Multiversal Wasteland

Opaline looked down at Sonic's friends, and to Sunset, with a bored expression.

They witnessed FS' death, and they literally just saw their friend falling after giving his life to try and kill her. They both failed, lost their lives in the process, and yet these guys were willing to still fight back.

"I've gotta handle it to you..." Opaline told her enemies with a mocking grin. "Despite what you witnessed, you're still willing to fight back if necessary. Is so foolish and stupid, but is also something I respect. You guys won't back down, even when you all have lost already. I guess that makes a fight more interesting."

No one replied anything. They all pretty much learned from Sonic that when is time to get serious, then is time to get serious. No jokes, no sarcastic comments, not even a mocking sign. He went all out on Opaline without sharing a single word, so now they were all doing the same.

"No comments, huh?" Opaline raised an eyebrow. "That idiot's death truly got to you. Oh well, guess killing you all will be incredibly easy, then––"

But just as she said this, Tails growled and suddenly made a sword with his electrical powers that he launched towards Opaline. The sword stabbed her back, although Opaline only rolled her eyes at that action.

However, the Fire Alicorn failed to notice that the sword had a Warp Ring attached, and the ring launched itself from the sword the moment it stabbed Opaline, opening a portal behind her, where Knuckles came from. Of course, Opaline realized the portal was there, but failed to dodge Knuckles punch surrounded in fire.

The echidna sent Opaline upwards after punching her like that. And, as Opaline traversed several rubble, she was suddenly surround by a yellow lasso, Tails' one.

The young fox twirled the Alicorn around and hit her against several crystals and pieces of earth floating around, then let her go. Opaline headed towards Amy, who jumped, quickly twirled like a tornado, and then used her Piko Piko Hammer to sent the Alicorn flying away towards Shadow.

The Ultimate Life Form removed his inhibitor rings for a moment, then launched himself against Opaline using his air shoes, while also placing his fists in front of him so he would hit Opaline right where he wants to hit her.

He managed to punch the Alicorn so hard that he definitely got a painful groan out of her, then he pushed her backwards towards a bunch of rubble. There, Opaline tried to stand up and recover despite feeling dizzy, but her eyes opened wide when she saw Omega not so far from her.

And why? Well: Omega had all his weapons pointing at her, and by all his weapons, I mean all of them. Heck, even his chest was open and showing off weapons he usually keeps hidden to not alarm anyone.

Then, Omega started to shoot all he had against Opaline, and even though fire came out of her body instead of blood when the bullets reached her, she still groaned painfully because of the hits. It got even worse when Rouge literally came out of nowhere and started to hit her Knuckles' style, but with her feet instead of her fists.

As Opaline was sent backwards because of this, she suddenly was grabbed by vines of Earth Pony magic, and then she was twirled across more rubble and crystals. This was Hitch's doing, by the way.

After this, Hitch let her go in the air, where Opaline was hit on her face several times by Zipp and Pipp, both flying constantly to hit the Fire Alicorn with their hooves, both front and hind. Surprisingly, the one hitting Opaline the hardest to the point she sent her backwards was Pipp.

"Whoa..." Zipp said when she noticed this. "Remind me to never make you mad again, sis."

"Mess with the ones I love, consider yourself death." Was all Pipp replied with anger.

She was still shocked that Sonic was gone, but just like Twilight was doing with FS, she'll wait until Opaline has kicked the bucket as well to mourn her boyfriend properly. That's what he'll want, anyways.

Back in the battle, Izzy surrounded Opaline with her magic when the Fire Alicorn was close, then Misty came by and helped out by holding her on place, but she also went the extra mile by trying to tight her hold on Opaline. It may not be much, but for her, it felt like proper payback for all those years she used her and lied.

Next, Sunny came by flight and pushed Opaline out of her magic, then started to hit her against more crystals and rubble. Their plan was to stun her so they could get more shards off her, hence why they're barely fighting.

And finally, Sunset was waiting for Sunny to guide Opaline towards her, with her horn lightened up and charged. Sunny let go of Opaline and flew away, while Opaline headed towards Sunset. And then, Sunset released a massive blast of magic against the Fire Alicorn, sending her towards the ground.

How did this end for Opaline? Her shape got literally marked in the ground after Sunset's blast.

"That's the most cartooniest, yet also coolest way to be defeated." Knuckles commented when he noticed this, as Sunny, Tails and the sisters landed besides him.

"I don't think she's been defeated." Shadow said with a frown, also putting his inhibitor rings back in place.

"But we did took these!" Sunset said, showing a yellow shard and two blue ones from the Paradox Prism, as she levitated them to Chip, who grabbed the three crystals and absorbed their power.

The crystals turned into dust after Chip did this, but now, his corporal form also changed, and he was as big and tall as Knuckles, which made him smile.

"My long lost power is coming back!" Chip said with a smile. "Just 14 more shards, and I'll be back as new!"

"Unfortunately for you, that's not going to happen." Opaline's voice suddenly spoke behind them, and Chip's eyes widened, so he quickly teleported out of there and left the rest behind... or so they believe.

In reality, Chip made himself smaller and hid behind Tails' ear something the young fox noticed, but he knew that he needed to stay quiet if he wanted to keep Chip safe, as well as his powers away from Opaline, so he simply shut his mouth and looked at Opaline with a frown, and so did the rest.

"Seems like your friend is a coward if he's not going to face me." Opaline said mockingly. "Such a guardian... He was easier to defeat than I'll like to. However, I feel he's got some more energy I still haven't stolen... And I need it all!"

"Like if we're gonna tell you how to get it!" Knuckles said with anger.

"Oh, I know you won't speak." Opaline said calmly, but also with a sinister smirk. "Not so easily, anyways. So, how about we make a little exchange?"

After saying this, Sparky was suddenly teleported from Hitch's back to Opaline's side, and now, the baby dragon was encaged on a bubble, which startled everyone else, Sparky himself included.

"SPARKY!!!" Hitch shouted loudly in panic.

"No, no, no, no, not again!" Sunset cried out when she also noticed this.

"This lizard... So many trouble just to get your power, little one..." Opaline told Sparky with a sinister grin of glee, but even if Sparky was scared, he still tried to act intimidating, growling in anger at Opaline and standing on his fours.

"You stupid witch!" Knuckles said with anger. "If you dare to put one of your dirty hooves over my nephew, I swear to Chaos that I'll––"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Opaline said with a mocking grin, as she looked down at the group of heroes. "That's not how a deal works, darling. If you fools want your baby dragon back, you'll have to tell me where's the multiverse guardian first. Or else..."

"Or else what?!" Sunny asked with anger.

Opaline grinned after Sunny did this, then she looked at Sparky's bubble, and soon the bubble started to shrink. In other words: Opaline didn't cared for Sparky's life, so if Sunny and company were not going to tell her what she wants, then it's Game Over for Sparky. That simple.

"No, no, no, Sparky!" Hitch cried out, some tears falling from his eyes, but he also looked over at Opaline with anger.

"If you don't give me what I want, say goodbye to your stupid dragon." Opaline stated. "I won't take his dragonfire because, honestly, I already have so much power that it'll be pointless to steal it from a critter that's useless for me. So, I'll kill him instead! Isn't it fun?!"

"You are messed up, Opaline!" Zipp said with anger. "We have no idea where did they go!"

"Lies." Opaline said calmly, as the bubble around Sparky shrink a bit faster.

"B-But it's the truth!" Tails added with a frown, but also sweating nervously because he didn't wanted to give Chip to her, yet he didn't wanted Sparky to die, either.

"Right, and I founded Canterlot." Opaline rolled her eyes annoyed, while Sparky attempted to burn the bubble he was trapped over, or even use his claws on it... But it didn't worked.

"No... Please... This has to be a nightmare..." Misty muttered to herself with concern, covering her face with her hooves in fear for what could be Sparky's fate.

"Stop it... Stop it, stop it, stop it... STOP IT!" Hitch cried out loudly in pain and concern.

His voice echoed all across the Multiversal Wasteland, clearly releasing his pain and fear for loosing Sparky forever. He thought that almost loosing Sparky to Opaline before was bad when she only took his dragonfire... But now she was trying to crush him down, and it was definitely a lot worse.

Hitch didn't knew, however, that his voice echoed so hard across the multiverse, it ended up reaching Sonic's corpse's ears. You might think this means nothing... You're wrong.

???

Sonic could not remember how long it's been since he fought Opaline and died.

Days? Weeks? Months? Maybe even years? It was hard to tell, because he could see nothing. This is like when he thought he died along Sunny and Pipp by Eggman's Death Egg Titan's foot, when he only entered a strange realm where he could talk with Longclaw one more time, and he also meet his real parents.

It was really nice to see his adoptive mother again, and to meet his real parents, who only sacrificed themselves for him, something he'll forever be grateful for, even though he'd like to spend more family time with them.

Now if only he knew where he was, or what was happening right now...

...

...

...

Well, he seems to be drowning again. Yeah, he's definitely back on that strange place. Would Longclaw save him again like last time? He never learned how to swim, and he's so sure that if he tries to right now, he'll only look stupid. Nobody would know, true, but it was still embarrassing just to think about it.

However, he suddenly was being dragged to the "surface" again... But nothing was touching him unlike last time. It was as if some kind of external force he has no knowledge about was pulling him back.

Soon, he was out of the water, but he just lay over it. He didn't felt like catching his breath, probably because he didn't felt it was missing while he "drowned". Why did he felt like drowning, though? That didn't made sense, but since Sonic's still new to dying permanently, perhaps he'll never know.

He started to look around, and he found himself surprised when he saw clear and blue skies instead of the same darkness from before... Was this a sign he was dying for real? Or is he already dead? He didn't know.

But then, he suddenly heard something that made his eyes widen, and so, he started to move his ears around. He was hearing a melody, and some lyrics he could recognize anywhere. He stood up over the water, which he didn't found strange anymore, and then headed in a certain direction to follow the sound's origin.

After what felt like 10 or 15 minutes, Sonic saw in the distance some kind of altar. In front of said altar, there was a bench, and over said bench, a light blue hedgehog girl with a blonde fringe and a white dress was sitting over.

Said girl was singing loudly Sonic's lullaby, or rather, the same one he always heard as a baby, which made his eyes open widely. Yet they widened even more - if that was even possible - when Sonic noticed that the one singing the lullaby was no other one than his biological mother; Bernie the Hedgehog.

"...Mom?" Sonic called out in disbelief, as he approached her slowly.

Bernie's ear twitched, but then she turned and saw Sonic, then she smiled warmly. "Well, took you long enough to get here!"

"I guess..." Sonic said with an awkward chuckle. "I just wish I... Knew where's "here" exactly... And that song... I've heard it before. When I was very little. I always thought Longclaw was the one that taught me that song."

"Well, not exactly." Bernie said with a smile, then she tapped the empty spot at her side, and Sonic hesitantly approached to sit there. "You see, I always sang that for you before sleep. Even if I only had you in my arms for 2 months, those were the most beautiful months of my life. And you always slept so peacefully after I sang you that. I guess Longclaw heard me one or two times enough to learn the song for you."

"So you made that song for me..." Sonic said with a weak smile, then he looked around again. "What is this place, exactly?"

"The path between life and death." Bernie replied. "A place where you can have a chance to choose if you want to leave the living world behind, or go back."

This made Sonic's eyes open wide. "I'm sorry, what?!"

"This plane of existence was created for those who are not alive, but are not dead either." Bernie explained. "They're giving you a chance, Sonic. A chance to finally rest, stop running, be with those who you miss dearly every day of your life. Or, go back and stay with those you feel you cannot just abandon."

"...So I can choose if I either die here, or if I go back with my friends..." Sonic summed up, and Bernie nodded. "I... I..."

"I know that it might look like a difficult choice." Bernie said with honesty. "I don't really know you, despite that you're my son." She gently lifted Sonic's head up so he would look at her in the eyes. "But I know that you feel conflicted. You want to return with your friends, help them take down a menace that goes beyond your own reality. Or die, and finally be with Longclaw once more, and meet your parents properly, be a full family again. Your heart is divided, as well as your mind, aren't they?"

Sonic only limited himself to sigh and nod at his mother. She was right on everything she said after all.

"Then know that, whatever you choose to do, no one will judge you." Bernie assured him with a smile, then she caressed his cheek gently, which made Sonic smile a bit and close his eyes. "Your friends are fighting with everything they have to make sure you didn't used that Chaos Blast in vain. But if you choose to live, it'll be okay too. Your father and I waited 26 years to finally meet you. We can wait a little longer."

With those words being spoke, Sonic looked down to the ground conflicted. Die or live? Go back with his friends, with his beloved Little Pipp, or stay and finally meet and hug his family for eternity?

Opaline was a menace that was too powerful to stop. Judging by Bernie's words, he just slowed her down, but she hasn't been defeated. That meant his friends needed help... But he was tired. He didn't wanted to fight anymore, and resting for eternity while meeting his family sounded very nice.

"You seem tired, my son." Bernie said with concern, caressing Sonic's head a bit.

Sonic sighed and instinctively rested his head on his mother's chest, which filled an empty space on his heart that's been that way for so long... It felt really nice, and he liked it a lot.

"...I am tired..." Sonic replied. "I've been fighting against a world-threatening menace against another one non-stop ever since I was 5... I just want to take a little nap, Mom. Rest my body a few minutes, hours if possible, and forget my problems in the living world for a minute."

"...But?" Bernie asked, feeling that Sonic was not done yet.

"But I don't want to leave them behind. My friends, my lover... My family..." Sonic replied with a sigh. "I wanna meet my blood relatives like you can probably imagine... But leaving my friends behind because I'm being selfish for once... I can't. I could never do that to them."

"So you made your mind up?" Bernie asked, a bit sad he choose what she knows he choose, but still smiling down at him.

"Maybe... I just have one question to make before I go." Sonic said, then he looked up at his mother. "When you went after dad to fight Eggman's machines in order to protect me and Longclaw from dying... Did you... regret it? Sacrificing your own life knowing those who love you won't ever see you again, even if you did something good?"

Bernie's eyes widened. She was surprised with the question, no doubt, and also a bit excited if we're being honest. Her own son is asking her something very important that might be a life-changing subject for him, and yet she was afraid to answer that specific question... But she still did it, anyways.

"I was terrified, Sonic." Bernie said with honesty. "Never before have I felt so scared like that day... But I was giving my own life away in order for you to grow up, to have a life. As scared as I was, I don't regret it. I would do it a million other times."

Sonic smiled after hearing all of this, then he hugged his mother, and Bernie didn't hesitated on hugging him back with a smile and some tears, while Sonic patted her back.

Once they broke their hug, Sonic sighed and look at his mother with a smile. "Well... I don't regret having used that Chaos Blast, either. And also... I have made my choice."

"So?" Bernie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mom... I choose to..."

Multiversal Wasteland

Opaline's patience ran out a long time ago, even before Misty and Eggman both betrayed her.

However, and somehow, that same Misty, along with a bunch of fools that she calls her friends, has managed to make her run out of more patience, and she already lacked it! It was frustrating and annoying that all the effort she put into conquering, Misty wasted it on useless friendship.

"Alright, you idiots. I'm starting to wish I had just wiped you all out, but since I want a good fight before finally declaring myself on top, I'll give you one last chance to respond..." Opaline declared with a frown, lightening her horn and shrinking Sparky's bubble more, making the baby dragon cry in fear. "Where. Is. The multiverse. Guardian?!"

As Hitch and Sunny's fear for what could happen to Sparky incremented, Amy had to grab Knuckles from his arms to ensure he wouldn't attack Opaline when that's precisely what she needed to kill Sparky.

Meanwhile, everyone else just frowned at her with anger, Misty included. She knew that Opaline could get lower, but this was way too much, even for her. And Tails? He was between a rock and a hard place, because he didn't knew what was worse: Giving Chip and his power to Opaline, or let Sparky die.

The fact that Chip was grabbing Tails' ear so hardly while hiding behind it wasn't helping the young fox.

Opaline, however, only enjoyed seeing her enemies so desperate and not knowing what to do, and now, she was ready to make sure that it stayed that way.

"Fine. Then let's make things easier for you, fools." Opaline declared, then she lightened her horn up and made Sparky's bubble shrink almost to the limit. "One..."

"No, no, please no!" Sunset begged with horror.

"Two..."

"This is a nightmare..." Sunny muttered, closing her eyes and looking away in case the worse happened.

"Two and a half..."

"No, no, no!" Hitch cried out loudly. "SPARKY!"

Hitch's cry once again echoed all across the multiverse, and it once again reached Sonic's corpse's rang. He still lay almost dead in the ground, but when Hitch's echo reached his ears, a heartbeat suddenly bumped from his chest, making his body jump a bit because of that...

And then, his eyes blinked to show his pupils again, now charged with his electrical powers.

Sonic woke up, and his whole body released electrical sparks, followed by him launching himself towards the air, then booting at super sonic speed over several rubble pieces floating around, until he reached Opaline.

The Fire Alicorn never saw him coming. She was so convinced he died, just like everyone else, that when he Spin Dashed over her face and took her off guard, she was stunned, and so were Sonic's friends. Opaline was sent backwards, crashing against a crystal, while she released Sparky from her magic bubble.

The baby dragon cried as he fell, but Sonic then caught him in the air, still curled into a ball, and then rolled on the same gigantic piece of earth where his friends were standing, as they all rushed towards him.

Meanwhile, Sonic rolled in the ground painfully, but never letting go of Sparky on his arms. The last thing he wanted was to hurt the baby dragon. However, as he finally stopped rolling, the pain didn't faded away. It's probably because the entire pain of his Chaos Blast from earlier was finally kicking in, and he hated it.

Everything hurt so damn much that he could not want anything more than some ice to ease the pain... Or that could probably make things worse, so he actually thought twice on that last option.

Still, he kneeled down and placed a hand on the ground, panting heavily and groaning painfully. His eyes went back to normal, but his body was begging him to stop and take a nap, just like he told his Mom he wanted to do before finally deciding to come back alive and help his friends.

He didn't regret it if it meant he could help to defeat Opaline, but a bit less of pain would've been nice.

Just then, he remembered that he caught Sparky earlier to save him from falling, so he looked down at him, and then smiled when he saw that the baby dragon was more than just fine.

Sparky giggled and hugged Sonic's face because of his save, while Sonic chuckled and nuzzled with Sparky. "H-Hey there, buddy. H-How you doin'? 'Cause my whole body is begging me to g-get killed again..." He chuckled painfully.

"Sparky!" Hitch's voice called out, as he strangely was the first one to arrive along Sunny, but even thought they were glad to see that Sparky was fine, they were more shocked and surprised over the fact that Sonic was here, safe and sound.

Sonic looked up at the Earth Pony couple, and he smiled, before stand up with effort and extend the baby dragon to his parents. Hitch immediately grabbed Sparky carefully and hugged him tightly, afraid that he'll disappear again from his hooves, while Sunny joined in the hug and gently kissed Sparky's forehead.

The Earth Pony couple's tails were wagging happily because of their adopted son being fine, but then they turned to see Sonic, who was barely standing on his feet and grabbing his left arm painfully.

However, Sonic was smiling down at his friends despite everything. "W-What? Never saw a hedgehog so b-beaten up?" He snorted, and then coughed a bit in pain. "Y-You guys act like if you were s-seeing a ghost..."

"SONIC!" Pipp's voice spoke, as she suddenly went ahead and hugged Sonic too tightly, or maybe not. Sonic's body was so fragile right now that any kind of force felt like way too strong, anyways.

"Sonic!" Tails joined the hug, and if Pipp's hug didn't make Sonic say anything, Tails' definitely did, because Sonic cried out in pain. "You are not death!"

"...No... But I wish I was..." Sonic groaned painfully, and that was Pipp and Tails' sign to let him go, as Sonic let out a relieved sigh, but he remained grabbing his left arm in pain.

One by one, Sonic's friends all were approaching him, glad to see that he didn't kicked the bucket, although Shadow wondered how's that he still lived if he sensed he wouldn't make it earlier, but then he remembered we're talking about Sonic. It was foolish of him to assume he'll die just like that.

Sunset, however, was a complete different story. "How the... But this is not... How are you..." She said, looking at Sonic up and down, not being able to believe what she was looking at. "We literally saw you dying! How's that you're still standing?! Or barely..."

Sonic looked over at Sunset and smiled, then chuckled. "Bold of you to assume death's gonna free you of me."

Sunset looked at him with wide eyes, but not because of what he said. FS died smiling, despite everything he did wrong, and despite how serious he acted. In the end, he died like a Sonic, smiling no matter what.

Now, the Sonic in front of her literally died in a very similar way, but he was still standing (or barely), and he was also smiling, despite the fact that he pretty much lost against Opaline. Yet he smiled, he smiled, and Sunset had no idea if that was something to admire, or something completely stupid... Probably a line in the middle.

"Sunset makes a good point, though..." Pipp agreed. "How... How are you still here...?"

"Let's just say that I was given a choice: To die or to live." Sonic replied with a smile. "I choose what I choose."

"...So you choose to live, right?" Knuckles asked with a mocking smirk, making some in the group just roll their eyes with smiles, or actually feel annoyed by the question. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I know I can be an idiot, but is not that worry-some!"

"Can't say I missed your terrible jokes, Knucklehead..." Sonic said with a mocking smile, making Knuckles deadpan. "But I definitely missed you, and everyone else. There's pending business to take care of. I can't die yet as long as Opaline's still around."

"Sonic you can barely stand up!" Tails pointed out with concern. "And if using a Chaos Blast as Super Sonic––"

"Which is the stupidest thing you've ever done, Sonic." Shadow said with a frown. "Seriously, not even I am bold enough to do that!"

"––Only left you on a state where you could choose between living and dying, I don't wanna imagine what can happen now that you're back!" Tails pointed out with a worried frown.

"I agree with Tails." Amy said with concern. "You are alive by a miracle, Sonic. We're not loosing you just because you wanna play the superhero! Not again..."

"And we appreciate what you did for Sparky." Hitch called out, as Sparky nuzzled happily on Sunny's mane, sitting on her back instead of Hitch's. "But we can clearly see that you cannot fight the same way you went against Opaline! Is dangerous, and it can cost your life."

"My life over the lives of thousands of inhabitants in the multiverse doesn't matter." Sonic said with a frown. "It may to you, but not to me. I can't even believe I wanted to be so selfish a few days ago with wanting more adventure. The more adventure I seek, the more danger I unleash. I cannot allow that anymore. Opaline started this quest because I destroyed the Paradox Prism, and she collected all the shards. So it's because of me she does this, and it's because of me she'll stop."

"Yeah... About that..." Tails said while chuckling.

"You accidentally discovered the way to defeat Opaline!" Misty said with a smile. "After you, well, released all that weird stuff from Cyber-whatever it's called."

"Huh?" Sonic said confused.

"The shards in Opaline's bracelets are what's giving her so much power!" Zipp revealed. "So, if we take off the shards, we take off her power!"

"And we've been able to retreat six so far. We still need the other 14!" Izzy added.

"That's why Twilight went to the HQ and made every member go back to their universes to get us back up!" Sunset added.

"So you guys have a plan?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "Distract Opaline long enough and attack her as much as we can until all the shards are of her bracelets?"

"And then they have to give them to me!" Chip added, making himself become Tails' size again and floating in front of Sonic.

"...Did you got taller?" Sonic asked him confused.

"All thanks to my restored power!" Chip replied with a smile. "And I can get more, but first, I need you and your friends to help me out on defeating Opaline."

"Chip, Sonic can barely stand––" Tails tried to argue, but Sonic placed a hand on his chest, right over his X scar.

"I appreciate that you guys worry for me." Sonic said with a smile, before looking at Chip with a determinate look. "But there's a job that has to be done. Like I said back in Eggman's place: If I die, I'll die. This is bigger than me, than any of us."

Sonic then stepped forward, and then turned around to face his friends with a determinate look. "I know that's been rough, that Opaline has become really powerful, and that everything is scary..." He approached to his friends again, placing his hands over Pipp and Tails' shoulders. "But I need you guys to just follow my lead. No time to loose."

He stepped back and looked at all his friends again, all looking at him uncertainly, while Sunset looked at Sonic concerned, because just like his friends, she didn't wanted him to die again.

However, it didn't took long for one of them to brake the silence. "I stated this earlier: Someone's gonna need to pick up your corpse when you fail." Knuckles told him first with a mocking smirk, then stepped forward and place his fist on his chest. "Count me in."

Sonic only smiled and nodded, right before Amy stepped forward and made Knuckles' gesture as well. "I would follow you to the end of the world, Sonic. I used to do it years ago, and now I'm ready to do it again!"

Tails was next to repeat the gesture. "I came all the way here to be like you. I won't step back and leave you alone when you need me at your side!"

"Me neither!" Sunny stepped in next, making the same gesture wit her hoof over her chest. "We cannot fail, not when you need us the most."

"You saved my son from getting killed. I'm following you, no matter what." Hitch stated, repeating the gesture.

"You were there with me to be my very first friend." Izzy called out next, also making the gesture. "I'm going, too."

"You were the one that gave me a chance to fight for something real for once." Zipp said with a smile, then she repeated the gesture. "Count with me."

"Before meeting you, I could barely focus on anything that wasn't me..." Pipp said, before smiling. "Now, I cannot think on what I want without thinking on others first. I'm going too, Blue Star." She made the same gesture.

"And you never stopped believing in me, not even after I revealed the truth of who I used to be." Misty added with a little smile, then made the same gesture. "It's time I pay you back for that."

Team Dark took a moment to choose, however, but once they all did, they made the same gesture. "Everyone's lives are at stake here." Shadow pointed out.

"We cannot let Opaline get away with her plan." Rouge added.

"We'll bring that witch down to ashes!" Omega stated confidently.

Sonic smiled brightly after all his friends agreed, and he turned around to see Sunset. "So? What do you say, Sunset? You're gonna back up and watch, or stand up and fight?"

Sunset was surprised that Sonic even turned to see her. She didn't even belonged in the same universe than him, why does he seems to have faith and trust on her even after what she did? It was hard to understand... But she couldn't help but kind of feel inspired by his will to keep going, so she smiled.

"I said that I wanted to prove I was wrong before..." Sunset spoke. "I'll stay at your side as well, so I can finally do so."

Sonic nodded, pleased with this answer, then turned back to Opaline, who looked down with anger at the blue blur and his friends. "You think you can stop me? Please! No one in the multiverse is powerful enough to defeat me!"

"...You're right." Sonic agreed, surprising everyone but Shadow. "Just us as usual, with how much power you currently have, this is a lost fight." He pointed out, then grinned. "Luckily, is not just us against you!"

Soon, on his left and right behind some of his friends, an heptagon-shaped portal suddenly appeared. From it merged three figures: Boom Sonic and the Amy and Knuckles from his universe. Amy carried her own Piko Piko Hammer, while Knuckles and Boom had the same watches that everyone in the secret society wore.

Sonic smiled at the arrival of his friends from Boom's universe. As he said to Opaline, he's not going alone into this battle, none if his friends are. It felt like a massive weight has been removed from his shoulders. After all, defending the whole multiverse wasn't a task one could take lightly.

As Sonic and Boom Sonic looked at each other, they nodded with smirks, just before a blue plane, piloted by Boom Sonic's Tails, passed right behind the trio and through the portal. It is here when Sonic could witness more and more heptagon-shaped portals open one by one across the Wasteland.

All Opaline did as she watched this happening was raise an eyebrow, as if she couldn't take serious what's going on. Little does she know, she should actually fear what's coming.

The first group to emerge from one of the portals was the first Classic Sonic that Sonic met while traveling through the multiverse and his Freedom Fighters, all of them looking ahead at the enemy with frowns. Looking at the portal to their right, Twilight Sparkle and her friends - including some Sonic never got to meet - presented to fight against Opaline as well. In the portal next to them, a Mane 6 variant from Modern Equestria appeared as well, with their Sunny having her Alicorn form ready.

From other portal, emerged new Mane 6 from modern Equestria with a group of huge Dragons behind them, as well as an army of all the pony races. Curiously enough, the Sunny of the group seemed to be wearing a necklace that hold a small ring with her Cutie Mark and Zipp's together in the middle. Next, from another portal, emerged Young Sonic and his Tails and Knuckles. Unexpectedly, though, new figures seemed to join him: Variants of Shadow, Rouge and Amy arrived as well to his side.

Now we see some ponies coming from another of the portals. They looked a bit chubbier and more "horsey" than Equestrian ponies, as well as more bright and colorful, but they were not happy. In the portal at their side, the Sonic Underground emerged with frowns. They soon made their necklaces shine bright and make their instruments appear, ready to use their powers to save the multiverse.

From another portal, MC and the Freedom Fighters from his universe followed through, as well as multiple allies from Crayton's reality, all ready to bring this new Opaline down for good. At their side, another portal opened up, and from this one came out Prime Sonic, Prime Shadow, and pretty much every single variant of the Shatterverse, which includes Nine.

Everyone from universe 220822 seemed surprised at all the forces that kept popping up from each open portal, everyone but Sonic, who smiled in pride as he saw that the whole multiverse was coming together as one.

"...You are... the best of us, Sonic... You're going well so far... Now... Don't... stop... fighting..."

FS' last words echoed on his mind, and Sonic nodded with a determinate smile. "I won't fail you, chief."

Then, as Sunset choose to go and look after her friends from her universe to fight along them, the Twilight that now leads the Secret Society approached Sonic. "I think that's pretty much everyone."

"Like if we could get more!" Sonic said with a slight chuckle.

Oh, and more he got, because soon a giant heptagon-shaped portal opened from the ground, which from the Death Egg Titan, now rebuilt to its glory, emerged to the surface, as well as thousands of ponies from 220822 Equestria, including Queen Haven and her army of pegasi guards, as well as Alphabittle and the unicorns. The Chaotix also came along for the ride, and Eggman extended the right arm to the ground and opened it, releasing Bowser's army as well as Bowser himself.

The King of the koopas let out a loud roar of war, indicating his troops to get ready, while Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach showed up with power ups: Fire Flower, Ice Flower and Bubble Flower respectively,

The whole multiverse, for the first time in probably forever since Chip can remember, was united by a common goal, as they all aligned and prepared for what's coming. Sonic himself smirked at the sight, then turned to grin at Opaline, who watched in a mix of horror and confusion at the massive army that had formed to take her down. Seems the multiverse has her destiny written, and of course that it's the one where she looses.

Everyone was waiting for orders, not moving an inch from their positions. Tails used his powers to create a sword and gave it to Sonic, who decided to step forward and rise his sword to the air.

This was the only sign the entire multiverse needed to stand in fighting positions, all preparing for what truly promised to be the biggest fight in their lives. And it truly is, considering that they're all gonna fight against what seemed to be the most powerful being in the multiverse.

Everyone knows what's at stake; everyone knows what they're fighting for; everyone knows what to do. Opaline knows it too, so she limited herself to frown and prepared to wipe out thousands of asses across the multiverse.

It's showtime.

"This one's for you, Future me..." Sonic muttered with his eyes closed, then opened them and pointed the sword ahead at Opaline. "FOR THE MULTIVERSE!"

Knuckles was the first one to react with a powerful and loud rallying cry, which was followed by thousands if not millions of similar cries. With this, everyone took charge against Opaline, most anthropomorphic creatures taking the lead with mostly pegasi following behind, while the Death Egg Titan began to run towards Opaline.

Just the loud stomps of the massive robot seemed to be intimidating Opaline, yet all she did was frown with a seething hatred. She ignited her horn and then proceed to make a massive army of her own appear. Since she's a massive narcissist, this army resulted to be a bunch of clones that could feel pain and die, but they also had a fraction of her power. These clones only had one task in mind: Kill these insolents for daring to go against Opaline Arcana, and they wouldn't rest until they fulfilled their role.

Meanwhile, Sonic led the massive multiversal army towards battle. His body was begging him to stop because it still hurt as hell, but he had a mission: To lead this army into the battle of their lives, and to win at all coasts necessary. No matter how long it takes, Opaline's going down today.

The two sides of the conflict finally collided one against the other one, starting the fight. The stronger members of the whole army, such as Bowser, any Knuckles or Omega and buffalos smashed the Opaline clones like pancakes into the floor, while Earth Ponies and ground fighters such as any Amy, Vector and Shadow wrestled with the clones to beat them down. The unicorns seemed to be doing a great job at slashing in half some of the clones as well.

Some changelings from several universes shape shifted into Opaline to confuse the army and either make them crash into each other or straight up slash them with their horns. Mario and Luigi had teamed up to use their opposite abilities against the clones: Luigi freeze them with his ice balls, and Mario melted them with his fire ones.

In the skies, many Tails' variants, the Koopa Paratroopas, pegasi and dragons used their spears, weapons, fire breath... Anything they had to kill down as many clones as possible, with a Spike variant and our main Tails even flying back to back and pulling a laser-fire blast combo towards many Opaline clones.

Meanwhile, we have Sonic limiting himself to punch, to use his electrical powers, and to use his Homing Attack, because he still felt incredibly in pain after the number Opaline pulled over him earlier. If not for that, he'll be slashing down clones.

Suddenly, however, Sonic found himself not so far from the real Opaline, who looked over at him with a frown, and Sonic frowned back, but he also smirked mockingly.

"How in heaven's name are you still standing?!" Opaline asked in rage.

"I'm more stubborn than a mule!" Sonic replied mockingly. "I'm what you could call a "hedgehog-roach". Try to kill me as many times as you want, I'm always coming back."

"Then I'll make sure you wished I killed you the first time!" Opaline declared with anger, as her eyes turned in fire... literally.

Soon, the Fire Alicorn attempted to blast Sonic, but the blue blur was quick and moved away, dodging the blast. The Fire Alicorn started to chase Sonic around, trying to kill him with any of her fire blasts, while Sonic himself just smirked mockingly and taunted Opaline while dodging her attacks.

"Stop. Moving. So I. Can. KILL YOU!!!" Opaline shouted desperate.

"Nope!" Sonic replied with a chuckle, jumping over another blast, because even when everything's at stake, Sonic's still as Sonic as he can be.

Opaline growled enraged, and so, she surrounded Sonic with her magic, which did startled the Blue Blur and made his eyes widen, then she twirled him around and launched him against a floating Crystal.

Sonic crashed against it and groaned in pain, while he slowly opened his eyes. "O-Okay... I-I still don't regret having lived... But my body differs..."

He slid down and fell facewards on the ground, something Opaline noticed with glee. "About time you lay on the ground, where you belong!" Opaline said with a laugh. "And now, to make sure that you won't stand up, I'll––"

But right before she even charged her next attack, she was suddenly grabbed by a giant hand. And whom's hand was this? Well, it was actually Giganto's hand. The Titan from Kronos Island has made it's act of appearance, and he roared loudly in rage, also announcing its arrival to the battle.

"Ah crap, that thing's here too?!" The very first Sonic to exist in the multiverse exclaimed when he noticed this, since he was part of the battle along his friends.

Soon, Giganto made its twirl attack, but instead of hitting something, it did so it could launch Opaline far upwards, startling the Fire Alicorn and making her scream.

Then, Wyvern suddenly appeared, as it descended from the sky at top speed while spinning, then hit Opaline and sent her backwards, where she crashed against Knight's shield. Then, Knight launched her slightly in the air, took out his horn - sword - and then used the sword to hit Opaline like a baseball.

Opaline screamed in fright and rage as she got sent backwards again, but then she met with a familiar face: Supreme, the real one. The Titan had its sniper out, then it pointed it at Opaline and shoot.

The laser that Supreme shoot hit Opaline, and as she was ready to activate a shield to not crash against anything, a sudden laser from the Death Egg Titan sent her towards the "ground", or rather, a massive portion of earth floating by. Opaline lay in the ground, but she quickly stood up. Despite feeling pain, she didn't wanted to show it.

She glared daggers at the five Titans that attacked her. Turns out Eggman managed to reactivate Cyberspace and bring back the Titans to use them against Opaline.

Sonic noticed Eggman's arrival, and he smiled weakly, standing ip while holding his arm again. "Took you long enough to act, Egghead..."

"Ivo." Opaline muttered with anger.

"Arcana." Eggman said from inside his Death Egg Titan with glee. "You took away from me what I loved the most... Now you should pay the consequences!"

After declaring this, Eggman launched the chest and eye lasers from the Titan towards the Fire Alicorn, but Opaline created a shield to protect herself this time... Took her long enough. However, Giganto also launched its mouth laser, followed by Wyvern's, Knight's, and finally Supreme's, all in that order.

But even if the six lasers were mighty and powerful, Opaline still managed to fly through the lasers thanks to her shield, and then, she sent the Death Egg Titan a bit backwards with one single kick.

This did surprised Eggman, but it didn't made him flinch or feel terrified. He was very convinced that, if he couldn't defeat Opaline, at least he could beat the crap out of her. She killed his daughter, after all, and he knew she would try to hurt Misty, so now, it was time to avenge Sage and protect his other daughter.

This only irritated her a lot more, so she once again multiplied herself to keep everyone else busy with her clones while she deals with Eggman, whom's punch from a fist of the Death Egg Titan she couldn't dodge. However, she did know how Sonic defeated the machine previously, so she simply blasted through the arm.

"Oh, come on!" Eggman groaned with anger. "I should've known this would happen!"

"Even at our side, Eggman never learns from his mistakes..." Knuckles deadpanned, as he grabbed an Opaline clone and broke her neck, making her poof.

Eggman decided to be a bit more cautious, so he instead instructed Giganto to grab Opaline with its teeth, but Opaline didn't choose to try and get out like when The End took Supreme's form.

Instead, the Fire Alicorn flew inside if Giganto's mouth, making the Titan grab its neck, and then, Opaline flew through Giganto's chest, making the Titan explode in a giant sphere of Cyber Energy. Noticing this, Eggman told Wyvern to use its tail attack against Opaline, but the Fire Alicorn surrounded Wyvern in her magic.

Then, she started to tight her grip over the Titan, like if she was squeezing some kind of giant ball or plushie, until the Titan exploded on a sphere of Cyber Energy just like Giganto did.

Eggman was running out of options, so instead, he activated the laser of his eyes, then he pressed the eject button, as he was sent downwards inside of his own creation. Meanwhile, as the Death Egg Titan launched its lasers against Opaline, she didn't even bothered on creating a shield around herself this time.

Instead, she flew ahead and traversed the Titan's face, making the entire machine explode in the process.

"EGGMAN!!!" Sonic shouted in panic with wide eyes.

They were enemies, true... But Sonic didn't wanted him dead. Of course, he has no idea that Eggman still lives, but it didn't stopped him for feeling concerned that he might've kicked the bucket.

Meanwhile, Opaline looked back at the two remaining Titans. With Supreme, she did the same from earlier, traversing the Titan from one side to the other and making him explode. With Knight? The Titan tried to use his sword against her, but she used her magic to teleport the Sword and, instead, cut Knight itself in a half.

With the Titans out once more, and even faster than Sonic did earlier, Opaline looked down at the group of heroes from her home world, all of them standing over a portion of earth in fighting positions.

Opaline growled, then teleported in front of them with anger. "I cannot understand why you all desire to fight for this multiverse so much. Specially you two!" She pointed at Sunny and Sonic. "I'm aware of how your so called "friends" from across every reality attempted to chase you down and encage you for literally just exiting. Why are you still fighting for them?!"

"Because we all have the same enemy, Opaline, that being you!" Misty said with anger, for Opaline's surprise, but not so much for Misty's friends.

She's learned to stand her ground when necessary thanks to them, hence why this is not shocking for them.

"You have a big mouth, for a little pony, Misty." Opaline said with a frown, although she soon grinned. "I'll feel proud if it we weren't on different sides of this game. Oh well, guess it's time I put you on your place, young lady."

After saying this, Opaline levitated Misty's friends, and then she thew them away in different directions, as they all rolled painfully in the ground and got some brushes, as well as a bit dirty because of the earth. This made Misty panic, but it incremented when Opaline landed and approached her.

The Fire Alicorn was lightening her horn up and looking coldly at her. "I'm going to show you, Misty, what happens when you try to fight a goddess figure."

Misty stepped back, but even if she was afraid, she still decided to show and frown and a determined look. No matter what, she wouldn't fear Opaline, not even when her life was on the line. Not anymore.

"Say your last words, Misty." Opaline declared. "You might want to remember them forever."

"...I'm so glad I ran away from you. You're the worse Alicorn that's ever lived, and you wished you were half the pony Twilight Sparkle was." Misty replied with smirk.

That made Opaline's blood boil in rage, and she was ready to shot a massive fire blast against Misty, while the Unicorn mare closed her eyes and accepted her fate, but still smiling. However, the blast never came, because Opaline was suddenly pushed backwards by a metallic arm.

Opaline screamed, and then she slid in the ground, before looking ahead with a frown at the Egg Beater, being controlled by Eggman. This is the machine he was ejected off the Death Egg Titan.

Misty opened her eyes when she never received the blast, and when she looked up at Eggman, she gasped.

Eggman, on the other hand, was frowning in rage inside the machine. "I already lost one daughter because of you. I won't let you put one of your dirty hooves over the other one!"

Opaline scoffed after hearing that. "Daughter?! I knew you were weak, Ivo, but this goes beyond my expectations!"

"You'll find out what this weakling is capable of when you mess with his family!" Eggman declared in anger, then he made the Egg Beater boost towards Opaline.

Opaline growled in rage and boosted towards him as well. With that, the two villains started to fight once more, but this time, none of them was going to hold back. Eggman was willing to put Opaline on her place and avenge Sage, while Opaline wouldn't rest until Eggman's skin burned in hell.

Author's Note

I'm starting to run out of author notes, probably because I'm saving most of what I have to say and share on the last chapter and Epilogue.

To mention some of today's cameos: We got the Sonic Boom AND Sonic SatAM crew; the OG Mane 6 and company; some G5 Mane 6 variants that come from this story by bookhorse125; other G5 Mane 6 coming from this one-shot made by Flamewarrior02; the G3 ponies; the Sonic Underground crew; MC and the Freedom Fighters of his universe, which was written by Mister E-Nonymous; and the cast of Sonic Prime.

Anyways, this is all for today. Not much can be said beyond me apologizing for not focusing so much on the battle for the multiverse, but I'm not that good at describing more prolonged fights, hence why I barely did that.

However, what I have in store for the next episode might compensate the lack of battle in here.

Stay tuned to find out what I mean! See ya!