GammaTron: *walks in wearing a raincoat with scuba gear underneath* This is it, readers! Last chapter of the Chaos Arc!
SZ: Eeyup. This is gonna be one epic battle!
GT: Most likely, yes. What with a few twists and turns in it and all…
SZ: Eeyup.
GT: Moving on to story! *drops the screen*
Knuckles landed down before the Master Emerald from his long glide, giving a relieved sigh. Chomp panted, his tail wagging at seeing his master come back. Knuckles walked up the stairs and presented the last three shards to the Master Emerald. The shards and the emerald glowed before they connected to each other, completing it. Knuckles pulled out the six Chaos Emeralds and laid them down around the top of the shrine in the direction he saw them face in those visions before taking a few steps back to look at his work.
"This should do it," Knuckles noted before the two felt the ground rumble and Chomp looked out to see them starting to rise up, "Perfect! All is well, now! The Master Emerald's restored and the island is back on its way into the sky." he looked out at the sky, petting Chomp's head when the dinosaur offered it, "I'll probably be on this floating island forever, guarding the Master Emerald once again. I may not know the whole story behind this...but perhaps it's better that way. I'm at peace once more."
Chomp panted happily at that. The two continued to look out as the island continued to go into the air.
"Ohhhh! I hate those blasted Freedom Fighters!" Eggman ranted as his seven main robots walked beside him, "They always seem to get in my way, be it being the royal hedgehogs or their team or another group entirely!"
"But I bet that they can never triumph over your master plan," Starscream noted.
"We've found him," Shockwave informed, pointing ahead to see a puddle of moving water.
"Chaos!" Eggman beamed as the puddle reformed into Chaos 0.
"Hold on," Onslaught advised as the Combaticons armed themselves, "There's something...wrong."
Chaos flashed red and black before rushing at them.
=Huh?! You lost the Tornado?=
"Sorry, Tails," Sonic apologized on the radio, "It was the best plane I've ever flown in and I'm really sorry that we lost it in all the chaos with Eggman's recent stunt."
=Um...Yeah...Speaking about that…=
"...Is...Is everything okay, Tails?" Sonic asked.
=Th...The power source for the Tornado II...it's, well…= Tails murmered at the end.
"I couldn't hear you. The engine's powered by what now?"
=A...A Chaos Emerald=
"Oh. I get it now. No wonder that plane was so powe-A CHAOS EMERALD?!" Sonic exclaimed.
=I-I found it during the festival!= Tails explained =I couldn't help it that I wanted to study the thing. But I learned that the energy inside of it is split into two=
"Two?" Sonic repeated.
=Yeah. A Positive energy and a Negative energy= Tails replied =Based on how someone is feeling at the time, the two energies split dominance. When you feel positive emotions, like hope or joy, the Positive energy is at the front and vice-versa when it's negative emotions, like despair and sadness=
"Tails, you gotta be more careful about these. Just because you have an IQ of 300 doesn't mean that you're always right about things," Sonic sighed, "And I may be the leader of a team, I'm not the guy who always make the plans that we do since everyone has something they're better at than others."
=I'm sorry…=
"It's fine. Still, that was pretty awesome that you managed to make a Chaos Emerald into a working plane engine and make that plane capable of transforming," Sonic complimented.
=T-Thanks, Sonic-nii…=
"It's no problem, Tails. I'll make sure to find the Tornado II and get it back to you to see how you can make it even better, like running off a fake Chaos Emerald or something."
=A fake Chaos Emerald? Hmm...Maybe I could if I had one to study with=
"I'm kinda surprised that you were the one who answered and not White, too."
=Oh, that's because he went out with Miyuki-nee, Shukaku-nee, and Niichan= Tails replied =They went out with a few of the warriors, too=
'They must have gotten word about what's going to go down at Robotropolis,' Sonic thought, "Okay, Tails. Just be safe and listen to your older sisters, okay? And I'll make sure to bring back the Tornado II to Ryugu once I find it."
=I will=
Sonic nodded as he hung up before running out to the group, Carmelita having left to go to the Interpol HQ in the area, "Okay, we need to find the plane Tails made and those three brothers fast."
"What's up?" Sonia asked.
"Turns out that Tails used the last Chaos Emerald as the engine's power source," Sonic explained.
"Woah! Wait, what?!" Manic exclaimed, "Little dude had a Chaos Emerald!?"
"That's what I said," Sonic nodded, "Which means right now those three racoon brothers have it, so we better hurry and find them fast."
"Found them," Makoto replied, pointing out to see the three coming out of the jungle with Jake's mouth filled to the brim with foliage.
"Yum…" Jake muffled out before swallowing it all, "Belly full now."
"At least he made a clear path for us," Jacky noted as Jake burped up a beetle that flew away quickly.
"That was revolting, Jake! I understand that you were hungry, most likely from not eating anything for the last few months while under possession by Chaos, but still…!" J exclaimed in disgust.
"But J, didn't you always tell me and Jacky to eat our greens?" Jake asked
"Well yes but…!" J began before sighing, "Curse me and not being clear about what kinds of greens need to be eaten…"
"There you guys are!" Alpha exclaimed, "Where's the plane?"
"Jake crashed it into a tree," Jacky replied.
"I did not. You did," Jake argued.
"Only because you covered my eyes while trying to play guess who!" Jacky argued.
"That was still the most terrifying ride in my entire life," J paled a bit.
"Focus! What tree did you hit?" Alpha asked, "You know those Chaos Emeralds? One was in the plane! If Eggman or his forces get to it first and they have that Chaos thing…"
"Um, guys?" Ben called out, lowering his binocucom, "There's an island falling from the sky."
"What? But I thought Knuckles had all the pieces!" Sonic exclaimed, "Okay...Uh...Ben, you, me, Roll, and Ragna will go check on the Knucklehead. Haseo, you stay here with Tsubaki and Makoto to wait for Noel to wake up. The rest of you go find the Tornado II and get it back to the bus. After that, we're heading for Robotropolis."
"H-hai, S...Sonic-Onii-chan," Haseo nodded.
"Ugh. I don't get it. The Master Emerald is back where it belongs, but Angel Island still keeps falling when we try to go back to the original height or move away from here," Knuckles scowled as Chomp whimpered as the island fell back into the water, "This just doesn't make any sense." he looked at the Emerald, "Maybe if Grandfather Athair were still alive, he'd know." he looked at the Emeralds, "Maybe...those Chaos Emeralds that I brought back with me…" he picked up the six, "...They might have something to do with what's happening. I'll take them to Sonia for advice." he ran down the stairs, "Chomp, stay here and guard the Master Emerald."
Chomp nodded with a bark. He looked over the bridge nearby and growled. Knuckles looked and blinked twice. Eggman was facedown on the ground, surrounded by his downed robots, the lights on them all turned off with bits of damage to them.
"Eggman!" Knuckles gasped before he ran over the bridge, "What the hell happened here?"
"Th-This is terrible!" Eggman coughed out, "Ch...Chaos is…"
"Is what?" Knuckles asked as Eggman passed out, "Aw damn it."
The sound of something popping and water rippling was the last he heard before the world went dark.
"So those big chunks of emerald were just shards of an even bigger one?" Ragna asked as the four emerged from a tunnel to the area where the Master Emerald was located.
"Like you wouldn't believe," Sonic replied, "It's as big as Gravattack when he curls up into a ball, even!"
"Just without the gravity powers…" Ben shrugged.
"...Soka…" Ragna noted before he stopped, "...Something's not right."
"Huh?" Sonic stopped before Roll's ear twitched.
"Whimpering?" Roll pondered, looking over at the bridge and gasped, "Oh, Chomp!"
"Chomp?" Ragna repeated before seeing the red and blue dinosaur, whimpering over something, "What the hell?!"
"Surprised me, too," Ben shrugged, "A real live dinosaur of all things."
Sonic ran over to Chomp and saw he was whimpering over a downed Knuckles, "Knuckles!" he looked nearby and blinked twice, "Eggman, too?!"
"U-Ugh…" the echidna groaned, "Sonic...uhh, sorry…"
"What happened here?" Roll asked as the other three ran up.
"He...He stole the Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles explained, the two Mobians helping him up to lie against a post of the bridge.
"Who? Who stole the Chaos Emeralds?"
"I….it...it was Chaos."
"Damn. So the rabbit was telling the truth…" Ragna scowled as Eggman got up, reactivating his seven robots.
"Aaaagh! He's not going to get away with this!" Eggman growled, getting into his overturned machine and flying off, the three flyers taking off in their vehicles modes with Onslaught, Swindle, Shockwave, and Brawl grabbing onto them.
"Sonic...Chaos...Even without a single Chaos Emerald...he...he's a fearsome beast," Knuckles got out, "Especially with...when he turns black and red…"
"?!" Ragna's eyes widened, "Black and red?"
"It...It'd sometimes change to almost an azure in color at times when he was in...that state…" Knuckles passed out again.
"Oh my…" Roll whispered as Chomp whimpered, "Daijobu, Chomp-chan. We'll make sure he's okay. Just stay guarding the Master Emerald for him, hai?"
Chomp nodded as he went back over the bridge and curled around the ruins. Ragna clenched his fists as he looked at the ground.
"Black and Red...to Azure…" Ragna whispered, 'Is...No...It...It couldn't be…'
"This is bad. If Chaos has the six Emeralds that Knuckles had, then all he needs left is the Tornado II's emerald!" Ben realized as Roll pulled out a medical kit and began to take care of Knuckles's injuries.
"Let's get going!" Sonic ordered, turning before blinking twice,seeing the floating ball of red light was back, "Uh…"
"What is this?" Ben asked.
"The hell?" Ragna snapped out of his thoughts at the sight before a flash of light blinded the three.
"FUCK! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" Ragna cursed, rubbing his eyes.
"Ugh! Be glad Gwen isn't here or Grandpa Max…" Ben groaned, the light fading to give way to a night sky...tinted red by flames, "...What the…?"
"Tikal, get out of the way!" a voice shouted.
"No way!"
The three turned to a stone bridge, heading up to a burning stone shrine. They ran across it to see a group of Echidna in tribal clothing menacingly standing before the entrance to the burning shrine, Tikal and the little creatures surrounding the entrance with their arms spread out and even some of the little creatures floating in the air on their wings.
"Did you hear what I said?" the leader of the echidnas demanded, the biggest of them with his eyes perpetually closed and a white mustache.
"I won't obey!" Tikal argued.
"We need those seven emeralds to give us total power! It's power for the people, and they are your people too, you know!" he pointed at the shrine with his decorated spear, "We must get those Emeralds!"
"Father, Greed is our enemy!" Tikal argued, "Once it starts, you will always want more!"
'That's her father?' Sonic pondered.
"Hey...I thought you said that Knuckles guy was the only one of his kind," Ragna frowned.
"I thought he was, too," Ben added.
"I...I think we're seeing the past," Sonic replied.
"Fucking time travel…" Ragna growled.
"Now all we need is Paradox here…" Ben muttered.
"Please don't do this! I beg of you!" Tikal pleaded.
"Bah! I don't listen to the words of a mere child who knows nothing of how the world works!" Tikal's father snapped, "Ready, men? CHARGE!"
"What?!" the trio gasped.
Tikal screamed as her father led the charge, smacking her to the side with the back of his hand. The little creatures tried to stop them, but the echidnas were larger and stronger then them, resulting in many of the creatures falling to the sides or being stomped on in the charge. With each cry of the little creatures, the water of the three layers of the shrine began to ripple, each ripple becoming more fierce and even flashing between clear water and black and red to even azure. Ragna grunted, grabbing the Azure Grimoire as he felt it starting to rattle. At their points on the shrine, the Chaos Emeralds began to float while the pillars they were on collapsed, floating towards the Master Emerald. As the soldiers made it up the stairs, Chaos 0 formed between them and the emeralds, his body flashing between the different colors while spasming, its emerald-green eyes the only thing staying constant as they seemed to glare at them all.
"Ahh! It's a monster!" the Echidna leader yelled.
"What is this thing, Chief Pachacamac?!" a soldier gulped.
"Whatever it is, it's in our way!" another added as the Chaos Emeralds went into Chaos, releasing a flash of light.
*SKREEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR*
"Noooooo!" Pachacamac screamed in the light before it faded away, revealing the top of the shrine was demolished with just the Master Emerald still there.
"Wh...Where did Chaos go?" Sonic looked around before Ben ran up to Tikal.
"Are you okay?" Ben asked as Tikal came to slowly.
"Uh...I think so," Tikal replied before seeing the area, "Oh my gosh! No…! No…! No…!" tears welled in her eyes at the sight of her beloved friends scattered, their lives no longer there, "Father...why did you have to do this? Why?!"
"I…" Ben began before Tikal ran up the stair, "Ah! Wait up! Ragna, Sonic, get over here!"
"Huh? R-Right!" Sonic nodded as he ran after Ben up the stairs, Ragna looking out to see a massive tidal wave crashing down onto a village, thunder, rain, and lightning soon following, "Ragna, come on!"
Ragna nodded before he begrudgingly follow them up the stairs to see Tikal approach the Master Emerald, all the water replaced with flames.
"The seven emeralds are the Servers...Chaos is power, enriched by the heart," Tikal chanted, The Controller serves to Unify the Chaos!" she took in a deep breath before coughing up a bit of blood.
'She...Oh god, did she break a rib and it punctured a lung or something?' Ben thought in worry.
"Uhh…" Tikal coughed before looking at the Emerald once more, "The seven Emeralds can change our thoughts into power. If this Emerald controls that power...Please, you...must...stop him…"
Tikal collapsed before the Master Emerald. Ben was the only one to see the light leaving her eyes before the Master Emerald erupted into a brilliant white light.
"Gomen!"
*SLAP-SLAP-SLAP!*
"OW/DAMMIT/OUCH!" Sonic, Ragna, and Ben yelped, putting a hand to the slapped cheek on their faces.
"Gomen nassai. You just wouldn't respond and…" Roll whimpered, "Gomen nassai."
"It's fine, Roll…" Sonic assured her as he rubbed his cheek, "Guess we were on a snooze cruise."
"..."
"..." Ragna looked at Ben before looking out at the Master Emerald with narrowed eyes, "We need to get back to the others before that damn monster goes after them."
"I have Knuckles-san," Roll informed, carrying the unconscious echidna on her back.
The three nodded before they went off, Ben turning into Fasstrack to keep up with the two speedsters while Ragna was carried by him.
"Okay, the radar's saying it's this way," Manic informed, holding the Underground Freedom Fighter's Emerald Radar.
"Ugh...You weren't kidding when you said he ate a path for you guys," Sonia noted in disgust, seeing the bite marks all over the path they were going.
"I was hungry," Jake gave a big toothy grin.
"Of course you were…" Manic muttered before looked ahead, seeing the Tornado lodged into a tree, "There it is."
"Good. Then we just need to get the Chaos Emerald and leave," Alpha stated as he started heading towards the downed plane.
"Not just the emerald. Bro wants to plane, too, so he can take it back to Ryugu for Tails to fix up," Manic replied.
Alpha nodded as he stood in front of the plane, kneeling down to get the Emerald out of the nose cone before…
"Watch out!" Sonia gasped.
Alpha's legs shifted into larger gold robotic legs before he jumped back from the plane and tree. A waterspout erupted beneath the tree, tearing it apart, before dispersing. The plane landed before them, a wing breaking off on impact...and the Chaos Emerald gone.
"That...That was Chaos!" Manic gasped.
"It has taken the Chaos Emerald!" Rook's eyes widened.
"Oh my lord. Does he still have the original six?" J asked with wide eyes.
"Guys!" everyone turned to see Fasttrack skid to a halt before them, "Please tell me you got the Chaos Emerald!"
"..."
"...Oh no…" Fasttrack paled a bit, "That means Chaos has all seven Chaos Emeralds now."
"God damn it. God fucking damn it!" Ragna growled, slamming a fist on the table inside of the bus as Sonic was pulling out all the stops in its flight mode, "We had one job, one fucking job each and we all blew it!"
"...You know, I think he was using Eggman," Manic tapped his chin.
"Hm?" Rook looked over at him.
"Chaos," Manic replied, "He was probably using Eggman to gather them originally but when we stopped Eggman, Chaos went after them himself. Hell, he got them all way faster then Eggman did."
"But how did it find the last one?" Sonia asked.
"...The water!" Tsubaki realized, "Chaos is made of water, right? Perhaps if it comes into contact with water, it connects to all the water in the world."
"It probably saw the emerald from the river the tree was in," J realized, "And then used the water as some sort of pseudo-teleportation to reach there before we could!"
"Crap. Which means…" Sonic began before the radio went off.
=Hello?! Hello?! This is White of the Frozen North Freedom Fighters! To anyone who can hear this, reach to higher ground now!= White's voice shouted over the radio =Help as many people as you can! This is not a drill! I repeat! This! Is! Not! A! Drill!=
"This is Ben Tennsyon of the Underground Freedom Fighters," Ben responded on the radio, "Where is your location, over?"
=R-Robotropolis!= White replied.
"But...But Robotropolis is nowhere near an ocean," Sonic noted.
-Minutes earlier-
"Okay. So the higher class were evacuated," Lien-Da looked at a holographic screen, displaying a list, "Every single Robian was brought here and are now armed with guns with the order to kill all Freedom Fighters, EggPawns are on standby...Huh. I have to admit that this Eggman actually uses his brain on things that don't involve Sonic the Hedgehog." she looked over at an EggPawn in a security helmet, "Are all sources of water shut down and cut off from the city?"
"Yes, Lady Lien-Da," the EggPawn saluted.
"Good," Lien-Da nodded, 'If I'm right, Chaos most likely got all seven Chaos Emeralds by now, and has reached its perfect form. I'm not surprised he didn't have that order for in case Chaos rebels against us, but just in case of aquatic Mobians trying to attack through any place that has water and is big enough for them.'
"White-kyun, how…" Miyuki began.
"Two hundred Freedom Fighters teams have been assembled, the average number being at 5 members per team when rounded to the nearest whole number," White replied, looking out at the large group of Mobians, Beastkin, and a few Overlanders that had been inspired to join from hearing of Ben Tennyson, Tsubaki Yayoi, Ragna, and Noel Vermillion being members with a good deal of respect.
"Though...We're missing Sonic, Manic, and Sonia," Shukaku noted.
"It will be fine. They'll arrive," a voice replied before Aleena approached, wearing a set of lilac armor with a broadsword at her hip, an eye-shaped gem on the wing-themed guard.
"Your highness," Cyrus gasped, the crowd whispering to one another.
Aleena stepped up to the microphone on the stage and checked it. She nodded before taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly.
"Sixteen years…" Aleena spoke, the crowd falling into silence as she began to speak, "Sixteen years ago, Robotnik invaded Mobotropolis with his machines. Many aristocrats had been allied with him, my husband and I unaware of this, and funded his creations and still did once he took over. Sixteen years ago, I was forced into hiding, having to separate my children to trusted individuals. Sixteen years ago, many who defended the castle perished, including my beloved husband Azure." she looked out at the crowd, seeing a few there with saddened looks, having lost loved ones in the initial attack on Mobotropolis, "For sixteen years now, our worlds has been heavily polluted by Robotnik, both in the environment and in the minds and hearts of many, bringing out the worst in many...but the good in so many more. Sixteen years ago, the Freedom Fighters came to be with the goal of defeating Eggman and liberating Robotropolis and turn it back into Mobotropolis, growing much larger to take back the lands he has spent sixteen years taking over. Had it not been for Interpol and countries like Wakanda and Chun-nan entering a cold war with him, he would have taken further damages to the planet. Right now...I'm not asking any of you to follow me in taking back Mobotropolis...what I'm asking...is to help me take back Mobius itself...to take back our home planet...to free it from Robotnik's cold iron grip!"
'W-Wow…' Miyuki awed, 'Aleena-sama is amazing…'
"Robotnik has taken our lands, our families, transformed them into Robians with many perishing from a random glitch in the Roboticizer," Aleena went on, "Will we stand for losing another life? No. Will we stand to let him continue to live in lands where our ancestors roamed, tainting it with his creations and dictations? No. Will we allow him to have a moment's rest while we go forth and take back what is rightfully that planet's land? NO! We are the Freedom Fighters! And we are Mobius's protectors!"
The crowd began to erupt into cheers. Aleena looked out with a smile on her face before schooling it into a calm expression. She walked off the stage, looking out towards Robotropolis, her mind flashing back to how it once was...and how she hoped that it would go back to being.
=We've finished flooding the tunnel the Meerkats and Moles dug= a radio crackled to life =We're ready for the underground assault on the castle=
"Great work," Shukaku beamed, "Where do we go to get un…"
=Wait! There...There's something wrong= the voice on the radio replied =The water's churning too much for it to be natural. We-We've got something under the water!=
A demonic screeching roar erupted from the radio, causing the cheers to fall silent as they all looked towards the radio, screams coming from it barely heard over the roar.
"...This roar...it can't be…" Lupe whispered within the crowd as her eyes widened, "...Chaos..".
"Look!" an Overlander gasped as she pointed towards Robotropolis.
Everyone looked over to see a pillar of water erupting from the ground.
"What?!" Lien-Da gasped, seeing the ground towards the castle-fortress breaking apart, bursting out water, "No. He...HOW?! We had the water sealed! We had it blocked and even drained away from the city!"
"Lady Lien-Da!" an EggPawn yelped as buildings started to erupt with bursts of water, the windows shattering as the flood waters within them broke through, "We need to evacuate the castle! Sonar detects that a hidden tunnel filled with water is located 200 feet beneath the surface of the city."
"Dammit! Why didn't you say something sooner?!" Lien-Da snapped, pulling out a blaster and shooting his head off.
"W-We just found it…" the head crackled before it shut down.
"Damn it…" Lien-Da cursed as she shot up, "We're leaving, immediately!"
"But…"
"The city's already lost damn it!" Lien-Da snapped, "We'll have to retreat to one of the other Dark Legion bases and regroup!"
"What's happening, kyu?!" Miyuki gulped, hugging White close while looking at the destruction going forth.
"Chaos...Chaos has returned to its full power!" Lupe exclaimed, "The end has come!"
"Th-the end?!" a Mobian weasel exclaimed in fright.
"...S….something is starting to emerge from one of the buildings!" a Overlander shouted, "Oh wait. No. It...It's just more water."
In the center of the city, walls broke and bent within and more and more water forced its way up through the castle-fortress. Cracks erupting with water began to form all over before it erupted, the building demolished completely. The water that made up the explosion halted before it began to reshape into a serpentine shape. Deep, pitch-black/blue scales formed along the back of the serpentine body, more going along the sides in the shape of ribs. More formed at the top of it, becoming a dragonic serpent's head with a horn displaying a brain within it on its forehead. Watery tentacles emerged from the body, one of which slamming into a building near it and collapsing the already ruined structure. For a brief moment, the creature flashed to black and red to azure and then back to its original colors before it tilted its head back.
*SKREEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!*
The creature lowered its head, its eyes snapping only to expose the demonic emerald eyes within. Many who saw those eyes could only feel the raw malice...the carnage...the utter chaos within got out of his wife's arms and quickly grabbed the radio.
"Hello?! Hello?! This is White of the Frozen North Freedom Fighters! To anyone who can hear this, reach to higher ground now!" White shouted, "Help as many people as you can! This is not a drill! I repeat! This! Is! Not! A! Drill!"
-Present-
"Oh god...It...Chaos is attacking Robotropolis," Sonia shook, her eyes wide.
"...Oh god. There are Robians in the city!" Manic's eyes widened, 'Ferral…'
'Lady Winemier,' Sonia thought in worry.
'Uncle Chuck!' Sonic frantically thought before a flash of light followed by the controls and even the entire vehicle being engulfed in black with green grid designs snapped him out of his thoughts.
=Hold on tight!= Upgrade ordered as the engines changed to rocket engines =We're getting there fast!=
A sonic boom erupted as the ship reached Mach 50.
"I'm getting no signs of life on the radars," a Mobian spoke up, looking up from a portable laptop.
"Robotnik must have been prepared for an invasion while he was gone," Cyrus noted, "He might have evacuated anyone there and left his robots to guard it so he'd still be in charge."
A shadow came over them for a moment before everyone looked up to see the black and green rocket-jet overhead. It stopped near an empty space before landing. The color peeled itself off, revealing a still rather high-tech plane as it converted into an armored bus, before forming into Upgrade and then into Ben while the two teams inside got out.
"It's the royal triplets!" an Overlander gasped.
"Is it too late to stop the end?" a Beastkin pondered.
"All is lost…"
"Oh man…" Sonic looked out at Perfect Chaos as it continued to lay havok upon Robotropolis, "That's Chaos?!"
Ben narrowed his eyes as he charged towards the city. He activated his Omnitrix and cycled through his aliens. The core slid out and Ben pushed down, releasing a flash of light. Perfect Chaos gave another roar before a fist slammed into its face, knocking it back.
"WAY BIG!" the Toku'star declared.
"Ben's trying to fight it," Manic gasped.
"But will Way Big be enough?" Sonia asked.
"Guys, it's Way Big. Remember how he was able to curbstomp Eggman's forces the first time we met the guy?" Sonia gulped, watching as Perfect Chaos snarled at Way Big.
"Y...yeah…" Manic slowly nodded.
Perfect Chaos roared as several large water tornados began to head towards Way Big. Way Big picked up a wrecked building and threw it with both arms, hitting the water and making a tidal wave that hit the tornados, dispersing them. He charged and delivered a right hook to Perfect Chaos. The God of Destruction turned to him with a roar before a laser slammed into its head, specifically the brain in the horn, causing it to screech in pain.
"What?" Way Big turned to see the Egg Carrier, "But...I thought that was destroyed?"
"This Egg Carrier 2 was made just in case something like this were to happen," Eggman smirked inside the control room of the vessel, "You've made the wrong decision to attack me, Chaos!"
'Then again...maybe he's just as dumb,' Lien-Da thought with a facepalm, standing between Shockwave and a worrying Starscream.
"Systems are all green," Shockwave informed, looking at a display.
"Fire the Megaton Laser Cannon!" Eggman ordered.
The front of the vessel split open, revealing the laser cannon. Chaos opened his jaws, revealing a sphere of red and black flame-like energy inside of its jaws. The Megaton laser fired as the sphere of energy turned azure and Perfect Chaos fired a powerful stream of azure. The stream dispersed the Megaton Laser Cannon's attack and pierced right through it and the Egg Carrier 2...before continuing on into the distance, hitting a nearby mountain. A flash of light happened on contact, fading to reveal the mountain was replaced by a massive crater.
"I…..Impossible…" Eggman whispered in shock as the ship began to go down, "R-Retreat! All personnel, fall back!"
Escape pods were deployed and flew off into the distance just before the Egg Carrier 2 went up in an explosion as it collided with the water below.
"Guess this isn't the time to go Hero…" Way Big narrowed his eyes with a gulp, "It's time to...Go Ultimate!"
"Woah wait, what?!" Manic exclaimed at that, "This form can go Ultimate too?!"
Way Big slapped the Omnitrix symbol and four spikes emerged from it. The wave of green energy washed over Way Big. His body grew even bigger, easily adding half his original height to his new form. The white parts of his body except for his chest and forearms were changed to blue, and he had two curved horns at the left and right sides of his head.
"Ultimate Way Big!" the evolved To'kustar declared.
"...holy crap….He's huge..er...huge-er!" Manic gawked.
Ultimate Way Big held a hand up and a whirling white flattened ring swirled into being feet above the palm. Ultimate Way Big threw the cosmic energy-made disc at Perfect Chaos. Who moved out of the way and sent a tentacle at him. Ultimate Way Big grabbed the tentacle before it hit and grabbed it tight enough to disperse it into water.
"Hey! What's going on o-" Jacky began as he, J, and Jake poked his head out the van to see what was happening, Perfect Chaos roaring as it sent more waterspouts at Ultimate Way Big, "...Nope. NOPE! NOPE!" he yelled as he pulled his head back in, "ALL KINDS OF NOPE!
"Oh my lord!" J yelped as he pulled back in, leaving an awing and dumbstruck Jake to watch.
"It's Ultraman, guys!" Jake shouted in glee, watching Ultimate Way Big spin like a top, making a much stronger waterspout that decimated the ones sent at him by Perfect Chaos.
"Jake!" both snapped before they pulled him back in.
Perfect Chaos roared out loudly as it prepared to fire another laser, this one starting to change between azure and black/red as the sphere began to grow in size. Ultimate Way Big shifted his arms into an 'L' shape. Perfect Chaos fired his attack as a cosmic ray erupted from Way Big's arms, slamming into the beam. The two attacks fought for dominance before exploding, knocking Ultimate Way Big back. Sonic clenched his fist as he looked at the fight.
"I've had enough!" Sonic declared, "Who does that Chaos think he is anyway?"
"Right now, he sees himself as the God of Destruction," Lupe replied as she walked up with Miyuki.
"Miyuki-sama," Roll gasped before bowing.
"Did you save your honorary sister, kyu?" Miyuki asked.
"Hai," Roll nodded, "Arigatou for getting Carmelita-san involved in helping rescue her. From what the others said, she made sure to keep everyone safe from long-range fighters inside of the Egg Carrier."
Miyuki nodded as the Freedom Fighters were moving further away from the area.
"So how do we handle this?" Sonic asked.
"We would need the Controller who Unifies the Chaos," Lupe replied.
"..." the group simultaneously facepalmed.
"We left it back in Soumerca on Angel Island," Tsubaki explained.
"...I see," Lupe noted, "Then our only chance are the Servers of the Seven Chaos."
"Perhaps, it would be better to hear from the one who knows Chaos best," a voice noted before they turned to see Aleena.
"Mom!" the triplets gasped.
"Someone who knows Chaos best?" Lupe asked.
"Here she comes now," Aleena replied, pointed out to where the sphere of red light was coming from, floating before them all.
"She?" Makoto repeated.
"Oh, it's you!" Sonic realized, "You were the one who sealed Chaos all those years ago in the Master Emerald; Tikal!"
The sphere glowed before changing into the young Echidna.
"My soul has always been in the Master Emerald, along with Chaos's," Tikal informed, looking sadly at Perfect Chaos as he and Ultimate Way Big continued to fight, "Where once there was love and joy, anger and sadness now fill him. And if it goes on, he'll eventually destroy the world just as he almost did before!"
Seven lights began to surround Perfect Chaos as it moved back from Ultimate WAy Big, the giant water 'dragon' roaring out as the lights scattered about the flooded city. One of the lights landed in front of the Freedom Fighters as it began to fade, revealing it to be a Chaos Emerald, but now void of any color. Perfect Chaos roared as he sent a tentacle at Ultimate Way Big. The evolved To'kustar tried to grab the tentacle, but was instead knocked to the other side of the destroyed city by the impact.
"Look! He's absorbed the Chaos Emeralds' power!" Tikal gasped, "He must be sealed in the Master Emerald now!"
"How can that help?" Tikal looked over at Sonic, "It won't change the way he feels on the inside!"
"His heart will remain in turmoil, and his anger just won't vanish!" Sonia added.
"He'll just be trapped... forever!" Manic frowned, "Not cool at all, dudette."
"But...what else can we do?" Tikal asked.
A horn went off, making them turn to see the Cooper Van skidding to a halt.
"Sly-Itoko?" Roll pondered as Sly got out, holding up a Chaos Emerald.
"We were here to help with getting the troops into the place," Sly explained, "Barely got out of there with the Van's Flight Mode in time before the flooding happened."
"Wait...So that means…" Manic looked over at Aleena.
"In return for supplying them with things for their adventure in assisting Dimitri, I asked for their aide in getting everything they could about Robotnik's forces, operations, and schematics of Robotropolis," Aleena informed as Sly handed the emerald to Sonic.
"I have a feeling you might need this more than anyone else," Sly stated to Sonic before Jetfire and Jetstorm landed, transforming.
"Robots!" Miyuki gasped, about to freeze them when Tsubaki and Makoto ran between her and them.
"They're good guys, Miyuki-san," Tsubaki informed, "They helped us rescue Noel."
"Sonic, we is to be having somethings for you," Jetfire informed as he and Jetstorm handed Sonic two more Chaos Emeralds.
"We is to be thankings you much for givings us chance," Jetstorm explained.
Sonic nodded. A tap to his shoulder made Sonic turn to see Knuckles holding one up, being held up by Jake.
"Knuckles?"
"I...I don't think Chaos took in all the power of the Emeralds," Knuckles explained, "I...still feel power inside of them."
Crimson ran over, using the hooks on his leather straps to clear a gap, before putting his eyepatch over his other eye, changing to White. The white hedgehog smiled as he held up three Emeralds.
"Tails-kun said that he found two kinds of energy inside of the Emeralds, Positive Chaos Energy and Negative Chaos Energy," White informed, handing the Emeralds to Sonic, bringing the count to seven, "Most likely, Chaos only took in the Emeralds' negative energy."
"If...the murals are right on Angel Island...then a hedgehog's our best bet in harnessing the power…" Knuckles added, recalling the stone murals in the place he had tried to hide the Master Emerald in, "And out of all of them here...you're probably the one who has the best chance."
"What? But…" Sonic began before Manic put his Medallion on Sonic's neck, "?!"
"Dude's right," Manic shrugged, "Out of all of us, you were the one who lasted the longest when Dingo went nutso and nearly blew up the whole planet with the broken Emerald."
"While I would like to argue, I think that you are our best hope, Sonic," Sonia agreed, adding her Medallion to Manic and Sonic's on the blue hedgehog's neck, "Just so you'll have a part of us with you."
"Manic...Sonia…" Sonic looked at his siblings with wide eyes before looking at Aleena.
Aleena nodded, "We're all counting on you, my son."
"Y….You...you can do it, S-Sonic-nii-chan," Haseo added.
"Ganbatte, Sonikku," Roll smiled, her hands behind her back as Yacker waved a flag with Sonic's face on it, giving a cheer in his strange little tongue.
"Smash that guy's face in for Noellie and me!" Makoto pounded her fists together.
"We're counting on you, Sonic," Tsubaki added as the Freedom Fighters nearby started chanting his name.
"If Chaos's negative emotions were enough to let him absorb the negative energy in the Emeralds, then our hopes and prayers for you should be enough to call out the positive energy," Bentley informed.
As everyone cheered for Sonic, he could somehow hear everyone that was able to watch the disaster cheering as well. As if they were hearing it as well, the grey Chaos Emeralds began to glow faintly. Slowly, the colors returned as they started floating around Sonic. The hedgehog's body began to tremble as he kept his eyes closed and his fists clenched. Sonic crossed his arms before uncrossing them, roaring skywards. The emeralds glowed before Sonic was engulfed in a pillar of gold light. Everyone barely grabbed something to hold onto or dug a weapon or limb into the ground to keep from being blown away by the powerful winds that erupted from the energy as Sonic continued roaring. A pulse of light erupted from the epicenter before the energy dispersed.
Floating a foot above the ground was Sonic, his body erupting in a gold power. His blue quills had turned solid gold as they pointed skywards. His peach muzzle, arms, and belly had turned a brighter shade of peach than normal as his eyes snapped open, revealing the gentle emerald green had turned a vivid, determined, shining crimson.
"H…He turned gold!" Manic exclaimed, "Now that's bling!"
"The blue cracker box...he is gold man now!" Dimitri exclaimed.
"?!" Ragna tensed, grabbing the Azure Grimoire as his left eye snapped shut, 'Wh...What? I...I can't feel my arm or eye…'
"Sugoi! Supā Sonikku!" Roll cheered.
"…Super Sonic?" Tsubaki repeated.
"Hai!" Roll giggled.
"S….sugei…" Haseo awed.
Cue: Open Your Heart
Super Sonic smiled faintly at Roll's name for his new appearance. He kinda liked the name for this form. With that, Super Sonic turned to where Perfect Chaos was fighting Ultimate Way Big in a battle of lasers…the God of Destruction currently winning it. Super Sonic shot off like a rocket, a stream of light being the only thing visible about him. Perfect Chaos almost had Ultimate Way Big when searing agony raced through its brain from Super Sonic's impact, disrupting the attack long enough for Ultimate Way Big's attack to pierce through and slam into Perfect Chaos, causing it to screech in pain.
"Huh?" Ultimate Way Big blinked twice before seeing Super Sonic, "Whoa. Not bad."
Super Sonic smirked before summoning his guitar, revealing it to have turned into a gold design akin to his appearance. Perfect Chaos rose up with a snarl, firing its beam once more. Ultimate Way Big returned fire as Super Sonic let out a series of notes from his guitar, causing a beam of gold energy equal to Ultimate Way Big's attack's size to fire out of the tips. The attacks fused together to overpower Perfect Chaos's attack and struck the liquid beast down once more, making the God of Destruction screech once more.
Seeing the opening, Super Sonic rocketed at Perfect Chaos just as it reformed its body further away from them, his body sparking before transforming into a living bolt of lightning. The lightning bolt blasted through the cyclones around Perfect Chaos' lower body before zipping up its body in a spiral before slamming into the head a third time, causing Perfect Chaos to explode in a screech. Reforming nearby, Perfect Chaos began to glow before unleashing a series of energy-made meteors at the two.
"Crap!" Ultimate Way Big screamed before forming a pair of cosmic disks that he quickly used to the send it at the meteors, the impacts creating a series of explosions that hid Perfect Chaos within.
Perfect Chaos emerged far away from them, his body flashing red and black before settling on azure. More of the 'meteors' erupted from his body, engulfed in red and black energy. They neared the two before Super Sonic smirked. He turned and the 'meteors' exploded, his sword and Manic's knife in his hands.
"He...He's going faster than the speed of light!" Bentley gasped, looking up from his laptop.
"What!?" Sonia and Manic gasped before Perfect Chaos began to charge up another laser.
"Oh no you don't!" Ultiamte Way Big declared, his emblem appearing briefly behind him with Sonic's appearing behind the transformed hedgehog, "Let me show you...Why I'm called the Ultimate Hero!"
Super Sonic dismissed his weapons as Ultimate Way Big made an 'X' with his arms. Cosmic energy erupted from his arms as Super Sonic curled up into a ball before it. The ball began to spin, getting faster and faster, before lightning began to come off him. Perfect Chaos opened fired at the same time Ultimate Way Big fired, rocketing Super Sonic at the opposing azure-tinted beam. Super Sonic and Ultimate Way Big roared as their combined attack ripped through Perfect Chaos's and let Super Sonic strike him right in the brain. Perfect Chaos let out a final screeched before he exploded in a pillar of purple, red, and blue light.
"Heh…" Super Sonic smirked as he landed on Ultimate Way Big's shoulder, turning back into Sonic, "That...was...awesome."
"Yeah," Ultimate Way Big agreed before a beeping noise went off, making them look down at the Omnitrix symbol to see it flashing red, "Uh-oh."
He turned and made his way to dry land. He managed to get a foot on land before the Omnitrix timed out and Sonic was now very high in the air. Sonic looked down, gulped, and proceeded to fall with a yelp. Jetfire whistled to Jetstorm, who nodded. The two changed into their flight forms and flew up, both catching Sonic with a foot on them both. The hedgehog sighed in relief as the two flew down carefully with him as Ben ran up to the others, panting.
"Whew….hoo man...that was...wow," Ben panted as he fell on his butt.
"Not bad," Ragna noted, his eye opened and no longer holding the Azure Grimoire, before looking up at Sonic being lowered down by the two robots, '...What the hell was that about? I couldn't feel the Azure Grimoire or my eye when he turned into that form.'
"You guys were awesome!" Manic cheered as Sonic hopped off the two flyers, letting them transform back.
"Even with the last few years we've known each other, absolutely nothing prepared me for you becoming a blond," Sonia joked.
"Hey…" Sonic frowned before grinning, "Glad I could make you shocked after you got used to me and Manic and our habits."
"!?" the three had their eyes wide from the tender hug from Aleena.
"I am so happy to finally be with you, my children," Aleena spoke.
"Aw, Mom…" Manic sniffled.
"Mom," Sonic smiled.
"Oh, Mother," Sonia held back a sob before the three returned the hug, the four starting to cry.
Roll gave a soft smile as she watched the four, wrapping an arm around Haseo.
"I'm not gonna cry...I'm not gonna cry…" Makoto held back her tears before White handed her a handkerchief and she began to cry, blowing her nose.
Ben smiled a little, glad to see the four together. Ragna just watched it for a few moments before he turned to look at the destroyed city, exhaling under his breath.
"...It's over…" Ragna whispered, 'But...I have a feeling the real battle has just begun.'
"My Robotropolis...destroyed!" Eggman groaned as he and his soldiers were now on a third Egg Carrier.
"You built a third one?!" Lien-Da raised a brow.
"Rule of three," Sleet replied, "Lord Robotnik tends to make it a habit with inventions he enjoys the most that don't have to deal with AIto make three of each if he has the resources to do so."
"Ugh...that Metal Sonic idea I had once was a big mistake," Eggman muttered.
"Metal Sonic? What happened there?" Lien-Da questioned.
"Ever hear of Little Planet?" Eggman asked.
"We had one in my original Zone."
"Then you know what happened to Metal Sonic."
"It went rogue and became a Freedom Fighter?"
"Oh god no. That'd be horrible. The AI was just messed up by the unique properties of the place and started shouting random stuff like 'Sonic Adventure 2, bitch' and other weird stuff," Eggman replied, nursing a headache forming from that memory, "It destroyed everything I was doing there before Little Planet vanished, so I had Metal Sonic thrown into the crusher and destroyed it. I even blew up the AI chip just so I would never have to deal with it again!"
"And don't get us started on his Manic Doll idea…"
"Sleet, we agreed to never bring that up again," Eggman glowered, "And that any further attempts to invade Polarand will never be considered because of it."
Lien-Da raised a brow before shaking her head, "Lucky for you, I thought ahead and tricked Dr. M into trading a rather large set of islands on the other side of the planet along the equators if we ever lost Robotropolis."
"Lousy baboon," Eggman growled, "Not only did I lose a Grand Master, but also all those riches in that vault! You know how many…Ugh!" he reclined in his throne, "Still, good planning, Lien-Da. I am so glad that you've been adapting well to our little corner of the multiverse."
"I suppose so. This isn't the first time I've dealt with aliens of all things. My former Zone had to deal with them and their attempt to blow up the planet with some sort of bomb meant to reduce everything to primordial soup," Lien-Da shrugged.
"Meep," Sleet squeaked before he fainted.
"...Why the heck did you hire him again?" Lien-Da asked Eggman, "Seriously, not even the nephew the other you had in my original zone wasn't this much of a wimp."
"He's still getting over the loss of his partner Dingo," Starscream informed.
"Which is why you have been promoted to his partner."
"What?!" Both looked at Eggman.
"Consider it as a test of sorts," Eggman replied.
"But...sir…" Sleet began before whispering to Eggman, "Why her? She scares me."
"She's had experience dealing with the hedgehog before back in her original Zone and you have experience with dealing with him in this Zone along with his siblings," Eggman informed.
"But...but…" Sleet began as he slowly looked at a frowning Lien-Da.
"...You mess up even once, I will hurt you…"
"Yes, boss ma'am," Sleet gulped.
"Good."
The water was slowly draining from the destroyed city as Makoto and Tsubaki finished telling Noel what had happened, the girl awakening a little bit after the fight. A bit of it slithered out before reforming into Chaos 0. Ragna tensed as he began to pull his sword out when a cooing noise went off. Splashes came from the water as small little blue creatures with hints of yellow on their bodies, butterfly wings, and a little yellow orb floating above their head came out.
"Oh! Those little kawaii creatures," Noel gasped as they surrounded Chaos 0 and started their little singing.
"What are those things?" Ragna frowned.
"They're called Chao," Aleena replied, "They're a special race of creatures, capable of being reborn many times and even evolving through kissing animals."
"They seem rather familiar with Chaos," Tsubaki noted as Chaos 0 picked up the smallest one, lightly petting its head.
"It looks like Chaos recognizes them too," Knuckles noted.
"Perhaps you two fighting it with your all let the anger quell inside of Chaos," Rook noted to Ben and Sonic.
"These are the Chao that Chaos protected while I was still alive," Tikal explained, walking up to the God of Water, "They've stayed alive for generations, reincarnating each time. It seems that they all wanted to see you again and missed you so very much." she looked out to the city, "They must have made the underground of this place their home...a Chao Garden." Chaos 0 looked down at the ground, "It's okay. The fighting's over. Harmony is restored and life goes on."
Chaos 0 looked back up at her, its eyes softening as it reached out to her. Tikal gave Chaos a soft smile as she reached out for the water being as well, the two starting to float up into the air as the clouds in the sky began to part, rays of sunlight starting to shine down.
"The sky….it's starting to clear…" Miyuki whispered as everyone looked up and Tikal and Chaos 0 faded away.
"A new day is upon us, it seems," Aleena noted with a small smile before looking out at the wreckage, "Though...I did hope it wouldn't have been with such a depressing sight."
"We can rebuild," Sonic noted before Roll gasped.
"Oh my!"
Roll's gasp earned everyone's attention. They looked at her to see that the Hedgefox was pointing to the water that was slowly lowering away. A sputtering cough escaped after a splash. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic's eyes widened as they saw an older hedgehog crawling out of the water as best as he could. A green flash of light as a vine from Wildvine extended out and helped the hedgehog out while Tsubaki was quick in going over to examine his injuries. Sonia and Manic glanced over at Sonic, who seemed to be on the verge of tears. After a few more coughs, the water in the hedgehog finally got out of his lungs.
"Are you okay?" Tsubaki asked.
"I…" the hedgehog coughed a few more times, "I'm fine! Waterlogged, but…but fine."
"U…Uncle Chuck?" the hedgehog blinked twice before looking up, revealing his bushy mustache and eyebrows.
"S…Sonny?" the hedgehog asked, "My…You've grown."
"Uncle Chuck!" Sonic exclaimed before he was instantly over to the older hedgehog, hugging him with tears in his eyes.
"Everything will be alright, Sonny," the elder hedgehog comforted, lightly running a hand through Sonic's quills.
GT: Heh-heh. Well, that's a way to end an arc. City's ruined, a God's been calmed, and a ghost girl takes the god away in light after he cuddles adorable little creatures.
SZ: And a family reunion for Sonic and his sibs. Overall, this was a pretty good way to end the chapter, and the Chaos Arc. After this...just a few rest/filler chapters before we get to the next arc.
GT: Eeyup.
SZ: mmm hmm...so I guess until next time, I'm Seanzilla115….
GT:...And i'm GammaTron…
SZ: Hmm? Something on your mind GT?
GT: No. Why do you ask?
SZ: Ahh...no reason. I just thought you had something to add before we end things off.
GT: Nope.
SZ: Alrighty. So….until next tiem, minna...have a good day.