Author's note: I think my chapters are coming more quickly now. Well, here's the next chapter. And it's too late to do end-of-chapter reviews for this story now. I'll do it in the sequel, though. Oh, but Nail Strafer's review was particularly long and in depth, so I'll review it by which chapter he commented on.
23rd chapter: Actually, Tails DID get the fire property. How do you think those documents got set on fire during the fight?
24th chapter: You must've missed it. Leo told Tails about his pursuits in the mine back in the chapter where Leo got the Bolt Feathers. I guess you missed it because you were skimming for mentions of the sensors themselves.
25th chapter: I never said that A. Leo hadn't hit Tails on the head to subdue him before Leo had entered. I must admit, though, having Tails remember everything just by looking at the title of a book and remembering something Leo said is a little … what's the word I'm looking for?
26th chapter: I believe Tails deactivated him … unless I accidentally left that part out.
27th chapter: Well, don't you think the doc would want to examine that feather himself? How else would he know that it was one of Leo's? Of course, there really isn't anyone else in the story who has any feathers to drop… man, I hate it when this happens.
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Chapter 28: VS Egg Dragon
It's at this point that I'd like to elaborate on my description of the Egg Dragon. It was built like a giant metallic dragon, with head and arms and tail and even metallic dragon wings fitted with jet engines. The cockpit resided in the Egg Dragon's forehead.
Also, the Dragon was completely waterproof, as was the room the two of us were in. I gasped as I glanced at the Dragon's belly, because it was equipped with seven polygonal slots, and locked inside them were none other than the seven Chaos Emeralds.
"All right, let's dance," Dr. Eggman retorted as the Egg Dragon began to rise. "What kind of dance did you have in mind?"
I removed a Bolt Feather from my arm. "Well, I know a little ditty that goes like this!" Without warning, I put the feather to my wing and shot it directly at one of the Egg Dragon's joints.
The feather almost made it to its target, but it didn't. Just when it was about to connect, it was repelled by something, lost its momentum, and fluttered to the ground. I retrieved the feather and examined it; it was not damaged.
A short silence overtook me as I thought about what had happened. How did-? Okay, that won't work. What else can I try? The Egg Dragon has to have a weak point …
Getting up, I took a running start and leaped into the air, aiming a diving kick directly at the Egg Dragon's shin. I expected to hit metal, but I was suddenly thrown into the air by apparently nothing and sent tumbling to the ground.
Dr. Eggman laughed out loud. "I can't believe you! I told you that you can't damage the Egg Dragon, and you have to try before you can be sure! The Egg Dragon is protected by an invisible force field that repels everything you can throw at me!"
Now it was the Egg Dragon's turn to attack. It bent down and breathed a blast of fire at me. Leaping out of the way, I counter-attacked with an Ice Feather, which almost extinguished its flame but was repelled by the same invisible force field.
Two target-seeking missiles launched from the tip of the Egg Dragon's tail. I flew down under the Egg Dragon, expecting the missiles to hit the Egg Dragon in the head. They did, but like my attacks, they did absolutely no damage to the thing.
Dr. Egghead was right, I thought as I dodged another blast of fire. Nothing I've tried does any damage at all, and it's all thanks to that stupid force field. I had better change my strategy, or I'll get wasted.
The jets on the Egg Dragon's wings started, and it rose twenty feet above me. I maneuvered under it and cut up to its side, attempting to land on its back. It would've been more successful if that stupid force field hadn't thrown me off.
CLANG! I was thrown directly into the left wing of the Egg Dragon. I remained stuck on it until I managed to dislodge myself. You can imagine how frustrated I was to be thrown away like a piece of dust.
I hovered above the Egg Dragon, dodging missiles, fiery breath and even a few laser blasts from its eyes, while I thought about how I could do damage to the monster. The force field surrounded the Egg Dragon completely, except for the wings. The wings!
Landing on the right wing of the Egg Dragon, I examined it for a place where it was vulnerable. My search led me to the jet engines that kept the Egg Dragon in the air, but even they were invulnerable to any of my moves.
Taking a moment to think about what I could do, I forgot about the Egg Dragon's attacks for a moment. That moment was sufficient time for the Dragon's tail to launch a missile at me. I did a backflip, and the missile merely hit the Dragon's wing.
The blow to the Dragon's wing, luckily, destroyed the engine on that wing. Realizing that I'd discovered a weakness to the Egg Dragon, Dr. Eggman was furious. The other wing went the same way, and the Egg Dragon was grounded quickly.
Being grounded, unfortunately, didn't put the Egg Dragon out of commission. What's worse, now there were no parts of the Dragon that were outside the force field that protected it, so it was practically invincible.
Dr. Eggman pulled a lever, and the Dragon swiped at me with its powerful claws. It took lightning-quick reflexes to dodge the swipe, but I made it, though not without crashing into a toolbox resting on a bench.
As the Egg Dragon charged up, I grabbed a wrench from the toolbox and tried to shield myself. Two fierce-looking lasers shot from the Egg Dragon's eyes, reflected off the wrench, and struck a chair. Curiously, the chair was unharmed.
I took out the Tails phone. "Tails! Help! Mayday! S.O.S.! I'm in the Death Egg III's mechanics lab. Dr. Eggman is using this huge contraption called the Egg Dragon, and it's practically invincible! I'm really getting beat up here! S.O.S.! S.O.S.! S.O.-"
The Egg Dragon swiped its claws at me again. I jumped up, dropping the wrench and the Tails phone, and hovered out of the claws' reach, not noticing that the Dragon was charging up its laser attack again … until it was too late.
ZAP! I noticed the lasers just in time to get hit by them. I was electrified for a moment, and finally the lasers stopped, and I fell like a stone, crashing into a pile of tools.
By now I was furious. "That was a cheap shot, Dr. Egghead! Now it's time for payback!" I jumped out of the pile of tools and attempted to fly up to the Dragon, but nothing happened, and I crashed to the floor again.
"What the-?" I attempted to shoot a feather at the Dragon's mouth, but my hand caught a sleeve instead. The room's walls were reflective, revealing my plight to me: I was back in my human body, with my biking gear and everything.
I turned and glanced at the doctor. "Dr. Eggman! What did you do?"
Dr. Eggman cackled. "Isn't it obvious? I removed that super-powered bird body from you, storing it in the Chaos Emeralds that power the Dragon. Without it, you're powerless! Now prepare to lose your life for good!"
It was nothing I liked to admit, but Dr. Eggman wasn't joking. It was difficult, but I did my best to dodge whatever he threw at me. He had stopped using the beams, but the claws and fiery breath were still devastating.
As I dodged everything, the Dragon managed to get the sleeve of my shirt just below the right shoulder. "Great," I muttered to myself as I looked at the large rip. "That'll take forever to explain to the tailor."
Eventually, I was so worn out that I literally collapsed. The Dragon stood over me. It reared back to use its fiery breath, but just when it looked like I was done for…
"Hold it right there, Doctor!"
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Well, a little suspense, eh?
Quote of the Chapter:
"Everything was calm and peaceful, but it didn't stay that way for long."
-Narrator, A Ghost of a Chance, Ch. 1