CHAPTER THIRTY

When hot death is screaming at you at a hundred miles an hour, you do what anybody does…you freeze like a deer in headlights. Luckily, if you're NEARBY somebody who has hot death screaming at them at a hundred miles an hour, you do what anybody would do…

And yank them away! YOINK!

WHA-WOOM!

A small crater was left where Amy had been standing. Sonic had quickly yanked Amy to the side and now Shadow had drawn a gun, expecting this to be easy. "Take this!" He shouted, busting off a few caps at Nazo, who lazily floated in mid-air, whacking the bullets aside…

And they struck the Chaotix, who went down, groaning in pain. Gasping, Rouge leapt up into the air and did a Screw Kick right at the evil whitish/blue hedgehog, her body spinning rapidly as she soared through the air…

But Nazo was fast…very fast. He quickly hovered above Rouge and then SLAMMED her into the ground with a nasty kick, then slammed himself on top of her, feet digging in. "Little tramp." He laughed as he kicked her side.

"Here I thought you had good instincts, Rouge…and you couldn't tell I was one of the bad guys? Stupid, stupid girl…"

"I should have known you were up to something…" The kid growled.

"You're not the only one…I expected more from you, Tails!" Nazo laughed. "Not that it matters now. Though maybe I should thank you all…" He added, smiling cheerfully.

"Huh?" Amy blinked.

Nazo rose up into the air, hand on his chest in a dramatic fashion. "I, Nazo, was created from the negative energy of the emeralds…and not just merely the chaos emeralds you so often use to go super, but the ones that stupid human created to make people's DREAMS come true. Oh, it was SUCH a noble goal…" Nazo mocked. "Trying to find a way to make everyone happy…what you didn't know was that every act that contained darkness in it, every betrayal, every theft, every cruel word said contributed to the negative energy that the chaos emeralds generated. Every act of evil around them swirled together and gave birth to ME!" He laughed, pointing at himself.

"Born from our own dark acts…" Tikal whispered.

"Even that fake Master Emerald "Knucklehead" ordered was useful…it was amusing to absorb energy created from torture." Nazo told them, smirking directly at Shadow, who's red eyes narrowed. "I heard you crying out Maria's name sometimes…how did it go? Oh, I know… "Maaaaariiiiaaaaaaa"!!" He cried out, laughing evilly.

Shadow's fist clenched tightly. VERY tightly.

"What a pathetic little hedgehog you are. I can't believe this one thinks so highly of you." He added, forcibly slamming back down onto Rouge the Bat and making her scream again.

"You sonofa!! Get OFF her!" Knuckles howled, rushing through the air. Nazo raised an eyebrow as Knuckles fist struck him in the face over and over, his knuckles embedding deep into chest and arm and-

Not…doing…much…of…anything. The red echidna stood back in horror as Nazo cricked his neck slightly, then spat out a single tooth.

"I'll admit that stung a little." He remarked. "This might hurt too." He added, raising a hand and putting it point-blank at Knuckles. "CHAOS TORRENT!"

BA-BLAMMA! Knuckles went flying into a wall of a nearby store, the impact breaking the bricks and shattering the glass with the shockwave. He fell to the ground, back bleeding badly as Cream screamed and held Cheese tightly.

"Oh I hate it when they scream, I can't stand it." Nazo remarked, raising a finger up and pointing at Cream. "Dissa-"

"CHAOS…"

Nazo gasped as Shadow grabbed the back of his neck, body a-glow with red energy while everyone ducked for cover as best they could. "BLAST!"

KA-BOOOOOOM! A huge red dome of energy sailed up, encasing both Shadow and Nazo as red fire swirled around them…and a few moments later, both Shadow and Nazo's charred bodies fell to the ground, twitching in pain.

Rouge limped over and helped Shadow up as he slowly blinked his eyes. "I…I got him…" He muttered. "I HAD to have gotten him…"

"Oh…you got me." Nazo said, standing up. His body was OOZING blood from all over, but he snapped his fingers. "CHAOS REGENERATION!"

With a strange twinkling noise, his body was covered in golden specks of light, and his wounds healed before their eyes. "Now I get you." He promptly kicked Rouge and Shadow into Knuckles and all three of them fell in a bruised and bloodied pile while Nazo laughed and laughed.

"EXTERMINATE!" Omega shouted, seeing his compatriots downed. His shoulder pads opened up, revealing tiny missile launchers while his claw-hands converted into guns. Gamma raised his own blaster, eyes narrowing, and the two unloaded on Nazo…

Who calmly flew up int the air, dodging the bullets. He snapped his fingers and shouted "CHAOS CONTROL!", vanishing in an instant.

The two robots looked around. "Where is he?" Omega demanded.

"Perhaps he retreated." Gamma guessed.

Emerl looked around, scanning the area. Then his sensors picked up a sudden influx of chaos energy directly above them. He looked up just in time to see Nazo flinging a couple of Hummers down on Omega and Gamma. "NO!" He shouted, rushing forward…

Too late. CRA-CRUNCH! The two robots were buried underneath the wreckage. Cream gasped in horror as Nazo Chaos-Controlled back down to her, and advanced towards her, hand-aglow with energy, an intent to kill in his eyes.

Growling furiously, Emerl launched himself at Nazo, thrusting HIS hand at the hedgehog, using his Copy Skill. "CHAOS TORRENT!" He shouted, firing off a wave of energy…

Nazo batted it aside, then rushed at Emerl, punching him straight through the chest. Emerl let out a pained gasp before he hit the ground, deactivating. Cream jumped on top of Nazo and began whacking him over and over along with Cheese, yelling "You big bully" as tears filled her innocent eyes.

This proved futile. Rolling his eyes, Nazo grabbed her and her chao, slammed them together, then tossed them into a garbage can, smirking at the sight. "I'm glad you decided to go along with Chaos when he threatened you." Nazo remarked. "Chaos was transformed thanks to the Master Emerald…he and the girl share a synchronicity with it. What one feels, the other feels…so feeling him frighten you was rather…enjoyable."

Then a sudden pain shot up from his back…Tails had just fired his plasma buster straight at him.

"Little pest!" Nazo shouted, rushing forward and grabbing Tails by the face.

"TAILS!" Sonic screamed, hand reaching out through the air.

"Soni-" Tails gasped.

He never finished his sentence. With a mighty energy blast, the poor orange kitsune was blasted into a shop window, his battered and glass-covered body hitting the grocery deli floor. His two tails twitched for a moment, and then he lay still, barely breathing.

"What gives you the right to be so cruel?!" Chaos snarled, clenching his claws.

"If you have power, ANYTHING is possible. And I have power." Nazo laughed. "I can do whatever I want."

"MONSTER!" Tikal screamed, raising her hands along with Chaos. The two called forth all of their strength as energy waves swirled around them, then shot out in red and blue beams at Nazo, pulsing strong. They caused a large explosion which sent him flying into the air, and he growled in a hateful fashion at the two.

"That's it…" He muttered. "No more Mr. Nice Nazo!" He pointed two fingers, one at Chaos and one at Tikal. "CHAOS CEASE!"

Both of his prey froze on the spot unable to move. Smirking, Chaos dove down into the streets of the city, lifted up two more cars, and then flung them right at the guardians. The kid rushed in front of them, raising his hands. "CHAOS CEASE!" He screamed out, stopping the cars just in time…

Unfortunately he didn't turn around fast enough to see Nazo pop up from behind him, Tikal and Chaos…

"Oh God-"

Nor was he able to stop the Chaos Torrents that struck them hard, burning so fiercely and brightly that they blinded all who looked their way. When it was finished, Tikal and Chaos were on the ground, covered in soot and bruises, and Nick was…

Was…

Gone.

Amy shook her head as her body quivered with anger and denial. "No…No-no-no-no-NO! YOU DO NOT GET AWAY WITH SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

Amy was PISSED. Nobody hurt her friends and got away with it! Raising her hammer, she rushed through the air and struck Nazo across the face over and over.

PIKO POWER, PIKO POWER, PIKO-

THWACK!

Nazo grabbed the hammer and spat out some blood. "Baaaad girl." He hissed before punching her across the face so hard he almost broke her neck. She hit the ground, barely moving.

"YOU…YOU!!" Sonic screamed, rushing at full speed. Nazo smirked as he met Sonic in midair and it became a contest to see who could push the other hedgehog down.

"I've been in control from day one in one form or another!" Nazo laughed. "You don't stand a chance against me! And you've only yourself to blame! I grew stronger and stronger every time White showed you up, every time one of your friends was taken away! Why, if you'd killed him, none of this would be happening!"

"I…DON'T…KILL!" Sonic growled. "Though maybe I oughta make an exception for you!"

"Of course once I gained a more physical body I was able to feed off of negative emotions away from the chaos emeralds…like the horror on that flight the Chaotix took…oh, and the hatred that stemmed from your heart whenever you looked at White…and of course, Amy's fear…" Nazo said dreamily.

"Amy's not scared of you!" Sonic insisted loudly, which made Amy smile a little in reassurance…but that smile was wiped away a few moments later.

Nazo smirked as he continued to push Sonic back and down. "Oh, but she is…you should have seen the look on her face when I appeared in her bedroom. She's a tasy-looking b—ch, isn't she?" Nazo asked, tilting his head to the side, a lewd expression appearing on his features. "Maybe once I'm finished with you…"

That did it. Sonic went NUCLEAR. His eyes went wide and red. Lightning rippled across his body. His fur turned black and his quills stood up. Energy surged from him in a poisonous aura as the emeralds swirled around him, emerging from his body…tainted black.

"Wh-what's happening?" Amy gasped in fear as she got back to her feet, taking a few steps back.

"Ah, it appears as if he's using the negative energy of the emeralds…" Nazo remarked as Sonic began to push him back. He grimaced as he continued to speak. "His strength…is increasing greatly! Not bad!"

A feral, hideous grin split Sonic's face. Amy almost screamed. How…how could this be the Sonic she loved.

"Of course, I FEED off negative energy…" Nazo added, an equally mad grin appearing on HIS face. He suddenly lifted Sonic up into the air, then slammed him forcibly into the ground. Rising up into the air, he thrust both hands down and began launching Chaos Torrents into Sonic's black body, ignoring Amy's screams.

With THUNKA-THUNKA-THUD's, they hit Sonic over and over…but even after the short and sweet barrage had ended, his fur was still black. Growling, Sonic stood up, fists clenched as he howled at the sky. Nazo laughed as his own body surged. "That's it! Keep feeding me! Sing, little hog!"

"Sonic STOP!" Amy screamed.

Sonic turned to glare at her, now his pupils were totally gone. He growled, revealing fangs as he walked towards her, dark intent in his eyes.

"I love you…I love the Sonikku that always makes me smile, the one that always knows what to say…the one that would never want to kill somebody else because he respects life…"

Sonic stopped walking towards her, his eyes slowly growing wider.

"Please…give me that Sonniku back." Amy begged, holding her hands together and getting on her knees as tears streamed down in her face.

Sonic's quills slowly bent back down. His pupils returned to normal as his fur began to turn their normal blue color. The aura around him vanished as the emeralds plopped to the ground below and he stood there, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.

"A-Ame?" He asked. "What…what was I doing? I almost…I made you cry!" He said. "There's nothing worse than somebody who makes a girl cry." He muttered, looking away and to the side in shame.

But then Amy GLOMPED him, so hard that he almost fell over. He felt her warm body holding him tightly and saw her eyes filled with joy, even as tears still streamed down her cheeks in silvery trails.

"You're alright now. That's all I care about." Amy insisted.

Sonic held her tightly. But before he could speak…

"How pathetically emotional. CHAOS CEASE!"

The world froze. And then after a horrible pain shot through them both, all went dark.

…

…

…

…"ey…"

"…"

"…hey…"

"…"

"…HEY…"

"…"

"HEY! WAKE UP!"

Sonic awoke to see Nack, aka Fang the Sniper, putting his mug right in his face. The weasel/wolf had seen better days…he looked gaunt and ragged, and there was a sad acceptance in his eyes.

"Have a nice nap, Sleepin' Beauty?" Nack asked. "Yer girl's already up." He added, jabbing his thumb to the right at Amy, who was looking at Sonic intently…obviously she had been waiting quite a while for him to wake up.

"Amy, you're alright? Where's-oh." Sonic looked around. Everybody was inside of a large cell. The walls were stainless steel of some kind.

"Don't bother trying to break out, I almost broke my knuckles on them." Knuckles muttered. "They're stronger than titanium."

"THAT'S our only way out." Dr. Eggman said, pointing at a charged, translucent wall of pulsing light blue energy. "Unfortunately, it can only be opened from the outside, and by an energy signature of one Nazo the Hedgehog…I…" Eggman's moustache dropped as his eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "I HATE hedgehogs…"

"We're trapped in here." Cream whimpered softly. "I want my mommy…"

"Where's Nick?" Sonic asked.

Everyone was quiet.

"…no." He whispered softly. "Not again…"

"The stupid human got too involved all over again." A familiar, cruel voice laughed. They all turned to look beyond the translucent wall and saw Nazo standing there, arms crossed, a smirk on his features. "As a "Guide", he always gets involved…stupid, stupid, stupid. And he has paid the ultimate price once again…DEATH."

"You BASTARD, I'll-" Sonic growled.

"Do what?" Nazo asked. "Swear at me? Ooh, I'm sooo scaaared!" Nazo mocked, waving his hands in the air. "Don't hurt me, Mr. Sonic!" He said in a childish voice. "Don't bore me to death with your gratuitous English or bad one-liners!"

"You hateful monster." Tikal whispered.

"Sister, you don't know the half of it. Guess what I'm going to do to your world?" Nazo asked.

Nobody answered, partially out of fear, partially out of disdain towards Nazo. "Okay, fine, I'll say it: as you know, I get REALLY high off negative emotions…so I built this space station-"

"Hey, I built this space station!" Eggman snarled.

"No comments from the peanut gallery!" Nazo snapped, clapping his hands. Eggman's moustache froze in place, making him freeze in an uncomfortable position. Metal began snickering at the sight of his master trying to pull himself away from his "pride and joy".

Nazo went on condescendingly. "The station's built to amplify chaos energy by collecting it from Earth itself! But…it also works both ways. I'm going to use the space station's core to send out a beam of pure negative chaos energy…it'll do an orbital sweep, covering the globe. Think of it as…well, a good investment. In a few hours, that little energy I spent will come back to me by planting seeds of darkness in ALL beings on the Earth! They'll give in to their deepest, darkest desires and negative energy will spread across the world! I'll give them ALL my hatred!" Nazo laughed.

"You're going to unleash a global hurricane of hate. That is OUTLANDISHLY cruel and sick!" Tails gasped.

Nazo shrugged. "Tell me something I don't know."

"My momma breast fed me until I was five." Big remarked.

Everyone was absolutely silent.

"…thank you for that disturbing distraction/answer to my question." Nazo finally said.

"Oh you poor, poor thing." Chaos intoned, looking at Big.

"Anyway, after all of their hatred's been unleashed…" Nazo went on nonchantly, rubbing the underside of his nose with a single finger, "I'll feed off that, collect the new reservoir of negative energy, and then obliterate everything on Earth…especially that annoying Master Emerald."

"What the?! Don't you even think about it!" Knuckles said.

"Yeah, it's my baby's other baby!" Rouge said.

"Huh?" Big tilted his head to the side.

"That girl's his first baby." Mighty explained.

"Ohhh…"

"I'm not just thinking about it, I'm doing it. Since your stupid human friend was from another world and not totally bound by your world's rules, he could absorb the Master Emerald's power…but unfortunately I can't. So I'll do the next best thing…get rid of my competition and blow that rock…along with THAT rock…" He pointed out a nearby window, right at the blue orb that was Earth. "Off the map."

With that, Nazo turned away and waved goodbye in a callous fashion. "Ta-ta. I'll be back to destroy you after I get rid of the Earth. Should be fun."

"YOU…YOU!!" Sonic screamed, throwing himself against the blue wall. It sparkled with electrical energy and sent him flying back while Nazo's laughter ringed in all of their ears…

…

…

…

…It had been about two hours. Everyone had been lying around, unable to really DO anything. And it hadn't taken long for Nack to get bored. He had snapped.

"I can't take it no more!" He shouted, his distinct New York accent ripping the silence apart. Whether it was a Manhattan or Brooklyn accent they couldn't tell… "We've gotta get the hell outta here!" He shouted. "I don't care if I break nearly every bone in my body breaking down wuna these walls, but I'm gettin' outta this joint!"

"As much as I really would not like to say this in this sort of situation…" Metal Sonic remarked, his voice dripping with a mixture of dislike for the scumbag weasel and aggravated sorrow, "Resistance is futile."

"We can't break down the walls. They're too strong." Eggman told them all simply. "I should know, I designed these d—n cells and this space station…that d—nable hedgehog…that OTHER d—namble hedgehog…I can't believe he double-crossed me."

"Shoulda seen it comin." Nack groaned, sitting back down. "I mean, it's what I woulda done if I was workin' with you and felt you weren't payin' up enuff…but then again, I would never wanna do what this freak wants ta do! I mean, he's gonna actually destroy the whole d—n world and us right after it…"

"…I wish I'd been stronger…" Knuckles said suddenly, bowing his head in shame. "I thought I wasn't holding back, but he somehow overpowered us…"

"No, it's MY fault!" Tails said, groaning as he stood up and went to the wall, banging his fist on the wall, shaking. "I wasn't smart enough…I should have figured out his plans, I'm supposed to have an IQ in the triple digits!"

"You and me both!" Eggman complained.

"It's MY fault!" Tikal sobbed, covering her eyes. "I'm not strong…I'm a weakling…all my magic power didn't do anything to him…"

Chaos shook his head, trying to comfort her further. "No, no…" He said. "Please Tikal, don't cry…the fault is mine. I allowed the darkness in my heart to grow, I started this whole thing by allowing myself to be used for a cruel purpose…and I turned away too late…worse still, I was not strong enough to do anything to him, and I…I'm…" He couldn't even finish his sentence, but they knew what he was thinking. He was supposed to be a god, but he couldn't even beat down one evil hedgehog. He'd failed to protect the Master Emerald, his wonderful, wonderful friends…his chao…oh, the poor chao…

"No. It's OUR fault." The Chaotix all said at the same time. "We're the ones who fell for his request!"

"The blame lies with me." Omega said. "I allowed my hatred of Eggman to blind me to an evil far greater than he…"

"No, it is mine fault, brother in arms…" Gamma said suddenly. He stood up and looked down at his hands. "I wasn't strong enough to resist his influence and I allowed myself to steal that emerald…"

"Don't forget I helped you…" Emerl said, burying his face in his hands. "I thought I was over being used, but…"

"You were tricked, kid. It happens." Rouge said. "I don't blame you. I blame myself. I thought that he actually was one of the good guys…"

"No, it's MY faaault!" Cream sobbed. "I got kidnapped! If I'd been stronger in the beginning, I woulda beaten Chaos off and-and then none of this woulda happened!"

"But I still would have ended up bringing the chaos emerald to him…" Big mumbled sadly. "He tricked me too, Emerl…"

"I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Life Form, d—n it!" Shadow swore, punching the walls suddenly. "But I can't use chaos control, none of my powers work on our walls, and now I-I can't do anything to help the world. The worst part is…" He sighed. "I thought I'd put the past behind me, that Maria and Gerald would have wanted me to be happy…but I feel so awful knowing that I can't stop what's going to happen to our world…I've failed her…and here I thought I had gotten over her…"

"No."

Sonic's voice rang out and everyone turned to face him as he stood up, body quivering, fists clenched hard, speaking softly.

"It's my fault. I had all these chances and I thought I'd done enough. But I never looked closer, never did that extra mile, didn't FINISH things. I couldn't beat him. I always won before and this time I couldn't do anything. And for all I can do, I can't get us out of a stupid, stupid…" He began to punch the floor. "STUPID, STUPID cell! I'm USELESS! I'm…I'm no hero…"

Nobody had the heart to say anything. All of them had screwed up in some way, in some manner. All of them had contributed to the disaster that was happening around them. How could they stop Nazo?

And then someone spoke…

"I can't believe what I'm seeing. Are you for real!?"

They all turned to face this voice that was coming from the door far, far beyond energy field that blocked their way out, down the hallway…

And there, entering the hallway, walking towards their cell, was the speaker.

"Are you serious?...guys, guys…"

He shook his head, disappointed, and then stepped up to the energy shield, raising a fist, smiling triumphantly, knuckles cracking slightly as he made said fist. His hazel green eyes stared out from his face, and the human teenager spoke again. "I think you're forgetting who you are!"…

"NICK!" They all shouted, sitting or standing up. Sonic's eyes went wide, and then he smiled happily.

"You're alright." He said. "Mind tellin' us how?"

"The same dirty trick won't work on me twice!" The kid said, giving them all a two-fingered victory pose. "Now then…how's about we get you outta here?" He asked.

"But what's the point?" Eggman muttered. Everyone turned to face him. "Think about it…what can we do against him?"

"He's so powerful!" Chaos sighed. "What hope is there? What person could beat him?"

The kid sighed and pointed at them. "Guys, are you forgetting who you are?"

BGM: Solaris, Battle Phase Two

He shrugged. "I'll admit things look bad…terrible even. But you've faced odds like this before…and you're not just any "person", none of you are!"

He pointed at Metal and Eggman. "You're the amazing evil genius and his finest work! If anybody's going to win against Sonic, it'll be YOU, right?"

He pointed at Nack. "Do you really want that white fake to ruin the world and every chance you have at being rich and happy with your family?"

He pointed at The Chaotix. "You have a new job now…taking down the scumbag that double-crossed us all! Flatfoots deal with scum all the time, remember?"

He pointed at Tikal and Chaos. "You two are guardians of the Master Emerald…now you have to be something else…guardians of the world!"

He pointed at Rouge and Knuckles. "If ANYBODY'S gonna control the fate of the Master Emerald, it'll be you two…you have a future to think about!"

He pointed at Cream, Cheese and Big. "Your loved ones are waiting for you down on Earth…are you going to disappoint them by dying up here?"

He pointed at the robots. "Machines you may be. You might have limitations, but you can overcome them because you have SOULS! You care for others and that makes you capable of winning."

He pointed at Shadow. "You're the ultimate life form, dang it! Stop beating yourself and get a grip! Protect the world for Maria's sake…and for the sake of the people who care about you! Don't give up!"

He pointed at Amy. "Amy, how can you expect to have a happy ending with Sonic if you can't beat Nazo up here? You have to prove you can run and fight alongside the one you love!"

He finally pointed at Sonic. "And you…you're Sonic the Hedgehog! In your world, compromise does not exist! You're really going to give up now and deny everything you stand for? You NEVER give in, you always keep fighting! Now come on! Get everyone going! We can win!"

Sonic turned to the others. He smirked and nodded. "Hands in. On three we bust out." He said in a resolute tone.

All of the groups, all of the people, no…all of the HEROES put their hands in. Then, all together, they jumped at the glowing prison door that had been holding them back as the kid unleashed his own strength…

A blinding flash of light…and they were freed, running down the hallway. Omega, Gamma and Metal carried Eggman as he led them down the hallway, towards the core.

"We're only a few minutes away, but every second counts." He told them. He looked down at Sonic. "I never actually thought I'd say this, but I'm glad you didn't die against Nazo."

"Can't believe I'M saying this, but it's good to have you on our side again!" Sonic laughed. "Let's do this again sometime, Metal!" He told the robot.

"…hmph." Metal closed his eyes, but if he could have, he would have smiled slightly.

"This battle's going to require ALL of our strength!" Knuckles said.

"So we all attack together, one type at a time." The kid said as he raced alongside them, his hair whipping in the air. He had transformed into White, but was keeping the power under control. "We divide up into groups and attack one group at a time. But you guys can't hold back. At ALL." He said, his pink eyes glinting. "We're gonna have to do worse than kill. We're gonna have to OBLITERATE this monster."

"I dunno if I can do that." Sonic told White.

"Look, baby blue…" White said. "Nazo wants to kill the kid and me. In the interest of self-preservation I'm helping you. Plus the fact of the matter is that a universe without Earth…and YOU guys…would be duller than dirt." White laughed. "Nazo's not really a "person", he's a manifestation of hateful dark energy…think of him as the boogeyman!"

"Momma told me to never be afraid of the Boogeyman!" Cream explained.

"I ain't scared of a monster under my bed anymore!" Big told them all.

"Then we're all in this together?" Shadow asked. "I don't mind not holding back."

"Let's GET him." Amy insisted, clenching her fist.

"Ooh, he's gonna get it alright!" Rouge laughed.

"I'm gonna 'splode him gooood!" Bean cackled.

"Will crack skull like coconut to keep world from burning to ground!" Bark howled.

"My future's just beginning…I'm not letting a big white furry ball of hate stop me!" Ray said.

"We will protect the world." Espio thought out loud.

"It'll be our biggest job yet! WOO!" Charmy whooped.

"Wipin' the smirk off that psycho's face is all the pay I need. He hasn't any right to play God!" Vector swore.

"We will destroy him for manipulating us!" Gamma announced.

"Exterminate him for the sake of peace." Omega agreed.

"He made Cream cry…I won't forgive that!" Emerl hissed, clenching his fist.

"For the sake of our homes!" Knuckles cried out.

"For the sake of the ones we love!" Tails shouted.

"For the sake of a future with freedom!" Sonic proclaimed.

"Glad to hear it…let's rock." White said, eyes glinting as his skin turned blacker than coal and an aura surrounded him.

(Music stops)

…

…

…Nazo stood in front of the glowing orb that was the power core. A large window that was bigger than a Church door was to his right as he reached out and touched the core, smiling happily. It was pulsating brightly with a colorless aura that was pure poison to behold…unless, of course, you were an asshole like Nazo. He found it beautiful. He'd had it custom-made; it looked like a rounded heart that was embedded in veins that were rising up from the ground.

"Looks like I've collected a fine amount of negative energy." He thought out loud. He turned and walked towards the window, turning away from the core, the vents, the machinery and gazed at the Earth, which had a small shine surrounding it…a black shine. Hatred was rising up and into the space station.

Nazo took it all in, breathing it in deeply like a fine aroma, then sighed, re-opening his eyes. "Ahh, this is all going so well."

"Not anymore it's not!" A familiar, cocky voice yelled.

Nazo snarled and turned around, coming face to face with our group of heroes. "You aggravating little brats." He muttered. "How'd you break out-oh, it doesn't matter. I'll just kill you right here." He rose up on his feet, hovering over to the core as he continued to smirk at them. "None of you could beat me before…what makes you think you can win now?"

"All of us are doing this together." Sonic said, pointing at himself with a thumb. "We're gonna wipe the floor with you!"

BGM: His World, Instrumental

"Oh please, you won't even get me to stay still! Now then…I'll wager…" He rubbed his chin. "That human let you out. He must have lived from my earlier attack…no matter." He shrugged. "I guess I'll just correct my mistake and…and…"

He looked around. "…where'd he go?" Nazo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"HA!" Pitch Black grabbed him from behind and smirked. "CHAOS CONCERTO!"

A wave of energy soared up around them, flashing and sparkling like a strange visualizer, blasting Nazo over and over. His eyes went wide as he screamed, and Black jumped back. "NOW, GUYS!"

Nack, Tails, Eggman, Gamma and Omega all raised respective weapons and unloaded into Nazo, making his body thud with every bullet and blast. Then Big, Amy, Knuckles and Bark rushed forward and struck simultaneously, knocking the evil hedgehog into the air.

Jumping into the air, Bean tossed a bomb right at Nazo, and it blasted him across the room, right into Mighty's fist, who punched him into Vector, who punched him into Charmy, who punched him into Espio, who kicked him straight at Chaos and Tikal…

Both of whom raised their hands, summoning all their strength and thrusting them forward. Beams of red and white light soared around their arms and shot out, striking Nazo clear through the chest, making him quiver as lightning split the air around him. Rouge Screw-Kicked him straight in the back and he fell to the ground, gasping as he looked up…

Cream and Cheese and Emerl jumped on him and tossed him around and around, throwing him into the air, where Sonic, Metal and Shadow were waiting. They curled up into Spin-Dashes and launched themselves at Nazo, grinding hard into him. He fell to the floor, spitting out blood.

"No…this…isn't possible!" He screamed.

"You're forgetting your own rule, Nazo!" Sonic shouted as everyone stood together, hands outstretched. Black raised his hands and focused, channeling his strength and calling forth a move he called Rhythmic Passage…transforming everyone's inner energy into chaos power. Now all of them were glowing different colors, their auras revealed. He fell to the ground, reverting to Nick.

"NOW, EVERYONE!" He shouted as Nazo rushed forward, fist held up, a look of utter hatred on his face.

Everyone nodded. Their hands glowed. Time seemed to slow down, and then…

With a mighty thundershock-like sonic boom, a wave of energy that blended all of their strength together rushed out from our heroes, striking Nazo and obliterating him. Nothing was left.

(Music ends)

The kid looked up as his hands tried to hold him steady on the ground. "Did we?"

"We did." Sonic said. He raised a thumbs up at Nick. "We TRASHED him!"

…

…

…

…I…am gone…gone from this world.

…what's that? I see…light…

Another existence…yes, I can continue to live, I will find a way to destr-what? What's happening to-

…I'm so…so cold! Someone…help me! PLEASE! I'm so cold, I'm…I'm so…so icy cold…

…the cold is…is fading…

Where? Where am I? What's happened to me? I look so different, I'm not-

Oh my! What a beautiful world this is…it's like…like a paradise…

…

…

…

BGM: Solaris, Phase Two…yes, again…

…"Well…let's head home." Tails said. "Eggman…do you know the self-destruct code for this place?"

"I was waiting for you to say that." Eggman told him, nodding.

…

…

…

…the resulting explosion of the base from down on Earth looked pretty to our heroes. Cream clapped and danced around with Cheese and Big and Tails and Ray as Sonic turned to Shadow.

"Something special happened back there, huh?" He asked.

"I could feel it. Everyone's emotions." Shadow admitted. "All of them came up and just…"

"Knocked the existence out of Nazo is what happened!" Eggman laughed.

"I'm QUITE glad he's not merely dead, but non-existent." Metal agreed.

"Yeah, he's outta here!" The kid agreed.

But somewhere out there he'll reform…in another canon, in another time…

Sonic and the others all gathered together in a circle as the kid rubbed the back of his neck. "I've done everything I could do for you guys. I have to leave now with my girlfriend, but…I want to say I'm…" He smiled joyfully. "I'm so happy to have met all of you. ALL of you."

"Hey Metal…" Sonic asked. "Wanna have a friendly race sometime? Just you and me? You know, when we're not trying to destroy each other?"

"…sure." Metal agreed. He almost smiled. "Why not?"

"Hands in! Let's give it up for the greatest heroes the world has to offer!" The kid said, grinning.

One by one they put their hands in, looking from one person to another.

"Who rocks? On the count of three!" Sonic called out. "ONE, TWO, THREE…"

"WE ROCK!"

(Music gradually fades away to be replaced with…)

BGM: Credits theme from Sonic Advance 1

EPILOGUE

And so, with Nazo gone and the space station destroyed, the negative energy was dissipated and life returned to normal…only people seemed more…CHEERIER…around the world.

Sonic and Amy continued to develop their half friend, half lover relationship, eventually cementing it into an honest-to-goodness relationship…though Sonic's still kind of shy about the whole thing.

Bean, Bark, Ray and Mighty got into the TV business with Chris Thorndyke and helped to develop an anime-style TV show. Later on, Mighty decided to let his friend Big the Cat in by having him help with the show, and discovered in Big's spare time that the cat was an AMAZING comic book artist…and thus a great franchise was born! Ray's especially happy that his girlfriend Cosmo is, besides being cute and knowledgeable, an amazing actress.

Metal Sonic and Eggman still live to defeat Sonic…only now Metal occasionally challenges Sonic just for the heck of it…and they have gradually grown to somewhat respect each other. It's something, huh?

Knuckles, Rouge, Chaos and Tikal all got married in a double wedding ceremony. It was beautiful, just beautiful. Guess who caught the flowers? Tails and Cream. You should have seen them blush!

Ibilis has not returned to his normal form, but is okay with it, since he now has parenthood to deal with. Yes, it was a surprise to his new lover too.

The Biolizard swam off and found itself an island that was familiar to it…it has no idea that was it's old home, the place where Gerald first found the specimen he would use for the first Ultimate Life Form Project. It's living happily.

Erazor Djinn and Solaris moved to Soleanna with Princess Elise and are now quite happy in her court, being Captain of the Guard and Royal Advisors respectfully. It's only a matter of time before one of them wins her over…

Mephiles is actually happy down in Hell…course, he's a demonic freak, so…

The Destructix were caught by the Chaotix Detective Agency for shoplifting an enormous amount of tomato juice. Apparently they were doing it for Drago the Wolf's sake…he had been dragged off into a wild skunk's den. He'll never, EVER get rid of the smell, but luckily he's in a separate cell from the others. The Destructix made the papers for their capture of such a dangerous gang!

The Babylon Rouges have taken off to continue their search for treasure...only now they've decided to journey into space to see what lies beyond. Perhaps one day they'll find something amazing...

Gamma and Omega now act as bodyguards for Club Rouge, and in their spare time, enjoy beating the heck out of any person stupid enough to challenge them in a card game.

Emerl is living happily with Cream and Cheese and Vanilla. He's also very happy to see how well she gets along with Tails.

King has resumed his trip across the worlds, bringing along another face from the Fighter's Summit who seeks a way to end his curse…

Amy now takes very good care of the new "Baby Clear", who is blissfully unaware of what he used to be. And hopefully, he never WILL be aware.

Nack returned home to his mother and his sister, Nic. His pacifistic mother still refuses to let him be an assassin that is willing to sell his soul for money, so he became a secret service agent, doing some GOOD when he has to pull a gun. He also enjoys visiting Rouge at her club and is beginning to develop a genuine friendship with her...though he is loathe to be friends with the "stuck up echidna".

And as for the kid Nick Grey and Kelsey Hawkins, well…they went off on a trip, leaving Sonic and company behind. With the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald in good hands, Nick made a final wish and transformed the Golden Emerald into magical power that sprinkled over the world.

Now a new purpose fills it: to go into the future boldly and to never give up…for continuing to fight even when all seems lost…to try new, life-changing things even if you're afraid, to be willing to change your life even if it's easier not to…that all takes courage. And that's something the inhabitants of Sonic's world have in abundance.

…did I say life returned to normal? I was wrong…

It was better than ever.

As for the kid and what happened to him after he left Sonic's world with his girlfriend, well…

That's a story for another time.

(Music ends.)

…

…

…

…"Woah! What a kick-ass story! Please, please tell us another one!"

"With the greatest pleasure!"

Author's Note:

Well, it's finished. It's been quite a journey too. Not merely a journey of adventure, but one of the mind, of discovering what makes people do the things they do...how they'll act in different situations...and how they'll be brave even when it's the hardest thing in the world to just get back up and try again.

I hope you enjoyed this story half as much as I enjoyed writing it. By all means, if you like a part, want to just mention something that you thought was interesting, feel free to review. I enjoy personally responding to reviews.

To be honest, I'm AMAZED this got so much attention. I think it's not just because of all the characters whom I included, but how the story is intersperced with commentary on the Sonic Fandom itself. People found things that were ringing true in the words and that makes me glad to see.

A big kudos to some people whom I couldn't have written this story without inspiration or help of some kind: Sassi16...I know her from Deviantart. You ROCK, girl. Babylon Sky Hawk, one of my favorite Sonic fans! His stories are amazing. Kojokida, you're also the bomb. Your Sonic X stories were off the hook, yo! Ha-ha! Netraptor, Tylec, keep on keeping on! Ri2, you're kind of scary sometimes, but you were still one of the people who got me interested in the fandom when I first started off. And above all, thanks to UFAlien, silvereevee, twilightseeker13, DynamiteDude and all the others who's words helped me along in this tale. Keep it real.

So long for now...

Nick