It seemed as if the temperature in the area had plummeted. Sally shivered as the pile of rubble settled and the room was deathly silent. She couldn't believe her eyes, her ears, and the feeling that ran over her. In defiance she cried his name out once more, letting it echo across the room, sounding choked as she started to give into her fears.
Bunnie placed a hand on her friend's back, and that seemed to bring down the walls. The princess turned and sobbed into the rabbot's shoulder. "It can't be… Bunnie… I can't believe it…"
Her friend just consoled her as best as she could. It was hard to tell her it would be alright, especially since the rabbot knew that now they were all helpless and at the mercy at the enemy they had evaded for most of their lives. Had they really come so far just to be stopped now?
Jerome held his tail in his hands, looking down with his eyes closed. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but it was obvious he was also mourning. Bunnie wondered how long the mouse had known about Sonic, the first time he had heard of the stories of the defiant blue hedgehog, which fought against all odds and won. Now, the odds caught up, and he had to witness the crushing fall.
The rabbot looked up toward the lava pit that was across the room, to the fox dangling there. Tails was probably the hardest hit, he hung there limp, like a puppet that had had the life force sucked out of him. She wondered what was going through his mind, maybe he was longing to be dropped into the fiery depths that were below his feet. Sonic was his life… how would he be able to go on without his idol?
Maybe Bunnie was thinking of everyone else, because she was avoiding her own feelings. Wanting to forget all the times Sally would wait for the blue hedgehog, worried and stressed. All the times she would tell her friend that it was ok, and that Sonic would be alright. Not wanting to believe that she could no longer have that confidence, that the hedgehog was indestructible. Because if she lost that… she felt she'd lose everything.
The air seemed to have shifted. Knuckles looked up. It felt as if something had faded, as if a piece of him had just been taken away. Something told him that he had to hurry; he hated it when he got feelings like this, because they were usually correct.
He pushed the island a little faster with the Master Emerald, causing the palace to shake a bit. It would probably take only a dozen more minutes or so to reach his destination. He knew though, that in that amount of time, a lot can happen.
A bright light caused the echidna's thoughts to be interrupted. "What the?" he pondered as he noticed the source of the glow. The emeralds were reacting. But to what? There was nothing around here to react to. He closed his eyes, and tried to find the source of the reaction. After a few seconds, he felt it. A weak, familiar force, far off in the distance was gathering the power. Opening his eyes, the guardian spoke, "Sonic?"
"As you can see, I was correct. The hedgehog was no match for me, it is apparent we will not need the fox after all." Metal Sonic looked toward the Wing Fortress, to where he guess Snively was watched the battle.
A voice cut through the air, coming from the princess locked in the cell. "Don't you dare touch him!"
The three Mobians in the cell jostled about. Bunnie stared to kick at the bars that held them in with as much force as she could muster. Metal Sonic looked to the cage, "I don't think we need any of these weak organics? May I disassemble them as well?"
After a bit of a pause, the voice of the short human cut through the air. "Do what you want, now that the rodent is gone the rest do not matter."
Clanging steps and glowing eyes approached the three caged Freedom Fighters. The robotic hedgehog stopped at the foot of the cage and pointed a wrist laser at Sally. As the beam charged up Jerome stepped in front of the ground squirrel. "So you're not gonna let us out and we can settle this fair and square? What cowardous."
With a shake of the head the robot glared at the mouse. "It is more efficient this way, destroying you otherwise would be a delay of the inevitable." The light around the wrist started to glow more, causing Jerome to close his eyes and wait for the blow.
Something caused the robot to stop though, and look over its shoulder. It had received a strange reading on its sensors. Sally and Bunnie were confused as the robot turned away. After the pause Jerome opened his eyes, wondering why he hadn't been shot yet. Metal Sonic just stood there, staring at the pile in which Sonic had disappeared. "Impossible…" the robot said to itself.
Snively's voice sounded into the room. "What are you waiting for? Just finish them alrea—" the human also stopped as a strange yellow glow began to permeate from the rubble where Sonic had fallen. Now that he was looking on it head on, the tyrant recognized something. That piece of rubble was once a part of the Death Egg's engine, the one that contained the Chaos Emeralds during its flight. Snively was lucky no one was around to see his face go pale. Was it possible, that there was still enough of a charge left in the chamber to cause Sonic to change to that strange yellow form?
His questions were answered as a great power exploded from the rubble. The Freedom Fighters looked up to see a yellow hedgehog, its eyes a bright hazel. Sally and Bunnie had recognized this from earlier occurrences. When all the chaos emeralds were brought together, and things seemed at their most dire… it seemed that this strange event would occur. It happened once when 'Robotnik' tried to escape with the Master Emerald and Sonic destroyed the Death Egg. It also happened at Mobotropolis a few weeks ago, when Selim had to fight a reprogrammed Uncle Chuck. This was the third time this had happened, but what was odd is that the Chaos Emeralds were not present this time. How could it have been different this time?
The princess shook her head, she could probably never understand. She hardly could comprehend what had caused this phenomenon, and it was one of those things that would probably remain a mystery. All these questions paled to her feeling that Sonic was alive and well, and that they might just be saved yet.
Jerome's jaw drooped down. He never had the chance to see this spectacle, and it came as a great surprise. "W-What's going on?"
No one bothered to reply as Metal Sonic's energy detectors started to go crazy. He also had never witnessed this transformation. He had been heavily damaged down in the Sky Sanctuary during its first occurrence. If his sensors were any indication though, the hedgehog before him now was far more of a threatening opponent. The robot did not worry though, since it had beaten the hero so easily before.
Without fear the robot spoke to the yellow hedgehog. "You still lost our initial conditions, which means your allies are forfeit."
Before anyone could react the metal rodent's laser fired, hitting the unsuspecting albino mouse. The blast caused Jerome to fall back, wide eyed onto the princess he was protecting earlier. A few gasp of breath came from the severely injured rodent.
Bunnie ran up to her fallen comrades and helped Sally out from under the shot mouse. "My stars, Jerome…!" She looked to the wound on his chest, it didn't look good. As her mind rummaged through what she was going to do she looked up to see the robot had its weapon pointed right for her.
"Now for the second…" Metal Sonic stated as the laser charged to fire again, Bunnie stared, unable to move. A golden streak suddenly whipped between the robot hedgehog and the cage, causing a gust of wind to blast over the three caged Mobians. There was a pause, and during it Sally looked over her left shoulder to see that it had been Sonic who had caused that yellow streak, as he had moved across to the other side of the room. With a clank, a metal arm fell to the floor, and Metal Sonic could only stand there as he had suddenly lost the appendage he had used to shoot the caged mouse.
"You are heartless…" the glowing hedgehog said, turning to glare at his robotic counterpart.
Metal Sonic didn't take that as an insult. "Without the weakness of your emotions, I'm much stronger then you…"
With a little grin, Sonic shook his head. "You would never understand… while feeling can cause weakness, it can also cause the opposite. True power comes from the heart, and thanks to you, I can show you what that means."
The robotic hedgehog prepared to strike, but as soon as it had taken a step his opponent charged forth. A loud cracking sound filled the room as the yellow streak hit the metal square in the chest plate. Momentum from the collision caused Metal Sonic to fly back and smack square into the wall, while the glowing organic rodent stopped in front of the cage that held his friends captive.
As the metal hedgehog bounced off the steel wall and hit the floor, the red glow of its eyes faded. It seemed to be out of commission. Sally looked to her rescuer and smiled. "You had me worried for a second…"
Turing to the princess the power charged hedgehog smiled. "Sal… you've known me too long to think I'd ever let ya down." Sonic looked around the cell for any structural weaknesses. "Now ya guys get down and I'll have ya outta there in a Sonic-second."
Before he could make a move a sudden loud snap was heard echoing in the room. Like a rifle had gone off just across the room. Just then the hero's memory snapped back to him. Tails!
"Sonic!" Sally cried out as the hedgehog spun around to see the fox falling down into the fiery pit that he had once been strapped above. The orange canine's namesakes were tied together preventing him from taking flight on his own. Without thinking of anything, the power charged hero blasted toward the pit.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion… he saw images of his friend, and all the times they had together. When they first met almost 8 years ago, how helpless and alone he was. When they hung out in the forests around Knothole, training for his bud to become a member of the resistance. When Tails had hatched the plan that had thrown Robotnik at Drood Hedge, which was the day he became an official Freedom Fighter. When they had followed a contaminated river to a chemical factory and realized that the final victory at Doomsday was not so final. When they saved the Flickies from Snively's mad plans.
The memories were almost infinite.
His mind was quick, as were his feet, but the hands of time would always prove to be the ultimate enemy. The one to show that you cannot run from the end. No matter how quick you are, the things that had been with you can be easily taken away. A sudden blow came from behind, causing the hero to get knocked away from his path, and blowing any chance he had at saving his friend.
Sonic watched as the fires of the lava pit consumed his friend. He had a good view since he had been so close when the fox had hit. Flames seemed to dance off the kit's fur and the young one's last cry for his friend was cut short.
"TAILS!" cried out the hero as he jumped back up to his feet. Running to the pit, but before he could even get close, his friend had been sucked under the pit of liquid fire. The charged hedgehog had wished he hadn't stopped at the foot of the pit, and kept going, to be consumed by the hellish liquid lava himself.
It all seemed like a nightmare. One the hero had faced many times before. Only this time, as the heat of the lava pool burned through his quills, Sonic realized this was no dream. His greatest fears had become reality.
The heat was soon replaced by a chill that seemed to shower over the hedgehog, pumping through his veins. He looked to what had attacked him earlier to see the robotic hedgehog standing there. It was all that machine's fault… he had assisted in the ending of his friend's life, and now he was going to pay!
Knuckles jumped a bit as the Chaos Emeralds started to glow with a blinding fervor. Something was happening, and the guardian knew Sonic was behind it. The mountain was but a stone's throw away, however as the energies in the air became more and more disorderly the echidna realized that it didn't matter what he did now.
The explosion of chaos was imminent. Chaos Control. Even with the Master Emerald at hand he wouldn't be able to stop it. Whatever heart was in power over the emeralds was too strong to be snuffed out. What had happened in that mountain to cause this to happen?
A white glow began to envelop the room. The echidna held his breath, what had happened to Selim back in Robotropolis would now happen to him, and anything else caught in the blast radius. Knuckles hoped that the other Freedom Fighters would come through ok, as he prepared to deal with the consequences of chaos.
As the echidna disappeared, the explosion of Chaos Control continued, around the island, and heading toward Mount Gimmick.
Robotic parts laid scattered amongst the floor of the lair. Oil had gathered in a puddle next to the shattered and decapitated head of Metal Sonic. A chip that had fallen out of the inorganic cranium, and an LED blinked red, this was obviously the robots intelligence chip. Without giving a second though, the angry hero crushed the contraption under his sneaker, whipping out the last bit that was his mechanical copy.
Sally and Bunnie just stared; they had just seen the hedgehog they thought they know tear through his enemy in an animalistic rage that they had never seen before. The loss of Tails had also come as a blow, words could not be spoken to describe the pain and fear they had within them at this very moment.
A sudden strong wind whipped through the air causing the hedgehog's yellow quills to sway heavily. The roar of an engine confirmed what Sonic had suspected, the master mind behind his friend's murder was trying to make a get away. "You aren't getting away…" the irate hedgehog growled with a most uncharacteristic anger.
The Wing Fortress barely had time to lift off the ground before the bright hedgehog shot forth, slicing through the gigantic hull as if it were tissue paper. Sonic continued to take his rage out on the giant machine. Like a killer bee swarm, golden streaks swirled about the contraption, turning the metal into Swiss cheese.
Another bright light soon entered the room, a white light cut into the side of the mountain. Sally and Bunnie gasped as they had recognized it from Robotropolis, it was on the other side of the Wing Fortress from their position, but it was closing in upon the hedgehog and the flying gadget quickly.
"Sugarhog! Watch out!" The rabbot cried out.
The rattling of the fortress's large engines jostled the kit awake. It had been deathly quiet in his cell before this moment. If it weren't for worrying about Sonic, Tails probably would have fallen completely asleep. Now that they were moving again, he found himself wondering what had happened to his friend.
Before Tails could sit up there was a sudden jolt. It was violent, and the fox knew that it probably wasn't mechanical.
"What's going on?" the kit wondered aloud as the violent shakes continued to become more and more constant.
A yellow streak shot through the cell, but it was so quick that Tails could not identify what it was. There were only a few things that could move so fast though, and it made the fox realize that Sonic must have transformed. Like he did on the Death Egg, which seemed like ages ago.
The kit stared up at the gaping hole made by the hedgehog. It was high in the cell wall, giving Tails an opportunity to escape. But if Sonic was trying to help him out, then why hadn't he stopped? Why did the impacts from the hedgehog's attacks continue? Didn't Sonic realize he was still in here? As Tails used his namesakes to lift himself toward the hole in the wall, he realized that Snively had probably succeeded in fooling his friend with that copy.
"Sonic! Wait! I'm still in here!" The kit cried, hoping that he could get out.
Before he could get out of the cell a bright white light burst into the room, consuming everything. Tails didn't even have a chance to cry out as he was engulfed by the ethereal light.