Chapter 6 – Together at Last

Cynder, in her Alpha form, appeared in the doorway, and with her stood Jakkin, Lily and Percival, also in their powered forms. Blaze, Rolf, Iggy and Brutus were also with them. Draco and Tails were delighted to see the rest of their friends again.

"Hey there, Cynder!" exclaimed the team. "What a surprise to see you and the rest here at our dire moment!"

"We figured that you would need all the help you can get," replied Cynder. "Brutus also appeared at our village at the last minute before we left."

"You better get your Elemental Brooches ready, Draco and Torden," said Jakkin. "I can tell that you guys really are in a bind with that shark robot."

Doing as Jakkin has instructed, Draco and Torden took out their Elemental Brooches and soon they transformed into their respected powered forms. Charonus also joined in as he assumed his Mega Charizard X form.

"Thanks for coming, my fellow bandmates," said Axl.

"Not a problem," smiled Iggy.

"Even with you finally altogether, you're still far outmatched in terms of power," said Sharkinator. "I will see to it that you won't make it out of here alive and the Chaos Emeralds will be returned to Eggman!"

"Give it a try," said Cynder coolly.

The evil Robot Master scowled and before he knew it, the team charged towards him. He readied his laser blaster blasters and missile cannons, but he soon found that he was not able to take down a large group at once. The dragons unleashed their breath attacks simultaneously and the Nightriders fired their blasters rapidly, which prevented Sharkinator from being able to fight back. Although Eggman had outfitted him with more armaments, the damage the robot master has sustained before was starting to take its toll as he was experiencing more short circuits than ever. Finally, Sharkinator started to collapse, and sparks were sputtering everywhere.

"Let me finish him off," said Sonic. "This robot's going down!"

Sonic ducked down to perform his Super Spin Dash, and after charging himself to full power, he launched forward towards the rattling Sharkinator and struck him right on the chest, knocking the robot backwards. The impact caused him to burst and disassemble uncontrollably.

"The Eggman Empire shall live on…" he managed to say before he exploded, sending rounds of rockets scattering about. This caused the laboratory to crumble.

"Uh-oh," said Tails. "This place is falling apart! We better get out of here fast!"

"Hurry for the exit!" shouted Bowser.

The team raced out of the door, while the Pyre Squad watched them from their hiding place.

"What is happening?" asked Ciara.

"I don't know, but we better get moving," said Scorcher. "This place is falling down, and it's only a matter of time until it blows up!"

"In that case, let's follow them out!" urged Cronk.

The trio raced for the door, but several pieces of metal fell down right in front of them, blocking the way out. The team could now huddle each other helplessly as they waited for the laboratory to explode.

Sonic and his friends have made it out of the laboratory just in time, and not a moment too soon, they ducked down and took cover when a devastating explosion rocked the mountain. Metallic debris rained down into the ground, and they were so hot that they melted small portions of the snow. The team soon looked up and surveyed the sight, not noticing three faint tiny specks disappearing over the horizon. Smoke poured out from the mountain, which now had its top removed from the explosion.

"Rockin'!" gasped Axl.

"Boy, that was a big one!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Yeah, talk about mountainous destruction!" said Tails.

"Ha! Zing!" laughed Iggy.

"What do you think has become of Eggman?" asked Draco.

"I have no idea," replied Charonus. "But one thing for sure, his laboratory is nothing but rubble now."

"Perhaps he is finally defeated," said Lily brightly. "And that means the world is saved!"

"Don't think you have won that easily!" bellowed a sinister voice.

Everyone looked up and there was Doctor Eggman on his Eggmobile, and he had a bemused look on his face. "Look what you have done!" he snapped. "My laboratory, it's completely destroyed! To think that I have spent all my years renovating the interior of the mountain, and it's been blown to smithereens!"

"How could this be possible?" asked Iggy. "We never saw you fly away!"

"Eggman, you seriously don't know when to quit!" growled Rolf.

"You're going to pay for what you attempted to do to Bowser!" hissed Draco as he clenched his fist.

"You should just give it up, Eggman!" said Sonic. "There's no way you can win as long as we are working together!"

"Ha! No evil genius ever rests until he has finally achieved his ends!" laughed Eggman. "You may have destroyed my lab and Sharkinator, and you may have taken the Chaos Emeralds away from me, but I'm still far from beat!"

"Bitch, please!" snorted Brutus. "What else do you have other than the Death Egg? It will take more than gloating and taunting to intimidate us!"

"That's what you may think, but I have another base to continue on my dastardly operations," said Eggman. "Anyway, that's enough of you! I shall put all of you out of your miseries so that you will never interfere with my plans ever again, especially you, Sonic!"

Doctor Eggman pressed a button on his Eggmobile, and from underneath popped emerged a large cannon. He then pushed another button, prompting the cannon to charge up and release a ball of fire.

"Not that old attempt to stop me all those years ago," scoffed Sonic. "You seriously have not learned a lesson at all!"

"Let's teach him a thing or two!" declared Torden.

"Get a load of this, you punks!" thundered Eggman, and he then pressed one more button that made the cannon launch out the fireball.

"That won't stop us, Eggman!" said Cynder. "Come on, boys! Show them the how strong we are as a team!"

The other dragons nodded, and they spat back with their breath attacks. The Nightriders joined in as they opened fired their blasters. The combined forces deflected the large fireball that it was sent hurtling back to Eggman. Frantically, the doctor tried to flee, but it was too late. The fireball exploded, sending the Eggmobile sailing beyond the horizon before disappearing with a twinkle.

"Alright, you guys!" cheered Sonic. "We have shut that egghead up, and he shall not be bothering us for a while!"

Everyone jumped with joy and slapped each other high fives, content that they outsmarted Eggman one more time.

Bowser looked at Draco, and he was smiling. "Hey, Draco," he began. "I really want to thank you for coming after me. You really have saved this old Koopa from being turned into a robot."

"Think nothing of it, Bowser," said Draco modestly. "You're my closest friend aside from Cynder and Tails, and I could not imagine my life without you."

Nodding in agreement, Bowser continued on with his speech. "I have never expected anyone would risk their lives for me, given the reputation I once had," he said. "Suffice it to say that now I'm the one who owes you my life."

"Oh, Bowser!" sighed Draco and he gave the Koopa King a big hug, while everyone else watched happily.

"This sure is one happy reunion," remarked Jakkin.

"Yes, I can agree with you on that, Jakkin," said Percival.

Just then, Blaze received a text message from her phone, and when she looked it up, she could barely contain her joy. "Look at this, everyone!" she exclaimed. "It's a message from Empress Celeste! She says that the Anthro League has learned about the destruction of Eggman's laboratory and knows that we were the ones who saved the day! We've been invited to a celebration dinner where we will be given special rewards!"

"Really?" asked Tails. "That's great!"

"Celebration dinner," smiled Sonic. "This means lots of chili dogs for me!"

"I'm hankering for some pizza," said Draco, licking his lips.

"Hungry as always, Draco," laughed Charonus.

"This all sounds really good," said Axl. "My band and I will definitely check this dinner out, since we helped a lot on this mission!"

"In that case, let's make a move on!" said Torden. "Our work here in Alaska is done!"

"Before we do, let's go bring the Chaos Emeralds back to the village," said Sonic as he looked at his Chaos Emerald before checking on the rest. "We will really need them for when the time comes."

With that, everyone readied themselves for the journey back to Japan. Darky and Lonnie mounted on Draco, while Axl rode on Torden. Iggy picked Lily, and Brutus picked Percival. Rolf decided to join Blaze and Bowser as they boarded on Tails' Torando Z, and Sonic jumped on the wings of the plane. At last, they took off, eager for the celebration dinner that awaits them on their way back home.

To Be Continued…

Another intense finish! Three Robot Masters down, and only two more to go! We shall see what sort of adventures our heroes will have on the next story, so until then, see you guys next time!

Dedicated to Axl Reigns, creator of the Nightriders