Chapter 50: Finale Part 1:The Final Battle Begins
"Ok, so let's round up everything that we know now." Chris said. "The Seedrians and the Metarex are the same species that became divided on the topic of a war that was ravaging their planet… this planet."
Tails nodded.
"Not only that… but Dark Oak himself is Cosmo's father." Tails said sadly. "They also have access to something called Mover Mode, which gives them great power in exchange for their own life… but by using a Planet Egg, they don't have to worry about that."
"They also plan on using the fake Chaos Emeralds to essentially create only forest planets throughout the universe, wiping out all animal life in the process, waiting for a certain event on the planet where their base is located." Sonic added. "And Eggman was undercover, trying to steal all this info from them to help fight against all of it."
"So what? Go in, save Eggy and get out? Sounds easy!" Tangle asked.
"No… I don't think it'll be that easy…" Tails said. "Just… let me finish."
Tangle shrugged.
"Alright, what's left?" Sonic asked.
"There's also the fact that through Cosmo's eyes and ears, he knows everything we come up with to fight against him." Tails said. "I… think it's really worrying that he gave that away to be honest…"
Tangle was confused by this.
"Wait what? Why?" Tangle asked.
"Well, think about it." Tails said. "That was probably his biggest advantage in all of this… and he basically just told us about it... right after stealing our Chaos Emerald."
Chris' eyes went wide at this.
"… He has them all." He said. "He let us know because he's confident that he's already won… because he's already gathered all seven Chaos Emeralds…"
"… Oh crud." Tangle breathed out. "Ok… so how do we do this?"
Sonic stepped in.
"Well, first of all, we have Cosmo with Cream, so Dark Oak doesn't find out what we have planned here... her own choice." He said. "As for how we fight him… well, first things first, we gotta rescue Eggman."
Tails nodded.
"I think a distraction plan is for the best then." He said. "We draw out their main forces, the two remaining Metarex bosses, while someone goes in and frees him."
"I'll do that." Chris said. "I'm the least suited for combat, at least against the bosses, so I'm the best choice."
Sonic shook his head.
"But that'll be dangerous… Dark Oak will for sure know you're there… so we'd need to distract him too…" Sonic said. "But… if he joins in with the other two and we don't have the Emeralds back by then…"
Everyone then looked worried.
Could they really do this?
…
Then, Tangle began to laugh.
"Uh… what's so funny?" Knuckles asked.
Tangle began to smirk.
"Oh, I was just thinking it was time to spring my big surprise!" She said happily. "Tails, Chris, did the two of you finish what I asked you to do?"
Tails smiled.
"We just have a couple of tweaks to make, it should be combat ready by the time we get there!" Tails said happily.
"Perfect!" Tangle said before turning to the group. "Then you can leave Dark Oak to me!"
…
"HUH?!"
Tangle was walking around the outside of Tails' workshop on the ship, anticipating the completion of this project, with Jewel watching in amusement.
Before long, the fox came outside, taking a pair of goggles off his face.
"And done! Your secret project is complete!" He said happily. "I think you'll REALLY like some of the features I added!"
"YEEEEEEEEE!" Tangle squealed. "BEST! EARLY BIRTHDAY GIFT! EVER!"
Tails couldn't help but laugh.
"You SURE you want this instead of an extreme gear?" He asked.
"Dude, you KNOW this is so much better than a hoverboard!" She said.
Tails shrugged.
"True… we're gonna be counting on you and…"
At that moment, he shut his mouth, cause Cosmo was approaching.
He absolutely despised the idea of keeping everything they had planned from Cosmo… but the girl herself had requested that they did so.
It made the most sense, but that didn't make everyone hate it any less.
"Hello everyone… I wanted to talk to the three of you about something... before the final battle." Cosmo said. "I've… done some thinking… and I have a request for when this is over…"
She then took a deep breath and looked at them dead in the eyes.
"Can… I return to your home with you… and live alongside all of you?"
The trio's eyes went wide at this… none of them ever considered what Cosmo would want to do after this whole journey came to an end.
That being said, the answer was so obvious.
"OF COURSE!" Tangle said before pulling her in for a hug. "We would LOVE for you to stick around! Right Tails?!"
Tails was smiling widely.
"Of course!"
Cosmo smiled too, before hugging back.
Tangle then got a smug look on her face, as she pulled Tails close, and somehow managed to swap places with him, resulting in him and Cosmo hugging instead.
The two turned away, embarrassed.
And Tangle just laughed to herself as she watched this happen…
"I won't let anyone die… I promise…"
When the Blue Typhoon was approaching the Metarex base, they quickly saw that the two remaining Metarex Bosses were heading straight towards them.
"Ok… everyone ready?" Sonic asked.
"YEAH!" Everyone cheered.
"THEN LET'S END THIS!" Sonic said, before everyone ran to their respective positions.
Before they headed out though, Sonic pulled Tangle aside.
"Hey… you sure you'll be alright?" He asked. "I mean… after last time…"
Tangle smiled.
"Surpass myself and save the day… right?" She asked. "I'll be fine… I'm not really alone this time… remember?"
Sonic smiled and nodded.
"That's my student… alright. Go kick his butt!" Sonic said. "Hit him extra hard for Cosmo!"
"I was planning on it!" Tangle said as she jumped down a hole in the hanger.
Sonic watched her form disappear down the hole and smiled.
He really was proud of that girl.
"Sonic, you ready to go?"
Sonic turned around, and saw someone else he was proud of…
Chris.
The little boy that saved him from drowning, the same one who had given them a home back when they were stranded in his world.
The boy who was now a grown man, who built a portal to Mobius, who had joined them on this journey and saved their butts on so many occasions.
Tangle and Chris… since Sonic had met them, they had grown so much.
He put on his trademark grin and jumped onto the wing of the X Tornado.
"Let's do this!"
Dark Oak watched on as his highest ranking officials faced off against Sonic and his friends, slightly amused.
He knew they'd be coming, even without Cosmo acting as his spy, it was obvious.
What was also amusing was that they seemed to think that he wouldn't notice the red ship that crashed into the base, probably intending on rescuing Dr. Eggman.
He got up from his seat, and weighed his options.
He could prevent the Doctor's rescue… but joining his mightiest warriors to thoroughly crush Sonic… that was the best option.
So… he readied his blade and…
"Sir! One of them is heading straight towards you!" Black Narcissus said through their communication channel.
"Excuse me?" He asked.
"A single small craft, heading straight towards the base! It's going straight towards where you are sir!" Narcissus explained.
Looking out the window, Dark Oak indeed saw something heading straight for him.
Shortly after, the window shattered, with the craft… or rather, person skidding to a stop.
"Alright ugly, ready for round two?!" Tangle said, clenching her fist.
Over her normal outfit, she was wearing what appeared to be a suit of armor, covered from head to toe in lights.
The armor was yellow… and of a material very familiar to Dark Oak.
"… You DARE?!" Dark Oak shouted. "Using the armor of my fallen ally against me?!"
"Yeah, knew that'd tick you off." Tangle said with a shrug. "Fair game I'd say, since you used your own daughter and our friend to spy on us!"
Dark Oak didn't humor her quip, and pulled out his sword.
"You FOOL! I CRUSHED you last time! I showed you MERCY! I will NOT make the same mistake again!" Dark Oak said before rushing over and raising the sword above his head. "No amount of armor will save you now!"
Tangle jumped back, not fast enough on her own to dodge the sword swing…
Good thing she wasn't on her own this time.
Jets shot out from her feet and hands, giving her just enough speed to back away and dodge the attack.
"Maybe not with YOUR armor! But I had the two smartest guys in the universe give it some… improvements!" Tangle said with a smirk.
She then used the jets to fly forward, before the ones in her hands changed to her right elbow, causing her to launch a very quick, very powerful punch on Dark Oaks face, sending him flying back and into the wall, his sword falling to the ground behind Tangle.
When he got back to his feet, he seemed to be glaring at her.
"I may have almost died when I fought you alone last time… but I am NOT alone now!" Tangle said as she sped forward, before jets shot out around her tail, sending it flying forward (though not stretching) at an incredible speed.
Dark Oak met the attack with his own fist.
"SO BRING IT ON!"
The two leapt backwards, and Dark Oak began to charge, with Tangle deciding to keep a distance and blast him with lasers from her palms.
"MAN this thing is so COOL!" She said, admiring the lasers.
She was disappointed that the lasers didn't seem to be doing much, but still, her goal was to be a distraction, not take him down.
But at the same time…
She quickly jumped over a roundhouse from Dark Oak, before nailing him on the head with a jet propelled Tail Hammer, causing him to fall to his knees.
She then hit him in the back with a Tail Spin, before using her tail to spring from the ceiling and hit him again with another Tail Hammer.
This caused a large crack to appear on his back.
Tangle landed behind him and smirked.
"Not so tough now that I can actually damage you, huh?!" Tangle asked.
Dark Oak seemed to get annoyed by this, before getting up and grabbing his sword.
"It doesn't matter… you'll die all the same." He said. "You… and all you savage beasts!"
Tangle frowned.
"You REALLY don't like us animals huh?" Tangle asked. "You really betrayed your own people… your own wife just because you couldn't STAND the idea of us existing!"
Dark Oak clenched his fist.
"Because all you do is destroy!" He said. "I've seen the destruction, I've SEEN the carnage! All you beasts wish to do is destroy the very essence of your worlds and others! I will NOT allow that to continue as long as I draw breath!"
Tangle frowned.
"You… really are dumb, aren't you?" She asked. "Yeah, you're right… on some worlds, there are animals like us… and they want to do nothing but destroy, to conquer everything and abuse powers beyond their understanding."
She thought back to what Tikal showed her so long ago.
"… But at the same time, there are those who want nothing more than to protect the planet, to see it thrive."
She thought back to Chris, and the gang back on their world.
"And even now, there are some of us who are fighting to protect this hope… against madmen who wish to destroy it all like you."
She thought of Sonic, and everyone outside fighting.
"There are even some that want to spread the joy the world gives… to show everyone just how beautiful it could be…"
To Jewel… and finally…
To Cosmo.
"Cosmo… your own child believes that we can live together in harmony… I doubt she's the only plant in the universe who thinks that way." Tangle said as she stepped forward. "And I also believe that out there, there are animals like us who want nothing more than to live with plants like you…
So… I am here today, to protect that hope… to save our home..."
She held up her palm, and charged a laser.
"And to stop YOU!"
Her palm began to glow…
"You may have given up hope of us coexisting, but I hate to break it to you… I'M NOT GIVING UP YET!"
She fired the laser, which Dark Oak swatted away, before charging and grabbing her.
"… Ok, note to self, after cheesy speech, don't just fire a single laser…" She said.
Dark Oak punched her in the gut with all his strength.
She flew into the wall and fell to the ground…
But unlike last time, she was able to get up rather easily.
"Oh yeah, this armor is so cool." She said with a smile, looking at the barrier that had formed over her stomach.
It used the same tech that the Typhoon used for its shields.
In fact, a lot of the armor's functions were based on similar functions from the Typhoon, just on a much smaller scale.
Hence, it was dubbed the "Yellow Cyclone."
She then put her hands together to fire TWO lasers at Dark Oak!
Not even she expected the armor to reform when she did this, creating a large energy cannon.
She had stars in her eyes as she let out a huge gasp when she saw this.
"NO WAY! THIS ARMOR IS SO COOL!" She shouted as she fired a giant laser blast, hitting Dark Oak square in the chest.
When the armor reformed back to normal, she stared at her hands in awe.
"What's next? A plasma sword?!" She asked as she began holding her hands together like she was holding a sword…
And a plasma sword formed.
She just stared at it in amazement, before she began rapidly shaking and bouncing in place.
She may be facing down an evil Overlord for the sake of the universe, but she was having the time of her life doing so.
Dark Oak picked up his sword, and began to charge, with Tangle charging as well, and they both swung their swords at each other, causing them to clash.
Turns out: Plasma swords powered by hyper-concentrated ring energy can easily cut through normal swords!
So, Dark Oak's sword was cut in half, and was dealt a heavy blow to his chest, creating a massive gash in his armor.
He fell to his knees, his armor sparking with electricity.
Tangle had won.
"You can't beat me like this! Give up!" Tangle said, pointing the tip of her sword at her opponent. "Tell me where the Chaos Emeralds are!"
Then… Dark Oak began to laugh.
Suddenly, the whole base began to shake.
"Wh-what the…?" She asked.
"I see… so the Doctor escaped and decided to destroy the base from the inside…" Dark Oak said. "No matter… I will proceed as planned… Purge everything except the core block."
And just like that, the base seemed to be falling apart around them.
"Whoa!" Tangle said before she began to fly with her suit.
When it all stopped, the base was gone, leaving branches atop Planet Aquarius behind, Dark Oak standing atop of them and shortly after, joined by the two bosses.
The seven Chaos Emeralds shining behind them.
Then, he began to extend his arms.
"When the sleeping land meets the dawn… it will be purified in a haze!" He shouted.
Then, the space around him began to become distorted, before a bright light began to shine on them.
"Uh Tails? What's going on?!" Tangle asked.
The voice that responded was not Tails, but rather Eggman.
"It would appear that the Galaxy Corridor is intersecting at this point… anything major that happens here may very well be spread across the universe!" He explained. "So if they cause a complete forestation of that planet…"
Tangle's eyes went wide.
"NO!" She shouted before charging at them.
It seemed that Sonic and Shadow (the later of which she was surprised to see) had the same idea, with the two of them trying to spin attack Dark Oak.
Their attack wasn't successful though, as a wall of light sent the three of them flying back.
When they regathered their bearings they saw the roots they were standing on were spreading through the planet below, not only that, but the three Metarex's armors began to crack, before shattering, revealing that their bodies had completely turned to vines themselves.
"Oh that is CREEPY!" Tangle pointed out.
The vines spread, and destroyed the entire Metarex armada…
They were the only ones left.
When it all stopped…
"So… is that the Mover form that they have…?" Tangle asked.
Tails nodded.
"Yeah… the last one." Tails said.
And finally, Cosmo spoke up.
"… Final Mover…"
"… Can we go with Mova? That sounds more menacing." Tangle asked.
"Sure." Tails said with a shrug.
The group stared on in horror, as the three Metarex bosses fused together, creating a beast with three dragon heads atop the planet now covered in vines.
"Everyone! This is it!" Tails said. "We KNEW we had to face whatever it was that they had planned when we came here! We can't stop now that we're looking at it!"
"He's right!" Sonic chimed in. "We're the only ones who can stop this! So let's do it to it!"
"TOGETHER!" Everyone shouted.
Everyone who could launched their attacks on Final Mova, though they seemed fruitless.
They completely shrugged it off, one of the heads even rammed into Sonic while on its way to ram into the Typhoon, before a large explosion was seen on the ship.
"SONIC!" Tangle shouted.
Suddenly, she was sent flying towards the Typhoon as a dragon head rammed into her, before trying to hit her with the same energy beam that hit Sonic a moment ago.
She quickly regathered her bearings, before flying up and intercepting the attack.
When the smoke cleared, everyone saw her falling onto the hull of the ship, her armor destroyed.
"Tangle!" Jewel shouted before running outside, and helping Tangle to her feet.
"I'm good… sore, but good." Tangle said. "I'm gonna miss that armor…"
She had tears in her eyes when she realized that the Cyclone Armor was gone.
"… Tangle, you know what's going on…" Jewel said.
Tangle nodded.
They knew it going into this fight, but now, seeing what they were against… it was incredibly obvious.
This was the final battle… and that meant one thing.
"… If that fortune isn't bogus… I have a choice to make soon…"
She stood up and stared at Final Mova…
"I WILL make the right choice… I have to…" She said.
At that moment, Amy seemed to be in trouble, but Sonic jumped out of the ship and saved her…
However… then things went terribly wrong, as a spout of water shot out from under him, sending him right at one of the dragon heads…
And it ate him.
"SONIC!" Everyone screamed.
Tangle clenched her fist, and stomped her foot in frustration.
"WHAT KIND OF CHOICE DID I HAVE THERE, HUH?!" She shouted. "Fortunes are STUPID!"
Suddenly, Tails' voice chimed in on the speakers
"We can't give up! Everyone come back to the ship, and we will regroup!" Tails said.
Tangle turned to Jewel, who nodded.
And, they went towards the bridge.
"So… we just need to shut down the Chaos Emeralds… right?" Tangle asked as she walked in.
Everyone was surprised that she was the first one to speak up.
"Yeah, that probably would be the best course of action." Eggman said.
Shortly after, the whole ship shook.
"Sorry about that! Just had to dock my base onto your ship!" Eggman said sheepishly.
Tangle ignored that and kept talking.
"I've… done a lot of thinking on the way here to this fight." Tangle admitted. "We've always used the Chaos Emeralds ourselves to help save the world… but I was thinking that this was the first time that we were against them…
But after thinking about it… I was wrong… cause we needed to beat them on the Ark… remember?"
Knuckles eyes went wide.
"Of course! And that means we can use the same solution!" He said happily.
At that moment, Tikal chimed in.
"The Master Emerald."
Tails nodded.
"Alright… now how do we do this…" Tails said. "I guess… the best course of action is to route all of the Master Emerald's power to the Sonic Driver and fire it!"
Tikal and Knuckles nodded.
"It may cause the Master Emerald to shatter… but it's the best chance we got!" Tikal said.
And just like that, Knuckles got nervous.
"Huh? Shatter? What?!"
Everyone sweat-dropped.
"Uh… yeah, pretty sure the universe is more important than a rock that can regenerate from shattering…" Tangle said plainly.
"And don't worry… if we work together, we can surely make it so the regeneration wouldn't take… too long!" Tikal said happily.
"Though, we'd need power for the Sonic Driver itself…" Chris said.
"Leave that to me." Eggman said. "I'll provide the power myself!"
Everyone turned to each other, and nodded… though Knuckles did so looking incredibly upset.
"We'll need to distract Final Mova while you guys get set up… so the rest of us will go out there!" Amy said. "Let's do this!"
"YEAH!" Everyone cheered.
Tangle was about to leave with the others, but noticed something.
Chris handing Jewel a small laser gun.
"I'm not just gonna stand around… not this time." Jewel said, watching Chris leave. "This time, I'll be fighting too!"
Tangle smiled.
"That's my sis… now come on!" She said as the two turned to leave.
Before they left though, Tangle noticed something…
The idiot detectives were there, huddling around and discussing something.
"Probably planning on running away… figures…" Tangle thought.
Then, they turned towards the exit.
"Ok boys! This is it! Time to help save the universe!" Vector said.
"YEAH!" Charmy cheered.
"Let's go." Espio said.
Vector nodded.
"Chaotix! Move out!"
And with that, they left.
"… Are they… actually going to be doing something helpful?" Tangle asked.
"… Looks like it, yeah." Jewel said.
"… Huh… Well anyways, let's get moving!" Tangle said as the two began to run.
"HAAAAAA!" Tangle shouted as she hit one of the dragon heads with a tail hammer, but she was easily sent flying back, resulting in Jewel coming over and catching her, before shooting her laser at the head.
She dropped Tangle onto one of the vines that they were shooting out, and she began running.
She didn't even notice the vine heading straight towards her.
"Tangle watch out!" Jewel shouted.
Tangle turned around just in time to see the vine burst into flames.
Or rather, to see Vector light it on fire by…
"YOU CAN BREATH FIRE?!" Tangle asked in amazement.
"Hehe, crocodile trade secret!" He said with a thumbs up and a wink.
She then saw Espio, running up another vine and throwing exploding shurikens at one of the heads.
"… You know, I think my opinion of you guys finally improved!" Tangle said happily. "… You're still idiots, but at least there's that!"
At that moment, Tails spoke up.
"Everyone! The preparations are complete! Get away!"
Everyone nodded to each other, before taking a tactical retreat, with Jewel carrying Tangle away.
"Back to the ship, Jewel." Tangle said, earning a nod.
When they landed, Tangle quickly made her way to the bridge.
She made it there just in time to see the Sonic Driver fire, enveloping the whole planet before them in a bright light.
When the light cleared, a hole was in the base of Final Mova, and two of the heads were destroyed, and the final one crying out in pain.
"TAKE THAT YOU CREEPS!" Tangle shouted, feeling relieved.
It looks like they actually pulled it off!
Amy tried to go in and save Sonic, but vines shot out and destroyed her ship, resulting in the girl plummeting into the water planet…
And a moment later, she was coming back out, enveloped in light, and joined by…
"SONIC!" Everyone shouted.
"HAHA! AND NO-ONE DIES!" Tangle shouted in celebration.
However… that joy did not last…
"Wait… Final Mova's energy is rising?!" Tails suddenly said.
"Huh?!" Tangle asked. "What's that mean?!"
Tails looked over the data, and looked incredibly worried.
"I… Don't know! Wait… no!"
"Mind filling in the rest of the class kiddo?!" Tangle asked.
Tails took a deep breath.
"He's using his anger and sorrow to draw out the negative energy of the emeralds now… the last of their power." Tails said.
Tangle's eyes went wide as she watched as the water from the planet engulfed Final Mova, before it faded away… revealing a large, seed-like structure.
"… Oh crud…"
It wasn't over just yet.
Sonic and Shadow were easily able to see that this was bad news, and with Chris and Amy, they charged, but were easily repelled back to the ship.
Shortly after, the Chaotix, Knickles (with Tikal accompanying him, before returning to Tangle's mind) and Cream all came into the room, with the detectives carrying the Chaos Emeralds.
They looked like they were completely drained of their power.
"Shoot… we can't even have Sonic and Shadow go super like this…" Tangle said…
Then she noticed something… A slight glow to Cosmo's pendant.
"Uh… Cos-"
She was cut off by Eggman.
"I think I may be able to do something about the Chaos Emeralds." He said. "Bring them to me, and I might be able to use the remaining power of my ship to recharge them."
Before anyone could even begin to respond, Final Mova began to glow…
And suddenly, everyone fell to their knees.
"Wha- what… is happening… to me…" Knuckles asked. "I feel… so weak…"
"Dang it… Come on… move!" Tangle said, trying desperately to get to her feet.
Whatever was happening… it was completely draining everyone of their strength…
"I'm… supposed to be the sturdy one… I need to be able to…" Tangle said, before falling onto her stomach.
Then, she saw something…
Someone was moving.
Cosmo.
"… I'll take care of it." Cosmo said, before she grabbed the Chaos Emeralds and left.
"Cosmo wait!" Tails said, struggling to move.
Jewel stopped him though.
"Tails… let her do this." Jewel said. "She's unaffected by this light for some reason… she's the only one who can…"
And so… they waited…
They couldn't see what was happening, but heard Cosmo speak, speak about how much hope she had for the universe, and why she was fighting so hard.
Tails looked incredibly worried when they heard her gasp out in pain, as if she was attacked, and they saw the Chaos Emeralds fall into space.
"COSMO!" Tails screamed.
Suddenly, a bright light shot out of Final Mova, and suddenly, everyone felt their energy returning to them.
"I… can move?" Tangle asked.
They then watched, as the Chaos Emeralds began to float through the air, and regained their glow above Sonic and Shadow.
"The Planet Eggs…" Eggman said.
And no-one had to say anything…
The power of the Planet Eggs restored the Chaos Emeralds… and may have even powered them up a bit.
Tangle looked on… and knew what was coming.
Sonic and Shadow were about to go super, and save the day.
At that moment though, she felt someone tug on her leg.
Looking down, she saw Cream.
"I'm… worried about Ms. Cosmo…" She said. "I want to go check on her… but it's dangerous…"
And so… Tangle was faced with a choice.
She wanted to stay here… watch Sonic and Shadow go Super again and save the universe… but she also wanted to go and make sure her friend was alright.
So… those were her options… the choice she makes to decide one of her friend's fate is here
(A)Stay and Watch
(B)Check on Cosmo
End of Chapter 50
Tomorrow: We find out Tangle's choice, and Cosmo's fate.