In the Resistance base, the members of the group were back in there. Most of them were standing around in the room while Tails, Twilight and Manic were working on the damaged E-123 Omega, whose back was open. Everyone was feeling really good about their victory in Metropolis. After all this time, they now had the upper hand.
"I still can't believe it. We actually managed to win." Fluttershy cheerfully said. "Today's been really good for us."
"Yeah. Our luck's finally turning around!" Charmy agreed.
"I'm glad you all feel that way, but we can't celebrate just yet." Knuckles said. "There's only one more hour until Eggman's plan."
"There's no more time. We need to break in and enter his fortress." Shadow declared.
"This is our chance to bring peace back to the world." Silver said with convinction.
"It's about time. After the city, I feel like I'm ready to tear down that creep's fortress." Rainbow Dash announced as she put her fist into her hand.
"Glad you're all pumped. But like ah said before, we shouldn't let winnin' in the city get to our heads." AppleJack warned.
"Indeed. There's still one more battle to fight before we can truly be victorious."Espio remarked while polishing his kunai.
"Ok, everyone. We'll gather our forces for one large organized attack. We'll fight as a group and force our way in." Amy suggested.
"Liking this direct approach." Vector said with approval.
Tails, Twilight and Manic finished putting some last minute screws on Omega and closed his back.
"There. That should do it for this guy. He should be good to go." Manic finished.
"Thank you." Rouge said to the mechanics. "We're going to need Omega for something this big. But don't expect him to say thank you."
"Speaking of which, we need to talk about the other edge we have." Tails said. "Sunset, take out that gem you found."
Sunset took out the ruby out of her pocket to display.
"Oh my. What a lovely gem." Rarity gushed. "What are you doing with that?"
"Pinkie found it and gave it to me."Sunset said. "I forget about for a while but this thing's saved my life before. It helped me back in the city for the first time and also allowed for Sonic and I get out of Null-Space."
"You're welcome by the way." Pinkie said as she came next to Sunset with a wink.
"Tails and I re-examined the notes Eggman left and it looks like this must be one of his Phantom Ruby copies." Twilight explained.
"So we have our own Phantom Ruby on our side. Sweet." Sonic said with the thumbs up. "So I guess it's time we give Eggman a taste of his own medicine."
"Not sure if it works like that, Sonic." Tails said. "Sunset, can you pass it here."
Sunset gave Tails the Phantom Ruby and he clenched it tight. Nothing happened. He passed it to Twilight and nothing happened.
"It looks like I can't activate it." Tails said.
"The Ruby responds to my magic usually." Sunset shared.
"That makes sense. The notes did mention how it reacts specifically to the DNA of the one who activated it." Twilight said while she gave Sunset the Ruby back. "Your Equestrian Magic must have triggered it."
"Guess I'll hold on to it then." Sunset decided as she placed it back in her pocket.
"Ok, everyone. This our last chance. Give it your all!" Knuckles commanded as the Resistance cheered in response. It was time to take back their world.
The massive army of the Resistance filled with the main members at the front and soldiers, carrying Wispons, had arrived at Eggman's fortress. It was located in the center of a barren gray wasteland with similar-looking mountains surrounding it. In the background was mperial Tower, a massive high-tech tower with tall metallic pieces forming hoops circling around it. The sky here is also completely overcast by gray clouds and filled with Resistance ships, which were used as transport, on one side. The other side had Eggman's fleet. Mechanical structural loops were on this side as well.
As the commander, Knuckles stood at the center, standing tall and proud. Before anyone could move, red glitches appeared in front of them. They soon materialized to make an army of copies, consisting of Shadow, Chaos, Metal Sonic and Zavok. Knuckles clenched his fist and turned to Sonic with a nod.
"Charge!" He ordered as he and his forces ran towards the masses of Replicas.
The final battle had begun. Knuckles started off by punching a replica of Zavok back. He then unleashed a barrage of punches towards any enemy he could find. With great strength, he then struck the ground, making a fiery explosion occur around him and setting his enemies back. AppleJack grabbed her lasso and wrapped around a Zavok clone. She then swung it around to smack around other fakes before slamming it to the ground, making a small crater. Shadow teleported around the area, hitting phantoms with either punches or kicks. Pinkie released a series of shots out of her cannon, blowing the copies back. Silver placed his hand on the ground and set out a psychic wave, paralyzing many replicas. This allowed for soldiers to fire at them with their Wispons. On the enemy side, Shadow clones unleashed Chaos Spears while Metal Sonic clones fired chest lasers. With her power, Rarity made a series of shields to block the attacks, which left her diamonds cracked. She then extended her hand and smashed them into her various enemies. Manic took out his eskrima sticks and used them as buzzsaws, slicing through all the fakes he came across. Next, to him, Vector used brute strength to clobber the clones while Charmy rapidly fired stingers to hit them. Espio unleashed ninja stars at first until he pulled out a kunai and joined Manic in cutting down the replicas. Fluttershy clutched her geode tight and it gave off a pink hue. Suddenly, a flock of birds emerged and started to swarm Eggman's army. This left them disorientated and open to further attacks from the soldiers. Twilight lifted many phantoms in the air, making them glow purple. She then pushed them back with her telekinesis. Rainbow Dash used her speed to shove her enemies way. Amy took many swings withher her hammer and slammed down the counterfeits. Rouge struck with kicks towards the replicas, taking them out. Tails activated his arm cannon and shot his enemies as he ran forward. He then used an enerbeam via his wrist, which was a yellow tether made of energy bolts.He latched on to a Chaos copy and pulled himself in for a strong kick. This sent the mimic crashing into many others.Sonic turned into a streak and hit through duplicate after duplicate. Sunset used the Burst Wispon as fire plowed through the knockoffs The Resistance was managing to get through Eggman's forcea and pushing forward. Behind all the clones, Infinite was floating above, watching. With Sonic at the front, the core members ran ahead towards Infinite, who had more stationary phantoms behind him.
"Yo, Infinite." Sonic greeted as he and the others came to a stop. Everyone except him looked up at the masked foe with tense eyes. "How've you been?"
"I've just been so anxious to finish off you and your annoying friends once and for all!" Infinite replied as his body started to glow red.
Infinite then unleashed a red distortion wave, blowing back Sonic and the others a few feet, causing them to cry out as they fell to the ground.
"Ready for the end?" Infinite asked as his enemies rose from the floor.
"If not, then don't feel too bad. It'll be over soon. Maybe."He sadistically added.
Suddenly, a series of green energy beams tried to hit Infinite. Reacting quickly, he dodged them all.
"What?! Who dares?!" The masked fiend demanded.
Coming down towards the battlefield was a fully functional E-123 Omega, with a wrist laser. He then landed on the ground as all eyes were on him.
"Target confirmed. Extermination mode initiated. Payback inevitable." Omega declared.
"Omega! You're here!' Rouge happily yelled.
"The talking canine informed me of the situation. Stand back meatbags. Leave the destroying to the experts." The root ordered.
Omega's body then activated all his weaponry. Machine guns, flamethrowers, cannons, and lasers blasters. He was now a walking artillery.
"I suggest we move back." Shadow suggested as he moved backward, with everyone else doing the same.
"Pest!" Infinite yelled as he motioned his hand forward. In response, his phantom army ran towards Omega.
The living weapon then unleashed a devastating assault of his entire arsenal. Sensing the danger, Infinite floated above as his clones were covered in a series of enormous flares. The result was a large explosion, much to the awe of the Resistance. A giant smoke cloud was seen from above and started to rise. The smoke began to clear and the result was that the imitations were no longer to be seen, leaving everyone else amazed.
"Wow, he took out all of those fakes like it was nothing." Manic said, dumbfounded .
"I'm sure glad he's on our side." Rainbow Dash expressed.
Infinite closed his fight tightly upon seeing his creations defeated so easily. He turned back to Omega and the Resistance
I will burn you and your Resistance to cinder!" The villain stated as he was surrounded by his aura.
Infinite then launched an orange spark into the air, which caused everyone to look up. The spark then transformed and engulfed the sky.......as an enormous sun! The sight of this filled the entire resistance with horror and shock. They were feeling overwhelmed by the sight.
"You've got to be kidding." Knuckles managed to say. "It's...just another fake...right?"
"No. While we're under the Phantom Ruby's control....it's real." Tails informed him.
"The sun?! He's going to drop the sun on us?!" Pinkie shrieked while holding her face.
"Talk about overkill!"Sonic simply said
"What can we do against that?!" Espio wondered.
"Ohhh, it's the end!!"Fluttershy cried as she covered her eyes.
Eggman looked on from his Eggmobile and began to chuckle.
"Yes. I have them right where I want them. The sun will crush them all!" The mad doctor proclaimed.
Despair was beginning to overcome the Resistance. There was no way to counter a star of that size. Some of the soldiers began to crouch on the ground in defeat.
"And we were so close!" Silver yelled with frustration as he punched the ground. "It can't end like this! All this effort...wasted!"
As everyone was starting to feel the situation was hopeless, Sunset reached in her pocket and pulled out the Phantom Ruby copy.
"Everyone, don't give up yet. " Sunset reminded as she showed it off. "I still have this with me.
"Right! With that, maybe we can stop that artificial sun." Twilight realized.
Sunset displayed the ruby up and noticed nothing was happening.
"Time to fight fire with fire. If I can get close to that sun, maybe I can make it go away." Sunset decided as she looked up at the incoming flare.
"Sunset, no. You'll be burnt to a crisp if you go there alone." Knuckles protested.
"Knuckles is right. It's too dangerous." Vector agreed.
"Then she won't go alone." AppleJack suddenly said. "Ah'm coming with ya, Sunset!"
"Me too! Me too!" Pinkie announced.
"If they're coming along, I might as well go too I suppose."Rarity offered.
"Count me in too." Twilight volunteered.
"Kicking the sun's butt? No way I'm sitting out this one!" Rainbow Dash excitedly said.
Fluttershy watched as all her friends had just offered themselves for their most dangerous mission yet. She herself was feeling terrified. It was the sun they were dealing with after all. But she knew she couldn't stay back.
"I'm coming as well." Fluttershy shared as she fought back her fear.
Sunset looked on at the rest of the Rainbooms, touched by them risking their lives for her.
"All of you...thank you." Sunset simply replied. She always knew she could count on them.
"Ok then, it's up to you." Sonic said.
"There's a small chance but at this point, it's our only hope." Tails explained. "Go for it."
"Please, all of you come back in one piece." Amy requested.
"No worries. Like I said before, when all the Rainbooms are together, nothing can stop us!" Rainbow Dash boasted.
The Rainbooms then went off ahead to approach the incoming sun by going deeper into Eggman's fortress. As they did, Infinite looked down and noticed them moving.
"What are they doing? Don't they realize the futility of their situation?" He wondered. "Tch. What will it take for them to realize that they've lost?"
Seeing the Rainbooms continue despite the situation they were in began to vex Infinite slightly. His body then began to glow as he raised his hands.
Ahead of the Rainbooms, 6 magenta silhouettes appeared, making them stop. They then began to materialize one by one. It was...the Hard Boiled Heavies. However, there was something different about them. The Heavy Gunner and Shinobi no longer had limbs. Instead, they were replaced by giant blue jetpack that contained a missile launcher and eight blades that surround the Shinobi. The blades were green with yellow tips, with a gray line that connected the blades together onto the Shinobi's body. The Heavy Magician looked the same but in front of them were 3 giant metallic cups. The Heavy Rider now was riding her steed Jimmy, who had been transformed into a large motorbike with a large front wheel. The Heavy Brawler now had 4 arms instead of two. Lastly, there was a new robot. Decorated as a mixture between a king and a knight, the robot had a red cape, signifying its rank among the other Hard Boiled Heavies as the leader. It had spiked knee joints and triangular shoulder pads along with red boots with golden forefeet. It also wore bronze-colored armor-plating on its chest with a white crown symbol. It had gray appendages and red eyes. This was known as the Heavy King.
"We can't let these ruffians stop this or otherwise it's over!" Rarity said with an annoyed look.
Suddenly, Amy came by the Rainbooms. Shortly afterward, she was followed by the Chaotix, Silver, Manic, Rouge and Omega.
"Go on. We can handle them. There's no time!"Amy urged.
"Thanks. We won't let you down." Sunset promised
Amy and the others then took charge and headed towards the Heavies. The Heavy King stuck his hand out and ordered for his subordinates to attack. The Phantom Brawler clashed with Vector who caught two of it's punched and struggled to hold them back. With its other two arms, it attempted to punch him, but they were grabbed by Espio and Charmy. With his powers, Silver trapped the Phantom Rider, who revved up its engine as it tried to move through. Silver had to concentrate to hold it in place. The Phantom Shinobi set out blades, which were intercepted by Amy hitting them with her hammer and Manic using his sticks. From it's back, the Phantom Gunner shot out missiles which began to fall down. Omega activated his gatling guns and shot them in the air, making small flares. The Phantom Magician opened it's cup and unleashed purple lasers, placing Rouge on the defensive as she jumped and dodged them. The Heavy King observed the fighting and was too preoccupied with commanding his subjects that the Rainbooms were able to slip by him.
The Rainbooms moved across the battlefield and into Eggman's fortress. The high-tech fortification was located in the middle of a deep crater whose edges were surrounded by high walls. These walls extend into the depths of the crater, forming staircase-like levels. Rising up from the center of the crater was a massive high-tech tower with tall metallic pieces forming hoops circling around it. The tower was surrounded by floating layers. Each of these layers consisted respectively of hexagonal-based frameworks, metal barriers, and metallic platforms, the last of which make up the playable roads. Noticeably, the platform had gears equipped to them. Also, the layers were equipped with surveillance orbs and metal barriers.
The 7 Rainbooms looked up at the tower they had to scale.
"Wow, it's really high up...." Fluttershy expressed.
"We just have to get up there, then?" Rainbow Dash said. "No problem!"
The Rainbooms began to move ahead and flew across a small gap to reach the next section. There, Egg Pawns saw them arrive and aimed their guns to fire. Luckily, Rarity made a series of shield to protect her friends. Twilight used her powers to slam two in the ground while Pinkie tossed a handful of explosives to defeat the rest. The girls then descended down to a lower pathway and traversed across. As they did, Egg Pawns guarding the bottom tried to stop them as they readied to fire. However, Rainbow Dash used her speed and knocked them off their balance by ramming into them.
"Come on, slowpokes!" She called from across.
"This is ain't a race." AppleJack said with slight annoyance.
"Actually, it kind of is as we have to move as fast as we can in order to stop the sun from burning us and our friends, so it does mean we're in a race against time." Pinkie explained quickly.
"Well, when she puts it like that..." was all Rarity could say
AppleJack opened her mouth to speak but Pinkie was technically correct. She said nothing and moved on with the rest of the group.
The Rainbooms regrouped at the leftmost of the path and noticed there were side walls going upwards. The 7 heroines easily flew up to the next level. Once they reached the next stage, Rainbow Dash quickly took off to move ahead. As she moved, she didn't notice sparks of electricity forming on the ground. Her friends, on the other hand, did and formed looks of fright.
"Rainbow Dash! Stop!"Sunset cried.
Rainbow stopped and turned around, annoyed.
"Stop,why would you-" She started to say before she heard the sound of small sparks and looked down. She then formed a panicked look as the floor started to become filled with electricity.
Just when it looked Rainbow Dash was going to get zapped, Twilight used her powers quickly and levitated her in a purple shroud, freeing her from harm. She then sighed with relief.
"Thanks, Twilight!" She said as Twilight let her aura go and Rainbow Dash floated in the sky.
"We have to be on our guard here 100%. We can't rush in blindly."Sunset advised to her teammates. "This is the peak of the enemy's territory and I want us all to be safe."
The others nodded and the 6 of them rose up and flew to where Rainbow Dash was.
Meanwhile back on the battlefield, the Phantom Heavies were continuing the battle with the Resistance members. The Phantom Gunner fired missiles which moved around in a frenzy at Omega. Due to Omega's lock on scanner, he was able to hit all of them with his guns. He tried to hit the Gunner, who was too quick to be shot.
"Why does Eggman insist on making these defective models?" He wondered while continuing to fire.
Silver lifted up debris and kept trying to smash the Phantom Rider, who was driving around like a madman and avoiding damage.
"This thing is almost as hard to hit as Sonic.." He grumbled.
Silver continued his assault but the Rider was able to evade it easily. It then revved up its bike quickly and came off the ground to try and hit Silver with its wheel. Due to its speed, Silver was barely able to defend himself by gathering rocks around him. The Rider's wheel moved against Silver's defense.
The Phantom Brawler tried to smash Espio, whose agility caused each attempted hit to miss. It then punched downward, making Espio jump back. This resulted in a small shockwave that blew him away a bit. Ahead, Charmy fired stingers but they just bounced off the Brawler. Espio threw shurikens as well but they were ineffective. Vector came and threw punch after punch, which the Brawler blocked with two arms. It used the other two to grab Vector and place him in a bear hug. This made him grunt as he struggled to move while Espio and Charmy rushed to his aid.
Rouge jumped high in the air and tried to kick the Phantom Magician, who vanished in dark smoke. It reappeared behind her and Rouge turned to attempt another kick, but the Magician teleported again. Rogue then kept trying to land a kick but the Magician just repeated the same trick. When it reappeared, it opened up its cups and fired 3 beams. Rouge leaped high in the air to dodge them and came to the Magician with a spiral kick. To counter, the Magician used one of its cups as a shield. Rouge's drill pressed on it for a while until she fell back.
The Phantom Shinobi continued to send out blades as Amy and Manic hit them back. The Shinobi then caught back all of its blades and began to rotate them at high speed. It turned itself into a deadly wheel and came for the two heroes. In response, Amy spun around with her hammer and began to clash with the Shinobi. However, the Shinobi proved to be stronger and rosy heroine was blown back to the ground. Seeing her vulnerable, the Shinobi quickly headed in her direction. Manic then used his speed and pulled Amy out of the way. He then released his sticks to the Shinobi, which simply bounced off all the blades and came back to him.
"Ok. This is gonna be harder than I thought." The green haired freedom fighter said as the Shinobi came as a wheel towards him and his friend.
"We just have to stall them until Sunset and the others turn off that sun." Amy responded as she and Manic split apart to dodge the wheeling ninja.
The Rainbooms made it across the electrified floor and rose up to the next level of the fortress. This led them to a small platform, but that was it. They all looked around for where to go next.
"Uhm...up there?" Fluttershy suggested as she pointed up to a platform which was a few feet up ahead.
"Right. Nice eye, Fluttershy." Twilight praised.
The magic group flew to where Fluttershy had pointed and arrived on another pathway. They then started to move left. While moving, they suddenly a large rumble, making all of them stop.
"What was that?!" Fluttershy said in a frightened tone.
The Rainbooms looked above them and saw small balls of fire were dropping and crashing into the parts of the fortress.
"Wow, the sky really is falling!" Pinkie commented
"The blasts look like they are falling indiscriminately. It doesn't seem likely we'll get hit." Twilight deduced.
"You're right on that. I think it's safe to move." Sunset agreed.
"It can't stop us anyway." Rainbow Dash added.
The septer continued along and hovered above the mini gaps ahead. On the small platforms in front, holes opened up and they began to fire purple energy spheres. The girls scattered as they avoided getting hit.
"Everyone, come to me!" Rarity said.
The other Rainbooms huddled to Rarity, who surrounded all of them in a giant diamond sphere. With it, she started to move across. When the blasts hit, it shook the sphere a bit and left small cracks.
"Wow, it's just like bumper cars!" Pinkie giggled.
"Really? Now?" AppleJack drly said.
Rarity's shield held out until the girls reached the end. They then descended down. After they did, they were greeted by Egg choppers coming to them with their swinging blades, accompanied by Egg Pawns. Using her lasso, AppleJack took hold of an Egg Pawn and it pulled it close to her. She then jumped in the air with it and punched it ahead, causing it to slam into the Egg Choppers, creating a small explosion. There were still some Egg Pawns and Rarity shot a diamond like a boomerang, slicing them down to size. Sunset pulled the trigger on her Wispon and took care of the rest with a stream of flames. The path was free and the 7 girls moved ahead. They saw they needed to move down again. Unfortunately, their next destination had Egg Pawns on it.
"Anyone else getting sick of these creeps?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It is to be expected. We are in the fortress." Twilight said.
AppleJack saw a red hook up ahead and this gave her an idea. She took out her lasso and wrapped it around it.
"No worries, y'all. Ah got this." AppleJack told her.
With her rope, the strongest Rainboom then swung down and using her strength, she kicked through all the Egg Pawns in no time. The floor was now safe for her friends to come down, who joined her in no time.
"Good thinking, AJ." Sunset said.
"That looked so fun! Let me try next time!"Pinkie excitedly said.
"If we can. We gotta get goin!"AppleJack answered
The Rainbooms moved through the fortress, accompanied by the small flares crashing around. It did disturb them for a bit but they moved through it. They reached the end in no time and flew higher to the next part.
"Do you think we'll make it in time?" Fluttershy questioned.
"We can't worry about that now, Fluttershy."Rainbow Dash said. "Just keep moving!"
The team of 7 then came across more floors unleashing energy spheres on them. Rather than huddle them together, Rarity made a diamond floor beneath to take the blast and it began to crack quickly.
"Hurry!" She urged.
The Rainbooms quickly flew across their friend's diamonds and reached the next stage as the diamonds cracked.
"Rarity, is doin' all this ok for ya?" AppleJack asked with concern.
"I'm fine. We have to make it up there. No matter what." Rarity said as she wiped some sweat from her head.
Egg Pawns then jumped down to attack the Rainbooms. Pinkie threw as many explosives as she could to take them out. Twilight pushed them out of the way with her powers while Rainbow Dash flew back and came down to knock a few them of backward. The Rainbooms were free to rise higher and get closer to the sun.
"Ok, we're this far. It's all up to us now." Sunset told her friends.
The magical heroines flew across different metal barriers and this took them on a road at the top.
"Made it." Twilight said. "At the rate we are-"
Twilight's sentence was cut off by the sound of energy coming behind her and the others. They all turned around and much to their horror, a giant blue energy laser had formed...and was coming for them.
"Aw, ya've got be kiddin'!" AppleJack complained as she and her companions began to fly as fast as they could from the incoming laser beam.
"Really does feel like a final level, huh?" Pinkie simply said
On the ground, Amy and Manic somersaulted out of the Phantom Shinobi's path. It turned around to try the same trick and they rolled out of its way to dodge. The Shinobi came to a stop and Manic saw an opening and rushed towards it. The Shinobi's quick reflexes caused iy to fire blades, putting Manic on the offensive as he used his sticks as a defense. Manic then vibrated quickly and hit his sticks together, making a small soundwave that blew the blades back.
"Amy, quick!" He called out.
Amy rushed forward with her hammer but blades were still in front. Amy then improvised and used her hammer to hit the knives to the Shinobi. The Shinobi dodged most but one was lodged in its abdomen, making small circuits appear.
Omega kept on destroying missiles of the Phantom Gunner. Despite his love for destruction, he was starting to find this repetitive.
"You are supposed to be one of the Doctor's elite robots? Show me. Enough with the missiles. Surprise me." He demanded.
As if it listened to Omega, the Gunner stopped short of its missile fire.Its jetpack began to glow red and it fired blue missiles, which rained down to Omega. Before they hit, the missiles then split into smaller ones, making hundreds head his way.
"Finally. An enemy who gets it!" Omega said as he gleefully activated his weapons to take on the incoming rockets. This resulted in a semi-large explosion happening in the side.
Rouge noticed the explosion and sighed.
"Omega must be having too much fun...." She simply said.
The Phantom Magician opened its cups and razor-sharp cards headed in the spy's direction. Rouge took to mid-air and became a drill once more as she kicked through the cards. Once she was on the ground, she unleashed an ax kick towards the magician and it seemed like the attack landed. However, the Magician then exploded into a jack in the box, with it's giant head startling Rouge as she fell back. The Magician appeared above her and Rouge gave it an intense glare.
"Ok, you're really asking for it now!" She threatened
The Phantom Brawler continued to hug Vector as he tried to pry its arms off him.
"Come on. All that weight lifting wasn't for nothing..." The detective said as he continued to struggle.
On the back, Charmy kept firing stingers but the Brawler didn't even notice.
"Let him go! Let him go! Let him go! Stop ignoring me!" Charmy angrily yelled.
Suddenly, a small swirl appeared around the Brawler, taking it by surprise as it was suddenly lifted in the air. This caused it's grip on Vector to loosen.
"Gotcha!"He said as he broke free and took hold of the Brawler and slammed it right into the ground. This left only its feet sticking out. Vector then dusted his hands as Charmy flew next to him. Espio then appeared, no longer invisible.
"Thanks Espio," Vector said. "Why didn't you do that from the start?"
"I needed to wait for the right moment. And besides, it isn't done yet." The ninja informed his leader.
Using its hands, the Brawler took itself out of the ground easily. It then turned to the Chaotix as steamed emerged from it.
" Ok, now I think he's mad." Charmy said.
The Phantom Rider kept leaping in the air, performing stunts and trying to hit Silver as he kept dodging each strike.
"Ok seriously...Knock it off!" Silver angrily ordered as he managed to grab the Rider in a psychic aura finally.
As he did, the Rider revved its engine and stream of flames came in Silver's direction. The psychic youth used his powers to split the flames apart, but this caused him to let go of the Rider. The robotic daredevil continued to drive around, making Silver sigh in frustration.
The Rainbooms continued to frantically flee from the giant beam chasing them. Blocking their way were some Egg Pawns on the ground, looking up and ready to fire. Sunset unleashed flames from above, causing them to combust. The group reached the leftmost and flew up again to a higher region. The section they came across was enclosed and seemed like they had hit a dead end.
"Now what?!" Fluttershy worriedly said.
With a keen eye, AppleJack noticed a part of the ground was covered with some breakable red flooring. She quickly flew ahead and unleashed a punch, causing it to break apart. A new path was open.
"Come on!" She yelled.
The Rainbooms instantly followed their companion and flew down the hole. It led them to a longer platform, which was littered with Egg Cutters. Pinkie Pie quickly pulled out her cannon and fired a barrage of shots, taking the enemies out before they could do any damage. This allowed the 7 of them to fly up to another level. Where they were at, they saw Imperial Tower up ahead.
"There! That's the way to the sun!" Sunset pointed out.
The Rainbooms flew towards the lowest part of the Tower. They kept moving once they reached out, going around it, while the death ray kept on pursuing them
"You think you can stop the sun?!" Eggman boasted from above. "Give up! You'll be burnt like moths drawn to a flame!"
"Ignore him. We can do this!" Twilight said to raise her friends's morale.
Egg Pawns tried to stop the heroines from going ahead but Rarity threw slim diamonds that impaled the enemies while Twilight released a psychic wave to push them back. The Rainbooms were free to fly up to the tower's next level. There, more of Eggman' soldiers blocked their path. Rainbow Dash flew around them quickly, making them turn dizzy as they tried to keep up with her. While stunned, AppleJack grabbed one with her lasso and smashed it into the others. With this done, the 7 friends reached another higher level. Here, the paths were getting more narrow, forcing them to strategically fly around. This slowed them down as Eggman's ray was incoming.
"Just a bit longer..."Rarity uttered with determination.
Sunset and her friends reached the penultimate part of the tower and soared as fast as they could as the blue laser beam was getting closer and closer. Adrenaline was pumping through all 7 girl's bodies, pushing them to the limit.
"We can make it." Sunset reassured everyone.
The Rainbooms reached the end of the second highest level and flew on ahead as the death laser collided with the end, making a blue flare behind them. The direction they headed too brought them to the tower's top and the virtual sun was right above. When they landed, they collapsed due to exhaustion and caught their breaths. It was a real close call.
"Whew. We're finally...here." AppleJack said while panting.
"Is it just me or is it like really hot?" Rarity wondered outloud as she fanned herself
The Rainbooms started to sweat due to being close to the virtual sun and felt its heat. It was worse than any hot day of summer, borderline unbearable. Combined with the fatigue they were feeling, it seemed like they were sapped of all strength. Sunset was barely able to rise and she lifted up her Phantom Ruby copy weakly.
"I....I...." She said.
Sunset felt like she was going to pass out until she felt someone grab her hand. She turned to see an equally tired looking Twilight, whose free hand had Fluttershy. Fluttershy was holding Pinkie, who in turn held Rainbow Dash's. Rainbow Dash used her other hand to grab AppleJack, who also grabbed Rarity.
"We're all here, Sunset." Twilight said.
"And you know what that means?" Rainbow Dash said.
"Time for some lasers!"Pinkie cheered.
The Rainbooms floated in the air and all started to glow with a white aura. Each of their geodes lit up and they felt power surging through all of them. With renewed strength, Sunset aimed her gem at the sun.
On the ground, Infinite watched as the small Resistance faced off with the Phantom Heavies while the others looked on as the sun was getting closer and closer. They were anxious to see if the Rainbooms had succeeded or not and hoped for the best.
"Your last hope has failed. Make peace with your end." Infinite taunted.
"Three...Two....One...." Eggman eagerly said.
Sunset's ruby began to glow due to the activation of magic. She and her 6 firends fired a white beam covered with rainbows towards the sun. Upon making contact, the sun then began to flicker before it vanished. This caused Eggman, the Heavy King and Infinite look up with disbelief. The fighting between the other Heavies and the Resistance members ceased as well as the sky was back to normal.
"The sun, its gone!" Knuckles proclaimed, making the entire resistance roar with applauds.
Shadow looked up and gave a small smile.
"Just as I expected." He softly said.
"They did!" Tails joyfully exclaimed.
"What?! What happened?!" Eggman demanded in a mixture of surprise and rage.
The doctor flew up to Imperial Tower quickly to see the Rainbooms fall on the floor, extremely exhausted. From her hand, Sunset dropped pieces of her ruby, which Eggman noticed.
"Impossible! All the experiments were destroyed!" Eggman yelled in a bewildered fashion.
"A costly...oversight.." Twilight managed to say. "You should have.....double-checked."
"Everyone...good luck down there." Sunset softly said.
"All right everyone, time to win!"Knuckles told his army as they all hollered with joy.
They then charged forward just as another replica army was made, resuming the battle from before.
"That sun must have used a lot of the Phantom Ruby's power." Tails said. "That must mean Infinite's weakened."
"Then it's time to finish things. I'll go find him!" Sonic said.
Sonic then zoomed past the ongoing clash. Due to the confusion, he or anyone else didn't notice that Shadow had disappeared as well.
"Sunset and the others got rid of that sun." Manic said. "Now let's finish these guys!"
However, before the fight could continue, the Phantom Heavies suddenly turned into pink shades and were drawn back. The shades then entered the staff of the Heavy King and flashed pink. The King then unleashed a large pink ray in front of Amy's team, blowing them back to where most of their comrades where. They all grunted and slowly picked themselves up off the ground.
"He must be the boss behind those robots." Vector guessed as the King joined the battlefield.
Knuckles then hit his fist together as he walked ahead.
"Leave this to me." He said. "I need to smash something and these fakes just don't cut it."
The Heavy King's eyes flashed red as it held up it's staff, indicating it was ready for battle.