Sonic the Hedgehog

Prayer

"We should be approaching shortly," Shadow's voice relays through the radio Tails holds in his hand.

"Roger," the fox replies.

All four Mobians reside in their usual seats, (or in Sonic's case), position as they take flight again in the Tornado Two. Tails curses himself for not constructing the plane to go faster. Even at full speed, it's taken nearly a day's worth of travel to get from Prison Island to Station Square.

Joining them in their airspace is the Egg Carrier following a short way behind to their left. With it being so close and finally visible, everyone can fully marvel at its size and layout. All it needs is a paint job to hide Eggman's nasty insignia, and the aircraft would gain even more admiration.

Amy leans to her left to make sure Tails' radio is off. Once she has confirmation, she asks the concentrated fox in front of her:

"Are you sure we can trust those guys?"

"Of course I'm not," Tails answers. "But I'm not sure we CAN'T trust them either. Rationally speaking, they don't have any reason to be lying."

"Plus, I think they would've shown up anyway," Sonic adds, turning around to look at his friends. "They don't seem like the type to take no for an answer. Especially that robot."

"That's fair," Amy shrugs. "I guess they're helping, which is all that matters. But once this is over, we're getting an apology! Two sentences minimum."

"I think that's the least they can do," Sonic smiles.

It disappears after noticing Knuckles who has his eyes shut, mumbling something under his breath. In his lap is a satchel provided by Team Dark which has all seven of the lifeless emeralds stored within it.

There has to be a way to restore them. The hedgehog thinks to himself.

"Hey, Knuckles?" Amy says, turning around in his direction.

The echidna stops mid-sentence and opens his eyes.

"Apologies," the warrior says. "I didn't wish to disturb you."

"No, no!" Amy frantically waves her hands to dismiss Knuckles' concern. "I just wanted to ask what you were repeating. It sounds important."

"Just a prayer. One my tribe shared under... circumstances such as these."

"Can I join you?"

After the initial surprise at hearing Amy's request subsides, Knuckles smiles and offers his large hands.

"Of course. Just repeat after me."

Amy nods, taking Knuckles' hands and closing her eyes. Kneeling on the front plane wing, Sonic watches the two, beaming.

"The servers are the seven chaos..." Knuckles begins.

"The servers are the seven chaos..." Amy follows.

"Chaos is power. Power enriched by the heart..."

"Chaos is power. Power enriched by the heart..."

"We are the ones who unify the chaos."

"We are the ones who unify the chaos."

Knuckles opens his eyes and retrieves his hands, signifying to Amy that the prayer is over.

"Thank you for joining me," Knuckles says, nodding in appreciation.

"It was a beautiful prayer!" She tells him. "I'm sure it'll work."

"Yeah, we can only hope-"

Knuckles freezes. He only caught it for a second. The dim, green color of one of the emeralds returning to its grey state. When he lifts his head, both Amy and Sonic are lost on what could've caused such a shocked expression.

"One of the emeralds-!"

"GUYS, LOOK!" Tails yells, interrupting the echidna and causing him and the others to take notice of the large city coming into view.

"Oh no..." Sonic says, stunned.

Thick clouds of smoke ascend from multiple parts of Station Square. Above the city, the sky is a dark, unsettling red.

"Are you all seeing what we're seeing?" Rouge asks over the radio.

"Yes... we are," Tails answers. "What's the plan?"

"WE FIND THE JACKAL AND ELIMINATE HIM."

"What's the actual plan?"

"That... is the actual plan," Shadow says.

Tails facepalms.

"Hey, it's as good of a plan as any," says Sonic, standing up on the plane wing, ready for action. "According to Egg-face, this guy can create whatever he wants. That must explain the clouds. Just remember, whatever we might face, it's not real."

"Right!" Amy nods, gripping her hammer.

None of Sonic's words enter Knuckles' mind. He's too busy gawking at the emeralds, his soul renewed with hope.

Was it the prayer? He questions. No, that couldn't have been the only thing. I've been reciting it for hours. So what changed?

"What do we have here?"

The Jackal's loud voice dominates over the rushing wind. Ahead by thirty meters, Infinite appears in thin air, looking in the Tornado Two's direction. Immediately, Tails slows the plane down, his heart hammering against his chest.

"The Egg Carrier?" he questions, taking notice of the familiar aircraft which much like the smaller one beside it, has slowed to a near halt. "I have good enough sense to know whoever is piloting that gargantuan machine can't be the Doctor. Team Dark... is that you? My, this is quite the reunion."

He turns back to Sonic.

"I recall allowing you to momentarily keep your life, hedgehog. It appears you have wasted my generosity. Perhaps this will urge you to reconsider."

Infinite holds up a hand sparkling with red electricity in the Egg Carrier's direction.

"Smirk at this, jewel thief."

What follows is an immediate flash of red light, before an ensuing explosion ruptures the sky. The shockwave it causes sends the Tornado Two, and everyone on board whirling through the air, clinging onto its metal as tightly as they can.

"TAILS! KNUCKLES!" Sonic yells. "YOU KNOW THE DRILL!"

Not wasting any precious time with a response, Tails grabs Amy's hands and takes her with him as he flies to safety. Knuckles hurriedly closes the satchel and slings it on his back before allowing himself to let go. In mid-air, he goes into his gliding formation. Like last time, the final one on board waits only four seconds before impact to perform a desperate drop-dash. He rolls away untouched as the second Tornado explodes into flames behind him.

After all of the industrial and busy locations he's found himself in lately, the touch of grass feels great on the hedgehog's skin as he uncurls. The brief moment of relief ends after he takes one look at the red sky. There is no more Egg Carrier. Just bits and pieces of metal varying in size, shape, and color fall to the grassy field below. It wasn't just destroyed. It was utterly annihilated.

***

Teleporting is nowhere as comfortable as the ultimate lifeform makes it look. Rouge tries to regain her bearings, a little dazed. One second she was in the Egg Carrier's control room, staring her former co-worker in the face. The next, she's standing in the middle of a patch of trees alongside the rest of Team Dark.

Shadow puts his full weight against the bark of a tree, too tired to move a single muscle. Never had he attempted to teleport so great of a distance. E-123 Omega looks through the overhead leaves and at the big smoke cloud in the sky.

"THERE GOES OUR RIDE."

...