Maverick87: Thanks :D As for Mighty...well, he will make one final appearance but that's all I'm saying ;)
Sonic-Addict: Thanks, glad you liked it :) To be honest I think it takes a lot of guts in any relationship to be the first one to say those words :P
Professor Vengeance: Thanks, I'll try :) Although there are only two more Zones, there will be three more chapters (I have a sort of ending thing written) And of course, there's always the continuation in Master of the Emeralds (S3&K adaptation) ;)
Parslie: Thanks :)
TigerOfTheSpear: Heh...yeah, Tails does seem to come out with some cute comments, doesn't he:P And thanks; I'll do my best :)
TrueVulcanRaven: (evil grin) Well, I have to be true to the game, don't I? ;)
Gameorama91: Yeah, he sure is :D As for updates...is this soon enough for you:P
Matt Lans: Yeah, poor Tails (sniff) Wing Fortress...until very recently, I'd never played that level straight through (kept dying at the retracting platform bit) Thank the Emeralds for debug codes ;) As for Super Sonic...read on :P
Shadow-spawn180: Heh, thanks :D I loved the turtles in Sonic Heroes. Split chapters...no. It's going to be Sonic all the way now (as in the game) although you will find out what happened to Tails at the very end ;)
Lewisty: Heh, thanks :D
TC Chan: Thanks :D Hmm...giving Sonic a siesta on the plane...never tried that (makes mental note) And eggs-files (laughs hysterically) Oh man, I LOVE that! XD
Paisley: Thanks :D And here; one update as requested :P
Myuu-san: (blushes) Thanks :) Super Sonic...your wait is very nearly over ;)
Wolfie: Thanks :) And yes, I shall finish it in due course...
Awdures: Thanks; I try :D
SonicRules12: (blushes more) Wow, thanks :) Sonic and Tails' conversations...believe it or not (and speaking from personal experience) that's more or less what a four/five year old is like ;) They pick one word to mean something (in Tails' case, nuh uh :P) and tend to repeat it over and over until the next word comes along. Tails' mistaking complicated words for something else actually doesn't happen nearly as much in the story as it probably would in real life; guess he's smarter than most kids his age :P Still, duly noted :)
D.C.111: Thanks :D As for the cliffhanger...well, all shall be resolved. In time ;)
Sonic stared down at the rapidly dwindling speck that was the Tornado.
Fly...c'mon kiddo, even if the plane's shot to hell, you can still fly yourself! Get out of there!
Tails didn't. Sonic could still see the tan fur of the little pilot as he fought determinedly to regain control of the plane, and failed.
Tails...Sonic continued to watch the diminishing smoke trails for a few seconds before turning away abruptly. There was no way the little fox could survive a fall like that unless he leapt clear and flew...and that was assuming Tails knew what would happen when the plane hit the ground. He'd seen Sonic walk away from a crash; in his young lexicon, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume he'd do the same thing.
Tails. Sonic peered over the edge of the platform again, although the Tornado had long since fallen from view. Oh kiddo, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I should never have brought you back into all this.
Dropping onto his knees, he buried his face in his hands, his grief and guilt so strong he could literally taste them. For the first time, he understood how someone in the throes of remorse could take their own life.
He was right, Sonic. Why didn't you leave him in Metropolis Zone? You could have flown the plane yourself, and he was happy there. You had no right to manipulate him back into the fight.
"I know." Sonic didn't realise he was speaking aloud and wouldn't have recognised his own hoarse, broken voice if he had.
The hedgehog didn't know how long he knelt there wrestling with his emotions, except it seemed slightly darker when he got to his feet than it had been before.
He started forward, then froze as he heard a low, almost inaudible chuckle come from all around.
Robotnik.
Anger and hatred coupled with a lust for revenge roared through Sonic in a black tide and he got slowly to his feet, fists clenched at his side. Past history and friendships be damned; if he had the doctor in front of him now, Sonic would quite happily have taken his head off.
He shook his head, fighting to control himself. He wouldn't become like Robotnik; if (when) he killed the doctor, he'd do it to stop him from harming any more innocents, not out of hatred. He'd do it like...like...
Like Tails. The thought came unbidden to Sonic, who nodded once. Yes. Like Tails. The little fox was (no, Sonic corrected himself brutally, had been) innocent, too young to fully understand what hate and anger really meant, even if he'd had an expert's grasp of rejection and hurt. He'd just wanted to whump Robotnik because Robotnik was a bad guy and Tails was a hero's sidekick, and so that was how it had to be.
Yeah, Sonic thought with a slight smile. And because he wanted to be popular enough to have somebody play with him.
His eyes burned and he looked over the edge again. There was a strong breeze and the smoke from the damaged Tornado was dissipating rapidly.
Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the crayon drawing Tails had done of him and the little fox back in Emerald Hill Zone and looked down at it. Tails had finally given in and added the second tail, but he'd made it a lot smaller than the other one in the hopes Sonic wouldn't notice it.
There was a faint hum and a hair fine laser beam flowed past Sonic to ignite the drawing, burning it to ash before the hedgehog fully realised what had happened.
The pure spite and malice of the act caused something to snap inside Sonic, who straightened up slowly, deliberately. He still had both the cards Tails had made in Casino Night Zone, but they hadn't meant nearly as much to him as that drawing.
Walking away, he headed for a shaft he could see leading into the fortress. He'd intended to keep his walk as slow as possible, mostly out of respect for Tails, but the matter was taken out of his hands when he stepped on a platform that fired itself at the wall, taking Sonic with it at a rapid pace before crashing into the gargantuan fin up ahead and dumping the hedgehog down the shaft to land hard on his backside.
On the other hand, Sonic thought ruefully, Tails would probably have appreciated that more.
He continued on along the corridor, one which was surprisingly bare of hi-tech machinery, before lowering himself down another shaft and finding himself on a lower strut directly underneath the Wing Fortress.
The sound of whirring fans drew his attention to the end of the passage, where two huge circular platforms were suspended, one slightly lower and further on than the other. Two propellers underneath apparently kept the platforms in the air while one giant one in the middle spun relentlessly.
Sonic swallowed. There was no grid, nothing separating those huge blades from the air, or from him.
One chance...I've got to land on the edge somehow; it's the only way I'll make it.
He stepped forward and rapidly discovered there was another only way as the gust of air generated by the fan surged underneath him, sending him soaring some fifteen feet into the air and over to the next fan, which sent him onto a metal ledge.
Looking around and catching sight of huge flaming jets underneath him, Sonic realised he was at the very bottom of the Wing Fortress.
And if I want to find Robotnik, I'm going to have to get higher up somehow; I doubt he'll be this far down.
Sonic nodded slightly. It made sense; Robotnik wasn't the kind of person to issue a challenge and then skulk in the bowels of his own fortress.
Walking steadily along the strut – it was so wide that balance wasn't a problem – the hedgehog hesitated as he caught sight of a raised knob in the floor.
Cautiously, muscles tense and ready to launch him out of danger, Sonic approached it.
He'd got to within about six feet when a chicken emerged and shot at him, or at least, that's what he thought it looked like. His muscles had fired reflexively and sent him catapulting through the air to land squarely on top of it, so that when he managed to turn around and take a good look, it resembled nothing more than a pile of scrap painted red and white.
"Well, if that's all he's got to throw at us, he's going to be bitterly disappointed," Sonic remarked, then turned. "Isn't that right, lil—"
The empty strut cut him off and Sonic looked away again.
Right. Yeah. No Tails.
Looking up, he saw another platform high above his head. He didn't know if it would bring him any closer to Robotnik, but he didn't much fancy continuing on his current level either – there was an unpleasant looking drop not very far ahead, followed by several moving platforms and the hedgehog didn't like to think of what would happen if he jumped for one of those platforms and missed.
It took him a good few tries to get up to the platform in question, and when he finally managed it (by dint of seizing the edge of the platform and hauling himself up) he was somewhat annoyed to discover that it seemed to be a dead end.
A blast of cold air hit him in the face and he reeled, one hand clamped over his mouth and nose. The stench of oil and metal – a little like Oil Ocean, only far stronger – was prevalent in the Wing Fortress, but the fans blowing it all around made it far worse.
Fans...
Edging forward, mindful of the drop beneath him, Sonic craned his head up to where the base of another fan was spinning. A slight smirk appeared on the hedgehog's face.
Well, why not?
Jumping as high as he could, hoping against hope that he hadn't just made the biggest mistake of his life, Sonic managed to catch onto the rim of the fan and clamber up. Taking a deep breath, staring at the huge blades underneath, he jumped.
It worked better than he could have hoped; the updraft from this fan sent him a full twenty feet up and Sonic seized the nearest surface and dragged himself onto it, gasping for breath. He was exceedingly athletic, but in more of a running sense than a chin-up one.
The whirring of machinery drew his attention to where another chicken bot was rapidly emerging. Rather than smash it – Sonic wanted to conserve his energy for Robotnik, and the bots weren't exactly a threat – the hedgehog turned and raced in the opposite direction, skidding to a stop as he ran out of ledge. Looking down he could see the area he'd just left and grimaced.
Great. Now what?
The answer came sooner than he expected; a high pitched squealing sounded from over his head and Sonic winced, covering his ears.
"What on Mobius—"
Looking up he saw them; two propellers that looked like they'd been dragged off the scrap pile, anchored to the Wing Fortress with a few bolts and a whole load of rust. As Sonic watched, they rotated again, getting a quarter of the way around before screeching to another juddering halt.
Man, he could do with some oil on those! The noise was already giving Sonic a headache.
He could live with that, however, since it was also giving him an idea. Like most of his ideas, the hedgehog acted on it before common sense could take control of the situation; jumping neatly onto one propeller and from there to the next, Sonic managed to leap to the platform above, realising with a slight feeling of surprise that he was nearly on the very top of the Wing Fortress.
Robotnik can't be far now. Sonic broke into a run, went up over a fin and destroyed the chicken bot on the other side without thinking about it, then stopped to look around.
Now, if I were an evil genius playing a twisted game of cat and mouse, where would I be...?
He leapt onto a higher strut in the hopes that this would help him gain a good vantage point, then caught sight of the platforms that were ascending in much the same manner as the ones back in Metropolis Zone and got a better idea. Judging his timing carefully, he hopped on one and waited patiently as it rose.
After the mantis bots in the factory, Sonic was half expecting an ambush at the top of the platform and he wasn't at all surprised to see a chicken bot waiting to shoot him as he ascended. Shaking his head – was that really all Robotnik had to throw at him? – Sonic took a short run and leapt over the plasma bullet to land squarely on the bot, destroying it.
By this point he was feeling slightly disparaging of Robotnik's efforts to dispose of him; a chicken with a mini bazooka wasn't much of a threat, not when he considered those caterpillar or mantis bots he'd taken on in Mystic Cave and Metropolis respectively. It can be the only reason why he didn't see the cannon until a plasma ball exploded practically under his feet, tossing him backwards as though he were a tennis ball.
As soon as he regained his feet, Sonic took a deep breath and shouted, "You missed!"
There was no answer – not that he'd really expected one – and the hedgehog continued back towards the cannon. It was similar to the ones he'd encountered back in Sky Base, although they'd shot four times in rapid succession, and he didn't think he'd be able to destroy it.
But, Sonic thought with grim amusement as he darted past the cannon to destroy the chicken bot on the other side, there's no reason why I can't outmanoeuvre it.
Turning around, he almost got blasted again – he hadn't been expecting the cannon to move! – and instincts took over, sending him racing away and onto the first motorised platform (which he'd mentally named spring platforms for their habit of firing him like a spring in a pinball machine) that he came across.
This particular spring platform not only fired him forwards, it dropped out from underneath him when he was barely halfway over the huge gap underneath. Sonic barely noticed this, however, since his own momentum was carrying him forward so far and so fast he was half worried about overshooting the Wing Fortress' ground level by a good couple of yards.
Reaching out, he managed to seize what looked like a crane's hook as he flew past. To Sonic's surprise, the hook descended even as he was still swinging on it, giving the effect of an insane pendulum.
It finally came to a halt a foot above what looked like a piece of metal scaffolding, and Sonic dropped onto the ground, releasing the hook and inadvertently sending it hurtling back up to where it had come from.
Well, there didn't seem to be many threats here. Just more and more metal ledges. A little exploration and speculative poking around soon located a corridor leading deeper into the Fortress and Sonic raced into it.
He was never quite sure what happened next. All he knew was that one minute he was on his feet and running, the next he was clinging for dear life to what looked like a giant tile after having been blasted through the air by something.
Even as he watched, the force of whatever was currently working on Sonic (and it was still working, he could feel it) ripped the tile off the Wing Fortress and sent the hedgehog spinning through the air to grab another one, more by luck than judgement.
This one didn't last long either, although Sonic had enough time to frantically pull himself up it a little – he'd caught sight of where he was heading and if he didn't gain some altitude soon he knew he'd never get there – before he and it both parted company with the wall.
The third batch of tiles brought him up to a safe height, and by the time Sonic had sailed through the opposite door, along the corridor and finally managed to stop on the very edge of the platform, whatever was propelling him along had stopped.
Glancing down, he saw two sets of descending platforms and hopped onto the closest one and from there to its neighbour, where he kept jumping up to the platform above in an effort to stop himself falling and to buy himself time to think.
Where now?
But he already knew the answer. He could see it for himself; platforms at least twice the size of the one he was standing on were extending from and receding into the walls at regular intervals.
Okay. So I've got to jump from one to the other...Sonic swallowed as he glanced down at the sheer drop. Misjudge the timing on these platforms and embarrassment would be the least of his problems.
He wished with all his heart that Tails was with him, and not just because he wouldn't have had to live with the guilt of getting the little fox killed; at least if Tails had been there Sonic would have had some insurance against falling to his death.
Sonic stared hard at the platforms. The timing seemed pretty regular; maybe this wasn't such an impossible feat after all. He could make out the opposite side beyond the seven extending and retracting platforms and swallowed again.
Okay. Jump from one to the other across...can't be too hard. Seven platforms. Be no harder than jumping on those propellers, right?
Yeah. Right.
Sonic took a deep breath, waited until the first platform was extended and jumped, taking off again almost immediately for the next one and from there to the next.
It was when he jumped for the fourth platform that he hit problems. Either the timing was off or – more likely – Robotnik had been watching him and had done something, but as Sonic jumped for it the fourth platform receded suddenly, leaving him scrabbling wildly in midair.
One flailing hand caught a ridge on the way down and Sonic dug his fingers in as hard as he could, fighting to hang on.
Oh man, why couldn't I be something with claws?
An idea struck him, one that was so crazy (albeit no crazier than some of the stuff he'd done) it just might work. Taking a deep breath, Sonic swung himself around, ramming his quills into the body of the Wing Fortress. There was a nasty squealing sound as gravity pulled them through the metal, then, amazingly, it stopped and the hedgehog was wedged firmly into the fortress by his quills.
Giddy exhilaration filled Sonic; he punched the air with a triumphant "Yes!" only realising his mistake when the action partially dislodged him and caused him to drop another two feet.
Gritting his teeth, the hedgehog braced both hands and his feet against the smooth sides of the Wing Fortress and started pushing himself back up, trying not to look down and failing miserably.
After several minutes, climbing got a lot harder and was accompanied by the same squeal of metal as before. Half snarling with effort, Sonic kept forcing his tired body up, kept pushing on and on until finally he caught sight of the upper ledge out the corner of his eye, noticing for the first time that the metal rungs could be used as monkey bars...if he could just get hold of them.
His first attempt cost him a pulled shoulder and six feet of altitude. His second almost dumped him back on the same platform that had receded on him in the first place. The third, however, was a success; Sonic managed to seize a rung and promptly felt his arms and shoulders scream in protest.
"Little further." Sonic gasped the words out, not knowing if he was talking to his body or himself (not that there was much difference when you thought about it logically) but needing to hear them.
Painfully, he swung forward and latched onto the next bar. There was no danger of running out of rungs; they seemed to extend for a long way over the opposite ledge. If he could just keep going that little bit further...
Another rung. Sonic remembered how he'd played on these as a kid; he'd been able to hang off them for ten minutes without feeling tired. He supposed he still could, if he hadn't just levered himself up what must have been at least twenty feet.
A third rung. The ledge seemed as far away as ever and Sonic wondered dully if Robotnik was somehow extending the rungs, keeping Sonic in the same place no matter how much the hedgehog swung forward.
Four rungs. Five. The ledge did seem to be drawing slightly closer now...six, seven...yes, he was definitely moving forward...eight, nine...one glance down at the platforms below told him that much...ten, eleven, twelve...damn, just how many more were there...thirteen, fourteen, fifteen...his entire body from the waist up was now shrieking at him...sixteen, seventeen, eighteen...and there was every indication that his legs were going to join in the party soon...nineteen, twenty, twenty one...oh dammit all to hell, he was close enough by now, surely...Sonic opened his hands and dropped.
In an ironic way, it was his exhaustion that saved him; he landed right on the very edge of the platform and if he'd still been standing, gravity might well have got the upper hand and dragged him backwards. As it was, he crashed onto the ledge, fell forward onto his face and lay there breathing rapidly, every muscle in his body feeling like water. It might have been Robotnik's, but for all that the hedgehog had never been so happy to feel solid ground under his feet. That had been close. Too close as far as he was concerned.
Moving a lot more cautiously now, he saw a spring platform up ahead followed by a large gap between this platform and the next. The idea was obvious.
Perhaps a little too obvious, Sonic thought grimly. He'd thought the same thing about those damn platforms, and look where it got him.
Well, there was no way he was going back. He couldn't go up and he really couldn't go down, so that only left one way.
Hoping against hope that he wasn't about to follow Tails to his death, Sonic closed his eyes and stepped onto the platform.
It took several trips back and forth before Sonic realised what had happened, and a good few more before he managed to jump over the spring platform that Robotnik had set up on the opposite side facing the other direction. Collapsing to the ground, legs too weak to take him, Sonic dropped his forehead onto the cold metal strut and closed his eyes.
He had no idea how long he lay there, but nothing (and no one) came to investigate and when he got to his still shaky feet he saw that the strut up ahead was deserted.
Still leaning heavily on the railing, he went on, heading for the edge of the platform. When he got there, he found something that looked very much like a pulley, angled up invitingly to the next level.
Sonic stared at it for a long time, looking for the catch; maybe the pulley would snap when he was halfway across, or maybe stepping on it would trigger an alarm...the hedgehog wouldn't have put it past Robotnik to do either of those things.
After several minutes had passed, Sonic told himself to stop being so damn cowardly and raced up the pulley to the next strut, then whirled in preparation for any threats.
Nothing. The pulley still lay there as invitingly as ever, and there was no sign of other robots or any alarm.
Sonic considered this, then shrugged. Maybe it was just an ordinary way of getting between levels; after all, he supposed Robotnik must need an alternative mode of transport now that his Egg-O-Matic was gone.
Not to mention he hasn't finished building this yet.
Sonic frowned as the thought entered his mind, then nodded slightly. He was no architect or engineer, but one of the bedtime stories Tails had insisted on being read had been a children's book of construction (Sonic didn't know about Tails but it had done a great job of sending him to sleep) and the hedgehog still remembered the pictures of half-finished buildings. They'd looked very much like this, even to the crane-like hooks. The metal pieces he'd been wandering around on before those damn receding platforms...yes, they'd just been the framework.
Of course, Sonic added mentally as he grabbed onto one of the hooks in question and got lowered to another level, that doesn't mean it's all safe.
He raced forward and jumped for another hook. This one lifted him up and the unexpectedness of the direction took the hedgehog so much by surprise that he let go before he really meant to, dropping onto a small ledge about halfway up.
Glowering at the now descending hook as though it was personally responsible, Sonic started towards the edge with the intention of catching the hook again and riding it all the way up to the top when something caught his eye and he paused, turned.
Another spring platform. Sonic considered, then shrugged. Well, it wasn't like he'd come to any harm on them before, and it seemed to be angled (the hedgehog double-checked to make sure) towards the inside of the Wing Fortress. Tense, half ready to meet Robotnik at the end, Sonic stepped onto it.
Like the last platform, this one blasted through a corridor and dropped out from underneath Sonic, who was carried forward by his own momentum to hit the deck running. He was still going strong when something up ahead sent warning bells ringing loudly in his mind and he hit the brakes, hard.
When the object failed to blow either him or itself up – that had been Sonic's first impression; that it was some kind of explosive device – he approached it cautiously. Black all over, it looked like a very small, very shallow cannon. It seemed solid from all angles, almost as though it was just there to look good.
This is Robotnik we're talking about, genius. Casino Night Zone notwithstanding, since when has he bothered with decoration?
Working on the basis that if Robotnik had made it, it couldn't be anything good, Sonic leapt on top of the object, destroying it.
In fact, he not only destroyed his target but for some reason its destruction took out a large chunk of floor beneath him, sending him down a shaft into a high, wide corridor.
Sonic started to run. He didn't know what was happening but he knew one thing; Robotnik had to be close.
The doctor turned out to be even closer than he had anticipated; Sonic rounded a corner and saw him standing in front of him, one hand on what even the hedgehog could recognise as a force field generator.
It was the first time Sonic had seen Robotnik outside his Egg-O-Matic since the doctor had landed on Westside Island. Just the sight of him standing there with that smug little smirk on his face so soon after he'd sent Tails to his death enraged Sonic.
"You bastard." He spoke the words in a low voice that somehow made the hatred there worse and more pronounced, noting Robotnik's small jerk of surprise with a savage pleasure. "What did that poor little kid ever do to you?"
"Well, since you ask, Sonic, he destroyed quite a few of my machines and bots. I believe that score for score, he may even have beaten you this time."
"Crap." The bitterness in Sonic's voice only served to broaden Robotnik's smirk. "You didn't do it because he was a threat. The only reason you killed Tails is because you wanted to upset or make me mad." He exploded into action, and Robotnik barely managed to activate the force field in time.
"Well, guess what?" Sonic said, as though nothing had happened. "You got what you wanted. You're finished, Robotnik. It ends here, and it ends now."
"Very dramatic, Sonic, and somewhat over the top, but you'll notice I'm not exactly sweating." Robotnik pretended to consider. "Still, you're right about one thing; this ends now. It's time to finish you off once and for all."
Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Do they teach you cliché statements like that in evil genius school, or do you come up with them all by yourself?"
"It's a natural talent." There was a humming sound and another force field appeared behind Sonic, cutting off the hedgehog's line of escape. "Now let's get this over with. I'm tired of seeing you show up in every single Zone I visit."
"Funny, that," Sonic shot back, not missing a beat, "I was just thinking the same thing about you."
Robotnik smiled lazily. "I'm so glad we're in agreement, Sonic. It doesn't happen very often these days, does it?" The smile broadened. "You'd best get ready, hedgehog. There's no orphaned freak to airlift you out of trouble this time. My Eggsterminator will make short work of you."
"You wanna fight, doc?" Something had started happening to Sonic as soon as Robotnik mentioned Tails. He could literally feel energy being forced into him, as though someone had hooked up every single nerve ending to an IV.
As Robotnik watched, the Chaos Emeralds were drawn out from behind his adversary's quills by an unseen force and started to circle the hedgehog's body, glowing brightly as Sonic rose off the floor.
There was a soundless implosion and Sonic's quills rose, turned up in a position that should have been physically impossible and flared a blinding white before he dropped lightly back to the ground again, looking like he was only lightly tethered to it. His entire body had turned a vivid, almost lemon colour and to his astonishment, Robotnik realised he was actually afraid.
Sonic raised his head slowly. Opening eyes that burned red, glowing like the sun, he fixed Robotnik with a ruby-hard stare.
"Let's fight," he said softly.
Robotnik pushed a button and a whirring noise came from above. Glancing up with a slight feeling of trepidation – somehow Sonic didn't think this latest development would protect him from being crushed by the ceiling – the hedgehog saw a metal object descending a foot or so before stopping. A cover slid aside in two pieces, revealing what looked like a red eye.
Sonic didn't know what made him do it. Maybe it was a side effect of the Emeralds, or the maelstrom of emotions currently whirling inside him. Whatever it was, he stepped directly underneath the eye, stared Robotnik right in the face and said unsmilingly, "Take your best shot, doc."
Robotnik obliged, pushing a button to send a laser of devastating power and heat down on the hedgehog. When the blinding light cleared, Robotnik was left staring at Sonic, who was still in exactly the same position as he had been before. Not even his gloves were singed.
"You're dead, Robotnik," Sonic said, and for the first time ever the human believed him. "You should've left Tails alone."
Robotnik gaped at him, his incredulity wholly unfeigned. "Sonic, there are literally hundreds of people dead or roboticised on Mobius right this second. I kill one orphaned cub – who, incidentally, was mounting an offensive attack on my Wing Fortress! – and you lose it with me?"
Sonic shook his head. "You wouldn't understand. Maybe you would have at one time, but that ship has sailed, doc, and I'm done swimming after it."
Robotnik smirked slightly, in control again. "Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. You wouldn't really kill me, would you? After all, we were the best of friends."
There was no flicker of hesitancy, no wavering in the hedgehog's expression as he answered, "You said it yourself, Robotnik. Were."
Something hit him on the head at this point and Sonic glanced up to see a wickedly spiked platform ricocheting off the walls. Looking back at Robotnik, he raised an eye ridge.
"Really."
Robotnik swallowed, then rallied. "Alright, so maybe my machine can't destroy you. But you don't seem able to destroy it either, and unlike you, my machine doesn't need sustenance or rest. You really believe you can keep this up forever? What's going to happen when the Chaos Emeralds run out of power, Sonic?"
Sonic smiled coolly. "Well, doc, it looks like I'm just gonna have to take you down before that happens, aren't I?"
Deliberately turning his back on Robotnik, Sonic leapt for the eye, missing it by about two feet. He could clearly jump higher in this form than in his normal one (and was this change permanent?) but not quite high enough to reach his target.
Sonic looked around, saw the spiked platform – which had now been joined by another two – saw the eye and knew what to do.
Running and jumping, he aimed to land on the platform. He also overshot it by six feet on both that and the next four attempts; he was so used to judging distances according to his normal speed that he wasn't entirely prepared for making jumps now that this speed appeared to have doubled.
Robotnik stared. He'd been expecting this machine to work against Sonic (and in all fairness to him, it probably would have without the Chaos Emeralds) but even if Sonic had managed to beat it he'd be so exhausted – and possibly injured to boot – that Robotnik could finish him off easily.
Now though...if Sonic had been fast before, now he was virtually untouchable. He'd managed to get a handle on his speed at last and was leaping from platform to eye so fast – with no regard for the deadly laser that erupted at regular intervals – that the whole place seemed to be filled with yellow light.
A series of explosions announced the end of the Eggsterminator and Robotnik backed away rapidly, only realising his mistake when he accidentally walked into the force field controls and inadvertently put his hand on the button to deactivate the barrier between himself and Sonic.
"Thanks doc," Sonic said, smiling at him insincerely.
For a long moment the two enemies just stared at each other; one nervous, the other coolly mocking and Robotnik wondered for the first time just when their roles had been switched.
Then he bolted and Sonic chased after him, running just fast enough to maintain a safe distance between them.
"I'm not gonna kill you, doc," he said coolly.
Robotnik glanced over his shoulder at Sonic and slowed. "You're not?"
At least, that's what Sonic thought he said. The doctor was gasping so hard for breath he was almost unintelligible.
"No, I'm not." A hard smile appeared on the hedgehog's face. "I'm just gonna drive you off the edge of your Wing Fortress and let the ground take care of the job for me. Of course, if you don't start running again right now, I may decide to give you a helpful nudge in the right direction. Then again, if you run much more, you'll probably going to wind up having a heart attack." He shrugged. "Your choice, Robotnik. How do you want to die?"
Robotnik's hand edged towards a red button. If he could only keep that blasted hedgehog's attention diverted long enough...
"Why didn't you do this before?" he demanded. Apart from the need to keep Sonic occupied, he was genuinely curious.
Sonic shrugged. "I didn't have all the Chaos Emeralds before; Tails always kept a couple. I guess it happened when they all came together. Now start running, and whatever you're thinking of doing with that big red button, it's not gonna work."
Busted. Robotnik's hand hovered over the button for a heartbeat, then he said, "Well, Sonic, I'm sure you won't mind if I give it the old college try, as we say back on my world."
He punched it hard and a section of the floor slid back to make room for a huge cannon, similar to the ones he'd used back on his Sky Base.
The cannon fired at point-blank range, the shell hitting Sonic and ricocheting off him with such force it took out not only the cannon that had fired it but most of the central strut as well.
There was the groaning screech of tortured metal as the supporting struts tried and failed to hold the weight and half the Wing Fortress fell away.
Sonic smiled coolly, a smile that hid the frantic hammering of his heart.
"Or there's always option number three, doc. This thing plummets to the ground, explodes and kills you. I'm not entirely sure if this new look—" he glanced down at his hide— "will enable me to fly, but it's worth a shot. Don't you think so?"
Amazingly, Robotnik smiled back. "Undoubtedly. But I believe you have overlooked option four, Sonic." He shook his head with remarkable composure for a man who was plunging to his doom in his own wrecked fortress. "Did you think I hadn't planned for this contingency?"
"Did you think I hadn't planned on you planning for this contingency?" Sonic countered, his smile now mocking.
"Well, yes, Sonic, because that sounds rather paranoid. As it happens, I had a backup plan. I have a way off this fortress. You, on the other hand, are left to rely on a power source that may well exhaust itself before too long."
Sonic folded his arms, foot tapping impatiently. "I thought a captain was supposed to go down with his ship."
"A captain, perhaps. But nobody's ever said anything about an evil genius." Robotnik's smile broadened. "This isn't over yet, Sonic."
"No, it is." Sonic started forward just as Robotnik turned and ran for a small, nondescript door and hurled himself through it. The hedgehog raced after him, only to have the Wing Fortress suddenly tip up, sending him sprawling along the floor, down another shaft and very nearly off the edge. Even as Sonic watched, the Fortress started to break up around him with an ominous rumbling.
The hedgehog frowned. Wait a minute...that's an engine!
As if in response, an aircraft with grey body and red bands on the wings slid past. Sonic could see Robotnik in the cockpit – whether the doctor saw him or not was debatable – body seemingly thrown forward as though he could force the aircraft to go faster with his own weight.
The hedgehog narrowed his eyes.
No, doc. I'm not letting you go this time.
He raced to the edge of the Fortress and leapt into open air, catching hold of and clinging onto the aircraft grimly. The Emeralds' power was still coursing through him. He only hoped it would keep him alive long enough for Robotnik to reach wherever he was going.
Sonic glanced down at the planet's surface. They were now so high up he could see the Mobian curvature and he paled. Heights had never bothered him, but this was something else.
Is he going into space? The thought was staggering to Sonic – Mobians had never really wanted to develop space travel, being perfectly happy and content on their own world – but perhaps it wasn't so far-fetched. Maybe Robotnik was leaving Mobius to go back to his native planet. If that was the case, then Sonic could leave, surely?
He shook his head, furious at himself. No, he couldn't quit; not until he knew for sure that Robotnik was no longer a threat to his world.
But were the Emeralds powerful enough to protect him from space? Sonic didn't know, and he didn't want to find out the hard way either.
Hauling himself forward (and trying to keep out of Robotnik's sight) the hedgehog searched until he located a hatch that he managed to open wide enough to squeeze inside. The hatch slammed back into place with a loud clang that set Sonic's pulse racing.
Did he hear that? He must have heard that!
Moving as silently as he could, Sonic padded through the plane, searching desperately for somewhere to hide. The thought occurred to him that he could probably deal with Robotnik right here and right now, but he dismissed it. Better to wait until there was less chance of plummeting to his death. Sonic wasn't a coward, but he was no kamikaze hero either.
An air vent caught his eye and he hesitated. That was so cliché; surely Robotnik had installed security measures?
Well, there was only one way to find out. Sonic pulled off the cover, turned around and somehow managed to climb up backwards in order to replace the cover. Wriggling, not daring to turn around in case he accidentally knocked the cover off again, Sonic pushed himself through the narrow space until he was reasonably far back. It was cramped, it was uncomfortable but he hoped it was also reasonably safe and so he settled in for the duration, staring grimly into the slats of light, waiting for the journey to end.
Okay...again a little creative licence on my part but it sort of ties in better with the ending :) On to the final Zone!