Chapter 9

The Battle for Angel Island, Part 1

Angel Island

"I am Neo Metal Sonic. I am Dr. Eggman's greatest creation. I am Sonic the Hedgehog-perfected. I have used the Egg Fleet to conquer Angel Island. I have secured the Master Emerald, the most powerful gemstone in the world. I have baited the 'heroes' into bringing me the last thing I need for my ascension. I. Have. WON!"

X

Resistance HQ, Sunset City

"Thank you all for coming so quickly," Amy said, gesturing to the room.

"Yeah-we're going to need all of you!" Sonic said.

Following Amy's rallying call, everyone Sonic had met so far had decided to join them for the mission to Angel Island: Silver, the Chaotix, Tangle, Whisper, Blaze, Rouge and even Shadow had agreed to come on such a short notice. All of them were enthusiastic for the mission, that is, only Knuckles wasn't that happy.

"Neo Metal Sonic has taken over my island!" he fumed, smoke pouring out of his ears. "He's turned it into a flying fortress! And he built that…thing over the Master Emerald!" He facepalmed himself. "I never should have left…" he muttered.

"You were helping us down here. And now we're going to help you get your home back," Amy reassured him. She then pulled up several photos taken by a reconnaissance satellite that had passed over Angel Island a couple hours earlier. The photos revealed that Angel Island now had two massive wings, and that they were being supported by the Egg Fleet, which both helped it remain aloft in case the Master Emerald was cut off from the island while it served as the primary anti-aircraft defense. They also showed that most of the Egg Fleet wasn't all integrated in the metal girders. They remained in the air, as a staple of secondary offensive and defensive power.

"We're going to split into three teams," Amy said, pointing at the photo. "Teams 1 and 2 will attack the shorelines and break the Egg Fleet's control of the island." She then zoomed in on the Eggman stature, which covered the Master Emerald altar. "Team 3 will confront Neo Metal Sonic here," she said. "They'll secure the Master Emerald and rob the fleet of its commander."

"I'M ON TEAM THREE!" Knuckles hollered.

"Everyone assumed that, Knux," Sonic said, grinning.

"May I offer a more direct solution, Amy?" Blaze asked.

"Of course!" she said.

"I could confront Neo as Burning Blaze."

"Wha-ha-ha-at?!" Sonic cried, amazed. "That'd be amazing!"

"How is that possible?" Amy asked, as Tangle watched on, confused.

Blaze then produced seven identical gems from her pocket, and they began to swirl around her in a ring of fire, while Tangle looked on amazed. Oddly though, they were the same color as the Chaos Emeralds, with a gem being of a different color: Green, Turquoise, Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple, and White.

"As most of you know," Blaze explained, "if Sonic can manage to gather up the seven Chaos Emeralds, he can use their power to transform into Super Sonic. In my world, we have similar gems called Sol Emeralds. With their power, I can become Burning Blaze. It is their power that brought me here. As their guardian, I have kept them close all this time. They are not to be wielded recklessly, but I believe this crisis would justify their use."

"Hmm…maybe we shouldn't," Tails said.

"Why not?" Sonic asked. "That would be awesome!"

"Well-yeah," Tails began, "-but Neo has command of the Master Emerald. It can neutralize the Chaos Emeralds. What if it can do the same thing to the Sol Emeralds?"

"It can't," Knuckles responded. "Don't ask me how I know-call it a hunch."

"Then what if Neo copied Blaze's bio-data?" Tails suggested. "He'd be able to use her fire-powers at least, and harness the Sol Emeralds for himself at worst." He turned to Blaze. "Sorry, Blaze. But it's probably best if you stay away from Neo."

"It's fine," Blaze said. "Thank you for looking out for me."

"But-Neo shouldn't be anywhere near the fleets," Amy said. "Blaze, I want to be Team 1! Sonic and Knuckles will be Team 3, so everyone else-we're Team 2! Everybody to the battleship! Let's go liberate Angel Island!"

X

Later…

The Resistance shuttle cruised through the clouds, unhindered by anything. The craft was a large blue and gray space shuttle-like aircraft with several details. It has a bright gray top half and a dark gray underbelly, and a narrow windshield spanning the entire front of the ship. Below the windshield on the front is a blue and gray outstretched fin. Also, around the rear are two vertical stabilizers and a single thin horizontal stabilizer. For propulsion it had two rectangular-shaped ion thrusters on the rear. For armament, there were two gray and blue single-barreled gun turrets and two CIWIS turrets for missile suppression. Most of the Resistance's craft from the war were either stolen from Eggman's possession or reversed engineered from the ground up. The shuttle had a five man crew: A pilot, two sensor operators and two gunners. But the captain could have control over the entire ship if necessary.

In the hold of the craft, Sonic was stretching his legs as Whisper sat off to the side. "I really appreciate you coming to help. I know crowds aren't really your thing," he said.

"S'okay," Whisper said.

"I'll give you some space," Sonic said, standing up. "Be safe down there, okay?"

"You too," Whisper said, smiling at him.

Meanwhile, Rouge was contorting to Shadow as always. "I share the sentiment," she said. "I didn't think you'd be for a big team-up."

"I'm here for my own reasons," Shadow said, not noticing that Whisper had opened her eyes and was staring at him fiercely.

"Mmm…of course you are," Rouge said.

Meanwhile, Blaze was talking to Amy on her opinion on Whisper. "Are you sure that one can be trusted?" she said, pointing at Whisper, who was maintaining her Wispon.

"Whisper? Sure!" Amy agreed. "She certainly likes to keep her distance…" She playfully elbowed Blaze. "Kinda reminds me of how a certain princess used to be…"

"Heh," Blaze agreed. "I suppose I was a bit…defensive when we all first met." When Blaze was still learning to control her pyrokinetic powers, she was isolated from the rest of her community for a long time, eventually causing her to become anti-social and not interact with anyone until she met a young raccoon named Marine, eventually becoming best friends with Amy, Cream, and Sonic.

"And I now march to war with the lot of you," she said, staring out at the dark sky. Amy decided to attack tonight, because of heavy clouds and a dark sky instead of broad daylight, which could expose the shuttle to early warning radar installations. But the shuttle had some dedicated jamming technology on board, hoarded and reverse-engineered from the Eggman Empire.

"It's going to be rough out there. Please be careful on your own," Amy said, worriedly.

"Don't worry," Blaze said. "We'll win the day."

"You're right," Amy said, smiling. "I need to stay positive."

"I learned from the best."

Meanwhile at the center of the hold, Silver, Tangle, Espio and Vector were playing cards while Charmy sorted them.

"You're not using your mind-powers to cheat, are ya?" Tangle taunted, while silently moving her tail over to one of Silver's cards.

"N-no!" Silver cried. "I can't really-"

"Or using your future-knowledge?!"

"IT DOESN'T WORK LIKE THAT!" Silver snapped.

Relax!" Tangle said, snatching Silver's card and quickly retracting her tail, just out of Silver's peripheral vision. "I'm just messing with ya!"

"O-oh," Silver said. "Sorry, I'm not used to…" He then checked his deck. "…waitaminute…"

"Aw, man," Tangle said, trying to mask her laughter. "Your hand's worse than mine."

Meanwhile, Vector was trying to convince Knuckles to get rid of his stress. "C'mon!" he said. "Just try to play a hand. It'll get your mind off things."

"No," Knuckles said. "My island needs me. I have no time for games."

"So…you're just going to stand there until we arrive?"

"Yes."

"Suit yourself," Vector said, turning back to his game.

Meanwhile in the cockpit of the craft, Sonic was catching things up with Tails. "Smooth sailing, cap'n?" he asked.

"Steady as she goes," Tails responded, his fingers flying over the control pad. "What brings you up here?" "I guess I'm too excited to hang with everyone else," Sonic said, glancing at the compass on the dashboard. "We'll be at Angel Island any minute now, and the best place to be is with my wingman."

"Thanks, partner," Tails said, giving Sonic a thumbs-up. "We'll get through this."

"We always do," Sonic said, smiling at Tails.

Just then, a boom sounded outside the cockpit, and a small crack appeared on the windshield. "And here we were having a moment…" Sonic muttered.

"Neo isn't taking any chances!" Tails called. "The entire Egg Fleet is bombarding us! You and Knuckles grab your Extreme Gear! I'll get us as close as we can, but-"

"Good luck, buddy!" Sonic called, dashing out the cockpit while saluting Tails. Tails then turned his attention back to the controls as he piloted the craft closer and closer to the barrage of flak coming from the Egg Fleet.

X

Meanwhile in the cargo hold, Blaze was watching as Sonic and Knuckles took their Extreme Gear (Hoverboards that allowed a user to fly, or hover at a certain speed) out of the shuttle's open door ramp while Tails connected to her via her earpiece.

"Blaze! I'm going to put us down on the West coast! You'll have to fly to your target from here!" he said.

"Understood," Blaze said. "Don't think about how high we are," she muttered to herself, attempting to squash her fear of heights. "Focus on the moment…" With that, she charged out of the bay doors as the Sol Emeralds swirled around her. in a blinding flash of light, her fur changed into a bright pink color as tendrils of flame swirled around her. This was her Burning Blaze form. She then charged toward the island like a meteor in the atmosphere.

X

"Tails!" Amy called. "We've got to go!" Following his decision to keep the shuttle on course, the Egg Fleet bombarded the shuttle from all sides until it's hull integrity started to break.

"I know! I know!" Tails called. "I'm just putting in the final trajectory-!" His fingers flew over the screen. He then turned and ran towards Amy. "Go! Go! Go!" he cried. The shuttle began to arc towards the Egg Fleet anchored. The shuttle then collided with the Egg Fleet and then exploded in a massive fireball. But fortunately, the entire crew managed to get out in time, by landing in the jungles.

"Vector! You lead Team Chaotix! Stick together and do your thing!" Amy ordered, wielding her Piko Piko Hammer. "Silver! Wreck stuff!" She turned to Rouge. "Rouge and Shadow…" she trailed off. "Wait! Where is Shadow?!"

"Did you really think he'd follow orders?" Rouge said.

"I should have known better," Amy muttered. "Well then-I'm counting on you to handle the guns!"

"Consider it done," Rouge said.

Amy turned to Tangle, Whisper and Tails. "Tangle! Whisper! Cover Tails while he does something smart!"

"Haha! What does that even mean?" Tails said, twirling his tails rapidly which allowed him to fly.

"I don't know! You're the genius!" Amy said.

With that, they charged into the fray: Amy smashing a gun turret which bent the barrel, Tails lifting Tangle who struck an Egg Pawn, Silver using his psychokinesis to crush several Egg Pawns like aluminum cans, Rouge impaling an Egg Pawn with her heel, Whisper sniping several Spinas out of the sky, Chamry releasing Espio, who unleashed a swarm of kunai, and Vector ripping the head off of an Egg Pawn with his teeth.

X

Meanwhile, Blaze was hovering over the right wing of the island. I must finish my mission here quickly. I don't want to leave my friends to fend for themselves for too long, she thought. She then smiled. Heh. My friends. I've not had them in my life for long… She then made a fireball in her hands. …but I will do everything I can to keep them safe! She then threw the fireball at the Egg Fleet, melting everything in its path.

X

Master Emerald altar

"Well, that's overt," Sonic said, staring at the hideous statue of Eggman that was over the Master Emerald. There were even several drawings of Neo Metal's face on the sides.

"We're not here for sightseeing!" Knuckles reminded him. "Let's get moving!" He went up to the door of the statue and pressed a hand to it.

"Sense anything?" Sonic asked.

"…no," Knuckles said. "The Master Emerald's power is cut off from me." With that, he summoned his strength and punched a considerable sized dent in the door. Reaching through it, he yanked the door open and they stepped inside.

"Dibs on Neo," he said, pressing his fists together.

"Pssht, if you're fast enough to get to him," Sonic said. They walked up to the altar where Neo sat on his throne, looking over them.

"It's over, pointy," Sonic called. "Our friends are wrecking your stuff, and we're here to stop you."

"Release the Master Emerald! NOW!" Knuckles yelled.

"The Resistance's paltry efforts do not concern me," Neo said. "One by one, they'll all become a black mark on the floor (1)." He pointed a finger at them both. "And you are nothing to my power."

"Says you!" Sonic called. "Let's get him, Knux!" They charged up to meet him, but were knocked back by a massive blast of blinding light.

"Great," Sonic said, nursing his head. "Juuuuust great." Neo Metal Sonic now had a golden aura, signifying that he was in a "super" state, like Sonic was when he was harnessing the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds.

"Well?" he said, sarcastically. "Aren't you going to 'stop me?'" He chuckled. "Come on. Show me what you are made of (2)."

Author's note:

Both of Neo Metal Sonic's lines in (1) and (2) is a reference to the song "What I Am Made Of…" that plays during the fight with Master Overlord during Sonic Heroes.

Next time: Sonic and Knuckles vs Super Neo Metal!