"4:47…4:46…"
Zenith rushed through the hallways of the main ship, knowing the fleet was about to self-destruct, down one hallway and up the next.
"Hurry! Do not let her escape!"
Zenith activated his Grav Shoes to stop and pressed himself against the wall. He turned his head slightly and looked around the corner of the wall. He caught a brief glimpse of cyan running in front of several armed Sentrixes.
That was all the information he needed. He went after the Sentrix.
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"4:13…4:12…"
"So now what, you idiotic stone?" Neo Metal Sonic insulted Mephiles the Dark. "The army is about to detonate and we're lost, thanks to you!"
"We are not lost," Mephiles said confidently.
"This is the last time I listen to a talking rock semi-god," Epsilon Theta made a mental note.
Black Doom raised his three-fingered hand. "Silence, all of you. We should use Chaos Control to get out of here first."
Neo Metal turned slowly to face the priest-like warlord. "Excellent idea! Lets just use Chaos Control! But wait, we need a Chaos Emerald to do that don't we!?" His metallic voice oozed sarcasm.
Mephiles took this chance to step in. "Who says we need a Chaos Emerald? We'll search for that punk kid another day."
Epsilon imitated crushing Beta's skull. "Yeah. Hmm, but what about Team Kyuusai? They will surely get in our way."
"They will think that we are dead, along with the kid," Mephiles explained. "Now let's regroup and plan." A blue sphere of electricity like enveloped them as they vanished.
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"…3:38…3:37…"
Iota was running for her life.
Whether or not this was "out of character" for her or not was not the pr_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________her. She occasionally threw bolts of Ernegio to take out of few of them, but was barely a dent in the massive brigade.
One problem with running at excessive speeds in heels without vision is obvious.
DANG.
Iota hit the metal wall and collapsed to the ground. One may find it beneficial to note the hardness of the metal the Professor Beta's ship was composed of. Moments before she retreated into unconsciousness, she sensed high amounts of electricity, but was too dizzy to note the obvious presence.
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"…1:09…1:08…"
It had taken a long time to dismantle all of those Sentrixes, the countdown was nearing its end, he had to backtrack through all of these hallways, and what's more Iota had run into a wall and knocked herself unconscious, forcing him to carry her on his shoulders. Great. Just great. He needed to find his way off the ship before it detonated.
Straight.
Left.
Left.
Right.
Dead end. Back.
Right.
Straight.
Dead end. Back.
This was becoming needlessly repetitive and tedious.
"…0:23…0:22…"
He was going to have to improvise a way out of here. And fast.
Iota groaned. "Ohhh. Zenith?"
Zenith breathed a sigh of relief, both from her being okay and from not having to carry her anymore. He placed her down on the ground and hugged her. "Thank goodness!"
"Umm, Zenith? Isn't this ship about to explode?"
"…0:15…0:14…"
Zenith immediately remembered the problem at hand and pushed her off of her. "There's no time for that now! The ship's about to explode!"
"How do you suggest we get out of here?" Iota asked, used to Zenith's shifting the blame.
"Easy, just blast a hole through the darn thing."
"Isn't the pressure going to suck us out?"
"Just hang on tight!"
Iota hugged Zenith as he shot a concentrated bolt of electricity at the floor, ripping a hole in the ground that allowed the outside air in and the two sapients next to it out.
"…0:03…0:02…0:01…"
THOOM! FWOOM!
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"Can you see anything?" Amy asked.
"No, Amy," Sonic answered.
"How about now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"NO!!" Sonic yelled.
Amy remained quiet for about seven seconds, then, "Now?"
Shadow stepped between Sonic and Amy, with the former about to strangle the latter. "Something's wrong; they should've been back by now."
Rouge looked perplexed. "Shadow? Are you really worried about them?"
Shadow attempted to regain his uncaring characterization. "What I meant was that I hope they stopped the professor and the doctor; Zenith isn't that responsible."
Rouge began to prod him. "But you care about me," she batted her eyelashes, "right?"
THOOM! FWOOM!
Shadow was saved by the ships' finally self-destructing. Chunks of metal began to come down on Station Square, sending the gathering crowd scattering, searching for cover.
Silver pointed upwards. "Look! Its Zenith and Iota! They're coming down fast!"
Everyone looked up in the direction Silver was pointing. Zenith and Iota were indeed coming down fast-very fast, in fact.
Blaze appeared to be worried. "Oh no. At that speed, there is no way that they will survive the landing."
Shadow spoke up again. "Why hasn't Zenith activated his shoes?"
"They probably got damaged in the crash," Sonic answered.
"Your probably right," Amy said. "But I have faith in Zenith. He'll make it through this." Then she added to herself, "Somehow."
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Zenith was swearing at his damaged shoes. "Why...won't...these...damn...things...work!?" He exclaimed while trying to activate them between words.
"The blast probably created an electromagnetic frequency that shorted out the wiring in the shoes," Iota said matter-of-factly.
Zenith was about to say something sarcastic, but then decided not to. "Well, whatever happened, my shoes aren't working right now. Any ideas?"
"Maybe I could create a platform with Erneigio," Iota suggested.
Zenith looked confused. "Can you do that?"
Iota shrugged. "We're going to make serious contact with the ground in about-".
"-21.47 seconds," Zenith finished. "So you'd better get to work."
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"They aren't going to make it!" Rouge called out.
Shadow looked at Rouge, puzzled. "I didn't know you cared so much."
Blaze saved Rouge from an explanation by interrupting. "Wait-yes they are! They're flying on some kind of platform."
"Where'd they get a platform from?" Amy asked.
"Iota seems to have made it from her Erneigio," Silver deduced.
"She created solid matter from out of thin air?" Sonic asked. "That seems alot like Green-".
"They're still coming down fast!" Shadow interrupted. "Get out of the way!"
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Zenith was still silently swearing at his shoes. Iota raised an eyebrow. "You know how unnecessary that is, right?"
"Huh?" Zenith said, as if he were in a daze. A whirring noise was heard. "Ah, now these things finally decide to work!" He grabbed hold of Iota. He launched both of them off the makeshift platform.
Iota dissapated it once she was sure that they weren't going crash into the ground.
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"Iota!" Amy exclaimed, once she was safely on the ground with Zenith. "You made it!" She hugged him.
"So...Zenith...," Shadow said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Uh...nice work...?"
Zenith eyed Shadow in suspicion. "Shadow? Did you just...give me a complement?"
Shadow looked in all directions before finally walking away. "C'mon, Rouge. Let's go."
"Where are the Chaos Emeralds?" Zenith asked.
"Here!" Blaze said, tossing the silver briefcase to Zenith. "Glad to see the both of you are okay, too."
"So am I," Iota mumbled to herself. She turned to Zenith. "What are going to do with them?"
Zenith tossed the briefcase to Shadow who caught it deftly. "No one really knew how to fully control the powers of chaos before you came along. Take care of them."
"You're actually giving the emeralds to him!?" Sonic asked in disbelief. "Of course you are! You weren't here when he tried to use them to take out the entire planet!"
Rouge snatched the briefcase and eyed it greedily. "I don't see a problem with it."
Zenith crossed his arms. "And that's the other part of the reason why I'm letting Shadow hold the emeralds. Rouge won't let anything happen to them. She probably won't even give them back to me." To prove his point, Zenith reached out to take the briefcase. Rouge hissed at him like a venomous snake. Zenith recoiled. "See what I mean?"
Shadow shrugged. "Fine. I'm going home." He held his head. "I have a splitting headache and I'm missing Scrubs."
Everyone looked at Shadow with confused stares. "Uh...," Shadow mumbled. "Chaos Control!" He vanished in a green flash.
"And I have some business to attend to," Rouge said. She hugged the briefcase as if it were a baby as she flew away. "Oh, my beauties. I finally have you! This time, I'm not letting you go!"
"Do you really think it was a good idea giving her the Emeralds?" Silver asked.
"Well, I couldn't give them to you or Blaze, since you're from 200 years in the future, and you're-" He pointed at Blaze. "-from a completely different dimension and universe."
"Well you don't have to be all snippy about it," Blaze said.
"And like I said," Zenith continued. "Rouge won't let even Shadow touch those emeralds."
"Well, I guess that's true," Sonic agreed as he yawned and stretched. "I guess I'll be heading out now. See ya later!" He ran off at Sonic Speed.
Amy put her hands on her hips and called out in an angry, "Soooonic!"
A few seconds later, Sonic came back. "Sorry, old habits."
Amy climbed onto Sonic's back and waved. "Bye everyonnnnne!" Sonic sped off again.
Silver shook his head. "I fear for Sonic's health. Time to returen to the future! Let's go Blaze!"
Blaze held Silver's arm. "We'll see during the next universal crisis."
"Uhh...," Zenith said uncomfortably. "...okay?..." He turned to Iota. "Is she serious?"
Iota shrugged and grunted "I don't know."
When both Silver and Blaze had vanished into the future, Zenith and Iota stood in the middle of the street, all alone.
"Do you think Beta's finally gone?" Iota asked.
Zenith thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I doubt it. He fell into a pit of lava and survived, somehow. Now he just fell a few hundred miles. He survived, and we'll have to fight him all over again."