December 2023 Calendar Story Act 12: Eggman's Ultimate Weapon

Category:Japanese Content
==Main Story==
*Whirrrrr…!*
The purple-gold giant, perhaps 100 meters tall, appears from a high altitude and descends with purple sparks swelling throughout its massive build.
It then merged the parabolic antenna of the giant flower that had forced Sonic and his friends up from underground onto its back… and when it was completely fused with the ivy and roots that grew from the flower, it eventually put its hands on the ground as if it could not bear the weight and stood still on all fours, looking like a ferocious animal.
“What? What the heck is that?”
“I don’t know… Anyway, it’s got a great density of cognitive friction energy!”
“It’s pleading for its life now that it came here? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
As the trio expressed their doubts, Eggman delivered a cheery speech from inside the giant.
“”Hoohoho! Amazed, are you not?! I bet you fools have no idea what this is. Watch carefully as I will transform everything into my proper alternate world, and fulfill its conquest!””
The giant then shook its back and let out a fierce howl.
*Rooooaaarr!*
“…?!”
A dome-shaped barrier of light spreads out with tremendous force from the giant’s flower! It swallows Sonic and his friends in the blink of an eye, turning the inner terrain into a flooded ruin, and expanding farther and farther away.
*Bwom-bwom-bwom…*
“This is… urgh!”
“I-It hurts… aaahh!”
“M-My head…!”
The three of them cowered with their heads in their hands, not having time to pay attention to the anomaly around them. Eggman’s triumphant voice descended from above them.
“Hohoho! Were you shocked as you watched and heard all that?! This is the miracle of my ultimate weapon, ‘Egg Field’!”
Eggman, in a good mood after seeing Sonic and his friends unable to move, continues.
“”This is an otherworldly space where I can change the world line that failed me a long time ago because I was a little careless, into the proper one that won’t! I can even overwrite the memories of this planet… and all who live on it!””
When Sonic and his friends looked around, they saw a destroyed and submerged Station Square cityscape…
This is the causal site of Eggman’s great defeat when he lost control of the legendary God of Destruction, “Chaos,” and it ran amok. It should have been that way, but an unacceptable memory forced its way into the minds of the three of them.
[[Eggman has achieved world domination with Chaos in tow…]]
[[…I pledge allegiance to Eggm—]]]
“No way! You’re kidding me… urgh!”
“Th-That flower…! The flower on the robot’s back made this field!”
“Darn! I’ve got unknown memories going into my head…!”
A happy world conquered by Eggman—an impossible other world is about to be forcibly transformed into “truth.”
With their memories blurring, the trio fought desperately as they felt the submerged buildings around them slowly transforming into Eggman’s structures.
“Hey! You okay?!“
Tails’s communicator receives an urgent message from Silver.
“We’ve found our friends who have the Chaos Emeralds! We’re on our way to help—“
“N-No! If you enter this field… you will all be brainwashed too!”
Tails’s voice retaliated in gasps. Silver and the others outside the Egg Field, which had now expanded over several kilometers in diameter, slumped their shoulders with a look of astonishment.
“No way…!“
“”…Hoohoho! You’re in a stalemate, my little animals! My hegemony is already being recognized by Mother Planet itself. Give up!””
Eggman looks down at the three of them, unable to move at all and left to cower and endure, and declares victory with an entranced tone in his voice.
Just when everyone thought all was lost, it happened…!
*Flash!*
A high-density roar of white light pierced the exact middle of the Egg Field… and it gouged and burned through the flower on the giant’s back to nothing.
“”What?!””
*Ka-wham!*
The giant, gouged in the back by an unexpectedly violent attack and writhing in agony, finally manages to recover by propping itself up with tentacle vines and roots, despite repeated explosions in various parts of its body.
“”What just happened… my Egg Field!””
The source is cut off, and the Egg Field quickly disappears.
Although the surrounding terrain is still a submerged Station Square, Sonic and his friends, freed from the overwritten memories, quickly regained their spirit.
“Thanks! I don’t know who you are, but you saved us!”
Eggman and Sonic were both taken aback by the revitalizing blow.
They would later learn that it had been released from a certain harbor, hundreds of kilometers from here…
The steel giant “Grand Botkaiser” towers over the wharf, staring far into the horizon with reverberating plasma smoke billowing from its chest cannon.
“I… I wonder if it was a good idea to shoot now.”
So muttered Cubot.
“What are you on about?! It was going mad with those absurd high-energy signatures, so of course it was ‘the enemy,’ right?”
So retorted Orbot.
“The early bird gets the worm in a bombardment. High-energy signature gone, mission accomplished.”
With that, Gemerl declared the situation done and over with. He then makes a gesture of gulping down the sake cup with his left hand.
“…Well, it is true that when we shoot that thing, we can’t move much anymore.”
“Good point… Let’s have a few drinks at the oil bar and go to bed! ♪“
Eventually, the steel giant separated into three robots, which supported each other’s bodies and smilingly disappeared into the back alleys of the downtown robot shopping district…
“Are you done with your trademark gags, Eggman? You want me to teach you how to juggle?”
Sonic provokes Eggman with a brilliant display of acrobatics as he calmly walks up to the wounded giant.
“”Shut up! Don’t get carried away just because you broke the amplification and diffusion device! The otherworld force is still alive and well, albeit locally! Take this!””
When Eggman deliberately waved the giant’s arm in the same gesture as Sonic, an innumerable amount of giant tree roots and ivy sprang up from the water at his feet and from inside the walls and windows of the buildings, and attacked Sonic and his friends at breakneck speed.
“Hah! I don’t think these little branches can stop me!”
“B-But… there’s so many of them, Sonic!”
“Tsk! There’s no end to ’em!”
Perhaps this is also the otherwordly power, but the roots and ivy that Eggman’s riding giant unleashes are never ending, no matter how many times they are knocked down.
“”Come on, what’s the matter? I still have plenty more of those to give.””
Eggman saw an opportunity to win and immediately pushed his luck, but…
*Ka-blaaaam!*
Suddenly, the giant roots and ivy are kicked away by a volley of shots. Eggman is enraged by the unexpected interruption.
“”Argh, who goes there?! Who’s trying to make fun of me?!””
“…Enter the Omega way!”
There was Omega, the most powerful robot with full-body weaponry, standing tall with a hoisted Gatling gun.
And marching from then on is the essence of “Battle Blossom Arrangement”… the art of arranging the oddly shaped steel plants, the “Tricky Flowers” as combat devices, “Battle Blossoms.” The large army of troops, the “Battle Blossom Battalion.”
*Rummmmble…*
The family crest of “Ω” shines on the kimono, and the master of the art, head of the school Omega, and his apprentice, Rouge, who has initiated into the secrets of the art, showed their spirited leadership.
“New type of giant tricky flower detected. It will be eliminated at once!”
“I’m happy to help, but please don’t forget about my reward, the topaz scissors, okay, school head? ♪“
Omega’s Battle Blossoms overrun the roots on the ground and Rouge’s blossoms overrun the ivy in the sky. The tables are turned. The onslaught of Sonic and his friends has begun.
“”Stop it! Stop that!””
Eggman is openly panicked as his prized defense is quickly dissipated. Raising the giant’s fist, he attacks Omega and Rouge, but…
*Clang!*
It is repelled by a silver psychic barrier.
“”What the?!””
“I finally made it in! How did you guys endure this whole time? It’s all right now!”
“That straight shot of white light from a while ago… was that the ‘Clothesline’ that Amy was talking about…?”
The long awaited reinforcements, Silver and Blaze, barge in from the sky! Silver guards and Blaze shoots, trifling with the giant with exquisite hit-and-run moves.
“”Augh, you troublesome flies!””
Eggman’s giant, not taking a liking to this, raised its arms and chased them around…
“Make way, make way, make way! The star has arrived! The splendid Vectorman is here!”
There, Vectorman comes flies in at subsonic speed, fluttering his cape, flicking off the vines that come at him. And then…
“My belly’s empty!”
He then struck the giant with a body blow as if spinning from below, causing the giant, which must have been about 100 meters tall, to bend its massive frame into an arch.
“”Augh?!””
The giant almost falls to its knees and hangs its head at the unexpectedly strong blow. At that moment, the giant noticed in its line of sight…
It was the King of Fighting, waiting for it with his fists clenched on the surface of the earth.
“Grit your teeth and bear it!”
*Ka-whoom!*
A fierce uppercut by Knuckles, the champion, knocks the giant’s head off. Inside the exposed armor, there was a glistening purple sphere…
“That’s it! That core is the weak point! Let’s get it now—”
The cry of Tails, who immediately detected the weak point, was followed by two voices, as if they had been waiting for it!
Eggman, too, intercepts by shooting out a bunch of haphazard beams from the core…
“”S-Stop iiiiit!””
“”Haaaaah!””
*Ka-boom!*
“…Did that do it?!”
They all watched with bated breath as the giant stopped moving even slightly.
And then…
As the smoke from the explosion receded… there was not a scratch on the core in the giant’s head.
“”Hoohoho! Too bad for you. This core cannot be destroyed!””
Once the onslaught by Sonic and his friends has stopped, the giant slowly regenerates the damaged areas. This could’ve been the opportunity to take the upper hand, now that the core, its weakness, was exposed… just when even Tails was about to give up, it happened…!
“Sonic! Take this!”
With Blaze’s voice echoing from the sky, her tail’s jewelry was thrown to Sonic in a glittering trail.
As it approached Sonic, it transformed into a purple Chaos Emerald, its original form, and emitted a strong light… and as if in response, the brooch on Sonic’s chest also transformed into a white Chaos Emerald and began to shine.
Blaze and Sonic nodded silently. And at that moment, all of them understood at the same time what they should do now.
“…You better have this, Sonic!”
“The charm of victory! It’s yours!”
“Sonic! I’m gonna let ya handle this one!”
One after another, the tiara, pendant, and transformation belt filled with their hopes gather at Sonic. They are restored to their original forms and shine brightly in a variety of colors.
“I’m just lending it to you. It’s still mine!”
Then Knuckles forced his championship belt onto Sonic, and 
“”What the?! Super Sonic?! Preposterous! How…?”
Eggman, who had just finally regenerated the giant’s head camera, could not hide his surprise when Super Sonic suddenly entered his field of vision. Desperately protecting the still uncovered core with its hands, it backed away with its huge body in a totter.
“It’s a long story, so I’ll save you the explanation. Let’s get on with it, shall we?”
Taking a small, deep breath, Sonic gathered strength in his golden body, which was growing more and more luminous…
“Haaaah!”
“”Nooooo!””
Sonic became a ray of light that penetrated Eggman’s giant to its rear, including the core. A moment later, a massive explosion erupted from within, shattering the giant’s hulking frame.
*Ka-booooom!*
“Did that do it this time?!”
“No, not yet.”
Tails is about to rejoice when Shadow gives him a stern look, but Super Sonic is just as serious, staring at the burning wreckage.
“It’s time to come out, Eggman. You’re gonna end up a baked egg, man.”
*Flaaaash…*
Then, as if in response to Sonic’s call, a point of intense light appeared from within the giant’s wreckage…
“?!”
As everyone looked at the unusual presence, it suddenly increased its luminosity and slowly rose into the air, blasting away the wreckage with a shockwave. The solemn spot of light then took on a human form… and announced to Sonic and the others in a loud and majestic voice.
“I never thought I would even have to show you this ‘trump card’ of mine… Know for yourself what will happen if you oppose me, the creator of alternate worlds!”
…The true climactic battle has now begun.
- - -
A streak of lightning flying high in the sky at a tremendous speed and a flash of light following it.
Whenever the two lights cross, they fiercely repel each other and light up the earth’s surface with violent sparks. The two lights, which are closing in on each other yet reject each other, engage in an exceedingly belligerent battle of speed for a few moments…
And then, just when you think the two lights are far apart, they make a snapping U-turn and accelerate furiously, as if it was prearranged. They collide head-on without giving the other a single step, and a flash of light that makes it impossible to tell night from day illuminates the surroundings with the sounds of explosions.
Then, after a few seconds of silence, two glowing figures appeared out of the clouds…
It was Super Sonic, who has gained invincible power through the Chaos Emeralds, and… Eggman, a light-man with power comparable to him.
Sonic half-teasingly compliments Eggman as he whistles at the sight of him gasping for breath.
“I’m surprised, Eggman! Though it seems you can’t beat me at that age.”
“Sh-Shut up! There’s more where that came from, you stupid rat!”
Eggman adjusts his breathing and plummets, with Sonic following him.
“I don’t know what you’re up to, but—”
It was at the moment when Sonic was about to crack a joke. Just as Eggman made a U-turn as he descended to the surface, a huge shadow rose up from the bottom of the water to take his place.
*Roooar!*
Suddenly, Sonic was thrown off balance by a howl of furious energy emanating from the surface of the water. Sonic barely dodged the attack, but if he had not been in a super-powered state, he would have vanished.
“He even recreated Perfect Chaos…”
The runaway disaster that once submerged Station Square. The “God of Destruction,” who wanted to ruin everything indiscriminately, further attacked Sonic with an energy breath that could pierce mountains. Eggman rattled on in a good mood.
“This is the world where I have Chaos under my control and everything has gone well! By defeating you and making this other world ‘original,’ my ‘otherworld conquest’ will be complete!”
Sonic swiftly avoids the oncoming roars, but this is not all Eggman has in store for him. Collapsing buildings, rising rocks, and advancing tidal waves… Everything around Sonic is aimed at him on Eggman’s command.
“Hoohoho! How about this?! Take that! And that!”
To add insult to injury, the surrounding buildings transformed into Perfect Chaos one after another under Eggman’s command. Sonic is immediately surrounded.
“What?!”
The next thing he knew, all of their big mouths were full of energy in their jaws, and Sonic was in a desperate situation.
“It’s over!”
*Roooar!*
A concentrated roar of fire.
The energy of the roars evaporated the seawater hundreds of meters around them, sending a plume of vapor smoke high into the sky, but…
When the smoke eventually dissipated into the wind, there was a golden hedgehog, unharmed and still in the sky.
“…That won’t work on me!”
“This cannot be! Perhaps the power of Super Sonic neutralizes otherworldification…? Wait, could it be…!”
Sonic replies to the upset Eggman with a hand on his chest.
“Eggman. That’s not the Chaos I know, that’s a fake. He may have had ‘hatred’ at the time, but he had the ‘heart.’ But this Chaos has nothing.”
“…!”
“Even that power is a sham, just a collection of energy. It’s nothing like the feelings I received from everyone, whose essence remained the same even in an alternate world. And so… this doesn’t work on me!”
*Baaaang!*
Then, with a yell, Sonic expanded his golden aura all at once, and the light drowned out the multiples of Perfect Chaos around him.
“B-Blast you, Sonic…! But as long as I have this power, I can create Chaos and other worlds as much as I want! It is you who will eventually succumb!”
The Chaos army revives one after another, and the Egg Field slowly recovers. Invisible sparks began to fly between Sonic, who had somehow regained the upper hand, and Eggman, who was preparing to launch a counterattack, and that’s when it happened…!
*Beep-beep-beep!*
An emergency transmission from Tails breaks the silence, and both Sonic and Eggman, with a gasp, listen to the sound.
<I analyzed Eggman in combat and found his weakness! The glowing core component on his chest! That thing is a cognitive friction energy controller!>
“N-No… augh, mind your business!”
“Thanks, Tails! You saved the day!”
Covering his chest with his hand, Eggman hurriedly leaps to a high altitude, Sonic in hot pursuit.
As Eggman continues his desperate escape, he raises his hand and his surroundings are instantly transformed into an alternate world in outer space. The “Eclipse Cannon,” an optical weapon mounted on the Space Colony ARK that can pierce even the stars, points its muzzle at Sonic, and the enormous energy of the cannon strikes him, but…
“I told you it doesn’t work!”
*Baaang!*
“Eeeep!”
When Sonic roared and emitted a golden aura, the other world vanished like mist. The fake cosmos also collapsed. Eggman, who runs away with no other trick up his sleeve, continues to create alternate worlds, whether he knows it is futile or not.
…A world where he used the power of Dark Gaia to complete the new Eggman Land.
…A world where he perfected the ultimate weapon with the planet’s life energy, with the help of the Six Demons serving under him.
…A world where he took control of the runaway Mother Wisp and brainwashed all living things around the world.
But all of the alternate worlds of Eggman’s dreams are instantly drowned out by the brilliance of Super Sonic.
“Give it up, Eggman! So much for your stupid ‘otherworld conquest’ thing!”
“Stuff it! You’re eradicating all my dreams!”
In the meantime, he fled to a cul-de-sac with towering walls…
“Grr, listen up, Sonic, you ignorant rodent!”
Eggman, cornered, tries to escape danger with a fervent speech where it counts.
“Indeed, if you defeat me, the otherworldification will disappear, along with this delightful world! But is that really what you want?”
“?!”
Eggman saw a moment of hesitation in Sonic, and as he gathered strength he kept on talking some more.
“Was it a bad thing that I did what I did in the first place? I’m sure you’ve had a lot of fun in all of these other worlds, haven’t you? I didn’t destroy anything! I didn’t distort any essence!”
It… certainly seemed as though that was true.
A live stage where everyone was enthralled by the flawless performance. A unique fortune-telling house that guides damsels in distress. A warm pizzeria that connects different races… All of them are irreplaceable worlds full of charm. The people living there were happy.
“What did I do wrong? Aren’t all those alternate worlds innocent? What right do you have to wipe out those happy worlds?”
…A few seconds of silence.
Eggman, taking advantage of the fact that his desperate gambit seemed to be working, stored energy in the core of his chest and tried to time his surprise attack…
<Don’t be fooled, Sonic!>
That’s when Tails’s emergency transmission came in once more.
<I found out after examining the plant on the ground that it was a facility that used energy to gradually transform the various other worlds that exist right now into worlds that were more to Eggman’s liking!>
“Gulp!”
Tails’s voice further denounces the agitated Eggman.
<You’ve been saying all kinds of nice-sounding things for a while now, but in the end, you’ve just been taking a cut from everyone’s dreams, haven’t you?>
“Grrr! Be quiet!”
Eggman, in a fit of desperation, tried to strike Sonic, but he was nimbly dodged, and in turn was hit with a whole-body tackle.
*Ka-boom!*
“Gah!”
“‘Didn’t do anything wrong,’ you said…?”
Facing Eggman, who was blown away and finally rises from the rubble, Sonic finally speaks up.
“Those alternate worlds were in someone’s mind. You went and pulled them out, exposed them, and forced them onto the planet!”
Sonic then closed the distance with his entire body filled with power, and continued as he took an offensive posture.
“I will undo that and save the planet from suffering! …That is all!”
“W-W-W-Wait, Sonic! Let’s discuss this! You might change your mind after you see this!”
Eggman, sensing Sonic’s earnest attack, hurriedly commands with both hands, and again creates another world in front of him, not taking the hint.
It was… Green Hill, representing peace itself.
It is a wonderful location that Sonic knows well, filled with beautiful nature and light, with a view of chipper running tracks, but…
When he looked beyond that world, he saw a bizarre scene where every structure was a delicious chili dog, and the ocean and rivers were packed with chili dogs.
“Well?! It’s your beloved world… don’t you like it? If you let me take care of this world, I’ll give you all the things you want—”
*Baaaang!*
The scenery is erased in an instant as Sonic kicks away Eggman, who edged up to him while rubbing his hands together, along with that alternate world.
“Wh-Whyyy?! What do you not like about it?!”
Aiming at Eggman as he tumbled down the void, Sonic, his entire body swelling with a golden aura, becomes an arrow of light and closes in on him…!
“First, it’s in too bad taste to begin with! Second, Eggman…!”
“Noooo!”
*Snaaaap!*
A golden flash of light passed before Eggman’s eyes, and the core component of his chest shattered. With Eggman, who was in a panic with his mouth wide open and his hand on his chest where the core was supposed to be, Sonic continued.
“I don’t want to live in a forced paradise!”
*Ka-boooom!*
“Curse you, Sonic! You’re going to pay for this!”
The energy that has lost its way due to the destruction of the core explodes. Eggman was blown skyward in a drilling spin.
Sonic, seeing the anomaly removed and the world around him slowly returning to its original state, returned to the place where everyone else was with a sense of relief.
Some time later.
CHAO’s Diner, a popular pizza restaurant in the mountains of Mystic Ruins, was fully booked today.
Sonic’s friends who regained their memories gathered at the restaurant, where the otherworldification still remains, and enjoyed chatting with each other for a while.
Even though their memories have returned, they still look the same as they did during their otherworldly transformation. Tails, who has become accustomed to dressing up as a princess, shyly explains the purpose of the party to the assembled guests.
“We’ve destroyed the cause of the otherworldification, but it was on a planetary scale, after all. It will take time for things to return to normal. So, while the effects of the otherworldliness are still present, I thought we should all meet and hang out together!”
“Good idea. It’s not every day I get a chance to see everyone dressed like this, so let’s all have fun today!”
Sonic’s appeal triggered a flurry of otherworldly talk throughout the tables.
“Now eat freely! We’ll keep on baking!”
“…”
Tikal and Chaos’s kitchen is in full swing. A delicious smell fills the hall.
“…Nice place.”
Knuckles mumbles as he munches on his special fruit pizza in the company of the Chao, who are in a good mood after being served, and the regular Knuckles tribe.
At a table right next to the pizza oven, Cream is frolicking between Vector and Big.
Cream was supposed to be helping out at the restaurant, but before she knew it, she had become their specialist waitress, happily shuttling back and forth between the kitchen and the tables. She brings freshly baked pizzas to her idol Vector Man and to her beloved Mafia Don.
“Man, this is delicious. I can’t get enough of this in my belly!”
“Yeah. It’s tasty!”
“Eating well is a good thing! That’s what my mom says!”
Vanilla, who is also present, watches over Cream with a smile.
“…Cream, the next pizza is baking. Deliver it.”
Gemerl is in the kitchen helping to cook the pizzas. With steel hands, he takes the pizzas directly from the oven and puts them on the plates one after another. When Cream eventually arrives, he gently places one of the plates in Cream’s hands so that she doesn’t get burned and sends her off with it.
“The act of singing on stage… does not compute. Not applicable to Shadow’s behavioral pattern.”
“Hmph. I don’t remember exactly… but if I did that, it must have been perfect.”
“What was up with Omega being a flower arrangement master, anyway? Well, I was his apprentice.”
The three members of Team Dark look back on the situation in a collected, nonchalant manner, but are somewhat amused.
“Whadda we do… the boss is going to be so mad!”
“We can’t help what we’ve done, Cubot… just drink up, okay?”
The robot duo of Cubot and Orbot looked subtle as they sat at the counter. However, the large number of bottles of oil they had emptied indicated that they were enjoying themselves.
And at another table…?
“My fortune-telling was a big hit! But I’d say dressing you up was the best thing! Right, Blaze?”
“I-It is only natural that one’s attire should change according to one’s duties. Well, it was a fresh experience.”
As the magical princess Blaze and the fortune teller Amy reminisced, it was Silver, who was helping Tikal and Chaos as a waiter, who interjected with a pizza plate in hand.
“So that’s the magical princess… that’s an awesome battle outfit! I think you should have worn that instead of a maid’s uniform in that fight.”
“Oh, that was Amy—”
“Silver, you don’t understand anything! You really don’t!”
Silver leaves the table as Amy drives him out, and delivers the pizza to Elise’s table, who giggled as she watched all that transpired at the next table.
“What are you laughing so hard at?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just think you look good in that waiter outfit. …Maybe you should try skating on stage in those clothes next time.”
“…Why? It’s hard to move in this.”
“Aw! You really don’t understand, do you?”
Laughter spilled from many tables.
The bonds were just at their peak, but the goodbyes began abruptly.
“Hey Vector! You’re becoming transparent, aren’t you?”
“Huh?! What’s this mean…?!”
Before anyone knew it, besides Vector, someone else’s body slowly began to turn transparent.
“Tails! What’s this…?”
“Maybe the power of otherworldification is wearing off. Maybe they’re going back to where they were, back to the way they were.”
A moment of silence… only the sound of burning and splintering wood from the pizza oven echoes around…
“Alright, I’ll see you all later! It was fun, guys! Little Cream… and you, ma’am!”
When Vector disappeared in the light with a cheerful farewell speech, the scene became a warm and friendly place to say goodbye.
The friends in turn disappear in the light.
“Sonic! I’m gonna settle the score with you one way or another, got it?”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“Heh! We’re on the same page, aren’t we…?”
…Eventually, even Knuckles disappeared, leaving only Sonic, Tails, Tikal, and Chaos.
After looking around the deserted restaurant slowly, Tikal turns back to Sonic, leans against the counter next to the kitchen, and asks a question.
“Because the two of us are not like everyone else… If we disappear, will we really be gone…?”
Chaos silently continues to cook the pizzas as Tikal made a fleeting smile but then hanged her head after saying so.
A few seconds of silence.
Eventually, Sonic, who had been staring at them all, regained his gentle smile and put his right hand on Tikal’s shoulder… then placed his left hand on his own chest and said softly.
“You two came from here. You’re just going to go back there!”
“That’s right, you’re not going to vanish or anything! …And neither will the delicious pizza in my belly!”
When Tails so assured her, everyone bursts into laughter, and Chaos shakes his shoulders as well.
“Thank you! I have one more pizza that I’ve been saving for you. You’ll love it—”
She almost said so with a beaming smile and took a couple of steps forward, and Sonic and Tails followed her with their eyes…
But then all they saw was the windswept, uninhabited ruins of the emerald temple.
“All right, Tails! Let’s get going, shall we?”
After a moment of silence, Sonic suddenly calls out to Tails. Tails stared in puzzlement, but Sonic continued.
“Didn’t you say it would be a while before the world was completely back to normal? Well, then we’ve gotta go and enjoy the various alternate worlds before then!”
“G-Good point! Plus there are some friends we haven’t met yet!”
Tails hurriedly catches up with Sonic, who starts to run.
“First up is Jet! I can’t wait to see how he turned out. Hope I’ll make it in time, though…”
“Hold on! Wait for me, Sonic!”
In addition to countless adventures, the blue, round planet of Sonic and his friends carries the endless possibilities of “other worlds” under cover.
Toward that far and wide horizon, the adventurous blue hedgehog “Sonic the Hedgehog” set off today in search of new adventures…!
(The End)
Meanwhile…
The underground cave base where Eggman Land once stood, gushing with boiling lava. There, shockingly, was Eggman again, gloating with that core in his hand.
“I made one more spare with the last of the materials, just in case something like this would happen! Most of that energy is gone, but if I can scrape up the remains with this—Hmm?!”
The next thing he knew, the core that should have been in his hand was gone.
“You finally showed an opening, Doctor!”
“Wh-What?!”
Eggman turned at the sound of that voice to see Infinite fluttering his dazzling costume, core in hand, and smiling faintly in the far distance.
“You owe me a lot, you know. I’ll use this to get even!”
“W-Wait! Give it back! Wait up! …Hold it right there!”
Infinite, having ignored Eggman’s desperate pleas and left the scene, lands on the side of a lava pool at the bottom of the valley and gazes absentmindedly at the loot he has taken.
“It really is a modified Phantom Ruby prototype… Just as I thought! If I put this on, I’ll have power once again!”
Infinite’s shoulders were shaking with joy as he placed his hand on his chest where he had once worn the Phantom Ruby… but suddenly a cold wind blew through his heart.
(I’m resorting to this again…?)
His heart’s craving for power and his pride, which was deep within him, causes doubt in Infinite. He hesitated for only a few seconds before deciding whether or not to put “this” on his chest, and that’s when it happened.
“…Ah?!”
The elimination of otherworldification occurs in Infinite, and his body disappears with the light. The core in his hand slips through and falls into the glimmering lava… with a sizzling sound, Infinite is lost to the world forever.
Infinite was wide-eyed and stunned, but…
“H-Heheh, haha…”
He smiled wryly, lightly shaking his head, as if to say that it was for the best, and then vanished with the light. The world has been saved once again by a strange fate that no one had any way of knowing.
The wind was merely blowing in the sky.
==Credit==
This translation of the Super Sonic and Super Eggman December 2023 Calendar Story comes from Windii. To support them and see more of their other translations, please visit here. To see where the original translation came from, visit here.
To see the story from where it originally was shown by Sonic Team in Japanese, visit here.
==Trivia==
*In the story, like he usually does, Shadow has the Green Chaos Emerald since the beginning of the story within his microphone. He had this microphone with him due to his attire changing to idol clothes, which can be seen in the first calendar image for January. He later gives the microphone/Green Chaos Emerald to Sonic in the first half of the story.
*When fighting Eggman, Shadow appears and works with Sonic by Chaos Controlling them to Eggman's weak point and doing a combo spinattack with Sonic on Eggman's core weak point. This may allude that Shadow touched Sonic in some manner in order to teleport the both of them by Chaos Control.
*Sonic is about to tease Shadow in the story for giving him the Green Chaos Emerald, but he restrains himself from doing so after seeing Shadow's leg hurt from a laser after their combo attack.
*Shadow was the last one to give his Chaos Emerald to Sonic. Being the last, it is Shadow's Emerald that allowed Sonic to turn into Super Sonic.