Chapter 8: Missile Wrist Rampage
"Wooahhooohoohooo!"
The bellowing laughter of a large, human man could be heard echoing through the metallic walls of a new fortress located on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean.
"This is delightfully devilish!" The human massaged his orange moustache as he peered at a large monitor in his command center. Accompanying him were two robots, sitting at their chairs in a separate corner of the spacious room. Decoe, the taller, thinner, yellow model, rubbed his tubular head in annoyance as Bocoe, his shorter, silver brother, groaned as he watched his master scheme.
"Don't tell me," Decoe began as he leaned back in his chair, "Eggman's going to put us back to work again, isn't he?"
"That would be a safe bet, indeed," Bocoe replied as he rested his face against his dashboard. "We may be robots, but we still need breaks or else our circuits will overload!"
"It was hard enough reconstructing Eggman's base from the scrap Chaos Control brought with us to this planet," Decoe added, "but now Dr. Eggman's going to put us to work again? Where's our union steward when we need one?"
"Pipe down, you bucket of bolts!" Eggman shouted from his seat. "I may not have supersonic hearing, but even I can hear you two openly complaining. May I remind you that I am your creator and that you should be privileged in assisting with the establishment of the Eggman Empire?"
"And besides…" The doctor stood up and tapped the wall with his fist. "This place is shoddy at best. Much more inferior than my last fortress."
"But Doctor," Bocoe replied, "we had months last time, and we had a ready supply of pristine parts and materials. We were lucky to get walls and a roof over our heads with what little we have, let alone a functioning battle station."
Eggman grumbled as he folded his arms, turning away as he walked back to his monitor. "Remind me to program the sass out of you later…" Eggman studied the satellite images of the Earth with a smirk. "This planet is nearly identical to Mobius with similar land masses, so we must have been transported to an alternate universe, but no matter." Eggman stood up, his chair falling back behind him. "The inhabitants of this planet will fall to their knees in no time at all. In speaking of which…" The evil doctor activated his wristwatch communicator, revealing a small, dark-colored robot with beady eyes, a jetpack, and a yellow "M" affixed to his belt. "Bokkun! Do you have my report?" The evil doctor waited a few moments for a reply, but all he could hear was the unmistakable sound of his messenger robot chewing on some food. "Bokkun!"
"Wha, whuuut?" The small robot, sitting in a small café, dropped a slice of apple pie on his lap.
"Look what you made me do, Eggman!" Bokkun shouted as his eyes started to water, his voice cracking in sadness. "That pie…was for me."
"You fool! I didn't send you out in the field to eat dessert! I need you to collect data on the local inhabitants. What are their species? Any characteristics we should consider?"
"Nope!" Bokkun replied as he grabbed a new slice of pie with his gloved hands, taking a large bite with a smile across his face, seemingly forgetting about the other piece still on his knees. "They're just humans, like you but not ginormous!"
"You might want to rephrase that before I recycle you for parts," Eggman growled into his communicator.
"No, no, no, no," Bokkun replied, flailing his arms around for emphasis. "It's just that most humans here are actually smaller and shorter than you, and with half the IQ, too!"
"Good, good…" Eggman rubbed his hands together. "So, if this world is mostly inhabited by humans, then my grandfather's old notes were correct." The evil doctor massaged his chin in delight. "I guess it's only fitting that I've come to finish the work started by my ancestor!"
"Eggman has family?" Decoe asked his robotic brother.
"Apparently?" Bocoe replied with a shrug.
"Of course I do!" Eggman shouted. "What do you think I am, a robot?"
"Could've fooled me…" Decoe muttered under his breath.
"Maybe instead of talking behind my back, you can make yourself useful for once and go grab my capsule case!"
"Right away, sir!" He replied, standing up with a salute before running to the supply closet. As the robot rummaged through the messy storage room, Eggman returned to his console, watching his monitor as the live feed from the satellite he hijacked gave him a brilliant display of the world. Enhancing, he found a well-populated city on the east coast of the United States.
"Our first step is to see what kind of defenses these humans have at their disposal. They obviously don't have any natural capabilities, unlike that pesky little rodent…" Robotnik scoffed under his breath. After studying the tall buildings and the pedestrians walking across a busy street corner, he sleuthed around the human network.
"Ahh, looks like this country, the United States, uses police officers for basic civil order, not unlike Mobius…" He continued scrolling. "They generally wield pistols and drive specially marked vehicles…may have a well-trained dog with them, too..." Eggman scoffed once more. "Their next line of defense appears to be the national guard…followed by the military…okay, now we're talking!" As he performed yet another maniacal laugh, Decoe returned with his capsule case.
"Give me that!" Robotnik swiped it away from his mechanical henchman and clicked it open, revealing multiple rows of neatly organized, multi-colored, numbered capsules.
"It was really thoughtful of you to store your robots away in those capsules in case of an emergency," Bocoe said as Eggman scratched his chin in accomplishment.
"Indeed!" Decoe added. "If not for your brilliant foresight, you would have been back to square one after Chaos Control, but instead, you're at square 30!"
"Quit with the mindless praise and let me think…now which one to choose…aha!" The evil doctor plucked the first capsule out of the box. It was blue and had a '#1" on its label. "These humans will be a cinch to crush, so I won't waste any of my top-tier mechs on them. They're not worth the effort! Wooahhooohoohooo!" Inserting the capsule into his jacket pocket, Eggman climbed into his Egg Mobile, a spherical flying transport he brought on nearly every mission, and left the base, stopping at the shore of the island.
Eggman grinned as he twirled the capsule between his fingers.
"Okay, Missile Wrist, I choose you!" With a final stroke of his mustache, the evil doctor pressed the button on top of the capsule and gave an exaggerated throw, the capsule exploding as a poof of pink smoke escaped from within. As the smoke slowly dissipated, a mech took its place. It had a semi-circle head, large, silver, bipedal legs, and green missiles as arms.
"And now, a test run!" Spinning his Egg Mobile ninety degrees to his left, he found a large boulder half-submerged in water. "All right, Missile Wrist, do your stuff!" With a monotone beep, the mech bent its legs and raised its right arm at the boulder, steadying it with its left. The robot launched the missile, hitting its target with expert precision, the force causing the boulder to crumble away. Just as it made impact, the mech retracted the cord affixed to the missile head, securing it back into place moments later as if it never left its shoulder.
"Very good!" The evil doctor grinned as he peered across the ocean, seeing the sights of a major city far out in the distance. "We'll do a number to their capitol and all but force their leaders to bow down to me. Wooahhooohoohooo!" Eggman spun his Egg Mobile around and pointed at his two robot henchmen.
"You two: guard the fort while I'm away…and tidy up a bit before I get back!"
"Aye, aye, sir!" Decoe and Bocoe replied with a firm salute.
"Off we go, then!" Pressing the button on his empty capsule, Eggman threw the contraption at the mech. With a Poof!, and a display of smoke, the mech was back inside the portable storage device, which had since returned to the evil doctor's palm like a boomerang.
"And to think I invented something so useful in my spare time! I think I outdid myself on this one…" Eggman smirked as he began his venture from the island, crossing the ocean to an unsuspecting populous beyond.
Walking along the sidewalk of a quiet suburb, the sun was beating down on the red echidna making his way to Helen's abode. Having refused to ride in Chuck's car under the guise of getting too cramped, Knuckles afforded himself some time alone to further reflect on recent events.
"I'm not sure what to make of all this," he said to himself as his eyes traced the cracks in the sidewalk. "Not sure how I feel about the humans, either…Chuck seems fine, but what about the rest?" The red echidna kicked a small pebble into a storm drain. "And Sonic…he would never allow himself to get captured so easily back home. Are these humans really that powerful, or was Sonic just being careless? Either way, he was banged up pretty badly." He scoffed as he crossed his arms. "It seems like wherever we go, humans only cause us trou—"
Honk, honk!
Twisting to his left, he noticed a car veering toward him, and looking down, he found himself in the middle of the street.
"Damn!" Knuckles dove out of the vehicle's way, hearing choice expletives coming from the driver as they drove past in a flurry of adrenaline-fueled rage. "Whew, I need to be more careful," he said as he picked himself off the ground, dusting some pebbles from his torso before looking around. He was standing near the parking lot of two fast food restaurants.
"Hey…are these the places Tails tried?" Knuckles carefully studied the Taco Bell and McDonald's that lay before him. "He told me his trip to Taco Bell was his biggest regret since coming to Earth…but he did recommend McDonald's for their…Shamrock Shake?" He peered up at the hot, early afternoon sun as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "I suppose it couldn't hurt…" He reached into his dreadlocks and plucked out some greenbacks loaned to him by Chuck for such an occasion and entered the restaurant, departing a few minutes later a few dollars shorter but with the arguably more valuable ice cream delicacy wrapped around his fingers.
Moments after taking his first sip, as his taste buds interacted with the artificially flavored fast-food treat, his face lit up, nearly gasping in surprise as his feet left the ground for a few seconds. Standing still a few moments later, he peered around, blushing slightly in embarrassment as he continued his stride to Helen's house.
"I have to admit, though," Knuckles said to himself as he crossed another street, this time focused on his surroundings, "this thing is really good. Tails wasn't lying…" He pondered these words as he took another long sip of his shake.
That's right. Tails never lies, and he seemed so sincere when talking about Chuck. I sure hope these humans aren't just taking advantage of his kindness. In a world like this, kindness alone will only get you so far. You need to know when to be tough, and that little guy can be too trusting sometimes…
Walking through the suburb in silence, he noticed the lack of hustle and bustle in the neighborhood; residents were either at work or in their homes, and the sidewalks were deserted, the children still at school.
"Not my ideal place to live," Knuckles declared as he tossed the empty, plastic shake cup into a garbage can, "but at least it's more peaceful than the big city." Crossing the final street, he made it to Helen's small, one floor home, currently unoccupied.
"Now to wait for the rest of them to show up…" The red echidna jumped onto the slanted roof and sat down, his hands behind his head for support as his eyes wandered the horizon. He could see the cityscape of Station Square in the distance, and he heard birds chirping in a small, nearby tree, as well as the rustling of squirrels chasing each other in the grass.
The soothing sensation of the afternoon wind made the echidna drowsy, nearly to the point of falling asleep, but as a pebble rolled off the roof, Knuckles became alert, his ears perking up before launching himself back on his feet.
"All right, who goes there?" Stepping over the rooftop shingles with careful steps, the red echidna tried to find the interloper, perhaps camouflaging themself with the roof itself, but to no avail. Noticing the chimney near one of the far sides of the house, Knuckles tip-toed to its edge, peering in carefully. The resourceful echidna even flashed the light from his wristwatch communicator into the chimney, but he found nothing but soot-covered, aged bricks. Sticking his head further down for a better look, he sighed as he began pulling himself up.
Ring, Ring!
Startled by the incoming transmission, the echidna lost his balance, falling headfirst down the chimney. He landed on his head, but the scorched logs below helped break his fall.
Grumbling to himself, Knuckles crawled out of the fireplace, dusted the soot from his fur, and rubbed his head before answering the call.
"Hey, Knuckles," Tails said from the other end, "we've got a problem."
"Don't tell me…it's Dr. Eggman, isn't it?"
Little did the echidna know, just around the corner of the living room, a spy was truly lurking in the shadows.
"My, my…now this is going to be interesting," she said under her breath.
The early afternoon sun shone over the clear sands of Station Square Beach, full of residents and tourists enjoying the waves of the ocean, basking in the heat, and consuming ice cream and other cool treats. Lifeguards were posted throughout the beach and monitoring the waves for any signs of trouble.
One such lifeguard sharpened his focus when he noticed something floating above the water, slowly approaching the beach. Removing his sunglasses, and taking out his binoculars, he was stunned at what he saw: a large man in a red jacket floating in a futuristic-looking pod. His hands started to shake when he observed the sight of a large mech seemingly materializing out of a cloud of pink smoke next to the odd man's pod.
Several beachgoers were playing volleyball in the sand, taking no notice of the new presence. As the ball went out of bounds, nearly landing in the water, one of the women picked it up, only to be met by the evil doctor himself. Mouth agape, she slowly turned her neck to witness the stone, robotic stare of Missile Wrist at his side.
"Ahhhhh!" she screamed, throwing the ball up high as she ran for her life.
"Time for some more target practice!" Eggman ordered. The mech complied, launching a retractable arm toward the falling volleyball, its impact sending it to the nearby parking lot, a vehicle exploding upon impact and sending shrapnel everywhere.
"Wooahhooohoohooo!" Eggman cheered. "This is going to be a piece of cake…evil cake." Grinning through his teeth, the doctor maneuvered the Egg Mobile through the parking lot. "You now have permission to let loose at your leisure, Missile Wrist!"
"Affirmative," it replied in a monotone, robotic voice. Its eyes flashing red, the mech launched its missile-like arms through two rows of parked cars, hitting a semi-truck in the nearby street, pushing it over moments before retracting its arms back into its shoulders. Eggman laughed maniacally as the cars exploded like dominos.
Typing on his onboard display, Eggman projected a map of Station Square like a headlight beam in front of his Egg Mobile. Blinking on the map was Eggman's destination: The White House.
"Taking out the leader of this country will be my first step toward ruling this pathetic little world, and if Sonic and his rodent friends try stopping me, they will be crushed like vermin! Wooahhooohoohooo!"
The two marched on, the mech destroying cars and blasting through windows as they slowly made their way through downtown.
"What's this?" Eggman laughed as a barricade of police cars obstructed their way.
"Halt, don't move!" Yelled an officer into a megaphone. "We have you surrounded!"
"So I see!" Eggman exclaimed as he spun the Egg Mobile a full revolution, finding officers wielding pistols and blocking off the streets with their squad cars. "You think some mindless bruits like yourselves are going to stop my eggsquisite Missile Wrist? Ha, now that's the worst joke I've heard all week." The evil doctor turned to his mech and pointed at the humans obstructing his path. "Attaaaaack!" The robot raised both arms and launched its tethered missiles into a building across the police barricade. Retracting its arms, the mech left two large holes in its wake, debris still falling even as it secured its arms back into place.
"Fire!" The officer shouted. Within seconds, bullets were fast approaching Dr. Eggman and his mech. The projectiles simply bounced off Missile Wrist, not leaving as much as a scratch on the technical feat of ingenuity, and an invisible forcefield protected Eggman from taking damage from the officers' guns.
"Wooahhooohoohooo!" Eggman lowered his altitude so he nearly met the height of the police chief. "Don't you see? You are outclassed in every single way. None of your weapons can damage us, so why not just give up now?" Not yielding to the evil doctor, the police officers continued their barrage, but all their efforts were in vain. Finally, with the snap of Eggman's fingers, Missile Wrist swiftly destroyed a squad car. The sudden impact of the mech's arm caused an explosion, sending the nearby officers flying.
"Now quit wasting my time and hand over the city!" Eggman commanded. As the dust settled, the soot covered police chief stammered into his megaphone.
"Well, you see…" He scratched the back of his head. "That's not…under my authority."
"Then who's in charge, here?" Eggman barked.
"That would…be the mayor! Yes, you n-need to take your request to the mayor."
"Then call him up!" Eggman ordered, grumbling under his breath as the officer fled to his squad car, miraculously free of damage, and phoned the municipal leader.
"It's only a matter of time before this city is mine," Eggman declared, "and with control over Station Square, I'll bring the rest of this pathetic world to its knees!"
"Turn it up, Helen!" Tails exclaimed from the back of Chuck's car. The human girl spun the volume dial on the radio. "That has to be…"
"Hello there!" greeted the evil genius. "My name is Dr. Eggman, transmitting live from downtown Station Square, and you are now witnessing a day for the history books!" There was a brief pause before Robotnik started talking once more. "For it is today I will single-handedly topple this pathetic excuse for a government and become the absolute ruler of this world! Wooahhooohoohooo."
"This is the Dr. Eggman fella' you guys keep talking about?" Chuck asked from the driver's seat. "He sounds more like a goofball than an actual threat."
"Those things aren't mutually exclusive, Chuck," Tails replied, sticking his head between the two front seats. "We have a good track record dealing with him, but we shouldn't take Eggman's ambitions too lightly."
"C'mon, Tails," Sonic replied with a laugh, playfully tugging his younger brother's namesake, causing him to yelp as he was pulled back to his seat. "It's not like we haven't beaten Robuttnik a thousand times before, so why would this be any different?"
"Sonic's right, Tails," Amy added from across the blue hedgehog, "Eggman can never defeat my darling Sonic!" The pink hedgehog snuggled close to his side as the blue hedgehog winked back.
"Right on, Ames!" Sonic's smile nearly melted Amy's heart, but the romantic moment was interrupted by Robotnik's speech.
"And that's not all!" Eggman continued. "Anyone who dares challenge my superiority will be vanquished on the spot, like so: Missile Wrist, attaaaaaack!" The party heard Eggman's mech launching a projectile followed immediately by an explosion. Looking off into the distance, they could see smoke billowing from only a mile away.
"Welp," Sonic said as he unbuckled his seatbelt, crawling over Tails as he made his way to the passenger door, "time for this hedgehog to save the day!"
"Wait, Sonic!" Tails grabbed his arm. "You wouldn't go out in the field without me, would you?"
Sonic gave the orange kitsune a warm smile. "I wouldn't dream of it, lil' bro!" As the blue hedgehog was about to open the door, Chuck slammed the break. Sonic almost fell forward but was quickly secured by an emergency hug from the swift fox.
"If you're gonna fight him," Chuck replied, "at least let me stop the car to let you out."
"Oh yeah, sorry, Chuck," Sonic replied as he ran a hand through his quills while sitting in Tails' lap. "Ready to go, Tails?"
"Yes," he nodded. "Let's go kick Eggman's butt!"
"You said it, Tails!" Sonic replied with a thumbs up before opening the door.
"You be safe, boys!" Helen said as she waved at the two brothers through the window. Sonic and Tails waved back at the party with matching smiles.
"Can't we go with them, Miss Amy?" Cream asked from the pink hedgehog's side.
"As much as I'd love to," Amy replied as she watched the kitsune take to the air with his rotary namesakes, Sonic clasping onto his ankles moments later, "we should try staying out of sight. You just escaped from a top-secret military base after all."
"That's true," Cream replied with a downcast face.
"Chao, chao…" Cheese added from atop the bunny's head.
"But still…" Helen watched as the brotherly duo flew away, the fox calling Knuckles with his wristwatch communicator. "I would really like to help in some way, or at least watch."
Chuck gripped his steering wheel as a vein grew on his forehead.
"Grandpa, what's wrong?" Helen asked, placing a hand on his arm.
"I want to pursue…but your safety…thrilling action…common sense…" Chuck wrestled with these competing thoughts before taking a deep breath and shifting his vehicle out of park. "Screw it, we're gonna watch! Who's game?"
"I am!" Helen replied with a raised arm.
"Count me in too!" Amy declared with a thumbs up.
"I would also like to watch, Mr. Chuck," Cream replied with a smile.
"Chao, chao!" Cheese added excitedly.
"Then it's settled." Fueled by determination, Chuck shifted gears as he slammed his foot on the accelerator, causing the tires to squeal as he sped down the road.
"Hey Grandpa, aren't you going too fast?" Helen asked as she gripped the handlebar above her door.
"If we're gonna catch up to Sonic, we're gonna need some pedal to the metal!" Rounding the corner, he laughed maniacally. "Ah yeah, I haven't felt this young in years!" Cranking up the radio, the shredding metal guitar solo blaring through the speakers only dared him to go even faster.
"Hey, I think I see them!" Amy pointed out. "Maybe we shouldn't get too close?" Shaking himself out of his trance, the aging scientist skid to a stop, a full block away from what would be the site of a ferocious battle between old rivals in a new world.
"Well, actually…" A man in a tailored suit stammered as he watched the evil scientist tear another hole in a building with his mech. "I-I can't just give you the keys to the city."
"Oh really?" Eggman asked as he massaged his long moustache. "You're the mayor, right? Don't you have some authority?"
"Well yeah, but I…" He pulled at his collar out of nervousness. "It would…have to be d-debated in committee b-by our c-city council, analyzing the city charter to determine its c-constitutionality, a draft environmental i-impact analysis would need to be dev—"
"Bahh, I don't want to hear about your bureaucratic mumbo jumbo," Eggman retorted. "Are you going to give up the city willingly, or will I need to take it by force?"
"A-actually," the mayor replied, "M-maybe the g-governor could do it, or the p-preside—"
"Enough!" Eggman shouted. "I've had it up to here with your cowardly games! I'm just going to sidestep the appropriate channels and take control myself! Wooahhooohoohooo!"
"Not so fast, Egghead!"
Robotnik spun his Egg Mobile around to find Sonic running toward him as his younger brother caught up, jogging slower to catch his breath after the flight.
"Well, well, if it isn't my old nemesis, Sonic the Hedgehog…" Eggman clenched his fists. "You always find a way to show up at the least opportune time."
"Well, you know me," Sonic replied as he stepped forward, itching the base of his nose with a smug smirk, "bustin' up your robots n' stopping your plans is sort of my thing."
"To be honest," Eggman said as he massaged his mustache once more, "I'm surprised it took you this long to find me. What's the matter? Can't handle being away from your home turf?" The evil doctor analyzed the blue hedgehog's left hand lightly grasping at his lower belly. "…or maybe something else happened? Did these pathetic Earthlings injure you?"
"And what if they did?" Sonic asked, cursing internally for forgetting to take his painkillers. "Your evil scheme will still be left scrambled."
"Oh really?" Eggman twirled his finger, commanding Missile Wrist to steady its aim. "Let's see if you can take on my mech in your injured state. Missile Wrist...FIRE!" With impeccable precision, the robot launched its arm at the blue hedgehog, but he swiftly dodged it. "Don't just stand there, keep firing!" The blue hedgehog dodged the onslaught of missile and bullet-based attacks from the mech.
"Give me a break! I bet a snail could dodge your robot's moves!" Sonic jeered.
"Keep firing, keep firing!" Eggman cried, losing his temper. "That meddlesome hedgehog will not best me again, he won't! Give it all you got!" Missile Wrist launched several more rockets from its torso, landing near the street and forming craters.
Tails, who was also on the defensive, watched as the evil doctor's final missile missed the blue hedgehog by a hair, but instead of a downward trajectory, it traveled in a straight flight path down the road.
The young fox's blood ran cold as he saw who was waiting at the end of the block.
"H-Helen!"
I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of A Bridge Between Worlds! I apologize for the delay; stuff in my personal life got in the way, and I've also been busy trying to improve my drawing skills (see my DeviantArt account on my profile). In any case, I hope to get the next chapter published in a timelier manner, but if you'd like updates, feel free to follow my social medias (also on my profile)!