Chapter Twenty-Two

Gamma's head spun through the air and clattered to the ground, the defeated Badnik's green eyes flickering before shutting down completely, without a word from the E-series robot. The remnants of Gamma came to rest at Omega's metal feet and the battle robot fired one more shot, obliterating the head of his defeated foe to oblivion.

He looked up to see a pink bird make its appearance from the smoke, fluttering around the wreck of the Hot Shelter. The pink-colored Flicky flew towards Omega, staring into his red eyes, just as the battle robot made one final assessment of Gamma and inspected the progress of his mission.

"E-102 GAMMA SUCCESSFULLY LIBERATED!" Omega intoned, "MISSION COMPLETE!"

The bird that had been trapped within his brother tweeted, then it flew from the room. Omega's sensors beeped and he began to depart, coincidentally following the Flicky as well. Fortunately, the bird wasn't worried about being followed by a battle robot.

Badnik parts littered the Hot Shelter along with decimated machinery, smoke filled every room as fires burned before they settled. Omega checked his mission logs, marking off his mission to liberate Gamma. Now, he had one more target to deal with before the mission was at an end and his hunt was concluded; E-100 Zero.

Omega tracked Zero through his connection to the Badnik network and detected that he was here, on the Egg Carrier. And wherever Zero was, he would not remain hidden for long.

"INITIATING HUNT FOR E-100 ZERO!" Omega buzzed, ready for one more fight.

He hovered out of the Hot Shelter and headed to the lift, leading him up to the deck of the Egg Carrier. Omega saw the pink-colored Flicky above and watched as it met up with the white Flicky that had powered E-101 Beta. Then, the two Flickies flew over the deck, heading towards another part of the fallen ship.

Omega followed the birds and found himself detecting the presence of two more organic life forms on the Egg Carrier; One was another Flicky and the other was a humanoid female hedgehog. Hold it, humanoid female hedgehog already identified; Amy Rose.

If Amy was here and was with a Flicky, the Flicky was the blue one that held the Chaos Emerald which Robotnik had wanted for Chaos.

The towering E-Series robot flew towards a clear green platform above churning gears, spotting Amy Rose down below with the Flickies. He saw the blue Flicky and watched as it met with the pink and the white Flickies. His sensors picked up Amy's voice, hearing her express happiness. And then, he detected his presence.

Omega shifted his attention from Amy and the birds just in time to see Zero appear, the green robot with boxing gloves for hands. Zero activated his targeting system, a bright red line appeared as his focus was fixed on... the blue Flicky.

No, not on Omega's watch.

"COMMENCING EXTERMINATION!" Omega buzzed.

He charged at Zero and punched him in the face, disrupting the green robot before it could launch its attack. The Badnik shifted its attention to Omega, eyes flashing with fury, and charged. Omega readied himself and grabbed Zero's boxing hands, blocking his brother's incoming attack. He pushed back and fired a laser at his face, disabling one of Zero's eyes.

Zero beeped angrily and launched an arm at Omega, who hovered out of the way and fired several missiles at the robot with full force.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM! The missiles exploded all around Zero with one exploding very close to him, knocking the robot into an electrified panel. Zero short-circuited, unable to make another move. And then, Omega unleashed one final payload of ammo at his opponent.

One more explosion shook the Egg Carrier as Omega ANNIHILATED Zero in a blaze of fire. The green robot vanished in a ball of fire and nothing remained when the smoke cleared. Omega descended to the ground, observing the spot where his final robotic opponent once stood. He heard tweeting and footsteps, followed by a surprised voice.

"Omega?"

At the mention of his name, he turned to face Amy Rose and the three Flickies, all of whom were surprised by what had happened. Amy walked up to Omega, somewhat happy to see the battle robot again after a short time away.

"WHAT BROUGHT YOU BACK TO THE EGG CARRIER, AMY ROSE?!" Omega asked.

"I was helping Birdie locate his family." Amy explained, "He was carrying the Chaos Emerald inside a pendant that had a picture of them, we went to Eggman's base to find them, but when we found nothing, we headed here to see if they were on the Egg Carrier. I didn't think you'd still be here and... that looked like the robot that chased me and Birdie."

"E-100 ZERO HAS BEEN ANNIHILATED! MISSION OBJECTIVE: LIBERATE BROTHERS! MISSION IS COMPLETE! I SHALL REIGN SUPREME AS THE ULTIMATE BATTLE ROBOT AND I HAVE SURPASSED THE LIMITATION THAT IS SERVITUDE TO DOCTOR ROBOTNIK!"

Birdie and his family fluttered around Omega, tweeting in a calm manner. Amy giggled and Omega, feeling a sense of compassion towards organic life, gently stroked Birdie's head with a metal hand without inflicting any pain upon the blue-colored Flicky.

Both Flickies observed Omega, and then, they turned towards Amy Rose to look upon her again. And then, they flew off into the sky, leaving behind the wreck of the Egg Carrier while Amy and Omega watched on.

"They can live in peace again, free from the cruel clutches of Eggman." Amy said happily.

"VICTORY FOR ORGANICS!" Omega intoned, "THE DOCTOR HAS BEEN DEFEATED AGAIN BY JUSTICE DELIVERED BY THE MEATBAGS KNOWN AS SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND HIS FRIENDS WITH ASSISTANCE OF A SUPERIOR BATTLE MACHINE! UNTIL DANGER ARISES AGAIN, I SHALL PROCEED TO TAKE LEAVE AND WAIT UNTIL THE WORLD REQUIRES E-123 OMEGA!"

Omega turned to Amy and extended his hand. The pink hedgehog looked into the super Badnik's eyes, then she took his hand and Omega held it gently, forming their first handshake. Amy smiled and Omega's red eyes blinked. Then Omega took to the sky and departed the Egg Carrier, flying off in victory...