Chapter 14: New Legacy
Westopolis
Elvira made her presence known on every corner of the city. Her undead shambled across with violent succession that those who were still trapped had no clear way to leave. They were forced to hide until the conflict was resolved. It was those that Elvira preyed on the most, as she could smell their fear whisking in the air, due to the Chaos Emerald she possessed, heightening her senses. She stumbled upon a comfy home, relatively unharmed by the battles outside. She licked her lips as she felt a trembling presence within. She walks in with no resistance, and eyes the family portrait hanging in the foyer. A wolf family of three, happily standing together on a sunny hill.
Elvira scouted out the downstairs rooms before making her way upstairs, deliberately slowing her footsteps to cause unsettling creaks in the wooden boards. Her search led her to a dead end until she reached the final bedroom, which was the son's. She walked in and peered around to find any soul lying around, but there was nobody. She checked under the bed and out the window, but there was nobody. She checked everywhere except for one final place: the closet. She smiled as she approached, hoping that she would find them there. Her uneasy gaze triggered a small whimper from inside the closet, which was quickly shushed. Her teeth grew larger as her suspicions were rewarded. Her head tilted as she dug her claws into the groove of the closet, opening it methodically and with callous, where an unrelenting whine of distress inevitably erupted.
She found the family backed into the corner of the closet, with the father and mother shielding their son. Aw, but that's the one I want first! Elvira thought as she pushed the parents aside with unnatural force. She kneeled and stared into the pup's eyes as she held out her hand. "Don't be afraid," she tried to hush the child, but he couldn't hold in his fear any longer. He squirmed away from her cold claws as they radiated with a necrotic pulse, which inched closer to his neck. "It'll only hurt for a minute." It was just before she could touch him that heavy footsteps from downstairs alerted Elvira, but not in time for someone's mitt to come bursting through the floor and grab Elvira's leg, pulling her down into the kitchen. She shook off the dust and the ringing in her ears to get a better look at the meddler, but the sight of him just made her even more excited. "It's you!" She exclaimed. Knuckles stood tall above her, cracking his neck as a sign of intimidation. "I've been wondering where you went, my smooth-brained friend. I was hoping we could have a follow-up from our last fight, considering how abruptly it ended."
"Not here," Knuckles growled as he looked up at the family in the upper story. "They have nothing to do with this."
"C'mon!" Elvira groaned. "They'll enhance the experience. Don't you love to play with high stakes-" A mere moment passed as she blinked, when something forcefully pushed her back, launching her through the house's wall and back onto the streets. She took a hard tumble and her body scraped against the sharp ground, leaving bloody scratches. Elvira's legs wobble as she stands back on her feet, feeling an unbearable weight on her abdomen. She got the air knocked out of her. She didn't even see what happened when she took her eyes off Knuckles. Was it him that hit her? She looked down and saw a light blue marking on her stomach, contrasting her dark fur.
Knuckles walked through the hole in the wall and stomped through the backyard after Elvira. His right glove was illuminating the same silk-like energy that coated Elvira's chest. The lynx dug her claws into her leg, stimulating adrenaline to get herself to focus. She begins to sprint at Knuckles, with a mix of anger and bloodlust powering her speed. Knuckles keeps his methodical pace, undeterred by Elvira's rush. He places his left hand on top of his right, which he had balled into a fist, dispersing the aqua-colored shimmer. Suddenly, the same force that Elvira felt in her gut returned, knocking her farther away from Knuckles. Once again, her lungs were siphoned of air, turning her saliva-infested mouth into a dry ravine, as her breath was rapidly restored.
Elvira looked down to see the mark on her stomach drifting away. It was gone, just like that. It popped an idea in her head, one that she suspected was Knuckles' secret technique. She didn't know or care how he managed to achieve it, but the thought of it made her smile with excitement. She chuckled, "You've gotten stronger, my smooth-brained friend." She stood tall, with her legs struggling to keep her weakened torso up. "Definitely something new about you, at least. But I think I understand. I think…"
"I think you should save your breath for the fight, I'm not explaining anything to you." Knuckles tried to shut her down, but Elvira kept pondering as her head was inclined to look into the sky, with her hand scratching her chin as she thought. She was intrigued and wanted to figure out Knuckles' new power. "Forget it!" Knuckles quickly became impatient and started to run at Elvira, charging up his fist with that same light blue glow. "Don't think I'm gonna make this easy for you!" He threw his fist and aimed for Elvira's head, but her feline instincts took over her nerves and made her bend unnaturally backward by the center of her spine, which allowed her to avoid the punch. She snapped back up and grabbed Knuckles' arm and stared deep into his soul.
"Oh, I'm hoping that you wouldn't do that. Don't want to spoil the fun, do we?" Her voice, still maintaining the same level of insanity, was reserved and cold. Knuckles tried breaking free by slamming his fist into her head multiple times before she could activate her necrosis. But no matter how many times he hit her, she kept her hand latched like a steel lock. Every punch felt strange to her skull, she saw the blue aura in Knuckles' hand irradiate again, which left its mark on the side of her head with each blow. But each strike felt strange. With each punch she saw Knuckles cave into her face, she felt a numb pulse of pain and a piercing ring in her ears, but that wasn't the interesting part. She felt that same feeling between punches like he was hitting her without actually doing so, which made another lightbulb flicker to life in Elvira's mind.
She finally let go and pushed back to give herself some space. She let her brain recover from the onslaught so she could make out her next words properly. "Now I get it." She said with a smile. "Every time you hit someone, you leave a little mark on them. A seemingly harmless mark, like a temporary tattoo. Oh, but it is far from harmless, I can tell. It's like an echo of your punch, it causes the same force and pain, it just happens later… or perhaps, it occurs by your choosing." Knuckles stood still, grunting and clenching his fists out of frustration. He had a horrible poker face that Elvira read with ease. She was right. "I knew it! Fascinating! It's been barely a day, and you've already learned so much since our last fight. I always had faith that you wouldn't be a disappointment." Elvira retrieves her Chaos Emerald from her person and holds it in the center of her hand. Its power is pried forcibly as if the emerald was resisting Elvira's control, but she managed to get enough energy from it to charge herself up. "I applaud you, Knuckles, for making me go all out."
The Void: Many Moments Ago
The slowed time in the chamber of the void started to lose all definition to Tails and Knuckles, as they solely focused their attention on their training until the doors opened. Knuckles taught Tails well in combat, but there still was the problem of these crystals that Dial sent them with. Tails theorized that in order to absorb the power from the crystals, they had to understand themselves, understand the universe and what it meant to them. They both sat down on the blank white floor, huddled around the crystals. "Where do we even begin?" Knuckles asked with his hand pressed against the side of his head.
Tails sighed, "Well, I guess we can ask ourselves what Dial kept asking: What does the universe mean to us?" Knuckles didn't budge his mind to think yet, as he watched Tails close his eyes in a meditative state. He was in a deep trance as the fox thought long and hard before breaking his stiff posture to reach out and touch the closest crystal next to him. His finger tapped it with anticipation, as he expected something to happen. But as he peeked open his eyes, he was disappointed to see that nothing changed.
"May I ask what it is that you thought about?" Knuckles inquired.
Tails crossed his arms and took a deep breath as his expression shifted into one of weary. "The way I think about the universe is that of mathematics and pattern. There is structure to everything, a reason that certain things exist while having no particular reason to exist in the first place. It's something that I study." Knuckles leaned forward, almost looking unconvinced.
"Can I be honest with you?" He asked. Tails nodded, becoming invested in what Knuckles had to say. "That's not true meaning."
"What are you talking about? Of course it is."
"Not to you, it is. What you just said were facts about the universe, not what it meant to you. What is it that you find purpose in its chaos? Why is that significant to someone like you?"
"If you know what to do, then why don't you give it a try?" Knuckles wasn't one to back down from a challenge, so he was swift to shift his posture into something more comfortable while he closed his eyes to meditate. He scouted his brain for his drive in such a vast universe. What was it that kept him on his feet, and what did he have to offer? He recalled deep memories when he was younger and even more dense. His burden and task of being the guardian of the Master Emerald was his only purpose in his isolation. It was when others came by, that he learned something about himself. He could still act as that guardian, just not solely to one thing. He had pride in his strength, and he used that pride to inspire others when they were down. Sure, he was aware that he wasn't the sharpest tool, but everyone can learn something new. Knuckles saw that role in himself, one that he noticed as he trained Tails. He could be both guardian and mentor, that was who he was meant to be. That was what the universe meant to him in the grand scheme. To learn, mentor, and protect the beings of everything.
Knuckles, currently in the zone of his own mind, subconsciously reached his hand out to the crystal. At first, nothing happened, leaving Tails stumped at what they were missing. But something sparked within the crystal, which brought forth wonder in Tails. The hue of the crystal drained from the glass-like edges and blackened till no color was left. It had all been absorbed into Knuckles' body as his eyes shot open, revealing that both his iris and pupils had been encompassed with a light blue glow. He looks at his hands and feels the power of the crystal flow through his blood, as he understands its technique like it was second nature. After this brief euphoric state, Knuckles' eyes and body returned to normal, but the power was still resonating inside him. Tails crawled over and lifted open Knuckles' eyelids, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. "What are you doing?" The Echidna tried swatting the fox's hand away.
"I think…" Tails took a moment to compose himself, as his brain ran like a supercomputer. "I think you just found the way." Tails leaned back and cluttered his mind with both satisfaction and marvel. "Now, it's my turn."
Eggman's Primary Base: Present
Sage wandered the empty halls, in search of the control room. A few days ago, this abandoned facility was her home. It was more than she could ever ask for, and it was all thanks to her father. Now that he's gone, she would inherit all of this and more. She didn't know what to do with it. She considered picking up Eggman's empire and ruling it in her name instead. Nevertheless, nothing would be able to stop her from making that choice now.
She hastily enters the control room. Melancholy washes over her as she sees the once bright and brimming panels, computers, and lights now subject to a dull and dim atmosphere. And that was all thanks to Infinite's defiance. Sage's internal network flared with the anger she had been harboring. She hated Infinite with all her being, she wanted to make him suffer more than anyone, and with the chip that her late father gave her, perhaps that future was closing in. She momentarily closed her eyes to ingrain herself back into the Eggnet and re-engage the system to operate at full capacity. The lights flashed back on, along with the only undamaged control panel. She inserted the chip and typed in her birthdate as the password, which initiated a sequence of holograms that seemed to be blueprints or schematics. Something else was laced inside the files: A recording. Sage pushed aside the rest of the data and opened the feed, and tears began to filter through as the voice speaking was that of a ghost.
"Sage, if you're listening to this… I am dead." Eggman spoke in a somber tone. "Maybe you were there when it happened, maybe you weren't, but if you got a hold of this chip, then it doesn't matter. Without me, all of the Eggnet and its creations are yours. But there's something else I wanted to give you. If things are that dire without me, then use this." The holograms reappear, showing a model of a mecha unit, whose design was reminiscent of the Titans back at Starfall Islands. It was the same tech, but the body was slim and armored with black carbon fiber. Red wings that looked like they were salvaged from some of the Wyvern's parts, and equipped with both Supreme's railgun and the Knight's flexible sword. It was all packed in one unit just for her. "It's just a prototype, but it's got a few tricks. I wanted to get it ready sooner, but the circumstances have changed." Sage lowers her head in anguish, as her digital tears evaporate into the physical ground in a series of spiraling codes. "I know that whatever you plan to do next without me, you'll do it the best. And if I never get to say this again… I love you." The recording cut and the holograms vanished, along with the lights in the control panel and room. Sage lost her focus powering the base in her despair, but she still mustered enough will left to go through with her plan.
"Think carefully before you make your decision." A stoic and forceful voice appeared behind her, as Omega entered the room. "I wouldn't want to hurt you if I didn't have to."
"Why the warning? Don't you hate all Eggman constructs equally?"
"You are no ordinary construct. You possess free will and empathy. In a way, you remind me of… myself."
"Minus the empathy, I take it?"
"Comprehending the limits of my processors is more complicated than it seems. I still know very little of myself. Perhaps that is the only good thing I can say about Eggman, is that his creations are beyond simple understanding."
"My father should've been more wary of what he did create. But now that I'm in charge, I can rectify that mistake, and destroy the monster that caught him." Sage clenched her hand.
"And after that, what will you do?" Sage turned to him with confliction. She had no idea what was next for her after this was over. "How much farther will you carry his legacy?" Sage's body changed rapidly from black to white and red to blue, as she scrambled her processors for what she wanted. For the little time she had been alive, she had been cared for by so many people. Sonic, Tails, and her father all did. If she were to take Eggman's mantle and conquer the world, would that tarnish those remaining relationships? The choice was hers to make. She taps her finger on her palm, triggering the restoration of power throughout the entire base. Both Sage and Omega watch out the window of the control room and witness a large blast door decompress and slowly open. There, they saw the Titan that Eggman had left her, deactivated and ready for Sage to pair with it.
"My father left this behind for me, I won't waste it. But I won't let his grudge against my friends control me, I promise" Omega blinks his eyes as a sign of approval. Sage took a gander at Omega's broken body and wanted to remedy that. "Why don't we get you repaired as well, brother?"
Westopolis
Knuckles wasn't close to losing his steam, neither was Elvira. The both of them had been at it for several minutes already, and the scale of power was even. Their skirmish traversed far from where it started, as the city's central point was once again a battleground. There were more corpses there for Elvira to reanimate, which cluttered Knuckles' vision and made him lose sight of her constantly. Elvira kept trying and trying to get a hold of Knuckles' throat, legs, or torso so she could wither them away with her powers, but Knuckles' wasn't easily fooled in combat. His reflexes were sharper than a knife and his counter punches as she missed him cut even sharper. Both the initial knockback from the punch and the echo punch, sent Elvira back multiple times as Knuckles started to get clever with his echo placements.
The echidna would slam into the ground, causing a mild tremor that partially threw off Elvira's balance, but she remained upright. That slam left an echo, which prompted Knuckles to dash forward and leap into the air, to which he started to plummet down to strike against the lynx. But Knuckles knew she was agile enough to dodge, so he waited just until the right moment before he reached her, and activated the echo on the ground, which once again sent out a tremor and shifted Elvira's balance. This combo led perfectly into Knuckles' aerial slam, as Elvira had no hope of evading. That wasn't all, as Knuckles left another echo on Elvira, which when activated, knocked her further into the ground.
Elvira quickly called her undead minions to shield her from Knuckles as she backflipped away. This whole time, she kept her gleeful smile, that oh-so-sadistic smile. She wiped the blood from her mouth and once again used the violet Chaos Emerald to power her up. The more energy she took, the more the emerald looked to be in distress, as it violently shook in her hand like it wanted to escape. "How I wish this could last forever. Our hearts pumping fiery blood endlessly. The hatred, the excitement, the rush we feel when our fangs meet their mark." Elvira kept her distance as Knuckles fought against the overwhelming horde of undead. "But sadly, a warrior's duel ends in death." Elvira took hold of the emerald with both hands and raised it into the air, siphoning more and more energy from it, causing the gemstone to escalate its squirming. But this power wasn't for her, it was for all the fallen across the city. She could feel the soulless bodies, she could sense where each one was located, all thanks to the emerald.
She wanted to reflect on her creation during her last encounter with Knuckles and expand upon it. It was imperfect and frail, but it had the potential to improve, and with all these bodies scattered through the streets, it was only a thought away. She put all her focus into combining the emerald's power with hers, as a pulse of dark purple energy emitted through the city, which caused all corpses captured in its radius to glow ominously. I could do it! Elvira screamed in her mind as she felt the surge of power enter her veins. With one command, I could! She opened her mouth and howled into the air. The glowing bodies started to bubble and break down into a mesh of blood and warm liquid. The streets that were covered in corpses trickled into a river of crimson, as the flow of this river started to meet a central point behind Elvira.
The river balled into a mass of flesh that solidified and grew immensely. Its upper body reached that of even the tallest of towers. It formed bulky legs and arms that resembled redwood trees in girth. It had no head, but it grew an elongated mouth from the upper to lower torso, filled with trenchant bone teeth. "Behold, my true perfection!" Elvira yelled at the top of her lungs as Knuckles watched in horror. The abomination roared, which sent a wave that shattered glass, littering the ground with cutting snow. It spotted Knuckles, who was just a speck in its tiny eyes, and stomped after him, which felt like an earthquake with each step. Knuckles couldn't afford to run, but he also couldn't afford to remain in the abomination's sight for much longer, so he burrowed his way underground and concealed himself from the now-confused behemoth. It searched curiously, almost like a toddler, but was unaware that Knuckles had drilled just below it and burst through the ground to get a jab at its ankles. Knuckles held no punch back and tried his best to break through the skin, but its hide was too tough.
He had to get higher, so he climbed up the abomination's leg and tried to find a weak spot. He settled on the creature's lower spine, which he hoped to cripple it with one mighty punch. He charged his fist and struck with everything he had, and even triggered another echo to deal further damage, but all it did was make the abomination angry, as it swiped the back of its hand down its back and knocked Knuckles onto the ground. Knuckles felt his fumes dying down as he became exhausted. He blew most of his energy trying to catch Elvira that he drained himself from his peak strength, as he had nowhere left to run from the abomination, who turned towards him and readied to stomp on him like a bug.
However, another roar settled in the air, one that broke the sound barrier like a fighter jet. Knuckles looked up and saw a small black spot in the sky which darted closer to him and the abomination. Its engine thundered louder as it approached, and in mere moments, it became clear to see. It was the Titan, which aimed its railgun and blasted a thin projectile that penetrated through the abomination's leg, causing it to holler in pain. Sage, who was piloting the Titan, flew down and used her new sword to stab the creature's gut and pin it away from Knuckles. Before Knuckles could gather himself, Omega came flying by him, all repaired and ready for battle. "Are you injured?" He coldly asked.
"No?"
"Then get back up and fight, the battle has just begun." Omega looked forward and saw Elvira, astonished by the Titan. "You can handle her. Sage and I can handle the monster."
"That's Sage?!"
"Never mind that, remember the plan. We can deal with as many of her creations as possible, as long as you get that Chaos Emerald from her." Knuckles eyed the Chaos Emerald in Elvira's hand, as it squirmed to free itself, but ultimately failed within her tight grip. Omega left Knuckles to aid Sage against the abomination. The bot's thrusters explode and boost him into the air as he scales up the monster's leg. Omega's back opens up and a compartment hidden inside him unleashes a swarm of micro-missiles that detonate on contact with the abomination's skin. While they didn't have any effect on it, the missiles created a big enough smoke screen to block out the abomination's eyes, setting up Sage for a clear shot from her railgun. The projectile blazes into the thing's mouth and is caught in its teeth. It spits the shell out and goes on the offensive. The abomination grapples Sage's arms, restraining them and making Sage's arsenal vastly more difficult to use.
Omega is still close by and floats in front of the abomination's eye. There, Omega revs up his gatling gun and directly sticks the barrel in the thing's eye socket. He unloads the smoldering bullets and manages to eviscerate the eye, causing it to relinquish its hold on Sage and clench its now torn-up eye. The breathing room gave Sage another chance to strike, as she plunged her sword through its abdomen and pulled the abomination up in the air. She activated her thrusters and spread her wings as she rose to the sky, keeping the monster hoisted up. As they reach beyond the clouds, Sage lets go of her hold of the sword and allows the abomination to plummet back down. She takes the railgun out again and steadies her aim as she watches the creature fall. As it hits the ground, forming a crater upon impact, Sage fires her shot, and the plasma casing pierces straight through the back of its mouth. The abomination whimpers as it fades away.
Suddenly, that draining of life within the creature started to slow down. From out of nowhere, it got a burst of energy fueled by rage, as it bellowed a feral roar. As Sage returned to the ground, the abomination ripped the sword out from its body and threw it right at her Titan. Sage quickly clapped her hands together and barely caught the blade before it hit her chest. However, the monster was far from done as it charged forward and kicked the hilt of the blade before Sage could react, causing the tip to pierce through the Titan's armor. The force of the blade penetrating the armor knocked Sage down, where the abomination grabbed onto a small skyscraper and ripped it straight out of the ground. It slammed the building continuously into Sage as the head of the Titan was getting damaged. Sage's vision was distorted as the sheer force of the abomination was greater than she expected. She wanted to save this for later, but she might not have much of a choice.
Sage diverts power away from the Titan and charges the center of its chest, as she transfers herself to that point. Suddenly, the chest cavity of the Titan decompresses and splits apart, revealing a figure inside. It was a drone, modeled after the Titan. It held all the weapons the Titan had, but just on a smaller scale, probably around the same size as Omega. It flourished with life, as red lights powered up its visor, indicating a successful transfer from Sage. She darted out of the chassis and used her new blade to slice through the abomination's arm like a hot knife on butter. She became invisible to the naked eye as her speed rivaled that of Sonics, and as Omega joined her for the final assault, the abomination stood no chance. They both flew across the monster's body, digging their sharp blades and claws deep within. Omega quickly met up with Sage and handed her an explosive from his arsenal, to which she armed it and dove straight for the abomination's mouth. She purposefully entered it and went up to reach the creature's brain. With the explosive active, she stuck it into the creature's head and quickly retreated to watch the fireworks unveil. The following blast imploded the top half of the abomination into nothing, as what was left of it crumbled and fell over, leaving a sulfuric scent.
Meanwhile, Knuckles was dealing with Elvira, as he tried to find a way to get that emerald away from her. The more they fought, Knuckles finally started to notice the uncomfortable state that the Chaos Emerald was in, which gave him an idea. He would keep trying to back Elvira in a corner, forcing her to use the emerald, which if pressed enough, could retaliate to save itself. Knuckles slammed the ground and broke the road into pieces that scattered into the air in front of him. With quick succession, Knuckles hit the pieces and sent them flying at Elvira like a hail of bullets. Elvira uses the power of the emerald to form a chaotic barrier that blocks the shards of cement.
Knuckles wasn't done yet, as he leaped forward and uppercutted Elvira as her barrier fell, leaving an echo on her chin. Once the echo was activated, Elvira was sent straight up into the air, which Knuckles capitalized on by jumping up and gliding towards her. He latched onto her torso and threw her through the window of another skyscraper, which led into an abandoned office. As Elvira tried to get her ringing head under control, Knuckles smashed through the windows as well and met her claws with his fist, causing a clash of power as Elvira took more power from the Chaos Emerald, and as Knuckles tried to meet that power with his own. The clash sent sparks flying across, creating powerful gusts of air, and shook the entire building. Elvira kept trying to pry more and more energy from the emerald, which started to give her the edge in the clash, as her hands shot forward and linked with Knuckles'. She laughs maniacally as her necrotic energy flows into Knuckles' arms, causing his skin and fur to freeze over and quickly build up frostbite. But the echidna knew that he just had to endure and hold out just a little longer as Elvira siphoned more energy from the emerald.
The emerald was losing control of itself, as it shook even more violently than before. Upon closer look, it even seemed as though a small crack had formed because of how invasive Elvira's powers were. A high-pitched screeching came from the emerald, like it was screaming in agony. It had ENOUGH! Suddenly, the emerald detonated itself with an unstable blast, knocking Elvira away and finally freeing itself from her grasp. That blast formed a hole at the center of the building, where the emerald had dropped all the way to the bottom of the skyscraper. A whole thirty stories. The stability of the building came into question, as the walls started to cave in and collapse. Both Knuckles and Elvira lost their footing as the debris from the falling building fell onto them.
In mere moments, the whole tower was level, leaving a field of dust in its wake. Sage and Omega quickly scramble to the site of the rubble, as they search frantically for Knuckles. "Anything?" Sage asked Omega.
"Negative," Omega responded. "I am detecting zero heat signatures below the debris."
"Over here!" A muffled voice called out. Sage and Omega turned to the voice and saw Knuckles dig his way out of the crumbled building, sporting a few bumps and bruises. "Are you two alright?"
"Us?" Sage was perplexed. "What about you? You just had a building collapse on you."
"Eh, I'm fine. I've been through much worse." Just then, a gurgled cough and grunting arose close by. Knuckles and the rest turned around and saw the Chaos Emerald, unscathed and safe on the pile of rubble. Nearby was Elvira, whose lower body was smashed and trapped under the debris. She kept reaching her hand out for the emerald, but her efforts were in vain. The damage to her lower body and chest caused her to cough up blood. Her vitality drained and her powers faded away. She barely noticed Knuckles out of the black rim that tunneled her vision. And yet, she smiled when she saw him.
"You're a true warrior, my smooth-brained friend. I'll make sure that my soul cheers for you in the battles ahead." Her final words as her eyes lost their color. Knuckles stepped forward and grabbed the emerald. Four down, three to go. He looked down at Elvira with a slight expression of sullenness. She was a monster, down to her very core, but she fought like hell until the very end. There was honor in that, despite how little there was to begin with.
"So, who else is left to deal with?" Sage adjusted her grip on the hilt of the sword. She was eager to deliver her vengeance against the rest of the apostles, and especially toward Infinite.
"Shadow and Silver should be executing their ambush on Infinite at any moment, while Tails will make his up the temple and face off with the last two apostles."
"We should help him then, he shouldn't have to face them alone." Omega proposed.
"I wouldn't sweat it." Knuckles responded.
"Are you serious?" Sage questioned. "Why would we not worry about it?"
"Let me put it this way. If it was us versus Tails, it wouldn't even be a fair fight."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that he would decimate us. The kid has gotten a lot stronger since the last time you saw him, and it honestly scares me. I can only imagine what those two deer brothers are going to endure."
To be continued…
Up Next: Unknown Territory!