I looked up to see a sort of orb like shield surrounding me.
"What?" I wondered.
But then I remembered shouting 'Defense Curl' and then hearing a gunshot.
'Why in the world did I called out the name of a Pokemon attack?' I thought.
Then I remembered the voice I had heard.
"Shadow." I whispered.
Had…had he been the one who saved me? No, it couldn't be. He was still in a state of suspended animation. He wouldn't be able to do such a thing while inside that capsule. I shook my head. I'd figure it out later I had to get out of this sphere!
I slowly stood up and the sphere disappeared very strange.
Eggman was gone he must have run off when the bullet didn't hit me. I looked around, and then I saw the controls for the battle suit! Then I remembered where everyone was!
"Where's the Egg Grape chamber?" I wondered, taking off.
I had run for only a ways before I came to a stop. There was a large entrance to a single room, and a familiar voice was speaking.
"Eggman." I growled.
As fate would have it, I was right outside the Egg Grape chamber. Wonderful, I was right outside a place that might as well have been named: Death's Chamber. Eggman was going on about how much "fun" it was to fight the Freedom Fighters making his rule that more enjoyable. I was ready to tear his throat out, I was so mad. I knew one thing though: if I didn't do something and soon, everyone was going to be cooked! Eggman had Charmy's Egg Grape right in front of him, held by a robotic claw.
"Charmy Bee," I heard Eggman say. "Haven't I already destroyed your life, your kingdom and some what?"
I had nearly forgotten that in the comics that Charmy was a prince.
"Yes, you have." Charmy said. "Despite all that, I've still fought for our planet, no more matter what you did to me and I'm not alone!"
He got several cheers from the other Freedom Fighters for that quick speech.
"Brave last words." Eggman said. "Snively."
"With pleasure, Sir." Snively said, ready to activate the Egg Grape.
Not this time! I charged! I kicked Eggman in the back of his legs, causing him to slip off the catwalk for a platform, but he was holding onto the railing, so he was alive. I then turned to Snively.
"Press that button and you're next!" I yelled, lifting him up by his collar.
"Oh dear!" Snivley said, scared out of his wits.
"GO, SHELBY!"
That was Charmy! I turned to him, and saw him cheering…for me.
"Way to go!" Vector called.
"Yeah!" Mighty said happily.
"You show 'em, girl!" Jullie-Su cheered.
Soon there were cheers from all around me. Even Sally was cheering. I could feel my heart soaring, just like it had when Tails called me "Aunt Shelby". But despite all that, I stayed focused on Snivley.
"Now you're gonna free everyone from these Egg Grapes and after that, I'm taking you to the basement to free Shadow from that capsule, you got it?" I growled.
"Y…yes." He said weakly.
"Good." I said, dropping him. "Now open those Egg Grapes."
"They…they can't be opened, they have to be…b-b-broken."
"Then I guess I just found me a wrecking ball," I looked at Eggman, "And a pickaxe." I was looking at Snivley, who was shaking like a leaf.
"BEHIND YOU!" Sally cried.
I quickly turned around, to see Eggman! He then pushed me, HARD. So hard, in fact, that I was sent to the railing. Before I could even make another move, Eggman pushed me again, but this time, he sent me over!
I was falling a few hundred feet! I could never survive that fall! I could hear the Freedom Fighters calling out my name but it was hopeless.
CRASH!
I looked down over my shoulder to see quite a sight: Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles on a sort of saucer they had built. They hadn't been captured!
"SHELBY!"
That was Sonic! But it was pointless to try and save me now. I was too close to the ground, falling too fast. I'd it before he could even get to me. It was over. Then I hit and everything went dark.
---
"SHELBY!"
Sonic ran to the girl's side after she had hit. He had NEVER seen anything fall so fast!
"Aunt Shelby!" Tails cried, running to the girl's side. "Is…is she alright, Sonic?"
"I…I don't know, Tails." Sonic said. "But we've gotta stick to the plan."
"Knuckles, Amy, break everyone out!" Tails instructed.
"Sonic, Eggman's the one who pushed her off the catwalk!" Charmy called.
"What?" Sonic growled.
Sonic scooped up the blue hedgehog, and ran straight up the wall, to Eggman. Amy and Knuckles were worried as well, but they still broke everyone out of the Egg Grapes.
"What, how can you be here? You're supposed to be beaten, your spirit broken!" Eggman cried as Sonic landed on the controls.
"Guess your calculations were wrong!" Sonic growled. "I'm going to make sure Shelby's alive, you've got that much of a head start, Eggman."
The two overlanders didn't waste any time, and ran.
"You said you got them all, YOU MISSED THREE!" Eggman roared at his nephew.
"Three out of how many hundred?" Snivley demanded.
"SHUT UP AND KEEP RUNNING!"Seeing that it was now safe, Tails flew to the controls. He tore off the panel that hid everything, allowing Nicole to plug in. Without A.D.A.M. around, the system was wide open. However Tails wasn't worried in the least about that, he was more worried about his possibly dying friend.
"Aunt Shelby, please be alright." He whispered as tears began to build.
The past couple of weeks had been hard enough. They had already lost two friends to the dead, Sir Connery and Tommy Turtle, and then Fiona left with Scourge, leaving both him and Sonic broken hearted, and now this! He looked over the railing, to see quite the sight: everyone who had been in the Egg Grapes, were surrounding Doctor Quack, who was examining the girl.
"Please don't die." He whispered.
---
Else where in the building, in the basement, a certain black and red hedgehog felt something happen. He may have been in suspended animation but one thought ran through his mind so quickly it was easy to miss.
'Don't die.'
And one of his rings started glowing…
---
"Doctor Quack?" Amy asked.
"Well, Amy, I don't what to say." The duck said, before examining the girl. "That was quite a fall she had, and landing on her head no doubt. The chances of her being alright, let alone alive are…" He couldn't say.
"It's not right!" Rouge said. "She goes and saves probably all of us, but then she…she's taken all at once!"
"It's not right!" Jullie-Su agreed.
"I swear, I'm going to get Eggman for this, if it's the last thing I do." Sonic growled.
"Alright, let me take a look." Quack said.
Minutes went by, and everyone was on pins and needles, waiting for the news. Even the their enemies with whom they had fought with so many times who had been in the Egg Grapes were waiting for the news of this single girl.
"By the glory of the source!" Dr. Quack said in pure astonishment.
"What? What?" Sonic demanded.
"She…she's alive!" He said.
"From a fall like that?" Espio asked in shock.
"I…I don't believe it!" Saffron said.
"Yo Tails!" Sonic called. "SHE'S ALIVE!"
Tails nearly did a back flip when he heard that! It was music to his ears.
---
My eyes slowly fluttered open.
'Where am I?'
That was the first thing that came to my mind.
I quickly sat up and looked around. I was in a sort of field full of wild flowers.
"How'd I get here?" I asked aloud.
I looked around a bit until I saw someone else standing in the field.
"Sonic?" I asked quietly.
Then there was someone standing next to him.
"Shadow?"
They both had their backs to me.
You must choose one.
I jumped to my feet at the voice. Where had that come from?
"Choose? Choose what?" I asked.
You must choose one.
"One of what?" I demanded.
One of the two hedgehogs…
I was taken aback by that answer. This…unearthly voice wanted me to pick either Sonic or Shadow.
"W…What'll happen to the one that I don't choose?" I asked. There was always a catch with this sort of thing.
He shall die.
I was took a step back. This person wanted me to save one of my favorite hedgehogs and send the other hurdling to his death? I don't think so!
"And if I don't choose?" I asked.
They shall both perish.
Great, I had to pick one or they would both die. But the problem was: I couldn't get the nerve to pick. I liked both of them equally, the same with all of the other Freedom Fighters.
Then a new idea came to mind, one that would where a hedgehog would indeed perish, but both Sonic and Shadow would be saved.
"I choose…both of them!" I said.
You cannot choose-"I'm not done!" I snapped. "You can take me instead!"
…You would be willing to give your live for these two hedgehogs?
"Of course! They're my friends! I would do anything for them!"
I knew it was useless trying to give myself in the place of Sonic or Shadow, I was worth nothing compared to them but I had to try.
You have made a wise choice, and in doing so, all three of you shall be spared."What?" I whispered.
The voice was gone, and I was glad that it was. I chose not to think about it too much, I would probably end up giving myself a headache. I turned to Sonic and Shadow, and I was grateful they were alive.
"Sonic, Shadow, I-"
When I had spoken, they started running!
"AH! Wait!" I called, running after them.
They were running very slow for who they were, but the were still ahead of me by about ten yards. After about a minute of chasing after them, I saw where they were leading me to: a beach!
"Wow." I said in astonishment. It was beautiful!
"Ahem."
I looked down the beach a little ways to see the two hedgehogs, just standing there, watching me.
"Guys!" I called, and started running towards them.
But almost as soon as I did, they started running away from me! However, they were going so slowly that I was catching up easily, but they stayed just a few feet ahead of me. But then they began pouring on the speed a little.
"Guys, wait up! I can't run that fast!" I called.
They didn't stop.
"WAIT!"
This time, they did stop! I stopped soon after. A moment went by, and they turned around.
'Where have I seen this before?' I thought jokingly.
Sonic then spoke up,
"Wake up, Shelby!"
The next thing I knew, the ring on Shadow's wrist started glowing so brightly, it was blinding and everything disappeared into the light.
---
This time I really did wake up. What a strange dream. I looked around me and to my surprise everyone was surrounding me.
"You okay, Shell?"
Right next to me, on one knee, was Sonic.
"Sonic, what happened?" I groaned.
"You were pushed off that catwalk, remember?"
"Take it easy, Sonic." I could see Dr. Quack to my left. "She maybe a little out of it since that fall was so big. But thankfully, as far as I can tell without my tools, she doesn't have anything long lasting, she should be able to sleep it off."
"But how will we get her out of here?" Amy asked.
"I'll carry her on my back." Sonic offered.
"Are you sure? I don't think she'll be able to stay conscious if you run with your speed." Dr Quack said.
"I'm not going to use my speed. We've got a plan and we're sticking to it." Sonic said. "And for the rest of it, my speed won't be needed."
With a slight hint of doubt, Sally and Dr. Quack helped me onto Sonic's back. Everyone was hurrying out of the hole in the wall Sonic and the others had made.
---
"We've got to go, Nicole!" Tails said, unplugging the computer.
"Very well, I've done all that I can here. I'll take care of the rest when we get home." Nicole said.
"Home what do you mean?" Tails asked.
"I'll explain later, stay with the group, Tails." Nicole said and the young fox joined the group.
"I hope this plan of yours works, Nicole."
---
I was a bit out of it as we made our escape. My head was throbbing, probably because I landed on my head after the fall. My head was rested on Sonic's shoulder, but I managed to keep up with what was going on.
"Running away as fast as you can is NOT a plan!" Sally told Sonic. She thought it was his escape plan
"Whoever said it was MY plan?" Sonic asked.
"Nicole said she done all that she can here. Guess we're ready for the next stage in her plan." Tails said.
"Nicole came up with the plan?" Sally asked.
I sighed happily. I knew Nicole's plan all too well, and now, I got to see it.
"Stick together everyone!" Sally instructed.
"Dude about earlier…" Sonic was talking with Tails.
'That's right!' I thought. 'Sonic and Tails had an argument before they found Nicole. I just hope it doesn't lead up to the events in issues 178 and179.'
"Yeah, Sonic, I-"Tails started but got cut off.
"Hold that thought!" Sonic said and the entire group came to a stop.
"Was THIS part of your plan?" Sally demanded.
"Believe it or not." Sonic said.
The super battle suit was right in front of us, with Eggman piloting. I cursed at myself quietly, for not tearing it apart when I had the chance. Everyone turned around, and ran.
"Down this alley was and make the first right!" Sonic instructed.
However, everyone was disappearing left and right. It was actually scary.
"He's using a larger teleportation beam! We'll be recaptured in no time!" Sally cried as Mighty disappeared.
"Wait for it." Sonic told her.
I looked behind us, to see Sally's family disappear. I just hoped that Nicole's plan was going to work.
By the time we got to the turn Sonic told us to take, there were only four other mobians beside myself, including Sally and Sonic. Turns out we were at a dead end. Figures.
"Sonic, do you think you can Spin Dash through this wall? I can take Shelby so you-"
"I probably could, but not this time." Sonic said.
"Have you lost your mind?" Sally cried.
"No, but I don't want Eggman to over hear and ruin the surprise." Sonic said.
"SONIC-" Sally disappeared into a flash of yellow light, just like all the others.
"This is a first for you, Hedgehog, two major failures in one day." Eggman said. "Won't you put up one last hopeless fight for old times sake?"
"And give you the pleasure? Don't think so, tubs." Sonic said.
"Very well then. Any last words from your friend there?" Eggman asked, pointing at me.
"Yeah." I said. I knew I was going to get it for this. "LOSE WEIGHT!"
"Very well then." Eggman said, pointed the beam at us, and fired.
"See ya on the flip-side, tubby." Sonic said, and we disappeared.
---
"YES! I DID IT!" Eggman said. "Snivley, don't turn on the Egg Grapes until I get there."
"But sir, I've been trying to tell you this entire time! Someone tampered with the teleportation beam! There's no one in the reserved Egg Grapes!" Snivley said.
---
"Whoa." I was in awe.
Nicole's plan had worked! I could barely believe what I was seeing. It was a beautiful city all around. Everyone's homes had been rebuilt, or as Antione had said 'rebuilted'. And, to my awe, there was the most beautiful castle I had ever seen! And I knew which castle it was. I looked a few yards away and saw Sally's brother, the current king, and her father.
"Castle Acorn!" The former king said. "As it was in the days of our lost Mobotropolis!"
"That was what I was going for, your majesty."
"Whoa." Sonic said when he turned to the voice.
"This has been something I've been working on for a while now, Eggman's action have forced me to reveal it before it was finished but all the same: Welcome to new Mobotroplis, I'll be your hostess…Nicole."
She had maintained a physical form again! She was more beautiful then I thought she would be by a long shot.
"Nicole, I thought you couldn't maintain that form!" Sally said, running up to her.
"I could not until I found something robust enough for me to maintain this form." Nicole said. "I have made enough hologram pixels to allow me full use of the city."
"Great to have you this us, again." Sonic said.
After he had said that, there were several more questions from others, more then I could keep up with.
"I'll explained everything in time." Nicole said with a laugh.
"Nicole, you have already done so much for us," Sally said. "And if it hadn't been for the four of you, we would never have been able to see Nicole's beautiful city. And Shelby, thanks to you, Charmy was saved, you probably saved us all."
"Man, what we miss?" Sonic asked.
"Shelby saved my life from those Egg Grapes!" Charmy said. "If she hadn't, I'd probably be a pile of ashes right about now."
"It was nothing." I said, weakly.
"Nothing? You saved me! I owe one, big time!" Charmy said.
"Yes, you saved my husband, and I can't thank you enough!" Saffron said.
"Yeah, and the Chaotix wouldn't be the same without this little guy!" Vector said, giving Charmy one of the biggest noogies I had ever seen. I'd have to keep quiet about the "Charmy making Vector look like a clown" thing in Sonic X, even though it made me crack up every time. If they found out about that, I'd never hear the end of it, and Espio would have the biggest headache of his life.
"It was no problem, Vector." I said.
"'No problem'? Are you kidding? You could have died from that fall!" Vector said.
"Yeah, you saved my life!" Charmy said. "And maybe everyone else in there too!"
I simply gave him a sad smile. I didn't deserve such praise.
"Do not be so happy just yet." Nicole said in a sad tone. "It didn't take long for Eggman long to figure out what we did. He's on his way here to finish what he started."
I closed my eyes and sighed, but when I did, I fell asleep, run down from the physical and mental strain from the events in the past hour.