GeneX Generations
Chapter 19 - Generations Unite!
Stages - "White Space", "Center of Time" - Sonic Generations
Additional Stage - "Bleak Future" - GeneX Generations
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
SPOILER WARNING: This chapter depicts the ending of the video game, Sonic Generations. If you've not played it and don't wish it to be spoiled, don't read.
"You've spread despair, pain and hurt.
Knew just how the system works.
We're takin' it back,
Time to give it up, my friends!
Justice callin'
Tyranny fallin'
We're not gonna take it anymore!
Oh, a hero comin'
Better start runnin'
We're gonna even up the score!" - Justice Callin', Sonic Underground
The story thus far:
Searching for their final missing friend, Katie, Copter and Dimentime ventured to Planet Wisp. There, they encountered Orbot and Cubot, who appeared to be hiding something. With the help of the native Wisps, they chased the robots to where Gunner was holding Cream, her mother, and Tommy captive! Gunner fused Guard with a Nega Wisp and sent him to attack them, but with the help of the other Wisps, they managed to defeat Guard. Suddenly, Eggman Nega appeared with the Time Eater, and used it to pull Copter, Dimentime and Gunner into Terminal Velocity! Eggman Nega attempted to finish Copter and Dimentime off there with his new Egg Timer Mk. II, but the Wisps helped out once again, enabling them to damage the machine. Eggman Nega decided to cut his losses and escape, leaving them to die in the exploding theme park. However, a time portal opened just in time, having been created by Bucky, who had designed a time machine of his own! Shadow Arcangel blasted the Time Eater, and Dimentime created a magic cage to hold Eggman Nega and Gunner, putting them out of commission at last. They then headed for a door in white space, the final place to search for Katie. The Sonics had found the keys to the door, and they ventured inside together. While Sonic faced the Egg Dragoon, Copter and Dimentime explored Eggmanland, soon finding Katie in Robotnik and Eggman's Time Eater laboratory. After Robotnik explained the details of their plans, he grabbed Katie and fled to a room where he proceeded to blast Copter and Dimentime into a chasm! Robotnik chased them into the chasm with the Egg Wyvern, and a desperate battle began, where Dimentime ultimately used magic to teleport Copter and Katie to safety and finish things himself. Robotnik escaped using the Time Eater, but Dimentime was now too far to teleport himself. Fortunately, he'd brought an orange Wisp along with him from Planet Wisp, and used its rocket power to escape the chasm. Meanwhile, Sonic defeated the Egg Dragoon, but Eggman escaped by faking his "kidnapping" by Time Eater once more. Before leaving, Classic Sonic found the final Chaos Emerald in the wreckage of the Egg Dragoon. Now they were ready to challenge the Time Eater once and for all!
Now, on to the next chapter!
"I am the enemy, I will succeed!
My mission, yeah, I must complete.
My name is Eggman, don't forget my name!
If you ask me again, I'll tell you the same.
I am the Eggman, that's what I am.
I am the Eggman, I got the master plan.
I am the Eggman, that's what I am.
I am the Eggman, I got the master, master plan!" - e.g.g.m.a.n., Sonic Adventure 2
Copter and Dimentime were on their way back to Shadow Arc with Katie after having exited Eggmanland. The ship had landed not far from the door, but on their way to it, Razor stopped them. "Copters! Oh, good, you FINALLY found Katie! Um... Did you see my brother anywhere by any chance?" he asked, looking quite distraught. Copter nodded. "Yeah, he's fine. He and the rabbits are with those kooky detectives. Or... we left them with them..." he said. Razor took off his cap and scratched his head. "Hmm... Well, I guess that'll have to do... I'm sure he'll catch up with me later." he said. Katie nodded. "You worry too much, Razor. It's not like Dr. Eggman's gonna go after HIM!" she joked. Copter and Dimentime glanced at each other awkwardly, but didn't bother to mention the danger the kids had been in, so as not to freak Razor out. "Come on, we're headed to the 'base.' Maybe Bucky's ready to send us all home." Copter said. They hurried back to Shadow Arc's control room as quick as they could. Once there, they found the room slightly crowded, Team Chaotix having brought Cream's mom, the kids, and the Flickies back with them. Knuckles, Rouge, Amy, Big, Omega, Mia, Silver and Blaze were all hanging around as well. Bucky seemed to have stopped working on his machine in the corner and was busy studying the Flickies now for some reason! He and Vortex were examining them with odd scanners and devices, and one chubby green Flicky was running on a tiny treadmill. Razor ran over to Tommy to check on him. "Hey, bro!! Are you ok?" he asked. "Hey, Razor! Where have you been? You missed everything. The monster tried to eat us again, but it just got Copter and Charmy." he said. Razor glared at Copter. "You failed to mention that..." he growled. "Whaaaaat? It didn't get your brother!!" Copter protested. "What the heck are you doing, Bucky?" Dimentime asked. Bucky looked up from his work awkwardly. "I... um... I'm not yet prepared to restore the world, OK? I'm a medical doctor, a genetic scientist, and apparently a bit of a lunatic... but I'm not REALLY an expert on the science of time. Fortunately, the Time Eater's ability to drain color and life seems to have a connection to GeneX energy, so I'm researching GeneX energy." he said. "Why do you have a birdie running on a treadmill, though?" Katie wondered. Bucky chuckled. "Oh, uh... I thought it could stand to lose some weight. That's all." he said. Hearing this, the green Flicky glared up at him and chirped angrily. Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, Sonic and Classic Sonic walked into the doorway! "Oh!! Sonic!!!" Amy shouted gleefully. Everyone turned to him, Copter doing so slowly and grouchily. "So NOW he shows up here..." he grumbled. "Tails told me you all were here... And Copter told me you've all been busy. I appreciate it, guys! Thought I'd let you all know I'm headed out to give that monster that sent us here a piece of my mind!" he announced. Classic Sonic raised his fists to emphasize the point. "Are you sure you're ready for that, Sonic?" Knuckles asked. Sonic chuckled. "Well, if I'm not, send someone to unfreeze me, okay?" he joked. Dimentime looked at the Sonics grimly. "I don't think that will be possible this time. They'll be playing for keeps now." he said. Sonic shrugged. "Then I'll just have to win! See ya, guys!" he said, running off with Classic Sonic. "No, wait! You don't know about Eggma-" Copter shouted, though it was too late. "Never mind, Copter. If there's anything Sonic can handle, it's Eggman." Rouge pointed out. Amy jumped up excitedly. "All right! I'm off to cheer Sonic on then! Who's with me?" she said, heading for the exit. Knuckles shrugged. "All right, beats sitting here." he said. He, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, Cream, Cheese and Team Chaotix all headed out the door to cheer on Sonic. "Does he REALLY need a cheering section?" Copter grumbled. Omega started heading for the door as well. "I will find Shadow and inform him of the situation." he said. "Good grief..." Dimentime grumbled. As they all left, Razor started to head for the door as well. "Don't tell me you're cheering for Sonic, too?!" Copter said. Razor shook his head. "I got a feeling we might need all the help we can get soon... Call it cop's intuition. I'm going to try to gather up everyone else. Anyone care to help me out?" he asked. Katie, Mia and Tommy hurried over to him. "I'm bored out of my mind here! I'll go!" Mia said. As they left the room, Cream's mother glanced at Copter and Dimentime. "...What?" Copter asked. "Nothing. I'm just surprised you're still here. Aren't you going to help, too?" she asked. Copter glanced at Dimentime. "Where should we go?" he wondered. Cream's mother smiled. "If you don't know what to do, why not cheer Sonic on? I'm sure it would mean a lot to him." she suggested. Copter and Dimentime nodded to her and started to leave. "Maybe we should check it out... If we can help out in any way, we should try, right?" Dimentime said.
Using the Hurricane, Copter and Dimentime managed to beat the others to the edge of white space, where a massive portal could be spotted. There was a massive platform in front of the portal that resembled a huge stone cog, and more of them were floating in the area around the platform. Broken chunks of some of the stone cogs were floating in midair, and after landing the Hurricane in a safe place a distance away, Copter and Dimentime flew up to one of the floating stone chunks in order to observe what was happening on the platform below. They found Ridley sitting on the stone chunk as well. "What are you doing here!?" Copter wondered. Ridley glanced around. "I was tracking that jerk Spiny. I followed him all the way out this way, but lost him." he explained. "He probably can't cause too much trouble now..." Dimentime said. Copter glanced down at the platform in front of the portal and saw a strange machine. "Heeey... Is... Is that the Time Eater!?" he gasped. The Time Eater had been transformed, given robotic armor, and two additional robotic arms! Sonic, Classic Sonic, Tails and Classic Tails were arriving on the scene to confront the roboticized menace. "Okay, whatever you are. If you want to avoid an embarrassing beat down, you better give up now!" Sonic warned. A spherical hatch on the back of the Time Eater opened up, revealing Dr. Eggman's Egg Mobile! "You're not in a position to demand anything, you nasty little pincushion!" he declared. "Eggman! But, how?" Tails wondered as Sonic smacked his forehead in aggravation, and Copter did the same. A hatch below Eggman's hatch opened up next, revealing a second Egg Mobile! "He had a little help." said the younger Eggman. Classic Tails pointed up at him in surprise. "Dr. Robotnik!" he gasped. Robotnik wagged his finger at him. "Nobody calls me that anymore." he said before glancing up at Modern Eggman, "If you would be so kind as to explain, gentleman genius Dr. Eggman From The Future?" he offered. Dr. Eggman stroked his moustache and smiled. "It will be my pleasure, most excellent and efficacious Dr. Eggman Of The Past!" he replied. Dimentime rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on... Does he have to? We know enough... Eggman just likes to hear himself talk!" he grumbled, only to be shushed by Ridley. "I'm trying to hear!" he said. Eggman started to tell his story. "After my most recent setback, I stumbled upon the primordial form of this unique creation, which I discovered had amazing abilities even I have never been able to master. It could erase time and space! I then had the brilliant idea to use my discovery to undo my previous defeats!" he explained, "In order to perfect it, I needed the help of somebody as smart as I am. The only person that smart... is me!" Copter scoffed. "But they're both morons, so they called in Gunner and Eggman Nega." he joked. Unable to hear Copter, Robotnik smiled up at Eggman. "Oh, you are too kind, my dear future self! And I was happy to help!" he said. Eggman nodded. "I captured your friends, flinging them through time to bait my traps." he finished. "But the more your monster tears through time, the more damage you do to the world!" Tails pointed out. Eggman looked down uncaringly. "The world? I'm going to OWN the world when I'm finished with Sonic! HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO!!!!!!" he laughed, so manically that he started coughing, and even then he continued laughing! Robotnik looked up with concern, scratching his bald head. "Wow. Will I really get that crazy?" he wondered. Dr. Eggman looked down at his younger self. "Heheh! We'll see who's crazy after I destroy both Sonics... forever!" he declared. "You mean after WE destroy them." Robotnik corrected. "Less arguing. More destroying." Eggman grumbled, returning to his seat. Sonic smirked at them. "Destroy me? You and what mustache!? I beat you all the time by myself, and now there's two of me!" he said, pointing his thumb at Classic Sonic, who did an enthusiastic backflip. Eggman rubbed his hands in anticipation. "Then I'll have twice as much fun defeating you!" he shouted, the hatches on the Time Eater closing up over their Egg Mobiles again! The Time Eater's upper two hands came close together and generated a large ball of purple energy, which started firing smaller blasts at the hedgehogs! The Sonics ran forward away from the Tails, and then took off in different directions! "Well, there they go..." Copter whispered nervously. The Time Eater fired the entire contents of the large energy ball at once, the shots chasing both hedgehogs at the same time! "Keep moving!" Sonic shouted to Classic Sonic as they fled the blasts. "Move all you want! I'm still going to stomp you into a blue jelly." Eggman said, pressing a button on his controls. A small portal emerged near one of the Time Eater's arms, and the entire arm flew through the portal while the two Sonics resumed running side by side. They jumped at the Time Eater, but it simply knocked them to the ground with its other arms! They skidded to the floor next to each other, and as they climbed back to their feet, a portal emerged behind them! The arm that flew through a portal earlier now came out, and just as the hedgehogs noticed it was coming, it smashed them against the ground with its giant palm! Copter and Dimentime flinched. "There goes history..." Dimentime whimpered. However, as the giant hand returned to the air, it appeared the Sonics were in fact still alive, just injured. They were lying on the ground, and they weren't moving. Eggman stroked his mustache victoriously. "That was just to soften you up. Now it's time to meet your doom." he sneered. However, as the Time Eater floated in the air, ready to deliver a final blow, a familiar voice came from somewhere nearby. "You can do it, Sonic!" It was Amy! She and Knuckles were on a broken platform similar to the one Copter and Dimentime were on! "Come on, Sonic! Smack him!" Knuckles shouted, punching his fists together. "Ugh, not you!" Eggman groaned. Shadow was on another platform, and Rouge was flying in for a landing next to him. "You've got this, Sonic!" he said. "You can win, Sonic!" Rouge added. Robotnik looked confused and angry. "Who are they!?" he shouted. "THEY are insignificant!" Eggman yelled. Vector was on yet another platform, and Espio and Charmy were catching up to him. "You've got the power, Sonic!" Vector said. "Focus your spirit!" Espio suggested. "We're with you guys!" Charmy cheered. Cream and Cheese were on another broken platform, with Blaze jumping up to join her and Silver flying over as well. "I believe in you, Sonic!" Cream said. "Don't give in, Sonic!" Blaze added. "I know you can do this, Sonic!" Silver chimed in. "You can win, Sonic!" Classic Tails cheered. "You always do!" Tails said. With everyone else cheering, Copter, Dimentime and Ridley tried to think of something to say. Ridley shrugged. "Go team?" he whispered. Copter rolled his eyes. "Get up, Sonic! No sleepin' on the job!" he grumbled. Dimentime sighed. "It's up to you, Sonic... I know you can save us!" he said. Suddenly, almost as though responding to the words of Sonic's friends, the seven Chaos Emeralds appeared around the Sonics, and they rose into the air! As the Chaos Emeralds spun around them, Sonic began to stir, and made a fist! "Time to scramble some Eggmen, SUPER SONIC STYLE!!" he shouted as the emeralds glowed brightly, turning them both into Super Sonics! The Super Sonics flew high into the air, then turned and charged toward the Time Eater!
The Time Eater escaped through the huge portal, and Super Sonic and Classic Super Sonic chased after it. Sonic's friends gathered around Tails, who was tinkering with a transceiver with Classic Tails's help. Copter, Dimentime and Ridley made their way to the large platform in front of the portal as well, and as they did, it seemed everyone else was arriving led by Razor! Tommy, Mia and Katie were with him, along with Omega, and they were leading Big, Punchy, Rainbow, Kosmo, Gemini, Heather, Illusi, Gator and even Marine to the large, cog shaped platform in front of the portal! Classic Amy and Classic Knuckles arrived as well, much to Dimentime's chagrin. "No, no, no!! What is EVERYONE doing here!?" he shouted. Classic Knuckles crossed his arms. "Chill out! I heard some scientist was building a machine that'll put us all back when this is all over!" he said. Dimentime shook his head. "You don't know it'll work like that! He doesn't even know what he's doing!" he protested. Classic Amy stuck her tongue out at him. "There's no way I'd miss this! Now... uh... where'd Sonic go?" she wondered. While everyone was busy asking Sonic's friends questions, Copter stared over at Tails. "I wonder... If he's got his tailband with him, maybe I should get it and go help Sonic out..." he muttered. However, before he could consider this any further, they all fell under attack. "Spear Storm!!" Spiny's voice shouted out from above them! He stood atop the structure surrounding the portal, and fired a massive amount of Chaos Spears from his back, which turned around and flew after everyone below! They all scrambled out of the way except for Blaze, who jumped in front of the transceiver and covered herself in flames to shield it! Spiny laughed and jumped his way down, accompanied by Metal Sonic, Char, Alpha, and even Slash and Sting crawled out from hiding nearby, though they still appeared as busted up as they did at Lost World. "How nice of you all to show up! Unfortunately, Dr. Eggman has no further use for any of you!" Spiny sneered. There was some scattered laughter among the assembled heroes. "What are you gonna do? I can take you all on by myself!" Kosmo chuckled. "It does appear you don't stand a chance." Shadow pointed out. Char chuckled. "Don't you think we know better than that? Come on, guys! We're not dumb!" he said. "I challenge the big kitty to a pie eating contest!" Alpha shouted. "Seconded!" Gator squealed. Slash sighed. "OK, so we ARE dumb..." he muttered. "But we're not alone!" Sting added. Spiny nodded. "You won't be interfering with Dr. Eggman's plans again. That loser Sonic will die, and I will be rewarded handsomely for leading this attack... We're going to overwhelm you pathetic do-gooders! Here they come..." he grinned. Looking around, they started to notice something flying their way. Several things. "Up there! Eggman's robots!" Tails shouted. There were hundreds of them, and they were closing in fast! The flying robots were carrying land based robots to the platform, and they seemed to be robots from every era of Eggman's villainous career! "Prepare yourselves... Whole generations of robots are on their way! Ha ha ha ha!" Spiny laughed.
The flying robots dropped their land based comrades on the platform, and the battles began! The large group of heroes quickly found itself outnumbered by Egg Pawns, Egg Fighters, Eggrobos, Crabmeats, Caterkillers, Kikis, Egg Launchers, and many more types of robots from every area in white space! Copter immediately freaked out upon seeing Caterkillers again. "No, noooo!! Not those things again!!" he yelled, running behind Dimentime. "Oh, for Pete’s sake! Get over it! Fight something else then!" he shouted, smacking Copter across the face with his staff. "Thanks, I needed that..." Copter muttered. Knuckles and Classic Knuckles teamed up to tackle some charging Rhino-Tanks from Emerald Coast first, since their charging could be dangerous to people who were distracted by other robots. "Hiii-ya!! Hey... didn't I see you on Angel Island?" Classic Knuckles muttered as he smashed the robot. Silver grabbed some of the Caterkiller's spiky segments with his psychic powers and hurled them at some Aero Chasers that were flying around, threatening to blast people with their deadly lasers. "Heh... I don't know what Copter's problem is. That robot was handy." he said. While the fighting was getting started, Mephiles and Lospecter emerged atop one of the floating chunks surrounding the platform. "What a nice distraction..." Mephiles said, "Perfect for my plans. I'll join the others beyond that portal now..." Lospecter nodded. "And I'll provide a bit more distraction..." he said, holding up his cards. As Lospecter flew in to add some monsters to the mix of enemies, Mephiles made his way to the portal. However, a blast of magic and a fireball struck him before he could get there! Dimentime and Heather were standing in his way! "I knew you'd show up, Mephiles!" Dimentime shouted. "It's time I paid you back for kidnapping me!" Heather yelled. Mephiles chuckled at them. "As you wish... I will remove you from my path, and then I will find a shadow to absorb the power of the Time Eater itself... Now that I know where to find it." He transformed his body into a crystalline version of Punchy, and raised his fists in preparation to fight. Meanwhile, Copter was lost in the confusion of the battlefield. He stopped to smash a robot pirate that was menacing Cream, but was busy trying to find Dimentime again after they'd gotten separated in this mess. He thought he'd spotted Dimentime's cloak, and headed for it, evading lasers and bullets on the way. However, the air grew cold as he approached, and he felt a slight drizzle pelt his fur. He stopped as the figure turned and stared at him with his glowing golden eyes. It was the Doomsayer!
"Welcome to the doom, Experiment 2..." the Doomsayer whispered ominously. Copter ignored him and growled. "I don't have time for you now, Doomsayer! Big fight. Why don't you make yourself useful and break something." he said, trying to pass the Doomsayer, only to be blocked. "Your efforts are futile. Useless. You can not change the future... You can NEVER change the future!" the Doomsayer hissed. Copter rolled his eyes. "Then there's no point in bothering me. Go away." he grumbled. Suddenly, a powerful wind blew from the Doomsayer, knocking Copter backward! "Whoooooa!!!" he yelled as he blew towards the edge of the platform! Along the way, he crashed into an Egg Pawn Charmy was fighting with. "Hey!! I had him!!" Charmy complained as Copter crashed through the robot! "S-sorry..." Copter groaned as he was hurled over the edge of the platform! He grabbed the edge and looked down. There was some sort of portal below him, about the size of the portals the Time Eater sucked everyone into at Sonic's party. Did the Doomsayer somehow have something to do with this? Or had the Time Eater left it there? Either way, the Doomsayer met Copter at the ledge and held out his hand to him. "Welcome... to the doom!" he shouted, his wind blowing again and knocking Copter down into the portal! "Noooooooo!!!!" Copter yelled, certain that this couldn't be good. He tumbled to the ground on the other side of the portal, slowly rising to his feet. "Blech... Dirt... Where am I...?" he muttered. He found himself on a cliff overlooking a nearby city. "Hmm...? I... know this place... Don't I?" he muttered, looking carefully at the city below. It appeared to be a ghost town, the buildings having sustained varying amounts of damage, and there appeared to be no signs of life at first. However, as lightning crashed in the darkness, Copter thought he saw something flying around the city streets. "What was that? ...Lost Ones...? Lost Ones roaming the streets!? Could this be... The future?" he murmured, starting to look for a way down so he could better explore the city.
Meanwhile, the battle at the portal was raging on. Mephiles was proving to be a very powerful opponent. In Punchy's form, he used a dark version of Chaos Avalanche, generating crystals instead of tearing up the platform in order to use the attack! Heather tried to fight back with her flames while Dimentime dodged the attack, but Mephiles changed his hands into Firepaw's clawed paws and absorbed the flames with them! "Ha ha ha! It's no use. I have my own flames now!" he taunted before shifting his form to that of Omega! He then fired several crystalline bullets at Heather, making her collapse and burst into flames as she started to revive! "You might learn to dodge. Rebirth wastes time." he sighed. Suddenly, he was struck by an explosive! Spinning around, Mephiles saw Omega aiming his weapons at him! "I will not allow you to use my weapon systems as you please any longer!" he shouted. Mephiles scoffed and shifted into Bucky's form. "Let's see how your weapons work shorted out!" he yelled, firing bolts of lightning at Omega! However, numerous Wrongos smacked into Mephiles and made him miss! "What!?" he grumbled, turning to see Illusi heading his way! "That's for clobbering my Wrongos at that ship with the Egg Timer!" he said. Mephiles produced a weapon based on Razor's gun. Using Bucky's electricity, he charged up the crystalline bullets before firing them, making them electrified shots! Illusi hurried out of the way, but a Penguinator behind him was hit, and the electricity caused it to overload, resulting in a massive explosion that knocked Illusi over! Omega took advantage of Mephiles's distraction, however, and started shooting at him! Mephiles took the shots without seeming to feel them, though, laughing. "Keep trying... I'll destroy you all!!" he shouted. Not far away, other battles were going on as well. Alpha was busy shooting at Classic Tails and Rouge. "Get the flying monkeys!! They took my ruby slippers!" Alpha shouted. Rouge rolled her eyes. "Maybe if we stop moving he'll miss us and keep going!" she grumbled. "I don't think we should take that chance!" Classic Tails whimpered. Rouge nodded and flew up, hoping to fight back. "Catch, blue bot!" she said, tossing a bomb at Alpha. "I don't take candy from strangers!" Alpha said, kicking the bomb back! It exploded close to Rouge, knocking her backward! "Aaaaah!!" she yelped. "Oh, no!" Classic Tails cried. He hurried to her, flying into the sky to catch her! "Don't worry... I'll get you to safety!" he said, hurrying away from Alpha as he shot at them! Not far, Orbot and Cubot had joined the battle as well, and were chasing Marine around, firing lasers at her! "Hold still ya little runt! You're bein' a real pain in my transmission!" Cubot yelled, still talking with the voice Orbot had inadvertently jostled his voice chip into generating. "What...? Oh, well. At least you're more... assertive now." Orbot muttered. Cubot glared at him. "You bein' a wise guy?!" he snapped. Marine stopped running and waved her arms at them. "Time out, you buggers! Lemme have a fair go, 'ere..." she said, looking around craftily. Cubot scratched his head. "Come again?" he asked. "Strewth!! What's that behind you!" she gasped, throwing up her arms. Orbot shook his head. "Oh, please. Even we're not dim enough to fall for that trick." he said. Just then, a hammer smacked Orbot across the head, making him swing back and forth like a bobblehead! "Yowwww!!!" he yelped, looking behind him to find Classic Amy! "Tee hee! She tried to warn ya!" she giggled, swinging her hammer towards Cubot only to miss as Orbot pulled him aside! "No! No!! Don't jostle his voice chip!! I don't want to get used to another crazy voice!! Come on, let's get back to Planet Wisp!!" Orbot shouted, dragging Cubot away! "Hey!! What's the big idea!? I had 'em right where I wanted 'em!!" Cubot groaned. Marine and Classic Amy hi fived each other, giggling as they watched the robots run. Elsewhere, Punchy, Rainbow and Blaze were taking on Spiny. "Aww, too bad. I'd hoped I could crush Sonic's little pal, Tails or something." Spiny smirked. Blaze created fireballs in her hands, glaring at him angrily. "How dare you! Don't you know what you're doing, siding with Eggman!?" she growled. Punchy clenched his fists. "Never mind reasoning with him! I'll just knock some sense into him!" he said. "I'll cover you, One!" Rainbow smiled. Spiny scoffed and started firing Chaos Spears at them, using his unique ability to control their flight path so that they had a difficult time avoiding them! "Whoa! Hey!! Cut it out!! Grrrr!! Just wait till I get over there!! Oooof!!" Punchy groaned as he got hit by one of the Chaos Spears! Blaze tried to knock them away with fireballs, but he simply kept shooting more! Rainbow was unable to help, either, as some Kikis came over and started throwing bombs at her! "Hey!! Bad monkeys!!" she yelled. Metal Sonic was nearby, fighting with Espio, Vector and Ridley, but the three of them were proving too much for him alone, so he jumped up to a floating platform to escape and look for a better place to fight. "Hey!! Come back, ya coward!" Vector yelled. "Three against one? I don't know, I think I'd get outta here, too." Ridley commented. "There are plenty more foes. Don't let your guard down." Espio pointed out. As the fights continued, Shadow Arcangel could be spotted flying towards the platform! Lasers from the ship fired down at some of the Egg Flappers and Buzzbombers among the robots, offering some support to the heroes! "Well, well. Bucky's helping! Isn't that swell." said Kosmo, who was fighting off a group of Egg Fighters and Egg Shooters while transformed into a "weremorph." Spiny looked up at Shadow Arcangel and gulped. "Hey! Metal Sonic!! Get up there and bring that ship down!" he shouted, jumping out of the way as Punchy and Blaze tried to take advantage of his distraction to attack him. Metal Sonic nodded and flew off toward Shadow Arcangel, intending to cause the ship to crash once and for all!
As Copter roamed the ruined city, his heart sank by what he found. What few people he could spot appeared to have died from some unknown cause, and judging from the Lost Ones roaming around unchecked, their ultimate fates were to join the ranks of those creatures. Surrounded by puddles of destroyed Lost Ones, Copter spotted Punchy, who was lying motionless. "Oh, no..." he murmured. Rainbow wasn't far away, and she also wasn't moving. He didn't stop to check on them, he simply ran off in search of someone he could tell was still alive! Collapsed near a car was Razor. "Nope... Keep moving..." Copter whimpered, continuing his search. He found an arachnid lospide crawling around Guard, who was lying face down. "Aw, come on... You'll even die to mess with me, huh?!" Copter growled. He looked and looked, but it seemed like there were no survivors. He returned to the cliffs, thunder booming all around as he made his way to the highest plateau. "Where is that portal!? I've seen enough! OK, Doomsayer! This is the 'doomed' future you wanted me to see!? Well, I got news! I'm going to change it!" he shouted. "Your impudence knows no bounds... How can you expect to stop what can't be stopped?" said the Doomsayer. Copter turned around and found the Doomsayer standing at the edge of the cliff. He pointed an accusing finger at the hooded figure. "You knew! You knew of this all along!! And you never once bothered to REALLY do anything about it! You high and mighty 'knows all and sees all' hypocrite! You're nothing but a coward who's too afraid to fight to save the world!" he yelled. The Doomsayer crossed his arms, glaring at Copter fiercely. "The world CAN NOT be saved! The future cannot be changed! Your efforts have not changed the fate of this world! If anything... Doomsday has been pushed ever closer!" he roared, lightning crashing behind him as rain started pouring down on the cliffside! Copter growled, wiping some rain out of his eyes and approaching the Doomsayer. "I've had enough! You sure like to talk about the end of the world, but you never do anything about it! Well, I will! Even if I have to go THROUGH you!!" he shouted. The Doomsayer's eyes narrowed. "You dare threaten me?! You FOOL!!!" he yelled, lightning crashing all around the cliffside! Copter covered his eyes, but proceeded anyway. "You don't scare me!!" he shouted, charging at the Doomsayer in an attempt to attack! The Doomsayer raised his hands, and an icy wind blew at Copter, quickly becoming violent hail! The hail stones pelted Copter and quickly knocked him backward, and when he looked up after it subsided, the Doomsayer had moved! Looking around, he found the Doomsayer behind him now, bolts of lightning striking continuously at the ground beside him! "Very well, Experiment 2... Fight me, if you must!" he scoffed. Copter got up and growled. "I don't care if you control lightning... I'm gonna beat you, and maybe you'll believe I have what it takes to change the fate of the world!" he said. The Doomsayer flicked his fingers, and the lightning started moving across the cliff towards Copter! He hurried out of the way, panting in relief as they missed him. "First I gotta get close to this guy, though..." he muttered.
Dimentime had seen Metal Sonic take off toward Shadow Arcangel, and backed away from Mephiles so he could use his own Hurricane remote, which he hoped would be able to call Copter's plane, since his was not duplicated the way he and his remote were. Fortunately, it worked, and as the Hurricane flew toward the platform, Dimentime shouted out to everyone. "Someone!! Use the plane to catch Metal Sonic! Stop him!! I'm kinda busy here!" he yelled, evading Mephiles as he fired some sort of dark energy attack at him while in Shadow's form! The plane was coming near Classic Knuckles, so he took it upon himself to jump up and climb into the cockpit! "I got it!! I... think..." he said, scratching his head as he looked over the controls. He turned the plane and flew right through Lospecter, who spun around and shook his fist at him. "Why... If I wasn't a ghost that would've killed me!! You'll pay for that!!" he shouted, tossing several cards to summon Mephiles Takers to chase after the plane! As Classic Knuckles started to ascend, Silver flew up and landed on the plane's wing. "Need a hand?" he asked. "Hey! I can hardly see!!" Classic Knuckles protested. Silver hopped to the back of the plane, gulping as he saw Mephiles Takers, Eggrobos, Egg Bishops, and Eggman Nega's black Egg Flappers flying after them! "Umm... Better take evasive action!" Silver warned. "I don't even know how to fly this thing!" Classic Knuckles groaned. The plane started spinning as Knuckles tried to evade the blasts of the enemies, and Silver held on for dear life! While the enemies in the air started to surround the Hurricane, the battles continued on the ground. Slash and Sting were busy sneaking around, trying to avoid getting into any real combat due to the horrible disrepair they were in. "Boo!!" shouted Tommy as he snuck up on them! "Aaaahh!!" Sting shouted, hiding behind Slash. "Oh, come out you coward! It's just a kid! We can take this runt!" Slash buzzed. Tommy chuckled. "Oh, I'm not who you have to worry about..." he said. The robots heard some heavy footsteps behind them, and noticed a large shadow cast over them! They turned around slowly and saw Big the cat looking down at them! "Are you robots picking on that kid?" he asked, taking on a surprisingly menacing expression! Slash and Sting both screamed and started to run away, tripping over each other as they went! "It's a m-moooonster!!!" Sting shrieked. "Don't eat me!! I taste rusty!!" Slash cried. Big frowned. "M-monster...? Where?? Oh, dear... I better go find Froggy and make sure he's OK..." he said worriedly. In another area, Gator was surrounded by various types of similar robot. There were Orbinauts, fiery Golas, icy Star Pointers, and a Unidus! "Now, fellas... Swinging those spiky and fiery balls around could hurt someone, you know..." Gator said nervously, "Maybe you should try replacing them with marshmallows! Hey, what are you doing!?" he yelped as the robots swung their orbs at him! "Ow! Oww!! Hot! Cold! Ouch!!! Heeeelp!!" he yelled. "Pyrower!!" shouted Gemini, using a flame spell to burn through the Star Pointers' spikes and destroy them first! "Ha! Blastrotall!!" Next she shot several bolts at the Unidus and the Orbinauts. "Now, take this!! Solare!!" she smirked, firing a powerful beam of light at the Golas to wipe them out! Gator glanced at her shakily as she waved to him. "Glad you're okay! Hang in there, mister!" she said, rushing off to blast more robots. Gator blinked a couple times and pulled out his green sword. "That does it! No one's gonna push ME around!" he said, only for a Mephiles Worm to burst out of the ground next to him and start growling at him. He whimpered at it and ran off whining. "Start small, Gator! Start small!!!" he said to himself. Near the portal, the battle with Mephiles was still proving difficult. His dark power was holding Omega, Illusi, Heather and Dimentime at bay, but they were successfully keeping him from entering the portal so far. They each tried firing their own attacks at Mephiles at once, but Mephiles turned each of his arms into a different form, one into Bucky's and one into Firepaw's, while his body remained Shadow's, and fought back with fire, lightning, and a massive Chaos Blast attack all at once! The attacks seemed to both shield him and knock his adversaries away all in one swoop, and he cackled as he started towards the portal! "It's been entertaining, but I have something to accomplish..." he said. Before he could go farther, he heard a voice shout something. "Chaos Control!" Shadow the hedgehog appeared in his path and promptly smacked him away from the portal with a strong homing attack! "Arrgh!! You..." Mephiles sneered. "I've got THIS..." Shadow muttered, pointing at Mephiles angrily. "You snuck up on me at Space Colony ARK... You stole my powers... somehow. There's only room for one Ultimate Life Form! You're going down!" he said. Mephiles chuckled. "Is that ALL you remember? Has someone been playing with your memories...?" he said, glancing at Dimentime, who rolled his eyes. "Noooo, someone was playing with history." he snapped. Shadow launched a Chaos Spear at Mephiles, uninterested in whatever he had to say. "I know enough! You can't deceive me, Mephiles! And you're not getting through this portal!" he said. Mephiles transformed fully into his crystalline version of Shadow's form and glared at him. "What a shame... Your form is my favorite, too... I suppose I'll have to kill you with it!" he growled. Above them, Silver was using his psychokinesis to grab the projectiles from the Mephiles Takers and hurl them at any enemies he could manage to hit, managing to take out an Eggrobo and an Egg Bishop here and there, but the enemies were making it impossible to approach Shadow Arcangel, since Classic Knuckles was barely able to avoid them! Fortunately, they wouldn't be on their own for long. As things started to look hopeless, the Babylon Rogues flew onto the scene! Jet the hawk, Wave the swallow, and Storm the albatross had apparently noticed the commotion and decided to check it out! "What's goin' on, guys? Need a hand?" Jet asked, flying after a black Egg Flapper and smashing his board against it to destroy it! "Looks like you guys found yourselves some real trouble... Hope there's a reward for helping out..." Wave said, flying alongside an Eggrobo and clobbering it with a large wrench! "Oh, well... I was bored anyway!" Storm said, flying through the area and clobbering the Mephiles Takers with his fists as he went by! "Thanks, guys! We owe you one!" Silver said, waving to them as Classic Knuckles turned the Hurricane towards Shadow Arcangel. "You know it!" Jet chuckled. As the plane headed to the ship, however, a trio of Aero Chasers appeared ahead of it! "Aaaaah!! Where'd THEY come from!?" Classic Knuckles shouted. They charged up their lasers to shoot, but before they could, they were destroyed by several energy blasts coming from the side! "Huh!?" Silver and Knuckles said at once. Looking nearby, they saw Guard the gargoyle fly past them! "Grrrr!! I'm protecting my creator! Grrrr... That's all!" he said, flying towards Shadow Arcangel, apparently looking to stop Metal Sonic as well. Silver shrugged. "Well... Help is help, I guess." he said. Classic Knuckles nodded. "Um... I guess we... Follow him?" he said, flying the plane after the gargoyle since he had no idea where to land it. "To bring down the ship, that robot will head for the engine room... We better find it, fast!" Silver said.
Copter was trying his best to fight with the Doomsayer, but it was nearly impossible to even land an attack on him! The Doomsayer was swift on his feet, and seemed to be controlling the very elements themselves! Fierce wind continually blew from the Doomsayer's direction, blowing Copter off his balance, and the weather would shift from rain to snow and then to hail seemingly at the Doomsayer's will. Copter tried to blow some of the elements back at him. "Chaos Whirlwind!!" he shouted, kicking up his own wind of chaos. The Doomsayer merely waved his hand, and the storm winds blew even fiercer against it, canceling the Chaos Whirlwind out! "What!? Rrrr... Whatever!!" Copter growled, charging against the wind and throwing a punch at the Doomsayer! The cloaked figure simply caught his fist and knocked him back with his own fist, which seemed to be electrified! Copter stumbled back, blowing towards the ledge, but climbed back to his feet. "Ow... Who are you, Bucky? Nah, guess that'd be too obvious." Copter grunted. Bolts of lightning crashed next to the Doomsayer, and he reached out and grabbed one, holding it like a spear! "Concede defeat! You cannot conquer me, just as you cannot stop the doom!!" he growled. Copter charged ahead, his tailband glowing as he tapped into its power! "I won't give up!! Never!!" he shouted. The Doomsayer swung the lightning bolt at Copter as he came at him, knocking him against the wall of the cliff hard! "Aaaaaarrrgh!!! Yup, that hurts as much as it looked like it would..." Copter groaned. The Doomsayer stared at him as he slowly stood back up, panting heavily. "Why do you fight me with such determination? Are you blind to all I have shown you? This world will end!! I warn you... You will be among the first to die trying to save this world!" the Doomsayer roared. Copter glanced at him. "But you can't predict the future... If there's anything I've learned... Especially here in this white world... It's that the future can NEVER be predicted! You're full of it, Doomsayer!" he yelled. The Doomsayer raised his lightning spear to attack, but a bright light suddenly appeared in front of him, forcing him to shield his eyes! "What is this!?" he growled. Copter gazed at the light in wonder. "T-tikal!?" he gasped. He could see the spirit of Tikal the echidna floating within the light, and she glanced back at him. "I'll keep him busy! Get back to the portal!" she said, pointing to a cliff nearby where the portal was waiting! Copter glanced at her as if wanting to say something, but she turned away from him. "You've learned enough here for now! Go! Your friends need you!" she insisted. Copter nodded and hurried off, narrowly avoiding the lightning spear as the Doomsayer hurled it at him! "Remember, Experiment!! You have been warned for the final time!! The next time you stand in the presence of the Doomsayer, the world will END!!!" the Doomsayer's voice boomed behind him as lightning started tearing the cliffside apart! Copter spun his tails and flew for the portal, hoping to make it out before the lightning could fry him to a crisp.
Classic Tails and Rouge were still flying around, dodging Alpha's lasers! Char watched them from nearby, laughing playfully. "You got 'em on the run, Alphie! Don't let them get away!" he said. Suddenly, a Mephiles Golem crept up behind him, casting its shadow over him! Char gulped and turned around. "By any chance, are you on our side?" he whimpered. As the golem raised its fists to pound Char, Classic Tails flew by and grabbed him, carrying him safely out of the way as the Mephiles Golem slammed its fists against the ground! "You OK?" he asked. Char started crying loudly. "No one said there'd be monsters!!" he whined. Since Classic Tails was carrying Char, Alpha turned his focus on Rouge. "Only 621 targets remaining!! ...Why am I only shooting at you?" he muttered, starting to shoot randomly in Rouge's general direction! "Whoa!! What the...? Cut it out!!" Rouge shouted, throwing a few of her bombs at Alpha, which were struck by his lasers and blown up, creating a lot of smoke between them! Rouge flew through the smoke and came out close to Alpha, giving him a strong kick in the side! Alpha spun around in the air and crashed to the ground, but got up quickly. "Where'd she go?! Where? Where?! That way!! Take that, batty!!" he shouted, flying off in a random direction and shooting at some Bat Brains flying around a distance away! Rouge landed near Classic Tails and watched Alpha go. "Hmm... Well, guess we'd better find some other robots to deal with..." she said before noticing the Mephiles Golem. "...Or monsters..." she muttered. Meanwhile, Spiny used Spear Storm again, sending dozens of Chaos Spears everywhere to pummel Punchy, Rainbow, Blaze and anyone else who happened to be nearby! "Ha ha ha ha ha!! You see!! You fools! I have enough power to wipe out several of you myself! I am far superior to that pathetic waste you call Sonic!" he laughed. Punchy panted in exhaustion, climbing to his feet and punching away a Motobug as it approached him. "Dumb robots! If it weren't for them swarming us... We'd be clobbering this guy..." he grunted. Blaze nodded, tossing a fireball at an Egg Pawn with a pickaxe as it came at her! "Don't worry, though. He's nowhere near as tough as Sonic. We'll beat him!" she said. Spiny growled. "How dare you!" he yelled, firing a Chaos Spear at her, which she blocked by covering herself in flames! "Sonic is a pathetic twit who's probably getting his butt kicked right now! He's an imbecile who left you all high and dry in a trap! Sonic is--" Before Spiny could finish, Amy stepped up behind him, clutching her Piko Piko Hammer. "What are you saying about Sonic...?!" she growled softly. Spiny turned around slowly. "What's that...?" he asked. Amy glared at him with fire in her eyes. "Don't you EVER talk bad about my Soooooonic!!!!!" she screamed, smashing her hammer into Spiny's chest hard and sending him soaring, almost into Punchy, until he crashed into a massive Egg Hammer robot, smashing it to pieces upon impact! "Oooooohhh.... Is... Is there a doctor on the cogwheel...?" Spiny moaned weakly. Amy held her hammer over her shoulder. "Hmph! That'll teach ya!" she said. Punchy stared with an almost frightened expression, while Blaze walked away nonchalantly. "Um... Good job, Amy..." she said. "Way to go, Pinky!" Rainbow cheered. At the transceiver, Modern Tails was tracking the Sonics' progress against the Time Eater. "How's it going, guys?" he asked. "This thing is really tough... It's slowing down time and shooting giant lasers now!" Sonic reported. Tails looked worried. "Hang in there, guys!" he said.
As Classic Knuckles and Silver made their way to Shadow Arcangel's engine room, Crash was already busy struggling with Metal Sonic! While they were having a fist fight, Vortex was fighting with Eggrobos and Mephiles Takers that had gotten on board the ship! "Excellent! More guessstsss!! Think you could give ussss a hand here!?" Vortex hissed, firing Chaos Inferno at some of the enemies surrounding him! Silver hurried over to help him, while Classic Knuckles ran towards Metal Sonic. "I've got this one! N-no... problem!!" Crash said shakily as Metal Sonic plowed into him with his rocket boosters. "Owww!! Grrrr... If I could get a running start at you..." he growled. Suddenly, Metal Sonic discharged electricity from his body, using it to power him up as he curled up into a ball and started bouncing around the engine room wildly! He smacked into Crash, knocking him over, and then bounced into the engines, causing an explosion! As he bounced away and landed in front of Classic Knuckles, the echidna glared at him. "What have you done!? You'll pay for that!" he growled. Just then, the Babylon Rogues flew into the room, chasing some Buzzers, Spinners and Egg Flappers that had gotten away from them! "Don't worry about these guys! We've got 'em!" Storm shouted. Jet gasped upon seeing the damage to the engine. "That can't be good... Wave, do something!" he shouted. Wave looked at it and frowned. "Umm... I'll try, I guess... It's not exactly a board..." she sighed, flying over to the damaged engine. Vortex ran away from the enemies and joined her. "We have to put out thessse flamesss firssst!" he shouted. Wave rolled her eyes. "Well, duh!" she grumbled. As the ship started to fall from the sky, the battle outside was looking grim as well. They were still outnumbered, and Mephiles didn't appear to be weakening at all. Heather charged at him, hurling a flaming fist his way, but he batted her aside with a pair of crystalline tails copied from Classic Tails. Illusi's illusions provided little distraction to him, and were simply blasted into oblivion by Mephiles's own dark powers. Omega and Shadow tried to take him on with their own projectile attacks simultaneously, but a mysterious power Mephiles had copied from Rainbow sent their attacks flying right back! "Ooof!! Stay back, everyone! I'll handle Mephiles myself!" Shadow said, reaching for his restraint rings. "Don't, Shadow... Save your energy. There's a lot more we'll have to deal with after Mephiles." Dimentime said, firing a powerful beam at Mephiles himself. Mephiles flew out of the way with the twin tails he was still wearing. "Missed me." he taunted, shooting back with a laser copied from Omega! Dimentime dove out of the way, barely dodging it. "We'll... have to rush him..." he grunted. Up in the sky, Classic Knuckles was busy gliding after Metal Sonic as he jumped back and launched homing attacks at him! "Oww!! Cut that out! Get over here and fight fair!" he growled. Metal Sonic beeped threateningly at him, but was suddenly struck by an energy blast! Guard had arrived in the engine room! "Grrrr!! We'll take him on together!" he growled, swinging his scythe to fire more energy blasts from it at Metal Sonic! The robot buzzed angrily and jumped back, building up electrical energy to fire back at Guard as a laser! Guard flew out of the way, but Classic Knuckles glided into Metal Sonic once the laser stopped firing, knocking the robot back! "Get off this ship!" he growled, hitting Metal Sonic with a mighty uppercut! Metal Sonic was hurled into the air and fell onto his back, buzzing grouchily. It glanced at the engines, which were no longer flaming, and Vortex and Wave were busy trying to repair. Guard and Classic Knuckles stood between him and the engines. "Grrr... Don't even think about it..." Guard growled. At Shadow Arcangel's control room, Zipp breathed a sigh of relief. "I think we've stopped losing altitude..." he said from the driver's seat. Bucky nodded. "Good. I think my Era Restoration Generator is ready to go!" he said, looking over the strange white machine in the corner of the control room that he'd connected several Flickies to via odd helmets. "Can't we just call it the 'Time Machine?'" Zipp asked. "No." Bucky insisted. As Metal Sonic fled Shadow Arcangel, flying off the ship as his reinforcements were destroyed, he saw a large, dark shockwave surrounding Mephiles below! Dimentime, Illusi, Omega, Heather and Shadow all fell to the ground as Mephiles hovered in the air over them, laughing manically. He changed between all of his forms as he glanced around at them and taunted them. "None of you can hope to defeat me... I hold all of your strengths, with none of your pitiful weaknesses." he said, shifting between forms of Shadow, Firepaw, Classic Tails, and Rainbow. "What weaknesses are those? Compassion? Friendship?" Heather snapped. Mephiles snickered, shifting forms between Razor, Punchy, Omega, and Bucky as he replied. "All that really matters is power... What good is your compassion now? Look at your pathetic friends. They will all die when I am through with them!!" he sneered. Just then, someone jumped up at Mephiles while he was distracted. "Mephiles... Shut...up!!!" It was Copter, and he spun in the air and struck Mephiles with a tailband powered tail whip! Mephiles fell over a little, grunting in pain, but turned to fire bolts of lightning at Copter as he was still in Bucky's form. Copter shielded himself with his tails, and while Mephiles was busy with him, Shadow and Dimentime appeared behind him with their respective warping techniques! "You're finished, Mephiles!!" Dimentime yelled, firing a powerful blast from his staff and striking Mephiles from behind! "Arrrrgh!! I... am far... from finished..." Mephiles grumbled as he fell to the floor! However, Shadow removed his restraint rings and charged at him with all his might! "I'm afraid you are!! Take this, Mephiles!!" he roared. He hit so hard he pierced through Mephiles's body, and the dark started to melt into a shadow, vanishing without a word...
"So please wake me up when I get there.
It feels like I'm lost in a dream.
I know in my heart that it's my time.
And I already see,
The possibilities are never ending!
I see it, I see it, and now it's all within my reach! Endless Possibility!
I see it, I see it now, it's always been inside of me! And now I feel so free!
Endless Possibility!" - Endless Possibility, Sonic Unleashed
At the transceiver, Tails could tell that the battle with Time Eater was nearly over. Beyond the portal, the Eggmen got ready to launch a final attack at the Super Sonics. "We'll end it!! Burn!! Burn to ashes!!!" they shouted, using the Time Eater to somehow create a massive wall of flames to attack the Sonics! "You can do it, Sonic! Combine your powers to finish him off!" Tails shouted over the transceiver. "Now!! Go for it!!" several of Sonic's friends shouted together! The two Super Sonics flew close together, spinning as they flew at the Time Eater to combine their might into one attack! They charged into the Time Eater's core, piercing through the mechanized creature and defeating it at last! Outside, the laser weapons on the exterior of Shadow Arcangel started to glow with strange, blue energy as the ship turned towards the locations Sonic and Copter had explored in white space. "It's time! Activating the Era Restoration Generator!! Prepare to fire the Restoration Beam at all the captive areas, Zipp!" Bucky said urgently. Cream's mother, who had remained on the ship and was observing everything nervously, finally tapped Bucky on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me... Are you sure this is safe for the birds hooked up to that machine?" she asked, noticing how uncomfortable they looked. Silver and Classic Knuckles, who had also found the control room by now, also looked concerned. "This looks like the kinda thing Robotnik might build..." Knuckles growled. Bucky shook his head. "You can compare me to Dr. Robotnik AFTER I've stopped him, all right!?" he growled, "I'm using their GeneX energy to stimulate time. This has never been attempted, there's no telling what could happen. It could influence their aging, it could turn them back into eggs... or worse... but the world must be restored..." he sighed. Zipp nodded. "Firing beam... Keep your fingers crossed, everyone..." he said. The beam fired at the nearest area, Planet Wisp, first. The blue beam covered the location in a dazzling light, and in a moment it disappeared! Shadow Arcangel flew through white space, firing its beam at each area to restore them to their proper places in time. With Time Eater defeated, Super Sonic and Classic Super Sonic emerged from the portal and quickly went to work, using the last of their super form energy to take out the remaining robots swarming around the cog shaped platform! Lospecter saw the Super Sonics and gulped. "Ummm... Oh, Mephilessss?? Where'd ya goooo?? I wanna go hooooome!!" he shouted, flying off towards Shadow Arcangel as quickly as he could. As Shadow Arcangel zapped Green Hill Zone out of white space and headed back towards the cog platform, Jet walked into the control room and looked out the window. "Engine's all fixed... Hey! Where'd everywhere go!? Did everyone go home without us!? How will we get back!?" he squawked in a panic. Bucky glanced at the Flickies. "They look... okay, don't you think? They have an extraordinary power... Well, anyway... I'm going to zap the people standing around outside back home, and then we'll worry about this ship... The Era Restoration Generator is going to have to implode in order to send us back." he said. Jet yelped in alarm. "I'm... gonna go get my team and fly outside so we can get zapped, thanks!!" he said, running off. SPOT, who had lingered on the ship all this time, beeped in alarm at this suggestion. Silver glanced at the robotic puppy's screen. "Factors too unpredictable. Implosion not advised." it read. Silver glanced at Bucky with concern. "This robot seems to think that's a bad idea..." he said. Bucky scoffed. "That's why robots aren't scientists. There are ALWAYS risks in science! Sometimes... you have to take them!" he said. As Sonic and Classic Sonic reverted to their normal forms, Copter pointed over to Shadow Arcangel. "What's Bucky... doing...?" he wondered, his eyes going wide as the ship charged its beam. Zipp cackled manically as he fired at the cog platform, zapping everyone starting with Sonic and Tails and gradually working his way to everyone else! "Nooooooo!!!" Copter screamed as he was zapped, not knowing the true intentions behind the shooting. As the platform was cleared, Bucky messed with some buttons and dials on the Era Restoration Generator. "Thanks for helping out, little birds... Just help me out one more time... Safe journey..." he whispered. Everyone took cover behind something except for Bucky and Cream's mother, who stayed close to the Flickies as the machine began erupting blue energy everywhere! As Shadow Arcangel vanished from the sky of white space, everything was quiet. In the silence and endless whiteness, it wasn't long before a small shadow began to emerge from below the cog platform that was left behind...
As Sonic got his bearings, he quickly caught a partially eaten chili dog that was falling from the sky! It seemed okay, so he took a bite out of it. "Still warm. Heheha! Time travel!" he smiled. He was back at his birthday party, before the Time Eater showed up! However, no one else was there at first. That only lasted a second, as Classic Sonic ran up next to him! Then, everyone who was present at the party originally appeared at the other side of the table, plus Shadow and Silver! Knuckles, Amy, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Rouge, Cream, Cheese and Blaze were all there, and they all gave a cheer now that they were finally back safe and sound! Knuckles was the first to speak up. "I'll admit, you weren't half bad, Sonic." he said grudgingly. "Half bad?! Are you kidding? He was ALL great!!" Amy said giddily, smacking Knuckles aside and knocking him several feet backward into the tree that the table for the party was set up under! Sonic and Classic Sonic looked slightly surprised at how easily he was knocked over, but were then distracted when they heard Tails and Classic Tails coming. "He collects how many? Wow, where does somebody put all those gold rings?" Classic Tails said to Modern Tails. "You know what? I don't know. I keep forgetting to ask." Modern Tails replied. Elsewhere in the park, everyone else appeared after having been zapped by Bucky's Era Restoration Beam. Copter glanced around dizzily as Shadow Arcangel landed with a thud behind him! "Yaaaah!! Ohhh... I'll... I'll... I don't know, but I think I owe you some kinda payback, Bucky..." Copter grumbled. Dimentime came up next to him and shook his head. "Actually, I think we owe him thanks. Seems he sent everyone back." he said. Looking around, they saw the Babylon Rogues soar freely through the sky. They saw Razor and Tommy going for a walk in the park with Katie and Mia. They saw Gator running away from an armadillo that neither of them recognized. "...Huh?" Copter muttered. "What are you chasing me foooor!?" Gator yelled. "Come back here! You stole my invitation to Sonic's birthday party! I found out from Vector!" the armadillo shouted. Gator held out the invitation he'd been carrying. "Nuh uh! It's for the mighty Gator!" he said. Copter rolled his eyes. "You better run, 'mighty Gator.'" he shouted. Mighty growled and charged after Gator. "I'm missing cake because of you!! I'm reporting you for mail fraud!!" he shouted. Copter and Dimentime chuckled, as did Classic Knuckles, who had exited Shadow Arcangel and was now standing next to them. Dimentime stared at him in shock as he waved at them. "Yo, guys!" he said. Dimentime smacked his forehead. "Bucky's machine must have a few bugs... I hope all the places made it to the right times..." he said. Classic Amy tapped him on the shoulder next. "Excuse me... Have you guys seen Sonic?" she asked. Dimentime groaned. "Come on, let's see if we can't find some lingering time portals or something..." he grumbled. On board Shadow Arcangel, Bucky and Team GeneX were looking at the Era Restoration Generator, which was somewhat damaged, but that wasn't what they were concerned with. The Flickies had reverted to eggs with the helmets attached to them! "...I guess the implosion was too much for them..." Bucky sighed. "Oh, dear... Can they be hatched again?" Cream's mother asked. As if responding to her question, the shells of the eggs burst open, and the Flickies flew out full of energy as though nothing had happened to them at all! "Good heavens! What exactly were those shells then?! Some sort of temporal cocoons!?" Bucky gasped, awestruck. Back outside, Copter and Dimentime had found portals leading to Collision Chaos and Ice Cap. "What are these doing here?" Copter wondered. Dimentime looked thoughtful. "The Time Eater may have left temporary portals behind linking every location it accessed to the present. That means you may not have much time to go home." he said. Classic Amy sighed. "I have to go back and get kidnapped..." she whimpered. Copter shrugged. "Maybe... But you've seen how you turn out. Is it worth it?" he asked. Classic Amy nodded. "Sonic will be there... Whatever happens, I know he'll always be there for me!" she said, hopping into the portal as it vanished. Classic Knuckles smirked. "I'm lonely for a while... But it seems Sonic keeps my life interesting in the future. I guess that's good to know." he said, heading into the portal to Ice Cap. Copter and Dimentime waved to them, and were soon joined by Punchy and Rainbow. "Hey, Two! You made it! And the other Two made it, too!" Rainbow smiled. "Stop saying two..." Punchy groaned. "Hey, guys... Wanna crash a party you weren't invited to?" Copter chuckled.
Back at the party, Sonic was having a final chat with Classic Sonic, knowing he would have to go back to his own time soon. "It was great teaming up with you. Hope you learned a few tricks that'll help you out in the future. I mean the past. You know what I mean!" he said. Classic Sonic nodded and pointed at himself slyly, running back and attempting to imitate Modern Sonic's homing attack, but failing and falling on his head! Sonic clapped for his younger self anyway, seeing that he got a tiny bit of distance. "Dude, sweet! And you're only gonna get better!" he said as Classic Sonic ran back to him. Tails and Classic Tails were heading their way at this point, and Classic Tails pointed to a portal nearby. "There's our ride." he said. It was a portal to Green Hill Zone. It would take them back to the beginning of their adventures. Classic Sonic nodded to Classic Tails and hi-fived his future self. Classic Tails flew up and slapped Modern Tails's hands as well, and the two younger heroes headed for the portal together. As everyone waved to them, Sonic called out to his younger self. "Hey Sonic! Enjoy your future! It's gonna be great!" he said, thinking of all the good times and exciting adventures in store for his younger self. Classic Sonic gave Modern Sonic a thumb's up as he passed the portal with Classic Tails, finally arriving home in his time.
While walking towards the party, Copter stared at Dimentime curiously. "I'm surprised you're still here... Are you coming to the party, too? I never really pegged me as a party person." he said. Dimentime glanced at him. "I'm still here because there's still work to be done. Look around out here... OK, there's Big and Froggy... Marine looks a little lost, I hope she doesn't need a time portal... Ridley's keeping an eye on Spiny... And strangely, Guard and Omega seem to be hitting it off. But there's no sign of Mephiles." he muttered. Punchy cleared his throat. "Ahem... Ummm... Time out! Wasn't Mephiles destroyed? I saw. He melted." he pointed out. Dimentime shook his head. "I know, but... I have a bad feeling... Let's get to Sonic, fast!" he said, running ahead. "Speedy? Why? Hey, wait up, Two-two!" Rainbow shouted. "He does NOT wear a tutu!!" Copter growled.
At the giant portal in white space, the Time Eater shakily made its way back to the cog platform, collapsing in a heap! The hatches on its back opened up, and Eggman growled. "Let's grab more materials and get to work on Mark II!! We can't let Sonic get away with this!" he yelled. Robotnik scratched his head. "Seems to me he already did. Where'd he go??" he wondered. Suddenly, a menacing laugh echoed around them! "W-what...? Oh, no..." Robotnik muttered. The black shadow lunged out from under the cog shaped platform and charged at the remains of the Time Eater at high speed! "Aaaaahh!! Bail out!! Bail out!!" Eggman shouted, ditching his Egg Mobile and the Time Eater as Robotnik did the same! The shadow crashed into the Time Eater, tackling it through the portal and vanishing beyond it! Eggman and Robotnik stared at the portal from the ground, their Egg Mobiles and Time Eater having been pilfered all in one swoop. "Well... Let's look for a way out of here, then... Eggman grumbled. Robotnik nodded in agreement. "That could take a while... Say... What time is it?" he wondered.
To be continued...
