"SOOOOOOONIC!"

"Nice try, Eggman, but it's a no go. See you round!"

"Gah, that blasted hedgehog!" Eggman roared, as he slammed his fists against the wall. He had just witnessed another defeat, with him being the one left crying. "Why won't he just let me get on with my evil plans?" He sunk down into his chair, his head in his hands. It had not been an easy year. Every plan his master-mind had come up with, had failed, all because of that stupid blue pain-in-the-neck. He sniffed, and turned to face his mechs that were staring anxiously up at him. Why did he put up with their incompetence? It was mainly their fault that he had failed in all he hoped to succeed. He stared at them for a moment, the silence deafening. He smiled innocently, and got to his feet. "I suppose it's back to the drawing board, hey boys?"

The two mechs looked at each other in disbelief. They were expecting a lethal outburst, not this.

"But then again, why should I bother? I've lost every battle I've participated in. That Sonic always gets me in the end. It would just be a waste of my time, don't you think?" He looked at the robots, his gaze suddenly becoming fiery. "You wretched fools!" He raised his fist to them, but then let it fall. "I will give you one simple task. Get me that hedgehog or you will end up as the scrap metal I use to clean my boots!" he bellowed, his moustache bristling.

"Err…Yes, Mr Eggman sir," the mechs said in unison, as they saluted obediently. Then they hastily exited, not wanting to face more of Eggman's wrath.

Eggman sighed and collapsed back into his chair. "I doubt those bumbling two will accomplish anything, so I might as well have a backup plan," He reached into his pocket and pulled out a deck of cards, each with a different robot drawn onto them. "Hmm…I can't choose," He grinned, and placed the cards into a small compartment, as his moustache tingling with excitement. He pulled a lever and the monsters turned on the screen. He let out a sinister chuckle. "Perfect…"

"Sonic!"

"Ha-ha! Nice try Tails,"

The young kid fox grinned, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Aw man, Sonic, you're unbeatable,"

"You got that right, pal," He winked, and twirled the tennis ball on the tip of his finger. "Now c'mon, best out of three,"

Tails nodded, and gripped his racquet tightly, keeping his eyes locked onto the ball that was flying through the air towards him.

"Sonic, Tails; we have a situation,"

The hedgehog and fox looked up as Chris appeared, the young boy's expression stern. "What is it Chris? Eggman again?" Sonic asked, as the tennis ball flew past him.

"You guessed it," Chris said with a nod, passing him his communicator. "It's down by the beach. You think you can make it in time?"

Sonic grinned, "Course I can," He gave Chris a thumbs-up and then turned to the fox, who was fishing the tennis ball out of a bush. "You coming, Tails?"

The fox looked up, and nodded, his expression becoming suddenly determined. "Sure, we can take the Tornado. I've installed a new attachment. It should come in handy if we meet one of Eggman's mechs," He threw Chris the tennis ball, and then disappeared round the side of the house.

"Looks like we're sorted," Sonic said, as he brushed his hands together, "Thanks for the heads up, Chris," And with that, the speedy hedgehog darted off, disappearing almost instantly.

"He he, no problem, Sonic," Chris said, with a small chuckle, as he made his way back towards the house, his spiky red hair bouncing slightly as he walked.

"Ok Tails, you ready?"

"You know it!"

"Heeeeey! Wait for me!" Amy appeared by the side of the plane, her light green eyes reflecting in the sunlight. She grabbed onto one of the wings, and swiftly hoisted herself up into the front seat.

"Err…Amy? You're kind of squishing me," Tails said, as he hunched up against the window.

"What? Oh, sorry Tails," She grinned slightly, and hopped into the back seat.

"Hey, Tails, what's going on down there?" Sonic called from his place on the roof.

"Nothing, Sonic, we just have an extra passenger,"

"Amy?"

"Nice guess," the fox kid said, with a small chuckle. "Now, c'mon, let's go!" He pressed the ignition button, and grabbed the steering device tightly with both hands, his expression both fierce and excited at the same time. The plane took off at an almighty speed, the palm trees bordering the runway leaning away from the road as the plane ascended.

"Bye, Chris!"

"Cream? You're here too?" Tails asked, as he steered the plane towards the coast.

A high pitched giggle came from the backseat. "I'm sorry Tails," came the reply, "But Cheese wanted to see if there were any flowers down by the beach, didn't you Cheese?" There was a squeak, and then silence.

"Ok, but you guys better not slow us down," came a voice from above. Sonic must have been listening to the conversation, and Tails smiled uneasily.

"Don't worry, we won't," Cream said with an innocent smile.

"Yeah, you don't need to worry about us, Sonic. We can look after ourselves," Amy said defiantly.

Sonic grinned, and rolled his eyes slightly, before setting his sights on the ever nearing stretch of sand. "Here we go," he said as a large army of mechs reared up in front of them. He leapt off the roof of the plane, free-falling a few feet before grabbing a ring which Amy had thrown from the plane, and turning in a blue blur ball. He crashed through the robots, splitting them to smithereens as the ground grew ever nearer. He landed with a soft thud, and continued to destroy every mech in his sight. "No problem, piece of cake!" he said with an amused grin. Tails had successfully landed the plane, as he could see the young fox and pink hedgehog fighting too. It looked as if Cream and Cheese had decided to stay on the plane, instead of joining the battle, which he had guessed they might do anyway. He stopped, his jaw dropping slightly. "Whoa…" He looked over at Tails and Amy. They had stopped too.

"Sonic, what a wonderful surprise," Eggman appeared in front of them, in his little flying pod thing as usual. He turned to the robot the animals were staring at. "I see you've met my new creation. His name's Halo Copperbottom,"

The blue hedgehog raised his eyebrow sceptically, "Copperbottom? You've got to be kidding me, Eggman. Is that the best name you could come up with?"

"Grrr…" Eggman's eyes narrowed, "Names do not matter. What does matter is this robot's pure strength. You'll never be able to take this one out, Sonic!"

"Give me all you've got," Tails and Amy had appeared beside him, with Tails in a small escape pod looking attachment of the Tornado that he'd just added and Amy with her Piku Piku Hammer held high.

"Be careful what you wish for hedgehog, because you just might get it!" He let out a menacing laugh, and then held his hand out to the large robot that stood proudly behind him. It was about 10 feet tall, with golden armour plates, and a weapon attached to every free space.

Sonic doubted himself for just a second. Maybe this Halo Copperbottom was in fact Eggman's best robot, even if the name was completely stupid. What if…he couldn't defeat it? No. He never failed. He clenched his fists. "Bring it on Eggman! It's go time,"

"Very well, destroy them, Halo, and make it snappy!"