The adversary before us is truly a monster. It is a lizard that has bound itself to the Space Colony
ARK and is steering it towards the Earth. Gerald Robotnik's will is strong within this beast. The
monster's brother of sorts is next to me, staring at our new enemy. His usually black and crimson
fur is now silver with crimson streaks upon it. His crimson eyes are narrowed at the beast and his
expression gives no clue as to what he is thinking of. I do not know what changed his mind. What
made him wish to aid us in our efforts to save the Earth when he seemed so determined to destroy
it? He glances at me, his expression remaining neutral, and nods. I smile confidently at him and
give him a thumbs up. We both know what needs to be done in order for any of us to see
tomorrow.

I stare at the beast, wondering where to attack. He had fought this monster once before, but I had
been too busy to see what had been done. I can hear his voice as he propels himself away from
me.

"Those sores… Try attacking them…" His quiet voice carries surprisingly well across this
vacuum and I realize it must be because of the Emeralds that he can even speak. My eyes widen
as the thought that we're only safe out here as long as the Emeralds shield us crosses my mind.
We have to hurry. We each take one side of the creature, our view of each other is blocked by the
massive beast as I ready myself to attack. A sore is present on his back, near the life support
device he is wearing. I frown and hurry towards it, knowing this needs to end fast.

We attack as a team, I deliver a blow and he follows it with another. The beast screams its agony
in a haunting way each time. I feel so much pity for this creature who was a mistake. I know we
need to put it out of its misery. He pauses a moment, knowing that the monster must be near its
breaking point and glances quickly towards me. I nod, expression as serious as can be. I ready
myself, preparing to end this creature but his voice stops me.

"No… Let me do it." I look into his crimson eyes and realize why: This creature was created as a
prototype to him. It should be he who finishes it. I nod once more and he targets a sore. I close
my eyes as I see him near his target. The scream that follows is the worst of them all. I shut my
eyes tighter, not wanting to face the demise of this creature. When I open them, he is beside me
again, panic in his eyes. I stare past him at the colony still falling towards the Earth and narrow
my eyes. We are not quite done yet.

"We can't let it hit!" I yell as I gather the Chaos Emeralds' power in my body. He nods and
begins to do the same. This is our last stand.

We head straight for the colony, our energy mixing and creating a barrier against the colony's.
The energy gathers above our heads and between us as we hold up our hands together and yell
the words that may save the Earth.

"Chaos Control!"

I have only done this once before, and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I realize
now that I am not strong enough to do this. I can feel the Emeralds' energy draining from my
body and close my eyes.

"I'm sorry, everyone…" I whisper as the vacuum of space begin to press around me. It hurt as
nothing I've ever felt before. I swear I hear someone screaming and open my eyes quickly. I look
up towards the colony and see her – Amy. Her emerald eyes are wide with fright and her mouth is
open in one long scream. I know it's impossible for me to hear her, but I swear that I do. Next to
Amy stands Tails. His hands are pounding on the glass and tears are coursing down his face. I
shake my head and close my eyes again.

I feel energy build up and move the colony outside of the Earth's atmosphere and smile to myself.
At least everyone is safe. In that moment, however, it feels as if time stops.

I can feel the familiar sensation of the Emeralds' warm power begin to caress my skin and gently
flow into my body. I open my eyes and see his eyes staring into mine.

"Damn it, Faker. You can't do this!" His voice is strained as I watch his fur flicker from silver to
black and back. It dawns on me that he must be giving me his energy. He's trying to save me. I
stare at him, begging him with my eyes to stop. He's putting himself in too much danger. He only
forces more of his energy into my body and I feel tears fall from my eyes. Before his fur changes
completely to black once more, he smiles at me.

"They need you." I don't understand why he's helping me. He always said he hated me. Yet he's
sacrificing his Super form to give me mine. My eyes widen as I remember that the Super forms
are the only things keeping us alive in space.

"You can't do this! You'll die…" He closes his eyes and I begin to cry and beg him not to do this.
I don't want him to die just so that I can live. That's my job, isn't it? I'm the hero…

"Adios, Sonic The Hedgehog," he whispers softly. "Chaos Control…" His voice fades away and
all I can do is watch as light begins to encircle me and he begins to fall away. I start screaming his
name and but no sound can be heard. I reach out my hand for his and grab hold of the bracelet
around his wrist. He stares up at me with those crimson eyes and smiles again, shaking his head.
His mouth is moving but I can't hear him. He then begins to pull his hand out of the bracelet and
he falls again.

Suddenly, time begins to move very quickly again and I can hear myself screaming as the golden
light blocks my view of him and I feel my body moving through space to where he wanted me to
go.

I fall onto the Master Emerald's Shrine inside the colony and begin to weep bitter tears. He was
gone. He thought I was worth more than he was. He was the hero this time.

AN: Well, there is more to the story, don't worry. I'll probably update in a couple weeks. Please R&R, it really means a lot to me and keeps me motivated enought to continue. I hope you enjoyed it. Um... Yeah, I also hope Shadow was IC. In all honesty, I'm playing with Shadow to see if I can get his Character right before releasing another story I'm working on. :) An ORIGINAL story, might I add. Ooooh.
Also, before I forget. Just a note, before you e-mail me saying this isn't right: This is my take on what happened during and after the final battle in SA2. And since this is my take, if I owned the game, wouldn't it have been something like this? Soooo... Guess that means I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any other characters in this story.
---Leah Bea