Vince emerged from the hanger and looked down the street. His jaw nearly dropped when he saw the machine, but he quickly changed the look on his face before shouting, "Sir, Let me handle this!"
Vince rushed past all of the other soliders carrying a very large missile launcher.
"What on earth is that?" the General shouted.
"My weapon, Sir!"
"I was thinking of something more practical. However, considering the current threat I can't really argue with you." Simmons said as he stared at Vince in disbelief.
Vince continued forward past Sonic heaving the large weapon to his shoulder.
"Hey Doc, I got a present for you!" Vince screamed at the top of his lungs.
"You should probably save your ammo," Sonic suggested.
Ignoring Sonic Vince pulled the trigger and within a second the missile was on its way towards their new enemy.
Sonic had to admit the explosion was spectacular, blinding even. He was forced to shield his eyes from the intense light. Sonic looked on as the smoke cleared, Could it have really been that easy? Sonic thought.
To nearly all of the soldiers surprise the robot remained standing in its place untouched by the blast. Vince dropped his weapon in disbelief, "Impossible."
"You should have listened to the hedgehog," Robotnik chuckled.
"I'll handle this," Sonic said.
Sonic slowly approached the large machine staring down Robotnik through the tined glass of the pilot seat. "This your new toy doc? Hope I don't break it like all of the other ones."
"Confident as usual Hedgehog. This is my dreadnought. My finest creation yet! It is impervious to any weapon and has nearly limitless power."
Sonic yawned before replying, "Isn't that what you said the last hundred and one times?"
"Silence!" Robotnik bellowed. "I will make all of you bow down to me."
"Alright," Sonic said. "Lets just get this over with so we can all go home."
"So arrogant!" Robotnik replied snidely. "Even after your last defeat."
Sonic tightened his grip. His last encounter with Robotnik was hardly what he wanted to call a defeat. Time to see what this thing is capable of, Sonic thought. As he was about to take another step forward Sally's voice called out from behind him. "Stop right there Sonic Hedgehog!"
Sonic spun around to face Sally with a confused look on his face.
"And just what do you think you are about to do?" Sally said still sounding almost angry.
Sonic had a bewildered look about him as if he wasn't sure how to respond, "Blow up the big robot?"
"Wrong! I agreed to let you help them when I was reasonably sure you could win. But that," Sally yelled pointing towards the giant mech, "…that changes everything! You nearly got yourself killed fighting one on one with Robotnik earlier and now you have the nerve to believe you can do it when he is in a ten ton robot?"
"It's more like thirty," Robotnik interrupted.
Sally shot the Doctor a stern glance before continuing, "I refuse to let you fight him."
Sonic looked past Sally at the concerned soldiers.
"Sally, abandoning everyone now would be no different than having abandoned them ten minutes ago. Their fate rest in our hands and I refuse to let them die knowing I could have helped," Sonic replied as he approached Sally. He took a hold of her shaking hands and held them tightly.
"I will never leave you Sal," Sonic added has he kissed her gently on her forehead.
Sally stared into his eyes for a few moments before looking back at the desperate soldiers. When she turned back to face him her appearance had changed to a somewhat more understanding look.
"You must promise that you will come back to me," Sally said softly. "No matter what."
"You know me Sal, I don't make promises I can't keep."
Sally smiled, "I am going to hold you to this one."
Sonic slowly let go of her hands, trying his best to savor every bit of their time together. He had every intention of winning, but had no doubt that it was going to involve more pain. No matter, he thought, pain is a small price to pay for freedom. When Sally had retreated to a safe distance he turned to face Robotnik again.
"Well, well, now that you have the blessing of the princess can we continue?" Robotnik laughed.
"Do you always find yourself this funny?" Sonic asked mockingly.
Robotnik's response was swift but not in the form of words. The mech raised its right arm, which had a rather large cannon attached to it, and fired. Sonic jumped sideways just before the blast hit, leaving a sizeable crater where he once stood.
"That the best you got?" Sonic inquired.
Robotnik raised the dreadnoughts left arm barring yet another cannon and immediately began to open fire with both of them.
Sonic began to run towards the towering giant, zigzagging, making it impossible for Robotnik to predict where to shoot. As he gathered his speed he took a leap into the air and aimed for the mech's leg. Even with one of his best spin dashes he didn't even manage to dent what he would have assumed to be the weakest part of his enemy.
"Sorry Hedgehog there is no easy way out of this one," Robotnik laughed.
We will se about that, Sonic thought to himself as Sonic produced the power ring Elias had handed him. Even the toughest of armor wouldn't be a mach for him a power ring.
"I don't think so hedgehog!" Robotnik yelled as he swung the dreadnoughts fist towards Sonic. Had he not been concentrating on the power ring, Sonic may have been able to move in time. The blow caught him in the shoulder sending him sideways and knocking the ring from his hands. Sonic screamed in pain as he hit the ground. His broken rib from his earlier fight was doing nothing to help his situation.
Sonic struggled to get back to his feet and did the best he could to appear unhurt. Even amidst all the commotion he could hear Sally's screams. When he was on his feet again he bound back towards the dreadnought even faster than before. If I can't win with speed and power then I am going to need to trick him.
He quickly spotted several hundred feet of steel cable. In the blink of an eye Sonic had grabbed hold of the end of the cabal and wove it in-between the dreadnoughts legs in an attempt to trip the oversized SWAT bot. Sonic knew the idea was stupid, but simpler things had worked in the past.
Sonic stood out in the middle of the street taunting Robotnik. He watched with anticipation as the dreadnought moved forward straining the cable. For a moment the large mech remained motionless under the pressure, but the steel cable was no match for the power of the machine and it snapped like yarn sending razor sharp coils in all directions.
"Pathetic!" Robotnik announced.
Sonic knew he was outmatched, but that changed nothing. I still have to win. We always find a way.
"I know what you're thinking Hedgehog," Robotnik said as he continued to take steps closer to Sonic, shaking the earth in process. "You're thinking that you can somehow find a way to win, just like you always do."
Sonic stared back at him in silence.
"Well you can't. I have spent years analyzing you and what you're capable of and there is nothing you can do to win."
The mech loomed overhead preparing to strike. Sonic stood in place until the very last second only narrowing escaping the dreadnoughts fist which buried its way into the ground. He dashed between the robots legs and bound up the building behind it. While Robotnik was still unaware of where he was he dove off the building in an attempt to land on the top of the mech. With any luck there will be an off switch on this thing, Sonic thought as he leapt through the air.
As he was falling towards Robotnik, the mech spun around seemingly fully aware of his position. Sonic gritted his teeth as he saw the incoming steel fist, knowing fully there was no way he could maneuver his way out of its path.
The initial impact didn't hurt as bad as he had anticipated. It was the second impact with ground, which was fast approaching that he was concerned with and rightfully so. Even though his left shoulder bore the brunt of the fall his entire body cried out in pain. He was sure that at least three more of his ribs had broken and his right arm was also in a questionable state.
Sonic knew the dreadnought was standing above him, but as hard as he tried he could not convince his body to move. Sonic could taste the bitterness of his own blood. He slowly pulled himself up to his hands and knees and spit the red liquid out onto the ground. With all of his determination he forced himself to stand up refusing to accept defeat.
"I must admit Hedgehog it's been fun all of these years. I could have never dreamed of such a worthy adversary, but here you are at my feet, beaten. I would almost like to think I'll miss you, but we both know that's not true." Robotnik said as he drew the mech's fist back for one final blow.
Sonic could the see incoming attack, but he was still to disoriented and in too much pain to move. He knew Sally was going to be angry with him. After all he had promised he would come back and as much as he wished it were true, that did not look like it was going to happen anymore.
Just as the dark steel hand swung in to make its final blow Sonic felt a set of hands push him from behind. He fell to the side and out of the way of what surly would have been the last of him. His mind raced with uncertainty, who pushed me out of the way? Even as he fell he could hear the impact as the cold fist connected with his savior. Sonic turned to face his friends, but he wished he hadn't. Their gaze fell elsewhere.
Sonic didn't even have to look. He screamed her name as he turned to follow the staring eyes, "Sally!"
She lay motionless in a puddle of mud resting against the wall of a building.
"No!" Sonic screamed.
Sonic didn't know what to feel. It was as if his life didn't matter anymore. Elias had already rushed to her side. He felt useless, like everything he was doing or had done amounted to nothing. After all this and she's… gone.
"See what happens when you get your friends involved Hedgehog." Robotnik said as he cackled. "Someone always gets hurt."
Sonic went white hot with rage, like nothing he had ever felt before. He tore his eyes away from Sally who was now being cradled in Elias' arms. When he made eye contact with the Doctor, Robotnik spoke again, "It would appear you have reached your limit, Hedgehog."
Sonic lost it, his sides began to split and he burst out laughing in an uncharacteristic way. Everyone's eyes slowly shifted to Sonic, no doubt curious to see why he was laughing so madly.
"Limit!" Sonic screamed between chuckles. "You don't know the first thing about my limit."
Sonic kneeled down and picked up the power ring, which lay conveniently in front of him. Then he closed his eyes breathed deeply as he absorbed the power. He felt it rush through him multiplying everything, including his rage. In that moment he felt invincible. When Sonic opened his eyes again it was only to the sight of the gently flowing river he had crossed earlier. He wasn't confused though; he knew exactly how he had gotten there, speed. Sonic turned around, he could see straight into the heart of the city. Heh, he won't see this coming.
Everyone looked on as the power ring glowed brightly in Sonic's hand. But in less than a blink of an eye he was gone. Everyone including Robotnik looked around equally confused. Sonic is fast, Tails thought, but he just disappeared.
"Well, it would seem your savior has abandoned you, what a shame." Robotnik said casually after a moment.
"We wont go down without a fight!" Simmons responded hastily.
"I should hope not. Now lets not delay the inevitable any longe…"
Tails watched as the left half of the robot nearly exploded as it slammed into the side of a building. The robot collapsed under the ensuing pile of rubble into a cloud of dust. A loud thunder like crack followed shortly thereafter trailing down the street forcing everyone's hands to their ears.
When the dust finally settled Sonic could be seen standing in the street motionless. The soldiers all cheered for him, but Tails could tell even though he won it could never be a victory with Sally gone. Sonic slowly walked towards the chanting crowd, ignoring them. He pushed his way through General's men towards Elias.
"Sally," he said softly as he reached for her hand. "Why did you do that? I was supposed to be the one protecting you!"
"Sonic, there was nothing you could do, she ran out there to save you. But…" but Elias was cut off.
Sonic ignored him as if he wasn't even talking, "What am I going to do with out you Sally? I know you said you would hold me to my promise, but this was going to far."
Sonic ran his hands through her long red hair trying to cope with everything, "Sally, I, I…"
"Love you," Sally faintly replied, "I know you do."
The look on Sonic's face changed too quickly for Tails to follow, but he knew above all else he was happy.
"Sally you're, you're…"
"Alive" Elias added. "She was knocked unconscious I tried to tell you that before. With luck she will be fine, but for now she needs to lie down."
The crowd turned around as they heard the sound of screeching metal. Everyone was silent as they all watched in horror as the rubble pile came to life. The dreadnought reemerged nearly unrecognizable but still functioning.
"HEDGEHOG! You can't beat me, face it!"
Tails could hear some of the men shouting, "What are we going to do, Sir?"
"I told you we are not going down without a fight, and I meant it." Simmons shouted back at them.
"Sir, we only have a few rounds between the six of us."
"Vince!" Simmons yelled. "Where is that unnecessarily large weapon of yours?"
"I only had one shot, Sir," Vince replied, disappointed.
Tails looked down at his rifle as he palmed his last round of ammunition. Slowly everyone turned to Sonic who was still holding Sally's hands. No doubt Sonic could feel dozens of eyes burning into the back of his head.
"I know all of you want my help, but he is right." Sonic announced. "I can't beat him. I gave it everything I had and nearly lost everything. There is nothing I can do anymore."
"It's okay Sonic," Sally said. "I know you gave everything you had, that's all we can ask for."
"I spent every drop of energy I had trying to destroy him, thinking that it might bring you back," Sonic said as a tear rolled down his face. "Now that I know you are okay I just wish I could do more."
Tails turned back to face the dreadnought as it slowly approached on its crippled legs. He looked it up and down scanning for some weakness. It was faint, but Tails swore he could see a pale green glow emanating from the shattered armor. The robots lower left side was almost entirely torn off, providing a clear view of its innards. As it moved closer Tails became more sure, the power source, he thought to himself.
"You know what I am going to do, General?" Robotnik shouted. "I am going to tear your ships to shreds so that perhaps you will think twice about betrayals. You can suffer as everyone else dies for your mistakes."
Tails fiddled with the round in his hand before placing it in the chamber. He methodically closed the bolt on the rifle, calming his breathing. He raised the rifle to his shoulder and peered down its sites, time to concentrate I only have one shot.
"Betrayals! You! You are the one who betrayed us, and not just now." the General shouted back. "Twenty-five years ago you destroyed the very project that would have saved our planet. Hid its success away from us, all so you could rule the world. You betrayed your brothers and for that you must die!"
"I do not believe you are in any position to be making threats General."
"But I am." Tails said.
Everyone turned to look at Tails as he pulled the trigger. The loud report was followed by a deafening silence as the boom echoed off of the surrounding buildings. All of the soldiers looked on expecting a response from Robotnik, but none was to be had. Tails could swear that he heard the faint shouting of what sounded like, "No, this can't be. I can't lose to them!"
After what seemed like an eternity the dreadnought burst into a gigantic fireball. Everyone ducked down to avoid the ensuing explosion. The heat was almost too intense to bare and just when it seemed like none of them could take any more, the fiery explosion subsided.
The soldiers immediately began to cheer upon seeing the dreadnought in flames. Even Simmons knew there was no coming back from that.
"Sir, is everyone alright?" a solider shouted as he emerged from the hanger. "We heard an explosion."
"Private Harris," Simmons shouted rubbing his ears, no doubt a result of the explosion. "Everything is fine now but we could use some medics. Is everyone safely aboard the ships?"
"Yes Sir, just as you requested. I will see to the medics Sir," the soldier responded as he ran back inside.
"Excellent news, excellent news," Simmons said to himself as he felt a wave of relief pour over him. He hadn't realized it before, but it wasn't the rain washing away his guilt, it was his ability to feel the future. It had been trying to tell him everything would be all right, but he just wasn't listening, and perhaps he wasn't supposed to.
Simmons approached Tails who was hoisted high above the soldier's heads as they paraded him around even to the fox's dismay.
"Attention!" he shouted.
His men released Tails and fell in line.
"I wish there was an award that could reflect the courage all of you showed today," Simmons began, pausing extra long as his eyes met Tails'. "All of you were ready to give everything to fight for our brothers," he added as he looked at the two soldiers resting against a rock keeping pressure on their wounds. "I could never ask anything more from you. You are dismissed. Please ready your things, We are going home."
The men cheered loudly again as they ran past him back into the hanger. Simmons approached Tails, "I do not believe I will be needing this any longer," he said as he presented Tails with his watch.
"Keep it," Tails said. "Its my gift to you."
"I feel as if I owe you too much already to accept a gift. You saved my life… twice. You saved us all."
"I would like to think you would have done the same."
"I wish I could say for certain that I would have."
Simmons paused for a moment before removing his own watch.
"Here take this. It's not much, but it's been my family for centuries. It would mean a lot to me if you had it."
Tails reached out his hand and accepted the gift.
"It's broken," Tails said with concern in his voice.
"The EMP I am afraid. But I know how you like to fix things. Perhaps you will be able to make work again, I know I could not."
Tails attempted to smile, "Thankyou, this means a lot to me."
"What's wrong, you don't look alright."
"Just yesterday I can remember wanting nothing more than to see that man dead," Tails said before pausing. "I just never thought I would be the one to…"
"I understand," Simmons replied. "It's not supposed to feel good. I am not going to tell that this feeling will go away quickly either. Just know that you did the right thing."
"Try not worry so much," Snively said as he approached the two of them. "His death falls on my hands."
"What do you mean?" Tails asked.
"In the past Robotnik always ran when his machines failed him. I took the liberty of requiring him to stay and fight," Snively replied as he threw a set of wires and computer chips on the ground.
Tails picked them up and examined them.
"The failsafe," Snively continued, "is what would have allowed him to eject before the power core went critical. I only wish I had time to do more sabotage work. This machine was unlike any I have ever seen him build, a true masterpiece. I can only imagine what it took to bring it down."
Tails lifted his eyes from the equipment and stared back at Snively.
"Thankyou," Tails said calmly before turning to walk away leaving just Snively and the General.
Simmons turned towards Snively, "I don't suppose I could interest you in a spot aboard my ship?"
"I am afraid not," Snively responded as he stared where his mentor for 15 years lay in the burning wreckage.
"I am sorry for you loss," Simmons said as he turned to walk away.
"Don't be," Snively said chasing after him. "He may have been the only family I had, but over the years he lost all of the sanity he once possessed. I couldn't see any other way for this to end. Besides who else is going to clean this place up for your return?"
Simmons stopped and turned towards Snively, "You would do that?"
"Of course, what else do I have to live for?"
"I don't know what we would do without you Colin. Your mother will be so proud when she hears this."
"My, my mother?"
"You didn't know? I am not surprised Dr. Kintobar didn't tell you. She is aboard one of the ships still stranded in space."
Snively's eyes began to well up with tears, "Well then, I guess we should get you on your way, you don't want to keep them waiting any longer."
"No, no we don't."