Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic, Knuckles, Robotnik and all the rest. The plot of Sonic Adventure is also property of Sega. I only own the original characters, original locations, and original plots within this fanfiction. Yay!
Cue Sonic Unlimited Opening Theme: "Change The World" by ARTIST Dream
CHAPTER 19: Chaos' Requiem
"Are you sure you don't want a lift?" the young fox Tails asked politely of his female hedgehog friend, as he and the rest flew [and ran] ever closer to the assigned battle arena aboard the Egg Carrier.
"Thanks for the offer, Tails," Amy answered sweetly, "but I'm fine with running up there myself." And from the lack of fatigue on her form, she probably wasn't lying, so Tails nodded calmly before he turned his eyes to the skies above.
Night had eclipsed Planet Mobius, and the air was unnaturally chilly now, as though the planet had been thrown into an intergalactic-sized freezer. Needless to say, it was unnerving to Tails and them all. Not to mention the furious lightning, oh how Tails hated lightning…
Within five minutes the gang had arrived at the bottom of the green flat dome, which, now that they were closer to it, was revealed to be transparent and filled with bustling machinery which led all the way down into the vessel. The building also had a spiralling lime green staircase around its circumference leading to its top
"NICOLE, we need a heads up on what we'll find up there, can you run a quick scan please?" Princess Sally diligently asked of the supercomputer in her palm, waving back everyone else's attempts at advancing [which was mainly Sonic, unsurprisingly].
"Scanning… Sally," NICOLE acknowledged, humming slightly as it did so.
"I detect… two human life forms… and one powerful Chaos Emerald signature," the supercomputer regurgitated exactly fourteen seconds later.
"The whole party is here then," Rotor sighed, physically shivering at the thought. "Robotnik, Snively and Chaos..."
"It makes yah palms sweat and yah mind race in terror too, sugah?" Bunnie echoed reluctantly.
"That's one way of putting it," the wary walrus replied, genuine terror apparent, before withdrawing back into himself, presumably to think of a plan of attack to Chaos' inevitable new form.
"Oh no… This is thee end of mi handsome self as I know it…" Antoine said doubtfully, covering his head with his palms and looking, well, just a little bit cowardly.
"No sweat guys," Sonic calmly said, gesturing his athletic fitness by stretching his arms and legs. "We've beaten him already today, so a second strike should be a piece of cake," he casually concluded.
"Honestly, you shouldn't be so overconfident you Blue-Showoff, you should expect the unexpected from fight to fight, even with the same opponent," Knuckles scolded. "I should know, I've fought him two times today and this'll be the third – and just from those two I can tell you now that his fighting prowess has changed with each new grotesque form."
"I agree with Knuckles, this isn't the time to joke around," Sally commended.
"Sal," Sonic retorted, rolling his eyes at her. "Now's a better time than any for a small joke. Someone has to keep our spirits up, or we might as well be rendered insane right now."
It was quiet for another minute or so, before Sally spoke again.
"Fine, fine – but we really should get on with this, less we give Robotnik [and Chaos] more time to get the jump on us," she suggested hastily.
A resounding 'Right' was uttered enthusiastically by all, and then they ran up the spiralling staircase, pumped for the day's [hopeful] last battle.
At the top, below the thunderous mushroom clouds, was a sight they were expecting, and at the same time not.
"Unbelievable… that's Chaos?" came the hoarse and shocked cry of a certain cobalt blue hedgehog as his eyes took in Chaos, whom was now in its sixth incarnation.
He's so distorted and unlike his first form… It's actually a bit scary, he admitted inwardly.
The deemed 'Chaos Six' was far beyond looking even vaguely humanoid and was now a twenty-five foot tall scorpion-like creature. One with eight or more eyes that eluded insanity and or rage, a bulldog-like head and a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth that would give new meaning to 'tear someone a new one'. It also had a pendulum-like blade crowning the tip of its new tail and the six Chaos Emeralds scattered throughout its [presumed] slimy body. Needless to say, it looked like an Eldritch Abomination*.
And his 'fear effect' was in overdrive, as it all the Freedom Fighters [bar Knuckles] were literally quaking in their boots [or shoes].
"Aww, what's the matter Freedom Fighters? Chicken?" came a sneering and slimy voice from across the other edge of the illuminating platform. And it wasn't Robotnik, so that left only…
"Take a hike Snivelbutt; no one wants you here, not even your uncle," Sonic spat tensely, the words of truth hitting home, whom was shaking with the rest of them, namely at the surfacing memory of the day he'd lost his Uncle Chuck.
The pint-sized villain gasped before his face turned into a large scowl."W-what! How dare you, you f-furry abomination! My uncle does value my skills!"
A full moment went by, and the gravity of Snively's claim wasn't acknowledged at all by Robotnik, who was too busy admiring the six collected emeralds in his Egg-o-Matic, which loomed above the specified arena.
"Sure, sure," Sonic smirked, shrugging the debacle off, before twirling around to check on his teammates, only to find them all in horrid fits of anxiety.
His eyes practically doubled in size at the sight.
"Father… Oh father, where are you…?" Sally whimpered; clutching her head as the 'fear effect' took hold, causing every convulsion she had to remind her of her father, the one taken from her by Robotnik. "I don't know what to do… Can you please help me?"
"Sally, everything will be fine. Trust me. Please wake up," came the humming pleas from NICOLE, who was still in the shaking palms of the kneeled rebel Princess.
Our cobalt blue hedgehog skidded down to his knees and began lightly shaking his comrade, friend [and teased crush], his eyes growing only slightly moist.
"Hey, hey, come on Sal, I thought you were stronger than this," he said lightly, trying to inject some relief into what was otherwise a depressing situation. "Snap a witty comeback at me. I'm wide open. Anything!" It was a fruitless act as Sally instead curled up into a ball and quietly whimpered on, which had the horrid effect of sinking Sonic's usual ever-radiant heart.
"What's going on, Sonic? Is this that 'fear effect' you guys mentioned earlier?" asked the confused Knuckles, still being the only one immune to the effect, a fact which grinded on Sonic's nerves right now. So much so, that he lashed out at his comrade and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and in a move that surprised him [and Knuckles], lifted the Guardian off of the ground.
"Yes! The one that you seem to be magically immune to!" Sonic flared, his mood being intensified and influenced by Chaos' negative miasma. "Care to share the how's and why's? – They need our help!" The hedgehog continued, pointing furiously at his ailing teammates.
At Sally, who was still in the same position as before, but had now turned her spiralling thoughts onto her mother, the one whom had died a year or two after her birth [so her motherly memories were foggy at best].
At Antoine, who despite being a hit or miss fighter with his ever-wavering confidence [or just plain cowardice, for those who see it that way], had never doubted his honour, to his mother tongue, to 'his' Princess, to their fighting cause or to them all. Not like he was now, painfully sobbing out at what a failure he was.
At Bunnie, ever the strongest one of mind and body [save, perhaps for Knuckles], who was calling fiercely out to her Aunt Lulumae and Uncle Beauregard, as well as saying sorry to her 'mamma and poppa'.
And finally at Tails, the youngest of them all, who had a torrent of tears covering his face as he underwent his own personal nightmare. A nightmare that, from what Sonic could hear, involved him, the other Freedom Fighters and the little tyke's own missing relatives.
The sight brought Knuckles to another dam of emotional awareness, and slammed it down in one swift stroke.
"I don't k-know, Sonic!" Knuckles choked though the grip, "H-honestly I don't!"
The hedgehog's grip on the Guardian's neck lessened, but still his hands remained where they were. Someone obviously wasn't that convinced of Knuckle's innocence just yet.
"There are still things that I can do… that I've noticed about my abilities, which I don't understand," he went on to explain slowly. "Answers I'm still searching for," he said just above a whisper, so that only he and Sonic could hear it, and not Snively who'd been chuckling happily at their current situation.
It took all the willpower that Sonic had within him to not let his arms and hands [and the muscles underneath], which yearned, no, ached, for the anticipation of pleasure that wrapping them around the small, ogre-looking figure's neck would bring, loose. And then twisting it for good measure...
Angry questionable thoughts aside, by now Knuckles had finished diverging his thoughts on the immunity matter.
"… So, you think that the Master Emerald has made you immune to such effects?" Sonic repeated calmly, as though it'd make the words come true.
Knuckles, now with his two feet firmly on the ground again, nodded, before adding: "Yeah, I'm just more resistant to Chaos energies than you guys, something this beast obviously has ties with," he said tentatively, as he scowled at the beast.
Just then a streak of compressed water rocketed past in-between them, prompting them to remember [with tensed hearts], just why they were there. The face [if you could call it that] that Chaos Six wore what could only be described as an impatient sneer.
"There we go," Robotnik announced with a tint of annoyance in his tone. "An end to all the boring talking," he drawled out in a patronising whine. "Now, it's BATTLE TIME – destroy them all Chaos!" he screamed like the madman he was.
"Not so fast Eggy," Sonic taunted, wiggling his index finger in an 'uh, uh, uh' like fashion. "First we need to even the score. Knuckles, if you please," he said casually, extending out his right palm and wiggling his fingertips just slightly.
"Huh?" was the Guardian's clueless response.
"Grab, spin and throw me at Chaos," the hedgehog muttered as quietly but clearly as he could, forcing his face not to scrunch up so it was only his mouth moving an ounce. "Don't ask any questions, just do it."
Knuckles' eyes narrowed, but he nodded nevertheless, before grabbing the hedgehog's right palm and gaining momentum from one full spin, before throwing the hedgehog over his shoulder like one would a bowling ball, if one were to throw it over one's head, that is. Typically the act of lifting and throwing someone would wear on the arm [and back] muscles, but not our Guardian, he wasn't even smouldering up a sweat and his muscles were only aching for some action! Besides Sonic, despite all that he ate, didn't weight much at all.
And with a resounding 'plop', the curled-ball hedgehog entered the belly of the beast, with traces of the bluish-white light [from the charged Spin Attack] dying promptly within.
Knuckles, Robotnik and Snively stood silently, eyes fixed on Chaos for its reaction.
Oddly enough, the watery beast did nothing but quietly hiss, though, its dozen eyes were working overtime, as they scurried to and fro along its body, keeping an eye on the rogue intruder, who was now over halfway into its mass.
Sonic, meanwhile was deep in thought as he neared his goal.
Whoa! He admonished himself. Who'd have thought that it would be warmer in here than out there in that icy storm?
And it was, and as much as it should've disturbed him, the hedgehog was actually enjoying the warm water against his short, furred skin, it was even somewhat revitalising. Not that it made being underwater any less terrifying, for it was a phobia of his, after all. His lungs were already slowly burning, indicating that he'd run out of oxygen soon, and probably after only another minute, Sonic deduced quickly.
All this aside, he just hoped that his momentum didn't run out before he could splash out of the other side…
Thankfully for the cobalt blue hedgehog, that didn't come to pass, this time, and he was shot out with a 'plop' faster than a pirate could down a pint of rum [or grog, should that tickle their fancy instead]. A gooey puddle surrounded Sonic, who Snively immediately noticed had changed momentarily. For a thin sheen of cold sweat covered his skin, doubled in size were his eyes and he was screaming like a banshee. And it filled him with pleasurable glee, that Chaos had inflicted a heavy toll on one of his mortal enemies.
The need air then overtook the teen hedgehog and after coughing up a load of water later, he swiftly looked around for his comrades, and a smile etched onto his face at what he then saw.
Everyone was standing up, and from the hardened expressions they wore, they were ready to rumble!
And who said violence didn't solve anything, Sonic bemused to himself. Oh wait, it was Sal. No change there, ha, ha.
"You sure you guys are alright now?" asked a concerned Knuckles. It was an odd picture, Knuckles being more open with them all, but for the cobalt blue hedgehog it was one he could see himself getting used to in the future.
"Yah, thanks all the same darlin's, but the effect has been weakened for the time being, so let's get this showdown on the road ya'll!" Bunnie shouted enthusiastically, a complete different person from just a few minutes ago
Everyone nodded and assumed they're battle stances, pumped for one of the biggest battles of their lives.
"Ha, ha! Now, I have-" Robotnik began once more, before a series of heavy thuds then averted everyone's attentions once more, namely to the staircase the Freedom Fighters had gone up several minutes ago. Robotnik for one was the most confused, for he hadn't ordered any surprise back-attacks…
He came out of the shadows and was revealed by a particularly excited streak of lightning overhead, to be none other than a large Mobian Cat. Not one of the Freedom Fighters had much, if any experience with the species so they couldn't place a guesstimate on the newcomer's age, so all they had to go on was that he was a purple striped cat with yellow eyes. And one that also had a small, but steady-looking fishing rod is his hands.
He didn't look intimidating, nor was he robotised so that ruled out another Robotnik flunky… they figured quickly.
"Froggy?" drawled the newcomer in a slow and casual tone, albeit one with horror at seeing the frog in such a state. His yellow beaming eyes were also as wide as saucers. "Froggy! I'll save you... Don't worry pally," the cat shouted brightly.
"Big…?" Knuckles whispered. No one heard him.
"So he's your friend, eh?" Sonic deduced steadfast.
Big looked his way and nodded briskly in response, and then his eyes were back on 'Froggy', filled with worry.
Amy and Tails also felt for the guy, having known what losing friends was like.
"No sweat... we'll get him back! Just watch us!" Sonic announced heroically, before he dashed forward and lead the charge.
"Careful Froggy! Don't worry. We'll get ya back!" the big cat shouted brightly again.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha! And now I have six of the Chaos Emeralds", the mad doctor gloated articulately. "Now there's only one more left to find!"
"I even found Chaos' missing tail," the doctor cried excitedly, pointing at Chaos' new tail.
"You won't get away with this Robotnik – you will pay for your crimes – that I promise!" Sally declared, casting a determined azure glare at their foe whilst standing in front of her assembled team.
"I will, you incisive pests," Robotnik spat venomously at her particularly in response before turning his watchful eye over them all. "You're no match for Chaos even though he's not perfected yet."
With some quick melodramatic gestures of his arms, Robotnik then ordered Chaos to finish them.
"Okay, Chaos, destroy them all immediately! Leave not a trace of them having existed!" he boomed.
"Let's do this!" Sonic hollered, an even smile on his face as he light-dashed into the encompassing fray, with the others dividing up into groups behind him.
*Play Sonic Adventure – Chaos 6 Battle Music*
Wasting no time, Chaos Six reeled out five tentacles from its body and shot them forward, unleashing also a giant funnel of water to mask his movements.
Bunnie, using her lithe form was able to bunny-hop out of its way [no pun intended] and roll to the side. Whereas her comrades opted for other approaches; Rotor, knowing his strength couldn't stand against such compressed water, purposively fell flat on his belly and let the single tentacle careen over his head [and had grabbed Tails with him].
Antoine successively slashed through them like they were made of butter, in a daring move, and one that looked only to improve his chances with the Princess [or so he dreamily thought to himself]. And Amy, in another bold move, struck her hammer at the invading arm and missed, but it in turn flipped the hot pink furred hedgehog a metre or two into the air [surprising her as much as it did everyone else]. Thankfully she landed on her feet gracefully, and bore a thoughtful expression on her features.
Failing to swiftly deal with the 'inferior' targets, the chaotic agents inside the over-bloated beast primed instead onto Sonic, shooting all its tentacles at him from all sides. It looked like our favourite superhero hedgehog was about to met a turbulent [and watery] end.
Then, faster than most could blink, the cobalt blue hedgehog did a spinning handstand and began kicking out his feet at supersonic speeds, deflecting all the tentacles that came his way. Not beginning to even consider letting its foe escape its touch, the water beast jumped a metre into the air, producing a seismic shockwave that swept the hedgehog off his feet.
"Ok, time out! Foul! Offside! Whoa!" Sonic suddenly shouted every sports analogy he knew. "What was that? This blob of goo can jump and cause earthquakes now?"
"Impressive, isn't he blue pincushion?" Robotnik sneered from his position above the battlefield.
"I've seen better super villain powers on TV to be honest, Blubberchops" Sonic retorted unimpressed.
Robotnik visibly scathed at that remark and said no more, opting instead to watch this battle royale and hope for his jubilant victory.
"Now what are we to be doing ma Princess?" Antoine fretted, sword at the ready and his eyes darting about everywhere.
"Hmm, one moment Antoine," she responded somewhat absent-mindly, for she had herself been trying to deduce a weak spot, but to no real avail. The furious winds weren't making concentrating on staying on the ground, avoiding attacks and brainstorming any easier either, but at least visibility was good [for it wasn't raining at the moment].
"NICOLE, is there any weakness in 'Chaos Six's' structure that we can exploit?"
"I'm on it Sally," it hummed regularly, before suddenly crying out. "Behind you!" the supercomputer said worriedly in one of its rarer moments of 'motherly-like' tones, noting that a water funnel was coming straight at the Princess.
Reacting as quickly as she was able, Sally attempted to back-flip over the approaching water beam, but only managed to bend over backwards so that it passed right over her, the warm water cooling off her chest. With no damage done, nor herself knocked off the arena, she snapped back upright as the water funnels duration ended; allowing her time to reconvene with NICOLE.
"Thanks NICOLE, so, was there anything?" she asked hopefully, ready to move at a second's notice should Chaos feel trigger happy again.
"There was nothing, Sally. I'm sorry," the supercomputer hummed, before handily switching herself off.
"Figures", the Princess grumbled as she stared down their multiple-eyed foe. Eyes… she thought frantically, if we could blind him then we might stand a chance yet!
Bunnie Rabbot, meanwhile, had a similar brainwave, and was itching to try it out.
"Amy doll, Antoine," she asked promptly. "Cover me will ya'll?"
The two had barely nodded, before the rabbit woman had sprinted off to fulfil whatever she had in mind, leaving the two designated to stand fiercely, arms at the ready [in their case, a sword and mallet]. For anyone that knew Bunnie Rabbot, it was a definite possibility that Chaos would soon be in for a rude reckoning
And skipping to one side, forward-flipping and barrel rolling onward with aerobatic prowess was that same woman, doomed to be half-living and involved in this clash of wills till its conclusion; a thought that ailed and kept her striding ever forward.
Heavens to Bunnie. Would ya look at that ugly 'ol thing? She thought as she reached the inner sanctum of Chaos Six, and got her first real eyeful of the watery beast. Its sea green eyeballs scurried like rats across its slimy surface and gave her the willies, but worse of all the smell and humidity of the bloated mess [something only one as close as her could get a whiff of]; it was like putrid milk, rotting meat and unmentionables all rolled into one. In short, it smelt like death and from the way it was excitedly growling as it tried to squeeze, slice and dice her friends; Chaos was probably good at dealing it out too!
Well that's the easy part outta the way… Now I just gotta yank myself up this oversized, retching guava pineapple, she belched inwardly, less than glad that her friends' attention were the factor drawing Chaos' away from her.
Gritting her teeth, she made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat before she too k off, sailing the air like a leaping gazelle until she felt warm flesh meet wet flesh. And since the latter of which would devour her whole if she dallied too long, she decided to do came naturally to her species – she ran – turning into a sprint in a number of seconds as her eyes focused on her target above: the biggest and main eye of the beast.
As she ascended, the tiny, splashing patter of her feet were complimented by the smashes and clings of her comrades' offensive taking place somewhere behind.
And at the top of the twenty five foot Olympus, about fifteen seconds later, Bunnie was about to wallop the main eye into oblivion when something slimy suddenly jolted one of her arms up into the air with eager force.
"Yaouch!" Bunnie cried out, more an expression of how frowningly disappointed she was at her early failure than of any real pain [she could tell nothing had been broken or dislodged at least].
"Heh," she smirked, tightening her straddle hold on the outer rim of the main eye like she'd do on her old horse back in the south, as she realised just which arm it'd grabbed. "You'll have to do better than that to impress me hun," she continued sweetly, "and for starters, you have to take me by the correct arm!" she hollered angrily before reeling back her free metallic arm and smashing it straight into Chao Six's main eye.
The primal scream it unleashed thundered across every molecule of its body, sending it into spasms and tossing off a certain bunny female into the air like she were but a mere flea [which, comparing their sizes, actually makes some literal sense].
"O-oh m-my s-stars-s-s!" her echoing voice sounded, wiggling in midair to try and get herself upright. Unfortunately for her, that just wasn't happening today.
Now I really wish I had rocket boosters in mah feet, like all those folk in Rotor's sci-fi flicks! She thought erratically, seeing the sea green ground rocketing to meet her. Is this it…?
Then she fell no more, and was meet only with a gruffly, even voice.
"Are you all right?"
She looked up to that her savoir was none other than Knuckles the Guardian, which caused her to gasp out loud, for she'd never been this close and personal with the echidna before now… And it was something her girly side couldn't help but tease.
"I'm fine sugah, thanks to you…" she purred, which to no one's surprise, flustered Knuckles' nerves, causing him to scrunch his face and narrow his eyes, all whilst continuing to stare straight ahead. The Guardian didn't dislike the woman, but her girly 'charm' as others had called it could be rather strong at times, and it just made him feel uncomfortable.
Still, he felt he needed to answer so…
"Hmph," he scoffed. "I didn't do it for you – I was on my way up to giving a good pummelling to that eye too – then you got there beforehand and fell," he explained irritably. "There was nothing more to this than that."
"I know what this here meant, sugar. I was just yankin' your tail," Bunnie laughed off as they landed and promptly hopped out of the Guardian's touch, rejoining the others who were happy to see her [especially since she didn't just, like, die]. But as best gal friends Sally and Bunnie hugged, the latter didn't see the disapproving sneer that their French comrade gave at the Guardian of the Master Emerald.
"Good work Bunnie," Sally commended her. "It looks like I don't need to mission debrief that weakness to you all now!" she laughed, mocking herself, which just caused Bunnie to roll her eyes.
"Yeah Bunnie, you gave that Chaos creep a good pounding and you softened ol' gruff-features over there, I'd call that a great days work," was Sonic's witty interjection, sugar-sprinkled off with that should-be trademark wink of his. Bunnie giggled at his remark, and Knuckles not so much so [he gave the 'Blue-Showoff' a deathly glare].
"Oui, oui, a good show you made mademoiselle," Antoine chipped in hurriedly, but in a voice that was still filled to the brim with gentle emotion, before launching himself back into the fray with Rotor and Amy.
"You kicked some butt Aunt Bunnie!" Tails exclaimed.
"Hey, hey, look at the little man using questionably naughty grown-up words, Sally girl," Bunnie teasingly scolded the young fox. "Isn't that something precious?"
"Hmm, yeah, something 'precious' of the Sonic kind I'm sure," Princess Sally mumbled just enough so everyone present could hear, even over the continuing roars and weapon strikes in the background.
The cobalt blue hedgehog in question raised his arms up in mock protest. "We'll talk about Tails' probable overexposure to you later, Sonic," she stated simply, ending the matter [and now was hardly the time].
"Now, Bunnie has opened up a new battle strategy for us to muster," she began diligently, but when the Princess saw that the cerulean hedgehog was about to interject an idea, she immediately cut him off in a stern but sweetly toned voice.
"And no, while it may usually work for you, "run as fast as you can" is NOT a plan, Sonic!"
His mouth glued shut after that remark, leaving the rebel leader to make the final battle decision.
"Okay guys, spread out and go for the eyes!" Sally commanded with steadfast faith, a talent that she'd adapted and honed from her many Princess lessons when she were but a small, but talkative young girl. "Back each other up if you can and let's blind this beast as soon as possible. He'll be easier to take down then," she said, willingly her words to sound more genuine than they'd probably come out.
This was it was all she had time to introspect before they all reached the battle sanctum proper.
"It's about time you guys backed us up!" Rotor shouted through gritted teeth as he physically held off, and then tore apart, two rabid tentacles.
"Sorry Rote, you know how Sal gets in her pep talks sometimes…" Sonic trailed off, a smirk on his face.
Rotor nodded in understanding and then the charge was on, just as a long shadow loomed menacingly over them, eager to end their fates.
On the sidelines, the big cat unknowingly known to the Freedom Fighters as Big the Cat, had been watching them with fascinated curiosity.
These people… wow, they can move so fast! He thought, looking at the dark blue hedgehog that was currently dashing side to side to avoid attack. And they're so strong! He went on; reflecting on the rabbit woman's daring run-climb of the water demon and the eye-pounding attack thereafter. And that fox has two tails! Wonderfully unbelievable!
"Grandpa did tell me that there were strong fellows in the world, ones that fought evil," Big whispered to himself, as he whirred out his fishing line. It had taken him longer than usual before of how petrified he'd suddenly become in the demon's presence [he'd been standing akin to a statue from where he'd entered this scene, bliss his soul], but now, with his eyes anxiously trailing at Froggy, his resolve became ironclad.
Now, all he had to do was cast his line right and catch, save and 'de-possess' his friend Froggy from a gigantic water monster. Simples, right?
I just have to do just right, Big thought simply, unaffected by the surrounding cold snap, and then we can go home, and get some peace and quiet.
"Hah!" he uttered as he threw his lure at Chaos, who at present was busy with multiple attacks from the Freedom Fighters; from Sonic and Sally spiral-kicking one of the rightmost eyes, to Tails and Amy playing a game of distract and pummel, and finally to Antoine and Bunnie who were playing the tactic also, albeit reversed. Bunnie, you see was fisting whatever came her way whilst Antoine thrusted his sword into one of the lower left eyes, and narrowly avoiding being stabbed by Chaos' new tail as he did so.
His aim had been centred on the area just above the main eye [which was still half-blinded by Bunnie's earlier action], as that was where Froggy was currently at. As for what he was doing, well, he was a frog so he was pretty much swimming about, oddly enough looking un-perplexed by his surroundings at all.
Maybe he was sleep-walking or something, Big figured, before then hearing the clicking-like sound of lure against a hard surface.
He'd missed his target completely.
Oh… Big thought disheartened, this just isn't as easy as fishing is. And it obviously wasn't, not when this plane of water was as tall as it was wide [something you wouldn't find in a river or lake], not to mention its alive status!
Just how did it get so big anyway? He thought, mildly confused. Is it even that same demon that Froggy and I saw the other day now…? He thought this, not only because of the very rapid transformation it'd undergone [something he'd never seen before], but because back then the demon had seemed to have some sort of intellect. Now… it was just a raging monster seemingly devoid of such, and one with a very large, scary tail.
Ugh… I need to get Froggy and me out of here, before we get hit by that thing! Big fretted inwardly, feeling the prickling sensation of fear creeping up his spine again.
So, he readied up his casting lure again, let the line settle in the general area through his eye vision and then closed his eyes, something his Grandpa had told him settled and focused the mind. He breathed in and out heavily to steady his nerves, and then in an instant he threw out his lure.
A 'plop' sound came seconds later, confirming that he had hit his target. Big's eyes snapped open to reveal uncanny determination, he knew he could do this. He had to.
As he steadied his hold on the fishing rod, the lure sank into the 'head' of Chaos and narrowly missed Froggy, who was still swimming aimlessly about.
Oh, hold still Froggy! Don't make this more difficult, thought the mildly frustrated Mobian Cat.
Thankfully, about a minute of fish line wriggling later, and Big's persistence looked to have paid off as Froggy bit the line. Well, that and maybe the small amount of his favourite food [live insects], which'd been cleverly stickled to the lure with some leftover honey beforehand.
"Good pally, Froggy, hold on nice and tight!" Big said, rather absent mindly to no one but himself, tuning out the battle cries and roars that Knuckles and his friends were making in their fight against the water demon.
And then he heaved, allowing the game tug and pull to begin in earnest.
Chaos Six, being as large as he was wasn't moving from its spot, but frisky-mover Froggy was having none of it. At least, until he smelled what was on the lure, then he bit.
Then he resisted… But Big was having none of that, not this time, and being the stronger of the two persons, pulled out the frog from the beast at blinding speeds and straight into his welcoming arms.
As he hugged Froggy, who was now rather still [and probably confused after all he'd gone through], Big heard an exclaim of joyful surprise from behind them, but he didn't look up.
"Look, tze foule beasts' tail is gone! Marvellous fortune is this on us!"
"No way! I can't believe this!" Robotnik screamed furiously upon seeing Chaos Six sans tail, turning to his nephew on autopilot. "That fat cat just came and took Chaos' tail! Why didn't you do anything?!"
"Umm, s-sire, I believe we were both too b-busy watching him t-thrash the Freedom Fighters to n-notice or c-care," Snively whimpered nervously, covering his face with his hands as he knew what would come next.
"W-WHAT! How dare you throw this back at me as though it's my fault! You're my hired help for a reason you know!" the mad scientist howled back, frothing disgustingly at the mouth.
"Hoo-ray! Froggy, heh heh heh heh, I won't let them take you away again," Big said overjoyed as he swung Froggy around and around in his hands, who was croaking affectionately [presumably].
"I don't know what just happened, but thanks for getting rid of Chaos' tail," called a cool voice, which upon turning around to face its origin, turned out to be none other than one Sonic the Hedgehog.
"Go! Go on and get outta here! We'll do the rest," Sonic ensured with a grin, before assuming a battle stance in Chao Six's direction.
"Oh, okay... Thanks! Come, little buddy. Time to get a move on," Big drawled slowly in his ever-present casual tone, as they left from whence they'd came and off the domed tower.
"What a sweet lil doll," Bunnie remarked as Big [and Froggy] left.
"That's one way of describing Big, I guess," Knuckles muttered, neither with malice or overabundant joy, prompting Bunnie to raise an eyebrow.
She'd never get to question him that day, though, because of what happened next.
In a delayed reaction on its part, Chaos howled with fiery rage, a sound so piercing that it cracked [or shattered] all glass in the nearby vicinity [which literally was the entire Egg Carrier] and brought everyone to their knees [or in Robotnik and Snively's case, brought their Egg-o-Matic down to ground level]. Thankfully, the illuminated green platform received only a large crack or two, so they all didn't fall into an electrical bath either.
But alias, Chaos Six suddenly stopped its echoing death-squeal and stiffened as its body began to glow in a bathe of eerie colours [the same as the six Chaos Emeralds within its mass].
"Oh no, don't tell that he can use the power of the-" Knuckles began, his voice wavering and his eyes wide with horror at the Eldritch Abomination*.
With sudden furiosity Chaos then unleashed all eight of his tentacles at once like spears all around the arena.
One didn't need to hear the screams to know that our heroes never stood a chance.
Well, Chaos had most of them now in its tightening grasp and begging for mercy, for one Sonic had hastily skidded to the side, and just narrowly scraping past a spear of water to his gut. And looking anxiously around, the cobalt hedgehog saw that only he and two others had escaped unscathed, namely one Miles 'Tails' Prower and Knuckles.
He assumed they'd done a similar antic as to himself [since this had happened in literally five seconds], but looking up he could only feel terror, and not to mention rising anger at what he saw.
The water monster was dangling his comrades, his friends, up in the air like puppets, ones whose screams of dismay sounded out over the moonless night sky, across the surface of a deep, large ocean where no one could hear them.
"Let them go you monster!" he roared, jumping recklessly up in the air with his hands outstretched.
He was too late however, as Robotnik quickly whispered his new order to his new pet.
Chaos Six, then growled once more, before visibly squeezing it's captives to within an inch of their lives with bone-crushing force, and then slammed them down.
All of them were out before they even hit the arena's floor.
Knuckles' face turned into a deep scowl, his fists shaking with unspent emotion, whilst Tails' face became awash with fresh tears and his voice croaked and Sonic's face darkened, drooping nearly to the floor in shame? In anger? In defeat? He felt them all, and it made him sick to his stomach.
"Ah, how poetic," Robotnik taunted with utmost glee as he looked down at his defeated adversaries and the heavens opened, letting down the whipping rain and thunder once more. "Even the weather wishes to commend my victory! You're finished you insufferable blue pin-cushion!" the madman's cackling continued. "And your little friends too! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
"Sonic, get up!" Tails pleaded, trying to shift the immobile hedgehog from his place on the ground. As he tried so, Knuckles stood fretfully to his side, not sure whether to shout at the annoying teen or punch him in the face, anything to wake him up! He knew he wasn't enough to beat Chaos Six alone, though he'd never admit it to them, especially Sonic.
"You won't stop me from restoring the Master Emerald, you hear me?!" Knuckles shouted angrily at Chaos and Robotnik, needing to let loose some pent-up steam. And as he did so, Tails managed to support a staggering cobalt blue hedgehog to his feet.
"… I'm okie, lil bro," the hedgehog finally murmured, the tiredness in his tone replacing his usual upbeat altitude. "It's just been a long, hard day," he continued, giving a glare at Chaos Six, whom for all its former intellect just sat there and growled, waiting for its next brawl.
"And I presume that you do have a plan?" Knuckles asked sternly, coming on over to the duo.
"Well… no," Sonic said sheepishly, "but hey! The best ideas come out from nothing but experience, right?"
"With you, I'm sure they do," the echidna sarcastically muttered in response, still assuming a fistful standing pose anyway.
"We don't have time to argue guys!" Tails insisted, intervening as his youthful, blue eyes dashed from one to the other. "If we don't stand together, then we'll die alone!"
Knowing that the young [and obviously wiser in some respects] tech wizard was right, the two sighed before promptly nodding their heads and then with a heroic cry, they leapt into the frying pan.
Knuckles charged at the watery beast, shooting up his arms to block the tentacle strikes, as Sonic, who had let himself hang loosely from a hovering Tails, spin-dashed from his position at Chaos Six's head. And to his frustration missed, when said opponent leapt into the air and caused more shockwaves to ripple across the already, fragile platform – had he not performed a quick corkscrew of a turn at the last second, the cobalt hedgehog would have again ended up in the belly of the beast.
And so with aerial manoeuvres proving ineffective, the crimson echidna slashed at its body, hoping to break it apart piece by piece, even as three tentacles whipped repeatedly over his built body…
"Knuckles!" Tails shouted. "That won't work; he's invulnerable to physical attacks!"
But still the determined warrior continued on, despite seeing that with every piercing slash he made, the watery body regenerated much too fast for him to advance as far as he needed.
"Can't that hothead see that his all-power offensive isn't working?" Sonic groaned irritably from the sidelines. "Man, if only Sal and Rotor weren't out cold, they'd know what to do," he said quietly, casting a forlorn look their way.
"Hey! Whilst I'm dishing it out to this monster, you guys could attack it or something," Knuckles hollered irritably, in a tones doublely potent than Sonic's.
"Err, r-right!" the duo exclaimed, before running side by side at Chaos Six, only to be met with a dozen free tentacles across their own weakening bodies. Whilst Sonic had just enough strength to jump over his lot, Tails' reflexes had slipped him up, literally, allowing his arms to be seized and dragged towards Chaos, whose mouth was wide open and sucking him in!
"Tails! Hang on lil bro!" Sonic shouted anxiously, I'll save you, he decidedly left unsaid. So in a desperate vein to save his falling friends' lives, the azure hedgehog growled angrily, etching a determined scowl on his face, before boosting up off the platform with a small gust of wind. He stylishly then landed on a tentacles that had been meant for his head and run up its length towards Chaos' peak, trying his best to tune out Tails' petrifying screams as he was drawn closer to the beast' mouth. That fear effect is coming back again, he inwardly groaned. Not good. I'll have to make… this… quick!
And with a supersonic boom of speed, he tore right through Chaos' main eye, halting its attack on his remaining allies. It also howled in pain, as one would expect.
"Yeah! Take that you oversized fish!" Sonic taunted it, before turning his attention to Tails, who was barely limping forward at this point. His face looked expectably relieved, though, which warmed the cobalt hedgehog's heart considerably.
"Are you alright?" he asked in concern of his little bro alias.
"Yeah… I'm okie, just a bit woozy from everything today I guess," Tails replied slowly, waving his hand around in a 'no need to fuss over me' like motion, which Sonic respected, and he did look fine, bar the woozy, exhaustion he [and they all] were feeling right now.
"Guys! Let's get him whilst he's distracted!" Knuckles interjected, wanting to at least control the loop than be left out of it, and despite a moment's hesitation with Tails, the duo nodded and ran on over.
With his whirring tails, Tails twirled side to side, dodging attacks, even as a light sheen of cold sweat ran down his forehead, whilst Sonic rived himself into a buzz saw-like ball and launched himself at their common foe.
When the trio's punches connected with the soft watery tissues, they were shocked to see the glaring main eye of Chaos back in its place, as though it hadn't been torn in half just a while before.
"H-he regenerated h-his eye t-that q-quickly?" Tails choked out, staring eye to eye with the beast, in mid-pose, afraid to move and also to continue with what he'd been about to do. It seemed like a stalemate.
"It m-must have g-great e-eyebotics or s-something," Sonic stammered.
"Erm, I-I think y-you mean antibiotics, S-Sonic?"Tails responded.
"Y-yeah, that's w-what I m-meant," was all he said.
"You don't scare me beast," Knuckles announced defiantly. "I will restore the Master Emerald and my island!"
And due to the duo's anxiety, the triple threat failed to notice the shadow looming above their heads until the very last moment. The scorpion-like tail slashed on down, narrowly missing their heads and instead tossing them into the air from the shockwave, allowing the water beast to slam it horizontally into their chests. And when they touched down, they landed on the other edge of the platform with a painful sounding thud, right next to their fainted comrades.
For all their worth, it appeared that Robotnik and Chaos Six had won the day.
"Ugh," Sonic groaned, leaving a worried Tails to finish what he'd probably been about to say. "Now what do we do?"
"Come on you two, I know you're stronger than this," Knuckles berated harshly. "So get up!"
"Knuckles… dude, I don't know it's escaped your short-sighted attention, but Chaos just shrugs off whatever we throw at him!" Sonic retorted hopelessly, still on his knees.
The echidna looked as if he was about to reply, but then thought better of it and began mumbling instead. "Maybe, we have to deal with him from the inside? And I'm the only one who isn't affected…"
"Knuckles, are you alright?" Tails asked in mild concern, for talking to one's self probably wasn't a good thing.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm fine guys," came the hastily reply, "But I think I have a way to defeat Chaos."
A few moments pasted, prompting the cobalt blue hedgehog to speak.
"Well, do you care to enlighten us, Knuckles?"
He nodded. "Okay, now listen up guys, everyone else here but me [for reasons we can't deduce] are affected by close proximity to Chaos, right?" He explained.
"Right," they stated simply at the same time.
"Well, then I believe it is up to me," he stated firmly, and in seeing their mouths about to open in protest, interjected."And me alone – none of you could survive inside Chaos for too long without being rendered mad. It has to be me."
The duo, naturally, did not look convinced.
"And once you're inside him?" Sonic questioned.
"Once inside…" the echidna said, breathing in deeply. "I'll use the Master Emerald to destroy his core, if not the entirety of his being. Either way, he wouldn't be able to regenerate,"
It took only seconds for those words to resonate within the fox and hedgehog's minds, and reach its obvious conclusion. Their eyes widened, and the air seemed to chill just a bit more [if that was even possible at this point].
"Knux, man, that's suicide!" Sonic exclaimed.
"And every mission you take as a freedom fighter isn't?" was the simple, flat retort.
"Did you hear what I said? I said suicide, ya know, you'd die!" the hedgehog shouted, ignoring Knuckles' statement, as he waved his arms about in exasperation.
"Also Knuckles, what if Chaos absorbs the Master Emeralds energies instead? Because then we'd all be doomed!" Tails inputted fearfully.
".. If that happens, then yes, we'd surely be finished, but didn't Robotnik say that Chaos would be 'perfect' when he gets that last Chaos Emerald anyway? What I mean is, whether it's the Master Emerald or Silver Emerald, Chaos would become too strong for us," he cocked a look Sonic's way as he continued. "Since you wouldn't be able to turn Super without the emeralds."
"So, the possibility of failure is very high whichever we try," Tails murmured.
"Exactly," Knuckles calmly stated, eyes closed and arms folded across his chest.
"Wow… that was pretty wise Knucklehead," Sonic complimented.
The guardian didn't let it show, but as he grunted an inaudible response, a small smirk rose in his subconscious. Finally they're taking me, a Guardian, seriously! He thought brightly, before he willed his nerves to harden, like steel.
"You sure about this Knuckles…?" Sonic felt the need to ask one last time, his tone solemn.
The guardian in question was staring down Chaos Six, who'd been silently looking at them and making scathing growls, as he held onto his makeshift Master Emerald Shard necklace.
But now I need to end this. Whatever road it leads me…
And with a responding nod, the plan was on.
"Tails, can you distract him?" was the echidna's next firm utterance.
"I'm on it!" the youthful fox said, taking a hovering position in front of the beast.
"And you, I can't believe I'm saying this but," Knuckles said, slapping himself in the head. "But I want you to spin me around real fast so I can get in there, even if I am a better swimmer than you."
"Oki-hey! You know how I feel about water!"
"I know, that's why I said it you Blue-Showoff," Knuckles grunted through a small smirk. "Now, let's get going!"
And so they did, Tails swooped down high and low in a circular arc around the arena, in order to shake off, as well as avoid the ever-present tentacles of Chaos, jabbing at him like jousting lances. Knuckles, meanwhile was being thrown around and around by a slightly bemused hedgehog, and it was all he could take to will down the contents of his stomach…
But in a flash, Sonic, having reached a decent enough spin speed, let the echidna go at a speed of at least forty-fifty mph, who then twisted in the air in a drill-like manoeuvre before puncturing Chaos Six's body.
Inside, oxygen was not a problem, for the Guardian had self-taught himself to be as resilient as possible to dangers of earth, water and sky, so he hold his great for far greater lengths than most men [or women] could. Kicking his feet and front-crawling with his arms to get deeper inside [since he'd landed just short of Chaos' centre], in a mass that was heavy and full of vast negative energies was the predominant worry on Knuckles' mind for now.
And as he etched closer to the glowing, pink fleshy core, Knuckles clutched his Master Emerald necklace fiercely tight, as they too began to glow a light sea green. Not only that, but he was finding it ever more difficult to concentrate as his vision became hazy, and his pulse was increasing steadfast. And a tingling sensation was beginning in his fingers as well.
What…? What is this feeling I'm having? Knuckles thought, perplexed, but oddly calm in the wake of such a discovery. It's… as though… something is rising to the surface from within me?
His fingers then felt something other than excited tingles, something soft and gooey, and it came to no surprise of the echidna's eyes that it was Chaos' core brain. He had arrived at his destination. Now, he just had to set his plan into motion successfully without a hitch.
So, grabbing his necklace of shards, he closed his eyes and focused on his mind, the thread of chaos that connected him to the Master Emerald, and willed it to help him.
What happened next, no one could've imagined.
Seemingly in an instant, the excitable sensation within his body shifted, and dark emerald wisps of energy secreted over the crimson echidna's body in tune with the spinning light patterns from the shards. Knuckles' eyes become slightly more triangular than elongated spheres, like diamonds, almost emerald-like, in shape and colour.
The sight of which, made him look like a glowing pillar of light to the shocked faces of Sonic and co [the others of whom had been warily waking up since Knuckles entered Chaos Six]. It was a sight of awe that was for sure.
Then, there was a howling scream, but it wasn't from Chaos… for the powerful sensation had just ruptured throughout Knuckles' entire body, from the bones, to the nervous system and to the flesh. It, by all logical means should've caused the echidna to suffer a biological meltdown. But it didn't. Instead, it was merely a prelude to a massive flux of white light, which blinded the irises of everyone present, leaving them gasping for what the end result would be.
In a blinding world of white, Robotnik, Snively and the Freedom Fighters felt no pain, only the soft, feathery-like breeze of a subtle wind, and there was no sound at all. It was though their part of the world had been enveloped in a cocoon, cutting them off from the rest. It was strangely only mildly disorienting, but they wouldn't need to fret for much longer, for it went almost as soon as it'd come.
And when the luminance finally subsided, and the skies were revealed once more, now just grey non-stormy clouds, only one being remained in the blast's epicentre.
"KNUCKLES!" the Freedom Fighters cried out, rushing on over to him. The crimson flesh was battered, bruised and unmoving.
Rotor quickly tried for a pulse on his right wrist and a heartbeat on the Guardian's chest.
The next few moments trickled by tensely for the other standing Freedom Fighters, who had now regained their breath, and who also sported a few battle-worn bruises.
"Well, what's the verdict Rote'…?" Sonic whispered tentatively.
The purple walrus's head rose and he quickly glanced through all their anxious eyes, an indecipherable expression on his face.
"He's alive guys, don't worry!" he exclaimed, flipping from indescribable to excitable relief in two seconds flat.
"Thank goodness for that," Sally breathed, saying what everyone else had been, the had-been knot in her throat now untwisting and fading like a bad dream.
They'd only known him for near two years, but Knuckles' death would not only had been emotionally distressing for them [and in the middle of a mission, that would be disastrous], but that'd also, maybe selfish on her part, have left them with the duty of the Floating Island, the Master Emerald [shards] and whatever other secrets the place had.
"Hey guys…" drawled a breezy southern voice. "Where in tarnation did that Chaos go?"
"Huh, what do you mean Bunnie-" Amy Rose began, perplexed and down with a little case of the shivers, before she saw it, or to be more precise, the lack of 'it'. The others noticed it immediately forthwith, for the arena was empty.
Chaos Six had, it seemed, been completely obliterated by the unexpected attack. There wasn't even any ascending vapour trails that one must've expected to see from such a scorching blast, but then, the problem came when it came to them the bystanders. Why hadn't they felt any heat, or moreover been obliterated along with the former water beast?
It was a head-scratcher indeed, and one that only Knuckles could likely answer when he awoke, which was mildly irritating to the confused, but awed blue blur.
"No way! I can't believe this! What did that HIPPY RAT DO TO MY CHAOS!" roared a familiar dictator, causing any rising hope the gang had for the attack to have mimed or outright dealt with their sworn enemy, to be swiftly quelled.
"Umm, sire-" came the slimy voice of Snively. Yes, luck really was being unfair to the heroes today wasn't it?
"ARGHHHHHHH!"
"Sire! There's a great hole in the Egg Carrier!" the punt sized lackey squealed loudly, finger pointing erratically at the aforementioned.
"There's a what-" Robotnik murmured, not quite getting it at first. "AH! Oh no, they broke my beautiful airship too!" Then he did, as did his enemies.
For there was a large hole in the ship where the explosion of chaotic light had occurred, a spidery crater in the tower's centre, and it went all the way through the vessel, cremating the engine.
"Je ne peux pas le croire... Non, non! This is thee end of us all as we do know it… I had so much to live for left," Antoine whimpered, right on cue. Though, this time the whole gang weren't that far behind him, mainly because the glass panels were now beginning to fall into the abyss below.
"Until we meet again Freedom Fighters!" Robotnik announced venomously, before jetting hastily from the scene, pesky nephew in tow.
"Stop! Come back here Robuttnik!" Sonic shouted, legs gearing into a speedy figure of eight in order to pursue. That was until, Bunnie grabbed him to halt him, and so let the madman live for another day as he vanished into the dark clouds below.
"Move, move, MOVE!" Sally commanded swiftly, leading the way. The staircase was likely to not hold for long, so in a quick-fire decision, the resistance leader then jumped off the platform's edge, aiming to hit the decking below without too much pain.
Her boots hit its flat surface with a thud, sending a sharp spike of pain up her ankles. She prayed that it wasn't a break, a sprain she could deal with, but a break would make her excess baggage. No matter how much she knew her friends would say otherwise, they already had Knuckles to carry without her being added to it. No, she'd just have to try and-
"Hey, are you alright Aunt Sal?" Tails asked, trying his best to prop her up on his shoulder, despite their differing heights. Still, Sally obliged him the opportunity.
"Thanks Tails, but I'm fine, really. I can still walk," she said calmly, but definitively, doing the deed to prove it. The movement was a little shaky, but Sally soon got back into her stride.
As for the others, Bunnie had grabbed Knuckles with one hand and Antoine, leaving a speeding Sonic to carry Amy, much to her happy bemusement, and trail Rotor along by his free right hand. They'd all landed pretty well considering the sudden break for it, though Rotor did look a little sea green. The important thing was that they'd escaped the collapsing tower of luminance, now they just had one more thing to answer:
Just how were they going to escape this sinking ship?
*Play Sonic Adventure – Egg Carrier ~A Song That Keeps Us On The Move*
"What are we to be doing ma princesse? We need to get off this ship!" Antoine enquired desperately as he fidgeted erratically, despite Bunnie's reassuring shoulder grasp to render him calmer.
All eyes turned to the revel princess, their comrade, their leader and friend, hopeful for some ingenious plan that would save their bacon for at least another day.
"NICOLE, can you scan the Egg Carrier for any viable lifeboats, preferably not locked away?" Sally diligently asked, turning away so as to not meet the eyes of her friends.
More fleeting moments passed, and one Amy Rose swore that she saw the clouds above start to rise. It looked like they were fast running of time. Still, she turned back to her former 'love rival' and comrade, hoping that if all hope was lost, then she'd be able to speak to Amber, Lisa and Zack one last time.
I'm so sorry I missed your birthday, Zack, but I left on a mission with my old friends, defeated the monster and now we're going to die! She thought wildly.
Sally then turned back around, NICOLE no longer in her palm.
The downcast and frustration apparent on Sally's face said it all. And it was then, only then, that they realised that perhaps they expected too much of her. They were only Mobian after all, abundant with their own weaknesses and strengths. Perhaps the situation really was out of their hands this time.
"I'm sorry guys… but there isn't any conveniently placed lifeboats on hand, in fact, there isn't any on board at all. Looks like Robotnik was adamant he'd never need them," she said solemnly, slumping her shoulders down in failure.
"Don't frown Sally-girl, we aren't super-mobian," Bunnie comforted her with a hug. "We can't expect everything to go our way. This is not your fault, okay?"
"I know Bunnie, I know… I just hate feeling helpless like this! It's unbecoming of me," Sally sighed, venting her frustrations.
"Hmm," Sonic hummed thoughtfully, stroking his fingers over his chin. "I've got it!"
"You do? Well spill the beans then Sonic," Rotor piped up, a slight return of hopeful twinkle in his eyes.
"Well… It won't save us all I'm afraid, but at least two of us will make it," he said, eyes glistening with determination, even despite his upcoming demise, at Amy and Tails.
"What, u-us?!" The pair exclaimed at once, shocked.
"Yes, you two," Sonic replied simply before resting his left hand on Amy's left shoulder and the other on Tails' right, before looking the pair square in the eye. "You're the youngest of us all, you have to make it. Whether you carry on the fight or stay and live the rest of your lives peacefully in this city or elsewhere, it matters not; we won't hold it against you," he continued affirmably. "None of us deserved the life of a freedom fighter, and that especially rings true to you two. Just promise me one thing," the cobalt blue hedgehog said, his tone withering with sadness, as he closed his eyes.
*Play LOST – Journey's End, New Beginning or Oceanic 815*
"Anything Sonic…" the pair murmured, moisture glistening in Tails' eyes, whereas tears had already began to stream down Amy's scrunched-up face.
"Hey, no tears lil' bro, or you'll make me cry. You too, Amy! You know how I hate to do that," he jokingly half-scolded, half-chucked through shining eyes.
"It's not cool, right?" the young fox chuckled in response to his best friend, the only one he'd ever had, and probably his last.
"R-right, naturally!" Sonic joked back, though he didn't laugh this time. For what did he have to laugh about? He and his friends were [most likely] going to die and he'd never see two of his other friends again, not in this lifetime at least. It was gnawing at his mind and heart.
Life really isn't fair, he thought, with a slight touch of finality.
"So, w-what did y-you wanna tell u-us, S-Sonic?" Amy asked, clutching the helm of her red dress tightly, whilst trying her best to sniffle back the tears, and failing miserably.
"I-I…" choked an uncharacteristic Sonic from the norm, "I wanted to say this," he said as he caught the two in a tight hug.
"Just live you two, just live, and be happy. Look out for one another, and all that jazz," he concluded, unable to continue anymore, be it from sheer emotion or to save what rep he had, even a mixture of both. His gathered friends figured it was the later, though.
"That was beautiful sugah-hog," Bunnie murmured, her glumness carrying on the strengthening winds around them as her eyes began to water. It looked like she was gonna lose a family all over again, and it broke her heart.
"Don't worry darlin's, it'll take more than this to do in Auntie Bunnie, and I'll be darned if I let anything happen to the others," the rabbit said through her tears as she hugged the duo, all the while praying that this wouldn't turn out to be a lie when all was said and done, she weren't immortal after all. Still, deep down, she knew they'd probably figured the ruse from offset, they weren't stupid. And that made the feeling worser.
The coyote Frenchman was next up, kneeling down at the pair so they of a level height, before placing his hands, wet as they were from the weather, onto their shoulders.
"C'est un destin, but you go on younglings. Go forth and make this poor imbecile proud, hear me you do?" Antoine articulated glumly, not quite crying, but his sincere parting words meant a lot nevertheless. The pair nodded and were herded to the one remaining person, and for Tails at least, one that would very hard to let go of.
All it took was one look from Tails, and the emotional barrier the Princess kept up, for battle and for more personal reasons, came down in an uncontrollable stream. Tails had to help wipe them away from her eyes because of the sheer volume of it all. The young fox had never seen Sally cry, well he had, but not really cry, cry, so it should have surprised him, but it didn't.
She was only Mobian, just like the rest of them, and he'd come to realise that whenever they weren't in Robotropolis [or other battlefield territory], shortly after his and Sonic's arrival into their lives, that she let herself relax and the motherly bond they'd developed was proof of that. Sally wasn't a cold-hearted person, not at all, the burden of being the leader of a resistance group just meant that she to withdraw herself sometimes, and he didn't hold that against her, never had, never will.
Still, it didn't half constrict his heart, not only with overwhelming despair, but with anger at the situation, only he and Amy would [likely] survive this night, and that just wasn't fair at all.
After moments of quiet finality, like the fast approaching curtains of a theatrical final act, Sally finally spoke to the budding pair on bent knees.
"I… never thought that it would come to this, but it has, and I want you to know, both of you, that I believe in you and wherever we go from this realm, that we'll be watching over you," she said in a small, but gentle voice, the moonlight from a break in the dark clouds making her azure eyes dazzle with a warm radiance.
"Tails… my darling nephew, continue to work hard and one day I'm sure you'll surpass even Rotor!" she lightly chuckled, earning her a comedic 'Hey!'from said walrus. The goofy smile and wink he gave his prestige made it clear that he'd taken it in his stride, though, and probably even believed in it, hoped for it even.
"I love you…" were the last words she spoke to Tails, hugging him tightly before finally physically letting go of one part of her make-shift family, though the mental process would take a whole lot longer, if not forever to get over.
Amy was next up, her eyes bulging when the Princess hugged her of all people. Still, despite their differences, she would miss Sally; her new maturity had opened her mind to all possibilities, including that of friendship with the rebel leader. She was a woman too, so they must've some things in common, she figured. Sadly, it looked like they [and the world] would never know.
"I know we've had our differences in the past but… It's been real nice; having you let us into your new life, meeting Amber and everyone," she said sincerely. "I hope… you stay true to who you are, and continue to strive for your dreams, whatever they be, for that is what makes you, you," she restated. "Take care of each other and lead great lives…" Sally shut her eyes after that, emotionally unable to continue.
The scene was filled to the brim with vivacious grief, like an early morning grave wake, a barrel of wild feelings, fleeting regrets and fear of the unknown. No one said anything more for a few moments more as the moon was masked by the clouds once again.
"Oh no, the ship is losing altitude, and fast! You better get going guys," Rotor fretted anxiously, yet the shininess in his eyes was no longer filled with much hope... as he saw the clouds race towards the heavens. He knew the time for farewells was over.
"Hurry, Tails! Take Amy and get out of here!" Sonic commanded.
"Right! Let's get going Amy," Tails said politely, but warily, to the rosette hedgehog, who just nodded and held onto tight to both his hands in anticipation, one she never wanted to come.
"See you…" Tails whispered to them, he knew it sounded utterly pathetic, but it was all the young fox could choke out as his twin tails began to lift him upwards and he could see everyone looking at Amy and him, as though this really was goodbye.
This can't be happening… This can't be happening… echoed like a mantra through his mind, and he hoped that he even had enough strength to get him and Amy back to ocean level, yet alone Station Square a few miles away. His muscles were aching all over, and it was slowly seeping to his tails too.
Still, he willed himself on, they and Amy were counting on him, less this'd all be for nothing, he thought finally with renewed determination.
So with a quick burst of speed, one Tails Miles Prower and Amy Rose left the surrounding vicinity of the nose-diving Egg Carrier, which now had several electrical fire sparks shooting out here and there. The duo silently prayed that the airship wouldn't explode on impact, if only because…
"We should get going, Tails," murmured the evenly toned Amy, the voice of reason, moments later as the Egg Carrier slipped below the cloud line and out of sight. And with a simple nod he did just that, speeding off in the direction of Station Square. It's not as if they wanted to torture themselves waiting for a resounding crash sound.
As they did, the moonlight scattered from behind the clouds, and had the Egg Carrier still have been where it was, the persons present on it may've noticed a tiny watery remnant sliding down its face and over the Robotnik Insignia, and growing…
XXXXX
Cue Sonic Unlimited Ending Theme: "My Will" by ARTIST Dream
XXXXX
And thus ends the eightieth chapter of this story arc!
Eldritch Abomination's* are beings that defy all natural law, as humans understand it. It is this that makes them abominable and it this that reduces to gibbering madness all but the strongest of those who encounter them.
And there you have it; Chaos 6 was wiped out by an explosive attack by Knuckles, and the Freedom Fighters [and you readers] can breathe a sigh of relief that this will be the last time the 'fear effect' will appear.
Sorry that this was so long, but I wanted to strike home that Chaos 6 was a force to be reckoned with [and one that had it not have been for Knuckles' latent Chaos powers releasing, would never have been defeated by the FFs].
The battle location was also a hindrance [as Chaos 6 was too big to be a real threat around the entire Egg Carrier methinks]. Tis interesting how Cthulhu I made him actually. Heh. Totally wasn't that intentional.
Oh, Chapters 1-4 have been edited again [with 4 being the most streamlined] too. Hopefully making more sense in the long run!
Now, there are five short chapters to go until the endgame, one that is to go out with a BANG! I doubt I can get there for the end of 2009, but in the beginning of 2010 this story will surely be finished at last?!
[Oh, and I messed up last chapter, Robotnik snatched three Chaos Emeralds meaning he'd have them all! So now, it's just two. Hooray for sloppy author edits? Lol.]
I hope you enjoyed this, and the chapters so far, any comments or ratings would be nice and appreciated! ^-^
'Bomb Alert' is the next chapter.
Take care ya'll *smiley face*