The wind blew quietly through the battle field as everyone turned their gaze towards the two brothers posted on top of a thick branch in a large tree. The white cloak flowed beautifully in the breeze with the sword's golden hilt on his back shining brightly in the moonlit sky. Everyone stood motionlessly at the person, completely in disbelief of what their eyes were showing them but amidst all the confusion and doubt, the sounds of laughter ran throughout the forest area.

Dash laughed brightly, hugging his brother before he pulled away from him, looking up to the elder prince of the Kaji family. "I can't believe you're back! And what an entrance! Thanks for saving me! But where did you go!? What did you do!? What did you see!? Did you meet any new people!? Where did you come from!? How did you get here!? When did you get back!?"

"Whoa whoa easy little brother…" The tall blue half-breed spoke, rubbing the hair on the young boy's head. "I'll answer all your questions after we take care of this bully, ok?"

Dash nodded, his bright smile never fading before the large Egg Dragoon took aim for the two boys who were paying it no mind, "Now Sonic! Turn and face your death at the hands of the greatest mind to have ever walked this pathetic planet!" And at that moment, the cannon's inner core began to seethe with a golden flowing energy before it released a large energy bullet for the two, exploding as it made contact causing everyone to gasp and shriek. But in a moment, the flames and heat from the explosion suddenly expanded without any warning before contracting in a small ball of swirling flames, held in the left hand of the blue half-breed who, like his younger brother, never turned to face the monster. "W-What! Impossible!"

Within a second, Maurice rose his hand and sent the ball soaring straight into the sky before it alit the sky in a multitude of explosions. "Hey Dash…"

"Yeah big bro?" Dash asked, never turning his gaze from his brother.

Maurice gave off a small smile, rubbing the back of his little brother's head. "I know this is your bad guy to beat and I hate to butt in on your battle but do you mind if I take it from here?"

Dash clenched his fist, his smile only growing brighter as he shook his head quickly, his body vibrating with excitement. "No! No way! Are you kidding me!? Not at all!"

"Thanks." Maurice spoke quietly before he stood up, turning his gaze from his little brother to the large death machine, looking over his shoulder, placing his hand on his sword. The slits in his golden eyes quickly narrowed as the smile vanished from his face, his expression completely focused on the large red and black mecha hovering before him. The air surrounding the battle field grew thick with tension and bloodlust as he unclipped the buckle around his neck, unraveling his white cloak, letting it fly away into the night sky, revealing his all white attire of long, loose fitting pants and a sleeveless shirt.

"So…" The large machine began, taking in the full view of the boy, "You're not Sonic…"

"No!" The young man spoke proudly, his voice giving off a confident roar as he turned towards the large hovering Egg Dragoon. "You have me confused with my father! I'm his eldest child, Maurice Kaji!"

"Then I suppose with you here it completes the set, or is there another one of you stupid little rodents running abou-"

"Cut the crap Snively!" Maurice barked quickly, baring his fangs, "Why don't you show yourself, you spineless little coward!"

Everyone's sights were quickly turned towards the large hovering Egg Dragoon as it stood motionlessly and quietly for a moment before the tinted cover of the cockpit began to give off a faded glow, slowly disappearing in octagon sectional way, stemming from the very peak of the dome to the base, showing a short older bald human with pale white skin, a large pointed nose stemming from his face. He sported white gloves and a lime green jacket, zippers trailing down not only his torso but down the sleeves of his jacket as well. His dark smirk coupled with his blue menacing eyes sent a chill down the spines of everyone who saw his face as he laughed wickedly in the comfort of his hoverpod which was logged into the metallic monstrosity. "I can't believe a worthless half-wit like you knew who I really was! I'm impressed little rodent! Perhaps you're more intelligent than these insignificant woodland creatures after all!"

Rin grunted lightly in shock, looking up at the man who supposedly lost a battle with the great Miles Tails Prower 10 years prior to today's current events, being disintegrated by his own molecular destabilizer in the heat of their battle. "He… he… he's still… alive…?"

"It… it can't be…" Kevin spoke quietly, a look of terror spreading across his face. "My father killed you! I know he killed you! I saw it myself!"

Snively quickly turned his menacing gaze towards the young teen as he commanded his machine to swing its robotic arm, sending a small shock way that blew back Kevin, Terry, Mocha and Caroline. "Silence! Worthless maggot! You're pathetic father tried to kill me, as your father did to my uncle, boy!" The elder scientist shouted, turning towards Maurice and his younger brother. "I should thank him for that, might I add but the great Miles Prower didn't kill me, he only destroyed a copy, a cyborg if you will."

Rin grunted, slowly pushing himself to a standing position as he continued leaning his weight against the large tree. "So… it was your scapegoat… to make everyone believe the last line of the Robotnik family was finally gone…"

"Yeesss! It was brilliant!" Snively shouted as he slammed his fist on the controls of his pod, chuckling to himself. "Faking my own death I was able to move around in secret, biding my time-"

"Biding your time until you were able to amass everything you needed to take over the world and destroy anyone who could challenge you." Maurice stated, cutting off the human as he gave off a growl towards the young prince. "For over 30 years you've tried and tried again to claim rule to this world full of inhabitants that wish only to live in peace. But that stops here Snively, mark my words."

The human narrowed his eyes as the two stared down one another, "Do you really believe you have the power to stop me little rat?"

"Hey!" Dash shouted, his hands cupping over his mouth, "My brother just deflected an explosion! What chance do you think you have against him!"

"I know full well of your abilities you stupid little parasite!" The human shouted with a grin, slowly rising higher above the two who were posted in the tree tops. "Sonic Jr, Flare, and Dashiell… the three children of Blaze the Cat and Sonic the Hedgehog. I know all about your super speed and abilities of pyrokinesis. I was taken by surprise beforehand because I believe you to be your father, but now I shall dispose of all of you-" But in a moment, Maurice was found standing several yards away, facing away from the dragoon, on top of another tree top with his sword held firmly in his hand, shining brightly in the glow of the moonlight as the second separate mechanical arm of the giant Egg Dragoon split into an array of pieces before exploding, sending the flying craft sailing off course and against a row of trees.

"You think I'll let you get away after today?" Maurice asked coldly, turning back towards the drifting Egg Dragoon as Snively gritted his teeth, fighting to gain correct control of the craft he was piloting. "You won't go any further than this Snively… you attacked not only innocent people, but my friends and more importantly… my family…" Maurice slowly peered over his shoulder, his narrow cat eyes focusing intently on the human, "That was your fatal mistake…"

"The only mistake here was that a bunch of feeble half-wit wannabe freedom fighters opt to challenge me in a game of control and power!" With that, the gatling cannons quickly took aim for the prince and pealed back, revealing the inner part of the cannon, the device giving off a bright glowing indigo color as it fired balls of bright, sparking mist towards the hedgecat. Maurice narrowed his eyes, baring his fangs and suddenly alit with a bright golden-red flame, incinerating every ice bullet shot his way before it could even make contact as everyone around watched in amazement and awe. "So… super heating the air around you melts the ice before it could reach you, slight miscalculation on my part."

Maurice quickly turned towards the machine completely, his sword in hand as he took a fighting pose. "Enough of your dribble… I'm done listening to you speak…"

"H-h-h-hoooow… dare… you…" Snively let out, breathing heavily. "How DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME IN SUCH AWAY!" Then the large machine took aim with its gigantic spiraling drill, firing it at the boy from only a couple yards away. Maurice quickly spun the sword in his hand, pulling back the blade before thrusting it forward towards the spinning drill, just barely hitting the underside of the tip and as it inched closer at its incredible speed, Maurice pulled back his sword, moving it along with the drill. The blue hedgecat quickly placed his free hand on the broad side of his blade, rotating his hands and tilting his blade slightly up, bracing himself and planting his feet on the tree branch as the drill grinded itself along the edge of the sword causing the trajectory of the drill to curve up and right over the head of the blue hedgecat, spiraling above him and into the air. "I… I… I-I don't understand…" Snively asked, looking on in absolute disbelief.

Rin growled, watching the drill fly higher into the sky before it suddenly made its U-turn and headed towards the Egg Dragoon, reattaching itself onto the machine before turning his gaze towards Maurice. "He… used his sword, to alter the path of that drill… instead of trying to stop it or dodge…"

Caroline stared at the sight before her, her mouth agape with admiration. "Wow… now that… was cool…"

"Tell me about it…" Kevin spoke quietly, watching the prince. "To do what he just did, you need perfect strength, speed, and timing… remarkable…"

"Now…" Maurice began, taking his sword in both hands, leaping off the tree and straight for Snively, swinging his blade swiftly, the machine quickly raising the gatling cannon up to defend itself causing Maurice to attack the large weapon, leaving not even a scar along the plate of steel. "…Reinforced…" Maurice spoke quietly, looking over the gatling cannon before spotting the drill towards his right as it attempted to swing at the boy. The prince, quickly narrowed his eyes, barrel rolling in midair, slamming the broad side of his sword against the drill before planting his feet firmly against his blade, balancing on the blade as if it were a board. Then suddenly the prince quickly leapt off his sword, flicking his feet quickly just before his soles left his blade, causing his weapon to flip off the spinning drill and into the air with him. This quick motion not only caused the spiraling drill to miss him completely as he caught his weapon, but the action sent Maurice flying into the air, just over the cockpit where Snively sat within the safety of his machine. In one quick motion, Maurice sent himself rocketing towards Snively as he set his sword alit with flames, Snively desperately swinging the gatling cannon towards Maurice, missing him completely as the prince took another swing at the large robot, avoiding the glass dome protected by an energy barrier and attacking the upper layer cockpit, just barely scarring it before leaping back and away before Snively could attempt another attack, his eyes full of focus and determination.

Snively himself only laughed hysterically at the boy before he grinned darkly as the Egg Dragoon began to surge with power, giving off a faint golden glow of power. "Did you really think that sword would be enough to stop me? Even with all the power you have that blade is nothing more than a butter knife compared to this machine. I've reinforced it and coated almost every inch of this Egg Dragoon's main body and weaponry with tungsten titanium steel alloy! I've taken the most flexible and most durable man made metals and combined them into one, turning this device into the ultimate machine of pure destruction!" He laughed loudly, looking down at the boy whose eyes never faltered, causing an annoyed expression to spread on Snively's face. "Just because you made a simple scratch on my first layer of armor, don't pretend like you've won the battle rodent."

Maurice continued staring at the human, causing Snively to grit his teeth in frustration as the machine began to fire its multitude of weapons at the young body, energy bullets, missiles, and power beams raining down on him as the prince leapt from tree to tree, effortlessly dodging and deflecting each and every blast shot his way with swift swipes of his sword. "Yeah!" Dash shouted standing within the treetop. "Kick his butt big bro!" Maurice closed his eyes, back flipping off a large branch in order to avoid another shot fired his way, unexpectedly finding the large Egg Dragoon waiting behind the boy as he hung in the air, upside down staring down the evil scientist. "Maurice!" Dash shouted, "Look out!"

But in one quick motion, as Snively attempted to stab the boy with his large drill, Maurice took his hand, aiming it towards the ground as he hung upside down in midair, releasing a large ball of fire, sending it flying towards the ground under him. The force of his own attack propelled him straight into the air, above the attacking drill with the young prince quickly flipping in midair once more, taking his blade as he shot down towards Snively once more; his blade again alit with fire and in one swipe, made another small scar along the metal armor. "You damn rat!" The mad scientist shouted as his large machine swung its arm towards the body who quickly planted his feet firmly along the cannon. Snively only growled in anger finding the young half-breed staring him down as he stood along his cannon before he quickly pulled back the arm with the large drill at the end, coating the weapon with electricity before attempting to slam it down onto Maurice to crush him. As Maurice quickly pushed himself off the gatling cannon to avoid the attack from the drill, the weapon stopped short of hitting the cannon, much to the surprise of everyone watching as the tip of the drill was a mere few feet from Maurice's face. Snively let out a small snicker as he pressed a button on his control panel, his eyes glaring at the defenseless boy. "Gotcha…"

As the drill suddenly shot off towards the falling prince, Maurice quickly slid his hand over his blade causing the sword to let off a faint, green pulse as an unknown glowing green script appeared on the sword before Maurice roared loudly, swinging the blade causing it to make contact with the large drill fired in his direction. "Don't underestimate me Snively!" The two weapons clashed in the air for a brief moment before Maurice's entire body became encased in fire, and in one quick motion, Maurice sent the spinning drill flying with his sword before landing on the ground, taking a deep breath as the crimson fire surrounding his body slowly faded away. The prince gripped the handle of his sword firmly as he turned up towards Snively who roared in anger, slamming his fist on his controls as his drill returned to its post.

"God… DAMNIT! Why won't you just die you stupid little rodent!?"

Dash grinned as he cheered loudly, his screams of happiness mixing with that of Caroline's, Mocha's and Terry's as Maurice took his blade in hand, lighting it on fire and spreading his stance slowly, taking a deep breath before suddenly leaping high into the air, bounding from branch to branch as he made his way higher towards the scientist. "Time to end this Snively."

"End it…? End it… End it! That's right, I'll END THIS ALRIGHT!" He shouted from within his cockpit as he held his large drill high in the air, swinging it down towards the boy. the force of the swing was powerful enough to blow back the trees, sending a shock way towards everyone on the ground, trapping them in a current of wind but having no effect on Maurice, missing him completely as he swung his sword, the sound of buzzing overtaking the wind before Maurice appeared above the large machine. Suddenly the underside of the second cockpit of the Egg Dragoon abruptly opened up like a fresh scar, clearly made from the slash of the half-breed's blade as Maurice landed on the first cockpit next to Snively, his sword giving off a small hum, completely encased in a thin, flowing flame before Maurice stabbed the blade into the cockpit, glaring at the surprised human. "H-How…? How…?"

The half-breed quickly vanished from before Snively, reappearing behind the machine, slashing open the back of the large flying mecha before landing on a thick branch, facing away from the dragoon. His sword was held firmly in his right hand, letting off a small hum with the flames growing more intense in heat but keeping a very thin layer around the steel. "I thought you said you knew of all my abilities Snively…" In a roar the mad scientist turned around, attempting to swing at the boy who disappeared from view before reappearing once again, falling from the sky as he created another wound on the shoulder of the flying contraption before landing again on another branch as the machine began to malfunction, crashing against the ground. "By superheating the steel of my sword with fire and by vibrating my body and inadvertently, my sword at a speed so high that its able to move through solid matter, well I want to thank you for your analogy from before about calling my sword nothing more than a butter knife." Maurice spoke coldly, turning back towards Snively as his machine slowly rose from the ground. The boy gripped the handle of his sword as his blade began to vibrate once again, glowing brightly with flames. "Because of my heritage, my sword is able to cut through your armor like a hot knife through butter."

"And then the room lit on fire!" Sonic shouted with a laugh as he sat at a large table with his wife and friends, each holding a cup to drink from with large smiles on each of their faces. "Boy, I've never been so scared in my life."

"Well what did you expect?" Knuckles asked, grinning lightly, "Child birth is not an easy process."

Cream smirked, giving Knuckles a light push against his shoulder, "Oh like you know how hard it is Knuckles."

"Hey I give up on a crap after like 15 minutes so-" But the elder guardian was quickly cut off by the sounds of moaning, complaints and annoyance from the female members of their group. "I'm just saying, it's hard work. Did you think it was going to be a piece of cake?"

"Well I mean Maurice and Flare's birth wasn't so bad. She said she didn't even really need to try for them to be born right honey?" Sonic asked, turning to his wife.

Blaze let out a small sigh, rubbing her forehead, a shade of pink covering her cheeks. "Sonic can we please change the subject? I understand you love the kids and that you love me and that you love to talk about us but this isn't the type of story I want our friends to know."

Sonic blinked, staring at his wife, his head tilted to the side before he let out a small sigh. "Alright hon, alright… Hey!" Sonic shouted with a clap, "Did I ever tell you guys about the time when Tails and I went down to-" Suddenly a burst of energy and power whipped around the room, pushing Sonic and his friends back against the walls, causing many items and objects to fly around uncontrollably. This action startled the group, putting them on high alert as the room unexpectedly filled with a bright green light, blinding everyone in the area before the light vanished as quickly as it came. "Ugh…" Sonic let out with a small groan as everyone slowly helped one another to their feet. "Did anyone catch the number of the-"

"Not now…" Blaze let out with a groan, helping Julie-Su to her feet. "What was that? It felt like Chaos Energy…"

"It was…" Knuckles spoke softly, drawing in everyone's attention causing the group to turn to him, taking in the sight of Knuckles kneeling before a person who was lying on the ground. As they moved closer to see the person Knuckles was kneeling before, they each gasped in shock as Knuckles took the orange echidna known as Tikal into his arms and turned towards his friends, her clothes torn and burned, her body broken down, her fur damp with blood with a blood soaked hole shown in her stomach. Sonic quickly placed the table back on its fours as Knuckles walked over slowly, setting the echidna down gently. His hands began to give off a faint green aura as he placed his palms over Tikal's stomach causing her body to emit the same dim glow. "This… I don't understand… Tikal… she's… she's so powerful. How could someone do this to her? Why?"

"Tikal…" Sonic began slowly as his wife stood next to him, "Tikal, can you hear me? Are you alright?"

"Is… is she…?" Julie-Su asked slowly, a look of worry spreading across her face as she placed her hand on Knuckles as the guardian proceed to heal the priestess.

"No…" Knuckles began slowly, shaking his head. "But any longer and she would have died. She has a hole shot straight through her stomach and she has flesh deep scars all over her body…"

Tails, who left mere moments ago, returned with a first aid kit and a pair of goggles over his face and began scanning the girl's body as Cream tended to her wounds to keep any more blood from leaking from Tikal's body. "She's been harmed by plasma radiation. An extremely high concentration of it…" Tails turned up to Knuckles slowly, "Any idea who could do something like this?"

Knuckles sighed before he took his right hand, placing it under his quills and against the side of his head, closing his eyes slowly as he continued to heal the echidna beneath him. "This is Knuckles, I want a full status report on the island."

"So far everything seems alright Sir." A voice could be heard coming from an intercom placed in Knuckles' ear, "Everything is normal on this end and there's been no real recent activi…"

Knuckles slowly opened his eyes, growling lightly. "What? What's going on? Report, now!"

"I…I don't understand it sir… Angel Island… its… its moving off its predetermined path."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure sir it just suddenly started moving on its own- Angel Island is falling from the sky! It will crash into the Ocean in less than 3 minutes!"

"Damnit!" Knuckles let out with a roar, clenching his fist tightly. He let out a deep sigh before suddenly finding the hand of Tikal before his face. As he turned down to the female, he found that she had regained conscious and although struggling, she was able to lift her arm before it fell to her sides. "T-Tikal!"

Julie-Su gently took Tikal's hands into her own, looking down to her, stroking her head gently, "Tikal… are you alright? How do you feel?"

The echidna's breathing was shallow and heavy, her body shaking slightly, evident of her struggle to move. She began to slowly move her lips, unable to bring herself to speak as Sonic moved closer, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Tikal… if you know who did this to you, you have to tell us."

"Easy Sonic," Knuckles barked, turning to him, "She's still not in the best of shape right now so give her time to breath."

"…it… i…t… w…"

Hearing Tikal's voice, the others quickly turned down to her as Knuckles continued healing her body. "Easy Tikal… easy… don't push yourself. Just speak slowly then save your energy."

Tikal gave Julie-Su's hand a tight squeeze as she closed her eyes, struggling to speak. "…i… it…wa… it… was…"

Sonic continued looking down at the woman with her others before he raced towards the door, reaching into his coat pocket, pulling from his jacket a glowing blue ring. As the others turned up to the blue hedgehog, Tails placed his hand on Sonic's shoulder. "Sonic, where are you going?"

"It's just not my style to sit around and wait. I'm going to find who did this and set them straight."

As the others watched the blue hedgehog open the front door, Sonic found his wife standing next to him, eyeing the man closely. "I know this is part of your impulsive nature… but I'm coming as well."

Sonic smirked lightly, nudging against Blaze. "Cool. It will be just like old times eh Blaze?" Then before a single second could pass, the two took off out the door and down the road off Tails' estate. "Where do you think we should look first Blaze?"

Blaze sighed softly as she continued to run with her husband, "Not sure… but I have a bad feeling for some reason. We should check up on the children first to make sure they're alright."

"Nah." Sonic stated as Blaze quickly turned to him. "If we did then you know Flare would want to join us and then so would the rest of the kids and then we would have a bigger problem."

The queen sighed softly, nodding. "Agreed… but still… I want to make sure Flare is in one piece. I get the feeling she's in trouble… and for some reason I feel the same way about Dash…"

Sonic gave a bright grin, flashing a thumbs up as the two began to increase their speed. "Relax Blaze, I'm sure the kids are alright. They can handle themselves, after all, you trained them."

Snively screamed loudly as his large monstrous machine swung about in the air, trying to land a blow on the young blue half-breed prince who continued attacking the flying mechanism, bounding from tree top to tree top, carving more wounds into the Egg Dragoon's armor with each attack he made. As the others stood by, watching silently at the battle transpiring before them, a bright flash of swirling green energy appeared next to Rin. As the flash of light vanished, Lara-Su appeared next to her brother, holding an incredibly large green gem in her hands, held above her head. "Rin! Rin! Are you still alive!"

Her older brother grunted lightly, growling towards the girl as he clenched his fist, unable to push himself from the tree to stand on his own. "What… what are you doing here… with that? I told you to get our father… not the Master Emerald!"

Lara-Su jumped back in a panic slightly, placing the Emerald down onto the ground. "W-well I didn't know what else to do! Everyone was gone including Shade and Tikal so I grabbed Master Emerald thinking we could use it to stop that robot we were just fighting!"

"D-damnit… that was so…" But then the two siblings noticed the Master Emerald giving off a faint pulse of power before the two slowly turned to the Egg Dragoon which began emitting he same glow. "No…"

"Yeah… you didn't notice but I sensed it from before…" Lara-Su began before she turned towards her brother, placing her hands on the giant gems energy began to trail up her arm from the gem causing her body to give off a powerful green aura. "We don't have much time…" Then the girl quickly rushed to her brother's side, slamming her hands into his chest, sending the energy her body was emitting to his. "Oh by the way, did I just see Maurice or are my eyes screwing with me?"

Rin quickly turned towards his sister, narrowing his eyes towards her as strength slowly returned to his form. "Didn't you just say we don't have time Lara?"

"Hey can't a girl ask a simple question?"

"Damnit! Damn it all to hell!" Snively let out with a roar, his machine slowly backing away from Maurice as he stood in a tree top, glaring at the human. "I don't understand… I had everything planned out… it was flawless… I don't understand!"

"You're a shadow of your former self Snively." Maurice began, placing his sword in the sheath behind his back. "It's time you ended this and turned yourself over quietly. This battle is obviously in my favor. You can't protect yourself from my attacks and your machine isn't fast enough to keep up with me on this level. You're done. Give up and let's end this peacefully."

"Never!" Snively shouted as he rose the Egg Dragoon's drill high into the air, charging it with energy before Snively unexpectedly found his machine unresponsive to his controls. As he struggled with the machine, he found that his dragoon was giving off a faint glow of green energy. As he scanned the area around him, he turned around within his cockpit to discover both Lara-Su and Rin emitting the same glow, Rin's left hand along with Lara-Su's right hand placed on the Master Emerald as the two began to close their eyes. "No… they couldn't have discovered it!"

The two siblings took a deep breath, their quills flowing in the air as if suspended in water, both speaking firmly and in unison, "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos…" Then both echidnas opened their eyes, their eyes glowing brightly with Chaos Energy as they focused on the Egg Dragoon. "Please Master Emerald, STOP THE CHAOS EMERALDS!" Then without warning, blue currents of lightning began to discharge from the large green gem, traveling through the air, and straight into the cracks of the Egg Dragoon. As Snively screamed, the Egg Dragoon began to lose power, shutting down and slowly fell from the sky. Maurice, standing quietly in the tree leapt forward, taking his sword in hand and carved a large square hole in the back of the Egg Dragoon's second cockpit and after peeling away the armor, found the Seven Chaos Emeralds glowing brightly, lodged in a secure device. Within a moment, Maurice quickly removed the Chaos Emeralds from its circuitry, tossing the gems towards Rin and Lara-Su before leaping off the back of the falling machine, landing on a thick branch as the large Egg Dragoon fell lifelessly to the ground with a crash.

Everyone looked on in stunned silence as Dash quickly leapt from the tree and onto the ground before he slowly made his way towards the Egg Dragoon. As he placed his hand along the machine, Terry and Mocha slowly made their way towards the young boy, standing behind him as Dash kicked the machine out of curiosity. After the trio took a second to wait for a response, Dash quickly turned towards his friends, grinning widely, "And he's down! Snively, the bulbous, big headed bald bozo was trumped by none other than my big brother, you know him, you love him, bad guys love to hate him, the one, the only, MAURICE!" Dash let out with a cheer, turning his hand towards his brother as if presenting him as the twins cheered in laughter.

Maurice stood quietly in the tree as his eyes watched the Egg Dragoon closely. As the prince peered into the scars he left in the machine, he spotted a small current of electricity flow through the machine's circuitry and quickly turned to the children, "EVERYONE! GET AWAY RIGHT NOW!"

As the children turned towards Maurice in confusion, power began surging through the Egg Dragoon, igniting its form as its propulsion wings expanded out, hitting the three children with a surge of energy, blowing back the trio along with everyone else on the ground that was close to the machine before taking to the sky. Laughter could be heard coming from the machine as Snively grinned darkly with his monstrous robot beginning to heal its wounds, the metal cracking and buckling, slowly expanding and spreading like fluid, attempting to cover the wounds inflicted upon it by the half-breed blue prince. "Did you honestly believe that I, Snively Robotnik, wasn't capable of planning ahead? This entire time my machine has been absorbing energy from the Chaos Emeralds and storing it away in a backup generator. I have enough power to run this craft for at least a few more days before I'll need a recharge-"

"Enough!" Maurice shouted, cutting off the mad scientist. "You've lost! You've been overpowered, you're outmatched, and outnumbered. You've lost the Chaos Emeralds you stole and your machine has taken serious amounts of damage. Even if you heal your machine, you know you don't have enough energy to fight us all. End this now, peacefully."

The human sat quietly in the comfort of his cockpit, his eyes closed as he took in the words of the half-breed prince. Snively took a deep breath, slowly opening his eyes, "And people call me arrogant…" With that, the scientist slowly turned towards Maurice, the two locking eyes as a dark grin began to cover his face. "You're right… fighting a rat like you directly is well beyond my abilities at this current moment…" Snively gave a small chuckle as the man gripped his controls tightly, his body shaking with anger and frustration. "Well then… I suppose we are at the end game… aren't we boy!" Then without a moment's hesitation, Snively rose the drill of the Egg Dragoon high into the sky before suddenly swinging it down onto Maurice who in turn, leapt into the air leaving only the branch he was standing on to receive the damage intended for him. But without a warning, Maurice found the drill facing towards him, surging with energy and power as the gatling cannon took aim for the three young half-breeds. "Now Mr. Hero, let's see you protect both yourself and these brats!" And before a single second could pass, Snively fired a large golden laser towards Maurice who was still free falling from the sky and at the same time, allowed his cannons to fire a barrage of missiles towards the children.

Unable to move out of the way in time, Maurice slid his hand along the broad end of his blade, causing it to emit the same encrypted glow as before as Maurice swung his sword to defend himself from Snively's attack before he let out a scream towards the children, "RUN! RUN NOW!" But as the missiles drew closer, the three children found themselves frozen in fear and pain, unable to move out the way in time and ultimately became covered in an array of large explosions. Maurice roared loudly, using all his strength to deflect the energy beam fired his way before landing on the ground, looking on in disbelief at the explosion that took place before him and everyone else.

Then without warning, a large golden blast of energy shot forth from the explosion, hitting the Egg Dragoon's gatling cannon and its entire right limb, disintegrating the weapon in its wake. As the explosion that covered the children was blown back, Snively turned towards the attack's origin only to find a large golden energy dome and within the energy field stood Kevin with his hands held up, hunched over, generating the large sphere of energy, his face covered by his flowing brown hair. His breathing was heavy and deep and from behind him, five phantom-like tails made of pure energy began to spout from his backside, his body giving off a fury of golden Chaos Energy, stunning everyone in the area as he let out a deep growl. "Yoooou… BASTARD!" Kevin quickly turned up towards Snively, his eyes glowing brightly as he clenched his fist tightly, causing the ground to rumble and quake underneath him as his siblings and Dash looked on in silence. "Have you no shame!? Attacking children!"

Before the young boy could move, Kevin found himself blocked off by the half-breed blue prince who held his arms before him, his back turned to Kevin. "Kevin… I'm sorry…" Hearing those words, Kevin's aura, ghostly tails and power quickly vanished as he looked on at the young man in disbelief. "It's my fault that your brother and sister were placed in danger… my arrogance and unwillingness to do what was necessary is why they almost lost their lives…" Maurice spoke quietly, slowly reaching behind his back, drawing his weapon.

Snively fumbled with his controls, angry at the lost of his machine's right arm before he turned down towards Maurice who began to give off a faint pulse of power. In response, Snively motioned the controls to lift the left arm of the large mechanical drill high towards the sky as the device begun to spin at an alarming rate. The large Egg Dragoon began to emit a dark golden glow and the drill became surrounded by a flaring yellow aura, seething with great power. "NOW! LET'S END THIS!"

Maurice slowly closed his eyes, placing the blade before him, his right hand gripping the handle firmly as his left hand slowly slid across the broad side of the blade. "The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost." The ancient unknown script began to show itself on his blade, giving off a bright green aura, surging with more power than ever shown before. "The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed." The blade itself ignited in a flare of glowing green magical energy as inaudible chanting could be heard in the background, mixed in with the wind. "Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light." Snively roared loudly as he motioned his Egg Dragoon to rush towards the group as Maurice became enveloped in a shining bright green aura of magical energy and power. The machine pulled back its arm, preparing to strike down upon the children as Maurice took his blade in both hands, opening his eyes. "When one who detaches himself from worldly desires, the body of the beholder shall cut through the darkness!" With that, Maurice leapt forward towards the machine and in a flash of light, the prince appeared behind the Egg Dragoon, high in the sky, his sword held firmly in his right hand. As the half-breed fell from the sky slowly, he spun his weapon in his hand before placing it into the scabbard on his back. At the moment, Snively let out a loud scream as his machine erupted in a multitude of explosions lighting up the sky mirroring the force, appearance and power of a supernova while broken parts alit with flames rained down to the ground.

As Maurice landed on the ground gently, he took a deep breath before he found himself surrounded by the happy, cheering faces of Dash, Mocha, Terry, Caroline and Lara-Su who all bombarded the young man with questions and merriment. Through the excitement, as Maurice looked around at all the smiling faces before him, his eyes looked onto the forms of both Rin and Kevin who stood by quietly, watching the young man as well. Dash quickly followed his brother's gaze to the two teenage boys, "Hey guys what's with the long faces? My brother just kicked that guy's butt! Aren't you happy?" Dash asked, turning to Kevin, "Kevin…? Rin…?" Dash's smile slowly began to fade as he watched the two boys, their facial expression never changing as they continued to stare down Maurice.

Maurice stepped forward, placing a hand on Dash's shoulder, eyeing the two boys closely as well with everyone watching silently. He then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before he turned up to them once more, "Rin… Kevin… I understand how you must feel… seeing me after… after the way I treated you when we were children… I know there's no way to wipe the past clean and you have no reason to forgive me… but I'm sorry… I'm sorry for everyth-"

Rin quickly rose his hand, turning away from Maurice as Kevin let out a small sigh, rubbing his forehead. "Save it dude. We get it." Maurice blinked, staring at the two boys as Rin and Kevin made eye contact once more. "Rin and I talked about it and we both decided that if you were to ever come back and utter even one word of apology… then we would forgive you on the spot."

"I'm not the type of person to hold grudges." Rin spoke quietly. "And if someone like you is able to change then who am I to hold a grudge against them?"

Maurice watched the two boys, taking a deep breath as he let out a small smile. "Thank you." But as the group watched the trio of males speak with one another, everyone in the area began to look past the males to find the female sibling of the Kaji children step forward, her eyes focused on her older brother, her gaze emotionless and blank. Maurice stood quietly as Kevin and Rin quickly moved from the path of Flare who never took her eyes off her brother and as she neared him, Maurice took a deep breath, feeling his heart racing. As she neared the boy, Maurice made an attempt to speak to his sister before suddenly finding himself hunched over in grueling pain. He groaned slightly, his eyes clenched tightly in pain and shock at the fact that Flare had shoved her fist straight into the boy's stomach, surprising everyone around them. As Maurice turned up to his sister's face, his eyes opened wide in shock to find his younger sister biting her lip tightly as tears began welling up in her eyes.

"How… could… you…?" She asked slowly, pulling back her hand before thrusting her other fist into Maurice's stomach again. "How could you!?" She then hit him again, her attacks began increasing in speed as she clenched her eyes shut with tears trailing down her cheeks, her voice shaking slightly. "How could you leave me like that!? You…! You promised you would always be there! That you would protect me! Why!?" Flare continued attacking her brother, Maurice in turn watched his younger sister, allowing her to vent her anger for he felt he deserved it. As Flare continued attacking her brother, her blows began to soften as her tears began to increase and before long, Maurice wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her close to his own and without hesitation, Flare pushed her face into her brother's chest, crying loudly in pain and sorrow.

"You've… gotten so tall, you're almost taller than me… and you've become so beautiful Flare, just like mother." Maurice began slowly, rubbing his sister's back as she continued to press herself against him. "I'm sorry Flare… I truly am." The prince let out a small sigh, closing his eyes as he hugged Flare tightly and rocked her in his arms gently. As the wind blew by the group, Maurice felt a familiar presence close in on them and before he could make an attempt to move, Sonic and Blaze suddenly appeared before everyone, looking around quickly as Sonic chuckled lightly, looking at the large machine that was nothing more than a large pile of scrap metal.

"Haha!" Sonic let out with a laugh before he gave off a whistle. "You kids sure know how to take on a badnik… tho that thing does look a little familiar… what do you think Blaze?" Sonic asked as he turned to this motionless wife. "Blaze?" Sonic questioned, waving his hand before her face before he turned towards the children, his eyes quickly locating his own children but he blinked slightly, taking notice of the elder prince. "Holy crap… Jr, that you?"

Maurice gave a small sigh, closing his eyes as he nodded slowly with his sister still in his arms before he turned to his mother who gave him the same gaze that his sister did previously and this, he knew was the hardest part. He knew after abandoning his family for his own selfish desires, that coming home expecting a welcome full of happiness was nothing more than a discarded idea from a worthless fairytale. Maurice felt his body grow heavier as time itself felt as if it froze in place. His heart sank to the pit of his stomach as he found himself unable to break eye contact with his mother. He couldn't speak, he could hardly breathe as his sister slowly pulled from him and turned to their mother. Blaze stood quietly for a few more moments, her eyes locked on her son's form with Sonic placing his hand on her shoulder, giving a small smile causing Blaze to step forward towards her children. But without a warning, Maurice was shocked to find himself wrapped in the arms of his mother who held him tightly and could feel her tears trailing down her cheeks and into his fur. "This… this isn't a dream… you've come home. After all this time, my son has finally come back. My baby boy is home again."

Maurice took a deep breath, nodding slowly as his sister hugged him tightly as well, "Yes mom… I'm back…" As the two girls stood their quietly, hugging the prince tightly, Maurice slowly opened his eyes, peering between his mother and sister only to lay his eyes on his father who stood quietly, grinning bright as gave the boy a thumbs up.

Rin and the others all turned to one another before the young echidna stepped back away from the scene transpiring before them. "I think its best we take our leave now. We don't have a place here."

"Ditto…" Kevin nodded, his younger brother and sister held in his arms.

Rin's sister quickly nodded as she took the Master Emerald in her hands before turning towards the broken pile of rubble only to find Snively slowly pulling himself from the heap of broken scrap metal. "Ight… so who's got baldy over there?"

Before the girl could finish her question, Snively found himself completely wrapped in a force field of Chaos Energy as Rin stood before him, his hand giving off the same green glow as he lifted the scientist into the air. "I'll take him…" Then the teens slowly turned towards the Kaji family before he let out a small sigh, turning from them and motioned the others to follow him into the woods.

Dash watched as everyone disappeared in the shadows of the forest, rubbing his head as he slowly making his way to his father's side, watching the women in his family fall into tears. "Daddy…" Dash began quietly, watching as the three stood before them, hugging one another. "Why is Flare and mommy crying?"

Sonic couldn't help but widen his grin as he folded his arms at his son's question. "That's because they're happy to see your brother after so long."

"Wait…" Dash began slowly, turning to his father, cocking an eyebrow" "So they're crying… because they're… happy?"

"Pretty much squirt."

"Girls are soooo weird." Dash quickly shook his head with a small sigh causing his father to let out a loud laugh.

Maurice gave a small sigh, opening the door to his bedroom, looking around the large area, a small smile crossing his face finding his room exactly the same as it was when he left home so long ago. His family all stood behind him as Dash quickly ran into the room and stood before his brother, looking up to him with a large smile crossing his face. "We left it just the way you left it! Like it big bro!?"

Maurice smiled down to his brother as he rubbed the young child's head. "Yeah its great Dash."

Blaze made an attempt to step into the room but was quickly stopped by Sonic who quickly reached out and grabbed her arm. "Let's let him rest. It's been a long night Blaze, we'll see him tomorrow." Then with a smile, Sonic peered over his wife's shoulder and looked towards his youngest son, "Dash, come on squirt, time to let Jr sleep."

"But Daaaady!" Dash let out with a small whine before Maurice let out a small chuckle.

Maurice slowly eased his way down onto his knees, rubbing his brother's head gently, "Don't worry little bro, I'll be here tomorrow, I promise. Then we can spend the whole day together and catch up alright?"

"Uh huh!" Dash nodded with a bright smile, "You bet! I got so much I have to tell you about! You wouldn't believe what I've been through!"

Maurice's smile only became brighter as he stood up with Dash making his way out of his room. "And I'll want to hear every last detail." He then turned to his family who were all watching him closely. He could tell they all wanted to speak to him and if it made them feel better, he would gladly answer all their questions but his family was slowly pulled from his room by his father who gave a small grin and a wink before shutting the door after him, leaving the prince alone.

Maurice let out a small sigh, taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes, unbuckling the strap that held his sword, removing it from his body and setting it down against the foot of his bed. As Maurice slowly opened his eyes and moved over to his mirror to remove his shirt, he could see the reflection of his sword slowly beginning to glow as it rose off the ground and from the scabbard, shining brightly. The prince quickly turned around, staring at his sword, finding it spinning slowly before the color of the room morphed to that of grayscale with green, fading energy began trailing off his blade and begun moving about his room quickly. Maurice stood in confusion at the ghostly imagery of energy before they begun to take shape, shocking the boy as the images before him took the form of his family. The prince could see his mother moving about his room, dusting and cleaning every inch without disrupting a single bit of detail. He could see his brother running around his room, laughing and looking out his window, reading comic books and drinking sodas with bright smiles. He found the image of his sister, sitting at his computer table, running her fingers along the desk and could see another image of her form laying in his bed, wiping her eyes of tears as she pulled the covers over her head. He continued looking around his room, astonished at what his sword was showing him before he turned to his doorway. He could see the phantom his father standing in his doorway, his trademark grin plastered all over his face before he gave a quick wave, chuckling lightly to himself. "Come home kid, we all miss ya." With that, the specters of his family began to fade from existence as his sword quickly placed itself back into it's sheathe growing quiet. But without a warning, the young prince quickly fell to his knees silently, tears running down his cheeks.

=Author Notes=

Well here it is, the continuation of the battle of the Nexus Fighters vs the Egg Dragoon Ex Mach 2 and well, its been a LONG time coming for something like this. I rewrote this chapter at least 10 times, all with different scenarios and endings but I do admit, I like this one the best and for the record, if anyone finds any mistakes, whether grammar or spelling, please, send me a note with the sentence and where you see the error and I'll gladly fix it because even tho I'm a writer, I do make writing mistakes. It's not like I have someone to revise my work or a publisher... yet.

Well anyways about this scene, the best part for me is the scene where Flare and Maurice finally meet again after so long as she breaks down in his arms after punching him. To be honest, this was a scene that I always wanted drawn to give a more visual effect. I wouldn't draw it with everyone else in the picture, just those two together and the embrace they shared. I feel that has more emotion in it than just about anything else I've written even if it doesn't seem like it. After all think about it, Flare was a little girl who always tailed after her big brother, always trying her best to make him happy and was protected by him from just about everyone in the world who would do her harm. She didn't just look up to him but she relied on him for love and protection. Their bond is far greater than anyone else's in my series and when he suddenly left without any warning, it shattered her in every possible way, forcing her to reshape who she is thinking she would never see him again and more importantly, she never wanted to get hurt again and after seeing her brother for the first time, she showed some actual true emotion, completely unhinged and unrestrained where as Maurice understood the pain that he inflected upon her and his family and knew that asking forgiveness would be nearly impossible for him to receive. Anyways that scene to me means more to me than most people could hardly imagine all things considered, just saying that.