Chapter 35: Hope arises
Back in Sonic's world, Knuckles had just finished smashing a Dragonoid's jaw into pieces when the Master Emerald reappeared. Knuckles stared at it, his mouth agape. Jet did as well as Dr. Eggman as the giant jewel hovered in front of them. Then, Knuckles saw something in the gem and it looked like…
"Hey, I can see Sonic through this thing!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"You can?!" Jet asked as he looked into it.
Jet squinted as he looked into it and he saw it. It was Sonic alright, but he was in his super form and was alongside that elf guy he taunted a few days ago along with two people he had never seen before. All of them were fighting a giant, five-headed dragon and Jet's eyes widened.
"It must be some kind of magical energy. There's no scientific proof to it." Eggman pointed out.
"I don't know where Sonic is, but I need to give him as much support as I can." Knuckles said, his fist clenching very tightly.
"Yeah! You da hedgehog, Sonic!" Jet said equally determined.
All the way on the planet Sauria, dinosaurs battled dragon on the jungle planet and then the Krazoa Sword embedded its blade just outside the battleground. A triceratops took notice of it and looked at it in awe. Then, he saw Fox alongside Link and Sonic, and they all seemed to be battling the five-headed behemoth.
"Fox? Is that you?" Tricky asked, not believing his eyes. Tricky then grunted in determination as he said, "You're battling to save us all. I'll be rooting for you all the way, buddy!"
In the Mushroom Kingdom, the Rainbow Star hovered just in front of Luigi, Bowser, and Rawk Hawk and saw a super-powered Mario in front of a monster and alongside Fox, Sonic, and Link.
"Hey, how'd Mario get there?" Luigi asked as he looked at the Rainbow Star.
"Forget about how he got there, greenie. Mario's trying to protect us all and he's willing to give his life for us. So let's give him all the support Mushroom Kingdom can give him!" Bowser said, shaking his fist as though a Dragonoid's neck was in it.
"Wow, Bowser, I never thought you would actually be supporting Gonzales for once." Rawk Hawk pointed out with pride.
"Don't get comfy, you oversized turkey. I'll be trying to crush him if he saves the universe." Bowser pointed out.
Around the universe, the key items showed citizens all over the universe what was going on and they gave every bit of confidence they could to the four heroes. However, they needed a good bit more than this.
Back in Hyrule, the Triforce arrived in the middle of Hyrule Field and everyone saw it. Shadow paused in front of it after he put a foot in a Dragonoid's visage and saw Link, Sonic, Mario, and Fox battling a five-headed dragon. Then Vector and his team walked up to Shadow with a kind of jewel.
"Hey, Shadow, Tails made this for you in case something like this happened." Vector said, handing Shadow the emerald.
Shadow inspected it and gave Vector a curious look.
"It's a fake emerald." Espio pointed out.
"Yeah. It can do anything a real Chaos Emerald can do EXCEPT make you go into your super form." Charmy added.
"Thanks. I'll need it for something." Shadow thanked before storing it away.
Without warning, a Dragonoid ran up to Shadow, wielding its razor-sharp claws at Shadow. The black hedgehog simply put his hand up and produced a Chaos Spear the size of a harpoon that blew the reptilian monster in half. He smiled as he inspected what he had just done.
"Well," He said in amusement, "That's pretty handy."
Shortly after Shadow killed the Dragonoid, Slippy arrived with a machine gun in his hand and he looked like he had run a mile. When he caught his breath, he started to speak like there was no tomorrow.
"SHADOW! I just got a message from Krystal and Zelda! THE DRAGONOIDS ARE AT THE CASTLE!" Slippy exclaimed.
Shadow flinched and remained still for a second or two. Then, he gritted his teeth, seized Slippy by the arm and vanished in a flash of light.
In just one second, they were at the castle gates. Slippy wasn't kidding; there were TONS of Dragonoids here. They were swarming the castle like vultures over a carcass and some were trying to break the doors down while some simply flew through windows. Shadow was definitely mad now and charged just when Slippy loaded his gun. Shadow vanished in a flash of blue light and reappeared in front of a Dragonoid. He brought his fist smashing into the dragon demon's visage, snapping the upper spinal chord, and teleported away to pound both of his fists on another Dragonoid's cranium to crush its skull. He teleported yet again to bring his steel boot into a Dragonoid's chin and brought its head snapping upward, breaking its neck.
Slippy pulled the trigger on his machine gun and held onto his blaster as he blasted Dragonoid after Dragonoid with yellow energy blasts. Dragonoids fell to the ground with black blood oozing out of their wounds and Slippy continued to shoot them down like it was hunting season.
"NO MERCY! DIE YOU STUPID LIZARDS!" Slippy shouted.
Several Dragonoids were trying to torch Shadow, but his whole body was pulsating with red energy and the blasts of fire didn't even faze him or even singe his fur. The black hedgehog pulled back his arms and then threw them out, producing a perfect Chaos Blast. The red blast of energy flew out a good twenty feet and blasted any Dragonoid within its radius. As soon as Shadow used Chaos Blast three more times, Slippy caught up with him. However, Slippy didn't say a word when Shadow seized him by the arm and teleported again. Someone's life was at stake and he was going to save her even if it meant his life.
Shadow and Slippy reappeared just inside the castle and began to search the castle for Zelda and Krystal. The black hedgehog was running like a rabbit escaping an approaching eagle and the situation was just as good.
"If those lizards even TOUCH her, I'll make them wish they were never spawned!" Shadow cursed as Slippy struggled to catch up.
"Yeah, you show 'em, Shadow. Just…wait…up!" Slippy panted as he sprinted after the black hedgehog.
Suddenly, a loud wail caught Shadow's attention. It had caught his attention because that wail was Zelda's. Shadow's jet-boots kicked in and he moved with speed to rival Sonic's and when he kicked the doors open, a seven-foot Dragonoid was waiting for him. It growled in confusion, but when he saw Shadow, he roared and thundered after him with its mouth open wide.
"CHAOS SPEAR!" Shadow yelled as he threw a yellow energy arrow at the beast.
The arrow went right through the Dragonoid's chest and it fell to the floor with a loud "THUD". It twitched for a while, all the while clutching its wound, and finally, it breathed its last.
Shadow looked up and saw several smaller Dragonoids flapping after him like bats and Shadow didn't have time to charge another Chaos Spear. Shadow whirled around and punched one right on the back, sending the monster down. Shadow then took his boot and stomped on the Dragonoid's head, crushing its skull. However, another one was coming for him faster than he could react. But before it even touched him, a red blast of energy blasted it and it exploded in black goo. Slippy had charged his blaster and shot the Dragonoid right out of the sky. He blew the smoke from the barrel away and then pocketed his gun.
"Yeah. Slippy da' frog." Slippy said, trying to be cool.
"Hmph. I admit your shooting is good, Toad." Shadow said, looking at Slippy through the corner of his eye.
Slippy scoffed and then sarcastically said, "You're welcome."
Shadow looked around and saw Krystal on the floor and Zelda on her bed. Both of them were clutching their round anterior and Shadow realized what was going on before Slippy even said a word.
"OH NO!" Slippy exclaimed, "I forgot the babies are due today!"
Slippy went over to Krystal and spread her legs apart. He had never done this before, but he was mainly acting on instinct, so that was good enough.
"Okay, Krystal, just one more push…" Slippy said.
Shadow couldn't hear the rest from Krystal's cries in pain. Then, there were the cries of another as Slippy picked up a rather furry baby, but something was wrong. Something was holding on to this baby girl's ankle and Slippy, instinctively, tried to gently pull it out. It was another infant, but this was a boy while the other was a girl.
"Krystal! You have twins!" Slippy said, wrapping the two newborns in cloth and giving them to her.
After she caught her breath, Krystal spoke for the first time. Although her voice was rather quiet, she was okay.
"Oh, they're beautiful…Thank you, Slippy." Krystal sighed.
Things were okay, but then Zelda's wails intensified and Slippy raced over to her. He felt her belly and something was definitely wrong.
"Oh no…Zelda! Your baby hasn't gone into the right position! We'll have to use a Cesarean section. I'll go get the supplies!" Slippy said, preparing to run out the door.
Slippy hadn't even crossed the room when Shadow teleported in front of him and spread his arms out, blocking the frog's way.
"NO!" Shadow said, defiantly.
"Listen, Shadow. If I don't, she'll die!" Slippy said, trying to push past the black hedgehog.
Shadow, however, was much stronger than he looked and proved more than powerful enough to push Slippy back. Then, Shadow put on a face that made Slippy believe him.
"The Cesarean section will take too long, because when you're finished, we'll all be dead. And even if you do get out there, the Dragonoids will be waiting for you!" Shadow told him.
"Well, what do you suppose we do then?!" Slippy asked urgently.
"I can help." Shadow answered as he turned away from Slippy and strode over to Zelda.
Zelda didn't know what Shadow was going to do and she had heard Sonic's stories of how Shadow could go from being a not-too-bad guy to being a berserker in seconds. But there was something about Shadow that she trusted and she didn't even try to get away.
Shadow put a hand on Zelda's stomach and closed his eyes, remembering Mewtwo's teachings. He needed perfect focus for what he was going to do. If he did this too high or too low, he might end up doing something he would never do. After at least five seconds, he snapped his eyes open and said two words.
"Chaos Control."
For a minute, there was a blue light. When it faded, nothing appeared to happen. Then, as if it was a miracle, Zelda's breathing eased and there was the cry of a newborn infant. Shadow turned to Zelda with her newborn daughter in his arms. Zelda took her new daughter in her arms and wrapped her in warm blankets before hugging it close. She then looked up at Shadow and could only say two words to him.
"Thank you." She said in a mere whisper.
Shadow nodded, but then realized that there was something going on universes away.
"Alright, Zelda. Link is still out there and he's battling with Sonic, Fox, and Mario to save us all. We need to give them all the support they need. The fate of the universe depends on it." Shadow pointed them out.
"Alright, Shadow." Zelda said.
She then closed her eyes and focused all her thoughts on Link, on Sonic, on everyone fighting to prevent the apocalypse. Krystal did the same as well as Slippy and Shadow.
Light-years away, Ryu's new, five-headed form was laughing at the four's feeble attack. However, several voices seemed to speak from an invisible crowd.
"You can do it, Sonic!" The voice of Vector cheered.
"You da' man, Fox!" Falco seemed to say.
"Who's-a number one?! MARIO!" Luigi said directly from Mushroom Kingdom.
"Please, Link. We're all right behind you. You can do it!" The voice of Zelda said.
Then, several other voices spoke and they could all feel the energy rushing through their veins. Link noticed that the glow around all four of them was now a good bit brighter now and a new power was flowing through his veins.
"ALRIGHT! Now we're talkin'!" Sonic said.
"Let's-a go!" Mario said, fidgeting with his hat.
"Alright! Move out!" Fox said, putting up a fist.
Link glared at the towering behemoth before him and narrowed his eyes. Then, he suddenly let everything out. Though he had barely known Ryu for a day or two, he was about as enraged as a bull.
"Ryu, your reign ends HERE and NOW!" Link said, pointing his sword at Ryu like an accusing finger.
Ryu took in Link's threat, chuckled, and then broke into laughter. As soon as he started, the other four heads started laughing an almost-roaring laugh.
"Let's see if your actions can back up your words, fools." The Dragonoid king challenged.
"If you want to defeat Lord Ryu, you'll have to come up against all of us!" Red Wyvern also challenged.
"It's one thing to say what you're going to do, but it's a completely different thing to actually DO what you're going to do." Firedrake pointed out like the know-it-all he is.
"Ooh, you'll beat us when you survive a supernova! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Salamander cackled.
"Huh! If you're going to beat the Dragonoids by yourself, then you must have brains the size of an ameba's." Yellow Drache spat.
Sonic scoffed and then said, "Well then you've got nothing to lose."
Then, with a combination of war cries and dragon roars, the battle began. The battle that would decide the fate of the entire universe was beginning right now and only four people stood between the Dragonoids and Universal domination.
WHEW! Zelda almost died! Thank the Lord for Shadow! NOW, things'll get interesting...