Taking off from Station Square airport was the Kent family private jet, which held the members of both Team Sonic and Team Rose, as well as Mr. Tanaka at the wheel.
"Thanks for flying us, Mr. Tanaka," Keith spoke up.
"It is my pleasure, Master Keith," Tanaka replied. "I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before we heard from Dr. Eggman again."
"Yeah, and he's really giving us the run around, this time," Sonic lamented. "Just to launch a massive fleet of airships."
"There has to be more to it," Amy insisted. "After all, we still don't know why he took Froggy and Chocola."
"Not to mention the power rings," Tails added.
"There has to be some connection," Knuckles reasoned. "But what?"
"Hopefully, our next destination can give us the answers you seek," Tanaka concoled.
"I hope so," Big replied. "I miss my little buddy."
Cheese chirped in sorrow, clearly missing Chocola.
"Don't worry Cheese," Cream concoled. "We'll find Chocola too."
"So, where are we going?" Helen asked.
"According to the signal I was able to pick up on," Tails responded. "The launch site should be… oh no."
"What?" Sonic asked.
"You remember that castle… the one with the ghosts?"
The group all froze up at that.
"You're kidding," Kat let out.
"I wish I were," Tails lamented. "That's where the signal leads."
"Right..." the red head groaned. "Absolutely no touching any talismans or statues."
"Agreed," Sonic replied. "We just go in, find Eggman, and get out."
"Should be fun," Kat commented. "Right Keith?"
Keith remained silent, still thinking over the scans he took of the eggrobo.
"Keith?" she repeated, getting his attention.
"Hmm?" he replied. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."
"Like what?" Tails asked.
"I scanned that eggrobo we encountered, and… it didn't seem like a typical Eggman robot."
"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, leaning forward.
"The circuitry, the make up… it all felt just… off. I don't know what it all means."
"Sounds like just more questions," Knuckles remarked. "Hopefully we'll figure something out when we get there."
"Without the ghost infestation this time," Keith jeered as they continued flying.
…
Meanwhile, Team Dark and Team Chaotix had boarded a commercial flight heading towards the same destination. They filled up two rows of seats while Omega was relegated to the cargo bay. Charmy was wrapped up in the in flight movie while Rouge looked out the window waiting to arrive. Espio sat in meditation as Vector kicked back, rocking out on his headphones. Chessie, meanwhile, had fallen asleep next to Shadow, who was still looking down at the cut on his hand. His thumb traced the scabbed over cut, feeling the slight pain the action brought. His eyes then drifted over to Chessie, who was leaning on him and snoring lightly. He couldn't help but feel reassured in her presence, like she was the only constant he had in his life right now. Stirring from his meditation, Espio opened his eyes and spotted the Ultimate lifeform, quickly picking up on the swirling emotions.
"You alright?" Espio asked.
Shadow perked up, turning towards him.
"Fine," he replied. "Why?"
"Your eyes are full of confusion and pain. That, and you have been staring at that cut on your hand since we took off. Were you injured during our battle with the Albatross?"
"No…" Shadow pulled his glove back over his hand. "It's nothing. Hardly worth your time."
"Try me."
"I said it's nothing..." He pulled Chessie closer, as if to try and calm himself down. "Please… just let it go."
"If you insist," Espio relented, backing off before glancing at Chessie. "She's important to you, isn't she?"
"... yes," Shadow replied. "She really is."
"Then perhaps instead of focusing on whatever is causing you pain, focus on her instead. It is clear she brings you some form of comfort, so let that drive you."
Shadow thought over that for a moment, taking another look at the sleeping cat. She was purring slightly, snuggling closer to the hedgehog as she did. Shadow smiled, nestling close to her as Espio looked on, smirking as he resumed his meditation.
…
Later that day, Team Sonic and Team Rose arrived at the castle, quickly overwhelmed by the memories of their previous encounter.
"Man," Sonic let out. "I thought we saw the last of this place."
Keith and Kat were holding hands as they looked around, the latter shuddering nervously.
"This place still creeps me out," she commented. "I keep expecting those ghosts to pop out any second."
"As long as no one screws with that hourglass talisman, there shouldn't be any ghosts," Keith insisted.
"Hopefully," Knuckles replied, letting out a shudder of his own. "I am not a fan of ghosts..."
"We'll cover more ground if we split up," Sonic suggested. "I'll take Amy and Tails through the lower levels. Knuckles, go with Keith and Kat to check the upper ones. Big, you, Cream, and Helen take the main area. We'll meet back in the courtyard in an hour."
"And if we find anything?" Helen asked.
"If it's Eggman, hide and don't get caught. If it's ghosts… well, the acoustics in this place are pretty good, so just scream."
"That's encouraging," Keith lamented.
"Come on, let's get going," Kat insisted, dragging him by the hand.
The three teams broke off as they began to scour the castle.
…
On a nearby cliffside, Team Dark and Team Chaotix looked down at the castle, getting the lay of the land.
"This the place?" Vector asked his client.
"Indeed. Now be on guard, all of you. It's very mysterious around here."
"Mysterious how?" Shadow wondered.
"Local legend says this place is haunted," Vector informed.
"Seriously?" Espio replied. "I find that hard to believe."
"Hey, I'm just saying. Besides, we literally were brought here from another world. If that can happen, why not ghosts?"
"Oh please," Rouge responded dismissively. "The only things occupying that castle are fellow bats like myself. And I gotta say, they have excellent taste."
"No time for house hunting," Chessie piped up. "We gotta find Eggman and put a stop to whatever it is he's got planned."
"We should split up to cover more ground," Shadow suggested.
"Sounds good. I'll go with Shadow. Rouge, you take Omega."
"And we'll cover ground on our own," Vector deduced. "Got it."
"We'll meet back at the courtyard later," Rouge replied as she and Omega took off.
Shadow and Chessie also made their way to the castle as Team Chaotix took off, each group hoping to find something that would aid their search.
…
In the upper levels of the castle, Keith, Kat, and Knuckles made their way through the vacant hallways, keeping a sharp eye out for any signs of Robotnik, or the ghosts that had given them so much trouble in the past.
"So far, so good," Keith let out. "Nothing that wants to possess our bodies."
"Yeah, I feel sorry for Amy…" Kat admitted. "That could not have been pleasant."
"Yeah, well neither was getting sucked into that void," Knuckles commented.
"Hopefully, none of that will be happening again," Keith prayed.
All of a sudden, a low buzzing sound echoed through the halls, putting the three on edge.
"Wh-what was that?" Keith asked.
"Sounds like it could be one of the ghosts," Kat whispered, gripping her bat.
"It sounds like it's coming from around the corner," Knuckles recognized. "If we rush it, we just might scare it off."
"Ok," Keith replied, readying his gloves. "On three. One… two…"
"Three!" Kat cried out, running forward.
Keith and Knuckles quickly followed after, all three of them screaming as they prepared to fight, charging right into Team Chaotix. The two groups collided, collapsing into a heap on the floor.
"Ow…" Espio let out.
"Espio?" Kat recognized.
"Oh great," Knuckles lamented, rolling his eyes as he got back to his feet. "What are you three doing here?"
"We're on a case if you must know," Vector explained, picking himself up.
"What kind of case?" Keith asked.
"Top secret."
"Yeah," Charmy explained. "It's got airships, and robots, and that black hedgehog-"
"Wait a minute, you mean Shadow?"
"Oops."
"Nice one Charmy," Espio remarked.
"How the heck is that guy even alive?" Knuckles asked. "Sonic said he fell from the ARK after stopping it from crashing into Earth."
"We're not sure honestly," Vector admitted. "All we know is his head's not on right, and he's clinging to this purple cat girl like she's gonna vanish or something."
"Chessie," Keith recognized. "It kinda makes sense. They're both artificial Mobians."
"What, like robots?" Charmy asked.
"More like instead of being born like normal people, they were grown in labs," Keith elaborated. Shadow was created by Eggman's grandpa here on Earth, and Chessie was made by Eggman himself a while back."
"Weird," Charmy let out. "Anyways, why are you guys here?"
"Trying to find Eggman," Kat answered. "He's building some air fleet and we think he's gonna launch it from here."
"Maybe we should work together then," Espio suggested. "Considering we're also looking for Eggman, our combined efforts would be beneficial to both groups."
"Thanks, but I think we've got this handled," Knuckles insisted.
"Knux," Kat admonished, "he's got a point. We could use all the help we can get."
"They'll only slow us down."
"You're not still jealous of Espio are you?" Keith wondered. "I thought you'd be over that by now."
"Yeah, if anyone should be jealous of Kat and Espio hanging, it should be him," Charmy commented, pointing to Keith.
"What?" Keith looked confused. "Why would I be jealous?"
"Because you wuuuve her," Charmy replied in a mocking tone.
"What?!" the two teens let out at once.
"That's ridiculous," Keith insisted. "She's my best friend."
"Yeah!" Kat nodded enthusiastically. "Get your head out of the gutter, kid! We're just friends and that's it."
Both of the teens were beet red in the face.
"Uh huh," Charmy replied. "Sure ya are."
"Why don't you three just-" Knuckles began to speak.
All of a sudden, an all too familiar laugh rang out, causing everyone to freeze up.
"Wh-what was that?" Charmy asked.
"I think it was the ghosts," Kat answered.
"But there's no such thing as ghosts," Vector reasoned.
"I wish that were true," Keith replied. "We've been to this castle before when my mom was making a movie. Only Kat, Amy and I managed to avoid getting dragged into this pocket dimension with the ghosts."
"And Amy ended up possessed," Kat recalled, shuddering in horror. "Nightmare fuel at its finest."
"So… what do these ghosts want?" Espio wondered.
"We… don't know," Keith admitted. "All we know is they've been haunting this place for a really long time. And they don't seem too fond of visitors."
"You mean… like us?" Charmy realized.
The laughing suddenly started getting louder, causing the two groups to huddle closer together. They looked up at the walls, actually seeing the ghosts phasing through and looking down at them with creepy smiles. Charmy took one look at them and screamed, zipping back the way Chaotix had come.
"Charmy!" Vector called out.
"He may have the right idea," Keith admitted. "These things do not go down easy."
"Then I suggest we get moving before these things make some new friends," Espio suggested.
The group quickly took off after Charmy, as the ghosts gave chase.
…
Meanwhile, Big, Helen, and Cream and Cheese continued looking around the main levels of the castle, sticking close together as they tried to repress their own fears.
"I forgot how scary this place was," Cream admitted.
"Me too… I don't like it here," Helen agreed.
"Don't worry," Big reassured. "Once we find our friends, we'll never have to come back here again."
"I hope so," Cream replied, hugging Cheese close.
As they entered the next room, which seemed to be some old ballroom, they kept close together, unsure of what they would find inside.
"This… isn't so bad," Helen noted.
"Yeah," Cream began to agree, easing up a little. "It's actually kind of pretty."
"Maybe this won't be so bad," Big considered.
Suddenly, a loud metal footstep rang out, causing Cream and Helen to cling to Big in fear as Cheese hit behind the large cat. Big gripped his fishing rod, getting into some semblance of a defensive stance.
"Stay behind me, girls. I'll protect you."
The four braced themselves as a large shadow loomed in the entryway. It got closer and closer… then Rouge appeared coming around the corner.
"Hey," Cream recognized. "It's that bat lady that likes to bug Mr. Knuckles."
Rouge turned towards the trio, blinking in surprise. "Vanilla's kid? What are you doing in a place like this?"
"We're helping Mr. Sonic find Dr. Eggman so we can rescue Froggy and Chocola."
"That's a pretty big job for a couple of kids."
"Big's not a kid," Helen pointed out, tapping Big on the head. "Besides, we're not alone."
"Yeah," Cream agreed. "Mr. Sonic and his friends are helping us."
"Is that so," Rouge remarked, smirking as Omega entered the room behind her. "Hope the cat's work on your priority circuits holds out."
"Hey!" Big readied his fishing hook, ready to fight. "A badnik!"
"Hey, take it easy, tiger," Rouge insisted, stepping in front of him. "Omega's with us."
"Omega?" Helen repeated. "Hey, didn't Amy tell us about this Badnik that went good?"
"Oh yeah," Cream recalled. "He freed Lily's family. I think he was called Gamma though."
"Correct," Omega confirmed. "E-102 Gamma was the first of the E-100 series to defect. Status: Offline."
"So, I guess that makes you the new Gamma," Helen surmised. "The new Goodnik."
"Heh," Rouge let out, crossing her arms while smirking, "our brainiac called him that too."
"Brainiac?" Big questioned.
"Chessie. She's wandering around this castle with-"
Suddenly, high pitch laughter filled the halls, causing both Helen and Cream to scream, hugging one another as Cheese clung to them.
"What was that?" Rouge asked.
"It must be the ghosts…" Cream realized. "I don't wanna be taken again!"
"Nobody's gonna take my friends!" Big declared.
"Will you relax," Rouge tried to reassure. "There's no such thing as ghosts. This is probably Eggman trying to scare off intruders or something."
"Oh, they're very real, Miss Bat," Helen insisted. "We ran into them when we were here before. They kidnapped everyone and dragged us to their weird dimension. It was scary..."
"Scanners are detecting unknown energies within the walls," Omega reported.
"It must be the ghosts," Big declared, scooping up the two girls. "My friends wouldn't lie about something like this."
"I know," Rouge finally admitted, sounding on edge. "That's what worries me."
All of a sudden, the ghosts started pouring out of the walls, darting towards the group. Omega quickly activated his arm cannons and opened fire on them. The shots went right through their semi-translucent bodies, only adding to their peels of laughter.
"Analysis," Omega spoke. "Weapons ineffective."
"No kidding," Rouge replied, taking off into the air to avoid the ghosts. "Take the kiddos and get out of here! Find the others and regroup! Hopefully Sonic has some idea on how to deal with these things!"
Omega wordlessly grabbed Cream and Helen and took off, leaving Rouge and Big to deal with the ghosts.
…
Elsewhere in the castle, Chessie and Shadow were continuing their search, remaining hand in hand the entire time.
"Man, this place is unsettling," Chessie admitted. "My scanners are going completely haywire, and my hackles have been raised since we got here."
"Makes you wonder what's waiting for us in here," Shadow mused.
"What, like Vector's stories about ghosts haunting this place?"
"Why not? Apparently, I'm a ghost to a lot of people."
"That's… different." Chessie sighed. "Look, whatever's going on here, there's a perfectly logical explanation."
"We'll see. But still, I-"
Shadow was suddenly cut off, noticing some blue blur moving past a hallway.
"Shadow?" Chessie asked.
Rather than answer her, he released her hand, speeding down the hallway after the blue blur. With a yelp, Chessie gave chase, using her cables to propel herself forward.
…
Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, and Amy instantly ran out into the courtyard, hoping to get a hold of the talisman that aided them before.
"The post the talisman was resting on should be just ahead!" Tails reported.
"It better still be there!" Amy declared. "If it's not, we're gonna be in big trouble."
Finally, the three reached the post, instantly mortified to find the spot where the talisman rested empty.
"It's gone!" Sonic let out.
"What?!" Amy cried.
"Somebody must have taken it," Tails reasoned. "Eggman, maybe?"
"If that's true, we're in trouble," Sonic dreaded. "Come on, let's get inside. I'm not letting anyone get kidnapped by ghosts."
The three started making their way back towards the castle, but Amy's foot got caught on something in the ground, causing her to trip and fall.
"What the…" she let out, turning towards the source of her fall, spotting a glittering cyan jewel hlf buried in the dirt. "No way… it can't be."
She quickly grabbed hold of it and yanked it out of the ground, revealing it to be a Chaos Emerald.
"It is. A Chaos Emerald…"
Quickly, she slid it into her spines for safe keeping, hurrying to catch up to the others. As she ran inside though, she bumped into Tails who had stopped along with Sonic.
"Hey, what gives?" Amy asked.
"I dunno," Tails answered. "Sonic just stopped."
"Because of him," Sonic spoke, gesturing to the top of a staircase.
Tails and Amy looked up for themselves, equally shocked to see Shadow standing at the top, looking down at them.
"Shadow?" Tails let out.
"No way," Amy marveled.
"Not exactly the ghost we were expecting," Sonic remarked.
Shadow slowly descended the stairs, approaching Sonic cautiously. The blue hedgehog caused a few stray memories to surface, giving the black hedgehog a small headache.
"You ok there, buddy?" Sonic asked, walking towards him.
"Who are you?" Shadow insisted. "I know you from somewhere… but how?"
"You don't remember? You set me up for your crimes while you were helping Eggman before we teamed up to stop the ARK from crashing into the Earth."
Shadow stopped short, his eyes going wide. "I… I what?"
"SHADOW!"
Sonic and Shadow looked up to see Chessie swinging into the room.
"Chessie?" Sonic let out. "You're here too?"
She landed between the two hedgehogs, quickly taking note of Shadow's shell shocked expression. Her gaze hardened and she lashed out, her cables wrapping around Sonic's neck. "What did you do to him?!"
"Hey!" Amy called out, drawing her hammer. "Let him go!"
Amy rushed towards Chessie and swung her hammer at her, knocking her back and making her release Sonic. Sonic gasped as his neck was released, and Chessie hit the wall hard. Seeing his friend go flying, Shadow snapped out of his trance, eyes hardening. He quickly shot out at Amy, prompting Sonic to react fast and knock Shadow down the stairs. He quickly backflipped into a fighting stance, staring Sonic down. The two glared at each other for a second before shooting out at each other, rolling into spin dashes.
As the two clashed with each other, Chessie slowly picked herself up, her cables writhing on the ground as she charged them. "I won't ask again. What did you do to Shadow?!"
"Us?" Amy challenged. "We were just talking to him. You're the one who attacked!"
Angry, Chessie lashed out, Amy barely able to dodge the cables in time. Tails quickly flew forward and grabbed Amy's hand, lifting her into the air.
"I don't think she's in a listening mood, Amy."
"Then maybe this will get her chatting!" Amy declared, raising her hammer. "Bring us down!"
Tails obliged and swooped down low, with Amy swinging her hammer at Chessie. Chessie quickly shot a cable out and swung over the swing, taking the opportunity to kick at the pair. The two dropped to the ground as Chessie landed behind them.
"You can't beat me. I was programmed to be able to take you on."
"Eggman's made a ton of machines to fight us," Amy countered. "And we've beaten them all!"
"Well I'm no machine."
As she charged at the two of them, Sonic and Shadow continued to fight with each other. Both of them traded blow for blow, but were easily matched by the other's speed. Their respective spin dashes clashed repeatedly, which only furthered Shadow's frustration.
"Who are you? Why do you look like me? How do you know me?!"
"You really don't remember? All the trouble you caused?"
"Nothing! And Chessie won't tell me! Why did the doctor take my memories? What-..." His voice cracked slightly. "What did I do?"
Sonic instantly came to a stop, seeing Shadow's distraught state. He saw the tenseness in his spines, and the way his hands were shaking. It reminded the blue hedgehog of how he was during the Egg Moon crisis. He slowly walked over to Shadow, holding out a hand to him.
"It's a long story, pal," he told him. "But in the end, you were a hero. Gave your all to save us."
Shadow looked up at him. He saw the offered hand and prepared to take it. However, just before they touched, a wall exploded as their companions came crashing through. The two hedgehogs turned around to see Chessie rolling on the ground as Amy stepped through the hole.
"Ready to give up yet?" Amy asked.
"Bite me, shortcake!" Chessie snapped, getting to her feet..
The two were about to charge at each other again when Sonic suddenly sped between them.
"Hey, hold it!" he called out.
"Out of the way, Sonic!" Amy snapped. "Time for tabby there to be taught a lesson!"
"The only thing you could teach me is how to fail!" Chessie snarled, only just held back by Shadow.
"Chessie, stop," the black hedgehog insisted. "There's no need to fight."
"What? But they-"
"None of us want to fight," Sonic insisted, shooting Amy a glare. "We're all on the same side, right?"
Amy gripped her hammer, but still slowly lowered it.
"Right…" she let out.
"Chessie?" Shadow prompted.
With a sigh, Chessie retracted her cables.
"Fine. I'm done."
"Finally," Tails sighed in relief, also stepping through the hole. "Maybe now we can talk like rational Mobians?"
Before another word could be spoken, a series of screams rang out, causing the five of them to all turn to the sound. Each one readied their weapons or got into fighting positions
"Now what?" Tails let out.
"What is that screaming?" Shadow questioned.
Amy squinted slightly, trying to place the voices. "I think it sounded like…"
From two adjacent entryways, the two groups came running into the room, inadvertently running into each other and collapsing into a large pile. Sonic and the others winced before running over and helping their friends get back on their feet.
"Everyone ok?" Sonic asked.
Omega was the first to pull himself from the pile. "Systems are operational"
"We're good," Keith replied, sitting up.
"Oh hey!" Vector greeted with a wave. "It's you, Sonic!"
"Nice to see you too, Vector," Sonic greeted before noting Omega. "Whoa, what's with the Badnik?"
"He's with us," Shadow informed.
"His name's Omega, and we've been calling him a Goodnik," Chessie introduced. "He was guarding Shadow when we found him."
"He's alright, Mr. Sonic," Cream reassured. "He's like Gamma."
Sonic paused for a moment, remembering Amy's story about the robot that saved her and freed the Mobini from their robotic prisons. He was understandably skeptical, but let out a breath before shrugging. "Well, if Cream vouches for you, then I see no reason to argue."
"Acknowledged," Omega replied.
"Well, now that we're all here," Knuckles grumbled as he dusted himself off, "anyone mind explaining what the heck everyone's doing here?"
"Perhaps we should set that aside," Espio insisted, "until we deal with the ghosts."
"You guys ran into the ghosts?" Tails realized.
"Yeah, and they're just as friendly as last time," Kat shared, bat in hand.
"We were running from ghosts too!" Helen declared.
"Wait…" Keith let out, realizing something. "If we were all running from ghosts…"
Just then, an all too familiar laughter began echoing throughout the halls, causing everyone to tense up. Those who could fight gathered tightly around those who could not, prepared for battle. Soon, an entire army of ghosts began to surround them, bobbing up and down as they laughed their high pitched, ear-piercing laughter.
"Greal…" Knuckles let out. "Just great."
"Still think my story about this place being haunted was silly?" Vector remarked.
"I take back everything I said," Rouge replied.
All of a sudden, the ceiling above them began to crack apart before finally collapsing. The group moved as chunks of debris came crashing down. They all looked up to see a cackling Robotnik lowering down to them.
"Well well well," he let out. "Looks like the gang's all here. I do love bringing people together… so I can crush them all at once."
"Eggman!" Sonic, Shadow, Amy, and Vector all shouted.
"Oh please, like any of you are honestly surprised I'm behind all this. I must say though, these Boos are quite the handful to be sure. Still, they seem to be quite effective against you lot."
"Surprised they haven't wanted to scramble you up," Sonic noted. "They aren't exactly picky with their victims."
"Let's just say I have some…" he chuckled, holding up a very familiar stone hourglass, "protection."
"The talisman!" Kat shouted.
"The what now?" Vector questioned.
"An artifact that we used to defeat the Boos the last time we were here," Keith explained. "It's literally the only thing that can stop them."
"It's also quite handy for controlling them too," Robotnik commented. "They're like undead machines happy to do my bidding."
Everyone moved in closer, clearly nervous about being completely surrounded.
"Sonic…" Tails muttered under his breath. "Tell me we have a plan."
"We need to get that talisman away from Eggman," Sonic hissed back.
"Right," Vector remarked, holding up his walkie talkie. "Any ideas on how to deal with that mustached moron."
"Mustached moron?! How dare- I mean, Robotnik will want to keep the talisman near him at all times. Keep him distracted and you might be able to get it.
"Ok, but it's gonna cost extra."
Amy started swinging her hammer at the ghosts, keeping them back as the others began to spread out. Espio flipped over one ghost before trying to kick one in the face, unintentionally allowing it to phase right through it.
"Right. Ghosts."
Espio quickly leapt away as the ghosts advanced. Omega meanwhile opened fire on the ground in front of the ghosts, trying to block their advance. This seemed to slow them down a little, which was enough time for Shadow to dart forward. Chessie ran right behind him, readying her cables as he scooped her up, giving her a boost. She then leapt up out of his arms, firing a cable at Robotnik. It missed him, but wrapped around the talisman, yanking it from his hands.
"No!" he cried out.
"Sorry Eggman," Chessie remarked, landing on the ground. "But this doesn't belong to you."
Before a proper celebration could take place, the entire Castle began to shake. Everyone tried to steady themselves, the younger members of the group holding on to one another as a deep, ominous laughter filled the room.
"What's going on?" Charmy asked.
"I think…" Tails let out, stepping back in fear. "I think we just woke up the king... "
"King?!" Team's Chaotix and Dark let out.
"The big ghost that trapped us," Helen informed.
"He's really scary," Cream added with Cheese chirping in fear.
"How big are we talking?" Rouge questioned.
Just then, a dark figure began to rise up behind Eggman. They looked almost identical to the ghosts, but they were easily the size of a large truck, with teeth that looked more like jagged swords than anything else. It laughed, low and deep, ethereal hands extended with claws dripping with ectoplasm.
"Does that answer your question?" Knuckles deadpanned.
"Yeah…" Rouge let out.
"You all again," Boom Boo snarled. "I have been looking forward to this inevitable reunion. Now, I can finish what I started back then!"
"I so did not miss this," Keith commented.
"Chessie, show them the sun side!" Sonic called out. "The ghosts are weak to it!"
Chessie looked down at the talisman, seeing moon and sun carvings on either side. She flipped it around and showed them the sun side, causing the ghosts to all hiss and recoil.
"Vector!" she called out before tossing the talisman. "Catch!"
Vector quickly started running, catching the talisman in his jaws before booking it as fast as he could. As he ran forward, several ghosts cut him off, forcing him to spit up the talisman.
"Cream, heads up!" he called out.
Cheese was actually the one who caught it, the weight sending him falling right into Cream's arms. She flapped her ears, quickly taking to the sky.
"Everyone, keep the talisman away from the Boos!" Sonic directed. "Get it outside, and to the empty pedestal in the courtyard!"
Everyone instantly took off, with Robotnik, Boom Boo, and the ghosts in hot pursuit. As the ghosts started closing in on Cream, she quickly chucked the talisman forward, prompting Omega to catch it in his hand. He jetted forward, blasting at any ghost that got in his way. Once he saw that his path was blocked, he tossed the talisman aside, allowing Keith to catch it this time.
"Keith, go!" Kat screamed. "I'll cover you!"
Kat continued batting explosive balls at the ghosts as Keith made his way outside. He scanned around for any sign of the pedestal, ready to stick it on and end this nightmare. Finally, he found it, instantly running towards it. As he did so, Boom Boo managed to break through the wall, spying Keith and instantly took off towards him. Just as he began closing in on him, Keith tossed the talisman into the air, allowing Big's fishing hook to snag it before Boom Boo could grab it.
"Someone catch!" he shouted, swinging his pole in an arch that released the talisman.
Charmy quickly swooped up and caught it, prompting Boom Boo to turn towards him. As he did though, Rouge came swooping in with a screw kick, knocking him out of the air for a moment. This allowed Charmy to dart forward, giving the talisman one last toss as Sonic ran up. He leapt up and caught it, flipping through the air before landing in front of the pedestal. Once he had the right side up, he slammed the talisman onto the granite slab, sending out a surge of energy that caused the ghosts to cry out in agony.
Everyone shielded their eyes as there was a brilliant flash of light, then everything went silent. They opened their eyes to see that the ghosts were nowhere to be seen.
"Are they… gone?" Knuckles asked.
Sonic took a look at the talisman, grinning when he saw that it was sun side up.
"Looks like, Knux," he informed.
Their victory was cut off however, with the cackling of Robotnik.
"You little fools," he boasted. "Do you really think this will stop me?"
"I think we just did, Eggman!" Charmy declared, sticking out his tongue.
"Did you now?" Eggman cackled. "You foolish brat! It's the dawn of a new age!"
Just then, the ground began rumbling, much to their confusion. Sonic looked out to the lake surrounding the castle, seeing something begin to rise up from the water. Finally, it broke through, revealing itself to be several warships like the ones in Robotnik's fleet.
"The fleet!" Tails realized. "He was using the boos to buy himself time to finish them all!"
"Got it in one, fox boy!" Robotnik declared. "And once I unleash my fleet upon the world, no force on Earth can stop me!"
Robotnik then took off for one of the ships, laughing maniacally as he did so.
"Everyone, get onto one of those ships!" Sonic called out. "We can hitch a ride to the rest of the fleet!"
One by one, everyone rushed towards one of the rising ships, hoping to catch it before it took off.