A/N: Hey... Sorry it took me this long to upload a new chapter. Thankfully, my laptop issue was resolved several weeks ago, and I want to get this story done as soon as I can. It's been over two years since I published this story, and I'm just thankful that a lot of you have joined this rewritten adventure. I also appreciate how most of you tolerated the changes I made to the plot, especially Tails' role.

Speaking of the two-tailed fox, how will he fare in the upcoming final battle, and why is he here in the first place? More importantly, will Sonic and the Revengeful Resistance finally overthrow Eggman? Or will the doctor surprise the group one last time?


Disclaimer: You know the gist. I don't want to annoy you about this again.


Chapter 39: An Act of Revenge

~Tails' POV

...

Ow... I remained inside the Central Tower as I felt a surge of soreness in my body. Although I was slowly getting better, it was a big deal since I nearly died from the ruby's destruction. I'm just glad I'm not hyperventilating or anything. Regarding the pain though, I reminisced a memory that took place a few months ago when I was still Infinite and Sonic was stuck in the Death Egg.


I was in one of the secret chambers beneath the Empire Fortress. With a welding machine in my hands, I felt some of the sparks fly into my fur. Even from this thick coat, I can feel the burns tingling my skin. This is what happens when your power-hungry leader doesn't give you any sort of protective gear while building their weapons. Aside from destroying the zones and murdering the population with the Phantom Ruby, Eggman hardly gave me orders to build his Badniks. But he did use me for his last-second backup plan.

As if he hasn't arranged other schemes like this during the war.

The weapon I was working on was the Ultimate Death Egg Robot – a more extreme version of the sentinels that surveyed Red Gate City. Yeah, I know, what an original name, am I right? I swear, the doctor just lacks creativity with his robotic designs that it's not even funny. This isn't even the first time he's created some kind of variant.

Nevertheless, Eggman has been too serious with his goal of world domination. In fact, he was confident that Sonic and the Resistance would find a way to mount a comeback against him. Every time, the doctor would find a way to rebound. He assumed the secret of my Infinite facade would be revealed at some point. Once it did, Knuckles led everyone to Operation Big Wave, which didn't pay off. You know who was responsible for that...

They eventually came back with Sudden Death Egg and destroyed the space fortress. Then, they returned to Metropolis for a redemption ambush, only to find out Eggman had a hidden generator for the ruby. This was how I distracted Sonic with Null Space, as much as I tried to restrict myself.

Damn that ruby.

Despite the events that night, the Resistance forged upward to the Eggman Empire Fortress. As they tried to stop the army of clones, I released the sun into the sky. Luckily for them, Savage and Raff were able to abolish it. Eggman was getting tired of my failures that he gave me one last chance to survive. That led to my infamous battle against my big brother. Sonic and the wolves were able to defeat me in the end.

I reverted to the two-tailed fox that I was known for, and I was being recovered by the nurses. But I knew Egghead would take advantage of the time being to power up the Death Egg Robot. Although the real ruby from my chest was destroyed, the energy was directly transferred to the underground lair for two reasons. One, to lure Knuckles and everyone else into the chamber and make them believe they have to destroy the 'deadly' reactor. And two, Eggman was able to feed the energy into a duplicate of the ruby, which was slightly different than the prototypes.

The main disparity was that he specifically made the replica for the Ultimate Death Egg Robot. Not only that, it already had some of the original power source. With the effects of the crushed ruby transferred, the duplicate was now at full strength, probably even more dangerous than the real gem! It was the pièce de résistance, no pun intended, that he needed for his most lethal weapon.

He was prepared for a full-blown massacre.


Fast forward to the current time, Sonic was off to rejoin our friends while the nurses looked after me again. I realized too late that I forgot to explain the Death Egg Robot to him. If he and the others are unaware, then Eggman could potentially kill them. I couldn't let them suffer from that fate.

Since I'm no longer that hellbent jackal, I had the brains and mentality to think straight and act quickly.

With the lack of a communicator, considering Eggman confiscated it the day he kidnapped me, I had to convince the medics to bring me over to Sonic before it's too late. I knew my health was important, and he would want me to stay here to convalesce. But only Eggman, Orbot, Cubot, and I knew about the secret weapon. My friends don't. Plus, I memorized the weak points of the robot. Of course, I would know this since I helped build the fucking thing. It's a strong, massive robot, but that doesn't mean it's invincible.

Greg and Delilah carried me onto a gurney, and they wheeled me into a shuttle. Then, I asked for a couple of spare laser guns and attached them to an arsenal belt that I borrowed. I was already given enough painkillers to mitigate my injuries. Of course, going out into the field with my current health conditions was a hazardous decision. Although the medics were concerned, which I don't blame them, this has to be done.

I made a silent prayer to myself.

"Sonic, I'm sorry I have to do this, but this is a chance for me to redeem myself. This is also something I need to believe like you've always taught me. If I get hurt in the process, I have a feeling you'll hold yourself accountable more than me. I won't stand for that though. Not when your life is on the line again."

I cautiously stepped off the gurney and reached the door. What? Did you think I needed a parachute or something? I'm Tails! My namesakes are fine... at least for now. As I gazed at the canyon below, I was barely able to pinpoint Sonic and the Resistance. At the same time, Eggman emerged with the Ultimate Death Egg Robot.

"Guys! Distract Egghead by firing at the robot! We'll handle the rest!" I requested.

"We'll do our best, Tails," Greg told me.

"Good luck. Please be careful," warned Delilah.

I gave them a nod before the hatch opened up. Taking a deep breath, I jumped out of the airship and got closer to the target. Pulling out my guns, I fired some lasers at the tentacles and the heart of the monstrosity. As I was a few thousand feet away from the ground, I used my tails to slowly descend. Thankfully, I landed safely in between my friends and the enemy. As soon as I turned around, my big brother called out my name.

~End of POV


"Tails..." Sonic whispered.

"Long time, no see, big bro," the yellow kitsune winked at him.

After wiping away his tears, the hedgehog ran up to him. As soon as he came face-to-face, he grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

"What are you doing here, buddy?! You shouldn't be out and about with your injuries!" Sonic yelled with concern.

"I understand that, Sonic," Tails gently replied. "But I had to tell you about the Death Egg Robot."

"Well, not trying to be rude, it's literally right there!" he pointed behind the fox.

"Listen, I completely forgot to mention it before you left the tower. I know this is dangerous, but you can't defeat this thing without knowing its weak points."

"Weak points?" Eggman interrupted. "You're telling me that you made my ultimate weapon susceptible?!"

"Uh, hello? Semantics! I wasn't going to make it nondestructive, Eggface! Need I remind you that I had some will to control myself against the ruby? I wasn't gonna make you completely overpowering! This is what you deserve for forcing me to build your hunk of junk!"

"Grr! I knew I should've done a second test run before powering it up!"

"Yeah, boss! That wasn't good on your part," Cubot rubbed in his face.

"That's not the best reply to follow up with, dude," Orbot sighed.

"Can we just get to smashing this artificial machine?" Shadow was impatient.

"Affirmative. Must obliterate Ultimate Death Egg Robot, for I shall prove that I am the strongest robot of not only the E-Series, but the most accomplished robot in Mobius!" Omega boomed.

"If that's what will motivate you, keep telling yourself that," Rouge patted his claw.

"We've come this far after so much heartbreak and anguish. We aren't going to surrender to you!" Amy growled, gripping her Piko Piko Hammer.

"After all of your deceiving tricks and schemes, we'll make sure to outsmart you this time," Blaze summoned a flame in her hand.

"We can't afford to lose more innocent lives. This is for them and everyone we lost over the course of six months!" Silver scowled.

"Your plans will end like the rest of them; you'll be sitting in a pile of busted robot parts wondering how you failed miserably," Knuckles punched his namesakes together. "Let's add a new moment to the list, shall we?"

"I'm totally on board with this plan!" Charmy raised a fist in the air.

"No more funny business! Time to fry an egg!" Espio crouched in position.

"Frying an Egg-man, that is! We're gonna overcook you once we burn this Death Egg to the ground!" teased Vector.

"Gah! Enough of this silly banter! I'll make sure to annihilate the entire population this time! I'll start by tearing off your quills, hedgehog!" threatened Eggman.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try," the Blue Blur challenged, pointing at the robotic beast. "Just make sure your exhaust hose is secured! You don't want to fall hundreds of feet to lose half your mustache again!"

"Ah, I remember that! You tried to keep it a secret until the boss heard us!" Cubot reminisced.

"More like, I was playing it safe so he wouldn't dismantle our connected heads! But of course, Eggman heard you," Orbot muttered.

"Stop bringing up that memory or I'll break off your heads now!" the doctor slammed his control panel for the umpteenth time.

"Sonic," Tails tapped his shoulder, "that robot is being powered by a replica of the Phantom Ruby, except it's more hazardous than the prototypes and the original ruby itself! He's overclocking it with so much energy that if we don't destroy it in time, it'll definitely wipe out the existence of Mobius!"

"How are we gonna do that, little buddy?"

"The ruby is sealed inside the control panel that Eggman's using. We'll have to break through all of the barriers that are protecting him. The lasers were effective to shatter the first shield, but there are at least two more layers to fracture."

"Is it that easy to break the glass?" Savage glanced at him.

"While the robot is intimidating with the Phantom Ruby alone, the rest of it is only half as menacing. My guns, your Wispon, and any other weapon should be sufficient to suppress Eggman's defense. A couple of spin dashes will also work if we're in close proximity. However, we need a durable boost of power and speed to not only break through the core, but to also disable the control unit."

"That sounds easy enough! I've done several boosts with these guys!" Sonic replied.

"What about the duplicated ruby?" questioned Raff.

"We have to destroy it somehow like you did to the original. The thing is, we can't risk boosting in there without deteriorating the outside. Those tentacles have cannons that Orbot and Cubot are deploying. We need to neutralize them so they won't get in our way. And once the shields are gone, that's when we can employ a massive speed boost."

"Guess we have to take it one step at a time."

"Knuckles, were you able to get all of that?" Savage called the Commander.

The red echidna approached the quartet of heroes. "I barely did. We'll damage this damn robot until the coast is clear. If we can manage to land enough hits, we should be set to go!"

Sonic returned his gaze to Tails who stood in front of him. He let the fox talk since he looked like he had more on his mind.

"I've caused so much pain to you, Sonic. I don't want you to die, whether the cause was from me or your most annoying enemy."

"Uh, hello? I'm right behind you!" Eggman screamed through his microphone.

"Back off, Baldy McNosehair!" Sonic snorted when Tails mentioned that name. "As I was saying, I'm thankful you were able to save me and get my head back together. It's just that... I rely on you so much because you've always been there for me as a friend and a brother. All I want is to return the favor, even though I can't amount to your strength."

"Aw, Tails, I think you're just as strong as me! I know that better than anyone!"

"Thanks," he blushed. "I'm not 100% healthy, but I have to try if I want to give you all a fighting chance. I can't let Eggman defeat you again. Not on my watch."

"Don't worry, Tails. Things are much different compared to how it was half a year ago! Although, I have to ask – are you really up to this?" he calmly placed his hands on his shoulders. "Because if we need to do a boost in there, I don't want to aggravate your injuries. Nor do I want to see you get hurt by this psychotic robot."

Tails took a deep breath before responding confidently. "Yes, Sonic. I'm ready."

Sonic grinned at his twin-tailed companion and gave him a fist bump. "Alright, bro. I trust you."

"As do I."

"Hey, we'll be with you the whole way, too," Raff told both of them.

"Exactly. We won't let this oversized egg sack win when we've come so close," Savage smirked, narrowing his eyes.

The rest of the main brigade joined the party, standing next to each other as they put on their war faces. Glaring at the Ultimate Death Egg Robot, they were prepared for the final test. Dr. Eggman, sitting in the cockpit, tweaked his mustache before initiating the first move. The tentacles rose in the air. He directed Orbot and Cubot to unleash cannonballs at the group.

"FIRE!"

"Revengeful Resistance, move out!" yelled Knuckles.

The small minions shot the ammunition, causing the entire gang to split up. Silver, Blaze, and the Chaotix went over to the west side of the canyon. Knuckles, Amy, and Team Dark fled to the east. Sonic, Tails, and the rookies sped their way forward, getting closer to the gargantuan robot. The tentacles broke off several parts of the cliffside and hurled solid rocks at the groups.

"We'll have to parry the rocks at the robot to weaken the force field!" Tails directed, speaking through Sonic's communicator. "Do whatever it takes to knock them back. Stay alert so you won't get crushed, too!"

As everyone understood his directions, they managed to dodge the first storm of rocks. After that, Eggman charged a laser beam that moved from one side of the cliff to the other. Everyone had to duck, jump, or roll away so they wouldn't get burned. The Ultimate Death Egg Robot threw more solid rocks while Orbot and Cubot fired an additional wave of cannonballs. Amy was able to slam a few with her mallet. Knuckles punched them directly at the tentacles near the bottom. Omega used his machine gun to counteract a boulder. Silver froze a cannonball and flung it at the glass shield.

"Gah! How can you puny mutants do that?! Those rocks should've crushed you into pancakes!" Eggman's temper boiled.

"You're just too slow to pummel us!" Sonic mocked him.

"More ammunition is coming our way! Get ready!" Shadow clenched his fists. He followed up with a Chaos Spear, sending a cannonball to one of the higher tentacles.

Rouge used her boots to kick a couple out of the way. Although she received some dirty marks on the front, she couldn't care less about the grime at this point. Blaze protected herself and her allies with a flame wall, averting the projectiles from landing nearby. She tossed some fire pellets at the tentacles to overheat them. Vector, Espio, and Charmy formed a trio tower with the crocodile holding onto Charmy's legs and the bee gripping Espio. As Vector twirled around at a high velocity, the chameleon tossed some shurikens at the beast. They also performed a Rocket Accel at a space rock, sending it straight to the robot's central barrier.

The doctor couldn't believe their strategy worked. "Grr! Impossible!"

"They're really showing no mercy from down there!" Orbot sounded concerned.

Meanwhile, Savage blasted some rocks away with his Burst Wispon while Tails used his ray guns. Raff and Sonic teamed up to do a chain of spin jumps. But when the latter landed on the ground, a laser beam shot near his feet. As he was losing his balance, a tentacle whacked him, causing him to fly backward.

"Urgh!"

"Sonic!" Tails saw his friend in trouble. He spun his namesakes and soared to him as soon as possible. He grabbed him by the hands before he could crash.

"Whoa!" Sonic held on tightly. "That was close. Thanks, dude," he winked.

Tails gave him a nod before shifting to the Ultimate android. His azure eyes narrowed as he regrouped. "You got some nerve to try to hurt my brother again, Egghead!"

"Well, fox boy, you should be thankful for me that I went easy on him! I could've-"

"I know. You don't have to remind me," Tails retorted with a hint of grief. "After all, it's partially my fault that I did this to him and Mobius. But now that I'm no longer Infinite, I'm going to make sure that we'll win this war as a team. Except I'm on Sonic's side, and he always comes out on top over you! You'll regret everything you've done to him, me, and the rest of the planet!"

"Yeah! You tell him, little buddy!" Sonic shouted with encouragement.

"I'll make you freaks of nature eat those words!"

Eggman used the claws to form some large fists. He pounded the cliff as they created a bunch of red shockwaves. Tails read the attack and carried Sonic out of the way. Savage clung onto a separate tentacle with his grappling hook, grabbing Raff around his waist and hoisting both of them away. Charmy was lucky to keep Espio, Vector, and himself off the ground in time. Rouge, Silver, and Omega's ability to hover allowed them to avoid the shocks as well. The rest of the Resistance, however, wasn't so lucky.

"Argh!" Knuckles landed on his torso beside Amy and Shadow. "You two alright?"

"I'm okay..." Amy wheezed. "It's just a small tremor."

"It's neither powerful nor fatal to keep us down," Shadow replied. "We're not weak to give up."

"Sorry I couldn't help you avoid that," Silver apologized to Blaze.

"It's alright, Silver," the feline responded. "At least it wasn't as harmful as Virtual Reality."

"Guys! Watch out!" Charmy pointed at an incoming tentacle, allowing the group to escape.

"Those tentacles are still a major hindrance!" Tails snarled. "We need to focus on them before we could even think about breaking the next glass shield!"

"You heard the genius! Let's tear this heap of garbage apart!" Savage bellowed as he blasted a streak of fire from his weapon. Raff jumped out of his grip to spin dash a separate claw. Sonic repeated the red wolf as he struck the same tentacle.

This time, the Ultimate Lifeform was able to dodge a shockwave by hovering with his Air Shoes. He charged with a spin dash of his own and added some punches to wear out one of the robotic appendages. With her athleticism, Rouge ducked and glided over the claws before drilling the metal with her boots. Omega shot some laser beams to tarnish the rest of the tentacle. On the opposite side, Silver kept Eggman's weapon at bay with his psychokinesis. He gave Blaze and the Chaotix a small window for them to attack the left half of the Death Egg Robot.

Despite how fatigued they were, the team couldn't let the pressure or the robot overpower them. They all fought through the pain – both mental and physical. Their muscles were burning like the apartment buildings in Red Gate. Sweat covered their faces and bodies as if they got exposed to the sun for too long, which transpired to an extent. Some of the members had trouble breathing after dealing so much damage to the gigantic mech. The good news was that no one was severely injured at the moment. But it was too early to make presumptions that things were going their way.

"Just a couple more to go!" shouted Knuckles. He and Amy began crushing another claw.

"Almost there! Boom! One less problem to deal with!" said the pink hedgehog.

"Orbot! Cubot! Go for the missiles instead!" demanded Eggman.

"Y-Yes, Boss!" they fuddled with the levers in front of them. Several waves of missiles homed in on the Resistance. Each group had to split up and obliterate them, adding some difficulty and stress to their battle. On the right side of the cliff, Omega delegated himself to defend Amy, Knuckles, and his Team Dark comrades from the missiles. On the other end, Silver took a similar role in stopping the weapons with his powers. In the middle, Savage and Raff hopped over some shockwaves from a pounding fist. The younger wolf then noticed a wave of missiles aiming at Sonic and Tails.

"Hey, look out!" alerted Raff.

Sonic got the message and barely managed to avoid them. Tails hovered in midair, shooting his guns to detonate the rockets. His pinpoint accuracy kept him safe, but he didn't see a separate missile that was released from the top of the robot. It hurtled so quickly that he didn't notice it until the last second. The missile made an impact on his head.

"AUGH!"

The Blue Blur turned around, hearing his buddy cry in pain. "Tails!" he scampered to him.

"Yes! Bullseye!" Eggman triumphantly did a fist pump.

"Not cool, Ro-butt-nik!" Sonic scowled before refocusing on the fox. Savage and Raff stood in front of them as protection. "You okay, dude?" he calmly held him by the shoulders.

"Ugh..." Tails rubbed his head. "Yeah... I'm fine. I've suffered worse anyway."

Sonic was hesitant, but he went with the flow. "Just holler at me if you don't feel good. I don't want to make things worse for you."

"I promise that I'm alright, Sonic. I'm not leaving your side."

"Same here, bro. C'mon!"

The two rushed over to reunite with the wolves. Savage was already in the middle of scorching the last tentacle with his Wispon. Since the metal was red hot, no one could directly attack it without getting themselves burned.

"Tails!" called Raff. "Can I borrow one of your ray guns?"

The kitsune obliged and tossed one at the red wolf. Shooting three lasers, he added some more damage until the Death Egg Robot suffered a spasm.

"No! NO! Orbot! Cubot! Fire more missiles!"

"S-Sorry, sir! But our cannons are shut down!" Orbot panicked.

"Those guys totally fried our systems! We can't do anything!" Cubot held his hands over his square head.

"Damn it! You simpletons can't do anything right!"

"All of the tentacles are incapacitated! Let's concentrate on the glass core!" directed Knuckles.

Since the Death Egg Robot was near the cliff's edge, the Resistance members were barely close to reach the center without falling off. They all took turns damaging the shield with their skills. After Tails and Raff shot a pair of lasers, the final shield was completely cracked to the point that it was about to break apart. The colossal mech floated there, completely inactive. However, they didn't expect something jabbing the glass from the inside.

"Um, do you guys see that?" Amy was concerned.

"Yeah, you're not the only one. This isn't a hallucination, is it?" Espio raised an eyebrow.

"No. And thank Chaos it's not Virtual Reality," commented Shadow.

"But what exactly is going on in there?" Blaze wondered, along with everyone else.

"Do you know what's happening, buddy?" Sonic looked at Tails.

"No. This is new to me."

Suddenly, something terrifying emerged out of the Death Egg Robot's core. While the giant black android fell into the abyss, a three-headed mech buffed out in white roared throughout the barren wasteland.

"You may have destroyed the exterior of my Ultimate Death Egg Robot, but what you fools didn't expect is my secondary Death Egg Robot!" Eggman sneered.

"Oh, come on! Enough with this already!" Savage complained. "You also couldn't have come up with a better name?"

"That's completely irrelevant compared to your eventual demises, and I mean that for good! Let's make this final phase worthwhile. I'll leave most of you behind for now. The only one I care about is Sonic!"

The mech amassed a humongous cloud of red cubes. Eggman recreated Null Space with the duplicated Phantom Ruby, sending a large, purple sphere in midair. He attempted to pull Sonic into the void by extending a tentacle. However, Tails denied the doctor by pushing the hedgehog out of the way. As a result, his body got trapped in the claw.

"AAHHH!" he felt the grip tighten against his ribcage.

"Tails!"

"Stupid fox!" Eggman gritted his teeth before making a harsh decision. "Fine! You were worthless the moment I transformed you into Infinite! Hell, you're completely useless in the first place! You want to be put out of your misery? I'll abide by your wish!" The robot went into the negative space.

"SONIC!"

"TAILS! GET BACK HERE, EGGHEAD!" Sonic sprinted after him.

"Sonic, wait!" Savage tried to stop him, but he ended up following the hedgehog inside the portal.

"Savage, no!" Raff went after him. Amy was about to charge behind, but Knuckles called a retreat.

"If anyone even thinks about running in, I won't tolerate it! I can't afford to risk all of your lives!"

"But Sonic, Tails, and the wolves need help!" Amy tried to reason.

"Those guys can handle it! I know they can! For us, we need to get the hell away from that void!"

"As much as I hate to agree, I don't think we have a choice!" Silver enunciated.

No one else protested, so they ended up escaping from the gravitational pull. The strong winds made it difficult for them to escape until the black hole disappeared. Everyone fell onto the rocky surface, breathing heavily as they barely avoided getting sucked inside. But as for Sonic, Tails, and the rookies, it was up to them to deliver the final blow.


An expanse of purple and black was as far as the eye can see. This empty void was relatively new to Raff, but it was very familiar to Sonic and Savage. They all landed on a straightaway comprised of purple cubes.

"Null Space is the last place I want to visit a second time," the orange wolf grunted.

"So, this is what it looks like," his brother asked.

"Sure is, dude," Sonic answered. His face was soon riddled with guilt as he recalled his encounter against Infinite and the Raff clone. "Savage and I had a pretty bad experience here. It was something that none of us want to relive again."

"Guys, over there!" Savage pointed ahead. They saw Tails escape from the tentacle by shooting a laser at the limb.

"Take that!"

"ARGH! You devious fox brat!"

The trio hurried to where Tails landed. The kitsune continued firing at the white monstrosity to keep Eggman away.

"Are you alright?"

Tails nodded his head as a flame lit inside his eyes. "Don't worry about me. Eggman should be on our mind right now."

"Sonic! Sonic, do you read me?" Knuckles spoke through the communicator.

"Loud and clear, Knux!"

"I had to evacuate with everyone else from getting sucked inside Null Space. I'm sorry we couldn't save you or the others."

"No biggie. The four of us can take on Eggman ourselves! Right, guys?"

"You bet!" Raff gave a thumbs-up.

"I'm ready," Savage tapped his Wispon.

"You can count on us," Tails winked.

Sonic beamed at his friends. "What are we waiting for? Let's scramble an Egghead!"

"Good luck, guys! We're all rooting for you!" Knuckles gave them motivation.

The four heroes started running after the white Death Egg as the doctor flew backward to keep himself at a far distance. He didn't trust Orbot or Cubot to handle the extra weapons, so he was completely independent. Eggman was determined to officially end Sonic's life. Tails and the wolves were an added bonus if he was successful.

"This is going to be a satisfying victory when I bring your dead body back to your friends," Robotnik snickered to himself.

"Tails, is this the part where we have to boost into the core?" Raff turned to him.

"We were supposed to do that with the original Death Egg Robot, but Eggman just came out of nowhere with this! Either way, we will need a lot of speed and power to get rid of this thing and the ruby!"

"Couldn't have explained it any better, buddy! Speed is a part of my game!" Sonic grinned.

"We should boast a fair amount of power with all of us combined," believed Savage. "In fact, we might be able to pull off a quadruple boost!"

"Let's do it to it!" Tails shouted.

One by one, the tentacles charged a laser beam across the runway, forcing the heroes to hop over the obstacles. At one point, Savage mistimed his jump and felt the beam sting his shins. Raff, Sonic, and Tails stopped in their tracks to make sure he was fine. Appreciating the fact they didn't go on without him, Savage had the same belief as his partners that they weren't going to move on if someone went down.

Getting on track again, they rushed closer to the huge mech. The quartet was extremely cautious to avoid the beams and as well as streaks of fire that burst from the machine's jet packs. They split up momentarily into pairs of two. Tails and Raff used their guns to fire a set of rays at the head. Savage and Sonic went for the direct route as they spin dashed two tentacles, followed by the heart of the robot. Bouncing back from their attacks, they let their little brothers dash ahead to disable more of the mechanical appendages.

Eggman was clenching his fists like he was about to choke someone. He was getting fed up with their teamwork. Going to desperate measures, he pressed a red button to launch some missiles at the quartet. Simultaneously, the remaining tentacles fired another series of lasers to keep them off balance. To the doctor's annoyance, Sonic and his friends were relentless as they didn't show signs of slowing down.

"Doctor, are you sure you can handle this?" Orbot questioned with anxiety.

"I think the pressure is getting to you, Boss! We can still help out!" offered Cubot.

Unfortunately, Eggman was too stubborn and irritated. "Must... defeat... stupid, blue hedgehog!"

"He's getting weaker. I can sense it!" Tails yelled with his eyes narrowed, arms stretched out, and namesakes spinning at full speed. The Blue Blur was scurrying to his left while the wolves were neck and neck with him on the right.

"You guys ready for the ultimate revenge?" Sonic glanced at his allies.

"Hell yeah! We're doing this for our parents, our friends, and the entire world!" Savage made a fist pump.

"Eggman's going to regret the day he took over Mobius!" Raff made a dirty scowl at the Death Egg Robot.

"You good to go, little buddy?"

Tails gave him one last nod of approval. "Time for the boost!"

He was the first to soar into the air. Raff was the next one. Savage went after his younger sibling. Sonic was last as a determined smirk appeared on his muzzle. They spun around in circles so fast that Eggman was entranced. He eventually became so dizzy that he couldn't act accordingly or execute another backup plan.

"Uh oh," Orbot and Cubot moaned.

The enemies watched the heroes dash at the mech's core with a massive burst. Eggman's second Ultimate Death Egg Robot and the control panel started to malfunction from the hole in the middle. Even worse, his duplicated Phantom Ruby was nowhere to be found. Instead, there were tiny, pink shards laying across his keyboard. The catastrophic boost proved to be the deciding factor. Eggman and his minions felt the entire thing was about to blow up. Before that could happen, the doctor let out an exasperated message.

"CURSE YOU, SONIC!"

The Death Egg Robot exploded by the time he finished screaming.


On the mountainside, it was another terrible bloodshed. More members of the Resistance have fallen to the unexpected army of clones Eggman concocted with his substitute ruby. The remaining warriors did their best to stay alive.

"I don't know how long we can keep going with this!" Collar barked.

"We can't give up! We already lost a captain, and I can't bear to lose another!" Spot grunted as he punched a fake Shadow.

Chaos was in the middle of keeping one of the Metal Sonics away from the soldiers. But then, he saw the doppelganger glitch out. Later, every other clone began to spew out red cubes. The Resistance slowly realized that they began to disappear until the battlefield was empty aside from the squad members – both alive and (sadly) deceased.

"I-Is it... over?"

"Did we win?"

"Was Sonic able to defeat the doctor?"

"What about the Commander?"

"Don't forget the others! Are they alright?"

Every animal started asking these questions as they were confused if this was another illusion or if the war truly came to an end. Knuckles and the rest of his friends came running down the mountain until they noticed the same thing. Coincidentally, a purple void appeared high above them. The first one to jump out of the hole was Sonic. Savage and Raff were right behind him. Then, Tails hovered out of Null Space, exhausted as his tails started to tire. By the time he landed, the second Death Egg Robot soared out quickly like a shooting star. It went flying into the cloudy sky until it disappeared behind the gray peaks. No one knew where the mech was going.

"That was Eggman, right? Does that mean..." Knuckles asked for confirmation.

The blue hedgehog stood proudly and showed everyone his signature smile. "Eggman is donezo! We won!"

His words slowly registered into the soldiers' heads. The war was over. Eggman's Empire was no more. The Revengeful Resistance had finally achieved their objective.

Cheers erupted out loud as the members either shared high-fives or hugs with each other. Several of them jumped for joy or threw their hats in the air. While Shadow, Chaos, or Omega didn't openly celebrate, they were internally pleased that the future was looking bright again. However, their joy was short-lived when Knuckles saw the new carcasses.

"Guys, hold on one second!" he urgently instructed. "Spot, Collar, what happened?"

The canines had grim expressions on their faces. Spot was the first to speak. "Since Eggman showed off his Ultimate Death Egg Robot, a new army of clones appeared on the field. You guys were aware of this. Just like before, we tried to defend ourselves and take those phonies down."

"Apparently, the fakers were more dangerous than the previous group," Collar sighed. "We lost some more soldiers, but the worst casualty we had was Cole."

Knuckles' eyes widened when he spotted the brown dog on the ground. His poor body was battered and covered in blood.

"How? What happened?"

"A Zavok clone struck him in the chest while a Silver Sonic duplicate used his sharp quills to exacerbate his injuries. The medics were on the way after they dropped Tails off, but it was too late."

A deep sigh came from the red leader. "I'm sorry that this happened. I thought we truly got rid of the ruby from the reactor. I didn't think it would lead to Eggman and his new robot."

"It's not your fault, Commander. It's that two-tailed fox instead!" one of the soldiers remarked.

The kitsune didn't initially react whatsoever since he was still fatigued. However, his ears soon pressed against his skull.

"Yeah! He was Infinite beforehand, then the doctor had another ruby to cause this new mess!"

"He's clearly the one to blame!"

Aside from Spot and Collar, the animals went from ecstatic to incensed as they verbally bullied the young fox. Conversely, Tails' friends were unhappy with their reactions. Savage, Raff, Knuckles, Amy, Silver, Blaze, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Rouge, Omega, Shadow... They couldn't believe how the squad was turning against Tails, a poor kid no less. Most of all, Sonic was enraged. It reminded him of the bullies that targeted Tails on the day he met him. He was not going to let the Resistance torment him even further.

"QUIET!" he silenced the soldiers. His face was boiling mad. "What's the matter with you? Why are you blaming everything on Tails? Although it's unfortunate that we lost some more people, including a respectful leader in Cole, Tails is not the reason why this happened. For Chaos' sake, he was trying to recover after I had to fight him! This is not what he deserves!"

"Sonic..."

The hedgehog paused as he glanced at his brother. Everyone else had their eyes on him.

"Can I take it from here? I need to personally get this off my chest."

Sonic was slightly hesitant since he didn't want anything bad to occur. But his voice and the distraught look on his face were convincing enough to let him talk. Sonic soon gave a nod to him. The fox walked past his friends and stood right beside his best friend. He heaved a long sigh before he faced the soldiers.

"I never asked for this. I didn't want the world to crumble as it did over the last six months. I understand that it has been nothing but hell for you, your friends, and your families. When Eggman captured me, I made a selfish decision. I chose to protect Sonic's life at the cost of becoming Eggman's ultimate mercenary. Now I know what you're thinking – I did defeat him that one day in Red Gate City. Yes, he wasn't dead immediately, yet Eggman had plans to kill him later. With the clones that I created from the Phantom Ruby, I made you all believe he was truly gone. I devastated almost every zone in Mobius. I ruined so many lives. I made the world a terrible place."

"No shit, Sherlock!" a disgruntled voice came from the crowd, angering Sonic and a few more.

"Hey! Zip your mouth!" Knuckles held up a fist. "Continue."

Tails gave a nod in appreciation. "Eggman's goal was to conquer the world before he took the opportunity to send Sonic into space forever. He pretty much accomplished that first phase. However, thanks to Knuckles and the others, especially the recruits of Savage and Raff, you guys were able to make a stand and rescue him from the Death Egg. You found courage to not only outwit me and Dr. Eggman, but to fight for your lives when Sonic couldn't be there...

"Once he was back on your side, I had a glimmer of hope on the inside. I was happy that Sonic was still alive. On the outside, as Infinite, I was only listening to Eggman's orders and focusing on his empire rebuild, despite some... issues."

Sonic shuddered as he instantly knew what he meant.

"Going against the ruby's powers was a struggle on its own. Having to deal with all of the pain, guilt, and torture was an extra punishment for me. I hardly had any choice to escape it."

A soft sniffle came out of Tails' mouth as he couldn't withstand exposing his tears. It was sad for his friends to see him fight through his emotions.

"I remained one of the biggest enemies up until Sonic defeated me. I was back to normal once the Phantom Ruby was destroyed. Despite this, I remembered everything that I've done to initiate the outbreak. Sonic had to convince me that it wasn't my fault. As much as I appreciated his support, as much as I'm relieved I got to reconcile with him, I'm still guilty for my actions. I'm really sorry for starting the war. Even with my resurgence, I had a feeling you would be outraged knowing that I was originally Infinite."

Sonic spoke abruptly after that. "But I don't feel that way, Tails. None of us do," he referred to their friends.

Tails turned to the blue figure. "I understand that with you. I'm talking about them altogether." He refaced the entire squad. "At the end of the day, if you're going to be mad at me, I don't care. If you don't accept my apology, it won't matter to me either. Hell, if you put me in jail, it's probably for the best if you think I've gone mental or something. However, the important thing is that Mobius is no longer under Eggman's control. And I... I..."

While it felt like grains of sand slowly slipped through the neck of an hourglass, the fox incoherently garbled as his eyelids drooped and his body became numb. Before everyone knew, he fell to his knees. Sonic rushed to his side, barely catching him by the shoulders before he hit the ground.

"Tails... Tails! Buddy, it's alright! You... You have to be okay!"

"Raff," Savage whispered to him, "you don't think the effects of crushing the ruby from the robot is causing this, do you?"

The red wolf, as smart as he was, didn't have an answer. "I don't know if I can rely on that journal entry I read. Because... he did survive after we destroyed the first ruby. I have no clue if annihilating the second one was effective since it had the transferred powers."

"Oh, god..." was all that Savage could articulate.

"C'mon, bro. Please... Wake up..."

Amy headed over to the desperate hedgehog. She kneeled over to the fox's wrist, placing two fingers over it. "He's still got a pulse."

Greg and Delilah also joined them. "We'll need another gurney, ASAP," the magenta dog reported.

"It's probably best that we take him to the HQ where the rest of our supplies are," suggested Greg.

"That sounds like a plan. Not only that..." Knuckles sadly gazed at the deceased soldiers once more. "We'll need to arrange another funeral for the ones we've lost today. Their losses will not be in vain. I'm sure they're proud that they were a part of this victory and that Mobius will become prosperous again."

"Speaking of which, it's wise that we should restore our home as soon as possible," pronounced Shadow.

"Can we at least take a break knowing that Eggman's not the supreme leader anymore?" Charmy begged.

"Don't look at me. I'm not the Commander," Vector told him.

"We should come to a consensus on when we should start rebuilding this place," Silver folded his arms.

"I think that's fair. I just don't want another conflict on our hands," said Blaze.

"Well, Knuckles, what do you say?" Rouge gave him a curious stare.

The echidna studied everyone's faces, most notably Sonic's for an obvious reason. He eventually made his decision.

"No matter when we start, it's going to take months, if not more than a year, to reconstruct Mobius to its former state prior to the war. For today, let's give our soldiers a proper burial. We'll also give Tails some medical attention to make sure he's still healthy. Afterward, you can all go home and rest, eat, celebrate, whatever you want. I highly doubt Eggman will bother us soon after his latest defeat. Starting tomorrow morning though, we'll begin restoring our home, one zone at a time. Does anyone have any objections?"

There was a moment of silence throughout the crowd, but everyone mutually concurred with his speech.

"I think that's fine with me," Savage was the first to answer.

"Same with me," added Raff.

Eventually, a lot of voices spoke up saying that they were on board with the situation.

"Well, Resistance, I just want to say one last thing. Without you and your efforts, we wouldn't have stood a chance against Eggman. It's like the doctor thought we were both hopeless and helpless. But you managed to prove him wrong. Just for that, I'm really proud of everyone here."

Then, Spot started to clap his hands. Seeing this, Collar copied him as well. The claps became louder as more people joined in, feeling a sense of pride in their bones. A few whistles and hurrahs were shouted out loud. Even Knuckles' friends clapped as well. The desolate mountains throughout the Empire Fortress were full of life again. The only one who didn't cheer was Sonic since he still had Tails in his arms. But his lips formed a small smile. He glimpsed down at his little buddy. With newfound confidence, he knew that everything was going to be okay.

"We did it, little buddy. We won," he mumbled through the loud applause. Not even two seconds later, the two-tailed kit had a smile on his face as well.

END OF CHAPTER


Obviously, I did justice to Tails to participate in the final battle for two reasons. One, I wanted every main character to be in the brawl. And two, just seeing Sonic, his classic self, and the Avatar run to the Death Egg Robot while Tails watches them go was infuriating to me. I don't need to explain this any further.

But there we have it. The Revengeful Resistance has officially defeated Eggman and his empire. While things are finally looking bright for the future, this story is not finished yet. We'll take a peek at the aftermath to conclude this story. What will Knuckles and the entire squad do next now that the war is over? What happened to Eggman? Is Tails going to stay alive? And are Sonic and the others satisfied with their revenge?

One thing is for certain: Chapter 40 will be the finale of this rewrite. I don't have any plans to extend this with a new arc. Once it's posted, I will mark it as 'Complete'. But I want to thank everyone again for making it this far into the story. Leave a review down below and follow/favorite the story if you've enjoyed it so far. Until then, I'll see you for the conclusion of Revengeful Resistance! This is TGN, signing off.