Chapter 11

Following the Egg Carrier's demise, the ominous black thunderclouds that filled the sky began to disperse. Knuckles finally landed on Angel Island and faced the shrine that he called home for as long as he could remember. With his mission finally completed, there was only one thing left to do. With his heart racing, the proud warrior marched up the stone steps towards the altar, where the incomplete Master Emerald rotated in its place. Rummaging through his brown sack, Knuckles extracted the final piece of the Master Emerald and held it up to the giant gem. The shard grew back to its original size and slowly levitated out of the echidna's hand. With a brilliant flash, the shard merged with the rest of the Master Emerald, which was now fully restored.

"I knew I could do it," Knuckles exclaimed in a very satisfied tone. "The Master Emerald, as well as Angel Island, have been fully restored."

He then felt a strong rumble from under him, and the whole island shook. Miraculously, the island began to lift itself off of the ocean's surface. It slowly began to rise, higher and higher, back to its original home in the clouds. Knuckles breathed a sigh of relief and stood in front of the Master Emerald, guarding it just as he has always done before this whole crisis began.

"I will probably be living here for the rest of my life," Knuckles said, "always guarding the Master Emerald. But you know what? I'm perfectly happy doing this. I may not know the whole story surrounding this or even why I've always been doing this, but I finally feel at peace, and that's all that really matters."

The sun was beginning to set over Station Square in a beautiful orange radiance. Tails had already dropped Amy and Bluebird off at Amy's apartment, and he was now anxiously hoping that Sonic escaped the Egg Carrier safely.

He looked into the setting sun. "I hope Sonic's okay," he worried. His gaze then shifted to an object that was flying around in the sky some distance away.

"Could that be Eggman?" Tails wondered. "What is he doing up there?"

After suffering another defeat, Eggman quietly hovered above the city in his Eggmobile.

"Why, oh why?" Eggman grieved, with tears forming in his eyes. "Chaos has been destroyed and now my precious Egg Carrier is gone."

His expression then changed from sadness to complete fury. "I will make everyone pay for this!" Eggman screamed. "They've all been supporting Sonic, so they should get a taste of their own medicine!"

The Eggmobile then turned around and faced the glistening ocean. The setting sun reflected off of the surface of the water. Eggman whipped out a tiny remote and pressed a big red button on it.

Suddenly, something stirred out in the ocean. The calm ripples turned to bubbles, and then to waves as something big rose from the depths. A crowd formed around the ocean to see what was going on as a cylindrical object revealed itself.

The white, cylindrical object bore Eggman's red insignia on the side, clearly seen by every person.

"What the heck is that?" A man shouted.

"It's a missile!" A boy screamed.

"I'm scared, Mommy!" A little girl wept as her mother tried to console her.

Eggman then turned around to the citizens. "So long, Station Square! Nice knowing you all!" Eggman said as he pressed another button which activated the missile's large thrusters.

The missile began to soar up into the sky, and it turned itself over, soaring above their heads. Everyone began to scream in terror as the missile began to fall, heading straight for downtown!

The missile eventually crashed into the side of a tall skyscraper. Everybody fearfully cringed, expecting a massive explosion, but nothing happened. It looked like the missile turned out to be a dud.

"Are we safe?" A young woman asked a group of people. Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief, but Tails wasn't so confident that they were safe.

Eggman then flew over to the failed missile in his Eggmobile.

"I'm sorry to rain on your happy parade, but I have to tell you right now to enjoy your final moments. In exactly five minutes, your slum of a city is about to be wiped out and blown to bits!" Laughing maniacally, Eggman flew off and disappeared, leaving the citizens to really start panicking. A digital timer appeared on the missile and it began the countdown.

"We're done for!" A teenaged boy cried.

Everyone then turned their heads to Tails, who was still in the crowd.

"Tails, you're our only hope! You have to help us!" A middle-aged man pleaded.

"I don't know what I can do," Tails began to panic. He had never been in a situation like this all by himself. "I wish Sonic was here," he said to himself. "He'd go out and take care of it without any problems. It seems like the fate of Station Square depends on me."

The timer continued to tick, and time was quickly running out. Tails knew that something had to be done. The young fox was succumbed to extreme pressure, with the fate of the entire city and all of its inhabitants resting on his shoulders. He made a fist and took charge.

"Ok, guys. I'll give it my best shot! Here goes," Tails proclaimed as he began to fly up into the air. Everyone began to cheer on him.

"Go, Tails! Go, Tails!" The entire city shouted out for him.

Tails quickly reached the missile, which was deeply lodged into the side of the skyscraper. He opened up the control panel, revealing several multicolored wires.

"If I could only figure out which is the right wire," Tails said, taking out a pair of wire cutters. "If I cut the wrong one, this missile will detonate." He then looked at the digital timer, which currently said "1:43."

"I don't have much time," Tails said. He then carefully examined the wires. "Now let's see, it can't be this blue wire here... This red one looks like it leads to a major component, since there's a large circular thing at the end. Maybe it is that one."

Tails finally made up his mind and cut the large red wire. Instantly, the timer stopped with just fifteen seconds left, and the missile was permanently shut down.

"I did it!" Tails joyfully cried.

"YAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!" The whole city cheered.

"Thank you, everyone," Tails beamed at the crowd, wiping his forehead. Cameras flashed and the news reporters were there, wanting to capture the whole event on live television.

Unfortunately, the party was about to be crashed. Unbeknownst to everyone, Eggman had never actually left the scene. From a safe distance, he was watching the whole event take place with his very own eyes.

Suddenly, another object rose up out of the ocean. The Eggmobile flew over to it and latched itself securely on top of the mysterious object. A series of thrusters activated and it flew over the city, crashing down right in front of Tails. This contraption was supported by four large, robotic, spider-like legs. A flamethrower was mounted on its right arm and its left arm ended with a missile launcher. Eggman was clearly seen riding on top of the machine, which he named the Egg Walker. He glared down at Tails, boiling with a hatred that could only previously be invoked by Sonic.

"Tails, I must applaud you," Eggman began, "for combatting my precious Egg Carrier and single-handedly saving the city from imminent annihilation. However, you have caused me to feel as much hate for you as I do for a certain blue hedgehog. Say your prayers, little one. I want this city to be at MY mercy, so the first thing I want to do is to get you out of my sight."

Tails was obviously afraid, but he couldn't back down, since he had just saved Station Square. "I must do this to the end," he said, making a fist. "I'm not scared. This is what Sonic would do, so if he can do it, I can do it as well."

Eggman began to laugh. "Oh, we'll see about that. You can't outfox me."

With that, the Egg Walker began to march straight for Tails, but the fox quietly slipped underneath the assault machine as it stomped right over him. The Egg Walker turned itself around and shot a merciless stream of fire from its deadly flamethrower. Tails managed to leap out of the way just as the flames hit the ground, scorching the asphalt road, leaving behind a smoking, smoldering black spot.

Eggman was not about to give up. "You've already stopped one missile," Eggman taunted, "so let's see if you can stop this one!" The Egg Walker's missile launcher expelled a small but heavy missile that barreled straight at the young fox. Yelping, he jumped up and flew high into the air just as the missile hit the ground in a fiery blast. Several cars were set aflame and any buildings that were within the blast radius were heavily damaged. With another missile, the Egg Walker targeted a large school bus, obliterating it to smithereens.

Tails wondered what he could do to stop the evil doctor's relentless rampage. Suddenly, an idea came to his mind. The fox quickly dashed into a hardware store. There weren't too many customers inside the store, but they all heard the thumping footsteps of the Egg Walker marching closer and closer. Everyone, including the manager, screamed and sprinted out of the store's back door, leaving Tails alone in the store. Tails ran towards an aisle that said "Hand Tools". He flew up to a tall shelf and grabbed a large wrench. He made it to the entrance of the store just as the Egg Walker stomped hard on the ground, causing a seismic shock wave that brought the store crumbling down to the ground. He still thought Tails was inside.

"Aha!" Eggman gave a victory cry. "I bet that stupid little friend of Sonic finally met his demise. He didn't even stand a chance. Game over, Tails."

With his only obstacle seemingly gone, Eggman then turned his attention to the helpless citizens of Station Square. Just as he was about to fire up his flamethrower, he heard a voice from high above. Tails was diving down at the Egg Walker with his wrench held downward. With all of his strength, he jammed the large wrench into the Eggmobile's control panel, severely damaging the hovercraft's computer.

"What have you done?!" Eggman screamed and shook a fist at Tails. Sparks began to erupt from the crippled control panel. Tails then faced Eggman and said, "That was for Sonic!" He then turned around and said, "And this is for the city of Station Square!" He slapped Eggman in the face with his tails. As the evil doctor clutched his face, screaming in pain, Tails jumped back down onto the ground just as the Egg Walker started to completely malfunction. Parts of it were bursting into flames, and the Eggmobile detached itself just before the entire machine was consumed by fire. Humiliated, Eggman began to fly away while trying to repair his Eggmobile.

Everyone began to cheer like never before, roaring with delight and erupting in thunderous applause. Tails had single-handedly saved the city twice and defeated Eggman all by himself.

Tails finally became aware of the potential he had. He was no longer the little kid that always followed Sonic. He was now able to stand on his own two feet.

"I really did it!" Tails exclaimed in both excitement and astonishment. "I have to go and find Sonic and make sure he's okay." Before leaving, he thanked everyone for supporting him and he began to soar up into the sky. The citizens of Station Square continued to cheer for the young fox as he flew off into the horizon.