HOURS EARLIER…
Well this vacation sure isn't going the way I was thinking it would, but hey, I guess it would be pretty boring if everything was 'ordinary' for a change!
Still though, gotta make sure Elise is safe...
As he and Shadow burst through the roof of Eggman's together after outrunning and disabling it, Sonic wasted no time in allowing Shadow to confront Eggman on his own while he himself went to look for Elise. While it was true that Eggman was his nemesis, he could tell by the look in Shadow's eyes that whatever he needed to do with Eggman was personal. As such, while they were handling their conversation Sonic set out to zoom around like a blue wind through the train until he found which cabin Elise was being held up in - thankfully he needed to not look far, as in a matter of mere seconds he located her in the second cabin after the one with the 'cockpit' in it.
The cabin itself was honestly nothing much special from Sonic's point of view. It was just a stainless steel room from top to bottom, with red borders around the edges of the walls. The only thing unique about it was that it was a prison cell, sporting two wide cells on either side running down the length of the cabin with a single walkway between them. As such it didn't take him long to find Elise, curled up in one of the corners as she looked down at the floor with a sad look to her face. Though she seemed depressed and trapped in her own mind, she was otherwise completely unharmed - not a single lock of her auburn red hair seemed out of place. Sonic was even more pleased when she looked up to see him behind the cell bars, immediately pulling her out of that depressive look as a surprised yet also hopeful expression immediately took over:
"Sonic!" she exclaimed, rushing to the bars as she expressed the greatest of reliefs, "You came for me again! I knew you would!"
"Heh!" Sonic chuckled, "Of course I did! Now stand back while I take care of these bars!"
Elise nodded and did as Sonic suggested her to, standing back so that she was a safe distance for what Sonic did next: rolling into his own ball like state and at the speed of a whip of the fastest gust of wind imaginable used his speed to muster up enough power through velocity to bend the bars enough so that both him and Elise could slip their bodies through them with ease - it took a few rounds of smacking himself between them like an oversized pinball, but it was ultimately successful. Elise herself couldn't help but watch in hopeful awe as she watched her savior do his work.
Once he had enough of the bars dented, he stood in the cell right before the gaping hole of dented, bent metal and hold out a hand to Elise now without any obstruction; with an ever confident, cocky smirk to his face he gestured:
"Shall we?"
Elise couldn't help but giggle at this gesture, Sonic being so 'courteous' in his own special way, she couldn't help but return it by gently placing her hand onto his palm and responding with a nod:
"Yes, we shall~"
Yet again sweeping Elise into his arms, Sonic gave her a wingle wink before proceeding to swiftly carry her out of the cell, out of the train, and back into the world outside of that metallic prison. Though the glaring light of the sun was quite blinding, her eyes adjusted quick enough so that she could see the canyon that lay just on the outside of the train - massive ridges of rock on either side, with various mining structures and equipment scattered throughout the area both on the ground and far above. Even the lush green grass along the ground was broken up by patches of dirt, and that's not to mention the disabled train that rested on the tracks in the center of it all mere feet away from having entered a tunnel.
That train was now increasingly behind her though, something for which she was very grateful. As she sat in Sonic's arms while he carried her as though he were a breeze of wind bringing her to safety, they both thought for a moment that finally this repeated game of her being kidnapped ad nauseum was over.
That of course, was when Silver arrived.
As they made their way away from the train, it was just as Elise happily mused "I knew it! I knew you'd return! You had to!" that the attack was launched. Sonic only had the time to look over and gasp when he saw it hurdling towards him, a blast of glowing green energy that was only avoided when he jumped out of the way - allowing it to hit the ground as he and Elise landed safely.
Putting Elise down beside him as he turned to face his opponent, Sonic saw the face of that same white hedgehog who had attacked him in the Soleanna castle town mere hours ago. Not yet knowing this figure's name to be Silver, all Sonic could say upon seeing that yellow eyed face of his again was a most annoyed:
"You again…"
With a tone of extreme irritation of his own, Silver snapped at Sonic while pointing right at him - his mouth snarling:
"This time there will be no interruptions!"
Sonic let this honestly annoying 'assassin' continue his banter while he got to his feet, making sure Elise was 'safely' behind him while doing so. Maintaining full eye contact, Silver's threats didn't let up at all:
"The Iblis Trigger…" he said, "Must, die!"
Just as Elise softly spoke Sonic's name while backing herself away from this, Silver unleashed another blast of green energy at the ground on which Sonic stood, forcing Sonic to use his reflexes to dodge it. Rolling on the ground in front of Silver's eyes, Sonic barely had the time to stand back up when Silver had him right where he wanted him - holding out a hand as it was suddenly surrounded by an emergent aura of that same green energy, quickly surrounding Sonic in it as well.
While Silver was able to move around though, Sonic found himself gasping as he was no longer able to do such at all. It was though he was grabbed by Silver and held completely in place without even being touched at all, Sonic only barely able to even squirm as he was trapped in whatever this white hedgehog was doing to him - though this was an ability he encountered in their first battle, he still didn't entirely understand what exactly was being done to him.
Gah!
How does he have this kind of power?!
Not even Shadow does this kind of stuff!
What is this guy even talking about? What the heck is an Iblis Trigger?
Ngh, I gotta get outta this and get Elise back to the city!
Alas, Sonic wouldn't precisely accomplish that final goal so easily. As he remained trapped in Silver's psychic whole as Silver unleashed regular pulses of electrifying energy surges at him without loosening his grip at all, Sonic could hear the familiar voice of a certain 'doctor' from behind him:
"So how was your little walk, duchess?"
With it being accompanied by the sound of her scream, Sonic quickly turned his head around as best he could given his circumstances. He was able to just catch the sight of what had happened - Metal Sonic of all things had arrived onto the scene, grabbing hold of Elise before flying up to join Eggman who was remaining in that hovering 'egg-mobile' of his - the two proceeding to leave the scene by flying off into the distance immediately.
All Sonic could do was watch as they vanished over the ridges of the canyon.
"Elise!" he called out, trying to reach out with a hand - though his movements only infuriated Silver more, prompting him to motion his hand to create yet another pulse that practically knocked the wind right out of Sonic's lungs. With a slight laugh as he watched Sonic succumb to this all so easily, Silver was most unafraid as he prepared his next move:
"It's time to end this!" he said, motioning to do whatever his attack would have been - when something happened. With the sound of someone or something landing in the ground between the two of them, Sonic fell to the ground exhausted as Silver's psychic grip over him finally ended. As Sonic recovered from his ordeal with heavy pants, he looked up to see Shadow now standing between himself and the mysterious white hedgehog; the latter being both shocked and furious about what was happening - not seeming to have the faintest idea who the black hedgehog standing in front of him was: "Who?! Mephiles?!" he exclaimed in outraged shock, "Why are you getting in the way?!"
Standing himself up, Shadow was swift to stay exactly who he was:
"I'm Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog."
As silence overtook the two of them, Shadow took the time to turn his head over to Sonic. Grateful for this save, Sonic gave Shadow both a smirk and a thumbs up before dashing off in the direction that he saw Eggmand and Metal Sonic fly off in. Knowing that Shadow could more than take care of himself, he was confident that he had more than enough time now to save Elise from the clutches of the mad roboticist and that robot double of his.
Even as he dashed up the canyon ridges at lightning fast speed though, he couldn't help but have a few questions to ask about the scene he had just witnessed.
Why did that white guy think Shadow was named Mephiles?
What world does that guy come from?
Either way, I can't worry about that now! Gotta save Elise!
As the flight of the egg-mobile left the scene of the canyon with it's abandoned mines it quickly exchanged it for flying just a few feet above the canopy of the Soleanna island's vast expanse of a temperate forest, the same forest that in it's deepest recesses became a lively tropical jungle. As the aircraft cruised beneath the blue sky and it's massive canvas of white clouds, beneath itself remained the lush greens of both trees and grass alike themselves all painted along the landscape besides large formations of rock - all while features such as lakes and rivers wre discreetly hidden beneath the thick cover of the trees, showing themselves only when the sunlight creaked in on them three the mass of leaves.
On the aircraft itself stood Eggman, Elise and Metal Sonic - the latter having just dropped Elise off onto it's large cockpit not too long ago. Though he remained silent as the scene unfolded before him, watching as both Elise and his creator were standing in the flying machine just as it approached a significant clearing in the forest, with the duchess herself increasingly nearing the edge of the aircraft itself, her eyes not for a second ceasing to look at Eggman as she carefully walked herself not only out of the cockpit but also treaded precariously along the machine's engines; alls Eggman himself was swift to 'scold' her:
"Now stop it!" he exclaimed, "You have nowhere to go!"
Elise, having more bravery in herself than she even knew she had, was quick to sharply tell him:
"I would rather die than be your prisoner again!"
"Hmph" Eggman scoffed, "So what do you plan to do, duchess? Do you plan to jump?"
As the doctor gave her what was quite the smuggest look a man had ever given to a woman in the history of this timeline, Elise admittedly hesitated. At first not sure if this was such a smart idea after all, though as she looked for a few seconds down towards the forest so far below them. Paying close attention with her eyes she was able to just see not only the large clearing of tall wild grass they were passing over, but also the fact that not far behind them was a rapidly approaching and familiar blue blur of wind.
With a deep breathe and smug smile of her own, she took a few steps back until the heels of her shoes were quite literally right up against the edge of the aircraft, at which point she casually gave Eggman a brief bow:
"Farewell!" - and after saying that, she let herself fall over the side of the egg-mobile, much to the Doctor's shock as before his eyes the Duchess of Soleanna was rapidly descending towards the ground.
Under most circumstances, that would have certainly been her final moments. Closing her eyes and letting gravity seal her fate as she fell like that of a wingless angel.
However, that most graciously was not what transpired - for she was caught in mid-air by the increasingly familiar touch of Sonic the Hedgehog, who not only caught her with his first jump but also landed back on the ground with her in his arms both within mere seconds. Once back in his arms, Elise couldn't help but rejoice as she gently felt Sonic's cheek as yet again his confident smirk was looking right back at her:
"Sonic!" she exclaimed, with Sonic not sharing a single word back - instead just proceeding onward with running back into the forest; fully aware though that Eggman was of course overlooking all of this from the cockpit of his aircraft. It was with an irritated growl that the not-so good doctor called out:
"You won't get away that easily!" and of course, the first thing he turned to was none other than Metal Sonic as he demanded of his creation "Metal! Get Duchess Elise back here at once!"
Replying to his creator with a nod and a series of unintelligible electronic noises, Metal Sonic leaped from the aircraft and with the activation of the miniature jet engine he had for a torso blasted off in the direction of Sonic and Elise with speed mighty enough to plow through even thick canopy of the forest's tallest trees as if he were a hurricane breaching the shoreline and rampaging onto land.
Of course, Metal Sonic was not the only robot Eggman intended to deploy.
Blazing through the forest and into the heart of where it became a more tropical jungle, Sonic and Elise both couldn't help but feel absolutely invigorated as the wind blasted across their faces as though they were riding atop a speeding jet as it passed through the skies; although in Elise's case that statement was in a sense accurate save for the part about being in the sky. Regardless, at Sonic's speed it wasn't long before the two traded the scenery of the forest for that of the jungle - exchanging a landscape of greens and browns for one with an absolute explosion of colors as those two were joined by a bountiful assortment of reds, violets, yellows, oranges and even blues in the form of the various fruits, flowers and more mysterious flora that they breezed by.
Dashing down what was a hill of brown running down between seas of green of either side, it was yet again mere seconds before the two of them found themselves launched high into the air when Sonic leaped himself off a fallen tree log that was positioned just before a wide river as to serve as a ramp of sorts, allowing Sonic with Elise in his arms to find themselves corralling into the white fog just immediately beneath the canopy of leaves and branches so far above them. Without even almost dropping her, Sonic used one of his hands to grab onto a hanging green vine - swinging on it he was able to use it to gain more momentum, enough for him to land on a tree branch that was thick enough for him to both stand and grind along the green covered top parts, but also curved and elongated enough to make such an action last.
Zooming through the clouds of the moist and humid fog as Sonic rode along these curved, elongated branches - jumping from one to another at a speed mimicking the swiftest of breezes, it was easy for both him and Elise to almost forget that they were being chased the entire time; though it was not all that long until their pursuer arrived on the scene.
Pulling up right beside the two as Sonic was balancing himself along one of the branches, it was the moment he looked and noticed Metal that the latter launched his first move.
Brandishing his metallic claws, Metal Sonic lunged himself at Sonic and the duchess with intent on striking Sonic clear in the face with a single swipe, though Sonic having seen Metal Sonic was able to match his lightning quick speed with that of his own, ducking his head down to avoid the attack. When Metal Sonic promptly increased his speed in a mad dash towards him from behind, Sonic with a smirk jumped both over him and off of the branch, onto another one that had been below it - even remarking to Metal Sonic as he grinded through what was a spiraling corkscrew formation of that very branch:
"Long time no see, Metal!" he called out, "Unfortunately, kinda busy here, we'll catch up later!"
"Sonic…" Elise spoke up during this, still holding onto Sonic safely despite all this though the sound of concern heavy in her voice. Noticing this, Sonic spoke in a calmed tone so as to reassure her:
"Don't worry, Elise" he said, "I got this!"
Seeing as the branch he was on curved downward towards the dark waters of the thick swamp beneath the two of them, Sonic instead jumped right at the beginning of that downward curve and instead landed on what was a large, half submerged root of a far greater tree - just above the aforementioned swamp water. With several other massive curved roots spiraling along overhead, Sonic ran along with this middle one best and as safely he could with Elise in his arms - due to him not being able to swim he did admittedly have to be careful.
However, his carefulness had to be mindful of the fact Metal Sonic was not defeated but merely irritated.
Metal Sonic glared at the blue blur, the source of much of his anger and his prime objective to destroy. Getting the chance to once more to face down the blue annoyance was a chance that he was going to enjoy. Deciding that he had no time for games, Metal brought out some of the heavy artillery that he had in his copied arsenal. "Chaos...Spear!" Focusing upon the data he had from the numeros scenes he had seen of Shadow, Metal called upon his own Chaos Energy power, the energy crackling along his body in the form of electricity.
Then the electricity formed into multiple spear-shaped energy constructs at least nine in total, and with a motion of his hand Metal fired them off right at Sonic and Elise aiming to take out Sonic and if possible..only minorly injure the duchess that Dr. Eggman had ordered to be captured - again. The spears flew through the air, whistling as they flew right towards their intended target aiming to strike him down.
"Whoa!" Sonic gasped, seeing the attack coming right at him and Elise. Thinking quickly, Sonic performed his quick step manuvier using his speed to dash from side to side while Elise kept a tight grip on his neck holding on for dear life as she didn't want to fall or be caught by the metal duplicate of Sonic. "Hey! Now that's not playing fair Metal! Who said you could rip off Shadow? He's got enough competition, calling me a faker! We don't need another!"
If only Metal Sonic could still speak properly like he could when he was in his 'Neo' form, he could voice his irritation with Sonic with more than just various electronic noises that only vaguely sounded like a voice. No matter, he wasn't going to let words from his greatest foe distract him from his objective.
Speaking of which:
With an electronic sound that was close to a growl, Metal Sonic moved to attack once more. Increasing his speed, he flew right around and right behind Sonic, his hands pulled back metallic finger/claws gleaming as he was right on top of Sonic and Elise inching closer and closer with each passing second getting right on top of them and was ready to rip the duchess right from Sonic's arms.
Only to miss by a hair, as Sonic suddenly jumped up and flipped out of the way causing Metal to pass right by them completely. "You're too slow Metal!" Teased Sonic, as he increased his speed and took off with a small burst of speed having to manage to keep control so as to not lose his grip on Elise. "Come on! I thought you could do better than that!" He called out, throwing a smirking glance at Metal who now was right behind them.
As fast as Sonic was, Metal Sonic was capable of matching his speed - tailing him no matter how many of those long spirals of branches he ran and grinded himself along. No matter how many he jumped to, Metal Sonic was right behind him. Eventually though, Sonic's ability to evade the swampy water of the jungle floor was running out as he saw one of these enormous roots ending with nothing but a large opening of water with trees on either side. Just as Sonic and Elise both became concerned with their ability to proceed, Metal Sonic capitalized on this by charging up the laser cannon that he had in the center of his jet engine torso; making sure that all of his systems were locked right onto Sonic's back.
"Sonic, we're not going to make it!" Elise called out as she saw her and her savior approaching the very edge of the algae-covered bark, only for Sonic to ever confidently answer back to her:
"Or so it seems!"
It was then that, just as Metal Sonic fired his chest laser, Sonic yet again leaped into the air - his gloved hand grabbing onto a vine hanging from the above canopy that he managed to spot that was just within his reach. Using his velocity to swing on it while keeping Elise on one arm, he watched as Metal Sonic's laser managed to scorch only the root he had been running on - though of course Metal was more than capable of charging at the vine he was swinging on with intent to cut it from above.
Which of course, was precisely what the machine went ahead with doing.
Sonic however, retaliated gracefully - and most swiftly, by swinging from vine to vine just as fast as Metal Sonic could slice them with his claws. Though it was slightly nerve wracking as the only thing beneath himself and Elise now were merky, boggy waters - he still managed to have a smirk on his face as he knew well he was avoiding Metal Sonic by mere seconds with each vine he swung to - so long as he had Elise with him.
If Metal was able to show off facial expressions his mood would currently be enraged. Time and time again Sonic had managed to evade his attacks, and continued to mock him, something that as always enraged the metallic duplicate to no end. In his own "Mind" Metal's focus was right on Sonic and he began building up power, throughout this entire chase Metal had been building up his energy knowing that he had to do something to bring Sonic down and insure the capture of the duchess and bring her back to Eggman.
As such, he was left with no choice but to use his final trick, one that he was positive that would bring about the end of this little chase and bring down Sonic once and for all.
V. Maximum Overdrive.
As soon as he activated this ability, he curled in one himself as his eyes glowed brighter than before. His entire frame shook and crackled as he was overloading his circuitry, causing blue sparks to emit from his very body. As the sparks grew more and more, his eyes shone with power and soon the sparks from an energy field around Metal Sonic's body that exploded outward into a large orange colored energy shield, that was letting out electrical sparks the entire time as he flew even faster towards Sonic and the duchess; his speed accelerating even higher than before.
"Sonic!" Elise cried out, looking behind to see just how swiftly Metal Sonic was gaining on the two of them, "He's gaining on us!"
"Don't worry, just hang on tight, I've spotted a landing!" and having said that, Sonic made due on making it. Instead of swinging to another vine, he instead aimed his feet for what appeared to be a partially submerged temple - it's grey stone absolutely covered with green vegetation, if not heavily cracked by trees growing both from and through it. Either way, it made for the safest location to land on - far more so than the water anyway.
Though one would be a fool for thinking Metal Sonic would give up so easily. With maximum overdrive still active he chased Sonic, adamant that Sonic's little detour only gave him but a few seconds. He would follow Sonic right into those ruins, and even bring the whole thing down if he must.
Even as Sonic rushed deep into the dark tunnels and halls of the ancient temple, he could hear very well the sound of Metal Sonic's jet engine body blazing not far behind him.
And he was right, as just a few seconds later did Metal Sonic still encased in full maximum overdrive arrive on the scene right behind him - lighting up the otherwise entirely dark temple hall - exposing the decrepit floor, walls, columns and all of the various aged, withering statues that resembled solemnly cloaked monks with hoods in the shape of an eagle's head. Of course, the light these things were all being exposed under was anything but good news.
However, unknown to Sonic and Elise. Metal Sonic was doing his best to try and keep V. Maximum Overdrive going as the attack while powerful and dangerous, was also draining. Even though all of the statues and even columns he passed by crumbled to rubble and dust as he flew past them at the speed of a military jet, he knew it wouldn't be for much longer - and that if he tried to push it much further he would be out of his reserve power as well. As a result, he was looking to make this count.
His eyes gleamed, as he increased the power just enough to give him a further boost to his speed, gaining more and more ground and getting closer. He could already tell that his systems were at their limit, and he was close to overheating. But he refused to give in, he was not going to lose this time. With one last burst of power made despite the system warnings he boosted himself one time more, his shield growing larger in size while in turn releasing more and more bolts of electricity off his body as he got ever closer towards his targets - his locked firmly on the speeding hedgehog's back as he ran ahead of him with the duchess still in his arms.
Turning back to see what Metal was doing, Sonic knew immediately that he had to think as fast as he could run if he wanted to protect both Elise and himself.
Gotta think fast, gotta think fast….
Hm….think I got it!
As if a lightbulb went off in his head, Sonic figured he knew just what to do. He let Metal Sonic catch up to him - or at least almost catch up to him. He could hear Elise making noises of fear just as much he could the sound of Metal's electricity as well as jet engine, but he knew things would be alright - for the literal moment Metal Sonic was practically a centimeter away from touching him with his electric shield did Sonic make an incredibly sharp turn down the nearest corridor that he could see - so sharp that Metal Sonic didn't have the time to respond to it in time. Even Sonic himself almost slid on the ground and just barely did he prevent himself from dropping Elise; his robot doppelganger on the other hand had completely missed his chance to take the turn and his attempt to correct that made him accelerate uncontrollably into a wall instead.
Upon impact, there was an explosion accompanied by an roaring eruption of smoke, as the two could only stare at the section of the wall that had now been destroyed leaking a hole right where Metal Sonic had cracked in head first and from what could be seen there wasn't any signs of Sonic's metal double to be seen. Or rather there was a sole sign, and that was Metal's hand poking up from the pile of rubble where his body had crashed into, it was motionless and unmoving; showing that Metal wouldn't be getting up any time soon. It was abundantly clear that Metal had overworked himself and as a result was completely shut down not long after impact, his body immediately motioning to recharge his energy; meaning that Sonic and Elise were safe - for the time being, anyway.
Neither of them would really know this of course, since Sonic simply continued on his way through the ancient ruins rather than bothering to turn back.
Neither would they see or pay attention to any of the carvings along the wall, either. Such as the one on the wall Metal Sonic had crashed into - which had been a mysterious image, showing what appeared to be a bald, fully humanoid figure being struck by fire from what were seemingly muscular figures, with large shields on one arm, presumably some type of cannon on the other, spikes coming out of their backs, and vaguely falcon like heads. Though most of this wall spanning mural had been destroyed by Metal Sonic's impact, he was able to translate one of the ancient words on it just before shutting down - largely via wholly automated systems.
Radion….
With Sonic and Elise though, they were just happy not only to have shaken off Metal Sonic, but also within a few seconds more have the light at the other end of the temple in view - rapidly approaching as Sonic's feet made their way forward like that of the wind. Elise couldn't help but smile as she said to her most frequent rescuer:
"You did it!" she said, "That robot's not following us anymore; we're safe!"
"Heheh" Sonic chuckled, "Told ya!"
Once Sonic and Elise exited the temple, they were met not with more of the jungle, but instead an extremely beautiful sight; not only was it increasingly dusk by the time they got to see the sky again, with a sunset deeply in progress complete with a horizon of deep orange along the edge of a purple-black sky; but the landscape before them was absolutely stunning. Once leaving the decaying stone tiles of the temple, they were greeted with soft green grass and the view of a massive, still lake surrounded by equally healthy trees. Many of the trees, including one in particular that was sitting peacefully atop a hill, were decorated with gorgeous pink cherry blossom flowers that at times blew in the air with each soft breeze that passed. Approaching that hillside tree and putting Elise down under it's shade, Sonic couldn't help but whistle at taking all of this in:
"Whew! Now this is what I call a view!"
"Yeah, it sure is beautiful over here" Elise remarked, though quickly did she become worried of something as she stood beside Sonic taking all of the scenery in, "But it's getting dark, I should probably get back to the castle now…"
"Relax, Elise!" Sonic assured her, "Let's take a breather and relax a while we can, no need to be in a rush!"
Elise nodded her head in response to that, and just as Sonic she tried to turn her attention to the beauty surrounding the two of them rather than focusing on the more negative aspects of their situation. Having spent most of her life sheltered from the outside world and rarely ever leaving the Castle let alone Castle Town district, she could safely say she'd never before seen so much of her kingdom - let alone had this much of a thrill in her entire life. Though she could do without the constant kidnapping, she couldn't deny that her adventure with Sonic thus far has been quite the ride.
"You know Sonic" she started to say, "This entire adventure-"
"I'm afraid it is about to come to an end!" - that voice was not from Sonic, nor from Metal Sonic. Instead, interrupting them was the sound of Eggman's familiar voice, accompanied by his laughter immediately after. Both Sonic and Elise gasped as they turned to the direction of his voice - which was admittedly sounding like it was itself joined with a slightly electronic filter; which was of course because his voice was echoing from a massive robot hovering over the lake.
Sonic clenched his fists as he looked upon the behemoth that was the Egg Genesis:
Best described as a mobile, aerial battle station the size of a 'small' military ship the Egg Genesis was an orange colored machine with grey-white accents that sported a glowing circular laser cannon on its underside, and four small 'arms' that hosted spotlights that themselves doubled as additional lasers. Between these spotlights four were massive arms that extended far out from the robot's actual body - and the front sides of each were lined with missile pods concealed beneath flaps matching the robot's main body color - more than enough to dispatch an entire army with just one of its arms. In the center of it all was a circular retractable head that could hide itself in the center of its body - though when exposed had a front 'face' that was essentially a black rectangle with two green eyes, two red lights in between them.
Looking up at this foe as it hovered over center of the lake, Sonic turned to Elise and told her:
"Elise, stay there, I'll be right back!" he said, while gesturing to her to stay under the shade of the cherry blossom tree - knowing she had no power against this mammoth of a machine, she nodded in response and motioned to hide behind the tree's trunk for a form of protection.
With Elise in some form of safety, Sonic was more than ready to take on this 'toy' of the not so good doctor's.
As a massive barrage of what had to be 40 missiles roared from the machine's arms was launched all aiming for Sonic, the blue blur got right to work. Racing along the circular ground that surrounded the lake, making sure to jump over the river that fed into it, he built up more than enough speed to ensure that all forty of those missiles struck the ground rather than himself - as close they came, they each of them and their resulting explosions were just shy of striking him. Once Sonic had made a joke of its first missile barrage, he quickly thought of a way to get on top of the machine - and released he had to think of a strategy fast as the laser beam firing from it's blinking underside was charging.
How to get up to that thing….oh, I got it! Piece of cake!
Without wasting any more time thinking, Sonic ran not towards the machine but rather at the nearest tree to him. Running right up it's trunk while swiftly, perfectly avoiding any branches that got in his way he managed to reach the top of it in no time - allowing him a perfect view of the robot's head just as the laser from beneath was fired with a single shot right at the tree. Though the tree naturally bursted into the flames and collapsed due to the resulting explosion right to it's center, this was to Sonic's benefit as he used the momentum of the blast to time a jump just right so that he was flung into the air towards the machine's head.
Once Sonic's feet made their landing however, the machine immediately ducked it's head into it's body - the blur blur taking note of the fact the center of the head had a series of flashing yellow lights that just barely resembled something of a targeting reticle. As the Egg Genesis was unleashing yet another full on barrage of missiles the moment Sonic realized that, he knew exactly what was happening.
Uh-oh...I, woah, AH!
Sonic let out a gasp of surprise when the robot's head perked itself back up at such a speed that it flung Sonic in the air like a pancake from a frying pan - Elise who was watching this covered her mouth with both hands, shaking with anxiety as she watched Sonic be put into this seemingly helpless position, outside of his curled up state; entirely defenseless high in the increasingly dark sky as an army's worth of raging homing missiles blazed their way towards him.
Just as it looked like it was the end for Sonic however, did something out of the ordinary happen.
It started with the sound of great roaring from the sky, the growling of thunder. It ended with a strike of blue lightning. Right onto Sonic as she remained hurdling into the sky.
"Sonic!" Elise gasped, her eyes as wide as possible as she witnessed this occur - all she knew was that Sonic, her savior, had just been struck by a sudden, loud strike of blue lightning - with the light so bright that she had to shield her eyes from it before long, rendering her wholly unable to see what was happening. Though in all fairness, not even Sonic could see what was happening to him; he was in the thick of it.
All he knew is that as much it hurt for him to be struck by lightning, as much it stung and burned, there was also a peace about the experience - an empowering one. It felt as though while it did hurt, the feeling of pain was overshadowed swiftly by a sensation of what felt like him having extra power injected into him, as though some silent mysterious force was connecting itself to him; a force that seemed more benevolent than anything he'd felt in his life up to this point. But not only all of that, but it granted him things far greater than mere feelings. On his right ring finger he noticed a golden ring appear right on that same finger - a shining, golden ring that had had a blue circle on the top of it, a golden lightning bolt symbol in the middle. He had no idea what this ring meant, but from it he felt a tremendous power - surging across his body in the form of blue electricity.
With this power, he easily vanquished his foe.
Curling into his ball form while channeling this mysterious electric energy, he fired himself down like he was a bolt of lightning in his own right, his velocity becoming super strength as he tore clean through all of the missiles like a freight train through unfortunate vehicles. Not only that, but he charged clean through the center of the Egg Genesis as well - ramming clean through it's head and coming out it's glowing underside, with the machine exploding in a spectacular, sky covering show mere seconds later as Sonic landed practically instantly at Elise's side to watch as the roaring, flaming remains of the machine collapsed immediately into the lake with tremendous splashes, the blinding light of the explosion fading as smaller explosions took its place until all of the robot's once gargantuan pieces were submerged between the waters - which while certainly in a state of chaotic splashes and ripples, actually calmed down once more not long after the machine's destruction.
As Sonic and Elise looked over the scene, though there were now towers of smoke from the downed Egg Genesis as it slowly sunk to the bottom of the lake, the scene was still quickly returning to the tranquility they had experienced before it interrupted them - only with the addition of crackling flames in the distance. Though what they were talking about of course had changed, with Elise exclaiming to Sonic:
"Sonic!" she said, turning to him, "That was amazing, how did you do that? What was that lightning?"
"Ya know, the funny thing is, I have no idea!" Sonic answered, "That lightning seemed to give me a lot of extra speed, and I didn't think that was even possible! Also gave me this pretty sweet looking ring too!" he then showed the duchess the aforementioned ring, "Wonder how. Kinda looks like the logo that this guy I know, Barry, has on his suit!"
Elise looked at the ring, though she didn't recognize it at all - it didn't mean anything to her personally, though she still nodded and said:
"Well, whatever it is, I'm just glad you're alright, Sonic."
Smirking while giving her a thumbs up, Sonic couldn't but say:
"O'course I'm alright! It'll be a long time before one of Eggman's old hunks of bolts take me down!"
Elise and Sonic shared a few chuckles with each other, before Sonic took a look back over at the sinking remains of his downed enemy, and then at the sky that was now at the tail end of a sunset - the sounds of crickets and frogs become active around them were swiftly all becoming apparent. Sonic couldn't help but enjoy the cold, peaceful breeze of the night air and the sight of the moon replacing the sun in the sky up above before returning his gaze back to Elise:
"You know, that was a real gutsy move back there, jumping outta that egghead's shape like that!" he said in a tone of admiration coupled with a thumbs up, with Elise proudly answering:
"Well, I was desperate, and I had to get away. I owe you a lot, Sonic."
Sonic couldn't help but smile - chuckling as if for once he didn't know quite what to say in response to that. Though he didn't have to in the end, as Elise's attention shifted over to the cherry blossom tree that remained completely unharmed through the entire ordeal, still blowing some of it's beautiful bright flowers into the air as the breeze of the infant night grazed it's many branches. It put a smile on Elise's face as she held out her arms just to back in the fact this piece of beauty was unharmed.
"You know" she said, "I've never seen so many flowers before...have you visited many wonderful places before, Sonic?"
"Heh, yeah" Sonic remarked, smirking as he folded his arms up, basking in the returning tranquility of this spot himself. Though then, Elise's voice was overtaken by a clear tone of sadness as a realization dawned on her in the midst of this moment:
"Once you defeat Eggman, you'll leave, won't you?"
Sonic didn't respond vocally, though he did unfold his arms and turn to Elise - looking at her and giving her a calm, silent nod. Even though this answer wasn't what she would prefer, she didn't seem to let it bother her as she replied with a smile still on her face:
"Though I've been frightened many times, I've also enjoyed this adventure. It allowed me to be something other than a princess, or a duchess. I was able to be myself, Elise."
"It sounds like being a duchess isn't that easy."
"It isn't sometimes" Elise answered, "But I love this country. Everyone in the castle, the children, all my citizens really. The same love my late father and mother had…."
Don't cry, Elise
Become a strong duchess, who doesn't cry no matter what happens.
Her father's words echoing in her mind, she finished her small speech off simply:
"And so, I do my best to protect my country." turning to Sonic, she said to the blue hedgehog, "I understand everything my parents said to me now. Sonic, if you leave here to go on another adventure...remember this place."
Smiling as he crunched his right glove into a gentle fist, Sonic replied with but one word:
"Definitely."
It was then that an emotion of sadness overcame Elise for a moment as she looked at Sonic, turning away from him with a soft gasp and instead looking at the tree again - doing her best not to cry as the emotions began to get the better of her. Amazingly, she was indeed strong enough to not do so, though Sonic of course noticed this and in a concerned tone:
"Elise?" he asked, with her taking a breath before assuring him:
"I'm fine...sorry…"
I mustn't cry…
I can't...
Though she didn't cry, she did swiftly turn to face Sonic, getting onto her knees and giving him a surprise hug - one that he returned, patting her gently on the back. Noticing well how she was feeling, he was quick to calmly say to her:
"Elise…" he said calmly, "smile!"
Parting from her hug as she continued to look at him at his level, his calming voice was enough to get her smile - the two exchanging a few nods with each other. With everything seemingly right with the world once again, it was then that Sonic, taking one of her hands, said:
"Alright, let's get you back to the castle now!"
