AGAINST ALL ODDS

Author's Note: I am SO sorry it took so long for me to post this! Word of advice: AP History...avoid it. It's WAY too much work. Anyway, enough of my complaining. Just so you know, in the last chapter when the origin of the name "The Ravagers" is revealed...well...it's true. Don't ask how, but I spelt Revengers wrong, cuz I did. And I thought of the Revengers when I was about 7, so don't think that I make up stupid names or somethin. And yes, I read Ravager in the dictionary not too long ago. I'm not changing it, so it's there to stay. Now that I've displayed my stupidity, here's the exciting conclusion!

There they stood. Fifteen heroes at the edge of a city. A city in peril. Behind them, the city lights began to gleam as the sun began to set in the horizon. In front of them, miles away at the end of the great Rail Canyon, a large, black mass moved towards them. "This reminds me of an ancient text I once read," F.C. said as they watched the swarm of Legionnaires in the distance. "Really? What was it?" Espio asked.

"And so the valiant heroes doth stand,

As a black plague swept across the land.

And although fear dwelt in their minds,

They would not let it be their confines.

Behind them stood their city, their home,

And for it they face this evil alone."

F.C. turned to Knuckles, then continued reciting,

"With them stood one hero of fiery red,

With an ancient helmet upon his head."

"Knux...that hat of yours is really old, right?" Mighty asked. Knuckles nodded, then returned his attention to F.C.

"All will fall to their knees and cower,

For this will be his darkest hour.

The red hero will be tempted by the dark lord,

And asked to join his evil horde.

And if the red hero is to be turned,

The heroes will die, and the city be burned.

But if not, and he does stand to fight,

His greatest enemy will be the light.

For even if the light is weak and narrow,

All it must do...is cast one shadow."

They all stood in silence, amazed by how much the old text related to their present situation. "Jeez. That really didn't lighten the moment at all. 'Just made things heavier," Vector mumbled. "Well it could be worse," Mighty said with a small smile, "It could be rai-" CRASH! Thunder boomed in the sky and the heavens opened upon them. They all stared into space for a moment, then shifted their eyes over at Mighty. "Uhh...I'll be...over there," Mighty said as he slowly sidestepped away.

"DJ, what're our odds?" Swiper asked. "Give me a sec for my suit to calculate it...well! It's not too bad. We got a 44 chance of victory if we use our strategy. If we're flawless, we could make it an even 50, then it's anybody's game," DJ said. "How many are there?" Sonic asked. "Computer, scan number of life forms ahead of us," DJ commanded. They heard a beeping sound as the number was being calculated, then a fizzing, crackling sound as the system overloaded. DJ shrugged and said, "Calculator's fried. Guess it's up to the old fashion way. One, two, three..."

Ten minutes later

"One thousand seven hundred and fifty one, one thousand seven hundred and fifty two-""You're just making up numbers, right?" Mighty asked. "Yep. I lost count at about two hundred," DJ replied. The sound of the Legion marching had become louder now. They could see the front lines very clearly now as the rain stopped pouring. "Looks like they're stopping," Grim said as the Legionnaire army came to a halt. "Get ready to rush 'em!" Cap growled as they got ready to charge.

"Fools! Do you honestly believe that you can overcome us with such a small force?" a familiar voice yelled. They looked up to see Dimitri standing on a hovercraft, floating proudly above his grand army. "Surrender now, and we will spare your lives!" Dimitri bellowed. "Screw you!" Knuckles bellowed back. "Knuckles! I am giving you a chance. Join the Legion! You belong here! The rest of the world will not accept you now. You hide your face in shame, along with the Guardian symbol. Your ancestors are ashamed of you, your friends frightened by you, your former allies loath you! Join me, and you will have your free will intact! I will not remove your brain and replace it with my own as I intended. You can use your awesome power so that we can rule this planet! You never had a real father, and my son has been dead for lifetimes now. Let me be the father to you that Locke never was!" Dimitri said into the loudspeaker. Knuckles lowered his head. Dimitri was right. The whole world hated him now. There was nowhere for him to go. But then he raised his head, glared up at Dimitri and yelled, "DIMITRI! THE DARK LEGION ENDS TODAY! IT ENDS NOW!" Dimitri frowned and said, "You fool. Die with the idiots you have befriended! ATTACK!"

With that command given, the Dark Legion army charged, drawing their laser rifles. Knuckles let out a loud battle cry as he charged at the overwhelming force. The others joined in and charged behind him. "Freezie! Sonic! Get to work!" Cap yelled. "Sure thing!" Sonic shouted as he and Freezie dashed ahead at amazing speeds.

Raynor was proud to be in the front lines for this battle. He was ready to give his life for Dimitri. He wanted to kill the Guardian himself. He drew up his blaster to fire, only to find it wasn't there. He was not the only one in such a situation. The front lines were missing their weapons! Raynor looked up to see the Guardian's angry eyes, then his fist.

"Morph! I need a face-lift!" Vipes yelled. "Sure!" Morph yelled back. Morph rearranged the molecules of his head into bouncy rubber, Vipes jumped into the air above him, and launched off of Morph's head. "Dual kitana blade!" Vipes yelled as his sword glowed and became two identical kitanas. He then began to carve non-lethal wounds into the Legionnaires as he landed on the ground. The goal was to try to avoid killing any Legionnaires if at all possible. "This is the craziest Moche pit I've ever been in!" Swiper yelled as he dug one of his blades into the ground and used it to spin around like a top, kicking the Legionnaires around him. "Don't get distracted!" Mighty yelled as he tackled a Legionnaire. Grim swung his sickle around, burning the cybernetic implants of the unarmed Legionnaires. Cap performed a split-kick, then began to pound away at the Legionnaires attacking him. Espio, of course, could not be seen, and was beating up countless, stupefied Legionnaires.

Vector and Ray swung their tails and bashed two Legionnaires together. Morph turned into a puddle as some Legionnaires surrounded him. As they came closer, one fist for each of them popped up and uppercut them into the air. Sonic and Freezie did what they do around, punching dozens of Legionnaires as they went. DJ found himself being surrounded by about a dozen Legionnaires. "Okay. I'll admit you all have guts. Your big army against us. Those are impossible odds for you. So I'll give you a chance to surrender. You have until the count of...seven hundred and forty two! One!-"The Legionnaires charged him as he dropped to the ground and began spinning around, kicking them as they charged. "Is DJ break dancing?" Vector shouted. "They don't call me the Mecha DJ for nothin'!" DJ yelled proudly as he began to moonwalk, then spun around with a roundhouse, kicking two Legionnaires.

Knuckles swung punch after punch and kick after kick mercilessly upon his opponents. He would take all these guys out if that's what he needed to do to get to Dimitri. Cap looked to notice that they had taken out most of the front lines, and now the back lines were coming up with weapons. "F.C.! We need some breathing room!" he yelled as they began to become surrounded. F.C. had been using a staff to bash opponents that were up close, and fire spells at opponents that drew nearer. "Okay!" he yelled as he spun his staff above him and slammed it into the ground, creating a shock wave that sent the Legionnaires flying in all directions. The others watched as energy spheres protected them as Legionnaires flew through the air, taking out more as they came crashing to the ground. The Legionnaires not hit by the shock wave looked up at a huge dust cloud before them. Suddenly, fifteen silhouettes came rushing towards them. As they drew for their weapons, two of the silhouettes vanished as two dust trails burst at them. When they looked at their hands, their weapons were gone.

"That's it, boys! Let's keep this up!" Cap yelled as they came running through the smoke and began their second assault. As they were fighting, Dimitri looked on and smiled. "Their strategy is quite ingenious actually. Not bad for some teenage imbeciles. However, their efforts will be all in vain. We may not have out tanks to assist us, but our sheer numbers will overcome them as they grow tired. And if it comes down to it," Dimitri said with a malicious smile as he turned around to a Legionnaire standing next to Xenin, "Our secret weapon will finish the job." "Is it time, my lord?" the Legionnaire asked as he bowed. "No. Give them a few moments to gather false hope...then finish Knuckles and crush them!" Dimitri said.

Grim was too busy fighting off the surrounding Legionnaires to notice one come up with a flame-thrower. He turned around to see the Legionnaire pointing it at him. "Burn!" he yelled as he pulled the trigger, sending a burst of flame at Grim. "GRIM!!!" Ray yelled as he hovered overhead. The Legionnaire pointed up at Ray, but was startled when he heard a voice chuckling from where Grim was standing. The flames began to swirl, revealing Grim standing, unscorched. "My turn," Grim said as he snapped his fingers, igniting his thumb, held it before his mouthpiece, and blew, creating an instant flame-thrower. The Legionnaire screamed as his cloak burst into flames as he ran around. "What the hell did you just do?!?! This isn't a barbecue you pyromaniac!" Mighty yelled. "I control my flames! It's burning his cloak, but not him. However, he wont realize it until he goes into shock or there's nothing left to burn," Grim said as he used the same technique to set several Legionnaires aflame. "Yeah! Let's do it, y'all! We can do this!" Sonic yelled.

An evil grin curled on Dimitri's mouth. "They have had long enough. Time to show them our greatest weapon." Dimitri turned to the Legionnaire next to Xenin and said, "It is time. Go forth and destroy Knuckles! Your own power rivals his, but you...you have more control of it. It is time for you to take your revenge! G.U.N. and the government of Station Square are responsible for your cursed memories, your bleeding heart! Knuckles defends them, so he and his allies are too your enemies. Make him suffer! Make them suffer for what has happened to you!" Dimitri said. "Yes, my Lord," the Legionnaire said as he removed his cloak and jumped off the hovercraft. "Yes. You and Knuckles are very much alike. Your emotions are as easy to use as his were. Fool," said Dimitri as he sat down to observe.

Sonic was running, punching Legionnaires left and right, when something whizzed past him. Out of curiosity, he ran after it. 'What was that?' he thought to himself. Knuckles was pounding away when he suddenly saw Sonic come crashing to the ground before him. He scrambled to help Sonic get up, and when they looked up, they gasped at what they saw. Lightning struck behind the figure in front of them. It was a shadow. A shadow of Sonic. It was a black hedgehog, with red streaks in his quills, which curled up at the ends. His red eyes were filed with anger and hate. There was a white patch of fur on his chest, which matched his white gloves. He just stood there and stared at them, and they did the same.

"Sonic...get out of her, now," Knuckles said. Sonic shot a shocked look at him and said, "No way! This guy's mine!" Knuckles growled and shoved Sonic away. "This is no time for your stupid ego! This guy...this guy's somethin' else. He'd annihilate you," Knuckles said grimly as he glanced back at the black hedgehog. "Help the others. I'll take this," Knuckles said. Sonic looked at the hedgehog, then back at Knuckles. Knuckles had never seemed more serious in his entire life. Sonic nodded and ran off to assist the others.

"I knew we'd meet eventually...Shadow the Hedgehog," Knuckles said, standing calmly as the battle went on around them. "So Knuckles, you know who I am," Shadow said with a smile. "Dimitri couldn't keep you a secret forever. Especially after out minds were connected," Knuckles said. "So then you know everything," Shadow said. "You mean the fact that we're the same thing?" Knuckles asked. "Yes. Two sides of the same coin. Both of us are able to assimilate the power of a chaos emerald for our own purposes. We are the most powerful beings on this entire planet Mobius. Unfortunately, I have to kill you now," Shadow said. "Why? So Dimitri can use you?" Knuckles spat. "NO! So that innocent lives may be at last avenged!" Shadow yelled as he charged at Knuckles.

Shadow was fast. Dangerously fast. One false move would end this quickly. "Why are you doing this, Shadow?!?! Why are you fighting for Dimitri?!?! Do you think this will avenge Gerard and Maria?!?!" Knuckles yelled as he blocked a barrage of punches. "Do not speak their names! You do not have the right! They were peaceful people, working to change the world through science! They were trying to bring about the end of wars, an everlasting peace! Yet they were slain for their ideals! Is that right?!?!" Shadow yelled. "So is taking over Station Square and enslaving its people your sense of justice?" Knuckles shouted back. "I must determine for myself what true justice is!!!" Shadow yelled as he flashed a white light in a chaos transformation. "Now you face the wrath of Hyper Shadow!!!" he yelled as he charged at Knuckles, punching him into the air above the continuing battle. DJ looked up to see Hyper Shadow flying at Knuckles. "Jeez! That thing just tapped a chaos well! The locked file...that thing is Gerard Robotnik's ultimate life form!" DJ yelled.

Knuckles regained his balance and transformed into Hyper Knuckles to combat Hyper Shadow. The two erupted into a high-speed fight, crashing into each other as they flew across the sky. "If you want to avenge Maria and Gerard, then preserve their memory and search for peace!" Knuckles yelled as he blocked a kick. "Peace?!?! There is no such thing s peace! It is an illusion! An imaginary concept created by frail minds! It can never become a reality and you know this! Why then do you fight for it?!?!" Shadow shouted as he barely dodged a quick jab. "Because I hope! Hope that it can be achieved, maybe not in my lifetime, but perhaps in the next!" shouted Knuckles as he and Shadow became entangled in a grip lock.

"You are an even greater fool than Dimitri said you were! Hope! There is but one way to attain a sense of peace, and that is through a dictatorship! As long as there are individual nations, they will bicker and fight over selfish desires! Dimitri will lead the world as we know it into a golden age!" Shadow beckoned. They both growled as they tried to outmatch each other. Dimitri watched on with a smile on his face. "But that isn't peace! That's a world where Dimitri makes the rules and the people grovel before him!" Knuckles yelled. "If that is what will end wars between nations then so be it! How can peace at the expense of lives possibly be defined as peace?!?!" Shadow shouted as he head butted Knuckles, causing him to lean backwards. Shadow began a vicious assault, throwing punch after kick, blow after blow. Suddenly, Knuckles grabbed Shadow's leg and blasted him in the chest with chaos energy. When Shadow regained himself, Knuckles was sweating and panting. His wounds were healing at an accelerated rate, which made Shadow smile. "I see that you are not finished yet," Shadow said. Knuckles tightened his hat on his head as he said, "You'd better believe it! I'm just warmin' up!"