"It's about time I got to go on a mission with dragon dad over there." You smirked and nodded at Gante, the black dragon that had been trying to protect you from the background. In this moment, you wished that your entire team could be here... You never got the chance...

"Don't call me dad (y/n)-" The commander shook his head and looked down pretending to be disappointed, but you knew he had to have been happy with you on his team. He looked up and pointed at you from his crossed arms, "and Espio will be with us as well. Don't forget."

Sonic shrugged with a smile on his face, "Then it's settled, let's get going before the Deadly Six have a chance to get stronger."

"ALRIGHT!"

The crowd of heroes cheered, tossing their hands in the air as Eggman flipped on the portal generator, "I've got the adjustments with the portal apertures done. Now get out of here you pests."

Of course, everyone ignored Eggman's 'insult' and carried on towards. Tails raced towards Eggman and double checked the evil genius's measurements. With a thumbs up, the little fox stood back ready for his own departure, "I've got all the coordinates set! Here, stand in a line and I'll generate them right in front of you."

Both you and your reptile friends nodded as the portal opened before you. Nothing caught your eyes until a green glow cast upon your faces as the portal began to spiral into view. With wide (e/c) eyes, you looked at the phenomena as if the magical green twisting time loop cast a spell.

"Good luck everyone. Wish I could come with you." Sonic, still running on the little treadmill, saluted each team as they began to jump through. Your teammates jumped through, leaving you to look at the blue hero and smile.

"We won't let you down, Sonic."

"I know you won't (Y/n), now get out there and show those villains the hero you are!"

"How inspiring..." Eggman mumbled in the background, tinkering with Metal Sonic as he stood guard.

With your back turned to the portal, you crossed your arms together and fell backwards, laughing in excitement at the battle that was to unfold!

. . . . .

You were now successfully in Riverside. A remote town that had been beaten and harshly destroyed by the zombot invasion, and by Zazz's boredom as well.

The portal spat Gante, Espio, and yourself in a curvy alleyway, dotted with missing posters and "We're Hiring" signs. Your trio snuck onto a rooftop to spot the purple zette flying around on a large yellow ball, decorated in sharp teeth and thin glowing blue eyes. Small boosters sat on various sides of the robot as it flew ahead.

Gante and Espio dived prone as the zette and his strange ship flew close by. The chameleon drew his finger along the air as he traced the path of the target across the sky, "I can jump onto it as it passes by. It is not going incredibly fast either."

"Just be careful, he's probably bored." You snickered, looking at the zette as he floated in the distance, violently throwing his hands in the air as he cried of boredom agony. Gante huffed some smoke, actually disappointed that you were trying to be funny in this trying time.

"We will try to make this quiet. The two of us will hide in the background unless things get hectic." Gante looked to Espio. You could see the chameleon narrowing his sharp eyes as he memorized Zazz's speed and ran crazy calculations in his head.

"I can make it. I'll use my invisibility and try to steal the emerald." Espio nodded to the group, getting ready to jump as he turned invisible. "Zazz will be by in a moment. Hurry! Get somewhere hidden."

You grabbed Gante, the big dragon not budging as you tried to run faster than him. He got up after you and ran to the other side of a wall, sliding into cover. With your sensitivity, you could hear the subtle 'clink' as Espio jumped onto the giant yellow ball.

Using his powers, the chameleon successfully managed to stick onto the ball and stay invisible.

From your position, you and Gante continued to stay hidden as backup, staying quiet and avoiding eye contact as you waited on Espio out in the field of battle.

". . ."

". . ."

"Why did you request to join our team?-"

Gante sighed as he turned away again, looking at an uninteresting wall to subtly avoid your question.

You huffed at his ignorance and turned away to peek around the wall, watching as Espio was somewhere, hidden, trying to find the opportune moment to steal Zazz's emerald.

"It's because I wanted to protect you and Olive. And I have already failed that mission."

Turning slowly, you came face to face with the piercing sunset eyes of the black dragon behind you. Gante had maneuvered to face you, sitting criss cross while looking to the ground. His wings drooped low to the ground, something you never saw from the proud and stoick dragon.

There was a moment of silence between you and him, processing the moment and what he said.

"I couldn't protect her from Starline either. He was supposed to be fighting me... but... I let him slip up... and now Olive's gone." You sniffled, thinking about your friend. The Real Hero.

A small tear began to form in the side of your (e/c) eyes as you tilted your head gently, leaning it on your knees as you tucked in your legs, "Olive sacrificed herself for me, for the team... I didn't ask her to, she- just did."

You were shifted gently, heated and hardened arms wrapped around your much smaller body as the black dragon pulled you in for a hug. Your face was now buried in body armor, black scales, and a hug. Gante loomed over you, his large head trying not to rest on and crush you below, "I couldn't have been more proud of you or Olive. She made a sacrifice for us all. I would do the same for you, (Y/n)."

"But why?- I was a villain and I messed with you when I first got out of tha-"

Gante slid his arms back and clenched your shoulders with his claws, shaking you but not too hard, "-because you've proved to me that you are a hero. A freedom fighter. You can and HAVE overcome your storms and shadows. You are stronger than you know, and you're using your abilities for good. Roman told me what Olive said before- she was gone... And I believe it too. You are a freedom fighter."

You thought your heart stopped, your brain melted or your lungs gave out. Life froze as you looked back to face the stoick smile of the black dragon.

You huffed out a laugh, happy to see the giant man smile, "Gante, that was- so sweet."

"Nothing wrong with the trust. I'm here to help you and that's final." The dragon raised his wings back up and nodded, "Alright kid, now let's get that emerald."

You grabbed the dragon's hands and threw it into the air in a victory.

". . ."

A yell broke your inspiring moment when Espio reappeared in the clutches of Zazz, the chameleon had been found. He too was surprised, eyes wide when he saw his enemy grab his wrist, "I-IMPOSSIBLE!"

You shot out from your hiding spot, jumping onto a rooftop and dashing towards the zette as he dropped Espio into a crowd of lingering zombots-

'Ah oh.'

You picked up the pace, quickly vaulting over shingled rooftops and window ledges to get close enough to the distracted Zazz. There! You found a rooftop leading right to him. Getting ready to jump, you prepared that kinetic energy into your legs and.. AND...! BOOM!

Your eyes widened as the jet boosters of the flying yellow ball blasted in your face. You were tossed back, clawing into the rooftop to stop yourself from tumbling even faster. Turns out the robots began to make chase after Espio, using its jet boosters to follow as it spat fireball bullets at the chameleon.

"HAHA! Look at him run!" Zazz spat, his tongue flailing out of his mouth as he began to order around the zombots on the ground, "Box him in, box him in! Hahaha!!"

You picked yourself back up, a little scrapped from the hard surface, and took off after your friend again. With the zombots targeted to Espio, you could easily get around them without being attacked too.

Gante flew above, dashing through the wind tunnels caused by the robot and flawlessly spiraling out of the ones he got caught in. It felt strange because you never saw him fly before, but man, he was sure good at it.

As you flew through your own set of air, you grabbed an empty wooden crate box laying on the ground and rolled into the open to see Zazz pinning Espio down in a circle of zombots.

'NOW (Y/N) NOW!'

"You put yourself in box!" You jumped into the air, Gante catching your arms to give you some extra lift as you came crashing down on top of Zaz, smashing the wooden crate on his head.

"GHUH!?!" Zazz flailed his arms in the air as he lost sight of Espio. His confusion led the zombots astray as they too began to wander confused and dazed.

You rolled out of the attack and landed with all fours on the robot, ready to take on Zazz in a berserker vs berserker battle as you waited behind him. So much for the surprise advantage, you were ready for a fight.

Finally, the zette managed to destroy the box as his horns had gotten stuck, "Not fair, not fair! OH!? Now there are two of you to pummel. Great great!"

Cracking your knuckles, you stood back up ready to go as Gante began to fire at the zombots, creating cover for Espio to escape. You laughed at the crazy zette as you realized.. "Looks like it's just you and me Zazz."

"Fine with me! And- heeeeey aren't you that stupid supervillain who decided to turn good? Maaan we could have used you on our team but you even turned down that weird platypus fanboy." Zazz managed to crack his neck at an awkward angle as he got ready to fight, "But of well, fighting you is much more fun!"

"It won't be once I bash you down! HAAA!!!!!!" You ran towards Zazz, crashing fist to fist with the empowered zette. You traded punches, blocks, and kicks as the yellow ball that was your battleground sat floating in the air.

Zazz kept spitting and hissing as you made contact, pushing each other side to side to gain ground. It was now a battle for king of the hill.

You found your footing to sweep the zette as he mainly focuses on punching. Kicking your feet under him caused him a panic as you would gain an upper hand. So in the final moment, Zazz pounced on you, pinning your smaller arms to the hull of the ship as he began to swipe at your face.

A raised a sharpened pair of taloned hands above your face, glistening menacingly in the sun above you, "SAY GOODBYE!"

BANG! Gante swooped down from the sky and grabbed Zazz with massive force, tossing him off of his back, almost slipping him off the ship.

"Goodbye." You chuckled, standing back up and making your way over to the knocked out zette. Gante landed behind him as he confirmed that Zazz was out, his eyes cartoonishly in a crazed state. Or maybe that was- just him...

"NO NO NO! NOT TODAY!?" Zazz sprung back up and grabbed Gante by his horns, exposing the emerald on his chest and using his emerald strength to flip behind your teammate. Zazz had pulling Gante's head back with enough strength from the emerald to tumble both of them off and onto the ground.

"GANTE!!" You yelled, dashing to the edge of the robot as it began to slowly lower to the ground, losing it's power. Frantically looking around you managed to find a lamp post, jumping off and onto the small pole to stay away from the Zombots below.

Another force caused the lamp post to shake a little as Espio jumped on the same spot, becoming visible as he held out- Zazz's emerald!?

You couldn't help but smile as you succeeded in your mission, but still below the zette and your dragon friend were recovering from their tumble, "We need to get to Gante."

"NO! Get out of here, you have what you need." Gante yelled at you to get away, putting a hand forwards to keep you back. You looked at the dragon below who refused to follow behind into the portal and make the get away... his hand was carbon fiber. You and Espio were left to watch as Gante held back Zazz from trying to grab at the emerald. The black dragon held the zette in an arm lock, pinning him to the ground as he struggled. He noticed your hesitation, "(Y/n). Get going! The portal is about to close."

You shuttered as you watched more and more of your friend become controlled by the virus, his scales shimmering in the sun and his beautiful sunset colors turning to rust.

"..no NO I'M NOT LEAVING YOU TOO!"

Gante headbutt Zazz with his horns, causing the zette to become infected right in the face. Dazed and weakened, he was out of the game. The black dragon stood back up and brushed himself off, eyes widening as he realized he ended up spreading his infection even more.

Shaking his head, gante walked up to you and grabbed your safe, armored hand, "Don't make the same mistake Vector did. Save the World (Y/n), then come back and get me, ok?"

He then tossed you back, forcing you out without him as the spiraling green of the portal enveloped your vision. The last thing you saw of Gante was his proud smile, before the portal closed.

Goodbye Dragon :))

Chapter Length @2360 Words