2/22/24
It was sunset and Shadow was at Green Hill, Temple Mountain with a fierce look from the entrance to the cave. In his hand was the green Chaos Emerald he lost.
"This world is mine!" Eggman said and Shadow teleported to stand on top of the Paradox Prism, to his shock. "Huh?! Shadow?! What the heck are you doing here?!"
"I am the ultimate life form. I go wherever I want." Shadow said.
"Whuh?"
"Chaos Control!" Shadow said and disappeared with the Prism.]
"NOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Eggman asked angrily. "You haven't heard the last of me!" he said. "Cubot! Orbot! We're gonna need a bigger fleet!" he said occupying Cubot and Orbot with both hands.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Orbot said.
"Ooh, I've always wanted a bigger fleet!"Cubot said and Eggman walked out of the cave and jumped out of Temple Mountain while Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Rouge cheered in celebration.
Then Shadow returned and Tails looked at him.
"Shadow?" Tails said and Shadow looked at him. "Where's Sonic?" he asked and the others looked at him.
"In a different dimension." Shadow said.
The dome from inside the Grim started getting smaller. Inside the citadel, Sonic and Nine were still fighting as they were separated from inside Nine's lab, Sonic bumped herself near the railing and fell to the floor, as she looked up towards the Paradox Prism, Nine who was still wanted his energy unleashed three laser beams from his robot tails causing her to quickly jump on the bar. Then she used her shield to protect herself but was pushed back as she struggled on but was knocked towards the wall as she fell down. She managed to get up facing him again but turned around to see her bed next to two palm trees on each side.
"You planned this for me?" she said and Nine yelled and charged at her. "Nine, listen!" she said and he swung a crystal and fire laser shots. "I didn't understand what you were doing. Whoa!" she said and dodged his attacks.
"Stop talking!" Nine said.
Then, Sonic spin rolled to avoid the lasers.
"You just wanted a better life! Like Green Hill, but for both of us!" she said and jumped, almost losing her balance as she kept moving around.
"Stand still and fight me!"
Just as he was about to attack, a wall explosion suddenly appeared covering the lab in smoke. As it started to clear up, both Sonic and Nine groaned as he looked up in surprise.
"It's over, Nine." Shadow said as he, the Chaos Council, Resistance, Scavengers and Angel's Voyage crew all gathered to face against Nine.
Nine gasped.
"Get back! Don't make me destroy you all!" he said.
"Is that what you want? More destruction? Look outside!" Sonic said, looked up and saw the dome shrinking. "I'm sorry for everything, Nine. I missed my home so much and was so focused on getting it back that I didn't listen to what you wanted or appreciate what you were trying to do. I never meant to hurt you." she said and he looked at her for a short second, then looked away with an angry expression.
"But, you did." he said and looked up, whimpering.
She sighed.
"I lost my home and all my friends. But friends talk it out. They don't turn their backs on each other and fight to the death." she said.
With her words reaching him, he looked at her the second time.
"Enough talk! Light this fox up, full volley!" Eggman said and started shooting at Nine but Sonic quickly protected him with her shield.
"Stop! Everyone stop! This isn't the solution!" she said and the Chaos Council stopped attacking to realize what they heard.]
"You would, protect him?" Rusty said.
"I would."
"The blue rodent has finally lost it. Very well: destroy them both!" Eggman said.
Sonic: Stop, all of you! In a few minutes, there won't be anything left to fight over."
"The hedgehog makes a good point." Deep said and she turned to Nine looking worried.
"I need you to understand." she said and Nine looked down and turned to look at everyone. "Their worlds have been shattered, their homes destroyed. The same thing is happening here. How do we stop this?" she said and he hyperventilated and lapsed.
"I pushed it too far. This wasn't supposed to happen. I... I'm sorry, Sonic. Without a great sacrifice, reality as we know it will be over." Nine said upset.
The Citadel, on an islet encapsulated in the Void. Mangey whimpered and consoled Gnarly. Rebel held Renegade's arm while Batten comforted Sails and the Roses held hands.
"It has been an honor, sisters." Rusty said and Don't shed tears while Done-it snored.
Deep gathered the two together and they started sobbing, while Babble giggled and clapped. Shadow firmly looked at Sonic, who looked at one of his gloves in misery.
"Not yet." Sonic said determined, ran and jumped onto the other Shatter Drive in the lab.
"Sonic, what are you doing?" Nine asked.
"Giving you a sacrifice."
"You'd do that after everything I..."
"What are friends for?" she asked and turned to Shadow, who nodded in agreement. "If I do this, you must all promise to leave Nine alone! Let him live peacefully in his new home in the Grim."
"Sure, certainly. Invade? Us?" Eggman said and chuckled. "What do you mean?"
"Same goes for you, Nine. Promise that you won't cause any more trouble in the other Shatterspaces."
"How can we trust him?" Renegade asked.
"You can trust me." Nine said.
"We have no choice. It all ends here if we don't." Rebel said and he smiled.
"You have my word." he said and Done-It angrily banged his fist.
"Hurry up already!" Done-It said so Nine moved over to the keyboard and started typing.
"If I can extract the remaining Prism energy inside of him, I can use it to fully reform the Paradox Prism." Nine said and the screen showed energy depleting from a Sonic icon and a bar to the right of the Paradox Prism raised up to full.
"And then? Spit it out!" Deep said.
"And then the Prism will finally be fully stable. I can save everything."
"You heard him. We have a plan. Let's move this along." Sonic said.
"For once, I agree with the blue rat. Do it already!" Eggman said.
"There's a risk. If I remove the energy, he might fall apart." Nine said.
"What about Shadow?" Rebel asked suspiciously.
"Shadow wasn't there for the shatter event. He blipped into this reality. But I shattered the Prism." Sonic said.
"And without the Prism energy binding him, I'm not sure he'll make it." Nine said.
"I'm ready." she said shocking him and became agonized. "It's the only way, Nine." she said and he nodded in misery, then typed on the keyboard once again. "Do it."
He turned to her, miserably, then pressed one last button on the keyboard. The Shatter Drive started lighting up and started whirring. Sonic grunted as she struggled and floated. Her gloves and shoes sparkled with electricity as waves of light passed over her. Her arms were forced back while her shoes and gloves fluctuated into various looks from different Shatterspaces. The Paradox Prism started lighting up and shaking, the seam lines which showed where each Shard is located retracting to the center, disappearing. The monitor displayed her energy depleted to empty, having been transferred to the Prism. Her regulators detach, showing her plain gloves and shoes. The Prism burst a white light covering the screen. As soon as the light faded, Sonic was pale grey with a light outline glowing around her and collapsed on the podium, with vapor rising around her while Shadow looked over in shock.
"Sonic, are you..." Nine started while Sonic panted and tried to get up.
"Me? Never better." Sonic said and knelt.
"He's still alive. He didn't shatter!" Rebel said relieved and Sonic stood, but was affected by a strong spasm.
"Whoa." Sonic said causing her to collapse and fall onto Renegade, who caught her then she twitched again.
"Her Prismatic energy has been extracted. The Prism is whole. Her body is holding together, but I'm afraid it's only a matter of time before..." Nine started and became distracted as she twitched again, struggling.
"Easy, blue. I got ya." Renegade said.
"And we've got this!" Eggman said pointing to the Paradox Prism.
He, Eggforcers, and the rest of the Chaos Council stood in-front of the prism and displayed their combat poses in-front of Nine who growled and tried to run to the keyboard, but Babble grabbed Nine away from it and threatened him. Deep drew a sword and pointed it at Shadow.
"Stand down, Edge Lord. I don't trust one hedgehog, let alone two." Deep said.
"Dr. Don't! Triangulate whatever is left of New Yoke City." Eggman said.
"Once I calibrate to New Yoke City, we're outta here." Don't said typing on the keyboard.
Nine threatened and pointed his mechanical tails at the Council. Done-It also pointed his cane weapon towards him.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Done-It said and his weapon lit up. "Careful! Look at your friend. He's in no shape to fight."
"He's right. I'm gassed. But if Nine could barely handle the power of the Prism, you clowns have no hope." Sonic said with her arms around Renegade.
"Now, now. We must all accept when our time is over. But who knows? Perhaps when I wield the power of the Prism, I'll create a version of you that's more agreeable." Deep said.
"When you wield it?" Don't asked and scoffed. "Wait until you see the VR world I've been planning. I'll call it the "Egg-a-verse.""
"In your dreams, you no good whippersnapper!" Done-It said.
"What's a whippersnapper?" Don't asked and Babble angrily muttered and flailed his arms and pointed his weapon at Babble.
"Oh, cram it with walnuts, ya big baby, or I'll give you a permanent timeout!" he said.
"Enough, you fools!" Eggman said and popped his head out of the cockpit. "We stand at the precipice of a new world, and you would ruin my moment?"
"Your moment? Why, you sanctimonious..." Deep said.
Babble yelled and banged his mace arm on the ground, causing the rest of the Council to brace themselves. All five members of the Council became enraged and open fired at each other. Done-It shot at Babble's arm while Don't prepared his Eggforcers for combat.
"Yes! Eat that!" Don't said and the Eggforcers fired at Deep, but he blocked them with his swords.
"Hi-ya! Ya!" Deep said.
Done-It's seat hovered into Deep, who kicked the seat forward, but the Eggforcers dodged it. Deep dodged an Eggforcers charge, while the other one hit Done-It. Babble grabbed an Eggforcers and threw it towards Don't who dodged, causing it to crash into a wall. Shadow prepared to fight, but Rebel held him back.
"Hold on, Shadow. Let's see how this plays out." Rebel said.
"Stop! Stop, you morons!" Eggman said with weapon debris being thrown behind him and Done-It smacked Don't on the head with his cane.
Deep charged at Babble, who blocked it with his arm and slammed the ground.
"Arghh. Should we do something?" Dread asked.
"Not yet. This is like candy to me." Renegade said and Babble threw Don't.
Done-It pointed his weapon at Deep while Sonic and Nine looked at each other. She winked, but twitched again, causing her to grunt and close both eyes. Nine smiled, nodded, hid behind a wall, then made his way back to the keyboard and started typing. The Prism opened a Portal to the Void. Deep charged at Babble, but was slapped by him as he crashed into Done-It as they flew through the portal.
"Babbles, no! Bad baby! Bad!" Eggman said and Babble muttered and slammed his fist getting Eggman to gasp angrily. "That is it! You're getting a timeout!" he said and shot at Babble, blocking the attacks with his arm.
Bullets fired at Denizen 1998, forcing him to duck.
"How about now?" Shsdow asked.
"Knock yourself out." Rebel said miserably so he battle cried and spin jumped into Babble, knocking the screaming baby into the Void.
Then Renegade, Rebel and Rusty joined in the fight against the Council.
"Okay, that's it. I'm out!" Don't said, warped into the portal and started playing his video game.
"Now we do something." Renegade said and the Rebels closed in slowly on Eggman.
"No! This belongs to me! I'll defeat all of you! I'll..." Eggman said but was tag teamed by the Rebels and blasted into the void.
"You haven't heard the last of us! You just wait! We will amass an even greater army and destroy..." Eggman said as the portal whirred and disappeared.
"Good riddance." Nine said and smiled a little then Sonic groaned as she twitched again. "Sonic?" he said and energy crackled, causing Sonic to grunt.
"You were right, buddy." Sonic said softly and energy crackled, causing her to grunt. "Guess without the Prism energy..." she said and energy crackled, causing her to grunt. "I can't exist in the Shatterspaces." she said and he typed on the keyboard.
"With the Prism whole again, if I start the reformation process, theoretically, there's still a chance I can bring back Green Hill!" he said and her energy crackled, causing her to grunt again.
"Green Hill?" she said and energy crackled, causing her to grunt again and he stopped typing.
"Here goes."
The diagram showed the Prism on the left, pieces of the prism in the inset, and the portals on a grid to the right. The Paradox Prism glowed, whirred and shook. Renegade comforted Sonic. Everyone flinched and braced themselves as the Prism burst a white light covering the screen. As soon as it faded, Rebel looked up at the podium.
"Huh?" she said and the prism disappeared, with white vapor spewing out.
"The Prism! It be..." Batten said.
"Gone. And nothing has changed. Our attempt has failed." Rusty said.
"Look!" Nine said pointing up and ahead.
Sonic and his friends walked past a crack that had developed in the wall and gasped as they looked up to the purple sky with airborne rocks and portal gateways of different colors, lighting up in their respective colors. Crystals from each colored gateway line up and merge together.
"The gateways... are reforming." Sonic said as the Blue Gateway completed its reformation.
"No Place!" Black said and the Green Gateway completed its reformation.
"The Boscage Maze!" Prim said and a separate colored group of crystals line up close to the Green Gateway.
Then Birdie squawked.
"I don't know what that is, Birdie." Thorn said and Shadow stare dat it.
The newly-formed gateway glowed white.
"It's Green Hill. You did it, Nine." Sonic said and energy crackled, causing her to grunt. "I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to outrun this."
'Unless,' she thought and looked at her necklace.
"Yes, you can, if you leave now." Nine said.
"Nine's right. You get to your home, we'll get to ours." Rebel said to Nine firmly.
"Even if I wanted to, I can't. I'm outta juice." Sonic said.
"You're not doing it alone. Not when you got friends here to help." Renegade said and they looked at her confidently.
Sonic smiled a little when Nine broke down and hugged her. She smiled and hugged him back.
"Now hurry." Nine said and sniffled. "That Gateway won't be there forever." he said and she nodded in agreement then Thorn hopped onto Birdie's back.
"Need a ride?" Thorn asked and Birdie squawked.
Sonic walked forward, but collapsed as she twitched again, with Dread holding her by the chest.
"Easy there, las. I got you." he said.
"Let me give you a... hand." Rusty said, picked up Sonic and put her onto Birdie's back.
Sonic looked at him, bit her lip and shut her eyes.
"No." she said and they looked at her confused while Shadow knew what she was doing. "I can't leave you Dread." she said and looked at him. "I love you." she said and Dread turned a little red.
"Oh, uh," Dread said and cleared his throat. "Well um,"
"But Sonic-" Batten started but was cut off.
"No." Shadow said and looked at Sonic. "She can save herself and go with you. I'm not the only Ultimate Lifeform. I was created by Professor Gerald Robotnik and Sonic was created by his brother Professor Johnathan Robotnik and is stronger than me. With her limiter off she can heal quicker and join you." he said and Sonic smiled. "She's been through more than enough for the last fifty five years while I was asleep for the first fifty and then tried to kill her when our Eggman woke me up. I owe her and she deserves a new life."
"Thank you." Sonic said, shut her eyes and pulled off her necklace letting out full power.
Shadow felt a tear going down watching his best friend and love of his life get what she wanted.
Everyone watched her in shock and saw her turning back to her old self and full power.
They saw her turn yellow, dark blue, black and back to her normal blue in awe.
'Super Sonic, Dark Sonic and Super Dark Sonic.' Shadow thought.
Then she opened her eyes and was fully healed smirking.
"Told you I was stronger." she said.
"Oh shut up." Shadow said smiling a little and they gave each other a hug.
"Look after them for me. And tell them I'm sorry." she whispered.
"I will." he said and they let go.
Then Dread walked up to her and kissed her.
"You ready to set sail on our adventures?" Dread asked.
"Aye captain." Sonic said and put her limiter back on.
Then Shadow jumped onto Birdie.
"Hold tight, friend. Let's go, Birdie. Fly!" Thorn said and Birdie took off.
"Let's go. I wanna make sure he gets there OK." Sonic said.
Meanwhile Shadow, Thorn and Birdie were continuing their ascent.
"You got this, Birdie!" Thorn said and Birdie sped up along the Void, dodging rocks by swerving, and corkscrewing but squawked as she was hit by a rock, hurting her wing. "Birdie, your wing!" she said and Birdie squawked as her hurt wing remained in position, descending.
"Oh great." Shadow saidas Birdie fell.
"No!"
Below, the Yolkomotive caught the injured Birdie on the deck.
"Sonic? Black Rose?" Shadow said and Sonic smirked.
"We started together, we'll end together." Sonic said.
"Happy to lend a hand! Now hold on to your backsides. We're gonna pick up the pace!" Black said as the Yolkomotive's thrusters ignite, and the vehicle sped up.
Then it hit a rock, causing Black to grunt in anger and another rock hit the front of the ship.
"This bucket of bolts is barely holding together!" she said and Rusty extended her arm and made her way to a turret.
"Keep it steady. I will clear a path." Rusty said and fired from the turret, shooting and clearing the rocks out of the way.
Sonic stood there thinking while the Yolkomotive ran with one thruster. Another rock hit that last thruster, causing the Yolkomotive to slow down.
"I'm losing speed!" Black said.
Shadow caught a rock and threw it away, then kicked another one. He looked around, determined then sighed and closed his eyes, while Black punched the deck in fury.
"Black Rose, you've brought us far enough. I'll take it from here." Shadow said and Black nodded.
Then he walked over to Sonic and they held each other close before slowly walking off. Black Rose jumped onto the deck and Sonic looked back at Shadow.
"Go make Maria proud." she said and he nodded and jumped off the Yolkomotive as they jumped from rock to rock.
Then Shadow sped along the big rock's surface, with an aura glowing behind him.
He sped to the end of a rock and leapt off the end of it towards the gateway. He landed his foot on another rock, powered up and leapt again.
With a golden streak, he tried to keep the momentum going as much as possible, and made it through the gateway.
Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Rouge looked at Shadow confused.
"What do you mean she's in a different dimension?" Rouge asked.
"It's a long story. But I can show you where she is now." Shadow said and they nodded so he took out the Chaos Emerald. "Chaos Control!" he said and they were gone.
Soon they were in the void right outside No Place.
"Where are we?" Tails asked.
"The Void. This one is where Sonic is." Shadow said and they looked to see Sonic with four other people.
"Hey, those look like us!" Amy said.
"It is you. These are different versions of you, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge and Big. Tails is Sails, Knuckles is Dread, Rouge is Batten, Amy is Black Rose and Big is Catfish. Sonic is now a part of the team because she loves Dread. I'm not the only Ultimate Lifeform. Sonic is to and was created by my creator's brother to keep me company and help me look after Maria. The necklace she never takes off is her limiter. She's more than twice as strong as me." he said and they looked at him in shock then saw Dread wrap his arm around Sonic's shoulder.
"Ye know, since ye joined us ye should probably come up with a name." Dread said and Sonic looked at him smiling.
"Got any ideas Captain?" Sonic asked.
"Starlight. Ye be the brightest star I ever met." he said and she smiled.
"Alright." she said and smiled. "Any ideas of names for our child when it gets here?" she asked and he froze along with the others.
"W-what?"
"I've been feeling sick all week so asked Sails to look at me this morning and he told me I was pregnant." she said smiling.
Everyone smiled and Dread picked her up, spun her around and kissed her.
Shadow watched feeling his heart break even more while Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Rouge were shocked, excited and hurt at the same time.
They were happy she finally got to relax, a new life and a family of her own after what she's been through but at the same time were hurt she left them.
Knuckles held Tails close while they watched their sister and teammate look so relaxed and happy.
"I miss her already." Tails said and cried quietly so Knuckles held him closer.
"Me to buddy. But now that we know she's the same thing as Shadow, she deserves to rest and have a good life." Knuckles said gently and Tails nodded. "I'll take care of you pal, don't worry." he said and Tails nodded again.
Rouge looked at Shadow and felt bad for him.
She knew he loved her and felt bad for him but she knew he did the right thing.
They all watched Sonic dancing with Dread while the team played a song.
They knew Sonic had been through enough and deserved to rest and make a family.
Tails and Knuckles were worried and knew it was going to take some getting used to but would do anything for their sister.
Knuckles held Tails close and sighed.
"This will feel weird. Team Sonic without the leader." Knuckles said.
"You can say that again." Tails said.
"Don't worry Tails, she'll be fine and you'll still have me, Amy, Rouge and Cream." Knuckles said gently and Tails nodded while Shadow took out the Emerald.
"Let's go. Eggman's probably up to something new and Sonic asked me to join the team. She's done enough for me so I'll join you and help you with Eggman." Shadow said and they nodded. "Chaos Control!" he said and they were gone.