UPDATE AS OF 1/2025:I CANNOT DO ANY COMMISIONS. Please PM me if you wish to really, really try and persuade me (do not rec-o-mmend it.), but I would prefer and appreciate it if you didn't post reviews about them on my stories. Thank you.
Chapter 3: Emergency Evacuation!
During this conversation, Silver's computer was still on (yes, I know, it seems like she's addicted, but that's what she does best so who cares?) and tracking the dimensions she had pulled her friends out of. It was steadily draining the life out of them, but nobody was realising that the Blot would come here next. Not, that is, until a beeping resonated from the speakers.
Shadow and Tails had noticed this sound, and broke the calm, melancholy atmosphere. "Ahem. Did you leave your computer on, Silver?" questioned Shadow, in a you-forgot-to-do-something-didn't-you? tone.
"Oh, right! Let me just…" Silver jumped off her chair and rushed to her computer, but something caught her eye in the window. She gasped in horror, staring at the island's rock statues. "Guys… you gotta see this. Now!"
Everybody sped to the window and looked out of it, jaws dropping in fear. The mountain was half-covered in grey, and the edges were turning white as well. It was slowly starting to reach the hut, and that sent everybody into panic.
"Oh no!"
"We gotta get out of here!"
"No! How could this happen!"
"I'm too smart to die!"
Oswald tried to calm down the group, but everybody except for Tails and Shadow were screaming and running around. Being an experienced leader, it was easy to regain control just by jumping up onto a table and shouting, "CALM DOWN!" Everybody didn't hear him, or if so, didn't care. He tried again, stomping his foot this time around whilst repeating his words, which worked… on the third attempt. He cleared his throat and spoke.
"Look, I know things are looking bad now, but it's not over for us! We've got homes to return to, people to be with and family and friends to reunite with! Everything's been happening far too quickly, but you know what? We can tackle it. I mean, we've literally got two super-speedy hedgehogs in this room." Shadow and Sonic looked up in hope, and nodded.
"I've got a plan. It's risky, but it should work. Me, Silver and Tails will rebuild Dr. Eggman's machine. In the meantime, surround the hut with as much junk as you can! Anything goes!"
"What, even this lamp?" asked Knuckles.
"Like I said, absolutely ANYTHING! It'll slow the Blot down with all the paint in them!." And with that, everybody set off, running around to create a dome of junk. Within minutes, the task was complete. Oswald and his fellow inventors were also working together, this time working for the greater good, as Shadow had said. But something was missing.
"The parts won't hold together!" said Oswald. "If only we had a magnet…"
"(groan) I had some in my lab!" grumbled Tails. He wished he'd brought them and was feeling regretful, when a hand appeared in front of him, holding a stack of squares
"You mean these?" Shadow asked, handing over one of them. Tails thanked him immensely, and popped it into the machine, switching it on. The buzz of the machine grew intense, shaking, stuttering,functioning. It was working, but not greatly. Oswald did ask to use it though, and asked Gus to come to him. He whispered something in his friend's ear, and with a sad nod, was zapped back to Wasteland.
"Where can we go that hasn't been destroyed yet?" questioned the lucky rabbit. Silver pointed to one location on her screen, labelled in a few numbers and letters. She read them out as Tails typed it into the machine.
"Oh no."
"What's wrong?" asked Amy.
"I can only send five of us into the last safe spot there is in the universe: the Internet." explained the fox, putting a hand on his head. "The rest of us have to go back to our universes, even if they are… What's the word? Inert. Otherwise we'll be trapped here forever."
"Ok, so… who's going?" asked Sonic.
There was silence for a few seconds, before Mickey raised his hand.
"I created that monster. I have to undo my mistake." he said, smiling at Oswald, who returned the gesture.
"I'm coming too." he said.
"Well, me and Sonic are also going to go. We have experience with the Time Eater." said Tails, looking to Sonic for confirmation. He nodded as well.
"Well… who else?"
There was a few minutes of silence again, as the greyness got closer. It was only a few metres away from the hut now. Nobody was sure, until finally, two people raised their hands. "Shadow and… Eggman? Are you ok, Eggman?" The doctor looked serious to Sonic, but he was bewildered.
"Look, I'm willing to try to be the good guy for once. Doesn't mean I like it though!" he quickly added, crossing his arms, but Amy was already beaming at him, making everybody even more confused.
"Er,sure…" said Knuckles, very unsure about this sudden change.
"Well, it's either Shadow or you, Egghead. And, honestly, Shadow is a better fighter than you. But it's nice to see you've changed a bit." Sonic congratulated, giving the doctor a pat on the back. He muttered something quickly, but said nothing more.
"Alright, then it's decided," said Shadow. "Let's go."
And so, zapping Amy, Eggman and Knuckles home, Silver prepared to zap the others to the Internet, when she noticed the grey on the floor reaching her. She moved closer to the centre of the room, as did everybody else. Red, Chuck and Silver formed a protective circle around the last hopes for the universe. It was inching closer, sucking out the last of the life on Bird Island.
"Ok, good luck! Everybody is counting on you guys." said Red, quickly passing the machine to Chuck, just as he froze into a statue. His once bright eyes were dull, and his feathers were now brittle.
"It was great meeting you!" Chuck said jauntily. He looked down at the floor and gasped. He threw the machine to Silver before he could get the chance to zap them.
Silver didn't say anything, but looked at them one last time. Sonic nodded, and with a green glow, nothing was left. Eggman's contraption hit the floor with a thud, being drained of all its colour.
And then there was silence.
