The echidna gang were waiting at the peak impatiently when "Hello, ladies" they turned around and saw that Knuckles was walking towards them "Well look who decided to finally show up" Lien-Da said condescendingly. Dimitri smiled "Knuckles, we were beginning to worry about you" "No need to worry. In about two minutes you will have a shot at two chaos emeralds". Menniker then shot up "Guys, I see the racoon and she's got the kid" they all turned to where Knuckles came from and saw that he was telling the truth. Dimitri pulled out the master emerald which had shrunk to fit in his hand "Don't give away our position until you see the hedgehog. He's the one we need to surprise". Knuckles walked next to Menniker who looked ready to jump "You wanna kill something. Don't ya, Menniker?" "So badly" "Then what're you waiting for?". Menniker suddenly ran at top speed towards Marine causing Lien-Da and Kragok to follow which angered Dimitri "No! I said WAIT FOR THE HEDGEHOG!" Knuckles just shrugged so Dimitri ran after them. Marine was carrying what seemed to be Cream in a blanket when she saw the three echidnas running at her. She screamed and turned around but could barely walk through the snow but just before she got caught, she jumped revealing she was wearing Shadow's rocket shoes "Wahoo!" she said as she began running from them at high speed.

The echidnas were able to keep up with her as they tried to make their way through a group of large rocks. Marine was barely able to keep balance "Shadow, how did you make this look easy?" she eventually hit a hill which caused her to drop was she was carrying, and she was launched to the top of a small cliff. She watched as the echidnas surrounded what they thought was Cream, Dimitri caught up and turned the blanket over only to find it was filled with snow. He angrily looked up at Marine who was cackling "Sorry, Mates. She got a little frost bite" Dimitri smashed the snow with his fist "Get her!". Lien-Da, Menniker and Kragok began climbing the cliff as Marine ran, when they got to the top, they instead saw a grinning Shadow. "Surprise!" he fired a chaos spear in front of them which threw them back over the cliff. Shadow turned around and saw Knuckles "Alright, let's get Marine and head to the pass" but before they could Dimitri then appeared "Come on, Knuckles. Let's take him down". Shadow tried to use another spear, but he couldn't, and he then saw that Dimitri holding the master emerald.

Menniker got up and saw Lien-Da and Kragok climbing back up the cliff, he was about to follow when he saw Marine back on ground level heading towards a small rock formation. When Marine got to it, she looked in a hole and Cream stuck her head out. "Hey, there" Cream suddenly looked scared "It's okay, it's me" but Cream wasn't looking at her. Marine turned around and saw Menniker running at her, she screamed before taking out her boomerang and hitting him on the head knocking him out. Marine looked very proud of her herself and she picked up Cream "Survival of the fittest? I don't think so" she put her hand out and Cream gave her a high-five "Yeah". Back on the cliff Dimitri was advancing on Shadow when Knuckles suddenly got in front of him "What're you doing?" "Leave Shadow alone". Lien-Da and Kragok walked beside Dimitri "Fine. I'll take you down first" he lunged at Knuckles and the two began to fight. Shadow tried to help but Lien-Da and Kragok got in front of him and grinned, he tried a spin dash and a homing attack, but they were able to punch him out of it and he was forced to back up towards a wall. Knuckles was thrown by Dimitri headfirst into was rock which incapacitated him. Dimitri began advancing on Shadow who was having trouble dealing with enemies who could break his attacks and he was pinned against the wall. Knuckles opened his eyes and saw that Dimitri was about to punch Shadow's head against the wall, he got up and ran as fast as he could towards them but just as he was behind him Dimitri hit Shadow causing him to fall to the ground. Knuckles froze in shock.

Dimitri not noticing Knuckles leaned down to take Shadow's chaos emerald, but he suddenly heard a cry, the three echidnas turned their heads and saw Marine holding a crying Cream. Dimitri smiled but Knuckles taking advantage of the distraction punched Dimitri in the stomach with all his strength launching him into a wall. He was about to say something, but he then looked up and saw shards of ice shaking above him, they quickly detached and fell piercing and killing the echidna. As the other two were in shock, Knuckles picked up the chaos emerald, which was now working again, and Marine pulled out her boomerang. Realizing there now outmatched Lien-Da and Kragok ran. Marine walked up to Knuckles with a grin on her face "We did it" she said excitedly.

However, the two then realised Shadow wasn't getting up, they walked over and saw that he was breathing weakly. "We were some team, huh?" he said, Marine looked upset "No mate, we're still a team". Knuckles however didn't know anything that could survive a punch to the head from an echidna "I'm sorry for lying to you both" he said solemnly as he looked to the ground. Shadow looked at him with a reassuring smile "I think Marine's too lazy to hold a grudge" Marine promptly nodded but she realised why Shadow didn't mention himself. She put Cream down who walked over to Shadow and hugged him "Hey kid. You gotta be strong now. Take care of Knuckles and Marine… Especially Marine". Marine was in denial "Come on, you're fine. I saw those notes at the Gun base. You're the ultimate lifeform". Shadow just looked at them "You have to leave me here. If you don't get to the pass in time, she won't make it. Take care of her" Knuckles smiled "That's what you do in team". Shadow weakly used one arm to hug Cream "Goodbye kid. I hope that…" his eyes closed, and Cream started crying as Knuckles picked her up.

Vector was the last person to enter the pass with the others ahead of him, he stopped to think about his wife and daughter, how he was never going to see them again. The thought caused him great pain, but he then suddenly heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Knuckles walking towards him, Vector was so full of rage at the sight of the echidna that he didn't notice that Marine was behind him carrying something. "YOU!" Vector charged forward and tried to punch Knuckles who easily stopped it "I'm not here to fight" he pushed Vector back. They then all heard yelling and saw that the others from Vector's camp were charging towards them, Knuckles quickly turned around and took something from Marine and revealed to Vector that it was Cream. Vector saw her and he turned around "Stop!" he said to the others who did so. He turned back around, and Knuckles placed Cream on the ground. Vector leaned down expecting her to walk towards him, but she began to flap her ears and hover. Vectors face formed into a look of pride at his daughter as she flew towards him and he grabbed her out of the air and hugged her tightly. Knuckles smiled "Come on. We should go" he said to Marine but before they even moved Cream reached out for them. Vector smiled at the two people that saved his daughter and he let her fly towards them.

Marine pulled her out of the air and gave her a tight hug "You better not forget about us" she said jokingly as she handed her to Knuckles who hugged her as well "We won't forget about you". Cream smiled and mimicked where's the baby from two days ago causing Knuckles to chuckle. Knuckles handed her back to Vector who looked at the echidna with warmth in his eyes "Thank you" he took out Cream's necklace and gave it to Knuckles "Are you both coming to Mobotropolis?" he asked them. "We're not sure yet" Marine replied, Vector nodded "If you go and you need anything, come find me" he gave them a thankful nod before turning around and him and his group headed out of the pass. Marine started crying as she waved goodbye to Cream who had climbed on her Dads shoulder to see them. "So, what now?" Knuckles asked her as he turned around but then he saw something that made him smile. Coming over the hill from where they came from was Shadow, a little worse for wear but alive. Cream saw him too and looked excited as she mimicked launching a chaos spear, Shadow chuckled as he waved to her before she disappeared behind the snow.

Shadow walked up to Marine who hadn't noticed him as she was still crying "It's alright. She'll be safe at Mobotropolis". Marine recognised the voice and immediately turned around "Shadow? You're okay!" she ran at him with a huge grin on her face "Ultimate Lifeform, remember?" he said jokingly before Marine lunged at him and gave him a hug. "Oh, you beautiful hedgehog, I could kiss you" Shadow was clearly uncomfortable, but he was happy to see her too. Knuckles grinned "I believe this belongs to you" he pulled out the chaos emerald and passed it to Shadow "Ha, would have thought you'd want to keep it?". "Nah, not when I have my own" Knuckles pulled out the Master emerald "Might help me get some dignity back", Marine laughed "You're with us now, mate. Dignity has nothing to do with it. Also, when can I get an emerald?". Shadow looked out in the direction that Vector went "Well we don't have to go to Mobotropolis. But there is a whole new world out there. We might find something". Marine liked this idea "Works for me. Onward my crewman" the others looked at her "I mean fellow captains". The three of them headed through the pass and out into new adventures "I want my shoes back by the way" Shadow said to Marine.

Next up- Hunchback of Notre Dame