A/N: This chapter may be shorter than the rest, but here goes...

Disclaimer: The only things I own are Echo, Paradox, and this plot.

-Chapter 7: Chaos Clash-

Time: Unknown

Location: Mystic Ruins

"I've rested long enough, can I go now?" Tails asked impatiently.

Paradox approached him. "You still need time to heal..." he trailed
off when he saw that most of Tails' wounds had faded.

"Wait... how... how did you heal that quickly?" he asked.

"Maybe Tikal helped somehow." Tails replied. He wasn't entirely sure
about it, though. He just wanted to help his friends.

"Very well, come! We must act on our plan immediately!" Paradox said
urgently as he led the kit out from the room. They moved down an
outside group of steps, and on to the main road, where clusters of
echidnas walked aimlessly. Paradox quickly slipped through the crowd,
and led Tails to the outskirts of the village. They came to a small
garden where a number of Chao were wandering about, or sleeping. They
crossed a marble bridge, and came to a large fountain made of the same
substance. At the top of the fountain lay the Master Emerald, along
with the Seven Chaos Emeralds. Tails, seeing them, quickly ran up a
cluster of stairs, with Paradox close behind him.

"Didn't the Master Emerald get disintegrated?" the kit asked.

"In your timeline, yes. Now remember the plan." Paradox said in a
serious tone. As he spoke, he spun his hands around, causing a small
portal to appear behind Tails.

Tails nodded as the emeralds fixed an aim at him.

"As soon as you absorb the energies, dive through the portal. Find
Sonic, and allow him to absorb a certain amount of Chaos Energy. When
he engages his super form, the two of you should be able to fight
Echo." Paradox exclaimed further.

[Music Playing: Solaris, by Crush 40 and Zebrahead]

Tails felt a tweak of nervousness take him as the emeralds fired a ray
at his body, engulfing him in a blinding light. His orange fur
developed a slight glow to it, as a red, flowing cape appeared tied to
his neck. He had become Turbo Tails*.

He turned and nodded at Paradox, then dove through the portal.

VvVvVvV

Time: 7:13 PM

Location: Angel Island, crashed into Radical Highway.

Tails flew out of the other end of the portal, which was suspended in
the night sky. He gasped as he gazed at Angel Island.

The center had been stabbed through by a skyscraper, like an animal
impaled by a spear. The island had torn in half and wedged between
more buildings, suspending a dense jungle over the crowded streets of
the city below. The smaller island had collapsed on top of the eastern
side of the larger island.

"What... what...?" was all the kit could say. He then rocketed down to
the island.

He flew over thick clusters of tropical tree's and plants, before
reaching the islands' east side. He found Sonic, along with almost all
of his friends, locked in intense battle with Echo.

VvVvVvV

Sonic grunted as another wave of ground slammed into him. Echo then
formed an earthly, twisted spiral around him, and had it grow across
the island, tightening the spiral in hopes of crushing the Mobian.
Sonic picked up his speed and ran up the spiral, almost in a spinning
direction. He could be seen as just a small blue flash firing up the
twisted mass of earth that wanted desperately to make his grave. His
speed increased as he reached the end of the spiral, soaring out of
it's end. He flew through the air and landed in a rough cluster of
bushes. He got up and prepared to deal a few good blows on the
salamander. Wait, where was he? He looked around quickly, and suddenly
felt his back get engulfed by intense heat. He screamed as it's force
rocketed him out of the island. He soared through the air at intense
speeds before smashing through the window of a large building. Tails
saw this and quickly made his way over, worried that his brother could
be injured by the blow.

Echo chuckled before making his way to Silver, Blaze, and Bolt.

"None of you understand..." he hissed. "The three of you were meant to
serve me!"

"Whoa, hold up, slimy!" Bolt shouted, annoyed. "Do you honestly think
we would want to serve you after what you did to us?"

Echo scowled. "Thats big talk, especially for someone who isn't even
aware of her own origins."

Silver growled. "Look, I have no idea what you mean by that, but we're
all pretty sure about our origins."

"Are you?" Echo questioned. "Silver, where on earth did your powers
come from? Mammoth Mogul never really taught you, and it isn't just an
'advanced characteristic' of yours." He turned to Bolt. "Bolt the
Element-hog? Really now? You realize that there is no such thing as an
Element-hog. You were not born with your pathetic powers. What about
you, Blaze the Cat? How did your flame-powered attacks originate? Was
it from that gem on your head? The power of Iblis?" he sighed and
gazed at the three of them. "The answer to all of these is No. Long
ago, when I first retrieved these powers, I couldn't contain it all. I
was forced to take out three small portions of my powers and separate it across three individuals. The four of us share a connection, children. Remember earlier today when you all suffered
from pains in the head?"

The Mobians remained silent.

"Well... it is because all of the energy I was using at the time was
connected to you three." He continued, and motioned to the ruined
parts of Angel Island. "Look around you. Look at the destruction. None
of you will survive. But... I have the power to spare you. All three
of you, and even your friends and family..." he held his hands out to
them. "But I need you to join me. Join me in what you were all
originally modified to complete."

Blaze glared at the salamander.

"No." she snapped. "I don't care if you kill all of us. I don't care
if you can save us. I will never, ever assist you." Silver and Bolt
nodded in agreement.

[Music Stops]

Echo was silent. He stared at the three for a minute.

"...Very well." he growled as his rich, slimy skin began to surge with
chaos energy, the green aura becoming increasingly stronger.

"If you won't help, there is no need for you to live." his strange
voice hissed as he prepared to unleash an Ultimate Chaos Spear.

"Ultimate..." he began.

"CHAOS BLAST!" another voice interrupted as a blast of golden chaos
energy engulfed him. He slammed into the ground and choked in the
surrounding dust. When it cleared, he made out the forms of Super
Sonic and Turbo Tails.

"Alright jerk, let's end this." Super Sonic growled.

[Music Playing: Sonic Youth, by Crush 40]

Echo attempted to fly up to a more easier position, but was stopped by
a red chaos spear, courtesy of Shadow. He growled and flung himself at
Super Sonic. Said golden hedgehog dodged, causing Echo to ram into
Turbo Tails, who had been charging a chaos projectile, and released it
upon impact. The sheer force flung Echo into the jungle of Angel
Island, but not before he managed to make an army of Earth Warriors.

Tails Doll let off several blasts at the monsters, with a chaos blast
from Shadow. Knuckles charged through, using a boulder as a battering
ram, and prepared to attack. However, his enemies were instantly
obliterated as a large laser took them out. Knuckles glanced up to see
the Egg Carrier Mark II overhead.

"Er... thanks?

Meanwhile, Super Sonic flew up to a G.U.N chopper overhead. He came up
to the side of the window.

"I need you guys to evacuate this part of the city, things are about
to get messy." he said quickly. The pilot nodded and gave him a
thumbs-up before driving his flying machine over to the rest of his
team, and they began work on clearing out all of the city's
inhabitants.

Turbo Tails was having a hard time against his opponent. He had flown
into the jungle where they had slammed Echo, and he was learning the
hard way that that wasn't a good move. Echo moved through the tree's
like lightning, too quick for Tails' eyes to detect. Tails then fired
a shot of energy where he assumed Echo would land next.

Bullseye.

The blast slammed Echo head-on, causing him to turn in the wrong
direction and slam into a palm tree. Echo swore as he skidded across
the ground. He then shot back up and slammed into Tails, and pushed
the two of them into a lake. Echo continued pushing Tails, even when
they got underwater. Tails could feel his air leave him as he
struggled underwater, being restrained by Echo, who continued to push
him downward. Tails had no choice but to helplessly watch the
amphibian's cold stare as the water swarmed around them. It wasn't
long before Tails felt the slimy bottom of the lake as Echo then began
to push him through the ground. Thoughts whirled through the kit's
mind as he realized his enemy was planning on keeping him there until
life left his very lungs. He winced as Echo's strong gripped pushed
down into his chest, nearly crushing it and causing him to lose even
more air. Just as he was about to give up hope, he saw a gold flash
appear in the murky depths and drill into the ground. Sonic couldn't
see his friend in the dark water, but he knew what he had to do. He
continued burrowing into the base of the lake until he shot out of the
bottom of Angel Island. He saw the intense street lights below as
Angel Island, hanging overhead, threatened to crush them. If Sonic's
calculations were correct, the hole he created would cause that whole
part of Angel Island to collapse, causing Tails and Echo to fall, and
free his friend. He felt bad destroying Angel Island, but if it meant
having to save his brother, he would smash the entire island into
oblivion.

As he predicted, the island did collapse. The millions of tons of
earth dumped over the street, and Sonic saw Tails fall along with it.
He zipped over and caught his friend, who was now unconscious. He flew
up to the half of Angel Island that hadn't been decimated, and where
his friends were. As he flew over, he quickly looked around for
Shadow. Upon finding him, he rushed over to the ebony hedgehog in a
blink.

Shadow had a slightly concerned look upon seeing Tails' unconscious form, and nodded at Sonic, before charging a large
amount of Chaos Energy. He then put his hands over Tails.

"Chaos Re-energize, and Chaos Heal." he murmured as the energy surged
into Tails, healing the kit's wounds and restoring his Chaos Energy.

"T-Thanks." he managed to say before following Sonic after Echo.

Sonic breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his little bro was okay.
They then flew over to the pile of uprooted tree's and soil that now
flooded the streets. Echo burst out of it after some time, and charged
up a good amount of energy before charging at Sonic and Tails. The
duo repeated their opponent, causing a head-on collision. Neither
force was pushing each other as the three powerful figures roared as
they pushed their power to it's limits. Sonic and Tails slowly gained
the upper hand, and began to push Echo towards a large skyscraper,
with a large "Chao in Space" poster hanging from it. The duo gained
enough speed to slam the salamander through the windows and into a
wall on the inside. Sonic felt the building begin to fall with the
sheer force of their power. He then glared at Echo.

"So long, forget to write." he growled as the entire structure began
to collapse.

Suddenly, Shadow and Silver appeared via Chaos Control. Silver began
to hold the wall up with his telekinesis.

[Music Stops]

"Oho no, Sonic. We're not going to let him slip by." Silver said,
with slight humor in his voice.

"No, we're gonna make sure he's gone... for good." Shadow hissed as he
stared into Echo's eyes. The black hedgehog had a red aura surrounding
him as the Chaos Energy grew around his body. He then uttered his two
most powerful, lethal words:

"Chaos Rift."

A black sphere, composed of pure Chaos power, then shot out of
Shadow's body, and surrounded the amphibian. It then slowly closed
around him, until it disappeared.

"If I'm correct, and I always am, Echo has just been wiped out of
reality." Shadow announced. Silver felt a sense of pity for the
salamander, as did the others, but that didn't keep him from smiling.

"Heh heh, I miss him already." Sonic joked, in a worn out voice. He
couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt a strange feeling in him,
as if his body was ready to crumble to pieces. He brushed it aside and
shared a laugh with his three friends, while cheers erupted from their
friends back on Angel Island, and surprisingly, the Egg Carrier.

Finally, they could rest... or could they?

VvVvVvV

A distance away, a strange mist floated away from the city. An all-too
familiar voice seemed to run through it.

"You see a victory... but you have no idea what you have just done. At
last... I am free."

...THE END?

A/N: *Turbo Tails is Tails' chaos energy form in the Archie comics.

WOOHOO! ITS DONE! Yeah, it was crazily short, but that's because
it was just the prologue! Yep, that's right. This was never intended to
be long, but just to prepare you for the next story. Keep an eye out
for The Echo: Awakening.

Now, to answer reviews of the last chapter!

TatlTails, thanks, and I fixed up the spelling errors you mentioned!

Duskzilla, I actually had an idea like that for a while, but couldn't
put him in this chapter with the way the story is going. HOWEVER, I'm
planning on having him appear in either The Echo: Awakening or The New
Recruits. Thanks for the idea!

Special thanks to all the awesome readers/reveiwers of this story:

Tails absolution

LordoftheGhostKing28

ExotheBoss

Werehog20

BlueDragonSpirit6

TatlTails

HyperTomboi429

Sonicfangamer2-Daniel the Fox

...And Duskzilla!

YOU GUYS ROCK! And another special thanks to HyperTomboi429 for
letting me use Bolt!

So... I'm not sure when I'll start Awakening, as I am taking a quick
break from my other fanfics to write a Christmas special, but it will
probably come around late December, or early January. Thanks for
reading!

Ciao!

-Gnat1

It doesn't matter what you say, but how you do it.