Penultimate chapter, ladies and gents. Read and review!
Chapter 25
All hope seemed to be lost. Sonic the Hedgehog and his fellow heroes had braved into the Twilight Cage to free Dark Gaia, only for them and even Dark Gaia's followers to have been killed by the mysterious yet powerful entity known as Solaris. With no one left to stand up against him, the world was Solaris' for the taking. Or so he thought.
At the bottom of the pyramid-like structure where the heroes were defeated, stood a chunk of the Black Comet. Within it was a familiar looking room with three familiar figures. The unmoving trophies of Ix and Black Doom, traitors of the Twilight Army, and the albatross, Storm. And resting on the trophies of Ix and Storm were the red badges that Doom placed on them before his death. Suddenly, the badges began to glow red and envelop the two. Once it died down, the two had been revived.
"Oh, my aching head" moaned Storm. "What happened?"
Ix didn't answer. He simply stared at the badge placed on Storm's chest. He took it off and glanced at it, looked at his own badge before taking it off and then shifting his gaze to Black Doom.
"So, this was your plan, was it?" he asked, rhetorically.
Storm sat there with confusion etched on his face. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Again, Ix didn't respond. Instead, he made his way to the trophy of the alien leader and touched the base. Doom opened his eyes as he floated upwards, slightly disorientated.
"Doom, are you alright?" the echidna asked.
Doom finally noticed Ix and Storm and his attitude suddenly changed. "Yes! They worked! My experiment was a success!" he cheered.
"Experiment?" Storm repeated.
Once again, he was ignored as Doom looked through a hole in the comet's wall and stared at the darkness that was the Twilight Cage.
"Damn" he muttered. "They've failed. I was afraid of this."
"Can someone please explain to me what's going on?!" Storm cried in frustration.
"I have to admit, I'm not following this either" agreed Ix, "You were sketchy on the details when you took off."
Doom looked between the two figures before speaking. "OK, here's what's happening."
"The Gaias have the duty of breaking apart the world and rebuilding it. It's the sole reason why Solaris doesn't break free from the Twilight Cage."
"Solaris?" Ix asked.
"Legends state that Solaris was once as powerful as the Highest One, the being who created this world. However, Solaris planned to destroy everything."
"When you say 'everything', do you mean…" Storm started but Doom interrupted him.
"I do mean everything. This world, that world, past, present, future… everything! But the Highest One became aware of Solaris' plan and sealed him away in the Twilight Cage, giving the Gaias the job of keeping him locked away. Sadly, Solaris escaped."
"But how?" asked Ix.
"Millenniums spent in the Twilight Cage allowed Solaris to study his prison. He eventually discovered that his prison became weaker everytime the world broke was broken apart. It was only recently it became weak enough for him to break out. He tried capturing the Gaias but it seemed Light got away."
"So, Dark Gaia was being controlled" stated Ix.
"Exactly," Doom said. "I had suspected this and hid myself after we took Angel Island. I saw Solaris reveal himself and immediately knew what we were dealing with. So, I escaped, alerted anyone I could, which was only you and Erazor and decided to catch any heroes I could and equip them with my restorative badges."
"And all you managed to get were us two?" asked Ix, slightly annoyed.
"By the time I had you two and Blaze, I was ambushed and killed before I could make anymore badges" the alien told him.
"So, what's happened while we were dead?" asked Storm.
"I'm afraid the heroes have been killed by Solaris, which is what I anticipated" the black alien explained. "It also seems we were dragged into the Twilight Cage by one of their bombs."
"Well, I hope you have a plan" said Ix.
"I do but it's not a nice one" Doom replied, seemingly cringing at the thought.
"What is it?" asked Ix.
Doom took a deep breath before saying "We have to save them."
The ancient echidna shuddered. "Oh god, why?!"
"I'm not fond of it either but unless we want everything in existence wiped out, we have to stop him" Doom told him.
"Well, you two are on your own" said Storm. "I have to go find the boss and Wave."
"I believe that both Jet and Wave were on the list of heroes that needed hunting down" said Doom, "So; it's most likely they've been killed too."
At the sound of this, the lumbering albatross jumped through the hole and ran towards the pyramid structure.
"Don't worry, boss. I'll save you!" he cried as Doom and Ix shared glances before following him.
The two villains found the albatross at the top of the structure panting for breath.
"Man, there were so many stairs" he said as he gasped for air.
"Well, maybe you should work out more" Ix chuckled. To his surprise, Storm faced him with a look of anger on his face.
"Are you calling me fat?!" he demanded.
Normally, Ix wouldn't be fazed by this threat but something in the bird's eyes told him he shouldn't press further.
"No" he replied, which seemed to satisfy the bird.
"Good, coz I'm not fat, I'm big boned" said Storm.
Black Doom paid no attention as he was staring at something at the far end. A flight of stairs leading up to a group of shining orbs and the fallen Dark Gaia.
"Ix, look" Doom pointed at the god as he floated towards him. "Where are the heroes?" he asked.
Dark growled in a soft tone, which Doom seemed to understand. He turned back to his allies.
"He doesn't seem to know" he told them.
Ix sighed in exasperation. "Great, so now what?"
"Hey, guys!" Storm called out. "Look what I found!"
The two villains turned to see Storm carrying a trophy. "I found this behind one of these pillars" he explained before placing it on the ground. Doom and Ix gasped when they saw it.
"Eggman" they said simultaneously.
"Did Solaris get to him?" asked Ix.
"Let's ask" said Doom, touching the base of the trophy. Once the light died down, Eggman opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the alien leader.
"Black Doom!" he cried before jumping back. "You made a big mistake coming here!"
Doom tried reasoning with the doctor. "Look, I'm not here to fight" he said but Eggman wasn't listening.
"Say that to Dark Gaia once I'm through with you" Eggman yelled, pulling out a small box with a red button on it. He pressed it and a machine seemed to drop from the air.
It looked like his Egg-O-Matic only with two huge legs and a small gun on the front. On the back was a red square with a yellow gun on it. This was the Egg Walker and with surprising grace, Eggman hopped in and readied it for battle.
"If that's the way you want this done, then so be it!" Doom roared. Storm and Ix stood back, seemingly invisible to the two warring villains.
Doom made the first move by launching small meteors at the doctor but the Egg Walker jumped out of the way, firing bullets from the front gun. However, Doom was able to float out of the way in time. He then threw a purple disk at the doctor.
To the alien's surprise, the machine leapt into the air, over the disk and fired missiles from the larger gun. The missiles landed around the alien, the explosions clouding his vision, meaning he was unprepared for the boxing glove that sprung forward and punched in the face.
Eggman chortled as the glove retracted. Doom wasn't amused in the slightest and thrust his hand forward, sending more meteors at the doctor but he shot them out of the air.
"You're losing your touch, Doom" Eggman laughed.
"This fight isn't over yet" Doom growled, vanishing in a flash of light. He reappeared behind Eggman, preparing an attack but the compartment he was sitting in swung round and the boxing glove shot out again, knocking Doom back. Eggman then pressed a series of buttons and the missile launcher fired out a huge blue laser that engulfed the alien leader. Once it died down, Eggman looked forward to see nothing left.
"Strange, he should be a trophy now" he pondered.
"Surprise!"
Eggman was taken by surprise when Doom appeared behind him and launched a barrage of fireballs. Eggman ducked in the walker as it took the fireballs.
The doctor reappeared once the attack was over but was taken aback when he found himself surrounded by four Black Dooms.
"Uh oh" he gulped.
"What's wrong, doctor?" the copies sneered. "You're smart. Which one of us is the real one?"
Eggman didn't have time to answer as the four clones all fired meteors at him. The Egg Walker jumped into the air and manoeuvred itself towards one to crush it but it faded when he landed, leaving him open to being struck by three helpings of fireballs. The machine began to spark and shudder, worrying Eggman.
"No, my precious machine!" he wailed, spinning the walker around and firing missiles at all three Doom clones. Two of them faded but the third one floated out of harms way.
"Time I ended this now! Swift Strike!" Doom cried out, launching the purple disk at Eggman. It slashed straight through the Egg Walker, causing it to explode. Once the dust settled, Eggman's trophy was all that remained.
Doom sighed in relief. "Glad that's over. Now, let's try this again." He then touched the base again and Eggman was back.
"What the… Why did you bring me back?" he asked, confused.
"Because we have bigger issues" said Doom, pointing at Dark Gaia. Eggman gasped at the fallen god.
"How did this happen?" he asked.
"Solaris" the alien replied bluntly.
"Solaris? I thought he was a myth" the doctor said.
"He's very real. And we need the heroes to beat him" Black Doom explained.
"But we don't know where they are" Storm reminded him.
"Maybe we should've taken a better look" said Ix, glancing up. The others looked to see a floating cage that held the trophies of the fallen heroes.
"Brilliant, now…" Doom started to say before firing meteors at it. To his surprise, the attack bounced off.
"How did it not work?" he asked.
"Let me try" said Ix, firing a green orb from his staff. Like Doom's meteor, it had no effect.
"Oh this is great" Eggman growled in frustration. "Solaris must've enforced the cage somehow. We'd need a lot of power to break it."
The four began racking their brains for an idea until Storm saw something in the cage.
"Hey, look!" he called out as he pointed up. The others looked to see a red light erupt from the cage. There was a sound of steel breaking and numerous objects hitting the floor. When the four regained their sight, they saw Metal Sonic standing in front of them, with trophies scattered around him.
"Metal! How did you do that?" Eggman asked.
"I have no idea" the robot replied. He then had a stroke of an idea, reached into his quills and pulled out one of Doom's badges.
"Where did you get that?" asked Doom.
"It fell off Blaze's trophy when Eggman took it from your hideout" Metal explained. "Now, what are you lot doing here and alive?"
"First things first, we have to revive these guys" said Doom. The five spread out and managed to bring everyone back to life. After they had stopped looking surprised and confused (and Storm had stopped hugging Jet), they gathered round as Doom explained the deal with Solaris.
"So, basically, we're gonna take on a god who plans to destroy all existence?" Sonic surmised. "This should be fun!"
"Don't underestimate Solaris, Sonic" Shadow reminded him. "Remember that he managed to take us all out with one hit."
Meanwhile, Chip had approached his brother and was talking to him. He then turned back to the others.
"Is he gonna be ok?" asked Amy.
"He'll survive. But with him weakened, half of my power is gone too. I can't transform into my true form" Chip explained, slightly downcast.
"That's alright" Amy reassured. She then took a glance around. Whey, where are Silver and Blaze?"
They all looked around until they saw them with Mephiles' trophy.
"What are you guys doing?" asked Knuckles, before Blaze touched the base and Mephiles was brought back.
"Ugh, what happened?" he groaned.
"I'll tell you what will happen!" Eggman said through gritted teeth, rolling up his sleeves.
"Calm down, Egghead" said Silver. "This Solaris is obviously powerful and we'll need all the help we can get."
Mephiles glanced at the stairway that led to Solaris and growled. "So, I was being manipulated. No one does that to me and lives!"
As Silver and Blaze explained to Mephiles what was happening, Mina had spotted another trophy.
"Hey guys, we forgot one" she said, touching the base. In a flash of light, the figure was revived who shot out at Doom and punched him to the floor.
"Haha! Take that, you traitor!" Scourge cackled, before Erazor and Ix helped the alien leader up. "Oh and the others are here too. Perfect, the Twilight Emperor is sure to reward me for nailing all of you!"
"Uh, Scourge" Erazor pointed at Dark Gaia. When Scourge noticed, he jumped back.
"What?! You creeps beat him?!" he cried.
"Actually…" And so Scourge was filled in on the situation. "We'd appreciate the help" said Tails.
"Ha! Not likely! I'm not stupid. I'm not risking my life against a god!" he exclaimed before walking off. As he did, Marine stuck his tongue out at him before getting an idea.
"In that case, mate, I guess you won't be wanting Solaris' treasure" she said, grinning.
The emerald green hedgehog stopped before turning round. "Treasure?"
"Yeah," the raccoon replied. "He must have mountains of it if he's a god. But if you still don't wanna help…"
Suddenly, Scourge shot past her and up the stairs. "Well, come on then. We've got a world to save!"
Mephiles rolled his eyes. "Idiot" he muttered.
"Doesn't matter" said Sonic. "We're all together and only teamwork will put an end to Solaris. So, for the sake of everything in existence, let's do it!"
And with that, Sonic and the others made their way up the stairs to put an end to Solaris once and for all.