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The group's last mission to retrieve a Chaos Emerald sometime ago had turned into something out of a horror film. Luckily, a blast from the past was able to save them in the form of a familiar black and red figure: Shadow the Hedgehog. How he'd been able to come back was a mystery; it'd been 6 months since they last saw him since he'd been thought to be dead. But soon, they'd be facing a much bigger problem than Shadow's sudden reappearance…
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The next day, Sunset was meditating in the training room when she was struck with some sort of vision…
In her vision, she found herself in a different part of space. Looking around, she saw several asteroid-shaped spaceships flying through. "The Metarex are attacking!" said one of the pilots, who sounded like the captain. "We must do whatever it takes to protect the base!"
Suddenly, some of the ships were destroyed by a giant spacefaring Metarex as it emerged from hyperspace. "Aahh!" exclaimed another pilot. "It's Scarship!"
The ship, rightfully named Scarship, fired off laser cannons that destroyed one of the ships. Sunset couldn't help but shudder at how intimidating it was. Probably more intimidating than a Star Destroyer. "Do not retreat!" said the captain. "Keep firing!"
All of the ships opened fire on the Scarship, but no damage was done. Scarship continued picking off some of the ships. "Attention all ships," said the captain. "Fire laser cannons now."
But not even simultaneous laser fire could damage the Scarship. It just kept on going and opened fire with all it had, destroying most of the asteroid ships. Sunset felt dread as she knew that the fight was in the Scarship's favor; it had her be reminded of the Battle of Hoth back at her home galaxy. Luckily, it didn't end with total annihilation. "All ships retreat!" said the captain, seeing the hopelessness of the situation.
Just as the last few ships turned back, Scarship destroyed them all. "Only a coward would flee from combat," it said.
Just then, Dark Oak got Scarship contracted. "This is Dark Oak calling Scarship."
"Scarship here," it said.
"You have a new mission," said Dark Oak. "Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman are throwing our plans into disarray. Find them and destroy them."
"Acknowledged," said Scarship.
But before moving on to its next task, it had one more thing to take care of. An asteroid ship had tried to escape and hide among the other asteroids. But Scarship saw it. "So… one ship escaped," it said. "But not for long!"
With that, it fired a rocket at the ship, destroying it.
At that, the vision ended. Sunset snapped out of it with a scared gasp. Though she knew that everyone else was thinking about Shadow, she had to warn them of the impending danger before it was too late. She ran out of the training room and towards the bridge as fast as she could.
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At the bridge, Cosmo was sleeping. Suddenly, she woke up after having some sort of dream. She was sweat-dropping as Cream approached her. "Cosmo, are you OK?" she asked.
"Sorry, Cream," Cosmo apologized. "I was dreaming."
"Is it about Shadow?" asked Cream.
"It was," answered Cosmo (she'd actually been dreaming about something else, but she didn't want Cream to be more worried than she already was).
They turned to see the others with their eyes closed as if in deep thought about something. "Why is Shadow the Hedgehog so important to you, anyway?" asked Cosmo curiously.
"Well…" said Cream, recalling the events that happened back in Chris' world. "They met him when we were on Chris' planet. You see, when Dr. Eggman found out that his grandfather had created the ultimate creature… he broke into a government lab and woke Shadow up from suspended animation. Shadow worked with Dr. Eggman to threaten Chris' planet, and he fought Sonic! But later, Shadow joined up with Sonic and sacrificed himself to save everybody. We all thought he was gone forever!"
"But we just saw him," said Cosmo, "so he must have survived."
"Yes," Cream nodded.
The others were deep in their own thoughts, remembering how they saw Shadow back on Hobidon. It's not possible, thought Tails. There's no way Shadow could have made it through that battle.
I thought I was imagining it, thought Chris, but we all saw Shadow! How did he survive?
He didn't say anything, thought Knuckles. Why was he acting mysterious? There was always something mysterious about him.
How do we know it isn't a trick? thought Amy. Maybe Eggman's trying to fool us.
It was Sonic who later broke the thought process: "Why are we wastin' the day asking ourselves questions that we can't possibly answer? Next time he turns up, we'll just ask him what's goin' on!"
The only response he got was Cream and Cosmo staring at him while everyone else continued in their deep thinking. Sonic was confused. "What'd I say?" he asked.
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Meanwhile, in the Crimson Egg, Shadow was staring outside into space, thinking about what had transpired earlier. "I don't understand how those strangers knew my name," he said. "They acted like they met me somewhere before. But when? And where?" It was obvious that he suffered from amnesia when he hit Earth.
" 'When' is easy," said Cubot. "It was when you were back in that other world."
"As for 'where'," said Orbot, "it was on Space Colony ARK. You sure have a terrible memory."
At that moment, Eggman walked in. "It might be better for Shadow if his past stays forgotten," he said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Shadow.
"Nothing," Eggman answered.
"You're hiding something," Shadow countered.
Eggman looked like he was offended. "Are you suggesting that I would try to deceive you?" he asked. "Why, I've never been so insulted in my life! Then I won't tell you anything!"
"Dr. Eggman needs to go back to bad guy school to brush up on his lying techniques," Rouge commented, sitting in Eggman's command chair.
Just then, Rouge saw something glowing on the radar. Before she knew it, the Scarship warped in front of the Crimson Egg. "Warp complete," it said. "Primary target identified. Launching attack now."
It started to blast the Crimson Egg with some of its weaker weapons. "Who's that attacking us?!" asked Eggman.
"It's a ship I've never seen before!" answered Bokkun. "It came out of nowhere!"
As the ship stopped shaking, Eggman saw who the culprit was. "A Metarex! Shields up!" he said as the Scarship opened fire again.
A shield was projected across the entire ship as the Scarship's lasers impacted it. Even so, the ship was still shaking. "Its laser cannons are too powerful!" exclaimed Cubot.
"Our shields will not hold up for long!" added Orbot.
Eggman knew that Shadow could help even things out a bit. "Go get it, Shadow!" he said. "Destroy that ship and I'll tell you all about your past!"
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As the Scarship continued to bombard the Crimson Egg, Shadow appeared at the top of Eggman's ship, and leapt towards the Scarship. "They're launching a counter-attack," it said. "How pitiful."
But he was wrong: if you knew Shadow for as long as Sonic and his friends did, you should learn that it's never wise to underestimate the Ultimate Lifeform. And Shadow knew this. By executing a spin, he was able to deflect the Scarship's lasers. The Scarship couldn't help but be impressed by this. "Not bad," it said. "But it is useless."
Shadow impacted the Scarship, but no damage was done, causing him to bounce off. "You think so?" he challenged.
He spun all across the side of the Scarship, looking for a weak spot. "You cannot harm me!" it said.
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"Well done, Shadow!" Eggman complimented, impressed at the move.
His hench-bots, however, were confused. "What kind of attack is that?" asked Cubot.
"I have no clue," answered Orbot.
"Allow me to demonstrate!" Eggman offered.
And how did he do it? By taking two buckets, slamming them down on one hench-bot each, and hammering the buckets with a couple mallets, causing them both to fall over. "As you can see, a series of rapid strikes on the ship's hull will create an intense vibration, which will shake the ship apart from the inside."
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Meanwhile, Shadow continued to bounce all across the Scarship. When that didn't work, he summoned a great amount of power and slammed into the bow of the Scarship, knocking it back. Its eye glimmered, and Shadow was soon revealed to have fainted from the fight. "Gaah!" Eggman exclaimed. "Shadow can't fight anymore because he used up all his power!"
"He needs a jump-start," said Rouge.
"I'm going to have to bring him back!" said Eggman, typing on a keyboard.
Meanwhile, a claw extended out of the Crimson Egg and retrieved Shadow. "Your silly games are over!" said the Scarship, firing a swarm of missiles at the Crimson Egg.
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"Now what are we gonna do?!" asked Bokkun.
"Fire lasers now!" Eggman ordered.
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One by one, the Crimson Egg's lasers targeted the missiles. However, no damage was done to them. "Oh no!" exclaimed Bokkun. "Our lasers are destroyed!"
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"Launch all missiles immediately!" barked Eggman. "Target that Metarex!"
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Both ships gave it all they had, the former taking more damage than the latter. Rouge left the Crimson Egg in her ship. "Time to ship out," she said. "Bye!"
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At this point, the Crimson Egg had taken some pretty heavy damage. "Gaaahh!" exclaimed Eggman. "Hurry up and get us out of here!"
"I'm trying!" cried Cubot while typing.
"The engines have overheated," said Orbot frantically while also typing, "and they are not working!"
Then, just when things couldn't get any worse… "A missile's coming!" exclaimed Bokkun. "Our shields can't stop it!"
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Said torpedo completely destroyed the Crimson Egg. "Now I will exterminate the hedgehog!" said the Scarship victoriously.
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Meanwhile in the Blue Typhoon, by the time Sunset arrived at the bridge, everyone had heard what happened. "What?!" Tails was exclaiming. "A Metarex attacked Eggman?"
"He didn't stand a chance," said Rouge over a video call. "Take a look."
She switched the view to the explosion that destroyed the Crimson Egg. Everyone was shocked at this, but if they were also scared, none were more so than Cosmo, who panicked when she saw the Scarship. "Cosmo? Are you okay?" asked Wallflower, immediately taking notice.
"What's wrong?" asked Sonic.
"I know that ship!" Cosmo cried. "That Metarex attacked me and my clan!" She wept at the memory.
A few gasps were heard as everyone was shocked at what they heard. "Is it true?" asked Twilight.
Sunset walked over to Wallflower and Cosmo. Touching Cosmo's hand, she used her telepathic empathy to read her thoughts. When she was done, she nodded sorrowfully. "It's true," she said. "There were no survivors except her."
Fluttershy gasped, horrified. "Oh, I wish Mom were here," said Grace. "She'd know what to do."
Wallflower immediately took Cosmo into her arms in a hug on her lap (she was sitting next to her), hoping to calm her down. "We'll stop that Metarex, Cosmo!" Amy promised.
"Fat chance," said Rouge. "That thing was too powerful for even Shadow to defeat."
Chris was surprised. "Whoa," he said quietly. "It must be strong…"
Tails was silent for a moment. "... I think we'd better retreat…" he said.
Amy was surprised. "Are you kidding?" she exclaimed. "We can't let him win!"
"I just want to pull back temporarily," said Tails. "I don't think we should take that thing on until we have a chance to analyze it and come up with a plan to blow it away!"
"I agree," said Knuckles. "We have to think this thing through."
"That'll be a first," said Amy sarcastically; the first thing Knuckles would usually think of is to immediately go out and hit it.
"I'm only trying to use my head," said Knuckles.
"Then we might as well give up now," said Amy.
"She's right," Rouge said before disconnecting the call.
Knuckles just growled while Sunset just gave a look that said "I've got my eye on you." It wouldn't be the first time she gave anyone that look, particularly Rouge. "Shadow…" said Chris, probably worried.
"Don't worry about him," said Sonic. "He's a survivor. Am I right?"
Chris nodded. Shadow made it through the battle on Space Colony ARK, he thought. He must be okay.
Meanwhile, Knuckles and Amy were in a disagreement on what the team's next course of action should be. "Let's get going while we have the chance!" said Knuckles.
"I say we stay!" Amy insisted.
"We better decide now," said Tails. "There's something big heading this way."
A colorful blob appeared on the radar, heralding the Scarship's presence. "It's coming out of warp space," said Tails.
Sure enough, the Scarship appeared. Sunset's eyes widened as she recognized it. "That's it!" she said. "That's the same ship I saw in my vision!"
"Vision?" asked Rainbow. "Sunset, what are you talking about?"
"The vision I had during my meditation," said Sunset. "In it, a whole fleet of asteroid starships were going against that Scarship. But no matter how hard they attacked, they couldn't land a single scratch on that thing. Scarship just continued to wipe them out. By the time they retreated, most of them were already destroyed. One tried to escape, but met the same fate. There wasn't a single survivor there."
Trixie gulped, not liking the odds they were facing. "This is bad," said Junior. "If we can't lay a scratch on it, how're we supposed to defeat it?"
No one knew. Cosmo was scared. I swore I'd destroy it, she thought. But… I can't risk their lives.
Tails's eyes shimmered at the sight of the Scarship. "Tails," said Cosmo, "get us out of here now!"
Everyone was surprised at this. "But Cosmo," said Grace, "you're the last one here who would want to retreat. That Metarex out there is responsible for wiping out everybody you cared about. Now's your chance to make that ship pay for the pain and misery it caused you!"
Amy agreed. "I can't. I want to fight that thing alone, Grace," said Cosmo, weeping. "I'm willing to risk my life to battle the Metarex, but not yours!"
Feeling Cosmo trying to leave, Wallflower tightened her grip on her, but kept it gentle, guiding her head until it was resting on her chest. "And have you die in a hopeless suicide attempt on your quest for revenge?" she said. "I don't think so. Revenge isn't what we do on our team, and it'll never make you feel better in the end because it'll never fix what happened. As in, it won't bring your clan back."
Knowing that Wallflower was right, Cosmo buried her face in the older girl's chest and sobbed hopelessly. "... Sooner or later, we'll have to face it," said Sonic. "And there's no time like the present!"
Cosmo looked up in shock. "Alright then," said Tails.
"I still think it's a long shot," said Knuckles, "but I'm willing to try. Let's do it!"
Chris nodded in agreement. "I'm glad you see it my way," said Amy.
"We can win!" said Cream.
"Chaaoo!" Cheese cheered.
One by one, everyone else agreed with Sonic. Cosmo stood up, still teary. "This means so much to me," she said, delighted. "Thank you all."
Everyone gave a thumbs-up while Sonic and Amy winked. Wallflower just pulled her in for another hug, Grace joining in.
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The Scarship sized up the Blue Typhoon. "This battle is already over," it said, opening fire.
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"Raise all shields!" said Tails.
"Right!" Cream replied.
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A shield projected around the entire ship blocked the attacks. "They're only delaying their destruction," said Scarship, unloading a swarm of missiles.
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"There's no turning back now," said Tails. "Ready?"
"OK, let's go!" said Amy.
"Just give me the word," said Knuckles.
"Are you ready to go, Chris?" asked Tails.
Chris nodded. "All set," he said.
"Let's go for it!" said Sonic.
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The Typhoon flew away from the Scarship. "What are they up to?" it asked.
"Expand the shield!" said Chris. "Change to cloaking mode!"
The shield was greatly expanded. "So, they think they can hide," said the Scarship. "But these seeker missiles will find their target."
It began firing into the void where the Typhoon was supposed to be. "I'll unleash my entire arsenal against them!" it said.
The Scarship fired with everything it had. Reluctantly, Chris ejected various items out of the ship. "That debris is made to convince me that I destroyed their ship," it said, "but I haven't… yet!"
It fired about five missiles at the Typhoon, hitting it. Now that it knew where it was, it fired all its weapons at that location. "I will destroy that ship," it said. "I'll keep firing missiles until it's obliterated!"
But it didn't know what the heroes were actually planning to do. Knuckles was hiding in a floating locker, waiting for the coast to be clear. When the time was right, he got out. "All clear," he said.
He, Sonic, Amy, Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie flew out of the locker, the Mobians with jetpacks and the EGs with wings (Rainbow) and a couple diamond hoverboards (Rarity and Pinkie). "That metarex saw through our trick," said Sonic, "but it didn't realize it was a double trick. Let's go junk that Metarex!"
Knuckles and the girls began pushing space junk into piles. "Enough of these games!" said the Scarship irritability. "I'll fire all my missiles at once, and wipe them out with one big bang!"
But at that point, Knuckles and the girls had done their work. Piles of space junk were clogging the ship's weapons. "Huh?" it exclaimed. "Why can't I fire?!"
The heroes stood at the front of the Scarship. "This Metarex is in a real jam now!" said Amy.
"I can blast right through it!" said the Scarship.
Seeing it glow red, Knuckles knew it was time to go. "Let's get outta here!" he said.
They flew away from the Scarship as it tried to fire its weapons, but the space junk caused them to explode. "Woohoo!" cheered Pinkie. "Nailed it!" She and Rainbow shared a high-five.
"It's a really bad idea to fire your weapons when your missile tubes are clogged up," said Amy.
"Now that you can't fight anymore, your only choice is to surrender!" said Knuckles.
"Never!" growled the Scarship, bearing down on them.
The Mobians and the EGs flew out of the way, only to see to their horror that the Scarship was flying towards the Blue Typhoon! "Aah!" exclaimed Sonic. "It's gonna crash into the Blue Typhoon!"
"Tails better move it!" said Knuckles urgently.
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"Engines up!" said Tails.
The Blue Typhoon powered up its engines, but it wasn't enough. "We don't have enough power to get away in time," said Tails.
"Routing all power to the engines," said Chris.
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The Typhoon backed up, but the Scarship was still faster. "Oh no!" exclaimed Amy. "They won't get away fast enough!"
"The only way to get enough power is to use the Master Emerald at full force," said Knuckles, "but only I can do that."
"Look out!" cried Sonic.
Rarity and Pinkie hugged each other and closed their eyes, not wanting to look. Rainbow covered her eyes as well, only peeking out from between her fingers.
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Much larger than the Typhoon by comparison, the Scarship was about to crash into it, more determined than ever to destroy it. "It's no use!" exclaimed Tails. "We're gonna crash!"
"It's all over!" cried Chris.
Cosmo and Cream were scared for their lives. Then, just when it seemed like it was all over, a red and black blur suddenly arrived and knocked the Scarship backwards, angering it. "How dare you take away my victory!" it exclaimed.
Everyone saw who was standing on the hull. "It's Shadow!" said Chris.
Angered, the Scarship fired what looked like a lightning bolt of electricity at them, only for something else to block it. A rainbow-colored ball shot out of the ship and sped towards it, leaving a rainbow blur. It blocked the lightning from getting at the Typhoon while it unrolled, revealing a familiar person. There was no mistaking the white dress and pale green hair. "And it's Mom!" cried Grace. "She's back!"
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Outside, Creecha smiled at them briefly before turning to glare at the Scarship. "So, you're the one that destroyed Cosmo's people," she said. "Well, I think it's about time you get a taste of your own medicine."
Executing a beautiful spin, she fired the lightning right back at the Scarship, hitting it in one shot. Shouting in pain at the shot being redirected at it, it tried to ram the Typhoon again, but Creecha just did an amazing spin dash that knocked it back again. This time, it was so effective, it actually left a big dent there. "Shadow, do your thing!" said Creecha.
Nodding, Shadow spun towards the Scarship and executed the same tactic he used before– slamming into it all over. "Whoa!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Did you see that? That was amazing!"
"You should never underestimate those guys," said Knuckles, impressed.
Amy was confused. "But two questions: Why isn't Creecha getting any bed rest for her injuries? And why wasn't Shadow destroyed with Dr. Eggman?"
Creecha flew up to them. "I know I'm disobeying doctor's orders," she said (referring to Starlight), "but I sensed that you needed help. And I'm not resting until that ship is destroyed."
"Are you just doing it because of… I don't know… revenge?" asked Rainbow.
Creecha shook her head. "It's not because of that," she said. "It's because, in a way, I know what Cosmo's going through; in my homeworld, I lost everything too, except the only difference was that I was way younger than Cosmo was. I don't want what happened to me to happen to her anymore."
Then, a familiar laugh sounded out as the Crimson Egg descended from above. "It's Eggman!" said Trixie.
"I'm like a bad rash," said Eggman. "You can't get rid of me!
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"That Metarex missed me!"
A slot where the Eggman logo had opened up, causing the missile to fly through it and out the other side.
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"As usual, I used my brains and showed that missile the door," said Eggman.
To prove it, he opened and closed the slot it flew through. "It's lucky for you you don't have to fit your head through there," said Knuckles, waving his hand.
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"Even more brilliant was the way that Dr. Eggman faked an explosion by using a smokescreen," said Cubot.
"While the smoke was hiding us, we warped away to a safe part of the galaxy," said Orbot.
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"Well, that's a clever way to escape," said Twilight. "I know you're a villain and all Eggman, but there are times like this when even you impress me."
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Just goes to show how sometimes, a villain would impress a hero. "Hey, Sonic was just here!" said Amy, looking around. "Where'd he go?"
"Probably went after Shadow," said Creecha. "I'll be right back."
With that, she flew after Sonic. Looking down, they saw Shadow running along the hill of the Scarship. Sonic and Creecha joined him. "Somethin' tells me we're thinkin' the same thing," said Sonic. "If we destroy the engine room, this Metarex'll be out of commission for good!"
"I didn't ask for your help," said Shadow roughly, "so stay out of this!"
"I see you haven't lost your charm," Sonic snarked teasingly.
"With that aside," said Creecha, "that's actually a good idea. Sonic, you and Shadow split up in the engine rooms and destroy an engine each. I'll get it down further with a good lightning bolt."
While she flew up and out, Sonic and Shadow ran inside its engine. "You certainly are persistent, stranger," said Shadow.
"What do you mean, 'stranger'?" asked Sonic. "Don't you recognize me, Shadow?"
"You know, there's something called amnesia, Sonic," said Creecha through his communicator. "Just do what you're supposed to do. We can talk about this later."
Nodding, Sonic and Shadow split up and headed down different passages. The Scarship cried out as both its engines were destroyed. Then, the two hedgehogs emerged from the inside of the Scarship, which was now on fire. Timing it just right, Creecha shot a bolt of lightning at it, striking it right on target and damaging it even more. "Not so invincible now, are you?" she said.
"They did it!" said Knuckles.
"If you agree to surrender now, we'll agree to help you put out those fires," said Amy.
"I'll never surrender or give up my mission," the Scarship vowed.
Cosmo looked on in dread. Grace instantly went to hug her while Wallflower stood in front of both girls with her hands over her lightsabers, glaring at the ship. The ship that had caused Cosmo so much trauma and had taken away everything from her. "What's your mission, anyway?" asked Amy.
"To destroy Sonic and Dr. Eggman no matter what it takes," answered the Scarship.
Suddenly, it began pulsing in a light blue glow. "What's it doing?" asked Knuckles.
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"That Metarex is trying to blow us all away by self-destructing!" exclaimed Eggman, the monitor flashing DANGER.
"Let's go, Doctor!" said Bokkun.
"It's too late to get away!" replied Eggman.
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Outside, the Scarship began exploding. "What do we do?" asked Sonic.
"Anyone got any last minute ideas?" asked Creecha.
"We need to buy some more time!" said Shadow.
Creecha glanced at him, confused. "How?" she asked.
Shadow answered her by using the power of the red Chaos Emerald.
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Thanks to the Chaos Control burst, the Scarship looked like it was in suspended animation. "What'd you do?" asked Knuckles.
"I stopped time from advancing around the ship," Shadow replied. "We have 90 seconds."
"Only 90 seconds?" said Creecha. "Then if that's the case, we'd better get crackin'!"
With that, she flew towards the Typhoon.
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"Alright," said Eggman to his hench-bots, "now, count down with me!"
"88, 87, 86…"
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"If you want to disarm it," said Shadow, "you'd better hurry and follow her."
"Right," said Sonic, turning on his communicator. "Come in, Tails."
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"We'll use the Sonic Power Cannon," said Tails. "Come to the ship as fast as you can!"
"Way ahead of you, Tails!" said Creecha in reply.
"That Metarex's armor is strong," said Chris.
"Pah. You call that strong?" snorted Creecha. "Kid, I was able to hit that ship so hard it left a dent."
"Yeah, I know, Chris," said Tails, "but we can use a warp field to make it weaker."
"Right," said Chris, nodding.
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"64, 63, 62…"
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"Warp field driver is all set, Tails," said Chris.
"Prepare to send a warp field to surround the Metarex," said Tails.
"Roger," Chris replied.
A warp drive field was fired out of the cone of the Typhoon, striking the Scarship.
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"44, 43, 42…"
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Outside, the Sonic Power Cannon was prepared and charged. "Route all energy to the power cannon!" said Tails as Sonic and Creecha ran inside the cannon and landed on the spin platform.
"We have full power!" said Chris.
"Load cannon!" said Tails.
"Sonic, you and Creecha get set for launch!" said Chris.
Creecha grinned. "Roger that, Chris!" she said. "I've always wanted to try this thing out!"
"Ready!" said Sonic.
He started his spin, charging up the cannon. Giving it a try herself, Creecha was soon spinning alongside him. She was a quick learner. This one's for Cosmo and her people, she thought. I know it won't fix anything, but at least this way, they can be avenged.
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"Fire the cannon at my command!" said Tails. "Targeting Metarex!"
The targeting computers locked onto the Scarship. "Sonic Power Cannon, fire!" said Tails.
The cannon charged up with energy.
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Soon, Sonic and Creecha were both launched from the Sonic Driver. "5! 4! 3! 2! 1! 0!"
Glowing in rainbow colors as a result of the Sonic Drive, the Scarship could do nothing as Sonic and Creecha impacted it with crushing force. "I'm sorry, Dark Oak!" it cried. "Forgive and avenge me!"
At long last, the Scarship, the one who destroyed Cosmo's people, was destroyed itself. Watching from afar, Dark Oak was surprised. "That ship was one of my most powerful Metarex," he said. "How did they defeat it?"
"Thanks for saving us, Sonic!" Eggman laughed as he left with Shadow standing on the Crimson Egg hull and Rouge returning. "You'll regret it!"
"Wouldn't miss it for anything!" Creecha called as all she and Sonic could do was watch them go.
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, Creecha felt tiredness catch up to her fast. Luckily, Starlight, who had arrived to check on her, was able to catch her as she started to fall over, leaning on her. "Come on, Creecha," she said as she wrapped an arm around her waist while draping Creecha's arm around her shoulders. "Let's get you back to the medbay."
She started to head there. Upon arrival inside, Matt, who was anxiously waiting, stepped up and instantly swept his sister into a bridal carry so she'd get there easier.
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Meanwhile, silence filled the bridge as the Blue Typhoon flew on. Grace wanted to be happy that the ship was gone, but strangely, she didn't feel any satisfaction. Noticing this, Wallflower gave her a look that said, "I told you so." She didn't actually say it, but her eyes seemed to do it for her. Because in the end, Wallflower was right: revenge would never be able to repair the damage the Scarship caused or bring Cosmo her family and friends back.
Feeling a hand touch his shoulder, Tails turned to see Sonic looking at him, reading him with his eyes. A confused Tails was about to ask what he needed when Sonic planned a finger to his lips, shushing him. He them jutted his head at the door, signaling Tails to come with him. Wondering where this was going, Tails nevertheless obeyed and followed him into the hallway, leaving Sunset as a temporary captain. After walking in the hallway for some time, Sonic paused and signaled Tails to stop, which he did. After looking into his little brother's eyes for a little while more, Sonic knelt down to his eye level and opened his arms, gesturing to him with his fingers. Immediately knowing what he needed, Tails stepped forward and, rather hesitantly, wrapped his arms around his older brother. Immediately, Sonic's arms came around him in return, making the younger one relax with a sigh. Melting into the comfort, he heard footsteps approach him and felt another set of arms come around him from behind.
Knowing it was Knuckles, Tails smiled and relaxed further into the embrace, purring happily. The older brothers returned the purr in kind, relieved that their dear little brother was safe and still in one piece. No one said a word as the three brothers stayed in their hug, finding peace and comfort in each other.
And even though her people's destroyer was now gone forever, Cosmo didn't feel any satisfaction either. I finally got even with the Metarex that wiped out my clan, she thought. I wish I could be at peace now, but there are more Metarex out there, and more planets in danger. I have to keep fighting until the galaxy is safe again!
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