Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails sighed in exasperation as the craft came
into view. The horrible laughter continued. An all too familiar voice
spoke.
"So, it's the fox boy and Knuckle-head who have the shards I want? This will be more difficult than I had hoped." Equinox was the only one who seemed slightly surprised when Eggman looked down from his infamous spherical flying machine.
"Are you gonna just give up and go away, or do we have to kick your ass right here?" Knuckles said, glancing up at Eggman. Eggman laughed again.
"You may have been able to get the best of me again and again, but this time my victory is secured. You'll just have to wait and see. At least I know you have the shards, but... Well, well, who might this be?" Eggman looked at Equinox, who took a step back. "Hahaha, Another Echidna, also with a shard? No problem. I just need to find the other two. You'll all know of my scheme soon enough. Farewell!" So without another word the machine's humming grew louder and it shot away, leaving them alone again once more.
"And once more you'll end up looking like an idiot." Sonic said, even though Eggman couldn't hear him.
"Didn't he sound a little confident about it?" Tails asked in a concerned tone.
"No worries, Tails! He always sounds confident." Sonic replied, assured that they would have no trouble in foiling Eggman once again. Equinox looked in t he direction that Eggman flew off and then turned to face Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails.
"I think we should find the other two people before he does. He could take them by complete surprise, and if they're normal humans they might not be so well prepared to defend themselves. And then he'd have three shards of the dark energy."
"Good point," Sonic declared, "Can you sense the other ones?" He looked at Tails, Knuckles, and Equinox.
"Eh, I think there's something coming from the south, but it's moving around really fast... might be something else." Knuckles said, though his expression was unsure.
"Yeah, I'm getting it too." Equinox said, confirming it, "But, judging by the strength of the signal, they're a really long ways away. It would take us a long time to get to them, and judging by the rate at which the signal is going, it might not be inside someone, it might just be the energy traveling around. I'm not picking up on the last one. It might be at either a really high or really low elevation, and- Oh hey! The one that was moving around stopped... We could probably get to it if we hurry. I think it's somewhere around 75 miles south." Sonic stepped up.
"I'm the fastest here, I could go and try to catch up with it, and you guys could follow behind at your own pace. I mean, no offense but if we go at your guys' top speed it could be long gone by the time we're half way there..."
"Sonic is right!" Said Tails, "We'll just catch up. We'd better get a move on." Everyone nodded. They all started running south. Though, within 30 seconds, Sonic was already miles ahead of them.
As soon as they were out of the forest and had a clear view of the area the three of them took off into flight, rising high above the skyscrapers and minimizing all obstacles that might slow them down. The first 15 miles were peaceful, but nothing lasts forever. Tails' ear twitched, he looked to Knuckles and Equinox.
"Do you guys hear something?" They all stopped in midair for a moment, listening intently. Equinox's eyes casually glanced over her shoulder. Hey eyes grew very wide and she gasped, suddenly whipping around and flying right at Tails and Knuckles, knocking them both far to the left as a large blast shot by where they had been just a moment ago.
For a moment Knuckles and Tails were shocked.
"Er... fight or flight?" Tails asked.
"Fight," Equinox answered, "We don't want to lead it to the dark shard."
There were 12 large robots, hovering not 100 feet away.
"I have an idea..." Equinox said, grinning slightly. She interlocked her fingers and turned to the robots. Each one was readying another blast. She whispered softly.
"Night mist..." An aura darker than the deepest night formed around her hands. She moved her wrists apart, so only her fingers were touching, and faced her palms towards the robots. The air rippled slightly as a black mist formed around the robots, leaving them unable to see or detect where anything was. Equinox turned to Knuckles and Tails.
"You guys got anything?"
"Yeah," Said Knuckles. "Let me take care of this." He glided a bit closer to the mist and held his fist in the air, saying.
"Take this!" out of spite. The air crackled with electricity and many bolts of lighting shot through the mist. A moment later the wreckage of several robots fell down to the earth.
"Let's get going," Said Tails, "Just in case you missed any." And so they took off again, going faster than before to make up for lost time. Luckily they saw no robots ahead or behind them, and none could sense that the signal had moved, so hopefully Sonic had caught it. They finally reached the point, and looking down they saw the distinct blue form of Sonic, and near him another form, definitely someone but impossible to tell who form the height they were at. They began their descent to the ground.
"So, it's the fox boy and Knuckle-head who have the shards I want? This will be more difficult than I had hoped." Equinox was the only one who seemed slightly surprised when Eggman looked down from his infamous spherical flying machine.
"Are you gonna just give up and go away, or do we have to kick your ass right here?" Knuckles said, glancing up at Eggman. Eggman laughed again.
"You may have been able to get the best of me again and again, but this time my victory is secured. You'll just have to wait and see. At least I know you have the shards, but... Well, well, who might this be?" Eggman looked at Equinox, who took a step back. "Hahaha, Another Echidna, also with a shard? No problem. I just need to find the other two. You'll all know of my scheme soon enough. Farewell!" So without another word the machine's humming grew louder and it shot away, leaving them alone again once more.
"And once more you'll end up looking like an idiot." Sonic said, even though Eggman couldn't hear him.
"Didn't he sound a little confident about it?" Tails asked in a concerned tone.
"No worries, Tails! He always sounds confident." Sonic replied, assured that they would have no trouble in foiling Eggman once again. Equinox looked in t he direction that Eggman flew off and then turned to face Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails.
"I think we should find the other two people before he does. He could take them by complete surprise, and if they're normal humans they might not be so well prepared to defend themselves. And then he'd have three shards of the dark energy."
"Good point," Sonic declared, "Can you sense the other ones?" He looked at Tails, Knuckles, and Equinox.
"Eh, I think there's something coming from the south, but it's moving around really fast... might be something else." Knuckles said, though his expression was unsure.
"Yeah, I'm getting it too." Equinox said, confirming it, "But, judging by the strength of the signal, they're a really long ways away. It would take us a long time to get to them, and judging by the rate at which the signal is going, it might not be inside someone, it might just be the energy traveling around. I'm not picking up on the last one. It might be at either a really high or really low elevation, and- Oh hey! The one that was moving around stopped... We could probably get to it if we hurry. I think it's somewhere around 75 miles south." Sonic stepped up.
"I'm the fastest here, I could go and try to catch up with it, and you guys could follow behind at your own pace. I mean, no offense but if we go at your guys' top speed it could be long gone by the time we're half way there..."
"Sonic is right!" Said Tails, "We'll just catch up. We'd better get a move on." Everyone nodded. They all started running south. Though, within 30 seconds, Sonic was already miles ahead of them.
As soon as they were out of the forest and had a clear view of the area the three of them took off into flight, rising high above the skyscrapers and minimizing all obstacles that might slow them down. The first 15 miles were peaceful, but nothing lasts forever. Tails' ear twitched, he looked to Knuckles and Equinox.
"Do you guys hear something?" They all stopped in midair for a moment, listening intently. Equinox's eyes casually glanced over her shoulder. Hey eyes grew very wide and she gasped, suddenly whipping around and flying right at Tails and Knuckles, knocking them both far to the left as a large blast shot by where they had been just a moment ago.
For a moment Knuckles and Tails were shocked.
"Er... fight or flight?" Tails asked.
"Fight," Equinox answered, "We don't want to lead it to the dark shard."
There were 12 large robots, hovering not 100 feet away.
"I have an idea..." Equinox said, grinning slightly. She interlocked her fingers and turned to the robots. Each one was readying another blast. She whispered softly.
"Night mist..." An aura darker than the deepest night formed around her hands. She moved her wrists apart, so only her fingers were touching, and faced her palms towards the robots. The air rippled slightly as a black mist formed around the robots, leaving them unable to see or detect where anything was. Equinox turned to Knuckles and Tails.
"You guys got anything?"
"Yeah," Said Knuckles. "Let me take care of this." He glided a bit closer to the mist and held his fist in the air, saying.
"Take this!" out of spite. The air crackled with electricity and many bolts of lighting shot through the mist. A moment later the wreckage of several robots fell down to the earth.
"Let's get going," Said Tails, "Just in case you missed any." And so they took off again, going faster than before to make up for lost time. Luckily they saw no robots ahead or behind them, and none could sense that the signal had moved, so hopefully Sonic had caught it. They finally reached the point, and looking down they saw the distinct blue form of Sonic, and near him another form, definitely someone but impossible to tell who form the height they were at. They began their descent to the ground.