Chapter 8: Nucleus Eliminated

Iota Kappa was carrying a great burden. She was dragging the dead weight known as Cyeta Zhartma, trying to find a place to store the unconscious body. Doing this wasn't easy as Cyeta wasn't exactly "lightweight". And, being blind, she had to feel the walls for a door as well. This was becoming more trouble than necessary.

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As one may have already guessed, Beta's airship and fleet were considerably large. Even large enough for their owner to become lost.

Beta had heard the alarm and was trying to find his way back to the bridge. 'Zenith must've tricked me somehow,' Beta mused to himself. 'Crafty little furry.' Beta had not been watching where he was going, and had hit his toe on an exposed pipe. "OW!! DAMMIT!!"

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Iota had heard Beta's profaned language and did not feel like a confrontation. She decided to avoid him.

"Ohhh…"

Iota's ears pricked. Cyeta was awakening! Iota was trying to figure out what to do. She got an idea. Iota twisted around and slammed Cyeta's head into the nearby metal wall, quickly silencing her. She dropped her and ran.

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Rouge, Blaze, and Amy stood around the dismantled Sentrixes, panting hard. It had been a long and drawn out battle.

"I'm glad that's over," Amy commented.

"Glad what's over?" Rouge asked.

Amy looked at her dumbly. "This fight! Where have you been?"

"This is far from over," Blaze said. "We still have to find Iota and our boyfriends." Rouge and Amy stared at her. "Seriously, everyone has to know by now!"

Rouge and Amy shrugged in agreement.

An announcement came over the intercom. "Deploy more Sentrixes to the battle on the bridge. Immobilize Team Kyuusai!"

"Team Kyuusai?..." Rouge said.

"That sounds like…," Blaze said.

"Our boyfriends!" Amy realized. "C'mon, we have to get the bridge!"

"Wait, what about Iota?" Rouge asked.

"She'll find her way," Blaze said. Then she added, with a smile. "She is a cat, after all."

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The Sentrix had surrounded Team Kyuusai, all with cocked guns pointed directly at them. A Sentrix stepped out from the group. "Give us the Chaos Emeralds," he addressed Zenith. "Or face certain death."

"Not a chance," Zenith said simply. He took out a chaos emerald behind his back. Shadow, Silver, and Sonic did the same.

"By order of Professor Beta, hand over th-!" The Sentrix was cut off.

The four hedgehogs raised the emeralds in the air. "CHAOS BLAST!!"

Time actually slowed. Chaos Blast induced by Shadow would have been enough, but one created by all four hedgehogs nearly blew half of the master ship away. The Sentrix surrounding them were eliminated and the bridge was destroyed. Team Kyuusai had jumped up to another part of the ship, not to far away from the bridge.

Team Kyuusai had fallen silent; all that could be heard was their ragged breathing. A shrill call broke the silence.

"SONIKUU!!"

Sonic turned his head sharply. "Huh? Amy!?"

It was indeed the obsessive, pink hedgehog.

"Shadow!"

Shadow turned his head sharply. "What? Rouge!?"

It was indeed the vain, white bat.

"Silver!"

Silver turned his head sharply. "Whuh? Blaze!?"

It was indeed the overbearing, light-purple cat.

As Zenith was watching the couples hugging, he couldn't help but think that there was something missing here…

"Where's Iota?" the overprotective, sapphire hedgehog asked.

"She stayed behind to fight Cyeta," Blaze answered.

"We came here as soon as we heard the announcement," Amy answered. She turned to Sonic, "Where are the Sentrixes anyway?"

"We Chaos Blasted them away," Sonic replied, then added. "Along with the bridge."

"We also managed to recover the Chaos Emeralds," Silver said. "All seven." He turned to where he believed Zenith was standing. "Where's the bri-?" His eyes widened. The only thing there was the briefcase containing the two remaining emeralds. "He's gone!" Everyone except Shadow turned to Zenith's previous position.

"What? Where did he go?" Sonic asked.

"After Iota, you idiot," Shadow insulted.

Silver spoke up. "Wait, there's a note in here!"

"How'd he have time to write a note?" Sonic asked, confused.

Silver ignored the question. "It says,

Everyone,

I went after Iota. Do not come after me.

The entire fleet is about to self-destruct.

Shadow, Sonic, and Silver get the girls to safety.

Iota and I will join you shortly in Station Square.

How do I know the fleet is about to self-destruct?

It's the kind of thing the professor would do.

~Zenith Theta"

Sonic burst out laughing. "Ha ha haaaaa! He writes like a girl! Ha ha-ow!"

Amy had hit him over the head with her hammer. "Sonic, be nice."

"Sonic, be nice," Sonic repeated in a high-pitched, annoying voice.

Amy raised her hammer threateningly. "What was that!?"

Sonic ducked. "Nothing."

"Attention! Attention! Fleet to Self-Destruct in t-minus 5:00…4:59…4:58…"

"So fleet is about to detonate…" Shadow mused, slightly impressed by Zenith's ability to "predict the future".

"Quick, lets use Chaos Control and get out of here!" Silver suggested.

Shadow sighed, almost tired of always being the one that warped everyone to new positions, even though the other two male hedgehogs present were perfectly capable of doing so themselves. "Chaos Control!"