Open Your Heart

Chapter 20: Open Your Heart

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Big, and Tikal watched as Sonic flew away to confront Chaos.

"Ooh…do you think he'll be all right?" Amy asked. "This isn't just some robot of Eggman's- it's a God of Destruction!"

"He'll be fine, Amy…we're talking about Super Sonic here!" Knuckles scoffed.

"Yeah! Sonic'll definitely take him out!" added Tails, striking a fierce fighting pose.

Tikal was clasping her hands tightly, eyes widened as if she could do nothing but watch. "Oh, I do hope he'll be able to help Chaos…"

"I'm sure he will!" Tails said perkily. "After all, his advice to anything angry or confused is to open your heart!"

"…I hope you are right…"

. . .

"If only I could do this all the time…" Sonic pondered as he raced over the water and made waves. This was the first time he wasn't scared to death of the substance- only because he knew there was a great chance that he wouldn't end up in it. The closer he got to Chaos, the more terrifying he seemed to be, but Sonic just let it go and continued to zoom towards him. Chaos roared and cast purple beams of…power at Sonic, but with Sonic's speed enhanced even more than the norm, they were a joke!

"Like a bolt of lightning, you'll reach maximum speed…" Tikal whispered to him telepathically. Sonic chuckled- like he really need to go that fast! Still, it would be fun!

"Is that really all a great God of Destruction can do?" Sonic guffawed. He charged up into Chaos, spiraling upwards like he was caught in a tornado. Sonic went for his head, and as predicted, caused him to scream out in pain. Sonic flew away while Chaos washed into another part of the city. "Well, so far he's more interesting than Eggman!"

He rushed off again, sending a tsunami of water up behind him. Sonic ran over pieces of street emerging out of the water and flew just over the water. If only Chaos wasn't around- then he could joy his temporary flight! But Chaos did need to be defeated, and even though Knuckles would disagree otherwise, it was pretty much Sonic's responsibility to do it. He rounded the corner of another set of collapsed buildings, making more water jet behind him, and actually yelped when he was nearly hit by the same beam that shot Eggman out of the sky.

"Just missed me that time!"

Chaos threw his head back in rage, and Sonic didn't blame him. His anger probably surpassed any anger Knuckles could whip up any day!

"Hopefully you'll feel better when I knock your senses back into you!" Sonic told Chaos, as if he was listening, while he shot up the water-lizard once again. "YAH!"

Chaos screeched again, making the people watching cover their ears. Sonic had dealt another blow to Chaos' head and he really wasn't enjoying it. Chaos' reaction made Sonic smile.

Chaos' fist lightly brushed against Sonic's rightmost quill. The hedgehog grabbed the fist and threw it to the ground, bringing Chaos down with it. Sonic homed in on his weak point and attacked again. Chaos grabbed his head and melted into his puddle form once more.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to give you a headache!"

Sonic shook his head with a sigh as he followed Chaos again. "Man, that was way back when you were easy! How long ago was that? Quite a few days, that's for sure…"

Sonic returned to lower ground do Chaos had less of a chance to see him, then skidded across the water once more. He ducked under any oncoming purple projectiles and swooped around any building that tried to topple on him. Chaos unexpectedly shot another beam out of his mouth, and instead of going left or right and risking getting a foot or two removed, Sonic went up. So did the beam.

"Hrrnnn…"

That beam was fast! And that was saying something! If Sonic wasn't slightly faster, he would've been zapped in half like the Egg Carrier 2! Eventually Sonic went so high that Chao couldn't tilt his aching head back any farther and snapped the laser back down.

"Yes!" came from Sonic, who was now flying back down toward Chaos. He pierced through his soggy defense- no pun intended- and shot his way back up again. Chaos thrashed around to get Sonic out before he struck his 'skull' again, but his efforts were futile. Sonic shot out the top with a wild battle cry; Chaos gave a cry of his own- one of pain. Chaos disappeared again, but he didn't go to a different spot...

. . .

Everyone watching gasped.

"Did…he beat Chaos that easily? And Already?" Knuckles gaped.

"I knew it wouldn't be hard for him…but even that's a little unbelievable!" exclaimed Tails.

Amy was throwing a fit, even though Sonic 'won'. "Oh, come on! Some God of Destruction! More like God of the Destructed! Give my Sonic more of a challenge, why don't you?"

Tikal waved a hand to get her to settle down. "I wouldn't wish for that…Perfect Chaos is not that weak! Look…"

"But…it looks bad!" cried Big. Tikal nodded.

"I know, friend. I know…"

. . .

Chaos eventually resurfaced - though nothing seemed to change, they always came back stronger…right?

"Almost don't wanna find out…" Sonic murmured under his breath, though no one was around to really hear him anyway. He jumped from one road section to another, pondering over this fight. It was too easy…and when he usually said that, he was being cocky, but he felt something was generally wrong in this situation. Now, instead of purple projectiles, they were fiery orange, and there were a lot more of them now. Chaos was even angrier than ever before, and Sonic found himself swerving and flying all over the place just to keep going. Chaos was like a firework with all the "rays" he was sending out.

"Maybe I thought too soon- as usual…" Sonic abruptly added the end of the sentence, recalling the thing with the Tornado 2. Well, Chaos certainly had stepped it up- but by how much? The answer came in the form of seven water-tornados spiraling toward Sonic and blocking his view from another laser Chaos sent out. Sonic, completely bedazzled at the moment, was swept up by one of those tornadoes and hit with the beam. The typhoon sent a weakened hedgehog flying into a building, and the building itself began to creak.

"Aw jeez…"

"RAWR!"

Sonic pushed himself off the wall, trying to pull himself back together. One hit wouldn't stop him! Despite being a bit dizzy, Sonic flew on. Chaos whipped up another laser, but Sonic dodged by actually diving under the water and 'swimming" at Chaos. His expression could be read with the confusion he ws experiencing- why in the world did he do that of all things? !

"No time to think on that now!" Sonic thought, erupting out of Chaos for the fourth time in a row. Again, for the fourth time in a row, Chaos went to a whole different location. Sonic was after him faster than…well, light. Something at the back of his mind told him he needed to wrap this up fast- but that didn't mean it'd be easy. He used a road as something to push off from, now springing straight into Chaos and again taking him down from the inside out.

"ROOOOAAAAARRRR!"

Sonic cringed. "Man, do I know that sound! That's the sound of defeat-one more good hit should probably do the trick though!"

Pumping a victory fist, Sonic zipped off to finish Chaos off once and for all! He happily dodged the orange bursts again, even doing a few tricks to brighten up the occasion. He hated it when defeats were really dull.

"All right, here I-"

ZING!

The sound of that beam Chaos kept zapping echoed throughout Sonic's ear- it just missed him once again! It was so close, he could feel the energy radiating off of it. Sonic had zonked out there, unintentionally flying upwards to get away, and now he was struck by one of Chaos' tentacles that he almost thought were completely useless.

"AAAAAAAUUUGGGHHH!"

Urgh, that smarts. Even IN Super Form. Chaos had struck Sonic right in the face, and now he was slowly drifting into unconsciousness…and was going to land head first in the water.

. . .

Amy dove forward and landed on the ground, crying out in distress, "SONIC!"

"Who knew one fatal hit could take the guy out so fast?" questioned Knuckles, lost in shock.

Tails rapidly shook his head. "N-No! It's gotta be a diversion or something! Sonic never loses!"

Knuckles sighed and closed his eyes. "There is a first time for everything, you know…"

"Stop talking like that Knuckles!"

"Just preparing for the worst…"

"the worst is already upon us!" Tikal cried. "With Sonic gone, Chaos will destroy the world by washing all the life and happiness away!"

"Literally…" murmured Knuckles.

"He told me…he could do it without any problems!" Big winced.

"He told us all the same thing…" trailed Amy.

"And now look what happened…" mused Knuckles, trying hard not to show too much weakness in the form of emotions.

Tails clenched his fists tights, along with his eyes. "Come on, Sonic…please…we're all counting on you!"

. . .

Sonic floated deeper into Chaos' ocean. He was barely hanging on as it was, and any longer under the wet stuff-his one true fear- and everyone would be doomed!

~.~

"Froggy?" Big said worriedly. "I must save Froggy!"

"So, he's your friend, eh?"

Big looked down to see Sonic smirking. There was something about that smirk…something that told Big he could trust him. "If he's your friend, I'll help you. No sweat! Just leave it to me!"

He took off into battle. "I'll get him back. Watch me."

Big stayed silent for a moment until he heard Froggy croak out. "Careful Froggy! Don't worry! We'll get you back!"

"Wahahahah! Now I have 6 of the Chaos Emeralds. There's only one more left to find. I even found Chaos' missing tail!"

"You won't get away with this, you madman!" Sonic shouted, holding up a fist.

. .

For the first time in a long time, Big laughed.

"Froggy! I won't let them take you away again!" he promised.

"Go! Go on and get outta here!" Sonic ordered, interrupting his celebration. "I'll do the rest!"

"Oh. Okay! Thanks!" Big called. "Come, little buddy. Time to get a move on!"

As he walked away, Big thought about how he said he didn't know who would bother to save both him and Froggy and smiled. Apparently Sonic would.

~.~

"Hey Sonic!" Knuckles called, rushing up to his friend eagerly. Sonic grinned.

"There you are Knuckles! Glad you finally made it! I thought you got lost or something!"

"Until we meet again, Sonic!" Eggman boomed, trying to escape. Sonic gave an apologetic glance to Knuckles before chasing after Eggman.

"Eggman…come back here!"

Knuckles just watched as they left. "…I'd better let Sonic handle it from here…"

"Yah!"

Sonic jumped off the edge of the Egg Carrier, landing in Eggman's getaway vehicle. Knuckles just shook his head with a light smile.

"He'll do okay…"

Knuckles knew that for sure- Sonic always came out on top!

~.~

"No fair! I can't run as fast as you!"

Sonic smirked. "They don't call me the fastest thing alive for nothin' ya know!"

Amy rolled her eyes; Sonic stopped smiling and tapped his foot in deep thought. These thoughts were interrupted by a shriek from Amy.

"Aah, look! Eggman's robot is on the loose!"

Sonic struck a fighting pose and smirked. "No problem! He's just a hunk of cheesy hardware! I'll handle that bag of bolts!"

. .

"Amy? Oh man, where can she be?"

"Sonic, help!"

Sonic looked up to see his fears realized: Amy had been captured by Zero. His eyes tensed in determination.

"I'll cut him off at the Mystic Ruins!"

He started jogging off, plotting to not waste anytime.

"You have to find Amy…"

Sonic nodded- there was no way he was going to leave a friend in trouble!

~.~

"Sonic…we can't let them get away with this, can we?" Tails asked seriously.

"No way, Tails! We can't let that monster get any bigger. It could get ugly!"

"Without more Emeralds, it can't transform…so, it's up to us to get the Emeralds before Eggman does, huh? So what do ya say, Sonic?"

Sonic pounded a fist into his opposite palm. "Oh, we're gonna get those Chaos Emeralds all right! And we're gonna stop Chaos, no matter what!"

~.~

"Gotta…keep fighting. For Tails. For Knuckles. For Amy. For Big. For Tikal…for everyone…"

Can't hold on much longer…but I will never let go!
I know it's a one-way track…tell me now how long this'll last!
I'm not gonna think this way…nor will I count on others!
Close my eyes and feel the burn… now I see what I've gotta do!

~.~

Just as all hope was lost, a yellow beam shot up into the sky, nearly blinding everyone. Tails, slightly covering his eyes, gasped and shouted, "LOOK!" as Sonic emerged from the pillar of light.

"Hey Chaos!" Sonic shouted, making himself highly noticeable. Chaos, for once, looked up at the sound of his name. "Gotta open your heart, dude!"

Then, like a bolt of lighting, Sonic tore out of the sky and straight at Chaos. Chaos put up a round dome of a shield for protection but Sonic shattered right through it. He smirked- Chaos roared. The God of Destruction's anger got the best of him, forcing at least a thousand tentacles to spike into the air.

"Grr…HA!"

Sonic threw his hands up, while in the same second curling into a tight golden ball, blocking off the tentacles like they were icicles. Once he was safe, Sonic uncurled, then flew abruptly to the right, avoiding the same beam from Chaos' mouth that nearly did him in the first time.

"You can't stop me!"

Sonic was replied with one of Chaos' larger tentacles aiming to smack him back into the water. Amy gasped again, while the others simply cringed. Tails even had to look away. There was no way he could handle seeing Sonic be swatted back into the water again…

"C'mon, watch." Knuckles stated, tapping Tails on the shoulder and pointing back at the fight. Tails reluctantly glanced up, but broke out into a smile.

Sonic had Chaos' tentacle gripped between his super-powered hands.

"Heh heh…can't pull the same trick off twice, hah?"

Chaos' main source of pain dealing was quickly evaporated by the golden aura emitting off of Sonic. He threw his head back then aimed another gruesome beam at the hedgehog. This time, it seemed even more powerful than before. Anyone and everyone watching cried out, fearing for Sonic.

"Hmph! Here we go…"

The light radiating from Sonic seemed to glow even brighter than before, nearly blinding the spectators. The beam was aimed for Sonic head-on, but he was ready. One fist extended in front of him, Super Sonic flew straight into the beam like it was nothing. The power practically bounced back into Chaos, and if that wasn't enough, Sonic did one last final strike to Chaos' head, not only finishing him off but cleansing him off all the evil and negativity built up inside. Sonic really wasn't sure what exploded- the negative energy or Chaos himself- but something blew up in a rather pretty display of a whitish-purple.

"Yeah, that's right! No one beats up the bad guys like Sonic!"

. . .

Chaos had returned to zero form, and was now standing on one of the broken roads. It was hard to believe he was just that massive beast moments ago! Sonic had also returned to normal form, and everyone had instantly cheered for him and said how much they were glad he wasn't dead…and things like that. Chaos was now staring at something incredible-to him- in the middle of all the destruction he had caused…a small group of Chao. They all gathered around Chaos, babbling in their own little language. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles watched curiously from above.

"Chaos has changed again…" Knuckles stated, only because he could hardly believe it. "This time, for the better."

Tails agreed, "Yeah! Super Sonic must've neutralized it, so it's nice again!"

Sonic shrugged. "All he needed to do was open his heart, as corny as that kinda sounds!"

"These are the Chao you were protecting…" Tikal explained to Chaos softly. "They stayed alive for generations…and now live peacefully with humans. The fighting's over, harmony's restored, and life goes on." Tikal smiled, folded her hands, and looked up at Sonic. "Thank you so much…"

Sonic gave her a smile and a trademark thumbs up. "Eh, no problem! Never thought it'd be too difficult anyway!"

Knuckles snorted and elbowed Sonic in the arm. Sonic responded to that with a sheepish grin. Tails, on the other hand, staring going all excited again.

"Look! Look!"

"You told us to look when Sonic came back out of the water-"

"I know, Knuckles, but look again!"

The trio glanced down to see Tikal hovering above ground, reaching out a hand to Chaos. Chaos stared up at her, in a good way, to accept her offer. Together, they floated up into the sky, the heavens maybe, and vanished into Tikal's ever bright white light. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were watching in awe, until Sonic caught Eggman flying away in his machine out of the corner of his eye. Everyone else, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Big, were just…thinking.

"All's well that ends well, right?" Tails asked, just trying to brighten up the silence a little. After all- they won. All really was well! Well, except Station Square, but that would be fixed up in no time! Tails turned around to ask Sonic was he thought, but Sonic was gone. "…Sonic?"

Sonic, meanwhile, had leapt off a ruined building, most likely to chase after Eggman, beyond the sun's rays trying to peek out from the clouds- which was always a sign of peace.

. . .

Angel Island…now with the Master Emerald completely restored and Chaos officially out of the picture, it could safely return to the sky again. A loud rumble shook the earth as the landmass arose out of the water and headed back into its rightful place. Knuckles was definitely on board- with the Master Emerald on Angel Island again, someone had to guard it! And now, he was back home, doing what he always did…

"I'll probably be on this floating island forever…guarding the Master Emerald again. I may not know the whole story behind this…but perhaps…it's better that way…"

Knuckles smiled as he closed his eyes to rest- without being disturbed this time, of course.

"I'm at peace once more."

It is done! Wow...I can't believe it! I also can't believe this story got such great feedback! Thanks guys! Without you, this story probably wouldn't be! ^^ And if you liked this, then check out the "sequel"- Live and Learn! Guess what THAT'S about! ;D It will be up...meh, sometime soon. ^^