart. It was a very long battle that lasted for weeks because, contrary to normal wars where the enemy army could surrender when the leader is defeated and/or the capital is taken over, here, it wasn’t the case. The robots will never surrender. The heroes had to defeat them all over the country, base by base. Factory by factory.

Thanks to the new weapons, fighting the robots was much easier. It now only took one hit or two to destroy them where, before, you needed a weapon like a hammer or an Armorslayer to have such results. The archer could finally deal real damage to robots other than the flying ones. Even the dragons (mostly earth dragons, proving that what Gotoh said was true) weren’t as scary anymore.

The newcomers were of course able to show their worth. The Tails zipped around thanks to their tails, smashing robots left and right and using gadgets when needed.

Susie showed that she wasn’t part of the Kirby Crew for nothing. With a press of a button, she materialized her armor that destroyed waves after waves of robots, and wherever she was, she was followed by the Haltmann Armors who, while not as powerful, still pulled their weight (and they were very heavy), even if one ended up destroyed by a dragon.

Any roboticized encountered was tased, freed, and turned back to normal before they joined the army.

What was worrying was that no village remained. They were all destroyed.

The lands were also starting to get mechanized. The forests were destroyed. The fields were gone. There were railways everywhere with trains transporting materials and weapons.

Then, they saw Grust’s capital, and the horror grew.

Instead of a nice medieval city with a castle, there was a huge futuristic metropolis with buildings reaching the sky which was covered by a black cloud coming from the countless chimneys. It was still in the process of being built, some buildings not finished yet. Eggman’s image was everywhere. The land around was totally dead.

It was very certainly in this city that all the inhabitants of Grust, from the destroyed villages and towns, had been gathered.

Jubelo, the young prince of Grust who was part of Marth’s army despite being only sixteen years old, was devastated. Anybody from Grust was in a similar state.

The others from Archanea weren’t better once they understood that what they were seeing was probably the case everywhere else on the continent. Altea. Macedon. The Kingdom of Archanea.

The ones from Valentia were just as horrified. The same could have happened to their continent.

Before, they just had an idea, but now, they knew. They knew what they had to stop.

And it will be very difficult for Archanea to recover from that. Thankfully, Susie reassured them that she could do something about the pollution. The forests will have to be regrown the normal way however. The metropolis will obviously have to be destroyed. It was too pollutant. Not environmentally friendly at all.

But before that, they had to take it over, and it was clear that it would be easier said than done. The city was guarded by an important army of robots. They could already see thousands of them outside the city, so they could only imagine how many there were inside. And that wasn’t counting the dozens of dragons and the many airships.

Among the robots, they spotted humanoid ones that seemed to be copies of the various classes among the heroes’ army, like how there were robot mages before. It seemed to be an attempt from Eggman to use their own might against them, like how he used Sonic’s might with Metal Sonic. There was everything, from the heavily armored generals to the mighty heroes, passing by the terrifying dracoknights (yes, they even had robot wyverns). There were even bishops ready to heal the roboticized if they were hurt in their organic parts. And all these robots were of course armed with energy weapons, like beam swords.

They were dangerous robots, but robots that the locals knew how to fight. They shouldn’t be problematic.

Sweetie Void created two dozen clones, the maximum she could currently hope to control. Because of the roboticized among the robots, she won’t be able to use AoE attacks to destroy thousands of robots in one go before the battle even starts, so she had no choice but to do it the old fashioned way. She will at least target in priority the dragons and airships. That will be two less problems to worry about.

“Let’s free Grust, everyone!” Marth yelled.

And with that, the battle began.

Sweetie Void and her doubles were the first to go, entering the fray to destroy as many enemies as possible before the others reached them. Sonic and his friends arrived just after, quickly destroying a large number of robots too thanks to their experience. After eliminating hundreds of robots, some of the Sweeties went to kill the dragons and destroy the airships. Others used electricity to shock the roboticized, leaving them behind spasming on the ground for Marth’s army to save.

Finally, Marth and the others reached the robots, and the battle truly began.

Because of the presence of robot archers (snipers, horsemen, and even some warriors and generals), the pegasus knights and other flying units had to be careful. To help them, the ally archers eliminated these robots in priority. Mages were important targets too, their magic being dangerous, especially to knights and generals (or barons if they were from Valentia). Bad news, a few enemy mages had Meteor and Swarm tomes, allowing them to attack from very far away. The allies tried to remain out of range of these robots. Eventually, Sweetie Void spotted them and destroyed them or shocked them if they were roboticized, removing the tomes out of their possession. The filly gave these tomes to allied mages, allowing them to attack robots from far away. It was a huge help.

Malice found herself separated from Dice in the chaos of the battle, and before she knew it, she was surrounded by the enemies. Jesse saw that, and he jumped and ran on the robots to join her. She was surprised to see him, and in return, he grinned and asked, “Need help?”

“Don’t expect me to jump in your arms.”

“I would never.”

The two then worked together to cut the robots around them, watching each other’s backs, until Saber, Dice, and some soldiers led by Celica managed to break the encirclement.

Meanwhile, Ogma found himself facing two roboticized warriors who looked identical that he recognized very well.

“Cord… Bord… To see you like that… So Talys has fallen too. Of course…”

Needless to say, he quickly used the tasergun to stun them before putting the device on them, freeing them from their program.

Once they woke up, they immediately sprang up, ready to fight.

“Ogma! Thank you for freeing!” Cord said.

“Now, time to fight together, like in the good old times,” Bord said.

“Without Barst.”

“We will have to do without him.”

“Glad to have you back,” Ogma said.

The three then fought the robots together, working together in perfect synergy.

Cord and Bord will have to wait until the end of the battle to be deroboticized.

At this moment, roboticized wyverns arrived faster than the speed of sound and fired homing missiles at the army, killing many. Sweetie Void never expected that, so she wasn’t able to react in time. To stop this from repeating, she sent her doubles after the wyverns to kill them before they could return.

Eventually, the army was able to enter the metropolis where the hardest part started: fighting the robots, building by building, while being careful not to hurt the civilians. Thankfully, there were no dragons, and all the airships were destroyed, so Sweetie Void was able to destroy the robots without interruption. However, it was much harder to keep an eye on everyone with them being inside buildings half the time. If only she could destroy the buildings to take all the robots inside, but there were civilians inside them too. Thankfully, there were less roboticized because the majority of the robots present in the city were fresh out of factories.

As the battle continued, a transport ship eventually arrived outside the city, releasing many robots including one that was very special. It was a humanoid robot of the hero class, with a large shield of the hardest metal Eggman could get and a powerful beam sword.

Eggman named it the Egg Achilles.

The robot raised its sword, charging energy into it, then swung down, releasing a powerful vertical wave of energy toward the city, cutting everything in its path. Sweetie Void quickly sensed it and immediately acted, teleporting in front of it and stopping it with her own swords with difficulty.

The energy used was the same energy that Metal Sonic used.

The filly went to deal with the Egg Achilles before it could send another wave, but the robot revealed to not be just powerful, but also very skilled with its weapon. It could easily rival the likes of Meta Knight. But against Sweetie? That was nothing. She easily passed its defense and sliced it horizontally in half before she crushed its head.

It still worried Sweetie Void. If Eggman had more robots like this one, then Marth and the others may need some training, just in case they ended up encountering one and she wasn’t around for one reason or another.

For the rest of the battle, a few more wyverns came, but Sweetie Void destroyed them and their missiles before they could kill anyone. After several long hours, all the robots were destroyed and the factories were stopped.

The city was now in the hands of Marth’s army.

Malice found herself alone after the battle, deciding she needed some time to short out her own feelings.

Should I really follow through with this…? I mean this Jesse fellow ain't bad-looking I suppose but… she was thinking.

Suddenly, she heard steps behind her and quickly turned around with her hand preventively reaching for her blade, but quickly relaxed seeing it was just Amy.

“Ah, one of the foreigners,” she said. ”You know, aren't Y'all awfully young to fight in wars?”

Amy just giggled a bit. ”Well, I mean, you saw us fighting, no? And Sweetie Void's pretty much carrying us through this.”

Malice sighed, but then smirked. ”Heh, can't argue with that. So, what’s it, lassie?”

“Oh, my name is Amy, miss! I just wondered why you would come here alone. I actually saw you in the battle of today and I must say, I'm impressed with how you fight with such grace!”

Malice for her part rubbed the back of her head. ”Aww, thanks. You also looked good with that hammer. You and your friends all seem really strong actually! And as for what I am doing here I just…I don't know, needed to think about some things. Nothing a young one like ya should worry, I'll be fine.”

At that, Amy seemed to think of something, then said, "Well, while me and my friends are around I don't mind if you ever feel like talking about it with me. I like making new friends! How about it, miss…?” Amy said, extending her hand.

Malice took it. ”Call me Malice and, well, not sure if I could talk about what's on my mind with you but I don't mind being your friend too.”

As they shook hands, Amy was delighted that the first step of her plan was a success.

“Don't worry Miss Malice, you will be reunited with your true love! I'll make sure of it…”