Chapter 9: The Final Battle
Tangle felt the ship shake, and smiled.
"Guess that's my cue to leave!" She said.
She then used her tail to grab onto her bindings, and broke them quite easily.
"Alright, and now…"
She took aim, wound up her tail, and slammed it against the door to her cage, breaking it off it's hinges.
"And that, was easy!" She said happily, reaching into her tail.
She pulled out the Miles Electric and Sage materialized.
"Nice work." Sage said.
"Teehee!" Tangle said, giving her a thumbs up and sticking out her tongue. "Now come on! We got a computer to hack into!"
And with that, she was running.
Tails quickly stepped back, avoiding a piercing attack from Red Pine, causing his claw to pierce the ground.
He quickly grabbed Cosmo by the waist and began flying, trying to make his way into the hallway.
Red Pine was too quick though, and grabbed onto his leg with his free hand, and threw him into the center of the room.
"You know… I'm surprised you still care about her… haven't you figured out that she's betrayed you yet again?!" Red Pine asked.
Tails' eyes went wide.
"You're using the signal Dark Oak made!" He shouted.
"Obviously! How do you think I learned that the Royal Family knew where the Planet Egg was?" Red Pine asked.
Cosmo's eyes went wide.
This… all happened because of her?
Tails looked at her, and looked back at Red Pine, snarling.
This was a bad situation… Sonic and the others were fast, but running through those tight hallways required him to slow down a fair bit…
He needed to stall… on his own.
So, he got up and readied his arm cannon.
"Cosmo… stay back." He said.
He then stepped forward… it was do or die.
He charged forward, and landed a spin attack on Red Pine's chest, but it proved ineffective as he was easily swatted away.
Not being deterred, he fired three energy balls at his enemy, but they were easily knocked away, creating holes in the glass that were quickly repaired by the ships repair system.
Red Pine then swiftly charged at Tails, punching him in the gut before grabbing him and slamming him into the ground.
Cosmo tried to call out to him, but couldn't.
Looking down, she saw that her pendant was missing.
She looked around frantically, and saw it on the ground nearby, and began running over to grab it.
"You really are pathetic… all those brains are useless without the power to use them properly!" Red Pine taunted as Tails struggled to get up.
He then saw Cosmo moving towards her pendant.
"And your feelings for that girl are your biggest weakness… how about I take care of that for you?"
Tails' eyes went wide, and looked over to Cosmo.
Red Pine then charged at her, and readied his fist to strike her.
She saw this, and froze.
Suddenly though, she felt herself being pushed by the stomach, and looked down to see Tails, who leapt at her and was now looking at her, smiling.
He then quickly twisted around and tried to blast Red Pine, but it was too late, as his fist made contact with his face, slamming it into the floor.
Red Pine then stood over him.
"Like I said… a weakness." He said, before readying his claws. "Any last words… fox?"
Tails just looked up feebly… he had no strength left.
So… he said four words… four words he couldn't die without saying…
"Cosmo… I… Love… you…"
And… he closed his eyes.
Red Pine began to move his claw downwards…
And at that moment… time froze.
Cosmo looked up, and saw Tails, one hand holding hers tightly, and the other a railing, intent on saving her from being sucked out into space.
"This will be the final battle against the Metarex… I want you to watch everything that happens... and then, I want you to come back and live with us on our planet." She heard Tails say.
"Tails… please… shoot me…"
"Cosmo! I… I… I LOVE YOU!"
A giant beam of energy shot towards her, and everything was bathed in light
Cosmo's eyes went wide… she remembered…
She remembered everything…
…
…
…
"TAILS!"
Tails' eyes shot open at that moment.
'OH! HELLO SECOND WIND!'
He suddenly rolled to his right, and pointed his arm canon at Red Pine's head. It had been charging this whole time, so the shot he fired was VERY powerful.
Powerful enough to send Red Pine staggering back a bit.
"Hmph, a lucky sho-"
At that moment, he felt something slam into his side, as three blurs crashed into him.
He was sent hurdling through the glass, and when he regained his footing, he saw three hedgehogs standing before him.
"Sorry we're late Tails! Tight turns in a tight hallway are not my specialty!" He said.
Tails just smiled, and sat down.
"Kick his butt Sonic!" He said, pumping his fist into the air.
Sonic put on his signature grin, and turned to Red Pine.
"You got it bud!"
And with that, the battle between the hedgehogs and Red Pine began.
Meanwhile back inside, Amy and Rouge had just arrived, and were quickly checking up on Tails.
"Are you alright?!" Amy asked.
"Y-yeah… a bit beat up, but I'll live." He said with a tired smile. "Hope Tangle figured out that we started the attack…"
"I'm sure she's fine… I'll start heading over to pick her up." Rouge said, before taking flight.
Cosmo then walked over, and kneeled down before him.
"Tails… I…"
Amy's eyes went wide at that.
"Cosmo… you're talking!" Amy pointed out.
Cosmo's looked at her surprised, and looked down to see that the pendant was still not there.
"I… I am…" She said. "I… I can talk again…"
She then began tearing up, and leapt at Tails.
"Tails… thank you so much!" She said, sobbing into his arms.
Tails smiled, and began hugging her.
"Anything for you Cosmo." He said. "So… does this mean that you…?"
Cosmo nodded.
"Yes… I remember… I remember everything." She said, tears freely flowing.
"I'm glad… I'm so glad…" He said.
Amy watched this, and began tearing up herself.
She then stood up, and pulled out her hammer.
"Well, I better go do what I can to help! Can't let you boys have all the fun!" She said with a wink.
And with that, she leapt towards the window and shattered it with her hammer, standing before it as it was repaired.
Red Pine saw this, and started laughing.
"Oh what, what do YOU think you're going to do?!" He asked.
The three hedgehogs looked to her and smiled… at least, the two with mouths did.
"Wanna find out?" She asked, starting to grab the gold rings on her wrists. "I've always wanted to get some payback on you guys for what you did to Cosmo."
"Oh please… I'll give you a free shot. See what it can do." He said, stepping forwards.
Amy smirked, as she took off the gold rings.
"If you insist!" She said as she dropped them.
When massive dents in the hull formed by their impact, Red Pine realized he made a mistake.
"Oh shi-"
And the hammer slamming into his stomach cemented that mistake.
He was suddenly sent flying, and slammed into, and through, a nearby asteroid.
"HOME RUN!" Sonic shouted.
Red Pine shot back to the Typhoon, quite irritated.
"I am done playing around… THIS ENDS NOW!"
Suddenly, his armor began glowing a bright red.
"I have absorbed plenty of Planet Eggs into my armor to destroy all of you! SO COME AT ME!"
Now… it was Metal Sonic's turn to step forward… and…
"Activating Secret Weapon."
The other three hedgehogs were surprised to hear him speak.
"Wait… if he's talking… then…"
Metal Sonic began to glow, and when the light faded…
"You now face Neo Metal Sonic!" He shouted, before charging at Red Pine, their claws clasping around each other. "AND YOU! SHALL! KNEEL!"
The two then leapt back, both sliding along the hull.
"Never thought I'd be fighting alongside Neo Metal Sonic…" Sonic said, walking up next to his copy.
"Hmph, it makes no difference… we'll crush him all the same." Shadow added.
Amy then walked up next to him, and readied her hammer.
"Let's get him boys!"
The three boys then charged, leaving Amy in the dust.
"… Right, yeah… kinda outclassed in the speed department."
Still, she didn't want to just do nothing, so she leapt out into space, and began hitting asteroids with her hammer, intent on causing as much damage and being as annoying as possible.
Meanwhile, inside, Tails had just regained his strength, and was walking over to Cosmo's pendant, picking it up off the ground, and handing it to her.
"I… know you don't need it to speak anymore, but you still need it to keep yourself from using Mover Mode so…" Tails said, scratching behind his head bashfully.
Cosmo smiled before taking it from him.
"Thank you Tails." Her voice said, coming out of the pendant.
She then put it on and smiled.
"So uh… yeah…" Tails said. "Uh… I… don't really know what to say here…"
"… Me neither." Cosmo responded. "I think we should… you know… focus on what's going on out there first."
Tails nodded.
"Right, good idea." He said, before going up to the co-pilot seat. "Tangle! Can you read me? What's going on in there?"
"Hey kiddo! Just about done! Sorry it took so long, this ship is like a maze!" She said. "Also, we ended up where he was making those cyborg thingy's and well… I had a little fun."
Tails couldn't help but laugh at that.
"Good thinking! Can't have them coming to back up Red Pine!" Tails said.
"Who?" Tangle asked.
Cosmo rolled her eyes.
"Red X turned out to be a surviving member of the Metarex." She said.
"Oh ok! Thanks Cosmo!… WAIT, COSMO?! WHY ARE YOU THERE?!"
Cosmo just laughed a bit.
"I… stowed away… oops!"
Tangle just laughed.
"Wow princess, you sure are a troublemaker!" She said. "Anyways, we're just about done here! See you soon!"
"Later Tangle." Tails said before communications were cut.
The two then looked out the window, and just a moment later, bright lights were shooting out of Red Pine's ship.
"What?! What is this?!" He shouted before Metal Sonic drop kicked him in the face.
Suddenly, a large hologram of Tangle's face appeared, with a look on her face that could only be described as a ":3" face.
"Oh I'm sorry! Were you planning on using that giant tank full of Planet Eggs?" She asked, before pulling down her eyelid and sticking out her tongue.
Red Pine looked to her surprised.
"So… this is what you had planned all along… clever." He said.
Tails then realized something.
"Wow… good thing you weren't there when we came up with the plan…" He said, looking at Cosmo.
Cosmo's eyes went wide with realization.
They really lucked out there.
"Regardless! I had planned for this! And have two separate containments for the Planet Eggs on my ship!" Red Pine proclaimed.
He then began to rise into the air.
"Shoot! Stop him!" Sonic shouted, to which Shadow and Metal Sonic complied, both charging at Red Pine.
He easily swatted them away, and shot towards his ship. He then sunk his claws into the side, and it all became enveloped in a bright light.
"WAAAAAH!" They heard Tangle scream as she was suddenly flung from the ship.
Thankfully, Rouge was there and grabbed onto her.
The group then all watched as Red Pine began to change form.
When the light cleared, a large, armored dragon took his place.
"Mover Mode…" Cosmo breathed out.
"Behold! The face of your demise!" He shouted before letting out a roar that shook the very space around them.
Sonic looked up at him, and smirked.
"Well, looks like he's not messing around." He said.
Suddenly, the Chaos Emeralds materialized around him.
"We better not keep him waiting."
"Just don't get in my way." Shadow said.
Metal Sonic looked up at Red Pine, and looked him dead in the eyes.
"You are a danger to the Eggman Empire, and have threatened my creator in the past… and for that…"
At that moment, the three hedgehogs turned super.
"I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
The three hedgehogs then shot up towards him, hitting him like an arrow of light.
"You plan to use the Chaos Emeralds against me?! Fine then! I'll crush them alongside you!" Red Pine screamed.
Rouge flew down to the Typhoon, and landed, with Tangle touching down beside her.
"Ok… pretty sure our role in this is done." Rouge said.
"Yeah uh… we still got a problem." Tangle said.
Rouge looked to her confused.
"Problem? What problem?" Amy asked, rushing over.
Suddenly, Sage materialized, looking panicked.
"He was not bluffing!" She revealed. "He really did have a billion Planet Eggs!"
Rouge and Amy's eyes went wide.
"Oh shoot… and you were only able to get rid of…" Rouge started.
"About half of them, yeah." Tangle finished.
Tails listened to this, and got to thinking.
"Ok… that is a ridiculous amount of power… but there's gotta be some kinda weakness…" Tails said.
Cosmo got to thinking.
"Well… maybe it has some kind of… core?" She said, unsure. "Like, a place where all that energy is coming from."
Tails' eyes went wide.
"Of course! Great thinking!" He said, before getting on the loudspeaker.
"Tangle! Bring the Miles Electric to me! I got a plan!"
Tangle turned to him and nodded, before she got running…
She crashed through the window.
"… Really?"
"Time is of the essence! Now here!" She shouted, tossing the device at the fox.
Tails nodded, before catching the Miles Electric and plugging it into the ship, uploading Sage to the computer.
Then, he pushed some buttons, and it changed shapes, now looking like a kind of scope.
He put it on over one of his eyes, and it began scanning Red Pine.
"Let's see… got it!" Tails shouted before grabbing the microphone. "Sonic! His core is at the center of his chest! Hit it as hard as you can!"
"Easier said than done bud!" Sonic said, struggling to land a solid hit.
Every time any of the super powered hedgehogs tried to get a solid hit in, it'd be noticed and either deflected, or sent off course, causing it to not hit as hard as it should.
Tails saw this, and knew he needed to think.
"Ok… think… we need to hit that core, and hard… but he's able to keep all three of them at bay…" He said.
"What if two of them restrained him?" Tangle asked. "You know, so the last could get the job done!"
Tails shook his head.
"They'd be able to hold back the claws, but not the wings…" Tails said. "If we had just one more super form…"
"… Wait!" Cosmo said suddenly. "What about the Sonic Driver?!"
Tails' eyes went wide.
"OK! TWO QUESTIONS! One: DID YOU JUST TALK?! And two: WHAT'S THAT?!" Tangle asked.
"Yes she did and it was the Typhoon's ultimate weapon that fired Sonic out of a cannon." Tails explained.
"SICK!" Tangle shouted.
"But it broke during the final battle against Dark Oak, and I never fixed it…" Tails said.
"NOT SICK!" Tangle shouted, drooping.
Tails then got thinking… then he saw the Chaos Emeralds.
They still had plenty of power in them.
"… But that does give me an idea!" He said. "Amy! You're the fastest out of all of us! Get the Chaos Emeralds to the engine room! Sage, start the procedure for the Sonic Driver! Rouge, you and Tangle go and try and help keep him busy!"
Everyone nodded, before Tangle went and crashed through the window again.
This time, Tails and Cosmo followed close behind, with Amy making it through before it was repaired.
Before long, the hatch leading to where the Sonic Driver used to be opened, revealing a bunch of tubes and wires.
Tails then reached inside, and grabbed the tubes, and began plugging them into his arm cannon.
"We're only gonna have one shot at this… better make it count!" He said, holding up the cannon.
Before long, he felt the energy begin to flow into the arm cannon. It was overwhelming, but he had to bear with.
The scope over his eye began to zoom in, and was beginning to lock onto the core.
Thankfully, Red Pine wasn't moving around too much, and locking on was easy… he just needed to wait for an opportunity.
However… the pain from the fight earlier and the pain from the excessive amount of energy flowing into his arm was tremendous, and he felt himself start to lose strength in his arm.
Suddenly though, he felt something begin to hold it up, and he looked over to see Cosmo.
"We're ending this together!"
Tails smiled, and nodded.
Suddenly, Sonic and Shadow were able to restrain the claws, and when the wings were about to blow them away, Metal Sonic was able to hit them both in quick succession.
Red Pine tried to knock them away with his hind legs, but something strange happened.
A couple of asteroids around him changed shape, and created makeshift handcuffs to restrain them!
"A MESSAGE FOR THE PRINCESS FROM HER MOTHER!"
Everyone looked over and smiled when they saw Magnus, standing atop his ship.
"You are in SO much trouble little lady!"
Tails smiled widely…
This was their chance.
"NOW!" Cosmo shouted.
"FIRE!" Tails shouted.
The cannon fired, unleashing a large stream of energy heading straight for the core.
In an act of desperation, Red Pine fired a large stream of energy back, causing the two streams to clash.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Tails and Cosmo screamed.
Suddenly, everyone heard a voice from above Red Pine.
"THROW ME!"
Rouge then threw Tangle up into the air, and swung her leg downwards after Tangle landed on it. Tangle leapt off of it, flying downwards at an incredible speed.
And a moment later, Tangle came crashing down, slamming her tail into the top of Red Pine's head.
It wasn't enough to do any real damage, but it was just enough to throw him off just slightly, causing the stream of energy to falter.
And that proved to be all they needed, as the laser Tails fired tore through, and hit Red Pine square in the chest, right in the core.
It tore through, and pierced his entire body.
Tails saw this, and his arm dropped to the ground, as he fell to his knees.
Not only that, the Arm Cannon, which couldn't handle the incredible amount of power, fell to pieces, revealing a badly burned arm.
"We… did it…" He said happily.
"Yeah… yeah we did…" Cosmo said.
The two of them looked to each other and smiled.
Then, Cosmo grabbed Tails by the cheeks, and pulled his face towards hers, pulling him in for a kiss.
And as they kissed, Red Pine began to scream, and it was cut off as his body couldn't contain the energy anymore, and exploded.
The two didn't notice though, completely absorbed in the moment.
It was finally over.
End of Chapter 9
And so, Red Pine and by extension the Metarex finally comes to an end.
You know I had to have Tails get the final hit in there, and HAD to have Cosmo get in there to help.
Really… everything I did here in this chapter you probably know why I did it.
Neo Metal Sonic? He's cool as heck, and I had to include a certain line from a series I loved as a child… you know the one.
Cosmo getting her memories and voice back when she did? Duh, it's the perfect time.
I guess Amy's super cool moment was kinda unexpected… I wanted her to get one, that's it.
Fights are still a weak point of mine, which is why I kinda focused on what was going on around the actual fight here, but I might do a bonus chapter that is the Super Hedgehogs vs Red Pine.
Anyways, we are almost done, with next chapter being the finale, and an epilogue coming after, so I'll see you then!