12A/N: Wow… I'm up to Chapter 11 already… seems like just last year I started this story… Oh, wait – I did start it last year! I know this is obviously my most popular story (although I'm not sure why), and I bet a lot of you fans out there are real sore about it ending, but that should only prompt you further to ask the cast lots and lots of questions.
Chapter 11: Last Chapter: Part 3
"Why?" asked Dave, looking up at the light. It seemed to be growing at a nauseatingly slow pace, but its purpose was still very much a mystery. Suddenly, all of the panels on the floor they were on went from florescent green to the type of snowy gray on a broken TV. Within moments, Eggman's huge moustache was present under their feet.
"Because I'm finally going to destroy the world!" the scientist crackled. "It's actually quite the marvelous plan… All I had to do was get Knuckles into that car accident –"
"You caused this?" roared Knuckles. "You are the one who made me suffer these weeks of horror and stupidity? I oughtta… No… I will kill you!"
"Not without hearing the rest of my clichéd evil monologue, you won't!" boomed Robotnik. "Anyway, all I had to do was pose as an everyday pedestrian, almost get killed underneath that four-wheel drive behemoth you call a truck, and get you sent to anger management class! After that, it was too easy to steal the Master Emerald!"
"I have a question…" Tails said, raising his hand. "If you already had the Emerald, and you knew that you could transform into Final Eggman, why didn't you just use that form to fly into the core of the earth and make it all go boom?"
"Plot device!" Eggman yelled. "Anyway, once I had the Master Emerald, all I had to do was build that multi-quadrillion-dollar aircraft, have it destroyed, and fly up to this nifty little remnant of Space Colony ARK!" Everyone gasped. "Using the prototype of the Eclipse Cannon on this ARK chunk, I was able to figure out that I could use its tiny amount of power to focus through the Master Emerald, making it a beam of unsurpassable magnitude!"
"So you had this story planned from the very first chapter?" Sonic asked. "Did you plan for Sammie to get so into it, too?" Schnieders clapped a hand over Sonic's mouth, but the doctor nodded.
"It was all according to my evil plan!" he continued. All of the time while he had been gloating, Knuckles had stealthily snatched the bag from Dave's hands and had used its contents to transform into Super Knuckles. He didn't look like his usual self, however. Rather than the pink aura and flashing color that usually accompanied Super Knuckles, he was a solid gold color with red tints in his dreads that went all the way down to black. The Guardian crest that adorned the echidna's chest had now become black as well, and a field of fire surrounded his entire form. "Actually, that little skirmish in Chapter Five wasn't really expected, but –"
"Wait – if you had the Master Emerald all along, how was Knux able to summon it in Chapter Five?" asked Dave.
"Save it for Ask the Cast!" Eggman rumbled. "Oh, and now that I've distracted you for an inordinate amount of time, behold as my Omega Cannon annihilates Earth!" The little spot of light that had been neglected for so long now looked pretty darn dangerous, and it didn't help that it was now a thin green beam that threatened to burn the hide of anyone caught in its path. The charge zoomed down, its trajectory clearly marked at the center of the platform, but it met with a flash of gold and red before it could finish its course.
"This is for stealing my Emerald!" Knuckles screamed, taking a handful of the beam and hurling it upward. It sailed for miles, and a small explosion could be seen from their vantage point.
"No!" Eggman cried as the picture on the platform began to shake. "You've sent the ARK chunk out of orbit! It's going to explode!" Super Knuckles was far too busy to care at that point, for he was fading fast and taking damage from the Eclipse Beam as it happened. Before long, he was forced to jump out of the way rather than be fried. The beam swayed and swiveled as the piece of the ARK made its final attack on the planet that it was supposed to save, and the energy emptied into the platform. The Master Emerald seemed to draw it in, using the material of the panels to suck every particle of the attack in. The entire platform began to glow with menacing green energy, and a huge ball formed underneath.
"Sonic…" Schnieders said. "I, uh… I think I'm having a mini freak-out here… Tell me I don't have to stay here."
"But you do!" Sonic shouted. "We all have to work together to stop that blast from blowing up Earth!"
"Oh, it won't blow it up…" Tails informed gloomily. All eyes were on the amber kit.
"He's right!" laughed Robotnik from the glowing panels. "The Omega Cannon will permeate every inch of Earth's surface, spreading its energy down to the core! Once it hits… Kablam!"
"I'm afraid he's right…" agreed Tails sadly. "I don't even think Super Sonic could stop that much power…" The fox looked down as tears began falling from his eyes. "We've actually lost, and it's all because of Knuckles' road rage!" He looked up in surprise when Sonic let out a chuckle.
"Tails, don't you ever learn?" the hedgehog asked. "My stories don't end 'til I stop running, and no one stops me from doin' just that!" Emerald eyes locked onto Dave. "Ready to save the world, Super Schnieders?" A huge grin spread across the teacher's face. Sonic picked up the worn bag and reached out with his other hand. Schnieders took it, and Tails grabbed the human's remaining free hand. "Tails… you're actually gonna help us?" The young fox nodded.
"I have to…" he replied. "It'll make this a cooler chapter!" Two gloved hands worked together to open the bag, and the Chaos Emeralds once again spun from its depths. This time, Super Schnieders was accompanied by the familiar gold hedgehog whose quills stood on end, and Super Tails, who no longer was limited by the idiotic pink aura and random Flickies. Instead, the ends of the kit's tails transformed from white to brown, and the normally pointed tips were frayed and seemed to be blowing in an invisible wind. The gold strands of hair atop Tails' head had also grown a kind of variegated look, as they went from gold at the base to shades of brown to black at the tips.
"Everyone ready?" Sonic asked.
"Hold it, hedgehog." Sonic, Tails, and Schnieders looked around to see Knuckles holding the Emeralds. "No one's going to save the world without me," he growled and transformed again.
"Y'know, not that this isn't totally cool-looking…" said Tails. "but don't you think we're spamming the whole Super-Transformation thing just a bit? I mean, it's happened, like, five times already!" Everyone else shrugged. "Whatever…" grumbled the fox as they formed a tight diamond.
"Let's show this creep the true superpower of teamw –" Sonic's line was cut short by a quick jab to his stomach from the super-powered echidna.
"Do you want to die here?" Knuckles snapped.
"Knuckles, that's quite enough of your anger!" Schnieders scolded. "It's time to ignore our rage and work together to stop the Earth from being destroyed."
"It's a little late for that, I'm afraid," said Eggman. "You see, while you were making all those references and cheesy hero lines, I finished charging the Omega Cannon, so now I'm firing it." The ball of green suddenly became a pillar as it was released from its source. The cylinder of energy reached toward the ground like a groping stump hand, and for a second, all looked lost.
"It's not too late…" Knuckles said quietly. "It's never too late!" Together, the four heroes flew downward, racing the business end of the Omega Beam and meeting it halfway down. Their formation held as they began to try and push back the enormous energy pillar, but they were still descending rapidly. Gold began to fade to red, blue, orange, and gray as the beam finally started to retreat. From way up above, Eggman's voice could still be heard.
"What? No! It's going to explode… again!" The platform exploded in a brilliant flash of orange, green, and black, but Team Sonic and Schnieders had bigger things to concern themselves with.
"We're still miles above the city!" Sonic screamed. "I guess at least we'll die a hero's death!"
"Not yet, we won't!" yelled Schnieders, holding up his wrist and showing the teleporter band. "On the count of three, we give these babies one last spin! One… two… three!" With four glimmers of green light, Team Sonic and Schnieders was gone.
I think that's the quickest I've ever written a chapter of MtA… Well, maybe Chapters 1 and 3 were quickies, too, but that was when my writing skill was just a baby in my repertoire… Hope you fans are liking the last bits of Manage Thy Anger, and please don't forget to ask your questions soon!
Next Chapter: Graduation Day