"Topaz, I'm transmitting my report now. Over." Rouge announced.
"Be careful, Rouge. That space colony is a dangerous place!" Topaz warned her friend on the other end.
Rouge yelped as a sudden bang echoed around the station, along with a force so powerful that it caused her to hit her head on the ceiling.
...
Turns out that forceful explosion was made by Sonic and Shadow, who were endlessly fighting each other.
The two stopped for a minute, and Sonic saw a ring up ahead. This gave the hedgehog an idea.
"You've interfered for the last time!" Shadow growled. He jumped in the air and shot more Chaos Spheres at Sonic. Sonic managed to dodge them all and grab the ring at the same time.
Sonic smirked, and with the ring's help, Sonic managed to knock Shadow off of his feet.
"All right, Shadow!" Sonic growled as he faced his opponent, who was on the ground. "What's going on here?! Where's Penny?! She'd better not be hurt, Shadow!" Sonic growled at the fallen hedgehog below him.
Shadow smirked at Sonic as he got on his knees. "You'll find out!" He said.
Sonic growled at Shadow, but his anger was interrupted the space ship started rumbling.
"Sonic," Shadow growled at him. "Your time is running out!" Shadow took a leap for a hole in the wall and disappeared.
"Wait!" Sonic called, and ticking caused him to turn around, glancing at the timer.
...
The door opened, and Penny, with Silver close at her side, along with Blaze, Knuckles, Amy, and Mr. Tanaka. They ran up to Eggman as he banged his fist angrily on the dashboard.
"He tricked me!" Eggman growled. "My own grandfather tricked me!"
Penny's eyes widened as the Emeralds were soon enclosed into the machine.
"The Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles yelled. Eggman tried to reach them before the doors closed, but it was too late.
Penny's eyes drifted to the man on the screen...she was surprised at how similar the two looked...and wondered who he was.
"The countdown marking my final revenge on this world has begun! In a few minutes, you will be destroyed! Space Colony Ark will hurtle through the atmosphere and crash into this planet with devastating force! You have no time to remain this disaster and absolutely no hope for survival! Your rulers took my granddaughter Maria from me. So I'm destroying everything you care about. Now you'll feel what I felt when I lost Maria! You'll see. You'll see!"
Penny's heart started pounding fiercely against her chest. This was the most fearsome speech she's ever heard in of her life.
"Who's he?" Amy asked in confusion. "And what does he mean...?"
"That was Professor Gerald Robotnik," Eggman exclaimed, his expression showing seriousness. "He was a scientific genius and my grandfather."
Penny watched as the record of Professor Robotnik re-winded itself. She yelped as the ship started shaking violently once again.
"Feels like this place is breaking apart!" Knuckles growled.
"Soon it's going to get a lot worse." Rouge suddenly commented. "I just checked the colony's propulsion systems. The computers are locked so we can't reverse the course. Looks like there's nothing we can do."
Everyone remained silent.
"Grandfather, destroying a planet is one thing, but destroying your grandson is another," Eggman growled at the screen.
"What's going on here?"
The familiar voice of Sonic the Hedgehog called from behind them. Penny's smile widened. "Sonic!" She cried.
"If you came here for a showdown, Sonic, forget it," Eggman said. "Soon we'll all be vaporized!"
"Come on," Sonic said, walking towards them. "Don't be such a quitter, Eggman. Maybe if we work together, we can get out of this mess." He looked at Penny and smiled to himself in relief when he saw she wasn't seriously hurt. He then walked up to the video of Eggman's grandfather, which started repeating itself once again.
Eggman pulled up a laptop and pulled out his grandfather's diary. "I hacked into the database on Prison Island, I found my grandfather's diary." He said as he handed it to Sonic.
Penny read over Sonic's shoulder. "Revenge. That is all that matters to me now. When I began my research, I only wanted to do good! That's why I work to make the Ultimate Creature! But the leaders of the Budget worried that I'd use it to take over the world! So they seized my lab on Space Colony Ark, and they took Maria from me. And my life took on a new purpose. Instead of helping people, I would get revenge on them! Night and day, I planned. So long after I'm gone, my revenge would be complete. I've done it! My greatest design is now complete. The Ultimate Creature, Shadow, my enemies think they have defeated me, but Shadow will carry out my orders without question! Now it sleeps, but one day in the future it will be reawakened. Shadow...will bring total destruction!"
Penny's eyes widened. So Shadow was an Ultimate Weapon to destroy the world.
...
"Do we have any confirmation of this?" The President asked Cristina.
"You've just received a high-priority message from the director of the Space Agency, Mr. President. Space Colony Ark is moving towards the planet at high speed. The impact will be catastrophic, and will cause massive destruction."
"But if that colony hits us, many lives are going to be lost!" The President said, his eyes wide.
"Good luck, Sonic, and Silver. Even you two are going to have trouble saving us this time!" Sam thought.
...
"The Energy from the Chaos Emeralds has transformed the Eclipse Cannon into a mega bomb! If it detonates, the blast will be more massive than a supernova!" Eggman informed the group seriously.
"The energy from the Chaos Emeralds is pushing us towards the planet!" Tails cried from Penny's side. "We have to get the Emeralds and deactivate them somehow!"
"Knuckles!" Sonic suddenly said.
Penny, Silver, and the others turned to face the red Echidna.
"What?!" Knuckles looked panicked. "Why me?!"
"Because," Rouge explained. "You can control all the Chaos Emeralds with that." She pointed towards the Emerald that was behind Knuckles.
"The Master Emerald!" Knuckles gasped, realizing she was right. "I could use it to shut off the power!"
"There's still time to stop the Space Colony from crashing," Tails said. "But we need to hurry! We'll only reach the Chaos Emeralds if we all work together!"
"I'll lead the way!" Sonic offered. "Stay on my heels and do your best to keep up the pace!"
"Let's get to those Chaos Emeralds before it's too late!" Eggman ordered. "Remember, if we fail, an entire planet will perish, and so will we."
...
While everyone else was working together to get to the Chaos Emeralds, Penny, Amy, Blaze, and Mr. Tanaka stayed behind, looking out the window.
"I hope they make it in time!" Amy said.
Penny said nothing as she glanced outside. Her nerves were getting the best of her...knowing that the world...everything she knew...would be demolished by Shadow and Space Colony Ark. She shuddered, and she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Mr. Tanaka smiling softly down at her.
"Don't worry," He reassured her. "Sonic will get there to the Chaos Emeralds in time."
Penny smiled softly, though her heart started pounding again.
"Don't bet on it." A gruff voice said by the door. Penny's eyes widened, and she turned to face Shadow the Hedgehog.
"Shadow..." Penny began.
He smirked at them.
Penny's heart pounded faster than before, and she knew it was risky, but the girl knew she had to try to pull him back towards his senses. Her expression now shown determination, and she left Mr. Tanaka's side.
"Miss Penny..." Mr. Tanaka began.
"Shadow, please. I know you can help save all of us!" The girl began, walking boldly towards the hedgehog.
Shadow raised his eyes a bit.
"I know you think that you are here in the first place is to get revenge. But I don't believe that! Think about it." Penny said. "You saved me when I was in danger back on Prison Island. You decided to save me!" Penny walked up to Shadow and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Deep down, you know the only reason you were made was to help others. I now understand that's the whole reason why you rescued me!"
"Hands off," Shadow growled, and punched Penny away forcefully. The girl grunted in pain as she felt it flow through her body.
"PENNY!" Blaze cried in panic, and the purple cat darted to try to help her best friend, but Mr. Tanaka stopped her.
"She needs help..." Blaze said.
Mr. Tanaka shook his head.
"It's useless," Shadow growled as Penny stumbled forwards towards him a bit. "I made a promise towards Maria, and I'm keeping it."
"Shadow." Penny began weakly. "Getting revenge... Maria won't ever come back!"
"So what?" Shadow grumbled.
"There's still time to stop this, Shadow!" Penny cried, now desperate. "You have to listen to me! How can you blame people today for something that happened fifty years ago?!" She cried, nearly shaking Shadow's shoulders. " Can't you see it's not fair?!"
"Don't talk to me about fair!" Shadow nearly yelled at the girl, who flinched a bit in response. "Not after what happened here! Maria was my only friend. But your ruler sent soldiers to take her from me! I tried to save her, but there were too many for me to stop. I never saw poor Maria again. Maria wasn't a threat to anyone. All she wanted was to visit your planet, but she never had the chance."
"Please listen..." Penny whispered weakly as she clung to the wall for support. "It's true that there are some bad people out there, but many people are good. I know you'd only agree with me if you'd got to know them! Just like Maria wanted to."
The girl weakly stood up. "Shadow...please..." The girl grunted. Her eyes started watering. "Maria would want you to be friends with people!"
Shadow's eyes widened, and he finally remembered Maria's promise.
"Shadow, please promise me. I want you to help people and be friends with them." Maria weakly reached out towards Shadow.
"Maria!" Shadow yelled out to her.
"I'm sure you'll be very happy down there, Shadow." Maria continued. "I only wish I could go along with you. The world looks so beautiful from up here in space. But my grandfather the people who live there have to face many problems. That's why you were created! To help those people. And to be their friend."
Penny staggered, not being able to take the pain any longer. Her eyes closed, and she fell down, but Shadow caught her in his arms and hugged her unconscious form tightly. Tears fell down his face.
Mr. Tanaka walked up and took Penny from Shadow's arms.
"She was right about Maria." Shadow said. "She did want me to help the people of your world."
And he smiled, determination growing on his face.
Shadow the Hedgehog knew what to do now.
...
As for Sonic, Silver, Knuckles, Decoe, and Bocoe, they had finally made it to the room which held the Chaos Emeralds.
"Up there!" Knuckles pointed ahead.
"We made it!" Silver gasped.
They continued to run forwards it, but a monster stepped in their tracks, roaring.
"Calm down. I'm not going to let the monster get a hold of the Master Emerald." Knuckles growled as the robots panicked at the monster.
Sonic stood there, glaring at the beast, when a voice suddenly appeared beside him.
"Leave that thing for me."
"Shadow?" Sonic asked in surprise.
"You and the others take care of the Chaos Emeralds." Shadow ordered, his ruby eyes not leaving the beast in front of them. "I'll distract it."
"You sure?" Silver asked.
The three hedgehogs glanced at one another, and finally, Sonic nodded, then Silver slowly nodded as well. Shadow sped off, hitting the beast with everything he got.
"Let's go!" Sonic ordered, and the group ran towards the center of the Temple.
...
"I must remember." Knuckles said when they finally placed the Master Emerald in the center of its resting place. "The Seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers. Our hearts intensify their power. The controller serves to unify the Chaos."
"You can do it, Knuckles." Sonic told the Echidna encouragingly.
Knuckles took a deep breath and raised his hands towards the Emerald. "Master Emerald, I need you to help me. Please stop the Chaos Emeralds!"
After a moment, the Master Emerald faded, and the Chaos Emeralds fell at the gang's feet.
"All right." Knuckles said, pumping his fist.
"Good work!" Decoe and Bocoe cried in happiness.
Hearing the roar, Sonic, Silver, Knuckles, Decoe, and Bocoe turned to the beast. The beast turned white, then disappeared.
"It's gone." Knuckles said as Shadow appeared on the steps next to them.
"Chaos Control!" Shadow yelled, but before anything happened, the ship started shaking.
"What is happening?!" Bocoe yelped in panic.
"We're still heading towards the planet!" Decoe cried.
"Come in, Sonic, do you read me?! That monster is still alive! It attached itself to the outside of the space colony. It's pulling us towards the planet!" Eggman announced as the ship started rumbling again.
Sonic, Shadow, and Silver looked at each other. They closed their eyes.
The Emeralds glowed in response, surrounding the three hedgehogs. The familiar coats of blue, black, and silver soon turned into gold.
They dashed off to fight the monster.
...
Amy, Blaze, and Mr. Tanaka, who was still holding an unconscious Penny, were all staring out the window.
That was when a golden light flashed behind them. Curious, the trio turned around to find Sonic back in his super form.
"Sonic!" Amy said, surprised to see him in his golden form.
Mr. Tanaka turned to Sonic and held Penny up in his arms. Sonic floated over to the young girl and gently touched her head. After a moment, Penny stirred in Mr. Tanaka's arms, muttering something. Sonic smiled in relief that she was okay, and dashed back after Silver and Shadow.
...
The three hedgehogs appeared outside of the ship and started battling the monster that was pulling them down to earth.
"Let's give it our best shot!" Shadow told the two hedgehogs.
"We can go at it at full speed and finish him off!" Sonic said. Silver just nodded, and the three darted at the monster, smashing into its back.
It roared in response.
...
"The Space Colony is still rushing towards the planet, Mr. President. We're only minutes away from it." Cristina told the President seriously.
The President groaned, clutching his hands in his head. So this was it...
"What's that?" Sam questioned, spotting something in the sky. They joined the crowd of people to see Space Colony Ark falling towards them in an orange ball, but there were also three glowing circles attacking it.
"Soon the space colony won't be able to escape the planet's gravity!" Cristina said. "It will be impossible to stop it from crashing!"
"Come on, Sonic, Silver, you can do it!" Sam said encouragingly.
"Let's hope." The President said. "But I'm afraid no one can save us from disaster now!"
...
Watching the battle from the window, Amy clasped her hands pleadingly. "You have to defeat that monster, Sonic. We're all depending on you. Silver too!"
"Sonic..." Penny whispered weakly. "Silver...Shadow..."
"Topaz," Rouge said besides Penny's feet. "Do you read me?"
"Yes, Rouge. What's going on there?! I don't understand what Sonic and Silver are up to!" Topaz cried to her friend.
...
"That large red object is actually Space Colony Ark, glowing as it re-enters the atmosphere. For 50 years its existence was kept a secret, in the course of our investigation, we uncovered a conspiracy within our intelligent services that now threatens the survival of this planet. Our only hope lies in the bravery of three hedgehogs, who are now fighting for all of us." Scarlet Garcia reported.
Soon, everyone around the world started yelling encouragements to the three hedgehogs.
...
Silver, Shadow, and Sonic all worked together, trying to defeat the monster that was pulling them to their doom. After a few flares, the three hedgehogs floated in front of the ship, holding their hands out. The encouraging words of their friends echoed in their ears, and Shadow heard one.
"Shadow!"
Shadow's eyes widened, and he saw Maria in his head.
"Those people need you, Shadow!" She said.
Shadow snapped at that. "I am Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog!" He growled and pulled his rings off.
"You ready?" Shadow growled at Sonic and Silver.
"You bet!" Sonic growled back.
"Ready!" Silver announced.
"Here we go!" Sonic announced, and a powerful glow appeared around the hedgehogs.
"CHAOS..." Shadow began.
"...CONTROL!" Silver and Sonic finished.
A bright flash of light appeared in everyone's view.
"Maria..." Shadow thought. "I did it. For you."
Space Colony Ark appeared right in front of Earth, but it wasn't moving anymore.
Sonic, Shadow, and Silver had done it.
...
Everyone began celebrating right after the hedgehogs stopped the colony from crashing into Earth. Hanging up from her conversation, Cristina turned to the President. "The Space Agency has just reported. They said that the Space Colony has moved back into a stable orbit."
"Thank goodness." The President sighed, his heart pounding.
"Sonic and Silver could be charged," Cristina said, taking off her glasses. "With violating the Space Agency regulations."
"You know," Sam spoke up. "After all that Sonic's done for the planet, I don't think the voters would like that very much." He turned to them and smiled. "Don't you agree?"
"Yes." The President said. "I do."
...
"My grandfather was truly a genius. Ever since I was a lad, he was my one true hero. I always wanted to become a grand scientist like him. But he shouldn't have tried to destroy the planet! How could he do something so wrong?!" Eggman asked through the communicator.
"I don't know!" Tails said. "But you helped us all to save the world!"
"I'm so happy the planet was saved," Eggman said. "Now I can conquer it and establish my Eggman Empire!"
Amy humphed. "You STILL want to take over the world?!"
"Affirmative!" Decoe said.
"You are welcome to join us if you like!" Bocoe offered.
"No thank you." Tails said.
Hearing the door open, Penny turned around to see her blue and silver heroes walking towards them.
"Sonic! Silver!" Penny said happily. Noticing someone was missing, the girl walked up to Sonic, looking around. "Where's Shadow?" She asked.
Sonic's expression suddenly turned serious, and he shook his head sadly, closing his eyes. Silver looked down, sharing the same grief.
Penny's eyes widened as Sonic handed her one of Shadow's bracelets.
"You know," Rouge said. "Maybe Professor Robotnik wanted Shadow to stop his crazy plan all along."
"We'll never know," Sonic said. "But in the end, Shadow sacrificed everything to save us all."
Penny's eyes watered, and a few tears splashed onto the golden bracelet. She fell to her knees, stunned to know that Shadow was gone.
Sonic walked over and gave the girl a comforting hug, then helped her to her feet. "Come on, Penny." He said softly, patting her on the back. She turned to him. "Let's head back." Sonic smiled. He turned to face the others. "Space is fun, but I like my feet on the ground!"
Penny smiled softly and sniffed a little as she slipped Shadow's bracelet around her right wrist. She would never take it off... she would treasure it. As a memory.
"The rocket's ready!" Tails exclaimed. "It's time to go!"
Soon, they all headed out, but Sonic, Silver, and Penny lingered behind a little, staring at Space Colony Ark for the last time.
"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog," Sonic said.
"Goodbye, Shadow..." Penny added softly, giving the room a little wave.
The three looked at each other, smiled, and hurried after the others.
