Many Hover Units continued their patrol around the inner bowels of Scrap Brain, choking out the skies with all its smoke and fog. Sonic and Sally continued following after T-Pup down the halls. While running onward, the duo found this place filled to the brim with traps. It showed things like buzzsaws, flamethrowers, and conveyor belts with devices made for crushing materials to scrap. They both didn't wince as Sonic and Sally became too focused on defeating Robotnik and rescuing Tails to care.
"Remember, Sonic. All we need to do is sabotage Scrap Brain in any way possible. We'll get in, get out, and try not to get caught once we disable any power sources. If Robotnik has any Chaos Emeralds, we can't let him keep his hands on them." Sally explained, running alongside him.
"We also need to make sure Tails is okay, too!" Sonic reminded her.
Sonic and Sally panted a bit as the canine robot was yipping to locate where his master stays confined around here.
"It's this place, right, Sal?" Sonic stood in front of a control panel not too far away.
"That's it," Sally confirmed, verifying on Nicole to make sure. "Section 2, module 14."
The speedy hedgehog lifted the panel to reveal the entrance to the air ducts.
"Let's do it to it!" Sonic and Sally stated in unison, doing the secret handshake together.
Sonic had recently made it up, and it helped him feel more like he was part of the team. They squirmed inside the ventilation shaft full of many wires and panels, closing the door behind them. Sonic slowly crawled forward, with Sally and T-Pup trailing along.
"Sheesh, it feels like the walls are closing in on me," Sonic complained as they were a bit small.
"Wait a minute, Sonic," Sally held up a hand, stopping him and T-Pup from moving further. The princess opened the small hatch underneath her as T-Pup whined from his spot.
"Maximum ferrite field, 35.7 percent Chaos Energy factor," Snively was reading from his clipboard, checking over papers for the weaponized piston room called the Egg-Pistons. "Let's just hope the Hover Units track down that brat with the Chaos Emerald soon enough."
"I hope so, Snively." Dr. Robotnik glared at him on the large computer screen, making Snively choke back his fear. "For your sake."
Sonic takes a look at the wires around him. "Which one controls the gizmo they're using?"
"First, we shut down the alarm," Sally held out a few wires to disconnect the siren by pulling a cable apart. "That should do it."
"Should?" Sonic asked, a bit concerned over that word.
"Well, there could be a backup," Sally informed him, narrowing her eyes. "After all, things aren't too implausible given that it's Robotnik."
"Touche," Sonic agreed with her. "But no prob, we can handle it."
"The difficult part will be getting into that piston machine's software so that we can deactivate it and grab the Chaos Emeralds," The archer princess pointed out.
"Come on, Sal. With my looks and your brains, we are unstoppable," Sonic smiled up at her.
"You're...partly right."
"Which part?" He asked defensively, putting his hands on his hips.
"Guess."
"Huh, does the incredible good looks part sound right to you?" Sonic asked her, smirking.
"You're dreaming again."
Sonic then notices his reflection from the ventilation shaft's wall, moving back his quills with his hand and cockily rubbing his chin. Then checks the rest of his face, with Sally growing impatient. "That is not a dream cause all I see is one hedgehog hunk."
"Sonic, will you get serious?!" Sally slapped the blue hedgehog's arm in annoyance.
"Yo, I am serious! Well, sorta...!" He sat back, a bit shocked and appalled, before looking away in embarrassment. "Okay, sorry."
Soon, Sally plugs Nicole into a control panel on the roof above her, flipping a switch. Unfortunately, it also sets off an alarm in Scrap Brain's control center, and Dr. Robotnik activates the screen on his chair to contact his nephew.
"Snively! Something is placing the Egg-Pistons into sabotage mode!"
"I'll check it, sir," Snively presses a button on the control panel, initiating a laser scanner that marks the area.
It stopped right in the vents, revealing the silhouette of Sonic and Sally, as well as the canine robot. The short human looked at the screen and recognized them immediately, with alarms going off.
"The hedgehog! Swat-Bots! Sector 6, third corridor." Snively gritted his teeth in communication.
A group of Swat-Bots proceeded towards the location, and Snively jolted back to see Sonic dropping in front of him. "Excuse me, Snidely, is this where we can pick up a certain fox and catch the monorail for Knothole?"
"Go ahead and joke, hedgehog, but this time we've got you!" Snively declared angrily.
"What you've got is a big fat zippo! Now tell me where Tails is right now!" Sonic argued back.
"Guess again, rodent! That two-tailed twerp wasn't supposed to be here in the first place anyway. We haven't had a lot of success over the past few days because of his snooping bias." Snively retreats away to the control panel. "Besides, what I have is your worthless hide."
The short human pressed a button to emit smoke into the vents, causing Sally to gasp and start coughing. Sonic gasped, and before he could leap up, a couple of Swat-Bots suddenly barged in and knocked him away, much to Snively's surprise that the trap worked.
"The fire extinguishers!" Sally realized as T-Pup helped her crawl back the way out.
"Attention! Sonic has entered Scrap Brain. I repeat, Sonic has entered Scrap Brain! Your top priority is now to destroy him!" The doctor's voice trumpeted.
"What? You can't take a joke?" Sonic got back up, sneering at Snively over his shoulder. "So what if you punked me fair and square. It doesn't mean you've won. All you did is give me a bunch of challenges."
"Hehehe! I'm so glad you approve, boy! But you haven't won either!" Dr. Robotnik snickered evilly on the monitor.
"Well, I'm no contractor, but this place doesn't look up to code, doc!" Sonic crossed his arms, tapping his foot rapidly.
"Agreed! Just look at the rodent infestation you've brought me here!" Dr. Robotnik kept his eye on the open panel in the roof where Sally and T-Pup were striving to escape. "I'll grant you that my mining efforts have gotten put back quite a bit...!"
"And because of you, we've lost hundreds of our Badnik Horde! We're both bruised from all the times you beat us up! And-!" Snively ranted, almost adding another point but kept his mouth shut upon seeing his uncle's glare on-screen.
"Thank you, Julian. That's enough."
"Ha!" Sonic grinned, setting his sight on a Swat-Bot behind him. "You guys are hilarious!"
Before the doctor could say anything more, Sonic's feet quickly revved around to spin and smash through a Swat-Bot's torso. Another Swat-Bot ran straight at him, hitting his waist, causing the blue hedgehog to skid back and recover his footing. Granting himself an idea, Sonic rushed into a racing position and spun all around the remaining Swat-Bots, creating a powerful whirlwind that blew almost all the hair off of Snively's head. As for the rest of the Swat-Bots, they had already received several spin attacks that left them into chunks of pieces.
Now practically bald, with only a couple of threads left, Snively shrieked as he cupped his lost hair. "MY HAIR! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? You will pay for this, hedgehog!"
"Nice haircut, Needle-Nose! Enjoy it while you can." Sonic pats Snively's head amidst his protesting, snickering at Dr. Robotnik next. "I'll come back later and mop up the Badniks I missed. But first, I'm stopping your nutso-brand of evil and saving South Island. You can start by giving back those Chaos Emeralds you stole."
"There's always pride before the fall..." Dr. Robotnik's smiling face darkens, pressing a switch that makes the platform below Sonic's feet collapse.
The speedy hedgehog tried to push his feet and make a jump for it, only for a Fly-Bot to surprisingly jerk away Sonic's shoulder fanny pack that had his Chaos Emeralds inside.
"NO!" Sonic's eyes widened, falling helplessly to the bottom while Snively angrily wept to himself about his hair loss.
"Aw, would you get over it, Snively? Besides, bald is beautiful. Now get your scrawny hiney up onto the blimp before I give you the signal." Dr. Robotnik crossed his arms with fake kindness before reverting to his imperious tone on-screen. "Fly-Bot! I want those Chaos Emeralds delivered to me so that I can prepare for my ultimate weapon. Sonic will find a pipeline that leads right back into Scrap Brain's control center and come for me soon. Then I'm going to squash that high-octane hedgehog once and for all!"
"Darn it, Sonic!" Sally cursed to herself for allowing Sonic's ego to get the better of him as she and T-Pup kept crawling.
They reached the end of the shaft, but it became blocked by a locked door. Sally and T-Pup glanced at each other in worry and tried propping it open, eventually causing it to fall out of place. The door fell to the outside, noting that the tall building had many floors above the ground. The foam flew out the hole that they made. Lasers fired from above, and they looked up to see Swat-Bots shooting down at them from the balcony.
"Now what?" Sally wondered, only to hear a faint helicopter sound nearing. "Where is that noise coming from-?"
T-Pup's yipping interrupted Sally to the point where she spotted a twin-tailed fox flying straight towards them.
"Here I come, T-Pup!" Tails exclaimed, genuinely surprising the archer princess.
As two Hover Units came by to seize Sally and T-Pup, Tails had taken hold of Sally's hand and then proceeded down to where the fire extinguisher foam started to accumulate outside the building. T-Pup hovered alongside Tails as he and Sally landed in a foam mass at the bottom of the building. But they turned out to be okay, escaping down the walkway.
Feeling thankful for the sudden rescue, Sally tried to ask, "Who are you-?"
But Tails prevented her upcoming questions. "There is no time to explain. Just follow me! Let's hope the Hover Pad is still where it is right now."
They continue running, with Swat-Bots advancing to fire toward them. Tails barely dodged another laser as they reached the Hover Pad, a flat-paneled ship without railings. They only have a control panel on the front that allows their passengers to manage their flight.
"Hang on!" Tails steered the Hover Pad to fly away as Sally glanced over her shoulder, hair blowing.
"They're gaining on us!" Sally called out, spotting Hover Units that followed them.
Tails made numerous manoeuvers in the skies of Scrap Brain in an attempt to lose the Hover Units, zipping erratically and between pipes. Sally took a quick breath and trained her bow with an explosive arrow. Once she discharges, the blast blew in front of the Swat-Bots, distracting them. The young fox flies past some space in a tunnel, then does a quick turn-about, flying into the hole. He looks back as the Hover Units pass by without noticing.
"Hopefully, they were the only ones," Tails breathed a bit, with T-Pup nodding in agreement as he glanced at Sally. "Are you okay?"
"For a kid who sounds a bit too young to be flying this thing, I hope so too," Sally admitted with a reassuring smile, checking to see if the coast is clear. "We should make our move so that I can get back with the others and find Sonic."
"I'm looking for Sonic too, and I can't thank you enough for helping T-Pup find me again!" Tails said with a bright smile that could bring world peace, activating the Hover Pad again and leaving the hole. "My name is Miles Prower, but I go by Tails from now on. It's nice to meet you, ma'am!"
"So this must be the boy Sonic was telling me all about earlier, huh? He is so adorable and innocent! Not to mention that he's got two tails." Sally mentally thought. She coughed, trying to push down her desire to hug the fox cub. "Yes, well, Tails, my name is Sally-!"
Just as they exit, a Hover Unit approaches from above with Sally screaming, "TAILS!"
Shocked as well, the young fox accidentally presses a button on the Hover Pad's control panel. The Hover Pad instantly stops, causing the Hover Unit to fly by at fast speed, knocking the pad into a downward twirl. Tails became able to take control before they hit the ground.
"S-S-Sorry! I just got a little startled, that's all," Tails stammered, sweating as he looked back.
"Hey, it's okay," Sally reassured, gently petting the young fox's back to calm him down. "We got to be close to that subway station."
The Hover Pad flies at a high altitude while four Hover Units on guard continue to fly low. They take notice and fly upwards at the hovercraft.
"Oh no," Tails then gasped, sweating a little as he looked over his shoulder.
And this time, however, the Hover Units weren't trying to shoot them down. "How come they're not shooting at us?" Tails wondered as he continued driving.
"They're saving us for the Robotizer." Sally lightly tapped him.
"Well, that isn't going to happen. Hang tight," Tails pressed another button on the control panel.
"Tails..." The chipmunk princess warned him while T-Pup watched his master do his task.
The Hover Pad does a U-turn with the Hover Units still in pursuit, then turning around again, passing by the hovercrafts, nearly hitting them.
Tails looked around. "Do you see a subway station anywhere, Sally?"
"Yes, there!" She pointed at their destination.
They see a small cube-like building with one entrance and head at it. But before they could reach it, two Hover Units have found them and followed, firing at them. A shot suddenly hits the Hover Pad, sending it in a spiral at the ground.
"TAILS!"
"Hang on!" The fox cub gains control and safely lands it on the ground without crashing.
"At least we made it to the rendezvous point," Sally murmured to herself, jumping off the broken hovercraft.
Tails and T-Pup slowly stepped off the Hover Pad as the Hover Units fired their lasers at them. Tails grabbed her hand while T-Pup followed beside them, spinning his namesakes to fly straight forward. They make it into the building's ramp together as the Hover Units fire at the entrance, destroying it.
In the subway station, a lengthy subway train sits at the platform. Three Swat-Bots are guarding the entrance to the train while several Badniks enter it. Sally watched from behind some debris while Tails searched around for any sign of Charles around here. A siren goes off as the destination sign 'Crystal Mine' lights up on the subway.
"Where's the Crystal Mine?" Sally asked, curious as she watched the train depart. The archer princess then looks back at Tails, seemingly rummaging for something. "Um, Tails?"
"Uncle Chuck told me that I'd meet him here somewhere, but where is he?" Tails wandered around with T-Pup by his side, causing Sally's ears to perk up.
She tried to ask him what he meant. "Wait, you found Professor Charles-?"
"Princess Sally!" An elderly voice droned from nowhere, revealing none other than a robotized Charles walking towards them, waving. "Ah, it's a real treat to see you again. I haven't seen you since you were my student."
"Uncle Chuck!" Tails beamed, stepping close to him along with T-Pup, who yipped.
"Oh, my gosh! Professor!" Sally stares in shock at Charles, tears forming from her eyes, hugging her late professor. "I can't believe you've been here all this time. I thought you were gone for sure. Sonic's going to be thrilled to see you."
"Well, you know me. I'm larger than life." Charles hugged Sally back, pulling away to wipe off her tears. "Where's Sonic? Wasn't he with you and the kid?"
"He went after Snively in a control room, and then I lost him when we got found out," Sally answered when she heard a voice yell her name.
"Sally!" They turned to see Rotor, Bunnie, and Antoine arriving over to them. "We scoped out for any of Robotnik's power sources, but we couldn't find where Sonic's friend might be right now-!"
Rotor soon recognizes the robotized hedgehog, shifting to excitement. "Hey, you're Professor Charles! I've been a huge fan of your work back in the icy region."
"Yes, that's me." Charles rolled his eyes and smiled, shaking Rotor's hand. "It's nice to meet another gearhead once in a while."
"Professor Hedgehog, bonjour," Antoine felt like he was going to cry as he saluted.
"Bonjour, Antoine," Charles bowed and then noticed Bunnie, shortly saddened by her half-robotized state. "Oh, Bunnie. I am so sorry."
"I know, I know," Bunnie had a sad look on her face as a tear fell from her eyes, then hugging the older hedgehog next. "It's still good to see you, Charlie."
"But I don't understand. The robotization process is still a big mystery. How were you able to regain back your free will?" Sally asked, which caused the two-tailed fox to step into the spotlight.
"I-I was able to help him do that with a Chaos Emerald." Tails answered, pulling back his hood and placing the goggles on his forehead.
"Sacre Bleu, you are but a little one!" Antoine gasped, jumping back in shock.
"And you've got two tails?" Bunnie came towards the fox cub, causing him to stiffen the closer she got. Rotor then caressed one of the two tails before the boy jerked it away.
"They just now noticed that?" thought Tails, completely surprised. Nonetheless, though, the boy gave them a nod. "Great, they're either going to make fun of me or ask me a bunch of ridiculous questions."
"Why, that's so cute!" Bunnie cooed, turning the young lad's entire face red.
"That's a new one," thought Tails, unsure of how to respond.
"You found a Chaos Emerald?" Rotor asked, looking back at Charles.
"It's true," Charles gently held out a purple Chaos Emerald that lit up in the dark. "In hindsight, since I'm now a robot, the Chaos Energy was able to flow through me and help restore my memories. Maybe even counter some of the effects of robotization."
"Talk about a lot of power," Rotor gasped, noticing T-Pup right beside the fox cub with a laugh. "Hehe, I was wondering where the little guy was going to find his creator somewhere."
"Yeah," Tails gestures over to the canine robot, petting his head. "In case you didn't know, his name is T-Pup, by the way. I built him to operate as my very own support unit, so I'm sure he's been helping you guys along the way."
"Yeah, he sure did! It's nice to meet someone else that's also a gadget lover like me!" Rotor beamed and knelt to the boy's height. "I'm Joe Sushi, but my friends call me Rotor: the team's mechanic and handyman. What's your name, kid?"
"M-Miles Prower, but I'm also referred to as Tails if you want." He gave him an utterly, ridiculously adorable smile that managed to get Bunnie to whine at how much sunshine poured out of Tails.
"Well, aren't you the sweetest thing? The name's Bunnie O'Hare, Sugar." Bunnie scooped Tails into a hug and mentally declared that she would kill everyone and then herself if anyone ever hurt this sunshine child.
Tails looked like his processor had frozen mid-process, and he'd hit the error blue screen. He stayed rigid in her arms and looked like he was trying not to scream, or cry, or melt outright to the ground by how much love Bunnie was giving him. Not to mention that it rendered Tails into a bumbling mess, causing Antoine to break up the hug.
"Bonjour, petit homme," The coyote introduced himself. "I am Antoine Depardieu, and I am sorry about Bunnie. She tends to have a, err, a chronic weakness of seeing cute things."
"Excuse me?" Bunnie puts her hands on her hips, tapping the skittish coyote's arm. "Don't get jealous cause this here little muffin's got a lethal adorableness than you."
"Jealous? Moi?" Antoine crossed his arms, twitching away with a flushed face. "Not even the slightest!"
"All right, enough with the talking and listen carefully now." Charles placed a hand on the fox cub's shoulder to snap him out of his daze. "There is something much more important than me that I need all of your help on doing. And that includes finding Sonic somewhere in the Crystal Mine."
"More important than you?" Sally glanced at the elderly hedgehog in confusion. "Like what?"
"And where is this Crystal of Mine?" Antoine scratched the side of his head.
"That way!" Charles pointed in the opposite direction, and they looked down the track together. "I'll explain on the way of what I have to show you, down in the mine."
"Well, we'd better start walking," Sally spoke up, and then Tails noticed something.
"I don't think so, 'cause there's our ride to the mine." Tails points at a small subway car on the platform that seemed abandoned.
With Charles taking the lead, the group started jumping onto the tracks one by one, only to be shot at by Swat-Bots, who had entered to hunt them down.
"Incoming!" Rotor jumped off with Antoine.
"Uh, perhaps it is time to fly from the coup, oui?!" The coyote got pulled in by Rotor and Tails, the other three already inside.
The Swat-Bots fire at the car, but their lasers weren't able to affect it. The door closed, speeding off down the tracks, with the Swat-Bots unable to go after them with no ride.
"Fall. Ha. Pun. Very funny, Eggman-!"
The blue hedgehog couldn't finish his words after landing into something cold and wet, knocking his breath away from him. The cold, stale air was just above him after he froze from something sinister about this water. So intense, it was enough to suck every inch of life out of him.
It brought Sonic back to that one fear as he didn't know whether to feel angry, confused, alarmed, trapped, or some odd mixture of all of them. But soon, he came to his senses once again. Sonic rushed to the surface, gasping for breath only a fraction of a second after breaking it.
"GAGH...oh no!" Sonic's previous demeanor immediately shifted from chipper to bitter in a blink of an eye.
To gather his breath, he scrambled towards the walls, grabbing the crumbling stonework. After giving himself a moment to recover, Sonic looked around as he found himself in another water-logged area with unnaturally purple-colored water.
"OH, NOT HERE AGAIN!" Sonic's ears dropped back in horror, stuttering out between chattering teeth. "Man, this water is n-not natural! I can smell the d-difference. Whatever E-Eggman's doing, it's p-poisoning the water! At least, I'm glad not to think that it tastes like grape juice."
Every part here didn't look so healthy. The walls were devoid of green plant life, and no insects flew around. The moss on the masonry was a sickly grey-purple, and the water was an unhealthy purple tint. Not to mention a lot harder enough to stay afloat in as well.
"Maybe I should've stayed with Sally and the little guy back there. And then I wouldn't have to deal with another one of these places again," Sonic grumbled a bit, still butthurt with how Dr. Robotnik was able to trick and steal away his Chaos Emeralds. "If I'm going to save Mobius, I'll need to get through. It's the only way forward tho', so..."
Sonic splashed a bit for good measure before taking a large breath and dove down into the water. There was a strong current pulling Sonic along, showing a network of underground rivers beneath South Island.
The water in this place remained tainted with something less than pleasant, and it stung his eyes and felt like it was seeping into his skin. Sonic nearly froze between two moving spears.
Judging this as another aquaphobic attack, Sonic pulled himself back to more air before bringing his attention to a spinning mace blocking his path. Sonic dully glared before jumping over jutting rocks disrupting the icy waters and landed on the other side of a very dark abyss. Sonic swam with difficulty in the water before climbing skywards, narrowly dodging a fireball. He broke the surface and tangled himself in pale lavender ivy.
"Ugh, I got to get out of here now...!" Sonic thought with a frown.
Sonic then dove through the current, leading him straight across the underwater passageways before reaching the surface for some more air. There was a pathway alongside the river here. And Sonic, who wasn't going to turn down any options, climbed up onto it.
"Step one: kick Ro-Butt-Nik. Step two: go home. Step three: shower forever." He shook most of the putrid water from his body, then looked around the place. "I hope the stink goes away later. Now, where to next?"
Sonic explores through what looked like a grey chunk of Jungle Labyrinth's ancient maze, complete with lots of water, with the only difference that no fish could live in such polluted water. Sonic balanced onto a structure, which will make its way down this diagonal slope, slotting neatly in place at the end, with the path forward.
A couple of Burro-Bots suddenly appeared out of the ground just like they used to do in Jungle Labyrinth, and Sonic was somewhat startled, but these mole-based Badniks didn't last long against Sonic this time either.
"Man, this is just like Jungle Labyrinth all over again." Sonic thought.
But even though he had tackled the depths of underwater ruins not too long ago, he still had to stay on his toes if he wanted to make it back with his friends. Sonic rolled into a speeding ball that destroyed the Burro-Bots and tried to avoid more swinging spike balls.
Another Burro-Bot got thrown backward by a kick from Sonic, hitting the wall and shattering. A frightened pig squealed and retreated as the second mole-based Badnik attacked. The blue hedgehog launched himself into the air and came down on the Burro-Bot like a tone of bricks, crushing it as the charge got released.
As Sonic expected, he saw a squad of five Burro-Bots intercepting him. With no enemies close behind him, Sonic drop kicked the first mole-based Badnik, ripping it in half. The upper half sailed through the air and got buried in the chassis of another Burro-Bot. An explosion detonated from that mole-based Badnik, taking out another two Burro-Bots.
The last robot paused, unsure of its actions. Sonic sprung up and came down full force on the Burro-Bot, driving straight through instead of bouncing off as usual. The blue hero couldn't help but enjoy destroying these Badniks much more than the others.
Sonic spared a quick look back and grinned briefly, satisfied at his progress. Having fought so many of them here had made Sonic extremely tired of these mole-based Badniks, and being able to crush them without restraint was so much more fulfilling.
Those fire-breathing dragonheads came back, spitting flames after Sonic as he slid through Dr. Robotnik's replica of Jungle Labyrinth. As Sonic climbed long and hard up to a shiny spring set conspicuously underneath a pipeline in the ceiling, a rush of adrenaline flooded out his aches and pain.
"I never thought I'd be happy to smell ozone burning, but at least there's a way back near here." Sonic then jumps on the spring and into his destiny. "Here I come, Eggman!"
Crystal Mine consists of a large cave with the blimp's crane hanging over a massive hole in the ground with the subway track following around the hole. The Freedom Fighters rode their subway car down towards the hole in the middle, not to mention having a roof over them. They jumped out of the carrier and explored with their eyes.
"I can't believe this," Sally contemplated after exiting the car. "Whatever Robotnik's got planned with that airship, let's hope we find Sonic somewhere in time."
"I hope so too," Charles muttered, managing to ease his headaches and became ready to speak to Sally directly. "We'll have to be extra careful for whenever Robotnik will use the Emeralds to power his control center. There's no telling what else he's got in store for all of South Island in this here factory."
Rotor grunted as they hid behind their car to peek at the subway train. "Man, I'd love to turn Robotnik into a can-opener."
"Shh!" Charles held up a finger in front of his lips. "Calm yourself, Rotor! Let's try not to lose our heads while that madman's bots are hunting us down."
They then directed their attention for up ahead, watching several Swat-Bots walking out of a door in a single file line. The group watched as a Swat-Bot escorts the Badniks into a building in the mine.
"Keep your eyes peeled for an opening until we get to that elevator." Charles looks around before slowly turning his head over to Tails and T-Pup. "In the meantime, are you sure that you two can handle yourselves with getting onboard that blimp?"
"I'm sure, Uncle Chuck," Tails nodded in response, though secretly nervous about the thunder. "T-Pup's got a holographic picture of where I'll have to navigate through the exposed gantries and electric fields of the airship anchorage. Once I get on board, I can find its control panel and deactivate its crane."
"I'm glad you thought of everything, Tails, but are you sure you'd have to do this on your own?" Rotor shrugged minusculely. "You seem a bit nervous about doing it."
"No, no, Rotor, it's okay. It's just..." Tails reeled in his flustered cheeks until the sight of Antoine saluting in a cold sweat came towards him.
"I-I-I s-shall offer my services by coming with you, young one!"
Soon, a look of surprise displayed over everyone's face as Charles became taken aback by the sudden volunteer. The group looked at each other with appalling expressions, silently wondering if Antoine was serious about this.
Looking uneasy, Sally tried to reason with the coyote. "I don't know, Antoine. You don't have to if you're not feeling-!"
But he brushed it off with his usual bravado, much to Rotor and Bunnie's tittering. "Nonsense, my princess! I will help our youngest friend take down that dreadful ship of death! Oui, oui?"
"W-Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I could use some company if I have to fight any Badniks up there." Tails banged his fist into his palm, looking down at T-Pup, who yipped in acknowledgment.
"Then come along, monsieur! Uh, how do you say? Let's du-et to it!" Antoine smiled at the young fox's decision.
"Antoine, it's let's do it to it," Rotor rolled his eyes, downplaying his nerves with a smile.
"Oui, oui," Antoine crossed his arms, cockily smirking back at him. "That is what I said. Trust moi."
"That's a first," Sally laughed awkwardly.
"Anything for you, my princess." Antoine bowed politely in praise.
"That explains it," Rotor said bluntly at the coyote's immature act.
As Tails and Antoine turned and began to walk away, Bunnie peered at the retreating forms. "Y'all better try to stay safe and away from Robotnik's traps," She said for the duo to stop.
"We will, Bunnie!" Tails waved back at her.
Antoine turned his head to where his half-robotized friend stood and flushed a bit. "Y-You as well, mademoiselle." He said nervously before continuing his motion with Tails and T-Pup.
Tails quirked an eyebrow at Antoine, "You might want to grab onto my hands tightly once we're flying in the air." He informed while placing both his hood and goggles back on.
The coyote seemed, in a way, confused by such the fox cub's statement. "I am afraid I do not understand. How are we supposed to fly up there if we do not have-?" Antoine couldn't finish his sentence because of this next part.
With enough effort, Tails spun his namesakes like rotary blades to lift himself off the ground. Eyes wide as saucers reflected the surprise the group received, except for Charles and Sally. Although Sally didn't seem too surprised by it, considering how she met Tails earlier, the archer princess felt pretty ecstatic, if not concerned for the boy's well-being.
After Antoine carefully held out both his hands, Tails latched onto them with his own. Finally, the flying fox propelled at top speed towards the blimp with T-Pup alongside Antoine screaming in fear.
"That kiddo sure is full of surprises, ain't he?" Bunnie stated, proceeding to stare at the boy genius everyone had just met.
"Ah, I forgot to mention the kid can do that." Charles pointed out after the group witnessed Tails flying with his appendages.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm glad he's on our side," Rotor exclaimed, the excited smile threatening to split his face.
After the last Badnik in the line and Swat-Bots enter the building, an opening became presented as Sally alerted everyone. "Now's our chance! Let's go!" The archer princess motions a hand as Charles takes the lead.
The group approaches the elevator door to the building structure, but it doesn't open, recognizing that it was closed off. "Bit of a snag, here. The elevator's gone until the next shift," Charles informed the group.
"Well, forget the shift. There's always the shaft. Bunnie, waste these doors," Rotor stated, and she stepped forward to the door.
"My pleasure."
Bunnie aimed her robotic fist at the door, and it pierced the elevator. She made a hole so that she could force it open. The others joined her as they peered down the elevator shaft, which seemed bottomless. Fortunately, a couple of elevator lines descend the length of the passage.
"Sweet thinking, Rotor! Let's get sliding!" Charles jumps at one of the elevator lines and slides down.
"Man, is he Sonic's uncle or what?" Rotor asked before jumping at the line to slide down, followed by Sally and Bunnie. Charles kicked open the elevator's roof panel, landing safely along with Sally, as did Rotor and Bunnie.
Sally gazed puzzlingly at the robotized hedgehog, "So, what are we looking for, Professor Charles?" She asked.
"Yeah, what's so urgent that we have to come down here?" Rotor glanced around in confusion.
"It's something you each gotta see with your own eyes." Charles forces open its door, revealing a bright blue light. "Check it out."
As the group walked out of the elevator, Charles stood triumphantly as the trio could finally see what was so important. Suspended in the middle of the mine with several cables is a gigantic crystal.
"Oh, man!" Rotor looked incredibly shocked at seeing something so massive as this. "That is LARGE!"
"But wait," Sally shook her head in confusion, turning to the robotized hedgehog. "Why exactly are Robotnik's forces here for it? What's so special about this crystal?"
"Robotnik is mining this energy crystal to replace his limited oil supply in Robotropolis," Charles told the trio. "That's why he's collecting the Chaos Emeralds to use their power to speed up the process of some kind. They're hoisting it out of here today! We have to stop it!"
"What'll happen if they do get it out?" Bunnie questioned them curiously.
"Removing that active crystal will reduce South Island's entire ecosystem into dust."
"That's awful! Everything will be pushin' up daisies. We can't let that happen!" Bunnie gasped sharply, clenching her fist.
"You're right. We do have to stop Robotnik, but how?" Sally stepped up a bit.
"Only one way," Charles turned around and pointed up ahead. "We shut him down here and at the control center. Sal, that's where you come in. We'll have to find out where Sonic is somehow."
"Okay," She nodded with a small smile. "Let's do it-!"
Suddenly, a rumbling sound came through a pipeline nearby as Sonic's ball form flew out of it and landed perfectly. Panting wearily, Sonic carefully checked his surroundings before marking the enormous energy crystal in front of him.
Sonic smirked toothly, "Heh, I didn't think Butt-Nik was up to something major like this-!"
"Sonny-Boy!"
Then, a sudden wave of nostalgia hit Sonic as his eyes became surprised to see his robotized uncle before him with the other Freedom Fighters. The blue hedgehog tentatively gazes onto Charles afar from his distance, almost not believing he was here, but he is.
"N-No way...is that...?" Sonic's thoughts trailed off, comically crying with fringed tears in his eyes.
Before any one of them could say a single word, Sonic blasted himself right into the arms of a long-lost relative he so desperately didn't want to release. The older hedgehog nearly went bug-eyed at how fast Sonic moved to embrace him but then closed his eyes as he smiled, returning a hug for his nephew. With everyone smiling at this heartwarming reunion between the hedgehogs, Sally knew she could scold Sonic later. Right now, all she wanted to do was let the blue hero reunite with his robotized uncle.
"UNCLE CHUCK! Yes! Man, I sure missed you." Sonic cried with satisfaction that extended up higher and higher within the blue hedgehog after breaking down.
"I missed you too, kiddo," Charles shed some tears of joy, wiping them away afterward. "Still good-looking and always cooking, eh Sonny-Boy?"
"You got it, Unc. Shakin' and bakin'." Sonic whispered happily, raising a thumbs-up for his uncle. He then turns his head towards Sally and the others. "How'd you guys manage to find him?"
"More like your cute friend found him first, Sugar-Hog," Bunnie stepped forward, placing a hand on Charles' shoulder. "Chuck's usin' one of the Chaos Emeralds to keep a tight rein on himself."
Sonic raised his head, "Tails? As a matter of fact, where is he right now?" He asked, looking around for a bit.
"He and T-Pup are flying up on that blimp to help us take down that energy crystal. Antoine went along with them." Rotor said, causing Sonic to squint his eyes in thought as he looked at where the airship settled in the polluted sky.
"I better hope that Ant doesn't get my little buddy into any trouble," Sonic pondered, sending his usually delicate features into a scowl.
"Say, Sugar-Hog?" Bunnie soon noticed that something was gone from Sonic. "Where'd your little sack go?"
"W-Well, I, uh...!" Sonic began to feel perhaps nervous when everyone else looked at him. "There was a trap from Robotnik, but it's no biggie!"
Sally fumed with annoyance when she saw Sonic's fanny pack missing. "Sonic, you lost your Chaos Emeralds, didn't you? I told you to stay close around without getting into more trouble!" She crossed her arms under her bust as Sonic shrugged sheepishly.
"That's enough, you two," Charles reprimanded, getting their attention as he placed a hand on his face. "Right now, I need you both to focus on the problem at hand and work together. We'll deal with all that crap later."
The archer princess sighed audibly, "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. All I hope is that Sonic doesn't run off like that without giving any caution." Sally beseeched.
"Sorry too, Sal," Sonic then reverts to a determined look, doing his best to reassure the archer princess it was no big deal. "But we're going to get those Chaos Emeralds back, now that we've got one gemstone. Do we have a plan?"
Charles nodded expectedly, motioning everyone to follow him. "We sure do, Sonny. Follow me." He said to his nephew.
"Let's go, hedgehog." Dr. Robotnik grinned. "One last battle."
The doctor walked through the chamber above the Egg-Pistons. There showed a couple of crab-based Badniks dubbed as Egg-Mites, used for general maintenance of the Egg-Pistons. The Egg-Mites had finished a quick modification that would allow him to change between desired crushers. Not to mention gathering five of the Chaos Emeralds for the machine's insertion, with only one missing.
A short distance away, his Egg-O-Matic became prepped for victory. He'd spent way too much time here. As soon as he got finished with the Freedom Fighters, he'd be off.
Dr. Robotnik knew this was the endgame. As long as the doctor still obtained the Chaos Emeralds, there was no way for him to lose in this situation. The barrier shields were impregnable, and the crushers have become designed to take heavy impacts. Completely unescapable and nowhere to hide from the crushers.
Sonic would get finished off by this. He checked the screen one last time.
The Freedom Fighters had just reached the hidden mines below Scrap Brain's exit.
Excellent.
Dr. Robotnik slid into the crusher and powered it up. A faint hum filled the air.
TO BE CONTINUED...