Chapter 9:

"What are we going to do?" Sonia asked in a panic as the looked at the hulking figure making it's way into the city. It was too far away to make out any details, but it was big and seemed to be covered in a dark aura.

"We fight it!" Sonic declared in determination.

"How?" Manic questioned skeptically. "Our medallions are drained from our fight with Robotnik. And even if the weren't I doubt there is much we could do to that thing."

"Then what do you suggest?" Sonic snapped back.

"That you stay out of it," Chaos Sonic interrupted, drawing everyone's attention. "This is why I was sent here. I'm the only one with the power to fight Dingo in this form and to purify the corrupted energy. I'll have to wear him down first, so I'll do my best to draw the fight out of the city. You guys should take care of your citizens."

When he finished, Chaos Sonic removed his cloak. With the cloak no longer suppressing his energy, the excess build up came forth in brief but bright flash of light. It subsided, but left a dull glow around Chaos Sonic.

"Whoa head rush," Chaos Sonic said as he placed a hand to his head.

"Dude!" Sonic complained as he rubbed his eyes and the others blinked away the spots from their eyes. "What was that for?"

"Sorry," Chaos Sonic apologized. "I didn't know that would happen. I guess it's because I was wearing my cloak for so long. Gotta run!"

Chaos Sonic jumped if the balcony and took off down the street, heading towards the hulking mass in the distance. The family looked after him, Sonic obviously itching to follow.

"I feel useless," Sonic grumbled. "I hate sitting out the fight. There must be something we can do."

"But you heard him," Sonia reasoned. "He's the only one that can do this. We just have to trust him."

"And we still don't have our medallions," Manic added just as the three medallions began to shine with power. "What?"

"You were saying?" Sonic said smugly.

"But that's impossible," Sonia said in disbelief. "They shouldn't have charged that fast!"

"I think the energy Chaos Sonic released when he took off his cloak must have done it," Manic replied.

"Sweet," Sonic smirked. "That means we can help."

"Be careful my children," Queen Aleena said. "I'll direct the citizens away from battle. Good luck."

"No problem," Sonic said, grabbing his siblings. "We've got this."

They took off, following after Chaos Sonic.

Chaos Sonic easily wove his way through the rubble and citizen filled streets. The closer he got to the hulking mass that was Dingo, the more panicked everyone was. Eventually, he jumped onto the roofs to avoid accidentally running into anyone. He came to a stop on the tallest roof that was as close as he could get to Dingo without immediate risk of being crushed. Dingo was large and bulging muscle. His skin had turn black with green markings covering his body. He was hunched over, as he had some kind of armor platting all across his back. His tail was longer and more reptilian in nature with a spiked club on the end. His arms were longer then normal, each finger turned into deadly sharp claws. There were spikes coming from his shoulders and on his head. His eyes were a glowing dark green and when he roared, his mouth was full of fangs. In short Chaos Sonic only had one word to describe him...

"Hey Ugly!" Chaos Sonic called, letting his energy amplify his voice and drawing Dingo's attention. "You really should have let me take the energy you before you transformed into this mess. Though, now that I think about it, this might be an improvement."

"Puny rat!" Dingo glowered, his voice rumbling through the air. "I am strong now. You cannot stop me!"

"You overconfident villains really need to get your animals strait. I'm a hedgehog! Not a rat! Come on, say it with me! Hedge...Hog..."

Dingo let out an angry roar and turned full to Chaos Sonic. Chaos Sonic quickly built up speed and launched himself though the air, spinning rabidly at Dingo's chest. Chaos Sonic bounced off without making so much as a scratch, but he didn't expect to, he just wanted to get Dingo angry. Landing smoothly on his feet, Chaos Sonic took off away from the city. Dingo charged after the speedy hedgehog, determined to crush him. Once he was far enough from the city, Chaos Sonic turned around and launched several chaos spears at Dingo. They barely pierced Dingo's thick hide and did nothing to slow him down.

Well that was pointless. Chaos Sonic thought in annoyance as he dodged a swipe from Dingo's huge claws. If only they exploded like regular Chaos spears. Maybe there's a way I can...

As if responding to his thoughts, Chaos Sonic felt some of his energy travel into the spears still in Dingo and they began to explode.

Awesome! Chaos Sonic cheered, but his victory was short lived as Dingo emerged from the smoke. His body was burnt in some places, but he was mostly unscathed though he was matter then ever. With a loud roar, a large green energy beam shot from his mouth. Chaos Sonic manged to dodge it, barely.

That didn't work and he can use chaos attacks. I need more power to beat him. Come on... Purity said I 'll have access to different forms, so why can't I turn Super! Chaos Sonic thought in frustration as he continued to dodge Dingo's attacks. He could feel the energy to transform him inside him, but the harder he reached for it, the farther it seemed to be.

Sonic... Purity spoke softly. You aren't ready for that yet and you don't need that kind of power right now. You already have everything there you need to win.

Alright... Chaos Sonic sighed, focusing back on the fight. Let's try something a little more destructive...

Chaos Sonic turned sharply and charged at Dingo and leaped in the air. As he drew close to Dingo, he began gathering energy.

"CHAOS BLAST!" Chaos Sonic shouted as the energy exploded outwards, enveloping Dingo and the surrounding landscape in a bright blast. The attack created a huge crater with Dingo lying in it. Chaos Sonic landed on the edge of crater and frowned as Dingo began to get up.

That did some damage, but not enough. I don't want to use Chaos Blast much more at the risk of causing damage to the city. I need to think of another big attack to use and finish this fight.

"Yo CS!" Sonic's voice brought Chaos Sonic from his thoughts. Chaos Sonic turned to see the triplets come to a stop next to him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Chaos Sonic asked in confusion and anger. "I thought you were protecting the citizens!"

"Chill man, mom's taking care of them," Sonic replied. "We're here to help you."

"Fine," Chaos Sonic rolled his eyes, knowing it was pointless fighting himself, even if it was a different version. Looking back at Dingo who had now risen to his feet, he added "Let's just end this quickly."

"Sweet," Sonic said, activating his medallion as his siblings did the same. "Besides. Every epic battle needs awesome background music."

With that, he strummed his guitar and started another song. Chaos Sonic shook his head in amusement, he would never understand how their music could create so much power. He then noticed that the siblings began to glow the more they played. Chaos Sonic felt his own energy react with it and instinctively knew what he had to do. Running back slightly to have a better start, Chaos Sonic raced forward and launched at Dingo, curling into a ball once more. As he flew through the air, the energy that had building up in the siblings instruments flew forward and wrapped themselves around Chaos Sonic, turning him into a multicolor comet. Dingo barely had time to let out a roar before Chaos Sonic crashed into him, knocking him back with another explosion. When the smoke cleared, Dingo was unconscious on the ground with Chaos Sonic standing on his chest.

"Is it over?" Sonic asked as the instruments disappeared.

"It will be," Chaos Sonic replied as he placed his hand on Dingo. Closing his eyes in concentration, Chaos Sonic sent his energy into Dingo, purifying the corrupted energy and slowly drawing it out. Dingo's body began to glow with a soft white light and started to shrink in size. When the light faded, Dingo was back to his normal self with Chaos Sonic holding a large ball of white energy between his hands.

"Is that what was inside Dingo?" Manic asked as they approached Chaos Sonic.

"Yes." Chaos Sonic replied. "Though it's been purified now."

"So what are you going to do with it?" Sonic asked.

"Return it to where it belongs." Chaos Sonic said as he pushed the orb into the ground where it was absorbed. From the point where the orb entered, a glow began to spread forth until the world turned white.