Sonic Underground Remix Chapter XX
Resort to Peace and War
It had been a long while before anyone said anything, holding their breaths as the Underground plus their Seedrian ally waded through the abandoned sewers for a bit. To be honest, they weren't there on their own accord. To locate the so-called "Royal Seat of Augress", this was thought to have been destroyed in the raid and destruction of the mansion that happened fifteen years ago. The Underground earlier today had received a note from one of the older Resistance leaders, having been sealed with the royal seal given to them before they left for the rumored chair. In the letter, Aleena had this to share about who they were going to meet:
"A thing of beauty should be cherished and protected. But if we fear to lose it, it can lead to betrayal-and ugliness."
While the note, as usual, made no sense to the Underground, they held onto the advice inside their hearts as they looked for the throne. All of them were disgruntled from the drive to the abandoned sewers, Sonia more so because of what they were walking in.
"Why do we have to look in here, of all places?" There we go-the Spiny Annoying Princess was covered in spider webs and dust, looking the worst of the eight traveling rock band.
"Because no one-and I mean no one-but us would look in a place like this!" Manic cheerfully said, he himself pushing aside some fallen dusty cobwebs as they continued down the ruins.
"Yeah…that's really fishy though." Sonic said, having some trouble moving about in the area due to the amount of water that was still present. "Only we would look for something that was taken from the royal family in a place like this." He nearly crashed into a fallen pipe, though Ovi managed to place him into the water before his distracted walking got to the better of him. Allegro glided toward him and landed on the blue prince's shoulders, not interested in staying for too long either.
They managed to find themselves in the main chamber, which was rather large and similarly dust covered as the sewer they were just popping out of, with tons of unused pipes and machinery strewn about. Water pooled around a small, man-made inlet in the middle before going off to other tunnels, where an orange safe was on for safe keeping.
"That's extremely suspicious, even if it wasn't a trap." Ovi stated, having been in his human form for a long while since his nose in rat form was causing him problems lately. He sneezed as he said that, wiping his nose on his sleeve sheepishly. Allegro growled at the safe as the group neared the suspicious and unrelenting area.
"Manic, could you open this safe?" Tails asked his second older brother, eager to get going out of the trap.
"Please, I've been opening safes since I was able to use my drumsticks!" Manic replied, going up to the suspicious safe and turning the code handle a few times.
Within three seconds, the trap was sprung. A low growl started to laugh at Manic's 'attempts' at opening the safe, revealing that indeed they had gotten themselves into a rather sticky situation.
"Freeze right there, criminals!" the sound of a nasally voice echoed through the chamber, causing Amy and Tails to bring out their weapons at the sight of Sleet and Hunter behind the small group.
"And unlike last time, we made sure that you guys stayed to be caught!" Hunter said eagerly, his sneer almost letting out a snarl as a whole set of robots started coming out of the woodwork – from BurrowBots to Coconuts, and SwatBots and Slicers- there were numerous robots eagerly awaiting for the moment that the Sonic Underground started to resist arrest.
"Geez…how did you guys managed to get all of these robots out from Eggman's radar?" the blue prince asked, his face pulling a frown at the scene. When will these guys learn?
"Now now, hedgehog, you and your royal family and friends are to soon be dethroned!" Sleet finished, before commanding the robots to attack the Underground.
Now it was time to fight, as Sonic quickly dashed off towards a large battalion of SwatBots coming nearby. "Come on, everyone! We need to get going!" He called to the rest of his band. Allegro jumped into the air as the blue hedgehog ran, circling over the robots to divert their attention.
Dingo seemed to realize that he needed to act now, and attempted to grab Elizabeth while her back was turned. However, the purple princess had expected the attack, and back flipped away from the now attacking beast-turned-safe. Kicking the safe in the posterior, Sonia sent the gigantic safe towards the running Sleet, whom was about to get Cherry and Tails when the large safe's body quickly knocked him out from the momentum.
"M-Mommy, give me ten more minutes…" the blue furred wolf said in a daze, having lost all of his senses from the now reverted beast flying into him earlier. Tails and Cherry quickly made a dash to where they came in from, shooting whatever they could get at before the robots noticed them.
Over to where Ovi and Manic were, they were backing away from a couple of Burrowbots and SwatBots coming in closer, their faces managing a smile despite their situation.
"Now now, no need to be this persuasive." If the old Ovi could hear this newer, stuffed up counterpart right now, the former Orgville would be having a fit about taunting the robots.
Especially since whom he was next to was the very person that he once hated. "Yeah guys, no need to be this bad when you're feet are so tangled up." Both Edward and the half-human went behind a pile of pipes, where they pulled the frayed strings holding the rusted cylinders together. They kicked the pipes towards the robots, fatally damaging them and destroying many.
Sonic and Amy pounded and sliced the many robots coming after them, Amy's Piko-Piko Hammer hitting Sonic's spin-dash attack every time the robots received the slicing spiky ball of doom. They barely noticed Hunter's attempt to grab either one of them, quickly burying the half-wolf under an increasingly growing pile of machine parts. As the number of robots replacing their fallen comrades got fewer, the two stopped and dashed toward the entrance they came in from. Allegro shout-blasted whatever robots they missed, hoping that it would limit their numbers quicker than it already was.
"Come on, we really need to get out of here!" Even now, the sounds of whirring electronics and stomping metal against concrete was enough to send the Underground back towards their vehicle, knowing that the entire search for the so-called throne was for naught.
Hunter had just managed to get to Sleet—who had by this point woke from his dizziness—and the now normal-looking Dingo, helping his purple armoured comrade up on his feet as he yelled "DON'T LET THOSE CRIMINALS GET AWAY!"
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Sleet yelled into the catacombs at another failed attempt, knowing full well that they would never catch the lost jewels and their friends now. The Sonic Underground ran far back to the main entrance of the abandoned sewers, where the decrepit-looking van was awaiting. All nine got into the van quickly, with Sonic being first into the van itself, and Sonia being the last one in. The van's engine roared to life, its tires screeching as the wheels spun on the ground. The weight of the Underground van pushed both the wheels and the large frame forward into what was known simply as the Wastelands: a contaminated canyon/desert poisoned by Lord Sypress' command. It had been thought that those living within these Wastelands were long since dead; having been inhaling dangerous chemicals on a regular basis.
The last stretch for the Underground's freedom was in sight: Manic celebrated a bit too soon in regards. "Aw man! Did we roast them, or what?" the thief prince yelled, fisting the air as the rest of the underground were snugly seated in their passenger seats (Allegro was wrapped into Sonia's arms as Sonic was driving). The orange haired human groaned at the loudness of the shout, which was noticed by both Tails and Cherry as Sonic pointed out: "Yeah, but they keep on coming back!"
Luckily for the outlawed band, the robots didn't pursue them further into the Wastelands, stopping as soon as they went into the canyon walls. The bounty hunters emerged from the sewer, growling at the dust-cloud that they knew was their lost bounty.
454
The canyon seemed that it would go on forever, as the Underground for the past hour had been driving with no clear destination in mind. Ovi had fallen asleep at the back, his current condition along with the excitement of the Hunters having spent what little energy he could muster the past while. Cherry and Amy were happily chatting about gardening ideas, as the young Seedrian had taken to creating a flower field back at Sanctuary Forest. The purple aristocrat had been pouting the past while, her ears flicking whenever Tails and/or Manic made preparations for a new holographic device that they would need Ovi to help program later.
"Alright, where the heck are we?" the princess lost her patience, asking the question that lingered on everyone—but Sonic's own-mind. Ovi, having been unable to properly sleep for a while, and thus decided to make conversation with the others at that moment:
"We're still in the Wastelands?" The orange haired human groggily said, wiping his eyelids for any sand that managed to form within.
"We're right on track." Nickolas couldn't help but smugly say-hiding a fear that he may have missed an important turn fifteen minutes ago. "Where Sleet, Dingo and Hunter will never find us!" He couldn't help but add, getting a scorn look from everyone as he said it.
"Oh great, we're lost." Sonia, Cherry, and Amy couldn't help but say; Allegro had instead vetoed to glare at her partner and protected instead.
"Why couldn't you go and bother to get your bearings?" Amy stated, having been a little cranky since they went out that morning.
"It's almost as if males don't know how to figure out where they're going…" the green dino-plant added, remembering a time when her brother got both her and himself lost once in their childhood—and again and again…
"HEY! WE'RE ON YOUR SIDE!" the rest of the males clamored on, feeling a bit putout at the girls throwing them on the blaze that was Sonic's mistake.
"YOU'RE GUYS!" was the response, which then blew to heated arguments about how Sonic could've avoided getting the group lost as the van rounded the cliff sides carefully. Many of the ideas passed about where shot down—Like the one about going back to Harrion City the way they came by, which was shot down quickly by Sonic: ("What? And radio the three sleeze-balls to see if they want to go dancing with us?")—to suggestions that they should plan to camp for the night—an idea that, oddly, was vetoed by Ovi of all people: ("Seriously? Do we really need to breath in the fumes of the Wastelands for a night?"). It wasn't until Sonic finally stopped the van over a cliff-side that they finally found their salvation—a small valley village covered in green and lush plants of many different types, houses of fancy builds were covered in the many green coloured creatures. A few waterfalls adorned the other end of the valley in which the village resided, looking nothing like the polluted water they had seen several times in their adventures. The land looked generally healthy, as a large forest aligned both the village and the waterfall's lake, and there were several farms that used the forest as its fence instead.
"Why haven't we heard of this little place before?" Amy asked, looking at the beautiful land in awe.
Cherry looked at the forest as well, though her voice had a melancholy sound to it: "Someone had to become a tree to purify this land…" when the others looked at her, she explained to the best of her ability, "Seedrians have a habit of making sure that the forests are well protected and cared for long after their death. Many of us, when we die, find the most vacant spot of the forest and allow our roots to grow beyond our bodies, turning ourselves into guardians of the forests that we've died in. We don't usually do it, as we prefer living as long as the average person for our friends, but there are some situations where it isn't possible to live for more than a few years…" She went quiet after that, and everyone decided that it would be better if they dropped the conversation altogether.
"Let's see if the people down there will help us out." Sonic said, deciding to put the van in reverse for the village. As they moved toward the village, a crowd of people came toward where the van stopped at, curious about the people coming in from the Wastelands. One of them stepped forward, a brown striped and tan cat with blue coloured opaque sunglasses over his green eyes. He wore a blue cotton shirt with red pants, a small white vest that held a blue cape over his shoulders and brown boots that matched his stripes accordingly. Everyone within the van got out toward the crowd, hoping that there were places to stay in for the traveling rock band.
"What brings you to the village?" the cat asked, remembering that they came out from the Wasteland entrance to their village. "We don't get many travelers about here, especially those from the Wastelands."
"Yeah, we were hoping to find a place to stay in for the night." Ovi started, though a bit groggily, hoping to explain the situation to the village without revealing who they truly are.
"I'm sure you are. Forgive my forwardness," the cat continued, bringing his glasses down to see Sonia clearly before continuing. "I'm Stripes, the person in charge of the Beach Falls Resort. We hope you're stay here is a pleasant one." The leader, Stripes, said quickly.
"May I ask a question, Stripes?" Amy asked, her face puzzled as she spoke: "How is it that you guys managed to keep this land so beautiful? Especially with Sypress running about and destroying places like this?"
"That is a good question, little Rose." The pink hedgehog's skin matched her quills and fur as Stripes continued speaking, "We mind our own business and Sypress leaves us be." That line made everyone in the Underground suspicious already: There's no way that could work for the tyrant—as he would make sure to control someone through normal means if they are in his territory (like this resort here), or by controlling them with the use of the Chaos Collars. "Would you guys like to stay and relax?" the cat asked, causing the Underground's attention to come back from their thoughts.
"We need a bit of relaxation after having busted Ro—OW!" Manic was stopped from rambling by Sonic, whom gave the thief prince an elbow in the shoulder and a glare for babbling. "What was that for?" He asked quietly, keeping his voice quiet.
"We don't know if these guys are friendly to the Resistance yet!" Nickolas said quickly, his voice just as quiet. "Keep the thoughts about the Resistance close to heart, and don't reveal anything to anyone!" they both went back to listening to Ovi and the cat talk about arrangements for the group.
"We'll have to find the largest room we have, as you're arrival was last-minute." The cat continued, having explained to Ovi what their rooms were like. "We'll make sure you guys are well rested. We hope that all of you," Stripes once again looked at Elizabeth, and then noticed Cherry standing beside Tails' left. "Have a good time at this resort."
555
In the dead of the night, Stripes leans over a console in his house, having second thoughts about reporting in as the screen flickers on. He knows that this is absolutely wrong, allowing the monsters that plighted the Wastelands around them to take whatever straggling Resistance members/outlaws that may come by to be taken from the village. But what could he do, to protect the people within the village without resorting to war?
The cat looks at a picture showcasing him and another on the wall. The person right next to him was a female, a pink dino-plant like creature with a pink lily on the back of her head. Her body, unlike the Seedrian that the Resort Owner had seen earlier, had a very pale pink colour, almost looking like the skin of a European human. The dress that she wore was stained in red dots on white fabric, the golden trimmings dull from her illness.
He looked at the picture for a while longer, before returning back to the screen. The monitor flashed to show Sypress' head on screen, glaring at the nightly chatter that was about to begin.
"Do you have anything to report?" Sypress asked, his mood not brightening in the silence.
"Y-yes, I do. There's strangers in the valley." The cat stuttered; unsure if he was doing this for protect—wait, why was he thinking this?
"How many are there?"
"Six, my Lord." No matter what, he wouldn't betray the two girls that he saw today. Besides, Stripes thought to himself, they're particularly suspicious to me, including that green one who blabbered today.
"Six? That's it?" Sypress yelled, hoping for more than that. "It's eight that I'm after! Ah well, what I have is what I have. Are these strangers with the Resistance?" the tyrant continued, looking at the Resort Leader as he asked.
"I'll be making sure to check, they're planning on leaving the next day. One of them is sick, so I hope that I can talk them into staying for their friend." Stripes said monotonously, having more second thoughts once again.
"Make sure you do." Sypress cut the connection right there and then, leaving the Resort Leader to his traitorous mind.
676
The next day was as beautiful as the last in the Resort village: crowds of people where gathered around in the market section, generally going through their day as usual. Sonic, Manic and Tails were walking down the street where the market is, with Nickolas carrying a tennis racket in his right hand. The blue prince swung it around as he walked, making his two brothers look at it in curiosity.
"I didn't know you liked to play tennis," Manic stated, stopping when they got to the main street themselves.
"That isn't usually your racket." Tails added.
"I'm just acting like a tourist while I gauge whether these guys are willing to side with the Resistance." Sonic quietly said; looking around to make sure that no one from the village was listening. "I don't want to stay here for too long if we aren't, Ovi's not at his best lately." This was why the orange-haired kid was sleeping in the second floor of the Underground's Van, instead of sleeping in the last-minute house that they could easily rent for the rest of them, including the girls.
"I guess I can go looking for some medication for Ovi…" Miles said, twitching his tails as he thought about it.
"Look, I can go and help once I get lunch, if that's alright buddy?" Manic asked the two tailed fox, having understood the meaning behind Sonic's warning.
"Just make sure you don't go around blabbering about the Resistance until we know the truth." The eldest of the group then pointed a finger at his blood related younger sibling. "And make sure not to get your sticky fingers into trouble, alright?"
"Ha, that's work related. I'm on vacation." Manic brushed the accusation aside, giving both actual and adopted brother a sly smile.
"Tails, make sure he doesn't try." Sonic quickly said, before walking away from the two toward the tennis courts.
"On it, Sonic!" the yellow fox said, not noticing Manic leave with a terrible smirk.
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Rays of sunshine seeped through the bedroom window, waking the lone purple hedgehog out of slumber. Getting up, she went and got herself clean and dressed for the day. She brushed her fore-quills in quiet bliss, reminiscing about the days before she was forced to flee Harrion City. Sonia sighed at the memory, before going outside to see if Ovi was still okay.
Outside the house, Amy and Cherry were chatting to Stripes just outside the front door, before Sonia decided to come out of the house.
"Sonia!" Amy started, having turned toward the door when she did, both Cherry and the Resort owner turning when the hedgehog girl spoke. "I didn't think you'd be up!"
"It's alright Amy." Sonia said, moving toward the dino-plant and Stripes, a smile on her face as she asked the two younger girls to leave and see to Ovi. As they did, Sonia was about to go with them when Stripes gave the royal female a purple lily.
"I saw this earlier, and couldn't help but think of you." He said as the purple aristocrat put the blooming flower over her ears. She blushed as she thought one thing:
I wish I can stay here.
"Thank you, Stripes. It's beautiful." She said softly.
888
"Man, am I wiped after that." Sonic said, having finished his one-person game of tennis (and having one version of him quit when the ball was over the line. What a sore loser.) He was just getting back to the main street to the Underground's room, when he heard the commotion from the street ahead.
"There's only one person I know who can attract a crowd like that…" the blue prince started, before revving up toward the crowd to pick up both brothers (who were right in the middle of said crowd of villagers), and dashed toward the beautiful forest surrounding the village.
"What was with you, Manic? Trying to kick all of us out of here?" Sonic asked once he stopped at a safe distance away from the village, pointing toward his blood relation in anger.
"Hey, it wasn't my sticky fingers that got me into trouble." Manic stated, eating a green apple that was probably stolen from one of the stalls.
"It was the both of us, really." Tails' ears flopped sadly, "We started talking about the Resistance when the shopkeeper allowed Manic to have the apple for free…" Sonic sighed at the both of them, muttering 'little brothers' as the thief prince finished his apple. He wanted to yell to the two about keeping secrets from strangers and whatnot, but didn't want to continue due to fatigue of the situation.
"Alright, we now know that the Resistance are A-list enemies around here, I'd say we high tail it out before we have no choice but to stay." Ovi's fever was getting worse the last Nickolas checked on him, and that was at least early morning the last he remembered.
"Let's find the girls as soon as we can, then." Miles stated, before the three males left the area they were in, but not before Manic did a back dunk with the apple core into the rubbish bin.
888
At that exact moment, Sonia and Stripes were walking about with each other, talking about the life within the village when the Resort leader showed the purple hedgehog his favourite area: A large tree blooming with purple lilies next to a small waterfall. Elizabeth couldn't help but gasp at it—it was absolutely gorgeous!
However, a nagging feeling crept up her mind when she saw it—lilies never actually grew on trees, much less bloomed in the dead cold that this area was giving off—then she remembered Cherry's thoughts on the forest surrounding the Beach Falls village:
"There are some situations where it isn't possible for us to live a few years…"
"Was this… your friend Stripes?" the cat couldn't help but wince at the question. He had never talked about how much his good friend's death affected him with anyone else before, but seeing the purple princess look at him with a melancholy look forced him to blabber out what he held in t
"She was as magnificent as you look, Miss Sonia." Stripes started, feeling the tears of his emotional scars opening once again. "Her body simmered in the day time in a pale pink glow, even when she had fallen ill with that bloody disease." The cat pulled his sunglasses off as he continued, showcasing tears threatening to fall. "Sunshine had never wanted me to worry, even when she was knocking on Death's door. We both wanted to make sure that this place would forever be protected, even long after the war was over." The leader sat down as the emotional turmoil grew too great for him. "The last words I ever heard from her were 'protect this place with all of your heart'. By the next morning, Sunshine ran out toward this particular area of the forest, not realizing that I had given chase." Stripes couldn't help but look at the tree once again, anger replacing the sadness he felt. "I didn't know what to do after she became this, I lost my will to fight."
Sonia couldn't help but ask the question lingering on her tongue: "What did you do to honour her wish?"
Stripes shamefully looked away, knowing the answer wouldn't be appropriate for her at all: "I had no choice but to make a deal with Sypress." He continued when he heard no backlash from the rebel princess, "It was the only way-I felt-that we could survive without being dragged into this stupid war—"
"And what about the other people who came by this place?" Elizabeth couldn't help but ask, her anger reaching a boiling point. How dare this man warp the wishes of his best friend!
"WHO THE [Heck] CARES ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD? I don't have the power to help anyone, not even Sunshine from her illness!" The chains of fear broke off of Stripes' heart, making him realize why his emotions were betraying him. But he couldn't bring himself to admit that helping these nutcases was the only way to see his and Sunshine's vision of the land come true, and decided to lash out at the closest thing there was at this time. "You should recognize that this war is fruitless! Sypress isn't going to stop unless everything is under his control—"
"At least I have the ability to recognize what I'm doing is wrong." The words came out like a knife in the gut, but the purple rebel knew that the damage needed to be done. Stripes' rant stopped as soon as she spoke, her medallion glowing in a dark purple as she continued. "It may be true that continuing may have no point in the grand scheme of things, but all the wishes of those who've died along the way—including those who needed better medication than what we actually have now—will guide us toward victory. More than the fear Sypress uses to control everyone."
Stripes couldn't help but get up then, the purple glow of the princess' medallion being far brighter than his fears and hatred toward the smaller hedgehog. Deciding that he shouldn't stay for too long, he left the area where Sunshine became a tree, neither animayan noticing the group of people hiding in the bushes behind Elizabeth.
"Man… and to think we were in Sypress' territory just because." Ovi stated his eyes glossy from being forced out of bed.
Cherry went toward the lily tree, thinking the same thoughts as they all went toward the purple princess in comfort. As her hand touched the bark of the tree however, she suddenly pulled her hand back and yelled as if the tree was on fire. Everyone gathered round the dino-plant, fearful that she may have hurt herself.
"I-I'm fine." The not-so-cheerful dino-plant said as she got up, patting her dress down to make sure she got rid of the dirt as she said: "Everything Stripes said about Sunshine was true: she's in absolute grief because she led him into think that she was getting better when she really wasn't." Cherry couldn't help but look at the tree in sadness when she said that, not realizing that the others were confused on how she got that. But before they could ask, the green dino-plant had started to speak once again: "We need to leave as soon as we can!"
That was the moment when they realized that they couldn't really leave without fixing the strained relationship between the still-alive Sunshine and Stripes, so they decided to have a game plan while Sonic went to see if Stripes was willing to listen to them.
999
The day passed for everyone in the village, the near-up rise of the villagers against the Sonic Underground having cooled down after Stripes explained that he was going to talk to Sypress about it. Each person went their separate ways, up until the apple owner stepped up and asked if telling the truth about the Underground being in the valley was a good idea. While Stripes had agreed with the stall owner in his heart, he couldn't truly say what was on his mind and turned away.
"Damnit, I shouldn't be thinking like this…" Stripes said as he entered his house, closing the door behind him. The cat rebooted the computer, looking about as per usual for anyone sneaking about before turning toward the wall once again. Behind his glasses, he glared at the picture, and turned to the screen when it flicked on to the face of Lord Sypress. The cat had, however, never noticed the two sets of ears on the right hand side of him
"So? Did you figure out who the strangers were?" Sypress tiredly asked, drinking some warm tea.
"Yes. I have." The brown and tan cat forced, now extremely unsure to continue after what happened. "It's the Sonic Underground, minus their sister and that plant-dinosaur."
"They'll be close by none the less." And with that, Sypress cut the connection, turning toward Dr. Eggman and Hope in anger. "Make sure to send some deforestation and leveling robots, along with Aperis and those dumb hunters. We have no need for that section of land anymore."
101
Sonic couldn't help but growl at the whole one-sided exchange, grabbing Allegro and dashing toward where the rest of the Underground were. Knowing full well that staying too long would endanger not only the town but themselves, the Sonic Underground hoped to leave without waking anyone up. Unfortunately for the traveling rock-band, the villagers and Stripes circled around the van, making sure they couldn't leave at all.
"I'm sorry. But none of you can leave the valley." Stripes started, before being barreled by Amy's accusation.
"How DARE you try and make us stay here, only to turn tail when you should be fighting for what's right!" Her hammer popped out of her medallion, ready to crush whoever else tries to defend for the striped cat. Luckily for her, it was Elizabeth whom stopped her.
"It matters not Amy. Even if he wanted to fix it now, he wouldn't do anything about it." And with that, the Underground attempted to leave once again, when the sounds of robots and machines stopped them from leaving.
"STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINALS!" The voice of Hunter commanded, before attacking the Underground before they got into the van and drove off.
"Robots! Make sure that this land is leveled!" the bounty hunter commended once they were gone, Sleet having moved toward Stripes and the villagers to capture them.
"WHAT? We had a deal!" the leader of the valley tried, trying his best to resist the capture.
"Deal's off. Sypress only wanted this place for the Underground—and now that you let them go, we have no use for this place anymore." Sleet said, as the villagers tried in futile hope to fight against the robots attacking the forest around the village. Many of the robots about the deforestation machines protected the machines from the villagers, with the Swatbots lining some of the more scared villagers into wearing the Chaos Collars. Just as soon Sleet nearly commanded the robots to put the Collars onto the villagers—including Stripes—when the Underground van slammed into one of the deforestation machines. When the van stopped, The Underground minus Ovi jumped out of the vehicle, with the orange-haired human bringing out his handgun.
"Man, we're just getting started!" Manic said as he jumped off the van, him and Allegro destroying some the robots trying to attack Ovi.
Sonia and Cherry went straight toward Stripes, who were still near the collar when the dino-plant shot Sleet's hand off, destroying the Chaos Collar completely.
"Do you want to see your dream come to light?" Elizabeth couldn't help but ask, still bitter over the whole sellout earlier.
"…I'll make sure it comes to better light." He softly said-the fire in his heart colossal now.
Both Cherry and Sonia couldn't help but smile at that. "Then welcome to the Resistance!" they both said as they attacked the robots coming after them.
It was that moment that the villagers started to attack Sleet, Dingo, and Hunter's forces (Aperis was watching from a cliff-face further away), with the Sonic Underground easily destroying every single robot and deforestation machine about, even giving the Bounty Hunters after them their tails in between their legs. The entire village celebrated happily about their success through the night, having regained the hope of fighting against the regime for their freedom. When morning came, the Sonic Underground left for their home—hoping that their absence hadn't been notice by the Resistance Leaders themselves.
Stripes sat by the lily tree, happiness blooming inside him once again as he dreamed of him and Sunshine organizing how to better protect the town. Together.