Ch38: Unidentified Flying Obese Man!
The mech was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. It looked almost like a UFO, but it had three arms positioned on the sides and the top of it. Each of the arms also held something reminiscent of a bee stinger on it, with the top one having the sharpest and longest stinger. Eggman floated in front of us and simply landed on the ground, four wheels appearing underneath the device.
"How do you like my new invention, pests?!" Eggman boasted. "Looks kinda like a UFOM, that is, Unidentified Flying Obese Man!" I mocked, giving the lowest blow I could possibly give. When I said that, Elise nearly lost it but held her mouth to keep from laughing. "Silence! If you do not give me the Princess right now, I will be forced to destroy you all with my new pet, the Egg Stinger!" Eggman exclaimed as the machine started up and the battle began.
"Any ideas, Sapphire?" Sonic asked as we began to run along. "Beats me! I've never seen this mech before! Chalk another one up for whacked up story lines!" I exclaimed as the Egg Stinger let loose one of its arms at me and I almost got obliterated by it... I say almost because, at just the last second, Elise somehow put up a barrier around me that made the arm stop in midair!
I took the opportunity to take the arm with my hair and fling the sharp end back at Eggman's machine, sending it right into the underside of the device. As expected, the machine took massive damage as it collided with and bounced along the ground before righting itself. "You little!" Eggman growled as he let loose another attack. This time, Eggman sent a flurry of bullets at the lot of us, each coming from the two remaining arms as well as the front of the Egg Stinger. It got so chaotic, that Silver actually flew above the gunfire and used his psychokinesis to grab the hand on the right side and launch it right at the top of the machine.
Eggman exclaimed profanity this time as he flew off the radar and righted himself moments before hitting the water. "You irritating little bastards! I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice!" Eggman exclaimed. I then heard some beeping noises from his machine and I knew something was coming. "Everyone! Get near me now!" I exclaimed loudly.
When everyone got next to me, the last remaining arm on the Egg Stinger began to shoot a bright purple, a sheer sign of Dark Gaia magic. "Elise! Barrier now!" I exclaimed. Elise gulped and closed her eyes tightly, a bright barrier forming all around us just as the laser shot out. I was surprised when I opened my eyes to see that Elise was shielding us with a barrier and that the Dark Gaia Laser was actually being redirected right back at Eggman's mech!
"WWWAAAAAHHHHH!" Eggman shouted as the Egg Stinger ceased to exist and his little flying doodad flew off in the distance. "Why not just call it the Egg Mobile?" Chaos asked me. It just sounds too generic... plus, it makes him sound leaner and that's just never gonna happen! "Hah! Point taken!" "Hey, what's this over here?" Chip asked as he pointed to something nearby. It was a large structure in the form of a tower. The Gaia Temple!
"The Gaia Temple! We need to go there and restore the Chaos Emerald," I explained as I jumped off the platform and right at the front entrance. I was shortly followed by Silver and Sonic jumping down with me and Chip hovering down. "Oh, and by the way, thanks for the save, Elise," I smiled to her. "You're welcome... but it was quite a shock to me that I was even able to do that..." she admitted. "We owe you one, that much is for sure," Silver smirked as we entered the temple.
Once inside, Chip went up to the pedestal to investigate it and was of course shocked when the alter reacted to his necklace. "Whoa!" he said as he ran back to us. "That's the place where we put an Emerald, alright," I said as I put the colored Emerald there, the Blue Emerald. We were all amazed when the Emerald regained its color as well as power and also when the ground began to shake as the planet's piece came back together.
"Let's get out of here," I said as I picked up Sonic, Silver, and Chip in my hair as well as the Emerald when the shaking stopped. I was shocked that the Emerald didn't lose its luster and immediately sent it and the other Emeralds into my hair with Chaos's restored absorption powers. We made it out of the temple just as the doors began to close.
"What just happened in there?" Chip asked in a shocked voice. "That's the way we restore the planet, bub," I smiled at him as I released them. I also put Elise down on the ground for once and took her hand. I melded them together right in front of her. "Every time we put an Emerald in those spots, a continent of the broken planet is restored. And now that we've got one down, thanks to my smart brain, now Chaos has her aqua powers back. So Elise won't be going anywhere without us."
"Do I have any say in it?" she asked. "Sure, but I happen to be hungry right now, so we're getting some grub before moving on," I smirked. Everyone was on board with that as we all ran off to our next destination... well, except Elise. She had to be carried when we ran because she couldn't hope to run as fast as me! "Where are we going to eat?" Chip asked. "Any place that serves pizza."