Sonic GeneX - Infinite Crisis
Part 4 - Infinite Crisis

Sonic Forces & all related characters, scenarios and elements are (c) SEGA and Sonic Team.
GeneX and related characters belong to 2BIT.


Previously on Sonic GeneX - Infinite Crisis...
With only three days to stop Dr. Eggman, the resistance attempted to capture the capital of the Eggman Empire with "Operation Big Wave." With the Phantom Ruby's power, it was a colossal failure, but Rainbow did manage to reunite with Punchy and convince the Babylon Rogues to join the resistance.
In order to power the Freedom Fighters' de-robotisizer, Guard and a few others went to Angel Island to procure the Master Emerald. While there, Tommy and Ridley found Razor, now calling himself Sagittarius. He was there to battle Copter, aka Aries, with the help of the Deathbringer. Heather took a fatal blow defending Guard as he acquired the Master Emerald; Fortunately her phoenix power revived her.
While the resistance mounted an attack on the Death Egg, Eggman's forces attacked Shadow Arcangel, led by a Phantom Ruby duplicate of the original Deathbringer, Bucky's lost love, Hope the Raven. Rattled by her appearance, and with the Freedom Fighters distracted by robotisized Mobians (Robians), the Arcangel's engines were damaged and the ship crashed. However, Gunner has a backup to get the Freedom Fighters to the final battle: the GUN Assault Carrier!
Now, on to the next chapter...


"Right now I realize,
I know that I can't deny,
Nothing's impossible!
The rhythms' set in motion now!" - Guardian Rock, Sonic Forces

Blackness. Utter nothingness. Felicia looked around nervously. Dr. Eggman had ordered Infinite to summon this void to consume Sonic, and in attempting to pull him to safety, she'd been sucked in as well. Null Space, Eggman called it. "Sorry, Sonic... I tried to save us..." she sighed. "This isn't where we were meant to end up..." Sonic muttered awkwardly as he walked along the long, purplish road before them. Felicia sighed. "Eggman always seems one step ahead of us..." she frowned. Looking at Sonic, though, she began to perk up. "So, what's the plan?" she asked him. Sonic shrugged. "Let's head back. Everyone's waiting for us!" he said, giving her a knowing glance. The two jumped up and hi-fived one another before speeding ahead. "Double Boost!!" They took off at incredible speed through the vast nothingness, and somehow their speed seemed to be creating a reaction. "We've got this! Keep it up, partner!" Sonic shouted, "Nothing can contain the two of us at max power! Not even Null Space!!" The two soon emerged on a grind rail, leading them to a spring. They then briefly dashed across a building before leaping and coming to a landing on a small rooftop! "'Sup everyone? I missed this place!" Sonic remarked casually as he emerged. "What happened, Sonic? You two just up and disappeared!" Knuckles asked over comms. "Nothing happened. Literally. Now let's track down Eggman!" Sonic responded. Felicia nodded, looking out across Metropolis. "That foul human won't get away from us!" she said. Sonic looked a bit nervous as she briefly sounded like Fera. "Uh... Y-yeah. Let's do it, partner!" he chuckled softly.


The GUN Assault Carrier was en route to Metropolis, along with a number of GUN Warships the Freedom Fighters were able to call in for good measure. Still, the Freedom Fighters were mostly in low spirits, the attack on Shadow Arcangel having taken its toll on them. Rainbow and Gemini sat beside each other, looking rather glum. "Well, I found One... But all this time... I never got to find out if my sister was okay during all this..." Rainbow sighed. Gemini nodded. "I understand. I never found Libra, and now Copter... He's working for that creepy vulture..." she sighed, "I wonder...what drove him to it. Did he really think we'd think less of him for having lost his tailband in the tournament?" she stated. "Who knows?" said Punchy as he joined them, "All I know is he shot at me. It's gonna take some knocks to that thick skull to get our Copter back..." he grumbled. Shade stood with Bark the polar bear, talking out her fears with him, though he only grunted in response. Vortex and Zipp talked about what had happened to Crash. "Metal as a Sonic robot." Zipp sighed. "If we'd only all ssstuck together...maybe he'd ssstill be okay..." Vortex sighed. Zipp rubbed his head through his helmet, an awkward look on his lips. "...I'm sorry I said that about Whisk. She 'ports all over, I'm sure she's fine." he said. "An apology from you? Thessse are the end timessss..." Vortex hissed. Antoine, Bunnie and Dulcy were looking glum, too. "Bunnie, shouldn't you and Chuck be gettin' de-robotisized?" Dulcy asked. Bunnie looked at her metal arm. "Not yet... These metal parts might come in handy in the battle ahead, much as I hate 'em..." she sighed. Antoine patted her shoulder. "I will do my best to be seeing you return to your un-robot-ed self, safe and sound." he stated in his sloppy manner. "I...think that was sweet, Tony." Dulcy giggled, barely following him. Bunnie nodded. "Yeah, it was." she said, smiling briefly. Her worries were still on the coming battle, though.

Uncle Chuck stood beside Sally at the upper entrance to the hangar where everyone was packed in, waiting for the ship to arrive. "Princess...sorry, I know you hate that name, but it suits you. You're a real leader to us." he said to her, "And our people are low on hope now. It's times like these, they look to a good leader..." he stated. Sally took a breath. "How can I give them hope? I barely have any... My father's a robot now..." she whimpered. Chuck patted her back. "You've been strong so far. Just speak from the heart." he said. Sally nodded, and stepped to a balcony overlooking the hangar, clearing her throat. "Fellow Freedom Fighters! I know it's been a rough couple of hours... No, forget that. It's been a terrible year! This year of our lives has been ripped from us. Our families have been torn apart. Our friendships have been tested in every way. But as I stand before you now, I don't see defeat. I see hope! For as long as we survive, there is still hope. We will join forces with the Resistance, and together, we will finally end this war, today!! Who's with me!?" she cried. One by one, Freedom Fighters stood up, and soon they collectively gave a rousing cheer. They were ready to battle!


Eggman, on the other hand, thought his battle was all but won. While he was taking a breather, and Orbot was seemingly sleeping on the back of his Egg Mobile, Sonic and Felicia dropped from the sky behind him, startling Orbot. He tapped Eggman's shoulder. "Excuse me? Boss?" he said nervously. Eggman glanced over, and then hurled Orbot out of the way as he turned clear around. "What? It can't be! It's impossible to get out of the Phantom Ruby's Null Space!!" he shouted as Cubot fumbled with a monitor he was looking at and Infinite barely glanced at the intruders. "Maybe by myself." Sonic replied, "But I had a little help from my friend!" he said, motioning to Felicia, "Something you wouldn't understand since you don't have any friends." Sonic teased. Eggman growled in frustration. "This changes nothing!" he shouted, slapping Orbot as he spoke, "Dr. Eggman will still have the last laugh!" he declared before taking off in his Egg Mobile, followed by Orbot, Cubot and Infinite. "Maybe he'd have more friends if he didn't talk about himself in the third person." Sonic said to Felicia, who smiled and gave him a thumbs up before glancing out at Infinite. "Sonic... Infinite said we met before. I'm an amnesiac, so... I don't know... But I've been having memory flashes lately... I think...I may have met someone like him. Tried to...recruit him for something? I don't know..." she murmured, holding her head. Sonic took her hands and looked her in the eyes. "Buddy... Don't worry about it. Whatever your pasts were, it's the present that matters. Right now, he's... a bad dude. But you're not. What he's become isn't your fault, either." he said, hoping to steer her away from looking into her past any further. Now just wasn't a good time for that. "You're probably right, Sonic..." she stated, and smiled, "So, I'm your friend?" she asked. Sonic chuckled. "Always, buddy." he smiled, winking.


The Freedom Fighters were busy getting equipped for battle, choosing their Wispons and making any other necessary preparations. Ridley had found a GUN uniform aboard the ship, and tried it on. "Not as comfy as my police uniform, but armored is good..." he smirked. Tommy nodded. "Yeah, too bad there's none in my size." he chuckled. Ridley patted his head. "But you're not all that scared. You're braver than me kid." he said. Guard was talking to Heather, a bit shyly. "Rr... I'm sorry, Heather... For flying off without you before. You were right, I shouldn't try to do everything alone." he stated, barely looking at her. Heather chuckled. "That must've been hard for you... Garen." she winked. Guard looked up at her. "It means 'guardian.' But it's an actual name." she said. Guard gave her a small smile. "Hmm... Garen..." he murmured. Gemini was off in a corner, reading her spell book, when Lospecter floated over to her. "Good of you to pick a dark corner where no one will see us. And man, have I been missing a lot in my dimensional travels!" Gemini looked up and instantly raised her wand. "I wondered why you weren't taking advantage of the chaos, Lospecter!" she growled. "Hey, you might wanna lower that, I have a peace offering behind me you won't wanna hit." he smirked. Gemini raised an eyebrow. "Peace? Yeah right..." However, she gasped as Lospecter floated aside, revealing the very reason she was in the past to begin with. Timothy the Fawn, alive and well, was nervously standing behind him. "Th-this is a trick! Infinite can create illusions!" she stammered. Lospecter shrugged. "I don't know who that is, but how would he know of your future-friend? How do I know, for that matter? Well, I asked an alternate-reality you." Lospecter grinned. Timothy ran up and hugged the bewildered Gemini. "They faked my death, Gemini! To fool you... To use me as leverage against you..." he stammered. Lospecter nodded. "See, I can't time travel, but you two can, pesky mages. So, finding out your weakness, I waited until the time was right. I made Losipher use a little restraint. He's a better actor than Loskeletor- or maybe it was Loskeletor you saw killed? Oooh, you'll never know! But here's the deal..." the ghost said, hovering between Gemini and Timothy, placing a hand on their shoulders. "I can make deer-boy's death real anytime. Just carry the order through history. Heck, if I don't carry the cease-fire through history, he dies. So, Gemmy...your hands are tied now. Game over. We take our toys and go home." he said, floating away. Gemini looked from Timothy to the escaping Lospecter, and she pulled Timothy into her arms. "I get it... He sent you to this time so as not to create a paradox." she said, "I won't let him hurt you, Tim...but right now we've got other problems." she sniffled. Timothy nodded. "Yeah... Why don't you catch me up as quick as possible, heh..." he asked awkwardly.

The Assault Carrier landed a distance away from the Eggman Empire's Fortress, and Sally led their main force partway to the rear of the base. "Okay, guys! Here's the plan. While Sonic and the Resistance attacks Eggman directly from the front, we'll take on the rear and try to take that tower!" she said, pointing to the main tower at the center. Punchy stared at it. "Huh... It's like an upgraded, more lit up version of Darkegg Fortress. Eggman's all-in with nostalgia these days." he stated. "Are you kidding, One? It looks nothing like Darkegg Fortress. No island views! The balcony's all rotaty! IS that even a balcony?" Rainbow retorted. Sally shook her head. "Now, hopefully the rear of the base will be less defended than the front, but we still need to be ready for anything." she stated. Bucky nodded. "And she does mean anything! Eggman controls reality, and he uses that to summon out the deadliest foes we've ever encountered. If you see multiple Kosmos, try not to hit ours." he stated. Kosmo shrugged. "As if any of you could hurt me!" he joked. "I wouldn't mind trying!" Spiny retorted. "Come on, you ninnies! Don't fight each other!" Gunner snapped, "Is this how you always react to a crisis? How does Eggman EVER get defeated?" Timothy joined Gemini as she stood out with the Freedom Fighters, waiting for the order to fight. "...Hey, Wanda, who's that?" Rainbow asked, noticing him. "Uhhh... It's complicated. His name is Timothy." she stated. Rainbow shook his hand. "Hey, Timmy! Any friend of Wanda's is a friend of mine!" she smiled, rushing back over to join Punchy. "...Wanda?" Timothy asked. "...It's complicated." Gemini shrugged. Sally turned to Nicole, the holographic lynx emerging from her computer to address the group. "I have received word from the Resistance, Sally. Their attack is about to commence. Now would be the ideal time for our strike." she stated. Sally glanced back at the group. "All right... For our loved ones... For those who were robotisized... For FREEDOM!!" she cried. No more words were necessary. The Freedom Fighters followed her, charging towards battle...and destiny!

The Freedom Fighters found a horrific sight awaiting them. Though Eggman had an impressive force out front to meet the Resistance, there was arguably an even nastier army in the back for the Freedom Fighters to contend with. The entire E-X series of robots was assembled, along with Anubis and the Deadly Six, and they were just for starters. Dozens of phantom projections of Kosmo, Dark Punchy, Mephiles and the Deathbringer awaited the Freedom Fighter army. "W-w-we are doom-ed!!" Antoine gasped, nearly fainting. "There's no turnin' back now!" Chuck shouted, rallying the army to charge forward. Anubis huffed at them. "Dr. Eggman anticipated an ill-conceived attack on the tower's rear. You charge into the jaws of death!!" he snarled, summoning his army of black mummies ahead of himself. Punchy shook his fist as he saw them. "I'll tear those things apart and kill ya for real this time, Anubis!!" he yelled. "Oh, don't go dark on us, Puncher, I'd hate to get confused and stab you!" Conan taunted, eying his Chaos Boots. Guard flew at the duo of Terra and Firma, slashing his scythe at them. "Grrrrr!! Where's Mia, you metal trash!!?" he snarled. "Your questions are insignificant! You shall be ANNIHILATED!!" Terra roared. "But if you survive long enough, you may see your pitiful friends." Firma stated. Sally was shooting at copies of Kosmo and Mephiles with a Wispon while Bunnie fought at her side, when a bright light toward the front of the tower caught her attention. "Infinite?" she asked. "Affirmative, Sally." Nicole spoke. It wasn't too long after that that another burst of light shot into the sky, and a massive virtual reality sun appeared over their heads! The fighting stopped as everyone stared, trembling in helplessness. "Th-that can't be real, right?!" Tommy stammered. "It's as real as it gets!" Illusi shouted, rushing over from the Resistance's side of the battle, "Or, it will be when the Phantom Ruby's finished manifesting it. Otherwise we'd be burned to ashes NOW!" he explained, his eyes wide and his body shaking. "Fera... Where are you..." he whispered, worried for her. Dr. Eggman was observing the terrified reactions of his enemies, and took a moment to gloat. "The sun will fall upon you all. BOOM!! THE END! Your pathetic lives are over." he said with an evil smile.

Elsewhere, on a cliff overlooking the battle, was Felicia. She'd been hanging back, nervous to fight, and still a little curious over the past she couldn't quite remember. Tails flew up beside her as she stood, holding that strange gem she'd found a while back. "Look, it's reacting!" Tails noticed, seeing the stone glow, "Eggman said something about the Phantom Ruby prototypes!" he stated. Felicia glanced at him. "Prototype...?" she muttered. "Let me see." Tails asked, taking the stone from Felicia and noting that it stopped glowing in his hand, "Whoa, it is! He said the Phantom Ruby prototypes only react to the person who activated it! That must be you, buddy!" he said, handing it back to Felicia. "Your courage and heroism are probably what triggered it!" he added, making Felicia blush a little. "Me? I don't know..." she muttered. "Of course it is! You saved Sonic!" he smiled, "Just maybe, if you use this, it can make that sun disappear!" he told her. Felicia looked at the Ruby, then at the tower with the sun hanging over it. She then grabbed her Wispon and loaded the Chaos Cards into the special slot in it. "I... I'll do my best, Tails. No, I'll do it! I have to!" she said, gritting her teeth. Tails took her hand and started to fly her down from the cliff. "Come on! You have to hurry!" he said. Some buzzbombers started coming their way, and Felicia pointed her Wispon at them, the cards changing its form and letting her fire a void that pulled them all in and crushed them! "Whoa... Can we trade relics?" Tails chuckled. "Haha, nope!" Felicia smirked. Her face quickly became serious as Tails dropped her off at the foot of the tower, panting in exhaustion from flying her there. It was up to her now...

"The sun is fallen in the sky beyond,
And light is fading from our world.
Now's the time of reckoning.
The final battle has begun." - Imperial Tower, Sonic Forces

Infinite's focus was now on powering the sun. Many of his other illusions had faded. But that didn't mean Eggman's tower was defenseless, much the contrary. To keep the resistance away, Eggman sent robots and Robians forth to occupy them. There were fewer robots, too, as the Phantom Ruby had created much of Eggman's massive army used to conquer the world. This was what the Robians were for, a distraction while the sun was being manifested. Conan had no qualms about killing Robians, and Spiny felt much the same way, but the others felt differently. "Try to focus your attacks on actual robots!" Sally ordered, "Detain Robians as best you can! Where's that de-robotisizer Wispon!?" she called. Lucky was holding it, but he was standing at the back, staring up in shock at the sun. "Kid? Yoo-hoo..." Zipp called, waving a hand in front of his face. Lucky blinked. "I c-can't do this... Y-you take the Wispon!" he stammered. Zipp shrugged. "Hands are full. Besides, those are like blanks. I wanna drop bots!" he said, flying off. Punchy tried to use his speed to his advantage, but the Deadly Six surrounded him. "Speed is no challenge to us! It only angers the Zeti!" Zavok sneered as he and Zomom cut off Punchy's escape and proceeded to pound him! "Ugh!! Any help, guys!?" he shouted. Kosmo had been stopped in his tracks upon finally finding Carrie...robotisized. "No... not possible. How do you capture a mirage?! And a psychic one at that!?" he stammered, smacking aside robots as they swarmed him. Guard and Heather were being ganged up on by Terra, Firma and Freeze. Ridley was getting zapped by Jolt, who was also unaffected by Tommy's lightning Wispon. Knuckles' Resistance found copies of Zavok, Metal Sonic, Shadow and Chaos still around to deal with. Overall, the battle wasn't going well. The odds were stacked against the heroes.

At this point, Dr. Nammad, Rotor and Bark arrived on the outskirts of the battle. They were wheeling over the gadgets needed to complete the full-sized de-robotisizer, including the Master Emerald. Once the emerald neared the battle, though, it glowed, and Shadow Chaos leapt out of it, startling Nammad! "Yaaaah!! D-did you guys know, uh, th-that was in there!?" he stammered. "What was where?" Rotor asked, having been too busy to notice. Bark scratched his head and grunted with uncertainty, also having missed it. Shadow Chaos splashed through the battlefield, tearing past Terra and Firma as it went, stunning the bots long enough for Guard and Mia to break away from the battle. "What's that doing here?" Freeze questioned. Shadow Chaos slithered past Kosmo as well, and turned to attack Carrie, angering him. "Get away from her, you big drip!" he snarled, leaping in front of Shadow Chaos. More Robians were approaching, and Guard stopped short as he noticed Mia among them. "Grrr!! How can we fight our friends!?" he grunted. Kosmo was kicked in the back by Robian Carrie, and fell over. "I don't know, but this is ticking me off!" he said. Gemini and Timothy were watching this from not far away. "Hold on! Maybe I can restrain them with magic!" she offered. However, Aries suddenly landed in front of her, blocking her way. "Don't go, Gem... You'll miss the show." he told her. Cancer and Eddie, who was now wearing a scorpion-based helmet for his role as Scorpio, also landed beside him. "Eeee hee hee! That sun is an impressive uber-illusion! Guess if we're all gonna die, best go out in a blaze of glorious violence! Hey, Anubis!!" Scorpio waved, though Anubis was busy with Zeke in a bit of a firefight. "Friends of yours, Gemini?" Timothy asked. Gemini sighed. "Still complicated." she stated. Cancer grinned. "We don't want to watch the world burn, but we'll cut it close to draw out my adversaries. They'd hate to see the world end...here. Hypocrites, the lot of them." he sneered.

Conan saw Aries land and kicked away a Phantom Pawn, taking to the sky on his Chaos Wings to catch up to the unfolding drama. "Aries, is it? Rumor going around is that you're Copter under that gaudy helmet! Oh, how the wheels of fate turn! Now I'm on the side of the righteous and you're out for villainy! I might be hailed as a hero if I kill you!" he smirked. Gemini stood in his way. "Please, let me talk to him! Copter... you don't have to do any of this! We... we're your friends!" she cried. Aries brushed her aside with his staff and glared at Conan. "Tried friends. Made me weak. And the name is ARIES!!" he cried, firing a bolt from his staff at Conan, who deflected it with his sword. "This is licious! No more small talk, then. Now, die!!" the raccoon snarled, charging at Copter and clashing his sword against his staff! Eddie headed for Gemini, keeping her from interfering. "Eee hee! I'm Scorpio now! Wanna see why?" he said, raising his hands to summon dozens of illusory scorpions, all crawling straight for her! Gemini yelped and frantically fired shots from her wand at the creatures, but Scorpio caused them to surround her! Timothy didn't stand idle, though. He produced his own wand, and cast his own spell. "Hiccatastrophe!!" he cried, a gray smoke shooting into Scorpio's face. He suddenly started to hiccup wildly, stumbling backward as his illusions faded. Gemini looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. "You always picked funny spells... So, uh, did you swipe your wand from me? I had it for a while but I lost it." she said. Timothy nodded. "I had to be sneaky about it, or Lospecter... But yeah, I swiped it before you time traveled." he explained. "Nice story, kids!!" said Shade as she somehow got caught up fighting Cancer, "But could you get back to helping!?" she shouted. Cancer smirked and surprised her by controlling Alpha, sending him crashing into her and knocking her far away from him! Alpha looked oddly dizzy as Cancer's control wore off. "Where did I go? Are you my mother?" he asked Shade. The echidna stood up and backed away, looking for the nearest place to resume being useful. Across the battlefield, things weren't looking good. The Robians were pushing the Freedom Fighters back as they struggled with how to fight them safely.

Eggman's forces were starting to surround the Freedom Fighters on the ground, while in the air, Dulcy and the Babylon Rogues were feeling pressure from quite a few buzzbombers. The resistance wasn't doing much better, even with Omega having arrived to help. Tails, Amy and Classic Sonic found themselves backed into a corner eventually. "It... It was an honor fighting beside you, Sonic..." Tails said, hugging him while Amy nervously clutched her hammer. However, they suddenly heard a familiar robot voice; one that was actually comforting. "Tails detected!" Lasers suddenly knocked down a few Phantom Pawns, while Cheese and Chocola flew about knocking aside the Robians that were advancing on them! "Tails!!" Cream flew up to the fox and hugged him, tears flowing from her eyes. "Cream! SPOT!! No, not here! The...the sun!" he stammered. "Then we die together... I won't leave you..." she sniffled, and glanced at Classic Sonic. "You're alive? B-but... That haircut's too short..." she murmured. "I kinda like it..." Amy giggled, winking at Classic Sonic as he recoiled from her. Elsewhere, Big the Cat body-slammed a number of robots to take the pressure off one batch of Freedom Fighters, while Talon took to the air, attacking buzzbombers to help Dulcy and the Rogues! Even Dave, Vanilla and Bill ran in to help the battle, using makeshift weapons to attack the Robians in a way that wouldn't blow them up. Cosmo even used her laser, on stun, to help Kosmo get away from Carrie. "...Thanks..." he said awkwardly, and resumed following Shadow Chaos, along with a few others that became interested in where the creature was going. Punchy, Guard, Heather, Sally, Shade, and even Knuckles followed Shadow Chaos...right to Infinite. The creature seemed angry at the jackal. "What? Was I infringing on your likeness? What do I care." he stated. Knuckles growled. "Maybe if we take you down, that's another way we can make that sun go away!" he suggested. Kosmo smirked. "Sure, I owe him a beatdown!" he said. "We all do!" Sally added. Infinite sneered at them through his mask. "Enough! I have nothing more to say to any of you. You're already dead to me!" he said, hurling orbs of energy at several of them, splattering Shadow Chaos and knocking back Kosmo! Shade shot back with a blast from the Chaos Gauntlets, while Heather added her own fireballs and Guard hurled a beam from his scythe! Infinite dodged and weaved to avoid them, and sent a shockwave to toss them all away. "Annoying insects!" he shouted, hovering out of their reach. "Coward! Get down here!" Kosmo shouted, only to be pulled away by the tail by a Robian.

Time was just about up. "Make peace with your fate, because your lives are now over!" Infinite declared, soaring beyond the reach of his enemies. "Mwa-hahaha!" Eggman cackled, "Three, two, one, zero!" he counted as Felicia made a last, desperate leap towards the sun from the top of the tower. "Buddy?" Tails said nervously as he flew up to get a look. Cream watched from below, hugging Cheese tightly. Illusi looked up to see Fera make contact with the sun. "Please, no..." he gasped. After a tense moment, however, the sun menacing the sky vanished! The collective Resistance began to cheer and rally, and Illusi felt a tear come to his eye in that moment. "She...she did it. She finally...controlled an illusion! Not quite what she'd had in mind, but... I'm proud of you, Fera." he sniffled. "Wh-what? What just happened?!" Eggman stammered. He'd noticed someone climbing his tower earlier, sure, but he had no idea there was any way they could stop his sun! Felicia stumbled to a landing atop the fortress tower, the prototype ruby shattering in her hand as she collapsed on the ground. Tails flew up to meet her, and so did Eggman. "Impossible! I thought all the prototypes were destroyed!" Eggman cried in frustration. "A costly oversight, doctor!" Tails said as he helped Felicia to her feet, "This is why I always check and double check, as any good scientist would." he said. Felicia looked up at the doctor with a smirk. "What's the matter? Didn't think this scared lone wolf could burn out your sun? How were you going to survive that, anyway?" she asked. Eggman growled. "I had a plan for that! I did!!" he shouted, driving his Egg Mobile away, "I...totally did!!" he stammered. Knuckles turned to the Resistance, while Sally and the others ran to rally the Freedom Fighters. "This is the turning point, guys! Time to press our advantage and kick major butt!" Knuckles announced as his forces cheered!

Gunner sat on the bridge of the GUN Assault Carrier, which was back in the air, acting as the flagship of the Resistance fleet as they launched a full-scale assault on the tower. The Phantom Ruby had expelled immense energy summoning that sun, and this was their chance to defeat Infinite while his power was low. "All troops! ...I can't believe I'm saying this... Support Sonic the hedgehog! Clear the skies as he gets into the tower! We must eliminate Ivo's weapon in order to win this war!" he said to all ships. He lived for this. He would coordinate the air strike while Sonic rushed to catch Infinite. Sonic tore through the Fortress, smashing robots with homing attack after homing attack, searching for Infinite. He could hear chatter over the comms, brave animals fighting to help him and his friends move ahead. Gunner was trying his best to manage the battle, but the GUN Assault Carrier soon took a nasty hit from one of Eggman's fighters. "Ship 3 took a direct hit to the bridge! They're falling back! Ship 7 has been crippled by heavy fire!" a general reported. "Damn! Sonic, where are you!? ...Sonic?" Gunner called. Sonic's comms were set to ignore Gunner, it seemed. "Damn freak. I hate you too!" Gunner grunted as another nasty hit struck the Assault Carrier. "It's no good! Sound the evacuation! And someone tell Sonic!" he yelled. "Brace for crash landing!!" Drol announced from the bridge. Agent 77 and Spy had joined Gunner aboard the ship, and looked to be regretting it. "Any barf bags up here?" Agent 77 asked. "I keep a few on hand..." Spy sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket. "That freak better finish this...or I'll finish him!" Gunner snarled.

Eggman wasn't just cowering during this, though. He flew his Egg Mobile down to face the Freedom Fighters directly as they reached his back doorstep. "Why helloooo! You must be this Princess Sally!" he said, looking at Bunnie. "Flattery'll getcha nowhere, Eggman. I ain't who ya want." she said. "I'm Sally." the chipmunk stated, stepping forward, "And you're the scumbag who kidnapped my father and made a robot out of him!" she shouted. Eggman stroked his mustache. "Ah, yes, I see your resemblance to old Maxie. He wouldn't cooperate. But now he will! You may notice that I ordered your friends and family that I 'upgraded' to return to the tower. A few are still out here as insurance..." he said, motioning to Carrie and a few others. "You slime! Hostages, Eggman!?" Kosmo growled. Eggman nodded. "Now you're catching on. Attack me here, and the Zeti or Anubis will toss them off the bridge to their doom. Make too much trouble for me, and I'll blow the tower, incinerating the lot of your hapless loved ones! Ready to surrender? Hoo ho ho ho ho!!" he cackled. Sally smirked. "You'd blow up your Phantom Ruby?" she asked. Eggman shrugged. "You wanna test whether I would? I tell you what, Sally. Surrender yourself, here and now, and I'll release these hostages here into your group's care. Maybe you can figure out how I gave Chuckie-boy his will back. Deal?" he asked. Sally was silent, looking as though she was considering it. However, Lucky pushed through the crowd, and fired his Wispon. "No deal, Eggface!!" he cried, zapping the hostages and causing them to de-robotisize! Kosmo looked at him with a smirk. "Well, well! Found your gumption, eh? Great timing, runt!" he said, patting him on the back. Eggman growled angrily. "Toss them before they recover!" he ordered. Carrie was quick to recover, though, and gripped Anubis with her psychokinesis. "Gaahh!! P-put me down!!" he snarled. "What? Oh, okay..." she sighed, dropping him over the bridge! "I don't die this easyyyy!!" Anubis roared as he fell. The Deadly Six started to casually walk away as Eggman growled some more. "You're losin' your grip, doctor! We'll see you for revenge REAL soon!" Zazz warned. Eggman turned his Egg Mobile and started flying off. "Just you watch! I'll take Infinite out of here, and BOOM! You're all dead!!" he shouted, "I win anyway! Ah hahahaha!!" he cackled. Sally looked back at the crowd. "...Who's up for disarming some explosives?" she asked.

"You!" Infinite was about to attack Sonic, but Felicia arrived on the scene, using her grappling hook to startle Infinite and land beside Sonic. "My friends got me this far, and together we're gonna win!" Sonic declared. "Whether we met before all this or not, Infinite, you're going down!" Felicia added. Thus began a tense battle. Sonic's homing attacks and Felicia's Wispon, equipped with asteroid powers, battled Infinite's virtual energy fiercely. In the end, they teamed up for a double boost, and knocked the jackal down. Infinite himself seemed to be fading as he tried to stand. "Impossible. I cannot be defeated!" he growled. Sonic wagged his finger at him. "Wrong, loser! The things that can't be defeated are heart, soul and the bonds of friendship, three things you and your counterfeit cronies lack!" he declared. Infinite pounded his fist on the ground, and then started fading even more. "No, wait! I can still fight!" he protested before being apparently whisked away to the top of the fortress tower. Sonic and Felicia exchanged confused looks before they heard Eggman's voice overhead. "You never fail to surprise me, Sonic. I didn't believe Infinite could lose." he stated as his Egg Mobile approached them, "Victory will be so much sweeter when I defeat you." he said, an angry look coming over his frustrated face. "Don't think this is over yet, you blue nuisance! My plan just went into overtime!" he declared, flying away from them. "...What does that mean? Doesn't he ever quit?" Felicia sighed. "No, not really..." Sonic muttered, "Come on, partner! Let's finish the job!" he said, giving her a quick fist bump before moving on. They'd have to move fast...if Eggman got the Phantom Ruby out of his base before it could be evacuated, a fiery end might still await the Resistance after all!

To be concluded!