We All Can - Part 7

We All Can
Part 7


São Paulo Zoological Institute
08:12 PM

Ryan was looking at his captives in his laboratory, his arms extended in a demonstration of joy. Chris and the others were completely tired of being used as energy sources for his monsters, even though he claimed that he was "copying" it. Chris, Danny and Frances were clearly tired, panting heavily and looking a little pale, same for Helen in her glass prison, but they were slowly recovering.

The Englishman managed to make the whole city an enemy of the Mobians and anyone related to them. He turned them into public threats, things the population saw as monsters. He had no reasons to doubt his own success.

"The minds of the general mass..." he said to no one. "Easily manipulated into one simple thought, by a few pretty words... Soon, there will be no Mobian OR human that can compete with me! And in the end, when they figure out their mistake, Eggman will take the blame for EVERYTHING!! While I FINALLY execute my revenge on those wretched creatures!!"

He noticed someone behind him.

"Isn't that right, Sonic?"

Ryan slowly turned around to see the hedgehog, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, Silver and Blaze on the lab's entrance. Ryan just grinned and lowered his arms, his cane touching the ground.

"Well, well, well..." he said. "If it isn't the fleabags themselves!! And you even reactivated Omega!! How can a machine of Eggman's doing last all that time?? Well, I think it doesn't matter when it is going to the JUNKYARD anyway!!!"

"Give up, Weever!!" shouted Sonic. "You've got NO way to win this time!!"

Ryan laughed as loud as he could.

"HOW!?!?!? Need I remind you the WHOLE CITY is after your hides!?!? There is NO POSSIBLE WAY that you can defeat me now!!! Christopher and his friends also made sure of that by supplying me with ALL of the negative Chaos Energy I needed to make my army of Negas!! He actually fell for the "saturated Chaos Energy in the air" talk, when it was only my Energy Channeling through his metal locks!!"

Chris heard the confession and tried to raise his head.

"Weever..." he said. "You... won't escape...!"

Ryan turned his head towards him.

"Yes, keep struggling!" he said. "I need a few more Negas just to be sure!!"

"You're sick!!" shouted Amy. "You're draining people out of their energy just because you can't cope with your mistakes!!"

A big noise was heard outside. People screaming in hate.

"Well, now you have two options!" said Weever. "You can either hand yourselves over or die by my hands, freeing the world of one more pest!! Either way, you're FINISHED!! FINISHED!!!"

"That's it!!" shouted Sonic. "Shadow!! Silver!! It's time!!"

They nodded as they began to focus, the seven Emeralds appearing around the trio.

Ryan grinned.

"You're SO predictable!"

He pressed a button on his cane which caused the ceiling to open, unleashing a set of mechanic claw-like structures that quickly dashed towards the Emeralds and grabbed them before they could do anything. The claws moved back to the ceiling and stood there holding the gems in their grasp.

"Give them back!!!" shouted Knuckles. "I won't let YOU use them!!!"

The scientist looked at him with a puzzled look.

"Use them??" he asked. "Why would I need them, anyway?? These things only brought misery and suffering for mankind!! I don't want to use them!! I WANT TO DESTROY THEM!!!!"

Knuckles was taken by surprise at that comment.

"That's why they were responding to the teenagers!!" he said.

Ryan rolled his eyes.

"THINK, WEAKLINGS!!" Ryan shouted madly. "These gems are the elements that keep Mobius together!! No Emeralds, no Mobius!! And also no more cataclysmic entities!! No more Eggman!!! No more failed plans!! NO MORE OF YOU!!!"

"You're not gonna get away with this!!" said Blaze.

Ryan pressed another button in his cane, releasing his sword. He pulled it off and pointed it at the heroes.

"Try and stop me, swine!!!" he said as he lunged towards them.

He first tried to slash at Sonic, but missed as the hedgehog dodged. Amy tried to use her hammer and smack him, but Ryan quickly held her back with his sword and tossed the hammer away, then tossing HER away. Silver tried to take out his sword with telekinesis, but Weever merely teleported near him and threw him to the ground.  Blaze tried to burn him, but he dodged and counterattack. Even Shadow couldn't predict his movements, as Ryan simply tossed him aside with a Chaos Wave. Sonic tried to perform a homing attack, but the scientist blocked it with his sword and tossed him towards the floor. As for Tails, one Chaos Wave near him caused a blast that was enough to make him fall. And he slashed at Omega so much that the robot nearly malfunctioned.

Ryan began to move towards Sonic, tossing the wooden part of his cane in the ground. The hedgehog tried to move away, but with no avail.

"It seems this is the end..." he said in plain arrogance. "To think it was so easy!! To turn a bunch of mindless apes against you with a false claim of mind-warping and treachery!! These people complain about their politics, but never of themselves! And now I can see why!! This kind of reminds me of my experience as a teacher... Speaking of which..."

He raised his sword up high.

"I'm about to teach you a LESSON!!!"

Sonic covered his eyes, waiting for the attack.

But it never came.

*CRACK!*

The sword fell to the ground. Ryan too shortly after.

"Class dismissed...!"

Sonic opened his eyes to see Flavio standing in front of him, staring at Ryan with a broken cane in his hand.

"Good timing!" said Sonic.

Flavio helped him up and looked behind him.

"Doc!! Coast is clear!!"

Johnathan rushed into the room towards the main computer and quickly typed in the security password. Finally, Chris and his friends were released from their prisons as they fell to the ground with a soft thud. After being released from their energy draining, they all began to suddenly regain their energy, getting less paler.

Sonic rushed towards Chris and helped him up.

"How are you feeling, pal??" asked the hedgehog.

He took a little while to answer, but he eventually got up on his feet and sighed in relief.

"Never better..." he said.

Danny walked towards them while Frances went to help Helen get to them.

"Thanks a ton, guys!" thanked Danny. "Good thinking, Flavio!"

"It was the anxiety..." he said.

As they all were together in the other side of the room, Ryan suddenly got up, laughing like crazy. The previous hit made a huge bump on his head, but apparently it meant nothing.

"You DO know you will have to pay for that, right Mr. Estevez??" he asked. "That wood cost me a huge fortune!!"

"Playtime's over, Weever!!" shouted Shadow.

"Indeed! Playtime is over!!"

He took another wooden part from under his cape (Johnathan rolled his eyes at that moment) and sheathed his sword, the ornament returning to normal. He then slammed the cane into the ground, causing a multitude of roars to sound across the room.

"They're heeere..."

A whole army of Negas descended from the ceiling, crawling in the walls towards the floor, all of them resembling Chris and his friends. The Helen Negas somehow were moving without needing wheelchairs this time. Ryan probably fixed their paralysis before releasing them.

They all regrouped behind Ryan, staring at the heroes with those piercing yellow eyes, the Englishman himself included.

"As I said, you can't possibly stop me!!!" he said. "Not just because a whole city of morons is after you, but because you're OUTNUMBERED!!!!"

Sonic and Shadow grinned and looked at each other, then back at Ryan.

"Allow me to disagree, Weever! On both terms!!" said Shadow.

A pitchfork flew out of nowhere towards the Negas, hitting a Nega Chris in the left shoulder. As the creature winced in pain, someone moved out of the shades to reveal himself.

It was Alex.

"Ha!!" said Ryan. "Mr. Adonis!! Are you their reinforcement?? Flavio will be lucky if you can maintain your attention in the fight more than you did in my classes!!"

"Not just me, fancy-pants!!" he said in return.

Soon, a young girl moved away from the shadows, followed by a teenage boy, and then other teenagers and students came, all wearing São Paulo Metropolitan's uniform and gear. But not just students: every other teacher of the school, including the principal and coordinators were there. Even Sergio and Rebecca, who never liked Flavio or Sonic in the first place, were there to help.

Also, Mr. and Mrs. Thorndyke took their positions right beside their son, who was dumbfounded by their presence. Chuck also was there with Mr. Tanaka and Ella, Agent Topaz not far behind. Flavio's parents and friends were also in the crowd, Derek and the Freedom Fighters with their instruments in hand.

Soon, there was another army on the other end of the room, outnumbering the Negative army Ryan had assembled.

"Now WE got you cornered!!!" said Lucia.

Ryan grinned again.

"Oh, is it??" he asked. "Need I remind you about the crowd of angry idiots outside, possibly entering the building, coming for YOU??"

"No need to." said Sonic. "Because they're not coming for us!!"

Ryan raised an eyebrow and started to grip his cane tighter.

"I beg your pardon?" he said through his teeth.

Flavio stepped forward and pointed towards a balcony over Ryan's head. When the scientist looked towards the direction where Flavio was pointing to, he widened his eyes in despair.

"Smile, brother!! You're on candid camera!!"

Seymour, Cream, Cheese and Maria were holding a camera and a boom mic over the Englishman's head.

"And on every megaphone of this place!!" said Maria.

Ryan began to look frightened. Sonic and Shadow grinned. There it was! Ryan's true self: a desperate man with no other motive to go on aside from his revenge and grudge.

"YOU...! CAN'T...! BE...! SERIOUS!!!" he shouted, panicked.

"Oh, yes we are!!!" said Flavio. "These people are all here to show you how much these guys mean for us!! You can throw whoever or WHATever you want at them!! But there will ALWAYS be someone who will defend them no matter what!! You taught me yourself, Dr. Weever!! It's called 'human potential'!! The potential of defending those we like!!!"

Ryan gritted his teeth, his eyes becoming bright yellow.

"GET THEM!!!!" he commanded.

"Derek!! Your turn!!" shouted Sonic as they got ready.

He nodded and grabbed his mic.

"WE ARE THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS AND WE'RE HERE TO HELP SONIC THE HEDGEHOG WITH KICKING YOUR BUTT!!!"

John got his drumsticks.

"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!"

They began playing "Live and Learn" as loud as they could. The group of students, teachers and people in general charged towards the monsters with full force. War was on.

Derek and Luke were singing the song with so much strength that the gusts of wind they created with the song were looking like a full hurricane. Sonic and Shadow were already engaging Ryan when Derek and Luke began singing.


Can you feel life movin' through your mind
Ooh looks like it came back for more!
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
Can you feel time slippin' down your spine
Ooh, you try and try to ignore!

Yeah!

But you can hardly swallow
Your fears and pain
When you can't help but follow
It puts you right back where you came


Sonic and Shadow kept attacking Ryan, who was defending himself with his sword. The Negas were all falling under the combined strength of the students and adults when the band reached the chorus.


Live and learn!
Hanging on the edge of tomorrow
Live and learn!
For the works of yesterday
Live and learn!
If you beg or borrow
Live and learn!
You may never find your way

Whooooa, yeah!!


Ryan was getting tired of it, so he performed another Chaos Wave aimed directly at Shadow. Even though he dodged it, the blast radius sent him flying towards a wall. Sonic, seeing that he was now alone against Ryan, began to concentrate.

"Cower before me, you FOOL!" said Ryan as he slashed at Sonic.

But his attack was blocked when Sonic held his sword with his suddenly large hands. The Werehog grinned at the doctor, then threw his sword on the ground.

Ryan looked at him with hatred.

"Let us fight the right way, then!!" he said as he assumed a fighting stance. "Man versus creature!!"

Ryan and Sonic began struggling with each other. Derek and the band were watching as they kept playing. They reached the next part of the song.


Can you feel life tangling you up inside
Yeah, now you're face down on the floor!
Oh!


Ryan noticed that the band was getting to the more exciting part of the song. He quickly threw Sonic in the ground and threw something at Derek. The object quickly entered his mouth when he opened it to sing the next part. The band stopped playing as Derek began to choke for a while, until he finally settled down.

Flavio stopped fighting the few Negas that remained and noticed that Derek had stopped singing.

"Derek!!" he shouted. "Continue the song!!"

He tried to do so, but nothing came out when he opened his mouth.

"HA!!" said Ryan. "That pill immobilizes the vocal chords immediately after ingestion!! Your friend can't finish that annoying noise, anymore!!"

Flavio looked at Derek with concern.

"Can you still play the guitar??" asked Flavio.

Derek nodded.

Flavio looked at Ryan with confidence.

"Don't count on that, doc!!" he said and bolted to the microphone.

Lucia and Topaz, who had just destroyed the last Nega version of Helen, looked at Flavio rushing to where the band was.

"Look!!" shouted the girl.

The group looked at the teenager passing through the few remaining Nega Chris', attracting the looks of Omega, Rouge and Silver. Flavio finally got to the mic and told Derek to continue playing, as he finally began to sing in front of those people.

Everyone widened their eyes when he began singing. Flavio wasn't bad as he claimed he was. He was good. REALLY good.


But you can't save your sorrow
You've paid in trade!
When you can't help but FOLLOW
It puts you right back where you came!


He nodded for Luke to sing along. Sonic got up and resumed his fight with Ryan. The rest began to watch the show and the fight after the last Nega was destroyed by Shadow.


Live and learn!
Hanging on the edge of tomorrow
Live and learn!
For the works of yesterday
Live and learn!
If you beg or borrow
Live and learn!
You may never find your way!!


They finalized the song as Sonic gave a final uppercut at Ryan, sending him to the far end of the room and falling head first on the floor.

"YEAH!!!" shouted Flavio in rock 'n roll fashion.

The whole group applauded the performance and Sonic. Flavio looked at the crowd in extreme happiness while Derek finally coughed out the pill. He looked at Flavio with an eyebrow raised.

"Can't sing well, huh?" he said grinning.

"Well, yeah..." said Flavio awkwardly. "Sorry. It was stage fright. But it's gone now!"

Derek gave Flavio a friendly hug with the rest of the band. Lucia quickly climbed the stage and gave Flavio a peck on his cheek, making him instantly red. Much like before, Sonic accidentally let out a howl, this time out of joy. He quickly covered his mouth again.

"Sorry." he said. "Small relapse."

Flavio looked at him.

"It better be!" he said jokingly. "I don't wanna get around with my biggest idol on a leash!"

They all laughed at the remark. But the laughter was cut short when they heard the fallen scientist trying to get up, coughing and supporting himself with his cane.

"This... can't be... possible!!" he said. "How can I... lose!? I had it all!!! A plan!! An army!! An energy source!! I HAD IT ALL!!!"

He got up again with some difficulties. He then looked at Flavio.

"How can you waste so much potential!?!? How can you help these freaks!?!? They ruined many people's lives!! Ruined MY life!!! They're not heroes!! They're monsters!! Heartless creatures!!!"

"Wrong, Dr. Weever!" responded Flavio. "They might have done what you said they did! But I know they constantly try to make up for it!! They ARE heroes!! People that I like!! People I can trust!!! And if I can, WE can!! We ALL can!!!"

He then looked at Sonic.

"No matter the form... no matter the reason..."

Sonic smiled at him. Flavio returned the smile. His parents were crying a river, proud of their son and his friends.

"Oh, and doctor??" remembered Flavio. "You owe an apology!"

"To YOU!?" he said. "NEVER!!"

"Not me. Them."

He pointed behind him. Ryan slowly turned back to see an angry mob of citizens behind him with pitchforks and torches in hand.

He began to walk backwards.

"Okay, now, no need to get angry!" he said nervously. "It was just a few words! Maybe the hedgehog's not that evil, but there's no need to discount it on me, right?? I-I can give you money!! I c-can buy you a new apartment complex!! I CAN FIND YOU BETTER POLITICS!!!"

Alex joined the mob, snapping his fists. Ryan backed away until he was stopped by Shadow.

"Sounds like you need to learn another lesson, doctor." he said. "Lying can be bad for your conscience... and your bones."

He pushed him towards the crowd.

"No! NO!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Flavio and the rest had to avert their eyes from the scene due to the high levels of violence. All they heard was a series of punches, kicks and other violent moves. There were even some sounds of cracking bones. Seymour was covering Cream and Cheese's eyes throughout the whole scene.

When they finished beating the heck out of him, they tossed him out of the crowd towards Agent Topaz's feet, his broken cane falling a few feet away from him. He tried to reach it with his hand, but Rouge stepped on it before he could protest. Topaz pointed her gun at the doctor, but it wasn't really needed: he was completely broken and with shiner in both eyes, his clothes ragged and torn apart.

"Dr. Ryan Weever, you are under arrest!" she said. "You have the right to remain silent!"

He raised his head to look at her.

"Fine..." he said. "But if you... don't mind... I have an... important... matter... to attend..."

He vanished in a flash of darkness and dark-purple smoke. Topaz almost fell backwards due to the scare.

"Honey, haven't you learned yet?" asked Rouge. "Don't just talk, DO it!"

"Don't worry, Topaz." said Chris.

"Yes." agreed Johnathan. "If I know Ryan, he'll be back."

Charmy was trying to take the Emeralds out of the ceiling, pulling each one with all his strength.

"He really jammed these things!" he shouted from the ceiling.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light sent him flying back towards the ground, but he was saved by Vector, who grabbed him just in time. Amongst the light, the machine holding the Emeralds began to undo itself without Seymour's interference. The Emeralds slowly released themselves and remained floating in the air.

A voice was then heard throughout the room. A deep female voice that sounded very imposing.

"I thank you all for saving the Chaos Emeralds." said the voice. "Your efforts weren't in vain. It takes a heart of gold, and astonishing dedication to save these gems, and even more do convince a whole city about their opinions. Flavio... you and your friends have been proven worthy of wielding the power of the Chaos Emeralds, just like Christopher has proven years ago. Much like him, your friendship with Sonic and his friends goes beyond comparison."

Flavio smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"As a demonstration of my gratitude..." continued the voice. "The Emeralds will grant you one last wish."

He widened his eyes.

"Choose wisely."

Flavio began to think about his wish. He already helped Sonic and defeated his former teacher, but there was so much more he could do: World peace! War prohibition! A bigger house! More Sonic games!!

But then he remembered the reason for the Negas' creation: Chris and his friends' inner sadness. The pain and loneliness that Thorndyke, his friends and family felt when they had to leave Earth. The bigger pain he felt when he was sent back to Earth after the Metarex battle, having to say goodbye to Sonic again. Both events happened due to the lies of two evil geniuses, costing Chris his childhood... and his happiness.

"I..." said Flavio. "I don't know what to say... I would make a wish for Sonic, seeing as he is my childhood hero, and I said it before we should pay him back for all the times he saved the world... But even though it is a big thing to wish for... There is someone else who must be rewarded."

He looked towards Chris, his friends and family.

"Chris... you were tricked by a vengeful scientist. You guys were forced to abandon a great friend all because of this man's revenge. And as a result, you lost your childhoods, and your confidence."

Flavio looked at the bright light.

"But this changes here!! Chris, after all you did... I'm giving you, AND your friends and family... a second chance!!"

Chris was in the verge of tears.

"Alright, then!! Here goes my wish...!!!"

The whole room was engulfed in a bright light.