x
As the Blue Typhoon cruised through space, Grace was sleeping in her room, but couldn't do so peacefully. In her mind, she had a dream…
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Looking around her in the vast darkness, she could see the red Chaos Emerald floating in space. On it were reflections of a black and red hedgehog: Shadow the Hedgehog. Gazing at it, she then heard Chris' voice. "Shadow…" he said.
Before she realized it, Grace found herself inside what she recognized to be Space Colony ARK. And there was Chris, pleading with Shadow despite his beat-up state to let go of the revenge he had held towards Earth after what happened to Maria. "It's useless," said Shadow. "I made a promise to Maria, and I'm keeping it."
"Shadow, getting revenge won't bring Maria back," Chris insisted.
"So what?" asked Shadow.
"There's still time to stop this, Shadow!" Chris persisted. "Please, you have to listen to me!"
Watching it all, Grace then found herself at another scene. Eventually, Shadow had regained his memories and what Maria had meant by her last words before she died saving him. Now in their Super forms thanks to the Chaos Emeralds, he and Sonic were now holding back Space Station ARK, trying to prevent a collision course with it and Earth. "You can do it, Sonic!" Tails encouraged.
"We know you can!" Cream added.
"Give it all you've got, Shadow!" Eggman said.
"If you fail, the entire planet will be destroyed!" Rouge warned.
"Tough it up, you guys!" Knuckles called.
"You can do it, guys!" Chris exclaimed.
"Sonic!" Amy cried.
Grace and the Guard were worried as well, but still encouraged them not to give up. Just then, Shadow heard a familiar voice in his head. "Shadow…"
And there, in his thoughts, was a certain blonde, blue-eyed girl, all dressed in blue, who gave up her life to save him and was hopeful for humanity's future despite what happened to her and later her grandfather. It was none other than his dear, late friend Maria. "Those people need you, Shadow," she said.
Determined, Shadow cast off his limiter bracelets, intensifying his power. "I am Shadow!" he proclaimed. "Shadow the Hedgehog!"
He turned to Super Sonic. "You ready?" he asked.
"You bet!" said Super Sonic. "Let's go!"
The two prepared a massive amount of energy. "Chaos…" said Super Shadow.
"Control!" Super Sonic finished as they both fired their energy at the space station.
After the two used Chaos Control to teleport the space station back into the atmosphere, Shadow was thought to have died after he plummeted back to Earth, because when Sonic returned, he gave Chris what was left of Shadow: a single limiter bracelet. Chris was understandably saddened as he allowed a single tear to fall on it…
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At that moment, Grace woke up. "Man…" she said, rubbing her eyes, "that was quite a dream."
After realizing that she probably wouldn't go back to sleep because of it, she instead opted to go walk in the hallways to Chris' room. She was about halfway there when she felt a hand touching her arm. Confused, she looked up to see Sunset, who didn't say anything but just motioned her to follow her. Upon arriving in her room, Sunset closed the door before going to Grace, who was sitting on the bed. "I know you probably didn't want to," said Sunset, sitting next to her, "but I think it's time we had a talk."
Grace was about to ask something before Sunset held up a hand to silence her. "And no, you're not in trouble or anything like that," she said. "I just sensed you were bothered with something and just wanted to find out what it was. Usually, you're not like this."
Knowing that there was no way out of this, Grace told Sunset about her dream. She didn't leave out anything. When she was done, Sunset thought hard about it. "Maybe it's telling you that Shadow may be alive," she suggested.
Grace looked up, startled. "Alive?" she asked in disbelief. "How? Last time we saw him, he was plummeting down to Earth with no chance of him getting saved at all. Sonic couldn't save him, so why would he even be alive after all that?"
"From what I recall," Sunset answered, "Eggman said that his grandfather made Shadow to be the 'Ultimate Lifeform', so it's impossible for him to die. Maybe he was saved by a certain doctor after what happened on Space Colony ARK."
Grace thought for a bit before her eyes widened in realization. "You mean… there's a chance we might see him again?" she asked.
Sunset nodded.
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Meanwhile, in his room, Chris just so happened to have had the same dream. He was woken up by an alarm light next to his bed flashing at him. Pressing a button, there was a radio call he received. "What's going on, Tails?" he asked.
"Chris, come to the bridge right away!" Tails said urgently. "I think we've found another one!"
"Okay," said Chris. "I'll be right there."
He felt his forehead as he sat up. "Man, that sure was a weird dream…" he said.
Getting out of bed, he saw something. Next to the photo of his parents, there was something gold sitting there. It was one of Shadow's limiter bracelets. Picking it up and studying it, he couldn't help but wonder: could Shadow really be alive?
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Everyone else was at the bridge when Sonic and Tails saw Chris enter. "Hey Chris," said Tails, "it's coming from– Huh?"
Chris hadn't really responded. He just walked past them and took a seat. "What's up, buddy?" asked Sonic as he approached him. "You don't look so good."
Chris was startled. "Uh… I don't?" he asked.
"You're all sweaty," Sonic replied.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Weird nightmare," said Chris, wiping his forehead.
Just then, Grace and Sunset entered, having also been informed. "Well, guess what, Chris? *Yawn* Same here," said Grace. "Thought I wouldn't really call it a nightmare."
"Well, we've got some sleepy folks today," Sticks teased.
"Happens when you wake up from a dream and somehow can't get back to sleep," said Sunset.
She glanced over at Tails. "No offense, Tails," she said, knowing how prone Tails was to having nightmares.
"None taken," said Tails. "Nightmare or not, wouldn't be the first time I've had one of those."
"Well, either way, good thing it's over," said Sonic.
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Meanwhile, in the Crimson Egg, Rouge had returned to the Project Shadow room. "Let's see…" she mused.
Seeing something red, she ran over to it and saw that it was a red Chaos Emerald installed in the Project Shadow machine. "How pretty," she said. "I couldn't possibly resist."
But the moment she touched the Emerald, an alarm sounded throughout the ship. "Aahh!" Rouge exclaimed, startled. "I take that back!"
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In the cockpit, Orbot and Cubot sat up in their seats at the sound of the alarm. "The alarm! The alarm!" exclaimed Cubot.
"Intruder in the secret laboratory!" Bokkun also exclaimed.
Upon hearing that bit of news, Orbot and Cubot got up and ran around in circles in a panic.
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The alarm still going off, Rouge saw a familiar red and black hedgehog in the stasis chamber. "Shadow?" she said, confused. "What in the world's he doing here? I haven't seen him since–"
"Well if it isn't my old friend Rouge," said a voice from behind.
Turning around, Rouge saw that it was Eggman. "I see you've stumbled upon my shadowy little secret," he said as he bended down next to Shadow.
"And here I thought I was the sneaky one," Rouge commented. "What are you up to anyway?"
"You will find out all in good time, my sly little spy," Eggman assured her, "but not until I'm good and ready."
Just then, the door to the Project Shadow room opened. "Out!" said the mad doctor.
"I'll save that for ya, Eggy–" said Rouge as she exited, "you sure know how to keep a gal in suspense."
Eggman followed her out and had just resealed the door when his hench-bots approached him. "Dr. Eggman!" exclaimed Cubot.
"There is an intruder on board!" Orbot reported.
Bokkun joined them, but the minute he recognized Rouge, he panicked and hid behind Orbot at the sight of her. "It is her, Doctor!" said Cubot. "She is the intruder!"
"Ridiculous! …" said Eggman. "Rouge is a member of our team. She is our guest."
Orbot and Cubot glanced at each other confused while Bokkun looked nervous. It was obvious that he was thinking about that locket. "From now on, it's all about teamwork. Right, fellas?" said Rouge.
She gently nudged Bokkun. "Bokkie knows about teamwork, doesn't he?" she said as she did so.
Bokkun just shivered fearfully.
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The Blue Typhoon, meanwhile, soon emerged from hyperspace, arriving at another planet called Hobidon. Rainbow almost snorted in amusement when she heard the name. "Sounds like something from the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy," she said.
"Either that or 'The Hobbit' trilogy," Shanti added, causing the both of them to chuckle.
"The ship's scanner isn't showing any signs of life below," said Chris. "Maybe the Metarex took this Planet Egg away too."
Creecha glanced up from her phone. "Seriously?" she said. "That doesn't sound good."
"Wow, if this keeps happening, there'll be no planets left in the galaxy," said Tails. "We've gotta stop 'em somehow, and fast!"
"You're right," Chris agreed.
A holo-image of the planet's surface was shown; it was pretty gloomy and also looked dead. Two points were plotted at a run-down building. "The Chaos Emerald is somewhere up ahead in those ruins," said Tails.
Chris saw a spot containing a wrecked tower. "Yeah, but where exactly?" he asked.
"There's only one way to find out," said Tails.
"This'll be a cinch," said Amy. "All we have to do is split up into two groups while everyone else stays here at the ship. I'll go with Sonic."
Everyone groaned in annoyance. "Really?" Butch grumbled. "This again?"
"Yeah, why do you always get to go with Sonic?" asked Tails.
"I'll tell you why," answered Amy. "Throughout history, behind every great hero, there's a great woman guiding him!"
"Really?" asked Tails, glancing at Sonic.
His brother could only shrug.
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Soon, Chris, Sonic, Amy, Cosmo, Sticks, and Knuckles were deciding who will go where. Creecha, Rarity, AJ, Pinkie, Bob, Larry, and Junior would be going with Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles. Wallflower, Sticks, and Grace would be going with Chris and Cosmo. And Tails and everyone else would stay on the ship just in case. "We'll use our comlinks to stay in contact," said Chris.
Tails was worried. "Please be careful out there," he said.
Sonic smiled at him. "We will," he promised, the two giving each other a hug.
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Soon, Group 1 was crossing an old bridge. Amy was annoyed at Knuckles' and the others' presence. "Why do you guys have to tag along, anyway?" she said. "Sonic and I can do just fine on our own, thank you very much. You're just excess baggage!"
"Hey!" said Junior, offended.
"This wasn't my idea," said Knuckles. "You're no picnic either, you know."
"It was my idea," said Creecha. "Because you don't have to tag along with Sonic every time we split up; your obsessive nature over him is going too far. Besides, there's other people that Sonic can hang out with, you know."
"Oh, let's just get on with it!" growled Amy as she grabbed Sonic's arm and yanked him along with her.
Creecha softly growled. "You okay?" asked AJ.
"No," said Creecha, "because one of these days, someone has to get this fact through that thick head of her's: you can't get true love if you get too obsessive with the person you're in love with. That's just not how it works."
She had a point.
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Meanwhile, Chris, Wallflower, Sticks, Grace, and Cosmo were standing in front of a ruined space colony. "Looks like this was some kind of space colony," said Chris.
"Until the Metarex came," said Cosmo.
"I guess so," said Chris. "I wonder how long it's been deserted."
"By the looks of it, it looks like it's been years," said Sticks.
"Well, I wouldn't know about that," said Wallflower. "I mean, if you're talking about a long, long time."
Grace shrugged. "Only one way to find out," she said. "Let's go check it out."
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At the Typhoon, Tails was contracting Amy through his communicator. "Amy, have you checked inside that old castle yet?" he asked.
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"According to my scanner, the Chaos energy is much stronger in there. I think you should make that the first place you look."
"Good idea, Tails," said Amy as she led the group through the front gate of an old abandoned house. "We're heading in now."
A thick mist covered them as they proceeded, causing the others to proceed with caution. Pinkie couldn't help but grab Rarity's hand and hold on tight. Rarity didn't mind this and soothingly rubbed a thumb over Pinkie's knuckles. Amy was still looking at her communicator, reading the data. "Amy, you getting a reading?" asked Knuckles.
"No, Knuckles," said Amy sarcastically. "I'm looking at my wrist for the fun of it."
Knuckles was annoyed. "Just asking a question," he said to Sonic.
"Just drop it," said Sonic.
Good grief, Bob thought as he and Larry shared a look.
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Soon, the team was inside the house. There were two staircases, old portraits, and a chandelier swinging freely above them. At one point, Amy thought she saw something giant and glowing in the middle of where the chandelier attached to the ceiling, but she just shrugged it off. Junior saw what it was, however– a giant, glowing eye. "Eekk!" he exclaimed, hiding behind Creecha.
Creecha was startled. "You okay, bro?" she asked.
Junior just pointed at the ceiling. "Th- There was an eye there," he said. "I hope we get out of here soon, because this place is spooky."
"I wouldn't say spooky," said Larry. "But I'm with you on that. I just prefer to call it creepy." He shuddered at the thought.
Bob and AJ didn't say anything, but they were both suddenly on guard. Amy was still looking around. "Let's see here…" she said. "My unerrantly accurate search instincts are telling me this is the right place to start." With that, she ran up one of the staircases.
"Well, let's get to it," said Rarity. "The sooner we find that Emerald, the sooner we can get out of here."
Pinkie agreed. They both didn't like this place at all. Following Amy up the stairs and down a corridor, the group walked cautiously down it until they stopped in front of a wooden door. "Let's see if it opens," said Amy.
Cautiously, she pushed it open and they advanced through the room. A blip on the communicator showed that the Chaos Emerald was on the other side of a door. Amy pushed open the door and entered the room. She looked around the small room to see that there wasn't a Chaos Emerald there. Amy was confused. "But… Why would it lead us to an empty room?" she asked.
Sonic and the others entered the room. "Well?" asked Sonic.
The blip then moved to the other side of the wall. "What in tarnation?" said AJ, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"That Chaos Emerald is moving!" said Knuckles.
"A moving Chaos Emerald?" said Creecha. "That's new."
Suddenly, the door slammed shut and the room was bathed in an intensely bright light. Amy clung to Sonic in fright. Pinkie freaked out and jumped into Rarity's arms. AJ instantly drew out her lightsabers and flashed them on. Creecha and the boys instinctively covered their eyes with their arms so they wouldn't go blind. Knuckles punched the door down and gaped at what he saw. "What is this?!" he asked.
The group exited the room and saw that they were in a larger, entirely different room. "I'm not so sure I really want to know," said Amy.
"No kidding," said Pinkie, shivering in Rarity's grasp.
"Don't just stand there!" said Knuckles. "Check the scanner!"
But that did no good. A Sonic symbol and the word ERROR appeared on the screen. Sonic was shocked. "It disappeared!" he exclaimed.
"And we've lost connection!" added Junior.
"That can't be good," said Creecha.
"But that's impossible!" said Amy.
Then, Sonic came to a realization. "Unless…" he said.
"It's some kind of trap," Knuckles realized.
"Well," said Sonic, "we'll never know until we find out."
He continued on, followed by the group. Sonic opened a door and saw a figure at the end of a corridor. "I don't like this," said Amy as Sonic approached them. "Don't you think we should send Knuckles in first?"
She ran after Sonic. Knuckles looked at the group and the readers and shrugged before walking after them, the rest of the group following. Larry glanced over at the readers. "This is getting more creepy than I thought," he said before hurrying to catch up to the others.
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Meanwhile, in the abandoned space colony, Chris and the girls (except Sticks) were beaming flashlights around the dark room. "This must have been the center of the colony's operations," said Chris.
"It looks so old," said Grace. "I know it hasn't been that long, but it looks like it's been abandoned for decades."
Wallflower nodded in agreement. "I'll see if I can find anything over here," said Cosmo.
But as Cosmo started walking, she accidentally tripped over something and landed on the floor, sending her flashlight over a railing into the room below. "Ouch," Sticks winced.
"That was clumsy!" said Cosmo. "I'll get it."
Standing up, she jumped over the railing and floated to the ground, ballet-spinning beautifully. Sticks almost gawked; she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Nice spin there, Cosmo," said Grace. "With that, one might think you're a ballet dancer."
Wallflower grinned. "Good one," she said.
Thanking them, Cosmo quickly retrieved her flashlight. Luckily, it was still in working order. "There we go," she said.
"You alright down there, Cosmo?" asked Chris.
"Yes," Cosmo answered. "Everything's OK!"
However, she accidentally pressed a button that beamed a light across the room, illuminating the floating dust.
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Meanwhile, Sonic's team approached the figures. Luckily, they turned out to be just their own reflections in a mirror. " *Phew*," Junior sighed. "At least they're not ghosts."
"Just as I thought," said Amy. "They're trying to confuse us, but it won't work!"
She and Junior leaned against the mirror, but it spun, sending them both into a room on the other side. "Amy!" exclaimed Sonic.
"Junior!" exclaimed Bob and Larry.
The group crashed through the mirror– and tumbled into empty space. Eventually, they finally landed on the ground, with Sonic and Knuckles hitting their heads. "Is everyone okay?" asked Creecha as they slowly sat up.
Luckily, no one was hurt. Amy ran over and hugged Sonic while Junior glomped Bob and Larry into a hug of his own; he was clearly freaked out, which was understandable. "Somebody's playin' with us!" said Knuckles as everyone slowly stood up.
"Well, I don't like this game anymore," said Amy.
"Either way, it wasn't even a game to begin with," said Creecha. "It's more like someone's trying to mess around with us, and it's clearly working."
Looking up, they saw that the glowing eye was back. "Ack!" exclaimed Junior. "There it is! That's the same glowing eye I saw earlier!"
"Sonic, I think it's time we got out of here," said Knuckles.
No one bothered to argue with him. "OK," said Sonic. "Hang on to me, Amy!"
Amy didn't hesitate to do so. Bob and Larry grabbed onto Junior's hands, and Rarity created a diamond hoverboard with her powers and herded Pinkie onto it along with herself. Hugging Rarity tight, Pinkie got into a good balancing position. AJ and Creecha grasped their own hands, and they all leapt through a window into another room. A strange feeling fell on them as they fell for a while before finally landing. Sonic opened a door to reveal a wall right in front of it. Knuckles opened another door to reveal another wall. "We're walled in," he said.
There was also a wall in front of a door Amy opened. "Now what?" she asked.
"We're trapped!" exclaimed Pinkie. "Now what're we gonna do?!"
No one knew.
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Back at the space colony, Chris and the girls were watching a video projection recorded by an alien called a Hobidon, a former resident of the space colony:
"If you are watching this, then you have somehow found a way onto our home planet which was destroyed along with most of its citizens many years ago by evil Metarex monsters. Those of us who survived built this space colony in the hopes that one day we could make contact with others, and eventually restore the glory of our planet, but the monsters destroyed it as well. All is lost. Destroy them, or they will destroy you."
The transmission ended. "What happened to them?" asked Sticks.
"My guess:" said Wallflower, "I'm positive that in the end, they all went extinct."
Grace gasped. "Why did they do it, Chris?" asked Cosmo.
After a moment of silence for the fallen, they exited the colony. "How could we be foolish enough to think we could ever defeat them?" asked Cosmo.
Chris didn't reply. "Chris?" asked Cosmo, getting his attention.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"You look like you're lost in another world," said Cosmo.
"Just thinking about one," Chris replied.
"You are?" asked Cosmo.
Chris nodded. "You know, it's kind of funny…" he said. "I had a strange dream last night about this guy we used to know named Shadow. Just when everyone in my world had lost hope, he and Sonic made us believe again."
"Huh. Funny now that you mention it," said Grace. "Because I had the same dream."
Cosmo was amazed. "You mean there's someone else like Sonic?" she asked.
Chris nodded, smiling as his eyes glistened a little. Grace gently held his hand for comfort when Cosmo's communicator sounded. She answered it, revealing Tails on the screen. "We've got an emergency!" he said.
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"I lost 'em! My link with Amy cut off and I can't get through anymore!"
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"This is bad," said Wallflower.
"Are we seriously dealin' with another conspiracy here?" asked Sticks (she always assumed that there was some sort of conspiracy going on).
"What's going on?" asked Chris.
"Guys, the castle!" Cosmo exclaimed.
Chris and the girls turned to see Cosmo pointing at a large castle in the distance.
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Inside the castle, the walls appeared to be rippling. Sonic and Creecha leapt towards the wall, only to fly out of the castle. Creecha was able to spread her wings and take flight while with Sonic… "Gotcha!" said a voice.
It was Chris; Sonic had landed on the wing of Chris' spaceship, which he was flying at the time while Grace rode on the other wing. "Thanks!" said Sonic.
Leaping off the plane, he and Creecha phased through the roof back into the room where the others were in, to show that the wall wasn't real. "Time to fly, Knuckles!" said Sonic.
"Come on, guys!" said Creecha. "Let's get out of here!"
Then, with Knuckles carrying Amy and AJ using her earthbending as a sort of catapult, they all leapt out of the abandoned castle and onto solid ground outside. Suddenly, one of the castle's towers disintegrated, and the nanites that once comprised it flew towards Sonic, grabbing him. They then went for Pinkie, but Rarity shoved her out of the way in time, getting captured in her place alongside Sonic. Chris fired lasers at the nanites, but they flew through it as thes nanites dragged Sonic and Rarity into a purple swamp. "Oh no!" exclaimed Chris, Grace gasping in shock.
"Rarity!" exclaimed Pinkie.
"Sonic!" exclaimed Junior.
The nanites were, in fact, another Metarex– Metarex Deserd, who was still under the swamp. "It appears your friends Sonic and Rarity have sunk to an entirely new low," he said.
"YIPE!" Pinkie squeaked, jumping this time into AJ's arms.
"What the–?" said AJ, startled.
"It's talking!" said Knuckles.
"You meddling fools thought you could defeat us," said Metarex Deserd as they approached the swamp, "but in the end, it is us who will destroy you!"
"Sonic!" wailed Amy.
"Oh Rarity, please be okay," Pinkie said softly, worried sick about her friend and sister.
Creecha was infuriated. "You guys stay there," she said. "I'm gonna go give him some aerial help." With that, she took off.
"Hang on!" Chris called.
Doing a loop in midair, he and Creecha flew towards Metarex Deserd. He launched his nannies at the group, who dodged them. While Chris fired a ring into the swamp, Creecha drew what appeared to be a cross and launched it into the swamp as well. Powered by the ring and the cross respectively, Sonic and Rarity hurdled out of the swamp. However, Metarex Deserd cut them off by transforming into a metal wall, causing the two to bounce back. Knuckles and AJ ran towards them. "Hang on, y'all!" AJ called.
"We're coming!" Knuckles said.
"OK!" said Sonic while Rarity could only nod.
Linking their hands, they began spinning. Together, they spun right through the wall which Metarex Deserd created a hole in, and landed on the other side. However, Metarex Deserd quickly filled the hole back up. "Rarity! You're okay!" Pinkie exclaimed as she ran over and hugged her.
Rarity just hugged back, glad to be out of that swamp. Knuckles was shocked at what this Metarex was capable of. "Who knows what that thing is gonna turn into next!" he said.
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At the Crimson Egg, Eggman, Orbot, Cubot, and Rouge were watching the battle. "Sonic, Knuckles, and the others are sure having a time of it," said Cubot.
"That's one tricky Metarex," said Orbot.
"Speaking of tricky," said Eggman, "I have an assignment for you, Rouge."
That got the bat's attention. "Oh yeah?" she said. "I was wondering when you would say that."
"This assignment will require a great deal of skill on your part," said Eggman. "If it is done to my satisfaction, you will get a Chaos Emerald!"
The hench-bots were surprised. "Give her a Chaos Emerald?!" exclaimed Bokkun in a panic. "She's a double-crosser!"
"Why the sudden generosity, Eggy?" asked Rouge.
"Just feeling magnanimous is all," Eggman replied.
"I'd be touched if it wasn't pure baloney," said Rouge.
"Now, don't be that way," said Eggman. "Don't you at least want to know what my brilliant plan is?"
Rouge thought about it. "Okay," she decided, "but only for the Emerald."
"I promise you won't regret it," said Eggman, laughing.
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On the Typhoon's bridge, Cream was looking at the monitor. "Okay, Tails," she said. "The laser's at full power. We've got the target locked!"
"Fire the laser in scatter mode!" said Tails.
"Ready!" said Cream.
The cone of the Typhoon fired a laser that spreaded and impacted Metarex Deserd, who was still a wall. "It's a bullseye!" exclaimed Cream happily.
"Whoa! What a shot!" said Shanti.
"Chao chao!" Cheese cheered.
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"They got it!" said Knuckles.
"I don't know," said Bob, a little uncertain. "Something tells me this isn't over yet."
Sure enough, Bob was right; Metarex Deserd wasn't beaten yet. He reformed as a spiraling mass of nanites in the air before changing into a giant, toothy mouth. "Enough of your child's play!" he said. "Your weapons have no effect on our omnipresent evil! Haha! Your destruction is at hand! It is too late to turn back!"
Deserd fired arrows of blue light that fell in groups of three around Sonic's team, who were running as fast as they could. Suddenly, Junior tripped on a rock and face-planted to the ground. Larry hurried over to him. "I'm okay," said Junior. "I'm okay– ACK!"
Next thing he knew, Larry picked him up, slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and raced off after the others.
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"OK!" said Tails. "Activate laser shield right away!"
"OK, Tails!" said Cream.
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Chris had a hard time dogging the arrows. Grace was hanging on to the wing as tight as she could. Sonic ran under the Typhoon. "We can take shelter under here!" he said.
The others joined Sonic, and the arrows were deflected by the Typhoon's shields.
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"It's too powerful for us, Tails!" said Cream. "I don't think the shield can hold on for much longer!"
"Stay calm," said Tails. "We're not gonna let this thing beat us." Secretly, he was also scared himself, but he was shoving it all down; now wasn't the time to let fear get at him.
As the ship shook, the radar detected three blips. "Hold steady…" said Tails as the light outside caused by Metarex Deserd intensified.
Shanti and Dorothy looked at the radar. "Think those three blips might be the Emeralds?" asked Dorothy.
"They have to be," said Shanti. "Clearly, I don't see any other option."
………………………………………………………………………
Tails appeared on Chris' video screen. "I'm pretty sure that weird Metarex up ahead swallowed the Chaos Emeralds," he said. "We may beat it if Sonic and Creecha both used the Ring Tunnel."
"Roger!" said Chris. "Sonic! Creecha!"
He launched a new pair of sneakers onto Sonic. These shoes had special rocket thrusters on them. "Ring Tunnel!" exclaimed Chris, firing a steady stream of Power Rings towards them.
"I've always wanted to try this out," said Creecha, getting ready.
"OK!" said Sonic.
Using his sneakers, Sonic flew alongside Creecha through the middles of the rings, which were projected towards Metarex Deserd. "Let him have it, guys!" said Chris.
"Roger that!" said Creecha, drawing out her swords.
"You betcha!" said Sonic.
Dodging the light arrows, Sonic and Creecha hurtled towards a core, which was the power source of Metarex Deserd. However, upon making contact with the core, the two were badly electrocuted. "Oh no!" exclaimed everyone, horrified at what they witnessed.
"Mom!" Grace cried, terrified.
"This will be the end of you and Creecha, Sonic!" Metarex Deserd laughed triumphantly.
The electricity stopped, and Sonic plummeted unconscious towards the ground. "Tails! Get Sonic and Creecha now!" said Sunset.
Tails didn't hesitate to do so as he immediately ran off. However, despite being electrocuted and in pain, Creecha was surprisingly not down and out. She got his attention by throwing her sword at him, piercing him painfully. "You're… You're wrong," she managed to say. "No matter… what you try… to do, you will… be stopped."
Finishing this, she proceeded to then give him something she rarely gave her enemies: a middle finger. It just showed how much she hated him right now. Angered, Metarex Deserd fired another round of electricity at her. But this time, thanks to Sunset's and Lightning's lessons on redirecting lightning, Creecha was not only able to deflect it despite her weakened state, but was also able to shoot it back at him, painfully giving him a taste of his own medicine. "See you in Hell, bastard," she growled as she finally began falling, letting unconsciousness overtake her too.
What she said was pretty surprising; she rarely ever said stuff like that.
………………………………………………………………………
"What do we do?" asked Cosmo. "They've been hurt!"
"Have faith, Cosmo," said Wallflower, rubbing her shoulder. "When times like this are at their bleakest, help will always come along."
………………………………………………………………………
"Hang on, guys!" Chris called as he and Grace flew towards Sonic and Creecha.
Sonic slowly opened his eyes and saw Chris and Grace approaching. Metarex Deserd unleashed his light arrows again. "Watch out for those arrows, Chris!" said Grace.
"Turn around!" said Sonic. "It's too dangerous!"
But Chris refused. "I don't care!" he said, determined.
However, Sonic's fear was confirmed when Chris' craft got struck by the arrows. It was going down! "Chris! Grace!" Sonic exclaimed helplessly.
The craft went spiraling out of control. "Grace! Get off of here!" said Chris. "I'm gonna try and land this thing safely!"
"But what about you?" asked Grace, shocked at what she'd been told. "I can't just leave you here!"
"I'll be alright!" Chris promised. "Just get off! Otherwise, we're both gonna get hurt, and I'm not gonna allow it!"
Knowing that there was no arguing with him, Grace reluctantly did so. "You better make it past this alive," she said as she flew to safety.
Unbeknownst to them all, Wallflower's words of advice were coming true. As the red Chaos Emerald in the Project Shadow machine glowed, Grace noticed something glowing in her shorts pocket after she landed at a safe spot. Taking it out, she saw that it was another one of Shadow's limited emeralds, also glowing red. Her eyes widened in realization. Could it be…? she thought as she looked up to the sky.
………………………………………………………………………
"Shadow?" said Eggman, confused. "What's happening in there?"
Eggman's command chair descended into the rooms below. "Hey, wait for me!" said Rouge as she joined him, the hench-bots peering down.
Suddenly, the Project Shadow machine exploded. As black smoke billowed from the machine, Shadow the Hedgehog emerged from it, bearing the red Chaos Emerald. As Rouge and Eggman ran towards the room, Shadow looked around before sensing the presence of a purple Chaos Emerald. He looked down at the Emerald he was currently holding as it began to glow. Soon, Eggman arrived and began punching in the code to open the door. "Now what was that blasted code again?" he muttered.
"Time for Chaos Control," said Shadow.
With that, he disappeared.
………………………………………………………………………
Sonic continued to watch in horror as Chris plummeted towards the ground. "Chris, noooo!" he cried.
Just then, he got grabbed by someone along with the unconscious Creecha. Looking up, he saw that it was Tails that had nabbed them both. Now he was heading towards one of the castle's towers. Despite the danger and the added weight of carrying a fully grown human, the little fox was determined. Suddenly, a beam of light whizzed by them, deflected off Chris' spaceship, and struck the core, blowing it up and effectively destroying Metarex Deserd. On the ground, the group hung on tight to each other so they weren't blown away by the explosion's shockwave. As Tails placed Sonic and Creecha down at the castle tower and landed there himself, everyone looked as the clouds cleared away, revealing a crescent moon. "What in the world?" said Sonic.
Looking up, he saw a familiar hedgehog (one that he thought he'd never see again) on another tower, the red and purple Chaos Emeralds orbiting him. "Whoa!" he exclaimed.
Everyone was equally as surprised to see Shadow standing there… except Chris, who was unconscious on the ground. Relieved that he was still alive, Grace, who had gone over to check on him, shook his shoulder. "Chris! Chris, wake up!" she exclaimed. "It's him! He's here!"
"Huh?..." Chris mumbled, slowly waking up. "Who?"
"Shadow, of course!" said Grace. "He's alive!"
"Where?" asked Chris, being careful as he sat up.
"There!" Grace answered, pointing upwards. "On another castle tower!"
Chris looked up at where Grace was pointing. "Am I seeing things…?" he said.
That one look, though, was enough to tell him that he wasn't. "Shadow!" he said.
Shadow looked down, his red eyes meeting Chris' for a brief moment. "Chaos Control," he said.
With that, he left. Chris was surprised. "But he was…" His voice trailed off.
"I know," said Grace. "But somehow, he's alive. Guess they don't call him "The Ultimate Lifeform" for no reason. Maybe our dreams about him weren't so coincidental, after all."
Everyone was speechless.
………………………………………………………………………
At the Crimson Egg, Shadow arrived in front of an astonished Eggman and Rouge. "Shadow!" exclaimed Eggman.
Then, Shadow collapsed to the ground, the two Chaos Emeralds glowing brightly; since he didn't have his limiter bracelets, he couldn't conserve enough energy.
………………………………………………………………………
At the Blue Typhoon later, Matt and Tom immediately got Creecha to the medbay; she was injured pretty badly by all that electricity earlier, and her wings were looking pretty fried. Starlight said she would pull through and wake up eventually, but wouldn't be able to fly for a while due to the condition she was in. As Starlight began applying a healing potion to her wings and getting her bandaged up, she noticed Grace looking at her mother anxiously. A sympathetic smile graced her features as she pulled Grace into a gentle side hug. "Your mother will be okay," she assured her. "She's pulled through much worse."
"I know," said Grace. "I'm just worried. What happened to her out there… it just scared me."
"Same with us," Starlight agreed. "But don't worry. She'll be alright in the end. You'll see."
Planting a kiss to her forehead, she patted her back. "Now you get on to bed," she said. "You can see her in the morning, okay?"
"Okay," Grace nodded.
After saying goodnight to each other, Grace left the room. Starlight smiled before getting back to work.
………………………………………………………………………
In his room, Tails was about to hit the hay for the night when there was a knock at his door. Opening it, he was surprised to see his brother standing there. "Sonic?" he asked, backing up a little. "What're you doing here?"
Soni didn't answer at first. He just stepped in and closed the door behind him. Now feeling nervous, Tails couldn't help but back up until his backside pressed against the wall. His body shook as Sonic approached him. "Look, uh, Sonic," said Tails, "I–I know you're probably mad at me about what I did earlier, but–"
To his surprise, Sonic just placed a finger to his lips, silencing him. "You're not in trouble, Tails," he said. "I just want to know: you know how dangerous it was out there, so why did you head on out anyway? Considering what was going on at the time, you could've gotten hurt."
Tails just looked down at the floor, his ears pinned back to his head and his eyes filled up. Great, now he was getting lectured; that was the last thing he expected. "I– I'm sorry, Sonic," he said. "It's just that… you and Creecha were… falling down and… I was told by Sunset… to get you both. I didn't… want you two to… get more hurt… than you already were…" His voice trailed off.
Feeling his legs growing weak, Tails slid down the wall to the floor and curled up into a ball, his namesakes wrapping around him. What he was expecting was a harsh lecture or even a blow. What he didn't expect, however, was a pair of hands to slip under him and scoop him up. Uncertainly, Tails slowly peaked out from his fluffy protection to see that Sonic was holding him close, embracing him and petting him behind his ears. "I appreciate what you did, little bro," he said. "Really I do. But next time, please be careful. You never really know what's gonna happen out there otherwise." He held him closer, pressing his muzzle to Tails's head.
Sighing sadly, Tails slowly uncurled himself from his little ball and pressed himself closer to Sonic's chest, his arms wrapping around his neck and his namesakes around his middle. Nuzzling his face into his big brother's neck, he softly cried into him, his purrs coming off weak. Sonic just stood there, softly shushing him while swaying him from side to side until Tails started calming down. A soft yawn came out of him as he started to be overcome by tiredness. As he began falling asleep, Sonic adjusted his hold on him and carried him to bed. Upon being laid down and tucked in, Tails almost went to sleep instantly but had one more question on his mind. "Sonic?" he asked.
Sonic looked at him. "What is it, kiddo?" he asked, sitting on the bed.
"I– I thought that Shadow… well, you know," said Tails. "So… how'd he end up surviving?"
Sonic shrugged. "I don't know, kiddo," he said. "I'm sure that everyone's asking themselves that same question. Eventually, we'll find the answer. Besides, Shadow's a survivor. He always finds a way to come back."
Smiling, he ruffled Tails's bangs, earning a giggle out of him. "Now you just get some sleep, kid," he said. "We've got a big day tomorrow."
Tails nodded. " 'Kay. Love you bro," he yawned before falling asleep.
Sonic smiled. "Love you too, kiddo," he said.
Kissing his forehead, he left, leaving his little brother to get some sleep.
To be continued…
ns 15.158.61.55da2
