Emerald Canyon – The Rebellion Base

"I'll be taking these, now." Fang, keeping his blaster aimed at the unconscious form of Knuckles on the ground, removes his hand from his apparently-wounded arm in order to scoop up the two Chaos Emeralds that have been left on the ground.

Sonic takes the first step to stop him, but he is immediately halted.

"Nah ah ah…" Fang points the weapon closer, cocking it back with a click. "One more move, and the next shot kills him. And none of us want that, now do we?" He suddenly barks out a high-pitched laugh. "I have half a mind to do it anyways, after the day I've been having."

Sonic clenches a fist with a growl, knowing that he can't make a move.

"I've waited so long for this day. I've spent years, training day in and day out, so that I could finally destroy you. And I don't care how many people turn their backs on me. I don't care how many people I have to kill! Now that I have your greatest chances at survival in my hands, I am finally going to get what I've worked for. I am not going to mess this up! And come tomorrow morning, half this planet will be in rubble, and you…" He concludes with absolute glee, "…will be dead!" He lets out another cackling laugh.

"You're insane…"

"No…I was insane the way I was before, believing that I was good for anything. But you showed me how very wrong I was. For that, I suppose I ought to thank you." He tips his hat down slowly. "Now I really must be off. I have the biggest payday of my life waiting for me."

Without a word, Shadow streaks in from behind at top speed, aiming for a strike.

Fang hops back, balancing on his tail as Shadow misses his mark. "Think you can sneak up on me!?" He pulls the trigger, firing a shot far brighter and louder than usual, which strikes Shadow in the back, knocking him to the ground.

"Shadow!" Fearing the worst of the so-called killshot, Sonic runs for Shadow.

Shadow struggles to get back up as quickly as possible. "No, don't let him–…"

Sonic and Shadow both turn at once to see that Fang has, somehow, already disappeared.

Sonic breathes out a dread-filled, "No…" He suddenly takes off at full speed, almost seeming to run in a dozen different directions at once, checking every possible hiding place again and again.

Shadow finally stops him with a shout. "He's gone, Sonic!"

Sonic stops abruptly, breathing hard, staring at the ground, unable to say a word.

Knuckles stirs from his place on the ground. "Ungh… What happened…?"

Sonic goes several more moments in silence before slowly answering. "Eggman…just got all seven Chaos Emeralds. … …We lost."

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 1, Episode 18

Doomsday: Part 2

Written by ChaosProjectAuthor

Daily Log, December 24th, 0 A.E. Sonic the Hedgehog reporting.

I guess 1:06 A.M. is pretty early to make a log. But a lot's happened the last few hours. When Discord attacked our camp, powered up by one of Eggman's Emeralds, we thought it might be our chance to take it. Finally make a little progress in this war. Just wishful thinking, I guess. Every single one of us working together, and we couldn't lay a finger on it-…on…him. Discord was cured. After it took down half the Rebellion and nearly ran off with our Emerald, that is. All that's left now is a hibernating Chao. Such a small creature, having so much destructive power…I still have a hard time believing it. What a world we live in.

And the Emeralds? Lost those. Taken from right under my nose. Not the only mistake I've made tonight, either. Rouge came back. And I have a lot of explaining to do.

—–—

"She isn't conscious," Tails explains, "but she's alive. For now, anyways." The entire Rebellion has gathered around what used to be the med tent, now exposed to the open air, though few of them appear to have been treated for their bruises and other minor injuries. Omega lies unrepaired by the canyon wall. Charmy lies unconscious beside him. The pink Chao cocoon sits on a table. Rouge, the most injured of them all, lies on a stretcher, hooked up to several pieces of medical equipment. "And as for you," he continues as he finished bandaging Shadow's back, "that was a killshot. You'd be dead if you weren't so much more durable than we mere mortals. What's gotten into you, letting yourself take a hit like that?"

Shadow gives no response to the humor. His attention, as well as most others, is directed to Sonic.

Sonic doesn't say anything. Finally, Knuckles is forced to prompt, "So, you were lying about it the entire time?"

Sonic breathes out a long sigh. "Yes. I lied. I tried to make sure that every single one of you believed Rouge was our enemy, so that Eggman could believe it too. I did it to protect her."

Shadow suddenly spits, "Well look how that turned out! She's dying because of your lies!"

Sonic stares at the ground. "I know…I'm sorry."

"You don't have the right to be sorry. Keeping something like this from all of us…you don't have the right to call yourself a leader."

"…You're right. So that's…why I have to step–"

"Not so fast," Amy interrupts. "I knew. I figured it out. And I helped keep the secret, because I thought it was a good idea. So I share that responsibility."

"So," Vector adds, "we weren't the only ones. The boys and I dug up the truth months ago." Espio grunts in agreement.

"Miss Rouge helped me find Froggy," Big states, as if anyone in the room could understand the relevance.

Knuckles agrees, "I was getting the feeling you were hiding something like this. It wasn't adding up. And honestly, you…aren't the greatest liar."

Cream seems just a bit more conflicted. "It isn't very nice to lie…but I guess it's okay if it's to protect someone's life."

Sonic looks to Tails. Tails answers firmly, "You know that I'd trust you no matter what. This was a tactical decision. And it made sense, even if it didn't work out the best."

Every added voice causes Shadow's expression to grow more furious, until he finally shouts, "Then every single one of you is to blame for what's happened to her!" With that, he turns and storms off.

Sonic meekly calls after him, "Shadow…"

"Give him time," Tails says. "We have other things to worry about right now."

Vector complains, "Other things? Like what? Haven't we dealt with enough already?"

Tails presents a familiar data drive. "Like this. Rouge was holding it, before…"

Amy adds, "She had something she needed to tell us. That's why she came here. Whatever it is, she can't say anything now."

"She may not need to," Tails says, as he inserts the drive into the TAL computer which was apparently retrieved from Sonic's tent at some point. Immediately, the three-dimensional schematics of Eggman's imminently-launching project appear on the screen.

Sonic and Knuckles at once state with a slight degree of satisfaction, "Death Egg."

"This is what she risked her life to bring us," Tails continues. "It's an orbital weapon, from what I can tell. Loaded with highly-focused lasers, and some of the most advanced targeting systems I've ever seen."

Espio proposes, "So it's a sniper? Taking out specific targets from the safe distance of Earth-orbit?"

Vector adds, "Targets like us?"

Amy ponders, "The degree of control that would give him over the entire population…"

Knuckles grunts, "We can't let that happen."

Tails continues, "I've analyzed the schematics for weak points." Three flashing blips appear on the screen. "All of its systems are on a triple backup with rudimentary self-repair and bypass systems in place. But if we take out the weapons, plus the power core and the engine room, all at about the same, we can render the whole station dead in the water, completely unusable. Explosive charges planted here, here, and here, should do the trick."

Sonic raises an eyebrow. "We carry explosive charges?"

Tails scratches the back of his head awkwardly. "Well…yeah. We've raided a few abandoned military bases. And you said to take anything that's useful, so…"

Sonic shakes his head with a groan. "Later, we'll talk about this later." He picks back up, "We already know where it's being built, and we know it has to be launching soon. So our best bet is to send a team now, try to take it out while it's still on the ground."

Another voice counters as he stumbles toward them, "I'm afraid it's already too late for that."

Knuckles growls, "You!"

Sly the Raccoon holds up his hands innocently, despite his unsteady feet. "It's okay, I'm…I'm here to help."

Sonic glares at the wounded thief suspectingly. "You're with Nack. Why would you help us?"

"Because…maybe I had a change of heart, okay? Look, you don't have to believe me, but I know Eggman's plan. And that Death Egg launches in…" He moves as if to check his watch, even though he clearly isn't wearing one. "…half an hour."

"Discord was meant to be a distraction," Amy realizes.

"It gets worse," Sly continues. "After it reaches orbit…he's going to start vaporizing a city every half hour until Sonic turns himself over."

The Rebellion collectively gasps. Sonic questions, "Can it really do that?" Tails gives a nod.

Sly presses, "Look, y'all better get a move on if you wanna catch up in time."

Sonic nods. "Yeah, I guess you're… Wait a second… Did you just say…?"

Before Sonic can finish, Big happily greets, "Hello, Miss Maggie. I didn't realize it was you."

Sly shouts with a woman's voice, "Dagummit, Big! I told ya no friendly hellos!" In a puff of smoke, he transforms into Heavy Magician.

Sonic puts an irritated hand over his face, groaning, "I can't even right now…"

The Magician continues, "Alright, y'all got me. Everything I said's still true though. Good luck. Y'all're gonna need it." Without waiting for any response, she flicks her wand down, disappearing in another puff of smoke.

Amy immediately questions, "Do we believe her?"

Knuckles counters, "Doesn't matter. We still have to take this thing down."

Sonic questions, "We? You're still injured, you shouldn't be going anywhere."

"We're all injured. Yourself included."

"Doesn't matter. I'm the only one who can make it there in time." He turns and looks off in the distance. "Me and Shadow, that is."

Tails poses, "You could take more people along using Chaos Control, right?"

Sonic shakes his head. "Using what Chaos Emerald?"

Knuckles answers, "What about this one?" He presents the shrunken Master Emerald in his hand.

Sonic puts a contemplative hand up to his chin. "Huh. That could work." He shakes his head. "No, it doesn't matter. This is too dangerous for a large team. You all need to stay here and rest."

Vector counters, "We can't rest. Not until this is all over."

Espio agrees, "We're going. All of us. Well…except Charmy. He's still out cold."

Tails notes, "Me neither. I need to stay here to look after Rouge."

Cream adds, "And someone needs to take care of the Chao."

Cheese concurs, "Chao chao!"

Sonic closes his eyes and sighs. "Alright. Knuckles and I will take point. We'll each take a pack of those charges. Everyone else, stay close. No unnecessary risks."

"I'm coming too." Shadow steps back into view lacking all of the emotion he left with.

"Are you sure, Shadow? You can stay here with her, if you–"

"She risked everything to bring us this information. I won't let that be in vain."

Sonic nods with a smile. "Glad to have you on board."

—–—

Angel Island – 1:53 A.M.

T-minus Seven Minutes to Launch

What was, when last seen, a scattering of machinery and scaffolding spread across the surface of the once-floating island, has now been built together into a single dome-like structure that stretches over the top of the great island. But it is not a dome—it is merely a small slice of the top of the Death Egg, visible above where the rest of the station reaches, seeming to encompass nearly the entirety of the island's internal mass, making it many times the size of the first Death Egg.

Knuckles, carrying a pack presumably full of explosives, stares in awe and horror at the size of the dome. "This sacred place… What have you done, Eggman…?"

Sonic, similarly armed, places a hand Knuckles' shoulder. But there is little he can say.

Knuckles nods. "I know. We'll set this right."

Another voice answers, "Not today, you won't be." Led by Heavy King, all five of the Hard Boiled Heavies stand between the rebels and the Death Egg.

Sonic steps up in front of the Rebellion. "You hear that, guys? Eggman's lackeys think they can stop us from saving the world. Let's show 'em a thing or two."

Immediately, Espio and Heavy Shinobi leap at one another, crossing blades in the air. Heavy Rider charges at Vector, who stands his ground. Heavy Gunner fires off a missile aimed at Hero, but he leaps up, latching his grappling wire onto the Gunner to pull himself over the explosion. Heavy Magician waves awkwardly at Big. "So, are we…fighting?"

"Only if you don't help my friends through."

"Oh. Darned shame, that is. Sorry." She whips off her hat, and uses her wand to fling a Caterkiller out from inside.

A hard swing from Amy's hammer is parried by Heavy King's scepter. He lets out a brief mechanical chuckle. "You're strong, girl. But not strong enough to face me on your own."

Knuckles moves as if to follow her up with an attack of his own, but Amy stops him with a shout. "No! You guys keep going, we'll hold them off."

Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles waste no time in arguing, running past the fight towards the great dome of the Death Egg. Sonic looks to Shadow. "How much time do we have?"

Shadow answers curtly, "Four minutes."

Knuckles nods. "Then let's pick up the pace."

Seeing their escape, Heavy Gunner fires a missile in their direction. Hero swings around on his wire, redirecting the missile with a kick.

Big has been wrapped up by a Caterkiller, which holds him in place as he struggles to escape. In the moment of pause, Magician whispers to King, "Boss, are we lettin' 'em go?"

"Don't be concerned," he answers. "All is going according to plan."

—–—

The Launch Base

T-minus…

A mechanical voice declares over a loudspeaker, "…ten seconds. Nine… Eight…"

Sonic, Shadow, and Knuckles run across the mechanical platform towards the great looming wall in front of them that is the Death Egg. Knuckles is clearly falling behind as Sonic and Shadow pick up the pace.

Sonic glances back at him. "We can make it! Just keep moving!"

Knuckles calls back, "Don't you worry about me! I'm not letting this thing go!"

"Seven…Six… Five…"

There are no obvious entrances in sight. But the surface of the Death Egg, covered in many facets and mechanical structures, provides plenty of handholds for Sonic and Shadow to grab as they leap for it.

"Four… Three… Two …One–" The final words are drowned beneath the sound of firing thrusters. The world begins to rumble as the Death Egg, slowly at first, begins to lift into the air.

As Knuckles runs to catch up, the ground beneath him trembles violently, beginning to crack and fissure from the force of the Death Egg's launch. The ground no longer safe, he leaps into the air, and glides the rest of the way, just barely able to latch onto the bottom of the rapidly-rising sphere. He looks up, trying to get a view of Sonic and Shadow near the top, but they are now so far away as to be completely covered by the curvature of the sphere. Sonic's voice cuts in over his communicator, "Knuckles, you alright?"

"Yeah, I made it. Go on without me, I'll try to find my own way in from down here."

"Got it. You know what to do."

Knuckles gives a nod, as if Sonic could see it. Then he looks down, to the massive crater that was once Angel Island, quickly receding away as the Death Egg rises. The crater appears to be filling with water, as if the island were sinking. Unable to look any longer, Knuckles clenches his eyes shut. "Angel Island…gone." He looks up with a renewed anger. "You're all gonna answer for this." He quickly begins to scale the outside of the rising space station, using his fists in his usual way.

—–—

Much higher in the air, not protected from the harsh dragging winds, with less to hold onto and less skill in climbing, Sonic and Shadow put up a much greater struggle in climbing their way up towards what looks to be an opening high above. Each movement seems to take immense effort, as the upwards acceleration of the space station seems to pull them away from their intended target.

One of Shadow's hands slips, leaving him dangling by the other, forced to look down at the receding ground below. The rate of his breathing seems to increase as he sees just how high they are, where the atmosphere is thinning and the details on the ground have long since faded away. The beating of his heart grows loud as he realizes how close he is to making that long fall to the surface yet again.

"Shadow!" Sonic offers down a hand of his own. Shadow glares at it for a moment, before pulling himself back into a stable grip under his own power, quickly climbing past Sonic without ever acknowledging the gesture. Letting out a brief sigh with a shake of his head, Sonic follows.

The sound of the Death Egg's thrusters suddenly cut out. Sonic's feet, his entire body, which were pinned against the exterior of the space station moments ago, now begin to lift away. "Whoa, whoa! We're falling!"

"We're in orbit," Shadow corrects. He looks back to the opening above. "Should make things easier." He pulls himself up with both hands, flinging himself in apparent zero gravity straight towards the opening.

"Shadow, w-…" With another shake of his head, Sonic similarly flings himself up. As soon as he passes through the translucent blue field that separates the inside of the Death Egg from the space outside, he is pulled to the ground by some manner of artificial gravity system. "So, Shadow? Afraid of heights?"

Shadow glares back at him. "Heights? You're imagining things."

"Am I?"

Shadow pauses for a moment. "…Falling from orbit isn't exactly my idea of a good time."

"Really? You coulda had me fooled."

Shadow's glare increases in intensity.

"Right, the mission. Knuckles should have the weapons station covered. I'll take the core, you take the engine room. Sound good?"

Shadow's only response is to hold out an upraised hand expectantly.

Sonic reaches into his pack, and pulls out an explosive charge to place in Shadow's hand. "Don't be late."

Shadow takes the object and starts to walk out. But he stops for a moment. "Same to you." He takes another few steps, but then stops once again.

Sonic questions, "What's up?"

"Something's not right. This is a hangar bay, isn't it?"

Sonic takes a quick look around the wide, empty room with access to the outside space. "Yeah, that's what the schematics said. Why?"

Shadow turns back to face Sonic. "So what's supposed to come out of here? Where are all the shuttles?"

Sonic shrugs. "On the surface, probably. Maybe Eggman needs them to bring up more stuff."

"Every single one? That wouldn't make any sense. It would be more efficient to bring everything up in one launch."

"I agree, it's weird, but we need to get moving. Like right now."

Shadow shakes off his concern. "Right."

—–—

Knuckles pounds a fist into the side of the Death Egg. Whatever mechanism it is that he destroys causes a small hatch to slide open, just large enough for him to climb inside. He crawls on his hands and knees into the narrow, circular shaft. It grows progressively darker as he moves along inside. With one hand, he reaches for his communicator. "You sure about this, Tails?"

Despite the great distance between them, Tails' voice is still able to answer, "It's a long crawl, but it'll take you right to the weapons systems. There's no faster way from where you are, and we don't have any time to lose."

"And why, exactly, is there a tunnel that leads straight to a vital system from the outside?"

"It's…uhh…it's an exhaust port. For the weapons."

"What kind of exhaust?"

"Just…you know…burning hot plasma. The kind that'll…vaporize you instantly. But it's fine, it's fine, the weapons won't power on for another…seven minutes. You'll be fine. Definitely. Perfectly fine."

Knuckles unconsciously starts crawling a bit faster. "Who exactly are you trying to convince here?"

—–—

Sonic runs into a great spherical room with a strange gyrating machine at its center. He skids to a halt as he looks the machine up and down. "Here it is." He reaches into his pack to grab an explosive.

"Hold it right there, Hedgehog." With a mighty crash, a massive mech slams into the ground behind him. The modified Death Egg Robot, with taller legs and a more slender appearance, has a large shield attached to one elbow, a long blade to the other, and a great billowing cape around its shoulders. The Death Egg Emperor's head is folded open, revealing Eggman himself sitting inside. "Long time no see, Sonic."

Sonic laughs at the familiar display. "Oh, I'll bet you've been waiting for that one. It just doesn't sound right that way. Gotta be in the moment, you know?"

Eggman lets out a quiet growl. "Irritating as ever, I see. You do realize, of course, that I can't allow you to destroy what I've worked so hard to build."

"This Death Egg's going down whether you allow it or not. So you can save us both some trouble by changing your mind on that."

"Interesting offer. Here's my counterproposal. Surrender yourself to me, and I'll shut down the station myself. I don't need anyone or anything else. Just you, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Sonic begins to pace around in no particular direction. "You know, that's been nagging at me all year. You've had me at your mercy before. You've tried to execute me more than once—not that that's gone very well for you so far. But why the sudden stress on taking me alive? What's changed?"

"You waste your breath on questions I have no intention of answering. You, on the other hand, will answer. Will you surrender?"

Sonic overdramatically puts a hand up to his chin. "Hmm…not as sweet of a deal as last time." He turns around and starts walking towards the core, finishing sarcastically, "I'm gonna have to think about that one." He suddenly takes off at a sprint, ready with the explosive device in his hand to plant onto the machine.

"Wrong answer!" The Death Egg Emperor's hand rockets off from its wrist, completely detached.

Sonic leaps for the core, explosive held in his outstretched hand, but he is suddenly halted just inches from his target as the mech's hand grabs his entire body, ripping him away as it rockets around back to its source. Still holding Sonic tight as he struggles to escape, the hand clicks back into place on the arm it belongs to.

Eggman holds Sonic up to the mech's head, so the two can look each other in the eye. "I was hoping to avoid this." The mech's opposite hand uses two fingers to rip Sonic's pack off of him, crushing the bag and its contents, muffling several small explosions. "But you've forced my hand. So what city do you recommend I vaporize first? Perhaps Empire City? Or Station Square?"

Sonic stops struggling long enough to give Eggman a smirk. "You know, I do know this one city, total slumhole of a place, it could really use a clean slate. It's called Genocide City. Population: zero people, two million robots."

Eggman does not appear amused. "Station Square it is."

"Hey, hey, let's be reasonable, Doc. You want to talk? We can talk."

"I believe we're past the point of talking." Eggman presses a button on the console in front of him. "Charge all weapons. Prepare to fire."

—–—

The whirring, flashing machines that line the long, straight engine room as far as the eye can see, produce a near-deafening amount of noise as Shadow walks in. But one sound is even louder—the sound of the Phantom Ruby activating, generating a bubble of negative space around Shadow that makes all else silent. Infinite stands just across from him.

Shadow tenses up for a fight, showing little other sign of surprise. He growls through gritted teeth, "You picked the wrong day to mess with me, Infinite."

Infinite raises his head in apparent amusement. "Quite the contrary. I needed to ensure that my message was received."

Shadow's scowl intensifies. "What message?"

"So, she didn't get to tell you about the favor I've done for you? The girl is only alive because of me. I stepped in to protect her life. At great risk to myself, I might add."

Shadow relaxes more out of confusion than understanding. "She's dying."

"Well that's hardly my fault, now is it?"

Shadow turns his gaze away at the implied accusation. "Why would you protect her?"

"Call it…an act of good faith, if you will. My faith in you, that is. A reminder that I intend to collect on your debt—and that you are obligated to pay it. If she had died when I had the power to save her, I doubt you would have been very cooperative. But it's out of my hands, now."

"…You're wrong to put that faith in me. I won't help you destroy this world."

"You say that now. But I know, when the time comes, that you will make the right decision."

"I said you're wrong!" Shadow suddenly pounces with a furious rage.

—–—

Knuckles uses his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead as he continues to crawl along through the thin shaft. "Phew… Is it getting hot in here? Or is it just me?" He glances around for a moment, remembering that there is no one there who can answer the question.

Suddenly, Sonic's voice blares through his communicator, "Knuckles! Knuckles, you have to get out of there, right now! Eggman's gonna–" The voice just as suddenly cuts out.

"Sonic!? Sonic, what's going on!?" Knuckles gets no response. He squints as he tries to look off ahead. In the distance, what was once pitch blackness now appears as a faint point of light, rapidly growing in size and intensity. "Well that can't be good…"

Frantically, Knuckles begins to look around for some means of exit, but the walls of the shaft around him all appear perfectly smooth. In desperation, he lifts up an arm and throws a hard punch at the wall next to him. The move results in a dull thud and a cry of pain from Knuckles. He mutters, "Come on, I gotta be close…" He starts to crawl more quickly than ever, repeatedly knocking against the wall as he goes. The light in the distance grows to near-blinding levels as the temperature rapidly increases. Finally, one of Knuckles' knocks results in a reverberating clang. Wasting no time, he stops and delivers another full-power punch. The metal dents under the blow, revealing seams in the construction. He continues to punch again and again, denting it further, until the panel finally gives way, and he tumbles into the room along with it.

Knuckles lands on his back on the floor a bit too far down, eliciting another grunt in pain. He stares up from the floor as white-hot flames begin to spew from the newly-created hole in the wall. Safe down below, he lets out a long sigh of relief.

"Hello, there. Still getting yourself into trouble, I see."

Knuckles scrambles to his feet to glare at the source of the voice. "Nack."

Fang, floating in the center of the room on the Marvelous queen, shouts with fury, "It's Fang! Fang! It's not that hard to remember! What the heck is wrong with you people!?"

Knuckles scratches his head awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to the outburst.

Fang clears his throat. "What I meant to say was…where's Sonic? I was told he would be showing up here to destroy the weapons or something."

"What, I'm not good enough for you?"

"Oh, it's nothing against you. Just that I only came here because I was promised a final confrontation with Sonic." He starts to look around as if hoping to find him somewhere. "So, uhh…where is he?" The fiery plasma jetting out from the hole in the wall begins to subside.

Knuckles crosses his arms. "Not here. And he isn't coming."

"Well, if you could kindly direct me to him…?"

"Sure I can. If you would kindly direct me to the Chaos Emeralds you stole, first."

Fang shrugs, pointing backwards with a thumb. "Why not? One of 'em's somewhere on the other side of this wall here. Eggman had to drain it to charge his weapons. He kept the other one for something else, don't ask me what."

"Why would you tell me that?"

"Well, we treasure hunters ought to stick together, don't you think?"

Knuckles glares at him silently.

"Fine, you got me. There are only two things that I care about. Money. And Revenge. Eggman isn't one of them. I already got paid for handing over the Emeralds. So now it's just revenge. Your turn. Where's Sonic?" A new stream of fire suddenly jets out of the wall, apparently on some sort of cycle.

"…Sonic is going for the core." Knuckles raises his fists. "But I have no intention of letting you and your stupid hat get to him."

"Hey, that's just hurtful. What's with you and my hat, anyways? You jealous or something?"

"What!? Jealous? No!"

Fang shakes his head and sighs. "Whatever. If you insist on remaining a nuisance…" He presses a button on the airbike, and a mechanism attached to the bottom parts open. "I guess I'll just have to take you out." A long laser weapon emerges from the bottom of the airbike, and immediately fires off a shot.

—–—

Sonic throws the one explosive charge remaining in his hand onto the arm of the mech that holds him, and does his best to shield his face as it explodes next to him. Though the arm is not destroyed completely, it is damaged enough to drop Sonic onto the ground. He takes a moment to cough out the smoke, and hits the side of his head with a palm in an attempt to dispel the ringing in his ears.

His moment of recovery is suddenly interrupted as Eggman wordlessly swings a mechanical fist, forcing Sonic to leap backwards out of the way. "Aw, what's the matter Eggman? Why no taunting today?"

Three missiles are mounted onto each of the Death Egg Emperor's shoulders as they lock onto their target. "What's there to taunt? Now that the weapons are powering on, and a target has been set, they can't be stopped. Station Square will be vaporized in mere minutes. You've already lost." The missiles fire.

Sonic takes off at a run, circling the mech to keep ahead of the missiles. "Well, that's almost a taunt. How about you talk about this robot of yours instead?" One by one, the missiles crash and explode into the ground behind his path. "How am I supposed to figure out its weakness if you aren't constantly blabbering about it?"

The undamaged hand of the mech rockets off towards Sonic, ready to grab him again.

"Scratch that, figured it out." Sonic slides just underneath the outstretched hand as it passes over him. As it turns around to return to the mech, closing into a fist, Sonic slams into its side with a spin, sending it slightly off course. Instead of reattaching to the arm, it crashes into the mech's head with an uppercut, damaging it severely and sending it reeling back.

Eggman growls, "Why you little–"

Stopping for a moment, Sonic comments, "Why is it that you never actually finish that sentence? Little what?

Another volley of missiles is loaded onto the Emperor's shoulders. "Too many things to name at once."

—–—

Shadow aims a fist right for Infinite's head. But instead of hitting his target, his fist passes through a haze of cubes. Once he's back on the ground, he turns around sharply with confusion. "What!?"

Infinite turns with a casual chuckle. "Always one to attack first and think later, aren't you, Shadow? I was never really here." The false image of Infinite pushes his mask up. "Don't you remember? I placed a Virtual Seed in your mind, when last we met, for exactly this purpose. No matter how far away I am, you can see whatever I want you to see."

Shadow gives no response, simply giving a silent stare.

"I have one more message for you, Shadow. I'm leaving."

"What do you mean, 'leaving'?"

"I mean that you will not find me in this world for quite some time. But when I return—and I will return—it will be to collect on this debt. You have no choice in this matter."

Shadow, once again, gives no response.

"Farewell, Shadow the Hedgehog." The illusion fades away, and the ambient sounds of the engine room return.

Shadow scoffs. "Good riddance." Wasting no more time, he runs to the largest machine in the room, and places his explosive charge on its side. He reaches for his communicator. "I'm in position."

—–—

Fang laughs as his laser turret fires one shot after another, forcing Knuckles to hop rapidly from place to place. "Ha ha! That's right, Echidna! Dance for me!"

Knuckles growls angrily. But there's little he can do to change his situation. He ducks down under one shot that was aimed for his head. The blast penetrates the wall behind him. Just as he straightens back up, another stream of flames jets out of the newly-created whole in the wall behind him. "Yeowch!" He manages to jump aside before he can be too severely burned.

Fang cackles even more hysterically, taking his eyes away from the fight completely.

Knuckles takes advantage of the brief lapse in fire, leaping in from below to strike at the weapon hanging down from the airbike. The turret is sent spinning wildly, flinging sparks as it goes. Without stopping, it starts to fire off again, now shooting in completely random directions with no input at all. Some shots ricochet off the walls, while others puncture completely through, creating even more fire-spewing holes in the back wall.

Fang begins shouting, "What the–!?" He pounds a fist against the controls. "Work, you stupid piece of–" He ducks just under a ricocheting shot, singeing the top of his hat. Angrily, he moves to draw his own blaster. "Fine, I'll do it myself." Cocking it back, he takes aim at Knuckles, who is still having just as much trouble avoiding the unpredictable blasts of the broken turret. But another stray blast suddenly strikes his weapon, sending it flying from his hand with a cry of pain and surprise. The turret seems to firing more and more rapidly, sending many ricochets right back into the airbike, punching holes and flinging sparks. Shaking off his hand, Fang tries to move his attention back to Knuckles, but he is nowhere to be seen.

Using the metal panel he dislodged earlier as a makeshift shield, Knuckles leaps up from behind, this time aiming his punch for the airbike itself. He strikes it hard enough to knock it all the way back into the nearest wall, where it explodes spectacularly, punching a hole through, and sending Fang flying out. Knuckles walks up to where he lies, cracking his fists threateningly as he gets closer.

Separated from his weapon, his hat, his ride, and his dignity, Fang struggles to prop himself back up onto an elbow, and immediately begins to pound his fist into the ground. "No! No, no, no, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen again! This wasn't…supposed to…" He is choked up beyond any further words.

Knuckles crosses his arms, looking down at the pitiful display. "Don't you get it? This isn't about you failing. This is about you choosing the wrong side. No matter how much you train, and practice, as long as you're willing to hurt people for your own gain, there will always be someone like Sonic and me who can and will stop you."

"No…no, you're right. I didn't fail myself. It was you. And I already got paid. I don't even need to be here!"

"No, I think you're missing the–" He is suddenly interrupted as a jet of flame crosses between him and Fang. He shields his eyes from the bright light.

Fang can be heard shouting from the other side, "It'll be you next time, Echidna!"

When the flame subsides, Fang is nowhere to be seen. Knuckles concludes in slight confusion, "…point? Where'd he…?" He looks over where Fang's hat has been left abandoned a short distance away. He glances around for a moment, as if to make sure that no one is watching. Then he walks over to it, and picks it up off the floor. After turning it around a few times, examining it carefully, he cautiously slips it onto his own head. Admiring the hazy reflection of himself wearing the wide-brimmed brown hat in the nearest steel panel of wall, he concludes, "Hey, not bad."

Sonic's voice shouts through his communicator, "Guys, get ready to blow on my mark!"

Suddenly remembering the situation at hand, Knuckles leaps through the hole the Marvelous Queen left in the wall. On the other side is an impressively large room, lined on all sides with flashing, blinking panels and consoles, apparently designed to control the weapons. At a nearby console, Knuckles notices the distinctive glow of the yellow Chaos Emerald. Heading there, he rips the dimmed Emerald free from the slot designed to hold it. "Thanks, Nack." In its place, he sets down an explosive charge. Reaching for his communicator, he concludes, "In position, ready to go."

—–—

Instead of knocking the robot fist off course, Sonic jumps on top of it, using it to propel his attack towards the Death Egg Emperor. But the mech readies its shield arm, effectively blocking Sonic's attack.

Sonic lands back on his feet, seemingly unfazed by the failed attack. "Alright," he mutters quietly. "…now the missiles."

A volley of missiles is loaded onto the mech's shoulders.

Sonic shakes his head with a smirk. "Always so predictable." He takes off, this time not in a circle, but instead straight towards the gyrating machine at the center of the room. He reaches for his communicator. "Do it now!" Not waiting for a response, he slides beneath the sphere-shaped core, and leaps up on the other side. Not needing to look back, he smirks as he listens to Eggman's homing missiles detonating against the central mechanism of the Death Egg.

The entire space station continues to rumble as Sonic lands back on the ground. In his ear, Shadow's voice affirms, "Engine room down."

Knuckles echoes, "Weapon systems are down."

Sonic responds, "Core is down. No more superlaser."

"You think you've won, do you!?"

Sonic looks up at Eggman's shout. "Whoa!" He hops backwards just in time to avoid the mech slamming onto the ground in front of him. He dives to the side as it slashes with its sword arm.

Eggman finishes, "You are sorely mistaken." He fires off one of the mech's hands.

Sonic makes a high leap over the rocketing hand. But as soon as he lands on the ground, the second, more damaged hand slams into him, grabbing him firmly. The hand's faulty rockets cut out before it can turn around, and drags Sonic along the ground until it comes to a stop. Sonic, though unharmed, remains trapped in the otherwise-useless mech hand. He mutters, "I hate phase two…"

The Death Egg Emperor stomps towards Sonic. "You're playing a fool's game, Hedgehog. This time, my rule is absolute. You can't stop that. But you can end all of this violence, this war, if you would only cooperate."

Sonic gives up the struggle of freeing himself from the iron grip. "We just took down your invincible superweapon. And if that's not hopeless, then I don't see how anything could be." The floor goes through an especially violent shudder. "We're going to win this war. No matter how high the odds we have to overcome. No matter how long it takes."

Eggman has the mech manually pick up its missing hand, and insert it back in place, Sonic still trapped inside. "Bold words, for a rat at my mercy. I have what I came for."

Sonic smirks as he sees something behind Eggman. "Not for long, you don't."

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow's surprise attack strikes the side of the arm holding Sonic, destroying the joint completely, and setting Sonic free.

Eggman growls angrily, "You make no difference!" He slashes the sword arm in an arc at both of them, though they both leap back in time. The next volley of missiles has already fired, three aimed for each hedgehog. They split off in opposite directions.

Before any missiles have detonated, the remaining rocket hand is fired off at Sonic. He changes direction to avoid it, putting him right back in the path of the missiles. He runs straight for them, sliding underneath at the last moment, so that they veer into the ground behind him. As he gets back onto his feet, he sees that Shadow's missiles are missing their mark as well, but no sign of the mech. "Shadow, look out!" He dives straight into Shadow, tackling them both to the ground just out of the way of the mech as it crashes to the ground behind them. Not waiting, it leaps right back into the air again. This time, Sonic and Shadow dive in opposite directions to avoid it. Once back on the ground, it waits just long enough to reattach its fist.

Knuckles leaps in from nowhere, shouting, "Don't you know when to give up!?" He slams into the damaged front of the mech with an immensely powerful punch, hard enough to send the mech teetering, and finally, toppling backwards.

The defeated mech's head pop's open, and Eggman spills out onto the rumbling floor.

Sonic looks from Knuckles to Shadow as the three of them walk towards Eggman. "Thanks for the save, guys." He takes note of what Knuckles is wearing. "Nice hat."

Knuckles tips it down. "I know, right? Doesn't it make me look like a real treasure hunter?"

"Did you–?"

Shadow growls, "Can we focus, here?" They gather around Eggman in a half-circle, all glaring down at him angrily.

Eggman holds his hands up innocently. "N-now come on guys, we, we can talk about this, right?"

Sonic shakes his head. "I think we're past the point of talking."

Knuckles picks up, "But if you can point us to the nearest escape pod, we'll be happy to escort you there. As our prisoner."

Eggman replies, "I think we all know that I'll be doing no such thing."

Knuckles reaches down to forcibly grab Eggman by the arm. "Well, we'll just–" His hand passes straight through Eggman's arm.

Sonic buries his face in his hands and groans.

Eggman puts on a devious smirk. "I never get tired of that trick." The hologram waves farewell as it disappears. The rumbling of the space station finally ceases.

Knuckles shouts, "Eggman was a fake!?"

Sonic continues to groan, "Of course he was. Because why would anything ever work out right for us?"

Looking over to the toppled mech, Knuckles comments, "Well, it looks like something went right." He points to the inside of the mech's cockpit, where the purple Chaos Emerald sits in the controls as a power source. Sonic walks over to investigate. He bends down to get a hand around it, preparing to rip it out.

Shadow ponders, "There has to be something more to this…"

An alarm siren begins to wail. The rumbling resumes. The three look up as strobing red warning lights fill the room. All around the room, panels open on the ceiling, lowering screens that all depict the same simple Eggman insignia into the room.

Sonic takes a step back, taking a look around at each of the identical screens that now line the walls. "What's all this!?"

Once all of the screens have stopped moving, their display changes, depicting footage of the exterior of the Death Egg, covered in small explosions throughout its surface. Eggman's voice declares "Attention: all citizens of the Eggman Empire! This is an emergency news bulletin! A small group of rebels has infiltrated and sabotaged the new Imperial Orbiting Power Station. This overt act of terrorism has disrupted the station's orbit, and it is now on a crash course towards Earth."

As a colorful and clearly pre-made diagram appears depicting how the Death Egg will fall and where it is predicted to land, Tails' voice comes in over the communicators. "Guys, are you seeing this!? It looks like it's being transmitted to every screen in the world!"

Sonic shakes his head as he processes what he's seeing. "Oh yeah. We're seeing it."

Now showing footage from an angle where the Death can clearly be seen falling towards the surface, the announcement continues, "Citizens in the affected areas are advised to evacuate immediately. Repeat, evacuate immediately. Further bulletins will provide updates as they develop." As the voice cuts out, the display is replaced with a countdown timer—27 minutes, 53 seconds.

Before anyone can say anything, the hologram of Eggman suddenly reappears, standing between them. "So, how did you like my message?"

Sonic shouts furiously, "You can't be serious about this, Eggman! Crashing your own Death Egg into the planet!? And for what!? Just to make us look bad!?"

Eggman puts his fingertips together in amusement. "You were warned of the consequences."

Knuckles growls, "These are your own people you're about destroy! Call it off, Eggman! Call it off right now!"

"Oh, there's nothing I can do to stop it now. But the three of you can certainly save yourselves." Eggman holds out his hand, and a holographic display of the Death Egg's schematics appear above it. "As you can see, I've built in a convenient safety bunker into the station, here." He points to a glowing room near the center. "Seal yourselves inside, and you'll be quite well-protected from the crash."

Shadow adds, "And trapped there until you come to get us out."

"Yes, that's right. Not ideal for you, I know, but it doesn't seem like you have many better options, does it?" Eggman looks to Sonic. "You really should've taken the deal while you had the chance."

Sonic's trembling fists held tight, he growls out slowly, "This…this is why, Eggman. Why we'll never take one of your deals. Why we can't just stop fighting and let you rule. Why we will never stop, until you can't hurt anyone again. That you would do this to the same people you're claiming to protect…it's unforgivable. And we will stop you. Mark my words, Eggman. We will end your rule."

Eggman shrugs nonchalantly. "Well, I'd say you have about…25 minutes to do that with. I suggest you start heading for the bunker." The hologram gives a wave as it fades away once again.

Rapidly regaining his calm composure, Sonic goes back to his communicator. "Tails, tell me this isn't happening."

"It's happening. The only thing Eggman lied about was the evacuation. It won't do any good. For an object this massive at terminal velocity…the impact alone will be continent-sized, and then the fallout and debris…we're talking about casualties over half the planet. Including us. Billions at best."

"Well how can we stop it? Give me options."

"How do you stop a space station nearly the size of a small moon from being affected by gravity? …You don't."

"But there has to be something!" He looks to Shadow and Knuckles. "Come on, guys, help me out here!"

Knuckles questions, "What if we got the engines back online, pushed the station back into orbit?"

Shadow objects, "Even if we could do that in the state they're in, that would take the same amount of fuel as a second launch from the surface. There's no way the station has that much left. If Eggman was really planning this, there may not be any fuel left at all."

Knuckles presses, "Well, maybe we don't need to go all the way back into orbit. What if we just adjusted the fall so that we crash somewhere safer? Like the ocean?"

Tails responds, "For a crash like this, hitting the ocean could be just as bad as the land, maybe even worse. Like, atmosphere-destroying worse."

Knuckles scowls and shakes his head. "So…bad idea, then."

Sonic clutches at his head, racking his brain for ideas. "Come on, there has to be something…" He looks up at Shadow. "We stopped the ARK from falling, didn't we?"

Shadow notes, "Using Chaos Control."

Knuckles adds, "If you're going to try that, you might need this." Knuckles presents the Chaos Emerald he took earlier.

Surprised, Sonic says, "Both of these were on the station? Thanks, Eggman. Seriously." He nods for Shadow to take it. As Shadow clenches his hand tightly around it, Sonic gives a resolute nod. "This is how we're going to do it."

Shaking his head, Shadow objects, "No. It won't be enough."

Sonic turns to him sharply. "Whaddaya mean, 'it won't be enough'?"

"I mean, it took all seven Chaos Emeralds for us to put the ARK back into orbit, and even then it almost killed me. The size of this Death Egg is even larger, and we only have two."

"You're wrong," Sonic answers. "You and I have both gotten a lot stronger since the ARK. And we don't have to put it back into orbit, we can use Knuckles' plan! If we just move it over the ocean and take away all of its momentum, it'll barely make a splash!"

Shadow growls on the verge of shouting, "It's still too big."

Loosening his grip on his purple Chaos Emerald, Sonic looks downwards, and closes his eyes. "If our teacher were still here…he would tell us…that size doesn't matter. It's the will of Chaos that allows something to be transported through Chaos Control, big or small, near or far." He puts a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Shadow, I believe that the two of us together can do this. But if you don't believe in us…if you don't believe in me…then you won't have the strength of will to pull it off." He looks him in the eye. "Do you believe in me?"

Shadow closes his eyes, tightening his grip on his own yellow Emerald. "After what you did–"

Sonic interrupts, "You don't have to like me. You don't even have to trust me. You just have to believe."

After a moment of silence, Shadow's own grip finally relaxes. "…I believe."

"Then we will do this."

Knuckles steps in between them. "How can I help?"

Sonic turns around and shakes his head. "The best thing you can do right now is to head for the bunker. In case something goes wrong–"

"Are you kidding!? No way!"

"Knuckles, I know you want to help, but unless you learned how to use Chaos Control some time in the last hour, there's not a lot you can do."

"I may not have Chaos Powers like the two of you, but…" Knuckles slowly pulls out the shrunken Master Emerald. "…I do have a connection. The world depends on the Controller and the Guardian, that's what Tikal said. I know I can help."

Sonic turns back with a smirk. "Then let's do it."

—–—

Death Egg Impact: 19 minutes, 50 seconds

The falling Death Egg is visible over the skies of the cliffside as a fireball streaking overhead, pointed towards mainland.

"I did everything you said, Boss." Heavy Magician kneels down before Heavy King, who stares not above, but out over the ocean, at the crumbled remains of what used to be Angel Island. Magician continues, "I stopped Nack n' Infinite from killin' each other. I made sure the Rebels knew to come here before the launch. We made sure only a few of 'em got on. Everything went down just like you said. So…Boss…now can ya tell me why?"

"You've served me well, Magician. Continue to do so, and I'll always have reason to keep you around."

"…Boss?"

Heavy King's gaze finally moves up towards the descending fireball above. "To use my grand design as his backup plan…the Doctor is truly a fool. We have ensured that the Death Egg shall serve its intended purpose."

"What purpose is that?"

"…So long ago it was, the day that I was reborn in the ashes of the first Death Egg. So too shall this world be."

"And then what?"

King turns sharply to glare down at the bowing Magician. "Are you questioning my judgement?"

"N…no, Boss. I was just…thinkin'…that maybe we should get outta' here soon?"

King looks right back to the Death Egg. "Of course. I simply wished to savor our victory awhile. Let us away."

—–—

Death Egg Impact: 5 minutes, 7 seconds

The wind roars around Sonic as he struggles to open the panel that separates him from the very top of the falling space station. Finally, he forces it open, and crawls up into the chaotic outside. He shouts into his communicator, "You guys ready!?"

—

Shadow is perched similarly on the opposite half of the Death Egg. "I'm in position."

—

Knuckles steps into a chamber deep inside of the Death Egg. Though there is now a high vaulted ceiling, and all in sight is plated with steel, the shape of the high altar and the seven pillars surrounding it bears a strong familiarity.

Sonic's voice questions, "Knuckles?"

Knuckles runs for the stairs. "I found it. The room built over the altar."

"That's great, but we're running short on time here!"

Running up the last of the steps, Knuckles lays eyes on the tall metal throne that sits at the very center of the altar. "Just gonna need one more second… Hya!" He slams into the throne with a fist, instantly snapping it from the floor, and sending it tumbling over the other side of the altar with a clatter. In its place, he sets down the Master Emerald. He takes a moment to pat it gently on the side. "Welcome home."

"Any time now, Knuckles!"

"Right, right, I'm ready!" He takes one deep breath, and begins a bit faster than usual, "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart."

—

Shadow kneels, staring intensely at his Chaos Emerald as he listens to Knuckles' words. "The heart is the spring from which emotion flows. Emotion exists in the Light and in the Dark."

Shadow reaches for one of his wrists, and snaps off the first of his Inhibitor Rings. He assures himself quietly, "I believe…" The Emerald begins to glow, almost as if in reaction to his words.

—

"The Light and Dark live in ever-shifting Balance. The Balance must be maintained by a Controller."

Sonic echoes the last words along with Knuckles, "The Controller serves to unify the Chaos. And the seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers." His Emerald, too, takes on a brilliant gleam.

—

The Master Emerald glows brightest of all. "In this cycle, a great power is born! The power to prevent the world's destruction!" Knuckles spreads his arms out wide, bathing himself in the Emerald's light. "Master Emerald, please…you must help them save this planet! Lend them our strength!"

—

"Chaos…"

—

"Chaos…"

—

"CONTROL!"

—–—

Death Egg Impact: 58…57 seconds

The streets of Station Square have found a relative peace amidst the chaos. Densely-packed cars are piled up on the roads, facing every direction except the correct one, and all have given up on the notion of driving to safety. Instead, the people stand between the vehicles, along the sidewalks, and even hanging their heads out of windows, all watching the same point in the sky. The flaming Death Egg now looms close enough for its inanimate visage to be seen plainly, staring down at the people it prepares to crush.

A young child is the first to point and shout, "Hey, look!"

Gasps and murmurs spread through the crowd as they all notice the same. Up on the left side of the falling station, a bright point of light emerges, steadily growing in size. The light is joined a moment later by another on the right side, and both expand until they merge into one, growing until they encompass the entire Death Egg. With two separate pulsations, the falling fireball is removed from the sky, leaving behind nothing but a faint blue shimmer.

Far out in the distant ocean, in front of the dawn, still in sight from the city's shore, one half of the Death Egg appears moments before the other, each dropping into the surface from a standstill, sending out a gentle surge of displaced water. The people are still cheering by the time the waves lap against the street, spraying an ocean mist into the city. The people embrace and celebrate, whooping and hollering with all of their collective might.

Amongst them, the man from the antique store gives a satisfied nod. "I expected nothing less from you lot."

—–—

"S… …c…? Sonic…can you hear me…? Sonic!?" Shadow's shout stirs Sonic back into consciousness.

Shaking himself the rest of the way into lucidity, he quickly responds, "I'm here… I'm here. Glad to hear you're still concerned for me." Shadow gives no response. "Knuckles, you there too?"

—

His room having apparently been sheared right in half, Knuckles has a cross-sectional view of the bottom half of one room, the top half another, and the steel plating between them. Water floods in around the altar, rapidly rising towards his position. Still, he answers, "Looks like I'm alright."

—

Sonic, back on his feet, takes a long look around, realizing that he's standing on a sinking hunk of metal surrounded on all sides by ocean water. "Uhh…guys? I think I might need some help here."

—–—

Daily log, December 24th addendum

We did it. We really did it. We stopped the Death Egg. We're up to two Chaos Emeralds. A real victory. A step closer to ending this war. It's what we've needed for a long time. I just wish we could say it was all good news.

In all that craziness, we never even asked ourselves what happened to the others. They were fine, of course, but I just feel bad about it. The Heavies all retreated once the launch started, so they did the same, and everyone made it off safely. It's so strange that the Heavies were there to stop us, but they didn't even…no, no, I'm overthinking things.

That's the only strange thing about all this. In fact, it's…pretty scary. Based on everything that's happened, we can only conclude that Eggman planned all of this, right from the beginning, every minute of it. Discord, wearing us out, opening the chance for Nack to take the Chaos Emeralds. Rouge bringing us the plans. The Heavies thinning our numbers. Even us destroying the Death Egg. He knew that all of it was going to happen. But could he really know that…that Discord was going to turn on him? That we'd stop it anyways? How could he be that many steps ahead? And if he really was…how was us warping the Death Egg with Chaos Control the one thing he couldn't predict?

Of course, Eggman tried to construe this whole fiasco in his favor, big surprise there. 'A brilliant team of Imperial Officials, myself included, were able to discover the solution to transporting the IOPS to a safe location just in time. The terrorists who caused the crash are still at large.' That's what he told the people. Tried to pass Chaos Control off as his idea. Won't even call the darned thing a Death Egg like it is. When we finally get our hands on that guy…

We just have to hold out hope. Hope that the people know what Chaos Control looks like. Know that we're the ones who fixed this, not the ones who caused it. That we would never cause something like this.

And then…that's not the only thing we need a little hope for right now…

—–—

Emerald Canyon – The Rebellion Base

"Give it to us straight, Tails…how's she doing?"

Tails bites his lip nervously a while before speaking. "It…it doesn't look good."

Shadow urges with sudden anger, "What do you mean!?"

"I mean that there's nothing I can do! Nothing anyone could do… Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't necessarily be a fatal wound. But Rouge's body is in shock. It's been through too much. It isn't healing itself. And if it isn't healing itself, then…it can't be healed. I can keep her like this a few days…maybe weeks, with the right medical equipment. But unless something changes…she isn't going to get better. I'm sorry."

Shadow voices quietly, "I need to see her." Not giving Tails the chance to allow or forbid, Shadow shoves him aside, and disappears into the re-erected Med Tent.

Much too late to accomplish anything, Sonic hesitantly reaches after him. "Shadow…" Though with a hesitant expression on his face, Sonic chooses to stay put alongside Tails. Neither of them says a word.

Shadow exits the tent with the same silent, somber expression that he entered with. But the moment his steps take him up to Sonic, he suddenly grabs him by the throat, and throws him to the floor.

Tails squeals with concern, "Sonic!"

Choking Sonic to the ground, Shadow bears a look of such intense fury that it appears he may tear into Sonic at any moment. But slowly, that expression grows to such anguish that it appears he might cry. Finally, he clenches his eyes shut, and words simply, "This is on you." Putting enough weight on Sonic's chest knock any remaining breath out of him, Shadow pushes himself back to his feet, and storms off.

Gasping for breath, Sonic scrambles back to his feet, trying to call, "Sh—shadow! Wait! We— —we can fix this!"

Shadow halts in place.

"We have a way…to fix…all of this." Sonic gestures around with his hand. "Everything."

"…And how do you propose we do that?"

Sonic takes a long breath. "By ending this war before it ever began."

The adventure continues…

And so ends Season 1 of The Chaos Project! I'd like to thank every reader out there for helping to make this first(ish) season of the series everything that I could've hoped for! There may be a brief break before Season 2 starts, but in the meantime, we also have a special episode coming very soon. By now, you must know that I like to do my tie-ins and celebrations…

Do you have any hopes or predictions for Season 2? How can I make it even better than Season 1? Please, let me know in a Review or PM! I count on your feedback to improve!