Sonic 230 Alternate story Version A
Part 1 of 2.
Author note: This is only my interpretation on how I wished 230 went down instead of the way it was written by Ian Flynn.
Since this is based off the 225 alternate story, it will not resemble the official 230 one of Archie Sonic.
Moments later, the trapped Freedom Fighters looked on in awe from the aftermath of the battle.
Within seconds, Eggman's pods began to self-destruct violently, with fire and smoke soon billowing from it.
Eggman though instantly bailed out from destroyed pods before the fire could burn him, now trying to escape in his Eggmobile.
Sonic however wasn't about to let him get away, as he quickly charged towards the mad doctor, quickly hitting him with a well-executed spin dash attack from behind when within reach.
Thanks to having a Chaos Emerald on him, the blue hedgehog easily hit his Eggmobile with enough speed and power from the underside of it to send Eggman's hovercraft crashing heavily into a wall nearby.
With his main foe now heavily dazed in a wrecked hovercraft on the floor, Sonic then ran back towards his friends and freed them from their capsule with another well timed spin dash to its outer shell.
Again, Sonic was able to break through it with ease, soon putting a large hole in it for them to escape out of.
Immediately, his friends ran out of the capsule with joy and surrounded him, cheering the blue hedgehog on for his valiant heroics.
"Way to go, Sonic." Rotor said elated, patting him on the back. "That was nothing short of way past cool on how you took it to Robotnik."
Even Antoine couldn't help but give Sonic a nod of approval.
Sally meanwhile hugged the blue hedgehog tightly, where she soon gave him a passionate kiss on the right cheek, saying with gratitude in her eyes, "Sonic, you were wonderful. Thank you so much for saving us."
"Aw, it was nothing, Sal." Sonic replied blushing a bit. "All in a day's work for this hog."
After a brief pause, Sally now looked at him flirtatiously, saying, "Sonic…"
"Yea, Sal?"
"Sonic…"
"Yea?"
Again, she repeated the same line, puzzling the blue hedgehog to no end.
"Sal, just spit it out what you're trying to tell me already." Sonic stated a bit annoyed.
Just then, her tone in her voice abruptly changed from love to despair, as he heard her say his name again.
"Sonic…"
"Sal?"
Sally again said his name, only this time even stronger in despair.
"Sonic…!"
Before the blue hedgehog knew what was going on, he heard the ground squirrel say his name even louder and with more fear in her voice.
"Sally, what are you…?"
That was the last thing he could say. Out of nowhere, he felt a strong nudge, saying to him in the same manner as before, "Sonic, please answer me!"
In that moment, Sonic finally was awakened from his dream, as he soon saw Sally kneeling over him, now deeply relieved.
"Sonic, are you ok?" she asked with deep concern.
"I guess so…" he replied with a painful groan, shaking his head while placing a hand on the bump of it. "What just happened?"
"There's no time to explain." Sally told him firmly. "Right now, we need your help at once. Eggman's roboticizing ray is set to go off in less than five minutes."
"We…?"
Sally then helped Sonic to his feet, as the blue hedgehog soon asked further, "What do we mean by we? Didn't we enter this oversized hunk of metal ship by ourselves?"
"Yea, but that was before you fell unconscious." Sally explained softly, soon running towards one of the corridors.
"Before what?" Sonic inquired puzzled, now running after her. "How long was I out?"
"About twenty five minutes." Sally answered.
"But… Eggbelly's machine I thought was set to go off before then." Sonic stated puzzled.
"It was…" Sally explained. "Thankfully though, Nicole was able to hack into Eggman's database and locked out the main firing mechanism for a short period of time."
"How did you do that with that mondo ugly silver Sonic robot in the way?" Sonic asked perplexed.
"I had some help…" Sally told him by a bit awkwardly.
"Say what?"
Before the ground squirrel could tell him who it was exactly, Sonic soon found out for himself.
Once they arrived in the next room, he now saw one of his strongest comrades trying to hold off the fierce Silver Sonic III with her robotic abilities.
"What in the…?"
Moments later, Sally abruptly tackled to the ground.
Before the blue hedgehog could ask why, he soon found out himself, as Metal Sonic soon flew by their heads.
However, the blue spiky robot didn't fly there on his own to try and attack them, but was caused by the attack of another of his well-known allies.
Within seconds, he saw this comrade now charging after Metal Sonic, declaring firmly while wielding her Piko Hammer high in the air, "You won't be hurting my Sonikku if I have anything to say about it!"
"Where did they come from?" Sonic inquired, now more dumbfounded than ever.
"I don't have time to explain this unfortunately." Sally told him. "I need you to help them take out these robots of Eggman's while I try to figure a way to destroy his roboticizing ray."
"But, Sal…"
"Please, Sonic…" Sally replied firmly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I can't do this without you. Please do as I ask…"
Sonic at first thought of arguing with her, but seeing that time was indeed not on their side, he replied while nodding his head, "Very well, Sal."
Sally then gave him one passionate last hug and quickly began to run off, making the blue hedgehog think once he stood up, I don't what just happened, but I guess I'll ask questions later. Right now, she's counting on me.
Sonic soon added firmly while running over to Bunnie to give her a hand, Ok, Eggbelly… this time, you're finished!
While Sally ran to find the spot where the roboticizing ray was currently located, Eggman on the other hand at the moment was nothing short of ticked off, especially after what he had just found out.
"I cannot believe that wretched Princess was able to outwit me on my own ship!" Eggman roared, banging his right hand on the dash of his Eggmobile as hard as he could. "It's just not possible! After all, I'm the cunning genius here!"
He soon growled in rage, adding while seething, "Well, if she's going to keep meddling in my personal business, I'm going to take care of her myself…"
As the mad doctor thought back of the previous events in his mind, he couldn't even begin to fathom had his Silver Sonic III was unable to kill her, not to mention the fact he had learned about a dire plot from his so called henchmen during this time as well.
From the moment Sonic had been knocked unconscious, what happened soon afterwards, even now had completely dumbfounded him.
Sally during that time had basically been running for her life, trying as hard as hard as she could to keep from getting cut up by Silver Sonic III's razor blades.
However, Sally soon realized the longer she kept this up, the greater chance of Silver Sonic III injuring, or even killing Sonic in the process.
There's only one thing to do… Sally thought firmly to herself.
Remembering which room the turret gun was in when Eggman had tried to kill her from before, the ground squirrel princess decided to use it to her advantage.
After she evaded the robot again by diving out its way, Sally instantly ran towards that corridor
Eggman at first was baffled by this decision on her part, thinking with a slight grin, is that Princess actually going back to the room with the turret gun? Does she have a death wish or something?
Unfortunately for the mad doctor, Sally was setting a trap, as she only went in about one fourth of the way inside to bait it.
Sure enough, Silver Sonic III soon spotted her in there after turning around, instantly charging after the ground squirrel.
Right on cue… Sally thought with a smirk.
Once it got close to her, Sally quickly ran closer inside to get the turret gun trap to activate again.
As she thought, it did indeed.
Again, Eggman didn't figure out what she was trying to do. He even thought she was getting herself in a pickle by having his Silver Sonic III chase after her from behind.
However, it soon became clear as day to him what the ground squirrel Princess had just pulled off.
Before the huge silver robot could come within three feet of her, the turret gun again went off, now blasting it with another three loud, "BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!" sounds.
As before, Sally ducked to the floor before it went off, completely evading the attack.
Silver Sonic III on the other hand wasn't lucky. Due to pursuing after her too intensely, all three turret bullets hit Eggman's huge silver robot in its metal head, knocking it back several feet, as well seriously damaged it.
In a flash, Eggman's emotions changed from intrigue, to downright rage.
He then growled furiously with his hands raised high in the air, "You rotten rodent! How dare you use my own trap against me!"
Sally though paid no attention to his words, as she subtly slipped by the now heavily stunned robot of Eggman's robot, now running away to try and put some distance between her and the Silver Sonic III.
Unfortunately for her though, Eggman's secret weapon machine did not stay stunned for very long, as it quickly came after her again within five seconds.
Sally soon turned around and heard its whirring from before, making her gasp in fear.
"Oh great… that attack didn't affect Eggman's robot as long as I had originally hoped…" she stated with a sigh.
Sally then asked Nicole, "Now what do I do?"
Nicole, who sadly was still deeply affected from Naugus' attack from before , softly replied, "You've got to get Sonic out of this room. Sooner or later, those blades sticking out of the Silver Sonic III robot are going to seriously injure him, or worse…"
Sally couldn't argue with that.
So, in spite of the fact of being pursued by Eggman's Silver Sonic robot, she vowed on the spot to help Sonic to safety, even if meant putting her own life in jeopardy.
Moments later, the Silver Sonic III again came at her with another devastating spin dash attack.
Sally though kept her composure, where she soon ran in a direction away from where Sonic was currently laying on the floor.
Thanks to her well thought out plan, Sally was able to put enough distance that the Silver Sonic III again did not come close to hitting the blue hedgehog.
Once she dove out of the way from its latest attack, Sally immediately ran towards Sonic, where she quickly, but carefully picked him up, now carrying her true love firmly in her arms.
"Hang in there, Sonic." Sally said with a tearful in her eye. "I'll find a way to get you out of harm's way..."
She then added with a lot of doubt in her facial expressions, "Somehow…"
Seconds later, the Silver Sonic III came charging towards her again.
With Sonic in her arms, Sally was no longer able to run as fast. And on top of that, she had to place Nicole on her boot in order to carry her now.
Nevertheless, Sally wasn't about to lose her nerve. The squirrel princess kept pressing on, for the sake of Sonic, as well as her friends.
She soon ran towards another corridor to the right, trying to bait the Silver Sonic III inside to buy her some more time.
Again, the Silver Sonic III over pursued its prey when trying to chase Sally down, spinning directly into that room.
Using her wits and intelligence once more, Sally was thankfully able to evade its attack, though not as easily from before, now jumping to the left when it came close to her.
However, like before, the Silver Sonic III did not take long to turn around and chase after the squirrel princess again.
Sally then ran towards the south part of the room, trying again to give her enough distance to counter its next attack.
Seconds later, the huge silver robot once more came flying in towards her.
Sally again tried to bait Eggman's machine into another corridor, but would not succeed.
This time, the Silver Sonic III robot would miss the opening by several feet, as it hit the wall nearby due to pursuing her at a bad angle.
That miss unfortunately now put Sally in a serious bind, as she didn't have the same amount of time to react and counter from before.
Even so, she refused to quit and fold up emotionally.
I can't let Sonic down, even if things are looking bad. Sally thought firmly to herself while trying to
A split second later, the Silver Sonic III again came spinning after her with fury.
But again, Sally found a way to keep herself and Sonic from getting maimed, as she now jumped out of the way in sheer desperation.
After three more successful evasion attempts by the Silver Sonic III, Eggman by this time was completely fed up inside, saying with a growl, "All right, no more games… I'm going to put that meddling Princess in a bind where she'll soon have nowhere to run!"
While Eggman activated his next plan, Sally stated to Nicole while evading one of Silver Sonic III's attacks with another jump, "I sure could use some backup now…"
She then asked her A.I best friend, "Are you sure you transmitted our current coordinates to the Freedom Fighter Special?"
"Yes…" Nicole replied weakly. "I sent them out after you and Sonic entered the Death Egg."
"Then, where are they?" Sally inquired, after evading another Silver Sonic III spin dash. "Surely they must have found a way inside by now…"
"You do have to remember, Sally." Nicole reiterated. "This is not the same Death Egg Eggman used from before. It's been heavily upgraded and fortified."
"Yea, you're telling me…" Sally muttered with a heavy sigh.
After Sally evaded Silver Sonic III's attacks for a third time, she soon heard another whirring soon from the west.
"What was that?" Sally inquired a bit paranoid, looking around the room.
"It's the end of you and the blue furball!" Eggman retorted loudly over the PA. "That's what it is…!"
Just then, Sally saw another robot enter the room, none other than Metal Sonic, instantly making her gasp in horror.
"Have fun trying to evade both at the same time, Princess." Eggman cackled. "This time, you won't be spoiling my victory party!"
While Eggman's words deeply infuriated her, Sally realized it she was indeed in big trouble.
Seconds later, both of Eggman's robots attempted to attack her at once, instantly causing great drops of sweat to bead down her brow.
Eggman though just looked on from his control room with a devious grin on his face, saying while rubbing his hands together in glee, "Yes, it'll all be over soon…"
Unfortunately for the mad doctor, he couldn't be more wrong. Little did he realize, his conquest was far from over.
Out of nowhere, the Silver Sonic III robot was hit hard in its metal chest by a large laser blast from the east corridor, slamming it into a wall nearby, now heavily stunned again.
"What in the…? Who dares to interfere this time?" Eggman demanded.
He soon found out who it was, none other than cyborg rabbit herself.
"Her? How did she get in here? I had the Death Egg sealed off!" the mad doctor roared in anger.
Seconds later, Snively came over the intercom, saying in a panic, "Sir, the Death Egg's been breached again!"
"What, are you serious?" Eggman interrogated. "How is that even possible?
"It appears one of the secret compartments has been broken through with brute force." Snively informed him.
"Broken through with…" Instantly, Eggman figured out what just happened. Bunnie had basically punched through it with her robotic super strength until it gave way.
Eggman now was beside himself, shouting at his nephew via video feed, "I don't care how you do it, but as soon as that ray gun fires, I want you and Lien-Da to get your butts in gear and wipe out those infernal Freedom Fighters in my ship by any means necessary! You understand me?"
"Yes, sir." Snively replied, giving him a hypocritical salute.
After Eggman signed off, Snively said to Lien-Da with a sigh of disgust while shaking his head, "It looks like that blundering oaf is going to be requiring our services for this stupid battle of his now…"
Lien-Da's reaction on the other hand was one of glee, replying, "Perfect… I've been wanting a piece of them for quite some time now anyway."
While Snively looked at her puzzled, Lien-Da added with a devious smirk, "Maybe while we're taking out the trash here, we can add a big piece of it as well to lighten our load…"
At first, Snively didn't catch on what she was getting at, but soon did after seeing her wink at him, saying, "Ah, I get it…"
He then asked puzzled, "But how can we take out that bloated buffoon too when he has those robots of his on his side?"
"Well, maybe we'll just have to reprogram those bots onto our side if it comes down to it…" Lien-Da suggested. "Get the hint?"
Snively indeed did, soon grinning evilly at her now as well.
However, the small lackey knew deep down this maneuver of theirs would be extremely risky one to pull off, especially since Eggman was very crafty and cunning when it came to machines.
Even so, Snively wasn't about to back down now, as he wanted to personally retaliate for all the abuse his uncle had put him through.
While this was going on, Sally was now able to evade Metal Sonic's oncoming spin dash, thanks to her best friends' efforts.
However, in spite of being smaller and not as powerful, the blue spiky robot nonetheless went after the squirrel Princess with the same fury as Silver Sonic III.
To make things more difficult, Metal Sonic's attacks turned out to be harder to evade due to the fact it could attack and react at a faster rate.
Even so, Sally thankfully wouldn't have to worry about it for too long.
Amy Rose finally came onto the scene twenty seconds after Bunnie had bailed Sally out, now charging towards the blue spiky robot.
Seeing Sonic in danger, Amy quickly reacted, soon blindsiding Metal Sonic from the right side with her Piko Hammer, knocking him clear across the room.
Again, Sally looked on deeply baffled, as she couldn't believe how easily they had taken down Eggman's robots.
Amy then looked at her firmly and said, "I'll keep this hunk of junk bot busy. You get Sonic to safety."
At first, Sally didn't say anything due to being a bit overwhelmed by the recent turn of events, but soon replied, saying with a nod, "Sure thing, Amy."
Before the pink hedgehog went off to attack again, Amy reiterated with a bit of a fierce glare, "I'm counting on you, Sally. Don't let anything bad happen to my precious Sonikku while I'm away, all right?"
While Sally didn't like the way she had worded that, she nonetheless again nodded her head firmly, answering, "Rest assured, I do will all I can to keep him safe."
Seeing her determination, Amy now ran off to attack.
Her timing couldn't have been any better, as the blue spiky robot soon came charging towards her with speed and power.
Amy though was ready for it, again using her Piko Hammer to keep it at bay.
Sally meanwhile ran towards another corridor, where she soon heard Eggman say with glee over the PA system again before she could inside of it, "You may have broken into my Death Egg, you despicable rodents, but your efforts will soon be in vain."
Before she could respond, Eggman added, "In less than two minutes, my roboticizing ray will be ready to fire, turning all of your beloved family members and friends into my robotic slaves! Ta ta!"
And with that statement, Eggman again began to laugh heartily, where a virtual timer soon displayed from above began to tick down.
"Drat!" Sally muttered with a frown, now starting to sweat again. "This couldn't have come at worse time…"
Bunnie, who was now keeping the Silver Sonic III at bay with her robotic arm, told her, "Hurry, Sally girl… It's up to you now. You've got to find a way to stop Eggman's ray from firing!"
Sally quickly gave her a nod and then ran off, now trying to find a main USB port in the ship for her to hook Nicole into.
"Nicole, is it possible for you to keep Eggman from firing that ray of his for the time being?" Sally asked while she ran.
"I'll try…" Nicole replied, still weak inside. "But, I doubt I'll be able to do it for that long. With my power heavily drained, the best I could probably do is thirty minutes tops, if that…"
"What's the least amount of time you think you could muster up if possible?" Sally inquired further.
"I'd say… no more than ten to fifteen minutes…" Nicole answered. "But even that's just a guess on my part."
"It's better than nothing." Sally stated, now taking a deep breath. "Let's give it a try."
Thankfully for her, Sally soon found a port for Nicole to hook up into.
With less than fifty seconds to go, Sally said to her A.I best friend in desperation after she was plugged in, "Ok, give it a go, Nicole, but don't try anything too risky that might cause you any serious repercussions."
"As you wish, Sally." Nicole said.
Nicole then went to work and tried to find the code to lock out the firing mechanism.
Fortunately for her and the others, she was able to within ten seconds, where the A.I lynx soon began to try and hack the system.
"Hurry, Nicole…" Sally said in a bit of a panic, seeing the timer at less than thirty seconds. "Time's running out…"
Sensing her best friend's concern, Nicole did everything in her power to see the task carried out.
With less than ten seconds to go, Nicole thankfully came through in the clutch, as she successfully locked out the firing mechanism for the time being.
Eggman meanwhile ordered Snively during this time when it finally hit zero, "Press the button, now! Roboticize those filthy Mobians at once!"
"Yes, sir…"
However, Snively reported back in a bit of panic five seconds later, "Sir, the roboticizer ray gun won't respond at all."
"What do you mean it won't respond?" Eggman demanded with furrowed eyebrows.
"I've pressed the button over a dozen times," Snively explained in a bit of panic, "but nothing's working! It almost looks like the program's been locked out."
"Program's been…?"
Instantly, Eggman figured it out again what just happened, shouting with in a fit of rage, "PRINCESS SALLY! CURSE YOU!"
Before Snively could respond, Eggman shouted, "I'm going to skin that wretched rodent alive for this! Nobody makes a fool outta me and gets away with it!"
"What about the others, sir?" Snively inquired.
"As I said earlier, I'm putting you and Lien-Da in charge of carrying out that task." Eggman reiterated firmly, with his face still in a fit of rage. "This one though I'm going to deal with myself!"
Not wanting to get caught in the crossfire of his wrath, Snively quickly complied with his orders, nodding his head at him.
After Eggman cut off the feed, Lien-Da said to Snively while rubbing her hands together, "Perfect… The Doctor will be too focused on the Princess to be concerned with us for time being."
Lien-Da then added to the small lackey, "I think it's time we took full advantage of this golden opportunity of ours, wouldn't you agree?"
Not surprisingly, Snively did indeed, replying with a sly grin of his own, "Once those furballs are done for, we'll sic those robots of his on that tub of lard, where we'll then be in charge of the empire."
Snively then asked the red female echidna with a bit caution, "Although, aren't you worried about my Uncle setting off the explosives built into you?"
"Relax…" Lien-Da told him with assurance. "I took the liberty while that blowhard was too busy taunting the Freedom Fighters in the Death Eggman to cut the wires in his remote control. By the time he finds that out, it'll be too late for him to do anything about it."
"Ah… how clever of you.." Snively stated impressed.
While this was going, Sally soon found out how long Nicole had locked out the firing mechanism… approximately twenty minutes.
Once Nicole told her that, Sally stated with a sigh of relief, "Thanks, my special friend. I knew you could do it…"
"No… problem… Sally…" Nicole replied very slowly.
Sally's facial expressions instantly changed, as she could tell hacking Eggman's system had drained the A.I lynx to the point of nearly being comatose.
"Nicole! Are you all right?" Sally asked in a bit of panic.
"Don't… worry… about… me…" Nicole stated in the same manner. "Just… defeat… Eggman…"
By this point, the squirrel Princess could sense Nicole was on the verge of shutting down completely to being so low on power.
Sally then closed up Nicole's portable computer in order conserve her power, placing it on the outer part of her right boot.
After that was done, Sally thought to herself with deep worry in her facial expressions, this isn't good… Nicole may have just sacrificed herself in order to save the very city that wanted her unplugged.
Moments later, Sally glanced over at Sonic, who was now on the floor, still unconscious, thinking again with deep concern, Sonic… you've got to wake up soon. We need you now.
Just then, an idea came to Sally's head.
Wait a minute…since I need to be looking after him for now, maybe I could use this time to take advantage of Eggman's USB port nearby to help Nicole charge her power up somewhat.
However, Sally knew there were two high risks to that idea.
One, plugging in Nicole could give away their location to Eggman.
Or two… Eggman's network could transfer a virus to Nicole's computer system.
Nevertheless, Sally knew needed Nicole would not last much longer if she didn't get a charge and soon.
So, Sally decided to take the risk of getting caught for the sake of A.I friend, as she placed Nicole into the port again, where she then had Eggman's Death Egg power transferring to her.
As a safety precaution, Sally had placed Nicole's firewall at the max level in case Eggman's Death Egg did try to send her a virus.
As Sally had thought, plugging in Nicole did indeed give away their location.
This time, Eggman had been looking extensively for any signs of the Princess trying to hack into his system with Nicole again while flying in his Eggmobile.
Once he saw the blip on his radar map of his Death Egg, Eggman said with a sly grin, "Gotcha now, Princess."
However, before he could get too far into hunting her down, the video and audio clip of Lien-Da and Snively's conversation from several minutes ago abruptly got his attention while reviewing previous footage as a precaution.
As it turned out, he overheard the whole betrayal plan of theirs.
"So, those two renegades are actually going to try and bump me off after the Freedom Fighters are taken down?" Eggman muttered with a frown. "Well, I guess I'll just have to show them again who's in charge around here!"
While Eggman was still very tempted to go after Sally, he knew if he didn't deal with Lien-Da's meddling of his remote control, there was a solid chance they could indeed pull off this plan of theirs without too much difficulty.
Immediately, the mad doctor turned around and flew back towards to the control room to fix the problem.
If those two really want to take me out, they better learn more clever tactics when discussing plans to get rid of me. Eggman thought to himself. Little do they realize… I have more tricks up my sleeve than they even realize.
Eggman's mind now flashed back to the present, as he had finally finished fixing the remote detonator.
"There…" he said with a grin, holding it firmly in his hand. "Now, once they serve their purpose of wiping out those meddlesome rodents, I'll wait until they get close together and then press the button, blowing them both up at the same time!"
Eggman soon cackled to himself, stating icily, "Two for the price of one… Ah, this conquest of mine has gone better than I ever thought possible…"
Meanwhile, Sally finally located the roboticizing ray in the Death Egg thanks to Nicole.
However, the only place to get to it was through the floorboards, which sadly were sealed shut.
At that moment, she realized she had to get some help in order to pull it off.
Sally knew just who to get that help from, as she quickly ran back towards the main hall, where she saw the battle at hand intensifying.
To put it lightly, all of her friends had their hands full.
Even with Sonic's help, Bunnie was having a very difficult time keeping this huge metal beast in check.
Amy too now struggled to keep Metal Sonic at bay. In spite of her valiant hammer swings, the blue spiky robot by this time had begun to turn it up on her, even knocking her to the ground when trying to spin dash her.
Thankfully, the spin dash only hit the handle of her hammer when she was knocked down.
Sally again began to sweat bullets, realizing she had to do something to help her out.
With no weapons at her disposal, the squirrel Princess did the next best thing… she would be a decoy.
While Metal Sonic attempted to take advantage of the pink hedgehog currently on the ground, Sally then whistled loudly at it to see if it would look at her
Thankfully, it did, as Metal Sonic soon attempted a spin dash aimed at her after the squirrel Princess gave the blue spiky robot a taunting gesture with her right hand
Perfect… Sally thought. This should buy Amy enough time to attack it from behind while I keep it busy.
She would indeed be right. Metal Sonic soon focused all of its attacks on Sally, trying to slam her to the ground.
As Sally had also thought, Amy did indeed finally came to her aid after two failed spin dashes by Metal Sonic, where she then clobbered it into the wall from behind underneath its metal chin with her Piko Hammer in one powerful swing.
Once it was knocked to the ground seriously stunned, Amy looked at Sally and said with a nod, "Thanks for bailing me out back there."
"No problem." Sally replied with a firm nod.
Sally then excused herself, telling the pink hedgehog, "Take it down while you have the chance."
"Wait, what are you going to be doing now?" Amy inquired curious.
"No time to explain." Sally again said. "Just please cover me in the meantime."
Seeing the need at hand, Amy did as she was told, now charging after the blue spiky robot while grasping her Piko Hammer firmly in her hands.
While this was going on, Bunnie finally managed to grab one of Silver Sonic III's metal blades sticking out with her robotic hand while it attempted to cut her and Sonic with a spin dash, where she then flung it against the wall in front of her, soon firing her laser cannon a split second later to intensify its damage.
Instantly, Silver Sonic III slammed against the corridor wall behind it with fury. It too was now seriously stunned from the impact. On top of that, its outer shell was damaged to the point of beginning to spark in and out.
"Way past cool move there, Bunnie." Sonic commented, watching nearby, giving a thumbs up.
Before the cyborg rabbit could reply back, Sally finally came running up to her, saying, "Bunnie, I need you to help me with something."
"What are you talking about?" she asked perplexed.
"I found the roboticizing ray." Sally explained. "But I'll need your strength to get through the floorboards."
"But… what about this nasty robot over here?" Bunnie inquired, still very nervous about it. "I can't just leave it here."
Sonic though eased her fears, replying confidently, "No prob, ladies. I'll keep this silver faker of mine busy in the meantime. You two do what you need to do."
"Are you sure you can handle that big robot all by yourself?" Sally asked, also concerned.
Sonic then gave her a wink, answering, "Just leave it to me, Sal. It's in the bag."
Sally though was still very hesitant to leave him alone, especially after the injury he had received earlier from the same robot.
Nonetheless, the squirrel princess decided there was no time to talk it over.
Before she knew it, it was soon less than two minutes from ignition once more. With Nicole currently in no condition to try and hack the system again, Sally realized it was now or never.
She and Bunnie then ran off towards the area Sally had been in before, running as fast as they can to beat the clock.
Moments later, Silver Sonic III soon regained its focus, with Sonic saying to it firmly while pointing a finger from his right hand, "Ok, bot, let's do this…!"
Meanwhile, Snively and Lien-Da now arrived near the main hall where the current battle was taking place.
Within seconds, they saw it from up-close.
Snively then commented with arched eyebrows, "Well, this is a bit bizarre… I only see the hedgehog and his bratty fan girl here. Where are the others?"
"Who cares?" Lien-Da replied with a smirk, holding her whip tightly in both hands. "The less interference for me, the better."
"You do realize those robots could turn on you if you try to attack one of those Freedom Fighters, right?" Snively reiterated. "I doubt my uncle programmed them to be neutral towards us."
"Relax…" Lien-Da replied confidently, now lightly tapping her leather whip against her right hand. "I know exactly how to time this so those bots will end up cutting those troublemakers to pieces even if they do turn on us."
Snively deep down didn't know how Lien-Da could be this confident, but decided to trust the red female echidna on her plan, whatever it may be…
Back in the other side of the Death Egg, Sally and Bunnie soon arrived at the spot Nicole had pinpointed earlier.
"You think you can break this open?" Sally inquired, now down on one knee to examine it closer.
"It'll be as easy as hogtying cattle." Bunnie replied with a grin, slightly tucking her cowboy hat down. "Just leave it to me.
And with that statement, the cyborg rabbit immediately began to tear into the floorboards.
She then dented it a few times by punching it with her fist before in order to get a big enough piece to come up in order to grab it.
Once that was accessible, Bunnie used every bit of her cybernetic strength to rip it apart.
Within five seconds, she was successful, grunting loudly after it was done.
"Ok, Sally girl…" Bunnie said, wiping her brow. "Get to it."
Sally quickly nodded her head, as she then crawled her way inside, saying to Bunnie before heading deeper in, "Keep a lookout for me in the meantime. No telling if Eggman or one of his goons will try to get the jump on me while I'm down here."
Bunnie unfortunately couldn't argue with that, as she did as she was told.
With now less than eighty seconds to go, Bunnie said to Sally once she was all the way in, "Hurry, Sally girl. Everyone's counting on us."
"I'll do my best." Sally replied firmly, now crawling inside.
Within ten seconds, she arrived at the main database of the roboticizing ray, soon examining it closely.
Sally then hooked up her A.I friend to get the schematics of Eggman's weapon, soon telling her afterwards, "Nicole, give me all the options available about halting or redirecting this weapon's aim if possible…"
"I'll see what I can do…" Nicole replied, still very weak.
In spite of the fact she was able to get a ten minute charge, her power was nowhere near it needed to be to be most effective.
Unfortunately for them, Sally would soon be right about the possibility of intruders.
Eggman finally had caught up to them from the north corridor, saying with an evil laugh, "Surprise, troublemakers!"
"Sally girl!" Bunnie shouted, turning around startled. "Eggman's found us!"
"Ah great…" Sally muttered. "Just what we need..."
Sally then said to the cyborg rabbit, "Try to hold him off in the meantime. Nicole is still analyzing at the moment."
"Will do." Bunnie replied, now turning towards Eggman in a fighting pose.
Eggman though was less than amused by this, soon stating, "You won't be stopping my ray this time! You might as well quit trying to delay the inevitable. Your loved ones will soon be my robotic slaves, so just get used to it!"
"Not on your life, you nasty scientist!" Bunnie exclaimed angrily. "I'll fight you to the death before we let you do that!"
Instantly, she flew in that air after him to try and damage his Eggmobile with her metal fist.
Unfortunately for Bunnie though, Eggman was ready for this possibility.
The second the cyborg rabbit got close enough to attack, Eggman quickly countered it, as he hit her with a large metal can in the her chest.
Due to the high velocity, the metal can knocked Bunnie backwards to the ground flat on her back.
Bunnie though got up, declaring more annoyed than hurt, "You're going to have to do better than throwing cans at me to win this battle."
"Don't worry, I intend to do just that." Eggman retorted with a sly grin.
Before Bunnie could figure out his words, the can did the talking for him, as a heavy plume of gas was released into around the room.
"What in tarnation?"
Within seconds, Bunnie soon discovered how powerful this gas really was.
She immediately began to cough heavily, trying to hold her breath and cover her eyes, commenting in huge discomfort, "Oh mah stars! That nasty Eggman has thought of everything!"
Bunnie then tried to warn Sally of his latest trap, but was unable to, as Eggman soon released a can of tear gas under the floorboards where she currently was.
Within seconds, gas began fill the area around Sally.
Once it came close to her, Sally gasped in horror, asking, "What is that?"
"My sensors are detecting a non-lethal lachrymator gas." Nicole explained weakly.
"Tear gas!" Sally exclaimed.
Like Bunnie, she too covered her mouth to try and not inhale the fumes.
However, that was easier said than done. It soon enveloped her, eventually making the squirrel Princes also cough heavily, as well as heavily irritating her eyes and lungs.
Now nearly blinded by the gas, Sally had no choice to but to get out there of risk further injury to her body.
Even Bunnie, who wasn't enveloped, had her vision temporarily blinded.
Eggman meanwhile watched their suffering with complete glee on his face. It warmed the goggles of his heart to see his enemies in a state of agony.
By this time, Sally finally got out of from underneath the floorboards. Unfortunately though, like Bunnie, her vision too was heavily affected by the gas.
Eggman then smirked at their painful expression on their faces, stating with an evil grin, "Pathetic rodents… did you really think I would let you stop me so easily this time?"
Sally though paid no attention his words, but instead glared at him angrily.
"I bet you really feel good now that you didn't kill me off when you had the chance, don't you, Princess?" Eggman added, rubbing that mistake of hers in deeply.
"You… sick… Overlander…" Sally stated, still coughing a bit while seething, clutching her fist in anger.
"Save your big speeches for later, rodent" Eggman retorted. "Especially after all those you know and love down below will be under my command."
Still wanting to rub it in, Eggman added a brief period later, "Tell me, Princess, how does it feel to know you failed to protect your loved ones? Does it hurt really bad inside?"
Again, Sally wouldn't bite on him trying to rile her up.
Eggman though wasn't about to let up, boasting arrogantly, "Even if you did manage to stop that wretched wart hog from getting cut up by my Silver Sonic III when he fell unconscious, you unfortunately only delayed his inevitable demise when you chose to leave him by himself to carry out the task of defeating it alone."
Sally in a way knew he was right, but wasn't about to concede that point to the mad doctor.
With less than forty five seconds to go, their chances of stopping Eggman's roboticizing ray was looking very grim. Their vision was still heavily blinded from the effects of the dissipating tear gas.
Nevertheless, the fight in either of them wasn't even close to being done.
Eggman then said to brag further, "You know, I would take both of you out now, seeing how easy it would be… But if I did that, I wouldn't get the privilege of seeing the look on your faces when you discover your conquest to stop me was all in vain."
That last statement finally set off the cyborg rabbit to take drastic measures.
In spite of her temporary blindness, Bunnie wasn't about to let him win, especially not after all the salt he rubbed in their emotional wounds.
She then crawled down into the spot where Sally was from before, dumbfounding Eggman, as well as Sally, who managed to see it as well.
"What do you think you're going, rodent?" Eggman demanded.
Bunnie though didn't answer him, as she crawled towards the spot where the weapon was being held, feeling her way inside due to her vision being 70% blinded.
Eggman's mood instantly changed, as he shouted at the cyborg rabbit, "You're wasting your time! You cannot stop my cannon from firing, so don't even bother!"
That's what you think, you nasty scientist… Bunnie thought to herself firmly.
Finally, she was able to get close enough to feel where the cannon currently were located.
There was now only twenty five seconds left on the timer.
Now deeply annoyed and irritated, Eggman again fired another tear gas can aimed at hole in the floorboards from his Eggmobile to halt Bunnie in her tracks.
Sally during this time was deeply puzzled by what her best friend was trying to do. Not to mention the irritation in her eyes from the tear gas was still very strong.
Within two seconds, the cyborg rabbit saw more gas filling the area.
Nevertheless, she wasn't about to quit now, especially with time running out.
Bunnie then attempted to punch the cannon with her robotic fists again and again to try and weaken its outer structure.
However, Bunnie wouldn't get to punch it for too long, as the gas by now had completely enveloped her.
Even so, the cyborg rabbit kept her composure, now placing a hand over her mouth and nose to hold her breath, as well as shutting irritated eyes shut to minimize any further impact to her eyes and lungs.
"Just give up already!" Eggman shouted at her, now deeply annoyed. "You honestly think you can do anything now I've impaired your vision and lung function?"
I won't let you get away with this, Eggman… Bunnie thought to herself firmly.
Bunnie then crawled toward the opening in the floorboards again, but stopped in her tracks once she felt the wall in front of it.
Still fighting the gas, the cyborg rabbit now pointed her laser cannon towards the roboticizing cannon, thinking again, I've got one shot. Here's goes nothing.
With less than ten seconds left, Bunnie attempted to fire a laser blast at maximum power.
In spite of the fact she had been weakened by using two of them already, Bunnie knew she had no choice now.
And so, she hunkered down and fired again, giving it everything she had.
While this was going on, the timer finally hit zero.
Eggman now grinned evilly, saying to Sally, "So much for trying to delay the inevitable, Princess… Your pathetic attempt to save your friends was all for naught."
And with that statement, the mad doctor hit the button, attempting to roboticize the citizens of New Mobotropolis.
Sally instantly gasped in horror, as her heart sank at the horror of what would happen next.
However, little did Eggman realize, Bunnie had fired a full powered laser blast a split second before ignition.
This in turn heavily damaged his new secret weapon, causing it to heavily spark and short circuit.
To make matters worse for him, the damage to the robotcizing ray intensified during the command to initiate ignition, making it short circuit even further.
"What's going on here?" Eggman demanded with a frown. "Why isn't the cannon firing?"
Eggman soon found out, as Bunnie by this time slowly but surely crawled out from underneath the floorboards as fast as she could.
Not even two seconds later, the roboticizing ray gun instantly exploded intensely from the damage done to it earlier. It was so big, even Bunnie was sent flying into the air.
"Bunnie!" Sally exclaimed while watching in horror as she fell to the ground flat on her back in a thud.
In a flash, Eggman's emotions changed again, from perplexion to complete rage.
"ARRGGHHHH!" he shouted, raising his fists in anger. "You vile rodents! How could you have destroyed my roboticizing cannon? IT'S JUST NOT POSSIBLE!"
Sally though paid no attention to his temper tantrum, now running to Bunnie's side.
Eggman now glared at the two Freedom Fighters, shouting again while pointing a finger, "That does it! I'm not holding anything back on you rodents any longer! I'm going to make your deaths for daring to interfere with my plans again a very painful one!"
Again, Sally paid no attention to his words, asking, "Bunnie, you all right?"
Bunnie unfortunately couldn't respond in time, as Sally soon heard Eggman hovering towards them, making her glance from behind.
Within moments, he fired another two cans of tear gas at them to try and halt them in their tracks again.
This time though, Sally was ready for this attack of Eggman's.
When the cans hit the ground, the squirrel Princess quickly picked reacted, as she then picked them up off the ground before they could spray much gas into the air, now tossing them back at Eggman.
"What the…?"
Sally heaved the cans directly at Eggman's head, trying to dent his face in.
Since she had quickly reacted, the mad doctor didn't get a chance to counter it. The first can ended up hitting him hard in the right cheek, putting a big bruise there.
"Ow! Why you little…!"
Fortunately for Eggman, he was able to evade the second can aimed at him. Nevertheless, the first can that hit him in the face and ended up bouncing in his Eggmobile soon began to envelop him, now making the mad doctor cough heavily, while also clinching his eyes in pain.
"Ah, curse you, Princess!" he stated in anger, still coughing after tossing the can behind him.
He then added with seething, "Don't you dare get too comfortable! This battle of ours isn't over by a long shot!"
With his vision deeply affected, Eggman decided to retreat for now.
Once he left the area, Sally took a deep sigh of relief, saying while wiping the sweat from her brow, "That was a close one…"
Thankfully by this time, their vision was starting to return to normal, though they still felt the effects of the gas somewhat.
She then turned back to Bunnie, who was now on her knees trying to stand, where she soon asked her, "How you feeling?"
"I'll be ok…" Bunnie replied weakly, trying to act tough "Don't worry about me."
The cyborg rabbit soon stood up, stating firmly, "C'mon, let's finish the job we started, Sally girl."
Sally nodded her head, saying back, "Right…"
And with that statement, the two of them headed back towards to the corridor where their comrades were to give them a hand.
As they did so, Bunnie asked Sally, "I wonder why Eggman retreated so quickly… You'd think he would have put up more of a fight then that."
"Maybe he's out of any clever tricks at the moment." Sally explained, trying to make sense out of this move herself.
"I don't know… I just don't believe Eggman is out of nasty traps for us just like that." Bunnie said, now deeply suspicious.
Sally sadly couldn't argue with that either. She knew Eggman would fight to the bitter end before throwing in the towel.
Seconds later, the two of them finally made it back to the room where Amy and Sonic currently were in.
As Eggman had said, the blue hedgehog did indeed have a whale of a time trying to keep Silver Sonic III in check by himself.
Even Amy was now starting to get weary from trying to destroy Metal Sonic with her Piko Hammer.
"C'mon, Sally girl…" Bunnie encouraged loudly with her fits pumped. "Let's help em finish off these nasty bots!"
Sally again nodded her head, now preparing to do just that.
However, both gals soon discovered Eggman indeed did have other plans.
Just then, a huge rumbling occurred in the Death Egg, almost knocking them and the others off their feet.
"What in tarnation was that?" Bunnie asked with fear in her facial expressions.
Even Snively and Lien-Da, who were within seconds of entering the battle before Sally and Bunnie returned, also looked on deeply baffled.
All of them though soon found out, as Eggman said over the PA loudly while seething, "You wretched Freedom Fighters…! I never thought it was possible for you to destroy my roboticizing ray, especially after the extra detail I went in formulating this plan…"
He then added after a brief pause, "Nevertheless, I had planned ahead, just in case such a circumstance had happened… and this backup plan of mine is even more devastating than my original one."
Instantly, Sally's heart sank, as she had inkling what he was referring to.
"Since you wouldn't let me roboticize your precious population, I'll just vaporize it instead!" Eggman shouted after a brief pause.
Within moments, every Freedom Fighter gasped in horror, as Eggman soon added with a hearty laugh, "Good luck trying to find me! Once my backup Death Egg cannon is fully charged up, New Mobotropolis will be nothing but a barren wasteland! HA HA HA! Ta ta…"
And with that statement, he cut off the feed.
"I was right…" Bunnie said with a heavy frown. "He didn't retreat for nothing!"
"I should have seen this coming…" Sally added, now starting to sweat bullets again.
"Never mind that…" Bunnie stated with anger. "How are we going to find him in time before he fires that newfangled cannon of his?"
"Also, who do we dare send after him especially with these two robots still active?" Sally inquired, now deeply torn inside.
Sonic, who was still in heavy fight with Silver Sonic III, shouted to the squirrel Princess once he saw her state of despair, "Go after Eggbelly, Sal! I'll be ok for now."
"But Sonic… your head injury." Sally protested, now looking at him deeply worried. "I can't risk you getting hurt worse."
"You're going to have to…" Sonic replied firmly to her. "Otherwise he's going to kill the citizens of New Mobotropolis!"
Sally was about to argue further, when Bunnie told her, "He's right, Sally girl. I'll stay behind and help him out for the time being."
With time again not on their side, the squirrel Princess realized there wasn't much choice in the matter.
Bunnie then added to Sally to reassure her further, "Once Sugarhog and I trash Silver Sonic III; I'll come give you hand. In the meantime, you've gotta stop that nasty mad scientist before it's too late."
Sally now nodded her head in compliance, as she quickly ran off with Bunnie shouting at her in a cheer from a distance, "Good luck, Sally girl. Go give em what for!"
And with statement, Bunnie turned back to help the blue hedgehog again.
As for Snively and Lien-Da, they now had mixed emotions about Eggman's latest plan to put it lightly.
"Your uncle is really off his rocker this time." Lien Da commented with arched eyebrows at the small lackey. "I had no idea he had an idea like this cooked up."
"Neither did I." Snively replied, sighing while shaking his head. "Although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised anymore by anything that lunatic does, being around him for this long…"
"Can this ship even handle a charged up ray blast that big?" Lien-Da inquired with deep concern.
"Knowing my uncle… who can say for sure?" Snively answered sullenly.
To put it lightly, Eggman's actions had now put the red female echidna on edge emotionally, even wondering if the blast would indeed backfire and end up blowing up the entire Death Egg to bits due to overload.
Nevertheless, Lien-Da decided to worry about that later and take care of business at hand.
Sally meanwhile ran as fast as she could, asking her A.I best friend, "Nicole, try to pinpoint Eggman's location from where he transmitted that PA message a while ago."
"Attempting to pinpoint now." Nicole replied softly, soon doing a quick scan of the Death Egg's electronic activities.
Sally then thought with vigor as she ran, Eggman, you will not succeed in blowing up my city again! This time, I'll stop you even if it means I have to sacrifice my life in order to do so!
Sally deep down had a hunch it may come to that, but resolved nonetheless to fight to the finish for the sake of her citizens regardless
"As Princess of Mobius, it is my job to do all I can to ensure their safety." Sally said to herself softly. She then added taking a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, "Ok, here goes nothing!"
Back in the main hall of the Death Egg, the fight continued between the three Freedom Fighters and Eggman's two Sonic robots.
As before, Sonic and Bunnie did everything in their power to manhandle Silver Sonic III.
That however, proved easier said than done. With it being gigantic and having blades stick out of its shell when it spin dashed, trying to keep it under wraps continued to be a huge undertaking.
Even Amy found herself unable to fend off Metal Sonic by herself for much longer due to her increasing fatigue.
It soon came to a point that Sonic knew he was going to have to alternate in targeting Eggman's robots with his attacks or risk one of them getting seriously injured.
At first though, he hesitated due to fear the Silver Sonic III would critically injure Bunnie first if he didn't keep close to her side.
Nevertheless, Bunnie even noticed Amy's struggling mightily, which she soon said to Sonic firmly after the blue spiky knocked to the ground, "Give Amy girl a hand, Sugarhog. I'll be ok for the time being."
"But… I…"
Even at that moment, Sonic fought within himself of what to do.
"Help her!" Bunnie ordered firmly with a rebuking glare a split second later. "That nasty blue Sonic bot is going to hurt her badly if you don't stop standing around!"
Just then, Bunnie saw Silver Sonic III attempting to attack with another spin dash at her.
"Oh no you don't!" the cyborg rabbit responded, blasting off with her rocket legs towards the gigantic silver Sonic robot.
In spite of the danger of getting hit by the rotating blades, Bunnie knew it was a risk she had to take.
Thankfully, her bold move paid off, as she now used her robotic legs after shutting off her rocket boosters to slam into Silver Sonic III, resulting in it being violently rammed against the wall.
Sonic meanwhile quickly glanced over at saw Metal Sonic trying cut up Amy with its metal spikes.
As it turned out, the pink hedgehog again was holding it back as hard as she could with the stick end of her Piko Hammer.
Sonic then finally sprang into action, where he soon spun into a ball and hit Metal Sonic with a well-timed spin dash before it could hurt injure Amy.
Like Bunnie, the blue hedgehog too was able to ram this robot into the wall from behind.
"It's about time, Sonikku!" Amy scolded with a frown, now standing up. "That robot was about to make a hedgehog filet out of me."
"Sorry about that…" Sonic replied with a bit of a guilty look on his face.
Unfortunately though, before he and Amy could attack Metal Sonic further, Sonic soon heard a loud grunt from behind, making him glance from behind.
Again, Bunnie found herself struggling to keep Silver Sonic III at bay, as she was now trying to grab one of its spinning blades with her robotic arm and heave it against the wall again.
"Ah, man…" Sonic muttered to himself. "I was afraid of this."
He then ran back towards Amy, where she soon demanded of him, "Hey, where are you going?"
"I'm sorry, Amy, but Bunnie needs my assistance at the moment." Sonic answered while running towards the other side of the room. "I'll be back in a bit."
Amy would have protested further, but soon saw Bunnie's predicament herself.
The pink hedgehog then sighed in frustration and commented, "I guess I'll have to take care of Metal Sonic by myself again…"
While this was going on, Nicole soon reported back to Sally, "I'm sorry, but I was unable to determine the location of where Eggman made that announcement."
"I was afraid of that…" Sally stated, shaking her head.
Moments later, the squirrel Princess realized there was only one alternative solution.
She then found a USB port up ahead and plugged the A.I lynx in it, saying, "Nicole, try to see if you can find which room has been using the most power within the last five minutes."
Nicole did as she asked, searching fervently with her A.I abilities.
However, when she got back her results, Sally's eyebrows instantly arched.
"What? This… this can't be for real." Sally stated in disbelief.
As it turned out, there were three rooms blinking around the Death Egg's schematics on Nicole's screen.
"Nicole, can you decipher which of these rooms is the right one?" Sally inquired.
"I unfortunately cannot…" Nicole stated weakly. "It looks like Eggman has the most frequent signal bouncing off of three different areas in order to confuse you."
"That can only mean one thing…" Sally stated with a frown on her face. "He's trying to set me up into another trap."
Instantly, images of the turret gun trap flashed through her mind, making her tense up inside.
Nevertheless, Sally wasn't about to back down in spite of that risk again. So, she put her thinking cap on and began to try and decipher the code.
"Ok…" she said, furrowing her brow further. "The three blinks are coming from the engine room in the middle, the far right side of the Death Egg and in the storage room on the very bottom of the ship."
Not surprisingly, Sally found the code harder to decipher than she thought it would be.
After thinking it over for a minute, Sally said to herself, "Let's see… it can't be the far right since I was in that part of the ship before. And it's more than likely not in the storage room since that's just a room with his extra supplies…
She then said with a grin, "In that case, it must be in the engine room."
And with that statement, Sally ran towards that area.
Eggman meanwhile clapped his hands in glee after overhearing it from his room, saying with a smirk, "Ha! I knew that meddling Princess would fall for my trap. She must think I'm pretty stupid to make it that obvious."
Meanwhile, Nicole soon asked her while she ran, "Are you sure it's that simple? I have a feeling Eggman wouldn't make his location that easy to decipher."
"Trust me, Nicole." Sally replied with a confident expression on her face, soon winking at her A.I best friend. "I have a plan."
Once the squirrel princess entered the nearest elevator to head downstairs, Sally said to Nicole, "I'm going to need your help with something right now. Are you up to it?"
"I'll do what I can." Nicole replied. "What do you need from me?"
Two minutes later, the Death Egg's vaporizing cannon was now 66% charged, where it continued to climb one percent every five seconds.
Eggman meanwhile kept an eye on his monitors in the room, hoping to catch Sally getting blasted in his latest trap.
Ten seconds soon passed, and there he saw Sally exiting the elevator, now running into the engine room.
"Yes… keep going, Princess." Eggman said with a sneer, rubbing his hands together. "You'll find yourself in an even worse predicament than before…"
Not long after this, Sally finally ran into the engine room, and there Eggman's latest trap sprung.
This time, Eggman had three turret guns aimed at her, one from behind, one in front of her, and one to the left.
Sally instantly turned around in a panic after seeing this, with Eggman commented with a smirk on his face, "Say cheese, rodent."
And with that statement, the three turret guns each fired three rounds in successive fashion.
Within seconds, the squirrel Princess fell to the ground in a bloody heap.
Eggman immediately pumped his fists victory, shouting with glee, "YES! YES! YES! I got her this time!"
Seeing her down on the ground dead fired up the mad doctor even more, saying, "Now… with her out of the way, nobody will dare to get in the way of my plans to vaporize New Mobotropolis."
Forty-five seconds soon passed, with Eggman's cannon now at 75% charged.
Deep down, Eggman was annoyed it was taking this long, but decided it was worth the wait, stating euphorically, "In another two minutes, my revenge against those filthy Mobians will finally be complete!
He then added now getting drunk on his own ego while raising his fists in the air again, "Victory will soon be mine!"
Instantly, he began to laugh incessantly like an insane mad man.
However, he wouldn't be able to laugh for long.
Out of the corner of his eye, his biggest problem at the moment would soon coming true before his very eyes.
Before he could turn his head, the mad doctor was rammed hard in the gut with an elbow, abruptly knocking him out of his chair and onto the floor in a heap.
When Eggman finally looked up to see who had jarred him so hard, his jaw almost dropped to the ground.
"YOU…?"
The one he saw… was none other than Princess Sally, now towering over him with a fierce glare.
Instantly, Eggman stuttered in disbelief, muttering in anger, "I…impossible! I saw you get mowed down by three turret guns!"
"Or you thought you did…" Sally retorted firmly.
"There's no way you could have survived that attack!" Eggman declared, soon standing up disgusted. "You were hit with at least a dozen bullets."
"That image you saw in the engine room wasn't me, Eggman." Sally explained firmly. "It was a decoy to throw you off your guard."
"How could you make a clone of yourself?" Eggman demanded further. "That isn't even possible!"
"It is when you have a super A.I computer on your side." Sally retorted again, now flashing a smirk at him.
In that moment, Eggman quickly figured out what she was trying to say.
"You mean… that was…?"
"Bingo, Doctor."
As it turned out, Sally had Nicole turn herself into a nanite clone of the Princess for about ten seconds, pretending to get hit and then playing dead when the turret bullets blasted her.
Sally was betting deep down if Eggman saw her get mowed down on his video screen, he would immediately turn away from the cameras and focus on his cannon instead.
Sure enough, her theory would be proven right.
"You little pest!" Eggman declared seething, feeling humiliated inside. "How dare you take full advantage of my overpersuit to finish you off!"
"It's your own fault, Eggman." Sally shot back. "You just don't when to stop celebrating when you should be tying up any loose ends!"
By this time, the mad doctor completely lost his cool, shouting at the squirrel Princess while pointing a finger in his face, "It doesn't matter! You're still too late to stop me from carrying out my latest plan to eradicate your kind!"
"That's what you think, Doctor." Sally countered. "I'll stop you even it means having to sacrifice my life in the process."
"Good…!" Eggman stated loudly. "Because I assure you it will indeed cost you that if you dare to continue to meddle in my affairs!"
Sally then looked at the screen, now seeing it at 80%. At first, she felt a bit panicked inside, but soon composed herself, thinking, I can't back down now… I've come too far to let Eggman win in the end.
"Prepare yourself, Eggman." Sally declared boldly, now getting into a fighting pose. "Judgment for your crimes against Mobius will soon be upon you."
"You talk big," Eggman shot back, "but let's see if you're bold enough to back it up."
With time desperately running out, Sally charged towards him, now fully determined to take him down.
Eggman soon did likewise, as he was just as determined to stop her from interfering any longer.
To be continued...