Sonic destroyed an Egg Pawn that was aiming at him with its laser canon but then had to dodge a black and white blur. It was a Borbatusk. The Grimm, recently formed by the Wyvern´s sludge, rolled up and came at him wit its own version of a Spindash.
"Hey, no stealing my and my friends flare!"
Sonic reciprocated the Grimm´s move and pushed the creature back, sending the Borbastuks flying away. Its shrieks got the attention of modified versions of its kind.
They had the typical armor drilled into their bone part but their tusks were covered in barbed wire and their backs got iron thorns inserted into them.
Okay, trying to have a Spindash-Duel with them could hurt a lot, Sonic thought. When the Grimm started to charge, he ran quick circles and sucked them into a tornado, alongside some other enemies. The blue hedgehog jumped out of it and pondered what steps he should take next to take care of the Grimm but he got his problem by Omega.
The E-Series robot appeared and started firing missiles into the tornado, blowing it and any Grimm and Badniks inside it up.
"Thanks for the help, big guy."
If Omega replied, Sonic couldn't hear it over a sudden roar penetrating the air. He looked around and saw Amy close by, dodging the claws of a towering Ursai Minor.
"Hey Ames, can I give you a hand?"
The hedgehog girl dodged a swipe by jumping back. "Always."
Sonic stood next to her and curled up. Amy hit the Spindash with all her might against the growling Grimm. The blue ball tore a huge hole through its body, but it simply fell to all fours and ran. Omega appeared from the right side and rammed his shoulder into the Ursa Minor. Machine and monster brawled for a while, but it became clear that the E-Series robot was stronger as it tore the soulless shadow apart. The creature's shreds dissolved into ash and smoke, modifications clattering to the ground.
The three couldn't celebrate their successful teamwork for several Egg Burners aimed their flamethrowers at the them, but were destroyed by a barrage of Chaos Spears.
"There are damn enemies everywhere!" Shadow shouted. He looked up with a dark expression to the Wyvern sending literal Death raining from above the battle field. "And it just keeps getting worse."
Rouge landed next to him, behind her exploding some Grimm and Badniks with the heart bombs she had `decorated´ them with.
"Agreed."
A shadow fell over the group. Though it wasn't the Wyvern but a big version of a Buzz Bomber. It aimed its canon stinger at the four mobians and single robot, gathering energy. Before it could fire, or Shadow and Omega could take it down, a cyan laser flew right into the barrel and caused the abdomen of the mechanical bee to explode. The big Buzz Bomber staggered in the air and a yellow sphere used several homing attacks to take it out competently. Tails and Ruby had joined the little group gathering among the chaos, the human girl having an apologetic look on her face.
"I´m sorry guys," she said. "I never thought anything like this could happen."
She watched in dread of the Wyvern destroyed a big chuck of the Resistance´s army with its dark flames.
"So you know what´s up with the big one?"
"The Wyvern was right next to me and Cinder when we were sucked into Null Space. I should have guessed it had been taken as well. Eggman and Infinite must have kept it in store for this moment but also extracted Grimm from its petrified body. But I don't understand why it was petrified in the first place. Unless that is what Cinder was talking about when talking about my eyes and Grimm."
"Judging from what we have gathered, ti makes sense," Tails said. Ruby and the others looked at him, Omega was fending off approaching enemies in the background.
"Ruby, you said that your silver eyes activated when the desire to save your remaining friends and family from Pyrrah's fate took over, correct? From a terrible… death."
"Yes."
"And the Grimm are pure creatures of destruction. A manifestation of Death. At least that's how you always spoke of them."
"Exactly." The human girl started to slowly get where the fox was going with this.
"What if your silver eyes can only activate their light in the presence of a Grimm, the two are practically the antithesis of each other. Destruction and preservation."
"That…could maybe be true. At least it sounds logical. But what about Cinder? Even if her behavior says otherwise, she is not a Grimm. And I don´t think by close to the Wyvern back then would have counted in any shape or form to give her damage. Though…" Ruby got an idea. "… it didn't attack her at all. At the very least she seemed unbothered by its and the other Grimms presence in Beacon, despite them being a threat to her as well. Maybe she had some form of… I don´t know, connection with them?"
Tails nodded. "Probably something along the lines. She said back in Mystic Jungle that your eyes no longer had any effect on her. So if there had been a bond, you destroyed that it."
Ruby thought. It sounded a bit unbelievable, but by now she was well past the point where things were unbelievable for her.
Still…
"Even if my eyes were a particular weakness of the Grimm, I don't know if I could take down the Wyvern again. I still don't understand this power. And even if I did, Infinite could un-petrify it again. And my other skills as a Huntress aren't good enough to defeat such a huge and powerful Grimm. I…" The stress of the situation, the roaring of the Wyvern and the screams of dying people filled Ruby with uncertainty and despair. How could she help the others? What could she do to prevent others from suffering death and torment? She didn't want to let anyone down and...
"Ruby." Sonic's gentle voice snapped the fifteen-year-old out of her inner panic. The hedgehog gave her an encouraging smile as he approached her and Tails. "You don't have to worry about your strength."
The Chaos Emeralds appeared from his inventory and formed a circle around them.
It was time, this was the exact kind of situation the Resistance was counting in using their power.
"They will give us all the strength we need."
The Chaos Emeralds rotated lazily around the trio. Sonic turned to Team Dark.
"Shadow, are you coming?"
The black hedgehog was about to nod and step into the circle of gemstones, but then he stopped. If he went Super now, he could confront Infinite and definetly make the reality bender pay for everything he had done. But…
His move had caught the Resistance off guard, with humans and mobians being torn apart by Grimm and machines. They needed help. And Shadow wasn´t about to fail his promise to Maria because he viewed retribution as more important. He looked at his fellow hedgehog.
"I trust that your higher speed and experience with the Chaos Emeralds can defeat the Phantom Ruby. As much as I want to take out Infinite, our troops here on the ground need all the help they need."
Sonic gave an understanding nod.
"Alright, good luck Shadow."
"To you too. Let's go!" Team Dark plunged into battle. Amy joined them in helping the ones she had lead for the entirety of the war. But not before turning one last time to the trio inside the Chaos Emerald circle and gave each of them an encouraging nod and smile.
"Alright guys," said Sonic. "Time to end this! I'll take care of Infinite. You, Tails, support Ruby in the fight against the Wyvern. Your experience should be helpful as it is her first time with all seven Chaos Emeralds."
"Wait, stop. What exactly is happening now? It's constantly mentioned how incredible the power of all seven Chaos Emeralds combined is, but what exactly will happen?"
Sonic grinned at Ruby, realizing they had been rather vague to the human girl. She was in for a great surprise.
"Don't worry, you'll see that now. Try to focus on the Chaos Energy. Just like how you usually do with the white Chaos Emerald. Relax and concentrate."
"I…"
Tail took the hand of an unsure Ruby and squeezed it. "Don't worry, I'm with you."
The silver-eyed girl relaxed, deciding to just trust Sonic's words. He and the others helped her go so for up until now. Ruby closed her eyes, blocking out the sounds of the battle around her. And indeed, she could feel her connection to the white Chaos Emerald, even though she did not touch the artifact with her Aura. Then, little by little, she felt the power of the remaining Emeralds. Sonic and Tails also focused on them.
The gems by now rotated faster and faster around the trio and glowed. Grimm and Badniks sensed the rising energies and turned to the three. Meanwhile, the Chaos Emeralds blurred into a rainbow-colored ring, the light of which shone brightly. Enemies charged towards the trio. Only to be pushed back by a massive wave of energy. A bright flash of light shone. When it disappeared, Ruby, Tails and Sonic were seen in their Super Forms.
Super Sonic's fur glowed golden while his eyes were a deep red. His quills curved upwards and energy crackled between them.
Super Tails was also gold. He now had seven tails, one for each Chaos Emerald. The Double-Wispon had turned into a golden hand canon, plasma was pulsating inside the barrel.
Super Ruby, the first human with a Super form in the history of Mobius, had a special appearance. Her clothes and hair were a silvery white. Crescent Rose was made of silver and the hyper-go-on-energy of the weapon pulsed golden. Ruby's irises were glowing, like they were about to unleash their mysterious light once again. Petals of a white rose swirled constantly around her.
Ruby stared open-mouthed at her comrades and herself.
"WOW! THAT´S…WOW. THIS… THIS IS INCREDIBLE!" It was like the darkness of her despair had been cast away by the light of the Chaos Emerald.
"The surprise was worth it, right? Super form is pretty cool."
"Cool doesn't even begin to describe it!"
Ruby´s excitement was dampened when Infinite appeared in front of them.
"So, just like it was expected, you desperately put your last cards on the table and-" Sonic kicked him firmly into his gut. The reality bender flew far away and crashed into the side of a distant mountain, leaving a visible crater.
"I'll take care of the masked clown. You two slay the dragon."
And with that, Sonic jumped up and flew towards the crater on the mountainside.
"WE CAN FLY?"
Tails chuckled at Ruby's continued amazement. "Yup. Just imagine yourself flying towards your target and it will happen."
The golden fox, without having to use his seven tails, flew towards the Wyvern. Ruby did as he said and followed him. She was a little wobbly, but did well for a beginner. Petal Burst´s cloud form had been a good warm-up for this.
Ruby's joy at her Super Form gave way to seriousness and determination as she and Tails got closer to their opponent.
The Wyvern had set all of its eyes on another airship, reddish-black flames blazed from between its teeth. The ancient creature opened its mouth, but Tails had curled up and slammed into the Grimm's jaw as a Spindash, sending its head flying to the side and the dark jet of flame narrowly missing the airship. The Wyvern was briefly thrown off balance, its Phantom Aura glitching, it but quickly recovered. As Tails made another attack, it dived down beneath him. At the same time, the tail twitched up and pushed Tails back. The golden fox flew through the air in a daze, but Ruby grabbed him. She staggered a little before flying steadily again. She still had to get used to the whole thing a little.
"Hey Tails, are you okay? You just took a BIG hit!"
"I´m fine, but we-"
He was interrupted when the Wyvern came flying straight at them in high speed!
Acting on instinct, Ruby threw Tails upwards while she dove down. The dragon-like Grimm flew in-between the Super duo and then past them. It arced and came flying back towards them. The soulless darkness growled at the newcomers and not only because one had attacked it. It could sense a familiar, hated light inside one of them. A light that every Grimm knew and loathed since the beginning of their very existence. And especially after having being petrified in a cold yet burning sensation by it, the Wyvern desired nothing more than to smother that light and extinguish it with its darkness. It opened it maw for another fire attack, but Ruby and Tails had gotten in position and aimed their weapons at the incoming creature. Energy surged inside the barrels. Ruby fired a well aimed, massive laser of golden energy at the Wyvern´s head, causing it to briefly falter. Tails used this to fire orbs of plasma at the off-balance Grimm. It was hit by the first ones before the beast was able to, despite its massive size, to dodge around the rest of the projectiles with a flickering Phantom Aura.
Tails and Ruby wanted to repeat their attack tactic, but instead of just continuing to blindly fly straight ahead towards its enemies, the Wyvern took an upright stance in the air and flapped its wings forcefully in front of it. A powerful gust of wind was created, blowing Ruby away while Tails rotated all of his namesakes to brace himself against the storm. The Wyvern continued to fly at its position as it opened its mouth to spew one black fire ball after the other at its enemies.
Tails was able to fly around them but Ruby had trouble adjusting her position and see the oncoming danger. Luckily, Tails was able to destroy some of the fire balls closest to her with his plasma and gave the silver-eyed girl enough time to regain her bearings. She too flew around the rest of the burning yet dark projectiles and catched up to Tails. Together the closed in on the Wyvern. The ancient Grimm continued to spew fire balls at them yet the duo either weaved in between them or destroyed them with shots from their weapons. Once they were close enough, Tails grabbed Ruby and spun her around before throwing her at the soulless dragon. It threw its head back for another fiery attack, but Ruby was faster with her added boost from Tails and the recoil of firing Crescent Rose behind her. Her scythe drawn, the human girl hit the Wyvern with all her might and yelled to Kurtis: "Surprise Rose!"
An explosion of golden energy thorns erupted from the scythe strike when it made contact with the Wyvern´s chest and it was thrown backwards. It spun on itself as it was thrown through the air. It eventually crashed into the ground of Mortar Canyon, close to the fighting resistance. Too close.
Ruby gasped as she realized she had almost caused massive damage, but Tails, already guessing what was going on, placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's your first time with the Super Form, it's understandable that you can't control all this power properly yet. Luckily nothing happened, but we'd better move the fight to the mountains. This way no one gets hurt. "
His words helped bring Ruby out of her shock. She nodded and flew towards the Wyvern along with the fox. The Grimm got back on its claws, shaking its head in irritation as its Phantom Aura glitched. The Super Duo flew over the creature, raining lasers and plasma down on it. Ruby and the Wyvern made brief eye contact during this.
She could see the familiar hatred in all six of its eyes. But while other Grimm´s hatred burned around mindlessly, this one seemed more directed and focused. A twisted Intelligence was visible in the flaming red, staring directly into Ruby's soul and loathing her.
The hunteress-in-training shuddered as she remembered Oobleck's words again. How Grimm grew bigger, stronger and, above all, more intelligent the older they got. And judging by the Wyvern´s size and power, it had to be very old.
The draconian shadow produced a loud roar and jumped from the ground, flying after the Super Duo as they got closer to the mountains surrounding Mortar Canyon. But it wasn't the only Grimm. Griffons and Nevermores, both modified and not, screeched when they heard the elder Grimm´s roar and followed it.
"Great, it can control them," groaned Ruby, not necessarily happy about the additional enemies joining this battle.
"At least this makes it easier for our troops fighting the Badniks and ground based Grimm." Tails and his friend reached the mountains, the Grimm swarm closely behind them. "And now we don't need to hold back."
Griffons dive bombed at them and Nevermores fired their projectiles. Ruby and Tails dodged them and took cover behind a mountain when the Wyvern spewed a column of dark flames at them. Any Grimm touched by it remained completely unharmed, while the rock of the mountain was singed in a deep black. It rumbled and cracked rapidly under the constant exposure of the decaying effects until it completely collapsed, forcing the duo to abandon their hiding place. The Wyvern´s flaming column followed them and the other flying Grimm positioned themselves in front of their path. Tails spindashed trough Griffons and Ruby cut trough the feathers and energy spheres of modified Nevermores. It gave her an idea. Since there were only enemies here, she didn't have to worry about hurting anyone, as she had almost done before. That's why the silver-eyed woman swung her scythe towards the Grimm and shouted: "Kurtis, Thorn Storm!"
Just like the other special attack using the power of the Spike Wisp, this one was magnified in destructive capability as well. For the Nevermores and Griffins it was like a rainstorm had come from the side, each droplet a glowing and sharp projectiles. The smaller Grimm were completely torn apart by the attack and Ruby and Tails had a free path. The Wyvern stopped its breath attack and roared in frustration. It beat its wings faster and homed in on the Super Duo, intending on ramming them with its armored and horned head. They just flew quickly above the ancient Grimm, some of its spikes grazing the soles of their shoes, and it rushed past them, crashing between several mountains. Ruby and Tails charged at it, intending to further weaken the Phantom Aura, but the Wyvern growled and tensed its back. Black geysers of Grimm sludge erupted from it and the two Super Beings had to dodge the void-like substance. The clumps of the sludge fell trough the air and formed into new Nevermores, Griffins and Grimm neither Tails nor Ruby had seen before. There were huge bats with razor sharp fangs, beings that looked like hybrids between raptors and pterodactyls, massive wasps and many more.
Tails charged his hand canon and Ruby pulled her scythe back for another Super Thorn Storm. The coming wave of hateful darkness was destroyed by golden-orange light. However, they still gave the Wyvern exactly what it needed: Time.
It managed to get back on its claws, crawling around with its wings partially folded like a pteranodon, and turned to the Super Duo, flaming darkness gathering in its maw. When Ruby and Tails had destroyed some leftover stragglers, the Wyvern had finished its attack and from its mouth an inferno erupted in the shape of an orb, looking like a mini sun, yet it was darker than the deepest abyss. Even the surrounding light seemed to be sucked in by the blackness as the surroundings got darker and colder the closer the flaming orb came. Tails and Ruby had to push their speed to their limits to fly away before the attack impacted the ground and obliterated several mountains. The Wyvern growled in frustration and anger, knowing its prey had managed to evade its attack. It crawled in the direction where it had seen them fleeing and searched among the rocky slopes. Unbeknownst to the Grimm, Ruby and Tails had found a cave that was a tunnel that went completely through a mountain and were able to exit behind the Wyvern. They hid behind several large rocks and watched their opponent.
"Okay, that thing is tougher than expected. But if that Phantom Aura wasn't there, I think you could wipe it out with your light," said Tails. Ruby looked uncertain.
"I... I'm not sure if it would work, I still have no idea HOW this whole thing works."
The golden fox shrugged. "I´m only offering one possibility we have. If the efficiency of a scalpel doesn't work, then we can always use the brutality of an axe. The Wyvern wouldn't be the first dragon-like kaiju I'd defeat with help in a Super form."
"Then we just have to keep attacking it. If the Phantom Aura works like a normal one, then we just have to push it to its limits. However, I don't know how my current state affects my Aura."
"That's right, I wanted to tell you that. In a Super Form we are basically invulnerable. But it has a time limit and the more damage the invulnerability absorbs, the faster it expires."
Ruby hummed with a serious nod. "Okay, good to know. Then let's not waste any time. We'll sneak up on it and attack. Maybe I will figure the shtick with my eyes out during this... somehow."
"Sounds good."
And so they flew quietly toward the Wyvern, using mountainsides and rocks for cover. Unfortunately for them, the massive, dragon-like creature had begun to use all of its six eyes to look out of sync in different directions in its search. One twitched into the Super Duo´s direction when it noticed movement from the corner of its vision and saw a golden and a white shape disappear behind a boulder. The Wyvern´s tails surged toward it and destroyed it with its trident-like tip. From the billowing dust cloud and rock pieces send flying, Ruby and Tails came out hovering over the scaly surface of the tail and speed its lengths down toward the body. Grimm sludge gushed out, claws and snapping maws formed out from it, trying to grasp them and slow them down. Tails dodged them with his smaller frame and higher nimbleness, while Ruby cut them down with Crescent Rose. But when they ran over the back of the Wyvern, a shadow fell over them. The ancient Grimm slammed its tail against itself, forcing the duo to move aside and split. The dark slime culminated underneath them and out from the black substance, the heads of huge King Taijiti shot out and swallowed them. Or tried to. Both Ruby and Tails forced the soulless snakes' mouths open with their hands and feet, fighting against the strength of their jaws. The Wisps, all golden in color and energy flickering around them, flew out of the weapons to help out their friends.
Zen flew in a golden-cyan streak against the eyes of the black King Taijtu head holding Ruby, causing it to spit her out and try to eat the Wisp instead. Zen let himself be pushed aside by Kurtis, who became the one swallowed. He dashed trough the insides of the soulless shadow, spreading his energy. The King Taijitu hissed in irritation before dozens of massive spikes erupted from it, causing its form to dissolve away.
Ruby gave her Wisps a grateful smile and let them go back into Crescent Rose. She turned to Tails, already being close to freedom thanks to his Wisps reducing the white King Taijitu head to ashes.
"Flare, Strom, charge up your energy. Tails, go with them underneath the Wyvern. I´ve got an idea."
The three of them nodded and did as the huntress-in-training told them. Said person herself was continuing her travel to the head. The Wyvern produced more Grimm sludge but Ruby activated Petal Burst before the creatures could be completely formed and arrived at her destination. She struck one of the red eyes with her scythe and unleashed another Surprise Rose. The Wyvern´s head was pushed down by the explosion of thorns like an invisible giant had pushed it down.
Ruby jumped from the dazed creature´s neck and sped to its underside, its chest are to be more specific.
"Zen, do the same thing I told to Flare and Strom."
The Wisps made an affirmative noise and channeled as much energy into Crescent Rose´s sniper rifle barrel as possible. The human girl with a Super Form arrived where Tails was standing. When she was aiming her weapon at the exposed rib cage of the Wyvern the golden fox understood and copied her movement.
"FIRE NOW!"
A massive explosion send the massive Grimm flying upwards. Ruby and Tails watched it disappear into the sky. Silence settled into the mountain range of Mortar Canyon. The Super Duo looked at one another.
"You think it will ever come down?" Ruby wouldn't be surprised it that wasn't the case. All of her attacks packed quite the punch.
"I don´t know. Was that attack enough to destroy its Phantom Aura and then its body?"
They got their answer when a tiny, black dot appeared in the sky. It kept getting bigger until the friends could see more details.
The Wyvern swooped towards them like a monstrous, sinister falcon. The eyes glowed brighter than before, the creature had had enough of being thrown around by these tiny creatures. Black-red flames blazed from between its teeth. Once the Grimm was close enough, it stuck out its claws and spread its claws.
Ruby grabbed Tails and as a golden-white petal cloud they managed to avoid the damage of the attack. The surroundings shook as the Wyvern crashed into a mountain and reduced it into rubble. It Phantom Aura was flickering and glitching strongly but it didn't care. It just wanted to end the lives of its enemies now!
Ruby and Tails shoot toward it, the human girl having raised her scythe and the mobian being curled into a Spindash, but the Wyvern, once again showing surprising speed for a beast its size, spun around and slammed them away with its tail. The Super Duo crashed into a mountain and left a visible crater. The impact caused an avalanche of stones that buried the two of them. The Wyvern took advantage of this opportunity and leaped toward the mountain, towering menacingly over the buried crater, the black flames in its mouth finished gathering.
Just when Tails was successful in dragging himself and Ruby out from the rubble, the Wyvern unleashed another over sized, black fire orb. The explosion threw both human and mobian away and another mountain was destroyed as a result of this fight, only a black, smoldering crater left where it had proudly stood before.
Tails hit rocky ground hard. He gasped in a daze. It had been terrible when he came into contact wit the dark fire. It had somehow felt colder and darker than the vacuum of space. No air seemed to be entering his lungs and everything had been oppressively quiet; he hadn't even heard his heartbeat.
For a few seconds, Tails had felt like he was dead.
But he was still alive thanks to his Super Form.
Slowly the fox got his bearings back and stood up. His handgun and the Wisps seemed fine, even if the latter were shaken up by the experience like he was. Tails then looked around. And froze.
He was in a barren valley and could see on its other side a pale white dot laying on the ground. And the glitching Wyvern approaching it. Tails quickly spun his namesakes and sped ahead. A few eyes of the Wyvern looked towards him while the rest remained focused on Ruby. The Grimm merely raised its wing in front of its head and blocked the fox´ attack. The Spindash collided into it, finally dissolving the Phantom Aura for good. But the Wyvern flexed its limb and smashed the mobian into the ground. Once again Tails crashed hard into the rocky surface and had trouble regaining his bearings. By now his golden form was flickering.
The sound stirred Ruby from her daze. She wobbly got up and hovered in the air. She looked round and saw the Wyvern now crawling toward Tails. The silver-eyed girl flew at them, but the eyes who had kept looking at Ruby informed the ancient Grimm of the incoming danger. Its tail shot forward and Ruby got caught in between the prongs of the trident-like tip, nailing her on the ground. Ruby struggled and fought against the size and strength of the Wyvern. She managed to free her arms and weapons and raised her scythe to cut herself free…
CRUNCH!
She froze when she heard that.
Ruby looked up and saw how the Wyvern had bitten a he chunk of the ground. The ground Tails had been laying on. The Grimm threw its head backwards to swallow it and among the gray rubble Ruby saw one molt of golden light disappear into the abyss that was the Wyvern´s maw. It swallowed.
It had ate Tails.
Ruby had been trying to aid her friend and yet she had been to slow once again.
"No…" Crescent Rose clattered onto the ground, but she didn't hear it. Ruby´s vision blurred as tears started to form at the corner of her eyes. She didn't want to lose another friend. Not after Penny. Not after Pyrrha. Not again.
The Wyvern turned its head to the despairing girl, sensing the negative emotion emanating from her. If the Grimm would have the capacity to smile, it would have gave the silver-eyed human a cruel smirk. The light inside of her was wavering.
It pulled its tail end from the ground and moved ahead to swallow Ruby as well. Extinguish her light completely and smother it with its darkness, to never let it shine again. Ruby herself didn't react to any of that. Her mind kept playing the previous scene on repeat.
Tails, her first and closest friend on Mobius, just being gone in an instant. He had been the one to explain things to her, took her under his wing and covered her back. Even when he had been reunited with his friends and brother, when he got hurt by Cinder and her desire to act vengeance upon Ruby, he remained at her side. And even outside the battlefield they had shared many moments together. Their banter, their tinkering, his promise to her to bring her home no matter what. And yet he was now…
Ruby blinked and looked up as a shadow fell over her. The Wyvern was looking down at her with malice in its eyes. It opened it maw and lowered it towards her. It was like the world slowed down as it got closer. The same abyss that had taken Tails. The darkness of Remnant that symbolized what had also happened to Ruby´s home when Cinder enacted her plan. Destruction and Death. And now it was her turn to be taken by it. And that thought made Ruby angry.
She was fine with giving her life if it meant protecting the one´s of her friends. But dying here wouldn't accomplish anything, they had been taken before her. Because she couldn't help them.
"No…" No more. She refused to lose anyone else. To let death run rampant around free and take more lives. Not Tails or Sonic or Shadow or anyone else from Remnant and Mobius! She wanted them alive and happy and safe!
Ruby got up as the white shine of her Super Form faded. But only because its Chaos Energy focused into her eyes. Their silver glow turned stronger by the second. The Wyvern briefly froze. Then it tried to clamp its jaws around Ruby as quickly as possible.
The light… it could feel it growing back again. Stronger and stronger, just like back then! It tried to stop Ruby Rose. But it wasn't fast enough.
She gave it a look of angry determination and righteous fury as a blinding light erupted from her eyes. It became brighter and brighter, the Wyvern roared in agony as it felt its entire being burned trough, and it didn't stop there.
Like a flash of holy judgment the light of the silver eyes, enhanced by the power of the Chaos Emeralds, washed over the battlefields and Grimm factories of Mortar Canyon, cleansing it from the corrupted darkness. Not a trail of smoke was left behind, only the metal of the modifications clattering to the ground was any indication of the Grimm´s existence on Mobius. Even the massive and dark mountain that had been the Wyvern, towering menacingly and full of hate over Ruby, was just… gone.
When the light died down, Ruby stood there with a gaping expression. The space in front of her was completely empty. No, not empty. There was no more Grimm, but… a tiny, yellow fur ball falling to the ground.
Gasping, Ruby activated her Semblance and sped ahead to catch it. Any question or emotion tied to what just happened quickly was quickly pushed in the back of her mind. All she was focusing now was her friend, who she might have actually saved.
The silver-eyed girl skidded to a halt and caught the falling fox with both of her arms. His Super Form was gone as well, his fur had here and there bald spots with wrinkled skin, but he seemed okay. His eyes were closed.
"Tails?" Ruby gently shook him. "Tails? Are you there? Please… then go as well… I… I…" Her vision became misty again. This time the tears fell from the eyes of the fifteen year old girl.
"I don't want to lose anyone else," she sobbed.
"...Ruby?" A pair of blue eyes opened. They looked in a mixture of fading fear and relief. The human girl smiled and more tears fell from her eyes.
But the young levity of the situation had barely any time to sprout. The tow of them yelled in fright as two shapes, one gold and one red, crashed into the earth in close proximity to them!
And after some struggle and brief heartbreak, Ruby had managed to break trough the Tallest of Mountains.
Zavok: Me?
The Wyvern: No, me. *Proceeds to burn the Zeti into ash and dust.*
Super Ruby: You both suck. *Obliterates the Wyvern.*
And next chapter we will have Super Sonic take on the Last One that´s standing and holding on to the current power of the Phantom Ruby. How will it turn out, especially with what Tails and Ruby had just experienced at the end?
To Serafina Fairway: I kinda forgot about that part. But now that you have mentioned it, you are right. I went back and changed it.
To Guest: Yeah, and *small spoilers* Ruby will have to deal with the other Wyvern in the future once the sequels starts.
Cinder´s fate is indeed fitting, Amber over there in the afterlife dancing around happily and yelling Karma over and over again.
Ruby would be concerned and confused about who this mysterious newcomer would be, a new enemy or someone in need of help.
To Haxorus Knight: Your review is very similar to the one from Ero Gekkouga.
To Super Saiyan Fever: Yeah. The entire scene was basically to show the difference between the two as villains. Not just in-story but on a meta way as well. Eggman is one of the most iconic videogame villains of all times. Meanwhile, Cinder is a one-dimensional villain of a show of descending quality.
To Ero Gekkouga: Indeed. As for the final fate of the Maiden Magic, you will have to see where it will end up.
To Grand Chaos Master: True, it is not a big threat to Sonic. But he is busy with Infinite. So Ruby and Tails have to take care of it. The former having her first time with a Super Form and the latter not having used one since the Metal Overlord incident.
To Monster King: Thank you, I will.