Chapter 29: A Dark...
The incomprehensible speed he was flying at, the crystal clarity that embraced his entire being, the pure, untainted energy that flooded his body… it was all so wonderfully breath-taking for Sonic. It filled his mind with an excitement unlike any other, a drive to brawl, a shot of adrenaline, an intensity he only ever experienced in his super form. He loved it.
And oh, he was itching for a fight. For the chance to put Eggman in his place for threatening the world, for thinking he could do something so vile. Did he honestly think he could get away with a threat like that? Eggman was going to have to make his getaway in the smallest escape pod he could find, because once Sonic was through with him, that was the only thing that was going to be left. No one messed with Mobius so long as Sonic was around.
Unless they wanted to get punched in the face, of course.
When Sonic thought about it, he was quickly reminded that there was virtually no possibility of Eggman winning. Hadn't that wacko realized that the bag guys never won? Obviously, even after years of losing to a child, it had never managed to drill its way through his thick skull. If he couldn't beat Sonic when he was still losing baby teeth, how did he expect to beat him now that he was almost an adult?
Heck, how did Eggman even expect to beat him with Sally by his side? At the mention of her name in his head, Sonic turned to face her, a smile on her face when their eyes met. Even though it was her first time going super (as well as Nicole's), Sonic knew that Sal was capable of a lot. She wasn't nearly as strong or as fast as Sonic, true, but in super form, anyone had enough power to cause some major destruction, and she was no exception. With Sally by his side, taking the Eggxterminator out was going to be a piece of cake.
When the thought crossed his mind, Sonic flashed a toothy grin at Sally. She responded with an equally excited smile, and with that, the two looked forward again.
It wasn't long after that that the two came close enough to the fleet to fully comprehend its numbers.
The fleet had more than doubled in size since the last time Sonic had ripped it apart several years ago. There were hundreds—maybe even thousands—of the gigantic full-scale war ships, smaller, speed oriented fighters, and countless other vessels equipped with laser and cannons and anything else that could cause at least some damage. And as if all that wasn't enough, hovering far behind and above the fleet was the Eggxterminator, frozen in its place next to the moon, waiting for the hedgehog that was sure to cut through the battle like it was nothing.
Sonic nearly chuckled at the thought. Oh, this was going to be fun.
"You ready, Sal?"
She nodded, shooting an excited grin right at him. "Heck yeah, I am."
The two didn't even need to say anything for them to know what the other was thinking.
Sonic looked back ahead, grinned, and laughed. "Then let's do this!"
And the two soared into the inferno.
Within less the beat of a heart, the blink of an eye, every ship, every fighter, and every vessel in the Egg Fleet turned to the hero and the princess, and without a single order, fired. Below on the face of Mobius, the countdown reached zero, and a live video feed of not one, but two glowing, golden, flying figures lit up every television, every smart phone, and every other device with a screen. All eyes instantly shot towards them, pure awe holding the inhabitants of the planet captive as the two began to cut their way through the metal of the ships.
"Easy!" Sonic exclaimed as he sped ahead of Sally, throwing his hand up and swatting away one of the many blasts from the lasers as he laughed. "I hope you have something better than that! Otherwise, this will be way too easy!"
Sally raised her eyebrows in amusement, her eyes trailing ahead in an attempt to find a stray shot that was heading in her direction. Sure enough, her gaze met one purple blast that was speeding towards, and with one quick, instinctive flinch, she sent it flying back into one of the smaller fighters.
She smiled when the fighter was sent spinning in the opposite direction, though the huff from the hedgehog off to the side made it turn into an amused smirk. "Pft. Lucky shot."
Sally put her hands on her hips as she readjusted her position so she was flying sideways, nearly giggling as she looked at him. "Oh really, Sonic?"
Sonic laughed as he mirrored her action. "Sal, I'm going to show you how it's done. And trust me," He spoke, his voice strong and confident rather than silly and childish, his smile suddenly taking on a level of maturity that made him look wise beyond his years. "You've got a lot to learn."
The princess only had the chance for her cheeks to burn a rosy color before Sonic smiled, nodded, and shot off to begin his reign of chaos. Goodness, sometimes he just… he just gave her that look and it made her melt. There was no way she was ever going to tell him that since it would have gone straight to his head, but there was no denying it in her mind. He was a very handsome young man.
Not to mention, he was pretty darn talented as well.
"Come on Sal! I'll need all the help I can get!"
Sally quickly snapped out of her daze, nodded, and yelled back to the hedgehog. "Right!" And with that she took off towards the nearest ship, Nicole's systems bursting into full glory as the AI started speaking to her friend.
"Let's focus on containing the damage. Don't let anything past the point where they started firing at us! Take out the guns and other weapons before destroying the body!"
Sally nodded, a subtle smile over-coming her face as the voice of the friend she had missed so much sunk in to her mind and heart. "Right!" To put it simply, Nicole didn't comprehend how much she had been missed or how grateful Sally was for her help. At the moment, a strategy like hers, however straightforward it was, was the exact thing Sally needed to start fighting.
Sonic; however, didn't need any instruction to begin, for he was relying purely on instinct and an urge to destroy everything in sight. Without a single thought, he crashed directly through the first ship he came in contact with, throwing his arms out to the side as he flew through its belly, taking steel and fire and sparks with him as his only souvenir.
"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" Sonic laughed as he tore through the other side of the air craft, large strips of metal still grasped in his hand. "And by all," He said, twisting around in time to face a mass of on-coming fighters, wind his arms back like he was holding a baseball bat, and swing the metal right into the ships. "I meant you guys!"
The smaller ships were sent spinning in the opposite direction, twirling and twisting like mad until they collided with another larger craft. They burst into a blast of flames and metal once they connected with the it, leaving a large gap in the side of its hull.
"Oh, out of the park!" Sonic exclaimed, chucking the razor sharp metal as hard as he possibly could through the ship. "It's another home-run, and the crowd goes wild!"
The flying fortress gave one last weak sputter before the engines failed and explosions began to rattle its entire body. Sonic merely grinned, his eyes drifting to the next ship. What next, what next?
An idea was born within a matter of mili-seconds, making his heart-beat speed up in excitement. Oh yes, that would do! In his giddiness, he barely gave the option a second thought before he was hurling himself toward the vessel, a malicious grin on his face as he cried out, "Chaos ignite!"
A flurry of blue flames burst from his hands, swallowing every inch of the ship before any of the bots running it could run a single order, and quickly reducing the hull into a molten, permanent mess to boot. He ended the barrage within a matter of seconds, but the ship was nearly glowing white with the heat that was still trapped inside.
"Heck yeah, that's how hot I am!" Sonic yelled as he threw his arms up, his signature toothy smile gracing his face. "Rip apart!"
A ripple traveled across the surface of the ship before it maliciously tore itself to pieces, the melted metal spraying itself in every direction and covering the surrounding ships in a firework of white and subdued blue. Panic claimed the Eggbots and Swatbots manning the ships that had been engulfed, and collectively they all sent out a single agreement.
"Hedgehog priority one, hedgehog priority one!"
Sonic simply raised an eyebrow, laughing as he soared forward. "That sounds like fun to me!"
The ships turned in unison, all moving towards the hedgehog as he balled his hands into fists, gritting his teeth into another toothy smile. "Let's go, then!"
An onslaught of lasers and canons were suddenly upon Sonic, coming from every direction he could possibly think of. A few of the initial shots whizzed right past his ear at the first, making a laugh pass his lips as he began to twirl about, dance, as they gradually began to close in on him. "Oh, this is great! I could do this all day!"
The bots increased their fire, but not a single attempt even came close to hitting him. He was just too fast, simply too graceful, far too skilled to be dealing with such amateurs. Though Eggman had been able to in the very least graze him in battle, his bots usually failed to ever even get close! Honestly, after years of building bots, didn't it ever occur to the evil genius that adding even a mildly accurate aiming system might have been a good idea?
Apparently not, because they still couldn't hit the hedgehog to save their lives.
"Alrighty then," Sonic cried out in-between his dance, smiling once again as he readied two fingers with a burst of energy. "My turn. Chaos strike!"
A mighty surge of lighting detonated from his fingers, spider-webbing off into every ship that was in the immediate vicinity, and causing them all to seize in place. Pure, untainted energy grasped them, short-circuiting every piece of machinery inside and causing the ships to go cold and lifeless before Sonic could blink twice.
He nodded once at his work, whipping his head in the other direction in a desperate attempt to find another toy he could smash.
Or cut, actually.
The moment his eyes met the next vessel, he smiled and shouted, "Chaos control!"
Everything but one glowing, flaming figure in the distance had frozen in place, for they were all incapable of over-coming even the slightest power of the chaos incantation's grasp. They were beyond what anyone could call still, and they were left wide open for the onslaught that was Sonic the Hedgehog.
Within the stillness, he slashed through the ships at full speed, cutting the ships either into perfect halves or tiny shreds with the chaos incantations he released as he blasted through them. Behind him, only fragments of the vessels remained, tiny pieces that couldn't have been put back together with all the knowledge that Eggman possessed. He was a storm without an eye, without an end, and without a limit. He was chaos in its simplest form.
Eventually, though, the hedgehog released his grip on the chaos control and let the bots assess the damage. It was needless to say that they panicked at the quite sudden loss of a fourth of their fleet, but they quickly made due with what they had. Moments after time continued to flow as it was designed, a large chunk of the fleet began moving towards the hedgehog. They were intent on taking him out, no matter what the cost was.
How silly, Eggman's bots were.
With another quick chaos control, Sonic found himself on the back half of one of the fleet's ships, surrounded by bots that, when they realized he was there, charged after him. He simply laughed at their attempts, shaking his head in the process. "That's pretty funny. Honestly, it is!"
Before the closest one could even think of brushing his fingers against Sonic's glowing body, the hedgehog performed a quick flip backwards. He angled himself; let his body descend in the perfect position so that in his downward flight, he could throw out his right arm into the metal. His single strike cut right through the hull, and once he was sure he had caught the ship right, Sonic continued his flight downward, dragging his hand through the outer shell to form a deep cut right between the two engines at the back.
When the scar had been gifted to the ship in full, Sonic deepened his grip within the ship's shell, gritting his teeth as he grabbed on tight and took in a deep breath. He had wanted to try something like this since the fight had started, and with any luck, it was going to wow everyone watching (especially Sal, hopefully).
The muscles in his arms clenching and his brow knitting together, Sonic threw his weight off the side, pulling the ship along with him as he tried his hardest to drag the craft with him. To his pleasant surprise (or excitement, since he was absolutely giddy at that point), the vessel also joined him in his dance, moving slowly at first as Sonic continued to spin, holding on to the vessel with all his might.
Gradually, the twirling hedgehog's speed picked up. Before long, he was spinning the behemoth at such a speed that several of the other ships had stopped what they were doing, if only for a second, to watch the hedgehog in awe. Ah, how stupid bots were. He loved it.
He spun the ship one more time before, with a loud cry, he released it off into the direction that the other vessels had parked themselves in. For a single moment, Sonic could taste the panic that emanated from the ships that were attempting to move out of the way, but as soon as his ship collided with them, it was replaced by the sure knowledge that the vessels were done for.
Sonic grinned at the thought. Now, that had been totally wick—
For the very first time since the battle had started, a force finally connected with Sonic, smacking him right in the side of the head and sending him flying off in the other direction. Though it hadn't hurt, it had surprised him enough to leave him speechless and cut his train of thought off. Sheesh, couldn't they have at least given him a warning?
He didn't have the chance to regain his bearings before he crashed into something that released a surprised, "Whoa!" upon contact, which instantly made his heart skip a beat out of excitement. Without a second word, the hedgehog turned, smiling at the sight of Sally and Nicole.
"Hey Sal, Nicole! How have you two been holding up?"
The princess returned the grin when her eyes met his. "Not bad! You?"
"Not bad either. Took out a big chunk of the fleet earlier!"
She nodded, "We noticed. We've been—"
A laser shot right between the two, cutting the princess off before she could finish and effectively making her eyes widen in the process. "Right. Less talking, more fighting."
Sonic grinned, "That's the way, Sal." And with that, he turned and took off yet again.
She watched him for a moment before snapping back to reality, quickly shaking her head before scanning the area for another active ship. The moment she located one, she shot off towards it, her eyes narrowing as she scanned it for any weak points.
Though not nearly as destructive, experienced, or skilled with the super form as Sonic was, Sally had been holding her own on her end of the fight. She had taken down several of the full sized air-crafts during the fight, destroyed the weapons on most of the remaining larger ships, and had done an efficient job at keeping the ships from passing the line that Nicole had designated. All in all, she was doing a pretty good job for her first time going super.
"Sally, you've got some fighters on your tail. Watch yourself!"
At the sound of her friend's voice, Sally let a soft smile grace her lips. "Thanks Nicole." She replied, glancing behind her for just long enough to get a glimpse of the ships. Three smaller ones built for speed, and two with bigger guns and better aims. Perfect.
Narrowing her eyes, Sally let her eyes wash over the ship ahead. She spent less than a second planning the path of destruction she'd take, and within a matter of moments, she was carrying out her verdict.
She swerved in-between the bots and weapons that sat on top of the ship, veering away from each obstacle at the last second possible. With almost every shot they took, the fighters trailing behind her missed their target and hit one of the weapons or bots instead, quickly resolving them to speed up their fire-power in an attempt to hit her. Rather than accomplishing that goal, though, the bots in the fighter ended up destroying even more of the ship, eventually causing so much damage that by the time they had finished firing, the vessel was nearly unrecognizable.
In time, the fighters quit trying to hit her with their lasers and instead attempted to ram into her. They learned very quickly, though, that flying so low to the larger vessel was simply not a smart move.
Several of the ships were caught and clipped by the weapons and machinery that towered upon the top deck, causing them to explode the moment that they crumpled against the metal of the larger craft. The few that didn't met a worse fate when Sally realized what they were doing.
"You're trying to keep up with me like this? Sheesh, you guys are dumb!"
Slowing only slightly, Sally lowered her flying position, smirking as she glanced back at the bots again. "Let's try this, then!" She exclaimed as she pulled one leg out in front of her, letting it connect with the surface of the ship for a single moment before throwing the other one out immediately afterward. "Here goes nothing!"
She ran on top of the craft for a few precious seconds before gathering her strength and with one strong bound, flipping backwards above the ship. For a single second, she could see every inch of the battle from the corner of her eye; Sonic ripping through the ships like a madman, the bots trying in vain to strike back, and far away from the battle, the Eggxterminator, waiting for the two to finish the first half of the clash. It left her without proper breath for a single moment, but she quickly snapped her attention back to the ships below her, throwing her arms out in front of her as she shouted.
"BLAST!"
An explosion of energy burst from Sally's hands, so strong that it vaporized the fighter ships that had been unlucky enough to be caught in her line of fire, and powerful enough to leave a gigantic, gaping hole in the larger ship.
"For some reason," Nicole said, Sally's ears suddenly perking up. "You're reminding me or Ironman right now."
Sally chuckled. "Then does that make you Jarvis?"
Nicole released a sarcastic laugh in response, but before she had the chance to reply properly, another laser shot past Sally. "More fighters!"
"I noticed!" Sally exclaimed, taking only a mere moment to glance at the fighters before taking off in the opposite direction.
The second time around, there were only the smaller, speedier fighters chasing after the princess. They were slightly faster than the others before then, and as Sally quickly learned after trying to make her way through a wibbly-wobbly path, much more agile.
"No good." Sally told herself, turning to look back at the fighters once more. "Let's try something else!"
The princess hummed to herself, reflected for a moment on her options, and glanced off to the side quickly before taking a sudden dive off to the left. As she had been expecting, though, the fighters took the turn with the same sharpness, still firing at her as she flew up next to another larger craft, each of them still in perfect working condition. All right then, what next? Maybe she needed to be spontaneous?
If she had been in any another situation, she would have brushed the thought off the moment it had been born, but after everything she had learned on her journey, she welcomed the idea. If relying on instinct worked so well for Sonic, who was to say it wouldn't work for her, especially when she was in her super form?
The princess nodded to herself and took in a deep breath. It was time to forget the strategy and just have fun with it.
So with that thought, Sally faced the ship to her side and threw herself onto its surface. She took off the moment she landed on her feet, running until she reached the edge of the ship. Then, crouching for a single moment, she leapt off the craft, spinning and twirling until she landed on the next closest ship. From there, she continued the cycle of running, jumping, and spinning until she had a greater lead on the petite fighters.
Once she was content with her lead, she nodded to herself and took one more giant leap. She spun backwards up into the air, her eyes wide open and her arms out-stretched as she shot a series of bolts at the bots. And to her pleasant surprise, Sally found that even with their agility, they were unable to avoid the attacks. Within moments, the fighters had been taken out, ripped apart, and declared broken for good.
She smiled when her eyes set upon the remains of the fighters, but it quickly faded when they began to wander about. Even though she and Sonic had taken out a huge chunk of the fleet, there were still so many ships to destroy. There had to be hundreds of them left. Did they have enough time to destroy them and defeat Eggman? Would their super forms last that long? For the first time in her super form, Sally felt uneasy. What would they do if they suddenly reverted back to their normal states? Would they be able to defeat Eggman? Heck, would they even be able to survive out there without them?
The hedgehog must have read her thoughts or she must have been thinking aloud, for the moment the thought crossed her mind, Sonic was by her side.
"We need to get rid of these guys." He said, nearly making Sally jump at the sudden sound of her voice. "We can't waste any more time on the fleet if we want to take the Eggxterminator out."
Sally turned to him, nodding quickly. "That's what I've been thinking. But what can we do? We can't just let the fleet go on!"
The hedgehog was silent for a moment, his brow furrowed as he pondered. "I don't know. Maybe we could—" but suddenly, a very, very mischievous grin over-took him. The moment the devilish expression found her, Sally's eyes widened and her heart, racing at super-sonic speed, skipped a beat.
"You're joking." Judging purely by the smirk on his face, though, it was obvious how resolute and sure of himself he was. Sally simply sighed as she out-stretched her hands to him, "Heaven help me."
Sonic chuckled, "Sal, just have fun with this! We've done it a million times, and I've never dropped you yet. Don't you have any faith in me?"
Sally shot him a flirty grin, and he simply sent it right back at her.
Before any of the bots, ships, or weapons could even think of striking the duo once again, the hedgehog had spun the girl around, twirling and twisting her so fast that when he released her in the direction of one of the ships, all that could be seen was a golden blur. It soared through the nearest ship, cutting though it with such ferocity and speed that once the blur had burst through the other side, the craft simply shuttered, sputtered, and died in a fiery explosion. The flash of light was so sudden that it left everything and everyone—the bots, the citizens of Mobius, even the madman watching from the Eggxterminator—breathless, thoughtless, and awed. Even after years of watching the hero, he always still managed to wow them.
And with Sally by his side, he did so much more than wow them.
The princess, still soaring at the heart-stopping speed Sonic had chucked her at, broke through another three ships before reaching the battle's edge, throwing her arms out to the side while she crashed through the ships. She ripped the crafts apart as she flew through them, kidnapping steel and circuits and fire while letting her eyes whip all around. For a moment she was lost in the chaos, struggling to keep up with the screams of the dying machinery and flaring steel as she moved. It was insanity in the most complex form, in its most perfect shape. It was so much, nearly too much for her… and then Sonic caught her and threw her again.
"Not bad, princess!"
It was always a short encounter with him, only ever lasting a few precious moments, but it was enough to clear her mind every time. When he'd catch her by the hands, spin her about, and hurl her back into the fray, it somehow made her feel safe. He never once missed her when he darted off to the other side of the fight to catch her (for he was always the fastest one on the battle field, bar none), even when it seemed as if there was no chance of him actually being able to reach her in time
"Nice job!
When he flung her into the fire, a smile on his face and a lighting quick compliment at his lips, she felt as if no matter what, she could do anything. She felt like, even when no longer in her super from, she could do anything. She could defeat any creature, over-come every obstacle, heck, she could even save the inhabitants of Knothole! So long as Sonic was by her side, she felt as if she could do anything. She knew she could do anything.
"Good one, Sal!"
And unbeknownst to her, Sonic felt the exact same way.
"That's my girl!"
So with one last loop, the hero threw the princess straight through the final line of ships, soaring after her the moment he released his grip on her. He caught her left hand within a matter of seconds, and together, the two smiled and ripped through the remaining aircrafts, sending fire in every direction.
When they were together, nothing could stop them.
Nothing.
A trail of sharp metal and empty hulls were all that remained of the Egg Fleet when Sonic and Sally halted to a stop. Though large chunks of the various vessels still lingered within the wreckage, there weren't enough pieces of the puzzle to fit the ships back together. Even if one of the ships still would have remained in working order, though, there hadn't been a single bot—Eggbot or Swatbot alike—that had survived the slaughter. No, the fleet had been reduced to a machinery graveyard, and it was as simple as that.
"I think," Sally finally spoke after a full ten seconds of assessing the damage. "It's safe to say that we're done with the fleet."
Sonic merely nodded and grinned. "Yep! Now we're on to the main course!"
The two turned in unison to the face Eggxterminator, and a laugh boomed from the colossal ship. "And what a treat it will be for you two! You've never tasted something like this, Sonic, Princess Sally."
Her ears flopping for a mere moment, Sally growled. "Do you really have to use princess? For crying out loud, I would prefer if you called me rodent!"
Sonic chuckled and patted her on the shoulder, "No worries, Sal. He won't even be able to utter your name when we're done with him. Right?"
She grinned back at him in response, and the two turned to face the Eggxterminator, readying themselves into battle positions.
"So foolish!" Eggman cried out, the machine suddenly bursting to life, throwing its arms and legs out in a similar arrangement to the two before him. "You both will learn your lesson! Especially you, Sonic! You will realize how unwise of you it was to bring your beloved to the battle front! I promise you, you will regret being so wreck-less!"
The man's maniacal laugh took over, and for a single moment, a shiver made its way through Sonic's body. He had heard that very laugh, that variation of Eggman's chortle in a nightmare only days ago. It uncovered a fear he had not wanted to admit he had, but with a quick shake of the head, Sonic brushed it off. What on Mobius was there to worry about? He knew for a fact that he and Sally were going to win. There was no point for him to be thinking about a silly nightmare he had been troubled with days ago, especially since he was about to participate in the best fight Mobius had ever seen.
Grinning, Sonic looked up to the head of the robot—where the cockpit was located, where Eggman and Snively were running the bot—and laughed. The Eggxterminator was titanic, loaded with all of Eggman's deadliest weapons, and just dying to be ripped apart by the hero and the princess.
Just dying.
The fleet has been destroyed, and now, all that remains is the Eggxterminator. Will they stand triumphant, even with Eggman's chaos energy absorber that they don't know about? Only time will tell!
I hope you guys enjoyed this one, because I sure did have fun writing it! :D Thanks to alwaysdoubted, Thomas Holmes II, Sesshomarusama3, and Parker117 for the reviews. :) It means so much to have your feedback. I always get so excited when I get a review, so thank you once again! And thank you to all the silent readers as well! It means a lot to me! XD
Until next time! I hope you're all looking forward to it, because I know I am! XD
