Chapter Thirty-Eight:

Rise of The Eggnikbrid

"Time to juice and bail outta this place!" Sonic told the others, he took off at triple speed, and dashed madly through the halls of Castle Eggmandorf. Boom Sonic raced alongside him not too long after, and the rest of the League of Sonics were with the blue blur while the others rushed to catch up.

"Hang on, doc!" Sonic grabbed Jim Robotnik, who'd managed to make it several feet from the main chamber, and he sped through the corridors with the slim scientist in his arms. It was a miracle that the other Eggmen hadn't seen him. Otherwise, he'd be part of the madness right now.

Outside, Shadow and Boom Shadow were locked in battle when they felt the ground rumbling, and they turned to spot the fortress shaking and falling to pieces as an eerie light flashed from a tower above, a dark light, followed by several multi-colored lights. Shadow felt a surge of Chaos Energy in seconds, and staggered back.

"What were those stupid Eggman lackwits doing in there?" Boom Shadow growled.

"If I were to guess, it involves the Eggnikbrid." Shadow remarked.

"This Eggnikbrid wouldn't happen to somehow be a monstrous merger of various versions of Eggman that will destroy this whole universe and the multiverse, would it?"

"Perhaps so, especially with a Black Emerald involved."

"Looks like it's time to get out of here..." Boom Shadow turned to leave, "Good luck working with Sonic and his stupid friends to take on that universe-consuming Eggman hybrid monster in a hopeless battle. I'll be going around, taking in the scenery of the world in its final hour before every last trace of 'beauty' is wiped away by this beast."

"You're not even going to stay and help fight?" Shadow retorted, "You are, without a doubt, an unworthy Ultimate Life Form for someone who's willing to challenge me, but isn't sticking around to fight a universe-conquering Eggman monster."

"Peh." Boom Shadow rolled his eyes, "So long, fool, forever."

The dark hedgehog teleported away, right before the Sonics and their friends raced out of the fortress, and Sonic put down Jim, who ran across the field before Movie Sonic blocked his path.

"You aren't going to thank us for saving you from becoming part of an eldritch horror?" The blue-armed hedgehog asked, "Someone's real determined to get out of there, and you're kinda being a coward..."

"So, what is it that I missed?" Shadow demanded.

"Eggmandorf and Robotnik hijacked Eggman's scheme..." Sat AM Sonic explained, "And, apparently, it was their plan all along and they were using Eggman and the others. Now, they have the Black Emerald, the Chaos Emeralds, and the TriChaosForce thingy combined to bring forth that Eggnikbrid monster... whatever else it's supposed to be."

"I have detected massive surges in energy." Sally's handheld Nicole warned.

"We're at the event horizon..." Silver quipped, "...This is where the beast rises."

Seconds later, Castle Eggmandorf exploded, and a large shadow loomed over the heroes. Lightning exploded across the sky, and gleaming eyes stared out of the mist. A bellowing roar shook the landscape, and thunder rumbled. The mist cleared as the unmistakable outline of the Black Emerald glowed, and all eyes were on the mighty beast as it appeared.

It was just as Silver and the Oracle of Delphius had foretold, when all of the Eggmen had gathered, and the power of the Black Emerald was used, along with Eggmandorf's power, the Chaos Emeralds, and the TriChaosForce, every member of the Eggman Alliance had merged to become the universe-threatening beast known as the Eggnikbrid.

And the beast was a frightening sight to behold, it's appearance would never fade from the memories of those who'd seen it:

Two sets of metallic horns protruded from the left and right sides of the head, with one horn above the other, and the Black Emerald sat upon an alter embedded into the top of the monster's head. And where there was a forehead, a black-and-red eye was open, along with the two other eyes, near connected by a small nose, that was just above a large orange mustache.

Beneath the mustache, a mouth with rows of sharp teeth lay, and the chin seemed to fork into two large fang-like edges. The Eggnikbrid's body was large, near-muscular, with metallic plates sitting on both shoulders, and bearing two large spikes with an Eggman skull symbol etched into the side of the right shoulder plate.

A necklace with a face akin to Classic Eggman with red eyes sat around the beast's shoulders, and two green eyes opened on the beast's arms, one on the left arm, and one on the right arm. Below the eye on the left arm, a Robotnik head tattoo with a yellow emerald symbol sat, embedded into the flesh of the horrendous entity.

Four pupilless dark-red eyes embedded into the beast's front torso opened up, along with a red mouth, and everyone could see the creature's right arm was half robotic, a nod to how Underground Robotnik and Sat AM Robotnik were part of the beast.

The Eggnikbrid stepped forward on bulky legs, which were covered in plating made from Badnik parts, and the feet were colored black, resembling that of horse's hooves. Sonic and the others braced themselves as they stared up at the great horror that was once a pair of brilliant, but insane scientists all bent on conquest.

Looking at this monster now, the Eggnikbrid was bereft of humanity, with only a slight shred of humanity left and there was only one significant trace of the Eggman Alliance that remained; The desire to destroy Sonic, and conquer the entire planet with the Eggman Empire.

"We cannot fail!" Princess Amy #2 said as a sword appeared in her hands, "If the world falls to this beast, the destruction brought upon all other worlds will be unlike anything ever seen. The Eggnikbrid is more than just a merger of Eggman and his counterparts, it is a beast fueled by rage, hatred, revenge, and a desire for absolute power!"

"It's up to us Sonics to save the world." Sonic punched a hand into his fist, "And we're in this together to the end. We'll take him down, one way or another, and that creep's utilizing the negative forces in the Chaos Emeralds. We just gotta find a way to get the Chaos Emeralds out of him, and use their positive energies to go super!"

"Uh, me and Chaos Emeralds don't mix?!" Fleetway Sonic raised a hand.

"Whatever happens from here, it's do or die time!" Boom Sonic stepped forward as the beast let out another roar, "Let's show that Eggman monster the true power of Sonic speed and teamwork!"