Chapter 11
The Battle for Angel Island, Part 3
Angel Island.
A remote and mysterious land that floats through the sky thanks to the power of the Master Emerald…
…is in FREEFALL!
"Why is the island falling?" Blaze asked herself, as she used her fire powers to fly. "Did destroying the wings do this…?" Suddenly, a tail shot to her.
"Blaze!" Tangle called from the Mako gunship. "Grab on!" Blaze caught Tangle's tail and she and Amy pulled her in.
"I'm sorry, she said, touching down on the hull. "I didn't know completing my mission would cause this!"
"No!" Amy called. "If the island is falling, it means something has happened to the Master Emerald!"
X
Meanwhile, Master Overlord had gained the upper hand on Sonic, Knuckles and Shadow by launching emerald shards out of his back like missiles.
"On the plus side," Sonic said, dodging one, "he's not in a 'super' state anymore!"
"Amy! Do you read me?" Knuckles said into his earpiece. "Neo took the Master Emerald and transformed! Please tell me Burning Blaze is still around for heavy support!"
X
On the Mako, Amy heard Knuckles' pleading voice and responded solemnly, "Things have gotten much worse." She turned to Blaze. "Is there a chance that you can transform again?"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot," Blaze said. "The Sol Emeralds' power is diminished for now."
X
On Angel Island, Knuckles heard Amy's response. "That's a 'no' on Burning Blaze," Knuckles said.
"And we don't have the Chaos Emeralds, so no "Super Sonic" for me, either…"
"I will not lose to that thing!" Shadow said, clenching his teeth together.
"Okay, okay…" Sonic said, reassuring Shadow. "I've got a plan!"
"I WILL REALIZE Dr. EGGMAN'S DREAMS OF A GLOBAL EMPIRE!" Master Overlord said, twin red eyes glaring down at them. "AND NOTHING YOU CAN DO CAN STOP ME!" With that, he reached over with his talons and scooped them all up, and then he took flight, heading towards the Mako gunship where the rest of the Resistance was. "COME! LET US JOIN THE REST OF YOUR FEEBLE 'RESISTANCE!' YOU WILL WATCH AS I DESTROY THEM! WITNESS ANGEL ISLAND DASHED TO PIECES! THEN I WILL SHOW YOU THE MERCY OF A SWIFT DEMISE!"
"Is this part of your plan?" Shadow asked, as he struggled to free them from the clutches of Master Overlord.
"It is now!" Sonic said. "All we need to do is rip the Master Emerald out of his chest. Take away his power source, and we save Angel Island." He pointed up at Overlord's face. "And 'Master Over-blown' here is taking us right to the cavalry!"
"Hrgh! Nice and simple-I like it!" Knuckles said, as he freed them from the grasp of the mechanical fingers of Overlord. "I'll focus on the Master Emerald! Just keep Neo-Master-whatever busy!"
"Cool!" Sonic said. "Shadow, we need to bust up the wings and drive him down to the island! Close the gap!"
"Understood!" Shadow said, prying another finger off of them.
On the Mako gunship, Vector noticed something strange heading towards them. "Uh…Tails?" he said nervously. "The giant robo-dragon is heading right for us!"
"No…we're heading right for him!" Tails cried, typing away at the control panel. "Sonic needs our help! And if we don't act fast, Angel Island is lost!" He pointed at Vector. "Tell Amy to get everyone on deck! I'll get us as close as I can!"
"Man, I hope we're getting hazard pay for this…" Vector muttered, dashing from the bridge. Tails then opened fire on Master Overlord using the cannons, but they just bounced off his armour. But that was enough for Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles to get free of his hands and initiate their stage of the plan.
"Amy! New plan!" Knuckles called into his headset as he dived towards the Master Emerald. "Take out that thing's wings and drive it down to the island! I'll handle the rest!"
"I'll take the left wing, you'll take the right!" Sonic called to Shadow as they raced along the neck of the robo-dragon.
"Be quick about it…" Shadow said, glancing at Sonic, "…before things somehow get worse."
X
Unknown Location
After transporting the man who called himself "Mr. Tinker" back to his former's secret location, Rough and Tumble had strapped him down in a chair lined with many different wires. All the time, the man was pleading with them to let him go.
"P-p-please don't do this!" he said. "I-I-I have no money, b-b-but I can repair something for you! F-fix your sink? Toilet? Bookcase?!"
"Give it a rest, already!" Tumble said, locking down the last strap. He then whispered to Rough, keeping his voice low. "You sure this is supposed to be Eggman? 'Cause he's not impressing us right now."
"Have faith, Tumble," Rough said. "That's him."
"M-ma-maybe you'll listen!" the man said, smiling nervously. "I'm not Eggman! My name is Mr. Tinker!"
"Oh, you certainly think it is," a new voice said. "Trauma from your last defeat, no doubt." The figure approached him, and Mr. Tinker could clearly see that he was a platypus with white fur that covers most of his body. His beak is black-colored and narrow with nostrils on the front, and he possesses red eyes, black eyelids, and a thick tail. He also has three thick hair turfs on his head that are combed over the right side of his head. His front hair turf also possesses a gray highlight. For attire, he wears a purple and red satin tuxedo with golden cuffs, orange pince-nez glasses, and two gray webbed gloves. Starline also wears a webbed brown glove on his left hand with a gold insertion clip and golden-tipped fingertips. A darker brown ring can be seen on the palm of the glove. He also wore black boots with golden buckles, red soles, medium-high heels, with some spurs on the back of his boots, and upward-turned pointy toes. His name was Dr. Starline, and he was a big admirer of Eggman's work, often surpassing his mentor's work with more advanced creations.
"Trust me, dear doctor," he said, adjusting his glove, which bore some kind of gemstone. "I made my career out of studying you." He walked over to the table while Rough glared at him. "But don't worry…" he said, placing a hand on the table where Mr. Tinker lay. "…I intend to fix that. I will restore you to your former glory! Dr. Eggman will be reborn!"
"But I'm not him!" Mr. Tinker cried. "I don't want to be Eggman!"
"And he certainly wouldn't want to be you," Starline said, lowering a pair of goggles from the ceiling. "Just lie back, relax, and think of Eggman Land." He then attached the goggles to Mr. Tinker's head, who let out a piercing scream as electricity flowed through them.
X
Angel Island
"BOTHERSOME INSECTS!" Master Overlord snarled, seizing the Mako gunship in his grasp while Knuckles hammered away at the Master Emerald. He was then pelted by a Spin Dash from Sonic to the face.
Everyone's combined strength might do it, Sonic thought, skidding to a halt. But there's no way ugly here is going to let them get close. So I better do the one thing I do best…tick Metal Sonic off! He then summoned his courage and spoke to the double-eyed beast, who swung his head to face him. "You call me your 'loathsome copy'," he said, "but last I checked, hedgehogs don't look like fifty-foot tall robot dragons." He smirked. "And we aren't made out of metal. Or have the Master Emerald as a pacemaker. And I kinda came first, so…"
"I AM 'SONIC' PERFECTED!" Master Overlord yelled. "I AM MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER BE! I AM-!" Just then, a rocket impacted the side of his head, forcing him to turn away in pain.
"Nice one, Whisper!" Sonic called to the wolf. "Ten points for dramatic timing!"
Meanwhile, Amy was leading the rest of the Resistance in a charge against Master Overlord. "Resistance, charge!" she cried.
"BEGONE PARASITES!" screamed Master Overlord as he let go of the Mako.
"Did Knuckles relay the plan?" Sonic said, landing next to Amy.
"We know what to do!" she said. "Just buy us some time while Tails gets into position!"
"Can do!" Sonic said, running up the neck of Master Overlord to deal several blows to his head with his Spin Dash technique. Meanwhile the rest of the crew was doing their best to tear apart Master Overlord piece by piece. Amy used her hammer to nail away at one of the wings while Charmy helped her, Vector ripped several sheets of metal off, and Espio used his kunai to pry off one of the wings. Meanwhile, Rouge was placing her custom made frag detonators in several key locations. "All set!" she called to Whisper. "Do it!" Whisper then shot one of the detonators with her Wispon, which set off a chain reaction, igniting all of the other detonators, which in turn sawed off multiple sections of Master Overlord. Silver was using his psychokinesis to rip off several wings at the same time. Blaze was melting a section of the wing away while Tangle used her tail to snap the wing from its assembly. All this time, Knuckles was hammering away at the module containing the Master Emerald, making good progress as several dents appeared around the module.
X
On the Mako gunship, Tails waited for the right moment. As Master Overlord fell back towards the collapsing Angel Island, he mentality ticked off the seconds in his mind. "Almost…" he said, his teeth clenched. "Almost…!"
X
"ENOUGH!" Master overlord cried. He then flung the Resistance off of his body with a massive jolt. Shadow used his rocket shoes to slow down as Rouge rushed to the aid of a falling Espio, and Tangle used her tail to rescue Amy and Vector.
"I can't carry everyone!" Charmy cried as he grabbed Sonic. "What are we going to do?!"
"Don't panic!" Sonic said, reassuring the bee. "It's gonna be okay!"
Meanwhile Silver was trying to calm himself down in his mind as he reached out to everyone. I've never had to reach so far, he thought to himself, in so many directions… He took a deep breath. Focus…focus! I can not let them down. Then, with a yell, he managed to restrain everyone with his psychokinetic powers. But then, Master Overlord tried to reach over and bite him. Just as he was about to do so, the Mako gunship plowed into him, destroying many vital body parts
X
"Haha! Direct hit!" Tails cried, not believing that he had survived this daring maneuver. "Now-engines full ahead!"
"UNWORTHY CHILD!" Master Overlord snarled, staring at him through the cracked windows of the vessel.
X
Meanwhile, Knuckles resorted to pulling the Master Emerald from Master OVerlord from the inside. "C'mon! C'mon! MOVE!" he cried, pushing against the gem. Then, it popped loose, out from the socket, and free from the wires. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Master Overlord, as he disintegrated in a pile of small explosions.
Seizing this chance, Knuckles took it and glided towards the altar, grinning smugly. Once he reached the altar, he jammed the emerald back into its proper socket. The island stopped falling for a split second and then it began to rise into the sky. Seeing that the island was rising again, Knuckles collapsed on the top of the Master Emerald and laughed, knowing that the mission was accomplished.
X
Meanwhile, Silver was guiding the rest of the group to where the Mako gunship had crashed, while Sonic insisted that he'd be the one to touch the island first "Put me down!" he cried. "Let me go!" Once Silver had placed him ahead of the others, he rushed to the wreckage of the Mako. "Tails!" he called. "You okay buddy?! Tails?!" He waited a few seconds, and then to his surprise, he saw Tails fly out of the bridge of the Mako.
"Dude!" Sonic said, as he hugged Tails tightly. "That was amazing!"
"Haha-thanks!" Tails said, nuzzling deep into Sonic's chest. "I don't think I want to do it again anytime soon, though…"
"Don't worry," Sonic said, letting go of Tails, and glancing at a nearby tree, where the mangled heap of Metal Sonic was, already reverted from his Neo state. "…I think the fight is done."
Meanwhile the others were happy that they had solved the mystery of the rouge Badnik attacks.
"Case closed, boys," Vector said, laying on the ground exhausted while Chamry sat on his head, and Espio was sitting down meditating with a smile on his face.
"Is this what it's always like for you guys?" Tangle said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Pretty much," Amy said, clutching her hammer.
"Can we hang out all the time?!"
Meanwhile, Whisper was congratulating her Wisps as Silver and Blaze watched on. "Thanks for joining the team today," Silver said.
"Yes," Blaze said. "You were excellent."
"You're welcome," Whisper said, smiling back at them.
Meanwhile, Shadow had already stalked off, not wanting to stay around. "Not even going to stick around for the after party?" Rouge asked him. When he gave a wave she sighed and said, "That's so you. See you around."
At the Master Emerald altar, Sonic and Knuckles were seeing Knuckles happily reunited with the Master Emerald. "How's it feel to be back home?" Sonic asked him.
"Good. Real good," Knuckles said. "Metal Sonic?"
"Offline," Tails said. "It's over!"
"Metal's delusions of grandeur are knocked out of him," Sonic said, wrapping an arm around Tails. "Eggman is a reformed handyman. The island's safe and the world is saved. I'd say today is a good day!"
"Haha! Yeah!" Tails cried.
X
Unknown Location
Starline tentatively lifted the smoking goggles off of Mr. Tinker's head and peered down at him. "The first round of the procedure is complete. Tell me, are you feeling more like yourself…Dr. Eggman?"
Next time: The cost of the Battle for Angel Island!