Chapter 10
Eggman watched with increasing aggravation as the Tornado continued to easily outmaneuver the Egg Carrier's defense systems while at the same time picking off more and more of the defensive laser emplacements with each pass.
"Alright, you miserable little fox! I've had enough of this game of cat and mouse!" he shouted as he punched in a command to cause the ship to rapidly start to slow down. "Let's see if you can dodge this one!"
Outside, Tails made one final pass over the top of the Egg Carrier, the laser cannon underneath the fuselage of the bi-plane finding its last target as the final defensive laser on the upper half of the massive airship was finally destroyed.
"Nice job Tails! Looks like the way is clear for us now," said Sonic over the howl of the wind whipping around the plane.
"Okay! I'm gonna fly out a ways in front to make a proper approach. Check behind us in case Eggman plans to use that giant cannon again," said Tails.
"Will do," said Sonic as he looked behind them. As if on cue, he saw the nose of the Egg Carrier begin to open up as it did last time they had been this far in front of it. "You nailed it on the head Tails! He's charging it up as we speak!"
"Alright then! Time to show Eggman the true power of the Tornado!" shouted Tails as he gunned the throttle, the plane accelerating to over five hundred miles per hour. Pulling nearly a mile and a half out in front of the now almost stationary Egg Carrier, Tails whipped the plane around, heading straight towards the front of the airship.
"Uh…Tails…You sure you know what you're doing?" asked Sonic nervously as he watched the Egg Carrier's primary weapon finish charging.
"I do! Hang on Sonic!" cried Tails just as the massive laser lens fired at them. Tails threw the control stick hard to the right, the plane leaping to the right just as the massive laser beam passed by them, missing them by only a few yards. After the laser beam had finished, Tails returned the plane back into line with the front of the airship. "Alright Eggman, my turn! Cyclone Laser fire!" he cried, pressing a fairly large red button on the control panel. The nose cone of the Tornado suddenly started to surge with power as the plane siphoned off a small bit of power from the red Chaos Emerald embedded within the nose cone. Suddenly, a ball of chaos energy shot forth from the nose cone, covering the distance between the Tornado and the Egg Carrier almost instantly, slamming hard into the laser lens, causing it to shatter into pieces as the primary weapon of the Egg Carrier was destroyed.
"So that's why you needed a Chaos Emerald," said Sonic.
"Yeah. I was worried the energy spike might fry the plane, but looks like I finally perfected the shielding," said Tails with a smile plastered on his face.
"Excellent job Tails! Now take us in. We've got a friend to save," said Sonic.
"Roger," said Tails as he decelerated the plane back down to about two hundred miles per hour, aiming for the runway. As the plane came upon the airstrip, something suddenly crossed Tails mind that hadn't occurred to him till just that second. "Oh no!"
"What's wrong?" asked Sonic as the plane stared to land.
"I completely forgot about adding a landing gear for this mode!" shouted Tails. But it was too late, for as soon as the words left Tails' mouth, the bottom of the plane touched down on the airstrip. Sparks ignited on the underside of the plane as it skidded across the metal of the airstrip before finally coming to a rest at the beginning of the runway.
"Well, that landing could've gone better," said Sonic as he pulled himself up and out of the passenger seat.
"Sorry Sonic. I was so caught up in all the upgrades I totally didn't even think about how to land it when it was in its jet mode," said Tails as he climbed out of the pilot's seat and onto the deck.
"No biggie. We made it didn't we?" asked Sonic, giving the fox a smile. Suddenly, Eggman's voice started booming all around them as the doctor activated the outside audio systems.
"Don't think you've won just because you disabled the Egg Cannon! You have yet to see what this ship can really do!" shouted Eggman's voice.
"What surprise do you think he means?" asked Tails. Suddenly, the whole ship began to shake.
"What is he doing!?" exclaimed Sonic. The answer to his question came a couple of seconds later as the back half the ship suddenly extended backwards several hundred yards before rising up and away from the front of the ship. At the same time, the thick armor plating on both sides of the ship broke free, flipping around till both sides extended perpendicular with the ship, becoming massive wings at the back of the ship.
"Behold! The Egg Carrier's battle mode!" shouted Eggman's voice over the intercom.
"I guess I wasn't the only one thinking of transformed mode for a flying machine," said Tails to himself as he took in what had just happened.
"I know you're here for that girl, Sonic! And now, the only way you'll reach her is to brave the inside of the ship, where dozens of Swatbots are just waiting to set their sights on you! Come and get her if you dare!" laughed Eggman's voice before the intercom went silent.
"Well, you heard the doctor. Ready to help me get Amy back?" asked Sonic, looking back at Tails.
"I'm not scared of Eggman or his robots. I said I was gonna help you stop him and I meant it," said Tails, his face full of confidence.
"Okay then. Let's get going!" said Sonic as he walked over to the edge of the airstrip, spying an entrance to the ship almost directly below them. Both of them leapt down to the entrance, cautiously entering the ship.
Back at the control deck of the Egg Carrier, Eggman watched through his viewing monitors as Sonic and Tails entered the ship. He then walked back to his control chair, sitting down as he went over the past few minutes in his head.
"It would seem that that two tailed fox has some actual technical skills to make that puny plane as powerful as he did," said Eggman to himself. "Still, the Egg Carrier is by far the superior craft. The little twerp just got lucky, that's all." As he sat there though, he couldn't shake the feeling that Tails was beginning to gain on him in mechanical prowess. He hadn't seen much of the young fox's handiwork, having only seen him really in action when he had helped Sonic out on Floating Island the year before. But the more Eggman sat there thinking about it, the more infuriated he became. To him, the Egg Carrier was an unstoppable fortress. He had shown the young fox not to mess with it the first time they had tried to board the ship. Yet, Tails had not only challenged the Egg Carrier again, he had decimated its defenses with a mere bi-plane that he himself had decked out for combat. The mere thought that a child had created something that had outperformed something that he had been working on for nearly a year was eating away at him.
"I guess I have to give credit where credit is due," he mused under his breath. "That little fox is starting to become a thorn in my side. I might have to deal with him soon before he digs himself in too deep for me to remove." Suddenly, an indicator light lit up on the control panel. "How did he get there so quickly?" Walking over to the controls, he punched in a few commands as the flat screen lowered from the ceiling again. Coming to life, it showed the auditorium where the tailed frog was being kept. But what caught Eggman's attention was the large mobian cat with a fishing pole that was even now releasing the seal on the frog's containment pod.
"Who the heck is that!?" he cried, having never seen the cat before today. Eggman felt like smashing his fist into the control panel, but refrained as he realized that even if the cat made it out of the ship, he'd have nowhere to go. "Okay then. Change of plans. Time to bring Chaos in on all the fun I've been having today," said the doctor. He then activated the intercom. "Gamma! Sonic and Tails are aboard the Egg Carrier! Get to the upper deck and be ready to engage them when they arrive!" He then switched off the intercom before turning and walking out of the room.
Amy rubbed her eyes, trying to get her vision back after having been blasted by the flash of light. As her eyes finally adjusted, she realized she was no longer inside the Egg Carrier, but rather in front of a stone altar. A few yards in front of her, she saw dozens of chao of all shapes and colors staring cautiously at both herself and an orange furred echidna girl that was standing a few feet and off to the left slightly of where Amy was at.
"So you're…the chao?" asked Tikal, taking a step towards the chao, who all shrunk away in fear. "You don't have to be afraid of me or my friend here," she said, gesturing to Amy. "We both mean you no harm."
"Hey! You must be the echidna Gamma was talking about, aren't you? He said that you said your name is Tikal, right?" asked Amy. But Tikal paid her no attention as a small, infant chao near the front of the group of chao cautiously walked towards her, the other chao watching intently as one of their youngest braved coming up next to the echidna girl. As the chao reached her feet, she knelt down and softly placed a hand on its head, rubbing it gently, causing the chao to purr softly at the nice feeling. Suddenly, the sound of water splashing caught both Tikal and Amy's attention, both girls turning towards the altar to see none other than Chaos in his original form rising out of the water that ringed the sides of the altar.
"Oh my gosh!" cried Tikal, recoiling from the chao as she took a few steps back.
"What the heck is that thing!?" cried Amy, also taking a few steps back.
"Do not be afraid, you two," said a red dragon chao, stepping forward from the group. "This is just our guardian."
"You're guardian?" asked Amy and Tikal at the same time. The dragon chao smiled, nodding its head.
"That's right young ones. His name is Chaos. The reason he has appeared is because he is just unsure of your intentions," said the chao.
"He's really scary looking," said Amy, still not sure what to make of the situation.
"That's right. He's really protective of us," said another chao that stepped forward. This one was purple in color and resembled Comet in many ways, though it did not support the same color feathers as she did. This one's feathers were a rich blue in color.
"Come. Let me show you around," said the dragon chao, taking to the air and flying over next to Tikal.
"Are you sure it's alright for us to be here?" asked Tikal. "I was always taught to not interact with your kind till I was an adult, but…after hearing about this war that has started and the legends surrounding your people, I figured I had to come and see why my father was talking about you."
"You say your father was talking about us?" asked the dragon chao as he started flying towards the altar, motioning for the two girls to follow.
"So…What do you think your father was talking about?" asked Amy, following the two of them as they started walking up the altar steps. Chaos watched the three of them from the ground below for a few seconds before melting back down into his puddle form and reentering the water that ringed the altar.
"I'm not sure if I even overheard him correctly. All he mentioned was your race and about doing what he has to do to save our people if the Nocturnus tribe backs us into a corner," said Tikal. The dragon chao sighed as he continued leading them up the stairs.
"I am sorry to hear that you will be faced with witnessing war at such a young age," said the dragon chao. "I also have a terrible feeling that I know what your father was referring to." As the trio made it to the top of the shrine, both Tikal and Amy came to a stop at the top stair as their eyes took in the giant form of the Master Emerald. Sitting around it were none other than the seven Chaos Emeralds.
"Can it be?" asked Tikal, running over and kneeling down to get a better look at the Chaos Emeralds, reaching out a hand to grasp the green one.
"Do not touch the Chaos Emeralds!" shouted the dragon chao, causing Tikal to recoil sharply. "I am sorry I did not say that earlier my friend, but these emeralds can cause unpredictable things to happen if their power is unleashed by accident."
"Why? What kind of power do they have?" asked Amy, looking over at the dragon chao.
"Seven emeralds…The servers are the seven chaos…" whispered Tikal, rising to her feet to take in the sight of the Master Emerald. "The controller serves to unify the chaos…"
"What are you saying?" asked Amy, walking up next to Tikal, who turned to face her.
"I think this is what my grandmother was referring to all of this time, my friend" said Tikal. She then turned back around to face the dragon chao. "You said that these emeralds have a hidden power? Can we mobians tap into that power?"
"You can," said the chao. He then shook his head. "But when the echidna clans made contact with our race, a pact was made to ensure that your kind would never take the emeralds from their resting place."
"A pact?" asked Tikal. She then lowered her head. "I'm betting my father is thinking of breaking this pact, if only to take the emeralds and use them to defend my tribe from the Nocturnus echidnas."
"That would be terrible news," said the dragon chao. "The echidnas were honor bound to never attempt to use the Chaos Emeralds for things such as war."
"I'll talk to my father and find out if he's truly planning on taking that course of action," said Tikal. She then turned to Amy. "For now, we'll keep it secret that we came here today, okay?" Amy stared blankly for a few seconds, then nodded her head slowly.
"Okay…I guess I can keep it a secret, but I've no idea where we are or how to get back home," said Amy.
"Thanks, my friend. We'll have to come back here again once we find out what my father's plans are," said Tikal. Suddenly, a blast of light burst forth from her, causing Amy to shield her eyes.
As the light died down and Amy's eyes readjusted, she realized that she was back aboard the Egg Carrier, only now she was on the outer deck, the Flicky bird still in her arms.
"What was that all about?" asked Amy to herself.
"Well, looks like I caught up with you just in time, didn't I Amy?" asked an all too familiar voice from behind her. Amy turned around, coming face to face with Eggman who was riding inside of his hovercraft about ten yards behind her, a rather large, clear container full of water attached to the underside of the craft.
"Oh no! It's you!" cried Amy, taking a few steps backwards.
"You have something I want, little girl. And I've come to take it," said Eggman as the hovercraft started moving in her direction.
Sonic dodged to the left as a laser blast went flying past him, curling into a spindash as he slammed into the face of a Swatbot, knocking the towering robot to the ground as sparks flew from the gashes in its head. He and Tails had already gotten past several squads of Swatbots by this point, and had just about made it to the top deck.
"My turn!" shouted Tails as he ran past Sonic, flipping over a laser shot fired by the final Swatbot in their way. He then started spinning his body rapidly as he closed the distance between himself and the robot, slamming both of his tails hard into the robot's side, sending it flying across the room to crash into the wall of the passageway, its whole left side crumpled inwards from the attack.
"I see the exit! Up there!" said Sonic as they entered a stairwell leading to the main deck of the ship. Tails twisted his tails together, taking to the air as he gripped Sonic by the wrists, carrying him quickly up the side of the stairwell. As soon as they reached the door, Tails threw Sonic at it, the hedgehog curling into a spindash as he crashed through the door, returning to the outside of the Egg Carrier and coming face to face with both Amy and Eggman staring down each other. "Amy!"
"Sonic! Save me!" cried Amy, looking over at the blue hedgehog as Tails exited the interior of the Egg Carrier to come up next to Sonic.
"Too late Sonic!" laughed Eggman as the robotic arm he had used to snatch the first Chaos Emerald from Tails shot out and snagged the Flicky from Amy's hands, returning the bird to Eggman's waiting hands.
"Not the Flicky!" shouted Amy, watching as Eggman opened the pendant that the bird was wearing, pulling a softly glowing object out of a socket that was inside of it.
"A Chaos Emerald!" cried Tails, recognizing the aqua Chaos Emerald that Eggman now held in his hands.
"Exactly, you fools!" shouted Eggman as he released the bird now that he had gotten what he was after. The Flicky flew back down into Amy's waiting arms as a whirring sound started emanating from the other end of the deck caught their attention. The three mobians turned towards the sound to see none other than Gamma come rising out of the deck, the red robot walking up to within twenty yards of the group. "Ah, perfect timing Gamma! I want you to destroy these three pests while I go tie up one last loose end! Don't fail me!"
"Yes doctor," said Gamma. Eggman then turned his hovercraft towards the forward portion of the ship before taking off towards the other end of the ship.
"Coward!" shouted Tails as they watched Eggman leave.
"Focus Tails. We got a robot to take down," said Sonic. He then looked over at Amy as the robot raised its laser cannon in their direction. "Stay behind-" he started to say before Amy started walking in between the two mobians and Gamma. "What are you doing Amy!?"
"It's alright Sonic," said Amy, walking up right in front of Gamma. "You remember me, don't you Gamma?" she asked, looking up at the robot, who in turn looked back down at her.
"I do," said Gamma.
"Please don't attack Sonic and Tails. They're not going to do anything to you," said Amy. Sonic and Tails watched the scene unfolding in front of them, both looking at each other as if to ask the other one what was going.
"But Eggman ordered-" started Gamma.
"'But Eggman' nothing Gamma. He doesn't control you," said Amy, cutting Gamma off.
"Eggman is my master. I must obey," said Gamma, taking a couple steps backwards.
"No you don't," said Amy, walking back up next to him. "You're not evil like he is. Remember how you helped me escape? And how I said you were my friend?" Gamma froze as he listened to Amy's words.
"Yes…You are a friend," said Gamma, lowering his laser cannon. Amy smiled as she watched Gamma stand down.
"See. I knew you were a good person," said Amy. She then turned back around to Sonic and Tails. "It's alright you two. He's not gonna do anything bad."
"You sure?" asked Sonic, walking towards the two of them.
"He's the one that actually helped me escape from my cell. He can't be that bad if he did something like that, am I right?" asked Amy.
"I guess so," said Sonic as he reached them. "So your name is Gamma? Sounds like a name Eggman would give a robot."
"Don't be mean to him," said Amy, frowning at Sonic.
"Sorry," said Sonic. He then smiled as he reached for the necklace around his neck, taking it off and offering it to Amy. "I believe this is yours, isn't it?"
"My Piko-Piko Hammer!" she cried, taking it from Sonic. She then practically leapt at Sonic, embracing him in a hug much to the shock of Sonic, who reluctantly returned it. "Thank you Sonic." Suddenly, the whole ship began rumbling as a few of the main engines shut down.
"Uh guys…I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think the ship is losing altitude," said Tails nervously. Sonic looked off to the side of the deck, seeing that the clouds were beginning to rise around them, indicating that the ship was indeed beginning to drop from the sky. He then looked up at the command tower, seeing that there was smoke pouring from it. What the heck caused that to happen? thought Sonic. Shrugging off the thought, he turned to Tails.
"I think you're right Tails. Take Amy and get her back to the city," said Sonic before he leapt up onto the deck above them that lead in the direction Eggman had fled.
"What about you?" asked Amy with worry.
"I'm gonna get that Chaos Emerald back from Eggman before he feeds it to Chaos," said Sonic. He then took off in flash, headed in the direction of the front of the ship.
"You heard him Amy. We have to get out of here!" cried Tails as he ran over to Amy. He then grasped her hands in his. "Hold on tight and I'll try to hurry." He then twisted his tails together as he took to the air, lifting Amy with him.
"Gamma! Leave Eggman and come with us! Eggman doesn't deserve to have you work for him," called Amy. Gamma stood still for a few seconds, then nodded his head before entering his vehicle mode. A circle split open around his entire midsection as rotor blades extended from within his body. The blades then began rotating, Gamma taking to the air as he came to a hover next to Amy and Tails.
"Follow me Gamma," said Tails as he took off and away from the Egg Carrier, heading in the direction of Emerald City, Gamma following after him.
Back at the control deck, Knuckles was coughing up a storm as he punched out the glass window overlooking the ship to allow the smoke that was billowing throughout the control deck to begin exiting the room. As the smoke started to dissipate, Knuckles looked out over the Egg Carrier, finally getting his coughing under control. In his hand was the final missing shard of the Master Emerald.
"Okay…Maybe smashing the controls wasn't the best idea in the world," he said to himself as he placed the gem in his bag. "Still, better to have this thing take a nosedive than let Eggman continue using it." As he gazed out over the ship, he saw a speck of blue go racing down the side of the deck. "Is that…Sonic!?" Smiling, he leapt out of the open window, gliding down in the direction Sonic was headed in. Can't let Sonic have all the fun today, he thought.
"This is bad Froggy. I don't know how we're supposed to get down," said Big as he walked along the upper deck of the Egg Carrier near the front of the ship, the tailed frog in his hands. Below his feet was a massive turbine that powered the ship, covered by layers of green glass.
"You nuisance of a mobian! Stop right there!" shouted Eggman as his hovercraft came flying up next to the cat, Big stopping to look up at the doctor.
"Who are you?" asked Big.
"The bigger question is who are you? And how dare you steal that frog from me!" shouted Eggman, activating the hovercraft's retractable arm. The arm shot out of the craft, snagging the tailed frog from Big's hands.
"Hey! Give me back my pal!" shouted Big, watching as Eggman took the frog from the arms grasp. The doctor then opened the frog's mouth wide and reached in with his other hand, quickly fishing something from inside the frog. Almost as quickly as he had reached in, he withdrew his hand, holding onto the yellow Chaos Emerald. "That's mine too! Give them both back!" shouted Big.
"Eggman!" shouted Sonic's voice, causing both of them to look behind them to see the blue hedgehog come running towards them.
"You're too late Sonic! I have all I need now! Time to join the party Chaos!" shouted Eggman as he hit the release button for the container his hovercraft was carrying. The container then split open, the water splashing to the deck, pooling together and rising up as Chaos took form.
"Oh great…You're the last thing I wanted to see today," said Sonic as he eyed the shark-like water monster.
"Guess what I have for you Chaos? A couple of nice tasty treats, as well as your missing tail! Enjoy!" cried Eggman as he tossed the aqua and yellow Chaos Emeralds into Chaos' body. He then followed by tossing the tailed frog into Chaos as well. A bright light burst forth from Chaos, causing Sonic and Big to shield their eyes from the blinding light. As it died down, they both took in a sight that sent a chill down their spines. Chaos was now twice the size he was before, having lost his shark looking body in place of a body that was basically just a blob of water with four spindly legs with a massive mouth, a couple of watery spikes sticking out of his back, one giant green eye with two smaller ones on each side of the bigger one, and a lightning bolt shaped tail with a scythe on the end of it. Inside his body rested the six Chaos Emeralds he had so far absorbed, each one sitting upon a small bone pedestal in the center of his body along with his brain as the now tailless frog bobbed up and down inside of him.
"Just perfect…He transformed again," said Sonic under his breath. Seeing Chaos in his new form caused Eggman to start laughing maniacally.
"Just give up Sonic! Chaos has six emeralds now. You're certainly no longer a match for him, even if he isn't in his perfect final form yet," said Eggman.
"We'll see about that," said Sonic.
"Hey Sonic! Save a little bit of the action for me, will ya?" asked a voice behind the blue hedgehog. All three of them turned to see Knuckles land on the platform, the echidna placing the sack with the Master Emerald shard onto the ground.
"Nice timing Knuckles," said Sonic as the echidna walked up next to him. "Good to know I'll have some backup against this beast." He then smiled and jerked a thumb in the direction of the still smoking control deck. "I'm guessing you caused the mess up there?" Knuckles just returned the smile.
"I did. Figured it would make a nice going away present for Eggman to lose his ship," said Knuckles.
"You will pay for what you did you troublesome echidna! Chaos! Destroy all three of these pests!" cried Eggman. Chaos let loose a feral cry of rage as it took a few steps towards the three mobians. Big watched the frog as it moved about inside of Chaos' body.
"Don't worry Froggy! I'll get you out!" shouted Big.
"Is that frog the friend you mentioned to us back on the beach?" asked Sonic, looking over at Big.
"Yes he is," said Big.
"Okay. I got an idea. We'll distract that monster while you fish your friend out with that fishing pole," said Sonic.
"That sounds easy enough," said Big.
"Think you can help me with a little diversion, Knux?" asked Sonic, looking over at the crimson echidna.
"Shouldn't be too hard," said Knuckles, pounding his fists together. "You take the lead. I'll be right behind you."
"Sure thing," said Sonic. He then shot from his spot, racing around to the side of Chaos. "Hey Chaos! Bet even with six emeralds you still can't touch me!" Chaos turned around to face Sonic, walking slowly in his direction. "Come on. Surely you can move faster than that." Sonic then ran straight at Chaos, curling into a spindash as he crashed into Chaos' body. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough force behind the attack to reach Chaos' weak point at the center of his body. The water inside of Chaos swirled around as it pulled Sonic right into the waiting mouth of beast, Chaos clamping down hard with his teeth. Fortunately for Sonic, the teeth weren't sharp, but rounded off. But he still felt like he was getting crushed as Chaos bit down hard on his body.
"Let go of him Chaos!" shouted Knuckles as he also charged the monster, swinging his fist into Chaos' left front leg, the water making up the limb splashing away as Knuckles' fist dug into his watery hide, causing Chaos to stumble, distracting him enough to cause him to loosen his grip on Sonic just enough for the hedgehog to pull himself free. Landing on the platform, Sonic zipped to a safe distance to recover, knowing his body was bound to have several fresh bruises due to his rash decision.
"Grab onto the lure Froggy!" shouted Big as he cast his line at Chaos, the lure at the end of the line penetrating Chaos' watery skin. The frog swam as best it could towards the lure as Chaos turned towards Knuckles, opening his mouth wide as he began to suck in air like a vacuum.
"Oh no you don't!" shouted Knuckles as he knelt down and slammed a fist through the glass of the platform, grabbing ahold of the hole with his hand, stopping his forward momentum towards Chaos' waiting maw. By now, the frog had reached the lure, flicking out its tongue as it snagged the lure and pulled it back into its mouth.
"Hang on tight Froggy!" shouted Big as he pulled hard on the line, the frog flying from Chaos' body as he cleared the watery skin, landing in Big's waiting hands.
"Nice job! Now get out of here before Chaos decides to go after you!" shouted Sonic.
"Alright! Thanks again!" shouted Big as he turned and started running towards the front of the ship.
"We done playing around now Sonic?" asked Knuckles as he held on, Chaos continuing to try and suck him up. Chaos then whipped his tail at Knuckles, who wasn't ready to get out of the way in time.
"Yeah. Time to get serious," said Sonic. He then raced around Chaos, grabbing Knuckles by the arm and pulling him out of the range of Chaos' suction and barely causing Chaos' tail to miss striking him.
"Hey look Froggy! A plane!" shouted Big as he came upon none other than the Tornado resting at the end of the runway. "I'll bet we can use this to get down." Big climbed up into the pilot's seat, then scratched his head as he looked at the complex controls. "Hmm…I don't know what any of these buttons do…Oh well, I'll figure it out." He then pressed a couple of buttons, both of which did nothing. He then finally hit the ignition button, the jet engine on the back of the plane flaring to life as the plane started moving again. Grabbing the stick, Big pulled back on it, the plane leaping into the air. "Here we go Froggy!" he shouted as the plane raced away from the dropping Egg Carrier.
Back at the platform, Sonic and Knuckles kept dodging Chaos' attacks with his tail, trying to figure out some way of defeating him now that it was apparent from Sonic's first attack that reaching his weak spot would be nearly impossible.
"While I could let Chaos simply beat you on his own, I think I'd like to help him out a little. Hope you enjoy a slippery surface to fight on you two!" shouted Eggman as he tossed a mechanical orb out of his hovercraft. The orb then started spraying a super cold liquid onto the glass surface of the platform, causing ice to instantly build up on it as it began to loop around the open areas of the platform.
"Can't say I'll be happy to fight on that," said Knuckles, indicating the ice that was being left in the robot's wake.
"I can't either, but it gives me an idea," said Sonic. He then shot from his spot, racing towards the orb as it covered the halfway point of covering the platform with ice. Leaping towards the robot, he curled into a spindash, slamming into the orb and causing it to go crashing to the platform below. Sonic landed next to it, picking it up while being careful to not touch the liquid that was now oozing out of the gashes in the orb. "Hey Chaos! Bet you won't like this one bit," he said as he tossed the orb at Chaos, who realized what Sonic was up to as well. Unfortunately for him, he was too big and too slow to avoid having the orb hit his body, the orb getting drawn in as the liquid started to spread throughout his body, freezing every inch that it touched. "Okay Knuckles! He's all yours!" shouted Sonic as the final bit of Chaos froze over.
"Oh no!" shouted Eggman, seeing Chaos completely froze in place.
"Oh yes," said Knuckles, charging Chaos. He pulled back his right fist, slamming it hard into Chaos' body, causing cracks to form all long it.
"My turn!" shouted Sonic as he shot towards Chaos, curling into a spindash as he plowed through Chaos' body, the weakened ice shattering into countless pieces. The six Chaos Emeralds hit the platform, sprawling out in all directions as they were finally freed from Chaos' possession. Uncurling from his spindash, Sonic looked up at Eggman who stood there in stunned silence. "Too bad Eggman. He might've beaten us if you hadn't stepped in."
"You…You…I hate you hedgehog!" shouted Eggman. He then pointed his hovercraft in the direction of the coastline. "Don't think this is over! I've still got another trick up my sleeve that will ensure Emerald City will still be destroyed!" His hovercraft then started heading in the direction of Emerald City.
"You're not getting away that easily!" shouted Sonic as he dashed towards Eggman's craft, leaping up and grasping onto one of the small pipes that lined the sides of the craft.
"Get off my craft you pesky rodent!" shouted Eggman as he started to shake the craft from side to side to get Sonic to let go. But Sonic held on tight as the craft shot away from the Egg Carrier, heading for land.
"Hey Sonic! What are you doing!?" shouted Knuckles as he watched Eggman and Sonic go flying off into the distance. Knuckles sighed, then looked back at where the remains of Chaos were sitting as he eyed the six Chaos Emeralds lying on the ground. "Well, guess I'd better take the Chaos Emeralds with me. Better than letting Chaos thaw out and take them back again. Besides, once Floating Island is back up in the sky, Chaos won't be able to reach them up there anyways." Knuckles then walked back to where the sack with the Master Emerald shard was sitting, slinging the bag over his shoulder as he began to collect the emeralds scattered about the platform. As he placed the final one in his bag, he felt the ship shudder as the final few engines sputtered and died.
"Okay. Time to leave before this thing takes the final plunge!" he shouted as he ran over to the edge of the deck and leapt off, gliding towards Floating Island. He could just make out island in the distance, and was thankful that the airstreams today were headed in that direction, knowing he'd be able to ride them the whole way back to the island.