Sonic Adventure 2: Final Rush
A fan fic adaptation of the final victory scene of Sonic Adventure 2, Hero Side story.

By The Virus



Outside Space Colony Ark.
Cannon countdown: 5 minutes, 44 seconds.


Sonic lifted his foot and inspected the bottom of his sneaker with a frown. He gingerly touched a thumb to the worn-through grind plate and then flinched away quickly as the heat penetrated his glove. "Aw shoot," he muttered softly. He'd bought the 'Soap' branded footwear only three days ago at the mall in Capital City, and now they were ruined, the plastic grinding surface completely shot beyond repair.

Soap shoes had arches in the soles that enabled the wearer to grind railings like a roller blader, and Sonic had spent that whole afternoon practising in an abandoned lot where no one could see him: after all, it wouldn't do his image any good if anyone saw him wipe out. Looking back across the wide expanse of space he had just crossed, the hedgehog was glad he'd taken the time to practice. He'd made almost the entire journey from the outer edge of the Ark to his current position a little way from the Eclipse Cannon at the centre by grinding at high speed along several miles of long, winding pipes that tangled over the underside of the space colony. And the tortured sneakers had suffered accordingly.

Peering over the edge of his perch at the vast globe of the Earth far below, Sonic felt a rush of responsibility for the helpless populace of that blue planet. He suddenly felt foolish for worrying about footwear when the fate of the world lay, quite literally, in the palm of his hand - in the form of a large yellow gemstone.

Rolling the fake Chaos Emerald idly between his paws, Sonic turned and stared down the long walkway towards the Eclipse Cannon. The colossal weapon was aimed squarely at Earth and Sonic shuddered as he remembered last night's catastrophic demonstration in which a single bolt from the cannon had gouged an immense scar deep into the surface of the moon. The crippled satellite was now hidden out of view behind the disc of the Earth, as if cowering in terror from the fearful weapon.

Sonic gazed at the jewel in his hand. It was completely indistinguishable from a real Chaos Emerald. The same promise of mind-blowing power glittered across its faceted surface and flickered inside its translucent depths. Sonic knew it was an illusion - compared to the genuine article, this was just a gaudy glass bauble - but he couldn't deny that the gem was the focus of a great deal of mystic energy. His fox buddy Tails had designed the jewel to, quote-unquote, 'have the same wavelength and properties' of the real Emerald. Sonic didn't know exactly what that implied, but he knew that the fake Emerald had contained enough power to activate Chaos Control, and that fact had saved his life.

Sonic stepped under the shelter that covered the initial section of walkway and psyched up for the long run to the Eclipse Cannon. The (admittedly sketchy) plan was to pitch the replica Chaos Emerald into the energy field surrounding the cannon as it prepared to fire. With any luck, the negatively polarised Emerald would, as designed, disrupt the energy of the other Emeralds powering the cannon, and the whole contraption would be blown to kingdom come.

"Here goes nothing," he breathed.

"You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog."

Sonic whirled around in surprise at the sound of the voice. Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic's sinister mirror image, stood on the edge of the platform grinning his arrogant smirk.

"I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space," questioned the dark doppelganger, stepping into the tunnel alongside him.

"Y'know what can I say?" replied Sonic, quickly overcoming his surprise and flashing a confident grin. "I die hard."

Both hedgehogs began to walk into the tunnel. "You actually saved me y'know," chuckled Sonic, indicating the Chaos Emerald.

"It was a Chaos Emerald, wasn't it?" said Shadow, the yellow gem clutched in Sonic's paw confirming the black hedgehog's suspicions. "But there's no way you could have activated the Chaos Control using an Emerald that's fake."

Sonic just smiled. A little while ago he had escaped from a space capsule shooting away from the colony, scant seconds before the pod had exploded, by using Shadow's trademark teleportation ability. Calling it 'Chaos Control,' Shadow could utilise the power of the Chaos Emeralds to twist time and space and warp across large distances. A hunch in a desperate situation had led Sonic to try the technique for himself, and in the blink of an eye he had materialised safely on board the Ark.
"So..." pondered Shadow, accelerating to a brisk jog. "There's more to you than just looking like me..." Keeping pace with his counterpart, Sonic detected a hint of respect, perhaps even awe in the other hedgehog's voice. "What are you anyway?"

"Whatcha see is whatcha get," shrugged Sonic, masking his own grudging admiration with cocky bravado. "Just a guy that loves adventure. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"I see..." mused the dark hedgehog, and both animals broke into a sprint, Shadow's hover skates flaring beneath his feet. "But you know, I can't let you live," he threatened menacingly. "Your adventuring days are coming to an end!"

The two hedgehogs shot out of the tunnel and onto a wide catwalk that stretched all the way to the Eclipse Cannon.

"Before this is over, I'll show you the true power of Chaos Control!" snarled Shadow, and he swung sharply into Sonic, aiming a rolling attack at his legs. Sonic quickly leapt up and over the black and red spines, landing on the opposite side of his rival. Before Shadow had a chance to recover, Sonic launched his own attack, spinning through the air. The black hedgehog surprised him by countering with a leap of his own, and the two collided hard, each rebounding away from the impact.

Sonic stood and met his opponent's glare, panting slightly. He'd never fought anything that was anywhere near as fast as himself. Eggman's machines were always bigger, stronger and tougher, but Sonic had always had the speed advantage. Sure, Metal Sonic - a robotic clone that Sonic encountered on his adventure on the Little Planet - could put on a respectable lick of speed, but that was only in short bursts, and in the end it was still just a slow witted Badnik like the rest. This was different. Shadow was a living being that could think, improvise, and react on instinct - combat qualities that machines severely lacked.

Even as he was considering this fact, Shadow gave a demonstration, darting in, feinting left and then swinging a lightning-fast kick to Sonic's midriff. The heavy skate caught him hard under the ribs and briefly knocked the wind out of him. Shadow was relentless and followed up with a right hook to the head. Sonic raised his arms in defence, but the blow smacked into his temple and he was sent sprawling against the low railing at the brink of the walkway.

The black hedgehog loomed over him. "I told you - I'm the Ultimate!" he growled, and pounced into a spin attack. Sonic rolled out of the way and Shadow hit empty space. Kicking up off the floor, Sonic rammed the black hedgehog with his elbow. Caught off balance after his failed attack, Shadow stumbled and, to Sonic's horror, fell into the empty void below.

"Shadow, no!" yelled Sonic, rushing to the edge. Shadow was nowhere in sight. No dark shape plunged Earthwards. He gaped briefly in confusion, and then a bright flare of light made him twist around to see Shadow warp safely back onto the catwalk a little further down. Sonic glanced at the fake Chaos Emerald to see a Chaos Control incandescence fading away. Shadow had used the Emerald in Sonic's possession to remotely activate the teleportation technique.

"Time to put this into action..." hissed the black hedgehog. "Disappear!" At his command, the Emerald flared once again, and razor sharp needles of dark energy formed in a cluster overhead. Shadow threw down his outstretched hand, and the glowing missiles streaked towards Sonic, who just barely dived away. Revving a dash attack, Sonic closed the gap between them and then they were on the move again, running neck and neck along the walkway.

There was a great rumble ahead and both looked towards the Eclipse Cannon to see the huge weapon's outer panels opening up in preparation to fire at the Earth. Time was running out.

"Alright Shadow," snarled Sonic with new determination. "Time for me to finish this!" He brandished the Chaos Emerald. "I'll use your trick - Chaos Control!"

The air shimmered around the blue hedgehog's body, and then Shadow shielded his eyes as the blinding luminescence blazed up. He looked around anxiously to see where Sonic would appear, and noticed the brilliant flash above him a second too late. Sonic came out of the warp and barrelled into Shadow from above, sending him tumbling to the ground. He scrambled to his feet as another spin attack crashed into him from behind. Shadow rolled away and came up running, trying to get some distance between them.

"I'm not done with you yet..." called Sonic, sprinting after him. Harnessing the Chaos Emerald's power to slow time and increase his speed, Sonic charged at Shadow and dashed two quick rings around him. "Sonic Wind!" A sonic boom crashed out deafeningly, and blades of air sliced at Shadow from the blue hedgehog's wake.

"Impossible..." groaned Shadow weakly, as he crumpled to the ground, buffeted by the vicious winds. "I am the Ultimate Life!"

"Game over Shadow..." said Sonic darkly, standing over his fallen foe. A low thunderous grumble that shook the walkway made him look up with a start: the Eclipse Cannon was firing!

Sonic raced for the cannon as flickering bolts of luminous energy arced along the outer panels and crackled up the central shaft towards the tip. He felt his quills prickle on his back with the enormous static charge as he reached the end of the catwalk. Drawing back his arm, he leapt out into the midst of the swirling, crackling Chaos energy within the cannon and flung the fake Emerald as hard and as far as he could towards the central tower. Sonic vanished in the intense brilliance of the storm.

Ark abandoned lab.
Cannon countdown: 12 seconds.

Miles Prower, also known as Tails the Fox, clambered down from his Cyclone battle walker, head hung low with sorrow. The manoeuvrability and heavy firepower of the bipedal machine had just secured him a triumph over Dr Robotnik and his similar Eggwalker mech, but it was an empty victory. He glanced over at Amy Rose, sobbing quietly by the window. He wished he could comfort her, but right now he was stricken with grief himself. A short time ago Tails had witnessed the violent demise of his hero, mentor, and best friend: Sonic the Hedgehog. Caught in a trap set by the devious Dr Eggman, Sonic had been ejected from the space colony in a capsule, which had then been consumed in a fiery explosion. There was no way he could have survived.

The young fox looked at the communicator handset clenched in his paw. As a symbolic way of saying goodbye to his friend, as though the radio had a direct line to the afterlife, Tails depressed the transmit button and spoke softly into the device: "Sonic... I did it..." He listened despondently to the empty static as it is hissed its uncaring reply.

"Awesome job Tails!" came a familiar voice over the airwaves.

"Sonic!" gasped the fox, hardly daring to believe it was true.

"Eh?" said the pink hedgehog by the window in surprise, her head snapping up at the sound of the voice.

"Look outside!" urged Sonic from the radio.

Tails spun around to look out across the underside of the Ark. Amy hopped to her feet next to him, wiping at her eyes. Oh no! The Eclipse Cannon was firing! Tails gawked in horror as bright energy crackled along the huge central column. In his grief he had completely forgotten about the devastating weapon that was counting down to fire on the defenceless planet. Now it was too late. The intense energy reached the tip of the shaft, and instead of discharging in a lethal beam towards the Earth, it seemed to double in on itself and cascade back to the base of the cannon. The weapon overloaded and was swiftly engulfed in a giant ball of flame. The sound of the explosion rung out a second later, and the entire space colony quaked violently.

The vibrations settled and Amy suddenly squealed in excitement, pointing out of the window. Tails followed her indication and saw a small blue figure clinging to a beam outside. Sonic grinned and flashed them a thumbs-up. Beaming widely himself, the overjoyed fox returned the triumphant gesture.

Way to go, Sonic the Hedgehog, thought Tails. Way to go.