Chapter 29: Revelations
Sonic sat at the docks staring at Chip's unconscious form with worry. He had gotten back to the village after about half an hour, asking for a doctor. He found one and had him check on Chip. After asking Sonic a few questions and examining Chip for injuries, he came back with his conclusion.
"There aren't any signs of injuries on him, and if what you say caused his unconscious state happened, he should wake up soon. If he doesn't, well I can't say when he'll wake up."
While slightly reassured at that, it didn't help Sonic's worry. Especially with that last part. So he decided to stay with Chip so he could be there when he woke up.
It was now getting close to night, and Chip still showed no signs of waking up.
His friends had returned not long after finding out Chip's condition. They had checked up on him to see if Chip was alright. Once he explained his current condition to them, they left Sonic to try and figure out the location of the last temple. Leaving Sonic alone with Chip.
Well, not entirely alone.
"What do you think happened in there?" Sonic asked.
"Beats me." Dar answered. "I only saw that annoyance go in when you did."
"But what exactly was in there? What caused him to come out like this?"
"My guess would be a monster. Something that harmed his mind and left him like this. Why do you think he doesn't have any visible injuries on him?"
Sonic clenched his fist. He didn't want to think about the worst case scenario, but he knew Dar had a point. No one had any idea what Chip encountered in there except him. They didn't know what had caused his unconsciousness or how long it would last. It could last forever for all they knew.
And since they needed him to activate the temple pedestals, Sonic hoped that the collar on his neck reacted to proximity. Otherwise, they had no way of restoring the last emerald.
He heard footsteps coming near him. Looking in the direction they were coming from, he saw that Tails walking up to him.
"Just wanted to check on you." He said. "Any change?"
Sonic shook his head. "Still hasn't woken up."
Tails sat down with him. "I hope he's alright. I need to know what happened in there."
Sonic was silent as he continued to stare at Chip, a sad look on his face.
"What's wrong Sonic? You look kind of sad."
Sonic looked at Tails. "Oh, I was just thinking how I may be responsible for what just happened to Chip."
Tails blinked in confusion. "Why do you say that?"
Sonic sighed. "I wasn't paying attention." He answered. "I was so focused on getting the emerald that I didn't notice Chip going to that mural."
"Hey that wasn't your fault." Tails reassured. "None of us noticed until he was sucked in to the mural. And we had no way of predicting it was going to do that."
"Even before then, I should've been more cautious." Sonic said. "Chip was acting weird before he went in, apparently scared of the temple. He never acted like that with the other temples, so I just brushed it off. And look what happened."
Tails simply looked at Sonic. To him, it felt like Sonic was beating himself over what could be something minor. He was still concerned over Chip's condition, but not to the extent of how Sonic was reacting.
Sonic let out a small, sad sounding laugh. "And this probably isn't the first time I put Chip in danger. When Eggman launched me onto the earth when this began, I likely ended up landing on Chip. Also possibly causing his memory loss. So I'm likely the reason why Chip has no memory."
He then looked down at the dock. "Some friend to Chip I am, right?" He sighed.
At that point, Tails knew he had to say something. Sonic was many things, but a bad friend was certainly not one of them. He knew that from experience. And from what he saw of Sonic's interactions with Chip, it was on the contrary.
He put his hand on his shoulder. "Sonic, you haven't been a bad friend to Chip. And none of what happened to him is your fault."
Sonic looked at him. "What?"
Tails continued. "Chip probably lost his memory before you fell on him, so the worst you probably did to him is knock him out. Even if you did cause him to lose his memory, you've been trying to help him get it back. And you've never given up on it despite not finding anything."
Sonic took a brief look back at Chip. It was true that he was helping Chip find out who he is out of guilt of possibly falling on him, but he did consider the possibility that he lost his memory before he fell on him. While it was more of a way of trying to remove guilt of what he possibly did, he did consider it a genuine possibility.
"Besides, even without that, you've done things with him that you didn't need to. You've made sure he was safe, you gave him food, and you've supported him when he was feeling down. That doesn't sound like a bad friend to me."
"Then what about what happened in the temple?"
"That wasn't anyone's fault. We had no idea that would happen. And what happened in there could've been nothing. He could end up waking up with nothing wrong with him."
He looked at Sonic. "You were never a bad friend to Chip. None of the bad things that happened to him was your fault."
Sonic thought about what Tails said. For the past hour, he had doubted if he was ever a good friend to Chip. Wondered if he was responsible for all the impairments that Chip was suffering. Wondering if Chip would hate him if he found out he was responsible.
But now, thinking about what Tails said. He felt that his acts of kindness towards Chip were more then enough to offset the bad things that he supposedly caused towards him. He was Chip's friend, and that's what mattered.
"Thanks Tails." He said with a smile.
Tails gave a smile back, knowing that his brother was now comforted by what he said. His eyes then turned towards the horizon, which was now a mix of orange and purple. "You should get ready. It's almost time."
Sonic took a brief look at the horizon and sighed in acceptance. "I suppose it is."
Tails then got back up. "I'm going back to the others to help find the last temple. Let me know if Chip wakes up or if you want to talk to any of us."
He then walked away from Sonic, leaving him alone with Chip again.
Sonic took off his gloves, something that he felt had become routine at this point. As he was taking off his shoes, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
"Is it almost time for you to change Sonic?"
Sonic froze. Looking down, he saw that the person who spoke was Chip, who had woken up.
However, there was something different about him. While his appearance was no different, the way he was standing and looking at him felt different from what Sonic was familiar with.
"Yeah, it is." Sonic said nodding. "You okay?"
"Yes, and I remember now."
Sonic's ears perked up. Did he hear that last part right? "Could you repeat that last part?"
"I remember who I am now. All of it."
Sonic blinked in surprise. Was this because of what happened in the temple? Did Chip encounter something that helped regain his memories.
"Well, who are you then? Don't keep me in suspense."
Chip looked over to the horizon. "My real name is Light Gaia." He said.
"What?!" Sonic heard Dar say in shock. "That's actually him?"
Chip continued. "I draw power through the day and light to guide the planet to it's rebirth. To protect it from Dark Gaia."
"So… why couldn't you remember anything before?" Sonic asked. He figured now would be the best time to find out what caused Chip's amnesia, whether he was responsible or not.
Chip looked at him. "Because Eggman woke us up too early. It's why Dark Gaia is in pieces and scattered, and why I couldn't remember who I was or what I was supposed to do until now. It wasn't the proper time of awakening."
"Time of awakening?" Sonic asked. "What's that?"
"Dark Gaia is supposed to grow over millions of years before rising to destroy the world. It's my job to put it back together. This has been going on for millions of years, over and over, again and again. Ever since the beginning of time."
'Is this true?' Sonic silently asked Dar. Since he had a part of Dark Gaia in him, it was best if he got conformation from the other side. He certainly wasn't going to get it from any of the other creatures.
"It is." Dar answered. "Neither he or my master wasn't supposed to awaken for many years. That doctor just decided to give it an early awakening, causing my master to be in pieces and me stuck inside you."
"So you and Dark Gaia have been asleep for millions of years?" Sonic asked Chip.
Chip nodded. "Yes, for ages."
At that moment, the final rays of the sun vanished. Sonic knew what was coming and shut his eyes in preparation. Around him, purple flames emerged and he transformed. However, while there was some discomfort over his changing bones and rapidly growing muscles, it wasn't as painful as the previous times. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in his werehog form.
It was like he had gotten used to this form.
"I bet it's thanks to you." He said looking at his transformed hands. "Every night when I'm like this, I'm still myself while everyone else that got infected by Dark Gaia acted differently at night. Even Dar doesn't know why they can't control me."
He turned to Chip. "Have you been preventing me from losing myself all this time?"
Chip shook his head. "I haven't been doing anything Sonic. It's you who's been preventing Dark Gaia from taking control of you."
Sonic blinked in surprise. "I'm the reason?"
Chip nodded. "Dark Gaia often takes control of people thanks to their own doubts, ones that cause them to fall into dark emotions. Making it easy for it to influence and control them. You on the other hand, never doubt yourself. You never give into the dark emotions in your heard. And every time you get close to them, you manage to pull yourself back."
Sonic thought about what Chip had said. He was surprised by the reveal that he himself had prevented Dar from taking over instead of Chip. But as he thought about Chip's explanation, it made sense. When he had first transformed on Eggman's ship, before he had even met Chip, he certainly felt angry thanks to what Eggman had just done, but he still felt like himself. In addition, when he was separated from the others in Holoska, despite acting a bit more animalistic in his fighting, he still maintained control of himself. And while it was true he had certainly acted calmer around Chip, it was merely a presence that he was likely projecting passively due to his previous amnesia.
In the end, he had fought off Dar's influence and didn't even know it.
"So what now?" Sonic asked. "You got your memory back, and you know your mission."
"I go to fight Dark Gaia." Chip answered. "Like I always have for many cycles."
"You're leaving?! To fight that thing alone? When we still have one more temple to visit?"
"I need to make sure it's sealed back into the planet." He said before turning to Sonic with a sad look. "But that isn't to say I'm happy to leave you."
He flew up to where he was face to face with him. "You see, I had fun getting to see the world with you and your friends. Because despite living on this planet since my creation, I never knew anything about it. Of how pretty it was, of how tasty the food was, and how nice the people were. I'm glad out of everyone in the world, I got to experience all that with you. And I'm glad you never gave up on helping me find my memory."
He then gave a sad smile towards Sonic. "I will never forget you Sonic. Thank you, and goodbye my friend."
He then began to fly away. As he did so, Sonic reached his hand out. "Wait."
"Leave him. You've done what you wanted with him. Let him fight my master."
Sonic watched as Chip flew away. In spite of getting Chip to finally remember who he was, he wasn't ready to abandon him. Despite being Light Gaia, Sonic wasn't too sure if he could fight Dark Gaia by himself. Mainly because he had no idea what Chip could do against it. In addition, he felt like he and his friends job wasn't complete. They still needed to find and restore the final temple and beat Eggman. And he was certain that they couldn't do that without Chip's help.
He stretched one of his arms towards Chip, gently grabbing him by the tail once the arm was close enough, hearing a small gasp of surprise from him as he did so. He then began to pull Chip back to the dock and placed him onto the ground.
"Sonic, what are you doing?" Chip asked.
Sonic put his hand on his hip. "I'm not letting you go out and face Dark Gaia on your own. Me and my friends are going to help you."
"Bu..but my memory's back now." Chip stammered. "You and your friends don't need to do anything anymore. Dark Gaia is my responsibility, there's no reason to…."
"Do I need a reason to want to help out a friend?" Sonic asked with a smile.
Chip stared at him for a moment, trying to decide. On the one hand, he wanted to fly off again and face Dark Gaia like he planned to, like he did over the countless years. Sonic and his friends weren't necessarily needed now aside from restoring the last temple to fully restore the planet and seal them back in.
On the other, he was aware that Doctor Eggman was involved and could have set up traps for him to stop Dark Gaia. He had never considered another human would try to interfere in his job to defeat Dark Gaia. But with the fact that it was the doctor who was responsible for their early awakening, with his intent to awaken his dark counterpart, he was most likely to set up defenses to prevent him from reaching Dark Gaia. Beyond a few encounters with him, he had little idea of what the doctor was capable of, so he would need Sonic and his friends help.
'He's helped me do my job throughout this premature awakening.' He thought to himself. 'And he helped get your memory back. It's only fair that he helps you see this to the end.'
"Okay." He said to Sonic. "You can help me."
Sonic smile widened a bit, showing off more of his fangs. But Chip knew that it was a friendly smile despite that. "Thank's Chip."
Chip gave a thumbs up before looking back at the village. "Should we check on your friends?"
Sonic shrugged. "Why not. Hopefully they have an update on the location of the last temple."
Chip nodded before flying to the village. A stream of purple smoke emerged from Sonic and formed into a Dar's semi-physical form. "So he was Light Gaia all along. I never would've thought of it."
"You didn't?" Sonic replied surprised. "I thought you would know what they would look like."
"Perhaps I had lost some memory thanks to the premature awakening. Though not as much as that small deity." Dar replied, saying the last part in a smug tone.
Sonic rolled his eyes. "But still, I expected him to be a servant of it at least."
"And in addition, you were mentally too strong for me to control." Dar continued as they scratched their claw on their chin. "How fascinating."
"Was this the first time this has happened?"
"To my knowledge, yes. It's quite unusual that you're still yourself. Especially with the amount of energy from my master you absorbed."
Sonic gave a small smirk. "Well that's got to be a massive disappointment to it. Someone absorbed enough energy to turn into a monster, only for them to fight it's minions."
Dar gave out a sigh. "I'm certain you are."
Sonic walked back to the village with Dar in tow.
"Anything yet?" Knuckles asked Tails as he and Amy read through the Gaia manuscripts.
Tails shook his head as he looked at the Miles Electric. "Nothing. No signs of any records of a temple."
The three were gathered around a table inside a hut. For the past half-hour, they had been trying to find out the general location of the last temple. With the fact that it was the only temple with an unknown location, they decided to look through the Gaia Manuscripts, and search for any records on the continent on the only piece of the planet left. So far, they were finding no signs or mentions of any temple.
"Where could it possibly be?" Amy asked as she examined another part of the manuscript. "A temple like this doesn't just vanish and remain undiscovered for years."
"You'd be surprised on how many ancient ruins are still undiscovered." Tails remarked. "But it's unusual that this one seems to be hard to find while we haven't had any problem of finding the others."
"Well it took me awhile to find a few of them." Knuckles interjected as he skimmed part of the manuscript. "But yeah, it's unusual this one is so evasive to us."
Sonic then entered with Chip and Dar beside him. "Hey guys. Any clue to the location of the temple yet?"
"No, we haven't found out where the temple is." Knuckles said irritably. "It feels like this one doesn't want to be found."
Tails let out a sigh and turned to Sonic. "We've been looking through the manuscripts and I've been checking for any discoveries of ruins in the last continent we need to go to. So far, we've found nothing."
"Any villages on the continent that we can fly to so we can ask?" Sonic asked.
Tails shook his head. "Unusually, there aren't many villages that are on the continent. And the ones I did find are sparsely populated. So I doubt that they have any knowledge of a temple."
Sonic let out a sigh. To their knowledge, Team Dark was still in Shamar and can't really help them find the temple. Even then, the continent on the last planet piece was likely low priority for G.U.N. So it was doubtful they would send the team there.
However, they now had another option to help.
"Chip, can you help us find the last temple?" He asked to him.
Amy looked at Chip in confusion. "How is Chip going to help us?"
"It turns out he's Light Gaia." Sonic explained. "Whatever happened to him in the temple restored his memory."
"Well." Amy said staring at Chip in surprise. "I don't think any of us would've thought that was who he was."
"Same here." Knuckles said as he put the manuscripts down.
"Looks like we're on the same page on that one." Sonic remarked before turning to Chip. "So can you help us find the temple?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot help you with that." Chip sadly said. "I can really only sense the temples when they're nearby. In addition, the world has changed so much since the last time I was awake, so nothing is the same as I remember.
"Oh some help you are." Dar said with bitterness and sarcasm. "Can't even find your own temples dedicated to you."
Chip glared at him. "This is coming from a piece of Dark Gaia that failed to take control of it's host."
Dar let out a hiss at him, but didn't say anything else. Sonic meanwhile, plopped down on a chair. "So what's out best course of action then?"
"I suggest we return to Spagonia and ask Professor Pickle about the last temple." Tails said. "He's probably a bit more familiar with the manuscripts then we are."
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Knuckles said. "He could know a bit more of what we've learned already."
"Plus it's been awhile since we've seen him." Tails added. "We've been traveling from place to place without updating him."
"That's one of your concerns?" Sonic chuckled. Though he supposed Tails had a point. To his knowledge, they hadn't called the Professor to update him on the state of the temples. Though he was probably aware of their progress from news reports.
"It's a small one." Tails replied.
"Plus, he gets to meet a deity." Knuckles said referring to Chip. "Not too often you get to meet one."
Sonic glanced at Chip before shrugging. "I suppose you have a point."
"There's also me." Dar exclaimed. "Aren't I'm a deity too?"
"Technically, you're only a small part of the deity." Sonic pointed out. "So you don't really count."
Dar crossed their arms. "You're no fun."
They then got up, putting away the manuscripts and leaving the hut. Just as they all stepped outside though, the sky was suddenly illuminated in a purple.
Everyone looked up, shielding their eyes from the light until it died down enough to look at it. They saw a purple beam flying across the sky and into the distance, with no end in sight. As they watched, they could hear the other villagers react with confusion and slight terror.
"What is that?" Knuckles asked as he stared at the beam.
"I don't know. But judging from the direction, it looks like it's coming from over there." Tails said as he turned his head towards the jungle.
"I also sense my masters energy in that beam." Dar stated. "Could he be awakening now?"
"I don't think so." Chip said shaking his head. "I've never seen Dark Gaia gain it's power like this."
"We should investigate regardless." Sonic said. "Whatever is causing this, it can't be good."
The group rushed towards the jungle. With Dar physical form dissipating and going into Sonic.
They ran through the jungle, following Sonic's lead as he could see in the dark the best thanks to his werehog form. Thanks to him, they were able to spot obstacles and avoid them. Every now and then they glanced up at the sky to see if they were still on the beams trail. Something that was occasionally difficult thanks to the trees obscuring the sky.
Eventually however, the trees completely obscured the sky. Preventing them from seeing the beam to follow.
"What now?" Tails asked as they stood and tried to see the beam with no avail.
"I could climb up one of the trees." Sonic suggested looking around. "One of them must be high enough to break through the sky."
"Just need to find a tree that can support you. So you don't accidentally break a branch and fall." Knuckles said.
"Fair point. Don't want to break any bones just as we're about to fully save the world."
As they looked around for a tree for Sonic to climb on, Amy walked away from the group a bit. Turning around, she suddenly found herself face to face with a Dark Gaia creature.
She let out a gasp and stumbled backwards, falling to the ground. The rest of the group turned around and saw the creature in front of her, and prepared to fight it. However, just as Tails was about to blind the creature, he noticed something about the creature.
"Wait." He said raising his hand to stop.
Everyone looked at him in confusion, but didn't attack the creature. They still kept their guard up just in case the creature attacked.
The creature moved past Amy, completely ignoring her. It then moved past the rest of them, not even acknowledging their presence.
"That's unusual." Knuckles said as it moved past them. "It didn't even notice us."
"I don't think I've seen a creature act like this." Sonic said.
"Where exactly is it going?" Chip asked.
"We should follow it." Sonic suggested. "From what I saw before the trees block it, I think it's heading in the same direction of the source of the beam."
"If it can lead us to it, then it's the first time that these creatures have ever been useful to us." Knuckles stated as he watched the creature walk.
The group followed the creature through the jungle. As they followed it, the creature continued to show no signs of noticing them. It only seemed to be aware of it's surrounding enough to avoid any obstacles it might crash into. Still, the group kept quiet just in case.
As they followed, they began to notice other creatures joining them as well. All heading in the same direction as the creature and showing no signs of noticing them.
"What exactly is going on with them?" Dar asked.
"I'm starting to suspect the answer to that question." Sonic said, remembering something he and the others learned from Team Dark back in Shamar. And he suspected that his friends were figuring it out too considering the looks they were starting to give each other.
"Look over there!" Tails whispered pointing ahead.
They stopped and looked at where Tails was pointing. Up ahead, at what appeared to be an entrance to a clearing was a group of Eggman's robots. They were standing around armed with blasters, watching as the creatures walked past them. Some of them stared behind them at something letting out a purple glow.
"What are Eggman's robots doing all the way out here?" Amy quietly asked. "I thought Eggman's priority was guarding the temple."
"Obviously he had something else here." Tails replied. "And I think I know what it might be."
"Let's get to higher ground first." Sonic said eyeing a nearby hill that led to a small cliff. "I'm not exactly in the mood to fight Egghead's robots right now."
They moved towards the hill, moving fast and quiet so the robots wouldn't detect them. They quickly ascended the hill and walked towards the edge of the cliff, entering the clearing in the process. Stepping into it, they froze when they saw the source of the beam.
"Oh my god." Knuckles said hushed tone as they looked upon what they saw.
It was a giant tower, exactly like the one they saw in the photos Team Dark took in Shamar. Seeing it up close though, they got a sense of just how large it was, just breaking through the treeline surrounding it. From below the ground, they saw robots escorting the creatures to the tower. Once they were close enough, the creatures dissolved and were absorbed into the tower, letting out a purple ripple that led to the top of the tower. Which was emitting the beam of purple light they had seen in the sky.
While they now knew what caused the beam, there was a new question that went through their heads.
"Where is the energy going?" Amy asked.
Suddenly, there was a beeping tone that rang through the air. Tails quickly realized where it was coming from and took out the Miles Electric. On the screen, there was a notification of an incoming call.
Tails exchanged glances with his friends for a moment, wondering who was calling at the moment, before pressing a button to answer the call. Rouge appeared on the screen.
"Tails, the tower in Shamar started firing a beam." She said.
"We're way ahead of you on finding out." Tails replied as he turned the Miles Electric towards the tower, showing Rouge it. He held it there for a few seconds so Rouge could get a good view of what was happening.
"What could Eggman be planning to do with all that Dark Gaia energy?" Rouge asked as Tails turned the device so the screen was facing the group. "He wouldn't be luring the creatures here and absorbing them with these towers for no reason."
"I don't know, but considering we have one temple left to restore, Eggman's likely pulling out all the stops so we don't get to it." Sonic said.
"If that's the case, then you need to go there now if you've figured out where it is."
"We haven't." Knuckles replied. "We've been looking through the manuscripts and other resources, but we can't seem to find the temple."
Rouge let out a frustrated sigh. "What are your options then?"
"We plan on heading back to Spagonia to consult with the professor." Tails answered. "Can you and the others meet us there, or is G.U.N preventing you from leaving?"
Rouge shrugged. "We can meet you there. The commander will probably yell at us for abandoning the town, but we can explain why we did so. I'm sure he'll understand afterward."
Tails nodded. "Tell Shadow to teleport there if he can. We have enough emeralds restored so he probably won't get as tired compared to when this all began."
"I'll try, but I won't be surprised if he passes out for a bit afterwards."
"Thanks Rouge." Tails then hung up before turning to the others. "Let's head back to the Tornado. Now!"
Hours later, they arrived at Spagonia in the early hours of the morning. As soon as they landed, they rushed to the university where they found Team Dark waiting for them. They then went to Professor Pickle's office, where Sonic caught him up on what was happening. Meanwhile Tails and Rouge were looking at the Miles Electric as the former worked on something.
"You don't happen to know where the last temple is, professor?" Sonic asked the professor after explaining the situation. "Because we're kinda stuck on finding it's location right now.
The professor thought about it. "I've studied these manuscripts for a many years. So I know a lot about the possible locations for the temples, aware of the changes that occur over the millions of years."
"Well, tell us." Knuckles demanded. "The fate of the world is at stake."
"Now you were looking in the right place." The professor explained. "However, due to the ages, the temple is now underground."
"Figured that much. Given how hard it was to find it."
Tails and Rouge then walked up to them. "Alright, we're done." Tails announced.
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Done what?"
"We tracked the two beams from the towers to see if they went anywhere." Rouge explained as Tails showed them a map of the world on the Miles Electric. On it were two purple lines, one starting at Adabat, the other in Shamar.
Tails put his finger on one of the lines before starting to trace along it's path. "As you can see, the beams seem to travel across the planet and converge here." He explained, his finger stopping when the two beams meet. Which was right where the remaining piece of the planet was.
"And that's just the two towers that we know about." Rouge added. "We can assume if there are other towers, they're delivering the Gaia energy to that same spot."
"So Eggman's bringing all that energy there." Chip guessed.
"What could he possibly need it for?" Shadow asked. "It can't just be for powering his base."
"Maybe he's trying to bring Dark Gaia to it's full power." Knuckles suggested. "With all the other temples restored, it's easier to funnel it to one location."
"No doubt he also has a base there to help with that objective." Sonic added.
Chip looked concerned at that theory. Given that he's had to face Dark Gaia countess times, Sonic understood how he was feeling. Especially since he was now well aware of what was at stake this time.
"He really is pulling out all the stops." Amy said. "With this being the last temple we need to restore."
Sonic nodded. "And I don't think we need to see any evidence to know that he isn't going to just let us through the front door."
"Agreed." Tails said nodding his head before turning it towards Rouge. "Can you or Shadow contact G.U.N and see if there had been any unusual activity around the remaining piece?"
Rouge sighed. "We can, but it's probably only going to be after we explain why we left Shamar."
"Hey I'm sure you can convince them." Sonic reassured. "Plus, we're going to need your help with Eggman's final base."
Shadow crossed his arms. "Any why is that? You seem to have handled Eggman's defenses against the temple without our help so far."
"Egghead knows that this is the last temple we need to restore, and who knows what kind of defenses he's going to set up to prevent us from getting there. And it's probably going to be too much for just us to handle. It's why I'm asking for your help."
Sonic gave a smile. "Plus, you owe me for getting G.U.N off my back."
Shadow stared at him for a moment before looking away and sighing. "Fine, we'll help you."
He and Rouge then left the Professor's office to contact G.U.N. Leaving Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Chip, Amy, and Professor Pickle in the room.
"If Eggman preparing his face us at full power, then we should prepare for him as well." Knuckles said.
"Good point Knuckles." Tails replied. "I should upgrade the Tornado's defenses to prepare for whatever he throws at us."
"How long do you suppose that will take?" Sonic asked. "Since I don't think you can do all that overnight."
"I'd say 2 or 3 days. In the meantime, you and the others can practice fighting. Just to be prepared of what we could potentially face."
"I guess that makes sense. We don't know what Eggman has in store for us down there."
"I think we can set up some training dummies for practice" Amy said. "I'm sure there's some stuff in the basement we can use to make them."
"I'll help you with that Amy." Knuckles volunteered. "Who knows, maybe there's some training equipment we can actually use."
"While you're down there Knuckles, can you grab my toolbox?" Tails asked as they moved to the door.
Sonic watched them as they left the office, briefly hearing Shadow and Rouge arguing with G.U.N over a call before the door closed again.
"It really is almost over, isn't it?" Sonic said to Professor Pickle.
The professor nodded. "It does appear to be that way. I do recommend you and your friends getting some rest in between practicing. Don't want to fall asleep while you're saving the world."
He then looked at Chip. "Before you leave Sonic, do you mind if Light Gaia says here with me for a moment? It's not everyday you have a chance to talk with a god."
It still felt surprising to Sonic that Chip was really Light Gaia, but Sonic nodded his head. "Sure." He then turned to Chip. "Try your best not to overwhelm him."
Chip nodded and flew over to Professor Pickle. As they started to talk, Sonic turned towards the window in the office.
Within the next few days, the fate of the world would be decided. Whether it would be saved or be consumed by darkness would almost entirely depended on him and his friends. While he and his friends were no strangers to having to stop world ending events caused by evil gods, Sonic couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated with how much they had to face before they could actually complete their goal.
'It'll be alright.' He silently reassured himself. 'You and your friends have dealt with worse.'
But even then, a tiny bit of uncertainty remained within him.
Author's Note: Well, we're in the endgame now. Next chapter, the team heads to Eggman's final base to restore the final temple. What awaits them there?
Also, if you're wondering where Omega was during that last scene, he was outside Professor Pickle's office guarding the door.
See you next chapter.
