The four women filed into Nazo's small quarters, their expressions a mixture of determination and nervousness. Sally took the lead, as befitting her role as the group's natural spokesperson, while Rouge leaned against the doorframe with studied casualness. Bunnie positioned herself near the window, her cybernetic arm gleaming in the morning light, and Amy clutched her hammer like a security blanket.
Nazo remained seated on his bed, watching them with genuine confusion. He still couldn't quite understand why they all seemed so invested in him, why they kept seeking him out, why they looked at him with those strange expressions that made his chest feel warm and tight.
"So," Sally began, taking a deep breath. "We've been talking—the four of us—and we've decided that this situation has gotten out of hand. The competition, the fighting over your attention, the way we've been acting... it's not fair to you, and it's not fair to us."
"I appreciate that," Nazo said slowly, "but I'm still not entirely clear on what the 'situation' actually is."
Rouge let out a laugh that was equal parts amused and exasperated. "He really doesn't get it, does he?"
"Ah told y'all," Bunnie said with a fond shake of her head. "Dense as a neutron star."
"Nazo," Amy stepped forward, her green eyes earnest. "We like you. All of us. Like, LIKE like you. As in romantically. As in we want to date you. As in—"
"I think he gets the picture, Amy," Sally interrupted, her cheeks flushing.
Nazo blinked. Then blinked again.
"You're all... romantically interested in me?" he asked, the words feeling strange in his mouth. "All four of you?"
"Yes," Sally confirmed.
"That's what we've been trying to tell you," Rouge added.
"For DAYS now," Bunnie said.
"You're really bad at picking up signals," Amy finished.
Nazo sat in stunned silence, processing this information. His mind raced through the events of the past few days—Sally's hug, her touches, her kiss on his cheek. Rouge's lingering looks and suggestive comments. Bunnie's warmth and physical affection. Amy's constant presence and enthusiastic attention.
All of it suddenly made a different kind of sense.
"I... I didn't realize," he said finally. "I thought you were all just being friendly. Welcoming me to the team."
"Friendly doesn't usually involve fighting over who gets to sit next to someone at dinner," Rouge pointed out dryly.
"Or bringing them breakfast in bed," Sally added.
"Or volunteering for dangerous missions just to spend more time with them," Bunnie said.
"Or talking about them constantly to everyone who'll listen," Amy finished, then paused. "Wait, that last one might just be me."
Nazo stood up, running a hand through his silver quills in a gesture of pure bewilderment. "I don't understand. Why me? You barely know me. I've existed for less than a week. I'm a chaos entity with potentially dangerous powers and no real understanding of how relationships work. Why would any of you want to—"
"Because you're a good person," Sally said simply. "Because despite all that power, you choose to be kind. Because you showed mercy to Robotnik when you could have killed him. Because when I hugged you that first day, you trembled like it was the most precious thing anyone had ever given you."
"Because you're mysterious and powerful and devastatingly handsome," Rouge added with a smirk that didn't quite hide the sincerity beneath it. "And because there's something about you that makes me want to know more. To dig deeper. To see what's underneath all that silver perfection."
"Because you treat everyone with respect," Bunnie said warmly. "You don't look down on people, even though you could crush any of us without breakin' a sweat. You ask questions instead of givin' orders. You care about gettin' things right."
"Because you make me feel safe," Amy said quietly, her usual exuberance tempered by genuine emotion. "When you're around, I feel like everything's going to be okay. Like no matter what happens, you'll be there to protect us."
Nazo looked at each of them in turn, seeing for the first time the depth of feeling in their eyes. It wasn't just attraction or infatuation—though those were certainly present. It was something more. Something real.
"I don't know what to say," he admitted. "I don't know how to process this. In my... before I came here, I never..." He trailed off, uncertain how to explain his past life as Marcus Chen without revealing the truth of his origins.
"You don't have to say anything right now," Sally said gently. "We're not asking you to choose or make any decisions. We just wanted to be honest with you about how we feel. And we've agreed—all four of us—that whatever happens, we're not going to let this come between us. Or between any of us and you."
"We're proposin' a truce," Bunnie explained. "No more fightin' over you like you're a prize to be won. If you decide you're interested in any of us—or all of us, or none of us—that's your choice to make. We'll respect it, whatever it is."
"All of us?" Nazo repeated, latching onto the phrase. "Is that... is that an option people actually consider?"
Rouge laughed. "Oh, honey. You really are new to this world, aren't you?"
Before anyone could elaborate, a sound from outside made everyone freeze.
It was a high-pitched whine—the unmistakable sound of SWAT-bot thrusters on approach.
"What the—" Sally started, moving toward the window.
She never finished the sentence.
The wall of Nazo's quarters exploded inward, showering the room with debris and smoke. Through the breach came a squad of SWAT-bots—at least a dozen of the elite combat robots, their weapons already trained on the occupants.
"PRIORITY TARGETS ACQUIRED," the lead bot announced in its mechanical voice. "COMMENCING CAPTURE PROTOCOL."
Everything happened at once.
Bunnie's arm cannon charged and fired, taking out two bots before they could react. Amy's hammer materialized in her hands, smashing a third into scrap. Rouge took to the air, her powerful kicks disabling another pair.
But there were too many.
Nazo surged forward, silver energy blazing around his form, but before he could engage, something struck him from behind. A device—small, cylindrical, covered in blinking lights—attached itself to his back and discharged.
The chaos energy dampener hit him like a sledgehammer.
His power flickered, sputtered, and died. The silver light around him faded to nothing, and he collapsed to his knees, gasping as his connection to the Chaos Force was suddenly, violently severed.
"NAZO!" Sally screamed, but she couldn't reach him. A SWAT-bot had grabbed her from behind, its metal arms pinning hers to her sides. Similar scenes played out around the room as the remaining bots overwhelmed the four women with sheer numbers.
"No..." Nazo tried to stand, tried to summon even a fraction of his power, but the dampener was working too well. His limbs felt like lead, his mind foggy and slow.
Through blurring vision, he watched as the SWAT-bots secured their captives. Sally, Rouge, Bunnie, and Amy—all four of them bound with energy restraints, all four of them struggling uselessly against their mechanical captors.
"CAPTURE COMPLETE," the lead bot announced. "PRIORITY TARGETS SECURED. INITIATING TRANSPORT TO ROBOTROPOLIS."
"Nazo!" Amy cried out as she was dragged toward the breach in the wall. "NAZO, HELP US!"
"Don't worry about us!" Sally shouted, even as she fought against her restraints. "Get that thing off and come find us! Don't let him—"
A SWAT-bot clamped a hand over her mouth, silencing her.
Rouge met Nazo's eyes as she was carried past him. Her expression wasn't fearful—it was determined. "We'll be okay," she said quietly. "Just come get us."
"Ah know you will, sugah," Bunnie added as she was dragged through the breach. "Ah believe in you."
And then they were gone.
The SWAT-bots took to the sky, their thrusters carrying them and their captives away from Knothole with terrifying speed. Within seconds, they had disappeared over the treeline, leaving behind only a destroyed wall and a silver hedgehog on his knees.
The chaos dampener continued to pulse on Nazo's back, keeping his power suppressed. But even as the device worked its technological magic, something else was stirring inside him.
Something dark.
Something angry.
Something that would not be contained.
The Freedom Fighters arrived at the scene within minutes, alerted by the explosions and sounds of combat.
Sonic was first through what remained of Nazo's door, followed closely by Shadow, Tails, and a half-dozen others. They found Nazo exactly where the SWAT-bots had left him—on his knees in the middle of his destroyed quarters, the chaos dampener still attached to his back.
"Nazo!" Sonic rushed to his side, reaching for the device. "What happened? Where's Sally? Where's—"
"Don't touch it." Shadow's voice was sharp. "That's a Mark IV Chaos Dampener. Military grade. If you try to remove it without the proper sequence, it'll discharge directly into his nervous system."
"Then what do we do?!"
"I can disable it," Tails said, already pulling tools from his belt. "But it'll take a few minutes. The encryption on these things is—"
"Taken."
The word came from Nazo, but it didn't sound like him. His voice was flat, empty, devoid of the warmth and uncertainty that had characterized him since his arrival.
"They were taken. All of them. Sally. Rouge. Bunnie. Amy." Each name fell from his lips like a stone dropping into deep water. "Robotnik took them. Because of me."
"We'll get them back," Sonic said firmly. "Robuttnik's never held anyone we couldn't rescue."
"Yes." Nazo's head slowly rose, and Sonic took an involuntary step backward.
His eyes were changing.
The emerald green was bleeding away, replaced by a yellow so bright it seemed to glow with its own inner light. His pupils were contracting, shifting from their normal round shape to vertical slits of absolute black.
"We'll get them back," Nazo repeated, and now his voice had an edge to it—something cold and sharp and utterly merciless.
"Nazo, buddy, you need to calm down," Sonic said, trying to keep his voice steady despite the growing unease in his chest. "We'll figure out a plan, we'll—"
"Tails." Nazo's changed eyes fixed on the young fox, who froze mid-motion with his tools still in hand. "Remove the dampener. Now."
"I—I'm trying, but the encryption—"
"I don't care about the encryption. Remove it, or I will remove it myself."
"But Shadow said—"
"I said REMOVE IT."
The command echoed through the destroyed quarters with palpable force. Tails's hands trembled, but he nodded and went back to work, his fingers moving faster now despite—or perhaps because of—his fear.
Shadow stepped forward, positioning himself between Nazo and the others. "You're losing control. Whatever you're feeling right now, you need to push it down. Acting rashly will only make things worse."
"Worse?" A laugh escaped Nazo's throat, but there was no humor in it. "Worse than Robotnik taking four people I care about? Worse than knowing he's going to use them against me? Worse than understanding that every second I sit here is a second they're in danger?"
"Yes. Worse than all of that." Shadow's voice was firm. "Because if you go to Robotropolis like this—consumed by anger, barely in control—you'll give Robotnik exactly what he wants. You'll prove that you can be manipulated through your emotions. You'll put Sally and the others in even more danger."
"You think I don't know that?" Nazo's silver fur was starting to shift now, traces of crimson bleeding through the pearl-white. "You think I don't understand exactly what he's doing? He wants me angry. He wants me to come charging in without a plan. He wants to see what happens when I lose control."
"Then don't give him—"
"I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE HIM ANYTHING!" Nazo roared, and the force of his voice shattered what remained of the windows. "I'M GOING TO TAKE EVERYTHING HE HAS! HIS ROBOTS! HIS FORTRESS! HIS LIFE! I'M GOING TO TEAR ROBOTROPOLIS DOWN TO ITS FOUNDATIONS AND MAKE HIM BEG FOR MERCY HE DOESN'T DESERVE!"
The chaos dampener sparked.
Cracked.
Exploded.
Silver light erupted from Nazo's form, so bright that everyone in the room was forced to shield their eyes. But it didn't stay silver for long. The light shifted, darkened, transformed into something else entirely.
When it faded, Perfect Nazo stood in the ruins of the quarters.
His fur was the deep, arterial red of fresh blood. His eyes blazed yellow-gold with those terrifying black pupils. His shoes had transformed to match the darkness that surrounded him, and a black aura crackled around his form like living shadow.
He looked at the Freedom Fighters assembled before him, and there was nothing of the kind, confused newcomer in that gaze. This was something else. Something ancient. Something that had been born from the darkness of chaos itself.
"I'm going to Robotropolis," Perfect Nazo said, his voice resonating with power that made the air itself tremble. "Anyone who wants to help can follow. Anyone who tries to stop me will regret it."
He rose into the air, crimson energy streaming from his body like flames.
"Wait!" Sonic shouted. "At least let us—"
But Perfect Nazo was already gone.
A sonic boom shattered what little remained of the structure as he rocketed skyward, accelerating to speeds that made Sonic himself look slow. In seconds, he was nothing but a crimson streak across the sky, heading due north toward Robotropolis.
Toward Robotnik.
Toward the people he cared about.
And toward a confrontation that would shake Mobius to its core.
The journey to Robotropolis took Perfect Nazo exactly four minutes and thirty-seven seconds.
He didn't bother with stealth or subtlety. He didn't consider strategy or reconnaissance. He simply flew—a crimson meteor blazing across the sky, leaving a trail of disrupted air and chaos energy in his wake.
Below him, the landscape of Mobius blurred into an indistinct smear of color. Forests gave way to plains, plains to mountains, mountains to the blighted wasteland that surrounded Robotnik's industrial capital. The toxic smog that normally shrouded the city parted before him, driven aside by the sheer force of his passage.
And then Robotropolis was before him.
The city was a monument to technological tyranny—endless factories belching poison into the air, assembly lines producing weapons and robots in quantities that boggled the mind, streets patrolled by mechanical enforcers that existed only to serve their creator's will. At the center of it all stood the Citadel—Robotnik's fortress, a towering structure of black metal and red lights that dominated the skyline like a clenched fist raised against the heavens.
That was where they would be. Perfect Nazo could feel it—four distinct life signatures, clustered together somewhere deep within the Citadel's heart.
Sally. Rouge. Bunnie. Amy.
Their names echoed through his transformed consciousness, each one a anchor point that kept the darkness from consuming him entirely. They were in danger because of him. Because Robotnik had recognized that the most powerful being on the planet could be controlled through something as simple as emotional attachment.
He was right, Perfect Nazo thought, and the admission burned like acid. I do care about them. I can't pretend otherwise. And that makes me vulnerable.
But it also makes me ANGRY.
He descended toward the Citadel like a falling star, and the defense systems responded immediately.
Laser batteries opened fire from a dozen different directions. Missile platforms launched their payloads in coordinated volleys. SWAT-bots rose from rooftop hangars, their weapons charging as they formed a defensive perimeter around the fortress.
Perfect Nazo didn't slow down.
He raised one hand, dark energy gathering in his palm, and released it in a sweeping arc. The chaos wave tore through the incoming missiles, detonating them harmlessly in mid-air. It continued onward, striking the laser batteries and reducing them to molten slag. It reached the SWAT-bot formation and passed through them like a scythe through wheat.
The robots fell from the sky in pieces.
"MORE," Perfect Nazo snarled. "SEND MORE."
Robotropolis obliged.
From every corner of the city, reinforcements mobilized. Combat drones rose in swarms. Heavy assault mechs stomped from their hangars. Even the city's automated defense grid—a network of weapons emplacements that could theoretically repel a full-scale military invasion—activated and focused on the crimson intruder.
Perfect Nazo smiled.
It was not a nice smile.
Inside the Citadel, Dr. Robotnik watched the destruction unfold on his monitors with growing alarm.
"This is... this is not according to plan," he muttered, his fingers dancing across his command console. "He was supposed to arrive. He was supposed to be angry. But this—this level of power—"
On the screens, Perfect Nazo was carving through his forces like they weren't even there. Assault mechs that could level city blocks were being torn apart with casual swipes of crimson claws. Combat drones by the hundreds were being vaporized by waves of dark energy. The city's defense grid—his proudest achievement, a network that had cost billions to construct—was being systematically dismantled.
"Increase power to the perimeter shields!" Robotnik ordered. "Deploy the Egg Titans! Activate the—"
"Sir," one of his robot lieutenants interrupted, "the Egg Titans have already been deployed."
"WHAT?! But I didn't give that—"
"They were automatic response protocols, sir. Triggered when the intruder's threat level exceeded Category Five parameters."
Robotnik turned back to his screens just in time to watch Perfect Nazo tear the head off the lead Egg Titan—a hundred-foot-tall combat robot that represented the pinnacle of his military engineering—and use it as a club to destroy the other two.
"Category Five," Robotnik whispered, his face pale. "We need a new category."
"Sir, the intruder is approaching the Citadel's outer wall. Current defensive forces have been reduced by... by ninety-four percent. Remaining units are attempting tactical withdrawal, but—"
The screen showing the Citadel's eastern wall went dark.
Then the western wall.
Then the northern.
"He's not just attacking," Robotnik realized, horror dawning in his eyes. "He's dismantling us. Systematically. Making sure we can't escape, can't call for help, can't do ANYTHING except wait for him to reach us."
"Sir, what are your orders?"
Robotnik's mind raced through possibilities, discarding each one as quickly as it arose. Fight? Impossible—nothing in his arsenal could match that level of power. Negotiate? The creature tearing through his city didn't look like it was in a negotiating mood. Escape? The perimeter was already compromised; any evacuation attempt would be detected and intercepted.
That left only one option.
"Bring me the prisoners," Robotnik said, his voice steadying as a plan took shape. "If Nazo cares about them enough to destroy an entire city, then they're still my best leverage. We'll negotiate from a position of... of mutual destruction. Make him understand that if he kills me, they die too."
"Understood, sir."
As the robot lieutenant left to fulfill his orders, Robotnik turned back to his monitors. Perfect Nazo had breached the Citadel's outer wall and was now advancing through the interior corridors, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.
"Come then, chaos spawn," Robotnik muttered, straightening his jacket and trying to project a confidence he didn't feel. "Let's see if you have the stomach for what comes next."
Perfect Nazo moved through the Citadel like a force of nature.
Walls meant nothing to him—he passed through them as easily as air, the molecular structure of metal and concrete simply parting before his chaos-enhanced form. Security systems were ignored; they couldn't track something that moved between dimensions. Robot guards were destroyed almost as an afterthought, barely warranting his attention as he focused on the life signatures that drew him ever deeper into the fortress.
Close now. Very close.
He could feel them—Sally's determined spirit, Rouge's calculating mind, Bunnie's warm heart, Amy's fierce devotion. They were alive. Frightened, perhaps, but unharmed.
For now.
The thought of what Robotnik might have done to them—might still do to them—sent fresh waves of darkness crashing through his consciousness. The Perfect form fed on that anger, amplified it, transformed it into power that crackled around him like living lightning.
Control, a small voice whispered from somewhere deep inside him. The part that was still Marcus Chen, still the confused newcomer trying to do the right thing. You need to maintain control. If you lose yourself now...
Shut up, the darkness responded. They took what's mine. They will pay.
They're not "yours." They're people with their own—
SHUT. UP.
The internal argument faded as Perfect Nazo reached his destination: a massive door marked with Robotnik's insignia, clearly the entrance to some kind of central chamber. Beyond it, he could sense the four life signatures he'd been tracking.
And one more. Larger. Louder. Practically vibrating with fear and false bravado.
Robotnik.
Perfect Nazo didn't bother with the door. He simply walked through it, reality bending around him as solid matter became temporarily immaterial.
The chamber beyond was clearly designed to impress—a throne room of sorts, all black metal and red lights, with a raised platform at the far end where Robotnik sat in an elaborate command chair. Screens covered every wall, displaying feeds from across the city and (presumably) beyond.
But Perfect Nazo's attention was focused on the four figures suspended in the center of the room.
Sally, Rouge, Bunnie, and Amy hung from energy restraints attached to the ceiling, their arms secured above their heads, their feet dangling several inches off the floor. They were conscious, their eyes widening as they saw what had come for them.
"Nazo..." Sally breathed.
He barely recognized his own name. All he could see was their captivity. All he could feel was the rage building inside him like a nuclear reactor approaching meltdown.
"ROBOTNIK."
The word echoed through the chamber with enough force to crack the screens on the walls. The doctor flinched but held his ground, one hand hovering over a control panel built into his throne.
"Nazo. Or should I say, 'Perfect Nazo'?" Robotnik's voice was impressively steady, considering. "I see you received my invitation."
"Release them. Now."
"Or what? You'll destroy me? Look around you, chaos spawn. You've already destroyed half my city. What's one more death at this point?"
"You think I won't do it?"
"I think you'll do ANYTHING." Robotnik's smile was a fragile thing, but it held. "That's precisely the problem. You've already proven that you're willing to commit genocide for these four women. Thousands of my robots, reduced to scrap. My defenses, my infrastructure, my life's work—all of it burning because you couldn't control your emotions."
Perfect Nazo took a step forward, and the air around him distorted with barely contained power. "I'm going to ask one more time. Release. Them."
"And if I refuse?" Robotnik's finger hovered over a button on his console. "This control activates a failsafe built into their restraints. One press, and 50,000 volts course through their bodies. They'll be dead before you can reach me."
"Nazo, don't—" Sally started, but a spark from her restraints silenced her.
"Ah, ah, ah." Robotnik wagged his finger. "No coaching from the audience. This negotiation is between the chaos god and myself."
Perfect Nazo stood motionless, his yellow eyes fixed on Robotnik with an intensity that made the air itself tremble. The darkness inside him howled for blood, for vengeance, for the complete and utter annihilation of everything this pathetic human had ever built.
But somewhere, buried deep beneath the rage, a small voice reminded him of what mattered.
They're alive. They're right there. Don't let anger kill them when you came to save them.
"What do you want?" Perfect Nazo asked, and the words tasted like ash in his mouth.
Robotnik's smile widened. "Now we're talking."