Only the epilogue left now. It's… Been fun. I'm so glad I got to do this again.
Chapter 25 (FINALE)
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles flew into the sky above, coming face to face with Solaris's true form for the first time. It appeared to be nothing more than a white torso with arms, and hard plates covering each arm and the front of the sun god itself. Spikes circled around its back.
"Man, talk about ugly!" Sonic said, as he zipped forward straight into the being's chestplate, damaging it. Solaris roared, a strange sound that Sonic wouldn't be able to recall later, and shot out meteors at them.
Knuckles flew in front of Sonic and Tails, punching the meteors straight back at Solaris and hitting it on its arms as it tried to block. Solaris roared again, and Tails used the distraction to swoop in and slice at its chestplate with his tails. He managed to knock it upward, revealing a red core under it. Solaris whacked Tails back with its arm, just as Sonic flew forward into the red core.
"Ow!" Tails said, as he righted himself next to Knuckles. "Wait… That hurt! Oh, no this is bad…"
"Well, then it's a good thing I found its weak point," Sonic said, as he flew back. "He really didn't like it when I did that, huh? It's always the glowing red stuff, ya know?"
Knuckles nodded, and caught a huge meteor that Solaris had flung at them. "Okay, I've got a plan. Sonic, Tails, I'm going to throw this rock at it. Hopefully, that'll make it let its guard down, and then…"
"Super Sonic Power!" Sonic yelled. "Alright, ready!"
"Me too!" Tails exclaimed. "Go for it, Knuckles!"
Knuckles flung his rock at Solaris, hitting it right in its chestplate and moving it just enough that the red core became visible. All three went into a mid-air spin dash, slamming into the core repeatedly before it could hide again. Solaris screamed, more of anger than pain, and shot a huge laser at Team Sonic.
"Gah!" Knuckles yelled. "Oh, ow, that does hurt!"
"Man, this thing is powerful," Sonic said, panting a bit. "But we can't back down! Let's show that creep-"
"We agreed you'd stop saying that," Knuckles said, as he grabbed onto Sonic and used him as a projectile to hit Solaris again.
"Hey!" Sonic yelled, as he slammed into Solaris's arm. Tails was able to get a tail-swipe in at the core before Solaris got on guard again, and backed up. Solaris shot another group of meteors and a giant laser at the same time, roaring as it did so, hitting Team Sonic and knocking them far back.
"… Oof," Tails said, as he righted himself again.
"… Yeah, ow."
"… We've gotta be really careful," Knuckles said. "If it's that powerful… We might not be able to keep up our super forms… Let's get some more rings before we attack again."
"Can they handle it?" Mario asked Shadow, worriedly, as he watched the two yellow streaks and the one pinkish streak battle the abomination in the void's sky.
"… I'm not sure," Shadow admitted. "But there really isn't much other choice."
"I could help," Mario said, taking out a red, star-shaped object.
"Without the Chaos Emeralds?" Eggman laughed. "Impossible!"
"And who am I, again?" Mario asked, as he absorbed the Red Star's power to transform into Flying Mario. His hat an overalls became black, while his shoes and the buttons on his overalls turned red. He rose into the air, his hands glowing as he took off for the sky.
"He's going to get himself killed," Eggman said.
Bowser laughed. "Heck, no! Look, if anyone can do this? It's Mario. I've fought him enough to know I believe in him."
Solaris had upped its game – Though Team Sonic was now in little danger of running out of rings and cancelling the transformation, Solaris was giving hardly any breathing room in between shots. Sometimes, Sonic was able to land a hit on its armor, but there didn't seem to be any way to actually damage the beast when it was like this.
"If only we had a distraction…" Knuckles said. "Then we'd have an opening."
"But how's that going to happen all the way up here?" Tails asked.
Something black and flying fast slammed into Solaris's underside, doing no damage but providing enough of an opening for team Sonic to hit with their team attack again, doing more damage to it. The black flyer proved to be incredibly agile in the air, and it was quite a bit before it slowed down enough for Sonic to see what it was.
"Woo-hoo!" Mario yelled, as he zipped around Solaris. "Hey, guys! Thought you were leaving me behind, huh?" Mario punched Solaris in a part that wasn't armored, causing it to focus all its attention on Mario and ignore Team Sonic… Untill they hit it with another joint attack, Sonic with a kick slamming into its core, followed by a punch from Knuckles and a tail slice from Tails.
"Hey, Mario! Glad to have you on board!" Sonic said. Mario gave a thumbs-up, and flew next to Sonic. He turned to Solaris… Only to get a face-full of laser, instantly overpowering his Flying form. Mario dropped like a rock, crashing down below on the platform with everyone else. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles got hit by another barrage as they watched to make sure Mario was okay, getting knocked back again.
"Gah…" Sonic groaned, holding his head. "Man, we've gotta stop getting distracted!"
"Then let's do this," Knuckles said, dashing forward to deal another blow to Solaris. Sonic grinned, and locked hands with Tails to preform the powerful Rolling Combo straight into Solaris's core as soon as it was uncovered. A bright light enveloped Solaris as the three flew back from it.
"Yes!" Sonic yelled, punching the air. "We did it!"
The light faded, revealing something very different. Solaris was just fine, and had gone from a dark-ish, grey being into one of pure gold, the spikes circling its back transforming into wings, and its armor gone.
"… No," Knuckles said. "… It's just beginning."
Mario looked up at this scene. "We've gotta do something!"
"I know, Mario, but it didn't work… What can we do?"
"Hey! Don't give up so easy, Mario!" Bowser yelled. "You never give up this easy when fighting me!"
"It's true," Peach agreed. "I'm sure you can do something to help, only… I don't know what."
"Mario strong, Mario the best!" DK agreed, pounding his chest.
"(Mario, Mario, he's our man, if he can't do it, no one can!)" Yoshi cheered.
Mario got an idea. He began picking up the drained Chaos Emeralds, trying to get some semblance of power into them. Nothing was happening, but Mario refused to give up.
"Hey, Mario?" Wario said. "Look, I know we don't get along. But, hey, you need to know this: I, Wario, the baddest of the bad, KNOW you can do something. You always do. Isn't that right, Luigi?" Wario asked, an odd smile on his face despite the situation.
Luigi nodded. "You go, bro."
Mario nodded as well, fierce determination in his eyes. "Yeah… I do! Somehow, I'll do this!"
An aura of light surrounded Mario, Luigi, Wario, DK, Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser.
"What's this?" Eggman asked, as the glow moved from the seven people to the Chaos Emeralds themselves, bringing the gems back to life.
Wario grinned wider. "The Chaos Emeralds turn thoughts into power. All they needed was a little belief from some people who could make energy. The Star Children. All seven of us."
The Chaos Emeralds circled around Mario and Luigi, and the two brothers welcomed their power. Their caps and overalls became a shining white, their shirts and shoes becoming a golden hue. White capes appeared on their backs, and Mario's eyes became red while Luigi's turned green.
"Let's-a-go," Mario said, as he flew upwards into the sky.
Two streaks of white light slammed into Solaris's core simultaneously, shocking Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails. Out of the resulting explosion flew Mario and Luigi, shimmering in a rainbow of bright colors.
"All right!" Sonic said, "Glad you made it, for real!"
"Luigi!" Tails exclaimed. "You too?"
Luigi nodded. "Hey, Tails? I've got an idea."
"And I've got one too!" Sonic said, starting to spin into a tornado around Solaris. "Jump in and flame on, Mario!"
Mario understood immediately. He flew into Sonic's tornado, shooting fireballs as he twirled around it. The tornado caught fire, Solaris caught in the middle. Knuckles took the opportunity to come down from above, slamming into Solaris's core like a fiery drill. Mario swooped above, curling into a ball to preform his homing Ground Pound straight into Solaris's core himself. Sonic attacked with a light-speed attack, slamming straight through.
Solaris roared again, shooting out lasers to Mario, Sonic, and Knuckles. Mario's arrival struck a new confidence in Sonic and Knuckles, though, and they easily destroyed the rocks sent at them.
A ball covered in an aura of blue-green electricity slammed into Solaris's core, revealing itself to be Luigi shot at Solaris from Tails' thunder shoot. For good measure, Luigi summoned up a huge bolt of lightning from each hand, and zapped Solaris straight in the core with it. Tails zoomed in, curling into a ball and slamming Solaris in a solid spin attack.
"This is crazy!" Luigi yelled, as he dodged lasers. "It's so… Wow! I've never felt this sort of power! I… I really think we can win this."
"Me and you both, bro!" Mario said, sending a nasty dragon of flame into Solaris's next wave of meteors.
"I always love doing this!" Sonic said, as he boosted into Solaris again. "Not so tough without that armor of yours, and when there's five of us, huh?"
"Remember what's at stake, Sonic!" Knuckles yelled, as he punched more of Solaris's projectiles out of the way.
"If it takes too long, the world's still toast!" Tails reminded them. "We've gotta end it now?"
"All together, then?" Sonic asked, to agreement from all parties. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles dashed forward, curling into balls as they slammed into the core once more, Mario and Luigi's powerful kicks aiding them for the final hit.
Solaris began to glow once more.
"We did it!" Tails cheered.
"And that's a wrap!" Sonic said. "Thank you, thank… Huh?"
Something was wrong – The world was shaking, and white cracks were starting to appear in the sky itself. Solaris was glowing, but it wasn't out – In fact, it was fleeing. As the cracks became bigger, Mario knew what he had to do. He zipped forward after Solaris, almost seeming to be a streak of flames himself. The other four followed his lead, chasing down Solaris as time collapsed around them.
"Hey, Solaris!" Mario yelled. "Do you know who I am? I'm Mario! If you knew half of what I've done… I won't let this happen!"
BRAVE STAR, BUT PUNY NONETHELESS. YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME AS I AM NOW.
"They why are you running, huh? I've beaten things like you before. I'll do it again. And I bet you know it, too! And this time," Mario smiled at his friends. "I've got four people, right here, just as powerful as I am! You've no chance! Here we go!"
All five super-powered heroes zoomed forward, Sonic and Mario taking the lead. Sonic boosted straight through the core, just as Mario slammed in with a fiery punch. Knuckles spun like a drill as he met it, flames encasing his own fists. Luigi and Tails came down last, in a thunder-powered combination attack.
The shaking of the world stopped, as Solaris burst into a million pieces, condensing into a tiny flame. Mario grabbed it with his Firebrand, and flew down with his teammates back to their friends.
The Chaos Emeralds re-appeared, dropping to the ground once more, but this time, full of their power, as the five returned to normal, Mario still holding the flame.
"You've impressed me, once again," Shadow said. "… Just who are you, Mario?"
"Just someone who helps because he can," Mario said.
"Same as me, eh?" Sonic asked, giving a little laugh.
"… So, what now?" Peach asked. "Solaris is… Just that little flame now…"
"Just as he was before," Elise said. "Everything began just as this… Who knew, such a tiny flame could bring such devastation. It's part of all timelines… if we blow it out… Solaris would never have existed… And we wouldn't need to worry about the Flames of Disaster. But… All of our adventures together… Is it what we really want?"
"… You can't have the good without the bad," Mario said. "… It's something I've learned, over the years. In a case of our personal feelings against what's best for the world…"
"… That's not really any choice to make, is it?" Sonic asked. He turned to Mario. "Well, if that's how it's gonna be, let me just say, it's been great while it lasted."
"It has," Mario said, staring at the tiny flame in his hand.
"… I'd like to think I'll miss you," Tails said to Luigi. "But…"
"Tails," Luigi said, putting his hand on the fox's shoulder. "I know… It's been great, these past few days. I…" Luigi closed his eyes. "… I'd miss you too, Tails."
Elise looked down sadly. Peach turned to her. "Cheer up, Elise. Think of all the good that'll come of this."
Elise nodded. "You're right… It will be better, won't it? I… I'm ready, as much as I can be."
"I guess I am too," Luigi said sadly.
"But there's no other way…" Tails said.
"Yeah…" Sonic said, eyes downcast. "It's not… It's not so good, not really. I mean, you guys are great. It's the first time I've really met another big-shot hero who saves another part of the planet."
"It's a first for me, too," Mario said. "But… You know what? I don't think this is really goodbye. I think… We'd have met each other sooner or later, anyway. We both travel and help people. So… It's not the end. I think, it's a new beginning. See you later, Sonic." Mario closed his hand, snuffing out the flame of Solaris once and for all.