Sonic Crisis
Episode 4: Dawn of the Daybreaker
Written by
Avernale (Tumblr, DeviantArt)
Desperado Coyote (FurAffinity)
Crisis Robo ( )

"We've got less than an hour before Eggman's plan goes down," Knuckles said.

"There's no more time," Shadow said. "We have to break into the fortress now."

"Indeed," Silver said. "This is it- our last chance to bring peace back into the world."

The battle for Metropolis was over about as soon as we took the Central Tower. Remotely deactivating the robots and automated defenses wasn't difficult. Any robots Eggman could still control were likely being concentrated at the Iron Fortress.

Knuckles, Amy, and the rest of the mission control crew arrived shortly thereafter. Metropolis was being used as a staging area at this point in preparation for the final battle. Resistance forces from all over were arriving, reorganizing, and resupplying. Tech crews were working frantically to reprogram the robots to fight on our side. It was going to be an all-or-nothing battle, and we needed all the help we could get.

Tails fidgeted apprehensively. "But… when the battle ends, we'll have to part with Sonic- I mean, this Sonic- won't we?"

"Yes," Amy said. "If the Phantom Ruby is gone, I guess he'll be returned to his dimension."

"Thank you for everything, Sonic," Tails said. "I'll never forget what you did for us."

The other Sonic put a reassuring hand on Tail's shoulder and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Save the sentiments for later," Espio said. "This is not over yet. We still have a battle to fight."

"Exactly," Knuckles said. "This is our last chance. Give it everything you've got."

Tails wasn't the only one anxious about this fight. About losing someone. I suppose that didn't exactly narrow it down. This is war, after all. A war I realized was almost over. And after that… then what?

I had made a lot of friends in the Resistance, both among its legendary leadership and the lesser-known rank and file. We wouldn't have met if it weren't for the war, and if it went away what would keep us together? Was it the only thing we had in common? A lot of us had dreams of what we'd do once peace was restored, and we may not be able to do all those things together.

I hadn't really thought about what I was going to do after the war. I had this idea of being a hero, but that was pretty nebulous. I suppose I could just go back to my old life, whatever of that still remained. Sonic and his friends weren't known for laying down roots, aside from Knuckles as guardian of the Master Emerald on Angel Island. They might not even all stick together and just scatter to winds, only gathering once Eggman rears his shiny head again. As I've said before, I'd run alongside Sonic forever if I could, but I feel as though I'd just slow him down.

I'm ashamed to admit part of me wanted the war to never end. It'd be simpler if everything stayed just the way it was. It was a selfish desire. I know more war just means more suffering, for others if not myself, but it… It was familiar and comforting, in a way. The war was another friend I'd lose once it ended. An abusive one you can't leave for fear of being all alone in a world that made no sense anymore. One you'd be all the stronger for leaving, and hopefully never seeing again.

Before I knew it, the battle was underway. Our army of rebels against Infinite and his army of virtual villains. He didn't even bother digging up new faces; Just Zavoks, Metal Sonics, Shadows, and Chaoses as far as the eye can see. I don't know if he was spreading himself thin, conserving energy for Eggman's big plan, or simply not even trying, but they were nowhere near as strong as the originals. Each one was no more a challenge than Crabmeat.

We broke through the first line in no time. Behind them, however, was Infinite with another wave at the ready. Sonic rushed ahead to meet him.

"Hey, Infinite," he said, skidding to a stop. "Long time, no see! Did you miss me?"

"Why, yes, I did," Infinite said. "I've been looking forward to finishing you and your annoying friends!" He activated the Phantom Ruby, knocking everyone off their feet. "I trust you're all ready for oblivion? If you're not… oh, well."

It was at this point Omega appeared and shot at him. Everyone made a big deal about it at the time, but it really didn't amount to much in the end. If it hadn't annoyed Infinite so much, I wouldn't have even mentioned it.

"Is there no end to these annoying insects?" he growled. "I will burn your resistance to ashes, and you along with it!"

With that, he tensed up before shooting a single bolt of energy into the air. It disappeared into the clouds before exploding, but not in the sense that it was destroyed. It hung there, a world of fire enveloping the sky.

"Whoa," Knuckles said. "You've gotta be kidding. That's just a special effect, right?"

"No, it's not!" Tails said. "While we're under the Phantom Ruby's control, it's a part of our reality!"

"Unbelievable," Espio said. "What chance do we have against that?"

"The sun will fall upon you all," Eggman said as he flew in on his Eggmobile. He never could resist a chance to gloat in person. "BOOM! THE END. You're pathetic lives are over."

The virtual sun was beautiful and terrifying to behold. The real sun was large enough to fit the entire rest of the solar system inside. Not even Sonic could run from something like that forever. An illusion of fiery death that could flow into every nook and cranny of our world and burn away anyone who dared oppose him. All that would be left behind was… I can only assume the power of the Phantom Ruby could selectively influence whoever the user wanted, regardless of the size of the area of effect. Why else would Eggman be right here when he could just as easily be safely off-world?

Times like this, when I need all the faith I can, I find myself reaching for that Sonic doll I keep in my pocket. Silly to think I still have it, even with the real Sonic so close. I don't have to ask what Sonic would do in a situation like this. He was right here in this situation with us!

…But he wasn't doing anything. Just staring with awe and concern like the rest of us. What was he doing? It wasn't like him to spend a lot of time thinking. Was he frozen in terror? Also very much unlike him, I thought.

I thought back again. He was on the Death Egg for six months. He was allegedly tortured for half a year, but showed no physical scars. He acted normally from all accounts, but wouldn't talk about what happened on the Death Egg. Just that not all forms of torture were physical. And Rouge did say Eggman was keeping him alive to show him his completed Eggman Empire before exiling him into space.

Was that what you were doing all along, Eggman? To condition Sonic to fear the falling sun? To watch in terror, be it on Earth or in space, as everything he knew and loved was washed away in a sea of atomic fire? Was this to be your final revenge, you deplorable, sickening, corpulent husk of a man?

I was so focused on the sun as it reflected my anger that I almost didn't notice Tails until he was right beside me.

"Look. It's reacting," he said.

I looked down at my hand, surprised yet again that I was holding that strange stone instead of my totem. The way it thrummed and glowed made it even more shocking that I hadn't noticed until now.

"Eggman said something about the Phantom Ruby prototypes!" he continued before extending a hand. "Let me see."

"Phantom Ruby prototype?" I remarked as I handed over the stone. I guess it made sense that even someone as "Brilliant" as Doctor Eggman couldn't get something right on the first try. I was a little embarrassed to admit that I hadn't made the connection until now. It made some of the happenings from my last two encounters with Infinite make more sense.

"Whoa. It is," Tails said as the glowing and thrumming stopped. "He said the Phantom Ruby prototypes only react to the person who activated it. That must be you, Crisis!" I still wasn't quite sure what to make of this, so I just nodded as he handed back the Ruby. "Your courage and heroism are probably what triggered it. Just maybe, if you use this, it can make that sun disappear."

I gripped the Phantom Ruby prototype in my hand and looked up at the virtual sun.

"Right, here goes," I said. I held up the Ruby and concentrated. I've only ever activated it unconsciously, but I figured I could make it work through sheer force of will. Sure enough, a pocket of pure reality expanded outward from me… And promptly collapsed again.

"Huh," Tails remarked. "Well, I'm sure we'll figure out another…"

"No," I said firmly. "I can do this. I will! I just… I just need to get closer! C'mon!"

"Wha- hey!" Tails complained as I tried to climb on his shoulders. "What are you doing!?"

"I need you to fly me up there!" I explained as I struggled to maintain balance on his back.

"Okay, one, you can't ride me like a horse," Tails said as he finally threw me off. "I'm smaller than you. Two, I can't carry someone that far. I'm just not that strong. Try something else."

"Right," I said. "Sorry." Looking around, I could see there were still airships in the sky. Too far away to hit with my grapnel from here, but if I could get up one of those towers… "I got it!"

I immediately took off for the nearest tower. I didn't expect anyone to follow, but when I looked back Tails was headed back to the main group. As I approached the tower, I could hear their chatter over my phone.

"We made it so far," Knuckles said with a grunt of frustration. "We were so close."

"This is truly world-shattering!" Espio said.

Vector also growled in frustration. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Maybe we need to fight fire with fire," Tails said. "If you can get close enough to that sun, the prototype should cancel out the effect."

"You'll be burnt to a crisp before then!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Give it up, rookie! Fall back!"

I think I can see what Tails was trying to do. He was telling everyone what I was doing so they could cheer me on. So far, it wasn't working. No one had faith in me. I was just going to have to prove them wrong.

"If you have a better plan, boss, you better get to it," I said. "'Cause if I'm getting a sunburn regardless, I might as well take a crack at that sun while I still can!"

The tower was a difficult climb, and Eggman's robots weren't making it any easier. I could still hear what everyone was saying. They realized it was pointless to dissuade me and could only pray for my safety. And, of course, Eggman wouldn't be Eggman if he didn't put his two cents in.

"You think you can stop the sun?" he said, taunting me with an evil laugh. "You'll burn up like a moth drawn to a flame. It's over."

"If you ask me, I'd say things are looking sunny-side up," I said. I hit a bumper that sent me flying to the next part of the tower.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"Yeah, yolk's on you, huevos rancheros," I said pointedly, gesticulating at my phone as if Eggman could see me through it. "'Cause your plans are getting scrambled! I'mma poach that sun, and it'll be over easy!"

Admittedly, I have no idea what was with the egg puns. I may have skipped breakfast that morning. In any case, it seemed to shut him up. There was a moment of silence, so I thought I might've broken him.

…And that's when the giant laser started chasing me.

"You're a real soldier now, rookie," Knuckles said. "You can do this!"

I must have been getting close because everyone was cheering me on now. Despite certain death being on my tail, I couldn't help but crack a grin. This was the kind of hero I wanted to be. I had restored hope where it had been lost! Now I just had to bring those hopes to life!

"Hang in there a bit longer!" Amy said as I reached the final stretch: a flat-out run on a ramp curving around the tower.

"Show everyone what you're made of!" Vector said. Even as the giant laser closed in, I could see the top ahead of me.

"C'mon, you can make it!" Knuckles said.

I finally made it to the top, but there was no time to rest. With the giant laser right behind me, I ran to the opposite side of the roof and leapt off. I shot my grapnel into the sky. It was a wild shot and flew right by the ship I was trying to hit. I don't know what it did hit, but I found myself flying straight towards the burning orb in the sky.

I heard Infinite say, "Make peace with your fate, because you're lives are now over!" I'm certain it was over the phone as he addressed the others, but it felt like it went straight into my head.

I could feel the sheer malevolence exuded by the sun even before I began to feel its heat. It was something beyond anger, beyond even hatred. Just a pure desire to see all that lived, all that stood, everything that represented life on this world smashed, torn to pieces, and razed to the ground. A desire to see all the fear and agony in every person, every robot, every unsuspecting being that could bear witness to this glorious masterpiece of destruction. A malevolence that no one was safe from. Not even Eggman.

I don't know if it was the light or the emotions, but I could feel my eyes tearing up. Infinite was a monster. A monster that would stab its own master in the back without a second thought with both malice and forethought. I was certain of it.

The heat and spite were stifling. Crushing. I was practically choking on it. It filled me with terror and doubt. I could feel the wire trembling as I grew closer. Even the Phantom Ruby prototype in my hand seemed to tremble in its presence, as if it were mirroring my emotions. I started to doubt myself again. Just being this close to the sun was hard. I wanted to go back. Back to easier times. Back to what I understood. Back to what I loved.

The line suddenly snapped right in front of me. The momentum carried me up further towards the sun, but I could feel gravity start to take over. For a moment, I was floating, hovering in a state of freefall. It would have been so easy to just turn around, just let myself fall back to Earth.

But…

"No!" I heard myself shout. I reached out and grabbed the wire in front of me, twisting it around my hand. "That is not the way back!" I began pulling myself upward. "Phantom Ruby prototype! Can you hear me!? I can feel you, just as you feel me! Listen to me! I want to go back! I want to see my family again! I want to laugh with my friends again! I want to kick Eggman and Infinite's butts! But what we want isn't behind us!"

I shot another wire into the sun and speed up my advance.

"If we turn around now, everything we've fought for will vanish!" I continued. "What we want is straight ahead of us! The only thing standing in our way is that sun! Don't you want things, too? Do you want to just be another failed prototype, or do you want to show that so-called 'Perfect' Phantom Ruby what a real ultimate weapon looks like!?"

I could feel the heat and malevolence ebb away as the prototype's aura enveloped me. I grit my teeth and readied my Wispon for the final attack. "Let's do this, Ruby!"

"Unlimited colors!"

That voice! It was the same voice that the Wispons used to report their status, usually calling out their name when fully charged. I had never heard it say this before, though.

"Drill!" it said, identifying the Wispon I already had. "Burst!"

The red, flamethrowing Wispon appeared in the air in front of me and attached itself to the side of the Drill with a satisfying clank and a spray of sparks.

"Lightning!"

The ivory-colored, electric Wispon appeared and snapped onto the opposite side.

"Cube! Asteroid! Hover! Void!" All the Wispons had combined to form a colorful Gatling gun. "Final Color Blaster!"

"C'mon, is that all you got!?" I demanded. "I said a real ultimate weapon! Dream a little bigger!"

"All the Colors!" the voice declared as Wispons I've never seen before and probably didn't exist started to appear. "Boost! Frenzy! Spikes! Laser! Rocket!"

I could hear Eggman laugh and begin his countdown. "Three."

"Eagle! Rhythm! Quake! Bomb!"

"Two."

"Omega! Silver! Shadow! Rouge!"

"One."

"Vector! Charmy! Espio! Knuckles! Amy! Tails! Sonic!"

"Zero!"

Every single one stacked onto the front of the Wispon, making it longer and longer. A purple glow rose from the base of the Wispon and enveloped it in a column of light. When it faded, the Wispon had become a massive, purple-and-black, crystal sword.

"PHANTOM CRISIS EX-COLOR-BUR!"

"SAY GOODNIGHT!" I shouted as I raised the Phantom Crisis Excolorbur above my head and swung it down as hard as I could. The sun loosed a roaring torrent of searing-hot wind as the sword tore a gash in its surface. The sun seemed to explode all over again, shattering the sword and enveloping my world in a bright, white light.

Then everything went dark. All I could hear was the sound of wind rushing past my ears. And then…

…Cheering.

"The sun!" I heard Knuckles say over my phone. "It's gone!"

I opened my eyes and let out a laugh. I was never before so happy to see such a dark and dreary sky. "Yeah! I did it!"

I used the last of the Phantom Ruby prototype's power to fly back to the tower. I could feel it waning as I approached and used my grapnel to swing to the tower before the Ruby gave out. My feet hit the tower uncertainly and the world began to blur. I guess I used up all my energy, too, and the adrenaline was starting to wear off. I stumbled and fell face-first onto the roof. Maybe I was just feeling loopy, but I could swear I heard a "Thank you" just before the Phantom Ruby prototype hit the roof and shattered in my hand.

"Ruby," I groaned. I felt like I had just lost a friend…

…Well, maybe it didn't go quite like that…

"Impossible!" Eggman said as he flew up to the roof. "I thought all the prototypes were destroyed!"

"A costly oversight, Doctor," Tails said as he flew over to me. "This is why I always check and double check as any good scientist would." He helped me to my feet and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I croaked out. "But how's Sonic?"

"Sonic?" Tails said. "He seemed fine to me. Why?"

"I just thought he might be having a hard time," I explained. "If he had been conditioned to be afraid of a virtual sun…"

Eggman laughed. "A brilliant idea! If only I had thought of it sooner! Perfect! I'm writing that one down!"

"What?" I said. "You didn't…?"

"Crisis," Tails said. "You do realize there are two Sonics here, right? Heck, I don't think any of us were waiting for Sonic to save the day. If any of us thought we could've done something, we would've."

"Oh, well," I said, stammering as I tried to find the words. Suffice it to say, I felt like an idiot. "I guess I was worrying for nothing." I turned back to Eggman. "I don't understand, though. He doesn't look like he's been tortured. What did you do to him?"

"Spoilers," Eggman said with an evil cackle.

"What?" I replied uncomprehendingly. It sounded to me like he expected us to find out on our own.

"You mad man!" Tails exclaimed.

"Sonic may be the fastest thing alive in terms of overall land speed," Eggman explained, "But he's very slow to consume media. With such a huge backlog of shows, books and games left unfinished, how could I not take every opportunity to ruin each and every experience for him? And with so little to do on the Death Egg, it was a simple matter to get him hooked on something new and start the cycle all over again!"

"You monster!" I replied as his laughter echoed through the Iron Fortress. "Have you no shame, you cruel creature!?"

By this time, our fleet had moved in. Battles were now flaring up in the skies above as well as on the ground below. Our troops had broken through the front line of virtual villains and were swarming into the fortress itself.

"I'll deal with you two later,"Eggman laughed before flying off to marshal his own forces.

"And we were so looking forward to catching up on The Walking Dead together, too," Tails said, shaking his head sadly.

This seemed like a good time to relax. We were relatively isolated up here, and with an entire army and two Sonics no one was going to miss the two of us in this battle. But something was still bothering me.

"That must have used up a ton of energy," Tails said into his phone. "The Phantom Ruby should be weaker now! This is our only chance to defeat Infinite!"

"Where is Infinite?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Tails said. "He disappeared shortly after the sun did. He probably hid so he could recharge the Phantom Ruby in safety."

I looked at the Phantom Ruby dust still lingering on my fingers. "I dunno. I still have a bad feeling."

I heard the chatter over my phone and looked to the skies. Our air support had taken heavy losses and was forced to turn back.

"I'm going to find Sonic," I said. I took a running leap off the building and swung through the fortress with my grapnel.

"Wait!" Tails said as he flew after me. "Are you sure you can handle this?"

"I just took out the sun," I said. "I think I can handle anything."

"And you could barely stand afterwards!" Tails argued.

"I just got my second wind," I said. "I'll be alright. You find the other Sonic in case he needs back up."

"Alright," Tails said glumly before he took off. "You just be careful."

Tracking down Sonic wasn't difficult. Few others could leave a trail of explosions as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, Infinite had found him first.

"Pathetic little hedgehog," Infinite said. Sonic was still on the party line and I could hear every word. "Even with the Phantom Ruby weakened, I still have enough power to smash you into blue jelly. I'll show you just how outclassed you really are!"

"I'm in a class all my own!" Sonic said. "Time to put-up or shut up, Infinite!"

Curse my luck. The fight was already starting, and I was about a minute away from their location. I had no doubt Sonic could hold out until I arrived, probably even defeat him, but I didn't want to leave anything to chance. Besides, I had a score to settle, too.

"What would you like your epitaph to read?" Infinite asked. "How about 'Here lies the blue buffoon'?"

"Why not 'Here dozes the masked clown'?" Sonic suggested. "Might as well make it for the person who needs one, right?"

Heh. Classic Sonic.

Their running battle didn't make them any easier to catch up to, but those red voxel pinwheels were unmistakable. Not to mention Infinite was absolutely huge now. Eventually, Sonic managed to break through Infinite's defenses and crash into him. This stopped Infinite in his tracks, but he was still hovering above the course.

"You're done for, Sonic," Infinite said as the glow around him intensified. "The Phantom Ruby's energy is recharged." He unleashed a virtual shock wave, but it barely made Sonic flinch. "Perish, along with your useless friends!"

I finally made it! I shot a wire past Infinite, distracting him from whatever it was he was about to do, and landed next to Sonic.

"You!" Infinite growled.

"My friends got me this far," Sonic said.

"And together we're gonna win!" I concluded.

"You're even finishing each other's sentences," Infinite remarked dryly as we began to chase after him. "How adorable. But friends are nothing but a fleeting illusion. You can count on nobody but yourself!"

"Your mask can't hide how sad and lonely you are!" Sonic shot back. "That Phantom Ruby virtual reality of yours is the real illusion!"

"And how about you get some new material?" I said as we wove around his pinwheels. "Your entire army is just four guys repeated over and over! And this fight's just like the one we had with Metal Sonic!"

"This is nothing like that battle!" Infinite said as he barreled into us.

"You kind of have to admit, it's pretty similar," Sonic said as we dove out of his path.

"Enough out of you!" Infinite said as he reappeared before us and summoned a ring of Motobugs around himself. "You won't have room to criticize when you're dead!"

"I was thinking the same thing!" Sonic said as we blew through his defenses. We struck him squarely in the face and sent him reeling. "Here goes, partner!" The two of us joined hands once more. "When we join forces, the sky's the limit! Double BOOST!"

"Hey, Infinite," I said was we plowed through him and sent him crashing to the ground. "Feeling challenged yet?"

"Impossible," Infinite said as he dragged himself to his feet. "I cannot be defeated."

"Wrong, loser!" Sonic replied. "The things that can't be defeated are heart, soul, and the bonds of friendship. Three things you and your counterfeit cronies lack!"

Infinite's form began to flicker and fade away before our eyes.

"No, wait!" he cried out as he reached out to us. "I can still fight!"

He struggled to remain visible before disappearing in a streak of red light that shot to the top of the Central Tower behind us. We just stood there in utter bewilderment without any clue what just happened. It as if he had been dragged away by an unseen power. Before we could speculate, Eggman descended upon us.

"You never fail to surprise me, Sonic," he said. "I didn't believe Infinite could lose. Victory will be so much sweeter when I defeat you. Don't think this is over yet, you blue nuisance. My plan just went into overtime!"

Eggman didn't stick around to banter further and instead took off to prepare his revised ultimate plan. There was no time for us to rest, either. We had to find a way into the central tower so we could take out the source of the Phantom Ruby's power. Even without having to fight off hordes of monsters, finding the entrance was surprisingly difficult. We had teams crawling all over that tower only to turn up nothing, but fortunately the other Sonic managed to find a way in. After that, it was up to me and our Sonic to charge in and finish the job.

"The Phantom Ruby is headed for the reactor," Tails told us over the phone as the two of us raced down the corridor. "You have to hurry!"

"The reactor is in the innermost part of the fortress," Amy explained. "But the defense system is too tough to break through by normal means."

"Good thing we're not normal," Sonic said. "We'll find a way through!"

Between the giant, grinding gears and the laser-shooting robots, the corridor was tight and dangerous to maneuver in. And then there were the electrified rails we had to grind down. Fortunately, the sequence they charged in was predictable enough that our quick reflexes got us through relatively unscathed.

"What are in all these tubes?" I wondered aloud as I noticed the walls we were grinding past. "They look like… Jackals?"

"So this is where Eggman built Infinite," Tails noted.

"It's so sad," Amy lamented. "What a lonely place to be brought into the world."

"Wait," I said as the grinding ceased and we were dodging lasers and gears again. "Infinite's a robot?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he be?" Sonic asked. "Robots are kinda Eggman's thing."

"But what about the time he tricked Knuckles into fighting you?" I said. "Or summoned Chaos to fight you? Or tricked Shadow into fighting you? Or used a magic trumpet to controls demons to…?"

"First of all, it was a conch shell," Sonic said. "And secondly, why would Eggman install his most powerful weapon into something he couldn't control?"

"Yeah, well," I said, faltering. "I don't know, but Infinite doesn't look, sound, feel, smell, or taste at all like a robot."

"How do you know what a robot tastes like?" Sonic asked. "How do you know what Infinite tastes like?"

"Er, well…" I stammered awkwardly. "You see, a couple months ago…"

"The reactor is close," Tails interrupted. "Hurry!"

I was thankful for that interruption. I did not want to talk about that right then. Or now, for that matter. Please, just forget I brought it up.

Before long, we dropped into the reactor's core. It was a massive, round chamber with a huge tube in the center. Around it were three more tubes, each containing what looked like a massive Phantom Ruby.

"Well, I'll be," Knuckles said. "They made it! They actually made it!"

"Gee, don't sound too surprised, boss," I said.

"I could use a little breather right about now," Sonic said as robots began to close in around us. "I'll feel better once we blow this thing to pieces!"

"Right," I said as I revved up my Drill Wispon. "Step one: Destroy everything. Step two: Leg it. Step four: Profit!"

"What happened to step three?" Sonic asked.

"Still working on it," I said.

We split up, each going around the around the core on opposite sides. We quickly took out the robots and the first two tubes, then dodged lasers while double-teaming the third. Soon, the whole thing was coming down around us and we booked it out through an exhaust shaft.

"Pretty thrilling, huh, partner?" Sonic said as the massive wall of flame closed in behind us.

"I dunno," I said, side-stepping some falling debris. "Could use a few more explosions."

"It's time to head back." He extended his hand to me again for the third time today. "Everyone's waiting for us. Double BOOST!"

The entire shaft was already starting to collapse, explosions erupting ahead of us as well as from behind. At the speed we were going, though, the flames could barely touch us and the disintegrating structure was more than steady enough to launch our every step forward. We soon shot out from the shaft like bullets, complete with muzzle flash from the shaft behind us. We dropped to the ground before the eruption could catch us and make a perfect landing as Tails flew over to us with the other Sonic in tow.

"We did it!" Sonic declared. "Eggman's army is officially butt-kicked. We won!"

The two of us turned to fist bump, only to be interrupted by a tremor that almost knocked us off our feet.

"Oh, come on!" Sonic griped. "Now what? Can't we ever just win and have that be the end of it?"

"Look!" Tails said as he pointed behind us.

We turned to see a massive robot rise from the crater behind us. The steel-gray, multi-limbed monstrosity slithered into the air on a singular, segmented tail. It loomed over us, light from its honeycombed energy barrier reflecting off the windshield over the iris in its chest.

"Gotcha!" Eggman's voice blared out from an unseen amplifier. "The fortress reactor was just a decoy. A true winner keeps his trump card hidden until the end."

"I knew we were forgetting something," I remarked with a tired sigh.

"Sonic, what's going on?" Vector demanded over the phone. "There aren't less enemies! There's MORE!"

Tails' reaction mirrored my own. "What!?"

"How could there be so many?" Amy cried out.

"Confirmed sightings indicate Shadow, Metal Sonic, Zavok, Chaos, Infinite…" Rouge reported. "Thousands of them!"

"What have you done!?" Sonic demanded.

Eggman's vile laugh echoed from within the robot. "I merely incorporated the Phantom Ruby into this Death Egg Robot."

"So it's like a Phantom Death Egg Robot?" I remarked, pondering the implications of the nomenclature. "A Death Egg Phantasm?"

"You're missing the bigger picture here!" Tails said. "This means the Phantom Ruby no longer has a vulnerable energy supply. It's an invulnerable ruby!"

"A good deduction, Tails," Eggman said. "This Death Egg Robot has… No, I have surpassed Infinite to become the complete and ultimate form. You will be crushed by this Mega Death Egg Robot powered by the Phantom Ruby, and in the end everything will still be just as I planned!"

He laughed maniacally as the Phantom Ruby unleashed a shockwave that nearly knocked us off our feet.

"You know what?" I said with an exasperated sigh. "I've had about enough out of you." I turned to Sonic, gesticulating wildy. "Look at what we're dealing with, man! You gotta draw the line somewhere! You gotta draw a line in the proverbial sand, dude! You gotta make a statement! You gotta look inside yourself and say, 'What am I willing to put up with today!?' Not remotely this!"

"Your plan will end like all your plans do," Sonic said to Eggman as the other Sonic and I stepped forward. "With you sitting on a pile of busted robot parts wondering how you failed so badly." He turned to us. "Let's get 'em."

"He's overclocking the Phantom Ruby!" Tails reported over the phone as the three of us charged into the fray. "That's insane!"

"No regular tool can damage it now." Rouge said as we leapt over a giant laser fired from the robot's eye. "You're our last chance!"

The Death Egg Robot dug its hands into the ground and dredged up a shower of boulders to throw our way.

"Give it your all, Sonic!" Tails said as the other Sonic charged forward. "You'll always be our shining hope!"

The other Sonic leapt up and headed one of the boulders like a Soccer ball. It flew straight towards the robot's windshield, only to bounce off the energy barrier and fly towards us again! The other Sonic knocked it back again, this time with enough force to make it break through the barrier and crack the robot's windshield.

After that, the robot began launching homing missiles from its fingers. We split up, running in different directions to confuse the missiles and destroy the Egg Pawns that appeared before us. I ran straight for the Death Egg Robot, only deviating from my course to leapt out of the path of its monumental fist.

"Go on, rookie!" Vector cheered as I leapt onto the hand and ran up the arm. "I know you can do this!"

"Our fate is in your hands!" Silver declared.

I used my grapnel to zip-line to the cracked windshield before Eggman could swat me off.

"Knock knock!" I said as I revved up my Drill Wispon and began boring into the windshield. Sparks flew as more and more cracks spidered across the already-damaged surface. Before I could break it myself, however, a rhythmic beating echoed from within the robot. It shook so hard, I could no longer maintain my stance and had to zip-line back to the ground.

The Sonics joined me as we watched the glass shatter and the iris behind it pucker outwards. After several tense moments, a white tentacle broke through, quickly followed by several more before a smaller machine burst forth from the Death Egg Robot's chest. The world disappeared around us as we beheld this new, Eldritch machination and we found ourselves in null space once again.

The null space we sped through in pursuit of the robot was different from the one Infinite had banished us to earlier. It was far darker, like the blackness of space with streams of ruby mist between us and the stars. A road of cubes rose up to meet us as before, but they, too, were darker than the last ones.

"End this, Sonic!" Knuckles decreed as we dodged the lasers the robot spewed. "Defeat him!"

"Go for it, Sonic!" Amy cheered as we avoided the streams of red voxels the robot exhaled at us.

"Hey, there's three of us here, you know!" I complained as we closed in and Sonic leapt at the robot. With several successive blows, it slowed down enough for the other Sonic and I to get our licks in as well. We pounded away at the machine, I decided I had one last thing I needed to get off my chest. "You guys, I know this is a bad time, so I'll make this quick. These last three days have been the most amazing in my life. I want this moment to last forever! I want this feeling to never end! I love you, each and every one of you, so very much! Even if we never met again after this, I will always remember this, and that memory will only get more glorious with time! So let's make this a moment worth remembering!"

"You said it!" Sonic said as we leapt into the air. "There is nothing the three of us can't achieve together!" We sailed through the air, picking up speed as spiraled around each other. "Victory is ours for the taking! TripleBOOST!"

We surged right through the robot, resulting in what I'm sure was a glorious explosion as null space crumbled. Reality asserted itself once again, and without the Phantom Ruby's influence the army of virtual villains vanished into nothingness. The soldiers were already cheering as we caught up with them. It was finally over.

But with this victory came one last tragedy. Although he persisted longer than the virtual villains, without the Phantom Ruby's power there was nothing keeping the other Sonic in our reality. Now that Eggman and Infinite had been defeated and peace was restored, the only unfinished business he had was to see us one last time.

"I guess this is good bye," Tails said as the other Sonic began to fade. "Get home safely, Sonic, and thanks for everything!"

The two shook hands and the other Sonic gave a thumbs-up. We all kept our distance to give them space, but we all waved as the blue motes rising from him increased. Tails and the other Sonic gave one last fist bump, and the other Sonic waved back to us. Tails reached out to him once more, only for his hand to pass through the other Sonic as he faded away entirely.

Sonic put a hand on Tails' shoulder as we walked up to him. Tails looked like he had lost his best friend, and in a way I guess he did. He was as close to the other Sonic as he was with ours, and with Sonic teaming up with me so often Tails must've been spending a lot more time with the other one.

"Cheer up, Tails," Sonic said. "I'm sure we'll run into him again."

Tails seemed satisfied with that, and Sonic was probably right, but I still wanted to hug him.

"Alright, guys!" Sonic said as the turned to the crowd. "It's time we cleaned up the mess that Eggman left this world in, and I'm not talking about those illusions he dreamed up for us! We need to fix the real world we all live in!"

"True dat," Tails said.

"Here, here," I said.

"C'mon, let's go!" Sonic said as he led the way back to HQ.

Time passed and reconstruction was underway. I felt like I was waking up from a long dream. It started as a nightmare, but as I struggled and persevered it transformed into my greatest fantasy. Soon, the world would be as it once was, if not better, and we'd all get to finally go home.

And yet, I couldn't shake this feeling. The one I had before we left Metropolis. Like the other Sonic, the only reason I was here was ultimately the Phantom Ruby. Would I fade away, too? Would I be remembered? How? As a hero who stood on my own, or as another one of Sonic's friends? Would I ever see the world I saved, or go home and toil in obscurity? But, most pressing of all, what did I want to do?

I was thinking these things at my last meeting with the Resistance. Most of us were in the situation room, chatting amongst ourselves, although I was staring up at the main screen lost in thought. I reached into my pocket and was amused to find my Sonic doll there instead of the Phantom Ruby prototype as had been the case recently.

What would Sonic do? I smiled to myself. I think I had a pretty good idea.

Eventually Knuckles walked in, and the only one of us not present was Sonic.

"Finally, an end to this endless battle," Knuckles said. "Everyone can go back home and relax. There's no need for the Resistance."

"Hold on," Silver said as he hopped off the crate he was sitting on. "There's still a lot we need to do. We're just getting started."

"Hey, boss," I said Knuckles. "I need to tell you something."

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"I think this is going to be my last day," I said. I still felt uncertain, but I had already made up my mind. "I want… I need to get out there and strike out on my own. If I don't do it now, I don't know if I'll ever be able to again."

"You're leaving us?" Knuckles said. "There are others who need your help… But OK, I'm not gonna stop you."

"Man," Vector said as he shook his head. "The first time I saw you stumbling around, I had no idea you could pull this thing together and see it through to the end." He walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I've changed my mind about you."

I chuckled awkwardly. "Thanks… I think."

"I knew you'd come through, rookie," Knuckles said, crossing his arms. "Well, I guess you're not a rookie anymore!"

"You did good out there," Rouge said as she shoved Knuckles aside on her way to me. "It's not like you just waited till the last minute to come in and act all cool saving the day."

She was, of course, referring to Omega, who attempted to swat at her. Shadow chuckled from the corner.

"Our battle is done," Tails said as he approached the table we had gathered around by now, "And our resistance has come to a conclusion, but we'll be friends forever. A single person cannot restore the entire world. We have to work together and make a diligent effort."

We all nodded in agreement.

After the meeting, there was one last thing I needed to take care of. The sun was setting in the City, and I walked out to a terrace with a view of the bay. I was only half surprised to find Sonic there waiting for me.

"Hey, you're taking off, too?" he asked, turning slightly towards me as I walked up next to him. "I was thinking the same thing. You gonna keep moving forward? No matter what, yeah? Heh, you and I aren't so different."

"Yeah," I chuckled. I held my hands behind my back and looked out at the bay. "I just have one last thing I need to do." I took out my Sonic doll. "I've had this doll for as long as I can remember. When we all thought you were dead, and Eggman took over the world, I would pray to you. Even though you couldn't save me in real life, I hoped you would save my soul. When I felt overwhelmed, I would pray to you for strength."

I was focused on the doll the whole time, too embarrassed to look at him as I spoke. I thought he might be creeped out, but when I finally met his face he looked… touched?

"Did you get what you wanted?" he asked with a smile. I guess he already knew the answer.

I nodded happily. "And more." I looked out at the bay again. "I came out here because I thought that maybe I didn't need this anymore. We're equals now, true heroes who inspire such strength in others, so I don't need to borrow yours anymore. So I thought the best way to symbolize that was to toss away this vestige of my former, weaker self. And what better place than right here, right now?"

I raised my hand to do just that, but Sonic grabbed it.

"You might not need my strength anymore," he said as he brought my hand back down, "But you'll still have it anytime you want."

I smiled at him. "I know. I was actually hoping to run into you." I put the doll in my pocket and pulled out a second trinket. "I came to the same conclusion, and, by the same token, you will always have my strength, too."

I handed him a doll I fashioned in my own likeness. It was smaller than the Sonic doll and not nearly as articulated. Really more of a charm than anything else.

"I made that in the 3D printer before I left," I explained. "I kinda figured, since I would pray to you, maybe… you could… pray to me?"

Sonic laughed and shook his head. "You're one in a million, Crisis." He took the charm and gripped it in his hand. "Thanks."

I couldn't hold back anymore and hugged him. Not in a romantic way or anything. I just wanted to touch him, one last time, the way Tails couldn't with the other Sonic. But then I pricked my fingers on his quills and recoiled, swearing loudly. I guess I forgot he was a hedgehog for a moment.

"And that is why we fist bump," Sonic said with a chuckle as he held up his fist. I returned the gesture. "See ya later, Crisis!"

With that, he was off. He turned one last time to give me a thumbs-up and I waved back at him.

Once his back was turned, I examined my hand. It still hurt from the quills, but it didn't look like I drew blood. I smiled, still feeling the impression of his knuckles against mine. One more pair of gloves for the bronzer, I guess. I took off in the opposite direction, leaping from the terrace and swinging with my grapnel. I was certain I would see him again, but until then I had other adventures waiting for me!

Hey, all. Avernale/Desperado Coyote/Crisis Robo here. I wanted to thank you all for reading my fic, especially those of you who commented, faved, shared, etc. It's great knowing people actually liked it, or at least wanted to have a link to it for whatever reason. It was really encouraging, and I didn't want to disappoint all the followers I was getting.

Even though this is the end of the game's story, it's not necessarily the end of Crisis'. I have a couple "Extra" episodes in mind, and I might just write them! So stay tuned and… Wait, what the…?

Crisis grunted in annoyance as she felt the sun on her face. She rolled over, covering her face with her pillow, only to hear the telltale clatter of a Nintendo Switch hitting floor. Must've fallen asleep playing that Sonic game again. That explains the dream she had last night.

With an exasperated sigh, she reached down and picked up her Switch. She tried to turn it on, but it just flashed a low battery warning at her before shutting back down again. Great, now it needed to be recharged again.

As she got up and returned the device to its charging dock, she reflected on the dream she had. She remembered it so vividly and so fondly, it almost made her want to cry. To actually be in the game with Sonic. Too bad this one was so mediocre. Well, maybe next time…

She turned around and noticed something on her desk. For a moment, she thought she was seeing things. She was tired, groggy, and not wearing her glasses, so she might not be focused enough to properly interpret what she was seeing. As she drew closer, though, she realized there was indeed a Drill Wispon on her desk. And on that Wispon was a note:

To Crisis:

You left in such a hurry, you forgot to take this with you. I figured the Daybreaker shouldn't be without her signature weapon.

-Silver

"Daybreaker, huh?" Crisis said to herself with a smirk. She liked the sound of that. Something told her that her adventures were only just beginning…