Act 2

Chapter 6: Battlefield

Dr. Eggman and Lord Brevon stared at their screen as the Egg Dreadnought approached the city of Shangopolis. They had surprisingly enough had a very calm and easy-going flight all the way over to the city. They had expected to at least run into somebody that was going to try and stop them or take a shot at them. They had even expected to run into at least Sonic or Lilac on their trip. But they hadn't come across a single Mobian or Avalician since the fusion process had happened. This had filled them with hope that the whole thing meant that their enemies were already dead and thus, they could inflict terror on the fusion world they had created and have any surviving inhabitants cower before them.

But that hope had been smashed to smithereens as the Egg Dreadnought arrived at Shangopolis. The huge vessel loomed just before the city itself but unfortunately, it wasn't on its own. It had a resistance waiting to receive it and said resistance was quite possibly the worst kind they could've received. All their enemies banded together, both with an army each. G.U.N. for the Mobians and Shang Mu's troops for the Avalicians. When the Chaos Control had been initiated, Eggman and Brevon had had mentally ordered the process to separate their enemies. Chaos Energy transformed thoughts into power as Eggman had said. And yet their enemies were all together and clearly waiting to unleash all hell on the two. Eggman thumped the control panel in rage whereas Brevon looked more pleased to see his enemies than angry.

"How can this be?!" the fat doctor ranted angrily, "Our enemies are supposed to be separated! How can they be all together again?!"

"Isn't it obvious? They found each other." Brevon snorted.

"And at a VERY inconvenient time too!" Eggman moaned, "We was just about to assert our authority over this new world we've created and now Sonic and his friends are here with Lilac and her friends to ruin everything!"

"Do not fret doctor. We have no chance of losing to our enemies. Not while we have the greatest power there is..." the alien warlord purred.

He glanced over his shoulder and looked at the dazzling Kingdom Emerald behind him and Eggman. The scientist turned around and looked at it too, grinning now he remembered that they had the glorious gem on them. The blue and green emerald shone luminously, waiting for the chance to be used again. The very gem had brought Mobius and Avalice together and Eggman and Brevon still had it in their hands. They would win this battle easily. They couldn't lose at all with Chaos Energy and Kingdom Energy combined and at their disposal.

"Oh yes indeed my alien friend..." Eggman crooned, "Ho, ho, ho, I can't believe I forgot about that! With the Kingdom Emerald, we have all the power!"

"And our enemies have no power at all." Brevon gloated, "They have already lost and the battle hasn't even begun yet."

"Time to claim our victory then!" the scientist chortled excitedly.

"And then this world will bow to us..." the extra-terrestrial sneered.

Grinning maniacally, Eggman and Brevon turned back to the control panel and both of them pressed a button that activated the Egg Dreadnought's loud speakers. Once they spoke into the microphones built into the control panel, everybody outside would hear them. Down below, Sonic, Lilac and their teams waited for something to happen. They were getting ready to jump into battle but just as they were about to attack, they heard the voices of their worst enemies booming out from the Egg Dreadnought.

"Attention Mobians and Avalicians!" boomed Eggman's voice, "You stand before us, ready to resist us and cause a great deal of inconvenience for us!"

"Such behaviour is high treason to your leaders!" boomed Brevon's voice, "You are to cease any futile attempts to interfere with our reign or we will have you all vaporized!"

Sonic just snorted.

"Seriously? The two have the balls to threaten US, say we're committing treason and then say that they're OUR leaders?!" he scoffed, "I didn't think Eggman's ego could get any bigger..."

"Brevon! We know that you and Eggman have done this!" Lilac barked up at the Egg Dreadnought, her face full of unfathomable fury, "We know that you two have fused our worlds together and we're gonna give you one chance to undo all of this before we tear your stupid fusion ship apart!"

The dragon's rants were met with something that Lilac had not wanted to receive as a response. Mocking laughter ringing out from the Egg Dreadnought. Eggman and Brevon both cackled as if Lilac had just said something incredibly stupid rather than threatening.

"You do not have the power to stop us little one!" Brevon jeered, "Our ship is invincible. Putting up any kind of fight against it is futile!"

"And do you seriously think we're going to undo what we've done after we worked hard making this world a reality?!" Eggman chortled, "You must think we're lunatics or something!"

"We do actually." scoffed Neera Li, "Brevon was already a lunatic before this happened and you "Eggman" are equally as loony as he is!"

"And now they're even bigger lunatics now they're working together." sniffed Tails, a snide smile spreading across his face.

"We're digressing..." Lilac interrupted, "You two, how the heck did you fuse our worlds together anyway?!"

"Did you use the Master Emerald and the Kingdom Energy to do it?" Sonic added.

"Oh we most certainly did!" Eggman crowed, "That's why we stole them after all!"

"We used the power of your world's magnificent energies to bring you both together so that we have a world we can rule over and punish those who wronged us in the past." gloated Brevon, "We met within the space portal that linked your worlds together and used a Chaos Control to bring your worlds into the limbo between worlds and combine your planets into one big planet for us!"

Tails could hardly believe his ears. He had always wondered what the strange light that had appeared annually above Mobius for so long was. Now he knew.

"Space portal? You mean the strange white light that appeared annually above Mobius is a gateway between worlds?" he asked.

"That's exactly what it is..." Torque confirmed, "And to think that that light was a bridge between Mobius and Avalice the whole time..."

"So it seems that our worlds have always been linked in some way or another!" Amy gasped.

"Talk about crazy!" Gong exclaimed.

"And that space portal was how this whole thing began..." Lilac mused.

"Eggman and Brevon met thanks to it and used it to go to our worlds to steal the M.E. and the Kingdom Energy!" Sonic deduced, "And according to Lord Eyebrows, we're not only in a combination of our two worlds, but inside the limbo that links our worlds together!"

"Does this mean that we're stuck here forever?" Milla asked worriedly.

"Not necessarily." Tails said matter-of-factly, "We're in-between our worlds, that means the portals must still be open. We can separate our worlds and restore them to normal."

"I'm afraid that will not be as easy as you think little one." Brevon's deep, menacing voice announced confidently, "We have closed the portals that have brought you here."

"Only we can open them up now with the power we have!" Eggman boasted, "So you're trapped in this limbo on our fusion world forever! You want to escape? Then you have to come and get us!"

"How nice of you to invite us to a party!" Sonic laughed, cracking his knuckles, "Say guys, you think we should accept their invitation?"

"You bet!" Amy declared, summoning her hammer to her hands.

"Brevon and Eggman must pay!" Milla screeched.

"And our worlds must be restored." Lilac growled, "Let's give them everything we've got!"

"For Avalice!"

"And for Mobius!"

The G.U.N. and Shang Mu troops were quick to respond to such declarations. They would happily join their world's heroes in stopping the Egg Dreadnought and restoring their worlds to normal. The jeeps, airships, robots and jets all aimed their weapons at the huge, menacing vessel above and began to unleash an onslaught of hail fire on it. Bullets, lasers and cannons all fired and bombarded the Egg Dreadnought, firing relentlessly and doing the best they could to try and penetrate or even bring down the ship. With the mass numbers they had and the enormous amount of weaponry at their disposal, they had quickly turned this situation into a flat-out warzone. The Egg Dreadnought just loomed where it was, taking all the firepower as if it were merely pebbles being tossed into a hard surface. Eggman and Brevon took all of this in with a confident smile each. This whole thing was merely entertainment for them.

"Do they seriously think their puny weapons can penetrate us?" Eggman chortled.

"They're as persistent as they are foolish." Brevon crowed, "Well now we can show them the consequences of their stupidity."

He nodded to Serpentine and Syntax while Eggman nodded to Orbot and Cubot, who were standing by and waiting for orders. They all reacted immediately and Serpentine slammed his hand down on a button on the control panel. Orbot and Cubot did the same on Eggman's side of the panel. Syntax merely tapped into the Egg Dreadnought's weapon systems through a link she had with the ship's systems.

"Bon voyage heroes!" Cubot yelled, still sporting a French Accent.

"Let's show them what firepower WE have!" Serpentine cackled.

As the resistance continued firing heavily onto the Egg Dreadnought, the ship's own weapons began to deploy. Huge laser cannons extended out from the base of the ship and aimed down at the jeeps on the ground. Some cannons pointed up at the flying vehicles. The Mobians and Avalicians saw this and were quick to react.

"Look out! They're gonna fire!" Sonic yelped.

"Get back!" Lilac screeched.

The G.U.N. troops and Shang Mu guards did not heed their warning, even as the Mobians and Avalicians ran for cover. They continued to shoot at the Egg Dreadnought as if it would do them any good and that they would finally penetrate it. But the ship's tough hull still held up against their onslaughts despite how heavily it was being bombarded. Then suddenly, the Egg Dreadnought opened fire on its resistance. Huge laser blasts shot out of the cannons and sliced straight through the jeeps, destroying them instantly and killing their drivers. The jeeps never stood a chance as they were blown apart. The airships and jets launched several missiles at the Egg Dreadnought to try and counter attack the laser shots. Some of their missiles successfully managed to block the lasers and some of them managed to hit the ship. But they still couldn't damage it in any way. Several G.U.N. drones and Shang Mu Guard Bots flew up to attack the Egg Dreadnought but they were destroyed easily by the firing lasers. The ship was firing in several directions at once, making it near impossible to get close without being shot. It was an impossible battle to win for the troops. The evil vessel fired at the Shang Mu airships and blew them apart instantly. Fiery debris and smoking wrecks crashed down onto the city, smashing anything they landed on. The G.U.N. jets were harder to hit as they constantly flew around like bees circling a flower but they barely offered any resistance whatsoever. Their missiles couldn't penetrate the ship. The Egg Dreadnought wasted no time in shooting them down, firing rapidly in hopes of hitting the jets as they kept circling it.

The Mobians and Avalicians could only watch helplessly as the troops that had brought them together were being annihilated with ease. Jets were shot down, airships were blown apart and jeeps were destroyed in virtually no time whatsoever.

"They're losing!" Milla wailed.

"They're more than just losing little doggy." Amy said sadly, "They're dying out there!"

"We've gotta help them!" Sonic declared, "Come on, let's go!"

"What can we do?!" Torque exclaimed, "We haven't got anything that can fight back!"

"Yes we have!" Lilac corrected, "That ship the two-tailed fox owns over there!" she pointed over at the Blue Typhoon which was standing nearby, mercifully being spared from the Egg Dreadnought's firepower, "And Dail's ship could also help too!"

"Great idea!" Tails replied, "We'll get our ships in the air and we'll fight back! I've always wanted to test the Blue Typhoon's firepower!"

"My ship is well armed and efficient in battle. We'll be able to return fire with it." Dail announced, "Avalicians, with me!" he ordered.

"Mobians, let's get the Blue Typhoon up and flying!" Sonic commanded.

The two groups ran off to their respective vessels, keen to get in the air as soon as possible and put an end to the Egg Dreadnought's terror. There weren't many troops left to combat the Egg Dreadnought and very soon, the city would be defenceless. The Mobians all boarded the Blue Typhoon and the Avalicians all boarded Dail's ship. Once they were onboard, the two ships were quick to take off and rise up into the sky to fight the villains. As they took off, the squadron that had found Knuckles and Carol had arrived just in time to provide back-up for their dying troops. The echidna and wildcat saw despairingly that they weren't in time to stop the ship from attacking. Mercifully, the city hadn't been touched by the Egg Dreadnought though they could see that some airships had been shot down and had destroyed parts of the city by landing down on top of buildings.

"Pity we didn't get here a few minutes earlier..." Carol sighed.

"We're still in time to stop it from razing the city!" Knuckles cried, "And look, my friends' ship the Blue Typhoon is here!" he added, pointing at said vessel as it took to the skies.

"You mean your buddies own THAT awesome looking thing?!" the wildcat exclaimed, "That is so cool! And what's even cooler is that King Dail's ship is here too!" she pointed up at the green airship that was now challenging the Egg Dreadnought.

"Looks like both sides are against it." Knuckles said approvingly, "And our finders said Sonic and Lilac were waiting for us. I bet they're on those ships fighting back against that evil one!"

"Then let's join them!" Carol cried, "Yo robo fists, give me a ride up to Dail's ship will ya?" she requested, looking over at a Shang Mu Guard Bot that was about to fight against the attacking ship.

The robot responded immediately and flew over to the wildcat. It grabbed Carol by the arms and hoisted her up into the sky, heading straight up towards the green airship above. For Knuckles, a G.U.N. flying drone hovered towards him as if inviting him for a ride up into the sky. Knuckles grabbed onto it and pointed up at the Blue Typhoon, ordering the drone to take him over to it. The robot responded immediately and carried him straight up towards the Blue Typhoon, avoiding laser shots from the Egg Dreadnought as it continued to fire. The Shang Mu Robot did the same, Carol yelping in fright every time she nearly got singed by the lasers. But luckily for the two, they managed to avoid being hit and the two robots arrived at the respective ships. Carol jumped down onto the decks of Dail's airship, earning an immediate response of joyous delight from her friends. Lilac and the others had been on the decks for in case anything happened that required them to be out in the open and the dragon immediately sprinted over to Carol, seeming to forget about the fight that was happening. The two friends embraced delightedly.

"Carol! You found us at last!" Lilac hollered, "Now the gang's all back together!"

"You betcha!" Carol cried, "Thought it would've been nicer if we were back together and not getting shot at by presumably Brevon and Mobius's big enemy, Eggman I believe the Mobians called him!" she screeched, pointing ahead as the Egg Dreadnought fired at the squadron that had just returned with her and Knuckles.

"That's exactly who's onboard that ship." Lilac confirmed, "Brevon and…pfft…Dr. Eggman, the guy who stole the Kingdom Energy. They confirmed to us that they're responsible for all of this and now we've gotta stop them so we can get our worlds back to normal."

"Good thing I'm in time for that!" Carol cried, "Let's kick their asses everybody!"

"Carol, I thought Lilac said that was a bad word…" Milla said innocently.

The wildcat ignored her and focused on the Egg Dreadnought as Dail's ship aimed its cannons ahead and opened fire. His airship was the most advanced and heavily armed of any airship on Avalice. His weapons would have more effect than Shang Mu's airships did.

Over on the Blue Typhoon, the G.U.N. drone lowered Knuckles onto the runway of the ship. Unlike Carol, he wasn't met with a ceremonious welcome from his friends for they were all in the bridge of the ship. However, up in the bridge, Tails saw that Knuckles had arrived on the ship and smiled as the echidna ran towards it. Knuckles knew how to get inside so he didn't need to send anybody out to receive him. The echidna ran across the ship and over to the bridge. There was a door at the base of the tower that was used for if anybody outside the ship needed a quick way of getting inside. He opened the door and ran into the tower, climbing all the way up to the bridge and running over to his friends who were all sat at the controls and waiting to open fire. They all waved at him gleefully.

"Knuckles! So glad you could join us hot head!" Sonic said brightly.

"So good that you found us. Now we're all reunited!" Tails cried cheerfully.

"Looks like I picked a good time to show up!" Knuckles blustered, "Me and an Avalician named Carol saw this thing and chased after it, which led to G.U.N. and people from Carol's world finding us and bringing us here! We think our enemies are onboard that ship."

"Your thoughts were correct." Amy confirmed, "Eggman's on that thing along with Avalice's enemy Lord Brevon, the guy who stole the Master Emerald!"

"Those bad, bad men are the ones who did all this!" Cream chimed in, "They used the energies from the things they stole from our worlds to fuse our planets together! And we're gonna stop them!"

"You can count me in." Knuckles said, getting into his seat and grabbing the controls, "Those monsters are gonna pay for using my emerald's power to do all of this!"

Sonic nodded agreeably, sharing the same mind-set.

The Blue Typhoon aimed its gun turrets at the Egg Dreadnought and began to bombard the ship with heavy laser fire. Tails had built the Blue Typhoon for precisely this purpose, to combat any Eggman ships he encountered. The Egg Dreadnought was part Death Egg so his firepower would be effective. The Blue Typhoon and King Dail's ships both unleashed all their firepower onto the ship, clearly having more impact than the jeeps, jets and airships. Most of the Egg Dreadnought's firepower was directed onto the squadrons on the ground, leaving them more open to attack from their two new opponents. The laser and cannon fire hit the ship's tough hull but did no damage. But the impact was much harder and more noticeable from the two ships. Eggman and Brevon actually felt the interior shudder as they were hit.

"What's going on?!" Eggman yelped.

"It appears we're being hit by heavy weaponry…" Orbot announced.

"Who's doing it?!" Serpentine demanded furiously.

Eggman and Brevon peered at their screen and saw that the Blue Typhoon and Dail's airship had joined in the battle. Their henchmen saw this too and they stared in shock.

"Sacre bleu! Ze heroes have got their own ships Mon Capitan!" Cubot exclaimed.

"They're firing at us." Syntax droned nonchalantly, "The Mobians and Avalicians clearly do not want to back down without a fight."

"Then shoot them down and destroy them!" Brevon snarled, "They will not destroy our vessel and ruin everything now!"

The robots and cyber snake obeyed and they began to turn some of their firepower onto their new opponents. A few of their cannons rotated upwards, leaving some to keep firing at the ground. There wasn't much ground support left anyway so it didn't matter if fewer jeeps were shooting at them. Most of the jeeps had been destroyed. There were only a few airships and some jets left along with the Blue Typhoon and Dail's airship. The Egg Dreadnought then opened fire, shooting straight at the two ships. But the Blue Typhoon and the Green Airship aimed their weapons at the oncoming shots and fired, stopping them from hitting home. Neera Li even fired some ice spears and Spade threw some cards at the Egg Dreadnought's lasers to stop them getting anywhere. So far now, the air-to-air combat was beginning to get even sided. Neither ship could really damage another but the heroes had some of G.U.N. and Shang Mu's army left still firing at the Egg Dreadnought. The Egg Dreadnought wouldn't be able to hold out forever with such relentless firepower. And soon after the fight had begun, the heroes ended up with some extra support.

Commander Tower and the Lead Shang Mu Guard's squadrons had finally returned home and upon seeing their forces along with the Mobians and Avalicians firing at the strange vessel they had come across, they knew that they had to get involved too. Their jeeps and air vehicles aimed at the Egg Dreadnought and began shooting at it from behind. Shadow and Rouge left their jeep and the bat flew Shadow up towards the Blue Typhoon while Omega stayed on the ground and unleashed his entire arsenal on the Egg Dreadnought. He was enjoying this greatly as his Gatling guns spat out showers of bullets and his rocket launchers threw missiles at the ship. The Egg Dreadnought had some cannons that extended out of the back of the vessel and began shooting at the attacking squadrons from behind. Many of the jeeps were hit and destroyed instantly but Commander Tower and the Lead Guard managed to avoid being hit, still keeping their weapons focused on the evil vessel above.

"All surviving G.U.N. units, evasive action!" Tower barked, "Do not remain still while shooting! Keeping moving around as you fire!"

"All units keep eyes on the target and avoid being shot!" the Lead Guard commanded, "Keep moving at all times!"

Their armies understood completely and did just that. The jeeps began to drive around randomly while still shooting at the Egg Dreadnought while the jets and airships kept shooting from the sky, not once standing still for a moment. Hails of bullets, missiles, cannons and lasers hammered, onto the Egg Dreadnought, bouncing away harmlessly but shaking the crew up inside, meaning that they were going to impact it greatly eventually.

Dail's airship was doing the same thing; making every shot it fired count in either hitting the Egg Dreadnought or blocking its laser fire. Milla even added some extra firepower by throwing green energy blocks at the ship. The blocks along with Neera's ice beams and Spade's cards made excellent defence against their enemy's firepower and some of the shots even hit the ship itself. It worried Lilac a little to see Milla pushing herself like this. The dog didn't often use her trademark powers in rapid succession like she was doing now, making the dragon wonder if she would be over-exerting herself by doing so. Milla didn't seem to be getting tired though as she kept summoning blocks and throwing them one after another.

The combined firepower from the Blue Typhoon and the Green Airship along with any surviving G.U.N. and Shang Mu troops was slowly but steadily beginning to make some kind of breakthrough on the Egg Dreadnought. The ship's hull was extremely tough and hard to penetrate but even a ship as powerful as this had its limits. The constant bombardment from laser, cannon and missile fire was beginning to finally leave some kind of damage on the ship. Some of the Green Airship's missiles hit the Egg Dreadnought and left some cracks that were beginning to spread across the hull. The Blue Typhoon's weaponry along with Shadow's Chaos Spears were beginning to leave dents in the tough body of the vessel. The ship's hull was starting to give way. Very soon, they would start blowing holes in it and once they'd done so, they'd be able to tear the ship to pieces. The battle was going in the Mobians and Avalician's favour.

But despite this, their victory wasn't as easy to grab as they thought. Inside the Egg Dreadnought, Eggman and Brevon were well aware of the damages that were being done to their ship. The interior shook as if it was hit by an earthquake and the computer screens were frantically displaying the levels of damage that the ship was receiving. The two villains glared at their screens, not at all pleased to see that they were sustaining damage. It made them even angrier to see that most of the damage they were receiving was coming from their enemies.

"Curse those animals! They're damaging our ship!" Eggman ranted, "They'll blow us apart if they keep at it like this!"

"And then we can add this to your over-growing list of failures and your equally as long list of defeats at Sonic the Hedgehog's hands Dr. Eggman." Orbot said casually.

"SHUT UP!" the fat doctor bellowed, "We've got to stop those miscreants from tearing us apart!"

"And I know just how to do it…" Brevon declared, "I will go over to the Avalician ship and take out as much of their weaponry as possible. Or even better…tear the ship apart myself!"

"And I shall do the same for Sonic's ship!" Eggman decided, "I'll send Metal Sonic over there immediately!"

"And I shall prepare my battle-mech." the alien warlord crooned, "Serpentine, Syntax, remain at your posts and keep firing at those ships! I will try and make your job in destroying the dragon girl's ship easier."

"As you wish my lord." Serpentine said loyally.

The cyber-snake and the robo-henchwoman remained where they were while Brevon turned and stomped out of the room to get his mech ready. Eggman remained where he was, keeping an eye on the enemy ships while Orbot and Cubot kept their weapons firing. He then pressed a button on the control panel.

"Metal Sonic, this is Dr. Eggman! Get out there and tear Sonic's ship apart!" he bellowed.

Metal Sonic, who was in stasis mode until he was needed, woke up and responded to his master's command immediately. He was on the bottom floor of the Egg Dreadnought while everybody else was up top. Metal Sonic walked over to a deployment hatch which was there for precisely such an occasion and he opened it. The wind rushed in as if to greet him as the door was opened. Metal Sonic then activated his jet pack and he sped on out of the ship, flying towards the Blue Typhoon. Not far behind him, another machine dispatched from the Egg Dreadnought and began flying towards the Green Airship. It was Brevon in his battle mech. It was a small flying machine with four legs for walking if it needed to fight on the ground. It was a deadly machine, capable of great destruction and was quite hardy in battle. His mech was known as the Absolution. The Absolution and Metal Sonic both headed towards their targets, ready to tear them apart.

The Green Airship didn't realize that it was about to receive an intruder as it kept throwing missiles at the Egg Dreadnought. By the time the Avalicians realized this though, it was too late. They all jumped back in alarm as the Absolution deployed is walker legs and landed on the decks of Dail's ship. Lilac's face contorted with rage for she knew exactly who was in the flying mech. She had taken out the Absolution at least twice last month with her friends.

"Brevon…decided to get your hands dirty did you?" she growled, "Glad you are…I still owe you plenty for what you did to me and my friends last month! And this time, you WON'T get away!"

"Then let us see if you're still as potent as you were the last time we met…" Brevon purred confidently from inside the Absolution.

The Absolution then suddenly began to open fire. Huge beams of lasers emitted from the nose of the mech/cruiser machine and the Avalicians all had to dodge them before they were hit. The lasers swept over the decks and headed towards the masts holding the sails aloft. If the masts were hit then the airship would find it harder to keep stable. Luckily, Milla summoned a green block to her hands and threw it at the lasers, stopping them from hitting the masts. Lilac and Carol were quick to react before the Absolution could shoot again. The dragon curled up into a ball and dragon-boosted straight into the nose section of the flying mech. The Absolution didn't budge from the attack but Brevon felt it from within the mech's cockpit. He couldn't let Lilac hit him like that or he would lose his powerful weapon again. He aimed, ready to shoot again but he was caught off-guard as Carol jumped up and launched a spinning kick at the cockpit window of the Absolution. The wildcat's feet moved so rapidly that Brevon could barely see them as she attacked the Absolution. He pulled back on the joysticks, making the Absolution rear up like a deer ready to launch its hooves at its predator. The nose section flicked Carol away as the cruiser mech reared up but Torque quickly flew up and caught her before she could land into danger. Spade charged forward and began launching a volley of cards at the Absolution as if he were throwing a bunch of bombs at the man who had murdered his father. For once, Lilac was all too happy to stand back and let him unleash all hell. At least he was attacking the enemy instead of her for once. The cards hit the Absolution but did no damage. However, they made a good distraction for Brevon could hardly see properly as the cards kept hitting the cockpit window. This gave Spade's brother the chance to attack. Dail boosted towards Brevon and kick-slammed one of the Absolution's legs, making it lean aside slightly.

"This is for my father!" he cried, "And for brainwashing me and making me do terrible things to my planet and aid you in your evil plans last month!"

He then jumped up and stomped down on the Absolution's cockpit window. Brevon growled furiously and he made the Absolution rear up again, flicking Dail into the air. However, the panda landed on one of the ship's masts and he sprung off it directly into the cockpit window. Spade joined him, the two brothers slamming into the window together. The both leapt back just as the Absolution jumped up and slammed down on the decks, sending a shockwave that nearly swept everybody off of their feet. Then the menacing machine began firing more lasers at the Avalicians. Milla summoned a shield in front of everybody and blocked most of the shots. But then suddenly, the Absolution rose up and retracted its legs. It boosted up its engines and then rocketed towards the heroes like a swooping eagle. The Avalicians threw themselves down onto the floor before they could be hit. But as they ducked, the Absolution sailed over them and tore straight through one of the ship's masts. The mast and the sail it held up fell over, hit the decks and then toppled over the edge onto the ground below. The Absolution then turned around and charged straight back towards the airship. It aimed straight for the hull, threatening to plough straight through the ship and annihilate it. However, Lilac saved the ship by Dragon-Boosting straight into the nose section of the Absolution. The attack came from slightly above, the force knocking the ship downwards and causing it to plummet straight down as opposed to going straight ahead like Brevon wanted. The machine deployed its legs and landed on all fours on the ground below. The moment it landed, Lilac ran over to the edge of the ship.

"Me, Carol and Milla will make sure Brevon stays on the ground! The rest of you keep shooting at the big vessel ahead!" Lilac ordered.

"Be careful down there." Torque said cautiously, "I...I don't want you three to go through the horrors he subjected you to last month again."

"Don't sweat it Torque-y boy! We'll be fine!" Carol insisted, "Team Lilac is a-go!"

"We still need to work on the name..." Lilac snickered.

The dragon then threw herself off of the ship and Dragon-Boosted straight down towards the Absolution while Milla carried Carol down by flapping her ears. The Absolution was just about to jump up and fly back towards the airship but just as it left the ground, Lilac hurtled straight into it and slammed it down onto the ground. The cruiser/mech machine lay flat on the grass with its limbs all spread out as Lilac jumped off of it. Carol and Milla landed on the ground just behind their draconian ally and they watched as the Absolution picked itself up, ready to attack again. It fired a bunch of lasers at the heroine trio but Lilac, Carol and Milla dodged the shots before they could get hit. Milla then summoned a shield to her hands and held it in front of her as the Absolution came closer. She then fired an energy beam that smacked straight into the nose section of the mech and made it back away. Lilac and Carol then jumped in with a Wild Claw and a Dragon Cyclone attack, tearing away at the metal of the ship as they hit it. The Absolution leaped backwards to get some distance away from the girls and then proceeded to fire another round of lasers.

Meanwhile, Metal Sonic arrived at the Blue Typhoon and was quick to start spin-dashing the ship. He hurled through the air in a spiky metal ball and he began tearing through the runway atop the ship's bow section. Shadow and Rouge saw this and the black hedgehog was quick to react. He curled up into a ball and spin-dashed Metal Sonic, knocking him backwards and nearly throwing him clean off the ship itself. Metal Sonic just managed to save himself from falling off and he charged back towards Shadow, his optics blazing and his claws bared. He hit the Ultimate Lifeform and knocked him down onto his back but Shadow swung his legs upwards and sent Metal Sonic flying across the runway and into the hangar doors at the start. Shadow picked himself up and threw some Chaos Spears at Metal Sonic. The robot Sonic clone stood up only to be knocked down again by the spears. Up in the bridge, Sonic and his friends could see that they had an intruder and Sonic quickly jumped out of his seat.

"Hey look, Metal Sonic's come to join the fun! How nice of him!" he exclaimed excitedly, "You keep firing at Eggman and Brevon's ship, I'm gonna help Shadow take care of my robot twin!"

"Be careful out there Sonic!" Tails cried, "You know how dangerous Metal Sonic is!"

"Dangerous? Nah. More like a nuisance to me." Sonic said casually.

The hedgehog then ran out of the control room and took the stairs down to the emergency exit at the base of the bridge tower. He let himself out and sped across the Blue Typhoon's hull towards the battle. He saw Rouge screw-kick Metal Sonic and knock him down onto his side. It was fortunate that Shadow and Rouge had been on the runway when Metal Sonic had arrived, otherwise more damage could've been done and the ship would've been in major trouble. Metal Sonic picked himself up and spin-dashed Shadow, knocking him into one of the artificial trees on the sides of the runway. Rouge threw a powerful kick to Metal Sonic's chest that made him stagger but it didn't stop him completely. He instead just scanned Rouge and copied her data. The bat flew towards him but the robot Sonic clone suddenly jumped up and spun around with his feet pointing towards her in the exact same manner that Rouge's screw-kicks worked. He hit the femme fatale right in the small of her back, knocking her down onto her stomach and making her cry out in pain. Sonic decided now was a good time to get involved and thus, he spin-dashed towards Metal Sonic and hit him in the side, throwing his nemesis across the runway. The robot came down with a heavy clunk that disorientated him for a moment but he picked himself up and prepared to attack again. Sonic, Shadow and Rouge all stood together, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"You two mind if I help out?" Sonic asked.

"He's YOUR robot copy so I don't see why not." Shadow smirked.

"We'll give Metal Sonic a fond farewell Sonic boy." Rouge said with a wink.

"Now that's my kind of talk!" Sonic cried gleefully.

He and Shadow both rocketed towards Metal Sonic in a spin-dash that would easily tear the robot apart when they hit him. But Metal Sonic was prepared for them. He quickly dodged the attacks by flying over them and just as Sonic and Shadow uncurled from their spin-dashed, he flew in behind and dropkicked them both in the back. The two boys were knocked down and before they could get back up, Metal Sonic seized them by their quills and tossed them into the air towards Rouge. The bat flew up and caught them before they could crash into her but then Metal Sonic boosted towards her and copied Lilac's Dragon-Cyclone attack, walloping the trio and throwing them down onto the runway. The Mobians grunted in pain but they weren't down and out by a long shot. They were back on their feet in no time at all and Shadow wasted no time in throwing a Chaos Spear at Metal Sonic. The spear struck him between the optics, sending him stumbling backwards. Sonic then hit his mechanical clone with a homing attack that made him stumble backwards some more and Rouge added the final blow by screw-kicking Metal Sonic in the chest. The attack took him clean off his feet and threw him overboard. Sonic ran over to the edge as if preparing to follow him.

"Come on, let's go after!" Sonic cried, "We'll keep him grounded so the Blue Typhoon won't get damaged some more!"

"Good idea Sonic." Rouge purred, "Fancy a ride?"

"Sure why not?" the supersonic hero said brightly, "Shadow?"

"I'll warp down." Shadow declared, snapping his fingers and teleporting from sight.

He had a limited teleportation range without a Chaos Emerald on him so he appeared then disappeared and reappeared constantly until he reached the ground. Rouge took Sonic by the hands and flew him down towards Metal Sonic, who had just landed on his back down below. Once Sonic and Rouge had landed, Metal Sonic suddenly sprang onto his feet and clawed at the three. He missed them by centimetres And Shadow quickly retaliated by throwing a terrific punch to the face on Metal Sonic. Sonic kicked him just as he stumbled towards him, throwing the robot forwards and giving Rouge the perfect chance to kick upwards into his chin. Her blow sent his head snapping backwards, nearly tearing it off in the process. Metal Sonic recovered and blasted at the trio with his torso laser. He struck all three of them and knocked them down onto their backs. Sonic sprang up first and Homing-Attacked Metal Sonic just as his robot clone was doing the same. They both hit each other and sent themselves skidding backwards. It was like fighting his mirror reflection to Sonic, only this mirror would soon shatter when he was finished with the robot. Shadow and Rouge picked themselves up and the trio came charging at Metal Sonic once again.

Meanwhile, Lilac, Carol and Milla were knocked aside as the Absolution charged into them like a thundering rhinoceros. Its four legs weren't just for landing or walking with, they could be used for charges like this. To the girls, it felt as if they'd been run over by a truck as they were thrown across the grasslands by the charge. Lilac groaned, trying to get all her bones to knit as she forced herself up. The Absolution stomped towards Lilac and aimed its powerful cannons at her, ready to kill her once and for all. With her out of the way, stopping Dail's airship would be a piece of cake. But before Brevon could kill Lilac, Carol and Milla both ran towards the ship and kicked its rear legs as hard as they could, causing them to go inwards and make the Absolution rise up, shooting up at the sky instead of at Lilac like Brevon had been intending. The dragon quickly picked herself up and Dragon-Cyclone attacked the cockpit window of the cruiser. She left a few cracks in it but no serious damage was done. The Absolution reared up and walloped Lilac away with its right front foot. The dragon flew through the air like a flicked sweet wrapper and she hit the ground heavily. Carol and Milla tried to help but the Absolution suddenly kicked outwards with its rear legs, hitting the cat and dog and knocking them back. They lay on the grass, groaning in pain.

Brevon then cackled delightedly, pleased to see his enemies were downed for long enough for him to attack the airship again. The Absolution took flight and rocketed up towards the airship in a devastating charge. Nobody could stop him now, not while the airship was so focused on the Egg Dreadnought and everybody was presuming that Lilac and her friends were keeping Brevon at bay. Dail and the others were completely unprepared as the Absolution struck the Green Airship and tore straight through it as if it was made of breadsticks. By sheer luck, the Absolution hadn't hit the airship in any place Torque, Dail, Neera, Gong and Spade were standing but he had come very close. They all screamed in terror as the huge cruiser/mech hybrid erupted through the bottom of the ship and ploughed all the way up through the top, tearing it apart and rendering it utterly useless and unfit for flight. Smoke billowed out from the airship as it began to crumble down to the ground. Torque grabbed Dail and flew off the ship while Spade jumped off and boosted down to the ground. Neera saved herself and Gong by making platforms of ice with her sceptre that led down to the ground. Everybody touched down on the grass just as Team Lilac picked themselves up and watched with despair as Dail's glorious vessel crashed down onto the ground in a burning, smouldering wreck of flames, burning steel and billowing smoke. Their best weapon against the Dreadnought had been annihilated completely.

The Mobians were just about to join them in defeat. Metal Sonic screw-kicked Rouge in the belly, knocking her down onto her back and he braced himself as Shadow and Sonic came running towards him. He flew up out of the way just as they tried to spin-dash him and the moment they came out of their attacks, Metal Sonic stomp-kicked the two in the same fashion that Sonic would've done so. Metal Sonic had always had Sonic's data in him since the day he was created. He had all of his attacks. Sonic and Shadow were knocked down onto the ground and left groaning in pain as they got a face full of dirt. The killer robot then grabbed the two by the scruffs of their necks and he slammed both Sonic and Shadow's heads together. The attack left them both dazed and confused as they slumped onto the grass, their heads aching and their senses unfocused and unclear. Metal Sonic then raised his claws, aiming for Sonic's throat. One simple slash would be enough to kill the hedgehog in seconds. His organic counterpart would challenge him no longer. But just as he was about to lash out with the finishing strike, Rouge flew towards the robot Sonic clone and grabbed hold of him, taking him off his feet and flying up into the sky. She was intending to take him for a ride and then throw him down to hopefully damage him greatly. But unfortunately, Metal Sonic was smart enough to work out Rouge's plan and he broke free of the bat's grip. He did a somersault in mid-air and slammed the heel of his foot down on her head, sending Rouge plummeting down to the ground. The bat cried out as she landed on top of Sonic and Shadow. They all lay still, unable to get back up.

Metal Sonic then turned his attention back up towards the Blue Typhoon. He had the perfect chance to tear the ship apart now his resistance was down. He spin-dashed towards the Blue Typhoon. The ship had no idea he was coming for it was too busy shooting at the Egg Dreadnought and the crew inside assumed that Sonic, Shadow and Rouge were taking care of Metal Sonic. A very grave mistake for them to make. Metal Sonic slammed straight into the hull of the Typhoon and began tearing his way through the inside of the ship, ripping apart machinery and tearing out circuitry. He even fired his lasers in both directions, front and behind, to deal extra damage to his enemy's vessel. He was Mobian sized but he had Sonic's power, speed and abilities. He would have the Blue Typhoon down in no time. And indeed so, it took him mere seconds to rip apart most of the Typhoon's vital machinery. Up in the cockpit, Tails saw with horror that the Blue Typhoon was being crippled. Damage levels appeared on the screens and showed him that they were critical. The fox knew that he and his friends had to abandon ship and fast before they were all killed in the inevitable crash. Tails, Cream, Knuckles and Amy all got out of their seats and Knuckles broke through the cockpit window just to give them a quicker escape route. He then glided down to the ground while Tails carried Amy and Cream flew after him. The Mobians all landed down on the ground beside Sonic, Shadow and Rouge and watched with despair as the Blue Typhoon fell from the sky and crashed down in a fiery wreck of debris and machinery. Their best weapon against the Egg Dreadnought had been obliterated.

"Oh no…" Sonic said, "Our ship's been destroyed!"

"Ours has too!" Lilac cried, running over to Sonic and his team, "We can't stop Eggman and Brevon now!"

"The remainders of the armies have no chance and we won't be of much use since we don't have a liable weapon to break inside now." Tails said sadly.

"But we can't just leave!" Carol protested, "What about the city?!"

"We'll just have to retreat and rethink our tactics." Torque declared, "Besides, Eggman and Brevon had just given me an idea. See the wreckages of our ships?"

He motioned to the burning wrecks of the Blue Typhoon and the Green Airship nearby.

"They'll think we're dead because of this." the Chaser declared, "Or at most, they'll probably search the wreckages to make sure we're dead. That'll slow them down enough for us to think of a new plan to stop them."

"Wow, that's a pretty smart idea Torque." Amy said approvingly.

"I agree, that's a good plan." Sonic said with a nod.

"So we run off and hide and wait for the two to come looking for us. Then what?" asked Lilac.

"The ship's hull has been weakened at least a little by our attacks." Spade noted, looking up at the Egg Dreadnought and noticing the small damages that had been done, "If we can break through somehow, we could sabotage the ship from inside."

"I hate to say it…but my brother's got a good idea too." Dail nodded.

"And since the villains will think we're dead or be on the lookout for us, we have the element of surprise on our side." Rouge noted.

"I'll be able to launch a Chaos Blast that'll penetrate that thing enough for us to get inside without them being ready for me." Shadow gloated.

"Well, looks like we've got a plan!" Sonic cried excitedly, "Let's play a little hide and seek then…"

The Mobians and Avalicians all ran off, leaving their doomed vessels to burn away into ashes. As for G.U.N. and Mayor Zao's guards, very few of them were left. Even their evasive manoeuvres hadn't saved them completely from the Egg Dreadnought's terrifying firepower. Only a handful of jeeps and flying vehicles were left. All of the robots had been destroyed in the fight with not a single one still operational except for Omega. He had survived the battle and still seemed itching to keep firing. Commander Tower and the Lead Guard were still alive and seeing that the fight had been lost, they were quick to command their remaining troops to retreat. Any surviving jeeps, airships and jets turned around and fled the battlefield, heading on back towards Shangopolis as if hoping the city would somehow protect them from this unstoppable enemy. Even Omega retreated, although he seemed very reluctant to do so. The Egg Dreadnought remained where it was, looing triumphantly over the grasslands. There were wreckages and burning vehicles littered everywhere and very few people were walking away from it all. This was a battle that had gone completely in Brevon and Eggman's favour.

As for the two, Brevon was still in the Absolution and Metal Sonic hadn't returned to base yet. The two had decided to do what Torque had expected them to do, comb the wreckages of their enemy's destroyed ships to see if their enemies were dead. The Absolution landed down at the wreckage of Dail's ship and Metal Sonic flew over the wreckage of the Blue Typhoon. Brevon activated the Absolution's scanners and scanned the entire wreckage for any signs of dead bodies, hopefully Lilac's in particular. Metal Sonic scanned the wreckage, firing scanner beams out of his optics and sweeping them over the Typhoon's ravaged remains. For both Brevon and Metal Sonic, they got the results they didn't want to receive. There were no dead bodies that were of any interest to them. Dail's airship only had the bodies of his flight crew whereas the Blue Typhoon had no dead bodies at all. This infuriated Brevon and he thumped the Absolution's control panel in annoyance.

"Not a single one of our enemies dead! How could they have survived our onslaughts?!" he growled, "They should've perished in the crash! They couldn't possibly have gotten off their ships before they crashed down!"

Metal Sonic just turned around and flew on back up to the Egg Dreadnought, not wanting to stick around for any longer. Brevon remained where he was and he stabbed down at a button on the Absolution's control panel.

"Dr. Eggman, while we have won the battle, our enemies have survived." the alien world conqueror announced, "Me and your Metal Sonic scanned the wreckages of their ships. None of them are in the wreckages. They've clearly survived."

"I should've expected this…" Eggman sighed loudly, "Sonic's always surviving against impossible odds…so where do you think they've got to?"

"The city ahead of us no doubt." Brevon replied, "They couldn't have run anywhere else."

"I would suggest that we go in with the Egg Dreadnought and tear the city to pieces." the fat scientist suggested, "We might be able to kill our enemies then. But on the other hand, we have a lot of superficial damage on the hull of the ship. And Sonic has Shadow and one of my treacherous creations, E-123 Omega, with him! They both pack enough firepower to breach our hull with the damage we have!"

"So going in with the ship now would just give them a chance to destroy us." Brevon deduced, "And we cannot risk losing the Kingdom Emerald to them."

"Not at this stage my friend…"

"So rather than hunt them down with the Dreadnought…"

"We could use our allies to do it for us!"

"Yes…my machines and soldiers will comb the city for them…"

"As will my creations!"

"We could have them bring the heroes to us…"

"So that we may kill them ourselves!"

With such an evil plan in mind, Eggman and Brevon could hardly resist the urge to laugh manically as they pictured themselves slaughtering their hated enemies and eliminating the only resistance they had on their new world. It was a very good idea and one that was bound to work.

"I'll return to the Egg Dreadnought immediately doctor." Brevon announced, "We'll send our troops out to hunt the heroes down while we hide ourselves."

"And once they grab our enemies, they'll bring them home to us and we can eliminate the only group of people who stand a chance of erasing our hard work!" Eggman chortled.

Brevon switched off his communicator and he grabbed the controls. The Absolution's legs retracted and it began to fly up towards the Egg Dreadnought. As it flew up though, Brevon failed to notice that an earthquake was happening down on the ground. It was much heavier than the previous two earthquakes and the rumbling was very loud. The alien warlord assumed the rumbling was thunder as he headed back to the Egg Dreadnought. But had he been down on the ground still, he'd have realized that it wasn't thunder at all. The earthquake was so violent that the ground began to crack slightly. Thin cracks spread across the grasslands as the rumbling boomed and the shaking continued. By the time the earthquake was over, the cracks were about two inches wide from beginning to end. It was a terrible sign that something was wrong…so wrong that the world was in more danger than it already was…


The bad guys have won this time but our heroes still have some fight left in them! Will they turn this around? And what's with these weird earthquakes that are happening? Is it something to worry about? Find out next time as our heroes are "On The Run"...