Everyone in Knothole got ready for what was coming. It was the fifth day. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails stood in front. "You guys ready?" Sonic asked, looking at his friends.
"Yeah. Let's do this." Knuckles replied, looking sternly ahead.
Tails said nothing. "You okay Tails?" Sonic asked.
"Y-y-yeah."
Knuckles told the young fox, "You know, you don't have to do this."
"Are you kidding?" Tails said as the straightened up, looking at the two. "And leave you guys here alone to fight Dusk? No way."
Just then, a line of trees began to fall. Dusk came out of the forest and stood in front of them, laughing maliciously. "I see you have a new recruit. But where is Shadow? Did he realize that he is no where near as powerful as I am? Ha. A faker and a coward. How sad." Dusk then began to laugh even louder.
Sonic, Knuckles and Tails became enraged at Dusk's mocking. "Don't you dare call Shadow a coward!" Sonic exclaimed, clenching his fist.
"Well, what else would you call someone who runs away from an opponent?"
"Shut up and fight!" Knuckles said as the three pulled out seven chaos emeralds and fifty power rings. With a flash, they had turned into Super Sonic, Hyper Knuckles, and Turbo Tails.
Dusk chuckled at the trio's transformation. "I see you are supplying the chaos emeralds and power rings. Oh well. Saves me the energy!" Dusk charged at them and threw a punch. Hyper Knuckles grabbed the punch, and Turbo Tails came and began to punch Dusk in the stomach. They both jumped out of the way, and Super Sonic rushed with his hand charging an energy blast. Dusk dodged him, but then Super Sonic turned around and fired the blast, hitting Dusk in the back.
"Losing steam, huh Dusk?" Turbo Tails said.
"Fool. I'm just warming up!" Dusk vanished and reappeared right in front of Turbo Tails. Dusk used an uppercut to get him into the air. Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles came from both sides, but Dusk just blasted them with chaos energy. When he looked up, he saw Turbo Tails coming with a kick. Barely dodging it, Dusk grabbed Turbo Tails' leg and threw him to the ground. Super Sonic came from behind and elbowed Dusk in the back. Stumbling forward, Dusk walked right into Hyper Knuckles' punch.
Dusk backed off from the three fighters,. "I see you've gotten stronger. Unfortunately for you, I am not even at my full power!" With a flash, he had become Omega Dusk again. "Time to die!"
"Okay guys! We can beat him! We just…" Super Sonic was cut off when Omega Dusk came and kicked him in the stomach. Hyper Knuckles threw a kick of his own, but Omega Dusk just dodged it and threw a punch, knocking Hyper Knuckles into a hut.
"Am I losing steam now, kid?" Omega Dusk asked as he charged at Turbo Tails. He kneed him in the face, and grabbed him by his tails and threw him towards Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles.
"Shadow was the only smart one. He realized there was no way you can beat me. Why can you three accept that?" Omega Dusk asked. Hyper Knuckles, Super Sonic, and Turbo Tails flew at Omega Dusk and began to throw punches. "Now you're just boring me. Surely you've realized you can't hit me." Omega Dusk said as he dodged them. He flipped back, and charged at them with his arms out, clothes-lining Hyper Sonic and Turbo Tails. He then head butted Hyper Knuckles, flipped over him, and blasted all three of them with consecutive energy blasts.
The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix watched the fight from a distance. "Get ready guys," Bunnie said, "It might come down to us." They all began to get ready in case their friends failed in defeating Omega Dusk, which seemed more likely with each passing moment.
Hyper Knuckles, Super Sonic, and Turbo Tails stood, breathing heavily. "This…guy's really tough," Turbo Tails said.
Omega Dusk crossed his arms and cackled. "Do you give up yet? Because this is growing old, in my opinion."
"…Hell no," Hyper Knuckles retorted.
"Yeah," Super Sonic added, "We'll…fight you until we win!" Just then, they began to flicker, and then they had become Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails again. "Crap! We ran out of power rings!"
"How sad," Omega Dusk said, "Killing you will be easier now. Oh well." He ran at them and punched Tails in the stomach. He then hit Sonic with a roundhouse and fired an energy blast at Knuckles in a matter of seconds. They landed on the ground, and didn't get up. "Now, if you'll excuse me," Omega Dusk said, "I have a king to kill. If you're still alive when I get back, I'll put you out of your misery."
The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix watched as Omega Dusk walked towards them. Only a few feet from them, he stopped and observed. "Is this all? I was expecting more."
"We may not look like much, but we'll beat you!" Amy yelled, wielding her hammer.
"Oh please. I am the ultimate life form. Haven't you heard? There is no way you can win!"
"Where there's a will, there's a way!" Ray yelled as they all charged. Mighty picked up a fallen tree and threw it at Omega Dusk, but the hedgehog just held up his hand and laughed as the tree split. Rouge flew at him and threw a kick, but Omega Dusk just dodged it and kicked her in the back. He then grabbed her and threw her into a tree. Antoine ran at Omega Dusk and swung at him with his sword.
"Do you think a sword will actually do any good?" Omega Dusk said as he grabbed the sword and lifted Antoine off the ground by it. "Now tell me, how do you wish to die?"
"I vish to die ov old age…" Antoine said nervously.
"Too bad. Wishes don't always come true." With that said Omega Dusk held up his hand and blasted Antoine in the chest, leaving a gaping hole.
"Twan!" Bunnie yelled, tears streaming from her eyes as she extended her arm to punch Omega Dusk. He had to let go of Antoine's limp, smoking body to block the punch. Bunnie then charged at the powerful hedgehog and threw everything she had at him. Omega Dusk's laughing only intensified Bunnie's rage. "Stop laughing, you monster!" she screamed as one of her punches finally connected, but had no effect.
"I'm sorry. Did that miserable excuse of a Mobian mean something to you? Well then let me help you join him!" Everyone watched in dismay as Omega Dusk tore Bunnie's robotic arm off, leaving her on the ground in shock.
"You bastard!" Mighty yelled as the charged at Omega Dusk and threw a punch, which Omega Dusk easily dodged. But Mighty continued swinging his arms, hoping to land a blow. Eventually the two stood in at grip lock, equally matched for the most part. "What's so damn funny?" Mighty asked as Omega Dusk snickered.
"You're pretty strong," Omega Dusk replied. "I'll have put an end to that." He then put his feet up against Mighty's chest and began to push off, still holding onto Mighty's arms. Mighty screamed in pain as a loud pop filled the air, signifying the dislocation of both of his arms.
Espio turned invisible and tried to sneak up behind. Omega Dusk could only sigh as he elbowed the chameleon in the stomach. "I have a disappearing act too. Want to see?" He then disappeared and rematerialized behind Espio, kicking him in the back of the head. Desperate, Espio grabbed his shuriken and hurled them at the hedgehog, ho caught them in mid air. Omega Dusk then threw them back at super fast speed, leaving Espio defenseless as the blades pierced his skin.
Vector charged at Omega Dusk to aid his fallen friends. A savage look in his eyes, the crocodile tried to close his jaws around Omega Dusk's head. The powerful hedgehog, however, held Vector's jaws open with his hands. He then pushed Vector's upper jaw up and his lower jaw down, breaking both of them instantly.
Amy came next, swinging her hammer wildly. Omega Dusk dodged the hammer easily, and then hit Amy's wrist with a chop. Amy fell to the ground, clutching her swelling wrist, which was obviously fractured. Rouge flew at Omega Dusk, but he punched her in the stomach, sending her flying into the ground. Seeing Antoine's sword, Omega Dusk grabbed the weapon and stabbed it through Rouge's wing and into the ground. Turning around with a kick, he then shattered Ray's knee.
Sally and Julie Su watched in horror at the brutality of Omega Dusk. Having been begged to by Sonic and Knuckles, the two agreed to watch safely from afar. "We have to do something!" Julie Su exclaimed as she grabbed her pistol.
Sally responded, "What can we do? We have no chance against that monster!" Julie Su sighed helplessly.
"I'm done here," Omega Dusk said as he looked at his fallen opponents. Antoine was dead, and the rest of the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix were crippled.
A voice from behind him caused Omega Dusk to turn around. "Hey, we aren't done yet."
Omega Dusk crossed his arms as he watched Sonic, Knuckles and Tails walking towards him. It was evident that the three were in immense pain. "You three can still stand. Amazing."
"What the hell have you done to them?!?!" Knuckles asked.
"They thought that they could beat me. They have learned their lesson."
"That's it!" Tails screamed.
Sonic added, "We are going to take you down once and for all!"
As the three charged, Omega Dusk muttered, "It seems you three really want to die."
Sonic, Knuckles and Tails attacked Omega Dusk with everything they had. Sonic threw rapid kicks, but Omega dusk grabbed his leg and slammed him into the ground. Knuckles threw a punch with everything he had, but Omega Dusk ducked and kicked him in the head. Soaring through the air, the echidna landed next to Sonic.
"Sonic! Knuckles!" Tails shouted. He turned around and saw Omega Dusk right in front of him. He attacked, but it was no use. Omega Dusk just grabbed him and threw him next to his fallen allies. They all looked as Omega Dusk flew into the air, charging an energy ball.
Sally and Julie Su watched in horror as Omega Dusk unleashed the blast. "Oh my god…" they whispered, and then began to weep hysterically.
"Okay men," Geoffrey St. John said, "We are the only thing that is left between that monster and the king. We need to kill him now."
"Kill me? Surely you are joking." Omega Dusk was standing mere feet away, chuckling at the thought of these soldiers beating him .
"Fire!"
It was amazing that Sonic, Knuckles and Tails were still alive. They tried to get up, but couldn't muster the energy. Just then, they saw a figure walk by them.
"We were wondering… if you were going to come." Sonic said, coughing.
"Go kick his ass…we'll be fine." Knuckles said. Just then, they fell unconscious.
Geoffrey St. John looked around. Most of his men were dead. And Omega Dusk was unscathed. "I believe you said something about killing me?" he said as he began to fly into the air. "Now all I have to do is kill you," he said as he began to charge another large energy blast, "And then I'll kill the king."
"You forgot someone." Omega Dusk looked over as he heard the familiar voice. Shadow continued to walk towards Omega Dusk, staring angrily at him. In his hand was the chaos emerald that he always kept with him. Shadow stopped a few feet away from his counterpart and stood defiantly. "You forgot about me."
"Oh, so Shadow finally decided to show up" Omega Dusk said as he powered down the blast, "It doesn't matter. I'll kill you just like these soldiers."
Shadow smiled slightly. "That's where you're wrong. I can beat you."
Upon hearing this, Omega Dusk began to laugh uncontrollably. "How do you expect to do that? That chaos emerald you're holding won't be able to help you."
"Professor Gerald gave me the power to defeat you just in case you betrayed him. The only problem is, I need to use my emotions to unlock it."
"That's too bad. Have you unlocked this hidden power?" Omega Dusk inquired, slightly fascinated at this fact.
As he began to power up, Shadow replied, "Not completely, but, I learned a trick or two." All of the sudden, he had turned into Hyper Shadow! "I don't need chaos emeralds or power rings anymore."
"Interesting," Omega Dusk stated, "But it's still not enough to beat me."
"That's why I'm here. I need to use my emotions," Hyper Shadow said as he clenched his fist and began to fly up towards Omega Dusk. "And you really piss me off!"
Omega Dusk chuckled as Hyper Shadow propelled towards him. "Very well. Let the fight begin."