Chapter 6
The sound of an explosion that came from town immediately grabbed Tails and Tangle's attention.
"What in the… oh no…" Tangle said.
"He found us!" Tails said as he hopped off the wing and began running into town, Tangle following close behind.
"Whisper is still in town! She needs our help!" Tangle said.
The two kept on running, past a crowd of screaming pedestrians as they made their way to the source of the explosion.
When they arrived, they were greeted by the sight of Nemesis, holding the final chaos emerald.
"Nemesis!" Tangle shouted.
"…Lemur…" Nemesis responded.
"Oh, so you CAN talk!" Tangle said.
"Alright, that makes this easier." Tails said. "There's been something I've been curious about, Nemesis."
"There is?" Tangle asked.
Though, she noticed that Tails shifted his nose a bit, a signal that they once agreed would mean "Play along."
"How exactly do you always seem to know where the emeralds are?" Tails asked.
Nemesis didn't respond verbally, he only began to glow red.
Before they knew it, they were looking at themselves.
"What the…?" Tangle asked.
"He can use my illusions…" Tails said. "Meaning he can cancel them out too…"
The scene playing out before them seemed to be the two of them talking to Amy through their communicators, with them telling Amy that they got the tracker from Starline and that they were sending her the coordinates to the last emerald.
"He highjacked our communications." Tails deduced. "We've been basically telling him where the emeralds were this entire time…"
"That would explain how he knew to go to Angel Island, probably listened in on Amy telling Shadow to go there." Tangle said.
"That also explains why he left us alone in Spiral Hill." Tails said. "He probably thought that getting two emeralds at once was more important than getting the one from us."
"Ok… next I want to know…"
"Enough talking…" Nemesis said, before getting ready to fight.
"Guess that's all we are getting out of him…" Tails said.
"Right, let's get to work." Tangle said.
"Can't win… too weak."
"Did… did he just call me too weak?!" Tangle asked. "Alright, now I HAVE to prove him wro-"
Before Tangle could finish, a laser shot out from the distance straight towards Nemesis.
He saw it coming however, and managed to dodge with ease. He then shot off in the direction the laser came from, and shortly after, Whisper was sent flying towards Tangle and Tails.
"Whisper!" Tangle shouted as she leapt over to catch the wolf.
"Sorry… I tried…" Whisper said before passing out.
Tangle was just silent, as she placed Whisper down to the side so she could rest.
"Tangle…" Tails said.
"This is where they lived… isn't it?" Tangle asked, looking at the destroyed house. "You think they ran when Nemesis showed up?"
"Probably…"
"Figures…" Tangle sighed out. "Alright… let's do this."
And so, there they stood, ready to make what would likely be their final stand against the Chimera.
"He doesn't have much info on how you fight, meaning that combo attacks from the two of us should be effective." Tails said. "Let's see what we can do."
"Got it, for now, let's just test the waters." Tangle said. "You attack from a distance, and I'll get up close."
"Sounds like a plan." Tails said.
And with that, the fight began.
Tangle began to charge as Tails created a wave of cannon fire. Nemesis was able to dodge the energy shots and close in on Tangle at great speed. However, thanks to Tangle's training with Sonic, she was prepared for this.
Using her tail, she sprang up into the air, and during the rise, she managed to wrap Nemesis' arm with her tail. She then proceeded do a front flip, lifting Nemesis up off of the ground and slamming him back down in the process.
When Tangle landed, she was happy with the result.
"How do you like that?!" Tangle asked.
"…Pathetic." Nemesis said from the ground.
In a flash, he was suddenly behind her.
"Wha-" Was all Tangle could say before she received a fist to the stomach, followed by a kick to the face which sent her flying back.
"Tangle!" Tails shouted before rushing over. He then proceeded to help her up, though she was rather slow about it.
"Ok, he hits like a truck… being propelled by rockets…" Tangle said.
"Not… the first time I've heard about one of those…" Tails said.
"Wha?"
"Never mind that… let's try and catch him off guard with a rolling combo attack." Tails suggested.
"Right, let's do it." Tangle said back.
The two of them suddenly shot forward at great speed as they performed a rolling combo attack.
Nemesis, however, didn't seem to be bothered by this, and only grinned at their coming attack.
While Tails was confused by this at first, he quickly realized what this meant.
"Oh crap!" Tails said before he stopped the attack and tossed Tangle off to the side.
He then received a very powerful fist to the face as he was sent right into his wife.
"Ow… Why'd you do that?" Tangle asked.
"He... knew how to counter it…" Tails panted out. "Because it was originally mine and Sonic's move…"
"Oh… great…" Tangle said. "I guess you really saved me there… thanks."
"No… No problem…" Tails said, struggling to breathe.
"You good?"
"I think he broke my nose with that punch…" Tails said.
"Ok… stand back… I'll…"
"Talking too much." Nemesis said before grabbing both of their heads and dragging them across the dirt.
He then proceeded to hold them up with… psychokinesis?
"Ok, great… he can use Silver's psychic mind powers…" Tangle grunted out.
"Mine…" Nemesis said as he began to levitate their two Chaos Emeralds towards him.
"N-NO!" Tails said.
When the emeralds reached him, all seven began to float around him.
"We… really screwed up… huh…?" Tangle asked. "I'm so sorry Tails…"
"I'm sorry too Tangle…" Tails said back.
Nemesis then decided to finish them off, and was prepared to fire a large energy ball at them.
But then something unexpected happened, as a blue blur came out of no-where and crashed right into the chimera, and as he was sent flying, the Chaos Emeralds scattered around the area, not to mention Tails and Tangle also falling to the ground.
"Hey guys, you miss me?"
After gathering their bearings, Tails and Tangle got a look at their savior.
"Sonic!" Tails shouted.
"Geez, he really did a number on you two!" Sonic said. "Guess I can't afford to mess aro-"
Nemesis, then came out of no-where and crashed into Sonic, sending him flying back.
"Ok, rude." Sonic said as he got up.
"Tangle, Sonic and I'll keep him busy, you grab the emeralds!" Tails said.
"Got it!" Tangle said as she began to collect the emeralds.
"So, what's your game here?" Sonic asked as he narrowly dodged a kick. "Why are you doing this?"
"Unleash… Destroy…"
"That's all you have to say?" Sonic asked.
"…"
"He talks, but not much." Tails said as he swiped his tails at the chimera, though he was dodged.
"Guess the banter will have to be sidelined then." Sonic said.
Tangle, in the meantime, had just grabbed the sixth emerald, and Nemesis began to notice this.
Acting quickly, he performed a gut punch, uppercut combo on Sonic before kicking him away.
"Ugh… dang… injuries…" Sonic said as he struggled to get up.
Nemesis then set his eyes on Tangle, who was just about to grab the last emerald.
He charged up a massive ball of energy and hurled it at the lemur.
Seeing the energy coming, Tangle froze on the spot.
"Tangle!" Tails shouted as he leapt between his wife and the energy ball.
The resulting explosion sent he two of them flying into a nearby building, completely destroying it.
"Ugh… you alright Tails?" Tangle asked, but received silence in return. "Tails?!"
She then got a good look at the fox, just to see that he was out cold.
"Oh… oh no…"
She then looked over to see Nemesis render Sonic unconscious with a swift kick to the head.
"No… no no no…"
Both of the people who had super forms were out of commission.
Nemesis then did something unexpected, an hurled a dark box at Tangle. Once it connected, it seemed to surround her.
"Wh-what?!" Tangle said.
"Virtual Reality…" Nemesis answered.
The box then began to get smaller… and smaller.
"Oh no… no no no no no!" Tangle said.
He was planning on crushing her and Tails to death, all while leaving the emeralds in her possession unharmed.
It was her worst nightmare.
"Tails… I'm sorry…" Tangle said before closing her eyes.
THWACK
"Huh?" Tangle said at the noise.
She looked over to see that she was wrong before.
They didn't run.
"Alright you freak, get out of our town before we teach you a lesson!" Brawl said, a bat in his hands.
"NO! GET OUT OF HERE!" Tangle shouted. "HE'LL KILL YOU!"
"…Pathetic…" Nemesis said before vanishing.
He then swiftly punched Brawl in the stomach and pinned Knot into the ground with great force.
Finally, he was ready to finish the job with a blast of energy.
"Stop it! Leave them alone!" Tangle shouted.
Then, she noticed something. The emeralds in her possession were glowing…
All seven of them.
"Only certain people can go super. Think of it like the Chaos Emeralds themselves deciding that you are worthy of using their power." Tangle remembered Tails' explanation from earlier.
"… Ok emeralds. I don't know if you think I am worthy or not, nor do I really care… all I know is is that my friends… my family, really need help right now, and I am the only one who can do it." Tangle said as the box continued to get smaller. It now was small enough that it was starting to get a bit of a tight fit.
"So please… I am begging you… give me the power to save everyone… just this once…" Tangle said as the box got tighter.
"Let me save the ones I love…"
And everything went white.
End of Chapter 6
Welp, they're doomed… or are they?
See you tomorrow for the end of the final battle