Crisis of Ivory
Chapter 21: Endgame Egg Part Two
Location: Solstice Armada
"Take this!" Sonic shouted, smashing his Sonic Wind through an Egg Bishop's head as he jumped right into the fray, a group of Egg Mechs instantly swarming him.
The blue hedgehog bounced out of the crowd with his limbs flying in break dancing movements, sending the mechs flying everywhere. As the blue hedgehog fell down he curled into a ball and smashed in an Egg Ballistic, sending it flying back as the rockets it fired flew off in random directions. Sonic landed and spun around before kicking off into the air and cleanly smacking two other robots into oblivion.
As he landed two more Egg Bishops fired lasers at the the blue hedgehog, but suddenly Tails was in front of him, using his Energy Streams to deflect the different lasers before tossing Static Bombs into the crow and destroying more of them. The two stood back to back, destroying the enemies with Sonic Winds and Energy Spheres while circling each other. Once the group around them was destroyed more mechs rose from the sides of the airship, including a group of pod like robots with long wings, which Sonic realized were actually the real form of the smaller Egg Skyblades.
"You're getting better Tails, I gotta say!" Sonic said, impressed. "You killed more of those guys than I did just with that cannon."
"Thanks, I've been working really hard on getting stronger!" Tails exclaimed. "Metal will be the last one I lose to in all of this!"
But then the Skyblades surrounded the heroes, and though Tails destroyed many with his Energy Lasers, the rest glowed yellow to use their blade attack, and they knew they wouldn't stand a chance when all of them attacked at once. But then Ray was in front of them, his tail circling around him as he whirled around and pulled the energy right out of their Blade Charge before charging forward himself using his Soaring Glide to shoot through all of the robots in his own Blade Charge. He then landed by Sonic and Tails, absorbing energy attacks while destroying the robots with this combat skills.
"Come on guys, don't leave me hanging," Ray said as a large robot with gigantic orange cannons replacing his arms with scarlet flower like protrusions on the end and spider like yellow legs stopped hovering with its jet pack and landed on the airship roof. "Wanna help me with that?"
"I think Omega's got it," Amy said, the Eggman rogue unleashing a volley of missiles to destroy more Egg Skyblades before swerving around and aiming both of its black lasers at the robot instantly, hoping to finish it in one blow.
But the Egg Radiate simply caught the attacks in a field n front of the flower like fragments before firing rays of light energy at the roof, causing the heroes to fall into the body of the ship, landing within some sort of energy plant. The Egg Radiate drew in a great a great amount of energy before unleashing a barrage of solar energy shots, but Ray absorbed it through his tail before firing it back at the robot. The Egg Radiate reabsorbed its own attack before returning and multiplying its power, sending it flying at Ray and tossing him back into the wall.
The flying squirrel still had a lot of fight in him however, and bounced off the wall before rushing at the Egg Radiate. The machine fired off pillars of solar energy that fell from the heavens but the flying squirrel easily avoided them before kicking off into the air and using his flight skills to use the air and fly around the machine before turning back around and dashing towards it, avoiding a variety of light laser attacks and grimacing a laser tore through his side.
The flying squirrel was suddenly below the hovering Egg Radiate, kicking it up into the air before shooting up above it, tucking in his flaps that allowed him to fly, and shooting downwards like a spinning torpedo while the yellow energy turned him into a living projectile, the velocity suddenly becoming deadly as he shot straight through the Egg Radiate, a yellow trail going through it and ripping it apart as the flying squirrel landed on the ground without breaking a sweat.
"That thing stood no chance against my Descending Missile attack!" Ray stated, smirking confidently before looking out of one of the whole the Egg Radiate made in the airship. "Come on guys, I can actually see Central City on the horizon!"
"That's just great," Sonic said. "We have to keep moving. If you're busy fighting something else that's okay, the Aeolus will pick everyone up!"
The heroes rushed forward through a massive hole in the side of the airship with Sonic in the lead, free falling right before the Egg Mechs responded and moved closer. Knowing this the blue hedgehog bounced off of the mechs with a Homing Attack before landing on top of a large Egg Skyblade. Tails used his Energy Cannon to remotely hack into the Egg Skyblade before having it cruise them forward through the air. Though more Egg Mechs and Skyblades approached from all sides Omega suddenly transformed his arms into the largest machine guns Sonic had ever seen before blasting every Egg Mech out of the air.
"Alright guys, get ready for the drop!" Sonic said, a fleet of Skyblades coming from all sides at the aircraft they were standing on slowly moved towards the Egg Ozone in the lead.
Sonic and the others leaped off of the Skyblade as a swarm of Egg Mechs rushed towards them, knowing they couldn't take those numbers at this point, diving through the brisk air towards the end of the Egg Ozone. The heroes didn't think they would make it, but they all managed to get onto the rear of the massive airship after pushing themselves atop the edge.
"Well, that was real exciting," Amy said, hoisting Knuckles atop her back as he could barely take the fall from the tornado to reach their destination. "I'll take care of Knuckles from here on out. The four of you guys could take care of the rest."
The heroes jumped down into the main bay of the Solstice Armada, where blood red walls and floors were outlined by pulsing green cables and lines. There was a constant hum below the heroes with slightly vibrated the floor underneath them-it was the clearly due to the main Solstice Cannon being built into the bottom of the Egg Ozone. Clear glass windows overlooked the mountains, plains, now gray, stormy clouds, and the large sea below with Central City now being much larger on the horizon-they weren't far away at all. The top of the Egg Ozone was open, allowing Sonic to see up past the wires, pipes, and other machinery to view the heavens above.
"The Control Room is not far ahead!" Omega declared. "Through there is the key to stopping the main Solstice Cannons and possibly the other ones."
"Wow, Eggman has really outdone himself," Tails said. "This is better than the Egg Carrier, the Egg Cruiser, and the Star Cruiser!"
"That's odd," Amy said, looking at the masses of robots roaming about and arming themselves. "These robots are very powerful, just look at them, but with all of the chaos we caused it's obvious that we're here. They aren't even attacking us."
"So that means someone issued an order," Ray said. "I wonder who it could be."
"I know," Sonic said, narrowing his eyes and leaping back. The other heroes, though unsure of the danger, leaped back as well.
In that instant a massive robot burst from the ground, causing the heroes to cover their eyes from the smoke that rose up in its wake. The robot that emerged had four massive wing like cyan energy protrusions, two on each dark red plated shoulder. Blood crimson plating covered the robot's upper arms, rotating neck with orange lights lining up and down both rows, and legs. The robot's lower right arm was completely black and was a massive gatling gun along with many other types of weapons lining the barrel. The lower left arm was a long, sword like drill which rotated at dangerous speeds and crackled with orange arcs of electricity. The robot also had rocket launchers on the pad attached to its back in addition to four jade colored pods around its waist. The head of the machine was a light green cockpit which housed the Egg Console, with Eggman at the controls.
"It's been so long since we've seen each other last," Eggman grinned. "When was it, the Gaia incident?"
"I'll admit, your plan was good, but your time is up," Ray said. "Because of you, Bean and Bark are dead, and now all this chaos is afoot."
"Thank you for the gratitude, but you do not understand my position," Eggman replied. "After all these years, of being considered a joke like I had all my life and failing at every turn, I just had finally had enough. And now, with his genius plan, there is now way I can lose. As of right now, twenty cities have already been annihilated by my Solstice Cannons. And once my main Solstice Cannon wipes out the United Federation in one blow, there will be nothing to stop me."
"You're wrong!" Tails replied. "All of us heroes will be here to stop you, no matter how much you destroy!"
"You surely aren't showing your intelligence now, Tails," Eggman laughed. "Why do you think I allowed you to even approach Eggmanland? We saw you way before and the Skyblades could have knocked you out of the air before you even saw them through the clouds, but you did get rid of Bark for me, and now I can personally destroy you myself, while getting some entertainment instead of just shooting you out of the sky."
"That was your mistake!" Omega exclaimed. "Now we will destroy your machine and the rest of your Neo-Egg Army before we destroy your cannons!"
"Yeah, all of us heroes have gotten stronger. Your Chaos Core and fancy machine can't beat our teamwork," Sonic claimed.
"What a foolish idea," Eggman scoffed. "My Egg Dragoon Mk II is stronger than all of you combined and has my Chaos Core in it. I can still activate the main cannon from the Chaos Core in here, too. But I will admit, you do have a chance."
"I guess one of us will be the victor here, and the other will die," Sonic said. "This reminds me of that first time I fought you in Green Hill, but now the stakes are a hell of lot higher. I hope your ready to fight at full power, because I will."
"You don't mean you're going to fight him alone?" Amy questioned, concerned for her lover's safety.
"I'll be okay," Sonic answered, giving his toothy grin and a reassuring thumbs-up. "I'm doing this for old time's sake. Trust me, I'll be okay. Go stop the Solstice Cannons. Eggman won't leave it unguarded, but I know you guys will be okay. Amy, you can keep Knuckles here and heal him while looking after me so you don't have to worry."
The heroes nodded before Ray, Tails, and Omega ran past the two fighters and into a side door which led down into the dark depths of the Egg Ozone where great challenges awaited them. But Sonic simply turned around and got into a fighting position, calling upon his full as his eyes blazed with cyan and azure winds blew wildly around him. The Egg Dragoon loaded its right arm, filling each weapon along it while readying its Drill Sword with arcs of electricity before holding it like one would in a sword duel.
"Get ready, cause here I come!" Sonic said, concentrating the flaring blue winds around him.
And then the titanic battle began.
Sonic leaped up into the air and unleashed a mighty Sonic Wind, the gale of blue wind shooting at the mighty mech. Eggman simply deflected the attack with a loose but unstable crescent of electricity that waved out from his Drill Sword. As the attacks collided the wind and electricity forces opposed each other violently but Sonic simply blazed past it and charged forward at the Egg Dragoon Mk II. The Egg Dragoon blocked the assault of kicks and punches with its Drill Sword, but Sonic had a powerful Sonic Storm hidden and smashed the attack into the Drill Sword.
The massive burst of blue wind that ensued blew the robot away and sent it smashing into the side of a wall while knocking a group of Egg Mechs away. The blue hedgehog whistled and relaxed, but in that moment the new Egg Dragoon cut through the winds with a slicing arc of electricity. Before Sonic could react Eggman held the Drill Sword out forward and aimed it before firing the drill off at the hedgehog, the spinning projectile shooting at him like a long missile. The blue hedgehog suddenly turned around and ran into the labyrinth of metal workings with the drill rapidly approaching him.
"Wh-whoa!" Sonic shouted before rushing as fast as he could, leaping from pipe to pipe and grinding along the wires as the drill continued to follow him, punching through everything in its path and never slowing.
The blue hedgehog ran along a massive bridge to escape it, blue winds gusting around his arm as prepared a Sonic Wind to use against it. But when he turned around the Egg Dragoon Mk II was there, and Sonic instantly realized that Eggman knew a lot more about where they were fighting than Sonic did as he suddenly fired a wave of blazing bullets at the hedgehog. The blue blur sidestepped a few of the shots which scorched the bridge before he leaped off and dived onto another bridge below. The Egg Dragoon Mk II fired a massive cyan sphere ahead of him which impacted with the ground and sent out a massive impacting explosion of cyan energy which formed into ice instantly.
The blue hedgehog leaped out of the way of the Freeze Bomb which instantly formed into a small iceberg and spun around to find Eggman floating above the bridge, another Drill Sword at the ready which he held at Sonic in a challenging way. The blue hedgehog complied and leaped off the bridge, clinging to a wall before racing along it as flaming gunfire rattled the walls behind him. The blue hedgehog leaped off, lined up with the cockpit of the second Egg Dragoon, and slammed into it with a Sonic Boom that rattled the cockpit and sent the Egg Dragoon crashing through a few more bridges before landing on the floor. A crack actually spread the cockpit, causing Eggman to look in shock.
"And here's the final blow!" Sonic shouted, holding a Sonic Storm in his hand as he came down upon the machine.
But Eggman wasn't out of the count yet. The Egg Dragoon suddenly released a burst of fiery energy in all directions to knock out Sonic's guard before he swiped out with his Drill Sword, shocking the azure furred hero and slicing him across his chest, drawing a stream of blood which fell to the floor. As the hedgehog landed the machine suddenly landed, stomping on his chest and pushing down before holding his Drill Sword at his face. The hedgehog coughed up a great amount of blood as he finally began to move, feeling the heat of the drill's tip in his face.
"It's amazing how quickly the tides turn, don't you think?" Eggman asked. "A moment ago you thought you had me, but now it's your end."
"Someone's...a bit confident," Sonic chuckled. "It's not even close to over!"
"How are you going to get out of this one?" Eggman asked. "You have no movement, so I could wait for your ribs to crack and do the job for me or I could kill you by moving my weapon just a few more inches forward."
"I think the answer may just be that your fall on me cracked the floor," Sonic smirked, and then it did.
The Egg Dragoon Mk II simply flew up as the floor fell out from under them, while the hedgehog have fell to his doom. Normally the hedgehog would be dead, but Eggman knew better than that. Sonic rebounded off of the falling pieces followed by launching up with a Sonic Wind in each hand before shooting one out, smashing the robot in the waist. The Egg Dragoon Mk II was rattled by the attack, but it wasn't over yet. Sonic landed on its neck and smashed the other Sonic Wind into the cockpit where the crack was, shattering the outside green layer to reveal the clear layer of the Egg Console underneath.
Before Sonic could attack again the Egg Dragoon Mk II tossed him backwards into the air, causing him to land of the roof where Eggman swooped past Sonic and to the edge of the front of the Solstice Armada. The two rested for a moment, staring each other down as the rain began to pour. The Egg Ozone began to slow as it passed over Prison Island-it wouldn't be very long before they were in range and Eggman's dream would become the world's permanent nightmare.
"The rain is pouring now," Sonic said as lightning bolts struck down from the heavens, illuminating both of the fighter's solemn faces. "Looks like the end for one of us is soon."
"Then let's end this," Eggman said, holding out the Drill Sword like an arrow.
The world seemed to go dark in comparison to the swirling light that was the result of heavily concentrated energy. Cyan energy mixed in with electricity and flames and formed a powerful head of many unstable energies, and the final attack became complete as the head engulfed Eggman in size. Sonic formed a quick Sonic Storm, but it was barely complete and the attack seemed useless in comparison.
"Goodbye, Sonic!"
Then the attack was fired. The blue hedgehog thrust his attack forward but then suddenly something else was between Sonic and the attack, something alive. The attack made an impact that seemed to shake the ship and rock the world, and as Ray fell, the drill halfway inside his chest, Sonic's world suddenly slowed to a crawl.
"No...not you, too."
"I'm sorry, but I knew you would be in trouble and I just let them go on ahead of me. I couldn't leave you behind like that," Ray apologized, falling in Sonic's arms. "I absorbed the energy somehow, but I couldn't block the actual drill."
"It's okay," Sonic said, tears falling down his face, "you did your best. But...why?"
"Don't worry about me," Ray assured. "I just...knew this is what I was supposed to do. Besides, I don't think I could've went on without Mighty, and maybe I was right about that. But I know...you guys will do big things...I have my peace now..."
And then the life faded from Ray's eyes. Sonic closed them before setting him aside, but Eggman chose no to wait. The Doctor swiped out with the Drill Sword, unleashing a violent Static Wind that tossed Ray's body across the roof and Sonic's body into a massive fin like shape sticking up from the roof-the hedgehog felt the wind leave his lungs. As he fell the Egg Dragoon Mk II approached slowly, Eggman taking the sweet road to his victory.
"Looks like this is your end, Sonic! What Ray did doesn't change anything!" Eggman exclaimed, charging up his Drill Sword. "I just hit the countdown! You have 15 seconds before your world goes to hell!"
Don't give up yet, Sonic. You've got a lot to do and me, Bark, Bean, and Ray don't want you to die now and leave this world in vain.
Mighty? Sonic questioned, but all the same nodded and took in the foreign energies. In that instant a golden aura flared up around him, causing his fur to stand on end and his eyes to turn into a deep crimson color. The blue hedgehog concentrated and built up a normal Sonic Storm, but this one was then suddenly tripled in size and turned completely golden.
"Super Sonic Wind!"
Without questioning what he was doing the azure furred hero raced forward, his attack impacted against Eggman's Drill Sword. As the golden wind and yellow electricity impacted by all logic Eggman should have won but the hedgehog's attack completely destroyed the mech's arm before the sphere of gale like destruction smashed through the chest of the Egg Dragoon Mk II, and by that point Eggman could not abandon his creation. Golden light enveloped the machine as Sonic picked up Ray's body and the auto-piloted Aeolus flew up behind him with Amy and Knuckles already in it.
"See you Eggman," Sonic saluted before climbing into the machine. And this time, he didn't taunt the Doctor as he left him to die.
Location: Industry City
The two figures stood at the top of a massive pipe within an open factory, though this time one of the figures pulled his hood off and held a transmitter within his claw with the Eggman insignia on it.
"Are you sure you want to send this?" the second figure asked.
"Of course," Neo Metal Sonic said, his cloak flapping in the breeze as he sent the final transmission. And with that, the two were encircled by the turquoise energy which spirited them away across the city once again. "It is the only way our plans will begin."
Location: Solstice Armada
As Eggman's mech burned up, the pieces falling as the bloody Doctor fell to his aquatic doom, the transmission was sent to Eggman, and was the last thing he heard before his human limitations became his death.
"You, Doctor, have given me more knowledge, experience, and power than anyone else ever has, even myself. You, in fact, gave me life. But is not real life. Me and my new associate have a very important mission to take part in, as though you tried your best to complete me, I am not truly whole like the blue rat my existence mimics is, and so I must unleash my own plan now you are dead. And no, I do not loathe you for holding me back."
"Damn you Metal...you could have saved me!" Eggman cursed.
"Matter in fact, I thank you. Because now I know what I must do...in order to become a whole. I will obtain the key to the universe's mysteries, of which you could not comprehend. I will obtain a heart."
And then the Egg Console exploded against the surface of the water followed by the rest of the Solstice Armada, destroying the Doctor once and for all. And as the Aeolus flew away and back towards the Mystic Ruins, the blue hedgehog looking back at his greatest enemy's end, he could only lie to himself that it was over, at least for now.
To Be Continued...
A/N: And so that's it! Please catch up with a review for every chapter, let me know of what you think and get ready for the next exciting part of this story with three more exciting arcs now that Eggman and Ray are dead and Metal has been revealed to have started his own plan as one of our mysterious factors. So hang tight for the first chapter of this new part coming up in a week or so, entitled Killswitch Engage.
PS: Longest chapter ever!