The Chaos Project

by ChaosProjectAuthor

"This time, things are different. This time, Eggman isn't just conquering, he is ruling. We have more to face than just an army. This time, we don't have an army. It's just us against the entire world. This time, we aren't a Resistance. We're a Rebellion." (Featuring special guest author Yuni Oha!)

37. S0 E32: The Time of Reckoning Part 2

BREAKING NEWS

A live feed is shown of the war through Metropolis. On the elevated streets above just as the ground level far below, laser fire is traded between swarms of Egg Pawns and the GUN army, led by the New Resistance. In the sky above, a fleet of airships marked with the insignia of GUN fire on the fleet of red and orange Eggman ships. Knuckles leads the ground assault, many heroes right beside him. They work together to take down many of the largest Eggman robots.

A news reporter narrates, "In the aftermath of the cataclysm created by the one who called himself Infinite, the forces of GUN continue to push from their victory, and now engage Eggman's forces on the streets of Metropolis. And with Eggman's army pushed ever further back, a victory seems imminent. But still, the whereabouts of Sonic the Hedgehog are a mystery. If we're all fortunate, this will be the day he isn't needed to save the world."

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Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 0, Episode 32

Forces of Chaos, Part 6: The Time of Reckoning Part 2

Written by ChaosProjectAuthor

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The GUN CLIP

Cream the Rabbit sits at a high-tech computer system of the defense center, seeming to work quite efficiently. Suddenly, five large red blips appear on her screen, moving as if to converge on a center point. She reaches up for the communicator in her ear. "Excuse me, Mr. Knuckles? There're five big energy energy signs moving towards you. I think they're Dr. Eggman's robot Generals." One of the blips suddenly disappears. "Hold on, now there's only four."

The Commander steps up beside her and looks down at the screen. "One of them disappeared?"

Cheese confirms, "Chao chao."

The Commander straightens back up, contemplating for a moment. He reaches up for his own communicator. He states simply, "Put the base on high alert."

—–—

Shadow, Hero, Chaos, and Blacklight appear together on the rocky cliff face overlooking Eggman's Imperial Fortress. The air is completely still. Shadow looks off behind them, where irregular flashes and a few high-flying airships mark the battle over Metropolis.

Blacklight comments, "Looks like we're early."

Chaos questions, "Do you think Robotnik is even here?"

Hero glances over at him in confusion, apparently unfamiliar with Eggman's surname.

Shadow nods. "He wouldn't leave his base undefended."

"Right you are, Shadow!" Eggman's hovering Egg Mobile floats down from the sky. "Right you are." The craft comes to a stop in the air a fair distance in front of them. He looks across them with a glare. "Wait a minute…" He notices that Blacklight is among them. "You?"

"Hello, Mustache. How's your day been going? Hope you don't mind if we ruin it. I don't really like the way you tried to manipulate me while my brain was all screwy, you know? At least Shadow over here brought me an apple." He glances over at Shadow. "You don't happen to have any more of those, do you? I am starved."

Eggman shouts, "Enough! Since you didn't appreciate my gift of a Phantom Ruby prototype, I think I'll show you just what they're capable of."

Shadow quickly looks over to Blacklight. "Prototype? Will that work now that the real Ruby's gone?" Blacklight gives a very emphatic shrug.

Eggman pulls out a handheld radio, and barks into it, "Magician! Time to pull back the curtain."

—–—

On the Metropolis battlefield, Heavy Magician is engaged in battle on the ground with Tails and Amy. Magician repeatedly flicks her wand in and out of her removed top hat, flinging out a new Caterkiller each time. Dealing with the long spiked robots takes far too much effort for Tails and Amy to get anywhere close to her. Eggman's command barks in her ear.

"You got it, Boss." She lifts her wand high above her head, and swishes it around a few times, generating puffs of sparkling smoke in the air, but otherwise seeming to do nothing. "All taken care of." Amy's hammer smashes down just next to her she dodges out of the way. "Hey, watch it!" Tails comes in for a sweeping attack with his tails, but Magician rises into the air to avoid it.

Magician looks over to her side, where a massive, darkly-colored, Pawn-like Heavy-Egg Hammer robot swings its namesake hammer back and forth, attempting to take out a large cluster of soldiers. They blast back at it, but can't seem to penetrate its armor. Magician looks back down to Amy and Tails. "So, y'all like hammers, do ya? Let me show ya what a real hammer looks like." She soars over to the Egg Hammer and waves her wand over it, cloaking it in her signature sparkling smoke as she does. Suddenly, the robot starts to grow even massively larger than it already was. The moment it stops growing, it turns its head sharply to the side, locking its eyes on Tails and Amy. It charges at them, shaking the ground with each step, holding its hammer up high, easily large enough to crush them both at once. They're both barely able to dive out of the way in time, as its hammer smashes into the ground, cracking and leaving an immense crater in the ground.

Satisfied that they've been thoroughly distracted, Magician questions, "Shinobi, you almost ready?"

The deep, whispering voice of Heavy Shinobi answers back, "I have reached, my designated position. Soon, our enemies shall know the true meaning of darkness."

—–—

Cream continues to work at the computer in the GUN base, noting the positions of the various blips on the screen. Suddenly, the screen becomes filled with an intermittent static. When the static clears, the entire screen has gone red. "Excuse me, Mr. Commander Sir? I think something's wrong with the computer."

The Commander once again comes over from his work at the base's central holographic globe to bend down and look at Cream's screen. "That's no glitch, it's reading a massive energy signature." He straightens up and reaches for his communicator. "General Knuckles, come in! We're reading something highly unusual a few miles from your position, the Doctor is up to something! You have to–" He cuts off as the entire room suddenly goes black.

Cream squeals in terror through the pitch blackness.

The Commander continues, "General! General, do you read?" He lets out a growl. "Comm lines are down, power is out…" Some light returns to the room as he activates some sort of emergency handheld beacon. "Clearly, this is some sort of well-coordinated attack, planned while our defenses are at their lowest." He moves over to the back wall of the room. "Theys didn't even set off the proximity alarms." He slides open the panel in the wall, revealing the compartment full of dimly glowing, high-tech weapons. He pulls out a semi-automatic plasma rifle for himself. "If they've already infiltrated the base, we need to get out. We're completely defenseless in here." After a moment of hesitation, he picks a smaller weapon out from the vault, and offers it out to the little rabbit girl. "It will be dangerous, you'll need a way to protect yourself."

Cream stares at the high-tech gun with wide eyes. Cheese questions, "Chao chao, chao chao?"

"It's full of automatic safeties, there's no way you can hurt yourself with it. I don't expect you to use it unless you have to, but you shouldn't go without it. Trust me."

Cream shakes off her surprise. "No thank you, sir."

"No thank you?"

"Cheese and I can handle ourselves just fine, and we don't wanna hurt anyone."

Cheese agrees, "Chao!"

The Commander sighs. But he puts the weapon back in the vault and seals it shut. He offers her his light instead. "Fine. Just hold this, stay behind me, and follow my lead. And please, try to keep quiet."

Cream shouts a bit too loudly, "Right!"

"Chao chao!"

—–—

On the high elevated roads of Metropolis, Knuckles shouts into his radio, "Commander? Commander!?" He lets out a growl, and looks over to his side, where the Chaotix are fighting close by.

Vector pounds his fists down onto an Egg Pawn, crushing it completely, Espio throws three quick shuriken stars that each take out one more, while Charmy stabs his stinger into one's neck, causing it to collapse to the floor. Right behind them, Knuckles hits one hard from the side, sending it tumbling away as it collapses into pieces. Vector looks back to see him. "Thanks for the save."

Knuckles answers back, "No time. I just lost contact with base, I think they might need help."

Espio is quick to answer, "I can get there the quickest, I'll go."

Knuckles gives a brief nod in approval. "Do it."

With a quick nod of acknowledgement, Espio turns and leaps off, hopping between lower rooftops at impressive speeds.

"Losing one of your best soldiers, just to save an old man and a little girl? Not a very sound tactic, General."

Knuckles turns to face the source of the familiar robotic voice. "Egg Robo."

Just down the road, Heavy King stands tall, his staff once again repaired with a Phantom Ruby prototype mounted at its top. Heavy Rider waits at his side, mounted atop a souped-up Motobug, with a loud revving engine. King answers, "That's Heavy King now."

"So you gave yourself a cute name to go with your new paint job? Must've forgot to mention that last time."

Vector questions quietly, "You know this guy?"

Knuckles answers back, "Oh, we go way back. Longer than you and I, actually." He looks back to Heavy King. "Speaking of tactics, yours sounds pretty low-down, even for Eggman."

King answers with a hint of pride, "Perhaps that's because it was my plan."

"You here to brag or to fight?"

"So eager to meet your demise? Very well." He looks to the side. "Rider, you know what to do."

"Verily, my liege." Rider revs her engine even louder. "Ho, Jimmy!" Her mechanical steed accelerates forward rapidly, attempting to run right over Vector and Charmy. They dive out of the way as she rides on past them. After a momentary glance at each other, they chase off after her.

King watches them go as if they were children playing. "And so, that leaves only the two of us. Do you really think you can defeat me all on your own?"

"The way you keep looking at me, something tells me I already have. How did you say we last met in that other dimension?"

King takes a moment to answer. "Perhaps you aren't such an oaf after all." He raises his scepter in challenge.

Knuckles raises his fists in opposition. "I like to think I'm full of surprises."

—–—

Hero stares up in awe of the monumentally massive mechanical monstrosity that is the Titanic Monarch, appearing in a haze of Heavy Magician's sparkling smoke, towering above the Imperial Tower beside it. An appropriately massive Phantom Ruby prototype has been built into its chest. While Shadow and Chaos look with tempered surprise, Blacklight stands with his mouth gaping open. He looks over to Shadow. "Is it too late to switch sides?"

After a moment to realize that the question was meant seriously, Shadow answers sternly, "Yes."

Blacklight looks down to the ground in genuine disappointment. "Aww…"

Eggman lets out a hearty laugh, already flying off into the head of the Monarch. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Moments after he's disappeared into the machine, his voice shouts through a powerful loudspeaker, "Like my new toy? If any of you want to surrender now…"

Blacklight starts to put his hand up, but Shadow grabs it and forces it back down. He turns out and shouts back to Eggman, "We won't let you take this world, Doctor! We will do everything in our power to stop you! For all the people of this world!"

Chaos adds, "For the Balance!"

Blacklight overdramatically continues, "For honor!" The other three all give him an odd look. "What, I had to say something. I wasn't just gonna leave you hanging after that."

The ground suddenly shakes violently as the Titanic Monarch takes a single step towards them. Eggman shouts from inside, "Enough foolishness! Prepare to be destroyed!" The massive robot starts to aim its powerful arm cannon. Its hand starts to rotate around rapidly as the energy inside it begins to charge. A few moments later, its intense, massive violet energy beam fires, obliterating the cliffside they were standing on.

—–—

Rouge and Omega appear to have taken their fight indoors. However, Heavy Gunner has not. Standing up in the cockpit of a large helicopter that circles around the outside of the building, he launches out missile after missile through the large windows. Omega fires out his machine gun, attempting to gun down as many of the missiles as possible in mid-flight, wreaking further havoc in the once-pristine white and green building interior.

Rouge kicks a rounded missile back where it came from, but the helicopter dives down low enough to avoid it, before lifting back up and firing again. The stray missile continues on until it impacts a an old, worn-out looking sign that reads 'HEXAeco', knocking it down from its skyscraper. Off in the distance, on the dusk horizon, there is a bright violet flash of light. Above Rouge's head, the lights in the building start to flicker and dim. She glances up, noticing it for just a moment. Then the new wave of missiles turns her attention back to the battle. When the flash in the distance subsides, the lights return to normal.

—–—

Treading as lightly and carefully as possible through the darkened hallway, the Commander holds his softly-glowing weapon in a protective stance, scanning back and forth as he moves along slowly. Behind him, Cream walks on tiptoe, shining the only major source of light in the room in front of them. Suddenly, the Commander stops, putting up an open hand. Cream freezes mid-step behind him. There is a simple metal door a few feet out in front of them. The Commander looks back at Cream silently as he closes his upraised hand into a fist. Cream obediently covers up the light, leaving the dim green glow of the Commander's weapon as the only way to see.

He flicks his hand forward, and they resume their tread even more cautiously than before. When they reach the door, the Commander stops again, putting his back up against the wall, and holds up three fingers. Then he switches to one finger, and starts counting up. When he reaches three, he quickly pushes the door open and comes out gun-first, finger ready to pull down on the trigger on a moment's notice. But it's all quiet on the other side.

The Commander lets out a sigh of relief as he relaxes a bit, and nods back to Cream to tell her to uncover the light. Now more properly lit, the room appears to be a large square-shaped stairwell, wrapped around a large empty space that reaches all the way to the bottom floor below and the roof high above. The Commander whispers, "There's an emergency exit a few flights up. We just need to–"

Cream gasps loudly as she shines the light up several stories above them, just barely missing a blur of movement. The Commander quickly moves a finger to his mouth, reminding her to be quiet. She covers her mouth with her hand as she realizes. The Commander looks back up to the direction where the movement came from. Pointing his weapon in that general direction, and motioning for Cream to do the same with the light, he starts to move slowly up the steps. Cream makes sure to stay especially close behind him.

Always facing the same direction, they slowly make it up a full flight, leaving the spot where movement was seen just above and across from them. Without pausing, they keep moving.

Suddenly, the Commander turns to face the opposite direction they've been focusing on, and opens fire, shooting a near-continuous stream of glowing green plasma bolts into what is quickly revealed to be an empty wall. As he stops firing, he lets out a quiet growl in disappointment at his incorrect anticipation of the enemy's movement. Behind him, Cream lets out a concealed scream in terror. The Commander turns around slowly to see the long, curved blade that Heavy Shinobi holds to her throat.

—–—

Hero swings down on his grappling wire to the ground below, carrying Chaos along with him. Shadow and Blacklight each separately land the great leap that would have certainly injured any normal person. Directly above them, massive rocks and boulders that made up what used to be a cliffside moments ago now tumble down towards them, forcing them all to scatter and dive out of the way to avoid being crushed as the rubble all crashes to the ground.

Chaos looks up to the obliterated cliffside and off to the Titanic Monarch, which has already begun charging for another shot. "So much power…"

Blacklight looks over to Shadow, holding up his Emerald. "I think we've wasted enough time here. Together?"

Shadow nods. "Together." Side by side, they take off at top speed towards the Titanic Monarch, skating in parallel to each other. Not quite able to keep up, Chaos and Hero run in behind them. Blacklight lifts his Emerald so that that it starts to orbit around him and Shadow as they run. One by one, it is joined by Shadow's six others.

The Titanic Monarch aims its cannon to encompass all four of them, and fires. While Chaos and Hero break off to opposite sides, Shadow and Blacklight pick up their speed greatly as the Emeralds tighten in orbit around them. The beam blasts into an empty spot between them all, creating a massive crater of destruction, but leaving them all unscathed.

Shadow and Blacklight move faster and faster along the ground as the Emeralds orbit tighter and tighter. Their feet lift from the ground, as one's fur takes on a golden-white hue and the other a pitch black, and they continue to soar along the ground even faster than before. The Emeralds are absorbed into them as the transformations of Super Shadow and Black Night complete. As they reach the feet of the massive mech, they break off and elegantly begin to soar up and around it in opposing directions, streaking their own auras behind them. The robot's massive arms swing in an attempt to knock them back, but they are far too fast for it.

Finally, they each come to a stop above opposite sides of the head, and after a moment, dive in at it. The Titanic Monarch crosses its arms as its hands spin around rapidly, as the robot's upper body generates a massive pulse of negative energy, overwhelming the assailants and knocking them back through the air.

Shadow clutches at his head in pain as he stops in the air. "Where is he getting that much power from…?"

On the ground below, Hero looks up to the very top of the Imperial Tower. He looks over to Chaos and points back to where he was facing.

"Above the tower? What's there?"

Shadow answers over the radio, "The sun!"

Chaos looks out to the darkening horizon in confusion. "The sun is…a bit lower than the tower, at the moment."

"No, during the last war, two years ago. Eggman's plan was to use the Phantom Ruby to drop a Virtual sun out of the sky." By the sound of his voice, he's thinking through as he speaks. "To do that, he needed to connect it to a power-generating facility, the Death Egg, so we destroyed it." His voice suddenly cuts off as, in the air, the tiny point of light that is Shadow swerves out of the way of another fire from the beam cannon. Once he's safe, he resumes, "But he had a backup plan, another power source. It was… It was Metropolis! The Metropolis Power Plant! That's where he's getting the energy to power this thing, that's why he's put all his other forces into defending it!"

Blacklight adds, "I always knew you were a smart one, Shadow."

Shadow continues, "If someone goes back to shut down that plant, this thing won't have a power source."

Chaos immediately nods. "I don't think I'm of much use here, I'll go."

"Find Rouge and Omega, we've been to that plant before, they can help you find it."

"Right." He puts a hand onto his chest, where a rainbow outline of his unseen Moonstone starts to glow. "Chaos Control!" He disappears in a flash.

Hero looks from the spot where Chaos stood, up to the two points of light and darkness that buzz around the Titanic Monarch like flies. With a resolute nod, he fires his grappling wire up towards the base of the Imperial Tower, preparing to make the long climb once again.

—–—

"Chao!" Cheese angrily latches onto Heavy Shinobi's face, causing him to stumble back without balance. Cream runs for cover as quickly as she can. The Commander sets his sights on the flailing foe, but hesitates in worry of hitting Cheese. A moment is all the Shinobi needs, as he grabs the Chao off of his face and forcefully throws it away. Cream jumps up to catch Cheese, making sure he's alright. His sights clear, the Commander opens fire. At an almost untraceable speed, Heavy Shinobi slashes at each and every bolt of plasma, dissipating one with each movement, and slowly stepping forward as he does. The Commander steps back to match, continuing to let off rounds as rapidly as he can, but soon finds his back against the rail out over many stories of empty space below. A moment later, his weapon starts to click as it stops firing, depleted of ammunition. Without the glow from the weapon or its flashing plasma, the room goes completely black, save for the dim red glow of Heavy Shinobi's eyes, and a much fainter violet glow that appears to come from the hilt of his blade, both of which continue to grow closer.

In one unseeable movement, the Commander tumbles over the side, falling into the black abyss below. A light shines on him as he clenches his eyes shut. His fall is stopped. He cautiously looks up with confusion to see Cream, holding him by the arm and using her ears to fly them up as hard as she can. Even with the strain, she smiles down at him. Cheese circles around them, holding the light that Cream dropped earlier.

His targets quickly rising up past him, Heavy Shinobi leaps up and perches on the railing, pulls out an Asteron, and throws it with expert precision.

Seeing the oncoming projectile, Cream flies off to the side, dropping the Commander safely onto the higher floor in the process. The Asteron embeds itself in the wall just beside them. But then the red light at its center starts to flash, before the device explodes, sending its four exposed spikes flying off in every direction. Cream and the Commander both gasp, neither of them in the position to avoid the surprise attack.

To a blur of motion and the sound of striking metal, the flying spikes are all struck out of the air. Espio lands in a crouch in front of them, reverse-wielding a kunai knife in one hand. He glances back them. "Everyone alright?" Still a bit in shock, his question is met with silent nods. He turns back to Heavy Shinobi, who glares at him from the opposite side of the stairwell. Suddenly, the two leap at each other, exchanging several blows with their blades before bouncing back where they came from.

Before Heavy Shinobi has even landed, he throws another Asteron. Espio crouches back on his rail only just long enough to push himself back, slicing through the projectile in the air and continuing on to confront Shinobi on his own platform. The two slash at such a furious pace that neither of their movements can be traced, Espio competing surprising well with his short knife against the Shinobi's long blade. But after a matter of seconds, the knife is flung from his hand, twirling through the air and sticking in the ground behind him. A strike from Shinobi's hand knocks him to the ground.

Heavy Shinobi stands over Espio, blade held out over him. "You have fought honorably, Chameleon. It is unfortunate that I am bound by my own honor, to end your life on this day." He prepares to strike. But in the air, his blade is met by another, similarly curved, but ruby red in color.

Staring Heavy Shinobi in the eye is the mask worn by Infinite, still with a wide crack running down its covered eye. The Phantom Ruby prototype lies securely on his chest. "You have something that belongs to me." He holds out his hand and fires out a small energy burst, striking Shinobi in the chest and knocking him back from the sword lock. While Shinobi clutches at the singe mark left on his chest, Infinite holds his blade out to the side. Glowing, sparking energy from the Ruby starts to spread down it, causing it to glow and pulsate just as brightly as the Ruby itself. "Don't bother surrendering. I'd much rather take it from you." He slashes the blade in front of him, generating a wave of violet energy that slices through the air towards the Shinobi.

Heavy Shinobi attempts to parry the slash wave, but the force of the attack knocks him back further. Changing tactics, he reaches behind him and takes out two Asterons to throw. Infinite generates two more slash waves to deal with each of them long before they reach him. But while he's occupied, Shinobi leaps up to the rails on the next story up, on the retreat. Infinite lets out a brief chuckle. Cloaked in the Ruby's energy, he flies up to slash at the Shinobi directly. Several blows are exchanged, before Shinobi leaps up again to yet another floor, throwing out more Asterons to cover himself. Infinite slashes through them and continues the upwards pursuit.

The Commander helps Espio back to his feet. Cream leans out over the rail, looking up to the battle above. "Mr. Espio…is he on our side?"

"I…I don't know." Espio shakes it off. "Come on, let's follow them." He runs the normal way up the stairs. Cream and the Commander run after him, having a hard time keeping up.

Now high above them, Heavy Shinobi lands on another rail, and immediately turns to prepare for Infinite's inevitable attack. But Infinite is already there, just a moment too fast for him. A violet slash lands. After a moment's delay, Heavy Shinobi's severed arm falls away from the rest of his body. In one swift movement, Infinite grabs the sword from the severed arm, letting the rest fall away, and plunges it into Shinobi's own chest. Infinite leans in, pressing his mask against Shinobi's shocked face. Beneath the mask, he could only be smirking. He gives the blade a twist, causing further internal damage. Then he floats back, drawing the sword back out.

Heavy Shinobi's eyes blink out and go dim as he topples from the rail he was perched on, tumbling uncontrollably as he sinks into the black abyss below. There is a loud crash as he hits the bottom. But Infinite never looks down at him, focusing on the upturned end of the hilt of the blade he took from Shinobi, where a small violet gem is attached. He snaps it off with his fingers, and drops the rest of the sword, letting it fall the way of its owner. He holds the gem up to the air, staring at it for a moment. Then it starts to glow and pulsate more intensely, as if its energy were being sucked into him. The moment it goes dim again, he suddenly crushes it to dust within his hand. "There can only be one." He unclenches his hand again, letting the sparkling dust slip between his fingers. "And it will be mine."

"Infinite!" Espio stands on the set of steps directly behind him. "Are you…"

Infinite turns his head sharply to look at him. Immediately Espio lets out a gasp. After a moment of silent glaring, Infinite turns his head back up, and darts away through the air.

Cream and the Commander finally catch up to Espio, both panting for breath. The Commander looks to Espio. "Where did he…? What is he…?"

Espio looks down to the ground in uncertainty. "That look I saw in his eye…it's the same that I saw two years ago."

Cream leans out over the rail, looking down to where Shinobi fell. Even for the enemy, there is a hint of sorrow in her eyes. "What do we do now?"

The Commander takes a few moments to think. "It could take them hours to get things running here, and we can't do any good while that's happening. We should join the battle." Cream looks up to him in surprise. He gives her a smile. "I know that you and your partner can handle it."

Cheese cheers, "Chao chao!"

On the ground level below them, far beyond where they can see, Heavy Shinobi's broken mechanical husk lies motionless on the ground. Suddenly, the machine parts become cloaked in an odd purplish light, which continues to grow brighter and more solid, until all is concealed by it. When the light fades, all signs of the Shinobi's presence are gone.

—–—

The Heavy-Egg Hammer twirls its weapon around in a massive circle of destruction, taking out a line of parked hovercars as it goes. Tails flies Amy up into the air to stay above the attack. Unable to spin any longer, the robot starts to flail its arms around as it loses balance. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tails throws Amy down hard. With the full force of the throw, Amy slams her own hammer into the stumbling robot, sending it crashing to the floor. Its protective helmet tumbles off, exposing the flashing head module underneath. Tails come down onto the exposed head in a spin, denting and damaging it. As the robot tries to climb back to its feet, Amy follows up with another hammer strike straight to the damaged weak point, crushing in the robot's head and starting a reaction that causes the entire machine to fall to pieces.

Both looking fatigued, Tails and Amy share a high-five in celebration. Amy starts looking around in confusion. "Now, what happened to that other robot?" Two sliced halves of a familiar yellow top hat drop onto the ground in front of them. "Huh?" They both look up into the air, where Infinite triumphantly holds up another Ruby prototype, apparently having claimed it from inside the hat. Heavy Magician is nowhere to be seen. Infinite lets out a laugh as he crushes the gem in his hand.

—–—

Rouge and Omega appear to have moved to the rooftop of a tall skyscraper, still engaged in battle with Heavy Gunner, circling in his helicopter. However, now swarming around the building along with him is a horde of flying robots of a mixed variety, all firing various weapons which Rouge and Omega are barely able to avoid. Omega regularly gets shots off at some of them, but more seem to rise up to take their place.

After a moment to take aim, Gunner fires off a large rounded missile while both of his targets' backs are turned. It seems they have no chance to get out of the way. "Gotcha."

A figure appears in a flash, striking the missile to send it back where it came from. Gunner's eyes flash in surprise. An Egg Flapper flies up in front of him and takes the missile directly, protecting him from the brunt of the blast. But the shockwave still impacts the vehicle he flies in, knocking it off course and sending it spiraling downwards. Most of the robots fly down after it, and the few that remain are quickly dealt with by Omega.

Rouge nods in thanks to Chaos. Omega declares without prompt, "Assistance was not necessary."

Rouge glances over to Omega with a hint of irritation. "Do you ever stop?"

Chaos interrupts, "I wish I could say I came here to help, but we are experiencing difficulties of our own. The Metropolis Power Plant, where is it?"

"The Power Plant?" Rouge looks off into the city for a moment, thinking back. She points off in a direction where the white of the city gives way to much more green. "It's in the residential district, that way. Why?"

"We believe Doctor Robotnik is using it to fuel his Phantom Ruby, we must shut down the Plant as quickly as possible."

"Then we'll go with you, let's go." With that, Rouge leaps from the building, flying off in the direction she indicated. Getting a running start, Chaos makes an incredible leap all the way to the roof of the next closest building. He continues to leap that way from building to building to follow her. Omega makes the jump as well, firing thrusters on his back to carry himself through the air to the next building almost as efficiently.

Finally having regained control, Heavy Gunner rises back up above the rooftop in his helicopter. "Well, looks like we got ourselves a couple of runners. Readying pursuit."

In a violet flash, Infinite appears in front of him. "I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere." He delivers one powerful slash with his sword.

—–—

Riding on her steed Jimmy, Heavy Rider drives off over a lip on the elevated road, launching herself up into the air, as sparks and confetti fly as if from nowhere, before slamming back down onto a lower road, nearly flattening Vector and Charmy. Once she drives a fair distance away, she makes a sharp u-turn around, leaving skid marks on the road, and charges back towards them.

Without asking permission, Vector grabs Charmy in one hand, and hurls him as hard as he can at the oncoming assailant. As he flies through the air, Charmy points his stinger straight forwards, preparing to strike. In response, Rider pulls out a massive spiked medieval flail, and starts to swing it around her head. Apparently ready for this, Charmy manages to slip underneath the Rider's defense, and continues to stab straight into Jimmy's oversized wheel. After a moment of wobbling, the broken steed collapses over as it continues to skid across the ground at high speed, dumping Rider off in the process. Vector steps aside, allowing the broken Motobug to slide past him, all the way to the edge of the road, where it teeters momentarily.

Rider shouts with genuine fear, "Jimmy!" In another moment, it tumbles over the side, disappearing from sight. Rider lets out a growl. "Thou shalt pay for thy injustice! Jimmy, I swear I will avenge thee!" To prove her point, she slams her flail into the ground, causing it to shake violently.

Undeterred, Vector charges at the unmounted Rider. Rider charges back at him, swinging her flail around as she goes. As they're about to meet in the middle, she swings it down at him as hard as she can. But Vector, with all his strength, catches the spiked ball between two hands, careful not touch any of the sharp points. Rider lets out a gasping sound as Vector, still holding up the end of the flail with one hand, delivers a powerful punch right at Rider's center, sending her tumbling back.

Managing to land on her feet, but doubled over the large dent in her chest plate, Heavy Rider speaks into a communicator, "I have lost this battle. I must retreat." On command, she becomes cloaked in a harsh light, which quickly envelops her, until she disappears from sight.

Charmy flies up to Vector, still rubbing his head from the force of his impact. But still, he cheers, "We did it!" He starts to dance around in the air. "We did it, we did it, we did it!"

Vector rubs at his chin as he stares at the spot Heavy Rider disappeared from. "Yeah…but something ain't sitting right with me."

"Whaddaya mean by that?"

"The way she left, it was like they were planning on pulling out from the very beginning. But that could only mean…" He snaps his fingers as he deduces the answer. "…a distraction! They didn't want to beat us here, they just wanted to keep us away from something! And whatever it is, I bet we'll find out at Eggman's fortress! Come on, let's find Knuckles, we need everyone to start pushing forward!"

Charmy cheers, "Yeah!" Vector runs off in the direction they came from, Charmy following close behind.

On another section of road far beneath them, Infinite cuts the Phantom Ruby prototype free from Jimmy's broken husk. He holds it up to the air as he begins to absorb its energy. "Too easy."

—–—

Knuckles pants continuously, exhausted by the fight, still with fists raised. Heavy King looks down on him in disappointment. "I expected more out of you, Echidna. Not so full of surprises now, are you?"

"I…still got a few tricks left. How about I show you!?" Knuckles runs in on the offensive.

King merely laughs, and holds out his scepter, creating an arcing beam of energy that carves across the floor, erupting a wall of fire between them. Just as he did in the last battle, Knuckles uses the updraft from the flames to glide high into the air. Once above Heavy King, he dives straight down, prepared to strike. King strikes his scepter to the ground, generating a an electrified barrier to protect himself. But instead of attacking into the barrier, Knuckles impacts the ground just in front of him, so hard that it crumbles beneath his feet, sending him tumbling down to a lower street below.

With a wave of his scepter through the air, Heavy King's fall is immediately slowed as he is enveloped by Ruby energy. Though he does not fly, he is able to drift gently to the ground, his cape fluttering in the wind behind him. But the moment he touches down, Knuckles' fist slams into the side of his face. Chunks of metal fly off. King glares back at Knuckles, a portion of the side of his face missing and throwing out sparks from its internal wiring. The light in one eye has gone out. He swings his staff hard in anger, hitting Knuckles hard and knocking him a fair distance back.

King quickly regains composure. "Congratulations. You managed to lay a scratch on me. While you continue to tire out by the second. How much longer can you last?"

Another voice answers, "Longer than you will get the chance to."

King raises his staff to a guarded position just in time to block the sudden slash from Infinite. The two meet single eye to single eye. King muses, "So, we meet again. Infinite, was it? I see you got yourself a Ruby after all."

The two separate, neither moving in to attack again. Infinite answers, "You and I both know that this is no substitute for the Ruby we both sought. But that is a futile cause, now."

"Are you saying…?"

"Destroyed. Imploded into its own void before my very eyes." Knuckles looks on in surprise.

Heavy King tightens his grip on his staff. "Gone…all for nothing…"

"No need to be so upset. We are much alike, you and I, I see that now. The Ruby chose you, just as it did me. It connects us, in a way. So…once I take the power from your prototype, I'll be happy to complete its task for both of us."

"You will take nothing from us!"

"Us? Oh, you mean all of your other Heavy friends? I'm afraid you'll find that I already have."

"What!?"

"Oh, yes. Some barely fled with their lives. Others weren't so lucky. It's too bad they didn't show more fear. It was less fun that way."

"No one insults the Hard Boiled Heavies!" King fires his energy beam straight at Infinite.

Infinite fires back his own laser beam, colliding in the middle against King's. Waves of energy and heat are released from the center point where the two beams push against each other, forcing Knuckles to shield his face even from his distance away. But with a renewed push and a pulse of energy from the Ruby, Infinite's beam beats out King's, forcing its way to him and shattering the glass top of his scepter. His own Ruby rolls to the ground.

Infinite bends down to pick up his prize, as Heavy King struggles to get back up. Infinite raises the Ruby up to the air, and begins to absorb its energy. King moves to attack again. Knuckles dives in for a solid punch straight to his center, sending him sliding back to his knees, leaving a dent beneath the weld line in his chest plate. Still he uses his scepter to push himself back to his feet, shuddering and locking as if losing control of his own mechanisms. One step at a time he clanks his way back to his opponent. Before he ever gets there, Infinite's laser blasts through his lower shoulder, spraying shrapnel and leaving a hole clean through.

Barely able to move at all, King still shudders forwards, becoming cloaked in a harsh light. "N-n-no… I-I c-c-can still f-f-f-fight…" Against his wishes, the light grows brighter and brighter, until he vanishes completely.

Infinite looks to the spot in surprise at the familiar words. He shakes it off, and lets go of the Ruby dust he still holds in his hand. "Only one remains."

"Infinite!" Infinite turns his head to looks at Knuckles, who is still clearly tired out from the fight. "You said…you'd complete the Ruby's task…you're still trying to destroy the world, aren't you!? You traitor!"

Infinite can't help but let out a laugh. "Traitor? I never said a false word to you. I told you over and over again that all I wanted was the Ruby, and I meant every word of it. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

"You aren't going anywhere!" Knuckles leaps in to attack. But Infinite easily zips up into the air.

"You think that you can stop me? I am Infinite. I can't be stopped. Not by Sonic, not by Shadow, and certainly not by you." With that, he releases a wave of negative energy around himself, which collapses in on him, warping him away.

Vector and Charmy run in just in time to see. "Was that…?"

Knuckles nods slowly.

"Look, no time to dwell on it now! This battle is over, we need to get to Eggman's fortress!"

"I couldn't agree more." Knuckles reaches for his communicator. "This is Field Commander Knuckles to all forces. It's time we bring this war to its end. We're heading for Eggman's fortress!" There are cheers from troops spread throughout the city.

—–—

Super Shadow dashes towards the Titanic Monarch's Ruby. The machine lifts a charging cannon, and fires its massive energy beam, forcing Shadow to dive down out of the way. Black Night tries to come in from the side, but the machine turns its massive body to the side, arcing the intense beam across towards the second attacker. He tries to dodge out of the way as well, but isn't quite fast enough, and gets grazed in the shoulder. He lets out a cry of pain, and starts to spiral down towards the ground, out of control.

"Blacklight!" Shadow breaks off from his next attack, diving down to catch Blacklight out of the air.

Before Blacklight can be caught, he moves away and gives Shadow a wink. "Gotcha." He chuckles a bit as he flies back up into the battle.

Shadow growls a bit as he shakes it off and flies back off himself. He says through his communicator, "You have to be more careful. That beam is pure Ruby energy, one hit could take either of us out."

"Silly Shadow, you think I don't know that? Hello? You're talking to the wielder of the Ruby, until, like, an hour ago."

Several chest panels on the Titanic Monarch open, revealing rows upon rows of missile launchers, which all fire at once. Shadow weaves and dives through the air to avoid them. "Just focus."

Blacklight faces a similar onslaught of missiles from the other side. "Come on, I can multitask, can't I?" Suddenly he shouts, "Chaos Inferno!" He creates a wall of fire in front of him that eliminates a large swathe of missiles at once. He continues as if it hadn't happened, "So I was thinking, how would you feel about scheduling our next death match?"

"Death match?"

"Yeah, you know. You versus me, battle to the death, I mean we do it all the time anyways. Wouldn't a schedule make it more convenient? I was thinking next Tuesday… No no, Wednesday, Wednesday's better."

"Are you really asking me this right now?"

"Come on Shadow, you know better than to question my logic. It's infallible."

Shadow shakes his head and ignores the question anyways, as he dives down to avoid another beam. "Why hasn't Chaos gotten to that Power Plant yet?"

A fair distance away from the battle, Hero stands on the top of the Imperial Tower, watching the battle from as close as he can get, as Shadow and Blacklight, barely any larger than the specks they appeared as from the ground, circle around the Titanic Monarch in an attempt to get close enough to damage it. Bruno floats beside him, similarly staring out.

"Quite the machine, isn't it? Of course, its power source is the real beauty." Hero looks over with a gasp of shock to see Infinite, floating out in the air beside him. He looks from the Ruby on his chest to the mask on his face, and starts to back off, trembling slightly. "What's the matter, child? Still afraid of me? But I thought that you…saw the good in me."

With quite a bit more confidence than his partner, Bruno floats right up to Infinite's face, squeaking angrily.

Infinite puts a hand over the Wisp's face to silence it, and pushes it off to the side so that he can continue speaking to Hero. "Don't you still see it? I'm the same person that I was." Bruno continues to push against his hand, letting out muffled jabbers.

Hero looks from Bruno up to Infinite.

"I suppose I should…assure you, that my outburst before was only a brief moment of weakness. I intend no harm to you now. In fact, I came here to warn you. To stay out of my way." After a moment, he releases the Wisp, letting it fly back to Hero's side. "It is best for you…to heed my warning." With that, he turns and flies off in a streak towards the head of the Titanic Monarch.

As Infinite flies past the distant figure of Shadow, he can be heard shouting through the radio as he stops, "Was that Infinite!?"

Blacklight responds, "Sure looked like him. But how'd he get the Ruby? I thought you destroyed it!"

"No, it had to be a prototype. But how'd he get it?"

"Oh. Heh heh. I may have left one of those lying around right where we left him. Maybe." Infinite has already long since disappeared into the Titanic Monarch.

While the two argue, Hero and Bruno look to each other, and share a mutual nod. Bruno flies into Hero's Wispon, and it starts to vibrate in his hand to show its readiness. Hero looks one last time out at the Monarch to judge its distance. Then he fires his grappling wire up at a high overhanging part of the tower, launching himself up as hard as he can. As soon as he reaches the apex of his arc, he points his Wispon down and fires, creating an explosion that launches him into a new arc. He continues this way, firing down over and over again to propel himself closer and closer to the massive robot. As he draws closer, he fires down one last time, but a loud squeak instead of an explosion tells him that Bruno can't provide any more energy. Left flailing through the air a short distance away from his target, he has to think fast. The Titanic Monarch swings its massive arm towards Shadow. The edge of its cannon hand draws just close enough for Hero to fire his grappling wire at it, taking hold, and getting him swung around uncontrollably. As the hand reaches the end of its swing, he manages to unlatch the wire, allowing him to fly further up into the air from the force of it. Once up high enough, he fires again, this time at the shoulder joint, which he uses to make a much more effective swing, until he finally lands on the relatively stable ground of the Titanic Monarch's shoulder.

The shoulder shutters as the Monarch continues to fight, but Hero manages to hang on. He looks up to the side of the Monarch's head, where there is a very small hole in what might be described as its ear. Hero immediately heads for it.

—–—

Knuckles, along with the rest of the army, stand on one of the few remaining undamaged cliffsides, overlooking the battle between Shadow, Blacklight, and the Titanic Monarch. "Uhh…"

Amy questions, "What can we even do about that?"

"Infinite came this way, but…I don't see him anywhere." He goes for his communicator. "Hey Shadow, uh, we're here to help out, you know, if you need it?"

After a moment's delay, Shadow responds through slight static, "Is Chaos there with you?"

Knuckles looks around. "No. Come to think of it, neither's Rouge and Omega."

Shadow can be heard sighing. "I sent them back to take out this thing's power source in Metropolis, but there still hasn't been any change!"

Vector shouts, "Of course! A double fake out! Eggman wanted us to think that he was stopping us from getting here, so we would do everything we can to get here, when we really needed to be back at Metropolis the whole time!"

Knuckles continues, "Long-range communications are still down, we're too far to touch in with them now."

Shadow answers, "Some of you should–" He cuts off as the Titanic Monarch suddenly freezes in place, becoming covered in glitching particles and sparking Ruby aura.

—–—

Eggman's Egg Mobile has been hooked into a sort of cradle, tethered by four chains of spherical devices to various parts of the wide mechanical room, filled with screens and massive wires. Clearly, Eggman controls the entire Titanic Monarch from here, and he seems quite occupied by the task. He doesn't notice when Infinite floats up to him.

"Hello, Doctor."

Eggman looks up with a start. "Blacklight!" He realizes his mistake in a quick moment. "Infinite?"

"I'm disappointed, Doctor. You really have forgotten me, haven't you?"

"Heavy King reported that he faced you in battle, but somehow I didn't believe him. You've been gone a long time. Finally come back to join forces with me again? Impressed by my new machine, are you?"

"Well…" Infinite crosses his arms and looks down to the transparent floor, underneath which the massive Phantom Ruby prototype is suspended, pulsating slowly, and casting the room in a fluctuating violet light. "…I am impressed by something. But don't think that I've forgotten, Doctor. About how you took my prototype from me when I still needed it to fight, just to power your machine that failed in the end. You betrayed me, Doctor."

"So what, then? You've come to exact your revenge?"

"Really, Doctor, you place too much importance on yourself. I'm only here for your Ruby. Besides, I'm in a forgiving mood today. So I'll make this simple. Leave now. I'll take over from here."

"You really expect me to hand it all over? You think that I don't have defense mechanisms installed here?"

"Doctor, I would expect you of all people to understand that my power is not to be taken lightly. Don't disappoint me again."

Ignoring him, Eggman presses down on an activation key, and instantaneously, two massive violet hands, appearing to be made of crystalline Ruby material, appear floating in the air, and immediately reach out for Infinite.

Infinite runs Ruby energy through his blade, and starts slashing through the air, generating two slash-waves that cut through the air and shatter each of the hands.

Eggman continues the attack, firing a cluster of missiles from his mechanism that all lock on to Infinite.

Infinite continues to slash, taking out another missile with each of his slash-waves. But even when there are no more missiles left, he continues to slash, severing each of the four tethers to Eggman's mechanism and leaving it completely separated. He finishes with his blade pointed straight at Eggman. "Last chance. Leave."

Eggman lets out a growl as he assesses the situation. He looks down to one of the screens on his mechanism, showing Shadow and Blacklight still circling outside. He opens his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "Very well. You win. It's all yours." With that, he detaches the Egg Mobile from what remains of the mechanism, and flies off.

Infinite lets out a brief chuckle. "That's what I thought." He crouches down, and places his hand on the barrier between himself and the massive Ruby prototype below. "Perhaps…this one is too useful to destroy. As long as I control both of them." He instead drifts over to the spot in the center of the floor where Eggman's control mechanism had been attached. He directs out both of his hands, and the four severed tethers are drawn up into the air around him. As his Ruby starts to glow, he channels four continuous bolts of Ruby energy into each of the cables, granting him complete control.

Around the corner, Hero stands with back pressed against the wall, apparently having been listening for quite some time.

—–—

Infinite's voice booms out of the Titanic Monarch, "Attention Shadow, Resistance, and the fool who tried to take my Ruby. You all stand in the way of my perfect world. So you will all be destroyed." To the overwhelming sound of an activating Ruby, a wave of negative energy disperses out from the Monarch. As the wave passes along the ground, Replica after Replica rises up from the ground, all appearing to be of Infinite himself. However, their whole, undamaged masks have both eyes covered, showing nothing underneath. In a glitchy haze, the Monarch's head begins to transform, until it resembles a mechanical recreation of the same mask. The Eggman emblem on its chest plate just below the Ruby similarly distorts into a stylized infinity. The Infinite Monarch continues, "Those who flee will be spared…for now."

As if to prove a point, the Monarch swings one arm to the side, crashing through the Imperial Tower as it crumbles into rubble.

On the ground, the Replicas attack. Knuckles commands, "Don't back down! This guy is old news, we'll show him that he doesn't scare us!" The army moves back into battle once more.

In the air, Shadow and Blacklight have resumed their attempts to attack the Monarch. But its movements now seem to be faster, it can fire from both cannons at once with less charge time, effectively keeping them away. Shadow growls, "It's even harder to get at than before!" He dives around another cannon blast. "It must still have the same power source. What's taking Chaos so long!?"

—–—

In Metropolis, Chaos, Rouge, and Omega appear to be deep inside a building, with tall walls lined with flat lights bearing the insignia of HEXAeco. In front of them is a practically solid mass of robots, the most armored in front, the most heavily armed firing from the back, and all kinds of varieties in between. Omega unleashes his entire arsenal at once, taking them out in huge numbers, while Chaos and Rouge are a bit less efficient.

Chaos throws a Chaos Spear as close to the center of the cluster as he can get it, and it explodes on impact, taking out a sizable few, but making a relatively small dent in the small army. "Just how many robots can one doctor make?"

Rouge kicks through one robot after another, taking out an entire line of them. "I guess we're in the right place. He really doesn't want us here."

Omega swirls his machine-gunning arms around in a manner that almost seems to be more for showing off than for combat efficiency. "I hope this day never reaches an end."

Chaos glances over at Omega with surprise, but only has a moment before dodging out of the way of another laser blast. As his fur starts to turn red with rage, he shouts, "Everyone stand back! I'm going to put an end to this!" He starts to take on a sparking red aura as he leaps for the clearing he made in the center of all of the robots. "Chaos Blast!" With his shout he unleashes a fiery explosion of energy which shreds through the remaining robots swiftly. He is left panting on the ground, returned to his neutral white color, surrounded by singed robot parts.

Rouge moves in to help him up. "Chaos Spear and Chaos Blast? Just who are you?"

Chaos wobbles a bit on his unsteady feet. "I assure you…it is much too complicated to go into right now. But that was the last…of my energy. I won't…be doing much of anything for the time being."

"Luckily, there's no need. The core of the Power Plant is right up here, there should be a control panel around here somewhere."

Omega shouts, "Control panel located! Shall I destroy it?"

Rouge immediately objects, "No!" She runs past him to the panel he has indicated. "Last time we were almost burnt to a crisp when we accidentally triggered the plasma levels to rise in the core. If we drain the plasma instead, that should cut all power coming out from this facility." She has already gotten to work on the controls. "And…that should do it!" She presses one last key, and all the lights on the walls go dim. Through a see-through door into the next chamber, the glowing orange plasma that powers the plant can be seen draining.

—–—

On the battlefield, the Infinite Monarch once again shutters to a halt, as the hundreds of replicas on the battlefield similarly freeze, many in mid-movement, glitching and spazzing, and some even disappearing entirely.

Not hesitating this time, Shadow shouts, "Now's our chance!" He flies straight towards the center of the Monarch, this time without any resistance.

—–—

"No! I will not be defeated so easily!" With Infinite's shout, he releases his own negative energy wave that expands far beyond the confines of the control room. Around the corner, Hero tenses up in fear as it washes over him painlessly. As it passes over the larger Ruby beneath them, the Ruby flares back to life, pulsating so rapidly that it almost hurts the eyes. With the Ruby active again, all the interior lights and mechanisms come back on as well, just in time to activate a screen in front of Infinite that shows Shadow being blasted back by the wave, just inches from his target. Infinite declares for all to hear, "I don't need a power source! I will control this machine with the strength of my will alone!"

Hero takes deep breaths, trying to steady himself, seeming unsure of what to do. Bruno comes out of the Wisp, appearing quite tired, but still looking Hero in the eye for several long moments.

In his ear, Tails' voice comes in through the radio. "He's overclocking the Phantom Ruby, just like Eggman did!"

Bruno flies around and starts to push Hero by the shoulder, urging him onward.

Shadow questions, "What does that even mean?"

Infinite suddenly states calmly, "How long do you intend to keep hiding there, child? I can sense your fear, remember?" Hero gasps. But then he closes his eyes, and steps slowly into sight.

As he walks step by step towards Infinite, Tails explains, "The energy he's pumping through it is exceeding its natural capacity. Keeping it up like that will destroy the Ruby, and, worst case scenario, the rest of our universe along with it."

Infinite cocks his head to the side as Hero comes to a stop in front of him. "You ignored my warning. I would say that I'm disappointed…but from you, I expected no less."

Hero looks him in the eye, and doesn't say a word. Bruno still floats right there beside him.

"I told you once…that your fear…somehow wasn't the same as it was the day we met. I think I understand it, now. You are no longer afraid of what I might do to you. You are afraid of what I might do…to myself. How foolish of you."

Hero nods in agreement at every word.

"I made you an offer on that day. An offer I told you not to forget. That you don't have to be my enemy. This world is imperfect, and I know that you see that just as I do. It will burn someday, with or without my help. But you…you aren't like the others." Though he is too occupied controlling the machine to offer a hand, he bends down his head in a welcoming gesture. "I don't want…to see you burn."

Hero raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Those people you call friends, they don't understand you the way that I do. You mean nothing to them, don't you see it? They sought you out for their own convenience, and when this is all over they will abandon you once again. Don't try to deny it. I've seen, felt your anxiety at every moment. How you worry that when this war is over, you will have nothing left. You will be useless to them once more."

Hero looks down to the ground and shakes his head fervently.

"Aren't you sickened by their arrogance!? Their condescending attitudes!? Their jokes at your expense!? I have seen how they treat you firsthand, I know that it's true!"

Hero tightens his grip on his Wispon as he stares silently at the ground. Beside him, Bruno starts to jabber angrily in objection.

"You won't accept my offer!? You'd prefer to spend what remains of your life in misery, knowing that you are nothing more than a plaything to those heroes!? Then say it! Tell me!"

In a quick movement, Hero points his Wispon up into the air. He lets a sound escape from his lips in a shout. "Nuh-uh!" He pulls down on the trigger, releasing a stream of flames into the wires and machinery above.

"No!" In his rage, Infinite releases a negative energy wave that knocks hero off his feet, pinning him back to the wall. An alarm has started wailing, as warning signs flash on the screens all around. "You want to burn with the rest of the world!? Fine! Then watch as your friends burn first!"

—–—

The Replicas on the ground have resumed their attack, seeming even more violent than before. A large cluster of them appear to be preparing to gang up on Amy. Until a stream of plasma fire cuts into them, fired by the Commander on a ledge above.

Cream flies down to help Amy up. "I hope we're not too late, Miss Amy."

Amy looks up to the Commander with a smile. "No, I think you're right on time." Espio has already moved into the heat of battle.

The Commander reaches for his radio. "How're things going up there, Shadow?"

"Commander?" After a moment he answers, "He's making desperate moves, but if we can't get in close, that won't matter. Commander…I'm surprised that you're here."

"Simple tactical decision, Shadow. Nothing to be surprised over. Just keep your head in the fight."

High up in the air, Shadow nods. "The Ruby is fragile. If we could only get in closer…"

Blacklight floats up beside him. "I think the answer is simple. We're playing it too safe."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Don't be so concerned. I'll make the heroic sacrifice. I'll go in and stop trying so hard not to get hit. I'll risk life and limb to destroy that Ruby. You can sit back and watch your mortal enemy get himself vaporized, like the good little hero you are."

"I can't let you do that."

"And let him blow up the universe? That won't do either of us much good, now will it? Life is but a mortal coil, mon ami, and I have already tasted of death once before. Mayhap my time has come again."

A surprising voice calls into the radio, "Oh, don't be so dramatic."

"Doctor?"

Eggman answers, "Believe it or not, I don't want the universe destroyed either. And there's a much simpler way for you to destroy the Ruby. Your Chaos energy should be more than enough."

"The Ruby disrupts Chaos energy, that's why we're having such a hard time in the first place."

"That disruption works both ways."

Blacklight raises a hand. "I can vouch for that."

Eggman continues, "If you can create a temporary state of perfect Balance, the Ruby will have no effect on you at all."

Another voice, that of Chaos, still sounding weak, adds, "He speaks…the truth. A perfect Balance…will protect you."

"Perfect Balance? How are we supposed to do that?"

Blacklight offers out his hand to Shadow. "I think you already know, brother. Together."

In the radio, Rouge cheers, "It's up to you, Shadow. We're all rooting for you down here."

Shadow takes Blacklight's hand. With linked hands, one flies over the other in a circular motion. After a brief pause, they repeat the motion, faster this time. They begin to swirl around each other, faster and faster, until they become an indistinguishable swirl of black and white.

The Infinite Monarch fires its beam cannon. The orb of black and white launches at the Monarch. When the beam impacts the the orb, its energy is scattered off, completely deflected by Shadow and Blacklight. They continue towards the Ruby, unhindered. The Monarch starts to unleash wave after wave of negative pulses, but each one fails to distort the perfect balance of black and white. Together, they crash straight through the massive Ruby, shattering it into ten thousand pieces. Several moments later, they break out the other side of the huge robot. As the towering machine slowly starts to tip backwards, Hero swings out of the hole to safety.

The Replicas on the battlefield all disappear in a wave as the altered features on the Monarch fade away. The earth shakes violently as it finally crashes to the ground. Still, a cheer rapidly spreads through the crowd.

Super Shadow and Black Night drift slowly down to the center of the wide hole in the broken remains of the Monarch. Infinite is on his hands and knees on the floor, surrounded by shards and dust of the shattered gem. "How could I lose again…?" He claws through the sparkling dust, lifting handfuls of it into the air, and lets it slip through his fingers back to the ground. "This isn't what I saw…"

Blacklight goads, "Aww, did you wose your pwecious Wuby again? Why don't you try not being a baby about it for once?"

Infinite balls a hand into a fist. "If I'm going down…I'm taking you with me!" Drawing on the power of his personal Ruby that still works just fine, he turns up sharply and fires a thin crimson laser beam directly at Blacklight. It strikes him in the center of the chest, sending sparking jolts of Ruby energy coursing through his body as he lets out a loud cry and starts to writhe with pain. His black aura quickly fades.

Shadow shouts, "Blacklight!" He dashes at Infinite, but Infinite uses his free hand to throw out a directed energy wave that effectively knocks Shadow back. Done talking, he puts all his concentration into his continuous attack. Blacklight continuous to writhe and scream in agony. Until a green boot connects with the back of Infinite's head, knocking him to the ground. Blacklight collapses to the ground as well. Hero, the attacker, looks to Shadow as he moves over to pick Blacklight up in his arms.

Blacklight looks up to Shadow meekly. "Shadow…I'm going to kill you for putting me through this." His eyes close as his head relaxes back.

Wordlessly, Shadow turns his head upwards as he Chaos Controls away.

Hero looks down to the spot where Infinite was lying just a moment before. But he is nowhere to be seen.

—–—

Eggmanland

Shadow appears deep inside the mechanical base, still holding Blacklight. Without opening his eyes, Blacklight whispers out quietly, "Where…are we?"

"Eggmanland."

"Mmm." A smile appears on his face. "I like this place."

"Where is your pod? I can put you back in there to recover."

Blacklight immediately objects, "No." He reaches up to place a hand on Shadow. "No more pods. No more stasis. Just leave me here. All I need is rest." Shadow hesitates for a moment. "Besides…it isn't even here."

Gently, Shadow lets Blacklight onto the ground. Then he turns around, preparing to leave. But he stops, and takes a breath in, as if to speak.

Blacklight beats him to it. "Shadow…you know there can only be one, right?"

"One Ultimate Life Form?"

"No. One side. Yours…or mine."

"That isn't true. We can both–"

"You're too smart to fool yourself like that, Shadow. I'll do…whatever it takes…to make you see. Maybe I'll…destroy your friends first. Maybe that will make you see. You know…I never took you for the type to have so many friends. I can fix that for you."

Shadow clenches a fist, further enraged by each word. But he doesn't answer.

"Next time we meet, Shadow…we'll be enemies. The way things ought to be."

Shadow never turns back to him as he warps away again.

—–—

Shadow, reverted to his normal form, appears once again in the center of the moonlit battlefield. After a brief moment, a faint chant can be heard. "Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!" In a matter of seconds, the entire crowd joins in all around, filling the space with cheers of, "Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!" The organized chant starts to break down into less comprehensible cheering and whistling, as Rouge starts to approach Shadow from the crowd.

Shadow turns back to face her. "You put them up to this, didn't you?"

"Nope. This was all you. You're a hero, and it's going to be hard to keep denying it."

The Commander steps up behind her. "The President wants to give you another medal. I told him you'd probably refuse." After a moment, he continues, "You probably know what I'm going to ask next."

Shadow seems prepared to answer immediately, but he hesitates.

"War or no war, we still want you on our side. I can't expect you to forgive me…for how I tried to manipulate you. For the things I hid from you. But I hope you don't hold that against the rest of GUN."

Shadow closes his eyes. "I…I do forgive you. I've already forgiven worse today. But…" He looks up to Rouge questioningly.

Rouge shrugs. "You already know how I feel about all this. If there's one place you can do the most good, it's here, with us."

Shadow looks down to the ground, and lets out a sigh as he contemplates.

"Wait!" Chaos makes his way through the crowd that has long since died down to a pleasant chatter, and comes out to stand on the opposite side of Shadow. "Outlier…Shadow." Tails approaches behind him as he continues, "I saw something incredible today. A perfect Balance…is an occurrence near-impossible in and of itself. But you…you were the Light half of the Balance, you who I saw only as a heart of Darkness just a few short days ago. What I'm trying to say is…it would be my honor…to train you, Shadow the Hedgehog."

"Train me?"

"I am already teaching the Controller everything I know about the ways of Chaos, and I could teach you as well! Your powers are already great, but with my help, you could become a true protector of this world. And perhaps…you could learn something about yourself, as well."

Tails comments, "Remember what I told you? Sonic is so much happier now. I think you could be happier, too."

Chaos adds, "Of course, I would never assume your decision for you. Your choice is always your own."

Shadow looks back to Rouge.

"Whatever you decide, Shadow…it will be your choice. Your life. I know you can do good wherever you go."

Shadow looks down to the ground again as he continues to think. But slowly, he chooses a direction, and starts to take a few steps forward. He stops to raise a salute to the Commander. "Commander…it would be an honor to continue serving with GUN." The Commander moves as if to respond, but Shadow cuts him off. "But…GUN isn't the place for me. Not anymore. So I would like to formally request an indefinite leave of absence."

The Commander returns the salute, and gives a nod in understanding. "Granted. The honor's been entirely mine, Shadow."

Rouge adds, "I guess we'll just have to make do without you."

Shadow gives her a nod and turns the other way, walking the rest of the way to Chaos and Tails.

Chaos looks to Shadow with uncertainty. "Does this mean…?"

Shadow gives a nod. "I made a promise to protect this world. I think you can help me do that. I will be your student."

"I'm very pleased to hear it."

Through the crowd, another figure approaches the Commander. Hero steps up to him confidently, and holds up a strict and formal salute. Beside him, Bruno replicates the motion with a squeak.

"You…wish to remain with GUN, Hero?"

Hero nods with absolute certainty.

The Commander gives him a smile and returns the salute. "Excellent. We can start your formal training tomorrow." Rouge gives him a pleased nod as well.

Chaos looks out to the wreck of the Titanic Monarch, where Blacklight was taken away from. "You didn't have to save him. You know full well what he may be responsible for in the future."

Shadow and Tails look to each other for a moment. "I think we all know…that wouldn't have been the right thing to do."

Chaos nods. "Still…he makes me uneasy." Suddenly, his communicator buzzes in his ear. He reaches up to tap it. "This is Chaos."

The voice of Big the Cat answers, "Mr. Chaos, there's a funny man here to see Mr. Sonic."

Chaos gasps. He looks to Shadow and Tails, who apparently heard as well. "We need to go."

Shadow nods. He and Chaos at once shout, "Chaos Control!" All three are warped away from the battlefield

—–—

Mystic Ruins - Tails' Laboratory

Infinite looks down on the unconscious form of Sonic the Hedgehog silently. A few moments later, Shadow, Chaos, and Tails appear behind him. Shadow and Chaos are already each charging a Chaos Spear in one hand. Infinite never has to look back at them, as he moves a hand closer to Sonic's head. "I wouldn't, if I were you." The Hedgehogs hesitate as he starts to run a clawed finger gently down the side of Sonic's face. "So fragile… At the mercy of anyone who would try."

Shadow growls, "So that's it? After all that, you're just going to take him out while he can't do anything to stop you? Sounds pretty cowardly."

Infinite takes a deep breath out. "You may not care about keeping your word, Shadow the Hedgehog, but I am not like you." He waves a hand over Sonic's face, casting out a red haze. "He will wake in a matter of minutes."

"You're…waking him up? Why would you do that?"

"Well, I did ask for something in return, didn't I? But a promise is a promise. I suppose you'll just have to owe me." Sonic is already beginning to stir. "I must be on my way now." He finally turns to glare through his cracked mask at Shadow. "I kept my word. You didn't. Don't forget that, Shadow." He opens his arms wide to activate the Ruby, encompassing him in its negative energy before warping him away.

Chaos, Shadow, and Tails all look back and forth to each other in surprise.

Behind them, Big the Cat announces, "He's so funny."

Everyone jumps, though Tails seems particularly startled by his sudden appearance. Chaos turns to him and lets out awkwardly, "Umm…thank you for your assistance, honorable Big. You are free to leave."

"Okay." Big turns to the frog perched on his shoulder. "Come on Froggy, let's go fishing."

"Ribbit!" The two exit together.

Tails immediately looks to Chaos. "You had Big watching Sonic this whole time?"

"Oh, you two have met?"

"You could say that…"

A grunt escapes from Sonic's lips as he starts to move, casting all eyes on him. Shadow even takes on the slightest smirk. Slowly, Sonic gets a hand down to lift himself into a sitting position. He opens his eyes on three smiling faces, particularly drawn to Shadow. For a moment, he lifts his eyebrows in surprise. Then he closes his eyes again, and lets his body fall back until he is laying down again. "I'm still dreaming, aren't I?"

Chaos answers, "I'm afraid not. Welcome back to the waking world, Controller. This is your new training partner, I believe you've already met."

Sonic sighs. Then he lifts himself back up, this time properly turning to face them. "Alright, I'll bite. What'd I miss?"

Chaos looks over to Shadow. "I believe you are best suited to catch him up."

Shadow nods slowly. "I guess I should start from the beginning. The man you fought…the one who defeated you…was not Infinite. His name is Blacklight…"

—–—

Location Unknown - Hidden Base

Heavy Magician, bald without her hat, uses a wand that appears to be held together by duct tape, attempting to put together the broken pieces of Heavy Shinobi, with only moderate success. Heavy Rider kneels over the crumpled wreck of Jimmy the Motobug. Heavy Gunner, covered in burns, stands in a slouch, holding a cleanly severed piece of his missile launcher in each hand. Heavy King, despite his immense damages, is the only one that stands tall before Eggman.

"Well, Heavies, I'm pleased to inform you all that this campaign has been a great success."

Heavy King is baffled. "Success? You're joking, right? A week ago, you controlled two-thirds of this planet. Now you have nothing, not even the dingy island you began with. I fail to understand how that can be called a success by any measure."

"That, my dear Heavy, would be because you are failing to measure the long game."

"You're saying that you lost on purpose?"

"Not at all. But you can think of this war as more of a…test run, if you will. The world is now in disarray. I now know all of the best- and worst-defended locations all over the planet, where best to wage war. And don't think for one moment that I was foolish enough to sit and do nothing while I controlled so much of the world. All over the planet, I have planted underground robot-production facilities, which will be running non-stop for the next…two months, or so. When I say the word, an entire army can rise up from the ground and invade the entire world, simultaneously."

"You can build an army of ten thousand soldiers, you can build an army of ten million. It makes no difference. Numbers were never your problem."

"Ah, now you're starting to think like a true conqueror. That problem is exactly why I've already begun construction on these." Eggman enters a few commands into a long console behind him, pulling up a massive display screen that encompasses the entire wall. On the screen, three different technical readouts appear, each describing a different machine, though far too technical to be comprehended. The titles above each read 'E-1X', 'E-4X', and 'E-25X'.

King spends a few moments studying the readouts. "And how, exactly, do you intend to power machines of this magnitude without a Ruby?"

Eggman gives a big grin. "I'm glad you asked." He steps around the line of Heavies to the back of the room, where a device is positioned that might at first be mistaken for a simple metal podium. Attached rows of red and white wires trail out of the device's sides, and drape over it like ribbons. On its top are seven clean-cut gem-shaped slots, arrayed evenly across its surface. "This…is the Chaos Project."

—–—

Some time later

Eggmanland - Blacklight's Base

Blacklight carefully adjusts the screen on the wall, making sure that it is absolutely level. He steps back and puts a hand to his chin as he examines his work. He leans back in to tilt it just a bit more. "There. Now it's perfect." He presses a button on the side of the screen, activating it. It appears to show a looping animation of Shadow, grabbing the Phantom Ruby from Blacklight's chest. The real Blacklight takes a few more steps backwards, all the way to the spot where his Virtual throne used to sit, getting a better view of the entire wall, covered in dozens of similar screens, each showing similar images, clips, or continuous videos of Shadow. "Come here to finish me off while I'm still recovering?"

Infinite, his presence discovered, steps all the way into the light. "Don't sound so certain that you'll lose. It ruins the fun that way."

"Well…I do hate it when fun gets ruined."

Infinite looks up to the collage of Shadow. "What's all this supposed to be?"

Blacklight looks up as well. "I have to know…everything. He and I are practically identical, yet he bests me every time. I need to know how he thinks. Why he lives. What makes him tick."

"Shadow is…certainly a curiosity."

"So why don't you tell me why you're really here?"

Infinite pauses for a moment. "Your first guess wasn't wrong. I came here to fight."

"And yet here we are, chatting about life and hedgehogs instead. I don't mind chatting, though. We can keep talking, if you'd like."

"This all began…the moment I saw your face. From there…things spiraled out of control rather quickly."

Blacklight adds, "As you literally spiraled away from me."

Infinite continues, "Don't think that I've forgotten. You managed a single blow that defeated me. And I managed a single blow that defeated you. I think we owe each other a fair fight."

"A fair fight? Your 'single blow' nearly ended me. I'm not exactly in fighting form."

"My Ruby no longer has any charge left. It does little more now than enhance my abilities. If you really are the 'Ultimate Life Form,' that should put us on quite even ground."

"Aww, you know I won't object to that."

"Then you accept?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

"Well…I suppose not."

Blacklight looks Infinite up and down. "…I think I like you. We should hang out sometime."

Infinite becomes coated in a crimson aura. "We're here now, aren't we?"

Blacklight gives a smirk as he puts up his fists. "That we are, my friend. That we are."

The two figures, white and black, leap at each other, and collide in the air.

The adventure ends…

And the rebellion begins.

Coming soon: The Chaos Project – Season 1

---

And so, the past has been reviewed. We're all caught up! Approximately two months after these events, Eggman uses his Chaos Project to invade the world in the events of Crisis of Chaos, the four premiere episodes of this story. So where do we go from here? Well, after the premiere, of course! Everything changes now. Events will be more episodic and less serialized, more like a TV show and less like a series of games. And I'm very excited to share this new undertaking with all of you.

If it's been a very long time since you read Crisis of Chaos, or you skipped over it entirely, now wouldn't be a bad time to go back and look it over. It's been a long time since I wrote that, and looking back, I'm not totally proud of everything in it; I've gotten a lot better since then, and it just feels amateurish by comparison. Maybe I'll rewrite it at some point. But for now, everything I've been writing for the past two years has all been for the purpose of leading up to those four original episodes, so they're still very important.

And of course, as always, thanks for reading! Quick reminder, I love hearing your feedback, so even though I feel weird about it, I'm going to keep asking for reviews! It's the only way I can know what you like and what you want more of!