"Zor and Sonic are headed this way," The sin of Pride stated, in the form of a sky-blue Zeti. His arms and legs were encased in an analog mech suit to make up for his old, frail and small body. "I believe the youth of today refer to a beatdown as… 'getting schooled'? In that case, class is in session."
"Ugh, please never say that," Envy groaned, laying face-down on the volcanic rock in order to get a tan. Her two new fox tails flowed along in the gentle breeze. "It's embarrassing." Pride turned to her and scowled. Only to notice that Lust was already staring at her discreetly. Pride awkwardly went back to stalking Sonic with his clairvoyance.
"Yeahhh, here comes that little punk… I've been DREAMING about pounding his sorry blue—!" Lust squealed as they looked into Pride's visible thought bubble displaying Sonic running along Lava Mountain. Greed stepped in the way of the purple sin, a giant grin on his face.
"Ah, ah, that's NOT safe for my show," Greed corrected Lust, who stood there in instant shame. "I don't know which of two certain categories it violates, but it's not okay."
"Please, Greed. We do not have time for one of your programs," Wrath muttered, rising from the lava pool where before only his giant horns stuck out. He felt the lava run all the way down from his seared red torso to his fingertips, until he tightened his hulking muscles and forged the lava into a layer of solid rock armor. "Now is the time to prepare for our battle with Sonic. I greatly aided my vessel in defeating him before… but she was too weak to finish the job. Had I not been especially active at the time, she would never have made it. Now our plans to burst the Dark Battery have failed because of robot Tails, but luckily, Pride had a backup in the form of the fruits."
"Awww, c'mon! He's so small and cute!" Lust screeched. "My vessel coulda killed not only him, but his little fox friend too. But she didn't kill them either. What's that little blue pincushion gon' do against all of us with only that heel-turning FREAK'S vessel to back him up?!"
"He'll put up a fight, I'm sure. Just as he always does against our long-time puppet, Robotnik," Pride foretold. "But I created you all for a reason. To destroy and dismantle anything that is good and holy. To be the antithesis of the light, ensuring that nothing but misery remains when the dust settles on this bleak universe. Just as Dark Gaia intended."
"And we will not let you down," Wrath stated, taking a bow to his creator. He then stared down upon the unsuspecting Sonic and Zor, running along in the valley within the volcanic range. "The life of the Lands Below may have been restored, but I will see to it that Sonic the Hedgehog doesn't live to go back home."
Sonic and Zor ran along in the Dark Fog. It had grown thinner since they recruited Sloth, so much so that they could both spot Robotnik Castle in the distance. It was still bathed in the combined light of lava and the evening sun. "We're getting closer!" Zor exclaimed, panting and sweating as she lagged behind Sonic, who was simply speedwalking backwards. "S-sorry. I'm not used to running like this."
"It's all good. As long as we get to 'Chromedome Castle' before the Dark Fog rolls in there, we should be able to avoid another fight with those sins," Sonic replied. "Besides, I'm still unclear on whether or not the Dark Fog makes machines disappear. Based on what Sloth said, I'm not taking any chances." Suddenly, Sonic saw something behind Zor. Some kind of spherical object resembling a snowman head. "Look out!" Sonic warned. Zor looked behind her, and yelled as the Blizzard Bomb bounced towards her. Sonic rushed in and kicked the bomb away, watching it turn into a row of icy spikes in the distance.
"Here, take this," Sonic huffed, his heart racing. "Looks like they've found us, and, well, you might need it more than I do." He placed Sloth's knife into Zor's hands. He gave her a trusting wink.
"Well isn't that too bad?" Envy's voice sighed, sounding as if it was coming from every direction. "I was hoping I'd be able to finally get rid of you AND Sloth." Sonic looked all around for Envy. Until he heard another voice, a vastly more important one. "Sonic, where are you? I can't find you!" Tails' voice called.
"Tails! Don't worry, I hear you!" Sonic exclaimed, running towards Tails' voice. Meanwhile, Zor, still processing almost being frozen alive, was caught off-guard by a cartoonishly large gloved hand rocketing forward and punching her right in the face.
"Well, what do we have here?" A male announcer voice asked through what sounded like an old filter. It not only crackled, but completely tore and broke at points. "It would appear we have a new contestant! Everyone give Zor the Hexi a ROUND OF APPLAUSE for making it this far!" Zor saw two extra hands surround her, then start to viciously slap her in the face.
"What are you doing?" Zor asked. This guy's attacks felt more like they were more toying with her than trying to kill her. She held the knife towards the hands as they closed in. "Is this some kind of joke to you?!"
"No, my valued buddy-like friend," the thing stealing the form of a Zeti sighed, walking forward. "It's no joke. It's a game. A real game SHOW. Welcome, one and… nobody else at the moment… to 'LIFE. WILL. CHAAANGE'! Now… Q: What would be your preferred way to die?"
Sonic sprinted through a ravine, jumping over streams of lava and the occasional hole in the ground that he couldn't see the bottom of. "Tails? Where are you, man?!" Sonic cried.
"Over here, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed. Sonic rounded a corner, and saw a being with two fox tails. Sonic smiled in pure relief.
"Tails!" Sonic exclaimed, tears flecking from his face as he dashed towards Tails. As he closed in, his heart began to sink. "Wait… you're not Tails." Sonic said, skidding to a stop. The being turned around, revealing blue eyes with yellow sclera. It looked like Zeena, but greener and taller. "It's you! Envy!"
"Took you long enough to figure it out," Envy snickered in Tails' voice. "Really. I know Tails was the brains, but maybe you only kept him around because you have no common sense by yourself!" Sonic looked up towards Envy in rage.
"Really, now? Well I can at least put two and two together. You must have been present in Tails' mind just like Zeena's," Sonic muttered. "That's why he was acting so off the past few days. Give them BOTH back."
"What are you gonna do to make me?" Envy asked. She smiled mockingly. "Even if you kill me, they'll go down too. So what will it be, blue boy?" Sonic looked up at her, unsure of what to do. He was so lost in thought that he didn't take care to check his surroundings. Two larger figures approached behind him, with suits of unorthodox armor and hulking fists. They punched Sonic in the back of the head, making him instantly fall to the ground. He got up, only to be grabbed by Envy and held up in the air by his neck. He kicked and struggled to be released, to no avail. He could now see the two sins who had attacked him. One must have been Zik's, and the other Zavok's judging by their horns.
"Wait, what?!" Sonic asked, shocked. "I thought Zik didn't have a sin. She told me herself!"
"A pleasant lie for her to escape into. The proud will always deny the existence of their own sin," Pride sighed as Sonic struggled to breathe. "You really thought you could sweep away the Dark Fog? You'd be sorely mistaken, brash hoglet. We will not let you interfere with our plans."
"Maybe I won't be able to do much, but I can still help the others make things right," Sonic rasped. Wrath, Envy and Pride all looked at each other, then laughed. "If I could help make Sloth give Zor her body back… I could force you back into the depths of the others' minds too!"
"Hilarious. You really don't understand the hopelessness of your situation, little hedgehog," Wrath muttered, stepping forward. He puffed some fire out of his nostrils. "You like jokes, don't you, Sonic? How about this one? It should be good for a laugh." Wrath grabbed Sonic away from Envy by the head and held him in front of the uneven wall. Sonic struggled to break free, kicking and sharpening his spines to try and pierce Wrath's hand. To no avail. Wrath, with a roar, threw his arm forward. Sonic's face was slammed into the wall at full force. As soon as Sonic's face collided with the stone, the wall broke apart. Shards of volcanic rock flew at Envy and Pride. They shielded their faces from the burning rocks, and watched as the dust settled. Sonic opened his eyes. He didn't feel any pain. He looked around, only to see that he was covered in a dark aura.
"Typical. Just typical," Majin's voice muttered, as an apparition in his likeness took form from the dark aura. "Please, Wrath. If we could avoid a fight, that would be nice."
"It's you…! Escapism!" Wrath shouted. "Move, or you're dead!" Wrath shot his rock-coated fist forward, but Majin caught it with both hands. Majin grinned even wider as his muscles tightened and sweat rolled down his face. Sonic then jumped forward and kicked Wrath off-balance. Majin, still having a decent grip on Wrath's fist, swung him overhead into the stone.
"Yeah, that WAS pretty good for a laugh!" Sonic exclaimed, as Wrath fell to the ground, dazed. Envy and Pride leapt forward to attack, but Sonic Spin Dashed through and sliced a mechanical arm off of Pride's machine. He threw the arm straight at Envy. Direct hit. He then hit Pride with a flurry of Homing Attacks. "Honestly, though… This ain't nothing compared to the Big Arm back in Launch Base. Are you really so blinded by your own ego that you'd come at me with a rusting mech suit held together with sticky notes and rubber bands?" Sonic taunted. Majin kicked Pride into Envy before she could even get up from the mech suit's arm knocking her down.
"Watch it, gramps!" Envy barked. Pride got up, followed by Envy. Envy dusted herself off and popped her arm back into place. "What a poor day. I really DON'T hope Lust and Greed are doing any better than us." Envy looked up at the sound of screaming. From the top of the ravine, Zor the Hexi went falling into the middle of the battlefield. She was caught by Sloth just before she hit the floor. Sloth had taken form as an apparition just like Majin had.
"Zor! Sloth!" Sonic exclaimed, electrocuting Wrath to make sure he didn't move. "It's okay. Majin and I have this under control."
"No, I didn't come here to back you up!" Zor warned in terror, as three looming shadows appeared on the surface. "They brought me here so they could regroup and kill us BOTH!" The three figures jumped down into the ravine. Gluttony, Greed and Lust. Sonic jumped out of the way as Gluttony landed. Despite Gluttony making itself small enough to fit into the ravine, the ground still shook under its weight. Gluttony screeched in a mix of pain from its ankles nearly shattering and a simple-minded hunger, opening its maw wide and flecking chunky spitty acid everywhere. Sonic and Zor jumped back, only for Sonic to be knocked down. Envy had hit him with the detached mech arm, spinning around quickly. Zor was punched away by Pride's one intact mech arm. She went tumbling forward as Sonic was kicked down by Lust.
"WOO-HAA-HA!" Lust laughed as Sonic tried to get up, only to be kicked down over and over again. "I'd like you if we weren't fighting, you know. But still, you're so cute when you struggle!" Sonic sharpened his spines, and when Lust stomped down onto his head, she jumped back as pain rocketed through her foot.
"Take that, freak!" Sonic shouted, Spin Dashing in a circle and knocking Lust down. "Man, even I'M not this bad. You've got problems!"
"Heheh, yeah! That's the spirit!" Lust exclaimed. "Bring it on, and I'll rip it up!"
"Sloth, can you give me a forcefield like Sonic's?" Zor asked, getting up weakly as Pride charged towards her.
"My apologies. That is an ability unique to Majin's arsenal born from his aversion to any sort of pain," Sloth sighed. "I could probably try and do something similar, but he's more versed in it than I am." Zor jumped back as Pride swung at her again. He swung repeatedly. So fast that his arm became a blur. Zor was having trouble evading, dematerializing and rematerializing multiple times through the Dark Fog to avoid being struck down. Eventually, she grew exhausted. She took a second to catch her breath. Pride sent another punch her way, but she used a Gloom as a meat shield. It dissipated upon the hit landing.
"I can see why Zik wanted you on her team," Pride observed, as Zor stood still, breathing heavily. He shot his arm forward, only to grab her by the chin and slowly move her head up to face him. "You are fast, crafty, and you seem to be one with the darkness. How peculiar." Pride began to grip Zor's head with his hand. She squeaked in fear as the pressure sunk in. "But you are emotionally frail. You would never have lasted long against the master plan I planted in her tribe's head."
"What master plan?!" Zor gasped.
"A plan to coat the world in darkness, making it so that the Zeti may reunite with the Surface Dwellers after all these millenia," Pride explained, clenching tighter. He was ready to pop Zor's head like a balloon. "Even if uniting both parties in the Dark Fog meant we sins would take control and inevitably destroy everything, she was ready to do this under my manipulation. I've forced her to try and coax us out of you Hexis for years, and this has finally been accomplished through the Sintrus fruits. This accomplishment has sealed the fate of the cosmos." While Pride was distracted, Sonic rushed forward and swiftly cut the last arm off of Pride's mech suit. Pride was rendered unable to fight other than with the suit's stubby little legs. Sonic noticed that the way out was now clear of any sins.
"Zor, now's our chance! Let's get to the Dark Battery!" Sonic looked to Zor, who was wobbling around blindly with the dead robot arm still latched onto her head. Sonic jumped into the mecha arm, and it fell apart. Zor was released. Sonic grabbed her hand and ran away from the sins.
"Wow… Now I know how those little animals Robotnik used to power Badniks with feel," Zor sighed.
"Gyaahhh! He's getting away!" Lust shouted as Sonic grabbed Zor and rushed off. "What do we do now?" Wrath stepped forward.
"YOU don't do anything," Wrath snapped. "I will handle this myself."
Sonic and Zor kept running. The injuries that they had suffered made their sprints uneven. They even staggered to a complete stop at some points. Behind them, they began to hear entire volcanoes being crushed under the stomps of a truly huge beast. Sonic and Zor looked back, only to see that Wrath had grown to a monster of truly herculean proportions. "You can't run forever, mortals," Wrath's voice echoed through the entire Zone. He was charging towards them quickly. Sonic and Zor instantly sped up, leaving him in the dust until they came face-to-face with the Lava Mountain Cacophonic Tower. It stood in their way, immovable and surrounded by flames. Right behind the tower was the mountain holding Robotnik Castle upon its peak. They looked at each other in fear, then back to Wrath as he caught up with them. "As I was saying. You're out of road. I hope your wills are as strong as Zavok's, so that I may truly savor breaking them." Wrath shot a laser their way out of his mouth. It tore through the rock in front of them as it approached.
"No good!" Sonic exclaimed, as they jumped onto the tower and ran up the stairwell. The laser followed them, burning away at the stairwell and outer layer of the Cacophonic Tower.
"No! NO! This isn't happening!" Zor shrieked, trailing behind Sonic. She leapt forward as the ground she stood on before fell a long way to the ground.
"Ah, but it is. No amount of denial will shield you from your fate," Wrath muttered. He shot a fireball their way. Sonic and Zor looked back, yelling in terror as it approached. Then, Majin appeared from behind Sonic and slashed at the fireball, putting up an Insta-Shield that reflected the fireball back at Wrath. Wrath waved it away from his face, turning his still-clawed hand into a bubbling, burnt mess.
"Actually, a good amount of denial is JUST what you need in times like these!" Majin exclaimed.
"How did you do that?!" Wrath shouted.
"Like tennis, chump!" Majin called. "Fifteen-love." Wrath let out a mighty roar, sending visible ripples through the air.
"So that's all you have? Futile counter-attacks and meaningless remarks?!" Wrath berated them, running forward and shaking the Cacophonic Tower. Sonic and Zor nearly fell from the stairwell, but managed to grab hold of the railing. "I will topple this steeple. Your pathetic last stand will fall to my might!" Wrath swiped at Sonic and Zor with his burnt hand. Zor fell behind, her legs feeling like they would burst from exhaustion and pain. Sonic looked back. At this rate, Wrath was going to squash her on the side of the tower. Sonic ran back for her, but then, the stairwell was destroyed by Wrath's hand plowing it down. As Sonic grabbed Zor and dodged Wrath's hand, he felt himself step onto nothingness. He then fell. His heart skipped a beat, but then, Sonic used the power of his Chaos Emerald heart to shoot an Enerbeam towards Wrath's spiky red jaw. It tangled itself around one of his teeth, and Sonic hung from the beam, holding Zor in his arm. Wrath looked down at them. "How cheap! You should be ashamed of yourself using tricks like that."
"At least I'm not the one going around in teams of two, sucker-punching people less than half my size… Coward!" Sonic called, holding on for dear life.
"Attempting to mock me to the very end… Just deplorable," Wrath growled, biting down on the Enerbeam despite the high voltage. He couldn't quite break it, but he could still harness it for himself. He swung his head around, slamming Sonic and Zor into the side of the tower. He continued to thrash them around like a rabid wolf would the freshly deceased body of its prey. But Sonic and Zor were very much alive, and feeling every impact they made with the tower. Sonic made the difficult decision to dispel the Enerbeam. Now in freefall, Zor used her last sliver of energy to summon a Gloom. It flew them up to the top of the tower. She fell limp in Sonic's arms.
"Zor!" Sonic cried, as she passed out.
"Oh well. She has the fortune of dying in her sleep," Wrath sighed. "Don't be like that irritating Envy. Don't curse your friend for enjoying a privilege you don't have." Sonic looked to the castle desperately, and saw the Dark Fog stretching further towards the Dark Battery. He ran for it, carrying Zor and jumping off the tower as Wrath uprooted it from the ground. Sonic, battered and bruised, ran towards Robotnik Castle as fast as his aching, throbbing legs would let him. He felt like he was about to fall dead. He felt like the bones in his legs were going to finally snap with every step he took. "Do not run away from me!" Wrath roared, tossing the Cacophonic Tower at Sonic. Sonic looked up as the tower fell. But before he could give up hope, the tower suddenly disappeared. He figured the fog must have devoured it. It was still a machine, after all. Pride had said that machines would be destroyed in the Dark Fog. Sonic kept running, clinging onto the last bit of hope that he was fast enough to get to Robotnik Castle before the Dark Battery was consumed by the fog. All the while, Wrath kept up his pursuit. He knew he couldn't keep up with Sonic, so he threw everything he could at the small hedgehog with all his might, hoping that his pure raw power could allow him to toss faster than Sonic could run. He tossed boulders and entire volcanoes when he had the chance. He wasn't even above splashing lava at Sonic and Zor. Anything to make sure they did not live to defeat him and the other Deadly Sins.
Sonic finally reached Robotnik Castle. It was puny compared to Roaring Wrath, but luckily he was constrained to the fog. The fog that was slowly yet surely rolling into the courtyard. Sonic broke down the front doors, and scrambled to every room in the maze-like metallic palace, hoping it would be the control center for the Dark Battery. He stopped at a map after many precious seconds of searching and busting Empire Badniks that had been patrolling the castle. He was relatively close to the Dark Battery. Sonic smiled, but quickly donned an expression of pure fear and devastation as the castle became much more dark. The Badniks and machinery disappeared, and the power fizzled out quickly one room at a time. Something tugged at the roof. Dust started to build up from Roaring Wrath's claws digging through the metal. Then, the ceiling was torn away from the walls. Roaring Wrath looked in on Sonic and Zor, as Sonic scurried through the corridor.
"Come now, Sonic. Don't be foolish. Your energy is dwindling, your hope is fading. Your legs are failing you," Roaring Wrath boasted, walking through Robotnik Castle and stomping anything in his way into rubble. "It's so very dark out. I suggest you get some rest. Close your eyes, and drift off into an eternal slumber." Roaring Wrath cackled sadistically. Sonic rounded the corner into the Dark Battery's control room. He staggered over to the computer, and slumped forward onto the desk. He heard the rooms next to him power down as the Dark Fog consumed their machinery and fried their wires. Sonic hastily set the Dark Battery back into vacuum mode, and aimed the funnel away from Erius. Instead towards the Dark Fog. Roaring Wrath approached, and blasted another laser towards Sonic as the hedgehog tried to get the computer to work. Majin took form and protected Sonic from the laser with layers upon layers of forcefields. The laser slowly broke through the outer layers.
"Consider this… my parting gift to you… Sonic…" Majin grunted, using all his power to hold up the forcefields.
The room lost power, but Sonic resolved this by releasing an electric surge that preserved the computer. The computer powered on, as Roaring Wrath stepped forward. Sonic gave the final command, and the Dark Battery began to sweep away the Dark Fog. Roaring Wrath's eyes widened as the Dark Fog began to disappear.
"Wait, no!" Roaring Wrath shouted, stomping down onto Majin's force-field. It shattered instantly, forcing Sonic to jump out of the way. "Irritating hedgehog! You've ruined everything!" The Dark Fog was all but swept away into the battery, with it, Wrath's burning flame of rage began to fizzle and fade. "At least I know… our kingdom will emerge someday. You may have defeated me, but you can never hope to beat… Dark Gaia." The Dark Fog was entirely consumed by the battery. Wrath disappeared, leaving Zavok face-down on the floor. Her hand was somewhat burnt, but other than that, she was back to normal. The volcanic ash in the air parted to reveal the sunset.
"Zavok?" Sonic asked, running towards her. She got up to her knees, before falling back down to the ground. "Your hand! Are you okay?" Sonic asked, kneeling down by her side. Zavok looked around.
"Wha—? Sonic?" Zavok inhaled sharply. Her vision refocused, and she saw Zor unconscious in Sonic's arms. "Oh no… is she okay?" Zavok asked, shocked at what she had done. "What was all that? The fog… that monster…!"
"ZAVOK!" Zomom's voice exclaimed, as she and the other Hexis arrived into the room. They were all back to their old selves. No more sin to speak of. Zomom hugged Zavok tightly. "That was so scary! What happened?!"
"I… don't know…" Zavok mumbled, averting her eyes. She noticed Sonic glaring at Zik. "What's with the death stare?" She directed her eyes towards Zik, and saw that she looked absolutely mortified. Almost as mortified as Zazz.
"I didn't mean for this to happen," Zik whispered, looking at the ground.
"What do you mean?" Zeena asked. "Sure, the fruit you gave us tasted like cigarettes… But you didn't actually think they would turn us into those monsters, did you?"
"I did. Pride said it best…" Zik sighed, tearing up. "I wanted to reunite with the Erians for the longest time. My master was a Zeti. He was the one who told me those age-old tales of harmony between man, beast and animal. My own sin of Pride made me think that if the universe was covered in darkness, we'd all be equals again. I just… miss the humans and animals so much. So many of our people did, before Robotnik killed them. I'm sorry about what I tried to say to release your sins. This is all my fault."
"You know you never needed to do all that, right?" Tails' voice asked. Sonic's eyes widened. Tails stepped into the room. His robotic parts were gone. They must have been separated from his body when the Dark Fog turned him into part of Envy.
"Tails!" Sonic exclaimed, rushing towards him. "You're back!" Sonic embraced Tails tightly. All the Hexis smiled slightly. "Listen, I— I didn't mean to make you feel like you didn't matter to me. You do! You mean the world to me… We good?" Sonic asked.
"Of course we are," Tails replied. "Envy was really messing with my head. I'm sorry about what I said, Sonic." Tails hugged him tightly, smiling. They took a few more seconds to finally let go. Tails then turned to Zik.
"So… what do you mean I never needed to do all that?" Zik asked.
"I did some research on the way here. I've been thinking… 'why in the world would the humans send the Zeti to the Lost Hex if it was such an important part of Erian culture?'" Tails said. "I did some digging on the way here. The reason the Hexagonal Eclipse became such an important time of year down on Erius is because shortly after banishing the Zeti to the Lost Hex, the humans started to miss them. So every time the Lost Hex crossed the moon, they would look up at it and try to remember their old companions. But the humans didn't want to risk a war, so they never tried to reconnect with the Zeti. Us Erians never had any idea the Zeti and their descendants missed us too. You could have come back at any point… well, before Robotnik's takeover at least." Zik and the rest of the Hexis looked shocked.
"So all this time… The humans wanted us back as well?" Zik asked, smiling as tears streamed down her face.
"I don't see why they wouldn't!" Sonic replied. "All I know is, it would be nice to have you all around back home. So why don't you come with us?"
"That… would be nice," Zik whispered through sobs.
"But the Lost Hex is our home now," Zoga stated. "Are we just supposed to abandon it?"
"No, we can't do that," Zeena mumbled.
"Then maybe we'll visit sometime!" Zomom offered. "I'd love to go to Erius." Suddenly, the ground rumbled. Everybody looked around as the tremor intensified.
"OHOHOHOHO!" A voice laughed. A large robot shot into the sky from the northernmost edge of Robotnik Castle. It looked like… Robotnik himself! "You really thought this was over? Well, you'd be mistaken. The only things ending today are your lives! Prepare yourself… for the might of the 'DARK GAIA ROBO-ROBO'!" Robotnik swooped down and shot lasers out of his hands. Everybody dodged out of the way as Robotnik further destroyed his own castle. "I am now powered by every droplet of Dark Gaia Force, just as I intended all along! And you sweeping away the Dark Fog only made me stronger." Everybody looked up towards the Dark Gaia Robo-Robo, unimpressed. "THIS is my final form. My dream come true. None of you stand any chance against me now. Just TRY and ruin my plans this time, Sonic!"
The Hexis all simply rose their hands, and a purple aura surrounded all of them. They all chuckled as the Dark Gaia Robo-Robo was held still by their electromagnetic powers. "Strike, my Deadly Seven! Make the fool pay for our abuse and enslavement!" Zavok exclaimed.
"Huh? WHAT?! NO! That stupid beast must have interrupted the transformation. Where are my EM-shieldings?!" Robotnik shouted. Tails flew Sonic up to the Dark Gaia Robo-Robo as the Hexis held it still. Sonic jumped out of Tails' hands and unleashed a series of Homing Attacks into Robotnik's face. Robotnik could do nothing but watch as he was broken apart. Robotnik yelled as Sonic relentlessly slashed away at his final form. "Gyaaaah! Not again… I'm sick of you getting in the way EVERY SINGLE TIME! This isn't over yet. I will be reborn, I… WILL… WIN next time!"
Sonic grabbed Tails' hands, and made their escape as the Dark Gaia Robo-Robo exploded in a mix of fire and Dark Gaia Force. However, just as they were about to land, Sonic was hit with a faceful of Dark Gaia Force and sent flying back as the remains of the Dark Gaia Robo-Robo crashed into the ground. "SONIC!" Tails screamed, rushing in to his friend's aid. "Are you okay? He got you pretty good!" Sonic coughed out some Dark Gaia Force, but only a little. For a second, Tails thought he saw Sonic's teeth turn to… fangs?
"Yuck… yeah, I'm fine…" Sonic wheezed, getting to his feet. "Robotnik shouldn't be a problem, at least not for a while."
"Allllright, then. So… that's it? We won?!" Zomom asked, ecstatically.
"Yeah… it looks like it's finally over," Zavok sighed, smiling wide. "We're free." All the Hexis took off their headphones, and took a deep collective breath. Sonic and Tails fist bumped.
"We should probably take down the Windy Hill and Tropical Coast towers, just to be safe," Zik stated. "And then… I'd like to take a trip down to Erius. I believe that's what Master Zant would have wanted."