The Final Zone - Take Three

[FinalBeyond]

So, people might remember my old sprite animations. If not, it's a bizarre adventure based on Manwards' Jason Vs Sonic continuity. In 2455, humans and animals live together on Earth 2. But when a time warp throws a boy from the 20th century into this new reality, what will occur?
For those that do remember it, you might be interested in reading these even though I'm retreading the plot. Quite a few large changes have been made.

So, enjoy. The first book is a bit short, but it mainly acts as a setup. Later on, I'll post REM Rebound II, Final Vs Freddy. That's a lot longer and better.

THE FINAL ZONE: BOOK 1
Super Final

He seemed such a small figure, a tiny speck in the massive cavern that surrounded him. An insignificant occupant of the rock chamber, glowing green bridges linking the large stone platforms. All in all, Final Beyond was feeling decidedly intimidated by his surroundings. He was an ordinary human being, 16 years old, dressed in nothing more than his favourite shirt (a white shirt, covered in a myriad of turquoise-blue patterns) and some denim jeans. It almost seemed like he was walking into a fancy restaurant in his underwear, when he compared himself with the grandeur of the chamber, and of course, the giant gem in front of him.

Truth be told, he was almost entranced by the glory of the Master Emerald. The power... The magnificence. In all honesty, he was kind of surprised that Knuckles had let him near it. The red-furred echidna was notorious for his stubbornness... As well as his alarming tendency to let Angel Island crash into the ocean. But that wasn't relevant. Or something that Final disliked, come to think of it.

After all, were it not for Angel Island landing off the coast of Station Square, he might never have thought of travelling there. His interest in the gems of Earth 2, or Mobius, as it was originally called by the animals of the planet, was normally amateur. He'd read a thesis on the gems by a very interesting writer, but there was only so much you could learn from writing.

On the island that seemed to be the centre of these mysteries, he could experience in real life what it was like to achieve the super form. Knuckles had seemed rather amused by the youth, and had let him build his own house in the Sky Sanctuary Zone from a leftover metal pillar. As Final waited in this house for the last month, his mind had filled with the possibilities of this moment. Would his hair just stick up and turn blonde like all those anime characters, or would it be more distinctive, more understated? He was grinning just thinking about it.

Now, he thought, pushing his glasses closer to his eyes, time for the train of thought to pull into the station. No more tangents. It was like needless exposition in his mind. The writer in him, he supposed, before realising that this was just taking him off on another tangent. The important thing was that Knuckles had let him use the emerald. Or so he thought.

* * *

“This isn't the main Master Emerald, of course.” Said, Knuckles, a red echidna, his dreadlocks swaying in the cool breeze that ran through the cavern. “I'd have to know you for longer before I let you near the real thing. Nobody gets near it unless I trust them.”

“What about when Eggman stole it while you were fighting Sonic six years ago?” Final chipped in.

“Apart from that time.” Knuckles said, sheepishly, his muzzle going almost as red as his fur.

“Or when Rouge strolled right up to it, before Eggman stole it again, a year or so ago?”

“Well-”

“Or, come to think of it, when Eggman took a picture of it with his future camera thing last month?”

“ENOUGH!” Yelled the echidna, irritably.

“Hey, recognise your mistakes. That's the first step to stopping your gullibility, Knux. That's why I'm here. To help.” Said Final, in a soothing voice. The echidna sighed.

“Anyway, this is one of the raw emeralds I took from the spirit of the herd a while back. I've infused it with the energy of the Island's Chaos Emeralds, so it should be the most convenient thing to go super with.”

“Awesomeness.”

“So, I'll be back in about 10 minutes. Have fun.”

As Knuckles walked over to one of the red-orbed transporters and disappeared in a beam of light, Final stepped closer to the battered, but visibly powerful emerald. He pulled himself up on top of it, and pressed a hand against its surface. The gemstone should have, by all laws of physics, been cold. And yet, it seemed warm, like a laptop after hours of use. Final rationalised to himself that the physics of old Earth were outdated. This thing was filled with Chaotic energy, and thus, must have some heat energy as well. He stood atop the emerald, gazing around the chamber, and thought 'Super. Super. Super.'

A beam of light exploded from the edges of the emerald, surrounding him. The light crashed onto the jagged rocks of the cavern above him like water. He slowly rose, gravity no longer applying. He could feel power coursing through his veins! As more power flowed into him, the light slowly faded. As all traces of the light disappeared, he slowly floated back down to the scored surface of the emerald. He sat there for a moment or two, wondering what had happened. He didn't feel super. Could this be it? Was this all? Confusion filled his eyes. Then, as an eyebrow raised in curiosity...

He exploded.

* * *

Final walked into a control room, that looked like it was almost thrown in as an afterthought in the chambers of the Hidden Palace Zone. The echidna turned from a large console, that would have looked high tech, had it not been hewn from the rock of the chamber, and his eyes widened as he saw an exuberant Final standing there, blackened and burnt.

“The Emerald made me explode!”

“You what?” Said Knuckles, visibly shocked. “No idea why it would do that. Some sort of problem with the internal resonance of the gem? Give me a minute, and I'll rig up a new one. I've just got a call coming through.”

“Right, see you down there.” Final walked out of the small room, as a image began to fizzle onto a large screen above the console. He wanted to respect the echidna's privacy as much as possible. He had been generous, to say the least, in allowing Final onto the island in the first place. As he strolled back to the emerald's site, he thought back at how he had come to this place.

It had only really been about eight months since Final had arrived on the planet. But it was not just space he had traveled through. It was time.

Final shuddered as he thought of the events that had begun the saga. He focused his mind on the important stuff. When he had returned to his home after... those events... He had found a vortex in his room, swirling and hazy. He had considered the implications of approaching it, but deciding that at this point, he had nothing to lose, he had jumped through, shortly followed by a friend of his.

They had discovered themselves not in the year 2005, but in the year 2455, not that they knew this. Earth was not the center of humanity it once was. Rather, it was a hellhole. A desolate wasteland, the sky a dingy yellow, sandstorms sweeping through the empty tracts of land. They had searched through the remaining buildings of England's once-capital, London, but found no signs of life, other than horrible, zombie like creatures, that they did their best to avoid. Finally, they found a ship, and traveled to a preset destination, that the previous owner had presumably not lived long enough to reach. The ship's computer was set for Earth 2, the new home of humanity.

When they arrived, he and his friends had different intentions of what to do. His friend had wished to have adventures in the wilderness of the planet, but Final... Final was happy to just stay in the city and live a normal life, if only for a short while.

But of course, on the new world, adventure was never far away. Only a short while after moving in with new flatmates in the capital city, Station Square, the portly scientist known as Dr Eggman had invaded. He claimed to have made the perfect plan, sending Sonic the Hedgehog, the foremost hero of this world, on a wild goose chase. Quite literally. He had sent a battle robot of his, Commander Brutus, to attack a colony of Mobian geese in the Northlands.

While the hedgehog was distracted, he had flew to Station Square, and he claimed that this was where the Eggman Empire would begin. Perhaps it would have, but together with his flatmates, Final managed to hack into the battle machine of the scientist, causing it to crash.

Of course, then, Sonic had turned up, jumped at the machine, and hogged the media attention. Final still held a small grudge against the hedgehog for that. But anyway, that had made Final long for further adventure. And after reading a thesis on the gems of the world, by a Miss Azurion Asteracea, he had decided to try and experience the power of these gems for himself. And so he had arrived, and struck a deal with Knuckles. He would help the echidna with his extreme gullibility problem, and in return, Knux would let him go super. He had built his house, and waited until Knuckles had given the call. Finally, he had. And so he stood in the chamber, all in all feeling decidedly intimidated by his surroundings...

Well, that seemed to cover it all. Final felt curiously satisfied at how events had brought him here. The trip to the future had seemed to go his way. Well, the exploding wasn't the best, but now Knuckles would sort that out, and all would be well!

True to form, he saw the echidna storm into the cavern, a large emerald in his arms. Final rushed over, and helped the red animal set the large stone down. Knuckles gave a grunt of thanks, and wandered over to the Raw Emerald that he had previously infused with the Chaos Energy. He levered it up, and removed it from the tube that held it in place. Final went to help, but Knuckles shooed him away.

“What's under here is for my eyes only.”

Final was surprised at the fury Knuckles spoke with. Obviously a touchy subject. Did he have his own traumas, reminders hidden below the emerald?

“Pass me the new Emerald.” Said Knuckles, slightly more calmly.

“Sure.” Replied Final, pushing the surprisingly heavy gem towards the echidna. At that moment, Final gained new respect for the strength of Knuckles. He could barely lift it, but Knuckles had carried it to the chamber with one arm.

Knuckles took the emerald when Final was close enough, and slotted it into the tube. He let out a sigh.

“Right, there you go, Final. Should work now.”

“Thanks, Knux.”

“No problem. I've got some more stuff to sort out, so can you do this on your own?”

“Of course. Ta for everything you've done already.”

Knuckles gave a small gesture of thanks, and ran back into his control room. Final, meanwhile, was clambering on top of this slightly larger emerald. Once again, a column of energy erupted, surrounding Final, lifting him up. As he floated in the center of this strange energy field, a pulse of light blossomed from his chest and engulfed his entire form.

When it faded, Final looked different. The white and blue shirt he wore was now black and red. His skin was a pale yellow, and his hair, a luminous green. His glasses had become a dark green colour, and the eyes beneath them glowed a powerful orange.

“Yes!” Shouted Final, in an unearthly voice. “It worked! Now to cause some chaos! Heh, chaos is funny because I'm super.”
He leaped from the emerald to a nearby platform, and he dashed across the area, hopping over the bridges, smashing some ring boxes to maintain the power of the form.

* * *

Knuckles stood in the control room, speaking to the figure that had called him before he had installed the emerald.

“Thank you for telling me of his treachery. Don't worry, I have taken measures to stop him.”

“Well done, my echidna friend. Curing your gullibility. Indeed. With what he has done, this claim is horrible. What, might I ask, did you do to stop him?”

“Installed a faulty emerald. It doesn't give him any real power, just changes his colours and voice.”

“A bad recolour... The perfect revenge!”

* * *

Soon, Final was running through the Sandopolis Zone, unaware of Knuckles' duplicity. He found a red-orbed teleporter. Leaping into it, he found himself on South Island. Obviously a link Knuckles had set up for easy access to the world below.

He knew the area he was in as the Spring Yard Zone. In one direction, the residential blocks of the city. In the other, the walls of a GUN complex. And then, in the distance ahead of him, Final saw a solitary figure. One of the Metallix series, it appeared. It appeared to be Metal Sonic himself.

“Hey!” Shouted Final. “Metal Sonic! You suck! All metal duplicates of established characters suck!”

The robot turned to see who it was that was insulting him. A human, it seemed. But not a regular human. He was unnaturally coloured. A super form, perhaps? Or just the victim of all those dyes and colours humans insisted on covering themselves with?

“Is that so?” Asked the mecha, the small sheets of metal that made his eyelids narrowing. “I shall return.”

Metal Sonic blazed off down the path, and Final jumped about, collecting the rings that surrounded this more dangerous part of the zone. When he was well stocked, he returned to where he had stood before. Metal Sonic was already back, with multiple Metal creations behind him. There was the Knuckles Metallix that had menaced the heroes of Earth 2 in the racing tournament, a huge spiky duplicate of Amy, a yellow striped Shadow android, a metal tails (not the doll, thankfully) and the larger Mecha versions of Sonic, an antiquated Silver Sonic model.... A small army, almost.

“You may wish to reconsider your decision.” Said Metal Sonic, with some small satisfaction in his metallic voice.

“Ha!” Shouted Final. “Apologise to you metal freaks? You think I am afraid of you? I am Super Final! I am invincible!”

The mechas began to form a circle around Final. He looked warily at them, but he knew he could not be hurt with the super form. Then, the Silver Sonic charged at him, and knocked him backwards. Final felt the impact every bit as much as he would have normally, and as the Shadow android behind him hit him with an uppercut that sent him flying into the air, he realised he was not super. Not even close. Then, as he landed, his head smashing against the ground, he lapsed into unconsciousness.


* * *


Much later, Final crawled along the cold ground, trying to remember everything he knew about medicine, which was basically the contents of Metal Gear Solid 3's cure menu. And he didn't even have the equipment from that. The Mechas had done a number on him, no doubt about it. His skull was cracked, and his chest was bruised. He needed help.

And so, his thoughts turned to Knuckles. The echidna had duped him. Humiliated him. Nearly killed him. Not directly, of course, but through his deception, this had happened. Final blamed the echidna as much as he blamed the Mechas. But after beating him, they had moved on, and Final had no idea where to find them. Knuckles would be easier to find. After all, he normally stayed on the island. So long as Eggman didn't start one of his schemes in the next day or so, that assumption would be quite correct, he reasoned. But there was no way he could fight the echidna in this condition. Not on his own, at least. He needed help.

But this time, he knew exactly where to get it.

* * *

Past the edges of the Spring Yard Zone, through a pass in the mountains that outlined the zone, across a hilly landscape of purple rocks, lay Final's destination. The Marble Zone was a treacherous place for one in Final's condition. But still, he was able to throw himself past the simmering and expanding pools of lava, find the short cuts that took him away from the dangerous and labyrinth-like caverns of the zone, and destruct the numerous broken 'Badniks' that Eggman had spread throughout the island in years long since passed.

A few long hours later, Final reached his ultimate goal. A blank patch of grass at the bottom of a hill. Or so it would seem. Final tapped three times on the piece of ground on which he stood, and the patch he was on began to lower, as many areas did where the lava of the zone was more unstable. But this was not due to lava. As the platform fell, Final looked into the small cavern that lay below the hill.

Inside the area surrounded deep purple bricks lay a few basic amenities. A table made of the green marble remnants of a past civilisation that were throughout the zone, with a small, decidedly out of place television set placed atop it. A small section of the wall was hollowed out, with a rough mattress inside. Then there was a desk, with many drawers, painted to fit in with the colours of the zone. A small computer sat on this desk. Standing beside the desk in the middle of the room was a young man. He was dressed in a white tank top, blue denim jacket, and black denim jeans. He looked at Final with a grin.

“Alright, Final? What can I do for you?”

“Oh, many things, Geo. Let me tell you all about it.”

* * *

Edward Gemoni, known as “Geomonic” or “Geo” to his friends, was one of Final's oldest acquaintances. Indeed, he was the friend from his past that had followed him into the future. Much like his friend Final, he had thrown himself into the adventures of the new world they had arrived on, albeit in a different way. Upon their arrival, he had explored the various islands of the world.

After a while, he found the Casino Night Zone on Westside Island, and stayed there for a month, singing along with the catchy jingle that played almost constantly in the zone. After that month, security had him thrown out, for 'annoying the guests with upbeat singing'. Indeed, there was a constant security check in the zone, making sure he was not returning. At this point, he had moved to the Marble Zone, and begun constructing his house. Over the internet, he had advertised a detective service, promising to do 'The most dangerous jobs for the most inadequate pay”. However, due to the concealed location of his base, he had never gained any customers, much to his disappointment.

* * *

“And that’s the story”, said Final, having just recounted the first two chapters of this book to the amused Geo, who had bandaged part of his head, and given some decidedly Big Boss-esque remedies for Final's other injuries. “What do you think we should do about it?”

Geo paused for a second, deep in concentration. Then, with a gasp of realisation, he looked up with an excited expression.

“I’ve got it!” Final sat up in his seat, eager to hear his friend’s plan. Geo spoke with a calm but proud voice, outlining his intentions.

“I think we should blow him up. With missiles.”

Final made no response to his seemingly simplistic plan, and simply stared at Geomonic in disbelief.

“That’s your plan? For one thing, how do we find him? For another thing, where the HECK are we going to get any missiles?” Final was practically yelling. Geo just smirked.
“Aha, well, there’s something you don’t know.” Geo picked up a large single barrelled shotgun from a nearby table. “This gun has a built in Echidna seeking missile built in. Don’t ask why, it’s a useful plot device.”

“You really do think of everything.” Commented Final, with a smirk. “In the morning, we'll get to the transporter in the Spring Yard version. Your weapon'll probably have better range if we're on Angel Island.”

“True, true. Won't Knuckles be there, though?”

“We won't be going to where he is. I have a house on the island, We can go there.”

* * *

And so, the next day, Final and Geo stood outside Final's house, a massive construction made from the green metals of the zone, with stone clad window frames and stairs.

“Nice house.” Commented Geo.

“Thanks.” Replied Final. “I put blood, sweat, tears, and a heck of a lot of jagged metal into it.”

Geo smirked, and cocked the large shotgun that he held in his arms. He pulled the trigger, and a second later, two large bursts of fire shot from the barrel, small missiles following in the wake of the fire a moment afterwards.

“Why did it fire twice?” Asked Final, his eyebrow raising.

“Beats me.” Shrugged Geo.

* * *

A peach-coloured Echidna leant against a tree in the Marble Garden Zone. The echidna, known as Tikal, had been freed from the Master Emerald as a side effect of Eggman's card machine, which considered her to be a separate entity from the Emerald. She had spent the last month wandering the island, which had changes so much from her time. It was such a relief to her to be free of the confines of the emerald. Chaos wasn't the most sociable creature at the best of times.

She heard a whistling noise, and looked up with a concerned expression, noticing the missile screaming towards her. Her eyes narrowed, and she let out a resigned sigh. Typical.

* * *

“Ah well. It's probably not important.” Said Final. “Any idea where the missiles went?”

“That area with all the temples, and the Carnival Night Zone.”

“Oh yeah. Knuckles might be round there. He's planning to demolish that soon. Apparently the ones who rebuilt it for the public after Angel Island was discovered were working for Eggman.”

“Well, so was he, wasn't he?”

“That's not the point. Anyway, he even once tried to punch it off the island, but he's not quite that good.”

“Shame.”

“So, shall we go and see if it got him?”

“Might as well.”

* * *

It wasn't hard for the pair to find the area once they reached the Carnival Night Zone. This was mainly because the area was still on fire. On a platform in the centre of the sizzling environment lay the still body of Knuckles.

“Knuckles? Are you dead?” Asked Final, who wondered if it was a pointless question.

To Final's surprise, Knuckles did not give no reply, as he had expected in a rather double-negativish way, and jumped to his feet with a frown on his face.

“No.” Replied Knuckles angrily. “But you soon will be.”

“ But Why?” Asked Final.

“You know why…” Replied Knuckles, tersely. Final thought for a second.

“Um, is it because I hired my friend and got him to fire a missile at you?”

“While that was annoying, no, surprisingly not.”

“Well, I’m stumped. Shall we fight now?”

“Sure, why not?”

Final leapt upwards in a spinning jump,, bouncing on a floating balloon that hovered next to the platform Knuckles was on. The orb exploded, propelling Final forwards, barrelling into Knuckles with a mighty crash. The echidna tumbled off the platform and onto the floor. Geo sighed.

“I'm feeling left out.”

Making a decision to join in the battle, he pulled a gun from an inside pocket, readied it, and casually shot Knuckles in the face.

“Got him.” He smiled.

“I can see that!” Final was practically screaming, aghast at the spectacle. “Look, I need to finish this off, why don't you go and...” Final looked around for something that would distract his friend for a while. “Chase that girl!” He blurted, spotting a figure walking cautiously through the Carnival Night Zone, taking care to avoid the many traps the zone had to offer.

When she saw Geo sprinting towards her, a grin on his face, the girl screamed and ran back through the twists and turns of the zone. Meanwhile, Final picked up the limp body of Knuckles. He was still alive. Final didn't know how. Maybe he had been carrying some rings, or maybe Echidnas were just tougher to kill.

Final tried to think of an ironic punishment for Knuckles, but short of putting him in the faulty emerald's field and asking the Mechas to beat him up, which would more likely result in Final being beaten up again, Final didn't know what to do. Maybe it would be best to ask Knuckles exactly why he had duped him.

The echidna awoke with a pain in his head. His eyes still blurry, he tried to figure out where he was. Everything looked green. One of the jungles of Angel Island? No, this was a lighter green, like the Sky Sanctuary Zone. He tried to remember what was important about this zone. Then, he noticed a blurry shape, brown at the top, with a white centre and a blue lower section. Blinking his eyes, he realised it was the shape of a human figure.

“Final?”

“Ah, you're awake. Good. I want some answers from you.”

“Do you expect me to talk?”

“No, Mr. Knuckles, I expect you to die.” Knuckles eyes widened.

“Are you serious?”

“Nah, I've just always wanted to say that. But seriously, I would like you to talk. The Master Emerald doesn't protect itself, and you're pretty securely locked up here. I could just leave now and take the Emerald. With some searching, of course.”

“Fine, fine, I'll talk.”

“So, why did you give me the faulty emeralds?”

“Well, I was told by someone about the list of crimes you had committed.” said Knuckles.

“Someone?”

“Someone.” Maintained Knuckles.

“Was it... him?” Asked Final, miming a few shapes.

“Yeah...” Admitted Knuckles, sheepishly.

“Now I've warned you about this. Don't listen to him! I've never committed any crimes. Everything I've ever done has been legally sanctioned.” Said Final, mumbling his words.

“No, no, not that sort of crime.” Corrected Knuckles. “More generally.”

“Fine, fine. We'll get to that later. For now, I need to go to the surface. Any good gardening shops you know of?”

“Well, there is this little one in the Green Hill Zone. But why would you need to go there?”

“Oh, you'll see.” Replied Final cryptically. “Now, I'm going to release you, I'll pop back to the surface to get something from the gardening shop, and then we'll go and meet your informer. Can you get a trace on where the signal is from?”

“Already did. I like to check up on that sort of thing. He's in the Stardust Speedway Zone.”

“Of course. That planet appears this month, doesn't it? Damn Earth 2 and its freaky physics.”

* * *

Knuckles ran through the twisting paths of the Stardust Speedway Zone, going to a small destination near the edge of the zone. Finally, he ground to a halt, as across a gap stood the person he had received his information from, standing beside a small computer console.

The figure was morbidly obese, his massive stomach making his body look almost egg like. His arms and legs, however, were thin, almost to the point where they looked comical. He wore a black boiler suit, with a modified red tailcoat draping over his frame. The tailcoat was adorned by white trimming, and small golden ornaments.

“Doctor Eggman.” Acknowledged Knuckles.

“Why, Knuckles!” Exclaimed the rotund doctor, jubilantly. “How are you?”

“I'm not here to exchange pleasantries. Why did you tell me that Final was the one who wiped out the echidna species, killed Sonic, stole a Chaos Emerald AND ate my lunch?”

“Because you're just so gullible.” Sighed Eggman.

“Oh.” Was Knuckles' only reaction, as he looked at the ground sheepishly. Then, from behind him, there came a distant call, almost like a battle cry. Final charged around a yellow, trumpet like pillar, an object in his hand.

“EGGMAN!” He yelled. “I'M GONNA KILL YOU! WITH A RAKE!” He leapt over the gap that separated the scientist from Knuckles, brandishing the said weapon in his hands.

Eggman, for his part, dashed off as fast as he could. For a few seconds, Knuckles merely watched the chase. Then, there came a terrible, high pitched scream, and Knuckles winced.

“Wow.” He breathed quietly, disgusted, yet unable to turn away from the spectacle.

* * *

And so, the hectic week was winding down. Knuckles and Final walked contentedly through the now familiar chambers of the Hidden Palace. They approached the now-empty tube that the emerald had sat in.

“So, no going super now, then?” Asked Final with a sigh.

“Oh, even better.” Said Knuckles with a grin. “Jump in,”

Final obliged, slipping into the tube, sliding down the narrow tunnel, until he landed with a thump on the floor below. The area was crystalline, and he looked around, staring at the 7 Super Emeralds that surrounded the focal point of the chamber, the real Master Emerald.

“Hop up.” Said Knuckles, as he landed more gracefully than Final on the floor. Final clambered up a string of crystals that dangled from the platform of the Master Emerald. He climbed on top of the emerald, and with a whoosh, a blaze of energy carried him upwards.

“With the power of the Master Emerald and the Chaos Energy combined, you won't just be Super, you'll be Hyper.”

“Awesome!”

Final began to shudder, and his colour scheme seemed to explode from him. Final spoke with a complete air of serenity and power.

“I am Hyper Final.”

Then, he began to spin around and around, before zipping around the chamber in a jerky flight, circling the emeralds and even Knuckles himself.

“Look at me! Look at me!” The voice was no longer serene, but high pitched and energetic, like that of a small child who spent a long time inhaling helium.

“Guess that humans really do go Hyper.” Said Knuckles with a grin, watching Final go spiralling out of the chamber.

The End
To Be Continued In Book 2:
REM Rebound

[Fan of Freddy]

Ah, I do remember these stories. Very amusing. Good stuff.

What the hell happened to Manwards anyway? He basically dropped off the face of the earth.

Ah well. Anyway, keep up the good work.

~F.o.F

[Alex DeLarge]

Great work, Final. Given the first TFZ is basically just a series of jokes with a somewhat story between them, you did a fantastic job adaptating it and turning it into brilliant prose. Damn funny too! :lmao:

Ah, I do remember these stories. Very amusing. Good stuff.

What the hell happened to Manwards anyway? He basically dropped off the face of the earth.

Ah well. Anyway, keep up the good work.

~F.o.F

He's still around, he just doesn't like to visit message boards anymore. He's got a new story on fanfiction.net called "Attractive Force." Everyone check it out! It's bloody fantastic!

[FinalBeyond]

Glad people like. Here's the next one, following up from Manny's old work.

---

Final walked carefully through the oppressive heat of the boiler room, taking care not to touch the scalding metal that lay around him on every side, hissing and steaming. He had tried to retrace his steps once he had found himself in the dark and unpleasant area, but it seemed that every corner just took him to new depths of the boiler room. Surely he could find his way out eventually?

He heard a distant scream, and dashed along the narrow, dangerous corridors. He rounded a corner, and found a scrap of material, like some sort of blue satin. It looked like it had been torn from someone's clothes with a sharp knife. The edges were ripped and frayed.

“Hello?” He called out. “Is anyone there?”

There came a reply from behind him, but as he turned, he saw someone who had most likely never worn blue satin. He was wearing a dirty red and green woollen jumper, badly frayed and torn at every seam, plain workman's trousers, a battered brown fedora, and on his hand... A metal frame on a leather glove, copper plated, but with gleaming steel knives on the fingers. A sneer rose on the burnt and scarred face of the man. In a crackling, decayed voice, he spoke, a dreadful sound, bitter and cruel to anyone who heard it
“Don't worry. Freddy's here.”

With astonishing speed, the figure leapt forward and slashed Final's shirt with his gloved hand. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, thick red blood began to seep from Final's fresh wounds, staining his white shirt a deep colour. The blue patterns on the shirt looked more purple with the fresh stains. Choking, Final fell to the ground, clutching his chest. Another piece of material for someone to find? Final didn't want to think about it. Just let this peaceful feeling grow. Everything was fading to white.

“Time for the Final Chapter!” Yelled Freddy, a demonic grin on his face as he bent over Final, glove outstretched.

“Final!” There came a yell that echoed around the corridor, as if from nowhere. Final reacted, although he could not move even without Freddy on top of him.

“Huh?” Said Freddy, looking up from his prey.

“Final, wake up!” Said the voice again.

With a gasp, Final awoke, looking around at the yellow-green walls of his house on Angel Island. The sky outside was a deep, perfect blue. In the middle of his room stood his friend, Geomonic, who had returned to Angel Island after a short period chasing an unfortunate girl he had seen during the super form incident, and a longer period dancing around in the Casino Night Zone.

“Having a dream, eh?” Quipped the youth. “Anything good?”

“Less a dream, more a nightmare.” Breathed Final.

“Too bad.” Was Geo's only reaction. “Anyway, Knux asked if I could come and get you, so...”

“Right then. Hidden Palace, I presume?”

“Yep.”

“Good good.”

Final threw the covers up, and jumped off the bed. As he looked down, he realised with horror that his clothes were painted with blood, and beneath the shirt he wore, four fresh claw marks decorated his stomach. Geo gaped.

“You've got red on you.” He said, with shock.

* * *

3 Days earlier, far away in the depths of the Scrap Brain Zone, a man feverishly worked away on a computer, tapping in functions and entering what almost seemed to be gibberish on the screen. But every command he typed in gave the same error message.

“Cursed Shadow. This machine still isn't working properly. Brother, why did your machines have to be so complex?”

Doctor Edwin Robotnik stared at the console, and the four large domed 'rest eggs' that surrounded it. His late brother, Ivor Robotnik, had built them to grant access to the Dreamworld, so that he could get Sonic The Hedgehog to fight a Dream Demon. But then, Sonic was victorious, and to top it all off, Shadow had destroyed the complex circuitry with a barrage of attacks.

“I hate that hedgehog.” Murmured the obese Doctor, scratching his long plumed moustache. Behind him,a small floating orb with a digital clock running through the centre let off a small beep. He turned around, and looked at the time. “4 O'clock already... Time for a tea break, I think.”

* * *

On Angel Island, before any dreams of a boiler room had entered Final's mind, he lay back in the balmy heat of the Sky Sanctuary Zone, his eyes closed as he shifted on a small springy thick wisp of cloud. Although it was December, and the planet below was cold, above the clouds, it was pleasantly warm, the heat from the sun unobstructed. Final was at peace, just about to drop off to sleep.

“What's up, dude?” Came a shout, and Final opened his eyes. Across the flat ground stood Geo. The level he was standing on started to rise, and so the youth nimbly jumped down, and jogged over to Final.

“Where have you been?” Asked Final, confused. “You've been gone since August!”

“Well, I started chasing that girl, and she was eager to run, I'll tell you that for nothing. We ended up on Westside Island, when-” Final stopped him, and cut in.

“When you entered the Casino Night Zone?” He finished.

“Yup.”

“So, presumably, you spent the last few months singing and dancing to the music?”

“Yep. Bopped till I dropped.”

“And by dropped, I assume you mean dropped by a security guard out of the exit.”

“You're not wrong, my friend.”

“I seldom am. So, fancy some lunch? I can tell you what ended up happening with Knuckles.”

“Eggman, right?”

“You heard?”

“Lucky guess. Everyone knows that echidna gets fooled by him more than you break the fourth wall.”

“I suppose. Once per game, at least.” Said Final, ignoring a large shudder of the landscape as the Fourth Wall broke once again.

“Reckon the old geezer will attack again?”

“I doubt it. I killed him. With a rake.”

“Oh.”

* * *

“Finished!” Yelled Doctor Robotnik around the chamber. “Now, there is only one thing to do. Buzzbomber!”

A blue flying robot, looking oddly similar to a giant fly or bluebottle, albeit in robot form, flew slowly into the room, guiding a small creature along the ground with its gun-mounted tail.

“A little Chao... Helpless. But what a help it will be to me.”

Robotnik made a hand motion to the robot, and it shot a yellow pulse of energy through the chest of the small Chao, which gave a small despairing sound before a cocoon enveloped it, and crumbled to dust, as all Chao do when they die.

For a moment, all was still, and Robotnik feared he had made a mistake. Then, as if from nowhere, water began to drip from the cracks in the ceiling, and gathered in a large pulsating globule in mid air. This globule of water floated down until it encapsulated the floating robot. Within the liquid, the robot began to flicker with electricity, and then, the ball of water contracted, and the robot exploded in a spray of moisture, nuts and bolts.

For a few scant seconds, the pulsating ball of water hovered in the air, then it separated, and fell to the ground in a puddle. This puddle quickly grew, though, into a vaguely humanoid shape. But the creature it became had hands and feet unlike any human. The 'fingers' and 'toes' of the creature were more like prongs, and the head of the being was crested. And of course, the creature was made of translucent blue water, the only solid parts seeming to be the pink brain that floated in its head, and the serene, disc like green eyes in front of it.

“C... C... Chaos!” Stuttered the Doctor. The creature seemed to stare at him with loathing. He backed away. “T...There may well be a way to bring this Chao ba... back from the dead. I... I... Made a mistake.”

The creature tilted its head to the side in curiosity.

“You... You just have to sit... Float in this rest egg device.”

Silently, the creature melted back down into a puddle, and slid up into the indicated capsule. Robotnik slid down the door of the capsule, and then entered his own, sliding the door shut above him.

“Sweet dreams, Chaos.” He murmured, before drifting into an unnatural sleep himself.

The Doctor opened his eyes, and discovered himself to be in the clearing of an otherwise dense forest. Above him floated thick blue clouds, almost opaque. His feet below him squished on what seemed to be rusty grass. The undergrowth was dyed a dirty brown from this rust like substance, and almost seemed to be bleeding it.

The obese scientist grimaced in disgust, and looked around. A short distance away, the liquid creature observed its surroundings with curiosity.

“Welcome to the 'Spring Wood Zone', Chaos.”

The creature turned to look at the Doctor.

“Call it a kind of teleportation. And now, we enter the boiler room.”

Chaos once again tilted its head at the Doctor, who merely pointed behind the creature. As it turned, it saw the entrance to a long, seemingly endless corridor, a red light eminating from the previously nonexisting entrance.

“Shall we?” Asked Robotnik, extending a hand in a mock-polite manner, indicating that Chaos should go first. The creature nodded imperceptibly, and slid along the corridor. They moved along silently for a minute through the hissing and rattling of the pipes that ran along either side, before they entered a small chamber.

“Ah, here we are. Chaos, do you remember the negative chaos powers that you once used to avenge the Chao? If you use that power here, you can resurrect that creature, of the race named for you.”

The creature began to glow with a peculiar blue resonance, and slowly, oh so slowly, a small Chao indeed began to appear. Within five minutes, it had become solid, and was waddling around the harsh boiler room.

“Perfect, Chaos. No pun intended.” Said the Doctor, with a peculiar smile. “Now, if you wish, I can return you to my lab. You may find it easier to navigate from there.”

Chaos stared at the scientist with something like disgust. He decided to wait no longer, and with a flick of a button, the creature faded from view.

“Fool.” Said the scientist, bitterly, before glancing at the Chao. “You can stop pretending now, you know.”

The Chao turned to look at him, then the pastel blue of its skin began to morph into stripes of a dirty red and green. With a sickening sound, the Chao began to expand, the short stubby arms and legs elongating into human proportions, the round body crunching inwards and lengthening. The hands and feet changed from round balls to normal digits, other than one hand, which seemed to form sharp claws.

Then, the body seemed to flash, and when the Doctor looked again, the red-green stripes of the body had become a jumper, battered and frayed, and the legs were now covered with black workman's slacks. The clawed hand had become a glove, a copper plate on the back of the hand holding four gleaming knives emerging from the knuckles. The other hand looked scarred and burnt, Robotnik noticed with distaste.

The now disturbingly out of place head of the Chao burst into flame, twisting the flesh into new shapes. It turned a slickly creamy-yellow colour, with red scars almost everywhere on the face of the Chao. The large round eyes of a Chao shrunk, until they were the shape of human eyes, yet somehow narrower, as if permanently fused into an expression of purest hatred.

Then, the flames went out, and there stood a man, a Chao no longer. The illusion over, the figure pulled a battered brown fedora as if from nowhere, and pulled it over his scarred, bald head. Robotnik smiled, despite his obvious disgust at the transformation.

“Welcome back to the Dreamworld, Freddy.”

“I've been away for far too long.” Replied the Dream Demon known as Freddy Krueger, an evil smile lighting up his horrific features.

* * *

Out of the shadowy and ethereal realms of the Dreamworld, Doctor Robotnik stood on a raised platform within his mountain base known as the Veg-O-Fortress. He had a few letters in his pudgy hands. On the desk-come-console before him, he dabbed his pen in a blood-red ink, and scribbled down a few names, together with vague addresses and locations. Kitchener Island. The Mystic Ruins. Westopolis. Angel Island.

The last name and address finished, Robotnik pressed a small red button on the console before him. A large, shaky form lurched from the darkness at the end of the chamber. Painted in the reds and yellows that he and his brother had once worn, the large robot was badly scorched, presumably from re-entering the atmosphere when it lost the Master Emerald to the blue hedgehog.

“Eggbot!” Barked the scientist, making the robot stand to attention as best it could. “Deliver these letters to the appropriate places. I have programmed rough coordinates into your brain.”

The robot opened its chest compartment, allowing Robotnik to see a small, postbox-like slot above where a human would have lungs. He slotted the letters in, one by one, and then the compartment slid back shut. The robot snapped a salute and dashed back along the hall towards an exit hatch, the floor shaking with each impact of the robots foot.

“If only there was a postal service for supervillains.” Bemoaned the scientist, his head aching from the juddering of the platform. “Someday, someday...”

Putting aside his writing equipment, the scientist examined the floor of his platform. He flicked a small switch that stood at the side, and the treadmill below began to move. The portly scientist began to move his pudgy legs at an alarming pace, keeping up with the increasing speed of the running machine that his platform doubled as.

* * *

The next morning, Final woke with a start as something landed on the roof of his house. He instantly regretted opening his eyes so suddenly, the intense sunlight of the day near blinding him, it seemed. He shielded his face from the light as a vampire would in an old horror movie.

“What was that?” He mumbled aloud, pulling himself out of bed, jumping down the small distance from the raised bed to the floor below. He pulled on one of his collection of matrixed shirts, and wandered down the spiraled ramp of his house. He reached the front door, or what would be the front door if there were anything in its empty frame, looked with pleasure at the exquisite view of the Sky Sanctuary Zone, and wondered what could have hit his roof. He noticed an envelope on the ground.

“Must have been the postman.” He surmised. “Wait, hold on... I have a postman?” This conundrum vexed his mind as he wandered in absentmindedly. He chucked himself down on a pale cream sofa, and carefully tried to remove the glued top of the envelope. When this didn't work, he stuck a finger in the small gap he had created, and tore it along the top.

Inside was a folded piece of thin, crumbly paper. He unfolded it carefully, and saw that in thin, spindly, dripping writing, in a crimson red colour, were written two words.

'Freddy's back!'

He looked on the back of the paper, saw no more was written, and scanned the message again, drawing no meaning from it.

“Hmm. Good for him.” Said Final, pleasantly. This Freddy had to be very pleased about being back to... Well, wherever he was.

He wandered back upstairs, fully dressed, and flicked on his game console. Waiting for it to load up, he wondered who exactly this Freddy was. Then, as the game started, with a primal scream of 'Mortal Kombat', the thoughts were erased from his mind, as he happily made the two fighters slaughter each other with a plethora of fireballs and sharp edged axes and other such weapons.

Then, there was a juddering impact behind him. He did not rise from his seat, but he did give a cautious look around. Seeing nothing, he turned back around. Then, a gruff yet friendly voice issued from the window, as two distinctive pointed gloves wrapped themselves around the window frame, and Knuckles pulled himself up.

“Hey, Final!”

Final sat up, panic stricken, as if the voice had come from nowhere.

“Who are you? And how do you know my name?”
There was a sigh.

“Never mind. Just come to the Hidden Palace in half an hour.”

“Ok then, my mysterious voiced friend.”

Final leaned back with a yawn, and nearly brushed against the echidna, who, surprised, toppled backwards and landed with a thump on the hard ground below. Final turned around, but seeing nothing in the window frame, put it out of his mind.

“Wonder who that was. Maybe it was Freddy.”

Then, he unpaused his game, and went back to killing the minature fighters. After a moment, he stopped, and there was a voice from the television, saying 'Baraka wins'. Final threw down the controller in disgust, and, putting his laptop and a few snacks into a bag, decided to take the scenic and rather dangerous route through the Sky Sanctuary Zone, towards the Hidden Palace.

* * *

“Knuckles? You mean that voice was yours?”

“Who else could it have been, Final? Jeez, we're on a deserted island.”

“Deserted except for those guys, right?” Asked Final with a smirk, looking behind Knuckles.

“These are my guests. They've come to warn us of a certain danger. This is Shadow. I trust you've heard of him.”

Final nodded, and shook the gloved hand of the black and red hedgehog. In a smooth and neutral voice, the hedgehog greeted Final solemnly. Then, the echidna led him on, guiding him to another animal.

“And here we have Ashley “Fox Ash” Williams. He's a resident of old Earth, like you.”

Final extended his hand to shake hands with the red fox, noting with interest his protuding chin and mop of unruly hair. But then he noticed the hand of the animal had been replaced with a large red chainsaw, the handle being slightly hidden under a dirty green work shirt, and Final gave a murmurof apology, and outstretched the other hand, which the fox took in a firm grip.

“You can shake the other hand if you want, but it'll be painful.” Grinned the fox, his grizzled face twisting with the smile.

“So, how did you come to old Earth?” Enquired Final. “I thought that Humans came here, not the other way around.”

“There were a few colonies of Mobians who took the trip the other way to Earth. Drove Walt Disney completely mad, in the end.”

“That explains a lot. But how did they survive through what happened to the planet?”

“They didn't. Long story short, I went to the past, but then went too far into the future when trying to get back.”

“So, we're both Earth veterans.”

“Yep. Good to see the old planet's not gone yet.”

“We could always ship across some of the zombie things, too. Have a real revival.”

“Not zombies. Deadites.: Said the fox, shaking his head, with his heart on his sleeve, and various other anatomical problems. “I've taken 'em on before. One day, I'll get rid of em. One day.”

“Good luck with that.” Said Final, a little worried at the fox's attitude.

Finally, Knuckles introduced Final to someone that he well knew the identity of already. A certain blue hedgehog, his sleek spines running behind a lean, athletic body. White gloves on his hand, the hero reached out and shook the hand of Final.

“Name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“Oh, I know who you are. Doesn't everyone?”

“Heh, maybe you're right! I do get around!”

“Like at Station Square, after me and my pals beat Eggman?”

“Oh! That was you! Nice work on that one! Old Eggy distracted me with his toy soldiers. Where is the old guy, anyway? He hasn't tried to take over the world in a while... I'm getting bored!”

Final opened his mouth to tell him, but Knuckles casually shook his head, and Final decided against it.

“Anyway, what are you guys here for?”

“Did you by any chance receive a strange letter today?”

“Yep. Said that Freddy's back. I'm very happy for him, whoever he is. He must be thrilled to be back. I know I would be. Guess it went to the wrong house, he meant to tell a relative about being back from his holidays or something.”

“No.” Said Shadow, gravely. “It's altogether more serious than that.”

“Oh. How serious?”

“Deadly serious, no pun intended.”

Sonic stepped forward, agreeing. He waved a hand as he began to tell Final the detail.

“Freddy Krueger was a murderer back on Earth 1. Born about 510 years ago, making him slightly younger than old Eggy. Me and the gang had some troubles with him a bit under a year ago. One of the toughest struggles I've ever had.”

“A 510 year old? Can't be that hard to beat, surely?”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down there, Final!” Said Sonic, with a grin. “Something I never thought I'd say.” He winked. “But he's no ordinary human. That's the problem. Ok, I'll tell you the full story. If you know about him, it's better to know the whole truth than just a part of it.”

Sonic sighed, and began to recount his tale.

* * *

It all started in early February. A normal day out at the beach, or so we thought. Tails had got a letter earlier, and decided to read it while the others had an ice cream and stuff. But that letter... It wasn't the sort of thing I'd want Tails to see, or anyone, for that matter.

Krueger is sick. He was a child murderer in the 20th century, in a town called Springwood. But when his murders were discovered, he was spared prison on a mere technicality. But the parents of Springwood didn't want him to get off so easy. In a way, they wanted him to suffer as much as they had done. They firebombed his apartment, and he burnt to death. Story ends there, you think, right? Guy dies, all is happy.

But no, while Krueger was sick when he was alive, when he was dead, he was a whole lot worse. There's this place called the Dreamworld. Don't know how or why he got there, but somehow he was alive again in this realm, as a Dream Demon, or so he said. And he figured out a way to invade the dreams of the children of Springwood. And if he killed them in their dreams, they died in real life. Sick, huh? They tried to get rid of him, erase the psycho from this new realm he'd found. But nothing worked. You'd kill him, and he'd just come back, powered by the fear he created. So as long as he had fear, he could kill again.

Eventually, the parents cottoned on to some drugs that they thought could stop him, but it wasn't enough, and much as they tried to stop his name spreading, it always got out. Of course, when humans went over to Earth 2, there wasn't much knowledge of him. GUN had some files on him, but they were probably downloaded from old police records. Doubt people read them that much.

Anyway, this is where I come in! I'd just scrambled Eggman and one of his outdated machines, and he somehow found this old file, and used the information to write a letter. You see? So, when Tails opened it, we began to fear him.

I mean, I tried to keep everyone's hopes up. Told Cream there was no such thing as a Dream Demon. Said we could beat this Krueger guy anyway. That there was no way he could do everything he said. But Cream's only young. She got scared, and she had a nightmare of Krueger. Said he pretended to be a bunny or something to draw her in, then tried to get her. She got hurt, but she woke up in time.

Of course, that was just the beginning. Now we knew he was real, and he began targeting the others. Amy, Tails... I don't honestly know how we managed to get out of it. Luck, I suppose. Except Tails wasn't as lucky as the rest of us. Got speared right through the arm. Had to go to hospital. And that's when Shad here turned up.

* * *

At this point, Shadow interrupted.

“I'm not sure you know the full story of what happened at this point, Sonic.”

“Oh? Pray tell then, Shad!”

“Don't call me Shad.”

“Whatever. Just tell the story!”

“I inquired about exactly what Krueger did, with an ulterior motive, I must admit. You see, at the time, my memories of the ARK were still locked away. I believed that Krueger could show me what really happened. Of course, Krueger was far too malevolent to try and help others.”

“I could have told you that, saved you the time.”

“Quiet. As I was saying, I wanted to know what happened on the ARK, and to begin with, I thought he was showing me truth. But it was distorted, horribly. He... He desecrated the memory of Maria, and I could do nothing but watch. I asked for the truth, and he gave me a lie. A foul lie.”

“Shadow...” Sighed Final. There were some things he never wanted to see again, and he was sure that this was the same for Shadow.

“At this point, I fought him, but could not destroy him on my own. He had too much power in the dream state. But I did find out that he was not involved in the original letter. At which point I realised the origin of the disturbance. The good doctor.”

“You mean Eggman?”

“Exactly.”

“So I decided to bring him along for a little chat.”

“Too right. And what a story he had to tell!” Cut in Sonic. “No objections to me carrying on, I hope?”

“Not at all. I know how much you enjoy the sound of your own voice.”

* * *

So, Shadow had uncovered the truth, and Eggy had to help us. Or at least, pretend to help us. He set up these Rest Egg things – typical pun from him – that'd send us all into the Dreamworld at once, so we could fight as a team.

Of course, Krueger's smart. And Eggman's smarter. Once we were in the Dreamworld, we couldn't get out, thanks to Eggy's programming. And so Krueger was able to split us up. Well, split me up from the others. He played his little games, literally. But he knows our fears, and he was able to exploit them too well.

I managed to find the others in something like one of Eggman's Prison Eggs. But... They were gone. Far gone.

* * *

Sonic paused, remembering the terrible sight of his friends dismembered deformed and desecrated, the bizarre and horrible methods of death that Krueger had seemed to put them through almost acting as a cruel parody, emphasised by a spindly word carved into each of their bodies in a mocking sentence, 'THOUGHT THIS WOULD SCARE U'.

“They were dead?” Asked Final, his voice shaken.

“No, thankfully. Just another one of Krueger's illusions. But at that moment, he broke me. For a minute, he had won. But then I realised the one thing that Krueger had missed in his illusion. And that was enough. Tails gave me a hand. Or an arm, I should say! It was wounded in the real world, but not in the dreamworld. And his arm was fine, even when the rest of him was...”

“So, what happened once you knew it wasn't real?”

“We were reunited, and then I used my own dream to defeat Krueger. A dream of the Chaos Emeralds. I used the power of the Super Form to obliterate him, and the dream of a boiler room he'd used for so long.”

“But he's back?”

“Apparently. I thought I'd never hear his name again, but here we are.“

“Damn.”

“So, we're going to have to stick together until we can figure out what to do.” Said Shadow,, interceding.”

“We're gonna have to take this screwhead down somehow.” Agreed Ash.

“And until then... We can't fall asleep.” Said Final with a frown.

* * *

Final dashed through the 2D, game-like burnt remains of the Angel Valley Zone. The ground was scorched, and where water once flowed, lava now poured. The air was thick with steam and smoke, and Final was wheezing, his Asthma reacting badly to the harsh environment. Then, he noticed a broken, half scorched bridge seemingly floating above a steep hill below.

He approached the hole, tentatively. The waterfall that he remembered being here before was gone, and thus, the pool at the bottom would not offer a safe landing as it had done before. As he glanced down, he realised quite how unsafe a landing it would be.

In the gulley below, a huge, lava-like creature resided. Its body seemed to flow with the liquid magma, a rocky crust covering its head. Enormous arms of magma waved around, spitting small fireballs in every direction.

“Iblis...” Growled Final.

He jumped into the air and span, changing colour as he did so. In his mind, a fast paced tune began to play, as if to show him he had changed properly. He didn't want another super-form fiasco.

“Ok, you ball of fire, get ready, because here comes Super Final, and he's ready to put you out!”

Final pointed an open palm at the beast, and a jet of water spurted out. However, before the liquid could reach the horrific creature, it evaporated.

“I guess that plan was kind of wet!” He smiled. “Never mind! I'll deal with you the old fashioned way!”

He put a hand inside his black and red shirt, and pulled out a large wooden rake and held it in the air.

“Rake time, you intolerable inferno!”

He chucked the rake with all of his force. It span in the air, and smashed against the rock face of Iblis. A small trickle of lava began to flow from this gap in the facade of stone. The wooden handle of the rake burnt to a crisp, but the head remained in the head of Iblis, giving Final an idea.

“Shu-Rake-Kins!”

He reached into his shirt, and almost impossibly found a supply of polished silver rake heads. With dazzling speed, he jumped into the air, and leapt down into the abyss below, landing on a small gap in the rock face below. From this vantage point, he began to chuck the small rake heads through the smoky darkness to all parts of the fiery monster before him. They began to spread spider web like cracks across the rock, and with a echoing cry, the creature's rocky exterior broke and fell into the lava below. Lacking coherence, the beast began to flow away with the rest of the lava. The fires that filled the zone began to fade, and the magma that flowed began to solidify, forming blue crystals impossibly fast.

“There we go. Problem solved, the Final way.”

He floated back up the cliff, and clambered on top of the bridge, strolling back towards the teleport that would take him back to his house.

“Oh yes,” he grinned. “I most definitely rock.”

As if from nowhere, there came a scratched, bitter voice.

“You want rocks?” It proclaimed. “You got 'em!”

As if from nowhere, a variety of large, coloured rocks began to tumble down, seemingly crushing Final.

From underneath the bridge, a figure seemed to walk upside down along the floating structure, then around the end of the round wood, and along the bridge normally. The figure was clearly that of Freddy Krueger.

“Interesting dream, kid. But monsters aren't that easy to beat. Guess you found that out from me.”

The rocks that had fallen suddenly gave way, falling downwards. From behind them, Final stepped out.

“2D rocks don't really crush things all that well. I may dream in two dimensions sometimes, but there's always an aspect of 3D. Foreground and background, for example, lead to a much greater 3D-ish image. I guess you could call it 2.5D, like that recent game they made saying how great Sonic is.”

“Stop your prattling! Now it's time to die!”

“No, you see, I'm aware I'm dreaming now. You interrupted my illusion. So, theoretically, I should just be able to wake up. Man, from what Sonic told me, I expected something better. Seems like you've lost your flair.”

“Lost my flair?” Bellowed the Dream Demon, charging forward at Final. “Oh, you'll pay for that!”

But as Krueger lunged at the boy, he turned transparent, and faded from the Dreamworld, chuckling slightly at the annoyance on the Dream Demon's face.

“Damn insolent kids...” Final heard Freddy say before he completely woke up.

* * *

“So,” grimaced Final, remembering the burnt visage of his enemy. “That was Krueger.”

“Right, so if I fall asleep again, like I did now, carelessly, there's a good chance that he may actually kill me. But hey, I can go a few hours without sleep. I've done it before, back when... Well, anyway, I bet I can last all night!”

He put his head back on the pillow, and was asleep again within minutes.

* * *

Later that morning, Geo wandered casually into the house of Final. After raiding the fridge for snacks, and a glass of Coke, he decided to wake Final up. Knuckles had sent a message, and Geo, much as he disliked the echidna, decided to deliver it promptly. Besides, Final was too lazy. Sleeping all day, practically.

He wandered up the spiralled slope towards Final's room, chuckling slightly when he heard Final murmuring something, like “Is anyone out there? If you only knew...

He wandered into the room, and spoke loudly.

“Final!”

The boy did not wake, although he showed some signs of recognition.

“Final, wake up!”

At last, Final did wake, his head jerking upwards.

“Having a dream, eh?” Quipped Geo. “Anything good?”

“Less a dream, more a nightmare,” breathed Final.

“Too bad,” was Geo's only reaction. “Anyway, Knux asked if I could come and get you, so...”

“Right then. Hidden Palace, I presume?”

“Yep.”

“Good good.”

Final threw the covers up, and jumped off the bed. As he looked down, he realised with horror that his clothes were painted with blood, and beneath the shirt he wore, four fresh claw marks decorated his stomach. Geo gaped.

“You've got red on you.” He said, with shock.

* * *

“Geo, have you heard what all this is about yet?”

“Don't have a smegging clue.”

“Well, it might be better that way. Even knowing is kind of dangerous. It might be better if you stayed behind.”

“And leave you to get hacked up like that? No fear. I'll help with whatever you wanna do. Besides, I'm not getting one-upped by a bunch of animals.”

“Thanks, bud. Basically, we're up against a dream demon. He can kill us in our sleep, so we've got to try and stop him before he does.”

“Like those old Sandman comics you used to read?”

“Sort of, but mixed up with that documentary series on the Springwood Slasher.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He's actually the one we're up against.”

“Awesome! We get to take down an ancient killer from the dawn of time! It's like I've got a real case!”

“It's a bit more serious than that, I think. And the 1980s were hardly the dawn of time.”

“You're no fun.”

“Anyway,” sighed Final. “Let's just get to the Hidden Palace and see what's up.”

Final picked up his bag with his laptop in, and the pair walked out towards the transporter, Geo discussing possible strategies, and Final nodding in agreement.

* * *

“So,” said Final, walking into the decorated hall, noticing with a smirk the mural of Sonic taking down Eggman. “What's the deal, guys?”

“What happened to your stomach?” Asked Knuckles with a hint of revulsion. Final raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

“Guess.”

“Even more important we get on, then,” interjected Shadow. “Now then, we've devised a plan to use technology to enter the Dreamworld and fight Freddy as a team.”

“Hold that thought,” cut in Final, pulling out his laptop. He turned on LightLeopard, the internet browser, and typed in the name 'Joe Edwards' into Google. He navigated swiftly to an archived page of a black and red forum. Clicking one of the links, it brought up a word document. He scanned the text, stopping about halfway through.

“Hmm,” smiled Final. “Thought so.” He shut the laptop, and packed it away. Turning back to Shadow, he gave a smirk. “You did that in the original.”

Shadow sighed, placing his face in his hands.

“We know. But this time, Eggman won't be around to screw it up.”

“Oh yeah!” Grinned Final. “Let's give it a shot!”

“We've got a portally thing rigged up in Flying Battery,” poked in Knuckles, “The station still has enough power to give a proper transfer. “

No time like the present, thought Final, and he dashed off with almost excessive jubilance towards the aerial station of Eggman's that floated some way below the Sky Sanctuary.

* * *

“That's it?” Asked Final, looking at the standard twisting tunnel, which had a misty, hazy appearance towards one end.

“Hey, don't knock it!” Sonic beamed. “This little baby can punch a hole between dimensions.”

“I just expected something a little more... Whooshy.”

“Giant rings were my staple. How many whooshy portals have you been through then?”

“One's enough.”

“Oh?”

“Never mind. Let's get on with it.”

“How... Do we get on with it?”

“Just run!” Said Sonic, as he rushed into the twisting tunnel. As he crossed into it, there was a rush of green light which seemed to propel him forward at a faster rate. Within moments,he had disappeared.

Shadow took a deep breath, and skated in, the green light pushing him in as well. Then, Fox Ash took a measured dash in, only to be pushed forward at just as fast a rate as those who preceded him. Knuckles glided in, and the green haze seemed to send him in a twisting spiral as he crossed worlds.

Geo looked at Final, a smirk on his face.

“Just the humans left then.”

“See you in my dreams.” Said Final, smirking as he remembered the tune of an old J-Pop tune.

Geo ran forward, but the light caught him at an odd angle, pushing him upwards as well as forwards. His back crashed against the top of the tunnel, and he skidded forward.

“Damnit, can't we stop this thing?” Final shrugged, and with a loud curse, Geo was pulled forward into the Dreamworld.

Final looked at the tunnel with unease. He stood next to the boundary of the twisting structure.

“I'm not so sure about this.”

But Final did not notice the green haze drifting from the tunnel around his back. Before he could even step onto the rotating surface, the light had shot him along the tunnel, his vision blurring as he crossed the boundary.

* * *

Shadow looked around. The environment was dangerous, but at the same time familiar. All around were the twisting structures of the Spring Yard Zone, but a burnt, scorched red colour instead of the orange colour of the metal normally. Spiked balls span around small rounded pits, blocking the way of potential travellers.

“Heh. Some games never get old.”

Shadow hopped from one platform to another, deftly avoiding the spiked balls. As he landed on one of the platforms, he was surprised by a Buzzbomber, which flew straight at him, almost into the path of the ball.

The black hedgehog laughed at his misfortune, and leapt into the air, an orange aura surrounding him as he launched himself forward in a homing attack that destroyed the flying badnik, releasing a small animal inside, which somehow hopped away merrily even across the harsh landscape.

“The Dreamworld is a dangerous place when Krueger is manipulating it,” murmured the hedgehog to himself. “But where is he? He has to be around here somewhere,” he continued, pulling a gun from an unseen pocket. “Until I can find him, I will have to remain armed, lest I fall prey to his machinations again...”

From around a corner jumped a young man in a red top, almost pleasant of face, but at present, this face was full of scorn.

“Lyk, omg. U've got a gun. n00b.”

“I am Shadow the Hedgehog, and I do as I please. If you would prefer to traverse such a dangerous landscape as the Dreamworld without a weapon, then you may do so.”

“U're jst a Sonic recolour wiv a gun, lol.”

Shadow sighed, then raised the gun. With a loud bang, a bullet sped out, and smashed into the face of the youth. For a moment, all was still, and the large hole in the face of the youth remained intact. But then, in this crevasse in the man's face that revealed the viscera beneath, a new face begin to form. Shadow was now looking at the visage of Freddy Krueger.

“What's wrong, Shadow? Can't stand a little constructive criticism?”

“No,” replied Shadow bluntly. “Especially with a demon like you.” He casually shot Krueger in the face again, and the dream demon screeched as the bullet cut through his flesh.

“Bah! You're not afraid any more! Perhaps I should show you the ARK again?”

“No,” said Shadow, with a frown. “I know now that it was an illusion. Horrible although it was, I do not fear it, or you. Besides, I already know the truth about what happened. Your fake truths would not work regardless.”

“You're clever, Shadow. Too clever for my little games. Bah. I bet the others are filled with fear. Maybe you'll be more afraid when you see them dead.”

“No doubt,” frowned Shadow, as the demon disappeared. “Let's hope the others are as rational. Then he'll find it harder to use our fear.”

* * *

Knuckles wandered around the purple-stoned environment, tripping over a small headstone.

“Wha? A grave? Where on Mobius am I? Or the Dreamworld?”

“Welcome, Knuckles.” Came a peaceful voice from behind him. The voice had authority, but it was not harsh. And what was more, it sounded familiar. Knuckles span around, and saw another echidna. A deep, purple tinted magenta in colour, it had a gold necklace around its neck, which contained a brilliant blue gem in the centre. White bands were wrapped around each of its dreadlocks, as well as its large, marshmallow-like fists, and arms.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Englund. I am one of the souls that remain here, tied to the Echidna's graveyard.”

“How is that possible?”

“Krueger is not the only one whose soul travelled to the Dreamworld after death. All souls come here eventually.”

“Amazing! So, there's more of us?”

“Yes, but it appears to me that you are in a hurry. Come with me, and I will find you an upgrade that will assist you in your battle.”

“Thank you.”

The two Echidnas rushed off into the distance, Knuckles' mind brimming with thoughts of his lost people. At last, they reached an altar, reminiscent of the shrine contained in Holy Canyon, where the Master Emerald was sometimes held. On it were held two large, clawed, steel glove backings, almost reminiscent of Krueger's glove, thought Knuckles as he slipped them over his own gloves. Then, a sudden thought flashed through his mind.

“Wait, how did you know I was fighting Krueger?”

A flash of lightning struck down from the heavens, drawn to the metal gloves on Knuckles' hands. He convulsed from the currents of electricity, then fell to the ground, hardly moving, his fur burnt, his skin charred.

Another flash came down, and obscured by the light, Knuckles barely saw Englund change form into Freddy Krueger. He wandered over to the prone echidna, chuckling.

The Dream Demon wrapped two fingers of his gloved hand around his little finger of the other hand, and with a horrible crack, broke it out of place.

“I must have broken a knuckle!” he shrieked, insanely. “Another one won't hurt!”

Krueger lunged forward, and drove his blades into the stomach of the writhing Echidna. There was a plume of crimson red blood, which looked like a grotesque fountain, spattering into Krueger's maniacal face.

“First blood, *****! Welcome to extinction!” cried the demon, pleasure glinting in his black eyes. “Now for the rest of your little friends!”

* * *

Fox Ash wandered through the dark depths of the Spring Wood Zone, brushing aside the large creepers and leaves of the surrounding trees. He saw a faint light, as if from a clearing lit by stars. Smiling, he dashed towards the light.

What he saw shocked him. In the middle of the clearing was a decaying cabin, a blue Oldsmobile sitting outside. The windows were boarded up, but the door, near falling off its hinges, lay open. It was the cabin in which he had first discovered the unholy power of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis, the book of the dead, which had caused all his problems.

“Oh great. Guess my dreams don't have much imagination.”

He carefully entered the little cabin, half wincing, expecting something nasty to leap out. He wasn't wrong. The latched entrance to the cellar was thumping, and something horrible leapt out.

It was Krueger.

“Well, thank goodness for that,” said Fox-Ash, with a smirk appearing above his large chin.

“Huh?”

“I was expecting something scary. Not a pizza faced jerk in a Christmas sweater. I hear S-Mart have a discount on those. You should buy one. That one's a little frayed.”

“Why, you! I can see your past, and your fears! How about a little nostalgic battle?”

Krueger grinned, and his gloved hand shot off, claws outstretched. The Fox ducked, and the hand sped over his head.

“Not as handy as you think, eh, Krueger?”

The hand embedded itself in the door, claws sticking though. It pulled itself free, leaving four slits of light shining into the dark cabin. The hand scuttled along the floor like a bizarre, nightmarish crab.

“Good trick though,” replied the Dream Demon. “Why don't you give me a hand? Never mind... I'll give you one!”

The hand launched straight at Fox-Ash. He desperately clasped the bottom of the glove, scraping his flesh against the copper plate on the back. The blades were only a short distance from his face. They moved back and forth, clawing desperately at the Fox's face.

“This is getting old,” complained the Fox. “Let's change it a bit.”

He chucked the glove at the wall, and while it recovered, he fired up the chainsaw. The hand came back on the attack, but Fox-Ash swung his arm, and the buzzing chainsaw cut a jagged line right through the appendage. It cut through the hole between the middle and ring fingers, slashing downwards, coppery strands and dust flying everywhere, but also, spurts of blood.

“My hand!” Screamed Krueger, his face filled with pain.

“Looks like you can fear me now, Fred-head.”

“BAH! You just wait... One of your number is already dead. We'll see how much you fear when you see that!”

Krueger observed his bleeding stump of a wrist, and as he watched, it reformed, even the glove reappearing.

“This is my dominion. You'll be back, and then, things will be different.”

“I doubt it,” said the smirking fox as his foe faded away. "Hmm, the Dream-Necronomicon... If I could take it back to the real world..."

* * *

Sonic opened his eyes. Oh yeah. He'd just been through the whole Krueger debacle. Finally, the Demon was dead. Now he was just resting in the Angel Valley Zone.

“Must have dropped off. Guess that's what avoiding Krueger did. No need, in the end. Me and Final got him sure enough.”

The hedgehog jumped to his feet, and began to charge forward, rushing through the large loop-de-loops of the zone, over the broken bridges, deftly grabbing onto hanging vines to proceed. At last, he rushed through a dense wood, emerging the other side onto a small sandy beach. Smiling, remembering the time he ran the other way, only to be tackled by Knuckles, he dashed over the water, a fine spray splashing out behind him, his feet moving too fast for him to sink below the waterline.

For what seemed like an eternity, Sonic dashed across the water. At last, he saw a small, mountainous island. As he approached closer, he smiled, seeing the brown chequered ground that emerged from the waterline.

“South Island... Fantastic place.”

But as Sonic rushed onto the island, through the green plains of the Green Hill Zone, he thought he saw something behind the mountains on the other side of the Slider Channel. A metallic object, huge and round... The Death Egg.

“No...”

Sure enough, Eggman was back. And his robots were throughout the zone. Sonic noted the rolling 'Moto-Bug' speeding towards him. Sonic leapt into the air, and propelled himself forward in a blur of blue light. The homing attack. With tremendous force, but still gentle to the creature inside, Sonic's body split open the metallic casing. A small, blue bird flapped out. A flicky...

It chirped. Sonic crouched next to it, and listened carefully.

“While I was fighting Krueger? Eggman came... Took over. I'm sorry. I couldn't stop it...”

Sonic thought. The Death Egg wasn't here... It was still fragmented, after falling into the Lava Reef Zone once again, the 'face' embedding into the mountain, the rest near destroyed by the molten environment.

“Still dreaming... Guess Krueger fooled me twice... Shame on me...”

Sonic rose to his feet. He stared about the environment. Where was his foe? Where had the Demon disappeared to? Then he heard a horrible, distorted chirping voice from behind him.

“Relax, spiny. I'm right here.”

The flicky was no longer a rich, royal blue. Now, its fur had turned equal parts dirty red and green, striped by layers of feathers. Sonic hesitated for a moment, then dashed out a hand quick enough to catch the bird.

“Transforming doesn't always help, Fred. Now I've got ya.”

But as the bird struggled, Sonic heard footsteps behind him. He turned around, and saw his enemy strolling darkly towards him.

“Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, shame on you. Fool you three times, you're a ****ing idiot!” Krueger bellowed.

Sonic growled, and launched himself forward, his spikes forming a whirling buzzsaw. He smashed into the front of Krueger, the sharp points ripping the Demon's flesh away, the lower half of his face torn apart.

“No!” He screamed, through his gaping, twisted mouth. “You cannot do this to me! I am eternal!” Then he fell silent. And down.

“If I try, I can do anything...” smiled Sonic, landing beside the torn body of the demon.

“Toot ****ing toot, Sonic warrior,” came a voice from beside him. Sonic whirled, and there was Krueger, intact, despite the corpse beside him. “Did you really think it'd be that easy?”

“For a second there... Yeah, I kinda did. You died easy enough last time. Thought you were gone for good that time. This time, it will be”

“And how do you propose to do that?” Asked Krueger, now standing on a distant peak of the mountains, but his voice was as clear as if he was standing beside Sonic.

“More little games, I suppose.”
Then Krueger was standing beside him. And in front of him. And hanging from a nearby tree.

“You think this is the physical world, you destroy my body and I'll go down easily! But this is the Dreamworld!”

“We'll still beat you, Krueger!”

“How do you propose to do that?” Sneered the hanging Krueger. The others joined in, forming an unholy chorus. “NOTHING HERE IS AS IT SEEMS!”

Sonic dashed from one to the other, but whenever he came near one, it would disappear and move, leaving a hollow laugh as the only remnant of its presence in that area.

“How are you so strong? You couldn't do this last time...”

“Soul food... A nice tasty echidna. Pity they're extinct. He made a good meal...”

“Knuckles...” Said Sonic, his voice thin. “You killed Knuckles?”

“The fool was so gullible! Even that pathetic Eggman could have killed him! Who would've thought he could outlive the guy!”

“Eggman? You mean... He's dead too?”

“Yeah. Looked into rad red's mind... He died a few months ago. Very messy.”

“You're lying.,” said Sonic, his voice heavy. “It was you.”

“Pfft, that fat guy'd be no challenge. Besides, he couldn't live long enough to bring me back.”

“He didn't?”

“No... Thank his brother for that...”

“His brother?” Sonic asked, breathing deeply. He remembered a man who had looked like Eggman. Even called himself Robotnik. Obese. Ran his operations from that Veggie Fortress. Pinball like arenas... Sonic had thought Eggman had given up, retreated to the fortress... But it was his brother...

“So, what happened to Eggman?”

“Killed. With a rake. As I said, messy.”

“Who killed him?”

“Enough questions! Time to die!”

Suddenly, Sonic was surrounded by at least 10 Kruegers. All with clawed glovess not only on one hand, but on both...

“Time to go, you mean.”

Sonic pressed a small recall switch on his buckled shoe, and a whirling portal opened. He ran into it, and began to spiral around the borders of the hole. As he ran, Krueger's laughs echoed in his ear. Then, he was in the real world, spiralling down the other end of the Flying Battery tunnel. There, on the ground, lay the charred skeleton of Knuckles...

“So he did get you... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... Final, Geo, don't go the same way...”

* * *

As it happened, Final and Geo were slightly confused. They'd wandered through the dirty grass and metallic forest of the Spring Wood Zone, eventually finding a metal wall. They forced their way through, Geo dreaming up a rocket launcher. On the other side, it seemed to look like an idyllic area. It reminded Final of the Palmtree Panic Zone on the Little Planet, somewhere he'd always wanted to go, but never had the chance to.

The landscape stretched out as far as the eye could see. A tall, single rocky mountain was visible out in the lake beside the zone, the rich blue sky outlining it perfectly. But ahead... Ahead lay a twisting, turning, but wonderful scenery. So tranquil...

So now, they strolled through the idyllic, almost utopian area. Large, colourful flowers dotted the orange patterned soil and light green patches of grass.

“So this is Krueger's Dreamworld, huh?” muttered Geo. “Doesn't look so bad... Could be worse...”

As if from nowhere, there came a bellowing cry.

“If you insist!”

The soil began to sprout machinery. Twisting steel pipes emerged from the ground, covering the rich orange patterned earth, and even the grass lost its colour, turning a pallid brown. The sky filled with storm clouds, a dark purplish colour. The trees and flowers began to wilt and die, deprived of sunlight.

“Bad future...” Murmured Final.

Then, there was an impossibly loud crunching sound, and beneath them, the ground began to open up. Both scrambled to get away, but as they did, the crevasse expanded. Final tripped. Geo reached for his hand, but Final was not quick enough, and he tumbled down into the depths of the hole.

“Oops.” Said Geo.

* * *

The fall seemed impossibly long. He fell through darkness, knocking against plastic and metal on the way down. His shirt tore, his trousers split, and his skin was covered in tiny cuts. All the while, an echoing laugh filled his mind. The laugh of Krueger.

At last, Final saw light at the end, or bottom, rather, of the tunnel. He fell about ten feet, crashing onto the brown grass below.

From nowhere came a slow, almost mournful violin music. Final recognised it. The end boss music from one of the early Sonic games. Final had to ask him if music ever really came up.

There was a huge clank, and the ground shook. And again. Along the level plains of the area, a huge, burnt crimson coloured robot moved ahead. It looked like Eggman's machine that had accompanied this area. A huge chicken walker. But instead of bumpers on its hands, each one had a metallic glove reminiscent of Krueger's own bladed glove. In the cockpit at the top, the Demon himself.

“Time for the FINAL boss!”

The machine tilted back, and then lurched forward, driving one of the arms into the solid earth where Final had lain a second before.

“Sorry, I've played this game before.”

Final leapt onto the arm. He carefully climbed up it, and threw a fist into the glass of the cockpit. It shattered. But Krueger instantly recovered, spinning the machine and throwing Final off.

“You'll pay for that, brat!”

The blades of the hands extended, and Krueger made the machine slash violently at Final.

“DIE!”

Final deftly avoided them, until one of the slashes, a claw scraped across the already injured chest of Final. But as Final fell back, he landed on what felt like jagged stumps of some strange crystal. It was warm, and hummed with energy.

“No!” Yelled Krueger. “Not now!” He plunged the blades forward again, aiming around Final towards the crystal, as if to shatter it. When it did not yield, the green-red striped arms cracked and fragmented, the metal blades at the end breaking into tiny pieces.

“No!” he yelled, as a purple blur seemed to crash into the craft, smashing the glass bubble that surrounded him. Spider web-like cracks spread across the glass as it collapsed inward. The blur sped down again and encircled the craft with a golden stream of light. When the loop was completed, there was a loud crashing noise, and the craft literally fell to pieces.

The blur sped down, landing gracefully next to Final. Clutching his chest, he turned slightly to see the figure. It was a human like creature, dressed in a purple jester's suit, the hat of which swept down between its large eyes, defining its face clearly. Noticing Final, it took a deep bow, and gestured towards the crystal he rested on, ignoring the loud curses from Krueger, who lay across the field.

Final stared, uncertain of what to do. The figure saw that he was not sure of what to do. It floated slightly into the air, throwing down its arms gently, as if to illustrate something.

Ah, thought Final. He had to try and go Super with it... The figure shook its head, almost as if it had read his mind. No, he realised. Not super. Beyond super. The figure smiled.

Behind them, Krueger was holding his arms up. The machine reformed around him, melding together beneath him, pulling him upwards into a reforming cockpit, the bladed arms seeming to melt back together, drips of solid steel floating upwards and conjoined.

“I'm back, *****.”

Final stared at him. The dreamlike creature beside him looked shocked at Krueger's level of power. It gestured more frantically at the crystal.

“Ok then!” Yelled Final. “Krueger, I know Sonic went Super to try and get rid of you. But that didn't work now, did it? So I guess I'm going to have to do something unknown. Something new.”

“Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue! Do what you want, it won't work!” Krueger snarled. “I am the Master here!”

“Yeah, well then, I'm the Doctor,” chuckled Final. “Although, you don't look much like John Simm to me. Although with some make up, you could be Geoffrey Beevers. Or Peter Pratt. In fact, that fits. After all, you're a bit of a prat in general.”

“Why waste the last moments of your life with witty banter? You should be worried about surviving!”

“Oh yes, of course. Anyway, I was explaining my plan to do that before you interrupted. Something that the Master frowned upon in his latest incarnation, come to think of it. So, basically, I can't use Super. That'd be kind of pointless. So I have to try something new. Something unknown. Luckily for me, the Dreamworld is something uncanny, that point which crosses between the known and the unknown. So I must transcend this balance, and use it in a way that will stop you.”

“And how'll you do that? You know nothing about the Dreamworld!”

“Maybe not, but I know a whole lot about big shiny crystals.”

With this, Final got a foothold in the crystal behind him, and stood on top of it. An explosion of light shot upwards around him, every colour of the rainbow appearing in the white glare. It seemed never to end, shooting far above the mountains. The same light sped across the ground, transforming the cruel machinery of the zone into golden tubes which carried water from place to place, small trickles coming from the ends of pipes. This water flooded over the brown grass, turning it a vibrant green. The sky turned a greeny-blue, but with a large rainbow in front of it, which almost covered the whole sky.

“Good future.” Smiled Final, as he saw the landscape change from within the column of rainbow light. Then, his eyes hardened, and he stared at Krueger in his machine. Slowly, Final began to rise in the light. He stopped when he was a few metres above the crystal. For a moment, he remained there, feeling the beat of his heart, and following the breaths he took running through his body.

The column of light began to pulsate, and expand at the point where Final hovered. Then, it exploded outward. A wave of light sped in every direction, completing the transformation of the zone.

And there, where the light once was, there was Final. But at the same time, it wasn't Final. His hair was short and spiky, but a massive, anime-like spike of hair emerged from the front of his hairline. And the hair was a pale green. His skin was pale, almost luminescent. And his clothes, well, it was clear that his old clothes were there, but the plain black trousers and shoes, and the patterns of his shirt were almost indefinable, like a blur. A faint haze of energy surrounded him, a pale rainbow coloured blur like the light that had emerged from the crystal.

“So what's this?” Yawned Krueger, his voice full of scorn. “Super-Duper Hyper Evil Dreamy-Weamy Ultra Final?”

“No,” smiled the boy, his expression calm. “You can call me Beyond.” Krueger's face dropped slightly, as if the name meant something to him. One less thing to tease, Final guessed.

“Enough talk. Now, Krueger, I must rid the Dreamworld of your presence.” He span around, and as he turned back to Krueger, he threw his arm out, a pulse of the rainbow energy shot out, absorbing into the machine Krueger still sat in.

Nothing happened.

“Haha!” Laughed the Dream Demon. “All that effort, and you didn't even scratch the machine!”

Beyond held up a hand, the fingers outstretched. Then, he pulled in his thumb, showing a 'four' symbol with his hands. Then the little finger. Three. Then the ring finger. Two. Then the middle. One.

And then, Beyond's hand formed a fist, and the machine exploded, sending a mushroom cloud into the sky. Krueger collapsed to the ground, screaming.

“You were saying?” smirked the boy.

Floating down next to Krueger, he grabbed the Demon by the arm.

“I don't think you can die in the Dreamworld. Your soul has too strong a link with it. So I'll have to kill you outside of it. That may just sever the link.”

He pressed a small switch on his arm, and both figures disappeared.

* * *

Krueger stumbled backwards, losing his footing in the spiralling tube of the Flying Battery Zone.

“You've been alive for five hundred and fourteen years, Krueger. A good run, I suppose. Many would kill for it. You did, in fact.”

The Demon backed away, all repartee forgotten.

“But, everything has an end. Change happens. Governments fall, societies die, epochs end, planets die, societies fall, epochs end. Everything must move on eventually. Everything must die.”

“You can kill me now, but there's more! Angels, Demons... Devils! Some of them you know, some you don't! They'll torment you until the end of time! It'll never be over for you!”

“Maybe so,” frowned the boy. “But let them come. I'll be happy with removing you from the equation.”

“No!” Yelled the Dream Demon known as Freddy Krueger, the eternal nightmare, as his foe raised a hand, which glowed and buzzed with energy.

The demon that had killed so many, and brought so much fear, now fearing for his own existence.

“Goodbye, Krueger.”

A blaze of energy shot out, engulfing the demon. He screamed, as his flesh melted from his bones. Then the muscles and ligaments melted away too. But still he screamed. Indeed, his skeleton just stood there, screaming without the means to do so. And then, the bones crumbled to dust, and there was silence.

“A reign of terror of over five hundred years long... And it's over.” said Beyond, finally.

* * *

Final wandered in through the front door of his house. He'd just had a heck of an adventure, and after all that, he needed a rest.

But as he walked through his living room to the spiral ramp, he tripped over, smashing into the stone floor. He rubbed his arm, upon which he had landed, and looked at what had caused him to trip over.

It was the grave of Knuckles. Into the ground had been dug a hole, which was now filled with earth. At the top lay a headstone, bearing the legend “Knuckles, last of the echidnas', and a quote. “Give me the emerald or die, I don't love you.” Final sighed. They'd flipping buried him in his front room.

“Guys...” he murmured, in case any more of the perpetrators (Fox-Ash, he guessed) were hanging around. “I think I'm going to put locks on my doors from now on...”

He thought for a moment, and continued his sentence.

“And explosives. Lots of explosives...”

* * *

A podium had been erected in the chamber of the Hidden Palace Zone where Sonic had first fought Knuckles, a large detailed mural detailing his foretold battle against Eggman covering the far wall.

“Right guys, welcome to the first ever Angel Island General Election! The vote is open to all residents of Angel Island, as approved by Knuckles before his passing.”

Final paused, looking at Geo, Shadow, Sonic, and Fox-Ash, who were still visiting after the Krueger incident.

“Well, I vote for me. So, the results then. Final Beyond is the winner by a 100% landslide.”

Geo frowned slightly.

“Well, at least it's more justified than New Labour's victory.”

“Exactly,” smiled Final. “Now, for my first act as ruler, I propose that we build a reconstruction of the Green Hill Zone.”

“Why's that then?” Asked Geo, a look of confusion on his face.

“Oh, no reason...” Final smiled sneakily.

* * *

Construction was completed, and Final dashed happily through the pillars and hills of the new Zone, a complete reconstruction of the whole zone. With Shadow's Chaos Control powers, it had gone surprisingly quickly. It turned out there was a replica of the Green Hill Zone somewhere near Prison Island, so they had stolen some large chunks of that.

As he ran through, Dreams Come True's song 'Marry Me' playing on his MP3 player, little animatronic rabbits and pigs jumped from side to side. Final was happy. Something he would not have expected after the whole Freddy issue. But something seemed to be coursing through his veins, giving him more energy than he'd ever had before.

He ran over a slight hill, and down the other side, skidding slightly. Then, he ran between two large square organic blocks, rising out of the ground. He slowed slightly, stopped, and tapped his foot on the ground... What was he meant to do now? Ah yes.

He jumped into the air triumphantly, pointing a finger into the air.

* * *

Final was wandering through the Dreamworld, in the usual way. In the real world, his body was asleep, but here, he was quite active.

He had dreamed up a vision of the Quartz Quadrant Zone, a zone he had always thought was nice and tranquil. He seemed to have much greater control of his dreams since he had went Beyond.

“Finally, some peace.”

“Not for very much longer!” Screamed Freddy Krueger, jumping out from behind a large crystal.

“Ah yes, I thought I'd see you again. Now your corporeal body is destroyed, and nobody who knows of you fears you, as I've told them about your defeat, you're basically a powerless memory. In fact, you're a regular nightmare, no more able to kill than anything else in a dream.”

“You little brat! I'll kill you!”

He slashed at Final, but his claws turned to shadows when he went to strike, and he collapsed to the floor.

“No...”

“You said it wouldn't be peaceful for much longer. Well, you were kind of right. You see, I invited some friends.”

From around a corner dashed another Final. And another, and another. Soon, the area was filled with about twenty copies of Final, and they surrounded Krueger.

“Get him, boys!”

They all dashed at Krueger, and started attacking him, rolling into a large punching, kicking, biting, scratching pile.

“Heh, Krueger's worst nightmare. Just a dream for me to pick on... Looks like fun.”

Final dived into the pile, a huge smile in his face, singing a line from one of his favourite songs as he went.

“And we can dream on, sweet dreams!”

The End
To Be Continued In Book 3:
The Final Metallix

[Alex DeLarge]

Here it is! Book 3! This time written by me! Mucho thanks to Final!:D

An abundance of confidence always ran in the Robotnik family. In almost every situation, it proved to be their greatest asset and their ultimate downfall. Years ago, above the planet below, the world’s greatest scientist, Gerald Robotnik, looked down from the Space Colony ARK and saw it gaze into him. He was reminded of that old Earth melody and its implications. “Like a diamond in the sky…” Gerald has created the Ultimate Life Form and with one-hundred percent assurance, knew he was going to be an international hero. One year later, he was on the receiving end of an execution. His mind a blackening abyss, he spat bile out about the evil in the world, while children everywhere cheered.

In the year 2455, his grandson, Ivor Robotnik, cruelly christened “Eggman” by a thoughtless and sometimes malevolent hedgehog, having nothing better to do with his time, came up with a scheme to tell the gullible and short-tempered echidna, Knuckles, that a naïve and somewhat idiotic human known as Final committed a series of crimes. Once Final found out about this almost pointless plan, he killed “Eggman.” With a rake. Racked with grief, his brother, Edwin Robotnik, released an ancient Dream Demon to get revenge on Final for the assassination of Ivor. But as always, that plan, too, was futile. Enough that in any other circumstances, he would be lamenting at his failure.

But because of that overconfidence that runs through the Robotniks’ veins, in a large space ship, one of the many, many ships to be called “the Egg Carrier” by Ivor before his death, the cold and calculating Dr. Edwin Robotnik danced. Dressed in nothing but a white bath-robe that showed off the slim legs, disproportionate to his obese body, and pink, bunny slippers, Robotnik laughed and laughed, like a psychotic Santa Claus.

The doors to the control room hissed as they opened automatically and Robotnik swirled into the room. “Good morning, servants!” he chuckled to a legion of small, animal-esque robots, all performing various jobs and functions to keep the Egg Carrier running properly.

“Good morning, Doctor Robotnik,” they said back, in monotone and in unison.

A very small, genetically-engineered, green creature in a white, James Bond-tuxedo, approached the good Doctor and bowed.

“Doctor Robotnik,” the being said.

“Good morning, Grimer,” said Robotnik, entering into a small, changing room, and getting in to his red, yellow and black uniform. “What’s the news on our little pet projects?”

“Well, do you want the good news or the bad news?”

“Tell me both.”

“Well, I was planning to, I was just commenting on the order.”

“Don’t talk back to me!”

“I’m… not…”

“There! You’re doing it again!”

“But I’m not!”

“Stop that!”

Robotnik slammed the door of the changing room open, stomping forward and grabbing Grimer by the back of his tux and lifting him into the air. As the creature kicked and screamed, Robotnik whistled and walked over to an airlock. Despite the protests, the mad scientist pressed the button and threw Grimer out into nothingness. He felt a pinch of sadness, before removing it from his mind.

“Bokkun!” Robotnik yelled, summoning his late brother’s assistant.

A small black and yellow robot flew towards Robotnik. “Doctor Robotnik! So good to see you again, sir!”

“What’s the news, Bokkun?”

“Well… Krueger has failed, as you know.”

“Did you get any trace of him in the Dreamworld?”

“Yes.”

“Then there’s still hope!”

“He’s constantly tormented by Final.”

“Ah.”

“But in other news, your other project has been completed ahead of schedule.”

With all the enthusiasm of a Cyberleader, Robotnik announced to the station, “This is excellent news!”

“Yes, it is, sir.”

“Show me the progress!”

“Well, I would, but E-140 and I were getting in a fight and--”

“Show me the progress!” he commanded, furiously.

“Well… you don’t have to yell at me!”

Bokkun then started to burst out into tears, drops of moisture spewing out of his mechanical workings, seemingly impossible. Eggman might have put up with this, but not his brother. Robotnik worked up all of his strength into his right arm and slapped the robot to the ground, smashing him into oblivion. Robotnik realized either he better start treating his assistants better or he’d run out in a week or so.

But then he shrugged it off and walked across the vast control room until he reached a door at underneath the Mission Control, two stories high. Inside, about three-dozen androids worked, tirelessly, on various buttons and control panels surrounding a large, silver egg-shaped object in the center of the room.

“E-1568! E-1677! What is its progress?” the Doctor asked them.

“30 seconds to 100% completion,” they said, simultaneously.

Robotnik simply narrowed his eyes and smiled widely as thirty seconds later, the egg-shaped device hissed and sighed and opened up with a humanoid figure standing inside it.

***

At lightning speed, cold, metal eyelids shot open, the glowing, red eyes beneath them, surveying the new world. As it took a few seconds for the programming to upload, the being looked down at its steel body and studied it. “I am clearly a robot,” it thought, before knocking on its head. “Metal hair. That’s weird.” He looked down upon his chest, which had been sculpted in such a detailed way that it resembled a striped shirt. This was all illogical; none of these bizarre attributes could make themselves useful.

Then his programming uploaded.

Primary Objective: Destroy Final Beyond.

Secondary Objective: Ensure that Robotnik’s Project: Star Wars goes as planned.

Additional: Robotnik is ruler. Robotnik is king. All hail the Robotnik Empire.

Additional Additional: If somewhere along the lines, the plan to destroy him crosses paths with Station Square, pick up tea for Robotnik.

Being born and entering life is always a bit disarming, no matter the being; human, animal, alien or android. If he was an organic being with lungs, he’d be taking deep, long and panting breaths, like a dog. But instead, he didn’t move a circuit and stood, tall and proud, not showing any signs of emotions, whatsoever.

He looked down at the human being in front of him.

“Do you know who I am?” he asked, his voice full of arrogance and superiority.

The robot studied the egg-shaped body, the dark-colored suit, his bald head and the ridiculously large mustache. He came to a conclusion.

“You are Robotnik.”

“Good, good! And do you know who you are?”

He contemplated the question for a moment before stating, over-dramatically, with gravitas that only a Robotnik-robot can produce, “I am Metal Final.”

***

In the chilly peaks of the Ice Cap Zone, Final Beyond was shivering slightly; he had purchased a pair of skis and in-between looking after the island and setting defenses, which was a trickier job to code than he had expected, he had decided to have a small, skiing holiday.

Pushing himself timidly onto the slope, he began to slip and slide down the side of the mountain. Over his glasses, he was wearing a large pair of purple goggles. These seemed essential, the boy thought, as snow threw itself into his face. He went faster and faster as the mountain continued to steepen. He moved side to side, avoiding trees, and collecting the long trails of golden rings scattered about.

Noticing a steep drop, which had helpfully been sign-posted, he swerved to the left, going through a narrow carved tunnel onto a lower level of the mountain. With trepidation, he began to swerve more wildly as the dead vegetation became more heavy. He avoided a branch that covered his main path, but the sweep he made was too great, and he tumbled down.

Desperately grabbing out for something to hold on to, he smashed his arm into a block of ice. It should have hurt massively, but somehow, it did not affect him as much as he expected. That isn’t to say it didn’t hurt at all, though.

He momentarily thought that the blow to the arm would be the worst of his troubles, but as he tumbled down, he fell forward, and he crashed, groin first into a tree. Unlike the arm, this did hurt. Excruciatingly. Final’s face opened in a silent scream. This was not turning out how he expected.

As he pulled himself to his feet, the skis began to slide again. The boy tried to right himself, steadying his stance on the accursed tree, but it was no use, and he began to slip and slide. He grabbed himself to the tree, but his arms could not resist gravity and slowly, his grip loosened around the tree, and then, he began to move steadily, with no way to stop. Out of his pocket, a small, bright Chaos Emerald fell out, sliding too. “No!” Final yelled, reaching out to grab it, causing him to only slide faster and in a new direction.

Final closed his eyes, frustrated. As he slid down, he noticed the trees becoming sparser. Too little, too late, really. He tried to right himself, ignoring the pain he felt, and for a moment, he regained control. Then, he noticed the sheer, icy cliff face before him. Oh Cox.

Final slammed into the wall, his skis embedded deep within the ice. His feet began to slip from the thin, metallic strips. As they escaped the restraints, he plummeted down into the deep, icy caves of the zone. He landed, embedding himself in a huge drift of light snow.

“Smeg,” he said, his word muffled by the snow that surrounded his upper half.

***

Sonic had no idea what zone he was in. The environments around him were a blur, a messy collage of colors, like a water-painting. He jumped over objects when he needed to, went upwards on loops and spin-dashed nasty mechas; all running on primordial instinct, compelling him effortlessly forward. Eventually, one color stood out more than the others; a small, plain house. The blue hedgehog screeched his red sneakers to a halt, large clumps of dust exploding out from under them. The term “burning rubber” never fit more appropriately.

The velvet speedster had often visited Angel Island when it was being run by Knuckles the Echidna, an old friend. Sonic lived life so fast that he rarely had time to stop and think about things, but he did when it came to Knuckles. He may not have always been the friendliest guy, or the smartest, but he was a good friend. Now he was gone… because of a monster he should have put away the first time. But that didn’t matter now. He was friends with the two humans who now lived here and came to visit them.

Out of the house came a young man named Geomonic a.k.a. “Geo,” brandishing a large, double-barrel shotgun, aimed squarely at Sonic.

“Geo!” Sonic yelled, putting his hands up in the air, knowing full well he could outrun the shells, if deemed necessary.

“Oh, hey, Sonic,” Geo replied, a smile on his face.

“Geo, you knew I was coming!”

“Yeah…?” Geo looked genuinely confused by Sonic‘s terror. He put down the shotgun. “Come on in.”

Following after him, Sonic shook his head in amazement. They went into the kitchen, where Geo fixed two sandwiches and two cups of tea before they sat down at the table. Final entered the room and sat down next to them. Sonic and Geo both smiled and told him hello, which Final replied back and told them about the horrible “holiday” he had minutes earlier.

“So, Sonic, how have you been? Any adventures lately?” Geo asked him.

“Well, this or that. Same old life, traveling zones, having fun. Y’know, I never thought I’d say this but I honestly miss Eggman.”

Geo got a little uncomfortable about this topic.

“Eggman may have been a megalomaniacal mad-man who wanted to rule the world, but he never wanted to hurt anybody! Robotnik, on the other hand, is a psychopath.”

Final gave his own feelings on Robotnik. Geo laughed.

“But yeah,” Sonic said, “I’m miss Eggman. He was fun having around, until somebody offed him…” Geo glared at Final. The wild-haired kid said nothing.

“How’s Shadow?” Geo asked, trying to steer the conversation away.

“Oh, you know. Angst this, angst that. The world is my shooting range!”

The three of them burst out laughing. Geo made another snide comment about Shadow’s angst before Final made a much harsher comment on how Shadow deserved to be eliminated. Geo and Sonic’s eyes widened to exaggerated levels.

Final tilted his head to one side. “What?”

Sonic leaned over the table and whispered in Geo’s ear, “Geo… do you think Final’s acting a little… weird?”

Final’s mouth shone blue and his vocal box replied, “I can hear your word processings, mortals.”

Geo shrugged, “Nope. Same old Final.”

“Your existence is irrelevant. I have come to this location because it is the most logical for my enemy to arrive. All hail the Robotnik Empire!”

“Your sense of humor never ceases to amaze me.”

Final shot his metal head up. His hair, a collection of random wires, started glowing a deep shade of crimson. His eyes, holes in a purple strip, somehow, narrowed themselves.

Sonic leaned over, a bit worried for Final. “Uh… is he supposed to do this?”

“Yeah, every Tuesday.”

“Ah.”

“Primary Target: Located Acquired,” Final said out-loud, despite not directing the comment to Geo, Sonic or anyone else. “Intercepting.”

Final stormed out of the house, standing on the edge of its front patio. Out of the android’s jumbled mess of hair, a 3 foot long pole slowly started to twist and turn and raise itself up. When it finished, the sides were clamped by small magnets, while the pole itself split itself in half, landing safely on both sides of his head. After that, they both started moving, counter-clockwise, gaining more and more speed each time it came around until eventually, it had become a propeller and Final started to be lifted into the air.

Then, he flew away.

Geo put a hand on his hip. “Huh. What do you reckon he meant by that?”

***

Free of the ice, after around an hour, Final wandered through the tunnels, wondering where to go from here. The tunnels were harder to navigate from that on the surface. He took a deep breath and thought of his plan.

“Right, so, there’s that little passage into the Launch Base at the end of this zone, and from there, I can take a shortcut through Chrome Gadget into Azure Lake. From there, it’s just a short walk through to Sandopolis. One of the pyramids there leads through the Anterior Hidden Palace to the True Hidden Palace, which has the transporter I need to get home!”

He paused.

“Or I can use one of Knuckles’ zoom tubes to zip through to the Mountain Peak, and I can just take my plane.”

Yeah, he was happier with that plan. He went over to an icy wall and pulled a rake from a hidden pocket. Wishing he had Knuckles’ fists to break through, he smashed the icy with multiple strikes of the unconventional weapon and climbed through to the circular hole it created. A pressurized tube lay beneath and Final was sucked through it at massive speeds, going through the entire core of the island, shooting out a few seconds later out atop the peaks of the high mountains that lay above even his starting place for skiing.

“And to think, Sonic always took the long way around…”

Climbing into the blue biplane, “The Tempest,” which was adorned with small blades on the heavy propeller, as an extra weapon, and a jet engine on the back, Final smiled. He tapped a button, unsurprisingly marked “ON.” He hated complicated controls. Grasping the steering wheel, he pulled the goggles back over his eyes as it shot into the sky.

***

The plane ascended over the yellow structures of the Sky Sanctuary Zone, that floated high above the tallest mountains of Angel Island, and even stretched to above the coast at the sides of the island.

“Home sweet home,” he said, catching sight of his lovely, cylindrical home that protruded from the landscape.

But then, Final saw an object in the sky, floating towards the Tempest and obscuring his view of his house. It was not that large, humanoid in shape, with heavy blades coming out of its head, chopping the air. It tilted its head. Final felt his heart skip a beat. It was… him. Or something identical to him. Right down to his mane of hair and myriad shirt.

“What. The. Heck. Who are you?!”

“I am you. I am your shadow.”

“Nope, Shadow doesn’t show up until the next story.”

“What?”

“The next book. Of the Final Zone.”

“You… you are…” this “Metal” Final started to twitch spastically. “You are breaking the--” instead of words, the robot screeched two, loud beeps, as if blocked from saying the words. Final grabbed his ears and temporarily lost control of the plane. “I cannot say the words. For fear of breaking it. But I overcame it. Dr. Robotnik warned me about this.”

“Dr. Robotnik…” Final gasped with shock. “You’re a robot duplicate of me!”

“This is correct.”

“Really… the Robotniks and their robot duplicates… it’s adorable.”

“You understood the concept that I am an automaton. You are more intelligent than Robotnik’s other enemies. But you do not have his IQ of 250.”

“Yeah, well, neither do you.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because you are me.”

“This is correct.”

“And you just claimed that I do not have an IQ of 250...”

“This is also correct. Your logic is plausible. I do not have an IQ of 250. But I never claimed I did!”

“Neither did I.”

“Touché.”

“What kind of a robot says touché?”

“One based on Primary Target: Final Beyond.”

Final contemplated this for a second. “Touché.”

“I am your equal in power, speed and intelligence.”

“Ah, ha. But if we’re equal in every way, how can you defeat me?”

“We are not equal in every way. I have lasers and missiles and a highly accurate tracking system that can disintrigrate an ant 50 miles away.”

“Ah. Well… I have a rake!”

“A rake is useless.”

“No, you shut up!”

“What?”

“Nobody speaks that way about my rakes! You underestimate it!”

“Rakes are irrelevant. They can do no damage to my systems.”

“Oh yeah, tell that to Eggman! He underestimated it too!”

“Eggman was organic. Flesh. I am steel.”

“We’ll see about that!”

Final took one hand off the steering wheel and threw the rake at Metal Final, who simply moved his body a few inches to the left. The rake missed him by a few feet and fell down to the Earth below.

***

Knock, knock, knock!

“Coming!” Geo yelled from inside the house. After starting a nap, he groggily went to the door and threw it open and before even seeing who it was, asked them, “What do you want?”

Before him stood a small, peach-colored echidna, her arm in a sling, her head heavily bandaged and her face full of immeasurable fury.

“Uh… hi, Tikal?”

“Where is he?! Where is Final?!”

“You just missed him.” Scared to ask, he did anyway: “Why are you here?”

“Why am I here?! Why am I here?! I just spent the last three months in a fricking hospital bed, thanks to your friend’s missile! That’s why I’m here!”

“Oh… yeah… about that…”

Geo slammed the door in her face.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, Tikal turned around and grit her teeth for the next two minutes as she walked as fast as she could away from that house. Months of lying in a hospital bed, only to find out that her race had been made extinct and her attacker made ruler of their graveyard.

But that was behind her now. She was just so happy to be back. She could finally do the things she ever wanted to: fall in love, get married, have kids, die of old age, not stay in a stupid Emerald with an annoying God. Now was the time.

She felt a force, as heavy as an anvil, right above her head.

Then, she looked up.

***

“My rake!” yelled Final.

“My pleasure,” replied the duplicate.

“You’re… evil!”

“Indeed. But you are scarcely a hero. You have murdered. Many times.”

“You mean…” exhaled Final, his voice heavy.

“Dr. Ivor Robotnik, who you killed with your now missing.”

“Oh yeah, that guy. Yeah, old Eggy had it coming.”

“And Fredrick Krueger.”

“Can’t kill what’s already dead.”

“And Knuckles the Echidna.”

“Knux knew what he was getting into. You can’t blame me for that.”

“An excuse for everything.”

“Not everything, but it seems your creator doesn’t know me as well as he thinks.”

“Indeed? Well, I shall learn of this after you are deleted.”

“You damned Cyberman.”

“The correct terminology is Metallix.”

“No Doctor Who knowledge? You’re nothing like me!”

“Thankfully.”

“What do you say we settle this like real men, or duplicates of them? A normal fight, on the ground. A duel, if you wish! Weapons of our choosing.”

“Your proposal is acceptable. Schematics predict an 80% chance that you will pick a rake and you will eliminated.”

“Well, we’ll see about that!”

Final and Metal Final both flew down, shut off their respective propellers and stood face to face. Examining each other, they realized a few basic differences.

“Ha. I am 1.539 inches taller than you.”

“So? I’m flesh.”

“That is a weakness.”

“Says who?”

“Says logic.”

“Logic this, logic that, doesn’t it ever get boring?”

“Emotions are useless. I have no concept of the word boring.”

“Then I pity you.”

“I have no concept of the word pity either.”

“Oh, and now you’re a Dalek? What gives?”

“Dalek… Another villain from 20th century science fiction, I presume?”

“Yep. Much scarier than you, too, even though they lost some of their menace when they keep turning up like a bad wolf.”

“Is the expression not ‘bad penny’?”

“Never mind. You just won’t get it.”

“Then can we begin? We shall abide by the Intergalactic Rules of Combat. We must both be fair and chose a weapon of our choice out of hammer-space, no projectile weapons allowed. Is this understood?”

“Yep.”

They both turned their backs on each other, slowly taking steps. One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… ten!

The Finals shot back and faced each other, rapidly pulling something from behind their backs. Metal Final pulled out an ancient sword made out of unbreakable steel, channeling psychic energy that almost gives it a mind of its own. Final pulled out… a rake.

Metal Final slapped his palm on his face.

They charged towards each other. Final’s plan of attack was to duck his body slightly, hold the rake in both his hands, slice it across the android’s stomach, flip his wrists so the handle broke his nose, then whack him in the head with it. Metal Final’s was to simply raise the sword and slice the rake in half. Metal Final finished his before Final started.

“Hey! That’s no fair!”

“Yes, it is. It violates no part of the Intergalactic Rules of Combat.”

“It violates the rule of not being an unfair meanie!”

“That is irrelevant.”

Metal Final raised his foot and kicked Final in the chest, knocking him out of breath and a few feet backwards. Clutching himself and moaning in terrible pain, Final got up.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

“My creator, Doctor Edwin Robotnik, has declared revenge upon you, and so, I must terminate you in this respect. But first, I must stall you in order for him to enact Project: Star Wars.”

“What? Project: Star Wars?”

“I must stall you so that Robotnik can relaunch his brother’s Death Egg from its landing place in the Lava Reef Zone.”

“Oh, smeg it to hell…”

The ground beneath their feet began to shake, as if there was an earthquake. Both Final and his duplicate paused, staring up at the sky.

Like a diamond in the sky, a massive, round craft rose from the distant, like a darkened sunrise, above Final and Metal Final and the zone. It was a deep shade of grey, with thousands of curves and intricacies adorning it. But it’s most prominent feature was a face carved into the station, like Mount Rushmore (due to the size of the mustache, almost certainly Eggman himself). It began to inexplicably tilt, until it was facing downwards towards Final’s house. Then, the ‘eyes’ of the craft began to blaze with pink light, which combined into a single beam, which shot down, destroying the house in an explosion of flying shrapnel.

“My… my house!” Final’s jaw was agape. “First my rake, now my house! You smegheads! You absolute smegheads!”

Metal Final’s mouth shined a brighter blue than ever before, as he laughed, diabolically, not unlike a super villain, or the Robotniks themselves.

“Metal Final! I’m going to kill you! With a rake!”

“You’ve already tried that, twice!”

Perhaps replying to him, perhaps not, Final growled, like a fierce, wild, Earth-Prime animal and pounced on Metal Final. But as Final held the Metallix down and he raised his fist to strike, realizing his hand was shining in something. Both Final and the robot were enveloped by a pale light soon after.

Final began to float upwards, as did Metal Final, albeit slower in pace.

“You cowards!” he yelled, flying up into the sky. “None of you have got any ba-”

He fell into the sky.

***

Final could see nothing. Only black. Then, slowly, his vision began to return. He was in a large room, the walls completely covered in complex machinery, copper colored. Before him stood a podium, and on the wall was an LCD monitor, displaying in green writing, his name and ‘score.’ Across the room, he saw Metal Final behind another such podium, with a similar monitor displaying his details.

“So what now?” the human boy asked his funhouse mirror.

“I am designed to be your equal in speed, power and intelligence.”

“Yes, you’ve said that already.”

Ignoring him, Metal Final continued, “This will test the intelligence factor. A quiz.”

“Well, I should do okay. I own at Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Just as long as we get an impartial judge…”

From behind a small window popped an ugly face. Pointed at the top, and adored with a huge brown mustache, it looked ugly enough, but the eyes… They were like a black void, red pupils the only visible thing in them.

“Greetings to you, Final Beyond. My name is Dr. Edwin Robotnik and I will be your judge today.”

“I’m screwed.”

“Indeed, indeed.”

Final banged his head on the podium in front of him.

“These are the rules, my curly-haired friends. I will ask you a series of questions. Each correct answer gets you 1 point. First to get 3 points wins.”

“What does the winner get?” Final shot back.

“If Metal Final wins, he gets to kill you.”

“And if I win?”

“You get to be killed by Metal Final.”

“Hmm. Okay. Sounds fair.” Final turned his head, something not quite clicking, something deeply wrong inside his mind right now… after it dawned on him, he gasped in horror and yelled, “Now wait just a-!”

“And the game begins!”

Trumpets blared out of the speakers as Robotnik cleared his voice and spoke into the microphone.

Final - 0
Metal Final - 0

“Question 1: Who is the smartest person on Mobius?”

Final buzzed in. “Wily.”

Robotnik’s face turned a bright red as steam exploded out of his hairs, while his eye twitched back and forth for a few seconds.

“Incorrect!”

Metal Final buzzed in. “Lord and Master: Dr. Edwin Robotnik.”

Sighing with relief, Robotnik flipped his wrist and pointed his index finger out towards the sky. “One point!”

Final - 0
Metal Final - 1

“Question 2: Who is the most stupid person on Mobius?”

Final buzzed in, quickly. “Final Beyond.”

“One point!”

Final - 1
Metal Final - 1

“Question 3: Who is the only person who can kill Sonic the Hedgehog?”

Final buzzed in. “Um… Mephiles the Dark?”

“Incorrect!”

“Yes-huh, I played the game!”

Metal Final buzzed in. “Lord and Master: Dr. Edwin Robotnik.”

“One point!”

Final - 1
Metal Final - 2

“Everything’s about himself to this guy…” muttered Final.

“Question 4: In…” Robotnik stopped reading the question and squinted, unsure of what he was reading, then continued. “In the Doctor Who novels by Terrance Dicks, he has a tendency to reuse what monster from the Five Doctors?”

“What?!” objected Metal Final.

Final buzzed in. “Raston Warrior Robot! Boo ya.”

“Um… one point… How did that get in there?” asked the perplexed Robotnik.

***

Two hours earlier, while Robotnik strolled down the hallways of his brand new Death Egg, he noticed a strange Corinthian Pillar standing in one of the corners. But the Doctor had no idea what all of his brother’s stuff on here was meant for and so he continued on, whistling, leaving his questions for the quiz on a table, as he took a shower.

Then, an older man, with a familiar face, and his pretty, young companion stepped out of their time machine and sneaked over to the table after Robotnik went away. The man took a note card out of his jacket and switched it with one of Robotnik’s questions.

“You sure this is going to work?”

“Oh, yeah, he’ll love this. I did…”

***

Final - 2
Metal Final - 2

“Question 5: Who is Metal Final based on?”

Final buzzed in. “Uh… oh god… I should know this… Sonic the Hedgehog?”

“Ha ha! Incorrect!”

“Shadow the Hedgehog!”

“I said-”

“Megaman!”

“But-”

“Elton John!”

“What-”

“Buzz the Intergalactic Baby!”

“For the love of-”

“Oh, I know! They’re all about you! Edwin Robotnik!”

“Enough!”

Metal Final buzzed in. “Primary Target: Final Beyond.”

“One point!”

Final - 2
Metal Final - 3

A bell went off above their heads.

“And the winner is… Metal Final!”

From the speakers came pre-recorded cheering and applause as the ceiling above them cracked on, raining multi-colored confetti and balloons.

“Oh, you gotta be kidding…” Final said.

Metal Final smacked the podium across the room, while Robotnik got off the screen, leaving only the two of them. Metal Final’s hands opened up, revealing two large laser canons, aimed squarely at Final.

“Primary Target: Final Beyond. Objective: Eliminate him.”

“What is it with robots and terms like that? Eliminate, terminate, assassinate, exterminate… Are you too thick to under kill or murder?”

Metal Final didn’t reply, instead he powered up his laser canons.

“Listen… can’t we just talk about this?!”

“There will be no verbal communication. There will be ‘murder,’ if you are satisfied with that term.”

“Please… can’t I chose what way I want to die?”

Metal Final twisted his head to one side instantly, as if he had whiplash. “Hmm. An interesting request. Nothing in my programming forbids it. Proceed.”

Final started stammering and contemplating about all the various different devices and weapons Metal Final had and the amount of damage he could inflict with any of them. “I choose… old age?”

Metal Final considers this. “I would not be the direct cause of this. There would be contradiction in my programming.”

He started firing up his laser canons again.

“But wait! I chose a different one!”

“This is your last opportunity.”

“Kill yourself!”

Metal Final’s reaction could best be described as three, side-by-side periods.

And once again, he started firing up his laser canons.

“No wait! I’m serious! Remember our conversation in the sky!”

Once again, his head tilted. This time, twice. His eyes narrowed themselves even further than before.

“Affirmative.”

“You’re based on me! You couldn’t have an IQ of 250 because I don’t!”

“This is correct.”

“We’re connected you see! So, if I die, then you’ll die too!”

Unsure of himself, the Final Metallix hesitated, before replying, “Perhaps.”

“Thus, logically speaking, if you kill yourself, I’ll die too!”

“Your proposal is logical.”

With both the Secondary and Additional Objectives completed, Metal Final completed Primary Objective, by activating every robot’s somewhat pointless self-destruct mechanism and exploding in a fiery, red ball.

Final Beyond smirked. Somewhere in the Death Egg, Robotnik screeched.

Climbing into his brother’s modified Egg Mobile, a small, egg-shaped hovercraft with two leg arms on the side with maces as fists, Robotnik started up the machine while the door slammed open.

Final and Robotnik stared each other down for 30 seconds before speaking.

“So… you defeated Metal Final…”

“Yes. Yes, I did.”

“And how was that?”

“Simple. I’m smarter than you thought and the Metallix version of me was programmed accordingly. It’s useful to make people think you’re actually stupider than you are sometimes.”

Robotnik snickered and scoffed. “It’s no matter; I will destroy you!”

“Does that never get old, Robotnik?!”

The Doctor took control of the machine, readying the arms. He had seen how they did before. Final was going to try to curl up his body and spin itself in the air and smash into the protective glass, which would somehow light up, mysteriously. Thus, his plan was to make sure he got the arms up and swinging and to take down Final before he could jump towards the cockpit.

But he forgot Final was a human, who was physically impossible of doing that, and so he simply latched himself onto the right arm. “What… what are you doing?!” Robotnik announced in shock. Trying to shake him off, Final simply grabbed tighter, climbing onto the cockpit himself, punching it repeatedly, bruising and bloodying his hands.

“You fool!” Eggman insulted, as he twisted the controls around, sending Final flying. The fronts of his hands started to morph, the spikes on the maces went inside and the center of them spilt, revealing two large buzz-saws, spinning with relentlessly, without mercy.

“This shall be… dare, I say… your final hour! Ho, ho, ho!”

“It may have been, if not for the Chaos Emerald that I, oh-so-conveniently, kept over from earlier today, being in my pocket the entire time!”

“Oh, bugger.”

With all the grandiose and emotion of Shadow, Final bellowed, “CHAOS CONTROL!”

And with that bellow, Final had done the near-impossible. He had stopped time itself. After making a few modifications, he returned it to normal.

Robotnik shook it off and headed towards Final, unaware that the arms of the Egg Mobile were missing. Shocked, he looked down at the controls. The anti-gravity component was also missing. He looked up and saw Final tossing it back and forth between his hands, as he slammed to the ground. Final walked off, fake yawning and tipped it over.

As Robotnik yelped in pain, like a Japanese schoolgirl getting spanked by an English teacher, “I’m begging you! Please stop!”

“Just tell me one thing, Robotnik.”

“Anything!”

“Why did you destroy my house?”

“It… made me happy.”

“Smegging Countrycide.”

“No wait! I’m sorry!”

“Oh, I forgot to tell ya. The Death Egg randomly explodes if the Egg Mobile touches the ground. It will explode in-” Final looked at his watch. “See ya.”

Whistling “Sweet Dreams,” Final skipped merrily out of the room, while Robotnik struggled with all of his might and power to get out of the cracked cockpit of the device and get to the floor and run. When he finally did, he looked back and saw a raging inferno blaze towards him.

“Oh, boll-”

***

Geomonic was still in a state of shock about earlier today. He was laying on the couch, dreaming about girls celebrating their birthdays by wearing their new suits, when he was woke up by what he thought was an earthquake. As he ran outside of the house, he observed the Death Egg destroying the very house he was in seconds earlier.

Now, standing by the Tempest, he saw the Death Egg start to explode and a tiny dot jump out of it, arms spread. Shaking his head, Geo jumped in the Tempest immediately and started it up, flying upwards towards his friend. The Tempest’s radio started blasting an Earth-Prime melody by an artist known as David Bowie.

Though I’m past one-hundred-thousand miles…

Final felt as light as a butterfly.

I’m feeling very still…

He thought the Earth below him looked beautiful.

And I think my spaceship knows which way to go…

He had never thought much about the planet as a whole. It was always his home he was worried about it. Even while traveling through space, he never realized how large it all was and how all-encompassing.

Tell my wife I love her very much…

Was this going to be it? Was this the final end?

She knows…

He had lived a pretty short life, albeit one that spanned many centuries.

Ground control to Major Tom…

He had seen atrocities.

Your circuit’s dead…

He had seen miracles.

There’s something wrong…

He had seen Robotnik in a tutu (actually, that was the hallucinations caused by the lack of oxygen he was experiencing).

Can you hear me, Major Tom…

But he had so much more to live for.

Can you hear me, Major Tom…

Final never had someone to care for. To hold on to. To love.

Can you hear me, Major Tom…

He had never had a normal life. One that wasn’t plagued by Tony Blair or mad scientists with large mustaches or Dream Demons with bad fashion taste.

Can you…

Here am I floating ‘round my tin can…

But this life wasn’t all there is to it, was it?

Far above the moon…

There had to be something else. Something beyond this life.

Planet Earth is blue…

Maybe he would experience those things in that life.

And there’s nothing I can do…

Maybe this is could. Maybe this really is the-

Final was interrupted by jaw-droopingly intense pain on his back as he smacked into the wing of the Tempest. “Yo, Final!” Geo called it.

“Yo, Geo.” Talking to himself, he mumbled, “I need softer wings…”

“You okay up there, bud?”

“Peachy keen.” He started singing “Sweet Dreams” again and he floated in and out of consciousness.

***

“There you go,” Alex said, handing a cup of tea to Final.

“Thanks,” he said, warmly, a genuine smile across his face. Final was very appreciative that Alex and his… roommate let him and Geo stay at their Station Square apartment while Final rebuilt his house.

“Keep it down in there!” shouted the obnoxious Manwards in the other room, relentlessly slaughtering aliens on “Half-Life 2.”

“Tee-hee, there’s a character named Alyx,” he told his roommate as he walked back into the living room, cracking open “The Dying Days” by Lance Parkin.

“Yeah, I know, Manny, you’ve told me,” Alex replied.

“And guess what? She’s a girl!”

“Surprise, surprise, you never told me that one either.”

“Pfft, quit with the faux-hatred. You love me, babe.”

Whispering softly, he told the man, “Not in front of people.”

Meanwhile, Geomonic got out of the rest-room and sat down across the table from Final.

“Hey,” Geo told to Final.

“Hey,” Final told him back, cracking a slight smile.

“What happened with Robotnik, you never told me.”

“Oh, I killed him. With a rake.”

“… Again?”

“Nah, I’m just messing with you. I left him to die in a fiery explosion.”

“Figures.”

“It’s just…”

“What?”

“I dunno. Part of me felt sympathy with Metal Final. He was exactly like me in every way and only did what was programmed to. Did he really want to? You know the truth. I’ve been programmed to do things I’ve not wanted to do…”

“Yeah, I remember…”

Shaking it off, he decided to say, “Hey Alex! Manny!”

At the same time, without either of them looking up from their respective book or video game, they shot back, “I’m busy!”

“Have you guys ever had a robot duplicate of yourself that you felt sympathy with?”

Alex told him, “Nope. I’ve had a vampire duplicate though. It was created out my subconscious after I encountered an Ancient God living on Earth-Prime. I disturbed its tomb and it mind-raped me, like Asuka in Eva. But I didn’t feel sympathy with it because it was created out of my subconscious, so I felt guilt more than anything. It hurt like hell, too, when we had to go to that transvestite voodoo doctor to put him back inside my mind.”

Manny told him, “Nope. I’ve had a robot stalker though. You see, back when I was a radio DJ, a beautiful, young, female scientist thought my show was the greatest and she was working on creating a female robot named ‘NAISE’ but when she died, they put her consciousness in the robot and it misinterpreted human feelings and so it decided that it must have me and would do anything to get me, including killing. Alex shot her. With a gun.”

“Thanks, guys, for those stories. They really helped.”

Again, not looking up and at the same time, “No problem!”

“Ah, Final,” Geo told him, “I wouldn’t worry about it. I mean, at the very least, think of it this way. We’ll never have to see him again!”

***

In the year 244,034,899, Historians of the Intergalactic, Slave-Trading, Booty-Hustling, Opera-Singing, Bajakiian Confederation for Electric Boogaloo™ discovered not only the actual laws of physics, but how they worked. The universe is actually other forms of media and thus, it applies by whatever laws and rules the writers and directors want them to.

For example, it is a well-known fact that in movie-cliché logic, saying, “We’ll never have to see him again!” assures that that particular villain, will not only return in a sequel, but will have a 95% chance of having a post-climax coda depicting the said nemesis or foe returning to life or consciousness.

Thus, despite the fact that hours ago, both Metal Final and Edwin Robotnik met their demise with the destruction of the Death Egg, the universe imploded onto itself, desperately altering events, changing scenarios, retconning whatever it needed to, in order to bring Metal Final back to life. Despite the solution dealt with something completely different, in the after-story coda, the dead body of the Final Metallix laid on the ground of Angel Island, one of its eyes still blinking red.

Hypothetically, if Geomonic knew this, he would, theoretically, apologize.

The End
To Be Continued in Book 4:
Battle Royale

[FinalBeyond]

Thanks very much for writing that, Alex. It was a very enjoyable read, as evidenced by my hearty rofflemowing when reading it earlier. You did it much better than I could.
Now, readers, in case you think I'm a very, very quick writer, I'm not. I wrote this earlier than any of the books thus far. :p So here we go, for the start of a new, Robotnik free sage of The Final Zone.

----

General Bryon Halix stared out of the window of his office, at the mountain pass that separated this GUN base from the rest of the Spring Yard Zone. It was late in the night, and the mountains were almost pure black, the overlying jagged peaks stopped from collapsing by three giant red-painted steel structures. The black mountains reflected his soul. He was here now with dark purposes. But enough of this reminiscence. It was time. He looked around the room, at the shadowed faces of the elite that ruled his organisation, and whose favour he needed to win in order to gain approval for his plan. He adjusted the cobalt blue tie beneath his black jacket, cleared his throat, and begun.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we face a crisis. A very dangerous crisis.”

He walked over to a projector screen at his end of the long wooden table they all sat around, and flicked it on. The screen was filled with the image of an island, suspended in the sky. The landscape of the island was clear, the ancient temples and frozen rivers quite clear amongst the greenery that filled the lower ridges of the island.

“This is Angel Island. I am sure you have all heard of it. It has crashed into the shores of our world enough times. Before, we just had to make sure it didn't crash anywhere important. But now a deeper problem lies with the island. It is being run by a madman. He has links with our other enemies, such as Sonic and Shadow, has engaged in vigilantism himself, and he is known to have anarchistic tendencies. He is thus a danger to us all.”

He turned his back on the group with a flourish, gathering steam, his tone growing stronger. This was the performance he had been waiting for.

“But I... I have a plan. A plan that, with your approval, I will set into motion right now.”

One of the higher up figures, who Halix knew only by sight and not by name (He wondered if they even had names) spoke up. He was obviously intrigued.

“What is this plan, General?”

Halix flicked the projector screen's buttons again, and slowly, on the black screen, a red logo came into view. It was an incomplete circle of laurel leaves, with two letters in the centre, in clear and bold type. The letters were B and R.

“I propose the renewal of the Millennium Reform Act.”

“You mean...” Gasped a female figure, the shock on their face visible even in the velvet darkness of the chamber.

“Yes. Battle Royale.” Said Halix, with a huge smile.

* * *

The tone of the meeting had changed. What was previously a business meeting now sounded of grave importance, and to some, of great cost.

Another of the shadowed figures seemed unimpressed, and slightly confused.

“Please, explain this concept, General.”

““In the 1980s, the act was introduced in the Republic of Greater East Asia to stop growing problems with the youth of that country. It was to be the grand scheme that would solve their problems, showing that under pressure, anyone could betray their friends, in turn dissuading unity and combined forces of protest. Who knows who could betray who in the same situation? Very Orwellian. And, in a way, it was the ultimate Social Darwinian experiment. It later spread to other countries, but in the year 2003, it took on a grander scale in its country of origin. Classes were sent to invade the island base of Shuuya Nanahara, an ex-survivor of the game, who had rebelled against the government with a terrorist group named Wild Seven.”

“Are you proposing that we send our children to attack Angel Island, General?” Asked the female, with growing concern on their face. Halix laughed, devoid of humour.

“Oh no, not at all. I intend to send in some of the prisoners we hold in this base. They are entirely expendable.”

“Expendable? Only we can judge that, Halix.” Chided the first figure that had spoke.
“Well, I have judged them to be such. I shall call in one of these prisoners so you too can judge their worth.” Halix smiled, crossing to an intercom and barking a few orders.

After a minute, the door opened, and a short man walked in. He wore blue overalls over a red boiler suit, and wore a jaunty red cap on his head. His face was adorned with a large black moustache.

The man leaped onto the table, and shouted out his name in a broad Italian accent.

“Mario!”

The elite figure who had protested against Halix ran his hand down his face in despair, and nodded to Halix.

“You may continue with your plan, General.”

“I thank you.”

* * *

Halix and his prisoner walked through the complex, carried along at points by monorails that ran through the various buildings. Finally, he walked down a small staircase, and entered into his intended destination.

The walls were made of the same green metal that adorned the Metropolis Zone on Westside Island, noted for its insulating properties. The floor was half flooded by water, with only a small area above the waterline. At the far end of the room, a large transparent geometric dome shaped structure sealed together a group of fighters, the prisoners that Halix had, without their knowledge, consigned to death.

The General pushed Mario forwards, almost into the water. As Halix pressed a switch in the wall, a small gleaming drawbridge rose from the water, and Mario skipped along it. When he reached the door of the dome, a large triangular flap of the transparent substance that sealed the others, it opened with a hiss, as the drawbridge behind him lowered. The plumber, the last of the prisoners jumped into the dome, and the door sealed again.

“Right then... Here's the plan.” Said Halix. “Soon, the door behind you will open, and you will file through individually. As you leave, you will be fitted with a special collar, so that we can measure your movement and life signs. You will be travelling to Angel Island. When you get there, you have only one mission. Eliminate the leader of the Island, one Final Beyond. A GUN operative has planted a special tracer device, totally undetectable from the surrounding area, that will tell us when he is dead. The one person to kill him will be granted a gift of £10,000, along with their freedom. That's all you need to know at present.”

Halix half turned away, then tilted his head back towards the prisoners, and with a sarcastic smile, added...

“So, has everyone got their packed lunches?”

With a laugh, the General walked off.

* * *

At this moment in time, the 'dangerous vigilante anarchist madman' who now controlled Angel Island was laying back in the thick grass of the Green Hill Zone, or rather, an exact replica of it that was painstakingly constructed using some of Shadow's chaos powers, as well as the hard labour of the other temporary inhabitants. Blood, sweat, tears, and a hell of a lot of cement had gone into it.

Now, there was a small difference in the structure of the zone. A small house, constructed from the yellow-green materials of the Sky Sanctuary Zone that a similar house had once stood in. The house itself was a large cylinder-like structure, with a pointed cone-shaped roof. A few windows on either side of the rooms of the house enabled fresh air to pass through, and all in all, it looked pleasant to live in. Mainly because Final had spent the last three months building it.

So now, Final lay in the grass of the Green Hill Zone, looking at his creation. He was satisfied with it. It finally looked like home.

Home. An unusual concept for Final. He had known many homes. The place he had lived in for 15 long years before the Battle Royale, the cave he lived in for a month when on the ruins of Earth 1, the small flat he had lived in Station Square with two friends, and the building he had built in the Sky Sanctuary Zone, which had all too recently been completely destroyed by the power of Robotnik's relaunched Death Egg. He had gained a measure of revenge by inadvertently killing the rotund scientist. But each home he left weighed heavy on his heart. Maybe soon he would build a mansion... It would be indestructible. Three times the size of this...

But for now, Final was happy with the building, despite the large, grey brick that seemed to poke out of the side. How that had got there, he had no idea. Well, he'd sort it out later. He picked himself up from the soft chequered brown earth, and walked through the open door of the building. As he did this, the brick on the side lit up with a small red LED, and with a cheery jingle, announced in the friendly voice that accompanied all technology jingles:

“GUN Tracer, activated!”

* * *

Shortly after this small tracer became active, Halix announced a press conference next to the Town Hall in the east of Station Square. The major newspapers sent delegates, as did the news stations. Central News sent out its star reporter, Columbia Campbell, and popular news programme Short Fuse News sent along Peter O'Malley, who looked slightly intimidated amongst the bustling crowd, reporting back to 'Norman and Chris' almost constantly. At last, Halix arrived, and raising his hands to the sky, called the crowd of journalists to silence.

“Members of the press, I am here to announce an unprecedented measure by GUN to stop the foreign forces that threaten us all. We have revised some legislation from Old Earth, where it helped to combat the terrorist group known as Wild Seven. This legislation has become The Angel Island Millennium Reform Act, BRIII for short. 30 dangerous prisoners will be dispensed, at no cost to the public, other than a very slight increase in our budget, and these prisoners will eliminate the criminal threat that lies there, only a small way away from us.”

Above the crowd, crouching atop a rooftop, there was a creature who knew all too well the hyperbole that GUN could bring about. Shadow The Hedgehog, who had, 53 years previously, been the 'threat' that GUN had reviled, and his friends and family paid the price for GUN's hatred. The professor, and Maria... All dead. As he heard the General's voice talk above the babble of reporters, he shuddered.

“Angel Island can deploy weapons in 45 minutes, did you know?”

Governmental Military... It never changed. Shadow had to help Final now. He didn't know the kid too well, but when fighting Krueger, they had got on well, and he had a good heart. Plus, Shadow wasn't going to see any more innocents killed by GUN's lies.

“Final... I hope you're watching this on TV...”

* * *

Unfortunately for Shadow, Final was watching one of his vintage DVD collection, low quality by the standards of the 25th century, but probably one of the largest collections of 21st century television in existence.

“Dr Who... 400 years, and it's still the best damn programme around.” Smiled Final.

He gave a slight chuckle as he saw Simon Pegg point to a large monster, seemingly a huge ceiling made of flesh, a circle of teeth its only features, proclaiming it to be The Mighty Jagrafess Of The Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe. Where was that guy now? One of the best actors of the time, in his opinion.

* * *

Not worth taking the chance, Shadow decided, He had to get there and warn him, and quick. Lifting the Chaos Emerald, he shouted out “Chaos Control!” and in a flash of blue light. He disappeared.

Below, a shadowed figure stepped from the darkness below the hedgehog, noting the flashes of energy with interest. The figure was black furred, wild spikes of hair forming large, hedgehog-like spines. The tufts of hair were tipped with a deep crimson tint. Of his facial features, only his deep red eyes were visible above the tattered black cloak, which covered his whole body.

“So... 30 Prisoners after one man... Should be a tough challenge to be the victor. But I swear by the power of the Dreamworld, they shall not defeat him. Only I. Only Zenon.”

* * *

Having finished watching Doctor Who (Turned off by the sheer awfulness of the flatulent Slitheen), he had decided to key in the Island's defences through his laptop. Tapping in passwords, setting up detection systems, and in the end, he tapped on the keyboard, finishing slowly with a little flourish.

“Phew.” he said to himself. “Finally done. I'm conked.”

Leaping nimbly to the top of his bed, Final threw back the blue tinted covers, tucked himself in, and lay his head on the pillow, dropping off quickly into a calm and dreamless sleep. The look on his face was one of perfect serenity.

As he slept, he did not see the record of the island flash up a display indicating that there were in fact 32 current occupants of the island, 30 of them hiving in to the Angel Valley Zone.

* * *

These 30 warriors were all approaching through the sandy beaches and lush forest that led to the Zone. The Italian plumber at the front of the group consulted a small radio tracking device he had been given by Halix.

“It's-a this way! To-a the Green Hill Zone!”

One of the other participants, a small amorphous pink blob, who had been captured by GUN after falling through a portal in the Dreamworld, wondered if this plumber was Italian at all, or just putting on an accent to enhance his rather bland character. With a small shrug of his almost undefinable shoulders, and a sigh, the blob followed.

* * *

Around 2 hours later, Final was still fast asleep, his eyelids slightly flickering as he passed through the REM phase of sleep. He was woken abruptly as a large red turtle shell flew through the window of his room, with a shatter of glass, and struck him squarely on the back of the head, bouncing to the ground below.

Jumping up in shock, and clutching the affected area, he let out a loud shout.

“SMEG IT!”

He leapt off the bed, buckling his knees slightly as he landed. He grabbed a tissue from his desk, and pressed it against the area of head that had been hit. He pulled it away and saw that it had been stained red with his blood. Disgusting. He threw the tissue away, turned around angrily, and stomped down the spiral staircase that went down around the walls of his house, yelling as he went.

“Whoever did this, you are so dead!”

As he strode across the living room at the bottom of the house and out of the door, he saw a single figure, that of the criminal known as Mario.

“Escaped from jail, huh, Mario? Why don't you smeg off back to the Mushroom Kingdom Zone?”

“Do-a not insult me, kid.”

“Why not? You deserve nothing but contempt. Couldn't even be bothered to walk into my house to try and attack me. Had to throw a shell at me. I expect you to pay for that window, by the way. That is, if you can get any money working down the sewers, you overblown plumber.”

“We-a are here to kill-a you, Final.”

“We? Speaking in the third person now, are you?”

“No-a.”

As Final stared at the diminutive ex-plumber, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, another figure moving from behind one of the Green Hill Zone's numerous bushes. Then another, from behind a loop. And another. Within a minute or so, all 29 of the Battle Royale participants were standing behind Mario. Final looked at the group, anxiously. Many of them carried weapons. Others looked dangerous even without them.

“Interesting. So, you are actually a threat. But are you a smart one?”

“What do you mean?” Asked one of the crowd, a tall blonde man wearing a grey hooded top over a white shirt, and black denim jeans. He looked tough, but not the smartest individual.

“Well, say I asked your group a riddle, and you got it, I'd make it a lot easier for you lot.”

“Sounds fair.”

“Right then. What has long hair, glasses, and runs very fast?”

A few of the stupider combatants looked down at the ground, concentrating. As they did this, Final span around, and ran as fast as he could through the grass of the Green Hill Zone, leaping across platforms, and round loops. Though some tried to follow, Final had a head start, and was too fast for the slower characters.

“So...” Said the blonde man to the remaining contenders, “Has anyone got it yet?”

* * *

Eventually, Final found himself leaping through the spike-pit-filled area that he had always found awkward to travel through. As he landed on one of the large pillars that moved up and down, he crouched down, and pushed himself over the large gap, breathing a sigh of relief as he safely landed on the middle platform. But as he rose to his feet, he noticed that there was someone already standing there.

It looked like a hedgehog, cloaked in darkness. His red eyes stared at the human opposite him. Although Final did not know it, it was the creature known as Zenon Kazuo Zachary.

“What the heck are you supposed to be?” Asked Final in a halting tone. This guy looked like something out of his nightmares.

“Be aware...” Growled the creature, “That I am here to eliminate you.” Final looked at him, and let out a groan.

“Oh, so you're just part of that mob?” He asked, wearily.

“No.” Replied the demonic form, surprising him slightly. “My name is Zenon, and...”

Behind Final, there was a thud, as the person who had questioned him earlier landed on the rising platform. He was out of breath, and angry looking. The laughs of his allies rang through his ears, making him redder by the minute.

“Nobody makes a fool out of me!” Yelled the man, glaring at Final, who had no reaction, other than a smirk.

“No. I think you're good enough at it yourself.”

“You are so-” Began the reddening man, before Zenon began to glow with energy, and yelled to the sky in a demonic tone.

“DARK SOUL!”

Above them, a large ball of crackling dark energy floated down, seeming to absorb the light around it. The ball span around their opponent, and then encompassed him. He began to thrash around violently, but then the ball faded away, and the man was left on his knees, scorched and hurt.

“- Dead.” He finished his previous sentence, but then Zenon shot a bolt of lightning from his hand, which seemed to grab the human, and pull him forward. Straight down. Onto the spikes. A pool of blood erupted from the middle of his back, followed by the steel point.

“Whoa.” Said Final. That was his only reaction. “So, you want to fight me?”

“Yes. And kill you.”

“Well, wouldn't it make it a whole lot easier if you helped me clear this area of the fighters first?”

“True. You've got a deal.”

* * *

Unbeknownst to the pair, far away in Halix's office, the General, leaning back in his chair, gave off a small chuckle as he saw one of the red names on his large projector display fade to grey. It had started.

* * *

Around an hour later, Final pulled his laptop from the shelf of his bedroom, and walked outside to the Green Hill Zone's lush exterior. Opening the laptop, waiting a minute for the Acer system screens to fade away, and the actual operating system, Veranda 2450, began to load. As the operating system displayed his desktop, he clicked on the icon of his smiling face that was labelled “Zone Scan”. Selecting the Green Hill Zone from a drop down menu, he entered an 8 digit password, and a window popped up, with a list of occupants, and locations.

Ok, there was him. The human. Then there were just two others in the zone, in close proximity. A rabbit, and... Species unknown. Odd. Final had thought he had been pretty thorough with the species list. He'd even included Mutant Robot Sky Fish! Ah well, a problem for later. His eyes flashed back down to the screen in confusion as the rabbit's icon disappeared. He shut the lid of the laptop, putting it into Hibernate mode, wandered over to the area that the two figures were in, laptop tucked between his arm, and realised what had happened.

Zenon was standing there, next to a blue rabbit. It was clearly dead, and all 4 of its limbs were torn from their natural places. The cloaked one was now wearing these limbs round his neck like a demented necklace.

“Please tell me you can explain this.”

“A rabbits foot is lucky. Imagine how lucky 4 legs are.” Smirked the demonic hedgehog, chucking the necklace to the ground.

“Ooo..Kay then. Anyway, that was the last of the competitors in the zone, so... Are you ready?”

“I was born ready, Final.”

“Yeah, but are you ready now?”

“Um... Yep.”

“Pity.”

“Yes. It is a pity. For now, this will be the end of your short life.”

“Oh, I dunno. Maybe I'll kill you.”

At this, Zenon looked towards the sky, and let out a huge guffaw. He pointed at Final, muttering something between shallow laughs. Then he looked up, at the rather frustrated Final.

“Wait... You were serious? Sorry, but you're pretty much dead. Prepare to fight.”

Zenon reached for a black belt that was previously indistinguishable before. Final was unsure about whether he had worn it before, or if it had just appeared as a useful plot device.

From the belt, Zenon pulled a small black cylinder. This was like the fashion version of the Disaster Area spaceship from The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy, thought Final. He was slightly surprised to see the small cylinder erupt with light, a thick red laser beam emerging from it.

“So, you have a beamsabre.”

“Yes. Neat avoidance of copyright there, by the way.”

“Ta.”

A second later, Final thrust his hand between the buttons of his shirt, and pulled out a smaller, silver cylinder. Flicking it out, a thick green beam emerged.

“Where did you get a beamsabre?” Zenon asked in a surprised, almost awed tone.

“Tenth Planet. Sci-fi shop in a place called London. Pretty cool place.” Replied Final nonchalantly.

“Interesting.” Replied Zenon in a tone which implied it was not at all interesting.

Zenon jumped into the air, and hovering slightly, swung his beamsabre in front of him, in order to cross the blade of Final's weapon. As the two stared, the blue plastic of the replica weapon Final was holding fell to the ground with a slight clatter. Zenon raised an eyebrow. For a moment, all was still.

“They never predicted those things would break.” Said Final. “The warranty was set for 460 years. It ended yesterday.” He looked at the ground forlornly. “Just my luck.”

Zenon floated back to the ground with the hint of a smirk hidden behind the mask. He pointed his genuine weapon at Final's throat. The boy stared for a second, then began to tread backwards, picking up speed as he went, before cartwheeling so he could face the right direction. He leapt over a fence nimbly.

“The hunt is on.” Said Zenon. He ran straight forward, without the flourishes Final added to his movement. A moment later, he crashed straight through the fence, and carried on.

* * *

The chase took Final and Zenon all over the island. They raced between zones, and ducked through the brown air tunnels that connected them.

At one point, Zenon ran along a small platform in the Launch Base Zone, everything below flooded. Behind him lay one of the large tubes that Sonic and others had used to transport themselves around the zone. He surveyed the watery landscape. No sign of Final.

“Hurm. He must have escaped. How did he, of all people, manage to give me the slip?”

The creature span on his feet, and flew back the other way, hovering slightly above the ground. As he left, Final popped his head out of the tube, and chuckled at how he had managed to fool the creature. Then, the door of the tube shut, and as Final's eyes widened, shocked. The tube began to spin round and around, and then shot off around the tubes that filled the sky, Final bouncing off the round wall inside.

* * *

Later yet, a slightly battered Final had backtracked to the Carnival Night Zone. He was just reaching the edge of one of the regions of the zone, distinguishable because of the multiple energy tubes that surrounded the corridor, when the psycho had appeared, cornering him. Final looked around, but the corridor had no branches on either side, and so he was stuck, with the psychotic creature backing him towards a wall.

“Game over, Final.” Snarled the creature.

“Nuh uh!” Shouted Final petulantly. “I've got a continue left!”

He punched a large switch on the wall, and above them, a large tube began to hum with energy. Final smirked at his foe, before he was sucked up the tube like a stray bit of drink up a straw. Zenon looked at the empty corridor with anger.

“I hate him so much!” Yelled the frustrated figure.

* * *

Finally, Zenon managed to catch up with Final, leading to a frantic chase through the Hidden Palace Zone. They jumped through the caverns, over the waterfalls, and into the tunnels. Then, as they went into the crystalline emerald chamber, filled with the Super Emeralds of the island, fully illuminated, Final halted below the Master Emerald. Zenon skidded to a halt in front of him.

“So, is this where you have chosen to die? A worthy setting.”

“You didn't read the first book,” accused Final in a condescending tone. “Did you? Hmm?”

There was an almighty crash that seemed to fill the chamber. The ground shook, and Zenon was momentarily thrown from his feet, while Final remained perfectly stable.

“What in the name of all that is holy was that?”

“Oh, just the fourth wall breaking. You get used to it after a while.”

“Right... So, why did you come here, then?”

“Basic maths question, Zenny. Super Emeralds, plus Master Emerald, plus me, equals Hyper Final!”

Final leapt into the air, spinning as he went. When he reached the apex of his jump, he threw his arms down, and his spiky hair began to rise and jut out in an upward direction. Then it turned green. His skin also turned to an unnatural yellow, and his shirt became darker, with the blue patterns becoming reds and oranges. Final seemed to radiate power in this form, and he let out a booming tone that echoed around the chamber.

“I... Am Hyper Final.”

Then, lowering to the ground, he began to giggle, and promptly set off along the chamber with a series of handstands and forward rolls, before doing a full front flip into the transporter to the Sky Sanctuary Zone, and promptly flickered out of view in a blur of blue light. Zenon made no attempt to follow. He just stood there.

“...”

He appeared momentarily stunned.

“...”

Finally, he spoke. Two words, filled with an infinite void of both confusion and despair.

“Jesus wept...”

* * *

And so the chase continued. Hyper Final flew through the flat areas of the Sky Sanctuary Zone, and when Zenon got close, he dropped to the floor and span around and around in a circle, shooting off in another direction after a few seconds.

As Zenon lost some ground on the hyperactive hyperform, he overcompensated and began to shoot plasma bursts from his hand, which in addition to destroying a few statues behind him, shot him forward at a much faster rate. But as he saw a large floating wall in front of them, and Hyper Final doing a forward roll into a passage below the wall, Zenon only had enough time to utter a small expletive before he crushed into the wall, embedding himself in the soft rock.

Hyper Final halted, and looked back through the gap between the walls.

“Hee hee, looks like you got hurt, Mister unidentified creature!”

Zenon looked down into the grinning face of his foe.

“You semi-evolved simian. I'll get you this time.”

He crawled quickly along the ground in a rather undignified way, after the boy. As Final ran up one of the large corrugated green pillars of the zone, Zenon pulled his beamsabre from his belt, and slashed through the bottom of the pillar. The bottom began to disintegrate, and he jumped up to the platform that ran all the way around. Running quickly along to avoid the disintegration, he reached the top, leaving just him and Final.

“No way out this time, Hyper boy.” Breathed Zenon.

Final looked from side to side, as if to confirm what Zenon said, bobbing on his tiptoes as he looked. Seeing there was no way out either way, he looked at his foe.

“You're boring!”

He jumped backwards, off the platform, letting out a high pitched “Whee!” noise as he went.

“What the hell?” Shouted Zenon, as he watched the boy fall down, off the platforms of the Sky Sanctuary Zone, skidding down the mountain below, crashing through undergrowth, and finally off a plateau, tumbling far below, out of the sight of Zenon. He felt a certain satisfaction in knowing he was indirectly responsible for Final's death, but disappointment that he couldn't have given him a more traditional, not to mention painful, demise.

After falling from the plateau, Final tumbled far down into the Green Hill Zone, striking the large grey brick on the side of his house with his head, with tremendous force. The Hyper form faded, leaving Final lying there, coated in dirt and grime, his shirt torn, blood flowing from the small wounds beneath the tears. Not moving.

At this point, the tracer device gave off a small alarm tone, with the message “Tracer Damage! Shut-down!” ringing out in the usual cheery voice, but slightly distorted.

* * *

Far away, on South Island, General Halix was meditating in the prisoner's old room in the depths of the base. At this point, a small green Mogurin-like robot trundled into the room.

“Mr Halix, sir? My buddy Scratch said to tell you that the tracer's stopped showing life signs, and so the Final is over.”

“You mean Final is dead?”

“Um... I think so.”

“Fantastic. Activate the collars, and send out a message.”

“Sir?”

“Entirely expendable. That's what these prisoners are. Now that Final is dead, the island is mine. And they're on my property. Now that the mission is complete... The games can begin.”

The Mogurin went over to a control panel and keyed in a few commands awkwardly with the end of its drill hand. It carried over a microphone to Halix between its arms. He picked it up, and began to speak.

“Well well well! You have exceeded all my expectations. Final dead, with only 4 fatalities. However, I still have a few problems. Namely, you. You are taking up space on my island. So I have a simple solution. I don't need to dispose of you. I'll let you dispose of each other. Kill each other, until only one survives...”

He paused for impact. An excellent pause. Let everything sink in.

“I think it is time to explain the collars that you are wearing. All of you, except one, must die by the end of the third day. If you do not, all the collars will explode. Also, at certain times, the different zones will become danger zones. The first of these zones will be the Hidden Palace. I will tell you the next danger zone in 3 hours time. If nobody has died by the time I announce the third danger zone, 5 zones will become danger zones.”

He breathed in. If only Final was alive. This would torture his every moment.

“Do me proud, my little warriors. Do me proud.”

* * *

We can only imagine what Halix would have thought at that moment were he to see what really happened to Final. While the boy would undoubtedly have died in normal circumstances, he was still in his Hyper form, meaning that the power of the Master Emerald was flowing through his veins. This protection allowed Final to survive. Alive, but a sitting duck for any competent attacker.

A robot approached, one of the BR contenders. It was large, bulky, and metallic. It had no feet, only a circular steel base, and it thus had to hop everywhere. The body of this robot was a large trapezoid, painted a shining crimson colour, steel arms sticking Its face was a round steel ball, which had a purple mask-like plate on the front of it, oddly resembling a games controller.

“Hey, boomer!” It shouted in a metallic voice at the unconscious Final, who stirred slightly at the voice.

Rolling over onto his side, Final touched his head, which was hurting like hell. He'd obviously landed on it. Oddly enough, there was no blood. The last vestiges of Master Emerald energy, he supposed. If it could keep the island floating, it could certainly stop him being hurt by crashing into his house. Or rather, that large grey brick on the side that was now severely damaged beyond repair. At least he didn't land a meter to the right.

He sat up, and suddenly realised the presence of the robot, which he felt he was able to recognise. Of course, that mascot for Sonic The Comic, a comic with childish versions of his adventures, which he had followed for a short time when living in Station Square, before realising Sonic was a ego-filled and overblown moron. Hindsight is all.

“Aren't you Megadroid?”

“That I am, you stupid hume!”

Oh Cox. His dialogue was just as cheesy in real life as it was in the comic.

“Mr Megadroid, allow me to introduce myself. I am the honourable Final Beyond, owner and sole resident of Angel Island.”

“'Fraid I've gotta kill you, Finale! The humes who think they're in charge have given me a mission.”

“Don't interrupt. I am Final Beyond, who sent in a letter to your comic requesting a side story about the 3 residents of Station Square who saved the city from Eggman. You never even printed my letter, let alone made the comic. So, for every child who has ever had a letter sent in but not printed, I offer you this.”

Final pulled his hands back behind his chest,pressed them together, and then he thrust them forward, yelling as he did, hoping this thing would work.

“HADOUKEN!”

A large ball of blue fire issued forth from his outstretched hands. The ball impacted in the centre of Megadroid's chest, buckling it, and scorching the surrounding area. Small sparks flew from the exposed circuitry. Awesome. It worked.

“Now then, I'd say we're even for the whole letter printing thing. So, just that little matter of invading my island without permission and attempting to murder me along with your little buddies.”

At this point, Final stepped backwards twice, and then ran forward, jumping into the air. His jump carried him forward, and he stuck his right foot forward, bending the left leg towards him. Now this one, he knew this would work.

“KICK-IN-THE-FACE-A ROUKEN!”

The right foot impacted squarely on the round head of Megadroid, knocking his head from its mooring. A fountain of sparks erupted from the linking point. Final emerged from this fiery curtain on the other side, and landed on the ground with a triumphant smile.

“Final wins. Flawless Victory.”

Kicking the main body of Megadroid over as he went, Final trudged back through the grass into his house. Picking his laptop from a desk, he went upstairs, and plugged it into the mains adaptor, and put a small network cable. He quickly opened it from its hibernate status, and did a full island scan.

“27 other inhabitants, apart from me... So there's 26 of that mob left, and 4 dead. Odd. I only saw 3. Guess that psycho dude Zenon has got around.”

* * *

Final was correct in his assumption. While he had lain unconscious, a surreal event had taken place in the Hidden Palace Zone.

A green and black hedgehog jumped down a large gap as he ran towards the transporter to the Sky Sanctuary Zone. This zone would turn Danger Zone in 3 minutes. He ground to a halt and stared up at the structure, making sure it was the right one. The carving on top indicated that it was. So, he made to jump into it, when an invisible force pushed him back against the wall behind him.

From the darkness behind the transporter walked Zenon.

“What the heck are ya doing to me?” Shouted the hedgehog, whose name was Ashura.

“Holding you against this wall, it seems.” Replied the psycho coolly.

“But this place goes Danger Zone in 3 minutes!”

“So, tell me a little about yourself. Your name, perhaps?”

“Ashura! My name's Ashura!” Said the hedgehog desperately.

“Hmm... Now why does that name seem oddly pertinent? Like something from my past... Ah well, no matter.”

“Are you gonna let me go now?”

“Actually, I think not. It would be far more amusing to stand here and watch you die.”

“Come on, hedgehog to hedgehog! Let me go, damn you!”

“Hedgehogs can't do this power-of-the-mind thing at this point of time, can they? No, my pointy headed chum, I'm a Dream Demon.”

“Well... Can you let me go anyway?” Pleaded the hedgehog.

“Nah.” Replied Zenon, calmly as ever.

The collar around the neck of the hedgehog began to bleep, and a small red light on the front began to flash. He glanced down, then back at the Dream Demon.

“You son of a -”

Then the collar exploded, and a shower of gore coated the walls and surrounding objects. Zenon wiped a fragment of brain from his mask, and pumped his fist into the sky with delight.

“I have got to get me one of those!”

* * *

Outside Final's house, two mismatched characters waited impatiently. One of them was one of the P-series of genetically engineered lifeforms, created for children as pets, or a variant of one. This one seemed less cute and cuddly than the typical monsters created for this range. It was roughly humanoid, but with a pointed, angular face, and a light purple tinted body. Next to it stood a chibi-ish robot, its body a blue sleek metal, and the limbs white. On its feet and hands, it wore pink clothes. Gloves on the hands, shoes on the feet. A small pink aerial emerged from the white helmet it wore on its head.

“So, do you think that guy's going to come out? Do ya?”

“I have no idea. He has to come out eventually, but whether he will before the time is up... Remains a mystery.”

“I bet ya I can get him out here!”

“Oh Creator. Not again.”

The small chibi robot crouched down, and from behind it, a large round bomb dropped.

“Where, might I ask, did that come from?”

“Ya don't wanna know!”

After saying this, the small robot picked up the bomb, and expertly threw it right through Final's window. A scream came from inside, and there was a clamour as Final dashed towards the stairs, shouting as he went.

“Cox in Heaven! Not another house, not another house! Anything but that!”

Then, a large orange explosion destroyed the top half of the house, fabric and splinters of wood scattering everywhere. The yellow rocks rained down on the long grass. And then, there was silence. Smoke drifted from the top of the house, which was now much lower down than before. From the smoke rose a solitary figure. It was Final. And he was angry.

“You destroyed my house.”

“I thought that Final was dead.”

“I was just resting. Pining for the fjords.” Said Final, with heavy sarcasm in his imitation of Michael Palin's voice.

“Interesting use of 20th Century humour. I guess you really are Final.” Said the GELF, with a shrug.

“The one and only. So, as I was saying, you destroyed my house.”

“Yes. Well, he did. I watched.”

“Snitch!” shouted the robot at his friend.

“You both invaded to try and kill me, so I hold you all equally to blame.”

“Yes, I suppose I can understand that.”

“Thank you. I hope you'll be able to understand this as well.”

Final concentrated, and a large rake popped up by his side. Glaring at it, the wooden pole of the rake set on fire, but did not crumble or burn. This superheated the metal top beside it. The rake began to spin, over and over, and when it was little more than a flaming blur, it shot towards the two participants, practically ripping them apart in a blazing shower of gore and sparks. Then, Final shot his gaze downwards, and stopped focusing on the rake. It crumbled to dust in mid air, and was soon almost completely gone. Only the blood stained grass showed the evidence of what had happened.

From behind a small ridge, Final heard a smooth yet neutral voice ring out.

“I came to offer you my assistance, but it seems to me you don't need it.”

As the figure walked over the ridge, and towards the house, Final realised suddenly who it was. A black hedgehog, red stripes along his spines.

“Shadow!”

* * *

Meanwhile, Zenon was strolling through the Mushroom Hill Zone, black robes turned crimson from the blood of his victims.

Then, from behind one of the oversized mushrooms, a small human figure jumped out, camouflaged in green tunic and brown belt. He swung a sword at the Dream Demon, almost slicing one of the quills from the Demon's head. Zenon span around, and glared at his foe.

“Ok, pointy ears. Big mistake.”

The human made no reply, only gave another slash of the sword. Zenon stepped back, ready for battle, and pulled out his beamsabre. The laser erupted, and the two stood facing one another, swords in hand. The human slashed again, but as the blurring sword flashed downwards, the Dream Demon flashed his own blade towards it, cutting the steel blade neatly in two, the hewn edges dripping and melting.

The figure did not pause, and launched a kick which knocked the beamsabre from Zenon's hand. The high frequency laser immediately began to scorch the earth and set fire to the grass. The fire spread to the enlarged foliage, and within a minute, the entire area was an inferno. And in the middle of this ring of fire stood Zenon and the human.

Zenon shot a burst of fire from his hand, but the human backflipped above it, kicking against a tree beside him, giving him the momentum to dive at Zenon. The Dream Demon was knocked to the ground, the human on top of him landing a few solid punches to the face of the creature, the mask providing no cushion whatsoever.

Satisfied with the damage he had done, the human leapt back, about 3 feet away from his opponent. He pulled a device from his back, and a hook on a chain shot out from it, wrapping around the neck of Zenon.

“Nice trick.” Gurgled Zenon, gasping for air. “But weapons with chains have one problem.”

Rather than explaining, Zenon began to tug on the chain, pulling his foe towards him. The opponent dug his feet into the ground to slow his progress, but the Demon continued to drag the chain, and with a clatter, it fell from the hands of the camouflaged man and to the ground. Zenon quickly retrieved it, and reloaded the hook into the device at the other end.

The human charged at him, and punched Zenon to the ground, still grasping the device. They scuffled on the ground, rolling around, and for a time, it was impossible to see who was winning.

Then, there was a clicking sound, and the whoosh of the hook, as it propelled itself forward. Right through the forehead of the human. Zenon gave a sigh, and pushed the corpse from above him before the rigor mortis set in. Having a decomposing body stuck to your front was quite embarrassing.

“Looks like the calibre of these guys is higher than I thought. Not all bunnies and hedgehogs. I was relaxing... But I might have to get to the long haired one quicker.”

Then, after a dark glare at his opponent's body, he smiled.

“Good fight, dude. You did well, but reliance on gadgets led to your downfall. But hey, I bet that's still the best fight in this book.”

There was another gigantic crash, as the fourth wall broke once again. A few nearby trees fell down, and a rock shattered. And yet, the Dream Demon stood perfectly still.

“Hmm. Final was right, you do get used to it.”

* * *

Final and Shadow were strolling through the Green Hill Zone, talking.

“Right then, there's some enemies in the Ice Cap Zone. Let's head that way.”

“Very well. But tell me, Final. How are you able to display such unnatural powers, without even a Chaos Emerald?”

“Well, it's a long story. You know that about a year or so ago, we went into the Dreamworld, and we all took our turns trying to stop Krueger, or at least stop the power he got from fear. Well, while there, I absorbed the power of this large crystal, in order to beat Freddy. Ever since then, I've had all kinds of strange powers.”

“Which explains how you were able to use Chaos Control when Doctor Robotnik relaunched the Death Egg, correct?”

“Yep. Wish I could have done it before that. Would have helped a lot when Eggman was plotting his schemes.”

“The Dreamworld is certainly a strange place. I'm glad Krueger didn't gain that kind of power. So, one more little question.”

“Shoot.”

“Did you do anything to the Chaos Emerald when I gave it to you?”

“Well... I landed on it after I fell from the Egg. Poked a hole in my chest, too.”

“That explains a lot...” Said Shadow, wide eyed, reminiscing about using Chaos Control in Westopolis, only to warp to a strange underwater city, which UFOs were floating around serenely. That was a most unusual occurrence, and one that had disturbed Shadow.

“So... Shall we move on?”

“I think we should make our move tomorrow, chum.”

“Don't call me chum.”

“Ok, my pally pal of pallyness.”

“Or that.”

“Ok, mate.”

“Or that.”

“Fine, Shadow. Why do you have to be so formal? You even called Eggman 'Doctor'. His scientific degree just enabled him to try and take over the world. Nothing great about it.”

“I am Shadow the Hedgehog. A creation of Gerald Robotnik. I gained an unusual penchant for formal speech while living on the ARK. This is who I am!”

“Speech doesn't maketh the man.”

“I'm not a man.”

“Dude, you're not a dude?”

“I am a 'dude', as you would put it, but I am not a man, which would imply humanity. I am a hedgehog.”

“Shadow.... Forget it.”

The pair walked into the remains of Final's house making plans to head towards the Ice Cap Zone in the morning. It was going to be a tough time, and Final felt they would both need some sleep.

* * *

In the frozen caves, a figure waited. An armadillo. Once one of the heroes of Earth 2, but now disgraced. When Vector had decided that the Chaotix were to become detectives, he had kicked Mighty out of the group, claiming that 'the Chaotix only needs one power type'.

Since that fateful moment, Mighty had committed minor crimes, seeing if he could outfox (outarmadillo?) the Chaotix group and prove to Espio and Charmy that Vector wasn't as good a leader as he made out.

Of course, that had backfired when GUN had caught him in the act committing one of his crimes. Then they had shipped him off to their South Island base, and the rest was history.

Mighty was unsure about how long he could survive. So far, he had merely avoided the danger zones, and tried to avoid conflict. Despite his strength, Mighty was a pacifist, and meant no harm to Final or his allies. Back in the day, he knew Final as a friend of Alex and Manny, the first detectives in Station Square.

The Chaotix and Mizuno Investigations were allies back then. Somehow, he doubted that Vector would welcome the competition now. Probably trying to beat the other agencies to make a quick buck. Crocodiles.

As he heard echoing voices down the corridor, Mighty jumped behind a thick ice pillar, patting back the snow at the bottom to provide more cover. Ducking into the small crevice he had made, he waited, listening to the voices behind him.

* * *

“I know the Chaos Blast is good, but my way is just so simple. See, you grab the rake, and then-”

“Wait.”

“Wait? For what?”

“I sense a presence.”

“No you don't, you just looked at my laptop. It says there's someone near us.”

“Congratulations. Ruin my mystique.”

“Whatever. So, come out, come out wherever you are, mystery.... armadillo?”

They saw a hint of red behind one of the large ice pillars, and Shadow reacted, yelling out “Chaos Spear!”, creating a large jet of yellow light, which shattered the thick ice like a pane of glass. Behind it, Mighty rolled into a ball, and span below the shards of ice towards the pair. Then, when he approached them, he spun backwards, unrolling, and landed on his feet.

“Mighty?” Exclaimed Final in surprise.

“Final. Thought you were dead. Glad you're not. If we have to fight, then that's fine. But believe me, I'm not more a fan of this than you are.”

“What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Chaotix?”

“Long story. Roughly 200 words when summarised. Let's just say Vector's not just obsessed with music, but with power.”

“Aha. Never did like that crocodile. So, since you're not fighting, why not join up with us? Easier than hiding.”

“Sure!” Said the armadillo with a smile. Then this smile dropped slightly, as he said softly “After all... I've got nobody else to go to.”

Final stepped forward exuberantly and slapped their hands together in a pile.

“Ah yeah baby, this makes us a team!”

Mighty and Shadow stared at each other in shock, then both glared at Final. Under their stares, Final began to feel uncomfortable.

“Sorry guys. No more cheesy dialogue from me.”

“I wish I could believe that.”

The conversation was cut short as a huge crackling ball of electricity materialised, blasting the trio back against the remains of the ice pillar, behind which lay a series of jagged icy spikes. The static made Shadow's quills stand on end, making him look even more like Super Sonic than before.

From the centre of the shifting and expanding ball, a small figure appeared, first faintly, then more clearly. It was an android, orange in colour, with a black rubbery material covering its arms and legs. Atop its head was a large orange helmet, with a spike pointing behind it.

“Who are you?” Exclaimed Mighty.

“I am Pulse.”

“Pulse?” Said Final, mockingly. “Oh be still, my beating heart.”

“Silence!” Shouted the robot. “I am the perfect fusion of organic material and circuitry. And the destined victor of the Battle Royale. And you are the insects on the ground that I will defeat.”

“Insects, hardly.” Sniggered Final. “I'm a Human and they're Mobians. You're closer to an insect than us. Cox knows Eggman made enough robot insects.”

“I am not a robot! I am an android!”

“And I'm some sort of hedgehog thing made by Gerald Robotnik.” Said Shadow.

“And I'm an armadillo.” Said Mighty.

“I'm Final!” said he, with a cheesy grin.

“Oh? You survived? Odd. Halix must have been wrong. No matter. I'll correct his mistake.”

The android charged up a smaller ball of crackling electricity around its fist, and as a blast of heat from its shoes melted the ice below, sending a torrent of droplets backwards, it charged forwards towards the group, when Shadow reached forward and closed his eyes.

In the blink of an eye, Pulse's trajectory altered, and he was suddenly above them, his momentum pushing him straight into the spikes. As the spikes pierced through both his organic parts and circuit boards, he let out a small electric whine.

“Curse you, Chaos Control.”

Then the light behind his eyes faded, and the body melted into a pool of liquid metal and blood, which quickly dissipated into the slushy snow beneath them.

“Heh, what a moron. Falling on the spikes. Idiot.” Final taunted his fallen foe. Shadow glanced at him with annoyance.

“Chaos Control!”

There was a flash of light, and Final was suddenly above the spikes. He tried to land as safely as he could, pushing his feet against two of the spikes, and using his hands to balance himself. But one of the spikes was pushing itself into his palm.

“Oh dramatic irony!” He yelled to the heavens, “Why do you mock me?”

There was another flash, and he was back on the snow, a trickle of blood dying the white flakes red.

“Learn a little grace in victory, Final. There's such a thing as a sore winner.” Said Shadow, disdain in his voice.

“Shadow. My humour is what keeps me going through this. Everyone has their own ways of coping with difficult situations. Imagine how you'd cope seeing scientists getting killed on the ARK again. Battle Royales are a sore spot, ok?”

“Why might that be?”

“Doesn't matter now. We've got a larger party, let's just get through the rest of these guys, 'kay?”

“Very well.”

* * *

As they continued on their way through the Ice Cap Zone, they were in fact heading closer towards Zenon, who was walking determined through the Chrome Gadget Zone. The industrial heart of the Island, permanently dark under the shadow of the Flying Battery. Polluted as London Underground on a bad day.

Zenon was not at all impressed by the area. Dark and broody it may be, but the smell was horrible. It reminded him of rotten eggs.

Then, one such egg hit him in the side of the head. He turned round to see a young boy, seemingly dressed as a chicken. Ah, to be young, stupid, and utterly doomed again.

“Oh-key-dokey. So, you are dressed as a chicken. And you're throwing eggs. Now, at the moment, I don't think I want to know where these come from. Seeing as one just hit my head, I don't think I will ever want to know. So, newbie, why don't we just go through the essentials. Name?”

“I'm the Eggboy!”

“Of course you are. I suppose you have the not-quite-a-master-plan? Why base yourself on eggs? Even without the mad scientist, it's not the most pleasant of foodstuffs to base yourself on.”

“... Shut up, that's why!”

“Ah, how eloquent.”

“Shut it! I'll beat you! Then you'll be sorry!”

“Oh, I would have thought you'd learn a few proverbs. Like.... Never count your chickens before they've hatched.”

Zenon threw down his arms, and in as dark a tone as he could muster, which was pretty impressive, with flashy effects that probably did nothing, but looked cool, he shouted at the sky.

“DARK EGG!”

“Dark... Egg?” Replied the boy, with a smirk. “How stupid d'ya think I am?”

At this point, a massive egg fell from the Flying Battery above, and as the boy glanced up, he was crushed in a gooey mess.

“Looks like the yolk's on him.” Said Zenon, with a grin.

* * *

“So where are we going?” Asked Shadow, with a slight frown.

“To where my old house was. You know, the one Knuckles was buried in.” Replied Final, with bitterness in his voice.

“Don't blame me for that one. Sonic had a crazy idea.”

“Jerk.” Muttered Final.

“Faker.” Added Shadow, in the same tone.

“He seemed alright to me.” Chipped in Mighty.

“So, why are we going there, Final? The house was destroyed by the Death Egg shortly before I left. Was it not?”

“Yeah,” Agreed Final. “But the garage wasn't.”

“That plane of yours?”

“Almost.”

“Your vagueness does not help.”

“It might do.”

“GAH!”

“Anyway, yeah, we're going to get a vehicle to take us to South Island. There used to be teleports, but I removed them after Knuckles died. The best way would be through the Sandopolis Zone, but there's an unusual build up of combatants there, so I think we should sneak through the Lava Reef Zone to the end of the Zone, then into the Pyramid that takes us to Hidden Palace.”

“I see. How do we reach the Lava Reef Zone?”

“The smaller pyramids in this Desert Palace Zone and the Sandopolis Zone itself actually contain passages to the lower levels of the island. This one here leads to the beginnings of the zone. So, watch your step near the pools of lava.”

* * *

Zenon was creeping through the Azure Lake Zone towards a small, electric yellow GELF. It was about the size of a small Mobian, but with stunted proportions. Its legs and arms were tiny in comparison to its balloon like body. It reminded him of one of the creatures from an anime he watched occasionally. Cox almighty, he hated that thing.

Zenon decided that killing this thing would be the closest he could get to killing the animated creature, and so he stood behind it, his hands glowing. A tall dome of fire grew around him, spewing flames in every direction. Zenon began to speak in the dark tone that indicated an attack.

“Dark...Pyro...”

As the creature turned to face him, he let out the final word, almost inaudibly.

“Angel!”

A jet of searing energy shot forward, obliterating both the creature and a nearby mountain.

“That felt SO good.” Said Zenon, ecstatically.

* * *

“Oh. I must have taken the wrong fork a few miles back.” Said Final with a frown, looking at how their path was blocked with a network of lava-carrying pipes.

“Well, I guess we'll just have to turn back!” Said Mighty, groaning.

“If we went the wrong way, then where did that ninja come from?” Asked Final.

“Ninja?” Demanded Shadow.

Then, behind them, a black clothed ninja slipped out of the darkness, katana in hand.

“Yeah, that one.” Said Final, before turning back to the assassin. “So, good sir ninja, being aware that your leader plans to kill you all off, do you not feel that adding your adept talents to our little group would serve you better?”

“That is of no concern to me. I am a ninja. I have been given a mission. I will complete it.”

“You disappoint me. Now let us pass, ninja.”

“None shall pass.”

“I am Final, ruler of this island, and I say I shall pass!”

“None shall pass.”

“Don't make me cut off both of your arms, then both of your legs, and leave you here threatening to bite our legs off.”

“I do not understand.”

“Ah, skip it.” Sighed Final. He noticed one of the pipes above the ninja, and gestured to Shadow. Time froze for a second.

“What was that?” Asked the ninja.

“What was what?” Stalled Final.

“The valve above you has moved. Chaos Control, I presume?”

“Indeed.” Said Shadow.

“What is the purpose of this exercise?”

“To cool us off.”

“How would that work?”

“Mighty will demonstrate for you, if you wish.”

At this signal, the armadillo grabbed the valve on the pipes behind them, and twisted it. A flow of lava shot down the pipes and cascaded onto the ninja, who, all credit to him, remained silent even as his body was burnt away.

“When should we stop the flow?” Asked Mighty, who looked slightly disturbed.

“Give it five minutes.” Said Final, sighing contentedly, as if waking from a pleasant dream. Shadow frowned, but he did not voice his disapproval as before. He realised now that his humour was a crutch for something. Of what it was a crutch for, Shadow had no idea.

* * *

At last, the small gang of heroes left the underground tunnels and their intolerable heat, coming out of the door of a large pyramid.

Final walked from this pyramid to another, much smaller pyramid, one of a trio of such structures that were around.

“Is this the passage to Hidden Palace?” Asked Shadow.

“No.” Replied Final, to the surprise of the hedgehog. “This is my toilet.

“I see. And we are to wait here?”

“Yeah, unless you want to come in with me.”

“No thank you.” Said Shadow distastefully.

“Right then. See you in a minute.”

As Final stepped into the door of the pyramid, the heavy stone door slammed into the soft sand below with a thud.

“Was it meant to do that?” Asked Mighty, agitated

“Probably.” Sighed Shadow. “Final likes extravagant and... Stupid touches like that.”

* * *

Inside the pyramid, Final walked through a narrow passageway, glancing in awe at the murals on either side. They depicted strange events. A series of tall, bulky figures with arched skulls, marching towards an emerald.
A strand of DNA shattering, the small parts dropping onto a shapeless form below. Four bolts of lightning striking down onto the figure of an echidna. Final studied this one closely. The bolts seemed to emerge from four tubes, which connected to a larger object above. Final shivered. This bizarre mural reminded him of Freddy Krueger's clawed glove. With a gasp, Final realised that it may well have been Freddy's glove. Indeed, it may represent the death of Knuckles. Lightning certainly seemed a likely cause of the near-destruction of Knuckles' physical form.

Final was amazed at the foresight of the Echidna species. They had predicted many significant events with their murals. The destruction of Eggman's machines by Super Sonic. The release of Perfect Chaos, found in the depths of the Marble Garden Zone. And now, the death of Knuckles. Final shuddered to think what the other murals predicted. Aliens? The breakdown of his DNA?

Anyway, toilet time, thought Final, derailing this train of thought. He strolled through a door at the end of the corridor, polished and white, looking decidedly out of place amongst the Egyptian feel that the pyramid generally exhibited.

But as he stepped through the door, he realised that he was not alone. But not in the deep mysterious Doctor Who way. There was just a pulsating black monster in the room with him. Strands of black organic material flickered over a large humanoid form.

“What the hell are you supposed to be?”

“We are Venom!” Growled the creature.

“Oh... Um... Are we?” Said Final.

The creature charged towards him, but the unnatural proportions of the creature allowed Final to do a forward roll beneath his legs, and do a handspring that landed him neatly on the closed seat of the toilet.

“I'm glad you didn't leave the seat up.” Said Final, dryly.

“We will destroy you!” Screeched Venom.

“What's with all this 'we' stuff?” Asked Final, with a raised eyebrow. “Are you royal or something?”

“No, we are not!”

Final breathed a sigh of relief, then screamed out, jumping from the seat with his arms outstretched, tumbling onto the creature and bringing it to the floor. The thing opened its mouth wide, and Final stared in horror at the rows of long, sharp teeth that resided within.

“COX ALMIGHTY!”

“There is no Cox here. Just us.”

“And me.”

“We were including you.”

“Oh, thanks.”

To Final's immense surprise, the creature released him from its grip. He stepped back a few paces, and glanced at Final.

“We want a proper battle.”

“Too bad.” Replied Final. The creature looked confused for a second, until Final continued. “You see, you have an insane advantage over me, and unless 'The Final Zone' becomes 'The Venom and Zenon Zone', which does have a catchier name, I must admit, then I'm going to have to win this battle. And to do that, I'll have to do something completely unexpected. Like... this.”

Final seemed to glow with energy, and then flashed forward in a blue blur. The blur encapsulated his symbiote foe, and after a second, a new entity appeared. It was of the same shape as Venom, but with brown spiky hair, purple markings around the eyes, and a white body, with blue legs. In short, it looked like symbiote version of Final.

“What are you doing to us?” Screeched out what still sounded like the voice of the alien creature. After a moment, a voice which was still reminiscent of the creature, but more noticeably akin to that of Final, replied.

“What I'm doing to us is merging us, so that when I use these freaky dreamworld powers to separate us, it will kill you in the process.”

The symbiote part of the fused being complained, but there was a sudden flash, and then there was just Final standing there, a few black tatters of what was once the symbiote on the floor.

“Well, that was unique.” Commented Final. “Now. Toilet time.”

As Final walked back towards the thankfully intact toilet, his tongue flicked out. It was long, red, and pointed. Final clapped a hand over his mouth in horror.

* * *

Zenon stared at another opponent, both of them looking uneasy beneath the heat of the blazing sun. This opponent was the small pink blob that had wondered about Mario's leadership skills earlier in the day. He had become separated from the group shortly after Final scarpered, and had since been attempting to find them again, using the power of his mind. He had found another trace of activity, and sought it out, only to find Zenon.

“Ooh. A pink blob. I'm shaking in my boots. What could something like you possibly do to a Dream Demon like me?”

The blob stared, and established a mind link.

“A Dream Angel? Impossible!” Said Zenon, shocked.

The blob gave only a small nod.

“Ah well, I'm not too concerned. After all, despite the fact that we're both dream residents, you're a blob, and I'm a psycho. Everything seems to be in my favour. What can you do to combat that?”

The blob gave no answer, merely opened its mouth wide and began to inhale. A large amount of sand began to flow towards him, together with Zenon.

“Well.” He commented dryly, as he span into the mouth of the creature. “This sucks.”

A second later, he was imprisoned within the small pink body of the creature. Gentle reader, you do not want to know what this feels like.

“This is unique.” He commented from inside, a slight echo emanating from the mouth of the blob. Then, there was a red glow, and the tip of Zenon's beamsabre emerged from the back of the creature, splitting it open as easily as one would open the zip on a tent door. Zenon stepped out, wiped his eyes free of blood, and casually walked off through the sand, ignoring the gory mess he had left behind, muttering about having to find Final.

A few days later, he would be stalked in his dreams by the blob, who had been reborn in the Dreamworld. He neither noticed nor cared.

* * *

“So, let me get this straight.” Said Shadow, in a very impatient tone. “You have almost insurmountable abilities from absorbing the power of the Dreamworld. Abilities you still are unable to understand or comprehend. So then you absorb the power of an alien symbiote. Don't you think that will make matters worse?”

“Worse? Apart from the crippling headaches, this power rocks!”

“Very well.” Sighed the hedgehog. “Just try not to absorb anything else.”

“Ok then.”

At this point, a robot ran towards the trio. It was clad in blue armour, a lighter blue being used on the limbs and torso of the mechanoid.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

Final readied himself, charging a ball of energy in his hands.

“Mr Hadouken, that's who.”

“No! Final!” Yelled Shadow, but it was too late. The energy ball struck the robot, who promptly exploded, circles of fire emanating from the point of contact.

“Final.” Said Shadow, extremely agitated. “That was Rock, a battle robot from the Earth colony planet Monsteropolis.”

“Dumb name for a planet.”

“I agree, but nonetheless, you should not have done that. Putting aside the fact that the robot was a hero, far more than you or I could claim, but he gained his power upon the destruction of his foes. How do you think that this energy would be transferred upon his destruction?”

“Oh.” Said Final. Then his pupils rolled back behind his eyelids, and he fainted. Shadow rushed to his side, and felt his pulse.

“His pulse is faster than a Crush 40 drum solo. This is bad. Very bad.”

Mighty gulped.

“Um... I can think of something worse.” He said, in a timid tone.

Shadow turned, and saw the remaining participants of the Battle Royale standing there, the sixteen warriors looking menacing indeed. It seemed that the group Final had detected hadn't stayed at the beginning of the Sandopolis Zone.

* * *

“So you decided not to kill each other?” Grimaced Shadow, looking at the plumber that led the group.

“A-yes.”

“And that sticking together would give you a better chance of survival?”

“A-yes.”

“So now, you will come forward individually for a hilarious yet massively predictable battle, based upon your own personal methods of attack?”

“A-no. We-a decided this would result in the deaths of many of our number, and so we are going to charge you all at once, killing you fairly instantly. ”

“Damn.”

“Stop-a the casual swearing.”

Making no reply, Shadow decided quickly on a way to solve both of their problems. He murmured three words to Mighty, instructing him, then shouted out two further words.

“Chaos Control!”

In a blaze of blue light, he sped through the open door of one of the pyramids. Inside was not the Egyptian décor that he expected, but a tunnel of jagged rocks, which Shadow promptly streamed down. This leg to an underground network of caves. Shadow propelled himself through the spaces in the rocks, past the waterfalls, over the damn fine glowy bridges, until he stopped, right besides a large green gemstone, that he recognised as the raw emerald that Final had explained to him about. Time was still frozen, but Shadow knew it would not be long until it would unfreeze, and Mighty would be on his own. He had to hurry.

Shadow lodged his body underneath the cut diamond shape of the emerald, levering it out. Eventually, the emerald moved aside, revealing a long green tunnel beneath. Shadow hopped in, and after a few short seconds, span out of the tunnel into a shining chamber. Above him, he saw the 7 podiums that held the Super Emeralds, and above them... The platform that held the Master Emerald, the crystals that adorned it reminding him of the overall shape of the island.

He hopped from platform to platform, trying to remember the words he had heard Knuckles say the first time he had encountered the heroes, while he was fighting the ugly Project Shadow prototype.

“The servers are the Seven Chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. For the safety of the island's master, you must release the Super Emeralds!”

For a moment, all was silent. Then, a cacophony of chiming noises filled the chamber, reflected by the crystals, that almost seemed to be singing as the noises changed to different pitches in their imperfect shapes.

One by one, the Super Emeralds rose from their podiums, spinning as they went. When they reached the top of their spin, they shrunk, until they looked only the size of the normal Chaos Emeralds. Taking care to put his own emerald away, so as not to confuse them, the hedgehog rushed to collect the seven emeralds. Without the control of the Master Emerald, Shadow presumed they must be as chaotic as his own emerald.

But he knew his own emerald was now exhausted, and so Chaos Control was impossible. He dared not to use the positive power of these emeralds, or it may stop his plan for Final. So, emeralds between his arms, he rushed back through the Hidden Palace towards the passages he knew led to the Sandopolis Zone. He just hoped Mighty had been able to hold off the invaders since Chaos Control wore off.

* * *

Mighty swung a punch at one of his foes, knocking them back into the crowd. The leader of the group, Mario, jumped forward and delivered an uppercut to the armadillo, one of his rings flying off with each juddering impact below his muzzle. As he landed, he saw what appeared to be a worm, but oddly suspended in a human-sized suit. In this respect, the worm's body seemed to be the head. But Mighty was focusing too much of human anatomy when attacking the suit, and the worm was able to pull its body out of the suit and whip Mighty with it. Mighty stumbled back, clutching the affected area. The worm took this opportunity to wrap itself around Mighty's small throat.

Mighty choked, while a human in a white Karate Gi stepped forward. Mighty wildly kicked out at the man, who was readying his hands for a Hadouken fireball, it seemed. Mighty's kick threw him off target, and the burst of fire burnt through the body of the worm, straight into Mighty's throat. As he fell backwards with a scattering of rings, the suit holding him went limp. Landing with a thump, he looked at his last ring, which promptly disappeared with a sparkle. As Mighty lay, alert signals in his head flashing red and yellow, a human in a tanktop went to attack him. To Mighty's surprise, he was shoved aside by another in the group. A human figure, dressed in the clothes of a ninja, but with blue and black motifs.

“Oh, not another ninja.” Moaned Mighty, but rather than being overly logical, or stealthy, the unnamed Ninja just held his hands in front of him, forming a small icy sphere that remained solid despite the intense heat of the desert zone. The ninja threw the sphere towards Mighty, and as the armadillo blocked it with his hands, the intense cold spread from his fingers all the way through his body, turning him into a living ice statue. So far, he'd been attacked with fire and ice. Great.

The ninja figure stepped back, then slid, no, skidded, straight though the sand towards Mighty. And the end of the slide, he threw round a kick that would surely shatter not only Mighty's frozen shell, but the rest of his brittle icy body as well. Mighty closed his eyes beneath the ice, waiting for the inevitable strike. But it never came. Mighty opened his eyes again, and saw that the foot of the ninja was clutched in a white-gloved hand. The hand of Shadow.

“Mighty. Just 'chilling out', I presume.” He threw the overbalanced ninja to the ground, and tapped the icy figure of Mighty with his knuckle, which cracked the ice, and the crack quickly spread until Mighty was able to break his way out of the icy prison. Glaring at the opponents, Shadow backed slowly towards Final.

“Final?”

“Hrggh.”

“You have way too much energy, and you need to release it, as you have done before, but on a far larger scale. Any chance of an inordinately large fireball, that would solve our other major problem?

“No. Too much... power. T'd tear me 'part.”

“How about in your super form?” Asked Shadow with a confident grin.

“No. Super form just... bad recolour. No real power.”

“Final, you told me that the start of your series of misadventures on Angel Island had started because Knuckles gave you the wrong emeralds. You've never actually gone Super, except maybe in your dreams.”

“Oh.”

Shadow quickly laid the seven emeralds in a heptagon around Final's body. With Mighty's help, the boy lifted himself to his feet. The emeralds began to rise and spin in a circle around Final. As they rose above his waist, they pulled him up along with them. He hung in the air in exactly the way that bricks don't.

His entire colour scheme began to change. His skin twisted, changing to a pale yellow as it did, his shirt faded from white and blue to black and red. The limitless palette of creation was shifted. Then, the emeralds shot down from above him to the floor, coating him with a golden aura as they went.

Final let out a sigh, relieved of the pain he had been feeling, due to the invulnerability that the super form offered. Then, he cast a glare at the enemies.

“You. You people tried to invade my island. You succeeded. You tried to kill me. Lucky you, you nearly succeeded, without even realising it. Your leaders must feel pretty good right now, as everyone thinks I am dead. They believe they have won. But they are wrong. You see, this is where I will win.”

A few of the combatants ran backwards, expecting retribution. But Final threw an arcing fireball that landed with a small burst of energy behind them, cutting off the escape route.

“This, is my Final Victory.”

Final spread his arms wide, and the golden aura that surrounded him began to contract, flowing back across him until the aura began to flow along his chest like mercury. As more of the glow concentrated in the one area, there was a hum of power, and Final let out a scream. The aura burst outwards in a sea of energy that engulfed the area in front of Final. Mighty and Shadow shielded their eyes from the intense heat and light.

At last, the energy stopped, and when Mighty and Shadow looked back, nothing remained of their enemies, save ash particles in between the grains of sand. Final let his super form fade, and sank back to the ground beside his friends.

“Boy, that feels like a weight off my mind.”

From behind the trio, there came a laugh. They turned, to see Zenon, the black-robed psycho almost doubled up in laughter.

“You know, I think I'm starting to like this guy.”

* * *

In the Sky Sanctuary Zone, the sun disappearing below the horizon, cloaking the yellow rocks in an orange light, Final and his new friends stood awkwardly, beside a large structure made from the metal cylinders that filled the zone. Inside was a cloaked blue machine, hidden by the velvet darkness of the chamber.

“Well, this is it, guys.”

“Indeed. But are you sure you want to do this, Final?” Asked Shadow, his tone solemn.

“I don't wanna do it. But I have to. How long until someone sees me, and GUN comes along again? I have to shut them down.”

“Why not just build another house? Leave it a while? Get more prepared?” Queried Mighty.

“I could. But it'd always be hanging over me. I've got enough problems without GUN after me. Besides, what if the General comes along to move in?” Final sighed, mournfully. “Thanks for all your help guys.”

He walked into the darkness of the chamber, and in a few moments, there was a whirr of machinery. Out came Final, in the cockpit of his plane, the Tempest. It had been heavily modified from its previous design, with an enclosed cockpit, a jet engine on either side, and a large buzzsaw attached to the front, spinning as it moved forward.

“Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog, Mighty the Armadillo, and Zenon the... Um... Psycho.”

The plane rose, and shot into the sky. The trio watched it go, then Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald subtly. The other two looked down, and both nodded.

* * *

As Final flew over the sea in his plane, he noticed a blurring shape appearing atop the wings above him. He glanced upwards, to see what it was.

The face of Zenon popped down from the side of the wing, followed by Mighty's, and Shadow's.

“You're not getting away from us that easily.” Smirked Zenon.

Final did not speak. He just looked at his friends, loyal to the end, willing to fight this war with him, and a smile filled his face. There would be adventures to follow, but he knew they would be beside him, and somehow, it made him feel better about them.

* * *

From the diary of Final Beyond, April 26th, 2456.

The Battle Royale was a calamity. Painful memories are resurfacing in my mind, and my body has taken quite a toll from it. But I must say, it is my mind that has been most affected. Shadow seems to understand. Guess the fanboys would say that makes me an emo of some sort, if I'm comparable to him.

However, it wasn't all bad, I guess. I did gain allies, such as Mighty, who is without a doubt one of the toughest fighters I know, and Zenon, who, while maybe not an ally, could be very helpful. The guy is immensely powerful. I must have impressed him with that Final Victory thing I did.

Most of the energy is gone now, thank Cox. But I still get the feeling that there's more there to be tapped. I'll have to ask Zenon about that, actually. He seems to know quite a bit about the Dreamworld. Dunno why.

~

When we reached South Island, I slipped to Geo's house in the Marble Zone to bid him farewell. Far from accepting such a goodbye, he said he would join us in our fight. He took the gun that he had used to shoot Knuckles from his desk.

We all carry weapons now. Even if we have to use them again, it'll never be an easy choice. Except maybe for Zenon. Smegging psycho.

~

But in the end, we have no choice. In my heart, I guess I don't know if what I'm doing is right. But it's the only option. How long before they come again? The Island is a viable target for the General This can't just be about me, can it? Even if it was about me, there will always be those who do wish to exploit the power of the island, and I must be there to stop them.

But for now, I must keep moving forward, and I must fight for all I am worth, to defeat the ones who want me dead.

I must fight GUN.

[FinalBeyond]

This is my last contribution until Book 8. Alex's old fanfic, Beyond Taste, will be Book 6, and he's planning to write up Book 7 as well. In the meantime, I'll be writing up to book 10, and working on WTTD.

---

The gang rushed down the crimson stairs of the wall of the GUN complex, taking them two at a time. Final led the way, bringing them down the huge flight of stairs, then nimbly dashing around the various navy-tinted blocks and shacks that surrounded the main complex, followed closely by Geo, Mighty, Shadow and Zenon. Finally, he halted outside the door of one of the blocks.

“Ok then,” said Final, in a slightly shaky voice. “This will be a physical challenge for us, testing our skills and mental agility. What we'll encounter is a mystery. It's like going through the Crystal Maze, but with more destruction of property. We're going to have to do it gradually, and Geo, you're going to be going in first.”

“What?” Protested Geo, with a frown. “Why me?”

“Because you're the one who's played the most Metal Gear Solid out of any of us.” Replied his friend.

“Oh.” Said Geo, with a huge grin. “Fair enough.”

“Now, your job is simple. Get to the back of this building, go up the lift, and disable the security system. Once you've done that, it'll be simple enough for Shadow to break into the building over there and download their files. When you're done, Geo, come back here, and you, me and Zenon will go to meet the General who ran this thing. Shadow, when you've finished, contact us, and go round the rest of the base with Mighty, who'll be planting the bombs. Any questions, anyone?”

Geo raised his hand.

“I have one. Who in God's name is Zenon?” The Dream Demon gave a low chuckle.

“Psycho standing next to you.” Geo glared at the newcomer suspiciously. Something just wasn't right about this guy.

“Right.” Said Final. “Let's get this thing done, and shut down the General's base for good.”

Final nodded at Geo, and he dropped to his knees, and crawled through a small air duct next to the door.

* * *

Geo crept silently through the air ducts of the GUN base, his face a mixture of fear and exhilaration. Final's comparison to Hideo Kojima's video games may have been sarcastic, but he felt it applied nonetheless. The skill required to remain undetected, the mental ability to get out of a situation were this to fail. He wished he had his MP3 player on him, just so he could use the music that played when you were discovered. Futile, maybe, but it kept him on his toes.

He glanced at a nearby grating. Shimmying towards it, he stared out of the small gaps. This was the place. There were a few guards about. He glanced at the colour of the metal floors that surrounded him. Green. Just like the Metropolis Zone. He reached into a pocket of his coat, and pulled out a green t-shirt and a camouflage jacket. Throwing off the blue coat he was wearing before, he tugged on the new clothes, and with his fingers, painted his face with a dark green dye. Time to begin the mission.

He tried to open the grating carefully, but it crashed down to the ground. He heard a guard speak to a colleague. “Huh? What was that noise?” Geo retreated into the shadows, and waited. But nobody came. The youth looked confused. Surely the guards weren't that stupid. Mind you, he had come across some dullard security guards in his time. They were like the PE Teachers of the 26th Century.

Geo crawled out of the duct, and ducked behind a nearby wall. This basement was like a maze of shoulder height storage bunkers. Perfect for sneaking through. Better yet, he was pretty sure he could get through and only encounter one guard.

A small beep came from a pager in his ear, and he switched it on. Somehow, he knew it was Final on the other end.

“Final. I'm in.”

“Excellent. Now, if you want to call me again, press the Select button.”

“The what?”

“Never mind. I'll call you. Anyway, the best way to get to the end of this section would be to use your Soliton Radar System. It gives you the best chance of avoiding GUN employees.”

“Soliton... Radar System?”

“Yeah, using the blueprint schematics, we've extrapolated the positions of all personnel via infra-red iambic detecting systems, deducing their fields of vision and giving you a clear idea of where to move.” Geo cut in at this point, his voice harsh.

“Cut the technobabble, you pathetic long haired freak, before I come back there and stab you in the face with a soldering iron.”

“Oh fine, we've got maps and guessed where everyone is. Happy now?”

“Yep. I can actually avoid these guards easily enough. They're as bad as your old PE Teacher.”

“Nobody could be that bad. He was the intellectual equal of a glass of water.”

“These guys are worse than the glass of water. There's a guy standing about a meter in front of me, and he hasn't noticed me yet.”

“Jeez. Well, good luck.”

“Roger that. Commencing virtuous mission.”

“You what?” Asked Final, before Geo turned off the pager and his friend's voice reduced to a quiet whine of electricity.

* * *

Geo pressed himself close to the wall, and edged along, keeping out of the sight of the guard who was in his way. Crawling round the green bunker, he went all the way around until he was facing the particularly deaf guard from behind. From a pocket of the coat, Geo pulled the shotgun that he had used on many a previous occasion.

He cocked it, and the guard gave a small start of surprise, spinning round to face Geo, only to see the muzzle of the gun in his face. A smile pulled on the edges of Geo's lips, and a finger pulled on the trigger of the gun. The guard was blasted back in a shower of metal and gore.

Geo raised the Shotgun above his head, absorbing the recoil, and then he lowered, it, balancing the muzzle on the ground, and leaning on the end of the gun. He made an insulting hand gesture at the guard, and said one word.

“Pwned.”

Then, as other guards came to investigate the noise, he slipped around two corners, and sneaked carefully to the edge of the room. Opening the sliding door, Geo edged himself through as surreptitiously as possible.

* * *

As he pulled himself through, he turned, and jumped back against the door in shock as he saw two robots facing him.

The first was a short green Eggbot, resembling the Mogurin bots that the scientist had made for his early takeovers. This one seemed to be a cut above the rest rest. The limbs were longer, and each part of the robot was trimmed with titanium. The tank treads of the robot also looked more durable than the run of the mill Mogurins that Geo had seen from time to time in his travels around South Island. Better grounded too, it seemed. The limited movement it made was not as jerky as those bots.

The second robot seemed to be a massively augmented Kokekkou Eggbot, with the main body of the robot not moulded within a small pod, but actually fully complete, a humanoid chicken shaped automaton. The beak of the robot was formed into a permanent angry smirk. It was this robot that spoke first, in an angry, high pitched and scratchy tone, almost sounding as if it were clucking.

“Halt! Who goes there!”

Geo, visibly surprised, quickly thought up an excuse.

“I'm an... um... Special GUN operative.”

Now, the other robot spoke, in a slow, low pitched voice, that made him sound as slow in mind as he was in speech.

“Duh... Let's some I.D., pal!”

“I'm... Afraid I can't show you.” Said Geo, looking around to find a quick way out. His alibi was going nowhere, and fast. The chicken-like Eggbot, too, seemed unconvinced.

“And why can't you show us?”

“Because...” Said Geo, haltingly, “My job is so secret... That only the highest personnel can view my I.D. It's a security measure.” He winced, waiting for the inevitable assault that would come now his alibi was exhausted.

After a few seconds, he realised that the assault was not coming. He opened one eye, and saw to his surprise that the two robots were standing in a salute. Well, the chicken one was. The Mogurin was raising its arm as far as it could, but the drill-hand just couldn't make it far enough.

“Sorry for wasting your time, sir! ” Squawked the taller robot.

“Yeah, um... Sorry sir.” Agreed the other.

Geo stood at ease. These two were just dumb enough to allow his plan to work.

“At ease, soldiers.” He barked. “Now, turn around and face the lift!” They did so. “Punch in the activation code!” The Mogurin did so, with a little difficulty. “Now, stay perfectly still.”

Geo pulled an inconceivably large axe from a pocket that could not possibly have held it. He held the weapon like a baseball bat, then leapt forward with a yell, spinning the axe in an arc into the head of the chicken-like robot, and continued to smash into the robots until smoke and sparks were pouring from the shattered remains of metal and wires that remained.

“Thanks very much, suckers.” Said Geo, jumping into the lift and allowing the doors to close. As the lift traveled upwards, he could have sworn he heard the voice of the taller robot.

“Damn special ops. Think they can do anything they like.”

* * *

Geo walked from the lift into the darkened room, lit only by the multiple panel lights of the security system's computer.

“This must be the one I'm looking for... But how to disable it?”

He strolled behind the main console, and after a few seconds, there was a deafening explosion as the entire setup burst in a wave of fire. Geo was thrown from behind, yelling triumphantly as he went sailing through the window to the cold floor below. When he landed with a thump, he raised a hand to his slightly singed ear, and activated the pager.

“Shadow? You there, mate?”

“Yes. I take it you're done?”

“If that didn't disable it, I don't know what would.”

“Alright then. You should catch up with Final and Zenon now. I will get on with my part of the mission.”

“Right, dude. Catch you later.”

Geo flicked off the pager, and smiled to himself.

“Forget Naked Snake. I'm the Big Boss.”

* * *

Running to the door of another bit of the compound, Shadow launched a kick at the door, but it was heavily reinforced. He pulled a large rocket launcher from an unseen place, and pointed it at the door. The missile surged from the barrel of the weapon, exploding on contact with the door. Shadow avoided the shrapnel, and looked at the melted and twisted remains of the door. No longer an obstacle.

“Whatever the fanboys say, these things sure are useful when I don't want to waste Chaos powers.”

Shadow cautiously entered the building, which was seemingly centered around a large computer console on the far wall of the room he was now in, which had a large projector screen placed behind it. Shadow scanned the panel, and found the 'on' button. Shadow gave a small chuckle as he saw the screen of the popular Operating System, Google XD.

“Hmm, seems their standards have slipped even further than they did in the 21st Century. Support for dictators seems to be a company policy...”

As it came to the login screen, Shadow cursed as he realised that he didn't have the entry codes. He dropped to his knees, and activated the codec in his ear. Dialing Final's frequency, he waited.

“What's up, Shadow?” Replied the boy, happily.

“Final. I need a name and password to access the system.” Replied the hedgehog, gruffly. There was no time for levity at the moment. Without this info, they would be sunk.

“Well, Mighty says that the name of the guy who ran the Battle was called Bryon Halix. Try brhalix for the username, and for the password, apparently he likes to think of himself as a patriot. Try that.”

Shadow tapped in the codes, and thumped the console when the bottom box flashed up a message in red, saying “Password incomplete.” He tried a few conjugations of the word, before the word “Patriots” was accepted. Clicking onto the 'Personal files' folder, he stuck a 1TB USB pen drive into the front of the machine, and copied over the files in a matter of minutes, as he spoke to Final on the codec.

“Password was Patriots, for future reference.”

“Odd. Wonder why it was that and not just patriot.”

“Maybe we'll find out from the files. See you in a few minutes, Final.”

Disabling the codec, he pulled the USB pen which now contained Halix's data from the massive console. Turning from the computer, Shadow muttered to himself.

“Now to get out of here.” As he readied the emerald, he was interrupted by a voice. A grating, inhuman voice.

“Not so fast, Shadow.” The black hedgehog whirled, and narrowed his eyes.

“It's you...”

Shadow glared at the intruder. It was familiar. Not the same as it had been before. Significantly more bulky, with an almost muscular frame. But from the steel 'skin', red mass of optical fibres that acted as his hair, and the torso plate that was oh so similar to the shirt of his friend, it was clear that it was Metal Final.

“So, you escaped the destruction of the Death Egg?”

“Not quite. My original body was near destroyed. I am unsure as to exactly how it survived. But GUN found my Central Processing Unit, and managed to secure a copy of my memory bank, downloading it into this new body. I have been in storage for months, but they have released me to deal with you and the other intruders. And I relish the task.”

“Well, you won't get the chance.” Scoffed Shadow. “I am the ultimate life form... Shadow The Hedgehog!”

“Can you be sure of that... 'Shadow'?” At this, Shadow shrugged.

“No. Our author hasn't got the game yet. But I'm pretty sure I can beat you either way, tin-can.”

“So be it.” Grated the android, transforming his hand into a buster gun. He fired off a shot, which Shadow easily leaped over. But as Shadow came in to land, Metal Final shot off a volley of shots in every direction. With a flash, Shadow seemingly disappeared, rematerialising behind Metal Final. He sprang up with a kick, knocking the robot to the floor. It rolled over, and looked back towards Shadow.

“I had forgotten about Chaos Control.” Shadow smirked.

“A definite mistake.”

“As was not finishing me off then, when you had a chance.” Said Metal Final, as he shot another pellet of energy. It struck Shadow across the face, and he fell backwards, the energy burning his muzzle. He clasped a hand to it, and with the other, waved it at the robot.

“Chaos Spear!” A bolt of yellow Chaos Energy burst from above, but the automaton rolled backwards onto his feet, narrowly missing the energy.

“Your chaos attacks will not stop me!” It leaped forward, sticking out its legs. There was a loud clank as Shadow was struck down by the dropkick like maneuver. Metal leaned down over the fallen hedgehog, grabbed his throat, and was about to lift him to his feet when the hedgehog grabbed the pen drive and jammed it into the eye of Metal Final. It fell backwards, screeching.

“My vision is impaired! I cannot see!”

“Want to try wrestling with me, robot? Well... I've got two words for you.” Grabbing the emerald, Shadow lowered his gaze, and shouted out... “CHAOS BLAST!”

A massive crimson ball of pure energy, rippling with flames, grew outwards from Shadow until it engulfed the robot, and as the steel melted from the intense heat, the chest of the robot exploded, flickering with electricity.

“Chaos isn't as predictable as you might have thought, robot. You were a waste of GUN's time.”

He plucked the USB device from the robot's eye, and beamed to the edge of the compound with a flash of the emerald. Dropping the device on the massive wall that encircled the compound, he checked Mighty's position on his Soliton Radar, and warped there with the most famous of his Chaos moves.

“Chaos Control!”

* * *

Final glanced at the Radar located in his watch. According to the device, Halix was just along this corridor. But then, that was logical, he decided, glancing forward. It was his office. He was distracted from the system as Geo ran behind him, and screeched to a halt beside him.

“What's happening, dudes? That is,” He added, glancing at Zenon, who was skulking in the corner, “If you are a dude. I can't tell what with the cloak and all.”

“Ooh. How witty.” Replied Zenon. “Threatened by the new guy, are we?”

“Only because of all the beamsabres you carry, I'll wager.” Interjected Final, trying to break up the argument. “Let's get on with this. We'll get Halix, then get out before Shadow and Mighty can plant the bombs.”

“I don't see why they get to blow everything up.” Complained Zenon.

“Hey, I need you on this team. You're the most powerful, and Geo's good at handling people.”

“In more ways than one.” Added Geo, with a grin. Final put his face in his palm.

“One more pun, just one... And I will scream.” Said Final, wearily. He put his hand on the wall, and there was a colossal noise, the walls shaking.

“Did I do that?” Asked Final, puzzled. But then, around one of the numerous branching corridors that joined the corridors, came a giant bipedal machine, piloted by one man in a cockpit at the top of the legs of the craft. The clunky silver mecha crashed a foot upon the ground, and the area shook again. Zenon grinned,

“At last, they bring out the big guns.” He whipped off the cloak, and Final, for the first time, saw the creature beneath. His fur was black, and his muzzle tan. The red stripes on his numerous quills striped towards his forehead. Final opened his mouth in surprise.

“Shadow?” Zenon closed his eyes in anger.

“Jeez, Final. We've got similar colour schemes, it's not like we're identical.”

“Whatever. Just fight the robot already.” Said Final. Zenon pulled a Beamsabre from his belt, ignited it, and shot off towards the robot. Geo turned to Final.

“So, how did you meet short, dark and dangerous anyway?”

“Oh, he tried to kill me during the Battle.” Geo raised an eyebrow.

“With friends like that, who needs enemies?”

“Meh, he's not so bad.”

“Explain.”

“Well, look. He just beat that robot for us.”

Geo turned round, and there was Zenon, leaning against the robot's remaining leg. The other parts of the robot - and pilot - lay scattered beside him, a pool of blood and oil.

“Huh, only a short fight, and the guy goes to pieces.”

Final dropped to his knees, and screamed at the sky, frustrated with the constant puns that seemed to follow him around. Then, he suddenly stopped, and walked towards the door that was situated behind the wreckage of the robot.

“Ok, I'm done. Now, to meet the General.”

He turned the door handle, and opened the door.

* * *

The three warriors walked into the room. Behind the now empty table stood General Halix, dressed in a simple business suit, with a royal blue tie. He stood serenely next to the projector screen (still adorned with the Battle Royale logo from the meeting which had began the battle), his back to the group. Final seethed with rage, but kept his tone civil, as he addressed the GUN General.

“General Halix.”

“I've got to say, Final,” Replied the General, without turning around, “I was impressed when I saw the surveillance tapes, and saw that you had survived. Despite my best efforts, might I add. Mind you, it's not too surprising considering your track record.” Zenon looked at Final.

“What's he talking about, Final?” Halix grinned at this.

“You mean you haven't told them about your past, Final? Oh, tut tut.” Final looked at Halix, hatred filling his eyes.

“You want to know my past? I came to Earth 2 after falling through a time warp! There you go!”

“Oh, I know that, Final. I found that during my research. That was the easy bit. You've left quite an obvious trail, minor name change aside. But it's what happened before that... That's what I was interested in.” Final looked ready to shout at the General, but then looked down at the ground. This was something he never wanted to have to confess to. He took a deep breath, and bared his soul to his friends, and his foe.

“Geo, you probably know the bare details of this, but there's some stuff I haven't even told you.” Geo nodded. “When my class was entered in the first British Battle Royale, me and Bellis... We joined together, tried to avoid the killing. But in the end, there was no choice. I tried to protect her... When she was murdered, I knew I had to kill to survive. Maybe that's why I won.” Final thought back to the fear and the anger he had felt on those fateful days, a single tear trickling down his face.

“How sentimental.” Interrupted Halix, coldly. “I know all of this, of course, That's why I revived the Program, rather than just invading in the regular way. Did my little game bring back memories, Final?”

“Yes.” Replied Final, coldly. “Terrible memories, that should have stayed in the past. I've tried to avoid my past, General, but you've brought it back. With all the consequences that it brings.”

Stepping forward, Final pulled the purple Chaos-Super Emerald from his pocket, and threw it into the air. As it spiraled downwards, Final caught it, and with a primal scream of Chaos Control, he saw the world around him freeze. He had a small amount of time in which to get the other emeralds from his friends. Then he could go Super and finally defeat his foe. But he hesitated.

And in that moment, he saw every single thing that had happened on the three days in which his world had been turned upside down. Every drop of blood that had been spilt. Every tear that had been shed. The people he had known, the people he had loved, the people he had killed.

Then, he pulled the six remaining Emeralds from a bag, and stood between them. As they rose into the air, spinning around him, a wave of energy surged into him, and the Super Form arose, his hair spiking in every direction, far wilder than it had before. His face, however, looked perfectly serene. His skin became yellow, and he was surrounded by a golden aura, far stronger and more visible than earlier in that day. He rose into the air, and waited a few moments, before time unfroze.

Zenon blinked, stared up at Final, and looked puzzled.

“Hey Final, why is your super form different from last time?” Final turned slightly, smiling at Zenon, and said:

“I'm not using the 'everything stays the same' emeralds. It's chaotic, remember?”

Halix was backing away, and he muttered to himself as he went.

“I need a distraction...”

There was a loud explosion beside Geo, as Zenon burst into flame, growing in size, his muzzle spreading over his face, his quills becoming thick black hair that spiked out in every direction, the front bangs tinted red. Within the space of a few seconds, he had turned from the shape of a hedgehog to human. He looked round at his allies, and asked:

“What the hell happened there?”

Halix shrugged.

“Meh, works for me.” He dashed through the door out of the room, into a corridor. Final glanced at his friends and said two words, before following Halix.

“He's mine.”

After Final left the room, Geo turned round to face the Dream Demon. He looked up at the now-taller character, and smirked.

“Nice hair.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

Halix frantically rushed along the corridor desperate to escape. He suddenly saw a ball of energy appear before him, crackling with electricity, and as he attempted to avoid it, his foot slipped, and he crashed to the ground with a groan. Geo and Zenon followed as Final floated over to Halix.

“Did you think it was going to be that easy, General?”

“I suppose not.” replied Halix, with obvious resentment and disappointment in his voice.

“You suppose correctly, General. But tell me, why me? Why did you attack Angel Island? There are other islands. This one seems OK to me...”

“Do... Do you not comprehend the power that island holds? The Master Emerald can do more than keep your island floating. With that power...” He paused, and breathed in. “I could become Emperor Bryon Halix, ruler of Earth 2.” The pride swelled in his voice, but Final brought him back to reality.

“Power.” He spat. “So that's it. You pathetic creature. You tried to murder me and my friends, just so you could get some power. I'll show you power.”

Final span around with a furious kick, which sent Halix crashing through the wall. Geo could only watch in awe as Final floated through, and his voice echoed through the hole which Halix had created.

“Shall we continue our fight, General?” Final asked, sarcastically. The general replied breathlessly.

“No... I don't think we shall.” Halix paused for a moment, then spoke.

“Seize him.”

From behind the wall, Zenon and Geo tried to see what was happening, but it was out of their viewpoint. All they could hear were the shouts as a group of people, presumably GUN soldiers, restrained Final. There was a large electrical sound, and his voice came through, angry, and slightly confused.

“What are you people trying to do?”

“Get him! Quickly!” Yelled Halix. But there was a loud bang, and Halix went flying once again, through the wall, as the pair of mismatched psychos looked on in slight amusement. Final phased into the area, and stared at his foe.

“And now, we end this.” But as he spoke, there was a loud sound, like the screeching of metal gears, and a large machine fell from the ceiling, right on top of Halix. It looked like an old Eggman mech, covered in the logo of the Egg Empire, emblazoned in orange on the red machine. The craft was almost like a large round humanoid shape, similar to his craft that was destroyed in the first crash of the Death Egg. Presumably, GUN had found the remains, and adapted them for their own purposes.

“Did it squash him?” Asked Geo.

“Be rather anticlimactic if it did.” Replied Zenon. But Final waved a finger to indicate they should be quiet.

“No. The bottom was hollow.” He said, and his suspicions were confirmed as Halix appeared in the cockpit at the top of the craft. Halix glared at his enemy, and as he grasped the controls, the large hands of the craft clasped around Final, and a laser beam shot out from the wrists of the machine, and Final was no longer visible in the blinding light. When the light faded, Final was not even in the hands of the machine. It seemed to Zenon that the machine had vaporised him. He stepped forward in anger. Geo just stood there in shock, wondering if his last link to the past had ceased to be.

“I actually did it!” Cried Halix. “Final is dead!” But a loud cough at the other end of the hall alerted him to a presence. Final was on his knees, burnt and battered, but there. Hovering above his hands was a ball of energy. The very energy Halix had tried to destroy the boy with. Final let a smirk fill his face.

“Your reports of my death are... Shall we say, greatly exaggerated?” He launched the ball at the mech, and it collapsed backwards, creating a large dent in the floor. Halix frantically turned the craft, and turned on a booster switch, which sent it rocketing along the corridor, and round a corner. Final winked at his friends, and shot off after Halix.

The machine sped along the corridor, closely followed by the super powered boy. Final moved from side to side as the automaton knocked filing cabinets back, and swept equipment from the walls, sending it spinning towards him.

The machine veered and spun round another corner, and Final,about to pass by completely, threw a fireball along the hall in order to halt his momentum. Launching himself back towards the machine, and quickly catching up, he grabbed on to the leg of the craft.

Using the grip he had on the craft to change it's direction, he was knocked back by a burst of fire from the foot that sent the machine spiraling down the corridor. As Final sped after it, blasting himself along with bursts of plasma from his hands, he realised that ahead of them was a large glass window, looking out over the complex.

Final halted himself, but the machine Halix was in was unable to stop, and Final let out a small sigh of relief as he saw the machine crash through the glass panel, tumbling to the square below.

Slowly, Final floated outside the building, watching the huge machine fall and crash to the ground. The destruction was immense. Every bit of the machine seemed to separate and break, and the cockpit which Halix had been seated in was almost obliterated, the glass shattered, Halix having flown out of the cockpit on impact. Slowly, Final floated down, approaching the crash site, his knees lowering slightly as they touched the ground.

“So what now?” Asked Halix in a gurgling voice, blood dripping down his chin. “Are you going to... Kill me?” Final laughed, the sound echoing around the walls of the complex.

“You have such a limited imagination, Halix. No, much as I would like to kill you, I think it would be more fitting for you to witness the destruction of your base, and the failure of your plans.”

“F...Failure?”

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”

“You can't do this!”

“Oh, but I can. I wanted to find, and I admit, hurt you, General, but that wasn't the only part of the plan. Far from it. The main purpose was to allow Mighty and Shadow to plant bombs around the base. And I think they should be finished right about... now.”

Zenon rushed into the small square, pulling Final towards the ground.

“Right as always. They're ready. Let's get out of here.” Final nodded, faded out of his super form, and turned towards the injured General, lying in the wreckage of his machine.

“Goodbye, General. I guess we're even now.”

As Final and Zenon left the compound, Halix said only one thing. A name. And a desperate request. A surge of pain filled his chest as a rib jolted out of position, and his head fell backwards as he lost consciousness.

“Well, that's all of them.” Said Mighty, as he attached the last small round explosive device to the metal wall. The explosion would go far enough to trigger the next explosive device, then that would start the next explosion, and so on.

Thanks to Shadow's Chaos Control, they had been able to cover almost the whole complex. While it wouldn't remove all traces of the base, it would be significant enough to cripple GUN's operations here. Nothing would be salvageable.

“Yeah, certainly looks that way.” agreed Shadow. He gave a small smile as he realised how much this would hurt the organisation that had hurt him to such a great degree in the past. This smile turned to a grimace, as he heard a sharp noise behind him, like metal scraping on metal.

As he slightly turned, he saw the twisted, melted remains of Metal Final pulling himself along the floor, his blaster arm pointed straight at him. As it had predicted, no chaos attack had stopped it. Almost silently, the red eyes of the automaton narrowed, the cannon recoiled back, and a single shot fired, straight into the chest of Shadow. He flew off the ground, clutching his chest.

“Damn!” He cursed, as bright red blood stained the white fur on his chest, and his breathing became more shallow. Mighty came rushing over to his side.

“Shadow!” He shouted in surprise and concern for his friend. As he attempted to stop the blood flow, Shadow looked up at him, and with a grimace on his face, he growled:

“Get out of here.” Mighty's face was filled with fear.

“But... But... What about you?” The Armadillo pleaded with his ally. What was he thinking of doing? Could he fight the metal creature on his own? Mighty doubted it. If they teamed up, then maybe. But Shadow nodded his head subtly towards the explosive device, and Mighty's eyes widened. So that was his plan.

“Go!” Shadow insisted. The determination on his face was clear, Mighty sadly realised.

With a last look at his ally and friend, Mighty got up, and ran as fast as his legs would carry him from the complex, his surroundings a blur as he dashed through the narrow corridors towards the exit. As Shadow watched him go, he pulled the replica Green Chaos Emerald from an unseen pocket, and held it to his chest.

As Metal Final edged closer to finish the murder he had started, Shadow rose to his feet, at which the mechanoid paused, surprised at the action of the hedgehog. With a deafening shout, the black furred hedgehog took his final act of revenge on the organisation who had killed his friend, and their robot... that had nearly killed him.

“Chaos... BLAST!”

The crimson explosion spread outwards, and when the infernal heat reached the explosive device on the wall, the trigger circuits melted, detonating the device.

* * *

At the top of the wall that surrounded the GUN Complex, Final recoiled in horror as a flash of bright light filled his view. The base was exploding too soon.

As he stared across the base, rubbing his eyes to stop the multicoloured dots of light that filled his vision, he could see Mighty scrambling up the stairs, an empty look on his face. Final looked at him, desperate to know what had happened. As the armadillo looked down at the ground, Final realised for himself.

Far above the ruined base, or the dark mountains that overlooked it, the thin crescent moon cast its light over the heroes. They were ready to leave now. The Tempest was fired up, and everyone was just waiting to go back. Everyone except one, who would never return.

As Geo helped Mighty onto the plane, Final cast his eyes back at the ruined base. He let out a deep sigh of regret.

“Shadow…” He murmured.

He turned slightly as he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Zenon. The Dream Demon looked at Final, resolute.

“Look, don’t worry about it. You know about his history as well as any of us. He’s won his war. And…” A smirk crossed the new, human face of the psycho. “And what a way to win it.” As Final heard this, he too smiled.

“You know, you’re right.” Final sat on the edge of the wall, looking at the ruined compound. “He always wanted revenge. Now his soul can rest. Maybe he’ll be able to see Maria again.”

“And…” He continued, ‘He can live on – in our memories. As a brave and heroic hedgehog, who gave his life to save his friends.” Final stood, and looked towards the clear sky, devoid of clouds, the moon shining brightly over them all.

“Sayonara… Shadow the Hedgehog.” Zenon raised an eyebrow.

“Dude, you totally ripped that off from Sonic Adventure 2.”

“Don’t spoil the moment.”


The Final Zone will be continued in
Book 6: BEYOND TASTE