Sorry for the long wait. Got distracted by real life stuff, plus all that E3 news had me occupied for a while. ^^' Anyways, here's the next chapter for all of you.
Chapter 11
Sega Universe: With Tails
Tails ached all over. His body refused to move yet from out under the bush he was residing. He had cuts and bruises all over him, but nothing too serious.
Parts of the tornado were scattered all over. He was very lucky to be able to have survived that blast from Shadow. He still didn't understand exactly what had happened though.
(FlashBack)
"Knuckles!" Tails warned his friend.
He barely caught sight of Metal Sonic barreling toward them to turn the plane away. But, Metal managed to smack Knuckles off the wing and fell straight for the ground. Tails immediately went to steer to catch his comrade.
However, he never made it to him, for he heard a very familiar voice exclaim, "Chaos Blast!"
The whole left side of the plane exploded into flames and moved toward the ground from the unexpected attack. Amy, Cream, and Cheese had been knocked out by the sudden blast and Tails was half out of it. He frantically shook himself back awake and then gazed behind him to check the girls.
But, all he could do was stare in shock as he saw Shadow standing in the back of the plane. He had scooped up his friends and chaos controlled them away from the flames. He then stared at Tails, hands held out in a fighting stance.
"Shadow, what are you-" Tails began was cut off as Shadow slammed hard into the back of the plane. A giant hole ripped through the engine and smoked billowed out from everywhere. The fire was spreading fast.
Not wasting another second, Shadow grabbed onto Tails's hand and pulled him out of the pilot's seat. Tails coughed and spluttered as the smoke lingered around and was thrown across Shadow's shoulder. But, Tails refused to go down without a fight.
He used his namesakes to get out of Shadow's grasp and fell onto one of the plane's wings. Shadow merely huffed in response and swiftly sent a punch in his direction. Tails rolled out of the way and sent an attack of his own towards Shadow. Caught off guard, the kick caused Shadow to fall of the edge of the plane.
Thinking the the coast is clear, Tails hovers towards the front seat, intending to try and land the plane the best he can and to go get help. He didn't have time to wonder why Shadow was attacking right now, and frankly, the only thing that bothered him was that his friends were in trouble.
Unfortunately, Tails didn't realize how far the plane had went down and was thrown to the side when the machine came into contact with a tree. Desperately gripping the controls, he pushed upwards on the steering. However, he heard a grunt behind him and gasped in surprise to find Shadow back on the plane.
"Chaos Blast!" Shadow yelled. The attack enveloped the plane in a red aura. Everything went black as Tails tumbled into the air, unaware of his surroundings.
His vision was extremely blurry and he felt metal all around him. Finally, though, after what seemed like an eternity, his body landed roughly on the ground. He heard parts of the now destroyed plane fall to the ground around him.
Forcing his eyes to open, he saw that he was laying in the forest below. Giant chunks of metal were scattered everywhere. Some of the grass had caught fire from the burning metal as well.
Tails looked down at himself. His entire body was scorched. He had cuts all over, and his fur had been singed. He carefully went to move any part of his body and sighed in relief when he was able to shift his position. It was a miracle nothing was broken in the fall.
Slowly pushing his body upwards, he grunted as he sat upright on the ground. He blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision, for everything still looked really blurry. Letting himself catch his breath, he sat on the ground for a few seconds, letting his body recover from the fall. But, he wasn't able to rest for long, as he saw Shadow land nearby him.
Knowing he would be no match for Shadow in his state, he quietly dragged himself underneath a bush beside him. Hoping he had hidden well, he covered his mouth with his hand to keep quiet. He tensed up when he heard Shadow's footsteps in front of him. Tails looked through some of the leaves and noticed Shadow coming in his direction.
Fortunately, though, Shadow stopped midway through his stride and held a hand up to his ear. Mumbling a quick 'yes', he took off in the opposite direction, leaving Tails alone for the time being.
(End Flashback)
Tails was still in shock over the fact Shadow had been working with Metal Sonic. And where had they taken Amy, Cream, and Cheese? He hoped to Chaos they were all right.
With not else much to do, Tails managed to stand up from his position. Dusting himself off, he sighed heavily as he gazed around at the now ruined Tornado. There was now way he would be able to repair it anytime soon. The entire structure had been split in half and both wings were in pieces. Something like this would take him weeks to fix.
So, he figured he should try and call for help on his communicator. To his dismay, though, the device had been crushed. "Just great..." he mumbled to himself. Glancing back at the wreckage one last time, he sighed in defeat and started to walk in a random direction. His namesakes were still sore from the crash so he unfortunately could not fly just yet. Tails hoped he would come across something to get them out of this mess.
Sega Universe: With Vector's Group
The Chaotix, Sally, Rotor, and Bunnie had decided to search around in the forest first. Espio had told them they he recently found some info regarding some locations of Dr. Eggman's bases and, based on the info they had, there was one just outside Station Square.
"So, you guys are detectives?" Rotor asked Vector. They group had been getting to know each other as they walked on. Sally and the others were still a bit confused on how things were in this new dimension and had a lot of questions.
"The best detectives in all of Station Square!" Charmy buzzed excitedly. He had a huge grin on his face and hovered about the group.
"We get tons of people asking us for help." Vector bragged. "We were actually on a job when we met you guys."
"Ah, I remember." Sally replied. "You said you guys we're looking for Sonic. I guess Tails asked you guys if you could help?"
"Well, actually, Amy asked us." Vector said. "There was no way she was going to let us say no anyways when her boyfriend was missing." He smirked at his comrades after saying this.
Sally, Rotor, and Bunnie all stop in surprise after hearing Vector's remark. "Wait, Amy and Sonic.." Rotor began, "...are dating in this dimension?"
"I'm guessing they aren't in your world?" Espio asked the group. They all shake their heads.
"Actually, sugah-hog and Sally girl here are dating in our world." Bunnie explained. Sally scratches the back of her head after she says this. Vector and the other widened their eyes.
"Oh." Vector replied awkwardly. There's a bit of silence as they continue on after that. However, Rotor continues on with some more questions throughout the trip.
Finally, though, after a few more hours of walking around, they come across a large, grey building in a clearing. Several of the new humanoid guards lingered about the entrance and looked straight ahead.
"Swatbots..." Sally said aloud.
"Swatbots?" Charmy asked. "What are those?"
"Wait, you guys have never seen these before?" Rotor asks curiously.
"Well, we saw them when we met you guys but we didn't know what they were." Vector replied. "They look a lot different than what Eggman usually uses."
Sally crosses her arms and looks down at the ground in deep thought. "Oh, well usually that's what the Eggman in our dimension uses..."
They all stand in silence at this new revelation. If robots from Sally's dimension were in their dimension, there was no doubt that the Eggman from her dimension was behind this entire plot. Of course, that didn't rule out the possibility of the two evil scientists joining forces either.
"Well, we're not going to find anything out just standing here." Rotor said, seeming to read everyone's mind. "We need a way to sneak in there."
"I agree." Sally replied. She looks at the the building carefully. She scans her eyes over the front, trying to find any they could get in. She spies some smaller buildings off to the right that are connected to the main building and stops to look them over. Large semi trucks are seen delivering supplies to the smaller buildings, all filled with large crates. An idea formed into her mind and she immediately turned to tell her friends of the plan.
XXX
"Charmy, can you get off my head?" Espio whispered to the hyper active bee. The group of mobians had agreed to Sally's plan to sneak in by getting into the crates. They all had to split into groups and would meet back up when they got inside the building. Unfortunately, Espio got paired with Charmy.
"Sorry Espio." Charmy whispered back, stifling a laugh. He fluttered down and squeezed beside his friend.
The crate raddled from the movement of the truck. Rotor managed to catch one of the trucks coming in from outside the complex and they all quickly jumped inside one. They got inside one just before it reached all the guards outside thankfully.
The truck abruptly stopped and their hiding spot jerked forwards. Espio and Charmy heard mumbling from outside, most likely the chatter from some of the robots. Espio tried to focus on what they were saying as the crate was picked up.
"...crates are a lot heavier than usual?" said one of the robot workers. Espio and Charmy both froze and held their breaths.
"Just get them inside." droned another. The two friends sighed out in relief, both very thankful no one was caught already.
They waited until the crate completely stopped before getting out. They heard the robots' foot steps move further away and immediately pushed the top open. Harsh light greeted them as they climbed out and both friends blinked rapidly.
"Where is everyone else?" Charmy asked Espio. Gazing around, the two didn't see anything besides more crates. There were hundreds of them scattered on the floor. Many were in stacks that reached the ceilings and filled almost every corner of the room.
"Hey guys!" a whisper shouted from behind them. Both turned around swiftly to reveal their other friends. They all stepped from behind a stack of crates.
"Ok, now where do we go?" Vector asked the group.
"There." Sally said while pointing to a large, grey door. They all walked towards it, all trying to be as quite as they could in case any guard came around.
Walking through the unlocked door, they were greeted by a long, steel hallway. Various doors were set on either side of them.
Trying all the doors they passed, most were locked tight. Thankfully, though, there were more halls connected to the one they entered, so they weren't stuck in one place.
"Does anyone else think it's weird that no one has been patrolling in here?" Rotor asked abruptly. He stopped in the middle of the hall, his hand on his chin in thought.
"Usually the doctor keeps the warehouses on low surveillance." Espio answered. "He normally keeps most of the guards in the main part of the base."
"Hmmm..." Rotor mumbles as he continues to walk down the hall. Something didn't seem right to him. He gazed over at Sally and Bunnie, both looking to be feeling the way he did.
"Ah don't know ya'll." Bunnie stated. "What if we're walking into a trap?"
"We don't have much of a choice though." Vector replied. "We can't exactly go back out the way we came in." He saw the looks of Sally, Bunnie, and Rotor, all still looking uneasy. He began to reassure them but was cut off when everything started to rumble around them.
"What's happening?!" Charmy exclaimed. He stared behind him and gasped in shock when metal gates suddenly came out out of the ceiling.
"RUN!" Sally yelled out. Fleeing for their lives, everyone dashed down the hall. The metal gates slammed to the ground behind them, quickly catching up to their position.
Thinking fast, Sally spied an ajar door and motioned for the others to follow her inside. She slid inside, everyone else getting inside right before the gates reached their location.
"Figured..." Rotor gasped. "...something wasn't right..." His fellow comrades were sighing out in relief that they had barely avoided getting captured.
"What is this place?" Charmy asked with his back turned to the group.
The room they had entered looked to be a small office. A doorway in the back of the room was open and flashes of white light were coming from inside. Taking the lead, Sally walked inside to investigate the light. But she was met with a pleasant surprise when entering.
In front of her was a large window. Loud gasps were heard behind her as she stared in shock at the sight in front of her.
"Are those..." Vector began but cut off midway as he got a good look at the sight.
In a large factory room, thousands of Metal Sonic robots stood in an assembly line. Several machines were hooked up to some of the models with heavy, dark wires. Capsules of swirling, colorful liquid stood near each machine and its' contents were poured into the robots. The robots that looked to be complete were on their way out another door in the back of the room.
"IMPRESSIVE ISN'T IT?" droned a voice from behind the group.
"Metal Sonic?!" exclaimed Vector in shock.
Metal, or at least one of the copies of Metal, seemed to appear out of nowhere and was standing before the group, his hands on his hips. "SOON THIS ENTIRE, PITIFUL PLANET WILL BE ENCASED IN THOSE."
"So that's what Eggman is planning, is it?" Sally asked in rage. "To have everyone be his puppets?!"
"NOT EXACTLY. THAT WOULD BE TOO SIMPLE" Metal said simply. "TOO BAD YOU ALL WON'T GET TO FIND OUT THOUGH." Suddenly, Metal whipped a cannon from one of his arms and fired a bright, white light at Vector and Charmy. The two shrieked in surprise as they were completely enveloped in the light. When the light cleared, though, the two were nowhere to be seen!
"What did you do to them?!" Espio demanded the robot menace.
"A PLACE WHERE YOU ALL WILL BE SOON." Metal replied, aiming his cannon at him. But, Espio was quickly pushed out of the way by Bunnie before he could get blasted.
"We got ta get out of here!" Bunnie shouted to the others. Sally nodded and dodge one of the shots by Metal.
"But what about-" Rotor began but was cut off when he was sent a glare by Sally.
"We don't have time for that right now!" She shouted as she dived for Bunnie and Espio. She pulled them from the ground and the entire group dashed out of the room.
However, they were met with another problem. The gates were still up in the hall and they were trapped inside. Luckily, though, Bunnie thought fast and blasted a hole through on of the walls with her own arm cannon.
Not wasting any time, Metal thrust forward them. Bunnie continued to blast through walls as they fled until they reached another hall that was thankfully not blocked off. Rounding a corner, though, Rotor screams out as a metal claw grabs onto his shoulder.
"Rotor!" Sally exclaims. But, she isn't able to do anything for him, for Metal had already blasted him with the white light.
"In here!" Bunnie yells out as she points to another door. Busting through the door frame with a cannon blast, the three remaining group members run directly outside.
Several Swatbots that were on patrol are alerted of their presence as they run as fast as they could away from them. They soon, too, join the chase and barrel towards the group.
Metal blasted through the door not long after they reached the end of the compound. "We'll never get out of here with all those of chasing us!" Sally yelled.
"Just wait hun." Bunnie reassures her. "Ah have a plan."
Aiming her cannon directly in front of the incoming army of drones, the shot caused a giant hole to crack through the ground. All the robots directly in front fell through, causing the ones behind to fall and pile up. This slowed Metal Sonic down long enough to allow the trio to fell back into the forest unseen.
Running until they could no longer see or hear any of the robots from the complex, the group stop and rest by a stream.
"That could have gone better..." mumbled Sally while she sat down on the ground. Bunnie sat with her and sighed heavily.
Bunnie stole a glance at Espio, who was just looking behind them thoughtfully. She knew what he was thinking, and frankly she felt the same way about Rotor. "We'll get them back." she said to him. Espio didn't stir and continued to stare onwards.
A few minutes passed in silence before she got an answer. "...We should regroup with Tails's group." He turned around to look at them. "They may have found something by now."
"Excellent idea." Sally stated while taking out her communicator. She attempted to contact Tails's group, but no one responded. She frowned slightly and kept trying.
"I'm not getting a signal..." she said. "Hold on, let me try and contact Nicole. Maybe she can patch through to them."
"Forget it." Espio said. "They must have run into trouble. We can meet back up at the workshop. If he's not there we must think of another plan."
"No need." said a weak sounding voice abruptly. Not hearing anyone approach them, everyone snapped their heads towards the noise, which revealed a very battered looking Tails.