15 Minutes after leaving the city…
POV: Alternate Sonic
"I failed Sonic." Tails stated glumly. "Well, I mean this world's Sonic… And Eggman's monster got him."
The grief-stricken fox had recounted the events leading up to now. After defeating the Time-Eater, he and this world's Sonic had returned to their normal lives. For them, nearly a year had passed.
Then, it had all come crashing down. Eggman showed up out of nowhere, backed up by four of the toughest opponents Sonic had ever faced - Zavok, Chaos, Metal Sonic, and Shadow the Hedgehog. As if that wasn't bad enough, some new foe had also appeared, one who was, somehow, even more powerful than any of them.
The five threats had ganged up on Sonic, with the new opponent personally delivering the final blow.
"But you're here, now!" Tails continued, looking at me as he flew beside me, his tone becoming more cheerful with every word.
I continued running down the road, quietly listening to my friend as he spoke to me.
"It's like the world needs a Sonic… any Sonic, to keep things in balance." Tails said.
I mentally shrugged, unsure how true that might be. For all I knew, he could be right on the money. Equally, he could also be completely wrong. I didn't know.
"If we defeat Eggman," Tails continued, "this war will be over." His eyes gazed into the ground, lost in thought. "And if we can figure out the secret to his power, maybe we can get you home." He theorized.
A beep from his Eggman Radar broke him out of his thoughts. "The sensor is saying he's getting pretty close!" He exclaimed. "Let's hurry!"
We took off, heading for the grassy hills in the distance. I realized with a start that this must be this world's version of Green Hill Zone. Well, at least the terrain will be familiar.
POV: Miles "Tails" Prower
"We've got to find Eggman quick!" I exclaimed, flying high above Alternate Sonic. "Let's see…" I muttered, studying the radar display. "The reading I picked up was through this way!" I pointed at the trail ahead of us, leading through the mountain pass.
Below me, Alt Sonic nodded, and took off.
"This area's still relatively undamaged." I said, glancing around. "But the enemy is still here, somewhere."
"I'll be on my guard." Alt Sonic called out from a few yards ahead of me.
Just then, a pair of Eggbots stumbled out from behind a large boulder. One of them spotted us, and started to charge its laser cannon.
Alt Sonic never gave it the chance to fire. His signature jump attack took the robot down faster than I could blink, and the second robot had only just finished spinning around to face us.
Bouncing up into the air from the attack on the first robot, Alt Sonic performed a second strike, this one aimed for the other bot.
And just like that, Eggman's army was down another two robots. The two of us continued onward, heading further down the trail. Approaching a wooden bridge spanning a rather large drop, Alt Sonic safely crossed it without incident.
I looked up ahead, and spied a patrol of Eggbots, marching in a straight line. "Look out for those Eggbots up ahead!" I warned Alt Sonic.
"No worries." He replied. As I watched, he stopped running and tucked into a ball. Spinning in place fast enough to become a blur, I realized what his plan was.
After a few moments, Alt Sonic suddenly launched forward nearly at the speed of sound, rolling across the ground. Dirt and cut grass kicked up underneath him as his spines racked across the natural floor.
The Eggbot patrol didn't even hear him coming. Slamming into the rearmost robot, he rolled straight through its legs, his spines shredding its armored carapace like a knife through butter. Alt Sonic's razor-sharp rolling didn't stop there.
The blue ball of razor-sharp destruction continued on its blurry way through the entire column, shredding straight through all of them with ease.
By the time Alt Sonic stood up, he was over a dozen yards in front of the final Eggbot, which had already collapsed into a scrap heap, utterly wrecked. The rest of the patrol had fared no better.
"Easy as pie." Alt Sonic quipped, breaking into a run. "Where to next- Huh?"
He stared off to his left as he passed a boulder. In the distance, Green Hill Zone had been transformed into a desert by Eggman's war machinations.
"That's pretty strange." Alt Sonic remarked. "This is Green Hill, right? Something is wrong, here."
"I agree. Rebuilding is going to be a long process." I replied.
A minute passed as we navigated through the hilly pass. A couple more Eggbot groups encountered us, but none of them were active long enough to alert the rest of the region.
"Eggman's signal is close!" I reported. "Be careful, Sonic!"
"If we want to get the drop on him, you might want to get down here." Alt Sonic told me.
"Agreed." I flew down to his altitude. The path opened up, the hills on either side of us disappearing into plains of grass. A few rocks ahead of us were just a little taller than us, but rounded enough that we could peak over them. I could see Eggman's hovercraft a little ways past the rocks. Alt Sonic and I slowed down and hid behind them. Peaking over the edge, I saw the Doctor speaking to the new enemy, the one who'd defeated Sonic back in Sunset Heights.
They were in the middle of a conversation of sorts, and the creature was holding some sort of faintly-glowing jewel in his hand.
POV: Infinite
"And with that," I spoke, crushing the ruby in my fist, "the disposal of the Phantom Ruby prototypes is complete."
"It was a defective model." Doctor Robotnik told me. "It could only record the DNA of the one that triggered it."
"Only a being with my strength of will could ever activate it." I stated.
"It doesn't matter, now," Eggman replied, turning his hovercraft "what with the remains of the lab locked down and buried in the Mystic Jungle. Which reminds me; didn't you run into Sonic there after he escaped?"
"Yes." I confirmed. "But he is powerless against me. There is no need for concern."
"'Is?'" Eggman did a double-take. "You let the hedgehog LIVE!?" He shouted. "That is a great source of concern!"
"For you, perhaps." I shot back. "He has beaten you for decades, yet I defeated him in our first encounter."
I heard rustling in the grass off to my side, and stared in the direction of the noise for a moment.
"What is it?" Eggman asked.
"... Nothing." I decided. Likely just pesky local wildlife. I looked back towards the Doctor. "We move forward with the plan?"
"Of course!" Eggman replied. "When it's complete, the Resistance will be erased. The world will be nothing but ashes, from which a glorious Eggman Empire will rise!"
"And the Resistance will yield to the Phantom Ruby's power." I added on, beginning to float in the air as I prepared to take my leave. "All will submit."
Eggman nodded, a maniacal grin on his face. With that, I flew off without another word. I had objectives to accomplish, elsewhere.
POV: "Classic" Sonic
Seeing Eggman all on his lonesome was an opportunity I couldn't bear passing up. I leapt over the rock Tails and I had been eavesdropping behind, and dashed towards the Doctor.
He saw me instantly, and recoiled in shock, recognizing me from our previous encounters, which for him was nearly a year ago. "W-What!?" He exclaimed. "You!?"
I leapt into the air and dove into a kick, slamming into his hovercraft with enough force to send it off-balance for a moment. Eggman scrambled to hold onto the side before he could spill out onto the ground.
"I don't have time for this!" Eggman growled at me. His hovercraft floated upwards into the air and a canopy closed around the Doctor, its transparent, glass-like shield protecting him from further attacks. The jets on the back of the hovercraft flared, and he took off into the distance.
I followed close behind him. Hopping over tall boulders and taller hills with ease. Unfortunately, even with my speed, Eggman being in an air vehicle gave him an advantage that I was struggling to keep up with.
The chase came to a head only a few moments later when we arrived at a cliff edge. The Doctor casually flew past the edge a few yards, and turned around. Seeing me standing there glaring, unable to do anything, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Ho ho! This is the perfect opportunity to stress-test my most recent hovercraft weapons!" He exclaimed. The human pressed a few buttons, and suddenly a double-helix chain sprouted out of the bottom of the hovercraft. At the lower end of the chain, a large saw blade started spinning. Its razor-sharp blades would rip me to shreds in an instant if that thing touched me.
So I decided not to let that happen. When the Doctor zipped over to me with the hovercraft, the saw aimed straight for where I was standing, I quickly leapt to the side.
The saw cut through a solid foot of hard ground like it wasn't even there. I gulped. I don't think even titanium would be strong enough to stop it!
The Doctor looked down at his handiwork on the cliff and laughed. "Such power exceeds even my own expectations!" He cheered. "My genius surprises even me, sometimes!"
Glancing around, I noticed the cliff edge had a small hill on either side. Not too large, but enough to gain some altitude.
Sprinting for one, I climbed to the top in a flash, and whipped around. The Doctor glared at me from inside his hovercraft.
I flashed him a mirthless smile, goading him. Come on, you ugly egghead. Come and get me.
He fell right for it. The hovercraft zipped over to me, and whence I was sure it was close enough, I leapt into the air, clear above the saw, the chain it was attached to, and even the hovercraft itself.
I slammed into the top of the hovercraft. It shook with the force of my impact, and my spines racked across the top, leaving ugly slash marks on its hard surface. I heard the Doctor inside grunt as he jostled around in his seat for a moment. I leapt backwards off of the hovercraft, landing safely back on the hill I'd jumped from.
"Argh!" Eggman shook his fist at me. "Just you wait, you insolent pest!" He yelled at me. "You don't even know what my new creation can do!"
"And apparently," A familiar voice shouted, "neither do you!"
I glanced in the direction Tails had spoken from. The fox was flying in place a few yards away, wisely realizing that he wouldn't be much use in this fight. "And if you don't know what your own invention can do," Tails continued, "then that means you miscalculated! That's a failure, in my book!" He taunted the human.
"Ha!" Eggman laughed evilly. "To surpass expectations is the ultimate of genius!" He declared. "I wouldn't expect a runt like you to understand!"
While the Doctor was distracted, I went in for another attack. By the time he realized I was moving, it was too late; I was above the hovercraft and too close for him to dodge. Sometimes, a trick works more than once.
This time, when I landed on top of the hovercraft, I curled up into a ball and spun in place. My razor-sharp spines began to cut into the armor plating, quickly shredding through it.
"Oh, no you don't!" Eggman yelled.
The hovercraft suddenly tipped sharply in one direction, spilling me back onto the ground. I narrowly avoided grazing myself on the still-spinning saw blade.
When I scrambled to my feet, a quick glance at the main section of the hovercraft revealed that I'd done significant damage to it. In fact, I'd managed to cut all the way through the armored glass. A few of the controls on the dashboard had been sliced clean through.
"You think you've made a difference in this fight?" Eggman taunted me. "Ha! Beware, the Egg Dragoon!"
Before I could ask what an Egg Dragoon was, the ground started rumbling. I nearly lost my balance trying to stay upright. Eggman's hovercraft zipped backwards, away from the cliff edge.
Before my eyes, a massive, bipedal behemoth of a robot rose up from the ground more than a hundred feet below us. Countless glowing lights adorned the chest area, with spikes more than triple my size lining its shoulders.
The metal monster's left arm ended in a gigantic drill, the very tip still wider than my head. The base of the drill was nearly as wide as this whole outcropping. The right arm of the colossus carried a titanical gatling cannon, with each barrel big enough to fit threet of me both side by side and standing on each others' heads.
The Doctor's hovercraft rose up above the monstrous mech, and the saw blade retracted back into the egg-shaped ship. I noticed the hulking behemoth was missing a head right when Eggman's hovercraft latched onto it in exactly that spot. The hovercraft spun around rapidly as it lowered, as if screwing into the mech.
The arm with the gatling gun rose, and pointed its many barrels straight at me. Uh oh. I began to run perpendicular to the arm, trying to become a harder target.
The air was filled with the deafening noise more akin to artillery fire than actual gunshots. The ground around the cliff edge suddenly erupted into the air wherever one of the bullets impacted. Glancing over my shoulder, I realized that each and every shot the Doctor was firing at me was nearly as large as my entire body.
"Hey, show some respect for the planet, Egghead!" I shouted, unsure if he could even hear me over the noise.
When I reached the hill on the other side of the cliff edge, I dashed to the top, and waited. The gatling cannon was firing in a straight, predictable line along the cliffside, trying to trap me in place before actually finishing me off.
POV: Miles "Tails" Prower
I gulped as Alt Sonic stared at the approaching bullet impacts, growing ever closer to him. Come on, Sonic, do something! I was too far away to fly over and rescue him, and even if I tried, chances are I'd end up flying right into the path of one of those massive bullets, anyways.
As I watched, Alt Sonic's face morphed into one of focus, and he stared intently at the path of the gatling shots. As if he was calculating something…
Right as the bullets started hitting the hill he was on, Alt Sonic ran forward and leapt into the air as high as he could. With bated breath, I stared in amazement as he sailed through the air, clear over the line of fire.
I couldn't help but pump my fist in celebration when he landed safely on the other side of the mech's aim, its sheer size meaning it was too slow to adjust before exactly what I'd predicted came about.
I grinned as the gatling barrels, which had already begun to grow red from heat, started to slow down, and eventually stopped spinning altogether.
"Argh!" Eggman growled. "How did you avoid that!?" His voice was amplified by an unseen speaker somewhere on the Egg Dragoon. I could hear echoes bounce off the nearby mountains and valleys.
"Hah!" Alt Sonic chuckled. "You're gonna have to do better than that to get rid of me, Egghead!"
"Oh, really?" Eggman asked rhetorically, the tone in his voice clearly indicating he had another card to play. "Then let's see you survive this!"
I gasped as the lower end of the colossal mech, which I only now realized had a large hook of some sort, suddenly stabbed the hook into the ground before thrusting upwards, launching several boulders bigger than my entire body at the cliffside.
"Look out!" I cried out to Alt Sonic.
If he's not careful, those rocks will crush him!
POV: Classic Sonic
I watched as the boulders soared through the air, heading straight for me. I quickly tried to guestimate their paths, attempting to predict where exactly they'd land. Some of them would miss me completely, while others were going to land uncomfortably close to where I was standing.
My decision made, I took a carefully-planned step to my left, and waited.
CRASH! The boulders slammed into the ground around me almost simultaneously. One passed me on my right, missing me by a foot, at most. Had I not taken that step, it would've landed right on top of me.
"Missed me!" I taunted. "Better luck next time!"
"Oh, don't worry!" Eggman replied. "The first attempt is always the least accurate!"
Rather than replying verbally, I merely walked behind the nearest boulder. After a quick mental calculation, I leapt up and roundhouse-kicked it as hard as I could with one leg.
Y'see, one thing about being the fastest thing alive? Your legs get really strong.
The boulder launched forward, flying straight towards the Egg Dragoon. With the sheer size of the behemoth, it couldn't move fast enough to avoid the makeshift missile.
The impact staggered the Egg Dragoon, causing it to tip backwards for a moment. When it righted itself, I could see a massive dent where the boulder had struck it. Another hit like that, and I could do some serious damage.
"Oof!" Eggman grunted as Egg Dragoon tried to absorb the force of the impact. "You've got a lot of nerve, for a pint-sized Sonic from another dimension!" He declared. "Still, this Egg Dragoon has only lost ten percent of its combat strength!"
"You're lying!" Tails countered.
"You won't have to wait long to find out." The Doctor deadpanned.
Ha! Ten percent, my stubby tail! I watched the mech dig into the ground again, launching more boulders at me. I dove to the side to avoid one, which I only just managed to narrowly avoid. I'm pretty sure it actually scraped the bottom of my shoe.
"Heh, thanks for ammunition, Egghead." I muttered quietly. I maneuvered behind the boulder I'd just dodged, and kicked it straight back at the Doctor's mech.
As I stood up, I saw that the Doctor hadn't waited for me to make a move, and the Egg Dragoon was already launching another group of boulders at me.
"And to think," Eggman spoke as I dove to the side once more, "the Sonic of this dimension actually went down easier than this!" I could see the maniacal grin on his face from the cliffside. "It was satisfying to see him so defeated!" He roared in laughter.
"You'll pay for that!" Tails cried out.
"Hah! You were there, and you couldn't even do anything to stop it!" Eggman countered.
I stood up, and saw the Dragoon begin to scoop up more of the earth. With an idea forming in my head, I took a few steps back, and waited. "He's not alone, this time." I stated loudly.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Eggman chuckled, oblivious to what I was planning.
"It means." I began, watching the ground get flung upwards, "That this time." I located the nearest boulder large enough for my idea.
"You've bitten off." My voice grew louder with every word. I clenched my fists, and prepared myself. "A bit more." I started running forwards.
"Than you!" I I started to shout as I leapt as high into the air as I could, directly into the path of the incoming boulder.
"CAN CHEW!" I screamed out. With all my strength, I kicked the boulder with both legs as hard as I possibly could. For once, I held nothing back.
The boulder instantly shifted directions, propelled towards the Egg Dragoon from the sheer strength I'd hit it with.
I hit the ground with my back first, but quickly rolled backwards, coming up to a standing position, and watched the rocky missile slam into its intended target.
Bullseye. I could hear the crunching metal from here as the heavy rock tore straight through the armored plating of the Egg Dragoon, crushing its internal systems and mangling its critical components. Smoke billowed out of the top of the mech, surrounding the hovercraft that was already trying to disconnect from the falling behemoth.
"Aargh!" Eggman shouted in anger as, once again, his powerful creation was defeated by a Sonic. "How DARE you!" He screamed.
"Sonic the Hedgehog is back, Eggman!" I shouted angrily. "This war you've started will end, and you will lose!"
The enraged Doctor's hovercraft finally broke loose of its mount on the Egg Dragoon, rising into the air while the mech below it began to catch on fire, falling dramatically to the ground and collapsing into an unglorified heap of scrap metal and failed designs of an evil man.
"It-It wouldn't be a challenge to crush you here, anyway!" Eggman declared, trying to save face. "I-I'll round up the entire resistance, sooner or later! Just you wait!"
Yeah, sure you will. I thought sarcastically. You keep telling yourself that, Egghead.
I watched as he managed to gain control of the blundering-about hovercraft, and quickly ducked as he zoomed towards me.
The hovercraft passed above me with barely a foot to spare, but I'd already come up with a counter-attack. Just as the hovercraft passed over me, I leapt straight upwards, my spines sharp and ready.
The loud screech of metal scraping against my razor-sharp quills was music to my ears. The loud crack as some unknown system in the hovercraft's engines broke down was just a bonus.
As the hovercraft continued onward past me, attempting to get away, I watched as the engines began to catch fire. Knowing the Doctor would crash land sooner rather than later, I gave chase, intent on confronting him.
We made it all the way to the exact same spot where Tails and I had spied on him and his mysterious accomplice had discussed their next move before the hovercraft gave one last cough, belched out one final flame, and sailed straight into the ground, carving a ten-foot line into the dirt before it came to stop.
A victorious laugh emerged from my yellow friend as he landed next to me. "Yeah!" Tails cheered. "You did it!"
"Ergh!" Eggman grunted as he wrenched open the broken canopy of his hovercraft. He stared at the two of us, and the loathing in his eyes was almost satisfying.
"Look at you," Eggman growled, "fighting like you've got a chance to win! It's adorable."
The hovercraft shifted from his movements, the weight distribution being enough to cause one side to be heavy enough to come crashing down another few inches. The Doctor had to grab onto the sparking console to keep himself from spilling out onto the ground.
As if the interruption to his monologue hadn't happened, the Doctor continued. "It almost makes me feel bad that we're never going to do this little dance again." He held up three fingers. "In just three short weeks, my plan will eliminate the whole bothersome lot of you!"
"Wait, three weeks?" Tails repeated.
"And what plan?" I added.
"Hah!" Eggman let out a single chuckle. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise! You know what they say; the anticipation of the end is worse than the end itself!"
Before our eyes, Eggman reached down and pulled an unseen lever, and the seat of his hovercraft suddenly disconnected from the main chassis, and began to hover on its own, carrying the Doctor into the air along with it.
"Well," Eggman continued, "maybe not in this case." He grinned manically. "Mwa-hahahaha!" His roaring laughter sent chills down my spine. The flying chair he sat in suddenly took off, carrying him off into the distance, and high into the air, where we couldn't chase him.
Lost him, again! I sighed. Well, whatever his plan is, we'll put a stop to it!
"Drat!" Tails exclaimed. "He got away!"
"We'll find him again." I reassured my friend. "And when we do, we'll beat him just as badly as we did today."
Tails nodded, and we smiled, relieved to have come out this alive, and with more knowledge than we'd had before this encounter.
"I can't believe it!" Tails suddenly spoke up after a moment. "Sonic's alive!"
"And still putting up a fight." I added, grinning.
"I think I used up all my wishes for the rest of my life," Tails joked, "but it's worth it!"
I chuckled, and patted his shoulder in agreement.
"Come on!" Tails suddenly turned to me, eyes wide with excitement. "We have to go find him and tell him about Eggman's plan!" The fox blinked. "Uh, whatever that plan is." He finished lamely.
"Eggman said something about Sonic being in the Mystic Jungle." I recalled.
"Then that's where we're going!" Tails declared.
I nodded, and without another word, the two of us took off.
We're coming, other me. This war's kicking up a notch, and together, we'll make sure it plays out in our favor.
I know in the game, Eggman says three days, not three weeks. But really, that's a pretty short timespan for all the missions still left in the game. So, I went with the simple solution and made the timespan larger.