Chapter Forty:

An Evil Alliance Defeated

Sonic pulled as hard as he could, and the Chaos Emeralds' energies, combined with the will of Myrule's TriChaosForce, counteracted with the darkness of the Black Emerald. Even the unlocked, near-omnipotent force of Shadow's Chaos energies proved to be stronger, and the dark gemstone shuddered and cracked in the grasp of the hedgehogs.

In the short span of a second, time's flow slowed to a crawl, and the black-colored emerald's vibrating intensified. More cracks took form, and the leviathan roared with desperation. A light flashed, and the world was illuminated by a vibrant explosion of energy.

All active combatants and witnesses shielded their eyes, and some made sure to get to a safer distance. The Black Emerald, unable to handle the pressure exerted by the will of the Chaos Emeralds and the TriChaosForce, which radiated out through the super-powered hedgehogs, exploded into trillions of pieces that scattered everywhere.

The shards flew in various directions, disintegrating in the blast, and the power within the Black Emerald was absorbed into the energies let off by the Chaos Emeralds, before all of it's remnants were consumed with the positivity overcoming the negative.

With it's source of power disrupted and destroyed, the Eggnikbrid collapsed to the ground, roaring in anguish, and it's eyes flashed. A bright vibrant aura formed around the mustached monster, and Sonic, as well as his allies, shielded their eyes while the hedgehogs' super forms powered down, and the speedsters along with Princess Amy #2 reverted to their normal selves.

Roars of fury became distorted, soon replaced by furious screams, and a light explosion shook the field. The group looked up, and, where a monstrous nightmare had stood, a group of Eggmen, accompanied by the sinister Doom and Mama Robotnik, were sprawling around in a haze.

"No, no, NO!" Eggmandorf cried, "And I can't even use my TriChaosForce of Power to bring out one of my trump cards. Defeated by a hedgehog and a princess... AGAIN, AND ALL OF REALITY COULD HAVE BEEN OURS!"

"Denied victory!" Sat AM Robotnik snarled, "Our plan! Ruined! BY THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS!"

Eggman himself was livid. "It was the most ingenious, near-unthinkable, but glorious plan imaginable, working together with my counterparts..." The mad scientist remarked, "...and just when it was working, just when we were figuring it out, IT WAS HIJACKED AND BLEW UP IN OUR FACES, AND WE WERE DEFEATED BY SONIC AGAIN! AAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"

"And I'm dreading the day when I will be so frustrated with countless defeats to Sonic, I'll summon my alternate universe counterparts, leading to someone using some kind of magical artifact to merge us all into a monster." Classic Eggman commented.

"SCRATCH! GROUNDER!" AoSTH Robotnik shouted, "WHERE ARE YOU, NINCOMBOTS?!"

"WHERE DID MY BOUNTY HUNTERS GO?!" Underground Robotnik roared.

Rubble shifted, and Scratch, who'd repaired himself, emerged from the remnants of Castle Eggmandorf with Grounder. More debris was displaced, and the two bounty hunters, Sleet and Dingo, made their reemergence.

The four goons walked towards their masters, just as Snively popped up, and stumbled through the ruin, rubbing his head and grumbling. The needle-nosed lackey was bound by rope, and he was disoriented from what had just happened. Orbot and Cubot came out a moment later, fixing their arms, and adjusting their heads.

"We're all here..." Scratch said, struggling to speak coherently.

"I turned Dingo... into a shield generator." Sleet told Underground Robotnik.

"Projectin' a shield... is no easy task." Dingo half-mumbled, "It wasn't very comfortable."

"FAILED! JUST LIKE EVERY TIME!" Mama Robotnik was screaming, "AND YET, MERGING INTO THE EGGNIKBRID WAS A BRILLIANT PLAN, WHICH FELL APART BECAUSE OF SONIC, AND THE CHAOS EMERALDS BETRAYED US! BOTH OF YOU SHOULD HAVE PLANNED IN ADVANCE, BUT IT SEEMS WE ALL WINGED IT, DESPITE MERGING OUR MINDS AND BODIES TOGETHER!

"IF WE HAD GOTTEN IT RIGHT, WE COULD HAVE ALL CONQUERED THE WORLD, AND USHERED IN A NEW AGE OF ORDER! AND THEN, WE COULD HAVE GONE ON TO RULE THE COSMOS, AND THE MULTIVERSE! DOCTOR ROBOTNIK SHOULD BE ON TOP AS THE ULTIMATE GENIUS IN ALL OF CREATION, AND YET, THE WHOLE PLAN WAS RUINED! WHY?! WHY?!"

"And this started... THE DAY OF MY FIRST DEFEAT TO THE RESISTANCE, THANKS TO THAT SCARF-WEARING HEDGEHOG!" Lord Eggman howled, punching the ground like an angry kid.

"How the Eggman family is a joke once again..." Eggman Nega coughed.

"Oh, bloody damn it!" Fleetway Robotnik coughed, "And how is it that my Sonic used the Chaos Emeralds without turning into psychopath? I didn't foresee this world's version of those seven powerful gemstones having a positive effect on my archnemesis."

"This isn't over... THIS ISN'T OVER..." Doom shouted, he glared at Sonic, "Our business is just beginning, hedgehog! You and your friends shall bear the Curse of Doom, throughout every universe, and I will be coming for you and all of your descendants in many different forms across time. Now, my legacy will span the multiverse, and you are all DOOMED!"

"Big talk!" Myrule Sonic stepped forward with Princess Amy #2 leaning against his shoulder with a smile, "But your curse isn't going to affect this world or any other world any time soon, pal. You're done. Again. And it's time we head home..."

"Yeah..." Boom Sonic remarked, "Looks like the Egghead band is disbanding..." He clicked a finger at Boom Eggman and Morpho, the latter of whom had been part of the Eggnikbrid despite being a shapeshifting robot, "It'll just be you, me, and the gang, back home, along with your robots and maybe the occasional Shadow fight."

"I'll build a tougher robot, hedgehog!" Boom Eggman yelled, "And I won't rest until Team Sonic is gone, until the village is mine to rule and turn into a theme park, and until the world is mine!"

"Time for us to get back to Mobius." Sally said as she pecked Sat AM Sonic on the cheek.

"Hopefully, the ride home will be smooth sailin'." Sticks quipped, "And I don't plan on divin' into any multiverse mumbo-jumbo again anytime soon. This ain't my first rodeo teaming up with another Sonic to stop a major monster threat to all of reality, and let's hope the next adventure or misadventure is grounded. And by grounded, I mean island-level."

Underground Sonic, Manic and Sonia shared a sweet hug, which Boom Knuckles tried to join until Boom Amy called him back. LEGO Sonic pulled out some rope, ran up to LEGO Eggman, and tied up the bricky doctor with some help from LEGO Knuckles and LEGO Tails.

"You're not causing trouble anytime soon, doc." The speedy LEGO hedgehog said to his nemesis.

"Great teaming up with you... again." Sonic said to Classic Sonic.

"Can't wait to say that to my other self in the future." Classic Sonic remarked, "And, hopefully, this is our last team up. I can't imagine meeting you again right before I become, well, you. And it doesn't feel that long ago since we dealt with the Phantom Ruby."

Princess Amy #2 shared a hug with Princess Amy #1, who was petting a Flicky that was flying by before it landed on her shoulder, then the shapely princess rejoined Myrule Sonic and they shared a nod. The two hedgehogs held up their hands, and their marks of courage and wisdom gleamed bright. Moments later, an interconnected triangle of emeralds appeared;

The TriChaosForce.

"Back to our universes." Jim Robotnik said with a smile, "Thank goodness it's over."

"Yeah. If we all stayed longer, we'd risk a universe-destroying anomaly or somethin'." Boom Tails chuckled, he winked at AoSTH Tails, "...even though teaming up with ourselves was cool."

"With Eggman and the hybrid beaten, that means my future is safe again." Silver said happily, he clicked his fingers and a swirling white vortex appeared, a rift in time-and-space that allowed anyone to travel through time to the future or the past. The white hedgehog waved to Sonic and the others, then he leaped through the portal, heading back to his own time.

"And I should return to the Sol Dimension until trouble arises again." Blaze shook Sonic's hand, "May good fortune be bestowed upon you and this world."

"See you around, Blaze." Sonic elbowed the cat with a smile.

Blaze stepped away from the group, and pulled out an orange diamond, one of the seven Sol Emeralds. A pillar of fire swirled around the lavender cat, and the feline princess vanished from the world as the Sol Emeralds' power transported her back to her own dimension.

Myrule Sonic and Princess Amy #2 closed their eyes, and reached out to touch the TriChaosForce, making their wish for all heroes and villains to be returned to their respective realities. High above, the sky had returned to normal with the dark-red clouds parting, and sunlight was restored while the lightning and thunder settled down.

The three emeralds gleamed brightly, and the TriChaosForce faded. Moments later, a space-time rift appeared near Classic Eggman, who stood up with surprise before he walked through. Classic Sonic high-fived Sonic once more, then he dashed through the rift his nemesis was walking through with Classic Tails and Classic Knuckles following him.

Another rift appeared near Eggman Nega's current position. Nega looked at his ancestor, who was fuming over his defeat, and walked through the time portal, heading back to his future timeline.

Not long after, a glowing light surrounded AoSTH Robotnik, Scratch and Grounder as the TriChaosForce's power warped them back to their home reality, with Snively and Sat AM Robotnik being enveloped by a light as well.

"Well, this is it..." Eggmandorf said to Doom as a light enveloped them both, "This is where we head back to our timelines. You're heading back to a point before your defeat by Sonic's hands, and I head back to a point where I've just conquered Myrule Castle."

"One day, we will rule the world." Doom vowed as he vanished, "That I promise."

"I'll never forget you, Doctor Eggman." Lord Eggman said to Boom Eggman before he vanished.

"I'm just glad we're going home." The muscular supervillain remarked.

"Maybe we can have cookies at Mombot's." Morpho suggested right before he and Boom Eggman were teleported back to their homeworld.

"Bye, Princess!" Princess Amy #1 said to her shapely relative as another light enveloped her.

"Take care!" Princess Amy #2 called out, she and Myrule Sonic vanished a second later.

"We're juicin' and jamin'!" Manic and Underground Sonic punched the air and fist-bumped with glee before they and Sonia were whisked away. Sleet and Dingo hugged each other as Underground Robotnik rolled his eyes, right before the three villains were sent back to their home dimension.

Tails and Knuckles said their farewells to their counterparts, watching as Boom Tails, Boom Knuckles, LEGO Knuckles, and the other Tails variants were warped to their respective universes. Manhog Sonic faded away, and Movie Sonic flashed him a thumbs up and a thumbs down before he faded away as well. Jim Robotnik just shrugged, smiled, and nodded before vanishing from sight.

Sonic and his friends watched as the rest of the Sonics and the remaining members of the now-defunct Eggman Alliance vanished from the universe, along with the likes of Sally, Rotor, Antoine, and Bunnie. Now, there was only one Eggman with one Sonic, one Tails, one Knuckles, and one Amy, along with Shadow, and Rouge.

"I guess I'll be headin' back to my island now." Knuckles said confidently, "Someone's got to look after the Master Emerald."

"You want a lift, red boy?" Rouge asked in a sweet manner, floating above the red echidna as she flapped her wings, "I'll admit that you must have flown quite a long way with those other three fellas."

"Thanks for the offer, bat girl." Knuckles took the bat's hand, and they flew off with the red echidna advising the shapely spy to not try anything.

Shadow teleported away, and Eggman just shot Sonic and the others a scathing look before he hopped into his Egg Mobile, which Orbot and Cubot had managed to dig from the rubble, and flew away with Metal Sonic flying beside his creator. It would be some time before anyone heard from the doctor again, but Eggman would be back with a new scheme. And Sonic knew it.

"I'm going to miss those guys." Tails said, "But all's well that ends well."

"So, what now?" Amy asked, "What are you going to do with Eggman beaten again, Sonic?"

Sonic hugged the pink hedgehog and his little buddy, all with a generous smile. He would be heading off to find his next adventure, then he would try to get some chili-dogs with Amy when he had the time. The blue speedster raced off across the countryside, eager to live free as the wind, and enjoy a world safe from being conquered by a pack of angry Eggmen.

'Hope you take care, guys.' The speedster thought about his alternate universe counterparts, 'Whatever life has in store, no matter what our enemies throw at us, we'll be ready for anything. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, and there's no slowing us down...'

The speedster streaked over a mountainside, raced through a loop-de-loop, and vanished behind a pair of mountains while Flickies flew through the sky, tweeting happily as they enjoyed their freedom...

The End

In a fortress atop a mountain under an orange sky, Doctor Robotnik stomped around his sitting room, his fists were clenched, and his mustache was tingling with every angry step he took. Scratch and Grounder were nearby, and Coconuts the monkey Badnik was mopping the floor in a nervous manner.

"I HATE HEDGEHOGS! AND WE DON'T NEED TO TEAM UP WITH ALTERNATE UNIVERSE RRRROBOTNIKS!" Robotnik raged, "WE'LL GET THAT HEDGEHOG, WE'LL FIND A WAY TO DEFEAT HIM, AND MOBIUS WILL BE OURS! AND WE CERTAINLY DON'T NEED MY MOTHER'S HELP!"

"Did you call the Mobius Home for Really Bizarre Mothers to check if she's back in there?" Grounder asked.

"Eggs-actly!" Robotnik hissed, "AND THEY'RE DOUBLING UP ON SECURITY RIGHT NOW! It'll be a while before we hear from my crazy, more sinister mother again... AND WE KNOW HOW MUCH SHE CAN BE A PAIN... eh, despite being my mother."

BZZT!

"Eh?" Robotnik heard the doorbell, "Come in!"

The door opened, and the mad doctor's eyes widened when a metallic hedgehog sporting a large orange mustache and a skirt cape walked into the room. Robotnik was at a loss for words, and his Badniks were completely baffled. Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts were curious to the limit.

"What is it do you want?!" Robotnik demanded, "Whomever you are, whatever universe you're from, I JUST GOT BACK FROM PARTNERING WITH OTHER VERSIONS OF MYSELF! If I were you, I'D GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

"My name is Doctor Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik, and I'm not here to recruit you, Doctor Robotnik." The robotic hedgehog said, "I came here to borrow your lackeys! I could use some... assistance... with expanding my empire and taking care of certain matters involving a blue hedgehog."

"WHAT?!" Robotnik shouted.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Coconuts ran towards the robot calling himself Eggman in an excited manner, "We'll happily assist you, Doctor Eggman Robotnik! You can count on us!"

Scratch and Grounder shook the odd Eggman variant's hands, then the trio of lackeys left the room with him, leaving Robotnik behind as he watched with near outrage. The door closed, and the supervillain cried, "WHO'S GOING TO HELP ME DESTROY SONIC?!"

He lay upon the warm bed, his heart pounding, as the princess lay atop of him while he cusped her shapely hips. Following their return to Myrule, Sonic and Princess Amy had decided on a night of intimacy, which would be a good way to relax after they'd helped save the multiverse.

Sonic's cap sat on a hook, and his tunic lay on a shelf. And Princess Amy was beautiful this evening, wearing a revealing lacey dark-brown bra and a matching set of panties with pink leggings, which Sonic liked. The hedgehog kissed his princess, and sat up, making out with her some more while the pink hedgehog stroked her hero's shoulders seductively.

"You know how to set the mood, Amy." Sonic said breathlessly.

Amy pecked the sword-wielding hero on the cheek, and lay her head upon Sonic's shoulder as she pulled back the sheets over their bodies. She agreed with him. And then, she scooched up, and the two hedgehogs shared a deeper kiss before extinguishing the lights...