Ch. 54

Last Minute Back-up

The S.M.S. attacked Bunnie and Omega as they both tried to defend themselves. Omega launched rockets at the over powered robot, but he barely even scratched it. Bunnie fired her arm cannon for the second time at the S.M.S. unit. As powerful as her attack was, the result was the same for the blast had little effect on the monster. The S.M.S struck back with a barrage of laser fire from its hands and eyes. Bunnie and Omega ducked away and flew to avoid the line of fire.

Gust was still keeping Eggman preoccupied for Sonic. The blue hedgehog had been in sonic spin form for a while, charging up for a devastating attack. Sonic couldn't help but notice that Bunnie was in trouble. He wasn't sure whether to proceed with the plan of defeating Eggman, or go help his rabbit friend before the worst could happen . . . again.

Sonic tried to hurry as Eggman had Gust by the leg and spun him around repeatedly before throwing him into the steel plated wall. With his vision blurry, Gust barely came too as Dr. Eggman attempted to strike him in the abdomen only to miss, denting the wall. In the process, to Gust's shock as well as Eggman's the mad doctor's punch penetrated the wall so much that his hand got stuck.

"Come on, Sonic, now is a good time a ever!", Gust said as he ran back to regroup with the hedgehog.

Sonic's body s then, began to glow a bright blue color.


The S.M.S. started to get the upper hand on Bunnie and Omega. The two of them seemed to be outgunned, out classed, and out of luck. Omega was hit in the back region by a laser blast before it crashed into the wall. Bunnie got around the robotic freak, and struck it in the back of the head with a huge right, which didn't even phase it to Bunnie's surprise. The S.M.S. retaliated with more laser fire from its eyes, but Bunnie dodged switching from offense back to more evasive maneuvering. Suddenly, the S.M.S. used its upgraded speed to intercept Bunnie, and strike her with a powerful left jab that sent her flying and tumbling onto the ground.

Omega was still non-responsive as Bunnie struggled to get back up. She panted, feeling the stinging of her bruises as the S.M.S. approached Bunnie.


Sonic had just finished charging up as his body glowed even brighter than previously. Both he and Gust noticed Bunnie and Omega were on their last leg. Eggman had just freed his hand from the wall with an angry look on his face.

"Talk about bad timing.", Sonic said.

Gust sighed. "We have no choice . . . our friends lives are more important than Eggman right now.", He said.

Sonic was shocked to hear Gust say that, considering the kind of person he was. Then again, maybe there was more to him than he thought. He committed so many actions that deviated from Freedom Fighter code including the killing of villains, such acts which are still inexcusable to him. However, just moments ago, Sonic wanted nothing more than to kill Eggman himself. For the first time since the day they first met. The hedgehog was now beginning to see that there was some goodness in Gust's heart.

Gust smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll know what to do now, Sonic. Do it quickly, before it's too late.", He said.

Sonic grinned. "Right, let's do it to it!", He said as he shifted towards the S.M.S.

Bunnie tried to run, but she was too hurt to move. Just as the S.M.S. was about to murder the legionized rabbit, Sonic used his light speed attack to disassemble the mechanical beast piece by piece at unimaginable speeds. In a matter of seconds the S.M.S. was no more.

"Noooooooooo! My precious creation!", Eggman yelled as he struck the ground, denting it. He almost got his hand stuck again, but he pried it out before falling on his back.

"Sonic, is Bunnie alright!?", Gust asked.

"Can you move ok, Bunnie?", Sonic asked.

Bunnie smiled. "Don't worry your pretty head, sugah hog, Ah'm just a little banged up. Ah reckon Omega's gonna need more help than Ah do. He hasn't moved an inch.", She said pointing over to their robot friend.

Omega suddenly started to move slowly as sparks continued to burst from his back. As soon as he stood back up, his optic vision returned to normal.

"Uh . . . Omega . . . you feeling cool?", Sonic asked.

"Initiating self repair protocol.", Omega stated before he started repairing himself with tiny tools that popped up from his body.

"Whoa! Cool!", Sonic said as he was impressed with Omega's machinery.

"No need for alarm, my systems will return to optimum efficiency, shortly.", Omega said.

It was then that Sonic's vision started to fade slightly as his legs gave out. He fell to his knees as he panted, trying to stay conscious.

"Sonic, yall okay, sugah?", Bunnie asked. The legionized rabbit would've gone to help Sonic herself, but she too was in a lot of pain.

The only one who could fight now, was Gust who was all alone against a super strong Dr. Eggman.

Eggman screamed out of anger after returning to his feet. "How dare you . . . All that hard work, gone! I blame you for this! I'm going to take great pleasure in watching you die, you Vibes scum!", He said.

Gust glared at him. "You call me scum? That's quite hypocritical of you to say. Last time I heard, when people look up the word scum, they'd find your picture; not mine.", He responded.

Eggman growled. "I . . . should've known that the Raiju Clan had failed in eliminating you!", He said.

Gust froze when he had grasped what the maniacal doctor just said to him. "What . . . what do you mean? Explain yourself.", He said.

Eggman was silent.

"Answer me!", Gust yelled.

The madman then, smiled. "You're not in the position to give me orders, boy. It's time to end this little game of ours.", Eggman said.

"This is not a game! You won't be thinking like that when I'm through with you! If you won't give me answers, then I'll beat them out of you!", Gust yelled.

"Go ahead, if you can.", Eggman said.

Gust wasn't ready to back down now, despite the odds against him of survival, he charged at Dr. Eggman with the intent to kill.


Back at the hanger area, Shadow appeared by chaos control. He was still somewhat shocked by the amount of destruction Sonic left behind from the Freedom Fighters' first arrival.

"It's hard to fathom that such a cheerful and dorky hedgehog is capable of such ferocity.", Shadow said.

"Shadow!", Hope yelled, catching the black hedgehog's attention.

The Ultimate Lifeform grinned as he saw Hope along with Espio, Fiona, Amy, Rotor, and . . . Orbot?

"Good, it's great to see you again.", Shadow said.

"Where's Rouge? Is she okay?", Hope asked.

"Rouge is just fine. She's assisting Tails and the Princess in retrieving the chaos emeralds right now. I came back on Princess Sally's request to check up on Sonic. Speaking of which, I need to go now . . . oh by the way, I dropped off one of Eggman's brown-nosers here a little bit ago. It's in the back hanger of the Black Phantom, and is in need of repairs.", Shadow said.

"Why'd you bring it here, then?", Amy asked.

"Again, Princess Sally was the reason. She just can't resist helping those in need, even if it's our enemies. If you don't mind, I'm in a hurry.", Shadow said before blasting off to help Sonic.

Hope opened the hangar to look inside.

"Oh no . . . please don't be who I think it is.", Orbot said as he followed Hope.

Cubot was back in his normal size with a hole in his chest as he lied there, helpless.

Orbot screamed in shock. "CUBOT, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!?", He yelled.

"Is . . . dat you . . . mommy?", Cubot asked in a sluggish tone.


Sally, Tails, and Snively watched in awe as Rouge used her skills to maneuver her way around the power ring matrix security system. Through the eyes of the lustrous bat, there was no form of security she could not infiltrate undetected, and there was nothing valuable on Mobius she couldn't steal if she wanted it. It is these qualities that made her a G.U.N. agent, and a member of the elite, Team Dark.

Although, she made a career out of stealing anything she desired, Rouge's job wasn't always easy. In this situation, calling her current task difficult would be putting it mildly. Before every move she made, the bat had to anticipate the movement of every laser. If Rouge passed through even one of them, she would be a dead duck. She was practically all over the place as she narrowly dodged the lasers.

"Holy cow! This suspense is really getting to me. There has to be something we can do to help her.", Tails said.

"I feel the same way, Tails, but this obstacle is something only Rouge can handle. As hard as this is, the only thing we can do is watch, and hope.", Sally said.


Gust continued his physical altercation with Dr. Eggman. The Shinobi Overlander was getting more frustrated every time his attacks failed to damage Eggman at all. He swung his sword with as much power and speed as he could at the mad doctor, but still Eggman remained undamaged.

Eggman laughed. "That tickled.", He said.

"Damn it!", Gust yelled in anger.

"We . . . we have to . . . help.", Bunnie said as she stumbled trying to get up.

Sonic caught her. "No, don't! You're in no shape to fight. You'll only get in his way.", He said.

"How long will it take until you're all fixed up, Omega?", Sonic asked.

"It will take me approximately 33.8 minutes to complete my repairs. I won't be able to assist Gust in the condition I am currently in.", Omega said.

"I'd help him myself, but I'm crashed from using light speed attack. I'm not sure what to do.", Sonic said.

Gust panted as he raised his sword.

Eggman chuckled. "Want more do you?", He gloated.

Sonic knew he was too weak, but he had to do something. Gust wasn't going to last much longer. Just when he was about to go help him, he was interrupted. A black blur sped past him, towards Gust.

"Wait, what?", Eggman said, baffled.

"What is that?", Gust thought out loud.

When Gust turned, his mind quickly was put to ease as he smiled. Standing next to him was the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Curses!", Eggman said gritting his teeth in anger.

"Need some assistance?", Shadow asked with a grin.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Shadow! Your help is just what I need right now.", Gust said.

"Don't thank me for coming to your aid. It was Princes Sally who sent me here. She was worried about her blue lover boy over there.", Shadow said.

Sonic laughed. "She could never be more awesome.", He said.

"It seems the debt she owed me for saving her life in the past has been repaid. I'll be sure to thank her.", Gust said.

"Enough! You have no chance of winning even with Shadow by your side! Surrender or perish!", Eggman yelled.

"Never, not when I've come so far . . . I've been through too much to give up now; not just me, but all those who have supported and fought alongside me. As long as evil continues to exist, the Underdogs will never stop fighting.", Gust said.

"Then you'll die fighting along with your insignificant friends.", Eggman said as prepared to attack.

In an instant Shadow teleported just inches in front of Dr. Eggman, surprising him. The black hedgehog then struck him with a haymaker to the face, sending the evil doctor, flying into the wall. Eggman landed against the wall feet first, and launched himself right back at Shadow. The Ultimate Lifeform grinned as he teleported again right before Eggman charged at him, causing the fat one to crash and roll into the ground.

Dr. Eggman was now flat on his back dazed for moment, giving Shadow and Gust enough time to grab his arms and legs.

"Hey . . . what are you doing!?", Eggman asked.

The two heroes then, spun egg man around really fast like a top. Shadow adjusted his speed to match Gust's to avoid going off rhythm. It was still fast enough to make Egg shaped lunatic nauseous near his breaking point.

"Stop! . . . Stop! . . . I'm going to vomit!", Eggman yelled.

Sonic and Bunnie laughed at Eggman's pain.

"Amusing.", Omega stated as he watched.

Shadow and Gust continued to torture Eggman's stomach until the doctor used his power enhanced limbs to overpower them both by hurling Shadow with his legs and Gust off his arms.

As soon as Shadow and Gust recollected themselves they were face to face with one angry Eggman.

"YOU . . . ARE SO GOING TO PAY FOR THAT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! NO MORE PLAYING AROUND!", Eggman yelled as he was about to attack again.

Suddenly as Eggman was about to fly at the duo, the doctor fell face first to the ground.

"What!? What just happened!?", Eggman said in shock.

"Warning . . . power source has been depleted . . . all engineered and life support systems, failing. Altitude decreasing at dangerous levels . . . all personnel must evacuate . . . I repeat, all personnel must evacuate . . . estimated time of Death Egg's destruction is t-minus 30 minutes.", a computerized voice said.

"Oh, no!", Eggman said in disbelief.