(Chapter Thirty. Did you know that the surface area of the Earth is roughly 500 trillion square meters? And if overpopulation doesn't stop, by 2970 there will be one person per square meter on the Earth's surface?
Just thought you'd like to know. Enjoy!)
"This is the tale of a man who blows a hole in the destiny of a universe torn by the endless cycle of violence.
"At last, the location of the Anti-Spiral home planet, Avalon, has been discovered.
"The engagement ring given by Tails to Cosmo was taken there and picked up on their Spiral scan.
"Indeed, if they travel there, he will see Cosmo again.
"To save the woman he loves, so save his and his friends' homeworld, Möbius, and to put an end to the conflict once and for all, the Super Galaxy Great Freedom sets sail, with Tails on board."
CHAPTER THIRTY:
I Will Never Forget This Minute, This Second
Lifeless.
That word was the closest any language could get to describing the Anti-Spiral dimension. An empty universe with no life on any of the worlds floating aimlessly about the stars, the galaxies as large as the one in which Möbius, the smallest of blue marbles, whirled. The Anti-Spiral's artificial universe rested between the tenth and eleventh dimensions of human perception, which are so far removed from human perception as to be utterly unfathomable and completely beyond the concept of rational minds
It remained silent and undisturbed...
Until a large golden battleship the size of Möbius's moon penetrated through a portal that was not there and emerged into the oppressive blackness of artificial space.
超時空要塞
超銀河グレイトフリーダム
Super Dimensional Fortress
Super Galaxy Great Freedom
"What the...?" Knuckles muttered. "We're there already?"
"This is the enemy's stronghold?" Sally asked. It seemed sort of... empty. There were a few planets floating a few million miles away, visible as pinpricks of bluish-green light, and nebulae were visible in the light of the stars in all directions, but all in all, this dimension seemed remarkably stale and... dead.
In additon, there was a pervasive feeling of unease, as though they had set foot in a world where they were far from welcome, as though by showing up at all, their lives were forfeit.
"What the quack? There's a giant naked woman floating out in space behind us!" Bean squawked.
Elias chuckled, "You dummy, what are you tal—"
But when an image of the rear-view was brought up on the main screen, Bean's statement was verified.
A large, nude woman in a crucifix pose was floating behind the Super Galaxy Great Freedom, her head hung. She could easily have held Möbius as though it were a volley ball. She was slightly translucent, and large sections of her body were pixelating, the clouds of pixelation sweeping up and down her body as though searching for something.
She had green hair...
And roses on her head...
"Cosmo!" Tails shouted, the Super Galaxy Great Freedom spinning around to face Cosmo.
She looked up to face them, and though her sky-colored gaze was steady, there was a shadow of pain behind her eyes.
She smiled all the same.
"You came for me!" she said.
"Of course," Tails smiled back. "I promised you."
"I knew... you would keep your word."
"Hang in there, Cosmo. I'll rescue you soon."
"So..." Knuckles asked Rotor. "Is that the real Cosmo or what?"
"I don't see how," Rotor replied. "More likely, it's a holographic projection."
Cosmo's expression was now fearful.
"Be careful, Tails," she warned. "The Anti-Spiral are more powerful than you think."
"Don't worry," Tails grinned, putting out a fist. "We'll win, no matter what! And then, we'll all go back to Möbius together."
Cosmo's smile returned...
Then her image flickered with static, and she screamed and did not stop for a long time. The clouds of pixels raced even more fervently across Cosmo's body.
"COSMO!" Tails screamed.
"What's happening to her?" Sally asked, her eyes shining with horror.
"Her body is being analyzed," the Lucus Darkoak Head said.
"Analyzed?" Meg asked.
"Cosmo was born on Möbius, and grew up amongst Möbians," the bio-computer explained. "Knowledge regarding Möbiankind is stored within her body." The Darkoak Head's eyes narrowed. "Still... Why now? What need do they have to analyze this information so soon?"
"But... if that's a projection, where's the real Cosmo?" Sally asked.
"We'll jump again," Tails said simply. "And this time, we'll go to where the real Cosmo is being held!"
Tails closed his eyes tightly, focusing his thoughts on Cosmo, calling forward very specific details about her to focus on.
The Super Galaxy Great Freedom vanished into a portal of invisible light...
And emerged into empty space again.
They brought up a visual of the rear view.
There was Cosmo.
"What the hell?" Knuckles yelled. "It's the same as last time!"
"I see," said the Lucus Darkoak. "That hologram of Cosmo is projecting a dummy perceptual wavelength, actively interfering with our jumps."
Tails growled, "Goddamn it! One more time! With spirit!"
And just as Tails closed his eyes...
Just as he began to draw out the energy of the universe from every cell in his body...
foolish people of the spiral... tell me: why does a flower bloom, when it is destined to wither? its beauty is so short-lived...
Tails gasped, his eyes flying open.
"What was that?" he asked, looking wildly around.
"The Anti-Spiral," snarled the Darkoak Head.
"Anti-Spiral..." Meg growled, her fists balling up.
"That voice is them? The Anti-Spiral...?" Tails wondered aloud. It didn't sound anything like he thought the Anti-Spiral would sound like. He didn't know what he could have expected.
It began with a whisper. Just a single whisper. It sounded vaguely like a young girl from Mercia.
But the voice which whispered was not alone in the cosmos. A cascade of countless whispers, barely above silence, but still slightly fainter than the girl's voice, a chorus of the voices of the young and old, the male and female, all speaking in the same cadence and rhythm, blending into and out of each other, alongside the girl's voice.
Five-hundred trillion voices, speaking as one that threatened to make their mere mortal ears bleed from just hearing it.
"Wh-where's that voice coming from?" Rotor asked.
"It's... coming from every direction at once!" replied Helen shakily, a hand still over one ear.
"How is that possible...?" Elias asked.
"This is a malleable universe," the Darkoak Head explained. "They can manipulate it according to their every whim. Therefore... it is no exaggeration to say that our enemy... is the universe itself."
"The... universe... itself?"
you cling to the faintest sliver of hope, the Anti-Spiral continued, climbing up time and again from the precipice of despair. what foolishness... but that is now at an end. your last ember of hope will fade when this irregular is deleted.
The Darkoak Head growled. "If they delete Cosmo, it will no longer be possible to track their homeworld."
"No way are we gonna let you do that!" Tails shouted to the heavens. "You hear me, Anti-Spiral?"
"ANTI-SPIRAL!" bellowed Meg, pointing a finger up at the stars, her tail swishing angrily. "You're gonna pay for trying to murder my little girl!"
ahh, so you are a new mother, said the Anti-Spiral, the girl's voice sounding intrigued. Meg quelled slightly upon being addressed directly by the eye of the Anti-Spiral, but she held her ground. how heartless of you, leaving your child behind.
"I don't need to get that from you of all... well, of all people, when you were the ones who tried to have Alexis killed!"
we do not particularly care for the life of your... alexis.
"SHUT UP!" Meg shrieked. "Don't you dare say her name!" She raised her voice even more, if possible. "WE'RE DONE TALKING!"
yes... said the Anti-Spiral, menace tinting her tone now. we are.
And then...
ifaras zaras yezaras...
ifaris zaris yezarik...
A dark tear, darker than the blackness between stars, opened up before the Super Galaxy Great Freedom, opposite Cosmo.
And another opened up beside the first.
And from each tear in reality...
They were huge, impossibly large. Two behemoths, each one of which could easily span the distance between Möbius and its sun. The planets in the distance winked out of existence as the Anti-Spiral warships descended to meet the Super Galaxy Great Freedom.
Two dragons.
One of blue metal, wings spread wide, a crystal blossoming from its nose...
And one of red metal, its wingless back crested with large, fire-colored stones...
behold, said the Anti-Spiral, her voice murder in outer space. and so learn. these dragons, myst and slayer, are your absolute despair made manifest.
"We don't know the meaning of the word 'despair'!" Tails shouted back, turning to Bean. "Bean, fire all Spiral Lasers!"
"You got it!" Bean shouted, slamming his fists into every button he could reach.
The space outside was filled with scores of yellow double-helical lasers, any one of which would have reduced Möbius to dust.
Ten seconds later, the flicker of pixelated shields appeared somewhere around Myst's nose.
"What was that?" Sally asked.
"An energy shield," Rotor said. "Like the Zoah had, or even more powerful. I doubt even Typhoon Giga Drill Driver would have any effect on it."
Helen's station went berserk. She went white. "Activity detected from the enemy ships! They're launching a huge number of them! Exact number is..." Helen's brow glistened with fear. "Off the charts!"
"Whoa, will ya look at that!" Vector said. "Enemies as far as the eye can see!"
"Star Gizoid and Star Emeraloid Brigades, move out!" Elias shouted.
Meg was the first to the teleporters to the hangar, calling back a quick Be safe to her husband and not waiting for him to mirror her reply.
"So, what should we do?" Tails asked. "If Typhoon Freedom Emerl can't stop those dragons, what can me and Shadow do?"
"Well, I don't know about Shadow," Rotor said brightly, "But I know where you can get an even more powerful drill than Typhoon Freedom Emerl!"
On his computer screen was an image of the Hell Huenlonix from that Steadicam video he'd shown just hours before. Its shoulder drills could easily have punched a hole through Möbius.
Its shoulder drills.
Tails could have kissed Rotor.
"Way to go, Rote! But... can we do it?"
"The humanoid form is the one in which Spiral Power is channeled most powerfully," the Darkoak Head explained. "If we were to transform Super Galaxy Great Freedom into humanoid mode, our Spiral Power would be amplified tens of times over, becoming a being with power rivaling that of a micro cosmos."
Tails grinned. "In other words... Super Galaxy Freedom Emerl?"
"It is not that simple," said the Darkoak Head with a shadow of testiness. "In order to transform a vessel the size of a natural satellite, it is necessary to channel similarly vast quantities of Spiral Power directly into the main engine. At the present time and space, the only person possessing sufficient Spiral Power is..."
Tails nodded. "Me."
The Darkoak Head nodded as well.
Sally's face appeared on the main monitor.
"Looks like we don't have many other options," she said.
"Yeah," Knuckles said, his face appearing beside Sally's. "Tails, leave it to us to hold the Anti-Spiral mechas back, and you transform the Super Galaxy Great Freedom ASAP."
"But... will you guys be alright without Typhoon Freedom Emerl?" Tails asked.
Knuckles gave a cocky grin. "Who the hell do you think we are?"
Vector appeared over Sally's face. "We wanna do a bit of grandstanding ourselves, you know."
Espio appeared over Knuckles. "We'll buy you the time you need."
Mighty appeared over Vector, grinning. "But you'll owe us for this, Tails."
Big appeared over Espio, and Bark over Mighty.
"Yeah. You'll owe us," Big said.
"Yeah! You'll repay us soon!" Bark grinned.
Tails chuckled, walking to the Ultra-Spiral Plant teleporter. "I'll be right with you guys... with a huge drill."
But behind his grin, Tails was eaten alive with fear.
Why do I have a bad feeling about this? he thought. What's this vibe I'm getting?
The Blue monday e"r"ectrical parade
"I'm counting on you, honey," said Lupe, giving Lobo a quick peck before he stepped into O'Donnell, then stepping O'Donnell into Star O'Donnell.
As each Fremerald stepped into its designated Star Emeraloid, the identical, city-sized Huenlonix mass production models underwent changes:
Their triangular eyes and capes took on the hue of their piloting Fremerald.
Star Buzz Buzz - piloted by Charmy - changed to orange.
Star Cheese - piloted by Cream - changed to cream.
Star Cascade - piloted by Molly - changed to sea-blue.
Star Nocturne - piloted by Shade - changed to purple.
Star Twister - piloted by Frances - turned to a dark pink.
Star Thorn - piloted by one Amy Rose - turned a brighter pink.
Star Megatal - piloted by Shorty - turned blood-red.
Star Gaia - piloted by Chip - turned pure-white.
Star Rocky - piloted by Ray - turned yellow.
Star Adam - piloted by Tommy - turned green.
Star Depardieu - piloted by Antoine - turned royal-blue.
Star Djinn - piloted by Shahra - turned lavendar.
Star Dimitri - piloted by Julie-Su - turned dull-green.
Star Schlatter - piloted by Griff - turned brown.
Less than a minute after Tails left to charge the Super Galaxy Great Freedom into the Super Galaxy Freedom Emerl, the Star Gizoids and Star Emeraloids flew out of a miniscule (comparatively speaking) hatch in the Super Galaxy Great Freedom's prow. The Star Emeraloids would serve as the rear guard, the last line of defense behind the Star Gizoids.
"Okay, crackheads!" Knuckles called out. "One last brawl! I don't wanna see any of you holding back!"
Sally appeared in his eye.
"Of course we won't," she replied with a smile. "I have kids waiting for me back home, so I'm gonna go give it everything I've got."
"Yeah..." Knuckles did a double-take. "Wait! K-kids! Hey... Wh-when the hell did you have kids?"
Sally winked. "A lady has to have a few secrets."
"S-secrets?"
Knuckles was so stunned - who the hell is the dad? he thought - that he barely registered Helen broadcasting on an open channel,
"Contact with enemy formation in ten seconds!"
Knuckles composed himself.
"R-right!"
The Anti-Spiral mechas were some of the most unusual that they had ever seen. Some of them resembled fish wearing knight's helmets; some resembled spiders with armored head and legs and glowing translucent bellies; and some even resembled snakes with a set of lipless jaws instead of heads.
"Let's go!" shouted Charmy.
The Star Emeraloid Brigade produced their polearms, green energy tearing from fourteen blades into the Anti-Spiral units.
Explosions tore through the enemy units.
The knight's helmets of the Kish and Arasen units opened up, revealing single staring eyes in each face.
Red energy blasted from these eyes.
Very slow red energy.
Every Star Emeraloid and Star Gizoid dodged easily.
But as the opposing forces closed in on each other, it became harder to dodge.
And then...
"We lost Shorty! And Chip!" Cream cried out, horrified as Star Megatal and Star Gaia vanished in plooms of flame that extinguished quickly in the vacuum of space.
"Don't show them any mercy, Fremerald Squadron!" Charmy shouted.
"Because we won't get any!" replied Tommy from his Star Adam, slicing a Kish in half with ease.
Star O'Donnell fired energy blasts from its shoulder blasters.
Star Double Bruiser sent blue lasers firing from its palms.
Star Espionaj, engaging its space camouflage, fired its main cannon, tearing through a score of Anti-Spiral robots.
Star Mighty Fists fired its quadruple Spiral Chainguns.
Star Vector Prime fired off the Spiral Cannons in its fingertips.
"There's a ton of these guys, but they're not so tough!" Vector scoffed.
"We'll just keep whittling them down," Sally said, Star Acorn Cannon going back to back with Star Alexistriker. "Just focus on keeping them off of the Super Galaxy Great Freedom!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" shouted Meg, forcing her Star Gizoid away from her sister-in-law's, set on tearing every Anti-Spiral mecha limb from limb.
Star King Knuckles drew back its spear, the tip glowing blue.
"Time for the Great Freedom Fighters to take center stage! STAR SUNBEAM!" Knuckles bellowed, the point of light becoming a beam which sliced enemy mechas into fiery pieces.
Charmy cursed.
"They're having all the fun!" he whined, spinning his Star Buzz Buzz's Helix Polearm and blasting some Anti-Spiral mechas.
"Charmy!" snapped Cream, her face appearing on one of Star Buzz Buzz's screens. "You're drifting too far into the enemy cloud. The Star Emeraloids are supposed to be the last line of defense!"
"But rear guard duty sucks!"
"Maybe, but we must follow our orders."
狼が来た！！
"Enemy battleships Myst and Slayer have begun to move," Helen said, looking pale. "They are advancing on us."
"It worries me a little," Elias said, "That those big things haven't attacked us yet."
"They might be part of some kind of trap, wouldn't you say?" Rotor pondered aloud.
"Pull back!" Elias ordered Ari. "For now, maintain a constant distance, and concentrate on charging up our Spiral Power."
超銀河グレイトフリーダム内・超絶螺旋機関
Inside Super Galaxy Great Freedom - Ultra Spiral Power Plant
Typhoon Freedom Emerl, a Typhoon Giga Drill sprouted from each limb, spun its Spiral Power into the Super Spiral Engine below.
タイフーンフリーダムエメル内・超絶螺旋機関
Inside Typhoon Freedom Emerl - Ultra Spiral Power Plant
Freedom Emerl, a Giga Drill emerging from each limb, sent its Spiral Power straight from Emerl to the surrounding vessel that was once the Blue Typhoon. The Spiral Power was channeled from Emerl, which magnified the Spiral Power of the pilot, which was already prodigious on its own.
フリーダムエメル内・超絶螺旋機関（テイルス）
Inside Freedom Emerl - Ultra Spiral Power Plant (Tails)
In Emerl, Tails channeled the Spiral Power, the energy of the universe, out of every cell into his body.
"Lupe, how much longer?" Tails said, clasping the controls to Emerl tightly, Kukku sitting somewhere between his feet. Every monitor showed a Spiral Power gauge filling up very slowly.
"Transformation will be possible with another 48%," said Lupe's voice from the screen reading 'LUPE - SOUND ONLY'. "Another ten minutes or so. I'll make sure everything is ready on this end before then."
They don't have ten minutes out there! Tails thought frantically.
"Understood," he said, his voice quavering with something... was it fear? Anger? Frustration?
"Keep your cool, fox boy," said Shadow from Freedom, seeming to sense Tails's true mood. "But even I can tell that your Spiral Power is off the charts. You're one impressive specimen."
Still, Tails thought, what's this bad vibe? Is it because... Knothole villagers are out there?
"What? You three were really in Knothole Village?" Tails asked the turtle, yellow squirrel, and pink girl hedgehog.
"You bet, Tails!" said the turtle. "Name's Tommy. Tommy Turtle."
"I'm R-Ray," said the squirrel. That stutter seemed somewhat familiar...
"My name is Amy Rose!" squealed the girl hedgehog. She seemed rather bubbly. "I tried warning you about that big robot when Sonic and you had it down for a bit!"
"It was gonna bite down on us, right?" Tails asked.
Amy nodded.
Tails faced Ray and Tommy. "And what about you two?"
"Remember the pig-mole stampede?" asked Ray.
Tails nearly smacked his own forehead.
"Oh yeah! You guys were two of Sonic's first Freedom Fighters!" He shook their hands each in turn. "Welcome aboard! Or... should I say, welcome back!"
Ray and Tommy smiled, looking back with Amy down the swirling vortex of the teleportation from the third dimension to the Anti-Spiral dimension.
"So, Sonic was right, huh?" Tommy said. "About the surface."
Tails nodded.
"But there were some things he couldn't have known about, like that this Moon was a giant Gizoid. But he was right about one thing the Moon:"
Amy, Ray, Tommy gave Tails inquisitive looks.
"We made it there one day," he grinned. "Now, we're gonna take the Moon to the other end of the universe!"
Amy shook Tails's hand one more time, and Ray and Tommy gave Tails a double fist-bump, and the three Fremerald pilots returned to the Star Gizoid and Star Emeraloid Hangar.
That has to be it, Tails thought. It's because they're out there. They rejoined the Freedom Fighters after so long, to take part in the final battle. And Amy... I didn't know her back in Knothole, but she's practically family for following after me for so long.
Though he had not been great friends with Ray or Tommy, the fact of the matter was that they were technically senior members of the Great Freedom Fighters; he himself was the only person who outlasted them as members.
And Amy... she was never a Freedom Fighter, but from what he'd heard from her conversations with her fellow Fremerald pilots, she had idolized Sonic after the War For The Surface.
Please come back alive, guys, Tails thought.
Meaning everyone.
They had already lost two.
Tails prayed that, when the Anti-Spiral were defeated, that they would only have lost two in this battle.
Please come back alive...
お前ら全員燃えてしまえっ！！！
"TRIPLE-SPEED SAW LEG!" bellowed Knuckles, sweeping his Star King Knuckles's chainsaw-equipped legs about. Saw-shaped blades of Knuckles's Spiral Power sliced through scores of Kishes and Arasens and Wutthuhs.
"Knuckles! Hey, Knuckles!" Sally said in Knuckles's eye.
Knuckles paused.
"Yeah, what's up, Sal?" he asked.
Sally looked mildly disturbed.
"Doesn't this seem too easy?" she asked. "These Anti-Spiral mechas are just too weak!"
"Aww, c'mon, loosen up, Sal!" Knuckles grinned the Sonic Grin. "That just means that we're too bad-ass for 'em!"
Charmy's Helix Polearm flashed green, and an Arasen vanished in a flare of orange light.
"And that's number one-hundred-and-eight!" Charmy grinned.
Buzz-buzz-BUZZ
"What the...? Form up?" he wondered.
Cream appeared in his eye.
"Charmy, that's the rally signal," she said. "Mister Tails has to be almost done charging up Spiral Power. We must return to the Great Freedom now."
From his Star Vector Prime, Vector groaned, "Form up? Damn it... Just when things were getting good..."
And the Star Gizoids and Star Emeraloids turned back to the Super Galaxy Great Freedom.
And a change came over the Anti-Spiral mechas.
Quick as a flash, an Arasen launched out from the cluster and clenched Star Vector Prime in its six spindly legs. Try as he might, Vector could not break it off.
"You little..." Vector growled.
A Kish descended in front of him.
Vector blasted at it.
It dodged. Too quickly.
"What the...?"
Meanwhile, a pair of Kishes had clamped their jaws on either side of Star Depardieu. An Arasen shot down and drove all six of its legs through the Fremerald inside, Antoine sending off a cry of Mon Dieu! before the end.
"What the hell? The enemy robots got really fast all of a sudden!" Knuckles growled, shell-shocked.
"They were faking it!" Mighty called out.
Star Dimitri and Star Rocky blasted desperately at a swarm of incoming Kishes and Arasens, but the Anti-Spiral mechas were too fast.
Star Dimitri and Star Rocky were reduced to smoldering husks...
And Tails gasped. Ray was gone.
Star Twister, piloted by Frances, was faced with a Wutthuh, one of the snake-jaw hybrid mechas.
"W-what the...?" she said (which, incidentally, was how its name was pronounced), as the Wutthuh opened its jaws...
And a second, smaller set of jaws within opened to swallow Star Twister whole.
Star Twister's arms and legs began to buckle trying to keep those jaws open.
Knuckles's mouth dropped as he watched Star Djinn and Star Schlatter were ripped apart by a horde of Kishes.
"The Star Emeraloids are in trouble!" he shouted. "We gotta get out there and help them and then get back to the Super Galaxy Great Freedom, guys!"
"Knuckles!" Espio appeared in Knuckles's eye. "Vector's in trouble. Me and Mighty are going to go help him."
Molly appeared beside Espio. "Frances is in a pinch! I'm rescuing her!"
"YOU DUMBASSES! Didn't you hear me? We're supposed to fall back!"
Mighty replaced Espio. He looked furious. "So you want us to abandon him?"
"Yeah!" added Molly.
Knuckles gritted his teeth.
"Got it. I'll go with you!"
"Knuckles!" cried Sally.
Espio appeared beside Mighty, opposite Molly. "No. This is our job. You make sure everyone gets back safe."
His screen winked out.
"I'm going," said Molly shortly, her screen winking out.
"We're leaving it to you," Mighty said. "See ya!" His screen winked out.
Knuckles growled, "Damn it, you guys better come back alive, or I'm gonna kick your ass!"
He faced his Star King Knuckles towards the brigade around him.
"Sally! Lobo! Big, Bark! We'll cover the Star Emeraloids, got it?"
The Arasen that had bound Star Vector Prime had split one of its legs into five spindly fingers, wrapping it around one of Star Vector Prime's arms.
"Damn it! Let... go of me!" Vector shouted, trying to blast the Arasen off, futilely.
Star Vector Prime's right arm was torn out.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Vector bellowed, sympathetic pain shooting down his right arm.
Star Mighty Fists and Star Espionaj collided with the Arasen with the force of an asteroid, knocking it loose.
A barrage from four Spiral Chainguns and an Ultra-Spiral Cannon later, and the Arasen was space dust.
Vector sighed. "Thanks, guys. I thought I was toast there. It took out my ejection system and everything."
Star Vector Prime was missing its right arm - which was destroyed along with the Arasen - and its armor had buckled severely in several places.
Mighty smiled in relief. "Let's head back, guys."
Vector and Espio nodded.
Meanwhile, Star Twister's arms and legs were only seconds away from total collapse in the Wutthuh's jaws.
Star Adam's Helix Polearm and Star Thorn's Helix Hammer were shoved into the space on Frances's either side, saving her.
"Amy! Tommy!" she cried joyfully.
"Let's go!" Amy said, pulling Star Twister out and carrying it under her arm.
"We Fremerald pilots look after each other," Tommy said, flying out of the jaws of the Wutthuh.
"GUYS! LOOK OUT!" screamed Molly over her comm channel.
The Wutthuh's outer jaw was closing rapidly.
But it was too late.
Frances, Amy, and Tommy were all crushed by the Wutthuh's giant teeth.
Molly's eyes burned.
"No..." A fire lit in her heart. "YOU BASTARDS!"
She grabbed Star Adam's lost Spiral Polearm and tore into the Wutthuh with hers and Tommy's. It was taken out in short order, but that was not enough for Molly's bloodlust. She departed to destroy other Anti-Spiral mechas.
Meanwhile...
In Emerl, Tails was in shock. Everyone from the Fremerald Squadron who hailed from Knothole was dead now. After he'd promised to keep them all safe.
There was only one thing to do:
Keep up the Spiral Power charging, and transform as soon as possible.
On the bridge...
"Multiple high-temp thermal signatures have been launched from the enemy battleships!" Helen called out. "Predicted target: this vessel!"
"How many!" Elias asked.
"Thirteen!"
"Lucus," Rotor asked, "Does this vessel have interceptor missiles?"
"Of course."
"Bean!" Elias ordered.
"Got it!" Bean slammed the buttons. "All missiles, fire!"
The Super Galaxy Great Freedom launched a cloud of missiles from hidden silos.
"Cream!" Sally shouted from her Star Acorn Cannon. "We're gonna take out anything that gets through the flak curtain!"
"Roger!" said Cream.
"Thermal signatures now making contact with interceptor missiles!" Helen shouted.
There was a flash of fire between the Super Galaxy Great Freedom, and several missiles emerged from it.
"How many did we get?" asked Elias.
"Half of them! Six are left!" Helen replied.
"Leave the rest to us!" said Sally on the main screen.
Star Acorn Cannon took out two at once with its double cannons.
"Four left!" Sally called out.
A blast of energy from Star Cheese's Spiral Polearm tore through a third missile.
Star Acorn Cannon fired with its double cannons again.
One left now.
A blast from above took it out.
It was Star Alexistriker.
"Save some for me, Sal!" smiled Meg.
Even in battle mood, she could keep her eyes on her friends and family.
Star Acorn Cannon gave a thumbs-up.
"Giant missile reading detected coming through a warp gate on the starboard stern!" Helen broadcast out.
Indeed, a missile that was easily ten times as large as Typhoon Giga Drill Driver was emerging from a warp gate that was practically right next to the Super Galaxy Great Freedom
"ELIAS!" cried out Meg, diving towards the missile - "MEG! NO!" screamed Sally - every hidden missile compartment on Star Alexistriker opening up and unleashing a volley on the missile.
It detonated, and the shockwave sent Star Alexistriker on a collision course with Super Galaxy Great Freedom's hull.
Star King Knuckles dived in and caught it.
"Hey, Meg! I know you got spirit, but don't get impatient!" he said to her. "Keep a cool head in battle!"
"Second missile inbound!" called out Helen.
Directly behind the first missile.
Star Cheese dived towards it.
"Cream, no!" Charmy cried. "You're getting too close!"
"But I have to take it out!" Cream replied, firing a blast from her Spiral Polearm.
The missile exploded violently, and Cream screamed as her Star Cheese was consumed by the flames, and then her screams over the comm channel were scrambled by static...
And cut off.
"CREAM!" Charmy screamed. She was practically a sister to him since Galahad Village, and now...
And now...
Charmy didn't want to finish that thought.
"Another gate reading, this time from the port stern!" cried out Helen.
"From the opposite side this time?" breathed Elias. "Ari, evasive action!"
"Can't!" Ari replied. "It's too close! We can't dodge it!"
Helen turned her wheelchair to face the bridge, and then, over the open comm channel, rang a ferocious battle cry.
A moment of absolute silence...
And the missile exploded.
For a moment, the bridge's windows were filled with fire and the vessel quaked as though trying to shake itself apart...
Then the Super Galaxy Great Freedom stabilized.
"We made it?" asked Bean.
"By our protective shield, maybe?" Rotor said.
"Yes," said the Darkoak Head. "But it could not have handled a direct hit."
Chris said darkly, "Someone must have rammed the missile, then."
"It was Shade," whispered Helen, but everyone heard her. Her lips trembled, "I picked up... Star Nocturne's reading... at the last second."
Everyone bowed their heads in respect for their fallen comrade, however short her role in the final battle had been.
"Spiral Power is at 95%!" rang Lupe's voice from the engine room. "Get ready, everyone!"
モリーの意志
Cream could not work the controls of Star Cheese; the blast must have been stronger than she thought. The circuits were fused together, and the arms and right leg were completely blown off in the instant of the blast.
Was she going to die here?
Star Cheese buckled beneath her.
Her visual screens at least worked.
And they showed that Star Buzz Buzz had taken what was left of Star Cheese in its free arm.
"Cream, you alright?" Charmy asked.
"Charmy..."
Swarms of Kishes and Arasens swarmed them. Star Buzz Buzz tried to blast them away single-handed, but it couldn't aim very well with just one arm on its Spiral Polearm.
"We're going back to the Great Freedom together!" Charmy said.
"Charmy, you'll never make it with me holding you back!" Cream told him. "Save yourself!"
"Dumbass! I can't do that, and you know it!"
But no matter how Charmy fired, there were still Anti-Spiral mechas in every direction.
One blast took out his levi-sphere, immobilizing him.
Another smashed his weapon arm to molten scrap.
"Shit..." Charmy hissed.
The enemies closed in...
And promptly detonated from Spiral Polearm blasts.
Charmy and Cream looked up.
Star Cascade!
"Charmy! Cream! Are you two alright?"
"Molly!" Charmy and Cream cried.
Star Cascade slung its Spiral Polearms over its back, taking Star Buzz Buzz and Star Cheese into its arms and blasting off towards the Super Galaxy Great Freedom.
"I'm taking you two back to roost!" she grunted as the Anti-Spiral fired at her back, smashing her two Spiral Polearms to pieces.
"You'll never make it!" Charmy shouted.
"My Star Cascade is tougher than you think!" Molly replied hotly. "Anyway, there's the ship."
So it was.
"Thank goodness!" Cream sighed.
And Molly hurled Charmy and Cream towards the ship.
"What the hell're you doing?" Charmy asked.
Molly finally switched her channel from audio only to audio-visual...
Her eyes were glowing green, with glowing green tears running down her face.
And she was wearing a peaceful, serene smile.
"Live love and love life," she said. "Do it for me."
"NO!" Charmy screamed.
"Molly!" Cream yelled.
They both knew what Molly was going to do.
Star Cascade turned to face the Anti-Spiral's endless hordes.
"I'm not gonna let them have their way anymore..." Molly growled, her expression becoming one of utmost fury just before she cut off her video signal. "I'm gonna show them..."
Star Cascade was torn apart by a pair of Kishes.
Cascade soured out from the flaming wreckage, its sea-blue paint job almost completely singed off.
"That the Great Freedom Fighters..."
Molly thrust the butterfly controls forward, and outside, Cascade pulled out its Fremerald Blade...
"NEVER GIVE IN!"
And did a berserker charge on the city-sized Anti-Spiral mechas.
Charmy and Cream knew she stood no chance.
"Molly!" they screamed on their comm channels after her.
The flicker of fire in the distance was another dull punch to their stomachs.
"MOLLYYYY!"
Charmy and Cream were the only two Fremerald pilots left in the Anti-Spiral dimension.
宇宙の海
And so the Star Gizoid Brigade and the shattered, humiliated remnants of the Star Emeraloid Brigade docked with Super Galaxy Great Freedom.
"I will never forget this..." Tails breathed, as the Spiral Power gauge reached maximum. "I will never forget this minute, this second..."
The time had come.
Time to avenge those Great Freedom Fighters who died today, to make this moment possible.
The connections were made.
The power was generated.
"Threshold achieved," Shadow murmured below.
Freedom Emerl began to glow green...
As did Typhoon Freedom Emerl...
And finally, so did Super Galaxy Great Freedom.
The Super Spiral gauge on the main bridge lit up golden-yellow.
"That did it," muttered Rotor darkly. "Begin transformation!"
Tails's eyes, once clenched shut, now shot open. He reached deep within Super Galaxy Great Freedom, to draw out the humanoid form that would make him a living god and make the Anti-Spiral tremble on their homeworld...
But just as he had begun to summon the words Transform to his lips, a great jolt shook the moon-sized flagship...
And a dark reflection appeared alongside its port stern.
"Gravity field emanating from off the port bow!" Helen cried out. "We're not picking up anything on radar!"
The reflection rippled.
And when the Super Galaxy Great Freedom touched it, black water splashed up, and the Super Galaxy Great Freedom began to sink. The more it sank, the faster it sank.
"WHY IS THERE AN OCEAN IN SPACE?" roared Elias.
And the more it sank, the lower their Super Spiral Power gauge fell.
"NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Tails was screaming. How could the energy be going down? He was more determined than ever before to succeed! Why was this happening?
"What's going on, fox boy?" Shadow asked, appearing in Tails's eye. He looked more confused than Tails.
"I don't know," Tails said in a hoarse voice. "But... it feels like the energy's being drained from my body...!"
So it did. The further into this dark ocean they sank, the heavier Tails's entire body felt, as though every cell in his body was carrying a ten-pound weight each.
Kukku's ball turned into a spiral.
"We don't have enough energy to surface!" Ari shouted.
"What?" Elias yelled.
"It is a trap," said the Darkoak Head levelly. "Have we walked right into it?"
In the Star Gizoid Hangar, Knuckles, Sally, Meg, Vector, Mighty, Espio, Big, Bark, Lobo, Charmy and Cream were clutching onto the nearest railing, each one wondering just what was going on outside.
And as the Super Galaxy Great Freedom sunk into the dark ocean in space, the silhouettes of the dragons Myst and Slayer looming overhead, no one's heart as more burdened than Tails.
Emerl's Spiral gauge was empty.
But the Core Drill was in it. So it should still be operable. But no matter how hard Tails pushed himself, the Spiral Power only became harder to push out.
He had generated that Spiral Power to avenge those who had fallen.
Now, as the Super Galaxy Great Freedom sunk into the last ocean that should have ever existed, Tails knew that it was all for naught.
Everyone's efforts these past minutes, everyone's sweat and blood and tears, all the lives that had been lost...
Had been for nothing.
They had all died for nothing.
つづく
To be continued...
次回予告
Next Episode Preview
This sea in space is a Spiral graveyard! Countless crushed hopes lie buried in its darkness. We will find tomorrow's victory in the flower that blossoms in the face of death!
Next time on Tengen Toppa Freedom Emerl: "I Accept Your Last Wish".