{Music Insert: Lost Labyrinth Zone (Act 3) - Sonic the Hedgehog 4}
The scenery then changed to a deadly danger-filled cryptic maze shrouded in mystery and surrounded by drowning waters. This place was called Lost Labyrinth Zone: an ancient maze of mystery. There was no sun or moon in the sky, but a weird light pierced the gloom. A brash sound came from a lifting structure and revealed a silhouette of the figure walking forward. The blackness soon gave out to show none other than Metal Sonic.
"ARRIVAL COMPLETED: INITIATE INVESTIGATION." The cobalt copy said in a callous tone of voice.
Finding ancient traps and remaining Badnik pieces around, he wasted no time to begin searching for this secret treasure. The entrance, which was just a gaping rectangular hole in the middle of the Jungle Zone, was also the gateway to the area filled with water. The underground labyrinth of years passed and now partially immersed in the H2O liquid. Today, visitors that didn't use any variety of equipment to progress into the zone were either fishes or visibly out of their mind. Metal Sonic kept an eye out. Luckily, his speed and agility brought him through the zone with relative ease.
He was busy navigating through the labyrinth and getting past certain traps or giant boulders that could flatten anyone in a matter of seconds. While a cruel end had laid some grip on him from his battle with Sonic, he did not feel as though he had succumbed completely. Metal could still defend himself. Striding confidently in, he reaches the deeper, darker corridors of the sanctum. He even saw a crashed minecart on the way over.
Within the Lost Labyrinth, Metal Sonic sees that the pathway ahead of him is shrouded in complete darkness; he uses his night vision to go spelunking while facing the darkness.
"IT IS AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE…" Metal stated while navigating through the next act.
"Come in, Metal Sonic!" Dr. Eggman's voice called out to the mechanized robot's transmitter.
Metal briefly replied, "I HAVE ARRIVED AT THE ZONE YOU HAVE ASSIGNED ME AT. WHAT IS YOUR UPDATE, DOCTOR?"
As Metal Sonic drew closer to the magenta-looking glow, he grew more cautious about the secrets to this ancient source of power.
"My spy-bots have spotted the blue pest and his rodent friends in White Park Zone. I say you go on a little victory rampage when you find the labyrinth energy first. Eggman, out."
With that said, the evil doctor hung up as Metal Sonic continued to concoct what his master had recently announced. The unique properties that the labyrinth energy wields to destroying the blue rodent, Metal proceeds to waste no time of standing around and searches for this empowering artifact. Pausing at the entrance, he soon discovers the hidden room he was in, left to him by Dr. Eggman as of told back at Mad Gear Zone.
"THIS IS IT. WHERE MY NEWFOUND POWER RIGHTFULLY BELONGS." The robotic hedgehog stated to himself before stepping forward and became true to his word.
Here was precisely the place he was drafted to be. Metal Sonic examined the room around him; he then caught a glimpse of himself on a puddle of water as he passed. The first thing he noticed was that he looked different. Indeed, he looked a bit like his older self after he got critically injured during Stardust Speedway Zone. His whole body had been redesigned to be more streamlined and aerodynamic. He examined himself intently for a while, and then there it was. An electrifying orb atop an altar, with a magenta aura illuminating the entire room.
Metal Sonic scanned carefully through his network logs and saw that the unknown object had an extreme level of power. He then lifts himself up from the air and onto the altar, approaching the orb with ease. For a few seconds, the magnetic aura began to collaborate with the deadly robot himself, falling under the influence he still had left. With a massive surge of power, the air around Metal Sonic began to swirl, making his fury for Sonic skyrocket. His body then erupts with purple sparks and a purple aura.
"URRRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Metal Sonic gave a loud guttural roar, as no words could describe this power absorbed through his system.
His instincts kicked in with a powerful thrust, he shot off leaving a purple streak behind him. Metal Sonic tore through the stone walls of the Labyrinth with ease, testing out his new city-wide destructive powers. With new mystic energies absorbed, Metal Sonic had become powerful than ever. Departing himself out of the cryptic maze shrouded in mystery, Metal Sonic then soared off into the endless blue sky.
"DIRECTIVE: COMPLETED. ADVANCING TO WHITE PARK ZONE." Metal Sonic stated firmly, as he then charged forward to the next zone in pursuit of Sonic.
{Music Ends}
The golden sunlight from the unreachable open-air flowed through the skies of Mobius in patches of brilliance here and there. It can be said to be on the road less traveled because it begins with Sally coming to Bunnie with an apology for what happened to her. And of course, just as Bunnie was always the sweetheart as she is; forgives Sally. The two hugged and left it like that. They were still good friends after all.
But right now, The Freedom Fighters needed a plan to take down Dr. Eggman and his new-improved Death Egg. Decided to split into two groups of three, Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine will be tracking down where Dr. Eggman is in White Park Zone. In the intervening time, Tails, Rotor, and Sally will fly back to Tails' Workshop, located in the Mystic Ruins, a wet, overgrown rainforest. There, they will start constructing a C-4, composed of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer, and a marker.
After swiftly taking down a camping tent with a single blow, Tails passed his time at the Tornado nonchalantly packing the biplane Rotor kept bringing to him, much to the amusement of the young fox's struggle to lift heavy gear. Tails' conversation with Rotor left him juggling between packing and chatting at precise timing, followed by the bags making the youngster feel victimized of being crushed.
"So, Tails? Are you sure your workshop is suitable for if any Humans could spot us?" The walrus asked, helping Tails lift the tent bags with ease as the two-tailed fox rolled his eyes.
"Don't worry, my workshop stays hidden in the rainforest with giant leaves. And besides, I haven't heard or seen a Human besides Eggman ever since." said Tails.
"Well, I hope we don't run into trouble on the way over. Generally, I'm just dying to see the workshop you and Sonic built." Rotor said slightly excited to get Tails to fly back at where the dynamic duo's hideout would be. "You still think you have that extra equipment for the bombs?"
Tails could only nod with confidence, chuckling, "I'm very sure, Rotor. Who else would you think can spare you a variety of maximum ammunition such as C-4's?"
The walrus laughed along with the young fox's quirky remark. At this rate, the two were done the packing as Sally got an earful from them both for uprooting the campsite.
"We're done, Aunt Sally!" The two-tailed fox said with a smile as the redheaded chipmunk was eager to return to her spot in the Tornado.
"Good job, boys. Let's move out." Sally replied with a smirk.
The mechanic duo knew where this was going as Tails decide to start up the Tornado and take off into the morning skies.
{Music Insert: White Park Zone (Act 1) - Sonic the Hedgehog 4}
In the meantime, Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine on a path leading through White Park Zone in Snowy Mountains, which is not a popular destination for some travelers. It was a deserted amusement park that is covered in snow and full of decorated pine trees, icy caves, and water-filled caves. Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine head out to the snowy part with landslides, trying to find the location of the park's entrance. Bunnie made sure to grab a brown jacket to prevent herself from any chillness while Antoine wore his Royal Army coat for warmth.
"Hehe, a frosty place for Eggman to stop by in, it's like Carnival Park and Ice Cap merged into one huge factoid!" Sonic said as the trio wandered around the aptly named White Park Zone.
To all the others, it was utterly, 'Today is very frozen.' But to Antoine, who was called The Coyote Who Gave His Mittens Away, it was more, 'Today, Pluto's temperature decided it was lonely all by its lonesome self, so it went on a journey to be happy. Upon finding White Park Zone's coldness, the two fell in love and mated like only two frigid personifications of temperature could and THIS ZONE'S TEMPERATURE WAS BORN!'
The trees rustled with the soft snowy breeze. Small animals roamed around, maneuvering between the undergrowth and the trees.
"It is zo odd how ze weather changes harshly on us, oui?" The French coyote stated as he rubbed his gloved hands together with a cringed look, while Bunnie seemed to nod in agreement.
"This place sure gets me really nippy. Aren't 'ya already lookin' like a stumblin' block, Sugar-Hog?" Bunnie said, asking Sonic about his way of keeping warm from the cold temperature.
"Not so bad. I would get used to the cold at some points until I need warmth." Sonic said with a thumbs-up before feeling the cold breeze for a bit, causing him to have goosebumps.
"Uh… Hehe! O-on second thought, maybe!" The spiky hedgehog stammered immediately as he looked over, "D-did anyone brought a scarf or something?"
The half-cyborg rabbit nods as she tosses a bright yellow scarf in his face, which she replied, "Sally-Girl ain't wantin' to have 'ya freeze to death, Sugar-Hog. We best get a move on before we become icicles in a cave."
Sonic and Antoine nodded rapidly in approval as the blue blur points over.
"Let's head over and see if there are more of Eggman's toys to smash!" Sonic said, gaining two nods from Bunnie and Antoine as he wraps the red scarf around.
The scarf fits so neatly around his neck, under his chin, beneath his muzzle. The trio continues off on their venture through the abandoned theme park. Sonic held his hand against the gust while the snow was whirling around his spiky shape. The sun began to dip over the horizon, which was hardly visible behind the gray clouds and turned the snowflakes into different shades of gold and rose. Sonic went on, shivering slightly in the cold.
He tightened the bright yellow scarf around his neck and watched the ends overlap in the wind. Behind him, Antoine and Bunnie were busy in a conversation through the winter-like zone.
"It is like he knows zo much about where he has been ze past three years, oui?" Antoine gave Bunnie a mutter, gaining a sly shrug from the cybernetic powerhouse.
"Not to mention, how many times he's been knockin' Eggman for a real loop. Though Sonic's been gone for who knows what, and we shouldn't bother him so much 'bout it." Bunnie said as Antoine gave her a nod.
"Oui, we shall be moving our way through, posthaste," Antoine said, understanding with a remark.
While examining roller coaster rails in the background, the trio noticed a Fullboar charging right towards them. In a quick boost, Sonic spin-dashed the Badnik till a little critter came popping out. The trio continued till they saw one of the pinball bumpers. All it took is one touch, sending each teammate bouncing their way up to a ledge and through the icy cave.
The trio surveyed the area around them. A gallery of Badniks was up ahead, two Snowys, two Spikes, and three Fullboars. Sonic smiled, cracking his knuckles when entering a fighting posture.
"This'll be easy-peasy," Sonic said as Bunnie nods.
"After you, Sugar-Hog!" She comments back.
Bunnie grabs hold of the blue fuzzball and launches him straight through one Snowy, destroying the polar bear-based Badnik in the process. Two Fullboars rushed Antoine. He bounces over one of the warthog-based Badniks that were yellow, diving down his sword through the red one with ease. Antoine threw the red one aside, making it hit the stone wall, getting destroyed as a little critter popped out.
Then, two of the pink crab-based Badniks rushed, hollering obscenities and threats. Bunnie fired lasers directly from the palm of her robotic hand, taking out two Spikes at each target. In an instant, Bunnie jumped back, dodging the Snowy's downright slash towards the direction of the cybernetic powerhouse. Bunnie manages to catch the polar bear-based Badnik's right hand, twisting the arm around, and then threw the Snowy overhead with a body slam to the solid ground.
"YEE-HAW! How 'bout that, fat-head?" Bunnie taunted the Snowy, filling its mind with fury at constant.
"Uh, boys? Bunnie here needs some extra muscle right 'bout now!" Bunnie shouted, firing lasers at the polar bear-based Badnik's face, earning herself a mighty roar as it starts to charge.
Antoine heard Bunnie's signs of help before watching Sonic kick the yellow Fullboar up in the air, letting Antoine jump in the air to finish it off with a single swipe. The Snowy gets presented with a few hooks from Bunnie, seeing how she's an expert in hand-to-hand combat. Antoine jumps in between the polar bear-based Badnik's hands, performing a spin-dash that employs his sword, buzzing off each hand from its arms.
Sonic chains a Homing Attack to automatically lock onto the foe's head, promptly attacking with brute force. The Snowy's head spins around before popping out of its socket, as Bunnie then winds up her robotic fist, finally thrusting into the Snowy's gut. In an impactful force, the Snowy came crashing through the stone wall, straightaway destroyed by Bunnie's wind-up blow.
"Well, looks like my limbs got the workout they needed!" Bunnie said stretching out, achieved a pat on the back by the blue speedster.
"Speak for yourself," said Sonic, "That thing you did with that Badnik was off the chart of awesomeness, Bunnie!" He turns his head towards Antoine, saying with a small shrug, "And you too as well, Ant. I guess."
Antoine gave a raised eyebrow to Sonic, smirking, "Oh really? Want an autograph, Mon Amie?"
Sonic snickered, giving the French swordsman a nudge to the arm. "Ha! You haven't even impressed me yet. Unless you have more tricks up your sleeves" Sonic said as Bunnie gave a loud whistle.
"Now boys, let's not get all hasty-like with the teasin'. We still got a job to do right now." She said with a smile.
The cybernetic powerhouse walks on over to the humongous ball of snow, which was blocking the entryway throughout the deep underground ice cave. She then lifts her foot right onto the grayish-white surface and gave the snowball a big push rolling forward through the entryway, stumbling over two Spikes while going down a steep hill afterward.
"Sugar-Hog, Ant, I think this is the way out," Bunnie said, followed by sliding against the snow-white surface down to where the massive snowball halted.
Sonic and Antoine slide down right behind her, with Sonic quipping around the French swordsman about hooking up with Bunnie Rabbot.
"Hey, Antoine. Bro-to-bro. What's up with you and Bunnie?" Sonic asked, causing Antoine to look surprised.
"W-w-what?!" He shrieked.
"So, when are you gonna' start swinging for the fences with Bunnie?" Sonic jested, letting Antoine give him a dark blush.
"Non! Non! Non! Z-Zat is not ze matter, h-hedgehog!" he exclaimed with a nervous look, and then pushes the blue hedgehog away for a bit. "I just do not want to take any of ze chances."
"Ha!" Sonic scoffed, "What is life if you don't take chances, Ant? I mean, you must be checking out Bunnie twenty-four-seven I believe-"
"Not zo loud, idiot!" Antoine said through gritted teeth, cutting Sonic off with a palm to the muzzle.
Sonic simply brushed off Antoine's gloved hand and crosses his arms with a frown. "Okay, okay! Geez, you big dork. You're just way too stubborn, you know that?" he spats.
Antoine scoffed at this petty quarrel, shaking his head in annoyance. "I...I apologize, Sonic." he finally admitted and stared at the snowy ground, his blonde hair falling to his face as he folded his arms.
Sonic's expression didn't change until it softens up into a sympathetic frown. "Dude...you don't need to say sorry to me, you know?" he said, unfolding his arms afterward.
"I guess it was just luck zen." Antoine said eventually. Seconds later, his smirk weakens a bit.
Antoine looked after Bunnie with a frown and felt Sonic looking at him. He looked up to see the blue speedster meeting his eyes.
"I stopped being zee same Antoine from before. I was zee scaredy-cat when I could've done zee things you do." Antoine spoke softly, which took Sonic by a bit of surprise.
"So, you've finally grown a pair for once, did you?" Sonic beamed a familiar note of mocking sarcasm. "Well, I guess things really have been changing drastically when me and Tails left."
Despite not being the effect, he'd wanted to achieve, and in all honesty, Antoine did not know how to react to it. At least when Sonic wasn't going to take anything much further.
Antoine presently brings back a smirk to finish his remark. "Oui, and for ze honor of mon father's, I shall become ze greatest swordsman in ze world."
Sonic eyed the blonde coyote with arrogance. "And Sal probably wasn't even a teensy-weensy bit impressed?" he said with more of that sarcasm.
"Maybe not, but I do not care if ze princess is choosing you because I am not in love with her anymore. It is being as simple as zat." Antoine maintained.
"Is he for real?" Sonic wondered, narrowing his green eyes as he studied the way to calm coyote up and down. "Please don't tell me you're just full of it, Ant."
"I am ze super serious person right now, Sonic."
Sonic's expression had faltered into mild astonishment. He wasn't sure to understand what is happening here. It felt like the Antoine he knew had been replaced with a double from some other bizarre world. Sonic couldn't help but smile at Antoine's redemption, always believing him as the coward of the group. But now, for the first time in a long time at this moment; Sonic was starting to like the new Antoine.
"You really did change, did you Ant?" Sonic reckoned, crossing his arms with a smirk.
"Of course, oui! I will be zee even opponent if we ever clash, Non?"
Sonic quickly looked at the French swordsman with a sly smirk. "Well if that's the case, then I would gladly apply to kick your butt in battle. Only if you can keep up with the hedgehog!" he said.
Antoine shot a quick look of self-irritation from the blue speedster's ego, while also smirking with a scoff, "Recalling back to ze mild-manner, non?"
Antoine and Sonic shot playful glares at each other, choosing for the right time to spar one day. In the meantime, they continued off with Bunnie up a few platforms leading another way throughout the theme park.
{Music Ends}
The scenery changes to where Tails, Sally, and Rotor arrived at the young genius' workshop. Sally almost immediately did a one-eighty from curiosity to fascination.
Rotor was the first to ask with glee, apparently forgetful about the whole ordeal of why they're here. "Whoa! This place looks awesome! Any more surprises, Tails?"
Tails nodded as he claps his hands twice. The lights respond with a coffeemaker appearing out of a console while pouring a fresh cup, illuminating his research laboratory lab. Johan Strauss II classical music softly playing over the sound system, and Tails made his way to the nearest source of caffeine. He got some things out of the cabinet, along with two more small cups, and poured them into the coffeemaker.
"I have coffee if you guys want. To make things more difficult, I kept it far away from Sonic as possible since it's for his very own good. Not even one sip." The young fox said as the two other Mobians crept over to the coffeemaker and reached out to grab the cups.
"Haha! Is that right?" Sally jeered with a smile as Tails pulled out the sugar bowl and creamer, then stirred the ingredients into the coffee he held.
Rotor was too busy savoring the taste of his coffee; he needed this stimulant to do an expanded routine because he's been doing this job for a long, long time.
"Thanks, Tails. Nothing beats better than a good cup of joe." He said and smiled at the youngster who looked infinitely more confident the previous few times.
"First things first. Computer! Status report!" Tails said aloud to the room; in an instant, the supercomputer activates and was powered up, specifically concerning the conditions of the workshop's surroundings.
He sat in his chair slowly and scrolls along with the supercomputer's full screen. "Mechanical systems are stable. Reactor core temperature is precise. And the inventions are still in place as usual."
The young fox's chair stops at the end, with all his systems working thoroughly. He turned from the delicate supercomputer towards the roaming Mobians. Inside the lab, Sally and Rotor were peering around at each variety of inventions while Tails crossed his arms with a smirk.
"Pretty cool, right?" Tails said as Rotor looked back at the twin-tailed fox.
"Yeah! So, this is where you keep your inventions around here? Even the Tornado?" Rotor replied.
"Well, I needed to keep the Tornado someplace safe from Dr. Eggman, so Sonic and I started building this workshop. Most of the time, I've been busy with two new inventions I've been dying to try out. Let me show you one before we get started on the C-4!" Tails commented as he excitedly ran over to grab out a small red arm cannon.
"Here she is, my Energy Ball Blaster. This baby can fire a round shot of high-electrical energy, and it mostly my standard attack. I can also let it deform from my arm whenever I need to defend myself against Dr. Eggman's cruddy Badniks."
Tails finished explaining to his Energy Ball Blaster as Sally couldn't help but smile, amazed at how well-crafted and thoughtful he was with his motorized inventions. Tails chuckled to himself. This would be another great accomplishment of his life.
"Oh, and Rotor! Come check these ones out!" The young fox led the walrus inventor towards the clear table, which it shows the tiny paper airplanes he was busy making on previous days.
"This is simply amazing!" Rotor said. "I've never seen such a remote-control airplane like these ones before!"
He was trying to figure out how it works as Tails waved his twin-tails and nervously smiled, "Aw, it's nothing… you're making me blush here."
Soon, a yap comes from the other room, letting a silhouetted figure show up out of nowhere. It bears a resemblance to a goofy-looking, robot Chihuahua. The dog was yellow-orange and grey. The head is unevenly the same size as his body and has large eyes, a metal muzzle, a thin tail with a metal sphere at the end and a pink tongue. The dog happily jumps over to Tails, licking his face a couple of times.
"T-Pup-AH! Stop! Bahahaha!" Tails shouted with the sound of intense laughter, managing to get a hold of his robotic creation.
Rotor and Sally became speechless by the canine robot's surprising, yet hilarious assault on the twin-tailed fox.
"Yip-yip!~" T-Pup was relieved that his master was home but brought along new friends to his home.
Rotor chuckled heavily with a palm on his face and had a scrunched expression.
Sally was the first to ask, "You made a robot dog?"
Tails nods, quickly picked himself up to hold T-Pup against his chest with both arms. He grinned and nuzzled his cheek against T-Pup's. A giggle escaped Sally's lips when T-Pup licked the young fox's cheek enthusiastically.
"Let me introduce you to T-Pup! T-Pup, this here is Aunt Sally and Rotor. Have you been holding up the fort for me?" Tails commented before putting the canine robot down to its paws, letting him run around Sally in circles as she smiled.
"Well, he certainly is a cute one. How did you create him?" Sally said, watching T-Pup hop on up into her arms and licks her cheek.
Tails scratched the back of his head, explaining. "When I got separated from Sonic, I was isolated on this tiny island called Cocoa Island, invaded by the Battle Bird Armada. T-Pup was originally just a pet project but did his very best to keep up with driving off intruders. Afterward, he's become a useful companion whenever possible."
"I also met this wacky jungle badger who so happens to be my friend, named Sticks. She told me how she lived and thrived alone in the wilderness, and we eventually grew a strong bond with one another."
Tails couldn't help but notice the small smiles starting to grow on his friends' faces. They were thankful that Tails wasn't critically injured while on Cocoa Island. Tails did tell about when he clashed twice against Battle Kukku the Sixteenth, AKA Speedy.
In the end, Tails defeated Speedy and his comrades, foiling their operations on Cocoa Island. Not wanting to let this linger for too long, each teammate decided to cut to the chase.
"Alright then," Sally dragged on, "We should maybe start constructing our C-4 right now."
Tails and Rotor nodded back, pulling out a blueprint to assemble the device, and with Nicole's assistance of planting a detonation code inside the C-4.
One hour had just passed, leading back to where Rotor and Tails were working on the final touches to the C-4 design. Temporarily, Nicole connected from the hand-held computer through the C-4's demolition charge.
Nicole's voice over Tails' mainframe computer link came up. [I'm almost done entering the code into the C-4, but I'm speculating if we need a time limit for the discharge. So, I've inserted the limit from ten or fifteen minutes.]
Sally nods, as she was busy examining around Tails' workshop. She's surprised at the site, the most regular but steampunk-like home she ever saw. The redheaded chipmunk glides slowly down the workshop aisle, already over the shakes.
Sally notices Tails' make-shift appliances that appeared rooms, with sheets tied to metal poles resembling a hammock, and T-Pup's brand sleeping pad. She takes in the entire image of the workshop's interior. Only six feet wide and thirty of this forty-foot home got packed with everything that is implements or utensils, and only the 6ft by 10ft enclosing that resembles guest rooms.
Her eyes then perused on the stack of pictures from the counter, showing images of the speedy hedgehog and the twin-tailed fox. She remembered her and Sonic having photographs of their own, always thought they were kept away in a drawer or something. But these must've been special. Sally looked through the photos ever so slightly; she would smile every time she saw Sonic and Tails.
After a few moments of witnessing each picture, her eyes locked onto a picture of her and Sonic. Sally presented the blue speedster a kiss on the cheek, remembering back to when that happened. She tried not to blush as she recollects back when she and the old gang stopped one of Dr. Robotnik's plans while chuckling afterward. Overall, Sonic and Tails' pictures were all silly and adorable, filled with misadventures of coolness and masculinity as they were.
Sally didn't notice that Tails was behind her until later catching her off guard when she heard him, saying, "Aunt Sally?"
Sally looked at Tails with a neutral smile, letting him know that she was alright.
"Oh, hey Tails, how are things going?" Sally asked, looking at the young genius while holding a picture behind her back.
Tails pulled out a smug grin, pointing her, "Were you just looking at something?"
She wasn't stupid to think that Tails wouldn't have noticed her looking through photographs of the past.
At an instant, Sally's face began to uproot her emotions as she chuckled, "No… just seeing photos here bring back memories of you guys. Though you did look cute back then in these pictures, you know?"
The young fox was hanging his head by this point, torn between laughing or dying from humiliation.
"Oh c'mon, not those pictures! You could've turned to the next page or something?"
Sally bumped him playfully in the shoulder, saying, "I promise I won't tell Bunnie about your pictures here. Besides, what I say goes, and right now, I keep on praising you for this."
Tails groaned as the blush had grown so much that it could almost be mistaken for his natural color, "Aunt Sally…"
"Okay, okay. So far, how are the explosives coming along?" The princess questioned as to the foxy youngster nods.
"So far so good, Nicole has finished processing her code for each C-4's detonation. Rotor's busy with tinkering with a few of my upcoming inventions, of course." Tails answered.
Sally gave out a smile, looking at Tails with a caring expression. "That's good… You know, even I missed you a whole lot as well. I started looking back through the photos we've had during our adventures together. I could never forget the sweet smile you've always had, Tails."
Sally looked at Tails, seeing him walk over to a chair and sits down. She saw his expression get weaker, seeing as a sign of apprehension.
"Is everything okay, Tails?" Sally asked, conjuring herself into thinking that all these years; Tails felt this much piling onto him.
Sally went on over to lean against the wall, next to where Tails was sitting, and then adds a saddened glance to the young genius.
"I thought I'd never see you or Aunt Bunnie again. I kept resisting myself from crying each night, thinking nothing would be possible for a better future. Even Sonic had these doubts, but it didn't stop him. He just tries to live through it, and hope things would come better when it just doesn't feel like it."
Sally couldn't believe this pain was coming out from Tails, who tried his best in becoming a Freedom Fighter like the others. Though, the reality remained that way when he was just a youngster back in the day. Not only did Sonic change for the greater good, but so did Tails. He wasn't that innocent child from Knothole, who was far too young to fight the forces of evil anymore. Sally could see that Tails was someone entirely special for their contributions and aspirations.
Within seconds, Tails quickly stopped when he notices Sally's palm on his cheek. Tails looked up, watching Sally's lips curl into a sweet smile.
"Tails, don't ever think of that. For the years I've spent seeing you grow up to be this better of a person, I couldn't be prouder of you. You've really matured a lot, Tails. Sonic, especially. Neither one of us isn't going to separate from each other, and nothing like that will ever come to pass. Okay?" Sally said and gives the twin-tailed fox the 'funny kiss' on the nose.
Tails smiled at his friend's encouraging words, even if he did worry a little too much about all of this. After all the hugs and long talks about everything, Tails presented back with a happy smile.
"Hehehe, yeah! Anyways, we should probably see how Nicole and Rotor are doing. If you want, I can let you borrow my PAD to check how Sonic and the others are doing." He pulled out a tablet-like device and displayed a function for audiovisual communication.
"Yeah, I'll check up on them," Sally said as she takes the Miles Electric, taking note of Tails standing back up to his feet.
Tails return to his research laboratory where Rotor and Nicole are still working on the explosive device. Sally then calls Sonic, using the Miles Electric through video and telecommunication. After a few seconds, the screen popped up showing Sonic with his wrist communicator, the Commlink.
"Sonic, how are things going in White Park Zone?" Sally questioned as a smile struck up her expression when she saw the speedy hedgehog on screen.
"Well, I just took a spin on the roller-coaster tracks, and we're just coming around an underwater cavern. AND there's no way I'm swimming through a cold one today!" Sonic replied as Sally sighed, shaking her head while muttering.
"Well, could you at least tell me something I don't know? It better not be your eating habits." Sally said, giving him a stern look, which failed spectacularly because of how cute it made her look.
"Okay, okay, Bunnie found a large energy signal coming around the park, thanks to her wireless-connection with Nicole. Seriously, how many more tricks do you guys have? I'm super jealous!" Sonic shouted back at Bunnie with a sarcastic grin, hearing that she couldn't contain her laughter in the background.
Giving the blue speedster a mock-glare, Sally thought she could open her mouth to protest. But she closed it, for now.
"Now's not the time for games, Sonic. Tails and Rotor are working on a variety of C-4s, which Nicole is going to implant her detonation code inside and destroy the Death Egg." Sally commented, giving Sonic the time to speak for his mind.
"Okay cool, but what about Little Planet? I don't want that place to get blown to pieces along with what Egg-Head's got in store for us. And besides, I can blow that space station no problem once I get all the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic replied confidently, as Sally sighed.
"Sonic, you're not blowing up the Death Egg all by yourself; Little Planet won't be harmed by the detonation. Nicole's ignition code will have a time limit, giving us time to fight off whatever Dr. Eggman's prepared. It'll drain the Death Egg's power source, and therefore release its attachment from the Little Planet."
Sonic nods at her statement; seeming like Sally knows what she's doing.
"Cool! That's all I needed to hear, Sal." Sonic said, showing off an arrogant smile that would make Sally want to smack his stupid expression off.
"Hold it, Sonic. Rotor told me the C-4 would roughly take around six hours of being fully prepared. So just hang tight you guys. Including you, Sonic." Sally stated as the blue speedster made a pouty scoff, while Bunnie gave a thumb up to the chipmunk girl's instructions.
"We will, Sally girl. We'll probably meet you guys up in Oil Desert Zone, just FYI." Bunnie affirmed.
Just before Sonic could say anything else, Antoine started to hear a noise coming from the surrounding distance. Quickly and quietly, he made sure to make as little noise as possible. Bunnie thought she heard a sound too while staring around at what the sudden commotion was. Sonic's ear perked as well but hadn't had second thoughts of whether it was just a bird call or the sounds of the amusement park.
That is until there was a casted figure above the roller coaster tracks, foreseeing down to where Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine were standing. The figure jumps up and dashes downward to where Sonic persisted.
A wide-eyed Bunnie shouts, "Sugar-Hog, in front of you!"
At a quick pace, Sonic jumps back from a dark blur, which impacts where Sonic stood earlier. This uproar caused the Commlink to glitch up and lose connection with Sally. From its dense flora came a mechanized robot that seemed to be a copy of the speedy hedgehog with glowing red eyes. Sonic's eyes went wide at what he was seeing, and as well as Bunnie and Antoine were watching with shock.
Metal Sonic had arrived.
TO BE CONTINUED…