Chapter 30 - One Word (Is all you need)

It was 2:00 am when Ekyt heard the tell-tale clang of marching robots. “Linda…it’s time.” Ekyt dashed over to the radio. “Sally! Now’s the time to get everyone ready! Their target is definitely Knothole at this point.” Sally’s concerned voice came across the radio. “Understood. Kingdom of Acorn out…wait. I’ll see you there guardian.” There was a hint of a smile in her voice. Ekyt shrugged on his coat as Linda pulled on her boots. “Ready to do this…one last time?” She said, smiling, making her look younger in an instant. “Ready as I’ll ever be. Here’s to a victory…or else.”

Ekyt combat-crawled across the great forest. There was a set of intricate trenches dug deep into the ground. This was the last stand. Sonic sped up to him in the trench. “The meeting’s this way.” They ran down the bunker, Linda and Paula-Su in the wake.

“It’s now or never…we win, or this is our last day of freedom.” Sally just finished up her speech. “Sonic, anything to add.” Sonic grabbed the mic. “C’mon, this is just like the old days of beating the stuffing out of ol’ Ivo (Robotnik.)!” The group cheered, rasing their weapons, mostly home-made, in a salute. Then their eyes fell on Ekyt.

A surge of hatred hit Ekyt as the crowd was silent. “Whether you like me, hate me, or don’t know me, we’ve laid our cards on the table. It’s time to put aside our differences and unite under a common goal. We’ve got three, very dangerous enemies to face, each with their own army. If they can unite, so can we.” Most people were too stunned to speak. Most had never heard the guardian talk, let alone make a speech. The seriousness of the situation grasped them. It was time to fight.

Ekyt, Sonic, and Knuckles led the charge. They were face to face with Robotnik, Shadow, and Kragok. “Time to take your medicine. Your pathetic war ends here!” Shadow declared. “If you say so Shads! But it looks to me like we’ve got a bunch of hoppin’ mad weapon-holders who beg to differ!” Sonic rubbed his chin, mocking Shadow. “Knuckles, I’m going to finish what I started. Enerjak’s noble work will continue!” Kragok declared. “Take a tuck in your lip, turkey! You ain’t got a prayer!” Knuckles retorted. Robotnik stepped aside so Silver could talk. “You may have gotten lucky, but I will defeat you!” Ekyt smirked, lifting his mask, and leaned close. “You know, your corny lines get old real quick. Just like your attacks.” Colin joined Ekyt, and added a hearty “and just like your mom!” The resistance leadership roared. For the first time, Ekyt attacked, unproved. He knocked Silver unconscious with a single right hand. “That’s the first shot.” Ekyt said solemnly.

The battle wasn’t looking good for the resistance. They had been driven back, and Knothole was in sight behind them. Mitch scurried up to Ekyt, who was taking a rest in the bunker. “I’ve traced the source.” Ekyt glanced up. “Any energy readings?” Ekyt asked, his eyes narrowed. “Chaos emerald gold.” Mitch said with a rare grin. “We’ve got to send Sonic…he and Knuckles hitting their prime forms are the best chance…Yes…no other choice…I’m going out front one last time.” Ekyt stood up and marched toward the bunker. “LISTEN UP!” Ekyt shouted to get attention. “Listen. Mitch has traced their energy signals to their base. Sonic, if you can get their chaos emeralds, you and Knuckles can hit your power forms.” “There’s no time!” argued Sonic. “I’ll make the time. You know it’s our best chance.” Sonic nodded. “Fine. You have my permission to make any more plans to pull this off.” Ekyt nodded, and continued.

“All of you have to take cover up in the trees.” Ekyt pointed at one group with firearms. “The rest of you hide in the bushes and attack when they get close. I’m going to cause a distraction.” Everyone scrambled to obey.

“Paula, it’s time for you to face another challenge. And this one…you may have to face with your mother.” “What are you rapping about Dad?” Paula asked in a worried, but cheerful tone. “If I don’t come back…you’re in charge of the rest of the resistance effort.” “No Dad!” Ekyt hugged her. “I can’t say if it’s my time or not…but this is a sacrifice I have to make. A guardian guards, and protects. It’s time for me to quit sulking, and do just that.” He let go of her. She nodded, a sad smile on her face.

“Linda, I’m going to go cause a major disruption.” “I’m going with you.” Linda said. Ekyt shook his head. “Someone needs to take care of Paula…just in case.” Linda understood, but didn’t want to let go. “It has to be done.” Ekyt assured her. “I know…I just wish it wasn’t you.” She wrapped him in a fond hug, trying to remember what he felt like, just in case this was their last moment together. “You were always the one…” They kissed for a brief moment. “Go get ‘em sport.” She said.

Sonic raced across the countryside, aided by a power ring. He found the base, and found the chaos emeralds. But now he had to wait for the distraction Ekyt promised.

Ekyt climbed up out of the trenches, alone. He strode toward the enemies, unarmed. “Have you come to announce a surrender?” Shadow sneered. “No. I’ve come to remind you of something Shadow. But before I do…Robotnik, you are the fattest, ugliest greaseball I have ever seen. If you were a genius, as you claim, I wouldn’t be here. Kragok, we’ve had our battles. Let me say this: For someone with chaos powers so fully developed, it seems like you lost a lot… And Shadow…I have only one word for you…”

Sally and Linda heard this through Ekyt’s radio. “My God…he’s…he’s…oh no. I know what he’s going to do.” Linda said, flustered. Sally nodded and held her hand. “I know. He’s building them up. Over the years, he and Shadow have fought, because Ekyt knows the one word that can cause Shadow to turn the world upside-down…

Tiffany, Kyle, Tracey (Shadowthe_hedgehog) Flash (Flashthehedgehog), and Kurt all heard this too. Kurt shook his head. “No way he’s my biological father (He’s not, for the record, Kurt was adopted), I would never have the guts to say THAT word to Shadow…”

The world rolled off Ekyt’s tongue. “M-A-R-I-A.” Shadow grasped his head and fell to the ground. Before anyone could move, Ekyt seized Robotnik’s moustache and threw him sideways into Kragok. Ekyt gave Robotnik an extra shove, which made him land on Kragok. Ekyt took Shadow’s crown and stepped on it. In the dirt, he drew “MARIA” with his finger. Shadow grasped at it, as if that would get Maria back.

Sonic raced back with the emeralds. He had heard what Ekyt had said. “Knux, we’ve gotta do this quick! The guy’s toast if we don’t get him out of there!” The chaos emeralds and power rings caused a beam of power to erupt. Super Sonic and Hyper Knuckles were ready for action.

Ekyt stepped onto Robotnik, kicking the gun out of one of Shadow’s soldier’s hands. It didn’t move. “It’s programming must be controlled by Shadow’s thoughts…” Mitch figured that out quickly. Into his radio, he yelled. “Ekyt! Waste the robots!” “ATTACK!” Ekyt yelled. The robots were being destroyed.

Shadow got up angrily, his eyes glowing red. “YOU SON OF A dog!” he swiped at Ekyt, who dodged away. “Nothing if not predictable Shadow. That’s always been your biggest weakness.” Shadow punched as Ekyt dodged again. “Try again sucker!” Ekyt said cheerfully. Shadow finally hit his boiling point. Just what Ekyt had thought. He braced himself for a whole lot of pain. “CHAOS BLAST! CHAOS SPEAR! CHAOS BLAST!” Ekyt protected himself with a chaos shield for the first attack. The chaos spear hit him in the arm, breaking his concentration. The Chaos Blast knocked him off his feet. He felt like he was on fire. Ekyt landed a good hundred feet away. Shadow chaos-controlled next to him. Ekyt regained his footing and swung around with a kick. He might as well have pinched Shadow for all the good it did. Shadow had him around the neck. “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to rip out your damn throat. I’m going to hang you by your intestines. I’m going to grind your body into powder! And I’m going to enjoy it. No matter what I’ve lost today, I can die in peace, knowing I’ve killed you…”

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