A nautical creak echoed through the pipe-lined, crimson and black halls of the mighty Egg Megalodon as three pairs of feet clanged against its metal floor.
"Vector, look out!"
The crocodile at the head of the pack directed his gaze ahead, where a battalion of robots had just rounded the corner. Upon the bot at the front turning its head and spotting them, it drew its weapon along with its allies as they stomped to face their targets.
"Don't give 'em time to fire their weapons!" ordered Vector. Not breaking his stride, he clenched his fists as his blue bracelets illuminated, revealing his pair of wrist guards. "Get behind me, you two!"
Amy and Charmy darted behind Vector and continued onwards, just in time for the first energy bolt to bounce harmlessly off their leader's wrists. A few more projectiles were reflected before Vector got within striking distance.
"Alright, let's get 'em!" Charmy chanted, darting out and nailing a bot to the right with a kick. It faltered and stumbled onto its back foot, losing grip on its rifle's trigger. The bee refused to let up, winding up another attack. A second kick knocked the robot on its back and weakened its grip just enough to where Charmy could snatch the weapon away.
Flying overhead and whipping around to face the downed adversary, Charmy placed his hand on the clunky weapon's trigger and grunted as he trained it on his enemy's head. "Let's see how you like it!" In a flash, a powerful bolt exited the barrel and struck the robot's head. Sparks flew as the tearing of metal quickly ended in the robot being rendered inoperative.
Meanwhile, Amy was already hard at work, allowing her inner fire to burn bright as her hammer carved through its second target, severely damaging it. "Take this you bucket of bolts!" The seething woman brought her hammer straight down on what was left of the robot, flattening it like a tin can. She smirked in satisfaction as the machine stumbled momentarily before falling backwards.
A bolt barely skimmed by Vector's head as he pounced on his own target, fist drawn back. "Is that the best you've got?!" The croc's fist shot forward, snapping the robot's gun in half and caving in its midsection.
In what seemed like mere moments later, the remains of robots lay scattered across the intersection floor. Vector sighed in exertion, turning to his teammates behind him. "Well, how was you guys' warmup?"
"Heh, not gonna lie. I kinda missed swinging this thing around," Amy admitted, brandishing her hammer and swinging it over her shoulder.
"And I forgot how terrifying you can be when you get fired up!" Charmy piped, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. "Remind me not to piss you off!"
"Hmph!" grunted the smug hedgehog.
Vector crossed his arms, his grin immediately fading "Alright guys, stretching's over. What's the next objective?"
"Well, I may not be nearly as good as Miles…" Amy began, allowing herself to lean on her hammer's handle. "But I bet if you get me to a computer terminal, I can find Espio!"
"Just uh… don't smash it if you get frustrated," teased a sheepish Charmy.
Amy groaned and crossed her arms. "Ugh, what do I look like to you, a teenager?"
As the bickering simmered down, Vector strode over to a downed robot's intact rifle and scooped it up before turning back to his team. "So get Amy to a terminal then? Sounds like a plan."
"Heh, gotta say, boss. That rifle there's not a bad look for ya'." grinned Charmy.
"Yeah, I'm not minding it myself. It should prove pretty darn useful if we encounter more of those bolt-for-brains!" replied the croc, turning over the weapon in his hands and taking a pretend aim before lowering it to a carrying position.
Amy stood straight once more, swinging her hammer back over her shoulder and pointing down one of the corridors. "Maybe the direction those bots came from would be a good start. They're gotta be protecting something, right?"
"Hm… not a bad idea," Vector agreed, smirking and narrowing his eyes down the corridor. "Alright team, let's find the computer room."
XXXX
"Woohoo!" an excited lemur cheered, bouncing forward on her tail and thrusting her hands up. "That was almost too easy!"
The quiet wolf running on Tangle's right turned to her and brought a finger to her lips. "Shhh!"
"Oh right, secret mission and all that," Tangle replied, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Woohoo, that was almost too easy!"
"Too easy…" Whisper muttered to herself, her grip on her wispon tightening.
"According to that map I downloaded earlier, Blaura, Dash and Sonash should be housed one more floor down and a few rooms away from there," began Miles, making a few gestures on his teched-out wristwatch and prompting its blue display to zoom in on their current location. He nodded confidently as his eyes traced along the illuminated path. "If we continue ahead, there should be a ladder. I wouldn't trust those elevators considering where we are."
"Yeah, for all we know those two bozos could just…" Tangle began, her eyes widening and teeth clenching. "Trap us in there, with no air…"
Whisper gazed concernedly at her wife. Recalling the lemur's claustrophobia, a few words of comforting assurance tumbled out of her hushed mouth.
"Take a right."
Following Miles' order and turning with the rest of the group, Tangle looked back to her wolfy companion with a warm smile. After turning to make sure Miles was occupied, she mouthed the words "thank you" back.
Following a few more direction changes, and a swiftly concluded battle with a squadron of guards, the team stopped at the end of a corridor. "Alright guys, this should be it," the two-tailed leader pointed to a dome-like hatch in the middle of the floor.
As Miles bent down to unscrew the hatch, Tangle's breathing ceased. Her body went stiff as a board and her tail went jagged as her wide eyes stared down at the closed hatch. After a few moments, she managed to open her mouth. "W-we have to go… in there?"
"Yep, safest way down!" Miles replied, back still turned.
The trembling lemur resorted to hugging herself, her tail wrapping around her as she tried to take in a deep breath. After several failed attempts, she felt a gentle hand come to rest on her shoulder. She turned to see her wolfy wife staring back at her in concern. Her eyes were open.
"It'll be alright."
With her shaking slowing and her nerves calming, Tangle turned to face Whisper with an uncertain, but thankful smile. Her chest was finally able to fully rise and fall as she placed her hand on the wolf's.
"Thanks, Whispy."
"And here we… go!" Miles grunted, throwing open the hatch as it creaked in response.
Peering down the hole, the group saw a deep, narrow shaft with several periodical, circular openings on one side. On the opposite side, an army of rungs was seemingly welded into the wall. Tangle shivered a bit and quickly found her wife's arm around her.
"Well, this won't be fun, but it's the best we've got," shrugged Miles, stepping forward and lowering himself in with both arms along the rim before grabbing the rungs. He looked back up at the married couple with a raised eyebrow. "You coming, ladies?"
"Mhmm…" Tangle replied weakly, stepping forward and following Miles' lead. She tucked in her tail as best she could to fit through.
Soon, all three teammates were inside the shaft. To Tangle's relief, Whisper hadn't closed the hatch behind them. Another nautical creak echoed all the way down through the narrow metal tube as the Megalodon adjusted itself, causing its angle to waver ever so slightly.
"Hngh!" Tangle winced, ceasing her descent and clinging to the bars for dear life. "No Tangle, it's alright. This'll all be over soon," she reassured herself, taking a deep breath before resuming.
"Just a little ways to go, hang in there guys!" Miles called above him.
"Alright…"
XXXX
A mighty inferno raged down the hallway, melting an entire battalion of bots in its wake. The flames' caster lowered her arms, exhaling calmly as her intense glare softened.
"Woah honey. Lookin' hot!" teased Sonic, playfully wrapping his arm around his fiery queen. "Just don't waste all your energy before we get to tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber, alright?"
Blaze stepped forward, her hands still smoking at her sides. "Oh don't worry about that, Sonic. I'll find all the energy I need when that time comes."
As the couple walked past the pile of half-melted, disabled robots, the metal behemoth creaked once more. "Hehe, still trying to forget we're in an underwater tin can right now…" the apprehensive hedgehog shivered.
"We'll be fine, Sonic. This vessel is huge, and besides…" Blaze began, crossing her arms and peering back at her husband with a warm smile. "You know I'd swim you to safety if anything happened."
Feeling a pang of reassurance, Sonic caught up to his wife's side as the two continued onward. For a long while, nothing but the clank of their feet against the hard, lifeless floor and the ambient nautical noises of the ship occupied the corridor. A series of twists and turns led to them climbing up a ladder similar to the one Tails' team had encountered.
"This is exactly what we needed to get closer to the top!" Blaze said with a hint of excitement as they continued to scale the rungs.
"Man, talk about 'exactly what we need'!" smirked the devious hedgehog beneath her, looking up at her as she climbed above. "I didn't know this lil' vacation of ours would have such great views!"
Blaze's climbing faltered for a moment. Her face flushed a light pink as she glanced down at her husband before quickly shaking her head and returning to her task. "Oh shush, Sonic."
"Hehe…"
As they reached the top of what the shaft allowed, Blaze elegantly jumped back through the circular opening and landed on her feet.
The speedy monarch behind her cheered as he sped out through the opening in the wall and up next to Blaze. "Whew, slow climbing? Not my thing. But the views still weren't half bad," he teased, playfully nudging his wife, who in-turn crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, failing to conceal her blush.
"If you're finished, I believe we're nearing the top. The hallways are becoming shorter," Blaze pointed out.
"Right!"
Just as the couple resumed their journey, Blaze paused, her ear twitching. She twisted her head to the left as the sound of clanking metal drew nearer. She knew the sound by now, and soon Sonic had picked up on it too.
Sure enough, moments later the metal form of a squadron leader appeared past the corner of the next intersection, followed by its allies.
"Alright! More bot bashing?" Sonic sneered, trusting his fist out in front before turning to his fiery queen. "What was the score again, honey?"
The feline chucked and ignited her hands. "Hmph, we're tied. Seven to seven."
"Oh yeah… well we won't be!"
Sonic charged ahead, a fiery projectile from his spouse trailing behind.
XXXX
"Yo, Amy! I think I've got something!" called Vector, reaching an intersection and pointing down one of the hallways.
Amy scampered up with Charmy buzzing not far behind. She gazed down the corridor, seeing a red and black steel door fitted to the curve of the walls.
"That looks promising," Amy replied, striding up to the door with the team following behind. Eggman's trademark logo was plastered on the front, and a green access panel gleamed next to it.
The crocodile grunted and nodded in agreement. "Whatever's in there, it's probably important."
Charmy slowed his wings, planting himself on the floor before trotting up to the access panel and surveying its camera-like apparatus at the top and light outline of a hand beneath it. "Think you can get us in, Ames?"
"Well…" Amy trailed off, scratching her head nervously. "I'm not really that good with hardwiring. That's more Miles' thing, but I can tr-"
"I've got some hacking skills of my own," chimed Vector as he stepped back and cracked his knuckles.
Amy looked back at the croc in surprise. "Oh, Vector? I didn't know you… wait…"
"Stand back, you two!" Vector smirked, winding back his fist.
"Vector, wait!"
"Ha!"
Charmy darted out of the way, with Amy stumbling back and squealing in surprise as Vector charged the door, his fist cocked.
The sound of warping, snapping metal rang throughout the halls as the door proved no match for the croc's powerful blow. It flew off the frame and tumbled into the room, narrowly missing a round object at its center.
As the violent sounds ceased, Amy stared into the dark space, a blank stare on her face.
"Well?" smirked Vector, smugly crossing his arms.
"Hmph! You're lucky there wasn't an alarm system…" Amy muttered.
Vector shrugged his shoulders and strode past Amy into the room. "Well what would that've done? It's not like they don't already know we're here. Plus, what would they do, send more bots after us?"
"Hmph, fair enough," Amy conceded.
The room lights hummed on as the trio stepped in, illuminating an assortment of panels, blueprints, and parts. The pink hedgehog immediately began surveying the room for what they needed. A round table lay at the center with messily drawn schematics strewn all over it, almost entirely covering up the logo of the vessel's narcissistic owners.
Charmy took interest in the assortment of drawings and flew up to the table. "What is this, some sorta evil laboratory?"
Amy rubbed her chin contemplatively as she leaned on her hammer. "Hmm… a place like this is bound to have a-"
"Yo, is this what you're looking for?" chimed Vector, pointing over to a small screen with a keyboard indented into the wall below it.
Amy's eyes lit up. "Oh, nice find Vector. That looks perfect!" The croc backed away from the terminal, giving Amy space to trot up to the keyboard and lean her hammer against the wall. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a rectangular device and cable. "Kinda small considering the Eggmen like their faces to be as big as possible wherever they can be, but it'll do. Hopefully this thing still works after being soaked and underwater..."
"So, you can do it then?" Vector asked.
Amy didn't break eye contact with the computer screen as she began tapping away. "Well, we'll have to see how sophisticated those two's security is. But I imagine a simple map wouldn't be that well-guarded."
As Vector nodded in understanding and stood silently, allowing Amy to do her work, Charmy was still occupied over at the schematics table. Ambient nautical noise and electronic hums were joined by the shuffling of papers as he continued to look through the assortment of documents. He quickly realized that most of them were simple scribbles or scrapped projects. Eventually, though, one caught his eye.
"Woah, this looks a lot like the ship we're on!" the bee exclaimed, picking up his latest specimen and holding it up to the light, rotating it every which way. "Must be an early plan for this place!"
Vector simply grunted and nodded, with Amy still typing away. "I think I'm getting close…" the focused hedgehog announced.
On the verge of giving up due to lack of finding anything else interesting, Charmy gave an unenthused groan and tossed the Megalodon blueprint back onto the pile. It drifted onto the table, moving another paper full of meaningless scribbles out of the way in the process. Just as Charmy turned to fly over to his teammates, a hint of red caught his eye.
"Huh? What's this?"
"Something the matter, Charmy?"
Vector's inquiry went unanswered as the curious bee turned back around and grabbed the red paper from beneath a few others and held it up. Giving it a quick scan, his eyes went wide. "Uhh… Vector? You may wanna take a look at this."
"And… got it!" Amy cheered, tapping her navigation device in victory as the downloaded schematic appeared on its screen. "With this, we'll find Espio in... no time?" Amy cut off her celebration prematurely as she noticed Vector had joined Charmy in the center of the room, and was staring at a red piece of paper.
"Yo, Vector. You alright?" Amy asked.
"Not if this thing's been built to completion, I'm not," the concerned croc replied, tightening his grip on the paper.
"Why, what is it?"
"Not good."
The worried hedgehog strode up and peered over Vector's shoulder, eyeing the paper and its contents. "Oh…"
"Mhmm," was all the croc responded with.
"You don't think Sonic and Blaze are going to run into that thing, do you?" worried Charmy.
"If they run into the doctors? They just might," Vector began, returning his gaze to the top of the paper, where an alarming name was scribbled in bold letters. "And with a name like "Egg Vanquisher", it can't be pretty…"
XXXX
A gasping lemur excitedly tumbled out of the ladder shaft and onto her already-exited wife, knocking her to the ground.
"Ahh… thank goodness! Open space, how I missed you!" Tangle breathed.
"Mmmm…"
"Huh?" Tangle's attention snapped to the groaning wolf she'd pinned to the floor. "Oh, sorry babe!" the lemur scrambled off of her wife and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head as Whisper scrambled to her feet, her cheeks rosy.
"S'okay. You don't like tight spaces."
"Y'got that right!"
Miles climbed out of the shaft and peered down at his watch. A smile creeped onto his face. "Looks like we've only got a few more turns to go!"
A proud Tangle puffed out her chest and pointed forwards. "Well then, there's no time to waste, is there?"
"Nope! The sooner we can get Sonic's kids to safety, the sooner we can leave this nightmare behind us," replied Miles, scampering forward with the two women instinctually following.
The trio trekked through the belly of the beast, propelling themselves ever closer toward its most precious cargo. Their resolve strengthened and their pace quickened with every step as the red dot on Miles' watch inched ever closer to their highlighted destination.
"Alright, the holding cells should be just around this corner, get ready!" the fox leader chanted.
"I hope there are some bots to bust!" Tangle sneered, rotating her arm with a smirk.
"Oh indeed, there are! Unfortunately, I think it's the bots that'll be doing the busting!"
As the trio rounded the corner, the origin of the smug, electronic voice was made clear. Peering down the hallway, Miles' statement was proven true. Along the sides of the square hallway sat a collection of holding cells, with one of them appearing modified. Standing in the way of the cell was a squadron of four combat bots, with a pair of small, smug looking bots behind them.
"Orbot, Cubot!" Miles snarled.
"In the… metal?" Cubot quipped back.
Tangle stomped forward and pointed an authoritative finger. "Where are the kids?"
"Heh, right in this cell. Not that it matters. You won't be getting to them regardless," bragged Cubot, pointing at the enclosed room with his thumb.
A slap from his metal accomplice sent Cubot's head spinning. "You idiot! You weren't supposed to tell them that!"
"Well it's not like it matters! We've got insurance!" replied the yellow automaton, grabbing and turning his head back into place. He glanced up at their team of robot bodyguards before pointing to Miles and the gang. "Get 'em, guards!"
The robots responded by brandishing their weapons and marching forward.
"Pfft! Really? We've trashed a bunch of these things already! Let's get 'em, Whispy!" Tangle cheered, readying herself as Whisper replied in-kind by raising her Wispon, its exterior turning pink.
The scrappy lemur dashed forward, using her tail to thrust herself out of the way of an incoming blaster bolt before plowing herself into the nearest bot and knocking it to the floor. She snatched its weapon away with her tail and lobbed it at the next target.
Whisper's weapon flashed green, projecting a matching shield in front of her to block incoming fire as she approached. With a short break in the assault came the opportunity for retaliation, and soon, Whisper's weapon had turned back to pink and shot out a pair of buzz saws.
"Uh… Orbot?" Cubot groaned, watching as the pair of projectiles cut two of his bodyguards in half, and the lemur picked up one of the others and slammed it into its ally.
"This doesn't exactly seem to be going as planned…" replied the round accomplice, hesitantly lifting a finger as the remains of a robot fell to the floor and skidded over to him.
"It is for us!" Tangle smirked, turning away from the mangled remains of the two henchmens' bodyguards and striding to them, her fist in her hand.
"I… we, you see…" Orbot stammered as the furry trio closed in on them.
"Give up, you two," Miles plainly demanded.
"Hah! As-if!" Cubot bragged, pointing toward the sealed cell. "This thing's sealed tight, and only we have the access codes to get in! Wouldn't wanna harm the kiddos by breaking the glass now, would we?"
Miles peered inside the dull, grey room, eyeing three pods, each with one crying child inside. His brow furrowed as he observed the assortment of mechanical instruments attached to the pods and the ceiling.
"What're you doing to them?" the fox snarled.
"Nothing! For now," Cubot teased.
"Cubot, you idiot! You might not want to rile them up right about now!" Orbot whispered to the cubal bot.
Tangle took front and center, an annoyed glare on her face. "I'll tell you what. How's 'bout you open the cell and I don't turn you into your friends over there!"
"Hah! No way!"
"Cubot, shush!"
"Why you-" Tangle was cut short as she felt a powerful hand grab her shoulder and thrust her to the side. She glanced back at its owner; Her wife, looking far from happy.
"I'll take care of it," seethed Whisper, stepping forward and lowering her wispon to her side.
"What's she possibly gonna…" Cubot found himself trailing off as Whisper's weapon illuminated blue, a hammer sprouting from the orb at the center.
"Give. Them. Back."
Whisper's eyes opened to reveal a deadly glare unlike the two small machines had seen before. Her grip on her wispon tightened as she bared her fangs and took another step forward.
The ability to gulp was beyond Cubot's programming. "Y-you wouldn't risk harming the little ones!" He cupped his hand, rotating his head to the side to whisper to Orbot. "Would she?!"
"Want to find out?" seethed the wolf.
The pair of bots hovered backwards, quickly finding themselves up against the metal wall. "W-wait!"
Whisper paused her advance at the sound of Orbot's desperate voice.
"Six six one nine!"
"Check the code, Tangle."
"Right!"
As Whisper stood over the pair of bots, ready to go back to square one if the code was fake, Tangle scampered over to the panel above them and punched in the numbers. A green light lit up on the screen, accompanied by an approving mechanical buzz. The lemur backed up next to Miles as the glass shielding the cell shot upwards.
"Well well, looks like you guys weren't lying after all," mused a smug Tangle. "Good going, babe!"
Whisper looked back to her wife, nodding in appreciation before turning back to her potential prey. "Leave."
"Let's go Orbot, I'd rather deal with Eggman. He's used to us messing up by now!"
"I second that!" Orbot exclaimed, following his accomplice as he scrambled away.
As the scared bots disappeared around the corner, Tangle sashayed up to her wolfy wife, who'd disengaged her wispon. "Dang, Whispy. I forgot how scary you could be when you really try!" she began before wrapping her arm around Whisper's midsection and leaning into her ear. "It's pretty hot."
Miles ignored the devious lemur and her blushing companion and strode forward into the cell. Immediately, he noticed that the babies seemed to be balling their eyes out, but there was no sound.
"Must be an anti-noise filter…" he began to himself, peering around the room and eventually locating a panel with a pair of green and red buttons on it. "This must be it!"
The fox slammed the button, prompting an electronic noise similar to the previous one. Immediately, the sound of infantile crying filled the room as the three pods hissed open.
"Kids!" Miles sprinted to the nearest pod and knelt down next to the sobbing form of Blaura. "I can't believe they held you like this!
Tangle and Whisper strode in just in time to see Miles ever so carefully scoop up the purple-clad child and cradle her against his chest. "Shhh… it's alright, Blaura, Uncle Miles is here."
"Awww…" swooned Tangle, watching as Blaura's crying slowed, before stopping entirely. "Look at Uncle Miles, calming the widdle babies!"
Whisper beckoned for Tangle to follow her. She strode towards the other two pods and flicked her wispon's switch, turning it green and reactivating its shield function. She turned it to look like an upside-down umbrella and turned to her wife.
"We can put the kids in here."
"Good idea, babe!"
Soon, all three kids had been calmed by Miles and carefully placed in the makeshift cradle. The three heroes now stood outside the cell while the fox of them peered at his watch.
"Alright, we've got the kiddos! What's the plan, Miles m'man?" asked Tangle.
"I'm… not entirely sure," admitted Miles, still studying readouts on his watch. "The plan was to evacuate using the Whirlpool. But that plan's out the window."
"We could call Marine!" Tangle suggested with a grin.
Miles shook his head. "I had that thought too. But we're still pretty deep, and the jamming signal…" He paused, his eyes growing wide. "Wait, of course, The jamming signal!"
"Are you having one of those lightbulb moments?"
The excited inventor slammed his fist down into his palm. "If we can get back to an access terminal, I'm sure I can circumvent the jamming signal! We'll still be underwater, but at least we'll be able to let Marine know we succeeded and tell her to get in position!"
"And if push comes to shove, we'll just force those eggs-for-brains to raise the ship!" Tangle added.
Miles nodded in agreement, turning back to the precious cargo now suspended in Whisper's shield. "Don't worry guys, you'll be reunited with your parents soon enough. Uncle Miles promises!"
XXXX
"Woah!"
The speedy king of the Sol Kingdom stopped next to his wife at a mammoth door laying at the end of the spacious hallway. Sonic leaned in, squinting his eyes as he inspected the typically colored, steel-plated barrier with Eggman Nega's logo on the front. "Some door, huh?"
"Hmmm…" The stoic queen strode up to it, running her hand along its smooth, black frame. It dwarfed the two monarchs in height, appearing even slightly larger than the door on the Faceship, and something told her the green access panel off to its right side would be of no use to them. "Whatever's behind this door, it must be important."
"Well then, I'd say it's pretty important we smash a king-sized hole through this thing, don't'cha think?" mused Sonic as he prepared to rev up his signature attack.
"Mhmm," nodded the fiery feline.
"What do you say, hun? Wanna do the hubby a favor and weaken that door for me?"
The pyrokinetic queen was already at work. A soft sizzle emanated from the center of the door as the rapid warming of its surface from Blaze's hands prompted the metal to squeal in protest. Steam slithered out from the contact point, and the red steel began to emit a faint glow.
"Now we're talkin'!"
Only a few moments more and the surface was a bright orange. The increasingly-molten metal began to warp and drip down the door's exterior as Blaze's hands began to sink in.
"I'm not sure how thick it is. Do you think this is adequate?" asked the pyrokinetic queen over the sound of screaming metal.
"I'm sure it'll be no biggie!" replied the confident husband, rotating his arms and kneeling down as-if he was ready to run a race.
"Alright. I'll move away on three…"
"One…"
Sonic's eyes narrowed, the corner of his mouth folding up into a proud grin.
"Two…"
In an instant, his body blurred as he tucked into a rapidly spinning ball.
"Three!"
Blaze removed her hands and jumped to the side as her husband shot forward. He sliced through the air, headed straight for the seething, twisted metal of the weakened door.
In its compromised state, the steel barrier was no match for Sonic's Spindash. It screamed in protest as the blue ball carved straight through it and rocketed out through the other side.
"Woohoo!" cheered the speedy monarch as he uncurled and skidded to a halt on the crimson floor. With a satisfied smirk, he whipped back around and studied his handiwork, holding up his hands to form a fake picture frame with his fingers. "Eh… a little rough on the edges, but it should do."
Blaze backed up to study the Spindash-sized hole now sliced through the door. Reaching a silent conclusion, she nodded confidently. "Can you make it through, honey?" the feline heard her husband call from the other side.
"This will do fine!" she replied.
Upon getting a running start, the queen showed off her monarchal elegance. She jumped and streamlined her body, aiming perfectly for the opening.
Sonic watched in awe as his masterful spouse glided through the opening like a diver through the smooth surface of an undisturbed pool. Immediately upon exiting, she ignited her hands, shooting out jets of flames to level herself out before her feet tidily made contact with the floor and she skidded to a halt.
The impressed hedgehog flashed his wife a devious smirk. "Honey, I've said it before and I'll say it again. You should really show off more often."
"Me, show off?" the queen quipped back, playing innocent and placing a hand on her chest. "Certainly not. I'm just that good."
"Hmph!" Sonic grinned before turning around to study the massive room they'd just infiltrated. Its sheer size put its Faceship counterpart to shame, and the cylindrical exterior shared a similar color palette to the rest of the ship. The metal section barely extended above the frames of the room's four massive doors.
The blue blur gulped as he stared at arguably the room's most impressive feature, that being the giant glass dome that extended from the top of the wall all the way up to the ceiling, reinforced by a small circular disk at the top and two thick metal arches that scaled the side and split the glass into two sections. What Sonic was interested in, though, was what it was keeping out.
"Is that the… ocean?" the hydrophobic hedgehog stammered, weakly pointing up at the massive dome and eyeing the schools of fish and columns of bubbles visible on the other side.
"It appears so. This must be the top of the submarine."
"It's called the Egg Megalodon, thank you very much! The least you could do is refer to your final resting place by its correct name!"
Blaze seethed upon hearing the familiar sadistic voice of Eggman ringing through the room.
"Eggman! Show yourself!"
"Or what? Will the little kitty cough up a hairball?" the teasing pout of Eggman's future counterpart replied through the room's sound system.
The fiery feline growled, bearing her fangs as her fists clenched. "I'm going to make you pay for what you've done!"
"Yeah yeah, don't get your whiskers in a twist!" taunted Eggman.
A metallic creak pierced the air as the Megalodon's mighty internals whirred to life. An already-nervous Sonic nearly stumbled to the floor a sudden jolt shook the room. "Uh… what was that?"
Blaze glared upwards, observing the faint light above growing brighter by the second. She looked down at her feet, noticing she felt ever so slightly heavier than normal.
"We're surfacing."
"Surfacing? That sounds like a dream come true! Why would the doctors wanna do that?"
"Oh believe me, you'll wish you were six miles deep when you see the nightmare we've got in store for you, rodent!" sneered Eggman.
As Sonic and Eggman's back and forth quips continued, the mighty vessel picked up speed. The ocean's surface surged ever closer, and soon, it was directly upon them.
"Brace yourself, Sonic!" Blaze called out, just as the top of the dome made contact with the sea air.
The Megalodon rocketed out of the water, its massive form shooting above the surface. After reaching the crest of its ascent, it began picking up speed in the other direction.
"Woah! It feels like I just lost about ten chilidogs worth of weight!" Sonic quipped as he struggled to maintain his footing. Blaze spread out her weight to stabilize herself.
The ship slammed back into the ocean, kicking up a huge wake as it worked to stabilize itself.
Sonic regained his footing. "Man, you'd think with how advanced this thing is they'd have made the ride a little smoother than that!"
Peering up at the cloudless sea sky and shielding his eyes from the glint of the overhead sunlight on the glass dome, Sonic donned a relieved smile. "Welp, we might still be on a giant death machine built by two psychopaths, but at least we're not underwater anymore!"
As Eggman's voice echoed through the loudspeakers once more, an ensemble of mechanical whirs and hisses filled the room. "I'll take my compliments where I can get them, I suppose!" The floor in the center began to shift, and the glass dome encasing the monarchs began to retract into the two metal arches.
Salty sea air invaded the previously enclosed space, filling Blaze's nostrils. The sound of ocean waves hammering the side of the metal behemoth of a ship replaced the mechanical ambience. The queen turned her attention to the floor, watching as a pair of thick doors rumbled open, slowly revealing a circular hole.
Sonic rapidly tapped his foot, rolling his eyes impatiently. "C'mon, haven't you learned any new entrances by now? This one's so played out!"
"Hah! As-if this encounter will be anything like the last!" Eggman snapped.
"Oh, oh! Let me guess, an extra large can opener this time?"
"Silence, you repudent rodent!"
"I wouldn't get so worked up, Eggman," entered Nega with a sneer. "After all, they're the ones who were tricked into letting their arch enemies steal all three of their kids!"
"Ugh… Nega!" Blaze snarled, baring her fangs. She raised her fists as they steamed and then roared to life.
"Maybe they should've left more than one puny koala in charge of the brats!" Eggman insulted.
The feline growled, allowing the fire in her palms to slowly spread down her arms. As her anger boiled hotter, she felt a caring hand grasp her shoulder. Instinctually whipping around with her hand raised to retaliate, Blaze froze upon seeing her husband staring back at her, a warm, yet concerned smile on his face.
"Hey, remember what we talked about. Don't let these clowns get to you."
Blaze lowered her hand and stared down at her flaming palms. Memories of their conversation at Freedom HQ came flooding back to her, and with a regretful stare back into her husband's eyes, she inhaled deeply. As her breath tumbled out of her lungs, the fires receded before fizzling out completely.
"Thanks, Sonic."
"Hey, what are hubbies for?"
"Crushing!"
Just then, another mechanical jolt shook the couple. Their attention darted over to the massive opening in the floor. The doors had finished their cycle, leaving a circular platform to ascend in their place.
Sonic and Blaze took ready stances as a hint of grey metal appeared beyond the lip of the hole and continued to rise, revealing more of itself. "I hope you feeble furries are prepared this time!" Eggman taunted as what appeared to be a giant knight's helmet came fully into view, followed by a pair of broad, yellow-armored shoulders.
Eggman and Nega's forms shone through the glassed-in viewing area of the head. The royals could barely make out their sinisterly grinning faces from the large distance. It continued to rise from the floor, now showing its chest. Two large golden rings circled its center, where a glass dome lied. Embedded inside the two rings were two sets of gems.
"The Chaos Emeralds!"
"The Sol Emeralds!" Sonic and Blaze shouted over each other.
The mechanical monster now towered above the couple, dwarfing the Egg Drencher and showing off it's beefy arms. Attached to its left arm was a domed shield, and in its right hand, a menacing looking lance with yellow and black spirals snaking up to the tip.
"This is a special surprise we've been cooking up for months! I hope you're impressed!" announced Eggman from his seat up top, just as the robot finished its ascent.
"Well I'll give you this, Egghead. It looks like less of a walking can opener than the last one!" a smug Sonic yelled back.
"It's… massive," uttered Blaze, tracing the robot's towering form from the top of its head to its metal boots.
"Introducing the Egg Vanquisher!" Nega boasted as the machine's right hand pridefully raised its lance to the sky. "Fitting name for a killer of monarchs, don't you think?"
Sonic cocked his head in amusement, shrugging his shoulders. "Eh, I'll give it a solid six outta ten!"
A soft groan from Nega's end preceded the bot stomping forward and holding its shield out in front, taking a fighting stance.
"Get ready!" Blaze commanded, igniting her hands and taking ready position beside her husband.
As the heavy mechanical clicks and creaks of the robots screeched to a halt, Eggman donned a sinister grin and leaned into his microphone. "The game's finally coming to a close, relentless rodent! After all these years, Sonic the Hedgehog has finally met his match!"