CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Hedgehog havoc

The team of five headed through Crystal Egg Zone, an eerie, brightly lit area of Robotnik's base, obviously rebuilt like the Scrambled Egg Zone had been. Cacti and odd, colourful plants grew inexplicably out of the crystalline floors, and some of the walls had Robotnik's face carved into them.

"This place gives me the creeps," Amy said, shuddering.

"Yeah..." Tails agreed.

Their voices echoed throughout the base, unsettling the team even more. They pressed onward hastily, wanting to get out of this frighteningly beautiful place as soon as possible.

"I SEE YOU'VE FINALLY MADE IT HERE," a shrill, electronic voice said. The group looked around, trying to find the source of the words. Knuckles saw a reflection in the walls, and located its owner. Tails followed the echidna's gaze, and gasped.

"Over there!" Knuckles exclaimed. "It's..."

"Metal Sonic!" Tails shouted, sounding fearful. The fox looked up to Sonic and idolized him, so an evil being that was everything the hedgehog could be frightened him immensely.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my biggest fan!" Sonic said, wagging his finger. "Hello, Metal!"

"PUNY HEDGEHOG. DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOU CAN STOP MY MASTER'S PLANS?"

"Nah, I don't believe I can- I KNOW I can! And if you're gonna get in the way, I'll kick your butt too!"

"YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME, INFERIOR HEDGEHOG?"

"Who are you callin' inferior? I did it before, didn't I?" Sonic said, a cocky smile on his muzzle. "Cut the chatter! Let's get this over with, Metal!"

"VERY WELL, LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!"

The two were blurs before the others' eyes, leaping and attacking each other so quickly it was nearly impossible to tell which blue blur was Sonic and which was his robotic counterpart.

"Go Sonic! You can do it!" Amy shouted.

"Gah, if they weren't so fast, we could help them!" Knuckles complained, as the two fighters whizzed past.

Suddenly, both of them stopped, landing on the ground a few feet apart. They were locked in a death stare.

Sonic panted. "You're fun to play with, Metal. It's hard to find a worthy adversary who can match my speed!"

"Hey! I was a worthy adversary!" Knuckles scowled.

"Sure you were, Knuckles!" Sonic taunted.

Metal Sonic didn't say anything. Instead, without any warning, he sped toward the other four in a flash. They all jumped out of the way except for Tails, who was frozen to the spot.

"Tails!" Everyone shouted at once.

Metal Sonic grabbed the twin-tailed fox and zoomed out of the area, toward the exit.

"Sonic! Help!" Tails cried.

"RACE ME IF YOU WANT TO GET YOUR FRIEND BACK, HEDGEHOG!" The robot glided out of view.

Sonic revved up a Super Peel-Out. "That dirty little cheater... he knew he was losing so he pulled this! I'll show him! Wait for me, little bro!" In a flash, he was gone.

"We must follow them!" Mighty yelled to his companions, sprinting ahead.

Knuckles and Amy nodded. They started running, not far behind the armadillo.

Sonic dashed out of the Crystal Egg Zone at full speed. Wind buffeted his face, the night sky above him.

"Hey, I recognize this place," Sonic thought. "It's Gigalopolis Zone!"

The black sky was littered with stars, grey clouds dotting it randomly. Sonic could see city lights shining in the distance, while bright searchlights shone into the sky, creating an odd dissonance.

He could see Metal Sonic off in the distance. He sped forward as quickly as he could, accelerating with each step. He was gaining ground on the robot, but it was still considerably far away from him.

"Gotta... go... faster..." Sonic grunted, his legs going almost as fast as they could take him. His body was straining to move even more quickly.

"Just... a little... more..."

A deafening boom echoed into the night.

Sonic had broken the sound barrier.

"YEEEAHHH!" The hedgehog grinned, gaining quickly on his nemesis. He could hear Tails' cries for help as he got closer, a huge trail of dust behind him.

"Hang in there, buddy! I'm coming!" Sonic shouted.

The blue streak sped along the road, leaping over obstacles and plowing through badniks.

"Time for a shortcut!" Sonic said to himself. He leapt into one of the myriad of tubes jutting out of the walls. Curling into ball form, he rolled through the particularly long tube at top speed, coming out of it at the other end, now much closer to Metal Sonic and Tails.

Metal Sonic turned his head and saw his enemy behind him. The robot fired large, fast-moving spheres of energy at Sonic.

The blue hedgehog leapt over and dodged every one, except for the last, which hit him unexpectedly, sending Sonic flying backward. He landed flat on his face, skidding painfully against the ground before coming to a stop.

"Ugh... ouch." Sonic got up slowly, his entire body sore. He saw Metal Sonic gaining distance and frowned. "He's getting away!" Then he heard running footsteps behind him as his friends approached.

"Never fear, Amy Rose is here!" Sonic heard the pink hedgehog yelling behind him. He turned around just in time to see her pull out her Piko-Piko Hammer, swing it behind her, and...

"Amy! Wait!" Sonic exclaimed.

WHACK!

"Go get 'em, Sonic!" Amy shouted.

"AAAAGGGHHH!" Sonic flew into the air, the powerful hammer sending him flying forward.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," Knuckles remarked.

Sonic landed on his feet running, clutching at his rear end where the hammer had hit. "Argh! That Amy!" He realized he was pretty close to Metal Sonic again. "Though I've gotta hand it to her, it worked..."

Metal Sonic fired more energy beams at Sonic. The hedgehog dodged them all and picked up speed.

Tails was watching everything with fear in his eyes.

Sonic leapt into the air and curled up into a ball. His sharp spines rotating, the hedgehog resembled a buzzsaw. He landed on Metal Sonic's head with a clank, causing the robot to lose its grip of Tails.

The fox gasped and fell to the ground, rolling slowly until he came to a stop. He stayed curled up, afraid to even move.

Sonic chased Metal Sonic, who now had a large dent in its head. The robot fired at Sonic again, trying to lose him. Sonic avoided the shots, until one hit the ground ahead of him and blew a sizeable hole into it. Sonic skidded to a halt, teetering on the edge of the gap. Looking down, he could see the cityscape below him, and it was a long way down.

Gaining his balance, Sonic stepped back from the pit and looked up to see Metal Sonic disappearing into the distance.

The metallic clone's voice echoed, "WE WILL MEET AGAIN, INFERIOR HEDGEHOG."

"Drat..." Sonic stomped the ground with his foot, his quills straightening up angrily. Remembering Tails, he turned around and ran back to him.

The fox was still curled up. Sonic approached the trembling ball of fur.

"Tails... it's okay, little bro. You can come out now."

Tails uncurled slowly, bringing himself to his feet. "Thanks, Sonic..."

"Don't mention it. Where are the others?"

As if on cue, the other three caught up with Sonic and Tails, panting.

"Tails! You're alright!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Thanks to Sonic," the two-tailed fox replied.

"I knew you could do it, Sonic!" Amy rushed over and gave the blue hedgehog a crushing embrace, giggling like a schoolgirl. Sonic sighed and looked away, irritated.

"I take it Metal Sonic got away?" Mighty asked, noticing that Sonic and Tails didn't look too happy.

"Yeah... that annoying heap of metal! I'm gonna trash him next time I run into him!" Sonic's quills stood up again in annoyance, causing Amy to leap away in pain.

"Just be thankful you saved Tails," Knuckles said. "There'll be a time to be hotheaded later."

"Are you calling me 'hotheaded'?" Sonic gave the echidna a dirty look.

Knuckles grinned mockingly. "If the shoe fits..."

"I'll show you where my shoe is gonna fit in a second!" Sonic fumed, stepping closer to Knuckles.

"Do they always bicker like this?" Amy asked quizzically.

"Not always. Sometimes they fight with fists," Tails said, an exhausted smile on his face.

"Where do we go from here?" Amy asked. The group had left Gigalopolis and were currently standing in an open field in Turquoise Hill.

"Westside Island," Knuckles replied. "I'm sure Robotnik has already abandoned his base thanks to the destruction you caused."

"That means we have to find him," Tails said.

"Piece of cake. That egghead sticks out like a sore thumb anywhere!" Sonic grinned.

"But how will we get there?" Mighty enquired.

"We'll take the Tornado," Tails answered.

"How? It's not even here, is it?" Sonic scratched his head.

"No, it's on the other side of the island, where I started looking for you guys," Tails said. "But that just gives me a chance to test my new invention."

"New invention?" Amy repeated.

"Just watch." Tails produced a small black object, which looked like a remote control with a screen on it. The child prodigy pressed a few buttons, and then started manipulating a lever.

The group waited to see what was going to happen.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of propellers.

"Is that-" Sonic began.

The Tornado appeared in the distance, flying all on its own. It approached them before landing, somewhat clumsily, on the ground nearby.

"Tails!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Did you really just control the Tornado via remote control!?"

"Yep!" Tails beamed with pride.

"That's amazing!" Sonic slapped Tails' back, nearly causing the fox to drop the remote. "Er, sorry."

"But how did you manoeuvre it when you couldn't see where it was going?" Mighty asked, baffled.

"Easy! I have a screen on this remote, which is connected to a basic video camera built into the front of the plane. I can look at the screen, and see through it as if I am actually piloting the Tornado."

"Tails," Amy said, "you're a genius!"

The small fox blushed due to all the admiration. "It was really nothing," he lied.

"As much as he deserves it, we can't stand around praising Tails all day. We gotta get to Westside Island and find Robotnik!" Sonic ran to the plane, leaping onto the wings, where he usually stood during his flights with Tails.

"Wait... how are all of us going to fit in there?" Knuckles asked.

Tails frowned. "I'm not used to having more than one passenger in the Tornado... I didn't plan for this."

"I could tunnel underground, and Mighty and Amy could come with me," the echidna suggested.

"That will take too long," Amy said, frowning.

Knuckles gazed up at Sonic, perched on the wings of the plane. He pondered for a moment. "If Sonic can do it, I can too." He leapt up to join the blue blur.

"I'll do the same," Mighty said, following their lead.

"That's fine for you guys, but I am not going to stand on the wings of a moving plane! That's terrifying!" Amy crossed her arms. "Not to mention, Tails would be able to see up my skirt."

Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance, tapping his foot impatiently. "Why would he even want to look?"

"Sonic!" Amy scowled. "Don't you have any respect?"

Sonic merely sighed. He was tired of the delay, and wanted to get to Westside Island already.

"Don't worry, Amy. There's one passenger seat behind mine, so you can sit in the back." Tails walked over to the plane, beckoning her. They both got in.

Tails started the engine, and within moments the gang were up in the air, the clouds their equals.

"I've never been in a plane before. This is exciting!" Amy was on the edge of her seat.

"I can teach you how to fly it sometime, if you'd like," Tails offered. "It's very simple."

"Really? I'd love that!"

"Are you sure about that, Tails?" Sonic shouted down from the wings. "It's pretty complicated stuff. Do you think Amy can handle it?"

"Sonic, this is your plane! If even you can figure out how to work it, I'm sure Amy won't have any trouble." Knuckles grinned smugly.

"Why you-"

"Guys, cut it out! Do you want to fall off?" Tails said, slightly irritated.

"He's right." Knuckles said nothing more.

"Hmmph." Sonic crossed his arms.

"How much farther is Westside Island?" Mighty yelled down to Tails.

"Only a few more miles!" Tails replied.

"Hah, that's funny. You said 'miles'." Sonic said.

"What's so funny about that?" Mighty asked.

"Sonic, don't say another word!" Tails pleaded.

Sonic kept his mouth shut, and the rest of the group were left to wonder what the pair were talking about. Sonic and Tails were the only ones who knew, but Tails' real name was Miles Prower. "Tails" was simply a nickname, but it had become the fox's given name, as the child genius hated his real one. Sonic never understood what the fuss was about, but his friend hated being called Miles, so he kept it a secret between the two of them.

They finally made it to their destination, Emerald Hill Zone. As they flew over it, they noticed a boat that had crashed into the mainland. "What the..." Sonic said quizzically.

Tails landed the Tornado with ease in its usual spot and the group disembarked. They went to check out the vessel.

"What is this doing here?" Amy wondered.

"That boat... I've seen it before, somewhere," Knuckles said, scratching his head.

"Me too," Mighty nodded.

"Who would drive a boat into the shore? Don't they know how to throw down an anchor?" Tails asked.

"Wait!" Mighty exclaimed. "I know where I've seen it! This is one of the boats from Marina Madness Zone, on Carnival Island!"

"How did it get all the way here?" Sonic enquired.

"Someone rode it here, obviously," scoffed Knuckles.

"I know that, you knucklehead!" The blue hedgehog's eyes narrowed angrily.

"We really don't have time to be arguing about a boat, guys. Let's just leave it and get back to our main objective," Tails said, stepping between the two.

"Right... Where to now?" Knuckles asked.

"I guess we'll just have to search every inch of the place until we find some sign of Robotnik," replied Sonic.

"Sounds tedius," Amy pouted.

"You're welcome to go away if you don't like it," Sonic challenged.

"And let you out of my sight? Never!" Amy crossed her arms.

Sonic rolled his eyes, unable to understand the girl's obsession with him, even when he outright insulted her. He did feel guilty for the insults, but sometimes Amy got on his nerves so much that he couldn't control himself. The blue hedgehog sighed, reluctantly accepting the fact that Amy was here to stay, at least for the time being.

"Enough standing around! Let's get going!" Knuckles was practicing his fistfighting idly, punching the air in front of him in boredom.

"Music to my ears!" Sonic smirked, glad not to be the only impatient one on the team.