Chapter 8

Flying Battery

"You know," said Sonic as he and Tails walked past several rows of boxes containing parts for Swatbots and various other machines. "This place doesn't look that big from the inside."

"That's just because we're inside one of the ship's cargo bays," said Tails, pointing to the red 23A painted on the walls. "If we can get to a computer, I can find out how long it will take Robotnik to repair the Death Egg."

"Hopefully it's been damaged enough that it won't take off for quite a while," said Sonic. Tails shook his head at the statement.

"I doubt it. The damage to the engines were minimal. More than likely, we've only got about a day to reach it before it launches again," said Tails. By now, they had reached the cargo hatch leading to the corridor on the inside. As they went through the door, they didn't see the security camera watching them enter the corridor outside the cargo bay.

"It seems we have a little bit of a rodent problem," said Metal Sonic as he watched the screen from the camera. Robotnik looked up from his chair.

"You have got to be kidding me," said Robotnik.

"I wish I was. Shall I sound the alarm?" asked Metal Sonic. Robotnik stroked his mustache, deep in thought. Slowly, a smile appeared on his face.

"No. I have a better idea," said Robotnik. Metal Sonic looked up from the screen. "I want you to find them, then lead them into the experimental weapons room. I have a new toy to try out, and they will make the perfect test animals," said Robotnik. Mecha nodded, then walked out of the control room.

Sonic and Tails had been following the corridor for over ten minutes now, looking into each room they came to. Unfortunately, every room with a computer in it had several Swatbots standing guard. But not all of the rooms could possibly be guarded, and after fifty rooms, they finally found one with no Swatbots around. Sonic peered into the room, then walked in, motioning Tails to follow. Tails went straight to the computer, and started typing in commands.

"I was right. The Death Egg sustained only slight damage to the engines. Just enough that it can't take off again until repaired, but we only have approximately twenty hours until it launches again," said Tails. Sonic shook his head. This was becoming more dangerous as time went on. If the Death Egg managed to launch again before they reached it, there would be no way to stop it. They had to get a message to Knothole and warn them about what was going on.

"Tails, is there any way we can get a message to Knothole?" asked Sonic.

"I suppose, but I'll have to contact Silver's comm unit so Robotnik can't track it," said Tails. Sonic gave him a nod, and Tails started typing more commands into the computer.

**********

"So why are you leaving again?" asked Sally.

"I can't really say…" said Shadow as he looked at the floor. "All I can tell you is that it's something personal. I wish I could tell you, but it's something I'd prefer to keep to myself." Sally sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. She then looked back at Shadow.

"Okay, I guess I shouldn't pry into your business. How long do you think you'll be gone?" asked Sally. Shadow gave a shrug.

"I'm not sure. Two days, maybe three," said Shadow.

"Well, be back as soon as you can," said Sally.

"I'll be back as soon as possible," said Shadow. With that, he walked out of her hut. Taking a running start, he activated his shoes' thrusters and started skating out of Knothole, going well over 200 mph. Sally sighed as Shadow went out of view. The black hedgehog had never been very open about himself, and there was much that they didn't know about him. But they had no idea that Shadow's past was something far more extraordinary than anyone could imagine. Sally sat down in the nearest chair, wondering what else the day would bring. Her answer came less than a minute later when Silver came running into her hut.

"Sally! Sonic and Tails just sent me a voice message from inside one of Robotnik's airships! We have a major problem!" cried Silver. Sally jumped up out of her chair.

"What!? Put it on," she said. Silver activated his comm recorder and brought up the message sent by Tails from the Flying Battery.

"Silver, please give this message to Sally as soon as you get it," said Sonic's voice. "We are sending this message from inside the Flying Battery airship from Robotnik's fleet. How we got here is a long story, so here's the short version. We found an island that floats above the surface of the planet. When we landed, we were attacked by an echidna called Knuckles. He stole six of the Chaos Emeralds, but we retrieved them."

"Robotnik and Metal Sonic are here, and I believe they have tricked Knuckles into thinking we are the bad guys. But that's not the worst news of the day. We just had a run in with Robotnik's newest weapon, called the Death Egg. Tails will take over the message here, as he knows more about this thing that I do," said Sonic's voice as he cut out. Then Tails' voice came up.

"The Death Egg is an immense battle station with enough power to destroy Mobius. We managed to by some time by causing an explosion in the engine housing, but the damage is only temporary. Within the next twenty hours, it will launch again. We'll try to stop it from launching again, but…" suddenly, Tails' voice cut out. Sally looked up at Silver.

"What happened?" she asked, worry deep set in her voice. Silver shook his head as he turned off his comm unit.

"I'm not sure. It could simply that there was some atmospheric disturbance that blocked the signal," said Silver.

"And what if it wasn't?" asked Sally.

"They were discovered and they ditched the comm station," said Silver.

"Well, at least we know what's going on. Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Sally.

"Well, they also sent the location of this Floating Island in the file. I can get to the island in about an hour before it launches, so I'm heading out there. I don't think I can do too much about the Death Egg. My robotic body is too easy to track. But maybe I can find this echidna and talk some sense into him," said Silver.

"Okay. Good luck, and be careful," said Sally. Silver gave a nod as he ran out of her hut.

**********

"Within the next twenty hours, it will launch again," said Tails into the microphone. As they finished up their message, they didn't notice the shadow walking quickly but silently across the room towards them. "We'll try to stop it from launching again, but…" Tails never finished as the titanium claws of Metal Sonic slammed into the computer, totally disabling it.

"Don't you know it's not nice to use other people's things without asking?" said Metal Sonic as he grasped Tails by the neck in his other hand, lifting him off the ground.

"Hey! Put him down!" yelled Sonic as he gave Mecha a swift kick in the side, knocking him back a few feet and causing him to lose his grip on Tails. Tails coughed a couple of times as he tried to get his breath back.

"You okay?" asked Sonic.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," said Tails. By now, Metal Sonic had recovered from Sonic's kick and was advancing towards them, his red pupils glowing brightly.

"You might be fine now, but after I'm through with you, you'll wish you had never boarded this ship," said Metal Sonic.

"Well, we'll know for sure only when you catch us," said Sonic as he grabbed Tails by the hand and dashed out of the room. Metal Sonic let out a small snicker before following them out of the room.

**********

I had just been over most of the area of Mushroom Forest, and I still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Sonic or Tails. I had thought about asking Robotnik for some help in finding them, but he had said he would be off the radio till the Death Egg was repaired, so I dismissed that idea. I had also thought about contacting Metal Sonic to see if he would help, but I didn't hold that idea for more than a few seconds.

"It would really help if I had some clue on where to look for those two," I said to myself. I sighed, then started climbing one of the giant trees that made up the forest. When I got to the top, I looked around, trying to tell just where exactly I was. About half a mile away to the northwest was the beginning to the desert that covered a good portion of the island. I shook my head. There was no way they would ever venture out there, unless they had absolutely no choice. Then again, they might have gone out there just to avoid running into me. I sighed again. I couldn't believe I was going to do this. I leapt from the tree, my dreadlocks catching the wind as I glided across the remainder of the forest and over the edge of the desert. I knew that I was making a big mistake, but then again, something in my gut told me that they either were or were eventually going to be somewhere out in the desert

**********

Sonic and Tails raced around another corridor, just missing the laser blast of a pair of Swatbots just coming out of a room behind them. Metal Sonic blasted by the Swatbots in hot pursuit, not even caring that he had knocked the Swatbots down in the process. Sonic chanced a glance behind them to see Metal Sonic keeping pace with them, but not closing. He returned his attention forward as a pair of Swatbots stepped out in front of them. Sonic curled up into a spindash and crashed into them, knocking them to the ground.

"So now what do we do?" asked Tails as they turned another corner.

"We have to find a way to lose him," said Sonic. Just then, he saw a room with a door different from the others. This one was made of energy bars instead of steel like the others. And right now, the energy bars were turned off and the switch that activated them was on the inside of the room. "And I know just how to do it." Sonic reached over and grabbed Tails' hand, then dashed into the room, slapping the door control. Metal Sonic skidded to a stop as the energy bars became active. Cursing under his breath, Metal Sonic blasted down the hall and out of sight.

"Well, that's a temporary solution, but he'll find a way in here soon," said Tails.

"He doesn't need to find another way into this room," said the voice of Robotnik. Sonic's hands curled into fists.

"And why's that Robotnik?" asked Sonic. Robotnik's laughter filled the room as a force field suddenly enveloped the two Mobians, trapping them inside a space of thirty feet by thirty feet.

"Because you fell for my trap, that's why," said Robotnik's voice as the lights in the room came to life, filling the room with their brilliance. Robotnik was standing on the other side of the room, just outside of the force field. "Welcome to your final resting place, hedgehog."

"So what are you going to do with us?" asked Tails. Robotnik laughed again as he walked over to a small control console just outside of the force field. Tails' ears suddenly perked as they heard a very faint humming sound coming from below them. Making sure Robotnik wasn't watching him, he knelt down and put his ear to the floor.

"What are you doing?" whispered Sonic. Tails stood up and looked over at Sonic.

"I can hear a faint humming sound just beneath us. I'll bet the engine room's just below this level," answered Tails. Just then, there came a loud whining sound above them as a panel opened in the ceiling, a good sized laser lens dropping down out of the panel. Sonic smiled as an idea came to mind. Now if only he could trick Robotnik into doing what he needed him to do.

"A laser? I would have expected something more," said Sonic. Just as he had hoped, Robotnik was giving him an angry glare as he typed a command into the console.

"This laser's lens is made from Mobizoid quartz crystals, and is able to produce a beam of light able to burn you to a crisp even when set on 10% of its full power. The lens started moving towards Sonic, who watched it move over his head. He then saw the lens begin to glow as it began to collect the power necessary to fire the laser. Then it fired, shooting an intensely hot beam of light down at Sonic. But Sonic was ready for it and was easily able to dodge the blast.

"Was that it? I could easily dodge that thing at double that power," teased Sonic. Robotnik grumbled under his breath as he typed two commands into the console, raising the power outage to 20% and at the same time shrinking the size of the force field five feet on all sides. The lens then tried to track Sonic again, but even with it on 20%, Sonic was still able to dodge it, but this time the beam left a small indentation in the floor. Tails didn't know what Sonic was trying to accomplish until he saw Sonic give him a wink. Tails' mouth curled into a smile when he realized what Sonic was doing.

"Come on, you have got to be kidding me," said Sonic. "I bet I can still dodge that thing at half its full power." Robotnik snarled as he typed two more commands into the console, shrinking the force field another five feet and raising the power to 50%.

"Let's see you dodge this blast, hedgehog," said Robotnik. The lens centered over Sonic once again, collecting power into the crystal. The blast it fired covered a quarter of the area inside the force field. Luckily, Tails was standing just on the edge of the field, so he wasn't in the way. Sonic, in the meantime, was standing right under the lens when it fired, and despite his super speed, the entire back half of his top quill was caught in the blast. Sonic felt like he could scream from the pain, but he restrained himself, trying not to give Robotnik the idea that he was in intense pain. Sonic looked back to see that the floor had a crater that went nearly three quarters of the way through the floor. He groaned silently at the thought of what he had to do.

"Is that all you have? That's pathetic!" cried Sonic. Robotnik yelled in frustration as he shrank the force field down to ten feet by ten feet and raised the lens' power level to its highest setting.

"Let's see you run your way out of THIS!" cried Robotnik as lens fired again, this time the blast almost totally filling up the area left in the force field. But Sonic wasn't as cocky this time around, and was totally absorbed in watching the lens prepare to fire. He stood at the edge of the force field opposite of Tails. When the lens fired, Sonic used his super speed to leap out of the way, just barely missing the beam, but unfortunately knocking himself into the force field. He cried out as electrical shocks shot throughout his body. But luckily for Sonic, the blast from the lens penetrated the steel floor and punctured the engine housing, causing a small explosion in the heart of the engine. Power throughout the ship rapidly faded as the last of the engine's power failed. The force field vanished, Robotnik running out of the room to leave Tails and a fairly stunned Sonic behind.

**********

I had only been walking about the desert for about fifteen minutes when a sound had caught my attention. Looking up, I saw the lead airship in Robotnik's fleet making its way across the desert towards the Death Egg about eight miles away. I watched it for a little bit as it passed by overhead. As it continued on its way, I returned my attention to the desert area, only to have half my life scared out of me as a huge explosion sounded from the battleship. My eyes shot back up at the mighty airship, which was now spouting fire from the back underside. I took out my radio and to tune it in on the frequency of the Flying Battery's radio equipment.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I cried into the radio. Nothing but static answered me. I quickly tuned into Metal Sonic's comm system. "Mecha! Come in! What the heck happened?!" He never answered, but I caught transmissions between Metal Sonic and Robotnik, some of which I heard Sonic's name being used. I frowned as I looked up at the dying airship, which was only about thirty seconds away from slamming into the desert floor. Sonic was the one responsible for this. A small flame of anger began to burn inside of me, one that I had never experienced before. I was really starting to hate Sonic for what he was doing, and I was determined to find him and make him pay for this incident, after I made sure that Robotnik and Metal Sonic were okay…well, at least Robotnik. The last time I had talked with Metal Sonic, I had made up my mind that the robot was more trouble than he was worth. I watched as the Flying Battery finally slammed into the desert floor, kicking up a huge dust cloud.

"Hey Doc!" I cried as I ran towards the downed airship. As I walked through the dust cloud engulfing the airship, I saw two lone figures standing near the wreckage. I immediately recognized Metal Sonic, his blue hull easily noticeable. The other was Robotnik, who was standing next to his hovercraft. "Hey! Are you two all right?" I cried to them. They both turned around.

"No, we're not fine!" shouted Metal Sonic. "That hedgehog destroyed the Flying Battery and has escaped us once again!" Robotnik motioned for him to stand down, which he did hesitantly, but his eyes still glowed bright with anger. Robotnik then turned to me.

"I am going back to the Death Egg now. You know this island better than anyone, so I'm giving you the job of finding Sonic and Tails and dealing with them once and for all," he said.

"It would be my pleasure to take care of them. I will make sure they pay for this outrage," I said, giving him my best salute. Robotnik just nodded as he climbed into his hovercraft and took off towards the Death Egg, Metal Sonic flying along right beside him. I turned my attention to the desert in front of me. If they had abandoned the Flying Battery, then they were out there somewhere. And I was going to find them.

**********

"Mecha, I want you to follow him. Make sure he finishes the job. Keep me updated until he finishes off the hedgehog," said Robotnik.

"Very well. And if the echidna proves to be disloyal?" asked Metal Sonic.

"Then you may do with him as you wish," said Robotnik.

"I was hoping you would say that," said Metal Sonic, laughing evilly to himself as he headed towards the desert below to track Knuckles.

**********

"Come on, wake up Sonic!" cried Tails. Sonic slowly sat up. His whole body felt like it was on fire.

"Oh man…what happened?" asked a groggy Sonic. Tails helped him to his feet.

"The laser shot through the floor and hit the engine dead on. You were knocked into the force field, but when the power died, it shut off. You were lucky," said Tails. Sonic steadied himself, regaining his sense of balance. He still hurt like heck all over, but at least it wasn't anything permanent. As they left the room, a loud explosion rang out from behind them. They turned around to see a blast of fire shoot through the hole in the floor.

"I think it's time we ditched this place," said Sonic as he grabbed Tails hand and raced down the corridor. He passed several rooms without windows before reaching a cargo bay. Dashing into it with Tails in tow, he ran straight to the supply hatch. "I'm going to spindash the door down, then you fly us out of here," said Sonic.

"You got it," said Tails. Sonic charged the door, curling up into a spindash and smashing into the door. It buckled under the attack. Sonic spindashed it again, this time knocking the door completely off the ship and causing himself to fall out of the ship. Tails immediately flew after him. Tails grabbed Sonic as the bottom back of Flying Battery exploded, spraying molten metal everywhere.

"Sonic, the ground's too far down! I'll get tired before we can get to a safe height to drop!" cried Tails. Sonic suddenly saw something he didn't expect up this high above the ground.

"Tails! A ring!" cried Sonic, pointing over at another spinning, glowing ring floating high above the ground. Using the last of his stamina, Tails flew over and into the ring, both of them vanishing in a flash of white light. When it died down, they were once again in the chamber of the Master Emerald, the seven Super Emeralds resting on their pillars, one of them glowing a bright green.

"Well, looks like we need to light another one of these emeralds," said Tails.

"How about we each touch an different emerald so we can get two of them this time?" suggested Sonic.

"Sounds good to me," said Tails. Both of them walked up to separate emeralds and placed their hands on their tops, both of them being enveloped in white light. All was silent in the chamber for a few minutes before they both reappeared in a second flash of light.

"Score," said Sonic, holding up the blue Chaos Emerald.

"Same here," said Tails, holding up the violet Chaos Emerald. Both emeralds flew out of their hands and into the air. They hovered above their respectable Super Emerald counterparts for a few seconds before they each shot a light in their respectable colors into them. Both supers flickered slightly for a few seconds before they burst forth a bright glow colored the same as their Chaos counterparts.

"Well, that's three down, four to go," said Tails. Sonic nodded as he placed the two Chaos Emeralds his pack. They were once again swallowed up by a blast of white light as they transported to the middle of the desert.

"Well, this is great," said Sonic sarcastically. "Well, we'd better get a move on. The Death Egg's not going to stay grounded for too long." With that, Sonic and Tails started walking towards the north, heading in the direction of the island's mountain range and the Death Egg.

END OF CHAPTER 8