"Again Eggman?" Sonic confidently asked his human opponent, "I guess some people never learn."
Just above him hovered Eggman sat cramped up in one of his Eggpods. In Sonic's opinion these were stupid little vehicles with only one impressive quality; that the overweight scientist could squeeze himself into it. Sonic hadn't actually seen Eggman enter one, but he always assumed the craft was built in two halves and then welded together around the human.
"Of course I'm back Sonic," Robotnik smiled arrogantly, "I was always going to come back. You don't play the game as long as I have if you're a quitter."
Robotnik looked down on Sonic, both egotistically, and from his vantage point hovering above him. The blue hedgehog was stood on the grass, just waiting to see what sort of weapon Robotnik had brought with him. Sonic had learnt a long time ago that an attack, or twelve, was always guaranteed, and Robotnik at least was aware that even Sonic wouldn't strike without seeing the weapon first.
"But why?" Sonic smirked, "You'd think that after seeing me destroy your Time Eater - twice might I add – that you don't ever win." The hedgehog stood there, one leg behind the other, his hand gesturing cockily at Robotnik, with his finger wagging slightly in the air.
"You blind fool," Robotnik laughed, "Did you really honestly think you could keep winning?"
"I've got this far," Sonic smiled, "And you're yet to score a single win Eggman."
"Ha ha ha," Robotnik laughed, his hands flailing about inside the Eggpod, causing it to wobble slightly with his motions. The human was deliberately exaggerating them, making sure Sonic was aware he was mocking the hedgehog's belief. "You really do think you're that good."
Sonic stood there, waiting for Robotnik to reveal his weapon. He could see the entrance to the next zone, and Sonic knew that Robotnik wouldn't let him pass unless he was defeated. Not that Sonic ever minded, he had always enjoyed these fights, but the wait was starting to bore him.
"Listen hedgehog," Robotnik said coldly, "Playtime's over. You've had several years of, quote unquote 'beating my plans'. Oh no, the hedgehog's blown up my Death Egg. Oh woe is me, he's beaten Perfect Chaos. Oh dear, Sonic has managed to save all the blasted Wisps from my tyranny, whatever shall I do?" Robotnik mocked.
Robotnik opened a small hole in the bottom of his Eggpod. From out of it a medium sized black lazer canon appeared. It focused itself on Sonic and fired. Sonic immediately leapt out of the shots way, rolling along the ground to avoid the blast. It tore a small chunk of the grass and dirt from the ground, leaving a smouldering crater. No sooner than Sonic has righted himself, Robotnik fired again, and again, a never ending barrage of shots fired at the hedgehog as he ducked behind some cover.
Robotnik eased up firing, "See hedgehog, when I was younger, a future version of me pulled me into his time. He told me what he had been told by his future self, that he had been enduring years of defeats from you and your pesky little friends, and told me he needed me to play along with a very long con.
"So I heard him out," Robotnik continued, as he manoeuvred the Eggpod slowly towards where Sonic was hiding, "And he told me that he was at the end of a stable time loop, one I was just about to start. My older self told me that I had to do all those stupid failed plans, like the Ark, and 'accidentally' letting Metal Sonic take control, and that whole confusion in Soleanna just to keep the con going.
"My future self advised me that once I'd dealt with the space carnival nonsense I would be sent to the Time Eater, where I could use it to bring a past version of myself in order for both of us to fight you, and complete this time loop," Robotnik beamed confidently. He was deliberately taking his time getting to Sonic, firing the odd pot-shot to ensure the hedgehog couldn't make an escape, as he was enjoying his monologue, "Basically, I had to lose to you, or there would be a world destroying paradox. But here's the best part Sonic," The doctor spat, "Now it's over.
"And what's more," Robotnik laughed, "Is I knew I had to fail. This is why you beat me all those times Sonic, because I put the minimum effort in."
"It doesn't matter," Sonic replied, as he darted out from behind the rock, "You still lost." With that Sonic ran, looking across the terrain to find something that he could use. Sonic knew Eggman too well, he knew Eggman wouldn't stay just out of Sonic's reach if he could help it, so Sonic had to try and trick him. He began dashing for a section of cliffs.
The human followed, constantly firing his canon. The hedgehog leapt onto the cliffs, each one getting scared from the madman's weapon as Robotnik followed him, his craft ascending slower than Sonic.
"Sonic," Robotnik grinned evilly, "What do you think I've been doing all these years if the plan was to lose to you every time?"
Sonic didn't answer. Truth was he was much more focused on beating Eggman now. He climbed up the cliffs as high as he could, slowly gaining altitude on the scientists Eggpod. The hedgehog kept one eye on it, looking at how high the craft was. Beyond a point Eggman's gun couldn't actively hit Sonic, it didn't come out far enough, so all the hedgehog had to do was keep swapping from high to low, hitting the craft on the way down.
"I'll tell you," Robotnik cackled, "I've been perfecting my work. As I'm sure you noticed on your way here, my robots are a lot tougher, my traps are a lot deadlier, and my weapons," Robotnik laughed, as he fired another shot, "Are a lot more accurate." The shot fired under Sonic, but it caused a small rock slide which knocked Sonic off his feet.
"Another thing spikeball," Robotnik sneered, "I've been building. Years of robots and vehicles, just waiting for the moment, when it was my actual time. Back in all your successes you had the benefit hedgehog. I knew I couldn't win, how else could I witness you beat the Time Eater as my younger self? Hence I let you beat me, and focused my efforts on building a secret army. The time for it is now hedgehog; you're no longer guaranteed to win, and I can now once again unleash my full force." As he spoke, an entire flying battalion appeared in the sky, with dozens upon dozens of elite looking robots dropped down around the horizon.
From his vantage point Sonic could see for miles. He was right at the top of the cliffs now, and he could see what Eggman was on about. Hundreds of battleships had filled the sky, all of them dropping off robots, all of them ready to fight and actually take over the world. Sonic turned his attentions once again to Eggman. He could see the craft rising up, and he was anticipating its movements. The craft was slowly drifting closer. Soon it would be in range.
That time was now.
Sonic leapt off the cliff, his body curled tightly. The hedgehog leapt as far as he could; feeling the air rushing around his now spherical body. The blue blur gained more and more momentum as he fell, willing his body as far forwards as it could go. It shot forwards, inching towards Eggman's Eggpod.
A loud crunch filled Sonic's ears as his spines connected with the front of Eggman's craft. Small bits of debris tore off it, most of it superficial, but the forces where enough to knock it off balance, and push it down towards the ground. Sonic himself bounced off the craft, back towards the cliffs.
Robotnik could only watch as the hedgehog's body bounced towards the cliff, landing with his trademark red and white sneakers against the wall. In the blink of an eye Sonic had pushed again off the cliff. As Robotnik tried to pull up, he felt the hedgehog slam once again against his craft, once again pushing it further into a nose dive. The human yanked hard on the control stick, willing the craft upwards.
Slam. Yet again Sonic had used the cliff as a springboard and had slammed into Robotnik's craft. The hedgehog bounced off, and without even thinking landed on one of the cliffs, feet first. He took a second to analyse the situation, then leapt again, this time landing dead centre of the back of the craft, narrowly avoiding the exhaust.
That slam pushed down even harder. Robotnik was now heading straight for the ground, and the force of Sonic's last jump had made his decent extremely fast. Robotnik wrestled frantically with the controls as the ground came in closer and closer.
"Seems like you forgot something doc," Sonic smiled, "You might've been trying to lose, but I've still been winning. Seems like you've spent the last few years training me in how to get even better at beating you."
With that Sonic leapt once more for Eggman's vehicle. He collided again with full force, and bounced off just as the Eggpod slammed hard into the ground. Glass and debris spread everywhere as the craft crumpled to absorb much of the shock. Nevertheless, Eggman's vehicle was pretty damaged, even though Eggman himself had got away with very few injuries. The lazer was not so lucky, having broken into several unworkable pieces, having taken a large amount of the force of the collision.
Robotnik scrambled to right his Eggpod, and began to make his escape. Scowling in anger he yelled "I'm not done hedgehog. I've got plenty more weapons to use on you. You won't win this time."
"Bring it on Eggman," Sonic yelled back as Eggman fled up to the nearest battleship, "'bout time you gave me a challenge."