Penny gulped nervously as she stood in the battle field next to Sonic. Was she ready? She was actually regretting the choice she made.
Sonic grabbed her hand, holding it reassuringly. "It'll be okay." He turned to Knuckles, and the Echidna nodded.
"Let's go!" Knuckles ordered.
The next few moments were a blur to the human girl as she zapped her way through the army with her Wispon. They were able to destroy a number of the fake army thanks to Silver's powers. The ivory hedgehog was able to secure the fake ones and the team did the rest. They kept going until they got close to Infinite, and Sonic quickly stopped Penny from going any closer, holding his hand out in front of her protectively as he glared at the jackal.
"Hey, Infinite." Sonic hissed. "Long time no see. Did you miss me?"
"Why, yes, I did." Infinite chuckled. "I've been looking forward to finish you and your annoying friends. Especially the girl."
"Lay one finger on her and you're dead!" Sonic snarled.
Infinite chuckled, and Penny yelped as a powerful force knocked them all off their feet.
"If you're not..." Infinite began. He shook his head. "Oh, well..." He was about to say something else when lasers shot at him. "What?! Who dared?!"
Penny looked at their sudden savior and grinned. "Omega!"
Omega glanced at Infinite. "Target reconfirmed. Extermination mode initiated. Payback inevitable."
"Omega!" Rouge grinned. "You joined us?! Awesome!"
"Is there no end to these annoying insects?" Infinite hissed. "I will burn your resistance to ashes, and you along with it!"
He launched a huge beam of light, and Penny had to close her eyes for a second. She felt Sonic grab onto her, protecting her.
"You're kidding, that's just a special affect, right!?"
At the sound of Knuckles' voice, Penny glanced up and quickly regretted it. A giant sun like energy ball was just a few meters above them.
Tails shook his head. "No, it's not! While we're under the Phantom Ruby's control, it's part of our reality!"
"What now?!" Penny squeaked, terror in her voice.
"Unbelievable!" Espio sounded shocked. "What chances do we have against that?!"
"The sun will fall on you all! BOOM! THE END." Eggman snickered as he moved towards the group, and Sonic growled, standing in front of Penny protectively.
"Your pathetic lives are over." Eggman added.
Penny said nothing as she stared in horror at the sun. Hearing someone land beside her, she looked to see Tails. "Look, it's reacting." The fox said. "Eggman said something about the Phantom Ruby prototypes!"
"Reacting?" Penny mumbled, and she glanced down at her hand and was surprised to see that the Phantom Ruby was resting gently in her palm, glowing. Was she holding it the whole time? She may never know.
Tails continued. "Let me see?" He asked, holding out his hand. Penny nodded, gently placing the stone in his hand. It dimmed.
Tails grinned, returning the stone to her. "Whoa, it is! He said the Phantom Ruby prototypes only react to a person who activates it. That must be you, Penny!"
"M-m-me?" Penny stuttered, shocked.
Tails nodded. "Your courage and heroism are probably what triggered it. Just maybe, if you use this, it can make the sun disappear!"
"Sun disappear...huh..." Penny glanced down at the Phantom Ruby in her hand. Hearing a low chuckle, Penny glanced up at Infinite, who was floating in the air and sneering down at them. "Make peace with your fate, because your lives are over!"
Penny narrowed her eyes as Eggman began the countdown, and she ran off, hopping into the sun.
"WHAT'S SHE DOING?!" Sonic screamed as he watched the human girl hop up to the sun. He tried running after her, but Shadow and Knuckles quickly restrained him. "Hey, what gives?!"
"She's got the Phantom Ruby, only she can do this!" Shadow hissed. "Just believe in her already."
Sonic sighed, and Shadow and Knuckles' grip loosened, and he glanced at the sun. "Penny..." he mumbled.
A few seconds later, and the sun disappeared.
Knuckles' eyes widened. "The sun...it's gone!"
"What just happened?!" Eggman roared.
Shadow glanced up to see a pink streak of light falling towards the ground, and he smirked. "Well done, Pen," he muttered, quite proud of the human girl.
Penny let out a groan as she fell to her side, the Phantom Ruby shattering as it touched the ground.
"Impossible! I thought all the prototypes were destroyed!"
Penny groaned, turning her aching body towards Eggman.
"A costly oversight, Doc."
Penny felt herself gently being pulled to her feet, and she felt Tails gently support her on his side, even though she was taller than him. "This is why I always check and double check. As any good scientist would. "
Knuckles turned to his team with a determined look on his face. "This is the turning point, guys. Time to press our advantage and kick major butt!"
The team cheered. Sonic quickly zoomed over to Infinite, who was waiting for him. "Pathetic little hedgehog. Even with the Phantom Ruby weakened, I still have enough power to smash you into blue jelly. I'll show you how outclassed you really are."
"I'm in a class all my own!" Sonic smirked. "Time to put up or shut up, Infinite!"
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Penny. "Penny? What are you doing?"
She smiled at him. "Helping a friend."
"Are you sure?" Sonic asked, glancing at her with worry.
"I'm sure." Penny said. "Now let's do this."
Sonic smirked back, and the two shared a fist bump. They glared at Infinite, and attacked.
infinite grunted as he fell to the ground. "Impossible! I cannot be defeated..."
"Wrong, loser!" Sonic smirked as he and Penny watched the jackal flicker in front of them. "The things that cannot be defeated are your heart, soul, and the bounds of friendship!" He said, walking over to Penny and wrapping an arm around her.
Penny shuddered as she watched Infinite slam his fist on the ground. "No, wait. I can still...fight!"
Infinite let out a yell as he disappeared.
"You never fail to surprise me, Sonic. I did not believe Infinite could lose."
Sonic and Penny turned around to see Eggman sneering down at them. The blue hedgehog growled and stood protectively in front of the human girl.
Eggman smirked. "Victory will be some much sweeter when I defeat you! Don't think this is over yet, you blue nuisance! My plan just went into overtime!"
Sonic growled, and he and Penny got into fighting stances.