Sonic X: Season 3: Shuffle Edition

by KatherineTheMoth

When Sonic had accidently discovered a mysterious board game, he soon asked his friends to play it with him. Little did the gang realize that the board game is cursed and that they are now forced to finish it for the curse to be over. This resulted in a crazy adventure where they have to play the game in order to save their planet, their lives, and the entire universe. Now Game On!

11. The Memory Game

Sonic X: Season 3: Shuffle Edition

The Memory Game

[Last time on Sonic X: Season 3: Shuffle Edition]

Shadow: "Hey, guys, what's up?".

Sonic: "Woah! Shadow's alive!".

Knuckles: "Woah...".

Amy: "Woah!".

Tails: "Woah! What?!".

Cream: "(Gasp!) Woah...".

Cosmo: "Oh?".

(Chris wakes up and sees Shadow) Chris: "Whoa...I'm in a dream! Shadow! I missed you!".

(Shadow sees Chris) Shadow: "Ugh! A dweeb! Screw this! I'm out of here!".

(Shadow disappears by using Chaos Control)

Everyone: "Whoa! That is so cool!".

Chris: "Wow! He called me a 'dweeb'! Too cool!".

(Shadow reappears in Dr. Eggman's ship)

Shadow: "Hey, guys, I'm back".

Dr. Eggman and Rouge: "Whoa! Shadow! You're back!".

(Shadow collapses on the floor out of exhaustion)

Dr. Eggman and Rouge: "So cool...".

(Shadow rests on the floor while thinking) Shadow: I'm still awesome even when I said only a few lines. I'm just that cool.

[And Now, Back To Where We Last Left Off]

Sonic and his friends were riding on the Blue Typhoon again. They were all on the bridge and had been busy pondering about many things. Such as...the mystery of the odd message from Tails' card.

"'The carbuncle ate itself'?! What does it mean?!" Tails exclaimed in confusion after he read the card.

"Umm...Maybe it was just that hungry?" Cream replied awkwardly as she guessed.

"But why does it need to eat itself?!" Tails asked in confusion as he looked at Cream.

"Beats me," Cream replied with a shrug.

"Hmm...The carbuncle could just think of itself as a threat. So, it had eaten itself as a way to punish itself," Amy suggested with a sheepish look on her face.

"Still! Why eating though?! Could the carbuncle do something else besides eating?!" Tails exclaimed in even more confusion.

Amy smiled awkwardly as she replied, "Look, Tails, the card said, 'the carbuncle ate itself'. So, it ate itself. There's no need to give it any more explanation than it needs to".

"But I'm a man of science! I need explanations for everything! It makes perfect sense if there was an explanation for the carbuncle's actions to do what it did!" Tails argued back with a confused look on his face.

Amy shrugged as she replied, "Sorry, Tails, but I don't have a clue".

Tails groaned in frustration. Cosmo looked thoughtful as she guessed, "Maybe the carbuncle is a creature that is cannibalistic. The thing ate its brethren before itself. But when it had tasted itself, the thing couldn't resist to eat itself. That's why the carbuncle ate itself".

"But what does it mean?!" Tails exclaimed in confusion.

"But Tails, I've just given you a possibility," Cosmo replied in confusion.

"Even if I know the why and the how the carbuncle ate itself, I still won't know what it means!" Tails exclaimed back with a frown.

"I agree with Tails here. Just what does it mean? I'm so confused," Knuckles replied while looking baffled too. He had his arms crossed and was leaning against a wall while this conversation went on.

"Hmm...Maybe it means...we won't get hurt? Like...being eaten too?" Amy guessed with a confused look on her face. She also shrugged after saying that.

"Hmmm...I...I..I just don't know! Why is this card the most confusing one of all?!" Tails exclaimed with a frown as he looked at the card again in confusion. The others were quiet as they were all confused by the message too. Of course, Sonic breaks the silent atmosphere by exclaiming enthusiastically to them.

"Don't worry, guys! The carbuncle ate itself! That means the threat is gone! It won't eat us anytime soon!" Sonic exclaimed with a smile as he raised his arms up in the air before placing them to his hips.

"Hmmm..." the others mused quietly despite Sonic's optimistic words.

Sonic frowned as he saw that the others were all still thinking about the "carbuncle" thing. He looked at Cream and asked with a frown, "Hey, come on, guys. Are you really going to keep on pondering about that? It's just random thing that the board game had just thrown at us. It's not a big deal if it doesn't hurt us".

"I wouldn't say that, Mr. Sonic. The only thing that's hurting us is our minds. The message is just so confusing to us," Cream replied with a frown. Cheese agreed by saying, "Chao chao...".

"Well...Yeah...You have a point there. But listen, there are some mysteries that are best left unsolved. ...And that mystery is the carbuncle eating itself. So...How about we drop this?" Sonic replied with a shrug and a sheepish grin.

"Yeah! Seriously, guys! That strange message shouldn't be what we need to focus on! What about Shadow?! Is he really...alive?" Chris replied solemnly with a frown as he looked at the others around him.

"Yes," the others answered quickly and in unison.

"Huh?! What?! You...You guys all think that he's alive?! Why?! He could just be another one of the Metarex's traps or tricks! Or...he could be a ghost!" Chris exclaimed in shock and in confusion.

"Chill, Chris. We're very confident that he's alive. After all...what other hedgehog besides me could use Chaos Control on themselves?" Sonic replied with a smile.

"Umm...Uhh...Well...But look! It could just be a very good imitation of Shadow! The Metarex could do that...can they?" Chris replied with a frown before looking sheepish in the end. He looked at Cosmo after he said the last part.

"No, Chris. They cannot. I'm very sure that they can't," Cosmo replied while shaking her head.

Chris frowned at that before he kept on arguing, "Okay, maybe it wasn't the Metarex's doing then, but he could still be a ghost for all we know!".

"Well...At first, I did think of that, Chris, but since he was able to bounce from your plane towards that Metarex ghost, I had to accept the fact that he's alive. At least...it's not as creepy as him being a ghost. That's for sure," Amy replied with a frown.

"Yeah, I saw it too. I didn't want to believe it at first. But if Shadow can harm that ghost with such strong power like that...then he has to be alive to do such a thing in the first place," Knuckles replied with a frown.

Chris frowned even more in discouragement and in confusion. It's not like he doesn't want Shadow to not be alive again, but rather, he's worried that it's just a trap meant to deceive Sonic and his friends. Besides...I'm more confused on how he survived more than anything. Chris thought with a confused look on his face.

"It's obvious as to why he's alive, Chris," Sonic replied with a grin.

"Huh? How would you know, Sonic?" Chris asked in confusion.

"Simple. He's the Ultimate Lifeform. In other words...he's a zombie!" Sonic replied with an amused grin.

Chris looked unamused by this as he replied sassily, "Oh, and my speculation of him being a ghost is just second banana to your zombie idea. I see how it is, Sonic".

Sonic looked sheepish as he scratched the back of his head. He replied with a sheepish smile, "Hey, I didn't say that your idea was stupid, Chris. I can see why you would think that. Shadow is supposed to be dead, but now, he's alive again. And...Heh! I have a funny feeling on how he was brought back to life".

Chris sighed and shook his head as he asked, "Okay, bring it on. Let's hear your theory, Sonic".

Sonic smirked as he replied brightly, "Well, if you must know...".

Sonic then pointed at the board game on Tails' lap. He answered confidently with a smirk, "It's the board game that had brought Shadow back to life!".

"..." The others were silent again after hearing Sonic say that.

Sonic looked sheepish again and had shrugged his shoulders. He then asked, "What? What's wrong with what I had just said?".

The others sighed as they all thought in unison. I've should've known.

-Meanwhile In Another Part Of Space-

A new, yellow-green Metarex spaceship had appeared in space. A woman in a brown spaceship yelled out, "Ah! It's another carbuncle! We need to sto-!".

BOOM!

Less than a few seconds, the Metarex spaceship fired its powerful laser at the brown spaceship and had made it explode. The others were shocked and had panicked.

"Fire! Fire all lasers at the carbuncle! We must not let it consume more of our spaceships!" the commander said in one of the brown spaceships.

"Why is it here?! It doesn't make any sense!" a person yelled from another brown spaceship.

"Nothing about the carbuncles make any sense, cadet! That's why we need to destroy them as fast as possible! Now! Fire!" the commander yelled in response.

All the brown spaceships fired their blue lasers at the huge yellow-green spaceship ahead of them. However, the lasers didn't do any damage to the strong spaceship as the lasers were deflected from it. Some of the lasers did hit the front center part of the ship, but it still didn't get a scratch from the attack.

The Metarex ship fired back with its yellow lasers at the brown spaceships, and many of them had exploded from the attacks. However, the surviving ships were still not ready to give up.

"Let's keep on going! Don't stop firing the lasers!" the commander said again.

The brown spaceships fired their blue lasers again, but just like last time, the attacks were deflected from the strong spaceship.

"Oh no! Our weapons are useless! Argh! Retreat!" the commander exclaimed in defeat. The brown spaceships tried to fly away from the huge Metarex spaceship, but the spaceship fired all of its lasers at the remaining brown spaceships and had made them all explode.

"Noooooooooo!" the commander cried before his spaceship was destroyed.

"Ah. What delicious destruction. There's nothing like waking up in the morning and destroying a whole fleet of spaceships just to fulfill your destructive desires. You understand how that feels like, right, Dark Oak?" the Metarex poacher said menacingly.

"I do, Carbuncle. We need to hunt down more lives and planets before those players or Dr. Eggman stop us. We need all sources of life in order to survive. And sometimes...we need to sacrifice some lives in order to survive. So, I need you to go find Dr. Eggman's ship first before encountering Sonic and the other players in this game. The less obstacles in our way the better. Do you understand?" Dark Oak replied through his computer monitor.

"Affirmative. Take out the non-players of this game. That would be a piece of cake to me. You must be glad that those players had made me appear just in time to help you in your grand scheme. Right?" Carbuncle replied calmly.

"I am. Now, don't fail me," Dark Oak replied before turning the transmission off.

"Alright. Time for me to hunt the non-players down. And then...the real fun begins when I hunt down the players. Mwahahahahahah!" Carbuncle said calmly before laughing as he turned his huge ship around to go to another direction. The Metarex poacher sees one lonely, brown spaceship trying to flee. Carbuncle said jokingly, "Oops. Forget one".

The Metarex spaceship fired a single, homing missile towards the lonely, fleeing spaceship and had destroyed it easily. Carbuncle laughed evilly after seeing it being destroyed.

-Meanwhile In Dr. Eggman's Spaceship-

Dr. Eggman, Decoe, Bocue, Bokkun, Rouge, and of course...Shadow himself were all on the bridge of the ship. Everyone was staring at Shadow while he stood in front of the ship and looking out into space. Shadow was silent for a while before he finally spoke up for the first time that he had woken up again.

"Okay...I am a thing that doesn't physically exist yet visible to the naked eye. Who am I?" Shadow replied calmly while having your arms crossed and had looked back at Dr. Eggman when he had asked his question.

"Why are you giving me a riddle? It's obvious to everyone here as to who you are. You are Shadow the Hedgehog," Dr. Eggman replied in confusion as he had his hands on his hips.

"Hmm...I see. …As I had heard you before, I was supposed to be dead...and yet..." Shadow replied calmly as he looked at the stars again. He paused as he looked even more solemn than before as he looked at his reflection in the glass window. He then continued by saying, "I am still alive. Now then...I am a thing that is both dead and alive. Who am I?".

"Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know! You're a zombie!" Bokkun exclaimed with a smile as he waved his hand in excitement.

"Bokkun, we all know that Shadow isn't a zombie. Besides, zombies only exist in science fiction," Decoe replied with an annoyed look on his face.

"Yeah, that was clearly a dumb answer. You should be ashamed of yourself for arriving to that conclusion, Bokkun," Bocue added with an annoyed look too as he and Decoe stared at Bokkun.

"Oh, yeah?! Well, explain to me as to why Shadow is here and alive right now!" Bokkun yelled irritably as he pointed at Decoe and Bocue.

Decoe and Bocue then looked startled as they realized that they have no idea why Shadow is alive either. They then looked sheepish as they replied, "Err...Maybe we should let the Doctor answer that one".

"Ha! I knew that you two have no idea either! And you guys call me dumb for saying that Shadow is a zombie! You guys can't even give an answer to that!" Bokkun exclaimed triumphantly with a smile as he crossed his arms.

"Well, at least we won't make a stupider answer than that. So there!" Decoe replied while crossing his arms too.

"Yeah! Joke's on you, Bokkun!" Bocue agreed while also crossing his arms too.

"Oh, come on! I'm sure that you two have a worse answer than 'zombies'! I bet on ten bucks that you guys were about to answer, 'He's a clone'!" Bokkun argued back with a frown.

"No way! That makes even less sense than 'zombies'!" Decoe argued back too while looking irritated.

"Next you're going to suggest that we were going to answer, 'He's an android', aren't you?!" Bocue argued too as he pointed his finger at Bokkun.

Rouge just rolled her eyes in annoyance as she listened to this childish argument go on for quite too long. Geez, I didn't sign up for babysitting a group of kindergarteners while staying on this ship. I may have agreed into joining Dr. Eggman for hunting down the Chaos Emeralds but not for enduring the pain of listening to these idiots! Rouge thought irritably with a frown as her ears twitch in annoyance.

"Will each of you dumb robots stop arguing?! I'm talking to Shadow here! So, shut up!" Dr. Eggman yelled in irritation as he looked back at Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun.

"Sorry, sir! We're shutting up now!" The three robots exclaimed in shock while having sweat drops on their heads.

"Finally!" Dr. Eggman and Rouge exclaimed at the same time. Dr. Eggman and Rouge looked at each other for a bit after saying that but soon looked back at Shadow who was still looking out from the window. Shadow was clearly unfazed as he still had that solemn look on his face. Dr. Eggman and Rouge were quite impressed that Shadow just ignored all of that racket and still have a cool composure of himself. Although...they were curious as to what's on his mind though.

To be fair...it was nothing much.

Tch. Idiots. Shadow thought as he looked at the whole group in the glass reflection with cold, solemn eyes.

"Err...(Ahem!)...To...umm...answer your question, Shadow...you are the Ultimate Lifeform. You were not born as a regular hedgehog but as a bio-life creation. You were made by my grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, and I am his grandson, Dr. Ivo Robotnik. However, I am called nowadays as Dr. Eggman. So, in other words, I think that the only reason you have survived is because your body is immortal," Dr. Eggman answered with some awkwardness in his tone as he stared back at Shadow.

"Hmm? 'Immortal' you say?" Shadow asked with intrigue in his tone as his eyes looked back at Dr. Eggman.

Dr. Eggman looked even more serious yet excited as he had his hands into fists while replying to Shadow, "Why of course you are immortal! That's what being the Ultimate Lifeform is about! You will never die! Ever! Clearly, my grandfather's work is a success since you're alive and well, Shadow! There's no other explanation as to why this is the case!".

"..." Shadow was quiet at that. He turned around and looked at Dr. Eggman with solemn eyes. He then replied calmly, "If I'm the Ultimate Lifeform, then there is one more curious question that I need to ask".

"Let me guess. You want an answer as to why you are here on my spaceship and was placed inside a capsule no less," Dr. Eggman replied as he stood up and had his hands on his hips again.

"Actually, I want to know why I am a hedgehog of all things. Why would having a body of a hedgehog be considered a worthy vessel for the Ultimate Lifeform? Also..." Shadow replied bluntly with a frown. He then pointed to his head as he added, "...What's the purpose of having red streaks in my quills?".

"Ummm...To make your bodily design cooler? Don't ask me. My grandfather was the one who had made you. Not me," Dr. Eggman replied while looking confused over Shadow's questions.

"Then bring me to him," Shadow demanded solemnly while crossing his arms.

Dr. Eggman and Rouge gasped in shock after hearing Shadow say that. They both frowned as they finally realized what was off about Shadow after he had woken up again.

He had lost his memory! No wonder he was acting strange! And that's saying a lot considering who he is! Dr. Eggman and Rouge thought at the same time with frowns on their faces.

Dr. Eggman sighed as he answered solemnly, "Unfortunately, Shadow...I can't do that. You see...your creator had died 50 years ago. He can't be brought back to life. He's just a mortal man, unlike you. I'm...sorry, Shadow. That's just how it is".

"..." Shadow was silent after hearing that. He stared coldly at Dr. Eggman while not saying a word. Dr. Eggman was looking a little nervous as he doesn't know how Shadow would take this. But he was surprised when Shadow said, "I...I see then. I guess that I would never know then. Hmph".

Shadow then turned around while still having his arms crossed. He brooded to himself. I am brought back to life thanks to my immortality, but my creator is dead due to his mortality. What is the purpose of my existence then since everyone around me is mortal too? If I can't join with the dead, then the purpose of my life is meaningless. Why did my creator made me to not die? Why?

"..." Shadow was still silent as he glared at himself in the glass window.

Dr. Eggman was starting to look awkward as he doesn't know what else to say to him. But soon, he had come up with an idea that will not only help Shadow understand himself more but will also be a perfect advantage to his latest scheme. Since Shadow can't remember his past, then he won't know about Sonic and his alliance with him! I could use that to my advantage so that he would help me acquire more Chaos Emeralds! With Shadow at my side, Sonic and his friends will have a tougher time trying to get the other Chaos Emeralds! Yes! This is perfect! Absolutely perfect! Dr. Eggman pondered with a mischievous look on his face. He then looked serious again as he pretended to be sincere to Shadow. He walked over to Shadow and grabbed his shoulder. Shadow looked back at Dr. Eggman with a scowl on his face.

"You know, Shadow, there was one thing that I do know about your initial design as the Ultimate Lifeform...and that would be about the legendary hero know as Sonic the Hedgehog," Dr. Eggman replied solemnly as he looked at Shadow.

"Huh? Sonic? Who is he?" Shadow asked in surprise as he looked interested already.

"Well, Shadow, my grandfather had made your design based off the mural from the Echidna Clan on Angel Island, but it was no doubt that it was Sonic the Hedgehog depicted from that mural. He was seen as the Ultimate Lifeform before you came along, Shadow. However, since Sonic is still alive, you are not really regarded as the Ultimate Lifeform. Not in Sonic's eyes at least," Dr. Eggman answered while lying at some parts.

Shadow frowned in displeasure when he heard that last part. What is wrong with Sonic then if he can't see that I'm the Ultimate Lifeform? How could he even think that? Shadow brooded with a frown.

Dr. Eggman then looked determined as he stood up straight and had his hands into fists as he continued, "Yes, that's right. After Sonic saw you die, he had taken on the title of being the Ultimate Lifeform instead! His ego is so big that he rubs it in my face after beating me every time! His friends also agree that Sonic is the Ultimate Lifeform since he survived while you died! You had died for all our sakes in the past, and yet, Sonic gets all the credit for saving us all in the end! It's despicable! I had cried profusely after you had died, Shadow! You were such a huge help to me and Rouge when you were alive!".

"I...I was?" Shadow asked in confusion as his eyebrows were raised a bit.

Dr. Eggman clasped his hands together as he continued, "Yes, you were, Shadow! That is why I hate Sonic very much for being so arrogant and disrespectful towards you after you had died! But I won't let that idiotic hedgehog get away with it any longer! I'm going to help you reclaim your title as the Ultimate Lifeform by beating Sonic and his friends once and for all! Having you alive will damper Sonic's ego a lot! He will no doubt fight you just to prove to the entire worl-no-universe that he's the Ultimate Lifeform! You must stop Sonic at all costs just to get your title back!".

"Hmm...Get my rightful title back you say?" Shadow repeated with intrigue as he looked back at the stars again while putting his hand on his hip.

Dr. Eggman smiled a bit mischievously as he finished, "That is right, Shadow. You'll get your title back once you beat Sonic and his friends. But in order for you to do that, you need to listen to my commands and do what I say. Otherwise, you'll fall short into obtaining your title. Just trust me. I'll help you get your title back as long as you listen to my commands. Once you help me get what I want, you will get what you want, Shadow. So...what do you say? Are you in?".

"..." Shadow was silent as he glared at himself in the mirror again. I may not die, but I refuse to live a worthless life as a nobody. I want everyone to know that I am the Ultimate Lifeform just to remind those selfish fools that they are going to die one day while I stay alive forever. They need to acknowledge their selfish existence by making them realize their own mortality. Once they realize that they will die, then they will fall before me and acknowledge that I am the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow the Hedgehog. …Sonic better realize his own mistake for taking that title away from me after I beat him. Otherwise...I'll never forgive him...ever...Shadow brooded with a frown.

After being quiet for several more seconds, Shadow answered calmly, "Alright. I'm in. I'll listen to you, Doctor".

Dr. Eggman smiled widely with glee as he rubbed his hands together while saying, "Wonderful! We're a team once more! Soon, I'll get to rule the universe, you will get to prove to everyone in the universe that you're the Ultimate Lifeform, and Rouge will get all the seven Chaos Emeralds! It's a triple win for everyone here! Anyways, now that we're all working together again, we need to come up with a plan to sabotage Sonic and his friends by trying to get their Chaos Emeralds!".

Rouge smirked as she understood what Dr. Eggman had done. Oh, so that's how the Doctor is going to play this, huh? Although I am against it, I will let this one slide since I'm going to get all the Chaos Emeralds in the end. I just hope that this won't bite us in the butt in the future. We're going to need all the luck in the world for this plan to succeed. Rouge pondered with a smirk as she stared at Dr. Eggman and Shadow. She looked smug as she stared even more at Shadow as she thought. However...I think that we just hit the jackpot since we have Shadow on our side again. He will definitely spice up the game a lot due to what he can do. I think that we have a chance into succeeding. How could this lucky scenario possibly go wrong?

"Ah! Doctor! Doctor! Look at the screen! It's an emergency!" Decoe exclaimed in shock as he pointed at the screen.

"We have detected an enemy spaceship! It's coming right towards us!" Bocue exclaimed in shock too as he pointed at the view in front of him.

"Huh?! What?! Why now of all times?!" Dr. Eggman yelled in anger as he glared at the computer monitor in front of him. He can see a rainbow-like visual on screen that depicts an enemy spacecraft. He looked at the view too and saw a yellow-green Metarex spaceship coming through an invisible portal. Dr. Eggman growled as he glared at the spaceship in front of him. Rouge frowned in annoyance as she thought. I just had to jinx it, didn't I?

Shadow looked at the spaceship in front of him and frowned as he said, "Hmph. What is that spaceship supposed to be?".

"Grrrr! I bet it's those annoying Metarex poachers again! Those guys had shown up the minute Sonic and his friends had played that mysterious board game! They've been hot on Sonic's trail for a long time, and now, it's clear to me that they see us as a threat too! I don't care if Sonic and his friends are fighting these poachers! Just leave them out of our business! We have nothing to do with this!" Dr. Eggman yelled in anger as he had clenched his fists while glaring at the approaching Metarex spaceship.

"...So...Are you saying that Sonic and his friends are responsible for the Metarex's appearance?" Shadow asked solemnly while staring at the spaceship with crossed arms.

"Yes! And I bet that they had played with that board game again! If they could use that board game to make you appear into our spaceship, then I'm sure that they had used the game to make the Metarex appear before us too! Sonic and his friends will rue the day they mess with us and make our lives much harder!" Dr. Eggman yelled as he looked furious.

Shadow frowned even more at that. As he glared at the Metarex spaceship, he brooded to himself. So...this same hedgehog had not only taken my title away but had also caused the Metarex to appear before us...He is nothing but trouble. I'll defend Dr. Eggman and his crew with my life. If Sonic and his friends are planning to make our lives miserable, then I'm going to make them regret it.

-Back at the Blue Typhoon; Several Minutes ago-

"Hmm...Should I go...or not?" Amy asked quietly to herself as she looked at the board game in her lap. She can see that Tails' spaceship had moved four spaces and was now on space 30. Amy was contemplating whether it is a good idea to make a move or not. Sure, nothing had happened to them after Tails had made his move, but it didn't give her any comfort in her mind. However, if we keep on delaying our moves any longer, then we'll never finish it. What should I do? Hmm...Amy pondered as she scratched the back of her head.

"Relax, Amy. We can handle anything the board game throws at us. There's no need to fear it," Sonic encouraged with a smile.

"Huh? Sonic?" Amy replied in surprise as she looked up from the game and saw Sonic smiling calmly at her. She can feel her heart beating fast as Sonic looks relaxed and happy towards her. Amy smiled a little as she thought. Oh, Sonic. You always give me strength whenever I'm afraid or anxious. I'm so glad that you're here at my side. I just wish that you could always stay with me...forever and ever...

"Yeah! Cheer up, Miss Amy! We got nothing to lose here!" Cream exclaimed happily as she stood next to Amy's seat.

"Ah! Oh...uh...Y-Yeah, you're right, Cream. Heh heh...uhh..." Amy replied quickly yet awkwardly as she jolted a bit before looking at Cream with a sheepish look on her face. Maybe I should make my move just to get over this embarrassing incident. Amy thought with a sweat drop on her head as she looked back at the board game again. She quickly pressed the red button and watched the roulette spin for a little bit. As she watched the roulette spin, she heard Chris say, "I still can't believe that every one of you isn't all that fazed with Shadow being back. All of you guys saw him die. How could you guys just brush that off as if it's nothing?".

"What?! All of you guys saw him die?!" Cosmo exclaimed in shock.

"Thank you! At least one of us here finally gets it," Chris added while throwing his arms in the air.

Cream ignored Chris' comment as she answered Cosmo, "Well, I haven't seen him die myself, but yeah, all of my friends saw him die. It was rather tragic".

Amy frowned as she looked at Cosmo while answering, "It's not as if we weren't fazed at all with Shadow's reappearance per se...It's just...raises more questions as to who he is and what he can do. We all know that he's the Ultimate Lifeform, but...we don't know what he can or can't do as one. We've never met someone like him before. So, when he did reappear again even after we thought he had died, we just assumed that is just one of Shadow's powers".

"One of his...powers? But I thought that he's just like Sonic," Cosmo replied curiously with a confused look on her face.

"Please! I wish that I was immortal like Shadow for instance because that way I could run around forever! No matter where I'm at or what time era I'm at, I would want to run to everywhere I go! It's so much fun to me! If I was immortal, then I can have all the time in the world to run around without stopping! Heh! I bet that I wouldn't fear drowning so much if I can't die from it! Hahahah!" Sonic exclaimed brightly with a chuckle as he looked at Cosmo. Tails and Chris looked at each other with smiles on their faces as they thought. That doesn't surprise me that Sonic would say that.

"Oh? So, you're saying that...Shadow's immortal? I thought that he was a zombie. I mean. You had said so yourself, Sonic," Cosmo replied in confusion as she stared at Sonic.

"Hey, I was only kidding! Come on! You guys can't seriously think that I'm an idiot, right?" Sonic replied in amusement as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you want us to answer that?" Knuckles asked with a smirk as he had one eye open and his arms crossed.

Sonic frowned in annoyance as he replied, "...Ugh...Fine. Don't answer that. I get it".

"I thought so," Knuckles replied while closing his eyes again.

Sonic rolled his eyes before he replied calmly to Cosmo, "Anyway, I really think that he is immortal since he's the Ultimate Lifeform. I'm sure that the board game did help him get here in space with us, but I'm sure that him being alive was all his doing on its own. His body is strong after all".

"Hmm...I guess that makes sense," Cosmo replied as she nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Sonic tells me his fights with Shadow are really tough. Shadow does give Sonic a hard time due to all the moves that he has like Chaos Control and Chaos Spear. He would definitely give us a hard time if he shows up in our spaceship and fight us. So, we better keep our guard up since he's alive now," Tails replied solemnly with a frown.

Cosmo looked at Tails and looked solemn too. She nodded in understanding as she thought. Shadow is more dangerous than I thought he would be. Although, he was the one who had defeated that ghost Metarex. I suppose that makes sense as to why he would defeat him. He is the Ultimate Lifeform after all. Life does go on even after one's death.

Cosmo's thoughts were interrupted when Amy replied, "Oh, don't say that, Tails. Maybe Shadow does remember us and remember his promise to Maria to make everyone happy. He can't be against us now if he remembers that promise".

"Hmm?" Cosmo mused with intrigue as she looked at Amy.

Tails frowned as he replied with skepticism, "I'm not too sure about that, Amy. He didn't respond well when Chris had called out to him. He seemed to be unaware of us. I'm sure that Shadow would have said at least something to us if he does remember us".

"But that's just how Shadow is in general. He isn't the friendliest person to be around you know. Chris also knows that first-hand. Right, Chris?" Amy replied with a frown as she looked at Tails and then at Chris.

"Uhh...umm...Y-Yeah? Maybe?" Chris replied awkwardly with a shrug.

"Do you think that Shadow doesn't know us, or do you think that he's just being his usual aloof self?" Amy asked as she stared at Chris.

"Yeah, Chris, what do you think about this? I could use a second opinion here. I'm not sure whether we should be cautious of Shadow or not," Tails replied as he also looked at Chris. Cosmo and Cream looked at Chris curiously while not saying anything. Chris looked nervous as he noticed that the others are staring at him and are expecting an answer from him. Chris' eyes looked towards Knuckles as he noticed that he was still silent and meditating to himself.

Just what would Knuckles think about this? Should we trust Shadow or not? Chris thought as he stared at Knuckles.

Hmph. Knowing Shadow...he might just not care about us and would want to fight Sonic anyway. That's how I usually approach Sonic and his friends. I'm still like that but not so much nowadays. Hmm...Still, we don't have a clue as to what Shadow is thinking all the time. He could be either with us or against us in a matter of seconds. It would be quite a disadvantage for us if he's on Eggman's side again. Who knows what Shadow will do next? Knuckles pondered with a frown as he still leant on the wall in silence.

Chris frowned as he saw that he can't get anywhere with Knuckles. So, he looked at Sonic and asked, "Sonic? What do you-".

"Just do what you think is right, Chris. It's up to you to make the choice. You are our consensus on this," Sonic replied calmly with a smile and a shrug.

Chris frowned even more after hearing that. Thanks for nothing, Sonic. Sigh...I guess that it's up to me then...Hmm...What I want us to do...Chris pondered with a frown as he looked down at himself. He then looked determined as he replied to Tails, "Well, I think that it's best if we-".

KACHING!

"Ah! Oh!" Amy exclaimed in surprise when the chime of the board game had sounded. The chime had also startled everyone as they hadn't expected that sound to come in at all. Amy looked back at the board game while saying, "Wow, that took a long time for my roll to stop. I wonder where I am now on the board".

Tails looked at Chris as he asked, "Umm...You were saying, Chris?".

"Umm! Uhh...I meant to say that I think that it's best if we just think some more about this! I don't think it's wise to make hasty decisions like this! We don't want to put us in a disadvantageous situation due to our decisions, right?" Chris replied quickly while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Tails smiled sheepishly at Chris as he replied, "Yeah, I get it, Chris. I also think it's wise to ponder some more at this. We do need to be careful or else we'll be hurting a lot in the future".

"Tell me about it. (Sigh)…" Chris replied tiredly with a sigh while wiping his forehead. Whew! Bullet dodged! I've made plenty of bad decisions in the past, and I'd like not to make any more of them now when I'm needed the most. Sonic and his friends' lives are at stake this time. We certainly can't afford to screw up now. Chris pondered with a relieved look on his face.

"Aha! Here I am! I'm at space 36! I guess that I got an eight this time! Sweet! Now, let's see what kind of riddle we get this time," Amy replied brightly with a smile as she stared at her pink spaceship before grabbing the white card from the slot. The others looked at Amy while she read her card out loud.

"'Safe for now but not much longer. Your enemy shall be visited with death. Skipping turns from two players is such a bother and is such a waste of breath'. Wait. ...Does this mean that Dr. Eggman will die? Is that what this card is telling me?" Amy read before talking to herself in confusion.

"What? That's terrible news! I know that Dr. Eggman is like the meanest person ever, but he doesn't deserve to die. Not like this. (Chao chao chao)" Cream replied with a sad look on her face, and Cheese added with a sad look too.

"Yeah, surely that we're just making quick assumptions here by saying that he'll die soon when in actuality he won't. Sure, he will die eventually but not right now I assume," Tails replied with a frown.

"(Gulp)...I hope that you are right, Tails," Cream replied worriedly as she looked at Tails with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Don't worry, Cream. Dr. Eggman knows that he can't risk his life because he wants to live. He desires to conquer the world. Not die in vain. Even he's not that dumb to get himself hurt or killed like that," Chris reassured Cream with a smile.

"Teehee! You're right, Chris! I've forgotten about that! I guess that I was worried for nothing then!" Cream replied happily with a giggle as she looked at Chris.

Chris smiled even more as he replied, "See? It's alright".

"Umm...I hate to be insensitive here, but...uhh...what about the part in the riddle that says, 'Skipping turns from two players is such a bother...'? What does that mean? D-Don't tell me that Cream's and my turns are going to be skipped. That...That can't be good for us. Especially since we need to make progress in the game if we're going to win," Sonic replied awkwardly with a frown while rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, Mr. Sonic is right, Miss Amy. Is that...true? Does that mean I can't take my turn on the game now?" Cream replied with a frown as she looked at Amy with pitiful eyes.

"Umm...I don't know...Here. Why don't you try to take your turn and see if it will work," Amy replied awkwardly as she looked at the board game with a frown before pushing it towards Cream to encourage her to take her turn.

"O-Okay. I hope th-that it'll w-work," Cream replied nervously with a frown. Cream pushed the red button to see if the roulette wheel would spin, but she and Amy were surprised when the roulette wheel hadn't spun yet. Cream tried to push the button again, but just like last time, the wheel wouldn't spin as if it is stuck. Cream then pressed the red button quickly out of worry.

"M-M-Miss Amy! The game won't take my turn! It-It-It's not moving!" Cream exclaimed out of panic. "Chao chao!" Cheese exclaimed in panic too as he also pushed the red button. Of course, the wheel hadn't spun even when Cheese had pressed the red button.

"Oh, dear, this is bad!" Amy exclaimed out of nervousness.

"Huh? What's wrong? Is it not working?" Chris asked in worry as he stared at the girls panicking.

"Yes! It's not working!" Amy and Cream yelled in a panic.

"Hey! Hey! Easy there, girls! S-Sonic! Go help them!" Chris exclaimed out of nervousness as he put his hands up in mock surrender and looked at Sonic pleadingly.

"Okay. Okay. I get it. I'll go help out," Sonic replied casually with a shrug as he walked over to Amy's seat. When he reached at her spot, he looked at the board game curiously while saying, "Let's see what's the problem is here".

"Watch, Sonic. It won't go even when Cream pushed the button," Amy replied while pointing at the roulette wheel for emphasis. Cream pushed the red button again, and Sonic saw that it is as Amy had said. The roulette wheel hadn't spun at all.

"Hmm...Well, that's not good," Sonic commented casually with a frown.

"You're telling me! I can't even make my turn! This is so not fair!" Cream exclaimed in frustration.

"Hey there, Cream. Chill out. Maybe you can take your turn after my turn. Maybe that will fix it," Sonic replied calmly as he rubbed Cream's shoulder a bit to calm her down.

"(Sigh)...Alright, Mr. Sonic. I'll calm down now," Cream replied sadly with a sigh.

Sonic smiled a bit as he lets go of Cream while saying, "There you go, kiddo. Now, let's see if this fixes anything".

Sonic then pushed the red button next, but his eyes had widened when he saw that his turn wasn't being taken either. The girls gasped in shock after seeing this. Sonic looked worried as he tried pushing the red button again...and again...and again...and again...and of course...again.

"Come on! Come on! Come on! You can't do this to me, game! Please work! Work!" Sonic yelled in a panic as he pushed the red button quickly.

"Uhh...Sonic? Is something wrong?" Tails asked as he looked worried for his adoptive big brother.

"Yes! Something's wrong, Tails! It's not working!" Sonic, Amy, and Cream exclaimed in a panic.

"Hey! Hey! Easy there, guys! Uhh...C-Cosmo? Can you help them figure out what's wrong with the board game? You know how the board game works, right? Maybe you can shed some light on this conundrum," Tails replied nervously with his hands up in mock surrender before looking at Cosmo pleadingly.

"Oh, y-yes, I will try," Cosmo replied meekly with a nod before getting up from her seat and walking over to Amy's seat. "So, uh, what's the problem here?" Cosmo asked quietly as she looked at the board game.

"Cosmo, neither of Cream's nor my turns are being taken here whenever we push the red button. Is there something wrong with the game? Did we...broke it somehow?" Sonic replied calmly with a frown on his face.

"Hmm...Well, what did Amy's card say?" Cosmo asked as she looked at the board game curiously.

"It says, 'Safe for now but not much longer. Your enemy shall be visited with death. Skipping turns from two players is such a bother'-" Amy replied calmly while reading her card again.

"Wait! That's it! That's the reason why the game isn't taking your turns! The game had basically skipped both of your turns after Amy had read the card!" Cosmo exclaimed in surprise as she realized what was wrong with the board game.

"Ohhhhh...So, that's what that is..." Sonic, Amy, and Cream said at the same time with smiles on their faces.

Cosmo smiled a little as she replied, "Yes, you see, the game is not broken because of you guys. Rather it's because it's someone else's turn now. I'm sure that you will make your rolls after we go over another round of turn taking. Okay?".

"Okay! I get it now!" Cream exclaimed happily with a smile.

"Aw well. Better luck next time I suppose," Sonic replied casually with a smile and shrug.

Cosmo smiled even more when she saw how good sports Cream and Sonic are. No. Everyone is like a good sport here. They are not as competitive as the previous players were in the past. It's quite refreshing actually. But on another note, I'm glad that I was useful to these guys again. It's very rare for me to help people out like this. My knowledge of the board game had helped them out again. I'm...I'm content with this. Cosmo pondered calmly with a smile. Chris and Tails smiled too in relief that everything is okay.

Wow, that was easy. Cosmo really does know a lot from the board game. I now see why she's 'the guide' then if she can figure out the problems within the board game itself. It's...really amazing on how much knowledge she has of the mysterious board game. She's quite...mysterious herself...Tails thought with a calm smile on his face as he looked at Cosmo. He smiled even more longingly when he added in his thoughts. It's just like how I know how machines work and stuff. She can easily deduce the problem within seconds just like how I can deduce a problem within the X-Tornado. She really is smart in her own way.

"Hmm...You know, Cosmo. That just leads to another question now. If it's not Cream's or Sonic's turn now, then whose is it?" Amy replied with a confused look on her face.

"Oh, well, uh...that would be...umm...Knuckles' turn now..." Cosmo replied awkwardly as she turned her body around to look at Knuckles.

What? Knuckles thought as his eyes were open after hearing that from Cosmo.

"Heh heh heh. Interesting. So, it's your turn now, knucklehead," Sonic teased in amusement as he looked back at Knuckles with a smirk. Cream, Amy, Tails, and Chris all looked at Knuckles with curious looks on their faces. Knuckles stared back at the group with wide eyes and with an open mouth. He can see everyone besides Cosmo looking a little smug as they expected him to go along with this.

"Oh no...Not this again..." Knuckles muttered with a sweat drop going down from his head.

-Meanwhile With Dr. Eggman-

"Just what are you thinking trying to stop me here?! It's Sonic and the others that you want! Not me!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed through the microphone as he spoke to the Metarex spaceship.

"You are quite mistaken. I can see on my scanner that you have two Chaos Emeralds in your ship. We need the Chaos Emeralds to survive, and I'll personally take them from you after I destroy your ship," Carbuncle said calmly from the speaker.

"Over my dead body that I will hand over the Chaos Emeralds to you! Just buzz off and take Sonic's Chaos Emeralds instead!" Dr. Eggman yelled back with a scowl.

"I will do just that...after I destroy you NPCS. Mwahahahahahaha!" Carbuncle said menacingly with a laugh.

Dr. Eggman growled in fury as he saw that he was being mocked. Bokkun then asked awkwardly, "Umm...Dr. Eggman, sir? What's a NP-?".

"Non-playable characters!" Dr. Eggman yelled as he banged onto the control panel in front of him.

"Ohh...Got it," Bokkun replied slowly yet meekly as he looked nervous of Dr. Eggman now.

"I'm very sorry, Dr. Eggman. But this how the game goes. It's either you're a player or you're not. Plain and simple. ...And the rest of the non-players have to be destroyed...Like so..." Carbuncle replied calmly yet darkly at the end when his spaceship fired yellow lasers at Dr. Eggman's ship. The lasers had hit the ship at different parts and had made the ship rumble. Dr. Eggman, Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun were screaming in shock and in fear when the lasers had hit the ship. Rouge and Shadow just held onto the ship as it shook a lot.

Dr. Eggman was on the floor when he exclaimed, "It's like an earthquake! Make it stop!".

"But how sir?! It looks too strong for us!" Bokkun exclaimed in shock.

Dr. Eggman quickly got back up and stared at the Metarex spaceship with Shadow. Dr. Eggman smiled a bit mischievously as he replied, "Maybe for us, yes. But not for Shadow here. But first, get the shields up! We need to protect this ship before the Metarex destroys it!".

"Got it, sir!" Decoe and Bocue exclaimed as they quickly pushed the buttons on the control panel to activate the ship's shield. The shield had formed over Dr. Eggman's spaceship and had went up before more yellow lasers hit the ship. More lasers had hit the shield and made a lot of explosions from it. Decoe and Bocue looked worried as the rumbling continued despite the shield protecting the ship.

"We can't keep the shield up any longer than needed to, Doctor! Those lasers are going to burst right through our ship soon if we don't stop it in time!" Decoe exclaimed in a panic.

"We're doomed, Doctor! Doomed!" Bocue exclaimed in panic too as he clutched onto his chair.

"Grr...Don't say that we're doomed when we have Shadow here!" Dr. Eggman yelled to his robots before looking at Shadow. "This is your chance, Shadow! Show this Metarex robot what the real Ultimate Lifeform is about!" Dr. Eggman commanded with enthusiasm while looking determined. Shadow looked at Dr. Eggman while the Metarex spaceship fired more lasers at the ship.

So...It's time for me to show off who I really am on the inside. Me. The Ultimate Lifeform...Shadow pondered as he glared at the Metarex spaceship again. He looked even more solemn as he thought. I will not fail this.

The Metarex spaceship continued to attack Dr. Eggman's spaceship with its lasers. More explosions came upon the shield as it was attacked by the lasers. But soon, the spaceship got closer to the Metarex spaceship as it helped Shadow to reach it. The spaceship soon got its shield down so that Shadow could jump off from it. As more explosions hit the ship again, Shadow soon jumped off from the ship and went towards the Metarex spaceship.

"This is what their counterattack is going to be? A lone, black hedgehog? What a joke," Carbuncle said calmly yet unfazed by this as he shoots more lasers from the ship. When Shadow got close to the lasers, he quickly went into his own Spinball Form and had deflected the lasers from him. Carbuncle saw this and commented, "On second thought, I take it back".

Shadow then went up and had gone towards the ship itself. He rammed towards the ship and tried to go right through it like a drill, but he went back as he saw that it was too dense to get through. He stopped spinning to stare at the spaceship more closely. So, the whole ship is made out of some strong material, huh? I guess I'll have to attack it from the inside then. Shadow pondered as he stared at the ship solemnly.

"I take it back again. You are a joke," Carbuncle said in amusement.

"No, you are," Shadow replied calmly with a frown. He then went into his Spinball Form again and had broken through a small pipe from the outward part of the ship.

"Well, it's not like I needed that pipe anyway. So, thanks for destroying it at least," Carbuncle commented tauntingly.

Shadow bounced along the inside part of the ship to find a weak spot on it. Hopefully, this will break the ship a bit. Shadow thought as he kept on hitting the ship with his Spinball move.

"Argh! Stop that! Stop hitting my ship!" Carbuncle exclaimed as the interior part of his ship is being damaged a bit.

"Yes! It's working!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed with glee as he put his fist towards himself in victory.

"Hmm...That attack looks really familiar to me for some reason, but I don't know where it's from," Decoe replied calmly as he stared at the Metarex spaceship.

"Yeah, it's like déjà vu for me too," Bocue added as he looked at the spaceship too.

"Oh? You two have memory loss as well? Well, allow me to jog your memory then!" Dr. Eggman replied casually as he placed metal pails on their heads while holding two mallets in his hands. He then bashed Decoe's and Bocue's heads rapidly after saying that.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Owowowowowowowowowow!" Decoe and Bocue yelled as their heads were being banged repeatedly. Dr. Eggman soon stopped banging their heads, and they both fell down on the floor while feeling dizzy.

"That move that Shadow had used is called the Spinball move. It's the same attack that Sonic uses when fighting against my robots. But now that we have the Metarex to deal with, the only thing that will stop them is the Spinball move. That's basic logic in a nutshell, you dolts," Dr. Eggman continued calmly as he stared at his robots.

"Ugggh...Okay...I remember now..." Decoe replied weakly while his eyes were still spinning.

"Me too..." Bocue added weakly while his eyes were spinning too.

Meanwhile, Shadow kept on damaging the inside of the Metarex's spaceship. Shadow then broke out of the inside and went outside to attack the exterior part of the ship. Shadow had flown around and onto the ship as it kept on flying forward. Shadow had even attacked the front part of the ship before going backwards. He stopped attacking to stare at the ship again. He frowned even deeper as he saw that the ship didn't have a scratch on it despite the multiple hits it took. You have got to be kidding me! How could this ship still be standing?! It should be destroyed by now! Shadow thought irritably.

"Just face it, hedgehog. You're just not strong enough to beat me. So, why don't you just run along and be your pathetic self again. After all, you are just an NPC in this game," Carbuncle said tauntingly.

"Pathetic"?! How dare he use that word against me! I only say "pathetic"! Not him! Me! Shadow thought angrily since he's ticked off now. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgh!" Shadow screamed in fury before blasting forward under the front part of the ship and rammed into it. Shadow's body was completely covered in a yellow light as he does his next attack.

"What the-?!" Carbuncle exclaimed as his spaceship took a huge knockback from that strong attack. "Woah! Just where did THAT come from?! From such a small hedgehog to do that much damage, I-Oh...Heh...Nevermind. It's over," Carbuncle exclaimed in shock before being calm again when he saw Shadow floating in space in defeat.

Grrr...I can still fight...If only I had...more...energy...Shadow thought weakly as he floated in space while having his eyes closed.

"Hahahaha! I knew that he was just a joke. Who can be stronger than the mighty Metarex?" Carbuncle said triumphantly yet menacingly.

"Ack! I forgot that Shadow still doesn't have his Inhibitor Rings! He can't keep on fighting if he doesn't have those on his wrists!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in shock when he saw Shadow floating in space.

"You're just realizing that NOW?!" Rouge exclaimed in shock as she stared at Dr. Eggman. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out early on! Rouge thought in annoyance as she frowned.

"Don't worry! I can still savage this! We'll just have to resort to Plan B in the meantime while Shadow recovers!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed as he typed quickly onto the control panel.

"And what's Plan B?" Rouge asked curiously.

"Getting the heck out of here!" Dr. Eggman answered as a metal claw came out of the spaceship and grabbed Shadow. The claw then safely brought him back into the ship.

"Ah. I see that you've chosen to resign from the fight. But it would be much better if you had died honorably in battle. So, let me help you with that," Carbuncle said calmly yet deviously. The Metarex spaceship then fired out multiple missiles from it.

"Ack! They got missiles, Doc! Missiles!" Bokkun exclaimed in shock as his eyes went wide.

"I know that, Bokkun! So, shut up!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed back while staring at the missiles with a nervous expression on his face. Decoe and Bocue pressed some buttons that shot out lasers from the spaceship to counterattack the missiles. Many of the missiles were destroyed as the lasers hit them. Multiple explosions had appeared after the missiles were destroyed. However, many more missiles kept on coming despite the lasers destroying them. While they were destroying the missiles, the Metarex spaceship got closer to Dr. Eggman's spaceship as it appeared after another explosion.

"Oh no! The missile attack was only a diversion! The Metarex ship is much closer to us now!" Bokkun exclaimed shock again as he saw the Metarex ship flying closer to their ship.

"Oh no, he won't! Let's fight fire with fire! Shoot the missiles at the ship! It's straight ahead of us! You can't miss it!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in determination as he ordered Decoe and Bocue to fire the missiles.

"Yes, sir!" Decoe and Bocue exclaimed quickly as they pressed more buttons to fire the missiles at the Metarex ship. Dozens of missiles soon launched out of Dr. Eggman's ship and had hit the Metarex ship multiple times. Luckily, the multiple attacks had knocked the Metarex ship back and away from Dr. Eggman's ship.

"Yeah! Take that, Metarex! You can't stop us now!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed triumphantly as he saw that his offensive attack was successful.

"Oh? I can't, can I?" Carbuncle replied tauntingly.

The Metarex ship still was taking a lot of hits from the missiles. However, it attacked back at Dr. Eggman's ship by firing all lasers from its own ship.

"No, you can't!" Dr. Eggman replied as he pressed a button that fired lasers from the ship along with the missiles.

Unfortunately, Dr. Eggman's ship took more damage from the multiple lasers and had destroyed some parts of the ship. Multiple explosions came off of Dr. Eggman's ship as it was hit by the lasers. Of course, the Metarex ship still took some damage from the missiles and lasers, however, the damage is very minor and not very effective.

"Oh, yes, I can. Hahahahahahaha!" Carbuncle replied with glee as he watched Dr. Eggman's ship being pummeled by lasers.

"Well, this is a bust. I guess that I'll take the Doctor's Plan B to heart and get the heck out of here! Later!" Rouge said to herself as she got onboard her own little, pink ship and flew far away from Dr. Eggman's ship.

"Gaaaaah! I said 'retreat'! Retreat! Darn you! Why aren't we retreating right now?! Dr. Eggman yelled in shock and in fear as he stared at his robots while clinging onto his chair.

"I'm doing the best I can to retreat! But the buttons are jammed right now due all the damage the ship had taken so far!" Bocue exclaimed with worry as he pushed the "Emergency" button multiple times in a rapid pace.

"Yeah! We might not escape at all if our ship is heavily damaged! We're doomed! Doomed!" Decoe exclaimed too in worry as he's panicking.

"We're not just doomed! We're screwed! Because there is a missile heading right towards us! It'll break through the shield once it hits us!" Bokkun exclaimed in a panic as he watched the blip on the radar heading towards the center of the screen.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Dr. Eggman, Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun screamed in panic as they watched the missile fly towards the ship...and then...

KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A huge explosion appeared after the missile had hit the ship.

…

…

"The NPCS have been consumed. Now, it's the players' turn to be consumed," Carbuncle said darkly yet menacingly after the smoke had cleared from the explosion.

-Meanwhile With Sonic And His Friends-

"For the last time, no," Knuckles replied tiredly with a frown as he stared at Sonic and the others.

"Oh, come on, Knuckles. Nothing had happened with Tails' turn and with my turn. So, surely, nothing will happen if you played your turn, Knuckles," Amy replied with a smug smile as she stared at Knuckles.

"Yeah, maybe it will be just a dud," Tails encouraged with a knowing grin.

"Mr. Sonic says that everything will be fine as long as we stick together. So, why do you need to be hesitant about it?" Cream replied with a smug smile too.

"It's true, Knuckles. We've always beat the Metarex multiple times without losing much. I don't see why you need to act so cowardly about it," Chris added with a shrug.

"C-Cowardly?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as his mouth gaped, and his eyes went wide.

"Heheheh. Don't tell me that you're scared, Knuckles. Now...of all times that we had fought the Metarex together? Now's the time to be cowardly? And to be doubting yourself?" Sonic teased as he went towards Knuckles and nudged his shoulder.

Knuckles grunted and shoved Sonic a bit away while saying, "I'm not being a coward. I'm just...just...".

"Just what? I thought that you want this game to be over and done with already. You had said so yourself. So, why are you hesitating to make your move?" Sonic replied in confusion as he shrugged his shoulders.

Cosmo just stared quietly at Knuckles while having a confused look on her face. Sonic is right. Knuckles wants to go home after finishing the board game. I don't understand why he doesn't want to do it now. Cosmo thought with a worried yet confused look on her face.

"I know that I want to go home! I may have said that, but I...I..." Knuckles exclaimed solemnly before slowing down as he stared at the board game again. He grimaced as he stared at the board game on Amy's seat.

"You what? What is it that you're trying to say, Knuckles?" Sonic asked in confusion as he had one eyebrow raised at Knuckles.

"..." Knuckles said nothing as he stared at the board game solemnly before looking at Sonic. As Knuckles stared at Sonic, the thoughts of yesterday had played again in his head.

"Ahahahahahaha! I'm afraid that it's impossible for any of you to get your friend out. For you see, his time is already up," the ghost spoke menacingly and creepily.

"What do you mean that his time is up?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in concern.

"You see, everyone has an appointed time to which they will die in life. And it just so happens that this hedgehog's life had now been cut short...all thanks to the board game that you fools had decided to play," the ghost explained in an eerily calm voice.

"Wait a minute...No! That can't be!" Knuckles muttered in confusion before he exclaimed in shock as he realized what the ghost had meant by that.

"Ah. It seems that you had finally understood what you had just done, Player Five. It was thanks to your roll that had cut friend's life short. The sand in his hourglass had sped up tremendously and now...it's only a matter of time until he'll lose...Permanently. Hahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahahah!" the ghost replied menacingly before he laughed deviously.

Knuckles frowned even more as his thoughts went to that last part of his memory. Sonic was just confused as he watched Knuckles staring solemnly at him in silence. What's up with Knuckles? He's being very silent now. Now, I'm starting to feel worried for him. Sonic thought in worry as he stared back at Knuckles.

"Knuckles? ...Is something wrong? Why aren't you say-" Sonic asked with a worried look on his face.

"Sonic...I...I have to confess something..." Knuckles interrupted with a sad look on his face.

"Huh? What is it, Knuckles?" Sonic asked in confusion as his eyes went wide.

"Yeah, what is it? Is something bothering you?" Tails asked with worry too. The others also looked worried after hearing Knuckles say that.

Knuckles sighed as he looked at the others with a solemn look on his face before looking at Sonic again. …I...I can't keep on hiding it anymore. I've got to...swallow my pride and confess it...Knuckles thought solemnly as he stared at Sonic again. Sonic was waiting for Knuckles to say something. Before he could speak up again, Knuckles spoke first.

"Fine. I'll be honest, Sonic. I'm...I'm scared...I'm scared to play the board game again," Knuckles confessed with a shameful look on his face as he looked down to the floor.

"...! What?!" Sonic exclaimed with a gasp. He looked very shocked hearing Knuckles admit that he's scared. He doesn't remember the last time that Knuckles had confessed any of his fears to him himself.

"Huh?! What?!" The others exclaimed too in shock. They all had surprised looks on their faces too. They had never thought that one of the strongest people in Sonic's world could ever admit that he's scared of something. They're just confused as to why Knuckles would openly admit something like this.

For whatever it is, it must be a huge deal to Knuckles if he's confessing this to me suddenly. Sonic thought with a shocked expression on his face.

"...(Sigh)...Yes, you heard me right, Sonic. I'm...I'm scared of the board game now. I'm afraid to play it," Knuckles continued with a sigh.

Sonic then looked concerned as he asked, "But why? Just what happened that had made you feel afraid of it?".

Knuckles looked back up at Sonic and pointed at him. "It's because of you, Sonic," Knuckles answered solemnly with a frown.

"Huh? Me?" Sonic asked in confusion as he pointed at himself.

"Yes, you. Do you even remember what happened yesterday? The time that we were on that graveyard planet?" Knuckles replied with a frown while crossing his arms.

Sonic scratched his head a bit as he tried to remember what happened yesterday. But he replied with, "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell for me".

Knuckles sighed again as he replied, "The one where we saw Shadow again?".

"Ohhhh...Yeeeeaaaahhh! That planet!" Sonic replied slowly as he remembered again.

Knuckles rolled his eyes a bit before continuing his confession, "Yeah, that planet. Anyways, I had almost lost you when I had made my move on that board game. Sure, it was by pure luck that Shadow had come into the planet and had saved us, but what if he had never come? What would happen to you then if we had to keep on fighting the ghost Metarex? In fact, what would happen to us if we did keep on fighting it? I bet that we would definitely lose the game by then and fail to save the universe from the Metarex".

Cosmo gasped when she heard Knuckles say that last part. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands and looked down in worry. H-He's right. It was really by pure chance that we were saved. We would've lost if Shadow didn't come in time to save us. I don't know very much about this hedgehog, but I'm very grateful to him for saving us yesterday. It was thanks to him that the game had kept on going. Cosmo pondered with a worried look on her face.

Sonic was just speechless after hearing Knuckles say that. He said nothing while Knuckles continued, "Sonic...You may get on my nerves a lot and tick me off almost every time you open your dumb mouth...but I...I still don't want to lose you. That goes for everyone else here. I don't want to lose any of you due to my rolls on the board game. I don't want to be the one responsible for your demise. If I somehow lose any of you due to my rolls, then I...I...I don't think that I'll ever forgive myself for that. Knowing that I can control your fate due to my rolls in the game...is just...just...scary to me...".

Knuckles looked at the others with a guilty look on his face after saying that. He can see that the others looked sad and worried for him as they stared at him. Even Sonic looked sad after hearing that. Knuckles then closed his eyes and had hung his head down as he finished with, "That is why I'm scared to play the board game now. My unlucky rolls could jeopardize everyone here. I...I don't know if I want to keep on playing the game after what happened yesterday. Yes, we got lucky, however...should we really push our luck while knowing that our lives could end just by one bad turn on the game? I...I just don't want to risk our lives by doing that".

"..." Everyone was silent after hearing Knuckles' confession. What he just said was true. They were just being very lucky into defeating the Metarex. Who knows when their luck will run out, and that the Metarex will corner them into a deadly trap? It could end with any roll that they make on the game. They all understand why Knuckles feels this way because...they're scared too.

"Knuckles..." Sonic muttered quietly as he grabbed Knuckles' shoulder in concern.

Knuckles opened his eyes and looked at Sonic with a solemn look on his face. Sonic looked solemn in return as he replied, "...I get where you're coming from. You want to protect us from the inevitable as much as possible and that...you're afraid of going forward in the game. I understand that because I...feel the same way too".

"Wh-What? You're scared too?" Knuckles asked in surprise and in confusion as his eyes went wide.

Sonic nodded as he answered solemnly, "Who wouldn't be scared in this scenario? You're basically gambling everyone's lives constantly with every move you make on the game. No one wants to be the one responsible for everyone's deaths. No one! ...I...I may have a bright outlook in this situation, but that doesn't mean that I'm not scared about this. I'm absolutely terrified! If I lose just one of my best friends in this game, then I would...I...I would just go insane! Berserk even!".

Knuckles gasped in shock after hearing Sonic confessing that part of him. He had always assumed that Sonic is just thrilled into playing the board game. He certainly gave that strong impression when he agreed to continue the game back at their home planet. But now...it seems that he was wrong to assume that.

"Sonic...I...Umm..." Knuckles muttered while still looking stunned by this.

He soon saw Sonic smile a little as he continued, "I may feel scared, but I know that I'm not alone here. We're all playing the game together, Knuckles. You don't have to feel like you're alone in this game because we're all in this together. We're all going to battle the Metarex together. That is how the game is meant to be played. It's not a game of competition just as we had originally thought, but rather...it's a game of cooperation. That's why it's important to stick together while we confront the Metarex. We won't lose as long as we work together as a team. Just as we can be scared together...we can also be encouraging to each other to keep on moving forward".

"..." Knuckles was just speechless after hearing Sonic say such motivating words. He looked at the group and was surprised by seeing how the others were smiling calmly at him. He can see that Sonic's words had also motivated them too.

"And Knuckles?" Sonic asked quietly.

Knuckles looked back at Sonic with a stunned look on his face. He somehow replied with, "Y-Yes? What is it?".

Sonic then grinned as he encouraged Knuckles with, "It's okay if you want to take a break on the game if you want to. There's no need to rush it. No matter how much you want this to be over with. Just play it on your own free time when you're ready. If you feel scared or anxious about continuing the game, then just give yourself a breather before you play it again. We would understand if you want to stop playing for a bit just to relax. It's the same for everyone here. We're just going to try to stay comfortable while being in this stressful situation. If we can take a break and relax, then you can too. Do you understand, Knuckles?".

"..." Knuckles was silent a bit after hearing that. He can see Sonic wink at him as he looked calm. Knuckles had heard this before and had thought that it was a stupid idea to delay the game from continuing. ...But now...he doesn't think that it's stupid anymore. Especially now that...he wants to do it too. He then slowly smiled at Sonic as he finally understood why he said that to begin with.

"Alright. I understand, Sonic. I'll...take as many breaks as I want. I'll learn to...umm...take it easy as you had suggested. Umm...thanks," Knuckles replied solemnly yet a bit awkwardly as he smiled a little.

Sonic smiled even more after hearing that response. He then patted Knuckles' back as he replied brightly, "There ya go, buddy! Now, you're one of us!".

"What? You mean like a 'layabout'?" Knuckles teased with a smirk.

"No! I mean...Like a vacationer! Heh! Get it? Like when you take a break to go on holiday? Eh? Eh?" Sonic joked a little with a grin.

"You know, Sonic...you were fine until you had explained the joke. Now, you've just ruined the moment," Knuckles replied in a dead-pan tone while frowning again.

"Uhh...Heheheheh...Umm...Sorry," Sonic replied sheepishly with an embarrassed smile on his face while scratching the back of his head. Great. Now, this is starting to become awkward. Sonic thought with a sheepish smile on his face.

Luckily for Sonic, the awkward atmosphere was broken when they all heard the emergency call going off suddenly.

"Ah! I'm getting a call from someone! I'm going to put up the screen right now so that we can see who's calling us!" Tails exclaimed as he typed into his computer panel to bring up the screen in front of the ship. Everyone else turned around to look at the fuzzy screen as they waited for Tails to contact the caller.

"Okay! Who is it?" Tails asked quickly as he finally got the communication screen visible now.

"Well, it's about time that you guys had answered. I was starting to worry that you might ignore me despite the fact I had helped you guys in the past," Rouge replied with a sly smile on her face.

"Ah! It's Rouge!" Everyone except for Cosmo exclaimed in shock.

"Huh? 'Rouge'? But wait. Wasn't she the one who had stolen that fak-" Cosmo replied in confusion as she stared at Rouge incredulously.

"Just what is it that you want, Rouge?! If it's about the Chaos Emeralds, then it's no deal! We not handing them over to you! Ever!" Knuckles exclaimed with a frown while cutting Cosmo off before having her finish her sentence.

"Oh, please, knucklehead, I have an even greater request than jewels believe it or not. In fact, it's a rather important request. So, please hear me out," Rouge replied a little smugly before looking sincere in the end.

"Grrr...Fine," Knuckles grumbled as he crossed his arms in annoyance.

Tails ignored this as he asked, "So, what is this request about?".

"Well, before I tell you my request, I need to tell you this first. You see...Dr. Eggman's spaceship had been destroyed by the Metarex," Rouge replied solemnly with a frown.

"Wait! What?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock as their eyes went wide.

"Oh, my goodness! The message on my card had come true! It had happened again!" Amy exclaimed in shock as she covered her mouth with her hands.

"Say it isn't so, Miss Rouge! Please don't say that Dr. Eggman is dead!" Cream exclaimed with a sad look on her face.

"Well, I can't say that he's dead per se...however, the problem is that I couldn't find him anywhere after that huge explosion. So...sorry, little missy...but it doesn't seem that it's looking good for the Doctor now," Rouge replied calmly with a sympathetic look on her face.

"...(Sniff)...Oh no...Poor Dr. Eggman..." Cream replied sadly while sniffing a little. Cheese added in a sad tone too, "Chao chao".

Everyone else had solemn looks on their faces as they stared at Rouge. They just couldn't believe that the Metarex was successful into getting rid of Dr. Eggman. Sure, they may have saw the Metarex beating Dr. Eggman before at the water planet but never to the extent of destroying their spaceship. Now, they felt even more worried now after hearing the despairing news of their former enemy being defeated.

"Are...Are you serious, Rouge? Dr. Eggman had fought the Metarex himself and had lost? Is this true?" Tails asked tentatively with a nervous look on his face.

"As true as true can be, fox boy. Strange and surprising things happen when we least expect it. I would certainly not lie about this if I hadn't saw it myself. After all, I got out of his ship at the time when it was being pummeled by an avalanche of lasers. It was a losing battle. That's for sure," Rouge replied calmly with a little smile.

"So, you say that you won't lie about something as serious as this, huh? Well then, if you're so sincere about it, then do have some evidence to back up your story?" Knuckles questioned with a disgruntled look on his face.

"Hmph. Of course, you would ask for proof, Knuckie-boy. Here. Have a look then if you don't believe me," Rouge replied casually with a smirk before pressing a button to put up the video footage of the huge explosion. The footage rolled, and the group was just shocked when they saw the missile destroy Dr. Eggman's ship. They all gasped when they saw nothing but the Metarex ship after that explosion.

"Ah! He's gone! Dr. Eggman is gone!" Cream exclaimed in shock and in worry.

"I...I can't believe it..." Sonic muttered while having a stunned look on his face.

When the footage ended, Rouge replied calmly, "See? I told you that I wouldn't lie about this".

"Grr...So, it is true...Ugh..." Knuckles grunted with a deep frown as he closed his eyes and had put his hands on his hips.

"Wait a minute! That...That ship!" Cosmo exclaimed in shock as her eyes went wide realization to what that ship is.

"Huh? What? What about that ship?" Sonic asked in curiosity while having his arms crossed.

"I remember now! That...That was the Metarex ship that had destroyed all of my family and friends. The one who had piloted that ship was called...called...Carbuncle," Cosmo replied with wide, scared eyes.

"What?! Are you serious?!" Tails exclaimed in shock as he looked at Cosmo in concern. Oooh...Don't tell me that my card had brought back the one who had killed Cosmo's only family. That...That would be very troubling for her if that was the case. Tails thought with a worried look on his face.

"...(Gulp)...Uh huh...Carbuncle...had said to me once that...he enjoys 'consuming' others out of sick pleasure. He likes...consuming us because he...wants to see us suffer before we die. He was the most despicable Metarex poacher of all besides Dark Oak," Cosmo explained with scared look on her face as she recalls some painful memories of her past. She had started to cry when the painful memories of her family's and friends' deaths came back to her mind. She covered her eyes as she added in sadness, "I could never understand his sick and twisted mindset. Nothing about Carbuncle makes any sense to me. Why?! Why does he have to confuse me so?! (Sob sob)…".

Amy frowned when she saw Cosmo crying. She then looked determined as she stood up from her seat and looked down on Cosmo's seat as she replied solemnly, "We don't need to understand him! He's just a heartless poacher anyway! We'll avenge your friends and family by beating him once and for all!".

"Well, good luck in defeating him then. Besides, that was what I was going to request to you guys anyway. However, I'll warn you that Shadow had lost too when he tried to battle him. So, like I had said, good luck because you'll need it," Rouge replied casually with a little shrug.

"...Seriously? Even Shadow couldn't beat it?" Chris asked in confusion and in disbelief.

"Well, to be fair, he didn't have his Inhibitor Rings with him when he had attempted to fight that Metarex ship to begin with," Rouge replied with a smile.

"Hmm...Well...That makes sense. If Shadow can't defeat the Metarex ship without his Inhibitor Rings, then what chance do we really have into beating it ourselves?" Tails replied in confusion and in worry as he rubbed his chin.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Tails! Grow a backbone already! What kind of a captain are you?! A captain that decides to quit even before a battle starts?!" Amy yelled in irritation as she stared at Tails while having her hands on her hips.

"It's not quitting! I'm just being cautious here! I don't want to get us into a fight that could possibly get us killed! It's just like Knuckles had said! I don't want to the one responsible for everyone's deaths! If I can take control of a situation, then that means I have a chance into protecting everyone here!" Tails yelled back with a worried look on his face and while raising his arms up for emphasis.

"I'm behind Tails' decision on this. I don't want anyone of us to get killed either. We can't make any hasty decisions now since the game will be over when we do confront the ship. We mustn't be careless now or else we'll pay the price. Big time," Knuckles agreed with a nod as he looked at Amy.

"Oh! So, NOW of all times you're deciding to decline a fight!" Amy exclaimed irritably with a frown.

"It's either life or death, Amy. And I intend to live through this death-defying game just so that I can go back home and protect the Master Emerald again in peace. So, excuse me for being the sensible one for once," Knuckles argued back calmly as he crossed his arms and had closed his eyes again.

"Oooh! Stubborn echidna!" Amy exclaimed in annoyance with a pout as she stood up more haughtily.

"And that makes two of us," Rouge agreed with a sly smirk before turning off the transmission.

After Knuckles had heard that, he growled in irritation as he had his fists up. Grrrr...And that makes three of us, you stubborn bat! Knuckles thought irritably.

"Sonic? You don't think that Shadow had died again, do you?" Chris asked worriedly as he looked at Sonic.

"Did you forget already, Chris? Shadow is immortal. He could just be floating out in space after that explosion, you know," Sonic replied casually while still having his arms crossed.

"Well, yeah...But still..." Chris replied weakly with a frown.

"Chris...Am I the Ultimate Lifeform?" Sonic asked solemnly.

"Umm...No," Chris replied quickly yet assuredly.

"And there's your answer!" Sonic exclaimed brightly with a smile as he looked back at Chris.

Chris looked surprised at that response before he smiled and nodded as he understood where Sonic is going with this. Of course. Why am I doubting Shadow like this? We all saw him come back even after we had thought he had died. So, there's no reason for me to think that he's gone for good. He must be still surviving somewhere in space. As long as he's alive and surviving, then we should do our best to survive too! Alright then! Let's do this! Let's beat that Metarex poacher for him...and for Dr. Eggman. Wherever he is now...Chris thought with a determined smile on his face as he looked out at space.

"I say we stay back!" Knuckles exclaimed solemnly as he raised his fist up.

"And I say we go forward!" Amy argued back with a frown while having her hands on her hips.

"Back!" Knuckles argued back.

"Forward!" Amy argued back.

"Back!" Knuckles yelled again.

"Forward!" Amy yelled back.

"Back!" Knuckles yelled again more loudly.

"Back!" Amy yelled back.

"Forward!" Knuckles yelled more irritably.

"Back!" Amy yelled again.

"Forward!" Knuckles yelled again.

"Back!" Any yelled again.

"Forward! And that's final!" Knuckles yelled back while losing his patience.

"Okay, we're going forward then," Amy replied calmly with a smug smile on her face.

"Yes! Thank you! I...HEY!" Knuckles exclaimed back with a smile before shouting at Amy with an irritated look on his face. Amy just smiled smugly at him as a response.

"Guys! Will you please stop this childish argument already?! We have even bigger problems than that right now! Look at the screen! Something's approaching us!" Tails exclaimed at Amy and Knuckles before looking back at the screen in front of him. Amy and Knuckles stopped fighting and looked at the screen too. Everyone saw a rainbow-like warp on the screen.

"See? There's something coming out of that warp," Tails replied calmly yet seriously.

Soon, the yellow-green Metarex spaceship came out of the warp and is slowly approaching the Blue Typhoon. Everyone gasped in surprise when they saw the spaceship.

Cosmo looked determined as she boldly said, "I say that we go forward. We can't run away now. Not when everyone's lives are at stake. We can't give up".

Everyone had gasped again when thy had heard Cosmo say that. Tails looked worried and fearful as he stared at the approaching Metarex spaceship. Cosmo spoke again as she said, "Tails, don't give up now. Let's find a way to beat this poacher ourselves!".

"Ah! What?!" Tails exclaimed in surprise as he looked at Cosmo.

"Cosmo? Are you sure? It's okay to admit to us your true feelings, Cosmo. You don't have to put up a brave face even while you're terrified on the inside. We can retreat if you want. You are our 'guide' after all. You can tell us if it's alright to go forward or not. We'll listen to you no matter what," Amy replied gently with a worried look on her face as she looked down at Cosmo's seat again.

"But I am afraid! I don't want to be here at all! I don't to get any one of you hurt or killed! And I don't to face the Metarex anymore! But I...I have to confront it! I have to face my fears now! We won't go anywhere or move forward if we are stopped by our fears! We must...We must fight this Metarex poacher right now or else...I'll...I'll never be brave. We must fight on. We must move forward," Cosmo replied solemnly while having a sad look on her face as she looked down on her lap.

Sonic was just being calm as he listened to this. He had calm smile and had his eyes closed as he replied, "Well, you heard her, Amy. If Cosmo wants to fight the Metarex, then we should do what she says. After all, we're all sticking together to the bitter end!".

Sonic then opened his eyes and smiled at Amy and then at Cosmo. Cosmo gasped when she heard Sonic say that. She looked up from her lap and looked at the others. She can see them smiling brightly as they felt determined now.

"You're right, Cosmo. The game won't end if we don't move forward. I'm ready to fight!" Tails replied calmly with a determined look on his face.

"That's what bravery is all about, Cosmo. Feeling scared while confronting your fears. You'll get even more braver if you confront them more often. You can bet on that!" Knuckles encouraged with a smile as he gave Cosmo a thumbs-up and a wink.

"We're all here for you, Cosmo. You can still be afraid while we fight the Metarex together. We'll give each other strength to overcome their fears. Including yours, Cosmo. So, don't worry about a thing! We got your back!" Chris encouraged too with a smile as he looked at Cosmo.

"See, Cosmo? You're not alone here. You have friends now," Amy replied calmly with a smile as she looked at Cosmo with her hands on her hips.

"And we'll be friends with you to the very end!" Cream exclaimed happily with a smile. Cheese chirped happily, "Chao! Chao!".

Cosmo was just so moved by seeing everyone's bravery and determination to keep on fighting. Her eyes went wide as she thought to herself. I thought...I thought that being brave is just facing your problems all by yourself. I've never thought that it would include having others by your side as you face them. I'm...I'm not alone anymore! That's right! I have friends now! I can do this! I can confront this! And it's all thanks to...to...

Cosmo then stood up from her seat and had a huge smile on her face as she replied, "Thank you, everyone. With you guys here, I can confront my fears. I don't have to run away anymore. I can fight them...along with you".

She then looked at everyone with a huge, determined smile on her face. She saw that everyone had huge smiles too and had all given her a thumbs-up.

"Now, let's win this game!" Everyone besides Cosmo exclaimed boldly.

The Metarex ship and the Blue Typhoon were flying closer to each other. The gang was now prepared for combat as they waited for the Metarex ship to make its first move. They soon heard Carbuncle say, "I have found you, players. It's game over for you".

The Metarex ship then attacked first by firing its yellow lasers at the Blue Typhoon. Tails saw that and immediately exclaimed, "Quick! Get the shield up! Now!".

"I'm on it!" Cream exclaimed as she pushed the button that activates the ship's shield. The shield was immediately up after Cream had pushed the button. A second later, the shield was pummeled by the lasers and had made the ship rumble a bit. Tails frowned as he thought. So, that's the first move they're going to use, huh? Interesting. Let's see what else they can do. We might find a weak point somewhere that we can exploit if we let it attack us more.

"You're going to lose the game eventually. So, why not throw in the towel now?" Carbuncle said calmly yet tauntingly as the ship now attacked by firing missiles at the Blue Typhoon. The ship still rumbled as the shield took the hits from lasers and now missiles.

"We need to act fast! Is everyone ready?!" Tails exclaimed quickly yet solemnly as he stared at Amy.

"Of course, we're ready, Tails!" Amy exclaimed back with a determined look on her face.

"Just tell us what to do!" Knuckles exclaimed while having a calm look on his face as he stared at Tails.

"Okay! And you guys?" Tails replied with a nod before looking at Chris and Sonic.

"I got your back, Tails," Chris replied calmly with a nod.

"No need to hesitate, Tails. You got this!" Sonic replied calmly with a smile and a wink.

"Okay then! Now, let's pull off a 'magic trick'!" Tails exclaimed solemnly as he typed quickly into his computer panel.

"Huh? What are those players trying to do here? Escaping?" Carbuncle said in confusion. He saw the Blue Typhoon fly backwards and away from the Metarex ship. Soon, Chris typed some buttons onto his computer that enhances the ship's shield.

"Super Shield! Activate!" Chris exclaimed enthusiastically as he the ship's shield grew ten times the size it originally was. The Blue Typhoon was nowhere seen after that.

"Hmph. So, they're taking the quitter's way out, huh? I'll punish them for that," Carbuncle said calmly before his ship had fired all of its lasers at the upwards direction where the Blue Typhoon was once at. The ship also launched the homing missiles too. The missiles were fired upwards toward the black nothingness of space and naturally...had missed the Blue Typhoon altogether. One missile flew past the ship and then another one...and...another one...and so forth...

"Grr! No! Where's the KABOOM?! There's supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM! Why am I not getting one yet?! Are my homing missiles defective or something?! Argh! I don't have time for such nonsense! Die! All of you must DIE!" Carbuncle yelled angrily as he was upset that the missiles didn't destroy the Blue Typhoon. The Metarex ship then fired all of its lasers and missiles again towards the ship above.

"Heh. Someone's angry," Knuckles commented with a cheeky smirk as he watched all of the lasers and missiles go past the Blue Typhoon. Chris was being quiet as he waited to see what the Metarex ship will do next. The Metarex ship continued to fire all of its attacks at the Blue Typhoon which obviously they missed.

Tails looked at Chris as he asked, "Got the stuff ready?".

"Uh huh. Ready for the drop-off," Chris replied with a nod as he pressed a button that opens the cargo hold. After Chris had done that, most of Chris' luggage had been released into space. They floated away from the Blue Typhoon after they were dropped off. I guess that it was fortunate for us that the Chaotix had visited our ship just so that they could drop off my belongings. Who knew that my family and friends back home would come through for us like this? Their kindness won't go to waste here. They're going to be the ones who will help us win this battle! Chris thought with a little smile as he watched his belongings drift away in space.

"Oh, please. I've seen this old trick before. Drop off the cargo so that you can fool the enemy into thinking that your ship had been destroyed. Nice try, players, but I will not fall for it!" Carbuncle said in annoyance before his ship had fired more missiles from it. The missiles went towards the shield and had hit it instead. The others had gasped once they saw that their plan didn't work.

As the Metarex ship fired all the lasers and missiles at the Blue Typhoon, Carbuncle taunted deviously, "You players think that you are so smart. Ha! Well, who's the smart one now?! Hahahahahaha!".

"Darn it! The Metarex poacher didn't take the bait! What was the whole point of dropping off my stuff, Tails?!" Chris exclaimed in shock and in annoyance as he looked at Tails.

Tails looked at Chris and smiled knowingly. He shrugged casually as he answered coyly, "I don't know. I thought that it was good plan".

"But you had said that the Metarex would take the bait if we drop them off the ship! I thought that the poacher would just leave after that or at least destroy the cargo! Why did you say...Huh? Where did Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles go?" Chris exclaimed in annoyance before he looked confused when he saw that Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles aren't on the bridge anymore.

Tails smiled even more as he answered, "Well, they're definitely not on the ship anymore".

"'Not on the ship'? Then where could they...Oh...So that's what you had planned. Very clever," Chris replied in confusion before he smiled in understanding to what Tails had planned.

"I try," Tails replied meekly with a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

While the Metarex ship flew past the floating cargo, Knuckles then opened the doors from a locker and stood up with Amy. "We're safe for now. Let's go," Knuckles said quietly as he and Amy flew up to space with their yellow jet packs on.

Sonic smiled as he also had a jet pack on too. He looked at the flying Metarex ship with a determined smile as he said to himself, "Heh heh! We're obviously the smart ones here, you Metarex poacher! Even a prey can outwit the predator, and you're going to see that unfold yourself! Right, guys?".

"Stop being lazy and start packing, Sonic! Don't make us do all the hard work, you glory-hog!" Knuckles exclaimed as he and Amy moved the cargo together into heaps.

"Heh heh heh! Sorry, guys," Sonic replied sheepishly with an awkward look on his face. He then joined up with Knuckles and Amy and started to gather up all the cargo. They soon sneakily put all the heaps of cargo into the missile launchers and clogged them up with it. They soon did the same thing with the laser cannons too.

"Hahahaha! This is just getting silly. You players still refuse to surrender even though I have you cornered. You better say your prayers before I launch all of my missiles at you and blow up your ship into smithereens! It's time to say, 'game over'," Carbuncle said menacingly as he prepared to launch his homing missiles at the Blue Typhoon again. But when Carbuncle saw that his ship's artillery had malfunctioned, he exclaimed in shock, "What?! Ah! AH! What the heck just happened?! Where did all this junk come from?! I demand an explanation for this!".

"It's just a prank, bro!" Sonic teased with a smirk.

"Yeah, you need to learn to laugh a little, Mr. Poacher!" Amy teased with a smile.

"But I hate pranks! How dare you make a mockery out of me?!" Carbuncle yelled in fury.

"You and me both, poacher," Knuckles added with an unamused look on his face as he had his arms crossed.

"Grrr! I'll show you! I can destroy anything! In fact, I can consume anything I want! And I'm going to consume all this junk that you had fed to me!" Carbuncle exclaimed passionately as he tried to fire all of its lasers and missiles again. The ship then turned red as its firing power is being overheated thanks to the cargo clogging the ship.

"Yeah, this isn't going to end well," Knuckles said casually before he, Amy, and Sonic flew away from the overheating ship. The ship kept on getting hotter and hotter until it had started to blow up. Multiple explosions had come out of the ship's cannons and missile launchers. The ship then flew downwards as the explosions continued.

"NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Carbuncle shouted as his ship had descended while the explosions kept on going.

"Well, would you look at that. He really did consume all the junk that we had given him. I guess that he really is that hungry then," Amy replied with a smile as she looked at the exploding Metarex ship.

"But it seems that he's still not satisfied enough. Maybe if he consumed himself, then he'll be full!" Knuckles added with a smirk as he and Sonic looked at the exploding ship too.

"But not until I consume you first!" Carbuncle yelled as he attempted to fly the exploding ship towards Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles. They all flew away from the approaching ship and watched it go even further up.

Sonic gasped in shock as he realized what the Metarex poacher is trying to do. "Uh oh! We're in big trouble now! That Metarex poacher is going to try to bring down the Blue Typhoon with its own ship! We better do something! Quick!".

"I got it! Tails! Move! The ship is heading right towards you!" Knuckles exclaimed quickly into his wrist communicator.

"Thank you, Knuckles! I'll get right on it! Time to fly backwards!" Tails exclaimed solemnly before he pulled the levers back to him to steer the ship again. As the Blue Typhoon flew backwards, the Metarex ship is quickly flying towards the ship. Tails frowned as he said, "This is not good. We're going to need all the power that we have to escape this time".

"Then we're just going to have to go all the way this time. Firing up the back-up engines!" Chris replied solemnly as he pushed the buttons to turn on the back-up engines. The Blue Typhoon had increased its speed thanks to the back-up engines powering it up, however, the Metarex ship was still able to keep up with it.

"Oooh, it's not working! The Metarex ship is just too fast! Why can't Tails fly the ship faster?!" Amy exclaimed yelled out in worry.

"The Blue Typhoon will only fly at its max speed when the Master Emerald is being used. But since we're out here and not on the ship, we won't be able to use the Master Emerald anyways! Instead, the Metarex ship will just catch up to it and blow it up!" Knuckles explained while looking worried as he stared at the Metarex ship.

"Move faster, Tails! Faster! Faster! For goodness' sake, faster!" Sonic yelled out in worry.

However, despite Sonic's yelling, the Metarex ship had gotten much closer to the Blue Typhoon. It was getting so close to the Blue Typhoon that it was about to crash into it. Carbuncle then said darkly, "Must...consume...everything...Must...consume...all...players...".

"No! We're done for!" Tails yelled out in fear.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!" Cosmo and Cream screamed in fear as they both covered their eyes and heads.

"Oh, crud!" Chris yelled out in worry as his eyes went wide. If I die here, then that means...my friends and family never see me again! Oooh...Why didn't I find a way to send a letter to the folks back home fast enough?! Why?! Mom! Dad! Grandpa! Helen! Danny! Francis! Mr. Tanaka! Ms. Ella! I'm so sorry that I had left you all without saying "Goodbye" personally! Now, I will never go back home! I will be...be...dead...forever... Chris thought in fear. As he closed his eyes as he embraced for the ship's impact, he then whispered, "I'm so sorry..."

But just as the Metarex's ship was about to ram into the Blue Typhoon, another miracle had occurred! A flash of yellow light had rammed into the Metarex ship instead and had knocked it back a few feet from the Blue Typhoon.

"What the heck?!" Carbuncle exclaimed as his ship was knocked away.

"Wait! We're alive?!" Chris exclaimed in shock as he opened his eyes again.

"We're saved!" Cosmo and Cream exclaimed in joy.

While Chris was confused, he saw a spinning ball heading towards the Metarex's ship. He gasped when he recognized what that ball is when it had landed onto the Blue Typhoon. "It's Shadow! He's back!" Chris yelled with a smile.

Shadow was in his Spinball Form again when he had jumped off from the Blue Typhoon. He then attacked the Metarex ship as fast as he could. He went all around the exterior part of the ship again like last time.

"Argh! You again! You're such an annoying little pest, aren't you?!" Carbuncle exclaimed in annoyance as Shadow rammed at the ship multiple times.

"Boy, Shadow likes to show up at the most unexpected times, doesn't he?" Knuckles commented casually while staring at the Metarex ship.

"But that just makes him even more mysterious, doesn't it? Heh heh heh!" Sonic replied calmly with a chuckle as he had his hand on his hip.

"It really is miraculous that he's here, but how did he get here though? Wasn't Dr. Eggman's ship destroyed? He couldn't just float all this way here, could he?" Amy asked in confusion as she stared at Shadow incredulously.

"Of course not! You need something as fast as my ship if you're ever going to get anywhere! Space is about as vast as the sea, you know!" Dr. Eggman replied through the speaker as his ship descended down towards Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles.

"Heh! So, you really are alive, huh?" Sonic replied casually with a smile.

"Well, duh! Like having gum on your shoe, I'll stick to you whether you like it or not! Besides, did you really think that I would be that stupid to let a single missile destroy my ship? Well, you'd be wrong!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed with a frown as he raised his finger up for emphasis.

"Oh, really? Prove it!" Sonic challenged with a smirk.

"Very well. I'll explain. ...All I did was open the secret hatch on my ship to let the missile through. After I did that, I pressed the super-emergency button to not only teleport but also leave an explosion to fake my death! Plain and simple!" Dr. Eggman explained calmly yet gleefully as he recounted his brilliant escape trick.

"There's nothing simple about it! You're just confusing me!" Knuckles exclaimed in slight annoyance while waving his hand up and down.

"But it is simple. You just had to release the smoke bomb from the ship after you leave. It's rather brilliant if you ask me," Decoe replied calmly.

"Even I didn't know that the Doctor had installed that function to the ship. He's much craftier than I take him for," Bocue added as he looked at Decoe.

"Forget about Eggman! Where did Sonic go?!" Amy exclaimed as she saw that Sonic was nowhere to be seen.

"Wait! Huh?! But he was just here!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise as he looked at his right. He and Amy looked around some more, but they still can't find Sonic.

"Where else would you think that he would go? It's been a long time since he had looked into a mirror, you know. Heh heh," Dr. Eggman replied with a devious smirk.

"Ah!" Amy and Knuckles exclaimed in shock as they realized where Sonic had gone to.

-On The Metarex Ship-

Shadow had hopped down onto the ground again and had run across the ship's roof. A few seconds later, he heard Sonic say, "So, you want to save us again by destroying this ship, huh? I'm starting to like this new habit of yours, Shadow. Saving your friends is a good habit to keep".

"I'm not interested into saving you or your friends. I only care about proving to the entire universe that I'm the Ultimate Lifeform. Nothing else," Shadow replied with a frown as he glared at Sonic.

"Woah, did your ego grew even more after you came back from the dead or were you always like that from the start?" Sonic joked with a smile as he ran with Shadow.

"What do you mean 'from the start'?" Shadow asked irritably with a deeper frown.

"You still don't recognize me, Shadow? Really? I thought that I had left quite an impression on you when we first met," Sonic replied with a smile.

"When we first met"? Hmm...Argh! Screw this! This is wasting my time! Hmph! Shadow thought with raised eyebrows before he furrowed them again and looked back ahead of him before running faster. Sonic kept up with Shadow as he also ran just as fast as him. Shadow and Sonic jumped a few times on the ship before they ran inside one of the ship's turbines.

"Will you just leave me alone?! This is my battle to finish! Not yours!" Shadow yelled in irritation as he looked at Sonic.

"Why do you want to do this alone? I thought that we were friends, Shadow," Sonic replied with a frown as he looked back at Shadow in confusion.

"Oh, yeah? Then what kind of a friend takes away one's title after they were supposed to be dead?!" Shadow asked irritably with a frown.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Shadow? I've never don-Hey! Where are you going?!" Sonic asked in confusion before he exclaimed in shock as he saw Shadow run towards the right hallway.

"Away from you!" Shadow answered back rudely.

Sonic pouted a bit as he said to himself, "Sheesh, it's like he sees me as a stranger now. Did the board game make him lose his memories or something when it had brought him back to life? Either way, he's still a stick-in-the-mud".

Sonic kept on thinking these thoughts to himself as he ran ahead towards the northern hallway. Eventually, both hedgehogs had reached the ship's engine room and had destroyed it together. Tons of explosions came off from the ship as the inside portion was being destroyed. Carbuncle yelled in surprise after feeling the huge explosions. Sonic and Shadow jumped out of the two turbines of the ship as it was exploding.

"What's going on here?! What's happening to my ship?!" Carbuncle yelled in confusion.

"It's being destroyed! That's what happening!" Knuckles exclaimed with a smile.

"B-B-Being...destroyed? No! That can't be true! I...I can't die!" Carbuncle replied in horror.

"You reap what you sow, Metarex poacher. You have consumed multiple ships in the past, but now, it's your ship that's being consumed by the flames. It's time for you to go away since they are no more ships left to consume but yours," Amy replied solemnly with a frown.

"But...But...I can't! I need to consume all life in order to survive! It's the only way that any of us will survive! Without life...then it will be us that will have to die! Sacrifice is necessary for survival! And...And...I want to survive! I must!" Carbuncle exclaimed solemnly as his ship descended while being engulfed in flames.

Cosmo stared at the destroyed Metarex ship with terrified eyes. With a shaky breath, she then whispered to herself, "'The only way...that any of us...will survive' …'Sacrifice...is necessary for survival'. C-Carbuncle...You're just like me...So you are...no different than me...I...I should've known...".

"Huh? What do you mean that 'it's the only way'? Isn't there a better alternative for surviving than killing innocent people?" Amy asked in confusion.

"Noooo...There is no alternative. After all...it's all part of the curse. Our curse..." Carbuncle replied in despair while his ship was in flames.

Amy gasped in shock of this answer. Knuckles said to himself with a shocked look on his face, "There's that word again. 'The curse'. Just what is this curse anyway?".

"I...I...I don't have anything left in this universe but myself. If I can't live anymore, then I will do myself a favor and consume myself! I won't let you win! And I won't lose either! I'll...I'll...I'll end this battle myself and turn it into a draw!" Carbuncle yelled as he pushed the self-destruct button. The ship then glowed bright blue as it was initiating the self-destruct sequence.

Knuckles gasped in surprise as he exclaimed in confusion, "Wait! What do you mean 'turn it into a draw'?! What are you planning now?! Hey! HEY!".

"The Metarex is deciding to end the battle by self-destructing itself! It's going to use its own ship as a bomb to destroy us all!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in shock as he saw the red "WARNING" sign appear in his computer monitor.

"Well, what are doing standing around here for?! Let's get a move on!" Bokkun exclaimed in worry.

"I wish, but we can't leave Shadow behind! We need him for self-defense! He's like our meat shield now!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in worry too as he looked nervous and had rubbed his head. He and Bokkun screamed when they heard more loud explosions from the Metarex ship.

The Metarex ship is quickly self-destructing as smoke filled everywhere on the inside of the ship. Sonic exclaimed in a panic, "Abandon ship!".

"Alright, time out!" Shadow exclaimed as he pulled out the red Chaos Emerald and held it above him. He screamed as he commanded the Chaos Emerald to freeze time at the Metarex ship. The Chaos Emerald glowed bright red before it glowed yellow as the move was being performed. Soon, a flash of light went towards the Metarex ship and went past it. Afterwards, it had stopped in place.

Knuckles was both shocked and confused as he yelled out to Shadow, "Just what was that?!".

"It's called a time-stopper. It freezes time on an object temporarily before it resumes movement. We only got about a minute to leave before the ship blows up. Also, spoiler warning...I'm not going to do it again if you guys fail to escape in time. You guys are on your own," Shadow answered calmly with a frown as he stared at the frozen ship.

"Heh. Thanks a lot, buddy. Really wouldn't have done it without ya," Sonic replied with a teasing smirk.

"I'm not your 'buddy', guy," Shadow replied in an unamused tone of voice.

"Hmph. Whatever...buddy," Sonic replied with a smug look on his face.

"Watch it," Shadow replied as he looked away and had crossed his arms in irritation.

"Woohoo! Go Shadow!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed with a smile as he pumped his fist into the air. He, Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun then chanted Shadow's name repeatedly in joy, "Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!".

"Well? What are you waiting for? Are you going to leave or not?" Shadow replied with a haughty smirk as he stared at Sonic.

"We will! But first we got business to take care of and fast!" Sonic exclaimed quickly to Shadow before opening his wrist communicator. "Tails? What do we do now?" Sonic asked calmly as he looked at Tails through the wrist communicator.

"We can stop the detonation sequence if we destroy the ship ourselves! Using the Sonic Power Cannon will work! Just come back to the ship! Quick!" Tails exclaimed quickly to Sonic.

"Will do! Be there in a flash!" Sonic replied quickly before turning off the transmission.

"Tails? Do you really think that we can break it? We saw Shadow trying to destroy it earlier by using his Spinball move, but it didn't work," Chris replied in confusion as he stared at Tails.

"But that's because it's the regular Spinball Form. The Master Emerald's energy charges up that form and make it ten times stronger than it normally is. So, I think that we're okay this time," Tails explained calmly as he looked at Chris.

"Alright, I'll trust you, Tails. I hope that you're right," Chris replied calmly with a nod before he and Tails started typing quickly into their computers.

"Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!" Dr. Eggman, Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun chanted even more with glee.

"Okay! The cannon is all powered up now and is ready to be used!" Chris exclaimed quickly.

"Good! Now, all we have to do is aim it at the Metarex and then we're in the clear!" Tails exclaimed in agreement with Chris.

"Ha! Too easy!" Chris exclaimed back confidently as he fired the large ring at the frozen Metarex ship. The ship then turned all wavy and rainbow-like as it was hit. The ring behind the ship started to spin too which made it even more dizzying to look at.

"Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow!" Dr. Eggman, Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun chanted even so while this is happening.

The cannon then rose up again, and Sonic quickly got inside it and ran towards the center of it. Tails then said through the speaker, "Time for the final energy boost! Knuckles! You know what to do!".

"Yeah, yeah, no need to tell me twice," Knuckles replied casually with a shrug as he watched the Master Emerald glowing brighter.

"Power is maxed out!" Chris yelled through the speaker.

"Sonic! It's your time to shine again!" Tails exclaimed confidently through the speaker.

"Put this Metarex poacher out of his misery!" Chris encouraged through the speaker.

Sonic then jumped onto the launching pad at the center of the cannon and exclaimed with a confident smile, "It's time to earn our rightful 'win'!".

After he had said that, he went into his Spinball Form again. As he spun faster, blue electricity surged through his body and had made him stronger. The cannon was being raised at the Metarex ship and within a few seconds, Sonic was fired from the cannon yet again.

BOOM!

Sonic's Spinball Form was completely covered in blue electricity and was heading towards the Metarex ship as fast as possible.

"Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Shadow! Sha-" Dr. Eggman, Decoe, Bocue, and Bokkun chanted happily.

"Stop chanting out my name already! I'm right here!" Shadow interrupted irritably with a frown on his face while having his arms crossed.

"Oh...Sorry," Everyone besides Shadow replied sheepishly with sweat drops on their heads.

KABOOM!

Sonic had rammed into the Metarex ship in time and had made it explode inside the special warp. The explosion was blue, and the smoke had the same color too. Soon, the remains of the ship were then sucked into the wavy warp itself and had soon disappeared afterward. Sonic and his friends were relieved that they had destroyed the ship in time, however, only one person was not happy with the results.

"Curses! They've destroyed Carbuncle! He was the best at confusing everyone with his powers and abilities! How could those players destroy one of the universe's strongest yet confusing beings in existence?! They shall pay dearly for getting rid of my strongest poacher," Dark Oak exclaimed bitterly. Those players are much more of a hassle than I thought. We must come up with a plan to make them lose and surrender their lives to us. Only then...we shall live. Dark Oak thought solemnly.

Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman flew his ship away from the Blue Typhoon while exclaiming, "Sayonara, suckers! Saving us will be your downfall in the future! Heheheheheh!".

Rouge was trailing behind Dr. Eggman's spaceship in her own pink ship. She smiled to herself as she thought. I knew that those guys would come in handy for me someday. They may have the emeralds now but not for long. I'll make sure of that.

Shadow just silently stared at Sonic ahead of him while standing on top of Dr. Eggman's ship. Sonic was doing the same thing on the Blue Typhoon. They both had their arms crossed and had stared silently at each other until they can't see each other anymore. Sonic smiled a little as he thought. Yep. Shadow's back alright, but it doesn't seem to be the same Shadow as I last saw him. It's rather sad that he had lost his memories. He would have realized that he has friends now if he had remembered us. But then again...life won't throw a bone at you at times, and we're just going to have to deal with that. Aw well. It's not a complete loss though. After all, we have another chance to forge new memories together whether Shadow wants to or not. And I can't wait what kind of new memories we're going to have with him in the future.

Chris, Cream, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy stared at Dr. Eggman's ship for a long time as it moved away from the Blue Typhoon. Cosmo had also stared at the ship too, but she had a sad look on her face. She had stood from her seat and had her hands folded as she brooded. Even Carbuncle was just a puppet to Dark Oak's grand scheme. I should've known. I bet that all of the poachers are just pawns to him. Pawns...that he could use...and throw away. I know that every one of the poachers want to survive, but that's the same with the rest of us. It's the same thing with my clan, yet sadly...they had to be "sacrificed" so that they can live. It's not fair. But then again...nothing in this game is fair. Everything is staged...calculated...manipulated. The only thing that we can do now...is keep on moving forward. I won't rest until I can lift up the curse from the board game so that the entire universe can rest in peace without the fear of being hunted down and killed by poachers. I will end it. And I will end it...because I have my friends with me. Only with them...then we can live.

As Cosmo pondered those last thoughts, she looked more determined than ever as she watched the Blue Typhoon go much further into space. Another battle with the Metarex had ended, but the game is still not over. Only time will tell when they finally reached the end of the game. But with the Metarex scheming behind the scenes, who knows what will happen?

Only...something bad.

Well, look at this! Another chapter done! At least it didn't take three months to get this one out! I hope that you had enjoyed this chapter! Also, if anyone's curious, the whole "Carbuncle" thing is definitely a Sonic Shuffle reference. Wow! An actual Sonic Shuffle reference?! In my story?! That's crazy talk! But anyways, keep on reading my story until the next chapter comes out! Your support is always appreciated! Now, that episode 61 is done, it's time to move on to episode 62!