Ever since the events on Cascade that resulted in Molly's death, Rouge and Shadow had been traveling the galaxy, fighting the Metarex independently. The Metarex were no match for the powerful duo. Currently, they were in a bar taking a rest stop. "There's nothing here, my friend," said a bartender who was talking to Shadow. "Wars always occur in these areas most of the time. This was a pretty comfortable place to live. But the problem is… the Metarex are just too ruthless to fend off."
"I've seen many planets they swept through and destroyed," said Shadow.
"If you're really gonna keep traveling, my friend," said the bartender, "then I wish you good luck. I still don't recommend it. It's a world of chaos and death."
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Outside, Rouge and Shadow talked it over. "So what do we do?" asked Rouge.
"You don't have to come along if you don't want to," said Shadow.
"Why in the world would you even say that?" asked Rouge. "Who's the one who helped you get this far anyway?"
"I need to find a way to get there on my own," said Shadow. "Thanks for your help, Rouge. It was a pleasure." With that, he left.
"Shadow…" said Rouge as she watched the black hedgehog walk away.
Then, she made her own decision. "Don't go off without me now," she said as she went to get inside her spaceship.
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Meanwhile, out in a different part of space, the Typhoon was being pursued by several Metarex fighters. The EGs were flying alongside it in their own spaceships. "There are 3 Metarex fighters behind us," said Chris. "Actually 5."
"Again?! Really?" said Amy, surprised and annoyed. "We just got rid of them not too long ago."
"Engine's at full throttle," said Tails. "Full speed ahead when Sonic's gone, Knuckles."
"Just leave it to me," said Knuckles, who was in the engine room at the time.
"They're going to attack again!" cried Cream. "They're aiming straight for us!"
"We have to work fast!" said Tails, typing. "Chris, you and Sonic disperse the missiles, then launch a counterattack."
"Roger," said Chris. "Cosmo, take over for me."
"Sure," said Cosmo, doing so as Chris ran off.
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Chris soon arrived at the hangar, panting. "So what's goin' down, pal?" asked Sonic.
Soon, Chris' spaceship was moving up the elevator to the runway. As always, Sonic was standing on the wing. "Okay, Sonic, here's the plan," said Chris. "Looks like the Metarex are about to launch another attack. We've gotta fend them off as fast as we can and give them a dose of their own medicine."
"Sounds good!" said Sonic. "We'll wipe out those Meta-punks in no time flat!"
The two smiled at each other.
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The Metarex Fighters fired missiles at the Blue Typhoon, but the ship ejected tiny particles that were shaped like stars, moons, and planets. They burst into clouds of smoke when the missiles collided into them, allowing the ship to get away.
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Inside the ship, Amy was nervous. "I've got a bad feeling, Cosmo," she said.
"Me too," Cosmo agreed. "These Metarex attacks seem to get more and more violent every time."
"But it's more than that," said Amy, tapping on the console. "I just can't seem to figure it out."
"I just hope the Metarex don't know where we're actually going, Amy," replied Cream.
"Chao," Cheese agreed.
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Outside, the X-Tornado was now on the runway. "Okay, Tails, we're ready to launch," said Chris.
"Roger, Chris," said Tails. "Let's go!"
The spaceship moved forward. "Take off!" said Chris.
Suddenly, just as Chris' spaceship took off, the Blue Typhoon was hit by something.
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"Whoa!" Creecha exclaimed as she and everyone else stumbled forward (Creecha had fully recovered at this point thanks to Starlight's baca tank). "What the–?!"
"Hey!" said Tails. "What was that?!"
"I don't know!" said Amy. "There's nothing on the radar!"
"It better not be a meteorite," said Jerry, rubbing his face.
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Meanwhile, the EGs were flying around in their own spaceships, shooting down any Metarex Fighter they saw. "What's with all these sudden attacks?" said Rainbow. "It's as if they came out of nowhere!"
"Hey, Twilight," said Sunset, "I'm guessing that you have any theories about this?"
Twilight thought for a moment. "I have one theory about it," she said. "Somehow, Dark Oak found out we were still alive and is now sending in all these Metarex fighters to destroy us permanently. For real."
"You sure about that?" asked Trixie.
"It's the only explanation I can think of," said Twilight, "unless any of you guys have other theories about this."
"She might have a point on that theory," said Rarity.
At that, a startled scream sounded out. "Fluttershy!" exclaimed Rainbow. "Are you okay?! What is it?!"
"I almost ran into something!" said Fluttershy. "It was big and yellow! And the Typhoon rammed right into it!"
Curious, Twilight went over to check it out. What she saw made her eyes widen. "Are you kidding me?" she asked in a whisper.
"What is it, Twilight?" asked Wallflower.
"It's him," said Twilight. "He's back."
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Sure enough, there was a familiar Metarex General in yellow armor clinging to the bottom of the ship, sparking from the effort: Yellow Zelkova. "Your time is up, my friends!" he laughed tauntingly.
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In the engine room, Knuckles saw him on the holo-screen. "Oh no! Not him again!" he groaned.
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Yellow Zelkova was using rocket thrusters to keep himself aloft. "Farewell!" he said, using his brute strength to throw the entire Typhoon.
His target for it was a nearby planet below. The sudden movement threw Chris' ship off the runway, also hurtling towards the planet. Pressure's dropping by the second! Tails thought to himself.
Despite the struggle, Tails was able to level out the craft, even when it descended into the cloudy atmosphere of the rocky planet. As the Typhoon sparked all over, it made a rough but even landing on the ground. It was on a nearby cliff, a volcano and lava river also nearby.
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The EGs quickly followed after the Typhoon, also descending into the planet's atmosphere. Coming out of the clouds, they saw where it had landed. "Good. No one's hurt," said Twilight. "Hopefully."
Sunset was looking a little uneasy, her breaths coming out fast and uneven. She was trying to calm herself down while controlling her ship, but it wasn't working out so well. Fortunately, Starlight took notice of this and decided to help. Using her Force powers, she was able to bring Sunset's ship into a safe landing on the Typhoon's runway before landing there herself. She hurried over to Sunset's ship just as said girl was stumbling out, hitting the metal ground. As Starlight was helping Sunset calm down, Rainbow looked on grimly. "What's wrong with Sunset?" asked Twilight.
"I know what's wrong," answered Rainbow. "She's being hit with flashbacks of what happened on Mustafar."
"You mean that lava planet from our home galaxy?" asked Wallflower.
"Basically," Rainbow nodded. "I won't go into too much detail for Sunset's sake and because of how severe his injuries were, but her brother Anakin got burned by a lava river pretty badly after a fight. Poor guy ended up with third-degree burns and severe lung damage."
"Ow," said Wallflower, wincing.
Twilight just shuddered, now knowing where Anakin got those scars from (which never healed, mind you).
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Meanwhile, everyone else was recovering from that rough landing they had. "Well, this looks like a real hot spot!" said Amy sarcastically.
"Everyone OK?" asked Creecha, standing up.
Luckily, no one was hurt. "I feel sick to my tummy…" whimpered Cream, holding her stomach.
Cheese felt the same way. "Chao chao," he said.
"Stupid rough landings," Butch muttered, dusting himself off.
"Hey Tails," said Bob, "what's the damage so far?"
"That crash disconnected our energy servers," replied Tails, who was typing. "It looks like we're strained, you guys."
"Great," grumbled Lightning. "How can things get any–?"
He was interrupted by Butch clapping a hand on his mouth. "Don't. Finish. That. Sentence," he said sharply.
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Outside, Yellow Zelkova landed in front of the ship, sparking as he flexed his mussels. "I see you're together again!" he said. "Prepare to meet your doom! Prepare to perish! Prepare to succumb to the evil that is Yellow Zelkova! Prepare to… Prepare to… uh..."
He ended up faltering as he ran out of stuff to say.
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In the engine room, Knuckles was confused.
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So was everyone else. "Prepare to what? Battle?" asked Amy.
"I don't know," said Tails, shrugging. " 'Battle' seems kinda weak, doesn't it?"
"Oh! I know!" said Shanti. "I know what we should prepare for: kicking Yellow Zelkova's butt!"
Lightning snorted out a laugh at the comment, clearly amused, while Butch outright chuckled. "Yeah, girl. Totally spot on," he said, the two fist bumping.
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Yellow Zelkova was frustrated. "Enough! This is no guessing game! This is the moment of your demise!" he exclaimed, punching the ship so that the crew rattled.
"Where is that hedgehog?" he asked, preparing to punch the ship again.
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"Here I am!" called a voice.
And there was Sonic and Chris, flying out from inside a smokey cloud. Everyone was happy to see that they survived.
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"It's Sonic!" exclaimed Amy.
"Almost there," said Chris, flying Sonic towards Yellow Zelkova. "Ready?"
"Ready!" replied Sonic.
With a ring materializing into his hand, Sonic spun towards Yellow Zelkova. But the Metarex General projected an energy barrier that deflected Sonic's attack, causing him to land back on Chris' craft. "Sonic, what happened?" asked Chris, confused.
"I'm not sure," said Sonic, just as confused.
Yellow Zelkova formed a ball of energy in his hands, and arced it towards Sonic. Just in time, Creecha was able to block it and, with a lightning redirecting technique, sent it shooting up to the sky.
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Tails recognized it immediately. "That's the same thing that happened when Eggman put up his star shield!" he said.
"Maybe it's made from the same stuff," suggested Amy.
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"You are correct, little one!" Yellow Zelkova confirmed. "I, Yellow Zelkova, am fortunate enough to be equipped with one of the very first of the brand new Dr. Eggman Illuma-Shield power packs! And that's not all. As a bonus, I also recieved this Eggman temporary tattoo!"
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Amy was very cross. Mostly at Yellow Zelkova's bragging. "You geek!" she exclaimed. "You have an Eggman tattoo?! Loser!"
Tails and Cosmo both tried to calm her down. "Don't, Amy; you'll make him angry," said Cosmo.
"Cosmo's right," said Tails. "Settle down!"
"I will not settle down!" said Amy, shaking in fury. "That big yellow hunk of junk is gonna be sorry he met me!"
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Yellow Zelkova was insulted. "Hunk of junk?!" he exclaimed. "How dare you mock the great Yellow Zelkova! I'll make you pay for that!"
"Well, we meet again," said a voice.
It was Knuckles, who had decided to confront him. Yellow Zelkova lunged at him, fist at the ready. "Perhaps this time, I will finish you off!" he said.
"I'd like to see you try!" challenged Knuckles, countering the giant fist with his own.
The two were at a stalemate. "Aw, come on," Knuckles taunted. "You're tougher than that, aren't you? Aren't you gonna use your spanking new shield on me?"
Meanwhile, Chris' jet was sneaking up behind Zelkova. "We might be able to knock Zelkova out with a Ring Tunnel," Chris suggested. "Right now, anything's worth a try. Ring Tunnel!"
He fired a line of rings at Zelkova. "Let's go!" said Sonic.
The hedgehog leapt through the rings, only for Zelkova's plasma shield to emit energy that threw both Sonic and Knuckles backwards, shocking the crew. "Illuma-Shock!" the Metarex General laughed as he shocked both Sonic and Chris' spaceship into the air.
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"Sonic!" cried Amy.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Cream.
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"I see 'em!" said Creecha. "I've got 'em!" With that, she took off into the sky after them.
A bruised Knuckles picked himself up, surrounded with the plasma shield again. "Oh yeah?" he said.
"Haha!" laughed Yellow Zelkova. "You porcupine pipsqueak! You will never beat me! With my Illuma-Shield power pack, I am virtually unstoppable!"
"You big wimp!" said Knuckles, extending his fists to Zelkova in challenge. "Gotta rely on some stupid shield. Too afraid to fight me with your own two fists, huh? You're nothin' but a big baby!"
Yellow Zelkova was offended. "What did you say?" he asked.
"We'll see if that shield helps you now!" said Knuckles in reply. "Get ready, pal."
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Meanwhile, in a different part of the galaxy, Rouge and Shadow, who was riding on the wing of Rouge's spaceship, were flying towards a glow atop a particularly tall tree. "Shadow… what is this place?" asked Rouge as she parked her spaceship on a tree branch.
Shadow leapt out of Rouge's craft and started to scale the tree before stopping, Rouge floating up next to him. There was a forest as far as the eye could see. "I've heard of tree houses before," said Rouge, "but tree planets? Never."
"Everything's so quiet here," said Shadow.
"I'd say quiet is an understatement," said Rouge. "More like creepy."
Indeed, there was nothing but trees. No animals, no people, no anything. Just trees everywhere. "I don't like it," said Rouge.
"Me neither," Shadow agreed. "It's cold too."
They saw a bright glow above them. "What could that be?" asked Rouge.
"Don't know," Shadow replied. "Too bright to be a star."
Sure enough, it wasn't a star. But what was it?
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Back at the lava planet, Knuckles charged towards Yellow Zelkova, but the general's plasma shield threw him back again. Zelkova ran to Knuckles and crushed him under his foot. Amy's and Cream's spaceships fired missiles at Zelkova, only to have them blocked by the shield, surprising them. "You foolish meddlers!" said Yellow Zelkova. "Your missiles are mere play-toys compared to my awesome power!"
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In the ship, Cosmo watched in hopelessness and horror. "Oh no!" she cried.
Tails quickly noticed her distress. "We have to keep trying, Cosmo," he encouraged her. "We'll get through!"
Wallflower and Grace nodded in agreement. "Yeah," said Cosmo, nodding shakily.
Wallflower rubbed her shoulder comfortingly while Grace held her hands. In the meantime, Tails was pulling up a layout of Yellow Zelkova. "In order to penetrate a shield that powerful," he said, "we're going to have to harness a great deal of energy. Of course, I'm not sure where we'll get the extra energy from."
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Outside, Yellow Zelkova charged towards Knuckles and slammed both his fists on him.
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"Knuckles! No!" the crew cried.
Tails was more terrified than everyone else at what was happening to his brother.
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Knuckles struggled to lift Zelkova's fists, managing to stand up while keeping the Metarex General at bay. "You'd think with a fist like that, you could actually do some damage," he said. "You might wanna spend less time on Illuma-Shields and more on upper body strength."
"I grow weary of your mocking, you little red fool!" said Yellow Zelkova as he grabbed Knuckles and swung the helpless Echidna around.
With a "Take that!", he threw him away. Speeding towards the lava, Knuckles was luckily able to think fast by anchoring his spiked glove into the cliff. Now he was dangling above the magma. After looking down at the lava, he rapidly climbed up the wall. Meanwhile, more rockets were fired at Zelkova, not damaging him of course. He just walked over and placed his hands on the Typhoon. "Now you will all meet your fiery end!" he said as he pushed the ship closer and closer to the cliff's edge.
Suddenly, a stream of fire came at him, hitting his armor. Startled at the sudden attack, Yellow Zelkova quickly backed away and looked up in time to see a furious Sunset head for him, fire surrounding her. "STAY AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!" she screamed as she shot another round of fire at him.
At that point, Knuckles had reached the top of the cliff. "Yeah, you heard her!" he said, leaping towards Yellow Zelkova. "Not so fast, yellow belly!"
Meanwhile, Sunset turned on her communicator. "Twilight, get this ship away from the cliff edge now!" she said. "Me and Knuckles will take care of Zelkova!"
Nodding, Twilight ran outside just as the ship came over the edge. But just as Twilight thought it was too late, it suddenly stopped. Looking beside her, she saw AJ grinning in success. Going to the edge, Twilight peered down and saw that AJ had used her earthbending to create an outcropping on the cliff's side, successfully catching the Typhoon. "Now it's your turn," said the cowgirl before stepping off to the side.
Knowing what she had to do, Twilight took a couple steps back so she could stay out of the way. She was hesitant at first; the Typhoon was way bigger than Luke Skywalker's old X-wing back at her home galaxy. But as she glanced down at her hands, she remembered Sunset previously telling her stories of how Yoda was one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy years ago– and how he used the Force to lift stuff that would normally be too heavy for any normal person. "Yoda may have been a small, green guy," Sunset had once said. "But in the end, he shows that even despite his size, you should never underestimate him."
Then, she remembered what Yoda had once told her and Luke back on Dagobah years ago: "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you, hmm? And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship."
Now feeling more confident, Twilight took a deep breath, closed her eyes, reached out her hands, and focused. It was hard at first, but slowly and surely, she moved the ship off the outcropping, up the cliff, and away from the edge. Opening her eyes, Twilight saw what she had done. A smile spread across her face as she set it down safely, panting from the huge effort. "I did it, Yoda," she whispered. "It's like you once said: 'Do, or do not. There is no try'."
With that, she finally passed out, the effort having left her exhausted and out of energy, and tumbled to the ground. AJ approached her limp form, a smile saying everything as she picked up her friend and sister. Throwing Twilight over her shoulder, AJ headed back to the ship, intent on taking her to the medbay so that she could rest.
Meanwhile, Chris was flying through the stormy sky, covering his face with his hands. "Chris, are you OK?" asked a voice.
There was Creecha, who had found them. Now, she was on the wing, looking at Chris through the cockpit window with concern. Sonic noticed this. "I know you're scared, Chris," he said, "but you'll be okay. We gotta get down there fast!"
Chris removed his hands. "You're right," he said. "And Creecha, we're okay. Just in a bit of a pickle, that's all."
"That's a bit of an understatement," said Creecha. "For now, we might wanna get back down. Knuckles may need some help with Zelkova."
"Right," said Chris. "Hang on tight. I'm gonna show him what happens when he tries to hurt my friends."
"That's the spirit, Chris!" said Creecha. "Let's go teach that jerk a lesson!"
Suddenly, a group of Metarex Fighters appeared behind them. " … Oh no!" exclaimed Chris. "Another Metarex fleet!"
"Oh yes," said Sonic. "Those Metarex are pretty persistent, aren't they?"
They fired at Chris, who had to do a loop to avoid them. "That's my cue!" said Sonic.
He spun towards the Metarex Fighters. Suddenly, Chris' craft was struck by lightning, causing it to descend through the storm clouds. Creecha managed to jump out of the way while the Metarex Fighters were also struck, destroying them. Using her telekinesis, Creecha got the craft airborne so that Chris could get it started again. "That was some light show!" said Sonic as he landed back onto the craft.
"I know, right?" said Creecha.
"Yeah, I'll say," Chris agreed. "I can't believe how those lightning bolts had such perfect aim!"
At that, Creecha's face lit up. "Of course!" she said.
"What is it?" asked Sonic.
"I've just come up with an idea!" said Creecha.
Back on the ground, Knuckles leapt towards Zelkova and tried to punch his face in. But, as expected, there was no damage. "You are giving me a headache," said Zelkova. "Cease you pummeling!"
He raised his fist, but Knuckles leapt off Zelkova in time, causing the Metarex General to accidentally punch himself in the face. Knuckles landed on the ground while from the air, Sunset laughed as she shot a fireball at him, forcing him to back out of the way. "I'm not done!" said the Echidna as he tried to attack again.
But Zelkova fired plasma out of a green orb on his head, shocking the Echidna back. Zelkova bore down on Knuckles, but the Echidna leapt onto Zelkova's leg and punched it repeatedly. "You are in for a shock, my tiny friend!" said Zelkova.
He tried to shake Knuckles off, but to no effect. Knuckles wouldn't let go, even when being shocked by plasma. "Gaahh!" he grunted painfully. "Some shock! Is that all you got, pal?"
A couple more punches also did nothing. Trying his hardest, Knuckles punched Zelkova's knee with all his might. It was so strong that not only was Zelkova finally dented, but the spikes on Knuckles' right hand broke off, causing him to cry out in pain. Zelkova bent down, injured by the mighty blow. "You think you're clever, don't you?!" Zelkova snapped as Knuckles landed in front of him.
"What, you mean you haven't figured that out yet?" asked the Echidna.
Meanwhile, Amy's and Cream's spaceships flew overhead. "It's Knuckles!" exclaimed Cream. "He's still fighting him!"
"Let's get out of here while he's not looking!" said Amy.
They fled as Yellow Zelkova stood up. "You cannot fool me!" he said.
Yellow Zelkova charged his hands, and fired plasma at Knuckles and the ships. It was so strong that it electrocuted Knuckles and Sunset, who had blocked the shoot from the spacecrafts. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" she said. "You've hurt my friends for long enough, jerk-wad! It's payback time!"
She then redirected the plasma at Zelkova, who was forced to jump out of the way again.
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In the Typhoon, it even zapped the kids. "Whoa! Shocker!" said Wallflower, jumping in surprise.
"Ow!" said Grace, waving her finger. "Darn it! That hurt!"
"You're telling me!" said Tails, who had gotten thrown backwards. "My fur's all black in some spots and completely poofy!"
That comment made Grace chuckle. Tails' fur did indeed look poofy. "Nice fur-doo," she said.
Cosmo just winced painfully, electricity having got her good. "You OK, Cosmo?" asked Wallflower.
Cosmo didn't reply. She just shook her head as Wallflower checked her for any injuries. "That's being hit with electricity for ya," she said. "Luckily, you don't appear to have gotten hurt too much. Same with the other two."
Just then, just as Tails had come up with an idea, his communicator buzzed on. "Tails! Tails, come in!" said a voice.
"Creecha?" said Tails. "Is that you?"
"Affirmative," Creecha replied. "How're you guys doing down there?"
"Not so well," said Tails. "We got shocked pretty bad by Zelkova."
"Guy's must be desperate to win," said Creecha. "So I've just had an idea come to mind."
"What idea is it?" asked Tails. "Because I've got one, too."
"Glad you asked," said Creecha. "Here's what me, Sonic, and Chris found out: the lightning bolts that strike every now and then, they have such perfect aim that there's a 0% possibility of them missing their target. That made me realize: what if we use Zelkova's energy against him to break through that Illuma-Shield?"
Tails' face lit up. "That's a great idea!" he said. "I was thinking the same thing!"
Then, another voice came over the radio: "Blue Typhoon, do you read me?"
Tails knew who that was. "He's OK!" he said.
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Sure enough, Chris' ship, with Sonic on the wing and Creecha flying alongside it, was descending from the clouds. "All right!" everyone cheered.
Sonic leapt onto Amy's craft nearby. "Hey, Sonic!" said Amy, happy that he was okay.
"Looks like Knuckles might need some assistance," said Sonic. "Let's you and me go lend him a hand!"
Amy agreed. Yellow Zelkova saw the crafts flying around. "What now?" he grumbled. "Will nothing deter these puny meddlers?"
Knuckles tried to punch Zelkova's hand, but it shocked him away. "Hey, big guy!" called a voice. "Up here!"
Zelkova turned around to see Amy's ship flying towards him. With a coil of cable in his hand, Sonic leapt towards him. "You still have not learned, have you, hedgehog?" said the Metarex General. "Illuma-Shield!"
He deployed his electric body shield which shocked Sonic, forcing him backwards in the proces. Luckily, Cream was able to catch him with her ship. "We gotcha!" she said.
"Chao chao!" said Cheese.
Cream flew loops around Zelkova while Sonic unwound the cable around him, soon forming a ring. Outside the Typhoon, Chris and Tails were setting up a pole. "OK!" said Chris. "It's ready to go!"
Tails nodded and turned to Cosmo, who was standing on the very front of the Typhoon's deck. "Alright, Cosmo!" he called. "Set the signal!"
Cosmo nodded. "Sonic!" she called, waving a beacon at him.
Seeing this, Sonic leapt back to Amy's ship. "Here goes!" he said, dropping his end of the cable down to the ground. "Creecha, you, Sunset, and Lightning get ready!"
The three nodded. They were going to help with the plan with their lightning-bending. "Time to fight fire with fire!" said Sunset as the three took their positions.
"More like 'time to fight lightning with electricity'," Lightning chuckled, causing Creecha to snort in amusement.
Yellow Zelkova was confused. "What is this? What's going on?" he asked.
"Don't you worry your little head, Zelkova!" said Knuckles. "You just sit tight!"
Sonic leapt up to the storm clouds, simulating them. Then, he spun down to the planet's surface, with the lightning right behind him, and aimed for the pole that had been set up. Upon instant contact, the lightning struck the pole and traveled down through the cable. The plasma shield was set up again, but that was when Sunset, Creecha, and Lightning played their part. Aiming their lightning at the shield, they struck it, giving it severe damage. As Zelkova cried out in pain, the shield was overpowered by the lightning and exploded. "Yeah!" Sonic cheered as he landed on Cream's spaceship.
"We did it, Sonic!" Cream also cheered.
Now more damaged than he ever was, an angry Zelkova was about to attack the three lightning-benders, but a certain, fluffy orange ball prevented that. "Don't you ever hurt my brothers and friends again!" yelled a voice as the ball viciously slammed into him again and again.
Under the constant attacks, Yellow Zelkova was finally brought down to his knees. The ball then hovered in the air and uncurled itself to reveal Tails with a triumphant look. "I've always wanted to do that," he chuckled, dusting off his hands.
"Way to go, little bro!" said Sonic over the radio. "I always knew you could do it!"
"Thanks," said Tails as he landed back on the Typhoon. "But I couldn't have done it without you guys. You're all amazing."
"Aw, thanks, Tails," said Fluttershy, ruffling his hair. "You're not so bad yourself."
Suddenly, Zelkova noticed something wrong with his armor: formerly indestructible, it was now crumbling to pieces. "What… what is happening to me?" he asked, frightened.
As the rest of his armor collapsed, everyone was shocked to see a revealed, breaking new development: Zelkova wasn't a robot at all! Underneath the armor was a strange creature. Zelkova screamed as he broke free of the rest of his armor, pieces of machinery flying everywhere. "No way!" exclaimed Tails.
"Cosmo," said Grace, looking down at the little girl, "what the heck?! We all thought you were the last of your kind!"
"That's what I thought, too!" replied Cosmo, more shocked than anyone else to see another creature who was somehow from the same race as her.
An angry Zelkova stared down Knuckles. "Huh!?" exclaimed the Echidna, also surprised at the form. "Are you kidding me?"
"I'm taking you down with me, Echidna!" Zelkova vowed as he lunged himself towards Knuckles. "Dark Oak will be victorious! … He will have revenge!"
Knuckles just punched him back quickly and easily. Another punch ended up sending Zelkova a little too close to the cliff's edge. Suddenly, the ground broke beneath him, and Zelkova grappled the cliff feebly as he fell towards his impending doom: falling towards magma. The moment his feet touched the hot surface, Zelkova screamed in pain as he felt himself staring to melt into the magma. Seeing this, Sunset jumped down into the danger and using her lightsabers and her boots (which had good traction), safely got to within his sight. "Zelkova! Give me your hand!" she called, holding out her hand for him.
Just then, she heard someone else: "Shovel claw!"
Turning her head, Sunset saw that it was Knuckles, who had also jumped down to help. Now with his shovel claw embedded into the cliff alongside her lightsabers, Knuckles also reached out a hand. "Take hold of me!" he called.
Zelkova started to do so, the three straining as they tried to reach each other. "Zelkova, come on!" Sunset pleaded, reaching out as far as she could. "We'll help you!"
But just as they had gotten in reach, Zelkova paused. Sunset and Knuckles looked down at him, confused. But when Sunset looked into Zelkova's eyes, that's when she saw it: Zelkova was thinking to himself as beyond redemption. By the time she realized it, Zelkova just smiled and allowed himself to melt into the magma, no longer resisting. "ZELKOVA!!" Knuckles called as Sunset stared in shock.
But it was no use; Zelkova just sank beneath the magma, never to be seen again. Knuckles closed his eyes in sorrow and climbed back up the cliff. Everyone else was still shocked at the latest development. "He thought he was indestructible," said Chris.
"That may be," said Starlight. "But in the end, anyone can be beaten, whether they be hero or villain."
Meanwhile, Sunset continued staring down in shock at Zelkova's resting place. She had wanted to help him because she still remembered how her brother Anakin had gotten badly burned to near death by a lava river. I failed… she thought, closing her eyes and looking away in grief. I thought I would stop history from repeating itself… and I failed…
"Sunset…" said a voice.
Looking up, Sunset saw Creecha flying above her. "Let's get out of here," she said, extending a hand.
"I'm sorry, Creecha…" said Sunset, taking her hand. "I tried…"
As Creecha flew towards the Typhoon with Sunset, Knuckles was already there, tired and injured from the fight. "Knuckles!" called a voice.
Looking up, a tired smile formed on his face as he saw Tails run over to him. Opening his arms, Knuckles braced himself as Tails didn't hesitate to jump into them, hugging him tight while being careful of Knuckles' injuries. "Thank goodness you're okay," said Tails, nestling his face into his chest. "I was so worried for you out there."
Knuckles chuckled as he stood up, picking up Tails with him. "It's gonna take a lot more than a giant Metarex General to get the best of me," he said as he adjusted his hold on his little brother. "I'm just happy you and everyone else is still alive."
"Same with you," Tails replied softly as he nuzzled himself into his oldest brother's safe, strong hold.
Knuckles just smiled in reply as he headed inside, his little brother curled into a ball in his arms.
………………………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, Eggman and his hench-bots were analyzing some data. "Interesting," said Eggman as he removed a chip from a computer. "After having reached their data, I have discovered the Metarex's plan to…"
"Ixnay, Doctor," Cubot whispered.
This meant that one of the Metarex Generals was coming. In this case, it was Pale Bayleaf. "Doctor Eggman, is there something I can help you with?" he asked as he entered the room.
Eggman quickly turned around. "Oh, not at all, my friend!" he said. "I was just admiring your up-to-the-minute gadgetry. I really must commend you on your technological wherewithal!"
The hench-bots agreed. "The doctor is taking rather copious notes!" said Orbot.
"Uh, so that he can build one… just like it!" Cubot quickly added.
Satisfied, Bayleaf turned around to go, but not before he told Eggman the news: "Zelkova's been destroyed."
Eggman was surprised. "What's that?" he asked.
"It seems your so-called Illuma-Shield was of no use to him in the end," said Pale Bayleaf.
"Well," said Eggman, "it didn't come with a warranty."
Chuckling, Bayleaf left the room. Orbot and Cubot looked at Eggman in curiosity. They all knew how serious this all became suddenly; if two Metarex Generals were now destroyed, this meant the Metarex would stop at nothing to accomplish their goal.
………………………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, back at the strange planet, Shadow was leaping from branch to branch up the tree until he arrived at the top. Rouge arrived shortly after, seeing that there, sitting on the top, was a Chaos Emerald. "That looks pretty interesting," said the bat.
"Let's see here," said Shadow, taking the Emerald.
Not surprisingly, he crushed it with his bare hand. "I knew it. It's a fake," he said as the pieces fell to the forest below.
"Why would there be a fake Chaos Emerald in the middle of nowhere?" asked Rouge. "How weird."
"Weird" indeed. After a moment, they heard a groan in the forest below. They leapt down there to find the source, but what they found shocked them. "What?!" exclaimed Rouge.
It was a young man who looked to be in very bad shape. His clothes were torn, and there was a tree somehow growing in him. Despite his appearance, Rouge immediately recognized him. "Shadow," she said, "it's that Leon guy from the resistance."
Leon slowly opened his eyes. Shadow knelt down in front of him. "What happened?" he asked. "Tell us."
"Metarex… they fooled us all…" Leon managed to say painfully. "They told us… that we could be one of them… but they lied… Ungh… Destroying us all… already happening…"
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The tree roots grew further into him. It was so painful that Shadow couldn't bear to watch. "Shadow…" said Rouge, concerned.
Leon knew he was dying; he didn't have much time left. "My pocket…" he said. "Look inside…"
Shadow did so. From Leon's left pocket, he pulled out some sort of device. "What is it?" he asked.
"You must stop them…" said Leon. "It's… not too late…"
These were Leon's final words before he died. As Shadow inspected the device, he and Rouge would later find the rest of the former Cascadian resistance, who had also become one with the trees.
(End of Act 2)
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