Disclaimer: I own nothing! Sonic belongs to Sega and Nintendo, not me! I keep cookies! (Hides cookies)

Author's Note: One more real chapter, then epilogue (I hope)! I'll keep you posted on any updates. Next chapter is....NOW!

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~*~ Pyramid Cave Rear Entrance ~*~

Silence. The desert surroundings making for a perfect spot to rest. Finally, a human body, albeit a large one, stirs from the sand. Dr. Eggman groans, then lifts himself up from the ground.

"That hedgehog....him and his friends have ruined everything for me AGAIN!"

Dusting himself off, he walks towards the Pyramid's central control system, mumbling to himself.

~*~ Pyramid Cave Core ~*~

Eggman walks through the hole in the wall, and approaches the control panel, which is flickering from the damage the monitor took during the battle.

"Sonic may have found my base on the Pyramid, but there is one place he has not found..."

Grinning to himself, he strokes his reddish moustache while staring at the "real" Chaos Emeralds. Placing them in a special containment box, he presses a button on the control panel, and steps back. Suddenly, the center of the floor opens, and an elevator lift slowly pulls itself up to the ground floor. The bad doctor quickly hops on, and heads down the long shaft into the basement section, box in hand. Once there, he opens the door in front of him, making his way down a narrow hallway, to another door. Entering this room, he smiles as he notices what stands in front of him - a centralized computer network spanning in a circular pattern around the walls of the room, his Egg Golem resting in the center of the room. Walking towards the central machine, he places the blood red Chaos Emerald into a similarly-shaped hole. Typing away for a moment, he speaks to himself aloud.

"If my calculations are correct, I should be able to use the Emerald to restart my Egg Golem, thus enabling me to trap them when they return to the Pyramid! All I need is some bait, and they will show themselves, so I may crush them once and for all! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! EXCELLENT!!!"

Unfortunately, the one thing the doctor failed to notice, was that the Emerald was fake. The klaxxon of the alarm system alerted him well enough, however.

"What in the world is going on??! Why is it not working!?!? I-"

Dr. Eggman narrowed his eyes as he backed away from the machine which was now reaching critical mass.

"Tails..."

Those words were the last thing to go through his mind as the entire underground base went nuclear.

~*~ Sonic and Tails' House ~*~

Tails wipes the sweat from his brow as he lays the shovel upon the ground, staring at the flattened mound of dirt before him.

"Whew....with these Emeralds buried, we'll never have to worry about Eggman finding these ever again!"

Inside the house, Sonic is resting on the arm of the sofa, Amy lying upon his shoulder, asleep from worry and exhaustion. Sonic sighs, and stares up at the ceiling.

"Shadow...we brought you back...and you left us once again...I hope now, at least, you will find rest."

Satisfied with himself, he pulls a blanket over him and Amy, then drifts off to slumber.

Tails smiles to himself, and begins to head inside, when he notices his Cyclone's radar beeping like crazy. Flying over to the cockpit, he puts it under close inspection, finally locating the issue.

"There was an explosion! A gigantic one, at that! The energy must have been caused by the energy of the fake Chaos Emeralds put into a machine! Eggman just destroyed his own lab!"

Somehow, Tails seems to find this funny, and begins to chuckle at the prospect of such a thing, and continues the laughter as he falls out of the Cyclone and onto the pavement.

"I'm okay..."

~*~ Pyramid Cave Basement ~*~

The underground basement of the Pyramid Cave now lie in ruins. Debris and scrap metal lie everywhere. Eggman sits in a corner, holding the stump that was once his arm, blood seeping from the wounds across his body. He sighs, and begins to crawl to the lift. Climbing aboard, he presses the button that lifts him back into the regular cave. As he gains hold of the bar with his remaining arm, he gets off of the lift once it stops, and begins work on what we can only assume is a new arm. With the roof gone and his arm missing, Dr. Eggman looks up to the sky, shakes his single fist at it, and yells with the remaining strength in his lungs.

"I HATE YOU, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!!! ONE OF THESE DAYS, YOU WILL DIE!!!!!!"

~*~ Sonic and Tails' House ~*~

Sonic stirs slightly, and blinks. "What was that?"

Listening for a few seconds more, he shrugs. "Must be dreaming. Too many fights with Eggman, I guess."

With that, he yawns, and dreams of sweetness.

Tails simply looks at the sky after hearing that not so faint yell. "For a minute there, I thought I heard Eggman yelling. He's probably still angry over what I did. Oh well! No big deal! We'll get him next time, just like we did this time!"

He then walks in the door, and towards his bed.

~*~ Pyramid Cave Disposal ~*~

A place covered in filth, and scraps. A hideaway for bacteria and the left behind. Somewhere in all the garbage, something stirs. And from the pile of metal, discarded foods, and paper, reaches a gloved hand with a black arm.

-Fin


Author's Note: Well, that's pretty much it. I really need to know how ridiculous it was. Because, *I* don't even believe it! Oh well. R&R is greatly appreciated! My next work will either be a Sonic fic with betrayal, or it will be something from the TV section! Opinions mucho wanted-o! See you later!