Chapter Twenty-Six: Between the Sky and Sea

In any other circumstance, this place would be Tails' equivalent of heaven.

Inside the mechanics of an impeccable creation, surrounded by the familiar hum of electricity and glow of computer monitors, and nestled just tightly enough inside it for everything to be close at hand but loosely enough to not be constricting his movement, everything was perfect here. Except for one key thing: he had maybe a few minutes before this thing started to bring about the end of the world as he knew it, and it looked like he was the only one who even had a chance to stop it.

He'd believed that ever since the attacks of Sonic and Shadow had barely even scratched the creature, but he needed to get close for it to happen, and while the fight had been raging, there was no way for him to do that without getting one of his body parts chopped off. But once it had started assembling its Frankenstein body, he'd hatched an insane, last-ditch plan to try and get where he needed: he simply moved behind the thing so it couldn't see him, and just stood there, letting the computer parts surround him until he was completely buried in electronics. Fortunately, the creature hadn't appeared to notice.

Tails didn't want to risk moving around too much, for he didn't know if Metal Sonic would be able to tell he was there or if he'd trigger some sensor, leaving his plans foiled and likely ending his life. However, he was practically surrounded by the computers this thing was running on, and he'd always thought of himself as a pretty good programmer. What else was he supposed to do?

"You made this monster, Tails," he thought to himself. "Now, it's time for you to destroy it."

Every screen nearby was swarming with a sea of green and red letters, numbers, symbols, and shapes, a corrupted replica of his most powerful coding achievement. However, it was still not much more than a clone of the project, meaning Tails could figure out exactly how to destroy it for good.

At least, that's what he hoped.

Taking care to move as little as possible, he moved his arm to reach a nearby keyboard, and the second he eased his pounding heart into a steady rhythm, he began typing as fast as he could.

Rouge would have asked Sonic if they had anything that could track Tails, but since he was still in the midst of a nervous breakdown, she'd had to turn to Eggman, of all people.

"Eggman," she said, "do you have any devices that can track Metal Sonic's location?"

"The communicator we've been using should suffice," he said. "I think it has something on it that tracks where he is, or I should at least be able to reprogram it to do that."

"Good, but then do it now," Rouge said. "Shadow's probably talking with our employers as we speak, so having solid evidence as to where they need to be directed is going to be helpful."

Eggman looked at the device, then started fiddling with it after a couple of seconds, attempting to access its code and find Metal Sonic's location. But to the surprise of everybody, when the device turned on, it appeared to be broadcasting a deafening noise that sounded like several large engines running at once.

"Sounds like he's still flying, that's a good sign," Rouge said. "It means we have time before the worst of it starts."

Then, a rough, cutting voice became clear over all the noise. "Nice try, Tails. It's cute how you think you can stop me now."

"Wait," Knuckles said. "Did he say Tails' name?"

At the mere mention of him, Sonic snapped out of his stupor. "Tails is trying to stop him?"

Eggman nodded. "Sure sounds like it."

"Keep the communicator on," Rouge said. "Also, we need to head for the mainland, because we should back up whatever tries to fight this thing when it gets to its destination. Plus, if Metal Sonic doesn't kill Tails, we're probably going to have to rescue him."

Sonic had already thrown himself in Eggman's flying machine. "What the hell are we waiting for? I'll pilot this thing myself if I have to. Let's go!"

Eggman had already been ready, having arrived in the machine and never left it, but Rouge barely managed to get into the thing before Sonic gripped the controls and started it up. Within seconds, he'd figured out how to get the thing to launch, causing the three of them to lurch upward in a less-than-graceful manner. Then, he pushed forward on the controls, causing them to fly forward so fast Eggman nearly toppled into the ocean.

"Give me that," he hissed, before taking the controls from Sonic and slowing them down to a fast but reasonable speed. Once their motion was steadier, Eggman started talking again.

"I've gotten to where we need to track Metal Sonic," Eggman said. "We just need to wait for it to calibrate, then we'll know his coordinates."

"Either way, we have to hurry," Rouge said. "Just keep going this way, the mainland's not far from here."

The three of them said nothing more, instead staring at the communicator, hoping for it to calibrate before all was lost.

Suddenly, Eggman said, "It's done! He's not too far from here, maybe five miles or so, and with this thing, that's nothing! Hopefully, we'll be able to catch him before he touches down."

Before anyone could say anything more, a piercing scream erupted from the communicator. And it didn't sound like it came from Metal Sonic.

Sonic, desperate to save his friend, yelled, "Where's Metal Sonic now?"

Eggman pointed almost straight ahead with his free hand. "We're going in the right direction, why do you need to- agh!"

He said that last part because while he was distracted, Sonic had grabbed the controls again and had caused the machine to reach top speed, jetting off towards Metal Sonic and probably Tails. If and when they ever caught up, they'd just have to see if there was anything they could do to try and stop the virus.

But for now, all they could do was hope.

Tails had been spotted. And he wasn't done yet.

He'd pushed himself back as deep into the machine as possible, but he knew he was on borrowed time. All he could do was code and hope.

"Don't think you can hide from me, Tails," Metal Sonic said. "I know you're in there. Come out and face your death with dignity."

But Tails didn't care about dignity, and didn't want to die, either. Thus, he showed no response, instead continuing to type. He only needed a little longer- he'd almost overwhelmed the program's firewalls, he was so close…

Then a crash behind him caused him to turn his head to look in spite of himself. The little nook Tails had gotten into, which had previously been enclosed, was now open to the outside, revealing the ocean below and the gloomy gray sky above. That view didn't last long though, soon being replaced with that of a horrific claw-like apparatus. The thing's four fingers were all about a foot long and made of mismatched pieces of metal and wires, with ends that all were wickedly sharp. It looked like it could slice Tails to pieces without really trying, and Tails knew that the creature possessing Metal Sonic was going to try.

"If you're not coming out, I'm coming in," Metal Sonic hissed, sliding his claw inside the hole he'd just made. Tails returned to coding, hoping he could finish before he got dragged into the open, but the sound of misshapen metal screeching across more misshapen metal filled his ears, straining his focus and causing his heart to race.

"Come on," he said to himself. "Just a little more time…"

Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't get any time, let alone 'a little more.' He felt something cold and sharp grab his tails and yank backward, causing him to screech before slamming into another cold metal object. He was still inside Metal Sonic, but that seemed like it would change at any second.

"Got you," Metal Sonic growled. "No one to save you now, is there, Tails?"

Tails still didn't respond. He tried with everything he had to work his namesakes free, but was making zero progress. Metal Sonic's grip on them was extremely strong and relied on a lot of pressure, so the only way Tails could have gotten them free was by ripping the trapped parts clear off his body, which would probably kill him anyway, given time.

But that seemed like an excellent idea compared to just sitting there and letting himself get murdered, an outcome that was approaching fast. No matter how much he struggled and writhed and jerked himself in the other direction, he still was pulled closer and closer to the outside world by the second.

"I'd stop fighting if I were you," Metal Sonic said in a singsong voice. "It'd make everything a whole lot easier!"

Tails disagreed, but he didn't have the energy or the time to protest. Almost without trying, Metal Sonic dragged Tails backward one final time, dangling him upside down in front of his face, now a huge, misshapen hunk of discolored metal with jagged slashes like scars cutting deep into the material, with a bulbous, malformed nose and a mouth with teeth made of gnashing gears adorning it. His eyes, now deep red and the size of dinner plates, trained on Tails as he spoke.

"So, this is where it ends," Metal Sonic said. "I'm almost sad it was this easy." He paused for a second, chuckling like he found murder hilarious (which, at this point, he probably did). Tails hoped that Metal Sonic would make a mistake like he usually did- loosen his grip by accident, maybe fly into something, anything allowing him to break free and stall for time until someone else could kill him. But that didn't seem likely.

This thing had already made one mistake in torturing him in front of Sonic. He wasn't keen on making another one.

Metal Sonic moved his claw further up Tails' body and began to close, crushing him in its grasp. "Game… over!"

Tails tried to squirm out, kick at his assailant, make any progress. But he failed on all accounts. The pressure was only increasing, and it wouldn't be long before things started breaking.

Several seconds later, something did break.

But that something didn't belong to Tails.

Having to deal with Tails before he reached the mainland was Metal Sonic's critical weakness. He'd slowed to a crawl while he focused on trying to extricate him, allowing Sonic and the others to catch up. Eggman didn't have a lot of heavy-duty weapons with him, but even the standard ones would be pretty horrific if the victim was a robot. Which it was.

As soon as he was in range, he'd fired three shots- a full round of the basic weapon, he'd need to reload before firing again- in quick succession. The first missed by about a foot to the right, while the second just nicked Metal Sonic in the side.

The third, however, struck Metal Sonic in the arm. The same arm he was using to hold Tails. The thing came out of its position with a loud pop, dropping fifteen feet before stopping, being held on by nothing but wires, which then started sparking. Before anyone could get a hold of what was going on, the now-dangling hand, Tails clearly visible inside its grip, detached from the rest of the creature, falling towards the endless sea beneath them.

Sonic swerved hard both down and to the right, nearly sending Eggman tumbling for a second time. "Tails!"

The only thing keeping it from being a very painful (if not outright deadly) splashdown was that the grip of the hand no longer trapped Tails' namesakes. While exhausted and in severe pain, he still spun the things as fast as he could out of basic, animal-level instincts. It didn't do much, and even rendered Sonic's attempt to catch him useless- if he'd done nothing, the flying machine would have just gotten there in time, but as it was, it passed underneath him while Tails was still six feet too high, and Sonic couldn't brake hard enough to correct for his mistake.

The distance of the fall was what saved him. If he'd had less time to stop himself, he would have been dead in the water, both figuratively and literally. As it was, he managed to stop his fall with less than ten feet to spare. His luck ended there, though- no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get himself to ascend, and with an enemy like this that was a death sentence as well.

Before Metal Sonic could get there, though, Sonic beat him to the punch. As he flew the machine past, Rouge managed to reach out and grab him, nearly ripping one of his tails loose from the sudden acceleration but getting Tails out of harm's way nonetheless.

Naturally, the first thing Rouge did was ask the question on everyone's mind. "Tails, what the hell were you thinking?"

"Wanted… to delete the program," Tails choked out. "I got caught before I could finish- I still needed to type about a dozen lines, and my work's going to get reset as soon as Metal Sonic starts off again."

Metal Sonic, however, wasn't content to just finish his flight to the mainland and leave it at that. Tails being released from his clutches the first time had angered him. Having it happen for the second time was nothing short of infuriating. "You've gotten in my way for the last time," he hissed. "Prepare to die."

"The funny thing is, we're not dead yet," Eggman yelled at his former creation.

He probably shouldn't have said that. While the four of them should have expected this, since every host the virus had taken had gotten that ability, when lasers erupted from Metal Sonic's enormous hands, it still sent everyone into a mild panic. Sonic kept control of the machine, dodging and weaving like crazy to avoid getting cooked, but by the time Metal Sonic had to take a break, their nerves were frazzled, their heads were spinning, and they felt sick.

"Don't worry about that much longer. If I have my way, you'll be dead soon enough," Metal Sonic screeched, charging up his lasers for another blast as he did.

Despite every brain cell they had screaming that they were going to die, despite their aching heads, despite their dizziness and nausea and primal, animalistic fear, the others didn't flee. They knew they were the only reason Metal Sonic hadn't started massacring thousands of innocent civilians and were willing to give anything, including their lives, to keep that from happening.

So, as Metal Sonic prepared for another attack, the others charged toward him for a final deathmatch that would change the fate of the world.

Author's Notes:

-I really hate to have these after one of the most high-stakes scenes in this fic, but I have to give credit to something once more for the title. Thus, I thank the Japanese media franchise of the same name (look it up if you're interested) for inspiring this chapter's title.

Review Zone, Act XXV:

-Saul'keth: Thank you, once more, for taking the time to leave a review! In all honesty, I had no idea such a thing existed, and I'm not even sure if Super Sonic is a thing inside the Boom universe, so I'm a bit hesitant about pulling the trigger there.

-Linz2: Thank you, once more, for taking the time to leave a review! Well, now you know what Tails was thinking, even if it was a very flawed idea.