Chapter 13

Heroes in the Base

Sonic and the others reached the outskirts of the base where they took a break.

"Inside that pyramid?" Sonic asked as he tried to look through the haze.

"I saw Eggman go inside there. More importantly, I saw that bat-girl go inside with him as well." Knuckles explained before looking at Amy and Tails. "You saw them too, right?"

"Well, yeah." Amy nodded.

"There's not much time left before Eggman fires that weapon again. I may not know what this space colony is all about, but we'll get to that colony and kick their imperial butts!" Sonic announced before they made their way into the base.

First off, Tails had to find the entrance. This was difficult but he managed to get through the robots that were guarding it. Secondly, Sonic had to find the area where the shuttle was. He had a small problem with the ghosts that chased after him but he escaped them and got to a huge door that blocked him off. Luckily they knew where to go from here.

"It looks like we're making our way towards the center of the base." Tails observed.

"Eggman must really like mechanical things, doesn't he?" Sonic smirked receiving a nod from Tails. "He must have a few shuttles behind that door somewhere." Tails got to the door and shoved it.

"Great…this door is locked. We need three keys to get in there!" He groaned.

"No problem! We'll find it, right Knux?" Sonic asked. Knuckles looked at Sonic with a dismayed look.

"What? Why do I have to find the keys?!" He protested.

"We're counting on you buddy! You are the world's greatest treasure hunter!" Sonic smirked. Knuckles muttered before walking towards a hint box that showed the echidna a clue before he went in a direction.

:---:

Shadow grinded through a few areas in the base that lead towards the control room where Eggman was hiding out. Eggman turned in time to see Shadow walk through the door.

"Right on time Shadow…" Eggman muttered. "Not a minute too soon."

"They're in the base right?" Shadow asked as he looked at the screen as Knuckles pulled out a key from a treasure chest.

"Not to worry, even if they find all three of the keys, I'll have two 'friends' waiting for them."

"You mean that giant ghost you trapped earlier, not to mention what you constructed from those ruins."

"I suppose we should at least damage their courage so they won't go any further." Eggman sneered.

"Let's wait until they get to the door. Then you can have your fun." Shadow muttered just as Knuckles pulled out the last key. Eggman grinned and pressed a button that freed the king of ghosts into the Death Chamber where the echidna was.

:---:

Knuckles made his way towards the door. A sudden deep laughter caught his attention, causing the guardian to turn suddenly.

"Huh?! Who's there?" He yelled in time to see a giant ghost floating in front of him. A smaller ghost was behind King Boom Boo (or KBB for short) as it struggled under the weight of a huge hourglass. Knuckles almost stumbled backwards. "Oh great, first the moon gets blown in half, now a ghost!" He muttered before running as the ghost gave chase. A few times, Knuckles snuck up behind the smaller ghost and scared it off before causing it to drop the hourglass. Huge shutters in the ceiling opened up letting in sunlight causing the ghost to hide in the ground before Knuckles dug it out and aimed punches at it. This continued until KBB couldn't take much more of the punches and sunlight and vanished in a puff of smoke.

Knuckles continued gasping. It was both out of slight fear and exhaustion. This continued before Sonic and the others showed up.

"Are you alright Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

"I'm okay. That ghost took a lot out of me." The echidna responded before standing up, handing the three keys to Tails, and dusting off some dirt that got stuck to his fur.

:---:

Eggman fumed and started throwing a fit as Shadow watched the screen.

"Why the heck did you install those shutters in the ceiling?" The ebony hedgehog asked with some confusion in his voice.

"They were already there when I started creating my base in the pyramid!" Eggman responded before continuing his ranting. "I'll go and make sure the Egg Golem doesn't fail in squashing them!" He left the room and got into the Egg-Walker before leaving.

Shadow turned his attention to the screen as he watched Sonic and the others.

"You are becoming quite the pain in the neck, faker…" He muttered.

:---:

The door to the shuttle bay opened just as Knuckles finished wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"That was pretty rough." He muttered.

"We did it!" Tails turned to Amy and Sonic. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Amy cheered.

"You miserable thieves!" The four heroes turned to see Eggman in a separate chamber. "Did you really think you could get out of here alive?"

"Come and get some Eggman!" Sonic taunted. "Just leave this to me guys!" He smirked and got poised.

"This time I'll take your lives, as well as the Chaos Emerald!" Eggman sneered. "I order you to destroy these pests! Come out my servant!" A giant arm came out of the quicksand and slammed on the ground next to the group.

"WHOA!!!" Sonic almost lost his footing but watched as the Egg Golem pulled itself up until it was almost at the ceiling.

"Now go and squash that blue hedgehog, Sonic!" Eggman ordered and the Egg Golem lashed out with its huge fist. Sonic jumped right before the fist could hit the ground where he was standing earlier and ran up the golem's arm before striking the restraining mechanism at its head. The Egg Golem lost its balance and crashed before it started shaking its head around in a crazed sort of way. "When Sonic struck its head, it must've loosened the restraining mechanism. AARGH! WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK!"

The Golem turned towards Eggman before aiming its huge hand towards him.

"Okay, let's go before he finishes Eggman!" Tails shouted before the group ran into the shuttle.

Eggman continued firing at the golem's hull while avoiding its swings and punches. Eventually he broke through the hull and severely demolished the inner power core before the Egg Golem shuddered and sunk into the quicksand.

"That was too close…" He grumbled.

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Eggman: Shadow, where were you in all this?

Shadow: Laughing at you. Taking on your own giant robot…really!

Shadow, it isn't nice to make fun of villains.

Shadow: How about him?

We can laugh at him though.

(Both laugh in hysterics.)

Eggman: …read and review…before I kill these two.

Both: (Abruptly silence themselves) O.O;

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