Four 'Til Doomsday
Part 7:
Sonic stood atop the mountain, wind and sand being blown into his face. Behind him were Tails, Amy, Shadow and the rest. The black hedgehog was still in high spirits, apparently having a break from his usual reclusive self. No one was sure whether this change was permanent yet. The ruins of the Pyramid were just about visible on the horizon, but he was looking in the other direction, towards the Drakon's volcano on the edge of the desert.
The fish had already detected them. They poured out of the sides of the mountains in their hundreds, each one armed to the teeth with paddles or techno-gun things. Sonic would have preferred to attack them alone, but that wasn't an option. "Okay, guys, all ready?"
"When you are," called Shadow.
"Let's go then!" The others began to move as two blurs charged down the valley and into the desert. Sonic and Shadow raced across the two thousand feet of dust in less than a minute, and smashed into the waiting militia like light speed bowling balls. Sonic smashed through the Drakon's robotic suits like a cannon through cardboard. He skidded to a halt, swerving around the guards and causing them to shoot each other.
"Oh yes! Can you get any cooler than that?" he yelled.
"Easily!" came his opposite's reply. Shadow spun like a top, hurling the fish away to give himself some space. "Come on then? How're you at dodge ball?" The soldiers opened fire.
Shadow twirled and whirled as the bolts shot past him. Then he jumped high into the air and flipped over, stray shots missing by less than millimetres. Finally he landed and fell backwards, swirling his arms Matrix style, until he hit the ground, flipped up and landed on the head of the only one who hadn't been hit by then. The severed head fell to the ground, leaking water as the tiny fish inside swore and cursed.
Sonic scowled. "Too showy."
A hail of arrows and a furious fox signalled the arrival of Tails and Amy. The number of robots doubled to meet them, catching the hedgehogs by surprise. "What the f- ooww!" yelled Sonic, as a wasp-like buzzap sizzled past his ear, leaving it red and sore. Quickly he dived through the nearest Drakons and reduced them to scrap.
The ground was growing damp by now, from the water spilling from the destroyed suits. Sonic swore as he slid twenty feet before regaining control and charging down more guards. Even Shadow was less happy now, and his teeth were gritted as he doggedly demolished fish after fish.
The chief's voice echoed around the huge space inside the volcano: "How long before we are ready?"
The scientists glanced at each other, and pushed forward a spokesperson. "We believe it will work now, if we trigger an eruption. But the platforms are not finished." He gestured across the vast space. The Drakon platform looked like a chessboard, with huge dark squares infesting the structure. During the eruption, huge pillars of lava would blast through them and destroy everything. The chief made a decision. "Once we have contacted the Empire, this hovel will not matter. Retreat all unnecessary personnel and set up an energy shield around the transmitter. Then trigger the eruption."
"Push forward!" yelled Tails, "we have to get into the volcano!"
"What does it look like I'm trying to do?" replied Sonic. The Drakons weren't giving them time to think, let alone regroup and strike back. Unless we can pull together and break in, he thought, they'll have sent the message and we'll be helpless. He bounced off a soldier and spin-attacked into the ground, burrowing through layers of hard rock.
"Nice try," called down a Drakon, and released a fireball from his paddle. Sonic swore again, and reversed at top speed until he came shooting out of the hole with his skin steaming and burnt. His eyes flickered red as he savagely slashed the unfortunate General across the torso and pounded the debris to dust.
With a crackle, a sphere of violet energy sprang up around the transmitter. Its colour grew stronger as the scientists increased the power until it was almost opaque. The chief nodded and said, "Trigger the eruption."
The first quake registered with a punch of dread in the Mobian's stomachs. "We gotta do something!" cried Tails.
"Like what?"
"We're doomed!"
"Alright, who said that?" Sonic glared. But it was true- they were outnumbered about a thousand to five.
Inside the volcano, the constant vibration made everything look slightly out of focus. "All personnel evacuate!" ordered the chief. "Soon Mobius will be ours again!"
Sonic made one last desperate run up the side of the volcano, but the way was almost solid with enemies. After cannoning through twenty his momentum ran out and he tripped.
The Drakons circled him and took aim. "You lose, hedgehog." But they didn't fire.
"What the?" Sonic flipped to his feet. Everyone was looking at the sky. It looked like a swarm of bees was attracting their attention. Sonic looked closer.
Knuckles, and Rouge some way behind him, floated down across the valley. Behind them, some gliding, some riding on skyboards or Knuckles's pteranodon were more echidnas, about a hundred of them. "I don't believe it!" Sonic yelled. High above, Knuckles grinned.
"You'd better," he called down.
Then the echidnas fell on the Drakons and fought with the familiarity of old enemies. "Knuckles, get into the volcano. We have to smash the satellite dish thing." Knuckles and Rouge nodded and glided overhead. "Shadow, ready," called Sonic. "Chaos Control!"
With a green flash, the inside of the base appeared before Sonic. Shadow was next to him, and Knuckles and Rouge dropped down to land nearby. The base was shaking dangerously, and there were no Drakons around, save one.
"You!" the chief screamed at Knuckles. "You will not win again!" Bringing up his paddle, he lunged at Knuckles and the two of them began fighting. Rouge looked on.
"Leave them to it," she said. "We need to take out this satellite thing."
"They've put up a shield round it," said Sonic. "Shouldn't take long to fix." Knuckles's body bounced off the shield and he landed heavily.
"You're too late," cried the chief, his armour cracked and leaking water. "The volcano's erupting!" And Sonic felt the heat rising up from the ground.
And then a lot of things happened very fast. He saw Shadow blurring away, and the shield crackling and faltering. He felt himself leaping and grabbing Knuckles, and Shadow yelling and then the lava obliterated everything except a flash of green.
Amy, Tails and the echidnas had fled to the mountain opposite, leaving the Drakons to be swallowed by the lava. Her insides twinged when she saw the huge column of fire and ash erupting, and Sonic and the rest were nowhere to be found.
"Tails, can you see them?" she called. The fox shook his head. Amy looked down at her watch communicator.
"The chances of survival are not good." Kintobor's voice said. "I can't detect any signs of life. The volcano shows no sign of Chaos energy."
"That's 'cause were over here," said Sonic from behind her. He and Knuckles stood at the very top of the mountain, and Rouge and Shadow were landing close by.
"Sonic!" Amy crushed his bones with a hug. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure. Did you take out the shield?"
Shadow shrugged. "It faltered. I'm not sure it stopped."
"So, the message could have been sent?"
"I suppose so."
There was a long silence. "If they did come, could we do anything?"
"We could try to defeat the whole galaxy. It could get tough."
Sonic shrugged dismissively. "Well, we'll see what happens. Now Knuckles, you have a lot of explaining to do."
Part 7:
Sonic stood atop the mountain, wind and sand being blown into his face. Behind him were Tails, Amy, Shadow and the rest. The black hedgehog was still in high spirits, apparently having a break from his usual reclusive self. No one was sure whether this change was permanent yet. The ruins of the Pyramid were just about visible on the horizon, but he was looking in the other direction, towards the Drakon's volcano on the edge of the desert.
The fish had already detected them. They poured out of the sides of the mountains in their hundreds, each one armed to the teeth with paddles or techno-gun things. Sonic would have preferred to attack them alone, but that wasn't an option. "Okay, guys, all ready?"
"When you are," called Shadow.
"Let's go then!" The others began to move as two blurs charged down the valley and into the desert. Sonic and Shadow raced across the two thousand feet of dust in less than a minute, and smashed into the waiting militia like light speed bowling balls. Sonic smashed through the Drakon's robotic suits like a cannon through cardboard. He skidded to a halt, swerving around the guards and causing them to shoot each other.
"Oh yes! Can you get any cooler than that?" he yelled.
"Easily!" came his opposite's reply. Shadow spun like a top, hurling the fish away to give himself some space. "Come on then? How're you at dodge ball?" The soldiers opened fire.
Shadow twirled and whirled as the bolts shot past him. Then he jumped high into the air and flipped over, stray shots missing by less than millimetres. Finally he landed and fell backwards, swirling his arms Matrix style, until he hit the ground, flipped up and landed on the head of the only one who hadn't been hit by then. The severed head fell to the ground, leaking water as the tiny fish inside swore and cursed.
Sonic scowled. "Too showy."
A hail of arrows and a furious fox signalled the arrival of Tails and Amy. The number of robots doubled to meet them, catching the hedgehogs by surprise. "What the f- ooww!" yelled Sonic, as a wasp-like buzzap sizzled past his ear, leaving it red and sore. Quickly he dived through the nearest Drakons and reduced them to scrap.
The ground was growing damp by now, from the water spilling from the destroyed suits. Sonic swore as he slid twenty feet before regaining control and charging down more guards. Even Shadow was less happy now, and his teeth were gritted as he doggedly demolished fish after fish.
The chief's voice echoed around the huge space inside the volcano: "How long before we are ready?"
The scientists glanced at each other, and pushed forward a spokesperson. "We believe it will work now, if we trigger an eruption. But the platforms are not finished." He gestured across the vast space. The Drakon platform looked like a chessboard, with huge dark squares infesting the structure. During the eruption, huge pillars of lava would blast through them and destroy everything. The chief made a decision. "Once we have contacted the Empire, this hovel will not matter. Retreat all unnecessary personnel and set up an energy shield around the transmitter. Then trigger the eruption."
"Push forward!" yelled Tails, "we have to get into the volcano!"
"What does it look like I'm trying to do?" replied Sonic. The Drakons weren't giving them time to think, let alone regroup and strike back. Unless we can pull together and break in, he thought, they'll have sent the message and we'll be helpless. He bounced off a soldier and spin-attacked into the ground, burrowing through layers of hard rock.
"Nice try," called down a Drakon, and released a fireball from his paddle. Sonic swore again, and reversed at top speed until he came shooting out of the hole with his skin steaming and burnt. His eyes flickered red as he savagely slashed the unfortunate General across the torso and pounded the debris to dust.
With a crackle, a sphere of violet energy sprang up around the transmitter. Its colour grew stronger as the scientists increased the power until it was almost opaque. The chief nodded and said, "Trigger the eruption."
The first quake registered with a punch of dread in the Mobian's stomachs. "We gotta do something!" cried Tails.
"Like what?"
"We're doomed!"
"Alright, who said that?" Sonic glared. But it was true- they were outnumbered about a thousand to five.
Inside the volcano, the constant vibration made everything look slightly out of focus. "All personnel evacuate!" ordered the chief. "Soon Mobius will be ours again!"
Sonic made one last desperate run up the side of the volcano, but the way was almost solid with enemies. After cannoning through twenty his momentum ran out and he tripped.
The Drakons circled him and took aim. "You lose, hedgehog." But they didn't fire.
"What the?" Sonic flipped to his feet. Everyone was looking at the sky. It looked like a swarm of bees was attracting their attention. Sonic looked closer.
Knuckles, and Rouge some way behind him, floated down across the valley. Behind them, some gliding, some riding on skyboards or Knuckles's pteranodon were more echidnas, about a hundred of them. "I don't believe it!" Sonic yelled. High above, Knuckles grinned.
"You'd better," he called down.
Then the echidnas fell on the Drakons and fought with the familiarity of old enemies. "Knuckles, get into the volcano. We have to smash the satellite dish thing." Knuckles and Rouge nodded and glided overhead. "Shadow, ready," called Sonic. "Chaos Control!"
With a green flash, the inside of the base appeared before Sonic. Shadow was next to him, and Knuckles and Rouge dropped down to land nearby. The base was shaking dangerously, and there were no Drakons around, save one.
"You!" the chief screamed at Knuckles. "You will not win again!" Bringing up his paddle, he lunged at Knuckles and the two of them began fighting. Rouge looked on.
"Leave them to it," she said. "We need to take out this satellite thing."
"They've put up a shield round it," said Sonic. "Shouldn't take long to fix." Knuckles's body bounced off the shield and he landed heavily.
"You're too late," cried the chief, his armour cracked and leaking water. "The volcano's erupting!" And Sonic felt the heat rising up from the ground.
And then a lot of things happened very fast. He saw Shadow blurring away, and the shield crackling and faltering. He felt himself leaping and grabbing Knuckles, and Shadow yelling and then the lava obliterated everything except a flash of green.
Amy, Tails and the echidnas had fled to the mountain opposite, leaving the Drakons to be swallowed by the lava. Her insides twinged when she saw the huge column of fire and ash erupting, and Sonic and the rest were nowhere to be found.
"Tails, can you see them?" she called. The fox shook his head. Amy looked down at her watch communicator.
"The chances of survival are not good." Kintobor's voice said. "I can't detect any signs of life. The volcano shows no sign of Chaos energy."
"That's 'cause were over here," said Sonic from behind her. He and Knuckles stood at the very top of the mountain, and Rouge and Shadow were landing close by.
"Sonic!" Amy crushed his bones with a hug. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure. Did you take out the shield?"
Shadow shrugged. "It faltered. I'm not sure it stopped."
"So, the message could have been sent?"
"I suppose so."
There was a long silence. "If they did come, could we do anything?"
"We could try to defeat the whole galaxy. It could get tough."
Sonic shrugged dismissively. "Well, we'll see what happens. Now Knuckles, you have a lot of explaining to do."