Sonic and Co. © Sega

Chapter 14: Battle at the Core

Sonic, Tails, Blaze, Marine, Silver, and Johnny recently discovered that Eggman Nega was responsible for every incident that has happened. He had taken the Jeweled Scepter, and had descended to the caverns beneath Southern Island to activate the Power of the Stars. Now the heroes were trying to stop him before it's too late.

"The Magma Hurricane is located through that door near the top of the volcano." Tails said, pointing at the door as they climbed the volcano.

"Keep going!" Sonic urged. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can stop Eggman Nega!"

They soon reached the door. Tails opened it, and inside, they saw a vehicle that was yellow in color, had a blue bottom, white ground wheels, and a drill that could tear through hard dirt.

"Well, here's the Magma Hurricane that I mentioned." Tails said.

"Wow, Tails!" Marine said. "Is there anything that you CAN'T build, mate?"

"I'm beginning to think there isn't!" Sonic commented.

"Aw, it was nothing!" Tails said.

"Enough of this!" Blaze said. "We need to get it started at once!"

"Right! Hop in!" Tails said.

"Oooh, this is going to be ripper!" Marine exclaimed. "I wonder what it's like underground!"

"We need to catch them before they get at the Power of the Stars!" Silver said.

"Let's go!" Tails said.

They hopped into the Magma Hurricane, started it up, and started to drill through the tunnel, hoping they weren't too late.

Down below the island, Eggman Nega had already reached the core of the planet, where the Power was located. The Jeweled Scepter was floating above the altar, and was unlocking the power.

"Yes! YES! I can feel it!" Nega said while laughing. "Such power!"

The heroes had just drilled through to the core, only to find that they were too late.

"Everyone, look!" Marine said, pointing at the robot.

The heroes tried to reach it, but a bright light temporarily blinded them all. Once it cleared, the robot was glowing with a lavender aura. The power immediately took effect, and the robot grew to twice its size. The intensity of the power caused another earthquake, and since the heroes were close to the point-of-origin, it was more powerful than ever.

"It's…too powerful…!" Sonic said, trying to keep his balance.

"S…Sonic!" Tails yelled. "I'm…falling over!"

"Ahhhh!" Marine yelled. "Wh-wh-what…what is this thing?"

Tails and Marine then both fell over the edge. But Johnny was quick to react, and grabbed Tails, who was trying to keep his grip on Marine.

"Hang on!" Johnny called. "I'll try to pull you guys up!"

The earthquake suddenly stopped, allowing the heroes to regain their balance. But the power of the robot was immense.

"Magnificent!" Nega exclaimed. "The energy levels on the craft's reading are through the roof! I never imagined that this sort of power was even possible! Even the Chaos and Sol Emeralds can't compare to this!"

Sonic, Blaze, and Silver were surprised. How could so much power be controlled?

"Is this what unleashing the Power of the Stars can do?" Blaze asked.

"Behold, heroes! With this power, I am at last truly unstoppable." Nega boasted. "With this power, I'll destroy the entire universe, along with its inhabitants. Then, I'll recreate the universe into one giant Eggmanland!"

"No…way!" Silver said.

"And it's all thanks to you, Blaze!" Nega said.

"What?" Blaze asked. "What are you talking about?"

"It was your royal family that kept the scepter nice and safe for generations." Nega told her. "Now that they've served their purpose, I have no further need of them. It will only take a fraction of this power to wipe your kingdom off the map! And if just a bit of this power can do that, imagine what would happen if I were to use it to its full potential!"

"N-no!" Blaze said.

"Blaze, stay calm!" Sonic warned.

"Now, watch as the universe becomes my own plaything!" Nega boasted before floating off to the planet's core. "I shall bring about an age of universal fear and chaos! And it shall be glorious!"

Blaze couldn't control herself. She had to stop him.

"I…MUST…STOP HIM!" Blaze yelled.

"Blaze, you're the princess, remember?" Sonic asked. "You need to keep a level head!"

"Who's going to look out for the people of this world if something happens to you!?" Silver asked. "Who's going to be able to give the people of this world peace?"

Blaze thought about it for a moment, then she calmed down a bit.

"Yes…That is my duty as princess!" Blaze declared. "My duty, and my honor! I won't allow my people to come to such suffering! Sonic, Silver, let's go!"

"That's the spirit, Blaze!" Silver said as they turned to Nega, who was still there.

"If we don't stop him, then nothing will keep him from destroying this world!" Blaze said.

"Right!" Sonic agreed. "Now it's up to us!"

"Let's do this!" The three of them said together.

"What? You dare to defy me? Then you shall die first!" Nega declared.

Sonic, Blaze, and Silver raised one hand into the air, calling out the power of the Emeralds, which immediately came to them. The emeralds started spinning around them as their powers were drawn out. The trio started to glow as their transformations began to take effect. Finally, a bright glow appeared, and when it died down, the three heroes were transformed: Sonic into Super Sonic, Silver into Super Silver, and Blaze into Burning Blaze. The trio started towards the robot, determined to defeat Nega.

"For the fate of everything in the universe…" Sonic said.

"And for the sake of my people…" Blaze added.

"LET'S GO!" The trio shouted as they dashed towards the robot.

Deep Core: Egg Wizard

The battle started with the Egg Wizard flying off into the distance. Sonic, Blaze, and Silver simply dashed off after him, determined not to let him escape.

"So, you dare to challenge me?" Nega asked.

"We're not here to challenge you!" Silver declared. "We're here to defeat you and save everything!"

"Oh, how noble!" Nega said. "But it won't do any good! I have the ultimate power! I cannot lose!"

"We'll see about that!" Sonic said as he charged up a sphere of yellow energy in his hand. "SUPER SONIC WIND!"

The attack flew at the Egg Wizard, only to bounce off and dissipate. The power that Nega had acquired was able to stop the attack. Blaze tried next, charging up a fireball and launching it. That attack was also stopped. Silver tried his luck, firing a psychic ball, only to have it suffer the same fate as the other two attacks.

"Grrr!" Sonic growled. "Our attacks aren't working!"

"It must be the Power of the Stars!" Blaze realized. "He must be using it to stop our own attacks!"

"Then how are we supposed to beat it?" Silver asked.

"What's wrong, heroes?" Nega asked, tauntingly. "Are you done attacking for now? I guess it's my turn."

The Egg Wizard held the scepter out in front of him, creating three fire dragons and sending them at the heroes. They tried to dodge, but they just came at them from behind and hit them. They recovered, only to find three more fire dragons coming at them.

"Alright, I've already had enough!" Sonic said. "REFLECT BARRIER!"

Sonic then charged up a blast of energy and released it in front of him. The three fire dragons hit the barrier and rebounded back to the Egg Wizard. The dragons hit, damaging it. They had found its weakness.

"I've got it!" Sonic said. "Knock its own attacks back at it!"

Nega aimed the scepter at the heroes and charged up some energy, then discharged it as balls of green energy. They traveled slowly, but Sonic kept throwing Reflect Barriers at the attacks. Nega then decided to throw some blue energy balls at the heroes. Sonic was able to deflect some of them, but a few hit him, and the result of the attacks combined with Sonic using his power in his reflect barriers resulted in him losing a lot of his power.

"I've used too much power!" Sonic said.

"It's okay, Sonic!" Silver said. "I'll take him for now!"

Sonic fell back behind Silver while the psychic hedgehog went on the attack. Nega fired more blue energy balls at Silver, but he just used his psychic powers to grab the balls and fire them back. Each ball hit the Egg Wizard, severely damaging it.

"Why you little…I'll be sure you die first!" Nega declared.

Nega then stuck the scepter into the magma below, then activated the scepter, causing a wave of magma to rise up, right in the trio's path. They were barely able to move to the sides of it to avoid it. But once the magma was cleared, Nega threw some energy spheres at the heroes. The spheres hung in the air for a while before charging at the heroes, stunning each one of them. Nega then went for a scepter strike, which knocked all three of them into the nearby wall.

"I will not lose to the likes of you!" Nega declared. "With this power, nobody can beat me!"

"We'll just see about that!" Silver said as he pried himself from the wall. Sonic and Blaze did the same. Nega launched a few more fire dragons, but Silver just trapped them in his psychic hold and launched them back, each one hitting the red gem on the Egg Wizard. The resulting impacts did even more damage to the Egg Wizard, but it was still flying.

"Okay, you want power?" Nega asked, charging up a large beam of energy from the scepter. "I'LL GIVE YOU POWER!"

Nega then unleashed the beam of energy right at Silver, hitting the psychic hedgehog at full force. The resulting impact caused Silver to run low on energy.

"Guys, I need to recharge!" Silver said.

"Alright. I'll take him for now!" Blaze told him.

Silver then backed off as Blaze went on the offensive. She charged up a fireball and launched it, but Nega only blocked it before sending a mix of blue and green balls at her. She covered herself in a flame twister in order to protect herself. But Nega counted on this, as he then launched the fire dragons again. Blaze was hit by all three, but she wouldn't give up. She charged up a fire attack in her hand, then raised it into the air.

"FIRE BOLT!" Blaze called.

The flame in her hand disappeared before reappearing in the air as a bolt of fire. The bolt hit the Egg Wizard, damaging it and disabling the fire dragon attack. Blaze then charged up two fireballs, one in each hand.

"FLAME CROSS!" Blaze called.

Blaze launched the two fireballs, which crossed the robot, leaving two burn marks. She then combined the two fireballs into one big one, and launched it at Nega. The result of the impact left the Egg Wizard at half power, its abilities weakened.

"You little…" Nega tried to say. "I'll kill you for that!"

"You think you can beat us?" Blaze asked.

"I know I can beat you all." Nega said. "Especially you, you weak, brainless, fire-controlling FREAK!"

That insult hit Blaze hard, harder than any attack that Nega could launch at the heroes. She felt her whole body burn with rage. She couldn't hold anything in anymore.

"You…dare…call me…that!?" Blaze asked slowly. "I'LL SEND YOU TO HELL!"

A large fire tornado then emerged from Blaze, covering her whole body. Inside, she seemed to undergo a transformation. Once the fire tornado died down, Blaze was still there, but she looked different. Her body had turned a bright red color, her eyes had turned a full yellow color, and her clothing had turned black. Blaze had transformed into Scorching Blaze.

"Who…who are you?" Nega asked.

"I'm your death!" Blaze said in an emotionless voice before rushing at Nega. She grabbed the Egg Wizard's tail and started swinging the whole robot from one side to the other, each time bashing it into one of the side walls. She then let go, and started throwing so many physical attacks at such a high speed that not even Sonic could keep up. After the flurry of attacks was over, she dashed for the robot, and started moving up the body in a spiral, then moving down in a spiral, creating an open tornado. Blaze then backed off, held her hand out, palm open, and then raised it up.

"SCORCHING TORNADO!"

At that moment, the two spirals surrounding the robot converged, forming a large fire tornado. The tornado covered the entire Egg Wizard, including the scepter. When it died down, the Egg Wizard was nearly blackened from the immense heat of the flames, and it was stunned for a bit.

Silver liked the display, but didn't like the way Blaze looked or acted. He also knew that if Blaze kept this up, she'd lose all of her energy.

"Blaze!" Silver called. "Calm down! If you keep this up, you'll lose your energy! I don't want to lose you!"

Blaze then turned to Silver, as if she had heard him.

"S-Silver?" Blaze asked. She then ran out of power and reverted back to Burning Blaze, then to her normal form and began falling. Silver moved under her and caught her, moving down as Blaze landed to soften her impact. Blaze opened her eyes and looked at Silver.

"Wh-What happened?" Blaze asked.

"You went berserk on Eggman Nega in a new super form." Silver said. "You burnt out your energy doing so, and started to fall."

"T-Thanks for catching me, Silver." Blaze said.

"I'll get you back to Tails and the others." Silver said before turning to Sonic. "Do you think you can take him on until I get back?"

"Leave it to me." Sonic replied.

Silver then turned back to take Blaze to the others while Sonic held off Nega, who tried to go after them.

"No! I won't let them escape me!" Nega declared before being blocked by Sonic.

"You'll have to get past me, first!" Sonic said.

"That can be arranged." Nega replied.

Nega then used the scepter to bring out 6 purple missiles. Four of them had yellow lights and were armed, while two of them weren't lit up, and therefore weren't armed. Sonic lined up in front one of the ones that weren't lit, charged up a reflect barrier, and returned it. He then followed up with another super move.

"BLAST SPHERE!" Sonic called.

Sonic charged up a ball of energy between his hands, and launched it at Nega. He then followed up by slamming it with his hands, which resulted in an un-blockable attack. The energy sphere hit the Egg Wizard, causing damage and weakening the robot even more.

Meanwhile, Silver had reached the area where Tails, Marine, and Johnny were waiting. They had managed to get back up on the ledge.

"What happened?" Tails asked.

"Blaze used up all of her energy when she went berserk on Nega." Silver explained. "I brought her back here while Sonic held him off."

"We'll keep an eye on her." Marine said. "You go back and help Sonic, mate!"

Silver then dashed back to help Sonic while Blaze rested up.

Back at the battle site, Nega had gotten by Sonic, and had turned to face him to continue the battle while moving backwards. Sonic had to stop him long enough for Silver to return to help him. He didn't have to wait long, as Silver went around the Egg Wizard and rejoined Sonic.

"So, is Blaze safe?" Sonic asked.

"Don't worry." Silver told him. "She'll be safe as long as Nega doesn't reach her and the others."

Sonic and Silver then went on the offensive, deciding to combine their attacks. The first was a mix of Sonic's Sonic Wind and Silver's Psybeam. Silver's attack shot towards Nega while Sonic's attack surrounded it and enhanced its power. The attack dealt a crushing blow, creating a breach in the robot. They followed that up with Sonic's Speed Breaker and Silver's Psychic Screw. Sonic's move hit Silver, who shot forward at a near-impossible-to-track speed, and bashed the robot's head, which messed up the controls. The final move was a mix of Sonic's Super Spin Dash and Silver's Psychic Ball. Silver's attack enveloped Sonic, who shot forward and bashed the robot's body, leaving a major dent. Nega had finally had enough. He turned around to see that he was back at the beginning, where the others were at. Sonic and Silver quickly moved in front of him.

"Curse you all!" Nega yelled. "You leave me no choice!"

"Nega, wait!" Sonic called. "What are you doing!?"

"Gah ha ha ha!" Nega laughed.

"No! You're mad!" Silver yelled. "Don't do that!"

"PLANET BUSTER LASER, FIRE!"

Nega then grabbed the scepter with both hands and charged up a large violet blast of energy. He then reared back and was about to launch it when, out of nowhere, a green energy blast hit the Egg Wizard. He turned to see that the blast originated from Marine.

"Ha! How do you like that, Eggman Nega?" Marine asked. "Sonic, Silver, now's your chance!"

Sonic and Silver split up, going in opposite directions. Nega looked around for them when he was knocked up into the air by Silver, who had hit the red gem in the body.

"Sonic, NOW!" Silver, Blaze (she had recovered), Tails, Marine, and Johnny all yelled.

"This is it, Nega!" Sonic yelled as he charged at the robot, crashing through, and busting, the red gem.

The robot froze in midair for a moment before being enveloped in a large explosion.

Egg Wizard: Destroyed!

The Jeweled Scepter was thrown out of the blast, and Sonic caught it in midair. Nega had been defeated once again, and the world was at peace once more.

End of Chapter 14.

Sonic, Blaze, and Silver have defeated Eggman Nega once again, and saved the world. Now that peace reigns again, will Sonic and Tails make it back home? Find out in the next chapter.

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