Sonic and Co. © Sega
OCs © Respective Authors
Chapter 21: The Final Emerald
Amy, Shade, and Omega had recently returned to Station Square after having visited Megalo City, where they met up with Strike and SCR-HD, and encountered a new ally in Silver Wolf, whose sister Crystal was killed by Nega. Silver Wolf was trying to keep something called an Elemental Gem from Nega, which he did a great job of. Nega attacked again in a not-so-simple tank, which Omega destroyed by firing a grenade right into the barrel of the tank after everyone else weakened its defenses. Nega left for somewhere else while the others said good-bye to Silver Wolf and headed back to Station Square with the final Super Emerald in hand.
Back in Station Square, things seemed bleak. There was no telling where the final Chaos Emerald was at, and without any leads, there would be no way they could track it down. And they certainly hoped to Chaos that Nega hadn't picked it up, because if he did, there would be trouble unless they could beat him. And that could be hard because they never knew what robot he would be piloting next, or even if he was piloting one. Omega tried scanning for one, but nothing turned up on his radar. Amy wondered if another jammer had been placed in the area.
"Omega, any leads yet?" Amy asked.
"Negative. Nothing is showing on the scanner." Omega told her. "I do not know if there is a jammer around or not."
"So, what happens if Nega gets it?" Shade asked. "I mean, if he needs all 7 of these emeralds, why are you so worried about him having one?"
"Just one emerald has a lot of power." Amy told her. "If he got even one, there's no telling what he could do with it. And if he got all seven of them...I don't even need to go there."
"I can imagine what could happen if he got all seven." Shade said, thinking about the possibilities.
"Luckily, he hasn't succeeded yet." Amy told her, calming Shade down a bit. "And he never will, because all he has are various robots, and he always underestimates us."
"And he's done this for how long?" Shade asked.
"Let me think...about every time." Amy replied. "On the occasion that he has come close to victory, we've always turned it around. Just like our battles with Eggman in this world."
"Then I guess everyone in this world is lucky." Shade concluded.
"You don't even know." Amy told her. "We've always come through, no matter how close Eggman comes. And as we battle Nega, I have a feeling that every time we come through, Nega always comes out with something stronger than the last. It won't be long before he pulls out something that will be near impossible to beat."
"If that happens, we will just find a way to beat it!" Omega said with determination in his voice.
"Nothing is impossible to beat. Everything has a weakness! And we will keep battling until we are disabled or until we find it and exploit it."
"Is he always this way?" Shade asked. "I mean, for real, is he?"
"Always." Amy replied. "And I like him that way. He'll never stop until he's either disabled or destroyed. He's a valuable ally."
"Potential emerald detected to the north of here!" Omega announced, activating his boosters. "Moving to investigate!"
"I hope this isn't a decoy." Shade muttered.
"I doubt it is, unless Nega created it." Amy told her as they sped off in the direction Omega located the potential emerald.
At Station Square City Hall, the building had been nearly destroyed. Everyone in the building had died, from the secretary to Mayor Draco himself. All dead, and some in unusually dead positions, such as slumped over an overturned desk. If you looked inside the building, you could see the mayor's office from the top of the steps. In the mayor's office, Mayor Draco was dead in his chair, his body burnt, but no traces of fire. He was killed by electrocution, and obviously overcooked.
"Wow. Eggman Nega made his mark in this area." Shade commented.
"This was the first city he hit." Amy told her. "None of us saw it coming, and most people here died. Most of the city was hit, and a lot of what was hit was completely destroyed. All around, there's nothing but dead bodies and rubble."
"This is certainly...devastating." Shade said, lacking a better word for it. "But why did we stop here?"
"Potential Emerald detected within 30 yards of here." Omega announced as he activated his item tracker. "Beginning search!"
Omega started walking around the area, hoping that his tracker would beep at something. Amy and Shade decided to take a look as well. After about three minutes, they had searched the whole place, but nothing was around. Where could they have gone wrong? Why was the emerald not here, when Omega had clearly tracked it. Just then, Shade saw a purple glint on top of City Hall.
"Hey, I saw something up there!" Shade said, pointing to the top of City Hall. "I'll climb up there and check it out."
Shade then grabbed onto one of the colums that was still standing, and started climbing up it, towards the top. She then jumped to the ledge where the glint was, grabbed on, and pulled herself up. There it was...the Chaos Emerald. But wait...this was too easy. Shade closed her eyes and listened. If the emerald was just lying up here, there had to be a trap. Then...the Nocturnus echidna heard something. It sounded like, a mechanical whirring. Along with...some kind of tracker beeper. She turned to Omega and Amy.
"You two get ready to run!" Shade called out. "I have a feeling that we're in trouble once I pick this up."
Amy and Omega got ready to dash out of there. Shade picked up the emerald...and nothing happened. Breaths of relief emerged from them.
"It looks like we're okay." Amy called to Shade.
Unfortunately, things were FAR from okay. Just then, a glass casing enclosed Shade, along with the emerald. The casing then retreated into a nearby structure. The structure had four black legs with yellow glass casings around each leg, the joints were large, circular, and encased in metallic glass, but constantly glowed blue. The head, black in color, was also encased in glass, with three yellow dots that looked like a charging laser system. And who was sitting in the glass-encased head? None other than Eggman Nega himself.
"Tee hee hee hee!" Nega laughed. "I never thought you'd be so stupid! You fell right into my trap!"
"Oh, I should have known!" Amy said.
"You see, I already had that emerald! I knew you fools were looking for them, so I decided to place a trap." Nega explained. "And it worked like a charm!"
Omega turned his claws into machine guns and aimed them at Nega, who held the captive Shade in the line of fire.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Nega said in a threatening voice. "You don't want the echidna to get hurt, do you?"
Shade was punching the glass, trying to break it and get out. But it was no use. Somehow, the glass was absorbing her punches. She activated her Leech Blades and tried to weaken it by absorbing the energy, but her efforts were futile.
"Gah ha ha ha ha!" Nega chortled. "Don't waste your efforts, foolish echidna. That glass that is surrounding you is made of a special alloy that makes it immune to any kind of power. Oh, and it's resistant to withering or absorption, and it's locked in place, so you can't move it."
"Damn you, Nega!" Shade cursed.
"My my, you really need to watch that tongue of yours." Nega said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going now."
"As if you'll be going anywhere!" A voice shouted.
At that moment, a bird came out from the rooftops, pulled out two katanas, and sliced through the tether that was holding the glass case. The bird then caught the case and landed on the ground, setting it down before destroying the platform that the case was standing on. This created an opening that allowed Shade to get out. The bird stood up straight, revealing that it was a male sky-blue blue jay. He had samurai-style clothing, minus the armor, with the clothing covered in Babylonian symbols. The blue jay's head feathers were tied back into a band, and his eyes were yellow. Amy nearly flipped out when she saw him.
"Oh my...it's Galeon!" Amy nearly screamed.
The blue jay turned towards Amy, and he smiled.
"Ah, Amy Rose. It's been a while." Galeon said. "Last we met, it was at the tournament, right?"
"Amy, what's so special about this bird?" Shade asked, making sure she was okay.
"Galeon was the champion of a racing tournament we had some time ago." Amy explained. "He beat 6 other racers, one of which was me, to win the championship. I got third place, just so you know."
"I see." Shade replied.
"So, who's the echinda?" Galeon asked. "I remember seeing the robot hanging around at the tournament."
"This echidna is named Shade." Amy told him. "She comes from another dimension known as the...what was it?"
"The Twilight Cage." Shade answered.
"Yeah, the Twilight Cage. Anyway, she's part of a lost race of echidnas called the Nocturnus Clan." Amy explained.
"And here I thought Knuckles and Hurricane were the last ones." Galeon commented, remembering that they had competed in the tournament as well.
"Anyway, Galeon, what are you doing here?" Amy asked.
"I heard that Jet, Wave, and Storm were killed." Galeon said, to which Amy nodded. "I've come to avenge my fellow Babylonians."
"Well, we could use another ally." Amy said. "Want to join us?"
"For the time being, I will." Galeon said. "Besides, I don't want to let him get away with killing Jet and his team."
The four heroes started giving chase to the Nega Quad, determined to stop him and get the last emerald. Along the way, Amy told Galeon about how his fellow Babylonians died. As he heard each one, Galeon became more enraged at Nega. He would not let the madman get away. He would take him down even if it cost him his life. Amy started telling him about Nega's ultimate plan, and the lengths he would go to accomplish that goal.
"So, he wants to destroy everything, then rebuild it so that he rules?" Galeon asked, basically summing up what Amy was telling him.
"Pretty much, yeah." Amy replied.
"And he'll kill anyone he wants?" Galeon asked. "Is that why so many people died, because Nega wanted to kill them?"
"Exactly." Amy confirmed. "He'll even kill harmless civilians just for kicks."
"Man, what a maniac." Galeon muttered. "I hope he dies soon, I don't care who takes him out."
"You're right. We'll take any opportunity we can to kill him." Shade agreed.
"Eggman Nega located!" Omega announced as his tracker went into high overdrive mode. "Preparing to attack!"
"Where is he?" Amy asked.
"Enemy located 300 yards from our position." Omega said. "Distance is decreasing quickly. It is likely that he is coming after us."
"Then we'll have to be ready for him." Shade said.
"Oh, I think it's too late, my dear." A familiar voice said. Just then, Nega appeared in the robot he was controlling earlier. "I think I'll kill you. And what better to do that than a robot powered by a Chaos Emerald?"
"You won't defeat us, Nega!" Galeon declared. "You'll never win!"
"Then let's see you try to stop me!" Nega taunted. "With this robot, I can't lose!"
The Nega Quad started firing small gray energy blasts at the heroes from the head of the robot. The heroes were forced to dive for cover, albeit not as a group. A hail of those blasts would kill any of them, and since Nega could turn the head, they all would probably be dead within seconds. While thinking of a plan, the Nega Quad jumped up and stomped down, releasing an energy wave that destroyed the surrounding cover areas, exposing the heroes' positions. The robot then started charging up a blast of the gray energy, while three lock-on lasers started converging on Amy.
"First, I'll destroy the biggest thorn in my side first!" Nega said. "Farewell, pink hedgehog!"
The energy blast fired at Amy, but she did a spin dash and managed to get out of the way in time. Nega continued firing at her, but she just kept circling around the large robot, and eventually managed to hit one of the joints, destroying it and rendering the leg useless for anything other than movement. Amy then returned to cover as Nega began ranting.
"What? No! Curse you, hedgehog!" Nega yelled. "I'll kill you! I"ll kill you all!"
Nega then pressed a blue button with a spiral design on it. The legs came together and formed a tight cage, then the Nega Quad started spinning in place, drawing everything in range towards it. The heroes tried to resist, but the robot's suction was too much for them. There was no way they could run away from it.
But...what if they went around it? If they could gather enough speed and just dodged slightly, they could probably slingshot around it. Amy was the first. She pulled off a spin dash, moved just to the right, and shot around the robot, just barely missing the legs. Shade was next. She used her Leech Blades to propel herself towards it, then used them again to push herself to the right, which shot her around the robot. Galeon used his fans as a pivot for control, and shot himself around the danger zone. Finally, to stop it, Omega retracted his claw, and a small cannon replaced it. He fired a cannon shell at the robot, and it hit directly, causing the robot to spin out of control, separate its legs, and crash the robot.
"No! How could you have done that?" Nega asked. "No matter! Detach the head, now!"
He pressed a button, and the head separated from the body since all joints had been destroyed from the crash impact. At that point, Nega began controlling the head itself while the body just laid there.
"Ha ha!" Nega laughed. "Try to stop me now, fools!"
Nega then started firing the cannon nonstop. The heroes were constantly diving for cover or avoiding the shots, which didn't leave them time to try and find a way to stop him or the Nega Quad. It wasn't long before they were all ducking in cover behind the same wall.
"Man, how do we beat this guy?" Galeon asked.
"Sensors indicate an antenna located on the body." Omega said. "My scanner has been running the whole time. If we disable the antenna, the head will not respond to Nega's controls."
"Then what do we do?" Amy asked.
"We'll have to make up the rest as we go along." Shade said.
The heroes formed a plan. Amy, Shade, and Galeon would distract Nega in order to give Omega a shot at the antenna on the body. This would stun the head and leave it temporarily disabled, which would allow the other heroes to find a way to stop the head. If things went as they should, Nega could be defeated here. But what would he have waiting if they won? They decided not to press the issue, as Nega had found them and destroyed their cover, and was aiming the cannon, charging, right at them.
"Gah ha ha ha!" Nega laughed. "You lose, heroes!"
"NOW!" Amy yelled.
Amy, Shade, Omega, and Galeon then split up in four different directions, making sure to spread out randomly so that Nega would have a hard time finding them. Nega decided to chase after Amy, seeing as how she was the leader of the resistance force that had constantly defeated him through this attempt at destroying the world. If he could eliminate her, he thought, then the resistance force would crumble without a leader, leaving him to destroy them, and that would lead him to his ultimate goal.
Amy turned right onto another street and continued running. If she could keep Nega distracted long enough, Omega would be able to stun Nega temporarily. However, she turned around and saw that Nega wasn't chasing her anymore. Did he go after someone else? She started to walk back to where the body was when all of a sudden she felt a cannon at her back. Turning around, she saw Nega aiming the cannon right at her. She had fallen into a trap, and it was about to kill her.
"Tee hee hee hee!" Nega cackled. "I've got you right where you need to be! TIME TO DIE!"
But just before Nega could fire the cannon blast, he felt the cannon losing its charge. Not only that, but the console in the head darkened, signaling a power blockage. He couldn't believe it. He had lost a signal that connected to the body. The antenna was down, and he would have to wait until he could reestablish a connection before firing again. He pressed a remote control button, and three antennas emerged from the head, with Nega hoping one of them could reconnect. That was one thing Amy saw that she knew Nega shouldn't have done.
"Shade, Galeon, now!" Amy called as she pulled out her hammer.
Just then, Shade and Galeon emerged from the tops of two buildings, Shade with her Leech Blades, Galeon with his two katana blades. They jumped at the robot with their weapons ready to destroy the antennas. Amy jumped at the back, while Shade jumped to the left one and Galeon took the right one. They attacked at the exact same time, severing all three antennas, and effectively disabling the head. Amy then did a spin dash and hit the engine, which was now vulnerable since the antennas were destroyed, and the robot head exploded, leaving only Nega and his Negamobile. The explosion also tossed Nega into the sky, and he dropped the final Chaos Emerald, which he had taken with him before detaching the head.
"Yes!" Amy cheered. "We have all of the Chaos and Super Emeralds!"
"I take it we can restore the planet and its inhabitants?" Shade asked.
"That we can." Amy replied. "But I'll need your help, as well as Omega's."
"What about me?" Galeon asked.
"You helped us out, so you can join in as well." Amy said.
Just as they were about to do this, a huge legion of robots came out of nowhere and surrounded the heroes, taking all fourteen emeralds from them as they were taken by surprise. Soon, they were completely surrounded with no way out. Flying robots were above them, ground robots were surrounding them, and then, Nega came back in a different robot. This one was a large black robot with red armor joints. The armor plating was orange, but there was a blue core in the center, shielded to prevent attacks. In the robot's left arm was an orange sword, and on the robot's right arm was a shield. On the back was a jetpack for flight.
The sword pointed at the heroes, then reared back as it prepared to cut the heroes down. During this process, Nega smiled.
"Now I'll kill you for good!" Nega declared. "And there is no escape!"
End of Chapter 21.
The heroes finally had all of the Chaos and Super Emeralds, but Nega has caught them right where he wants them. Will he finally kill them, or will someone save them in time? Find out in the next chapter.
Recognize the robot used in this chapter? If you've played Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, you should. The robot is modeled after Quadraxis from that game, one of my favorite boss battles. That boss battle had some inspiration for the battle in this chapter. I did NOT rip off the robot, I simply paid homage to it.
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