Author Notes: As I write this on my iPhone, it sure does look like the longest chapter yet. It is also the most revised, as I edited it several times before getting the final product.
I think sometimes the most fun part about writing this is coming up to solutions to problems that replacing Dragonball characters with Sonic ones creates. It took me way to long to figure out a name for Namek, and I still am trying to decide between two different parties for the Ginyu Force. But anyways, I'm not gonna spoil anything. You'll just have to read. Hope you enjoy it!
...
Episode #7
"Earth's Only Defense: Part 2"
"Time Runs Out"
...
A bright light, gleaming brighter than the sun itself.
A jewel, losing it's luster and becoming gray; dull.
Himself, lying on his back, drawing his last breaths.
The saiyan. Death. Destruction.
Knuckles snapped back to reality.
That dream has haunted me for so long. Today, I find out what it all means.
He looked down at the little half-saiyan next to him, Tails. He was still shaking from what had happened over two hours ago.
"Tails, we can't beat him if you don't man up."
"He- he- he killed-"
"That's a part of battle. He'll kill you too if you don't help me beat him."
"But, what if I'm not-"
"Tails, do you think you can beat him?"
Tails shook his head.
"Then you will lose. You are strong enough to do this, but that means nothing if you don't have the guts to go with that strength."
Tails sheepishly nodded.
The landscape melted past Sonic as he ran by suburbia at incredible speed.
That training under ten times gravity that I undertook really boosted my speed! This is awesome!
"Whoo!" Sonic whooped for joy as he felt the wind brush past his face, doing what he loved best. But as he came over a crest in the road, he was brought back to reality as the ruined city of Station Square came into view. Sonic, forgetting about the saiyan for a moment, stopped and took in the horrible sight. The smell of gasoline rose with the smoke that filled the sky. He could still feel some remnant chaos energy residing in the ruins. Sonic bolted into the city, feeling for any remaining life energy. The rescue workers from nearby towns were just now arriving. The city outskirts were the least damaged, with a few buildings still standing. But the inner city was just one large blast crater filled with rubble. Sewage pipes had been torn from the ground and were poking out in to the crater in many places, and the awful smell of gas suggested the disaster wasn't over yet. Sonic turned, then dashed towards a condominium that was creating a terrible scraping sound that suggested it's supports were failing.
I can sense some life energy in there somewhere. There're still two people inside!
Sonic spotted a steel beam sticking out of the ground near him. He backed up and ran at it, using it as a ramp to propel him into a sixth story window. He pushed off the edge of the beam and directed himself towards the building. Glass shattered as he crashed through a window, creating a chaos shield to protect himself. He had landed in a hallway. The ceiling lights were either shattered or inactive, and the hallway smelled of more gasoline. The end of the hallway was blocked with rubble, so the window was the only way in or out.
They're three doors down...
The door to the condo was bolted shut, so Sonic did the polite thing and knocked. When that didn't work, he yelled, "Hey! This whole building is about to come down! Get outta there!"
He stood there for a few seconds before hearing the door unlock. The door opened to a blonde female who looked to be around twenty years old, shaking with fear. Sonic attempted to calm her.
"It's okay. I'm gonna get you out."
She shoved a ball of wrapped blankets into his hands.
"Take the baby first."
The building groaned. Sonic didn't argue, running back to the window and jumping out. He flew over to the nearest ambulance and dropped the baby into a bewildered paramedic's hands. Before she could say anything Sonic was off, back to the condominium. He flew towards the window, but stopped when he realized the window was falling. He looked down and realized the entire building was collapsing. He dropped to the ground and watched, horrified. When the smoke cleared, the female's energy was gone. And so was the building.
After double and triple checking for any more survivors, Sonic sullenly walked back to the outskirts, realizing there was a huge output of chaos energy occurring about a mile away.
Idiot! The saiyan is out there and you're wasting time here.
Not wasting time. I saved a life.
But was it at the cost of my friends?
Ten minutes remained until the battle would resume, and neither Shadow nor Knuckles had moved from their spots once. Knuckles had been taking a real good look at Shadow, noting that had no scouter like Scourge did. He had the same haircut as Sonic, though the quill directions were reversed in some spots and there were red streaks running along the back if them. He had two golden rings around his wrists that seemed to constantly emit chaos energy for some reason, and his shoes were very stylized, almost looking too big.
As time ran out, Tails felt he might burst from a mix of anticipation and fear. He paced around Knuckles until his mentor grabbed his head and brought him to a stop.
"Stop that. Pacing makes me nervous."
"You get nervous?"
"You make me nervous."
Knuckles watched as the kitsune sat down next to him and leaned on him, and realized how much Tails looked up to him.
I've become a surrogate father for him without even realizing it. And, I hate to admit it, but I've become somewhat attached to the little guy. I'd hate to see something happen to him.
But I'll do what I have to in order to win.
Knuckles noticed the bush behind Shadow rustle as something inside it shifted it's position. A middle-aged cameraman who apparently thought no one could see him was hiding inside the shrub, holding a camera. The red light that indicated that he was filming was on, practically acting as a beacon and making it impossible to not notice him. Shadow finally moved, standing up. Without even looking at the cameraman, he shot a chaos wave at him, disintegrating both the cameraman and the bush.
"I hate the media."
Knuckles felt Tails nudge him.
"What?"
"Why did he k-kill that guy? He wasn't even doing anything."
Knuckles eyed Tails, seeing that the kit couldn't keep his hands from shaking.
"He felt like it."
Tails sat down, amazed that anyone could be so ruthless.
"Even I wouldn't have done that... not even during my battle with Sonic. We fought each other, and only each other. There was no reason to kill the innocents."
They all stayed as they were for another fifteen minutes before Shadow's voice suddenly cut through the silence.
"I'm bored. We're starting now."
"We still have a few minutes!" Knuckles was outraged.
"Kakarott would've been here by now even if he had been on the other side of the planet! You've been stalling, and I'm tired of it."
Knuckles looked to his side and noticed Tails was cowered behind a rock a few feet away.
"Tails, get up."
Tails scrambled to his feet, reluctantly getting ready to fight. As soon as Shadow had taken a step forward, Tails dove behind Knuckles in fear.
"What a coward. You sure he's a saiyan? Or does he just get that from his father?"
Tails stepped out from behind Knuckles, his face hardened, and he emanated anger that Knuckles didn't know he had.
"What did you just say?"
"Hey! I want to fight the echidna first. Get out of the way runt."
Did he just call me echidna?
Tails raised his right hand, about to create a chaos sphere.
"Tails, stop!"
Tails froze, then lowered his hand.
"What's an echidna?"
Shadow leaned his head back and chuckled.
"You really don't know what you are? I really don't feel like giving you a history lesson."
"Humor me."
Shadow grinned, then sat back down.
"Fine. Echidna are a race of beings like you, who live on a planet called... oh, the name escapes me. Mu- no, Mobius! That's it."
"So how did I end up here?"
"I don't know, and don't care. I had thought you came here specifically to create the Chaos Emeralds."
"You think I created the Chaos Emeralds? That's a little far-fetched."
Shadow let out a groan of impatience, replying, "Well I just assumed since Echidna are known for their strange powers, you had created them."
Locke! Locke was the creator of the Emeralds! That must be what I saw! The Emeralds, losing their power when one of us dies!
"Are you done with your questions?"
Tails glanced back at Knuckles, who lowered his head in the affirmitive. Tails turned back towards Shadow.
"I am not a coward!"
He fired an energy disk from his hands, then strafed to the left while Knuckles jumped over him. Shadow ducked under the disk just as Knuckles was directly above him, firing a chaos blast. Shadow rolled to his left as Knuckles' blast destroyed the area where he had been. But now Tails was in front of him. Charging as he was going to attack, only to jump out of the way at the second, as Knuckles flattened Shadow with another blast. Shadow kept moving, getting up quickly and launching a barrage of blasts in all directions, causing Knuckles and Tails to dive for cover. The blasts kicked up a huge amount of dirt and dust, covering the field in a dirt cloud.
They'll never find me in this stuff.
But Shadow was proven wrong as Knuckles materialized from the cloud right in front of Shadow, throwing a kick at him. Shadow raised a hand to block just in time. Knuckles quickly retreated and rushed around Shadow's side, feinting to Shadow's right and aiming left with a punch to the side, but Shadow had anticipated it and sidestepped it, grabbing Knuckles arm. He attempted to pull Knuckles over his head, but Knuckles pulled him down as he pushed off the ground and rammed his head into Shadow's. Shadow tried to create a chaos barrier to block Knuckles, but it exploded in their faces when Knuckles broke through it, causing them to slide away in opposite directions across the field before coming to a stop about ten yards away from where they had been. Knuckles grabbed his head, which was throbbing with pain.
Crud! No one wins with a head-butt.
As Knuckles got to his knees, he had his back turned to the sky. He felt Shadow rise above him, then the strong energy of a chaos attack emanated from above him. He rolled away as the blast vaporized the section of Earth where he had been, leaving a crater about his size. Shadow gazed at Knuckles, in disbelief.
That's impossible! How could he have known that blast was coming?
And now, despite all the dust filling the air and reducing visibility, Knuckles had made his way behind Shadow, who's only warning was the air displacement Knuckles' punch created. He turned and raised his right arm to block it, knocking Knuckles' hand away and causing him to become unbalanced long enough for Shadow to lift his legs and place his feet into Knuckles' chest, pushing off with such a force that Knuckles' was sent flying into the group of media vans half a mile away. The media had apparently been freaked out by the fight, as they were all cowering behind their vehicles. Knuckles had landed in a space between two vans, with two reporters staring at him trying to decide whether to run from him or help him up. Knuckles tried to move, but his body didn't want to respond.
Now I've left Tails to fight alone. He'll be dead in minutes.
"Where are you, freak?"
If I can get rid of the kid now, then the other one will be no problem for me. I just can't risk taking them both on.
Shadow almost tripped over something hidden in by the tall grass. He looked down, recognizing the chameleon he had fought earlier. He reached down and checked the pulse.
Still alive! That was sloppy, almost letting one live. That could have come back to haunt me later.
He grabbed Espio and picked him up off the ground. He reared back, ready to throw him, then disintegrate him with a silent blast. He threw the chameleon up into the air and fired the blast, but it missed the chameleon and harmlessly died out in the clouds above. Espio had vanished.
How is that possible?
The dusty fog cleared nearly instantly as someone sent a wave of chaos energy outward for miles; but neither Shadow nor Tails had done it. Shadow looked to his right and saw the kitsune in plain sight, ten yards away. He was perched on a rock, and was obviously about to attack Shadow.
He was that close? What is wrong with me?
But Tails wasn't staring at Shadow anymore. He was staring at the figure floating in midair, holding Espio.
"Daddy?"
"Kakarott!"
Sonic gently landed on the ground a few yards away, then laid Espio against a rock. He turned back and looked Shadow in the eye.
"We're fighting one-on-one. No one else, no distractions. Just you and me."
There was none of Sonic regular cockiness in his voice, instead he carried a heavy tone caused by seeing his dead friends. Shadow looked at Sonic oddly, as a slight grin crossed his face.
"Alright then. No one else. No distractions!"
He quickly turned towards Tails and fired a beam of malicious energy at him. Sonic hadn't seen it coming, but Knuckles had. He had watched the whole thing, and made his decision.
If I try to deflect it, I may kill us both if it doesn't work. If I try to counter it with my own chaos beam, I won't have the power to overcome it. So I must absorb it.
And in the blink of an eye, Knuckles was in front of Tails, arms wide open. He drew the energy into himself, allowing none to pass by him and taking the full force of the attack.
"Knuckles!"
Tears filled Tails eyes as he watched his mentor fall to the ground, mortally wounded. Tails stumbled over to him, holding back his sobs. Knuckles looked up at him, half gone. He smiled.
"Kid, don't die on me."
Knuckles' eyes dimmed, and his body became cool to the touch. All the Chaos Emeralds around the world shattered instantly. Locke, creator of the Emeralds, had died with Knuckles. Shadow froze for a moment.
I didn't mean to kill him! He had information about the Chaos Emeralds!
Wait- perhaps his home planet has something similar. Yes, it's possible. And even if it doesn't, I've heard his kind can put up quite a fight. Could be fun.
Shadow's shocked look slowly turned into a smile, then laughter.
"Idiot; giving his life for a runt. You Earthlings really are stupid, aren't you?"
Sonic stepped forward and grabbed Shadow's chest.
"Did you just call my son a ru-"
Sonic was cut off as Shadow flew out of his hand, carried by the blast Tails had released. But the kit wasn't done. He was still firing, so quickly that even Sonic had trouble seeing his hands move. But Shadow was keeping up, batting them away just in time. Tails leaped into the air and gathered a chaos orb over his head.
"You killed him!"
Tails' continued gathering energy for the orb, more than Sonic knew Tails was capable of.
"You're gonna pay!"
Sonic watched, not sure if this really was his son. Tails threw the orb at Shadow, who braced for it, still tired after deflecting the other blasts. It hit him with such force that it drove him into the ground, forming a large imprint in the dirt with his feet. He gathered chaos energy around the orb and used it as a rolling wall to push the orb off of him and back into Tails, who was too drained to move. Sonic flicked a quick blast at the orb just as it was about to reach Tails, disrupting it and causing it to explode in Tails' face, sending him hurtling in to the ground. Shadow fell back in to a cliffside, leaning on it while catching his breath. Sonic meanwhile, ran over to Tails.
"Tails. Hey buddy, you alright?"
Tails stirred, but when he opened his eyes, the sky blue pupils looked at him with little recognition. He got up looked at Sonic as though he was foreign to him. He ignored Sonic and walked over to Knuckles' body, laying his head on it.
"Tails, he's dead. You and Espio have got to get out of-"
"Leave me alone!"
Sonic stepped back, startled by Tails' outburst. He definitely wasn't the sweet, innocent kid he had known anymore.
Knuckles, what did you do to my son?
Shadow was tapping his foot against the ground with a bored look on his face. Sonic snapped to attention and turned to face him.
"Let's do this somewhere else."
Shadow glanced towards Tails.
The runt and the chameleon aren't worth sticking around here anyway.
"Fine. Lead the way."
Why didn't you save him Dad? I know you could have. But you just watched as he died.
