Author's note: This is silly. I make a chapter to "The Tale of Blaze" and nobody pays attention, but I make a chapter to this story and get three reviews before my computer has time to cool down. Is there a conspiracy going on here? Nevertheless, next chapter.
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Chapter 30: Fifteen Minutes of Haste
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The eight of us flooded through the air vent. I forget the exact order, but Kitty and Lightning didn't have anyone between them, and Sonic was right in front of me, with Tails right behind. Skyler was the last one through, and Nack wasn't the first.
Nack was right in front of W.T., and Kitty was right behind the two of them. But that information doesn't concern you. What matters is that when we emerged from the vent, we all landed in a heap in the Death Egg III's control room.
Tails approached the control panel. "Let's see if I can't disable the self-destruct sequence."
We all watched as Tails pushed this and pulled that as fast as he could. He found himself changing the temperature of the rooms, altering the lighting, and even playing playing rock music through the P.A. system, but he couldn't disable the sequence.
Self-destruct will commence in ten minutes.
"This is no time to fool around!" Nack yelped. "I need- er- WE need to get out of here!"
Sonic kicked down the door that led out of the room, and it clattered to the ground. Beyond, we could see a large storage pit. Several large crates were stacked in and around the bottom of the pit.
A catwalk spanned the room from our position to the door on the far side. Or at least, it used to. For some reason or another, the thing had collapsed. As we looked, W.T. noticed a layer of water over the floor. A nearby water pipe had sprung a leak.
"Leo," Skyler asked, "can you and Tails carry us across?"
"Not all six of you," I explained. "That's too much weight. Is there another way?"
"Oh yes there is," Kitty interrupted. "Just watch me!"
Kitty jumped up and met the water pipe I mentioned a few lines up. With a strong claw swipe, she dislodged the pipe altogether, then scrambled back up to meet the rest of us as water gushed out twelve times as much as before.
The water quickly rose, taking a few large crates with it, until it was level with the entryway. "I guess we'd better use the crates as rafts," Tails decided.
Kitty and Lightning jumped on top of one crate (ever since the fiasco at Alyer Base, I swear those two were always together) while W.T. jumped into the water and started pushing it to the other side.
Sonic, Tails and Skyler rested on another crate. Tails' twin tails made a perfect motorboat engine to glide across the water. Nack was a little hesitant to join me on a third crate, but every minute counted, so he let my wings take care of the thrust.
BANG! Kitty's crate collided with Sonic's crate halfway across, and W.T. lost his grip on the former. Tails almost tumbled into the water, but Skyler made a cloud for him to land on, and everyone was able to continue the trek before my crate joined the jam.
When we all reached the other side, we disembarked and continued. Self-destruct will commence in seven minutes, we were reminded. By now, that thing had begun to get annoying.
The path ended at a shut door, controlled by a nearby control panel. There was no keyboard or anything, just an OPEN/CLOSE button. Sonic pushed the button, but nothing happened.
Confused, Sonic tried again, but nothing again. Finally, Skyler glanced over his shoulder and spotted the problem. Two wires connected the control panel to the door… and one of them was broken.
Lightning's turn to shine came now. He stood in front of the broken wire and put his hands on either side of it, so there was a few inches between them. As he focused his energy, a ball of electricity formed, closing the contacts.
"Now!" Lightning yelled, and Sonic pressed the OPEN button. The door flew open, and we crowded out as the loudspeaker system broadcasted a five-minute warning.
Beyond the door, we found that we'd entered the halls of the Death Egg III. I recognized this part of the area, since I'd been here during my trip to the mechanics lab. As I pointed out, the path back to the hangar was THAT way.
"And then we take this turn up ahead," I called as I led everyone back to the hangar. "Everyone still behind me? Now we go through this doorway…"
Nack kicked down the door that led to the hangar when we got there, and we burst in. I pointed out the multi-seater I'd seen just as the two-minute warning sounded. Time was short; we had to escape as quickly as possible.
Tails took the controls, while I rode shotgun. Sonic, W.T. and Nack sat behind the two of us, and Kitty, Lightning and Skyler sat behind them. Of course, you probably don't care about who sat in what seat, so I won't bother elaborating.
"Let's see," Tails said aloud. "I think I can get us out of here. I just need to press this button… then this one… this one comes next…"
Self-destruct will commence in thirty seconds.
"Hurry up, Tails," Nack yelped, "or I'll- I mean- we'll never get out of here!"
"I'm working on it! I'm working on it!" Tails shot back.
Tails pushed one final button, and the craft blasted off and shot out of the hangar just as the self-destruct timer hit zero.
KABOOM! The Death Egg III exploded in a brilliant light. We all knew Dr. Eggman had escaped, but this was no time to worry about that. What mattered was that Dr. Eggman's plans were foiled, and that Sonic and everyone else was safe.
"Death Egg III explodes, party of eight escapes in nick of time. That'll be a great news story for my evening show!"
"Kitty, we barely escaped getting blown to atoms. How can you think about something like that now?"
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(whew) Thirtieth chapter. Only a few more chapters left.
Quote of the Chapter:
"17.4 seconds," said Kelly, stopping her stopwatch. "That's longer than usual. She must have a complex plan."
-The Fann Girls 2, Ch. 3