"…come again?" Shani asked, blinking a few times.
MJ could not believe what she just heard. Eggman wanted her to push the button? No! She wouldn't have it!
The seal shook her head, and took a step back.
"No? Are you sure?" Eggman clicked the gun, and aimed it at Krystal.
MJ gasped. Krystal seemed to flinch at the sight of her possible fate, but remained calm.
"Push the button, MJ, or else Krystal will die," Eggman threatened.
The seal could feel her heart beat faster. It was either Krystal or Sonic and Jet. She looked at the button.
"I don't have all day…" Eggman informed.
Nobody else could say anything. The friends from earth knew how the story went, and were praying that MJ would push the button. It was how the story went. Sonic had to escape and have a showdown with Shadow. But….why was Jet in the tube, then?
Something clicked inside of Maya Eva's mind. She gasped.
"What is it?" Shani whispered.
"I just realized something…Sonic doesn't know how to use chaos control…and what's even worse, Jet's in there, too. Without chaos control, they can't escape!" Maya Eva whispered back.
Shani thought a moment, and then her eyes widened in realization. "No…" she whispered. "We…we can't let that happen!"
The teal echidna looked at her friend, on the verge of tears. "If we don't, then Krystal will die. Shani, someone is going to die either way! There is nothing we can do!" she said, not caring if anybody else heard her.
A wave of being hurt swept over Shani, but quickly passed and changed into one of sorrow. Maya Eva was right. There was nothing they could do to stop someone from dying. Nothing. Without thinking, the light blue hedgehog buried her face in her friend's chest, crying. Maya Eva, caught off guard, stumbled back, but quickly regained her composure, and hugged her friend, comforting her. But she couldn't stop the tears that were silently falling down her own face.
Lee had caught what Maya Eva said, and thought a moment. How could Sonic and Jet die? The only way was if they—the fox caught himself. That was what was missing. Sonic didn't know how to use chaos control. But….a slight feeling of hope entered Lee's mind. What if Jet could use chaos control? It's possible… Lee looked at the tube, and saw Jet looking at Krystal. More hope came unto him. Jet knew what she had to do, and so did Krystal. Jet could do it; she had to. She was their last hope.
Tails was at a loss for words. How could he have not seen what was coming? How could he have been so stupid as to make Eggman's assumptions correct? How could he? Amy was crying in sorrow. Sonic was going to die…it had always seemed impossible for the blue blur to do so, but now…
Krystal and Jet talked to each other in sign-language, discussing what was to be done. After Jet and Sonic would be launched away, there had to be the fight between Tails and Eggman. During that time, Rouge would learn the truth about Shadow. By then, Sonic and Jet would have escaped and would be making their way to the core in order to finish what they started. And then…they didn't go that far. All they knew was that they had to finish the first part of the story before the real nerve-breaking part began.
Y-O-U-C-A-N-D-O-I-T, Krystal signed to her friend, J-U-S-T-C-O-N-C-E-N-T-R-A-T-E-A-N-D-Y-O-U-W-I-L-L-D-O-F-I-N-E.
B-U-T-W-H-A-T-I-F-I-M-E-S-S-U-P-A-N-D-S-E-N-D-U-S-S-O-M-E-W-H-E-R-E-E-L-S-E, Jet signed back.
M-Y-P-I-A-N-O-T-E-A-C-H-E-R-A-L-W-A-Y-S-T-O-L-D-M-E-T-H-A-T-I-F-Y-O-U-D-O-N-O-T-T-H-I-N-K-A-B-O-U-T-M-A-K-I-N-G-A-M-I-S-T-A-K-E-Y-O-U-W-I-L-L-N-O-T.
Jet took a deep breath, taking in her friend's encouragement. Krystal smiled proudly, her trust starting to grow.
MJ didn't know what to do. Either way someone was going to die…she had just realized that from hearing what Maya Eva said. But there was the thought that Jet might save them…but could she? Did she even know how to use the chaos emerald? Not to mention a FAKE one? Yes she could, trust her, MJ! She can do it! Why, wasn't she one of the two at your birthday party who was playing Sonic Adventure 2: Battle? She could do it! MJ's eyes looked up to see Jet looking at Krystal. The seal followed her friend's gaze. Why was she…? The seal got her answer as she saw the two doing a familiar silent way of talking. Sign-language. But…what were they saying? MJ didn't know sign-launguage. All she knew were some basic letters such as c, o, and l. What help it was to know those letters.
"I don't have all day, MJ!" Eggman reminded, and that brought everyone's attention to the birthday girl.
MJ looked at the tube, then at Krystal, then back at the button.
"Decide, MJ! Which one will it be?" Eggman inquired, watching the seal intently.
MJ wanted to push the button, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Did she really want to attempt to murder her friend? No, she didn't want to be a murderer! But…
"You've got ten seconds or else I'll shoot. Ten…" the scientist began.
MJ could feel her heart pick up it's pace. Push the button! one side of her screamed. No! Don't! Do you really want to be a murderer? the other questioned.
"Nine…"
Couldn't Eggman give her more time?
"Eight…"
No time to think about that, MJ! Make your decision! her mind yelled.
"Seven…"
Krystal or Jet and Sonic…..Krystal or Jet and Sonic…
"Six…."
Jet and Sonic for goodness sake!
"Five…"
Push the button already!
"Four…"
MJ tried to bring her arm up, but it was like an invisible and much stronger hand was trying to push it back.
"Three…"
PUSH THE BUTTON!
"Two…"
Her hand was shaking as it hovered right above the button. Go ahead and get it over with, MJ. Push it and be a murderer. Betray your friends. No, she couldn't—
"One…"
Too late. Eggman pulled the trigger. The sound pierced the tense air like a sharp knife.
"NO!" Shani screamed. "KRYSTAL!"
MJ's heart skipped a beat as her ears were ringing from the loud noise the gun had made. No….
"Fine. If you won't do it, then I will!" Eggman exclaimed, not caring about what he had done. His pudgy finger fell upon a similar button on his control panel.
Before all of their eyes, the tube shot away.
"SONIC!" Amy screamed, her jade eyes looking out of the window in worry.
Maya Eva was crying hysterically, and fell to her knees, covering her face. No….that wasn't supposed to happen…Krystal wasn't supposed to die! NEITHER was supposed to die! Now all three were gone!
Lee looked out the window, his eyes searching for a bright light to show that Jet and Sonic would escape. The only light that showed was from the explosion of the tube. Lee's heart fell. No…they didn't….they….
MJ felt a great weight on her shoulders. Guilt. What had she done? She had just made the biggest mistake in her entire life, and it cost her two of her best friends' lives. Well done, MJ. Well done, her mind thought. Tears flowed down her face as she fell to the ground in guilt. It was her fault. All hers. Every bit of it was hers, and she couldn't stand it. She ran. Ran out of the room, and into the hall. She didn't know where she was going, nor did she care. She just wanted to get as far away as she could from that room.
Shani stood, crying. She was crying so hard, she didn't know that it was her who was still screaming. Finally, her voice began hoarse, and she couldn't scream anymore. Her eyes never left the lying figure of her once-alive friend. Wait a minute…Shani stopped crying. If Krystal was shot….wasn't there supposed to be blood? The light blue hedgehog ran over to her friend, and knelt down, examining her. No blood. Shani watched her friend's chest. It wasn't rising up and down like it would when someone was breathing…wait a minute. Didn't Krystal win numerous times the how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath contest? She was good at a lot of things, and holding her breath was one of them. If there wasn't any blood, and she was supposedly holding her breath….the light blue hedgehog tried to conceal her excitement and closed her mouth, trying not to squeal with delight, but she couldn't stop her arms from flailing up and down. Krystal wasn't dead! Krystal wasn't dead!
Lee saw Shani's flailing arms. What was she so excited about? Two friends just died! Didn't she understand that? The two-tailed fox jumped out of the TORNADO and walked over to the light blue hedgehog. As he walked over, his pace began to slow down. There wasn't any blood…
Eggman turned to Tails. "Now, Tails, be a good fox and give me the real chaos emerald!" he said.
"Sonic…" Tails murmured.
"Huh?"
"For the first time, Sonic asked me to do something for him," Tails explained as an inner flame began to burn. "I won't let him down! I won't give up!"
"We'll see about that!" Eggman retorted, and fired at the fox. The TORNADO jumped out of the way, and everyone flinched at the high-pitched sound the laser made.
Shani looked behind her, and saw her friend, Maya Eva caught in the fight. She was desperately trying to avoid the laser attacks. "EVA!" Shani screamed, and turned into light as she dashed towards her friend to rescue her, just as Lee had arrived where the supposedly-dead Krystal lay.
Lee examined Krystal. No blood….but there was a pulse…but it didn't look like she was breathing…he felt like he could scratch his head in confusion.
Amy hustled over to where Krystal lay, her cheeks stained with tears. Apparently, it didn't appear to be odd to her that there was no blood. She just hugged the seemingly life-less body like it was the last thing that mattered to her.
Shani and Maya Eva joined the group, and they all quickly covered their heads as a laser struck the spot above them.
"Oh, Shani…" it was Maya Eva's turn to burry her face in her friend's chest and cry.
"Eva, it's okay! Krystal's alive!" Shani exclaimed, a big smile on her face.
Maya Eva stopped crying, and leaned back. "What!" she inquired, and they all ducked another laser.
"I said, Krystal's alive!" Shani repeated.
"But how?" Maya Eva asked.
"Remember when she won the who-can-hold-their-breath-the-longest contest?" she asked.
"That would explain THAT part…" Lee mumbled.
"You mean…she's alive?" Amy asked, loosening her hold.
"Yep," Shani informed, and they ducked once more.
"But…why isn't she awake right now?" Maya Eva asked.
"Eggman's here. She probably wants him to believe she's dead," Lee informed.
"But why? What good will that do?" it was Shani's turn to start asking questions.
"If Eggman knew she were alive, then it would ruin the story, because he would probably have a different strategy then. But this way…it remains the same," Lee explained.
"Krystal, can you at least take a breath so then we know you're truly alive?" Amy asked.
The white hedgehog took in a breath, and let out some so then it looked like she hadn't taken any at all.
"KRYS—"
"SHHHHHHH!" the others shushed Maya Eva's remark. But she could catch a tint of excitement in their voices as well.
"But…how could Krystal have survived the shot?" Amy asked.
"Remember? Eggman wasn't looking at Krystal when he fired. He was watching MJ!" Maya Eva said, her face enlightened with joy.
"Wow…she's a good actor," Amy complimented.
"Yeah, but now it's our turn to start acting. We gotta pretend like she is still dead," Lee informed.
The others nodded, and Shani buried her face in Maya Eva's chest once more, and the two embraced each other. Amy hugged Krystal close, and Lee forced himself to get tears to fall down silently. So far, so good. The act was going well. Now if only Jet and Sonic were alive…
……..
MJ's pace slowed to a walk. She had been running for who knows how long, and she didn't care. She was a murderer now; a complete traitor. She raised a hand to wipe some tears away. The seal then took in a shaky breath to calm her nerves, trying to convince herself that Jet and Sonic were alive. That didn't help. Tears came flowing once more. It was impossible. They couldn't be alive. She killed them…okay, maybe she didn't directly murder them, but it was her fault they were dead and that they hadn't escaped. But that didn't change the fact that she still had let Krystal be murdered.
MJ kept walking as these thoughts ran through her head. The more they talked of how she betrayed them, the more her heart ached. She raised her eyes to look in front of her, just as a black blur whizzed by her.
MJ froze. Was that…Shadow? Why was he in such a—the seal caught herself as a flashback of the game came to her mind. Her eyes widened in realization. Shadow was trying to stop whoever was getting to the Eclipse Canon. The only people that could be was…. MJ could feel a smile start to spread on her lips. Jet did it.
………..
"Are you sure this is the way? I thought we'd be there by now," Sonic commented, surveying the tunnel they were in.
"Just be patient, okay?" Jet asked. She looked around. Shadow was supposed to be here by—
"You people never cease to surprise me. I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space," said a voice behind the two.
Jet and Sonic turned around to see none other than Shadow.
Jet smirked. "You know, what can I say? We die hard," she stated as they began walking.
"So…there is more to you than just having the same abilities as me. What are you anyway?" Shadow questioned as they broke into a jog.
"What you see is what you get. Just some kids who love adventure! I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic announced.
Shadow took a glance towards Jet as she said, "And I'm Jet!"
"I see…but you know, I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end!" Shadow declared as they ran faster.
"Jet…leave this to me! I'll take care of Shadow! You run ahead and get the chaos emerald in the Eclipse Canon! We only have 5 minutes!" Sonic informed. Jet nodded, and slowed down as the two hedgehogs began to fight.
She watched as Shadow did a homing-attack, and Sonic blocked it with his own. She saw Shadow finally able to strike Sonic, but Sonic got to strike Shadow as well. Before she could watch any more, the ground beneath her rumbled. She looked below her, and then in front. The platforms were falling!
"SONIC!" Jet called, and the blue hedgehog looked back to see what his friend was calling about.
Shadow took the opportunity and struck Sonic once more. Jet jumped to the next platform, and kept running, trying to think of a way she could sneak past Shadow. The two continued fighting, and Jet took the chance. She ran as fast as she could by them, and down the long walkway.
"NO!" Shadow cried, and chased after the brown animal. Sonic got up and followed suit.
Jet didn't dare look behind her. She knew Shadow was there, trying to stop what they were doing. She pushed her legs to run faster. She felt as if her lungs would burst, but if she gave up now, the whole world would be destroyed. She kept running.
Fortunately, Sonic caught up with Shadow, and was able to get him to trip.
"Why you!" Shadow exclaimed, and did a homing-attack.
"GO JET!" Sonic yelled, and Jet did so. She kept running. She tried to get the exhaustion she was feeling out of her head, but it didn't work. She couldn't run much farther, and she knew it.
Finally, the Eclipse Canon came into view. Jet smiled, and instantly found a new burst of energy. With that, she kept running.
Shadow gritted his teeth. No! This wasn't supposed to happen! He chased after the brown animal once more.
Sonic got up, a bit weakly, and followed. He could only pray that Jet would be able to get that chaos emerald in there…
Jet saw the Eclipse Canon at a close distance, and took a glance behind her. Shadow was there. She didn't have time to keep running and find a safer place to jump across. It was either saving the world, or letting it be destroyed….What kind of either/or question is THAT? Jet thought. Saving the world is a definite! With that thought in mind, Jet gathered her courage, and jumped.
For a split second, she thought she wouldn't make it, but when she felt her arms and legs wrap around the small pole in the center, she knew she did. Before she could take a moment of relief, she was brought back to reality. She still had a job to do. With that, she shimmied up the pole.
"NO!" Shadow stomped a foot in the ground.
Sonic then entered the scene. "Come on, Jet!" he exclaimed, cupping his hands over his mouth.
For a second, Shadow stared at Sonic. The blue hedgehog didn't mind. He kept yelling encouragements to the brown animal. Shadow looked down. He failed….
Once Jet reached the top, she let go of one hand, and reached into her pocket to retrieve the chaos emerald. She held in front of her, and then slammed it with all of her might into the Eclipse Canon.
……….
Tails had done it. He finally defeated Eggman. He felt proud, and raised his walkie-talkie to deliver the good news…but his heart fell when he remembered there was no one there…
"Sonic…" he said. "I….I did it…."
"Great work, Tails!" exclaimed the all-too-familiar voice.
"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed into the walkie-talkie. Everyone stopped their act and lifted their heads. They're alive!
"Don't forget about me!" informed another voice.
"JET!" Shani yelled, and ran up to the walkie-talkie.
"Where are you guys?" Maya Eva wondered.
"Take a look outside!" Sonic suggested. The others exchanged glances, and did as told.
Their hearts were filled with tension as they watched the Eclipse Canon open...only to malfunction, and start causing small explosions. After all the little fires, they had to squint their eyes to see what their friends were talking about. There, barely visible on the small pole, were two heroes. One, a brown animal of some sort, and the other, a blue hedgehog.
"WE DID IT!" Maya Eva shouted, jumping up.
"YAHOO!" Lee yelled.
Amy took a glance at the supposed-to-be-dead Krystal, and could see a smile on her face. She knew she was trying to hide it, but it was to no avail. She was overjoyed, and so were they.
"WE DID IT, WE DID IT, UH-UH! UH-UH!" Shani cheered, and they all laughed. No one could explain how they felt. Their hearts were swelled with pride and joy, and nothing at that moment could break it down. Nothing.
But nobody saw the mad scientist sneak out of the room with what he wanted…
"GUYS! GUYS!" it was MJ. She burst into the room, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"What is it, MJ?" Maya Eva asked.
"I just found out! Sonic and Jet are—"
"Alive? Yeah. We know. Pretty happy about it, too," said a voice behind them.
They turned to see Knuckles, Sonic, Jet, Darkness, and Mira enter the room.
MJ was speechless. For a second, she could only stare at Jet. She was alive… Without thinking, MJ ran over and hugged her friend, sobbing, "I'm sorry, Jet! I'm so sorry…"
Jet was surprised, but then hugged the seal back. "It's okay…I forgive you."
MJ loosened her hug, surprised. "You do?"
The brown animal nodded.
MJ couldn't explain what she felt. It was a mixture of relief, amazement, and thankfulness. Relief that Jet wasn't mad at her, amazement that Jet would actually forgive her for doing such an awful thing, and thankfulness to have such a friend as Jet. But there was still one thing MJ felt guilty about…
"But what about Krystal?" she asked, turning to the white hedgehog.
"See for yourself," Maya Eva said.
Jet and Sonic exchanged glances. What was that supposed to mean?
"Go, all of you. Pay your respects to the dead!" Shani said, a big smile on her face.
They furrowed their eyebrows. Okay…
They all walked over and gathered around. Darkness was the first to notice something…
"Hey, there's no blood!" she said.
"But…she's not breathing," Mira pointed out.
"Guys…she has a pulse," Knuckles informed.
Silence settled over them as the realization struck.
Lee looked behind him, then back at Krystal, and said, "Hey, Krys. Egghead's gone. You can stop acting now."
The white hedgehog immediately opened her eyes and took in big breaths of air. "Finally! I was wondering when he would leave!" she exclaimed, sitting up.
"KRYSTAL!" MJ shouted, and hugged her friend. So it wasn't her fault. She wasn't a murderer. In fact, what she did probably was a good thing! MJ couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Krystal hugged her friend back. "Hey, MJ!" She couldn't help but smile herself. In fact, everyone couldn't help but smile. It seemed as though everything was finally going the way it should be…
"GROUP HUG!" Shani called, and instantly wrapped her arms around as many people as she could. The others laughed, and did the same.
As MJ laughed, she couldn't help but be proud. She had the best (if not craziest) friends in the world—and she loved it!
……….
Eggman laughed. The final chaos emerald was in place, and all was ready. His eyes were mainly fixed on the computer screen in front of him. Too bad he didn't see the one behind him, flashing, WARNING, or else he would've taken notice that a greater danger lay ahead of them…a FAR greater danger…