Chapter 31: What's REALLY happening…
Link, Sonic, Banjo, and Kazooie sat around the table with the Chaotix Crew at the head of it. For once, the Chaotix crew had finally found them and they had some good dirt to dig up.
"So, what did you find out, Vector?" Link asked.
"Yeah. What's with these Dragonoids?" Sonic asked with equal curiosity.
"We just found this out. Sonic, do you remember when they found another comet similar to the Black Comet that was destroyed a month ago?" Vector asked.
Sonic nodded.
"Well, scientists found traces of it and traced it to the Black Arm homeworld. However, they launched another comet just when they left. A few weeks later, astronauts arrived on their homeworld, but the whole planet was barren with the exception of odd skeletons and traces of carbonization." Vector told them.
"What was THAT?" Banjo asked, scratching his head.
"It means that all life on the planet was BURNED to ash! At the same time, the comet, which was calculated to be in the sky, disappeared! Tails found a portion of rock from the comet and found it was also burned. Tails has reason to believe that the Dragonoids did this!"
Link was utterly amazed at this. Sonic told him all about the Black Arms and how dangerous they were, but the Dragonoids made them look like jokes.
"And that's not the worst of it. The Dragonoids are collecting the key items for a good reason. Once they have all ten, they will create a black hole." Espio said suspensefully.
"A black hole?" Link asked, having never heard the word before.
"A black hole is a vortex in space so dense, not even light will penetrate it. Its gravity will suck us in and we'll all be CRUSHED." Sonic filled him in.
Link's eyes widened. Ryu could do that with just ten items?
"Anyway, when the planets get sucked into that vortex, he'll reverse it and spew us back out. However, all of our worlds will be made in his own image! He'll merge the dimensions and DESTROY US ALL!" Vector finished, "Right Charmy?"
Charmy didn't answer and Vector looked around to find that his bee buddy was gone.
Suddenly, Charmy arrived looking pretty eager and eerily confident.
"Hey, Vector! I just beat your high score on 'Planet Destroyer'! Oh, and the Dragonoids are here." The energetic bee told them.
"WHAT?!" Kazooie asked in pure surprise.
"Yeah. I saw a big black one fly overhead with some kind of jewel shaped like a puzzle piece…" Charmy told her.
"They took the Crystal Jiggy?!" Banjo asked, putting his hands on the sides of his face.
"OH NO! That must've been the key item! We tracked you down too late!" Vector screamed.
"Take it easy, Vector. Sonic and I will go to that animal world and fetch the last one so the ritual can't be completed." Link said, trying to encourage his klutzy friend.
"Well, that's the BAD news. You see, we went there and found a kind of tablet and they stole it. My best guess is THAT was the key item." Vector said, sheepishly.
"WHAT?!" Link asked in disbelief.
"OH NO! IT'S THE END OF THE UNIVERSE AS WE KNOW IT!!!" Kazooie screamed.
Universes away, Ryu sat on his chair with the tenth and final key item he needed. The Triforce, The Master Emerald, The Krazoa Sword, The Rainbow Star, The Platinum Banana, The Power Stone, The Star Rod, The Ancient Tablet, and The Crystal Jiggy: They were all his. NOW he could put his plan into action.
"Wyvern! Firedrake! Salamander! Drache!" The Dragonoid King barked.
Within minutes, all four of his generals were present and bowed to their knees.
"The time for the ritual is NOW! Get everything ready!" Ryu informed them.
"Yes, Lord Ryu!" All four generals responded.
All five Dragonoids took the key items, two in each hand, and belched dark fire onto them. Their ritual was ready to begin now and no one would be able to stop them.
Universes away, on Banjo and Kazooie's world, the whole planet seemed to shake and a portal opened up as thousands of Dragonoids began to fly out of it like malevolent lizardlike bats. Link and Sonic looked up to see the whole thing happen, but then something else caught their attention. As they looked to the right, they saw a planet that was so close, it was the size of the moon and there was another planet to the far left and was equal in size. Then, they saw something that made Sonic shake slightly. There, far to the front was a small black dot. But when Link looked closely, they saw it was slowly, but surely getting bigger. For the moment, it looked no bigger than the head of a pin in the sky, but it was getting bigger for sure if you looked close enough.
"There's no time to hesitate! We've got to get out of here!" Sonic said.
"For once, I have to agree with you, Sonic." Link said, nodding.
"You guys better get going. We'll catch up!" Vector called.
The minute Sonic and Link raced off through the dimensions, Vector and his crew ran right into their ship and activated the warp vortex. The final battle was soon to begin.
OH NO! ARMAGEDDON IS HERE!